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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Richard Fane. + + + + + +</pre> + +<br> +<br> +<h2>The Man of the Forest</h2> + +<h3>Grey, Zane</h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p><strong><em>The Man of the Forest</em></strong><br> +<br> +<strong>Zane Grey</strong><br> +Harper and Brothers<br> +New York<br> +1920<br> +<strong>Published: 1919</strong><br> +<br> +<br> +The<br> +MAN OF THE FOREST<br> +<br> +<br> +</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">THE MAN OF THE FOREST</p> + +<h3 align="CENTER">CHAPTER I</h3> + +<p>At sunset hour the forest was still, lonely, sweet with tang +of fir and spruce, blazing in gold and red and green; and the man +who glided on under the great trees seemed to blend with the +colors and, disappearing, to have become a part of the wild +woodland.</p> + +<p>Old Baldy, highest of the White Mountains, stood up round and +bare, rimmed bright gold in the last glow of the setting sun. +Then, as the fire dropped behind the domed peak, a change, a cold +and darkening blight, passed down the black spear-pointed slopes +over all that mountain world.</p> + +<p>It was a wild, richly timbered, and abundantly watered region +of dark forests and grassy parks, ten thousand feet above +sea-level, isolated on all sides by the southern Arizona desert +-- the virgin home of elk and deer, of bear and lion, of wolf and +fox, and the birthplace as well as the hiding-place of the fierce +Apache.</p> + +<p>September in that latitude was marked by the sudden cool night +breeze following shortly after sundown. Twilight appeared to come +on its wings, as did faint sounds, not distinguishable before in +the stillness.</p> + +<p>Milt Dale, man of the forest, halted at the edge of a timbered +ridge, to listen and to watch. Beneath him lay a narrow valley, +open and grassy, from which rose a faint murmur of running water. +Its music was pierced by the wild staccato yelp of a hunting +coyote. From overhead in the giant fir came a twittering and +rustling of grouse settling for the night; and from across the +valley drifted the last low calls of wild turkeys going to +roost.</p> + +<p>To Dale's keen ear these sounds were all they should have +been, betokening an unchanged serenity of forestland. He was +glad, for he had expected to hear the clipclop of white men's +horses -- which to hear up in those fastnesses was hateful to +him. He and the Indian were friends. That fierce foe had no +enmity toward the lone hunter. But there hid somewhere in the +forest a gang of bad men, sheep-thieves, whom Dale did not want +to meet.</p> + +<p>As he started out upon the slope, a sudden flaring of the +afterglow of sunset flooded down from Old Baldy, filling the +valley with lights and shadows, yellow and blue, like the +radiance of the sky. The pools in the curves of the brook shone +darkly bright. Dale's gaze swept up and down the valley, and then +tried to pierce the black shadows across the brook where the wall +of spruce stood up, its speared and spiked crest against the pale +clouds. The wind began to moan in the trees and there was a +feeling of rain in the air. Dale, striking a trail, turned his +back to the fading afterglow and strode down the valley.</p> + +<p>With night at hand and a rain-storm brewing, he did not head +for his own camp, some miles distant, but directed his steps +toward an old log cabin. When he reached it darkness had almost +set in. He approached with caution. This cabin, like the few +others scattered in the valleys, might harbor Indians or a bear +or a panther. Nothing, however, appeared to be there. Then Dale +studied the clouds driving across the sky, and he felt the cool +dampness of a fine, misty rain on his face. It would rain off and +on during the night. Whereupon he entered the cabin.</p> + +<p>And the next moment he heard quick hoof-beats of trotting +horses. Peering out, he saw dim, moving forms in the darkness, +quite close at hand. They had approached against the wind so that +sound had been deadened. Five horses with riders, Dale made out +-- saw them loom close. Then he heard rough voices. Quickly he +turned to feel in the dark for a ladder he knew led to a loft; +and finding it, he quickly mounted, taking care not to make a +noise with his rifle, and lay down upon the floor of brush and +poles. Scarcely had he done so when heavy steps, with +accompaniment of clinking spurs, passed through the door below +into the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Beasley, are you here?" queried a loud voice.</p> + +<p>There was no reply. The man below growled under his breath, +and again the spurs jingled.</p> + +<p>"Fellars, Beasley ain't here yet," he called. "Put the hosses +under the shed. We'll wait."</p> + +<p>"Wait, huh!" came a harsh reply. "Mebbe all night -- an' we +got nuthin' to eat."</p> + +<p>"Shut up, Moze. Reckon you're no good for anythin' but eatin'. +Put them hosses away an' some of you rustle fire-wood in +here."</p> + +<p>Low, muttered curses, then mingled with dull thuds of hoofs +and strain of leather and heaves of tired horses.</p> + +<p>Another shuffling, clinking footstep entered the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Snake, it'd been sense to fetch a pack along," drawled this +newcomer.</p> + +<p>"Reckon so, Jim. But we didn't, an' what's the use hollerin'? +Beasley won't keep us waitin' long."</p> + +<p>Dale, lying still and prone, felt a slow start in all his +blood -- a thrilling wave. That deep-voiced man below was Snake +Anson, the worst and most dangerous character of the region; and +the others, undoubtedly, composed his gang, long notorious in +that sparsely settled country. And the Beasley mentioned -- he was +one of the two biggest ranchers and sheep-raisers of the White +Mountain ranges. What was the meaning of a rendezvous between +Snake Anson and Beasley? Milt Dale answered that question to +Beasley's discredit; and many strange matters pertaining to sheep +and herders, always a mystery to the little village of Pine, now +became as clear as daylight.</p> + +<p>Other men entered the cabin.</p> + +<p>"It ain't a-goin' to rain much," said one. Then came a crash +of wood thrown to the ground.</p> + +<p>"Jim, hyar's a chunk of pine log, dry as punk," said +another.</p> + +<p>Rustlings and slow footsteps, and then heavy thuds attested to +the probability that Jim was knocking the end of a log upon the +ground to split off a corner whereby a handful of dry splinters +could be procured.</p> + +<p>"Snake, lemme your pipe, an' I'll hev a fire in a jiffy."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I want my terbacco an' I ain't carin' about no fire," +replied Snake.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you're the meanest cuss in these woods," drawled +Jim.</p> + +<p>Sharp click of steel on flint -- many times -- and then a +sound of hard blowing and sputtering told of Jim's efforts to +start a fire. Presently the pitchy blackness of the cabin +changed; there came a little crackling of wood and the rustle of +flame, and then a steady growing roar.</p> + +<p>As it chanced, Dale lay face down upon the floor of the loft, +and right near his eyes there were cracks between the boughs. +When the fire blazed up he was fairly well able to see the men +below. The only one he had ever seen was Jim Wilson, who had been +well known at Pine before Snake Anson had ever been heard of. Jim +was the best of a bad lot, and he had friends among the honest +people. It was rumored that he and Snake did not pull well +together.</p> + +<p>"Fire feels good," said the burly Moze, who appeared as broad +as he was black-visaged. "Fall's sure a-comin'. . . Now if only +we had some grub!"</p> + +<p>"Moze, there's a hunk of deer meat in my saddle-bag, an' if +you git it you can have half," spoke up another voice.</p> + +<p>Moze shuffled out with alacrity.</p> + +<p>In the firelight Snake Anson's face looked lean and +serpent-like, his eyes glittered, and his long neck and all of +his long length carried out the analogy of his name.</p> + +<p>"Snake, what's this here deal with Beasley?" inquired Jim.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you'll l'arn when I do," replied the leader. He +appeared tired and thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"Ain't we done away with enough of them poor greaser herders +-- for nothin'?" queried the youngest of the gang, a boy in +years, whose hard, bitter lips and hungry eyes somehow set him +apart from his comrades.</p> + +<p>"You're dead right, Burt -- an' that's my stand," replied the +man who had sent Moze out. "Snake, snow 'll be flyin' round these +woods before long," said Jim Wilson. "Are we goin' to winter down +in the Tonto Basin or over on the Gila?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon we'll do some tall ridin' before we strike south," +replied Snake, gruffly.</p> + +<p>At the juncture Moze returned.</p> + +<p>"Boss, I heerd a hoss comin' up the trail," he said.</p> + +<p>Snake rose and stood at the door, listening. Outside the wind +moaned fitfully and scattering raindrops pattered upon the +cabin.</p> + +<p>"A-huh!" exclaimed Snake, in relief.</p> + +<p>Silence ensued then for a moment, at the end of which interval +Dale heard a rapid clip-clop on the rocky trail outside. The men +below shuffled uneasily, but none of them spoke. The fire cracked +cheerily. Snake Anson stepped back from before the door with an +action that expressed both doubt and caution.</p> + +<p>The trotting horse had halted out there somewhere.</p> + +<p>"Ho there, inside!" called a voice from the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Ho yourself!" replied Anson.</p> + +<p>"That you, Snake?" quickly followed the query.</p> + +<p>"Reckon so," returned Anson, showing himself.</p> + +<p>The newcomer entered. He was a large man, wearing a slicker +that shone wet in the firelight. His sombrero, pulled well down, +shadowed his face, so that the upper half of his features might +as well have been masked. He had a black, drooping mustache, and +a chin like a rock. A potential force, matured and powerful, +seemed to be wrapped in his movements.</p> + +<p>"Hullo, Snake! Hullo, Wilson!" he said. "I've backed out on +the other deal. Sent for you on -- on another little matter ... +particular private."</p> + +<p>Here he indicated with a significant gesture that Snake's men +were to leave the cabin.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! ejaculated Anson, dubiously. Then he turned abruptly. +Moze, you an' Shady an' Burt go wait outside. Reckon this ain't +the deal I expected.... An' you can saddle the hosses."</p> + +<p>The three members of the gang filed out, all glancing keenly +at the stranger, who had moved back into the shadow.</p> + +<p>"All right now, Beasley," said Anson, low-voiced. "What's your +game? Jim, here, is in on my deals."</p> + +<p>Then Beasley came forward to the fire, stretching his hands to +the blaze.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' to do with sheep," replied he.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I reckoned not," assented the other. "An' say -- +whatever your game is, I ain't likin' the way you kept me waitin' +an' ridin' around. We waited near all day at Big Spring. Then +thet greaser rode up an' sent us here. We're a long way from camp +with no grub an' no blankets."</p> + +<p>"I won't keep you long," said Beasley. "But even if I did +you'd not mind -- when I tell you this deal concerns Al +Auchincloss -- the man who made an outlaw of you!"</p> + +<p>Anson's sudden action then seemed a leap of his whole frame. +Wilson, likewise, bent forward eagerly. Beasley glanced at the +door -- then began to whisper.</p> + +<p>"Old Auchincloss is on his last legs. He's goin' to croak. +He's sent back to Missouri for a niece -- a young girl -- an' he +means to leave his ranches an' sheep -- all his stock to her. +Seems he has no one else. . . . Them ranches -- an' all them +sheep an' hosses! You know me an' Al were pardners in +sheep-raisin' for years. He swore I cheated him an' he threw me +out. An' all these years I've been swearin' he did me dirt -- +owed me sheep an' money. I've got as many friends in Pine -- an' +all the way down the trail -- as Auchincloss has. . . . An' +Snake, see here --"</p> + +<p>He paused to draw a deep breath and his big hands trembled +over the blaze. Anson leaned forward, like a serpent ready to +strike, and Jim Wilson was as tense with his divination of the +plot at hand.</p> + +<p>"See here," panted Beasley. "The girl's due to arrive at +Magdalena on the sixteenth. That's a week from to-morrow. She'll +take the stage to Snowdrop, where some of Auchincloss's men will +meet her with a team."</p> + +<p>"A-huh!" grunted Anson as Beasley halted again. "An' what of +all thet?"</p> + +<p>"She mustn't never get as far as Snowdrop!"</p> + +<p>"You want me to hold up the stage -- an' get the girl?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"Wal -- an' what then?"</p> + +<p>"Make off with her. . . . She disappears. That's your affair. . +. . I'll press my claims on Auchincloss -- hound him -- an' be +ready when he croaks to take over his property. Then the girl can +come back, for all I care. . . . You an' Wilson fix up the deal +between you. If you have to let the gang in on it don't give them +any hunch as to who an' what. This 'll make you a rich stake. An' +providin', when it's paid, you strike for new territory."</p> + +<p>"Thet might be wise," muttered Snake Anson. "Beasley, the weak +point in your game is the uncertainty of life. Old Al is tough. +He may fool you."</p> + +<p>"Auchincloss is a dyin' man," declared Beasley, with such +positiveness that it could not be doubted.</p> + +<p>"Wal, he sure wasn't plumb hearty when I last seen him. . . . +Beasley, in case I play your game -- how'm I to know that +girl?"</p> + +<p>"Her name's Helen Rayner," replied Beasley, eagerly. "She's +twenty years old. All of them Auchinclosses was handsome an' they +say she's the handsomest."</p> + +<p>"A-huh! . . . Beasley, this 's sure a bigger deal -- an' one I +ain't fancyin'. . . . But I never doubted your word. . . . Come +on -- an' talk out. What's in it for me?"</p> + +<p>"Don't let any one in on this. You two can hold up the stage. +Why, it was never held up. . . . But you want to mask. . . . How +about ten thousand sheep -- or what they bring at Phenix in +gold?"</p> + +<p>Jim Wilson whistled low.</p> + +<p>"An' leave for new territory?" repeated Snake Anson, under his +breath.</p> + +<p>"You've said it."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I ain't fancyin' the girl end of this deal, but you can +count on me. . . . September sixteenth at Magdalena -- an' her +name's Helen -- an' she's handsome?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. My herders will begin drivin' south in about two weeks. +Later, if the weather holds good, send me word by one of them an' +I'll meet you."</p> + +<p>Beasley spread his hands once more over the blaze, pulled on +his gloves and pulled down his sombrero, and with an abrupt word +of parting strode out into the night.</p> + +<p>"Jim, what do you make of him?" queried Snake Anson.</p> + +<p>"Pard, he's got us beat two ways for Sunday," replied +Wilson.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! . . . Wal, let's get back to camp." And he led the way +out.</p> + +<p>Low voices drifted into the cabin, then came snorts of horses +and striking hoofs, and after that a steady trot, gradually +ceasing. Once more the moan of wind and soft patter of rain +filled the forest stillness.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER II</p> + +<p>Milt Dale quietly sat up to gaze, with thoughtful eyes, into +the gloom.</p> + +<p>He was thirty years old. As a boy of fourteen he had run off +from his school and home in Iowa and, joining a wagon-train of +pioneers, he was one of the first to see log cabins built on the +slopes of the White Mountains. But he had not taken kindly to +farming or sheep-raising or monotonous home toil, and for twelve +years he had lived in the forest, with only infrequent visits to +Pine and Show Down and Snowdrop. This wandering forest life of +his did not indicate that he did not care for the villagers, for +he did care, and he was welcome everywhere, but that he loved +wild life and solitude and beauty with the primitive instinctive +force of a savage.</p> + +<p>And on this night he had stumbled upon a dark plot against the +only one of all the honest white people in that region whom he +could not call a friend.</p> + +<p>"That man Beasley!" he soliloquized. "Beasley -- in cahoots +with Snake Anson! . . . Well, he was right. Al Auchincloss is on +his last legs. Poor old man! When I tell him he'll never believe +<em>me</em>, that's sure!"</p> + +<p>Discovery of the plot meant to Dale that he must hurry down to +Pine.</p> + +<p>"A girl -- Helen Rayner -- twenty years old," he mused. +"Beasley wants her made off with. . . . That means -- worse than +killed!"</p> + +<p>Dale accepted facts of life with that equanimity and fatality +acquired by one long versed in the cruel annals of forest lore. +Bad men worked their evil just as savage wolves relayed a deer. +He had shot wolves for that trick. With men, good or bad, he had +not clashed. Old women and children appealed to him, but he had +never had any interest in girls. The image, then, of this Helen +Rayner came strangely to Dale; and he suddenly realized that he +had meant somehow to circumvent Beasley, not to befriend old Al +Auchincloss, but for the sake of the girl. Probably she was +already on her way West, alone, eager, hopeful of a future home. +How little people guessed what awaited them at a journey's end! +Many trails ended abruptly in the forest -- and only trained +woodsmen could read the tragedy.</p> + +<p>"Strange how I cut across country to-day from Spruce Swamp," +reflected Dale. Circumstances, movements, usually were not +strange to him. His methods and habits were seldom changed by +chance. The matter, then, of his turning off a course out of his +way for no apparent reason, and of his having overheard a plot +singularly involving a young girl, was indeed an adventure to +provoke thought. It provoked more, for Dale grew conscious of an +unfamiliar smoldering heat along his veins. He who had little to +do with the strife of men, and nothing to do with anger, felt his +blood grow hot at the cowardly trap laid for an innocent +girl.</p> + +<p>"Old Al won't listen to me," pondered Dale. "An' even if he +did, he wouldn't believe me. Maybe nobody will. . . . All the +same, Snake Anson won't get that girl."</p> + +<p>With these last words Dale satisfied himself of his own +position, and his pondering ceased. Taking his rifle, he +descended from the loft and peered out of the door. The night had +grown darker, windier, cooler; broken clouds were scudding across +the sky; only a few stars showed; fine rain was blowing from the +northwest; and the forest seemed full of a low, dull roar.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'd better hang up here," he said, and turned to the +fire. The coals were red now. From the depths of his hunting-coat +he procured a little bag of salt and some strips of dried meat. +These strips he laid for a moment on the hot embers, until they +began to sizzle and curl; then with a sharpened stick he removed +them and ate like a hungry hunter grateful for little.</p> + +<p>He sat on a block of wood with his palms spread to the dying +warmth of the fire and his eyes fixed upon the changing, glowing, +golden embers. Outside, the wind continued to rise and the moan +of the forest increased to a roar. Dale felt the comfortable +warmth stealing over him, drowsily lulling; and he heard the +storm-wind in the trees, now like a waterfall, and anon like a +retreating army, and again low and sad; and he saw pictures in +the glowing embers, strange as dreams.</p> + +<p>Presently he rose and, climbing to the loft, he stretched +himself out, and soon fell asleep.<br> +</p> + +<p>When the gray dawn broke he was on his way, 'cross-country, to +the village of Pine.</p> + +<p>During the night the wind had shifted and the rain had ceased. +A suspicion of frost shone on the grass in open places. All was +gray -- the parks, the glades -- and deeper, darker gray marked +the aisles of the forest. Shadows lurked under the trees and the +silence seemed consistent with spectral forms. Then the east +kindled, the gray lightened, the dreaming woodland awoke to the +far-reaching rays of a bursting red sun.</p> + +<p>This was always the happiest moment of Dale's lonely days, as +sunset was his saddest. He responded, and there was something in +his blood that answered the whistle of a stag from a near-by +ridge. His strides were long, noiseless, and they left dark trace +where his feet brushed the dew-laden grass.</p> + +<p>Dale pursued a zigzag course over the ridges to escape the +hardest climbing, but the "senacas" -- those parklike meadows so +named by Mexican sheep-herders -- were as round and level as if +they had been made by man in beautiful contrast to the +dark-green, rough, and rugged ridges. Both open senaca and dense +wooded ridge showed to his quick eye an abundance of game. The +cracking of twigs and disappearing flash of gray among the +spruces, a round black lumbering object, a twittering in the +brush, and stealthy steps, were all easy signs for Dale to read. +Once, as he noiselessly emerged into a little glade, he espied a +red fox stalking some quarry, which, as he advanced, proved to be +a flock of partridges. They whirred up, brushing the branches, +and the fox trotted away. In every senaca Dale encountered wild +turkeys feeding on the seeds of the high grass.</p> + +<p>It had always been his custom, on his visits to Pine, to kill +and pack fresh meat down to several old friends, who were glad to +give him lodging. And, hurried though he was now, he did not +intend to make an exception of this trip.</p> + +<p>At length he got down into the pine belt, where the great, +gnarled, yellow trees soared aloft, stately, and aloof from one +another, and the ground was a brown, odorous, springy mat of +pine-needles, level as a floor. Squirrels watched him from all +around, scurrying away at his near approach -- tiny, brown, +light-striped squirrels, and larger ones, russet-colored, and the +splendid dark-grays with their white bushy tails and plumed +ears.</p> + +<p>This belt of pine ended abruptly upon wide, gray, rolling, +open land, almost like a prairie, with foot-hills lifting near +and far, and the red-gold blaze of aspen thickets catching the +morning sun. Here Dale flushed a flock of wild turkeys, upward of +forty in number, and their subdued color of gray flecked with +white, and graceful, sleek build, showed them to be hens. There +was not a gobbler in the flock. They began to run pell-mell out +into the grass, until only their heads appeared bobbing along, +and finally disappeared. Dale caught a glimpse of skulking +coyotes that evidently had been stalking the turkeys, and as they +saw him and darted into the timber he took a quick shot at the +hindmost. His bullet struck low, as he had meant it to, but too +low, and the coyote got only a dusting of earth and pine-needles +thrown up into his face. This frightened him so that he leaped +aside blindly to butt into a tree, rolled over, gained his feet, +and then the cover of the forest. Dale was amused at this. His +hand was against all the predatory beasts of the forest, though +he had learned that lion and bear and wolf and fox were all as +necessary to the great scheme of nature as were the gentle, +beautiful wild creatures upon which they preyed. But some he +loved better than others, and so he deplored the inexplicable +cruelty.</p> + +<p>He crossed the wide, grassy plain and struck another gradual +descent where aspens and pines crowded a shallow ravine and warm, +sun-lighted glades bordered along a sparkling brook. Here he +heard a turkey gobble, and that was a signal for him to change +his course and make a crouching, silent detour around a clump of +aspens. In a sunny patch of grass a dozen or more big gobblers +stood, all suspiciously facing in his direction, heads erect, +with that wild aspect peculiar to their species. Old wild turkey +gobblers were the most difficult game to stalk. Dale shot two of +them. The others began to run like ostriches, thudding over the +ground, spreading their wings, and with that running start +launched their heavy bodies into whirring flight. They flew low, +at about the height of a man from the grass, and vanished in the +woods.</p> + +<p>Dale threw the two turkeys over his shoulder and went on his +way. Soon he came to a break in the forest level, from which he +gazed down a league-long slope of pine and cedar, out upon the +bare, glistening desert, stretching away, endlessly rolling out +to the dim, dark horizon line.</p> + +<p>The little hamlet of Pine lay on the last level of sparsely +timbered forest. A road, running parallel with a dark-watered, +swift-flowing stream, divided the cluster of log cabins from +which columns of blue smoke drifted lazily aloft. Fields of corn +and fields of oats, yellow in the sunlight, surrounded the +village; and green pastures, dotted with horses and cattle, +reached away to the denser woodland. This site appeared to be a +natural clearing, for there was no evidence of cut timber. The +scene was rather too wild to be pastoral, but it was serene, +tranquil, giving the impression of a remote community, prosperous +and happy, drifting along the peaceful tenor of sequestered +lives.</p> + +<p>Dale halted before a neat little log cabin and a little patch +of garden bordered with sunflowers. His call was answered by an +old woman, gray and bent, but remarkably spry, who appeared at +the door.</p> + +<p>"Why, land's sakes, if it ain't Milt Dale!" she exclaimed, in +welcome.</p> + +<p>"Reckon it's me, Mrs. Cass," he replied. "An', I've brought you +a turkey."</p> + +<p>"Milt, you're that good boy who never forgits old Widow Cass. +. . . What a gobbler! First one I've seen this fall. My man Tom +used to fetch home gobblers like that. . . . An' mebbe he'll come +home again sometime."</p> + +<p>Her husband, Tom Cass, had gone into the forest years before +and had never returned. But the old woman always looked for him +and never gave up hope.</p> + +<p>"Men have been lost in the forest an' yet come back," replied +Dale, as he had said to her many a time.</p> + +<p>"Come right in. You air hungry, I know. Now, son, when last +did you eat a fresh egg or a flapjack?"</p> + +<p>"You should remember," he answered, laughing, as he followed +her into a small, clean kitchen.</p> + +<p>"Laws-a'-me! An' thet's months ago," she replied, shaking her +gray head. "Milt, you should give up that wild life -- an' marry +-- an' have a home."</p> + +<p>"You always tell me that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, an' I'll see you do it yet. . . . Now you set there, an' +pretty soon I'll give you thet to eat which 'll make your mouth +water."</p> + +<p>"What's the news, Auntie?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Nary news in this dead place. Why, nobody's been to Snowdrop +in two weeks! . . . Sary Jones died, poor old soul -- she's +better off -- an' one of my cows run away. Milt, she's wild when +she gits loose in the woods. An' you'll have to track her, 'cause +nobody else can. An' John Dakker's heifer was killed by a lion, +an' Lem Harden's fast hoss -- you know his favorite -- was stole +by hoss-thieves. Lem is jest crazy. An' that reminds me, Milt, +where's your big ranger, thet you'd never sell or lend?"</p> + +<p>"My horses are up in the woods, Auntie; safe, I reckon, from +horse-thieves."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's a blessin'. We've had some stock stole this +summer, Milt, an' no mistake."</p> + +<p>Thus, while preparing a meal for Dale, the old woman went on +recounting all that had happened in the little village since his +last visit. Dale enjoyed her gossip and quaint philosophy, and it +was exceedingly good to sit at her table. In his opinion, nowhere +else could there have been such butter and cream, such ham and +eggs. Besides, she always had apple pie, it seemed, at any time +he happened in; and apple pie was one of Dale's few regrets while +up in the lonely forest.</p> + +<p>"How's old Al Auchincloss?" presently inquired Dale.</p> + +<p>"Poorly -- poorly," sighed Mrs. Cass. "But he tramps an' rides +around same as ever. Al's not long for this world. . . . An', +Milt, that reminds me -- there's the biggest news you ever +heard."</p> + +<p>"You don't say so!" exclaimed Dale, to encourage the excited +old woman.</p> + +<p>"Al has sent back to Saint Joe for his niece, Helen Rayner. +She's to inherit all his property. We've heard much of her -- a +purty lass, they say. . . . Now, Milt Dale, here's your chance. +Stay out of the woods an' go to work. . . . You can marry that +girl!"</p> + +<p>"No chance for me, Auntie," replied Dale, smiling.</p> + +<p>The old woman snorted. "Much you know! Any girl would have +you, Milt Dale, if you'd only throw a kerchief."</p> + +<p>"Me! . . . An' why, Auntie?" he queried, half amused, half +thoughtful. When he got back to civilization he always had to +adjust his thoughts to the ideas of people.</p> + +<p>"Why? I declare, Milt, you live so in the woods you're like a +boy of ten -- an' then sometimes as old as the hills. . . . +There's no young man to compare with you, hereabouts. An' this +girl -- she'll have all the spunk of the Auchinclosses."</p> + +<p>"Then maybe she'd not be such a catch, after all," replied +Dale.</p> + +<p>"Wal, you've no cause to love them, that's sure. But, Milt, +the Auchincloss women are always good wives."</p> + +<p>"Dear Auntie, you're dreamin'," said Dale, soberly. "I want no +wife. I'm happy in the woods."</p> + +<p>"Air you goin' to live like an Injun all your days, Milt +Dale?" she queried, sharply.</p> + +<p>"I hope so."</p> + +<p>"You ought to be ashamed. But some lass will change you, boy, +an' mebbe it'll be this Helen Rayner. I hope an' pray so to +thet."</p> + +<p>"Auntie, supposin' she did change me. She'd never change old +Al. He hates me, you know."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I ain't so sure, Milt. I met Al the other day. He +inquired for you, an' said you was wild, but he reckoned men like +you was good for pioneer settlements. Lord knows the good turns +you've done this village! Milt, old Al doesn't approve of your +wild life, but he never had no hard feelin's till thet tame lion +of yours killed so many of his sheep."</p> + +<p>"Auntie, I don't believe Tom ever killed Al's sheep," declared +Dale, positively.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Al thinks so, an' many other people," replied Mrs. Cass, +shaking her gray head doubtfully. "You never swore he didn't. An' +there was them two sheep-herders who did swear they seen +him."</p> + +<p>"They only saw a cougar. An' they were so scared they +ran."</p> + +<p>"Who wouldn't? Thet big beast is enough to scare any one. For +land's sakes, don't ever fetch him down here again! I'll never +forgit the time you did. All the folks an' children an' hosses in +Pine broke an' run thet day."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but Tom wasn't to blame. Auntie, he's the tamest of my +pets. Didn't he try to put his head on your lap an' lick your +hand?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, Milt, I ain't gainsayin' your cougar pet didn't act +better 'n a lot of people I know. Fer he did. But the looks of +him an' what's been said was enough for me."</p> + +<p>"An' what's all that, Auntie?"</p> + +<p>"They say he's wild when out of your sight. An' thet he'd +trail an' kill anythin' you put him after."</p> + +<p>"I trained him to be just that way."</p> + +<p>"Wal, leave Tom to home up in the woods--when you visit +us."</p> + +<p>Dale finished his hearty meal, and listened awhile longer to +the old woman's talk; then, taking his rifle and the other +turkey, he bade her good-by. She followed him out.</p> + +<p>"Now, Milt, you'll come soon again, won't you -- jest to see +Al's niece -- who'll be here in a week?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon I'll drop in some day. . . . Auntie, have you seen +my friends, the Mormon boys?"</p> + +<p>"No, I 'ain't seen them an' don't want to," she retorted. +"Milt Dale, if any one ever corrals you it'll be Mormons."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry, Auntie. I like those boys. They often see me up +in the woods an' ask me to help them track a hoss or help kill +some fresh meat."</p> + +<p>"They're workin' for Beasley now."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" rejoined Dale, with a sudden start. "An' what +doin'?"</p> + +<p>"Beasley is gettin' so rich he's buildin' a fence, an' didn't +have enough help, so I hear."</p> + +<p>"Beasley gettin' rich!" repeated Dale, thoughtfully. "More +sheep an' horses an' cattle than ever, I reckon?"</p> + +<p>"Laws-a'-me! Why, Milt, Beasley 'ain't any idea what he owns. +Yes, he's the biggest man in these parts, since poor old Al's +took to failin'. I reckon Al's health ain't none improved by +Beasley's success. They've bad some bitter quarrels lately -- so +I hear. Al ain't what he was."</p> + +<p>Dale bade good-by again to his old friend and strode away, +thoughtful and serious. Beasley would not only be difficult to +circumvent, but he would be dangerous to oppose. There did not +appear much doubt of his driving his way rough-shod to the +dominance of affairs there in Pine. Dale, passing down the road, +began to meet acquaintances who had hearty welcome for his +presence and interest in his doings, so that his pondering was +interrupted for the time being. He carried the turkey to another +old friend, and when he left her house he went on to the village +store. This was a large log cabin, roughly covered with +clapboards, with a wide plank platform in front and a +hitching-rail in the road. Several horses were standing there, +and a group of lazy, shirt-sleeved loungers.</p> + +<p>"I'll be doggoned if it ain't Milt Dale!" exclaimed one.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Milt, old buckskin! Right down glad to see you," +greeted another.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Dale! You air shore good for sore eyes," drawled still +another.</p> + +<p>After a long period of absence Dale always experienced a +singular warmth of feeling when he met these acquaintances. It +faded quickly when he got back to the intimacy of his woodland, +and that was because the people of Pine, with few exceptions -- +though they liked him and greatly admired his outdoor wisdom -- +regarded him as a sort of nonentity. Because he loved the wild +and preferred it to village and range life, they had classed him +as not one of them. Some believed him lazy; others believed him +shiftless; others thought him an Indian in mind and habits; and +there were many who called him slow-witted. Then there was +another side to their regard for him, which always afforded him +good-natured amusement. Two of this group asked him to bring in +some turkey or venison; another wanted to hunt with him. Lem +Harden came out of the store and appealed to Dale to recover his +stolen horse. Lem's brother wanted a wild-running mare tracked +and brought home. Jesse Lyons wanted a colt broken, and broken +with patience, not violence, as was the method of the hard-riding +boys at Pine. So one and all they besieged Dale with their +selfish needs, all unconscious of the flattering nature of these +overtures. And on the moment there happened by two women whose +remarks, as they entered the store, bore strong testimony to +Dale's personality.</p> + +<p>"If there ain't Milt Dale!" exclaimed the older of the two. +"How lucky! My cow's sick, an' the men are no good doctorin'. +I'll jest ask Milt over."</p> + +<p>"No one like Milt!" responded the other woman, heartily.</p> + +<p>"Good day there -- you Milt Dale!" called the first speaker. +"When you git away from these lazy men come over."</p> + +<p>Dale never refused a service, and that was why his infrequent +visits to Pine were wont to be prolonged beyond his own +pleasure.</p> + +<p>Presently Beasley strode down the street, and when about to +enter the store he espied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Hullo there, Milt!" he called, cordially, as he came forward +with extended hand. His greeting was sincere, but the lightning +glance he shot over Dale was not born of his pleasure. Seen in +daylight, Beasley was a big, bold, bluff man, with strong, dark +features. His aggressive presence suggested that he was a good +friend and a bad enemy.</p> + +<p>Dale shook hands with him.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Beasley?"</p> + +<p>"Ain't complainin', Milt, though I got more work than I can +rustle. Reckon you wouldn't take a job bossin' my +sheep-herders?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon I wouldn't," replied Dale. "Thanks all the same."</p> + +<p>"What's goin' on up in the woods?"</p> + +<p>"Plenty of turkey an' deer. Lots of bear, too. The Indians +have worked back on the south side early this fall. But I reckon +winter will come late an' be mild."</p> + +<p>"Good! An' where 're you headin' from?"</p> + +<p>"'Cross-country from my camp," replied Dale, rather +evasively.</p> + +<p>"Your camp! Nobody ever found that yet," declared Beasley, +gruffly.</p> + +<p>"It's up there," said Dale.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you've got that cougar chained in your cabin door?" +queried Beasley, and there was a barely distinguishable shudder +of his muscular frame. Also the pupils dilated in his hard brown +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Tom ain't chained. An' I haven't no cabin, Beasley."</p> + +<p>"You mean to tell me that big brute stays in your camp without +bein' hog-tied or corralled!" demanded Beasley.</p> + +<p>"Sure he does."</p> + +<p>"Beats me! But, then, I'm queer on cougars. Have had many a +cougar trail me at night. Ain't sayin' I was scared. But I don't +care for that brand of varmint. . . . Milt, you goin' to stay +down awhile?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll hang around some."</p> + +<p>"Come over to the ranch. Glad to see you any time. Some old +huntin' pards of yours are workin' for me."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Beasley. I reckon I'll come over."</p> + +<p>Beasley turned away and took a step, and then, as if with an +after-thought, he wheeled again.