diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30074-0.txt | 6634 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30074-h/30074-h.htm | 7314 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30074-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 146580 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30074-h/30074-h.htm | 7717 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30074.txt | 7027 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30074.zip | bin | 0 -> 134593 bytes |
9 files changed, 28708 insertions, 0 deletions
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/30074-0.txt b/30074-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02cf4e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/30074-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6634 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30074 *** + +JESSICA, THE HEIRESS + +by + +EVELYN RAYMOND + +Author of "Jessica Trent," "Jessica Trent's Inheritance," etc. + + + + + + + +Whitman Publishing Co. +Racine, Wisconsin + +Copyright, 1904, by The Federal Book Company + +Jessica, the Heiress + +Printed by +Western Printing & Lithographing Co. +Racine, Wis. + +Printed in U.S.A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I Jessica Disappears 11 + II The Hush of Anxiety 22 + III Old Century Takes the Trail 31 + IV Deliverance 41 + V Jessica's Story 50 + VI Behind Locked Doors 59 + VII A Royal Gift 70 + VIII The Face at the Window 79 + IX The Prisoner Disappears 90 + X On the Road Home 99 + XI The Passing of Old Century 110 + XII The Rebellion of the Lads. 121 + XIII Ned's Story 131 + XIV Taking the Doctor's Advice 140 + XV Ninian's Greeting 150 + XVI Jessica Gets Her Wish 161 + XVII The Cactus Hedge 170 + XVIII What the Sabbath Brought 180 + XIX Antonio's Confession 189 + XX The Verdict 201 + XXI Conclusion 210 + + + + +JESSICA, THE HEIRESS + +CHAPTER I. + +JESSICA DISAPPEARS + + +Mrs. Benton and Jessica were upon the south porch of the Sobrante +ranch house, the former busy as usual, the latter idly enjoying her +charming surroundings as she swung to and fro in her hammock. + +Mighty vines of pale yellow roses, intermingled with climbing +fuchsias, cast shade and sweetness over them; the porch was bordered +by a wide swath of calla lilies, also in full flower, while just +beyond these a great shrub of poinsettia dazzled the sight with its +gleaming blossoms. + +When a momentary silence of the other's nimble tongue allowed her to +speak, Jessica exclaimed: + +"Aunt Sally, you're the only person I know who can do three things at +once. You sew as fast as you rock, and talk faster than either. You're +a very clever woman." + +The old lady answered complacently, as she bit off a fresh needleful +of thread and looked at her companion over her spectacles: + +"Yes, dearie, I expect I am. I can do more'n that, too. I can keep up +a powerful thinking." + +"About what, pray?" + +"How that life is a patchwork quilt. All the colors of the rainbow, +and some that any self-respectin' rainbow would scorn to own. Some +scraps so amazing homely you hate to put 'em in, but just have to, +else there wouldn't be blocks enough to square it out." + +"What sort of a scrap am I, Aunt Sally?" + +"Huh! Fair to middlin'. Neither very light, nor very dark. You'd be +prettier, to my notion, if you'd fetch a needle and thread and sew a +seam with me, 'stead of swinging yourself dizzy out of pure +laziness." + +"Now, Aunt Sally! I call that unkind! I hate to sew." + +"I believe you. You'll never put a stitch where a pin will do. But, +never mind. If everybody else sets out to spoil you, I don't know as +it's my call to interfere." + +There was so much tenderness in the glance that accompanied these +words that nobody could resent them; least of all the girl, who now +sprang from the hammock and curled herself at the other's feet. + +"Tell me those powerful thoughts, auntie, dear." + +Mrs. Benton sighed, but responded nothing loath: + +"There's your mother, Gabriella. Only child, left an orphan, raised by +a second cousin once removed, who'd more temper than sense, and when +your mother fell in love with your father, who'd more goodness than +cash, shut the door on them both forthwith. So off they come to +Californy and pitch their tent right here in the spot." + +"They couldn't have chosen a lovelier place," their daughter answered, +with a sweeping glance over the fair land which formed her home. + +"That's true enough. Then him getting that New York company to buy +Paraiso d'Oro Valley, so's a lot of folks that was down in the world +could come out here and live in it. Poor Cass'us dying, just as he'd +got things to his liking; the losing of the title deed and your +journeying to Los Angeles to get it back." + +"Not 'lost,' Aunt Sally. Poor Antonio hid it at El Desierto, in the +cave of the Three Rocks. He--" + +"Cat's foot! Don't you go to 'pooring' that snaky sneak, or you and +me'll fall out. I should hate that." + +"So should I. But you've set me thinking, too. How wonderful that Mr. +Ninian Sharp was, the newspaper man. If it hadn't been for him, we'd +never have won that battle. What could I have done, with Ephraim Marsh +in the hospital, and I knowing nothing about the city? That Mr. Hale +was another splendid man. I can understand how he had to keep his word +and do his best for the company which thought father had wronged it; +and I can also understand that he was as glad as we to find their +money safe with the poor banker who was killed, Luis Garcia's +father." + +"'Pooring' again are you? Another scamp, too." + +"Oh, Aunt Sally! He's--dead!" remonstrated Jessica, in awestruck +tones. + +"And a fine job he is. There's plenty of good-for-noughts still +living. A man that's been wicked all his life ain't apt to turn saint +at the end of it. I like folks that do their duty as they go along. If +the robber, Garcia, had got well he'd likely claimed our Luis and +reared him to be as bad as himself." + +"Aunt Sally, you're uncharitable this morning. What's made you so?" + +"The plumb meanness of human natur'." + +"Your own?" asked the girl teasingly. + +"No, saucebox. My boy, John's. His, and all the rest of 'em." + +"Toward whom?" + +"Oh! 'tisn't toward anybody, out and out. If it was I'd roll up my +sleeves and switch the lot of 'em, just as if they were the little +tackers they act like. It's them pesky hints and shrugged shoulders, +every time the Dutch Winklers or 'Forty-niner' is spoke of. I wish to +goodness that man'd come home and clear his name, or give me a chance +to do it. He no more stole that knitting-woman's money than I did." + +"Aunt Sally! Stole? Stole! My Ephraim! Why, you must be crazy!" + +"There, it's out. Needn't hop up like that, mad as a hornet, at me. +I'm not the one hints and shrugs. It's the whole lot of your precious +'boys'--boys; indeed! and needing spanking more'n they ever did in +their lives." + +Jessica's swift pacing of the wide porch came to a sudden halt, and +she dropped down again at Mrs. Benton's feet, feeling as if the floor +had given way beneath her tread. + +"This, then, was what my mother meant, that very day when I came back, +that Ephraim was happier where he was! The dear old fellow; thrown to +the street by his graceless Stiffleg; picked up with a leg full of +broken bones; a prisoner in a hospital all these weeks; giving all his +savings of years to us; and the 'boys' he's lived with since before I +was born accusing him of--theft! Aunt Sally, it's too monstrous to be +true!" + +"'Tis, indeedy. Seem's if the Evil One had been let loose, here at +Sobrante, when the word of a half-wit--poor half, at that--is held +proof against the entire life of an honest old man." + +Aunt Sally was so deeply moved that, for once, she allowed herself a +moment's respite from unceasing industry, unconsciously holding a +patchwork block to her moist eyes, and slowly swaying the great rocker +as she sorrowfully reflected that: + +"I raised him the best I could, that boy John. I gave him a pill once +a week, regular, to keep his bile down. I washed him every Saturday +night and spanked him after I got through. I never let him eat butter +when he had gravy, and I made him say his prayers night and morning. I +had a notion that such wholesome rearin' would turn him out a decent +man; and now, just see!" + +In spite of her own distress, Jessica laughed. + +"Aunt Sally, if anybody but yourself hinted that John wasn't a +'decent' man you'd do something dreadful to punish the slanderer." + +"Suppose I should? Wouldn't I have a right? Ain't he my own?" + +Jessica smiled faintly, but sat for a long time silent. The talkative +woman in the rocker also kept silence, brooding over many things. +Finally she burst forth: + +"I don't see why it is that just as soon as a body gets into smooth +sailing, along comes a storm and upsets things again. There was your +mother, beginning to feel she could go ahead and do what her husband +wanted to, and now here's this bad feeling among her trusted hired +men. Suspicion is the pisenest yarb that grows. The folks that could +suspect old 'Forty-niner' of wrong things'll be plumb ready to watch +out for one another. Somebody'll be caught nappin', sure. 'Tisn't in +human natur' to walk upright all the time, and it's foolish to expect +it. But--shouldn't wonder if I'd be the next one accused. And it +comin' Christmas time too. Land! I'm so bestead I've sewed that patch +in wrong side up. What? Hey? You laughin'? I don't see anything funny +in this business, myself," said the old lady, fretfully. + +"You would if you could look in a glass! Your face is all streaked +purple and green, where you cried on your patch," explained Jessica, +whose grief had changed to amusement. + +"You don't say! I knew them colors'd run. John fetched the piece from +Marion, last time he went for the mail. Of the two stores there, I +don't know which is the worst. Their 'Merrimac' won't wash, and their +flannel shrinks, and their thread breaks every needleful. But, to +'Boston'--dear me! Whatever did make me think of that place! Now I've +thought, it'll stick in my mind till it drives me wild--or back there, +and that's about the same thing. To go live with that slimsy cousin of +mine, after being in the same house with your mother, is like falling +off a roof into a squashy mud puddle. That's all the sense and +substance there is to Sarah, that was a Harrison before she was a +Ma'sh. I warrant she's clean out of medicine an money, for she's a +regular squanderer when it comes to makin' rag rugs. I wish you could +see 'em! I just wish't you could. Such dogs and cats as she weaves +into 'em would have druv' Noah plumb crazy if he had to take 'em into +the Ark. Their eyes are just round rings of white, with another round +ring of black in the middle----" + +"Aren't rings always round, auntie, dear?" + +"No, they ain't. Not after they've been trod on!" was the swift +retort, as the old lady pointed downwards toward the floor of the +porch. + +Both stooped and rose again, astonishment deepening upon their faces +as Jessica held out her open palm with the injured trinket lying upon +it. + +"Elsa Winkler's wedding ring! How came it here?" + +"How indeed? I don't believe that woman's been on these premises since +I came." + +"Even if she had, Aunt Sally, why should she bring the ring with her? +It was always too small for her, and she never had it on except during +the marriage ceremony. I've often heard her laugh about it; how +Wolfgang bought a ring as big as his money would pay for, and let it +go at that. She didn't see what difference it made whether it went +only on the tip of her finger or all the way down it. But she must +have been here, even if we didn't know it. I'll take it straight to +mother to keep. Then, too, I've idled enough. I promised my dear I'd +write all her Christmas invitations for her, because she says it will +save her the trouble, and be such a help to my education." + +"Christmas! Well, well. Does seem as if I couldn't leave before then, +nohow. And hear me, Jessie, darlin', don't you let your poor ma worry +her head over your book learning. Being she was a schoolma'am herself +makes her feel as if she wasn't doing the square thing by you letting +you run wild, so to speak. If the Lord means you to get schoolin' +He'll put you in the right way of it, don't you doubt. Who all does +Gabriella set out to ask here to visit?" + +"Mr. Hale, of course; and dear Mr. Sharp. I hope Ephraim will be well +enough to come, too. Then there are the Winklers, from the mine; the +McLeods, from their inn at Marion; and, maybe--we've never had a +Christmas without him--maybe poor Antonio." + +"Well, all I say is--if you ask him you needn't ask me. There wouldn't +be room on this whole ranch for the pair of us." + +"Then, of course, it's you first. Yet, it's all so puzzling to me. If +it's a time of 'peace and good will,' why do people keep on feeling +angry with one another?" + +"Jessica Trent, dast you stand there and look me in the face and say +that you have forgive that sneaky snakey manager for cheating your +mother like he did?" + +"He was sorry, Aunt Sally. Every letter he sends here tells that." + +"Fiddlesticks!" + +"And he's punished, isn't he, even if the New York folks let him go +free, by his disappointment? I can fancy how dreadful it would seem, +did seem to think this beautiful ranch was one's own, and then +suddenly to learn that it was not." + +"Oh! Jessie! You try my soul with your forgivin' and forgivin'. Next +you know you'll be sorry for Ferd, the dwarf, though 'tis he himself +what's started all this bobery against 'Forty-niner,' and eggs them +silly Winklers on to be so--so hateful. I'm glad that witless woman +did lose her ring, and I hope it'll never be straightened out. I guess +I'm out of conceit with everybody living, not exceptin' old Sally +Benton, herself!" + +With this home thrust at her own ill temper, the whimsical woman +betook herself and her dangling array of patchwork to Mrs. Trent's +sitting-room; there to discuss the prospects for holiday festivities +and to take account of stock, in the way of groceries on hand. Deep in +the subject of pies and puddings, they forgot other matters, till a +wild whoop outside the window disturbed them, and they beheld Ned and +Luis, painted in startling "Indian fashion," mounted upon a highly +decorated horse, which had never been seen in the Sobrante stables. + +"Hi, there, mother! Your money or your life!" + +"Money--life!" echoed Luis, clinging to his playmate's waist and +peeping over his shoulder. + +The horse was rearing and plunging more dangerously each second, and +both women rushed to the rescue of the imperiled children, who +realized nothing of their danger, but shouted and screamed the louder +the more frantic their steed became. Mrs. Trent caught the bridle, and +Aunt Sally snatched first one, then the other, child from the +creature's back, who, as soon as he was relieved of his yelling +burden, started at a gallop across the garden, ruining its beds and +borders on his way. + +"Oh, oh! Children, how could you? Whose horse is that? Where did you +get that paint? How shall I ever make you clean?" + +"I'll tend to that part, Gabriella. You just call a boy to fix them +flower beds before the plants wither. Oh, you rascals! You won't +forget this morning's fun in a hurry, I warn you! You've been in John +Benton's paint pots again. Well, you like paint, you shall have it, +and all you want of it too. Red and yeller, green and pink, with a +streak of blue. H'm! You're a tasty lot, ain't you!" + +The lads squirmed and twisted, but Aunt Sally's grip merely tightened +upon them so that finally, they ceased struggling and allowed her to +lead them whither she would, which was to the small laundry, that +stood at some slight distance from the house. Here she sternly +regarded each bedaubed, but otherwise nude, little figure, with so +fierce an expression upon her usually pleasant face that the young +miscreants winced, and Ned cried out: + +"Quit a-talking eyes at me that way, Aunt Sally Benton! I don't like +it." + +"Oh! you don't, eh? Well, what'd you disgrace yourselves this way for, +if 'twasn't to make folks stare? Where's your clothes?" + +"I don't know." + +"Very well, then I'll help you to remember." + +"I won't be whipped! I'll tell my mother!" shrieked Ned, retreating +toward the closed door of the building. + +"Won't be whipped, old Aunt Sally!" added Luis, clasping his leader; +whereupon the customary scuffle ensued; for, no matter what their +business in hand, personal contact always insured a slight passage at +arms. At present, this diverted their thoughts from what might be in +store at the will of their mutual enemy, and it came with appalling +suddenness. Each small boy was lifted, bidden to shut his eyes and +mouth, then plunged downward into a barrel of some cold slippery +stuff. Here he was soused vigorously up and down, until every portion +of his skin was smeared with the stick mess; after which he was placed +on his feet and once more commanded: + +"Now, son, just you stand there and dreen a spell. Lucky I made that +barrel of soft soap last week. It's just the stuff to take this paint +off, and what drips from you to the old adobe floor won't hurt. +Pasqual's a master hand at scrubbin', and I'll give him the job of you +and the floor both. Reckon you'll wish you hadn't ever seen paint pots +time he gets through. Now--where's your clothes?" + +Ned was silent, but Luis "guessed they's under a tree." + +"Well, son, Garcia, knowing it better than guessing 'bout now. Me and +Santa Claus is sort of partners, and he's due here soon. 'Twon't take +me a jerk of a lamb's tail to write and tell him how things stand at +Sobrante, and whose stockings'd better have switches 'stead of goodies +in 'em. Hear me? Where's your clothes?" + +A laugh caused Aunt Sally to glance through the window, where Jessica +was an amused spectator of the scene within. She now begged: + +"Don't be hard on the little tackers, auntie, dear. That was Prince, +Mr. Hale's horse, that Pedro has tended on the mesa all these days. +I'll find out how they came by it, and their clothes at the same time. +Tell mother, please," and with a merry nod to the unhappy urchins, so +shamfacedly "dreening" at Mrs. Benton's pleasure, she disappeared. + +Disappeared not only from the window, but, apparently, from life, as +suddenly and completely as if the earth had opened and engulfed her. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE HUSH OF ANXIETY + + +Mrs. Trent and Aunt Sally sat down alone to dinner. The little lads +were in their beds, recovering from the sound scrubbing Pasqual had +given them. Clothed in fresh nightgowns, and refreshed by generous +bowls of bread and milk, they had been left in a darkened room to +reflect upon the hard ways of transgressors. But reflection was +unusual work for their active brains, and they had promptly fallen +asleep; hence the profound peace which rested upon the house. + +"I wonder where Jessica is? She was to have written my letters for me, +but I haven't seen her since breakfast," said the mother, somewhat +anxiously. + +"Oh! she's around somewhere. Was at the laundry window while I was +tending to the children, and said she'd go find their clothes. In all +my born days I never saw two small heads could hatch the mischief +Ned's and Luis' can. It's out of one scrape into another, and seems if +they must break their necks some day." + +"Oh! don't forecast evil. Their pranks keep my nerves on tension all +the time, yet I shouldn't worry so. They always escape from harm. But +I'd like to know how they got that horse." + +"So would I. They must have had help painting it. Stands to reason two +midgets like them couldn't have kept a high-spirited creatur' quiet +while they wasted enough good paint on him to cover a meeting house." + +"John won't be pleased. He's so careful of his belongings, even I +never touch them without permission," said the ranch mistress, smiling +afresh at the memory of the ridiculous picture the boys had made. + +"Don't surprise me't you laugh, Gabriella, but you'd ought to put the +reins on tighter to them chaps, lest first you know they'll be driving +you, not you them. Do it already, seems if." + +"How can I be stern with Cassius' little son? Every day I see more +resemblance to his father in the childs face; yes, and in his nature, +too. Nobody was ever fonder of fun than my husband, yet surely there +never was a better man." + +"Oh! Neddy's all right. Trouble is to keep him from thinkin' so +himself. But, there. Why don't you eat your dinner? You haven't more'n +half touched it. It's a shame to waste good victuals, and these are +good. I fixed 'em myself." + +The other smiled again at the complacency visible upon her friend's +face, which so innocently dsplayed the same feeling that had just been +deplored in Ned. However, Aunt Sally was too busy with her own food to +notice anything else, and it seemed long to her companion before she +had finished and risen, to call, sharply: + +"Pas-qual! Oh, Pasqual-ly! Why aren't you on hand to clear the table? +Don't you know I've got--and here followed a long list of things to be +done, more than many could accomplish in several days." Each had some +reference to the coming holidays, and the house boy understood this. +He entered, more willingly than usual, grinning with the anticipation +of the raisins he would have to stone, the nuts he must crack, and the +goodly samples of each that he would surreptitiously procure. + +Mrs. Trent asked him to put aside Miss Jessica's dinner, till she came +in, and to be sure that it was also kept nice and warm. + +"All right, lady. I'll do that good enough. Don't mind what I has to +do for 'Lady Jess';" and immediately seized the plate, which Aunt +Sally had already filled, to place it in the warming oven. + +Then the mother went out, and among the adobe buildings, which formed +the "boys" quarters and the business part of the ranch, calling +gently, as she went, in the brooding sort of note which had long been +a signal between her and her child. But no Jessica responded; and, to +her fancy, it seemed that the whole place was strangely silent. + +"After all, that is not to be wondered at. The men are done with +dinner, and gone about their work. The boys are asleep, and only +Jessica would be anywhere near. What can keep her, I wonder?" and with +this thought the lady again uttered the tender call which would summon +her daughter, if she were within hearing. + +Then she returned to the house and tried to accept Aunt Sally's theory +that, likely some of them 'boys' is in trouble about his job, and +wants his 'captain' to go oversee. 'Mazin' strange, Gabriella, what a +influence that child has over 'em. "They 'pear to think, the whole lot +of 'em, that she can straighten out all the kinks that get into brains +or business." + +"She is quick to understand," said the mother, proudly. + +"Course. Nothin' strange, is it, seeing who her folks was? Best go +take a nap, honey." + +"Oh, no! Thank you for suggesting it, but I'm too wakeful." + +"Well, then, I'll fetch them kerns and citron right out here on the +kitchen porch. The sun's off it now, and there ain't a prettier spot +on earth where to prepare Christmas fixin's. I'll fetch the raisins +and stone 'em myself. That Pasky boy'd eat more'n half of 'em, if I +left 'em to him. Then we can visit right sociable; and I can free my +mind. The truth is, Gabriella Trent, that I ought to be harnessin' +Rosetty an' Balaam this minute, and be startin' for 'Boston.'" + +"Oh, Aunt Sally!" protested the ranch mistress, in real distress. + +"There, dearie, hush! Don't worry. I said 'I ought,' I didn't say I +was goin'. Seem's if I couldn't just tear myself away from Sobrante. +If Sarah Ma'sh, she that was a Harrison, and married Methuel, hasn't +got gumption enough to bile her own plum puddin', I 'most feel as if +she'd ought to go without. Though I don't know as that's real +Christian in me." + +"Dear Mrs. Benton, I wish everybody was as sincere a Christian as you +are." + +In her surprise, Aunt Sally tipped her rocker so far back that she +just escaped upset. + +"Why, Gabriella Trent! Me! Me! Don't say that, and make me feel +meaner'n dirt. It's you, honey, is that----" + +Mrs. Trent laughed as she answered: + +"We make a mutual admiration society, don't we? But Aunt Sally, you +mustn't think of leaving Sobrante before the holidays are past. I +can't spare you. I need the help of your head, as well as your hands, +and what would Christmas be to the children, if you weren't here to +cuddle and scold them after their greediness has made them ill." + +"Well, well, child, say no more. Here I am, and here I'll stay, if +Sarah Ma'sh don't get a stiver of pudding or fowl. Here, honey, I +reckon you best slice this citron. You've got a dainty hand for such +work and--my sake's alive! That fruit cake'd ought to been made weeks +ago, if it was to get any sort of ripeness into it before it was et! +Hurry up, do. We haven't a minute to waste." + +This adjuration had the good result of amusing Mrs. Trent so that, for +an hour at least, she forgot to be anxious over her daughter's +unexplained absence. Aunt Sally was a person who was always "driven to +death" by the mere thought of tasks for which there was, in reality, +ample time. But now that she had decided to remain at the ranch for a +further indefinite stay, her spirits rose and her brain busied itself +with a thousand plans for the comfort or amusement of the household, +over which she domineered, yet so ardently loved. + +"We haven't got much money for presents, I know. So I'll just get out +the piece-bag to-night, and press off them canton flannel scraps. +They'll make splended ducks for the youngsters----" + +"I fear that would be wasted labor, friend. The little lads have +outgrown homemade toys. Nothin that will not make a noise is +acceptable to them. I'd thought of sending over to Marion for drums +and whistles, if the stores there can furnish them." + +"Well, Gabriella Trent! I declare you are the benightenest woman that +ever set out to raise children! Drums! For them two? My, my! But what +won't a mother do for her little ones, I'd like to know!" + +The words were no sooner out of Mrs. Benton's mouth than she regretted +them. At the name of "mother" Mrs. Trent's forced gayety vanished, and +she lifted her eyes to her companion's face with a pitiful appeal. + +"Aunt Sally, what has happened to Jessica?" + +"Nothing, honey. Nothing in the world. What a master hand you are to +worry." + +The lady rose so hastily that the dish upon her lap slid to the floor, +and the other laughed: + +"There, Gabriel, you do beat all. If I'd dropped that dish 'twould +have upset, and every slice of citron in it rolled whithrety-yonder. +But for you--it knew better; just slipped off as slick as could be, +landed right side up, and not a morsel scattered. Seem's if dirt nor +nothin' disorderly ever could come a-nigh you, honey." + +Mrs. Trent did not even hear. Upon her face had grown a look that hurt +Aunt Sally to see; the more because the feeling it expressed was +continually increasing within her own heart. + +Where could Jessica be? Many hours had passed since she vanished from +the laundry window, and if she had gone upon any errand for her +"boys," she would have returned long since. Also, she would be swift +to restore the missing clothes of the little boys, as soon as found, +for she knew they would be prisoners within doors till she had done +so. + +"Don't you worry, I tell you, Gabriella. I'll take the great horn and +blow a blast will fetch the whole kerboodle back here, hot foot. If +that don't, I'll ring the mission bell! That'll mean trouble, sure +enough, and its dreadful racket'll reach clear to Los Angeles, +'pears." + +The mother crossed to the lattice and leaned against its post. +Something was wrong with her darling. She knew that as well as if she +had been told so by word of mouth, and a dreadful numbness stole over +her whole frame. As if in a dream, she saw Aunt Sally emerge from the +lean-to, where the great horn was kept, and raised the thing to her +lips; but the blast which followed seemed to have been ringing in her +ears forever. The silence that succeeded lasted but a moment, yet was +like an eternity. Then from one direction, and another, came the +ranchmen, understanding that there was need of their presence at the +"house," and each quickly catching something of the fear so plainly +depicted upon the faces of the waiting women. + +"John Benton, where's 'Lady Jess'?" demanded Aunt Sally, with terrible +sternness. + +"Why, mother, how should I know? I was off to the lemon house early, +fixing some shelves. I haven't seen her to-day and it makes it a long +one." + +Came "Marty" from his garden, a hoe over one shoulder and a mighty +vine of ripened tomatoes over the other, exclaiming: + +"How's this for a second year's growth? I thought you'd like 'em for +catsup, Aunt Sally, and what's the horn for?" + +"George Ceomarty, where's the 'captain'?" + +"I don't know." + +"You don't! You don't!" indignantly. + +"No. How should I? Last I saw, she was sitting the porch along with +you. You needn't glare at me so, but say yourself: 'Where's the +"captain"?'" + +"Come, gardener, this ain't a time for foolin'." + +He disdained to answer, reading the anxiety upon his mistress' face, +and feeling an unaccountable one growing in his own mind. + +It was a relief to all when the figure of Sailor Samson came into +view, making for the cottage with those firm strides of his, that +seemed to cover the distance with incredible speed. He was always to +be depended upon in an emergency, and there was good cheer in his +tones, as, having been asked the same question which had greeted his +mates, he tossed back the light answer: + +"Why, I don't know just at this minute, but I'll wager wherever she +is, she's doing good to somebody, or finishing up some fellow's +neglected job. Why? Ain't scared of 'Lady Jess,' are you?" + +"That's just what we are, herder. She's no hand to run off an' stay +off without tellin' where to; and if she couldn't find the children's +clothes she'd been back before now to say so. Somethin' dreadful has +happened to the precious girl, and you needn't say there hasn't!" +wailed Mrs. Benton; adding in fresh dismay as the ranch mistress +quietly sank to the floor in a faint! "There! Now I have done it! Oh! +that tongue of mine!" + +"Yes, old woman! That tongue of yours' has wrought a heap of mischief +in its day," cried Samson, angrily, as he lifted the fallen lady and +carried her into the house. + +But Aunt Sally was quite herself again, and put him coolly aside, +while she ministered to the unconscious ranch mistress, and, at the +same time, gave him a succinct history of the morning's events. +Everybody at Sobrante knew the deep devotion of Lady Jess to her +widowed mother, and the thoughtfulness with which she always sought +to prevent her loved one's "worrying," and all realized that there +might be something seriously amiss in this protracted, unexplained +absence. However, and to a certain degree, the child was allowed to be +independent, and she was liable to reappear at any moment and to gibe +at their "foolish fear" for her. But to summon her, at once, was the +surest way of comforting Mrs. Trent, and Samson went out again to +distribute the assembled ranchmen into searching parties, with the +injunction: + +"Don't scare the 'captain' when you find her, but just let her know +her mother needs her, and her dinner's drying up in the oven. Now +scatter; and don't you show a face back here without her in hand!" + +"Can't all of us find her, herder. Ain't 'captains' enough to go +'round," said a cowboy, with an ill-attempt at playfulness, which was +instantly frowned down. For, though all assured themselves that there +was no substantial cause for alarm, and that women were "nervous +cattle, always scared at shadders," they had already caught something +of this nervousness. Each felt that the best sight for his eyes at +that moment would be the gleam of a golden head, and the sweetest +music his ears could hear the sound of a young girl's laughter. + +But, alas! Daylight gave place to the sudden night of that region, +where no lingering twilight is known; and still over the great ranch +there rested the terrible silence which had followed the loss of one +merry voice. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +OLD CENTURY TAKES THE TRAIL + + +The clatter of horse's hoofs on the dry sward made Pedro, the +shepherd, lift his eyes from his basket weaving, but only for an +instant. The sight of Samson, the herder, mounted upon the fleetest +animal of the Sobrante stables, was nothing compared to the working +out of the intricate pattern he had set himself to follow. Even the +centenarian, dwelling in his lofty solitude, knew that there was +approaching the blessed Navidad, whereon all good Christians exchanged +gifts, in memory of the great gift the Son of God; and what could he +do but put forth his utmost ingenuity to please his heart's dearest, +even Jessica of the sunny face? + +Like Aunt Sally, at the ranch, he had, at last, caught a feeling of +haste and wished not to be disturbed; so he did not even look up again +when he was accosted. + +"Hello, old man! Hard at it, still?" + +No reply forthcoming, Samson shouted, as if the shepherd were deaf: + +"Where's Capt. Jess, abuleo (grandfather)?" + +The deferential title won the attention which the loud voice could not +gain, and Pedro glanced carelessly upon the mighty herder, a mere +youth of sixty summers, and replied, with equal carelessness: + +"Am I the nina's[A] keeper? But, no," then resumed his weaving. + +In another instant the delicate, finely split rushes had been snatched +from the weaver's hands, and he exhorted: + +"By all that's great, old man! Tell me, has Jessica Trent passed this +way?" + +"Why for? Once, but once, since the long journey and the finding of +that bad Antonio came she to Pedro's hut. Give back the basket. For +her, of the bright hair, it is; my finest, and, maybe, my last. Why +not? Yet still again I will keep the fiesta, si. The child. Many have +I loved, but none like my little maid. The basket." + +This was a long speech for the silent dweller on the mesa, and there +was more of anger in his usually calm eyes than Samson had never seen +there, as he rose and extended his skinny hands for his treasure. + +The herder restored it, his heart growing heavier as he did so. + +"Think fast, good Pedro. The old are wise, and hark ye! These many +hours the child is from home. The mistress--you love her?" + +"She is my mistress," answered the shepherd, in a tone which conveyed +all his deep feeling. To him his "mistress" represented a material +Providence. From her hand came all the simple necessaries of his life. +From her, on the approaching nativity, would also come some things +which were not necessaries, but infinitely more precious to the +centenarian than such could be. On the nativity he would be sent, upon +the gentlest mount his lady owned, to the mission service which he +loved. Thereafter he would ride back to Sobrante, his own priest +beside him, to feast his fill on such food as he tasted but once a +year. At nightfall of that blessed day he would gather the ranchmen +about him, in that old corridor where once he had seen the ancient +padres walk, breviary in hand, and tell his marvelous tales of the +days when the land was new, when whole tribes of redfaces came to be +taught at the padres' feet, and when the things which now were had not +been dreamed of. Some who listened to these Christmas stories believed +that the secrets at which the shepherd hinted were vagaries of his +enfeebled mind, but others, and among them Samson, gave credence to +them, and yearly did their best to worm from him their explanation. + +That mention of the "mistress" had touched him, also, to anxiety, and +he motioned the herder to repeat his statement. He then straightened +himself to almost the erectness of the younger man, and begun at once +to gather his rushes and rap them carefully in a moistened cloth. With +an expressive gesture toward his cabin, he suggested that Samson was +free to enter it and provide such entertainment for himself as he +chose, or could find. And so well did the herder know the shepherd +that he fully understood this significant wave of the hand, and +replied to it in words: + +"Thanks, old man, but some other time. At present I'm keener on the +scent for my captain than for even your good coffee. If she comes, +report, will you?" + +The other did not notice what he heard, but himself proceeded to the +cabin and safely deposited his handiwork within it. Then he came out +again, whistled for his dog, Keno, whose head he stroked for some +time, and into whose attentive ear he seemed to be whispering some +instruction. + +A shade of amusement, merging into wonder, crossed the herder's +countenance, and he communed with himself thus: + +"Blow my stripes, if Old Century isn't going to take the trail +himself! He's telling that canine what to do while he's gone, and, +ahoy, there! If the knowin' creatur' doesn't understand him! All +right, grand sir! Yet, not all so right, either. It takes a deal of +business to move Pedro off his mesa, and if he's riled enough to leave +it now, it's because he sees more danger to Lady Jess than even I do. +Hello! what's he waiting for?" + +Evidently for Samson to depart, which that gentleman presently did, +grimly considering: + +"Old chap thinks the whole mesa belongs to him, and 'pears to suspect +I might rob him if he left me behind. Well, friend, I've no call to +tarry. Since my lady isn't here, I must seek her elsewhere," and down +the canyon Samson dashed, his sure-footed beast passing safely where a +more careful animal would have stumbled. + +All this had happened soon after the dispersing of the ranchmen to +search for Jessica, and Samson had now taken that turn of the trail +which led to the miner's cabin. + +"'Tisn't likely she's there, though. She'd never travel afoot that +long distance, and Buster's in the stable." + +The Winklers received him with gloom. The hilarious gayety that had +once distinguished their small household had vanished with the loss of +Elsa's money. Their son, and idol, had been defrauded of a rich future +for which they had toiled, and life now seemed to them but an irksome +round of humdrum duties, to be gotten through with as easily as +possible. Over the cabin hung an air of neglect which even Samson was +swift to note, and most significant of all, Elsa's knitting had fallen +to the floor and become the plaything of a kitten, which evoked no +reprimand, tangle the yarn as she would. + +"Hello, neighbors! Ain't lookin' over and above cheerful, are you? +What's wrong?" + +"Good-day, herder. How's all?" + +"Glum, I should say. Where's Lady Jess?" + +Wolfgang elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders and made a +gesture of ignorance, but said no word. + +"Lost your tongues, mostly, hey? I say--where's the captain?" + +Elsa lumbered forward to the doorway, and dully regarded the visitor; +then, after a time, replied: + +"Not here." + +Her brevity was another contrast to her former volubility, but it was +sufficient to thrill the questioner's heart with fresh dismay. + +"Has she been here to-day?" + +Elsa shook her head. Otto came out from the shed and glanced +disconsolately at Samson, then slowly returned whence he had come. + +The herder's temper flamed, and, snapping his whip at the air, he +cried out, hotly: + +"Look at me, you passel of idiots! You think you know what trouble is +just because you've lost a handful of money? Well, you don't! You +haven't even guessed at it. Money! The world's full of that, but there +never was more than one Lady Jess, and I tell you--I tell you--she's +lost!" + +He had spoken out at last the fear he had scarcely acknowledged, and +the shock of his own plain speech held him silent thereafter. His head +drooped, his great body settled in the saddle, as if the whole burden +of his sixty years had fallen upon him in that moment. His attitude, +even more than his words, conveyed his meaning to his hearers, and, in +a flash, the real values of what they had loved, and now lost, fell +into their rightful places. + +"Money? The little lady?" Ah! what, after all, was the one compared to +the other? + +"Man--you lie!" retorted Wolfgang, clinching his fist and advancing +with a threatening air. Elsa stepped to his side, her wide face +turning even paler than it had been, and a startled look dawning in +her eyes. Even Otto, the six-foot "child," reappeared from his retreat +and regarded the horseman reproachfully. + +As for him, he roused from his momentary despondency and glared upon +the trio of spectators as if they, and they alone, were to blame for +the calamity which had befallen. + +Question and answer followed swiftly, and again Samson was off down +the slope, headed now for distant Marion, the least likely of all +places wherein his darling might be found. Once he was out of sight, +the Winkler household resolved itself into an additional search party; +and it was noticeable that, whereas formerly, when they were leaving +the home, they would carefully secure the cabin against intruders, +they now disdained any further preparation than kicking the kitten out +of doors, and removing the kettle of boiling stew from the fireplace +to the ground before the door. A fleeting smile did cross Elsa's face, +as she reflected that the meddler with her knitting would probably +scald itself in the pot, but she didn't care. Her whole mind was now +set upon Sobrante and its mistress, and so eager was she to reach the +spot that she set off on her long walk with an alacrity she had not +shown since the discovery of the robbery. + +Wolfgang and Otto armed himself each with a sharp, iron-pointed staff, +and silently, with one accord, started toward El Desierto. Why, even +they could not have explained, beyond the fact that it seemed a place +for hiding things. It was a long walk, and so weary had the "little +boy" become by the time the deserted ranch was reached that Wolfgang +left it unfatherly to force a return trip on that same day, although +no signs of recent occupancy had rewarded their search. + +So it was in every case. Jessica had simply and completely disappeared, +and there settled upon the home the darkest night it had ever known. +Even that on which its master had been brought back dead did not +equal in intensity of anguish the uncertainty which drove the waiting +mother frantic. At times she would call for a horse and ride wildly +to and fro, peering into every shadowed spot and call pitifully upon +her child, at others she would hasten to the house, eagerly +demanding of Aunt Sally, "has she come?" + +"Not yet, honey. Not quite yet. Just wait a spell, and you'll see her +all right. Best be here at home when she does come, Gabriella. You'd +hate to have anybody else the first to meet her, you know." + +This advice, uttered in tones so gentle they were hardly recognizable +as Mrs. Benton's, would be followed for the moment, till the torture +of dreadful possibilities would send the distracted ranch mistress +again afield. + +So the night wore away, and sunrise came, and still there was no +returning party that brought good cheer. Each tarried, for a brief +time, to attend to the live stock under his immediate care, and some +even to snatch a morsel of food, but mostly they were off and away +again, a flask of water and a bit of hardtack in pocket, oftener than +not forgetting even this meager nourishment. + +By the end of the second day the sorrowful news had spread all over +the countryside, and other ranches were well-nigh as deserted as +Sobrante, while their forces joined in the apparently hopeless +search. + +By then, also, Mrs. Trent had resigned herself to a quiet acceptance +of the worst, and sat for hours at a time rigidly motionless, with +only her sense of hearing intensely alert, strained to its utmost for +whatever news might come. As each party came back to consult the +others, and for the refreshment that human nature could no longer do +without, it reported to the waiting woman, who received the message in +silence, yet with the courteous bow which acknowledged the other's +effort on her behalf. + +Aunt Sally now rose to the occasion as only her great heart could +suggest. All the petty fussiness which had annoyed her neighbors +dropped away from her as she moved softly, keen-eyed and solicitous, +among them all. The steaming bowl of coffee and strengthening +sandwich, ready on the instant for each arrival the unshaken +hopefulness of her eyes, and her wordless control of the awestruck +little boys, were comforts scarcely realized in that dark time; yet +comforts truly. Even Gabriella could not refuse the nourishment so +lovingly pressed upon her, and mechanically drank the cup of broth +which her friend had taken care should be of the strongest. To one +and all this homely ministering angel affirmed, with unshaken +persistence: + +"Jessica Trent is safe. Jessica Trent is coming back." + +Meanwhile, old Pedro, for the first time in nearly a twelvemonth, had +turned his back upon the mesa which he loved and set out on a toilsome +path. In his hand he carried a curious, notched stick, upon which he +sometimes leaned, but oftener bore upon his shoulder, as it were a +precious possession that he must guard. Old as he was, his staff was +older still. It had come to him when the valley mission had been +abandoned, and the padre who bestowed it upon this, his faithful +servant, had also given into his keeping a valuable secret. This +metal-pointed rod was one thing Pedro never left behind him when he +journeyed from home. + +Starting from the east side of the mesa, he dipped into the canyon; +not by the trail over which Jessica had ridden the ostrich on the day +of her eventful meeting with Morris Hale, but by the farther, ragged +wall where it seemed as if feet so old could never make their way. Yet +make it they did, as surely if not as swiftly as in their younger +days. There was not the slightest hesitation in their direction, +though there were indeed, frequent pauses during which the Indian's +keen hearing was strained for an expected sound. After each such halt +Pedro would resume his path, climbing over rocks which looked +insurmountable and skirting others by ledges less than a span's width. +Over this part of the canyon wall none of the Sobrante ranchmen had +ever come; though below it, along a smoother portion, ran the flume +that watered the ranch in the valley. + +Darkness found the shepherd still among the overhanging crags, and +with true Indian stolidity he rested for the night. His blanket +wrapped around him, his staff on the safe inner side, he lay down upon +a shelf of stone and slept as peacefully as in his cabin on the level +mesa, from which two motives had driven him abroad. + +Something had warned him that this approaching Christmastide might be +his last, and that the time of which he had often dreamed was to come. +He would now test the truth of the secret he had received, and, if it +proved what had been promised, would share it with his beloved +mistress, his priceless Navidad gift to her and hers. + +Also sitting solitary at his basket, weaving on the isolated island, +Pedro had still observed much. Each trifle was an event to him, and of +late these trifles had gathered thick about him. With annoying +frequency Ferd, the dwarf, had invaded and contaminated his solitude. +The hints which the misshapen creature had dropped, though receiving +no outward attention, had, nevertheless, remained in the Indian's mind +to disturb it. It was to hunt for this wretched fellow, as well as to +prove his "secret," that he was now in the canyon, believing that when +he was found, there would be Jessica also. + +When morning came he rose and tightened his belt about him and set out +afresh. The long sleep had restored his vigor and his eye gleamed with +satisfaction. The muscles that had stiffened from long disuse--he +would not have admitted that the stiffness came from age--were limber +as of old, and he felt that, after all, it was good to be once more +upon the trail. But even his confidence would have been rudely shaken +could he have foreseen the peril wherein that trail would end. + + [A] Little one. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DELIVERANCE + + +A second night of fruitless search upon the rocky wall passed before +the old Indian came to the spot which he had thought so near, full +twenty-four hours before. He had fed his hunger upon the few wild +plums he had found, and more than once he had descended to the flume +to slake his thirst; then reclimbed the height again, for there he +knew lay the road of his goal. Again and again he tapped the solid +rock or the scant earth about it for a response to that magical tip +upon his rod; and now, as the second day lightened the gulch, the +response came. + +The staff forsook his hand, as it had been a creature of volition, and +stood upright upon a smooth-faced bowlder. It needed all the man's +strength to wrest it thence, and, grasping it securely, he carefully +descended, for the last time, the precipitous wall. Always the staff +tugged at his grasp, seeking the earth, but he carried it still toward +a clump of gnarled trees which appeared to him like the faces of +long-lost friends. It seemed to him that in all the half century since +he looked upon them, neither branch nor twig had altered. So had they +been on that sad day when the last of the padres had brought him +hither and shown them to him. Beneath their roots lay the secret he +had kept so well. + +But the cave--what had become of that? And the stout shaft of hewn +timber which led below into the heart of earth? + +"Alas! I deceive myself. I have forgotten, for I am old; not young as +I seemed to me. I have come in vain," he complained, in his thought; +and with a gesture of despair, in his hunger and weariness, the +shepherd sank upon the ground and dropped his face on his breast. + +Long he sat thus, till there came to him upon the silence the answer +no call could have awaked. He began to hear sounds. The creeping of +some heavy body amid the chaparral, coming nearer, more distinct. Some +wild shrubs sheltered him from sight, and, peering through their +twigs, he watched in breathless silence. Ah! Reward! + +It was Ferd who approached, as cautiously as if he were conscious of +those gleaming eyes behind the mesquite, and who, turning in his path, +entered a point among the trees which even Pedro had not suspected of +leading any whither. + +It was now the Indian's part to creep after this crawling creature; +and he did so as swiftly, almost as silently, as if he were the +dwarf's mere shadow. Always he kept a screen of leaves between them, +less needed soon, as the unconscious guide led the way out of the +sunlight into the depths of gloom. The cave at last! + +But the half-wit, Ferd? Had he guessed its secret? + +On and on, it seemed interminably. Now and then the dwarf would pause +and listen, but at every halt there was utter silence behind him. Then +onward again, and at length into a spacious place, around the walls of +which great jagged rocks made recesses of impenetrable gloom. With one +arm outstretched, feeling his way, and with his precious staff secured +against his back within his blanket, Pedro paused in such a recess +just in time, for the dwarf had struck a match and lighted a lantern. +This he swung round his head, peering in each direction, and blinded, +maybe, by the very rays with which he sought to disclose any possible +follower. Satisfied that he was alone, Ferd moved onward again, and +Pedro followed, hugging the chamber wall and screening himself in +every shadow. + +But Ferd had no longer any fear of discovery or any thought of aught +save that which lay before him. The passage was higher now and he +could easily stand upright; the Indian also rising to his feet, though +he had to bow his head lest it should brush the ceiling. + +The dwarf began to talk aloud, to himself, apparently; but after a +moment of this muttering, grew silent again. He had come to the mouth +of a black pit which seemed to descend into great depths. In reality +the depth was not so great; yet to anyone within it escape was +impossible without help from above. Into this hole Ferd peered, +holding the lantern so that its rays fell straight downward, and +calling in a jeering voice: + +"Is the 'captain' ready yet?" + +"Oh, Ferd! good Ferd! Please, please let me out!" answered a voice +that thrilled old Pedro's heart with joy. + +"All right. The money first." + +"But I have no money. You must help me up!" + +"Down there safe. Is you hungry?" + +"No, Ferd. The food you took out of Aunt Sally's pantry kept me from +that." + +The dwarf threw himself backward, on the rocky floor above, and +laughed loudly, yet his mirth was shortlived. Pedro's hand was on his +throat before a movement had been heard, and Pedro's voice was calling +into the pit: + +"Here am I, Sunny Face. Wait. I come." + +During all the hours of her imprisonment, Jessica's courage had not +faltered, but, at the sound of that blessed cry, it suddenly gave way +and she burst into a paroxysm of sobs and tears, which effectually +prevented her hearing the struggle that ensued in the gloom between +the shepherd and the hunchback. For though the lantern had not been +extinguished, as it rolled from its owner's hand, it had fallen upon +its one glass side and gave no light. + +For a time, even the Indian feared the issue of that battle in the +dark and the abnormal strength of the dwarf's long arms; but the +craft, if not the whole vigor of his own youth remained with him, and +at a chance opportunity, he whipped off his blanket and smothered his +opponent's face therein. + +The blanket was almost priceless, and, next to his staff, his dearest +possession; but when its heavy folds had subdued the other to +unconsciousness, he did not hesitate to tear it into strips. With +these Ferd was promptly bound, hand and foot. Then Pedro recovered the +lantern and again called to Lady Jess: + +"I find a way. Wait." + +"Oh, Pedro! I know your blessed voice! There's a rope somewhere. Ask +him. Quick--quick!" + +"Wait." + +But the dwarf had almost immediately recovered his breath, recognized +his opponent, and now directed the search. With a few superstitious +ranchmen, he shared the belief that Old Century was under supernatural +protection, and that it was extremely dangerous to meddle with one so +guarded. Of all who might have traced him to that hidden spot, here +was the last he wished to meet; and now that he knew himself beaten, +he began to whimper and plead in a cowardly way: + +"Let me up, Pedro. Ferd'll take little lady out. Just fun, to make big +talk. Ferd never hurt the 'captain;' no Ferd is a good boy, Pedro. +Ferd is a good boy. Poor Ferd! Pedro, let poor Ferd go." + +The only attention the shepherd vouchsafed the whiner was to put his +own foot under the inert body and roll it well back from the pit's +mouth. He had found the rope, a long and costly lariat which he +recognized as having once been the property of Jessica's father, and +he secured it about an upright timber that he tested and saw was still +firm. Then he took the handle of the lantern between his teeth and +slipped swiftly down the shaft. + +As he reached the bottom Jessica threw herself upon his breast with a +fresh outburst of joy and tears. But he dared not tarry below even +with an apparently helpless enemy above, and, giving her the rope, he +tersely bade her: + +"Climb!" + +With an intuition of his fear, she promptly obeyed him and stood guard +over the lariat lest Ferd should make a fresh attempt upon it. Yet it +seemed an interminable time that Pedro stayed below; and when at last +he came above, she held him fast, not willing again to let him go. + +But he was in no haste. Allowing her to keep between himself and the +cavern's wall, even intrusting to her care the curious staff that now +persisted in dancing along the cavern's floor in an elfish way which +amazed the girl, he made a circuit of the place. At one spot he +paused, and a single grunt of satisfaction escaped him. Then he seized +a loaf of bread from a shelf-like niche and began to eat it eagerly. +He even pointed to another, lying in the same place, but Jessica shook +her head. + +"No, no. I am not hungry. He gave me plenty of stuff to eat. Lots of +things that have been missing from the kitchen and puzzled Aunt Sally +so. Oh! Pedro, let us go! Shall I ever see her again? or my precious +mother? How long has it been? It seems forever. Come, come! Oh! +come!" + +"Wait," was the imperturbable answer, and the only one she could win +from him. She was alive and well. He had found her. There was no cause +for haste, nor had he ever hasted in his long life. The man who wastes +his time in hurry loses all. He had found what he sought. This was the +very pit, the forsaken shaft of which the padre told him. It led to +what no other person dreamed. Was he to be balked of his purpose, for +the child's whim? No. It was for her, even, that he tarried. + +In his groping about the cave the lantern had revealed some loose +fragments of rock which he now pushed in front of the dwarf's body, +thus making him a more secure prisoner; and, satisfied that all was +now safe, he descended again into the old shaft, leaving Jessica in +darkness. + +Her impatience was almost unbearable, and escape seemed as distant as +ever, but there was nothing left except that "waiting" Pedro had so +constantly advised. + +It was rewarded, at last, by his call from the pit, and even his calm +voice was now shaken by excitement. + +"Come, Sunny Face!" + +Leaning over the edge of the hole, she saw him point toward the rope +and understood that he wished her to descend, but with a shiver of +distrust she declined. + +"Come." + +This time the order was peremptory and she obeyed it, sliding swiftly +down, to be caught and safely deposited on the floor of the shaft. +Placing the lantern in her hand, the Indian began to gather a strange +collection of articles from one corner of the narrow chamber and to +display them to her. As each was held up, an exclamation of surprise +broke from her, but even she had grown mostly silent now, and her +interest prevented fear. When a goodly heap had been piled beside her, +she found her voice again, saying: + +"I reckon everything that's ever been lost from Sobrante since it +began is down here. Elsa's little leathern bags with their knitted +covers; Beppo's plumes; Marty's watch, that he thought he had lost in +the gulch; Wun Lung's carved image. Oh, Pedro! how dreadful and yet +how splendid!" + +The shepherd allowed her rhapsodies to answer themselves. Though his +eyes betrayed his complacency, he had more serious work on hand, and, +pointing upward, he commanded: + +"Fetch the padre's staff." + +Lady Jess now realized that obedience was the shortest road to +freedom, so climbed and descended the rope again, with the ease gained +by her gymnastic training under the "boys'" tuition. But she took +into the pit, beside the staff that curious basket which she had once +seen Ferd carrying up the canyon and over which she had, most +fortunately, just then stumbled. + +"See, Pedro! This will do to hold all those things!" + +The Indian "saw," indeed, that this was a bit of his own handiwork +which had been missing from the mesa, for many moons. He nodded +gravely, but was more eager for the staff than for his lost property; +and, taking the lantern again to the inner wall of the shaft, he set +the rod upon its point. It remained motionless, exactly upright, where +he placed it; and now, truly, the old man paused to gaze upon it in +wordless delight. He was so rapt and still that the girl grew +frightened and awestruck, watching his odd behavior, and begged him: + +"Tell me what that means, Pedro! The thing is bewitched." + +"Ugh!" said the Indian, arousing from his contemplation, and, stooping +began to dig amid the loose stones at his feet, with the only tools at +his command--his own lean fingers. For these he sometimes substituted +a bit of rock, and to Jessica it seemed as if he would never give over +his strange task. When she had begun to really despair of the +liberation which had seemed so near a while ago, he ceased his labor +and stood upright, holding something shining toward the lantern's +light. To the girl it appeared as only another worthless stone, of a +pretty, reddish hue, but wholly unworthy the toil which had been spent +to secure it. She was further surprised, if anything could now +surprise her, to see the Indian place the fragment carefully within +his shirt front and tighten his belt afresh below it. Then he lifted +the basket she had filled with the articles they had found and +motioned her upwards again. + +"Now, we're really going, aren't we, Pedro?" + +"Yes, Sunny Face. We go." + +Indeed, he was as eager for departure as heretofore he had been loath. +Releasing the dwarf's feet from their bandages, he helped his prisoner +to them and gently propelled him forward by a kick of his own +moccasined toe. Thus compelled, Ferd led the way, the shepherd at his +heels, carrying the basket slung upon the staff over his shoulder, and +his free hand pressed closely against his breast where he had placed +the gleaming stone. Behind him walked impatient Jessica, with the +lantern, and in suchwise the little procession came swiftly and +silently to the end of the passage and stood once more under the free +air of heaven. Here they had to halt, for a moment, till their vision +became accustomed to the dazzling light; then with a cry of rapture, +the "captain" darted from her comrades and sped wildly down the rocky +gorge. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JESSICA'S STORY + + +Though it had seemed as a lifetime to impatient Jessica that she had +been kept in the cave, after Pedro's arrival there, in reality it was +less than an hour; and it was yet early in the day when a cry she had +expected never to hear again, rang through the room where Gabriella +Trent was lying. + +"Mother! My mother! Where are you?" + +Another instant, and they were clasped in close embrace as if nothing +should ever separate them again. Words were impossible, at first, and +not till she saw that even joy was dangerous for her overwrought +patient did Aunt Sally, the nurse, interpose and bodily lift the +daughter from the parent's arms. All at once her own calmness and +courage forsook good Mrs. Benton, and now that she saw the lost girl +restored, visibly present in the flesh, anger possessed her till she +longed to shake, rather than caress, the little captain. + +"Well, Jessica Trent! These are pretty goings on, now ain't they?" + +Gabriella sat up and her child nestled against her, their hands +clasped and their eyes greedily fixed upon each other's countenance. +The unexpected brusqueness of the question was a relief to their high +tension, and Jessica laughed, almost hysterically, as she answered: + +"They didn't seem very 'pretty' to me, Aunt Sally." + +"What a sight you be! Where you been?" + +"In the canyon cave." + +"Didn't know there was one." + +"Nor I--before." + +"What for? What made you stay? Didn't you know you'd raised the whole +countryside to hunt for you? Don't believe there's an able-bodied man +left on a single ranch within fifty miles; all off huntin' for you. +You--you ought to be spanked!" + +"Mrs. Benton!" warned Gabriella, in a tone of such distress that the +reproved one promptly sank in a capacious heap on the floor and fell +to weeping with the same vigor that she applied to all things. +Jessica, too, began to cry softly, at intervals, with such shuddering +bursts of sobs, that the mother's tears, also, were soon dimming the +eyes to which they had been denied during all the past anxiety. +However, this simultaneous downpour was infinite relief to all; and +presently the mother rose and with the strength happiness gave to her +slight figure, carried her child away to rest. + +"You are safe. You are here. I see that you have suffered no hurt, and +bed is the place for you. When you have slept and rested you must tell +us all. Oh! my darling! Many hearts have ached for you, and I thought +my own was broken. But, thank God! thank God!" + +Aunt Sally followed them, and, as if she had been a new-born baby, the +two women washed and made ready for a long sleep the precious child +that had been given back to them from the grave. Then the mother sat +down to watch while Aunt Sally hurried to ring the ancient mission +bell, whose harsh clanging had been agreed upon among the searchers as +the signal of good news. + +They all came flocking back, singly or in groups, from wherever the +summons, which could be heard for miles in that clear air, chanced to +find them. Impatience was natural enough, too, on their part, since to +their eager questions Mrs. Benton could not give answer beyond the +simple statement: + +"Yes, she's back, safe and sound. Says she's been in a cave, though +where it is or whether she's just flighty in her head, land knows. +She's sleepin' now, and it won't be healthy for any you lumberin' men +to be makin' a noise round the house before she wakes up, of her own +accord." + +Nor when Pedro and the subdued dwarf came slowly over the road would +they make any further explanation. Indeed, they were both utterly +silent; the Indian forcing his captive before him into the deserted +office where he intrenched himself, with his basket and staff, until +such time as it should be his mistress' pleasure to receive him. + +Thus, with time on her hands and nothing else to do, Aunt Sally +collared Wun Lung and withdrew to her kitchen, whence, presently, +there arose such various and appetizing odors that the weary ranchmen +scented a feast, and sought repose for themselves till it was ready. +Samson and John, however, were called upon for aid, and, whereas they +were ordered to "dress six of the plumpest fowl in the hennery," they +brought a dozen, and for "one likely shoat," they made ready two. Nor, +when they were upbraided for wastefulness, were they a whit abashed, +but John demanded, with unfilial directness: + +"Why, mother, what's got your common sense? Tisn't only our own folks +you're cookin' for, but fifty others, more or less. Do you s'pose +Cassius Trent would skimp victuals on such a day as this? My advice +to you is: Put on all the pork and bacon you've got, to bile; and +roast the lamb that was butchered for our mess; and set to bakin' +biscuit by the cartload, and----" + +"John Benton, hold your tongue, or I'll----" + +"No, you won't, mother! I've outgrown spankin' though I'd be most +willin' to submit if 'twould be any relief to your feelin's, or mine +either. I tell you this here's the greatest day ever shone on Sobrante +Ranch, not barrin' even the one when the 'captain' came home with the +title in her hand." + +"You misguided boy, don't I know it? Ain't I clean druv out my wits +a-thinkin' ever'thing over, and where in the name of natur' am I goin' +to do it all, with them horrid gasoline stoves no bigger'n an old +maid's thimble, and Pasqually gone off s'archin' with the rest, and +no'count the heft of the time and my sins!" + +"Had to take breath, or bust, hadn't you?" cried her disrespectful +son, catching the portly matron about the spot where her waist should +have been and hilariously whirling her about in a waltz which his own +lameness rendered the more grotesque. "And where can you cook 'em? +Why, right square in them old ovens at the mission. Full now of +saddles and truck, but Samson and me'll clear 'em out lively. I'll +make you a fire in 'em, and they'll see cookin' like they haven't +since the padres put out their own last fires. They weren't any fools, +them fellers. They knew a good thing when they saw it, and if they +tackled a job they did it square. The ovens they built, just out of +baked mud and a few stones, are as tight to-day as they were a hundred +years ago; and, whew! won't old Pedro, that found her, relish his meat +cooked in 'em?" + +Nor was Benton to be outdone in suggestion on the matter of providing. +Some of the searchers had brought back a quantity of game, with which +the country teemed, and which it had delayed them but little to shoot. +This was levied upon without ado, and in the preparation of the great +feast Aunt Sally's helpers forgot their fatigue, and were as deftly +efficient as women would have been. + +Indeed, between sleep and labor, the hours of Jessica's unbroken rest +passed quickly, after all; and the good news having spread almost as +swiftly as the ill, the grounds were full of people when, at last, she +awoke. But, even yet, Mrs. Trent's consideration for others refused a +prior or full hearing of the story to which her faithful helpers had +as good a right as she, if not as intense an interest in it. She made +the child eat and drink, and went with her to her favorite rostrum +when addressing her "company" of soldierly "boys"--the horse block. +Here the girl stood up and told her simple tale. + +"You see, dear folks, it was just this way: Aunt Sally and I were on +the porch, and we found Elsa's ring, all crooked. We couldn't guess +how it came there, and I'd just been made pretty angry about the way +you felt toward 'Forty-niner.' Oh! it was dreadful, dreadful of you +all, and I never was so ashamed of my 'boys,' not in all my life." + +"Go on with the story, captain. Never mind us," cried somebody. + +"And a little way farther I found a piece of Elsa's knitted bag. That +made me think a lot. Then the tackers came, all paint, and with Mr. +Hale's horse, that had been on the mesa ever since he was here. That +made me think some more, and I told auntie if she wouldn't scold the +little ones I'd try to find their clothes. I didn't find them, though, +Aunt Sally." + +"Go on! Go on! What next?" demanded an impatient listener. + +"Then I saw Ferd. Oh, mother! If I tell I'm afraid they'll hurt him." + +"He shall be protected, daughter, and you must tell," said the mother, +though she now shrank from the hearing. + +"I asked him about the horse and the children, and he said 'yes,' he +had fixed them. He had driven Prince down from the mesa, when Pedro +didn't see him, and had 'showed that old carpenter' something to pay +for kicks and hard words. He knew something I'd like to know. So I +asked him what, and he said it was Elsa's money. But if I didn't go +with him without saying anything to anybody he wouldn't tell me how to +find it. I begged to tell my mother, but he said her least of all. It +wouldn't take long, only a few rods up the canyon; so, of course, I +went. I thought I should be back long before dinner-time, and that +mother would tell me to do anything which would clear old Ephraim's +name from your cruel suspicions. And, oh, boys! You were wrong, you +were wrong! He never took a cent that wasn't his own, and Elsa's money +is found!" + +Absolute silence followed this announcement, then Samson's great voice +started the wild "Hurrahs" which made the wide valley ring. The cheers +were long and lusty, but when they subsided at last, Mrs. Trent bade +her daughter finish the tale. + +"It wasn't a little, but a long way up the canyon; yet I was so eager +to right Ephraim's wrong that I didn't feel afraid, though I never +have liked Ferd. He can't help being queer, maybe, with his queer body +to keep his half mind in----" + +The hisses that interrupted her were almost as loud as the cheers had +been, and it would have fared ill with the dwarf had he at that moment +been visible. Fortunately, he was still under the surveillance of the +grim shepherd, in the locked office, and the majority of those present +were ignorant of his whereabouts. + +"Quit hindering the captain. Her story is what we want!" cried +"Marty." "The dwarf can wait." + +"So we went on and on, and into a strange, dark tunnel, that scared me +a little, yet made me more curious than ever to see the end of it all. +The tunnel led to a cave, and in the cave there was a deep hole; and +before I knew what he was doing, Ferd had slung a lariat about me and +dropped me into it." + +Again an interruption of groans and howls, that were promptly +suppressed by a wave of the mistress' white hand; then Jessica +continued: + +"As soon as he had put me there, he told me he would keep me till my +mother paid him great money to let me up. Yet he wouldn't even go to +her and ask for it. He said I must promise, and that she would do +anything I said. He told about a boy in 'Frisco, he'd heard the men +say, was taken from his folks and kept till they paid lots for his +release--even thousands of dollars! Antonio had taught him that money +was the best thing to have. He believed it. He took it whenever he +could find it. That's what made him take Elsa's, and blame it upon +Ephraim. And I wouldn't promise. How could I? My dear has no money to +give wicked men, and I knew the dear God would take me back to her +when He saw fit. As He did, indeed. For it must have been He who put +it into Pedro's heart to seek the cave just when I needed him most. +Only the Lord could see through all that darkness and lead the +shepherd by that crooked way." + +She paused, and, turning to her mother, laid her sunny head upon the +shoulder that was shaken by such sobs as moved her faithful ranchmen +to thoughts of deep revenge. Eyes that had not wept for years grew +dim, and out of that circle of listening men rose a low and ominous +sound. Some, remembering their own idle talk of kidnaping and the +like, shuddered at the practical application the dwarf's dim mind had +made of their words; and various plans for punishment were forming +when the captain clapped her hands for fresh attention. + +"Hear me, 'boys.'Do you belong to me?" + +"Ay, ay! Heart and soul!" + +"Then you must mind me. You must let Ferd alone. You must do even more +to please me--and teach him to be good, not bad." + +None answered these clear, commanding sentences, which, as the +strangers present thought, came so oddly from such childish lips, and +they wondered at the effect produced upon the Sobrante men. These +glanced at one another in doubt, each questioning the decision of his +neighbor; and then again at the lovely girl who had never before +seemed so wholly angelic. + +"Will you do this?" + +"Hold on, little one. Let the 'admiral' speak. Has she forgiven that +human coyote?" + +The unexpected question startled Mrs. Trent. She was a strictly +truthful woman, and found her answer difficult. She had never liked +the wretched creature who had just brought such misery to her, and she +now loathed him. She had already resolved that, while she would +protect Ferd from personal injury, she would see to it that he was put +where he could never again injure her or hers. Her momentary +hesitation told. The whole assemblage waited for her next word amid a +silence that could be felt, when, suddenly, there burst upon that +silence a series of ear-splitting shrieks which effectually diverted +attention from the perplexed ranch mistress. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BEHIND LOCKED DOORS + + +The shrieks were uttered by Elsa Winkler, who frantically rushed to +the horse block, demanding: "Where? Where?" + +Mrs. Trent gave one glance at the rough, unkempt woman, and sternly +remarked: + +"Elsa, you forget yourself! Go back indoors, at once." + +The unhappy creature shivered at this unfamiliar tone, yet abated +nothing of her outcry: + +"My money! My money! My money!" + +She had come to the ranch thinking only of Jessica's mysterious +absence, and meaning to do something, anything, which might help or +comfort the child's mother; but the long walk, for one so heavy and +unaccustomed to exercise, had made her physically ill by the time she +reached Sobrante. Which state of things was wholly satisfactory to +Aunt Sally, who, having received the visitor with dismay, now promptly +suggested bed and rest, saying: + +"You poor creatur'! You're clean beat out! If you don't take care, +you'll have a dreadful fit of sickness, and I don't know who'd wait on +you if you did. Not with all this trouble on hand. You go right +straight up into one them back chambers, where the bed is all made up +ready, and put yourself to bed, and--stay there! Don't you dast get +up again till I say so; else I won't answer for the consequences. +You're as yeller as saffron, and as red as a beet. Them two colors +mixed on a human countenance means--somethin'! To bed, Elsa Winkler; +to bed right away. I'll fetch you up a cup of tea and a bite of +victuals. Don't tarry." + +"But--the mistress!" Elsa had panted. "I come so long for to speak her +good cheer. I must see the mistress, then I rest." + +"The mistress isn't seeing anybody just now, except me and--a few +others. You do as I say, or you'll never knit another wool shawl." + +"No, no. I knit no more, forever, is it? Not I. Why the reason? The +more one earns the more one may lose. Yes, yes, indeed. Yes." + +"That's the true word," Mrs. Benton had replied; "and so being you've +no yarn to worry you, nor no mistress to see, off to bed, I say, and +don't you dast to get sick on my hands, I warn you!" + +So Elsa had obeyed the command, glad enough to rest and be idle for a +time. Aunt Sally had seen to it that the visitor was kept duly alarmed +concerning her red-and-yellow condition, nor had she given the +permission to arise when Wolfgang and Otto arrived from their +fruitless visit to El Desierto. They found the place crowded with +returning searchers, and joyfully hailed the good news of Jessica's +safety. But when there was added to this the information that their +own property had been found, they demanded to be taken to Elsa, and it +was their visit to her room which had sent her afield, half-clad, and +with thought for nothing but her lost treasure. + +Even now, husband and son joined their entreaties to hers, though +Samson soon brought them to hear reason, and to withdraw from public +for the present, asking, indignantly: + +"Have you folks lost all your manners, as well as your dollars, up +there on the foothill? The idee of a woman screeching her lungs out +afore all the ranchers in Southern Californy! Your money? Well, what +of it? If it's found, it'll be give to you, and if it isn't you ain't +the first feller's been robbed. Besides, can't you smell? Don't you +know that you're interruptin' the prettiest spread ever was seen at +old Sobrante? Like chicken? Like roast pig? Like hot biscuit and plum +sess? Then go wash your face, and make your folks fix up and come +enjoy yourself. So far as I hear, it's old Pedro holds the cash, and +you might as well try to move the Sierras as him, if he ain't ready to +move. At this present writin' he's set himself guard over that +scalliwag, Ferd, and I ain't envying him his job, I ain't. Hurry up, +there won't be anything but necks and drumsticks left for you +laggards." + +Thus admonished and reassured, Wolfgang hurried his family away to +prepare for the feast, and the interruption they had caused to the +proceedings at the horse block effectually relieved Mrs. Trent from an +immediate answer to an awkward question, so she said: + +"Come, daughter. I see by Aunt Sally's manner that she wishes the +people would begin to eat. Every pair of hands, that belongs to us, +must help in serving these kind neighbors who have flocked to our aid. +Some of them have forty good miles to ride before they sleep, and they +must be fed first. I'll stand by the head table yonder, and name +them, and do you, for whom they left their business, wait upon them +yourself. That will show them your gratitude, and give them honor +due." + +So it was, and to every dish she brought, the little captain added a +graceful word of thanks, which seasoned the food better than even Aunt +Sally's wondrous skill had done; and many an encomium did the child +hear, in return, of that lost father who had made himself so +well-beloved in all that countryside. + +When all was over and done, when the last "neighbor" had ridden +homeward, when everybody had had his fill, and more than his fill of +good things, and the rudely constructed tables had been removed from +the wide lawn, came Aunt Sally, beaming with happiness, and glanced +over the scene, till there broke from her lips the wondering +question: + +"Can this be the same spot that was so dark and lonely yesterday? I've +had my heartstrings so stretched and tugged at, betwixt joy and +sorrow, that I don't know myself. I--I believe I'm tired! And if I am, +it's about the first time in my life. Well, well! Talking of +Christmas--this little supper we've just give is about equal to forty +Christmases in one. Seem's if." + +"Dear, kind, Aunt Sally, how shall I ever thank you for all you've +done for us?" cried Mrs. Trent, appearing at her friend's side, and +impetuously clasping the portly matron. The embrace was so unexpected, +for the ranch mistress was never a demonstrative woman, that its +recipient was, for the instant, speechless; the next, she had turned +herself about and demanded: + +"Gabriella Trent, have you had a bite to eat?" + +"No. Have you, Mrs. Benton?" + +"Not a morsel. I'm as empty as a bubble. No more has the captain +touched a thing. She's here, there and everywhere, among her precious +'boys,' yet not a one of 'em has the decency to say: 'Share my supper, +Lady Jess.' If they were my 'boys,' I'd----" + +"No, you wouldn't, mother. And I'm glad to see you two women resting a +spell. Keep on sitting there. We're going to wait on you now, and +don't you believe we haven't put by the pick of the pies for you all! +The captain is fetchin' the tackers, and Pasqual's fetchin' the food. +But what about old Pedro and the coyote?" + +"John, don't call names, 'specially hard ones. They always come home +to roost. But I'm glad you do some credit to your upraisin', and did +remember that somebody else, except yourself, might be hungry. Wait, +Gabriell'. Don't you worry about that Indian. I'll just step in and +fix him somethin'." + +"You'd better not, mother. He's got all the company he wants at this +present writing." + +This was sufficient to spur Mrs. Benton's energy afresh. Curiosity was +her besetting sin, and she could not endure that anything should go on +about the ranch in which she had no hand. Rising rather hastily from a +chair that was much too frail for her weight, she and it came to +grief, and the fact diverted her attention for the time. + +John was glad of this, though outwardly he sympathized with her slight +mishap, and facetiously offered her a dose of her own picra. + +Mrs. Trent also rose, saying: + +"I will go to Pedro. Though I did try to thank him, when he first +came, I had but a moment to give him then, and I fear he will feel he +has been neglected. As if I could ever neglect one to whom I owe my +darling's restoration!" + +Mrs. Benton looked after her, and sighed. + +"There she goes again! and that woman hasn't tasted a mouthful in a +dog's age!" + +"How long's a 'dog's age,' Aunt Sally?" demanded Ned as he helped +himself to a buttered biscuit which Pasqual had just placed on the old +lady's plate. + +"Age as long as a dog," commented Luis, seizing the biscuit from his +mate and running away with it. Of course, Ned gave chase, and the +usual battle ensued, after which they dropped down upon the spot where +they had fought, threw their arms around each other's necks, and +munched the biscuit together with an air of cherubic delight. + +Everybody laughed at the pair, upon which Aunt Sally now descended +with a threatening mien and a plate of plum cake. + +"Ain't you ashamed of yourselves, you naughty children? Fighting half +your time. Here! Eat that and let your suppers stop. By the way, how +many suppers have you had already?" + +"Six or seven," promptly replied Ned, who had eaten with whoever +invited him. + +"Sixty-seven," echoed Luis. + +"Then to bed you go, this instant!" And off they were marched, without +delay. Of course, this was another postponement of Mrs. Benton's own +meal, but she didn't mind that, so long as she had an opportunity to +deal with the small lads. Explaining to them, as she undressed and +bathed them: "You'd go to wrack and ruin if 'twasn't for me takin' a +hand in your upbringin' now and then. You pull the wool over +Gabriella's eyes the worst ever was. My! What you doing now, Edward +Trent?" + +"Pullin' wool, like you said!" and wound the white blanket he had +caught from his cot the more tightly about Luis' head. + +Meanwhile, the ranch mistress had gained the office and asked +admission at its locked door. When a long wait ensued, she reflected +rather anxiously upon what the men had often said, "That Old Century +is as top-lofty as a king. Thinks he is a king, in his own rights, and +his having lived a hundred years makes him better'n anybody else." + +This was quite true. Faithful and devoted to her as he was, the +shepherd exacted even from her the respect that was his due. On that +day he felt that much more than ordinary consideration was owing him; +yet he had been left for hours, unvisited by her for whom he had done, +and meant still to do, so much. Therefore, it was with a bearing full +of injured dignity that he at last slid the bolt and opened the door, +though he did not invite the visitor to enter, nor withdraw from the +opening. + +"I came to see about your supper, good Pedro. Do you know that it has +been cooked in the old mission oven? That should make it taste fine to +you. You must pardon my not being earlier, but there have been so +many, many guests. All gone now, save our own people." + +"Senorita, am I not also a guest, yes? Was one at Sobrante as old as +me? Should not I have ruled the feast?" + +"Indeed, you should, my friend, if there had been any ruling whatever. +It was simply take and eat, and away to their distant homes. You are +already at home, nor have I, either, tasted food. Come now and feast +with me. I am hungry, and so should you be. You mustn't keep the +mistress waiting, you know!" + +Pedro's countenance had softened, and he had expended all his +sternness, but his caution remained. With a significant glance toward +his prisoner, the dwarf, he shook his head. + +"When he is safe, then will I break my fast. The senorita does me +honor." + +"That is what I should like to do, dear Pedro. But is not poor Ferd +safe in here? Can we not send him in some supper and turn the lock +upon him?" + +She could not hide the repugnance she felt toward the miserable, +misshapen creature, now sleeping on the floor, and after one glance in +his direction looked swiftly away. But that glance had been sufficient +to startle her by its resemblance to another face she hoped never to +see again. + +Pedro's keen old eyes noticed her surprise and dismay, and he smiled +grimly. + +"The mistress sees. Slumber shows it--the likeness. One breed of +snakes were in the den. Fear both, watch both, for they are brothers. +Yes." + +This, then, explained many things; not the least, the wonderful +influence and control which Antonio had always maintained over his +half-witted "left hand," as the "boys" called the unfortunate +hunchback. + +"Antonio--Ferdinand--both Bernals--brothers?" asked Mrs. Trent, in a +tremulous voice. + +"Si. Yes, indeed. In truth." + +"And all this time nobody knew or suspected it?" + +"Senorita, the master knew. That was part of his great goodness to the +wicked one who would ruin him if he could. 'Ware Antonio--'ware Ferd. +One is the shadow of the other. One thinks, the other works. When +Antonio went, Ferd stayed. No good, senorita. Watch him." + +The lady sat down upon the nearest chair, and, as she did so, caught +sight of the basket upon the desk. It was filled to overflowing with +articles of various sorts, and beside it lay the curious metal-pointed +staff. Her impulse was to reach forward and take it, but the Indian +arrested her hand by an upward motion of his own. Then he opened it +himself and showed her, at the bottom, a number of leathern bags with +knitted covers. + +"Elsa's money?" + +Pedro silently assented. + +"Oh, let us call her, and give it back to her at once." + +"Fools must learn. Let the miner come, and Samson." + +Mrs. Trent stepped outside and dispatched a messenger for the two men, +who presently came; the one glum and offended, thinking in his slow +way that he had been made a jest of, and that the money his wife so +loved had not, after all, been found. The other, as always, proud and +alert to serve the "admiral." + +When they had entered the room, Wolfgang's eyes at once rested +greedily upon the basket, which Pedro had again closed, as if he +guessed what treasure lay within. Samson's glance went straight to the +sleeping dwarf, and an almost irresistible impulse to kick the inert +figure possessed him. But he restrained himself, and colored high when +he met the lady's own glance. + +"No, Samson, please. No violence. Yet it is Pedro's wise advice that +Ferd be placed under the charge of somebody who shall know at all +times just where he is and what he is about. Will you take that +charge, herder?" + +"That ain't the kind of cattle I keep, 'admiral.'" + +"I understand it isn't a pleasant task. That's not the question, which +is simply: Will you be responsible for--Ferdinand Bernal?" + +The mighty sailor fairly jumped, but his reply was: "You could knock +me down with a feather!" + +Mrs. Trent laughed. "Yes, it is strange. But look sharp. The +resemblance is strong. Pedro knows the relationship, and my husband +knew it. I did not, until just now. Something better may suggest +itself to you or me, but for the present, will you take charge of this +unhappy one?" + +A delayed and most reluctant "Yes" came at last from the herder's +lips. If he had been asked to punish the dwarf the answer would have +been swift and eager; but "take charge!" That meant constant +association, decent treatment and responsibility for the most +"slippery" of human beings. + +"Then, please take him away at once." + +Ferd had roused, and was sitting up; so that when Samson laid his +great hand on the lad's shoulder, the latter understood, in a dim way, +that he was now the herder's, rather than the shepherd's prisoner. Of +the two, he would have preferred the latter keeper; but he would +bother with neither very long. + +It was a relief when the door closed upon the outgoing pair, and Pedro +rose and locked it. There was something preternaturally solemn and +mysterious in his manner as, placing a chair nearer to the desk for +Mrs. Trent, he motioned Wolfgang to take another opposite. Then, +standing between them he drew the basket toward himself, and keeping +one hand upon it, thrust the other within his shirt and drew from that +the reddish bit of rock which Jessica had seen him so careful of. + +Holding it so that the last rays of the sun fell through the window +full upon it, he extended it on his open palm and demanded of the +miner: + +"What?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A ROYAL GIFT + + +Wolfgang took the bit of stone in his own fingers and examined it +critically. Always deliberate in his words and actions, he was now +doubly so, and Mrs. Trent grew impatient of a situation which seemed +unimportant, and that delayed for others, as well as herself, a much +needed supper. + +But Pedro was not impatient. He stood with folded arms and triumphant +bearing, ready for the miner's reply, whether it came soon or late; +also, quite ready to disregard it should it be different from that +expected. + +"Well, Wolfgang?" asked the ranch mistress. + +The miner heaved a prodigious sigh, and returned the ambiguous +answer: + +"That is what I have thought already, is it not?" + +"What have you thought, good Wolfgang?" demanded the lady, looking +toward the Indian's glowing eyes. + +"Copper. Copper, without alloy." + +"Ugh!" grunted Pedro, with satisfaction, and taking the metal again in +his hand bowed low and gravely presented it to his mistress. + +She received it without enthusiasm, wondering what significance could +attach to a bit of stone that might have been picked up anywhere. Her +husband had believed that everything valuable would, sooner or later, +be unearthed from the mountains of the State he so loyally loved, but +her own interest in the subject was slight. However, she must say +something grateful or again offend the dignity of her venerable +servitor. + +"Thank you, Pedro. It is very pretty. I will add it to the case of +minerals that your master arranged yonder." + +The shepherd cast one contemptuous glance toward the shelves she +indicated, and straightened himself indignantly. He had loved and +revered her, ever since she came a bride to Sobrante, and had tended +him through a scourge of smallpox, unafraid and unscathed. Though she +was a woman, the sex of whose intelligence he had small opinion, he +had regarded her as an exception, and his disappointment was great. + +"Is it but a 'thank you,' si? Does not the senorita know what this +gift means?" + +"I confess that I do not, Pedro. Please explain." + +"Were the old padres wise, mistress?" + +"So I have always understood." + +"Listen. From them it came; from the last who left the mission here +for another--to me, his son and friend. Into the heart of the world we +went, and he showed me. Down low, so low none dream of it, lies that +will make you rich. Will there be anybody anywhere so rich as the +senorita and her little ones? No. But no, not one. This I give you. It +is for the Navidad, the last old Pedro will ever see. And the senorita +answers, 'thank you'!" + +He was deeply hurt, and his manner was now full of an eloquent scorn. +He was returning the stone to his breast, when she asked for it +again, saying, gently: + +"You are so old and wise, good Pedro, you must bear with my ignorance +and teach me. This is copper, you say. It is very pretty, but how can +it make me rich? I do not understand." + +Wolfgang answered for the other, and his phlegmatic face had lost its +ordinary expression for one of keen delight. + +"It is true, what the old man tells you, mistress. He means--he must +mean--somewhere on your property lies a vein of this metal. The dead +master thought the coal was fine already. Ay, so, so. But copper! +Mistress Trent, when this vein is mined, what Pedro says--yes, yes. In +all this big country is not one so rich as he who owns a copper mine. +Ach, himmel! It is a queen he has made you, and you say, 'Thank +you!'" + +He had fully caught the shepherd's enthusiasm and feeling, and for the +first time in his life looked upon the lady of Sobrante as a +dull-witted person. + +But she was no longer dull. Even if it seemed an impossibility that +even this "vein" could be mined, since she had no money to waste in an +experiment so costly, still she realized, at last, what Pedro's will +had been. Catching his hand between her own soft palms, she pressed it +gratefully, and beamed upon him till he smiled again. + +"Whatever comes of it. Pedro, you have given us a royal aguinaldo[B], +and I do appreciate it. Come now, and share our rejoicing over that +greater good that you have brought to Sobrante--the salvation of its +little captain. For that--for that--I have not even the 'thank you'; +my feeling is too deep." + +Though he showed it little, the old man was almost as moved as she, +and he followed her as proudly as if he were the "king" his fellow +ranchmen called him. Yet even pride did not prevent his being cautious +still, and he carried the basket and staff away with him, though +Wolfgang protested, and asked, angrily now: + +"The money? Is it not my Elsa's, yes? Would you break her heart +already, and the little one so needing it?" + +Mrs. Trent laughed. She, too, wondered that the Indian had not at once +surrendered the other's property, but understood that he could not be +hurried. So she merely suggested that Wolfgang bring his family around +to the living room immediately after sunset, when, doubtless, he would +receive his own again. + +At that time, also, she meant to have John Benton present, to hear +what Pedro had to say about this copper find, and to comfort him in +his disappointment, for between these two there had always been close +friendship. + +However, to her surprise, John attempted no comfort. He was instantly +and heartily on the shepherd's side, and demanded, excitedly: + +"Begging pardon for plain words, as you are a woman with growing +children, can you sit there calm as molasses and say 'you wish you +could do something about it,' yet say no more. 'Wish!' Why, land of +Goshen! this ain't a wishin' sort of business, this ain't! It's +'Hurray for old Sobrante! Hurray, hurray, hurray!' Call 'em in, +captain, dearie! Call in the whole crowd! That was the luckiest +gettin' lost anybody ever had! Oh, won't somebody call 'em in?" + +To the group about the table it seemed that the sensible carpenter had +suddenly gone mad. Nobody had ever heard him so address the mistress +whom he loved, and his excited prancing around the room, alternately +hugging and examining the mineral in his hand, added to the +impression. While the captain departed to summon the other "boys," +Aunt Sally attempted to reduce her hilarious son to sanity by a sharp +box on the ear, and the sharper reprimand: + +"You, John Benton! Do you mean to bring my gray hairs with sorrer to +the grave? What's the reason of these goings on, I'd like to know? I +never was so disgraced in all my life, never. Now, quit! Quit to once, +or----" + +He paid no heed to her, but laid his hand on Pedro's shoulder and +shook it vigorously, demanding: + +"What kind of a feller are you, anyway? Why in the name of sense +didn't you tell this thing while the boss was alive? Shucks! Half of +you is Indian, and that means dirt. Known it all this time, and kept +it hid! You'd ought to be drawn and quartered, that's what you had!" + +Mrs. Benton advanced with threatening hand, and from force of habit he +retreated before her, and sank into the nearest chair; so that, when +his mates entered, they found him sitting with bent head and +down-hanging hands, as limp and inert as if his vitality had been +sapped by the news he had heard. + +"What's up?" asked "Marty," making his respectful salutation to the +mistress, but looking past her toward the carpenter, who, with another +change of mood, sprang again to his feet and waved the fragment of +mineral overhead, exclaiming: + +"This is 'up'! Copper's 'up'! Sobrante's 'up'! And lucky the men that +belong to it. Only--that old villain, yonder, has known it even since +forever, and was mean enough to keep his secret. That's what he is, +that Pedro, yonder!" + +Yet, with another whimsical change, he seized the shepherd's hand and +wrung it till even that hardened member ached. But the Indian remained +as calm and undisturbed, amid the torrent of blame or praise, as if he +had been sitting alone at his weaving on the mesa. His soul was +satisfied at last. He had done that which he had pondered doing for +many years, without being able, heretofore, to bring his thought to +action. Surely he had known that, locked within his own breast, his +"secret" was worthless; yet he had clung to it tenaciously. Now he had +imparted it to others, and behold! all the world knew it, even so +soon. Well, that did not matter. It was no longer his. His part was +ended. Meanwhile, on his beloved upland, there was a faithful collie +watching for his return, and lambs bleating, needing his care. +Suddenly he rose, placed his cherished staff in Mrs. Trent's hands, +and bowing low, said: + +"Keep this, as I have kept it, where none but you may find. At the +Navidad I come once more, the last. Adios." + +His departure was so unexpected that, at first, they did not try to +prevent it, but Jessica was swift to follow and protest: + +"Not to-night, dear Pedro! Please not to-night. You have been so good +to me, you must stay and be glad with us this one night. In the +morning----" + +"In the morning the sheep will need new pasture. Adios, nina." + +"Then, if go you must, it shall not be on foot. Wait! I know! Prince, +Mr. Hale's horse, that he left with you on the mesa. It is here. The +naughty children painted him, but I saw him in the corral, just now, +and you shall ride him home. That is if you will not stay, even for +me." + +"The Navidad. Till then, adios." + +She had never heard him talk so much nor so well as since these few +hours among his friends. He seemed to be almost another Pedro than the +silent shepherd of the mesa, and as she followed him, taking his +direct way to the paddock, she wondered at the uprightness of his +bearing and the unconscious dignity which clothed him like a garment. +Then she remembered something else--his blanket, and sprang to his +side again, entreating: + +"Just one five minutes more, Pedro. Your blanket. You must have a new +one." + +He hesitated and sighed. Then shook his head sadly. That which he had +torn, to bind the dwarf, had been a Navajo weave, so fine and +faultless that even he, the wonderful weaver, knew it for a marvel. +There could not be its mate in all that country, nor had been since +the old padres went and took with them, as he believed, all the wisdom +of the world. + +Before he had caught and bridled the horse, Jessica was back, and +playfully enveloped in a wonderful piece of cloth that made the Indian +stare. If it were not the mate to his lost treasure, it was quite as +fine and soft, as generous in size, and far cleaner. + +"See, dear old fellow. This was my father's. My mother sends it to you +with her love. Put it on, so I may see how fine you look. Oh, grand! +When the children play 'Indian' why can't they copy you, and not +those dirty Diggers, that Ferd teaches them to be like! Pedro, you are +splendid, and--I love you! I love you!" + +All at once, as she gazed upon him, there returned to her a memory of +that dark time in the cavern's pit, where he had found her, and which, +in the general rejoicing over her safety she had, for the present, +almost forgotten. By now, save for this old man, she might have been +dead. + +He received the onslaught of her embrace exactly as he had accepted +the gift of the blanket--in silence. There was a momentary lighting of +his somber eyes, but no word, as, putting her quietly down upon the +ground, he mounted the barebacked Prince and loped swiftly away into +the darkness and solitude. + +Brighter by contrast was the room to which the little captain +returned, after Prince and his rider had vanished into the night, and +the circle of lamp-lighted faces gleamed with excitement. Everybody +seemed trying to outtalk his neighbor, and only one glowering +countenance showed dark by contrast; the face of Elsa Winkler, with +its eyes angrily fixed upon the basket which Mrs. Trent held on her +lap, quite forgetting what it contained in her listening to the +others' words. + +Suddenly, Samson brought his fist down upon the table, enforcing a +brief silence, while demanding: + +"What's amiss with using the capital on hand? There sits our +'admiral,' with money enough in that basket to start the whole +business. Set Wolfgang to manage, and the rest of us to dig and +delve. More'n one here has tried mining for a yellower metal than +this"--holding up the bit of copper--"'twould do us proud to give +the first pick to Sobrante's fortune! Lads, what say?" + +"Ay, and right off! That's what we say!" cried somebody, but Mrs. +Trent lifted her hand, and they were silent. + +She had become as interested now as any of the others; far more, +indeed, since if this amazing tale of Pedro's proved true she would be +able, at last, to fulfill her husband's interrupted life-work, and +make Sobrante a power for good in the world. + +"What does Elsa say? Will she lend us this money?" + + [B] Christmas box or gift. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FACE AT THE WINDOW + + +All waited breathlessly for Elsa's answer. They knew her greed, or, +rather, why she hoarded her money so closely, and were not so +surprised, after all, when it came. + +"No, I cannot." + +"Can't? I should like to know why you can't?" demanded John Benton, +indignantly, though Mrs. Trent protested against his urgency by a nod +of her head. + +"It is for the little one. It is mine. I want it already." + +The ranch mistress at once extended the basket, but it was now the +carpenter's turn to object. + +"Please, 'admiral,' not so fast. Let her tell us, first, how much +money she lost." + +Elsa caught her breath. To save her life she could not have stated in +exact figures the sum, because, though she had known to a dime before +the robbery, at, and after that time, she had recklessly tossed aside +the little that remained. This wasted portion belonged with the whole +amount, and being as truthful as she was penurious, she hesitated. Her +color came and went, as she looked anxiously into John's face, +realizing that he had laid a trap for her and caught her in it. + +But the mistress confronted her, saying: + +"Never mind that, Elsa. I do not blame you for refusing to try +experiments with what you have so hardly earned and so nearly lost. +These are certainly your own little money bags, as I judge from their +knitted covers; but it is just possible there may have been other +money added to that was taken from you. So, tell me as nearly as you +can, what you had, and we will examine them all together." + +This was wise, and commended itself even to the eager Elsa, who stated +promptly and proudly: + +"Three t'ousand of the dollars it was. All gold. Big gold and littles +ones. In them bags was lost entirely. In the others--I don't know. Oh! +I don't know. It was much, much!" + +It was Wolfgang's turn to interpose, and he did so, sternly: + +"Elsa, wife! Three thousand dollars, and I not know it! How dare +you?" + +"Ach! how not dare I? It was the new pick, or the new pushcart, or the +new everything, is it not so? Well, then, if one would save one need +not tell." + +Mrs. Trent's face saddened, and, seeing this, Jessica impatiently +exclaimed: + +"Oh, I hate money! It's always that which makes the trouble. It was +about money that those New York folks made such wicked charges against +my father. It was for a little money that you 'boys' were so quick to +ruin 'Forty-niner's' character. It was money, and the greed for it, +that changed Antonio from a good to a bad man." + +"Hold on, captain. There wasn't ever any 'change' in him. He was born +that way." + +"He was born a baby, wasn't he, John? All babies are good, I s'pose. +It's loving money has made Ferd do such dreadful things; and now, over +a little money, Wolfgang and Elsa are quarreling, though I never heard +them speak crossly to each other before. Oh, I hate it! Give it all +back to her, mother dear, and let us forget all that Pedro said. I, +for my part, hope his old copper mine will never be dug out." + +Some who heard her laughed, but the mother grew even graver than at +first, and looked searchingly into her daughter's face. Again there +came to her mind the consciousness that the little girl was growing up +in a strange fashion; seeming both too wise and too simple for her +years. It could never be any different at Sobrante, where one and all +conspired to spoil her, though innocently enough, and from pure +affection. How could she, single-handed, combat these hurtful +influences? + +The answer came swiftly enough in a second thought: "Money." + +If there were but a little more of that power for good as well as evil +in her possession she could send the child to some fine school and +have her educated properly. The separation would be like death in life +to herself, but what true mother ever thought of self where her child +was concerned? Certainly, not Gabriella Trent. It was with a little +sigh that she put her arm about Lady Jess and drew her to her side, +saying: + +"Here, daughter, you and John examine these bags together, while the +rest of us look on and tally for you. I want Elsa to have her own, at +once." + +They moved the books and papers from the table, and Jessica emptied +the contents of the bags into one gleaming heap near the big lamp, +whose light gave an added radiance to the coins, making more than one +pair of eyes sparkle and stare. None could remember ever to have seen +so large an amount displayed outside a bank window. + +Even John's hands trembled slightly as he began to count the double +eagles first, pushing each five of these toward his small co-laborer +and reckoning: + +"One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred--one thousand!" + +"One thousand!" echoed Jessica, in turn handing the pile to her +mother, while the others watched, counting each for himself in +silence, ready to check any blunder that might be made. + +That is, the men were silent, but Elsa and Aunt Sally rather disturbed +the proceedings; the former, by eagerly reaching out for the piles as +each was arranged before the mistress, and being as regularly rebuked +by the latter. + +"There you go again, woman! How can they count right if you don't have +patience? Keep your hands still, do," said Mrs. Benton. + +"Keep your tongue, mother, too. Two thousand!" rejoined John. + +"Two--thousand!" cried Jessica, tallying. But her voice had now lost +its impatience, and she began to have a very different feeling in +regard to this "money," which looked so real, and was so much needed +at Sobrante. If Pedro's "copper" could be transmuted into shining +golden eagles, why, after all, she guessed she didn't hate it quite so +much. + +"Three--thousand--and--ain't half--touched yet!" gasped Samson, +throwing up his great hands in a gesture of astonishment. + +Elsa was also gasping then, and the expression of her face was +changing into one from which Mrs. Trent involuntarily turned her eyes. +Cunning and avarice predominated, and in the woman's throat was a +curious clicking sound, as if she had lost and were trying to find her +voice. Which, when found, seemed not to belong to the good-natured +Elsa, so changed it was: + +"Ach, me! But I forgot already. I guess--it was not three t'ousand; it +was two times so much. That was seven t'ousand, is it not? The money +of this America--it so confuse, yes," and she tapped her forehead with +one fat finger, while her eyes grew beady, and seemed to shrink in +size as they gazed upon the wealth she coveted. + +But Wolfgang would have none of this. He was as honest as the sun, +and, till that moment, had supposed his wife to be of one mind with +him. Indeed, honest she had been, in thought and deed, until that +terrible temptation was spread before her. + +"Elsa! Elsa Winkler! Is it my wife you was and would lie--lie--for a +bit of that rubbish!" + +"'Rubbish' is good," commented "Marty," under his breath, but nobody +smiled. + +The woman cowered. Accustomed as she was to domineer over the +seemingly weak-willed man, there had been times, within her memory, +when he had thrown off her rule and asserted himself to a degree that +terrified her. She had stumbled upon one of those times now, and sank +back in her place with a deprecating gesture, advancing the flimsy +protest: + +"Are they not my bags, so? Sewed I them not with my own hands out of +the skin of the little kid was killed? The covers I knitted with----" + +The miner raised his hand, and she dropped her eyes before him. + +"Give her what belongs, if you will, good lady, and let us be gone," +he said, pulling his forelock respectfully to Mrs. Trent. + +"Gone! Why no, Wolfgang, not to-night. It's a long way, and you should +wait till morning. Indeed, you should," she replied, at the same time +sending a questioning glance toward John Benton, and pushing toward +Elsa all the empty bags and three of the thousand dollar piles. + +For the carpenter nodded swift acquiescence, on his part longing to be +rid of "them miserly Dutchmen, barring the man." + +Elsa rapidly recounted, and bestowed the eagles within their +receptacles, and these again, wrapped in a handkerchief, within her +bosom. Then, as coolly as if she had not made an unpleasant exhibition +of herself, she turned to her hostess and smiled: + +"I go now, mistress. I thank you already for one good time I have. It +is to buy the mine, one day, for my child. I must be going. Yes, I +must. The stew! Ach! how I forgot! The cat--it was a good stew, no? +And the cat has eat the stew!" + +"Then you'd better stew the cat!" suggested Marty, with a facetiousness +to which she paid no heed. + +Holding out her hand for Otto to take it, she commanded: + +"Little heart, but come. It is in bed you should be, yes. Good-by, +all," adding in German, "May you sleep well!" + +Wolfgang followed the retreating pair, but turned on the threshold to +make his obeisance to the ranch mistress, and to say, "At your +service, good lady. My pick and my head." Then, bowing again toward +all the company, he disappeared. + +Everybody felt the relief of their departure, and Aunt Sally +humorously threw a kiss after them, remarking, with a sniff: + +"Blessed be nothing, if somethin' is going to make a hog out of a +decent woman. That there Elsy'd been content with half she got if she +hadn't seen the rest that heap. I'm a good deal like Jessie, here. I +think money's the root of all evil." + +"That ain't an original observation, mother, though you do speak as if +it was. Money's the root of a pretty consid'able comfort, too; and I'd +like to know, for one, where in creation all this that's left came +from," returned John. + +"There's no doubt in my mind, that it came out of the Trent +pocketbook, every dollar of it!" said Samson. "But how it came into +Ferd's fist is more'n I can guess. Seems if even a half-wit would +steal from his own brother, and it must have passed through Antonio's +hands first." + +"Antonio's brother!" cried Marty, incredulously. + +"That's the true word. Pedro knew it, and the master knew it. The +'admiral' heard it, first, to-day; along with that other secret about +the copper. Ain't any harm in mentioning it, is there?" said Samson. + +The lady laughed, and answered: + +"Even if there were the harm is done, herder. But that's right. I wish +no secrets at Sobrante. I like to feel that we are all one family in +interests and affection, as my husband wished. And now remains this +gold. What is to be done with it? Where shall we bestow it that it may +be both safe and ready when needed?" + +Aunt Sally immediately went and closed the door and locked it; then +fastened the windows and pulled the shades over them. At which a shout +arose that the old lady heeded not a whit. She clasped her hands over +her breast and her round face turned pale, as she whispered shrilly +enough for all to hear: + +"We're undone! We're all undone! We're a passel of fools--and--and---- +Oh, suz!" + +Down she dropped into a chair, and there was no more laughter. She was +not a timid woman, and her fright was evident. Her son stepped to her +side and laid his hand on her shaking shoulder, demanding: + +"What ails you, mother? What did you see? Why did you lock the +doors?" + +"I--I----" + +"Quit chattering your teeth together. What did you see?" + +"Oh, son! I seen a--a--ghost!" + +"Trash!" + +Her courage began to return, and her anger to rise. She retorted +promptly: + +"No trash! A ghost. A spirit! As sure as I'm a-settin' here this +minute; the spirit of--of----" + +It aggravated John that she should pause and peep behind her, to be +sure the windows were still covered. + +"The spirit of what tomfoolery has possessed you, mother, I'd like to +know? What's the use of scarin' folks half to death? As if we hadn't +had enough things happen without your cuttin' up, too!" + +"Hold your tongue, John Benton, you sassy boy. As sure as I'm alive, I +saw the ghost of Antonio Bernal peeking in at that open window afore I +shut it. He was so white I couldn't tell him from paper, and so thin I +'peared to see clean through him." + +"Pshaw, mother! You're overtired, and for once in your life really +nervous. I reckon it's the sight of more money than ever come your way +before. Well, forget it. 'Tisn't yours nor mine. We've no cause to +worry. I'll step and get you a drink of water and then you'll feel all +right, and would better go to bed." + +"I don't want water, and I shan't go to bed. I shan't close my eyes +this night, John Benton, and you needn't touch to tell me so." + +"All right. Stay awake if you like. It's nothing to me," answered the +exasperated man, who, in spite of his strong common sense, had been +more startled than he cared to admit, even to himself. But, glancing +at Mrs. Trent and Jessica, he now felt that it would be wiser to +express his own fear, which was of nothing supernatural. + +"Mother's upset, 'admiral,' and don't you let her upset you, too. The +fact is, we're a very careless set at Sobrante, where everything +is--or used to be--all open and above board. It's a new thing for keys +to be turned on this ranch, and it's a new thing for us to go +suspecting one another of sneak notions. I, for one, am ashamed enough +of the way I've felt about old Ephraim Marsh, and if he don't show up +pretty soon, I'll make a special trip to Los Angeles to tell him so. +Even if I have to foot it the heft of the way. + +"Howsomever, all the world ain't as honest as them that had the honor +of knowin' Cassius Trent. There's been a power of strangers on these +premises durin' these last days; and it stands to reason that among +'em one villain might have crept in. I ain't sayin' there was. I'll +never accuse nobody again--'cept--'cept----" + +Here the honest fellow interrupted himself with a laugh; remembering +his ingrained suspicion of the two Bernals, which he would never even +try to overcome. But he went on again: + +"Mother thinks she's seen somethin', and like enough she has. There +might be some scamp hangin' around; and if there was, and he looked +through that window and saw all this gold, I don't wonder his face was +ghosty-lookin', nor--Somebody stop me talking and answer this: Where's +the safest place to stow that pile?" + +For a moment nobody replied. Mrs. Trent was wishing, most heartily, +that the money had never come into her possession, since she did not +know to whom she should restore it; and beginning to feel, with +Jessica, that "money" did carry discord and danger with it. + +But the little captain was now all eagerness, and exclaimed: + +"Oh! how I wish I'd seen it! Aunt Sally, I never saw a ghost in all my +life, never! I thought they were just make-believes, but if you saw +one, of course they're true. Do you s'pose we could see it again if we +went out to look? Will you go with me?" + +"I? I! Well, I guess not. Not a step will I step----" + +"But several steps I'll step, Mrs. Benton. I advise the money going +into the office safe, that old Ephraim uses when he's at home. One of +us better camp out on the lounge in the room there till we get rid of +whoever's cash that is. I'll bunk there myself, if you like, Mrs. +Trent, after I step outside and see if all's serene with my prisoner," +said Samson, cheerfully. + +"May I go with you, Samson? May I, mother?" asked Jessica. + +The mother's consent was somewhat reluctant, for now she could not +bear to have her darling out of sight. Yet if anybody on earth was to +be trusted with so precious a charge it was the herder. Besides, she +was annoyed at this talk of "ghosts," and knew that the shortest way +to convince Jessica how nonsensical it was, would be by allowing her +to go out and seek for them herself. + +But Samson answered cordially: + +"You do me proud, little one. Suppose you take your rifle, and then, +if we see any specter you can pin it to the mission wall, and we'll +have a show, charging ten pins' admission." + +They went out, laughing and gay; the child clinging to the giant's +hand, and hoping that she might really see the phantom of Aunt Sally's +story, for she had no fear concerning it. They came back, five minutes +later, looking grave and seriously alarmed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRISONER DISAPPEARS + + +"What's happened?" asked Mrs. Trent, foreboding fresh trouble, since, +of late, trouble had become so familiar a visitor. + +"Well, ma'am, the bird has flown." + +"Please explain, Samson," she anxiously urged. + +"That bird of dark plumage--Ferd, the dwarf. He's escaped, vamoosed, +took wings and flew." + +"Oh, Samson! I'm so sorry. I hoped you would look after him until I +could find some suitable institution in which to place him. It's time +he should be helped, for if he's so sharp to do evil, he must have +equal capacity for better things." + +"Yes, ma'am. So I allow; and I had them same hopes myself, not ten +minutes ago. I hadn't said a word to anybody, but after you gave him +to me, I remembered what the little captain had commanded, for it sort +of struck home, that did. I ain't overly saintlike, myself, but what +of goodness I'd catched from you all I meant to pass on to the +coyote--I mean, Ferdinand Bernal. I reckon it was his face, 'stead of +a ghost's, that Aunt Sally saw by the window." + +"I thought you locked him in some room?" + +"Lock and double-locked. Bolted, besides. Worst is, all bolts and +locks are just as I left 'em. Had the key in my pocket and went in, +saluting, and there wasn't anybody to salute. Well, ma'am, if he's +out, and 'twas him saw that money, there'd better two of us sleep +beside it, rather than one. He's the uncanniest creature ever I met, +and I hope never to meet his mate." + +"Very well. I do not see what harm he can do, after all, except to +himself, now. Jessica, dear, please bring the key, and John can put +this money in the safe. If it weren't for Elsa's satisfaction, I +should regret that Pedro ever found it. Then we must all to sleep. +It's been a most eventful day, and we are tired." + +Before long the whole household was asleep; but the last to seek her +rest was Mrs. Benton; nor did she do that until she had locked +whatever locks would fasten, peeped under every bed, and invaded the +sacredness of Wun Lung's "heatheny den." Then she placed her Bible on +one side her bed, a broom and horsewhip on the other, and lay down to +watch, explaining: + +"'Cause I'm goin' to watch, even if I am resting my body horizontal. +I'm so tired I can't set up straight, nohow, and I shan't wink a wink +till daylight comes and the rest are moving." + +Having called out this valiant resolution to Mrs. Trent, in the +adjoining room, she instantly closed her heavy lids, and opened them +no more till a series of thumps upon her shoulders aroused her. Then +she realized that Ned and Luis were reminding her of yesterday's +promise that, if they'd eat no more plum cake overnight they should +have some for their breakfasts. + +"Land of love! What you doing? Is it daylight? Why, 'twas dark as +Egypt when I lay down, and I----Can it be that I--I--have overslept?" + +"Plum cake, Aunt Sally," reminded Ned. + +"Plumsally!" cried Luis, with a forcible whack. Which was instantly +returned, and with such added interest that he ran howling away, +leaving the disturbed matron to scold herself at leisure for her lapse +from duty, while she hurriedly dressed. + +Naturally, she had to submit to some teasing on account of her valiant +resolution of the previous night that she "wouldn't wink a wink," but +Mrs. Trent was delighted that the faithful woman had, at last, enjoyed +a needed rest. Besides, everything was bright at the ranch on that +happy morning. Even Wun Lung had caught the infection of Christmas +preparations, and was intent upon providing some dainties of his own, +against the approaching festival, which should so far outshine the +homelier pies and puddings of Mrs. Benton, as his own revered country +outshone, in his opinion, even this pleasant one in which, at present, +his lot was cast. He had also felt good-natured enough to put aside a +plentiful breakfast for his mate--or foe--of the kitchen; and since it +was such a time of happiness, Aunt Sally condescended not only to eat +it, but to pronounce it "good." + +Hearing this unexpected praise, the Chinaman wound and unwound his +precious queue, after a fashion he had of expressing satisfaction; and +smilingly advised Mrs. Benton to "step black polch," where she would +find things to do. + +So to the back porch the good lady retreated, carrying with her great +dishes of fruit to prepare, and not forgetting two enormous slices of +the rich plum cake she had promised the little boys, and which would +have made less active, hardily reared children ill. + +Mrs. Trent had moved her sewing machine to the porch, and Jessica sat +near, with a little table before her, trying to write the Christmas +invitations that had been so delayed, and to express them after a +style which should not too painfully expose her own ignorance. The +result was not so bad, considering the slight training the child had +had, and her few years, yet it did not satisfy the mother, who felt +that education was the one good thing, and who longed to have her +child's bright intellect developed as it should be. + +Poor Jessica had written and rewritten the note intended for Mr. Hale +a number of times, and still had it returned to her with many +corrections, after Mrs. Trent's reading of it, and now laid it aside +with a sigh of discouragement. + +"Can't that wait a while, mother? If I may write to my darling Ninian +Sharp, I'll get myself rested. He doesn't mind trifles like wrong +capitals in the right places--oh! dear, I mean--I don't know what I +mean. But may I?" + +"Certainly, dear. Though, first, come here and let me try the length +of this sleeve." + +Lady Jess obeyed readily, for new clothes were rare events in her +simple life. This natty little "Christmas frock" was white, with +scarlet trimmings, and quite sufficiently in contrast with the plain +blue flannel ones of everyday use to captivate her fancy and make her +patient under the tedious process of "fitting." Yet she was glad to +return to her table and her letter to Ninian Sharp, which she found no +difficulty in composing, since she was free to do as she chose. + +And this was the epistle which, after some delay, reached the +newspaper man, at a time when he happened to need cheering up, and +brought new life and interest into his overworked brain: + +"MY VERY DEAR MISTER SHARP: My mother and the children and aunt sally, +and Me and all the rest the Boys, are well and send Their LUV. We are +Now Inviteing you To come and Spend the holidays at dear Sobrante. +everybody is Coming, most, and i Got lost and was found in a Hole. The +Hole is in the ground. there was Money in It, that the Boys said my +fortynineer stole and He Didn't. It was elsa winklers and wolfgang was +mad at her, and there was a Ghost, but it got away, else samson and Me +would have shot it against the mission cordiror wall and had a +nexibition. and ferd that was lock up got away two; and say, please my +dear mister sharp, Will you see if this stone that's in the package is +any good? Pedro, thats a hundred years, says it's copper and copper is +worth money. We need some money bad, and i hope it is, and I don't no +anybody as clever as you. so Please write write away and tell us if +you will come and tell ephraim Marsh, that the Boys will be at marion +railway station with a buckborde and horses enough. i am Making +something to put in everybodys stocking. i Began to make the things +after last Christmas, that ever was, and i Have more than twenty-five +presunts to Make and i Have got three done, one of Them is Yours. your +Loving friend, + + "JESSICA TRENT." + +When the letters were completed, the little captain felt that she +needed recreation, and her mother agreed with her; but, unlike her +former habit, could not consent to the child's going anywhere alone. +The recent terrible experience had banished from Mrs. Trent's heart +that comfortable sense of security which had prevented life on the +isolated ranch from being a lonely one. She now felt, as Aunt Sally +phrased it: + +"Afraid of your own shadder, ain't you, Gabriell', and well you may +be. In the midst of life we are in the hands of them Bernals, and no +knowin'. That son John of mine may try to hoodwink me that 'twasn't no +ghost I saw last night, but ghost it was if ever one walked this +earth. It wasn't, so to speak, a spooky ghost, neither; it was an +avaricious one, and it wasn't after no folks, but 'twas after that +money, sharp. Ain't disappeared, for good, neither. Liable to spring +up and out anywhere happens; and you do well, Gabriell', not to trust +our girl off alone again. Not right to once. Where's she hankerin' to +travel now? She'd ought to be learnt to sew patchwork, instead of +riding all over the country, hitherty-yender, a bareback on a broncho +or a burro. If she was my girl----" + +"If she was your girl, dear Aunt Sally, you couldn't have been more +anxious than you were while she was lost. And the life is good for +her. It's right for all women to understand sewing and household arts, +but the captain isn't a woman yet, and I have faith she'll acquire all +fitting knowledge in due time. She's anxious to ride to Pedro's. She +says there was something different in his manner, last night, from +ordinary, and, indeed, I fancied so myself. She's gone to find which +one of the boys can best leave his work to ride with her." + +"It'll be John Benton, Gabriella Trent. You see if it ain't. That man +just sees the world through Jessica's eyes, and he's never got over +being jealous 'at he wasn't the one took her to Los Angeles that +time. If he had all the work in creation piled up before him, and she +happened to say 'Come,' some other whither, whither, 'twould be, and +not a minute's hesitation. Anyhow, it's Marty's day for mailridin', +and there he lopes this instant." + +The ranchmen took turns in riding to the post, each esteeming it a +privilege, and finding nothing but pleasure in the sixty miles' gallop +to Marion and back. At that moment, indeed, Marty was swinging out of +sight on his own fine mount, the mailbag before him on his heavy +Mexican saddle, the wind created by the swift motion of the beast +raising the brim of his broad hat and thrilling him with that sense of +abounding life and freedom which comes so forcibly to men in the wide +spaces of the earth. + +He was the youngest of the "boys," even though past his first youth, +and the "life" of the ranchmen's quarters, where all liked and some +loved him. + +The women on the porch watched him till he became a mere speck in the +distance, and Aunt Sally sighed: + +"That George Cromarty is as likely a youth as ever I knew. He's that +good to his old mother, back in the East, I tell my own son John, he +ought to profit by such an example. I should hate to have anything +happen to him. Yes, indeedy, I should hate to have a single bad thing +happen to poor George Cromarty." + +A little nervous shiver ran through Mrs. Trent's slender frame, yet +she turned upon her companion, as she threaded her needle, with a +laugh, exclaiming: + +"Oh! you dear old croaker! Why can't you let well enough alone, +without mentioning more evil? You know the old saying that to speak +of trouble is to invite its visitation. Surely, there was nothing +about to-day's postman to suggest disaster. George is a typical +ranchman, and my husband used to point him out to visitors as what a +man might be, who grew up, or old, where 'there was room enough.' +Big-hearted, full of fun, tender as a woman, but intolerant of +meanness and evil doing. It would be a dark day for Sobrante if ill +befell our 'Marty.'" + +"Well, I don't know. Something's going to go wrong somewhere. I feel +it in my bones, seems if. There, I told you so! Yonder comes that lazy +boy of mine and Jessie. There's more things needing him here on this +place than you could shake a stick at, yet off he'll go traipsing just +at a nod from his captain." + +"Don't begrudge them their happiness, Aunt Sally. Certainly, after +grief, it is their due. Well, John, will you act escort for the little +lady of Sobrante?" asked its mistress. + +"Will I not? And do me proud. She ain't to be trusted with any of the +flighty ones, Samson now, or----" + +Mrs. Trent's laughter--that morning as heart-whole and free as a +girl's--interrupted the ranchman's disparaging comments on his +fellows, sedate grayheads as most of them were; for well she +understood the universal devotion of all to their darling captain. + +"Oh, John, I can scarcely associate the idea of frivolity or +carelessness with our big Samson; but wait a moment, please, before +you start. There's such a store of good things left, though in +fragments, that I'd like to pack a basket for Pedro. I wish he did +not insist upon living so alone. He is so old and I feel, as the +native Californians used, that the older a person grew the more +precious. I wish you'd try to persuade him to let somebody else take +his place with the sheep, and to arrange his small affairs so that +when he comes down for his Navidad he will remain. There's enough to +keep him busy and happy here." + +"I'll try, mistress. But he'll not be persuaded. Old Pedro wouldn't +think he could breathe down here in the valley, for long at a time. +Well, good-by. Ready, captain?" + +"Ready, John, as soon as mother gets the basket. Quiet, Buster. I +believe you're more eager for a canter than I am, even." + +Then when the basket had been handed up to John, the pair merrily +saluted the women on the porch and rode away; but Mrs. Benton called +shrilly after them: + +"Turn back and start over again! Turn back, I say! Both your horses +set off left feet first. That means bad luck as sure as you are +born!" + +But nobody paid any heed to Aunt Sally's forecasts of evil, save to +laugh at them. Only Mrs. Trent again felt that nervous shiver seize +her, and but for shame's sake would have begged her daughter to defer +her ride until another day. + +However, shame prevailed; or common sense, which is far better; and +well it was--or ill--that the riders kept serenely on their way, +indifferent to "signs" and ignorant of what lay before them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ON THE ROAD HOME + + +The train from Los Angeles rolled slowly up to the little station at +Marion and the asthmatic engine seemed to wheeze its relief that its +labor was ended, as an old man stepped from the last car and looked +eagerly along the platform. Then a certain degree of disappointment +overspread his fine face, and shouldering a heavy parcel, strapped +round with leather to give a holding place, he strode rather +unsteadily forward over the same sandy road, or street, which had +tried Ninian Sharp's patience on his first visit to the post town. + +Yet, after a little, the man grew accustomed to his own stiffness of +limb and moved with a sort of halting swiftness which soon brought him +to the little hostelry of one Aleck McLeod, where a group of ranchmen +were sunning themselves while they waited the distribution of the +mail. + +It was noticeable that the porch was spotlessly clean and that none of +the idlers profaned its cleanliness by so much as one expectoration of +tobacco juice, though all were either smoking or chewing that weed. +They had far too great respect for Janet, Aleck's wife, and for the +labor that cleanliness meant in that waterless region. They were all +deep in the discussion of the late events at Sobrante and none heard +the old traveler's approach over the soft ground, till he stood close +beside them with his foot on the lower step. + +But he heard them and their eager talk; and, pausing a bit, the more +completely to surprise them by an intended halloo, he forgot that and +all else save what they were saying. + +"It was ten to one she was never found. 'Pears like a miracle to me, +that old Pedro was led to find that very cave just when he did. My +wife claims it was a miracle, same as used to be in Bible days, and +you can't talk her out of it. You know how women are," said one +ranchman, who had aided in the search for Jessica. + +"Well, first and last, them Trents have done a heap for this section +of our 'native.' And they're square folks, every identical of them. +Even the little tacker, that boy Ned. There's more in his head than he +gets credit for, and one these days he'll show there is. He's a master +hand with a gun, baby as he is, and if he'd had one handy I wager he'd +have put some shot into the ugly carcass of that Ferd---- But he +hadn't the iron and he didn't," added another smoker. + +"It was a prime spread Mis' Trent gave us. Must have took about all +the provisions she had in store, but nothing was too good for them +that helped her in her trouble. Or tried to help, same thing; since it +was her own man, Pedro, found the child. Away down in the bottom of a +pit in the depth of an unknown cave! Think of it, somebody! It just +makes my hair rise on end, known' there is such a fool and scoundrel +joined in one dwarf's body--Hello! hel--lo!" + +The last speaker's words ended in a sort of screech of astonishment +and recognition, as a hard hand was laid upon his shoulder, and +Ephraim Marsh demanded, fiercely: + +"What's that you say, neighbor?" + +"Why, hello, Marsh! Where'd you drop from?" cried one, rising and +extending a hand in greeting. + +"You're a sight to cure sick folks!" shouted another, pressing to +"Forty-niner's" side, and slapping the veteran's shoulder in high good +will. + +But Ephraim had no feeling at present, save anxiety to know what their +discussion had meant; and, all talking, they laid a succinct history +of the last few days before him. He listened in increasing alarm and +amazement and his old limbs tottered beneath him, so that he called +out, hastily: + +"Give me a seat, somebody, quick, before I fall. I--I--to think of my +little gell--my own sweet-faced, lovin' little gell----Oh, I can't +believe it! I can't and I won't. It's some plaguey Californy yarn' +you're passin' the time with. Atlantic! But you might have chose a +likelier subject to fool over, you might." + +But Aleck himself had seen the arrival through the window and came out +to greet him with the heartiness accorded all the Sobrante people, and +to assure him that the story was all true; and that, after all, it +were better that he had not been at home when the trouble came; "for +it would have broke your heart, 'Forty-niner,' into more pieces than +old Stiffleg broke your bones, and it wouldn't have healed so soon, +neither. But, come in, come in, boy, and have a mouthful of dinner. +Janet has as fine a dish of haggis as ever I tasted in Aberdeen at +home, and it should relish to you, after all that hospital fare and so +on. Janet! Janet! Here's Ephraim Marsh! Come welcome him!" + +And Janet came quickly, like her husband cordial and sympathetic, and +led the deeply moved frontiersman into her own kitchen, where no +uninvited ranchman dared intrude, and there served him well with good +things, including the haggis. And as she served she talked in a wise, +womanly way that soothed his agitation and turned his thoughts from +enmity against the dwarf into thanksgiving that now all was well. + +"For since it is over and done with we can reckon the gain. The sweet +bit bairnie has won for herself fresh friends. In all the countryside +there was but one feeling, 'The child must be found.' No other thing +was of any moment, and found she was, by a man so much older than any +of the rest that nobody, not even you, can grudge him the honor. More +hot milk? Oat cake? Nothing? Well, well; for a man that's traveling +you've a small appetite. Must be off already and pack your own bundle? +Why, friend, you would better leave that till one the boys rides up +for the mail. Due before this, indeed, for Sobrante ranchers are ever +keen for their post stuff. No? A horse, then? Aleck was going to do a +bit of plowing with her, later on, but he'll eagerly give over that +for you." + +But Ephraim felt that he could delay for nothing more, not even for +the arrival of a Sobrante messenger; and as for Jean, the sorrel +mare--he and she were old acquaintances, and he declined her services +with a grim smile, saying: + +"Thank you, Janet, it's kindly offered, but I'm in haste and I'd +rather trust my own lame leg than her four lagging ones. Besides, if +Aleck has been afield in this search he'll be behindhand in his work, +and he's a hand to keep things up to the level line. Good-by, good-by. +Oh! wait a bit, though. I'd clean forgot that I put a scrap of white +Scotch linen and a yard or two of plaid bodice stuff in my pack for +you. This business of my captain getting lost has shaken my wits." + +Though Janet protested against the trouble her face glowed at prospect +of her gifts, and as she assisted him to unstrap and refasten his +canvas sack, and even begged to be shown the simple remembrances he +had procured for everybody he knew "at home;" not least among them +being calicoes of brilliantly unwashable colors for Aunt Sally's +patchwork. Then he set off alone, staff in hand, stolidly yet swiftly +covering the ground with that halting stride of his that soon took him +out of sight. + +The assembled ranchmen received their own mail matter, mounted and +rode away; and there settled over the little town that monotonous +quiet which would not be broken again until the arrival of the evening +train, when, possibly, some chance passenger might alight on the +deserted platform. + +Meanwhile, Ephraim was passing over the level road toward "home," +feeling keener delight and longing with each step's advance, and when +he came to a little branch trail, where a rude signpost stated the +fact that he had come "Five miles from Marion," he made his first +halt, sitting to rest for a few moments under the eucalyptus trees +bordering the arroyo. The branch road led to and disappeared among a +group of buildings, some distance to the north, on the ranch of one +Miguel Solano, a friend of Antonio Bernal, and a Mexican of +ill-repute. The ranch was comparatively new and was rich in olive +orchards and all the conveniences for producing a fine quality of oil, +and had been bought and arranged by an easterner with all the +accessories of profitable farming. Death had put an end to the +settler's industry, and the property had come, at a low figure, into +Solano's hands; whereupon everything industrious lapsed, neglect and +discomfort usurping the place of thrifty comfort. + +Gazing toward this place, Ephraim reflected that; "If that Greaser had +half as much snap as he has wickedness he'd be a rich man. As 'tis, +honest folks sort of give Solano's a wide berth. I'm thirsty as a dog +and wouldn't mind havin' a drink out that artesian well they have +there, but--Atlantic! There's somebody already stoopin' over it; looks +mighty familiar!" + +Then the old man stood up and shielded his eyes with his hand as he +peered into the distance, ending his scrutiny with a shake of his fist +in the direction he had gazed, and muttering aloud: + +"No, I'm better off here. Queer how you can recognize a snake, no +matter how far off! That's Ferd, the dwarf; and if I was near enough +to touch him I couldn't keep my fingers off his dirty throat, nohow, +till I'd choked the life out of him! Ugh! When I think---- But I +mustn't think. I must just get up and jog on till I see a prettier +sight than that. If I can spy the hunchback at one mile off I can see +my little captain's bonny head at ten. Home, old 'Forty-niner'! Home's +the word!" + +As if the thought of Jessica had put new strength into his body +Ephraim again shouldered his pack and started forward; but he had +proceeded a short distance only when he again halted and this time in +consternation. On the road before him, where it dipped slightly into a +hollow, lay the prostrate figure of a man, face downward in the dust; +and from the shrubbery near by came the helpless floundering of some +big animal and its occasional cry of distress, than which there is no +sound more pitiful in all the world. + +Away flew the pack, and Ephraim bent over the man, gently turning him +over, and crying in fresh dismay: + +"It's Marty! George Cromarty, of all men, dead as a doornail!" + +Alas! Ephraim's home-coming was proving anything but the delight he +had anticipated. To be met first by the story of the trouble which had +visited Sobrante and now by this dreadful discovery almost unnerved +him; but he was a man of action and his hand flew to Marty's breast to +feel if his heart still beat. With the other hand he softly brushed +the dust from the rigid features and rubbed the colorless temples. +After a second or two his face brightened, and he cried aloud, as if +the other might hear and be cheered: + +"Well, you aren't a dead man, after all, Marty, my lad! But I'd give a +heap, this minute, for a bit of cold water to give you. And, Atlantic! +I believe I'm losing my wits. 'Course, he's got it himself, handy. All +the boys carry a flask in their pockets, even on the short ride to +post, but Marty, being teetotal, fills his with water and gets laughed +at for his notions. A mighty good notion it'll prove for him if it +saves his life, and here goes!" + +Raising Marty's lean body so that his head rested on the fallen +bundle, Ephraim secured the flask, found it full, and began to +moisten the white lips; then, cautiously, to force a few drops down +the stiffening throat. Success soon crowned his efforts since, +fortunately, the ranchman was merely stunned, not killed, by the ugly +fall he had taken when his horse so suddenly pitched forward and +tossed him overhead against the pile of rocks. + +For it was a horse in agony which sent that moving appeal from the +thicket near by, and as soon as "Forty-niner" was sure that the man +was recovering, though he could not as yet speak, he sought the poor +beast and saw, to his distress, that for it there was no respite save +in death. + +"Well, well, well! This is a bad job all round, but better a horse +than a man, and lucky for both I came when I did. If I had a gun I'd +end the misery of one, straight off. And maybe Marty has. I'll look +and see." + +Returning to the road he was greeted by a prolonged stare from the +dazed ranchman, who had, indeed, been able to drag his body to a +sitting posture, but vainly sought to understand what had happened. + +Ephraim spoke to him, asking in a matter-of-fact tone: + +"Got a revolver with you, lad?" + +"Eh? W-h-a-t?" returned Marty, wonder drawing upon him at finding who +his companion was. "You--Eph?" + +"Course. Who else! Been quite a spell since we two met, but better +late than never. Got a pistol, I say?" + +"What for?" + +The sharpshooter hesitated, then gave an evasive answer: + +"Powerful long since I done any practicin', and feel like I better try +my hand." + +At that instant there was another heavy floundering behind the bushes +and another brutish moan of pain. With this full consciousness came +to the injured ranchman and he tried to rise, crying in his own +distress: + +"That's Comanche!" + +"Forty-niner" gravely nodded. + +"He's hurt?" demanded Marty, as if he defied the answer to be +affirmative. + +Ephraim turned away his face. To them, horses were almost as human +beings, and the love of a master for his beast was something +fraternal. + +"Help me to him," said the ranchman, staggering to his feet. + +"Better not, lad. Best trust to me," protested the elder man. + +"Trust--what?" + +The look in Ephraim's eyes was all the answer needed to this fierce +question, and Marty turned away his own gaze as he faltered the next +one: + +"Yes, mate, but take it like a man. Better him than you, and--give me +the gun." + +Marty straightened and stiffened himself. + +"Help me to him. Something's wrong with my legs. I'll see for myself. +If it must be, I'll do it for myself." + +The frontiersman understood the sentiment and respected it. He had had +to do a like hard duty for his own horseflesh before that, and he had +always felt it a sort of murder. He did not look at Marty's face as he +carefully guided his wavering steps into the thicket and the presence +of the suffering Comanche, where one look sufficed his master. + +"Oh, you poor fellow!" + +For an instant the tall head stooped to the level of the struggling +animal, and a strange, expressive look passed between the great equine +eyes and the misty ones of the man. Then Marty's hand went swiftly +around to his pocket, there was the click of a weapon, a flash and +report, and Comanche moved no more. + +More shaken and ill from this deed than from his terrible fall, Marty +sat long in silence by Ephraim's side beneath the eucalyptus trees; +then suddenly rousing, exclaimed: + +"Now, to find out the cause!" + +It was not far to seek, though difficult to understand. Of all men in +that countryside, gay, big-hearted George Cromarty had most friends +and fewest enemies. He took life lightly, merrily, with a good word +for the virtues of others and silence for their vices; yet there +before them, unmistakably plain, was the trap that had been set for +his life. A pit had been dug across the whole width of the road, +shallow, indeed, but sufficiently deep to throw any horse passing over +it. Its top had been screened with interlacing twigs, over which had +been scattered soil and dust enough to hide them. One who rode with +his eyes on the ground, as Antonio used, might easily, perhaps, have +discovered the fiendish work; but he who rode with head upraised and +his gaze on the distance would ride to his ruin as Marty had done. To +make the treachery more secure, some sprays of wild grapes had been +tightly stretched beneath the whole, and this showed a deliberation of +evil that turned Ephraim sick, but the other man furious. + +"Who did that will pay the price! I swear it!" he cried. + +"It surely was meant for a Sobrante man, for they're few besides who +ride this way," answered "Forty-niner," thoughtfully. "And, Atlantic! +Here's the mail pouch! Maybe 'twas robbery, pure and simple. Was it a +money day, for supplies or such?" + +"Reckon it was. The mistress herself locked and gave the bag to me, +bidding me be careful. As if I was ever careless; but there was one +letter in it I heard about, that the little captain wrote to Ninian +Sharp. Wrote herself, an invite to the Christmas doings. Try it." + +Examination proved that the bag had been tampered with, though the +lock was a spring and now securely fastened; but a small leather flap, +intended to cover the keyhole, had been torn from its fastenings and +lay on the ground. The pouch itself had been flung slightly out of the +way, under the bushes, as if the trespasser had satisfied himself with +and concerning it and had no further use for it. + +"Well, there used to be three keys to this concern. One the mistress +has; one the postmaster keeps at the office; and the other was +Antonio's, since he always was wanting to open and put something extra +in the bag after Mrs. Trent had done with it. I never liked the look +of that, and it's my opinion that it's the very key has unlocked this +bag, if unlocked it's been. Which is more'n likely." + +Cromarty's head was again beginning to grow dizzy, and he sat again +upon the rock to recover himself, making no answer to Ephraim's words +than the exclamation: + +"How am I going to get that bag to post in time?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE PASSING OF OLD CENTURY + + +Jessica and her escort, John Benton, rode swiftly up the canyon trail +and over the brow of the mesa toward the shepherd's cabin; but they +had not proceeded far along the upland before a sense of the +strangeness of things oppressed them both. + +John's keen eye detected the neglect of the sheep, which were still +huddled in the corral, though long past their hour for pasturage; +while their bleating expressed hunger as well as dislike of their +unusual imprisonment. But Jessica saw first the abject attitude of the +collie, Keno, who came reluctantly to greet them with down-hanging +head and tail and a reproachful upward glance of his brown eyes. + +"Why, you poor doggie! What's happened you? You look as if you'd been +beaten. Where's your master, good Keno? Keno, where's Pedro?" + +The Indian was nowhere visible, and as if he fully understood the +question, the collie answered by a long, lugubrious whine. + +"Something's wrong. That's as plain as preachin'!" cried John, and +hurried to the little house, whose door stood open, but about which +there was no sign of life. + +He had tossed his bridle to the captain, meaning that if aught were +amiss within she should be detained for the present by holding the +horses. However, she saw through this ruse, and, leaping from Buster, +swiftly hobbled both animals and ran after the carpenter. + +Keno kept close at her heels, the very presentment of canine misery, +and uttering at every few steps that doleful whine which was so +unusual to him. But, arrived at the cabin, he left her and with one +bound had reached the Indian's side, where he still sat beside his +window, his head against its casing and his blanket--Jessica's +gift--closely wrapped about him. He did not move when they entered, +nor respond even by objection to the collie's frantic blandishments, +but John raised his hand for silence, as she stood sorrowfully gazing +downward upon the face of death. + +Yes, it was that. He had more than rounded his century of years, he +had lived uprightly, as the good padres had taught; he had bestowed +upon those he loved the secret of great wealth, and he had gone to +keep his precious Navidad in the home of eternal youth. + +Jessica comprehended the truth at once, and her eyes filled with the +tears which, as yet, did not overflow; for as she gazed upon the +sleeper's face it filled her with amazement and something akin to +delight; and at last she exclaimed: + +"Why, how young and glad he looks! He's even nobler than he was when +he rode away from me last night, and I'd never seen him so dignified +and grand as he was then. It's--it's as if he had done with everything +is hard, like worries, and evil, and loneliness, and--all." + +"Ay, lassie; he has done with all--that you or I know aught about; and +every inch a man he seems as he sits there in the majesty of death." + +By then the child's tears had begun to flow, and she caught up Pedro's +hand with an outburst of grief and love. + +"Poor, poor Pedro! To have been here all alone when it came! What +shall I do without him who was always so good, so good to me? Oh, I +can't have it so, John! I can't, I can't!" + +He was wise enough to attempt no consolation, knowing well how small a +part of her life the venerable Indian had been and how easily youth +accustoms itself to such a loss. But, after he had allowed her to sob +for a time, he gently touched her shoulder, and said: + +"Come. Pedro has finished his work and has passed it on to us. Those +poor sheep must be cared for, and somebody must ride home at once; or, +rather, should ride at once to Marion to make the necessary +arrangements. I wish----" And he paused in perplexity, regarding her +as if in doubt what was best to be done. + +They left the cottage with that quiet tread which seems natural in the +presence of those whom no sound can trouble, and, hand in hand, walked +sadly to the fold, where the penned sheep greeted them with eager +cries and restless movements. + +"Pedro used to say they talked and he knew what they said. I begin to +believe he did, for, listen! This sound isn't like that other first +one, which told us they were hungry. This says: 'I'm glad you've +come!' Doesn't it?" + +"So it sounds to me, lassie; and I, too, am glad we came. It's queer, +though, how set you were on it, even against the mistress' wish that +you should wait." + +"Yes, John, I had to come. I just had to. And this is what I +think: When we've taken care of the sheep, we'll lay Pedro on his +bed and lock the door. Keno will keep guard, if we tell him; though +whoever comes here, anyway? Then you must ride to Marion to see +about--about"--here, for a moment, grief interrupted her again, but +she suppressed her tears as soon as possible and went on quite +calmly--"about what always has to be at such a time. I remember--I +remember it all when my father----No, no, John, I'm not going to cry +again. I won't make bad worse, never, if I can help it. But this I +say: You ride to Marion and send word to the mission so that a +priest may come; and do all the rest. I will ride home and the +boys will come up and fetch him to Sobrante. It must be in the little +old chapel that we never use, because my father said he would not +put to a common service a room that had once been given to God. Pedro +always loved it. It was there he used to say his 'devotions' and +there he must lie--in state--isn't that what they call it when great +folks die? Pedro was great. He had lived so very long and he had +always been so devout. What do you say?" + +"What do I say, little captain, but that you've a long head on your +young shoulders, and I'm sorry this load of grief had to rest on it so +early. More than that; I undertook to be your guardeen to-day, and +I've no notion of shirking the job--even now. I passed my word to the +'admiral' that I'd fetch you home safe, and so I will. It won't take +much longer and it's right. Home first, and Marion afterward." + +"Well, maybe, that is best; and surely it is pleasantest. I didn't +want to be selfish, but I'd rather you stayed with me. Are you ready? +Shall we leave him just as he is?" + +"Just so. We'll close the window and the door, and then--home." + +But it was with widely different feelings that they cantered down the +canyon from those with which they had ridden up it, and when she saw +them returning so soon and so swiftly, Mrs. Trent went out to meet +them, saying nothing, indeed, yet asking the question with her eyes: + +"What trouble now?" + +Then John told their story speedily and suggested that some of the men +ride to the mesa and attend to what was needful. Also, repeated +Jessica's opinion about the chapel, with which the lady instantly +agreed; then, clasping her daughter's hand very close, returned with +her to the porch and began to fold away her sewing. + +But both Aunt Sally, when she came and heard the news, and the little +girl asked: + +"Why do you put it away, mother, dear? If Pedro is happy now, as we +believe, why shouldn't we be, too? All the rest must have their +holiday, and I think--I think he'd like to have me look nice. He +always did." + +"Jessie is right, Gabriell'. Things do happen terrible upsettin' +lately, seems to me; but by the time you and me get to be a hundred +odd, I reckon we shan't care a mite whether folks wear red and white +dresses or horrid humbly ones. I'm goin' on just the same as ever, for +that's the only way I'll ever keep my common senses in this spooky +place. I knew when they two started off, left hoof foremost, they was +ridin', to trouble; and this morning my hen chicken crowed to beat +any rooster I ever heard, and that's a sure sign of death." + +"Aunt Sally, don't!" protested Mrs. Trent, glancing anxiously at her +daughter's face. But she need not have feared; for the child smiled +back upon her, serene and happy, despite the traces of tears that +still marked her bright eyes. + +"It's all right, mother, dear; and I'm thinking how glad Pedro must be +now, to have found all those he'd so long outlived. He just went to +sleep, you see, alone, and waked up with them around him. I think it +was beautiful--beautiful; and his last deed was to find me and to tell +you how you could grow rich if you want to. Where are the little boys, +I wonder?" + +They presently appeared, in wild excitement, having been at the men's +quarters when John rode thither to impart his news and directions; yet +in this excitement was not a vestige of grief. They seemed to feel +relieved of some dread, and Ned more than once punched Luis, +whispering shrilly enough for all to hear: + +"We can do it now, and not get caught! Yes, siree! We can do it now! +Don't you tell!" + +And Luis responded by an ecstatic hug and the customary echo: + +"Do it now; don't you tell! Yes, siree!" + +John Benton had nearly covered the distance to Marion, when he +perceived two men slowly advancing toward him along the level road. +For a moment, engrossed by thoughts of recent happenings, he paid +slight attention to the fact, though idly wondering what strangers +might be having business, and on foot, with Sobrante, at which point +the road ended. But, as he drew nearer to them, something familiar in +the bearing of the taller man, and startling in the appearance of the +other, caused him to shield his eyes from the sunshine and peer +critically into the distance. Then he slapped his thigh so excitedly +that his horse suddenly stopped, reared and nearly unseated him. + +"Oh, you idiot! Can't a feller slap himself without your takin' it +to heart? If I ain't a blind man, and maybe I am, that's old +'Forty-niner' hoofing himself home, and----Whew! That's Marty, +limpin' and leanin' alongside. Well, I 'low! More trouble and +plenty of it. Seems if all creation was just a-happenin' our way, +blamed if it don't. Giddap there, Moses!" + +In a few minutes he had reached the pedestrians and saluted them with +unfeigned astonishment, and Ephraim with great friendliness of +expression, but also the question: + +"What fresh calamities you two fetchin', now?" + +They told him, as briefly as possible, and he found his own perplexity +increased as he demanded: + +"What in creation is to be done? Here's Pedro gone and died in the +most unhandy place and time; and here be you two, with not a decent +leg between you, twenty miles from home, and one horse for the three +of us!" + +At the word "horse" poor Marty winced, as from a personal blow, while +both he and Ephraim were greatly amazed at the news of the shepherd's +death. They began to feel, as John had said, that "nothing save +disaster was meant for Sobrante folks;" yet, after a moment, +"Forty-niner" perceived another side of the matter, and expressed +himself thus: + +"What's got into the pack of us? Seems if we'd lost our gumption. +After all, couldn't anything have happened likelier, so far forth as I +see. John Benton, you light off Moses and help this man into your +saddle. He'll ride home and I'll walk alongside, whilst you tramp on +to Marion. There's a mare there, named Jean. She was offered to me, +but I was in a hurry and didn't accept. However, the offer is due to +hold good for any of our folks. Light, I tell you. Marty's about +played out." + +Indeed, the respite came none too soon. The worst injury the gardener +had sustained was, apparently, of the head, and a terrible dizziness +rendered his progress on foot almost impossible. He would not have +been able to accomplish this much of the journey, save for the +continual help of Ephraim, who was himself burdened with the heavy +pack and unwilling to relinquish it. + +John stepped down and swung his fellow ranchman up to Moses' back; +then placed the bundle before the rider, turned the animal's head +toward Sobrante, and chirruped: + +"Giddap! Home's the word!" + +Moses needed no second urging, but was off at a gallop, leaving the +others to discuss the situation a bit further, and Ephraim to follow +at his leisure. + +There was little more to be said, however, and soon each was pursuing +diverging routes and each at his swiftest pace. + +At Marion, John had the mail pouch unlocked and examined, and was +satisfied that some letters had been tampered with. These contained +orders for house supplies and had been accompanied by checks, as was +evident from the wording of the orders. The checks had been removed, +and this fact proved to the carpenter that the hand of Antonio Bernal +was in the matter, because the late manager might indorse them without +arousing the bank's suspicion, as nobody else could. + +Yet there was one thing he did not mention, even to the postmaster; +and that was the package which Jessica's letter to Ninian Sharp had +spoken of. This had disappeared entirely. The fact troubled him more +than the loss of the checks, for he could stop the payment of these, +but whether the little captain had sent the whole of their only +specimen of the copper to her city friend or not was a serious +question. + +However, he did what he could; and almost for the first time in his +life used the telegraph as well as the post. To pay for his long and +rather ambiguous messages he borrowed money of the mystified Aleck +McLeod; and the local operator found himself busier than he had ever +been since the establishment of the office. + +The other sad business that had brought him to the town was also +transacted; and by the time all was arranged John was very glad to +avail himself of Jean's services, slow though she was. Upon her sedate +back he arrived at Sobrante, just as the sun was setting, and found +that the household had temporarily forgotten their grief for Pedro in +their rejoicing over Ephraim. + +"It's an up and a down in this world," quoth Aunt Sally, spreading and +admiring the brilliant bits of calico which "Forty-niner" had given +her. "Life ain't all catnip anyway you stew it. Them that laugh in the +morning gen'ally cry before night, and vicy-versy. But, Gabriella, do, +for goodness' sake, just fetch out that queer kind of stick that old +Indian made a sort of graven image of and show it to Mr. Ma'sh. It's a +curiosity, being so old, if it ain't no more. Worth cherishin', +anyhow, 'count of him that give it. I always did admire keepsakes of +the departed." + +Mrs. Trent smiled, though sadly, and Jessica asked: + +"May I get it, mother?" + +"Surely. For safety I put it on the top of the tallest bookcase, +behind the files of newspapers. You'll likely have to take the little +library ladder to reach it; and when you've shown it, put it back in +exactly the same spot. It's doubly valuable now, and could not be +replaced." + +The little captain had scarcely once relinquished the hand of her +beloved sharpshooter, since he appeared before them all, and now led +him, as if he were another happy playmate, to the designated place. +But when she had reached it, mounted the ladder and carefully felt all +over the top of the case, even moving the files in order to examine it +the better, she could not find the metal-pointed staff. + +Standing on the floor beneath, Ephraim watched her face growing sober +and disappointed, as she exclaimed: + +"It's gone! It's completely gone!" + +"It has, dearie? Well, maybe your mother forgot and put it somewhere +else. The likeliest thing in the world to happen, with her mind so +upset as it has been. We'll go back and ask her. Don't fret. Probably +it wasn't of much account, anyway." + +"Oh! but, dear Ephraim, it was! It could point the way to our big +fortune that's to be dug out of the ground!" + +"What? What is that you say, child? Nonsense. We don't live in the +days of witchcraft, and that's what such a performance would mean." + +Yet when they had returned to Mrs. Trent and related their misadventure +he was startled by hearing that sensible woman tragically exclaim, in +contradiction to his own assertion: + +"Lost! Then Sobrante is certainly bewitched!