diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/30074.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30074.txt | 7027 |
1 files changed, 7027 insertions, 0 deletions
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. + |