</p> + +<p>"Suppose you've heard about old Al Auchincloss bein' near +petered out?" queried Beasley. A strong, ponderous cast of +thought seemed to emanate from his features. Dale divined that +Beasley's next step would be to further his advancement by some +word or hint.</p> + +<p>"Widow Cass was tellin' me all the news. Too bad about old +Al," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Sure is. He's done for. An' I'm sorry -- though Al's never +been square --"</p> + +<p>"Beasley," interrupted Dale, quickly, "you can't say that to +me. Al Auchincloss always was the whitest an' squarest man in +this sheep country."</p> + +<p>Beasley gave Dale a fleeting, dark glance.</p> + +<p>"Dale, what you think ain't goin' to influence feelin' on this +range," returned Beasley, deliberately. "You live in the woods +an' --"</p> + +<p>"Reckon livin' in the woods I might think -- an' know a whole +lot," interposed Dale, just as deliberately. The group of men +exchanged surprised glances. This was Milt Dale in different +aspect. And Beasley did not conceal a puzzled surprise.</p> + +<p>"About what -- now?" he asked, bluntly.</p> + +<p>"Why, about what's goin' on in Pine," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>Some of the men laughed.</p> + +<p>"Shore lots goin' on -- an' no mistake," put in Lem +Harden.</p> + +<p>Probably the keen Beasley had never before considered Milt +Dale as a responsible person; certainly never one in any way to +cross his trail. But on the instant, perhaps, some instinct was +born, or he divined an antagonism in Dale that was both +surprising and perplexing.</p> + +<p>"Dale, I've differences with Al Auchincloss -- have had them +for years," said Beasley. "Much of what he owns is mine. An' it's +goin' to come to me. Now I reckon people will be takin' sides -- +some for me an' some for Al. Most are for me. . . . Where do you +stand? Al Auchincloss never had no use for you, an' besides he's +a dyin' man. Are you goin' on his side?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I reckon I am."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I'm glad you've declared yourself," rejoined Beasley, +shortly, and he strode away with the ponderous gait of a man who +would brush any obstacle from his path.</p> + +<p>"Milt, thet's bad -- makin' Beasley sore at you," said Lem +Harden. "He's on the way to boss this outfit."</p> + +<p>"He's sure goin' to step into Al's boots," said another.</p> + +<p>"Thet was white of Milt to stick up fer poor old Al," declared +Lem's brother.</p> + +<p>Dale broke away from them and wended a thoughtful way down the +road. The burden of what he knew about Beasley weighed less +heavily upon him, and the close-lipped course he had decided upon +appeared wisest. He needed to think before undertaking to call +upon old Al Auchincloss; and to that end he sought an hour's +seclusion under the pines.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER III</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, Dale, having accomplished some tasks imposed +upon him by his old friends at Pine, directed slow steps toward +the Auchincloss ranch.</p> + +<p>The flat, square stone and log cabin of unusually large size +stood upon a little hill half a mile out of the village. A home +as well as a fort, it had been the first structure erected in +that region, and the process of building had more than once been +interrupted by Indian attacks. The Apaches had for some time, +however, confined their fierce raids to points south of the White +Mountain range. Auchincloss's house looked down upon barns and +sheds and corrals of all sizes and shapes, and hundreds of acres +of well-cultivated soil. Fields of oats waved gray and yellow in +the afternoon sun; an immense green pasture was divided by a +willow-bordered brook, and here were droves of horses, and out on +the rolling bare flats were straggling herds of cattle.</p> + +<p>The whole ranch showed many years of toil and the perseverance +of man. The brook irrigated the verdant valley between the ranch +and the village. Water for the house, however, came down from the +high, wooded slope of the mountain, and had been brought there by +a simple expedient. Pine logs of uniform size had been laid end +to end, with a deep trough cut in them, and they made a shining +line down the slope, across the valley, and up the little hill to +the Auchincloss home. Near the house the hollowed halves of logs +had been bound together, making a crude pipe. Water ran uphill in +this case, one of the facts that made the ranch famous, as it had +always been a wonder and delight to the small boys of Pine. The +two good women who managed Auchincloss's large household were +often shocked by the strange things that floated into their +kitchen with the ever-flowing stream of clear, cold mountain +water.</p> + +<p>As it happened this day Dale encountered Al Auchincloss +sitting in the shade of a porch, talking to some of his +sheep-herders and stockmen. Auchincloss was a short man of +extremely powerful build and great width of shoulder. He had no +gray hairs, and he did not look old, yet there was in his face a +certain weariness, something that resembled sloping lines of +distress, dim and pale, that told of age and the ebb-tide of +vitality. His features, cast in large mold, were clean-cut and +comely, and he had frank blue eyes, somewhat sad, yet still full +of spirit.</p> + +<p>Dale had no idea how his visit would be taken, and he +certainly would not have been surprised to be ordered off the +place. He had not set foot there for years. Therefore it was with +surprise that he saw Auchincloss wave away the herders and take +his entrance without any particular expression.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Al! How are you?" greeted Dale, easily, as he leaned +his rifle against the log wall.</p> + +<p>Auchincloss did not rise, but he offered his hand.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Milt Dale, I reckon this is the first time I ever seen +you that I couldn't lay you flat on your back," replied the +rancher. His tone was both testy and full of pathos.</p> + +<p>"I take it you mean you ain't very well," replied Dale. "I'm +sorry, Al."</p> + +<p>"No, it ain't thet. Never was sick in my life. I'm just played +out, like a hoss thet had been strong an' willin', an' did too +much. . . . Wal, you don't look a day older, Milt. Livin' in the +woods rolls over a man's head."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm feelin' fine, an' time never bothers me."</p> + +<p>"Wal, mebbe you ain't such a fool, after all. I've wondered +lately -- since I had time to think. . . . But, Milt, you don't +git no richer."</p> + +<p>"Al, I have all I want an' need."</p> + +<p>"Wal, then, you don't support anybody; you don't do any good +in the world."</p> + +<p>"We don't agree, Al," replied Dale, with his slow smile.</p> + +<p>"Reckon we never did. . . . An' you jest come over to pay your +respects to me, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Not altogether," answered Dale, ponderingly. "First off, I'd +like to say I'll pay back them sheep you always claimed my tame +cougar killed."</p> + +<p>"You will! An' how'd you go about that?"</p> + +<p>"Wasn't very many sheep, was there?</p> + +<p>"A matter of fifty head."</p> + +<p>"So many! Al, do you still think old Tom killed them +sheep?"</p> + +<p>"Humph! Milt, I know damn well he did."</p> + +<p>"Al, now how could you know somethin' I don't? Be reasonable, +now. Let's don't fall out about this again. I'll pay back the +sheep. Work it out --"</p> + +<p>"Milt Dale, you'll come down here an' work out that fifty head +of sheep!" ejaculated the old rancher, incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Sure."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I'll be damned!" He sat back and gazed with shrewd eyes +at Dale. "What's got into you, Milt? Hev you heard about my niece +thet's comin', an' think you'll shine up to her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Al, her comin' has a good deal to do with my deal," +replied Dale, soberly. "But I never thought to shine up to her, +as you hint."</p> + +<p>"Haw! Haw! You're just like all the other colts hereabouts. +Reckon it's a good sign, too. It'll take a woman to fetch you out +of the woods. But, boy, this niece of mine, Helen Rayner, will +stand you on your head. I never seen her. They say she's jest +like her mother. An' Nell Auchincloss -- what a girl she +was!"</p> + +<p>Dale felt his face grow red. Indeed, this was strange +conversation for him.</p> + +<p>"Honest, Al --" he began.</p> + +<p>"Son, don't lie to an old man."</p> + +<p>"Lie! I wouldn't lie to any one. Al, it's only men who live in +towns an' are always makin' deals. I live in the forest, where +there's nothin' to make me lie."</p> + +<p>"Wal, no offense meant, I'm sure," responded Auchincloss. "An' +mebbe there's somethin' in what you say . . . We was talkin' +about them sheep your big cat killed. Wal, Milt, I can't prove +it, that's sure. An' mebbe you'll think me doddery when I tell +you my reason. It wasn't what them greaser herders said about +seein' a cougar in the herd."</p> + +<p>"What was it, then?" queried Dale, much interested.</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet day a year ago I seen your pet. He was lyin' in +front of the store an' you was inside tradin', fer supplies, I +reckon. It was like meetin' an enemy face to face. Because, damn +me if I didn't know that cougar was guilty when he looked in my +eyes! There!"</p> + +<p>The old rancher expected to be laughed at. But Dale was +grave.</p> + +<p>"Al, I know how you felt," he replied, as if they were +discussing an action of a human being. "Sure I'd hate to doubt +old Tom. But he's a cougar. An' the ways of animals are strange. +. . Anyway, Al, I'll make good the loss of your sheep."</p> + +<p>"No, you won't," rejoined Auchincloss, quickly. "We'll call it +off. I'm takin' it square of you to make the offer. Thet's +enough. So forget your worry about work, if you had any."</p> + +<p>"There's somethin' else, Al, I wanted to say," began Dale, +with hesitation. "An' it's about Beasley."</p> + +<p>Auchincloss started violently, and a flame of red shot into +his face. Then he raised a big hand that shook. Dale saw in a +flash how the old man's nerves had gone.</p> + +<p>"Don't mention -- thet -- thet greaser -- to me!" burst out +the rancher. "It makes me see -- red. . . . Dale, I ain't +overlookin' that you spoke up fer me to-day -- stood fer my side. +Lem Harden told me. I was glad. An' thet's why -- to-day -- I +forgot our old quarrel. . . . But not a word about thet +sheep-thief -- or I'll drive you off the place!"</p> + +<p>"But, Al -- be reasonable," remonstrated Dale. "It's necessary +thet I speak of -- of Beasley."</p> + +<p>"It ain't. Not to me. I won't listen."</p> + +<p>"Reckon you'll have to, Al," returned Dale. "Beasley's after +your property. He's made a deal --"</p> + +<p>"By Heaven! I know that!" shouted Auchincloss, tottering up, +with his face now black-red. "Do you think thet's new to me? Shut +up, Dale! I can't stand it."</p> + +<p>"But Al -- there's worse," went on Dale, hurriedly. "Worse! +Your life's threatened -- an' your niece, Helen -- she's to be +--"</p> + +<p>"Shut up -- an' clear out!" roared Auchincloss, waving his +huge fists.</p> + +<p>He seemed on the verge of a collapse as, shaking all over, he +backed into the door. A few seconds of rage had transformed him +into a pitiful old man.</p> + +<p>"But, Al -- I'm your friend --" began Dale, appealingly.</p> + +<p>"Friend, hey?" returned the rancher, with grim, bitter +passion. "Then you're the only one. . . . Milt Dale, I'm rich an' +I'm a dyin' man. I trust nobody . . . But, you wild hunter -- if +you're my friend -- prove it! . . . Go kill thet greaser +sheep-thief! <em>Do</em> somethin' -- an' then come talk to +me!"</p> + +<p>With that he lurched, half falling, into the house, and +slammed the door.</p> + +<p>Dale stood there for a blank moment, and then, taking up his +rifle, he strode away.</p> + +<p>Toward sunset Dale located the camp of his four Mormon +friends, and reached it in time for supper.</p> + +<p>John, Roy, Joe, and Hal Beeman were sons of a pioneer Mormon +who had settled the little community of Snowdrop. They were young +men in years, but hard labor and hard life in the open had made +them look matured. Only a year's difference in age stood between +John and Roy, and between Roy and Joe, and likewise Joe and Hal. +When it came to appearance they were difficult to distinguish +from one another. Horsemen, sheep-herders, cattle-raisers, +hunters -- they all possessed long, wiry, powerful frames, lean, +bronzed, still faces, and the quiet, keen eyes of men used to the +open.</p> + +<p>Their camp was situated beside a spring in a cove surrounded +by aspens, some three miles from Pine; and, though working for +Beasley, near the village, they had ridden to and fro from camp, +after the habit of seclusion peculiar to their kind.</p> + +<p>Dale and the brothers had much in common, and a warm regard +had sprang up. But their exchange of confidences had wholly +concerned things pertaining to the forest. Dale ate supper with +them, and talked as usual when he met them, without giving any +hint of the purpose forming in his mind. After the meal he helped +Joe round up the horses, hobble them for the night, and drive +them into a grassy glade among the pines. Later, when the shadows +stole through the forest on the cool wind, and the camp-fire +glowed comfortably, Dale broached the subject that possessed +him.</p> + +<p>"An' so you're working for Beasley?" he queried, by way of +starting conversation.</p> + +<p>"We was," drawled John. "But to-day, bein' the end of our +month, we got our pay an' quit. Beasley sure was sore."</p> + +<p>"Why'd you knock off?"</p> + +<p>John essayed no reply, and his brothers all had that quiet, +suppressed look of knowledge under restraint.</p> + +<p>"Listen to what I come to tell you, then you'll talk," went on +Dale. And hurriedly he told of Beasley's plot to abduct Al +Auchincloss's niece and claim the dying man's property.</p> + +<p>When Dale ended, rather breathlessly, the Mormon boys sat +without any show of surprise or feeling. John, the eldest, took +up a stick and slowly poked the red embers of the fire, making +the white sparks fly.</p> + +<p>"Now, Milt, why'd you tell us thet?" he asked, guardedly.</p> + +<p>"You're the only friends I've got," replied Dale. "It didn't +seem safe for me to talk down in the village. I thought of you +boys right off. I ain't goin' to let Snake Anson get that girl. +An' I need help, so I come to you."</p> + +<p>"Beasley's strong around Pine, an' old Al's weakenin'. Beasley +will git the property, girl or no girl," said John.</p> + +<p>"Things don't always turn out as they look. But no matter +about that. The girl deal is what riled me. . . . She's to arrive +at Magdalena on the sixteenth, an' take stage for Snowdrop. . . . +Now what to do? If she travels on that stage I'll be on it, you +bet. But she oughtn't to be in it at all. . . . Boys, somehow I'm +goin' to save her. Will you help me? I reckon I've been in some +tight corners for you. Sure, this 's different. But are you my +friends? You know now what Beasley is. An' you're all lost at the +hands of Snake Anson's gang. You've got fast hosses, eyes for +trackin', an' you can handle a rifle. You're the kind of fellows +I'd want in a tight pinch with a bad gang. Will you stand by me +or see me go alone?"</p> + +<p>Then John Beeman, silently, and with pale face, gave Dale's +hand a powerful grip, and one by one the other brothers rose to +do likewise. Their eyes flashed with hard glint and a strange +bitterness hovered around their thin lips.</p> + +<p>"Milt, mebbe we know what Beasley is better 'n you," said +John, at length. "He ruined my father. He's cheated other +Mormons. We boys have proved to ourselves thet he gets the sheep +Anson's gang steals. . . . An' drives the herds to Phenix! Our +people won't let us accuse Beasley. So we've suffered in silence. +My father always said, let some one else say the first word +against Beasley, an' you've come to us!"</p> + +<p>Roy Beeman put a hand on Dale's shoulder. He, perhaps, was the +keenest of the brothers and the one to whom adventure and peril +called most. He had been oftenest with Dale, on many a long +trail, and he was the hardest rider and the most relentless +tracker in all that range country.</p> + +<p>"An' we're goin' with you," he said, in a strong and rolling +voice.</p> + +<p>They resumed their seats before the fire. John threw on more +wood, and with a crackling and sparkling the blaze curled up, +fanned by the wind. As twilight deepened into night the moan in +the pines increased to a roar. A pack of coyotes commenced to +pierce the air in staccato cries.</p> + +<p>The five young men conversed long and earnestly, considering, +planning, rejecting ideas advanced by each. Dale and Roy Beeman +suggested most of what became acceptable to all. Hunters of their +type resembled explorers in slow and deliberate attention to +details. What they had to deal with here was a situation of +unlimited possibilities; the horses and outfit needed; a long +detour to reach Magdalena unobserved; the rescue of a strange +girl who would no doubt be self-willed and determined to ride on +the stage -- the rescue forcible, if necessary; the fight and the +inevitable pursuit; the flight into the forest, and the safe +delivery of the girl to Auchincloss.</p> + +<p>"Then, Milt, will we go after Beasley?" queried Roy Beeman, +significantly.</p> + +<p>Dale was silent and thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"Sufficient unto the day!" said John. "An', fellars, let's go +to bed."</p> + +<p>They rolled out their tarpaulins, Dale sharing Roy's blankets, +and soon were asleep, while the red embers slowly faded, and the +great roar of wind died down, and the forest stillness set +in.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER IV</p> + +<p>Helen Rayner had been on the westbound overland train fully +twenty-four hours before she made an alarming discovery.</p> + +<p>Accompanied by her sister Bo, a precocious girl of sixteen, +Helen had left St. Joseph with a heart saddened by farewells to +loved ones at home, yet full of thrilling and vivid anticipations +of the strange life in the Far West. All her people had the +pioneer spirit; love of change, action, adventure, was in her +blood. Then duty to a widowed mother with a large and growing +family had called to Helen to accept this rich uncle's offer. She +had taught school and also her little brothers and sisters; she +had helped along in other ways. And now, though the tearing up of +the roots of old loved ties was hard, this opportunity was +irresistible in its call. The prayer of her dreams had been +answered. To bring good fortune to her family; to take care of +this beautiful, wild little sister; to leave the yellow, sordid, +humdrum towns for the great, rolling, boundless open; to live on +a wonderful ranch that was some day to be her own; to have +fulfilled a deep, instinctive, and undeveloped love of horses, +cattle, sheep, of desert and mountain, of trees and brooks and +wild flowers -- all this was the sum of her most passionate +longings, now in some marvelous, fairylike way to come true.</p> + +<p>A check to her happy anticipations, a blank, sickening dash of +cold water upon her warm and intimate dreams, had been the +discovery that Harve Riggs was on the train. His presence could +mean only one thing -- that he had followed her. Riggs had been +the worst of many sore trials back there in St. Joseph. He had +possessed some claim or influence upon her mother, who favored +his offer of marriage to Helen; he was neither attractive, nor +good, nor industrious, nor anything that interested her; he was +the boastful, strutting adventurer, not genuinely Western, and he +affected long hair and guns and notoriety. Helen had suspected +the veracity of the many fights he claimed had been his, and also +she suspected that he was not really big enough to be bad -- as +Western men were bad. But on the train, in the station at La +Junta, one glimpse of him, manifestly spying upon her while +trying to keep out of her sight, warned Helen that she now might +have a problem on her hands.</p> + +<p>The recognition sobered her. All was not to be a road of roses +to this new home in the West. Riggs would follow her, if he could +not accompany her, and to gain his own ends he would stoop to +anything. Helen felt the startling realization of being cast upon +her own resources, and then a numbing discouragement and +loneliness and helplessness. But these feelings did not long +persist in the quick pride and flash of her temper. Opportunity +knocked at her door and she meant to be at home to it. She would +not have been Al Auchincloss's niece if she had faltered. And, +when temper was succeeded by genuine anger, she could have +laughed to scorn this Harve Riggs and his schemes, whatever they +were. Once and for all she dismissed fear of him. When she left +St. Joseph she had faced the West with a beating heart and a high +resolve to be worthy of that West. Homes had to be made out there +in that far country, so Uncle Al had written, and women were +needed to make homes. She meant to be one of these women and to +make of her sister another. And with the thought that she would +know definitely what to say to Riggs when he approached her, +sooner or later, Helen dismissed him from mind.</p> + +<p>While the train was in motion, enabling Helen to watch the +ever-changing scenery, and resting her from the strenuous task of +keeping Bo well in hand at stations, she lapsed again into dreamy +gaze at the pine forests and the red, rocky gullies and the dim, +bold mountains. She saw the sun set over distant ranges of New +Mexico -- a golden blaze of glory, as new to her as the strange +fancies born in her, thrilling and fleeting by. Bo's raptures +were not silent, and the instant the sun sank and the color faded +she just as rapturously importuned Helen to get out the huge +basket of food they had brought from home.</p> + +<p>They had two seats, facing each other, at the end of the +coach, and piled there, with the basket on top, was luggage that +constituted all the girls owned in the world. Indeed, it was very +much more than they had ever owned before, because their mother, +in her care for them and desire to have them look well in the +eyes of this rich uncle, had spent money and pains to give them +pretty and serviceable clothes.</p> + +<p>The girls sat together, with the heavy basket on their knees, +and ate while they gazed out at the cool, dark ridges. The train +clattered slowly on, apparently over a road that was all curves. +And it was supper-time for everybody in that crowded coach. If +Helen had not been so absorbed by the great, wild mountain-land +she would have had more interest in the passengers. As it was she +saw them, and was amused and thoughtful at the men and women and +a few children in the car, all middle-class people, poor and +hopeful, traveling out there to the New West to find homes. It +was splendid and beautiful, this fact, yet it inspired a brief +and inexplicable sadness. From the train window, that world of +forest and crag, with its long bare reaches between, seemed so +lonely, so wild, so unlivable. How endless the distance! For +hours and miles upon miles no house, no hut, no Indian tepee! It +was amazing, the length and breadth of this beautiful land. And +Helen, who loved brooks and running streams, saw no water at +all.</p> + +<p>Then darkness settled down over the slow-moving panorama; a +cool night wind blew in at the window; white stars began to blink +out of the blue. The sisters, with hands clasped and heads +nestled together, went to sleep under a heavy cloak.<br> +</p> + +<p>Early the next morning, while the girls were again delving +into their apparently bottomless basket, the train stopped at Las +Vegas.</p> + +<p>"Look! Look!" cried Bo, in thrilling voice. "Cowboys! Oh, +Nell, look!"</p> + +<p>Helen, laughing, looked first at her sister, and thought how +most of all she was good to look at. Bo was little, instinct with +pulsating life, and she had chestnut hair and dark-blue eyes. +These eyes were flashing, roguish, and they drew like +magnets.</p> + +<p>Outside on the rude station platform were railroad men, +Mexicans, and a group of lounging cowboys. Long, lean, bow-legged +fellows they were, with young, frank faces and intent eyes. One +of them seemed particularly attractive with his superb build, his +red-bronze face and bright-red scarf, his swinging gun, and the +huge, long, curved spurs. Evidently he caught Bo's admiring gaze, +for, with a word to his companions, he sauntered toward the +window where the girls sat. His gait was singular, almost +awkward, as if he was not accustomed to walking. The long spurs +jingled musically. He removed his sombrero and stood at ease, +frank, cool, smiling. Helen liked him on sight, and, looking to +see what effect he had upon Bo, she found that young lady +staring, frightened stiff.</p> + +<p>"Good mawnin'," drawled the cowboy, with slow, good-humored +smile. "Now where might you-all be travelin'?"</p> + +<p>The sound of his voice, the clean-cut and droll geniality; +seemed new and delightful to Helen.</p> + +<p>"We go to Magdalena -- then take stage for the White +Mountains," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>The cowboy's still, intent eyes showed surprise.</p> + +<p>"Apache country, miss," he said. "I reckon I'm sorry. Thet's +shore no place for you-all . . . Beggin' your pawdin -- you ain't +Mormons?"</p> + +<p>"No. We're nieces of Al Auchincloss," rejoined Helen.</p> + +<p>"Wal, you don't say! I've been down Magdalena way an' heerd of +Al. . . . Reckon you're goin' a-visitin'?"</p> + +<p>"It's to be home for us."</p> + +<p>"Shore thet's fine. The West needs girls. . . . Yes, I've +heerd of Al. An old Arizona cattle-man in a sheep country! Thet's +bad. . . . Now I'm wonderin' -- if I'd drift down there an' ask +him for a job ridin' for him -- would I get it?"</p> + +<p>His lazy smile was infectious and his meaning was as clear as +crystal water. The gaze he bent upon Bo somehow pleased Helen. +The last year or two, since Bo had grown prettier all the time, +she had been a magnet for admiring glances. This one of the +cowboy's inspired respect and liking, as well as amusement. It +certainly was not lost upon Bo.</p> + +<p>"My uncle once said in a letter that he never had enough men +to run his ranch," replied Helen, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Shore I'll go. I reckon I'd jest naturally drift that way -- +now."</p> + +<p>He seemed so laconic, so easy, so nice, that he could not have +been taken seriously, yet Helen's quick perceptions registered a +daring, a something that was both sudden and inevitable in him. +His last word was as clear as the soft look he fixed upon Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen had a mischievous trait, which, subdue it as she would, +occasionally cropped out; and Bo, who once in her wilful life had +been rendered speechless, offered such a temptation.</p> + +<p>"Maybe my little sister will put in a good word for you -- to +Uncle Al," said Helen. Just then the train jerked, and started +slowly. The cowboy took two long strides beside the car, his +heated boyish face almost on a level with the window, his eyes, +now shy and a little wistful, yet bold, too, fixed upon Bo.</p> + +<p>"Good-by -- Sweetheart!" he called.</p> + +<p>He halted -- was lost to view.</p> + +<p>"Well!" ejaculated Helen, contritely, half sorry, half amused. +"What a sudden young gentleman!"</p> + +<p>Bo had blushed beautifully.</p> + +<p>"Nell, wasn't he glorious!" she burst out, with eyes +shining.</p> + +<p>"I'd hardly call him that, but he was--nice," replied Helen, +much relieved that Bo had apparently not taken offense at +her.</p> + +<p>It appeared plain that Bo resisted a frantic desire to look +out of the window and to wave her hand. But she only peeped out, +manifestly to her disappointment.</p> + +<p>"Do you think he -- he'll come to Uncle Al's?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"Child, he was only in fun."</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'll bet you he comes. Oh, it'd be great! I'm going to +love cowboys. They don't look like that Harve Riggs who ran after +you so."</p> + +<p>Helen sighed, partly because of the reminder of her odious +suitor, and partly because Bo's future already called +mysteriously to the child. Helen had to be at once a mother and a +protector to a girl of intense and wilful spirit.</p> + +<p>One of the trainmen directed the girls' attention to a green, +sloping mountain rising to a bold, blunt bluff of bare rock; and, +calling it Starvation Peak, he told a story of how Indians had +once driven Spaniards up there and starved them. Bo was intensely +interested, and thereafter she watched more keenly than ever, and +always had a question for a passing trainman. The adobe houses of +the Mexicans pleased her, and, then the train got out into Indian +country, where pueblos appeared near the track and Indians with +their bright colors and shaggy wild mustangs -- then she was +enraptured.</p> + +<p>"But these Indians are peaceful!" she exclaimed once, +regretfully.</p> + +<p>"Gracious, child! You don't want to see hostile Indians, do +you?" queried Helen.</p> + +<p>"I do, you bet," was the frank rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"Well, <em>I'll</em> bet that I'll be sorry I didn't leave you +with mother."</p> + +<p>"Nell -- you never will!"<br> +</p> + +<p>They reached Albuquerque about noon, and this important +station, where they had to change trains, had been the first +dreaded anticipation of the journey. It certainly was a busy +place -- full of jabbering Mexicans, stalking, red-faced, +wicked-looking cowboys, lolling Indians. In the confusion Helen +would have been hard put to it to preserve calmness, with Bo to +watch, and all that baggage to carry, and the other train to +find; but the kindly brakeman who had been attentive to them now +helped them off the train into the other -- a service for which +Helen was very grateful.</p> + +<p>"Albuquerque's a hard place," confided the trainman. "Better +stay in the car -- and don't hang out the windows. . . . Good +luck to you!"</p> + +<p>Only a few passengers were in the car and they were Mexicans +at the forward end. This branch train consisted of one +passenger-coach, with a baggage-car, attached to a string of +freight-cars. Helen told herself, somewhat grimly, that soon she +would know surely whether or not her suspicions of Harve Riggs +had warrant. If he was going on to Magdalena on that day he must +go in this coach. Presently Bo, who was not obeying admonitions, +drew her head out of the window. Her eyes were wide in amaze, her +mouth open.</p> + +<p>"Nell! I saw that man Riggs!" she whispered. "He's going to +get on this train."</p> + +<p>"Bo, I saw him yesterday," replied Helen, soberly.</p> + +<p>"He's followed you -- the -- the --"</p> + +<p>"Now, Bo, don't get excited," remonstrated Helen. "We've left +home now. We've got to take things as they come. Never mind if +Riggs has followed me. I'll settle him."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Then you won't speak -- have anything to do with +him?"</p> + +<p>"I won't if I can help it."</p> + +<p>Other passengers boarded the train, dusty, uncouth, ragged +men, and some hard-featured, poorly clad women, marked by toil, +and several more Mexicans. With bustle and loud talk they found +their several seats.</p> + +<p>Then Helen saw Harve Riggs enter, burdened with much luggage. +He was a man of about medium height, of dark, flashy appearance, +cultivating long black mustache and hair. His apparel was +striking, as it consisted of black frock-coat, black trousers +stuffed in high, fancy-topped boots, an embroidered vest, and +flowing tie, and a black sombrero. His belt and gun were +prominent. It was significant that he excited comment among the +other passengers.</p> + +<p>When he had deposited his pieces of baggage he seemed to +square himself, and, turning abruptly, approached the seat +occupied by the girls. When he reached it he sat down upon the +arm of the one opposite, took off his sombrero, and deliberately +looked at Helen. His eyes were light, glinting, with hard, +restless quiver, and his mouth was coarse and arrogant. Helen had +never seen him detached from her home surroundings, and now the +difference struck cold upon her heart.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Nell!" he said. "Surprised to see me?"</p> + +<p>"No," she replied, coldly.</p> + +<p>"I'll gamble you are."</p> + +<p>"Harve Riggs, I told you the day before I left home that +nothing you could do or say mattered to me."</p> + +<p>"Reckon that ain't so, Nell. Any woman I keep track of has +reason to think. An' you know it."</p> + +<p>"Then you followed me -- out here?" demanded Helen, and her +voice, despite her control, quivered with anger.</p> + +<p>"I sure did," he replied, and there was as much thought of +himself in the act as there was of her.</p> + +<p>"Why? Why? It's useless -- hopeless."</p> + +<p>"I swore I'd have you, or nobody else would," he replied, and +here, in the passion of his voice there sounded egotism rather +than hunger for a woman's love. "But I reckon I'd have struck +West anyhow, sooner or later."</p> + +<p>"You're not going to -- all the way -- to Pine?" faltered +Helen, momentarily weakening.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'll camp on your trail from now on," he declared.</p> + +<p>Then Bo sat bolt-upright, with pale face and flashing +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Harve Riggs, you leave Nell alone," she burst out, in +ringing, brave young voice. "I'll tell you what -- I'll bet -- if +you follow her and nag her any more, my uncle Al or some cowboy +will run you out of the country."</p> + +<p>"Hello, Pepper!" replied Riggs, coolly. "I see your manners +haven't improved an' you're still wild about cowboys."</p> + +<p>"People don't have good manners with -- with --"</p> + +<p>"Bo, hush!" admonished Helen. It was difficult to reprove Bo +just then, for that young lady had not the slightest fear of +Riggs. Indeed, she looked as if she could slap his face. And +Helen realized that however her intelligence had grasped the +possibilities of leaving home for a wild country, and whatever +her determination to be brave, the actual beginning of +self-reliance had left her spirit weak. She would rise out of +that. But just now this flashing-eyed little sister seemed a +protector. Bo would readily adapt herself to the West, Helen +thought, because she was so young, primitive, elemental.</p> + +<p>Whereupon Bo turned her back to Riggs and looked out of the +window. The man laughed. Then he stood up and leaned over +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'm goin' wherever you go," he said, steadily. "You can +take that friendly or not, just as it pleases you. But if you've +got any sense you'll not give these people out here a hunch +against me. I might hurt somebody. . . . An' wouldn't it be +better -- to act friends? For I'm goin' to look after you, +whether you like it or not."</p> + +<p>Helen had considered this man an annoyance, and later a +menace, and now she must declare open enmity with him. However +disgusting the idea that he considered himself a factor in her +new life, it was the truth. He existed, he had control over his +movements. She could not change that. She hated the need of +thinking so much about him; and suddenly, with a hot, bursting +anger, she hated the man.</p> + +<p>"You'll not look after me. I'll take care of myself," she +said, and she turned her back upon him. She heard him mutter +under his breath and slowly move away down the car. Then Bo +slipped a hand in hers.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Nell," she whispered. "You know what old Sheriff +Haines said about Harve Riggs. 'A four-flush would-be +gun-fighter! If he ever strikes a real Western town he'll get run +out of it.' I just wish my red-faced cowboy had got on this +train!"</p> + +<p>Helen felt a rush of gladness that she had yielded to Bo's +wild importunities to take her West. The spirit which had made Bo +incorrigible at home probably would make her react happily to +life out in this free country. Yet Helen, with all her warmth and +gratefulness, had to laugh at her sister.</p> + +<p>"Your red-faced cowboy! Why, Bo, you were scared stiff. And +now you claim him!"</p> + +<p>"I certainly could love that fellow," replied Bo, +dreamily.</p> + +<p>"Child, you've been saying that about fellows for a long time. +And you've never looked twice at any of them yet."</p> + +<p>"He was different. . . . Nell, I'll bet he comes to Pine."</p> + +<p>"I hope he does. I wish he was on this train. I liked his +looks, Bo."</p> + +<p>"Well, Nell dear, he looked at <em>me</em> first and last -- +so don't get your hopes up. . . . Oh, the train's starting! . . . +Good-by, Albu-ker -- what's that awful name? . . . Nell, let's +eat dinner. I'm starved."</p> + +<p>Then Helen forgot her troubles and the uncertain future, and +what with listening to Bo's chatter, and partaking again of the +endless good things to eat in the huge basket, and watching the +noble mountains, she drew once more into happy mood.</p> + +<p>The valley of the Rio Grande opened to view, wide near at hand +in a great gray-green gap between the bare black mountains, +narrow in the distance, where the yellow river wound away, +glistening under a hot sun. Bo squealed in glee at sight of naked +little Mexican children that darted into adobe huts as the train +clattered by, and she exclaimed her pleasure in the Indians, and +the mustangs, and particularly in a group of cowboys riding into +town on spirited horses. Helen saw all Bo pointed out, but it was +to the wonderful rolling valley that her gaze clung longest, and +to the dim purple distance that seemed to hold something from +her. She had never before experienced any feeling like that; she +had never seen a tenth so far. And the sight awoke something +strange in her. The sun was burning hot, as she could tell when +she put a hand outside the window, and a strong wind blew sheets +of dry dust at the train. She gathered at once what tremendous +factors in the Southwest were the sun and the dust and the wind. +And her realization made her love them. It was there; the open, +the wild, the beautiful, the lonely land; and she felt the +poignant call of blood in her -- to seek, to strive, to find, to +live. One look down that yellow valley, endless between its dark +iron ramparts, had given her understanding of her uncle. She must +be like him in spirit, as it was claimed she resembled him +otherwise.