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE REBELLION OF THE LADS + + +"Thank my stars, I haven't lost my faculty of doing two things to +once, nor seein' a dozen!" cried Aunt Sally, as if in response to Mrs. +Trent's exclamation. Then she rose so hastily that her beloved +"pieces" fell on the floor and her spectacles slid from the end of her +nose, their habitual resting place. "There never was witches on this +ranch before, and I reckon I can deal with a few of them that's here +now. Edward Trent, Luis Garcia! Where you goin' at? Hey? Hear me? Come +right straight back to me this minute, if you know what's good for +yourselves!" + +All were surprised by this outburst and awaited its result with +curiosity. + +The two little boys had been suspiciously quiet on the farther end of +that long porch where the household practically lived. Mrs. Trent had +glanced their way, occasionally, but supposed them to be engrossed by +the patent whistle and top which had been found in Ephraim's pack, +neatly marked with their respective names. Yet one could not eat tops +nor whistles, and their elbows had been seen, from the rear, to move +in a suggestive manner. + +"They're eatin' somethin' all this time. I wonder what!" had been Mrs. +Benton's private reflection. But when Jessica came back with her +report of the lost wand, the elbow action had suddenly ceased; and, +after what appeared to be a brief whispered consultation, they had +slunk away down the path, Ned trying to help Luis hide something +within his blouse, though not, apparently, succeeding. + +At the sound of Aunt Sally's voice, indeed, they dropped the box they +had been secreting and burst into a paroxysm of giggling, as was their +customary receipt of her chiding. The giggle was always destined to +end in tears, but this never prevented its recurrence. + +"Neddy Trent! If that bad little Garcia boy is doing wrong, it's no +need you should be naughty, too. Come back here and show poor auntie +what you've got in your blouses." + +Wheedling had no more effect than scolding, for with one hug of each +other's necks, the children scampered onward, leaving their spoils +behind them. + +Then Jessica followed to see what this might be, and exclaimed, in +some surprise: + +"Candy! Where did it come from?" + +Now, it happened that such sweets, except of homemade manufacture and +on rare occasions, were forbidden the lads, because they were always +made ill by them. That is, Luis suffered and Ned was not allowed +anything his playmate could not share. All the ranchmen knew Mrs. +Trent's wishes on the subject and heretofore none had ever gone +against them. Who had done it now? + +Of course, suspicion instantly pointed to "Forty-niner," who +indignantly denied that he had brought, or even thought of bringing, +anything home which his beloved mistress did not wish there. + +"Doesn't anybody trust me any more about anything?" he concluded, +wistfully. + +The accusation had come from Mrs. Benton, but Gabriella hastened to +soothe the sharpshooter, saying: + +"We're making mountains out of mole hills, I fear. There, Aunt Sally, +never mind. They have left so much behind them on the path that they +can hardly have eaten enough to harm them, anyway. Let them go, +please." + +But the good woman would not drop the subject. Her sharp eyes had not +been given her for nothing, and her son always asserted that if his +mother had been a man she would have made a first-class detective. +Panting and puffing in her haste and curiosity, she hurried to the +spilled confections and carefully picked them up; then returned to the +porch, significantly holding forth, upon her palm, a specimen of what +she had discovered. + +"Needn't tell me I didn't smell peppymint! Them's them peppymint +rounds with chocolate outsides that I never seen nobody eat, on this +ranch, 'cept Antonio Bernal. They ain't kept in the store to Marion, +and the storekeeper used to send for 'em to Los Angeles, 'specially +for his one customer. I know, Antonio offered me some, time and again, +on my other visits, but I always thanked him polite and said no. I +never did lay out to eat a snake's victuals, and that's what his'n +was." + +"Oh, what a woman you are, Aunt Sally!" laughed Ephraim. + +"Thank you. I hope I be; enough of one, anyhow, to see through a +millstone, when there's a hole in it. But you've come back so peart +and sassy, sharpshooter, I reckon I best go steep you a fresh dose of +picra. After I've learnt all them tackers can tell." + +"Please, don't be stern with them, Aunt Sally," protested the mother. +"Whatever they've done is but natural. It would be too much to expect +them to refuse such a treat if it were offered them, and, maybe, John +brought it to them." + +"John? My boy, John? After the raisin' he had! Well, you're on the +wrong track there and I'm on the right one. Antonio Bernal, or some +feller sneak of his, has been here at Sobrante, and you needn't touch +to tell me he hasn't. Wait; I'll find out now!" she ended, in triumph, +and again the others were obliged to laugh, though Mrs. Trent's brief +mirth closed with a sigh, which Jessica heard and understood. + +"Oh! don't you fear, mother, dear. Aunt Sally wouldn't hurt either of +them, really; and, indeed, I don't know who would keep them in order +if she didn't try. What mischief one can't think of the other does, +and I'll run after her and see the thing out. Who knows but that they +can tell us something about the missing staff?" + +The runaways had made a detour by way of the kitchen, and adjoining +the kitchen was the "cold closet," which was the refuge they sought, +and where already were stored some of the Christmas goodies. This +closet had but one door and a securely shuttered window, and once the +door was gained by the pursuer she would have the small miscreants in +a trap. This she had seen and this it was which had given her that +triumphant expression. + +The captain also gained the pantry door just after it had closed +behind Mrs. Benton and her prisoners, and to her repeated request to +be admitted, received the enigmatical answer: + +"Time enough when I've pumped these little cisterns dry." + +"Are the children in there with you?" + +"Certain." + +"You won't hurt them, will you? Please don't punish them to-day. I +can't bear it." + +To which the grim jailer responded: + +"You go along back to 'Forty-niner,' Jessie darlin, and be happy. +We're all mighty comfortable in here and lots of good victuals, if so +be we get hungry. Plenty to drink, too, for I just brought in a crock +of fresh water to cool my eggs in. I've got my knittin' work and am as +happy as an oyster. Go back, for I ain't ready to talk yet. When I am +I'll come out and bring these naughty children with me." + +So Jessica returned to her old friend's side; and in listening to his +talk about the hospital and the friends she had made there for +herself, as well as about Mr. Ninian Sharp and the lawyer, Morris +Hale, the evening quickly passed and bedtime came. + +When the ranch mistress rose to say good-night, she went to the still +closed door of the closet, and asked: + +"Aren't you coming out now, Aunt Sally?" + +The old lady opened the door and pointed complacently to a distant +corner of the roomy apartment where, upon a pile of soft blankets that +had been stored within, lay the two little boys, sound asleep and the +picture of innocent comfort. + +"There, Gabriella, you see they're all right. I wouldn't hurt a hair +of their bonny heads, not for another ranch as fine as this one. +But here them and me stay till I worm the truth out of 'em about +that candy and that magic staff. Where that candy come from that +there staff has gone. You hear me and believe me. Oh, I know what I +know! Good-night. Don't you worry. Me and them is all right, as I +said, and my head's level. I went to sleep a-watchin' t'other +time, but I shan't this. There's more in my mind than nonsense. This +chair is as comfortable as a lounge. I slipped out and got it from +the settin'-room when you all was talkin' so lively, just now, and +we're fixed. I may come out before daylight and I may stay till +doomsday; but come I shan't a single step, not to please even you +for whom I'd do and dare a good deal, and don't you doubt it, but +when my mind is sot it's sot, and sot it is this minute, an don't +you dast to let on to John Benton, or that sassy boy'd plague the +very life out of me, and you go right along to your own bed and take +Jessie with you, and----" + +But Mrs. Trent stayed to hear no more. When Aunt Sally got started on +such a harangue as this, exhaustion of breath was her only limit. The +lady did not anticipate more than an hour's further imprisonment of +the children, if so long, and was sure that they would be even +tenderly cared for, no matter what their misdemeanors, if she did not +herself interfere. Yet daylight came and found the odd trio still +behind that closed door, and it opened only at breakfast time; when, +leading two very penitent-looking small boys and herself wearing the +air of a Roman conqueror, Mrs. Benton emerged from her seclusion upon +an expectant household. + +"Well, Aunt Sally, haven't you 'wormed' them, as you promised? Poor +little tackers! they've lost their pride and spirit, and I love them. +Come to sister, darlings, and get your morning hugs!" cried Jessica, +as they appeared. Ephraim, close at hand, winked at them solemnly +and held up behind Mrs. Benton's back two most alluring marbles. +But they did not wink in response, nor give more than a furtive +smile, as they reluctantly dragged along under their guardian's +forcible guidance. Her route was direct to the watering trough +where, without ado, she promptly stripped, bathed and rubbed dry, +each shivering little figure. Then she reclothed and led them back to +the kitchen, placing them in high chairs beside the big deal table, +while she proceeded to cook their oatmeal and serve it to them, with +a bad-as-you-are-you-shan't-starve sort of air which would have +amused Jessica, had she not so heartily pitied her playmates. + +After a time she could endure the sight no longer, but sped to Ned's +chair and clasped him fondly in her arms. + +"What is the matter, brotherkin? Tell sister, do. Is it nothing but +that miserable candy? What else have you done to make auntie so angry +with you?" + +Ned's bosom heaved and a mighty sob burst forth. But he instantly +repressed this sign of weakness, though unfortunately, not soon enough +to prevent Luis from echoing it with redoubled intensity. + +Now nothing so quickly restores the self-possession, even of +grown-ups, as the sight of another's collapse; and no sooner had Luis +given vent to his emotion than Ned's spirit returned to him. Throwing +back his pretty head, with an air of unconquerable resolution, he +reached forth and pounded his mate smartly on the back. + +"You, Luis Garcia, what you crying for? Isn't none of your staffs, +anyway." + +"Ain't my old staffs, ain't," sobbed the "echo," for such he was often +nicknamed. + +"Then you needn't cry, you needn't. I ain't crying, I ain't. Hate old +Aunt Sally. Hate 'Tonio. Hate Ferd. Hate everybody. Give me my +breakfast, old Aunt Sally Benton!" + +"Hate Bentons!" agreed Luis, and flung his arms about his little +tyrant's throat till he choked from outward expression whatever more +might have issued thence. + +"Ned! Why, Ned! I never, never knew you so naughty! Do tell me; what +has happened?" + +Mrs. Benton glared at the culprit over her down-dropped spectacles in +a truly formidable manner, but the result was only a settled +stubbornness which nothing moved. + +Seeing that pleading was hopeless, at present, and that Ned was in one +of his dogged fits, Jessica quietly walked away and began to help in +the preparation of the elder people's meal, as her mother liked to +have her do. + +Meanwhile, Aunt Sally waited upon the children, piling their saucers +with the tasty porridge, moistened with Blandina's yellow cream and +plentifully sprinkled with sugar. They were healthy and unused to +grief, and the palatable food soon restored their good humor. They +seemed to forgive their venerable tormentor and fell to their +accustomed scrimmage with the utmost enjoyment; and this was +pleasanter for all concerned. However, even when they had eaten all +they could and were ready for outdoors and their morning fun, their +plans were nipped in the bud. Aunt Sally had a spare hand for each of +them and conducted them firmly to the dining room and a place upon +its lounge, while the family took their own food in what comfort they +could. + +This was not so great Mrs. Trent's eyes would wander to the unhappy +pair--for they were once more gloomy and unsubdued--and old Ephraim +cast many glances thither, entreating by silent signals that they +should repent of whatever sin they had committed and be restored to +favor. + +The meal past the family rose and, from her pocket, Mrs. Benton +produced two long strips of cloth, one of which she fastened about +each child's wrist, leaving its other end to tie to her own apron +belt. + +Then she turned to the mother, whose tears were beginning to fall, and +said, severely: + +"Gabriella, if I didn't love you as well as I love myself and better, +I'd let these children go and no more said. But they've done that no +punishin' won't reach, though maybe they'll give in after a spell. I +shan't hurt 'em nor touch to; but I shall keep 'em tied to me till +they tell me what I'm bound to know. So that's all. You've got enough +on your hands, with this funeral business and all that'll come, and +however we're goin' to feed another lot of visitors so soon after them +others, I declare I don't see. And me with these tackers tied to my +apron strings, the way they be!" + +Mrs. Trent rose and left the room and Jessica slowly followed. Neither +of them could quite understand Aunt Sally's present behavior, nor why +she should wish to bother herself with two such hindrances to the +labor which must be accomplished. + +But Ephraim lingered. He simply could not endure the sight of the +little ones' unhappiness, and quietly slipping a knife from his +pocket he coolly cut their leading strings, caught them up in his +strong arms and limped away before their captor had discovered her +loss. + +But he put his head back inside the doorway to call out, reassuringly: + +"Begging pardon, Mrs. Benton, I'll 'spell' you on the 'worming out' +business and promise they shan't leave my care till I hand 'em back to +you thoroughly 'pumped.' Come along, laddies. I've a mind to visit +every spot on this blessed ranch and--upon one condition--I've a mind +to take you with me. Want to hear?" + +"Yes. What is it?" demanded Ned, already very happy at the exchange of +jailers. + +"Only that you must explain what all this row and rumpus is about with +Aunt Sally." + +Standing at the top of the steps, with one foot outstretched, old +"Forty-niner" paused and steadily regarded the small face above his +shoulder. + +Ned returned the gaze with equal steadfastness, as if he were +pondering in his troubled mind the best course to pursue. Then, +because he might think more clearly so, he lifted his serious gaze to +the distance; and, at once, there burst from his quivering lips a cry +of fear: + +"Oh, I see him! I see him! He's coming, like he said--to kill me--to +kill me! I dassent--I dassent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NED'S STORY + + +"Eels couldn't have done that slicker!" commented Ephraim, in +surprise. For, behold! his arms were empty and the flash of twinkling +legs along the garden path pointed whither his charges had fled. "Here +they were and here they aren't, and whatever scared them that way is +more than I can see." + +Indeed, though he shaded his eyes with his hand and made a prolonged +examination of the outlook, nothing different from ordinary was +visible; and, after a moment's reflection, he sought Aunt Sally and +reported: + +"Well, Mrs. Benton, I 'low I'm doomed to that dose of picra, for +I--I---- You see----" + +"Ephraim Ma'sh, where's them children?" + +"That's just exactly what I'd like to know myself, neighbor." + +"Huh! You needn't go 'neighborin'' me, if that's all you're worth. +Tryin' fool capers like a boy, ain't you? Think it was terr'ble clever +to cut strings that I'd took the trouble to tie and then settin' them +youngsters free. Well, all I have to say is that you've done more harm +than you can undo in a hurry, and that's the true word," retorted the +indignant matron, beating a bowlful of eggs as she would have enjoyed +beating him just then. + +Ephraim crossed the kitchen and laid one hand on her shoulder, +saying: + +"Come, Sally, let's quit chasing about the bush. There's something +more in this nonsense than appears, and if you're a true and loyal +friend to this family I'm another as good. Two heads are better than +one, you know----" + +"Even if one belongs to a silly old feller like you? H'm Ephraim, +you're right! There is somethin' more'n shows outside. That candy was +a bait, a trap, a lure, a--anything you choose; and I do hope the +little fellers are safer'n I fear they be. If I catch 'em again, for +their good----My suz! Here they're comin' back of their own free will +and wonder ain't ceased!" + +Indeed, as swiftly as they had scampered away, the lads were returning +and burst into the kitchen, crying with what little breath they had +left: + +"Aunt Sally, lock me up! Lock us up tight! Quick--quick! I seen him! +He'll do it! My mother says Antonio always does do things, he does! +Quick, quick!" + +"Lock up, quick!" + +Ned and the echo swung round behind the matron's capacious person and +rolled themselves in the folds of her full skirt, which performance +hid them from the view of anyone outside and as effectually interfered +with her movements. + +But she had now caught something of their excitement, and their appeal +to her protection had promptly banished her last trace of anger +against them. + +"So I will, lambies, so I will. You just keep on a steppin' backwards +and I'll do it, too, and first we know we'll get to that nice pantry +where we stayed last night. I've got the key to that, even if 'tis +rusty from not bein' often used, and I'll defy anybody to get it away +from me." + +Still beating her eggs as if nothing uncommon were happening, the +housewife retreated toward the door in question, and slipping one hand +behind her opened it without turning her head. She was instantly +relieved of the drag upon her skirts, and quietly shut the door again +upon her self-imprisoned charges. Then she drew a long breath, and +exclaimed: + +"Well, sharpshooter, what do you think of that?" + +"Looks as if you couldn't have been so very hard on them, else they'd +never come back." + +"I ain't a-flatterin' myself. That was a 'Hobson's choice.' But----" + +"But they must have been badly frightened to have done it." + +"Yes, Ephraim, they are, and I am. I'm so stirred up I don't +know whether I've beat these eggs all one way, like I ought, or +forty-'leven different ones, like I ought not. I'm flustered. I'm +completely flustered, and that ain't often my case." + +"Picra!" sympathetically suggested the old man. + +Aunt Sally's eyes snapped, and she smiled grimly, as she retorted: + +"Picra's good for them 'at need it. That's you, not me. It ain't a +medicine for in'ards so much as 'tis for out'ards. I mean, it's better +for the body than 'tis for the mind, and it's my mind that's ailin' +me! Besides, doctors never take their own doses." + +"You know it yourself! I thought your mind was failing you, but----" + +"No such thing. I said, or I meant to say, I was troubled in it. +That's all; and if you're a mite of a man you'll try and help me +unravel this tangle and quit foolin'. Just step into that closet with +me and maybe the tackers'll tell you themselves. I'd rather you heard +it first hand, anyway." + +Wun Lung, sifting flour in one part of the kitchen, and Pasqual +scrubbing a kneading board at the sink, both paused and eyed the +strange proceedings with curiosity if not displeasure; for not only +had the children been bestowed within the "cold closet," but Aunt +Sally and Ephraim had, also, followed and locked themselves out of +sight and hearing. + +The pantry was absolutely dark, until Mrs. Benton found a candle and +lighted it; then she pointed to the chair she had occupied during the +night, mutely inviting "Forty-niner" to be seated. He declined the +proffered courtesy, so she sat down herself, and it amused him that +she had not once stopped that monotonous whisking of the eggs, though +by this time the dish was heaped with their frothy substance. + +"The cake you make of them should be light enough," he remarked, with +a smile. + +"You're right. There's such a thing as overbeatin'--everything. Well, +laddies, we're all back in here together again, and auntie wants you +to tell Mr. Ma'sh where you got that candy; who give it to you; what +for; where you saw that sneaky snake, Antonio Bernal; what you've done +with the staff wand; and all the rest of it? 'Forty-niner' is a man +and a gentleman----" + +"Here the sharpshooter bowed profoundly, acknowledging the compliment +with a humorous expression; but the matron continued as if she had +not observed him: + +"You see, I know all about it, even if you wouldn't tell. I'm one has +eyes on the back of my head and on its top, too, I tell you, so you +needn't try to think I don't see what's going on, for I do." + +The faces of her small listeners showed utter amazement; then with one +of his flashlike movements Ned sprang to the back of her chair and +passed his hand rapidly all over her gray curls. + +"Where are they, Aunt Sally? I can't find 'em. I never saw 'em in all +my life, and do--do, please, show them to me!" he implored. + +Luis scrambled up the other side, and echoed: + +"Never show 'em in m'life!" + +"That's all right. I don't keep 'em in exhibition, but they're there +all the same." + +"Sally Benton!" expostulated Ephraim. "Don't tell them wrong +stories." + +"But it isn't a wrong story; it's a right one. If they're not real, +actual eyes, there's something in my head takes their place. Might as +well say 'eyes' as 'brains,' I judge. But, be you going to answer, +Edward Trent? I've got a prime lot of cookin' to do again, and no time +to waste. 'Cause if you ain't I'll just take Mr. Ma'sh with me and +lock you shavers in here alone, where you'll be safe, but sort of +homesick. I shan't leave no candle burnin', for you to set the house +afire with. So you best tell, right away, and then be let out to have +a good time." + +Luis began to whisper, and beg: + +"Tell her, Ned. Tell her. I hate the dark--I do, I do!" + +Ned hesitated but a moment longer. He loved his playmate as his own +soul, and it altered nothing of this childish David-and-Jonathan +friendship that it was as full of fight as of affection. Patting Luis' +shoulder, he cried: + +"'Course I'll tell, though if she knows it all a'ready----" + +"But I don't know it, Ned. She wants you to tell me. I'm one of us, +you see--just we four," interposed the sharpshooter, hastily. + +"Well--well--well, 'tisn't anyhow. Only I saw--I--saw----" + +Here the child paused and peered cautiously about. + +Mr. Marsh promptly sat down upon the boards and motioned the lads to +come to him, and when they had done so, closed his arms around them, +with a comforting pressure, saying: + +"There now! We're as snug as bugs in a rug, and nobody in the wide +world dare harm you. Hurry up and talk fast, or you and I will never +get a taste of that fine poundcake Aunt Sally wants to make." + +Another moment of hesitation, and then came Ned's triumphant +statement: + +"'Twasn't no ghost, anyhow." + +"Of course it wasn't," answered "Forty-niner," promptly agreeing, but +considerably puzzled. He had not, as yet, heard from any of the others +about the "vision" which Mrs. Benton had seen beside the window. + +"'Twasn't nobody but 'Tonio himself." + +"That's exactly what I thought," he again agreed, and encouragingly +patted the boy's hand. + +"And he come--and he come--and he gave us one--two boxes of that nice, +nice candy; and all we gave him was Pedro's old stick!" + +Aunt Sally's egg beater fell to the floor unheeded, this time she +really put her spectacles in their proper place and stared through +them at the narrator. + +Ned warmed to his task and Luis cuddled beside him, complacently +adding his affirmative "Yep," at fitting intervals. + +"And so he said it wasn't nothin'. And so--and so--I fell offen the +bookcase and made a noise; and my mother didn't hear it 'cause she was +asleep. Me and Luis was asleep, wasn't we, Luis?" + +"Yep. Sleep." + +"And he waked us up through the window----" + +"Waked froo winder, yep." + +"And said: 'Go get that pointed stick, Ned Trent, and I'll give you a +dollar.' Didn't he?" + +"Gimme dollar. Didn't gimme dollar. What's a dollar?" asked the echo. + +Ned went on, unheeding: + +"And I said no. 'Twasn't my stick; 'twas my mother's." + +"Oh! Neddy, Neddy! if you'd only stuck to that!" groaned Mrs. Benton, +wiping her face with her apron. + +But being now fairly launched upon his narrative, and also feeling +wholly secure within the shelter of "Forty-niner's" arms, Ned paused +no more till he had completed it: + +"And then he gave us the candy, 'cause I didn't want dollars. You +can't eat dollars, can you? And the candy was like the kind my mother +never gives, and just for an old stick was older than Pedro. Huh! And +then he--he--he made me put my hand on the top of my head----" + +"Hands on tops of heads!" cried the echo, dramatically. + +"And swore a swore I'd never, never, honest Injun, tell a single tell, +else he'd--he'd kill me! Kill me right straight down dead! And now I +have and he will, and I forgot and you made me! I hate you, I hate +you! And won't you feel bad when I'm all deaded and you you done it, +'stead of him--and--and----" + +The sense of security had fled instantly, and completely. The memory +of Antonio's dark face as he had stood threateningly before the little +fellow, at midnight by the window, returned with all its vivid, +terrorizing power. Springing to the farthest reach of the room Ned +crouched there, wide-eyed and trembling, and, of course, Luis followed +his example. + +To "Forty-niner's" reassuring words, and to Mrs. Benton's cajoling +ones, neither child paid any further heed. They had been trained to +believe that their promised word was the most sacred of all things, +and now they had not only been induced to break that, but to break it +in the face of Antonio Bernal's terrible threat. + +The elders left them to themselves and regarded one another with +regretful eyes. Then Aunt Sally repeated in detail all that there was +to tell concerning the curious wand which had pointed the way to +wealth; and now Ephraim listened in vast respect. On the first +recital, so hurriedly given by Jessica, and when she had run to get +the staff, he had thought of the matter as one of the shepherd's +"pious mummeries." It now assumed a graver aspect. The lost staff +might possess some magnetic quality which was invaluable, as Old +Century believed; but beyond all that was the uncomfortable reflection +that Antonio Bernal was somewhere in hiding about Sobrante, and that +doubtless it had been he, or his emissary, who had tampered with the +mail pouch and caused Marty's disaster. + +"Well, a man that hides must have somethin' to be ashamed of. And I +believe every single word that child has told," said Aunt Sally, in +conclusion of her long harangue. + +"H'm! I thought that 'snake' had had his fang extracted down there at +Los Angeles; but it seems he's the sort can grow a new one, when +needed. Well, I'm powerful glad I'm home again. It takes a lot of +honest men to keep watch of one thief, and I'll prove handy. I'm off. +I leave the lads with you. I'm going to find out three things: How +Ferd, the dwarf, managed to break jail that night and leave no sign; +who robbed that mail pouch; and where Antonio Bernal is at this +precious minute." + +"Here, at your service, amigo!" cried a mocking voice, outside the +shuttered window. A voice that all recognized at once as belonging to +the late manager; yet, when Ephraim had hastily run out and around to +that side of the house, there was nobody within sight; and nothing to +be heard save the series of terrified shrieks which issued from the +room he had left. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TAKING THE DOCTOR'S ADVICE + + +For almost the first time in his life Ninian Sharp was under the +doctor's hands; and that gentleman's verdict upon his patient's case +was simple and plain: + +"Nothing the matter with you but breakdown. The result of doing two +men's work instead of one. What you need, and all you need, is a +complete change of thought and scene. Go off on some ranch and take a +vacation. That's your medicine." + +"Thank you, doctor, but a prescription upon the nearest drug store +would be easier to fill. In the first place I should worry all the +time if I were idle, for 'hustling' has become my second nature. In +the second--where shall I go?" + +The physician shrugged his shoulders. He, also, was a busy man and +having finished his visit to his patient did not prolong it. He picked +up his hat, remarked that he "didn't doubt so clever a young man could +find a fitting place, if he gave what was left of his mind to it," and +bowed himself out, leaving the leaven of his sensible advice to +accomplish its legitimate result. + +As the doctor left the room the nurse entered, bearing with her a +telegram which had been delayed en route, and a letter. It was with +some reluctance that she delivered these to the man on the lounge, yet +realizing, at the same time, how much worse for him was absolute +cessation of all his ordinary interests. With a solicitous smile, she +inquired: + +"Would you not better let me read these first? They are probably +unimportant." + +"Thank you, no. I'm not yet reduced to imbecility and prefer to +examine my own correspondence," returned the invalid, fretfully. Then +as if ashamed of his petulance, and with a return to his ordinary +manner, added: "This telegram might as well have walked. Would have +saved time, judging by the date of it; and as for this letter--that, +certainly, has seen better days." + +The nurse smiled again, indulgently, and busied herself in tidying the +apartment; an occupation which would have incensed Ninian, since her +idea of neatness seemed to him to be but the "disarrangement" of the +heaps of papers and manuscript sheets scattered everywhere about, had +he not been otherwise interested. A hasty examination of the messages +he had received evoked his exultant exclamation: + +"Hurrah! The very thing!" + +"Good news?" asked the attendant. + +"The best in the world. The doctor's prescription, filled to the +letter. A ranch and new business. Say, would you mind going out for a +bit? I'd like to get into some other togs and in a hurry. If I can, +I'll make the one o'clock train." + +"The--one o'clock train!" gasped the bewildered nurse, believing that +her charge's brain had given away, even as the physician had suggested +it might do. + +"Exactly. Please don't be alarmed. Some country friends of mine have +invited me to visit them, and I judge they would be glad if I +accepted at once. Their invitation fits in excellently with my own +needs and, after I've dressed for the trip, I'd be grateful to you for +packing a few things, while I write to the bank and telephone to some +other places. Just touch that messenger call, will you, please?" + +Certainly, he did not now look very like a sick man, as he sprang up +and looked about him; save that he put his hand to his head because of +a momentary dizziness and seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet. +However, his eyes had lost their dullness and a faint color had come +into his cheeks; and the attendant saw no reason for opposing his +sudden determination. + +The letter was Jessica's, and its envelope had been mended by the +postmaster after he had taken it, torn, from the mail pouch. The +telegram was from Ephraim Marsh, and had been sent by the first +messenger to Marion after that scene in the pantry with Aunt Sally and +the little boys. It had been delayed by the curiosity of the operator, +but had reached Mr. Sharp at last; and its import was that: + +"If you're willing to use your brains for Sobrante folks, as you used +them once before, now's the time. There'll be a led horse at Marion +till you come, and the sooner the better. 'Forty-niner.'" + +"A led horse. Why, he must have forgotten, if he ever knew, that I've +my own Nimrod here, that Mrs. Trent insisted upon my accepting, when I +left Sobrante before. The horse must go with me, of course, and I +flatter myself I can pick up a bit of instruction on riding among +those fine 'boys' of the little captain's. I'll send a return +message--no, I won't, either. I'll trust to luck and surprise them. +Now to get ready." + +A feeling that he was going "home" possessed the young man, and all +his simple preparations strengthened rather than weakened him. +Activity was his habit, and an hour before the train left the city he +had completed his personal arrangements with his office, his bank and +his landlord. He had paid his nurse the same salary she would have +received had he required her services for the fortnight, as expected, +and was ready for what came next. + +"I feel as if I were entering upon a new life, instead of taking a +rest cure," he remarked to Mr. Hale, when that gentleman met him at +the station, and explained that a Christmas invitation had come for +himself, also. "And I say we'll make it the jolliest holiday those +people down there ever knew. I sent a letter to your address, after I +'phoned, and made out a list of things I'd like you to see to. +Presents and so on; and I'll write as soon as I get there and let you +know what's up with the sharpshooter. Some trouble, of course, but +reckon it can't be much. Ha! we're off. Good-by. Forget nothing, add +as much as you please to my list and send the bills to me. Good-by." + +The train rolled noiselessly away from the long platform, and the +reporter for the Lancet stowed himself comfortably away on his +cushions and slept as he had not slept before since this nervous +illness attacked him. Not once did he awake, till the conductor +touched him on the shoulder, and stated: + +"End of the line, sir. Time to leave." + +Ninian sat up and shook himself, still feeling a bit dazed from his +heavy slumber, and had scarcely realized the fact of his arrival +before a man limped into the car and slapped him on the shoulder. + +"Well done, lad. Welcome to Sobrante!" + +"Hello, Mr. Marsh! You here? Sobrante? I thought----" + +"Same thing. This is Marion; as near as we can get to our place on the +rails. Remember, don't you? Been sick, eh? You look rather peaked and +I 'low I'd ought----" + +"No apologies. Here I am, and am not ill now. Only been a little +overworked; and your telegram, as well as Miss Jessica's letter, came +in the nick of time. Not an hour after the doctor had ordered this +very medicine of change and recreation." + +Ephraim looked sharply at his guest and reflected: + +"What our business needs is a clear head and a strong body, not an +overtaxed man, as this 'pears to be. Well, sick or well, I hope he can +see through some of our muddles, if not all; and half a loaf is better +than no bread." Then he gathered the traveler's belongings, and +remarked: "I told Aleck to have a good supper ready. It's a fine night +and I thought we'd ride home afterwards. Unless----" + +They left the car and Ninian answered the other's unspoken suggestion: + +"No, I don't want to stay all night, good as Janet's beds are. I've +had a delicious sleep and feel like another man from this morning. +Hello! they've taken Nimrod out already, and evidently are waiting for +orders. I declare, the handsome beast looks as if he recognized this +place and was as glad to get back to it as I am." + +Old "Forty-niner" left his guest's side and hurried to the spot where +a trainman held the spirited animal, stroking its neck and speaking +soothingly to it, to calm its excitement; and no sooner had the +ranchman's hand supplanted the trainman's than Nimrod ceased to +prance, and with a little final shiver, stood stock-still, uttering a +low whinny of delight. + +"That's the talk, you beauty! Welcome home, old boy! Well, well, well! +if you ain't a sight to cure the headache! Yes, yes; it's all right. +This is Marion. We've got to stop at Aleck's first. Remember Aleck? +Remember Janet and her sugar? Well, well, well!" + +Ninian approached, amazed and incredulous, inquiring: + +"Think that creature knows what you're saying?" + +"Forty-niner" turned upon the questioner indignantly. + +"That's a fool sort of question for a smart man to ask! 'Think' he +knows? No. There isn't any 'thinking' in this. I know he knows, and I +know he's just as glad to set foot on his mother earth, here in +Marion, as I was t'other day when I stepped off this same train--or +its mate of the morning. I wish all the men in the world were half as +brainy as he is. And I tell you what, stranger, you couldn't have done +a thing would make your own welcome so sure as fetching Nimrod with +you. If you'd left him behind some of us would have had our own +opinion. Though I, for one, didn't know he was yours till this very +morning." + +"And the led horse you spoke about?" + +Ephraim looked up, surprised, answering, rather crisply: + +"At home. Why not? When I heard about Nimrod I wasn't silly enough to +bring another." + +"So if I hadn't brought him we'd been short a mount?" insisted the +reporter, teasingly. + +"One of us would had to foot it to the ranch, and that one wouldn't +have been me. Huh! Does me good to hear your nonsense gabble again. I +declare it does. When did you get my telegraph?" + +"This morning." + +"This--morning! Why, I sent it day before yesterday, no, the day +before that. Let me see; to-day's one, yesterday--the funeral, +two--the one--yes, three days ago. John Benton himself gave it into +the telegraph man's hands. Himself." + +They mounted and started toward McLeod's Inn, Ninian doing very well, +considering the impatience of his steed and his own limited experience +of the saddle, and the sharpshooter sitting as composedly upon the +back of as restless an animal as could readily be found. It was a bay, +and pranced and curveted to the extent that Nimrod seemed a door-mouse +beside it, and Ninian finally observed: + +"That's an undecided sort of beast you have, yourself. Seems to be as +much inclined to go backward as forward." + +"Hale's. Name Prince. Was on the mesa with Pedro till he died." + +"Pedro dead? I'm sorry. Was it his 'funeral' you meant?" + +"Yes. Terrible pity he couldn't have held on till Christmas, his +Navidad, that always meant so much to him. But he couldn't. Things +have changed at Sobrante since you was here. I'm glad you've come. I'm +powerful glad you've come." + +"Any new trouble, Ephraim?" + +"H'm! I should say. Ghosts, the women think, and scamps for certain. +But it's a long story, and here we are at Aleck's. We mustn't spoil +that good supper of his and talk will keep. We've thirty miles 'twixt +us and bed, 'less you change your mind and stop here, and that should +give time enough to turn a man's mind inside out." + +"Were you so certain of my coming that you ordered a special supper, +without hearing?" + +"Sure. I took you to be a man and I put myself in your place. In your +place I should have come if I could; and if I couldn't I should have +sent word. Light." + +Aleck came out to meet them, and Janet followed, of course. Where one +of that worthy couple was the other was sure to be; and both extended +to the city man such welcome as made him more impressed than ever by +that "home feeling" which had possessed him all day. He returned their +good wishes with heartiness and did full justice to his supper, adding +as a thankful tribute to Janet's fine cookery: + +"That's the first thing has passed my lips that hadn't the flavor of +ashes, since many a day. The doctor was right." + +"Glad to hear any doctor ever could be right," returned the innkeeper, +who had never been ill, and attributed his health to his distrust of +physicians. "Fresh air, wholesome food and a clear conscience--them's +to long life what the three R's are to 'rithmetic. Powerful sorry you +can't pass the night. I'd admire to talk over the political situation +with an intelligent man." + +The side glance toward himself with which the Scotchman said this sent +Ephraim off into a mighty guffaw, in which presently they all joined; +and in the midst of the merriment a stable boy led up the horses, and +the Sobrante-bound riders loped away. Yet, just before they were out +of hearing, Aleck's stentorian voice sent after them the warning +advice: + +"Keep a sharp lookout, by, and your hands on your guns. That spook's +hit the trail again! Watch out!" + +Ninian laughed, and "Forty-niner" tried to do so, but the most he +could accomplish was a feeble cackle, which, his companion fancied, +betrayed his age as nothing heretofore had done. It was a nervous, +irritated laugh, and was matched by the altered voice in which its +owner presently remarked: + +"If I can't stop this fool business any other way, I've a notion to +ride round the country and shoot right and left, everybody I see, +promiscuous. That's the sure and certain way to hit the spook, too." + +"Heigho! This grows exciting! Spooks? Mysteries? Mail robberies! What +next?" + +There was no answer from the sharpshooter, who had gotten his horse +into a steady trot and was putting the road behind him in a manner +that needed all Ninian's efforts to match. If Nimrod had been as +little used to the trail as his rider was to him the space between the +two animals would have widened irretrievably; but he was the better +bred of the two, and though he didn't waste his strength in a first +spurt, as Prince did, he fell into a steady, easy gait, that soon told +to his advantage. + +It was one of the perfect moonlight nights which come in that +cloudless region, when one can easily "read fine print," if so +inclined, or see across country almost as well as in the day. The +swift motion, the exhilarating air, the sense of freedom from city +walls and cramped spaces, started the reporter into singing, and later +into the silence of wonder over the astonishing power of his own +voice. + +"Hurrah! If that's my warble I never heard it before! It's a marvelous +atmosphere that makes a rag time tune sound like a nightingale's +music. If 'Forty-niner' would join it----Hello! what's up? What +in--the name--of--all things!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +NINIAN'S GREETING + + +Suddenly, out of the moonlit distance before them, appeared a strange +vision. A horse and his rider, as spotlessly white and gleaming as the +snow on the distant mountaintops, moving toward them as swift as the +wind and in supernatural silence. The eyes of the steed and its master +glowed with a wicked light that startled both the old frontiersman and +the modern scribe, and set Prince and Nimrod into paroxysms of +terror. + +Rearing, plunging and backing, Ninian's mount had him soon on the +ground; and though Ephraim stuck to his saddle like a burr; he could +not hold his horse and get at his revolver in that one instant of the +appearance and disappearance of this strange "specter." It was +coming--it was upon them--it was gone; and the blast of cold air with +which it passed them set the horses shivering in an ague of fear, and +tied the men's tongues. + +It seemed an age that they halted there in the open solitude, silently +stroking and soothing their frightened beasts, before either could +speak. Then "Forty-niner" found his voice and burst forth, absurdly: + +"Drat--that--pocket!" + +Ninian laughed; nervously, almost hysterically at first; then with +honest merriment, exclaiming: + +"Oh, what a chance was lost there, comrade!" + +"Whoa, boy, whoa, I tell you! There, there, steady now. Well, you +needn't throw it in my teeth if it was!" retorted the sharpshooter, +furiously. "Hang new pants!" + +Ninian rolled on the ground and laughed afresh; then feebly observed: +"That's what I generally do with mine. But pockets! What of them?" + +"Huh! it's all very well for you to lie there and snicker. I lost the +chance of my life that time. What's the use of a repertation for +hittin' a pin at the distance I have if you can't hit a fool when he's +close alongside?" + +"Referring to me?" asked the reporter, sweetly. + +"Yes, if the coat fits. Drat that pocket!" + +"Poor pocket! Who made it?" + +"That pesky Sally Benton. The one was in burst right through, and she +sewed this one so tight at the top----Huh! I believe she done it +a-purpose." + +"To be sure she did. If I remember correctly that estimable woman was +opposed to bloodshed and preferred corporal punishment. I suppose she +feared you might do what you attempted to do and----" + +"Shut up your shallow talk, young man!" ordered Ephraim, with so much +venom that the other realized his mirth was ill-timed and grew +serious. + +"What was the thing, anyway, Marsh?" + +"That's more than I know, but just what I would have known if I'd hit +it with a bullet. That's the 'spook' Aleck warned us of. It's been +kitin' round the country ever since that first night after Pedro died. +Some say it's the ghost. It 'pears to be wrapped in a white blanket +and wears it same as he did. He had a white horse once that had +outlived all the horses ever was, I reckon; and the Simple Simons all +about us claim that it's the Indian's spirit on the Indian's horse, +a-ridin' round 'count of some trouble why he can't rest. There was a +letter thrown into our settin' room night before last, in poor +printing enough, too; and it said that Pedro had been banished from +the happy hunting grounds on account of a secret he'd told; and a +warning everybody not to touch to try and find the place the secret +told about. It scared the mistress pretty bad, though she didn't let +on much. The captain laughed, of course. She always laughs at +everything; and Mrs. Benton--well, she just pinned the paper in her +bosom, and says she: 'I'll know where that is when it's needed.' She's +some sense, Sally has, though nothing to boast of, and she's a mighty +good sewer of patchwork, though she's no good at pistol pockets. Well, +shall we go on?" + +Ninian had remounted his horse, which still was restless and ill to +manage, and Prince was capering about in a fantastic fashion that, +however, was not greatly different from his behavior earlier in the +evening; and the reporter had satisfied himself that there was nothing +now to be seen of the apparition which had flashed upon them and +disappeared on the road back to Marion. + +"Yes, let's go on. And I hope the least that will happen will be the +arrival of that 'spook' at Aleck McLeod's cheerful inn. I'd give much +to see his face if it did appear." + +"Oh! it's been there already; last night. The kitchen window was +raised so softly none but Janet could have heard it, and before she +could get to it, a white, skinny hand came through and snatched up a +quail pie she'd baked for breakfast and off sooner'n she could catch +it. She was so mad about the pie that, for a minute, she forgot to be +scared; then it came over her that she'd been cookin' ghost's +victuals, and she shivered all the rest the night. She wouldn't ever +let Aleck far out of sight, she's so fond of him, but now he can't +stir three foot away. Every man I met has something fresh to tell of +how his women folks have been worried by the thing; and if somebody +doesn't settle his spookship mighty sudden, we'll have all the females +in hysterics; and something we've never needed in this valley yet, and +that's a doctor. There won't be a nerve left anywhere." + +Ninian laughed again; adding, a moment later: "Not just the sort of +place to send a nervous-prostration patient, is it, after all? But +what's your own speculation concerning the nuisance?" + +"Let me tell you the whole business, so far forth as I've heerd it +since I came home. Then you can form your own mind on it and see how +best to help my folks out their troubles; 'cause I ain't trying to +hide that was my reason for wanting you to come. You'd helped us so +much with the title affair I knew you'd unravel this skein. But I'm +powerful glad to see you, all the same, and I do hope you'll get as +much good for yourself out the visit as I want the mistress to get." + +The horses were now somewhat quieted by a long stretch of the level +road, over which they had been allowed to travel at their own pace, +and talking was easier. Ephraim gave in detail the story of Pedro's +visit and gift of the wand; of the many strange incidents of the last +few days; of Ned's serious illness, caused by fright, Aunt Sally +declared, but, as his mother thought, by too much rich food and an +overdose of candy; and how, though he had repeatedly been heard about +the premises, nobody had as yet actually seen Antonio Bernal. However, +at present, little was thought of but the suffering children; for Luis +had remained true to his character of "echo" and had himself, that +very day, been put to bed with the same high fever which was +tormenting Ned. + +"You see, though it's getting Christmas time and everything ought to +be lovely, we're about as badly off as a family can be. All the same, +if anybody in this world can cheer the mistress it'll be yourself, Mr. +Sharp, and I'm powerful glad you've come." + +For the rest of the ride they were mostly silent; each man revolving +in his mind the most plausible explanation of Antonio's behavior, in +his would-be mysterious hiding, and his terrorizing of the little +lads. + +Finally, Ninian expressed his own opinion: + +"It's perfectly natural he should drift back to Sobrante, even with +all the opprobrium that would attach to him there. It is his home. He +believed or pretended to believe, that it was also his birthright. He +knows nothing that would bring him a livelihood in the city----" + +"Except gambling," interrupted Ephraim, contemptuously. + +"If he tried his hand at that even, he'd fail. He hasn't the head to +plot deeply. His maneuvers are all childishly transparent, and this +last one--h'm! Have you connected his 'highness' with this spook +business?" + +"No, sir; and you needn't. That Antonio Bernal is the biggest coward +above ground. Why, bless me! even if he'd had gumption enough to +concoct such a scheme he wouldn't have the nerve to carry it out. +He'd be afraid of himself! Fact! No, siree. Top-lofty never had a hand +in this," answered the elder man. + +Ninian said no more but kept his suspicions revolving in his own mind; +yet was far more absorbed in the possibility that "Forty-niner" had +suggested, of the copper vein in the canyon, than by anything else he +had heard. They had ridden on again, each silent, till the lights of +Sobrante came into view; then Ephraim remarked: + +"Reckon the little tackers ain't much better. The mistress don't +gen'ally keep lamps lit as late as this, 'less something's wrong. Oh! +I hope there's no more death and disappointment on our road. 'Twould +break Mrs. Trent's heart, indeed, if she lost Ned." + +Ninian roused himself from his reverie, and answered, lightly: + +"For such a cheerful fellow as I remember you, even when you were +first laid up in hospital, you're degenerated sadly. What in the name +of common sense is the use of prognosticating evil, when good is just +as likely to come?" + +"Huh! I'm consid'able older than you, young man," retorted the +sharpshooter, perversely. + +"All the more reason you should be more hopeful. What's happened to +you besides these external troubles? Something on your own account, +eh? If so, believe me you have my hearty sympathy and my right hand to +help you, if you need it." + +Ephraim checked Prince so shortly that the animal reared on his +haunches, and pushing his hat from his brow regarded the visitor with +a sad but grateful countenance. Then he spoke, and his tones were +husky with subdued emotion: + +"Thanks, friend. I took to you the first time my old eyes lit on you +and I've leaned on you, in my mind, ever since. There is something 'at +worries me, but it's so slight I shan't put it into words--yet. I've +got work to do still for them I love and that love me. Which I might +maybe sum up in one small person--my precious Lady Jess. God bless +her! Ay, God bless her! From the crown of her sunny head to the tips +of her dainty feet, she's the truest, squarest, tenderest creature the +Lord ever sent to lighten this dark world. They all love her, every +one of them rough, hard-handed sons of toil whom she calls her 'boys'; +but there isn't one, not one, can begin to love her as I do. Not one. +It is she that makes me still keep a little faith----There, there! +what an old fool I am! But, thanks, all the same, and don't you forget +I'm your own to command if need comes. Shake, neighbor, and may your +age be----Giddap there, Prince! Let'son, lad; let's get on." + +Ninian did get on, but again silently pondering that here again was +something mysterious in this honest octogenarian's mood. There was an +undercurrent of sorrow which, he was sure, was wholly distinct from +the anxieties of his mistress and her household, and he wondered what +it might be. Surely, for an old man, though wifeless and childless he +had much to make him happy. The devotion of the family in which he had +lived for so long, his comfortable home, his freedom from care +concerning his future--to the young man struggling amidst a crowd of +competitors to make a place for himself in the world, it seemed as if +the venerable sharpshooter had cause for nothing but rejoicing. +However, these might be mere imaginations, and best banished for the +present. + +Ephraim made straight for the house, and the sound of the horses' +footfalls brought figures flying to the open doors; most welcome of +these in the eyes of the two men, the small one of Jessica herself, +her head stretched forth as she peered into the night, and the +lamplight behind her making a radiance about her golden head and +slender gracefulness. But she poised there on the threshold only for +an instant, till she was sure what animals these were, then darted +toward them with uplifted hands and a cry of delight: + +"They've come! Oh, mother, they've come!--they've come!" + +Another moment and the reporter had slipped from his saddle and had +caught up the little girl, more glad on his own part than he would +have once thought possible to have her once more beside him. + +"Yes, captain, here we are! But did you expect us--or me? And how +could you tell that we were not strangers?" + +"Why, don't you suppose I'd know the step of any horse for ours? And +though Nimrod is yours now I know him like--like a brother. Don't I, +dear fellow?" and from Ninian's clasp she ran to embrace the down-bent +head of the thoroughbred. + +On his side, Nimrod was equally rejoiced. His velvet nostrils caressed +the little girl's cheeks and flowing hair, while his dainty forefoot +gently pawed the ground in expression of delight and not impatience. +Prince stood looking on, unmoved. He was not Sobrante raised and +seemed to feel it; or so Jessica fancied, as she left off petting +Nimrod and passed to Prince's side, to stroke his head also, and to +murmur words of praise for good behavior in bringing Ephraim safely +home. + +Then "Forty-niner" led the beast away, while Jessica sped after +Ninian, who had been greeted--almost grasped--by Aunt Sally. She had +drawn him indoors, laughing, crying, whispering, entreating, all in a +breath: + +"Oh, oh, oh, land of Goshen! My suz! If you ain't the gladdest sight +I've seen this dog's age! How are you, how are you? Slim? You +certainly do look slim," she declared, as she led him into the +radiance of the lamp and critically peered into his face, both through +and above her spectacles. + +"Well, my good friend, I never was anything but slim, as I remember. +And I have been just a bit ailing, if that's your meaning. However, +I'm all right now, most delighted to be here, and wholly at your +service or that of anybody else who needs me. How are the children? +Ephraim said that they were ill. And Mrs. Trent?" + +As if in answer to his questions, there was a patter of bare feet on +the stairs and in came Luis, his great dark eyes looking twice their +normal size and his voice shrill with excitement, as he tried to say: + +"Ned--Ned's gone and got--and got--Ned's gone got gone roof. Oh, oh!" + +Mrs. Benton dropped Ninian's hand which she had continued to hold and +shake up and down, much in the manner of one pumping water, and caught +up the child to also shake him vigorously: + +"Hi! What's that you say? Don't you dare to tell auntie a story. +What's Neddy----Oh, my land! all the catnip's gone out of my life, +seems if!" + +The reporter and Jessica looked at each other and burst into +laughter. It was impossible to help it, Aunt Sally's manner had been +so droll and yet so dramatic; and, oddly enough, over Ninian there +stole again the feeling that he had come home, and that the griefs +and perplexities of this household had become his own. With that +his merriment was over, for the fear Mrs. Benton's face had +betrayed was sincere. + +Jessica, also, had sobered instantly, and catching her guest's hand +hurried him impulsively upward, crying: + +"He's done it again! Oh, if mother sees him it will frighten her to +death!" + +They reached the upper floor and the end of the hall which divided it +into two sections, and from whence a ladder ran upright to a trapdoor +opening on the sloping roof. The scuttle had been left open for +ventilation, and up this steep stairway Luis was pointing with wild +gestures. + +Again Aunt Sally caught and shook the little fellow, but he could make +no better business of talking than before. Jessica had not waited for +more than one glance into the empty chamber where the sick children +had been cared for, since it was more quiet than the customary +bed-room below; and that glance, added to Luis' gesticulations, told +her story. + +"Oh, he's walking in his sleep again! He's gone on the roof!" + +The next the reporter realized she had climbed the ladder and +disappeared through the scuttle. He forgot that he was, or had been, +ill, and followed her, only to pause at the sight which met him as his +head protruded through the opening. It was a house of many gables, and +upon the peak of the farthest one poised Ned in his night-clothes, +slowly swinging his arms in the circular fashion children adopt +preparatory to a leap or spring. + +"One!" counted the childish voice. "Two!" + +Ninian closed his eyes, as if by so doing he might shut his ears to +the final "Three!" which would mark the fatal leap. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +JESSICA GETS HER WISH + + +Ninian Sharp had closed his eyes against a catastrophe which, +seemingly, nothing less than a miracle could prevent. When he opened +them again the miracle had been performed. + +Love had lent to Jessica a strength and swiftness almost incredible +even to her active body, and she had crossed the steep, slated roof +just in time to clasp Ned's feet and to drag him backward with her as +she rolled down upon the broader portion. Yet even here was imminent +danger, for the lad was struggling, in his sudden awakening, and the +pair were slipping hopelessly toward the eaves. + +But now was the reporter's chance and the test of his athletic +training. He threw himself prone upon the slippery slates, worming his +lean person over them till he caught the girl's frock, and bidding her +"hold fast!" drew both the children slowly toward the scuttle. When +his feet had found the edge of this the danger was past; and they were +presently down upon the hall floor, laughing and sobbing together in +one excited group. That is, the sister was sobbing and Ninian was +laughing in a nervous way that had grown upon him with his illness, +and that told to Aunt Sally's keen ear how really frail he still was. + +But Master Ned, the cause of all this emotion, looked calmly upon the +stranger, and demanded: + +"Where's that printing press you promised, hey? I can say five, ten +letters now, and I can spell cat backwards!" + +"Is it possible? Before such erudition I bow my humble head!" laughed +the visitor, grateful for any, even nonsensical, words that would +relieve the tension of the moment. + +But here Aunt Sally caught up the boy and looked him over anxiously; +then joyfully declared: + +"He's got his senses back. Oh! Gabriella, where are you? Neddy's all +right!" + +"Oh, auntie, hush! There's no need to tell mother anything of this +last danger, and if you'll only please put Ned back to bed she won't +have to know." + +"Ain't goin' to bed. Been a-bed 'nough," protested the supposed +invalid. "Want my clothes. Want to go downstairs and get my supper." + +"Get my supper," assented Luis, creeping forward from the corner where +he had hidden in fear of he knew not what. + +"Hello, echo! You on hand again? How's business?" demanded Ninian, +drawing the child towards him. + +"First rate," answered Ned, for his comrade, who promptly echoed: +"'Strate." + +But now came the mother, hurrying up the stairs, with a bowl of gruel +she had gone to prepare, and interest in which had opportunely +prevented her knowing either of the reporter's arrival or her son's +peril. And the visitor sprang to his feet again, while she welcomed +him as cordially and gracefully as if she had been sitting in state, +expectant, within her own pretty parlor. + +One flash of her eyes toward her boy, safe in Mrs. Benton's arms again +and carefully wrapped about in her capacious apron, relieved any +anxiety she might have felt in coming upon this unexpected group, and +she asked, with a little burst of laughter: + +"Is it possible that Ned was so quick to welcome you? Well, son, it +might have been more courteous to have gone downstairs; but I'm sure +our friend will pardon a little lad who's been ill. He's really +better, isn't he, Aunt Sally? He looks quite natural." + +"Yes, honey, he's better. I reckon he's passed the turnin' point now, +if nothin' new sets in. You take Mr. Sharp down into the settin'-room, +'cause he's seen the children and I'll set with them a spell. Wun Lung +can get the supper well's I can, if he'll put his heatheny mind to it. +Eh? What is it, sonny?" + +Fortunately, Ned, like most sleepwalkers, was wholly unconscious of +his actions while in that abnormal state, and made no comments on +anything save his own reluctance to go to bed while so interesting a +gentleman was in the house; but was finally coaxed to do so by the +promise of Luis sharing his cot as well as his porridge; whereupon +Mrs. Trent kissed him good-night and invited the guest below. + +His protestations against another supper, after the excellent one he +had taken at Aleck McLeod's, met with nothing but the hospitable +rejoinder: + +"Oh! but you can surely manage a light refreshment, since you've +ridden thirty miles from Marion." + +To which the little captain added her entreaties, saying: + +"I'm hungry, anyway. I'm always so, I guess, but I couldn't think of +breaking bread before you unless you share it." + +Therefore sleepy Wun Lung came with the tray, and was gratified by the +friendly notice of the stranger; and Mrs. Trent made tea in the little +swinging kettle over her alcohol lamp, her daughter declaring that it +always tasted better served in that way. Ninian found that, in spite +of his protestations, the simple refreshments were very acceptable, +and the trio were quietly enjoying their reunion when Jessica suddenly +remembered Ephraim and sprang up to go in search of him, exclaiming: + +"Even if Mr. Sharp isn't hungry, dear old 'Forty-niner' is sure to be. +He'll be here soon, maybe, but I won't wait till the kettle is cold. +He's been sleeping at the 'house' ever since he got back and might go +straight to his room, if I don't prevent." + +When she had gone Ninian observed upon the remarkable devotion between +the old sharpshooter and his small pupil, and the mother assented; yet +added, as an after-thought: + +"I sometimes regret it. Jessica is a child of impulsive, yet absorbing +affections. She can see no flaw in the character of anybody she loves; +and--well, none of us are perfect, and Ephraim grows old." + +Still, when he entered, the lady greeted him with cordiality, and +served him promptly; and presently they were all talking eagerly of +the recent events at Sobrante. Of course, Pedro came in for a brief +but loving mention; and to the guest's inquiry as to what had been +done with the fine flock of sheep which the old man had herded, the +mistress replied: + +"I have sent them up into the mountains, with the herds of a neighbor, +for the present. Ephraim, here, petitioned for the post of shepherd, +but I dared not give it to him," and she looked deprecatingly toward +the sharpshooter. + +"No, she didn't," assented he. "She could trust that Old Century, but +she couldn't trust me." + +There was greater bitterness in the tone than he had ever manifested +before his small captain, and she was quick to notice and resent it. + +"Look here, you blessed old grumbler, you stop that, please. If not +'please,' stop it anyway, because I'm your commander. You know why, +and only why, my mother said 'no' to that bright scheme of yours." +Then she explained to Ninian, who was listening closely: "You must +understand that shepherding is the very loneliest thing that has to be +done on a ranch. The shepherd is alone from week to week; on some +ranches from month to month. He hasn't a soul to speak to save when +somebody chances to cross his field, which isn't often. A lot of men +go crazy, living that way, and mother has always been afraid for even +Pedro. I never was for him, though, 'cause he always liked it and had +lived so--well, forever. But naughty old 'Forty-niner' felt it would +be his 'duty' to go up there away from all of us, and mother wouldn't +let him, and so----" + +"And so, my honored captain, you'll force me to be a mere hanger-on +and idler." + +Jessica held up her forefinger, warningly. "That's enough, Ephraim. I +am 'She that must be obeyed,' Samson says, sometimes. And one of the +times is now. If you and mother aren't ashamed to disagree before my +dear Mr. Sharp, I'm ashamed to have you!" + +All laughed and none took offense at this plain talk which, jesting +though it seemed, covered a serious meaning, and soon "Forty-niner" +remarked, as if to close the subject: + +"Well, all's said and done; yet, still, I know if I'd been let to have +my way in this I'd have stopped a deal of mischief. It would be +better, seems to me, to have an old frontiersman living in Pedro's +cabin than a spook." + +Mrs. Trent started, and, the guest fancied, shivered slightly. But she +rejoined, impatiently: + +"Oh, Mr. Marsh! that nonsense again, and from you!" + +"So they say, ma'am." + +Cried Jessica gayly: + +"The only thing Sobrante needed to make it as lovely as those old +English places one reads about in the story books was a 'ghost', and +now we've got it! Honest, and I do hope you'll see it for yourself. I +want to so much, and one night Samson and I chased it, but--it got +away. The 'boys' say now that it has even taken to horseback. Don't +you wish you might be luckier than I, Mr. Ninian?" + +A glance flashed between the reporter and the sharpshooter, but not +quite swiftly enough to escape the girl's observation; and, after a +moment's pause, she exclaimed: + +"Why, I believe you have already seen it!" + +There was an awkward silence, which Mrs. Trent broke by the stern +reproof she managed to throw into one word: "Jessica!" + +"Yes, mother, I know. It's silly, and I will be careful not to mention +the delightful subject before the children." + +"What are you but a child yourself, my mature little woman?" demanded +the visitor, playfully. + +"Why, I'm a little girl, of course; but one who always wanted to see a +fairy, till somebody told me there was none. Now I'm longing for this +'spook'--that really is, 'cause so many, many have seen it--and I'm +not even let to talk about him." + +Mrs. Trent shook her head regretfully. + +"I'm afraid we've spoiled you among us, my darling. But, leaving these +unexplained things to explain themselves at their proper time, suppose +you go and see that all is ready in Mr. Sharp's room? Wun Lung is +still mooning by himself on the kitchen stoop and will do what you ask +him." + +"They all do that, I infer," commented Ninian, as the child hastened +away, eager to serve all whom she loved. + +"Yes, they do. It's a delightful, but not, maybe, the wisest life for +any girl to live. No playmates except her two small brothers, and no +schooling that is at all regular or effective. I can't imagine what +Sobrante would be without her, and yet----" + +She paused and "Forty-niner" took up her sentence: + +"It wouldn't be Sobrante, mistress. That's all. I, for one, couldn't +stay here and serve under any other body now except my captain;" and +so saying, as if a shadow of the future fell upon him, the old man +rose and went out, quite forgetting to say good-night. + +Meanwhile, Jessica had found Wun Lung and also found him more than +willing to go with her and perform even additional tasks, since by so +doing he might have the comfort and safety of human presence. +Fragments of talk had come to him in his kitchen concerning the +apparitions which had startled the whole countryside, during these +past few days, and had received the strongest confirmation from his +housemate, Pasqual. The latter believed, indeed, all that he himself +heard and invented much more. He had grown to be afraid of his own +shadow and now resorted to the men's quarters on each and every +occasion that presented, feeling a safety among them he could not feel +at the "house" among a lot of women. Of course, his defection from +duty entailed endless conflicts between himself and Aunt Sally, but +since this resulted in nothing worse to the delinquent than a loss of +some dainty food, he could put up with it. He was away now, bunking in +Marty's room, and Wun Lung sat alone, too afraid to go to bed, yet too +uneasy to enjoy the beauty of the night. His sharp, black eyes peered +here and there and everywhere, about the place; and when Jessica came +running to him, in her noiseless moccasins, he jumped so high that his +queue flew out at a right angle from his head, and he screeched: + +"Oh, mly flathe's, mly flathe's!" + +Lady Jess laughed aloud. + +"No, good Wun Lung. Not your fathers, nor even any of your relatives, +but only me. Having had supper, the next thing for our dear Mr. Sharp +is a bed and sleep. Come help me make it ready." + +The Chinaman rose with alacrity, and soon had collected the bed linen, +towels and bucket of water, suggesting that Jessica should bring a +lighted candle. + +"Oh! we don't need a light, Wun Lung. It's as bright as day with the +shutters open, and we must be quick, anyway, for the dear man has been +ill and is tired." + +The room was the same that Mr. Hale had found so delightful during his +own visit to the ranch, and the girl threw the shutters wide, to let +in the fresh air and moonlight while they arranged the place for +occupancy. She left the bed making to the longer and stronger arms of +her assistant, but herself attended to the pitchers and toilet things; +and while so engaged, with her back toward the open windows, was +suddenly startled by an ear-piercing shriek from the Chinaman. + +Shriek? Not one, but many; prolonged, reiterated, till the whole house +seemed in an uproar; and facing swiftly about, to learn the cause and +still the clamor, Jessica found her lately expressed desire completely +gratified. For there, clearly distinct in the moonlight, not ten paces +from the window whence she gazed, was the phantom horse and rider! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE CACTUS HEDGE + + +The shrieks ended by Wun Lung's throwing himself face downward on the +floor, but they had roused the whole household, even the sleeping +children. Those in the room below had rushed to the stairs, wondering +what could possibly have happened to the Chinaman, whose outcries +these certainly were. The little lads had sprang from their cot, +screaming on their own account, and Mrs. Benton had awaked from the +"fortywinks" she was taking in her chair. + +As a natural result of her sudden awakening she grasped the two +children who were clinging to her skirts and shook them soundly, +ordering them to "shut up to once 'fore you scare folks to death." + +They were not easily pacified and she thus, fortunately, had her hands +full, for the moment, else the fear-paralyzed Wun Lung might have +fared hardly. As it was, none but Jessica had a full, clear view of +the strange visitant, since the Chinaman had closed his eyes against +it and the others had not thought to look out of doors; but she saw +it, and with critical distinctness. + +For an instant, indeed, her own nerves had thrilled and her heart +seemed to stand still; the next her overpowering desire to see the +"spook" for herself had conquered her terror and she gazed with all +her might. + +"It certainly looks like Pedro, with his clothes all white. And the +horse--it may be his that died--but--but----" + +The ghostly steed and its rider remained utterly motionless, as if +scrutinizing the house on their own part or waiting for somebody to +appear; then, as the little girl bounded to the open window the better +to gratify her curiosity, the animal--if such it was--slowly wheeled +about and loped away. There was a sound of muffled footfalls on the +hard drive, and the vision had vanished. + +Jessica still leaned from the casement watching and thinking more +rapidly than she had ever done before; but when convinced that the +apparition was really gone, she slowly retreated below stairs, passing +her mother and Ninian on the way, yet not pausing till she had gained +the side of the sharpshooter. Him she seized, exultantly exclaiming: + +"Well, Ephraim, I've seen your spectre!" + +"You--have!" + +"And it's no more a 'ghost' than I am." + +"What do you mean?" he demanded, hastily; ashamed of himself for half +regretting that the supernatural view of the matter might not be the +right one. "It isn't? Well, what is it, then?" + +"It's Antonio Bernal and his horse, Nero." + +"Huh! How do you fetch that? When both of them are black as my hat." + +Her last, lingering uneasiness banished by his presence and the sound +of her own words, with firmer conviction she declared to him and the +others who had now gathered about her: + +"I 'fetch it' fast enough. This was the way dear old Pedro used to +ride; and this is the way your 'spook' sat his horse," she announced, +so vividly mimicking both men that all who had known them recognized +the likeness, and Ephraim exclaimed: + +"That's them to a t-i-o-n-tion! Can seem to see 'em right here before +me. Well--what next?" + +"Pedro wore his blanket like a king. Antonio has covered his head with +that white thing, and even so wasn't half Pedro's height. I shall not +soon forget that splendid Old Century, the last time I saw him ride +away, that night. A hundred years old, yet as straight in his saddle +as a rod." + +"Antonio Bernal was a magnificent horseman, darling," suggested Mrs. +Trent, from the chair into which she had sunk, as if weakened by the +series of startling events which had befallen her home. + +"Even so, mother, dear, he couldn't match old Pedro. Antonio sat +forward, so, with a careless sort of slouch--just like the 'spook' +had." + +"What could possibly be his motive for such foolishness, daughter, +granting you are right?" + +The captain laughed. + +"Upon my word, mother, even you, as well as Ephraim, seem sorry it +isn't a truly ghost, after all." + +"No, no, indeed. I'm sorry, rather, to think it may be Antonio, as you +fancy, and that he still persists in troubling us, even by so silly a +disguise." + +"It hasn't been so silly, Mrs. Trent, if it has hoodwinked a lot of +sensible people, and you are right--there must be a motive for it in +the actor's mind. I hope Jessica's judgment in the case is correct, +for back there in Los Angeles, we didn't find the manager a difficult +person to deal with," remarked Mr. Sharp. + +The girl went on: + +"Then that horse. Don't you remember, mother, and you, Ephraim, the +curious little switch Nero used to give his tail whenever he was +turned around? Well, this 'spook' horse did just the same thing. Oh, I +know, I know I'm right!" + +"But how could he turn a black horse snow white, even if you are? As I +remember Nero he wouldn't stand much nonsense, even from his own +master," said "Forty-niner." + +"Pooh! If lack-wit Ferd could paint Prince, as he did--another +spirited horse, if you please--Antonio could do what he liked with +Nero. It's paint, of course, or something like it." + +"But the eyes? The eyes as we saw them on the road, a few hours back, +were all on fire. You could see them almost before you could make out +that it was a man on horseback was coming. Isn't that so, Sharp?" +demanded Ephraim, persistent to the last. + +Jessica turned upon him, triumphantly: + +"There! I knew from the way you two looked when we were talking a +little while ago that you'd seen something out of common! Do tell me +about it, please. Do, do!" + +Ninian laughed, glanced at his hostess' face, and replied: + +"That's a story will keep, and you should be in bed. I don't want to +have my coming harm you when I meant it to do you good. Even such a +courageous child as you ought to sleep a great deal." + +She had been courageous, indeed, and had astonished him by a coolness +and readiness of observation which would have done credit to a much +older person. He began to realize how different she was from other +children of her age, and how the hardihood of her rearing had +developed qualities that were quite unchildlike. He wondered how she +would adapt herself to the habits and thoughts of other girls of her +own age, and was not surprised that Mrs. Trent craved such society for +her. He wished that he might see her placed in some good school, yet +was doubtful if just the right one could be selected for a pupil so +different from ordinary. However, that was not his affair, and to +relieve the family of his further presence at that late hour +undoubtedly was. So he bade them all good-night and went to his room, +and very shortly afterward everybody under that roof was sound +asleep. + +"Oh, what a dreamless, delicious rest I've had!" was the visitor's +waking thought. His next, that it must be very late and that he had +put his hostess to unnecessary trouble. Then he turned over "for just +one more wink" and slumbered on for another couple of hours. This time +he had dreams in plenty; and finally roused from one, of beautiful +gardens peopled by harmless "spooks," to a sound of sweet music. By +his watch he saw that it was eleven o'clock and remembered that it was +Sunday. Also, the music was that of a familiar hymn, played upon a +fine piano, which was taken up and sung by a choir of mixed voices, +from the childish treble of the two little lads to the stentorian bass +of Samson, the mighty. + +Hastily dressing, Ninian slipped quietly down the stairs and entered +the sunny parlor; where Jessica motioned to a chair which had +evidently been reserved for him, and softly approached him with an +open hymn book. + +It was Mrs. Trent at the piano and her rich soprano voice faultlessly +led her straggling chorus, filled for the most part by the men +grouped outside on the wide porch. He could see them through the long, +French windows, sitting or standing as each felt inclined, but all +with that earnest seriousness of demeanor which befitted the day and +the task. For task it evidently was to some of them; John Benton, for +example. He stood alone, at the most upright post attainable, his book +at arm's length, and his head moving from side to side, following the +lines, with a little upward toss of it as he reached the end of each, +while from his throat issued most startling tones. + +Afterwards, Aunt Sally explained, for she had seen Ninian's amused +survey of her "boy," that: + +"John can no more carry a tune than he can fly, and I'd rather hear +him sawin' his boards than tryin' to sing. But he feels it's his duty +to help the others along by singing at it and sort of keepin' +Gabriell' in countenance, seems if. Sweet, ain't it?" + +It had been "sweet" in the guest's opinion--the whole of the short +service; conducted with such simple dignity and reverence by the +Madonna-like ranch mistress; the music so well chosen, the few prayers +so feelingly offered, and the brief exhortation read from the words of +a famous divine who had the rare gift of touching men's hearts. And he +so expressed himself, as well as his surprise, over the belated +breakfast which Mrs. Benton served him when the service was over and +the household dispersed. + +"Yes, I think it's the nicest thing there is about this dear Sobrante. +There's always been the best sort of inflooence here and that's why I +like my boy, John, to belong. Cass'us, he used to hold the meeting, +and after he died I feared Gabriella wouldn't be equal to it. But +bless your soul! if down she didn't come that first Sunday 'at ever +was, and her not havin' left her bed sence it happened, and sent Wun +Lungy out to have the old mission bell rung, a signal. I'll ever +forget it to my dyin' day, I shan't. Her like a spirit all in white +and a face was both the saddest and the upliftedest ever I see; and +them rough men all crowdin' up to their places, so soft you'd thought +they was barefoot 'stead of heavy shod; and Jessie with her arms round +the two little ones, and her mother pitchin' the tune, same as usual, +and--and--I declare I can't keep the tears back yet, rememberin'. +Before she was done the whole kerboodle of us was sobbin' and cryin' +like a passel of young ones, and there was she, with her broken heart, +as calm and serene as an angel. Angel is what she is, mostly; with +just enough old human natur' in her to keep her from soarin' right +away. Gabriell's one them scurce kind makes you glad every time she +does a wrong or thoughtless thing, 'cause then you know she ain't +quite perfected yet, and you're surer of keepin' her 'on earth. My! +the good that woman does beats all. This very day, when she'd lots +rather stay to home and visit with you, she's give orders for Ephraim +to have the buck-board got ready to take her twenty miles to see a +neighbor who's sick. She's fixing a basket of things now, and is in a +hurry. So that's the reason she didn't come to keep you company +herself. Have another piece of chicken--do." + +"Thank you, no. I've enjoyed my breakfast hugely, and feel as if I'd +never known a moment's illness." + +There was the sound of wheels just then and Ninian strolled out to +offer his service as escort to the ranch mistress in case she might +desire it. But the offer was not made, though the lady greeted him +with evident pleasure, and even herself glanced toward the vehicle, as +if wishing he might ride with her. But there was Ephraim Marsh, in the +glory of a white shirt and brilliant necktie, brushed and speckless, +and beaming benevolently upon all less favored mortals. It was only +upon such errands of mercy that the mistress ever left her home, and +there was not a ranchman in her employ but esteemed it an honor to +drive for her whither she would. + +Ninian saw the state of affairs plainly enough, and, possibly, so did +"Forty-niner" himself; who might, under some circumstances, have +sacrificed his pleasure for that of the young man. But not now. Ever +since he had returned from his long stay in the city, the sensitive +old fellow had felt a difference in his surroundings. There was nobody +mean enough to tell him of the base suspicions that his fellow workmen +had harbored about him, and they fancied that by treating him with +more than former friendliness they could offset the unknown injury +they had done him. It was this very effusiveness that had roused his +suspicions that something was wrong, and he saw in this solitary drive +with his beloved mistress a chance to unburden his mind and get her +wise opinion on the matter. + +So he merely "passed the time of day" with the guest, helped the lady +to her place, and stepped up beside her; then chirruped to his horse +and was off. + +But Ninian was not allowed much disappointment, for there was Lady +Jess, clasping his hand and looking up into his face with the +brightest of smiles, as she exclaimed: "Just think of it, dear Mr. +Sharp! We are to have a long, delightful day together. Mother will not +be home before nightfall and I am to do everything I can to make you +happy. As if I wouldn't, even without being bidden! But what shall it +be first? Where would you like to walk or ride? Or would you rather +rest and read?" + +"First, I would like to walk around to that curious hedge yonder, that +you told me before had been planted by the old padres. Everything +about these ancient missions interests me." + +"Oh! I love them, too, and I'm so glad we live on one, or the place +where one used to be. That hedge is prickly-pear and was meant to keep +the Indians out of the inclosure, if they were ugly. But it's a +hundred years old, and Pedro could remember when it was ever so much +smaller than now." + +It was a weird stretch of the repellent cactus, whose great gnarled +branches locked and intertwined themselves in a verdureless mass of +thorns and spikes which well might have daunted even an Indian. The +hedge was many feet in width and higher than Ninian's shoulder, still +green on top, but too unlovely to have been preserved for any reason +save its antiquity and history. One end of it was close to the kitchen +part of the house, and the other reached beyond the fall of the +farthest old adobe. + +"A formidable barrier, indeed! It reminds me of some of Dore's +fantastic pictures," said the reporter. + +"Doesn't it? My mother has books with his drawings in, and I have +thought that, too. It is a trouble sometimes, because anybody coming +across the field from yonder must go either way around the quarters or +all along the back of the house, before he can get in here; when if +it weren't there at all, it wouldn't be two steps. But we will never +have it cut down because my father said so. He wouldn't have anybody +break a single leaf, if he could help it, and--oh, oh!" + +Mr. Sharp lifted his head from his close examination of a branch that +had particularly interested him and saw Jessica pointing in +astonishment at the very heart of the great hedge. + +"What is it? Something especially curious?" + +"Curious! It's--it's--dreadful! You can see right through it! Somebody +has ruined it!" + +The reporter stooped and followed the direction of her guiding finger +and saw that a strange thing had indeed been done. For a considerable +length the terrible barrier had been literally tunneled, though the +fact was not easily discernible. Walls of the bare and twisted +branches were still left unbroken on either side, but a sufficient +space had been scooped out to admit the passage of a human being +should such desire a hiding place. + +"Oh! isn't that dreadful? Who could have done it, and why?" cried the +captain, in distress; and her companion could only think of Aunt +Sally's declaration, made to him at breakfast, that Sobrante was +"bewitched." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +WHAT THE SABBATH BROUGHT + + +"Now I know how it was that Antonio disappeared that time when Aunt +Sally and Ephraim heard him outside the pantry window!" cried Jessica, +exultingly; and seeing the gentleman's puzzled expression, told of the +scene within the cold closet and of the mocking answer "Forty-niner" +had received, when he said he was determined to find out Antonio's +retreat. Then she bade her friend stoop again and see for himself how +easy it was for one at the rear of the house, where the pantry was, to +slip into this cactus tunnel and be utterly hidden from anybody who +would search from that side. + +They saw, also, that the broken branches had been thrown under the +open foundation of the kitchen, leaving no sign of the ruin that had +been done. + +"A clever scamp, indeed! And any other sort of plant would have +withered at the top and led to discovery. But not this; for the +verdure has evidently long been gone from this part of the hedge," +observed Ninian. + +"Oh, yes! This end has been dead for a great while, yet my mother +would not have it removed. It would have lasted maybe forever in just +that way; and Antonio knew how we prized it. Oh, dear! I do believe he +is as wicked as the 'boys' say, though I hate to think that of +anybody." "Surely, you have had proof enough of his evil doings, even +without these later fantastic developments. You must never trust that +man, little girl, should he again try to make you." + +"I think he won't bother me. Why should he?" asked she, in some +surprise, for her friend's tone had been most impressive. "Why should +you imagine that?" + +"I don't know myself, exactly why. It just 'happened' into my head. By +the way, captain, did you send me all of the specimen of copper that +you had?" + +"Oh, no, indeed! My mother thought best not. We sent you only a little +bit, cut from the larger one Pedro dug. Let's go into the office and +I'll open the safe and show you the rest. Do you know anything about +such mines and stuff?" + +"I do know something about ores and minerals, my dear, for before I +was a newspaper man I was a clerk in the office of an expert in such +matters. I should greatly like to see your sample," he answered, +readily. + +So she led the way at once and took the key from a desk drawer, which +anybody might have opened, and Ninian remarked: + +"What an insecure place for a safe key! Yours is certainly a most +confiding household." + +"Oh, it's not a very safe safe, anyway," she answered, laughing; "and +who would want to open it? It's Ephraim's really, though I don't think +he's ever been near it since he came home. Isn't it a great, clumsy +key? But my father told me that there are safes much, much larger and +stronger than this which are opened by very small keys. Odd, isn't +it?" As she spoke she was down upon her knees in front of the strong +box and trying with all her small strength to turn the lock; and after +watching her for a moment the reporter laughed, and suggested: + +"Suppose you just merely pull at the knob. It looks to me as if the +thing were already opened, for the door isn't tight; or is that +protruding edge of it a part of the general crudeness?" + +Jessica obeyed, pulling with such unnecessary force that the safe flew +open and he fell backward, laughing. + +But Mr. Sharp did not laugh. In view of what had been told him he was +afraid the thing had been tampered with, and watched in silence while +the little girl thrust her hand into the safe and felt all about, her +face lengthening as she did so; but again, suddenly brightening, when +she exclaimed: + +"Oh, my mother must have done that! There was all the money in here +that was left after Elsa got her own share. The first nights two of +the 'boys' slept in the house to watch, 'cause mother was afraid we +might lose it again. Then, since 'Forty-niner' got home only he has +slept here, and he generally 'bunks' on the lounge in this very +office. That's what it is, what it must be. My mother has worried +about Antonio, and has taken the money and the piece of copper away +and put them somewhere else. Well, never mind. She'll show it to you +as soon as she comes back; and now, what shall we do next? Would you +like to ride?" + +Ninian passed his hand across his brow in mild perplexity. An instant +conviction had seized him that here was another feature of the +mysteries pervading this peaceful ranch; and though he as instantly +frowned upon his own suspicion, it would remain to torment him. +However, he said nothing further to disturb Jessica's composure, and +readily agreed that a ride would be delightful, though he added, +grimly: + +"I'm so lame and stiff already from yesterday's horseback exercise +that I feel older than Ephraim. I expect a 'hair of the same dog' is +the best cure, and wish now I had made time, back there in town, to +get used to a saddle. I never found it convenient, though, and poor +Nimrod missed his outings even more than I did, I fancy. It certainly +is a glorious day for a canter, as almost all our days are." + +"It's nice, too, when the rains come. We do things indoors then +that we never do all the rest of the year. My mother plays and sings +half the time, 'cause then she can't go poking around all over the +ranch, like she does now. In the evenings the 'boys' all come in and +tell stories or do their best to amuse us. We were always happiest, +too, when Pedro came, and when my father was here he coaxed him +and he came often. Now--he'll never come again!" she finished, with +an irrepressible burst of grief, which she as quickly suppressed, +for she saw that it saddened her guest as well; and she had been +reared in the spirit of hospitality that makes the stranger glad +even at the cost of one's own impulses. + +So she added, with a smile that seemed all the brighter because of the +tears still glistening on her long lashes: + +"I'll bring you some books out here and you can rest in the hammock +while I run and have the horses saddled. Buster isn't as fast as +Nimrod, but he'll go now and then as if he were a colt. I hope this +will be one of his fast times, don't you? I love to ride fast!" +Ninian smiled rather grimly, answering: + +"Just at present, from the state of my poor muscles, I fancy I'd +prefer a gait as slow as Buster's ordinary one. But if I stay the week +out, I mean to learn a thing or two about that fine beast of mine." + +"A week or two! Why, you're to be here till after Christmas, anyway, +and that's a fortnight off. I wish--oh, I wish you would live here +always!" + +From his delightful resting place in a hammock that was "stretched +just right," and which commanded one of the loveliest views in the +world, he looked afield and wished so too. Fond as he was of his own +active city life, this broad outlook appealed to him most strongly; +yet he shook off the longing that assailed him to pass his days in the +country and opened the book Jessica had brought. He was soon absorbed +in its pages and forgot the errand upon which the child had gone, +till, after a long time, as it proved, Ned stole bashfully up and +pushed a scrap of paper into his down-hanging hand. + +"Hello, youngster!" cried the gentleman, sitting up. "What's this?" + +The child's timidity banished at the first sound of the visitor's +voice. Mr. Sharp reading, with his spectacles on, and Mr. Sharp +speaking in that hail-fellow-well-met manner were two different +people. Besides that, Ned's shyness was not his strongest feature, +though it cropped out now and then to the astonishment of his family. +Also, he was fresh from the hands of Aunt Sally and his catechism +lesson, into which she had adroitly forced a hint of the conduct due +toward a "wise man, that can write printin'." Supposing it to be a +production of the little fellow's own, Mr. Sharp delayed the reading +of the crumpled epistle he had received and continued his talk with +its bearer; who presently forgot his Sunday manners, and reproachfully +demanded that "printing press you promised." + +"'Cause if I had it I'd be just as smart as you, you know." + +"Smartersyou!" cried the echo, clasping Ned's neck with that choking +affection of his. + +Ned turned upon his other self and pummeled him well, declaring: + +"No, you wouldn't neither, Luis Garcia! 'Twouldn't be your printing +press, and you can't spell cat backwards! So, there!" + +"Cat backwards, dogboycat," gurgled Luis, in a rapture of mere +existence. + +Ninian laughed at the comical pair, finding them infinitely diverting; +and was only brought back to his immediate duty by the insistence of +the small messenger, who demanded: + +"Why don't you read your letter? I should think anybody what makes +newspapers could read a little girl's letter." + +"That's a fact; I'll see if I can;" and accordingly spread out the +scrap of wrapping paper, which had not been very smooth to start with +and had suffered further ill treatment at Ned's hand. The note +required a second reading before he could fully comprehend its +meaning, which he then found sufficiently startling to send him +stableward in hot haste. The message was from the little captain, and +was worded thus: + +"dear mister sharp please excuse me i must go to a Dyeing man and i +Mustnt Tell Who cause if my mother was Home I Wood and she wood say +yes. She always helps dyeing folks and sick ones one the boys will go +and he can ride Moses or prince Which he likes. I guess marty so i +Cant right any more the paper is so littul and i cant Stay." + +"JESSICA." + +This had been written with a coarse blue pencil, evidently picked up +in the stable or workroom; and to the reporter's inquiries, put to the +first ranchman he met, there seemed no satisfactory answer. The man in +question had not seen Jessica since service, and the men's quarters to +which Ninian hurried, were almost deserted. Sunday was their own, so +the "boys" spent much of it afield, hunting or visiting on neighboring +ranches. Yet a further search revealed John Benton, in his own room, +reading; and to him the visitor again put the question of Jessica's +probable whereabouts, and showed the letter. + +The carpenter was on his feet instantly, a look of apprehension +deepening the lines of his earnest face; and running to the door he +shouted to a stable boy who was crossing the space before the old +adobes: + +"Natan! Natan!" + +The youth paused, hesitated, yet came no nearer; and John repeated his +summons, with an imperative "Here!" Then muttered an explanation to +the reporter: "Another of those no-account Greasers; same kind as the +Bernals and hired by top-lofty when, he was in charge. Works well +enough but----" + +By this time Natan had slouched forward and stood stolidly awaiting an +expected as well as merited reproof, because of stalls imperfectly +cleaned and harnesses left in other than their own places; for John +was orderly to the last degree and a very martinet in disciplining his +subordinates. However, it was no neglect of duty that was now to be +scored, but a question was fairly hurled at the young groom and in a +voice sharp with anxiety: + +"Natan, did you saddle Buster just now?" + +"But yes," answered the lad, greatly relieved. + +"Where is he? And Nimrod?" + +"Nimrod is at the 'house' horse block, is it not? Si. Groomed to the +highest, and a beauty we're all glad to see back where he belongs." + +"Your opinion wasn't asked. Where is Buster?" + +"Where the captain wills. I know not, I," with a shrug of his lean +shoulders. + +"Did she mount him?" + +"Why else should he be saddled, no?" returned the groom, with an +insolent laugh. + +John's temper flamed and he turned away with a disgusted snort, +meaning to seek information elsewhere on a case he felt permitted no +delay. But Ninian was cooler, if equally suspicious that Natan was +concealing something that should be known; so, laying his hand not +unkindly upon the youth's shoulder, he said: + +"If you know anything of this, where Miss Jessica has gone and with +whom, or if alone, it will be worth your while to tell me and at once. +I'm pretty good pay for seasonable articles," he finished, in his +journalistic manner. + +He had taken a dollar from his pocket and was carelessly tossing it +from hand to hand, nor was he disappointed when Natan fixed his black +eyes greedily upon the coin. Still the lad said nothing, only +pondered in his own dull mind which of two masters it would benefit +him most to serve; and annoyed by this hesitation, Ninian hazarded a +guess: + +"Oh, well, if you prefer to work for Antonio Bernal, it's all one to +me." + +Natan's mouth flew open and his eyes grew wild: + +"You know it, then, already, you?" + +"I know many things," was the sententious answer. + +"But it is a pity, yes. The so fine man and such a rider. He will ride +no more, poor Antonio, si." + +Ninian's blood ran chill, yet he asked, still quietly, though +foreseeing evil he dared not contemplate: + +"Who brought the word?" + +"Ferd, the dwarf," came the reply, as the dollar exchanged owners. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ANTONIO'S CONFESSION + + +These were the facts: Natan had been grooming the horses, Nimrod and +Buster, when suddenly and soundlessly there appeared before the window +in the stables' rear, the misshapen head and shoulders of typo +Ferdinand Bernal. He was mounted on a snow-white horse and seemed to +the superstitious stable boy to have risen out of the ground. Buster, +also, had appeared to be frightened for a few seconds, though he +speedily recovered his equine calmness and merely whinnied his +delight, while he attempted to secure another mouthful of alfalfa +before the bridle slipped into place over his head. + +"Natan, the little captain," whispered Ferd, through the narrow +casement. + +"Well, yes; the little captain," returned the other, in a louder tone, +and grinning at his own astuteness in discovering that this was a +white horse so very like the "spook horse" that it might be one and +the same. Some of Antonio's schemes he had fathomed, being himself a +sort of schemer in his own stupid way. + +"I want her. She must come. Antonio dies." + +"Antonio--fiddles!" retorted the other, contemptuously. Then saw, to +his surprise, that Ferd's head had dropped upon that of his strange +steed and that he was whimpering and sobbing in a pitiful fashion, +well calculated to deceive the unwary. It was at this juncture that, +fancying to see her beloved Buster made ready for her ride, Jessica +ran singing into the stable, and paused amazed at sight of Ferd, +weeping, and so oddly mounted. Horses there were galore in the +Sobrante stables and pastures, but never one like this; so white, so +spirited, and yet so marvelously marked. For even by the daylight, +there in the slight shadow of the wall, the animal's eyes glowed with +an unearthly light, terrifying to Natan and startling even to her +fearless self. Indeed it had not been until the moment of her +appearance and Buster's whinnied welcome, that Ferd's horse had turned +its face toward them and revealed his curious visage. + +"Why, Ferdinand Bernal!" she cried, giving him his full title, and +thereby mystifying still further the wondering groom. "I do believe +that's the very creature that's been scaring such a lot of people +everywhere! How came you by it and what ails its eyes?" + +Ferd lifted a face that was grimy with dirt and streaked with tears. +His misery was evident and needed no words to impress it upon the +tenderhearted girl, who ran to the window, begging: + +"What is the matter, Ferd? Poor Ferd! are you ill? In trouble? What?" + +"The death. It is the accursed house. Where death comes once--he is +always there. He told me--you must come. Come; now, right away, si. +Before--too late. He said it. Antonio, my brother." + +"You know that, then--about your relationship? But what has happened +to him?" + +The dwarf glanced at Natan and motioned to her to send him away. For +reasons of his own, the groom was glad enough to obey, because dire +had been the threats of the mighty-fisted Samson, as well as the +stern John Benton, against any on that ranch who should be caught +"consorting with that low-lived Ferd or the late manager." Besides, in +spite of Jessica's apparent indifference to the glowing eyes of the +white horse they infected him with a horrible fear; so he made his +escape at the first chance; leading Nimrod around to the house and +tying him there to await Ninian's pleasure, while he himself resorted +to the most distant and safest spot he could find. This had seemed, in +his mind, the mission corridor; but he found it already occupied by a +party of the ranchmen who had no desire for his society, and after a +short delay frankly told him so. It was in passing from this ancient +structure to his own room in another building that he had been +intercepted by John, and called to account. + +Yet, sometime before this, Jessica had finished her interview with the +unhappy Ferd; had written her note of explanation to Ninian, though +keeping her destination secret, as the hunchback implored, in +accordance with Antonio's wish; had dispatched her message by Ned and +Luis; and, unknown to them, had rapidly ridden away in company with +the white horse and her treacherous guide--to comfort the dying. + +That death should have come again to the cabin on the mesa, whither +she was led, seemed natural enough to her; remembering with such keen +sorrow the passing of old Pedro. + +And for once Antonio Bernal had told the truth. Lying helpless, almost +motionless, on the narrow bed in the shepherd's home, he greeted his +visitor with a pitiful smile on his white face, and a tone from which +the last vestige of his old bravado had departed: "The Captain! si. +You did well to come, my Lady Jess. But you are not afraid?" + +"Why should I be afraid, Antonio? You are ill, I see that. What's +wrong? What can I do to help you?" + +"Nothing. There is nothing. I played my game and I lost. I--I saw you +last night at the window." + +"And I saw you; I knew you; but I did not know why you were fixed like +that and had painted your poor horse all white." + +"Ha! You saw that? You, when nobody--older--well, I lost." + +"Are you hurt? What can have happened to you since then?" + +"Shot. On the way here, fearing nothing, a passing horseman, unknown, +braver or quicker than the rest, thought he could rid the country of +its ghost. Ah, yes! it was merry--for a time. It is past." + +Jessica was crying softly, unable to endure the sight of agony, even +his who had tried to injure her and hers. The sick man perceived this +and something of the affection he had once felt for his master's +child, before he had betrayed that master's trust, stirred him to +speak and thrilled him with compunction. He felt himself to be doomed; +he had already sent Ferd away again to summon a priest; and according +to his faith he meant to make his peace with the world; but these +preparations had been on his own account only. Now he began to feel +something for her also. + +Suddenly she ceased crying and stood up to bend over him and beg that +she might be allowed to help him. "A drink of water--some coffee? You +were always so fond of coffee, Antonio, and I know where Pedro kept +all his things. So many, many times we drank it here together, he and +I. And you--how came you here, Antonio?" + +"Where better or nearer could I be? Pedro, the most obliging, yes. +Just when I needed his house he left it. Si. Why, but I am better +still, is it not, I?" + +Indeed his color had improved and his voice grown stronger since +Jessica's arrival; and he was able to take the cup of coffee which she +made him. This was more palatable than anything Ferd had prepared and +stimulated him still further. For a few moments after he had taken it +he felt so improved that he almost gave up the doing of that for which +he had summoned her. But a sudden return of pain again alarmed him, +and as soon as that spasm was past, he motioned her to the bedside. + +"In the cupboard--look, quick!" he whispered, pointing to a set of +shelves built upon the wall and behind whose locked doors Pedro had +been accustomed to store his baskets. + +Jessica tried the little door, which refused to open, and to her +inquiry for the key, Antonio pointed to his own pillow. After a slight +hesitation she approached and secured the key from beneath it; but +when she had opened the cupboard found that all the Indian's exquisite +weaving had been removed. In its place was the metal-pointed staff, +with its shank broken in half, and she exclaimed, indignantly: + +"Oh! how could you do that, Antonio? And how could you be so mean as +to take it from two children?" + +"Ha! Once it was all mine--this land. The copper in the canyon, mine, +also. Si. The padres' secret which the shepherd kept was mine----No, +no; not yet!" he broke off, with a sudden, delirious scream, fancying +he saw the head of a man appearing without the door. + +His outcry set Jessica shivering with fear at being alone in that +isolated spot with a possible madman; but a second glance into his +pallid face restored her natural courage and assured her that he was +powerless to injure her, even had he wished to do so. Just then, too, +Buster whinnied and she felt that he was company. It sounded as if he +had seen some stable companion of his own and had welcomed it; yet +this could not be, of course, since nobody knew of her whereabouts or +would be likely to come to the mesa now. Therefore, she did not follow +Antonio's glance doorward, but sought at once to relieve his +distress. + +"Won't you drink another cup of coffee, Antonio? Or shall I make you a +bit of porridge? There's hot water still in the kettle and I know how. +I've made it for my mother, often, when she was ill; and the little +boys always have it. Oh, I can do it quite well!" + +She was so eager to serve him, and the pain had once more so greatly +lessened for the time being, that the late manager graciously +consented, and with such an absurd assumption of his old "top-lofty" +manner that Jessica laughed even while she hastened to put on the tiny +porringer and seek the meal. The little oil stove blazed merrily, and +so deft was she that, in a very few minutes more, she had a dish of +the steaming mush beside the cot and had thinned a cup of condensed +milk with which to make it the more palatable. Sugar there was in +plenty, for Pedro had loved sweets; so that nothing was wanted, save +appetite, to render the repast all that was desirable; yet when it was +quite ready Antonio could not take it. + +The pain had returned and with added intensity; and it was due to that +fact that he no longer delayed the confession he had sent for her to +hear. + +"Hark! Behold! I talk." + +"Yes, Antonio, I'm listening." + +"Well, I--how begin? It is a story long, not pleasant." + +"Wait. Open your mouth and I will feed you. Yes, do." + +His black eyes stared at her, astonished. In her place had anybody +done him the ill that he had done her, he would have let his enemy +starve and have rejoiced at a suffering well deserved. But this +child--he wished she would turn her face away, and not look upon him +with that innocent compassion. She was too like her dead father, and +his one best friend; whom in life he had really loved and in death had +not scrupled to despoil. + +"Come, Antonio, eat. Afterward you'll be stronger to talk," she said, +as coaxingly as if he had been her little brother, Ned; and thus +persuaded, he opened his mouth and received the morsel she forced upon +him. Thus it continued; she feeding, he resting and with halting +eagerness relating the story of his own misdeeds. + +"For I must go to pay the price. Si. But the poor lad, my half-wit +brother Ferd, ugly, sinful, desolate--he will be left alone. Is it +not? For him, if I restore all, there may still be kindness and a home +at Sobrante, that should all be his--if----" + +"No, Antonio; you know better. That is a poor, foolish notion that has +been put into your head. You know; for Mr. Hale, who is a lawyer and +understands everything like that, told you and us that you hadn't a +bit of right to a bit of land anywhere in this world. Unless, indeed, +you may have bought it since that little while ago in Los Angeles. And +if you have, where did you get the money?" + +"Lo dicho dicho," he muttered the Spanish phrase: "What I have said I +have said," and sighed profoundly, as one hopelessly aggrieved. + +Jessica lost her temper. She forgot that he was ill and remembered +only that he was imputing treachery to her parents and to others whom +she loved, and retorted, warmly: + +"What you have 'said' doesn't make the truth, Senor Bernal. And if you +have anything to tell me I wish you would tell it now. I ought to be +at home with Mr. Sharp, who's come to make us a visit. My mother is +away, and it's rude to leave guests alone like that. I, who want to be +a perfect lady, do hate to be rude. So tell, please, and quick." + +"It was he, then, whom I saw on the road with old Ephraim, yes?" cried +Antonio, in a voice which was certainly much stronger than it had been +when Lady Jess arrived. + +"Yes, it was he. Now begin, please. What first?" + +Neither the man on the bed nor the girl who listened to him so +intently suspected that other ears were as eager to hear this dying +confession. Yet so it was, and Buster's short whinny of welcome had +been a real one. For John, on Moses, and Ninian, on Nimrod, had lost +but little time in riding to the mesa; though because of the +reporter's poor horsemanship, the carpenter felt that they would +really save time by taking the longer level road around by the north, +and not the narrow canyon trail, which was dangerous for the +inexperienced. This had consumed some time, but each felt a thrill of +relief, when they at last arrived, to see Buster calmly nibbling at +the dry herbage near the shepherd's cabin. + +"Where Buster is Jessica is, this time," said the carpenter, softly. +"And I was right. I'd heard of this spook being seen up here, and fool +folks layin' it to poor Old Century. That's why I came. We didn't make +any mistake, did we?" + +Then as they approached nearer to the house and quietly dismounted to +hobble their horses, he added: + +"Let's go up sly. Everything seems terrible still, and I'd like to +take a peek through that back window 'fore we let on we've come." + +Ninian was not so cautious; or, rather, he was more anxious about the +little captain, and protested: + +"How do we know but that this silence means mischief? If he has sent +for her to harm her----" + +"Hark! She's all right. Thank God for that. I can hear her laughing, +and he's a coward. She isn't; and, anyway, he'd think twice 'fore +he hurt a hair of that child's head. Why, man, his life wouldn't be +worth a minute's purchase if he dared! He'd be hunted to his own +destruction so quick you couldn't say 'scat.' Humph! He may be after +mischief--'cause he hasn't been after anything else since Cass'us +died--but he'll keep within bounds. Now, this way. Lucky the grass is +thick; but even so, don't tread too heavy. Right behind that rear +wall, close against the east, is the place to hear all and not be +seen." + +Therefore, as noiselessly and hastily as possible, they placed +themselves within earshot of what was said within the house; and the +story they heard, reduced to simplest facts, was to the effect, as +follows: + +Upon receiving his discharge from legal detention at Los Angeles, +Antonio had felt a homesick longing for his old haunts. He had +returned without telling anybody of his intention and had taken up his +abode at Solano's ranch, where his unfortunate brother and the only +person for whom he still cared was frequently to be found. There the +dwarf had joined him, though rambling away again, from time to time, +on errands of his own of which he neither spoke nor was questioned. + +"Money, money! That's the one thing, the only thing, no! Get money, +Ferd whenever, however, wherever you can and what you get you keep. +Hear me," had been Antonio's constant instruction during all the years +of the hunchback's life; and to the dwarf's limited understanding, his +adored brother typified incarnate wisdom. + +He had anticipated high praise when, one day, he came back to Solano's +and reported his hiding of the little captain in the canyon cave. The +praise was not so ready at first, for Antonio was astute enough to see +whither such a hazardous scheme might lead; but the approbation came +unstained when, later, Ferd again appeared, describing Pedro's +behavior at the time of the rescue and of the curious action of the +ancient staff. Sent back alone to bring fresh specimens of the mineral +Pedro had unearthed, Ferd had suddenly turned stubborn and refused to +go more than halfway. Pedro had died suddenly, and Pedro's ghost would +haunt the spot; no, even Antonio should not compel him thither. He +would do anything, everything else, but go to the canyon cave again he +would not. + +Indeed Antonio now felt that it was hardly necessary he should. The +poor lad's superstition had suggested a better way. With Solano's aid, +the deluded "top-lofty" hatched a notable scheme. He would himself +impersonate Old Century's uneasy spirit, which could not rest because +he had betrayed the secret of the ancient padres. Nero could be made +as white as any ghost horse by the application of a little paint; and +shod with rubber could pass over the sandy roads with almost as little +noise as any spectral steed. It was easy to bribe and terrify two +small boys into securing and restoring to him the pointed wand, even +if by their effort to obtain it they might happen to fall and break +it. That mattered little, however, since the point was all that he +wanted; but it was just as well to have that money he had seen through +the window, that night of his first appearance on Sobrante grounds. +That, too, was easy to get if one watched his opportunity in that +cactus tunnel Ferd had scooped for his brother's convenience. An +unsuspecting, busy household left many chances for entering an +open-windowed room, and who had ever been so familiar as he with the +supposed safety secret place in which the key was kept? With the money +he had found also the bit of copper Pedro had procured; and he knew +enough of mining matters to rejoice, indeed. He had meant to do great +things. He would prosecute his land claim to the uttermost; and there +were plenty of unscrupulous men who would undertake his cause for a +share in the profits of a copper mine. This very mesa would have been +the scene of their first operations. Here the mill would have been +built, and here---- + +"But what the use? The hand of punishment is upon me, yes. The money, +it is there. Ferd shall tell of all the rest that he has put +somewhere, I know not. His poor brain cannot carry out the plan, and +to me it avails no more. Ay de mi! But Solano--beware. Of some things +he knows, and of more he suspects, is it not? Ah! I weary, I languish, +I die, I, Antonio Bernal, heir to wealth so boundless. It was so fine +a plan--so most wonderful and simple. The fools, how they feared! Oh! +the laughter I had! and the wild, rides on my so splendid ghost horse, +yes. But I die--I die; and the great big plan for the copper turned to +gold--I--who else will have the so great intellect, you call it, to +make it real? Well, I have done. The staff I return--useless, save to +me. The money--I cannot carry whither I must ride on the white horse +of death--whiter than--the pity! The pity! Poor Antonio! Poor, poor +Antonio!" + +His long talk had, indeed, wearied him to faintness; but while his own +tears rained down his cheeks in his self-pity, even as Jessica's in +sympathetic sorrow, a cheerful and hearty voice cried through the +window: + +"Don't fret yourself, top-lofty! There's one or two other smart men +left, my friend, to carry out that noble scheme of yours, and my name +ain't John Benton, if they don't do it! More'n that, I'll promise you +a few more years to spend in wickedness, if you like. On one +condition." + +Antonio's eyes almost leaped from his head in amaze at this +interruption and greater amazement at this astounding promise; and +John was swift to press his advantage: + +"I'll save your life--on one condition!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE VERDICT + + +"Benton!" warned Ninian Sharp, aghast at the audacity of a man who +would trifle with the apparent death-hour of any man. + + +"Oh! that's all right. Come around and in with me. I never yet heard a +voice as lusty as that from a dying man, and I've been acquainted with +Senor Bernal some little spell. He's scared nigh to death--it's just +possible--but he ain't sick nor wounded to death, or I'm mistook. Come +in!" + +Jessica met him at the door, and impulsively threw her arms about them +at her relief in their presence. She had not been afraid of anything +which could harm herself, but she had believed the man's own statement +that he was dying, and his suffering had been evidently intense at +times. She had been saddened and awe-stricken, and she now shared +Ninian's indignation at the carpenter's apparently heartless promise. +How was it possible for him to bestow life where death had set its +seal? + +Nothing abashed by the reproachful looks cast upon him, John walked +straight to the bed and demanded, in the most ordinary tone: + +"Where you hurt, neighbor?" + +Antonio caught at the straw the ranchman seemed to extend, and feebly +pointed to the wound in his back. + +What followed astonished Ninian far more than it did Jessica, who knew +the carpenter's ways. As tenderly, perhaps, because of his greater +strength, the old man lifted the injured one and critically examined +his wound; his face growing graver as he did so, yet not losing its +expression of confidence and decision. When the examination was over, +he replaced Antonio on the hard pillow, which had been Pedro's one +luxury, and quietly replied to the poor fellow's unspoken question, +burning in his great dark eyes: + +"It's a bad job, my son. A mighty bad job, and a sneaky one. I've seen +such before in my time, and they didn't mean death. To some folks, +though, they meant what was worse." + +Nobody would now have recognized the voice which uttered this dictum, +it had become so infinitely compassionate and gentle. + +Antonio caught one meaning only: "I will not die? I need not die? It +is you who will save me, yes? O'santos Dios!" + +He had half risen from the bed, but now sank back, exhausted by the +shock of emotion as well as by the physical effort; and Jessica sprang +forward, terrified by the sudden pallor of his swarthy face. But John +put her quietly aside and himself placed a flask to Antonio's lips, +saying: + +"You've done your part well, my noble little captain, and you've done +me proud. It's my place now." + +The senor soon rallied, and again fixed his eyes imploringly on +Benton's face, as he sat on the edge of the bed beside him. + +"Yes, top-lofty, I promise to help you. But first you must help +yourself. You must pledge your word, the word of a dying man, that he +dare not break. You will restore everything that you have taken from +the mistress of Sobrante--or anybody else--so far as it will hereafter +be in your power; you shall compel your Brother Ferd to guide a party +of prospectors to that secret spot in the canyon where that piece of +copper came from; and you shall do all that it is possible to do for +the good, and not the evil, of your neighbors. That all clear?" + +"But, yes, yes!" whispered Antonio, frantically. "Haste! Oh, haste!" + +"I'm a-hasting, but I ain't a-hurrin'. Which is a good thing for you, +'cause so I can think this thing over. That ball in your back will +have to come out. I've taken some from folks myself, once or twice, +but this one is in a ticklish place. A doctor is what we want, and the +nearest one is ten miles away on Kimball's ranch. He'd rather potter +with his roses than other folks' bullets, and I'll have a tough piece +of work to drag him up here, especially to see--you." + +With an impressive emphasis on the word "you" John paused, and waited +some rejoinder. None came, and though Jessica again exclaimed against +the carpenter's contemptuous tone, Antonio neither resented it, nor +felt it undeserved. Then Benton continued: + +"Sharp, here, is a writin' fellow, and knows what's what every time. +In the jerk of a lamb's tail he'll draw up a paper which'll explain +what you promise, and you've got strength enough to sign your name to +it. The minute you do that I'm off for Kimball, and I'll fetch him up +here fast as horses can travel--if I have to carry him on my back!" + +"Quick! The paper! I sign--I live!" + +"Quick" it was, and though Ninian was no lawyer, he was always well +provided with pads and fountain pens. Also, he was clever enough to +use the longest and most impressive words wherever possible, and thus +convinced the senor that the document sounded legally important. +Indeed, the injured manager could scarcely wait to affix his +signature, so eager was he that John should be off on his errand of +salvation. + +An hour later the padre came, and Jessica led Ninian away, that the +pair might have the cottage to themselves. Then, when this visitation +was over, the good man lingered, that he might hear for himself the +doctor's opinion when he should arrive. He, too, had listened to +another confession from the truly repentant Antonio; but there was +still a sacred office to perform if this awaited opinion should be for +death, not life. But he had ridden far, and was tired, having come +directly from his own church service at the distant mission, and +Jessica's hospitality could not endure to see the look of weariness on +the old man's kindly face. + +"Beg pardon, Fra Sebastian, but would you like a cup of coffee?" + +"Ah! my daughter, would I like the impossible? But, yes, I am +famished, indeed, for the good dinner of Marta, my housekeeper," he +answered, with a shrug of his plump shoulders. + +"Well, father, I cannot give you a dinner, but I can make you a pot of +fresh coffee; and in Pedro's little storeroom are cans of meat, and +beans and biscuit. Oh! I tell you! I'll bring the plates out +here--there are two whole ones--and dear Mr. Sharp and you shall have +a picnic." + +Already, with the light-heartedness of childhood, she had almost +forgotten the sorrowful errand upon which she had come to the mesa. +Besides, to her, a thing that was possible was, also, probable, and +John would never have raised false hopes in Antonio's breast. She was +sure of that, and already the senor's recovery a matter of but a +little while. Moreover, to serve others was her dearest happiness, and +though Fra Sebastian's faith was different from her parents', she had +been trained to know all good people as the children of God. And he +was especially such, for his benefactions and self-sacrifices were +widespread, and he had been an honored guest at her father's table. + +"Oh! I am so happy to do anything for so holy a man, and I am so +glad--so glad we came!" she whispered to Ninian, tripping away to +relight the little stove and fill her kettle afresh. + +"But I must be allowed to help, too, my captain," he returned, eagerly +entering into the altered spirit of things; and so merry were they +over their preparations, so gay and bright the reverend guest became, +that Antonio was helped over his own tedious time of waiting, and +scarce knew how the time passed before John's return. + +This was sooner than could have been anticipated. The physician was +already halfway on the road, intending a neighborly call at Sobrante, +when the carpenter met and literally collared him. + +"Come you must, Dr. Kimball. I shan't take 'no' for an answer," was +the decisive retort to the rose-grower's prompt refusal. + +"I shall do nothing of the sort. I'm not a practicing physician now, +and I never was a surgeon. As for that scalawag, Bernal, if he's got +himself shot, he's met exactly what he deserved. Giddap!" he cried, to +his horse, and was dashing past, just as John's long arm reached out +and clutched the ranchman's coat. + +"It isn't so much for him as for our Lady Jess. You're not in such a +tearin' hurry, neighbor, and if you are--well, just let your hurry +wait." + +Whereupon, in a few brief, telling sentences, Dr. Kimball was put in +possession of the facts Antonio had revealed, and had wheeled his +horse about, with a whimsical snarl: + +"Well, forge ahead. For anybody named Trent I'd break my own +resolutions a dozen times a day." + +It is probable that the kind-hearted man would have gone anyway, even +if he had ridden some miles still farther on an opposite road. The +knowledge that somebody was suffering and needing him was an appeal to +his professional instinct he would scarcely have resisted, but he had +to make a protest first. + +All merriment ceased when he entered the cabin on the mesa, and +Jessica instinctively sought the reporter's hand, needing his sympathy +during the anxious few minutes that ensued upon the doctor's arrival. +Fra Sebastian and John had followed the surgeon indoors, but Ferd, who +had brought the priest to the upland, still remained within the +deserted fold, whither he had retreated as soon as his errand was +accomplished. To him death of any sort, even that of an animal brought +a horrible fear, and nothing would induce him to leave his shelter; +till, when the conference was over, Jessica ran to him, exclaiming: + +"Cheer up, Ferd! Oh, Ferd! He's going to live, though, maybe--maybe he +will never walk again. Come and see him, Ferd. He wants you. He needs +you." + +The dwarf came reluctantly, still adoring his brother and still +shrinking from him and the sight of his agony. The examination had +been painful, of course; and the condition upon which life might still +remain a bitter one. However, it was--life! And to Antonio, at that +present moment, that was all he craved. + +"We must make a litter or stretcher and take him to the valley. He +will need the closest care and watching. He couldn't stay up here, and +have a single chance of recovery. Let's see, there are five men of us, +counting the dwarf. We'll have to walk with the stretcher, and he +shall lead the horses, all but Buster, whom Jessica can ride. One at a +time he'll 'spell' us, and the one released will take his place at the +beasts," was the doctor's decision. + +So it was done. A blanket was speedily fastened about two poles drawn +from the corral, and over these Pedro's hard mattress was laid; and +thus, placed as comfortably upon it as might be, Antonio was once more +conveyed to his old home at Sobrante. + +And there, that Sunday night, was wild rejoicing and much speculation +concerning the outcome of his confession. + +"Sharp's the man to put the thing in trim. He's the very chap! He +knows all about minerals, and he says that this copper we've struck is +the very purest article he ever saw! Hurray! Hurray! Three cheers and +a tiger for the Sobrante Copper Mine!" shouted the hilarious Marty. + +Meanwhile, there had been short but heated discussion among her loyal +henchmen as to whether Mrs. Trent should be forced to receive and care +for, under her immediate roof, a man who had done her so much injury; +and the decision had been unanimous: "No!" + +Even John, who had helped to bring him thither, joined his voice to +this assertion; and to the next question propounded, as to who would +attend him and where, had as loudly answered: "I don't know." + +Temporarily, the senor was resting in the household sitting-room, but +it was evident should not long remain there. + +"Where then? Hate him as we may, we can't let him die on our hands," +said Samson, looking as black as he could. + +"Don't you fret yourselves, 'boys,'" said a cheerful voice near the +group. "Mr. Ma'sh and me, or me and Mr. Ma'sh--for I had to put it to +him pretty plain, 'fore he'd seed it right--me and him will take that +misguided creatur' into our hands, and----" + +"May the Lord have mercy on his soul!" ejaculated Marty, fervently. + +"Me and Ephraim will 'tend him, turn and turn about," continued Mrs. +Benton, ignorant of Marty's irreverent remark. "He's to be put into +Mr. Ma'sh's room at the quarters, and I'll take this first night's +job. I shall begin it with a dose of picra, and the first page of the +Westminster catechism; and if that don't put him in good shape for the +doctor and Ephraim, in the morning, my name ain't Sally Benton, nor +never was. The doctor, he's rode home for his instruments and such, +and hopes to get the bullet out in the course of time. But it's my +opinion, and his, too, I reckon, 'cause he didn't deny it when I put +the question plain, it's our opinion that Antonio Bernal will never +walk another step in his life. But he'll live. He'll live everlastin'. +Them old Californy folks always do. He'll simply be paralyzed from his +waist down." + +Despite their antipathy to him, a thrill of pity ran through every one +who heard her; and to most of those stalwart men it seemed that this +was a punishment they could not have endured. Death would have been +far preferable to them. + +So it befell that the late manager's fate was in the hands of his +enemies, so to speak; and while Mrs. Benton and "Forty-niner" would +faithfully perform their duty toward him, they elected to do it along +lines of their own. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +CONCLUSION + + +Events crowded one another at Sobrante. + +Under the compulsion of his brother's will, so soon as that brother +was able to think of anything beyond his own suffering, Ferd led a +party of the ranchmen, with Ninian Sharp at their head, to the canyon +cave and the pit where the little captain had been imprisoned. They +shuddered as they beheld it; yet could but rejoice that Old Century +had sought her there, and had, so opportunely, revealed its precious +secret. They also took good care to blaze their path as they went, for +it was most intricate and bewildering. They had the curiosity to test +the powers of the wonderful staff, which John had carefully fitted +with a new top, and were amazed at its curious behavior, as it +zigzagged over the floor of the almost unsupported. Whatever the +metal, or compound of metals, on the point, it was certainly attracted +by, and indicated the presence of, copper in the earth beneath. + +Returning to the house after this trip of exploration, Marty was +promptly mounted upon the "ghost horse" Nero, and sent to Marion with +telegrams for Ninian's expert friends in Los Angeles, and to bring +back the mail. The unhappy animal had been treated to a liberal bath +of gasoline and soap suds, and had come out of it a sort of mongrel; +but with the phosphorus gone from about his eyes and face, and with a +reasonable prospect that he might some day be restored to his +original ebony hue. Yet his spirit seemed broken, as if he had felt +the disgrace of the part he had been forced to play in the late +escapades of Antonio and his fellow-conspirators. + +"It's what one might call the irony of fate that the man who caused +the death of Comanche should thus be forced to supply Comanche's place +with his own beloved Nero," commented the reporter, as the messenger +rode away. + +"Yes. Things generally do even up in this world, if a body has +patience to wait a spell," answered Samson. "And though I've no love +for him, and wouldn't trust him across this plaza, without watchin', I +can't help pitying poor 'top-lofty,' and thinking he was more fool +than knave. The idee! Them plans and performances of his savor more of +the 'middle ages,' that I've heard about, than of these days. But it +just takes my breath away to think of what Sobrante will be, some +time, if that 'find' in the canyon turns out what we imagine. Why--but +there! No use talking. Wait and see. How long you think before you get +an answer back from the town, tellin' what your friend'll do?" + +"Oh! I expect Marty will bring that answer. He's to wait an hour or +two, you know, and give a chance. If Cornell--that's the expert's +name--is in the city, he'll probably come himself by the evening +train. In that case, you and I might drive over to meet him." + +"Wh-e-w!" ejaculated the ex-sailor, astonished. "You newspaper fellows +beat the world for hustling, don't you? So quick as that? H'm! If you +fly as much sail as that so sudden, looks like we'd reach port ahead +of time." + +"When a thing's to be done--why, do it! If there's copper enough to +pay for mining, why--mine it," answered the other, coolly. + +"Young man, mining costs money. Talkin' is cheap," retorted Samson, +sententiously. + +"Of course. One must put in a little capital if one expects to get +results, in any business. The money will be found easily enough. Trust +me to see to that. Or my friends and me." + +Already the journalist was as eager as possible on this new matter. +His brief rest had restored his overtaxed nerves, and he was more than +ready to push any enterprise that commended itself to his keen +judgment. Now, all depended upon the expert's arrival at the ranch. He +would then be taken in person to examine the discovered vein, and on +his opinion great affairs would depend. Yet Ninian felt that even if +Henry Cornell's opinion was averse, he should not let the subject rest +there. He would consult with others. Mrs. Trent's interests must be +forwarded to the utmost, and no possible chance of her realizing a +fortune lost through any lukewarmness of his own. + +Marty duly returned. He brought the expected message from the great +expert, and that gentleman would arrive at Marion by that very +evening's train. He brought, as well, several letters for the ranch +mistress, and these Jessica joyously carried to her as she sat quietly +sewing. Most of them were business communications, which were promptly +read and laid aside, to be answered at once; but there was one which +the mother dropped in her workbasket unopened, though it was the +thickest and plumpest of the lot, and, also, bore the postmark "New +York." In ordinary, all New York mail was the most eagerly read of +all that came; and this fact caused Jessica to exclaim: + +"Why, mother, dear! Why don't you read it? Or are you like me when I +have something extra nice for dinner, leaving it to by and by?" + +"Yes, darling, I'm leaving it--a while. It will keep. I know what is +in it, or nearly so. It's not the first of the sort has come lately, +and I'll have courage soon." + +"Courage, mother? Do you need courage to read your letters? What harm +can come to us now, out of that far away city? My father's name is +cleared, we owe nobody, we--why, we may be going to be very, very +rich, if things turn out as Mr. Ninian thinks they will turn out, +and----Oh, dear! I'm not saying it very clear, only seems to me we +ought to be perfectly, perfectly happy now; and if there's anything +bad in the letter, please give it to me, and let me burn it up right +away." + +For answer, the mother caught her daughter close within her arms, +kissed her passionately, and asked: + +"Oh, little captain! If you go so far from me, how shall I live?" + +"I--go so far--from you!" repeated Lady Jess, in utter astonishment. +"Why, what can you mean?" + +Mrs. Trent recovered her composure, even smiled--if not very +gayly--and answered, tenderly: "Whatever come, my sunshine, remember +that, of all things, your mother desires your welfare before her own. +But more than that I cannot tell you now. So, run to Aunt Sally, dear, +and ask if she can be spared from her nursing a few hours. I think one +of the other men will relieve Ephraim, if he is tired, in waiting upon +Antonio. I want she should help me get up an extra fine supper for Mr. +Ninian's friend. Ah! my child, how much we owe to that young man's +goodness and enterprise!" + +"Indeed, indeed, we do. But seems to me we do nothing but cook here, +nowadays. It's always company, isn't it?" + +"And glad I am of that. So long as the larder has anything in it, I +love to share it with--friends. Not strangers, who do not care, but +with anybody else, the best we have. If a luxury well; and if but a +crust, still well. Now--to Aunt Sally." + +Jessica guessed that as soon as she was out of sight the disagreeable +letter from the other side of the continent would be promptly read, +and wondered not a little concerning its contents. And she was right. +Mrs. Trent had barely finished its perusal, when Mrs. Benton appeared, +but from her the mother had nothing to hide. She looked up quietly, +and said: + +"Another more urgent entreaty from old Cousin Margaret. She puts the +matter so strongly as my duty that I'm compelled to acknowledge she +is--may be--right." + +"Humph! She's been wrong enough, sometimes," returned Aunt Sally, +peevishly. "That's when she got angry with you for marrying Cass'us." + +"That was mostly from indignation at losing me, her one loved +relative. There could never have been a kinder guardian----" + +"Nor a queerer, as I've gathered from your own talk. I never saw +Margaret Dalrymple, and I never want to. Anyhow, nothin' can be done +at present; but I've brought one comfortin' word across from the +quarters with me, Gabriella." + +"What's that, Aunt Sally? Is Antonio better?" + +"Oh! bother Antonio. He'll get well, of course. That kind always does. +Of that I never had a misdoubt. The word is this, and I begin to think +that old Fra Sebastian may be a real Christian, after all. He not only +offers, but he says it must be this way: As soon as 'top-lofty' can be +safely moved, he wants him to the sannytarium to his mission. Him and +Ferd, the dwarf, likewise. He says them old Californys all belong to +him, and he will look after them. Antonio is to be in the sanny-house, +and Ferd is to be put into the mission school. Though he's a man in +years, he's a child in learning--'cept evil. So Fra proposes to oust +the evil if he can--I wager he'll find he's got a job--and put in +good. He'll make Antonio earn his keep a-writin' up the books and +accounts, for, with all his silliness, he's a master hand at +figurin'--for himself. So that settles them, and don't you dast say no +to the arrangement when it's perposed to you, Gabriella Trent, or I'll +never let you hear the last of it. It's the Lord's own way of +disposing things, and a better one than I could cipher out, if I do +say it." + +Certainly Mrs. Trent had no objection to make to so comfortable a +settlement of a perplexing question; and in due time the Bernals left +Sobrante forever; and of their lives at the mission those whom they +had known so long were henceforth to hear little, "and care less," +according to the satisfied ranchmen. + +Mr. Cornell, the expert, came, inspected, reserved his opinion, and +departed; but Ninian Sharp had gathered enough from the visitor's few +sentences, idly dropped, to feel quite convinced that the thing was +worth carrying farther. So he, too, left Sobrante; but, after a brief +sojourn in Los Angeles, reappeared, in company with Morris Hale and a +trio of prospectors, representing much capital. All this was very +exciting to the simple household; and Mrs. Trent, at least, felt +infinite relief when, on the eve of Navidad, there were left in it +only those two strangers, who had now become less strangers than +familiar friends. + +Gathered about the fireside, which the first of the rainy nights made +doubly enticing, the New York lawyer discussed at length the decision +which the prospectors had made. They considered the mine well worth +working. "In fact, I have reason to believe it will turn out one of +the richest in the whole country. They are willing to advance all +money needed upon certain conditions," and he named them. + +These seemed extremely liberal and just to both sides, but Mrs. Trent +did not greatly surprise her listeners when she quietly interposed a +clause to the effect that: + +"My husband believed in profit-sharing. It was his ambition to put +Sobrante and its various interests into such an operation. I want all +our 'boys' to enjoy the benefits of that which God has given us. They +will contribute their labor and share in its results; share richly if +I can have my will." + +"Your will is doubtless law, madam," answered Mr. Hale, courteously. + +"And if the mine is worked, I want our dear friend, Ninian Sharp, to +come here and act as its manager, on behalf of the Sobrante side. +He"--she raised her hand gently, as he started to interrupt--"he must +be paid a much larger salary than he could earn upon the staff of the +Lancet, and would have, I hope, sufficient leisure time to use his pen +in other literary work, such as he tells me he has never had the +chance to do." + +For the first time in his life, maybe, the alert reporter was taken +off guard, and hadn't a word to say, except the very ordinary one of +"Thank you"; but he said it, bending over the lady's hand, and with +such an expression of delight upon his thin, intellectual face, that +no greater eloquence was needed. + +"And now," said Aunt Sally, "it's time to begin that there decorating +which Gabriell' thinks is a part of Christmas. Pasqually's been real +good. He's been up to the dreen, where you planted them calla lilies, +Jessie, and he's fetched a good many bushels. Seven hundred, I guess +he said. And he's cut poinsetty enough to turn us blind with its +redness; and my boy, John, hitched up and went along under the flume +and druv his pushcart back full of the biggest maidenhair ferns and +sweet brakes I ever see. So now, youngsters, set to and trim. Then +we'll hang up our stockings, every one; and I'll give you the nicest +Christmas dinner can be cooked, if I have to cuff Wun Lungy into +basting them turkeys as they ought to be basted. Come, Neddy; come, +little Echo; I saw Santy Claus' wife--that's me, shove a pan full of +gingerbread men into the wall oven, and if they're done, I'll give +each of you a soldier of dough to drive you to bed. Stockings first? +Of course, of course. Why, what would Christmas be without its +stockings? Here's a brand-new pair auntie's knit for you, one a piece; +and if you don't find 'em stuffed with rods in the morning, it won't +be because you don't deserve it, you precious, precious, naughty +little lambs!" + +Off went the good creature, a boy on either arm, her patchwork +streaming behind her, her spectacles on the top of her head, and her +ruddy countenance as beaming as if she were, indeed, that mythical +person--Santa Claus' wife. + +Oh! what a Christmas followed! With everybody from far and near who +had any claim upon Sobrante hastening thither to share its open +hospitalities; Wolfgang and Elsa, with their "little" six-foot son; +the genial McLeods, Dr. Kimball and his sweet-faced invalid sister, +Louise, for whose benefit he had left their fine Boston home to live +in this lonely, lovely southland. These, and many more, not only came, +but did such justice to Mrs. Benton's and Wan Lung's cookery that, as +she said, next morning: + +"Land suz! There ain't scraps enough left to make a decent soup, even! +But never mind, we had a royal time, every single soul of us. +Christmas is over, and I'm glad it's so well over. Now, we can settle +down and rest a spell." + +Indeed, there was rest for the household itself, but for Ninian Sharp +and his coadjutors. The mining scheme was rapidly put into practical +operation; Mr. Hale lingering all that winter to further its +interests, and to enjoy what he had coveted early in his acquaintance +with it, a few months of ranch life at ideal Sobrante. + +Then came the glorious springtime, when the mesa was alive with +flowers; the canyon was fragrant with perfume, and the whole +countryside became an earthly paradise. The springtime, when the +Easterner could no longer delay his homeward trip, nor Mrs. Trent the +revelation of what her New York letters had contained, though Jessica +had almost forgotten them. + +One week before the lawyer was to leave them, mother and child sat, +hand in hand, beside the father's grave, whither the widow had +purposely withdrawn, as if the precious dust within might still +support and counsel her. Taking the little captain's hand in hers, +and speaking as calmly as if her heart were not desperately sad, she +said: + +"My darling, when Mr. Hale goes home to New York you will go with +him." + +"Mother! Oh! Why?" + +"Because it is right. My Cousin Margaret, whose letters you have seen +me read, sometimes with ungrateful tears, offers you a home and an +education. She was a mother to me in my youth, and I owe her much. Now +that she is old and desolate, she begs for you. It may be that I +should still have declined to please her at so much pain to--us, but +the discovery of this copper mine of ours, and the fact that you will +one day be one of America's richest daughters, forces me to comply." + +"But, why, mother? Why should that matter? I'd rather give it up. Say +no! Oh, please, say no!" + +"I cannot now. I dare not. Upon your dear shoulders will rest a great +trust and responsibility. You must be fitted to discharge that trust +by the best education possible. This education you cannot gain here. +You must seek it elsewhere. We must not make it harder for each other, +this bitter parting, but we must bear it bravely for--father's sake." + +Thus ended Jessica's early childhood; and of what befell her in that +widely different life at school it must be left to another volume to +relate. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30074 *** diff --git a/30074-h/30074-h.htm b/30074-h/30074-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fe59fe --- /dev/null +++ b/30074-h/30074-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7314 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jessica, the Heiress, by Evelyn Raymond</title> +<style type="text/css"> + @media screen { + hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none;border-top:thin dashed silver;} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; text-indent: 0; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + .pncolor {color: silver;} + } + @media print { + hr.pb {border:none;page-break-after: always;} + .pagenum { display:none; } + } + body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} + + h1 {font-size:1.6em;} + h1,h2,h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal;} + h2 {font-size:1.4em;} + h3 {font-size:1.2em;} + h1.pg {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size: 190%; } + h3.pg {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size: 110%; } + hr.p10 {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width: 5%;} + p.tp {font-size:1em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center;} + + .chsp {margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;} + .fnanchor {font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + a {text-decoration: none;} + hr.fn {width:3em; text-align:left; margin-left: 0; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; height:1px; border: none; border-bottom: 1px solid black;} + hr.toprule {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; clear:both;} + p.ralign {text-align: right !important;} + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + td.chalgn {text-align:right; margin-top:0; padding-right:1em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30074 ***</div> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jessica, the Heiress, by Evelyn Raymond</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1>Jessica, the Heiress</h1> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='margin-top:20px;font-size:2.0em;margin-bottom:20px;'>JESSICA, THE HEIRESS</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>By</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:20px;'>Evelyn Raymond</p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:60px;'>Author of<br />“Jessica Trent,” “Jessica Trent’s Inheritance,” etc.</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.</p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:20px;'>RACINE, WISCONSIN</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-top:20px;'>Copyright, 1904, by The Federal Book Company</p> +<hr class='p10' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:20px;'>Jessica, the Heiress</p> +<p class='tp' >Printed by<br />Western Printing & Lithographing Co.<br />Racine, Wis.</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:smaller;margin-bottom:20px;'>Printed in U.S.A.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'><span style='font-size:0.8em'>CHAPTER</span></td> + <td /> + <td valign='top' align='right'><span style='font-size:0.8em'>PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>I</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Jessica Disappears</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I_JESSICA_DISAPPEARS'>11</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>II</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Hush of Anxiety</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II_THE_HUSH_OF_ANXIETY'>22</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>III</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Old Century Takes the Trail</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III_OLD_CENTURY_TAKES_THE_TRAIL'>31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Deliverance</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV_DELIVERANCE'>41</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>V</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Jessica’s Story</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V_JESSICAS_STORY'>50</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Behind Locked Doors</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI_BEHIND_LOCKED_DOORS'>59</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>A Royal Gift</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII_A_ROYAL_GIFT'>70</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Face at the Window</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII_THE_FACE_AT_THE_WINDOW'>79</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Prisoner Disappears</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX_THE_PRISONER_DISAPPEARS'>90</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>X</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>On the Road Home</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X_ON_THE_ROAD_HOME'>99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Passing of Old Century</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI_THE_PASSING_OF_OLD_CENTURY'>110</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Rebellion of the Lads.</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII_THE_REBELLION_OF_THE_LADS'>121</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Ned’s Story</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII_NEDS_STORY'>131</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Taking the Doctor’s Advice</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV_TAKING_THE_DOCTORS_ADVICE'>140</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Ninian’s Greeting</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV_NINIANS_GREETING'>150</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Jessica Gets Her Wish</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI_JESSICA_GETS_HER_WISH'>161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Cactus Hedge</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII_THE_CACTUS_HEDGE'>170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>What the Sabbath Brought</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII_WHAT_THE_SABBATH_BROUGHT'>180</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Antonio’s Confession</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX_ANTONIOS_CONFESSION'>189</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Verdict</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX_THE_VERDICT'>201</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XXI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Conclusion</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI_CONCLUSION'>210</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span></div> +<p style='text-align:center;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:1.6em;'>Jessica, The Heiress</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_I_JESSICA_DISAPPEARS' id='CHAPTER_I_JESSICA_DISAPPEARS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>JESSICA DISAPPEARS</h3> +</div> +<p>Mrs. Benton and Jessica were upon the south +porch of the Sobrante ranch house, the former busy +as usual, the latter idly enjoying her charming surroundings +as she swung to and fro in her hammock.</p> +<p>Mighty vines of pale yellow roses, intermingled +with climbing fuchsias, cast shade and sweetness +over them; the porch was bordered by a wide swath +of calla lilies, also in full flower, while just beyond +these a great shrub of poinsettia dazzled the sight +with its gleaming blossoms.</p> +<p>When a momentary silence of the other’s nimble +tongue allowed her to speak, Jessica exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, you’re the only person I know who +can do three things at once. You sew as fast as +you rock, and talk faster than either. You’re a +very clever woman.”</p> +<p>The old lady answered complacently, as she bit +off a fresh needleful of thread and looked at her +companion over her spectacles:</p> +<p>“Yes, dearie, I expect I am. I can do more’n that, +too. I can keep up a powerful thinking.”</p> +<p>“About what, pray?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span></div> +<p>“How that life is a patchwork quilt. All the +colors of the rainbow, and some that any self-respectin’ +rainbow would scorn to own. Some +scraps so amazing homely you hate to put ’em in, +but just have to, else there wouldn’t be blocks +enough to square it out.”</p> +<p>“What sort of a scrap am I, Aunt Sally?”</p> +<p>“Huh! Fair to middlin’. Neither very light, nor +very dark. You’d be prettier, to my notion, if you’d +fetch a needle and thread and sew a seam with me, +’stead of swinging yourself dizzy out of pure +laziness.”</p> +<p>“Now, Aunt Sally! I call that unkind! I hate to +sew.”</p> +<p>“I believe you. You’ll never put a stitch where a +pin will do. But, never mind. If everybody else +sets out to spoil you, I don’t know as it’s my call to +interfere.”</p> +<p>There was so much tenderness in the glance that +accompanied these words that nobody could resent +them; least of all the girl, who now sprang from +the hammock and curled herself at the other’s feet.</p> +<p>“Tell me those powerful thoughts, auntie, dear.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton sighed, but responded nothing loath:</p> +<p>“There’s your mother, Gabriella. Only child, +left an orphan, raised by a second cousin once +removed, who’d more temper than sense, and when +your mother fell in love with your father, who’d +more goodness than cash, shut the door on them +both forthwith. So off they come to Californy and +pitch their tent right here in the spot.”</p> +<p>“They couldn’t have chosen a lovelier place,” their +daughter answered, with a sweeping glance over the +fair land which formed her home.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div> +<p>“That’s true enough. Then him getting that +New York company to buy Paraiso d’Oro Valley, +so’s a lot of folks that was down in the world could +come out here and live in it. Poor Cass’us dying, +just as he’d got things to his liking; the losing of +the title deed and your journeying to Los Angeles +to get it back.”</p> +<p>“Not ‘lost,’ Aunt Sally. Poor Antonio hid it at +El Desierto, in the cave of the Three Rocks. He––”</p> +<p>“Cat’s foot! Don’t you go to ‘pooring’ that snaky +sneak, or you and me’ll fall out. I should hate +that.”</p> +<p>“So should I. But you’ve set me thinking, too. +How wonderful that Mr. Ninian Sharp was, the +newspaper man. If it hadn’t been for him, we’d +never have won that battle. What could I have +done, with Ephraim Marsh in the hospital, and I +knowing nothing about the city? That Mr. Hale +was another splendid man. I can understand how +he had to keep his word and do his best for the +company which thought father had wronged it; +and I can also understand that he was as glad as +we to find their money safe with the poor banker +who was killed, Luis Garcia’s father.”</p> +<p>“‘Pooring’ again are you? Another scamp, too.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Aunt Sally! He’s––dead!” remonstrated +Jessica, in awestruck tones.</p> +<p>“And a fine job he is. There’s plenty of good-for-noughts +still living. A man that’s been wicked +all his life ain’t apt to turn saint at the end of it. +I like folks that do their duty as they go along. If +the robber, Garcia, had got well he’d likely claimed +our Luis and reared him to be as bad as himself.”</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, you’re uncharitable this morning. +What’s made you so?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span></div> +<p>“The plumb meanness of human natur’.”</p> +<p>“Your own?” asked the girl teasingly.</p> +<p>“No, saucebox. My boy, John’s. His, and all +the rest of ’em.”</p> +<p>“Toward whom?”</p> +<p>“Oh! ’tisn’t toward anybody, out and out. If it +was I’d roll up my sleeves and switch the lot of ’em, +just as if they were the little tackers they act like. +It’s them pesky hints and shrugged shoulders, every +time the Dutch Winklers or ‘Forty-niner’ is spoke +of. I wish to goodness that man’d come home and +clear his name, or give me a chance to do it. He no +more stole that knitting-woman’s money than I did.”</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally! Stole? Stole! My Ephraim! +Why, you must be crazy!”</p> +<p>“There, it’s out. Needn’t hop up like that, mad +as a hornet, at me. I’m not the one hints and +shrugs. It’s the whole lot of your precious ‘boys’––boys; +indeed! and needing spanking more’n they +ever did in their lives.”</p> +<p>Jessica’s swift pacing of the wide porch came to +a sudden halt, and she dropped down again at Mrs. +Benton’s feet, feeling as if the floor had given way +beneath her tread.</p> +<p>“This, then, was what my mother meant, that very +day when I came back, that Ephraim was happier +where he was! The dear old fellow; thrown to the +street by his graceless Stiffleg; picked up with a +leg full of broken bones; a prisoner in a hospital +all these weeks; giving all his savings of years to +us; and the ‘boys’ he’s lived with since before I was +born accusing him of––theft! Aunt Sally, it’s too +monstrous to be true!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></div> +<p>“’Tis, indeedy. Seem’s if the Evil One had been +let loose, here at Sobrante, when the word of a +half-wit––poor half, at that––is held proof against +the entire life of an honest old man.”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally was so deeply moved that, for once, +she allowed herself a moment’s respite from unceasing +industry, unconsciously holding a patchwork +block to her moist eyes, and slowly swaying the +great rocker as she sorrowfully reflected that:</p> +<p>“I raised him the best I could, that boy John. I +gave him a pill once a week, regular, to keep his +bile down. I washed him every Saturday night and +spanked him after I got through. I never let him +eat butter when he had gravy, and I made him say +his prayers night and morning. I had a notion that +such wholesome rearin’ would turn him out a decent +man; and now, just see!”</p> +<p>In spite of her own distress, Jessica laughed.</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, if anybody but yourself hinted that +John wasn’t a ‘decent’ man you’d do something +dreadful to punish the slanderer.”</p> +<p>“Suppose I should? Wouldn’t I have a right? Ain’t +he my own?”</p> +<p>Jessica smiled faintly, but sat for a long time +silent. The talkative woman in the rocker also kept +silence, brooding over many things. Finally she +burst forth:</p> +<p>“I don’t see why it is that just as soon as a body +gets into smooth sailing, along comes a storm and +upsets things again. There was your mother, beginning +to feel she could go ahead and do what her +husband wanted to, and now here’s this bad feeling +among her trusted hired men. Suspicion is the +pisenest yarb that grows. The folks that could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span> +suspect old ‘Forty-niner’ of wrong things’ll be plumb +ready to watch out for one another. Somebody’ll +be caught nappin’, sure. ’Tisn’t in human natur’ +to walk upright all the time, and it’s foolish to +expect it. But––shouldn’t wonder if I’d be the next +one accused. And it comin’ Christmas time too. +Land! I’m so bestead I’ve sewed that patch in +wrong side up. What? Hey? You laughin’? I +don’t see anything funny in this business, myself,” +said the old lady, fretfully.</p> +<p>“You would if you could look in a glass! Your +face is all streaked purple and green, where you cried +on your patch,” explained Jessica, whose grief had +changed to amusement.</p> +<p>“You don’t say! I knew them colors’d run. John +fetched the piece from Marion, last time he went +for the mail. Of the two stores there, I don’t know +which is the worst. Their ‘Merrimac’ won’t wash, +and their flannel shrinks, and their thread breaks +every needleful. But, to ‘Boston’––dear me! Whatever +did make me think of that place! Now I’ve +thought, it’ll stick in my mind till it drives me wild––or +back there, and that’s about the same thing. To +go live with that slimsy cousin of mine, after being +in the same house with your mother, is like falling +off a roof into a squashy mud puddle. That’s all the +sense and substance there is to Sarah, that was a +Harrison before she was a Ma’sh. I warrant she’s +clean out of medicine an money, for she’s a regular +squanderer when it comes to makin’ rag rugs. I +wish you could see ’em! I just wish’t you could. +Such dogs and cats as she weaves into ’em would +have druv’ Noah plumb crazy if he had to take ’em +into the Ark. Their eyes are just round rings of +white, with another round ring of black in the +middle–––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></div> +<p>“Aren’t rings always round, auntie, dear?”</p> +<p>“No, they ain’t. Not after they’ve been trod on!” +was the swift retort, as the old lady pointed downwards +toward the floor of the porch.</p> +<p>Both stooped and rose again, astonishment deepening +upon their faces as Jessica held out her open +palm with the injured trinket lying upon it.</p> +<p>“Elsa Winkler’s wedding ring! How came it +here?”</p> +<p>“How indeed? I don’t believe that woman’s been +on these premises since I came.”</p> +<p>“Even if she had, Aunt Sally, why should she bring +the ring with her? It was always too small for her, +and she never had it on except during the marriage +ceremony. I’ve often heard her laugh about it; +how Wolfgang bought a ring as big as his money +would pay for, and let it go at that. She didn’t see +what difference it made whether it went only on the +tip of her finger or all the way down it. But she +must have been here, even if we didn’t know it. I’ll +take it straight to mother to keep. Then, too, I’ve +idled enough. I promised my dear I’d write all her +Christmas invitations for her, because she says it +will save her the trouble, and be such a help to my +education.”</p> +<p>“Christmas! Well, well. Does seem as if I +couldn’t leave before then, nohow. And hear me, +Jessie, darlin’, don’t you let your poor ma worry +her head over your book learning. Being she was +a schoolma’am herself makes her feel as if she +wasn’t doing the square thing by you letting you +run wild, so to speak. If the Lord means you to get +schoolin’ He’ll put you in the right way of it, don’t +you doubt. Who all does Gabriella set out to ask +here to visit?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></div> +<p>“Mr. Hale, of course; and dear Mr. Sharp. I hope +Ephraim will be well enough to come, too. Then +there are the Winklers, from the mine; the McLeods, +from their inn at Marion; and, maybe––we’ve +never had a Christmas without him––maybe +poor Antonio.”</p> +<p>“Well, all I say is––if you ask him you needn’t +ask me. There wouldn’t be room on this whole +ranch for the pair of us.”</p> +<p>“Then, of course, it’s you first. Yet, it’s all so +puzzling to me. If it’s a time of ‘peace and good +will,’ why do people keep on feeling angry with one +another?”</p> +<p>“Jessica Trent, dast you stand there and look +me in the face and say that you have forgive that +sneaky snakey manager for cheating your mother +like he did?”</p> +<p>“He was sorry, Aunt Sally. Every letter he sends +here tells that.”</p> +<p>“Fiddlesticks!”</p> +<p>“And he’s punished, isn’t he, even if the New York +folks let him go free, by his disappointment? I can +fancy how dreadful it would seem, did seem to think +this beautiful ranch was one’s own, and then suddenly +to learn that it was not.”</p> +<p>“Oh! Jessie! You try my soul with your forgivin’ +and forgivin’. Next you know you’ll be sorry for +Ferd, the dwarf, though ’tis he himself what’s started +all this bobery against ‘Forty-niner,’ and eggs them +silly Winklers on to be so––so hateful. I’m glad +that witless woman did lose her ring, and I hope +it’ll never be straightened out. I guess I’m out +of conceit with everybody living, not exceptin’ +old Sally Benton, herself!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span></div> +<p>With this home thrust at her own ill temper, the +whimsical woman betook herself and her dangling +array of patchwork to Mrs. Trent’s sitting-room; +there to discuss the prospects for holiday festivities +and to take account of stock, in the way of groceries +on hand. Deep in the subject of pies and puddings, +they forgot other matters, till a wild whoop outside +the window disturbed them, and they beheld Ned +and Luis, painted in startling “Indian fashion,” +mounted upon a highly decorated horse, which had +never been seen in the Sobrante stables.</p> +<p>“Hi, there, mother! Your money or your life!”</p> +<p>“Money––life!” echoed Luis, clinging to his playmate’s +waist and peeping over his shoulder.</p> +<p>The horse was rearing and plunging more dangerously +each second, and both women rushed to +the rescue of the imperiled children, who realized +nothing of their danger, but shouted and screamed +the louder the more frantic their steed became. +Mrs. Trent caught the bridle, and Aunt Sally snatched +first one, then the other, child from the creature’s +back, who, as soon as he was relieved of his yelling +burden, started at a gallop across the garden, ruining +its beds and borders on his way.</p> +<p>“Oh, oh! Children, how could you? Whose +horse is that? Where did you get that paint? +How shall I ever make you clean?”</p> +<p>“I’ll tend to that part, Gabriella. You just call +a boy to fix them flower beds before the plants +wither. Oh, you rascals! You won’t forget this +morning’s fun in a hurry, I warn you! You’ve been +in John Benton’s paint pots again. Well, you like +paint, you shall have it, and all you want of it too. +Red and yeller, green and pink, with a streak of +blue. H’m! You’re a tasty lot, ain’t you!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span></div> +<p>The lads squirmed and twisted, but Aunt Sally’s +grip merely tightened upon them so that finally, +they ceased struggling and allowed her to lead +them whither she would, which was to the small +laundry, that stood at some slight distance from +the house. Here she sternly regarded each bedaubed, +but otherwise nude, little figure, with so +fierce an expression upon her usually pleasant face +that the young miscreants winced, and Ned cried +out:</p> +<p>“Quit a-talking eyes at me that way, Aunt Sally +Benton! I don’t like it.”</p> +<p>“Oh! you don’t, eh? Well, what’d you disgrace +yourselves this way for, if ’twasn’t to make folks +stare? Where’s your clothes?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know.”</p> +<p>“Very well, then I’ll help you to remember.”</p> +<p>“I won’t be whipped! I’ll tell my mother!” +shrieked Ned, retreating toward the closed door +of the building.</p> +<p>“Won’t be whipped, old Aunt Sally!” added Luis, +clasping his leader; whereupon the customary +scuffle ensued; for, no matter what their business +in hand, personal contact always insured a slight +passage at arms. At present, this diverted their +thoughts from what might be in store at the will of +their mutual enemy, and it came with appalling suddenness. +Each small boy was lifted, bidden to shut +his eyes and mouth, then plunged downward into a +barrel of some cold slippery stuff. Here he was +soused vigorously up and down, until every portion +of his skin was smeared with the stick mess; after +which he was placed on his feet and once more commanded:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></div> +<p>“Now, son, just you stand there and dreen a spell. +Lucky I made that barrel of soft soap last week. +It’s just the stuff to take this paint off, and what +drips from you to the old adobe floor won’t hurt. +Pasqual’s a master hand at scrubbin’, and I’ll give +him the job of you and the floor both. Reckon +you’ll wish you hadn’t ever seen paint pots time +he gets through. Now––where’s your clothes?”</p> +<p>Ned was silent, but Luis “guessed they’s under +a tree.”</p> +<p>“Well, son, Garcia, knowing it better than guessing +’bout now. Me and Santa Claus is sort of partners, +and he’s due here soon. ’Twon’t take me a +jerk of a lamb’s tail to write and tell him how things +stand at Sobrante, and whose stockings’d better +have switches ’stead of goodies in ’em. Hear me? +Where’s your clothes?”</p> +<p>A laugh caused Aunt Sally to glance through the +window, where Jessica was an amused spectator of +the scene within. She now begged:</p> +<p>“Don’t be hard on the little tackers, auntie, dear. +That was Prince, Mr. Hale’s horse, that Pedro has +tended on the mesa all these days. I’ll find out how +they came by it, and their clothes at the same time. +Tell mother, please,” and with a merry nod to the +unhappy urchins, so shamfacedly “dreening” at Mrs. +Benton’s pleasure, she disappeared.</p> +<p>Disappeared not only from the window, but, +apparently, from life, as suddenly and completely +as if the earth had opened and engulfed her.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_II_THE_HUSH_OF_ANXIETY' id='CHAPTER_II_THE_HUSH_OF_ANXIETY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE HUSH OF ANXIETY</h3> +</div> +<p>Mrs. Trent and Aunt Sally sat down alone to +dinner. The little lads were in their beds, recovering +from the sound scrubbing Pasqual had given +them. Clothed in fresh nightgowns, and refreshed +by generous bowls of bread and milk, they had been +left in a darkened room to reflect upon the hard +ways of transgressors. But reflection was unusual +work for their active brains, and they had promptly +fallen asleep; hence the profound peace which +rested upon the house.</p> +<p>“I wonder where Jessica is? She was to have +written my letters for me, but I haven’t seen her +since breakfast,” said the mother, somewhat anxiously.</p> +<p>“Oh! she’s around somewhere. Was at the laundry +window while I was tending to the children, +and said she’d go find their clothes. In all my born +days I never saw two small heads could hatch the +mischief Ned’s and Luis’ can. It’s out of one scrape +into another, and seems if they must break their +necks some day.”</p> +<p>“Oh! don’t forecast evil. Their pranks keep my +nerves on tension all the time, yet I shouldn’t worry +so. They always escape from harm. But I’d like +to know how they got that horse.”</p> +<p>“So would I. They must have had help painting +it. Stands to reason two midgets like them couldn’t +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span> +have kept a high-spirited creatur’ quiet while they +wasted enough good paint on him to cover a meeting +house.”</p> +<p>“John won’t be pleased. He’s so careful of his +belongings, even I never touch them without permission,” +said the ranch mistress, smiling afresh at the +memory of the ridiculous picture the boys had +made.</p> +<p>“Don’t surprise me’t you laugh, Gabriella, but +you’d ought to put the reins on tighter to them +chaps, lest first you know they’ll be driving you, +not you them. Do it already, seems if.”</p> +<p>“How can I be stern with Cassius’ little son? +Every day I see more resemblance to his father in +the childs face; yes, and in his nature, too. Nobody +was ever fonder of fun than my husband, yet surely +there never was a better man.”</p> +<p>“Oh! Neddy’s all right. Trouble is to keep him +from thinkin’ so himself. But, there. Why don’t +you eat your dinner? You haven’t more’n half +touched it. It’s a shame to waste good victuals, and +these are good. I fixed ’em myself.”</p> +<p>The other smiled again at the complacency visible +upon her friend’s face, which so innocently dsplayed +the same feeling that had just been deplored in Ned. +However, Aunt Sally was too busy with her own +food to notice anything else, and it seemed long to +her companion before she had finished and risen, to +call, sharply:</p> +<p>“Pas-qual! Oh, Pasqual-ly! Why aren’t you on +hand to clear the table? Don’t you know I’ve got––and +here followed a long list of things to be done, +more than many could accomplish in several days.” +Each had some reference to the coming holidays, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span> +and the house boy understood this. He entered, +more willingly than usual, grinning with the anticipation +of the raisins he would have to stone, the +nuts he must crack, and the goodly samples of each +that he would surreptitiously procure.</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent asked him to put aside Miss Jessica’s +dinner, till she came in, and to be sure that it was +also kept nice and warm.</p> +<p>“All right, lady. I’ll do that good enough. Don’t +mind what I has to do for ‘Lady Jess’;” and immediately +seized the plate, which Aunt Sally had +already filled, to place it in the warming oven.</p> +<p>Then the mother went out, and among the adobe +buildings, which formed the “boys” quarters and +the business part of the ranch, calling gently, as she +went, in the brooding sort of note which had long +been a signal between her and her child. But no +Jessica responded; and, to her fancy, it seemed that +the whole place was strangely silent.</p> +<p>“After all, that is not to be wondered at. The +men are done with dinner, and gone about their +work. The boys are asleep, and only Jessica would +be anywhere near. What can keep her, I wonder?” +and with this thought the lady again uttered the +tender call which would summon her daughter, if +she were within hearing.</p> +<p>Then she returned to the house and tried to accept +Aunt Sally’s theory that, likely some of them ‘boys’ +is in trouble about his job, and wants his ‘captain’ to +go oversee. ’Mazin’ strange, Gabriella, what a influence +that child has over ’em. “They ’pear to think, +the whole lot of ’em, that she can straighten out +all the kinks that get into brains or business.”</p> +<p>“She is quick to understand,” said the mother, +proudly.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span></div> +<p>“Course. Nothin’ strange, is it, seeing who her +folks was? Best go take a nap, honey.”</p> +<p>“Oh, no! Thank you for suggesting it, but I’m +too wakeful.”</p> +<p>“Well, then, I’ll fetch them kerns and citron right +out here on the kitchen porch. The sun’s off it now, +and there ain’t a prettier spot on earth where to +prepare Christmas fixin’s. I’ll fetch the raisins and +stone ’em myself. That Pasky boy’d eat more’n +half of ’em, if I left ’em to him. Then we can visit +right sociable; and I can free my mind. The truth +is, Gabriella Trent, that I ought to be harnessin’ +Rosetty an’ Balaam this minute, and be startin’ for +‘Boston.’”</p> +<p>“Oh, Aunt Sally!” protested the ranch mistress, +in real distress.</p> +<p>“There, dearie, hush! Don’t worry. I said ‘I +ought,’ I didn’t say I was goin’. Seem’s if I couldn’t +just tear myself away from Sobrante. If Sarah +Ma’sh, she that was a Harrison, and married +Methuel, hasn’t got gumption enough to bile her +own plum puddin’, I ’most feel as if she’d ought to +go without. Though I don’t know as that’s real +Christian in me.”</p> +<p>“Dear Mrs. Benton, I wish everybody was as +sincere a Christian as you are.”</p> +<p>In her surprise, Aunt Sally tipped her rocker so +far back that she just escaped upset.</p> +<p>“Why, Gabriella Trent! Me! Me! Don’t say +that, and make me feel meaner’n dirt. It’s you, +honey, is that–––”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent laughed as she answered:</p> +<p>“We make a mutual admiration society, don’t we? +But Aunt Sally, you mustn’t think of leaving Sobrante +before the holidays are past. I can’t spare +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span> +you. I need the help of your head, as well as your +hands, and what would Christmas be to the children, +if you weren’t here to cuddle and scold them after +their greediness has made them ill.”</p> +<p>“Well, well, child, say no more. Here I am, and +here I’ll stay, if Sarah Ma’sh don’t get a stiver of +pudding or fowl. Here, honey, I reckon you best +slice this citron. You’ve got a dainty hand for such +work and––my sake’s alive! That fruit cake’d +ought to been made weeks ago, if it was to get any +sort of ripeness into it before it was et! Hurry up, +do. We haven’t a minute to waste.”</p> +<p>This adjuration had the good result of amusing +Mrs. Trent so that, for an hour at least, she forgot +to be anxious over her daughter’s unexplained absence. +Aunt Sally was a person who was always +“driven to death” by the mere thought of tasks +for which there was, in reality, ample time. But +now that she had decided to remain at the ranch +for a further indefinite stay, her spirits rose and her +brain busied itself with a thousand plans for the +comfort or amusement of the household, over which +she domineered, yet so ardently loved.</p> +<p>“We haven’t got much money for presents, I +know. So I’ll just get out the piece-bag to-night, +and press off them canton flannel scraps. They’ll +make splended ducks for the youngsters–––”</p> +<p>“I fear that would be wasted labor, friend. The +little lads have outgrown homemade toys. Nothin +that will not make a noise is acceptable to them. +I’d thought of sending over to Marion for drums and +whistles, if the stores there can furnish them.”</p> +<p>“Well, Gabriella Trent! I declare you are the +benightenest woman that ever set out to raise children! +Drums! For them two? My, my! But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span> +what won’t a mother do for her little ones, I’d like +to know!”</p> +<p>The words were no sooner out of Mrs. Benton’s +mouth than she regretted them. At the name of +“mother” Mrs. Trent’s forced gayety vanished, and +she lifted her eyes to her companion’s face with a +pitiful appeal.</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, what has happened to Jessica?”</p> +<p>“Nothing, honey. Nothing in the world. What +a master hand you are to worry.”</p> +<p>The lady rose so hastily that the dish upon her +lap slid to the floor, and the other laughed:</p> +<p>“There, Gabriel, you do beat all. If I’d dropped +that dish ’twould have upset, and every slice of +citron in it rolled whithrety-yonder. But for you––it +knew better; just slipped off as slick as could be, +landed right side up, and not a morsel scattered. +Seem’s if dirt nor nothin’ disorderly ever could come +a-nigh you, honey.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent did not even hear. Upon her face +had grown a look that hurt Aunt Sally to see; the +more because the feeling it expressed was continually +increasing within her own heart.</p> +<p>Where could Jessica be? Many hours had passed +since she vanished from the laundry window, and +if she had gone upon any errand for her “boys,” she +would have returned long since. Also, she would +be swift to restore the missing clothes of the little +boys, as soon as found, for she knew they would +be prisoners within doors till she had done so.</p> +<p>“Don’t you worry, I tell you, Gabriella. I’ll take +the great horn and blow a blast will fetch the whole +kerboodle back here, hot foot. If that don’t, I’ll +ring the mission bell! That’ll mean trouble, sure +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span> +enough, and its dreadful racket’ll reach clear to +Los Angeles, ’pears.”</p> +<p>The mother crossed to the lattice and leaned +against its post. Something was wrong with her +darling. She knew that as well as if she had been +told so by word of mouth, and a dreadful numbness +stole over her whole frame. As if in a dream, she +saw Aunt Sally emerge from the lean-to, where the +great horn was kept, and raised the thing to her +lips; but the blast which followed seemed to have +been ringing in her ears forever. The silence that +succeeded lasted but a moment, yet was like an +eternity. Then from one direction, and another, +came the ranchmen, understanding that there was +need of their presence at the “house,” and each +quickly catching something of the fear so plainly +depicted upon the faces of the waiting women.</p> +<p>“John Benton, where’s ‘Lady Jess’?” demanded +Aunt Sally, with terrible sternness.</p> +<p>“Why, mother, how should I know? I was off to +the lemon house early, fixing some shelves. I +haven’t seen her to-day and it makes it a long one.”</p> +<p>Came “Marty” from his garden, a hoe over one +shoulder and a mighty vine of ripened tomatoes over +the other, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“How’s this for a second year’s growth? I +thought you’d like ’em for catsup, Aunt Sally, and +what’s the horn for?”</p> +<p>“George Ceomarty, where’s the ‘captain’?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know.”</p> +<p>“You don’t! You don’t!” indignantly.</p> +<p>“No. How should I? Last I saw, she was sitting +the porch along with you. You needn’t glare at +me so, but say yourself: ‘Where’s the “captain”?’”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></div> +<p>“Come, gardener, this ain’t a time for foolin’.”</p> +<p>He disdained to answer, reading the anxiety upon +his mistress’ face, and feeling an unaccountable one +growing in his own mind.</p> +<p>It was a relief to all when the figure of Sailor +Samson came into view, making for the cottage +with those firm strides of his, that seemed to cover +the distance with incredible speed. He was always +to be depended upon in an emergency, and there +was good cheer in his tones, as, having been asked +the same question which had greeted his mates, he +tossed back the light answer:</p> +<p>“Why, I don’t know just at this minute, but I’ll +wager wherever she is, she’s doing good to somebody, +or finishing up some fellow’s neglected job. Why? +Ain’t scared of ‘Lady Jess,’ are you?”</p> +<p>“That’s just what we are, herder. She’s no hand +to run off an’ stay off without tellin’ where to; and +if she couldn’t find the children’s clothes she’d been +back before now to say so. Somethin’ dreadful has +happened to the precious girl, and you needn’t say +there hasn’t!” wailed Mrs. Benton; adding in fresh +dismay as the ranch mistress quietly sank to the +floor in a faint! “There! Now I have done it! Oh! +that tongue of mine!”</p> +<p>“Yes, old woman! That tongue of yours’ has +wrought a heap of mischief in its day,” cried Samson, +angrily, as he lifted the fallen lady and carried +her into the house.</p> +<p>But Aunt Sally was quite herself again, and put +him coolly aside, while she ministered to the unconscious +ranch mistress, and, at the same time, gave +him a succinct history of the morning’s events. +Everybody at Sobrante knew the deep devotion of +Lady Jess to her widowed mother, and the thoughtfulness +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span> +with which she always sought to prevent her +loved one’s “worrying,” and all realized that there +might be something seriously amiss in this protracted, +unexplained absence. However, and to a certain +degree, the child was allowed to be independent, +and she was liable to reappear at any moment and to +gibe at their “foolish fear” for her. But to summon +her, at once, was the surest way of comforting Mrs. +Trent, and Samson went out again to distribute the +assembled ranchmen into searching parties, with +the injunction:</p> +<p>“Don’t scare the ‘captain’ when you find her, but +just let her know her mother needs her, and her +dinner’s drying up in the oven. Now scatter; and +don’t you show a face back here without her in +hand!”</p> +<p>“Can’t all of us find her, herder. Ain’t ‘captains’ +enough to go ’round,” said a cowboy, with an ill-attempt +at playfulness, which was instantly frowned +down. For, though all assured themselves that +there was no substantial cause for alarm, and that +women were “nervous cattle, always scared at shadders,” +they had already caught something of this +nervousness. Each felt that the best sight for his +eyes at that moment would be the gleam of a golden +head, and the sweetest music his ears could hear +the sound of a young girl’s laughter.</p> +<p>But, alas! Daylight gave place to the sudden +night of that region, where no lingering twilight is +known; and still over the great ranch there rested +the terrible silence which had followed the loss of +one merry voice.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_III_OLD_CENTURY_TAKES_THE_TRAIL' id='CHAPTER_III_OLD_CENTURY_TAKES_THE_TRAIL'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>OLD CENTURY TAKES THE TRAIL</h3> +</div> +<p>The clatter of horse’s hoofs on the dry sward made +Pedro, the shepherd, lift his eyes from his basket +weaving, but only for an instant. The sight of +Samson, the herder, mounted upon the fleetest +animal of the Sobrante stables, was nothing compared +to the working out of the intricate pattern +he had set himself to follow. Even the centenarian, +dwelling in his lofty solitude, knew that there was +approaching the blessed Navidad, whereon all good +Christians exchanged gifts, in memory of the great +gift the Son of God; and what could he do but put +forth his utmost ingenuity to please his heart’s +dearest, even Jessica of the sunny face?</p> +<p>Like Aunt Sally, at the ranch, he had, at last, +caught a feeling of haste and wished not to be disturbed; +so he did not even look up again when he +was accosted.</p> +<p>“Hello, old man! Hard at it, still?”</p> +<p>No reply forthcoming, Samson shouted, as if the +shepherd were deaf:</p> +<p>“Where’s Capt. Jess, abuleo (grandfather)?”</p> +<p>The deferential title won the attention which the +loud voice could not gain, and Pedro glanced carelessly +upon the mighty herder, a mere youth of +sixty summers, and replied, with equal carelessness:</p> +<p>“Am I the nina’s<a name='FNanchor_0001' id='FNanchor_0001'></a><a href='#Footnote_0001' class='fnanchor'>[A]</a> keeper? But, no,” then resumed +his weaving.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span></div> +<p>In another instant the delicate, finely split rushes +had been snatched from the weaver’s hands, and he +exhorted:</p> +<p>“By all that’s great, old man! Tell me, has Jessica +Trent passed this way?”</p> +<p>“Why for? Once, but once, since the long journey +and the finding of that bad Antonio came she +to Pedro’s hut. Give back the basket. For her, +of the bright hair, it is; my finest, and, maybe, my +last. Why not? Yet still again I will keep the +fiesta, si. The child. Many have I loved, but none +like my little maid. The basket.”</p> +<p>This was a long speech for the silent dweller on +the mesa, and there was more of anger in his usually +calm eyes than Samson had never seen there, as he +rose and extended his skinny hands for his treasure.</p> +<p>The herder restored it, his heart growing heavier +as he did so.</p> +<p>“Think fast, good Pedro. The old are wise, and +hark ye! These many hours the child is from home. +The mistress––you love her?”</p> +<p>“She is my mistress,” answered the shepherd, in +a tone which conveyed all his deep feeling. To him +his “mistress” represented a material Providence. +From her hand came all the simple necessaries of +his life. From her, on the approaching nativity, +would also come some things which were not necessaries, +but infinitely more precious to the centenarian +than such could be. On the nativity he would +be sent, upon the gentlest mount his lady owned, +to the mission service which he loved. Thereafter +he would ride back to Sobrante, his own priest beside +him, to feast his fill on such food as he tasted +but once a year. At nightfall of that blessed day +he would gather the ranchmen about him, in that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span> +old corridor where once he had seen the ancient +padres walk, breviary in hand, and tell his marvelous +tales of the days when the land was new, when +whole tribes of redfaces came to be taught at the +padres’ feet, and when the things which now were +had not been dreamed of. Some who listened to +these Christmas stories believed that the secrets +at which the shepherd hinted were vagaries of his +enfeebled mind, but others, and among them Samson, +gave credence to them, and yearly did their +best to worm from him their explanation.</p> +<p>That mention of the “mistress” had touched him, +also, to anxiety, and he motioned the herder to +repeat his statement. He then straightened himself +to almost the erectness of the younger man, +and begun at once to gather his rushes and rap them +carefully in a moistened cloth. With an expressive +gesture toward his cabin, he suggested that Samson +was free to enter it and provide such entertainment +for himself as he chose, or could find. And so well +did the herder know the shepherd that he fully understood +this significant wave of the hand, and replied +to it in words:</p> +<p>“Thanks, old man, but some other time. At present +I’m keener on the scent for my captain than +for even your good coffee. If she comes, report, +will you?”</p> +<p>The other did not notice what he heard, but himself +proceeded to the cabin and safely deposited his +handiwork within it. Then he came out again, +whistled for his dog, Keno, whose head he stroked +for some time, and into whose attentive ear he seemed +to be whispering some instruction.</p> +<p>A shade of amusement, merging into wonder, +crossed the herder’s countenance, and he communed +with himself thus:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span></div> +<p>“Blow my stripes, if Old Century isn’t going to +take the trail himself! He’s telling that canine +what to do while he’s gone, and, ahoy, there! If +the knowin’ creatur’ doesn’t understand him! All +right, grand sir! Yet, not all so right, either. It +takes a deal of business to move Pedro off his mesa, +and if he’s riled enough to leave it now, it’s because +he sees more danger to Lady Jess than even I do. +Hello! what’s he waiting for?”</p> +<p>Evidently for Samson to depart, which that gentleman +presently did, grimly considering:</p> +<p>“Old chap thinks the whole mesa belongs to him, +and ’pears to suspect I might rob him if he left me +behind. Well, friend, I’ve no call to tarry. Since +my lady isn’t here, I must seek her elsewhere,” and +down the canyon Samson dashed, his sure-footed +beast passing safely where a more careful animal +would have stumbled.</p> +<p>All this had happened soon after the dispersing of +the ranchmen to search for Jessica, and Samson +had now taken that turn of the trail which led to +the miner’s cabin.</p> +<p>“’Tisn’t likely she’s there, though. She’d never +travel afoot that long distance, and Buster’s in the +stable.”</p> +<p>The Winklers received him with gloom. The +hilarious gayety that had once distinguished their +small household had vanished with the loss of Elsa’s +money. Their son, and idol, had been defrauded of +a rich future for which they had toiled, and life now +seemed to them but an irksome round of humdrum +duties, to be gotten through with as easily as possible. +Over the cabin hung an air of neglect which +even Samson was swift to note, and most significant +of all, Elsa’s knitting had fallen to the floor and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +become the plaything of a kitten, which evoked no +reprimand, tangle the yarn as she would.</p> +<p>“Hello, neighbors! Ain’t lookin’ over and above +cheerful, are you? What’s wrong?”</p> +<p>“Good-day, herder. How’s all?”</p> +<p>“Glum, I should say. Where’s Lady Jess?”</p> +<p>Wolfgang elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his +shoulders and made a gesture of ignorance, but +said no word.</p> +<p>“Lost your tongues, mostly, hey? I say––where’s +the captain?”</p> +<p>Elsa lumbered forward to the doorway, and dully +regarded the visitor; then, after a time, replied:</p> +<p>“Not here.”</p> +<p>Her brevity was another contrast to her former +volubility, but it was sufficient to thrill the questioner’s +heart with fresh dismay.</p> +<p>“Has she been here to-day?”</p> +<p>Elsa shook her head. Otto came out from the +shed and glanced disconsolately at Samson, then +slowly returned whence he had come.</p> +<p>The herder’s temper flamed, and, snapping his +whip at the air, he cried out, hotly:</p> +<p>“Look at me, you passel of idiots! You think +you know what trouble is just because you’ve lost +a handful of money? Well, you don’t! You haven’t +even guessed at it. Money! The world’s full +of that, but there never was more than one Lady +Jess, and I tell you––I tell you––she’s lost!”</p> +<p>He had spoken out at last the fear he had scarcely +acknowledged, and the shock of his own plain speech +held him silent thereafter. His head drooped, his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span> +great body settled in the saddle, as if the whole +burden of his sixty years had fallen upon him in +that moment. His attitude, even more than his +words, conveyed his meaning to his hearers, and, in +a flash, the real values of what they had loved, and +now lost, fell into their rightful places.</p> +<p>“Money? The little lady?” Ah! what, after all, +was the one compared to the other?</p> +<p>“Man––you lie!” retorted Wolfgang, clinching +his fist and advancing with a threatening air. Elsa +stepped to his side, her wide face turning even paler +than it had been, and a startled look dawning in +her eyes. Even Otto, the six-foot “child,” reappeared +from his retreat and regarded the horseman +reproachfully.</p> +<p>As for him, he roused from his momentary despondency +and glared upon the trio of spectators as if +they, and they alone, were to blame for the calamity +which had befallen.</p> +<p>Question and answer followed swiftly, and again +Samson was off down the slope, headed now for +distant Marion, the least likely of all places wherein +his darling might be found. Once he was out of +sight, the Winkler household resolved itself into an +additional search party; and it was noticeable that, +whereas formerly, when they were leaving the +home, they would carefully secure the cabin against +intruders, they now disdained any further preparation +than kicking the kitten out of doors, and removing +the kettle of boiling stew from the fireplace +to the ground before the door. A fleeting +smile did cross Elsa’s face, as she reflected that +the meddler with her knitting would probably +scald itself in the pot, but she didn’t care. Her +whole mind was now set upon Sobrante and its +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span> +mistress, and so eager was she to reach the spot +that she set off on her long walk with an alacrity +she had not shown since the discovery of the robbery.</p> +<p>Wolfgang and Otto armed himself each with +a sharp, iron-pointed staff, and silently, with one +accord, started toward El Desierto. Why, even +they could not have explained, beyond the fact that +it seemed a place for hiding things. It was a long +walk, and so weary had the “little boy” become by +the time the deserted ranch was reached that Wolfgang +left it unfatherly to force a return trip on +that same day, although no signs of recent occupancy +had rewarded their search.</p> +<p>So it was in every case. Jessica had simply and +completely disappeared, and there settled upon the +home the darkest night it had ever known. Even +that on which its master had been brought back +dead did not equal in intensity of anguish the uncertainty +which drove the waiting mother frantic. At +times she would call for a horse and ride wildly +to and fro, peering into every shadowed spot and +call pitifully upon her child, at others she would +hasten to the house, eagerly demanding of Aunt +Sally, “has she come?”</p> +<p>“Not yet, honey. Not quite yet. Just wait a +spell, and you’ll see her all right. Best be here at +home when she does come, Gabriella. You’d hate to +have anybody else the first to meet her, you know.”</p> +<p>This advice, uttered in tones so gentle they were +hardly recognizable as Mrs. Benton’s, would be +followed for the moment, till the torture of dreadful +possibilities would send the distracted ranch +mistress again afield.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span></div> +<p>So the night wore away, and sunrise came, and +still there was no returning party that brought good +cheer. Each tarried, for a brief time, to attend to +the live stock under his immediate care, and some +even to snatch a morsel of food, but mostly they +were off and away again, a flask of water and a bit +of hardtack in pocket, oftener than not forgetting +even this meager nourishment.</p> +<p>By the end of the second day the sorrowful news +had spread all over the countryside, and other +ranches were well-nigh as deserted as Sobrante, +while their forces joined in the apparently hopeless +search.</p> +<p>By then, also, Mrs. Trent had resigned herself to +a quiet acceptance of the worst, and sat for hours +at a time rigidly motionless, with only her sense of +hearing intensely alert, strained to its utmost for +whatever news might come. As each party came +back to consult the others, and for the refreshment +that human nature could no longer do without, it +reported to the waiting woman, who received the +message in silence, yet with the courteous bow +which acknowledged the other’s effort on her behalf.</p> +<p>Aunt Sally now rose to the occasion as only her +great heart could suggest. All the petty fussiness +which had annoyed her neighbors dropped away +from her as she moved softly, keen-eyed and solicitous, +among them all. The steaming bowl of +coffee and strengthening sandwich, ready on the +instant for each arrival the unshaken hopefulness of +her eyes, and her wordless control of the awestruck +little boys, were comforts scarcely realized in that +dark time; yet comforts truly. Even Gabriella +could not refuse the nourishment so lovingly pressed +upon her, and mechanically drank the cup of broth +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span> +which her friend had taken care should be of the +strongest. To one and all this homely ministering +angel affirmed, with unshaken persistence:</p> +<p>“Jessica Trent is safe. Jessica Trent is coming +back.”</p> +<p>Meanwhile, old Pedro, for the first time in nearly +a twelvemonth, had turned his back upon the mesa +which he loved and set out on a toilsome path. In +his hand he carried a curious, notched stick, upon +which he sometimes leaned, but oftener bore upon +his shoulder, as it were a precious possession that +he must guard. Old as he was, his staff was older +still. It had come to him when the valley mission +had been abandoned, and the padre who bestowed +it upon this, his faithful servant, had also given into +his keeping a valuable secret. This metal-pointed +rod was one thing Pedro never left behind him when +he journeyed from home.</p> +<p>Starting from the east side of the mesa, he dipped +into the canyon; not by the trail over which Jessica +had ridden the ostrich on the day of her eventful +meeting with Morris Hale, but by the farther, ragged +wall where it seemed as if feet so old could +never make their way. Yet make it they did, as +surely if not as swiftly as in their younger days. +There was not the slightest hesitation in their direction, +though there were indeed, frequent pauses +during which the Indian’s keen hearing was strained +for an expected sound. After each such halt Pedro +would resume his path, climbing over rocks which +looked insurmountable and skirting others by ledges +less than a span’s width. Over this part of the +canyon wall none of the Sobrante ranchmen had +ever come; though below it, along a smoother portion, +ran the flume that watered the ranch in the +valley.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span></div> +<p>Darkness found the shepherd still among the overhanging +crags, and with true Indian stolidity he +rested for the night. His blanket wrapped around +him, his staff on the safe inner side, he lay down +upon a shelf of stone and slept as peacefully as in +his cabin on the level mesa, from which two motives +had driven him abroad.</p> +<p>Something had warned him that this approaching +Christmastide might be his last, and that the time +of which he had often dreamed was to come. He +would now test the truth of the secret he had received, +and, if it proved what had been promised, would +share it with his beloved mistress, his priceless +Navidad gift to her and hers.</p> +<p>Also sitting solitary at his basket, weaving on the +isolated island, Pedro had still observed much. Each +trifle was an event to him, and of late these trifles +had gathered thick about him. With annoying +frequency Ferd, the dwarf, had invaded and contaminated +his solitude. The hints which the misshapen +creature had dropped, though receiving no outward +attention, had, nevertheless, remained in the Indian’s +mind to disturb it. It was to hunt for this wretched +fellow, as well as to prove his “secret,” that he was +now in the canyon, believing that when he was +found, there would be Jessica also.</p> +<p>When morning came he rose and tightened his +belt about him and set out afresh. The long sleep +had restored his vigor and his eye gleamed with +satisfaction. The muscles that had stiffened from +long disuse––he would not have admitted that the +stiffness came from age––were limber as of old, and +he felt that, after all, it was good to be once more +upon the trail. But even his confidence would have +been rudely shaken could he have foreseen the +peril wherein that trail would end.</p> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0001' id='Footnote_0001'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0001'><span class='label'>[A]</span></a> +<p>Little one.</p> +</div> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_IV_DELIVERANCE' id='CHAPTER_IV_DELIVERANCE'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>DELIVERANCE</h3> +</div> +<p>A second night of fruitless search upon the rocky +wall passed before the old Indian came to the spot +which he had thought so near, full twenty-four +hours before. He had fed his hunger upon the few +wild plums he had found, and more than once he +had descended to the flume to slake his thirst; then +reclimbed the height again, for there he knew lay +the road of his goal. Again and again he tapped the +solid rock or the scant earth about it for a response +to that magical tip upon his rod; and now, as the +second day lightened the gulch, the response came.</p> +<p>The staff forsook his hand, as it had been a creature +of volition, and stood upright upon a smooth-faced +bowlder. It needed all the man’s strength to +wrest it thence, and, grasping it securely, he carefully +descended, for the last time, the precipitous +wall. Always the staff tugged at his grasp, seeking +the earth, but he carried it still toward a clump +of gnarled trees which appeared to him like the +faces of long-lost friends. It seemed to him that in +all the half century since he looked upon them, +neither branch nor twig had altered. So had they +been on that sad day when the last of the padres +had brought him hither and shown them to him. +Beneath their roots lay the secret he had kept so +well.</p> +<p>But the cave––what had become of that? And +the stout shaft of hewn timber which led below +into the heart of earth?</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></div> +<p>“Alas! I deceive myself. I have forgotten, for I +am old; not young as I seemed to me. I have come +in vain,” he complained, in his thought; and with a +gesture of despair, in his hunger and weariness, +the shepherd sank upon the ground and dropped +his face on his breast.</p> +<p>Long he sat thus, till there came to him upon +the silence the answer no call could have awaked. +He began to hear sounds. The creeping of some +heavy body amid the chaparral, coming nearer, +more distinct. Some wild shrubs sheltered him +from sight, and, peering through their twigs, he +watched in breathless silence. Ah! Reward!</p> +<p>It was Ferd who approached, as cautiously as if +he were conscious of those gleaming eyes behind +the mesquite, and who, turning in his path, entered +a point among the trees which even Pedro had not +suspected of leading any whither.</p> +<p>It was now the Indian’s part to creep after this +crawling creature; and he did so as swiftly, almost +as silently, as if he were the dwarf’s mere shadow. +Always he kept a screen of leaves between them, +less needed soon, as the unconscious guide led the +way out of the sunlight into the depths of gloom. +The cave at last!</p> +<p>But the half-wit, Ferd? Had he guessed its +secret?</p> +<p>On and on, it seemed interminably. Now and +then the dwarf would pause and listen, but at every +halt there was utter silence behind him. Then onward +again, and at length into a spacious place, +around the walls of which great jagged rocks made +recesses of impenetrable gloom. With one arm +outstretched, feeling his way, and with his precious +staff secured against his back within his blanket, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +Pedro paused in such a recess just in time, for the +dwarf had struck a match and lighted a lantern. +This he swung round his head, peering in each +direction, and blinded, maybe, by the very rays +with which he sought to disclose any possible follower. +Satisfied that he was alone, Ferd moved +onward again, and Pedro followed, hugging the +chamber wall and screening himself in every +shadow.</p> +<p>But Ferd had no longer any fear of discovery or +any thought of aught save that which lay before +him. The passage was higher now and he could +easily stand upright; the Indian also rising to his +feet, though he had to bow his head lest it should +brush the ceiling.</p> +<p>The dwarf began to talk aloud, to himself, apparently; +but after a moment of this muttering, +grew silent again. He had come to the mouth of a +black pit which seemed to descend into great depths. +In reality the depth was not so great; yet to anyone +within it escape was impossible without help +from above. Into this hole Ferd peered, holding +the lantern so that its rays fell straight downward, +and calling in a jeering voice:</p> +<p>“Is the ‘captain’ ready yet?”</p> +<p>“Oh, Ferd! good Ferd! Please, please let me +out!” answered a voice that thrilled old Pedro’s +heart with joy.</p> +<p>“All right. The money first.”</p> +<p>“But I have no money. You must help me up!”</p> +<p>“Down there safe. Is you hungry?”</p> +<p>“No, Ferd. The food you took out of Aunt +Sally’s pantry kept me from that.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span></div> +<p>The dwarf threw himself backward, on the rocky +floor above, and laughed loudly, yet his mirth was +shortlived. Pedro’s hand was on his throat before +a movement had been heard, and Pedro’s voice +was calling into the pit:</p> +<p>“Here am I, Sunny Face. Wait. I come.”</p> +<p>During all the hours of her imprisonment, Jessica’s +courage had not faltered, but, at the sound of that +blessed cry, it suddenly gave way and she burst +into a paroxysm of sobs and tears, which effectually +prevented her hearing the struggle that ensued +in the gloom between the shepherd and the +hunchback. For though the lantern had not been +extinguished, as it rolled from its owner’s hand, +it had fallen upon its one glass side and gave no +light.</p> +<p>For a time, even the Indian feared the issue of +that battle in the dark and the abnormal strength +of the dwarf’s long arms; but the craft, if not the +whole vigor of his own youth remained with him, +and at a chance opportunity, he whipped off his +blanket and smothered his opponent’s face therein.</p> +<p>The blanket was almost priceless, and, next to +his staff, his dearest possession; but when its heavy +folds had subdued the other to unconsciousness, he +did not hesitate to tear it into strips. With these +Ferd was promptly bound, hand and foot. Then +Pedro recovered the lantern and again called to +Lady Jess:</p> +<p>“I find a way. Wait.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Pedro! I know your blessed voice! There’s +a rope somewhere. Ask him. Quick––quick!”</p> +<p>“Wait.”</p> +<p>But the dwarf had almost immediately recovered +his breath, recognized his opponent, and now +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span> +directed the search. With a few superstitious ranchmen, +he shared the belief that Old Century was +under supernatural protection, and that it was extremely +dangerous to meddle with one so guarded. +Of all who might have traced him to that hidden +spot, here was the last he wished to meet; and +now that he knew himself beaten, he began to +whimper and plead in a cowardly way:</p> +<p>“Let me up, Pedro. Ferd’ll take little lady out. +Just fun, to make big talk. Ferd never hurt the +‘captain;’ no Ferd is a good boy, Pedro. Ferd is +a good boy. Poor Ferd! Pedro, let poor Ferd go.”</p> +<p>The only attention the shepherd vouchsafed the +whiner was to put his own foot under the inert +body and roll it well back from the pit’s mouth. +He had found the rope, a long and costly lariat +which he recognized as having once been the property +of Jessica’s father, and he secured it about +an upright timber that he tested and saw was still +firm. Then he took the handle of the lantern between +his teeth and slipped swiftly down the shaft.</p> +<p>As he reached the bottom Jessica threw herself +upon his breast with a fresh outburst of joy and +tears. But he dared not tarry below even with +an apparently helpless enemy above, and, giving her +the rope, he tersely bade her:</p> +<p>“Climb!”</p> +<p>With an intuition of his fear, she promptly obeyed +him and stood guard over the lariat lest Ferd should +make a fresh attempt upon it. Yet it seemed an +interminable time that Pedro stayed below; and +when at last he came above, she held him fast, not +willing again to let him go.</p> +<p>But he was in no haste. Allowing her to keep +between himself and the cavern’s wall, even intrusting +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span> +to her care the curious staff that now persisted +in dancing along the cavern’s floor in an +elfish way which amazed the girl, he made a circuit +of the place. At one spot he paused, and a single +grunt of satisfaction escaped him. Then he seized +a loaf of bread from a shelf-like niche and began to +eat it eagerly. He even pointed to another, lying +in the same place, but Jessica shook her head.</p> +<p>“No, no. I am not hungry. He gave me plenty +of stuff to eat. Lots of things that have been missing +from the kitchen and puzzled Aunt Sally so. +Oh! Pedro, let us go! Shall I ever see her again? +or my precious mother? How long has it been? +It seems forever. Come, come! Oh! come!”</p> +<p>“Wait,” was the imperturbable answer, and the +only one she could win from him. She was alive +and well. He had found her. There was no cause +for haste, nor had he ever hasted in his long life. +The man who wastes his time in hurry loses all. +He had found what he sought. This was the very +pit, the forsaken shaft of which the padre told him. +It led to what no other person dreamed. Was he +to be balked of his purpose, for the child’s whim? +No. It was for her, even, that he tarried.</p> +<p>In his groping about the cave the lantern had revealed +some loose fragments of rock which he now +pushed in front of the dwarf’s body, thus making +him a more secure prisoner; and, satisfied that all +was now safe, he descended again into the old shaft, +leaving Jessica in darkness.</p> +<p>Her impatience was almost unbearable, and escape +seemed as distant as ever, but there was +nothing left except that “waiting” Pedro had so +constantly advised.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span></div> +<p>It was rewarded, at last, by his call from the pit, +and even his calm voice was now shaken by excitement.</p> +<p>“Come, Sunny Face!”</p> +<p>Leaning over the edge of the hole, she saw him +point toward the rope and understood that he +wished her to descend, but with a shiver of distrust +she declined.</p> +<p>“Come.”</p> +<p>This time the order was peremptory and she +obeyed it, sliding swiftly down, to be caught and +safely deposited on the floor of the shaft. Placing +the lantern in her hand, the Indian began to gather +a strange collection of articles from one corner of +the narrow chamber and to display them to her. +As each was held up, an exclamation of surprise +broke from her, but even she had grown mostly +silent now, and her interest prevented fear. When +a goodly heap had been piled beside her, she found +her voice again, saying:</p> +<p>“I reckon everything that’s ever been lost from +Sobrante since it began is down here. Elsa’s little +leathern bags with their knitted covers; Beppo’s +plumes; Marty’s watch, that he thought he had lost +in the gulch; Wun Lung’s carved image. Oh, Pedro! +how dreadful and yet how splendid!”</p> +<p>The shepherd allowed her rhapsodies to answer +themselves. Though his eyes betrayed his complacency, +he had more serious work on hand, and, +pointing upward, he commanded:</p> +<p>“Fetch the padre’s staff.”</p> +<p>Lady Jess now realized that obedience was the +shortest road to freedom, so climbed and descended +the rope again, with the ease gained by her gymnastic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +training under the “boys’” tuition. But she +took into the pit, beside the staff that curious +basket which she had once seen Ferd carrying up +the canyon and over which she had, most fortunately, +just then stumbled.</p> +<p>“See, Pedro! This will do to hold all those +things!”</p> +<p>The Indian “saw,” indeed, that this was a bit of +his own handiwork which had been missing from +the mesa, for many moons. He nodded gravely, +but was more eager for the staff than for his lost +property; and, taking the lantern again to the inner +wall of the shaft, he set the rod upon its point. +It remained motionless, exactly upright, where he +placed it; and now, truly, the old man paused to +gaze upon it in wordless delight. He was so rapt +and still that the girl grew frightened and awestruck, +watching his odd behavior, and begged him:</p> +<p>“Tell me what that means, Pedro! The thing is +bewitched.”</p> +<p>“Ugh!” said the Indian, arousing from his contemplation, +and, stooping began to dig amid the +loose stones at his feet, with the only tools at his +command––his own lean fingers. For these he +sometimes substituted a bit of rock, and to Jessica +it seemed as if he would never give over his strange +task. When she had begun to really despair of the +liberation which had seemed so near a while ago, +he ceased his labor and stood upright, holding +something shining toward the lantern’s light. To +the girl it appeared as only another worthless stone, +of a pretty, reddish hue, but wholly unworthy the +toil which had been spent to secure it. She was +further surprised, if anything could now surprise +her, to see the Indian place the fragment carefully +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span> +within his shirt front and tighten his belt afresh +below it. Then he lifted the basket she had filled +with the articles they had found and motioned her +upwards again.</p> +<p>“Now, we’re really going, aren’t we, Pedro?”</p> +<p>“Yes, Sunny Face. We go.”</p> +<p>Indeed, he was as eager for departure as heretofore +he had been loath. Releasing the dwarf’s feet +from their bandages, he helped his prisoner to them +and gently propelled him forward by a kick of his +own moccasined toe. Thus compelled, Ferd led the +way, the shepherd at his heels, carrying the basket +slung upon the staff over his shoulder, and his free +hand pressed closely against his breast where he +had placed the gleaming stone. Behind him walked +impatient Jessica, with the lantern, and in suchwise +the little procession came swiftly and silently to +the end of the passage and stood once more under +the free air of heaven. Here they had to halt, for +a moment, till their vision became accustomed to +the dazzling light; then with a cry of rapture, the +“captain” darted from her comrades and sped wildly +down the rocky gorge.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_V_JESSICAS_STORY' id='CHAPTER_V_JESSICAS_STORY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>JESSICA’S STORY</h3> +</div> +<p>Though it had seemed as a lifetime to impatient +Jessica that she had been kept in the cave, after +Pedro’s arrival there, in reality it was less than an +hour; and it was yet early in the day when a cry +she had expected never to hear again, rang through +the room where Gabriella Trent was lying.</p> +<p>“Mother! My mother! Where are you?”</p> +<p>Another instant, and they were clasped in close +embrace as if nothing should ever separate them +again. Words were impossible, at first, and not till +she saw that even joy was dangerous for her overwrought +patient did Aunt Sally, the nurse, interpose +and bodily lift the daughter from the parent’s arms. +All at once her own calmness and courage forsook +good Mrs. Benton, and now that she saw the lost +girl restored, visibly present in the flesh, anger +possessed her till she longed to shake, rather than +caress, the little captain.</p> +<p>“Well, Jessica Trent! These are pretty goings on, +now ain’t they?”</p> +<p>Gabriella sat up and her child nestled against her, +their hands clasped and their eyes greedily fixed +upon each other’s countenance. The unexpected +brusqueness of the question was a relief to their +high tension, and Jessica laughed, almost hysterically, +as she answered:</p> +<p>“They didn’t seem very ‘pretty’ to me, Aunt +Sally.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span></div> +<p>“What a sight you be! Where you been?”</p> +<p>“In the canyon cave.”</p> +<p>“Didn’t know there was one.”</p> +<p>“Nor I––before.”</p> +<p>“What for? What made you stay? Didn’t you +know you’d raised the whole countryside to hunt +for you? Don’t believe there’s an able-bodied man +left on a single ranch within fifty miles; all off +huntin’ for you. You––you ought to be spanked!”</p> +<p>“Mrs. Benton!” warned Gabriella, in a tone of +such distress that the reproved one promptly sank +in a capacious heap on the floor and fell to weeping +with the same vigor that she applied to all things. +Jessica, too, began to cry softly, at intervals, with +such shuddering bursts of sobs, that the mother’s +tears, also, were soon dimming the eyes to which +they had been denied during all the past anxiety. +However, this simultaneous downpour was infinite +relief to all; and presently the mother rose and +with the strength happiness gave to her slight figure, +carried her child away to rest.</p> +<p>“You are safe. You are here. I see that you +have suffered no hurt, and bed is the place for +you. When you have slept and rested you must +tell us all. Oh! my darling! Many hearts have +ached for you, and I thought my own was broken. +But, thank God! thank God!”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally followed them, and, as if she had been +a new-born baby, the two women washed and made +ready for a long sleep the precious child that had +been given back to them from the grave. Then +the mother sat down to watch while Aunt Sally +hurried to ring the ancient mission bell, whose +harsh clanging had been agreed upon among the +searchers as the signal of good news.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></div> +<p>They all came flocking back, singly or in groups, +from wherever the summons, which could be heard +for miles in that clear air, chanced to find them. +Impatience was natural enough, too, on their part, +since to their eager questions Mrs. Benton could +not give answer beyond the simple statement:</p> +<p>“Yes, she’s back, safe and sound. Says she’s +been in a cave, though where it is or whether she’s +just flighty in her head, land knows. She’s sleepin’ +now, and it won’t be healthy for any you lumberin’ +men to be makin’ a noise round the house before she +wakes up, of her own accord.”</p> +<p>Nor when Pedro and the subdued dwarf came +slowly over the road would they make any further +explanation. Indeed, they were both utterly silent; +the Indian forcing his captive before him into the +deserted office where he intrenched himself, with +his basket and staff, until such time as it should be +his mistress’ pleasure to receive him.</p> +<p>Thus, with time on her hands and nothing else to +do, Aunt Sally collared Wun Lung and withdrew to +her kitchen, whence, presently, there arose such +various and appetizing odors that the weary ranchmen +scented a feast, and sought repose for themselves +till it was ready. Samson and John, however, +were called upon for aid, and, whereas they were +ordered to “dress six of the plumpest fowl in the +hennery,” they brought a dozen, and for “one likely +shoat,” they made ready two. Nor, when they +were upbraided for wastefulness, were they a whit +abashed, but John demanded, with unfilial directness:</p> +<p>“Why, mother, what’s got your common sense? +Tisn’t only our own folks you’re cookin’ for, but +fifty others, more or less. Do you s’pose Cassius +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span> +Trent would skimp victuals on such a day as this? +My advice to you is: Put on all the pork and bacon +you’ve got, to bile; and roast the lamb that was +butchered for our mess; and set to bakin’ biscuit +by the cartload, and–––”</p> +<p>“John Benton, hold your tongue, or I’ll–––”</p> +<p>“No, you won’t, mother! I’ve outgrown spankin’ +though I’d be most willin’ to submit if ’twould be +any relief to your feelin’s, or mine either. I tell you +this here’s the greatest day ever shone on Sobrante +Ranch, not barrin’ even the one when the ‘captain’ +came home with the title in her hand.”</p> +<p>“You misguided boy, don’t I know it? Ain’t I +clean druv out my wits a-thinkin’ ever’thing over, +and where in the name of natur’ am I goin’ to do +it all, with them horrid gasoline stoves no bigger’n +an old maid’s thimble, and Pasqually gone off +s’archin’ with the rest, and no’count the heft of the +time and my sins!”</p> +<p>“Had to take breath, or bust, hadn’t you?” cried +her disrespectful son, catching the portly matron +about the spot where her waist should have been +and hilariously whirling her about in a waltz which +his own lameness rendered the more grotesque. +“And where can you cook ’em? Why, right square +in them old ovens at the mission. Full now of +saddles and truck, but Samson and me’ll clear ’em +out lively. I’ll make you a fire in ’em, and they’ll +see cookin’ like they haven’t since the padres put +out their own last fires. They weren’t any fools, +them fellers. They knew a good thing when they +saw it, and if they tackled a job they did it square. +The ovens they built, just out of baked mud and a +few stones, are as tight to-day as they were a hundred +years ago; and, whew! won’t old Pedro, that +found her, relish his meat cooked in ’em?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></div> +<p>Nor was Benton to be outdone in suggestion on +the matter of providing. Some of the searchers had +brought back a quantity of game, with which the +country teemed, and which it had delayed them but +little to shoot. This was levied upon without ado, +and in the preparation of the great feast Aunt +Sally’s helpers forgot their fatigue, and were as +deftly efficient as women would have been.</p> +<p>Indeed, between sleep and labor, the hours of +Jessica’s unbroken rest passed quickly, after all; +and the good news having spread almost as swiftly +as the ill, the grounds were full of people when, +at last, she awoke. But, even yet, Mrs. Trent’s +consideration for others refused a prior or full +hearing of the story to which her faithful helpers +had as good a right as she, if not as intense an +interest in it. She made the child eat and drink, +and went with her to her favorite rostrum when +addressing her “company” of soldierly “boys”––the +horse block. Here the girl stood up and told +her simple tale.</p> +<p>“You see, dear folks, it was just this way: Aunt +Sally and I were on the porch, and we found Elsa’s +ring, all crooked. We couldn’t guess how it came +there, and I’d just been made pretty angry about +the way you felt toward ‘Forty-niner.’ Oh! it was +dreadful, dreadful of you all, and I never was so +ashamed of my ‘boys,’ not in all my life.”</p> +<p>“Go on with the story, captain. Never mind us,” +cried somebody.</p> +<p>“And a little way farther I found a piece of Elsa’s +knitted bag. That made me think a lot. Then the +tackers came, all paint, and with Mr. Hale’s horse, +that had been on the mesa ever since he was here. +That made me think some more, and I told auntie +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span> +if she wouldn’t scold the little ones I’d try to find +their clothes. I didn’t find them, though, Aunt +Sally.”</p> +<p>“Go on! Go on! What next?” demanded an impatient +listener.</p> +<p>“Then I saw Ferd. Oh, mother! If I tell I’m +afraid they’ll hurt him.”</p> +<p>“He shall be protected, daughter, and you must +tell,” said the mother, though she now shrank from +the hearing.</p> +<p>“I asked him about the horse and the children, +and he said ‘yes,’ he had fixed them. He had driven +Prince down from the mesa, when Pedro didn’t +see him, and had ‘showed that old carpenter’ something +to pay for kicks and hard words. He knew +something I’d like to know. So I asked him what, +and he said it was Elsa’s money. But if I didn’t +go with him without saying anything to anybody +he wouldn’t tell me how to find it. I begged to +tell my mother, but he said her least of all. It +wouldn’t take long, only a few rods up the canyon; +so, of course, I went. I thought I should be back +long before dinner-time, and that mother would tell +me to do anything which would clear old Ephraim’s +name from your cruel suspicions. And, oh, boys! +You were wrong, you were wrong! He never took +a cent that wasn’t his own, and Elsa’s money is +found!”</p> +<p>Absolute silence followed this announcement, +then Samson’s great voice started the wild “Hurrahs” +which made the wide valley ring. The cheers +were long and lusty, but when they subsided at last, +Mrs. Trent bade her daughter finish the tale.</p> +<p>“It wasn’t a little, but a long way up the canyon; +yet I was so eager to right Ephraim’s wrong that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span> +I didn’t feel afraid, though I never have liked Ferd. +He can’t help being queer, maybe, with his queer +body to keep his half mind in–––”</p> +<p>The hisses that interrupted her were almost as +loud as the cheers had been, and it would have fared +ill with the dwarf had he at that moment been +visible. Fortunately, he was still under the surveillance +of the grim shepherd, in the locked office, +and the majority of those present were ignorant of +his whereabouts.</p> +<p>“Quit hindering the captain. Her story is what +we want!” cried “Marty.” “The dwarf can wait.”</p> +<p>“So we went on and on, and into a strange, dark +tunnel, that scared me a little, yet made me more +curious than ever to see the end of it all. The tunnel +led to a cave, and in the cave there was a deep +hole; and before I knew what he was doing, Ferd +had slung a lariat about me and dropped me into it.”</p> +<p>Again an interruption of groans and howls, that +were promptly suppressed by a wave of the mistress’ +white hand; then Jessica continued:</p> +<p>“As soon as he had put me there, he told me he +would keep me till my mother paid him great +money to let me up. Yet he wouldn’t even go to +her and ask for it. He said I must promise, and +that she would do anything I said. He told about +a boy in ’Frisco, he’d heard the men say, was taken +from his folks and kept till they paid lots for his +release––even thousands of dollars! Antonio had +taught him that money was the best thing to have. +He believed it. He took it whenever he could find +it. That’s what made him take Elsa’s, and blame +it upon Ephraim. And I wouldn’t promise. How +could I? My dear has no money to give wicked +men, and I knew the dear God would take me back +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +to her when He saw fit. As He did, indeed. For +it must have been He who put it into Pedro’s heart +to seek the cave just when I needed him most. Only +the Lord could see through all that darkness and +lead the shepherd by that crooked way.”</p> +<p>She paused, and, turning to her mother, laid her +sunny head upon the shoulder that was shaken by +such sobs as moved her faithful ranchmen to +thoughts of deep revenge. Eyes that had not wept +for years grew dim, and out of that circle of listening +men rose a low and ominous sound. Some, remembering +their own idle talk of kidnaping and the +like, shuddered at the practical application the +dwarf’s dim mind had made of their words; and +various plans for punishment were forming when +the captain clapped her hands for fresh attention.</p> +<p>“Hear me, ‘boys.’Do you belong to me?”</p> +<p>“Ay, ay! Heart and soul!”</p> +<p>“Then you must mind me. You must let Ferd +alone. You must do even more to please me––and +teach him to be good, not bad.”</p> +<p>None answered these clear, commanding sentences, +which, as the strangers present thought, +came so oddly from such childish lips, and they +wondered at the effect produced upon the Sobrante +men. These glanced at one another in doubt, each +questioning the decision of his neighbor; and then +again at the lovely girl who had never before +seemed so wholly angelic.</p> +<p>“Will you do this?”</p> +<p>“Hold on, little one. Let the ‘admiral’ speak. Has +she forgiven that human coyote?”</p> +<p>The unexpected question startled Mrs. Trent. +She was a strictly truthful woman, and found her +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span> +answer difficult. She had never liked the wretched +creature who had just brought such misery to her, +and she now loathed him. She had already resolved +that, while she would protect Ferd from personal +injury, she would see to it that he was put where he +could never again injure her or hers. Her momentary +hesitation told. The whole assemblage +waited for her next word amid a silence that could +be felt, when, suddenly, there burst upon that +silence a series of ear-splitting shrieks which effectually +diverted attention from the perplexed ranch +mistress.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_VI_BEHIND_LOCKED_DOORS' id='CHAPTER_VI_BEHIND_LOCKED_DOORS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>BEHIND LOCKED DOORS</h3> +</div> +<p>The shrieks were uttered by Elsa Winkler, who +frantically rushed to the horse block, demanding: +“Where? Where?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent gave one glance at the rough, unkempt +woman, and sternly remarked:</p> +<p>“Elsa, you forget yourself! Go back indoors, +at once.”</p> +<p>The unhappy creature shivered at this unfamiliar +tone, yet abated nothing of her outcry:</p> +<p>“My money! My money! My money!”</p> +<p>She had come to the ranch thinking only of +Jessica’s mysterious absence, and meaning to do +something, anything, which might help or comfort +the child’s mother; but the long walk, for one so +heavy and unaccustomed to exercise, had made her +physically ill by the time she reached Sobrante. +Which state of things was wholly satisfactory to +Aunt Sally, who, having received the visitor with +dismay, now promptly suggested bed and rest, saying:</p> +<p>“You poor creatur’! You’re clean beat out! If +you don’t take care, you’ll have a dreadful fit of +sickness, and I don’t know who’d wait on you if +you did. Not with all this trouble on hand. You +go right straight up into one them back chambers, +where the bed is all made up ready, and put yourself +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span> +to bed, and––stay there! Don’t you dast get +up again till I say so; else I won’t answer for the +consequences. You’re as yeller as saffron, and as +red as a beet. Them two colors mixed on a human +countenance means––somethin’! To bed, Elsa +Winkler; to bed right away. I’ll fetch you up a cup +of tea and a bite of victuals. Don’t tarry.”</p> +<p>“But––the mistress!” Elsa had panted. “I come +so long for to speak her good cheer. I must see +the mistress, then I rest.”</p> +<p>“The mistress isn’t seeing anybody just now, except +me and––a few others. You do as I say, or +you’ll never knit another wool shawl.”</p> +<p>“No, no. I knit no more, forever, is it? Not I. +Why the reason? The more one earns the more +one may lose. Yes, yes, indeed. Yes.”</p> +<p>“That’s the true word,” Mrs. Benton had replied; +“and so being you’ve no yarn to worry you, nor no +mistress to see, off to bed, I say, and don’t you +dast to get sick on my hands, I warn you!”</p> +<p>So Elsa had obeyed the command, glad enough to +rest and be idle for a time. Aunt Sally had seen +to it that the visitor was kept duly alarmed concerning +her red-and-yellow condition, nor had she given +the permission to arise when Wolfgang and Otto +arrived from their fruitless visit to El Desierto. +They found the place crowded with returning +searchers, and joyfully hailed the good news of +Jessica’s safety. But when there was added to this +the information that their own property had been +found, they demanded to be taken to Elsa, and it +was their visit to her room which had sent her +afield, half-clad, and with thought for nothing but +her lost treasure.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span></div> +<p>Even now, husband and son joined their entreaties +to hers, though Samson soon brought them to hear +reason, and to withdraw from public for the present, +asking, indignantly:</p> +<p>“Have you folks lost all your manners, as well +as your dollars, up there on the foothill? The idee +of a woman screeching her lungs out afore all the +ranchers in Southern Californy! Your money? +Well, what of it? If it’s found, it’ll be give to you, +and if it isn’t you ain’t the first feller’s been robbed. +Besides, can’t you smell? Don’t you know that +you’re interruptin’ the prettiest spread ever was +seen at old Sobrante? Like chicken? Like roast +pig? Like hot biscuit and plum sess? Then go +wash your face, and make your folks fix up and +come enjoy yourself. So far as I hear, it’s old +Pedro holds the cash, and you might as well try +to move the Sierras as him, if he ain’t ready to move. +At this present writin’ he’s set himself guard over +that scalliwag, Ferd, and I ain’t envying him his +job, I ain’t. Hurry up, there won’t be anything but +necks and drumsticks left for you laggards.”</p> +<p>Thus admonished and reassured, Wolfgang +hurried his family away to prepare for the feast, +and the interruption they had caused to the proceedings +at the horse block effectually relieved Mrs. +Trent from an immediate answer to an awkward +question, so she said:</p> +<p>“Come, daughter. I see by Aunt Sally’s manner +that she wishes the people would begin to eat. +Every pair of hands, that belongs to us, must help +in serving these kind neighbors who have flocked +to our aid. Some of them have forty good miles +to ride before they sleep, and they must be fed first. +I’ll stand by the head table yonder, and name them, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span> +and do you, for whom they left their business, wait +upon them yourself. That will show them your +gratitude, and give them honor due.”</p> +<p>So it was, and to every dish she brought, the little +captain added a graceful word of thanks, which +seasoned the food better than even Aunt Sally’s +wondrous skill had done; and many an encomium +did the child hear, in return, of that lost father +who had made himself so well-beloved in all that +countryside.</p> +<p>When all was over and done, when the last +“neighbor” had ridden homeward, when everybody +had had his fill, and more than his fill of good things, +and the rudely constructed tables had been removed +from the wide lawn, came Aunt Sally, beaming with +happiness, and glanced over the scene, till there +broke from her lips the wondering question:</p> +<p>“Can this be the same spot that was so dark and +lonely yesterday? I’ve had my heartstrings so +stretched and tugged at, betwixt joy and sorrow, +that I don’t know myself. I––I believe I’m tired! +And if I am, it’s about the first time in my life. +Well, well! Talking of Christmas––this little supper +we’ve just give is about equal to forty Christmases +in one. Seem’s if.”</p> +<p>“Dear, kind, Aunt Sally, how shall I ever thank +you for all you’ve done for us?” cried Mrs. Trent, +appearing at her friend’s side, and impetuously +clasping the portly matron. The embrace was so +unexpected, for the ranch mistress was never a demonstrative +woman, that its recipient was, for the +instant, speechless; the next, she had turned herself +about and demanded:</p> +<p>“Gabriella Trent, have you had a bite to eat?”</p> +<p>“No. Have you, Mrs. Benton?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span></div> +<p>“Not a morsel. I’m as empty as a bubble. No +more has the captain touched a thing. She’s here, +there and everywhere, among her precious ‘boys,’ +yet not a one of ’em has the decency to say: ‘Share +my supper, Lady Jess.’ If they were my ‘boys,’ +I’d–––”</p> +<p>“No, you wouldn’t, mother. And I’m glad to see +you two women resting a spell. Keep on sitting +there. We’re going to wait on you now, and don’t +you believe we haven’t put by the pick of the pies +for you all! The captain is fetchin’ the tackers, +and Pasqual’s fetchin’ the food. But what about +old Pedro and the coyote?”</p> +<p>“John, don’t call names, ’specially hard ones. +They always come home to roost. But I’m glad you +do some credit to your upraisin’, and did remember +that somebody else, except yourself, might be hungry. +Wait, Gabriell’. Don’t you worry about that +Indian. I’ll just step in and fix him somethin’.”</p> +<p>“You’d better not, mother. He’s got all the +company he wants at this present writing.”</p> +<p>This was sufficient to spur Mrs. Benton’s energy +afresh. Curiosity was her besetting sin, and she +could not endure that anything should go on about +the ranch in which she had no hand. Rising rather +hastily from a chair that was much too frail for +her weight, she and it came to grief, and the fact +diverted her attention for the time.</p> +<p>John was glad of this, though outwardly he sympathized +with her slight mishap, and facetiously +offered her a dose of her own picra.</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent also rose, saying:</p> +<p>“I will go to Pedro. Though I did try to thank +him, when he first came, I had but a moment to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span> +give him then, and I fear he will feel he has been +neglected. As if I could ever neglect one to whom +I owe my darling’s restoration!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton looked after her, and sighed.</p> +<p>“There she goes again! and that woman hasn’t +tasted a mouthful in a dog’s age!”</p> +<p>“How long’s a ‘dog’s age,’ Aunt Sally?” demanded +Ned as he helped himself to a buttered biscuit which +Pasqual had just placed on the old lady’s plate.</p> +<p>“Age as long as a dog,” commented Luis, seizing +the biscuit from his mate and running away with +it. Of course, Ned gave chase, and the usual battle +ensued, after which they dropped down upon the +spot where they had fought, threw their arms +around each other’s necks, and munched the biscuit +together with an air of cherubic delight.</p> +<p>Everybody laughed at the pair, upon which Aunt +Sally now descended with a threatening mien and a +plate of plum cake.</p> +<p>“Ain’t you ashamed of yourselves, you naughty +children? Fighting half your time. Here! Eat +that and let your suppers stop. By the way, how +many suppers have you had already?”</p> +<p>“Six or seven,” promptly replied Ned, who had +eaten with whoever invited him.</p> +<p>“Sixty-seven,” echoed Luis.</p> +<p>“Then to bed you go, this instant!” And off +they were marched, without delay. Of course, this +was another postponement of Mrs. Benton’s own +meal, but she didn’t mind that, so long as she had +an opportunity to deal with the small lads. Explaining +to them, as she undressed and bathed them: +“You’d go to wrack and ruin if ’twasn’t for me takin’ +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span> +a hand in your upbringin’ now and then. You pull +the wool over Gabriella’s eyes the worst ever was. +My! What you doing now, Edward Trent?”</p> +<p>“Pullin’ wool, like you said!” and wound the +white blanket he had caught from his cot the more +tightly about Luis’ head.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, the ranch mistress had gained the +office and asked admission at its locked door. When +a long wait ensued, she reflected rather anxiously +upon what the men had often said, “That Old Century +is as top-lofty as a king. Thinks he is a king, +in his own rights, and his having lived a hundred +years makes him better’n anybody else.”</p> +<p>This was quite true. Faithful and devoted to her +as he was, the shepherd exacted even from her the +respect that was his due. On that day he felt that +much more than ordinary consideration was owing +him; yet he had been left for hours, unvisited by +her for whom he had done, and meant still to do, +so much. Therefore, it was with a bearing full of +injured dignity that he at last slid the bolt and +opened the door, though he did not invite the visitor +to enter, nor withdraw from the opening.</p> +<p>“I came to see about your supper, good Pedro. +Do you know that it has been cooked in the old +mission oven? That should make it taste fine to you. +You must pardon my not being earlier, but there +have been so many, many guests. All gone now, +save our own people.”</p> +<p>“Senorita, am I not also a guest, yes? Was one +at Sobrante as old as me? Should not I have ruled +the feast?”</p> +<p>“Indeed, you should, my friend, if there had been +any ruling whatever. It was simply take and eat, +and away to their distant homes. You are already +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +at home, nor have I, either, tasted food. Come now +and feast with me. I am hungry, and so should +you be. You mustn’t keep the mistress waiting, you +know!”</p> +<p>Pedro’s countenance had softened, and he had +expended all his sternness, but his caution remained. +With a significant glance toward his prisoner, the +dwarf, he shook his head.</p> +<p>“When he is safe, then will I break my fast. The +senorita does me honor.”</p> +<p>“That is what I should like to do, dear Pedro. +But is not poor Ferd safe in here? Can we not +send him in some supper and turn the lock upon +him?”</p> +<p>She could not hide the repugnance she felt toward +the miserable, misshapen creature, now sleeping on +the floor, and after one glance in his direction looked +swiftly away. But that glance had been sufficient +to startle her by its resemblance to another face +she hoped never to see again.</p> +<p>Pedro’s keen old eyes noticed her surprise and +dismay, and he smiled grimly.</p> +<p>“The mistress sees. Slumber shows it––the likeness. +One breed of snakes were in the den. Fear +both, watch both, for they are brothers. Yes.”</p> +<p>This, then, explained many things; not the least, +the wonderful influence and control which Antonio +had always maintained over his half-witted “left +hand,” as the “boys” called the unfortunate hunchback.</p> +<p>“Antonio––Ferdinand––both Bernals––brothers?” +asked Mrs. Trent, in a tremulous voice.</p> +<p>“Si. Yes, indeed. In truth.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span></div> +<p>“And all this time nobody knew or suspected it?”</p> +<p>“Senorita, the master knew. That was part of +his great goodness to the wicked one who would +ruin him if he could. ’Ware Antonio––’ware Ferd. +One is the shadow of the other. One thinks, the +other works. When Antonio went, Ferd stayed. +No good, senorita. Watch him.”</p> +<p>The lady sat down upon the nearest chair, and, +as she did so, caught sight of the basket upon the +desk. It was filled to overflowing with articles of +various sorts, and beside it lay the curious metal-pointed +staff. Her impulse was to reach forward +and take it, but the Indian arrested her hand by an +upward motion of his own. Then he opened it himself +and showed her, at the bottom, a number of +leathern bags with knitted covers.</p> +<p>“Elsa’s money?”</p> +<p>Pedro silently assented.</p> +<p>“Oh, let us call her, and give it back to her at +once.”</p> +<p>“Fools must learn. Let the miner come, and +Samson.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent stepped outside and dispatched a messenger +for the two men, who presently came; the +one glum and offended, thinking in his slow way +that he had been made a jest of, and that the money +his wife so loved had not, after all, been found. +The other, as always, proud and alert to serve the +“admiral.”</p> +<p>When they had entered the room, Wolfgang’s eyes +at once rested greedily upon the basket, which +Pedro had again closed, as if he guessed what treasure +lay within. Samson’s glance went straight to +the sleeping dwarf, and an almost irresistible impulse +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span> +to kick the inert figure possessed him. But he +restrained himself, and colored high when he met +the lady’s own glance.</p> +<p>“No, Samson, please. No violence. Yet it is +Pedro’s wise advice that Ferd be placed under the +charge of somebody who shall know at all times +just where he is and what he is about. Will you +take that charge, herder?”</p> +<p>“That ain’t the kind of cattle I keep, ‘admiral.’”</p> +<p>“I understand it isn’t a pleasant task. That’s not +the question, which is simply: Will you be responsible +for––Ferdinand Bernal?”</p> +<p>The mighty sailor fairly jumped, but his reply +was: “You could knock me down with a feather!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent laughed. “Yes, it is strange. But +look sharp. The resemblance is strong. Pedro +knows the relationship, and my husband knew it. +I did not, until just now. Something better may +suggest itself to you or me, but for the present, +will you take charge of this unhappy one?”</p> +<p>A delayed and most reluctant “Yes” came at last +from the herder’s lips. If he had been asked to +punish the dwarf the answer would have been swift +and eager; but “take charge!” That meant constant +association, decent treatment and responsibility +for the most “slippery” of human beings.</p> +<p>“Then, please take him away at once.”</p> +<p>Ferd had roused, and was sitting up; so that when +Samson laid his great hand on the lad’s shoulder, +the latter understood, in a dim way, that he was +now the herder’s, rather than the shepherd’s prisoner. +Of the two, he would have preferred the +latter keeper; but he would bother with neither +very long.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span></div> +<p>It was a relief when the door closed upon the +outgoing pair, and Pedro rose and locked it. There +was something preternaturally solemn and mysterious +in his manner as, placing a chair nearer to the +desk for Mrs. Trent, he motioned Wolfgang to +take another opposite. Then, standing between +them he drew the basket toward himself, and keeping +one hand upon it, thrust the other within his +shirt and drew from that the reddish bit of rock +which Jessica had seen him so careful of.</p> +<p>Holding it so that the last rays of the sun fell +through the window full upon it, he extended it +on his open palm and demanded of the miner:</p> +<p>“What?”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_VII_A_ROYAL_GIFT' id='CHAPTER_VII_A_ROYAL_GIFT'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>A ROYAL GIFT</h3> +</div> +<p>Wolfgang took the bit of stone in his own fingers +and examined it critically. Always deliberate +in his words and actions, he was now doubly so, +and Mrs. Trent grew impatient of a situation which +seemed unimportant, and that delayed for others, +as well as herself, a much needed supper.</p> +<p>But Pedro was not impatient. He stood with +folded arms and triumphant bearing, ready for the +miner’s reply, whether it came soon or late; also, +quite ready to disregard it should it be different +from that expected.</p> +<p>“Well, Wolfgang?” asked the ranch mistress.</p> +<p>The miner heaved a prodigious sigh, and returned +the ambiguous answer:</p> +<p>“That is what I have thought already, is it not?”</p> +<p>“What have you thought, good Wolfgang?” demanded +the lady, looking toward the Indian’s glowing +eyes.</p> +<p>“Copper. Copper, without alloy.”</p> +<p>“Ugh!” grunted Pedro, with satisfaction, and +taking the metal again in his hand bowed low and +gravely presented it to his mistress.</p> +<p>She received it without enthusiasm, wondering +what significance could attach to a bit of stone +that might have been picked up anywhere. Her +husband had believed that everything valuable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span> +would, sooner or later, be unearthed from the +mountains of the State he so loyally loved, but her +own interest in the subject was slight. However, +she must say something grateful or again offend +the dignity of her venerable servitor.</p> +<p>“Thank you, Pedro. It is very pretty. I will add +it to the case of minerals that your master arranged +yonder.”</p> +<p>The shepherd cast one contemptuous glance toward +the shelves she indicated, and straightened +himself indignantly. He had loved and revered her, +ever since she came a bride to Sobrante, and had +tended him through a scourge of smallpox, unafraid +and unscathed. Though she was a woman, the sex +of whose intelligence he had small opinion, he had +regarded her as an exception, and his disappointment +was great.</p> +<p>“Is it but a ‘thank you,’ si? Does not the senorita +know what this gift means?”</p> +<p>“I confess that I do not, Pedro. Please explain.”</p> +<p>“Were the old padres wise, mistress?”</p> +<p>“So I have always understood.”</p> +<p>“Listen. From them it came; from the last who +left the mission here for another––to me, his son +and friend. Into the heart of the world we went, +and he showed me. Down low, so low none dream +of it, lies that will make you rich. Will there be +anybody anywhere so rich as the senorita and her +little ones? No. But no, not one. This I give you. +It is for the Navidad, the last old Pedro will ever +see. And the senorita answers, ‘thank you’!”</p> +<p>He was deeply hurt, and his manner was now +full of an eloquent scorn. He was returning the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span> +stone to his breast, when she asked for it again, +saying, gently:</p> +<p>“You are so old and wise, good Pedro, you must +bear with my ignorance and teach me. This is +copper, you say. It is very pretty, but how can it +make me rich? I do not understand.”</p> +<p>Wolfgang answered for the other, and his phlegmatic +face had lost its ordinary expression for one +of keen delight.</p> +<p>“It is true, what the old man tells you, mistress. +He means––he must mean––somewhere on your +property lies a vein of this metal. The dead master +thought the coal was fine already. Ay, so, so. But +copper! Mistress Trent, when this vein is mined, +what Pedro says––yes, yes. In all this big country is +not one so rich as he who owns a copper mine. Ach, +himmel! It is a queen he has made you, and you say, +‘Thank you!’”</p> +<p>He had fully caught the shepherd’s enthusiasm +and feeling, and for the first time in his life looked +upon the lady of Sobrante as a dull-witted person.</p> +<p>But she was no longer dull. Even if it seemed an +impossibility that even this “vein” could be mined, +since she had no money to waste in an experiment +so costly, still she realized, at last, what Pedro’s +will had been. Catching his hand between her own +soft palms, she pressed it gratefully, and beamed +upon him till he smiled again.</p> +<p>“Whatever comes of it. Pedro, you have given +us a royal aguinaldo<a name='FNanchor_0002' id='FNanchor_0002'></a><a href='#Footnote_0002' class='fnanchor'>[B]</a>, and I do appreciate it. Come +now, and share our rejoicing over that greater good +that you have brought to Sobrante––the salvation +of its little captain. For that––for that––I have not +even the ‘thank you’; my feeling is too deep.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></div> +<p>Though he showed it little, the old man was +almost as moved as she, and he followed her as +proudly as if he were the “king” his fellow ranchmen +called him. Yet even pride did not prevent his +being cautious still, and he carried the basket and +staff away with him, though Wolfgang protested, +and asked, angrily now:</p> +<p>“The money? Is it not my Elsa’s, yes? Would +you break her heart already, and the little one so +needing it?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent laughed. She, too, wondered that the +Indian had not at once surrendered the other’s +property, but understood that he could not be +hurried. So she merely suggested that Wolfgang +bring his family around to the living room immediately +after sunset, when, doubtless, he would receive +his own again.</p> +<p>At that time, also, she meant to have John Benton +present, to hear what Pedro had to say about +this copper find, and to comfort him in his disappointment, +for between these two there had always +been close friendship.</p> +<p>However, to her surprise, John attempted no comfort. +He was instantly and heartily on the shepherd’s +side, and demanded, excitedly:</p> +<p>“Begging pardon for plain words, as you are a +woman with growing children, can you sit there +calm as molasses and say ‘you wish you could do +something about it,’ yet say no more. ‘Wish!’ +Why, land of Goshen! this ain’t a wishin’ sort of +business, this ain’t! It’s ‘Hurray for old Sobrante! +Hurray, hurray, hurray!’ Call ’em in, captain, +dearie! Call in the whole crowd! That was the +luckiest gettin’ lost anybody ever had! Oh, won’t +somebody call ’em in?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span></div> +<p>To the group about the table it seemed that the +sensible carpenter had suddenly gone mad. Nobody +had ever heard him so address the mistress whom +he loved, and his excited prancing around the room, +alternately hugging and examining the mineral in +his hand, added to the impression. While the captain +departed to summon the other “boys,” Aunt +Sally attempted to reduce her hilarious son to +sanity by a sharp box on the ear, and the sharper +reprimand:</p> +<p>“You, John Benton! Do you mean to bring my +gray hairs with sorrer to the grave? What’s the +reason of these goings on, I’d like to know? I +never was so disgraced in all my life, never. Now, +quit! Quit to once, or–––”</p> +<p>He paid no heed to her, but laid his hand on +Pedro’s shoulder and shook it vigorously, demanding:</p> +<p>“What kind of a feller are you, anyway? Why in +the name of sense didn’t you tell this thing while +the boss was alive? Shucks! Half of you is Indian, +and that means dirt. Known it all this time, and +kept it hid! You’d ought to be drawn and quartered, +that’s what you had!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton advanced with threatening hand, +and from force of habit he retreated before her, and +sank into the nearest chair; so that, when his mates +entered, they found him sitting with bent head and +down-hanging hands, as limp and inert as if his +vitality had been sapped by the news he had heard.</p> +<p>“What’s up?” asked “Marty,” making his respectful +salutation to the mistress, but looking past her +toward the carpenter, who, with another change +of mood, sprang again to his feet and waved the +fragment of mineral overhead, exclaiming:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></div> +<p>“This is ‘up’! Copper’s ‘up’! Sobrante’s ‘up’! +And lucky the men that belong to it. Only––that +old villain, yonder, has known it even since forever, +and was mean enough to keep his secret. That’s +what he is, that Pedro, yonder!”</p> +<p>Yet, with another whimsical change, he seized +the shepherd’s hand and wrung it till even that +hardened member ached. But the Indian remained +as calm and undisturbed, amid the torrent of blame +or praise, as if he had been sitting alone at his weaving +on the mesa. His soul was satisfied at last. +He had done that which he had pondered doing +for many years, without being able, heretofore, to +bring his thought to action. Surely he had known +that, locked within his own breast, his “secret” was +worthless; yet he had clung to it tenaciously. Now +he had imparted it to others, and behold! all the +world knew it, even so soon. Well, that did not +matter. It was no longer his. His part was ended. +Meanwhile, on his beloved upland, there was a faithful +collie watching for his return, and lambs bleating, +needing his care. Suddenly he rose, placed his +cherished staff in Mrs. Trent’s hands, and bowing +low, said:</p> +<p>“Keep this, as I have kept it, where none but you +may find. At the Navidad I come once more, the +last. Adios.”</p> +<p>His departure was so unexpected that, at first, +they did not try to prevent it, but Jessica was swift +to follow and protest:</p> +<p>“Not to-night, dear Pedro! Please not to-night. +You have been so good to me, you must stay and +be glad with us this one night. In the morning–––”</p> +<p>“In the morning the sheep will need new pasture. +Adios, nina.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span></div> +<p>“Then, if go you must, it shall not be on foot. +Wait! I know! Prince, Mr. Hale’s horse, that +he left with you on the mesa. It is here. The +naughty children painted him, but I saw him in the +corral, just now, and you shall ride him home. That +is if you will not stay, even for me.”</p> +<p>“The Navidad. Till then, adios.”</p> +<p>She had never heard him talk so much nor so well +as since these few hours among his friends. He +seemed to be almost another Pedro than the silent +shepherd of the mesa, and as she followed him, +taking his direct way to the paddock, she wondered +at the uprightness of his bearing and the unconscious +dignity which clothed him like a garment. +Then she remembered something else––his blanket, +and sprang to his side again, entreating:</p> +<p>“Just one five minutes more, Pedro. Your blanket. +You must have a new one.”</p> +<p>He hesitated and sighed. Then shook his head +sadly. That which he had torn, to bind the dwarf, +had been a Navajo weave, so fine and faultless that +even he, the wonderful weaver, knew it for a marvel. +There could not be its mate in all that country, +nor had been since the old padres went and took with +them, as he believed, all the wisdom of the world.</p> +<p>Before he had caught and bridled the horse, +Jessica was back, and playfully enveloped in a +wonderful piece of cloth that made the Indian stare. +If it were not the mate to his lost treasure, it was +quite as fine and soft, as generous in size, and far +cleaner.</p> +<p>“See, dear old fellow. This was my father’s. My +mother sends it to you with her love. Put it on, +so I may see how fine you look. Oh, grand! When +the children play ‘Indian’ why can’t they copy you, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span> +and not those dirty Diggers, that Ferd teaches them +to be like! Pedro, you are splendid, and––I love +you! I love you!”</p> +<p>All at once, as she gazed upon him, there returned +to her a memory of that dark time in the cavern’s +pit, where he had found her, and which, in the general +rejoicing over her safety she had, for the present, +almost forgotten. By now, save for this old +man, she might have been dead.</p> +<p>He received the onslaught of her embrace exactly +as he had accepted the gift of the blanket––in +silence. There was a momentary lighting of his +somber eyes, but no word, as, putting her quietly +down upon the ground, he mounted the barebacked +Prince and loped swiftly away into the darkness +and solitude.</p> +<p>Brighter by contrast was the room to which the +little captain returned, after Prince and his rider +had vanished into the night, and the circle of lamp-lighted +faces gleamed with excitement. Everybody +seemed trying to outtalk his neighbor, and only one +glowering countenance showed dark by contrast; +the face of Elsa Winkler, with its eyes angrily fixed +upon the basket which Mrs. Trent held on her lap, +quite forgetting what it contained in her listening +to the others’ words.</p> +<p>Suddenly, Samson brought his fist down upon the +table, enforcing a brief silence, while demanding:</p> +<p>“What’s amiss with using the capital on hand? +There sits our ‘admiral,’ with money enough in that +basket to start the whole business. Set Wolfgang +to manage, and the rest of us to dig and delve. +More’n one here has tried mining for a yellower +metal than this”––holding up the bit of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span> +copper––“’twould do us proud to give the first pick to Sobrante’s +fortune! Lads, what say?”</p> +<p>“Ay, and right off! That’s what we say!” cried +somebody, but Mrs. Trent lifted her hand, and they +were silent.</p> +<p>She had become as interested now as any of the +others; far more, indeed, since if this amazing tale +of Pedro’s proved true she would be able, at last, +to fulfill her husband’s interrupted life-work, and +make Sobrante a power for good in the world.</p> +<p>“What does Elsa say? Will she lend us this +money?”</p> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0002' id='Footnote_0002'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0002'><span class='label'>[B]</span></a> +<p>Christmas box or gift.</p> +</div> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_VIII_THE_FACE_AT_THE_WINDOW' id='CHAPTER_VIII_THE_FACE_AT_THE_WINDOW'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>THE FACE AT THE WINDOW</h3> +</div> +<p>All waited breathlessly for Elsa’s answer. They +knew her greed, or, rather, why she hoarded her +money so closely, and were not so surprised, after +all, when it came.</p> +<p>“No, I cannot.”</p> +<p>“Can’t? I should like to know why you can’t?” +demanded John Benton, indignantly, though Mrs. +Trent protested against his urgency by a nod of her +head.</p> +<p>“It is for the little one. It is mine. I want it +already.”</p> +<p>The ranch mistress at once extended the basket, +but it was now the carpenter’s turn to object.</p> +<p>“Please, ‘admiral,’ not so fast. Let her tell us, +first, how much money she lost.”</p> +<p>Elsa caught her breath. To save her life she +could not have stated in exact figures the sum, because, +though she had known to a dime before the +robbery, at, and after that time, she had recklessly +tossed aside the little that remained. This wasted +portion belonged with the whole amount, and being +as truthful as she was penurious, she hesitated. +Her color came and went, as she looked anxiously +into John’s face, realizing that he had laid a trap +for her and caught her in it.</p> +<p>But the mistress confronted her, saying:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span></div> +<p>“Never mind that, Elsa. I do not blame you for +refusing to try experiments with what you have +so hardly earned and so nearly lost. These are +certainly your own little money bags, as I judge +from their knitted covers; but it is just possible +there may have been other money added to that +was taken from you. So, tell me as nearly as you +can, what you had, and we will examine them all +together.”</p> +<p>This was wise, and commended itself even to the +eager Elsa, who stated promptly and proudly:</p> +<p>“Three t’ousand of the dollars it was. All gold. +Big gold and littles ones. In them bags was lost +entirely. In the others––I don’t know. Oh! I don’t +know. It was much, much!”</p> +<p>It was Wolfgang’s turn to interpose, and he did +so, sternly:</p> +<p>“Elsa, wife! Three thousand dollars, and I not +know it! How dare you?”</p> +<p>“Ach! how not dare I? It was the new pick, or +the new pushcart, or the new everything, is it not +so? Well, then, if one would save one need not +tell.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent’s face saddened, and, seeing this, +Jessica impatiently exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh, I hate money! It’s always that which +makes the trouble. It was about money that those +New York folks made such wicked charges against +my father. It was for a little money that you ‘boys’ +were so quick to ruin ‘Forty-niner’s’ character. It +was money, and the greed for it, that changed +Antonio from a good to a bad man.”</p> +<p>“Hold on, captain. There wasn’t ever any ‘change’ +in him. He was born that way.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span></div> +<p>“He was born a baby, wasn’t he, John? All +babies are good, I s’pose. It’s loving money has +made Ferd do such dreadful things; and now, over +a little money, Wolfgang and Elsa are quarreling, +though I never heard them speak crossly to each +other before. Oh, I hate it! Give it all back to +her, mother dear, and let us forget all that Pedro +said. I, for my part, hope his old copper mine will +never be dug out.”</p> +<p>Some who heard her laughed, but the mother +grew even graver than at first, and looked searchingly +into her daughter’s face. Again there came +to her mind the consciousness that the little girl +was growing up in a strange fashion; seeming both +too wise and too simple for her years. It could +never be any different at Sobrante, where one and +all conspired to spoil her, though innocently enough, +and from pure affection. How could she, single-handed, +combat these hurtful influences?</p> +<p>The answer came swiftly enough in a second +thought: “Money.”</p> +<p>If there were but a little more of that power for +good as well as evil in her possession she could send +the child to some fine school and have her educated +properly. The separation would be like death in +life to herself, but what true mother ever thought +of self where her child was concerned? Certainly, +not Gabriella Trent. It was with a little sigh that +she put her arm about Lady Jess and drew her to +her side, saying:</p> +<p>“Here, daughter, you and John examine these +bags together, while the rest of us look on and tally +for you. I want Elsa to have her own, at once.”</p> +<p>They moved the books and papers from the table, +and Jessica emptied the contents of the bags into +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span> +one gleaming heap near the big lamp, whose light +gave an added radiance to the coins, making more +than one pair of eyes sparkle and stare. None +could remember ever to have seen so large an +amount displayed outside a bank window.</p> +<p>Even John’s hands trembled slightly as he began +to count the double eagles first, pushing each five +of these toward his small co-laborer and reckoning:</p> +<p>“One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred––one +thousand!”</p> +<p>“One thousand!” echoed Jessica, in turn handing +the pile to her mother, while the others watched, +counting each for himself in silence, ready to check +any blunder that might be made.</p> +<p>That is, the men were silent, but Elsa and Aunt +Sally rather disturbed the proceedings; the former, +by eagerly reaching out for the piles as each was +arranged before the mistress, and being as regularly +rebuked by the latter.</p> +<p>“There you go again, woman! How can they +count right if you don’t have patience? Keep your +hands still, do,” said Mrs. Benton.</p> +<p>“Keep your tongue, mother, too. Two thousand!” +rejoined John.</p> +<p>“Two––thousand!” cried Jessica, tallying. But +her voice had now lost its impatience, and she began +to have a very different feeling in regard to this +“money,” which looked so real, and was so much +needed at Sobrante. If Pedro’s “copper” could be +transmuted into shining golden eagles, why, after +all, she guessed she didn’t hate it quite so much.</p> +<p>“Three––thousand––and––ain’t half––touched +yet!” gasped Samson, throwing up his great hands +in a gesture of astonishment.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span></div> +<p>Elsa was also gasping then, and the expression +of her face was changing into one from which Mrs. +Trent involuntarily turned her eyes. Cunning and +avarice predominated, and in the woman’s throat +was a curious clicking sound, as if she had lost and +were trying to find her voice. Which, when +found, seemed not to belong to the good-natured +Elsa, so changed it was:</p> +<p>“Ach, me! But I forgot already. I guess––it was +not three t’ousand; it was two times so much. That +was seven t’ousand, is it not? The money of this +America––it so confuse, yes,” and she tapped her +forehead with one fat finger, while her eyes grew +beady, and seemed to shrink in size as they gazed +upon the wealth she coveted.</p> +<p>But Wolfgang would have none of this. He was +as honest as the sun, and, till that moment, had +supposed his wife to be of one mind with him. +Indeed, honest she had been, in thought and deed, +until that terrible temptation was spread before +her.</p> +<p>“Elsa! Elsa Winkler! Is it my wife you was and +would lie––lie––for a bit of that rubbish!”</p> +<p>“‘Rubbish’ is good,” commented “Marty,” under +his breath, but nobody smiled.</p> +<p>The woman cowered. Accustomed as she was to +domineer over the seemingly weak-willed man, +there had been times, within her memory, when +he had thrown off her rule and asserted himself to +a degree that terrified her. She had stumbled upon +one of those times now, and sank back in her place +with a deprecating gesture, advancing the flimsy +protest:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span></div> +<p>“Are they not my bags, so? Sewed I them not +with my own hands out of the skin of the little kid +was killed? The covers I knitted with–––”</p> +<p>The miner raised his hand, and she dropped her +eyes before him.</p> +<p>“Give her what belongs, if you will, good lady, +and let us be gone,” he said, pulling his forelock +respectfully to Mrs. Trent.</p> +<p>“Gone! Why no, Wolfgang, not to-night. It’s +a long way, and you should wait till morning. Indeed, +you should,” she replied, at the same time +sending a questioning glance toward John Benton, +and pushing toward Elsa all the empty bags and +three of the thousand dollar piles.</p> +<p>For the carpenter nodded swift acquiescence, on +his part longing to be rid of “them miserly Dutchmen, +barring the man.”</p> +<p>Elsa rapidly recounted, and bestowed the eagles +within their receptacles, and these again, wrapped +in a handkerchief, within her bosom. Then, as +coolly as if she had not made an unpleasant exhibition +of herself, she turned to her hostess and smiled:</p> +<p>“I go now, mistress. I thank you already for one +good time I have. It is to buy the mine, one day, +for my child. I must be going. Yes, I must. The +stew! Ach! how I forgot! The cat––it was a good +stew, no? And the cat has eat the stew!”</p> +<p>“Then you’d better stew the cat!” suggested +Marty, with a facetiousness to which she paid no +heed.</p> +<p>Holding out her hand for Otto to take it, she +commanded:</p> +<p>“Little heart, but come. It is in bed you should +be, yes. Good-by, all,” adding in German, “May +you sleep well!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></div> +<p>Wolfgang followed the retreating pair, but turned +on the threshold to make his obeisance to the ranch +mistress, and to say, “At your service, good lady. +My pick and my head.” Then, bowing again toward +all the company, he disappeared.</p> +<p>Everybody felt the relief of their departure, and +Aunt Sally humorously threw a kiss after them, remarking, +with a sniff:</p> +<p>“Blessed be nothing, if somethin’ is going to make +a hog out of a decent woman. That there Elsy’d +been content with half she got if she hadn’t seen +the rest that heap. I’m a good deal like Jessie, here. +I think money’s the root of all evil.”</p> +<p>“That ain’t an original observation, mother, +though you do speak as if it was. Money’s the +root of a pretty consid’able comfort, too; and I’d +like to know, for one, where in creation all this +that’s left came from,” returned John.</p> +<p>“There’s no doubt in my mind, that it came out +of the Trent pocketbook, every dollar of it!” said +Samson. “But how it came into Ferd’s fist is more’n +I can guess. Seems if even a half-wit would steal +from his own brother, and it must have passed +through Antonio’s hands first.”</p> +<p>“Antonio’s brother!” cried Marty, incredulously.</p> +<p>“That’s the true word. Pedro knew it, and the +master knew it. The ‘admiral’ heard it, first, to-day; +along with that other secret about the copper. Ain’t +any harm in mentioning it, is there?” said Samson.</p> +<p>The lady laughed, and answered:</p> +<p>“Even if there were the harm is done, herder. +But that’s right. I wish no secrets at Sobrante. +I like to feel that we are all one family in interests +and affection, as my husband wished. And now +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span> +remains this gold. What is to be done with it? +Where shall we bestow it that it may be both safe +and ready when needed?”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally immediately went and closed the door +and locked it; then fastened the windows and pulled +the shades over them. At which a shout arose that +the old lady heeded not a whit. She clasped her +hands over her breast and her round face turned +pale, as she whispered shrilly enough for all to hear:</p> +<p>“We’re undone! We’re all undone! We’re a +passel of fools––and––and––– Oh, suz!”</p> +<p>Down she dropped into a chair, and there was no +more laughter. She was not a timid woman, and +her fright was evident. Her son stepped to her +side and laid his hand on her shaking shoulder, demanding:</p> +<p>“What ails you, mother? What did you see? +Why did you lock the doors?”</p> +<p>“I––I–––”</p> +<p>“Quit chattering your teeth together. What did +you see?”</p> +<p>“Oh, son! I seen a––a––ghost!”</p> +<p>“Trash!”</p> +<p>Her courage began to return, and her anger to +rise. She retorted promptly:</p> +<p>“No trash! A ghost. A spirit! As sure as I’m +a-settin’ here this minute; the spirit of––of–––”</p> +<p>It aggravated John that she should pause and +peep behind her, to be sure the windows were still +covered.</p> +<p>“The spirit of what tomfoolery has possessed +you, mother, I’d like to know? What’s the use of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +scarin’ folks half to death? As if we hadn’t had +enough things happen without your cuttin’ up, too!”</p> +<p>“Hold your tongue, John Benton, you sassy boy. +As sure as I’m alive, I saw the ghost of Antonio +Bernal peeking in at that open window afore I +shut it. He was so white I couldn’t tell him from +paper, and so thin I ’peared to see clean through +him.”</p> +<p>“Pshaw, mother! You’re overtired, and for once +in your life really nervous. I reckon it’s the sight +of more money than ever come your way before. +Well, forget it. ’Tisn’t yours nor mine. We’ve no +cause to worry. I’ll step and get you a drink of +water and then you’ll feel all right, and would better +go to bed.”</p> +<p>“I don’t want water, and I shan’t go to bed. I +shan’t close my eyes this night, John Benton, and +you needn’t touch to tell me so.”</p> +<p>“All right. Stay awake if you like. It’s nothing +to me,” answered the exasperated man, who, in +spite of his strong common sense, had been more +startled than he cared to admit, even to himself. +But, glancing at Mrs. Trent and Jessica, he now +felt that it would be wiser to express his own fear, +which was of nothing supernatural.</p> +<p>“Mother’s upset, ‘admiral,’ and don’t you let her +upset you, too. The fact is, we’re a very careless +set at Sobrante, where everything is––or used to +be––all open and above board. It’s a new thing for +keys to be turned on this ranch, and it’s a new +thing for us to go suspecting one another of sneak +notions. I, for one, am ashamed enough of the +way I’ve felt about old Ephraim Marsh, and if he +don’t show up pretty soon, I’ll make a special trip +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span> +to Los Angeles to tell him so. Even if I have to +foot it the heft of the way.</p> +<p>“Howsomever, all the world ain’t as honest as +them that had the honor of knowin’ Cassius Trent. +There’s been a power of strangers on these premises +durin’ these last days; and it stands to reason that +among ’em one villain might have crept in. I ain’t +sayin’ there was. I’ll never accuse nobody again––’cept––’cept–––”</p> +<p>Here the honest fellow interrupted himself with +a laugh; remembering his ingrained suspicion of the +two Bernals, which he would never even try to +overcome. But he went on again:</p> +<p>“Mother thinks she’s seen somethin’, and like +enough she has. There might be some scamp +hangin’ around; and if there was, and he looked +through that window and saw all this gold, I don’t +wonder his face was ghosty-lookin’, nor––Somebody +stop me talking and answer this: Where’s +the safest place to stow that pile?”</p> +<p>For a moment nobody replied. Mrs. Trent was +wishing, most heartily, that the money had never +come into her possession, since she did not know to +whom she should restore it; and beginning to feel, +with Jessica, that “money” did carry discord and +danger with it.</p> +<p>But the little captain was now all eagerness, and +exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh! how I wish I’d seen it! Aunt Sally, I never +saw a ghost in all my life, never! I thought they +were just make-believes, but if you saw one, of +course they’re true. Do you s’pose we could see +it again if we went out to look? Will you go with +me?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span></div> +<p>“I? I! Well, I guess not. Not a step will I +step–––”</p> +<p>“But several steps I’ll step, Mrs. Benton. I advise +the money going into the office safe, that old +Ephraim uses when he’s at home. One of us better +camp out on the lounge in the room there till we +get rid of whoever’s cash that is. I’ll bunk there +myself, if you like, Mrs. Trent, after I step outside +and see if all’s serene with my prisoner,” said Samson, +cheerfully.</p> +<p>“May I go with you, Samson? May I, mother?” +asked Jessica.</p> +<p>The mother’s consent was somewhat reluctant, for +now she could not bear to have her darling out of +sight. Yet if anybody on earth was to be trusted +with so precious a charge it was the herder. Besides, +she was annoyed at this talk of “ghosts,” and +knew that the shortest way to convince Jessica how +nonsensical it was, would be by allowing her to +go out and seek for them herself.</p> +<p>But Samson answered cordially:</p> +<p>“You do me proud, little one. Suppose you take +your rifle, and then, if we see any specter you can +pin it to the mission wall, and we’ll have a show, +charging ten pins’ admission.”</p> +<p>They went out, laughing and gay; the child clinging +to the giant’s hand, and hoping that she might +really see the phantom of Aunt Sally’s story, for +she had no fear concerning it. They came back, +five minutes later, looking grave and seriously +alarmed.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_IX_THE_PRISONER_DISAPPEARS' id='CHAPTER_IX_THE_PRISONER_DISAPPEARS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>THE PRISONER DISAPPEARS</h3> +</div> +<p>“What’s happened?” asked Mrs. Trent, foreboding +fresh trouble, since, of late, trouble had become +so familiar a visitor.</p> +<p>“Well, ma’am, the bird has flown.”</p> +<p>“Please explain, Samson,” she anxiously urged.</p> +<p>“That bird of dark plumage––Ferd, the dwarf. +He’s escaped, vamoosed, took wings and flew.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Samson! I’m so sorry. I hoped you would +look after him until I could find some suitable +institution in which to place him. It’s time he +should be helped, for if he’s so sharp to do evil, he +must have equal capacity for better things.”</p> +<p>“Yes, ma’am. So I allow; and I had them same +hopes myself, not ten minutes ago. I hadn’t said +a word to anybody, but after you gave him to me, +I remembered what the little captain had commanded, +for it sort of struck home, that did. I +ain’t overly saintlike, myself, but what of goodness +I’d catched from you all I meant to pass on to the +coyote––I mean, Ferdinand Bernal. I reckon it +was his face, ’stead of a ghost’s, that Aunt Sally +saw by the window.”</p> +<p>“I thought you locked him in some room?”</p> +<p>“Lock and double-locked. Bolted, besides. Worst +is, all bolts and locks are just as I left ’em. Had +the key in my pocket and went in, saluting, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span> +there wasn’t anybody to salute. Well, ma’am, if +he’s out, and ’twas him saw that money, there’d +better two of us sleep beside it, rather than one. +He’s the uncanniest creature ever I met, and I hope +never to meet his mate.”</p> +<p>“Very well. I do not see what harm he can do, +after all, except to himself, now. Jessica, dear, +please bring the key, and John can put this money +in the safe. If it weren’t for Elsa’s satisfaction, I +should regret that Pedro ever found it. Then we +must all to sleep. It’s been a most eventful day, +and we are tired.”</p> +<p>Before long the whole household was asleep; but +the last to seek her rest was Mrs. Benton; nor did +she do that until she had locked whatever locks +would fasten, peeped under every bed, and invaded +the sacredness of Wun Lung’s “heatheny den.” Then +she placed her Bible on one side her bed, a broom +and horsewhip on the other, and lay down to watch, +explaining:</p> +<p>“’Cause I’m goin’ to watch, even if I am resting +my body horizontal. I’m so tired I can’t set up +straight, nohow, and I shan’t wink a wink till daylight +comes and the rest are moving.”</p> +<p>Having called out this valiant resolution to Mrs. +Trent, in the adjoining room, she instantly closed +her heavy lids, and opened them no more till a +series of thumps upon her shoulders aroused her. +Then she realized that Ned and Luis were reminding +her of yesterday’s promise that, if they’d eat no +more plum cake overnight they should have some +for their breakfasts.</p> +<p>“Land of love! What you doing? Is it daylight? +Why, ’twas dark as Egypt when I lay down, and +I–––Can it be that I––I––have overslept?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span></div> +<p>“Plum cake, Aunt Sally,” reminded Ned.</p> +<p>“Plumsally!” cried Luis, with a forcible whack. +Which was instantly returned, and with such added +interest that he ran howling away, leaving the disturbed +matron to scold herself at leisure for her +lapse from duty, while she hurriedly dressed.</p> +<p>Naturally, she had to submit to some teasing on +account of her valiant resolution of the previous +night that she “wouldn’t wink a wink,” but Mrs. +Trent was delighted that the faithful woman had, +at last, enjoyed a needed rest. Besides, everything +was bright at the ranch on that happy morning. +Even Wun Lung had caught the infection of Christmas +preparations, and was intent upon providing +some dainties of his own, against the approaching +festival, which should so far outshine the homelier +pies and puddings of Mrs. Benton, as his own +revered country outshone, in his opinion, even this +pleasant one in which, at present, his lot was cast. +He had also felt good-natured enough to put aside +a plentiful breakfast for his mate––or foe––of the +kitchen; and since it was such a time of happiness, +Aunt Sally condescended not only to eat it, but to +pronounce it “good.”</p> +<p>Hearing this unexpected praise, the Chinaman +wound and unwound his precious queue, after a +fashion he had of expressing satisfaction; and smilingly +advised Mrs. Benton to “step black polch,” +where she would find things to do.</p> +<p>So to the back porch the good lady retreated, +carrying with her great dishes of fruit to prepare, +and not forgetting two enormous slices of the rich +plum cake she had promised the little boys, and +which would have made less active, hardily reared +children ill.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span></div> +<p>Mrs. Trent had moved her sewing machine to the +porch, and Jessica sat near, with a little table before +her, trying to write the Christmas invitations that +had been so delayed, and to express them after a +style which should not too painfully expose her own +ignorance. The result was not so bad, considering +the slight training the child had had, and her few +years, yet it did not satisfy the mother, who felt +that education was the one good thing, and who +longed to have her child’s bright intellect developed +as it should be.</p> +<p>Poor Jessica had written and rewritten the note +intended for Mr. Hale a number of times, and still +had it returned to her with many corrections, after +Mrs. Trent’s reading of it, and now laid it aside with +a sigh of discouragement.</p> +<p>“Can’t that wait a while, mother? If I may write +to my darling Ninian Sharp, I’ll get myself rested. +He doesn’t mind trifles like wrong capitals in the +right places––oh! dear, I mean––I don’t know what +I mean. But may I?”</p> +<p>“Certainly, dear. Though, first, come here and let +me try the length of this sleeve.”</p> +<p>Lady Jess obeyed readily, for new clothes were +rare events in her simple life. This natty little +“Christmas frock” was white, with scarlet trimmings, +and quite sufficiently in contrast with the +plain blue flannel ones of everyday use to captivate +her fancy and make her patient under the tedious +process of “fitting.” Yet she was glad to return +to her table and her letter to Ninian Sharp, which +she found no difficulty in composing, since she was +free to do as she chose.</p> +<p>And this was the epistle which, after some delay, +reached the newspaper man, at a time when he happened +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +to need cheering up, and brought new life +and interest into his overworked brain:</p> +<p>“MY VERY DEAR MISTER SHARP: My +mother and the children and aunt sally, and Me +and all the rest the Boys, are well and send Their +LUV. We are Now Inviteing you To come and +Spend the holidays at dear Sobrante. everybody +is Coming, most, and i Got lost and was found in a +Hole. The Hole is in the ground. there was +Money in It, that the Boys said my fortynineer +stole and He Didn’t. It was elsa winklers and +wolfgang was mad at her, and there was a Ghost, +but it got away, else samson and Me would have +shot it against the mission cordiror wall and had a +nexibition. and ferd that was lock up got away +two; and say, please my dear mister sharp, Will +you see if this stone that’s in the package is any +good? Pedro, thats a hundred years, says it’s copper +and copper is worth money. We need some +money bad, and i hope it is, and I don’t no anybody +as clever as you. so Please write write away and +tell us if you will come and tell ephraim Marsh, that +the Boys will be at marion railway station with a +buckborde and horses enough. i am Making something +to put in everybodys stocking. i Began to +make the things after last Christmas, that ever was, +and i Have more than twenty-five presunts to Make +and i Have got three done, one of Them is Yours. +your Loving friend,</p> +<p class='ralign'>“JESSICA TRENT.”</p> +<p>When the letters were completed, the little captain +felt that she needed recreation, and her mother +agreed with her; but, unlike her former habit, could +not consent to the child’s going anywhere alone. +The recent terrible experience had banished from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +Mrs. Trent’s heart that comfortable sense of security +which had prevented life on the isolated ranch +from being a lonely one. She now felt, as Aunt +Sally phrased it:</p> +<p>“Afraid of your own shadder, ain’t you, Gabriell’, +and well you may be. In the midst of life we are +in the hands of them Bernals, and no knowin’. That +son John of mine may try to hoodwink me that +’twasn’t no ghost I saw last night, but ghost it was +if ever one walked this earth. It wasn’t, so to +speak, a spooky ghost, neither; it was an avaricious +one, and it wasn’t after no folks, but ’twas after +that money, sharp. Ain’t disappeared, for good, +neither. Liable to spring up and out anywhere +happens; and you do well, Gabriell’, not to trust our +girl off alone again. Not right to once. Where’s +she hankerin’ to travel now? She’d ought to be +learnt to sew patchwork, instead of riding all over +the country, hitherty-yender, a bareback on a +broncho or a burro. If she was my girl–––”</p> +<p>“If she was your girl, dear Aunt Sally, you +couldn’t have been more anxious than you were +while she was lost. And the life is good for her. +It’s right for all women to understand sewing and +household arts, but the captain isn’t a woman yet, +and I have faith she’ll acquire all fitting knowledge +in due time. She’s anxious to ride to Pedro’s. She +says there was something different in his manner, +last night, from ordinary, and, indeed, I fancied so +myself. She’s gone to find which one of the boys +can best leave his work to ride with her.”</p> +<p>“It’ll be John Benton, Gabriella Trent. You see +if it ain’t. That man just sees the world through +Jessica’s eyes, and he’s never got over being jealous +’at he wasn’t the one took her to Los Angeles +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span> +that time. If he had all the work in creation piled +up before him, and she happened to say ‘Come,’ +some other whither, whither, ’twould be, and not +a minute’s hesitation. Anyhow, it’s Marty’s day +for mailridin’, and there he lopes this instant.”</p> +<p>The ranchmen took turns in riding to the post, +each esteeming it a privilege, and finding nothing +but pleasure in the sixty miles’ gallop to Marion and +back. At that moment, indeed, Marty was swinging +out of sight on his own fine mount, the mailbag +before him on his heavy Mexican saddle, the wind +created by the swift motion of the beast raising +the brim of his broad hat and thrilling him with that +sense of abounding life and freedom which comes +so forcibly to men in the wide spaces of the earth.</p> +<p>He was the youngest of the “boys,” even though +past his first youth, and the “life” of the ranchmen’s +quarters, where all liked and some loved him.</p> +<p>The women on the porch watched him till he became +a mere speck in the distance, and Aunt Sally +sighed:</p> +<p>“That George Cromarty is as likely a youth as +ever I knew. He’s that good to his old mother, +back in the East, I tell my own son John, he ought +to profit by such an example. I should hate to have +anything happen to him. Yes, indeedy, I should hate +to have a single bad thing happen to poor George +Cromarty.”</p> +<p>A little nervous shiver ran through Mrs. Trent’s +slender frame, yet she turned upon her companion, +as she threaded her needle, with a laugh, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Oh! you dear old croaker! Why can’t you let +well enough alone, without mentioning more evil? +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span> +You know the old saying that to speak of trouble +is to invite its visitation. Surely, there was nothing +about to-day’s postman to suggest disaster. +George is a typical ranchman, and my husband used +to point him out to visitors as what a man might +be, who grew up, or old, where ‘there was room +enough.’ Big-hearted, full of fun, tender as a +woman, but intolerant of meanness and evil doing. +It would be a dark day for Sobrante if ill befell our +‘Marty.’”</p> +<p>“Well, I don’t know. Something’s going to go +wrong somewhere. I feel it in my bones, seems +if. There, I told you so! Yonder comes that lazy +boy of mine and Jessie. There’s more things needing +him here on this place than you could shake a +stick at, yet off he’ll go traipsing just at a nod +from his captain.”</p> +<p>“Don’t begrudge them their happiness, Aunt Sally. +Certainly, after grief, it is their due. Well, John, +will you act escort for the little lady of Sobrante?” +asked its mistress.</p> +<p>“Will I not? And do me proud. She ain’t to be +trusted with any of the flighty ones, Samson now, +or–––”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent’s laughter––that morning as heart-whole +and free as a girl’s––interrupted the ranchman’s +disparaging comments on his fellows, sedate +grayheads as most of them were; for well she understood +the universal devotion of all to their darling +captain.</p> +<p>“Oh, John, I can scarcely associate the idea of +frivolity or carelessness with our big Samson; but +wait a moment, please, before you start. There’s +such a store of good things left, though in fragments, +that I’d like to pack a basket for Pedro. I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span> +wish he did not insist upon living so alone. He +is so old and I feel, as the native Californians used, +that the older a person grew the more precious. I +wish you’d try to persuade him to let somebody +else take his place with the sheep, and to arrange +his small affairs so that when he comes down for +his Navidad he will remain. There’s enough to keep +him busy and happy here.”</p> +<p>“I’ll try, mistress. But he’ll not be persuaded. +Old Pedro wouldn’t think he could breathe down +here in the valley, for long at a time. Well, good-by. +Ready, captain?”</p> +<p>“Ready, John, as soon as mother gets the basket. +Quiet, Buster. I believe you’re more eager for a +canter than I am, even.”</p> +<p>Then when the basket had been handed up to +John, the pair merrily saluted the women on the +porch and rode away; but Mrs. Benton called shrilly +after them:</p> +<p>“Turn back and start over again! Turn back, I +say! Both your horses set off left feet first. That +means bad luck as sure as you are born!”</p> +<p>But nobody paid any heed to Aunt Sally’s forecasts +of evil, save to laugh at them. Only Mrs. +Trent again felt that nervous shiver seize her, and +but for shame’s sake would have begged her daughter +to defer her ride until another day.</p> +<p>However, shame prevailed; or common sense, +which is far better; and well it was––or ill––that the +riders kept serenely on their way, indifferent to +“signs” and ignorant of what lay before them.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_X_ON_THE_ROAD_HOME' id='CHAPTER_X_ON_THE_ROAD_HOME'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>ON THE ROAD HOME</h3> +</div> +<p>The train from Los Angeles rolled slowly up to +the little station at Marion and the asthmatic engine +seemed to wheeze its relief that its labor was +ended, as an old man stepped from the last car +and looked eagerly along the platform. Then a +certain degree of disappointment overspread his +fine face, and shouldering a heavy parcel, strapped +round with leather to give a holding place, he strode +rather unsteadily forward over the same sandy +road, or street, which had tried Ninian Sharp’s +patience on his first visit to the post town.</p> +<p>Yet, after a little, the man grew accustomed to +his own stiffness of limb and moved with a sort of +halting swiftness which soon brought him to the +little hostelry of one Aleck McLeod, where a group +of ranchmen were sunning themselves while they +waited the distribution of the mail.</p> +<p>It was noticeable that the porch was spotlessly +clean and that none of the idlers profaned its cleanliness +by so much as one expectoration of tobacco +juice, though all were either smoking or chewing +that weed. They had far too great respect for +Janet, Aleck’s wife, and for the labor that cleanliness +meant in that waterless region. They were all +deep in the discussion of the late events at Sobrante +and none heard the old traveler’s approach over the +soft ground, till he stood close beside them with +his foot on the lower step.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span></div> +<p>But he heard them and their eager talk; and, +pausing a bit, the more completely to surprise them +by an intended halloo, he forgot that and all else +save what they were saying.</p> +<p>“It was ten to one she was never found. ’Pears +like a miracle to me, that old Pedro was led to find +that very cave just when he did. My wife claims +it was a miracle, same as used to be in Bible days, +and you can’t talk her out of it. You know how +women are,” said one ranchman, who had aided in +the search for Jessica.</p> +<p>“Well, first and last, them Trents have done a +heap for this section of our ‘native.’ And they’re +square folks, every identical of them. Even the +little tacker, that boy Ned. There’s more in his +head than he gets credit for, and one these days he’ll +show there is. He’s a master hand with a gun, +baby as he is, and if he’d had one handy I wager +he’d have put some shot into the ugly carcass of +that Ferd––– But he hadn’t the iron and he didn’t,” +added another smoker.</p> +<p>“It was a prime spread Mis’ Trent gave us. Must +have took about all the provisions she had in store, +but nothing was too good for them that helped her +in her trouble. Or tried to help, same thing; since +it was her own man, Pedro, found the child. Away +down in the bottom of a pit in the depth of an unknown +cave! Think of it, somebody! It just makes +my hair rise on end, known’ there is such a fool and +scoundrel joined in one dwarf’s body––Hello! hel––lo!”</p> +<p>The last speaker’s words ended in a sort of +screech of astonishment and recognition, as a hard +hand was laid upon his shoulder, and Ephraim Marsh +demanded, fiercely:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span></div> +<p>“What’s that you say, neighbor?”</p> +<p>“Why, hello, Marsh! Where’d you drop from?” +cried one, rising and extending a hand in greeting.</p> +<p>“You’re a sight to cure sick folks!” shouted another, +pressing to “Forty-niner’s” side, and slapping +the veteran’s shoulder in high good will.</p> +<p>But Ephraim had no feeling at present, save anxiety +to know what their discussion had meant; and, +all talking, they laid a succinct history of the last +few days before him. He listened in increasing +alarm and amazement and his old limbs tottered +beneath him, so that he called out, hastily:</p> +<p>“Give me a seat, somebody, quick, before I fall. +I––I––to think of my little gell––my own sweet-faced, +lovin’ little gell–––Oh, I can’t believe it! +I can’t and I won’t. It’s some plaguey Californy +yarn’ you’re passin’ the time with. Atlantic! But +you might have chose a likelier subject to fool over, +you might.”</p> +<p>But Aleck himself had seen the arrival through +the window and came out to greet him with the +heartiness accorded all the Sobrante people, and to +assure him that the story was all true; and that, +after all, it were better that he had not been at +home when the trouble came; “for it would have +broke your heart, ‘Forty-niner,’ into more pieces +than old Stiffleg broke your bones, and it wouldn’t +have healed so soon, neither. But, come in, come in, +boy, and have a mouthful of dinner. Janet has as +fine a dish of haggis as ever I tasted in Aberdeen +at home, and it should relish to you, after all that +hospital fare and so on. Janet! Janet! Here’s +Ephraim Marsh! Come welcome him!”</p> +<p>And Janet came quickly, like her husband cordial +and sympathetic, and led the deeply moved frontiersman +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span> +into her own kitchen, where no uninvited +ranchman dared intrude, and there served him well +with good things, including the haggis. And as +she served she talked in a wise, womanly way that +soothed his agitation and turned his thoughts from +enmity against the dwarf into thanksgiving that +now all was well.</p> +<p>“For since it is over and done with we can reckon +the gain. The sweet bit bairnie has won for herself +fresh friends. In all the countryside there was +but one feeling, ‘The child must be found.’ No other +thing was of any moment, and found she was, by +a man so much older than any of the rest that nobody, +not even you, can grudge him the honor. +More hot milk? Oat cake? Nothing? Well, well; +for a man that’s traveling you’ve a small appetite. +Must be off already and pack your own bundle? +Why, friend, you would better leave that till one the +boys rides up for the mail. Due before this, indeed, +for Sobrante ranchers are ever keen for their post +stuff. No? A horse, then? Aleck was going to do +a bit of plowing with her, later on, but he’ll eagerly +give over that for you.”</p> +<p>But Ephraim felt that he could delay for nothing +more, not even for the arrival of a Sobrante messenger; +and as for Jean, the sorrel mare––he and +she were old acquaintances, and he declined her +services with a grim smile, saying:</p> +<p>“Thank you, Janet, it’s kindly offered, but I’m +in haste and I’d rather trust my own lame leg than +her four lagging ones. Besides, if Aleck has been +afield in this search he’ll be behindhand in his work, +and he’s a hand to keep things up to the level line. +Good-by, good-by. Oh! wait a bit, though. I’d +clean forgot that I put a scrap of white Scotch linen +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +and a yard or two of plaid bodice stuff in my pack +for you. This business of my captain getting lost +has shaken my wits.”</p> +<p>Though Janet protested against the trouble her +face glowed at prospect of her gifts, and as she +assisted him to unstrap and refasten his canvas sack, +and even begged to be shown the simple remembrances +he had procured for everybody he knew +“at home;” not least among them being calicoes +of brilliantly unwashable colors for Aunt Sally’s +patchwork. Then he set off alone, staff in hand, +stolidly yet swiftly covering the ground with that +halting stride of his that soon took him out of +sight.</p> +<p>The assembled ranchmen received their own mail +matter, mounted and rode away; and there settled +over the little town that monotonous quiet which +would not be broken again until the arrival of the +evening train, when, possibly, some chance passenger +might alight on the deserted platform.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Ephraim was passing over the level +road toward “home,” feeling keener delight and +longing with each step’s advance, and when he came +to a little branch trail, where a rude signpost stated +the fact that he had come “Five miles from Marion,” +he made his first halt, sitting to rest for a few +moments under the eucalyptus trees bordering the +arroyo. The branch road led to and disappeared +among a group of buildings, some distance to the +north, on the ranch of one Miguel Solano, a friend +of Antonio Bernal, and a Mexican of ill-repute. The +ranch was comparatively new and was rich in olive +orchards and all the conveniences for producing a +fine quality of oil, and had been bought and arranged +by an easterner with all the accessories of profitable +farming. Death had put an end to the settler’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span> +industry, and the property had come, at a low figure, +into Solano’s hands; whereupon everything industrious +lapsed, neglect and discomfort usurping the +place of thrifty comfort.</p> +<p>Gazing toward this place, Ephraim reflected that; +“If that Greaser had half as much snap as he has +wickedness he’d be a rich man. As ’tis, honest +folks sort of give Solano’s a wide berth. I’m thirsty +as a dog and wouldn’t mind havin’ a drink out that +artesian well they have there, but––Atlantic! +There’s somebody already stoopin’ over it; looks +mighty familiar!”</p> +<p>Then the old man stood up and shielded his eyes +with his hand as he peered into the distance, ending +his scrutiny with a shake of his fist in the +direction he had gazed, and muttering aloud:</p> +<p>“No, I’m better off here. Queer how you can +recognize a snake, no matter how far off! That’s +Ferd, the dwarf; and if I was near enough to touch +him I couldn’t keep my fingers off his dirty throat, +nohow, till I’d choked the life out of him! Ugh! +When I think––– But I mustn’t think. I must +just get up and jog on till I see a prettier sight +than that. If I can spy the hunchback at one mile +off I can see my little captain’s bonny head at ten. +Home, old ‘Forty-niner’! Home’s the word!”</p> +<p>As if the thought of Jessica had put new strength +into his body Ephraim again shouldered his pack and +started forward; but he had proceeded a short +distance only when he again halted and this time +in consternation. On the road before him, where +it dipped slightly into a hollow, lay the prostrate +figure of a man, face downward in the dust; and +from the shrubbery near by came the helpless +floundering of some big animal and its occasional +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span> +cry of distress, than which there is no sound more +pitiful in all the world.</p> +<p>Away flew the pack, and Ephraim bent over the +man, gently turning him over, and crying in fresh +dismay:</p> +<p>“It’s Marty! George Cromarty, of all men, dead +as a doornail!”</p> +<p>Alas! Ephraim’s home-coming was proving anything +but the delight he had anticipated. To be +met first by the story of the trouble which had +visited Sobrante and now by this dreadful discovery +almost unnerved him; but he was a man of action +and his hand flew to Marty’s breast to feel if his +heart still beat. With the other hand he softly +brushed the dust from the rigid features and rubbed +the colorless temples. After a second or two +his face brightened, and he cried aloud, as if the +other might hear and be cheered:</p> +<p>“Well, you aren’t a dead man, after all, Marty, my +lad! But I’d give a heap, this minute, for a bit of +cold water to give you. And, Atlantic! I believe +I’m losing my wits. ’Course, he’s got it himself, +handy. All the boys carry a flask in their pockets, +even on the short ride to post, but Marty, being +teetotal, fills his with water and gets laughed at for +his notions. A mighty good notion it’ll prove for +him if it saves his life, and here goes!”</p> +<p>Raising Marty’s lean body so that his head rested +on the fallen bundle, Ephraim secured the flask, +found it full, and began to moisten the white lips; +then, cautiously, to force a few drops down the +stiffening throat. Success soon crowned his efforts +since, fortunately, the ranchman was merely +stunned, not killed, by the ugly fall he had taken +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span> +when his horse so suddenly pitched forward and +tossed him overhead against the pile of rocks.</p> +<p>For it was a horse in agony which sent that moving +appeal from the thicket near by, and as soon +as “Forty-niner” was sure that the man was recovering, +though he could not as yet speak, he +sought the poor beast and saw, to his distress, that +for it there was no respite save in death.</p> +<p>“Well, well, well! This is a bad job all round, +but better a horse than a man, and lucky for both +I came when I did. If I had a gun I’d end the +misery of one, straight off. And maybe Marty has. +I’ll look and see.”</p> +<p>Returning to the road he was greeted by a prolonged +stare from the dazed ranchman, who had, +indeed, been able to drag his body to a sitting posture, +but vainly sought to understand what had +happened.</p> +<p>Ephraim spoke to him, asking in a matter-of-fact +tone:</p> +<p>“Got a revolver with you, lad?”</p> +<p>“Eh? W-h-a-t?” returned Marty, wonder drawing +upon him at finding who his companion was. +“You––Eph?”</p> +<p>“Course. Who else! Been quite a spell since +we two met, but better late than never. Got a +pistol, I say?”</p> +<p>“What for?”</p> +<p>The sharpshooter hesitated, then gave an evasive +answer:</p> +<p>“Powerful long since I done any practicin’, and +feel like I better try my hand.”</p> +<p>At that instant there was another heavy floundering +behind the bushes and another brutish moan of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +pain. With this full consciousness came to the injured +ranchman and he tried to rise, crying in his +own distress:</p> +<p>“That’s Comanche!”</p> +<p>“Forty-niner” gravely nodded.</p> +<p>“He’s hurt?” demanded Marty, as if he defied the +answer to be affirmative.</p> +<p>Ephraim turned away his face. To them, horses +were almost as human beings, and the love of a +master for his beast was something fraternal.</p> +<p>“Help me to him,” said the ranchman, staggering +to his feet.</p> +<p>“Better not, lad. Best trust to me,” protested the +elder man.</p> +<p>“Trust––what?”</p> +<p>The look in Ephraim’s eyes was all the answer +needed to this fierce question, and Marty turned +away his own gaze as he faltered the next one:</p> +<p>“Yes, mate, but take it like a man. Better him +than you, and––give me the gun.”</p> +<p>Marty straightened and stiffened himself.</p> +<p>“Help me to him. Something’s wrong with my +legs. I’ll see for myself. If it must be, I’ll do it +for myself.”</p> +<p>The frontiersman understood the sentiment and +respected it. He had had to do a like hard duty +for his own horseflesh before that, and he had always +felt it a sort of murder. He did not look at +Marty’s face as he carefully guided his wavering +steps into the thicket and the presence of the suffering +Comanche, where one look sufficed his master.</p> +<p>“Oh, you poor fellow!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></div> +<p>For an instant the tall head stooped to the level +of the struggling animal, and a strange, expressive +look passed between the great equine eyes and the +misty ones of the man. Then Marty’s hand went +swiftly around to his pocket, there was the click +of a weapon, a flash and report, and Comanche +moved no more.</p> +<p>More shaken and ill from this deed than from his +terrible fall, Marty sat long in silence by Ephraim’s +side beneath the eucalyptus trees; then suddenly +rousing, exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Now, to find out the cause!”</p> +<p>It was not far to seek, though difficult to understand. +Of all men in that countryside, gay, big-hearted +George Cromarty had most friends and +fewest enemies. He took life lightly, merrily, with +a good word for the virtues of others and silence +for their vices; yet there before them, unmistakably +plain, was the trap that had been set for his life. +A pit had been dug across the whole width of the +road, shallow, indeed, but sufficiently deep to throw +any horse passing over it. Its top had been screened +with interlacing twigs, over which had been scattered +soil and dust enough to hide them. One who +rode with his eyes on the ground, as Antonio used, +might easily, perhaps, have discovered the fiendish +work; but he who rode with head upraised and his +gaze on the distance would ride to his ruin as Marty +had done. To make the treachery more secure, +some sprays of wild grapes had been tightly +stretched beneath the whole, and this showed a deliberation +of evil that turned Ephraim sick, but the +other man furious.</p> +<p>“Who did that will pay the price! I swear it!” +he cried.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></div> +<p>“It surely was meant for a Sobrante man, for +they’re few besides who ride this way,” answered +“Forty-niner,” thoughtfully. “And, Atlantic! Here’s +the mail pouch! Maybe ’twas robbery, pure and +simple. Was it a money day, for supplies or such?”</p> +<p>“Reckon it was. The mistress herself locked and +gave the bag to me, bidding me be careful. As if +I was ever careless; but there was one letter in +it I heard about, that the little captain wrote to +Ninian Sharp. Wrote herself, an invite to the +Christmas doings. Try it.”</p> +<p>Examination proved that the bag had been tampered +with, though the lock was a spring and now +securely fastened; but a small leather flap, intended +to cover the keyhole, had been torn from its fastenings +and lay on the ground. The pouch itself had +been flung slightly out of the way, under the bushes, +as if the trespasser had satisfied himself with and +concerning it and had no further use for it.</p> +<p>“Well, there used to be three keys to this concern. +One the mistress has; one the postmaster +keeps at the office; and the other was Antonio’s, +since he always was wanting to open and put something +extra in the bag after Mrs. Trent had done +with it. I never liked the look of that, and it’s my +opinion that it’s the very key has unlocked this +bag, if unlocked it’s been. Which is more’n likely.”</p> +<p>Cromarty’s head was again beginning to grow +dizzy, and he sat again upon the rock to recover +himself, making no answer to Ephraim’s words +than the exclamation:</p> +<p>“How am I going to get that bag to post in time?”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XI_THE_PASSING_OF_OLD_CENTURY' id='CHAPTER_XI_THE_PASSING_OF_OLD_CENTURY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>THE PASSING OF OLD CENTURY</h3> +</div> +<p>Jessica and her escort, John Benton, rode swiftly +up the canyon trail and over the brow of the mesa +toward the shepherd’s cabin; but they had not proceeded +far along the upland before a sense of the +strangeness of things oppressed them both.</p> +<p>John’s keen eye detected the neglect of the sheep, +which were still huddled in the corral, though long +past their hour for pasturage; while their bleating +expressed hunger as well as dislike of their unusual +imprisonment. But Jessica saw first the abject +attitude of the collie, Keno, who came reluctantly +to greet them with down-hanging head and +tail and a reproachful upward glance of his brown +eyes.</p> +<p>“Why, you poor doggie! What’s happened you? +You look as if you’d been beaten. Where’s your +master, good Keno? Keno, where’s Pedro?”</p> +<p>The Indian was nowhere visible, and as if he fully +understood the question, the collie answered by a +long, lugubrious whine.</p> +<p>“Something’s wrong. That’s as plain as preachin’!” +cried John, and hurried to the little house, +whose door stood open, but about which there was +no sign of life.</p> +<p>He had tossed his bridle to the captain, meaning +that if aught were amiss within she should be detained +for the present by holding the horses. However, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +she saw through this ruse, and, leaping from +Buster, swiftly hobbled both animals and ran after +the carpenter.</p> +<p>Keno kept close at her heels, the very presentment +of canine misery, and uttering at every few +steps that doleful whine which was so unusual to +him. But, arrived at the cabin, he left her and with +one bound had reached the Indian’s side, where he +still sat beside his window, his head against its casing +and his blanket––Jessica’s gift––closely wrapped +about him. He did not move when they entered, +nor respond even by objection to the collie’s frantic +blandishments, but John raised his hand for silence, +as she stood sorrowfully gazing downward upon +the face of death.</p> +<p>Yes, it was that. He had more than rounded his +century of years, he had lived uprightly, as the good +padres had taught; he had bestowed upon those he +loved the secret of great wealth, and he had gone to +keep his precious Navidad in the home of eternal +youth.</p> +<p>Jessica comprehended the truth at once, and her +eyes filled with the tears which, as yet, did not +overflow; for as she gazed upon the sleeper’s face +it filled her with amazement and something akin to +delight; and at last she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Why, how young and glad he looks! He’s even +nobler than he was when he rode away from me +last night, and I’d never seen him so dignified and +grand as he was then. It’s––it’s as if he had done +with everything is hard, like worries, and evil, and +loneliness, and––all.”</p> +<p>“Ay, lassie; he has done with all––that you or I +know aught about; and every inch a man he seems +as he sits there in the majesty of death.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></div> +<p>By then the child’s tears had begun to flow, and +she caught up Pedro’s hand with an outburst of +grief and love.</p> +<p>“Poor, poor Pedro! To have been here all alone +when it came! What shall I do without him who +was always so good, so good to me? Oh, I can’t +have it so, John! I can’t, I can’t!”</p> +<p>He was wise enough to attempt no consolation, +knowing well how small a part of her life the venerable +Indian had been and how easily youth accustoms +itself to such a loss. But, after he had allowed +her to sob for a time, he gently touched her shoulder, +and said:</p> +<p>“Come. Pedro has finished his work and has +passed it on to us. Those poor sheep must be cared +for, and somebody must ride home at once; or, +rather, should ride at once to Marion to make the +necessary arrangements. I wish–––” And he +paused in perplexity, regarding her as if in doubt +what was best to be done.</p> +<p>They left the cottage with that quiet tread which +seems natural in the presence of those whom no +sound can trouble, and, hand in hand, walked sadly +to the fold, where the penned sheep greeted them +with eager cries and restless movements.</p> +<p>“Pedro used to say they talked and he knew what +they said. I begin to believe he did, for, listen! +This sound isn’t like that other first one, which told +us they were hungry. This says: ‘I’m glad you’ve +come!’ Doesn’t it?”</p> +<p>“So it sounds to me, lassie; and I, too, am glad +we came. It’s queer, though, how set you were +on it, even against the mistress’ wish that you should +wait.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></div> +<p>“Yes, John, I had to come. I just had to. And +this is what I think: When we’ve taken care of the +sheep, we’ll lay Pedro on his bed and lock the door. +Keno will keep guard, if we tell him; though whoever +comes here, anyway? Then you must ride to +Marion to see about––about”––here, for a moment, +grief interrupted her again, but she suppressed her +tears as soon as possible and went on quite calmly––“about +what always has to be at such a time. I +remember––I remember it all when my father–––No, +no, John, I’m not going to cry again. I won’t +make bad worse, never, if I can help it. But this +I say: You ride to Marion and send word to the +mission so that a priest may come; and do all the +rest. I will ride home and the boys will come up +and fetch him to Sobrante. It must be in the little +old chapel that we never use, because my father said +he would not put to a common service a room that +had once been given to God. Pedro always loved it. +It was there he used to say his ‘devotions’ and there +he must lie––in state––isn’t that what they call it +when great folks die? Pedro was great. He had +lived so very long and he had always been so devout. +What do you say?”</p> +<p>“What do I say, little captain, but that you’ve a +long head on your young shoulders, and I’m sorry +this load of grief had to rest on it so early. More +than that; I undertook to be your guardeen to-day, +and I’ve no notion of shirking the job––even now. +I passed my word to the ‘admiral’ that I’d fetch +you home safe, and so I will. It won’t take much +longer and it’s right. Home first, and Marion afterward.”</p> +<p>“Well, maybe, that is best; and surely it is pleasantest. +I didn’t want to be selfish, but I’d rather +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span> +you stayed with me. Are you ready? Shall we +leave him just as he is?”</p> +<p>“Just so. We’ll close the window and the door, +and then––home.”</p> +<p>But it was with widely different feelings that +they cantered down the canyon from those with +which they had ridden up it, and when she saw them +returning so soon and so swiftly, Mrs. Trent went +out to meet them, saying nothing, indeed, yet asking +the question with her eyes:</p> +<p>“What trouble now?”</p> +<p>Then John told their story speedily and suggested +that some of the men ride to the mesa and attend +to what was needful. Also, repeated Jessica’s opinion +about the chapel, with which the lady instantly +agreed; then, clasping her daughter’s hand very +close, returned with her to the porch and began to +fold away her sewing.</p> +<p>But both Aunt Sally, when she came and heard +the news, and the little girl asked:</p> +<p>“Why do you put it away, mother, dear? If +Pedro is happy now, as we believe, why shouldn’t +we be, too? All the rest must have their holiday, +and I think––I think he’d like to have me look nice. +He always did.”</p> +<p>“Jessie is right, Gabriell’. Things do happen terrible +upsettin’ lately, seems to me; but by the time +you and me get to be a hundred odd, I reckon we +shan’t care a mite whether folks wear red and white +dresses or horrid humbly ones. I’m goin’ on just the +same as ever, for that’s the only way I’ll ever keep +my common senses in this spooky place. I knew +when they two started off, left hoof foremost, they +was ridin’, to trouble; and this morning my hen +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span> +chicken crowed to beat any rooster I ever heard, and +that’s a sure sign of death.”</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, don’t!” protested Mrs. Trent, glancing +anxiously at her daughter’s face. But she need +not have feared; for the child smiled back upon her, +serene and happy, despite the traces of tears that +still marked her bright eyes.</p> +<p>“It’s all right, mother, dear; and I’m thinking +how glad Pedro must be now, to have found all +those he’d so long outlived. He just went to sleep, +you see, alone, and waked up with them around +him. I think it was beautiful––beautiful; and his +last deed was to find me and to tell you how you +could grow rich if you want to. Where are the +little boys, I wonder?”</p> +<p>They presently appeared, in wild excitement, having +been at the men’s quarters when John rode +thither to impart his news and directions; yet in this +excitement was not a vestige of grief. They seemed +to feel relieved of some dread, and Ned more than +once punched Luis, whispering shrilly enough for +all to hear:</p> +<p>“We can do it now, and not get caught! Yes, +siree! We can do it now! Don’t you tell!”</p> +<p>And Luis responded by an ecstatic hug and the +customary echo:</p> +<p>“Do it now; don’t you tell! Yes, siree!”</p> +<p>John Benton had nearly covered the distance +to Marion, when he perceived two men slowly advancing +toward him along the level road. For a +moment, engrossed by thoughts of recent happenings, +he paid slight attention to the fact, though +idly wondering what strangers might be having +business, and on foot, with Sobrante, at which point +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span> +the road ended. But, as he drew nearer to them, +something familiar in the bearing of the taller man, +and startling in the appearance of the other, caused +him to shield his eyes from the sunshine and peer +critically into the distance. Then he slapped his +thigh so excitedly that his horse suddenly stopped, +reared and nearly unseated him.</p> +<p>“Oh, you idiot! Can’t a feller slap himself without +your takin’ it to heart? If I ain’t a blind man, +and maybe I am, that’s old ‘Forty-niner’ hoofing +himself home, and–––Whew! That’s Marty, +limpin’ and leanin’ alongside. Well, I ’low! More +trouble and plenty of it. Seems if all creation was +just a-happenin’ our way, blamed if it don’t. Giddap +there, Moses!”</p> +<p>In a few minutes he had reached the pedestrians +and saluted them with unfeigned astonishment, and +Ephraim with great friendliness of expression, but +also the question:</p> +<p>“What fresh calamities you two fetchin’, now?”</p> +<p>They told him, as briefly as possible, and he found +his own perplexity increased as he demanded:</p> +<p>“What in creation is to be done? Here’s Pedro +gone and died in the most unhandy place and time; +and here be you two, with not a decent leg between +you, twenty miles from home, and one horse for the +three of us!”</p> +<p>At the word “horse” poor Marty winced, as from +a personal blow, while both he and Ephraim were +greatly amazed at the news of the shepherd’s death. +They began to feel, as John had said, that “nothing +save disaster was meant for Sobrante folks;” yet, +after a moment, “Forty-niner” perceived another +side of the matter, and expressed himself thus:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span></div> +<p>“What’s got into the pack of us? Seems if we’d +lost our gumption. After all, couldn’t anything have +happened likelier, so far forth as I see. John Benton, +you light off Moses and help this man into your +saddle. He’ll ride home and I’ll walk alongside, +whilst you tramp on to Marion. There’s a mare +there, named Jean. She was offered to me, but I +was in a hurry and didn’t accept. However, the +offer is due to hold good for any of our folks. Light, +I tell you. Marty’s about played out.”</p> +<p>Indeed, the respite came none too soon. The +worst injury the gardener had sustained was, apparently, +of the head, and a terrible dizziness rendered +his progress on foot almost impossible. He +would not have been able to accomplish this much +of the journey, save for the continual help of +Ephraim, who was himself burdened with the heavy +pack and unwilling to relinquish it.</p> +<p>John stepped down and swung his fellow ranchman +up to Moses’ back; then placed the bundle before +the rider, turned the animal’s head toward +Sobrante, and chirruped:</p> +<p>“Giddap! Home’s the word!”</p> +<p>Moses needed no second urging, but was off at a +gallop, leaving the others to discuss the situation +a bit further, and Ephraim to follow at his leisure.</p> +<p>There was little more to be said, however, and +soon each was pursuing diverging routes and each +at his swiftest pace.</p> +<p>At Marion, John had the mail pouch unlocked and +examined, and was satisfied that some letters had +been tampered with. These contained orders for +house supplies and had been accompanied by checks, +as was evident from the wording of the orders. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +checks had been removed, and this fact proved to +the carpenter that the hand of Antonio Bernal was +in the matter, because the late manager might indorse +them without arousing the bank’s suspicion, +as nobody else could.</p> +<p>Yet there was one thing he did not mention, even +to the postmaster; and that was the package which +Jessica’s letter to Ninian Sharp had spoken of. This +had disappeared entirely. The fact troubled him +more than the loss of the checks, for he could +stop the payment of these, but whether the little +captain had sent the whole of their only specimen of +the copper to her city friend or not was a serious +question.</p> +<p>However, he did what he could; and almost for +the first time in his life used the telegraph as well +as the post. To pay for his long and rather ambiguous +messages he borrowed money of the mystified +Aleck McLeod; and the local operator found +himself busier than he had ever been since the +establishment of the office.</p> +<p>The other sad business that had brought him to +the town was also transacted; and by the time +all was arranged John was very glad to avail himself +of Jean’s services, slow though she was. Upon +her sedate back he arrived at Sobrante, just as the +sun was setting, and found that the household had +temporarily forgotten their grief for Pedro in their +rejoicing over Ephraim.</p> +<p>“It’s an up and a down in this world,” quoth +Aunt Sally, spreading and admiring the brilliant +bits of calico which “Forty-niner” had given her. +“Life ain’t all catnip anyway you stew it. Them +that laugh in the morning gen’ally cry before night, +and vicy-versy. But, Gabriella, do, for goodness’ +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +sake, just fetch out that queer kind of stick that old +Indian made a sort of graven image of and show it +to Mr. Ma’sh. It’s a curiosity, being so old, if it +ain’t no more. Worth cherishin’, anyhow, ’count of +him that give it. I always did admire keepsakes of +the departed.