</p> + +<p>At length Bo grew tired of watching scenery that contained no +life, and, with her bright head on the faded cloak, she went to +sleep. But Helen kept steady, farseeing gaze out upon that land +of rock and plain; and during the long hours, as she watched +through clouds of dust and veils of heat, some strong and +doubtful and restless sentiment seemed to change and then to fix. +It was her physical acceptance -- her eyes and her senses taking +the West as she had already taken it in spirit.</p> + +<p>A woman should love her home wherever fate placed her, Helen +believed, and not so much from duty as from delight and romance +and living. How could life ever be tedious or monotonous out here +in this tremendous vastness of bare earth and open sky, where the +need to achieve made thinking and pondering superficial?</p> + +<p>It was with regret that she saw the last of the valley of the +Rio Grande, and then of its paralleled mountain ranges. But the +miles brought compensation in other valleys, other bold, black +upheavals of rock, and then again bare, boundless yellow plains, +and sparsely cedared ridges, and white dry washes, ghastly in the +sunlight, and dazzling beds of alkali, and then a desert space +where golden and blue flowers bloomed.</p> + +<p>She noted, too, that the whites and yellows of earth and rock +had begun to shade to red -- and this she knew meant an approach +to Arizona. Arizona, the wild, the lonely, the red desert, the +green plateau -- Arizona with its thundering rivers, its unknown +spaces, its pasture-lands and timber-lands, its wild horses, +cowboys, outlaws, wolves and lions and savages! As to a boy, that +name stirred and thrilled and sang to her of nameless, sweet, +intangible things, mysterious and all of adventure. But she, +being a girl of twenty, who had accepted responsibilities, must +conceal the depths of her heart and that which her mother had +complained was her misfortune in not being born a boy.</p> + +<p>Time passed, while Helen watched and learned and dreamed. The +train stopped, at long intervals, at wayside stations where there +seemed nothing but adobe sheds and lazy Mexicans, and dust and +heat. Bo awoke and began to chatter, and to dig into the basket. +She learned from the conductor that Magdalena was only two +stations on. And she was full of conjectures as to who would meet +them, what would happen. So Helen was drawn back to sober +realities, in which there was considerable zest. Assuredly she +did not know what was going to happen. Twice Riggs passed up and +down the aisle, his dark face and light eyes and sardonic smile +deliberately forced upon her sight. But again Helen fought a +growing dread with contemptuous scorn. This fellow was not half a +man. It was not conceivable what he could do, except annoy her, +until she arrived at Pine. Her uncle was to meet her or send for +her at Snowdrop, which place, Helen knew, was distant a good long +ride by stage from Magdalena. This stage-ride was the climax and +the dread of all the long journey, in Helen's considerations.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nell!" cried Bo, with delight. "We're nearly there! Next +station, the conductor said."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if the stage travels at night," said Helen, +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Sure it does!" replied the irrepressible Bo.</p> + +<p>The train, though it clattered along as usual, seemed to Helen +to fly. There the sun was setting over bleak New Mexican bluffs, +Magdalena was at hand, and night, and adventure. Helen's heart +beat fast. She watched the yellow plains where the cattle grazed; +their presence, and irrigation ditches and cottonwood-trees told +her that the railroad part of the journey was nearly ended. Then, +at Bo's little scream, she looked across the car and out of the +window to see a line of low, flat, red-adobe houses. The train +began to slow down. Helen saw children run, white children and +Mexican together; then more houses, and high upon a hill an +immense adobe church, crude and glaring, yet somehow +beautiful.</p> + +<p>Helen told Bo to put on her bonnet, and, performing a like +office for herself, she was ashamed of the trembling of her +fingers. There were bustle and talk in the car.</p> + +<p>The train stopped. Helen peered out to see a straggling crowd +of Mexicans and Indians, all motionless and stolid, as if trains +or nothing else mattered. Next Helen saw a white man, and that +was a relief. He stood out in front of the others. Tall and +broad, somehow striking, he drew a second glance that showed him +to be a hunter clad in gray-fringed buckskin, and carrying a +rifle.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER V</p> + +<p>Here, there was no kindly brakeman to help the sisters with +their luggage. Helen bade Bo take her share; thus burdened, they +made an awkward and laborious shift to get off the train.</p> + +<p>Upon the platform of the car a strong hand seized Helen's +heavy bag, with which she was straining, and a loud voice called +out:</p> + +<p>"Girls, we're here -- sure out in the wild an' woolly +West!"</p> + +<p>The speaker was Riggs, and he had possessed himself of part of +her baggage with action and speech meant more to impress the +curious crowd than to be really kind. In the excitement of +arriving Helen had forgotten him. The manner of sudden reminder +-- the insincerity of it -- made her temper flash. She almost +fell, encumbered as she was, in her hurry to descend the steps. +She saw the tall hunter in gray step forward close to her as she +reached for the bag Riggs held.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Riggs, I'll carry my bag," she said.</p> + +<p>"Let me lug this. You help Bo with hers," he replied, +familiarly.</p> + +<p>"But I want it," she rejoined, quietly, with sharp +determination. No little force was needed to pull the bag away +from Riggs.</p> + +<p>"See here, Helen, you ain't goin' any farther with that joke, +are you?" he queried, deprecatingly, and he still spoke quite +loud.</p> + +<p>"It's no joke to me," replied Helen. "I told you I didn't want +your attention."</p> + +<p>"Sure. But that was temper. I'm your friend -- from your home +town. An' I ain't goin' to let a quarrel keep me from lookin' +after you till you're safe at your uncle's."</p> + +<p>Helen turned her back upon him. The tall hunter had just +helped Bo off the car. Then Helen looked up into a smooth bronzed +face and piercing gray eyes.</p> + +<p>"Are you Helen Rayner?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"My name's Dale. I've come to meet you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! My uncle sent you?" added Helen, in quick relief.</p> + +<p>"No; I can't say Al sent me," began the man, "but I reckon +--"</p> + +<p>He was interrupted by Riggs, who, grasping Helen by the arm, +pulled her back a step.</p> + +<p>"Say, mister, did Auchincloss send you to meet my young +friends here?" he demanded, arrogantly.</p> + +<p>Dale's glance turned from Helen to Riggs. She could not read +this quiet gray gaze, but it thrilled her.</p> + +<p>"No. I come on my own hook," he answered.</p> + +<p>"You'll understand, then -- they're in my charge," added +Riggs.</p> + +<p>This time the steady light-gray eyes met Helen's, and if there +was not a smile in them or behind them she was still further +baffled.</p> + +<p>"Helen, I reckon you said you didn't want this fellow's +attention."</p> + +<p>"I certainly said that," replied Helen, quickly. Just then Bo +slipped close to her and gave her arm a little squeeze. Probably +Bo's thought was like hers -- here was a real Western man. That +was her first impression, and following swiftly upon it was a +sensation of eased nerves.</p> + +<p>Riggs swaggered closer to Dale.</p> + +<p>"Say, Buckskin, I hail from Texas --"</p> + +<p>"You're wastin' our time an' we've need to hurry," interrupted +Dale. His tone seemed friendly. "An' if you ever lived long in +Texas you wouldn't pester a lady an' you sure wouldn't talk like +you do."</p> + +<p>"What!" shouted Riggs, hotly. He dropped his right hand +significantly to his hip.</p> + +<p>"Don't throw your gun. It might go off," said Dale.</p> + +<p>Whatever Riggs's intention had been -- and it was probably +just what Dale evidently had read it -- he now flushed an angry +red and jerked at his gun.</p> + +<p>Dale's hand flashed too swiftly for Helen's eye to follow it. +But she heard the thud as it struck. The gun went flying to the +platform and scattered a group of Indians and Mexicans.</p> + +<p>"You'll hurt yourself some day," said Dale.</p> + +<p>Helen had never heard a slow, cool voice like this hunter's. +Without excitement or emotion or hurry, it yet seemed full and +significant of things the words did not mean. Bo uttered a +strange little exultant cry.</p> + +<p>Riggs's arm had dropped limp. No doubt it was numb. He stared, +and his predominating expression was surprise. As the shuffling +crowd began to snicker and whisper, Riggs gave Dale a malignant +glance, shifted it to Helen, and then lurched away in the +direction of his gun.</p> + +<p>Dale did not pay any more attention to him. Gathering up +Helen's baggage, he said, "Come on," and shouldered a lane +through the gaping crowd. The girls followed close at his +heels.</p> + +<p>"Nell! what 'd I tell you?" whispered Bo. "Oh, you're all +atremble!"</p> + +<p>Helen was aware of her unsteadiness; anger and fear and relief +in quick succession had left her rather weak. Once through the +motley crowd of loungers, she saw an old gray stage-coach and +four lean horses. A grizzled, sunburned man sat on the driver's +seat, whip and reins in hand. Beside him was a younger man with +rifle across his knees. Another man, young, tall, lean, dark, +stood holding the coach door open. He touched his sombrero to the +girls. His eyes were sharp as he addressed Dale.</p> + +<p>"Milt, wasn't you held up?"</p> + +<p>"No. But some long-haired galoot was tryin' to hold up the +girls. Wanted to throw his gun on me. I was sure scared," replied +Dale, as he deposited the luggage.</p> + +<p>Bo laughed. Her eyes, resting upon Dale, were warm and bright. +The young man at the coach door took a second look at her, and +then a smile changed the dark hardness of his face.</p> + +<p>Dale helped the girls up the high step into the stage, and +then, placing the lighter luggage, in with them, he threw the +heavier pieces on top.</p> + +<p>"Joe, climb up," he said.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Milt," drawled the driver, "let's ooze along."</p> + +<p>Dale hesitated, with his hand on the door. He glanced at the +crowd, now edging close again, and then at Helen.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I ought to tell you," he said, and indecision +appeared to concern him.</p> + +<p>"What?" exclaimed Helen.</p> + +<p>"Bad news. But talkin' takes time. An' we mustn't lose +any."</p> + +<p>"There's need of hurry?" queried Helen, sitting up +sharply.</p> + +<p>"I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Is this the stage to Snowdrop?</p> + +<p>"No. That leaves in the mornin'. We rustled this old trap to +get a start to-night."</p> + +<p>"The sooner the better. But I -- I don't understand," said +Helen, bewildered.</p> + +<p>"It'll not be safe for you to ride on the mornin' stage," +returned Dale.</p> + +<p>"Safe! Oh, what do you mean?" exclaimed Helen. Apprehensively +she gazed at him and then back at Bo.</p> + +<p>"Explainin' will take time. An' facts may change your mind. +But if you can't trust me --"</p> + +<p>"Trust you!" interposed Helen, blankly. "You mean to take us +to Snowdrop?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon we'd better go roundabout an' not hit Snowdrop," he +replied, shortly.</p> + +<p>"Then to Pine -- to my uncle -- Al Auchincloss?</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm goin' to try hard."</p> + +<p>Helen caught her breath. She divined that some peril menaced +her. She looked steadily, with all a woman's keenness, into this +man's face. The moment was one of the fateful decisions she knew +the West had in store for her. Her future and that of Bo's were +now to be dependent upon her judgments. It was a hard moment and, +though she shivered inwardly, she welcomed the initial and +inevitable step. This man Dale, by his dress of buckskin, must be +either scout or hunter. His size, his action, the tone of his +voice had been reassuring. But Helen must decide from what she +saw in his face whether or not to trust him. And that face was +clear bronze, unlined, unshadowed, like a tranquil mask, +clean-cut, strong-jawed, with eyes of wonderful transparent +gray.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll trust you," she said. "Get in, and let us hurry. +Then you can explain."</p> + +<p>"All ready, Bill. Send 'em along," called Dale.</p> + +<p>He had to stoop to enter the stage, and, once in, he appeared +to fill that side upon which he sat. Then the driver cracked his +whip; the stage lurched and began to roll; the motley crowd was +left behind. Helen awakened to the reality, as she saw Bo staring +with big eyes at the hunter, that a stranger adventure than she +had ever dreamed of had began with the rattling roll of that old +stage-coach.</p> + +<p>Dale laid off his sombrero and leaned forward, holding his +rifle between his knees. The light shone better upon his features +now that he was bareheaded. Helen had never seen a face like +that, which at first glance appeared darkly bronzed and hard, and +then became clear, cold, aloof, still, intense. She wished she +might see a smile upon it. And now that the die was cast she +could not tell why she had trusted it. There was singular force +in it, but she did not recognize what kind of force. One instant +she thought it was stern, and the next that it was sweet, and +again that it was neither.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you've got your sister," he said, presently.</p> + +<p>"How did you know she's my sister?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon she looks like you."</p> + +<p>"No one else ever thought so," replied Helen, trying to +smile.</p> + +<p>Bo had no difficulty in smiling, as she said, "Wish I was half +as pretty as Nell."</p> + +<p>"Nell. Isn't your name Helen?" queried Dale.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But my -- some few call me Nell."</p> + +<p>"I like Nell better than Helen. An' what's yours?" went on +Dale, looking at Bo.</p> + +<p>"Mine's Bo, just plain B-o. Isn't it silly? But I wasn't asked +when they gave it to me," she replied.</p> + +<p>"Bo. It's nice an' short. Never heard it before. But I haven't +met many people for years."</p> + +<p>"Oh! we've left the town!" cried Bo. "Look, Nell! How bare! +It's just like desert."</p> + +<p>"It is desert. We've forty miles of that before we come to a +hill or a tree."</p> + +<p>Helen glanced out. A flat, dull-green expanse waved away from +the road on and on to a bright, dark horizon-line, where the sun +was setting rayless in a clear sky. Open, desolate, and lonely, +the scene gave her a cold thrill.</p> + +<p>"Did your uncle Al ever write anythin' about a man named +Beasley?" asked Dale.</p> + +<p>"Indeed he did," replied Helen, with a start of surprise. +"Beasley! That name is familiar to us -- and detestable. My +uncle complained of this man for years. Then he grew bitter -- +accused Beasley. But the last year or so not a word!"</p> + +<p>"Well, now," began the hunter, earnestly, "let's get the bad +news over. I'm sorry you must be worried. But you must learn to +take the West as it is. There's good an' bad, maybe more bad. +That's because the country's young. . . . So to come right out +with it -- this Beasley hired a gang of outlaws to meet the stage +you was goin' in to Snowdrop -- to-morrow -- an' to make off with +you."</p> + +<p>"Make off with me?" ejaculated Helen, bewildered.</p> + +<p>"Kidnap you! Which, in that gang, would be worse than killing +you!" declared Dale, grimly, and he closed a huge fist on his +knee.</p> + +<p>Helen was utterly astounded.</p> + +<p>"How hor-rible!" she gasped out. "Make off with me! . . . What +in Heaven's name for?"</p> + +<p>Bo gave vent to a fierce little utterance.</p> + +<p>"For reasons you ought to guess," replied Dale, and he leaned +forward again. Neither his voice nor face changed in the least, +but yet there was a something about him that fascinated Helen. +"I'm a hunter. I live in the woods. A few nights ago I happened +to be caught out in a storm an' I took to an old log cabin. Soon +as I got there I heard horses. I hid up in the loft. Some men +rode up an' come in. It was dark. They couldn't see me. An' they +talked. It turned out they were Snake Anson an' his gang of +sheep-thieves. They expected to meet Beasley there. Pretty soon +he came. He told Anson how old Al, your uncle, was on his last +legs -- how he had sent for you to have his property when he +died. Beasley swore he had claims on Al. An' he made a deal with +Anson to get you out of the way. He named the day you were to +reach Magdalena. With Al dead an' you not there, Beasley could +get the property. An' then he wouldn't care if you did come to +claim it. It 'd be too late. . . . Well, they rode away that +night. An' next day I rustled down to Pine. They're all my +friends at Pine, except old Al. But they think I'm queer. I +didn't want to confide in many people. Beasley is strong in +Pine, an' for that matter I suspect Snake Anson has other friends +there besides Beasley. So I went to see your uncle. He never had +any use for me because he thought I was lazy like an Indian. Old +Al hates lazy men. Then we fell out -- or he fell out -- because +he believed a tame lion of mine had killed some of his sheep. An' +now I reckon that Tom might have done it. I tried to lead up to +this deal of Beasley's about you, but old Al wouldn't listen. +He's cross -- very cross. An' when I tried to tell him, why, he +went right out of his head. Sent me off the ranch. Now I reckon +you begin to see what a pickle I was in. Finally I went to four +friends I could trust. They're Mormon boys -- brothers. That's +Joe out on top, with the driver. I told them all about Beasley's +deal an' asked them to help me. So we planned to beat Anson an' +his gang to Magdalena. It happens that Beasley is as strong in +Magdalena as he is in Pine. An' we had to go careful. But the +boys had a couple of friends here -- Mormons, too, who agreed to +help us. They had this old stage. . . . An' here you are." Dale +spread out his big hands and looked gravely at Helen and then at +Bo.</p> + +<p>"You're perfectly splendid!" cried Bo, ringingly. She was +white; her fingers were clenched; her eyes blazed.</p> + +<p>Dale appeared startled out of his gravity, and surprised, then +pleased. A smile made his face like a boy's. Helen felt her body +all rigid, yet slightly trembling. Her hands were cold. The +horror of this revelation held her speechless. But in her heart +she echoed Bo's exclamation of admiration and gratitude.</p> + +<p>"So far, then," resumed Dale, with a heavy breath of relief. +"No wonder you're upset. I've a blunt way of talkin'. . . . Now +we've thirty miles to ride on this Snowdrop road before we can +turn off. To-day sometime the rest of the boys -- Roy, John, an' +Hal -- were to leave Show Down, which's a town farther on from +Snowdrop. They have my horses an' packs besides their own. +Somewhere on the road we'll meet them -- to-night, maybe -- or +tomorrow. I hope not to-night, because that 'd mean Anson's gang +was ridin' in to Magdalena."</p> + +<p>Helen wrung her hands helplessly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, have I no courage?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'm as scared as you are," said Bo, consolingly, +embracing her sister.</p> + +<p>"I reckon that's natural," said Dale, as if excusing them. +"But, scared or not, you both brace up. It's a bad job. But I've +done my best. An' you'll be safer with me an' the Beeman boys +than you'd be in Magdalena, or anywhere else, except your +uncle's."</p> + +<p>"Mr. -- Mr. Dale," faltered Helen, with her tears falling, +"don't think me a coward -- or -- or ungrateful. I'm neither. +It's only I'm so -- so shocked. After all we hoped and expected +-- this -- this -- is such a -- a terrible surprise."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Nell dear. Let's take what comes," murmured +Bo.</p> + +<p>"That's the talk," said Dale. "You see, I've come right out +with the worst. Maybe we'll get through easy. When we meet the +boys we'll take to the horses an' the trails. Can you ride?"</p> + +<p>"Bo has been used to horses all her life and I ride fairly +well," responded Helen. The idea of riding quickened her +spirit.</p> + +<p>"Good! We may have some hard ridin' before I get you up to +Pine. Hello! What's that?"</p> + +<p>Above the creaking, rattling, rolling roar of the stage Helen +heard a rapid beat of hoofs. A horse flashed by, galloping +hard.</p> + +<p>Dale opened the door and peered out. The stage rolled to a +halt. He stepped down and gazed ahead.</p> + +<p>"Joe, who was that?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"Nary me. An' Bill didn't know him, either," replied Joe. "I +seen him 'way back. He was ridin' some. An' he slowed up goin' +past us. Now he's runnin' again."</p> + +<p>Dale shook his head as if he did not like the +circumstances.</p> + +<p>"Milt, he'll never get by Roy on this road," said Joe.</p> + +<p>"Maybe he'll get by before Roy strikes in on the road."</p> + +<p>"It ain't likely."</p> + +<p>Helen could not restrain her fears. "Mr. Dale, you think he +was a messenger -- going ahead to post that -- that Anson +gang?"</p> + +<p>"He might be," replied Dale, simply.</p> + +<p>Then the young man called Joe leaned out from the seat above +and called: "Miss Helen, don't you worry. Thet fellar is more +liable to stop lead than anythin' else."</p> + +<p>His words, meant to be kind and reassuring, were almost as +sinister to Helen as the menace to her own life. Long had she +known how cheap life was held in the West, but she had only known +it abstractly, and she had never let the fact remain before her +consciousness. This cheerful young man spoke calmly of spilling +blood in her behalf. The thought it roused was tragic -- for +bloodshed was insupportable to her -- and then the thrills which +followed were so new, strange, bold, and tingling that they were +revolting. Helen grew conscious of unplumbed depths, of instincts +at which she was amazed and ashamed.</p> + +<p>"Joe, hand down that basket of grub -- the small one with the +canteen," said Dale, reaching out a long arm. Presently he placed +a cloth-covered basket inside the stage. "Girls, eat all you want +an' then some."</p> + +<p>"We have a basket half full yet," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>"You'll need it all before we get to Pine. . . . Now, I'll +ride up on top with the boys an' eat my supper. It'll be dark, +presently, an' we'll stop often to listen. But don't be +scared."</p> + +<p>With that he took his rifle and, closing the door, clambered +up to the driver's seat. Then the stage lurched again and began +to roll along.</p> + +<p>Not the least thing to wonder at of this eventful evening was +the way Bo reached for the basket of food. Helen simply stared at +her.</p> + +<p>"Bo, you <em>can't eat!</em>" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"I should smile I can," replied that practical young lady. +"And you're going to if I have to stuff things in your mouth. +Where's your wits, Nell? He said we must eat. That means our +strength is going to have some pretty severe trials. . . . Gee! +it's all great -- just like a story! The unexpected -- why, he +looks like a prince turned hunter! -- long, dark, stage journey +-- held up -- fight -- escape -- wild ride on horses -- woods and +camps and wild places -- pursued -- hidden in the forest -- more +hard rides -- then safe at the ranch. And of course he falls +madly in love with me -- no, you, for I'll be true to my Las +Vegas lover --"</p> + +<p>"Hush, silly! Bo, tell me, aren't you <em>scared?</em>"</p> + +<p>"Scared! I'm scared stiff. But if Western girls stand such +things, we can. No Western girl is going to beat +<em>me!</em>"</p> + +<p>That brought Helen to a realization of the brave place she had +given herself in dreams, and she was at once ashamed of herself +and wildly proud of this little sister.</p> + +<p>"Bo, thank Heaven I brought you with me!" exclaimed Helen, +fervently. "I'll eat if it chokes me."</p> + +<p>Whereupon she found herself actually hungry, and while she ate +she glanced out of the stage, first from one side and then from +the other. These windows had no glass and they let the cool night +air blow in. The sun had long since sunk. Out to the west, where +a bold, black horizon-line swept away endlessly, the sky was +clear gold, shading to yellow and blue above. Stars were out, +pale and wan, but growing brighter. The earth appeared bare and +heaving, like a calm sea. The wind bore a fragrance new to Helen, +acridly sweet and clean, and it was so cold it made her fingers +numb.</p> + +<p>"I heard some animal yelp," said Bo, suddenly, and she +listened with head poised.</p> + +<p>But Helen heard nothing save the steady clip-clop of hoofs, +the clink of chains, the creak and rattle of the old stage, and +occasionally the low voices of the men above.</p> + +<p>When the girls had satisfied hunger and thirst, night had +settled down black. They pulled the cloaks up over them, and +close together leaned back in a corner of the seat and talked in +whispers. Helen did not have much to say, but Bo was +talkative.</p> + +<p>"This beats me!" she said once, after an interval. "Where are +we, Nell? Those men up there are Mormons. Maybe they are +abducting us!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Dale isn't a Mormon," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I could tell by the way he spoke of his friends."</p> + +<p>"Well, I wish it wasn't so dark. I'm not afraid of men in +daylight. . . . Nell, did you ever see such a wonderful looking +fellow? What'd they call him? Milt -- Milt Dale. He said he lived +in the woods. If I hadn't fallen in love with that cowboy who +called me -- well, I'd be a goner now."</p> + +<p>After an interval of silence Bo whispered, startlingly, +"Wonder if Harve Riggs is following us now?"</p> + +<p>"Of course he is," replied Helen, hopelessly.</p> + +<p>"He'd better look out. Why, Nell, he never saw -- he never -- +what did Uncle Al used to call it? -- sav -- savvied -- that's +it. Riggs never savvied that hunter. But I did, you bet."</p> + +<p>"Savvied! What do you mean, Bo?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that long-haired galoot never saw his real danger. But +I felt it. Something went light inside me. Dale never took him +seriously at all."</p> + +<p>"Riggs will turn up at Uncle Al's, sure as I'm born," said +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Let him turn," replied Bo, contemptuously. "Nell, don't you +ever bother your head again about him. I'll bet they're all men +out here. And I wouldn't be in Harve Riggs's boots for a +lot."</p> + +<p>After that Bo talked of her uncle and his fatal illness, and +from that she drifted back to the loved ones at home, now +seemingly at the other side of the world, and then she broke down +and cried, after which she fell asleep on Helen's shoulder.</p> + +<p>But Helen could not have fallen asleep if she had wanted +to.</p> + +<p>She had always, since she could remember, longed for a moving, +active life; and for want of a better idea she had chosen to +dream of gipsies. And now it struck her grimly that, if these +first few hours of her advent in the West were forecasts of the +future, she was destined to have her longings more than +fulfilled.</p> + +<p>Presently the stage rolled slower and slower, until it came to +a halt. Then the horses heaved, the harnesses clinked, the men +whispered. Otherwise there was an intense quiet. She looked out, +expecting to find it pitch-dark. It was black, yet a transparent +blackness. To her surprise she could see a long way. A +shooting-star electrified her. The men were listening. She +listened, too, but beyond the slight sounds about the stage she +heard nothing. Presently the driver clucked to his horses, and +travel was resumed.</p> + +<p>For a while the stage rolled on rapidly, evidently downhill, +swaying from side to side, and rattling as if about to fall to +pieces. Then it slowed on a level, and again it halted for a few +moments, and once more in motion it began a laborsome climb. +Helen imagined miles had been covered. The desert appeared to +heave into billows, growing rougher, and dark, round bushes dimly +stood out. The road grew uneven and rocky, and when the stage +began another descent its violent rocking jolted Bo out of her +sleep and in fact almost out of Helen's arms.</p> + +<p>"Where am I?" asked Bo, dazedly.</p> + +<p>"Bo, you're having your heart's desire, but I can't tell you +where you are," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>Bo awakened thoroughly, which fact was now no wonder, +considering the jostling of the old stage.</p> + +<p>"Hold on to me, Nell! . . . Is it a runaway?"</p> + +<p>"We've come about a thousand miles like this, I think," +replied Helen. "I've not a whole bone in my body."</p> + +<p>Bo peered out of the window.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how dark and lonesome! But it'd be nice if it wasn't so +cold. I'm freezing."</p> + +<p>"I thought you loved cold air," taunted Helen.</p> + +<p>"Say, Nell, you begin to talk like yourself," responded +Bo.</p> + +<p>It was difficult to hold on to the stage and each other and +the cloak all at once, but they succeeded, except in the roughest +places, when from time to time they were bounced around. Bo +sustained a sharp rap on the head.</p> + +<p>"Oooooo!" she moaned. "Nell Rayner, I'll never forgive you for +fetching me on this awful trip."</p> + +<p>"Just think of your handsome Las Vegas cowboy," replied +Helen.</p> + +<p>Either this remark subdued Bo or the suggestion sufficed to +reconcile her to the hardships of the ride.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, as they talked and maintained silence and tried to +sleep, the driver of the stage kept at his task after the manner +of Western men who knew how to get the best out of horses and bad +roads and distance.</p> + +<p>By and by the stage halted again and remained at a standstill +for so long, with the men whispering on top, that Helen and Bo +were roused to apprehension.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a sharp whistle came from the darkness ahead.</p> + +<p>"Thet's Roy," said Joe Beeman, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"I reckon. An' meetin' us so quick looks bad," replied Dale. +"Drive on, Bill."</p> + +<p>"Mebbe it seems quick to you," muttered the driver, "but if we +hain't come thirty mile, an' if thet ridge thar hain't your +turnin'-off place, why, I don't know nothin'."</p> + +<p>The stage rolled on a little farther, while Helen and Bo sat +clasping each other tight, wondering with bated breath what was +to be the next thing to happen.</p> + +<p>Then once more they were at a standstill. Helen heard the thud +of boots striking the ground, and the snorts of horses.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I see horses," whispered Bo, excitedly. "There, to the +side of the road . . . and here comes a man. . . . Oh, if he +shouldn't be the one they're expecting!"</p> + +<p>Helen peered out to see a tall, dark form, moving silently, +and beyond it a vague outline of horses, and then pale gleams of +what must have been pack-loads.</p> + +<p>Dale loomed up, and met the stranger in the road.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Milt? You got the girl sure, or you wouldn't be here," +said a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Roy, I've got two girls -- sisters," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>The man Roy whistled softly under his breath. Then another +lean, rangy form strode out of the darkness, and was met by +Dale.</p> + +<p>"Now, boys -- how about Anson's gang?" queried Dale.</p> + +<p>"At Snowdrop, drinkin' an' quarrelin'. Reckon they'll leave +there about daybreak," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>"How long have you been here?"</p> + +<p>"Mebbe a couple of hours."</p> + +<p>"Any horse go by?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Roy, a strange rider passed us before dark. He was hittin' +the road. An' he's got by here before you came."</p> + +<p>"I don't like thet news," replied Roy, tersely. "Let's rustle. +With girls on hossback you'll need all the start you can get. +Hey, John?"</p> + +<p>"Snake Anson shore can foller hoss tracks," replied the third +man.</p> + +<p>"Milt, say the word," went on Roy, as he looked up at the +stars. "Daylight not far away. Here's the forks of the road, an' +your hosses, an' our outfit. You can be in the pines by +sunup."</p> + +<p>In the silence that ensued Helen heard the throb of her heart +and the panting little breaths of her sister. They both peered +out, hands clenched together, watching and listening in strained +attention.</p> + +<p>"It's possible that rider last night wasn't a messenger to +Anson," said Dale. "In that case Anson won't make anythin' of our +wheel tracks or horse tracks. He'll go right on to meet the +regular stage. Bill, can you go back an' meet the stage comin' +before Anson does?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I reckon so -- an' take it easy at thet," replied +Bill.</p> + +<p>"All right," continued Dale, instantly. "John, you an' Joe an' +Hal ride back to meet the regular stage. An' when you meet it get +on an' be on it when Anson holds it up."</p> + +<p>"Thet's shore agreeable to me," drawled John.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to be on it, too," said Roy, grimly.</p> + +<p>"No. I'll need you till I'm safe in the woods. Bill, hand down +the bags. An' you, Roy, help me pack them. Did you get all the +supplies I wanted?"</p> + +<p>"Shore did. If the young ladies ain't powerful particular you +can feed them well for a couple of months."</p> + +<p>Dale wheeled and, striding to the stage, he opened the +door.</p> + +<p>"Girls, you're not asleep? Come," he called.</p> + +<p>Bo stepped down first.</p> + +<p>"I was asleep till this -- this vehicle fell off the road back +a ways," she replied.</p> + +<p>Roy Beeman's low laugh was significant. He took off his +sombrero and stood silent. The old driver smothered a loud +guffaw.</p> + +<p>"Veehicle! Wal, I'll be doggoned! Joe, did you hear thet? All +the spunky gurls ain't born out West."</p> + +<p>As Helen followed with cloak and bag Roy assisted her, and she +encountered keen eyes upon her face. He seemed both gentle and +respectful, and she felt his solicitude. His heavy gun, swinging +low, struck her as she stepped down.</p> + +<p>Dale reached into the stage and hauled out baskets and bags. +These he set down on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Turn around, Bill, an' go along with you. John an' Hal will +follow presently," ordered Dale.</p> + +<p>"Wal, gurls," said Bill, looking down upon them, "I was shore +powerful glad to meet you-all. An' I'm ashamed of my country -- +offerin' two sich purty gurls insults an' low-down tricks. But +shore you'll go through safe now. You couldn't be in better +company fer ridin' or huntin' or marryin' or gittin' religion +--"</p> + +<p>"Shut up, you old grizzly!" broke in Dale, sharply.</p> + +<p>"Haw! Haw! Good-by, gurls, an' good luck!" ended Bill, as he +began to whip the reins.</p> + +<p>Bo said good-by quite distinctly, but Helen could only murmur +hers. The old driver seemed a friend.</p> + +<p>Then the horses wheeled and stamped, the stage careened and +creaked, presently to roll out of sight in the gloom.</p> + +<p>"You're shiverin'," said Dale, suddenly, looking down upon +Helen. She felt his big, hard hand clasp hers. "Cold as ice!"</p> + +<p>"I am c-cold," replied Helen. "I guess we're not warmly +dressed."</p> + +<p>"Nell, we roasted all day, and now we're freezing," declared +Bo. "I didn't know it was winter at night out here."</p> + +<p>"Miss, haven't you some warm gloves an' a coat?" asked Roy, +anxiously. "It 'ain't begun to get cold yet."</p> + +<p>"Nell, we've heavy gloves, riding-suits and boots -- all fine +and new -- in this black bag," said Bo, enthusiastically kicking +a bag at her feet.</p> + +<p>"Yes, so we have. But a lot of good they'll do us, to-night," +returned Helen.</p> + +<p>"Miss, you'd do well to change right here," said Roy, +earnestly. "It'll save time in the long run an' a lot of +sufferin' before sunup."</p> + +<p>Helen stared at the young man, absolutely amazed with his +simplicity. She was advised to change her traveling-dress for a +riding-suit -- out somewhere in a cold, windy desert -- in the +middle of the night -- among strange young men!</p> + +<p>"Bo, which bag is it?" asked Dale, as if she were his sister. +And when she indicated the one, he picked it up. "Come off the +road."</p> + +<p>Bo followed him, and Helen found herself mechanically at their +heels. Dale led them a few paces off the road behind some low +bushes.</p> + +<p>"Hurry an' change here," he said. "We'll make a pack of your +outfit an' leave room for this bag."</p> + +<p>Then he stalked away and in a few strides disappeared.</p> + +<p>Bo sat down to begin unlacing her shoes. Helen could just see +her pale, pretty face and big, gleaming eyes by the light of the +stars. It struck her then that Bo was going to make eminently +more of a success of Western life than she was.</p> + +<p>"Nell, those fellows are n-nice," said Bo, reflectively. +"Aren't you c-cold? Say, he said hurry!"</p> + +<p>It was beyond Helen's comprehension how she ever began to +disrobe out there in that open, windy desert, but after she had +gotten launched on the task she found that it required more +fortitude than courage. The cold wind pierced right through her. +Almost she could have laughed at the way Bo made things fly.</p> + +<p>"G-g-g-gee!" chattered Bo. "I n-never w-was so c-c-cold in all +my life. Nell Rayner, m-may the g-good Lord forgive y-you!"