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent smiled, though sadly, and Jessica +asked:</p> +<p>“May I get it, mother?”</p> +<p>“Surely. For safety I put it on the top of the +tallest bookcase, behind the files of newspapers. +You’ll likely have to take the little library ladder +to reach it; and when you’ve shown it, put it back in +exactly the same spot. It’s doubly valuable now, +and could not be replaced.”</p> +<p>The little captain had scarcely once relinquished +the hand of her beloved sharpshooter, since he appeared +before them all, and now led him, as if he +were another happy playmate, to the designated +place. But when she had reached it, mounted the +ladder and carefully felt all over the top of the +case, even moving the files in order to examine it +the better, she could not find the metal-pointed staff.</p> +<p>Standing on the floor beneath, Ephraim watched +her face growing sober and disappointed, as she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“It’s gone! It’s completely gone!”</p> +<p>“It has, dearie? Well, maybe your mother forgot +and put it somewhere else. The likeliest thing in +the world to happen, with her mind so upset as it +has been. We’ll go back and ask her. Don’t fret. +Probably it wasn’t of much account, anyway.”</p> +<p>“Oh! but, dear Ephraim, it was! It could point +the way to our big fortune that’s to be dug out of +the ground!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span></div> +<p>“What? What is that you say, child? Nonsense. +We don’t live in the days of witchcraft, and that’s +what such a performance would mean.”</p> +<p>Yet when they had returned to Mrs. Trent and +related their misadventure he was startled by hearing +that sensible woman tragically exclaim, in contradiction +to his own assertion:</p> +<p>“Lost! Then Sobrante is certainly bewitched!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XII_THE_REBELLION_OF_THE_LADS' id='CHAPTER_XII_THE_REBELLION_OF_THE_LADS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>THE REBELLION OF THE LADS</h3> +</div> +<p>“Thank my stars, I haven’t lost my faculty of +doing two things to once, nor seein’ a dozen!” cried +Aunt Sally, as if in response to Mrs. Trent’s exclamation. +Then she rose so hastily that her beloved +“pieces” fell on the floor and her spectacles +slid from the end of her nose, their habitual resting +place. “There never was witches on this ranch +before, and I reckon I can deal with a few of them +that’s here now. Edward Trent, Luis Garcia! +Where you goin’ at? Hey? Hear me? Come +right straight back to me this minute, if you know +what’s good for yourselves!”</p> +<p>All were surprised by this outburst and awaited +its result with curiosity.</p> +<p>The two little boys had been suspiciously quiet +on the farther end of that long porch where the +household practically lived. Mrs. Trent had glanced +their way, occasionally, but supposed them to be +engrossed by the patent whistle and top which had +been found in Ephraim’s pack, neatly marked with +their respective names. Yet one could not eat tops +nor whistles, and their elbows had been seen, from +the rear, to move in a suggestive manner.</p> +<p>“They’re eatin’ somethin’ all this time. I wonder +what!” had been Mrs. Benton’s private reflection. +But when Jessica came back with her report of the +lost wand, the elbow action had suddenly ceased; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span> +and, after what appeared to be a brief whispered +consultation, they had slunk away down the path, +Ned trying to help Luis hide something within his +blouse, though not, apparently, succeeding.</p> +<p>At the sound of Aunt Sally’s voice, indeed, they +dropped the box they had been secreting and burst +into a paroxysm of giggling, as was their customary +receipt of her chiding. The giggle was always destined +to end in tears, but this never prevented its +recurrence.</p> +<p>“Neddy Trent! If that bad little Garcia boy is +doing wrong, it’s no need you should be naughty, +too. Come back here and show poor auntie what +you’ve got in your blouses.”</p> +<p>Wheedling had no more effect than scolding, for +with one hug of each other’s necks, the children +scampered onward, leaving their spoils behind +them.</p> +<p>Then Jessica followed to see what this might be, +and exclaimed, in some surprise:</p> +<p>“Candy! Where did it come from?”</p> +<p>Now, it happened that such sweets, except of +homemade manufacture and on rare occasions, +were forbidden the lads, because they were always +made ill by them. That is, Luis suffered and Ned +was not allowed anything his playmate could not +share. All the ranchmen knew Mrs. Trent’s wishes +on the subject and heretofore none had ever gone +against them. Who had done it now?</p> +<p>Of course, suspicion instantly pointed to “Forty-niner,” +who indignantly denied that he had brought, +or even thought of bringing, anything home which +his beloved mistress did not wish there.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span></div> +<p>“Doesn’t anybody trust me any more about anything?” +he concluded, wistfully.</p> +<p>The accusation had come from Mrs. Benton, but +Gabriella hastened to soothe the sharpshooter, +saying:</p> +<p>“We’re making mountains out of mole hills, I +fear. There, Aunt Sally, never mind. They have +left so much behind them on the path that they +can hardly have eaten enough to harm them, anyway. +Let them go, please.”</p> +<p>But the good woman would not drop the subject. +Her sharp eyes had not been given her for nothing, +and her son always asserted that if his mother had +been a man she would have made a first-class detective. +Panting and puffing in her haste and +curiosity, she hurried to the spilled confections and +carefully picked them up; then returned to the +porch, significantly holding forth, upon her palm, a +specimen of what she had discovered.</p> +<p>“Needn’t tell me I didn’t smell peppymint! Them’s +them peppymint rounds with chocolate outsides +that I never seen nobody eat, on this ranch, ’cept +Antonio Bernal. They ain’t kept in the store to +Marion, and the storekeeper used to send for ’em to +Los Angeles, ’specially for his one customer. I +know, Antonio offered me some, time and again, on +my other visits, but I always thanked him polite +and said no. I never did lay out to eat a snake’s +victuals, and that’s what his’n was.”</p> +<p>“Oh, what a woman you are, Aunt Sally!” laughed +Ephraim.</p> +<p>“Thank you. I hope I be; enough of one, anyhow, +to see through a millstone, when there’s a hole in +it. But you’ve come back so peart and sassy, sharpshooter, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span> +I reckon I best go steep you a fresh dose +of picra. After I’ve learnt all them tackers can tell.”</p> +<p>“Please, don’t be stern with them, Aunt Sally,” +protested the mother. “Whatever they’ve done is +but natural. It would be too much to expect them +to refuse such a treat if it were offered them, and, +maybe, John brought it to them.”</p> +<p>“John? My boy, John? After the raisin’ he had! +Well, you’re on the wrong track there and I’m on +the right one. Antonio Bernal, or some feller sneak +of his, has been here at Sobrante, and you needn’t +touch to tell me he hasn’t. Wait; I’ll find out now!” +she ended, in triumph, and again the others were +obliged to laugh, though Mrs. Trent’s brief mirth +closed with a sigh, which Jessica heard and understood.</p> +<p>“Oh! don’t you fear, mother, dear. Aunt Sally +wouldn’t hurt either of them, really; and, indeed, +I don’t know who would keep them in order if she +didn’t try. What mischief one can’t think of the +other does, and I’ll run after her and see the thing +out. Who knows but that they can tell us something +about the missing staff?”</p> +<p>The runaways had made a detour by way of the +kitchen, and adjoining the kitchen was the “cold +closet,” which was the refuge they sought, and +where already were stored some of the Christmas +goodies. This closet had but one door and a securely +shuttered window, and once the door was gained by +the pursuer she would have the small miscreants in +a trap. This she had seen and this it was which had +given her that triumphant expression.</p> +<p>The captain also gained the pantry door just after +it had closed behind Mrs. Benton and her prisoners, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +and to her repeated request to be admitted, received the +enigmatical answer:</p> +<p>“Time enough when I’ve pumped these little cisterns +dry.”</p> +<p>“Are the children in there with you?”</p> +<p>“Certain.”</p> +<p>“You won’t hurt them, will you? Please don’t punish +them to-day. I can’t bear it.”</p> +<p>To which the grim jailer responded:</p> +<p>“You go along back to ‘Forty-niner,’ Jessie darlin, +and be happy. We’re all mighty comfortable in here +and lots of good victuals, if so be we get hungry. +Plenty to drink, too, for I just brought in a crock of +fresh water to cool my eggs in. I’ve got my knittin’ +work and am as happy as an oyster. Go back, for +I ain’t ready to talk yet. When I am I’ll come out +and bring these naughty children with me.”</p> +<p>So Jessica returned to her old friend’s side; and +in listening to his talk about the hospital and the +friends she had made there for herself, as well as +about Mr. Ninian Sharp and the lawyer, Morris +Hale, the evening quickly passed and bedtime came.</p> +<p>When the ranch mistress rose to say good-night, +she went to the still closed door of the closet, and +asked:</p> +<p>“Aren’t you coming out now, Aunt Sally?”</p> +<p>The old lady opened the door and pointed complacently +to a distant corner of the roomy apartment +where, upon a pile of soft blankets that had +been stored within, lay the two little boys, sound +asleep and the picture of innocent comfort.</p> +<p>“There, Gabriella, you see they’re all right. I +wouldn’t hurt a hair of their bonny heads, not for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +another ranch as fine as this one. But here them +and me stay till I worm the truth out of ’em about +that candy and that magic staff. Where that candy +come from that there staff has gone. You hear me +and believe me. Oh, I know what I know! Good-night. +Don’t you worry. Me and them is all right, +as I said, and my head’s level. I went to sleep +a-watchin’ t’other time, but I shan’t this. There’s +more in my mind than nonsense. This chair is as +comfortable as a lounge. I slipped out and got it +from the settin’-room when you all was talkin’ so +lively, just now, and we’re fixed. I may come out +before daylight and I may stay till doomsday; but +come I shan’t a single step, not to please even you +for whom I’d do and dare a good deal, and don’t you +doubt it, but when my mind is sot it’s sot, and sot +it is this minute, an don’t you dast to let on to John +Benton, or that sassy boy’d plague the very life out +of me, and you go right along to your own bed and +take Jessie with you, and–––”</p> +<p>But Mrs. Trent stayed to hear no more. When +Aunt Sally got started on such a harangue as this, +exhaustion of breath was her only limit. The lady +did not anticipate more than an hour’s further imprisonment +of the children, if so long, and was sure +that they would be even tenderly cared for, no matter +what their misdemeanors, if she did not herself +interfere. Yet daylight came and found the odd +trio still behind that closed door, and it opened only +at breakfast time; when, leading two very penitent-looking +small boys and herself wearing the air of +a Roman conqueror, Mrs. Benton emerged from her +seclusion upon an expectant household.</p> +<p>“Well, Aunt Sally, haven’t you ‘wormed’ them, as +you promised? Poor little tackers! they’ve lost +their pride and spirit, and I love them. Come to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +sister, darlings, and get your morning hugs!” cried +Jessica, as they appeared. Ephraim, close at hand, +winked at them solemnly and held up behind Mrs. +Benton’s back two most alluring marbles. But they +did not wink in response, nor give more than a furtive +smile, as they reluctantly dragged along under +their guardian’s forcible guidance. Her route was +direct to the watering trough where, without ado, +she promptly stripped, bathed and rubbed dry, each +shivering little figure. Then she reclothed and led +them back to the kitchen, placing them in high +chairs beside the big deal table, while she proceeded +to cook their oatmeal and serve it to them, with a +bad-as-you-are-you-shan’t-starve sort of air which +would have amused Jessica, had she not so heartily +pitied her playmates.</p> +<p>After a time she could endure the sight no longer, +but sped to Ned’s chair and clasped him fondly in +her arms.</p> +<p>“What is the matter, brotherkin? Tell sister, do. +Is it nothing but that miserable candy? What else +have you done to make auntie so angry with you?”</p> +<p>Ned’s bosom heaved and a mighty sob burst forth. +But he instantly repressed this sign of weakness, +though unfortunately, not soon enough to prevent +Luis from echoing it with redoubled intensity.</p> +<p>Now nothing so quickly restores the self-possession, +even of grown-ups, as the sight of another’s +collapse; and no sooner had Luis given vent +to his emotion than Ned’s spirit returned to him. +Throwing back his pretty head, with an air of unconquerable +resolution, he reached forth and pounded +his mate smartly on the back.</p> +<p>“You, Luis Garcia, what you crying for? Isn’t +none of your staffs, anyway.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></div> +<p>“Ain’t my old staffs, ain’t,” sobbed the “echo,” for +such he was often nicknamed.</p> +<p>“Then you needn’t cry, you needn’t. I ain’t crying, +I ain’t. Hate old Aunt Sally. Hate ’Tonio. Hate +Ferd. Hate everybody. Give me my breakfast, old +Aunt Sally Benton!”</p> +<p>“Hate Bentons!” agreed Luis, and flung his arms +about his little tyrant’s throat till he choked from +outward expression whatever more might have +issued thence.</p> +<p>“Ned! Why, Ned! I never, never knew you so +naughty! Do tell me; what has happened?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton glared at the culprit over her down-dropped +spectacles in a truly formidable manner, +but the result was only a settled stubbornness which +nothing moved.</p> +<p>Seeing that pleading was hopeless, at present, +and that Ned was in one of his dogged fits, Jessica +quietly walked away and began to help in the preparation +of the elder people’s meal, as her mother +liked to have her do.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Aunt Sally waited upon the children, +piling their saucers with the tasty porridge, moistened +with Blandina’s yellow cream and plentifully +sprinkled with sugar. They were healthy and unused +to grief, and the palatable food soon restored +their good humor. They seemed to forgive their +venerable tormentor and fell to their accustomed +scrimmage with the utmost enjoyment; and this +was pleasanter for all concerned. However, even +when they had eaten all they could and were ready +for outdoors and their morning fun, their plans were +nipped in the bud. Aunt Sally had a spare hand for +each of them and conducted them firmly to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +dining room and a place upon its lounge, while the +family took their own food in what comfort they +could.</p> +<p>This was not so great Mrs. Trent’s eyes would +wander to the unhappy pair––for they were once +more gloomy and unsubdued––and old Ephraim cast +many glances thither, entreating by silent signals +that they should repent of whatever sin they had +committed and be restored to favor.</p> +<p>The meal past the family rose and, from her +pocket, Mrs. Benton produced two long strips of +cloth, one of which she fastened about each child’s +wrist, leaving its other end to tie to her own apron +belt.</p> +<p>Then she turned to the mother, whose tears were +beginning to fall, and said, severely:</p> +<p>“Gabriella, if I didn’t love you as well as I love +myself and better, I’d let these children go and no +more said. But they’ve done that no punishin’ won’t +reach, though maybe they’ll give in after a spell. +I shan’t hurt ’em nor touch to; but I shall keep +’em tied to me till they tell me what I’m bound to +know. So that’s all. You’ve got enough on your +hands, with this funeral business and all that’ll +come, and however we’re goin’ to feed another lot +of visitors so soon after them others, I declare I +don’t see. And me with these tackers tied to my +apron strings, the way they be!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent rose and left the room and Jessica +slowly followed. Neither of them could quite understand +Aunt Sally’s present behavior, nor why she +should wish to bother herself with two such hindrances +to the labor which must be accomplished.</p> +<p>But Ephraim lingered. He simply could not endure +the sight of the little ones’ unhappiness, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span> +quietly slipping a knife from his pocket he coolly +cut their leading strings, caught them up in his +strong arms and limped away before their captor +had discovered her loss.</p> +<p>But he put his head back inside the doorway to +call out, reassuringly:</p> +<p>“Begging pardon, Mrs. Benton, I’ll ‘spell’ you on +the ‘worming out’ business and promise they shan’t +leave my care till I hand ’em back to you thoroughly +‘pumped.’ Come along, laddies. I’ve a mind to visit +every spot on this blessed ranch and––upon one +condition––I’ve a mind to take you with me. Want +to hear?”</p> +<p>“Yes. What is it?” demanded Ned, already very +happy at the exchange of jailers.</p> +<p>“Only that you must explain what all this row +and rumpus is about with Aunt Sally.”</p> +<p>Standing at the top of the steps, with one foot +outstretched, old “Forty-niner” paused and steadily +regarded the small face above his shoulder.</p> +<p>Ned returned the gaze with equal steadfastness, +as if he were pondering in his troubled mind the +best course to pursue. Then, because he might think +more clearly so, he lifted his serious gaze to the +distance; and, at once, there burst from his quivering +lips a cry of fear:</p> +<p>“Oh, I see him! I see him! He’s coming, like he +said––to kill me––to kill me! I dassent––I dassent!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIII_NEDS_STORY' id='CHAPTER_XIII_NEDS_STORY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<h3>NED’S STORY</h3> +</div> +<p>“Eels couldn’t have done that slicker!” commented +Ephraim, in surprise. For, behold! his arms +were empty and the flash of twinkling legs along +the garden path pointed whither his charges had +fled. “Here they were and here they aren’t, and +whatever scared them that way is more than I can +see.”</p> +<p>Indeed, though he shaded his eyes with his hand +and made a prolonged examination of the outlook, +nothing different from ordinary was visible; and, +after a moment’s reflection, he sought Aunt Sally +and reported:</p> +<p>“Well, Mrs. Benton, I ’low I’m doomed to that +dose of picra, for I––I––– You see–––”</p> +<p>“Ephraim Ma’sh, where’s them children?”</p> +<p>“That’s just exactly what I’d like to know myself, +neighbor.”</p> +<p>“Huh! You needn’t go ‘neighborin’’ me, if that’s +all you’re worth. Tryin’ fool capers like a boy, ain’t +you? Think it was terr’ble clever to cut strings that +I’d took the trouble to tie and then settin’ them +youngsters free. Well, all I have to say is that +you’ve done more harm than you can undo in a +hurry, and that’s the true word,” retorted the indignant +matron, beating a bowlful of eggs as she would +have enjoyed beating him just then.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span></div> +<p>Ephraim crossed the kitchen and laid one hand on +her shoulder, saying:</p> +<p>“Come, Sally, let’s quit chasing about the bush. +There’s something more in this nonsense than appears, +and if you’re a true and loyal friend to this +family I’m another as good. Two heads are better +than one, you know–––”</p> +<p>“Even if one belongs to a silly old feller like you? +H’m Ephraim, you’re right! There is somethin’ +more’n shows outside. That candy was a bait, a +trap, a lure, a––anything you choose; and I do hope +the little fellers are safer’n I fear they be. If I catch +’em again, for their good–––My suz! Here +they’re comin’ back of their own free will and wonder +ain’t ceased!”</p> +<p>Indeed, as swiftly as they had scampered away, +the lads were returning and burst into the kitchen, +crying with what little breath they had left:</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, lock me up! Lock us up tight! +Quick––quick! I seen him! He’ll do it! My mother +says Antonio always does do things, he does! +Quick, quick!”</p> +<p>“Lock up, quick!”</p> +<p>Ned and the echo swung round behind the +matron’s capacious person and rolled themselves in +the folds of her full skirt, which performance hid +them from the view of anyone outside and as effectually +interfered with her movements.</p> +<p>But she had now caught something of their excitement, +and their appeal to her protection had +promptly banished her last trace of anger against +them.</p> +<p>“So I will, lambies, so I will. You just keep on a +steppin’ backwards and I’ll do it, too, and first we +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span> +know we’ll get to that nice pantry where we stayed +last night. I’ve got the key to that, even if ’tis +rusty from not bein’ often used, and I’ll defy anybody +to get it away from me.”</p> +<p>Still beating her eggs as if nothing uncommon +were happening, the housewife retreated toward +the door in question, and slipping one hand behind +her opened it without turning her head. She was instantly +relieved of the drag upon her skirts, and +quietly shut the door again upon her self-imprisoned +charges. Then she drew a long breath, and +exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Well, sharpshooter, what do you think of that?”</p> +<p>“Looks as if you couldn’t have been so very hard +on them, else they’d never come back.”</p> +<p>“I ain’t a-flatterin’ myself. That was a ‘Hobson’s +choice.’ But–––”</p> +<p>“But they must have been badly frightened to +have done it.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Ephraim, they are, and I am. I’m so stirred +up I don’t know whether I’ve beat these eggs all one +way, like I ought, or forty-’leven different ones, +like I ought not. I’m flustered. I’m completely +flustered, and that ain’t often my case.”</p> +<p>“Picra!” sympathetically suggested the old man.</p> +<p>Aunt Sally’s eyes snapped, and she smiled grimly, +as she retorted:</p> +<p>“Picra’s good for them ’at need it. That’s you, +not me. It ain’t a medicine for in’ards so much as +’tis for out’ards. I mean, it’s better for the body +than ’tis for the mind, and it’s my mind that’s ailin’ +me! Besides, doctors never take their own doses.”</p> +<p>“You know it yourself! I thought your mind was +failing you, but–––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span></div> +<p>“No such thing. I said, or I meant to say, I was +troubled in it. That’s all; and if you’re a mite of a +man you’ll try and help me unravel this tangle and +quit foolin’. Just step into that closet with me and +maybe the tackers’ll tell you themselves. I’d rather +you heard it first hand, anyway.”</p> +<p>Wun Lung, sifting flour in one part of the kitchen, +and Pasqual scrubbing a kneading board at the sink, +both paused and eyed the strange proceedings with +curiosity if not displeasure; for not only had the +children been bestowed within the “cold closet,” but +Aunt Sally and Ephraim had, also, followed and +locked themselves out of sight and hearing.</p> +<p>The pantry was absolutely dark, until Mrs. Benton +found a candle and lighted it; then she pointed +to the chair she had occupied during the night, +mutely inviting “Forty-niner” to be seated. He +declined the proffered courtesy, so she sat down +herself, and it amused him that she had not once +stopped that monotonous whisking of the eggs, +though by this time the dish was heaped with their +frothy substance.</p> +<p>“The cake you make of them should be light +enough,” he remarked, with a smile.</p> +<p>“You’re right. There’s such a thing as overbeatin’––everything. +Well, laddies, we’re all back in here +together again, and auntie wants you to tell Mr. +Ma’sh where you got that candy; who give it to +you; what for; where you saw that sneaky snake, +Antonio Bernal; what you’ve done with the staff +wand; and all the rest of it? ‘Forty-niner’ is a man +and a gentleman–––”</p> +<p>“Here the sharpshooter bowed profoundly, acknowledging +the compliment with a humorous expression; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span> +but the matron continued as if she had not +observed him:</p> +<p>“You see, I know all about it, even if you wouldn’t +tell. I’m one has eyes on the back of my head and +on its top, too, I tell you, so you needn’t try to think +I don’t see what’s going on, for I do.”</p> +<p>The faces of her small listeners showed utter +amazement; then with one of his flashlike movements +Ned sprang to the back of her chair and +passed his hand rapidly all over her gray curls.</p> +<p>“Where are they, Aunt Sally? I can’t find ’em. I +never saw ’em in all my life, and do––do, please, +show them to me!” he implored.</p> +<p>Luis scrambled up the other side, and echoed:</p> +<p>“Never show ’em in m’life!”</p> +<p>“That’s all right. I don’t keep ’em in exhibition, +but they’re there all the same.”</p> +<p>“Sally Benton!” expostulated Ephraim. “Don’t +tell them wrong stories.”</p> +<p>“But it isn’t a wrong story; it’s a right one. If +they’re not real, actual eyes, there’s something in my +head takes their place. Might as well say ‘eyes’ +as ‘brains,’ I judge. But, be you going to answer, +Edward Trent? I’ve got a prime lot of cookin’ to +do again, and no time to waste. ’Cause if you ain’t +I’ll just take Mr. Ma’sh with me and lock you shavers +in here alone, where you’ll be safe, but sort of +homesick. I shan’t leave no candle burnin’, for you +to set the house afire with. So you best tell, right +away, and then be let out to have a good time.”</p> +<p>Luis began to whisper, and beg:</p> +<p>“Tell her, Ned. Tell her. I hate the dark––I do, +I do!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></div> +<p>Ned hesitated but a moment longer. He loved his +playmate as his own soul, and it altered nothing of +this childish David-and-Jonathan friendship that it +was as full of fight as of affection. Patting Luis’ +shoulder, he cried:</p> +<p>“’Course I’ll tell, though if she knows it all +a’ready–––”</p> +<p>“But I don’t know it, Ned. She wants you to tell +me. I’m one of us, you see––just we four,” interposed +the sharpshooter, hastily.</p> +<p>“Well––well––well, ’tisn’t anyhow. Only I saw––I––saw–––”</p> +<p>Here the child paused and peered cautiously +about.</p> +<p>Mr. Marsh promptly sat down upon the boards +and motioned the lads to come to him, and when +they had done so, closed his arms around them, with +a comforting pressure, saying:</p> +<p>“There now! We’re as snug as bugs in a rug, and +nobody in the wide world dare harm you. Hurry up +and talk fast, or you and I will never get a taste of +that fine poundcake Aunt Sally wants to make.”</p> +<p>Another moment of hesitation, and then came +Ned’s triumphant statement:</p> +<p>“’Twasn’t no ghost, anyhow.”</p> +<p>“Of course it wasn’t,” answered “Forty-niner,” +promptly agreeing, but considerably puzzled. He +had not, as yet, heard from any of the others about +the “vision” which Mrs. Benton had seen beside the +window.</p> +<p>“’Twasn’t nobody but ’Tonio himself.”</p> +<p>“That’s exactly what I thought,” he again agreed, +and encouragingly patted the boy’s hand.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span></div> +<p>“And he come––and he come––and he gave us +one––two boxes of that nice, nice candy; and all +we gave him was Pedro’s old stick!”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally’s egg beater fell to the floor unheeded, +this time she really put her spectacles in their +proper place and stared through them at the +narrator.</p> +<p>Ned warmed to his task and Luis cuddled beside +him, complacently adding his affirmative “Yep,” at +fitting intervals.</p> +<p>“And so he said it wasn’t nothin’. And so––and +so––I fell offen the bookcase and made a noise; and +my mother didn’t hear it ’cause she was asleep. Me +and Luis was asleep, wasn’t we, Luis?”</p> +<p>“Yep. Sleep.”</p> +<p>“And he waked us up through the window–––”</p> +<p>“Waked froo winder, yep.”</p> +<p>“And said: ‘Go get that pointed stick, Ned Trent, +and I’ll give you a dollar.’ Didn’t he?”</p> +<p>“Gimme dollar. Didn’t gimme dollar. What’s a +dollar?” asked the echo.</p> +<p>Ned went on, unheeding:</p> +<p>“And I said no. ’Twasn’t my stick; ’twas my +mother’s.”</p> +<p>“Oh! Neddy, Neddy! if you’d only stuck to that!” +groaned Mrs. Benton, wiping her face with her +apron.</p> +<p>But being now fairly launched upon his narrative, +and also feeling wholly secure within the shelter of +“Forty-niner’s” arms, Ned paused no more till he +had completed it:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></div> +<p>“And then he gave us the candy, ’cause I didn’t +want dollars. You can’t eat dollars, can you? And +the candy was like the kind my mother never gives, +and just for an old stick was older than Pedro. Huh! +And then he––he––he made me put my hand on the +top of my head–––”</p> +<p>“Hands on tops of heads!” cried the echo, dramatically.</p> +<p>“And swore a swore I’d never, never, honest +Injun, tell a single tell, else he’d––he’d kill me! Kill +me right straight down dead! And now I have and +he will, and I forgot and you made me! I hate you, +I hate you! And won’t you feel bad when I’m all +deaded and you you done it, ’stead of him––and––and–––”</p> +<p>The sense of security had fled instantly, and completely. +The memory of Antonio’s dark face as he +had stood threateningly before the little fellow, at +midnight by the window, returned with all its vivid, +terrorizing power. Springing to the farthest reach of +the room Ned crouched there, wide-eyed and trembling, +and, of course, Luis followed his example.</p> +<p>To “Forty-niner’s” reassuring words, and to Mrs. +Benton’s cajoling ones, neither child paid any +further heed. They had been trained to believe that +their promised word was the most sacred of all +things, and now they had not only been induced to +break that, but to break it in the face of Antonio +Bernal’s terrible threat.</p> +<p>The elders left them to themselves and regarded +one another with regretful eyes. Then Aunt Sally +repeated in detail all that there was to tell concerning +the curious wand which had pointed the way +to wealth; and now Ephraim listened in vast respect. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span> +On the first recital, so hurriedly given by +Jessica, and when she had run to get the staff, he +had thought of the matter as one of the shepherd’s +“pious mummeries.” It now assumed a graver +aspect. The lost staff might possess some magnetic +quality which was invaluable, as Old Century +believed; but beyond all that was the uncomfortable +reflection that Antonio Bernal was somewhere in +hiding about Sobrante, and that doubtless it had +been he, or his emissary, who had tampered with the +mail pouch and caused Marty’s disaster.</p> +<p>“Well, a man that hides must have somethin’ to +be ashamed of. And I believe every single word that +child has told,” said Aunt Sally, in conclusion of her +long harangue.</p> +<p>“H’m! I thought that ‘snake’ had had his fang extracted +down there at Los Angeles; but it seems he’s +the sort can grow a new one, when needed. Well, +I’m powerful glad I’m home again. It takes a lot of +honest men to keep watch of one thief, and I’ll +prove handy. I’m off. I leave the lads with you. I’m +going to find out three things: How Ferd, the +dwarf, managed to break jail that night and leave +no sign; who robbed that mail pouch; and where +Antonio Bernal is at this precious minute.”</p> +<p>“Here, at your service, amigo!” cried a mocking +voice, outside the shuttered window. A voice that +all recognized at once as belonging to the late manager; +yet, when Ephraim had hastily run out and +around to that side of the house, there was nobody +within sight; and nothing to be heard save the +series of terrified shrieks which issued from the +room he had left.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIV_TAKING_THE_DOCTORS_ADVICE' id='CHAPTER_XIV_TAKING_THE_DOCTORS_ADVICE'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>TAKING THE DOCTOR’S ADVICE</h3> +</div> +<p>For almost the first time in his life Ninian Sharp +was under the doctor’s hands; and that gentleman’s +verdict upon his patient’s case was simple and plain:</p> +<p>“Nothing the matter with you but breakdown. +The result of doing two men’s work instead of one. +What you need, and all you need, is a complete +change of thought and scene. Go off on some +ranch and take a vacation. That’s your medicine.”</p> +<p>“Thank you, doctor, but a prescription upon the +nearest drug store would be easier to fill. In the +first place I should worry all the time if I were idle, +for ‘hustling’ has become my second nature. In +the second––where shall I go?”</p> +<p>The physician shrugged his shoulders. He, also, +was a busy man and having finished his visit to his +patient did not prolong it. He picked up his hat, +remarked that he “didn’t doubt so clever a young +man could find a fitting place, if he gave what was +left of his mind to it,” and bowed himself out, leaving +the leaven of his sensible advice to accomplish +its legitimate result.</p> +<p>As the doctor left the room the nurse entered, +bearing with her a telegram which had been delayed +en route, and a letter. It was with some reluctance +that she delivered these to the man on the lounge, +yet realizing, at the same time, how much worse for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span> +him was absolute cessation of all his ordinary interests. +With a solicitous smile, she inquired:</p> +<p>“Would you not better let me read these first? +They are probably unimportant.”</p> +<p>“Thank you, no. I’m not yet reduced to imbecility +and prefer to examine my own correspondence,” +returned the invalid, fretfully. Then as if ashamed +of his petulance, and with a return to his ordinary +manner, added: “This telegram might as well have +walked. Would have saved time, judging by the +date of it; and as for this letter––that, certainly, has +seen better days.”</p> +<p>The nurse smiled again, indulgently, and busied +herself in tidying the apartment; an occupation +which would have incensed Ninian, since her idea +of neatness seemed to him to be but the “disarrangement” +of the heaps of papers and manuscript +sheets scattered everywhere about, had he not been +otherwise interested. A hasty examination of the +messages he had received evoked his exultant exclamation:</p> +<p>“Hurrah! The very thing!”</p> +<p>“Good news?” asked the attendant.</p> +<p>“The best in the world. The doctor’s prescription, +filled to the letter. A ranch and new business. +Say, would you mind going out for a bit? I’d like +to get into some other togs and in a hurry. If I +can, I’ll make the one o’clock train.”</p> +<p>“The––one o’clock train!” gasped the bewildered +nurse, believing that her charge’s brain had given +away, even as the physician had suggested it +might do.</p> +<p>“Exactly. Please don’t be alarmed. Some country +friends of mine have invited me to visit them, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span> +I judge they would be glad if I accepted at once. +Their invitation fits in excellently with my own +needs and, after I’ve dressed for the trip, I’d be +grateful to you for packing a few things, while I +write to the bank and telephone to some other +places. Just touch that messenger call, will you, +please?”</p> +<p>Certainly, he did not now look very like a sick +man, as he sprang up and looked about him; save +that he put his hand to his head because of a momentary +dizziness and seemed somewhat unsteady +on his feet. However, his eyes had lost their dullness +and a faint color had come into his cheeks; and +the attendant saw no reason for opposing his sudden +determination.</p> +<p>The letter was Jessica’s, and its envelope had been +mended by the postmaster after he had taken it, +torn, from the mail pouch. The telegram was from +Ephraim Marsh, and had been sent by the first +messenger to Marion after that scene in the pantry +with Aunt Sally and the little boys. It had been +delayed by the curiosity of the operator, but had +reached Mr. Sharp at last; and its import was that:</p> +<p>“If you’re willing to use your brains for Sobrante +folks, as you used them once before, now’s the time. +There’ll be a led horse at Marion till you come, and +the sooner the better. ‘Forty-niner.’”</p> +<p>“A led horse. Why, he must have forgotten, if +he ever knew, that I’ve my own Nimrod here, that +Mrs. Trent insisted upon my accepting, when I left +Sobrante before. The horse must go with me, of +course, and I flatter myself I can pick up a bit of +instruction on riding among those fine ‘boys’ of the +little captain’s. I’ll send a return message––no, I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +won’t, either. I’ll trust to luck and surprise them. +Now to get ready.”</p> +<p>A feeling that he was going “home” possessed +the young man, and all his simple preparations +strengthened rather than weakened him. Activity +was his habit, and an hour before the train left the +city he had completed his personal arrangements +with his office, his bank and his landlord. He had +paid his nurse the same salary she would have received +had he required her services for the fortnight, +as expected, and was ready for what came next.</p> +<p>“I feel as if I were entering upon a new life, instead +of taking a rest cure,” he remarked to Mr. Hale, +when that gentleman met him at the station, and +explained that a Christmas invitation had come for +himself, also. “And I say we’ll make it the jolliest +holiday those people down there ever knew. I sent +a letter to your address, after I ’phoned, and made +out a list of things I’d like you to see to. Presents +and so on; and I’ll write as soon as I get there and +let you know what’s up with the sharpshooter. +Some trouble, of course, but reckon it can’t be +much. Ha! we’re off. Good-by. Forget nothing, +add as much as you please to my list and send the +bills to me. Good-by.”</p> +<p>The train rolled noiselessly away from the long +platform, and the reporter for the Lancet stowed +himself comfortably away on his cushions and slept +as he had not slept before since this nervous illness +attacked him. Not once did he awake, till the conductor +touched him on the shoulder, and stated:</p> +<p>“End of the line, sir. Time to leave.”</p> +<p>Ninian sat up and shook himself, still feeling a +bit dazed from his heavy slumber, and had scarcely +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span> +realized the fact of his arrival before a man limped +into the car and slapped him on the shoulder.</p> +<p>“Well done, lad. Welcome to Sobrante!”</p> +<p>“Hello, Mr. Marsh! You here? Sobrante? I +thought–––”</p> +<p>“Same thing. This is Marion; as near as we can +get to our place on the rails. Remember, don’t you? +Been sick, eh? You look rather peaked and I ’low +I’d ought–––”</p> +<p>“No apologies. Here I am, and am not ill now. +Only been a little overworked; and your telegram, +as well as Miss Jessica’s letter, came in the nick of +time. Not an hour after the doctor had ordered this +very medicine of change and recreation.”</p> +<p>Ephraim looked sharply at his guest and reflected:</p> +<p>“What our business needs is a clear head and a +strong body, not an overtaxed man, as this ’pears +to be. Well, sick or well, I hope he can see through +some of our muddles, if not all; and half a loaf is +better than no bread.” Then he gathered the traveler’s +belongings, and remarked: “I told Aleck to +have a good supper ready. It’s a fine night and I +thought we’d ride home afterwards. Unless–––”</p> +<p>They left the car and Ninian answered the other’s +unspoken suggestion:</p> +<p>“No, I don’t want to stay all night, good as Janet’s +beds are. I’ve had a delicious sleep and feel like +another man from this morning. Hello! they’ve +taken Nimrod out already, and evidently are waiting +for orders. I declare, the handsome beast looks +as if he recognized this place and was as glad to +get back to it as I am.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></div> +<p>Old “Forty-niner” left his guest’s side and hurried +to the spot where a trainman held the spirited animal, +stroking its neck and speaking soothingly to +it, to calm its excitement; and no sooner had the +ranchman’s hand supplanted the trainman’s than +Nimrod ceased to prance, and with a little final +shiver, stood stock-still, uttering a low whinny of +delight.</p> +<p>“That’s the talk, you beauty! Welcome home, +old boy! Well, well, well! if you ain’t a sight to cure +the headache! Yes, yes; it’s all right. This is +Marion. We’ve got to stop at Aleck’s first. Remember +Aleck? Remember Janet and her sugar? +Well, well, well!”</p> +<p>Ninian approached, amazed and incredulous, inquiring:</p> +<p>“Think that creature knows what you’re saying?”</p> +<p>“Forty-niner” turned upon the questioner indignantly.</p> +<p>“That’s a fool sort of question for a smart man to +ask! ‘Think’ he knows? No. There isn’t any ‘thinking’ +in this. I know he knows, and I know he’s just +as glad to set foot on his mother earth, here in +Marion, as I was t’other day when I stepped off this +same train––or its mate of the morning. I wish all +the men in the world were half as brainy as he is. +And I tell you what, stranger, you couldn’t have +done a thing would make your own welcome so sure +as fetching Nimrod with you. If you’d left him +behind some of us would have had our own opinion. +Though I, for one, didn’t know he was yours till this +very morning.”</p> +<p>“And the led horse you spoke about?”</p> +<p>Ephraim looked up, surprised, answering, rather +crisply:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></div> +<p>“At home. Why not? When I heard about Nimrod +I wasn’t silly enough to bring another.”</p> +<p>“So if I hadn’t brought him we’d been short a +mount?” insisted the reporter, teasingly.</p> +<p>“One of us would had to foot it to the ranch, and +that one wouldn’t have been me. Huh! Does me +good to hear your nonsense gabble again. I declare +it does. When did you get my telegraph?”</p> +<p>“This morning.”</p> +<p>“This––morning! Why, I sent it day before yesterday, +no, the day before that. Let me see; to-day’s +one, yesterday––the funeral, two––the one––yes, +three days ago. John Benton himself gave it into +the telegraph man’s hands. Himself.”</p> +<p>They mounted and started toward McLeod’s Inn, +Ninian doing very well, considering the impatience +of his steed and his own limited experience of the +saddle, and the sharpshooter sitting as composedly +upon the back of as restless an animal as could readily +be found. It was a bay, and pranced and curveted +to the extent that Nimrod seemed a door-mouse +beside it, and Ninian finally observed:</p> +<p>“That’s an undecided sort of beast you have, yourself. +Seems to be as much inclined to go backward +as forward.”</p> +<p>“Hale’s. Name Prince. Was on the mesa with +Pedro till he died.”</p> +<p>“Pedro dead? I’m sorry. Was it his ‘funeral’ you +meant?”</p> +<p>“Yes. Terrible pity he couldn’t have held on till +Christmas, his Navidad, that always meant so much +to him. But he couldn’t. Things have changed at +Sobrante since you was here. I’m glad you’ve come. +I’m powerful glad you’ve come.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></div> +<p>“Any new trouble, Ephraim?”</p> +<p>“H’m! I should say. Ghosts, the women think, +and scamps for certain. But it’s a long story, and +here we are at Aleck’s. We mustn’t spoil that good +supper of his and talk will keep. We’ve thirty miles +’twixt us and bed, ’less you change your mind and +stop here, and that should give time enough to turn +a man’s mind inside out.”</p> +<p>“Were you so certain of my coming that you +ordered a special supper, without hearing?”</p> +<p>“Sure. I took you to be a man and I put myself +in your place. In your place I should have come if +I could; and if I couldn’t I should have sent word. +Light.”</p> +<p>Aleck came out to meet them, and Janet followed, +of course. Where one of that worthy couple was +the other was sure to be; and both extended to the +city man such welcome as made him more impressed +than ever by that “home feeling” which had possessed +him all day. He returned their good wishes +with heartiness and did full justice to his supper, +adding as a thankful tribute to Janet’s fine cookery:</p> +<p>“That’s the first thing has passed my lips that +hadn’t the flavor of ashes, since many a day. The +doctor was right.”</p> +<p>“Glad to hear any doctor ever could be right,” +returned the innkeeper, who had never been ill, and +attributed his health to his distrust of physicians. +“Fresh air, wholesome food and a clear conscience––them’s +to long life what the three R’s are to +’rithmetic. Powerful sorry you can’t pass the night. +I’d admire to talk over the political situation with +an intelligent man.”</p> +<p>The side glance toward himself with which the +Scotchman said this sent Ephraim off into a mighty +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span> +guffaw, in which presently they all joined; and in +the midst of the merriment a stable boy led up the +horses, and the Sobrante-bound riders loped away. +Yet, just before they were out of hearing, Aleck’s +stentorian voice sent after them the warning +advice:</p> +<p>“Keep a sharp lookout, by, and your hands on +your guns. That spook’s hit the trail again! Watch +out!”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed, and “Forty-niner” tried to do so, +but the most he could accomplish was a feeble +cackle, which, his companion fancied, betrayed his +age as nothing heretofore had done. It was a nervous, +irritated laugh, and was matched by the +altered voice in which its owner presently remarked:</p> +<p>“If I can’t stop this fool business any other way, +I’ve a notion to ride round the country and shoot +right and left, everybody I see, promiscuous. That’s +the sure and certain way to hit the spook, too.”</p> +<p>“Heigho! This grows exciting! Spooks? Mysteries? +Mail robberies! What next?”</p> +<p>There was no answer from the sharpshooter, who +had gotten his horse into a steady trot and was putting +the road behind him in a manner that needed +all Ninian’s efforts to match. If Nimrod had been as +little used to the trail as his rider was to him the +space between the two animals would have widened +irretrievably; but he was the better bred of the two, +and though he didn’t waste his strength in a first +spurt, as Prince did, he fell into a steady, easy gait, +that soon told to his advantage.</p> +<p>It was one of the perfect moonlight nights which +come in that cloudless region, when one can easily +“read fine print,” if so inclined, or see across country +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span> +almost as well as in the day. The swift motion, the +exhilarating air, the sense of freedom from city +walls and cramped spaces, started the reporter into +singing, and later into the silence of wonder over +the astonishing power of his own voice.</p> +<p>“Hurrah! If that’s my warble I never heard it +before! It’s a marvelous atmosphere that makes a +rag time tune sound like a nightingale’s music. If +‘Forty-niner’ would join it–––Hello! what’s up? +What in––the name––of––all things!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XV_NINIANS_GREETING' id='CHAPTER_XV_NINIANS_GREETING'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<h3>NINIAN’S GREETING</h3> +</div> +<p>Suddenly, out of the moonlit distance before +them, appeared a strange vision. A horse and his +rider, as spotlessly white and gleaming as the snow +on the distant mountaintops, moving toward them +as swift as the wind and in supernatural silence. The +eyes of the steed and its master glowed with a +wicked light that startled both the old frontiersman +and the modern scribe, and set Prince and Nimrod +into paroxysms of terror.</p> +<p>Rearing, plunging and backing, Ninian’s mount +had him soon on the ground; and though Ephraim +stuck to his saddle like a burr; he could not hold his +horse and get at his revolver in that one instant of +the appearance and disappearance of this strange +“specter.” It was coming––it was upon them––it +was gone; and the blast of cold air with which it +passed them set the horses shivering in an ague of +fear, and tied the men’s tongues.</p> +<p>It seemed an age that they halted there in the +open solitude, silently stroking and soothing their +frightened beasts, before either could speak. Then +“Forty-niner” found his voice and burst forth, +absurdly:</p> +<p>“Drat––that––pocket!”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed; nervously, almost hysterically at +first; then with honest merriment, exclaiming:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></div> +<p>“Oh, what a chance was lost there, comrade!”</p> +<p>“Whoa, boy, whoa, I tell you! There, there, +steady now. Well, you needn’t throw it in my teeth +if it was!” retorted the sharpshooter, furiously. +“Hang new pants!”</p> +<p>Ninian rolled on the ground and laughed afresh; +then feebly observed: “That’s what I generally do +with mine. But pockets! What of them?”</p> +<p>“Huh! it’s all very well for you to lie there and +snicker. I lost the chance of my life that time. +What’s the use of a repertation for hittin’ a pin at +the distance I have if you can’t hit a fool when he’s +close alongside?”</p> +<p>“Referring to me?” asked the reporter, sweetly.</p> +<p>“Yes, if the coat fits. Drat that pocket!”</p> +<p>“Poor pocket! Who made it?”</p> +<p>“That pesky Sally Benton. The one was in burst +right through, and she sewed this one so tight at +the top–––Huh! I believe she done it a-purpose.”</p> +<p>“To be sure she did. If I remember correctly that +estimable woman was opposed to bloodshed and +preferred corporal punishment. I suppose she feared +you might do what you attempted to do and–––”</p> +<p>“Shut up your shallow talk, young man!” ordered +Ephraim, with so much venom that the other realized +his mirth was ill-timed and grew serious.</p> +<p>“What was the thing, anyway, Marsh?”</p> +<p>“That’s more than I know, but just what I would +have known if I’d hit it with a bullet. That’s the +‘spook’ Aleck warned us of. It’s been kitin’ round +the country ever since that first night after Pedro +died. Some say it’s the ghost. It ’pears to be +wrapped in a white blanket and wears it same as he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +did. He had a white horse once that had outlived all +the horses ever was, I reckon; and the Simple +Simons all about us claim that it’s the Indian’s spirit +on the Indian’s horse, a-ridin’ round ’count of some +trouble why he can’t rest. There was a letter thrown +into our settin’ room night before last, in poor +printing enough, too; and it said that Pedro had +been banished from the happy hunting grounds on +account of a secret he’d told; and a warning everybody +not to touch to try and find the place the secret +told about. It scared the mistress pretty bad, though +she didn’t let on much. The captain laughed, of +course. She always laughs at everything; and Mrs. +Benton––well, she just pinned the paper in her +bosom, and says she: ‘I’ll know where that is when +it’s needed.’ She’s some sense, Sally has, though +nothing to boast of, and she’s a mighty good sewer +of patchwork, though she’s no good at pistol pockets. +Well, shall we go on?”</p> +<p>Ninian had remounted his horse, which still was +restless and ill to manage, and Prince was capering +about in a fantastic fashion that, however, was not +greatly different from his behavior earlier in the +evening; and the reporter had satisfied himself that +there was nothing now to be seen of the apparition +which had flashed upon them and disappeared on +the road back to Marion.</p> +<p>“Yes, let’s go on. And I hope the least that will +happen will be the arrival of that ‘spook’ at Aleck +McLeod’s cheerful inn. I’d give much to see his +face if it did appear.”</p> +<p>“Oh! it’s been there already; last night. The +kitchen window was raised so softly none but Janet +could have heard it, and before she could get to it, +a white, skinny hand came through and snatched up +a quail pie she’d baked for breakfast and off sooner’n +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span> +she could catch it. She was so mad about the +pie that, for a minute, she forgot to be scared; then +it came over her that she’d been cookin’ ghost’s +victuals, and she shivered all the rest the night. +She wouldn’t ever let Aleck far out of sight, she’s so +fond of him, but now he can’t stir three foot away. +Every man I met has something fresh to tell of how +his women folks have been worried by the thing; +and if somebody doesn’t settle his spookship mighty +sudden, we’ll have all the females in hysterics; and +something we’ve never needed in this valley yet, +and that’s a doctor. There won’t be a nerve left +anywhere.”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed again; adding, a moment later: +“Not just the sort of place to send a nervous-prostration +patient, is it, after all? But what’s your +own speculation concerning the nuisance?”</p> +<p>“Let me tell you the whole business, so far forth +as I’ve heerd it since I came home. Then you can +form your own mind on it and see how best to help +my folks out their troubles; ’cause I ain’t trying to +hide that was my reason for wanting you to come. +You’d helped us so much with the title affair I knew +you’d unravel this skein. But I’m powerful glad +to see you, all the same, and I do hope you’ll get +as much good for yourself out the visit as I want +the mistress to get.”</p> +<p>The horses were now somewhat quieted by a +long stretch of the level road, over which they had +been allowed to travel at their own pace, and talking +was easier. Ephraim gave in detail the story +of Pedro’s visit and gift of the wand; of the many +strange incidents of the last few days; of Ned’s +serious illness, caused by fright, Aunt Sally declared, +but, as his mother thought, by too much rich +food and an overdose of candy; and how, though he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span> +had repeatedly been heard about the premises, nobody +had as yet actually seen Antonio Bernal. However, +at present, little was thought of but the suffering +children; for Luis had remained true to his character +of “echo” and had himself, that very day, been +put to bed with the same high fever which was tormenting +Ned.</p> +<p>“You see, though it’s getting Christmas time and +everything ought to be lovely, we’re about as badly +off as a family can be. All the same, if anybody in +this world can cheer the mistress it’ll be yourself, +Mr. Sharp, and I’m powerful glad you’ve come.”</p> +<p>For the rest of the ride they were mostly silent; +each man revolving in his mind the most plausible +explanation of Antonio’s behavior, in his would-be +mysterious hiding, and his terrorizing of the little +lads.</p> +<p>Finally, Ninian expressed his own opinion:</p> +<p>“It’s perfectly natural he should drift back to +Sobrante, even with all the opprobrium that would +attach to him there. It is his home. He believed +or pretended to believe, that it was also his birthright. +He knows nothing that would bring him a +livelihood in the city–––”</p> +<p>“Except gambling,” interrupted Ephraim, contemptuously.</p> +<p>“If he tried his hand at that even, he’d fail. He +hasn’t the head to plot deeply. His maneuvers are +all childishly transparent, and this last one––h’m! +Have you connected his ‘highness’ with this spook +business?”</p> +<p>“No, sir; and you needn’t. That Antonio Bernal +is the biggest coward above ground. Why, bless +me! even if he’d had gumption enough to concoct +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +such a scheme he wouldn’t have the nerve to carry +it out. He’d be afraid of himself! Fact! No, siree. +Top-lofty never had a hand in this,” answered the +elder man.</p> +<p>Ninian said no more but kept his suspicions revolving +in his own mind; yet was far more absorbed +in the possibility that “Forty-niner” had suggested, +of the copper vein in the canyon, than by anything +else he had heard. They had ridden on again, each +silent, till the lights of Sobrante came into view; +then Ephraim remarked:</p> +<p>“Reckon the little tackers ain’t much better. The +mistress don’t gen’ally keep lamps lit as late as this, +’less something’s wrong. Oh! I hope there’s no more +death and disappointment on our road. ’Twould +break Mrs. Trent’s heart, indeed, if she lost Ned.”</p> +<p>Ninian roused himself from his reverie, and answered, +lightly:</p> +<p>“For such a cheerful fellow as I remember you, +even when you were first laid up in hospital, you’re +degenerated sadly. What in the name of common +sense is the use of prognosticating evil, when good +is just as likely to come?”</p> +<p>“Huh! I’m consid’able older than you, young +man,” retorted the sharpshooter, perversely.</p> +<p>“All the more reason you should be more hopeful. +What’s happened to you besides these external troubles? +Something on your own account, eh? If so, +believe me you have my hearty sympathy and my +right hand to help you, if you need it.”</p> +<p>Ephraim checked Prince so shortly that the +animal reared on his haunches, and pushing his hat +from his brow regarded the visitor with a sad but +grateful countenance. Then he spoke, and his tones +were husky with subdued emotion:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span></div> +<p>“Thanks, friend. I took to you the first time my +old eyes lit on you and I’ve leaned on you, in my +mind, ever since. There is something ’at worries +me, but it’s so slight I shan’t put it into words––yet. +I’ve got work to do still for them I love and +that love me. Which I might maybe sum up in one +small person––my precious Lady Jess. God bless +her! Ay, God bless her! From the crown of her +sunny head to the tips of her dainty feet, she’s the +truest, squarest, tenderest creature the Lord ever +sent to lighten this dark world. They all love her, +every one of them rough, hard-handed sons of toil +whom she calls her ‘boys’; but there isn’t one, not +one, can begin to love her as I do. Not one. It is +she that makes me still keep a little faith–––There, +there! what an old fool I am! But, thanks, all the +same, and don’t you forget I’m your own to command +if need comes. Shake, neighbor, and may +your age be–––Giddap there, Prince! Let’son, +lad; let’s get on.”</p> +<p>Ninian did get on, but again silently pondering +that here again was something mysterious in this +honest octogenarian’s mood. There was an undercurrent +of sorrow which, he was sure, was wholly +distinct from the anxieties of his mistress and her +household, and he wondered what it might be. +Surely, for an old man, though wifeless and childless +he had much to make him happy. The devotion +of the family in which he had lived for so long, his +comfortable home, his freedom from care concerning +his future––to the young man struggling amidst +a crowd of competitors to make a place for himself +in the world, it seemed as if the venerable sharpshooter +had cause for nothing but rejoicing. However, +these might be mere imaginations, and best +banished for the present.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span></div> +<p>Ephraim made straight for the house, and the +sound of the horses’ footfalls brought figures flying +to the open doors; most welcome of these in the +eyes of the two men, the small one of Jessica herself, +her head stretched forth as she peered into the +night, and the lamplight behind her making a radiance +about her golden head and slender gracefulness. +But she poised there on the threshold only +for an instant, till she was sure what animals these +were, then darted toward them with uplifted hands +and a cry of delight:</p> +<p>“They’ve come! Oh, mother, they’ve come!––they’ve +come!”</p> +<p>Another moment and the reporter had slipped +from his saddle and had caught up the little girl, +more glad on his own part than he would have +once thought possible to have her once more beside +him.</p> +<p>“Yes, captain, here we are! But did you expect +us––or me? And how could you tell that we were +not strangers?”</p> +<p>“Why, don’t you suppose I’d know the step of any +horse for ours? And though Nimrod is yours now +I know him like––like a brother. Don’t I, dear +fellow?” and from Ninian’s clasp she ran to embrace +the down-bent head of the thoroughbred.</p> +<p>On his side, Nimrod was equally rejoiced. His +velvet nostrils caressed the little girl’s cheeks and +flowing hair, while his dainty forefoot gently pawed +the ground in expression of delight and not impatience. +Prince stood looking on, unmoved. He +was not Sobrante raised and seemed to feel it; or +so Jessica fancied, as she left off petting Nimrod +and passed to Prince’s side, to stroke his head also, +and to murmur words of praise for good behavior +in bringing Ephraim safely home.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></div> +<p>Then “Forty-niner” led the beast away, while +Jessica sped after Ninian, who had been greeted––almost +grasped––by Aunt Sally. She had drawn +him indoors, laughing, crying, whispering, entreating, +all in a breath:</p> +<p>“Oh, oh, oh, land of Goshen! My suz! If you +ain’t the gladdest sight I’ve seen this dog’s age! +How are you, how are you? Slim? You certainly +do look slim,” she declared, as she led him into the +radiance of the lamp and critically peered into his +face, both through and above her spectacles.</p> +<p>“Well, my good friend, I never was anything but +slim, as I remember. And I have been just a bit +ailing, if that’s your meaning. However, I’m all +right now, most delighted to be here, and wholly at +your service or that of anybody else who needs me. +How are the children? Ephraim said that they +were ill. And Mrs. Trent?”</p> +<p>As if in answer to his questions, there was a patter +of bare feet on the stairs and in came Luis, his +great dark eyes looking twice their normal size +and his voice shrill with excitement, as he tried to +say:</p> +<p>“Ned––Ned’s gone and got––and got––Ned’s gone +got gone roof. Oh, oh!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton dropped Ninian’s hand which she had +continued to hold and shake up and down, much +in the manner of one pumping water, and caught +up the child to also shake him vigorously:</p> +<p>“Hi! What’s that you say? Don’t you dare to +tell auntie a story. What’s Neddy–––Oh, my land! +all the catnip’s gone out of my life, seems if!”</p> +<p>The reporter and Jessica looked at each other and +burst into laughter. It was impossible to help it, +Aunt Sally’s manner had been so droll and yet so +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +dramatic; and, oddly enough, over Ninian there +stole again the feeling that he had come home, and +that the griefs and perplexities of this household +had become his own. With that his merriment was +over, for the fear Mrs. Benton’s face had betrayed +was sincere.</p> +<p>Jessica, also, had sobered instantly, and catching +her guest’s hand hurried him impulsively upward, +crying:</p> +<p>“He’s done it again! Oh, if mother sees him it +will frighten her to death!”</p> +<p>They reached the upper floor and the end of the +hall which divided it into two sections, and from +whence a ladder ran upright to a trapdoor opening +on the sloping roof. The scuttle had been left open +for ventilation, and up this steep stairway Luis was +pointing with wild gestures.</p> +<p>Again Aunt Sally caught and shook the little +fellow, but he could make no better business of talking +than before. Jessica had not waited for more +than one glance into the empty chamber where the +sick children had been cared for, since it was more +quiet than the customary bed-room below; and +that glance, added to Luis’ gesticulations, told her +story.</p> +<p>“Oh, he’s walking in his sleep again! He’s gone +on the roof!”</p> +<p>The next the reporter realized she had climbed the +ladder and disappeared through the scuttle. He +forgot that he was, or had been, ill, and followed +her, only to pause at the sight which met him as +his head protruded through the opening. It was a +house of many gables, and upon the peak of the +farthest one poised Ned in his night-clothes, slowly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +swinging his arms in the circular fashion children +adopt preparatory to a leap or spring.</p> +<p>“One!” counted the childish voice. “Two!”</p> +<p>Ninian closed his eyes, as if by so doing he might +shut his ears to the final “Three!” which would +mark the fatal leap.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVI_JESSICA_GETS_HER_WISH' id='CHAPTER_XVI_JESSICA_GETS_HER_WISH'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<h3>JESSICA GETS HER WISH</h3> +</div> +<p>Ninian Sharp had closed his eyes against a catastrophe +which, seemingly, nothing less than a miracle +could prevent. When he opened them again +the miracle had been performed.</p> +<p>Love had lent to Jessica a strength and swiftness +almost incredible even to her active body, and she +had crossed the steep, slated roof just in time to +clasp Ned’s feet and to drag him backward with her +as she rolled down upon the broader portion. Yet +even here was imminent danger, for the lad was +struggling, in his sudden awakening, and the pair +were slipping hopelessly toward the eaves.</p> +<p>But now was the reporter’s chance and the test of +his athletic training. He threw himself prone upon +the slippery slates, worming his lean person over +them till he caught the girl’s frock, and bidding +her “hold fast!” drew both the children slowly +toward the scuttle. When his feet had found the +edge of this the danger was past; and they were +presently down upon the hall floor, laughing and +sobbing together in one excited group. That is, the +sister was sobbing and Ninian was laughing in a +nervous way that had grown upon him with his +illness, and that told to Aunt Sally’s keen ear how +really frail he still was.</p> +<p>But Master Ned, the cause of all this emotion, +looked calmly upon the stranger, and demanded:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></div> +<p>“Where’s that printing press you promised, hey? +I can say five, ten letters now, and I can spell cat +backwards!”</p> +<p>“Is it possible? Before such erudition I bow my +humble head!” laughed the visitor, grateful for +any, even nonsensical, words that would relieve the +tension of the moment.</p> +<p>But here Aunt Sally caught up the boy and looked +him over anxiously; then joyfully declared:</p> +<p>“He’s got his senses back. Oh! Gabriella, where +are you? Neddy’s all right!”</p> +<p>“Oh, auntie, hush! There’s no need to tell +mother anything of this last danger, and if you’ll +only please put Ned back to bed she won’t have +to know.”</p> +<p>“Ain’t goin’ to bed. Been a-bed ’nough,” protested +the supposed invalid. “Want my clothes. +Want to go downstairs and get my supper.”</p> +<p>“Get my supper,” assented Luis, creeping forward +from the corner where he had hidden in fear of he +knew not what.</p> +<p>“Hello, echo! You on hand again? How’s business?” +demanded Ninian, drawing the child towards +him.</p> +<p>“First rate,” answered Ned, for his comrade, who +promptly echoed: “’Strate.”</p> +<p>But now came the mother, hurrying up the stairs, +with a bowl of gruel she had gone to prepare, and +interest in which had opportunely prevented her +knowing either of the reporter’s arrival or her son’s +peril. And the visitor sprang to his feet again, +while she welcomed him as cordially and gracefully +as if she had been sitting in state, expectant, +within her own pretty parlor.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></div> +<p>One flash of her eyes toward her boy, safe in Mrs. +Benton’s arms again and carefully wrapped about +in her capacious apron, relieved any anxiety she +might have felt in coming upon this unexpected +group, and she asked, with a little burst of laughter:</p> +<p>“Is it possible that Ned was so quick to welcome +you? Well, son, it might have been more courteous +to have gone downstairs; but I’m sure our friend +will pardon a little lad who’s been ill. He’s really +better, isn’t he, Aunt Sally? He looks quite +natural.”</p> +<p>“Yes, honey, he’s better. I reckon he’s passed the +turnin’ point now, if nothin’ new sets in. You take +Mr. Sharp down into the settin’-room, ’cause he’s +seen the children and I’ll set with them a spell. +Wun Lung can get the supper well’s I can, if he’ll +put his heatheny mind to it. Eh? What is it, +sonny?”</p> +<p>Fortunately, Ned, like most sleepwalkers, was +wholly unconscious of his actions while in that abnormal +state, and made no comments on anything +save his own reluctance to go to bed while so interesting +a gentleman was in the house; but was +finally coaxed to do so by the promise of Luis +sharing his cot as well as his porridge; whereupon +Mrs. Trent kissed him good-night and invited the +guest below.</p> +<p>His protestations against another supper, after +the excellent one he had taken at Aleck McLeod’s, +met with nothing but the hospitable rejoinder:</p> +<p>“Oh! but you can surely manage a light refreshment, +since you’ve ridden thirty miles from Marion.”</p> +<p>To which the little captain added her entreaties, +saying:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></div> +<p>“I’m hungry, anyway. I’m always so, I guess, +but I couldn’t think of breaking bread before you +unless you share it.”</p> +<p>Therefore sleepy Wun Lung came with the tray, +and was gratified by the friendly notice of the +stranger; and Mrs. Trent made tea in the little +swinging kettle over her alcohol lamp, her daughter +declaring that it always tasted better served in that +way. Ninian found that, in spite of his protestations, +the simple refreshments were very acceptable, +and the trio were quietly enjoying their reunion +when Jessica suddenly remembered Ephraim and +sprang up to go in search of him, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Even if Mr. Sharp isn’t hungry, dear old ‘Forty-niner’ +is sure to be. He’ll be here soon, maybe, but +I won’t wait till the kettle is cold. He’s been sleeping +at the ‘house’ ever since he got back and might +go straight to his room, if I don’t prevent.”</p> +<p>When she had gone Ninian observed upon the +remarkable devotion between the old sharpshooter +and his small pupil, and the mother assented; yet +added, as an after-thought:</p> +<p>“I sometimes regret it. Jessica is a child of impulsive, +yet absorbing affections. She can see no +flaw in the character of anybody she loves; and––well, +none of us are perfect, and Ephraim grows +old.”</p> +<p>Still, when he entered, the lady greeted him with +cordiality, and served him promptly; and presently +they were all talking eagerly of the recent events at +Sobrante. Of course, Pedro came in for a brief +but loving mention; and to the guest’s inquiry as +to what had been done with the fine flock of sheep +which the old man had herded, the mistress replied:</p> +<p>“I have sent them up into the mountains, with +the herds of a neighbor, for the present. Ephraim, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span> +here, petitioned for the post of shepherd, but I +dared not give it to him,” and she looked deprecatingly +toward the sharpshooter.</p> +<p>“No, she didn’t,” assented he. “She could trust +that Old Century, but she couldn’t trust me.”</p> +<p>There was greater bitterness in the tone than +he had ever manifested before his small captain, +and she was quick to notice and resent it.</p> +<p>“Look here, you blessed old grumbler, you stop +that, please. If not ‘please,’ stop it anyway, because +I’m your commander. You know why, and only +why, my mother said ‘no’ to that bright scheme +of yours.” Then she explained to Ninian, who was +listening closely: “You must understand that shepherding +is the very loneliest thing that has to be +done on a ranch. The shepherd is alone from week +to week; on some ranches from month to month. +He hasn’t a soul to speak to save when somebody +chances to cross his field, which isn’t often. A lot +of men go crazy, living that way, and mother has +always been afraid for even Pedro. I never was for +him, though, ’cause he always liked it and had +lived so––well, forever. But naughty old ‘Forty-niner’ +felt it would be his ‘duty’ to go up there away +from all of us, and mother wouldn’t let him, and +so–––”</p> +<p>“And so, my honored captain, you’ll force me to +be a mere hanger-on and idler.”</p> +<p>Jessica held up her forefinger, warningly. “That’s +enough, Ephraim. I am ‘She that must be obeyed,’ +Samson says, sometimes. And one of the times is +now. If you and mother aren’t ashamed to disagree +before my dear Mr. Sharp, I’m ashamed to +have you!”</p> +<p>All laughed and none took offense at this plain +talk which, jesting though it seemed, covered a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span> +serious meaning, and soon “Forty-niner” remarked, +as if to close the subject:</p> +<p>“Well, all’s said and done; yet, still, I know if +I’d been let to have my way in this I’d have stopped +a deal of mischief. It would be better, seems to me, +to have an old frontiersman living in Pedro’s cabin +than a spook.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent started, and, the guest fancied, shivered +slightly. But she rejoined, impatiently:</p> +<p>“Oh, Mr. Marsh! that nonsense again, and from +you!”</p> +<p>“So they say, ma’am.”</p> +<p>Cried Jessica gayly:</p> +<p>“The only thing Sobrante needed to make it as +lovely as those old English places one reads about +in the story books was a ‘ghost’, and now we’ve +got it! Honest, and I do hope you’ll see it for yourself. +I want to so much, and one night Samson and +I chased it, but––it got away. The ‘boys’ say now +that it has even taken to horseback. Don’t you +wish you might be luckier than I, Mr. Ninian?”</p> +<p>A glance flashed between the reporter and the +sharpshooter, but not quite swiftly enough to escape +the girl’s observation; and, after a moment’s +pause, she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Why, I believe you have already seen it!”</p> +<p>There was an awkward silence, which Mrs. Trent +broke by the stern reproof she managed to throw +into one word: “Jessica!”</p> +<p>“Yes, mother, I know. It’s silly, and I will be +careful not to mention the delightful subject before +the children.”</p> +<p>“What are you but a child yourself, my mature +little woman?” demanded the visitor, playfully.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span></div> +<p>“Why, I’m a little girl, of course; but one who +always wanted to see a fairy, till somebody told +me there was none. Now I’m longing for this +‘spook’––that really is, ’cause so many, many have +seen it––and I’m not even let to talk about him.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent shook her head regretfully.</p> +<p>“I’m afraid we’ve spoiled you among us, my +darling. But, leaving these unexplained things to +explain themselves at their proper time, suppose +you go and see that all is ready in Mr. Sharp’s room? +Wun Lung is still mooning by himself on the kitchen +stoop and will do what you ask him.”</p> +<p>“They all do that, I infer,” commented Ninian, +as the child hastened away, eager to serve all whom +she loved.</p> +<p>“Yes, they do. It’s a delightful, but not, maybe, +the wisest life for any girl to live. No playmates +except her two small brothers, and no schooling +that is at all regular or effective. I can’t imagine +what Sobrante would be without her, and yet–––”</p> +<p>She paused and “Forty-niner” took up her sentence:</p> +<p>“It wouldn’t be Sobrante, mistress. That’s all. +I, for one, couldn’t stay here and serve under any +other body now except my captain;” and so saying, +as if a shadow of the future fell upon him, the +old man rose and went out, quite forgetting to say +good-night.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Jessica had found Wun Lung and +also found him more than willing to go with her +and perform even additional tasks, since by so doing +he might have the comfort and safety of human +presence. Fragments of talk had come to him in +his kitchen concerning the apparitions which had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span> +startled the whole countryside, during these past +few days, and had received the strongest confirmation +from his housemate, Pasqual. The latter believed, +indeed, all that he himself heard and invented +much more. He had grown to be afraid of his own +shadow and now resorted to the men’s quarters on +each and every occasion that presented, feeling a +safety among them he could not feel at the “house” +among a lot of women. Of course, his defection +from duty entailed endless conflicts between himself +and Aunt Sally, but since this resulted in nothing +worse to the delinquent than a loss of some +dainty food, he could put up with it. He was away +now, bunking in Marty’s room, and Wun Lung sat +alone, too afraid to go to bed, yet too uneasy to +enjoy the beauty of the night. His sharp, black eyes +peered here and there and everywhere, about the +place; and when Jessica came running to him, in +her noiseless moccasins, he jumped so high that +his queue flew out at a right angle from his head, +and he screeched:</p> +<p>“Oh, mly flathe’s, mly flathe’s!”</p> +<p>Lady Jess laughed aloud.</p> +<p>“No, good Wun Lung. Not your fathers, nor +even any of your relatives, but only me. Having +had supper, the next thing for our dear Mr. Sharp +is a bed and sleep. Come help me make it ready.”</p> +<p>The Chinaman rose with alacrity, and soon had +collected the bed linen, towels and bucket of water, +suggesting that Jessica should bring a lighted candle.</p> +<p>“Oh! we don’t need a light, Wun Lung. It’s as +bright as day with the shutters open, and we must +be quick, anyway, for the dear man has been ill and +is tired.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span></div> +<p>The room was the same that Mr. Hale had found +so delightful during his own visit to the ranch, and +the girl threw the shutters wide, to let in the fresh +air and moonlight while they arranged the place +for occupancy. She left the bed making to the +longer and stronger arms of her assistant, but herself +attended to the pitchers and toilet things; and +while so engaged, with her back toward the open +windows, was suddenly startled by an ear-piercing +shriek from the Chinaman.</p> +<p>Shriek? Not one, but many; prolonged, reiterated, +till the whole house seemed in an uproar; and +facing swiftly about, to learn the cause and still the +clamor, Jessica found her lately expressed desire +completely gratified. For there, clearly distinct in +the moonlight, not ten paces from the window +whence she gazed, was the phantom horse and +rider!</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVII_THE_CACTUS_HEDGE' id='CHAPTER_XVII_THE_CACTUS_HEDGE'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<h3>THE CACTUS HEDGE</h3> +</div> +<p>The shrieks ended by Wun Lung’s throwing himself +face downward on the floor, but they had +roused the whole household, even the sleeping children. +Those in the room below had rushed to the +stairs, wondering what could possibly have happened +to the Chinaman, whose outcries these certainly +were. The little lads had sprang from their +cot, screaming on their own account, and Mrs. +Benton had awaked from the “fortywinks” she was +taking in her chair.</p> +<p>As a natural result of her sudden awakening she +grasped the two children who were clinging to her +skirts and shook them soundly, ordering them to +“shut up to once ’fore you scare folks to death.”</p> +<p>They were not easily pacified and she thus, fortunately, +had her hands full, for the moment, else +the fear-paralyzed Wun Lung might have fared +hardly. As it was, none but Jessica had a full, clear +view of the strange visitant, since the Chinaman +had closed his eyes against it and the others had +not thought to look out of doors; but she saw it, +and with critical distinctness.</p> +<p>For an instant, indeed, her own nerves had thrilled +and her heart seemed to stand still; the next her +overpowering desire to see the “spook” for herself +had conquered her terror and she gazed with all her +might.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span></div> +<p>“It certainly looks like Pedro, with his clothes +all white. And the horse––it may be his that died––but––but–––”</p> +<p>The ghostly steed and its rider remained utterly +motionless, as if scrutinizing the house on their own +part or waiting for somebody to appear; then, as +the little girl bounded to the open window the better +to gratify her curiosity, the animal––if such it was––slowly +wheeled about and loped away. There +was a sound of muffled footfalls on the hard drive, +and the vision had vanished.</p> +<p>Jessica still leaned from the casement watching +and thinking more rapidly than she had ever done +before; but when convinced that the apparition was +really gone, she slowly retreated below stairs, passing +her mother and Ninian on the way, yet not +pausing till she had gained the side of the sharpshooter. +Him she seized, exultantly exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Well, Ephraim, I’ve seen your spectre!”</p> +<p>“You––have!”</p> +<p>“And it’s no more a ‘ghost’ than I am.”</p> +<p>“What do you mean?” he demanded, hastily; +ashamed of himself for half regretting that the +supernatural view of the matter might not be the +right one. “It isn’t? Well, what is it, then?”</p> +<p>“It’s Antonio Bernal and his horse, Nero.”</p> +<p>“Huh! How do you fetch that? When both of +them are black as my hat.”</p> +<p>Her last, lingering uneasiness banished by his +presence and the sound of her own words, with +firmer conviction she declared to him and the others +who had now gathered about her:</p> +<p>“I ‘fetch it’ fast enough. This was the way dear +old Pedro used to ride; and this is the way your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span> +‘spook’ sat his horse,” she announced, so vividly +mimicking both men that all who had known them +recognized the likeness, and Ephraim exclaimed:</p> +<p>“That’s them to a t-i-o-n-tion! Can seem to see +’em right here before me. Well––what next?”</p> +<p>“Pedro wore his blanket like a king. Antonio +has covered his head with that white thing, and even +so wasn’t half Pedro’s height. I shall not soon +forget that splendid Old Century, the last time I +saw him ride away, that night. A hundred years +old, yet as straight in his saddle as a rod.”</p> +<p>“Antonio Bernal was a magnificent horseman, +darling,” suggested Mrs. Trent, from the chair into +which she had sunk, as if weakened by the series +of startling events which had befallen her home.</p> +<p>“Even so, mother, dear, he couldn’t match old +Pedro. Antonio sat forward, so, with a careless +sort of slouch––just like the ‘spook’ had.”</p> +<p>“What could possibly be his motive for such foolishness, +daughter, granting you are right?”</p> +<p>The captain laughed.</p> +<p>“Upon my word, mother, even you, as well as +Ephraim, seem sorry it isn’t a truly ghost, after +all.”</p> +<p>“No, no, indeed. I’m sorry, rather, to think it +may be Antonio, as you fancy, and that he still persists +in troubling us, even by so silly a disguise.”</p> +<p>“It hasn’t been so silly, Mrs. Trent, if it has hoodwinked +a lot of sensible people, and you are right––there +must be a motive for it in the actor’s mind. I +hope Jessica’s judgment in the case is correct, for +back there in Los Angeles, we didn’t find the manager +a difficult person to deal with,” remarked Mr. +Sharp.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span></div> +<p>The girl went on:</p> +<p>“Then that horse. Don’t you remember, mother, +and you, Ephraim, the curious little switch Nero +used to give his tail whenever he was turned +around? Well, this ‘spook’ horse did just the same +thing. Oh, I know, I know I’m right!”</p> +<p>“But how could he turn a black horse snow white, +even if you are? As I remember Nero he wouldn’t +stand much nonsense, even from his own master,” +said “Forty-niner.”</p> +<p>“Pooh! If lack-wit Ferd could paint Prince, as +he did––another spirited horse, if you please––Antonio +could do what he liked with Nero. It’s paint, +of course, or something like it.”</p> +<p>“But the eyes? The eyes as we saw them on the +road, a few hours back, were all on fire. You could +see them almost before you could make out that it +was a man on horseback was coming. Isn’t that so, +Sharp?” demanded Ephraim, persistent to the last.</p> +<p>Jessica turned upon him, triumphantly:</p> +<p>“There! I knew from the way you two looked +when we were talking a little while ago that you’d +seen something out of common! Do tell me about +it, please. Do, do!”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed, glanced at his hostess’ face, and +replied:</p> +<p>“That’s a story will keep, and you should be in +bed. I don’t want to have my coming harm you +when I meant it to do you good. Even such a +courageous child as you ought to sleep a great deal.”</p> +<p>She had been courageous, indeed, and had astonished +him by a coolness and readiness of observation +which would have done credit to a much older +person. He began to realize how different she was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span> +from other children of her age, and how the hardihood +of her rearing had developed qualities that +were quite unchildlike. He wondered how she +would adapt herself to the habits and thoughts +of other girls of her own age, and was not surprised +that Mrs. Trent craved such society for her. He +wished that he might see her placed in some good +school, yet was doubtful if just the right one could +be selected for a pupil so different from ordinary. +However, that was not his affair, and to relieve the +family of his further presence at that late hour undoubtedly +was. So he bade them all good-night +and went to his room, and very shortly afterward +everybody under that roof was sound asleep.</p> +<p>“Oh, what a dreamless, delicious rest I’ve had!” +was the visitor’s waking thought. His next, that it +must be very late and that he had put his hostess +to unnecessary trouble. Then he turned over “for +just one more wink” and slumbered on for another +couple of hours. This time he had dreams in plenty; +and finally roused from one, of beautiful gardens +peopled by harmless “spooks,” to a sound of sweet +music. By his watch he saw that it was eleven +o’clock and remembered that it was Sunday. Also, +the music was that of a familiar hymn, played upon +a fine piano, which was taken up and sung by a +choir of mixed voices, from the childish treble of the +two little lads to the stentorian bass of Samson, +the mighty.</p> +<p>Hastily dressing, Ninian slipped quietly down the +stairs and entered the sunny parlor; where Jessica +motioned to a chair which had evidently been reserved +for him, and softly approached him with an +open hymn book.</p> +<p>It was Mrs. Trent at the piano and her rich +soprano voice faultlessly led her straggling chorus, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span> +filled for the most part by the men grouped outside +on the wide porch. He could see them through the +long, French windows, sitting or standing as each +felt inclined, but all with that earnest seriousness +of demeanor which befitted the day and the task. +For task it evidently was to some of them; John +Benton, for example. He stood alone, at the most +upright post attainable, his book at arm’s length, +and his head moving from side to side, following +the lines, with a little upward toss of it as he reached +the end of each, while from his throat issued most +startling tones.</p> +<p>Afterwards, Aunt Sally explained, for she had +seen Ninian’s amused survey of her “boy,” that:</p> +<p>“John can no more carry a tune than he can fly, +and I’d rather hear him sawin’ his boards than +tryin’ to sing. But he feels it’s his duty to help +the others along by singing at it and sort of keepin’ +Gabriell’ in countenance, seems if. Sweet, ain’t it?”</p> +<p>It had been “sweet” in the guest’s opinion––the +whole of the short service; conducted with such +simple dignity and reverence by the Madonna-like +ranch mistress; the music so well chosen, the few +prayers so feelingly offered, and the brief exhortation +read from the words of a famous divine who +had the rare gift of touching men’s hearts. And he +so expressed himself, as well as his surprise, over +the belated breakfast which Mrs. Benton served +him when the service was over and the household +dispersed.</p> +<p>“Yes, I think it’s the nicest thing there is about +this dear Sobrante. There’s always been the best +sort of inflooence here and that’s why I like my +boy, John, to belong. Cass’us, he used to hold the +meeting, and after he died I feared Gabriella +wouldn’t be equal to it. But bless your soul! if down +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span> +she didn’t come that first Sunday ’at ever was, and +her not havin’ left her bed sence it happened, and +sent Wun Lungy out to have the old mission bell +rung, a signal. I’ll ever forget it to my dyin’ day, +I shan’t. Her like a spirit all in white and a face +was both the saddest and the upliftedest ever I see; +and them rough men all crowdin’ up to their places, +so soft you’d thought they was barefoot ’stead of +heavy shod; and Jessie with her arms round the +two little ones, and her mother pitchin’ the tune, +same as usual, and––and––I declare I can’t keep +the tears back yet, rememberin’. Before she was +done the whole kerboodle of us was sobbin’ and +cryin’ like a passel of young ones, and there was +she, with her broken heart, as calm and serene as +an angel. Angel is what she is, mostly; with just +enough old human natur’ in her to keep her from +soarin’ right away. Gabriell’s one them scurce kind +makes you glad every time she does a wrong or +thoughtless thing, ’cause then you know she ain’t +quite perfected yet, and you’re surer of keepin’ her +’on earth. My! the good that woman does beats +all. This very day, when she’d lots rather stay to +home and visit with you, she’s give orders for +Ephraim to have the buck-board got ready to take +her twenty miles to see a neighbor who’s sick. She’s +fixing a basket of things now, and is in a hurry. +So that’s the reason she didn’t come to keep you +company herself. Have another piece of chicken––do.”</p> +<p>“Thank you, no. I’ve enjoyed my breakfast +hugely, and feel as if I’d never known a moment’s +illness.”</p> +<p>There was the sound of wheels just then and +Ninian strolled out to offer his service as escort to +the ranch mistress in case she might desire it. But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span> +the offer was not made, though the lady greeted +him with evident pleasure, and even herself glanced +toward the vehicle, as if wishing he might ride with +her. But there was Ephraim Marsh, in the glory +of a white shirt and brilliant necktie, brushed and +speckless, and beaming benevolently upon all less +favored mortals. It was only upon such errands of +mercy that the mistress ever left her home, and +there was not a ranchman in her employ but esteemed +it an honor to drive for her whither she +would.</p> +<p>Ninian saw the state of affairs plainly enough, +and, possibly, so did “Forty-niner” himself; who +might, under some circumstances, have sacrificed +his pleasure for that of the young man. But not +now. Ever since he had returned from his long +stay in the city, the sensitive old fellow had felt a +difference in his surroundings. There was nobody +mean enough to tell him of the base suspicions that +his fellow workmen had harbored about him, and +they fancied that by treating him with more than +former friendliness they could offset the unknown +injury they had done him. It was this very effusiveness +that had roused his suspicions that something +was wrong, and he saw in this solitary drive +with his beloved mistress a chance to unburden +his mind and get her wise opinion on the matter.</p> +<p>So he merely “passed the time of day” with the +guest, helped the lady to her place, and stepped up +beside her; then chirruped to his horse and was +off.</p> +<p>But Ninian was not allowed much disappointment, +for there was Lady Jess, clasping his hand +and looking up into his face with the brightest of +smiles, as she exclaimed: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span> +“Just think of it, dear Mr. Sharp! We are to have +a long, delightful day together. Mother will not be +home before nightfall and I am to do everything +I can to make you happy. As if I wouldn’t, even +without being bidden! But what shall it be first? +Where would you like to walk or ride? Or would +you rather rest and read?”</p> +<p>“First, I would like to walk around to that curious +hedge yonder, that you told me before had +been planted by the old padres. Everything about +these ancient missions interests me.”</p> +<p>“Oh! I love them, too, and I’m so glad we live +on one, or the place where one used to be. That +hedge is prickly-pear and was meant to keep the +Indians out of the inclosure, if they were ugly. But +it’s a hundred years old, and Pedro could remember +when it was ever so much smaller than now.”</p> +<p>It was a weird stretch of the repellent cactus, +whose great gnarled branches locked and intertwined +themselves in a verdureless mass of thorns +and spikes which well might have daunted even an +Indian. The hedge was many feet in width and +higher than Ninian’s shoulder, still green on top, +but too unlovely to have been preserved for any +reason save its antiquity and history. One end of +it was close to the kitchen part of the house, and +the other reached beyond the fall of the farthest +old adobe.</p> +<p>“A formidable barrier, indeed! It reminds me of +some of Dore’s fantastic pictures,” said the reporter.</p> +<p>“Doesn’t it? My mother has books with his +drawings in, and I have thought that, too. It is a +trouble sometimes, because anybody coming across +the field from yonder must go either way around +the quarters or all along the back of the house, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span> +before he can get in here; when if it weren’t there at +all, it wouldn’t be two steps. But we will never +have it cut down because my father said so. He +wouldn’t have anybody break a single leaf, if he +could help it, and––oh, oh!”</p> +<p>Mr. Sharp lifted his head from his close examination +of a branch that had particularly interested +him and saw Jessica pointing in astonishment at +the very heart of the great hedge.</p> +<p>“What is it? Something especially curious?”</p> +<p>“Curious! It’s––it’s––dreadful! You can see +right through it! Somebody has ruined it!”</p> +<p>The reporter stooped and followed the direction +of her guiding finger and saw that a strange thing +had indeed been done. For a considerable length +the terrible barrier had been literally tunneled, +though the fact was not easily discernible. Walls +of the bare and twisted branches were still left unbroken +on either side, but a sufficient space had +been scooped out to admit the passage of a human +being should such desire a hiding place.</p> +<p>“Oh! isn’t that dreadful? Who could have done +it, and why?” cried the captain, in distress; and her +companion could only think of Aunt Sally’s declaration, +made to him at breakfast, that Sobrante was +“bewitched.”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII_WHAT_THE_SABBATH_BROUGHT' id='CHAPTER_XVIII_WHAT_THE_SABBATH_BROUGHT'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +<h3>WHAT THE SABBATH BROUGHT</h3> +</div> +<p>“Now I know how it was that Antonio disappeared +that time when Aunt Sally and Ephraim +heard him outside the pantry window!” cried +Jessica, exultingly; and seeing the gentleman’s puzzled +expression, told of the scene within the cold +closet and of the mocking answer “Forty-niner” +had received, when he said he was determined to +find out Antonio’s retreat. Then she bade her friend +stoop again and see for himself how easy it was +for one at the rear of the house, where the pantry +was, to slip into this cactus tunnel and be utterly +hidden from anybody who would search from that +side.</p> +<p>They saw, also, that the broken branches had +been thrown under the open foundation of the +kitchen, leaving no sign of the ruin that had been +done.</p> +<p>“A clever scamp, indeed! And any other sort of +plant would have withered at the top and led to +discovery. But not this; for the verdure has evidently +long been gone from this part of the hedge,” +observed Ninian.</p> +<p>“Oh, yes! This end has been dead for a great +while, yet my mother would not have it removed. +It would have lasted maybe forever in just that +way; and Antonio knew how we prized it. Oh, +dear! I do believe he is as wicked as the ‘boys’ +say, though I hate to think that of anybody.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span> +“Surely, you have had proof enough of his evil +doings, even without these later fantastic developments. +You must never trust that man, little girl, +should he again try to make you.”</p> +<p>“I think he won’t bother me. Why should he?” +asked she, in some surprise, for her friend’s tone +had been most impressive. “Why should you imagine +that?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know myself, exactly why. It just ‘happened’ +into my head. By the way, captain, did you +send me all of the specimen of copper that you +had?”</p> +<p>“Oh, no, indeed! My mother thought best not. +We sent you only a little bit, cut from the larger +one Pedro dug. Let’s go into the office and I’ll +open the safe and show you the rest. Do you know +anything about such mines and stuff?”</p> +<p>“I do know something about ores and minerals, +my dear, for before I was a newspaper man I was +a clerk in the office of an expert in such matters. +I should greatly like to see your sample,” he answered, +readily.</p> +<p>So she led the way at once and took the key +from a desk drawer, which anybody might have +opened, and Ninian remarked:</p> +<p>“What an insecure place for a safe key! Yours +is certainly a most confiding household.”</p> +<p>“Oh, it’s not a very safe safe, anyway,” she +answered, laughing; “and who would want to open +it? It’s Ephraim’s really, though I don’t think he’s +ever been near it since he came home. Isn’t it a +great, clumsy key? But my father told me that +there are safes much, much larger and stronger +than this which are opened by very small keys. Odd, +isn’t it?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span> +As she spoke she was down upon her knees in +front of the strong box and trying with all her small +strength to turn the lock; and after watching her +for a moment the reporter laughed, and suggested:</p> +<p>“Suppose you just merely pull at the knob. It +looks to me as if the thing were already opened, +for the door isn’t tight; or is that protruding edge +of it a part of the general crudeness?”</p> +<p>Jessica obeyed, pulling with such unnecessary +force that the safe flew open and he fell backward, +laughing.</p> +<p>But Mr. Sharp did not laugh. In view of what +had been told him he was afraid the thing had +been tampered with, and watched in silence while +the little girl thrust her hand into the safe and felt +all about, her face lengthening as she did so; but +again, suddenly brightening, when she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh, my mother must have done that! There +was all the money in here that was left after Elsa +got her own share. The first nights two of the +‘boys’ slept in the house to watch, ’cause mother +was afraid we might lose it again. Then, since +‘Forty-niner’ got home only he has slept here, and +he generally ‘bunks’ on the lounge in this very office. +That’s what it is, what it must be. My mother +has worried about Antonio, and has taken the +money and the piece of copper away and put them +somewhere else. Well, never mind. She’ll show it +to you as soon as she comes back; and now, what +shall we do next? Would you like to ride?”</p> +<p>Ninian passed his hand across his brow in mild +perplexity. An instant conviction had seized him +that here was another feature of the mysteries pervading +this peaceful ranch; and though he as instantly +frowned upon his own suspicion, it would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +remain to torment him. However, he said nothing +further to disturb Jessica’s composure, and readily +agreed that a ride would be delightful, though he +added, grimly:</p> +<p>“I’m so lame and stiff already from yesterday’s +horseback exercise that I feel older than Ephraim. +I expect a ‘hair of the same dog’ is the best cure, +and wish now I had made time, back there in town, +to get used to a saddle. I never found it convenient, +though, and poor Nimrod missed his outings even +more than I did, I fancy. It certainly is a glorious +day for a canter, as almost all our days are.”</p> +<p>“It’s nice, too, when the rains come. We do +things indoors then that we never do all the rest +of the year. My mother plays and sings half the +time, ’cause then she can’t go poking around all +over the ranch, like she does now. In the evenings +the ‘boys’ all come in and tell stories or do their +best to amuse us. We were always happiest, too, +when Pedro came, and when my father was here +he coaxed him and he came often. Now––he’ll +never come again!” she finished, with an irrepressible +burst of grief, which she as quickly suppressed, +for she saw that it saddened her guest as well; and +she had been reared in the spirit of hospitality that +makes the stranger glad even at the cost of one’s +own impulses.</p> +<p>So she added, with a smile that seemed all the +brighter because of the tears still glistening on her +long lashes:</p> +<p>“I’ll bring you some books out here and you can +rest in the hammock while I run and have the horses +saddled. Buster isn’t as fast as Nimrod, but he’ll +go now and then as if he were a colt. I hope this +will be one of his fast times, don’t you? I love +to ride fast!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span> +Ninian smiled rather grimly, answering:</p> +<p>“Just at present, from the state of my poor +muscles, I fancy I’d prefer a gait as slow as Buster’s +ordinary one. But if I stay the week out, I mean to +learn a thing or two about that fine beast of mine.”</p> +<p>“A week or two! Why, you’re to be here till +after Christmas, anyway, and that’s a fortnight +off. I wish––oh, I wish you would live here always!”</p> +<p>From his delightful resting place in a hammock +that was “stretched just right,” and which commanded +one of the loveliest views in the world, he +looked afield and wished so too. Fond as he was +of his own active city life, this broad outlook appealed +to him most strongly; yet he shook off the +longing that assailed him to pass his days in the +country and opened the book Jessica had brought. +He was soon absorbed in its pages and forgot the +errand upon which the child had gone, till, after +a long time, as it proved, Ned stole bashfully up and +pushed a scrap of paper into his down-hanging +hand.</p> +<p>“Hello, youngster!” cried the gentleman, sitting +up. “What’s this?”</p> +<p>The child’s timidity banished at the first sound +of the visitor’s voice. Mr. Sharp reading, with his +spectacles on, and Mr. Sharp speaking in that hail-fellow-well-met +manner were two different people. +Besides that, Ned’s shyness was not his strongest +feature, though it cropped out now and then to the +astonishment of his family. Also, he was fresh +from the hands of Aunt Sally and his catechism +lesson, into which she had adroitly forced a hint +of the conduct due toward a “wise man, that can +write printin’.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span> +Supposing it to be a production of the little fellow’s +own, Mr. Sharp delayed the reading of the +crumpled epistle he had received and continued his +talk with its bearer; who presently forgot his Sunday +manners, and reproachfully demanded that +“printing press you promised.”</p> +<p>“’Cause if I had it I’d be just as smart as you, +you know.”</p> +<p>“Smartersyou!” cried the echo, clasping Ned’s +neck with that choking affection of his.</p> +<p>Ned turned upon his other self and pummeled him +well, declaring:</p> +<p>“No, you wouldn’t neither, Luis Garcia! +’Twouldn’t be your printing press, and you can’t +spell cat backwards! So, there!”</p> +<p>“Cat backwards, dogboycat,” gurgled Luis, in a +rapture of mere existence.</p> +<p>Ninian laughed at the comical pair, finding them +infinitely diverting; and was only brought back to +his immediate duty by the insistence of the small +messenger, who demanded:</p> +<p>“Why don’t you read your letter? I should +think anybody what makes newspapers could read a +little girl’s letter.”</p> +<p>“That’s a fact; I’ll see if I can;” and accordingly +spread out the scrap of wrapping paper, which had +not been very smooth to start with and had suffered +further ill treatment at Ned’s hand. The note required +a second reading before he could fully comprehend +its meaning, which he then found sufficiently +startling to send him stableward in hot +haste. The message was from the little captain, +and was worded thus:</p> +<p>“dear mister sharp please excuse me i must go +to a Dyeing man and i Mustnt Tell Who cause if +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +my mother was Home I Wood and she wood say +yes. She always helps dyeing folks and sick ones +one the boys will go and he can ride Moses or prince +Which he likes. I guess marty so i Cant right any +more the paper is so littul and i cant Stay.”</p> +<p>“JESSICA.”</p> +<p>This had been written with a coarse blue pencil, +evidently picked up in the stable or workroom; and +to the reporter’s inquiries, put to the first ranchman +he met, there seemed no satisfactory answer. The +man in question had not seen Jessica since service, +and the men’s quarters to which Ninian hurried, +were almost deserted. Sunday was their own, so +the “boys” spent much of it afield, hunting or visiting +on neighboring ranches. Yet a further search +revealed John Benton, in his own room, reading; +and to him the visitor again put the question of +Jessica’s probable whereabouts, and showed the +letter.</p> +<p>The carpenter was on his feet instantly, a look of +apprehension deepening the lines of his earnest +face; and running to the door he shouted to a stable +boy who was crossing the space before the old +adobes:</p> +<p>“Natan! Natan!”</p> +<p>The youth paused, hesitated, yet came no nearer; +and John repeated his summons, with an imperative +“Here!” Then muttered an explanation to the reporter: +“Another of those no-account Greasers; +same kind as the Bernals and hired by top-lofty +when, he was in charge. Works well enough +but–––”</p> +<p>By this time Natan had slouched forward and +stood stolidly awaiting an expected as well as +merited reproof, because of stalls imperfectly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +cleaned and harnesses left in other than their own +places; for John was orderly to the last degree and +a very martinet in disciplining his subordinates. +However, it was no neglect of duty that was now to +be scored, but a question was fairly hurled at the +young groom and in a voice sharp with anxiety:</p> +<p>“Natan, did you saddle Buster just now?”</p> +<p>“But yes,” answered the lad, greatly relieved.</p> +<p>“Where is he? And Nimrod?”</p> +<p>“Nimrod is at the ‘house’ horse block, is it not? +Si. Groomed to the highest, and a beauty we’re all +glad to see back where he belongs.”</p> +<p>“Your opinion wasn’t asked. Where is Buster?”</p> +<p>“Where the captain wills. I know not, I,” with +a shrug of his lean shoulders.</p> +<p>“Did she mount him?”</p> +<p>“Why else should he be saddled, no?” returned +the groom, with an insolent laugh.</p> +<p>John’s temper flamed and he turned away with +a disgusted snort, meaning to seek information +elsewhere on a case he felt permitted no delay. But +Ninian was cooler, if equally suspicious that Natan +was concealing something that should be known; +so, laying his hand not unkindly upon the youth’s +shoulder, he said:</p> +<p>“If you know anything of this, where Miss Jessica +has gone and with whom, or if alone, it will be +worth your while to tell me and at once. I’m pretty +good pay for seasonable articles,” he finished, in +his journalistic manner.</p> +<p>He had taken a dollar from his pocket and was +carelessly tossing it from hand to hand, nor was +he disappointed when Natan fixed his black eyes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +greedily upon the coin. Still the lad said nothing, +only pondered in his own dull mind which of two +masters it would benefit him most to serve; and +annoyed by this hesitation, Ninian hazarded a guess:</p> +<p>“Oh, well, if you prefer to work for Antonio +Bernal, it’s all one to me.”</p> +<p>Natan’s mouth flew open and his eyes grew wild:</p> +<p>“You know it, then, already, you?”</p> +<p>“I know many things,” was the sententious answer.</p> +<p>“But it is a pity, yes. The so fine man and such +a rider. He will ride no more, poor Antonio, si.”</p> +<p>Ninian’s blood ran chill, yet he asked, still quietly, +though foreseeing evil he dared not contemplate:</p> +<p>“Who brought the word?”</p> +<p>“Ferd, the dwarf,” came the reply, as the dollar +exchanged owners.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_ANTONIOS_CONFESSION' id='CHAPTER_XIX_ANTONIOS_CONFESSION'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +<h3>ANTONIO’S CONFESSION</h3> +</div> +<p>These were the facts: Natan had been grooming +the horses, Nimrod and Buster, when suddenly and +soundlessly there appeared before the window in the +stables’ rear, the misshapen head and shoulders of +typo Ferdinand Bernal. He was mounted on a snow-white +horse and seemed to the superstitious stable +boy to have risen out of the ground. Buster, also, +had appeared to be frightened for a few seconds, +though he speedily recovered his equine calmness +and merely whinnied his delight, while he attempted +to secure another mouthful of alfalfa before the +bridle slipped into place over his head.</p> +<p>“Natan, the little captain,” whispered Ferd, +through the narrow casement.</p> +<p>“Well, yes; the little captain,” returned the other, +in a louder tone, and grinning at his own astuteness +in discovering that this was a white horse so +very like the “spook horse” that it might be one +and the same. Some of Antonio’s schemes he had +fathomed, being himself a sort of schemer in his +own stupid way.</p> +<p>“I want her. She must come. Antonio dies.”</p> +<p>“Antonio––fiddles!” retorted the other, contemptuously. +Then saw, to his surprise, that Ferd’s head +had dropped upon that of his strange steed and that +he was whimpering and sobbing in a pitiful fashion, +well calculated to deceive the unwary. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +It was at this juncture that, fancying to see her +beloved Buster made ready for her ride, Jessica ran +singing into the stable, and paused amazed at sight +of Ferd, weeping, and so oddly mounted. Horses +there were galore in the Sobrante stables and pastures, +but never one like this; so white, so spirited, +and yet so marvelously marked. For even by the +daylight, there in the slight shadow of the wall, the +animal’s eyes glowed with an unearthly light, terrifying +to Natan and startling even to her fearless +self. Indeed it had not been until the moment of +her appearance and Buster’s whinnied welcome, +that Ferd’s horse had turned its face toward them +and revealed his curious visage.</p> +<p>“Why, Ferdinand Bernal!” she cried, giving him +his full title, and thereby mystifying still further +the wondering groom. “I do believe that’s the +very creature that’s been scaring such a lot of people +everywhere! How came you by it and what ails +its eyes?”</p> +<p>Ferd lifted a face that was grimy with dirt and +streaked with tears. His misery was evident and +needed no words to impress it upon the tenderhearted +girl, who ran to the window, begging:</p> +<p>“What is the matter, Ferd? Poor Ferd! are you +ill? In trouble? What?”</p> +<p>“The death. It is the accursed house. Where +death comes once––he is always there. He told me––you +must come. Come; now, right away, si. Before––too +late. He said it. Antonio, my brother.”</p> +<p>“You know that, then––about your relationship? +But what has happened to him?”</p> +<p>The dwarf glanced at Natan and motioned to her +to send him away. For reasons of his own, the +groom was glad enough to obey, because dire had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span> +been the threats of the mighty-fisted Samson, as +well as the stern John Benton, against any on that +ranch who should be caught “consorting with that +low-lived Ferd or the late manager.” Besides, in +spite of Jessica’s apparent indifference to the glowing +eyes of the white horse they infected him with +a horrible fear; so he made his escape at the first +chance; leading Nimrod around to the house and +tying him there to await Ninian’s pleasure, while he +himself resorted to the most distant and safest spot +he could find. This had seemed, in his mind, the +mission corridor; but he found it already occupied +by a party of the ranchmen who had no desire for +his society, and after a short delay frankly told him +so. It was in passing from this ancient structure +to his own room in another building that he had +been intercepted by John, and called to account.</p> +<p>Yet, sometime before this, Jessica had finished her +interview with the unhappy Ferd; had written her +note of explanation to Ninian, though keeping her +destination secret, as the hunchback implored, in +accordance with Antonio’s wish; had dispatched her +message by Ned and Luis; and, unknown to them, +had rapidly ridden away in company with the white +horse and her treacherous guide––to comfort the +dying.</p> +<p>That death should have come again to the cabin +on the mesa, whither she was led, seemed natural +enough to her; remembering with such keen sorrow +the passing of old Pedro.</p> +<p>And for once Antonio Bernal had told the truth. +Lying helpless, almost motionless, on the narrow +bed in the shepherd’s home, he greeted his visitor +with a pitiful smile on his white face, and a tone +from which the last vestige of his old bravado had +departed: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span> +“The Captain! si. You did well to come, my Lady +Jess. But you are not afraid?”</p> +<p>“Why should I be afraid, Antonio? You are ill, +I see that. What’s wrong? What can I do to +help you?”</p> +<p>“Nothing. There is nothing. I played my game +and I lost. I––I saw you last night at the window.”</p> +<p>“And I saw you; I knew you; but I did not know +why you were fixed like that and had painted your +poor horse all white.”</p> +<p>“Ha! You saw that? You, when nobody––older––well, +I lost.”</p> +<p>“Are you hurt? What can have happened to you +since then?”</p> +<p>“Shot. On the way here, fearing nothing, a passing +horseman, unknown, braver or quicker than +the rest, thought he could rid the country of its +ghost. Ah, yes! it was merry––for a time. It is +past.”</p> +<p>Jessica was crying softly, unable to endure the +sight of agony, even his who had tried to injure her +and hers. The sick man perceived this and something +of the affection he had once felt for his master’s +child, before he had betrayed that master’s +trust, stirred him to speak and thrilled him with +compunction. He felt himself to be doomed; he +had already sent Ferd away again to summon a +priest; and according to his faith he meant to make +his peace with the world; but these preparations +had been on his own account only. Now he began +to feel something for her also.</p> +<p>Suddenly she ceased crying and stood up to bend +over him and beg that she might be allowed to +help him. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span> +“A drink of water––some coffee? You were always +so fond of coffee, Antonio, and I know where +Pedro kept all his things. So many, many times +we drank it here together, he and I. And you––how +came you here, Antonio?”</p> +<p>“Where better or nearer could I be? Pedro, the +most obliging, yes. Just when I needed his house +he left it. Si. Why, but I am better still, is it +not, I?”</p> +<p>Indeed his color had improved and his voice +grown stronger since Jessica’s arrival; and he was +able to take the cup of coffee which she made +him. This was more palatable than anything Ferd +had prepared and stimulated him still further. For +a few moments after he had taken it he felt so improved +that he almost gave up the doing of that +for which he had summoned her. But a sudden return +of pain again alarmed him, and as soon as +that spasm was past, he motioned her to the bedside.</p> +<p>“In the cupboard––look, quick!” he whispered, +pointing to a set of shelves built upon the wall and +behind whose locked doors Pedro had been accustomed +to store his baskets.</p> +<p>Jessica tried the little door, which refused to open, +and to her inquiry for the key, Antonio pointed to +his own pillow. After a slight hesitation she approached +and secured the key from beneath it; +but when she had opened the cupboard found that +all the Indian’s exquisite weaving had been removed. +In its place was the metal-pointed staff, with its +shank broken in half, and she exclaimed, indignantly:</p> +<p>“Oh! how could you do that, Antonio? And how +could you be so mean as to take it from two children?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span></div> +<p>“Ha! Once it was all mine––this land. The +copper in the canyon, mine, also. Si. The padres’ +secret which the shepherd kept was mine–––No, +no; not yet!” he broke off, with a sudden, delirious +scream, fancying he saw the head of a man appearing +without the door.</p> +<p>His outcry set Jessica shivering with fear at +being alone in that isolated spot with a possible +madman; but a second glance into his pallid face +restored her natural courage and assured her that +he was powerless to injure her, even had he wished +to do so. Just then, too, Buster whinnied and she +felt that he was company. It sounded as if he had +seen some stable companion of his own and had +welcomed it; yet this could not be, of course, since +nobody knew of her whereabouts or would be likely +to come to the mesa now. Therefore, she did not +follow Antonio’s glance doorward, but sought at +once to relieve his distress.</p> +<p>“Won’t you drink another cup of coffee, Antonio? +Or shall I make you a bit of porridge? There’s hot +water still in the kettle and I know how. I’ve made +it for my mother, often, when she was ill; and the +little boys always have it. Oh, I can do it quite +well!”</p> +<p>She was so eager to serve him, and the pain had +once more so greatly lessened for the time being, +that the late manager graciously consented, and +with such an absurd assumption of his old “top-lofty” +manner that Jessica laughed even while she +hastened to put on the tiny porringer and seek the +meal. The little oil stove blazed merrily, and so +deft was she that, in a very few minutes more, she +had a dish of the steaming mush beside the cot +and had thinned a cup of condensed milk with which +to make it the more palatable. Sugar there was in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span> +plenty, for Pedro had loved sweets; so that nothing +was wanted, save appetite, to render the repast all +that was desirable; yet when it was quite ready +Antonio could not take it.</p> +<p>The pain had returned and with added intensity; +and it was due to that fact that he no longer delayed +the confession he had sent for her to hear.</p> +<p>“Hark! Behold! I talk.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Antonio, I’m listening.”</p> +<p>“Well, I––how begin? It is a story long, not +pleasant.”</p> +<p>“Wait. Open your mouth and I will feed you. +Yes, do.”</p> +<p>His black eyes stared at her, astonished. In her +place had anybody done him the ill that he had done +her, he would have let his enemy starve and have rejoiced +at a suffering well deserved. But this child––he +wished she would turn her face away, and not +look upon him with that innocent compassion. She +was too like her dead father, and his one best +friend; whom in life he had really loved and in death +had not scrupled to despoil.</p> +<p>“Come, Antonio, eat. Afterward you’ll be stronger +to talk,” she said, as coaxingly as if he had been +her little brother, Ned; and thus persuaded, he +opened his mouth and received the morsel she forced +upon him. Thus it continued; she feeding, he resting +and with halting eagerness relating the story +of his own misdeeds.</p> +<p>“For I must go to pay the price. Si. But the +poor lad, my half-wit brother Ferd, ugly, sinful, +desolate––he will be left alone. Is it not? For +him, if I restore all, there may still be kindness and +a home at Sobrante, that should all be his––if–––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></div> +<p>“No, Antonio; you know better. That is a poor, +foolish notion that has been put into your head. +You know; for Mr. Hale, who is a lawyer and +understands everything like that, told you and us +that you hadn’t a bit of right to a bit of land anywhere +in this world. Unless, indeed, you may have +bought it since that little while ago in Los Angeles. +And if you have, where did you get the money?”</p> +<p>“Lo dicho dicho,” he muttered the Spanish phrase: +“What I have said I have said,” and sighed profoundly, +as one hopelessly aggrieved.</p> +<p>Jessica lost her temper. She forgot that he was +ill and remembered only that he was imputing +treachery to her parents and to others whom she +loved, and retorted, warmly:</p> +<p>“What you have ‘said’ doesn’t make the truth, +Senor Bernal. And if you have anything to tell me +I wish you would tell it now. I ought to be at +home with Mr. Sharp, who’s come to make us a +visit. My mother is away, and it’s rude to leave +guests alone like that. I, who want to be a perfect +lady, do hate to be rude. So tell, please, and quick.”</p> +<p>“It was he, then, whom I saw on the road with +old Ephraim, yes?” cried Antonio, in a voice which +was certainly much stronger than it had been when +Lady Jess arrived.</p> +<p>“Yes, it was he. Now begin, please. What first?”</p> +<p>Neither the man on the bed nor the girl who listened +to him so intently suspected that other ears +were as eager to hear this dying confession. Yet so +it was, and Buster’s short whinny of welcome had +been a real one. For John, on Moses, and Ninian, +on Nimrod, had lost but little time in riding to the +mesa; though because of the reporter’s poor horsemanship, +the carpenter felt that they would really +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +save time by taking the longer level road around +by the north, and not the narrow canyon trail, which +was dangerous for the inexperienced. This had +consumed some time, but each felt a thrill of relief, +when they at last arrived, to see Buster calmly +nibbling at the dry herbage near the shepherd’s +cabin.</p> +<p>“Where Buster is Jessica is, this time,” said the +carpenter, softly. “And I was right. I’d heard of +this spook being seen up here, and fool folks layin’ +it to poor Old Century. That’s why I came. We +didn’t make any mistake, did we?”</p> +<p>Then as they approached nearer to the house +and quietly dismounted to hobble their horses, he +added:</p> +<p>“Let’s go up sly. Everything seems terrible still, +and I’d like to take a peek through that back window +’fore we let on we’ve come.”</p> +<p>Ninian was not so cautious; or, rather, he was +more anxious about the little captain, and protested:</p> +<p>“How do we know but that this silence means +mischief? If he has sent for her to harm her–––”</p> +<p>“Hark! She’s all right. Thank God for that. +I can hear her laughing, and he’s a coward. She +isn’t; and, anyway, he’d think twice ’fore he hurt +a hair of that child’s head. Why, man, his life +wouldn’t be worth a minute’s purchase if he dared! +He’d be hunted to his own destruction so quick you +couldn’t say ‘scat.’ Humph! He may be after mischief––’cause +he hasn’t been after anything else +since Cass’us died––but he’ll keep within bounds. +Now, this way. Lucky the grass is thick; but even +so, don’t tread too heavy. Right behind that rear +wall, close against the east, is the place to hear +all and not be seen.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span></div> +<p>Therefore, as noiselessly and hastily as possible, +they placed themselves within earshot of what +was said within the house; and the story they heard, +reduced to simplest facts, was to the effect, as +follows:</p> +<p>Upon receiving his discharge from legal detention +at Los Angeles, Antonio had felt a homesick longing +for his old haunts. He had returned without telling +anybody of his intention and had taken up his +abode at Solano’s ranch, where his unfortunate +brother and the only person for whom he still cared +was frequently to be found. There the dwarf had +joined him, though rambling away again, from time +to time, on errands of his own of which he neither +spoke nor was questioned.</p> +<p>“Money, money! That’s the one thing, the only +thing, no! Get money, Ferd whenever, however, +wherever you can and what you get you keep. Hear +me,” had been Antonio’s constant instruction during +all the years of the hunchback’s life; and to +the dwarf’s limited understanding, his adored +brother typified incarnate wisdom.</p> +<p>He had anticipated high praise when, one day, he +came back to Solano’s and reported his hiding of +the little captain in the canyon cave. The praise +was not so ready at first, for Antonio was astute +enough to see whither such a hazardous scheme +might lead; but the approbation came unstained +when, later, Ferd again appeared, describing Pedro’s +behavior at the time of the rescue and of the curious +action of the ancient staff. Sent back alone +to bring fresh specimens of the mineral Pedro had +unearthed, Ferd had suddenly turned stubborn and +refused to go more than halfway. Pedro had died +suddenly, and Pedro’s ghost would haunt the spot; +no, even Antonio should not compel him thither. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span> +He would do anything, everything else, but go to +the canyon cave again he would not.</p> +<p>Indeed Antonio now felt that it was hardly necessary +he should. The poor lad’s superstition had suggested +a better way. With Solano’s aid, the deluded +“top-lofty” hatched a notable scheme. He +would himself impersonate Old Century’s uneasy +spirit, which could not rest because he had betrayed +the secret of the ancient padres. Nero could be +made as white as any ghost horse by the application +of a little paint; and shod with rubber could +pass over the sandy roads with almost as little noise +as any spectral steed. It was easy to bribe and +terrify two small boys into securing and restoring +to him the pointed wand, even if by their effort to +obtain it they might happen to fall and break it. +That mattered little, however, since the point was +all that he wanted; but it was just as well to have +that money he had seen through the window, that +night of his first appearance on Sobrante grounds. +That, too, was easy to get if one watched his opportunity +in that cactus tunnel Ferd had scooped +for his brother’s convenience. An unsuspecting, +busy household left many chances for entering an +open-windowed room, and who had ever been so +familiar as he with the supposed safety secret place +in which the key was kept? With the money he +had found also the bit of copper Pedro had procured; +and he knew enough of mining matters to +rejoice, indeed. He had meant to do great things. +He would prosecute his land claim to the uttermost; +and there were plenty of unscrupulous men who +would undertake his cause for a share in the profits +of a copper mine. This very mesa would have been +the scene of their first operations. Here the mill +would have been built, and here–––</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span></div> +<p>“But what the use? The hand of punishment is +upon me, yes. The money, it is there. Ferd shall +tell of all the rest that he has put somewhere, I +know not. His poor brain cannot carry out the +plan, and to me it avails no more. Ay de mi! But +Solano––beware. Of some things he knows, and of +more he suspects, is it not? Ah! I weary, I languish, +I die, I, Antonio Bernal, heir to wealth so +boundless. It was so fine a plan––so most wonderful +and simple. The fools, how they feared! Oh! +the laughter I had! and the wild, rides on my so +splendid ghost horse, yes. But I die––I die; and the +great big plan for the copper turned to gold––I––who +else will have the so great intellect, you call +it, to make it real? Well, I have done. The staff +I return––useless, save to me. The money––I cannot +carry whither I must ride on the white horse of +death––whiter than––the pity! The pity! Poor Antonio! +Poor, poor Antonio!”</p> +<p>His long talk had, indeed, wearied him to faintness; +but while his own tears rained down his +cheeks in his self-pity, even as Jessica’s in sympathetic +sorrow, a cheerful and hearty voice cried +through the window:</p> +<p>“Don’t fret yourself, top-lofty! There’s one or +two other smart men left, my friend, to carry out +that noble scheme of yours, and my name ain’t +John Benton, if they don’t do it! More’n that, I’ll +promise you a few more years to spend in wickedness, +if you like. On one condition.”</p> +<p>Antonio’s eyes almost leaped from his head in +amaze at this interruption and greater amazement +at this astounding promise; and John was swift to +press his advantage:</p> +<p>“I’ll save your life––on one condition!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XX_THE_VERDICT' id='CHAPTER_XX_THE_VERDICT'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> +<h3>THE VERDICT</h3> +</div> +<p>“Benton!” warned Ninian Sharp, aghast at the +audacity of a man who would trifle with the apparent +death-hour of any man.</p> +<p>“Oh! that’s all right. Come around and in with +me. I never yet heard a voice as lusty as that from +a dying man, and I’ve been acquainted with Senor +Bernal some little spell. He’s scared nigh to death––it’s +just possible––but he ain’t sick nor wounded +to death, or I’m mistook. Come in!”</p> +<p>Jessica met him at the door, and impulsively +threw her arms about them at her relief in their +presence. She had not been afraid of anything which +could harm herself, but she had believed the man’s +own statement that he was dying, and his suffering +had been evidently intense at times. She had been +saddened and awe-stricken, and she now shared +Ninian’s indignation at the carpenter’s apparently +heartless promise. How was it possible for him +to bestow life where death had set its seal?</p> +<p>Nothing abashed by the reproachful looks cast +upon him, John walked straight to the bed and demanded, +in the most ordinary tone:</p> +<p>“Where you hurt, neighbor?”</p> +<p>Antonio caught at the straw the ranchman seemed +to extend, and feebly pointed to the wound in his +back.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></div> +<p>What followed astonished Ninian far more than +it did Jessica, who knew the carpenter’s ways. As +tenderly, perhaps, because of his greater strength, +the old man lifted the injured one and critically examined +his wound; his face growing graver as he +did so, yet not losing its expression of confidence +and decision. When the examination was over, he +replaced Antonio on the hard pillow, which had +been Pedro’s one luxury, and quietly replied to the +poor fellow’s unspoken question, burning in his +great dark eyes:</p> +<p>“It’s a bad job, my son. A mighty bad job, and +a sneaky one. I’ve seen such before in my time, +and they didn’t mean death. To some folks, though, +they meant what was worse.”</p> +<p>Nobody would now have recognized the voice +which uttered this dictum, it had become so infinitely +compassionate and gentle.</p> +<p>Antonio caught one meaning only: “I will not +die? I need not die? It is you who will save me, +yes? O’santos Dios!”</p> +<p>He had half risen from the bed, but now sank +back, exhausted by the shock of emotion as well +as by the physical effort; and Jessica sprang forward, +terrified by the sudden pallor of his swarthy +face. But John put her quietly aside and himself +placed a flask to Antonio’s lips, saying:</p> +<p>“You’ve done your part well, my noble little +captain, and you’ve done me proud. It’s my place +now.”</p> +<p>The senor soon rallied, and again fixed his eyes +imploringly on Benton’s face, as he sat on the +edge of the bed beside him.</p> +<p>“Yes, top-lofty, I promise to help you. But first +you must help yourself. You must pledge your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span> +word, the word of a dying man, that he dare not +break. You will restore everything that you have +taken from the mistress of Sobrante––or anybody +else––so far as it will hereafter be in your power; +you shall compel your Brother Ferd to guide a party +of prospectors to that secret spot in the canyon +where that piece of copper came from; and you +shall do all that it is possible to do for the good, +and not the evil, of your neighbors. That all clear?”</p> +<p>“But, yes, yes!” whispered Antonio, frantically. +“Haste! Oh, haste!”</p> +<p>“I’m a-hasting, but I ain’t a-hurrin’. Which is a +good thing for you, ’cause so I can think this thing +over. That ball in your back will have to come +out. I’ve taken some from folks myself, once or +twice, but this one is in a ticklish place. A doctor +is what we want, and the nearest one is ten miles +away on Kimball’s ranch. He’d rather potter with +his roses than other folks’ bullets, and I’ll have a +tough piece of work to drag him up here, especially +to see––you.”</p> +<p>With an impressive emphasis on the word “you” +John paused, and waited some rejoinder. None +came, and though Jessica again exclaimed against +the carpenter’s contemptuous tone, Antonio neither +resented it, nor felt it undeserved. Then Benton +continued:</p> +<p>“Sharp, here, is a writin’ fellow, and knows what’s +what every time. In the jerk of a lamb’s tail he’ll +draw up a paper which’ll explain what you promise, +and you’ve got strength enough to sign your name +to it. The minute you do that I’m off for Kimball, +and I’ll fetch him up here fast as horses can travel––if +I have to carry him on my back!”</p> +<p>“Quick! The paper! I sign––I live!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span></div> +<p>“Quick” it was, and though Ninian was no lawyer, +he was always well provided with pads and fountain +pens. Also, he was clever enough to use the longest +and most impressive words wherever possible, and +thus convinced the senor that the document sounded +legally important. Indeed, the injured manager +could scarcely wait to affix his signature, so eager +was he that John should be off on his errand of +salvation.</p> +<p>An hour later the padre came, and Jessica led +Ninian away, that the pair might have the cottage +to themselves. Then, when this visitation was over, +the good man lingered, that he might hear for himself +the doctor’s opinion when he should arrive. He, +too, had listened to another confession from the +truly repentant Antonio; but there was still a sacred +office to perform if this awaited opinion should be +for death, not life. But he had ridden far, and was +tired, having come directly from his own church +service at the distant mission, and Jessica’s hospitality +could not endure to see the look of weariness +on the old man’s kindly face.</p> +<p>“Beg pardon, Fra Sebastian, but would you like +a cup of coffee?”</p> +<p>“Ah! my daughter, would I like the impossible? +But, yes, I am famished, indeed, for the good dinner +of Marta, my housekeeper,” he answered, with +a shrug of his plump shoulders.</p> +<p>“Well, father, I cannot give you a dinner, but +I can make you a pot of fresh coffee; and in Pedro’s +little storeroom are cans of meat, and beans and +biscuit. Oh! I tell you! I’ll bring the plates out +here––there are two whole ones––and dear Mr. +Sharp and you shall have a picnic.”</p> +<p>Already, with the light-heartedness of childhood, +she had almost forgotten the sorrowful errand upon +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +which she had come to the mesa. Besides, to her, +a thing that was possible was, also, probable, and +John would never have raised false hopes in Antonio’s +breast. She was sure of that, and already +the senor’s recovery a matter of but a little while. +Moreover, to serve others was her dearest happiness, +and though Fra Sebastian’s faith was different +from her parents’, she had been trained to know +all good people as the children of God. And he was +especially such, for his benefactions and self-sacrifices +were widespread, and he had been an honored +guest at her father’s table.</p> +<p>“Oh! I am so happy to do anything for so holy +a man, and I am so glad––so glad we came!” she +whispered to Ninian, tripping away to relight the +little stove and fill her kettle afresh.</p> +<p>“But I must be allowed to help, too, my captain,” +he returned, eagerly entering into the altered spirit +of things; and so merry were they over their +preparations, so gay and bright the reverend guest +became, that Antonio was helped over his own tedious +time of waiting, and scarce knew how the +time passed before John’s return.</p> +<p>This was sooner than could have been anticipated. +The physician was already halfway on the road, intending +a neighborly call at Sobrante, when the +carpenter met and literally collared him.</p> +<p>“Come you must, Dr. Kimball. I shan’t take ‘no’ +for an answer,” was the decisive retort to the rose-grower’s +prompt refusal.</p> +<p>“I shall do nothing of the sort. I’m not a practicing +physician now, and I never was a surgeon. +As for that scalawag, Bernal, if he’s got himself +shot, he’s met exactly what he deserved. Giddap!” +he cried, to his horse, and was dashing past, just as +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +John’s long arm reached out and clutched the ranchman’s +coat.</p> +<p>“It isn’t so much for him as for our Lady Jess. +You’re not in such a tearin’ hurry, neighbor, and +if you are––well, just let your hurry wait.”</p> +<p>Whereupon, in a few brief, telling sentences, Dr. +Kimball was put in possession of the facts Antonio +had revealed, and had wheeled his horse about, with +a whimsical snarl:</p> +<p>“Well, forge ahead. For anybody named Trent +I’d break my own resolutions a dozen times a day.”</p> +<p>It is probable that the kind-hearted man would +have gone anyway, even if he had ridden some +miles still farther on an opposite road. The knowledge +that somebody was suffering and needing him +was an appeal to his professional instinct he would +scarcely have resisted, but he had to make a protest +first.</p> +<p>All merriment ceased when he entered the cabin +on the mesa, and Jessica instinctively sought the +reporter’s hand, needing his sympathy during the +anxious few minutes that ensued upon the doctor’s +arrival. Fra Sebastian and John had followed the +surgeon indoors, but Ferd, who had brought the +priest to the upland, still remained within the deserted +fold, whither he had retreated as soon as his +errand was accomplished. To him death of any +sort, even that of an animal brought a horrible fear, +and nothing would induce him to leave his shelter; +till, when the conference was over, Jessica ran to +him, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Cheer up, Ferd! Oh, Ferd! He’s going to live, +though, maybe––maybe he will never walk again. +Come and see him, Ferd. He wants you. He needs +you.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span></div> +<p>The dwarf came reluctantly, still adoring his +brother and still shrinking from him and the sight +of his agony. The examination had been painful, of +course; and the condition upon which life might +still remain a bitter one. However, it was––life! +And to Antonio, at that present moment, that was +all he craved.</p> +<p>“We must make a litter or stretcher and take him +to the valley. He will need the closest care and +watching. He couldn’t stay up here, and have a +single chance of recovery. Let’s see, there are five +men of us, counting the dwarf. We’ll have to walk +with the stretcher, and he shall lead the horses, all +but Buster, whom Jessica can ride. One at a time +he’ll ‘spell’ us, and the one released will take his +place at the beasts,” was the doctor’s decision.</p> +<p>So it was done. A blanket was speedily fastened +about two poles drawn from the corral, and over +these Pedro’s hard mattress was laid; and thus, +placed as comfortably upon it as might be, Antonio +was once more conveyed to his old home at Sobrante.</p> +<p>And there, that Sunday night, was wild rejoicing +and much speculation concerning the outcome of +his confession.</p> +<p>“Sharp’s the man to put the thing in trim. He’s +the very chap! He knows all about minerals, and +he says that this copper we’ve struck is the very +purest article he ever saw! Hurray! Hurray! Three +cheers and a tiger for the Sobrante Copper Mine!” +shouted the hilarious Marty.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, there had been short but heated discussion +among her loyal henchmen as to whether +Mrs. Trent should be forced to receive and care for, +under her immediate roof, a man who had done +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span> +her so much injury; and the decision had been unanimous: +“No!”</p> +<p>Even John, who had helped to bring him thither, +joined his voice to this assertion; and to the next +question propounded, as to who would attend him +and where, had as loudly answered: “I don’t know.”</p> +<p>Temporarily, the senor was resting in the household +sitting-room, but it was evident should not +long remain there.</p> +<p>“Where then? Hate him as we may, we can’t +let him die on our hands,” said Samson, looking as +black as he could.</p> +<p>“Don’t you fret yourselves, ‘boys,’” said a cheerful +voice near the group. “Mr. Ma’sh and me, or +me and Mr. Ma’sh––for I had to put it to him pretty +plain, ’fore he’d seed it right––me and him will take +that misguided creatur’ into our hands, and–––”</p> +<p>“May the Lord have mercy on his soul!” ejaculated +Marty, fervently.</p> +<p>“Me and Ephraim will ’tend him, turn and turn +about,” continued Mrs. Benton, ignorant of Marty’s +irreverent remark. “He’s to be put into Mr. Ma’sh’s +room at the quarters, and I’ll take this first night’s +job. I shall begin it with a dose of picra, and the +first page of the Westminster catechism; and if that +don’t put him in good shape for the doctor and +Ephraim, in the morning, my name ain’t Sally Benton, +nor never was. The doctor, he’s rode home for +his instruments and such, and hopes to get the +bullet out in the course of time. But it’s my opinion, +and his, too, I reckon, ’cause he didn’t deny it +when I put the question plain, it’s our opinion that +Antonio Bernal will never walk another step in his +life. But he’ll live. He’ll live everlastin’. Them old +Californy folks always do. He’ll simply be paralyzed +from his waist down.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span></div> +<p>Despite their antipathy to him, a thrill of pity +ran through every one who heard her; and to most +of those stalwart men it seemed that this was a +punishment they could not have endured. Death +would have been far preferable to them.</p> +<p>So it befell that the late manager’s fate was in +the hands of his enemies, so to speak; and while +Mrs. Benton and “Forty-niner” would faithfully +perform their duty toward him, they elected to do +it along lines of their own.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XXI_CONCLUSION' id='CHAPTER_XXI_CONCLUSION'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> +</div> +<p>Events crowded one another at Sobrante.</p> +<p>Under the compulsion of his brother’s will, so +soon as that brother was able to think of anything +beyond his own suffering, Ferd led a party of the +ranchmen, with Ninian Sharp at their head, to the +canyon cave and the pit where the little captain +had been imprisoned. They shuddered as they beheld +it; yet could but rejoice that Old Century had +sought her there, and had, so opportunely, revealed +its precious secret. They also took good care to +blaze their path as they went, for it was most intricate +and bewildering. They had the curiosity +to test the powers of the wonderful staff, which +John had carefully fitted with a new top, and were +amazed at its curious behavior, as it zigzagged over +the floor of the almost unsupported. Whatever the +metal, or compound of metals, on the point, it was +certainly attracted by, and indicated the presence of, +copper in the earth beneath.</p> +<p>Returning to the house after this trip of exploration, +Marty was promptly mounted upon the “ghost +horse” Nero, and sent to Marion with telegrams for +Ninian’s expert friends in Los Angeles, and to bring +back the mail. The unhappy animal had been +treated to a liberal bath of gasoline and soap suds, +and had come out of it a sort of mongrel; but with +the phosphorus gone from about his eyes and face, +and with a reasonable prospect that he might some +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span> +day be restored to his original ebony hue. Yet his +spirit seemed broken, as if he had felt the disgrace +of the part he had been forced to play in the late +escapades of Antonio and his fellow-conspirators.</p> +<p>“It’s what one might call the irony of fate that the +man who caused the death of Comanche should thus +be forced to supply Comanche’s place with his own +beloved Nero,” commented the reporter, as the messenger +rode away.</p> +<p>“Yes. Things generally do even up in this +world, if a body has patience to wait a spell,” answered +Samson. “And though I’ve no love for him, +and wouldn’t trust him across this plaza, without +watchin’, I can’t help pitying poor ‘top-lofty,’ and +thinking he was more fool than knave. The idee! +Them plans and performances of his savor more of +the ‘middle ages,’ that I’ve heard about, than of +these days. But it just takes my breath away to +think of what Sobrante will be, some time, if that +‘find’ in the canyon turns out what we imagine. +Why––but there! No use talking. Wait and see. +How long you think before you get an answer back +from the town, tellin’ what your friend’ll do?”</p> +<p>“Oh! I expect Marty will bring that answer. He’s +to wait an hour or two, you know, and give a chance. +If Cornell––that’s the expert’s name––is in the city, +he’ll probably come himself by the evening train. +In that case, you and I might drive over to meet +him.”</p> +<p>“Wh-e-w!” ejaculated the ex-sailor, astonished. +“You newspaper fellows beat the world for hustling, +don’t you? So quick as that? H’m! If you fly as +much sail as that so sudden, looks like we’d reach +port ahead of time.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></div> +<p>“When a thing’s to be done––why, do it! If there’s +copper enough to pay for mining, why––mine it,” +answered the other, coolly.</p> +<p>“Young man, mining costs money. Talkin’ is +cheap,” retorted Samson, sententiously.</p> +<p>“Of course. One must put in a little capital if one +expects to get results, in any business. The money +will be found easily enough. Trust me to see to +that. Or my friends and me.”</p> +<p>Already the journalist was as eager as possible on +this new matter. His brief rest had restored his +overtaxed nerves, and he was more than ready to +push any enterprise that commended itself to his +keen judgment. Now, all depended upon the expert’s +arrival at the ranch. He would then be taken in +person to examine the discovered vein, and on his +opinion great affairs would depend. Yet Ninian felt +that even if Henry Cornell’s opinion was averse, he +should not let the subject rest there. He would +consult with others. Mrs. Trent’s interests must be +forwarded to the utmost, and no possible chance of +her realizing a fortune lost through any lukewarmness +of his own.</p> +<p>Marty duly returned. He brought the expected +message from the great expert, and that gentleman +would arrive at Marion by that very evening’s train. +He brought, as well, several letters for the ranch +mistress, and these Jessica joyously carried to her +as she sat quietly sewing. Most of them were business +communications, which were promptly read +and laid aside, to be answered at once; but there +was one which the mother dropped in her workbasket +unopened, though it was the thickest and +plumpest of the lot, and, also, bore the postmark +“New York.” In ordinary, all New York mail was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +the most eagerly read of all that came; and this +fact caused Jessica to exclaim:</p> +<p>“Why, mother, dear! Why don’t you read it? Or +are you like me when I have something extra nice +for dinner, leaving it to by and by?”</p> +<p>“Yes, darling, I’m leaving it––a while. It will +keep. I know what is in it, or nearly so. It’s not +the first of the sort has come lately, and I’ll have +courage soon.”</p> +<p>“Courage, mother? Do you need courage to read +your letters? What harm can come to us now, out +of that far away city? My father’s name is cleared, +we owe nobody, we––why, we may be going to be +very, very rich, if things turn out as Mr. Ninian +thinks they will turn out, and–––Oh, dear! I’m +not saying it very clear, only seems to me we ought +to be perfectly, perfectly happy now; and if there’s +anything bad in the letter, please give it to me, and +let me burn it up right away.”</p> +<p>For answer, the mother caught her daughter close +within her arms, kissed her passionately, and asked:</p> +<p>“Oh, little captain! If you go so far from me, +how shall I live?”</p> +<p>“I––go so far––from you!” repeated Lady Jess, +in utter astonishment. “Why, what can you mean?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent recovered her composure, even smiled––if +not very gayly––and answered, tenderly: +“Whatever come, my sunshine, remember that, of +all things, your mother desires your welfare before +her own. But more than that I cannot tell you now. +So, run to Aunt Sally, dear, and ask if she can be +spared from her nursing a few hours. I think one +of the other men will relieve Ephraim, if he is tired, +in waiting upon Antonio. I want she should help me +get up an extra fine supper for Mr. Ninian’s friend. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span> +Ah! my child, how much we owe to that young +man’s goodness and enterprise!”</p> +<p>“Indeed, indeed, we do. But seems to me we do +nothing but cook here, nowadays. It’s always company, +isn’t it?”</p> +<p>“And glad I am of that. So long as the larder has +anything in it, I love to share it with––friends. Not +strangers, who do not care, but with anybody else, +the best we have. If a luxury well; and if but a +crust, still well. Now––to Aunt Sally.”</p> +<p>Jessica guessed that as soon as she was out of +sight the disagreeable letter from the other side of the +continent would be promptly read, and wondered +not a little concerning its contents. And she was +right. Mrs. Trent had barely finished its perusal, +when Mrs. Benton appeared, but from her the +mother had nothing to hide. She looked up quietly, +and said:</p> +<p>“Another more urgent entreaty from old Cousin +Margaret. She puts the matter so strongly as my +duty that I’m compelled to acknowledge she is––may +be––right.”</p> +<p>“Humph! She’s been wrong enough, sometimes,” +returned Aunt Sally, peevishly. “That’s when she +got angry with you for marrying Cass’us.”</p> +<p>“That was mostly from indignation at losing me, +her one loved relative. There could never have +been a kinder guardian–––”</p> +<p>“Nor a queerer, as I’ve gathered from your own +talk. I never saw Margaret Dalrymple, and I never +want to. Anyhow, nothin’ can be done at present; +but I’ve brought one comfortin’ word across from +the quarters with me, Gabriella.”</p> +<p>“What’s that, Aunt Sally? Is Antonio better?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span></div> +<p>“Oh! bother Antonio. He’ll get well, of course. +That kind always does. Of that I never had a misdoubt. +The word is this, and I begin to think that +old Fra Sebastian may be a real Christian, after all. +He not only offers, but he says it must be this way: +As soon as ‘top-lofty’ can be safely moved, he wants +him to the sannytarium to his mission. Him and +Ferd, the dwarf, likewise. He says them old Californys +all belong to him, and he will look after them. +Antonio is to be in the sanny-house, and Ferd is to +be put into the mission school. Though he’s a man +in years, he’s a child in learning––’cept evil. So Fra +proposes to oust the evil if he can––I wager he’ll +find he’s got a job––and put in good. He’ll make +Antonio earn his keep a-writin’ up the books and +accounts, for, with all his silliness, he’s a master +hand at figurin’––for himself. So that settles them, +and don’t you dast say no to the arrangement when +it’s perposed to you, Gabriella Trent, or I’ll never +let you hear the last of it. It’s the Lord’s own way +of disposing things, and a better one than I could +cipher out, if I do say it.”</p> +<p>Certainly Mrs. Trent had no objection to make to +so comfortable a settlement of a perplexing question; +and in due time the Bernals left Sobrante forever; +and of their lives at the mission those whom +they had known so long were henceforth to hear +little, “and care less,” according to the satisfied +ranchmen.</p> +<p>Mr. Cornell, the expert, came, inspected, reserved +his opinion, and departed; but Ninian Sharp had +gathered enough from the visitor’s few sentences, +idly dropped, to feel quite convinced that the thing +was worth carrying farther. So he, too, left Sobrante; +but, after a brief sojourn in Los Angeles, +reappeared, in company with Morris Hale and a +trio of prospectors, representing much capital. All +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span> +this was very exciting to the simple household; and +Mrs. Trent, at least, felt infinite relief when, on the +eve of Navidad, there were left in it only those two +strangers, who had now become less strangers than +familiar friends.</p> +<p>Gathered about the fireside, which the first of the +rainy nights made doubly enticing, the New York +lawyer discussed at length the decision which the +prospectors had made. They considered the mine +well worth working. “In fact, I have reason to believe +it will turn out one of the richest in the whole +country. They are willing to advance all money +needed upon certain conditions,” and he named +them.</p> +<p>These seemed extremely liberal and just to both +sides, but Mrs. Trent did not greatly surprise her +listeners when she quietly interposed a clause to the +effect that:</p> +<p>“My husband believed in profit-sharing. It was +his ambition to put Sobrante and its various interests +into such an operation. I want all our ‘boys’ +to enjoy the benefits of that which God has given us. +They will contribute their labor and share in its +results; share richly if I can have my will.”</p> +<p>“Your will is doubtless law, madam,” answered +Mr. Hale, courteously.</p> +<p>“And if the mine is worked, I want our dear +friend, Ninian Sharp, to come here and act as its +manager, on behalf of the Sobrante side. He”––she +raised her hand gently, as he started to interrupt––“he +must be paid a much larger salary than he could +earn upon the staff of the Lancet, and would have, +I hope, sufficient leisure time to use his pen in +other literary work, such as he tells me he has never +had the chance to do.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span></div> +<p>For the first time in his life, maybe, the alert +reporter was taken off guard, and hadn’t a word to +say, except the very ordinary one of “Thank you”; +but he said it, bending over the lady’s hand, and with +such an expression of delight upon his thin, intellectual +face, that no greater eloquence was needed.</p> +<p>“And now,” said Aunt Sally, “it’s time to begin +that there decorating which Gabriell’ thinks is a +part of Christmas. Pasqually’s been real good. He’s +been up to the dreen, where you planted them calla +lilies, Jessie, and he’s fetched a good many bushels. +Seven hundred, I guess he said. And he’s cut poinsetty +enough to turn us blind with its redness; and +my boy, John, hitched up and went along under the +flume and druv his pushcart back full of the biggest +maidenhair ferns and sweet brakes I ever see. So +now, youngsters, set to and trim. Then we’ll hang +up our stockings, every one; and I’ll give you the +nicest Christmas dinner can be cooked, if I have to +cuff Wun Lungy into basting them turkeys as they +ought to be basted. Come, Neddy; come, little +Echo; I saw Santy Claus’ wife––that’s me, shove a +pan full of gingerbread men into the wall oven, and +if they’re done, I’ll give each of you a soldier of +dough to drive you to bed. Stockings first? Of +course, of course. Why, what would Christmas be +without its stockings? Here’s a brand-new pair +auntie’s knit for you, one a piece; and if you don’t +find ’em stuffed with rods in the morning, it won’t +be because you don’t deserve it, you precious, precious, +naughty little lambs!”</p> +<p>Off went the good creature, a boy on either arm, +her patchwork streaming behind her, her spectacles +on the top of her head, and her ruddy countenance +as beaming as if she were, indeed, that mythical +person––Santa Claus’ wife.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span></div> +<p>Oh! what a Christmas followed! With everybody +from far and near who had any claim upon Sobrante +hastening thither to share its open hospitalities; +Wolfgang and Elsa, with their “little” six-foot son; +the genial McLeods, Dr. Kimball and his sweet-faced +invalid sister, Louise, for whose benefit he +had left their fine Boston home to live in this lonely, +lovely southland. These, and many more, not only +came, but did such justice to Mrs. Benton’s and +Wan Lung’s cookery that, as she said, next morning:</p> +<p>“Land suz! There ain’t scraps enough left to +make a decent soup, even! But never mind, we had +a royal time, every single soul of us. Christmas is +over, and I’m glad it’s so well over. Now, we can +settle down and rest a spell.”</p> +<p>Indeed, there was rest for the household itself, +but for Ninian Sharp and his coadjutors. The mining +scheme was rapidly put into practical operation; +Mr. Hale lingering all that winter to further its +interests, and to enjoy what he had coveted early in +his acquaintance with it, a few months of ranch +life at ideal Sobrante.</p> +<p>Then came the glorious springtime, when the mesa +was alive with flowers; the canyon was fragrant +with perfume, and the whole countryside became +an earthly paradise. The springtime, when the +Easterner could no longer delay his homeward trip, +nor Mrs. Trent the revelation of what her New +York letters had contained, though Jessica had +almost forgotten them.</p> +<p>One week before the lawyer was to leave them, +mother and child sat, hand in hand, beside the +father’s grave, whither the widow had purposely +withdrawn, as if the precious dust within might +still support and counsel her. Taking the little captain’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span> +hand in hers, and speaking as calmly as if her +heart were not desperately sad, she said:</p> +<p>“My darling, when Mr. Hale goes home to New +York you will go with him.”</p> +<p>“Mother! Oh! Why?”</p> +<p>“Because it is right. My Cousin Margaret, whose +letters you have seen me read, sometimes with ungrateful +tears, offers you a home and an education. +She was a mother to me in my youth, and I owe +her much. Now that she is old and desolate, she +begs for you. It may be that I should still have +declined to please her at so much pain to––us, but +the discovery of this copper mine of ours, and the +fact that you will one day be one of America’s richest +daughters, forces me to comply.”</p> +<p>“But, why, mother? Why should that matter? +I’d rather give it up. Say no! Oh, please, say no!”</p> +<p>“I cannot now. I dare not. Upon your dear +shoulders will rest a great trust and responsibility. +You must be fitted to discharge that trust by the +best education possible. This education you cannot +gain here. You must seek it elsewhere. We must +not make it harder for each other, this bitter parting, +but we must bear it bravely for––father’s sake.”</p> +<p>Thus ended Jessica’s early childhood; and of what +befell her in that widely different life at school it +must be left to another volume to relate.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30074 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f8f4ea --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #30074 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30074) diff --git a/old/30074-h.zip b/old/30074-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..33203b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30074-h.zip diff --git a/old/30074-h/30074-h.htm b/old/30074-h/30074-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3911a60 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30074-h/30074-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7717 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Jessica, the Heiress, by Evelyn Raymond</title> +<style type="text/css"> + @media screen { + hr.pb {margin:30px 0; width:100%; border:none;border-top:thin dashed silver;} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: x-small; text-align: right; text-indent: 0; position: absolute; right: 2%; padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; text-decoration: none; background-color: inherit; border:1px solid #eee;} + .pncolor {color: silver;} + } + @media print { + hr.pb {border:none;page-break-after: always;} + .pagenum { display:none; } + } + body {margin-left: 11%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 0.5em;} + + h1 {font-size:1.6em;} + h1,h2,h3 {text-align:center; font-weight:normal;} + h2 {font-size:1.4em;} + h3 {font-size:1.2em;} + h1.pg {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size: 190%; } + h3.pg {text-align:center; font-weight:bold; font-size: 110%; } + hr.p10 {border:none; border-bottom:1px solid black; width: 5%;} + p.tp {font-size:1em; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; text-align:center;} + + .chsp {margin: auto; text-align: center; padding-top: 2em; padding-bottom: 1em;} + .fnanchor {font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + a {text-decoration: none;} + hr.fn {width:3em; text-align:left; margin-left: 0; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; height:1px; border: none; border-bottom: 1px solid black;} + hr.toprule {width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; border:none; border-bottom:1px solid silver; clear:both;} + p.ralign {text-align: right !important;} + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + td.chalgn {text-align:right; margin-top:0; padding-right:1em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jessica, the Heiress, by Evelyn Raymond</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Jessica, the Heiress</p> +<p>Author: Evelyn Raymond</p> +<p>Release Date: September 24, 2009 [eBook #30074]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESSICA, THE HEIRESS***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Roger Frank<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1>Jessica, the Heiress</h1> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='margin-top:20px;font-size:2.0em;margin-bottom:20px;'>JESSICA, THE HEIRESS</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>By</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.4em;margin-bottom:20px;'>Evelyn Raymond</p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:60px;'>Author of<br />“Jessica Trent,” “Jessica Trent’s Inheritance,” etc.</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:1.2em;'>WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.</p> +<p class='tp' style='margin-bottom:20px;'>RACINE, WISCONSIN</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-top:20px;'>Copyright, 1904, by The Federal Book Company</p> +<hr class='p10' /> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:0.8em;margin-bottom:20px;'>Jessica, the Heiress</p> +<p class='tp' >Printed by<br />Western Printing & Lithographing Co.<br />Racine, Wis.</p> +<p class='tp' style='font-size:smaller;margin-bottom:20px;'>Printed in U.S.A.</p> +<hr class='pb' /> +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> +<table border='0' cellpadding='2' cellspacing='0' summary='Contents' style='margin:1em auto;'> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'><span style='font-size:0.8em'>CHAPTER</span></td> + <td /> + <td valign='top' align='right'><span style='font-size:0.8em'>PAGE</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>I</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Jessica Disappears</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_I_JESSICA_DISAPPEARS'>11</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>II</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Hush of Anxiety</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_II_THE_HUSH_OF_ANXIETY'>22</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>III</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Old Century Takes the Trail</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_III_OLD_CENTURY_TAKES_THE_TRAIL'>31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Deliverance</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IV_DELIVERANCE'>41</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>V</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Jessica’s Story</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_V_JESSICAS_STORY'>50</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Behind Locked Doors</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VI_BEHIND_LOCKED_DOORS'>59</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>A Royal Gift</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VII_A_ROYAL_GIFT'>70</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>VIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Face at the Window</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_VIII_THE_FACE_AT_THE_WINDOW'>79</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>IX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Prisoner Disappears</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_IX_THE_PRISONER_DISAPPEARS'>90</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>X</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>On the Road Home</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_X_ON_THE_ROAD_HOME'>99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Passing of Old Century</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XI_THE_PASSING_OF_OLD_CENTURY'>110</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Rebellion of the Lads.</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XII_THE_REBELLION_OF_THE_LADS'>121</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Ned’s Story</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIII_NEDS_STORY'>131</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Taking the Doctor’s Advice</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIV_TAKING_THE_DOCTORS_ADVICE'>140</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XV</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Ninian’s Greeting</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XV_NINIANS_GREETING'>150</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Jessica Gets Her Wish</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVI_JESSICA_GETS_HER_WISH'>161</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Cactus Hedge</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVII_THE_CACTUS_HEDGE'>170</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XVIII</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>What the Sabbath Brought</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XVIII_WHAT_THE_SABBATH_BROUGHT'>180</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XIX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Antonio’s Confession</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XIX_ANTONIOS_CONFESSION'>189</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XX</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>The Verdict</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XX_THE_VERDICT'>201</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td valign='top' class='chalgn'>XXI</td> + <td valign='top' align='left' style='padding-right:4em;'>Conclusion</td> + <td valign='bottom' align='right'><a href='#CHAPTER_XXI_CONCLUSION'>210</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class='pb' /> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_11' name='page_11'></a>11</span></div> +<p style='text-align:center;margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:1.6em;'>Jessica, The Heiress</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp' style='padding-top:0'> +<a name='CHAPTER_I_JESSICA_DISAPPEARS' id='CHAPTER_I_JESSICA_DISAPPEARS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>JESSICA DISAPPEARS</h3> +</div> +<p>Mrs. Benton and Jessica were upon the south +porch of the Sobrante ranch house, the former busy +as usual, the latter idly enjoying her charming surroundings +as she swung to and fro in her hammock.</p> +<p>Mighty vines of pale yellow roses, intermingled +with climbing fuchsias, cast shade and sweetness +over them; the porch was bordered by a wide swath +of calla lilies, also in full flower, while just beyond +these a great shrub of poinsettia dazzled the sight +with its gleaming blossoms.</p> +<p>When a momentary silence of the other’s nimble +tongue allowed her to speak, Jessica exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, you’re the only person I know who +can do three things at once. You sew as fast as +you rock, and talk faster than either. You’re a +very clever woman.”</p> +<p>The old lady answered complacently, as she bit +off a fresh needleful of thread and looked at her +companion over her spectacles:</p> +<p>“Yes, dearie, I expect I am. I can do more’n that, +too. I can keep up a powerful thinking.”</p> +<p>“About what, pray?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_12' name='page_12'></a>12</span></div> +<p>“How that life is a patchwork quilt. All the +colors of the rainbow, and some that any self-respectin’ +rainbow would scorn to own. Some +scraps so amazing homely you hate to put ’em in, +but just have to, else there wouldn’t be blocks +enough to square it out.”</p> +<p>“What sort of a scrap am I, Aunt Sally?”</p> +<p>“Huh! Fair to middlin’. Neither very light, nor +very dark. You’d be prettier, to my notion, if you’d +fetch a needle and thread and sew a seam with me, +’stead of swinging yourself dizzy out of pure +laziness.”</p> +<p>“Now, Aunt Sally! I call that unkind! I hate to +sew.”</p> +<p>“I believe you. You’ll never put a stitch where a +pin will do. But, never mind. If everybody else +sets out to spoil you, I don’t know as it’s my call to +interfere.”</p> +<p>There was so much tenderness in the glance that +accompanied these words that nobody could resent +them; least of all the girl, who now sprang from +the hammock and curled herself at the other’s feet.</p> +<p>“Tell me those powerful thoughts, auntie, dear.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton sighed, but responded nothing loath:</p> +<p>“There’s your mother, Gabriella. Only child, +left an orphan, raised by a second cousin once +removed, who’d more temper than sense, and when +your mother fell in love with your father, who’d +more goodness than cash, shut the door on them +both forthwith. So off they come to Californy and +pitch their tent right here in the spot.”</p> +<p>“They couldn’t have chosen a lovelier place,” their +daughter answered, with a sweeping glance over the +fair land which formed her home.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_13' name='page_13'></a>13</span></div> +<p>“That’s true enough. Then him getting that +New York company to buy Paraiso d’Oro Valley, +so’s a lot of folks that was down in the world could +come out here and live in it. Poor Cass’us dying, +just as he’d got things to his liking; the losing of +the title deed and your journeying to Los Angeles +to get it back.”</p> +<p>“Not ‘lost,’ Aunt Sally. Poor Antonio hid it at +El Desierto, in the cave of the Three Rocks. He––”</p> +<p>“Cat’s foot! Don’t you go to ‘pooring’ that snaky +sneak, or you and me’ll fall out. I should hate +that.”</p> +<p>“So should I. But you’ve set me thinking, too. +How wonderful that Mr. Ninian Sharp was, the +newspaper man. If it hadn’t been for him, we’d +never have won that battle. What could I have +done, with Ephraim Marsh in the hospital, and I +knowing nothing about the city? That Mr. Hale +was another splendid man. I can understand how +he had to keep his word and do his best for the +company which thought father had wronged it; +and I can also understand that he was as glad as +we to find their money safe with the poor banker +who was killed, Luis Garcia’s father.”</p> +<p>“‘Pooring’ again are you? Another scamp, too.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Aunt Sally! He’s––dead!” remonstrated +Jessica, in awestruck tones.</p> +<p>“And a fine job he is. There’s plenty of good-for-noughts +still living. A man that’s been wicked +all his life ain’t apt to turn saint at the end of it. +I like folks that do their duty as they go along. If +the robber, Garcia, had got well he’d likely claimed +our Luis and reared him to be as bad as himself.”</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, you’re uncharitable this morning. +What’s made you so?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_14' name='page_14'></a>14</span></div> +<p>“The plumb meanness of human natur’.”</p> +<p>“Your own?” asked the girl teasingly.</p> +<p>“No, saucebox. My boy, John’s. His, and all +the rest of ’em.”</p> +<p>“Toward whom?”</p> +<p>“Oh! ’tisn’t toward anybody, out and out. If it +was I’d roll up my sleeves and switch the lot of ’em, +just as if they were the little tackers they act like. +It’s them pesky hints and shrugged shoulders, every +time the Dutch Winklers or ‘Forty-niner’ is spoke +of. I wish to goodness that man’d come home and +clear his name, or give me a chance to do it. He no +more stole that knitting-woman’s money than I did.”</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally! Stole? Stole! My Ephraim! +Why, you must be crazy!”</p> +<p>“There, it’s out. Needn’t hop up like that, mad +as a hornet, at me. I’m not the one hints and +shrugs. It’s the whole lot of your precious ‘boys’––boys; +indeed! and needing spanking more’n they +ever did in their lives.”</p> +<p>Jessica’s swift pacing of the wide porch came to +a sudden halt, and she dropped down again at Mrs. +Benton’s feet, feeling as if the floor had given way +beneath her tread.</p> +<p>“This, then, was what my mother meant, that very +day when I came back, that Ephraim was happier +where he was! The dear old fellow; thrown to the +street by his graceless Stiffleg; picked up with a +leg full of broken bones; a prisoner in a hospital +all these weeks; giving all his savings of years to +us; and the ‘boys’ he’s lived with since before I was +born accusing him of––theft! Aunt Sally, it’s too +monstrous to be true!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_15' name='page_15'></a>15</span></div> +<p>“’Tis, indeedy. Seem’s if the Evil One had been +let loose, here at Sobrante, when the word of a +half-wit––poor half, at that––is held proof against +the entire life of an honest old man.”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally was so deeply moved that, for once, +she allowed herself a moment’s respite from unceasing +industry, unconsciously holding a patchwork +block to her moist eyes, and slowly swaying the +great rocker as she sorrowfully reflected that:</p> +<p>“I raised him the best I could, that boy John. I +gave him a pill once a week, regular, to keep his +bile down. I washed him every Saturday night and +spanked him after I got through. I never let him +eat butter when he had gravy, and I made him say +his prayers night and morning. I had a notion that +such wholesome rearin’ would turn him out a decent +man; and now, just see!”</p> +<p>In spite of her own distress, Jessica laughed.</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, if anybody but yourself hinted that +John wasn’t a ‘decent’ man you’d do something +dreadful to punish the slanderer.”</p> +<p>“Suppose I should? Wouldn’t I have a right? Ain’t +he my own?”</p> +<p>Jessica smiled faintly, but sat for a long time +silent. The talkative woman in the rocker also kept +silence, brooding over many things. Finally she +burst forth:</p> +<p>“I don’t see why it is that just as soon as a body +gets into smooth sailing, along comes a storm and +upsets things again. There was your mother, beginning +to feel she could go ahead and do what her +husband wanted to, and now here’s this bad feeling +among her trusted hired men. Suspicion is the +pisenest yarb that grows. The folks that could +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_16' name='page_16'></a>16</span> +suspect old ‘Forty-niner’ of wrong things’ll be plumb +ready to watch out for one another. Somebody’ll +be caught nappin’, sure. ’Tisn’t in human natur’ +to walk upright all the time, and it’s foolish to +expect it. But––shouldn’t wonder if I’d be the next +one accused. And it comin’ Christmas time too. +Land! I’m so bestead I’ve sewed that patch in +wrong side up. What? Hey? You laughin’? I +don’t see anything funny in this business, myself,” +said the old lady, fretfully.</p> +<p>“You would if you could look in a glass! Your +face is all streaked purple and green, where you cried +on your patch,” explained Jessica, whose grief had +changed to amusement.</p> +<p>“You don’t say! I knew them colors’d run. John +fetched the piece from Marion, last time he went +for the mail. Of the two stores there, I don’t know +which is the worst. Their ‘Merrimac’ won’t wash, +and their flannel shrinks, and their thread breaks +every needleful. But, to ‘Boston’––dear me! Whatever +did make me think of that place! Now I’ve +thought, it’ll stick in my mind till it drives me wild––or +back there, and that’s about the same thing. To +go live with that slimsy cousin of mine, after being +in the same house with your mother, is like falling +off a roof into a squashy mud puddle. That’s all the +sense and substance there is to Sarah, that was a +Harrison before she was a Ma’sh. I warrant she’s +clean out of medicine an money, for she’s a regular +squanderer when it comes to makin’ rag rugs. I +wish you could see ’em! I just wish’t you could. +Such dogs and cats as she weaves into ’em would +have druv’ Noah plumb crazy if he had to take ’em +into the Ark. Their eyes are just round rings of +white, with another round ring of black in the +middle–––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_17' name='page_17'></a>17</span></div> +<p>“Aren’t rings always round, auntie, dear?”</p> +<p>“No, they ain’t. Not after they’ve been trod on!” +was the swift retort, as the old lady pointed downwards +toward the floor of the porch.</p> +<p>Both stooped and rose again, astonishment deepening +upon their faces as Jessica held out her open +palm with the injured trinket lying upon it.</p> +<p>“Elsa Winkler’s wedding ring! How came it +here?”</p> +<p>“How indeed? I don’t believe that woman’s been +on these premises since I came.”</p> +<p>“Even if she had, Aunt Sally, why should she bring +the ring with her? It was always too small for her, +and she never had it on except during the marriage +ceremony. I’ve often heard her laugh about it; +how Wolfgang bought a ring as big as his money +would pay for, and let it go at that. She didn’t see +what difference it made whether it went only on the +tip of her finger or all the way down it. But she +must have been here, even if we didn’t know it. I’ll +take it straight to mother to keep. Then, too, I’ve +idled enough. I promised my dear I’d write all her +Christmas invitations for her, because she says it +will save her the trouble, and be such a help to my +education.”</p> +<p>“Christmas! Well, well. Does seem as if I +couldn’t leave before then, nohow. And hear me, +Jessie, darlin’, don’t you let your poor ma worry +her head over your book learning. Being she was +a schoolma’am herself makes her feel as if she +wasn’t doing the square thing by you letting you +run wild, so to speak. If the Lord means you to get +schoolin’ He’ll put you in the right way of it, don’t +you doubt. Who all does Gabriella set out to ask +here to visit?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_18' name='page_18'></a>18</span></div> +<p>“Mr. Hale, of course; and dear Mr. Sharp. I hope +Ephraim will be well enough to come, too. Then +there are the Winklers, from the mine; the McLeods, +from their inn at Marion; and, maybe––we’ve +never had a Christmas without him––maybe +poor Antonio.”</p> +<p>“Well, all I say is––if you ask him you needn’t +ask me. There wouldn’t be room on this whole +ranch for the pair of us.”</p> +<p>“Then, of course, it’s you first. Yet, it’s all so +puzzling to me. If it’s a time of ‘peace and good +will,’ why do people keep on feeling angry with one +another?”</p> +<p>“Jessica Trent, dast you stand there and look +me in the face and say that you have forgive that +sneaky snakey manager for cheating your mother +like he did?”</p> +<p>“He was sorry, Aunt Sally. Every letter he sends +here tells that.”</p> +<p>“Fiddlesticks!”</p> +<p>“And he’s punished, isn’t he, even if the New York +folks let him go free, by his disappointment? I can +fancy how dreadful it would seem, did seem to think +this beautiful ranch was one’s own, and then suddenly +to learn that it was not.”</p> +<p>“Oh! Jessie! You try my soul with your forgivin’ +and forgivin’. Next you know you’ll be sorry for +Ferd, the dwarf, though ’tis he himself what’s started +all this bobery against ‘Forty-niner,’ and eggs them +silly Winklers on to be so––so hateful. I’m glad +that witless woman did lose her ring, and I hope +it’ll never be straightened out. I guess I’m out +of conceit with everybody living, not exceptin’ +old Sally Benton, herself!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_19' name='page_19'></a>19</span></div> +<p>With this home thrust at her own ill temper, the +whimsical woman betook herself and her dangling +array of patchwork to Mrs. Trent’s sitting-room; +there to discuss the prospects for holiday festivities +and to take account of stock, in the way of groceries +on hand. Deep in the subject of pies and puddings, +they forgot other matters, till a wild whoop outside +the window disturbed them, and they beheld Ned +and Luis, painted in startling “Indian fashion,” +mounted upon a highly decorated horse, which had +never been seen in the Sobrante stables.</p> +<p>“Hi, there, mother! Your money or your life!”</p> +<p>“Money––life!” echoed Luis, clinging to his playmate’s +waist and peeping over his shoulder.</p> +<p>The horse was rearing and plunging more dangerously +each second, and both women rushed to +the rescue of the imperiled children, who realized +nothing of their danger, but shouted and screamed +the louder the more frantic their steed became. +Mrs. Trent caught the bridle, and Aunt Sally snatched +first one, then the other, child from the creature’s +back, who, as soon as he was relieved of his yelling +burden, started at a gallop across the garden, ruining +its beds and borders on his way.</p> +<p>“Oh, oh! Children, how could you? Whose +horse is that? Where did you get that paint? +How shall I ever make you clean?”</p> +<p>“I’ll tend to that part, Gabriella. You just call +a boy to fix them flower beds before the plants +wither. Oh, you rascals! You won’t forget this +morning’s fun in a hurry, I warn you! You’ve been +in John Benton’s paint pots again. Well, you like +paint, you shall have it, and all you want of it too. +Red and yeller, green and pink, with a streak of +blue. H’m! You’re a tasty lot, ain’t you!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_20' name='page_20'></a>20</span></div> +<p>The lads squirmed and twisted, but Aunt Sally’s +grip merely tightened upon them so that finally, +they ceased struggling and allowed her to lead +them whither she would, which was to the small +laundry, that stood at some slight distance from +the house. Here she sternly regarded each bedaubed, +but otherwise nude, little figure, with so +fierce an expression upon her usually pleasant face +that the young miscreants winced, and Ned cried +out:</p> +<p>“Quit a-talking eyes at me that way, Aunt Sally +Benton! I don’t like it.”</p> +<p>“Oh! you don’t, eh? Well, what’d you disgrace +yourselves this way for, if ’twasn’t to make folks +stare? Where’s your clothes?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know.”</p> +<p>“Very well, then I’ll help you to remember.”</p> +<p>“I won’t be whipped! I’ll tell my mother!” +shrieked Ned, retreating toward the closed door +of the building.</p> +<p>“Won’t be whipped, old Aunt Sally!” added Luis, +clasping his leader; whereupon the customary +scuffle ensued; for, no matter what their business +in hand, personal contact always insured a slight +passage at arms. At present, this diverted their +thoughts from what might be in store at the will of +their mutual enemy, and it came with appalling suddenness. +Each small boy was lifted, bidden to shut +his eyes and mouth, then plunged downward into a +barrel of some cold slippery stuff. Here he was +soused vigorously up and down, until every portion +of his skin was smeared with the stick mess; after +which he was placed on his feet and once more commanded:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_21' name='page_21'></a>21</span></div> +<p>“Now, son, just you stand there and dreen a spell. +Lucky I made that barrel of soft soap last week. +It’s just the stuff to take this paint off, and what +drips from you to the old adobe floor won’t hurt. +Pasqual’s a master hand at scrubbin’, and I’ll give +him the job of you and the floor both. Reckon +you’ll wish you hadn’t ever seen paint pots time +he gets through. Now––where’s your clothes?”</p> +<p>Ned was silent, but Luis “guessed they’s under +a tree.”</p> +<p>“Well, son, Garcia, knowing it better than guessing +’bout now. Me and Santa Claus is sort of partners, +and he’s due here soon. ’Twon’t take me a +jerk of a lamb’s tail to write and tell him how things +stand at Sobrante, and whose stockings’d better +have switches ’stead of goodies in ’em. Hear me? +Where’s your clothes?”</p> +<p>A laugh caused Aunt Sally to glance through the +window, where Jessica was an amused spectator of +the scene within. She now begged:</p> +<p>“Don’t be hard on the little tackers, auntie, dear. +That was Prince, Mr. Hale’s horse, that Pedro has +tended on the mesa all these days. I’ll find out how +they came by it, and their clothes at the same time. +Tell mother, please,” and with a merry nod to the +unhappy urchins, so shamfacedly “dreening” at Mrs. +Benton’s pleasure, she disappeared.</p> +<p>Disappeared not only from the window, but, +apparently, from life, as suddenly and completely +as if the earth had opened and engulfed her.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_22' name='page_22'></a>22</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_II_THE_HUSH_OF_ANXIETY' id='CHAPTER_II_THE_HUSH_OF_ANXIETY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>THE HUSH OF ANXIETY</h3> +</div> +<p>Mrs. Trent and Aunt Sally sat down alone to +dinner. The little lads were in their beds, recovering +from the sound scrubbing Pasqual had given +them. Clothed in fresh nightgowns, and refreshed +by generous bowls of bread and milk, they had been +left in a darkened room to reflect upon the hard +ways of transgressors. But reflection was unusual +work for their active brains, and they had promptly +fallen asleep; hence the profound peace which +rested upon the house.</p> +<p>“I wonder where Jessica is? She was to have +written my letters for me, but I haven’t seen her +since breakfast,” said the mother, somewhat anxiously.</p> +<p>“Oh! she’s around somewhere. Was at the laundry +window while I was tending to the children, +and said she’d go find their clothes. In all my born +days I never saw two small heads could hatch the +mischief Ned’s and Luis’ can. It’s out of one scrape +into another, and seems if they must break their +necks some day.”</p> +<p>“Oh! don’t forecast evil. Their pranks keep my +nerves on tension all the time, yet I shouldn’t worry +so. They always escape from harm. But I’d like +to know how they got that horse.”</p> +<p>“So would I. They must have had help painting +it. Stands to reason two midgets like them couldn’t +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_23' name='page_23'></a>23</span> +have kept a high-spirited creatur’ quiet while they +wasted enough good paint on him to cover a meeting +house.”</p> +<p>“John won’t be pleased. He’s so careful of his +belongings, even I never touch them without permission,” +said the ranch mistress, smiling afresh at the +memory of the ridiculous picture the boys had +made.</p> +<p>“Don’t surprise me’t you laugh, Gabriella, but +you’d ought to put the reins on tighter to them +chaps, lest first you know they’ll be driving you, +not you them. Do it already, seems if.”</p> +<p>“How can I be stern with Cassius’ little son? +Every day I see more resemblance to his father in +the childs face; yes, and in his nature, too. Nobody +was ever fonder of fun than my husband, yet surely +there never was a better man.”</p> +<p>“Oh! Neddy’s all right. Trouble is to keep him +from thinkin’ so himself. But, there. Why don’t +you eat your dinner? You haven’t more’n half +touched it. It’s a shame to waste good victuals, and +these are good. I fixed ’em myself.”</p> +<p>The other smiled again at the complacency visible +upon her friend’s face, which so innocently dsplayed +the same feeling that had just been deplored in Ned. +However, Aunt Sally was too busy with her own +food to notice anything else, and it seemed long to +her companion before she had finished and risen, to +call, sharply:</p> +<p>“Pas-qual! Oh, Pasqual-ly! Why aren’t you on +hand to clear the table? Don’t you know I’ve got––and +here followed a long list of things to be done, +more than many could accomplish in several days.” +Each had some reference to the coming holidays, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_24' name='page_24'></a>24</span> +and the house boy understood this. He entered, +more willingly than usual, grinning with the anticipation +of the raisins he would have to stone, the +nuts he must crack, and the goodly samples of each +that he would surreptitiously procure.</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent asked him to put aside Miss Jessica’s +dinner, till she came in, and to be sure that it was +also kept nice and warm.</p> +<p>“All right, lady. I’ll do that good enough. Don’t +mind what I has to do for ‘Lady Jess’;” and immediately +seized the plate, which Aunt Sally had +already filled, to place it in the warming oven.</p> +<p>Then the mother went out, and among the adobe +buildings, which formed the “boys” quarters and +the business part of the ranch, calling gently, as she +went, in the brooding sort of note which had long +been a signal between her and her child. But no +Jessica responded; and, to her fancy, it seemed that +the whole place was strangely silent.</p> +<p>“After all, that is not to be wondered at. The +men are done with dinner, and gone about their +work. The boys are asleep, and only Jessica would +be anywhere near. What can keep her, I wonder?” +and with this thought the lady again uttered the +tender call which would summon her daughter, if +she were within hearing.</p> +<p>Then she returned to the house and tried to accept +Aunt Sally’s theory that, likely some of them ‘boys’ +is in trouble about his job, and wants his ‘captain’ to +go oversee. ’Mazin’ strange, Gabriella, what a influence +that child has over ’em. “They ’pear to think, +the whole lot of ’em, that she can straighten out +all the kinks that get into brains or business.”</p> +<p>“She is quick to understand,” said the mother, +proudly.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_25' name='page_25'></a>25</span></div> +<p>“Course. Nothin’ strange, is it, seeing who her +folks was? Best go take a nap, honey.”</p> +<p>“Oh, no! Thank you for suggesting it, but I’m +too wakeful.”</p> +<p>“Well, then, I’ll fetch them kerns and citron right +out here on the kitchen porch. The sun’s off it now, +and there ain’t a prettier spot on earth where to +prepare Christmas fixin’s. I’ll fetch the raisins and +stone ’em myself. That Pasky boy’d eat more’n +half of ’em, if I left ’em to him. Then we can visit +right sociable; and I can free my mind. The truth +is, Gabriella Trent, that I ought to be harnessin’ +Rosetty an’ Balaam this minute, and be startin’ for +‘Boston.’”</p> +<p>“Oh, Aunt Sally!” protested the ranch mistress, +in real distress.</p> +<p>“There, dearie, hush! Don’t worry. I said ‘I +ought,’ I didn’t say I was goin’. Seem’s if I couldn’t +just tear myself away from Sobrante. If Sarah +Ma’sh, she that was a Harrison, and married +Methuel, hasn’t got gumption enough to bile her +own plum puddin’, I ’most feel as if she’d ought to +go without. Though I don’t know as that’s real +Christian in me.”</p> +<p>“Dear Mrs. Benton, I wish everybody was as +sincere a Christian as you are.”</p> +<p>In her surprise, Aunt Sally tipped her rocker so +far back that she just escaped upset.</p> +<p>“Why, Gabriella Trent! Me! Me! Don’t say +that, and make me feel meaner’n dirt. It’s you, +honey, is that–––”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent laughed as she answered:</p> +<p>“We make a mutual admiration society, don’t we? +But Aunt Sally, you mustn’t think of leaving Sobrante +before the holidays are past. I can’t spare +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_26' name='page_26'></a>26</span> +you. I need the help of your head, as well as your +hands, and what would Christmas be to the children, +if you weren’t here to cuddle and scold them after +their greediness has made them ill.”</p> +<p>“Well, well, child, say no more. Here I am, and +here I’ll stay, if Sarah Ma’sh don’t get a stiver of +pudding or fowl. Here, honey, I reckon you best +slice this citron. You’ve got a dainty hand for such +work and––my sake’s alive! That fruit cake’d +ought to been made weeks ago, if it was to get any +sort of ripeness into it before it was et! Hurry up, +do. We haven’t a minute to waste.”</p> +<p>This adjuration had the good result of amusing +Mrs. Trent so that, for an hour at least, she forgot +to be anxious over her daughter’s unexplained absence. +Aunt Sally was a person who was always +“driven to death” by the mere thought of tasks +for which there was, in reality, ample time. But +now that she had decided to remain at the ranch +for a further indefinite stay, her spirits rose and her +brain busied itself with a thousand plans for the +comfort or amusement of the household, over which +she domineered, yet so ardently loved.</p> +<p>“We haven’t got much money for presents, I +know. So I’ll just get out the piece-bag to-night, +and press off them canton flannel scraps. They’ll +make splended ducks for the youngsters–––”</p> +<p>“I fear that would be wasted labor, friend. The +little lads have outgrown homemade toys. Nothin +that will not make a noise is acceptable to them. +I’d thought of sending over to Marion for drums and +whistles, if the stores there can furnish them.”</p> +<p>“Well, Gabriella Trent! I declare you are the +benightenest woman that ever set out to raise children! +Drums! For them two? My, my! But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_27' name='page_27'></a>27</span> +what won’t a mother do for her little ones, I’d like +to know!”</p> +<p>The words were no sooner out of Mrs. Benton’s +mouth than she regretted them. At the name of +“mother” Mrs. Trent’s forced gayety vanished, and +she lifted her eyes to her companion’s face with a +pitiful appeal.</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, what has happened to Jessica?”</p> +<p>“Nothing, honey. Nothing in the world. What +a master hand you are to worry.”</p> +<p>The lady rose so hastily that the dish upon her +lap slid to the floor, and the other laughed:</p> +<p>“There, Gabriel, you do beat all. If I’d dropped +that dish ’twould have upset, and every slice of +citron in it rolled whithrety-yonder. But for you––it +knew better; just slipped off as slick as could be, +landed right side up, and not a morsel scattered. +Seem’s if dirt nor nothin’ disorderly ever could come +a-nigh you, honey.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent did not even hear. Upon her face +had grown a look that hurt Aunt Sally to see; the +more because the feeling it expressed was continually +increasing within her own heart.</p> +<p>Where could Jessica be? Many hours had passed +since she vanished from the laundry window, and +if she had gone upon any errand for her “boys,” she +would have returned long since. Also, she would +be swift to restore the missing clothes of the little +boys, as soon as found, for she knew they would +be prisoners within doors till she had done so.</p> +<p>“Don’t you worry, I tell you, Gabriella. I’ll take +the great horn and blow a blast will fetch the whole +kerboodle back here, hot foot. If that don’t, I’ll +ring the mission bell! That’ll mean trouble, sure +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_28' name='page_28'></a>28</span> +enough, and its dreadful racket’ll reach clear to +Los Angeles, ’pears.”</p> +<p>The mother crossed to the lattice and leaned +against its post. Something was wrong with her +darling. She knew that as well as if she had been +told so by word of mouth, and a dreadful numbness +stole over her whole frame. As if in a dream, she +saw Aunt Sally emerge from the lean-to, where the +great horn was kept, and raised the thing to her +lips; but the blast which followed seemed to have +been ringing in her ears forever. The silence that +succeeded lasted but a moment, yet was like an +eternity. Then from one direction, and another, +came the ranchmen, understanding that there was +need of their presence at the “house,” and each +quickly catching something of the fear so plainly +depicted upon the faces of the waiting women.</p> +<p>“John Benton, where’s ‘Lady Jess’?” demanded +Aunt Sally, with terrible sternness.</p> +<p>“Why, mother, how should I know? I was off to +the lemon house early, fixing some shelves. I +haven’t seen her to-day and it makes it a long one.”</p> +<p>Came “Marty” from his garden, a hoe over one +shoulder and a mighty vine of ripened tomatoes over +the other, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“How’s this for a second year’s growth? I +thought you’d like ’em for catsup, Aunt Sally, and +what’s the horn for?”</p> +<p>“George Ceomarty, where’s the ‘captain’?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know.”</p> +<p>“You don’t! You don’t!” indignantly.</p> +<p>“No. How should I? Last I saw, she was sitting +the porch along with you. You needn’t glare at +me so, but say yourself: ‘Where’s the “captain”?’”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_29' name='page_29'></a>29</span></div> +<p>“Come, gardener, this ain’t a time for foolin’.”</p> +<p>He disdained to answer, reading the anxiety upon +his mistress’ face, and feeling an unaccountable one +growing in his own mind.</p> +<p>It was a relief to all when the figure of Sailor +Samson came into view, making for the cottage +with those firm strides of his, that seemed to cover +the distance with incredible speed. He was always +to be depended upon in an emergency, and there +was good cheer in his tones, as, having been asked +the same question which had greeted his mates, he +tossed back the light answer:</p> +<p>“Why, I don’t know just at this minute, but I’ll +wager wherever she is, she’s doing good to somebody, +or finishing up some fellow’s neglected job. Why? +Ain’t scared of ‘Lady Jess,’ are you?”</p> +<p>“That’s just what we are, herder. She’s no hand +to run off an’ stay off without tellin’ where to; and +if she couldn’t find the children’s clothes she’d been +back before now to say so. Somethin’ dreadful has +happened to the precious girl, and you needn’t say +there hasn’t!” wailed Mrs. Benton; adding in fresh +dismay as the ranch mistress quietly sank to the +floor in a faint! “There! Now I have done it! Oh! +that tongue of mine!”</p> +<p>“Yes, old woman! That tongue of yours’ has +wrought a heap of mischief in its day,” cried Samson, +angrily, as he lifted the fallen lady and carried +her into the house.</p> +<p>But Aunt Sally was quite herself again, and put +him coolly aside, while she ministered to the unconscious +ranch mistress, and, at the same time, gave +him a succinct history of the morning’s events. +Everybody at Sobrante knew the deep devotion of +Lady Jess to her widowed mother, and the thoughtfulness +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_30' name='page_30'></a>30</span> +with which she always sought to prevent her +loved one’s “worrying,” and all realized that there +might be something seriously amiss in this protracted, +unexplained absence. However, and to a certain +degree, the child was allowed to be independent, +and she was liable to reappear at any moment and to +gibe at their “foolish fear” for her. But to summon +her, at once, was the surest way of comforting Mrs. +Trent, and Samson went out again to distribute the +assembled ranchmen into searching parties, with +the injunction:</p> +<p>“Don’t scare the ‘captain’ when you find her, but +just let her know her mother needs her, and her +dinner’s drying up in the oven. Now scatter; and +don’t you show a face back here without her in +hand!”</p> +<p>“Can’t all of us find her, herder. Ain’t ‘captains’ +enough to go ’round,” said a cowboy, with an ill-attempt +at playfulness, which was instantly frowned +down. For, though all assured themselves that +there was no substantial cause for alarm, and that +women were “nervous cattle, always scared at shadders,” +they had already caught something of this +nervousness. Each felt that the best sight for his +eyes at that moment would be the gleam of a golden +head, and the sweetest music his ears could hear +the sound of a young girl’s laughter.</p> +<p>But, alas! Daylight gave place to the sudden +night of that region, where no lingering twilight is +known; and still over the great ranch there rested +the terrible silence which had followed the loss of +one merry voice.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_31' name='page_31'></a>31</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_III_OLD_CENTURY_TAKES_THE_TRAIL' id='CHAPTER_III_OLD_CENTURY_TAKES_THE_TRAIL'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>OLD CENTURY TAKES THE TRAIL</h3> +</div> +<p>The clatter of horse’s hoofs on the dry sward made +Pedro, the shepherd, lift his eyes from his basket +weaving, but only for an instant. The sight of +Samson, the herder, mounted upon the fleetest +animal of the Sobrante stables, was nothing compared +to the working out of the intricate pattern +he had set himself to follow. Even the centenarian, +dwelling in his lofty solitude, knew that there was +approaching the blessed Navidad, whereon all good +Christians exchanged gifts, in memory of the great +gift the Son of God; and what could he do but put +forth his utmost ingenuity to please his heart’s +dearest, even Jessica of the sunny face?</p> +<p>Like Aunt Sally, at the ranch, he had, at last, +caught a feeling of haste and wished not to be disturbed; +so he did not even look up again when he +was accosted.</p> +<p>“Hello, old man! Hard at it, still?”</p> +<p>No reply forthcoming, Samson shouted, as if the +shepherd were deaf:</p> +<p>“Where’s Capt. Jess, abuleo (grandfather)?”</p> +<p>The deferential title won the attention which the +loud voice could not gain, and Pedro glanced carelessly +upon the mighty herder, a mere youth of +sixty summers, and replied, with equal carelessness:</p> +<p>“Am I the nina’s<a name='FNanchor_0001' id='FNanchor_0001'></a><a href='#Footnote_0001' class='fnanchor'>[A]</a> keeper? But, no,” then resumed +his weaving.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_32' name='page_32'></a>32</span></div> +<p>In another instant the delicate, finely split rushes +had been snatched from the weaver’s hands, and he +exhorted:</p> +<p>“By all that’s great, old man! Tell me, has Jessica +Trent passed this way?”</p> +<p>“Why for? Once, but once, since the long journey +and the finding of that bad Antonio came she +to Pedro’s hut. Give back the basket. For her, +of the bright hair, it is; my finest, and, maybe, my +last. Why not? Yet still again I will keep the +fiesta, si. The child. Many have I loved, but none +like my little maid. The basket.”</p> +<p>This was a long speech for the silent dweller on +the mesa, and there was more of anger in his usually +calm eyes than Samson had never seen there, as he +rose and extended his skinny hands for his treasure.</p> +<p>The herder restored it, his heart growing heavier +as he did so.</p> +<p>“Think fast, good Pedro. The old are wise, and +hark ye! These many hours the child is from home. +The mistress––you love her?”</p> +<p>“She is my mistress,” answered the shepherd, in +a tone which conveyed all his deep feeling. To him +his “mistress” represented a material Providence. +From her hand came all the simple necessaries of +his life. From her, on the approaching nativity, +would also come some things which were not necessaries, +but infinitely more precious to the centenarian +than such could be. On the nativity he would +be sent, upon the gentlest mount his lady owned, +to the mission service which he loved. Thereafter +he would ride back to Sobrante, his own priest beside +him, to feast his fill on such food as he tasted +but once a year. At nightfall of that blessed day +he would gather the ranchmen about him, in that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_33' name='page_33'></a>33</span> +old corridor where once he had seen the ancient +padres walk, breviary in hand, and tell his marvelous +tales of the days when the land was new, when +whole tribes of redfaces came to be taught at the +padres’ feet, and when the things which now were +had not been dreamed of. Some who listened to +these Christmas stories believed that the secrets +at which the shepherd hinted were vagaries of his +enfeebled mind, but others, and among them Samson, +gave credence to them, and yearly did their +best to worm from him their explanation.</p> +<p>That mention of the “mistress” had touched him, +also, to anxiety, and he motioned the herder to +repeat his statement. He then straightened himself +to almost the erectness of the younger man, +and begun at once to gather his rushes and rap them +carefully in a moistened cloth. With an expressive +gesture toward his cabin, he suggested that Samson +was free to enter it and provide such entertainment +for himself as he chose, or could find. And so well +did the herder know the shepherd that he fully understood +this significant wave of the hand, and replied +to it in words:</p> +<p>“Thanks, old man, but some other time. At present +I’m keener on the scent for my captain than +for even your good coffee. If she comes, report, +will you?”</p> +<p>The other did not notice what he heard, but himself +proceeded to the cabin and safely deposited his +handiwork within it. Then he came out again, +whistled for his dog, Keno, whose head he stroked +for some time, and into whose attentive ear he seemed +to be whispering some instruction.</p> +<p>A shade of amusement, merging into wonder, +crossed the herder’s countenance, and he communed +with himself thus:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_34' name='page_34'></a>34</span></div> +<p>“Blow my stripes, if Old Century isn’t going to +take the trail himself! He’s telling that canine +what to do while he’s gone, and, ahoy, there! If +the knowin’ creatur’ doesn’t understand him! All +right, grand sir! Yet, not all so right, either. It +takes a deal of business to move Pedro off his mesa, +and if he’s riled enough to leave it now, it’s because +he sees more danger to Lady Jess than even I do. +Hello! what’s he waiting for?”</p> +<p>Evidently for Samson to depart, which that gentleman +presently did, grimly considering:</p> +<p>“Old chap thinks the whole mesa belongs to him, +and ’pears to suspect I might rob him if he left me +behind. Well, friend, I’ve no call to tarry. Since +my lady isn’t here, I must seek her elsewhere,” and +down the canyon Samson dashed, his sure-footed +beast passing safely where a more careful animal +would have stumbled.</p> +<p>All this had happened soon after the dispersing of +the ranchmen to search for Jessica, and Samson +had now taken that turn of the trail which led to +the miner’s cabin.</p> +<p>“’Tisn’t likely she’s there, though. She’d never +travel afoot that long distance, and Buster’s in the +stable.”</p> +<p>The Winklers received him with gloom. The +hilarious gayety that had once distinguished their +small household had vanished with the loss of Elsa’s +money. Their son, and idol, had been defrauded of +a rich future for which they had toiled, and life now +seemed to them but an irksome round of humdrum +duties, to be gotten through with as easily as possible. +Over the cabin hung an air of neglect which +even Samson was swift to note, and most significant +of all, Elsa’s knitting had fallen to the floor and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_35' name='page_35'></a>35</span> +become the plaything of a kitten, which evoked no +reprimand, tangle the yarn as she would.</p> +<p>“Hello, neighbors! Ain’t lookin’ over and above +cheerful, are you? What’s wrong?”</p> +<p>“Good-day, herder. How’s all?”</p> +<p>“Glum, I should say. Where’s Lady Jess?”</p> +<p>Wolfgang elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his +shoulders and made a gesture of ignorance, but +said no word.</p> +<p>“Lost your tongues, mostly, hey? I say––where’s +the captain?”</p> +<p>Elsa lumbered forward to the doorway, and dully +regarded the visitor; then, after a time, replied:</p> +<p>“Not here.”</p> +<p>Her brevity was another contrast to her former +volubility, but it was sufficient to thrill the questioner’s +heart with fresh dismay.</p> +<p>“Has she been here to-day?”</p> +<p>Elsa shook her head. Otto came out from the +shed and glanced disconsolately at Samson, then +slowly returned whence he had come.</p> +<p>The herder’s temper flamed, and, snapping his +whip at the air, he cried out, hotly:</p> +<p>“Look at me, you passel of idiots! You think +you know what trouble is just because you’ve lost +a handful of money? Well, you don’t! You haven’t +even guessed at it. Money! The world’s full +of that, but there never was more than one Lady +Jess, and I tell you––I tell you––she’s lost!”</p> +<p>He had spoken out at last the fear he had scarcely +acknowledged, and the shock of his own plain speech +held him silent thereafter. His head drooped, his +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_36' name='page_36'></a>36</span> +great body settled in the saddle, as if the whole +burden of his sixty years had fallen upon him in +that moment. His attitude, even more than his +words, conveyed his meaning to his hearers, and, in +a flash, the real values of what they had loved, and +now lost, fell into their rightful places.</p> +<p>“Money? The little lady?” Ah! what, after all, +was the one compared to the other?</p> +<p>“Man––you lie!” retorted Wolfgang, clinching +his fist and advancing with a threatening air. Elsa +stepped to his side, her wide face turning even paler +than it had been, and a startled look dawning in +her eyes. Even Otto, the six-foot “child,” reappeared +from his retreat and regarded the horseman +reproachfully.</p> +<p>As for him, he roused from his momentary despondency +and glared upon the trio of spectators as if +they, and they alone, were to blame for the calamity +which had befallen.</p> +<p>Question and answer followed swiftly, and again +Samson was off down the slope, headed now for +distant Marion, the least likely of all places wherein +his darling might be found. Once he was out of +sight, the Winkler household resolved itself into an +additional search party; and it was noticeable that, +whereas formerly, when they were leaving the +home, they would carefully secure the cabin against +intruders, they now disdained any further preparation +than kicking the kitten out of doors, and removing +the kettle of boiling stew from the fireplace +to the ground before the door. A fleeting +smile did cross Elsa’s face, as she reflected that +the meddler with her knitting would probably +scald itself in the pot, but she didn’t care. Her +whole mind was now set upon Sobrante and its +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_37' name='page_37'></a>37</span> +mistress, and so eager was she to reach the spot +that she set off on her long walk with an alacrity +she had not shown since the discovery of the robbery.</p> +<p>Wolfgang and Otto armed himself each with +a sharp, iron-pointed staff, and silently, with one +accord, started toward El Desierto. Why, even +they could not have explained, beyond the fact that +it seemed a place for hiding things. It was a long +walk, and so weary had the “little boy” become by +the time the deserted ranch was reached that Wolfgang +left it unfatherly to force a return trip on +that same day, although no signs of recent occupancy +had rewarded their search.</p> +<p>So it was in every case. Jessica had simply and +completely disappeared, and there settled upon the +home the darkest night it had ever known. Even +that on which its master had been brought back +dead did not equal in intensity of anguish the uncertainty +which drove the waiting mother frantic. At +times she would call for a horse and ride wildly +to and fro, peering into every shadowed spot and +call pitifully upon her child, at others she would +hasten to the house, eagerly demanding of Aunt +Sally, “has she come?”</p> +<p>“Not yet, honey. Not quite yet. Just wait a +spell, and you’ll see her all right. Best be here at +home when she does come, Gabriella. You’d hate to +have anybody else the first to meet her, you know.”</p> +<p>This advice, uttered in tones so gentle they were +hardly recognizable as Mrs. Benton’s, would be +followed for the moment, till the torture of dreadful +possibilities would send the distracted ranch +mistress again afield.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_38' name='page_38'></a>38</span></div> +<p>So the night wore away, and sunrise came, and +still there was no returning party that brought good +cheer. Each tarried, for a brief time, to attend to +the live stock under his immediate care, and some +even to snatch a morsel of food, but mostly they +were off and away again, a flask of water and a bit +of hardtack in pocket, oftener than not forgetting +even this meager nourishment.</p> +<p>By the end of the second day the sorrowful news +had spread all over the countryside, and other +ranches were well-nigh as deserted as Sobrante, +while their forces joined in the apparently hopeless +search.</p> +<p>By then, also, Mrs. Trent had resigned herself to +a quiet acceptance of the worst, and sat for hours +at a time rigidly motionless, with only her sense of +hearing intensely alert, strained to its utmost for +whatever news might come. As each party came +back to consult the others, and for the refreshment +that human nature could no longer do without, it +reported to the waiting woman, who received the +message in silence, yet with the courteous bow +which acknowledged the other’s effort on her behalf.</p> +<p>Aunt Sally now rose to the occasion as only her +great heart could suggest. All the petty fussiness +which had annoyed her neighbors dropped away +from her as she moved softly, keen-eyed and solicitous, +among them all. The steaming bowl of +coffee and strengthening sandwich, ready on the +instant for each arrival the unshaken hopefulness of +her eyes, and her wordless control of the awestruck +little boys, were comforts scarcely realized in that +dark time; yet comforts truly. Even Gabriella +could not refuse the nourishment so lovingly pressed +upon her, and mechanically drank the cup of broth +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_39' name='page_39'></a>39</span> +which her friend had taken care should be of the +strongest. To one and all this homely ministering +angel affirmed, with unshaken persistence:</p> +<p>“Jessica Trent is safe. Jessica Trent is coming +back.”</p> +<p>Meanwhile, old Pedro, for the first time in nearly +a twelvemonth, had turned his back upon the mesa +which he loved and set out on a toilsome path. In +his hand he carried a curious, notched stick, upon +which he sometimes leaned, but oftener bore upon +his shoulder, as it were a precious possession that +he must guard. Old as he was, his staff was older +still. It had come to him when the valley mission +had been abandoned, and the padre who bestowed +it upon this, his faithful servant, had also given into +his keeping a valuable secret. This metal-pointed +rod was one thing Pedro never left behind him when +he journeyed from home.</p> +<p>Starting from the east side of the mesa, he dipped +into the canyon; not by the trail over which Jessica +had ridden the ostrich on the day of her eventful +meeting with Morris Hale, but by the farther, ragged +wall where it seemed as if feet so old could +never make their way. Yet make it they did, as +surely if not as swiftly as in their younger days. +There was not the slightest hesitation in their direction, +though there were indeed, frequent pauses +during which the Indian’s keen hearing was strained +for an expected sound. After each such halt Pedro +would resume his path, climbing over rocks which +looked insurmountable and skirting others by ledges +less than a span’s width. Over this part of the +canyon wall none of the Sobrante ranchmen had +ever come; though below it, along a smoother portion, +ran the flume that watered the ranch in the +valley.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_40' name='page_40'></a>40</span></div> +<p>Darkness found the shepherd still among the overhanging +crags, and with true Indian stolidity he +rested for the night. His blanket wrapped around +him, his staff on the safe inner side, he lay down +upon a shelf of stone and slept as peacefully as in +his cabin on the level mesa, from which two motives +had driven him abroad.</p> +<p>Something had warned him that this approaching +Christmastide might be his last, and that the time +of which he had often dreamed was to come. He +would now test the truth of the secret he had received, +and, if it proved what had been promised, would +share it with his beloved mistress, his priceless +Navidad gift to her and hers.</p> +<p>Also sitting solitary at his basket, weaving on the +isolated island, Pedro had still observed much. Each +trifle was an event to him, and of late these trifles +had gathered thick about him. With annoying +frequency Ferd, the dwarf, had invaded and contaminated +his solitude. The hints which the misshapen +creature had dropped, though receiving no outward +attention, had, nevertheless, remained in the Indian’s +mind to disturb it. It was to hunt for this wretched +fellow, as well as to prove his “secret,” that he was +now in the canyon, believing that when he was +found, there would be Jessica also.</p> +<p>When morning came he rose and tightened his +belt about him and set out afresh. The long sleep +had restored his vigor and his eye gleamed with +satisfaction. The muscles that had stiffened from +long disuse––he would not have admitted that the +stiffness came from age––were limber as of old, and +he felt that, after all, it was good to be once more +upon the trail. But even his confidence would have +been rudely shaken could he have foreseen the +peril wherein that trail would end.</p> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0001' id='Footnote_0001'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0001'><span class='label'>[A]</span></a> +<p>Little one.</p> +</div> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_41' name='page_41'></a>41</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_IV_DELIVERANCE' id='CHAPTER_IV_DELIVERANCE'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>DELIVERANCE</h3> +</div> +<p>A second night of fruitless search upon the rocky +wall passed before the old Indian came to the spot +which he had thought so near, full twenty-four +hours before. He had fed his hunger upon the few +wild plums he had found, and more than once he +had descended to the flume to slake his thirst; then +reclimbed the height again, for there he knew lay +the road of his goal. Again and again he tapped the +solid rock or the scant earth about it for a response +to that magical tip upon his rod; and now, as the +second day lightened the gulch, the response came.</p> +<p>The staff forsook his hand, as it had been a creature +of volition, and stood upright upon a smooth-faced +bowlder. It needed all the man’s strength to +wrest it thence, and, grasping it securely, he carefully +descended, for the last time, the precipitous +wall. Always the staff tugged at his grasp, seeking +the earth, but he carried it still toward a clump +of gnarled trees which appeared to him like the +faces of long-lost friends. It seemed to him that in +all the half century since he looked upon them, +neither branch nor twig had altered. So had they +been on that sad day when the last of the padres +had brought him hither and shown them to him. +Beneath their roots lay the secret he had kept so +well.</p> +<p>But the cave––what had become of that? And +the stout shaft of hewn timber which led below +into the heart of earth?</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_42' name='page_42'></a>42</span></div> +<p>“Alas! I deceive myself. I have forgotten, for I +am old; not young as I seemed to me. I have come +in vain,” he complained, in his thought; and with a +gesture of despair, in his hunger and weariness, +the shepherd sank upon the ground and dropped +his face on his breast.</p> +<p>Long he sat thus, till there came to him upon +the silence the answer no call could have awaked. +He began to hear sounds. The creeping of some +heavy body amid the chaparral, coming nearer, +more distinct. Some wild shrubs sheltered him +from sight, and, peering through their twigs, he +watched in breathless silence. Ah! Reward!</p> +<p>It was Ferd who approached, as cautiously as if +he were conscious of those gleaming eyes behind +the mesquite, and who, turning in his path, entered +a point among the trees which even Pedro had not +suspected of leading any whither.</p> +<p>It was now the Indian’s part to creep after this +crawling creature; and he did so as swiftly, almost +as silently, as if he were the dwarf’s mere shadow. +Always he kept a screen of leaves between them, +less needed soon, as the unconscious guide led the +way out of the sunlight into the depths of gloom. +The cave at last!</p> +<p>But the half-wit, Ferd? Had he guessed its +secret?</p> +<p>On and on, it seemed interminably. Now and +then the dwarf would pause and listen, but at every +halt there was utter silence behind him. Then onward +again, and at length into a spacious place, +around the walls of which great jagged rocks made +recesses of impenetrable gloom. With one arm +outstretched, feeling his way, and with his precious +staff secured against his back within his blanket, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_43' name='page_43'></a>43</span> +Pedro paused in such a recess just in time, for the +dwarf had struck a match and lighted a lantern. +This he swung round his head, peering in each +direction, and blinded, maybe, by the very rays +with which he sought to disclose any possible follower. +Satisfied that he was alone, Ferd moved +onward again, and Pedro followed, hugging the +chamber wall and screening himself in every +shadow.</p> +<p>But Ferd had no longer any fear of discovery or +any thought of aught save that which lay before +him. The passage was higher now and he could +easily stand upright; the Indian also rising to his +feet, though he had to bow his head lest it should +brush the ceiling.</p> +<p>The dwarf began to talk aloud, to himself, apparently; +but after a moment of this muttering, +grew silent again. He had come to the mouth of a +black pit which seemed to descend into great depths. +In reality the depth was not so great; yet to anyone +within it escape was impossible without help +from above. Into this hole Ferd peered, holding +the lantern so that its rays fell straight downward, +and calling in a jeering voice:</p> +<p>“Is the ‘captain’ ready yet?”</p> +<p>“Oh, Ferd! good Ferd! Please, please let me +out!” answered a voice that thrilled old Pedro’s +heart with joy.</p> +<p>“All right. The money first.”</p> +<p>“But I have no money. You must help me up!”</p> +<p>“Down there safe. Is you hungry?”</p> +<p>“No, Ferd. The food you took out of Aunt +Sally’s pantry kept me from that.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_44' name='page_44'></a>44</span></div> +<p>The dwarf threw himself backward, on the rocky +floor above, and laughed loudly, yet his mirth was +shortlived. Pedro’s hand was on his throat before +a movement had been heard, and Pedro’s voice +was calling into the pit:</p> +<p>“Here am I, Sunny Face. Wait. I come.”</p> +<p>During all the hours of her imprisonment, Jessica’s +courage had not faltered, but, at the sound of that +blessed cry, it suddenly gave way and she burst +into a paroxysm of sobs and tears, which effectually +prevented her hearing the struggle that ensued +in the gloom between the shepherd and the +hunchback. For though the lantern had not been +extinguished, as it rolled from its owner’s hand, +it had fallen upon its one glass side and gave no +light.</p> +<p>For a time, even the Indian feared the issue of +that battle in the dark and the abnormal strength +of the dwarf’s long arms; but the craft, if not the +whole vigor of his own youth remained with him, +and at a chance opportunity, he whipped off his +blanket and smothered his opponent’s face therein.</p> +<p>The blanket was almost priceless, and, next to +his staff, his dearest possession; but when its heavy +folds had subdued the other to unconsciousness, he +did not hesitate to tear it into strips. With these +Ferd was promptly bound, hand and foot. Then +Pedro recovered the lantern and again called to +Lady Jess:</p> +<p>“I find a way. Wait.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Pedro! I know your blessed voice! There’s +a rope somewhere. Ask him. Quick––quick!”</p> +<p>“Wait.”</p> +<p>But the dwarf had almost immediately recovered +his breath, recognized his opponent, and now +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_45' name='page_45'></a>45</span> +directed the search. With a few superstitious ranchmen, +he shared the belief that Old Century was +under supernatural protection, and that it was extremely +dangerous to meddle with one so guarded. +Of all who might have traced him to that hidden +spot, here was the last he wished to meet; and +now that he knew himself beaten, he began to +whimper and plead in a cowardly way:</p> +<p>“Let me up, Pedro. Ferd’ll take little lady out. +Just fun, to make big talk. Ferd never hurt the +‘captain;’ no Ferd is a good boy, Pedro. Ferd is +a good boy. Poor Ferd! Pedro, let poor Ferd go.”</p> +<p>The only attention the shepherd vouchsafed the +whiner was to put his own foot under the inert +body and roll it well back from the pit’s mouth. +He had found the rope, a long and costly lariat +which he recognized as having once been the property +of Jessica’s father, and he secured it about +an upright timber that he tested and saw was still +firm. Then he took the handle of the lantern between +his teeth and slipped swiftly down the shaft.</p> +<p>As he reached the bottom Jessica threw herself +upon his breast with a fresh outburst of joy and +tears. But he dared not tarry below even with +an apparently helpless enemy above, and, giving her +the rope, he tersely bade her:</p> +<p>“Climb!”</p> +<p>With an intuition of his fear, she promptly obeyed +him and stood guard over the lariat lest Ferd should +make a fresh attempt upon it. Yet it seemed an +interminable time that Pedro stayed below; and +when at last he came above, she held him fast, not +willing again to let him go.</p> +<p>But he was in no haste. Allowing her to keep +between himself and the cavern’s wall, even intrusting +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_46' name='page_46'></a>46</span> +to her care the curious staff that now persisted +in dancing along the cavern’s floor in an +elfish way which amazed the girl, he made a circuit +of the place. At one spot he paused, and a single +grunt of satisfaction escaped him. Then he seized +a loaf of bread from a shelf-like niche and began to +eat it eagerly. He even pointed to another, lying +in the same place, but Jessica shook her head.</p> +<p>“No, no. I am not hungry. He gave me plenty +of stuff to eat. Lots of things that have been missing +from the kitchen and puzzled Aunt Sally so. +Oh! Pedro, let us go! Shall I ever see her again? +or my precious mother? How long has it been? +It seems forever. Come, come! Oh! come!”</p> +<p>“Wait,” was the imperturbable answer, and the +only one she could win from him. She was alive +and well. He had found her. There was no cause +for haste, nor had he ever hasted in his long life. +The man who wastes his time in hurry loses all. +He had found what he sought. This was the very +pit, the forsaken shaft of which the padre told him. +It led to what no other person dreamed. Was he +to be balked of his purpose, for the child’s whim? +No. It was for her, even, that he tarried.</p> +<p>In his groping about the cave the lantern had revealed +some loose fragments of rock which he now +pushed in front of the dwarf’s body, thus making +him a more secure prisoner; and, satisfied that all +was now safe, he descended again into the old shaft, +leaving Jessica in darkness.</p> +<p>Her impatience was almost unbearable, and escape +seemed as distant as ever, but there was +nothing left except that “waiting” Pedro had so +constantly advised.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_47' name='page_47'></a>47</span></div> +<p>It was rewarded, at last, by his call from the pit, +and even his calm voice was now shaken by excitement.</p> +<p>“Come, Sunny Face!”</p> +<p>Leaning over the edge of the hole, she saw him +point toward the rope and understood that he +wished her to descend, but with a shiver of distrust +she declined.</p> +<p>“Come.”</p> +<p>This time the order was peremptory and she +obeyed it, sliding swiftly down, to be caught and +safely deposited on the floor of the shaft. Placing +the lantern in her hand, the Indian began to gather +a strange collection of articles from one corner of +the narrow chamber and to display them to her. +As each was held up, an exclamation of surprise +broke from her, but even she had grown mostly +silent now, and her interest prevented fear. When +a goodly heap had been piled beside her, she found +her voice again, saying:</p> +<p>“I reckon everything that’s ever been lost from +Sobrante since it began is down here. Elsa’s little +leathern bags with their knitted covers; Beppo’s +plumes; Marty’s watch, that he thought he had lost +in the gulch; Wun Lung’s carved image. Oh, Pedro! +how dreadful and yet how splendid!”</p> +<p>The shepherd allowed her rhapsodies to answer +themselves. Though his eyes betrayed his complacency, +he had more serious work on hand, and, +pointing upward, he commanded:</p> +<p>“Fetch the padre’s staff.”</p> +<p>Lady Jess now realized that obedience was the +shortest road to freedom, so climbed and descended +the rope again, with the ease gained by her gymnastic +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_48' name='page_48'></a>48</span> +training under the “boys’” tuition. But she +took into the pit, beside the staff that curious +basket which she had once seen Ferd carrying up +the canyon and over which she had, most fortunately, +just then stumbled.</p> +<p>“See, Pedro! This will do to hold all those +things!”</p> +<p>The Indian “saw,” indeed, that this was a bit of +his own handiwork which had been missing from +the mesa, for many moons. He nodded gravely, +but was more eager for the staff than for his lost +property; and, taking the lantern again to the inner +wall of the shaft, he set the rod upon its point. +It remained motionless, exactly upright, where he +placed it; and now, truly, the old man paused to +gaze upon it in wordless delight. He was so rapt +and still that the girl grew frightened and awestruck, +watching his odd behavior, and begged him:</p> +<p>“Tell me what that means, Pedro! The thing is +bewitched.”</p> +<p>“Ugh!” said the Indian, arousing from his contemplation, +and, stooping began to dig amid the +loose stones at his feet, with the only tools at his +command––his own lean fingers. For these he +sometimes substituted a bit of rock, and to Jessica +it seemed as if he would never give over his strange +task. When she had begun to really despair of the +liberation which had seemed so near a while ago, +he ceased his labor and stood upright, holding +something shining toward the lantern’s light. To +the girl it appeared as only another worthless stone, +of a pretty, reddish hue, but wholly unworthy the +toil which had been spent to secure it. She was +further surprised, if anything could now surprise +her, to see the Indian place the fragment carefully +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_49' name='page_49'></a>49</span> +within his shirt front and tighten his belt afresh +below it. Then he lifted the basket she had filled +with the articles they had found and motioned her +upwards again.</p> +<p>“Now, we’re really going, aren’t we, Pedro?”</p> +<p>“Yes, Sunny Face. We go.”</p> +<p>Indeed, he was as eager for departure as heretofore +he had been loath. Releasing the dwarf’s feet +from their bandages, he helped his prisoner to them +and gently propelled him forward by a kick of his +own moccasined toe. Thus compelled, Ferd led the +way, the shepherd at his heels, carrying the basket +slung upon the staff over his shoulder, and his free +hand pressed closely against his breast where he +had placed the gleaming stone. Behind him walked +impatient Jessica, with the lantern, and in suchwise +the little procession came swiftly and silently to +the end of the passage and stood once more under +the free air of heaven. Here they had to halt, for +a moment, till their vision became accustomed to +the dazzling light; then with a cry of rapture, the +“captain” darted from her comrades and sped wildly +down the rocky gorge.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_50' name='page_50'></a>50</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_V_JESSICAS_STORY' id='CHAPTER_V_JESSICAS_STORY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>JESSICA’S STORY</h3> +</div> +<p>Though it had seemed as a lifetime to impatient +Jessica that she had been kept in the cave, after +Pedro’s arrival there, in reality it was less than an +hour; and it was yet early in the day when a cry +she had expected never to hear again, rang through +the room where Gabriella Trent was lying.</p> +<p>“Mother! My mother! Where are you?”</p> +<p>Another instant, and they were clasped in close +embrace as if nothing should ever separate them +again. Words were impossible, at first, and not till +she saw that even joy was dangerous for her overwrought +patient did Aunt Sally, the nurse, interpose +and bodily lift the daughter from the parent’s arms. +All at once her own calmness and courage forsook +good Mrs. Benton, and now that she saw the lost +girl restored, visibly present in the flesh, anger +possessed her till she longed to shake, rather than +caress, the little captain.</p> +<p>“Well, Jessica Trent! These are pretty goings on, +now ain’t they?”</p> +<p>Gabriella sat up and her child nestled against her, +their hands clasped and their eyes greedily fixed +upon each other’s countenance. The unexpected +brusqueness of the question was a relief to their +high tension, and Jessica laughed, almost hysterically, +as she answered:</p> +<p>“They didn’t seem very ‘pretty’ to me, Aunt +Sally.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_51' name='page_51'></a>51</span></div> +<p>“What a sight you be! Where you been?”</p> +<p>“In the canyon cave.”</p> +<p>“Didn’t know there was one.”</p> +<p>“Nor I––before.”</p> +<p>“What for? What made you stay? Didn’t you +know you’d raised the whole countryside to hunt +for you? Don’t believe there’s an able-bodied man +left on a single ranch within fifty miles; all off +huntin’ for you. You––you ought to be spanked!”</p> +<p>“Mrs. Benton!” warned Gabriella, in a tone of +such distress that the reproved one promptly sank +in a capacious heap on the floor and fell to weeping +with the same vigor that she applied to all things. +Jessica, too, began to cry softly, at intervals, with +such shuddering bursts of sobs, that the mother’s +tears, also, were soon dimming the eyes to which +they had been denied during all the past anxiety. +However, this simultaneous downpour was infinite +relief to all; and presently the mother rose and +with the strength happiness gave to her slight figure, +carried her child away to rest.</p> +<p>“You are safe. You are here. I see that you +have suffered no hurt, and bed is the place for +you. When you have slept and rested you must +tell us all. Oh! my darling! Many hearts have +ached for you, and I thought my own was broken. +But, thank God! thank God!”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally followed them, and, as if she had been +a new-born baby, the two women washed and made +ready for a long sleep the precious child that had +been given back to them from the grave. Then +the mother sat down to watch while Aunt Sally +hurried to ring the ancient mission bell, whose +harsh clanging had been agreed upon among the +searchers as the signal of good news.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_52' name='page_52'></a>52</span></div> +<p>They all came flocking back, singly or in groups, +from wherever the summons, which could be heard +for miles in that clear air, chanced to find them. +Impatience was natural enough, too, on their part, +since to their eager questions Mrs. Benton could +not give answer beyond the simple statement:</p> +<p>“Yes, she’s back, safe and sound. Says she’s +been in a cave, though where it is or whether she’s +just flighty in her head, land knows. She’s sleepin’ +now, and it won’t be healthy for any you lumberin’ +men to be makin’ a noise round the house before she +wakes up, of her own accord.”</p> +<p>Nor when Pedro and the subdued dwarf came +slowly over the road would they make any further +explanation. Indeed, they were both utterly silent; +the Indian forcing his captive before him into the +deserted office where he intrenched himself, with +his basket and staff, until such time as it should be +his mistress’ pleasure to receive him.</p> +<p>Thus, with time on her hands and nothing else to +do, Aunt Sally collared Wun Lung and withdrew to +her kitchen, whence, presently, there arose such +various and appetizing odors that the weary ranchmen +scented a feast, and sought repose for themselves +till it was ready. Samson and John, however, +were called upon for aid, and, whereas they were +ordered to “dress six of the plumpest fowl in the +hennery,” they brought a dozen, and for “one likely +shoat,” they made ready two. Nor, when they +were upbraided for wastefulness, were they a whit +abashed, but John demanded, with unfilial directness:</p> +<p>“Why, mother, what’s got your common sense? +Tisn’t only our own folks you’re cookin’ for, but +fifty others, more or less. Do you s’pose Cassius +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_53' name='page_53'></a>53</span> +Trent would skimp victuals on such a day as this? +My advice to you is: Put on all the pork and bacon +you’ve got, to bile; and roast the lamb that was +butchered for our mess; and set to bakin’ biscuit +by the cartload, and–––”</p> +<p>“John Benton, hold your tongue, or I’ll–––”</p> +<p>“No, you won’t, mother! I’ve outgrown spankin’ +though I’d be most willin’ to submit if ’twould be +any relief to your feelin’s, or mine either. I tell you +this here’s the greatest day ever shone on Sobrante +Ranch, not barrin’ even the one when the ‘captain’ +came home with the title in her hand.”</p> +<p>“You misguided boy, don’t I know it? Ain’t I +clean druv out my wits a-thinkin’ ever’thing over, +and where in the name of natur’ am I goin’ to do +it all, with them horrid gasoline stoves no bigger’n +an old maid’s thimble, and Pasqually gone off +s’archin’ with the rest, and no’count the heft of the +time and my sins!”</p> +<p>“Had to take breath, or bust, hadn’t you?” cried +her disrespectful son, catching the portly matron +about the spot where her waist should have been +and hilariously whirling her about in a waltz which +his own lameness rendered the more grotesque. +“And where can you cook ’em? Why, right square +in them old ovens at the mission. Full now of +saddles and truck, but Samson and me’ll clear ’em +out lively. I’ll make you a fire in ’em, and they’ll +see cookin’ like they haven’t since the padres put +out their own last fires. They weren’t any fools, +them fellers. They knew a good thing when they +saw it, and if they tackled a job they did it square. +The ovens they built, just out of baked mud and a +few stones, are as tight to-day as they were a hundred +years ago; and, whew! won’t old Pedro, that +found her, relish his meat cooked in ’em?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_54' name='page_54'></a>54</span></div> +<p>Nor was Benton to be outdone in suggestion on +the matter of providing. Some of the searchers had +brought back a quantity of game, with which the +country teemed, and which it had delayed them but +little to shoot. This was levied upon without ado, +and in the preparation of the great feast Aunt +Sally’s helpers forgot their fatigue, and were as +deftly efficient as women would have been.</p> +<p>Indeed, between sleep and labor, the hours of +Jessica’s unbroken rest passed quickly, after all; +and the good news having spread almost as swiftly +as the ill, the grounds were full of people when, +at last, she awoke. But, even yet, Mrs. Trent’s +consideration for others refused a prior or full +hearing of the story to which her faithful helpers +had as good a right as she, if not as intense an +interest in it. She made the child eat and drink, +and went with her to her favorite rostrum when +addressing her “company” of soldierly “boys”––the +horse block. Here the girl stood up and told +her simple tale.</p> +<p>“You see, dear folks, it was just this way: Aunt +Sally and I were on the porch, and we found Elsa’s +ring, all crooked. We couldn’t guess how it came +there, and I’d just been made pretty angry about +the way you felt toward ‘Forty-niner.’ Oh! it was +dreadful, dreadful of you all, and I never was so +ashamed of my ‘boys,’ not in all my life.”</p> +<p>“Go on with the story, captain. Never mind us,” +cried somebody.</p> +<p>“And a little way farther I found a piece of Elsa’s +knitted bag. That made me think a lot. Then the +tackers came, all paint, and with Mr. Hale’s horse, +that had been on the mesa ever since he was here. +That made me think some more, and I told auntie +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_55' name='page_55'></a>55</span> +if she wouldn’t scold the little ones I’d try to find +their clothes. I didn’t find them, though, Aunt +Sally.”</p> +<p>“Go on! Go on! What next?” demanded an impatient +listener.</p> +<p>“Then I saw Ferd. Oh, mother! If I tell I’m +afraid they’ll hurt him.”</p> +<p>“He shall be protected, daughter, and you must +tell,” said the mother, though she now shrank from +the hearing.</p> +<p>“I asked him about the horse and the children, +and he said ‘yes,’ he had fixed them. He had driven +Prince down from the mesa, when Pedro didn’t +see him, and had ‘showed that old carpenter’ something +to pay for kicks and hard words. He knew +something I’d like to know. So I asked him what, +and he said it was Elsa’s money. But if I didn’t +go with him without saying anything to anybody +he wouldn’t tell me how to find it. I begged to +tell my mother, but he said her least of all. It +wouldn’t take long, only a few rods up the canyon; +so, of course, I went. I thought I should be back +long before dinner-time, and that mother would tell +me to do anything which would clear old Ephraim’s +name from your cruel suspicions. And, oh, boys! +You were wrong, you were wrong! He never took +a cent that wasn’t his own, and Elsa’s money is +found!”</p> +<p>Absolute silence followed this announcement, +then Samson’s great voice started the wild “Hurrahs” +which made the wide valley ring. The cheers +were long and lusty, but when they subsided at last, +Mrs. Trent bade her daughter finish the tale.</p> +<p>“It wasn’t a little, but a long way up the canyon; +yet I was so eager to right Ephraim’s wrong that +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_56' name='page_56'></a>56</span> +I didn’t feel afraid, though I never have liked Ferd. +He can’t help being queer, maybe, with his queer +body to keep his half mind in–––”</p> +<p>The hisses that interrupted her were almost as +loud as the cheers had been, and it would have fared +ill with the dwarf had he at that moment been +visible. Fortunately, he was still under the surveillance +of the grim shepherd, in the locked office, +and the majority of those present were ignorant of +his whereabouts.</p> +<p>“Quit hindering the captain. Her story is what +we want!” cried “Marty.” “The dwarf can wait.”</p> +<p>“So we went on and on, and into a strange, dark +tunnel, that scared me a little, yet made me more +curious than ever to see the end of it all. The tunnel +led to a cave, and in the cave there was a deep +hole; and before I knew what he was doing, Ferd +had slung a lariat about me and dropped me into it.”</p> +<p>Again an interruption of groans and howls, that +were promptly suppressed by a wave of the mistress’ +white hand; then Jessica continued:</p> +<p>“As soon as he had put me there, he told me he +would keep me till my mother paid him great +money to let me up. Yet he wouldn’t even go to +her and ask for it. He said I must promise, and +that she would do anything I said. He told about +a boy in ’Frisco, he’d heard the men say, was taken +from his folks and kept till they paid lots for his +release––even thousands of dollars! Antonio had +taught him that money was the best thing to have. +He believed it. He took it whenever he could find +it. That’s what made him take Elsa’s, and blame +it upon Ephraim. And I wouldn’t promise. How +could I? My dear has no money to give wicked +men, and I knew the dear God would take me back +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_57' name='page_57'></a>57</span> +to her when He saw fit. As He did, indeed. For +it must have been He who put it into Pedro’s heart +to seek the cave just when I needed him most. Only +the Lord could see through all that darkness and +lead the shepherd by that crooked way.”</p> +<p>She paused, and, turning to her mother, laid her +sunny head upon the shoulder that was shaken by +such sobs as moved her faithful ranchmen to +thoughts of deep revenge. Eyes that had not wept +for years grew dim, and out of that circle of listening +men rose a low and ominous sound. Some, remembering +their own idle talk of kidnaping and the +like, shuddered at the practical application the +dwarf’s dim mind had made of their words; and +various plans for punishment were forming when +the captain clapped her hands for fresh attention.</p> +<p>“Hear me, ‘boys.’Do you belong to me?”</p> +<p>“Ay, ay! Heart and soul!”</p> +<p>“Then you must mind me. You must let Ferd +alone. You must do even more to please me––and +teach him to be good, not bad.”</p> +<p>None answered these clear, commanding sentences, +which, as the strangers present thought, +came so oddly from such childish lips, and they +wondered at the effect produced upon the Sobrante +men. These glanced at one another in doubt, each +questioning the decision of his neighbor; and then +again at the lovely girl who had never before +seemed so wholly angelic.</p> +<p>“Will you do this?”</p> +<p>“Hold on, little one. Let the ‘admiral’ speak. Has +she forgiven that human coyote?”</p> +<p>The unexpected question startled Mrs. Trent. +She was a strictly truthful woman, and found her +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_58' name='page_58'></a>58</span> +answer difficult. She had never liked the wretched +creature who had just brought such misery to her, +and she now loathed him. She had already resolved +that, while she would protect Ferd from personal +injury, she would see to it that he was put where he +could never again injure her or hers. Her momentary +hesitation told. The whole assemblage +waited for her next word amid a silence that could +be felt, when, suddenly, there burst upon that +silence a series of ear-splitting shrieks which effectually +diverted attention from the perplexed ranch +mistress.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_59' name='page_59'></a>59</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_VI_BEHIND_LOCKED_DOORS' id='CHAPTER_VI_BEHIND_LOCKED_DOORS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>BEHIND LOCKED DOORS</h3> +</div> +<p>The shrieks were uttered by Elsa Winkler, who +frantically rushed to the horse block, demanding: +“Where? Where?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent gave one glance at the rough, unkempt +woman, and sternly remarked:</p> +<p>“Elsa, you forget yourself! Go back indoors, +at once.”</p> +<p>The unhappy creature shivered at this unfamiliar +tone, yet abated nothing of her outcry:</p> +<p>“My money! My money! My money!”</p> +<p>She had come to the ranch thinking only of +Jessica’s mysterious absence, and meaning to do +something, anything, which might help or comfort +the child’s mother; but the long walk, for one so +heavy and unaccustomed to exercise, had made her +physically ill by the time she reached Sobrante. +Which state of things was wholly satisfactory to +Aunt Sally, who, having received the visitor with +dismay, now promptly suggested bed and rest, saying:</p> +<p>“You poor creatur’! You’re clean beat out! If +you don’t take care, you’ll have a dreadful fit of +sickness, and I don’t know who’d wait on you if +you did. Not with all this trouble on hand. You +go right straight up into one them back chambers, +where the bed is all made up ready, and put yourself +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_60' name='page_60'></a>60</span> +to bed, and––stay there! Don’t you dast get +up again till I say so; else I won’t answer for the +consequences. You’re as yeller as saffron, and as +red as a beet. Them two colors mixed on a human +countenance means––somethin’! To bed, Elsa +Winkler; to bed right away. I’ll fetch you up a cup +of tea and a bite of victuals. Don’t tarry.”</p> +<p>“But––the mistress!” Elsa had panted. “I come +so long for to speak her good cheer. I must see +the mistress, then I rest.”</p> +<p>“The mistress isn’t seeing anybody just now, except +me and––a few others. You do as I say, or +you’ll never knit another wool shawl.”</p> +<p>“No, no. I knit no more, forever, is it? Not I. +Why the reason? The more one earns the more +one may lose. Yes, yes, indeed. Yes.”</p> +<p>“That’s the true word,” Mrs. Benton had replied; +“and so being you’ve no yarn to worry you, nor no +mistress to see, off to bed, I say, and don’t you +dast to get sick on my hands, I warn you!”</p> +<p>So Elsa had obeyed the command, glad enough to +rest and be idle for a time. Aunt Sally had seen +to it that the visitor was kept duly alarmed concerning +her red-and-yellow condition, nor had she given +the permission to arise when Wolfgang and Otto +arrived from their fruitless visit to El Desierto. +They found the place crowded with returning +searchers, and joyfully hailed the good news of +Jessica’s safety. But when there was added to this +the information that their own property had been +found, they demanded to be taken to Elsa, and it +was their visit to her room which had sent her +afield, half-clad, and with thought for nothing but +her lost treasure.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_61' name='page_61'></a>61</span></div> +<p>Even now, husband and son joined their entreaties +to hers, though Samson soon brought them to hear +reason, and to withdraw from public for the present, +asking, indignantly:</p> +<p>“Have you folks lost all your manners, as well +as your dollars, up there on the foothill? The idee +of a woman screeching her lungs out afore all the +ranchers in Southern Californy! Your money? +Well, what of it? If it’s found, it’ll be give to you, +and if it isn’t you ain’t the first feller’s been robbed. +Besides, can’t you smell? Don’t you know that +you’re interruptin’ the prettiest spread ever was +seen at old Sobrante? Like chicken? Like roast +pig? Like hot biscuit and plum sess? Then go +wash your face, and make your folks fix up and +come enjoy yourself. So far as I hear, it’s old +Pedro holds the cash, and you might as well try +to move the Sierras as him, if he ain’t ready to move. +At this present writin’ he’s set himself guard over +that scalliwag, Ferd, and I ain’t envying him his +job, I ain’t. Hurry up, there won’t be anything but +necks and drumsticks left for you laggards.”</p> +<p>Thus admonished and reassured, Wolfgang +hurried his family away to prepare for the feast, +and the interruption they had caused to the proceedings +at the horse block effectually relieved Mrs. +Trent from an immediate answer to an awkward +question, so she said:</p> +<p>“Come, daughter. I see by Aunt Sally’s manner +that she wishes the people would begin to eat. +Every pair of hands, that belongs to us, must help +in serving these kind neighbors who have flocked +to our aid. Some of them have forty good miles +to ride before they sleep, and they must be fed first. +I’ll stand by the head table yonder, and name them, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_62' name='page_62'></a>62</span> +and do you, for whom they left their business, wait +upon them yourself. That will show them your +gratitude, and give them honor due.”</p> +<p>So it was, and to every dish she brought, the little +captain added a graceful word of thanks, which +seasoned the food better than even Aunt Sally’s +wondrous skill had done; and many an encomium +did the child hear, in return, of that lost father +who had made himself so well-beloved in all that +countryside.</p> +<p>When all was over and done, when the last +“neighbor” had ridden homeward, when everybody +had had his fill, and more than his fill of good things, +and the rudely constructed tables had been removed +from the wide lawn, came Aunt Sally, beaming with +happiness, and glanced over the scene, till there +broke from her lips the wondering question:</p> +<p>“Can this be the same spot that was so dark and +lonely yesterday? I’ve had my heartstrings so +stretched and tugged at, betwixt joy and sorrow, +that I don’t know myself. I––I believe I’m tired! +And if I am, it’s about the first time in my life. +Well, well! Talking of Christmas––this little supper +we’ve just give is about equal to forty Christmases +in one. Seem’s if.”</p> +<p>“Dear, kind, Aunt Sally, how shall I ever thank +you for all you’ve done for us?” cried Mrs. Trent, +appearing at her friend’s side, and impetuously +clasping the portly matron. The embrace was so +unexpected, for the ranch mistress was never a demonstrative +woman, that its recipient was, for the +instant, speechless; the next, she had turned herself +about and demanded:</p> +<p>“Gabriella Trent, have you had a bite to eat?”</p> +<p>“No. Have you, Mrs. Benton?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_63' name='page_63'></a>63</span></div> +<p>“Not a morsel. I’m as empty as a bubble. No +more has the captain touched a thing. She’s here, +there and everywhere, among her precious ‘boys,’ +yet not a one of ’em has the decency to say: ‘Share +my supper, Lady Jess.’ If they were my ‘boys,’ +I’d–––”</p> +<p>“No, you wouldn’t, mother. And I’m glad to see +you two women resting a spell. Keep on sitting +there. We’re going to wait on you now, and don’t +you believe we haven’t put by the pick of the pies +for you all! The captain is fetchin’ the tackers, +and Pasqual’s fetchin’ the food. But what about +old Pedro and the coyote?”</p> +<p>“John, don’t call names, ’specially hard ones. +They always come home to roost. But I’m glad you +do some credit to your upraisin’, and did remember +that somebody else, except yourself, might be hungry. +Wait, Gabriell’. Don’t you worry about that +Indian. I’ll just step in and fix him somethin’.”</p> +<p>“You’d better not, mother. He’s got all the +company he wants at this present writing.”</p> +<p>This was sufficient to spur Mrs. Benton’s energy +afresh. Curiosity was her besetting sin, and she +could not endure that anything should go on about +the ranch in which she had no hand. Rising rather +hastily from a chair that was much too frail for +her weight, she and it came to grief, and the fact +diverted her attention for the time.</p> +<p>John was glad of this, though outwardly he sympathized +with her slight mishap, and facetiously +offered her a dose of her own picra.</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent also rose, saying:</p> +<p>“I will go to Pedro. Though I did try to thank +him, when he first came, I had but a moment to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_64' name='page_64'></a>64</span> +give him then, and I fear he will feel he has been +neglected. As if I could ever neglect one to whom +I owe my darling’s restoration!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton looked after her, and sighed.</p> +<p>“There she goes again! and that woman hasn’t +tasted a mouthful in a dog’s age!”</p> +<p>“How long’s a ‘dog’s age,’ Aunt Sally?” demanded +Ned as he helped himself to a buttered biscuit which +Pasqual had just placed on the old lady’s plate.</p> +<p>“Age as long as a dog,” commented Luis, seizing +the biscuit from his mate and running away with +it. Of course, Ned gave chase, and the usual battle +ensued, after which they dropped down upon the +spot where they had fought, threw their arms +around each other’s necks, and munched the biscuit +together with an air of cherubic delight.</p> +<p>Everybody laughed at the pair, upon which Aunt +Sally now descended with a threatening mien and a +plate of plum cake.</p> +<p>“Ain’t you ashamed of yourselves, you naughty +children? Fighting half your time. Here! Eat +that and let your suppers stop. By the way, how +many suppers have you had already?”</p> +<p>“Six or seven,” promptly replied Ned, who had +eaten with whoever invited him.</p> +<p>“Sixty-seven,” echoed Luis.</p> +<p>“Then to bed you go, this instant!” And off +they were marched, without delay. Of course, this +was another postponement of Mrs. Benton’s own +meal, but she didn’t mind that, so long as she had +an opportunity to deal with the small lads. Explaining +to them, as she undressed and bathed them: +“You’d go to wrack and ruin if ’twasn’t for me takin’ +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_65' name='page_65'></a>65</span> +a hand in your upbringin’ now and then. You pull +the wool over Gabriella’s eyes the worst ever was. +My! What you doing now, Edward Trent?”</p> +<p>“Pullin’ wool, like you said!” and wound the +white blanket he had caught from his cot the more +tightly about Luis’ head.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, the ranch mistress had gained the +office and asked admission at its locked door. When +a long wait ensued, she reflected rather anxiously +upon what the men had often said, “That Old Century +is as top-lofty as a king. Thinks he is a king, +in his own rights, and his having lived a hundred +years makes him better’n anybody else.”</p> +<p>This was quite true. Faithful and devoted to her +as he was, the shepherd exacted even from her the +respect that was his due. On that day he felt that +much more than ordinary consideration was owing +him; yet he had been left for hours, unvisited by +her for whom he had done, and meant still to do, +so much. Therefore, it was with a bearing full of +injured dignity that he at last slid the bolt and +opened the door, though he did not invite the visitor +to enter, nor withdraw from the opening.</p> +<p>“I came to see about your supper, good Pedro. +Do you know that it has been cooked in the old +mission oven? That should make it taste fine to you. +You must pardon my not being earlier, but there +have been so many, many guests. All gone now, +save our own people.”</p> +<p>“Senorita, am I not also a guest, yes? Was one +at Sobrante as old as me? Should not I have ruled +the feast?”</p> +<p>“Indeed, you should, my friend, if there had been +any ruling whatever. It was simply take and eat, +and away to their distant homes. You are already +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_66' name='page_66'></a>66</span> +at home, nor have I, either, tasted food. Come now +and feast with me. I am hungry, and so should +you be. You mustn’t keep the mistress waiting, you +know!”</p> +<p>Pedro’s countenance had softened, and he had +expended all his sternness, but his caution remained. +With a significant glance toward his prisoner, the +dwarf, he shook his head.</p> +<p>“When he is safe, then will I break my fast. The +senorita does me honor.”</p> +<p>“That is what I should like to do, dear Pedro. +But is not poor Ferd safe in here? Can we not +send him in some supper and turn the lock upon +him?”</p> +<p>She could not hide the repugnance she felt toward +the miserable, misshapen creature, now sleeping on +the floor, and after one glance in his direction looked +swiftly away. But that glance had been sufficient +to startle her by its resemblance to another face +she hoped never to see again.</p> +<p>Pedro’s keen old eyes noticed her surprise and +dismay, and he smiled grimly.</p> +<p>“The mistress sees. Slumber shows it––the likeness. +One breed of snakes were in the den. Fear +both, watch both, for they are brothers. Yes.”</p> +<p>This, then, explained many things; not the least, +the wonderful influence and control which Antonio +had always maintained over his half-witted “left +hand,” as the “boys” called the unfortunate hunchback.</p> +<p>“Antonio––Ferdinand––both Bernals––brothers?” +asked Mrs. Trent, in a tremulous voice.</p> +<p>“Si. Yes, indeed. In truth.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_67' name='page_67'></a>67</span></div> +<p>“And all this time nobody knew or suspected it?”</p> +<p>“Senorita, the master knew. That was part of +his great goodness to the wicked one who would +ruin him if he could. ’Ware Antonio––’ware Ferd. +One is the shadow of the other. One thinks, the +other works. When Antonio went, Ferd stayed. +No good, senorita. Watch him.”</p> +<p>The lady sat down upon the nearest chair, and, +as she did so, caught sight of the basket upon the +desk. It was filled to overflowing with articles of +various sorts, and beside it lay the curious metal-pointed +staff. Her impulse was to reach forward +and take it, but the Indian arrested her hand by an +upward motion of his own. Then he opened it himself +and showed her, at the bottom, a number of +leathern bags with knitted covers.</p> +<p>“Elsa’s money?”</p> +<p>Pedro silently assented.</p> +<p>“Oh, let us call her, and give it back to her at +once.”</p> +<p>“Fools must learn. Let the miner come, and +Samson.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent stepped outside and dispatched a messenger +for the two men, who presently came; the +one glum and offended, thinking in his slow way +that he had been made a jest of, and that the money +his wife so loved had not, after all, been found. +The other, as always, proud and alert to serve the +“admiral.”</p> +<p>When they had entered the room, Wolfgang’s eyes +at once rested greedily upon the basket, which +Pedro had again closed, as if he guessed what treasure +lay within. Samson’s glance went straight to +the sleeping dwarf, and an almost irresistible impulse +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_68' name='page_68'></a>68</span> +to kick the inert figure possessed him. But he +restrained himself, and colored high when he met +the lady’s own glance.</p> +<p>“No, Samson, please. No violence. Yet it is +Pedro’s wise advice that Ferd be placed under the +charge of somebody who shall know at all times +just where he is and what he is about. Will you +take that charge, herder?”</p> +<p>“That ain’t the kind of cattle I keep, ‘admiral.’”</p> +<p>“I understand it isn’t a pleasant task. That’s not +the question, which is simply: Will you be responsible +for––Ferdinand Bernal?”</p> +<p>The mighty sailor fairly jumped, but his reply +was: “You could knock me down with a feather!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent laughed. “Yes, it is strange. But +look sharp. The resemblance is strong. Pedro +knows the relationship, and my husband knew it. +I did not, until just now. Something better may +suggest itself to you or me, but for the present, +will you take charge of this unhappy one?”</p> +<p>A delayed and most reluctant “Yes” came at last +from the herder’s lips. If he had been asked to +punish the dwarf the answer would have been swift +and eager; but “take charge!” That meant constant +association, decent treatment and responsibility +for the most “slippery” of human beings.</p> +<p>“Then, please take him away at once.”</p> +<p>Ferd had roused, and was sitting up; so that when +Samson laid his great hand on the lad’s shoulder, +the latter understood, in a dim way, that he was +now the herder’s, rather than the shepherd’s prisoner. +Of the two, he would have preferred the +latter keeper; but he would bother with neither +very long.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_69' name='page_69'></a>69</span></div> +<p>It was a relief when the door closed upon the +outgoing pair, and Pedro rose and locked it. There +was something preternaturally solemn and mysterious +in his manner as, placing a chair nearer to the +desk for Mrs. Trent, he motioned Wolfgang to +take another opposite. Then, standing between +them he drew the basket toward himself, and keeping +one hand upon it, thrust the other within his +shirt and drew from that the reddish bit of rock +which Jessica had seen him so careful of.</p> +<p>Holding it so that the last rays of the sun fell +through the window full upon it, he extended it +on his open palm and demanded of the miner:</p> +<p>“What?”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_70' name='page_70'></a>70</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_VII_A_ROYAL_GIFT' id='CHAPTER_VII_A_ROYAL_GIFT'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>A ROYAL GIFT</h3> +</div> +<p>Wolfgang took the bit of stone in his own fingers +and examined it critically. Always deliberate +in his words and actions, he was now doubly so, +and Mrs. Trent grew impatient of a situation which +seemed unimportant, and that delayed for others, +as well as herself, a much needed supper.</p> +<p>But Pedro was not impatient. He stood with +folded arms and triumphant bearing, ready for the +miner’s reply, whether it came soon or late; also, +quite ready to disregard it should it be different +from that expected.</p> +<p>“Well, Wolfgang?” asked the ranch mistress.</p> +<p>The miner heaved a prodigious sigh, and returned +the ambiguous answer:</p> +<p>“That is what I have thought already, is it not?”</p> +<p>“What have you thought, good Wolfgang?” demanded +the lady, looking toward the Indian’s glowing +eyes.</p> +<p>“Copper. Copper, without alloy.”</p> +<p>“Ugh!” grunted Pedro, with satisfaction, and +taking the metal again in his hand bowed low and +gravely presented it to his mistress.</p> +<p>She received it without enthusiasm, wondering +what significance could attach to a bit of stone +that might have been picked up anywhere. Her +husband had believed that everything valuable +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_71' name='page_71'></a>71</span> +would, sooner or later, be unearthed from the +mountains of the State he so loyally loved, but her +own interest in the subject was slight. However, +she must say something grateful or again offend +the dignity of her venerable servitor.</p> +<p>“Thank you, Pedro. It is very pretty. I will add +it to the case of minerals that your master arranged +yonder.”</p> +<p>The shepherd cast one contemptuous glance toward +the shelves she indicated, and straightened +himself indignantly. He had loved and revered her, +ever since she came a bride to Sobrante, and had +tended him through a scourge of smallpox, unafraid +and unscathed. Though she was a woman, the sex +of whose intelligence he had small opinion, he had +regarded her as an exception, and his disappointment +was great.</p> +<p>“Is it but a ‘thank you,’ si? Does not the senorita +know what this gift means?”</p> +<p>“I confess that I do not, Pedro. Please explain.”</p> +<p>“Were the old padres wise, mistress?”</p> +<p>“So I have always understood.”</p> +<p>“Listen. From them it came; from the last who +left the mission here for another––to me, his son +and friend. Into the heart of the world we went, +and he showed me. Down low, so low none dream +of it, lies that will make you rich. Will there be +anybody anywhere so rich as the senorita and her +little ones? No. But no, not one. This I give you. +It is for the Navidad, the last old Pedro will ever +see. And the senorita answers, ‘thank you’!”</p> +<p>He was deeply hurt, and his manner was now +full of an eloquent scorn. He was returning the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_72' name='page_72'></a>72</span> +stone to his breast, when she asked for it again, +saying, gently:</p> +<p>“You are so old and wise, good Pedro, you must +bear with my ignorance and teach me. This is +copper, you say. It is very pretty, but how can it +make me rich? I do not understand.”</p> +<p>Wolfgang answered for the other, and his phlegmatic +face had lost its ordinary expression for one +of keen delight.</p> +<p>“It is true, what the old man tells you, mistress. +He means––he must mean––somewhere on your +property lies a vein of this metal. The dead master +thought the coal was fine already. Ay, so, so. But +copper! Mistress Trent, when this vein is mined, +what Pedro says––yes, yes. In all this big country is +not one so rich as he who owns a copper mine. Ach, +himmel! It is a queen he has made you, and you say, +‘Thank you!’”</p> +<p>He had fully caught the shepherd’s enthusiasm +and feeling, and for the first time in his life looked +upon the lady of Sobrante as a dull-witted person.</p> +<p>But she was no longer dull. Even if it seemed an +impossibility that even this “vein” could be mined, +since she had no money to waste in an experiment +so costly, still she realized, at last, what Pedro’s +will had been. Catching his hand between her own +soft palms, she pressed it gratefully, and beamed +upon him till he smiled again.</p> +<p>“Whatever comes of it. Pedro, you have given +us a royal aguinaldo<a name='FNanchor_0002' id='FNanchor_0002'></a><a href='#Footnote_0002' class='fnanchor'>[B]</a>, and I do appreciate it. Come +now, and share our rejoicing over that greater good +that you have brought to Sobrante––the salvation +of its little captain. For that––for that––I have not +even the ‘thank you’; my feeling is too deep.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_73' name='page_73'></a>73</span></div> +<p>Though he showed it little, the old man was +almost as moved as she, and he followed her as +proudly as if he were the “king” his fellow ranchmen +called him. Yet even pride did not prevent his +being cautious still, and he carried the basket and +staff away with him, though Wolfgang protested, +and asked, angrily now:</p> +<p>“The money? Is it not my Elsa’s, yes? Would +you break her heart already, and the little one so +needing it?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent laughed. She, too, wondered that the +Indian had not at once surrendered the other’s +property, but understood that he could not be +hurried. So she merely suggested that Wolfgang +bring his family around to the living room immediately +after sunset, when, doubtless, he would receive +his own again.</p> +<p>At that time, also, she meant to have John Benton +present, to hear what Pedro had to say about +this copper find, and to comfort him in his disappointment, +for between these two there had always +been close friendship.</p> +<p>However, to her surprise, John attempted no comfort. +He was instantly and heartily on the shepherd’s +side, and demanded, excitedly:</p> +<p>“Begging pardon for plain words, as you are a +woman with growing children, can you sit there +calm as molasses and say ‘you wish you could do +something about it,’ yet say no more. ‘Wish!’ +Why, land of Goshen! this ain’t a wishin’ sort of +business, this ain’t! It’s ‘Hurray for old Sobrante! +Hurray, hurray, hurray!’ Call ’em in, captain, +dearie! Call in the whole crowd! That was the +luckiest gettin’ lost anybody ever had! Oh, won’t +somebody call ’em in?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_74' name='page_74'></a>74</span></div> +<p>To the group about the table it seemed that the +sensible carpenter had suddenly gone mad. Nobody +had ever heard him so address the mistress whom +he loved, and his excited prancing around the room, +alternately hugging and examining the mineral in +his hand, added to the impression. While the captain +departed to summon the other “boys,” Aunt +Sally attempted to reduce her hilarious son to +sanity by a sharp box on the ear, and the sharper +reprimand:</p> +<p>“You, John Benton! Do you mean to bring my +gray hairs with sorrer to the grave? What’s the +reason of these goings on, I’d like to know? I +never was so disgraced in all my life, never. Now, +quit! Quit to once, or–––”</p> +<p>He paid no heed to her, but laid his hand on +Pedro’s shoulder and shook it vigorously, demanding:</p> +<p>“What kind of a feller are you, anyway? Why in +the name of sense didn’t you tell this thing while +the boss was alive? Shucks! Half of you is Indian, +and that means dirt. Known it all this time, and +kept it hid! You’d ought to be drawn and quartered, +that’s what you had!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton advanced with threatening hand, +and from force of habit he retreated before her, and +sank into the nearest chair; so that, when his mates +entered, they found him sitting with bent head and +down-hanging hands, as limp and inert as if his +vitality had been sapped by the news he had heard.</p> +<p>“What’s up?” asked “Marty,” making his respectful +salutation to the mistress, but looking past her +toward the carpenter, who, with another change +of mood, sprang again to his feet and waved the +fragment of mineral overhead, exclaiming:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_75' name='page_75'></a>75</span></div> +<p>“This is ‘up’! Copper’s ‘up’! Sobrante’s ‘up’! +And lucky the men that belong to it. Only––that +old villain, yonder, has known it even since forever, +and was mean enough to keep his secret. That’s +what he is, that Pedro, yonder!”</p> +<p>Yet, with another whimsical change, he seized +the shepherd’s hand and wrung it till even that +hardened member ached. But the Indian remained +as calm and undisturbed, amid the torrent of blame +or praise, as if he had been sitting alone at his weaving +on the mesa. His soul was satisfied at last. +He had done that which he had pondered doing +for many years, without being able, heretofore, to +bring his thought to action. Surely he had known +that, locked within his own breast, his “secret” was +worthless; yet he had clung to it tenaciously. Now +he had imparted it to others, and behold! all the +world knew it, even so soon. Well, that did not +matter. It was no longer his. His part was ended. +Meanwhile, on his beloved upland, there was a faithful +collie watching for his return, and lambs bleating, +needing his care. Suddenly he rose, placed his +cherished staff in Mrs. Trent’s hands, and bowing +low, said:</p> +<p>“Keep this, as I have kept it, where none but you +may find. At the Navidad I come once more, the +last. Adios.”</p> +<p>His departure was so unexpected that, at first, +they did not try to prevent it, but Jessica was swift +to follow and protest:</p> +<p>“Not to-night, dear Pedro! Please not to-night. +You have been so good to me, you must stay and +be glad with us this one night. In the morning–––”</p> +<p>“In the morning the sheep will need new pasture. +Adios, nina.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_76' name='page_76'></a>76</span></div> +<p>“Then, if go you must, it shall not be on foot. +Wait! I know! Prince, Mr. Hale’s horse, that +he left with you on the mesa. It is here. The +naughty children painted him, but I saw him in the +corral, just now, and you shall ride him home. That +is if you will not stay, even for me.”</p> +<p>“The Navidad. Till then, adios.”</p> +<p>She had never heard him talk so much nor so well +as since these few hours among his friends. He +seemed to be almost another Pedro than the silent +shepherd of the mesa, and as she followed him, +taking his direct way to the paddock, she wondered +at the uprightness of his bearing and the unconscious +dignity which clothed him like a garment. +Then she remembered something else––his blanket, +and sprang to his side again, entreating:</p> +<p>“Just one five minutes more, Pedro. Your blanket. +You must have a new one.”</p> +<p>He hesitated and sighed. Then shook his head +sadly. That which he had torn, to bind the dwarf, +had been a Navajo weave, so fine and faultless that +even he, the wonderful weaver, knew it for a marvel. +There could not be its mate in all that country, +nor had been since the old padres went and took with +them, as he believed, all the wisdom of the world.</p> +<p>Before he had caught and bridled the horse, +Jessica was back, and playfully enveloped in a +wonderful piece of cloth that made the Indian stare. +If it were not the mate to his lost treasure, it was +quite as fine and soft, as generous in size, and far +cleaner.</p> +<p>“See, dear old fellow. This was my father’s. My +mother sends it to you with her love. Put it on, +so I may see how fine you look. Oh, grand! When +the children play ‘Indian’ why can’t they copy you, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_77' name='page_77'></a>77</span> +and not those dirty Diggers, that Ferd teaches them +to be like! Pedro, you are splendid, and––I love +you! I love you!”</p> +<p>All at once, as she gazed upon him, there returned +to her a memory of that dark time in the cavern’s +pit, where he had found her, and which, in the general +rejoicing over her safety she had, for the present, +almost forgotten. By now, save for this old +man, she might have been dead.</p> +<p>He received the onslaught of her embrace exactly +as he had accepted the gift of the blanket––in +silence. There was a momentary lighting of his +somber eyes, but no word, as, putting her quietly +down upon the ground, he mounted the barebacked +Prince and loped swiftly away into the darkness +and solitude.</p> +<p>Brighter by contrast was the room to which the +little captain returned, after Prince and his rider +had vanished into the night, and the circle of lamp-lighted +faces gleamed with excitement. Everybody +seemed trying to outtalk his neighbor, and only one +glowering countenance showed dark by contrast; +the face of Elsa Winkler, with its eyes angrily fixed +upon the basket which Mrs. Trent held on her lap, +quite forgetting what it contained in her listening +to the others’ words.</p> +<p>Suddenly, Samson brought his fist down upon the +table, enforcing a brief silence, while demanding:</p> +<p>“What’s amiss with using the capital on hand? +There sits our ‘admiral,’ with money enough in that +basket to start the whole business. Set Wolfgang +to manage, and the rest of us to dig and delve. +More’n one here has tried mining for a yellower +metal than this”––holding up the bit of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_78' name='page_78'></a>78</span> +copper––“’twould do us proud to give the first pick to Sobrante’s +fortune! Lads, what say?”</p> +<p>“Ay, and right off! That’s what we say!” cried +somebody, but Mrs. Trent lifted her hand, and they +were silent.</p> +<p>She had become as interested now as any of the +others; far more, indeed, since if this amazing tale +of Pedro’s proved true she would be able, at last, +to fulfill her husband’s interrupted life-work, and +make Sobrante a power for good in the world.</p> +<p>“What does Elsa say? Will she lend us this +money?”</p> +<div class='footnote'><a name='Footnote_0002' id='Footnote_0002'></a><a href='#FNanchor_0002'><span class='label'>[B]</span></a> +<p>Christmas box or gift.</p> +</div> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_79' name='page_79'></a>79</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_VIII_THE_FACE_AT_THE_WINDOW' id='CHAPTER_VIII_THE_FACE_AT_THE_WINDOW'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>THE FACE AT THE WINDOW</h3> +</div> +<p>All waited breathlessly for Elsa’s answer. They +knew her greed, or, rather, why she hoarded her +money so closely, and were not so surprised, after +all, when it came.</p> +<p>“No, I cannot.”</p> +<p>“Can’t? I should like to know why you can’t?” +demanded John Benton, indignantly, though Mrs. +Trent protested against his urgency by a nod of her +head.</p> +<p>“It is for the little one. It is mine. I want it +already.”</p> +<p>The ranch mistress at once extended the basket, +but it was now the carpenter’s turn to object.</p> +<p>“Please, ‘admiral,’ not so fast. Let her tell us, +first, how much money she lost.”</p> +<p>Elsa caught her breath. To save her life she +could not have stated in exact figures the sum, because, +though she had known to a dime before the +robbery, at, and after that time, she had recklessly +tossed aside the little that remained. This wasted +portion belonged with the whole amount, and being +as truthful as she was penurious, she hesitated. +Her color came and went, as she looked anxiously +into John’s face, realizing that he had laid a trap +for her and caught her in it.</p> +<p>But the mistress confronted her, saying:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_80' name='page_80'></a>80</span></div> +<p>“Never mind that, Elsa. I do not blame you for +refusing to try experiments with what you have +so hardly earned and so nearly lost. These are +certainly your own little money bags, as I judge +from their knitted covers; but it is just possible +there may have been other money added to that +was taken from you. So, tell me as nearly as you +can, what you had, and we will examine them all +together.”</p> +<p>This was wise, and commended itself even to the +eager Elsa, who stated promptly and proudly:</p> +<p>“Three t’ousand of the dollars it was. All gold. +Big gold and littles ones. In them bags was lost +entirely. In the others––I don’t know. Oh! I don’t +know. It was much, much!”</p> +<p>It was Wolfgang’s turn to interpose, and he did +so, sternly:</p> +<p>“Elsa, wife! Three thousand dollars, and I not +know it! How dare you?”</p> +<p>“Ach! how not dare I? It was the new pick, or +the new pushcart, or the new everything, is it not +so? Well, then, if one would save one need not +tell.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent’s face saddened, and, seeing this, +Jessica impatiently exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh, I hate money! It’s always that which +makes the trouble. It was about money that those +New York folks made such wicked charges against +my father. It was for a little money that you ‘boys’ +were so quick to ruin ‘Forty-niner’s’ character. It +was money, and the greed for it, that changed +Antonio from a good to a bad man.”</p> +<p>“Hold on, captain. There wasn’t ever any ‘change’ +in him. He was born that way.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_81' name='page_81'></a>81</span></div> +<p>“He was born a baby, wasn’t he, John? All +babies are good, I s’pose. It’s loving money has +made Ferd do such dreadful things; and now, over +a little money, Wolfgang and Elsa are quarreling, +though I never heard them speak crossly to each +other before. Oh, I hate it! Give it all back to +her, mother dear, and let us forget all that Pedro +said. I, for my part, hope his old copper mine will +never be dug out.”</p> +<p>Some who heard her laughed, but the mother +grew even graver than at first, and looked searchingly +into her daughter’s face. Again there came +to her mind the consciousness that the little girl +was growing up in a strange fashion; seeming both +too wise and too simple for her years. It could +never be any different at Sobrante, where one and +all conspired to spoil her, though innocently enough, +and from pure affection. How could she, single-handed, +combat these hurtful influences?</p> +<p>The answer came swiftly enough in a second +thought: “Money.”</p> +<p>If there were but a little more of that power for +good as well as evil in her possession she could send +the child to some fine school and have her educated +properly. The separation would be like death in +life to herself, but what true mother ever thought +of self where her child was concerned? Certainly, +not Gabriella Trent. It was with a little sigh that +she put her arm about Lady Jess and drew her to +her side, saying:</p> +<p>“Here, daughter, you and John examine these +bags together, while the rest of us look on and tally +for you. I want Elsa to have her own, at once.”</p> +<p>They moved the books and papers from the table, +and Jessica emptied the contents of the bags into +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_82' name='page_82'></a>82</span> +one gleaming heap near the big lamp, whose light +gave an added radiance to the coins, making more +than one pair of eyes sparkle and stare. None +could remember ever to have seen so large an +amount displayed outside a bank window.</p> +<p>Even John’s hands trembled slightly as he began +to count the double eagles first, pushing each five +of these toward his small co-laborer and reckoning:</p> +<p>“One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred––one +thousand!”</p> +<p>“One thousand!” echoed Jessica, in turn handing +the pile to her mother, while the others watched, +counting each for himself in silence, ready to check +any blunder that might be made.</p> +<p>That is, the men were silent, but Elsa and Aunt +Sally rather disturbed the proceedings; the former, +by eagerly reaching out for the piles as each was +arranged before the mistress, and being as regularly +rebuked by the latter.</p> +<p>“There you go again, woman! How can they +count right if you don’t have patience? Keep your +hands still, do,” said Mrs. Benton.</p> +<p>“Keep your tongue, mother, too. Two thousand!” +rejoined John.</p> +<p>“Two––thousand!” cried Jessica, tallying. But +her voice had now lost its impatience, and she began +to have a very different feeling in regard to this +“money,” which looked so real, and was so much +needed at Sobrante. If Pedro’s “copper” could be +transmuted into shining golden eagles, why, after +all, she guessed she didn’t hate it quite so much.</p> +<p>“Three––thousand––and––ain’t half––touched +yet!” gasped Samson, throwing up his great hands +in a gesture of astonishment.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_83' name='page_83'></a>83</span></div> +<p>Elsa was also gasping then, and the expression +of her face was changing into one from which Mrs. +Trent involuntarily turned her eyes. Cunning and +avarice predominated, and in the woman’s throat +was a curious clicking sound, as if she had lost and +were trying to find her voice. Which, when +found, seemed not to belong to the good-natured +Elsa, so changed it was:</p> +<p>“Ach, me! But I forgot already. I guess––it was +not three t’ousand; it was two times so much. That +was seven t’ousand, is it not? The money of this +America––it so confuse, yes,” and she tapped her +forehead with one fat finger, while her eyes grew +beady, and seemed to shrink in size as they gazed +upon the wealth she coveted.</p> +<p>But Wolfgang would have none of this. He was +as honest as the sun, and, till that moment, had +supposed his wife to be of one mind with him. +Indeed, honest she had been, in thought and deed, +until that terrible temptation was spread before +her.</p> +<p>“Elsa! Elsa Winkler! Is it my wife you was and +would lie––lie––for a bit of that rubbish!”</p> +<p>“‘Rubbish’ is good,” commented “Marty,” under +his breath, but nobody smiled.</p> +<p>The woman cowered. Accustomed as she was to +domineer over the seemingly weak-willed man, +there had been times, within her memory, when +he had thrown off her rule and asserted himself to +a degree that terrified her. She had stumbled upon +one of those times now, and sank back in her place +with a deprecating gesture, advancing the flimsy +protest:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_84' name='page_84'></a>84</span></div> +<p>“Are they not my bags, so? Sewed I them not +with my own hands out of the skin of the little kid +was killed? The covers I knitted with–––”</p> +<p>The miner raised his hand, and she dropped her +eyes before him.</p> +<p>“Give her what belongs, if you will, good lady, +and let us be gone,” he said, pulling his forelock +respectfully to Mrs. Trent.</p> +<p>“Gone! Why no, Wolfgang, not to-night. It’s +a long way, and you should wait till morning. Indeed, +you should,” she replied, at the same time +sending a questioning glance toward John Benton, +and pushing toward Elsa all the empty bags and +three of the thousand dollar piles.</p> +<p>For the carpenter nodded swift acquiescence, on +his part longing to be rid of “them miserly Dutchmen, +barring the man.”</p> +<p>Elsa rapidly recounted, and bestowed the eagles +within their receptacles, and these again, wrapped +in a handkerchief, within her bosom. Then, as +coolly as if she had not made an unpleasant exhibition +of herself, she turned to her hostess and smiled:</p> +<p>“I go now, mistress. I thank you already for one +good time I have. It is to buy the mine, one day, +for my child. I must be going. Yes, I must. The +stew! Ach! how I forgot! The cat––it was a good +stew, no? And the cat has eat the stew!”</p> +<p>“Then you’d better stew the cat!” suggested +Marty, with a facetiousness to which she paid no +heed.</p> +<p>Holding out her hand for Otto to take it, she +commanded:</p> +<p>“Little heart, but come. It is in bed you should +be, yes. Good-by, all,” adding in German, “May +you sleep well!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_85' name='page_85'></a>85</span></div> +<p>Wolfgang followed the retreating pair, but turned +on the threshold to make his obeisance to the ranch +mistress, and to say, “At your service, good lady. +My pick and my head.” Then, bowing again toward +all the company, he disappeared.</p> +<p>Everybody felt the relief of their departure, and +Aunt Sally humorously threw a kiss after them, remarking, +with a sniff:</p> +<p>“Blessed be nothing, if somethin’ is going to make +a hog out of a decent woman. That there Elsy’d +been content with half she got if she hadn’t seen +the rest that heap. I’m a good deal like Jessie, here. +I think money’s the root of all evil.”</p> +<p>“That ain’t an original observation, mother, +though you do speak as if it was. Money’s the +root of a pretty consid’able comfort, too; and I’d +like to know, for one, where in creation all this +that’s left came from,” returned John.</p> +<p>“There’s no doubt in my mind, that it came out +of the Trent pocketbook, every dollar of it!” said +Samson. “But how it came into Ferd’s fist is more’n +I can guess. Seems if even a half-wit would steal +from his own brother, and it must have passed +through Antonio’s hands first.”</p> +<p>“Antonio’s brother!” cried Marty, incredulously.</p> +<p>“That’s the true word. Pedro knew it, and the +master knew it. The ‘admiral’ heard it, first, to-day; +along with that other secret about the copper. Ain’t +any harm in mentioning it, is there?” said Samson.</p> +<p>The lady laughed, and answered:</p> +<p>“Even if there were the harm is done, herder. +But that’s right. I wish no secrets at Sobrante. +I like to feel that we are all one family in interests +and affection, as my husband wished. And now +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_86' name='page_86'></a>86</span> +remains this gold. What is to be done with it? +Where shall we bestow it that it may be both safe +and ready when needed?”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally immediately went and closed the door +and locked it; then fastened the windows and pulled +the shades over them. At which a shout arose that +the old lady heeded not a whit. She clasped her +hands over her breast and her round face turned +pale, as she whispered shrilly enough for all to hear:</p> +<p>“We’re undone! We’re all undone! We’re a +passel of fools––and––and––– Oh, suz!”</p> +<p>Down she dropped into a chair, and there was no +more laughter. She was not a timid woman, and +her fright was evident. Her son stepped to her +side and laid his hand on her shaking shoulder, demanding:</p> +<p>“What ails you, mother? What did you see? +Why did you lock the doors?”</p> +<p>“I––I–––”</p> +<p>“Quit chattering your teeth together. What did +you see?”</p> +<p>“Oh, son! I seen a––a––ghost!”</p> +<p>“Trash!”</p> +<p>Her courage began to return, and her anger to +rise. She retorted promptly:</p> +<p>“No trash! A ghost. A spirit! As sure as I’m +a-settin’ here this minute; the spirit of––of–––”</p> +<p>It aggravated John that she should pause and +peep behind her, to be sure the windows were still +covered.</p> +<p>“The spirit of what tomfoolery has possessed +you, mother, I’d like to know? What’s the use of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_87' name='page_87'></a>87</span> +scarin’ folks half to death? As if we hadn’t had +enough things happen without your cuttin’ up, too!”</p> +<p>“Hold your tongue, John Benton, you sassy boy. +As sure as I’m alive, I saw the ghost of Antonio +Bernal peeking in at that open window afore I +shut it. He was so white I couldn’t tell him from +paper, and so thin I ’peared to see clean through +him.”</p> +<p>“Pshaw, mother! You’re overtired, and for once +in your life really nervous. I reckon it’s the sight +of more money than ever come your way before. +Well, forget it. ’Tisn’t yours nor mine. We’ve no +cause to worry. I’ll step and get you a drink of +water and then you’ll feel all right, and would better +go to bed.”</p> +<p>“I don’t want water, and I shan’t go to bed. I +shan’t close my eyes this night, John Benton, and +you needn’t touch to tell me so.”</p> +<p>“All right. Stay awake if you like. It’s nothing +to me,” answered the exasperated man, who, in +spite of his strong common sense, had been more +startled than he cared to admit, even to himself. +But, glancing at Mrs. Trent and Jessica, he now +felt that it would be wiser to express his own fear, +which was of nothing supernatural.</p> +<p>“Mother’s upset, ‘admiral,’ and don’t you let her +upset you, too. The fact is, we’re a very careless +set at Sobrante, where everything is––or used to +be––all open and above board. It’s a new thing for +keys to be turned on this ranch, and it’s a new +thing for us to go suspecting one another of sneak +notions. I, for one, am ashamed enough of the +way I’ve felt about old Ephraim Marsh, and if he +don’t show up pretty soon, I’ll make a special trip +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_88' name='page_88'></a>88</span> +to Los Angeles to tell him so. Even if I have to +foot it the heft of the way.</p> +<p>“Howsomever, all the world ain’t as honest as +them that had the honor of knowin’ Cassius Trent. +There’s been a power of strangers on these premises +durin’ these last days; and it stands to reason that +among ’em one villain might have crept in. I ain’t +sayin’ there was. I’ll never accuse nobody again––’cept––’cept–––”</p> +<p>Here the honest fellow interrupted himself with +a laugh; remembering his ingrained suspicion of the +two Bernals, which he would never even try to +overcome. But he went on again:</p> +<p>“Mother thinks she’s seen somethin’, and like +enough she has. There might be some scamp +hangin’ around; and if there was, and he looked +through that window and saw all this gold, I don’t +wonder his face was ghosty-lookin’, nor––Somebody +stop me talking and answer this: Where’s +the safest place to stow that pile?”</p> +<p>For a moment nobody replied. Mrs. Trent was +wishing, most heartily, that the money had never +come into her possession, since she did not know to +whom she should restore it; and beginning to feel, +with Jessica, that “money” did carry discord and +danger with it.</p> +<p>But the little captain was now all eagerness, and +exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh! how I wish I’d seen it! Aunt Sally, I never +saw a ghost in all my life, never! I thought they +were just make-believes, but if you saw one, of +course they’re true. Do you s’pose we could see +it again if we went out to look? Will you go with +me?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_89' name='page_89'></a>89</span></div> +<p>“I? I! Well, I guess not. Not a step will I +step–––”</p> +<p>“But several steps I’ll step, Mrs. Benton. I advise +the money going into the office safe, that old +Ephraim uses when he’s at home. One of us better +camp out on the lounge in the room there till we +get rid of whoever’s cash that is. I’ll bunk there +myself, if you like, Mrs. Trent, after I step outside +and see if all’s serene with my prisoner,” said Samson, +cheerfully.</p> +<p>“May I go with you, Samson? May I, mother?” +asked Jessica.</p> +<p>The mother’s consent was somewhat reluctant, for +now she could not bear to have her darling out of +sight. Yet if anybody on earth was to be trusted +with so precious a charge it was the herder. Besides, +she was annoyed at this talk of “ghosts,” and +knew that the shortest way to convince Jessica how +nonsensical it was, would be by allowing her to +go out and seek for them herself.</p> +<p>But Samson answered cordially:</p> +<p>“You do me proud, little one. Suppose you take +your rifle, and then, if we see any specter you can +pin it to the mission wall, and we’ll have a show, +charging ten pins’ admission.”</p> +<p>They went out, laughing and gay; the child clinging +to the giant’s hand, and hoping that she might +really see the phantom of Aunt Sally’s story, for +she had no fear concerning it. They came back, +five minutes later, looking grave and seriously +alarmed.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_90' name='page_90'></a>90</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_IX_THE_PRISONER_DISAPPEARS' id='CHAPTER_IX_THE_PRISONER_DISAPPEARS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>THE PRISONER DISAPPEARS</h3> +</div> +<p>“What’s happened?” asked Mrs. Trent, foreboding +fresh trouble, since, of late, trouble had become +so familiar a visitor.</p> +<p>“Well, ma’am, the bird has flown.”</p> +<p>“Please explain, Samson,” she anxiously urged.</p> +<p>“That bird of dark plumage––Ferd, the dwarf. +He’s escaped, vamoosed, took wings and flew.”</p> +<p>“Oh, Samson! I’m so sorry. I hoped you would +look after him until I could find some suitable +institution in which to place him. It’s time he +should be helped, for if he’s so sharp to do evil, he +must have equal capacity for better things.”</p> +<p>“Yes, ma’am. So I allow; and I had them same +hopes myself, not ten minutes ago. I hadn’t said +a word to anybody, but after you gave him to me, +I remembered what the little captain had commanded, +for it sort of struck home, that did. I +ain’t overly saintlike, myself, but what of goodness +I’d catched from you all I meant to pass on to the +coyote––I mean, Ferdinand Bernal. I reckon it +was his face, ’stead of a ghost’s, that Aunt Sally +saw by the window.”</p> +<p>“I thought you locked him in some room?”</p> +<p>“Lock and double-locked. Bolted, besides. Worst +is, all bolts and locks are just as I left ’em. Had +the key in my pocket and went in, saluting, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_91' name='page_91'></a>91</span> +there wasn’t anybody to salute. Well, ma’am, if +he’s out, and ’twas him saw that money, there’d +better two of us sleep beside it, rather than one. +He’s the uncanniest creature ever I met, and I hope +never to meet his mate.”</p> +<p>“Very well. I do not see what harm he can do, +after all, except to himself, now. Jessica, dear, +please bring the key, and John can put this money +in the safe. If it weren’t for Elsa’s satisfaction, I +should regret that Pedro ever found it. Then we +must all to sleep. It’s been a most eventful day, +and we are tired.”</p> +<p>Before long the whole household was asleep; but +the last to seek her rest was Mrs. Benton; nor did +she do that until she had locked whatever locks +would fasten, peeped under every bed, and invaded +the sacredness of Wun Lung’s “heatheny den.” Then +she placed her Bible on one side her bed, a broom +and horsewhip on the other, and lay down to watch, +explaining:</p> +<p>“’Cause I’m goin’ to watch, even if I am resting +my body horizontal. I’m so tired I can’t set up +straight, nohow, and I shan’t wink a wink till daylight +comes and the rest are moving.”</p> +<p>Having called out this valiant resolution to Mrs. +Trent, in the adjoining room, she instantly closed +her heavy lids, and opened them no more till a +series of thumps upon her shoulders aroused her. +Then she realized that Ned and Luis were reminding +her of yesterday’s promise that, if they’d eat no +more plum cake overnight they should have some +for their breakfasts.</p> +<p>“Land of love! What you doing? Is it daylight? +Why, ’twas dark as Egypt when I lay down, and +I–––Can it be that I––I––have overslept?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_92' name='page_92'></a>92</span></div> +<p>“Plum cake, Aunt Sally,” reminded Ned.</p> +<p>“Plumsally!” cried Luis, with a forcible whack. +Which was instantly returned, and with such added +interest that he ran howling away, leaving the disturbed +matron to scold herself at leisure for her +lapse from duty, while she hurriedly dressed.</p> +<p>Naturally, she had to submit to some teasing on +account of her valiant resolution of the previous +night that she “wouldn’t wink a wink,” but Mrs. +Trent was delighted that the faithful woman had, +at last, enjoyed a needed rest. Besides, everything +was bright at the ranch on that happy morning. +Even Wun Lung had caught the infection of Christmas +preparations, and was intent upon providing +some dainties of his own, against the approaching +festival, which should so far outshine the homelier +pies and puddings of Mrs. Benton, as his own +revered country outshone, in his opinion, even this +pleasant one in which, at present, his lot was cast. +He had also felt good-natured enough to put aside +a plentiful breakfast for his mate––or foe––of the +kitchen; and since it was such a time of happiness, +Aunt Sally condescended not only to eat it, but to +pronounce it “good.”</p> +<p>Hearing this unexpected praise, the Chinaman +wound and unwound his precious queue, after a +fashion he had of expressing satisfaction; and smilingly +advised Mrs. Benton to “step black polch,” +where she would find things to do.</p> +<p>So to the back porch the good lady retreated, +carrying with her great dishes of fruit to prepare, +and not forgetting two enormous slices of the rich +plum cake she had promised the little boys, and +which would have made less active, hardily reared +children ill.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_93' name='page_93'></a>93</span></div> +<p>Mrs. Trent had moved her sewing machine to the +porch, and Jessica sat near, with a little table before +her, trying to write the Christmas invitations that +had been so delayed, and to express them after a +style which should not too painfully expose her own +ignorance. The result was not so bad, considering +the slight training the child had had, and her few +years, yet it did not satisfy the mother, who felt +that education was the one good thing, and who +longed to have her child’s bright intellect developed +as it should be.</p> +<p>Poor Jessica had written and rewritten the note +intended for Mr. Hale a number of times, and still +had it returned to her with many corrections, after +Mrs. Trent’s reading of it, and now laid it aside with +a sigh of discouragement.</p> +<p>“Can’t that wait a while, mother? If I may write +to my darling Ninian Sharp, I’ll get myself rested. +He doesn’t mind trifles like wrong capitals in the +right places––oh! dear, I mean––I don’t know what +I mean. But may I?”</p> +<p>“Certainly, dear. Though, first, come here and let +me try the length of this sleeve.”</p> +<p>Lady Jess obeyed readily, for new clothes were +rare events in her simple life. This natty little +“Christmas frock” was white, with scarlet trimmings, +and quite sufficiently in contrast with the +plain blue flannel ones of everyday use to captivate +her fancy and make her patient under the tedious +process of “fitting.” Yet she was glad to return +to her table and her letter to Ninian Sharp, which +she found no difficulty in composing, since she was +free to do as she chose.</p> +<p>And this was the epistle which, after some delay, +reached the newspaper man, at a time when he happened +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_94' name='page_94'></a>94</span> +to need cheering up, and brought new life +and interest into his overworked brain:</p> +<p>“MY VERY DEAR MISTER SHARP: My +mother and the children and aunt sally, and Me +and all the rest the Boys, are well and send Their +LUV. We are Now Inviteing you To come and +Spend the holidays at dear Sobrante. everybody +is Coming, most, and i Got lost and was found in a +Hole. The Hole is in the ground. there was +Money in It, that the Boys said my fortynineer +stole and He Didn’t. It was elsa winklers and +wolfgang was mad at her, and there was a Ghost, +but it got away, else samson and Me would have +shot it against the mission cordiror wall and had a +nexibition. and ferd that was lock up got away +two; and say, please my dear mister sharp, Will +you see if this stone that’s in the package is any +good? Pedro, thats a hundred years, says it’s copper +and copper is worth money. We need some +money bad, and i hope it is, and I don’t no anybody +as clever as you. so Please write write away and +tell us if you will come and tell ephraim Marsh, that +the Boys will be at marion railway station with a +buckborde and horses enough. i am Making something +to put in everybodys stocking. i Began to +make the things after last Christmas, that ever was, +and i Have more than twenty-five presunts to Make +and i Have got three done, one of Them is Yours. +your Loving friend,</p> +<p class='ralign'>“JESSICA TRENT.”</p> +<p>When the letters were completed, the little captain +felt that she needed recreation, and her mother +agreed with her; but, unlike her former habit, could +not consent to the child’s going anywhere alone. +The recent terrible experience had banished from +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_95' name='page_95'></a>95</span> +Mrs. Trent’s heart that comfortable sense of security +which had prevented life on the isolated ranch +from being a lonely one. She now felt, as Aunt +Sally phrased it:</p> +<p>“Afraid of your own shadder, ain’t you, Gabriell’, +and well you may be. In the midst of life we are +in the hands of them Bernals, and no knowin’. That +son John of mine may try to hoodwink me that +’twasn’t no ghost I saw last night, but ghost it was +if ever one walked this earth. It wasn’t, so to +speak, a spooky ghost, neither; it was an avaricious +one, and it wasn’t after no folks, but ’twas after +that money, sharp. Ain’t disappeared, for good, +neither. Liable to spring up and out anywhere +happens; and you do well, Gabriell’, not to trust our +girl off alone again. Not right to once. Where’s +she hankerin’ to travel now? She’d ought to be +learnt to sew patchwork, instead of riding all over +the country, hitherty-yender, a bareback on a +broncho or a burro. If she was my girl–––”</p> +<p>“If she was your girl, dear Aunt Sally, you +couldn’t have been more anxious than you were +while she was lost. And the life is good for her. +It’s right for all women to understand sewing and +household arts, but the captain isn’t a woman yet, +and I have faith she’ll acquire all fitting knowledge +in due time. She’s anxious to ride to Pedro’s. She +says there was something different in his manner, +last night, from ordinary, and, indeed, I fancied so +myself. She’s gone to find which one of the boys +can best leave his work to ride with her.”</p> +<p>“It’ll be John Benton, Gabriella Trent. You see +if it ain’t. That man just sees the world through +Jessica’s eyes, and he’s never got over being jealous +’at he wasn’t the one took her to Los Angeles +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_96' name='page_96'></a>96</span> +that time. If he had all the work in creation piled +up before him, and she happened to say ‘Come,’ +some other whither, whither, ’twould be, and not +a minute’s hesitation. Anyhow, it’s Marty’s day +for mailridin’, and there he lopes this instant.”</p> +<p>The ranchmen took turns in riding to the post, +each esteeming it a privilege, and finding nothing +but pleasure in the sixty miles’ gallop to Marion and +back. At that moment, indeed, Marty was swinging +out of sight on his own fine mount, the mailbag +before him on his heavy Mexican saddle, the wind +created by the swift motion of the beast raising +the brim of his broad hat and thrilling him with that +sense of abounding life and freedom which comes +so forcibly to men in the wide spaces of the earth.</p> +<p>He was the youngest of the “boys,” even though +past his first youth, and the “life” of the ranchmen’s +quarters, where all liked and some loved him.</p> +<p>The women on the porch watched him till he became +a mere speck in the distance, and Aunt Sally +sighed:</p> +<p>“That George Cromarty is as likely a youth as +ever I knew. He’s that good to his old mother, +back in the East, I tell my own son John, he ought +to profit by such an example. I should hate to have +anything happen to him. Yes, indeedy, I should hate +to have a single bad thing happen to poor George +Cromarty.”</p> +<p>A little nervous shiver ran through Mrs. Trent’s +slender frame, yet she turned upon her companion, +as she threaded her needle, with a laugh, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Oh! you dear old croaker! Why can’t you let +well enough alone, without mentioning more evil? +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_97' name='page_97'></a>97</span> +You know the old saying that to speak of trouble +is to invite its visitation. Surely, there was nothing +about to-day’s postman to suggest disaster. +George is a typical ranchman, and my husband used +to point him out to visitors as what a man might +be, who grew up, or old, where ‘there was room +enough.’ Big-hearted, full of fun, tender as a +woman, but intolerant of meanness and evil doing. +It would be a dark day for Sobrante if ill befell our +‘Marty.’”</p> +<p>“Well, I don’t know. Something’s going to go +wrong somewhere. I feel it in my bones, seems +if. There, I told you so! Yonder comes that lazy +boy of mine and Jessie. There’s more things needing +him here on this place than you could shake a +stick at, yet off he’ll go traipsing just at a nod +from his captain.”</p> +<p>“Don’t begrudge them their happiness, Aunt Sally. +Certainly, after grief, it is their due. Well, John, +will you act escort for the little lady of Sobrante?” +asked its mistress.</p> +<p>“Will I not? And do me proud. She ain’t to be +trusted with any of the flighty ones, Samson now, +or–––”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent’s laughter––that morning as heart-whole +and free as a girl’s––interrupted the ranchman’s +disparaging comments on his fellows, sedate +grayheads as most of them were; for well she understood +the universal devotion of all to their darling +captain.</p> +<p>“Oh, John, I can scarcely associate the idea of +frivolity or carelessness with our big Samson; but +wait a moment, please, before you start. There’s +such a store of good things left, though in fragments, +that I’d like to pack a basket for Pedro. I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_98' name='page_98'></a>98</span> +wish he did not insist upon living so alone. He +is so old and I feel, as the native Californians used, +that the older a person grew the more precious. I +wish you’d try to persuade him to let somebody +else take his place with the sheep, and to arrange +his small affairs so that when he comes down for +his Navidad he will remain. There’s enough to keep +him busy and happy here.”</p> +<p>“I’ll try, mistress. But he’ll not be persuaded. +Old Pedro wouldn’t think he could breathe down +here in the valley, for long at a time. Well, good-by. +Ready, captain?”</p> +<p>“Ready, John, as soon as mother gets the basket. +Quiet, Buster. I believe you’re more eager for a +canter than I am, even.”</p> +<p>Then when the basket had been handed up to +John, the pair merrily saluted the women on the +porch and rode away; but Mrs. Benton called shrilly +after them:</p> +<p>“Turn back and start over again! Turn back, I +say! Both your horses set off left feet first. That +means bad luck as sure as you are born!”</p> +<p>But nobody paid any heed to Aunt Sally’s forecasts +of evil, save to laugh at them. Only Mrs. +Trent again felt that nervous shiver seize her, and +but for shame’s sake would have begged her daughter +to defer her ride until another day.</p> +<p>However, shame prevailed; or common sense, +which is far better; and well it was––or ill––that the +riders kept serenely on their way, indifferent to +“signs” and ignorant of what lay before them.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_99' name='page_99'></a>99</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_X_ON_THE_ROAD_HOME' id='CHAPTER_X_ON_THE_ROAD_HOME'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>ON THE ROAD HOME</h3> +</div> +<p>The train from Los Angeles rolled slowly up to +the little station at Marion and the asthmatic engine +seemed to wheeze its relief that its labor was +ended, as an old man stepped from the last car +and looked eagerly along the platform. Then a +certain degree of disappointment overspread his +fine face, and shouldering a heavy parcel, strapped +round with leather to give a holding place, he strode +rather unsteadily forward over the same sandy +road, or street, which had tried Ninian Sharp’s +patience on his first visit to the post town.</p> +<p>Yet, after a little, the man grew accustomed to +his own stiffness of limb and moved with a sort of +halting swiftness which soon brought him to the +little hostelry of one Aleck McLeod, where a group +of ranchmen were sunning themselves while they +waited the distribution of the mail.</p> +<p>It was noticeable that the porch was spotlessly +clean and that none of the idlers profaned its cleanliness +by so much as one expectoration of tobacco +juice, though all were either smoking or chewing +that weed. They had far too great respect for +Janet, Aleck’s wife, and for the labor that cleanliness +meant in that waterless region. They were all +deep in the discussion of the late events at Sobrante +and none heard the old traveler’s approach over the +soft ground, till he stood close beside them with +his foot on the lower step.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_100' name='page_100'></a>100</span></div> +<p>But he heard them and their eager talk; and, +pausing a bit, the more completely to surprise them +by an intended halloo, he forgot that and all else +save what they were saying.</p> +<p>“It was ten to one she was never found. ’Pears +like a miracle to me, that old Pedro was led to find +that very cave just when he did. My wife claims +it was a miracle, same as used to be in Bible days, +and you can’t talk her out of it. You know how +women are,” said one ranchman, who had aided in +the search for Jessica.</p> +<p>“Well, first and last, them Trents have done a +heap for this section of our ‘native.’ And they’re +square folks, every identical of them. Even the +little tacker, that boy Ned. There’s more in his +head than he gets credit for, and one these days he’ll +show there is. He’s a master hand with a gun, +baby as he is, and if he’d had one handy I wager +he’d have put some shot into the ugly carcass of +that Ferd––– But he hadn’t the iron and he didn’t,” +added another smoker.</p> +<p>“It was a prime spread Mis’ Trent gave us. Must +have took about all the provisions she had in store, +but nothing was too good for them that helped her +in her trouble. Or tried to help, same thing; since +it was her own man, Pedro, found the child. Away +down in the bottom of a pit in the depth of an unknown +cave! Think of it, somebody! It just makes +my hair rise on end, known’ there is such a fool and +scoundrel joined in one dwarf’s body––Hello! hel––lo!”</p> +<p>The last speaker’s words ended in a sort of +screech of astonishment and recognition, as a hard +hand was laid upon his shoulder, and Ephraim Marsh +demanded, fiercely:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_101' name='page_101'></a>101</span></div> +<p>“What’s that you say, neighbor?”</p> +<p>“Why, hello, Marsh! Where’d you drop from?” +cried one, rising and extending a hand in greeting.</p> +<p>“You’re a sight to cure sick folks!” shouted another, +pressing to “Forty-niner’s” side, and slapping +the veteran’s shoulder in high good will.</p> +<p>But Ephraim had no feeling at present, save anxiety +to know what their discussion had meant; and, +all talking, they laid a succinct history of the last +few days before him. He listened in increasing +alarm and amazement and his old limbs tottered +beneath him, so that he called out, hastily:</p> +<p>“Give me a seat, somebody, quick, before I fall. +I––I––to think of my little gell––my own sweet-faced, +lovin’ little gell–––Oh, I can’t believe it! +I can’t and I won’t. It’s some plaguey Californy +yarn’ you’re passin’ the time with. Atlantic! But +you might have chose a likelier subject to fool over, +you might.”</p> +<p>But Aleck himself had seen the arrival through +the window and came out to greet him with the +heartiness accorded all the Sobrante people, and to +assure him that the story was all true; and that, +after all, it were better that he had not been at +home when the trouble came; “for it would have +broke your heart, ‘Forty-niner,’ into more pieces +than old Stiffleg broke your bones, and it wouldn’t +have healed so soon, neither. But, come in, come in, +boy, and have a mouthful of dinner. Janet has as +fine a dish of haggis as ever I tasted in Aberdeen +at home, and it should relish to you, after all that +hospital fare and so on. Janet! Janet! Here’s +Ephraim Marsh! Come welcome him!”</p> +<p>And Janet came quickly, like her husband cordial +and sympathetic, and led the deeply moved frontiersman +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_102' name='page_102'></a>102</span> +into her own kitchen, where no uninvited +ranchman dared intrude, and there served him well +with good things, including the haggis. And as +she served she talked in a wise, womanly way that +soothed his agitation and turned his thoughts from +enmity against the dwarf into thanksgiving that +now all was well.</p> +<p>“For since it is over and done with we can reckon +the gain. The sweet bit bairnie has won for herself +fresh friends. In all the countryside there was +but one feeling, ‘The child must be found.’ No other +thing was of any moment, and found she was, by +a man so much older than any of the rest that nobody, +not even you, can grudge him the honor. +More hot milk? Oat cake? Nothing? Well, well; +for a man that’s traveling you’ve a small appetite. +Must be off already and pack your own bundle? +Why, friend, you would better leave that till one the +boys rides up for the mail. Due before this, indeed, +for Sobrante ranchers are ever keen for their post +stuff. No? A horse, then? Aleck was going to do +a bit of plowing with her, later on, but he’ll eagerly +give over that for you.”</p> +<p>But Ephraim felt that he could delay for nothing +more, not even for the arrival of a Sobrante messenger; +and as for Jean, the sorrel mare––he and +she were old acquaintances, and he declined her +services with a grim smile, saying:</p> +<p>“Thank you, Janet, it’s kindly offered, but I’m +in haste and I’d rather trust my own lame leg than +her four lagging ones. Besides, if Aleck has been +afield in this search he’ll be behindhand in his work, +and he’s a hand to keep things up to the level line. +Good-by, good-by. Oh! wait a bit, though. I’d +clean forgot that I put a scrap of white Scotch linen +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_103' name='page_103'></a>103</span> +and a yard or two of plaid bodice stuff in my pack +for you. This business of my captain getting lost +has shaken my wits.”</p> +<p>Though Janet protested against the trouble her +face glowed at prospect of her gifts, and as she +assisted him to unstrap and refasten his canvas sack, +and even begged to be shown the simple remembrances +he had procured for everybody he knew +“at home;” not least among them being calicoes +of brilliantly unwashable colors for Aunt Sally’s +patchwork. Then he set off alone, staff in hand, +stolidly yet swiftly covering the ground with that +halting stride of his that soon took him out of +sight.</p> +<p>The assembled ranchmen received their own mail +matter, mounted and rode away; and there settled +over the little town that monotonous quiet which +would not be broken again until the arrival of the +evening train, when, possibly, some chance passenger +might alight on the deserted platform.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Ephraim was passing over the level +road toward “home,” feeling keener delight and +longing with each step’s advance, and when he came +to a little branch trail, where a rude signpost stated +the fact that he had come “Five miles from Marion,” +he made his first halt, sitting to rest for a few +moments under the eucalyptus trees bordering the +arroyo. The branch road led to and disappeared +among a group of buildings, some distance to the +north, on the ranch of one Miguel Solano, a friend +of Antonio Bernal, and a Mexican of ill-repute. The +ranch was comparatively new and was rich in olive +orchards and all the conveniences for producing a +fine quality of oil, and had been bought and arranged +by an easterner with all the accessories of profitable +farming. Death had put an end to the settler’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_104' name='page_104'></a>104</span> +industry, and the property had come, at a low figure, +into Solano’s hands; whereupon everything industrious +lapsed, neglect and discomfort usurping the +place of thrifty comfort.</p> +<p>Gazing toward this place, Ephraim reflected that; +“If that Greaser had half as much snap as he has +wickedness he’d be a rich man. As ’tis, honest +folks sort of give Solano’s a wide berth. I’m thirsty +as a dog and wouldn’t mind havin’ a drink out that +artesian well they have there, but––Atlantic! +There’s somebody already stoopin’ over it; looks +mighty familiar!”</p> +<p>Then the old man stood up and shielded his eyes +with his hand as he peered into the distance, ending +his scrutiny with a shake of his fist in the +direction he had gazed, and muttering aloud:</p> +<p>“No, I’m better off here. Queer how you can +recognize a snake, no matter how far off! That’s +Ferd, the dwarf; and if I was near enough to touch +him I couldn’t keep my fingers off his dirty throat, +nohow, till I’d choked the life out of him! Ugh! +When I think––– But I mustn’t think. I must +just get up and jog on till I see a prettier sight +than that. If I can spy the hunchback at one mile +off I can see my little captain’s bonny head at ten. +Home, old ‘Forty-niner’! Home’s the word!”</p> +<p>As if the thought of Jessica had put new strength +into his body Ephraim again shouldered his pack and +started forward; but he had proceeded a short +distance only when he again halted and this time +in consternation. On the road before him, where +it dipped slightly into a hollow, lay the prostrate +figure of a man, face downward in the dust; and +from the shrubbery near by came the helpless +floundering of some big animal and its occasional +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_105' name='page_105'></a>105</span> +cry of distress, than which there is no sound more +pitiful in all the world.</p> +<p>Away flew the pack, and Ephraim bent over the +man, gently turning him over, and crying in fresh +dismay:</p> +<p>“It’s Marty! George Cromarty, of all men, dead +as a doornail!”</p> +<p>Alas! Ephraim’s home-coming was proving anything +but the delight he had anticipated. To be +met first by the story of the trouble which had +visited Sobrante and now by this dreadful discovery +almost unnerved him; but he was a man of action +and his hand flew to Marty’s breast to feel if his +heart still beat. With the other hand he softly +brushed the dust from the rigid features and rubbed +the colorless temples. After a second or two +his face brightened, and he cried aloud, as if the +other might hear and be cheered:</p> +<p>“Well, you aren’t a dead man, after all, Marty, my +lad! But I’d give a heap, this minute, for a bit of +cold water to give you. And, Atlantic! I believe +I’m losing my wits. ’Course, he’s got it himself, +handy. All the boys carry a flask in their pockets, +even on the short ride to post, but Marty, being +teetotal, fills his with water and gets laughed at for +his notions. A mighty good notion it’ll prove for +him if it saves his life, and here goes!”</p> +<p>Raising Marty’s lean body so that his head rested +on the fallen bundle, Ephraim secured the flask, +found it full, and began to moisten the white lips; +then, cautiously, to force a few drops down the +stiffening throat. Success soon crowned his efforts +since, fortunately, the ranchman was merely +stunned, not killed, by the ugly fall he had taken +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_106' name='page_106'></a>106</span> +when his horse so suddenly pitched forward and +tossed him overhead against the pile of rocks.</p> +<p>For it was a horse in agony which sent that moving +appeal from the thicket near by, and as soon +as “Forty-niner” was sure that the man was recovering, +though he could not as yet speak, he +sought the poor beast and saw, to his distress, that +for it there was no respite save in death.</p> +<p>“Well, well, well! This is a bad job all round, +but better a horse than a man, and lucky for both +I came when I did. If I had a gun I’d end the +misery of one, straight off. And maybe Marty has. +I’ll look and see.”</p> +<p>Returning to the road he was greeted by a prolonged +stare from the dazed ranchman, who had, +indeed, been able to drag his body to a sitting posture, +but vainly sought to understand what had +happened.</p> +<p>Ephraim spoke to him, asking in a matter-of-fact +tone:</p> +<p>“Got a revolver with you, lad?”</p> +<p>“Eh? W-h-a-t?” returned Marty, wonder drawing +upon him at finding who his companion was. +“You––Eph?”</p> +<p>“Course. Who else! Been quite a spell since +we two met, but better late than never. Got a +pistol, I say?”</p> +<p>“What for?”</p> +<p>The sharpshooter hesitated, then gave an evasive +answer:</p> +<p>“Powerful long since I done any practicin’, and +feel like I better try my hand.”</p> +<p>At that instant there was another heavy floundering +behind the bushes and another brutish moan of +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_107' name='page_107'></a>107</span> +pain. With this full consciousness came to the injured +ranchman and he tried to rise, crying in his +own distress:</p> +<p>“That’s Comanche!”</p> +<p>“Forty-niner” gravely nodded.</p> +<p>“He’s hurt?” demanded Marty, as if he defied the +answer to be affirmative.</p> +<p>Ephraim turned away his face. To them, horses +were almost as human beings, and the love of a +master for his beast was something fraternal.</p> +<p>“Help me to him,” said the ranchman, staggering +to his feet.</p> +<p>“Better not, lad. Best trust to me,” protested the +elder man.</p> +<p>“Trust––what?”</p> +<p>The look in Ephraim’s eyes was all the answer +needed to this fierce question, and Marty turned +away his own gaze as he faltered the next one:</p> +<p>“Yes, mate, but take it like a man. Better him +than you, and––give me the gun.”</p> +<p>Marty straightened and stiffened himself.</p> +<p>“Help me to him. Something’s wrong with my +legs. I’ll see for myself. If it must be, I’ll do it +for myself.”</p> +<p>The frontiersman understood the sentiment and +respected it. He had had to do a like hard duty +for his own horseflesh before that, and he had always +felt it a sort of murder. He did not look at +Marty’s face as he carefully guided his wavering +steps into the thicket and the presence of the suffering +Comanche, where one look sufficed his master.</p> +<p>“Oh, you poor fellow!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_108' name='page_108'></a>108</span></div> +<p>For an instant the tall head stooped to the level +of the struggling animal, and a strange, expressive +look passed between the great equine eyes and the +misty ones of the man. Then Marty’s hand went +swiftly around to his pocket, there was the click +of a weapon, a flash and report, and Comanche +moved no more.</p> +<p>More shaken and ill from this deed than from his +terrible fall, Marty sat long in silence by Ephraim’s +side beneath the eucalyptus trees; then suddenly +rousing, exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Now, to find out the cause!”</p> +<p>It was not far to seek, though difficult to understand. +Of all men in that countryside, gay, big-hearted +George Cromarty had most friends and +fewest enemies. He took life lightly, merrily, with +a good word for the virtues of others and silence +for their vices; yet there before them, unmistakably +plain, was the trap that had been set for his life. +A pit had been dug across the whole width of the +road, shallow, indeed, but sufficiently deep to throw +any horse passing over it. Its top had been screened +with interlacing twigs, over which had been scattered +soil and dust enough to hide them. One who +rode with his eyes on the ground, as Antonio used, +might easily, perhaps, have discovered the fiendish +work; but he who rode with head upraised and his +gaze on the distance would ride to his ruin as Marty +had done. To make the treachery more secure, +some sprays of wild grapes had been tightly +stretched beneath the whole, and this showed a deliberation +of evil that turned Ephraim sick, but the +other man furious.