</p> + +<p>Helen was too intent on her own troubles to take breath to +talk. She was a strong, healthy girl, swift and efficient with +her hands, yet this, the hardest physical ordeal she had ever +experienced, almost overcame her. Bo outdistanced her by moments, +helped her with buttons, and laced one whole boot for her. Then, +with hands that stung, Helen packed the traveling-suits in the +bag.</p> + +<p>"There! But what an awful mess!" exclaimed Helen. "Oh, Bo, our +pretty traveling-dresses!"</p> + +<p>"We'll press them t-to-morrow -- on a l-log," replied Bo, and +she giggled.</p> + +<p>They started for the road. Bo, strange to note, did not carry +her share of the burden, and she seemed unsteady on her feet.</p> + +<p>The men were waiting beside a group of horses, one of which +carried a pack.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' slow about you," said Dale, relieving Helen of the +grip. "Roy, put them up while I sling on this bag."</p> + +<p>Roy led out two of the horses.</p> + +<p>"Get up," he said, indicating Bo. "The stirrups are short on +this saddle."</p> + +<p>Bo was an adept at mounting, but she made such awkward and +slow work of it in this instance that Helen could not believe her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Haw 're the stirrups?" asked Roy. "Stand in them. Guess +they're about right. . . . Careful now! Thet hoss is skittish. +Hold him in."</p> + +<p>Bo was not living up to the reputation with which Helen had +credited her.</p> + +<p>"Now, miss, you get up," said Roy to Helen. And in another +instant she found herself astride a black, spirited horse. Numb +with cold as she was, she yet felt the coursing thrills along her +veins.</p> + +<p>Roy was at the stirrups with swift hands.</p> + +<p>"You're taller 'n I guessed," he said. "Stay up, but lift your +foot. . . . Shore now, I'm glad you have them thick, soft boots. +Mebbe we'll ride all over the White Mountains."</p> + +<p>"Bo, do you hear that?" called Helen.</p> + +<p>But Bo did not answer. She was leaning rather unnaturally in +her saddle. Helen became anxious. Just then Dale strode back to +them.</p> + +<p>"All cinched up, Roy?"</p> + +<p>"Jest ready," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>Then Dale stood beside Helen. How tall he was! His wide +shoulders seemed on a level with the pommel of her saddle. He put +an affectionate hand on the horse.</p> + +<p>"His name's Ranger an' he's the fastest an' finest horse in +this country."</p> + +<p>"I reckon he shore is -- along with my bay," corroborated +Roy.</p> + +<p>"Roy, if you rode Ranger he'd beat your pet," said Dale. "We +can start now. Roy, you drive the pack-horses."</p> + +<p>He took another look at Helen's saddle and then moved to do +likewise with Bo's.</p> + +<p>"Are you -- all right?" he asked, quickly.</p> + +<p>Bo reeled in her seat.</p> + +<p>"I'm n-near froze," she replied, in a faint voice. Her face +shone white in the starlight. Helen recognized that Bo was more +than cold.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bo!" she called, in distress.</p> + +<p>"Nell, don't you worry, now."</p> + +<p>"Let me carry you," suggested Dale.</p> + +<p>"No. I'll s-s-stick on this horse or d-die," fiercely retorted +Bo.</p> + +<p>The two men looked up at her white face and then at each +other. Then Roy walked away toward the dark bunch of horses off +the road and Dale swung astride the one horse left.</p> + +<p>"Keep close to me," he said.</p> + +<p>Bo fell in line and Helen brought up the rear.</p> + +<p>Helen imagined she was near the end of a dream. Presently she +would awaken with a start and see the pale walls of her little +room at home, and hear the cherry branches brushing her window, +and the old clarion-voiced cock proclaim the hour of dawn.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER VI</p> + +<p>The horses trotted. And the exercise soon warmed Helen, until +she was fairly comfortable except in her fingers. In mind, +however, she grew more miserable as she more fully realized her +situation. The night now became so dark that, although the head +of her horse was alongside the flank of Bo's, she could scarcely +see Bo. From time to time Helen's anxious query brought from her +sister the answer that she was all right.</p> + +<p>Helen had not ridden a horse for more than a year, and for +several years she had not ridden with any regularity. Despite her +thrills upon mounting, she had entertained misgivings. But she +was agreeably surprised, for the horse, Ranger, had an easy gait, +and she found she had not forgotten how to ride. Bo, having been +used to riding on a farm near home, might be expected to acquit +herself admirably. It occurred to Helen what a plight they would +have been in but for the thick, comfortable riding outfits.</p> + +<p>Dark as the night was, Helen could dimly make out the road +underneath. It was rocky, and apparently little used. When Dale +turned off the road into the low brush or sage of what seemed a +level plain, the traveling was harder, rougher, and yet no +slower. The horses kept to the gait of the leaders. Helen, +discovering it unnecessary, ceased attempting to guide Ranger. +There were dim shapes in the gloom ahead, and always they gave +Helen uneasiness, until closer approach proved them to be rocks +or low, scrubby trees. These increased in both size and number as +the horses progressed. Often Helen looked back into the gloom +behind. This act was involuntary and occasioned her sensations of +dread. Dale expected to be pursued. And Helen experienced, along +with the dread, flashes of unfamiliar resentment. Not only was +there an attempt afoot to rob her of her heritage, but even her +personal liberty. Then she shuddered at the significance of +Dale's words regarding her possible abduction by this hired gang. +It seemed monstrous, impossible. Yet, manifestly it was true +enough to Dale and his allies. The West, then, in reality was +raw, hard, inevitable.</p> + +<p>Suddenly her horse stopped. He had come up alongside Bo's +horse. Dale had halted ahead, and apparently was listening. Roy +and the pack-train were out of sight in the gloom.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" whispered Helen.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I heard a wolf," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Was that cry a wolf's?" asked Bo. "I heard. It was wild."</p> + +<p>"We're gettin' up close to the foot-hills," said Dale. "Feel +how much colder the air is."</p> + +<p>"I'm warm now," replied Bo. "I guess being near froze was what +ailed me. . . . Nell, how 're you?"</p> + +<p>"I'm warm, too, but --" Helen answered.</p> + +<p>"If you had your choice of being here or back home, snug in +bed -- which would you take?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"Bo!" exclaimed Helen, aghast.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd choose to be right here on this horse," rejoined +Bo.</p> + +<p>Dale heard her, for he turned an instant, then slapped his +horse and started on.</p> + +<p>Helen now rode beside Bo, and for a long time they climbed +steadily in silence. Helen knew when that dark hour before dawn +had passed, and she welcomed an almost imperceptible lightening +in the east. Then the stars paled. Gradually a grayness absorbed +all but the larger stars. The great white morning star, wonderful +as Helen had never seen it, lost its brilliance and life and +seemed to retreat into the dimming blue.</p> + +<p>Daylight came gradually, so that the gray desert became +distinguishable by degrees. Rolling bare hills, half obscured by +the gray lifting mantle of night, rose in the foreground, and +behind was gray space, slowly taking form and substance. In the +east there was a kindling of pale rose and silver that lengthened +and brightened along a horizon growing visibly rugged.</p> + +<p>"Reckon we'd better catch up with Roy," said Dale, and he +spurred his horse.</p> + +<p>Ranger and Bo's mount needed no other urging, and they swung +into a canter. Far ahead the pack-animals showed with Roy driving +them. The cold wind was so keen in Helen's face that tears +blurred her eyes and froze her cheeks. And riding Ranger at that +pace was like riding in a rocking-chair. That ride, invigorating +and exciting, seemed all too short.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nell, I don't care -- what becomes of -- me!" exclaimed +Bo, breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Her face was white and red, fresh as a rose, her eyes glanced +darkly blue, her hair blew out in bright, unruly strands. Helen +knew she felt some of the physical stimulation that had so roused +Bo, and seemed so irresistible, but somber thought was not +deflected thereby.</p> + +<p>It was clear daylight when Roy led off round a knoll from +which patches of scrubby trees -- cedars, Dale called them -- +straggled up on the side of the foot-hills.</p> + +<p>"They grow on the north slopes, where the snow stays longest," +said Dale.</p> + +<p>They descended into a valley that looked shallow, but proved +to be deep and wide, and then began to climb another foot-hill. +Upon surmounting it Helen saw the rising sun, and so glorious a +view confronted her that she was unable to answer Bo's wild +exclamations.</p> + +<p>Bare, yellow, cedar-dotted slopes, apparently level, so +gradual was the ascent, stretched away to a dense ragged line of +forest that rose black over range after range, at last to fail +near the bare summit of a magnificent mountain, sunrise-flushed +against the blue sky.</p> + +<p>"Oh, beautiful!" cried Bo. "But they ought to be called Black +Mountains."</p> + +<p>"Old Baldy, there, is white half the year," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Look back an' see what you say," suggested Roy.</p> + +<p>The girls turned to gaze silently. Helen imagined she looked +down upon the whole wide world. How vastly different was the +desert! Verily it yawned away from her, red and gold near at +hand, growing softly flushed with purple far away, a barren void, +borderless and immense, where dark-green patches and black lines +and upheaved ridges only served to emphasize distance and +space.</p> + +<p>"See thet little green spot," said Roy, pointing. "Thet's +Snowdrop. An' the other one -- 'way to the right -- thet's Show +Down."</p> + +<p>"Where is Pine?" queried Helen, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Farther still, up over the foot-hills at the edge of the +woods."</p> + +<p>"Then we're riding away from it."</p> + +<p>"Yes. If we'd gone straight for Pine thet gang could overtake +us. Pine is four days' ride. An' by takin' to the mountains Milt +can hide his tracks. An' when he's thrown Anson off the scent, +then he'll circle down to Pine."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Dale, do you think you'll get us there safely -- and +soon?" asked Helen, wistfully.</p> + +<p>"I won't promise soon, but I promise safe. An' I don't like +bein' called Mister," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Are we ever going to eat?" inquired Bo, demurely.</p> + +<p>At this query Roy Beeman turned with a laugh to look at Bo. +Helen saw his face fully in the light, and it was thin and hard, +darkly bronzed, with eyes like those of a hawk, and with square +chin and lean jaws showing scant, light beard.</p> + +<p>"We shore are," he replied. "Soon as we reach the timber. Thet +won't be long."</p> + +<p>"Reckon we can rustle some an' then take a good rest," said +Dale, and he urged his horse into a jog-trot.</p> + +<p>During a steady trot for a long hour, Helen's roving eyes were +everywhere, taking note of the things from near to far -- the +scant sage that soon gave place to as scanty a grass, and the +dark blots that proved to be dwarf cedars, and the ravines +opening out as if by magic from what had appeared level ground, +to wind away widening between gray stone walls, and farther on, +patches of lonely pine-trees, two and three together, and then a +straggling clump of yellow aspens, and up beyond the fringed +border of forest, growing nearer all the while, the black +sweeping benches rising to the noble dome of the dominant +mountain of the range.</p> + +<p>No birds or animals were seen in that long ride up toward the +timber, which fact seemed strange to Helen. The air lost +something of its cold, cutting edge as the sun rose higher, and +it gained sweeter tang of forest-land. The first faint suggestion +of that fragrance was utterly new to Helen, yet it brought a +vague sensation of familiarity and with it an emotion as strange. +It was as if she had smelled that keen, pungent tang long ago, +and her physical sense caught it before her memory.</p> + +<p>The yellow plain had only appeared to be level. Roy led down +into a shallow ravine, where a tiny stream meandered, and he +followed this around to the left, coming at length to a point +where cedars and dwarf pines formed a little grove. Here, as the +others rode up, he sat cross-legged in his saddle, and +waited.</p> + +<p>"We'll hang up awhile," he said. "Reckon you're tired?"</p> + +<p>"I'm hungry, but not tired yet," replied Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen dismounted, to find that walking was something she had +apparently lost the power to do. Bo laughed at her, but she, too, +was awkward when once more upon the ground.</p> + +<p>Then Roy got down. Helen was surprised to find him lame. He +caught her quick glance.</p> + +<p>"A hoss threw me once an' rolled on me. Only broke my +collar-bone, five ribs, one arm, an' my bow-legs in two +places!"</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this evidence that he was a cripple, as he +stood there tall and lithe in his homespun, ragged garments, he +looked singularly powerful and capable.</p> + +<p>"Reckon walkin' around would be good for you girls," advised +Dale. "If you ain't stiff yet, you'll be soon. An' walkin' will +help. Don't go far. I'll call when breakfast's ready."<br> +</p> + +<p>A little while later the girls were whistled in from their +walk and found camp-fire and meal awaiting them. Roy was sitting +cross-legged, like an Indian, in front of a tarpaulin, upon which +was spread a homely but substantial fare. Helen's quick eye +detected a cleanliness and thoroughness she had scarcely expected +to find in the camp cooking of men of the wilds. Moreover, the +fare was good. She ate heartily, and as for Bo's appetite, she +was inclined to be as much ashamed of that as amused at it. The +young men were all eyes, assiduous in their service to the girls, +but speaking seldom. It was not lost upon Helen how Dale's gray +gaze went often down across the open country. She divined +apprehension from it rather than saw much expression in it.</p> + +<p>"I -- declare," burst out Bo, when she could not eat any more, +"this isn't believable. I'm dreaming. . . . Nell, the black horse +you rode is the prettiest I ever saw."</p> + +<p>Ranger, with the other animals, was grazing along the little +brook. Packs and saddles had been removed. The men ate leisurely. +There was little evidence of hurried flight. Yet Helen could not +cast off uneasiness. Roy might have been deep, and careless, with +a motive to spare the girls' anxiety, but Dale seemed incapable +of anything he did not absolutely mean.</p> + +<p>"Rest or walk," he advised the girls. "We've got forty miles +to ride before dark."</p> + +<p>Helen preferred to rest, but Bo walked about, petting the +horses and prying into the packs. She was curious and eager.</p> + +<p>Dale and Roy talked in low tones while they cleaned up the +utensils and packed them away in a heavy canvas bag.</p> + +<p>"You really expect Anson 'll strike my trail this mornin'?" +Dale was asking.</p> + +<p>"I shore do," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>"An' how do you figure that so soon?"</p> + +<p>"How'd you figure it -- if you was Snake Anson?" queried Roy, +in reply.</p> + +<p>"Depends on that rider from Magdalena," Said Dale, soberly. +"Although it's likely I'd seen them wheel tracks an' hoss tracks +made where we turned off. But supposin' he does."</p> + +<p>"Milt, listen. I told you Snake met us boys face to face day +before yesterday in Show Down. An' he was plumb curious."</p> + +<p>"But he missed seein' or hearin' about me," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Mebbe he did an' mebbe he didn't. Anyway, what's the +difference whether he finds out this mornin' or this +evenin'?"</p> + +<p>"Then you ain't expectin' a fight if Anson holds up the +stage?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, he'd have to shoot first, which ain't likely. John an' +Hal, since thet shootin'-scrape a year ago, have been sort of +gun-shy. Joe might get riled. But I reckon the best we can be +shore of is a delay. An' it'd be sense not to count on thet."</p> + +<p>"Then you hang up here an' keep watch for Anson's gang -- say +long enough so's to be sure they'd be in sight if they find our +tracks this mornin'. Makin' sure one way or another, you ride +'cross-country to Big Spring, where I'll camp to-night."</p> + +<p>Roy nodded approval of that suggestion. Then without more +words both men picked up ropes and went after the horses. Helen +was watching Dale, so that when Bo cried out in great excitement +Helen turned to see a savage yellow little mustang standing +straight up on his hind legs and pawing the air. Roy had roped +him and was now dragging him into camp.</p> + +<p>"Nell, look at that for a wild pony!" exclaimed Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen busied herself getting well out of the way of the +infuriated mustang. Roy dragged him to a cedar near by.</p> + +<p>"Come now, Buckskin," said Roy, soothingly, and he slowly +approached the quivering animal. He went closer, hand over hand, +on the lasso. Buckskin showed the whites of his eyes and also his +white teeth. But he stood while Roy loosened the loop and, +slipping it down over his head, fastened it in a complicated knot +round his nose.</p> + +<p>"Thet's a hackamore," he said, indicating the knot. "He's never +had a bridle, an' never will have one, I reckon."</p> + +<p>"You don't ride him?" queried Helen.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I do," replied Roy, with a smile. "Would you girls +like to try him?"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," answered Helen.</p> + +<p>"Gee!" ejaculated Bo. "He looks like a devil. But I'd tackle +him -- if you think I could."</p> + +<p>The wild leaven of the West had found quick root in Bo +Rayner.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I'm sorry, but I reckon I'll not let you -- for a +spell," replied Roy, dryly.</p> + +<p>"He pitches somethin' powerful bad."</p> + +<p>"Pitches. You mean bucks?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon."</p> + +<p>In the next half-hour Helen saw more and learned more about +how horses of the open range were handled than she had ever heard +of. Excepting Ranger, and Roy's bay, and the white pony Bo rode, +the rest of the horses had actually to be roped and hauled into +camp to be saddled and packed. It was a job for fearless, strong +men, and one that called for patience as well as arms of iron. So +that for Helen Rayner the thing succeeding the confidence she had +placed in these men was respect. To an observing woman that +half-hour told much.</p> + +<p>When all was in readiness for a start Dale mounted, and said, +significantly: "Roy, I'll look for you about sundown. I hope no +sooner."</p> + +<p>"Wal, it'd be bad if I had to rustle along soon with bad news. +Let's hope for the best. We've been shore lucky so far. Now you +take to the pine-mats in the woods an' hide your trail."</p> + +<p>Dale turned away. Then the girls bade Roy good-by, and +followed. Soon Roy and his buckskin-colored mustang were lost to +sight round a clump of trees.</p> + +<p>The unhampered horses led the way; the pack-animals trotted +after them; the riders were close behind. All traveled at a +jog-trot. And this gait made the packs bob up and down and from +side to side. The sun felt warm at Helen's back and the wind lost +its frosty coldness, that almost appeared damp, for a dry, sweet +fragrance. Dale drove up the shallow valley that showed timber on +the levels above and a black border of timber some few miles +ahead. It did not take long to reach the edge of the forest.</p> + +<p>Helen wondered why the big pines grew so far on that plain and +no farther. Probably the growth had to do with snow, but, as the +ground was level, she could not see why the edge of the woods +should come just there.</p> + +<p>They rode into the forest.</p> + +<p>To Helen it seemed a strange, critical entrance into another +world, which she was destined to know and to love. The pines were +big, brown-barked, seamed, and knotted, with no typical +conformation except a majesty and beauty. They grew far apart. +Few small pines and little underbrush flourished beneath them. +The floor of this forest appeared remarkable in that it consisted +of patches of high silvery grass and wide brown areas of +pine-needles. These manifestly were what Roy had meant by +pine-mats. Here and there a fallen monarch lay riven or rotting. +Helen was presently struck with the silence of the forest and the +strange fact that the horses seldom made any sound at all, and +when they did it was a cracking of dead twig or thud of hoof on +log. Likewise she became aware of a springy nature of the ground. +And then she saw that the pine-mats gave like rubber cushions +under the hoofs of the horses, and after they had passed sprang +back to place again, leaving no track. Helen could not see a sign +of a trail they left behind. Indeed, it would take a sharp eye to +follow Dale through that forest. This knowledge was infinitely +comforting to Helen, and for the first time since the flight had +begun she felt a lessening of the weight upon mind and heart. It +left her free for some of the appreciation she might have had in +this wonderful ride under happier circumstances.</p> + +<p>Bo, however, seemed too young, too wild, too intense to mind +what the circumstances were. She responded to reality. Helen +began to suspect that the girl would welcome any adventure, and +Helen knew surely now that Bo was a true Auchincloss. For three +long days Helen had felt a constraint with which heretofore she +had been unfamiliar; for the last hours it had been submerged +under dread. But it must be, she concluded, blood like her +sister's, pounding at her veins to be set free to race and to +burn.</p> + +<p>Bo loved action. She had an eye for beauty, but she was not +contemplative. She was now helping Dale drive the horses and hold +them in rather close formation. She rode well, and as yet showed +no symptoms of fatigue or pain. Helen began to be aware of both, +but not enough yet to limit her interest.</p> + +<p>A wonderful forest without birds did not seem real to her. Of +all living creatures in nature Helen liked birds best, and she +knew many and could imitate the songs of a few. But here under +the stately pines there were no birds. Squirrels, however, began +to be seen here and there, and in the course of an hour's travel +became abundant. The only one with which she was familiar was the +chipmunk. All the others, from the slim bright blacks to the +striped russets and the white-tailed grays, were totally new to +her. They appeared tame and curious. The reds barked and scolded +at the passing cavalcade; the blacks glided to some safe branch, +there to watch; the grays paid no especial heed to this invasion +of their domain.</p> + +<p>Once Dale, halting his horse, pointed with long arm, and +Helen, following the direction, descried several gray deer +standing in a glade, motionless, with long ears up. They made a +wild and beautiful picture. Suddenly they bounded away with +remarkable springy strides.</p> + +<p>The forest on the whole held to the level, open character, but +there were swales and stream-beds breaking up its regular +conformity. Toward noon, however, it gradually changed, a fact +that Helen believed she might have observed sooner had she been +more keen. The general lay of the land began to ascend, and the +trees to grow denser.</p> + +<p>She made another discovery. Ever since she had entered the +forest she had become aware of a fullness in her head and a +something affecting her nostrils. She imagined, with regret, that +she had taken cold. But presently her head cleared somewhat and +she realized that the thick pine odor of the forest had clogged +her nostrils as if with a sweet pitch. The smell was overpowering +and disagreeable because of its strength. Also her throat and +lungs seemed to burn.</p> + +<p>When she began to lose interest in the forest and her +surroundings it was because of aches and pains which would no +longer be denied recognition. Thereafter she was not permitted to +forget them and they grew worse. One, especially, was a pain +beyond all her experience. It lay in the muscles of her side, +above her hip, and it grew to be a treacherous thing, for it was +not persistent. It came and went. After it did come, with a +terrible flash, it could be borne by shifting or easing the body. +But it gave no warning. When she expected it she was mistaken; +when she dared to breathe again, then, with piercing swiftness, +it returned like a blade in her side. This, then, was one of the +riding-pains that made a victim of a tenderfoot on a long ride. +It was almost too much to be borne. The beauty of the forest, the +living creatures to be seen scurrying away, the time, distance -- +everything faded before that stablike pain. To her infinite +relief she found that it was the trot that caused this torture. +When Ranger walked she did not have to suffer it. Therefore she +held him to a walk as long as she dared or until Dale and Bo were +almost out of sight; then she loped him ahead until he had caught +up.</p> + +<p>So the hours passed, the sun got around low, sending golden +shafts under the trees, and the forest gradually changed to a +brighter, but a thicker, color. This slowly darkened. Sunset was +not far away.</p> + +<p>She heard the horses splashing in water, and soon she rode up +to see the tiny streams of crystal water running swiftly over +beds of green moss. She crossed a number of these and followed +along the last one into a more open place in the forest where the +pines were huge, towering, and far apart. A low, gray bluff of +stone rose to the right, perhaps one-third as high as the trees. +From somewhere came the rushing sound of running water.</p> + +<p>"Big Spring," announced Dale. "We camp here. You girls have +done well."</p> + +<p>Another glance proved to Helen that all those little streams +poured from under this gray bluff.</p> + +<p>"I'm dying for a drink," cried Bo with her customary +hyperbole.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you'll never forget your first drink here," remarked +Dale.</p> + +<p>Bo essayed to dismount, and finally fell off, and when she did +get to the ground her legs appeared to refuse their natural +function, and she fell flat. Dale helped her up.</p> + +<p>"What's wrong with me, anyhow?" she demanded, in great +amaze.</p> + +<p>"Just stiff, I reckon," replied Dale, as he led her a few +awkward steps.</p> + +<p>"Bo, have you any hurts?" queried Helen, who still sat her +horse, loath to try dismounting, yet wanting to beyond all +words.</p> + +<p>Bo gave her an eloquent glance.</p> + +<p>"Nell, did you have one in your side, like a wicked, long +darning-needle, punching deep when you weren't ready?"</p> + +<p>"That one I'll never get over!" exclaimed Helen, softly. Then, +profiting by Bo's experience, she dismounted cautiously, and +managed to keep upright. Her legs felt like wooden things.</p> + +<p>Presently the girls went toward the spring.</p> + +<p>"Drink slow," called out Dale.</p> + +<p>Big Spring had its source somewhere deep under the gray, +weathered bluff, from which came a hollow subterranean gurgle and +roar of water. Its fountainhead must have been a great well +rushing up through the cold stone.</p> + +<p>Helen and Bo lay flat on a mossy bank, seeing their faces as +they bent over, and they sipped a mouthful, by Dale's advice, and +because they were so hot and parched and burning they wanted to +tarry a moment with a precious opportunity.</p> + +<p>The water was so cold that it sent a shock over Helen, made +her teeth ache, and a singular, revivifying current steal all +through her, wonderful in its cool absorption of that dry heat of +flesh, irresistible in its appeal to thirst. Helen raised her +head to look at this water. It was colorless as she had found it +tasteless.</p> + +<p>"Nell -- drink!" panted Bo. "Think of our -- old spring -- in +the orchard -- full of pollywogs!"</p> + +<p>And then Helen drank thirstily, with closed eyes, while a +memory of home stirred from Bo's gift of poignant speech.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER VII</p> + +<p>The first camp duty Dale performed was to throw a pack off one +of the horses, and, opening it, he took out tarpaulin and +blankets, which he arranged on the ground under a pine-tree.</p> + +<p>"You girls rest," he said, briefly.</p> + +<p>"Can't we help?" asked Helen, though she could scarcely +stand.</p> + +<p>"You'll be welcome to do all you like after you're broke +in."</p> + +<p>"Broke in!" ejaculated Bo, with a little laugh. "I'm all broke +<em>up</em> now."</p> + +<p>"Bo, it looks as if Mr. Dale expects us to have quite a stay +with him in the woods."</p> + +<p>"It does," replied Bo, as slowly she sat down upon the +blankets, stretched out with a long sigh, and laid her head on a +saddle. "Nell, didn't he say not to call him Mister?"</p> + +<p>Dale was throwing the packs off the other horses.</p> + +<p>Helen lay down beside Bo, and then for once in her life she +experienced the sweetness of rest.</p> + +<p>"Well, sister, what do you intend to call him?" queried Helen, +curiously.</p> + +<p>"Milt, of course," replied Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen had to laugh despite her weariness and aches.</p> + +<p>"I suppose, then, when your Las Vegas cowboy comes along you +will call him what he called you."</p> + +<p>Bo blushed, which was a rather unusual thing for her.</p> + +<p>"I will if I like," she retorted. "Nell, ever since I could +remember you've raved about the West. Now you're <em>out</em> +West, right in it good and deep. So wake up!"</p> + +<p>That was Bo's blunt and characteristic way of advising the +elimination of Helen's superficialities. It sank deep. Helen had +no retort. Her ambition, as far as the West was concerned, had +most assuredly not been for such a wild, unheard-of jaunt as +this. But possibly the West -- a living from day to day -- was +one succession of adventures, trials, tests, troubles, and +achievements. To make a place for others to live comfortably some +day! That might be Bo's meaning, embodied in her forceful hint. +But Helen was too tired to think it out then. She found it +interesting and vaguely pleasant to watch Dale.</p> + +<p>He hobbled the horses and turned them loose. Then with ax in +hand he approached a short, dead tree, standing among a few +white-barked aspens. Dale appeared to advantage swinging the ax. +With his coat off, displaying his wide shoulders, straight back, +and long, powerful arms, he looked a young giant. He was lithe +and supple, brawny but not bulky. The ax rang on the hard wood, +reverberating through the forest. A few strokes sufficed to bring +down the stub. Then he split it up. Helen was curious to see how +he kindled a fire. First he ripped splinters out of the heart of +the log, and laid them with coarser pieces on the ground. Then +from a saddlebag which hung on a near-by branch he took flint and +steel and a piece of what Helen supposed was rag or buckskin, +upon which powder had been rubbed. At any rate, the first strike +of the steel brought sparks, a blaze, and burning splinters. +Instantly the flame leaped a foot high. He put on larger pieces +of wood crosswise, and the fire roared.</p> + +<p>That done, he stood erect, and, facing the north, he listened. +Helen remembered now that she had seen him do the same thing +twice before since the arrival at Big Spring. It was Roy for whom +he was listening and watching. The sun had set and across the +open space the tips of the pines were losing their +brightness.</p> + +<p>The camp utensils, which the hunter emptied out of a sack, +gave forth a jangle of iron and tin. Next he unrolled a large +pack, the contents of which appeared to be numerous sacks of all +sizes. These evidently contained food supplies. The bucket looked +as if a horse had rolled over it, pack and all. Dale filled it at +the spring. Upon returning to the camp-fire he poured water into +a washbasin, and, getting down to his knees, proceeded to wash +his hands thoroughly. The act seemed a habit, for Helen saw that +while he was doing it he gazed off into the woods and listened. +Then he dried his hands over the fire, and, turning to the +spread-out pack, he began preparations for the meal.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Helen thought of the man and all that his actions +implied. At Magdalena, on the stage-ride, and last night, she had +trusted this stranger, a hunter of the White Mountains, who +appeared ready to befriend her. And she had felt an exceeding +gratitude. Still, she had looked at him impersonally. But it +began to dawn upon her that chance had thrown her in the company +of a remarkable man. That impression baffled her. It did not +spring from the fact that he was brave and kind to help a young +woman in peril, or that he appeared deft and quick at camp-fire +chores. Most Western men were brave, her uncle had told her, and +many were roughly kind, and all of them could cook. This hunter +was physically a wonderful specimen of manhood, with something +leonine about his stature. But that did not give rise to her +impression. Helen had been a school-teacher and used to boys, and +she sensed a boyish simplicity or vigor or freshness in this +hunter. She believed, however, that it was a mental and spiritual +force in Dale which had drawn her to think of it.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I've spoken to you three times," protested Bo, +petulantly. "What 're you mooning over?"</p> + +<p>"I'm pretty tired -- and far away, Bo," replied Helen. "What +did you say?"</p> + +<p>"I said I had an e-normous appetite."</p> + +<p>"Really. That's not remarkable for you. I'm too tired to eat. +And afraid to shut my eyes. They'd never come open. When did we +sleep last, Bo?"</p> + +<p>"Second night before we left home," declared Bo.</p> + +<p>"Four nights! Oh, we've slept some."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet I make mine up in this woods. Do you suppose we'll +sleep right here -- under this tree -- with no covering?"</p> + +<p>"It looks so," replied Helen, dubiously.</p> + +<p>"How perfectly lovely!" exclaimed Bo, in delight. "We'll see +the stars through the pines."</p> + +<p>"Seems to be clouding over. Wouldn't it be awful if we had a +storm?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I don't know," answered Bo, thoughtfully. "It must storm +out West."</p> + +<p>Again Helen felt a quality of inevitableness in Bo. It was +something that had appeared only practical in the humdrum home +life in St. Joseph. All of a sudden Helen received a flash of +wondering thought -- a thrilling consciousness that she and Bo +had begun to develop in a new and wild environment. How strange, +and fearful, perhaps, to watch that growth! Bo, being younger, +more impressionable, with elemental rather than intellectual +instincts, would grow stronger more swiftly. Helen wondered if +she could yield to her own leaning to the primitive. But how +could anyone with a thoughtful and grasping mind yield that way? +It was the savage who did not think.</p> + +<p>Helen saw Dale stand erect once more and gaze into the +forest.</p> + +<p>"Reckon Roy ain't comin'," he soliloquized. "An' that's good." +Then he turned to the girls. "Supper's ready."</p> + +<p>The girls responded with a spirit greater than their activity. +And they ate like famished children that had been lost in the +woods. Dale attended them with a pleasant light upon his still +face.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow night we'll have meat," he said.</p> + +<p>"What kind?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"Wild turkey or deer. Maybe both, if you like. But it's well +to take wild meat slow. An' turkey -- that 'll melt in your +mouth."</p> + +<p>"Uummm!" murmured Bo, greedily. "I've heard of wild +turkey."</p> + +<p>When they had finished Dale ate his meal, listening to the +talk of the girls, and occasionally replying briefly to some +query of Bo's. It was twilight when he began to wash the pots and +pans, and almost dark by the time his duties appeared ended. Then +he replenished the campfire and sat down on a log to gaze into +the fire. The girls leaned comfortably propped against the +saddles.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'll keel over in a minute," said Bo. "And I oughtn't +-- right on such a big supper."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how I can sleep, and I know I can't stay awake," +rejoined Helen.</p> + +<p>Dale lifted his head alertly.</p> + +<p>"Listen."</p> + +<p>The girls grew tense and still. Helen could not hear a sound, +unless it was a low thud of hoof out in the gloom. The forest +seemed sleeping. She knew from Bo's eyes, wide and shining in the +camp-fire light, that she, too, had failed to catch whatever it +was Dale meant.</p> + +<p>"Bunch of coyotes comin'," he explained.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the quietness split to a chorus of snappy, +high-strung, strange barks. They sounded wild, yet they held +something of a friendly or inquisitive note. Presently gray forms +could be descried just at the edge of the circle of light. Soft +rustlings of stealthy feet surrounded the camp, and then barks +and yelps broke out all around. It was a restless and sneaking +pack of animals, thought Helen; she was glad after the chorus +ended and with a few desultory, spiteful yelps the coyotes went +away.</p> + +<p>Silence again settled down. If it had not been for the anxiety +always present in Helen's mind she would have thought this +silence sweet and unfamiliarly beautiful.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Listen to that fellow," spoke up Dale. His voice was +thrilling.</p> + +<p>Again the girls strained their ears. That was not necessary, +for presently, clear and cold out of the silence, pealed a +mournful howl, long drawn, strange and full and wild.</p> + +<p>"Oh! What's that?" whispered Bo.</p> + +<p>"That's a big gray wolf -- a timber-wolf, or lofer, as he's +sometimes called," replied Dale. "He's high on some rocky ridge +back there. He scents us, an' he doesn't like it. . . . There he +goes again. Listen! Ah, he's hungry."</p> + +<p>While Helen listened to this exceedingly wild cry -- so wild +that it made her flesh creep and the most indescribable +sensations of loneliness come over her -- she kept her glance +upon Dale.</p> + +<p>"You love him?" she murmured involuntarily, quite without +understanding the motive of her query.</p> + +<p>Assuredly Dale had never had that question asked of him +before, and it seemed to Helen, as he pondered, that he had never +even asked it of himself.</p> + +<p>"I reckon so," he replied, presently.</p> + +<p>"But wolves kill deer, and little fawns, and everything +helpless in the forest," expostulated Bo.</p> + +<p>The hunter nodded his head.</p> + +<p>"Why, then, can you love him?" repeated Helen.</p> + +<p>"Come to think of it, I reckon it's because of lots of +reasons," returned Dale. "He kills clean. He eats no carrion. +He's no coward. He fights. He dies game. . . . An' he likes to be +alone."</p> + +<p>"Kills clean. What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"A cougar, now, he mangles a deer. An' a silvertip, when +killin' a cow or colt, he makes a mess of it. But a wolf kills +clean, with sharp snaps."</p> + +<p>"What are a cougar and a silvertip?"</p> + +<p>"Cougar means mountain-lion or panther, an' a silvertip is a +grizzly bear."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they're all cruel!" exclaimed Helen, shrinking.</p> + +<p>"I reckon. Often I've shot wolves for relayin' a deer."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes two or more wolves will run a deer, an' while one +of them rests the other will drive the deer around to his +pardner, who'll, take up the chase. That way they run the deer +down. Cruel it is, but nature, an' no worse than snow an' ice +that starve deer, or a fox that kills turkey-chicks breakin' out +of the egg, or ravens that pick the eyes out of new-born lambs +an' wait till they die. An' for that matter, men are crueler than +beasts of prey, for men add to nature, an' have more than +instincts."</p> + +<p>Helen was silenced, as well as shocked. She had not only +learned a new and striking viewpoint in natural history, but a +clear intimation to the reason why she had vaguely imagined or +divined a remarkable character in this man. A hunter was one who +killed animals for their fur, for their meat or horns, or for +some lust for blood -- that was Helen's definition of a hunter, +and she believed it was held by the majority of people living in +settled states. But the majority might be wrong. A hunter might +be vastly different, and vastly more than a tracker and slayer of +game. The mountain world of forest was a mystery to almost all +men. Perhaps Dale knew its secrets, its life, its terror, its +beauty, its sadness, and its joy; and if so, how full, how +wonderful must be his mind! He spoke of men as no better than +wolves. Could a lonely life in the wilderness teach a man that? +Bitterness, envy, jealousy, spite, greed, and hate -- these had +no place in this hunter's heart. It was not Helen's shrewdness, +but a woman's intuition, which divined that.</p> + +<p>Dale rose to his feet and, turning his ear to the north, +listened once more.</p> + +<p>"Are you expecting Roy still?" inquired Helen.</p> + +<p>"No, it ain't likely he'll turn up to-night," replied Dale, +and then he strode over to put a hand on the pine-tree that +soared above where the girls lay. His action, and the way he +looked up at the tree-top and then at adjacent trees, held more +of that significance which so interested Helen.</p> + +<p>"I reckon he's stood there some five hundred years an' will +stand through to-night," muttered Dale.</p> + +<p>This pine was the monarch of that wide-spread group.</p> + +<p>"Listen again," said Dale.</p> + +<p>Bo was asleep. And Helen, listening, at once caught low, +distant roar.</p> + +<p>"Wind. It's goin' to storm," explained Dale. "You'll hear +somethin' worth while. But don't be scared. Reckon we'll be safe. +Pines blow down often. But this fellow will stand any fall wind +that ever was. . . . Better slip under the blankets so I can pull +the tarp up."</p> + +<p>Helen slid down, just as she was, fully dressed except for +boots, which she and Bo had removed; and she laid her head close +to Bo's. Dale pulled the tarpaulin up and folded it back just +below their heads.</p> + +<p>"When it rains you'll wake, an' then just pull the tarp up +over you," he said.</p> + +<p>"Will it rain?" Helen asked. But she was thinking that this +moment was the strangest that had ever happened to her. By the +light of the camp-fire she saw Dale's face, just as usual, still, +darkly serene, expressing no thought. He was kind, but he was not +thinking of these sisters as girls, alone with him in a +pitch-black forest, helpless and defenseless. He did not seem to +be thinking at all. But Helen had never before in her life been +so keenly susceptible to experience.</p> + +<p>"I'll be close by an' keep the fire goin' all night," he +said.</p> + +<p>She heard him stride off into the darkness. Presently there +came a dragging, bumping sound, then a crash of a log dropped +upon the fire. A cloud of sparks shot up, and many pattered down +to hiss upon the damp ground. Smoke again curled upward along the +great, seamed tree-trunk, and flames sputtered and crackled.</p> + +<p>Helen listened again for the roar of wind. It seemed to come +on a breath of air that fanned her cheek and softly blew Bo's +curls, and it was stronger. But it died out presently, only to +come again, and still stronger. Helen realized then that the +sound was that of an approaching storm. Her heavy eyelids almost +refused to stay open, and she knew if she let them close she +would instantly drop to sleep. And she wanted to hear the +storm-wind in the pines.</p> + +<p>A few drops of cold rain fell upon her face, thrilling her +with the proof that no roof stood between her and the elements. +Then a breeze bore the smell of burnt wood into her face, and +somehow her quick mind flew to girlhood days when she burned +brush and leaves with her little brothers. The memory faded. The +roar that had seemed distant was now back in the forest, coming +swiftly, increasing in volume. Like a stream in flood it bore +down. Helen grew amazed, startled. How rushing, oncoming, and +heavy this storm-wind! She likened its approach to the tread of +an army. Then the roar filled the forest, yet it was back there +behind her. Not a pine-needle quivered in the light of the +camp-fire. But the air seemed to be oppressed with a terrible +charge. The roar augmented till it was no longer a roar, but an +on-sweeping crash, like an ocean torrent engulfing the earth. Bo +awoke to cling to Helen with fright. The deafening storm-blast +was upon them. Helen felt the saddle-pillow move under her head. +The giant pine had trembled to its very roots. That mighty fury +of wind was all aloft, in the tree-tops. And for a long moment it +bowed the forest under its tremendous power. Then the deafening +crash passed to roar, and that swept on and on, lessening in +volume, deepening in low detonation, at last to die in the +distance.</p> + +<p>No sooner had it died than back to the north another low roar +rose and ceased and rose again. Helen lay there, whispering to +Bo, and heard again the great wave of wind come and crash and +cease. That was the way of this storm-wind of the mountain +forest.</p> + +<p>A soft patter of rain on the tarpaulin warned Helen to +remember Dale's directions, and, pulling up the heavy covering, +she arranged it hoodlike over the saddle. Then, with Bo close and +warm beside her, she closed her eyes, and the sense of the black +forest and the wind and rain faded. Last of all sensations was +the smell of smoke that blew under the tarpaulin.<br> +</p> + +<p>When she opened her eyes she remembered everything, as if only +a moment had elapsed. But it was daylight, though gray and +cloudy. The pines were dripping mist. A fire crackled cheerily +and blue smoke curled upward and a savory odor of hot coffee hung +in the air. Horses were standing near by, biting and kicking at +one another. Bo was sound asleep. Dale appeared busy around the +camp-fire. As Helen watched the hunter she saw him pause in his +task, turn his ear to listen, and then look expectantly. And at +that juncture a shout pealed from the forest. Helen recognized +Roy's voice. Then she heard a splashing of water, and hoof-beats +coming closer. With that the buckskin mustang trotted into camp, +carrying Roy.</p> + +<p>"Bad mornin' for ducks, but good for us," he called.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Roy!" greeted Dale, and his gladness was unmistakable. +"I was lookin' for you."</p> + +<p>Roy appeared to slide off the mustang without effort, and his +swift hands slapped the straps as he unsaddled. Buckskin was wet +with sweat and foam mixed with rain. He heaved. And steam rose +from him.</p> + +<p>"Must have rode hard," observed Dale.</p> + +<p>"I shore did," replied Roy. Then he espied Helen, who had sat +up, with hands to her hair, and eyes staring at him.</p> + +<p>"Mornin', miss. It's good news."</p> + +<p>"Thank Heaven!" murmured Helen, and then she shook Bo. That +young lady awoke, but was loath to give up slumber. "Bo! Bo! Wake +up! Mr. Roy is back."</p> + +<p>Whereupon Bo sat up, disheveled and sleepy-eyed.</p> + +<p>"Oh-h, but I ache!" she moaned. But her eyes took in the camp +scene to the effect that she added, "Is breakfast ready?"</p> + +<p>"Almost. An' flapjacks this mornin'," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>Bo manifested active symptoms of health in the manner with +which she laced her boots. Helen got their traveling-bag, and +with this they repaired to a flat stone beside the spring, not, +however, out of earshot of the men.</p> + +<p>"How long are you goin' to hang around camp before tellin' +me?" inquired Dale.</p> + +<p>"Jest as I figgered, Milt," replied Roy. "Thet rider who +passed you was a messenger to Anson. He an' his gang got on our +trail quick. About ten o'clock I seen them comin'. Then I lit out +for the woods. I stayed off in the woods close enough to see +where they come in. An' shore they lost your trail. Then they +spread through the woods, workin' off to the south, thinkin', of +course, thet you would circle round to Pine on the south side of +Old Baldy. There ain't a hoss-tracker in Snake Anson's gang, +thet's shore. Wal, I follered them for an hour till they'd +rustled some miles off our trail. Then I went back to where you +struck into the woods. An' I waited there all afternoon till +dark, expectin' mebbe they'd back-trail. But they didn't. I rode +on a ways an' camped in the woods till jest before daylight."</p> + +<p>"So far so good," declared Dale.</p> + +<p>"Shore. There's rough country south of Baldy an' along the two +or three trails Anson an' his outfit will camp, you bet."</p> + +<p>"It ain't to be thought of," muttered Dale, at some idea that +had struck him.</p> + +<p>"What ain't?"</p> + +<p>"Goin' round the north side of Baldy."</p> + +<p>"It shore ain't," rejoined Roy, bluntly.</p> + +<p>"Then I've got to hide tracks certain -- rustle to my camp an' +stay there till you say it's safe to risk takin' the girls to +Pine."</p> + +<p>"Milt, you're talkin' the wisdom of the prophets."</p> + +<p>"I ain't so sure we can hide tracks altogether. If Anson had +any eyes for the woods he'd not have lost me so soon.</p> + +<p>"No. But, you see, he's figgerin' to cross your trail."</p> + +<p>"If I could get fifteen or twenty mile farther on an' hide +tracks certain, I'd feel safe from pursuit, anyway," said the +hunter, reflectively.</p> + +<p>"Shore an' easy," responded Roy, quickly. "I jest met up with +some greaser sheep-herders drivin' a big flock. They've come up +from the south an' are goin' to fatten up at Turkey Senacas. Then +they'll drive back south an' go on to Phenix. Wal, it's muddy +weather. Now you break camp quick an' make a plain trail out to +thet sheep trail, as if you was travelin' south. But, instead, +you ride round ahead of thet flock of sheep. They'll keep to the +open parks an' the trails through them necks of woods out here. +An', passin' over your tracks, they'll hide 'em."</p> + +<p>"But supposin' Anson circles an' hits this camp? He'll track +me easy out to that sheep trail. What then?"</p> + +<p>"Jest what you want. Goin' south thet sheep trail is downhill +an' muddy. It's goin' to rain hard. Your tracks would get washed +out even if you did go south. An' Anson would keep on thet way +till he was clear off the scent. Leave it to me, Milt. You're a +hunter. But I'm a hoss-tracker."</p> + +<p>"All right. We'll rustle."</p> + +<p>Then he called the girls to hurry.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER VIII</p> + +<p>Once astride the horse again, Helen had to congratulate +herself upon not being so crippled as she had imagined. Indeed, +Bo made all the audible complaints.</p> + +<p>Both girls had long water-proof coats, brand-new, and of which +they were considerably proud. New clothes had not been a common +event in their lives.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'll have to slit these," Dale had said, whipping out +a huge knife.</p> + +<p>"What for?" had been Bo's feeble protest.</p> + +<p>"They wasn't made for ridin'. An' you'll get wet enough even +if I do cut them. An' if I don't, you'll get soaked."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead," had been Helen's reluctant permission.</p> + +<p>So their long new coats were slit half-way up the back. The +exigency of the case was manifest to Helen, when she saw how they +came down over the cantles of the saddles and to their +boot-tops.</p> + +<p>The morning was gray and cold. A fine, misty rain fell and the +trees dripped steadily. Helen was surprised to see the open +country again and that apparently they were to leave the forest +behind for a while. The country was wide and flat on the right, +and to the left it rolled and heaved along a black, scalloped +timber-line. Above this bordering of the forest low, drifting +clouds obscured the mountains. The wind was at Helen's back and +seemed to be growing stronger. Dale and Roy were ahead, traveling +at a good trot, with the pack-animals bunched before them. Helen +and Bo had enough to do to keep up.</p> + +<p>The first hour's ride brought little change in weather or +scenery, but it gave Helen an inkling of what she must endure if +they kept that up all day. She began to welcome the places where +the horses walked, but she disliked the levels. As for the +descents, she hated those. Ranger would not go down slowly and +the shake-up she received was unpleasant. Moreover, the spirited +black horse insisted on jumping the ditches and washes. He sailed +over them like a bird. Helen could not acquire the knack of +sitting the saddle properly, and so, not only was her person +bruised on these occasions, but her feelings were hurt. Helen had +never before been conscious of vanity. Still, she had never +rejoiced in looking at a disadvantage, and her exhibitions here +must have been frightful. Bo always would forge to the front, and +she seldom looked back, for which Helen was grateful.</p> + +<p>Before long they struck into a broad, muddy belt, full of +innumerable small hoof tracks. This, then, was the sheep trail +Roy had advised following. They rode on it for three or four +miles, and at length, coming to a gray-green valley, they saw a +huge flock of sheep. Soon the air was full of bleats and baas as +well as the odor of sheep, and a low, soft roar of pattering +hoofs. The flock held a compact formation, covering several +acres, and grazed along rapidly. There were three herders on +horses and several pack-burros. Dale engaged one of the Mexicans +in conversation, and passed something to him, then pointed +northward and down along the trail. The Mexican grinned from ear +to ear, and Helen caught the quick <em>"Si, señor! +Gracias, señor!"</em> It was a pretty sight, that flock of +sheep, as it rolled along like a rounded woolly stream of grays +and browns and here and there a black. They were keeping to a +trail over the flats. Dale headed into this trail and, if +anything, trotted a little faster.</p> + +<p>Presently the clouds lifted and broke, showing blue sky and +one streak of sunshine. But the augury was without warrant. The +wind increased. A huge black pall bore down from the mountains +and it brought rain that could be seen falling in sheets from +above and approaching like a swiftly moving wall. Soon it +enveloped the fugitives.</p> + +<p>With head bowed, Helen rode along for what seemed ages in a +cold, gray rain that blew almost on a level. Finally the heavy +downpour passed, leaving a fine mist. The clouds scurried low and +dark, hiding the mountains altogether and making the gray, wet +plain a dreary sight. Helen's feet and knees were as wet as if +she had waded in water. And they were cold. Her gloves, too, had +not been intended for rain, and they were wet through. The cold +bit at her fingers so that she had to beat her hands together. +Ranger misunderstood this to mean that he was to trot faster, +which event was worse for Helen than freezing.</p> + +<p>She saw another black, scudding mass of clouds bearing down +with its trailing sheets of rain, and this one appeared streaked +with white. Snow! The wind was now piercingly cold. Helen's body +kept warm, but her extremities and ears began to suffer +exceedingly. She gazed ahead grimly. There was no help; she had +to go on. Dale and Roy were hunched down in their saddles, +probably wet through, for they wore no rain-proof coats. Bo kept +close behind them, and plain it was that she felt the cold.</p> + +<p>This second storm was not so bad as the first, because there +was less rain. Still, the icy keenness of the wind bit into the +marrow. It lasted for an hour, during which the horses trotted +on, trotted on. Again the gray torrent roared away, the fine mist +blew, the clouds lifted and separated, and, closing again, +darkened for another onslaught. This one brought sleet. The +driving pellets stung Helen's neck and cheeks, and for a while +they fell so thick and so hard upon her back that she was afraid +she could not hold up under them. The bare places on the ground +showed a sparkling coverlet of marbles of ice.</p> + +<p>Thus, storm after storm rolled over Helen's head. Her feet +grew numb and ceased to hurt. But her fingers, because of her +ceaseless efforts to keep up the circulation, retained the +stinging pain. And now the wind pierced right through her. She +marveled at her endurance, and there were many times that she +believed she could not ride farther. Yet she kept on. All the +winters she had ever lived had not brought such a day as this. +Hard and cold, wet and windy, at an increasing elevation -- that +was the explanation. The air did not have sufficient oxygen for +her blood.</p> + +<p>Still, during all those interminable hours, Helen watched +where she was traveling, and if she ever returned over that trail +she would recognize it. The afternoon appeared far advanced when +Dale and Roy led down into an immense basin where a reedy lake +spread over the flats. They rode along its margin, splashing up +to the knees of the horses. Cranes and herons flew on with +lumbering motion; flocks of ducks winged swift flight from one +side to the other. Beyond this depression the land sloped rather +abruptly; outcroppings of rock circled along the edge of the +highest ground, and again a dark fringe of trees appeared.</p> + +<p>How many miles! wondered Helen. They seemed as many and as +long as the hours. But at last, just as another hard rain came, +the pines were reached. They proved to be widely scattered and +afforded little protection from the storm.</p> + +<p>Helen sat her saddle, a dead weight. Whenever Ranger quickened +his gait or crossed a ditch she held on to the pommel to keep +from falling off. Her mind harbored only sensations of misery, +and a persistent thought -- why did she ever leave home for the +West? Her solicitude for Bo had been forgotten. Nevertheless, any +marked change in the topography of the country was registered, +perhaps photographed on her memory by the torturing vividness of +her experience.</p> + +<p>The forest grew more level and denser. Shadows of twilight or +gloom lay under the trees. Presently Dale and Roy, disappeared, +going downhill, and likewise Bo. Then Helen's ears suddenly +filled with a roar of rapid water. Ranger trotted faster. Soon +Helen came to the edge of a great valley, black and gray, so full +of obscurity that she could not see across or down into it. But +she knew there was a rushing river at the bottom. The sound was +deep, continuous, a heavy, murmuring roar, singularly musical. +The trail was steep. Helen had not lost all feeling, as she had +believed and hoped. Her poor, mistreated body still responded +excruciatingly to concussions, jars, wrenches, and all the other +horrible movements making up a horse-trot.</p> + +<p>For long Helen did not look up. When she did so there lay a +green, willow-bordered, treeless space at the bottom of the +valley, through which a brown-white stream rushed with steady, +ear-filling roar.</p> + +<p>Dale and Roy drove the pack-animals across the stream, and +followed, going deep to the flanks of their horses. Bo rode into +the foaming water as if she had been used to it all her days. A +slip, a fall, would have meant that Bo must drown in that +mountain torrent.</p> + +<p>Ranger trotted straight to the edge, and there, obedient to +Helen's clutch on the bridle, he halted. The stream was fifty +feet wide, shallow on the near side, deep on the opposite, with +fast current and big waves. Helen was simply too frightened to +follow.</p> + +<p>"Let him come!" yelled Dale. "Stick on now! . . . Ranger!"</p> + +<p>The big black plunged in, making the water fly. That stream +was nothing for him, though it seemed impassable to Helen. She +had not the strength left to lift her stirrups and the water +surged over them. Ranger, in two more plunges, surmounted the +bank, and then, trotting across the green to where the other +horses stood steaming under some pines, he gave a great heave and +halted.</p> + +<p>Roy reached up to help her off.</p> + +<p>"Thirty miles, Miss Helen," he said, and the way he spoke was +a compliment.</p> + +<p>He had to lift her off and help her to the tree where Bo +leaned. Dale had ripped off a saddle and was spreading +saddle-blankets on the ground under the pine.</p> + +<p>"Nell -- you swore -- you loved me!" was Bo's mournful +greeting. The girl was pale, drawn, blue-lipped, and she could +not stand up.</p> + +<p>"Bo, I never did -- or I'd never have brought you to this -- +wretch that I am!" cried Helen. "Oh, what a horrible ride!"</p> + +<p>Rain was falling, the trees were dripping, the sky was +lowering. All the ground was soaking wet, with pools and puddles +everywhere. Helen could imagine nothing but a heartless, dreary, +cold prospect. Just then home was vivid and poignant in her +thoughts. Indeed, so utterly miserable was she that the exquisite +relief of sitting down, of a cessation of movement, of a release +from that infernal perpetual-trotting horse, seemed only a +mockery. It could not be true that the time had come for +rest.</p> + +<p>Evidently this place had been a camp site for hunters or +sheep-herders, for there were remains of a fire. Dale lifted the +burnt end of a log and brought it down hard upon the ground, +splitting off pieces. Several times he did this. It was amazing +to see his strength, his facility, as he split off handfuls of +splinters. He collected a bundle of them, and, laying them down, +he bent over them. Roy wielded the ax on another log, and each +stroke split off a long strip. Then a tiny column of smoke +drifted up over Dale's shoulder as he leaned, bareheaded, +sheltering the splinters with his hat. A blaze leaped up. Roy +came with an armful of strips all white and dry, out of the +inside of a log. Crosswise these were laid over the blaze, and it +began to roar. Then piece by piece the men built up a frame upon +which they added heavier woods, branches and stumps and logs, +erecting a pyramid through which flames and smoke roared upward. +It had not taken two minutes. Already Helen felt the warmth on +her icy face. She held up her bare, numb hands.</p> + +<p>Both Dale and Roy were wet through to the skin, yet they did +not tarry beside the fire. They relieved the horses. A lasso went +up between two pines, and a tarpaulin over it, V-shaped and +pegged down at the four ends. The packs containing the baggage of +the girls and the supplies and bedding were placed under this +shelter.</p> + +<p>Helen thought this might have taken five minutes more. In this +short space of time the fire had leaped and flamed until it was +huge and hot. Rain was falling steadily all around, but over and +near that roaring blaze, ten feet high, no water fell. It +evaporated. The ground began to steam and to dry. Helen suffered +at first while the heat was driving out the cold. But presently +the pain ceased.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I never knew before how good a fire could feel," +declared Bo.</p> + +<p>And therein lay more food for Helen's reflection.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes Helen was dry and hot. Darkness came down upon +the dreary, sodden forest, but that great camp-fire made it a +different world from the one Helen had anticipated. It blazed and +roared, cracked like a pistol, hissed and sputtered, shot sparks +everywhere, and sent aloft a dense, yellow, whirling column of +smoke. It began to have a heart of gold.</p> + +<p>Dale took a long pole and raked out a pile of red embers upon +which the coffee-pot and oven soon began to steam.</p> + +<p>"Roy, I promised the girls turkey to-night," said the +hunter.</p> + +<p>"Mebbe to-morrow, if the wind shifts. This 's turkey +country."</p> + +<p>"Roy, a potato will do me!" exclaimed Bo. +"Never again will I ask for cake and pie! I never appreciated +good things to eat. And I've been a little pig, always. I never +-- never knew what it was to be hungry -- until now."</p> + +<p>Dale glanced up quickly.</p> + +<p>"Lass, it's worth learnin'," he said.</p> + +<p>Helen's thought was too deep for words. In such brief space +had she been transformed from misery to comfort!</p> + +<p>The rain kept on falling, though it appeared to grow softer as +night settled down black. The wind died away and the forest was +still, except for the steady roar of the stream. A folded +tarpaulin was laid between the pine and the fire, well in the +light and warmth, and upon it the men set steaming pots and +plates and cups, the fragrance from which was strong and +inviting.</p> + +<p>"Fetch the saddle-blanket an' set with your backs to the +fire," said Roy.<br> +</p> + +<p>Later, when the girls were tucked away snugly in their +blankets and sheltered from the rain, Helen remained awake after +Bo had fallen asleep. The big blaze made the improvised tent as +bright as day. She could see the smoke, the trunk of the big pine +towering aloft, and a blank space of sky. The stream hummed a +song, seemingly musical at times, and then discordant and dull, +now low, now roaring, and always rushing, gurgling, babbling, +flowing, chafing in its hurry.</p> + +<p>Presently the hunter and his friend returned from hobbling the +horses, and beside the fire they conversed in low tones.</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet trail we made to-day will be hid, I reckon," said +Roy, with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"What wasn't sheeped over would be washed out. We've had luck. +An' now I ain't worryin'," returned Dale.</p> + +<p>"Worryin'? Then it's the first I ever knowed you to do."</p> + +<p>"Man, I never had a job like this," protested the hunter.</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet's so."</p> + +<p>"Now, Roy, when old Al Auchincloss finds out about this deal, +as he's bound to when you or the boys get back to Pine, he's +goin' to roar."</p> + +<p>"Do you reckon folks will side with him against Beasley?"</p> + +<p>"Some of them. But Al, like as not, will tell folks to go +where it's hot. He'll bunch his men an' strike for the mountains +to find his nieces."</p> + +<p>"Wal, all you've got to do is to keep the girls hid till I can +guide him up to your camp. Or, failin' thet, till you can slip +the girls down to Pine."</p> + +<p>"No one but you an' your brothers ever seen my senaca. But it +could be found easy enough."</p> + +<p>"Anson might blunder on it. But thet ain't likely."</p> + +<p>"Why ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Because I'll stick to thet sheep-thief's tracks like a wolf +after a bleedin' deer. An' if he ever gets near your camp I'll +ride in ahead of him."</p> + +<p>"Good!" declared Dale. "I was calculatin' you'd go down to +Pine, sooner or later."</p> + +<p>"Not unless Anson goes. I told John thet in case there was no +fight on the stage to make a bee-line back to Pine. He was to +tell Al an' offer his services along with Joe an' Hal."</p> + +<p>"One way or another, then, there's bound to be blood spilled +over this."</p> + +<p>"Shore! An' high time. I jest hope I get a look down my old +'forty-four' at thet Beasley."</p> + +<p>"In that case I hope you hold straighter than times I've seen +you."</p> + +<p>"Milt Dale, I'm a good shot," declared Roy, stoutly.</p> + +<p>"You're no good on movin' targets."</p> + +<p>"Wal, mebbe so. But I'm not lookin' for a movin' target when I +meet up with Beasley. I'm a hossman, not a hunter. You're used to +shootin' flies off deer's horns, jest for practice."</p> + +<p>"Roy, can we make my camp by to-morrow night?" queried Dale, +more seriously.</p> + +<p>"We will, if each of us has to carry one of the girls. But +they'll do it or die. Dale, did you ever see a gamer girl than +thet kid Bo?"</p> + +<p>"Me! Where'd I ever see any girls?" ejaculated Dale. "I +remember some when I was a boy, but I was only fourteen then. +Never had much use for girls."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to have a wife like that Bo," declared Roy, +fervidly.</p> + +<p>There ensued a moment's silence.</p> + +<p>"Roy, you're a Mormon an' you already got a wife," was Dale's +reply.</p> + +<p>"Now, Milt, have you lived so long in the woods thet you never +heard of a Mormon with two wives?" returned Roy, and then he +laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"I never could stomach what I did hear pertainin' to more than +one wife for a man."</p> + +<p>"Wal, my friend, you go an' get yourself <em>one</em>. An' see +then if you wouldn't like to have <em>two</em>."</p> + +<p>"I reckon one 'd be more than enough for Milt Dale."</p> + +<p>"Milt, old man, let me tell you thet I always envied you your +freedom," said Roy, earnestly. "But it ain't life."</p> + +<p>"You mean life is love of a woman?"</p> + +<p>"No. Thet's only part. I mean a son -- a boy thet's like you +-- thet you feel will go on with your life after you're +gone."</p> + +<p>"I've thought of that -- thought it all out, watchin' the +birds an' animals mate in the woods. . . . If I have no son I'll +never live hereafter."</p> + +<p>"Wal," replied Roy, hesitatingly, "I don't go in so deep as +thet. I mean a son goes on with your blood an' your work."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. . . An', Roy, I envy you what you ve got, because +it's out of all bounds for Milt Dale."</p> + +<p>Those words, sad and deep, ended the conversation. Again the +rumbling, rushing stream dominated the forest. An owl hooted +dismally. A horse trod thuddingly near by and from that direction +came a cutting tear of teeth on grass.<br> +</p> + +<p>A voice pierced Helen's deep dreams and, awaking, she found Bo +shaking and calling her.</p> + +<p>"Are you dead?" came the gay voice.</p> + +<p>"Almost. Oh, my back's broken," replied Helen. The desire to +move seemed clamped in a vise, and even if that came she believed +the effort would be impossible.</p> + +<p>"Roy called us," said Bo. "He said hurry. I thought I'd die +just sitting up, and I'd give you a million dollars to lace my +boots. Wait, sister, till you try to pull on one of those stiff +boots!"</p> + +<p>With heroic and violent spirit Helen sat up to find that in +the act her aches and pains appeared beyond number. Reaching for +her boots, she found them cold and stiff. Helen unlaced one and, +opening it wide, essayed to get her sore foot down into it. But +her foot appeared swollen and the boot appeared shrunken. She +could not get it half on, though she expended what little +strength seemed left in her aching arms. She groaned.</p> + +<p>Bo laughed wickedly. Her hair was tousled, her eyes dancing, +her cheeks red.</p> + +<p>"Be game!" she said. "Stand up like a real Western girl and +<em>pull</em> your boot on."</p> + +<p>Whether Bo's scorn or advice made the task easier did not +occur to Helen, but the fact was that she got into her boots. +Walking and moving a little appeared to loosen the stiff joints +and ease that tired feeling. The water of the stream where the +girls washed was colder than any ice Helen had ever felt. It +almost paralyzed her hands. Bo mumbled, and blew like a porpoise. +They had to run to the fire before being able to comb their hair. +The air was wonderfully keen. The dawn was clear, bright, with a +red glow in the east where the sun was about to rise.</p> + +<p>"All ready, girls," called Roy. "Reckon you can help +yourselves. Milt ain't comin' in very fast with the hosses. I'll +rustle off to help him. We've got a hard day before us. Yesterday +wasn't nowhere to what to-day 'll be."</p> + +<p>"But the sun's going to shine?" implored Bo.</p> + +<p>"Wal, you bet," rejoined Roy, as he strode off.</p> + +<p>Helen and Bo ate breakfast and had the camp to themselves for +perhaps half an hour; then the horses came thudding down, with +Dale and Roy riding bareback.</p> + +<p>By the time all was in readiness to start the sun was up, +melting the frost and ice, so that a dazzling, bright mist, full +of rainbows, shone under the trees.</p> + +<p>Dale looked Ranger over, and tried the cinches of Bo's +horse.</p> + +<p>"What's your choice -- a long ride behind the packs with me -- +or a short cut over the hills with Roy?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I choose the lesser of two rides," replied Helen, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Reckon that 'll be easier, but you'll know you've had a ride," +said Dale, significantly.</p> + +<p>"What was that we had yesterday?" asked Bo, archly.</p> + +<p>"Only thirty miles, but cold an' wet. To-day will be fine for +ridin'."</p> + +<p>"Milt, I'll take a blanket an' some grub in case you don't +meet us to-night," said Roy. "An' I reckon we'll split up here +where I'll have to strike out on thet short cut."</p> + +<p>Bo mounted without a helping hand, but Helen's limbs were so +stiff that she could not get astride the high Ranger without +assistance. The hunter headed up the slope of the cañon, +which on that side was not steep. It was brown pine forest, with +here and there a clump of dark, silver-pointed evergreens that +Roy called spruce. By the time this slope was surmounted Helen's +aches were not so bad. The saddle appeared to fit her better, and +the gait of the horse was not so unfamiliar. She reflected, +however, that she always had done pretty well uphill. Here it was +beautiful forest-land, uneven and wilder. They rode for a time +along the rim, with the white rushing stream in plain sight far +below, with its melodious roar ever thrumming in the ear.</p> + +<p>Dale reined in and peered down at the pine-mat.</p> + +<p>"Fresh deer sign all along here," he said, pointing.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I seen thet long ago," rejoined Roy.</p> + +<p>Helen's scrutiny was rewarded by descrying several tiny +depressions in the pine-needles, dark in color and sharply +defined.</p> + +<p>"We may never get a better chance," said Dale. "Those deer are +workin' up our way. Get your rifle out."</p> + +<p>Travel was resumed then, with Roy a little in advance of the +pack-train. Presently he dismounted, threw his bridle, and +cautiously peered ahead. Then, turning, he waved his sombrero. +The pack-animals halted in a bunch. Dale beckoned for the girls +to follow and rode up to Roy's horse. This point, Helen saw, was +at the top of an intersecting cañon. Dale dismounted, +without drawing his rifle from its saddle-sheath, and approached +Roy.</p> + +<p>"Buck an' two does," he said, low-voiced. "An' they've winded +us, but don't see us yet. . . . Girls, ride up closer."</p> + +<p>Following the directions indicated by Dale's long arm, Helen +looked down the slope. It was open, with tall pines here and +there, and clumps of silver spruce, and aspens shining like gold +in the morning sunlight. Presently Bo exclaimed: "Oh, look! I +see! I see!" Then Helen's roving glance passed something +different from green and gold and brown. Shifting back to it she +saw a magnificent stag, with noble spreading antlers, standing +like a statue, his head up in alert and wild posture. His color +was gray. Beside him grazed two deer of slighter and more +graceful build, without horns.</p> + +<p>"It's downhill," whispered Dale. "An' you're goin' to +overshoot."</p> + +<p>Then Helen saw that Roy had his rifle leveled.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't!" she cried.</p> + +<p>Dale's remark evidently nettled Roy. He lowered the rifle.</p> + +<p>"Milt, it's me lookin' over this gun. How can you stand there +an' tell me I'm goin' to shoot high? I had a dead bead on +him."</p> + +<p>"Roy, you didn't allow for downhill . . . Hurry. He sees us +now."</p> + +<p>Roy leveled the rifle and, taking aim as before, he fired. The +buck stood perfectly motionless, as if he had indeed been stone. +The does, however, jumped with a start, and gazed in fright in +every direction.</p> + +<p>"Told you! I seen where your bullet hit thet pine -- half a +foot over his shoulder. Try again an' aim at his legs."</p> + +<p>Roy now took a quicker aim and pulled trigger. A puff of dust +right at the feet of the buck showed where Roy's lead had struck +this time. With a single bound, wonderful to see, the big deer +was out of sight behind trees and brush. The does leaped after +him.</p> + +<p>"Doggone the luck!" ejaculated Roy, red in the face, as he +worked the lever of his rifle. "Never could shoot downhill, +nohow!"</p> + +<p>His rueful apology to the girls for missing brought a merry +laugh from Bo.