</p> +<p>“Who did that will pay the price! I swear it!” +he cried.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_109' name='page_109'></a>109</span></div> +<p>“It surely was meant for a Sobrante man, for +they’re few besides who ride this way,” answered +“Forty-niner,” thoughtfully. “And, Atlantic! Here’s +the mail pouch! Maybe ’twas robbery, pure and +simple. Was it a money day, for supplies or such?”</p> +<p>“Reckon it was. The mistress herself locked and +gave the bag to me, bidding me be careful. As if +I was ever careless; but there was one letter in +it I heard about, that the little captain wrote to +Ninian Sharp. Wrote herself, an invite to the +Christmas doings. Try it.”</p> +<p>Examination proved that the bag had been tampered +with, though the lock was a spring and now +securely fastened; but a small leather flap, intended +to cover the keyhole, had been torn from its fastenings +and lay on the ground. The pouch itself had +been flung slightly out of the way, under the bushes, +as if the trespasser had satisfied himself with and +concerning it and had no further use for it.</p> +<p>“Well, there used to be three keys to this concern. +One the mistress has; one the postmaster +keeps at the office; and the other was Antonio’s, +since he always was wanting to open and put something +extra in the bag after Mrs. Trent had done +with it. I never liked the look of that, and it’s my +opinion that it’s the very key has unlocked this +bag, if unlocked it’s been. Which is more’n likely.”</p> +<p>Cromarty’s head was again beginning to grow +dizzy, and he sat again upon the rock to recover +himself, making no answer to Ephraim’s words +than the exclamation:</p> +<p>“How am I going to get that bag to post in time?”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_110' name='page_110'></a>110</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XI_THE_PASSING_OF_OLD_CENTURY' id='CHAPTER_XI_THE_PASSING_OF_OLD_CENTURY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>THE PASSING OF OLD CENTURY</h3> +</div> +<p>Jessica and her escort, John Benton, rode swiftly +up the canyon trail and over the brow of the mesa +toward the shepherd’s cabin; but they had not proceeded +far along the upland before a sense of the +strangeness of things oppressed them both.</p> +<p>John’s keen eye detected the neglect of the sheep, +which were still huddled in the corral, though long +past their hour for pasturage; while their bleating +expressed hunger as well as dislike of their unusual +imprisonment. But Jessica saw first the abject +attitude of the collie, Keno, who came reluctantly +to greet them with down-hanging head and +tail and a reproachful upward glance of his brown +eyes.</p> +<p>“Why, you poor doggie! What’s happened you? +You look as if you’d been beaten. Where’s your +master, good Keno? Keno, where’s Pedro?”</p> +<p>The Indian was nowhere visible, and as if he fully +understood the question, the collie answered by a +long, lugubrious whine.</p> +<p>“Something’s wrong. That’s as plain as preachin’!” +cried John, and hurried to the little house, +whose door stood open, but about which there was +no sign of life.</p> +<p>He had tossed his bridle to the captain, meaning +that if aught were amiss within she should be detained +for the present by holding the horses. However, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_111' name='page_111'></a>111</span> +she saw through this ruse, and, leaping from +Buster, swiftly hobbled both animals and ran after +the carpenter.</p> +<p>Keno kept close at her heels, the very presentment +of canine misery, and uttering at every few +steps that doleful whine which was so unusual to +him. But, arrived at the cabin, he left her and with +one bound had reached the Indian’s side, where he +still sat beside his window, his head against its casing +and his blanket––Jessica’s gift––closely wrapped +about him. He did not move when they entered, +nor respond even by objection to the collie’s frantic +blandishments, but John raised his hand for silence, +as she stood sorrowfully gazing downward upon +the face of death.</p> +<p>Yes, it was that. He had more than rounded his +century of years, he had lived uprightly, as the good +padres had taught; he had bestowed upon those he +loved the secret of great wealth, and he had gone to +keep his precious Navidad in the home of eternal +youth.</p> +<p>Jessica comprehended the truth at once, and her +eyes filled with the tears which, as yet, did not +overflow; for as she gazed upon the sleeper’s face +it filled her with amazement and something akin to +delight; and at last she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Why, how young and glad he looks! He’s even +nobler than he was when he rode away from me +last night, and I’d never seen him so dignified and +grand as he was then. It’s––it’s as if he had done +with everything is hard, like worries, and evil, and +loneliness, and––all.”</p> +<p>“Ay, lassie; he has done with all––that you or I +know aught about; and every inch a man he seems +as he sits there in the majesty of death.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_112' name='page_112'></a>112</span></div> +<p>By then the child’s tears had begun to flow, and +she caught up Pedro’s hand with an outburst of +grief and love.</p> +<p>“Poor, poor Pedro! To have been here all alone +when it came! What shall I do without him who +was always so good, so good to me? Oh, I can’t +have it so, John! I can’t, I can’t!”</p> +<p>He was wise enough to attempt no consolation, +knowing well how small a part of her life the venerable +Indian had been and how easily youth accustoms +itself to such a loss. But, after he had allowed +her to sob for a time, he gently touched her shoulder, +and said:</p> +<p>“Come. Pedro has finished his work and has +passed it on to us. Those poor sheep must be cared +for, and somebody must ride home at once; or, +rather, should ride at once to Marion to make the +necessary arrangements. I wish–––” And he +paused in perplexity, regarding her as if in doubt +what was best to be done.</p> +<p>They left the cottage with that quiet tread which +seems natural in the presence of those whom no +sound can trouble, and, hand in hand, walked sadly +to the fold, where the penned sheep greeted them +with eager cries and restless movements.</p> +<p>“Pedro used to say they talked and he knew what +they said. I begin to believe he did, for, listen! +This sound isn’t like that other first one, which told +us they were hungry. This says: ‘I’m glad you’ve +come!’ Doesn’t it?”</p> +<p>“So it sounds to me, lassie; and I, too, am glad +we came. It’s queer, though, how set you were +on it, even against the mistress’ wish that you should +wait.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_113' name='page_113'></a>113</span></div> +<p>“Yes, John, I had to come. I just had to. And +this is what I think: When we’ve taken care of the +sheep, we’ll lay Pedro on his bed and lock the door. +Keno will keep guard, if we tell him; though whoever +comes here, anyway? Then you must ride to +Marion to see about––about”––here, for a moment, +grief interrupted her again, but she suppressed her +tears as soon as possible and went on quite calmly––“about +what always has to be at such a time. I +remember––I remember it all when my father–––No, +no, John, I’m not going to cry again. I won’t +make bad worse, never, if I can help it. But this +I say: You ride to Marion and send word to the +mission so that a priest may come; and do all the +rest. I will ride home and the boys will come up +and fetch him to Sobrante. It must be in the little +old chapel that we never use, because my father said +he would not put to a common service a room that +had once been given to God. Pedro always loved it. +It was there he used to say his ‘devotions’ and there +he must lie––in state––isn’t that what they call it +when great folks die? Pedro was great. He had +lived so very long and he had always been so devout. +What do you say?”</p> +<p>“What do I say, little captain, but that you’ve a +long head on your young shoulders, and I’m sorry +this load of grief had to rest on it so early. More +than that; I undertook to be your guardeen to-day, +and I’ve no notion of shirking the job––even now. +I passed my word to the ‘admiral’ that I’d fetch +you home safe, and so I will. It won’t take much +longer and it’s right. Home first, and Marion afterward.”</p> +<p>“Well, maybe, that is best; and surely it is pleasantest. +I didn’t want to be selfish, but I’d rather +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_114' name='page_114'></a>114</span> +you stayed with me. Are you ready? Shall we +leave him just as he is?”</p> +<p>“Just so. We’ll close the window and the door, +and then––home.”</p> +<p>But it was with widely different feelings that +they cantered down the canyon from those with +which they had ridden up it, and when she saw them +returning so soon and so swiftly, Mrs. Trent went +out to meet them, saying nothing, indeed, yet asking +the question with her eyes:</p> +<p>“What trouble now?”</p> +<p>Then John told their story speedily and suggested +that some of the men ride to the mesa and attend +to what was needful. Also, repeated Jessica’s opinion +about the chapel, with which the lady instantly +agreed; then, clasping her daughter’s hand very +close, returned with her to the porch and began to +fold away her sewing.</p> +<p>But both Aunt Sally, when she came and heard +the news, and the little girl asked:</p> +<p>“Why do you put it away, mother, dear? If +Pedro is happy now, as we believe, why shouldn’t +we be, too? All the rest must have their holiday, +and I think––I think he’d like to have me look nice. +He always did.”</p> +<p>“Jessie is right, Gabriell’. Things do happen terrible +upsettin’ lately, seems to me; but by the time +you and me get to be a hundred odd, I reckon we +shan’t care a mite whether folks wear red and white +dresses or horrid humbly ones. I’m goin’ on just the +same as ever, for that’s the only way I’ll ever keep +my common senses in this spooky place. I knew +when they two started off, left hoof foremost, they +was ridin’, to trouble; and this morning my hen +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_115' name='page_115'></a>115</span> +chicken crowed to beat any rooster I ever heard, and +that’s a sure sign of death.”</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, don’t!” protested Mrs. Trent, glancing +anxiously at her daughter’s face. But she need +not have feared; for the child smiled back upon her, +serene and happy, despite the traces of tears that +still marked her bright eyes.</p> +<p>“It’s all right, mother, dear; and I’m thinking +how glad Pedro must be now, to have found all +those he’d so long outlived. He just went to sleep, +you see, alone, and waked up with them around +him. I think it was beautiful––beautiful; and his +last deed was to find me and to tell you how you +could grow rich if you want to. Where are the +little boys, I wonder?”</p> +<p>They presently appeared, in wild excitement, having +been at the men’s quarters when John rode +thither to impart his news and directions; yet in this +excitement was not a vestige of grief. They seemed +to feel relieved of some dread, and Ned more than +once punched Luis, whispering shrilly enough for +all to hear:</p> +<p>“We can do it now, and not get caught! Yes, +siree! We can do it now! Don’t you tell!”</p> +<p>And Luis responded by an ecstatic hug and the +customary echo:</p> +<p>“Do it now; don’t you tell! Yes, siree!”</p> +<p>John Benton had nearly covered the distance +to Marion, when he perceived two men slowly advancing +toward him along the level road. For a +moment, engrossed by thoughts of recent happenings, +he paid slight attention to the fact, though +idly wondering what strangers might be having +business, and on foot, with Sobrante, at which point +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_116' name='page_116'></a>116</span> +the road ended. But, as he drew nearer to them, +something familiar in the bearing of the taller man, +and startling in the appearance of the other, caused +him to shield his eyes from the sunshine and peer +critically into the distance. Then he slapped his +thigh so excitedly that his horse suddenly stopped, +reared and nearly unseated him.</p> +<p>“Oh, you idiot! Can’t a feller slap himself without +your takin’ it to heart? If I ain’t a blind man, +and maybe I am, that’s old ‘Forty-niner’ hoofing +himself home, and–––Whew! That’s Marty, +limpin’ and leanin’ alongside. Well, I ’low! More +trouble and plenty of it. Seems if all creation was +just a-happenin’ our way, blamed if it don’t. Giddap +there, Moses!”</p> +<p>In a few minutes he had reached the pedestrians +and saluted them with unfeigned astonishment, and +Ephraim with great friendliness of expression, but +also the question:</p> +<p>“What fresh calamities you two fetchin’, now?”</p> +<p>They told him, as briefly as possible, and he found +his own perplexity increased as he demanded:</p> +<p>“What in creation is to be done? Here’s Pedro +gone and died in the most unhandy place and time; +and here be you two, with not a decent leg between +you, twenty miles from home, and one horse for the +three of us!”</p> +<p>At the word “horse” poor Marty winced, as from +a personal blow, while both he and Ephraim were +greatly amazed at the news of the shepherd’s death. +They began to feel, as John had said, that “nothing +save disaster was meant for Sobrante folks;” yet, +after a moment, “Forty-niner” perceived another +side of the matter, and expressed himself thus:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_117' name='page_117'></a>117</span></div> +<p>“What’s got into the pack of us? Seems if we’d +lost our gumption. After all, couldn’t anything have +happened likelier, so far forth as I see. John Benton, +you light off Moses and help this man into your +saddle. He’ll ride home and I’ll walk alongside, +whilst you tramp on to Marion. There’s a mare +there, named Jean. She was offered to me, but I +was in a hurry and didn’t accept. However, the +offer is due to hold good for any of our folks. Light, +I tell you. Marty’s about played out.”</p> +<p>Indeed, the respite came none too soon. The +worst injury the gardener had sustained was, apparently, +of the head, and a terrible dizziness rendered +his progress on foot almost impossible. He +would not have been able to accomplish this much +of the journey, save for the continual help of +Ephraim, who was himself burdened with the heavy +pack and unwilling to relinquish it.</p> +<p>John stepped down and swung his fellow ranchman +up to Moses’ back; then placed the bundle before +the rider, turned the animal’s head toward +Sobrante, and chirruped:</p> +<p>“Giddap! Home’s the word!”</p> +<p>Moses needed no second urging, but was off at a +gallop, leaving the others to discuss the situation +a bit further, and Ephraim to follow at his leisure.</p> +<p>There was little more to be said, however, and +soon each was pursuing diverging routes and each +at his swiftest pace.</p> +<p>At Marion, John had the mail pouch unlocked and +examined, and was satisfied that some letters had +been tampered with. These contained orders for +house supplies and had been accompanied by checks, +as was evident from the wording of the orders. The +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_118' name='page_118'></a>118</span> +checks had been removed, and this fact proved to +the carpenter that the hand of Antonio Bernal was +in the matter, because the late manager might indorse +them without arousing the bank’s suspicion, +as nobody else could.</p> +<p>Yet there was one thing he did not mention, even +to the postmaster; and that was the package which +Jessica’s letter to Ninian Sharp had spoken of. This +had disappeared entirely. The fact troubled him +more than the loss of the checks, for he could +stop the payment of these, but whether the little +captain had sent the whole of their only specimen of +the copper to her city friend or not was a serious +question.</p> +<p>However, he did what he could; and almost for +the first time in his life used the telegraph as well +as the post. To pay for his long and rather ambiguous +messages he borrowed money of the mystified +Aleck McLeod; and the local operator found +himself busier than he had ever been since the +establishment of the office.</p> +<p>The other sad business that had brought him to +the town was also transacted; and by the time +all was arranged John was very glad to avail himself +of Jean’s services, slow though she was. Upon +her sedate back he arrived at Sobrante, just as the +sun was setting, and found that the household had +temporarily forgotten their grief for Pedro in their +rejoicing over Ephraim.</p> +<p>“It’s an up and a down in this world,” quoth +Aunt Sally, spreading and admiring the brilliant +bits of calico which “Forty-niner” had given her. +“Life ain’t all catnip anyway you stew it. Them +that laugh in the morning gen’ally cry before night, +and vicy-versy. But, Gabriella, do, for goodness’ +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_119' name='page_119'></a>119</span> +sake, just fetch out that queer kind of stick that old +Indian made a sort of graven image of and show it +to Mr. Ma’sh. It’s a curiosity, being so old, if it +ain’t no more. Worth cherishin’, anyhow, ’count of +him that give it. I always did admire keepsakes of +the departed.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent smiled, though sadly, and Jessica +asked:</p> +<p>“May I get it, mother?”</p> +<p>“Surely. For safety I put it on the top of the +tallest bookcase, behind the files of newspapers. +You’ll likely have to take the little library ladder +to reach it; and when you’ve shown it, put it back in +exactly the same spot. It’s doubly valuable now, +and could not be replaced.”</p> +<p>The little captain had scarcely once relinquished +the hand of her beloved sharpshooter, since he appeared +before them all, and now led him, as if he +were another happy playmate, to the designated +place. But when she had reached it, mounted the +ladder and carefully felt all over the top of the +case, even moving the files in order to examine it +the better, she could not find the metal-pointed staff.</p> +<p>Standing on the floor beneath, Ephraim watched +her face growing sober and disappointed, as she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“It’s gone! It’s completely gone!”</p> +<p>“It has, dearie? Well, maybe your mother forgot +and put it somewhere else. The likeliest thing in +the world to happen, with her mind so upset as it +has been. We’ll go back and ask her. Don’t fret. +Probably it wasn’t of much account, anyway.”</p> +<p>“Oh! but, dear Ephraim, it was! It could point +the way to our big fortune that’s to be dug out of +the ground!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_120' name='page_120'></a>120</span></div> +<p>“What? What is that you say, child? Nonsense. +We don’t live in the days of witchcraft, and that’s +what such a performance would mean.”</p> +<p>Yet when they had returned to Mrs. Trent and +related their misadventure he was startled by hearing +that sensible woman tragically exclaim, in contradiction +to his own assertion:</p> +<p>“Lost! Then Sobrante is certainly bewitched!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_121' name='page_121'></a>121</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XII_THE_REBELLION_OF_THE_LADS' id='CHAPTER_XII_THE_REBELLION_OF_THE_LADS'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>THE REBELLION OF THE LADS</h3> +</div> +<p>“Thank my stars, I haven’t lost my faculty of +doing two things to once, nor seein’ a dozen!” cried +Aunt Sally, as if in response to Mrs. Trent’s exclamation. +Then she rose so hastily that her beloved +“pieces” fell on the floor and her spectacles +slid from the end of her nose, their habitual resting +place. “There never was witches on this ranch +before, and I reckon I can deal with a few of them +that’s here now. Edward Trent, Luis Garcia! +Where you goin’ at? Hey? Hear me? Come +right straight back to me this minute, if you know +what’s good for yourselves!”</p> +<p>All were surprised by this outburst and awaited +its result with curiosity.</p> +<p>The two little boys had been suspiciously quiet +on the farther end of that long porch where the +household practically lived. Mrs. Trent had glanced +their way, occasionally, but supposed them to be +engrossed by the patent whistle and top which had +been found in Ephraim’s pack, neatly marked with +their respective names. Yet one could not eat tops +nor whistles, and their elbows had been seen, from +the rear, to move in a suggestive manner.</p> +<p>“They’re eatin’ somethin’ all this time. I wonder +what!” had been Mrs. Benton’s private reflection. +But when Jessica came back with her report of the +lost wand, the elbow action had suddenly ceased; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_122' name='page_122'></a>122</span> +and, after what appeared to be a brief whispered +consultation, they had slunk away down the path, +Ned trying to help Luis hide something within his +blouse, though not, apparently, succeeding.</p> +<p>At the sound of Aunt Sally’s voice, indeed, they +dropped the box they had been secreting and burst +into a paroxysm of giggling, as was their customary +receipt of her chiding. The giggle was always destined +to end in tears, but this never prevented its +recurrence.</p> +<p>“Neddy Trent! If that bad little Garcia boy is +doing wrong, it’s no need you should be naughty, +too. Come back here and show poor auntie what +you’ve got in your blouses.”</p> +<p>Wheedling had no more effect than scolding, for +with one hug of each other’s necks, the children +scampered onward, leaving their spoils behind +them.</p> +<p>Then Jessica followed to see what this might be, +and exclaimed, in some surprise:</p> +<p>“Candy! Where did it come from?”</p> +<p>Now, it happened that such sweets, except of +homemade manufacture and on rare occasions, +were forbidden the lads, because they were always +made ill by them. That is, Luis suffered and Ned +was not allowed anything his playmate could not +share. All the ranchmen knew Mrs. Trent’s wishes +on the subject and heretofore none had ever gone +against them. Who had done it now?</p> +<p>Of course, suspicion instantly pointed to “Forty-niner,” +who indignantly denied that he had brought, +or even thought of bringing, anything home which +his beloved mistress did not wish there.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_123' name='page_123'></a>123</span></div> +<p>“Doesn’t anybody trust me any more about anything?” +he concluded, wistfully.</p> +<p>The accusation had come from Mrs. Benton, but +Gabriella hastened to soothe the sharpshooter, +saying:</p> +<p>“We’re making mountains out of mole hills, I +fear. There, Aunt Sally, never mind. They have +left so much behind them on the path that they +can hardly have eaten enough to harm them, anyway. +Let them go, please.”</p> +<p>But the good woman would not drop the subject. +Her sharp eyes had not been given her for nothing, +and her son always asserted that if his mother had +been a man she would have made a first-class detective. +Panting and puffing in her haste and +curiosity, she hurried to the spilled confections and +carefully picked them up; then returned to the +porch, significantly holding forth, upon her palm, a +specimen of what she had discovered.</p> +<p>“Needn’t tell me I didn’t smell peppymint! Them’s +them peppymint rounds with chocolate outsides +that I never seen nobody eat, on this ranch, ’cept +Antonio Bernal. They ain’t kept in the store to +Marion, and the storekeeper used to send for ’em to +Los Angeles, ’specially for his one customer. I +know, Antonio offered me some, time and again, on +my other visits, but I always thanked him polite +and said no. I never did lay out to eat a snake’s +victuals, and that’s what his’n was.”</p> +<p>“Oh, what a woman you are, Aunt Sally!” laughed +Ephraim.</p> +<p>“Thank you. I hope I be; enough of one, anyhow, +to see through a millstone, when there’s a hole in +it. But you’ve come back so peart and sassy, sharpshooter, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_124' name='page_124'></a>124</span> +I reckon I best go steep you a fresh dose +of picra. After I’ve learnt all them tackers can tell.”</p> +<p>“Please, don’t be stern with them, Aunt Sally,” +protested the mother. “Whatever they’ve done is +but natural. It would be too much to expect them +to refuse such a treat if it were offered them, and, +maybe, John brought it to them.”</p> +<p>“John? My boy, John? After the raisin’ he had! +Well, you’re on the wrong track there and I’m on +the right one. Antonio Bernal, or some feller sneak +of his, has been here at Sobrante, and you needn’t +touch to tell me he hasn’t. Wait; I’ll find out now!” +she ended, in triumph, and again the others were +obliged to laugh, though Mrs. Trent’s brief mirth +closed with a sigh, which Jessica heard and understood.</p> +<p>“Oh! don’t you fear, mother, dear. Aunt Sally +wouldn’t hurt either of them, really; and, indeed, +I don’t know who would keep them in order if she +didn’t try. What mischief one can’t think of the +other does, and I’ll run after her and see the thing +out. Who knows but that they can tell us something +about the missing staff?”</p> +<p>The runaways had made a detour by way of the +kitchen, and adjoining the kitchen was the “cold +closet,” which was the refuge they sought, and +where already were stored some of the Christmas +goodies. This closet had but one door and a securely +shuttered window, and once the door was gained by +the pursuer she would have the small miscreants in +a trap. This she had seen and this it was which had +given her that triumphant expression.</p> +<p>The captain also gained the pantry door just after +it had closed behind Mrs. Benton and her prisoners, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_125' name='page_125'></a>125</span> +and to her repeated request to be admitted, received the +enigmatical answer:</p> +<p>“Time enough when I’ve pumped these little cisterns +dry.”</p> +<p>“Are the children in there with you?”</p> +<p>“Certain.”</p> +<p>“You won’t hurt them, will you? Please don’t punish +them to-day. I can’t bear it.”</p> +<p>To which the grim jailer responded:</p> +<p>“You go along back to ‘Forty-niner,’ Jessie darlin, +and be happy. We’re all mighty comfortable in here +and lots of good victuals, if so be we get hungry. +Plenty to drink, too, for I just brought in a crock of +fresh water to cool my eggs in. I’ve got my knittin’ +work and am as happy as an oyster. Go back, for +I ain’t ready to talk yet. When I am I’ll come out +and bring these naughty children with me.”</p> +<p>So Jessica returned to her old friend’s side; and +in listening to his talk about the hospital and the +friends she had made there for herself, as well as +about Mr. Ninian Sharp and the lawyer, Morris +Hale, the evening quickly passed and bedtime came.</p> +<p>When the ranch mistress rose to say good-night, +she went to the still closed door of the closet, and +asked:</p> +<p>“Aren’t you coming out now, Aunt Sally?”</p> +<p>The old lady opened the door and pointed complacently +to a distant corner of the roomy apartment +where, upon a pile of soft blankets that had +been stored within, lay the two little boys, sound +asleep and the picture of innocent comfort.</p> +<p>“There, Gabriella, you see they’re all right. I +wouldn’t hurt a hair of their bonny heads, not for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_126' name='page_126'></a>126</span> +another ranch as fine as this one. But here them +and me stay till I worm the truth out of ’em about +that candy and that magic staff. Where that candy +come from that there staff has gone. You hear me +and believe me. Oh, I know what I know! Good-night. +Don’t you worry. Me and them is all right, +as I said, and my head’s level. I went to sleep +a-watchin’ t’other time, but I shan’t this. There’s +more in my mind than nonsense. This chair is as +comfortable as a lounge. I slipped out and got it +from the settin’-room when you all was talkin’ so +lively, just now, and we’re fixed. I may come out +before daylight and I may stay till doomsday; but +come I shan’t a single step, not to please even you +for whom I’d do and dare a good deal, and don’t you +doubt it, but when my mind is sot it’s sot, and sot +it is this minute, an don’t you dast to let on to John +Benton, or that sassy boy’d plague the very life out +of me, and you go right along to your own bed and +take Jessie with you, and–––”</p> +<p>But Mrs. Trent stayed to hear no more. When +Aunt Sally got started on such a harangue as this, +exhaustion of breath was her only limit. The lady +did not anticipate more than an hour’s further imprisonment +of the children, if so long, and was sure +that they would be even tenderly cared for, no matter +what their misdemeanors, if she did not herself +interfere. Yet daylight came and found the odd +trio still behind that closed door, and it opened only +at breakfast time; when, leading two very penitent-looking +small boys and herself wearing the air of +a Roman conqueror, Mrs. Benton emerged from her +seclusion upon an expectant household.</p> +<p>“Well, Aunt Sally, haven’t you ‘wormed’ them, as +you promised? Poor little tackers! they’ve lost +their pride and spirit, and I love them. Come to +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_127' name='page_127'></a>127</span> +sister, darlings, and get your morning hugs!” cried +Jessica, as they appeared. Ephraim, close at hand, +winked at them solemnly and held up behind Mrs. +Benton’s back two most alluring marbles. But they +did not wink in response, nor give more than a furtive +smile, as they reluctantly dragged along under +their guardian’s forcible guidance. Her route was +direct to the watering trough where, without ado, +she promptly stripped, bathed and rubbed dry, each +shivering little figure. Then she reclothed and led +them back to the kitchen, placing them in high +chairs beside the big deal table, while she proceeded +to cook their oatmeal and serve it to them, with a +bad-as-you-are-you-shan’t-starve sort of air which +would have amused Jessica, had she not so heartily +pitied her playmates.</p> +<p>After a time she could endure the sight no longer, +but sped to Ned’s chair and clasped him fondly in +her arms.</p> +<p>“What is the matter, brotherkin? Tell sister, do. +Is it nothing but that miserable candy? What else +have you done to make auntie so angry with you?”</p> +<p>Ned’s bosom heaved and a mighty sob burst forth. +But he instantly repressed this sign of weakness, +though unfortunately, not soon enough to prevent +Luis from echoing it with redoubled intensity.</p> +<p>Now nothing so quickly restores the self-possession, +even of grown-ups, as the sight of another’s +collapse; and no sooner had Luis given vent +to his emotion than Ned’s spirit returned to him. +Throwing back his pretty head, with an air of unconquerable +resolution, he reached forth and pounded +his mate smartly on the back.</p> +<p>“You, Luis Garcia, what you crying for? Isn’t +none of your staffs, anyway.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_128' name='page_128'></a>128</span></div> +<p>“Ain’t my old staffs, ain’t,” sobbed the “echo,” for +such he was often nicknamed.</p> +<p>“Then you needn’t cry, you needn’t. I ain’t crying, +I ain’t. Hate old Aunt Sally. Hate ’Tonio. Hate +Ferd. Hate everybody. Give me my breakfast, old +Aunt Sally Benton!”</p> +<p>“Hate Bentons!” agreed Luis, and flung his arms +about his little tyrant’s throat till he choked from +outward expression whatever more might have +issued thence.</p> +<p>“Ned! Why, Ned! I never, never knew you so +naughty! Do tell me; what has happened?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton glared at the culprit over her down-dropped +spectacles in a truly formidable manner, +but the result was only a settled stubbornness which +nothing moved.</p> +<p>Seeing that pleading was hopeless, at present, +and that Ned was in one of his dogged fits, Jessica +quietly walked away and began to help in the preparation +of the elder people’s meal, as her mother +liked to have her do.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Aunt Sally waited upon the children, +piling their saucers with the tasty porridge, moistened +with Blandina’s yellow cream and plentifully +sprinkled with sugar. They were healthy and unused +to grief, and the palatable food soon restored +their good humor. They seemed to forgive their +venerable tormentor and fell to their accustomed +scrimmage with the utmost enjoyment; and this +was pleasanter for all concerned. However, even +when they had eaten all they could and were ready +for outdoors and their morning fun, their plans were +nipped in the bud. Aunt Sally had a spare hand for +each of them and conducted them firmly to the +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_129' name='page_129'></a>129</span> +dining room and a place upon its lounge, while the +family took their own food in what comfort they +could.</p> +<p>This was not so great Mrs. Trent’s eyes would +wander to the unhappy pair––for they were once +more gloomy and unsubdued––and old Ephraim cast +many glances thither, entreating by silent signals +that they should repent of whatever sin they had +committed and be restored to favor.</p> +<p>The meal past the family rose and, from her +pocket, Mrs. Benton produced two long strips of +cloth, one of which she fastened about each child’s +wrist, leaving its other end to tie to her own apron +belt.</p> +<p>Then she turned to the mother, whose tears were +beginning to fall, and said, severely:</p> +<p>“Gabriella, if I didn’t love you as well as I love +myself and better, I’d let these children go and no +more said. But they’ve done that no punishin’ won’t +reach, though maybe they’ll give in after a spell. +I shan’t hurt ’em nor touch to; but I shall keep +’em tied to me till they tell me what I’m bound to +know. So that’s all. You’ve got enough on your +hands, with this funeral business and all that’ll +come, and however we’re goin’ to feed another lot +of visitors so soon after them others, I declare I +don’t see. And me with these tackers tied to my +apron strings, the way they be!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent rose and left the room and Jessica +slowly followed. Neither of them could quite understand +Aunt Sally’s present behavior, nor why she +should wish to bother herself with two such hindrances +to the labor which must be accomplished.</p> +<p>But Ephraim lingered. He simply could not endure +the sight of the little ones’ unhappiness, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_130' name='page_130'></a>130</span> +quietly slipping a knife from his pocket he coolly +cut their leading strings, caught them up in his +strong arms and limped away before their captor +had discovered her loss.</p> +<p>But he put his head back inside the doorway to +call out, reassuringly:</p> +<p>“Begging pardon, Mrs. Benton, I’ll ‘spell’ you on +the ‘worming out’ business and promise they shan’t +leave my care till I hand ’em back to you thoroughly +‘pumped.’ Come along, laddies. I’ve a mind to visit +every spot on this blessed ranch and––upon one +condition––I’ve a mind to take you with me. Want +to hear?”</p> +<p>“Yes. What is it?” demanded Ned, already very +happy at the exchange of jailers.</p> +<p>“Only that you must explain what all this row +and rumpus is about with Aunt Sally.”</p> +<p>Standing at the top of the steps, with one foot +outstretched, old “Forty-niner” paused and steadily +regarded the small face above his shoulder.</p> +<p>Ned returned the gaze with equal steadfastness, +as if he were pondering in his troubled mind the +best course to pursue. Then, because he might think +more clearly so, he lifted his serious gaze to the +distance; and, at once, there burst from his quivering +lips a cry of fear:</p> +<p>“Oh, I see him! I see him! He’s coming, like he +said––to kill me––to kill me! I dassent––I dassent!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_131' name='page_131'></a>131</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIII_NEDS_STORY' id='CHAPTER_XIII_NEDS_STORY'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<h3>NED’S STORY</h3> +</div> +<p>“Eels couldn’t have done that slicker!” commented +Ephraim, in surprise. For, behold! his arms +were empty and the flash of twinkling legs along +the garden path pointed whither his charges had +fled. “Here they were and here they aren’t, and +whatever scared them that way is more than I can +see.”</p> +<p>Indeed, though he shaded his eyes with his hand +and made a prolonged examination of the outlook, +nothing different from ordinary was visible; and, +after a moment’s reflection, he sought Aunt Sally +and reported:</p> +<p>“Well, Mrs. Benton, I ’low I’m doomed to that +dose of picra, for I––I––– You see–––”</p> +<p>“Ephraim Ma’sh, where’s them children?”</p> +<p>“That’s just exactly what I’d like to know myself, +neighbor.”</p> +<p>“Huh! You needn’t go ‘neighborin’’ me, if that’s +all you’re worth. Tryin’ fool capers like a boy, ain’t +you? Think it was terr’ble clever to cut strings that +I’d took the trouble to tie and then settin’ them +youngsters free. Well, all I have to say is that +you’ve done more harm than you can undo in a +hurry, and that’s the true word,” retorted the indignant +matron, beating a bowlful of eggs as she would +have enjoyed beating him just then.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_132' name='page_132'></a>132</span></div> +<p>Ephraim crossed the kitchen and laid one hand on +her shoulder, saying:</p> +<p>“Come, Sally, let’s quit chasing about the bush. +There’s something more in this nonsense than appears, +and if you’re a true and loyal friend to this +family I’m another as good. Two heads are better +than one, you know–––”</p> +<p>“Even if one belongs to a silly old feller like you? +H’m Ephraim, you’re right! There is somethin’ +more’n shows outside. That candy was a bait, a +trap, a lure, a––anything you choose; and I do hope +the little fellers are safer’n I fear they be. If I catch +’em again, for their good–––My suz! Here +they’re comin’ back of their own free will and wonder +ain’t ceased!”</p> +<p>Indeed, as swiftly as they had scampered away, +the lads were returning and burst into the kitchen, +crying with what little breath they had left:</p> +<p>“Aunt Sally, lock me up! Lock us up tight! +Quick––quick! I seen him! He’ll do it! My mother +says Antonio always does do things, he does! +Quick, quick!”</p> +<p>“Lock up, quick!”</p> +<p>Ned and the echo swung round behind the +matron’s capacious person and rolled themselves in +the folds of her full skirt, which performance hid +them from the view of anyone outside and as effectually +interfered with her movements.</p> +<p>But she had now caught something of their excitement, +and their appeal to her protection had +promptly banished her last trace of anger against +them.</p> +<p>“So I will, lambies, so I will. You just keep on a +steppin’ backwards and I’ll do it, too, and first we +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_133' name='page_133'></a>133</span> +know we’ll get to that nice pantry where we stayed +last night. I’ve got the key to that, even if ’tis +rusty from not bein’ often used, and I’ll defy anybody +to get it away from me.”</p> +<p>Still beating her eggs as if nothing uncommon +were happening, the housewife retreated toward +the door in question, and slipping one hand behind +her opened it without turning her head. She was instantly +relieved of the drag upon her skirts, and +quietly shut the door again upon her self-imprisoned +charges. Then she drew a long breath, and +exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Well, sharpshooter, what do you think of that?”</p> +<p>“Looks as if you couldn’t have been so very hard +on them, else they’d never come back.”</p> +<p>“I ain’t a-flatterin’ myself. That was a ‘Hobson’s +choice.’ But–––”</p> +<p>“But they must have been badly frightened to +have done it.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Ephraim, they are, and I am. I’m so stirred +up I don’t know whether I’ve beat these eggs all one +way, like I ought, or forty-’leven different ones, +like I ought not. I’m flustered. I’m completely +flustered, and that ain’t often my case.”</p> +<p>“Picra!” sympathetically suggested the old man.</p> +<p>Aunt Sally’s eyes snapped, and she smiled grimly, +as she retorted:</p> +<p>“Picra’s good for them ’at need it. That’s you, +not me. It ain’t a medicine for in’ards so much as +’tis for out’ards. I mean, it’s better for the body +than ’tis for the mind, and it’s my mind that’s ailin’ +me! Besides, doctors never take their own doses.”</p> +<p>“You know it yourself! I thought your mind was +failing you, but–––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_134' name='page_134'></a>134</span></div> +<p>“No such thing. I said, or I meant to say, I was +troubled in it. That’s all; and if you’re a mite of a +man you’ll try and help me unravel this tangle and +quit foolin’. Just step into that closet with me and +maybe the tackers’ll tell you themselves. I’d rather +you heard it first hand, anyway.”</p> +<p>Wun Lung, sifting flour in one part of the kitchen, +and Pasqual scrubbing a kneading board at the sink, +both paused and eyed the strange proceedings with +curiosity if not displeasure; for not only had the +children been bestowed within the “cold closet,” but +Aunt Sally and Ephraim had, also, followed and +locked themselves out of sight and hearing.</p> +<p>The pantry was absolutely dark, until Mrs. Benton +found a candle and lighted it; then she pointed +to the chair she had occupied during the night, +mutely inviting “Forty-niner” to be seated. He +declined the proffered courtesy, so she sat down +herself, and it amused him that she had not once +stopped that monotonous whisking of the eggs, +though by this time the dish was heaped with their +frothy substance.</p> +<p>“The cake you make of them should be light +enough,” he remarked, with a smile.</p> +<p>“You’re right. There’s such a thing as overbeatin’––everything. +Well, laddies, we’re all back in here +together again, and auntie wants you to tell Mr. +Ma’sh where you got that candy; who give it to +you; what for; where you saw that sneaky snake, +Antonio Bernal; what you’ve done with the staff +wand; and all the rest of it? ‘Forty-niner’ is a man +and a gentleman–––”</p> +<p>“Here the sharpshooter bowed profoundly, acknowledging +the compliment with a humorous expression; +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_135' name='page_135'></a>135</span> +but the matron continued as if she had not +observed him:</p> +<p>“You see, I know all about it, even if you wouldn’t +tell. I’m one has eyes on the back of my head and +on its top, too, I tell you, so you needn’t try to think +I don’t see what’s going on, for I do.”</p> +<p>The faces of her small listeners showed utter +amazement; then with one of his flashlike movements +Ned sprang to the back of her chair and +passed his hand rapidly all over her gray curls.</p> +<p>“Where are they, Aunt Sally? I can’t find ’em. I +never saw ’em in all my life, and do––do, please, +show them to me!” he implored.</p> +<p>Luis scrambled up the other side, and echoed:</p> +<p>“Never show ’em in m’life!”</p> +<p>“That’s all right. I don’t keep ’em in exhibition, +but they’re there all the same.”</p> +<p>“Sally Benton!” expostulated Ephraim. “Don’t +tell them wrong stories.”</p> +<p>“But it isn’t a wrong story; it’s a right one. If +they’re not real, actual eyes, there’s something in my +head takes their place. Might as well say ‘eyes’ +as ‘brains,’ I judge. But, be you going to answer, +Edward Trent? I’ve got a prime lot of cookin’ to +do again, and no time to waste. ’Cause if you ain’t +I’ll just take Mr. Ma’sh with me and lock you shavers +in here alone, where you’ll be safe, but sort of +homesick. I shan’t leave no candle burnin’, for you +to set the house afire with. So you best tell, right +away, and then be let out to have a good time.”</p> +<p>Luis began to whisper, and beg:</p> +<p>“Tell her, Ned. Tell her. I hate the dark––I do, +I do!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_136' name='page_136'></a>136</span></div> +<p>Ned hesitated but a moment longer. He loved his +playmate as his own soul, and it altered nothing of +this childish David-and-Jonathan friendship that it +was as full of fight as of affection. Patting Luis’ +shoulder, he cried:</p> +<p>“’Course I’ll tell, though if she knows it all +a’ready–––”</p> +<p>“But I don’t know it, Ned. She wants you to tell +me. I’m one of us, you see––just we four,” interposed +the sharpshooter, hastily.</p> +<p>“Well––well––well, ’tisn’t anyhow. Only I saw––I––saw–––”</p> +<p>Here the child paused and peered cautiously +about.</p> +<p>Mr. Marsh promptly sat down upon the boards +and motioned the lads to come to him, and when +they had done so, closed his arms around them, with +a comforting pressure, saying:</p> +<p>“There now! We’re as snug as bugs in a rug, and +nobody in the wide world dare harm you. Hurry up +and talk fast, or you and I will never get a taste of +that fine poundcake Aunt Sally wants to make.”</p> +<p>Another moment of hesitation, and then came +Ned’s triumphant statement:</p> +<p>“’Twasn’t no ghost, anyhow.”</p> +<p>“Of course it wasn’t,” answered “Forty-niner,” +promptly agreeing, but considerably puzzled. He +had not, as yet, heard from any of the others about +the “vision” which Mrs. Benton had seen beside the +window.</p> +<p>“’Twasn’t nobody but ’Tonio himself.”</p> +<p>“That’s exactly what I thought,” he again agreed, +and encouragingly patted the boy’s hand.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_137' name='page_137'></a>137</span></div> +<p>“And he come––and he come––and he gave us +one––two boxes of that nice, nice candy; and all +we gave him was Pedro’s old stick!”</p> +<p>Aunt Sally’s egg beater fell to the floor unheeded, +this time she really put her spectacles in their +proper place and stared through them at the +narrator.</p> +<p>Ned warmed to his task and Luis cuddled beside +him, complacently adding his affirmative “Yep,” at +fitting intervals.</p> +<p>“And so he said it wasn’t nothin’. And so––and +so––I fell offen the bookcase and made a noise; and +my mother didn’t hear it ’cause she was asleep. Me +and Luis was asleep, wasn’t we, Luis?”</p> +<p>“Yep. Sleep.”</p> +<p>“And he waked us up through the window–––”</p> +<p>“Waked froo winder, yep.”</p> +<p>“And said: ‘Go get that pointed stick, Ned Trent, +and I’ll give you a dollar.’ Didn’t he?”</p> +<p>“Gimme dollar. Didn’t gimme dollar. What’s a +dollar?” asked the echo.</p> +<p>Ned went on, unheeding:</p> +<p>“And I said no. ’Twasn’t my stick; ’twas my +mother’s.”</p> +<p>“Oh! Neddy, Neddy! if you’d only stuck to that!” +groaned Mrs. Benton, wiping her face with her +apron.</p> +<p>But being now fairly launched upon his narrative, +and also feeling wholly secure within the shelter of +“Forty-niner’s” arms, Ned paused no more till he +had completed it:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_138' name='page_138'></a>138</span></div> +<p>“And then he gave us the candy, ’cause I didn’t +want dollars. You can’t eat dollars, can you? And +the candy was like the kind my mother never gives, +and just for an old stick was older than Pedro. Huh! +And then he––he––he made me put my hand on the +top of my head–––”</p> +<p>“Hands on tops of heads!” cried the echo, dramatically.</p> +<p>“And swore a swore I’d never, never, honest +Injun, tell a single tell, else he’d––he’d kill me! Kill +me right straight down dead! And now I have and +he will, and I forgot and you made me! I hate you, +I hate you! And won’t you feel bad when I’m all +deaded and you you done it, ’stead of him––and––and–––”</p> +<p>The sense of security had fled instantly, and completely. +The memory of Antonio’s dark face as he +had stood threateningly before the little fellow, at +midnight by the window, returned with all its vivid, +terrorizing power. Springing to the farthest reach of +the room Ned crouched there, wide-eyed and trembling, +and, of course, Luis followed his example.</p> +<p>To “Forty-niner’s” reassuring words, and to Mrs. +Benton’s cajoling ones, neither child paid any +further heed. They had been trained to believe that +their promised word was the most sacred of all +things, and now they had not only been induced to +break that, but to break it in the face of Antonio +Bernal’s terrible threat.</p> +<p>The elders left them to themselves and regarded +one another with regretful eyes. Then Aunt Sally +repeated in detail all that there was to tell concerning +the curious wand which had pointed the way +to wealth; and now Ephraim listened in vast respect. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_139' name='page_139'></a>139</span> +On the first recital, so hurriedly given by +Jessica, and when she had run to get the staff, he +had thought of the matter as one of the shepherd’s +“pious mummeries.” It now assumed a graver +aspect. The lost staff might possess some magnetic +quality which was invaluable, as Old Century +believed; but beyond all that was the uncomfortable +reflection that Antonio Bernal was somewhere in +hiding about Sobrante, and that doubtless it had +been he, or his emissary, who had tampered with the +mail pouch and caused Marty’s disaster.</p> +<p>“Well, a man that hides must have somethin’ to +be ashamed of. And I believe every single word that +child has told,” said Aunt Sally, in conclusion of her +long harangue.</p> +<p>“H’m! I thought that ‘snake’ had had his fang extracted +down there at Los Angeles; but it seems he’s +the sort can grow a new one, when needed. Well, +I’m powerful glad I’m home again. It takes a lot of +honest men to keep watch of one thief, and I’ll +prove handy. I’m off. I leave the lads with you. I’m +going to find out three things: How Ferd, the +dwarf, managed to break jail that night and leave +no sign; who robbed that mail pouch; and where +Antonio Bernal is at this precious minute.”</p> +<p>“Here, at your service, amigo!” cried a mocking +voice, outside the shuttered window. A voice that +all recognized at once as belonging to the late manager; +yet, when Ephraim had hastily run out and +around to that side of the house, there was nobody +within sight; and nothing to be heard save the +series of terrified shrieks which issued from the +room he had left.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_140' name='page_140'></a>140</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIV_TAKING_THE_DOCTORS_ADVICE' id='CHAPTER_XIV_TAKING_THE_DOCTORS_ADVICE'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>TAKING THE DOCTOR’S ADVICE</h3> +</div> +<p>For almost the first time in his life Ninian Sharp +was under the doctor’s hands; and that gentleman’s +verdict upon his patient’s case was simple and plain:</p> +<p>“Nothing the matter with you but breakdown. +The result of doing two men’s work instead of one. +What you need, and all you need, is a complete +change of thought and scene. Go off on some +ranch and take a vacation. That’s your medicine.”</p> +<p>“Thank you, doctor, but a prescription upon the +nearest drug store would be easier to fill. In the +first place I should worry all the time if I were idle, +for ‘hustling’ has become my second nature. In +the second––where shall I go?”</p> +<p>The physician shrugged his shoulders. He, also, +was a busy man and having finished his visit to his +patient did not prolong it. He picked up his hat, +remarked that he “didn’t doubt so clever a young +man could find a fitting place, if he gave what was +left of his mind to it,” and bowed himself out, leaving +the leaven of his sensible advice to accomplish +its legitimate result.</p> +<p>As the doctor left the room the nurse entered, +bearing with her a telegram which had been delayed +en route, and a letter. It was with some reluctance +that she delivered these to the man on the lounge, +yet realizing, at the same time, how much worse for +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_141' name='page_141'></a>141</span> +him was absolute cessation of all his ordinary interests. +With a solicitous smile, she inquired:</p> +<p>“Would you not better let me read these first? +They are probably unimportant.”</p> +<p>“Thank you, no. I’m not yet reduced to imbecility +and prefer to examine my own correspondence,” +returned the invalid, fretfully. Then as if ashamed +of his petulance, and with a return to his ordinary +manner, added: “This telegram might as well have +walked. Would have saved time, judging by the +date of it; and as for this letter––that, certainly, has +seen better days.”</p> +<p>The nurse smiled again, indulgently, and busied +herself in tidying the apartment; an occupation +which would have incensed Ninian, since her idea +of neatness seemed to him to be but the “disarrangement” +of the heaps of papers and manuscript +sheets scattered everywhere about, had he not been +otherwise interested. A hasty examination of the +messages he had received evoked his exultant exclamation:</p> +<p>“Hurrah! The very thing!”</p> +<p>“Good news?” asked the attendant.</p> +<p>“The best in the world. The doctor’s prescription, +filled to the letter. A ranch and new business. +Say, would you mind going out for a bit? I’d like +to get into some other togs and in a hurry. If I +can, I’ll make the one o’clock train.”</p> +<p>“The––one o’clock train!” gasped the bewildered +nurse, believing that her charge’s brain had given +away, even as the physician had suggested it +might do.</p> +<p>“Exactly. Please don’t be alarmed. Some country +friends of mine have invited me to visit them, and +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_142' name='page_142'></a>142</span> +I judge they would be glad if I accepted at once. +Their invitation fits in excellently with my own +needs and, after I’ve dressed for the trip, I’d be +grateful to you for packing a few things, while I +write to the bank and telephone to some other +places. Just touch that messenger call, will you, +please?”</p> +<p>Certainly, he did not now look very like a sick +man, as he sprang up and looked about him; save +that he put his hand to his head because of a momentary +dizziness and seemed somewhat unsteady +on his feet. However, his eyes had lost their dullness +and a faint color had come into his cheeks; and +the attendant saw no reason for opposing his sudden +determination.</p> +<p>The letter was Jessica’s, and its envelope had been +mended by the postmaster after he had taken it, +torn, from the mail pouch. The telegram was from +Ephraim Marsh, and had been sent by the first +messenger to Marion after that scene in the pantry +with Aunt Sally and the little boys. It had been +delayed by the curiosity of the operator, but had +reached Mr. Sharp at last; and its import was that:</p> +<p>“If you’re willing to use your brains for Sobrante +folks, as you used them once before, now’s the time. +There’ll be a led horse at Marion till you come, and +the sooner the better. ‘Forty-niner.’”</p> +<p>“A led horse. Why, he must have forgotten, if +he ever knew, that I’ve my own Nimrod here, that +Mrs. Trent insisted upon my accepting, when I left +Sobrante before. The horse must go with me, of +course, and I flatter myself I can pick up a bit of +instruction on riding among those fine ‘boys’ of the +little captain’s. I’ll send a return message––no, I +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_143' name='page_143'></a>143</span> +won’t, either. I’ll trust to luck and surprise them. +Now to get ready.”</p> +<p>A feeling that he was going “home” possessed +the young man, and all his simple preparations +strengthened rather than weakened him. Activity +was his habit, and an hour before the train left the +city he had completed his personal arrangements +with his office, his bank and his landlord. He had +paid his nurse the same salary she would have received +had he required her services for the fortnight, +as expected, and was ready for what came next.</p> +<p>“I feel as if I were entering upon a new life, instead +of taking a rest cure,” he remarked to Mr. Hale, +when that gentleman met him at the station, and +explained that a Christmas invitation had come for +himself, also. “And I say we’ll make it the jolliest +holiday those people down there ever knew. I sent +a letter to your address, after I ’phoned, and made +out a list of things I’d like you to see to. Presents +and so on; and I’ll write as soon as I get there and +let you know what’s up with the sharpshooter. +Some trouble, of course, but reckon it can’t be +much. Ha! we’re off. Good-by. Forget nothing, +add as much as you please to my list and send the +bills to me. Good-by.”</p> +<p>The train rolled noiselessly away from the long +platform, and the reporter for the Lancet stowed +himself comfortably away on his cushions and slept +as he had not slept before since this nervous illness +attacked him. Not once did he awake, till the conductor +touched him on the shoulder, and stated:</p> +<p>“End of the line, sir. Time to leave.”</p> +<p>Ninian sat up and shook himself, still feeling a +bit dazed from his heavy slumber, and had scarcely +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_144' name='page_144'></a>144</span> +realized the fact of his arrival before a man limped +into the car and slapped him on the shoulder.</p> +<p>“Well done, lad. Welcome to Sobrante!”</p> +<p>“Hello, Mr. Marsh! You here? Sobrante? I +thought–––”</p> +<p>“Same thing. This is Marion; as near as we can +get to our place on the rails. Remember, don’t you? +Been sick, eh? You look rather peaked and I ’low +I’d ought–––”</p> +<p>“No apologies. Here I am, and am not ill now. +Only been a little overworked; and your telegram, +as well as Miss Jessica’s letter, came in the nick of +time. Not an hour after the doctor had ordered this +very medicine of change and recreation.”</p> +<p>Ephraim looked sharply at his guest and reflected:</p> +<p>“What our business needs is a clear head and a +strong body, not an overtaxed man, as this ’pears +to be. Well, sick or well, I hope he can see through +some of our muddles, if not all; and half a loaf is +better than no bread.” Then he gathered the traveler’s +belongings, and remarked: “I told Aleck to +have a good supper ready. It’s a fine night and I +thought we’d ride home afterwards. Unless–––”</p> +<p>They left the car and Ninian answered the other’s +unspoken suggestion:</p> +<p>“No, I don’t want to stay all night, good as Janet’s +beds are. I’ve had a delicious sleep and feel like +another man from this morning. Hello! they’ve +taken Nimrod out already, and evidently are waiting +for orders. I declare, the handsome beast looks +as if he recognized this place and was as glad to +get back to it as I am.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_145' name='page_145'></a>145</span></div> +<p>Old “Forty-niner” left his guest’s side and hurried +to the spot where a trainman held the spirited animal, +stroking its neck and speaking soothingly to +it, to calm its excitement; and no sooner had the +ranchman’s hand supplanted the trainman’s than +Nimrod ceased to prance, and with a little final +shiver, stood stock-still, uttering a low whinny of +delight.</p> +<p>“That’s the talk, you beauty! Welcome home, +old boy! Well, well, well! if you ain’t a sight to cure +the headache! Yes, yes; it’s all right. This is +Marion. We’ve got to stop at Aleck’s first. Remember +Aleck? Remember Janet and her sugar? +Well, well, well!”</p> +<p>Ninian approached, amazed and incredulous, inquiring:</p> +<p>“Think that creature knows what you’re saying?”</p> +<p>“Forty-niner” turned upon the questioner indignantly.</p> +<p>“That’s a fool sort of question for a smart man to +ask! ‘Think’ he knows? No. There isn’t any ‘thinking’ +in this. I know he knows, and I know he’s just +as glad to set foot on his mother earth, here in +Marion, as I was t’other day when I stepped off this +same train––or its mate of the morning. I wish all +the men in the world were half as brainy as he is. +And I tell you what, stranger, you couldn’t have +done a thing would make your own welcome so sure +as fetching Nimrod with you. If you’d left him +behind some of us would have had our own opinion. +Though I, for one, didn’t know he was yours till this +very morning.”</p> +<p>“And the led horse you spoke about?”</p> +<p>Ephraim looked up, surprised, answering, rather +crisply:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_146' name='page_146'></a>146</span></div> +<p>“At home. Why not? When I heard about Nimrod +I wasn’t silly enough to bring another.”</p> +<p>“So if I hadn’t brought him we’d been short a +mount?” insisted the reporter, teasingly.</p> +<p>“One of us would had to foot it to the ranch, and +that one wouldn’t have been me. Huh! Does me +good to hear your nonsense gabble again. I declare +it does. When did you get my telegraph?”</p> +<p>“This morning.”</p> +<p>“This––morning! Why, I sent it day before yesterday, +no, the day before that. Let me see; to-day’s +one, yesterday––the funeral, two––the one––yes, +three days ago. John Benton himself gave it into +the telegraph man’s hands. Himself.”</p> +<p>They mounted and started toward McLeod’s Inn, +Ninian doing very well, considering the impatience +of his steed and his own limited experience of the +saddle, and the sharpshooter sitting as composedly +upon the back of as restless an animal as could readily +be found. It was a bay, and pranced and curveted +to the extent that Nimrod seemed a door-mouse +beside it, and Ninian finally observed:</p> +<p>“That’s an undecided sort of beast you have, yourself. +Seems to be as much inclined to go backward +as forward.”</p> +<p>“Hale’s. Name Prince. Was on the mesa with +Pedro till he died.”</p> +<p>“Pedro dead? I’m sorry. Was it his ‘funeral’ you +meant?”</p> +<p>“Yes. Terrible pity he couldn’t have held on till +Christmas, his Navidad, that always meant so much +to him. But he couldn’t. Things have changed at +Sobrante since you was here. I’m glad you’ve come. +I’m powerful glad you’ve come.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_147' name='page_147'></a>147</span></div> +<p>“Any new trouble, Ephraim?”</p> +<p>“H’m! I should say. Ghosts, the women think, +and scamps for certain. But it’s a long story, and +here we are at Aleck’s. We mustn’t spoil that good +supper of his and talk will keep. We’ve thirty miles +’twixt us and bed, ’less you change your mind and +stop here, and that should give time enough to turn +a man’s mind inside out.”</p> +<p>“Were you so certain of my coming that you +ordered a special supper, without hearing?”</p> +<p>“Sure. I took you to be a man and I put myself +in your place. In your place I should have come if +I could; and if I couldn’t I should have sent word. +Light.”</p> +<p>Aleck came out to meet them, and Janet followed, +of course. Where one of that worthy couple was +the other was sure to be; and both extended to the +city man such welcome as made him more impressed +than ever by that “home feeling” which had possessed +him all day. He returned their good wishes +with heartiness and did full justice to his supper, +adding as a thankful tribute to Janet’s fine cookery:</p> +<p>“That’s the first thing has passed my lips that +hadn’t the flavor of ashes, since many a day. The +doctor was right.”</p> +<p>“Glad to hear any doctor ever could be right,” +returned the innkeeper, who had never been ill, and +attributed his health to his distrust of physicians. +“Fresh air, wholesome food and a clear conscience––them’s +to long life what the three R’s are to +’rithmetic. Powerful sorry you can’t pass the night. +I’d admire to talk over the political situation with +an intelligent man.”</p> +<p>The side glance toward himself with which the +Scotchman said this sent Ephraim off into a mighty +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_148' name='page_148'></a>148</span> +guffaw, in which presently they all joined; and in +the midst of the merriment a stable boy led up the +horses, and the Sobrante-bound riders loped away. +Yet, just before they were out of hearing, Aleck’s +stentorian voice sent after them the warning +advice:</p> +<p>“Keep a sharp lookout, by, and your hands on +your guns. That spook’s hit the trail again! Watch +out!”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed, and “Forty-niner” tried to do so, +but the most he could accomplish was a feeble +cackle, which, his companion fancied, betrayed his +age as nothing heretofore had done. It was a nervous, +irritated laugh, and was matched by the +altered voice in which its owner presently remarked:</p> +<p>“If I can’t stop this fool business any other way, +I’ve a notion to ride round the country and shoot +right and left, everybody I see, promiscuous. That’s +the sure and certain way to hit the spook, too.”</p> +<p>“Heigho! This grows exciting! Spooks? Mysteries? +Mail robberies! What next?”</p> +<p>There was no answer from the sharpshooter, who +had gotten his horse into a steady trot and was putting +the road behind him in a manner that needed +all Ninian’s efforts to match. If Nimrod had been as +little used to the trail as his rider was to him the +space between the two animals would have widened +irretrievably; but he was the better bred of the two, +and though he didn’t waste his strength in a first +spurt, as Prince did, he fell into a steady, easy gait, +that soon told to his advantage.</p> +<p>It was one of the perfect moonlight nights which +come in that cloudless region, when one can easily +“read fine print,” if so inclined, or see across country +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_149' name='page_149'></a>149</span> +almost as well as in the day. The swift motion, the +exhilarating air, the sense of freedom from city +walls and cramped spaces, started the reporter into +singing, and later into the silence of wonder over +the astonishing power of his own voice.</p> +<p>“Hurrah! If that’s my warble I never heard it +before! It’s a marvelous atmosphere that makes a +rag time tune sound like a nightingale’s music. If +‘Forty-niner’ would join it–––Hello! what’s up? +What in––the name––of––all things!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_150' name='page_150'></a>150</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XV_NINIANS_GREETING' id='CHAPTER_XV_NINIANS_GREETING'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<h3>NINIAN’S GREETING</h3> +</div> +<p>Suddenly, out of the moonlit distance before +them, appeared a strange vision. A horse and his +rider, as spotlessly white and gleaming as the snow +on the distant mountaintops, moving toward them +as swift as the wind and in supernatural silence. The +eyes of the steed and its master glowed with a +wicked light that startled both the old frontiersman +and the modern scribe, and set Prince and Nimrod +into paroxysms of terror.</p> +<p>Rearing, plunging and backing, Ninian’s mount +had him soon on the ground; and though Ephraim +stuck to his saddle like a burr; he could not hold his +horse and get at his revolver in that one instant of +the appearance and disappearance of this strange +“specter.” It was coming––it was upon them––it +was gone; and the blast of cold air with which it +passed them set the horses shivering in an ague of +fear, and tied the men’s tongues.</p> +<p>It seemed an age that they halted there in the +open solitude, silently stroking and soothing their +frightened beasts, before either could speak. Then +“Forty-niner” found his voice and burst forth, +absurdly:</p> +<p>“Drat––that––pocket!”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed; nervously, almost hysterically at +first; then with honest merriment, exclaiming:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_151' name='page_151'></a>151</span></div> +<p>“Oh, what a chance was lost there, comrade!”</p> +<p>“Whoa, boy, whoa, I tell you! There, there, +steady now. Well, you needn’t throw it in my teeth +if it was!” retorted the sharpshooter, furiously. +“Hang new pants!”</p> +<p>Ninian rolled on the ground and laughed afresh; +then feebly observed: “That’s what I generally do +with mine. But pockets! What of them?”</p> +<p>“Huh! it’s all very well for you to lie there and +snicker. I lost the chance of my life that time. +What’s the use of a repertation for hittin’ a pin at +the distance I have if you can’t hit a fool when he’s +close alongside?”</p> +<p>“Referring to me?” asked the reporter, sweetly.</p> +<p>“Yes, if the coat fits. Drat that pocket!”</p> +<p>“Poor pocket! Who made it?”</p> +<p>“That pesky Sally Benton. The one was in burst +right through, and she sewed this one so tight at +the top–––Huh! I believe she done it a-purpose.”</p> +<p>“To be sure she did. If I remember correctly that +estimable woman was opposed to bloodshed and +preferred corporal punishment. I suppose she feared +you might do what you attempted to do and–––”</p> +<p>“Shut up your shallow talk, young man!” ordered +Ephraim, with so much venom that the other realized +his mirth was ill-timed and grew serious.</p> +<p>“What was the thing, anyway, Marsh?”</p> +<p>“That’s more than I know, but just what I would +have known if I’d hit it with a bullet. That’s the +‘spook’ Aleck warned us of. It’s been kitin’ round +the country ever since that first night after Pedro +died. Some say it’s the ghost. It ’pears to be +wrapped in a white blanket and wears it same as he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_152' name='page_152'></a>152</span> +did. He had a white horse once that had outlived all +the horses ever was, I reckon; and the Simple +Simons all about us claim that it’s the Indian’s spirit +on the Indian’s horse, a-ridin’ round ’count of some +trouble why he can’t rest. There was a letter thrown +into our settin’ room night before last, in poor +printing enough, too; and it said that Pedro had +been banished from the happy hunting grounds on +account of a secret he’d told; and a warning everybody +not to touch to try and find the place the secret +told about. It scared the mistress pretty bad, though +she didn’t let on much. The captain laughed, of +course. She always laughs at everything; and Mrs. +Benton––well, she just pinned the paper in her +bosom, and says she: ‘I’ll know where that is when +it’s needed.’ She’s some sense, Sally has, though +nothing to boast of, and she’s a mighty good sewer +of patchwork, though she’s no good at pistol pockets. +Well, shall we go on?”</p> +<p>Ninian had remounted his horse, which still was +restless and ill to manage, and Prince was capering +about in a fantastic fashion that, however, was not +greatly different from his behavior earlier in the +evening; and the reporter had satisfied himself that +there was nothing now to be seen of the apparition +which had flashed upon them and disappeared on +the road back to Marion.</p> +<p>“Yes, let’s go on. And I hope the least that will +happen will be the arrival of that ‘spook’ at Aleck +McLeod’s cheerful inn. I’d give much to see his +face if it did appear.”</p> +<p>“Oh! it’s been there already; last night. The +kitchen window was raised so softly none but Janet +could have heard it, and before she could get to it, +a white, skinny hand came through and snatched up +a quail pie she’d baked for breakfast and off sooner’n +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_153' name='page_153'></a>153</span> +she could catch it. She was so mad about the +pie that, for a minute, she forgot to be scared; then +it came over her that she’d been cookin’ ghost’s +victuals, and she shivered all the rest the night. +She wouldn’t ever let Aleck far out of sight, she’s so +fond of him, but now he can’t stir three foot away. +Every man I met has something fresh to tell of how +his women folks have been worried by the thing; +and if somebody doesn’t settle his spookship mighty +sudden, we’ll have all the females in hysterics; and +something we’ve never needed in this valley yet, +and that’s a doctor. There won’t be a nerve left +anywhere.”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed again; adding, a moment later: +“Not just the sort of place to send a nervous-prostration +patient, is it, after all? But what’s your +own speculation concerning the nuisance?”</p> +<p>“Let me tell you the whole business, so far forth +as I’ve heerd it since I came home. Then you can +form your own mind on it and see how best to help +my folks out their troubles; ’cause I ain’t trying to +hide that was my reason for wanting you to come. +You’d helped us so much with the title affair I knew +you’d unravel this skein. But I’m powerful glad +to see you, all the same, and I do hope you’ll get +as much good for yourself out the visit as I want +the mistress to get.”</p> +<p>The horses were now somewhat quieted by a +long stretch of the level road, over which they had +been allowed to travel at their own pace, and talking +was easier. Ephraim gave in detail the story +of Pedro’s visit and gift of the wand; of the many +strange incidents of the last few days; of Ned’s +serious illness, caused by fright, Aunt Sally declared, +but, as his mother thought, by too much rich +food and an overdose of candy; and how, though he +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_154' name='page_154'></a>154</span> +had repeatedly been heard about the premises, nobody +had as yet actually seen Antonio Bernal. However, +at present, little was thought of but the suffering +children; for Luis had remained true to his character +of “echo” and had himself, that very day, been +put to bed with the same high fever which was tormenting +Ned.</p> +<p>“You see, though it’s getting Christmas time and +everything ought to be lovely, we’re about as badly +off as a family can be. All the same, if anybody in +this world can cheer the mistress it’ll be yourself, +Mr. Sharp, and I’m powerful glad you’ve come.”</p> +<p>For the rest of the ride they were mostly silent; +each man revolving in his mind the most plausible +explanation of Antonio’s behavior, in his would-be +mysterious hiding, and his terrorizing of the little +lads.</p> +<p>Finally, Ninian expressed his own opinion:</p> +<p>“It’s perfectly natural he should drift back to +Sobrante, even with all the opprobrium that would +attach to him there. It is his home. He believed +or pretended to believe, that it was also his birthright. +He knows nothing that would bring him a +livelihood in the city–––”</p> +<p>“Except gambling,” interrupted Ephraim, contemptuously.</p> +<p>“If he tried his hand at that even, he’d fail. He +hasn’t the head to plot deeply. His maneuvers are +all childishly transparent, and this last one––h’m! +Have you connected his ‘highness’ with this spook +business?”</p> +<p>“No, sir; and you needn’t. That Antonio Bernal +is the biggest coward above ground. Why, bless +me! even if he’d had gumption enough to concoct +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_155' name='page_155'></a>155</span> +such a scheme he wouldn’t have the nerve to carry +it out. He’d be afraid of himself! Fact! No, siree. +Top-lofty never had a hand in this,” answered the +elder man.</p> +<p>Ninian said no more but kept his suspicions revolving +in his own mind; yet was far more absorbed +in the possibility that “Forty-niner” had suggested, +of the copper vein in the canyon, than by anything +else he had heard. They had ridden on again, each +silent, till the lights of Sobrante came into view; +then Ephraim remarked:</p> +<p>“Reckon the little tackers ain’t much better. The +mistress don’t gen’ally keep lamps lit as late as this, +’less something’s wrong. Oh! I hope there’s no more +death and disappointment on our road. ’Twould +break Mrs. Trent’s heart, indeed, if she lost Ned.”</p> +<p>Ninian roused himself from his reverie, and answered, +lightly:</p> +<p>“For such a cheerful fellow as I remember you, +even when you were first laid up in hospital, you’re +degenerated sadly. What in the name of common +sense is the use of prognosticating evil, when good +is just as likely to come?”</p> +<p>“Huh! I’m consid’able older than you, young +man,” retorted the sharpshooter, perversely.</p> +<p>“All the more reason you should be more hopeful. +What’s happened to you besides these external troubles? +Something on your own account, eh? If so, +believe me you have my hearty sympathy and my +right hand to help you, if you need it.”</p> +<p>Ephraim checked Prince so shortly that the +animal reared on his haunches, and pushing his hat +from his brow regarded the visitor with a sad but +grateful countenance. Then he spoke, and his tones +were husky with subdued emotion:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_156' name='page_156'></a>156</span></div> +<p>“Thanks, friend. I took to you the first time my +old eyes lit on you and I’ve leaned on you, in my +mind, ever since. There is something ’at worries +me, but it’s so slight I shan’t put it into words––yet. +I’ve got work to do still for them I love and +that love me. Which I might maybe sum up in one +small person––my precious Lady Jess. God bless +her! Ay, God bless her! From the crown of her +sunny head to the tips of her dainty feet, she’s the +truest, squarest, tenderest creature the Lord ever +sent to lighten this dark world. They all love her, +every one of them rough, hard-handed sons of toil +whom she calls her ‘boys’; but there isn’t one, not +one, can begin to love her as I do. Not one. It is +she that makes me still keep a little faith–––There, +there! what an old fool I am! But, thanks, all the +same, and don’t you forget I’m your own to command +if need comes. Shake, neighbor, and may +your age be–––Giddap there, Prince! Let’son, +lad; let’s get on.”</p> +<p>Ninian did get on, but again silently pondering +that here again was something mysterious in this +honest octogenarian’s mood. There was an undercurrent +of sorrow which, he was sure, was wholly +distinct from the anxieties of his mistress and her +household, and he wondered what it might be. +Surely, for an old man, though wifeless and childless +he had much to make him happy. The devotion +of the family in which he had lived for so long, his +comfortable home, his freedom from care concerning +his future––to the young man struggling amidst +a crowd of competitors to make a place for himself +in the world, it seemed as if the venerable sharpshooter +had cause for nothing but rejoicing. However, +these might be mere imaginations, and best +banished for the present.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_157' name='page_157'></a>157</span></div> +<p>Ephraim made straight for the house, and the +sound of the horses’ footfalls brought figures flying +to the open doors; most welcome of these in the +eyes of the two men, the small one of Jessica herself, +her head stretched forth as she peered into the +night, and the lamplight behind her making a radiance +about her golden head and slender gracefulness. +But she poised there on the threshold only +for an instant, till she was sure what animals these +were, then darted toward them with uplifted hands +and a cry of delight:</p> +<p>“They’ve come! Oh, mother, they’ve come!––they’ve +come!”</p> +<p>Another moment and the reporter had slipped +from his saddle and had caught up the little girl, +more glad on his own part than he would have +once thought possible to have her once more beside +him.</p> +<p>“Yes, captain, here we are! But did you expect +us––or me? And how could you tell that we were +not strangers?”</p> +<p>“Why, don’t you suppose I’d know the step of any +horse for ours? And though Nimrod is yours now +I know him like––like a brother. Don’t I, dear +fellow?” and from Ninian’s clasp she ran to embrace +the down-bent head of the thoroughbred.</p> +<p>On his side, Nimrod was equally rejoiced. His +velvet nostrils caressed the little girl’s cheeks and +flowing hair, while his dainty forefoot gently pawed +the ground in expression of delight and not impatience. +Prince stood looking on, unmoved. He +was not Sobrante raised and seemed to feel it; or +so Jessica fancied, as she left off petting Nimrod +and passed to Prince’s side, to stroke his head also, +and to murmur words of praise for good behavior +in bringing Ephraim safely home.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_158' name='page_158'></a>158</span></div> +<p>Then “Forty-niner” led the beast away, while +Jessica sped after Ninian, who had been greeted––almost +grasped––by Aunt Sally. She had drawn +him indoors, laughing, crying, whispering, entreating, +all in a breath:</p> +<p>“Oh, oh, oh, land of Goshen! My suz! If you +ain’t the gladdest sight I’ve seen this dog’s age! +How are you, how are you? Slim? You certainly +do look slim,” she declared, as she led him into the +radiance of the lamp and critically peered into his +face, both through and above her spectacles.</p> +<p>“Well, my good friend, I never was anything but +slim, as I remember. And I have been just a bit +ailing, if that’s your meaning. However, I’m all +right now, most delighted to be here, and wholly at +your service or that of anybody else who needs me. +How are the children? Ephraim said that they +were ill. And Mrs. Trent?”</p> +<p>As if in answer to his questions, there was a patter +of bare feet on the stairs and in came Luis, his +great dark eyes looking twice their normal size +and his voice shrill with excitement, as he tried to +say:</p> +<p>“Ned––Ned’s gone and got––and got––Ned’s gone +got gone roof. Oh, oh!”</p> +<p>Mrs. Benton dropped Ninian’s hand which she had +continued to hold and shake up and down, much +in the manner of one pumping water, and caught +up the child to also shake him vigorously:</p> +<p>“Hi! What’s that you say? Don’t you dare to +tell auntie a story. What’s Neddy–––Oh, my land! +all the catnip’s gone out of my life, seems if!”</p> +<p>The reporter and Jessica looked at each other and +burst into laughter. It was impossible to help it, +Aunt Sally’s manner had been so droll and yet so +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_159' name='page_159'></a>159</span> +dramatic; and, oddly enough, over Ninian there +stole again the feeling that he had come home, and +that the griefs and perplexities of this household +had become his own. With that his merriment was +over, for the fear Mrs. Benton’s face had betrayed +was sincere.</p> +<p>Jessica, also, had sobered instantly, and catching +her guest’s hand hurried him impulsively upward, +crying:</p> +<p>“He’s done it again! Oh, if mother sees him it +will frighten her to death!”</p> +<p>They reached the upper floor and the end of the +hall which divided it into two sections, and from +whence a ladder ran upright to a trapdoor opening +on the sloping roof. The scuttle had been left open +for ventilation, and up this steep stairway Luis was +pointing with wild gestures.</p> +<p>Again Aunt Sally caught and shook the little +fellow, but he could make no better business of talking +than before. Jessica had not waited for more +than one glance into the empty chamber where the +sick children had been cared for, since it was more +quiet than the customary bed-room below; and +that glance, added to Luis’ gesticulations, told her +story.</p> +<p>“Oh, he’s walking in his sleep again! He’s gone +on the roof!”</p> +<p>The next the reporter realized she had climbed the +ladder and disappeared through the scuttle. He +forgot that he was, or had been, ill, and followed +her, only to pause at the sight which met him as +his head protruded through the opening. It was a +house of many gables, and upon the peak of the +farthest one poised Ned in his night-clothes, slowly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_160' name='page_160'></a>160</span> +swinging his arms in the circular fashion children +adopt preparatory to a leap or spring.</p> +<p>“One!” counted the childish voice. “Two!”</p> +<p>Ninian closed his eyes, as if by so doing he might +shut his ears to the final “Three!” which would +mark the fatal leap.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_161' name='page_161'></a>161</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVI_JESSICA_GETS_HER_WISH' id='CHAPTER_XVI_JESSICA_GETS_HER_WISH'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<h3>JESSICA GETS HER WISH</h3> +</div> +<p>Ninian Sharp had closed his eyes against a catastrophe +which, seemingly, nothing less than a miracle +could prevent. When he opened them again +the miracle had been performed.</p> +<p>Love had lent to Jessica a strength and swiftness +almost incredible even to her active body, and she +had crossed the steep, slated roof just in time to +clasp Ned’s feet and to drag him backward with her +as she rolled down upon the broader portion. Yet +even here was imminent danger, for the lad was +struggling, in his sudden awakening, and the pair +were slipping hopelessly toward the eaves.</p> +<p>But now was the reporter’s chance and the test of +his athletic training. He threw himself prone upon +the slippery slates, worming his lean person over +them till he caught the girl’s frock, and bidding +her “hold fast!” drew both the children slowly +toward the scuttle. When his feet had found the +edge of this the danger was past; and they were +presently down upon the hall floor, laughing and +sobbing together in one excited group. That is, the +sister was sobbing and Ninian was laughing in a +nervous way that had grown upon him with his +illness, and that told to Aunt Sally’s keen ear how +really frail he still was.</p> +<p>But Master Ned, the cause of all this emotion, +looked calmly upon the stranger, and demanded:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_162' name='page_162'></a>162</span></div> +<p>“Where’s that printing press you promised, hey? +I can say five, ten letters now, and I can spell cat +backwards!”</p> +<p>“Is it possible? Before such erudition I bow my +humble head!” laughed the visitor, grateful for +any, even nonsensical, words that would relieve the +tension of the moment.</p> +<p>But here Aunt Sally caught up the boy and looked +him over anxiously; then joyfully declared:</p> +<p>“He’s got his senses back. Oh! Gabriella, where +are you? Neddy’s all right!”</p> +<p>“Oh, auntie, hush! There’s no need to tell +mother anything of this last danger, and if you’ll +only please put Ned back to bed she won’t have +to know.”</p> +<p>“Ain’t goin’ to bed. Been a-bed ’nough,” protested +the supposed invalid. “Want my clothes. +Want to go downstairs and get my supper.”</p> +<p>“Get my supper,” assented Luis, creeping forward +from the corner where he had hidden in fear of he +knew not what.</p> +<p>“Hello, echo! You on hand again? How’s business?” +demanded Ninian, drawing the child towards +him.</p> +<p>“First rate,” answered Ned, for his comrade, who +promptly echoed: “’Strate.”</p> +<p>But now came the mother, hurrying up the stairs, +with a bowl of gruel she had gone to prepare, and +interest in which had opportunely prevented her +knowing either of the reporter’s arrival or her son’s +peril. And the visitor sprang to his feet again, +while she welcomed him as cordially and gracefully +as if she had been sitting in state, expectant, +within her own pretty parlor.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_163' name='page_163'></a>163</span></div> +<p>One flash of her eyes toward her boy, safe in Mrs. +Benton’s arms again and carefully wrapped about +in her capacious apron, relieved any anxiety she +might have felt in coming upon this unexpected +group, and she asked, with a little burst of laughter:</p> +<p>“Is it possible that Ned was so quick to welcome +you? Well, son, it might have been more courteous +to have gone downstairs; but I’m sure our friend +will pardon a little lad who’s been ill. He’s really +better, isn’t he, Aunt Sally? He looks quite +natural.”</p> +<p>“Yes, honey, he’s better. I reckon he’s passed the +turnin’ point now, if nothin’ new sets in. You take +Mr. Sharp down into the settin’-room, ’cause he’s +seen the children and I’ll set with them a spell. +Wun Lung can get the supper well’s I can, if he’ll +put his heatheny mind to it. Eh? What is it, +sonny?”</p> +<p>Fortunately, Ned, like most sleepwalkers, was +wholly unconscious of his actions while in that abnormal +state, and made no comments on anything +save his own reluctance to go to bed while so interesting +a gentleman was in the house; but was +finally coaxed to do so by the promise of Luis +sharing his cot as well as his porridge; whereupon +Mrs. Trent kissed him good-night and invited the +guest below.</p> +<p>His protestations against another supper, after +the excellent one he had taken at Aleck McLeod’s, +met with nothing but the hospitable rejoinder:</p> +<p>“Oh! but you can surely manage a light refreshment, +since you’ve ridden thirty miles from Marion.”</p> +<p>To which the little captain added her entreaties, +saying:</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_164' name='page_164'></a>164</span></div> +<p>“I’m hungry, anyway. I’m always so, I guess, +but I couldn’t think of breaking bread before you +unless you share it.”</p> +<p>Therefore sleepy Wun Lung came with the tray, +and was gratified by the friendly notice of the +stranger; and Mrs. Trent made tea in the little +swinging kettle over her alcohol lamp, her daughter +declaring that it always tasted better served in that +way. Ninian found that, in spite of his protestations, +the simple refreshments were very acceptable, +and the trio were quietly enjoying their reunion +when Jessica suddenly remembered Ephraim and +sprang up to go in search of him, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Even if Mr. Sharp isn’t hungry, dear old ‘Forty-niner’ +is sure to be. He’ll be here soon, maybe, but +I won’t wait till the kettle is cold. He’s been sleeping +at the ‘house’ ever since he got back and might +go straight to his room, if I don’t prevent.”</p> +<p>When she had gone Ninian observed upon the +remarkable devotion between the old sharpshooter +and his small pupil, and the mother assented; yet +added, as an after-thought:</p> +<p>“I sometimes regret it. Jessica is a child of impulsive, +yet absorbing affections. She can see no +flaw in the character of anybody she loves; and––well, +none of us are perfect, and Ephraim grows +old.”</p> +<p>Still, when he entered, the lady greeted him with +cordiality, and served him promptly; and presently +they were all talking eagerly of the recent events at +Sobrante. Of course, Pedro came in for a brief +but loving mention; and to the guest’s inquiry as +to what had been done with the fine flock of sheep +which the old man had herded, the mistress replied:</p> +<p>“I have sent them up into the mountains, with +the herds of a neighbor, for the present. Ephraim, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_165' name='page_165'></a>165</span> +here, petitioned for the post of shepherd, but I +dared not give it to him,” and she looked deprecatingly +toward the sharpshooter.</p> +<p>“No, she didn’t,” assented he. “She could trust +that Old Century, but she couldn’t trust me.”</p> +<p>There was greater bitterness in the tone than +he had ever manifested before his small captain, +and she was quick to notice and resent it.</p> +<p>“Look here, you blessed old grumbler, you stop +that, please. If not ‘please,’ stop it anyway, because +I’m your commander. You know why, and only +why, my mother said ‘no’ to that bright scheme +of yours.” Then she explained to Ninian, who was +listening closely: “You must understand that shepherding +is the very loneliest thing that has to be +done on a ranch. The shepherd is alone from week +to week; on some ranches from month to month. +He hasn’t a soul to speak to save when somebody +chances to cross his field, which isn’t often. A lot +of men go crazy, living that way, and mother has +always been afraid for even Pedro. I never was for +him, though, ’cause he always liked it and had +lived so––well, forever. But naughty old ‘Forty-niner’ +felt it would be his ‘duty’ to go up there away +from all of us, and mother wouldn’t let him, and +so–––”</p> +<p>“And so, my honored captain, you’ll force me to +be a mere hanger-on and idler.”</p> +<p>Jessica held up her forefinger, warningly. “That’s +enough, Ephraim. I am ‘She that must be obeyed,’ +Samson says, sometimes. And one of the times is +now. If you and mother aren’t ashamed to disagree +before my dear Mr. Sharp, I’m ashamed to +have you!”</p> +<p>All laughed and none took offense at this plain +talk which, jesting though it seemed, covered a +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_166' name='page_166'></a>166</span> +serious meaning, and soon “Forty-niner” remarked, +as if to close the subject:</p> +<p>“Well, all’s said and done; yet, still, I know if +I’d been let to have my way in this I’d have stopped +a deal of mischief. It would be better, seems to me, +to have an old frontiersman living in Pedro’s cabin +than a spook.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent started, and, the guest fancied, shivered +slightly. But she rejoined, impatiently:</p> +<p>“Oh, Mr. Marsh! that nonsense again, and from +you!”</p> +<p>“So they say, ma’am.”</p> +<p>Cried Jessica gayly:</p> +<p>“The only thing Sobrante needed to make it as +lovely as those old English places one reads about +in the story books was a ‘ghost’, and now we’ve +got it! Honest, and I do hope you’ll see it for yourself. +I want to so much, and one night Samson and +I chased it, but––it got away. The ‘boys’ say now +that it has even taken to horseback. Don’t you +wish you might be luckier than I, Mr. Ninian?”</p> +<p>A glance flashed between the reporter and the +sharpshooter, but not quite swiftly enough to escape +the girl’s observation; and, after a moment’s +pause, she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Why, I believe you have already seen it!”</p> +<p>There was an awkward silence, which Mrs. Trent +broke by the stern reproof she managed to throw +into one word: “Jessica!”</p> +<p>“Yes, mother, I know. It’s silly, and I will be +careful not to mention the delightful subject before +the children.”</p> +<p>“What are you but a child yourself, my mature +little woman?” demanded the visitor, playfully.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_167' name='page_167'></a>167</span></div> +<p>“Why, I’m a little girl, of course; but one who +always wanted to see a fairy, till somebody told +me there was none. Now I’m longing for this +‘spook’––that really is, ’cause so many, many have +seen it––and I’m not even let to talk about him.”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent shook her head regretfully.</p> +<p>“I’m afraid we’ve spoiled you among us, my +darling. But, leaving these unexplained things to +explain themselves at their proper time, suppose +you go and see that all is ready in Mr. Sharp’s room? +Wun Lung is still mooning by himself on the kitchen +stoop and will do what you ask him.”</p> +<p>“They all do that, I infer,” commented Ninian, +as the child hastened away, eager to serve all whom +she loved.</p> +<p>“Yes, they do. It’s a delightful, but not, maybe, +the wisest life for any girl to live. No playmates +except her two small brothers, and no schooling +that is at all regular or effective. I can’t imagine +what Sobrante would be without her, and yet–––”</p> +<p>She paused and “Forty-niner” took up her sentence:</p> +<p>“It wouldn’t be Sobrante, mistress. That’s all. +I, for one, couldn’t stay here and serve under any +other body now except my captain;” and so saying, +as if a shadow of the future fell upon him, the +old man rose and went out, quite forgetting to say +good-night.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Jessica had found Wun Lung and +also found him more than willing to go with her +and perform even additional tasks, since by so doing +he might have the comfort and safety of human +presence. Fragments of talk had come to him in +his kitchen concerning the apparitions which had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_168' name='page_168'></a>168</span> +startled the whole countryside, during these past +few days, and had received the strongest confirmation +from his housemate, Pasqual. The latter believed, +indeed, all that he himself heard and invented +much more. He had grown to be afraid of his own +shadow and now resorted to the men’s quarters on +each and every occasion that presented, feeling a +safety among them he could not feel at the “house” +among a lot of women. Of course, his defection +from duty entailed endless conflicts between himself +and Aunt Sally, but since this resulted in nothing +worse to the delinquent than a loss of some +dainty food, he could put up with it. He was away +now, bunking in Marty’s room, and Wun Lung sat +alone, too afraid to go to bed, yet too uneasy to +enjoy the beauty of the night. His sharp, black eyes +peered here and there and everywhere, about the +place; and when Jessica came running to him, in +her noiseless moccasins, he jumped so high that +his queue flew out at a right angle from his head, +and he screeched:</p> +<p>“Oh, mly flathe’s, mly flathe’s!”</p> +<p>Lady Jess laughed aloud.</p> +<p>“No, good Wun Lung. Not your fathers, nor +even any of your relatives, but only me. Having +had supper, the next thing for our dear Mr. Sharp +is a bed and sleep. Come help me make it ready.”</p> +<p>The Chinaman rose with alacrity, and soon had +collected the bed linen, towels and bucket of water, +suggesting that Jessica should bring a lighted candle.</p> +<p>“Oh! we don’t need a light, Wun Lung. It’s as +bright as day with the shutters open, and we must +be quick, anyway, for the dear man has been ill and +is tired.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_169' name='page_169'></a>169</span></div> +<p>The room was the same that Mr. Hale had found +so delightful during his own visit to the ranch, and +the girl threw the shutters wide, to let in the fresh +air and moonlight while they arranged the place +for occupancy. She left the bed making to the +longer and stronger arms of her assistant, but herself +attended to the pitchers and toilet things; and +while so engaged, with her back toward the open +windows, was suddenly startled by an ear-piercing +shriek from the Chinaman.</p> +<p>Shriek? Not one, but many; prolonged, reiterated, +till the whole house seemed in an uproar; and +facing swiftly about, to learn the cause and still the +clamor, Jessica found her lately expressed desire +completely gratified. For there, clearly distinct in +the moonlight, not ten paces from the window +whence she gazed, was the phantom horse and +rider!</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_170' name='page_170'></a>170</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVII_THE_CACTUS_HEDGE' id='CHAPTER_XVII_THE_CACTUS_HEDGE'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<h3>THE CACTUS HEDGE</h3> +</div> +<p>The shrieks ended by Wun Lung’s throwing himself +face downward on the floor, but they had +roused the whole household, even the sleeping children. +Those in the room below had rushed to the +stairs, wondering what could possibly have happened +to the Chinaman, whose outcries these certainly +were. The little lads had sprang from their +cot, screaming on their own account, and Mrs. +Benton had awaked from the “fortywinks” she was +taking in her chair.</p> +<p>As a natural result of her sudden awakening she +grasped the two children who were clinging to her +skirts and shook them soundly, ordering them to +“shut up to once ’fore you scare folks to death.”</p> +<p>They were not easily pacified and she thus, fortunately, +had her hands full, for the moment, else +the fear-paralyzed Wun Lung might have fared +hardly. As it was, none but Jessica had a full, clear +view of the strange visitant, since the Chinaman +had closed his eyes against it and the others had +not thought to look out of doors; but she saw it, +and with critical distinctness.</p> +<p>For an instant, indeed, her own nerves had thrilled +and her heart seemed to stand still; the next her +overpowering desire to see the “spook” for herself +had conquered her terror and she gazed with all her +might.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_171' name='page_171'></a>171</span></div> +<p>“It certainly looks like Pedro, with his clothes +all white. And the horse––it may be his that died––but––but–––”</p> +<p>The ghostly steed and its rider remained utterly +motionless, as if scrutinizing the house on their own +part or waiting for somebody to appear; then, as +the little girl bounded to the open window the better +to gratify her curiosity, the animal––if such it was––slowly +wheeled about and loped away. There +was a sound of muffled footfalls on the hard drive, +and the vision had vanished.</p> +<p>Jessica still leaned from the casement watching +and thinking more rapidly than she had ever done +before; but when convinced that the apparition was +really gone, she slowly retreated below stairs, passing +her mother and Ninian on the way, yet not +pausing till she had gained the side of the sharpshooter. +Him she seized, exultantly exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Well, Ephraim, I’ve seen your spectre!”</p> +<p>“You––have!”</p> +<p>“And it’s no more a ‘ghost’ than I am.”</p> +<p>“What do you mean?” he demanded, hastily; +ashamed of himself for half regretting that the +supernatural view of the matter might not be the +right one. “It isn’t? Well, what is it, then?”</p> +<p>“It’s Antonio Bernal and his horse, Nero.”</p> +<p>“Huh! How do you fetch that? When both of +them are black as my hat.”</p> +<p>Her last, lingering uneasiness banished by his +presence and the sound of her own words, with +firmer conviction she declared to him and the others +who had now gathered about her:</p> +<p>“I ‘fetch it’ fast enough. This was the way dear +old Pedro used to ride; and this is the way your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_172' name='page_172'></a>172</span> +‘spook’ sat his horse,” she announced, so vividly +mimicking both men that all who had known them +recognized the likeness, and Ephraim exclaimed:</p> +<p>“That’s them to a t-i-o-n-tion! Can seem to see +’em right here before me. Well––what next?”</p> +<p>“Pedro wore his blanket like a king. Antonio +has covered his head with that white thing, and even +so wasn’t half Pedro’s height. I shall not soon +forget that splendid Old Century, the last time I +saw him ride away, that night. A hundred years +old, yet as straight in his saddle as a rod.”</p> +<p>“Antonio Bernal was a magnificent horseman, +darling,” suggested Mrs. Trent, from the chair into +which she had sunk, as if weakened by the series +of startling events which had befallen her home.</p> +<p>“Even so, mother, dear, he couldn’t match old +Pedro. Antonio sat forward, so, with a careless +sort of slouch––just like the ‘spook’ had.”</p> +<p>“What could possibly be his motive for such foolishness, +daughter, granting you are right?”</p> +<p>The captain laughed.</p> +<p>“Upon my word, mother, even you, as well as +Ephraim, seem sorry it isn’t a truly ghost, after +all.”</p> +<p>“No, no, indeed. I’m sorry, rather, to think it +may be Antonio, as you fancy, and that he still persists +in troubling us, even by so silly a disguise.”</p> +<p>“It hasn’t been so silly, Mrs. Trent, if it has hoodwinked +a lot of sensible people, and you are right––there +must be a motive for it in the actor’s mind. I +hope Jessica’s judgment in the case is correct, for +back there in Los Angeles, we didn’t find the manager +a difficult person to deal with,” remarked Mr. +Sharp.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_173' name='page_173'></a>173</span></div> +<p>The girl went on:</p> +<p>“Then that horse. Don’t you remember, mother, +and you, Ephraim, the curious little switch Nero +used to give his tail whenever he was turned +around? Well, this ‘spook’ horse did just the same +thing. Oh, I know, I know I’m right!”</p> +<p>“But how could he turn a black horse snow white, +even if you are? As I remember Nero he wouldn’t +stand much nonsense, even from his own master,” +said “Forty-niner.”</p> +<p>“Pooh! If lack-wit Ferd could paint Prince, as +he did––another spirited horse, if you please––Antonio +could do what he liked with Nero. It’s paint, +of course, or something like it.”</p> +<p>“But the eyes? The eyes as we saw them on the +road, a few hours back, were all on fire. You could +see them almost before you could make out that it +was a man on horseback was coming. Isn’t that so, +Sharp?” demanded Ephraim, persistent to the last.</p> +<p>Jessica turned upon him, triumphantly:</p> +<p>“There! I knew from the way you two looked +when we were talking a little while ago that you’d +seen something out of common! Do tell me about +it, please. Do, do!”</p> +<p>Ninian laughed, glanced at his hostess’ face, and +replied:</p> +<p>“That’s a story will keep, and you should be in +bed. I don’t want to have my coming harm you +when I meant it to do you good. Even such a +courageous child as you ought to sleep a great deal.”</p> +<p>She had been courageous, indeed, and had astonished +him by a coolness and readiness of observation +which would have done credit to a much older +person. He began to realize how different she was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_174' name='page_174'></a>174</span> +from other children of her age, and how the hardihood +of her rearing had developed qualities that +were quite unchildlike. He wondered how she +would adapt herself to the habits and thoughts +of other girls of her own age, and was not surprised +that Mrs. Trent craved such society for her. He +wished that he might see her placed in some good +school, yet was doubtful if just the right one could +be selected for a pupil so different from ordinary. +However, that was not his affair, and to relieve the +family of his further presence at that late hour undoubtedly +was. So he bade them all good-night +and went to his room, and very shortly afterward +everybody under that roof was sound asleep.</p> +<p>“Oh, what a dreamless, delicious rest I’ve had!” +was the visitor’s waking thought. His next, that it +must be very late and that he had put his hostess +to unnecessary trouble. Then he turned over “for +just one more wink” and slumbered on for another +couple of hours. This time he had dreams in plenty; +and finally roused from one, of beautiful gardens +peopled by harmless “spooks,” to a sound of sweet +music. By his watch he saw that it was eleven +o’clock and remembered that it was Sunday. Also, +the music was that of a familiar hymn, played upon +a fine piano, which was taken up and sung by a +choir of mixed voices, from the childish treble of the +two little lads to the stentorian bass of Samson, +the mighty.</p> +<p>Hastily dressing, Ninian slipped quietly down the +stairs and entered the sunny parlor; where Jessica +motioned to a chair which had evidently been reserved +for him, and softly approached him with an +open hymn book.</p> +<p>It was Mrs. Trent at the piano and her rich +soprano voice faultlessly led her straggling chorus, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_175' name='page_175'></a>175</span> +filled for the most part by the men grouped outside +on the wide porch. He could see them through the +long, French windows, sitting or standing as each +felt inclined, but all with that earnest seriousness +of demeanor which befitted the day and the task. +For task it evidently was to some of them; John +Benton, for example. He stood alone, at the most +upright post attainable, his book at arm’s length, +and his head moving from side to side, following +the lines, with a little upward toss of it as he reached +the end of each, while from his throat issued most +startling tones.</p> +<p>Afterwards, Aunt Sally explained, for she had +seen Ninian’s amused survey of her “boy,” that:</p> +<p>“John can no more carry a tune than he can fly, +and I’d rather hear him sawin’ his boards than +tryin’ to sing. But he feels it’s his duty to help +the others along by singing at it and sort of keepin’ +Gabriell’ in countenance, seems if. Sweet, ain’t it?”</p> +<p>It had been “sweet” in the guest’s opinion––the +whole of the short service; conducted with such +simple dignity and reverence by the Madonna-like +ranch mistress; the music so well chosen, the few +prayers so feelingly offered, and the brief exhortation +read from the words of a famous divine who +had the rare gift of touching men’s hearts. And he +so expressed himself, as well as his surprise, over +the belated breakfast which Mrs. Benton served +him when the service was over and the household +dispersed.</p> +<p>“Yes, I think it’s the nicest thing there is about +this dear Sobrante. There’s always been the best +sort of inflooence here and that’s why I like my +boy, John, to belong. Cass’us, he used to hold the +meeting, and after he died I feared Gabriella +wouldn’t be equal to it. But bless your soul! if down +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_176' name='page_176'></a>176</span> +she didn’t come that first Sunday ’at ever was, and +her not havin’ left her bed sence it happened, and +sent Wun Lungy out to have the old mission bell +rung, a signal. I’ll ever forget it to my dyin’ day, +I shan’t. Her like a spirit all in white and a face +was both the saddest and the upliftedest ever I see; +and them rough men all crowdin’ up to their places, +so soft you’d thought they was barefoot ’stead of +heavy shod; and Jessie with her arms round the +two little ones, and her mother pitchin’ the tune, +same as usual, and––and––I declare I can’t keep +the tears back yet, rememberin’. Before she was +done the whole kerboodle of us was sobbin’ and +cryin’ like a passel of young ones, and there was +she, with her broken heart, as calm and serene as +an angel. Angel is what she is, mostly; with just +enough old human natur’ in her to keep her from +soarin’ right away. Gabriell’s one them scurce kind +makes you glad every time she does a wrong or +thoughtless thing, ’cause then you know she ain’t +quite perfected yet, and you’re surer of keepin’ her +’on earth. My! the good that woman does beats +all. This very day, when she’d lots rather stay to +home and visit with you, she’s give orders for +Ephraim to have the buck-board got ready to take +her twenty miles to see a neighbor who’s sick. She’s +fixing a basket of things now, and is in a hurry. +So that’s the reason she didn’t come to keep you +company herself. Have another piece of chicken––do.”</p> +<p>“Thank you, no. I’ve enjoyed my breakfast +hugely, and feel as if I’d never known a moment’s +illness.”</p> +<p>There was the sound of wheels just then and +Ninian strolled out to offer his service as escort to +the ranch mistress in case she might desire it. But +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_177' name='page_177'></a>177</span> +the offer was not made, though the lady greeted +him with evident pleasure, and even herself glanced +toward the vehicle, as if wishing he might ride with +her. But there was Ephraim Marsh, in the glory +of a white shirt and brilliant necktie, brushed and +speckless, and beaming benevolently upon all less +favored mortals. It was only upon such errands of +mercy that the mistress ever left her home, and +there was not a ranchman in her employ but esteemed +it an honor to drive for her whither she +would.</p> +<p>Ninian saw the state of affairs plainly enough, +and, possibly, so did “Forty-niner” himself; who +might, under some circumstances, have sacrificed +his pleasure for that of the young man. But not +now. Ever since he had returned from his long +stay in the city, the sensitive old fellow had felt a +difference in his surroundings. There was nobody +mean enough to tell him of the base suspicions that +his fellow workmen had harbored about him, and +they fancied that by treating him with more than +former friendliness they could offset the unknown +injury they had done him. It was this very effusiveness +that had roused his suspicions that something +was wrong, and he saw in this solitary drive +with his beloved mistress a chance to unburden +his mind and get her wise opinion on the matter.</p> +<p>So he merely “passed the time of day” with the +guest, helped the lady to her place, and stepped up +beside her; then chirruped to his horse and was +off.</p> +<p>But Ninian was not allowed much disappointment, +for there was Lady Jess, clasping his hand +and looking up into his face with the brightest of +smiles, as she exclaimed: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_178' name='page_178'></a>178</span> +“Just think of it, dear Mr. Sharp! We are to have +a long, delightful day together. Mother will not be +home before nightfall and I am to do everything +I can to make you happy. As if I wouldn’t, even +without being bidden! But what shall it be first? +Where would you like to walk or ride? Or would +you rather rest and read?”</p> +<p>“First, I would like to walk around to that curious +hedge yonder, that you told me before had +been planted by the old padres. Everything about +these ancient missions interests me.”</p> +<p>“Oh! I love them, too, and I’m so glad we live +on one, or the place where one used to be. That +hedge is prickly-pear and was meant to keep the +Indians out of the inclosure, if they were ugly. But +it’s a hundred years old, and Pedro could remember +when it was ever so much smaller than now.”</p> +<p>It was a weird stretch of the repellent cactus, +whose great gnarled branches locked and intertwined +themselves in a verdureless mass of thorns +and spikes which well might have daunted even an +Indian. The hedge was many feet in width and +higher than Ninian’s shoulder, still green on top, +but too unlovely to have been preserved for any +reason save its antiquity and history. One end of +it was close to the kitchen part of the house, and +the other reached beyond the fall of the farthest +old adobe.</p> +<p>“A formidable barrier, indeed! It reminds me of +some of Dore’s fantastic pictures,” said the reporter.</p> +<p>“Doesn’t it? My mother has books with his +drawings in, and I have thought that, too. It is a +trouble sometimes, because anybody coming across +the field from yonder must go either way around +the quarters or all along the back of the house, +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_179' name='page_179'></a>179</span> +before he can get in here; when if it weren’t there at +all, it wouldn’t be two steps. But we will never +have it cut down because my father said so. He +wouldn’t have anybody break a single leaf, if he +could help it, and––oh, oh!”</p> +<p>Mr. Sharp lifted his head from his close examination +of a branch that had particularly interested +him and saw Jessica pointing in astonishment at +the very heart of the great hedge.</p> +<p>“What is it? Something especially curious?”</p> +<p>“Curious! It’s––it’s––dreadful! You can see +right through it! Somebody has ruined it!”</p> +<p>The reporter stooped and followed the direction +of her guiding finger and saw that a strange thing +had indeed been done. For a considerable length +the terrible barrier had been literally tunneled, +though the fact was not easily discernible. Walls +of the bare and twisted branches were still left unbroken +on either side, but a sufficient space had +been scooped out to admit the passage of a human +being should such desire a hiding place.</p> +<p>“Oh! isn’t that dreadful? Who could have done +it, and why?” cried the captain, in distress; and her +companion could only think of Aunt Sally’s declaration, +made to him at breakfast, that Sobrante was +“bewitched.”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_180' name='page_180'></a>180</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XVIII_WHAT_THE_SABBATH_BROUGHT' id='CHAPTER_XVIII_WHAT_THE_SABBATH_BROUGHT'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +<h3>WHAT THE SABBATH BROUGHT</h3> +</div> +<p>“Now I know how it was that Antonio disappeared +that time when Aunt Sally and Ephraim +heard him outside the pantry window!” cried +Jessica, exultingly; and seeing the gentleman’s puzzled +expression, told of the scene within the cold +closet and of the mocking answer “Forty-niner” +had received, when he said he was determined to +find out Antonio’s retreat. Then she bade her friend +stoop again and see for himself how easy it was +for one at the rear of the house, where the pantry +was, to slip into this cactus tunnel and be utterly +hidden from anybody who would search from that +side.</p> +<p>They saw, also, that the broken branches had +been thrown under the open foundation of the +kitchen, leaving no sign of the ruin that had been +done.</p> +<p>“A clever scamp, indeed! And any other sort of +plant would have withered at the top and led to +discovery. But not this; for the verdure has evidently +long been gone from this part of the hedge,” +observed Ninian.</p> +<p>“Oh, yes! This end has been dead for a great +while, yet my mother would not have it removed. +It would have lasted maybe forever in just that +way; and Antonio knew how we prized it. Oh, +dear! I do believe he is as wicked as the ‘boys’ +say, though I hate to think that of anybody.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_181' name='page_181'></a>181</span> +“Surely, you have had proof enough of his evil +doings, even without these later fantastic developments. +You must never trust that man, little girl, +should he again try to make you.”</p> +<p>“I think he won’t bother me. Why should he?” +asked she, in some surprise, for her friend’s tone +had been most impressive. “Why should you imagine +that?”</p> +<p>“I don’t know myself, exactly why. It just ‘happened’ +into my head. By the way, captain, did you +send me all of the specimen of copper that you +had?”</p> +<p>“Oh, no, indeed! My mother thought best not. +We sent you only a little bit, cut from the larger +one Pedro dug. Let’s go into the office and I’ll +open the safe and show you the rest. Do you know +anything about such mines and stuff?”</p> +<p>“I do know something about ores and minerals, +my dear, for before I was a newspaper man I was +a clerk in the office of an expert in such matters. +I should greatly like to see your sample,” he answered, +readily.</p> +<p>So she led the way at once and took the key +from a desk drawer, which anybody might have +opened, and Ninian remarked:</p> +<p>“What an insecure place for a safe key! Yours +is certainly a most confiding household.”</p> +<p>“Oh, it’s not a very safe safe, anyway,” she +answered, laughing; “and who would want to open +it? It’s Ephraim’s really, though I don’t think he’s +ever been near it since he came home. Isn’t it a +great, clumsy key? But my father told me that +there are safes much, much larger and stronger +than this which are opened by very small keys. Odd, +isn’t it?” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_182' name='page_182'></a>182</span> +As she spoke she was down upon her knees in +front of the strong box and trying with all her small +strength to turn the lock; and after watching her +for a moment the reporter laughed, and suggested:</p> +<p>“Suppose you just merely pull at the knob. It +looks to me as if the thing were already opened, +for the door isn’t tight; or is that protruding edge +of it a part of the general crudeness?”</p> +<p>Jessica obeyed, pulling with such unnecessary +force that the safe flew open and he fell backward, +laughing.</p> +<p>But Mr. Sharp did not laugh. In view of what +had been told him he was afraid the thing had +been tampered with, and watched in silence while +the little girl thrust her hand into the safe and felt +all about, her face lengthening as she did so; but +again, suddenly brightening, when she exclaimed:</p> +<p>“Oh, my mother must have done that! There +was all the money in here that was left after Elsa +got her own share. The first nights two of the +‘boys’ slept in the house to watch, ’cause mother +was afraid we might lose it again. Then, since +‘Forty-niner’ got home only he has slept here, and +he generally ‘bunks’ on the lounge in this very office. +That’s what it is, what it must be. My mother +has worried about Antonio, and has taken the +money and the piece of copper away and put them +somewhere else. Well, never mind. She’ll show it +to you as soon as she comes back; and now, what +shall we do next? Would you like to ride?”</p> +<p>Ninian passed his hand across his brow in mild +perplexity. An instant conviction had seized him +that here was another feature of the mysteries pervading +this peaceful ranch; and though he as instantly +frowned upon his own suspicion, it would +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_183' name='page_183'></a>183</span> +remain to torment him. However, he said nothing +further to disturb Jessica’s composure, and readily +agreed that a ride would be delightful, though he +added, grimly:</p> +<p>“I’m so lame and stiff already from yesterday’s +horseback exercise that I feel older than Ephraim. +I expect a ‘hair of the same dog’ is the best cure, +and wish now I had made time, back there in town, +to get used to a saddle. I never found it convenient, +though, and poor Nimrod missed his outings even +more than I did, I fancy. It certainly is a glorious +day for a canter, as almost all our days are.”</p> +<p>“It’s nice, too, when the rains come. We do +things indoors then that we never do all the rest +of the year. My mother plays and sings half the +time, ’cause then she can’t go poking around all +over the ranch, like she does now. In the evenings +the ‘boys’ all come in and tell stories or do their +best to amuse us. We were always happiest, too, +when Pedro came, and when my father was here +he coaxed him and he came often. Now––he’ll +never come again!” she finished, with an irrepressible +burst of grief, which she as quickly suppressed, +for she saw that it saddened her guest as well; and +she had been reared in the spirit of hospitality that +makes the stranger glad even at the cost of one’s +own impulses.</p> +<p>So she added, with a smile that seemed all the +brighter because of the tears still glistening on her +long lashes:</p> +<p>“I’ll bring you some books out here and you can +rest in the hammock while I run and have the horses +saddled. Buster isn’t as fast as Nimrod, but he’ll +go now and then as if he were a colt. I hope this +will be one of his fast times, don’t you? I love +to ride fast!” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_184' name='page_184'></a>184</span> +Ninian smiled rather grimly, answering:</p> +<p>“Just at present, from the state of my poor +muscles, I fancy I’d prefer a gait as slow as Buster’s +ordinary one. But if I stay the week out, I mean to +learn a thing or two about that fine beast of mine.”</p> +<p>“A week or two! Why, you’re to be here till +after Christmas, anyway, and that’s a fortnight +off. I wish––oh, I wish you would live here always!”</p> +<p>From his delightful resting place in a hammock +that was “stretched just right,” and which commanded +one of the loveliest views in the world, he +looked afield and wished so too. Fond as he was +of his own active city life, this broad outlook appealed +to him most strongly; yet he shook off the +longing that assailed him to pass his days in the +country and opened the book Jessica had brought. +He was soon absorbed in its pages and forgot the +errand upon which the child had gone, till, after +a long time, as it proved, Ned stole bashfully up and +pushed a scrap of paper into his down-hanging +hand.</p> +<p>“Hello, youngster!” cried the gentleman, sitting +up. “What’s this?”</p> +<p>The child’s timidity banished at the first sound +of the visitor’s voice. Mr. Sharp reading, with his +spectacles on, and Mr. Sharp speaking in that hail-fellow-well-met +manner were two different people. +Besides that, Ned’s shyness was not his strongest +feature, though it cropped out now and then to the +astonishment of his family. Also, he was fresh +from the hands of Aunt Sally and his catechism +lesson, into which she had adroitly forced a hint +of the conduct due toward a “wise man, that can +write printin’.” +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_185' name='page_185'></a>185</span> +Supposing it to be a production of the little fellow’s +own, Mr. Sharp delayed the reading of the +crumpled epistle he had received and continued his +talk with its bearer; who presently forgot his Sunday +manners, and reproachfully demanded that +“printing press you promised.”</p> +<p>“’Cause if I had it I’d be just as smart as you, +you know.”</p> +<p>“Smartersyou!” cried the echo, clasping Ned’s +neck with that choking affection of his.</p> +<p>Ned turned upon his other self and pummeled him +well, declaring:</p> +<p>“No, you wouldn’t neither, Luis Garcia! +’Twouldn’t be your printing press, and you can’t +spell cat backwards! So, there!”</p> +<p>“Cat backwards, dogboycat,” gurgled Luis, in a +rapture of mere existence.</p> +<p>Ninian laughed at the comical pair, finding them +infinitely diverting; and was only brought back to +his immediate duty by the insistence of the small +messenger, who demanded:</p> +<p>“Why don’t you read your letter? I should +think anybody what makes newspapers could read a +little girl’s letter.”</p> +<p>“That’s a fact; I’ll see if I can;” and accordingly +spread out the scrap of wrapping paper, which had +not been very smooth to start with and had suffered +further ill treatment at Ned’s hand. The note required +a second reading before he could fully comprehend +its meaning, which he then found sufficiently +startling to send him stableward in hot +haste. The message was from the little captain, +and was worded thus:</p> +<p>“dear mister sharp please excuse me i must go +to a Dyeing man and i Mustnt Tell Who cause if +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_186' name='page_186'></a>186</span> +my mother was Home I Wood and she wood say +yes. She always helps dyeing folks and sick ones +one the boys will go and he can ride Moses or prince +Which he likes. I guess marty so i Cant right any +more the paper is so littul and i cant Stay.”</p> +<p>“JESSICA.”</p> +<p>This had been written with a coarse blue pencil, +evidently picked up in the stable or workroom; and +to the reporter’s inquiries, put to the first ranchman +he met, there seemed no satisfactory answer. The +man in question had not seen Jessica since service, +and the men’s quarters to which Ninian hurried, +were almost deserted. Sunday was their own, so +the “boys” spent much of it afield, hunting or visiting +on neighboring ranches. Yet a further search +revealed John Benton, in his own room, reading; +and to him the visitor again put the question of +Jessica’s probable whereabouts, and showed the +letter.</p> +<p>The carpenter was on his feet instantly, a look of +apprehension deepening the lines of his earnest +face; and running to the door he shouted to a stable +boy who was crossing the space before the old +adobes:</p> +<p>“Natan! Natan!”</p> +<p>The youth paused, hesitated, yet came no nearer; +and John repeated his summons, with an imperative +“Here!” Then muttered an explanation to the reporter: +“Another of those no-account Greasers; +same kind as the Bernals and hired by top-lofty +when, he was in charge. Works well enough +but–––”</p> +<p>By this time Natan had slouched forward and +stood stolidly awaiting an expected as well as +merited reproof, because of stalls imperfectly +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_187' name='page_187'></a>187</span> +cleaned and harnesses left in other than their own +places; for John was orderly to the last degree and +a very martinet in disciplining his subordinates. +However, it was no neglect of duty that was now to +be scored, but a question was fairly hurled at the +young groom and in a voice sharp with anxiety:</p> +<p>“Natan, did you saddle Buster just now?”</p> +<p>“But yes,” answered the lad, greatly relieved.</p> +<p>“Where is he? And Nimrod?”</p> +<p>“Nimrod is at the ‘house’ horse block, is it not? +Si. Groomed to the highest, and a beauty we’re all +glad to see back where he belongs.”</p> +<p>“Your opinion wasn’t asked. Where is Buster?”</p> +<p>“Where the captain wills. I know not, I,” with +a shrug of his lean shoulders.</p> +<p>“Did she mount him?”</p> +<p>“Why else should he be saddled, no?” returned +the groom, with an insolent laugh.</p> +<p>John’s temper flamed and he turned away with +a disgusted snort, meaning to seek information +elsewhere on a case he felt permitted no delay. But +Ninian was cooler, if equally suspicious that Natan +was concealing something that should be known; +so, laying his hand not unkindly upon the youth’s +shoulder, he said:</p> +<p>“If you know anything of this, where Miss Jessica +has gone and with whom, or if alone, it will be +worth your while to tell me and at once. I’m pretty +good pay for seasonable articles,” he finished, in +his journalistic manner.</p> +<p>He had taken a dollar from his pocket and was +carelessly tossing it from hand to hand, nor was +he disappointed when Natan fixed his black eyes +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_188' name='page_188'></a>188</span> +greedily upon the coin. Still the lad said nothing, +only pondered in his own dull mind which of two +masters it would benefit him most to serve; and +annoyed by this hesitation, Ninian hazarded a guess:</p> +<p>“Oh, well, if you prefer to work for Antonio +Bernal, it’s all one to me.”</p> +<p>Natan’s mouth flew open and his eyes grew wild:</p> +<p>“You know it, then, already, you?”</p> +<p>“I know many things,” was the sententious answer.</p> +<p>“But it is a pity, yes. The so fine man and such +a rider. He will ride no more, poor Antonio, si.”</p> +<p>Ninian’s blood ran chill, yet he asked, still quietly, +though foreseeing evil he dared not contemplate:</p> +<p>“Who brought the word?”</p> +<p>“Ferd, the dwarf,” came the reply, as the dollar +exchanged owners.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_189' name='page_189'></a>189</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XIX_ANTONIOS_CONFESSION' id='CHAPTER_XIX_ANTONIOS_CONFESSION'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +<h3>ANTONIO’S CONFESSION</h3> +</div> +<p>These were the facts: Natan had been grooming +the horses, Nimrod and Buster, when suddenly and +soundlessly there appeared before the window in the +stables’ rear, the misshapen head and shoulders of +typo Ferdinand Bernal. He was mounted on a snow-white +horse and seemed to the superstitious stable +boy to have risen out of the ground. Buster, also, +had appeared to be frightened for a few seconds, +though he speedily recovered his equine calmness +and merely whinnied his delight, while he attempted +to secure another mouthful of alfalfa before the +bridle slipped into place over his head.</p> +<p>“Natan, the little captain,” whispered Ferd, +through the narrow casement.</p> +<p>“Well, yes; the little captain,” returned the other, +in a louder tone, and grinning at his own astuteness +in discovering that this was a white horse so +very like the “spook horse” that it might be one +and the same. Some of Antonio’s schemes he had +fathomed, being himself a sort of schemer in his +own stupid way.</p> +<p>“I want her. She must come. Antonio dies.”</p> +<p>“Antonio––fiddles!” retorted the other, contemptuously. +Then saw, to his surprise, that Ferd’s head +had dropped upon that of his strange steed and that +he was whimpering and sobbing in a pitiful fashion, +well calculated to deceive the unwary. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_190' name='page_190'></a>190</span> +It was at this juncture that, fancying to see her +beloved Buster made ready for her ride, Jessica ran +singing into the stable, and paused amazed at sight +of Ferd, weeping, and so oddly mounted. Horses +there were galore in the Sobrante stables and pastures, +but never one like this; so white, so spirited, +and yet so marvelously marked. For even by the +daylight, there in the slight shadow of the wall, the +animal’s eyes glowed with an unearthly light, terrifying +to Natan and startling even to her fearless +self. Indeed it had not been until the moment of +her appearance and Buster’s whinnied welcome, +that Ferd’s horse had turned its face toward them +and revealed his curious visage.</p> +<p>“Why, Ferdinand Bernal!” she cried, giving him +his full title, and thereby mystifying still further +the wondering groom. “I do believe that’s the +very creature that’s been scaring such a lot of people +everywhere! How came you by it and what ails +its eyes?”</p> +<p>Ferd lifted a face that was grimy with dirt and +streaked with tears. His misery was evident and +needed no words to impress it upon the tenderhearted +girl, who ran to the window, begging:</p> +<p>“What is the matter, Ferd? Poor Ferd! are you +ill? In trouble? What?”</p> +<p>“The death. It is the accursed house. Where +death comes once––he is always there. He told me––you +must come. Come; now, right away, si. Before––too +late. He said it. Antonio, my brother.”</p> +<p>“You know that, then––about your relationship? +But what has happened to him?”</p> +<p>The dwarf glanced at Natan and motioned to her +to send him away. For reasons of his own, the +groom was glad enough to obey, because dire had +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_191' name='page_191'></a>191</span> +been the threats of the mighty-fisted Samson, as +well as the stern John Benton, against any on that +ranch who should be caught “consorting with that +low-lived Ferd or the late manager.” Besides, in +spite of Jessica’s apparent indifference to the glowing +eyes of the white horse they infected him with +a horrible fear; so he made his escape at the first +chance; leading Nimrod around to the house and +tying him there to await Ninian’s pleasure, while he +himself resorted to the most distant and safest spot +he could find. This had seemed, in his mind, the +mission corridor; but he found it already occupied +by a party of the ranchmen who had no desire for +his society, and after a short delay frankly told him +so. It was in passing from this ancient structure +to his own room in another building that he had +been intercepted by John, and called to account.</p> +<p>Yet, sometime before this, Jessica had finished her +interview with the unhappy Ferd; had written her +note of explanation to Ninian, though keeping her +destination secret, as the hunchback implored, in +accordance with Antonio’s wish; had dispatched her +message by Ned and Luis; and, unknown to them, +had rapidly ridden away in company with the white +horse and her treacherous guide––to comfort the +dying.</p> +<p>That death should have come again to the cabin +on the mesa, whither she was led, seemed natural +enough to her; remembering with such keen sorrow +the passing of old Pedro.</p> +<p>And for once Antonio Bernal had told the truth. +Lying helpless, almost motionless, on the narrow +bed in the shepherd’s home, he greeted his visitor +with a pitiful smile on his white face, and a tone +from which the last vestige of his old bravado had +departed: +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_192' name='page_192'></a>192</span> +“The Captain! si. You did well to come, my Lady +Jess. But you are not afraid?”</p> +<p>“Why should I be afraid, Antonio? You are ill, +I see that. What’s wrong? What can I do to +help you?”</p> +<p>“Nothing. There is nothing. I played my game +and I lost. I––I saw you last night at the window.”</p> +<p>“And I saw you; I knew you; but I did not know +why you were fixed like that and had painted your +poor horse all white.”</p> +<p>“Ha! You saw that? You, when nobody––older––well, +I lost.”</p> +<p>“Are you hurt? What can have happened to you +since then?”</p> +<p>“Shot. On the way here, fearing nothing, a passing +horseman, unknown, braver or quicker than +the rest, thought he could rid the country of its +ghost. Ah, yes! it was merry––for a time. It is +past.”</p> +<p>Jessica was crying softly, unable to endure the +sight of agony, even his who had tried to injure her +and hers. The sick man perceived this and something +of the affection he had once felt for his master’s +child, before he had betrayed that master’s +trust, stirred him to speak and thrilled him with +compunction. He felt himself to be doomed; he +had already sent Ferd away again to summon a +priest; and according to his faith he meant to make +his peace with the world; but these preparations +had been on his own account only. Now he began +to feel something for her also.</p> +<p>Suddenly she ceased crying and stood up to bend +over him and beg that she might be allowed to +help him. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_193' name='page_193'></a>193</span> +“A drink of water––some coffee? You were always +so fond of coffee, Antonio, and I know where +Pedro kept all his things. So many, many times +we drank it here together, he and I. And you––how +came you here, Antonio?”</p> +<p>“Where better or nearer could I be? Pedro, the +most obliging, yes. Just when I needed his house +he left it. Si. Why, but I am better still, is it +not, I?”</p> +<p>Indeed his color had improved and his voice +grown stronger since Jessica’s arrival; and he was +able to take the cup of coffee which she made +him. This was more palatable than anything Ferd +had prepared and stimulated him still further. For +a few moments after he had taken it he felt so improved +that he almost gave up the doing of that +for which he had summoned her. But a sudden return +of pain again alarmed him, and as soon as +that spasm was past, he motioned her to the bedside.</p> +<p>“In the cupboard––look, quick!” he whispered, +pointing to a set of shelves built upon the wall and +behind whose locked doors Pedro had been accustomed +to store his baskets.</p> +<p>Jessica tried the little door, which refused to open, +and to her inquiry for the key, Antonio pointed to +his own pillow. After a slight hesitation she approached +and secured the key from beneath it; +but when she had opened the cupboard found that +all the Indian’s exquisite weaving had been removed. +In its place was the metal-pointed staff, with its +shank broken in half, and she exclaimed, indignantly:</p> +<p>“Oh! how could you do that, Antonio? And how +could you be so mean as to take it from two children?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_194' name='page_194'></a>194</span></div> +<p>“Ha! Once it was all mine––this land. The +copper in the canyon, mine, also. Si. The padres’ +secret which the shepherd kept was mine–––No, +no; not yet!” he broke off, with a sudden, delirious +scream, fancying he saw the head of a man appearing +without the door.</p> +<p>His outcry set Jessica shivering with fear at +being alone in that isolated spot with a possible +madman; but a second glance into his pallid face +restored her natural courage and assured her that +he was powerless to injure her, even had he wished +to do so. Just then, too, Buster whinnied and she +felt that he was company. It sounded as if he had +seen some stable companion of his own and had +welcomed it; yet this could not be, of course, since +nobody knew of her whereabouts or would be likely +to come to the mesa now. Therefore, she did not +follow Antonio’s glance doorward, but sought at +once to relieve his distress.</p> +<p>“Won’t you drink another cup of coffee, Antonio? +Or shall I make you a bit of porridge? There’s hot +water still in the kettle and I know how. I’ve made +it for my mother, often, when she was ill; and the +little boys always have it. Oh, I can do it quite +well!”</p> +<p>She was so eager to serve him, and the pain had +once more so greatly lessened for the time being, +that the late manager graciously consented, and +with such an absurd assumption of his old “top-lofty” +manner that Jessica laughed even while she +hastened to put on the tiny porringer and seek the +meal. The little oil stove blazed merrily, and so +deft was she that, in a very few minutes more, she +had a dish of the steaming mush beside the cot +and had thinned a cup of condensed milk with which +to make it the more palatable. Sugar there was in +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_195' name='page_195'></a>195</span> +plenty, for Pedro had loved sweets; so that nothing +was wanted, save appetite, to render the repast all +that was desirable; yet when it was quite ready +Antonio could not take it.</p> +<p>The pain had returned and with added intensity; +and it was due to that fact that he no longer delayed +the confession he had sent for her to hear.</p> +<p>“Hark! Behold! I talk.”</p> +<p>“Yes, Antonio, I’m listening.”</p> +<p>“Well, I––how begin? It is a story long, not +pleasant.”</p> +<p>“Wait. Open your mouth and I will feed you. +Yes, do.”</p> +<p>His black eyes stared at her, astonished. In her +place had anybody done him the ill that he had done +her, he would have let his enemy starve and have rejoiced +at a suffering well deserved. But this child––he +wished she would turn her face away, and not +look upon him with that innocent compassion. She +was too like her dead father, and his one best +friend; whom in life he had really loved and in death +had not scrupled to despoil.</p> +<p>“Come, Antonio, eat. Afterward you’ll be stronger +to talk,” she said, as coaxingly as if he had been +her little brother, Ned; and thus persuaded, he +opened his mouth and received the morsel she forced +upon him. Thus it continued; she feeding, he resting +and with halting eagerness relating the story +of his own misdeeds.</p> +<p>“For I must go to pay the price. Si. But the +poor lad, my half-wit brother Ferd, ugly, sinful, +desolate––he will be left alone. Is it not? For +him, if I restore all, there may still be kindness and +a home at Sobrante, that should all be his––if–––”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_196' name='page_196'></a>196</span></div> +<p>“No, Antonio; you know better. That is a poor, +foolish notion that has been put into your head. +You know; for Mr. Hale, who is a lawyer and +understands everything like that, told you and us +that you hadn’t a bit of right to a bit of land anywhere +in this world. Unless, indeed, you may have +bought it since that little while ago in Los Angeles. +And if you have, where did you get the money?”</p> +<p>“Lo dicho dicho,” he muttered the Spanish phrase: +“What I have said I have said,” and sighed profoundly, +as one hopelessly aggrieved.</p> +<p>Jessica lost her temper. She forgot that he was +ill and remembered only that he was imputing +treachery to her parents and to others whom she +loved, and retorted, warmly:</p> +<p>“What you have ‘said’ doesn’t make the truth, +Senor Bernal. And if you have anything to tell me +I wish you would tell it now. I ought to be at +home with Mr. Sharp, who’s come to make us a +visit. My mother is away, and it’s rude to leave +guests alone like that. I, who want to be a perfect +lady, do hate to be rude. So tell, please, and quick.”</p> +<p>“It was he, then, whom I saw on the road with +old Ephraim, yes?” cried Antonio, in a voice which +was certainly much stronger than it had been when +Lady Jess arrived.</p> +<p>“Yes, it was he. Now begin, please. What first?”</p> +<p>Neither the man on the bed nor the girl who listened +to him so intently suspected that other ears +were as eager to hear this dying confession. Yet so +it was, and Buster’s short whinny of welcome had +been a real one. For John, on Moses, and Ninian, +on Nimrod, had lost but little time in riding to the +mesa; though because of the reporter’s poor horsemanship, +the carpenter felt that they would really +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_197' name='page_197'></a>197</span> +save time by taking the longer level road around +by the north, and not the narrow canyon trail, which +was dangerous for the inexperienced. This had +consumed some time, but each felt a thrill of relief, +when they at last arrived, to see Buster calmly +nibbling at the dry herbage near the shepherd’s +cabin.</p> +<p>“Where Buster is Jessica is, this time,” said the +carpenter, softly. “And I was right. I’d heard of +this spook being seen up here, and fool folks layin’ +it to poor Old Century. That’s why I came. We +didn’t make any mistake, did we?”</p> +<p>Then as they approached nearer to the house +and quietly dismounted to hobble their horses, he +added:</p> +<p>“Let’s go up sly. Everything seems terrible still, +and I’d like to take a peek through that back window +’fore we let on we’ve come.”</p> +<p>Ninian was not so cautious; or, rather, he was +more anxious about the little captain, and protested:</p> +<p>“How do we know but that this silence means +mischief? If he has sent for her to harm her–––”</p> +<p>“Hark! She’s all right. Thank God for that. +I can hear her laughing, and he’s a coward. She +isn’t; and, anyway, he’d think twice ’fore he hurt +a hair of that child’s head. Why, man, his life +wouldn’t be worth a minute’s purchase if he dared! +He’d be hunted to his own destruction so quick you +couldn’t say ‘scat.’ Humph! He may be after mischief––’cause +he hasn’t been after anything else +since Cass’us died––but he’ll keep within bounds. +Now, this way. Lucky the grass is thick; but even +so, don’t tread too heavy. Right behind that rear +wall, close against the east, is the place to hear +all and not be seen.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_198' name='page_198'></a>198</span></div> +<p>Therefore, as noiselessly and hastily as possible, +they placed themselves within earshot of what +was said within the house; and the story they heard, +reduced to simplest facts, was to the effect, as +follows:</p> +<p>Upon receiving his discharge from legal detention +at Los Angeles, Antonio had felt a homesick longing +for his old haunts. He had returned without telling +anybody of his intention and had taken up his +abode at Solano’s ranch, where his unfortunate +brother and the only person for whom he still cared +was frequently to be found. There the dwarf had +joined him, though rambling away again, from time +to time, on errands of his own of which he neither +spoke nor was questioned.</p> +<p>“Money, money! That’s the one thing, the only +thing, no! Get money, Ferd whenever, however, +wherever you can and what you get you keep. Hear +me,” had been Antonio’s constant instruction during +all the years of the hunchback’s life; and to +the dwarf’s limited understanding, his adored +brother typified incarnate wisdom.</p> +<p>He had anticipated high praise when, one day, he +came back to Solano’s and reported his hiding of +the little captain in the canyon cave. The praise +was not so ready at first, for Antonio was astute +enough to see whither such a hazardous scheme +might lead; but the approbation came unstained +when, later, Ferd again appeared, describing Pedro’s +behavior at the time of the rescue and of the curious +action of the ancient staff. Sent back alone +to bring fresh specimens of the mineral Pedro had +unearthed, Ferd had suddenly turned stubborn and +refused to go more than halfway. Pedro had died +suddenly, and Pedro’s ghost would haunt the spot; +no, even Antonio should not compel him thither. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_199' name='page_199'></a>199</span> +He would do anything, everything else, but go to +the canyon cave again he would not.</p> +<p>Indeed Antonio now felt that it was hardly necessary +he should. The poor lad’s superstition had suggested +a better way. With Solano’s aid, the deluded +“top-lofty” hatched a notable scheme. He +would himself impersonate Old Century’s uneasy +spirit, which could not rest because he had betrayed +the secret of the ancient padres. Nero could be +made as white as any ghost horse by the application +of a little paint; and shod with rubber could +pass over the sandy roads with almost as little noise +as any spectral steed. It was easy to bribe and +terrify two small boys into securing and restoring +to him the pointed wand, even if by their effort to +obtain it they might happen to fall and break it. +That mattered little, however, since the point was +all that he wanted; but it was just as well to have +that money he had seen through the window, that +night of his first appearance on Sobrante grounds. +That, too, was easy to get if one watched his opportunity +in that cactus tunnel Ferd had scooped +for his brother’s convenience. An unsuspecting, +busy household left many chances for entering an +open-windowed room, and who had ever been so +familiar as he with the supposed safety secret place +in which the key was kept? With the money he +had found also the bit of copper Pedro had procured; +and he knew enough of mining matters to +rejoice, indeed. He had meant to do great things. +He would prosecute his land claim to the uttermost; +and there were plenty of unscrupulous men who +would undertake his cause for a share in the profits +of a copper mine. This very mesa would have been +the scene of their first operations. Here the mill +would have been built, and here–––</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_200' name='page_200'></a>200</span></div> +<p>“But what the use? The hand of punishment is +upon me, yes. The money, it is there. Ferd shall +tell of all the rest that he has put somewhere, I +know not. His poor brain cannot carry out the +plan, and to me it avails no more. Ay de mi! But +Solano––beware. Of some things he knows, and of +more he suspects, is it not? Ah! I weary, I languish, +I die, I, Antonio Bernal, heir to wealth so +boundless. It was so fine a plan––so most wonderful +and simple. The fools, how they feared! Oh! +the laughter I had! and the wild, rides on my so +splendid ghost horse, yes. But I die––I die; and the +great big plan for the copper turned to gold––I––who +else will have the so great intellect, you call +it, to make it real? Well, I have done. The staff +I return––useless, save to me. The money––I cannot +carry whither I must ride on the white horse of +death––whiter than––the pity! The pity! Poor Antonio! +Poor, poor Antonio!”</p> +<p>His long talk had, indeed, wearied him to faintness; +but while his own tears rained down his +cheeks in his self-pity, even as Jessica’s in sympathetic +sorrow, a cheerful and hearty voice cried +through the window:</p> +<p>“Don’t fret yourself, top-lofty! There’s one or +two other smart men left, my friend, to carry out +that noble scheme of yours, and my name ain’t +John Benton, if they don’t do it! More’n that, I’ll +promise you a few more years to spend in wickedness, +if you like. On one condition.”</p> +<p>Antonio’s eyes almost leaped from his head in +amaze at this interruption and greater amazement +at this astounding promise; and John was swift to +press his advantage:</p> +<p>“I’ll save your life––on one condition!”</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_201' name='page_201'></a>201</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XX_THE_VERDICT' id='CHAPTER_XX_THE_VERDICT'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> +<h3>THE VERDICT</h3> +</div> +<p>“Benton!” warned Ninian Sharp, aghast at the +audacity of a man who would trifle with the apparent +death-hour of any man.</p> +<p>“Oh! that’s all right. Come around and in with +me. I never yet heard a voice as lusty as that from +a dying man, and I’ve been acquainted with Senor +Bernal some little spell. He’s scared nigh to death––it’s +just possible––but he ain’t sick nor wounded +to death, or I’m mistook. Come in!”</p> +<p>Jessica met him at the door, and impulsively +threw her arms about them at her relief in their +presence. She had not been afraid of anything which +could harm herself, but she had believed the man’s +own statement that he was dying, and his suffering +had been evidently intense at times. She had been +saddened and awe-stricken, and she now shared +Ninian’s indignation at the carpenter’s apparently +heartless promise. How was it possible for him +to bestow life where death had set its seal?</p> +<p>Nothing abashed by the reproachful looks cast +upon him, John walked straight to the bed and demanded, +in the most ordinary tone:</p> +<p>“Where you hurt, neighbor?”</p> +<p>Antonio caught at the straw the ranchman seemed +to extend, and feebly pointed to the wound in his +back.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_202' name='page_202'></a>202</span></div> +<p>What followed astonished Ninian far more than +it did Jessica, who knew the carpenter’s ways. As +tenderly, perhaps, because of his greater strength, +the old man lifted the injured one and critically examined +his wound; his face growing graver as he +did so, yet not losing its expression of confidence +and decision. When the examination was over, he +replaced Antonio on the hard pillow, which had +been Pedro’s one luxury, and quietly replied to the +poor fellow’s unspoken question, burning in his +great dark eyes:</p> +<p>“It’s a bad job, my son. A mighty bad job, and +a sneaky one. I’ve seen such before in my time, +and they didn’t mean death. To some folks, though, +they meant what was worse.”</p> +<p>Nobody would now have recognized the voice +which uttered this dictum, it had become so infinitely +compassionate and gentle.</p> +<p>Antonio caught one meaning only: “I will not +die? I need not die? It is you who will save me, +yes? O’santos Dios!”</p> +<p>He had half risen from the bed, but now sank +back, exhausted by the shock of emotion as well +as by the physical effort; and Jessica sprang forward, +terrified by the sudden pallor of his swarthy +face. But John put her quietly aside and himself +placed a flask to Antonio’s lips, saying:</p> +<p>“You’ve done your part well, my noble little +captain, and you’ve done me proud. It’s my place +now.”</p> +<p>The senor soon rallied, and again fixed his eyes +imploringly on Benton’s face, as he sat on the +edge of the bed beside him.</p> +<p>“Yes, top-lofty, I promise to help you. But first +you must help yourself. You must pledge your +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_203' name='page_203'></a>203</span> +word, the word of a dying man, that he dare not +break. You will restore everything that you have +taken from the mistress of Sobrante––or anybody +else––so far as it will hereafter be in your power; +you shall compel your Brother Ferd to guide a party +of prospectors to that secret spot in the canyon +where that piece of copper came from; and you +shall do all that it is possible to do for the good, +and not the evil, of your neighbors. That all clear?”</p> +<p>“But, yes, yes!” whispered Antonio, frantically. +“Haste! Oh, haste!”</p> +<p>“I’m a-hasting, but I ain’t a-hurrin’. Which is a +good thing for you, ’cause so I can think this thing +over. That ball in your back will have to come +out. I’ve taken some from folks myself, once or +twice, but this one is in a ticklish place. A doctor +is what we want, and the nearest one is ten miles +away on Kimball’s ranch. He’d rather potter with +his roses than other folks’ bullets, and I’ll have a +tough piece of work to drag him up here, especially +to see––you.”</p> +<p>With an impressive emphasis on the word “you” +John paused, and waited some rejoinder. None +came, and though Jessica again exclaimed against +the carpenter’s contemptuous tone, Antonio neither +resented it, nor felt it undeserved. Then Benton +continued:</p> +<p>“Sharp, here, is a writin’ fellow, and knows what’s +what every time. In the jerk of a lamb’s tail he’ll +draw up a paper which’ll explain what you promise, +and you’ve got strength enough to sign your name +to it. The minute you do that I’m off for Kimball, +and I’ll fetch him up here fast as horses can travel––if +I have to carry him on my back!”</p> +<p>“Quick! The paper! I sign––I live!”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_204' name='page_204'></a>204</span></div> +<p>“Quick” it was, and though Ninian was no lawyer, +he was always well provided with pads and fountain +pens. Also, he was clever enough to use the longest +and most impressive words wherever possible, and +thus convinced the senor that the document sounded +legally important. Indeed, the injured manager +could scarcely wait to affix his signature, so eager +was he that John should be off on his errand of +salvation.</p> +<p>An hour later the padre came, and Jessica led +Ninian away, that the pair might have the cottage +to themselves. Then, when this visitation was over, +the good man lingered, that he might hear for himself +the doctor’s opinion when he should arrive. He, +too, had listened to another confession from the +truly repentant Antonio; but there was still a sacred +office to perform if this awaited opinion should be +for death, not life. But he had ridden far, and was +tired, having come directly from his own church +service at the distant mission, and Jessica’s hospitality +could not endure to see the look of weariness +on the old man’s kindly face.</p> +<p>“Beg pardon, Fra Sebastian, but would you like +a cup of coffee?”</p> +<p>“Ah! my daughter, would I like the impossible? +But, yes, I am famished, indeed, for the good dinner +of Marta, my housekeeper,” he answered, with +a shrug of his plump shoulders.</p> +<p>“Well, father, I cannot give you a dinner, but +I can make you a pot of fresh coffee; and in Pedro’s +little storeroom are cans of meat, and beans and +biscuit. Oh! I tell you! I’ll bring the plates out +here––there are two whole ones––and dear Mr. +Sharp and you shall have a picnic.”</p> +<p>Already, with the light-heartedness of childhood, +she had almost forgotten the sorrowful errand upon +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_205' name='page_205'></a>205</span> +which she had come to the mesa. Besides, to her, +a thing that was possible was, also, probable, and +John would never have raised false hopes in Antonio’s +breast. She was sure of that, and already +the senor’s recovery a matter of but a little while. +Moreover, to serve others was her dearest happiness, +and though Fra Sebastian’s faith was different +from her parents’, she had been trained to know +all good people as the children of God. And he was +especially such, for his benefactions and self-sacrifices +were widespread, and he had been an honored +guest at her father’s table.</p> +<p>“Oh! I am so happy to do anything for so holy +a man, and I am so glad––so glad we came!” she +whispered to Ninian, tripping away to relight the +little stove and fill her kettle afresh.</p> +<p>“But I must be allowed to help, too, my captain,” +he returned, eagerly entering into the altered spirit +of things; and so merry were they over their +preparations, so gay and bright the reverend guest +became, that Antonio was helped over his own tedious +time of waiting, and scarce knew how the +time passed before John’s return.</p> +<p>This was sooner than could have been anticipated. +The physician was already halfway on the road, intending +a neighborly call at Sobrante, when the +carpenter met and literally collared him.</p> +<p>“Come you must, Dr. Kimball. I shan’t take ‘no’ +for an answer,” was the decisive retort to the rose-grower’s +prompt refusal.</p> +<p>“I shall do nothing of the sort. I’m not a practicing +physician now, and I never was a surgeon. +As for that scalawag, Bernal, if he’s got himself +shot, he’s met exactly what he deserved. Giddap!” +he cried, to his horse, and was dashing past, just as +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_206' name='page_206'></a>206</span> +John’s long arm reached out and clutched the ranchman’s +coat.</p> +<p>“It isn’t so much for him as for our Lady Jess. +You’re not in such a tearin’ hurry, neighbor, and +if you are––well, just let your hurry wait.”</p> +<p>Whereupon, in a few brief, telling sentences, Dr. +Kimball was put in possession of the facts Antonio +had revealed, and had wheeled his horse about, with +a whimsical snarl:</p> +<p>“Well, forge ahead. For anybody named Trent +I’d break my own resolutions a dozen times a day.”</p> +<p>It is probable that the kind-hearted man would +have gone anyway, even if he had ridden some +miles still farther on an opposite road. The knowledge +that somebody was suffering and needing him +was an appeal to his professional instinct he would +scarcely have resisted, but he had to make a protest +first.</p> +<p>All merriment ceased when he entered the cabin +on the mesa, and Jessica instinctively sought the +reporter’s hand, needing his sympathy during the +anxious few minutes that ensued upon the doctor’s +arrival. Fra Sebastian and John had followed the +surgeon indoors, but Ferd, who had brought the +priest to the upland, still remained within the deserted +fold, whither he had retreated as soon as his +errand was accomplished. To him death of any +sort, even that of an animal brought a horrible fear, +and nothing would induce him to leave his shelter; +till, when the conference was over, Jessica ran to +him, exclaiming:</p> +<p>“Cheer up, Ferd! Oh, Ferd! He’s going to live, +though, maybe––maybe he will never walk again. +Come and see him, Ferd. He wants you. He needs +you.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_207' name='page_207'></a>207</span></div> +<p>The dwarf came reluctantly, still adoring his +brother and still shrinking from him and the sight +of his agony. The examination had been painful, of +course; and the condition upon which life might +still remain a bitter one. However, it was––life! +And to Antonio, at that present moment, that was +all he craved.</p> +<p>“We must make a litter or stretcher and take him +to the valley. He will need the closest care and +watching. He couldn’t stay up here, and have a +single chance of recovery. Let’s see, there are five +men of us, counting the dwarf. We’ll have to walk +with the stretcher, and he shall lead the horses, all +but Buster, whom Jessica can ride. One at a time +he’ll ‘spell’ us, and the one released will take his +place at the beasts,” was the doctor’s decision.</p> +<p>So it was done. A blanket was speedily fastened +about two poles drawn from the corral, and over +these Pedro’s hard mattress was laid; and thus, +placed as comfortably upon it as might be, Antonio +was once more conveyed to his old home at Sobrante.</p> +<p>And there, that Sunday night, was wild rejoicing +and much speculation concerning the outcome of +his confession.</p> +<p>“Sharp’s the man to put the thing in trim. He’s +the very chap! He knows all about minerals, and +he says that this copper we’ve struck is the very +purest article he ever saw! Hurray! Hurray! Three +cheers and a tiger for the Sobrante Copper Mine!” +shouted the hilarious Marty.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, there had been short but heated discussion +among her loyal henchmen as to whether +Mrs. Trent should be forced to receive and care for, +under her immediate roof, a man who had done +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_208' name='page_208'></a>208</span> +her so much injury; and the decision had been unanimous: +“No!”</p> +<p>Even John, who had helped to bring him thither, +joined his voice to this assertion; and to the next +question propounded, as to who would attend him +and where, had as loudly answered: “I don’t know.”</p> +<p>Temporarily, the senor was resting in the household +sitting-room, but it was evident should not +long remain there.</p> +<p>“Where then? Hate him as we may, we can’t +let him die on our hands,” said Samson, looking as +black as he could.</p> +<p>“Don’t you fret yourselves, ‘boys,’” said a cheerful +voice near the group. “Mr. Ma’sh and me, or +me and Mr. Ma’sh––for I had to put it to him pretty +plain, ’fore he’d seed it right––me and him will take +that misguided creatur’ into our hands, and–––”</p> +<p>“May the Lord have mercy on his soul!” ejaculated +Marty, fervently.</p> +<p>“Me and Ephraim will ’tend him, turn and turn +about,” continued Mrs. Benton, ignorant of Marty’s +irreverent remark. “He’s to be put into Mr. Ma’sh’s +room at the quarters, and I’ll take this first night’s +job. I shall begin it with a dose of picra, and the +first page of the Westminster catechism; and if that +don’t put him in good shape for the doctor and +Ephraim, in the morning, my name ain’t Sally Benton, +nor never was. The doctor, he’s rode home for +his instruments and such, and hopes to get the +bullet out in the course of time. But it’s my opinion, +and his, too, I reckon, ’cause he didn’t deny it +when I put the question plain, it’s our opinion that +Antonio Bernal will never walk another step in his +life. But he’ll live. He’ll live everlastin’. Them old +Californy folks always do. He’ll simply be paralyzed +from his waist down.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_209' name='page_209'></a>209</span></div> +<p>Despite their antipathy to him, a thrill of pity +ran through every one who heard her; and to most +of those stalwart men it seemed that this was a +punishment they could not have endured. Death +would have been far preferable to them.</p> +<p>So it befell that the late manager’s fate was in +the hands of his enemies, so to speak; and while +Mrs. Benton and “Forty-niner” would faithfully +perform their duty toward him, they elected to do +it along lines of their own.</p> +<hr class='toprule' /> +<div class='chsp'> +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_210' name='page_210'></a>210</span> +<a name='CHAPTER_XXI_CONCLUSION' id='CHAPTER_XXI_CONCLUSION'></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> +</div> +<p>Events crowded one another at Sobrante.</p> +<p>Under the compulsion of his brother’s will, so +soon as that brother was able to think of anything +beyond his own suffering, Ferd led a party of the +ranchmen, with Ninian Sharp at their head, to the +canyon cave and the pit where the little captain +had been imprisoned. They shuddered as they beheld +it; yet could but rejoice that Old Century had +sought her there, and had, so opportunely, revealed +its precious secret. They also took good care to +blaze their path as they went, for it was most intricate +and bewildering. They had the curiosity +to test the powers of the wonderful staff, which +John had carefully fitted with a new top, and were +amazed at its curious behavior, as it zigzagged over +the floor of the almost unsupported. Whatever the +metal, or compound of metals, on the point, it was +certainly attracted by, and indicated the presence of, +copper in the earth beneath.