</p> + +<p>"Not for worlds would I have had you kill that beautiful +deer!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"We won't have venison steak off him, that's certain," +remarked Dale, dryly. "An' maybe none off any deer, if Roy does +the shootin'."</p> + +<p>They resumed travel, sheering off to the right and keeping to +the edge of the intersecting cañon. At length they rode +down to the bottom, where a tiny brook babbled through willows, +and they followed this for a mile or so down to where it flowed +into the larger stream. A dim trail overgrown with grass showed +at this point.</p> + +<p>"Here's where we part," said Dale. "You'll beat me into my +camp, but I'll get there sometime after dark."</p> + +<p>"Hey, Milt, I forgot about thet darned pet cougar of yours an' +the rest of your menagerie. Reckon they won't scare the girls? +Especially old Tom?"</p> + +<p>"You won't see Tom till I get home," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Ain't he corralled or tied up?"</p> + +<p>"No. He has the run of the place."</p> + +<p>"Wal, good-by, then, an' rustle along."</p> + +<p>Dale nodded to the girls, and, turning his horse, he drove the +pack-train before him up the open space between the stream and +the wooded slope.</p> + +<p>Roy stepped off his horse with that single action which +appeared such a feat to Helen.</p> + +<p>"Guess I'd better cinch up," he said, as he threw a stirrup up +over the pommel of his saddle. "You girls are goin' to see wild +country."</p> + +<p>"Who's old Tom?" queried Bo, curiously.</p> + +<p>"Why, he's Milt's pet cougar."</p> + +<p>"Cougar? That's a panther -- a mountain-lion, didn't he +say?"</p> + +<p>"Shore is. Tom is a beauty. An' if he takes a likin' to you +he'll love you, play with you, maul you half to death."</p> + +<p>Bo was all eyes.</p> + +<p>"Dale has other pets, too?" she questioned, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"I never was up to his camp but what it was overrun with birds +an' squirrels an' vermin of all kinds, as tame as tame as cows. +Too darn tame, Milt says. But I can't figger thet. You girls will +never want to leave thet senaca of his."</p> + +<p>"What's a senaca?" asked Helen, as she shifted her foot to let +him tighten the cinches on her saddle.</p> + +<p>"Thet's Mexican for park, I guess," he replied. "These +mountains are full of parks; an', say, I don't ever want to see +no prettier place till I get to heaven. . . . There, Ranger, old +boy, thet's tight."</p> + +<p>He slapped the horse affectionately, and, turning to his own, +he stepped and swung his long length up.</p> + +<p>"It ain't deep crossin' here. Come on," he called, and spurred +his bay.</p> + +<p>The stream here was wide and it looked deep, but turned out to +be deceptive.</p> + +<p>"Wal, girls, here beginneth the second lesson," he drawled, +cheerily. "Ride one behind the other -- stick close to me -- do +what I do -- an' holler when you want to rest or if somethin' +goes bad."</p> + +<p>With that he spurred into the thicket. Bo went next and Helen +followed. The willows dragged at her so hard that she was unable +to watch Roy, and the result was that a low-sweeping branch of a +tree knocked her hard on the head. It hurt and startled her, and +roused her mettle. Roy was keeping to the easy trot that covered +ground so well, and he led up a slope to the open pine forest. +Here the ride for several miles was straight, level, and open. +Helen liked the forest to-day. It was brown and green, with +patches of gold where the sun struck. She saw her first bird -- +big blue grouse that whirred up from under her horse, and little +checkered gray quail that appeared awkward on the wing. Several +times Roy pointed out deer flashing gray across some forest +aisle, and often when he pointed Helen was not quick enough to +see.</p> + +<p>Helen realized that this ride would make up for the hideous +one of yesterday. So far she had been only barely conscious of +sore places and aching bones. These she would bear with. She +loved the wild and the beautiful, both of which increased +manifestly with every mile. The sun was warm, the air fragrant +and cool, the sky blue as azure and so deep that she imagined +that she could look far up into it.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Roy reined in so sharply that he pulled the bay up +short.</p> + +<p>"Look!" he called, sharply.</p> + +<p>Bo screamed.</p> + +<p>"Not thet way! Here! Aw, he's gone!"</p> + +<p>"Nell! It was a bear! I saw it! Oh! not like circus bears at +all!" cried Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen had missed her opportunity.</p> + +<p>"Reckon he was a grizzly, an' I'm jest as well pleased thet he +loped off," said Roy. Altering his course somewhat, he led to an +old rotten log that the bear had been digging in. "After grubs. +There, see his track. He was a whopper shore enough."</p> + +<p>They rode on, out to a high point that overlooked cañon +and range, gorge and ridge, green and black as far as Helen could +see. The ranges were bold and long, climbing to the central +uplift, where a number of fringed peaks raised their heads to the +vast bare dome of Old Baldy. Far as vision could see, to the +right lay one rolling forest of pine, beautiful and serene. +Somewhere down beyond must have lain the desert, but it was not +in sight.</p> + +<p>"I see turkeys 'way down there," said Roy, backing away. +"We'll go down and around an' mebbe I'll get a shot."</p> + +<p>Descent beyond a rocky point was made through thick brush. +This slope consisted of wide benches covered with copses and +scattered pines and many oaks. Helen was delighted to see the +familiar trees, although these were different from Missouri oaks. +Rugged and gnarled, but not tall, these trees spread wide +branches, the leaves of which were yellowing. Roy led into a +grassy glade, and, leaping off his horse, rifle in hand, he +prepared to shoot at something. Again Bo cried out, but this time +it was in delight. Then Helen saw an immense flock of turkeys, +apparently like the turkeys she knew at home, but these had +bronze and checks of white, and they looked wild. There must have +been a hundred in the flock, most of them hens. A few gobblers on +the far side began the flight, running swiftly off. Helen plainly +heard the thud of their feet. Roy shot once -- twice -- three +times. Then rose a great commotion and thumping, and a loud roar +of many wings. Dust and leaves whirling in the air were left +where the turkeys had been.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I got two," said Roy, and he strode forward to pick up +his game. Returning, he tied two shiny, plump gobblers back of +his saddle and remounted his horse. "We'll have turkey to-night, +if Milt gets to camp in time."</p> + +<p>The ride was resumed. Helen never would have tired riding +through those oak groves, brown and sear and yellow, with leaves +and acorns falling.</p> + +<p>"Bears have been workin' in here already," said Roy. "I see +tracks all over. They eat acorns in the fall. An' mebbe we'll run +into one yet."</p> + +<p>The farther down he led the wilder and thicker grew the trees, +so that dodging branches was no light task. Ranger did not seem +to care how close he passed a tree or under a limb, so that he +missed them himself; but Helen thereby got some additional +bruises. Particularly hard was it, when passing a tree, to get +her knee out of the way in time.</p> + +<p>Roy halted next at what appeared a large green pond full of +vegetation and in places covered with a thick scum. But it had a +current and an outlet, proving it to be a huge, spring. Roy +pointed down at a muddy place.</p> + +<p>"Bear-wallow. He heard us comin'. Look at thet little track. +Cub track. An' look at these scratches on this tree, higher 'n my +head. An old she-bear stood up, an' scratched them."</p> + +<p>Roy sat his saddle and reached up to touch fresh marks on the +tree.</p> + +<p>"Woods's full of big bears," he said, grinning. "An' I take it +particular kind of this old she rustlin' off with her cub. +She-bears with cubs are dangerous."</p> + +<p>The next place to stir Helen to enthusiasm was the glen at the +bottom of this cañon. Beech-trees, maples, aspens, +overtopped by lofty pines, made dense shade over a brook where +trout splashed on the brown, swirling current, and leaves drifted +down, and stray flecks of golden sunlight lightened the gloom. +Here was hard riding to and fro across the brook, between huge +mossy boulders, and between aspens so close together that Helen +could scarce squeeze her knees through.</p> + +<p>Once more Roy climbed out of that cañon, over a ridge +into another, down long wooded slopes and through scrub-oak +thickets, on and on till the sun stood straight overhead. Then he +halted for a short rest, unsaddled the horses to let them roll, +and gave the girls some cold lunch that he had packed. He +strolled off with his gun, and, upon returning, resaddled and +gave the word to start.</p> + +<p>That was the last of rest and easy traveling for the girls. +The forest that he struck into seemed ribbed like a washboard +with deep ravines so steep of slope as to make precarious travel. +Mostly he kept to the bottom where dry washes afforded a kind of +trail. But it was necessary to cross these ravines when they were +too long to be headed, and this crossing was work.</p> + +<p>The locust thickets characteristic of these slopes were thorny +and close knit. They tore and scratched and stung both horses and +riders. Ranger appeared to be the most intelligent of the horses +and suffered less. Bo's white mustang dragged her through more +than one brambly place. On the other hand, some of these steep +slopes, were comparatively free of underbrush. Great firs and +pines loomed up on all sides. The earth was soft and the hoofs +sank deep. Toward the bottom of a descent Ranger would brace his +front feet and then slide down on his haunches. This mode +facilitated travel, but it frightened Helen. The climb out then +on the other side had to be done on foot.</p> + +<p>After half a dozen slopes surmounted in this way Helen's +strength was spent and her breath was gone. She felt +light-headed. She could not get enough air. Her feet felt like +lead, and her riding-coat was a burden. A hundred times, hot and +wet and throbbing, she was compelled to stop. Always she had been +a splendid walker and climber. And here, to break up the long +ride, she was glad to be on her feet. But she could only drag one +foot up after the other. Then, when her nose began to bleed, she +realized that it was the elevation which was causing all the +trouble. Her heart, however, did not hurt her, though she was +conscious of an oppression on her breast.</p> + +<p>At last Roy led into a ravine so deep and wide and full of +forest verdure that it appeared impossible to cross. +Nevertheless, he started down, dismounting after a little way. +Helen found that leading Ranger down was worse than riding him. +He came fast and he would step right in her tracks. She was not +quick enough to get away from him. Twice he stepped on her foot, +and again his broad chest hit her shoulder and threw her flat. +When he began to slide, near the bottom, Helen had to run for her +life.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nell! Isn't -- this -- great?" panted Bo, from somewhere +ahead.</p> + +<p>"Bo -- your -- mind's -- gone," panted Helen, in reply.</p> + +<p>Roy tried several places to climb out, and failed in each. +Leading down the ravine for a hundred yards or more, he essayed +another attempt. Here there had been a slide, and in part the +earth was bare. When he had worked up this, he halted above, and +called:</p> + +<p>"Bad place! Keep on the up side of the hosses!"</p> + +<p>This appeared easier said than done. Helen could not watch Bo, +because Ranger would not wait. He pulled at the bridle and +snorted.</p> + +<p>"Faster you come the better," called Roy.</p> + +<p>Helen could not see the sense of that, but she tried. Roy and +Bo had dug a deep trail zigzag up that treacherous slide. Helen +made the mistake of starting to follow in their tracks, and when +she realized this Ranger was climbing fast, almost dragging her, +and it was too late to get above. Helen began to labor. She slid +down right in front of Ranger. The intelligent animal, with a +snort, plunged out of the trail to keep from stepping on her. +Then he was above her.</p> + +<p>"Lookout down there," yelled Roy, in warning. "Get on the up +side!"</p> + +<p>But that did not appear possible. The earth began to slide +under Ranger, and that impeded Helen's progress. He got in +advance of her, straining on the bridle.</p> + +<p>"Let go!" yelled Roy.</p> + +<p>Helen dropped the bridle just as a heavy slide began to move +with Ranger. He snorted fiercely, and, rearing high, in a mighty +plunge he gained solid ground. Helen was buried to her knees, +but, extricating herself, she crawled to a safe point and rested +before climbing farther.</p> + +<p>"Bad cave-in, thet," was Roy's comment, when at last she +joined him and Bo at the top.</p> + +<p>Roy appeared at a loss as to which way to go. He rode to high +ground and looked in all directions. To Helen, one way appeared +as wild and rough as another, and all was yellow, green, and +black under the westering sun. Roy rode a short distance in one +direction, then changed for another.</p> + +<p>Presently he stopped.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I'm shore turned round," he said.</p> + +<p>"You're not lost?" cried Bo.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I've been thet for a couple of hours," he replied, +cheerfully. "Never did ride across here I had the direction, but +I'm blamed now if I can tell which way thet was."</p> + +<p>Helen gazed at him in consternation.</p> + +<p>"Lost!" she echoed.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER IX</p> + +<p>A silence ensued, fraught with poignant fear for Helen, as she +gazed into Bo's whitening face. She read her sister's mind. Bo +was remembering tales of lost people who never were found.</p> + +<p>"Me an' Milt get lost every day," said Roy. "You don't suppose +any man can know all this big country. It's nothin' for us to be +lost."</p> + +<p>"Oh! . . . I was lost when I was little," said Bo.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I reckon it'd been better not to tell you so offhand +like," replied Roy, contritely. "Don't feel bad, now. All I need +is a peek at Old Baldy. Then I'll have my bearin'. Come on."</p> + +<p>Helen's confidence returned as Roy led off at a fast trot. He +rode toward the westering sun, keeping to the ridge they had +ascended, until once more he came out upon a promontory. Old +Baldy loomed there, blacker and higher and closer. The dark +forest showed round, yellow, bare spots like parks.</p> + +<p>"Not so far off the track," said Roy, as he wheeled his horse. +"We'll make camp in Milt's senaca to-night."</p> + +<p>He led down off the ridge into a valley and then up to higher +altitude, where the character of the forest changed. The trees +were no longer pines, but firs and spruce, growing thin and +exceedingly tall, with few branches below the topmost foliage. So +dense was this forest that twilight seemed to have come.</p> + +<p>Travel was arduous. Everywhere were windfalls that had to be +avoided, and not a rod was there without a fallen tree. The +horses, laboring slowly, sometimes sank knee-deep into the brown +duff. Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss +grew thick on the rotting logs.</p> + +<p>Helen loved this forest primeval. It was so still, so dark, so +gloomy, so full of shadows and shade, and a dank smell of rotting +wood, and sweet fragrance of spruce. The great windfalls, where +trees were jammed together in dozens, showed the savagery of the +storms. Wherever a single monarch lay uprooted there had sprung +up a number of ambitious sons, jealous of one another, fighting +for place. Even the trees fought one another! The forest was a +place of mystery, but its strife could be read by any eye. The +lightnings had split firs clear to the roots, and others it had +circled with ripping tear from top to trunk.</p> + +<p>Time came, however, when the exceeding wildness of the forest, +in density and fallen timber, made it imperative for Helen to put +all her attention on the ground and trees in her immediate +vicinity. So the pleasure of gazing ahead at the beautiful +wilderness was denied her. Thereafter travel became toil and the +hours endless.</p> + +<p>Roy led on, and Ranger followed, while the shadows darkened +under the trees. She was reeling in her saddle, half blind and +sick, when Roy called out cheerily that they were almost +there.</p> + +<p>Whatever his idea was, to Helen it seemed many miles that she +followed him farther, out of the heavy-timbered forest down upon +slopes of low spruce, like evergreen, which descended sharply to +another level, where dark, shallow streams flowed gently and the +solemn stillness held a low murmur of falling water, and at last +the wood ended upon a wonderful park full of a thick, rich, +golden light of fast-fading sunset.</p> + +<p>"Smell the smoke," said Roy. "By Solomon! if Milt ain't here +ahead of me!"</p> + +<p>He rode on. Helen's weary gaze took in the round senaca, the +circling black slopes, leading up to craggy rims all gold and red +in the last flare of the sun; then all the spirit left in her +flashed up in thrilling wonder at this exquisite, wild, and +colorful spot.</p> + +<p>Horses were grazing out in the long grass and there were deer +grazing with them. Roy led round a corner of the fringed, +bordering woodland, and there, under lofty trees, shone a +camp-fire. Huge gray rocks loomed beyond, and then cliffs rose +step by step to a notch in the mountain wall, over which poured a +thin, lacy waterfall. As Helen gazed in rapture the sunset gold +faded to white and all the western slope of the amphitheater +darkened.</p> + +<p>Dale's tall form appeared.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you're late," he said, as with a comprehensive flash +of eye he took in the three.</p> + +<p>"Milt, I got lost," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>"I feared as much. . . . You girls look like you'd done better +to ride with me," went on Dale, as he offered a hand to help Bo +off. She took it, tried to get her foot out of the stirrups, and +then she slid from the saddle into Dale's arms. He placed her on +her feet and, supporting her, said, solicitously: "A hundred-mile +ride in three days for a tenderfoot is somethin' your uncle Al +won't believe. . . . Come, walk if it kills you!"</p> + +<p>Whereupon he led Bo, very much as if he were teaching a child +to walk. The fact that the voluble Bo had nothing to say was +significant to Helen, who was following, with the assistance of +Roy.</p> + +<p>One of the huge rocks resembled a sea-shell in that it +contained a hollow over which the wide-spreading shelf flared +out. It reached toward branches of great pines. A spring burst +from a crack in the solid rock. The campfire blazed under a pine, +and the blue column of smoke rose just in front of the shelving +rock. Packs were lying on the grass and some of them were open. +There were no signs here of a permanent habitation of the hunter. +But farther on were other huge rocks, leaning, cracked, and +forming caverns, some of which perhaps he utilized.</p> + +<p>"My camp is just back," said Dale, as if he had read Helen's +mind. "To-morrow we'll fix up comfortable-like round here for you +girls."</p> + +<p>Helen and Bo were made as easy as blankets and saddles could +make them, and the men went about their tasks.</p> + +<p>"Nell -- isn't this -- a dream?" murmured Bo.</p> + +<p>"No, child. It's real -- terribly real," replied Helen. "Now +that we're here -- with that awful ride over -- we can +think."</p> + +<p>"It's so pretty -- here," yawned Bo. "I'd just as lief Uncle +Al didn't find us very soon."</p> + +<p>"Bo! He's a sick man. Think what the worry will be to +him."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet if he knows Dale he won't be so worried."</p> + +<p>"Dale told us Uncle Al disliked him."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! What difference does that make? . . . Oh, I don't know +which I am -- hungrier or tireder!"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't eat to-night," said Helen, wearily.</p> + +<p>When she stretched out she had a vague, delicious sensation +that that was the end of Helen Rayner, and she was glad. Above +her, through the lacy, fernlike pine-needles, she saw blue sky +and a pale star just showing. Twilight was stealing down swiftly. +The silence was beautiful, seemingly undisturbed by the soft, +silky, dreamy fall of water. Helen closed her eyes, ready for +sleep, with the physical commotion within her body gradually +yielding. In some places her bones felt as if they had come out +through her flesh; in others throbbed deep-seated aches; her +muscles appeared slowly to subside, to relax, with the quivering +twinges ceasing one by one; through muscle and bone, through all +her body, pulsed a burning current.</p> + +<p>Bo's head dropped on Helen's shoulder. Sense became vague to +Helen. She lost the low murmur of the waterfall, and then the +sound or feeling of some one at the campfire. And her last +conscious thought was that she tried to open her eyes and could +not.</p> + +<p>When she awoke all was bright. The sun shone almost directly +overhead. Helen was astounded. Bo lay wrapped in deep sleep, her +face flushed, with beads of perspiration on her brow and the +chestnut curls damp. Helen threw down the blankets, and then, +gathering courage -- for she felt as if her back was broken -- +she endeavored to sit up. In vain! Her spirit was willing, but +her muscles refused to act. It must take a violent spasmodic +effort. She tried it with shut eyes, and, succeeding, sat there +trembling. The commotion she had made in the blankets awoke Bo, +and she blinked her surprised blue eyes in the sunlight.</p> + +<p>"Hello -- Nell! do I have to -- get up?" she asked, +sleepily.</p> + +<p>"Can you?" queried Helen.</p> + +<p>"Can I what?" Bo was now thoroughly awake and lay there +staring at her sister.</p> + +<p>"Why -- get up."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to know why not," retorted Bo, as she made the +effort. She got one arm and shoulder up, only to flop back like a +crippled thing. And she uttered the most piteous little moan. +"I'm dead! I know -- I am!"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you're going to be a Western girl you'd better have +spunk enough to move."</p> + +<p>"A-huh!" ejaculated Bo. Then she rolled over, not without +groans, and, once upon her face, she raised herself on her hands +and turned to a sitting posture. "Where's everybody? . . . Oh, +Nell, it's perfectly lovely here. Paradise!"</p> + +<p>Helen looked around. A fire was smoldering. No one was in +sight. Wonderful distant colors seemed to strike her glance as +she tried to fix it upon near-by objects. A beautiful little +green tent or shack had been erected out of spruce boughs. It had +a slanting roof that sloped all the way from a ridge-pole to the +ground; half of the opening in front was closed, as were the +sides. The spruce boughs appeared all to be laid in the same +direction, giving it a smooth, compact appearance, actually as if +it had grown there.</p> + +<p>"That lean-to wasn't there last night?" inquired Bo.</p> + +<p>"I didn't see it. Lean-to? Where'd you get that name?"</p> + +<p>"It's Western, my dear. I'll bet they put it up for us. . . . +Sure, I see our bags inside. Let's get up. It must be late."</p> + +<p>The girls had considerable fun as well as pain in getting up +and keeping each other erect until their limbs would hold them +firmly. They were delighted with the spruce lean-to. It faced the +open and stood just under the wide-spreading shelf of rock. The +tiny outlet from the spring flowed beside it and spilled its +clear water over a stone, to fall into a little pool. The floor +of this woodland habitation consisted of tips of spruce boughs to +about a foot in depth, all laid one way, smooth and springy, and +so sweetly odorous that the air seemed intoxicating. Helen and Bo +opened their baggage, and what with use of the cold water, brush +and comb, and clean blouses, they made themselves feel as +comfortable as possible, considering the excruciating aches. Then +they went out to the campfire.</p> + +<p>Helen's eye was attracted by moving objects near at hand. Then +simultaneously with Bo's cry of delight Helen saw a beautiful doe +approaching under the trees. Dale walked beside it.</p> + +<p>"You sure had a long sleep," was the hunter's greeting. "I +reckon you both look better."</p> + +<p>"Good morning. Or is it afternoon? We're just able to move +about," said Helen.</p> + +<p>"I could ride," declared Bo, stoutly. "Oh, Nell, look at the +deer! It's coming to me."</p> + +<p>The doe had hung back a little as Dale reached the camp-fire. +It was a gray, slender creature, smooth as silk, with great dark +eyes. It stood a moment, long ears erect, and then with a +graceful little trot came up to Bo and reached a slim nose for +her outstretched hand. All about it, except the beautiful soft +eyes, seemed wild, and yet it was as tame as a kitten. Then, +suddenly, as Bo fondled the long ears, it gave a start and, +breaking away, ran back out of sight under the pines.</p> + +<p>"What frightened it?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>Dale pointed up at the wall under the shelving roof of rock. +There, twenty feet from the ground, curled up on a ledge, lay a +huge tawny animal with a face like that of a cat.</p> + +<p>"She's afraid of Tom," replied Dale. "Recognizes him as a +hereditary foe, I guess. I can't make friends of them."</p> + +<p>"Oh! So that's Tom -- the pet lion!" exclaimed Bo. "Ugh! No +wonder that deer ran off!"</p> + +<p>"How long has he been up there?" queried Helen, gazing +fascinated at Dale's famous pet.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't say. Tom comes an' goes," replied Dale. "But I +sent him up there last night."</p> + +<p>"And he was there -- perfectly free -- right over us -- while +we slept!" burst out Bo.</p> + +<p>"Yes. An' I reckon you slept the safer for that."</p> + +<p>"Of all things! Nell, isn't he a monster? But he doesn't look +like a lion -- an African lion. He's a panther. I saw his like at +the circus once."</p> + +<p>"He's a cougar," said Dale. "The panther is long and slim. Tom +is not only long, but thick an' round. I've had him four years. +An' he was a kitten no bigger 'n my fist when I got him."</p> + +<p>"Is he perfectly tame -- safe?" asked Helen, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I've never told anybody that Tom was safe, but he is," +replied Dale. "You can absolutely believe it. A wild cougar +wouldn't attack a man unless cornered or starved. An' Tom is like +a big kitten."</p> + +<p>The beast raised his great catlike face, with its sleepy, +half-shut eyes, and looked down upon them.</p> + +<p>"Shall I call him down?" inquired Dale.</p> + +<p>For once Bo did not find her voice.</p> + +<p>"Let us -- get a little more used to him -- at a distance," +replied Helen, with a little laugh.</p> + +<p>"If he comes to you, just rub his head an' you'll see how tame +he is," said Dale. "Reckon you're both hungry?"</p> + +<p>"Not so very," returned Helen, aware of his penetrating gray +gaze upon her.</p> + +<p>"Well, I am," vouchsafed Bo.</p> + +<p>"Soon as the turkey's done we'll eat. My camp is round between +the rocks. I'll call you."</p> + +<p>Not until his broad back was turned did Helen notice that the +hunter looked different. Then she saw he wore a lighter, cleaner +suit of buckskin, with no coat, and instead of the high-heeled +horseman's boots he wore moccasins and leggings. The change made +him appear more lithe.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I don't know what you think, but <em>I</em> call him +handsome," declared Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen had no idea what she thought.</p> + +<p>"Let's try to walk some," she suggested.</p> + +<p>So they essayed that painful task and got as far as a pine log +some few rods from their camp. This point was close to the edge +of the park, from which there was an unobstructed view.</p> + +<p>"My! What a place!" exclaimed Bo, with eyes wide and +round.</p> + +<p>"Oh, beautiful!" breathed Helen.</p> + +<p>An unexpected blaze of color drew her gaze first. Out of the +black spruce slopes shone patches of aspens, gloriously red and +gold, and low down along the edge of timber troops of aspens ran +out into the park, not yet so blazing as those above, but purple +and yellow and white in the sunshine. Masses of silver spruce, +like trees in moonlight, bordered the park, sending out here and +there an isolated tree, sharp as a spear, with under-branches +close to the ground. Long golden-green grass, resembling +half-ripe wheat, covered the entire floor of the park, gently +waving to the wind. Above sheered the black, gold-patched slopes, +steep and unscalable, rising to buttresses of dark, iron-hued +rock. And to the east circled the rows of cliff-bench, gray and +old and fringed, splitting at the top in the notch where the +lacy, slumberous waterfall, like white smoke, fell and vanished, +to reappear in wider sheet of lace, only to fall and vanish again +in the green depths.</p> + +<p>It was a verdant valley, deep-set in the mountain walls, wild +and sad and lonesome. The waterfall dominated the spirit of the +place, dreamy and sleepy and tranquil; it murmured sweetly on one +breath of wind, and lulled with another, and sometimes died out +altogether, only to come again in soft, strange roar.</p> + +<p>"Paradise Park!" whispered Bo to herself.</p> + +<p>A call from Dale disturbed their raptures. Turning, they +hobbled with eager but painful steps in the direction of a larger +camp-fire, situated to the right of the great rock that sheltered +their lean-to. No hut or house showed there and none was needed. +Hiding-places and homes for a hundred hunters were there in the +sections of caverned cliffs, split off in bygone ages from the +mountain wall above. A few stately pines stood out from the +rocks, and a clump of silver spruce ran down to a brown brook. +This camp was only a step from the lean-to, round the corner of a +huge rock, yet it had been out of sight. Here indeed was evidence +of a hunter's home -- pelts and skins and antlers, a neat pile of +split fire-wood, a long ledge of rock, well sheltered, and loaded +with bags like a huge pantry-shelf, packs and ropes and saddles, +tools and weapons, and a platform of dry brush as shelter for a +fire around which hung on poles a various assortment of utensils +for camp.</p> + +<p>"Hyar -- you git!" shouted Dale, and he threw a stick at +something. A bear cub scampered away in haste. He was small and +woolly and brown, and he grunted as he ran. Soon he halted.</p> + +<p>"That's Bud," said Dale, as the girls came up. "Guess he near +starved in my absence. An' now he wants everythin', especially +the sugar. We don't have sugar often up here."</p> + +<p>"Isn't he dear? Oh, I love him!" cried Bo. "Come back, Bud. +Come, Buddie."</p> + +<p>The cub, however, kept his distance, watching Dale with bright +little eyes.</p> + +<p>"Where's Mr. Roy?" asked Helen.</p> + +<p>"Roy's gone. He was sorry not to say good-by. But it's +important he gets down in the pines on Anson's trail. He'll hang +to Anson, an' in case they get near Pine he'll ride in to see +where your uncle is."</p> + +<p>"What do you expect?" questioned Helen, gravely.</p> + +<p>"'Most anythin'," he replied. "Al, I reckon, knows now. Maybe +he's rustlin' into the mountains by this time. If he meets up +with Anson, well an' good, for Roy won't be far off. An' sure if +he runs across Roy, why they'll soon be here. But if I were you I +wouldn't count on seein' your uncle very soon. I'm sorry. I've +done my best. It sure is a bad deal."</p> + +<p>"Don't think me ungracious," replied Helen, hastily. How +plainly he had intimated that it must be privation and annoyance +for her to be compelled to accept his hospitality! "You are good +-- kind. I owe you much. I'll be eternally grateful."</p> + +<p>Dale straightened as he looked at her. His glance was intent, +piercing. He seemed to be receiving a strange or unusual portent. +No need for him to say he had never before been spoken to like +that!</p> + +<p>"You may have to stay here with me -- for weeks -- maybe +months -- if we've the bad luck to get snowed in," he said, +slowly, as if startled at this deduction. "You're safe here. No +sheep-thief could ever find this camp. I'll take risks to get you +safe into Al's hands. But I'm goin' to be pretty sure about what +I'm doin'. . . . So -- there's plenty to eat an' it's a pretty +place."</p> + +<p>"Pretty! Why, it's grand!" exclaimed Bo. "I've called it +Paradise Park."</p> + +<p>"Paradise Park," he repeated, weighing the words. "You've +named it an' also the creek. Paradise Creek! I've been here +twelve years with no fit name for my home till you said +that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that pleases me!" returned Bo, with shining eyes.</p> + +<p>"Eat now," said Dale. "An' I reckon you'll like that +turkey."</p> + +<p>There was a clean tarpaulin upon which were spread steaming, +fragrant pans -- roast turkey, hot biscuits and gravy, mashed +potatoes as white as if prepared at home, stewed dried apples, +and butter and coffee. This bounteous repast surprised and +delighted the girls; when they had once tasted the roast wild +turkey, then Milt Dale had occasion to blush at their +encomiums.</p> + +<p>"I hope -- Uncle Al -- doesn't come for a month," declared Bo, +as she tried to get her breath. There was a brown spot on her +nose and one on each cheek, suspiciously close to her mouth.</p> + +<p>Dale laughed. It was pleasant to hear him, for his laugh +seemed unused and deep, as if it came from tranquil depths.</p> + +<p>"Won't you eat with us?" asked Helen.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I will," he said, "it'll save time, an' hot grub +tastes better."</p> + +<p>Quite an interval of silence ensued, which presently was +broken by Dale.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Tom."</p> + +<p>Helen observed with a thrill that the cougar was magnificent, +seen erect on all-fours, approaching with slow, sinuous grace. +His color was tawny, with spots of whitish gray. He had bow-legs, +big and round and furry, and a huge head with great tawny eyes. +No matter how tame he was said to be, he looked wild. Like a dog +he walked right up, and it so happened that he was directly +behind Bo, within reach of her when she turned.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord!" cried Bo, and up went both of her hands, in one of +which was a huge piece of turkey. Tom took it, not viciously, but +nevertheless with a snap that made Helen jump. As if by magic the +turkey vanished. And Tom took a closer step toward Bo. Her +expression of fright changed to consternation.</p> + +<p>"He stole my turkey!"</p> + +<p>"Tom, come here," ordered Dale, sharply. The cougar glided +round rather sheepishly. "Now lie down an' behave."</p> + +<p>Tom crouched on all-fours, his head resting on his paws, with +his beautiful tawny eyes, light and piercing, fixed upon the +hunter.</p> + +<p>"Don't grab," said Dale, holding out a piece of turkey. +Whereupon Tom took it less voraciously.</p> + +<p>As it happened, the little bear cub saw this transaction, and +he plainly indicated his opinion of the preference shown to +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the dear!" exclaimed Bo. "He means it's not fair. . . . +Come, Bud -- come on."</p> + +<p>But Bud would not approach the group until called by Dale. +Then he scrambled to them with every manifestation of delight. Bo +almost forgot her own needs in feeding him and getting acquainted +with him. Tom plainly showed his jealousy of Bud, and Bud +likewise showed his fear of the great cat.</p> + +<p>Helen could not believe the evidence of her eyes -- that she +was in the woods calmly and hungrily partaking of sweet, +wild-flavored meat -- that a full-grown mountain lion lay on one +side of her and a baby brown bear sat on the other -- that a +strange hunter, a man of the forest, there in his lonely and +isolated fastness, appealed to the romance in her and interested +her as no one else she had ever met.</p> + +<p>When the wonderful meal was at last finished Bo enticed the +bear cub around to the camp of the girls, and there soon became +great comrades with him. Helen, watching Bo play, was inclined to +envy her. No matter where Bo was placed, she always got something +out of it. She adapted herself. She, who could have a good time +with almost any one or anything, would find the hours sweet and +fleeting in this beautiful park of wild wonders.</p> + +<p>But merely objective actions -- merely physical movements, had +never yet contented Helen. She could run and climb and ride and +play with hearty and healthy abandon, but those things would not +suffice long for her, and her mind needed food. Helen was a +thinker. One reason she had desired to make her home in the West +was that by taking up a life of the open, of action, she might +think and dream and brood less. And here she was in the wild +West, after the three most strenuously active days of her career, +and still the same old giant revolved her mind and turned it upon +herself and upon all she saw.</p> + +<p>"What can I do?" she asked Bo, almost helplessly.</p> + +<p>"Why, rest, you silly!" retorted Bo. "You walk like an old, +crippled woman with only one leg."</p> + +<p>Helen hoped the comparison was undeserved, but the advice was +sound. The blankets spread out on the grass looked inviting and +they felt comfortably warm in the sunshine. The breeze was slow, +languorous, fragrant, and it brought the low hum of the murmuring +waterfall, like a melody of bees. Helen made a pillow and lay +down to rest. The green pine-needles, so thin and fine in their +crisscross network, showed clearly against the blue sky. She +looked in vain for birds. Then her gaze went wonderingly to the +lofty fringed rim of the great amphitheater, and as she studied +it she began to grasp its remoteness, how far away it was in the +rarefied atmosphere. A black eagle, sweeping along, looked of +tiny size, and yet he was far under the heights above. How +pleasant she fancied it to be up there! And drowsy fancy lulled +her to sleep.