</p> +<p>Returning to the house after this trip of exploration, +Marty was promptly mounted upon the “ghost +horse” Nero, and sent to Marion with telegrams for +Ninian’s expert friends in Los Angeles, and to bring +back the mail. The unhappy animal had been +treated to a liberal bath of gasoline and soap suds, +and had come out of it a sort of mongrel; but with +the phosphorus gone from about his eyes and face, +and with a reasonable prospect that he might some +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_211' name='page_211'></a>211</span> +day be restored to his original ebony hue. Yet his +spirit seemed broken, as if he had felt the disgrace +of the part he had been forced to play in the late +escapades of Antonio and his fellow-conspirators.</p> +<p>“It’s what one might call the irony of fate that the +man who caused the death of Comanche should thus +be forced to supply Comanche’s place with his own +beloved Nero,” commented the reporter, as the messenger +rode away.</p> +<p>“Yes. Things generally do even up in this +world, if a body has patience to wait a spell,” answered +Samson. “And though I’ve no love for him, +and wouldn’t trust him across this plaza, without +watchin’, I can’t help pitying poor ‘top-lofty,’ and +thinking he was more fool than knave. The idee! +Them plans and performances of his savor more of +the ‘middle ages,’ that I’ve heard about, than of +these days. But it just takes my breath away to +think of what Sobrante will be, some time, if that +‘find’ in the canyon turns out what we imagine. +Why––but there! No use talking. Wait and see. +How long you think before you get an answer back +from the town, tellin’ what your friend’ll do?”</p> +<p>“Oh! I expect Marty will bring that answer. He’s +to wait an hour or two, you know, and give a chance. +If Cornell––that’s the expert’s name––is in the city, +he’ll probably come himself by the evening train. +In that case, you and I might drive over to meet +him.”</p> +<p>“Wh-e-w!” ejaculated the ex-sailor, astonished. +“You newspaper fellows beat the world for hustling, +don’t you? So quick as that? H’m! If you fly as +much sail as that so sudden, looks like we’d reach +port ahead of time.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_212' name='page_212'></a>212</span></div> +<p>“When a thing’s to be done––why, do it! If there’s +copper enough to pay for mining, why––mine it,” +answered the other, coolly.</p> +<p>“Young man, mining costs money. Talkin’ is +cheap,” retorted Samson, sententiously.</p> +<p>“Of course. One must put in a little capital if one +expects to get results, in any business. The money +will be found easily enough. Trust me to see to +that. Or my friends and me.”</p> +<p>Already the journalist was as eager as possible on +this new matter. His brief rest had restored his +overtaxed nerves, and he was more than ready to +push any enterprise that commended itself to his +keen judgment. Now, all depended upon the expert’s +arrival at the ranch. He would then be taken in +person to examine the discovered vein, and on his +opinion great affairs would depend. Yet Ninian felt +that even if Henry Cornell’s opinion was averse, he +should not let the subject rest there. He would +consult with others. Mrs. Trent’s interests must be +forwarded to the utmost, and no possible chance of +her realizing a fortune lost through any lukewarmness +of his own.</p> +<p>Marty duly returned. He brought the expected +message from the great expert, and that gentleman +would arrive at Marion by that very evening’s train. +He brought, as well, several letters for the ranch +mistress, and these Jessica joyously carried to her +as she sat quietly sewing. Most of them were business +communications, which were promptly read +and laid aside, to be answered at once; but there +was one which the mother dropped in her workbasket +unopened, though it was the thickest and +plumpest of the lot, and, also, bore the postmark +“New York.” In ordinary, all New York mail was +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_213' name='page_213'></a>213</span> +the most eagerly read of all that came; and this +fact caused Jessica to exclaim:</p> +<p>“Why, mother, dear! Why don’t you read it? Or +are you like me when I have something extra nice +for dinner, leaving it to by and by?”</p> +<p>“Yes, darling, I’m leaving it––a while. It will +keep. I know what is in it, or nearly so. It’s not +the first of the sort has come lately, and I’ll have +courage soon.”</p> +<p>“Courage, mother? Do you need courage to read +your letters? What harm can come to us now, out +of that far away city? My father’s name is cleared, +we owe nobody, we––why, we may be going to be +very, very rich, if things turn out as Mr. Ninian +thinks they will turn out, and–––Oh, dear! I’m +not saying it very clear, only seems to me we ought +to be perfectly, perfectly happy now; and if there’s +anything bad in the letter, please give it to me, and +let me burn it up right away.”</p> +<p>For answer, the mother caught her daughter close +within her arms, kissed her passionately, and asked:</p> +<p>“Oh, little captain! If you go so far from me, +how shall I live?”</p> +<p>“I––go so far––from you!” repeated Lady Jess, +in utter astonishment. “Why, what can you mean?”</p> +<p>Mrs. Trent recovered her composure, even smiled––if +not very gayly––and answered, tenderly: +“Whatever come, my sunshine, remember that, of +all things, your mother desires your welfare before +her own. But more than that I cannot tell you now. +So, run to Aunt Sally, dear, and ask if she can be +spared from her nursing a few hours. I think one +of the other men will relieve Ephraim, if he is tired, +in waiting upon Antonio. I want she should help me +get up an extra fine supper for Mr. Ninian’s friend. +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_214' name='page_214'></a>214</span> +Ah! my child, how much we owe to that young +man’s goodness and enterprise!”</p> +<p>“Indeed, indeed, we do. But seems to me we do +nothing but cook here, nowadays. It’s always company, +isn’t it?”</p> +<p>“And glad I am of that. So long as the larder has +anything in it, I love to share it with––friends. Not +strangers, who do not care, but with anybody else, +the best we have. If a luxury well; and if but a +crust, still well. Now––to Aunt Sally.”</p> +<p>Jessica guessed that as soon as she was out of +sight the disagreeable letter from the other side of the +continent would be promptly read, and wondered +not a little concerning its contents. And she was +right. Mrs. Trent had barely finished its perusal, +when Mrs. Benton appeared, but from her the +mother had nothing to hide. She looked up quietly, +and said:</p> +<p>“Another more urgent entreaty from old Cousin +Margaret. She puts the matter so strongly as my +duty that I’m compelled to acknowledge she is––may +be––right.”</p> +<p>“Humph! She’s been wrong enough, sometimes,” +returned Aunt Sally, peevishly. “That’s when she +got angry with you for marrying Cass’us.”</p> +<p>“That was mostly from indignation at losing me, +her one loved relative. There could never have +been a kinder guardian–––”</p> +<p>“Nor a queerer, as I’ve gathered from your own +talk. I never saw Margaret Dalrymple, and I never +want to. Anyhow, nothin’ can be done at present; +but I’ve brought one comfortin’ word across from +the quarters with me, Gabriella.”</p> +<p>“What’s that, Aunt Sally? Is Antonio better?”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_215' name='page_215'></a>215</span></div> +<p>“Oh! bother Antonio. He’ll get well, of course. +That kind always does. Of that I never had a misdoubt. +The word is this, and I begin to think that +old Fra Sebastian may be a real Christian, after all. +He not only offers, but he says it must be this way: +As soon as ‘top-lofty’ can be safely moved, he wants +him to the sannytarium to his mission. Him and +Ferd, the dwarf, likewise. He says them old Californys +all belong to him, and he will look after them. +Antonio is to be in the sanny-house, and Ferd is to +be put into the mission school. Though he’s a man +in years, he’s a child in learning––’cept evil. So Fra +proposes to oust the evil if he can––I wager he’ll +find he’s got a job––and put in good. He’ll make +Antonio earn his keep a-writin’ up the books and +accounts, for, with all his silliness, he’s a master +hand at figurin’––for himself. So that settles them, +and don’t you dast say no to the arrangement when +it’s perposed to you, Gabriella Trent, or I’ll never +let you hear the last of it. It’s the Lord’s own way +of disposing things, and a better one than I could +cipher out, if I do say it.”</p> +<p>Certainly Mrs. Trent had no objection to make to +so comfortable a settlement of a perplexing question; +and in due time the Bernals left Sobrante forever; +and of their lives at the mission those whom +they had known so long were henceforth to hear +little, “and care less,” according to the satisfied +ranchmen.</p> +<p>Mr. Cornell, the expert, came, inspected, reserved +his opinion, and departed; but Ninian Sharp had +gathered enough from the visitor’s few sentences, +idly dropped, to feel quite convinced that the thing +was worth carrying farther. So he, too, left Sobrante; +but, after a brief sojourn in Los Angeles, +reappeared, in company with Morris Hale and a +trio of prospectors, representing much capital. All +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_216' name='page_216'></a>216</span> +this was very exciting to the simple household; and +Mrs. Trent, at least, felt infinite relief when, on the +eve of Navidad, there were left in it only those two +strangers, who had now become less strangers than +familiar friends.</p> +<p>Gathered about the fireside, which the first of the +rainy nights made doubly enticing, the New York +lawyer discussed at length the decision which the +prospectors had made. They considered the mine +well worth working. “In fact, I have reason to believe +it will turn out one of the richest in the whole +country. They are willing to advance all money +needed upon certain conditions,” and he named +them.</p> +<p>These seemed extremely liberal and just to both +sides, but Mrs. Trent did not greatly surprise her +listeners when she quietly interposed a clause to the +effect that:</p> +<p>“My husband believed in profit-sharing. It was +his ambition to put Sobrante and its various interests +into such an operation. I want all our ‘boys’ +to enjoy the benefits of that which God has given us. +They will contribute their labor and share in its +results; share richly if I can have my will.”</p> +<p>“Your will is doubtless law, madam,” answered +Mr. Hale, courteously.</p> +<p>“And if the mine is worked, I want our dear +friend, Ninian Sharp, to come here and act as its +manager, on behalf of the Sobrante side. He”––she +raised her hand gently, as he started to interrupt––“he +must be paid a much larger salary than he could +earn upon the staff of the Lancet, and would have, +I hope, sufficient leisure time to use his pen in +other literary work, such as he tells me he has never +had the chance to do.”</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_217' name='page_217'></a>217</span></div> +<p>For the first time in his life, maybe, the alert +reporter was taken off guard, and hadn’t a word to +say, except the very ordinary one of “Thank you”; +but he said it, bending over the lady’s hand, and with +such an expression of delight upon his thin, intellectual +face, that no greater eloquence was needed.</p> +<p>“And now,” said Aunt Sally, “it’s time to begin +that there decorating which Gabriell’ thinks is a +part of Christmas. Pasqually’s been real good. He’s +been up to the dreen, where you planted them calla +lilies, Jessie, and he’s fetched a good many bushels. +Seven hundred, I guess he said. And he’s cut poinsetty +enough to turn us blind with its redness; and +my boy, John, hitched up and went along under the +flume and druv his pushcart back full of the biggest +maidenhair ferns and sweet brakes I ever see. So +now, youngsters, set to and trim. Then we’ll hang +up our stockings, every one; and I’ll give you the +nicest Christmas dinner can be cooked, if I have to +cuff Wun Lungy into basting them turkeys as they +ought to be basted. Come, Neddy; come, little +Echo; I saw Santy Claus’ wife––that’s me, shove a +pan full of gingerbread men into the wall oven, and +if they’re done, I’ll give each of you a soldier of +dough to drive you to bed. Stockings first? Of +course, of course. Why, what would Christmas be +without its stockings? Here’s a brand-new pair +auntie’s knit for you, one a piece; and if you don’t +find ’em stuffed with rods in the morning, it won’t +be because you don’t deserve it, you precious, precious, +naughty little lambs!”</p> +<p>Off went the good creature, a boy on either arm, +her patchwork streaming behind her, her spectacles +on the top of her head, and her ruddy countenance +as beaming as if she were, indeed, that mythical +person––Santa Claus’ wife.</p> +<div><span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_218' name='page_218'></a>218</span></div> +<p>Oh! what a Christmas followed! With everybody +from far and near who had any claim upon Sobrante +hastening thither to share its open hospitalities; +Wolfgang and Elsa, with their “little” six-foot son; +the genial McLeods, Dr. Kimball and his sweet-faced +invalid sister, Louise, for whose benefit he +had left their fine Boston home to live in this lonely, +lovely southland. These, and many more, not only +came, but did such justice to Mrs. Benton’s and +Wan Lung’s cookery that, as she said, next morning:</p> +<p>“Land suz! There ain’t scraps enough left to +make a decent soup, even! But never mind, we had +a royal time, every single soul of us. Christmas is +over, and I’m glad it’s so well over. Now, we can +settle down and rest a spell.”</p> +<p>Indeed, there was rest for the household itself, +but for Ninian Sharp and his coadjutors. The mining +scheme was rapidly put into practical operation; +Mr. Hale lingering all that winter to further its +interests, and to enjoy what he had coveted early in +his acquaintance with it, a few months of ranch +life at ideal Sobrante.</p> +<p>Then came the glorious springtime, when the mesa +was alive with flowers; the canyon was fragrant +with perfume, and the whole countryside became +an earthly paradise. The springtime, when the +Easterner could no longer delay his homeward trip, +nor Mrs. Trent the revelation of what her New +York letters had contained, though Jessica had +almost forgotten them.</p> +<p>One week before the lawyer was to leave them, +mother and child sat, hand in hand, beside the +father’s grave, whither the widow had purposely +withdrawn, as if the precious dust within might +still support and counsel her. Taking the little captain’s +<span class='pagenum pncolor'><a id='page_219' name='page_219'></a>219</span> +hand in hers, and speaking as calmly as if her +heart were not desperately sad, she said:</p> +<p>“My darling, when Mr. Hale goes home to New +York you will go with him.”</p> +<p>“Mother! Oh! Why?”</p> +<p>“Because it is right. My Cousin Margaret, whose +letters you have seen me read, sometimes with ungrateful +tears, offers you a home and an education. +She was a mother to me in my youth, and I owe +her much. Now that she is old and desolate, she +begs for you. It may be that I should still have +declined to please her at so much pain to––us, but +the discovery of this copper mine of ours, and the +fact that you will one day be one of America’s richest +daughters, forces me to comply.”</p> +<p>“But, why, mother? Why should that matter? +I’d rather give it up. Say no! Oh, please, say no!”</p> +<p>“I cannot now. I dare not. Upon your dear +shoulders will rest a great trust and responsibility. +You must be fitted to discharge that trust by the +best education possible. This education you cannot +gain here. You must seek it elsewhere. We must +not make it harder for each other, this bitter parting, +but we must bear it bravely for––father’s sake.”</p> +<p>Thus ended Jessica’s early childhood; and of what +befell her in that widely different life at school it +must be left to another volume to relate.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESSICA, THE HEIRESS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 30074-h.txt or 30074-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/0/7/30074">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/0/7/30074</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/30074.txt b/old/30074.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6796e60 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30074.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7027 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jessica, the Heiress, by Evelyn Raymond + + +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: Jessica, the Heiress + + +Author: Evelyn Raymond + + + +Release Date: September 24, 2009 [eBook #30074] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESSICA, THE HEIRESS*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +JESSICA, THE HEIRESS + +by + +EVELYN RAYMOND + +Author of "Jessica Trent," "Jessica Trent's Inheritance," etc. + + + + + + + +Whitman Publishing Co. +Racine, Wisconsin + +Copyright, 1904, by The Federal Book Company + +Jessica, the Heiress + +Printed by +Western Printing & Lithographing Co. +Racine, Wis. + +Printed in U.S.A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I Jessica Disappears 11 + II The Hush of Anxiety 22 + III Old Century Takes the Trail 31 + IV Deliverance 41 + V Jessica's Story 50 + VI Behind Locked Doors 59 + VII A Royal Gift 70 + VIII The Face at the Window 79 + IX The Prisoner Disappears 90 + X On the Road Home 99 + XI The Passing of Old Century 110 + XII The Rebellion of the Lads. 121 + XIII Ned's Story 131 + XIV Taking the Doctor's Advice 140 + XV Ninian's Greeting 150 + XVI Jessica Gets Her Wish 161 + XVII The Cactus Hedge 170 + XVIII What the Sabbath Brought 180 + XIX Antonio's Confession 189 + XX The Verdict 201 + XXI Conclusion 210 + + + + +JESSICA, THE HEIRESS + +CHAPTER I. + +JESSICA DISAPPEARS + + +Mrs. Benton and Jessica were upon the south porch of the Sobrante +ranch house, the former busy as usual, the latter idly enjoying her +charming surroundings as she swung to and fro in her hammock. + +Mighty vines of pale yellow roses, intermingled with climbing +fuchsias, cast shade and sweetness over them; the porch was bordered +by a wide swath of calla lilies, also in full flower, while just +beyond these a great shrub of poinsettia dazzled the sight with its +gleaming blossoms. + +When a momentary silence of the other's nimble tongue allowed her to +speak, Jessica exclaimed: + +"Aunt Sally, you're the only person I know who can do three things at +once. You sew as fast as you rock, and talk faster than either. You're +a very clever woman." + +The old lady answered complacently, as she bit off a fresh needleful +of thread and looked at her companion over her spectacles: + +"Yes, dearie, I expect I am. I can do more'n that, too. I can keep up +a powerful thinking." + +"About what, pray?" + +"How that life is a patchwork quilt. All the colors of the rainbow, +and some that any self-respectin' rainbow would scorn to own. Some +scraps so amazing homely you hate to put 'em in, but just have to, +else there wouldn't be blocks enough to square it out." + +"What sort of a scrap am I, Aunt Sally?" + +"Huh! Fair to middlin'. Neither very light, nor very dark. You'd be +prettier, to my notion, if you'd fetch a needle and thread and sew a +seam with me, 'stead of swinging yourself dizzy out of pure +laziness." + +"Now, Aunt Sally! I call that unkind! I hate to sew." + +"I believe you. You'll never put a stitch where a pin will do. But, +never mind. If everybody else sets out to spoil you, I don't know as +it's my call to interfere." + +There was so much tenderness in the glance that accompanied these +words that nobody could resent them; least of all the girl, who now +sprang from the hammock and curled herself at the other's feet. + +"Tell me those powerful thoughts, auntie, dear." + +Mrs. Benton sighed, but responded nothing loath: + +"There's your mother, Gabriella. Only child, left an orphan, raised by +a second cousin once removed, who'd more temper than sense, and when +your mother fell in love with your father, who'd more goodness than +cash, shut the door on them both forthwith. So off they come to +Californy and pitch their tent right here in the spot." + +"They couldn't have chosen a lovelier place," their daughter answered, +with a sweeping glance over the fair land which formed her home. + +"That's true enough. Then him getting that New York company to buy +Paraiso d'Oro Valley, so's a lot of folks that was down in the world +could come out here and live in it. Poor Cass'us dying, just as he'd +got things to his liking; the losing of the title deed and your +journeying to Los Angeles to get it back." + +"Not 'lost,' Aunt Sally. Poor Antonio hid it at El Desierto, in the +cave of the Three Rocks. He--" + +"Cat's foot! Don't you go to 'pooring' that snaky sneak, or you and +me'll fall out. I should hate that." + +"So should I. But you've set me thinking, too. How wonderful that Mr. +Ninian Sharp was, the newspaper man. If it hadn't been for him, we'd +never have won that battle. What could I have done, with Ephraim Marsh +in the hospital, and I knowing nothing about the city? That Mr. Hale +was another splendid man. I can understand how he had to keep his word +and do his best for the company which thought father had wronged it; +and I can also understand that he was as glad as we to find their +money safe with the poor banker who was killed, Luis Garcia's +father." + +"'Pooring' again are you? Another scamp, too." + +"Oh, Aunt Sally! He's--dead!" remonstrated Jessica, in awestruck +tones. + +"And a fine job he is. There's plenty of good-for-noughts still +living. A man that's been wicked all his life ain't apt to turn saint +at the end of it. I like folks that do their duty as they go along. If +the robber, Garcia, had got well he'd likely claimed our Luis and +reared him to be as bad as himself." + +"Aunt Sally, you're uncharitable this morning. What's made you so?" + +"The plumb meanness of human natur'." + +"Your own?" asked the girl teasingly. + +"No, saucebox. My boy, John's. His, and all the rest of 'em." + +"Toward whom?" + +"Oh! 'tisn't toward anybody, out and out. If it was I'd roll up my +sleeves and switch the lot of 'em, just as if they were the little +tackers they act like. It's them pesky hints and shrugged shoulders, +every time the Dutch Winklers or 'Forty-niner' is spoke of. I wish to +goodness that man'd come home and clear his name, or give me a chance +to do it. He no more stole that knitting-woman's money than I did." + +"Aunt Sally! Stole? Stole! My Ephraim! Why, you must be crazy!" + +"There, it's out. Needn't hop up like that, mad as a hornet, at me. +I'm not the one hints and shrugs. It's the whole lot of your precious +'boys'--boys; indeed! and needing spanking more'n they ever did in +their lives." + +Jessica's swift pacing of the wide porch came to a sudden halt, and +she dropped down again at Mrs. Benton's feet, feeling as if the floor +had given way beneath her tread. + +"This, then, was what my mother meant, that very day when I came back, +that Ephraim was happier where he was! The dear old fellow; thrown to +the street by his graceless Stiffleg; picked up with a leg full of +broken bones; a prisoner in a hospital all these weeks; giving all his +savings of years to us; and the 'boys' he's lived with since before I +was born accusing him of--theft! Aunt Sally, it's too monstrous to be +true!" + +"'Tis, indeedy. Seem's if the Evil One had been let loose, here at +Sobrante, when the word of a half-wit--poor half, at that--is held +proof against the entire life of an honest old man." + +Aunt Sally was so deeply moved that, for once, she allowed herself a +moment's respite from unceasing industry, unconsciously holding a +patchwork block to her moist eyes, and slowly swaying the great rocker +as she sorrowfully reflected that: + +"I raised him the best I could, that boy John. I gave him a pill once +a week, regular, to keep his bile down. I washed him every Saturday +night and spanked him after I got through. I never let him eat butter +when he had gravy, and I made him say his prayers night and morning. I +had a notion that such wholesome rearin' would turn him out a decent +man; and now, just see!" + +In spite of her own distress, Jessica laughed. + +"Aunt Sally, if anybody but yourself hinted that John wasn't a +'decent' man you'd do something dreadful to punish the slanderer." + +"Suppose I should? Wouldn't I have a right? Ain't he my own?" + +Jessica smiled faintly, but sat for a long time silent. The talkative +woman in the rocker also kept silence, brooding over many things. +Finally she burst forth: + +"I don't see why it is that just as soon as a body gets into smooth +sailing, along comes a storm and upsets things again. There was your +mother, beginning to feel she could go ahead and do what her husband +wanted to, and now here's this bad feeling among her trusted hired +men. Suspicion is the pisenest yarb that grows. The folks that could +suspect old 'Forty-niner' of wrong things'll be plumb ready to watch +out for one another. Somebody'll be caught nappin', sure. 'Tisn't in +human natur' to walk upright all the time, and it's foolish to expect +it. But--shouldn't wonder if I'd be the next one accused. And it +comin' Christmas time too. Land! I'm so bestead I've sewed that patch +in wrong side up. What? Hey? You laughin'? I don't see anything funny +in this business, myself," said the old lady, fretfully. + +"You would if you could look in a glass! Your face is all streaked +purple and green, where you cried on your patch," explained Jessica, +whose grief had changed to amusement. + +"You don't say! I knew them colors'd run. John fetched the piece from +Marion, last time he went for the mail. Of the two stores there, I +don't know which is the worst. Their 'Merrimac' won't wash, and their +flannel shrinks, and their thread breaks every needleful. But, to +'Boston'--dear me! Whatever did make me think of that place! Now I've +thought, it'll stick in my mind till it drives me wild--or back there, +and that's about the same thing. To go live with that slimsy cousin of +mine, after being in the same house with your mother, is like falling +off a roof into a squashy mud puddle. That's all the sense and +substance there is to Sarah, that was a Harrison before she was a +Ma'sh. I warrant she's clean out of medicine an money, for she's a +regular squanderer when it comes to makin' rag rugs. I wish you could +see 'em! I just wish't you could. Such dogs and cats as she weaves +into 'em would have druv' Noah plumb crazy if he had to take 'em into +the Ark. Their eyes are just round rings of white, with another round +ring of black in the middle----" + +"Aren't rings always round, auntie, dear?" + +"No, they ain't. Not after they've been trod on!" was the swift +retort, as the old lady pointed downwards toward the floor of the +porch. + +Both stooped and rose again, astonishment deepening upon their faces +as Jessica held out her open palm with the injured trinket lying upon +it. + +"Elsa Winkler's wedding ring! How came it here?" + +"How indeed? I don't believe that woman's been on these premises since +I came." + +"Even if she had, Aunt Sally, why should she bring the ring with her? +It was always too small for her, and she never had it on except during +the marriage ceremony. I've often heard her laugh about it; how +Wolfgang bought a ring as big as his money would pay for, and let it +go at that. She didn't see what difference it made whether it went +only on the tip of her finger or all the way down it. But she must +have been here, even if we didn't know it. I'll take it straight to +mother to keep. Then, too, I've idled enough. I promised my dear I'd +write all her Christmas invitations for her, because she says it will +save her the trouble, and be such a help to my education." + +"Christmas! Well, well. Does seem as if I couldn't leave before then, +nohow. And hear me, Jessie, darlin', don't you let your poor ma worry +her head over your book learning. Being she was a schoolma'am herself +makes her feel as if she wasn't doing the square thing by you letting +you run wild, so to speak. If the Lord means you to get schoolin' +He'll put you in the right way of it, don't you doubt. Who all does +Gabriella set out to ask here to visit?" + +"Mr. Hale, of course; and dear Mr. Sharp. I hope Ephraim will be well +enough to come, too. Then there are the Winklers, from the mine; the +McLeods, from their inn at Marion; and, maybe--we've never had a +Christmas without him--maybe poor Antonio." + +"Well, all I say is--if you ask him you needn't ask me. There wouldn't +be room on this whole ranch for the pair of us." + +"Then, of course, it's you first. Yet, it's all so puzzling to me. If +it's a time of 'peace and good will,' why do people keep on feeling +angry with one another?" + +"Jessica Trent, dast you stand there and look me in the face and say +that you have forgive that sneaky snakey manager for cheating your +mother like he did?" + +"He was sorry, Aunt Sally. Every letter he sends here tells that." + +"Fiddlesticks!" + +"And he's punished, isn't he, even if the New York folks let him go +free, by his disappointment? I can fancy how dreadful it would seem, +did seem to think this beautiful ranch was one's own, and then +suddenly to learn that it was not." + +"Oh! Jessie! You try my soul with your forgivin' and forgivin'. Next +you know you'll be sorry for Ferd, the dwarf, though 'tis he himself +what's started all this bobery against 'Forty-niner,' and eggs them +silly Winklers on to be so--so hateful. I'm glad that witless woman +did lose her ring, and I hope it'll never be straightened out. I guess +I'm out of conceit with everybody living, not exceptin' old Sally +Benton, herself!" + +With this home thrust at her own ill temper, the whimsical woman +betook herself and her dangling array of patchwork to Mrs. Trent's +sitting-room; there to discuss the prospects for holiday festivities +and to take account of stock, in the way of groceries on hand. Deep in +the subject of pies and puddings, they forgot other matters, till a +wild whoop outside the window disturbed them, and they beheld Ned and +Luis, painted in startling "Indian fashion," mounted upon a highly +decorated horse, which had never been seen in the Sobrante stables. + +"Hi, there, mother! Your money or your life!" + +"Money--life!" echoed Luis, clinging to his playmate's waist and +peeping over his shoulder. + +The horse was rearing and plunging more dangerously each second, and +both women rushed to the rescue of the imperiled children, who +realized nothing of their danger, but shouted and screamed the louder +the more frantic their steed became. Mrs. Trent caught the bridle, and +Aunt Sally snatched first one, then the other, child from the +creature's back, who, as soon as he was relieved of his yelling +burden, started at a gallop across the garden, ruining its beds and +borders on his way. + +"Oh, oh! Children, how could you? Whose horse is that? Where did you +get that paint? How shall I ever make you clean?" + +"I'll tend to that part, Gabriella. You just call a boy to fix them +flower beds before the plants wither. Oh, you rascals! You won't +forget this morning's fun in a hurry, I warn you! You've been in John +Benton's paint pots again. Well, you like paint, you shall have it, +and all you want of it too. Red and yeller, green and pink, with a +streak of blue. H'm! You're a tasty lot, ain't you!" + +The lads squirmed and twisted, but Aunt Sally's grip merely tightened +upon them so that finally, they ceased struggling and allowed her to +lead them whither she would, which was to the small laundry, that +stood at some slight distance from the house. Here she sternly +regarded each bedaubed, but otherwise nude, little figure, with so +fierce an expression upon her usually pleasant face that the young +miscreants winced, and Ned cried out: + +"Quit a-talking eyes at me that way, Aunt Sally Benton! I don't like +it." + +"Oh! you don't, eh? Well, what'd you disgrace yourselves this way for, +if 'twasn't to make folks stare? Where's your clothes?" + +"I don't know." + +"Very well, then I'll help you to remember." + +"I won't be whipped! I'll tell my mother!" shrieked Ned, retreating +toward the closed door of the building. + +"Won't be whipped, old Aunt Sally!" added Luis, clasping his leader; +whereupon the customary scuffle ensued; for, no matter what their +business in hand, personal contact always insured a slight passage at +arms. At present, this diverted their thoughts from what might be in +store at the will of their mutual enemy, and it came with appalling +suddenness. Each small boy was lifted, bidden to shut his eyes and +mouth, then plunged downward into a barrel of some cold slippery +stuff. Here he was soused vigorously up and down, until every portion +of his skin was smeared with the stick mess; after which he was placed +on his feet and once more commanded: + +"Now, son, just you stand there and dreen a spell. Lucky I made that +barrel of soft soap last week. It's just the stuff to take this paint +off, and what drips from you to the old adobe floor won't hurt. +Pasqual's a master hand at scrubbin', and I'll give him the job of you +and the floor both. Reckon you'll wish you hadn't ever seen paint pots +time he gets through. Now--where's your clothes?" + +Ned was silent, but Luis "guessed they's under a tree." + +"Well, son, Garcia, knowing it better than guessing 'bout now. Me and +Santa Claus is sort of partners, and he's due here soon. 'Twon't take +me a jerk of a lamb's tail to write and tell him how things stand at +Sobrante, and whose stockings'd better have switches 'stead of goodies +in 'em. Hear me? Where's your clothes?" + +A laugh caused Aunt Sally to glance through the window, where Jessica +was an amused spectator of the scene within. She now begged: + +"Don't be hard on the little tackers, auntie, dear. That was Prince, +Mr. Hale's horse, that Pedro has tended on the mesa all these days. +I'll find out how they came by it, and their clothes at the same time. +Tell mother, please," and with a merry nod to the unhappy urchins, so +shamfacedly "dreening" at Mrs. Benton's pleasure, she disappeared. + +Disappeared not only from the window, but, apparently, from life, as +suddenly and completely as if the earth had opened and engulfed her. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE HUSH OF ANXIETY + + +Mrs. Trent and Aunt Sally sat down alone to dinner. The little lads +were in their beds, recovering from the sound scrubbing Pasqual had +given them. Clothed in fresh nightgowns, and refreshed by generous +bowls of bread and milk, they had been left in a darkened room to +reflect upon the hard ways of transgressors. But reflection was +unusual work for their active brains, and they had promptly fallen +asleep; hence the profound peace which rested upon the house. + +"I wonder where Jessica is? She was to have written my letters for me, +but I haven't seen her since breakfast," said the mother, somewhat +anxiously. + +"Oh! she's around somewhere. Was at the laundry window while I was +tending to the children, and said she'd go find their clothes. In all +my born days I never saw two small heads could hatch the mischief +Ned's and Luis' can. It's out of one scrape into another, and seems if +they must break their necks some day." + +"Oh! don't forecast evil. Their pranks keep my nerves on tension all +the time, yet I shouldn't worry so. They always escape from harm. But +I'd like to know how they got that horse." + +"So would I. They must have had help painting it. Stands to reason two +midgets like them couldn't have kept a high-spirited creatur' quiet +while they wasted enough good paint on him to cover a meeting house." + +"John won't be pleased. He's so careful of his belongings, even I +never touch them without permission," said the ranch mistress, smiling +afresh at the memory of the ridiculous picture the boys had made. + +"Don't surprise me't you laugh, Gabriella, but you'd ought to put the +reins on tighter to them chaps, lest first you know they'll be driving +you, not you them. Do it already, seems if." + +"How can I be stern with Cassius' little son? Every day I see more +resemblance to his father in the childs face; yes, and in his nature, +too. Nobody was ever fonder of fun than my husband, yet surely there +never was a better man." + +"Oh! Neddy's all right. Trouble is to keep him from thinkin' so +himself. But, there. Why don't you eat your dinner? You haven't more'n +half touched it. It's a shame to waste good victuals, and these are +good. I fixed 'em myself." + +The other smiled again at the complacency visible upon her friend's +face, which so innocently dsplayed the same feeling that had just been +deplored in Ned. However, Aunt Sally was too busy with her own food to +notice anything else, and it seemed long to her companion before she +had finished and risen, to call, sharply: + +"Pas-qual! Oh, Pasqual-ly! Why aren't you on hand to clear the table? +Don't you know I've got--and here followed a long list of things to be +done, more than many could accomplish in several days." Each had some +reference to the coming holidays, and the house boy understood this. +He entered, more willingly than usual, grinning with the anticipation +of the raisins he would have to stone, the nuts he must crack, and the +goodly samples of each that he would surreptitiously procure. + +Mrs. Trent asked him to put aside Miss Jessica's dinner, till she came +in, and to be sure that it was also kept nice and warm. + +"All right, lady. I'll do that good enough. Don't mind what I has to +do for 'Lady Jess';" and immediately seized the plate, which Aunt +Sally had already filled, to place it in the warming oven. + +Then the mother went out, and among the adobe buildings, which formed +the "boys" quarters and the business part of the ranch, calling +gently, as she went, in the brooding sort of note which had long been +a signal between her and her child. But no Jessica responded; and, to +her fancy, it seemed that the whole place was strangely silent. + +"After all, that is not to be wondered at. The men are done with +dinner, and gone about their work. The boys are asleep, and only +Jessica would be anywhere near. What can keep her, I wonder?" and with +this thought the lady again uttered the tender call which would summon +her daughter, if she were within hearing. + +Then she returned to the house and tried to accept Aunt Sally's theory +that, likely some of them 'boys' is in trouble about his job, and +wants his 'captain' to go oversee. 'Mazin' strange, Gabriella, what a +influence that child has over 'em. "They 'pear to think, the whole lot +of 'em, that she can straighten out all the kinks that get into brains +or business." + +"She is quick to understand," said the mother, proudly. + +"Course. Nothin' strange, is it, seeing who her folks was? Best go +take a nap, honey." + +"Oh, no! Thank you for suggesting it, but I'm too wakeful." + +"Well, then, I'll fetch them kerns and citron right out here on the +kitchen porch. The sun's off it now, and there ain't a prettier spot +on earth where to prepare Christmas fixin's. I'll fetch the raisins +and stone 'em myself. That Pasky boy'd eat more'n half of 'em, if I +left 'em to him. Then we can visit right sociable; and I can free my +mind. The truth is, Gabriella Trent, that I ought to be harnessin' +Rosetty an' Balaam this minute, and be startin' for 'Boston.'" + +"Oh, Aunt Sally!" protested the ranch mistress, in real distress. + +"There, dearie, hush! Don't worry. I said 'I ought,' I didn't say I +was goin'. Seem's if I couldn't just tear myself away from Sobrante. +If Sarah Ma'sh, she that was a Harrison, and married Methuel, hasn't +got gumption enough to bile her own plum puddin', I 'most feel as if +she'd ought to go without. Though I don't know as that's real +Christian in me." + +"Dear Mrs. Benton, I wish everybody was as sincere a Christian as you +are." + +In her surprise, Aunt Sally tipped her rocker so far back that she +just escaped upset. + +"Why, Gabriella Trent! Me! Me! Don't say that, and make me feel +meaner'n dirt. It's you, honey, is that----" + +Mrs. Trent laughed as she answered: + +"We make a mutual admiration society, don't we? But Aunt Sally, you +mustn't think of leaving Sobrante before the holidays are past. I +can't spare you. I need the help of your head, as well as your hands, +and what would Christmas be to the children, if you weren't here to +cuddle and scold them after their greediness has made them ill." + +"Well, well, child, say no more. Here I am, and here I'll stay, if +Sarah Ma'sh don't get a stiver of pudding or fowl. Here, honey, I +reckon you best slice this citron. You've got a dainty hand for such +work and--my sake's alive! That fruit cake'd ought to been made weeks +ago, if it was to get any sort of ripeness into it before it was et! +Hurry up, do. We haven't a minute to waste." + +This adjuration had the good result of amusing Mrs. Trent so that, for +an hour at least, she forgot to be anxious over her daughter's +unexplained absence. Aunt Sally was a person who was always "driven to +death" by the mere thought of tasks for which there was, in reality, +ample time. But now that she had decided to remain at the ranch for a +further indefinite stay, her spirits rose and her brain busied itself +with a thousand plans for the comfort or amusement of the household, +over which she domineered, yet so ardently loved. + +"We haven't got much money for presents, I know. So I'll just get out +the piece-bag to-night, and press off them canton flannel scraps. +They'll make splended ducks for the youngsters----" + +"I fear that would be wasted labor, friend. The little lads have +outgrown homemade toys. Nothin that will not make a noise is +acceptable to them. I'd thought of sending over to Marion for drums +and whistles, if the stores there can furnish them." + +"Well, Gabriella Trent! I declare you are the benightenest woman that +ever set out to raise children! Drums! For them two? My, my! But what +won't a mother do for her little ones, I'd like to know!" + +The words were no sooner out of Mrs. Benton's mouth than she regretted +them. At the name of "mother" Mrs. Trent's forced gayety vanished, and +she lifted her eyes to her companion's face with a pitiful appeal. + +"Aunt Sally, what has happened to Jessica?" + +"Nothing, honey. Nothing in the world. What a master hand you are to +worry." + +The lady rose so hastily that the dish upon her lap slid to the floor, +and the other laughed: + +"There, Gabriel, you do beat all. If I'd dropped that dish 'twould +have upset, and every slice of citron in it rolled whithrety-yonder. +But for you--it knew better; just slipped off as slick as could be, +landed right side up, and not a morsel scattered. Seem's if dirt nor +nothin' disorderly ever could come a-nigh you, honey." + +Mrs. Trent did not even hear. Upon her face had grown a look that hurt +Aunt Sally to see; the more because the feeling it expressed was +continually increasing within her own heart. + +Where could Jessica be? Many hours had passed since she vanished from +the laundry window, and if she had gone upon any errand for her +"boys," she would have returned long since. Also, she would be swift +to restore the missing clothes of the little boys, as soon as found, +for she knew they would be prisoners within doors till she had done +so. + +"Don't you worry, I tell you, Gabriella. I'll take the great horn and +blow a blast will fetch the whole kerboodle back here, hot foot. If +that don't, I'll ring the mission bell! That'll mean trouble, sure +enough, and its dreadful racket'll reach clear to Los Angeles, +'pears." + +The mother crossed to the lattice and leaned against its post. +Something was wrong with her darling. She knew that as well as if she +had been told so by word of mouth, and a dreadful numbness stole over +her whole frame. As if in a dream, she saw Aunt Sally emerge from the +lean-to, where the great horn was kept, and raised the thing to her +lips; but the blast which followed seemed to have been ringing in her +ears forever. The silence that succeeded lasted but a moment, yet was +like an eternity. Then from one direction, and another, came the +ranchmen, understanding that there was need of their presence at the +"house," and each quickly catching something of the fear so plainly +depicted upon the faces of the waiting women. + +"John Benton, where's 'Lady Jess'?" demanded Aunt Sally, with terrible +sternness. + +"Why, mother, how should I know? I was off to the lemon house early, +fixing some shelves. I haven't seen her to-day and it makes it a long +one." + +Came "Marty" from his garden, a hoe over one shoulder and a mighty +vine of ripened tomatoes over the other, exclaiming: + +"How's this for a second year's growth? I thought you'd like 'em for +catsup, Aunt Sally, and what's the horn for?" + +"George Ceomarty, where's the 'captain'?" + +"I don't know." + +"You don't! You don't!" indignantly. + +"No. How should I? Last I saw, she was sitting the porch along with +you. You needn't glare at me so, but say yourself: 'Where's the +"captain"?'" + +"Come, gardener, this ain't a time for foolin'." + +He disdained to answer, reading the anxiety upon his mistress' face, +and feeling an unaccountable one growing in his own mind. + +It was a relief to all when the figure of Sailor Samson came into +view, making for the cottage with those firm strides of his, that +seemed to cover the distance with incredible speed. He was always to +be depended upon in an emergency, and there was good cheer in his +tones, as, having been asked the same question which had greeted his +mates, he tossed back the light answer: + +"Why, I don't know just at this minute, but I'll wager wherever she +is, she's doing good to somebody, or finishing up some fellow's +neglected job. Why? Ain't scared of 'Lady Jess,' are you?" + +"That's just what we are, herder. She's no hand to run off an' stay +off without tellin' where to; and if she couldn't find the children's +clothes she'd been back before now to say so. Somethin' dreadful has +happened to the precious girl, and you needn't say there hasn't!" +wailed Mrs. Benton; adding in fresh dismay as the ranch mistress +quietly sank to the floor in a faint! "There! Now I have done it! Oh! +that tongue of mine!" + +"Yes, old woman! That tongue of yours' has wrought a heap of mischief +in its day," cried Samson, angrily, as he lifted the fallen lady and +carried her into the house. + +But Aunt Sally was quite herself again, and put him coolly aside, +while she ministered to the unconscious ranch mistress, and, at the +same time, gave him a succinct history of the morning's events. +Everybody at Sobrante knew the deep devotion of Lady Jess to her +widowed mother, and the thoughtfulness with which she always sought +to prevent her loved one's "worrying," and all realized that there +might be something seriously amiss in this protracted, unexplained +absence. However, and to a certain degree, the child was allowed to be +independent, and she was liable to reappear at any moment and to gibe +at their "foolish fear" for her. But to summon her, at once, was the +surest way of comforting Mrs. Trent, and Samson went out again to +distribute the assembled ranchmen into searching parties, with the +injunction: + +"Don't scare the 'captain' when you find her, but just let her know +her mother needs her, and her dinner's drying up in the oven. Now +scatter; and don't you show a face back here without her in hand!" + +"Can't all of us find her, herder. Ain't 'captains' enough to go +'round," said a cowboy, with an ill-attempt at playfulness, which was +instantly frowned down. For, though all assured themselves that there +was no substantial cause for alarm, and that women were "nervous +cattle, always scared at shadders," they had already caught something +of this nervousness. Each felt that the best sight for his eyes at +that moment would be the gleam of a golden head, and the sweetest +music his ears could hear the sound of a young girl's laughter. + +But, alas! Daylight gave place to the sudden night of that region, +where no lingering twilight is known; and still over the great ranch +there rested the terrible silence which had followed the loss of one +merry voice. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +OLD CENTURY TAKES THE TRAIL + + +The clatter of horse's hoofs on the dry sward made Pedro, the +shepherd, lift his eyes from his basket weaving, but only for an +instant. The sight of Samson, the herder, mounted upon the fleetest +animal of the Sobrante stables, was nothing compared to the working +out of the intricate pattern he had set himself to follow. Even the +centenarian, dwelling in his lofty solitude, knew that there was +approaching the blessed Navidad, whereon all good Christians exchanged +gifts, in memory of the great gift the Son of God; and what could he +do but put forth his utmost ingenuity to please his heart's dearest, +even Jessica of the sunny face? + +Like Aunt Sally, at the ranch, he had, at last, caught a feeling of +haste and wished not to be disturbed; so he did not even look up again +when he was accosted. + +"Hello, old man! Hard at it, still?" + +No reply forthcoming, Samson shouted, as if the shepherd were deaf: + +"Where's Capt. Jess, abuleo (grandfather)?" + +The deferential title won the attention which the loud voice could not +gain, and Pedro glanced carelessly upon the mighty herder, a mere +youth of sixty summers, and replied, with equal carelessness: + +"Am I the nina's[A] keeper? But, no," then resumed his weaving. + +In another instant the delicate, finely split rushes had been snatched +from the weaver's hands, and he exhorted: + +"By all that's great, old man! Tell me, has Jessica Trent passed this +way?" + +"Why for? Once, but once, since the long journey and the finding of +that bad Antonio came she to Pedro's hut. Give back the basket. For +her, of the bright hair, it is; my finest, and, maybe, my last. Why +not? Yet still again I will keep the fiesta, si. The child. Many have +I loved, but none like my little maid. The basket." + +This was a long speech for the silent dweller on the mesa, and there +was more of anger in his usually calm eyes than Samson had never seen +there, as he rose and extended his skinny hands for his treasure. + +The herder restored it, his heart growing heavier as he did so. + +"Think fast, good Pedro. The old are wise, and hark ye! These many +hours the child is from home. The mistress--you love her?" + +"She is my mistress," answered the shepherd, in a tone which conveyed +all his deep feeling. To him his "mistress" represented a material +Providence. From her hand came all the simple necessaries of his life. +From her, on the approaching nativity, would also come some things +which were not necessaries, but infinitely more precious to the +centenarian than such could be. On the nativity he would be sent, upon +the gentlest mount his lady owned, to the mission service which he +loved. Thereafter he would ride back to Sobrante, his own priest +beside him, to feast his fill on such food as he tasted but once a +year. At nightfall of that blessed day he would gather the ranchmen +about him, in that old corridor where once he had seen the ancient +padres walk, breviary in hand, and tell his marvelous tales of the +days when the land was new, when whole tribes of redfaces came to be +taught at the padres' feet, and when the things which now were had not +been dreamed of. Some who listened to these Christmas stories believed +that the secrets at which the shepherd hinted were vagaries of his +enfeebled mind, but others, and among them Samson, gave credence to +them, and yearly did their best to worm from him their explanation. + +That mention of the "mistress" had touched him, also, to anxiety, and +he motioned the herder to repeat his statement. He then straightened +himself to almost the erectness of the younger man, and begun at once +to gather his rushes and rap them carefully in a moistened cloth. With +an expressive gesture toward his cabin, he suggested that Samson was +free to enter it and provide such entertainment for himself as he +chose, or could find. And so well did the herder know the shepherd +that he fully understood this significant wave of the hand, and +replied to it in words: + +"Thanks, old man, but some other time. At present I'm keener on the +scent for my captain than for even your good coffee. If she comes, +report, will you?" + +The other did not notice what he heard, but himself proceeded to the +cabin and safely deposited his handiwork within it. Then he came out +again, whistled for his dog, Keno, whose head he stroked for some +time, and into whose attentive ear he seemed to be whispering some +instruction. + +A shade of amusement, merging into wonder, crossed the herder's +countenance, and he communed with himself thus: + +"Blow my stripes, if Old Century isn't going to take the trail +himself! He's telling that canine what to do while he's gone, and, +ahoy, there! If the knowin' creatur' doesn't understand him! All +right, grand sir! Yet, not all so right, either. It takes a deal of +business to move Pedro off his mesa, and if he's riled enough to leave +it now, it's because he sees more danger to Lady Jess than even I do. +Hello! what's he waiting for?" + +Evidently for Samson to depart, which that gentleman presently did, +grimly considering: + +"Old chap thinks the whole mesa belongs to him, and 'pears to suspect +I might rob him if he left me behind. Well, friend, I've no call to +tarry. Since my lady isn't here, I must seek her elsewhere," and down +the canyon Samson dashed, his sure-footed beast passing safely where a +more careful animal would have stumbled. + +All this had happened soon after the dispersing of the ranchmen to +search for Jessica, and Samson had now taken that turn of the trail +which led to the miner's cabin. + +"'Tisn't likely she's there, though. She'd never travel afoot that +long distance, and Buster's in the stable." + +The Winklers received him with gloom. The hilarious gayety that had +once distinguished their small household had vanished with the loss of +Elsa's money. Their son, and idol, had been defrauded of a rich future +for which they had toiled, and life now seemed to them but an irksome +round of humdrum duties, to be gotten through with as easily as +possible. Over the cabin hung an air of neglect which even Samson was +swift to note, and most significant of all, Elsa's knitting had fallen +to the floor and become the plaything of a kitten, which evoked no +reprimand, tangle the yarn as she would. + +"Hello, neighbors! Ain't lookin' over and above cheerful, are you? +What's wrong?" + +"Good-day, herder. How's all?" + +"Glum, I should say. Where's Lady Jess?" + +Wolfgang elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders and made a +gesture of ignorance, but said no word. + +"Lost your tongues, mostly, hey? I say--where's the captain?" + +Elsa lumbered forward to the doorway, and dully regarded the visitor; +then, after a time, replied: + +"Not here." + +Her brevity was another contrast to her former volubility, but it was +sufficient to thrill the questioner's heart with fresh dismay. + +"Has she been here to-day?" + +Elsa shook her head. Otto came out from the shed and glanced +disconsolately at Samson, then slowly returned whence he had come. + +The herder's temper flamed, and, snapping his whip at the air, he +cried out, hotly: + +"Look at me, you passel of idiots! You think you know what trouble is +just because you've lost a handful of money? Well, you don't! You +haven't even guessed at it. Money! The world's full of that, but there +never was more than one Lady Jess, and I tell you--I tell you--she's +lost!" + +He had spoken out at last the fear he had scarcely acknowledged, and +the shock of his own plain speech held him silent thereafter. His head +drooped, his great body settled in the saddle, as if the whole burden +of his sixty years had fallen upon him in that moment. His attitude, +even more than his words, conveyed his meaning to his hearers, and, in +a flash, the real values of what they had loved, and now lost, fell +into their rightful places. + +"Money? The little lady?" Ah! what, after all, was the one compared to +the other? + +"Man--you lie!" retorted Wolfgang, clinching his fist and advancing +with a threatening air. Elsa stepped to his side, her wide face +turning even paler than it had been, and a startled look dawning in +her eyes. Even Otto, the six-foot "child," reappeared from his retreat +and regarded the horseman reproachfully. + +As for him, he roused from his momentary despondency and glared upon +the trio of spectators as if they, and they alone, were to blame for +the calamity which had befallen. + +Question and answer followed swiftly, and again Samson was off down +the slope, headed now for distant Marion, the least likely of all +places wherein his darling might be found. Once he was out of sight, +the Winkler household resolved itself into an additional search party; +and it was noticeable that, whereas formerly, when they were leaving +the home, they would carefully secure the cabin against intruders, +they now disdained any further preparation than kicking the kitten out +of doors, and removing the kettle of boiling stew from the fireplace +to the ground before the door. A fleeting smile did cross Elsa's face, +as she reflected that the meddler with her knitting would probably +scald itself in the pot, but she didn't care. Her whole mind was now +set upon Sobrante and its mistress, and so eager was she to reach the +spot that she set off on her long walk with an alacrity she had not +shown since the discovery of the robbery. + +Wolfgang and Otto armed himself each with a sharp, iron-pointed staff, +and silently, with one accord, started toward El Desierto. Why, even +they could not have explained, beyond the fact that it seemed a place +for hiding things. It was a long walk, and so weary had the "little +boy" become by the time the deserted ranch was reached that Wolfgang +left it unfatherly to force a return trip on that same day, although +no signs of recent occupancy had rewarded their search. + +So it was in every case. Jessica had simply and completely disappeared, +and there settled upon the home the darkest night it had ever known. +Even that on which its master had been brought back dead did not +equal in intensity of anguish the uncertainty which drove the waiting +mother frantic. At times she would call for a horse and ride wildly +to and fro, peering into every shadowed spot and call pitifully upon +her child, at others she would hasten to the house, eagerly +demanding of Aunt Sally, "has she come?" + +"Not yet, honey. Not quite yet. Just wait a spell, and you'll see her +all right. Best be here at home when she does come, Gabriella. You'd +hate to have anybody else the first to meet her, you know." + +This advice, uttered in tones so gentle they were hardly recognizable +as Mrs. Benton's, would be followed for the moment, till the torture +of dreadful possibilities would send the distracted ranch mistress +again afield. + +So the night wore away, and sunrise came, and still there was no +returning party that brought good cheer. Each tarried, for a brief +time, to attend to the live stock under his immediate care, and some +even to snatch a morsel of food, but mostly they were off and away +again, a flask of water and a bit of hardtack in pocket, oftener than +not forgetting even this meager nourishment. + +By the end of the second day the sorrowful news had spread all over +the countryside, and other ranches were well-nigh as deserted as +Sobrante, while their forces joined in the apparently hopeless +search. + +By then, also, Mrs. Trent had resigned herself to a quiet acceptance +of the worst, and sat for hours at a time rigidly motionless, with +only her sense of hearing intensely alert, strained to its utmost for +whatever news might come. As each party came back to consult the +others, and for the refreshment that human nature could no longer do +without, it reported to the waiting woman, who received the message in +silence, yet with the courteous bow which acknowledged the other's +effort on her behalf. + +Aunt Sally now rose to the occasion as only her great heart could +suggest. All the petty fussiness which had annoyed her neighbors +dropped away from her as she moved softly, keen-eyed and solicitous, +among them all. The steaming bowl of coffee and strengthening +sandwich, ready on the instant for each arrival the unshaken +hopefulness of her eyes, and her wordless control of the awestruck +little boys, were comforts scarcely realized in that dark time; yet +comforts truly. Even Gabriella could not refuse the nourishment so +lovingly pressed upon her, and mechanically drank the cup of broth +which her friend had taken care should be of the strongest. To one +and all this homely ministering angel affirmed, with unshaken +persistence: + +"Jessica Trent is safe. Jessica Trent is coming back." + +Meanwhile, old Pedro, for the first time in nearly a twelvemonth, had +turned his back upon the mesa which he loved and set out on a toilsome +path. In his hand he carried a curious, notched stick, upon which he +sometimes leaned, but oftener bore upon his shoulder, as it were a +precious possession that he must guard. Old as he was, his staff was +older still. It had come to him when the valley mission had been +abandoned, and the padre who bestowed it upon this, his faithful +servant, had also given into his keeping a valuable secret. This +metal-pointed rod was one thing Pedro never left behind him when he +journeyed from home. + +Starting from the east side of the mesa, he dipped into the canyon; +not by the trail over which Jessica had ridden the ostrich on the day +of her eventful meeting with Morris Hale, but by the farther, ragged +wall where it seemed as if feet so old could never make their way. Yet +make it they did, as surely if not as swiftly as in their younger +days. There was not the slightest hesitation in their direction, +though there were indeed, frequent pauses during which the Indian's +keen hearing was strained for an expected sound. After each such halt +Pedro would resume his path, climbing over rocks which looked +insurmountable and skirting others by ledges less than a span's width. +Over this part of the canyon wall none of the Sobrante ranchmen had +ever come; though below it, along a smoother portion, ran the flume +that watered the ranch in the valley. + +Darkness found the shepherd still among the overhanging crags, and +with true Indian stolidity he rested for the night. His blanket +wrapped around him, his staff on the safe inner side, he lay down upon +a shelf of stone and slept as peacefully as in his cabin on the level +mesa, from which two motives had driven him abroad. + +Something had warned him that this approaching Christmastide might be +his last, and that the time of which he had often dreamed was to come. +He would now test the truth of the secret he had received, and, if it +proved what had been promised, would share it with his beloved +mistress, his priceless Navidad gift to her and hers. + +Also sitting solitary at his basket, weaving on the isolated island, +Pedro had still observed much. Each trifle was an event to him, and of +late these trifles had gathered thick about him. With annoying +frequency Ferd, the dwarf, had invaded and contaminated his solitude. +The hints which the misshapen creature had dropped, though receiving +no outward attention, had, nevertheless, remained in the Indian's mind +to disturb it. It was to hunt for this wretched fellow, as well as to +prove his "secret," that he was now in the canyon, believing that when +he was found, there would be Jessica also. + +When morning came he rose and tightened his belt about him and set out +afresh. The long sleep had restored his vigor and his eye gleamed with +satisfaction. The muscles that had stiffened from long disuse--he +would not have admitted that the stiffness came from age--were limber +as of old, and he felt that, after all, it was good to be once more +upon the trail. But even his confidence would have been rudely shaken +could he have foreseen the peril wherein that trail would end. + + [A] Little one. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +DELIVERANCE + + +A second night of fruitless search upon the rocky wall passed before +the old Indian came to the spot which he had thought so near, full +twenty-four hours before. He had fed his hunger upon the few wild +plums he had found, and more than once he had descended to the flume +to slake his thirst; then reclimbed the height again, for there he +knew lay the road of his goal. Again and again he tapped the solid +rock or the scant earth about it for a response to that magical tip +upon his rod; and now, as the second day lightened the gulch, the +response came. + +The staff forsook his hand, as it had been a creature of volition, and +stood upright upon a smooth-faced bowlder. It needed all the man's +strength to wrest it thence, and, grasping it securely, he carefully +descended, for the last time, the precipitous wall. Always the staff +tugged at his grasp, seeking the earth, but he carried it still toward +a clump of gnarled trees which appeared to him like the faces of +long-lost friends. It seemed to him that in all the half century since +he looked upon them, neither branch nor twig had altered. So had they +been on that sad day when the last of the padres had brought him +hither and shown them to him. Beneath their roots lay the secret he +had kept so well. + +But the cave--what had become of that? And the stout shaft of hewn +timber which led below into the heart of earth? + +"Alas! I deceive myself. I have forgotten, for I am old; not young as +I seemed to me. I have come in vain," he complained, in his thought; +and with a gesture of despair, in his hunger and weariness, the +shepherd sank upon the ground and dropped his face on his breast. + +Long he sat thus, till there came to him upon the silence the answer +no call could have awaked. He began to hear sounds. The creeping of +some heavy body amid the chaparral, coming nearer, more distinct. Some +wild shrubs sheltered him from sight, and, peering through their +twigs, he watched in breathless silence. Ah! Reward! + +It was Ferd who approached, as cautiously as if he were conscious of +those gleaming eyes behind the mesquite, and who, turning in his path, +entered a point among the trees which even Pedro had not suspected of +leading any whither. + +It was now the Indian's part to creep after this crawling creature; +and he did so as swiftly, almost as silently, as if he were the +dwarf's mere shadow. Always he kept a screen of leaves between them, +less needed soon, as the unconscious guide led the way out of the +sunlight into the depths of gloom. The cave at last! + +But the half-wit, Ferd? Had he guessed its secret? + +On and on, it seemed interminably. Now and then the dwarf would pause +and listen, but at every halt there was utter silence behind him. Then +onward again, and at length into a spacious place, around the walls of +which great jagged rocks made recesses of impenetrable gloom. With one +arm outstretched, feeling his way, and with his precious staff secured +against his back within his blanket, Pedro paused in such a recess +just in time, for the dwarf had struck a match and lighted a lantern. +This he swung round his head, peering in each direction, and blinded, +maybe, by the very rays with which he sought to disclose any possible +follower. Satisfied that he was alone, Ferd moved onward again, and +Pedro followed, hugging the chamber wall and screening himself in +every shadow. + +But Ferd had no longer any fear of discovery or any thought of aught +save that which lay before him. The passage was higher now and he +could easily stand upright; the Indian also rising to his feet, though +he had to bow his head lest it should brush the ceiling. + +The dwarf began to talk aloud, to himself, apparently; but after a +moment of this muttering, grew silent again. He had come to the mouth +of a black pit which seemed to descend into great depths. In reality +the depth was not so great; yet to anyone within it escape was +impossible without help from above. Into this hole Ferd peered, +holding the lantern so that its rays fell straight downward, and +calling in a jeering voice: + +"Is the 'captain' ready yet?" + +"Oh, Ferd! good Ferd! Please, please let me out!" answered a voice +that thrilled old Pedro's heart with joy. + +"All right. The money first." + +"But I have no money. You must help me up!" + +"Down there safe. Is you hungry?" + +"No, Ferd. The food you took out of Aunt Sally's pantry kept me from +that." + +The dwarf threw himself backward, on the rocky floor above, and +laughed loudly, yet his mirth was shortlived. Pedro's hand was on his +throat before a movement had been heard, and Pedro's voice was calling +into the pit: + +"Here am I, Sunny Face. Wait. I come." + +During all the hours of her imprisonment, Jessica's courage had not +faltered, but, at the sound of that blessed cry, it suddenly gave way +and she burst into a paroxysm of sobs and tears, which effectually +prevented her hearing the struggle that ensued in the gloom between +the shepherd and the hunchback. For though the lantern had not been +extinguished, as it rolled from its owner's hand, it had fallen upon +its one glass side and gave no light. + +For a time, even the Indian feared the issue of that battle in the +dark and the abnormal strength of the dwarf's long arms; but the +craft, if not the whole vigor of his own youth remained with him, and +at a chance opportunity, he whipped off his blanket and smothered his +opponent's face therein. + +The blanket was almost priceless, and, next to his staff, his dearest +possession; but when its heavy folds had subdued the other to +unconsciousness, he did not hesitate to tear it into strips. With +these Ferd was promptly bound, hand and foot. Then Pedro recovered the +lantern and again called to Lady Jess: + +"I find a way. Wait." + +"Oh, Pedro! I know your blessed voice! There's a rope somewhere. Ask +him. Quick--quick!" + +"Wait." + +But the dwarf had almost immediately recovered his breath, recognized +his opponent, and now directed the search. With a few superstitious +ranchmen, he shared the belief that Old Century was under supernatural +protection, and that it was extremely dangerous to meddle with one so +guarded. Of all who might have traced him to that hidden spot, here +was the last he wished to meet; and now that he knew himself beaten, +he began to whimper and plead in a cowardly way: + +"Let me up, Pedro. Ferd'll take little lady out. Just fun, to make big +talk. Ferd never hurt the 'captain;' no Ferd is a good boy, Pedro. +Ferd is a good boy. Poor Ferd! Pedro, let poor Ferd go." + +The only attention the shepherd vouchsafed the whiner was to put his +own foot under the inert body and roll it well back from the pit's +mouth. He had found the rope, a long and costly lariat which he +recognized as having once been the property of Jessica's father, and +he secured it about an upright timber that he tested and saw was still +firm. Then he took the handle of the lantern between his teeth and +slipped swiftly down the shaft. + +As he reached the bottom Jessica threw herself upon his breast with a +fresh outburst of joy and tears. But he dared not tarry below even +with an apparently helpless enemy above, and, giving her the rope, he +tersely bade her: + +"Climb!" + +With an intuition of his fear, she promptly obeyed him and stood guard +over the lariat lest Ferd should make a fresh attempt upon it. Yet it +seemed an interminable time that Pedro stayed below; and when at last +he came above, she held him fast, not willing again to let him go. + +But he was in no haste. Allowing her to keep between himself and the +cavern's wall, even intrusting to her care the curious staff that now +persisted in dancing along the cavern's floor in an elfish way which +amazed the girl, he made a circuit of the place. At one spot he +paused, and a single grunt of satisfaction escaped him. Then he seized +a loaf of bread from a shelf-like niche and began to eat it eagerly. +He even pointed to another, lying in the same place, but Jessica shook +her head. + +"No, no. I am not hungry. He gave me plenty of stuff to eat. Lots of +things that have been missing from the kitchen and puzzled Aunt Sally +so. Oh! Pedro, let us go! Shall I ever see her again? or my precious +mother? How long has it been? It seems forever. Come, come! Oh! +come!" + +"Wait," was the imperturbable answer, and the only one she could win +from him. She was alive and well. He had found her. There was no cause +for haste, nor had he ever hasted in his long life. The man who wastes +his time in hurry loses all. He had found what he sought. This was the +very pit, the forsaken shaft of which the padre told him. It led to +what no other person dreamed. Was he to be balked of his purpose, for +the child's whim? No. It was for her, even, that he tarried. + +In his groping about the cave the lantern had revealed some loose +fragments of rock which he now pushed in front of the dwarf's body, +thus making him a more secure prisoner; and, satisfied that all was +now safe, he descended again into the old shaft, leaving Jessica in +darkness. + +Her impatience was almost unbearable, and escape seemed as distant as +ever, but there was nothing left except that "waiting" Pedro had so +constantly advised. + +It was rewarded, at last, by his call from the pit, and even his calm +voice was now shaken by excitement. + +"Come, Sunny Face!" + +Leaning over the edge of the hole, she saw him point toward the rope +and understood that he wished her to descend, but with a shiver of +distrust she declined. + +"Come." + +This time the order was peremptory and she obeyed it, sliding swiftly +down, to be caught and safely deposited on the floor of the shaft. +Placing the lantern in her hand, the Indian began to gather a strange +collection of articles from one corner of the narrow chamber and to +display them to her. As each was held up, an exclamation of surprise +broke from her, but even she had grown mostly silent now, and her +interest prevented fear. When a goodly heap had been piled beside her, +she found her voice again, saying: + +"I reckon everything that's ever been lost from Sobrante since it +began is down here. Elsa's little leathern bags with their knitted +covers; Beppo's plumes; Marty's watch, that he thought he had lost in +the gulch; Wun Lung's carved image. Oh, Pedro! how dreadful and yet +how splendid!" + +The shepherd allowed her rhapsodies to answer themselves. Though his +eyes betrayed his complacency, he had more serious work on hand, and, +pointing upward, he commanded: + +"Fetch the padre's staff." + +Lady Jess now realized that obedience was the shortest road to +freedom, so climbed and descended the rope again, with the ease gained +by her gymnastic training under the "boys'" tuition. But she took +into the pit, beside the staff that curious basket which she had once +seen Ferd carrying up the canyon and over which she had, most +fortunately, just then stumbled. + +"See, Pedro! This will do to hold all those things!" + +The Indian "saw," indeed, that this was a bit of his own handiwork +which had been missing from the mesa, for many moons. He nodded +gravely, but was more eager for the staff than for his lost property; +and, taking the lantern again to the inner wall of the shaft, he set +the rod upon its point. It remained motionless, exactly upright, where +he placed it; and now, truly, the old man paused to gaze upon it in +wordless delight. He was so rapt and still that the girl grew +frightened and awestruck, watching his odd behavior, and begged him: + +"Tell me what that means, Pedro! The thing is bewitched." + +"Ugh!" said the Indian, arousing from his contemplation, and, stooping +began to dig amid the loose stones at his feet, with the only tools at +his command--his own lean fingers. For these he sometimes substituted +a bit of rock, and to Jessica it seemed as if he would never give over +his strange task. When she had begun to really despair of the +liberation which had seemed so near a while ago, he ceased his labor +and stood upright, holding something shining toward the lantern's +light. To the girl it appeared as only another worthless stone, of a +pretty, reddish hue, but wholly unworthy the toil which had been spent +to secure it. She was further surprised, if anything could now +surprise her, to see the Indian place the fragment carefully within +his shirt front and tighten his belt afresh below it. Then he lifted +the basket she had filled with the articles they had found and +motioned her upwards again. + +"Now, we're really going, aren't we, Pedro?" + +"Yes, Sunny Face. We go." + +Indeed, he was as eager for departure as heretofore he had been loath. +Releasing the dwarf's feet from their bandages, he helped his prisoner +to them and gently propelled him forward by a kick of his own +moccasined toe. Thus compelled, Ferd led the way, the shepherd at his +heels, carrying the basket slung upon the staff over his shoulder, and +his free hand pressed closely against his breast where he had placed +the gleaming stone. Behind him walked impatient Jessica, with the +lantern, and in suchwise the little procession came swiftly and +silently to the end of the passage and stood once more under the free +air of heaven. Here they had to halt, for a moment, till their vision +became accustomed to the dazzling light; then with a cry of rapture, +the "captain" darted from her comrades and sped wildly down the rocky +gorge. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +JESSICA'S STORY + + +Though it had seemed as a lifetime to impatient Jessica that she had +been kept in the cave, after Pedro's arrival there, in reality it was +less than an hour; and it was yet early in the day when a cry she had +expected never to hear again, rang through the room where Gabriella +Trent was lying. + +"Mother! My mother! Where are you?" + +Another instant, and they were clasped in close embrace as if nothing +should ever separate them again. Words were impossible, at first, and +not till she saw that even joy was dangerous for her overwrought +patient did Aunt Sally, the nurse, interpose and bodily lift the +daughter from the parent's arms. All at once her own calmness and +courage forsook good Mrs. Benton, and now that she saw the lost girl +restored, visibly present in the flesh, anger possessed her till she +longed to shake, rather than caress, the little captain. + +"Well, Jessica Trent! These are pretty goings on, now ain't they?" + +Gabriella sat up and her child nestled against her, their hands +clasped and their eyes greedily fixed upon each other's countenance. +The unexpected brusqueness of the question was a relief to their high +tension, and Jessica laughed, almost hysterically, as she answered: + +"They didn't seem very 'pretty' to me, Aunt Sally." + +"What a sight you be! Where you been?" + +"In the canyon cave." + +"Didn't know there was one." + +"Nor I--before." + +"What for? What made you stay? Didn't you know you'd raised the whole +countryside to hunt for you? Don't believe there's an able-bodied man +left on a single ranch within fifty miles; all off huntin' for you. +You--you ought to be spanked!" + +"Mrs. Benton!" warned Gabriella, in a tone of such distress that the +reproved one promptly sank in a capacious heap on the floor and fell +to weeping with the same vigor that she applied to all things. +Jessica, too, began to cry softly, at intervals, with such shuddering +bursts of sobs, that the mother's tears, also, were soon dimming the +eyes to which they had been denied during all the past anxiety. +However, this simultaneous downpour was infinite relief to all; and +presently the mother rose and with the strength happiness gave to her +slight figure, carried her child away to rest. + +"You are safe. You are here. I see that you have suffered no hurt, and +bed is the place for you. When you have slept and rested you must tell +us all. Oh! my darling! Many hearts have ached for you, and I thought +my own was broken. But, thank God! thank God!" + +Aunt Sally followed them, and, as if she had been a new-born baby, the +two women washed and made ready for a long sleep the precious child +that had been given back to them from the grave. Then the mother sat +down to watch while Aunt Sally hurried to ring the ancient mission +bell, whose harsh clanging had been agreed upon among the searchers as +the signal of good news. + +They all came flocking back, singly or in groups, from wherever the +summons, which could be heard for miles in that clear air, chanced to +find them. Impatience was natural enough, too, on their part, since to +their eager questions Mrs. Benton could not give answer beyond the +simple statement: + +"Yes, she's back, safe and sound. Says she's been in a cave, though +where it is or whether she's just flighty in her head, land knows. +She's sleepin' now, and it won't be healthy for any you lumberin' men +to be makin' a noise round the house before she wakes up, of her own +accord." + +Nor when Pedro and the subdued dwarf came slowly over the road would +they make any further explanation. Indeed, they were both utterly +silent; the Indian forcing his captive before him into the deserted +office where he intrenched himself, with his basket and staff, until +such time as it should be his mistress' pleasure to receive him. + +Thus, with time on her hands and nothing else to do, Aunt Sally +collared Wun Lung and withdrew to her kitchen, whence, presently, +there arose such various and appetizing odors that the weary ranchmen +scented a feast, and sought repose for themselves till it was ready. +Samson and John, however, were called upon for aid, and, whereas they +were ordered to "dress six of the plumpest fowl in the hennery," they +brought a dozen, and for "one likely shoat," they made ready two. Nor, +when they were upbraided for wastefulness, were they a whit abashed, +but John demanded, with unfilial directness: + +"Why, mother, what's got your common sense? Tisn't only our own folks +you're cookin' for, but fifty others, more or less. Do you s'pose +Cassius Trent would skimp victuals on such a day as this? My advice +to you is: Put on all the pork and bacon you've got, to bile; and +roast the lamb that was butchered for our mess; and set to bakin' +biscuit by the cartload, and----" + +"John Benton, hold your tongue, or I'll----" + +"No, you won't, mother! I've outgrown spankin' though I'd be most +willin' to submit if 'twould be any relief to your feelin's, or mine +either. I tell you this here's the greatest day ever shone on Sobrante +Ranch, not barrin' even the one when the 'captain' came home with the +title in her hand." + +"You misguided boy, don't I know it? Ain't I clean druv out my wits +a-thinkin' ever'thing over, and where in the name of natur' am I goin' +to do it all, with them horrid gasoline stoves no bigger'n an old +maid's thimble, and Pasqually gone off s'archin' with the rest, and +no'count the heft of the time and my sins!" + +"Had to take breath, or bust, hadn't you?" cried her disrespectful +son, catching the portly matron about the spot where her waist should +have been and hilariously whirling her about in a waltz which his own +lameness rendered the more grotesque. "And where can you cook 'em? +Why, right square in them old ovens at the mission. Full now of +saddles and truck, but Samson and me'll clear 'em out lively. I'll +make you a fire in 'em, and they'll see cookin' like they haven't +since the padres put out their own last fires. They weren't any fools, +them fellers. They knew a good thing when they saw it, and if they +tackled a job they did it square. The ovens they built, just out of +baked mud and a few stones, are as tight to-day as they were a hundred +years ago; and, whew! won't old Pedro, that found her, relish his meat +cooked in 'em?" + +Nor was Benton to be outdone in suggestion on the matter of providing. +Some of the searchers had brought back a quantity of game, with which +the country teemed, and which it had delayed them but little to shoot. +This was levied upon without ado, and in the preparation of the great +feast Aunt Sally's helpers forgot their fatigue, and were as deftly +efficient as women would have been. + +Indeed, between sleep and labor, the hours of Jessica's unbroken rest +passed quickly, after all; and the good news having spread almost as +swiftly as the ill, the grounds were full of people when, at last, she +awoke. But, even yet, Mrs. Trent's consideration for others refused a +prior or full hearing of the story to which her faithful helpers had +as good a right as she, if not as intense an interest in it. She made +the child eat and drink, and went with her to her favorite rostrum +when addressing her "company" of soldierly "boys"--the horse block. +Here the girl stood up and told her simple tale. + +"You see, dear folks, it was just this way: Aunt Sally and I were on +the porch, and we found Elsa's ring, all crooked. We couldn't guess +how it came there, and I'd just been made pretty angry about the way +you felt toward 'Forty-niner.' Oh! it was dreadful, dreadful of you +all, and I never was so ashamed of my 'boys,' not in all my life." + +"Go on with the story, captain. Never mind us," cried somebody. + +"And a little way farther I found a piece of Elsa's knitted bag. That +made me think a lot. Then the tackers came, all paint, and with Mr. +Hale's horse, that had been on the mesa ever since he was here. That +made me think some more, and I told auntie if she wouldn't scold the +little ones I'd try to find their clothes. I didn't find them, though, +Aunt Sally." + +"Go on! Go on! What next?" demanded an impatient listener. + +"Then I saw Ferd. Oh, mother! If I tell I'm afraid they'll hurt him." + +"He shall be protected, daughter, and you must tell," said the mother, +though she now shrank from the hearing. + +"I asked him about the horse and the children, and he said 'yes,' he +had fixed them. He had driven Prince down from the mesa, when Pedro +didn't see him, and had 'showed that old carpenter' something to pay +for kicks and hard words. He knew something I'd like to know. So I +asked him what, and he said it was Elsa's money. But if I didn't go +with him without saying anything to anybody he wouldn't tell me how to +find it. I begged to tell my mother, but he said her least of all. It +wouldn't take long, only a few rods up the canyon; so, of course, I +went. I thought I should be back long before dinner-time, and that +mother would tell me to do anything which would clear old Ephraim's +name from your cruel suspicions. And, oh, boys! You were wrong, you +were wrong! He never took a cent that wasn't his own, and Elsa's money +is found!" + +Absolute silence followed this announcement, then Samson's great voice +started the wild "Hurrahs" which made the wide valley ring. The cheers +were long and lusty, but when they subsided at last, Mrs. Trent bade +her daughter finish the tale. + +"It wasn't a little, but a long way up the canyon; yet I was so eager +to right Ephraim's wrong that I didn't feel afraid, though I never +have liked Ferd. He can't help being queer, maybe, with his queer body +to keep his half mind in----" + +The hisses that interrupted her were almost as loud as the cheers had +been, and it would have fared ill with the dwarf had he at that moment +been visible. Fortunately, he was still under the surveillance of the +grim shepherd, in the locked office, and the majority of those present +were ignorant of his whereabouts. + +"Quit hindering the captain. Her story is what we want!" cried +"Marty." "The dwarf can wait." + +"So we went on and on, and into a strange, dark tunnel, that scared me +a little, yet made me more curious than ever to see the end of it all. +The tunnel led to a cave, and in the cave there was a deep hole; and +before I knew what he was doing, Ferd had slung a lariat about me and +dropped me into it." + +Again an interruption of groans and howls, that were promptly +suppressed by a wave of the mistress' white hand; then Jessica +continued: + +"As soon as he had put me there, he told me he would keep me till my +mother paid him great money to let me up. Yet he wouldn't even go to +her and ask for it. He said I must promise, and that she would do +anything I said. He told about a boy in 'Frisco, he'd heard the men +say, was taken from his folks and kept till they paid lots for his +release--even thousands of dollars! Antonio had taught him that money +was the best thing to have. He believed it. He took it whenever he +could find it. That's what made him take Elsa's, and blame it upon +Ephraim. And I wouldn't promise. How could I? My dear has no money to +give wicked men, and I knew the dear God would take me back to her +when He saw fit. As He did, indeed. For it must have been He who put +it into Pedro's heart to seek the cave just when I needed him most. +Only the Lord could see through all that darkness and lead the +shepherd by that crooked way." + +She paused, and, turning to her mother, laid her sunny head upon the +shoulder that was shaken by such sobs as moved her faithful ranchmen +to thoughts of deep revenge. Eyes that had not wept for years grew +dim, and out of that circle of listening men rose a low and ominous +sound. Some, remembering their own idle talk of kidnaping and the +like, shuddered at the practical application the dwarf's dim mind had +made of their words; and various plans for punishment were forming +when the captain clapped her hands for fresh attention. + +"Hear me, 'boys.'Do you belong to me?" + +"Ay, ay! Heart and soul!" + +"Then you must mind me. You must let Ferd alone. You must do even more +to please me--and teach him to be good, not bad." + +None answered these clear, commanding sentences, which, as the +strangers present thought, came so oddly from such childish lips, and +they wondered at the effect produced upon the Sobrante men. These +glanced at one another in doubt, each questioning the decision of his +neighbor; and then again at the lovely girl who had never before +seemed so wholly angelic. + +"Will you do this?" + +"Hold on, little one. Let the 'admiral' speak. Has she forgiven that +human coyote?" + +The unexpected question startled Mrs. Trent. She was a strictly +truthful woman, and found her answer difficult. She had never liked +the wretched creature who had just brought such misery to her, and she +now loathed him. She had already resolved that, while she would +protect Ferd from personal injury, she would see to it that he was put +where he could never again injure her or hers. Her momentary +hesitation told. The whole assemblage waited for her next word amid a +silence that could be felt, when, suddenly, there burst upon that +silence a series of ear-splitting shrieks which effectually diverted +attention from the perplexed ranch mistress. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +BEHIND LOCKED DOORS + + +The shrieks were uttered by Elsa Winkler, who frantically rushed to +the horse block, demanding: "Where? Where?" + +Mrs. Trent gave one glance at the rough, unkempt woman, and sternly +remarked: + +"Elsa, you forget yourself! Go back indoors, at once." + +The unhappy creature shivered at this unfamiliar tone, yet abated +nothing of her outcry: + +"My money! My money! My money!" + +She had come to the ranch thinking only of Jessica's mysterious +absence, and meaning to do something, anything, which might help or +comfort the child's mother; but the long walk, for one so heavy and +unaccustomed to exercise, had made her physically ill by the time she +reached Sobrante. Which state of things was wholly satisfactory to +Aunt Sally, who, having received the visitor with dismay, now promptly +suggested bed and rest, saying: + +"You poor creatur'! You're clean beat out! If you don't take care, +you'll have a dreadful fit of sickness, and I don't know who'd wait on +you if you did. Not with all this trouble on hand. You go right +straight up into one them back chambers, where the bed is all made up +ready, and put yourself to bed, and--stay there! Don't you dast get +up again till I say so; else I won't answer for the consequences. +You're as yeller as saffron, and as red as a beet. Them two colors +mixed on a human countenance means--somethin'! To bed, Elsa Winkler; +to bed right away. I'll fetch you up a cup of tea and a bite of +victuals. Don't tarry." + +"But--the mistress!" Elsa had panted. "I come so long for to speak her +good cheer. I must see the mistress, then I rest." + +"The mistress isn't seeing anybody just now, except me and--a few +others. You do as I say, or you'll never knit another wool shawl." + +"No, no. I knit no more, forever, is it? Not I. Why the reason? The +more one earns the more one may lose. Yes, yes, indeed. Yes." + +"That's the true word," Mrs. Benton had replied; "and so being you've +no yarn to worry you, nor no mistress to see, off to bed, I say, and +don't you dast to get sick on my hands, I warn you!" + +So Elsa had obeyed the command, glad enough to rest and be idle for a +time. Aunt Sally had seen to it that the visitor was kept duly alarmed +concerning her red-and-yellow condition, nor had she given the +permission to arise when Wolfgang and Otto arrived from their +fruitless visit to El Desierto. They found the place crowded with +returning searchers, and joyfully hailed the good news of Jessica's +safety. But when there was added to this the information that their +own property had been found, they demanded to be taken to Elsa, and it +was their visit to her room which had sent her afield, half-clad, and +with thought for nothing but her lost treasure. + +Even now, husband and son joined their entreaties to hers, though +Samson soon brought them to hear reason, and to withdraw from public +for the present, asking, indignantly: + +"Have you folks lost all your manners, as well as your dollars, up +there on the foothill? The idee of a woman screeching her lungs out +afore all the ranchers in Southern Californy! Your money? Well, what +of it? If it's found, it'll be give to you, and if it isn't you ain't +the first feller's been robbed. Besides, can't you smell? Don't you +know that you're interruptin' the prettiest spread ever was seen at +old Sobrante? Like chicken? Like roast pig? Like hot biscuit and plum +sess? Then go wash your face, and make your folks fix up and come +enjoy yourself. So far as I hear, it's old Pedro holds the cash, and +you might as well try to move the Sierras as him, if he ain't ready to +move. At this present writin' he's set himself guard over that +scalliwag, Ferd, and I ain't envying him his job, I ain't. Hurry up, +there won't be anything but necks and drumsticks left for you +laggards." + +Thus admonished and reassured, Wolfgang hurried his family away to +prepare for the feast, and the interruption they had caused to the +proceedings at the horse block effectually relieved Mrs. Trent from an +immediate answer to an awkward question, so she said: + +"Come, daughter. I see by Aunt Sally's manner that she wishes the +people would begin to eat. Every pair of hands, that belongs to us, +must help in serving these kind neighbors who have flocked to our aid. +Some of them have forty good miles to ride before they sleep, and they +must be fed first. I'll stand by the head table yonder, and name +them, and do you, for whom they left their business, wait upon them +yourself. That will show them your gratitude, and give them honor +due." + +So it was, and to every dish she brought, the little captain added a +graceful word of thanks, which seasoned the food better than even Aunt +Sally's wondrous skill had done; and many an encomium did the child +hear, in return, of that lost father who had made himself so +well-beloved in all that countryside. + +When all was over and done, when the last "neighbor" had ridden +homeward, when everybody had had his fill, and more than his fill of +good things, and the rudely constructed tables had been removed from +the wide lawn, came Aunt Sally, beaming with happiness, and glanced +over the scene, till there broke from her lips the wondering +question: + +"Can this be the same spot that was so dark and lonely yesterday? I've +had my heartstrings so stretched and tugged at, betwixt joy and +sorrow, that I don't know myself. I--I believe I'm tired! And if I am, +it's about the first time in my life. Well, well! Talking of +Christmas--this little supper we've just give is about equal to forty +Christmases in one. Seem's if." + +"Dear, kind, Aunt Sally, how shall I ever thank you for all you've +done for us?" cried Mrs. Trent, appearing at her friend's side, and +impetuously clasping the portly matron. The embrace was so unexpected, +for the ranch mistress was never a demonstrative woman, that its +recipient was, for the instant, speechless; the next, she had turned +herself about and demanded: + +"Gabriella Trent, have you had a bite to eat?" + +"No. Have you, Mrs. Benton?" + +"Not a morsel. I'm as empty as a bubble. No more has the captain +touched a thing. She's here, there and everywhere, among her precious +'boys,' yet not a one of 'em has the decency to say: 'Share my supper, +Lady Jess.' If they were my 'boys,' I'd----" + +"No, you wouldn't, mother. And I'm glad to see you two women resting a +spell. Keep on sitting there. We're going to wait on you now, and +don't you believe we haven't put by the pick of the pies for you all! +The captain is fetchin' the tackers, and Pasqual's fetchin' the food. +But what about old Pedro and the coyote?" + +"John, don't call names, 'specially hard ones. They always come home +to roost. But I'm glad you do some credit to your upraisin', and did +remember that somebody else, except yourself, might be hungry. Wait, +Gabriell'. Don't you worry about that Indian. I'll just step in and +fix him somethin'." + +"You'd better not, mother. He's got all the company he wants at this +present writing." + +This was sufficient to spur Mrs. Benton's energy afresh. Curiosity was +her besetting sin, and she could not endure that anything should go on +about the ranch in which she had no hand. Rising rather hastily from a +chair that was much too frail for her weight, she and it came to +grief, and the fact diverted her attention for the time. + +John was glad of this, though outwardly he sympathized with her slight +mishap, and facetiously offered her a dose of her own picra. + +Mrs. Trent also rose, saying: + +"I will go to Pedro. Though I did try to thank him, when he first +came, I had but a moment to give him then, and I fear he will feel he +has been neglected. As if I could ever neglect one to whom I owe my +darling's restoration!" + +Mrs. Benton looked after her, and sighed. + +"There she goes again! and that woman hasn't tasted a mouthful in a +dog's age!" + +"How long's a 'dog's age,' Aunt Sally?" demanded Ned as he helped +himself to a buttered biscuit which Pasqual had just placed on the old +lady's plate. + +"Age as long as a dog," commented Luis, seizing the biscuit from his +mate and running away with it. Of course, Ned gave chase, and the +usual battle ensued, after which they dropped down upon the spot where +they had fought, threw their arms around each other's necks, and +munched the biscuit together with an air of cherubic delight. + +Everybody laughed at the pair, upon which Aunt Sally now descended +with a threatening mien and a plate of plum cake. + +"Ain't you ashamed of yourselves, you naughty children? Fighting half +your time. Here! Eat that and let your suppers stop. By the way, how +many suppers have you had already?" + +"Six or seven," promptly replied Ned, who had eaten with whoever +invited him. + +"Sixty-seven," echoed Luis. + +"Then to bed you go, this instant!" And off they were marched, without +delay. Of course, this was another postponement of Mrs. Benton's own +meal, but she didn't mind that, so long as she had an opportunity to +deal with the small lads. Explaining to them, as she undressed and +bathed them: "You'd go to wrack and ruin if 'twasn't for me takin' a +hand in your upbringin' now and then. You pull the wool over +Gabriella's eyes the worst ever was. My! What you doing now, Edward +Trent?" + +"Pullin' wool, like you said!" and wound the white blanket he had +caught from his cot the more tightly about Luis' head. + +Meanwhile, the ranch mistress had gained the office and asked +admission at its locked door. When a long wait ensued, she reflected +rather anxiously upon what the men had often said, "That Old Century +is as top-lofty as a king. Thinks he is a king, in his own rights, and +his having lived a hundred years makes him better'n anybody else." + +This was quite true. Faithful and devoted to her as he was, the +shepherd exacted even from her the respect that was his due. On that +day he felt that much more than ordinary consideration was owing him; +yet he had been left for hours, unvisited by her for whom he had done, +and meant still to do, so much. Therefore, it was with a bearing full +of injured dignity that he at last slid the bolt and opened the door, +though he did not invite the visitor to enter, nor withdraw from the +opening. + +"I came to see about your supper, good Pedro. Do you know that it has +been cooked in the old mission oven? That should make it taste fine to +you. You must pardon my not being earlier, but there have been so +many, many guests. All gone now, save our own people." + +"Senorita, am I not also a guest, yes? Was one at Sobrante as old as +me? Should not I have ruled the feast?" + +"Indeed, you should, my friend, if there had been any ruling whatever. +It was simply take and eat, and away to their distant homes. You are +already at home, nor have I, either, tasted food. Come now and feast +with me. I am hungry, and so should you be. You mustn't keep the +mistress waiting, you know!" + +Pedro's countenance had softened, and he had expended all his +sternness, but his caution remained. With a significant glance toward +his prisoner, the dwarf, he shook his head. + +"When he is safe, then will I break my fast. The senorita does me +honor." + +"That is what I should like to do, dear Pedro. But is not poor Ferd +safe in here? Can we not send him in some supper and turn the lock +upon him?" + +She could not hide the repugnance she felt toward the miserable, +misshapen creature, now sleeping on the floor, and after one glance in +his direction looked swiftly away. But that glance had been sufficient +to startle her by its resemblance to another face she hoped never to +see again. + +Pedro's keen old eyes noticed her surprise and dismay, and he smiled +grimly. + +"The mistress sees. Slumber shows it--the likeness. One breed of +snakes were in the den. Fear both, watch both, for they are brothers. +Yes." + +This, then, explained many things; not the least, the wonderful +influence and control which Antonio had always maintained over his +half-witted "left hand," as the "boys" called the unfortunate +hunchback. + +"Antonio--Ferdinand--both Bernals--brothers?" asked Mrs. Trent, in a +tremulous voice. + +"Si. Yes, indeed. In truth." + +"And all this time nobody knew or suspected it?" + +"Senorita, the master knew. That was part of his great goodness to the +wicked one who would ruin him if he could. 'Ware Antonio--'ware Ferd. +One is the shadow of the other. One thinks, the other works. When +Antonio went, Ferd stayed. No good, senorita. Watch him." + +The lady sat down upon the nearest chair, and, as she did so, caught +sight of the basket upon the desk. It was filled to overflowing with +articles of various sorts, and beside it lay the curious metal-pointed +staff. Her impulse was to reach forward and take it, but the Indian +arrested her hand by an upward motion of his own. Then he opened it +himself and showed her, at the bottom, a number of leathern bags with +knitted covers. + +"Elsa's money?" + +Pedro silently assented. + +"Oh, let us call her, and give it back to her at once." + +"Fools must learn. Let the miner come, and Samson." + +Mrs. Trent stepped outside and dispatched a messenger for the two men, +who presently came; the one glum and offended, thinking in his slow +way that he had been made a jest of, and that the money his wife so +loved had not, after all, been found. The other, as always, proud and +alert to serve the "admiral." + +When they had entered the room, Wolfgang's eyes at once rested +greedily upon the basket, which Pedro had again closed, as if he +guessed what treasure lay within. Samson's glance went straight to the +sleeping dwarf, and an almost irresistible impulse to kick the inert +figure possessed him. But he restrained himself, and colored high when +he met the lady's own glance. + +"No, Samson, please. No violence. Yet it is Pedro's wise advice that +Ferd be placed under the charge of somebody who shall know at all +times just where he is and what he is about. Will you take that +charge, herder?" + +"That ain't the kind of cattle I keep, 'admiral.'" + +"I understand it isn't a pleasant task. That's not the question, which +is simply: Will you be responsible for--Ferdinand Bernal?" + +The mighty sailor fairly jumped, but his reply was: "You could knock +me down with a feather!" + +Mrs. Trent laughed. "Yes, it is strange. But look sharp. The +resemblance is strong. Pedro knows the relationship, and my husband +knew it. I did not, until just now. Something better may suggest +itself to you or me, but for the present, will you take charge of this +unhappy one?" + +A delayed and most reluctant "Yes" came at last from the herder's +lips. If he had been asked to punish the dwarf the answer would have +been swift and eager; but "take charge!" That meant constant +association, decent treatment and responsibility for the most +"slippery" of human beings. + +"Then, please take him away at once." + +Ferd had roused, and was sitting up; so that when Samson laid his +great hand on the lad's shoulder, the latter understood, in a dim way, +that he was now the herder's, rather than the shepherd's prisoner. Of +the two, he would have preferred the latter keeper; but he would +bother with neither very long. + +It was a relief when the door closed upon the outgoing pair, and Pedro +rose and locked it. There was something preternaturally solemn and +mysterious in his manner as, placing a chair nearer to the desk for +Mrs. Trent, he motioned Wolfgang to take another opposite. Then, +standing between them he drew the basket toward himself, and keeping +one hand upon it, thrust the other within his shirt and drew from that +the reddish bit of rock which Jessica had seen him so careful of. + +Holding it so that the last rays of the sun fell through the window +full upon it, he extended it on his open palm and demanded of the +miner: + +"What?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A ROYAL GIFT + + +Wolfgang took the bit of stone in his own fingers and examined it +critically. Always deliberate in his words and actions, he was now +doubly so, and Mrs. Trent grew impatient of a situation which seemed +unimportant, and that delayed for others, as well as herself, a much +needed supper. + +But Pedro was not impatient. He stood with folded arms and triumphant +bearing, ready for the miner's reply, whether it came soon or late; +also, quite ready to disregard it should it be different from that +expected. + +"Well, Wolfgang?" asked the ranch mistress. + +The miner heaved a prodigious sigh, and returned the ambiguous +answer: + +"That is what I have thought already, is it not?" + +"What have you thought, good Wolfgang?" demanded the lady, looking +toward the Indian's glowing eyes. + +"Copper. Copper, without alloy." + +"Ugh!" grunted Pedro, with satisfaction, and taking the metal again in +his hand bowed low and gravely presented it to his mistress. + +She received it without enthusiasm, wondering what significance could +attach to a bit of stone that might have been picked up anywhere. Her +husband had believed that everything valuable would, sooner or later, +be unearthed from the mountains of the State he so loyally loved, but +her own interest in the subject was slight. However, she must say +something grateful or again offend the dignity of her venerable +servitor. + +"Thank you, Pedro. It is very pretty. I will add it to the case of +minerals that your master arranged yonder." + +The shepherd cast one contemptuous glance toward the shelves she +indicated, and straightened himself indignantly. He had loved and +revered her, ever since she came a bride to Sobrante, and had tended +him through a scourge of smallpox, unafraid and unscathed. Though she +was a woman, the sex of whose intelligence he had small opinion, he +had regarded her as an exception, and his disappointment was great. + +"Is it but a 'thank you,' si? Does not the senorita know what this +gift means?" + +"I confess that I do not, Pedro. Please explain." + +"Were the old padres wise, mistress?" + +"So I have always understood." + +"Listen. From them it came; from the last who left the mission here +for another--to me, his son and friend. Into the heart of the world we +went, and he showed me. Down low, so low none dream of it, lies that +will make you rich. Will there be anybody anywhere so rich as the +senorita and her little ones? No. But no, not one. This I give you. It +is for the Navidad, the last old Pedro will ever see. And the senorita +answers, 'thank you'!" + +He was deeply hurt, and his manner was now full of an eloquent scorn. +He was returning the stone to his breast, when she asked for it +again, saying, gently: + +"You are so old and wise, good Pedro, you must bear with my ignorance +and teach me. This is copper, you say. It is very pretty, but how can +it make me rich? I do not understand." + +Wolfgang answered for the other, and his phlegmatic face had lost its +ordinary expression for one of keen delight. + +"It is true, what the old man tells you, mistress. He means--he must +mean--somewhere on your property lies a vein of this metal. The dead +master thought the coal was fine already. Ay, so, so. But copper! +Mistress Trent, when this vein is mined, what Pedro says--yes, yes. In +all this big country is not one so rich as he who owns a copper mine. +Ach, himmel! It is a queen he has made you, and you say, 'Thank +you!'" + +He had fully caught the shepherd's enthusiasm and feeling, and for the +first time in his life looked upon the lady of Sobrante as a +dull-witted person. + +But she was no longer dull. Even if it seemed an impossibility that +even this "vein" could be mined, since she had no money to waste in an +experiment so costly, still she realized, at last, what Pedro's will +had been. Catching his hand between her own soft palms, she pressed it +gratefully, and beamed upon him till he smiled again. + +"Whatever comes of it. Pedro, you have given us a royal aguinaldo[B], +and I do appreciate it. Come now, and share our rejoicing over that +greater good that you have brought to Sobrante--the salvation of its +little captain. For that--for that--I have not even the 'thank you'; +my feeling is too deep." + +Though he showed it little, the old man was almost as moved as she, +and he followed her as proudly as if he were the "king" his fellow +ranchmen called him. Yet even pride did not prevent his being cautious +still, and he carried the basket and staff away with him, though +Wolfgang protested, and asked, angrily now: + +"The money? Is it not my Elsa's, yes? Would you break her heart +already, and the little one so needing it?" + +Mrs. Trent laughed. She, too, wondered that the Indian had not at once +surrendered the other's property, but understood that he could not be +hurried. So she merely suggested that Wolfgang bring his family around +to the living room immediately after sunset, when, doubtless, he would +receive his own again. + +At that time, also, she meant to have John Benton present, to hear +what Pedro had to say about this copper find, and to comfort him in +his disappointment, for between these two there had always been close +friendship. + +However, to her surprise, John attempted no comfort. He was instantly +and heartily on the shepherd's side, and demanded, excitedly: + +"Begging pardon for plain words, as you are a woman with growing +children, can you sit there calm as molasses and say 'you wish you +could do something about it,' yet say no more. 'Wish!' Why, land of +Goshen! this ain't a wishin' sort of business, this ain't! It's +'Hurray for old Sobrante! Hurray, hurray, hurray!' Call 'em in, +captain, dearie! Call in the whole crowd! That was the luckiest +gettin' lost anybody ever had! Oh, won't somebody call 'em in?" + +To the group about the table it seemed that the sensible carpenter had +suddenly gone mad. Nobody had ever heard him so address the mistress +whom he loved, and his excited prancing around the room, alternately +hugging and examining the mineral in his hand, added to the +impression. While the captain departed to summon the other "boys," +Aunt Sally attempted to reduce her hilarious son to sanity by a sharp +box on the ear, and the sharper reprimand: + +"You, John Benton! Do you mean to bring my gray hairs with sorrer to +the grave? What's the reason of these goings on, I'd like to know? I +never was so disgraced in all my life, never. Now, quit! Quit to once, +or----" + +He paid no heed to her, but laid his hand on Pedro's shoulder and +shook it vigorously, demanding: + +"What kind of a feller are you, anyway? Why in the name of sense +didn't you tell this thing while the boss was alive? Shucks! Half of +you is Indian, and that means dirt. Known it all this time, and kept +it hid! You'd ought to be drawn and quartered, that's what you had!" + +Mrs. Benton advanced with threatening hand, and from force of habit he +retreated before her, and sank into the nearest chair; so that, when +his mates entered, they found him sitting with bent head and +down-hanging hands, as limp and inert as if his vitality had been +sapped by the news he had heard. + +"What's up?" asked "Marty," making his respectful salutation to the +mistress, but looking past her toward the carpenter, who, with another +change of mood, sprang again to his feet and waved the fragment of +mineral overhead, exclaiming: + +"This is 'up'! Copper's 'up'! Sobrante's 'up'! And lucky the men that +belong to it. Only--that old villain, yonder, has known it even since +forever, and was mean enough to keep his secret. That's what he is, +that Pedro, yonder!" + +Yet, with another whimsical change, he seized the shepherd's hand and +wrung it till even that hardened member ached. But the Indian remained +as calm and undisturbed, amid the torrent of blame or praise, as if he +had been sitting alone at his weaving on the mesa. His soul was +satisfied at last. He had done that which he had pondered doing for +many years, without being able, heretofore, to bring his thought to +action. Surely he had known that, locked within his own breast, his +"secret" was worthless; yet he had clung to it tenaciously. Now he had +imparted it to others, and behold! all the world knew it, even so +soon. Well, that did not matter. It was no longer his. His part was +ended. Meanwhile, on his beloved upland, there was a faithful collie +watching for his return, and lambs bleating, needing his care. +Suddenly he rose, placed his cherished staff in Mrs. Trent's hands, +and bowing low, said: + +"Keep this, as I have kept it, where none but you may find. At the +Navidad I come once more, the last. Adios." + +His departure was so unexpected that, at first, they did not try to +prevent it, but Jessica was swift to follow and protest: + +"Not to-night, dear Pedro! Please not to-night. You have been so good +to me, you must stay and be glad with us this one night. In the +morning----" + +"In the morning the sheep will need new pasture. Adios, nina." + +"Then, if go you must, it shall not be on foot. Wait! I know! Prince, +Mr. Hale's horse, that he left with you on the mesa. It is here. The +naughty children painted him, but I saw him in the corral, just now, +and you shall ride him home. That is if you will not stay, even for +me." + +"The Navidad. Till then, adios." + +She had never heard him talk so much nor so well as since these few +hours among his friends. He seemed to be almost another Pedro than the +silent shepherd of the mesa, and as she followed him, taking his +direct way to the paddock, she wondered at the uprightness of his +bearing and the unconscious dignity which clothed him like a garment. +Then she remembered something else--his blanket, and sprang to his +side again, entreating: + +"Just one five minutes more, Pedro. Your blanket. You must have a new +one." + +He hesitated and sighed. Then shook his head sadly. That which he had +torn, to bind the dwarf, had been a Navajo weave, so fine and +faultless that even he, the wonderful weaver, knew it for a marvel. +There could not be its mate in all that country, nor had been since +the old padres went and took with them, as he believed, all the wisdom +of the world. + +Before he had caught and bridled the horse, Jessica was back, and +playfully enveloped in a wonderful piece of cloth that made the Indian +stare. If it were not the mate to his lost treasure, it was quite as +fine and soft, as generous in size, and far cleaner. + +"See, dear old fellow. This was my father's. My mother sends it to you +with her love. Put it on, so I may see how fine you look. Oh, grand! +When the children play 'Indian' why can't they copy you, and not +those dirty Diggers, that Ferd teaches them to be like! Pedro, you are +splendid, and--I love you! I love you!" + +All at once, as she gazed upon him, there returned to her a memory of +that dark time in the cavern's pit, where he had found her, and which, +in the general rejoicing over her safety she had, for the present, +almost forgotten. By now, save for this old man, she might have been +dead. + +He received the onslaught of her embrace exactly as he had accepted +the gift of the blanket--in silence. There was a momentary lighting of +his somber eyes, but no word, as, putting her quietly down upon the +ground, he mounted the barebacked Prince and loped swiftly away into +the darkness and solitude. + +Brighter by contrast was the room to which the little captain +returned, after Prince and his rider had vanished into the night, and +the circle of lamp-lighted faces gleamed with excitement. Everybody +seemed trying to outtalk his neighbor, and only one glowering +countenance showed dark by contrast; the face of Elsa Winkler, with +its eyes angrily fixed upon the basket which Mrs. Trent held on her +lap, quite forgetting what it contained in her listening to the +others' words. + +Suddenly, Samson brought his fist down upon the table, enforcing a +brief silence, while demanding: + +"What's amiss with using the capital on hand? There sits our +'admiral,' with money enough in that basket to start the whole +business. Set Wolfgang to manage, and the rest of us to dig and +delve. More'n one here has tried mining for a yellower metal than +this"--holding up the bit of copper--"'twould do us proud to give +the first pick to Sobrante's fortune! Lads, what say?" + +"Ay, and right off! That's what we say!" cried somebody, but Mrs. +Trent lifted her hand, and they were silent. + +She had become as interested now as any of the others; far more, +indeed, since if this amazing tale of Pedro's proved true she would be +able, at last, to fulfill her husband's interrupted life-work, and +make Sobrante a power for good in the world. + +"What does Elsa say? Will she lend us this money?" + + [B] Christmas box or gift. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE FACE AT THE WINDOW + + +All waited breathlessly for Elsa's answer. They knew her greed, or, +rather, why she hoarded her money so closely, and were not so +surprised, after all, when it came. + +"No, I cannot." + +"Can't? I should like to know why you can't?" demanded John Benton, +indignantly, though Mrs. Trent protested against his urgency by a nod +of her head. + +"It is for the little one. It is mine. I want it already." + +The ranch mistress at once extended the basket, but it was now the +carpenter's turn to object. + +"Please, 'admiral,' not so fast. Let her tell us, first, how much +money she lost." + +Elsa caught her breath. To save her life she could not have stated in +exact figures the sum, because, though she had known to a dime before +the robbery, at, and after that time, she had recklessly tossed aside +the little that remained. This wasted portion belonged with the whole +amount, and being as truthful as she was penurious, she hesitated. Her +color came and went, as she looked anxiously into John's face, +realizing that he had laid a trap for her and caught her in it. + +But the mistress confronted her, saying: + +"Never mind that, Elsa. I do not blame you for refusing to try +experiments with what you have so hardly earned and so nearly lost. +These are certainly your own little money bags, as I judge from their +knitted covers; but it is just possible there may have been other +money added to that was taken from you. So, tell me as nearly as you +can, what you had, and we will examine them all together." + +This was wise, and commended itself even to the eager Elsa, who stated +promptly and proudly: + +"Three t'ousand of the dollars it was. All gold. Big gold and littles +ones. In them bags was lost entirely. In the others--I don't know. Oh! +I don't know. It was much, much!" + +It was Wolfgang's turn to interpose, and he did so, sternly: + +"Elsa, wife! Three thousand dollars, and I not know it! How dare +you?" + +"Ach! how not dare I? It was the new pick, or the new pushcart, or the +new everything, is it not so? Well, then, if one would save one need +not tell." + +Mrs. Trent's face saddened, and, seeing this, Jessica impatiently +exclaimed: + +"Oh, I hate money! It's always that which makes the trouble. It was +about money that those New York folks made such wicked charges against +my father. It was for a little money that you 'boys' were so quick to +ruin 'Forty-niner's' character. It was money, and the greed for it, +that changed Antonio from a good to a bad man." + +"Hold on, captain. There wasn't ever any 'change' in him. He was born +that way." + +"He was born a baby, wasn't he, John? All babies are good, I s'pose. +It's loving money has made Ferd do such dreadful things; and now, over +a little money, Wolfgang and Elsa are quarreling, though I never heard +them speak crossly to each other before. Oh, I hate it! Give it all +back to her, mother dear, and let us forget all that Pedro said. I, +for my part, hope his old copper mine will never be dug out." + +Some who heard her laughed, but the mother grew even graver than at +first, and looked searchingly into her daughter's face. Again there +came to her mind the consciousness that the little girl was growing up +in a strange fashion; seeming both too wise and too simple for her +years. It could never be any different at Sobrante, where one and all +conspired to spoil her, though innocently enough, and from pure +affection. How could she, single-handed, combat these hurtful +influences? + +The answer came swiftly enough in a second thought: "Money." + +If there were but a little more of that power for good as well as evil +in her possession she could send the child to some fine school and +have her educated properly. The separation would be like death in life +to herself, but what true mother ever thought of self where her child +was concerned? Certainly, not Gabriella Trent. It was with a little +sigh that she put her arm about Lady Jess and drew her to her side, +saying: + +"Here, daughter, you and John examine these bags together, while the +rest of us look on and tally for you. I want Elsa to have her own, at +once." + +They moved the books and papers from the table, and Jessica emptied +the contents of the bags into one gleaming heap near the big lamp, +whose light gave an added radiance to the coins, making more than one +pair of eyes sparkle and stare. None could remember ever to have seen +so large an amount displayed outside a bank window. + +Even John's hands trembled slightly as he began to count the double +eagles first, pushing each five of these toward his small co-laborer +and reckoning: + +"One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred--one thousand!" + +"One thousand!" echoed Jessica, in turn handing the pile to her +mother, while the others watched, counting each for himself in +silence, ready to check any blunder that might be made. + +That is, the men were silent, but Elsa and Aunt Sally rather disturbed +the proceedings; the former, by eagerly reaching out for the piles as +each was arranged before the mistress, and being as regularly rebuked +by the latter. + +"There you go again, woman! How can they count right if you don't have +patience? Keep your hands still, do," said Mrs. Benton. + +"Keep your tongue, mother, too. Two thousand!" rejoined John. + +"Two--thousand!" cried Jessica, tallying. But her voice had now lost +its impatience, and she began to have a very different feeling in +regard to this "money," which looked so real, and was so much needed +at Sobrante. If Pedro's "copper" could be transmuted into shining +golden eagles, why, after all, she guessed she didn't hate it quite so +much. + +"Three--thousand--and--ain't half--touched yet!" gasped Samson, +throwing up his great hands in a gesture of astonishment. + +Elsa was also gasping then, and the expression of her face was +changing into one from which Mrs. Trent involuntarily turned her eyes. +Cunning and avarice predominated, and in the woman's throat was a +curious clicking sound, as if she had lost and were trying to find her +voice. Which, when found, seemed not to belong to the good-natured +Elsa, so changed it was: + +"Ach, me! But I forgot already. I guess--it was not three t'ousand; it +was two times so much. That was seven t'ousand, is it not? The money +of this America--it so confuse, yes," and she tapped her forehead with +one fat finger, while her eyes grew beady, and seemed to shrink in +size as they gazed upon the wealth she coveted. + +But Wolfgang would have none of this. He was as honest as the sun, +and, till that moment, had supposed his wife to be of one mind with +him. Indeed, honest she had been, in thought and deed, until that +terrible temptation was spread before her. + +"Elsa! Elsa Winkler! Is it my wife you was and would lie--lie--for a +bit of that rubbish!" + +"'Rubbish' is good," commented "Marty," under his breath, but nobody +smiled. + +The woman cowered. Accustomed as she was to domineer over the +seemingly weak-willed man, there had been times, within her memory, +when he had thrown off her rule and asserted himself to a degree that +terrified her. She had stumbled upon one of those times now, and sank +back in her place with a deprecating gesture, advancing the flimsy +protest: + +"Are they not my bags, so? Sewed I them not with my own hands out of +the skin of the little kid was killed? The covers I knitted with----" + +The miner raised his hand, and she dropped her eyes before him. + +"Give her what belongs, if you will, good lady, and let us be gone," +he said, pulling his forelock respectfully to Mrs. Trent. + +"Gone! Why no, Wolfgang, not to-night. It's a long way, and you should +wait till morning. Indeed, you should," she replied, at the same time +sending a questioning glance toward John Benton, and pushing toward +Elsa all the empty bags and three of the thousand dollar piles. + +For the carpenter nodded swift acquiescence, on his part longing to be +rid of "them miserly Dutchmen, barring the man." + +Elsa rapidly recounted, and bestowed the eagles within their +receptacles, and these again, wrapped in a handkerchief, within her +bosom. Then, as coolly as if she had not made an unpleasant exhibition +of herself, she turned to her hostess and smiled: + +"I go now, mistress. I thank you already for one good time I have. It +is to buy the mine, one day, for my child. I must be going. Yes, I +must. The stew! Ach! how I forgot! The cat--it was a good stew, no? +And the cat has eat the stew!" + +"Then you'd better stew the cat!" suggested Marty, with a facetiousness +to which she paid no heed. + +Holding out her hand for Otto to take it, she commanded: + +"Little heart, but come. It is in bed you should be, yes. Good-by, +all," adding in German, "May you sleep well!" + +Wolfgang followed the retreating pair, but turned on the threshold to +make his obeisance to the ranch mistress, and to say, "At your +service, good lady. My pick and my head." Then, bowing again toward +all the company, he disappeared. + +Everybody felt the relief of their departure, and Aunt Sally +humorously threw a kiss after them, remarking, with a sniff: + +"Blessed be nothing, if somethin' is going to make a hog out of a +decent woman. That there Elsy'd been content with half she got if she +hadn't seen the rest that heap. I'm a good deal like Jessie, here. I +think money's the root of all evil." + +"That ain't an original observation, mother, though you do speak as if +it was. Money's the root of a pretty consid'able comfort, too; and I'd +like to know, for one, where in creation all this that's left came +from," returned John. + +"There's no doubt in my mind, that it came out of the Trent +pocketbook, every dollar of it!" said Samson. "But how it came into +Ferd's fist is more'n I can guess. Seems if even a half-wit would +steal from his own brother, and it must have passed through Antonio's +hands first." + +"Antonio's brother!" cried Marty, incredulously. + +"That's the true word. Pedro knew it, and the master knew it. The +'admiral' heard it, first, to-day; along with that other secret about +the copper. Ain't any harm in mentioning it, is there?" said Samson. + +The lady laughed, and answered: + +"Even if there were the harm is done, herder. But that's right. I wish +no secrets at Sobrante. I like to feel that we are all one family in +interests and affection, as my husband wished. And now remains this +gold. What is to be done with it? Where shall we bestow it that it may +be both safe and ready when needed?" + +Aunt Sally immediately went and closed the door and locked it; then +fastened the windows and pulled the shades over them. At which a shout +arose that the old lady heeded not a whit. She clasped her hands over +her breast and her round face turned pale, as she whispered shrilly +enough for all to hear: + +"We're undone! We're all undone! We're a passel of fools--and--and---- +Oh, suz!" + +Down she dropped into a chair, and there was no more laughter. She was +not a timid woman, and her fright was evident. Her son stepped to her +side and laid his hand on her shaking shoulder, demanding: + +"What ails you, mother? What did you see? Why did you lock the +doors?" + +"I--I----" + +"Quit chattering your teeth together. What did you see?" + +"Oh, son! I seen a--a--ghost!" + +"Trash!" + +Her courage began to return, and her anger to rise. She retorted +promptly: + +"No trash! A ghost. A spirit! As sure as I'm a-settin' here this +minute; the spirit of--of----" + +It aggravated John that she should pause and peep behind her, to be +sure the windows were still covered. + +"The spirit of what tomfoolery has possessed you, mother, I'd like to +know? What's the use of scarin' folks half to death? As if we hadn't +had enough things happen without your cuttin' up, too!" + +"Hold your tongue, John Benton, you sassy boy. As sure as I'm alive, I +saw the ghost of Antonio Bernal peeking in at that open window afore I +shut it. He was so white I couldn't tell him from paper, and so thin I +'peared to see clean through him." + +"Pshaw, mother! You're overtired, and for once in your life really +nervous. I reckon it's the sight of more money than ever come your way +before. Well, forget it. 'Tisn't yours nor mine. We've no cause to +worry. I'll step and get you a drink of water and then you'll feel all +right, and would better go to bed." + +"I don't want water, and I shan't go to bed. I shan't close my eyes +this night, John Benton, and you needn't touch to tell me so." + +"All right. Stay awake if you like. It's nothing to me," answered the +exasperated man, who, in spite of his strong common sense, had been +more startled than he cared to admit, even to himself. But, glancing +at Mrs. Trent and Jessica, he now felt that it would be wiser to +express his own fear, which was of nothing supernatural. + +"Mother's upset, 'admiral,' and don't you let her upset you, too. The +fact is, we're a very careless set at Sobrante, where everything +is--or used to be--all open and above board. It's a new thing for keys +to be turned on this ranch, and it's a new thing for us to go +suspecting one another of sneak notions. I, for one, am ashamed enough +of the way I've felt about old Ephraim Marsh, and if he don't show up +pretty soon, I'll make a special trip to Los Angeles to tell him so. +Even if I have to foot it the heft of the way. + +"Howsomever, all the world ain't as honest as them that had the honor +of knowin' Cassius Trent. There's been a power of strangers on these +premises durin' these last days; and it stands to reason that among +'em one villain might have crept in. I ain't sayin' there was. I'll +never accuse nobody again--'cept--'cept----" + +Here the honest fellow interrupted himself with a laugh; remembering +his ingrained suspicion of the two Bernals, which he would never even +try to overcome. But he went on again: + +"Mother thinks she's seen somethin', and like enough she has. There +might be some scamp hangin' around; and if there was, and he looked +through that window and saw all this gold, I don't wonder his face was +ghosty-lookin', nor--Somebody stop me talking and answer this: Where's +the safest place to stow that pile?" + +For a moment nobody replied. Mrs. Trent was wishing, most heartily, +that the money had never come into her possession, since she did not +know to whom she should restore it; and beginning to feel, with +Jessica, that "money" did carry discord and danger with it. + +But the little captain was now all eagerness, and exclaimed: + +"Oh! how I wish I'd seen it! Aunt Sally, I never saw a ghost in all my +life, never! I thought they were just make-believes, but if you saw +one, of course they're true. Do you s'pose we could see it again if we +went out to look? Will you go with me?" + +"I? I! Well, I guess not. Not a step will I step----" + +"But several steps I'll step, Mrs. Benton. I advise the money going +into the office safe, that old Ephraim uses when he's at home. One of +us better camp out on the lounge in the room there till we get rid of +whoever's cash that is. I'll bunk there myself, if you like, Mrs. +Trent, after I step outside and see if all's serene with my prisoner," +said Samson, cheerfully. + +"May I go with you, Samson? May I, mother?" asked Jessica. + +The mother's consent was somewhat reluctant, for now she could not +bear to have her darling out of sight. Yet if anybody on earth was to +be trusted with so precious a charge it was the herder. Besides, she +was annoyed at this talk of "ghosts," and knew that the shortest way +to convince Jessica how nonsensical it was, would be by allowing her +to go out and seek for them herself. + +But Samson answered cordially: + +"You do me proud, little one. Suppose you take your rifle, and then, +if we see any specter you can pin it to the mission wall, and we'll +have a show, charging ten pins' admission." + +They went out, laughing and gay; the child clinging to the giant's +hand, and hoping that she might really see the phantom of Aunt Sally's +story, for she had no fear concerning it. They came back, five minutes +later, looking grave and seriously alarmed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PRISONER DISAPPEARS + + +"What's happened?" asked Mrs. Trent, foreboding fresh trouble, since, +of late, trouble had become so familiar a visitor. + +"Well, ma'am, the bird has flown." + +"Please explain, Samson," she anxiously urged. + +"That bird of dark plumage--Ferd, the dwarf. He's escaped, vamoosed, +took wings and flew." + +"Oh, Samson! I'm so sorry. I hoped you would look after him until I +could find some suitable institution in which to place him. It's time +he should be helped, for if he's so sharp to do evil, he must have +equal capacity for better things." + +"Yes, ma'am. So I allow; and I had them same hopes myself, not ten +minutes ago. I hadn't said a word to anybody, but after you gave him +to me, I remembered what the little captain had commanded, for it sort +of struck home, that did. I ain't overly saintlike, myself, but what +of goodness I'd catched from you all I meant to pass on to the +coyote--I mean, Ferdinand Bernal. I reckon it was his face, 'stead of +a ghost's, that Aunt Sally saw by the window." + +"I thought you locked him in some room?" + +"Lock and double-locked. Bolted, besides. Worst is, all bolts and +locks are just as I left 'em. Had the key in my pocket and went in, +saluting, and there wasn't anybody to salute. Well, ma'am, if he's +out, and 'twas him saw that money, there'd better two of us sleep +beside it, rather than one. He's the uncanniest creature ever I met, +and I hope never to meet his mate." + +"Very well. I do not see what harm he can do, after all, except to +himself, now. Jessica, dear, please bring the key, and John can put +this money in the safe. If it weren't for Elsa's satisfaction, I +should regret that Pedro ever found it. Then we must all to sleep. +It's been a most eventful day, and we are tired." + +Before long the whole household was asleep; but the last to seek her +rest was Mrs. Benton; nor did she do that until she had locked +whatever locks would fasten, peeped under every bed, and invaded the +sacredness of Wun Lung's "heatheny den." Then she placed her Bible on +one side her bed, a broom and horsewhip on the other, and lay down to +watch, explaining: + +"'Cause I'm goin' to watch, even if I am resting my body horizontal. +I'm so tired I can't set up straight, nohow, and I shan't wink a wink +till daylight comes and the rest are moving." + +Having called out this valiant resolution to Mrs. Trent, in the +adjoining room, she instantly closed her heavy lids, and opened them +no more till a series of thumps upon her shoulders aroused her. Then +she realized that Ned and Luis were reminding her of yesterday's +promise that, if they'd eat no more plum cake overnight they should +have some for their breakfasts. + +"Land of love! What you doing? Is it daylight? Why, 'twas dark as +Egypt when I lay down, and I----Can it be that I--I--have overslept?" + +"Plum cake, Aunt Sally," reminded Ned. + +"Plumsally!" cried Luis, with a forcible whack. Which was instantly +returned, and with such added interest that he ran howling away, +leaving the disturbed matron to scold herself at leisure for her lapse +from duty, while she hurriedly dressed. + +Naturally, she had to submit to some teasing on account of her valiant +resolution of the previous night that she "wouldn't wink a wink," but +Mrs. Trent was delighted that the faithful woman had, at last, enjoyed +a needed rest. Besides, everything was bright at the ranch on that +happy morning. Even Wun Lung had caught the infection of Christmas +preparations, and was intent upon providing some dainties of his own, +against the approaching festival, which should so far outshine the +homelier pies and puddings of Mrs. Benton, as his own revered country +outshone, in his opinion, even this pleasant one in which, at present, +his lot was cast. He had also felt good-natured enough to put aside a +plentiful breakfast for his mate--or foe--of the kitchen; and since it +was such a time of happiness, Aunt Sally condescended not only to eat +it, but to pronounce it "good." + +Hearing this unexpected praise, the Chinaman wound and unwound his +precious queue, after a fashion he had of expressing satisfaction; and +smilingly advised Mrs. Benton to "step black polch," where she would +find things to do. + +So to the back porch the good lady retreated, carrying with her great +dishes of fruit to prepare, and not forgetting two enormous slices of +the rich plum cake she had promised the little boys, and which would +have made less active, hardily reared children ill. + +Mrs. Trent had moved her sewing machine to the porch, and Jessica sat +near, with a little table before her, trying to write the Christmas +invitations that had been so delayed, and to express them after a +style which should not too painfully expose her own ignorance. The +result was not so bad, considering the slight training the child had +had, and her few years, yet it did not satisfy the mother, who felt +that education was the one good thing, and who longed to have her +child's bright intellect developed as it should be. + +Poor Jessica had written and rewritten the note intended for Mr. Hale +a number of times, and still had it returned to her with many +corrections, after Mrs. Trent's reading of it, and now laid it aside +with a sigh of discouragement. + +"Can't that wait a while, mother? If I may write to my darling Ninian +Sharp, I'll get myself rested. He doesn't mind trifles like wrong +capitals in the right places--oh! dear, I mean--I don't know what I +mean. But may I?" + +"Certainly, dear. Though, first, come here and let me try the length +of this sleeve." + +Lady Jess obeyed readily, for new clothes were rare events in her +simple life. This natty little "Christmas frock" was white, with +scarlet trimmings, and quite sufficiently in contrast with the plain +blue flannel ones of everyday use to captivate her fancy and make her +patient under the tedious process of "fitting." Yet she was glad to +return to her table and her letter to Ninian Sharp, which she found no +difficulty in composing, since she was free to do as she chose. + +And this was the epistle which, after some delay, reached the +newspaper man, at a time when he happened to need cheering up, and +brought new life and interest into his overworked brain: + +"MY VERY DEAR MISTER SHARP: My mother and the children and aunt sally, +and Me and all the rest the Boys, are well and send Their LUV. We are +Now Inviteing you To come and Spend the holidays at dear Sobrante. +everybody is Coming, most, and i Got lost and was found in a Hole. The +Hole is in the ground. there was Money in It, that the Boys said my +fortynineer stole and He Didn't. It was elsa winklers and wolfgang was +mad at her, and there was a Ghost, but it got away, else samson and Me +would have shot it against the mission cordiror wall and had a +nexibition. and ferd that was lock up got away two; and say, please my +dear mister sharp, Will you see if this stone that's in the package is +any good? Pedro, thats a hundred years, says it's copper and copper is +worth money. We need some money bad, and i hope it is, and I don't no +anybody as clever as you. so Please write write away and tell us if +you will come and tell ephraim Marsh, that the Boys will be at marion +railway station with a buckborde and horses enough. i am Making +something to put in everybodys stocking. i Began to make the things +after last Christmas, that ever was, and i Have more than twenty-five +presunts to Make and i Have got three done, one of Them is Yours. your +Loving friend, + + "JESSICA TRENT." + +When the letters were completed, the little captain felt that she +needed recreation, and her mother agreed with her; but, unlike her +former habit, could not consent to the child's going anywhere alone. +The recent terrible experience had banished from Mrs. Trent's heart +that comfortable sense of security which had prevented life on the +isolated ranch from being a lonely one. She now felt, as Aunt Sally +phrased it: + +"Afraid of your own shadder, ain't you, Gabriell', and well you may +be. In the midst of life we are in the hands of them Bernals, and no +knowin'. That son John of mine may try to hoodwink me that 'twasn't no +ghost I saw last night, but ghost it was if ever one walked this +earth. It wasn't, so to speak, a spooky ghost, neither; it was an +avaricious one, and it wasn't after no folks, but 'twas after that +money, sharp. Ain't disappeared, for good, neither. Liable to spring +up and out anywhere happens; and you do well, Gabriell', not to trust +our girl off alone again. Not right to once. Where's she hankerin' to +travel now? She'd ought to be learnt to sew patchwork, instead of +riding all over the country, hitherty-yender, a bareback on a broncho +or a burro. If she was my girl----" + +"If she was your girl, dear Aunt Sally, you couldn't have been more +anxious than you were while she was lost. And the life is good for +her. It's right for all women to understand sewing and household arts, +but the captain isn't a woman yet, and I have faith she'll acquire all +fitting knowledge in due time. She's anxious to ride to Pedro's. She +says there was something different in his manner, last night, from +ordinary, and, indeed, I fancied so myself. She's gone to find which +one of the boys can best leave his work to ride with her." + +"It'll be John Benton, Gabriella Trent. You see if it ain't. That man +just sees the world through Jessica's eyes, and he's never got over +being jealous 'at he wasn't the one took her to Los Angeles that +time. If he had all the work in creation piled up before him, and she +happened to say 'Come,' some other whither, whither, 'twould be, and +not a minute's hesitation. Anyhow, it's Marty's day for mailridin', +and there he lopes this instant." + +The ranchmen took turns in riding to the post, each esteeming it a +privilege, and finding nothing but pleasure in the sixty miles' gallop +to Marion and back. At that moment, indeed, Marty was swinging out of +sight on his own fine mount, the mailbag before him on his heavy +Mexican saddle, the wind created by the swift motion of the beast +raising the brim of his broad hat and thrilling him with that sense of +abounding life and freedom which comes so forcibly to men in the wide +spaces of the earth. + +He was the youngest of the "boys," even though past his first youth, +and the "life" of the ranchmen's quarters, where all liked and some +loved him. + +The women on the porch watched him till he became a mere speck in the +distance, and Aunt Sally sighed: + +"That George Cromarty is as likely a youth as ever I knew. He's that +good to his old mother, back in the East, I tell my own son John, he +ought to profit by such an example. I should hate to have anything +happen to him. Yes, indeedy, I should hate to have a single bad thing +happen to poor George Cromarty." + +A little nervous shiver ran through Mrs. Trent's slender frame, yet +she turned upon her companion, as she threaded her needle, with a +laugh, exclaiming: + +"Oh! you dear old croaker! Why can't you let well enough alone, +without mentioning more evil? You know the old saying that to speak +of trouble is to invite its visitation. Surely, there was nothing +about to-day's postman to suggest disaster. George is a typical +ranchman, and my husband used to point him out to visitors as what a +man might be, who grew up, or old, where 'there was room enough.' +Big-hearted, full of fun, tender as a woman, but intolerant of +meanness and evil doing. It would be a dark day for Sobrante if ill +befell our 'Marty.'" + +"Well, I don't know. Something's going to go wrong somewhere. I feel +it in my bones, seems if. There, I told you so! Yonder comes that lazy +boy of mine and Jessie. There's more things needing him here on this +place than you could shake a stick at, yet off he'll go traipsing just +at a nod from his captain." + +"Don't begrudge them their happiness, Aunt Sally. Certainly, after +grief, it is their due. Well, John, will you act escort for the little +lady of Sobrante?" asked its mistress. + +"Will I not? And do me proud. She ain't to be trusted with any of the +flighty ones, Samson now, or----" + +Mrs. Trent's laughter--that morning as heart-whole and free as a +girl's--interrupted the ranchman's disparaging comments on his +fellows, sedate grayheads as most of them were; for well she +understood the universal devotion of all to their darling captain. + +"Oh, John, I can scarcely associate the idea of frivolity or +carelessness with our big Samson; but wait a moment, please, before +you start. There's such a store of good things left, though in +fragments, that I'd like to pack a basket for Pedro. I wish he did +not insist upon living so alone. He is so old and I feel, as the +native Californians used, that the older a person grew the more +precious. I wish you'd try to persuade him to let somebody else take +his place with the sheep, and to arrange his small affairs so that +when he comes down for his Navidad he will remain. There's enough to +keep him busy and happy here." + +"I'll try, mistress. But he'll not be persuaded. Old Pedro wouldn't +think he could breathe down here in the valley, for long at a time. +Well, good-by. Ready, captain?" + +"Ready, John, as soon as mother gets the basket. Quiet, Buster. I +believe you're more eager for a canter than I am, even." + +Then when the basket had been handed up to John, the pair merrily +saluted the women on the porch and rode away; but Mrs. Benton called +shrilly after them: + +"Turn back and start over again! Turn back, I say! Both your horses +set off left feet first. That means bad luck as sure as you are +born!" + +But nobody paid any heed to Aunt Sally's forecasts of evil, save to +laugh at them. Only Mrs. Trent again felt that nervous shiver seize +her, and but for shame's sake would have begged her daughter to defer +her ride until another day. + +However, shame prevailed; or common sense, which is far better; and +well it was--or ill--that the riders kept serenely on their way, +indifferent to "signs" and ignorant of what lay before them. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ON THE ROAD HOME + + +The train from Los Angeles rolled slowly up to the little station at +Marion and the asthmatic engine seemed to wheeze its relief that its +labor was ended, as an old man stepped from the last car and looked +eagerly along the platform. Then a certain degree of disappointment +overspread his fine face, and shouldering a heavy parcel, strapped +round with leather to give a holding place, he strode rather +unsteadily forward over the same sandy road, or street, which had +tried Ninian Sharp's patience on his first visit to the post town. + +Yet, after a little, the man grew accustomed to his own stiffness of +limb and moved with a sort of halting swiftness which soon brought him +to the little hostelry of one Aleck McLeod, where a group of ranchmen +were sunning themselves while they waited the distribution of the +mail. + +It was noticeable that the porch was spotlessly clean and that none of +the idlers profaned its cleanliness by so much as one expectoration of +tobacco juice, though all were either smoking or chewing that weed. +They had far too great respect for Janet, Aleck's wife, and for the +labor that cleanliness meant in that waterless region. They were all +deep in the discussion of the late events at Sobrante and none heard +the old traveler's approach over the soft ground, till he stood close +beside them with his foot on the lower step. + +But he heard them and their eager talk; and, pausing a bit, the more +completely to surprise them by an intended halloo, he forgot that and +all else save what they were saying. + +"It was ten to one she was never found. 'Pears like a miracle to me, +that old Pedro was led to find that very cave just when he did. My +wife claims it was a miracle, same as used to be in Bible days, and +you can't talk her out of it. You know how women are," said one +ranchman, who had aided in the search for Jessica. + +"Well, first and last, them Trents have done a heap for this section +of our 'native.' And they're square folks, every identical of them. +Even the little tacker, that boy Ned. There's more in his head than he +gets credit for, and one these days he'll show there is. He's a master +hand with a gun, baby as he is, and if he'd had one handy I wager he'd +have put some shot into the ugly carcass of that Ferd---- But he +hadn't the iron and he didn't," added another smoker. + +"It was a prime spread Mis' Trent gave us. Must have took about all +the provisions she had in store, but nothing was too good for them +that helped her in her trouble. Or tried to help, same thing; since it +was her own man, Pedro, found the child. Away down in the bottom of a +pit in the depth of an unknown cave! Think of it, somebody! It just +makes my hair rise on end, known' there is such a fool and scoundrel +joined in one dwarf's body--Hello! hel--lo!" + +The last speaker's words ended in a sort of screech of astonishment +and recognition, as a hard hand was laid upon his shoulder, and +Ephraim Marsh demanded, fiercely: + +"What's that you say, neighbor?" + +"Why, hello, Marsh! Where'd you drop from?" cried one, rising and +extending a hand in greeting. + +"You're a sight to cure sick folks!" shouted another, pressing to +"Forty-niner's" side, and slapping the veteran's shoulder in high good +will. + +But Ephraim had no feeling at present, save anxiety to know what their +discussion had meant; and, all talking, they laid a succinct history +of the last few days before him. He listened in increasing alarm and +amazement and his old limbs tottered beneath him, so that he called +out, hastily: + +"Give me a seat, somebody, quick, before I fall. I--I--to think of my +little gell--my own sweet-faced, lovin' little gell----Oh, I can't +believe it! I can't and I won't. It's some plaguey Californy yarn' +you're passin' the time with. Atlantic! But you might have chose a +likelier subject to fool over, you might." + +But Aleck himself had seen the arrival through the window and came out +to greet him with the heartiness accorded all the Sobrante people, and +to assure him that the story was all true; and that, after all, it +were better that he had not been at home when the trouble came; "for +it would have broke your heart, 'Forty-niner,' into more pieces than +old Stiffleg broke your bones, and it wouldn't have healed so soon, +neither. But, come in, come in, boy, and have a mouthful of dinner. +Janet has as fine a dish of haggis as ever I tasted in Aberdeen at +home, and it should relish to you, after all that hospital fare and so +on. Janet! Janet! Here's Ephraim Marsh! Come welcome him!" + +And Janet came quickly, like her husband cordial and sympathetic, and +led the deeply moved frontiersman into her own kitchen, where no +uninvited ranchman dared intrude, and there served him well with good +things, including the haggis. And as she served she talked in a wise, +womanly way that soothed his agitation and turned his thoughts from +enmity against the dwarf into thanksgiving that now all was well. + +"For since it is over and done with we can reckon the gain. The sweet +bit bairnie has won for herself fresh friends. In all the countryside +there was but one feeling, 'The child must be found.' No other thing +was of any moment, and found she was, by a man so much older than any +of the rest that nobody, not even you, can grudge him the honor. More +hot milk? Oat cake? Nothing? Well, well; for a man that's traveling +you've a small appetite. Must be off already and pack your own bundle? +Why, friend, you would better leave that till one the boys rides up +for the mail. Due before this, indeed, for Sobrante ranchers are ever +keen for their post stuff. No? A horse, then? Aleck was going to do a +bit of plowing with her, later on, but he'll eagerly give over that +for you." + +But Ephraim felt that he could delay for nothing more, not even for +the arrival of a Sobrante messenger; and as for Jean, the sorrel +mare--he and she were old acquaintances, and he declined her services +with a grim smile, saying: + +"Thank you, Janet, it's kindly offered, but I'm in haste and I'd +rather trust my own lame leg than her four lagging ones. Besides, if +Aleck has been afield in this search he'll be behindhand in his work, +and he's a hand to keep things up to the level line. Good-by, good-by. +Oh! wait a bit, though. I'd clean forgot that I put a scrap of white +Scotch linen and a yard or two of plaid bodice stuff in my pack for +you. This business of my captain getting lost has shaken my wits." + +Though Janet protested against the trouble her face glowed at prospect +of her gifts, and as she assisted him to unstrap and refasten his +canvas sack, and even begged to be shown the simple remembrances he +had procured for everybody he knew "at home;" not least among them +being calicoes of brilliantly unwashable colors for Aunt Sally's +patchwork. Then he set off alone, staff in hand, stolidly yet swiftly +covering the ground with that halting stride of his that soon took him +out of sight. + +The assembled ranchmen received their own mail matter, mounted and +rode away; and there settled over the little town that monotonous +quiet which would not be broken again until the arrival of the evening +train, when, possibly, some chance passenger might alight on the +deserted platform. + +Meanwhile, Ephraim was passing over the level road toward "home," +feeling keener delight and longing with each step's advance, and when +he came to a little branch trail, where a rude signpost stated the +fact that he had come "Five miles from Marion," he made his first +halt, sitting to rest for a few moments under the eucalyptus trees +bordering the arroyo. The branch road led to and disappeared among a +group of buildings, some distance to the north, on the ranch of one +Miguel Solano, a friend of Antonio Bernal, and a Mexican of +ill-repute. The ranch was comparatively new and was rich in olive +orchards and all the conveniences for producing a fine quality of oil, +and had been bought and arranged by an easterner with all the +accessories of profitable farming. Death had put an end to the +settler's industry, and the property had come, at a low figure, into +Solano's hands; whereupon everything industrious lapsed, neglect and +discomfort usurping the place of thrifty comfort. + +Gazing toward this place, Ephraim reflected that; "If that Greaser had +half as much snap as he has wickedness he'd be a rich man. As 'tis, +honest folks sort of give Solano's a wide berth. I'm thirsty as a dog +and wouldn't mind havin' a drink out that artesian well they have +there, but--Atlantic! There's somebody already stoopin' over it; looks +mighty familiar!" + +Then the old man stood up and shielded his eyes with his hand as he +peered into the distance, ending his scrutiny with a shake of his fist +in the direction he had gazed, and muttering aloud: + +"No, I'm better off here. Queer how you can recognize a snake, no +matter how far off! That's Ferd, the dwarf; and if I was near enough +to touch him I couldn't keep my fingers off his dirty throat, nohow, +till I'd choked the life out of him! Ugh! When I think---- But I +mustn't think. I must just get up and jog on till I see a prettier +sight than that. If I can spy the hunchback at one mile off I can see +my little captain's bonny head at ten. Home, old 'Forty-niner'! Home's +the word!" + +As if the thought of Jessica had put new strength into his body +Ephraim again shouldered his pack and started forward; but he had +proceeded a short distance only when he again halted and this time in +consternation. On the road before him, where it dipped slightly into a +hollow, lay the prostrate figure of a man, face downward in the dust; +and from the shrubbery near by came the helpless floundering of some +big animal and its occasional cry of distress, than which there is no +sound more pitiful in all the world. + +Away flew the pack, and Ephraim bent over the man, gently turning him +over, and crying in fresh dismay: + +"It's Marty! George Cromarty, of all men, dead as a doornail!" + +Alas! Ephraim's home-coming was proving anything but the delight he +had anticipated. To be met first by the story of the trouble which had +visited Sobrante and now by this dreadful discovery almost unnerved +him; but he was a man of action and his hand flew to Marty's breast to +feel if his heart still beat. With the other hand he softly brushed +the dust from the rigid features and rubbed the colorless temples. +After a second or two his face brightened, and he cried aloud, as if +the other might hear and be cheered: + +"Well, you aren't a dead man, after all, Marty, my lad! But I'd give a +heap, this minute, for a bit of cold water to give you. And, Atlantic! +I believe I'm losing my wits. 'Course, he's got it himself, handy. All +the boys carry a flask in their pockets, even on the short ride to +post, but Marty, being teetotal, fills his with water and gets laughed +at for his notions. A mighty good notion it'll prove for him if it +saves his life, and here goes!" + +Raising Marty's lean body so that his head rested on the fallen +bundle, Ephraim secured the flask, found it full, and began to +moisten the white lips; then, cautiously, to force a few drops down +the stiffening throat. Success soon crowned his efforts since, +fortunately, the ranchman was merely stunned, not killed, by the ugly +fall he had taken when his horse so suddenly pitched forward and +tossed him overhead against the pile of rocks. + +For it was a horse in agony which sent that moving appeal from the +thicket near by, and as soon as "Forty-niner" was sure that the man +was recovering, though he could not as yet speak, he sought the poor +beast and saw, to his distress, that for it there was no respite save +in death. + +"Well, well, well! This is a bad job all round, but better a horse +than a man, and lucky for both I came when I did. If I had a gun I'd +end the misery of one, straight off. And maybe Marty has. I'll look +and see." + +Returning to the road he was greeted by a prolonged stare from the +dazed ranchman, who had, indeed, been able to drag his body to a +sitting posture, but vainly sought to understand what had happened. + +Ephraim spoke to him, asking in a matter-of-fact tone: + +"Got a revolver with you, lad?" + +"Eh? W-h-a-t?" returned Marty, wonder drawing upon him at finding who +his companion was. "You--Eph?" + +"Course. Who else! Been quite a spell since we two met, but better +late than never. Got a pistol, I say?" + +"What for?" + +The sharpshooter hesitated, then gave an evasive answer: + +"Powerful long since I done any practicin', and feel like I better try +my hand." + +At that instant there was another heavy floundering behind the bushes +and another brutish moan of pain. With this full consciousness came +to the injured ranchman and he tried to rise, crying in his own +distress: + +"That's Comanche!" + +"Forty-niner" gravely nodded. + +"He's hurt?" demanded Marty, as if he defied the answer to be +affirmative. + +Ephraim turned away his face. To them, horses were almost as human +beings, and the love of a master for his beast was something +fraternal. + +"Help me to him," said the ranchman, staggering to his feet. + +"Better not, lad. Best trust to me," protested the elder man. + +"Trust--what?" + +The look in Ephraim's eyes was all the answer needed to this fierce +question, and Marty turned away his own gaze as he faltered the next +one: + +"Yes, mate, but take it like a man. Better him than you, and--give me +the gun." + +Marty straightened and stiffened himself. + +"Help me to him. Something's wrong with my legs. I'll see for myself. +If it must be, I'll do it for myself." + +The frontiersman understood the sentiment and respected it. He had had +to do a like hard duty for his own horseflesh before that, and he had +always felt it a sort of murder. He did not look at Marty's face as he +carefully guided his wavering steps into the thicket and the presence +of the suffering Comanche, where one look sufficed his master. + +"Oh, you poor fellow!" + +For an instant the tall head stooped to the level of the struggling +animal, and a strange, expressive look passed between the great equine +eyes and the misty ones of the man. Then Marty's hand went swiftly +around to his pocket, there was the click of a weapon, a flash and +report, and Comanche moved no more. + +More shaken and ill from this deed than from his terrible fall, Marty +sat long in silence by Ephraim's side beneath the eucalyptus trees; +then suddenly rousing, exclaimed: + +"Now, to find out the cause!" + +It was not far to seek, though difficult to understand. Of all men in +that countryside, gay, big-hearted George Cromarty had most friends +and fewest enemies. He took life lightly, merrily, with a good word +for the virtues of others and silence for their vices; yet there +before them, unmistakably plain, was the trap that had been set for +his life. A pit had been dug across the whole width of the road, +shallow, indeed, but sufficiently deep to throw any horse passing over +it. Its top had been screened with interlacing twigs, over which had +been scattered soil and dust enough to hide them. One who rode with +his eyes on the ground, as Antonio used, might easily, perhaps, have +discovered the fiendish work; but he who rode with head upraised and +his gaze on the distance would ride to his ruin as Marty had done. To +make the treachery more secure, some sprays of wild grapes had been +tightly stretched beneath the whole, and this showed a deliberation of +evil that turned Ephraim sick, but the other man furious. + +"Who did that will pay the price! I swear it!" he cried. + +"It surely was meant for a Sobrante man, for they're few besides who +ride this way," answered "Forty-niner," thoughtfully. "And, Atlantic! +Here's the mail pouch! Maybe 'twas robbery, pure and simple. Was it a +money day, for supplies or such?" + +"Reckon it was. The mistress herself locked and gave the bag to me, +bidding me be careful. As if I was ever careless; but there was one +letter in it I heard about, that the little captain wrote to Ninian +Sharp. Wrote herself, an invite to the Christmas doings. Try it." + +Examination proved that the bag had been tampered with, though the +lock was a spring and now securely fastened; but a small leather flap, +intended to cover the keyhole, had been torn from its fastenings and +lay on the ground. The pouch itself had been flung slightly out of the +way, under the bushes, as if the trespasser had satisfied himself with +and concerning it and had no further use for it. + +"Well, there used to be three keys to this concern. One the mistress +has; one the postmaster keeps at the office; and the other was +Antonio's, since he always was wanting to open and put something extra +in the bag after Mrs. Trent had done with it. I never liked the look +of that, and it's my opinion that it's the very key has unlocked this +bag, if unlocked it's been. Which is more'n likely." + +Cromarty's head was again beginning to grow dizzy, and he sat again +upon the rock to recover himself, making no answer to Ephraim's words +than the exclamation: + +"How am I going to get that bag to post in time?" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE PASSING OF OLD CENTURY + + +Jessica and her escort, John Benton, rode swiftly up the canyon trail +and over the brow of the mesa toward the shepherd's cabin; but they +had not proceeded far along the upland before a sense of the +strangeness of things oppressed them both. + +John's keen eye detected the neglect of the sheep, which were still +huddled in the corral, though long past their hour for pasturage; +while their bleating expressed hunger as well as dislike of their +unusual imprisonment. But Jessica saw first the abject attitude of the +collie, Keno, who came reluctantly to greet them with down-hanging +head and tail and a reproachful upward glance of his brown eyes. + +"Why, you poor doggie! What's happened you? You look as if you'd been +beaten. Where's your master, good Keno? Keno, where's Pedro?" + +The Indian was nowhere visible, and as if he fully understood the +question, the collie answered by a long, lugubrious whine. + +"Something's wrong. That's as plain as preachin'!" cried John, and +hurried to the little house, whose door stood open, but about which +there was no sign of life. + +He had tossed his bridle to the captain, meaning that if aught were +amiss within she should be detained for the present by holding the +horses. However, she saw through this ruse, and, leaping from Buster, +swiftly hobbled both animals and ran after the carpenter. + +Keno kept close at her heels, the very presentment of canine misery, +and uttering at every few steps that doleful whine which was so +unusual to him. But, arrived at the cabin, he left her and with one +bound had reached the Indian's side, where he still sat beside his +window, his head against its casing and his blanket--Jessica's +gift--closely wrapped about him. He did not move when they entered, +nor respond even by objection to the collie's frantic blandishments, +but John raised his hand for silence, as she stood sorrowfully gazing +downward upon the face of death. + +Yes, it was that. He had more than rounded his century of years, he +had lived uprightly, as the good padres had taught; he had bestowed +upon those he loved the secret of great wealth, and he had gone to +keep his precious Navidad in the home of eternal youth. + +Jessica comprehended the truth at once, and her eyes filled with the +tears which, as yet, did not overflow; for as she gazed upon the +sleeper's face it filled her with amazement and something akin to +delight; and at last she exclaimed: + +"Why, how young and glad he looks! He's even nobler than he was when +he rode away from me last night, and I'd never seen him so dignified +and grand as he was then. It's--it's as if he had done with everything +is hard, like worries, and evil, and loneliness, and--all." + +"Ay, lassie; he has done with all--that you or I know aught about; and +every inch a man he seems as he sits there in the majesty of death." + +By then the child's tears had begun to flow, and she caught up Pedro's +hand with an outburst of grief and love. + +"Poor, poor Pedro! To have been here all alone when it came! What +shall I do without him who was always so good, so good to me? Oh, I +can't have it so, John! I can't, I can't!" + +He was wise enough to attempt no consolation, knowing well how small a +part of her life the venerable Indian had been and how easily youth +accustoms itself to such a loss. But, after he had allowed her to sob +for a time, he gently touched her shoulder, and said: + +"Come. Pedro has finished his work and has passed it on to us. Those +poor sheep must be cared for, and somebody must ride home at once; or, +rather, should ride at once to Marion to make the necessary +arrangements. I wish----" And he paused in perplexity, regarding her +as if in doubt what was best to be done. + +They left the cottage with that quiet tread which seems natural in the +presence of those whom no sound can trouble, and, hand in hand, walked +sadly to the fold, where the penned sheep greeted them with eager +cries and restless movements. + +"Pedro used to say they talked and he knew what they said. I begin to +believe he did, for, listen! This sound isn't like that other first +one, which told us they were hungry. This says: 'I'm glad you've +come!' Doesn't it?" + +"So it sounds to me, lassie; and I, too, am glad we came. It's queer, +though, how set you were on it, even against the mistress' wish that +you should wait." + +"Yes, John, I had to come. I just had to. And this is what I +think: When we've taken care of the sheep, we'll lay Pedro on his +bed and lock the door. Keno will keep guard, if we tell him; though +whoever comes here, anyway? Then you must ride to Marion to see +about--about"--here, for a moment, grief interrupted her again, but +she suppressed her tears as soon as possible and went on quite +calmly--"about what always has to be at such a time. I remember--I +remember it all when my father----No, no, John, I'm not going to cry +again. I won't make bad worse, never, if I can help it. But this I +say: You ride to Marion and send word to the mission so that a +priest may come; and do all the rest. I will ride home and the +boys will come up and fetch him to Sobrante. It must be in the little +old chapel that we never use, because my father said he would not +put to a common service a room that had once been given to God. Pedro +always loved it. It was there he used to say his 'devotions' and +there he must lie--in state--isn't that what they call it when great +folks die? Pedro was great. He had lived so very long and he had +always been so devout. What do you say?" + +"What do I say, little captain, but that you've a long head on your +young shoulders, and I'm sorry this load of grief had to rest on it so +early. More than that; I undertook to be your guardeen to-day, and +I've no notion of shirking the job--even now. I passed my word to the +'admiral' that I'd fetch you home safe, and so I will. It won't take +much longer and it's right. Home first, and Marion afterward." + +"Well, maybe, that is best; and surely it is pleasantest. I didn't +want to be selfish, but I'd rather you stayed with me. Are you ready? +Shall we leave him just as he is?" + +"Just so. We'll close the window and the door, and then--home." + +But it was with widely different feelings that they cantered down the +canyon from those with which they had ridden up it, and when she saw +them returning so soon and so swiftly, Mrs. Trent went out to meet +them, saying nothing, indeed, yet asking the question with her eyes: + +"What trouble now?" + +Then John told their story speedily and suggested that some of the men +ride to the mesa and attend to what was needful. Also, repeated +Jessica's opinion about the chapel, with which the lady instantly +agreed; then, clasping her daughter's hand very close, returned with +her to the porch and began to fold away her sewing. + +But both Aunt Sally, when she came and heard the news, and the little +girl asked: + +"Why do you put it away, mother, dear? If Pedro is happy now, as we +believe, why shouldn't we be, too? All the rest must have their +holiday, and I think--I think he'd like to have me look nice. He +always did." + +"Jessie is right, Gabriell'. Things do happen terrible upsettin' +lately, seems to me; but by the time you and me get to be a hundred +odd, I reckon we shan't care a mite whether folks wear red and white +dresses or horrid humbly ones. I'm goin' on just the same as ever, for +that's the only way I'll ever keep my common senses in this spooky +place. I knew when they two started off, left hoof foremost, they was +ridin', to trouble; and this morning my hen chicken crowed to beat +any rooster I ever heard, and that's a sure sign of death." + +"Aunt Sally, don't!" protested Mrs. Trent, glancing anxiously at her +daughter's face. But she need not have feared; for the child smiled +back upon her, serene and happy, despite the traces of tears that +still marked her bright eyes. + +"It's all right, mother, dear; and I'm thinking how glad Pedro must be +now, to have found all those he'd so long outlived. He just went to +sleep, you see, alone, and waked up with them around him. I think it +was beautiful--beautiful; and his last deed was to find me and to tell +you how you could grow rich if you want to. Where are the little boys, +I wonder?" + +They presently appeared, in wild excitement, having been at the men's +quarters when John rode thither to impart his news and directions; yet +in this excitement was not a vestige of grief. They seemed to feel +relieved of some dread, and Ned more than once punched Luis, +whispering shrilly enough for all to hear: + +"We can do it now, and not get caught! Yes, siree! We can do it now! +Don't you tell!" + +And Luis responded by an ecstatic hug and the customary echo: + +"Do it now; don't you tell! Yes, siree!" + +John Benton had nearly covered the distance to Marion, when he +perceived two men slowly advancing toward him along the level road. +For a moment, engrossed by thoughts of recent happenings, he paid +slight attention to the fact, though idly wondering what strangers +might be having business, and on foot, with Sobrante, at which point +the road ended. But, as he drew nearer to them, something familiar in +the bearing of the taller man, and startling in the appearance of the +other, caused him to shield his eyes from the sunshine and peer +critically into the distance. Then he slapped his thigh so excitedly +that his horse suddenly stopped, reared and nearly unseated him. + +"Oh, you idiot! Can't a feller slap himself without your takin' it +to heart? If I ain't a blind man, and maybe I am, that's old +'Forty-niner' hoofing himself home, and----Whew! That's Marty, +limpin' and leanin' alongside. Well, I 'low! More trouble and +plenty of it. Seems if all creation was just a-happenin' our way, +blamed if it don't. Giddap there, Moses!" + +In a few minutes he had reached the pedestrians and saluted them with +unfeigned astonishment, and Ephraim with great friendliness of +expression, but also the question: + +"What fresh calamities you two fetchin', now?" + +They told him, as briefly as possible, and he found his own perplexity +increased as he demanded: + +"What in creation is to be done? Here's Pedro gone and died in the +most unhandy place and time; and here be you two, with not a decent +leg between you, twenty miles from home, and one horse for the three +of us!" + +At the word "horse" poor Marty winced, as from a personal blow, while +both he and Ephraim were greatly amazed at the news of the shepherd's +death. They began to feel, as John had said, that "nothing save +disaster was meant for Sobrante folks;" yet, after a moment, +"Forty-niner" perceived another side of the matter, and expressed +himself thus: + +"What's got into the pack of us? Seems if we'd lost our gumption. +After all, couldn't anything have happened likelier, so far forth as I +see. John Benton, you light off Moses and help this man into your +saddle. He'll ride home and I'll walk alongside, whilst you tramp on +to Marion. There's a mare there, named Jean. She was offered to me, +but I was in a hurry and didn't accept. However, the offer is due to +hold good for any of our folks. Light, I tell you. Marty's about +played out." + +Indeed, the respite came none too soon. The worst injury the gardener +had sustained was, apparently, of the head, and a terrible dizziness +rendered his progress on foot almost impossible. He would not have +been able to accomplish this much of the journey, save for the +continual help of Ephraim, who was himself burdened with the heavy +pack and unwilling to relinquish it. + +John stepped down and swung his fellow ranchman up to Moses' back; +then placed the bundle before the rider, turned the animal's head +toward Sobrante, and chirruped: + +"Giddap! Home's the word!" + +Moses needed no second urging, but was off at a gallop, leaving the +others to discuss the situation a bit further, and Ephraim to follow +at his leisure. + +There was little more to be said, however, and soon each was pursuing +diverging routes and each at his swiftest pace. + +At Marion, John had the mail pouch unlocked and examined, and was +satisfied that some letters had been tampered with. These contained +orders for house supplies and had been accompanied by checks, as was +evident from the wording of the orders. The checks had been removed, +and this fact proved to the carpenter that the hand of Antonio Bernal +was in the matter, because the late manager might indorse them without +arousing the bank's suspicion, as nobody else could. + +Yet there was one thing he did not mention, even to the postmaster; +and that was the package which Jessica's letter to Ninian Sharp had +spoken of. This had disappeared entirely. The fact troubled him more +than the loss of the checks, for he could stop the payment of these, +but whether the little captain had sent the whole of their only +specimen of the copper to her city friend or not was a serious +question. + +However, he did what he could; and almost for the first time in his +life used the telegraph as well as the post. To pay for his long and +rather ambiguous messages he borrowed money of the mystified Aleck +McLeod; and the local operator found himself busier than he had ever +been since the establishment of the office. + +The other sad business that had brought him to the town was also +transacted; and by the time all was arranged John was very glad to +avail himself of Jean's services, slow though she was. Upon her sedate +back he arrived at Sobrante, just as the sun was setting, and found +that the household had temporarily forgotten their grief for Pedro in +their rejoicing over Ephraim. + +"It's an up and a down in this world," quoth Aunt Sally, spreading and +admiring the brilliant bits of calico which "Forty-niner" had given +her. "Life ain't all catnip anyway you stew it. Them that laugh in the +morning gen'ally cry before night, and vicy-versy. But, Gabriella, do, +for goodness' sake, just fetch out that queer kind of stick that old +Indian made a sort of graven image of and show it to Mr. Ma'sh. It's a +curiosity, being so old, if it ain't no more. Worth cherishin', +anyhow, 'count of him that give it. I always did admire keepsakes of +the departed." + +Mrs. Trent smiled, though sadly, and Jessica asked: + +"May I get it, mother?" + +"Surely. For safety I put it on the top of the tallest bookcase, +behind the files of newspapers. You'll likely have to take the little +library ladder to reach it; and when you've shown it, put it back in +exactly the same spot. It's doubly valuable now, and could not be +replaced." + +The little captain had scarcely once relinquished the hand of her +beloved sharpshooter, since he appeared before them all, and now led +him, as if he were another happy playmate, to the designated place. +But when she had reached it, mounted the ladder and carefully felt all +over the top of the case, even moving the files in order to examine it +the better, she could not find the metal-pointed staff. + +Standing on the floor beneath, Ephraim watched her face growing sober +and disappointed, as she exclaimed: + +"It's gone! It's completely gone!" + +"It has, dearie? Well, maybe your mother forgot and put it somewhere +else. The likeliest thing in the world to happen, with her mind so +upset as it has been. We'll go back and ask her. Don't fret. Probably +it wasn't of much account, anyway." + +"Oh! but, dear Ephraim, it was! It could point the way to our big +fortune that's to be dug out of the ground!" + +"What? What is that you say, child? Nonsense. We don't live in the +days of witchcraft, and that's what such a performance would mean." + +Yet when they had returned to Mrs. Trent and related their misadventure +he was startled by hearing that sensible woman tragically exclaim, in +contradiction to his own assertion: + +"Lost! Then Sobrante is certainly bewitched!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE REBELLION OF THE LADS + + +"Thank my stars, I haven't lost my faculty of doing two things to +once, nor seein' a dozen!" cried Aunt Sally, as if in response to Mrs. +Trent's exclamation. Then she rose so hastily that her beloved +"pieces" fell on the floor and her spectacles slid from the end of her +nose, their habitual resting place. "There never was witches on this +ranch before, and I reckon I can deal with a few of them that's here +now. Edward Trent, Luis Garcia! Where you goin' at? Hey? Hear me? Come +right straight back to me this minute, if you know what's good for +yourselves!" + +All were surprised by this outburst and awaited its result with +curiosity. + +The two little boys had been suspiciously quiet on the farther end of +that long porch where the household practically lived. Mrs. Trent had +glanced their way, occasionally, but supposed them to be engrossed by +the patent whistle and top which had been found in Ephraim's pack, +neatly marked with their respective names. Yet one could not eat tops +nor whistles, and their elbows had been seen, from the rear, to move +in a suggestive manner. + +"They're eatin' somethin' all this time. I wonder what!" had been Mrs. +Benton's private reflection. But when Jessica came back with her +report of the lost wand, the elbow action had suddenly ceased; and, +after what appeared to be a brief whispered consultation, they had +slunk away down the path, Ned trying to help Luis hide something +within his blouse, though not, apparently, succeeding. + +At the sound of Aunt Sally's voice, indeed, they dropped the box they +had been secreting and burst into a paroxysm of giggling, as was their +customary receipt of her chiding. The giggle was always destined to +end in tears, but this never prevented its recurrence. + +"Neddy Trent! If that bad little Garcia boy is doing wrong, it's no +need you should be naughty, too. Come back here and show poor auntie +what you've got in your blouses." + +Wheedling had no more effect than scolding, for with one hug of each +other's necks, the children scampered onward, leaving their spoils +behind them. + +Then Jessica followed to see what this might be, and exclaimed, in +some surprise: + +"Candy! Where did it come from?" + +Now, it happened that such sweets, except of homemade manufacture and +on rare occasions, were forbidden the lads, because they were always +made ill by them. That is, Luis suffered and Ned was not allowed +anything his playmate could not share. All the ranchmen knew Mrs. +Trent's wishes on the subject and heretofore none had ever gone +against them. Who had done it now? + +Of course, suspicion instantly pointed to "Forty-niner," who +indignantly denied that he had brought, or even thought of bringing, +anything home which his beloved mistress did not wish there. + +"Doesn't anybody trust me any more about anything?" he concluded, +wistfully. + +The accusation had come from Mrs. Benton, but Gabriella hastened to +soothe the sharpshooter, saying: + +"We're making mountains out of mole hills, I fear. There, Aunt Sally, +never mind. They have left so much behind them on the path that they +can hardly have eaten enough to harm them, anyway. Let them go, +please." + +But the good woman would not drop the subject. Her sharp eyes had not +been given her for nothing, and her son always asserted that if his +mother had been a man she would have made a first-class detective. +Panting and puffing in her haste and curiosity, she hurried to the +spilled confections and carefully picked them up; then returned to the +porch, significantly holding forth, upon her palm, a specimen of what +she had discovered. + +"Needn't tell me I didn't smell peppymint! Them's them peppymint +rounds with chocolate outsides that I never seen nobody eat, on this +ranch, 'cept Antonio Bernal. They ain't kept in the store to Marion, +and the storekeeper used to send for 'em to Los Angeles, 'specially +for his one customer. I know, Antonio offered me some, time and again, +on my other visits, but I always thanked him polite and said no. I +never did lay out to eat a snake's victuals, and that's what his'n +was." + +"Oh, what a woman you are, Aunt Sally!" laughed Ephraim. + +"Thank you. I hope I be; enough of one, anyhow, to see through a +millstone, when there's a hole in it. But you've come back so peart +and sassy, sharpshooter, I reckon I best go steep you a fresh dose of +picra. After I've learnt all them tackers can tell." + +"Please, don't be stern with them, Aunt Sally," protested the mother. +"Whatever they've done is but natural. It would be too much to expect +them to refuse such a treat if it were offered them, and, maybe, John +brought it to them." + +"John? My boy, John? After the raisin' he had! Well, you're on the +wrong track there and I'm on the right one. Antonio Bernal, or some +feller sneak of his, has been here at Sobrante, and you needn't touch +to tell me he hasn't. Wait; I'll find out now!" she ended, in triumph, +and again the others were obliged to laugh, though Mrs. Trent's brief +mirth closed with a sigh, which Jessica heard and understood. + +"Oh! don't you fear, mother, dear. Aunt Sally wouldn't hurt either of +them, really; and, indeed, I don't know who would keep them in order +if she didn't try. What mischief one can't think of the other does, +and I'll run after her and see the thing out. Who knows but that they +can tell us something about the missing staff?" + +The runaways had made a detour by way of the kitchen, and adjoining +the kitchen was the "cold closet," which was the refuge they sought, +and where already were stored some of the Christmas goodies. This +closet had but one door and a securely shuttered window, and once the +door was gained by the pursuer she would have the small miscreants in +a trap. This she had seen and this it was which had given her that +triumphant expression. + +The captain also gained the pantry door just after it had closed +behind Mrs. Benton and her prisoners, and to her repeated request to +be admitted, received the enigmatical answer: + +"Time enough when I've pumped these little cisterns dry." + +"Are the children in there with you?" + +"Certain." + +"You won't hurt them, will you? Please don't punish them to-day. I +can't bear it." + +To which the grim jailer responded: + +"You go along back to 'Forty-niner,' Jessie darlin, and be happy. +We're all mighty comfortable in here and lots of good victuals, if so +be we get hungry. Plenty to drink, too, for I just brought in a crock +of fresh water to cool my eggs in. I've got my knittin' work and am as +happy as an oyster. Go back, for I ain't ready to talk yet. When I am +I'll come out and bring these naughty children with me." + +So Jessica returned to her old friend's side; and in listening to his +talk about the hospital and the friends she had made there for +herself, as well as about Mr. Ninian Sharp and the lawyer, Morris +Hale, the evening quickly passed and bedtime came. + +When the ranch mistress rose to say good-night, she went to the still +closed door of the closet, and asked: + +"Aren't you coming out now, Aunt Sally?" + +The old lady opened the door and pointed complacently to a distant +corner of the roomy apartment where, upon a pile of soft blankets that +had been stored within, lay the two little boys, sound asleep and the +picture of innocent comfort. + +"There, Gabriella, you see they're all right. I wouldn't hurt a hair +of their bonny heads, not for another ranch as fine as this one. +But here them and me stay till I worm the truth out of 'em about +that candy and that magic staff. Where that candy come from that +there staff has gone. You hear me and believe me. Oh, I know what I +know! Good-night. Don't you worry. Me and them is all right, as I +said, and my head's level. I went to sleep a-watchin' t'other +time, but I shan't this. There's more in my mind than nonsense. This +chair is as comfortable as a lounge. I slipped out and got it from +the settin'-room when you all was talkin' so lively, just now, and +we're fixed. I may come out before daylight and I may stay till +doomsday; but come I shan't a single step, not to please even you +for whom I'd do and dare a good deal, and don't you doubt it, but +when my mind is sot it's sot, and sot it is this minute, an don't +you dast to let on to John Benton, or that sassy boy'd plague the +very life out of me, and you go right along to your own bed and take +Jessie with you, and----" + +But Mrs. Trent stayed to hear no more. When Aunt Sally got started on +such a harangue as this, exhaustion of breath was her only limit. The +lady did not anticipate more than an hour's further imprisonment of +the children, if so long, and was sure that they would be even +tenderly cared for, no matter what their misdemeanors, if she did not +herself interfere. Yet daylight came and found the odd trio still +behind that closed door, and it opened only at breakfast time; when, +leading two very penitent-looking small boys and herself wearing the +air of a Roman conqueror, Mrs. Benton emerged from her seclusion upon +an expectant household. + +"Well, Aunt Sally, haven't you 'wormed' them, as you promised? Poor +little tackers! they've lost their pride and spirit, and I love them. +Come to sister, darlings, and get your morning hugs!" cried Jessica, +as they appeared. Ephraim, close at hand, winked at them solemnly +and held up behind Mrs. Benton's back two most alluring marbles. +But they did not wink in response, nor give more than a furtive +smile, as they reluctantly dragged along under their guardian's +forcible guidance. Her route was direct to the watering trough +where, without ado, she promptly stripped, bathed and rubbed dry, +each shivering little figure. Then she reclothed and led them back to +the kitchen, placing them in high chairs beside the big deal table, +while she proceeded to cook their oatmeal and serve it to them, with +a bad-as-you-are-you-shan't-starve sort of air which would have +amused Jessica, had she not so heartily pitied her playmates. + +After a time she could endure the sight no longer, but sped to Ned's +chair and clasped him fondly in her arms. + +"What is the matter, brotherkin? Tell sister, do. Is it nothing but +that miserable candy? What else have you done to make auntie so angry +with you?" + +Ned's bosom heaved and a mighty sob burst forth. But he instantly +repressed this sign of weakness, though unfortunately, not soon enough +to prevent Luis from echoing it with redoubled intensity. + +Now nothing so quickly restores the self-possession, even of +grown-ups, as the sight of another's collapse; and no sooner had Luis +given vent to his emotion than Ned's spirit returned to him. Throwing +back his pretty head, with an air of unconquerable resolution, he +reached forth and pounded his mate smartly on the back. + +"You, Luis Garcia, what you crying for? Isn't none of your staffs, +anyway." + +"Ain't my old staffs, ain't," sobbed the "echo," for such he was often +nicknamed. + +"Then you needn't cry, you needn't. I ain't crying, I ain't. Hate old +Aunt Sally. Hate 'Tonio. Hate Ferd. Hate everybody. Give me my +breakfast, old Aunt Sally Benton!" + +"Hate Bentons!" agreed Luis, and flung his arms about his little +tyrant's throat till he choked from outward expression whatever more +might have issued thence. + +"Ned! Why, Ned! I never, never knew you so naughty! Do tell me; what +has happened?" + +Mrs. Benton glared at the culprit over her down-dropped spectacles in +a truly formidable manner, but the result was only a settled +stubbornness which nothing moved. + +Seeing that pleading was hopeless, at present, and that Ned was in one +of his dogged fits, Jessica quietly walked away and began to help in +the preparation of the elder people's meal, as her mother liked to +have her do. + +Meanwhile, Aunt Sally waited upon the children, piling their saucers +with the tasty porridge, moistened with Blandina's yellow cream and +plentifully sprinkled with sugar. They were healthy and unused to +grief, and the palatable food soon restored their good humor. They +seemed to forgive their venerable tormentor and fell to their +accustomed scrimmage with the utmost enjoyment; and this was +pleasanter for all concerned. However, even when they had eaten all +they could and were ready for outdoors and their morning fun, their +plans were nipped in the bud. Aunt Sally had a spare hand for each of +them and conducted them firmly to the dining room and a place upon +its lounge, while the family took their own food in what comfort they +could. + +This was not so great Mrs. Trent's eyes would wander to the unhappy +pair--for they were once more gloomy and unsubdued--and old Ephraim +cast many glances thither, entreating by silent signals that they +should repent of whatever sin they had committed and be restored to +favor. + +The meal past the family rose and, from her pocket, Mrs. Benton +produced two long strips of cloth, one of which she fastened about +each child's wrist, leaving its other end to tie to her own apron +belt. + +Then she turned to the mother, whose tears were beginning to fall, and +said, severely: + +"Gabriella, if I didn't love you as well as I love myself and better, +I'd let these children go and no more said. But they've done that no +punishin' won't reach, though maybe they'll give in after a spell. I +shan't hurt 'em nor touch to; but I shall keep 'em tied to me till +they tell me what I'm bound to know. So that's all. You've got enough +on your hands, with this funeral business and all that'll come, and +however we're goin' to feed another lot of visitors so soon after them +others, I declare I don't see. And me with these tackers tied to my +apron strings, the way they be!" + +Mrs. Trent rose and left the room and Jessica slowly followed. Neither +of them could quite understand Aunt Sally's present behavior, nor why +she should wish to bother herself with two such hindrances to the +labor which must be accomplished. + +But Ephraim lingered. He simply could not endure the sight of the +little ones' unhappiness, and quietly slipping a knife from his +pocket he coolly cut their leading strings, caught them up in his +strong arms and limped away before their captor had discovered her +loss. + +But he put his head back inside the doorway to call out, reassuringly: + +"Begging pardon, Mrs. Benton, I'll 'spell' you on the 'worming out' +business and promise they shan't leave my care till I hand 'em back to +you thoroughly 'pumped.' Come along, laddies. I've a mind to visit +every spot on this blessed ranch and--upon one condition--I've a mind +to take you with me. Want to hear?" + +"Yes. What is it?" demanded Ned, already very happy at the exchange of +jailers. + +"Only that you must explain what all this row and rumpus is about with +Aunt Sally." + +Standing at the top of the steps, with one foot outstretched, old +"Forty-niner" paused and steadily regarded the small face above his +shoulder. + +Ned returned the gaze with equal steadfastness, as if he were +pondering in his troubled mind the best course to pursue. Then, +because he might think more clearly so, he lifted his serious gaze to +the distance; and, at once, there burst from his quivering lips a cry +of fear: + +"Oh, I see him! I see him! He's coming, like he said--to kill me--to +kill me! I dassent--I dassent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NED'S STORY + + +"Eels couldn't have done that slicker!" commented Ephraim, in +surprise. For, behold! his arms were empty and the flash of twinkling +legs along the garden path pointed whither his charges had fled. "Here +they were and here they aren't, and whatever scared them that way is +more than I can see." + +Indeed, though he shaded his eyes with his hand and made a prolonged +examination of the outlook, nothing different from ordinary was +visible; and, after a moment's reflection, he sought Aunt Sally and +reported: + +"Well, Mrs. Benton, I 'low I'm doomed to that dose of picra, for +I--I---- You see----" + +"Ephraim Ma'sh, where's them children?" + +"That's just exactly what I'd like to know myself, neighbor." + +"Huh! You needn't go 'neighborin'' me, if that's all you're worth. +Tryin' fool capers like a boy, ain't you? Think it was terr'ble clever +to cut strings that I'd took the trouble to tie and then settin' them +youngsters free. Well, all I have to say is that you've done more harm +than you can undo in a hurry, and that's the true word," retorted the +indignant matron, beating a bowlful of eggs as she would have enjoyed +beating him just then. + +Ephraim crossed the kitchen and laid one hand on her shoulder, +saying: + +"Come, Sally, let's quit chasing about the bush. There's something +more in this nonsense than appears, and if you're a true and loyal +friend to this family I'm another as good. Two heads are better than +one, you know----" + +"Even if one belongs to a silly old feller like you? H'm Ephraim, +you're right! There is somethin' more'n shows outside. That candy was +a bait, a trap, a lure, a--anything you choose; and I do hope the +little fellers are safer'n I fear they be. If I catch 'em again, for +their good----My suz! Here they're comin' back of their own free will +and wonder ain't ceased!" + +Indeed, as swiftly as they had scampered away, the lads were returning +and burst into the kitchen, crying with what little breath they had +left: + +"Aunt Sally, lock me up! Lock us up tight! Quick--quick! I seen him! +He'll do it! My mother says Antonio always does do things, he does! +Quick, quick!" + +"Lock up, quick!" + +Ned and the echo swung round behind the matron's capacious person and +rolled themselves in the folds of her full skirt, which performance +hid them from the view of anyone outside and as effectually interfered +with her movements. + +But she had now caught something of their excitement, and their appeal +to her protection had promptly banished her last trace of anger +against them. + +"So I will, lambies, so I will. You just keep on a steppin' backwards +and I'll do it, too, and first we know we'll get to that nice pantry +where we stayed last night. I've got the key to that, even if 'tis +rusty from not bein' often used, and I'll defy anybody to get it away +from me." + +Still beating her eggs as if nothing uncommon were happening, the +housewife retreated toward the door in question, and slipping one hand +behind her opened it without turning her head. She was instantly +relieved of the drag upon her skirts, and quietly shut the door again +upon her self-imprisoned charges. Then she drew a long breath, and +exclaimed: + +"Well, sharpshooter, what do you think of that?" + +"Looks as if you couldn't have been so very hard on them, else they'd +never come back." + +"I ain't a-flatterin' myself. That was a 'Hobson's choice.' But----" + +"But they must have been badly frightened to have done it." + +"Yes, Ephraim, they are, and I am. I'm so stirred up I don't +know whether I've beat these eggs all one way, like I ought, or +forty-'leven different ones, like I ought not. I'm flustered. I'm +completely flustered, and that ain't often my case." + +"Picra!" sympathetically suggested the old man. + +Aunt Sally's eyes snapped, and she smiled grimly, as she retorted: + +"Picra's good for them 'at need it. That's you, not me. It ain't a +medicine for in'ards so much as 'tis for out'ards. I mean, it's better +for the body than 'tis for the mind, and it's my mind that's ailin' +me! Besides, doctors never take their own doses." + +"You know it yourself! I thought your mind was failing you, but----" + +"No such thing. I said, or I meant to say, I was troubled in it. +That's all; and if you're a mite of a man you'll try and help me +unravel this tangle and quit foolin'. Just step into that closet with +me and maybe the tackers'll tell you themselves. I'd rather you heard +it first hand, anyway." + +Wun Lung, sifting flour in one part of the kitchen, and Pasqual +scrubbing a kneading board at the sink, both paused and eyed the +strange proceedings with curiosity if not displeasure; for not only +had the children been bestowed within the "cold closet," but Aunt +Sally and Ephraim had, also, followed and locked themselves out of +sight and hearing. + +The pantry was absolutely dark, until Mrs. Benton found a candle and +lighted it; then she pointed to the chair she had occupied during the +night, mutely inviting "Forty-niner" to be seated. He declined the +proffered courtesy, so she sat down herself, and it amused him that +she had not once stopped that monotonous whisking of the eggs, though +by this time the dish was heaped with their frothy substance. + +"The cake you make of them should be light enough," he remarked, with +a smile. + +"You're right. There's such a thing as overbeatin'--everything. Well, +laddies, we're all back in here together again, and auntie wants you +to tell Mr. Ma'sh where you got that candy; who give it to you; what +for; where you saw that sneaky snake, Antonio Bernal; what you've done +with the staff wand; and all the rest of it? 'Forty-niner' is a man +and a gentleman----" + +"Here the sharpshooter bowed profoundly, acknowledging the compliment +with a humorous expression; but the matron continued as if she had +not observed him: + +"You see, I know all about it, even if you wouldn't tell. I'm one has +eyes on the back of my head and on its top, too, I tell you, so you +needn't try to think I don't see what's going on, for I do." + +The faces of her small listeners showed utter amazement; then with one +of his flashlike movements Ned sprang to the back of her chair and +passed his hand rapidly all over her gray curls. + +"Where are they, Aunt Sally? I can't find 'em. I never saw 'em in all +my life, and do--do, please, show them to me!" he implored. + +Luis scrambled up the other side, and echoed: + +"Never show 'em in m'life!" + +"That's all right. I don't keep 'em in exhibition, but they're there +all the same." + +"Sally Benton!" expostulated Ephraim. "Don't tell them wrong +stories." + +"But it isn't a wrong story; it's a right one. If they're not real, +actual eyes, there's something in my head takes their place. Might as +well say 'eyes' as 'brains,' I judge. But, be you going to answer, +Edward Trent? I've got a prime lot of cookin' to do again, and no time +to waste. 'Cause if you ain't I'll just take Mr. Ma'sh with me and +lock you shavers in here alone, where you'll be safe, but sort of +homesick. I shan't leave no candle burnin', for you to set the house +afire with. So you best tell, right away, and then be let out to have +a good time." + +Luis began to whisper, and beg: + +"Tell her, Ned. Tell her. I hate the dark--I do, I do!" + +Ned hesitated but a moment longer. He loved his playmate as his own +soul, and it altered nothing of this childish David-and-Jonathan +friendship that it was as full of fight as of affection. Patting Luis' +shoulder, he cried: + +"'Course I'll tell, though if she knows it all a'ready----" + +"But I don't know it, Ned. She wants you to tell me. I'm one of us, +you see--just we four," interposed the sharpshooter, hastily. + +"Well--well--well, 'tisn't anyhow. Only I saw--I--saw----" + +Here the child paused and peered cautiously about. + +Mr. Marsh promptly sat down upon the boards and motioned the lads to +come to him, and when they had done so, closed his arms around them, +with a comforting pressure, saying: + +"There now! We're as snug as bugs in a rug, and nobody in the wide +world dare harm you. Hurry up and talk fast, or you and I will never +get a taste of that fine poundcake Aunt Sally wants to make." + +Another moment of hesitation, and then came Ned's triumphant +statement: + +"'Twasn't no ghost, anyhow." + +"Of course it wasn't," answered "Forty-niner," promptly agreeing, but +considerably puzzled. He had not, as yet, heard from any of the others +about the "vision" which Mrs. Benton had seen beside the window. + +"'Twasn't nobody but 'Tonio himself." + +"That's exactly what I thought," he again agreed, and encouragingly +patted the boy's hand. + +"And he come--and he come--and he gave us one--two boxes of that nice, +nice candy; and all we gave him was Pedro's old stick!" + +Aunt Sally's egg beater fell to the floor unheeded, this time she +really put her spectacles in their proper place and stared through +them at the narrator. + +Ned warmed to his task and Luis cuddled beside him, complacently +adding his affirmative "Yep," at fitting intervals. + +"And so he said it wasn't nothin'. And so--and so--I fell offen the +bookcase and made a noise; and my mother didn't hear it 'cause she was +asleep. Me and Luis was asleep, wasn't we, Luis?" + +"Yep. Sleep." + +"And he waked us up through the window----" + +"Waked froo winder, yep." + +"And said: 'Go get that pointed stick, Ned Trent, and I'll give you a +dollar.' Didn't he?" + +"Gimme dollar. Didn't gimme dollar. What's a dollar?" asked the echo. + +Ned went on, unheeding: + +"And I said no. 'Twasn't my stick; 'twas my mother's." + +"Oh! Neddy, Neddy! if you'd only stuck to that!" groaned Mrs. Benton, +wiping her face with her apron. + +But being now fairly launched upon his narrative, and also feeling +wholly secure within the shelter of "Forty-niner's" arms, Ned paused +no more till he had completed it: + +"And then he gave us the candy, 'cause I didn't want dollars. You +can't eat dollars, can you? And the candy was like the kind my mother +never gives, and just for an old stick was older than Pedro. Huh! And +then he--he--he made me put my hand on the top of my head----" + +"Hands on tops of heads!" cried the echo, dramatically. + +"And swore a swore I'd never, never, honest Injun, tell a single tell, +else he'd--he'd kill me! Kill me right straight down dead! And now I +have and he will, and I forgot and you made me! I hate you, I hate +you! And won't you feel bad when I'm all deaded and you you done it, +'stead of him--and--and----" + +The sense of security had fled instantly, and completely. The memory +of Antonio's dark face as he had stood threateningly before the little +fellow, at midnight by the window, returned with all its vivid, +terrorizing power. Springing to the farthest reach of the room Ned +crouched there, wide-eyed and trembling, and, of course, Luis followed +his example. + +To "Forty-niner's" reassuring words, and to Mrs. Benton's cajoling +ones, neither child paid any further heed. They had been trained to +believe that their promised word was the most sacred of all things, +and now they had not only been induced to break that, but to break it +in the face of Antonio Bernal's terrible threat. + +The elders left them to themselves and regarded one another with +regretful eyes. Then Aunt Sally repeated in detail all that there was +to tell concerning the curious wand which had pointed the way to +wealth; and now Ephraim listened in vast respect. On the first +recital, so hurriedly given by Jessica, and when she had run to get +the staff, he had thought of the matter as one of the shepherd's +"pious mummeries." It now assumed a graver aspect. The lost staff +might possess some magnetic quality which was invaluable, as Old +Century believed; but beyond all that was the uncomfortable reflection +that Antonio Bernal was somewhere in hiding about Sobrante, and that +doubtless it had been he, or his emissary, who had tampered with the +mail pouch and caused Marty's disaster. + +"Well, a man that hides must have somethin' to be ashamed of. And I +believe every single word that child has told," said Aunt Sally, in +conclusion of her long harangue. + +"H'm! I thought that 'snake' had had his fang extracted down there at +Los Angeles; but it seems he's the sort can grow a new one, when +needed. Well, I'm powerful glad I'm home again. It takes a lot of +honest men to keep watch of one thief, and I'll prove handy. I'm off. +I leave the lads with you. I'm going to find out three things: How +Ferd, the dwarf, managed to break jail that night and leave no sign; +who robbed that mail pouch; and where Antonio Bernal is at this +precious minute." + +"Here, at your service, amigo!" cried a mocking voice, outside the +shuttered window. A voice that all recognized at once as belonging to +the late manager; yet, when Ephraim had hastily run out and around to +that side of the house, there was nobody within sight; and nothing to +be heard save the series of terrified shrieks which issued from the +room he had left. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TAKING THE DOCTOR'S ADVICE + + +For almost the first time in his life Ninian Sharp was under the +doctor's hands; and that gentleman's verdict upon his patient's case +was simple and plain: + +"Nothing the matter with you but breakdown. The result of doing two +men's work instead of one. What you need, and all you need, is a +complete change of thought and scene. Go off on some ranch and take a +vacation. That's your medicine." + +"Thank you, doctor, but a prescription upon the nearest drug store +would be easier to fill. In the first place I should worry all the +time if I were idle, for 'hustling' has become my second nature. In +the second--where shall I go?" + +The physician shrugged his shoulders. He, also, was a busy man and +having finished his visit to his patient did not prolong it. He picked +up his hat, remarked that he "didn't doubt so clever a young man could +find a fitting place, if he gave what was left of his mind to it," and +bowed himself out, leaving the leaven of his sensible advice to +accomplish its legitimate result. + +As the doctor left the room the nurse entered, bearing with her a +telegram which had been delayed en route, and a letter. It was with +some reluctance that she delivered these to the man on the lounge, yet +realizing, at the same time, how much worse for him was absolute +cessation of all his ordinary interests. With a solicitous smile, she +inquired: + +"Would you not better let me read these first? They are probably +unimportant." + +"Thank you, no. I'm not yet reduced to imbecility and prefer to +examine my own correspondence," returned the invalid, fretfully. Then +as if ashamed of his petulance, and with a return to his ordinary +manner, added: "This telegram might as well have walked. Would have +saved time, judging by the date of it; and as for this letter--that, +certainly, has seen better days." + +The nurse smiled again, indulgently, and busied herself in tidying the +apartment; an occupation which would have incensed Ninian, since her +idea of neatness seemed to him to be but the "disarrangement" of the +heaps of papers and manuscript sheets scattered everywhere about, had +he not been otherwise interested. A hasty examination of the messages +he had received evoked his exultant exclamation: + +"Hurrah! The very thing!" + +"Good news?" asked the attendant. + +"The best in the world. The doctor's prescription, filled to the +letter. A ranch and new business. Say, would you mind going out for a +bit? I'd like to get into some other togs and in a hurry. If I can, +I'll make the one o'clock train." + +"The--one o'clock train!" gasped the bewildered nurse, believing that +her charge's brain had given away, even as the physician had suggested +it might do. + +"Exactly. Please don't be alarmed. Some country friends of mine have +invited me to visit them, and I judge they would be glad if I +accepted at once. Their invitation fits in excellently with my own +needs and, after I've dressed for the trip, I'd be grateful to you for +packing a few things, while I write to the bank and telephone to some +other places. Just touch that messenger call, will you, please?" + +Certainly, he did not now look very like a sick man, as he sprang up +and looked about him; save that he put his hand to his head because of +a momentary dizziness and seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet. +However, his eyes had lost their dullness and a faint color had come +into his cheeks; and the attendant saw no reason for opposing his +sudden determination. + +The letter was Jessica's, and its envelope had been mended by the +postmaster after he had taken it, torn, from the mail pouch. The +telegram was from Ephraim Marsh, and had been sent by the first +messenger to Marion after that scene in the pantry with Aunt Sally and +the little boys. It had been delayed by the curiosity of the operator, +but had reached Mr. Sharp at last; and its import was that: + +"If you're willing to use your brains for Sobrante folks, as you used +them once before, now's the time. There'll be a led horse at Marion +till you come, and the sooner the better. 'Forty-niner.'" + +"A led horse. Why, he must have forgotten, if he ever knew, that I've +my own Nimrod here, that Mrs. Trent insisted upon my accepting, when I +left Sobrante before. The horse must go with me, of course, and I +flatter myself I can pick up a bit of instruction on riding among +those fine 'boys' of the little captain's. I'll send a return +message--no, I won't, either. I'll trust to luck and surprise them. +Now to get ready." + +A feeling that he was going "home" possessed the young man, and all +his simple preparations strengthened rather than weakened him. +Activity was his habit, and an hour before the train left the city he +had completed his personal arrangements with his office, his bank and +his landlord. He had paid his nurse the same salary she would have +received had he required her services for the fortnight, as expected, +and was ready for what came next. + +"I feel as if I were entering upon a new life, instead of taking a +rest cure," he remarked to Mr. Hale, when that gentleman met him at +the station, and explained that a Christmas invitation had come for +himself, also. "And I say we'll make it the jolliest holiday those +people down there ever knew. I sent a letter to your address, after I +'phoned, and made out a list of things I'd like you to see to. +Presents and so on; and I'll write as soon as I get there and let you +know what's up with the sharpshooter. Some trouble, of course, but +reckon it can't be much. Ha! we're off. Good-by. Forget nothing, add +as much as you please to my list and send the bills to me. Good-by." + +The train rolled noiselessly away from the long platform, and the +reporter for the Lancet stowed himself comfortably away on his +cushions and slept as he had not slept before since this nervous +illness attacked him. Not once did he awake, till the conductor +touched him on the shoulder, and stated: + +"End of the line, sir. Time to leave." + +Ninian sat up and shook himself, still feeling a bit dazed from his +heavy slumber, and had scarcely realized the fact of his arrival +before a man limped into the car and slapped him on the shoulder. + +"Well done, lad. Welcome to Sobrante!" + +"Hello, Mr. Marsh! You here? Sobrante? I thought----" + +"Same thing. This is Marion; as near as we can get to our place on the +rails. Remember, don't you? Been sick, eh? You look rather peaked and +I 'low I'd ought----" + +"No apologies. Here I am, and am not ill now. Only been a little +overworked; and your telegram, as well as Miss Jessica's letter, came +in the nick of time. Not an hour after the doctor had ordered this +very medicine of change and recreation." + +Ephraim looked sharply at his guest and reflected: + +"What our business needs is a clear head and a strong body, not an +overtaxed man, as this 'pears to be. Well, sick or well, I hope he can +see through some of our muddles, if not all; and half a loaf is better +than no bread." Then he gathered the traveler's belongings, and +remarked: "I told Aleck to have a good supper ready. It's a fine night +and I thought we'd ride home afterwards. Unless----" + +They left the car and Ninian answered the other's unspoken suggestion: + +"No, I don't want to stay all night, good as Janet's beds are. I've +had a delicious sleep and feel like another man from this morning. +Hello! they've taken Nimrod out already, and evidently are waiting for +orders. I declare, the handsome beast looks as if he recognized this +place and was as glad to get back to it as I am." + +Old "Forty-niner" left his guest's side and hurried to the spot where +a trainman held the spirited animal, stroking its neck and speaking +soothingly to it, to calm its excitement; and no sooner had the +ranchman's hand supplanted the trainman's than Nimrod ceased to +prance, and with a little final shiver, stood stock-still, uttering a +low whinny of delight. + +"That's the talk, you beauty! Welcome home, old boy! Well, well, well! +if you ain't a sight to cure the headache! Yes, yes; it's all right. +This is Marion. We've got to stop at Aleck's first. Remember Aleck? +Remember Janet and her sugar? Well, well, well!" + +Ninian approached, amazed and incredulous, inquiring: + +"Think that creature knows what you're saying?" + +"Forty-niner" turned upon the questioner indignantly. + +"That's a fool sort of question for a smart man to ask! 'Think' he +knows? No. There isn't any 'thinking' in this. I know he knows, and I +know he's just as glad to set foot on his mother earth, here in +Marion, as I was t'other day when I stepped off this same train--or +its mate of the morning. I wish all the men in the world were half as +brainy as he is. And I tell you what, stranger, you couldn't have done +a thing would make your own welcome so sure as fetching Nimrod with +you. If you'd left him behind some of us would have had our own +opinion. Though I, for one, didn't know he was yours till this very +morning." + +"And the led horse you spoke about?" + +Ephraim looked up, surprised, answering, rather crisply: + +"At home. Why not? When I heard about Nimrod I wasn't silly enough to +bring another." + +"So if I hadn't brought him we'd been short a mount?" insisted the +reporter, teasingly. + +"One of us would had to foot it to the ranch, and that one wouldn't +have been me. Huh! Does me good to hear your nonsense gabble again. I +declare it does. When did you get my telegraph?" + +"This morning." + +"This--morning! Why, I sent it day before yesterday, no, the day +before that. Let me see; to-day's one, yesterday--the funeral, +two--the one--yes, three days ago. John Benton himself gave it into +the telegraph man's hands. Himself." + +They mounted and started toward McLeod's Inn, Ninian doing very well, +considering the impatience of his steed and his own limited experience +of the saddle, and the sharpshooter sitting as composedly upon the +back of as restless an animal as could readily be found. It was a bay, +and pranced and curveted to the extent that Nimrod seemed a door-mouse +beside it, and Ninian finally observed: + +"That's an undecided sort of beast you have, yourself. Seems to be as +much inclined to go backward as forward." + +"Hale's. Name Prince. Was on the mesa with Pedro till he died." + +"Pedro dead? I'm sorry. Was it his 'funeral' you meant?" + +"Yes. Terrible pity he couldn't have held on till Christmas, his +Navidad, that always meant so much to him. But he couldn't. Things +have changed at Sobrante since you was here. I'm glad you've come. I'm +powerful glad you've come." + +"Any new trouble, Ephraim?" + +"H'm! I should say. Ghosts, the women think, and scamps for certain. +But it's a long story, and here we are at Aleck's. We mustn't spoil +that good supper of his and talk will keep. We've thirty miles 'twixt +us and bed, 'less you change your mind and stop here, and that should +give time enough to turn a man's mind inside out." + +"Were you so certain of my coming that you ordered a special supper, +without hearing?" + +"Sure. I took you to be a man and I put myself in your place. In your +place I should have come if I could; and if I couldn't I should have +sent word. Light." + +Aleck came out to meet them, and Janet followed, of course. Where one +of that worthy couple was the other was sure to be; and both extended +to the city man such welcome as made him more impressed than ever by +that "home feeling" which had possessed him all day. He returned their +good wishes with heartiness and did full justice to his supper, adding +as a thankful tribute to Janet's fine cookery: + +"That's the first thing has passed my lips that hadn't the flavor of +ashes, since many a day. The doctor was right." + +"Glad to hear any doctor ever could be right," returned the innkeeper, +who had never been ill, and attributed his health to his distrust of +physicians. "Fresh air, wholesome food and a clear conscience--them's +to long life what the three R's are to 'rithmetic. Powerful sorry you +can't pass the night. I'd admire to talk over the political situation +with an intelligent man." + +The side glance toward himself with which the Scotchman said this sent +Ephraim off into a mighty guffaw, in which presently they all joined; +and in the midst of the merriment a stable boy led up the horses, and +the Sobrante-bound riders loped away. Yet, just before they were out +of hearing, Aleck's stentorian voice sent after them the warning +advice: + +"Keep a sharp lookout, by, and your hands on your guns. That spook's +hit the trail again! Watch out!" + +Ninian laughed, and "Forty-niner" tried to do so, but the most he +could accomplish was a feeble cackle, which, his companion fancied, +betrayed his age as nothing heretofore had done. It was a nervous, +irritated laugh, and was matched by the altered voice in which its +owner presently remarked: + +"If I can't stop this fool business any other way, I've a notion to +ride round the country and shoot right and left, everybody I see, +promiscuous. That's the sure and certain way to hit the spook, too." + +"Heigho! This grows exciting! Spooks? Mysteries? Mail robberies! What +next?" + +There was no answer from the sharpshooter, who had gotten his horse +into a steady trot and was putting the road behind him in a manner +that needed all Ninian's efforts to match. If Nimrod had been as +little used to the trail as his rider was to him the space between the +two animals would have widened irretrievably; but he was the better +bred of the two, and though he didn't waste his strength in a first +spurt, as Prince did, he fell into a steady, easy gait, that soon told +to his advantage. + +It was one of the perfect moonlight nights which come in that +cloudless region, when one can easily "read fine print," if so +inclined, or see across country almost as well as in the day. The +swift motion, the exhilarating air, the sense of freedom from city +walls and cramped spaces, started the reporter into singing, and later +into the silence of wonder over the astonishing power of his own +voice. + +"Hurrah! If that's my warble I never heard it before! It's a marvelous +atmosphere that makes a rag time tune sound like a nightingale's +music. If 'Forty-niner' would join it----Hello! what's up? What +in--the name--of--all things!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +NINIAN'S GREETING + + +Suddenly, out of the moonlit distance before them, appeared a strange +vision. A horse and his rider, as spotlessly white and gleaming as the +snow on the distant mountaintops, moving toward them as swift as the +wind and in supernatural silence. The eyes of the steed and its master +glowed with a wicked light that startled both the old frontiersman and +the modern scribe, and set Prince and Nimrod into paroxysms of +terror. + +Rearing, plunging and backing, Ninian's mount had him soon on the +ground; and though Ephraim stuck to his saddle like a burr; he could +not hold his horse and get at his revolver in that one instant of the +appearance and disappearance of this strange "specter." It was +coming--it was upon them--it was gone; and the blast of cold air with +which it passed them set the horses shivering in an ague of fear, and +tied the men's tongues. + +It seemed an age that they halted there in the open solitude, silently +stroking and soothing their frightened beasts, before either could +speak. Then "Forty-niner" found his voice and burst forth, absurdly: + +"Drat--that--pocket!" + +Ninian laughed; nervously, almost hysterically at first; then with +honest merriment, exclaiming: + +"Oh, what a chance was lost there, comrade!" + +"Whoa, boy, whoa, I tell you! There, there, steady now. Well, you +needn't throw it in my teeth if it was!" retorted the sharpshooter, +furiously. "Hang new pants!" + +Ninian rolled on the ground and laughed afresh; then feebly observed: +"That's what I generally do with mine. But pockets! What of them?" + +"Huh! it's all very well for you to lie there and snicker. I lost the +chance of my life that time. What's the use of a repertation for +hittin' a pin at the distance I have if you can't hit a fool when he's +close alongside?" + +"Referring to me?" asked the reporter, sweetly. + +"Yes, if the coat fits. Drat that pocket!" + +"Poor pocket! Who made it?" + +"That pesky Sally Benton. The one was in burst right through, and she +sewed this one so tight at the top----Huh! I believe she done it +a-purpose." + +"To be sure she did. If I remember correctly that estimable woman was +opposed to bloodshed and preferred corporal punishment. I suppose she +feared you might do what you attempted to do and----" + +"Shut up your shallow talk, young man!" ordered Ephraim, with so much +venom that the other realized his mirth was ill-timed and grew +serious. + +"What was the thing, anyway, Marsh?" + +"That's more than I know, but just what I would have known if I'd hit +it with a bullet. That's the 'spook' Aleck warned us of. It's been +kitin' round the country ever since that first night after Pedro died. +Some say it's the ghost. It 'pears to be wrapped in a white blanket +and wears it same as he did. He had a white horse once that had +outlived all the horses ever was, I reckon; and the Simple Simons all +about us claim that it's the Indian's spirit on the Indian's horse, +a-ridin' round 'count of some trouble why he can't rest. There was a +letter thrown into our settin' room night before last, in poor +printing enough, too; and it said that Pedro had been banished from +the happy hunting grounds on account of a secret he'd told; and a +warning everybody not to touch to try and find the place the secret +told about. It scared the mistress pretty bad, though she didn't let +on much. The captain laughed, of course. She always laughs at +everything; and Mrs. Benton--well, she just pinned the paper in her +bosom, and says she: 'I'll know where that is when it's needed.' She's +some sense, Sally has, though nothing to boast of, and she's a mighty +good sewer of patchwork, though she's no good at pistol pockets. Well, +shall we go on?" + +Ninian had remounted his horse, which still was restless and ill to +manage, and Prince was capering about in a fantastic fashion that, +however, was not greatly different from his behavior earlier in the +evening; and the reporter had satisfied himself that there was nothing +now to be seen of the apparition which had flashed upon them and +disappeared on the road back to Marion. + +"Yes, let's go on. And I hope the least that will happen will be the +arrival of that 'spook' at Aleck McLeod's cheerful inn. I'd give much +to see his face if it did appear." + +"Oh! it's been there already; last night. The kitchen window was +raised so softly none but Janet could have heard it, and before she +could get to it, a white, skinny hand came through and snatched up a +quail pie she'd baked for breakfast and off sooner'n she could catch +it. She was so mad about the pie that, for a minute, she forgot to be +scared; then it came over her that she'd been cookin' ghost's +victuals, and she shivered all the rest the night. She wouldn't ever +let Aleck far out of sight, she's so fond of him, but now he can't +stir three foot away. Every man I met has something fresh to tell of +how his women folks have been worried by the thing; and if somebody +doesn't settle his spookship mighty sudden, we'll have all the females +in hysterics; and something we've never needed in this valley yet, and +that's a doctor. There won't be a nerve left anywhere." + +Ninian laughed again; adding, a moment later: "Not just the sort of +place to send a nervous-prostration patient, is it, after all? But +what's your own speculation concerning the nuisance?" + +"Let me tell you the whole business, so far forth as I've heerd it +since I came home. Then you can form your own mind on it and see how +best to help my folks out their troubles; 'cause I ain't trying to +hide that was my reason for wanting you to come. You'd helped us so +much with the title affair I knew you'd unravel this skein. But I'm +powerful glad to see you, all the same, and I do hope you'll get as +much good for yourself out the visit as I want the mistress to get." + +The horses were now somewhat quieted by a long stretch of the level +road, over which they had been allowed to travel at their own pace, +and talking was easier. Ephraim gave in detail the story of Pedro's +visit and gift of the wand; of the many strange incidents of the last +few days; of Ned's serious illness, caused by fright, Aunt Sally +declared, but, as his mother thought, by too much rich food and an +overdose of candy; and how, though he had repeatedly been heard about +the premises, nobody had as yet actually seen Antonio Bernal. However, +at present, little was thought of but the suffering children; for Luis +had remained true to his character of "echo" and had himself, that +very day, been put to bed with the same high fever which was +tormenting Ned. + +"You see, though it's getting Christmas time and everything ought to +be lovely, we're about as badly off as a family can be. All the same, +if anybody in this world can cheer the mistress it'll be yourself, Mr. +Sharp, and I'm powerful glad you've come." + +For the rest of the ride they were mostly silent; each man revolving +in his mind the most plausible explanation of Antonio's behavior, in +his would-be mysterious hiding, and his terrorizing of the little +lads. + +Finally, Ninian expressed his own opinion: + +"It's perfectly natural he should drift back to Sobrante, even with +all the opprobrium that would attach to him there. It is his home. He +believed or pretended to believe, that it was also his birthright. He +knows nothing that would bring him a livelihood in the city----" + +"Except gambling," interrupted Ephraim, contemptuously. + +"If he tried his hand at that even, he'd fail. He hasn't the head to +plot deeply. His maneuvers are all childishly transparent, and this +last one--h'm! Have you connected his 'highness' with this spook +business?" + +"No, sir; and you needn't. That Antonio Bernal is the biggest coward +above ground. Why, bless me! even if he'd had gumption enough to +concoct such a scheme he wouldn't have the nerve to carry it out. +He'd be afraid of himself! Fact! No, siree. Top-lofty never had a hand +in this," answered the elder man. + +Ninian said no more but kept his suspicions revolving in his own mind; +yet was far more absorbed in the possibility that "Forty-niner" had +suggested, of the copper vein in the canyon, than by anything else he +had heard. They had ridden on again, each silent, till the lights of +Sobrante came into view; then Ephraim remarked: + +"Reckon the little tackers ain't much better. The mistress don't +gen'ally keep lamps lit as late as this, 'less something's wrong. Oh! +I hope there's no more death and disappointment on our road. 'Twould +break Mrs. Trent's heart, indeed, if she lost Ned." + +Ninian roused himself from his reverie, and answered, lightly: + +"For such a cheerful fellow as I remember you, even when you were +first laid up in hospital, you're degenerated sadly. What in the name +of common sense is the use of prognosticating evil, when good is just +as likely to come?" + +"Huh! I'm consid'able older than you, young man," retorted the +sharpshooter, perversely. + +"All the more reason you should be more hopeful. What's happened to +you besides these external troubles? Something on your own account, +eh? If so, believe me you have my hearty sympathy and my right hand to +help you, if you need it." + +Ephraim checked Prince so shortly that the animal reared on his +haunches, and pushing his hat from his brow regarded the visitor with +a sad but grateful countenance. Then he spoke, and his tones were +husky with subdued emotion: + +"Thanks, friend. I took to you the first time my old eyes lit on you +and I've leaned on you, in my mind, ever since. There is something 'at +worries me, but it's so slight I shan't put it into words--yet. I've +got work to do still for them I love and that love me. Which I might +maybe sum up in one small person--my precious Lady Jess. God bless +her! Ay, God bless her! From the crown of her sunny head to the tips +of her dainty feet, she's the truest, squarest, tenderest creature the +Lord ever sent to lighten this dark world. They all love her, every +one of them rough, hard-handed sons of toil whom she calls her 'boys'; +but there isn't one, not one, can begin to love her as I do. Not one. +It is she that makes me still keep a little faith----There, there! +what an old fool I am! But, thanks, all the same, and don't you forget +I'm your own to command if need comes. Shake, neighbor, and may your +age be----Giddap there, Prince! Let'son, lad; let's get on." + +Ninian did get on, but again silently pondering that here again was +something mysterious in this honest octogenarian's mood. There was an +undercurrent of sorrow which, he was sure, was wholly distinct from +the anxieties of his mistress and her household, and he wondered what +it might be. Surely, for an old man, though wifeless and childless he +had much to make him happy. The devotion of the family in which he had +lived for so long, his comfortable home, his freedom from care +concerning his future--to the young man struggling amidst a crowd of +competitors to make a place for himself in the world, it seemed as if +the venerable sharpshooter had cause for nothing but rejoicing. +However, these might be mere imaginations, and best banished for the +present. + +Ephraim made straight for the house, and the sound of the horses' +footfalls brought figures flying to the open doors; most welcome of +these in the eyes of the two men, the small one of Jessica herself, +her head stretched forth as she peered into the night, and the +lamplight behind her making a radiance about her golden head and +slender gracefulness. But she poised there on the threshold only for +an instant, till she was sure what animals these were, then darted +toward them with uplifted hands and a cry of delight: + +"They've come! Oh, mother, they've come!--they've come!" + +Another moment and the reporter had slipped from his saddle and had +caught up the little girl, more glad on his own part than he would +have once thought possible to have her once more beside him. + +"Yes, captain, here we are! But did you expect us--or me? And how +could you tell that we were not strangers?" + +"Why, don't you suppose I'd know the step of any horse for ours? And +though Nimrod is yours now I know him like--like a brother. Don't I, +dear fellow?" and from Ninian's clasp she ran to embrace the down-bent +head of the thoroughbred. + +On his side, Nimrod was equally rejoiced. His velvet nostrils caressed +the little girl's cheeks and flowing hair, while his dainty forefoot +gently pawed the ground in expression of delight and not impatience. +Prince stood looking on, unmoved. He was not Sobrante raised and +seemed to feel it; or so Jessica fancied, as she left off petting +Nimrod and passed to Prince's side, to stroke his head also, and to +murmur words of praise for good behavior in bringing Ephraim safely +home. + +Then "Forty-niner" led the beast away, while Jessica sped after +Ninian, who had been greeted--almost grasped--by Aunt Sally. She had +drawn him indoors, laughing, crying, whispering, entreating, all in a +breath: + +"Oh, oh, oh, land of Goshen! My suz! If you ain't the gladdest sight +I've seen this dog's age! How are you, how are you? Slim? You +certainly do look slim," she declared, as she led him into the +radiance of the lamp and critically peered into his face, both through +and above her spectacles. + +"Well, my good friend, I never was anything but slim, as I remember. +And I have been just a bit ailing, if that's your meaning. However, +I'm all right now, most delighted to be here, and wholly at your +service or that of anybody else who needs me. How are the children? +Ephraim said that they were ill. And Mrs. Trent?" + +As if in answer to his questions, there was a patter of bare feet on +the stairs and in came Luis, his great dark eyes looking twice their +normal size and his voice shrill with excitement, as he tried to say: + +"Ned--Ned's gone and got--and got--Ned's gone got gone roof. Oh, oh!" + +Mrs. Benton dropped Ninian's hand which she had continued to hold and +shake up and down, much in the manner of one pumping water, and caught +up the child to also shake him vigorously: + +"Hi! What's that you say? Don't you dare to tell auntie a story. +What's Neddy----Oh, my land! all the catnip's gone out of my life, +seems if!" + +The reporter and Jessica looked at each other and burst into +laughter. It was impossible to help it, Aunt Sally's manner had been +so droll and yet so dramatic; and, oddly enough, over Ninian there +stole again the feeling that he had come home, and that the griefs +and perplexities of this household had become his own. With that +his merriment was over, for the fear Mrs. Benton's face had +betrayed was sincere. + +Jessica, also, had sobered instantly, and catching her guest's hand +hurried him impulsively upward, crying: + +"He's done it again! Oh, if mother sees him it will frighten her to +death!" + +They reached the upper floor and the end of the hall which divided it +into two sections, and from whence a ladder ran upright to a trapdoor +opening on the sloping roof. The scuttle had been left open for +ventilation, and up this steep stairway Luis was pointing with wild +gestures. + +Again Aunt Sally caught and shook the little fellow, but he could make +no better business of talking than before. Jessica had not waited for +more than one glance into the empty chamber where the sick children +had been cared for, since it was more quiet than the customary +bed-room below; and that glance, added to Luis' gesticulations, told +her story. + +"Oh, he's walking in his sleep again! He's gone on the roof!" + +The next the reporter realized she had climbed the ladder and +disappeared through the scuttle. He forgot that he was, or had been, +ill, and followed her, only to pause at the sight which met him as his +head protruded through the opening. It was a house of many gables, and +upon the peak of the farthest one poised Ned in his night-clothes, +slowly swinging his arms in the circular fashion children adopt +preparatory to a leap or spring. + +"One!" counted the childish voice. "Two!" + +Ninian closed his eyes, as if by so doing he might shut his ears to +the final "Three!" which would mark the fatal leap. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +JESSICA GETS HER WISH + + +Ninian Sharp had closed his eyes against a catastrophe which, +seemingly, nothing less than a miracle could prevent. When he opened +them again the miracle had been performed. + +Love had lent to Jessica a strength and swiftness almost incredible +even to her active body, and she had crossed the steep, slated roof +just in time to clasp Ned's feet and to drag him backward with her as +she rolled down upon the broader portion. Yet even here was imminent +danger, for the lad was struggling, in his sudden awakening, and the +pair were slipping hopelessly toward the eaves. + +But now was the reporter's chance and the test of his athletic +training. He threw himself prone upon the slippery slates, worming his +lean person over them till he caught the girl's frock, and bidding her +"hold fast!" drew both the children slowly toward the scuttle. When +his feet had found the edge of this the danger was past; and they were +presently down upon the hall floor, laughing and sobbing together in +one excited group. That is, the sister was sobbing and Ninian was +laughing in a nervous way that had grown upon him with his illness, +and that told to Aunt Sally's keen ear how really frail he still was. + +But Master Ned, the cause of all this emotion, looked calmly upon the +stranger, and demanded: + +"Where's that printing press you promised, hey? I can say five, ten +letters now, and I can spell cat backwards!" + +"Is it possible? Before such erudition I bow my humble head!" laughed +the visitor, grateful for any, even nonsensical, words that would +relieve the tension of the moment. + +But here Aunt Sally caught up the boy and looked him over anxiously; +then joyfully declared: + +"He's got his senses back. Oh! Gabriella, where are you? Neddy's all +right!" + +"Oh, auntie, hush! There's no need to tell mother anything of this +last danger, and if you'll only please put Ned back to bed she won't +have to know." + +"Ain't goin' to bed. Been a-bed 'nough," protested the supposed +invalid. "Want my clothes. Want to go downstairs and get my supper." + +"Get my supper," assented Luis, creeping forward from the corner where +he had hidden in fear of he knew not what. + +"Hello, echo! You on hand again? How's business?" demanded Ninian, +drawing the child towards him. + +"First rate," answered Ned, for his comrade, who promptly echoed: +"'Strate." + +But now came the mother, hurrying up the stairs, with a bowl of gruel +she had gone to prepare, and interest in which had opportunely +prevented her knowing either of the reporter's arrival or her son's +peril. And the visitor sprang to his feet again, while she welcomed +him as cordially and gracefully as if she had been sitting in state, +expectant, within her own pretty parlor. + +One flash of her eyes toward her boy, safe in Mrs. Benton's arms again +and carefully wrapped about in her capacious apron, relieved any +anxiety she might have felt in coming upon this unexpected group, and +she asked, with a little burst of laughter: + +"Is it possible that Ned was so quick to welcome you? Well, son, it +might have been more courteous to have gone downstairs; but I'm sure +our friend will pardon a little lad who's been ill. He's really +better, isn't he, Aunt Sally? He looks quite natural." + +"Yes, honey, he's better. I reckon he's passed the turnin' point now, +if nothin' new sets in. You take Mr. Sharp down into the settin'-room, +'cause he's seen the children and I'll set with them a spell. Wun Lung +can get the supper well's I can, if he'll put his heatheny mind to it. +Eh? What is it, sonny?" + +Fortunately, Ned, like most sleepwalkers, was wholly unconscious of +his actions while in that abnormal state, and made no comments on +anything save his own reluctance to go to bed while so interesting a +gentleman was in the house; but was finally coaxed to do so by the +promise of Luis sharing his cot as well as his porridge; whereupon +Mrs. Trent kissed him good-night and invited the guest below. + +His protestations against another supper, after the excellent one he +had taken at Aleck McLeod's, met with nothing but the hospitable +rejoinder: + +"Oh! but you can surely manage a light refreshment, since you've +ridden thirty miles from Marion." + +To which the little captain added her entreaties, saying: + +"I'm hungry, anyway. I'm always so, I guess, but I couldn't think of +breaking bread before you unless you share it." + +Therefore sleepy Wun Lung came with the tray, and was gratified by the +friendly notice of the stranger; and Mrs. Trent made tea in the little +swinging kettle over her alcohol lamp, her daughter declaring that it +always tasted better served in that way. Ninian found that, in spite +of his protestations, the simple refreshments were very acceptable, +and the trio were quietly enjoying their reunion when Jessica suddenly +remembered Ephraim and sprang up to go in search of him, exclaiming: + +"Even if Mr. Sharp isn't hungry, dear old 'Forty-niner' is sure to be. +He'll be here soon, maybe, but I won't wait till the kettle is cold. +He's been sleeping at the 'house' ever since he got back and might go +straight to his room, if I don't prevent." + +When she had gone Ninian observed upon the remarkable devotion between +the old sharpshooter and his small pupil, and the mother assented; yet +added, as an after-thought: + +"I sometimes regret it. Jessica is a child of impulsive, yet absorbing +affections. She can see no flaw in the character of anybody she loves; +and--well, none of us are perfect, and Ephraim grows old." + +Still, when he entered, the lady greeted him with cordiality, and +served him promptly; and presently they were all talking eagerly of +the recent events at Sobrante. Of course, Pedro came in for a brief +but loving mention; and to the guest's inquiry as to what had been +done with the fine flock of sheep which the old man had herded, the +mistress replied: + +"I have sent them up into the mountains, with the herds of a neighbor, +for the present. Ephraim, here, petitioned for the post of shepherd, +but I dared not give it to him," and she looked deprecatingly toward +the sharpshooter. + +"No, she didn't," assented he. "She could trust that Old Century, but +she couldn't trust me." + +There was greater bitterness in the tone than he had ever manifested +before his small captain, and she was quick to notice and resent it. + +"Look here, you blessed old grumbler, you stop that, please. If not +'please,' stop it anyway, because I'm your commander. You know why, +and only why, my mother said 'no' to that bright scheme of yours." +Then she explained to Ninian, who was listening closely: "You must +understand that shepherding is the very loneliest thing that has to be +done on a ranch. The shepherd is alone from week to week; on some +ranches from month to month. He hasn't a soul to speak to save when +somebody chances to cross his field, which isn't often. A lot of men +go crazy, living that way, and mother has always been afraid for even +Pedro. I never was for him, though, 'cause he always liked it and had +lived so--well, forever. But naughty old 'Forty-niner' felt it would +be his 'duty' to go up there away from all of us, and mother wouldn't +let him, and so----" + +"And so, my honored captain, you'll force me to be a mere hanger-on +and idler." + +Jessica held up her forefinger, warningly. "That's enough, Ephraim. I +am 'She that must be obeyed,' Samson says, sometimes. And one of the +times is now. If you and mother aren't ashamed to disagree before my +dear Mr. Sharp, I'm ashamed to have you!" + +All laughed and none took offense at this plain talk which, jesting +though it seemed, covered a serious meaning, and soon "Forty-niner" +remarked, as if to close the subject: + +"Well, all's said and done; yet, still, I know if I'd been let to have +my way in this I'd have stopped a deal of mischief. It would be +better, seems to me, to have an old frontiersman living in Pedro's +cabin than a spook." + +Mrs. Trent started, and, the guest fancied, shivered slightly. But she +rejoined, impatiently: + +"Oh, Mr. Marsh! that nonsense again, and from you!" + +"So they say, ma'am." + +Cried Jessica gayly: + +"The only thing Sobrante needed to make it as lovely as those old +English places one reads about in the story books was a 'ghost', and +now we've got it! Honest, and I do hope you'll see it for yourself. I +want to so much, and one night Samson and I chased it, but--it got +away. The 'boys' say now that it has even taken to horseback. Don't +you wish you might be luckier than I, Mr. Ninian?" + +A glance flashed between the reporter and the sharpshooter, but not +quite swiftly enough to escape the girl's observation; and, after a +moment's pause, she exclaimed: + +"Why, I believe you have already seen it!" + +There was an awkward silence, which Mrs. Trent broke by the stern +reproof she managed to throw into one word: "Jessica!" + +"Yes, mother, I know. It's silly, and I will be careful not to mention +the delightful subject before the children." + +"What are you but a child yourself, my mature little woman?" demanded +the visitor, playfully. + +"Why, I'm a little girl, of course; but one who always wanted to see a +fairy, till somebody told me there was none. Now I'm longing for this +'spook'--that really is, 'cause so many, many have seen it--and I'm +not even let to talk about him." + +Mrs. Trent shook her head regretfully. + +"I'm afraid we've spoiled you among us, my darling. But, leaving these +unexplained things to explain themselves at their proper time, suppose +you go and see that all is ready in Mr. Sharp's room? Wun Lung is +still mooning by himself on the kitchen stoop and will do what you ask +him." + +"They all do that, I infer," commented Ninian, as the child hastened +away, eager to serve all whom she loved. + +"Yes, they do. It's a delightful, but not, maybe, the wisest life for +any girl to live. No playmates except her two small brothers, and no +schooling that is at all regular or effective. I can't imagine what +Sobrante would be without her, and yet----" + +She paused and "Forty-niner" took up her sentence: + +"It wouldn't be Sobrante, mistress. That's all. I, for one, couldn't +stay here and serve under any other body now except my captain;" and +so saying, as if a shadow of the future fell upon him, the old man +rose and went out, quite forgetting to say good-night. + +Meanwhile, Jessica had found Wun Lung and also found him more than +willing to go with her and perform even additional tasks, since by so +doing he might have the comfort and safety of human presence. +Fragments of talk had come to him in his kitchen concerning the +apparitions which had startled the whole countryside, during these +past few days, and had received the strongest confirmation from his +housemate, Pasqual. The latter believed, indeed, all that he himself +heard and invented much more. He had grown to be afraid of his own +shadow and now resorted to the men's quarters on each and every +occasion that presented, feeling a safety among them he could not feel +at the "house" among a lot of women. Of course, his defection from +duty entailed endless conflicts between himself and Aunt Sally, but +since this resulted in nothing worse to the delinquent than a loss of +some dainty food, he could put up with it. He was away now, bunking in +Marty's room, and Wun Lung sat alone, too afraid to go to bed, yet too +uneasy to enjoy the beauty of the night. His sharp, black eyes peered +here and there and everywhere, about the place; and when Jessica came +running to him, in her noiseless moccasins, he jumped so high that his +queue flew out at a right angle from his head, and he screeched: + +"Oh, mly flathe's, mly flathe's!" + +Lady Jess laughed aloud. + +"No, good Wun Lung. Not your fathers, nor even any of your relatives, +but only me. Having had supper, the next thing for our dear Mr. Sharp +is a bed and sleep. Come help me make it ready." + +The Chinaman rose with alacrity, and soon had collected the bed linen, +towels and bucket of water, suggesting that Jessica should bring a +lighted candle. + +"Oh! we don't need a light, Wun Lung. It's as bright as day with the +shutters open, and we must be quick, anyway, for the dear man has been +ill and is tired." + +The room was the same that Mr. Hale had found so delightful during his +own visit to the ranch, and the girl threw the shutters wide, to let +in the fresh air and moonlight while they arranged the place for +occupancy. She left the bed making to the longer and stronger arms of +her assistant, but herself attended to the pitchers and toilet things; +and while so engaged, with her back toward the open windows, was +suddenly startled by an ear-piercing shriek from the Chinaman. + +Shriek? Not one, but many; prolonged, reiterated, till the whole house +seemed in an uproar; and facing swiftly about, to learn the cause and +still the clamor, Jessica found her lately expressed desire completely +gratified. For there, clearly distinct in the moonlight, not ten paces +from the window whence she gazed, was the phantom horse and rider! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE CACTUS HEDGE + + +The shrieks ended by Wun Lung's throwing himself face downward on the +floor, but they had roused the whole household, even the sleeping +children. Those in the room below had rushed to the stairs, wondering +what could possibly have happened to the Chinaman, whose outcries +these certainly were. The little lads had sprang from their cot, +screaming on their own account, and Mrs. Benton had awaked from the +"fortywinks" she was taking in her chair. + +As a natural result of her sudden awakening she grasped the two +children who were clinging to her skirts and shook them soundly, +ordering them to "shut up to once 'fore you scare folks to death." + +They were not easily pacified and she thus, fortunately, had her hands +full, for the moment, else the fear-paralyzed Wun Lung might have +fared hardly. As it was, none but Jessica had a full, clear view of +the strange visitant, since the Chinaman had closed his eyes against +it and the others had not thought to look out of doors; but she saw +it, and with critical distinctness. + +For an instant, indeed, her own nerves had thrilled and her heart +seemed to stand still; the next her overpowering desire to see the +"spook" for herself had conquered her terror and she gazed with all +her might. + +"It certainly looks like Pedro, with his clothes all white. And the +horse--it may be his that died--but--but----" + +The ghostly steed and its rider remained utterly motionless, as if +scrutinizing the house on their own part or waiting for somebody to +appear; then, as the little girl bounded to the open window the better +to gratify her curiosity, the animal--if such it was--slowly wheeled +about and loped away. There was a sound of muffled footfalls on the +hard drive, and the vision had vanished. + +Jessica still leaned from the casement watching and thinking more +rapidly than she had ever done before; but when convinced that the +apparition was really gone, she slowly retreated below stairs, passing +her mother and Ninian on the way, yet not pausing till she had gained +the side of the sharpshooter. Him she seized, exultantly exclaiming: + +"Well, Ephraim, I've seen your spectre!" + +"You--have!" + +"And it's no more a 'ghost' than I am." + +"What do you mean?" he demanded, hastily; ashamed of himself for half +regretting that the supernatural view of the matter might not be the +right one. "It isn't? Well, what is it, then?" + +"It's Antonio Bernal and his horse, Nero." + +"Huh! How do you fetch that? When both of them are black as my hat." + +Her last, lingering uneasiness banished by his presence and the sound +of her own words, with firmer conviction she declared to him and the +others who had now gathered about her: + +"I 'fetch it' fast enough. This was the way dear old Pedro used to +ride; and this is the way your 'spook' sat his horse," she announced, +so vividly mimicking both men that all who had known them recognized +the likeness, and Ephraim exclaimed: + +"That's them to a t-i-o-n-tion! Can seem to see 'em right here before +me. Well--what next?" + +"Pedro wore his blanket like a king. Antonio has covered his head with +that white thing, and even so wasn't half Pedro's height. I shall not +soon forget that splendid Old Century, the last time I saw him ride +away, that night. A hundred years old, yet as straight in his saddle +as a rod." + +"Antonio Bernal was a magnificent horseman, darling," suggested Mrs. +Trent, from the chair into which she had sunk, as if weakened by the +series of startling events which had befallen her home. + +"Even so, mother, dear, he couldn't match old Pedro. Antonio sat +forward, so, with a careless sort of slouch--just like the 'spook' +had." + +"What could possibly be his motive for such foolishness, daughter, +granting you are right?" + +The captain laughed. + +"Upon my word, mother, even you, as well as Ephraim, seem sorry it +isn't a truly ghost, after all." + +"No, no, indeed. I'm sorry, rather, to think it may be Antonio, as you +fancy, and that he still persists in troubling us, even by so silly a +disguise." + +"It hasn't been so silly, Mrs. Trent, if it has hoodwinked a lot of +sensible people, and you are right--there must be a motive for it in +the actor's mind. I hope Jessica's judgment in the case is correct, +for back there in Los Angeles, we didn't find the manager a difficult +person to deal with," remarked Mr. Sharp. + +The girl went on: + +"Then that horse. Don't you remember, mother, and you, Ephraim, the +curious little switch Nero used to give his tail whenever he was +turned around? Well, this 'spook' horse did just the same thing. Oh, I +know, I know I'm right!" + +"But how could he turn a black horse snow white, even if you are? As I +remember Nero he wouldn't stand much nonsense, even from his own +master," said "Forty-niner." + +"Pooh! If lack-wit Ferd could paint Prince, as he did--another +spirited horse, if you please--Antonio could do what he liked with +Nero. It's paint, of course, or something like it." + +"But the eyes? The eyes as we saw them on the road, a few hours back, +were all on fire. You could see them almost before you could make out +that it was a man on horseback was coming. Isn't that so, Sharp?" +demanded Ephraim, persistent to the last. + +Jessica turned upon him, triumphantly: + +"There! I knew from the way you two looked when we were talking a +little while ago that you'd seen something out of common! Do tell me +about it, please. Do, do!" + +Ninian laughed, glanced at his hostess' face, and replied: + +"That's a story will keep, and you should be in bed. I don't want to +have my coming harm you when I meant it to do you good. Even such a +courageous child as you ought to sleep a great deal." + +She had been courageous, indeed, and had astonished him by a coolness +and readiness of observation which would have done credit to a much +older person. He began to realize how different she was from other +children of her age, and how the hardihood of her rearing had +developed qualities that were quite unchildlike. He wondered how she +would adapt herself to the habits and thoughts of other girls of her +own age, and was not surprised that Mrs. Trent craved such society for +her. He wished that he might see her placed in some good school, yet +was doubtful if just the right one could be selected for a pupil so +different from ordinary. However, that was not his affair, and to +relieve the family of his further presence at that late hour +undoubtedly was. So he bade them all good-night and went to his room, +and very shortly afterward everybody under that roof was sound +asleep. + +"Oh, what a dreamless, delicious rest I've had!" was the visitor's +waking thought. His next, that it must be very late and that he had +put his hostess to unnecessary trouble. Then he turned over "for just +one more wink" and slumbered on for another couple of hours. This time +he had dreams in plenty; and finally roused from one, of beautiful +gardens peopled by harmless "spooks," to a sound of sweet music. By +his watch he saw that it was eleven o'clock and remembered that it was +Sunday. Also, the music was that of a familiar hymn, played upon a +fine piano, which was taken up and sung by a choir of mixed voices, +from the childish treble of the two little lads to the stentorian bass +of Samson, the mighty. + +Hastily dressing, Ninian slipped quietly down the stairs and entered +the sunny parlor; where Jessica motioned to a chair which had +evidently been reserved for him, and softly approached him with an +open hymn book. + +It was Mrs. Trent at the piano and her rich soprano voice faultlessly +led her straggling chorus, filled for the most part by the men +grouped outside on the wide porch. He could see them through the long, +French windows, sitting or standing as each felt inclined, but all +with that earnest seriousness of demeanor which befitted the day and +the task. For task it evidently was to some of them; John Benton, for +example. He stood alone, at the most upright post attainable, his book +at arm's length, and his head moving from side to side, following the +lines, with a little upward toss of it as he reached the end of each, +while from his throat issued most startling tones. + +Afterwards, Aunt Sally explained, for she had seen Ninian's amused +survey of her "boy," that: + +"John can no more carry a tune than he can fly, and I'd rather hear +him sawin' his boards than tryin' to sing. But he feels it's his duty +to help the others along by singing at it and sort of keepin' +Gabriell' in countenance, seems if. Sweet, ain't it?" + +It had been "sweet" in the guest's opinion--the whole of the short +service; conducted with such simple dignity and reverence by the +Madonna-like ranch mistress; the music so well chosen, the few prayers +so feelingly offered, and the brief exhortation read from the words of +a famous divine who had the rare gift of touching men's hearts. And he +so expressed himself, as well as his surprise, over the belated +breakfast which Mrs. Benton served him when the service was over and +the household dispersed. + +"Yes, I think it's the nicest thing there is about this dear Sobrante. +There's always been the best sort of inflooence here and that's why I +like my boy, John, to belong. Cass'us, he used to hold the meeting, +and after he died I feared Gabriella wouldn't be equal to it. But +bless your soul! if down she didn't come that first Sunday 'at ever +was, and her not havin' left her bed sence it happened, and sent Wun +Lungy out to have the old mission bell rung, a signal. I'll ever +forget it to my dyin' day, I shan't. Her like a spirit all in white +and a face was both the saddest and the upliftedest ever I see; and +them rough men all crowdin' up to their places, so soft you'd thought +they was barefoot 'stead of heavy shod; and Jessie with her arms round +the two little ones, and her mother pitchin' the tune, same as usual, +and--and--I declare I can't keep the tears back yet, rememberin'. +Before she was done the whole kerboodle of us was sobbin' and cryin' +like a passel of young ones, and there was she, with her broken heart, +as calm and serene as an angel. Angel is what she is, mostly; with +just enough old human natur' in her to keep her from soarin' right +away. Gabriell's one them scurce kind makes you glad every time she +does a wrong or thoughtless thing, 'cause then you know she ain't +quite perfected yet, and you're surer of keepin' her 'on earth. My! +the good that woman does beats all. This very day, when she'd lots +rather stay to home and visit with you, she's give orders for Ephraim +to have the buck-board got ready to take her twenty miles to see a +neighbor who's sick. She's fixing a basket of things now, and is in a +hurry. So that's the reason she didn't come to keep you company +herself. Have another piece of chicken--do." + +"Thank you, no. I've enjoyed my breakfast hugely, and feel as if I'd +never known a moment's illness." + +There was the sound of wheels just then and Ninian strolled out to +offer his service as escort to the ranch mistress in case she might +desire it. But the offer was not made, though the lady greeted him +with evident pleasure, and even herself glanced toward the vehicle, as +if wishing he might ride with her. But there was Ephraim Marsh, in the +glory of a white shirt and brilliant necktie, brushed and speckless, +and beaming benevolently upon all less favored mortals. It was only +upon such errands of mercy that the mistress ever left her home, and +there was not a ranchman in her employ but esteemed it an honor to +drive for her whither she would. + +Ninian saw the state of affairs plainly enough, and, possibly, so did +"Forty-niner" himself; who might, under some circumstances, have +sacrificed his pleasure for that of the young man. But not now. Ever +since he had returned from his long stay in the city, the sensitive +old fellow had felt a difference in his surroundings. There was nobody +mean enough to tell him of the base suspicions that his fellow workmen +had harbored about him, and they fancied that by treating him with +more than former friendliness they could offset the unknown injury +they had done him. It was this very effusiveness that had roused his +suspicions that something was wrong, and he saw in this solitary drive +with his beloved mistress a chance to unburden his mind and get her +wise opinion on the matter. + +So he merely "passed the time of day" with the guest, helped the lady +to her place, and stepped up beside her; then chirruped to his horse +and was off. + +But Ninian was not allowed much disappointment, for there was Lady +Jess, clasping his hand and looking up into his face with the +brightest of smiles, as she exclaimed: "Just think of it, dear Mr. +Sharp! We are to have a long, delightful day together. Mother will not +be home before nightfall and I am to do everything I can to make you +happy. As if I wouldn't, even without being bidden! But what shall it +be first? Where would you like to walk or ride? Or would you rather +rest and read?" + +"First, I would like to walk around to that curious hedge yonder, that +you told me before had been planted by the old padres. Everything +about these ancient missions interests me." + +"Oh! I love them, too, and I'm so glad we live on one, or the place +where one used to be. That hedge is prickly-pear and was meant to keep +the Indians out of the inclosure, if they were ugly. But it's a +hundred years old, and Pedro could remember when it was ever so much +smaller than now." + +It was a weird stretch of the repellent cactus, whose great gnarled +branches locked and intertwined themselves in a verdureless mass of +thorns and spikes which well might have daunted even an Indian. The +hedge was many feet in width and higher than Ninian's shoulder, still +green on top, but too unlovely to have been preserved for any reason +save its antiquity and history. One end of it was close to the kitchen +part of the house, and the other reached beyond the fall of the +farthest old adobe. + +"A formidable barrier, indeed! It reminds me of some of Dore's +fantastic pictures," said the reporter. + +"Doesn't it? My mother has books with his drawings in, and I have +thought that, too. It is a trouble sometimes, because anybody coming +across the field from yonder must go either way around the quarters or +all along the back of the house, before he can get in here; when if +it weren't there at all, it wouldn't be two steps. But we will never +have it cut down because my father said so. He wouldn't have anybody +break a single leaf, if he could help it, and--oh, oh!" + +Mr. Sharp lifted his head from his close examination of a branch that +had particularly interested him and saw Jessica pointing in +astonishment at the very heart of the great hedge. + +"What is it? Something especially curious?" + +"Curious! It's--it's--dreadful! You can see right through it! Somebody +has ruined it!" + +The reporter stooped and followed the direction of her guiding finger +and saw that a strange thing had indeed been done. For a considerable +length the terrible barrier had been literally tunneled, though the +fact was not easily discernible. Walls of the bare and twisted +branches were still left unbroken on either side, but a sufficient +space had been scooped out to admit the passage of a human being +should such desire a hiding place. + +"Oh! isn't that dreadful? Who could have done it, and why?" cried the +captain, in distress; and her companion could only think of Aunt +Sally's declaration, made to him at breakfast, that Sobrante was +"bewitched." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +WHAT THE SABBATH BROUGHT + + +"Now I know how it was that Antonio disappeared that time when Aunt +Sally and Ephraim heard him outside the pantry window!" cried Jessica, +exultingly; and seeing the gentleman's puzzled expression, told of the +scene within the cold closet and of the mocking answer "Forty-niner" +had received, when he said he was determined to find out Antonio's +retreat. Then she bade her friend stoop again and see for himself how +easy it was for one at the rear of the house, where the pantry was, to +slip into this cactus tunnel and be utterly hidden from anybody who +would search from that side. + +They saw, also, that the broken branches had been thrown under the +open foundation of the kitchen, leaving no sign of the ruin that had +been done. + +"A clever scamp, indeed! And any other sort of plant would have +withered at the top and led to discovery. But not this; for the +verdure has evidently long been gone from this part of the hedge," +observed Ninian. + +"Oh, yes! This end has been dead for a great while, yet my mother +would not have it removed. It would have lasted maybe forever in just +that way; and Antonio knew how we prized it. Oh, dear! I do believe he +is as wicked as the 'boys' say, though I hate to think that of +anybody." "Surely, you have had proof enough of his evil doings, even +without these later fantastic developments. You must never trust that +man, little girl, should he again try to make you." + +"I think he won't bother me. Why should he?" asked she, in some +surprise, for her friend's tone had been most impressive. "Why should +you imagine that?" + +"I don't know myself, exactly why. It just 'happened' into my head. By +the way, captain, did you send me all of the specimen of copper that +you had?" + +"Oh, no, indeed! My mother thought best not. We sent you only a little +bit, cut from the larger one Pedro dug. Let's go into the office and +I'll open the safe and show you the rest. Do you know anything about +such mines and stuff?" + +"I do know something about ores and minerals, my dear, for before I +was a newspaper man I was a clerk in the office of an expert in such +matters. I should greatly like to see your sample," he answered, +readily. + +So she led the way at once and took the key from a desk drawer, which +anybody might have opened, and Ninian remarked: + +"What an insecure place for a safe key! Yours is certainly a most +confiding household." + +"Oh, it's not a very safe safe, anyway," she answered, laughing; "and +who would want to open it? It's Ephraim's really, though I don't think +he's ever been near it since he came home. Isn't it a great, clumsy +key? But my father told me that there are safes much, much larger and +stronger than this which are opened by very small keys. Odd, isn't +it?" As she spoke she was down upon her knees in front of the strong +box and trying with all her small strength to turn the lock; and after +watching her for a moment the reporter laughed, and suggested: + +"Suppose you just merely pull at the knob. It looks to me as if the +thing were already opened, for the door isn't tight; or is that +protruding edge of it a part of the general crudeness?" + +Jessica obeyed, pulling with such unnecessary force that the safe flew +open and he fell backward, laughing. + +But Mr. Sharp did not laugh. In view of what had been told him he was +afraid the thing had been tampered with, and watched in silence while +the little girl thrust her hand into the safe and felt all about, her +face lengthening as she did so; but again, suddenly brightening, when +she exclaimed: + +"Oh, my mother must have done that! There was all the money in here +that was left after Elsa got her own share. The first nights two of +the 'boys' slept in the house to watch, 'cause mother was afraid we +might lose it again. Then, since 'Forty-niner' got home only he has +slept here, and he generally 'bunks' on the lounge in this very +office. That's what it is, what it must be. My mother has worried +about Antonio, and has taken the money and the piece of copper away +and put them somewhere else. Well, never mind. She'll show it to you +as soon as she comes back; and now, what shall we do next? Would you +like to ride?" + +Ninian passed his hand across his brow in mild perplexity. An instant +conviction had seized him that here was another feature of the +mysteries pervading this peaceful ranch; and though he as instantly +frowned upon his own suspicion, it would remain to torment him. +However, he said nothing further to disturb Jessica's composure, and +readily agreed that a ride would be delightful, though he added, +grimly: + +"I'm so lame and stiff already from yesterday's horseback exercise +that I feel older than Ephraim. I expect a 'hair of the same dog' is +the best cure, and wish now I had made time, back there in town, to +get used to a saddle. I never found it convenient, though, and poor +Nimrod missed his outings even more than I did, I fancy. It certainly +is a glorious day for a canter, as almost all our days are." + +"It's nice, too, when the rains come. We do things indoors then +that we never do all the rest of the year. My mother plays and sings +half the time, 'cause then she can't go poking around all over the +ranch, like she does now. In the evenings the 'boys' all come in and +tell stories or do their best to amuse us. We were always happiest, +too, when Pedro came, and when my father was here he coaxed him +and he came often. Now--he'll never come again!" she finished, with +an irrepressible burst of grief, which she as quickly suppressed, +for she saw that it saddened her guest as well; and she had been +reared in the spirit of hospitality that makes the stranger glad +even at the cost of one's own impulses. + +So she added, with a smile that seemed all the brighter because of the +tears still glistening on her long lashes: + +"I'll bring you some books out here and you can rest in the hammock +while I run and have the horses saddled. Buster isn't as fast as +Nimrod, but he'll go now and then as if he were a colt. I hope this +will be one of his fast times, don't you? I love to ride fast!" +Ninian smiled rather grimly, answering: + +"Just at present, from the state of my poor muscles, I fancy I'd +prefer a gait as slow as Buster's ordinary one. But if I stay the week +out, I mean to learn a thing or two about that fine beast of mine." + +"A week or two! Why, you're to be here till after Christmas, anyway, +and that's a fortnight off. I wish--oh, I wish you would live here +always!" + +From his delightful resting place in a hammock that was "stretched +just right," and which commanded one of the loveliest views in the +world, he looked afield and wished so too. Fond as he was of his own +active city life, this broad outlook appealed to him most strongly; +yet he shook off the longing that assailed him to pass his days in the +country and opened the book Jessica had brought. He was soon absorbed +in its pages and forgot the errand upon which the child had gone, +till, after a long time, as it proved, Ned stole bashfully up and +pushed a scrap of paper into his down-hanging hand. + +"Hello, youngster!" cried the gentleman, sitting up. "What's this?" + +The child's timidity banished at the first sound of the visitor's +voice. Mr. Sharp reading, with his spectacles on, and Mr. Sharp +speaking in that hail-fellow-well-met manner were two different +people. Besides that, Ned's shyness was not his strongest feature, +though it cropped out now and then to the astonishment of his family. +Also, he was fresh from the hands of Aunt Sally and his catechism +lesson, into which she had adroitly forced a hint of the conduct due +toward a "wise man, that can write printin'." Supposing it to be a +production of the little fellow's own, Mr. Sharp delayed the reading +of the crumpled epistle he had received and continued his talk with +its bearer; who presently forgot his Sunday manners, and reproachfully +demanded that "printing press you promised." + +"'Cause if I had it I'd be just as smart as you, you know." + +"Smartersyou!" cried the echo, clasping Ned's neck with that choking +affection of his. + +Ned turned upon his other self and pummeled him well, declaring: + +"No, you wouldn't neither, Luis Garcia! 'Twouldn't be your printing +press, and you can't spell cat backwards! So, there!" + +"Cat backwards, dogboycat," gurgled Luis, in a rapture of mere +existence. + +Ninian laughed at the comical pair, finding them infinitely diverting; +and was only brought back to his immediate duty by the insistence of +the small messenger, who demanded: + +"Why don't you read your letter? I should think anybody what makes +newspapers could read a little girl's letter." + +"That's a fact; I'll see if I can;" and accordingly spread out the +scrap of wrapping paper, which had not been very smooth to start with +and had suffered further ill treatment at Ned's hand. The note +required a second reading before he could fully comprehend its +meaning, which he then found sufficiently startling to send him +stableward in hot haste. The message was from the little captain, and +was worded thus: + +"dear mister sharp please excuse me i must go to a Dyeing man and i +Mustnt Tell Who cause if my mother was Home I Wood and she wood say +yes. She always helps dyeing folks and sick ones one the boys will go +and he can ride Moses or prince Which he likes. I guess marty so i +Cant right any more the paper is so littul and i cant Stay." + +"JESSICA." + +This had been written with a coarse blue pencil, evidently picked up +in the stable or workroom; and to the reporter's inquiries, put to the +first ranchman he met, there seemed no satisfactory answer. The man in +question had not seen Jessica since service, and the men's quarters to +which Ninian hurried, were almost deserted. Sunday was their own, so +the "boys" spent much of it afield, hunting or visiting on neighboring +ranches. Yet a further search revealed John Benton, in his own room, +reading; and to him the visitor again put the question of Jessica's +probable whereabouts, and showed the letter. + +The carpenter was on his feet instantly, a look of apprehension +deepening the lines of his earnest face; and running to the door he +shouted to a stable boy who was crossing the space before the old +adobes: + +"Natan! Natan!" + +The youth paused, hesitated, yet came no nearer; and John repeated his +summons, with an imperative "Here!" Then muttered an explanation to +the reporter: "Another of those no-account Greasers; same kind as the +Bernals and hired by top-lofty when, he was in charge. Works well +enough but----" + +By this time Natan had slouched forward and stood stolidly awaiting an +expected as well as merited reproof, because of stalls imperfectly +cleaned and harnesses left in other than their own places; for John +was orderly to the last degree and a very martinet in disciplining his +subordinates. However, it was no neglect of duty that was now to be +scored, but a question was fairly hurled at the young groom and in a +voice sharp with anxiety: + +"Natan, did you saddle Buster just now?" + +"But yes," answered the lad, greatly relieved. + +"Where is he? And Nimrod?" + +"Nimrod is at the 'house' horse block, is it not? Si. Groomed to the +highest, and a beauty we're all glad to see back where he belongs." + +"Your opinion wasn't asked. Where is Buster?" + +"Where the captain wills. I know not, I," with a shrug of his lean +shoulders. + +"Did she mount him?" + +"Why else should he be saddled, no?" returned the groom, with an +insolent laugh. + +John's temper flamed and he turned away with a disgusted snort, +meaning to seek information elsewhere on a case he felt permitted no +delay. But Ninian was cooler, if equally suspicious that Natan was +concealing something that should be known; so, laying his hand not +unkindly upon the youth's shoulder, he said: + +"If you know anything of this, where Miss Jessica has gone and with +whom, or if alone, it will be worth your while to tell me and at once. +I'm pretty good pay for seasonable articles," he finished, in his +journalistic manner. + +He had taken a dollar from his pocket and was carelessly tossing it +from hand to hand, nor was he disappointed when Natan fixed his black +eyes greedily upon the coin. Still the lad said nothing, only +pondered in his own dull mind which of two masters it would benefit +him most to serve; and annoyed by this hesitation, Ninian hazarded a +guess: + +"Oh, well, if you prefer to work for Antonio Bernal, it's all one to +me." + +Natan's mouth flew open and his eyes grew wild: + +"You know it, then, already, you?" + +"I know many things," was the sententious answer. + +"But it is a pity, yes. The so fine man and such a rider. He will ride +no more, poor Antonio, si." + +Ninian's blood ran chill, yet he asked, still quietly, though +foreseeing evil he dared not contemplate: + +"Who brought the word?" + +"Ferd, the dwarf," came the reply, as the dollar exchanged owners. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +ANTONIO'S CONFESSION + + +These were the facts: Natan had been grooming the horses, Nimrod and +Buster, when suddenly and soundlessly there appeared before the window +in the stables' rear, the misshapen head and shoulders of typo +Ferdinand Bernal. He was mounted on a snow-white horse and seemed to +the superstitious stable boy to have risen out of the ground. Buster, +also, had appeared to be frightened for a few seconds, though he +speedily recovered his equine calmness and merely whinnied his +delight, while he attempted to secure another mouthful of alfalfa +before the bridle slipped into place over his head. + +"Natan, the little captain," whispered Ferd, through the narrow +casement. + +"Well, yes; the little captain," returned the other, in a louder tone, +and grinning at his own astuteness in discovering that this was a +white horse so very like the "spook horse" that it might be one and +the same. Some of Antonio's schemes he had fathomed, being himself a +sort of schemer in his own stupid way. + +"I want her. She must come. Antonio dies." + +"Antonio--fiddles!" retorted the other, contemptuously. Then saw, to +his surprise, that Ferd's head had dropped upon that of his strange +steed and that he was whimpering and sobbing in a pitiful fashion, +well calculated to deceive the unwary. It was at this juncture that, +fancying to see her beloved Buster made ready for her ride, Jessica +ran singing into the stable, and paused amazed at sight of Ferd, +weeping, and so oddly mounted. Horses there were galore in the +Sobrante stables and pastures, but never one like this; so white, so +spirited, and yet so marvelously marked. For even by the daylight, +there in the slight shadow of the wall, the animal's eyes glowed with +an unearthly light, terrifying to Natan and startling even to her +fearless self. Indeed it had not been until the moment of her +appearance and Buster's whinnied welcome, that Ferd's horse had turned +its face toward them and revealed his curious visage. + +"Why, Ferdinand Bernal!" she cried, giving him his full title, and +thereby mystifying still further the wondering groom. "I do believe +that's the very creature that's been scaring such a lot of people +everywhere! How came you by it and what ails its eyes?" + +Ferd lifted a face that was grimy with dirt and streaked with tears. +His misery was evident and needed no words to impress it upon the +tenderhearted girl, who ran to the window, begging: + +"What is the matter, Ferd? Poor Ferd! are you ill? In trouble? What?" + +"The death. It is the accursed house. Where death comes once--he is +always there. He told me--you must come. Come; now, right away, si. +Before--too late. He said it. Antonio, my brother." + +"You know that, then--about your relationship? But what has happened +to him?" + +The dwarf glanced at Natan and motioned to her to send him away. For +reasons of his own, the groom was glad enough to obey, because dire +had been the threats of the mighty-fisted Samson, as well as the +stern John Benton, against any on that ranch who should be caught +"consorting with that low-lived Ferd or the late manager." Besides, in +spite of Jessica's apparent indifference to the glowing eyes of the +white horse they infected him with a horrible fear; so he made his +escape at the first chance; leading Nimrod around to the house and +tying him there to await Ninian's pleasure, while he himself resorted +to the most distant and safest spot he could find. This had seemed, in +his mind, the mission corridor; but he found it already occupied by a +party of the ranchmen who had no desire for his society, and after a +short delay frankly told him so. It was in passing from this ancient +structure to his own room in another building that he had been +intercepted by John, and called to account. + +Yet, sometime before this, Jessica had finished her interview with the +unhappy Ferd; had written her note of explanation to Ninian, though +keeping her destination secret, as the hunchback implored, in +accordance with Antonio's wish; had dispatched her message by Ned and +Luis; and, unknown to them, had rapidly ridden away in company with +the white horse and her treacherous guide--to comfort the dying. + +That death should have come again to the cabin on the mesa, whither +she was led, seemed natural enough to her; remembering with such keen +sorrow the passing of old Pedro. + +And for once Antonio Bernal had told the truth. Lying helpless, almost +motionless, on the narrow bed in the shepherd's home, he greeted his +visitor with a pitiful smile on his white face, and a tone from which +the last vestige of his old bravado had departed: "The Captain! si. +You did well to come, my Lady Jess. But you are not afraid?" + +"Why should I be afraid, Antonio? You are ill, I see that. What's +wrong? What can I do to help you?" + +"Nothing. There is nothing. I played my game and I lost. I--I saw you +last night at the window." + +"And I saw you; I knew you; but I did not know why you were fixed like +that and had painted your poor horse all white." + +"Ha! You saw that? You, when nobody--older--well, I lost." + +"Are you hurt? What can have happened to you since then?" + +"Shot. On the way here, fearing nothing, a passing horseman, unknown, +braver or quicker than the rest, thought he could rid the country of +its ghost. Ah, yes! it was merry--for a time. It is past." + +Jessica was crying softly, unable to endure the sight of agony, even +his who had tried to injure her and hers. The sick man perceived this +and something of the affection he had once felt for his master's +child, before he had betrayed that master's trust, stirred him to +speak and thrilled him with compunction. He felt himself to be doomed; +he had already sent Ferd away again to summon a priest; and according +to his faith he meant to make his peace with the world; but these +preparations had been on his own account only. Now he began to feel +something for her also. + +Suddenly she ceased crying and stood up to bend over him and beg that +she might be allowed to help him. "A drink of water--some coffee? You +were always so fond of coffee, Antonio, and I know where Pedro kept +all his things. So many, many times we drank it here together, he and +I. And you--how came you here, Antonio?" + +"Where better or nearer could I be? Pedro, the most obliging, yes. +Just when I needed his house he left it. Si. Why, but I am better +still, is it not, I?" + +Indeed his color had improved and his voice grown stronger since +Jessica's arrival; and he was able to take the cup of coffee which she +made him. This was more palatable than anything Ferd had prepared and +stimulated him still further. For a few moments after he had taken it +he felt so improved that he almost gave up the doing of that for which +he had summoned her. But a sudden return of pain again alarmed him, +and as soon as that spasm was past, he motioned her to the bedside. + +"In the cupboard--look, quick!" he whispered, pointing to a set of +shelves built upon the wall and behind whose locked doors Pedro had +been accustomed to store his baskets. + +Jessica tried the little door, which refused to open, and to her +inquiry for the key, Antonio pointed to his own pillow. After a slight +hesitation she approached and secured the key from beneath it; but +when she had opened the cupboard found that all the Indian's exquisite +weaving had been removed. In its place was the metal-pointed staff, +with its shank broken in half, and she exclaimed, indignantly: + +"Oh! how could you do that, Antonio? And how could you be so mean as +to take it from two children?" + +"Ha! Once it was all mine--this land. The copper in the canyon, mine, +also. Si. The padres' secret which the shepherd kept was mine----No, +no; not yet!" he broke off, with a sudden, delirious scream, fancying +he saw the head of a man appearing without the door. + +His outcry set Jessica shivering with fear at being alone in that +isolated spot with a possible madman; but a second glance into his +pallid face restored her natural courage and assured her that he was +powerless to injure her, even had he wished to do so. Just then, too, +Buster whinnied and she felt that he was company. It sounded as if he +had seen some stable companion of his own and had welcomed it; yet +this could not be, of course, since nobody knew of her whereabouts or +would be likely to come to the mesa now. Therefore, she did not follow +Antonio's glance doorward, but sought at once to relieve his +distress. + +"Won't you drink another cup of coffee, Antonio? Or shall I make you a +bit of porridge? There's hot water still in the kettle and I know how. +I've made it for my mother, often, when she was ill; and the little +boys always have it. Oh, I can do it quite well!" + +She was so eager to serve him, and the pain had once more so greatly +lessened for the time being, that the late manager graciously +consented, and with such an absurd assumption of his old "top-lofty" +manner that Jessica laughed even while she hastened to put on the tiny +porringer and seek the meal. The little oil stove blazed merrily, and +so deft was she that, in a very few minutes more, she had a dish of +the steaming mush beside the cot and had thinned a cup of condensed +milk with which to make it the more palatable. Sugar there was in +plenty, for Pedro had loved sweets; so that nothing was wanted, save +appetite, to render the repast all that was desirable; yet when it was +quite ready Antonio could not take it. + +The pain had returned and with added intensity; and it was due to that +fact that he no longer delayed the confession he had sent for her to +hear. + +"Hark! Behold! I talk." + +"Yes, Antonio, I'm listening." + +"Well, I--how begin? It is a story long, not pleasant." + +"Wait. Open your mouth and I will feed you. Yes, do." + +His black eyes stared at her, astonished. In her place had anybody +done him the ill that he had done her, he would have let his enemy +starve and have rejoiced at a suffering well deserved. But this +child--he wished she would turn her face away, and not look upon him +with that innocent compassion. She was too like her dead father, and +his one best friend; whom in life he had really loved and in death had +not scrupled to despoil. + +"Come, Antonio, eat. Afterward you'll be stronger to talk," she said, +as coaxingly as if he had been her little brother, Ned; and thus +persuaded, he opened his mouth and received the morsel she forced upon +him. Thus it continued; she feeding, he resting and with halting +eagerness relating the story of his own misdeeds. + +"For I must go to pay the price. Si. But the poor lad, my half-wit +brother Ferd, ugly, sinful, desolate--he will be left alone. Is it +not? For him, if I restore all, there may still be kindness and a home +at Sobrante, that should all be his--if----" + +"No, Antonio; you know better. That is a poor, foolish notion that has +been put into your head. You know; for Mr. Hale, who is a lawyer and +understands everything like that, told you and us that you hadn't a +bit of right to a bit of land anywhere in this world. Unless, indeed, +you may have bought it since that little while ago in Los Angeles. And +if you have, where did you get the money?" + +"Lo dicho dicho," he muttered the Spanish phrase: "What I have said I +have said," and sighed profoundly, as one hopelessly aggrieved. + +Jessica lost her temper. She forgot that he was ill and remembered +only that he was imputing treachery to her parents and to others whom +she loved, and retorted, warmly: + +"What you have 'said' doesn't make the truth, Senor Bernal. And if you +have anything to tell me I wish you would tell it now. I ought to be +at home with Mr. Sharp, who's come to make us a visit. My mother is +away, and it's rude to leave guests alone like that. I, who want to be +a perfect lady, do hate to be rude. So tell, please, and quick." + +"It was he, then, whom I saw on the road with old Ephraim, yes?" cried +Antonio, in a voice which was certainly much stronger than it had been +when Lady Jess arrived. + +"Yes, it was he. Now begin, please. What first?" + +Neither the man on the bed nor the girl who listened to him so +intently suspected that other ears were as eager to hear this dying +confession. Yet so it was, and Buster's short whinny of welcome had +been a real one. For John, on Moses, and Ninian, on Nimrod, had lost +but little time in riding to the mesa; though because of the +reporter's poor horsemanship, the carpenter felt that they would +really save time by taking the longer level road around by the north, +and not the narrow canyon trail, which was dangerous for the +inexperienced. This had consumed some time, but each felt a thrill of +relief, when they at last arrived, to see Buster calmly nibbling at +the dry herbage near the shepherd's cabin. + +"Where Buster is Jessica is, this time," said the carpenter, softly. +"And I was right. I'd heard of this spook being seen up here, and fool +folks layin' it to poor Old Century. That's why I came. We didn't make +any mistake, did we?" + +Then as they approached nearer to the house and quietly dismounted to +hobble their horses, he added: + +"Let's go up sly. Everything seems terrible still, and I'd like to +take a peek through that back window 'fore we let on we've come." + +Ninian was not so cautious; or, rather, he was more anxious about the +little captain, and protested: + +"How do we know but that this silence means mischief? If he has sent +for her to harm her----" + +"Hark! She's all right. Thank God for that. I can hear her laughing, +and he's a coward. She isn't; and, anyway, he'd think twice 'fore +he hurt a hair of that child's head. Why, man, his life wouldn't be +worth a minute's purchase if he dared! He'd be hunted to his own +destruction so quick you couldn't say 'scat.' Humph! He may be after +mischief--'cause he hasn't been after anything else since Cass'us +died--but he'll keep within bounds. Now, this way. Lucky the grass is +thick; but even so, don't tread too heavy. Right behind that rear +wall, close against the east, is the place to hear all and not be +seen." + +Therefore, as noiselessly and hastily as possible, they placed +themselves within earshot of what was said within the house; and the +story they heard, reduced to simplest facts, was to the effect, as +follows: + +Upon receiving his discharge from legal detention at Los Angeles, +Antonio had felt a homesick longing for his old haunts. He had +returned without telling anybody of his intention and had taken up his +abode at Solano's ranch, where his unfortunate brother and the only +person for whom he still cared was frequently to be found. There the +dwarf had joined him, though rambling away again, from time to time, +on errands of his own of which he neither spoke nor was questioned. + +"Money, money! That's the one thing, the only thing, no! Get money, +Ferd whenever, however, wherever you can and what you get you keep. +Hear me," had been Antonio's constant instruction during all the years +of the hunchback's life; and to the dwarf's limited understanding, his +adored brother typified incarnate wisdom. + +He had anticipated high praise when, one day, he came back to Solano's +and reported his hiding of the little captain in the canyon cave. The +praise was not so ready at first, for Antonio was astute enough to see +whither such a hazardous scheme might lead; but the approbation came +unstained when, later, Ferd again appeared, describing Pedro's +behavior at the time of the rescue and of the curious action of the +ancient staff. Sent back alone to bring fresh specimens of the mineral +Pedro had unearthed, Ferd had suddenly turned stubborn and refused to +go more than halfway. Pedro had died suddenly, and Pedro's ghost would +haunt the spot; no, even Antonio should not compel him thither. He +would do anything, everything else, but go to the canyon cave again he +would not. + +Indeed Antonio now felt that it was hardly necessary he should. The +poor lad's superstition had suggested a better way. With Solano's aid, +the deluded "top-lofty" hatched a notable scheme. He would himself +impersonate Old Century's uneasy spirit, which could not rest because +he had betrayed the secret of the ancient padres. Nero could be made +as white as any ghost horse by the application of a little paint; and +shod with rubber could pass over the sandy roads with almost as little +noise as any spectral steed. It was easy to bribe and terrify two +small boys into securing and restoring to him the pointed wand, even +if by their effort to obtain it they might happen to fall and break +it. That mattered little, however, since the point was all that he +wanted; but it was just as well to have that money he had seen through +the window, that night of his first appearance on Sobrante grounds. +That, too, was easy to get if one watched his opportunity in that +cactus tunnel Ferd had scooped for his brother's convenience. An +unsuspecting, busy household left many chances for entering an +open-windowed room, and who had ever been so familiar as he with the +supposed safety secret place in which the key was kept? With the money +he had found also the bit of copper Pedro had procured; and he knew +enough of mining matters to rejoice, indeed. He had meant to do great +things. He would prosecute his land claim to the uttermost; and there +were plenty of unscrupulous men who would undertake his cause for a +share in the profits of a copper mine. This very mesa would have been +the scene of their first operations. Here the mill would have been +built, and here---- + +"But what the use? The hand of punishment is upon me, yes. The money, +it is there. Ferd shall tell of all the rest that he has put +somewhere, I know not. His poor brain cannot carry out the plan, and +to me it avails no more. Ay de mi! But Solano--beware. Of some things +he knows, and of more he suspects, is it not? Ah! I weary, I languish, +I die, I, Antonio Bernal, heir to wealth so boundless. It was so fine +a plan--so most wonderful and simple. The fools, how they feared! Oh! +the laughter I had! and the wild, rides on my so splendid ghost horse, +yes. But I die--I die; and the great big plan for the copper turned to +gold--I--who else will have the so great intellect, you call it, to +make it real? Well, I have done. The staff I return--useless, save to +me. The money--I cannot carry whither I must ride on the white horse +of death--whiter than--the pity! The pity! Poor Antonio! Poor, poor +Antonio!" + +His long talk had, indeed, wearied him to faintness; but while his own +tears rained down his cheeks in his self-pity, even as Jessica's in +sympathetic sorrow, a cheerful and hearty voice cried through the +window: + +"Don't fret yourself, top-lofty! There's one or two other smart men +left, my friend, to carry out that noble scheme of yours, and my name +ain't John Benton, if they don't do it! More'n that, I'll promise you +a few more years to spend in wickedness, if you like. On one +condition." + +Antonio's eyes almost leaped from his head in amaze at this +interruption and greater amazement at this astounding promise; and +John was swift to press his advantage: + +"I'll save your life--on one condition!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE VERDICT + + +"Benton!" warned Ninian Sharp, aghast at the audacity of a man who +would trifle with the apparent death-hour of any man. + + +"Oh! that's all right. Come around and in with me. I never yet heard a +voice as lusty as that from a dying man, and I've been acquainted with +Senor Bernal some little spell. He's scared nigh to death--it's just +possible--but he ain't sick nor wounded to death, or I'm mistook. Come +in!" + +Jessica met him at the door, and impulsively threw her arms about them +at her relief in their presence. She had not been afraid of anything +which could harm herself, but she had believed the man's own statement +that he was dying, and his suffering had been evidently intense at +times. She had been saddened and awe-stricken, and she now shared +Ninian's indignation at the carpenter's apparently heartless promise. +How was it possible for him to bestow life where death had set its +seal? + +Nothing abashed by the reproachful looks cast upon him, John walked +straight to the bed and demanded, in the most ordinary tone: + +"Where you hurt, neighbor?" + +Antonio caught at the straw the ranchman seemed to extend, and feebly +pointed to the wound in his back. + +What followed astonished Ninian far more than it did Jessica, who knew +the carpenter's ways. As tenderly, perhaps, because of his greater +strength, the old man lifted the injured one and critically examined +his wound; his face growing graver as he did so, yet not losing its +expression of confidence and decision. When the examination was over, +he replaced Antonio on the hard pillow, which had been Pedro's one +luxury, and quietly replied to the poor fellow's unspoken question, +burning in his great dark eyes: + +"It's a bad job, my son. A mighty bad job, and a sneaky one. I've seen +such before in my time, and they didn't mean death. To some folks, +though, they meant what was worse." + +Nobody would now have recognized the voice which uttered this dictum, +it had become so infinitely compassionate and gentle. + +Antonio caught one meaning only: "I will not die? I need not die? It +is you who will save me, yes? O'santos Dios!" + +He had half risen from the bed, but now sank back, exhausted by the +shock of emotion as well as by the physical effort; and Jessica sprang +forward, terrified by the sudden pallor of his swarthy face. But John +put her quietly aside and himself placed a flask to Antonio's lips, +saying: + +"You've done your part well, my noble little captain, and you've done +me proud. It's my place now." + +The senor soon rallied, and again fixed his eyes imploringly on +Benton's face, as he sat on the edge of the bed beside him. + +"Yes, top-lofty, I promise to help you. But first you must help +yourself. You must pledge your word, the word of a dying man, that he +dare not break. You will restore everything that you have taken from +the mistress of Sobrante--or anybody else--so far as it will hereafter +be in your power; you shall compel your Brother Ferd to guide a party +of prospectors to that secret spot in the canyon where that piece of +copper came from; and you shall do all that it is possible to do for +the good, and not the evil, of your neighbors. That all clear?" + +"But, yes, yes!" whispered Antonio, frantically. "Haste! Oh, haste!" + +"I'm a-hasting, but I ain't a-hurrin'. Which is a good thing for you, +'cause so I can think this thing over. That ball in your back will +have to come out. I've taken some from folks myself, once or twice, +but this one is in a ticklish place. A doctor is what we want, and the +nearest one is ten miles away on Kimball's ranch. He'd rather potter +with his roses than other folks' bullets, and I'll have a tough piece +of work to drag him up here, especially to see--you." + +With an impressive emphasis on the word "you" John paused, and waited +some rejoinder. None came, and though Jessica again exclaimed against +the carpenter's contemptuous tone, Antonio neither resented it, nor +felt it undeserved. Then Benton continued: + +"Sharp, here, is a writin' fellow, and knows what's what every time. +In the jerk of a lamb's tail he'll draw up a paper which'll explain +what you promise, and you've got strength enough to sign your name to +it. The minute you do that I'm off for Kimball, and I'll fetch him up +here fast as horses can travel--if I have to carry him on my back!" + +"Quick! The paper! I sign--I live!" + +"Quick" it was, and though Ninian was no lawyer, he was always well +provided with pads and fountain pens. Also, he was clever enough to +use the longest and most impressive words wherever possible, and thus +convinced the senor that the document sounded legally important. +Indeed, the injured manager could scarcely wait to affix his +signature, so eager was he that John should be off on his errand of +salvation. + +An hour later the padre came, and Jessica led Ninian away, that the +pair might have the cottage to themselves. Then, when this visitation +was over, the good man lingered, that he might hear for himself the +doctor's opinion when he should arrive. He, too, had listened to +another confession from the truly repentant Antonio; but there was +still a sacred office to perform if this awaited opinion should be for +death, not life. But he had ridden far, and was tired, having come +directly from his own church service at the distant mission, and +Jessica's hospitality could not endure to see the look of weariness on +the old man's kindly face. + +"Beg pardon, Fra Sebastian, but would you like a cup of coffee?" + +"Ah! my daughter, would I like the impossible? But, yes, I am +famished, indeed, for the good dinner of Marta, my housekeeper," he +answered, with a shrug of his plump shoulders. + +"Well, father, I cannot give you a dinner, but I can make you a pot of +fresh coffee; and in Pedro's little storeroom are cans of meat, and +beans and biscuit. Oh! I tell you! I'll bring the plates out +here--there are two whole ones--and dear Mr. Sharp and you shall have +a picnic." + +Already, with the light-heartedness of childhood, she had almost +forgotten the sorrowful errand upon which she had come to the mesa. +Besides, to her, a thing that was possible was, also, probable, and +John would never have raised false hopes in Antonio's breast. She was +sure of that, and already the senor's recovery a matter of but a +little while. Moreover, to serve others was her dearest happiness, and +though Fra Sebastian's faith was different from her parents', she had +been trained to know all good people as the children of God. And he +was especially such, for his benefactions and self-sacrifices were +widespread, and he had been an honored guest at her father's table. + +"Oh! I am so happy to do anything for so holy a man, and I am so +glad--so glad we came!" she whispered to Ninian, tripping away to +relight the little stove and fill her kettle afresh. + +"But I must be allowed to help, too, my captain," he returned, eagerly +entering into the altered spirit of things; and so merry were they +over their preparations, so gay and bright the reverend guest became, +that Antonio was helped over his own tedious time of waiting, and +scarce knew how the time passed before John's return. + +This was sooner than could have been anticipated. The physician was +already halfway on the road, intending a neighborly call at Sobrante, +when the carpenter met and literally collared him. + +"Come you must, Dr. Kimball. I shan't take 'no' for an answer," was +the decisive retort to the rose-grower's prompt refusal. + +"I shall do nothing of the sort. I'm not a practicing physician now, +and I never was a surgeon. As for that scalawag, Bernal, if he's got +himself shot, he's met exactly what he deserved. Giddap!" he cried, to +his horse, and was dashing past, just as John's long arm reached out +and clutched the ranchman's coat. + +"It isn't so much for him as for our Lady Jess. You're not in such a +tearin' hurry, neighbor, and if you are--well, just let your hurry +wait." + +Whereupon, in a few brief, telling sentences, Dr. Kimball was put in +possession of the facts Antonio had revealed, and had wheeled his +horse about, with a whimsical snarl: + +"Well, forge ahead. For anybody named Trent I'd break my own +resolutions a dozen times a day." + +It is probable that the kind-hearted man would have gone anyway, even +if he had ridden some miles still farther on an opposite road. The +knowledge that somebody was suffering and needing him was an appeal to +his professional instinct he would scarcely have resisted, but he had +to make a protest first. + +All merriment ceased when he entered the cabin on the mesa, and +Jessica instinctively sought the reporter's hand, needing his sympathy +during the anxious few minutes that ensued upon the doctor's arrival. +Fra Sebastian and John had followed the surgeon indoors, but Ferd, who +had brought the priest to the upland, still remained within the +deserted fold, whither he had retreated as soon as his errand was +accomplished. To him death of any sort, even that of an animal brought +a horrible fear, and nothing would induce him to leave his shelter; +till, when the conference was over, Jessica ran to him, exclaiming: + +"Cheer up, Ferd! Oh, Ferd! He's going to live, though, maybe--maybe he +will never walk again. Come and see him, Ferd. He wants you. He needs +you." + +The dwarf came reluctantly, still adoring his brother and still +shrinking from him and the sight of his agony. The examination had +been painful, of course; and the condition upon which life might still +remain a bitter one. However, it was--life! And to Antonio, at that +present moment, that was all he craved. + +"We must make a litter or stretcher and take him to the valley. He +will need the closest care and watching. He couldn't stay up here, and +have a single chance of recovery. Let's see, there are five men of us, +counting the dwarf. We'll have to walk with the stretcher, and he +shall lead the horses, all but Buster, whom Jessica can ride. One at a +time he'll 'spell' us, and the one released will take his place at the +beasts," was the doctor's decision. + +So it was done. A blanket was speedily fastened about two poles drawn +from the corral, and over these Pedro's hard mattress was laid; and +thus, placed as comfortably upon it as might be, Antonio was once more +conveyed to his old home at Sobrante. + +And there, that Sunday night, was wild rejoicing and much speculation +concerning the outcome of his confession. + +"Sharp's the man to put the thing in trim. He's the very chap! He +knows all about minerals, and he says that this copper we've struck is +the very purest article he ever saw! Hurray! Hurray! Three cheers and +a tiger for the Sobrante Copper Mine!" shouted the hilarious Marty. + +Meanwhile, there had been short but heated discussion among her loyal +henchmen as to whether Mrs. Trent should be forced to receive and care +for, under her immediate roof, a man who had done her so much injury; +and the decision had been unanimous: "No!" + +Even John, who had helped to bring him thither, joined his voice to +this assertion; and to the next question propounded, as to who would +attend him and where, had as loudly answered: "I don't know." + +Temporarily, the senor was resting in the household sitting-room, but +it was evident should not long remain there. + +"Where then? Hate him as we may, we can't let him die on our hands," +said Samson, looking as black as he could. + +"Don't you fret yourselves, 'boys,'" said a cheerful voice near the +group. "Mr. Ma'sh and me, or me and Mr. Ma'sh--for I had to put it to +him pretty plain, 'fore he'd seed it right--me and him will take that +misguided creatur' into our hands, and----" + +"May the Lord have mercy on his soul!" ejaculated Marty, fervently. + +"Me and Ephraim will 'tend him, turn and turn about," continued Mrs. +Benton, ignorant of Marty's irreverent remark. "He's to be put into +Mr. Ma'sh's room at the quarters, and I'll take this first night's +job. I shall begin it with a dose of picra, and the first page of the +Westminster catechism; and if that don't put him in good shape for the +doctor and Ephraim, in the morning, my name ain't Sally Benton, nor +never was. The doctor, he's rode home for his instruments and such, +and hopes to get the bullet out in the course of time. But it's my +opinion, and his, too, I reckon, 'cause he didn't deny it when I put +the question plain, it's our opinion that Antonio Bernal will never +walk another step in his life. But he'll live. He'll live everlastin'. +Them old Californy folks always do. He'll simply be paralyzed from his +waist down." + +Despite their antipathy to him, a thrill of pity ran through every one +who heard her; and to most of those stalwart men it seemed that this +was a punishment they could not have endured. Death would have been +far preferable to them. + +So it befell that the late manager's fate was in the hands of his +enemies, so to speak; and while Mrs. Benton and "Forty-niner" would +faithfully perform their duty toward him, they elected to do it along +lines of their own. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +CONCLUSION + + +Events crowded one another at Sobrante. + +Under the compulsion of his brother's will, so soon as that brother +was able to think of anything beyond his own suffering, Ferd led a +party of the ranchmen, with Ninian Sharp at their head, to the canyon +cave and the pit where the little captain had been imprisoned. They +shuddered as they beheld it; yet could but rejoice that Old Century +had sought her there, and had, so opportunely, revealed its precious +secret. They also took good care to blaze their path as they went, for +it was most intricate and bewildering. They had the curiosity to test +the powers of the wonderful staff, which John had carefully fitted +with a new top, and were amazed at its curious behavior, as it +zigzagged over the floor of the almost unsupported. Whatever the +metal, or compound of metals, on the point, it was certainly attracted +by, and indicated the presence of, copper in the earth beneath. + +Returning to the house after this trip of exploration, Marty was +promptly mounted upon the "ghost horse" Nero, and sent to Marion with +telegrams for Ninian's expert friends in Los Angeles, and to bring +back the mail. The unhappy animal had been treated to a liberal bath +of gasoline and soap suds, and had come out of it a sort of mongrel; +but with the phosphorus gone from about his eyes and face, and with a +reasonable prospect that he might some day be restored to his +original ebony hue. Yet his spirit seemed broken, as if he had felt +the disgrace of the part he had been forced to play in the late +escapades of Antonio and his fellow-conspirators. + +"It's what one might call the irony of fate that the man who caused +the death of Comanche should thus be forced to supply Comanche's place +with his own beloved Nero," commented the reporter, as the messenger +rode away. + +"Yes. Things generally do even up in this world, if a body has +patience to wait a spell," answered Samson. "And though I've no love +for him, and wouldn't trust him across this plaza, without watchin', I +can't help pitying poor 'top-lofty,' and thinking he was more fool +than knave. The idee! Them plans and performances of his savor more of +the 'middle ages,' that I've heard about, than of these days. But it +just takes my breath away to think of what Sobrante will be, some +time, if that 'find' in the canyon turns out what we imagine. Why--but +there! No use talking. Wait and see. How long you think before you get +an answer back from the town, tellin' what your friend'll do?" + +"Oh! I expect Marty will bring that answer. He's to wait an hour or +two, you know, and give a chance. If Cornell--that's the expert's +name--is in the city, he'll probably come himself by the evening +train. In that case, you and I might drive over to meet him." + +"Wh-e-w!" ejaculated the ex-sailor, astonished. "You newspaper fellows +beat the world for hustling, don't you? So quick as that? H'm! If you +fly as much sail as that so sudden, looks like we'd reach port ahead +of time." + +"When a thing's to be done--why, do it! If there's copper enough to +pay for mining, why--mine it," answered the other, coolly. + +"Young man, mining costs money. Talkin' is cheap," retorted Samson, +sententiously. + +"Of course. One must put in a little capital if one expects to get +results, in any business. The money will be found easily enough. Trust +me to see to that. Or my friends and me." + +Already the journalist was as eager as possible on this new matter. +His brief rest had restored his overtaxed nerves, and he was more than +ready to push any enterprise that commended itself to his keen +judgment. Now, all depended upon the expert's arrival at the ranch. He +would then be taken in person to examine the discovered vein, and on +his opinion great affairs would depend. Yet Ninian felt that even if +Henry Cornell's opinion was averse, he should not let the subject rest +there. He would consult with others. Mrs. Trent's interests must be +forwarded to the utmost, and no possible chance of her realizing a +fortune lost through any lukewarmness of his own. + +Marty duly returned. He brought the expected message from the great +expert, and that gentleman would arrive at Marion by that very +evening's train. He brought, as well, several letters for the ranch +mistress, and these Jessica joyously carried to her as she sat quietly +sewing. Most of them were business communications, which were promptly +read and laid aside, to be answered at once; but there was one which +the mother dropped in her workbasket unopened, though it was the +thickest and plumpest of the lot, and, also, bore the postmark "New +York." In ordinary, all New York mail was the most eagerly read of +all that came; and this fact caused Jessica to exclaim: + +"Why, mother, dear! Why don't you read it? Or are you like me when I +have something extra nice for dinner, leaving it to by and by?" + +"Yes, darling, I'm leaving it--a while. It will keep. I know what is +in it, or nearly so. It's not the first of the sort has come lately, +and I'll have courage soon." + +"Courage, mother? Do you need courage to read your letters? What harm +can come to us now, out of that far away city? My father's name is +cleared, we owe nobody, we--why, we may be going to be very, very +rich, if things turn out as Mr. Ninian thinks they will turn out, +and----Oh, dear! I'm not saying it very clear, only seems to me we +ought to be perfectly, perfectly happy now; and if there's anything +bad in the letter, please give it to me, and let me burn it up right +away." + +For answer, the mother caught her daughter close within her arms, +kissed her passionately, and asked: + +"Oh, little captain! If you go so far from me, how shall I live?" + +"I--go so far--from you!" repeated Lady Jess, in utter astonishment. +"Why, what can you mean?" + +Mrs. Trent recovered her composure, even smiled--if not very +gayly--and answered, tenderly: "Whatever come, my sunshine, remember +that, of all things, your mother desires your welfare before her own. +But more than that I cannot tell you now. So, run to Aunt Sally, dear, +and ask if she can be spared from her nursing a few hours. I think one +of the other men will relieve Ephraim, if he is tired, in waiting upon +Antonio. I want she should help me get up an extra fine supper for Mr. +Ninian's friend. Ah! my child, how much we owe to that young man's +goodness and enterprise!" + +"Indeed, indeed, we do. But seems to me we do nothing but cook here, +nowadays. It's always company, isn't it?" + +"And glad I am of that. So long as the larder has anything in it, I +love to share it with--friends. Not strangers, who do not care, but +with anybody else, the best we have. If a luxury well; and if but a +crust, still well. Now--to Aunt Sally." + +Jessica guessed that as soon as she was out of sight the disagreeable +letter from the other side of the continent would be promptly read, +and wondered not a little concerning its contents. And she was right. +Mrs. Trent had barely finished its perusal, when Mrs. Benton appeared, +but from her the mother had nothing to hide. She looked up quietly, +and said: + +"Another more urgent entreaty from old Cousin Margaret. She puts the +matter so strongly as my duty that I'm compelled to acknowledge she +is--may be--right." + +"Humph! She's been wrong enough, sometimes," returned Aunt Sally, +peevishly. "That's when she got angry with you for marrying Cass'us." + +"That was mostly from indignation at losing me, her one loved +relative. There could never have been a kinder guardian----" + +"Nor a queerer, as I've gathered from your own talk. I never saw +Margaret Dalrymple, and I never want to. Anyhow, nothin' can be done +at present; but I've brought one comfortin' word across from the +quarters with me, Gabriella." + +"What's that, Aunt Sally? Is Antonio better?" + +"Oh! bother Antonio. He'll get well, of course. That kind always does. +Of that I never had a misdoubt. The word is this, and I begin to think +that old Fra Sebastian may be a real Christian, after all. He not only +offers, but he says it must be this way: As soon as 'top-lofty' can be +safely moved, he wants him to the sannytarium to his mission. Him and +Ferd, the dwarf, likewise. He says them old Californys all belong to +him, and he will look after them. Antonio is to be in the sanny-house, +and Ferd is to be put into the mission school. Though he's a man in +years, he's a child in learning--'cept evil. So Fra proposes to oust +the evil if he can--I wager he'll find he's got a job--and put in +good. He'll make Antonio earn his keep a-writin' up the books and +accounts, for, with all his silliness, he's a master hand at +figurin'--for himself. So that settles them, and don't you dast say no +to the arrangement when it's perposed to you, Gabriella Trent, or I'll +never let you hear the last of it. It's the Lord's own way of +disposing things, and a better one than I could cipher out, if I do +say it." + +Certainly Mrs. Trent had no objection to make to so comfortable a +settlement of a perplexing question; and in due time the Bernals left +Sobrante forever; and of their lives at the mission those whom they +had known so long were henceforth to hear little, "and care less," +according to the satisfied ranchmen. + +Mr. Cornell, the expert, came, inspected, reserved his opinion, and +departed; but Ninian Sharp had gathered enough from the visitor's few +sentences, idly dropped, to feel quite convinced that the thing was +worth carrying farther. So he, too, left Sobrante; but, after a brief +sojourn in Los Angeles, reappeared, in company with Morris Hale and a +trio of prospectors, representing much capital. All this was very +exciting to the simple household; and Mrs. Trent, at least, felt +infinite relief when, on the eve of Navidad, there were left in it +only those two strangers, who had now become less strangers than +familiar friends. + +Gathered about the fireside, which the first of the rainy nights made +doubly enticing, the New York lawyer discussed at length the decision +which the prospectors had made. They considered the mine well worth +working. "In fact, I have reason to believe it will turn out one of +the richest in the whole country. They are willing to advance all +money needed upon certain conditions," and he named them. + +These seemed extremely liberal and just to both sides, but Mrs. Trent +did not greatly surprise her listeners when she quietly interposed a +clause to the effect that: + +"My husband believed in profit-sharing. It was his ambition to put +Sobrante and its various interests into such an operation. I want all +our 'boys' to enjoy the benefits of that which God has given us. They +will contribute their labor and share in its results; share richly if +I can have my will." + +"Your will is doubtless law, madam," answered Mr. Hale, courteously. + +"And if the mine is worked, I want our dear friend, Ninian Sharp, to +come here and act as its manager, on behalf of the Sobrante side. +He"--she raised her hand gently, as he started to interrupt--"he must +be paid a much larger salary than he could earn upon the staff of the +Lancet, and would have, I hope, sufficient leisure time to use his pen +in other literary work, such as he tells me he has never had the +chance to do." + +For the first time in his life, maybe, the alert reporter was taken +off guard, and hadn't a word to say, except the very ordinary one of +"Thank you"; but he said it, bending over the lady's hand, and with +such an expression of delight upon his thin, intellectual face, that +no greater eloquence was needed. + +"And now," said Aunt Sally, "it's time to begin that there decorating +which Gabriell' thinks is a part of Christmas. Pasqually's been real +good. He's been up to the dreen, where you planted them calla lilies, +Jessie, and he's fetched a good many bushels. Seven hundred, I guess +he said. And he's cut poinsetty enough to turn us blind with its +redness; and my boy, John, hitched up and went along under the flume +and druv his pushcart back full of the biggest maidenhair ferns and +sweet brakes I ever see. So now, youngsters, set to and trim. Then +we'll hang up our stockings, every one; and I'll give you the nicest +Christmas dinner can be cooked, if I have to cuff Wun Lungy into +basting them turkeys as they ought to be basted. Come, Neddy; come, +little Echo; I saw Santy Claus' wife--that's me, shove a pan full of +gingerbread men into the wall oven, and if they're done, I'll give +each of you a soldier of dough to drive you to bed. Stockings first? +Of course, of course. Why, what would Christmas be without its +stockings? Here's a brand-new pair auntie's knit for you, one a piece; +and if you don't find 'em stuffed with rods in the morning, it won't +be because you don't deserve it, you precious, precious, naughty +little lambs!" + +Off went the good creature, a boy on either arm, her patchwork +streaming behind her, her spectacles on the top of her head, and her +ruddy countenance as beaming as if she were, indeed, that mythical +person--Santa Claus' wife. + +Oh! what a Christmas followed! With everybody from far and near who +had any claim upon Sobrante hastening thither to share its open +hospitalities; Wolfgang and Elsa, with their "little" six-foot son; +the genial McLeods, Dr. Kimball and his sweet-faced invalid sister, +Louise, for whose benefit he had left their fine Boston home to live +in this lonely, lovely southland. These, and many more, not only came, +but did such justice to Mrs. Benton's and Wan Lung's cookery that, as +she said, next morning: + +"Land suz! There ain't scraps enough left to make a decent soup, even! +But never mind, we had a royal time, every single soul of us. +Christmas is over, and I'm glad it's so well over. Now, we can settle +down and rest a spell." + +Indeed, there was rest for the household itself, but for Ninian Sharp +and his coadjutors. The mining scheme was rapidly put into practical +operation; Mr. Hale lingering all that winter to further its +interests, and to enjoy what he had coveted early in his acquaintance +with it, a few months of ranch life at ideal Sobrante. + +Then came the glorious springtime, when the mesa was alive with +flowers; the canyon was fragrant with perfume, and the whole +countryside became an earthly paradise. The springtime, when the +Easterner could no longer delay his homeward trip, nor Mrs. Trent the +revelation of what her New York letters had contained, though Jessica +had almost forgotten them. + +One week before the lawyer was to leave them, mother and child sat, +hand in hand, beside the father's grave, whither the widow had +purposely withdrawn, as if the precious dust within might still +support and counsel her. Taking the little captain's hand in hers, +and speaking as calmly as if her heart were not desperately sad, she +said: + +"My darling, when Mr. Hale goes home to New York you will go with +him." + +"Mother! Oh! Why?" + +"Because it is right. My Cousin Margaret, whose letters you have seen +me read, sometimes with ungrateful tears, offers you a home and an +education. She was a mother to me in my youth, and I owe her much. Now +that she is old and desolate, she begs for you. It may be that I +should still have declined to please her at so much pain to--us, but +the discovery of this copper mine of ours, and the fact that you will +one day be one of America's richest daughters, forces me to comply." + +"But, why, mother? Why should that matter? I'd rather give it up. Say +no! Oh, please, say no!" + +"I cannot now. I dare not. Upon your dear shoulders will rest a great +trust and responsibility. You must be fitted to discharge that trust +by the best education possible. This education you cannot gain here. +You must seek it elsewhere. We must not make it harder for each other, +this bitter parting, but we must bear it bravely for--father's sake." + +Thus ended Jessica's early childhood; and of what befell her in that +widely different life at school it must be left to another volume to +relate. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESSICA, THE HEIRESS*** + + +******* This file should be named 30074.txt or 30074.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/0/7/30074 + + + +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. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/30074.zip b/old/30074.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d16024 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30074.zip |