</p> + +<p>Helen slept all afternoon, and upon awakening, toward sunset, +found Bo curled beside her. Dale had thoughtfully covered them +with a blanket; also he had built a camp-fire. The air was +growing keen and cold.</p> + +<p>Later, when they had put their coats on and made comfortable +seats beside the fire, Dale came over, apparently to visit +them.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you can't sleep all the time," he said. "An' bein' +city girls, you'll get lonesome."</p> + +<p>"Lonesome!" echoed Helen. The idea of her being lonesome here +had not occurred to her.</p> + +<p>"I've thought that all out," went on Dale, as he sat down, +Indian fashion, before the blaze. "It's natural you'd find time +drag up here, bein' used to lots of people an' goin's-on, an' +work, an' all girls like."</p> + +<p>"I'd never be lonesome here," replied Helen, with her direct +force.</p> + +<p>Dale did not betray surprise, but he showed that his mistake +was something to ponder over.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me," he said, presently, as his gray eyes held hers. +"That's how I had it. As I remember girls -- an' it doesn't seem +long since I left home -- most of them would die of lonesomeness +up here." Then he addressed himself to Bo. "How about you? You +see, I figured you'd be the one that liked it, an' your sister +the one who wouldn't."</p> + +<p>"I won't get lonesome very soon," replied Bo.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad. It worried me some -- not ever havin' girls as +company before. An' in a day or so, when you're rested, I'll help +you pass the time."</p> + +<p>Bo's eyes were full of flashing interest, and Helen asked him, +"How?"</p> + +<p>It was a sincere expression of her curiosity and not doubtful +or ironic challenge of an educated woman to a man of the forest. +But as a challenge he took it.</p> + +<p>"How!" he repeated, and a strange smile flitted across his +face. "Why, by givin' you rides an' climbs to beautiful places. +An' then, if you're interested,' to show you how little so-called +civilized people know of nature."</p> + +<p>Helen realized then that whatever his calling, hunter or +wanderer or hermit, he was not uneducated, even if he appeared +illiterate.</p> + +<p>"I'll be happy to learn from you," she said.</p> + +<p>"Me, too!" chimed in Bo. "You can't tell too much to any one +from Missouri."</p> + +<p>He smiled, and that warmed Helen to him, for then he seemed +less removed from other people. About this hunter there began to +be something of the very nature of which he spoke -- a stillness, +aloofness, an unbreakable tranquillity, a cold, clear spirit like +that in the mountain air, a physical something not unlike the +tamed wildness of his pets or the strength of the pines.</p> + +<p>"I'll bet I can tell you more 'n you'll ever remember," he +said.</p> + +<p>"What 'll you bet?" retorted Bo.</p> + +<p>"Well, more roast turkey against -- say somethin' nice when +you're safe an' home to your uncle Al's, runnin' his ranch."</p> + +<p>"Agreed. Nell, you hear?"</p> + +<p>Helen nodded her head.</p> + +<p>"All right. We'll leave it to Nell," began Dale, half +seriously. "Now I'll tell you, first, for the fun of passin' time +we'll ride an' race my horses out in the park. An' we'll fish in +the brooks an' hunt in the woods. There's an old silvertip around +that you can see me kill. An' we'll climb to the peaks an' see +wonderful sights. . . . So much for that. Now, if you really want +to learn -- or if you only want me to tell you -- well, that's no +matter. Only I'll win the bet! . . . You'll see how this park +lies in the crater of a volcano an' was once full of water -- an' +how the snow blows in on one side in winter, a hundred feet deep, +when there's none on the other. An' the trees -- how they grow +an' live an' fight one another an' depend on one another, an' +protect the forest from storm-winds. An' how they hold the water +that is the fountains of the great rivers. An' how the creatures +an' things that live in them or on them are good for them, an' +neither could live without the other. An' then I'll show you my +pets tame an' untamed, an' tell you how it's man that makes any +creature wild -- how easy they are to tame -- an' how they learn +to love you. An' there's the life of the forest, the strife of it +-- how the bear lives, an' the cats, an' the wolves, an' the +deer. You'll see how cruel nature is how savage an' wild the wolf +or cougar tears down the deer -- how a wolf loves fresh, hot +blood, an' how a cougar unrolls the skin of a deer back from his +neck. An' you'll see that this cruelty of nature -- this work of +the wolf an' cougar -- is what makes the deer so beautiful an' +healthy an' swift an' sensitive. Without his deadly foes the deer +would deteriorate an' die out. An' you'll see how this principle +works out among all creatures of the forest. Strife! It's the +meanin' of all creation, an' the salvation. If you're quick to +see, you'll learn that the nature here in the wilds is the same +as that of men -- only men are no longer cannibals. Trees fight +to live -- birds fight -- animals fight -- men fight. They all +live off one another. An' it's this fightin' that brings them all +closer an' closer to bein' perfect. But nothin' will ever be +perfect."</p> + +<p>"But how about religion?" interrupted Helen, earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Nature has a religion, an' it's to live -- to grow -- to +reproduce, each of its kind."</p> + +<p>"But that is not God or the immortality of the soul," declared +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's as close to God an' immortality as nature ever +gets."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you would rob me of my religion!"</p> + +<p>"No, I just talk as I see life," replied Dale, reflectively, +as he poked a stick into the red embers of the fire. "Maybe I +have a religion. I don't know. But it's not the kind you have -- +not the Bible kind. That kind doesn't keep the men in Pine an' +Snowdrop an' all over -- sheepmen an' ranchers an' farmers an' +travelers, such as I've known -- the religion they profess +doesn't keep them from lyin', cheatin', stealin', an' killin'. I +reckon no man who lives as I do -- which perhaps is my religion +-- will lie or cheat or steal or kill, unless it's to kill in +self-defense or like I'd do if Snake Anson would ride up here +now. My religion, maybe, is love of life -- wild life as it was +in the beginnin' -- an' the wind that blows secrets from +everywhere, an' the water that sings all day an' night, an' the +stars that shine constant, an' the trees that speak somehow, an' +the rocks that aren't dead. I'm never alone here or on the +trails. There's somethin' unseen, but always with me. An' that's +It! Call it God if you like. But what stalls me is -- where was +that Spirit when this earth was a ball of fiery gas? Where will +that Spirit be when all life is frozen out or burned out on this +globe an' it hangs dead in space like the moon? That time will +come. There's no waste in nature. Not the littlest atom is +destroyed. It changes, that's all, as you see this pine wood go +up in smoke an' feel somethin' that's heat come out of it. Where +does that go? It's not lost. Nothin' is lost. So, the beautiful +an' savin' thought is, maybe all rock an' wood, water an' blood +an' flesh, are resolved back into the elements, to come to life +somewhere again sometime."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what you say is wonderful, but it's terrible!" exclaimed +Helen. He had struck deep into her soul.</p> + +<p>"Terrible? I reckon," he replied, sadly.</p> + +<p>Then ensued a little interval of silence.</p> + +<p>"Milt Dale, I lose the bet," declared Bo, with earnestness +behind her frivolity.</p> + +<p>"I'd forgotten that. Reckon I talked a lot," he said, +apologetically. "You see, I don't get much chance to talk, except +to myself or Tom. Years ago, when I found the habit of silence +settlin' down on me, I took to thinkin' out loud an' talkin' to +anythin'."</p> + +<p>"I could listen to you all night," returned Bo, dreamily.</p> + +<p>"Do you read -- do you have books?" inquired Helen, +suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I read tolerable well; a good deal better than I talk or +write," he replied. "I went to school till I was fifteen. Always +hated study, but liked to read. Years ago an old friend of mine +down here at Pine -- Widow Cass -- she gave me a lot of old +books. An' I packed them up here. Winter's the time I read."</p> + +<p>Conversation lagged after that, except for desultory remarks, +and presently Dale bade the girls good night and left them. Helen +watched his tall form vanish in the gloom under the pines, and +after he had disappeared she still stared.</p> + +<p>"Nell!" called Bo, shrilly. "I've called you three times. I +want to go to bed."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I -- I was thinking," rejoined Helen, half embarrassed, +half wondering at herself. "I didn't hear you."</p> + +<p>"I should smile you didn't," retorted Bo. "Wish you could just +have seen your eyes. Nell, do you want me to tell you +something?</p> + +<p>"Why -- yes," said Helen, rather feebly. She did not at all, +when Bo talked like that.</p> + +<p>"You're going to fall in love with that wild hunter," declared +Bo in a voice that rang like a bell.</p> + +<p>Helen was not only amazed, but enraged. She caught her breath +preparatory to giving this incorrigible sister a piece of her +mind. Bo went calmly on.</p> + +<p>"I can feel it in my bones."</p> + +<p>"Bo, you're a little fool -- a sentimental, romancing, gushy +little fool!" retorted Helen. "All you seem to hold in your head +is some rot about love. To hear you talk one would think there's +nothing else in the world but love."</p> + +<p>Bo's eyes were bright, shrewd, affectionate, and laughing as +she bent their steady gaze upon Helen.</p> + +<p> "Nell, that's just it. There <em>is</em> nothing +else!"</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER X</p> + +<p>The night of sleep was so short that it was difficult for +Helen to believe that hours had passed. Bo appeared livelier this +morning, with less complaint of aches.</p> + +<p>"Nell, you've got color!" exclaimed Bo. "And your eyes are +bright. Isn't the morning perfectly lovely? . . . Couldn't you +get drunk on that air? I smell flowers. And oh! I'm hungry!"</p> + +<p>"Bo, our host will soon have need of his hunting abilities if +your appetite holds," said Helen, as she tried to keep her hair +out of her eyes while she laced her boots.</p> + +<p>"Look! there's a big dog -- a hound."</p> + +<p>Helen looked as Bo directed, and saw a hound of unusually +large proportions, black and tan in color, with long, drooping +ears. Curiously he trotted nearer to the door of their hut and +then stopped to gaze at them. His head was noble, his eyes shone +dark and sad. He seemed neither friendly nor unfriendly.</p> + +<p>"Hello, doggie! Come right in -- we won't hurt you," called +Bo, but without enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>This made Helen laugh. "Bo, you're simply delicious," she +said. "You're afraid of that dog."</p> + +<p>"Sure. Wonder if he's Dale's. Of course he must be."</p> + +<p>Presently the hound trotted away out of sight. When the girls +presented themselves at the camp-fire they espied their curious +canine visitor lying down. His ears were so long that half of +them lay on the ground.</p> + +<p>"I sent Pedro over to wake you girls up," said Dale, after +greeting them. "Did he scare you?"</p> + +<p>"Pedro. So that's his name. No, he didn't exactly scare me. He +did Nell, though. She's an awful tenderfoot," replied Bo.</p> + +<p>"He's a splendid-looking dog," said Helen, ignoring her +sister's sally. "I love dogs. Will he make friends?"</p> + +<p>"He's shy an' wild. You see, when I leave camp he won't hang +around. He an' Tom are jealous of each other. I had a pack of +hounds an' lost all but Pedro on account of Tom. I think you can +make friends with Pedro. Try it."</p> + +<p>Whereupon Helen made overtures to Pedro, and not wholly in +vain. The dog was matured, of almost stern aloofness, and +manifestly not used to people. His deep, wine-dark eyes seemed to +search Helen's soul. They were honest and wise, with a strange +sadness.</p> + +<p>"He looks intelligent," observed Helen, as she smoothed the +long, dark ears.</p> + +<p>"That hound is nigh human," responded Dale. "Come, an' while +you eat I'll tell you about Pedro."</p> + +<p>Dale had gotten the hound as a pup from a Mexican sheep-herder +who claimed he was part California bloodhound. He grew up, +becoming attached to Dale. In his younger days he did not get +along well with Dale's other pets and Dale gave him to a rancher +down in the valley. Pedro was back in Dale's camp next day. From +that day Dale began to care more for the hound, but he did not +want to keep him, for various reasons, chief of which was the +fact that Pedro was too fine a dog to be left alone half the time +to shift for himself. That fall Dale had need to go to the +farthest village, Snowdrop, where he left Pedro with a friend. +Then Dale rode to Show Down and Pine, and the camp of the +Beemans' and with them he trailed some wild horses for a hundred +miles, over into New Mexico. The snow was flying when Dale got +back to his camp in the mountains. And there was Pedro, gaunt and +worn, overjoyed to welcome him home. Roy Beeman visited Dale that +October and told that Dale's friend in Snowdrop had not been able +to keep Pedro. He broke a chain and scaled a ten-foot fence to +escape. He trailed Dale to Show Down, where one of Dale's +friends, recognizing the hound, caught him, and meant to keep him +until Dale's return. But Pedro refused to eat. It happened that a +freighter was going out to the Beeman camp, and Dale's friend +boxed Pedro up and put him on the wagon. Pedro broke out of the +box, returned to Show Down, took up Dale's trail to Pine, and +then on to the Beeman camp. That was as far as Roy could trace +the movements of the hound. But he believed, and so did Dale, +that Pedro had trailed them out on the wild-horse hunt. The +following spring Dale learned more from the herder of a sheepman +at whose camp he and the Beemans; had rested on the way into New +Mexico. It appeared that after Dale had left this camp Pedro had +arrived, and another Mexican herder had stolen the hound. But +Pedro got away.</p> + +<p>"An' he was here when I arrived," concluded Dale, smiling. "I +never wanted to get rid of him after that. He's turned out to be +the finest dog I ever knew. He knows what I say. He can almost +talk. An' I swear he can cry. He does whenever I start off +without him."</p> + +<p>"How perfectly wonderful!" exclaimed Bo. "Aren't animals +great? . . . But I love horses best."</p> + +<p>It seemed to Helen that Pedro understood they were talking +about him, for he looked ashamed, and swallowed hard, and dropped +his gaze. She knew something of the truth about the love of dogs +for their owners. This story of Dale's, however, was stranger +than any she had ever heard.</p> + +<p>Tom, the cougar, put in an appearance then, and there was +scarcely love in the tawny eyes he bent upon Pedro. But the hound +did not deign to notice him. Tom sidled up to Bo, who sat on the +farther side of the tarpaulin table-cloth, and manifestly wanted +part of her breakfast.</p> + +<p>"Gee! I love the look of him," she said. "But when he's close +he makes my flesh creep."</p> + +<p>"Beasts are as queer as people," observed Dale. "They take +likes an' dislikes. I believe Tom has taken a shine to you an' +Pedro begins to be interested in your sister. I can tell."</p> + +<p>"Where's Bud?" inquired Bo.</p> + +<p>"He's asleep or around somewhere. Now, soon as I get the work +done, what would you girls like to do?"</p> + +<p>"Ride!" declared Bo, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you sore an' stiff?"</p> + +<p>"I am that. But I don't care. Besides, when I used to go out +to my uncle's farm near Saint Joe I always found riding to be a +cure for aches."</p> + +<p>"Sure is, if you can stand it. An' what will your sister like +to do?" returned Dale, turning to Helen.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll rest, and watch you folks -- and dream," replied +Helen.</p> + +<p>"But after you've rested you must be active," said Dale, +seriously. "You must do things. It doesn't matter what, just as +long as you don't sit idle."</p> + +<p>"Why?" queried Helen, in surprise. "Why not be idle here in +this beautiful, wild place? just to dream away the hours -- the +days! I could do it."</p> + +<p>"But you mustn't. It took me years to learn how bad that was +for me. An' right now I would love nothin' more than to forget my +work, my horses an' pets -- everythin', an' just lay around, +seein' an' feelin'."</p> + +<p>"Seeing and feeling? Yes, that must be what I mean. But why -- +what is it? There are the beauty and color -- the wild, shaggy +slopes -- the gray cliffs -- the singing wind -- the lulling +water -- the clouds -- the sky. And the silence, loneliness, +sweetness of it all."</p> + +<p>"It's a driftin' back. What I love to do an' yet fear most. +It's what makes a lone hunter of a man. An' it can grow so strong +that it binds a man to the wilds."</p> + +<p>"How strange!" murmured Helen. "But that could never bind +<em>me</em>. Why, I must live and fulfil my mission, my work in +the civilized world."</p> + +<p>It seemed to Helen that Dale almost imperceptibly shrank at +her earnest words.</p> + +<p>"The ways of Nature are strange," he said. "I look at it +different. Nature's just as keen to wean you back to a savage +state as you are to be civilized. An' if Nature won, you would +carry out her design all the better."</p> + +<p>This hunter's talk shocked Helen and yet stimulated her +mind.</p> + +<p>"Me -- a savage? Oh no!" she exclaimed. "But, if that were +possible, what would Nature's design be?"</p> + +<p>"You spoke of your mission in life," he replied. "A woman's +mission is to have children. The female of any species has only +one mission -- to reproduce its kind. An' Nature has only one +mission -- toward greater strength, virility, efficiency -- +absolute perfection, which is unattainable."</p> + +<p>"What of mental and spiritual development of man and woman?" +asked Helen.</p> + +<p>"Both are direct obstacles to the design of Nature. Nature is +physical. To create for limitless endurance for eternal life. +That must be Nature's inscrutable design. An' why she must +fail."</p> + +<p>"But the soul!" whispered Helen.</p> + +<p>"Ah! When you speak of the soul an' I speak of life we mean +the same. You an' I will have some talks while you're here. I +must brush up my thoughts."</p> + +<p>"So must I, it seems," said Helen, with a slow smile. She had +been rendered grave and thoughtful. "But I guess I'll risk +dreaming under the pines."</p> + +<p>Bo had been watching them with her keen blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"Nell, it'd take a thousand years to make a savage of you," +she said. "But a week will do for me."</p> + +<p>"Bo, you were one before you left Saint Joe," replied Helen. +"Don't you remember that school-teacher Barnes who said you were +a wildcat and an Indian mixed? He spanked you with a ruler."</p> + +<p>"Never! He missed me," retorted Bo, with red in her cheeks. +"Nell, I wish you'd not tell things about me when I was a +kid."</p> + +<p>"That was only two years ago," expostulated Helen, in mild +surprise.</p> + +<p>"Suppose it was. I was a kid all right. I'll bet you--" Bo +broke up abruptly, and, tossing her head, she gave Tom a pat and +then ran away around the corner of cliff wall.</p> + +<p>Helen followed leisurely.</p> + +<p>"Say, Nell," said Bo, when Helen arrived at their little green +ledge-pole hut, "do you know that hunter fellow will upset some +of your theories?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe. I'll admit he amazes me -- and affronts me, too, I'm +afraid," replied Helen. "What surprises me is that in spite of +his evident lack of schooling he's not raw or crude. He's +elemental."</p> + +<p>"Sister dear, wake up. The man's wonderful. You can learn more +from him than you ever learned in your life. So can I. I always +hated books, anyway."</p> + +<p>When, a little later, Dale approached carrying some bridles, +the hound Pedro trotted at his heels.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you'd better ride the horse you had," he said to +Bo.</p> + +<p>"Whatever you say. But I hope you let me ride them all, by and +by."</p> + +<p>"Sure. I've a mustang out there you'll like. But he pitches a +little," he rejoined, and turned away toward the park. The hound +looked after him and then at Helen.</p> + +<p>"Come, Pedro. Stay with me," called Helen.</p> + +<p>Dale, hearing her, motioned the hound back. Obediently Pedro +trotted to her, still shy and soberly watchful, as if not sure of +her intentions, but with something of friendliness about him now. +Helen found a soft, restful seat in the sun facing the park, and +there composed herself for what she felt would be slow, sweet, +idle hours. Pedro curled down beside her. The tall form of Dale +stalked across the park, out toward the straggling horses. Again +she saw a deer grazing among them. How erect and motionless it +stood watching Dale! Presently it bounded away toward the edge of +the forest. Some of the horses whistled and ran, kicking heels +high in the air. The shrill whistles rang clear in the +stillness.</p> + +<p>"Gee! Look at them go!" exclaimed Bo, gleefully, coming up to +where Helen sat. Bo threw herself down upon the fragrant +pine-needles and stretched herself languorously, like a lazy +kitten. There was something feline in her lithe, graceful +outline. She lay flat and looked up through the pines.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it be great, now," she murmured, dreamily, half to +herself, "if that Las Vegas cowboy would happen somehow to come, +and then an earthquake would shut us up here in this Paradise +valley so we'd never get out?"</p> + +<p>"Bo! What would mother say to such talk as that?" gasped +Helen.</p> + +<p>"But, Nell, wouldn't it be great?"</p> + +<p>"It would be terrible."</p> + +<p>"Oh, there never was any romance in you, Nell Rayner," replied +Bo. "That very thing has actually happened out here in this +wonderful country of wild places. You need not tell me! Sure it's +happened. With the cliff-dwellers and the Indians and then white +people. Every place I look makes me feel that. Nell, you'd have +to see people in the moon through a telescope before you'd +believe that."</p> + +<p>"I'm practical and sensible, thank goodness!"</p> + +<p>"But, for the sake of argument," protested Bo, with flashing +eyes, "suppose it <em>might</em> happen. Just to please me, +suppose we <em>did</em> get shut up here with Dale and that +cowboy we saw from the train. Shut in without any hope of ever +climbing out. . . . What would you do? Would you give up and pine +away and die? Or would you fight for life and whatever joy it +might mean?"</p> + +<p>"Self-preservation is the first instinct," replied Helen, +surprised at a strange, deep thrill in the depths of her. "I'd +fight for life, of course."</p> + +<p>"Yes. Well, really, when I think seriously I don't want +anything like that to happen. But, just the same, if it +<em>did</em> happen I would glory in it."</p> + +<p>While they were talking Dale returned with the horses.</p> + +<p>"Can you bridle an' saddle your own horse?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No. I'm ashamed to say I can't," replied Bo.</p> + +<p>"Time to learn then. Come on. Watch me first when I saddle +mine."</p> + +<p>Bo was all eyes while Dale slipped off the bridle from his +horse and then with slow, plain action readjusted it. Next he +smoothed the back of the horse, shook out the blanket, and, +folding it half over, he threw it in place, being careful to +explain to Bo just the right position. He lifted his saddle in a +certain way and put that in place, and then he tightened the +cinches.</p> + +<p>"Now you try," he said.</p> + +<p>According to Helen's judgment Bo might have been a Western +girl all her days. But Dale shook his head and made her do it +over.</p> + +<p>"That was better. Of course, the saddle is too heavy for you +to sling it up. You can learn that with a light one. Now put the +bridle on again. Don't be afraid of your hands. He won't bite. +Slip the bit in sideways. . . . There. Now let's see you +mount."</p> + +<p>When Bo got into the saddle Dale continued: "You went up quick +an' light, but the wrong way. Watch me."</p> + +<p>Bo had to mount several times before Dale was satisfied. Then +he told her to ride off a little distance. When Bo had gotten out +of earshot Dale said to Helen: "She'll take to a horse like a +duck takes to water." Then, mounting, he rode out after her.</p> + +<p>Helen watched them trotting and galloping and running the +horses round the grassy park, and rather regretted she had not +gone with them. Eventually Bo rode back, to dismount and fling +herself down, red-cheeked and radiant, with disheveled hair, and +curls damp on her temples. How alive she seemed! Helen's senses +thrilled with the grace and charm and vitality of this surprising +sister, and she was aware of a sheer physical joy in her +presence. Bo rested, but she did not rest long. She was soon off +to play with Bud. Then she coaxed the tame doe to eat out of her +hand. She dragged Helen off for wild flowers, curious and +thoughtless by turns. And at length she fell asleep, quickly, in +a way that reminded Helen of the childhood now gone forever.</p> + +<p>Dale called them to dinner about four o'clock, as the sun was +reddening the western rampart of the park. Helen wondered where +the day had gone. The hours had flown swiftly, serenely, bringing +her scarcely a thought of her uncle or dread of her forced +detention there or possible discovery by those outlaws supposed +to be hunting for her. After she realized the passing of those +hours she had an intangible and indescribable feeling of what +Dale had meant about dreaming the hours away. The nature of +Paradise Park was inimical to the kind of thought that had +habitually been hers. She found the new thought absorbing, yet +when she tried to name it she found that, after all, she had only +felt. At the meal hour she was more than usually quiet. She saw +that Dale noticed it and was trying to interest her or distract +her attention. He succeeded, but she did not choose to let him +see that. She strolled away alone to her seat under the pine. Bo +passed her once, and cried, tantalizingly:</p> + +<p>"My, Nell, but you're growing romantic!"</p> + +<p>Never before in Helen's life had the beauty of the evening +star seemed so exquisite or the twilight so moving and shadowy or +the darkness so charged with loneliness. It was their environment +-- the accompaniment of wild wolf-mourn, of the murmuring +waterfall, of this strange man of the forest and the unfamiliar +elements among which he made his home.<br> +</p> + +<p>Next morning, her energy having returned, Helen shared Bo's +lesson in bridling and saddling her horse, and in riding. Bo, +however, rode so fast and so hard that for Helen to share her +company was impossible. And Dale, interested and amused, yet +anxious, spent most of his time with Bo. It was thus that Helen +rode all over the park alone. She was astonished at its size, +when from almost any point it looked so small. The atmosphere +deceived her. How clearly she could see! And she began to judge +distance by the size of familiar things. A horse, looked at +across the longest length of the park, seemed very small indeed. +Here and there she rode upon dark, swift, little brooks, +exquisitely clear and amber-colored and almost hidden from sight +by the long grass. These all ran one way, and united to form a +deeper brook that apparently wound under the cliffs at the west +end, and plunged to an outlet in narrow clefts. When Dale and Bo +came to her once she made inquiry, and she was surprised to learn +from Dale that this brook disappeared in a hole in the rocks and +had an outlet on the other side of the mountain. Sometime he +would take them to the lake it formed.</p> + +<p>"Over the mountain?" asked Helen, again remembering that she +must regard herself as a fugitive. "Will it be safe to leave our +hiding-place? I forget so often why we are here."</p> + +<p>"We would be better hidden over there than here," replied +Dale. "The valley on that side is accessible only from that +ridge. An' don't worry about bein' found. I told you Roy Beeman +is watchin' Anson an' his gang. Roy will keep between them an' +us."</p> + +<p>Helen was reassured, yet there must always linger in the +background of her mind a sense of dread. In spite of this, she +determined to make the most of her opportunity. Bo was a +stimulus. And so Helen spent the rest of that day riding and +tagging after her sister.</p> + +<p>The next day was less hard on Helen. Activity, rest, eating, +and sleeping took on a wonderful new meaning to her. She had +really never known them as strange joys. She rode, she walked, +she climbed a little, she dozed under her pine-tree, she worked +helping Dale at camp-fire tasks, and when night came she said she +did not know herself. That fact haunted her in vague, deep +dreams. Upon awakening she forgot her resolve to study herself. +That day passed. And then several more went swiftly before she +adapted herself to a situation she had reason to believe might +last for weeks and even months.<br> +</p> + +<p>It was afternoon that Helen loved best of all the time of the +day. The sunrise was fresh, beautiful; the morning was windy, +fragrant; the sunset was rosy, glorious; the twilight was sad, +changing; and night seemed infinitely sweet with its stars and +silence and sleep. But the afternoon, when nothing changed, when +all was serene, when time seemed to halt, that was her choice, +and her solace.</p> + +<p>One afternoon she had camp all to herself. Bo was riding. Dale +had climbed the mountain to see if he could find any trace of +tracks or see any smoke from camp-fire. Bud was nowhere to be +seen, nor any of the other pets. Tom had gone off to some sunny +ledge where he could bask in the sun, after the habit of the +wilder brothers of his species. Pedro had not been seen for a +night and a day, a fact that Helen had noted with concern. +However, she had forgotten him, and therefore was the more +surprised to see him coming limping into camp on three legs.</p> + +<p>"Why, Pedro! You have been fighting. Come here," she +called.</p> + +<p>The hound did not look guilty. He limped to her and held up +his right fore paw. The action was unmistakable. Helen examined +the injured member and presently found a piece of what looked +like mussel-shell embedded deeply between the toes. The wound was +swollen, bloody, and evidently very painful. Pedro whined. Helen +had to exert all the strength of her fingers to pull it out. Then +Pedro howled. But immediately he showed his gratitude by licking +her hand. Helen bathed his paw and bound it up.</p> + +<p>When Dale returned she related the incident and, showing the +piece of shell, she asked: "Where did that come from? Are there +shells in the mountains?"</p> + +<p>"Once this country was under the sea," replied Dale. "I've +found things that 'd make you wonder."</p> + +<p>"Under the sea!" ejaculated Helen. It was one thing to have +read of such a strange fact, but a vastly different one to +realize it here among these lofty peaks. Dale was always showing +her something or telling her something that astounded her.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said one day. "What do you make of that little +bunch of aspens?"</p> + +<p>They were on the farther side of the park and were resting +under a pine-tree. The forest here encroached upon the park with +its straggling lines of spruce and groves of aspen. The little +clump of aspens did not differ from hundreds Helen had seen.</p> + +<p>"I don't make anything particularly of it," replied Helen, +dubiously. "Just a tiny grove of aspens -- some very small, some +larger, but none very big. But it's pretty with its green and +yellow leaves fluttering and quivering."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't make you think of a fight?"</p> + +<p>"Fight? No, it certainly does not," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's as good an example of fight, of strife, of +selfishness, as you will find in the forest," he said. "Now come +over, you an' Bo, an' let me show you what I mean."</p> + +<p>"Come on, Nell," cried Bo, with enthusiasm. "He'll open our +eyes some more."</p> + +<p>Nothing loath, Helen went with them to the little clump of +aspens.</p> + +<p>"About a hundred altogether," said Dale. "They're pretty well +shaded by the spruces, but they get the sunlight from east an' +south. These little trees all came from the same seedlings. +They're all the same age. Four of them stand, say, ten feet or +more high an' they're as large around as my wrist. Here's one +that's largest. See how full-foliaged he is -- how he stands over +most of the others, but not so much over these four next to him. +They all stand close together, very close, you see. Most of them +are no larger than my thumb. Look how few branches they have, an' +none low down. Look at how few leaves. Do you see how all the +branches stand out toward the east an' south -- how the leaves, +of course, face the same way? See how one branch of one tree +bends aside one from another tree. That's a fight for the +sunlight. Here are one -- two -- three dead trees. Look, I can +snap them off. An' now look down under them. Here are little +trees five feet high -- four feet high -- down to these only a +foot high. Look how pale, delicate, fragile, unhealthy! They get +so little sunshine. They were born with the other trees, but did +not get an equal start. Position gives the advantage, +perhaps."</p> + +<p>Dale led the girls around the little grove, illustrating his +words by action. He seemed deeply in earnest.</p> + +<p>"You understand it's a fight for water an' sun. But mostly +sun, because, if the leaves can absorb the sun, the tree an' +roots will grow to grasp the needed moisture. Shade is death -- +slow death to the life of trees. These little aspens are fightin' +for place in the sunlight. It is a merciless battle. They push +an' bend one another's branches aside an' choke them. Only +perhaps half of these aspens will survive, to make one of the +larger clumps, such as that one of full-grown trees over there. +One season will give advantage to this saplin' an' next year to +that one. A few seasons' advantage to one assures its dominance +over the others. But it is never sure of holdin' that dominance. +An 'if wind or storm or a strong-growin' rival does not overthrow +it, then sooner or later old age will. For there is absolute and +continual fight. What is true of these aspens is true of all the +trees in the forest an' of all plant life in the forest. What is +most wonderful to me is the tenacity of life."</p> + +<p>And next day Dale showed them an even more striking example of +this mystery of nature.</p> + +<p>He guided them on horseback up one of the thick, +verdant-wooded slopes, calling their attention at various times +to the different growths, until they emerged on the summit of the +ridge where the timber grew scant and dwarfed. At the edge of +timber-line he showed a gnarled and knotted spruce-tree, twisted +out of all semblance to a beautiful spruce, bent and +storm-blasted, with almost bare branches, all reaching one' way. +The tree was a specter. It stood alone. It had little green upon +it. There seemed something tragic about its contortions. But it +was alive and strong. It had no rivals to take sun or moisture. +Its enemies were the snow and wind and cold of the heights.</p> + +<p>Helen felt, as the realization came to her, the knowledge Dale +wished to impart, that it was as sad as wonderful, and as +mysterious as it was inspiring. At that moment there were both +the sting and sweetness of life -- the pain and the joy -- in +Helen's heart. These strange facts were going to teach her -- to +transform her. And even if they hurt, she welcomed them.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XI</p> + +<p>"I'll ride you if it breaks -- my neck!" panted Bo, +passionately, shaking her gloved fist at the gray pony.</p> + +<p>Dale stood near with a broad smile on his face. Helen was +within earshot, watching from the edge of the park, and she felt +so fascinated and frightened that she could not call out for Bo +to stop. The little gray mustang was a beauty, clean-limbed and +racy, with long black mane and tail, and a fine, spirited head. +There was a blanket strapped on his back, but no saddle. Bo held +the short halter that had been fastened in a hackamore knot round +his nose. She wore no coat; her blouse was covered with grass and +seeds, and it was open at the neck; her hair hung loose and +disheveled; one side of her face bore a stain of grass and dirt +and a suspicion of blood; the other was red and white; her eyes +blazed; beads of sweat stood out on her brow and wet places shone +on her cheeks. As she began to strain on the halter, pulling +herself closer to the fiery pony, the outline of her slender +shape stood out lithe and strong.</p> + +<p>Bo had been defeated in her cherished and determined ambition +to ride Dale's mustang, and she was furious. The mustang did not +appear to be vicious or mean. But he was spirited, tricky, +mischievous, and he had thrown her six times. The scene of Bo's +defeat was at the edge of the park, where thick moss and grass +afforded soft places for her to fall. It also afforded poor +foothold for the gray mustang, obviously placing him at a +disadvantage. Dale did not bridle him, because he had not been +broken to a bridle; and though it was harder for Bo to try to +ride him bareback, there was less risk of her being hurt. Bo had +begun in all eagerness and enthusiasm, loving and petting the +mustang, which she named "Pony." She had evidently anticipated an +adventure, but her smiling, resolute face had denoted confidence. +Pony had stood fairly well to be mounted, and then had pitched +and tossed until Bo had slid off or been upset or thrown. After +each fall Bo bounced up with less of a smile, and more of spirit, +until now the Western passion to master a horse had suddenly +leaped to life within her. It was no longer fun, no more a daring +circus trick to scare Helen and rouse Dale's admiration. The +issue now lay between Bo and the mustang.</p> + +<p>Pony reared, snorting, tossing his head, and pawing with front +feet.</p> + +<p>"Pull him down!" yelled Dale.</p> + +<p>Bo did not have much weight, but she had strength, an she +hauled with all her might, finally bringing him down.</p> + +<p>"Now hold hard an' take up rope an' get in to him," called +Dale. "Good! You're sure not afraid of him. He sees that. Now +hold him, talk to him, tell him you're goin' to ride him. Pet him +a little. An' when he quits shakin', grab his mane an' jump up +an' slide a leg over him. Then hook your feet under him, hard as +you can, an' stick on."</p> + +<p>If Helen had not been so frightened for Bo she would have been +able to enjoy her other sensations. Creeping, cold thrills chased +over her as Bo, supple and quick, slid an arm and a leg over Pony +and straightened up on him with a defiant cry. Pony jerked his +head down, brought his feet together in one jump, and began to +bounce. Bo got the swing of him this time and stayed on.</p> + +<p>"You're ridin' him," yelled Dale. "Now squeeze hard with your +knees. Crack him over the head with your rope. . . . That's the +way. Hang on now an' you'll have him beat."</p> + +<p>The mustang pitched all over the space adjacent to Dale and +Helen, tearing up the moss and grass. Several times he tossed Bo +high, but she slid back to grip him again with her legs, and he +could not throw her. Suddenly he raised his head and bolted. Dale +answered Bo's triumphant cry. But Pony had not run fifty feet +before he tripped and fell, throwing Bo far over his head. As +luck would have it -- good luck, Dale afterward said -- she +landed in a boggy place and the force of her momentum was such +that she slid several yards, face down, in wet moss and black +ooze.</p> + +<p>Helen uttered a scream and ran forward. Bo was getting to her +knees when Dale reached her. He helped her up and half led, half +carried her out of the boggy place. Bo was not recognizable. From +head to foot she was dripping black ooze.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bo! Are you hurt?" cried Helen.</p> + +<p>Evidently Bo's mouth was full of mud.</p> + +<p>"Pp--su--tt! Ough! Whew!" she sputtered. "Hurt? No! Can't you +see what I lit in? Dale, the sun-of-a-gun didn't throw me. He +fell, and I went over his head."</p> + +<p>"Right. You sure rode him. An' he tripped an' slung you a +mile," replied Dale. "It's lucky you lit in that bog."</p> + +<p>"Lucky! With eyes and nose stopped up? Oooo! I'm full of mud. +And my nice -- new riding-suit!"</p> + +<p>Bo's tones indicated that she was ready to cry. Helen, +realizing Bo had not been hurt, began to laugh. Her sister was +the funniest-looking object that had ever come before her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Nell Rayner -- are you -- laughing -- at me?" demanded Bo, in +most righteous amaze and anger.</p> + +<p>"Me laugh-ing? N-never, Bo," replied Helen. "Can't you see I'm +just -- just --"</p> + +<p>"See? You idiot! my eyes are full of mud!" flashed Bo. "But I +hear you. I'll -- I'll get even."</p> + +<p>Dale was laughing, too, but noiselessly, and Bo, being blind +for the moment, could not be aware of that. By this time they had +reached camp. Helen fell flat and laughed as she had never +laughed before. When Helen forgot herself so far as to roll on +the ground it was indeed a laughing matter. Dale's big frame +shook as he possessed himself of a towel and, wetting it at the +spring, began to wipe the mud off Bo's face. But that did not +serve. Bo asked to be led to the water, where she knelt and, with +splashing, washed out her eyes, and then her face, and then the +bedraggled strands of hair.</p> + +<p>"That mustang didn't break my neck, but he rooted my face in +the mud. I'll fix him," she muttered, as she got up. "Please let +me have the towel, now. . . . Well! Milt Dale, you're +laughing!"</p> + +<p>"Ex-cuse me, Bo. I -- Haw! haw! haw!" Then Dale lurched off, +holding his sides.</p> + +<p>Bo gazed after him and then back at Helen.</p> + +<p>"I suppose if I'd been kicked and smashed and killed you'd +laugh," she said. And then she melted. "Oh, my pretty +riding-suit! What a mess! I must be a sight. . . . Nell, I rode +that wild pony -- the sun-of-a-gun! I rode him! That's enough for +me. <em>You</em> try it. Laugh all you want. It was funny. But if +you want to square yourself with me, help me clean my +clothes."<br> +</p> + +<p>Late in the night Helen heard Dale sternly calling Pedro. She +felt some little alarm. However, nothing happened, and she soon +went to sleep again. At the morning meal Dale explained.</p> + +<p>"Pedro an' Tom were uneasy last night. I think there are lions +workin' over the ridge somewhere. I heard one scream."</p> + +<p>"Scream?" inquired Bo, with interest.</p> + +<p>"Yes, an' if you ever hear a lion scream you will think it a +woman in mortal agony. The cougar cry, as Roy calls it, is the +wildest to be heard in the woods. A wolf howls. He is sad, +hungry, and wild. But a cougar seems human an' dyin' an' wild. +We'll saddle up an' ride over there. Maybe Pedro will tree a +lion. Bo, if he does will you shoot it?"</p> + +<p>"Sure," replied Bo, with her mouth full of biscuit.</p> + +<p>That was how they came to take a long, slow, steep ride under +cover of dense spruce. Helen liked the ride after they got on the +heights. But they did not get to any point where she could +indulge in her pleasure of gazing afar over the ranges. Dale led +up and down, and finally mostly down, until they came out within +sight of sparser wooded ridges with parks lying below and streams +shining in the sun.</p> + +<p>More than once Pedro had to be harshly called by Dale. The +hound scented game.</p> + +<p>"Here's an old kill," said Dale, halting to point at some +bleached bones scattered under a spruce. Tufts of grayish-white +hair lay strewn around.</p> + +<p>"What was it?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"Deer, of course. Killed there an' eaten by a lion. Sometime +last fall. See, even the skull is split. But I could not say that +the lion did it."</p> + +<p>Helen shuddered. She thought of the tame deer down at Dale's +camp. How beautiful and graceful, and responsive to kindness!</p> + +<p>They rode out of the woods into a grassy swale with rocks and +clumps of some green bushes bordering it. Here Pedro barked, the +first time Helen had heard him. The hair on his neck bristled, +and it required stern calls from Dale to hold him in. Dale +dismounted.</p> + +<p>"Hyar, Pede, you get back," he ordered. "I'll let you go +presently. . . . Girls, you're goin' to see somethin'. But stay +on your horses."</p> + +<p>Dale, with the hound tense and bristling beside him, strode +here and there at the edge of the swale. Presently he halted on a +slight elevation and beckoned for the girls to ride over.</p> + +<p>"Here, see where the grass is pressed down all nice an' +round," he said, pointing. "A lion made that. He sneaked there, +watchin' for deer. That was done this mornin'. Come on, now. +Let's see if we can trail him."</p> + +<p>Dale stooped now, studying the grass, and holding Pedro. +Suddenly he straightened up with a flash in his gray eyes.</p> + +<p>"Here's where he jumped."</p> + +<p>But Helen could not see any reason why Dale should say that. +The man of the forest took a long stride then another.</p> + +<p>"An' here's where that lion lit on the back of the deer. It +was a big jump. See the sharp hoof tracks of the deer." Dale +pressed aside tall grass to show dark, rough, fresh tracks of a +deer, evidently made by violent action.</p> + +<p>"Come on," called Dale, walking swiftly. "You're sure goin' to +see somethin' now. . . . Here's where the deer bounded, carryin' +the lion."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Bo, incredulously.</p> + +<p>"The deer was runnin' here with the lion on his back. I'll +prove it to you. Come on, now. Pedro, you stay with me. Girls, +it's a fresh trail." Dale walked along, leading his horse, and +occasionally he pointed down into the grass. "There! See that! +That's hair."</p> + +<p>Helen did see some tufts of grayish hair scattered on the +ground, and she believed she saw little, dark separations in the +grass, where an animal had recently passed. All at once Dale +halted. When Helen reached him Bo was already there and they were +gazing down at a wide, flattened space in the grass. Even Helen's +inexperienced eyes could make out evidences of a struggle. Tufts +of gray-white hair lay upon the crushed grass. Helen did not need +to see any more, but Dale silently pointed to a patch of blood. +Then he spoke:</p> + +<p>"The lion brought the deer down here an' killed him. Probably +broke his neck. That deer ran a hundred yards with the lion. See, +here's the trail left where the lion dragged the deer off."</p> + +<p>A well-defined path showed across the swale.</p> + +<p>"Girls, you'll see that deer pretty quick," declared Dale, +starting forward. "This work has just been done. Only a few +minutes ago."</p> + +<p>"How can you tell?" queried Bo.</p> + +<p>"Look! See that grass. It has been bent down by the deer bein' +dragged over it. Now it's springin' up."</p> + +<p>Dale's next stop was on the other side of the swale, under a +spruce with low, spreading branches. The look of Pedro quickened +Helen's pulse. He was wild to give chase. Fearfully Helen looked +where Dale pointed, expecting to see the lion. But she saw +instead a deer lying prostrate with tongue out and sightless eyes +and bloody hair.</p> + +<p>"Girls, that lion heard us an' left. He's not far," said Dale, +as he stooped to lift the head of the deer. "Warm! Neck broken. +See the lion's teeth an' claw marks. . . . It's a doe. Look here. +Don't be squeamish, girls. This is only an hourly incident of +everyday life in the forest. See where the lion has rolled the +skin down as neat as I could do it, an' he'd just begun to bite +in there when he heard us."</p> + +<p>"What murderous work, The sight sickens me!" exclaimed +Helen.</p> + +<p>"It is nature," said Dale, simply.</p> + +<p>"Let's kill the lion," added Bo.</p> + +<p>For answer Dale took a quick turn at their saddle-girths, and +then, mounting, he called to the hound. "Hunt him up, Pedro."</p> + +<p>Like a shot the hound was off.</p> + +<p>"Ride in my tracks an' keep close to me," called Dale, as he +wheeled his horse.</p> + +<p>"We're off!" squealed Bo, in wild delight, and she made her +mount plunge.</p> + +<p>Helen urged her horse after them and they broke across a corner +of the swale to the woods. Pedro was running straight, with his +nose high. He let out one short bark. He headed into the woods, +with Dale not far behind. Helen was on one of Dale's best horses, +but that fact scarcely manifested itself, because the others +began to increase their lead. They entered the woods. It was +open, and fairly good going. Bo's horse ran as fast in the woods +as he did in the open. That frightened Helen and she yelled to Bo +to hold him in. She yelled to deaf ears. That was Bo's great risk +-- she did not intend to be careful. Suddenly the forest rang +with Dale's encouraging yell, meant to aid the girls in following +him. Helen's horse caught the spirit of the chase. He gained +somewhat on Bo, hurdling logs, sometimes two at once. Helen's +blood leaped with a strange excitement, utterly unfamiliar and as +utterly resistless. Yet her natural fear, and the intelligence +that reckoned with the foolish risk of this ride, shared alike in +her sum of sensations. She tried to remember Dale's caution about +dodging branches and snags, and sliding her knees back to avoid +knocks from trees. She barely missed some frightful reaching +branches. She received a hard knock, then another, that unseated +her, but frantically she held on and slid back, and at the end of +a long run through comparatively open forest she got a stinging +blow in the face from a far-spreading branch of pine. Bo missed, +by what seemed only an inch, a solid snag that would have broken +her in two. Both Pedro and Dale got out of Helen's sight. Then +Helen, as she began to lose Bo, felt that she would rather run +greater risks than be left behind to get lost in the forest, and +she urged her horse. Dale's yell pealed back. Then it seemed even +more thrilling to follow by sound than by sight. Wind and brush +tore at her. The air was heavily pungent with odor of pine. Helen +heard a wild, full bay of the hound, ringing back, full of savage +eagerness, and she believed Pedro had roused out the lion from +some covert. It lent more stir to her blood and it surely urged +her horse on faster.</p> + +<p>Then the swift pace slackened. A windfall of timber delayed +Helen. She caught a glimpse of Dale far ahead, climbing a slope. +The forest seemed full of his ringing yell. Helen strangely +wished for level ground and the former swift motion. Next she saw +Bo working down to the right, and Dale's yell now came from that +direction. Helen followed, got out of the timber, and made better +time on a gradual slope down to another park.</p> + +<p>When she reached the open she saw Bo almost across this narrow +open ground. Here Helen did not need to urge her mount. He +snorted and plunged at the level and he got to going so fast that +Helen would have screamed aloud in mingled fear and delight if +she had not been breathless.</p> + +<p>Her horse had the bad luck to cross soft ground. He went to +his knees and Helen sailed out of the saddle over his head. Soft +willows and wet grass broke her fall. She was surprised to find +herself unhurt. Up she bounded and certainly did not know this +new Helen Rayner. Her horse was coming, and he had patience with +her, but he wanted to hurry. Helen made the quickest mount of her +experience and somehow felt a pride in it. She would tell Bo +that. But just then Bo flashed into the woods out of sight. Helen +fairly charged into that green foliage, breaking brush and +branches. She broke through into open forest. Bo was inside, +riding down an aisle between pines and spruces. At that juncture +Helen heard Dale's melodious yell near at hand. Coming into still +more open forest, with rocks here and there, she saw Dale +dismounted under a pine, and Pedro standing with fore paws upon +the tree-trunk, and then high up on a branch a huge tawny colored +lion, just like Tom.</p> + +<p>Bo's horse slowed up and showed fear, but he kept on as far as +Dale's horse. But Helen's refused to go any nearer. She had +difficulty in halting him. Presently she dismounted and, throwing +her bridle over a stump, she ran on, panting and fearful, yet +tingling all over, up to her sister and Dale.</p> + +<p>"Nell, you did pretty good for a tenderfoot," was Bo's +greeting.</p> + +<p>"It was a fine chase," said Dale. "You both rode well. I wish +you could have seen the lion on the ground. He bounded -- great +long bounds with his tail up in the air -- very funny. An' Pedro +almost caught up with him. That scared me, because he would have +killed the hound. Pedro was close to him when he treed. An' there +he is -- the yellow deer-killer. He's a male an' full grown."</p> + +<p>With that Dale pulled his rifle from its saddle-sheath and +looked expectantly at Bo. But she was gazing with great interest +and admiration up at the lion.</p> + +<p>"Isn't he just beautiful?" she burst out. "Oh, look at him +spit! Just like a cat! Dale, he looks afraid he might fall +off."</p> + +<p>"He sure does. Lions are never sure of their balance in a +tree. But I never saw one make a misstep. He knows he doesn't +belong there."</p> + +<p>To Helen the lion looked splendid perched up there. He was +long and round and graceful and tawny. His tongue hung out and +his plump sides heaved, showing what a quick, hard run he had +been driven to. What struck Helen most forcibly about him was +something in his face as he looked down at the hound. He was +scared. He realized his peril. It was not possible for Helen to +watch him killed, yet she could not bring herself to beg Bo not +to shoot. Helen confessed she was a tenderfoot.</p> + +<p>"Get down, Bo, an' let's see how good a shot you are, said +Dale. Bo slowly withdrew her fascinated gaze from the lion and +looked with a rueful smile at Dale.</p> + +<p>"I've changed my mind. I said I would kill him, but now I +can't. He looks so -- so different from what I'd imagined."</p> + +<p>Dale's answer was a rare smile of understanding and approval +that warmed Helen's heart toward him. All the same, he was +amused. Sheathing the gun, he mounted his horse.</p> + +<p>"Come on, Pedro," he called. "Come, I tell you," he added, +sharply, "Well, girls, we treed him, anyhow, an' it was fun. Now +we'll ride back to the deer he killed an' pack a haunch to camp +for our own use."</p> + +<p>"Will the lion go back to his -- his kill, I think you called +it?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"I've chased one away from his kill half a dozen times. Lions +are not plentiful here an' they don't get overfed. I reckon the +balance is pretty even."</p> + +<p>This last remark made Helen inquisitive. And as they slowly +rode on the back-trail Dale talked.</p> + +<p>"You girls, bein' tender-hearted an' not knowin' the life of +the forest, what's good an' what's bad, think it was a pity the +poor deer was killed by a murderous lion. But you're wrong. As I +told you, the lion is absolutely necessary to the health an' joy +of wild life -- or deer's wild life, so to speak. When deer were +created or came into existence, then the lion must have come, +too. They can't live without each other. Wolves, now, are not +particularly deer-killers. They live off elk an' anythin' they +can catch. So will lions, for that matter. But I mean lions +follow the deer to an' fro from winter to summer feedin'-grounds. +Where there's no deer you will find no lions. Well, now, if left +alone deer would multiply very fast. In a few years there would +be hundreds where now there's only one. An' in time, as the +generations passed, they'd lose the fear, the alertness, the +speed an' strength, the eternal vigilance that is love of life -- +they'd lose that an' begin to deteriorate, an' disease would +carry them off. I saw one season of black-tongue among deer. It +killed them off, an' I believe that is one of the diseases of +over-production. The lions, now, are forever on the trail of the +deer. They have learned. Wariness is an instinct born in the +fawn. It makes him keen, quick, active, fearful, an' so he grows +up strong an' healthy to become the smooth, sleek, beautiful, +soft-eyed, an' wild-lookin' deer you girls love to watch. But if +it wasn't for the lions, the deer would not thrive. Only the +strongest an' swiftest survive. That is the meanin' of nature. +There is always a perfect balance kept by nature. It may vary in +different years, but on the whole, in the long years, it averages +an even balance."</p> + +<p>"How wonderfully you put it!" exclaimed Bo, with all her +impulsiveness. "Oh, I'm glad I didn't kill the lion."</p> + +<p>"What you say somehow hurts me," said Helen, wistfully, to the +hunter. "I see -- I feel how true -- how inevitable it is. But it +changes my -- my feelings. Almost I'd rather not acquire such +knowledge as yours. This balance of nature -- how tragic -- how +sad!"</p> + +<p>"But why?" asked Dale. "You love birds, an' birds are the +greatest killers in the forest."</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me that -- don't prove it," implored Helen. "It is +not so much the love of life in a deer or any creature, and the +terrible clinging to life, that gives me distress. It is +suffering. I can't bear to see pain. I can <em>stand</em> pain +myself, but I can't <em>bear</em> to see or think of it."</p> + +<p>"Well," replied. Dale, thoughtfully, "There you stump me +again. I've lived long in the forest an' when a man's alone he +does a heap of thinkin'. An' always I couldn't understand a +reason or a meanin' for pain. Of all the bafflin' things of life, +that is the hardest to understand an' to forgive -- pain!"<br> +</p> + +<p>That evening, as they sat in restful places round the +camp-fire, with the still twilight fading into night, Dale +seriously asked the girls what the day's chase had meant to them. +His manner of asking was productive of thought. Both girls were +silent for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Glorious!" was Bo's brief and eloquent reply.</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked. Dale, curiously. "You are a girl. You've been +used to home, people, love, comfort, safety, quiet."</p> + +<p>"Maybe that is just why it was glorious," said Bo, earnestly. +"I can hardly explain. I loved the motion of the horse, the feel +of wind in my face, the smell of the pine, the sight of slope and +forest glade and windfall and rocks, and the black shade under +the spruces. My blood beat and burned. My teeth clicked. My +nerves all quivered. My heart sometimes, at dangerous moments, +almost choked me, and all the time it pounded hard. Now my skin +was hot and then it was cold. But I think the best of that chase +for me was that I was on a fast horse, guiding him, controlling +him. He was alive. Oh, how I felt his running!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what you say is as natural to me as if I felt it," said +Dale. "I wondered. You're certainly full of fire, An', Helen, +what do you say?"</p> + +<p>"Bo has answered you with her feelings," replied Helen, "I +could not do that and be honest. The fact that Bo wouldn't shoot +the lion after we treed him acquits her. Nevertheless, her answer +is purely physical. You know, Mr. Dale, how you talk about the +physical. I should say my sister was just a young, wild, highly +sensitive, hot-blooded female of the species. She exulted in that +chase as an Indian. Her sensations were inherited ones -- +certainly not acquired by education. Bo always hated study. The +ride was a revelation to me. I had a good many of Bo's feelings +-- though not so strong. But over against them was the opposition +of reason, of consciousness. A new-born side of my nature +confronted me, strange, surprising, violent, irresistible. It was +as if another side of my personality suddenly said: 'Here I am. +Reckon with me now!' And there was no use for the moment to +oppose that strange side. I -- the thinking Helen Rayner, was +powerless. Oh yes, I had such thoughts even when the branches +were stinging my face and I was thrilling to the bay of the +hound. Once my horse fell and threw me. . . . You needn't look +alarmed. It was fine. I went into a soft place and was unhurt. +But when I was sailing through the air a thought flashed: this is +the end of me! It was like a dream when you are falling +dreadfully. Much of what I felt and thought on that chase must +have been because of what I have studied and read and taught. The +reality of it, the action and flash, were splendid. But fear of +danger, pity for the chased lion, consciousness of foolish risk, +of a reckless disregard for the serious responsibility I have +taken -- all these worked in my mind and held back what might +have been a sheer physical, primitive joy of the wild +moment."</p> + +<p>Dale listened intently, and after Helen had finished he +studied the fire and thoughtfully poked the red embers with his +stick. His face was still and serene, untroubled and unlined, but +to Helen his eyes seemed sad, pensive, expressive of an +unsatisfied yearning and wonder. She had carefully and earnestly +spoken, because she was very curious to hear what he might +say.</p> + +<p>"I understand you," he replied, presently. "An' I'm sure +surprised that I can. I've read my books -- an' reread them, but +no one ever talked like that to me. What I make of it is this. +You've the same blood in you that's in Bo. An' blood is stronger +than brain. Remember that blood is life. It would be good for you +to have it run an' beat an' burn, as Bo's did. Your blood did +that a thousand years or ten thousand before intellect was born +in your ancestors. Instinct may not be greater than reason, but +it's a million years older. Don't fight your instincts so hard. +If they were not good the God of Creation would not have given +them to you. To-day your mind was full of self-restraint that did +not altogether restrain. You couldn't forget yourself. You +couldn't <em>feel</em> only, as Bo did. You couldn't be true to +your real nature."</p> + +<p>"I don't agree with you," replied Helen, quickly. "I don't +have to be an Indian to be true to myself."</p> + +<p>"Why, yes you do," said Dale.</p> + +<p>"But I couldn't be an Indian," declared Helen, spiritedly. "I +couldn't <em>feel</em> only, as you say Bo did. I couldn't go +back in the scale, as you hint. What would all my education +amount to -- though goodness knows it's little enough -- if I had +no control over primitive feelings that happened to be born in +me?"</p> + +<p>"You'll have little or no control over them when the right +time comes," replied Dale. "Your sheltered life an' education +have led you away from natural instincts. But they're in you an' +you'll learn the proof of that out here."</p> + +<p>"No. Not if I lived a hundred years in the West," asserted +Helen.</p> + +<p>"But, child, do you know what you're talkin' about?"</p> + +<p>Here Bo let out a blissful peal of laughter.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Dale!" exclaimed Helen, almost affronted. She was +stirred. "I know <em>myself</em>, at least."</p> + +<p>"But you do not. You've no idea of yourself. You've education, +yes, but not in nature an' life. An' after all, they are the real +things. Answer me, now -- honestly, will you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, if I can. Some of your questions are hard to +answer."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever been starved?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>"Have you ever been lost away from home?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever faced death -- real stark an' naked death, +close an' terrible?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever wanted to kill any one with your bare +hands?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Dale, you -- you amaze me. No! . . . No!"</p> + +<p>"I reckon I know your answer to my last question, but I'll ask +it, anyhow. . . . Have you ever been so madly in love with a man +that you could not live without him?"</p> + +<p>Bo fell off her seat with a high, trilling laugh. "Oh, you two +are great!"</p> + +<p>"Thank Heaven, I haven't been," replied Helen, shortly.</p> + +<p>"Then you don't know anythin' about life," declared Dale, with +finality.</p> + +<p>Helen was not to be put down by that, dubious and troubled as +it made her.</p> + +<p>"Have you experienced all those things?" she queried, +stubbornly.</p> + +<p>"All but the last one. Love never came my way. How could it? I +live alone. I seldom go to the villages where there are girls. No +girl would ever care for me. I have nothin'. . . . But, all the +same, I understand love a little, just by comparison with strong +feelin's I've lived."</p> + +<p>Helen watched the hunter and marveled at his simplicity. His +sad and penetrating gaze was on the fire, as if in its white +heart to read the secret denied him. He had said that no girl +would ever love him. She imagined he might know considerably less +about the nature of girls than of the forest.</p> + +<p>"To come back to myself," said Helen, wanting to continue the +argument. "You declared I didn't know myself. That I would have +no self-control. I will!"</p> + +<p>"I meant the big things of life," he said, patiently.</p> + +<p>"What things?"</p> + +<p>"I told you. By askin' what had never happened to you I +learned what will happen."</p> + +<p>"Those experiences to come to <em>me!</em>" breathed Helen, +incredulously. "Never!"</p> + +<p>"Sister Nell, they sure will -- particularly the last-named +one -- the mad love," chimed in Bo, mischievously, yet +believingly.</p> + +<p>Neither Dale nor Helen appeared to hear her interruption.</p> + +<p>"Let me put it simpler," began Dale, evidently racking his +brain for analogy. His perplexity appeared painful to him, +because he had a great faith, a great conviction that he could +not make clear. "Here I am, the natural physical man, livin' in +the wilds. An' here you come, the complex, intellectual woman. +Remember, for my argument's sake, that you're here. An' suppose +circumstances forced you to stay here. You'd fight the elements +with me an' work with me to sustain life. There must be a great +change in either you or me, accordin' to the other's influence. +An' can't you see that change must come in you, not because of +anythin' superior in me -- I'm really inferior to you -- but +because of our environment? You'd lose your complexity. An' in +years to come you'd be a natural physical woman, because you'd +live through an' by the physical."</p> + +<p>"Oh dear, will not education be of help to the Western woman?" +queried Helen, almost in despair.</p> + +<p>"Sure it will," answered Dale, promptly. "What the West needs +is women who can raise an' teach children. But you don't +understand me. You don't get under your skin. I reckon I can't +make you see my argument as I feel it. You take my word for this, +though. Sooner or later you <em>will</em> wake up an' forget +yourself. Remember."</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'll bet you do, too," said Bo, seriously for her. "It +may seem strange to you, but I understand Dale. I feel what he +means. It's a sort of shock. Nell, we're not what we seem. We're +not what we fondly imagine we are. We've lived too long with +people -- too far away from the earth. You know the Bible says +something like this: 'Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt +return.' Where <em>do</em> we come from?"</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XII</p> + +<p>Days passed.</p> + +<p>Every morning Helen awoke with a wondering question as to what +this day would bring forth, especially with regard to possible +news from her uncle. It must come sometime and she was anxious +for it. Something about this simple, wild camp life had begun to +grip her. She found herself shirking daily attention to the +clothes she had brought West. They needed it, but she had begun +to see how superficial they really were. On the other hand, +camp-fire tasks had come to be a pleasure. She had learned a +great deal more about them than had Bo. Worry and dread were +always impinging upon the fringe of her thoughts -- always +vaguely present, though seldom annoying. They were like shadows +in dreams. She wanted to get to her uncle's ranch, to take up the +duties of her new life. But she was not prepared to believe she +would not regret this wild experience. She must get away from +that in order to see it clearly, and she began to have doubts of +herself.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the active and restful outdoor life went on. Bo +leaned more and more toward utter reconciliation to it. Her eyes +had a wonderful flash, like blue lightning; her cheeks were gold +and brown; her hands tanned dark as an Indian's.</p> + +<p>She could vault upon the gray mustang, or, for that matter, +clear over his back. She learned to shoot a rifle accurately +enough to win Dale's praise, and vowed she would like to draw a +bead upon a grizzly bear or upon Snake Anson.</p> + +<p>"Bo, if you met that grizzly Dale said has been prowling round +camp lately you'd run right up a tree," declared Helen, one +morning, when Bo seemed particularly boastful.</p> + +<p>"Don't fool yourself," retorted Bo.</p> + +<p>"But I've seen you run from a mouse!"</p> + +<p>"Sister, couldn't I be afraid of a mouse and not a bear?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see how."</p> + +<p>"Well, bears, lions, outlaws, and other wild beasts are to be +met with here in the West, and my mind's made up," said Bo, in +slow-nodding deliberation.</p> + +<p>They argued as they had always argued, Helen for reason and +common sense and restraint, Bo on the principle that if she must +fight it was better to get in the first blow.</p> + +<p>The morning on which this argument took place Dale was a long +time in catching the horses. When he did come in he shook his +head seriously.</p> + +<p>"Some varmint's been chasin' the horses," he said, as he +reached for his saddle. "Did you hear them snortin' an' runnin' +last night?"</p> + +<p>Neither of the girls had been awakened.</p> + +<p>"I missed one of the colts," went on Dale, "an' I'm goin' to +ride across the park."</p> + +<p>Dale's movements were quick and stern. It was significant that +he chose his heavier rifle, and, mounting, with a sharp call to +Pedro, he rode off without another word to the girls.</p> + +<p>Bo watched him for a moment and then began to saddle the +mustang.</p> + +<p>"You won't follow him?" asked Helen, quickly.</p> + +<p>"I sure will," replied Bo. "He didn't forbid it."</p> + +<p>"But he certainly did not want us."</p> + +<p>"He might not want you, but I'll bet he wouldn't object to me, +whatever's up," said Bo, shortly.</p> + +<p>"Oh! So you think --" exclaimed Helen, keenly hurt. She bit +her tongue to keep back a hot reply. And it was certain that a +bursting gush of anger flooded over her. Was she, then, such a +coward? Did Dale think this slip of a sister, so wild and wilful, +was a stronger woman than she? A moment's silent strife convinced +her that no doubt he thought so and no doubt he was right. Then +the anger centered upon herself, and Helen neither understood nor +trusted herself.</p> + +<p>The outcome proved an uncontrollable impulse. Helen began to +saddle her horse. She had the task half accomplished when Bo's +call made her look up.</p> + +<p>"Listen!"</p> + +<p>Helen heard a ringing, wild bay of the hound.</p> + +<p>"That's Pedro," she said, with a thrill.</p> + +<p>"Sure. He's running. We never heard him bay like that +before."</p> + +<p>"Where's Dale?"</p> + +<p>"He rode out of sight across there," replied Bo, pointing. +"And Pedro's running toward us along that slope. He must be a +mile -- two miles from Dale."</p> + +<p>"But Dale will follow."</p> + +<p>"Sure. But he'd need wings to get near that hound now. Pedro +couldn't have gone across there with him. . . . just listen."</p> + +<p>The wild note of the hound manifestly stirred Bo to +irrepressible action. Snatching up Dale's lighter rifle, she +shoved it into her saddle-sheath, and, leaping on the mustang, +she ran him over brush and brook, straight down the park toward +the place Pedro was climbing. For an instant Helen stood amazed +beyond speech. When Bo sailed over a big log, like a +steeple-chaser, then Helen answered to further unconsidered +impulse by frantically getting her saddle fastened. Without coat +or hat she mounted. The nervous horse bolted almost before she +got into the saddle. A strange, trenchant trembling coursed +through all her veins. She wanted to scream for Bo to wait. Bo +was out of sight, but the deep, muddy tracks in wet places and +the path through the long grass afforded Helen an easy trail to +follow. In fact, her horse needed no guiding. He ran in and out +of the straggling spruces along the edge of the park, and +suddenly wheeled around a corner of trees to come upon the gray +mustang standing still. Bo was looking up and listening.</p> + +<p>"There he is!" cried Bo, as the hound bayed ringingly, closer +to them this time, and she spurred away.</p> + +<p>Helen's horse followed without urging. He was excited. His +ears were up. Something was in the wind. Helen had never ridden +along this broken end of the park, and Bo was not easy to keep up +with. She led across bogs, brooks, swales, rocky little ridges, +through stretches of timber and groves of aspen so thick Helen +could scarcely squeeze through. Then Bo came out into a large +open offshoot of the park, right under the mountain slope, and +here she sat, her horse watching and listening. Helen rode up to +her, imagining once that she had heard the hound.</p> + +<p>"Look! Look!" Bo's scream made her mustang stand almost +straight up.</p> + +<p>Helen gazed up to see a big brown bear with a frosted coat go +lumbering across an opening on the slope.</p> + +<p>"It's a grizzly! He'll kill Pedro! Oh, where is Dale!" cried +Bo, with intense excitement.</p> + +<p>"Bo! That bear is running down! We -- we must get -- out of +his road," panted Helen, in breathless alarm.</p> + +<p>"Dale hasn't had time to be close. . . . Oh, I wish he'd come! +I don't know what to do."</p> + +<p>"Ride back. At least wait for him."</p> + +<p>Just then Pedro spoke differently, in savage barks, and +following that came a loud growl and crashings in the brush. +These sounds appeared to be not far up the slope.</p> + +<p>"Nell! Do you hear? Pedro's fighting the bear," burst out Bo. +Her face paled, her eyes flashed like blue steel. "The bear 'll +kill him!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that would be dreadful!" replied Helen, in distress. "But +what on earth can we do?"</p> + +<p><em>"Hel-lo, Dale!"</em> called Bo, at the highest pitch of +her piercing voice.</p> + +<p>No answer came. A heavy crash of brush, a rolling of stones, +another growl from the slope told Helen that the hound had +brought the bear to bay.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'm going up," said Bo, deliberately.</p> + +<p>"No-no! Are you mad?" returned Helen.</p> + +<p>"The bear will kill Pedro."</p> + +<p>"He might kill you."</p> + +<p>"You ride that way and yell for Dale," rejoined Bo.</p> + +<p>"What will -- you do?" gasped Helen.</p> + +<p>"I'll shoot at the bear -- scare him off. If he chases me he +can't catch me coming downhill. Dale said that."</p> + +<p>"You're crazy!" cried Helen, as Bo looked up the slope, +searching for open ground. Then she pulled the rifle from its +sheath.</p> + +<p>But Bo did not hear or did not care. She spurred the mustang, +and he, wild to run, flung grass and dirt from his heels. What +Helen would have done then she never knew, but the fact was that +her horse bolted after the mustang. In an instant, seemingly, Bo +had disappeared in the gold and green of the forest slope. +Helen's mount climbed on a run, snorting and heaving, through +aspens, brush, and timber, to come out into a narrow, long +opening extending lengthwise up the slope.</p> + +<p>A sudden prolonged crash ahead alarmed Helen and halted her +horse. She saw a shaking of aspens. Then a huge brown beast +leaped as a cat out of the woods. It was a bear of enormous size. +Helen's heart stopped -- her tongue clove to the roof of her +mouth. The bear turned. His mouth was open, red and dripping. He +looked shaggy, gray. He let out a terrible bawl. Helen's every +muscle froze stiff. Her horse plunged high and sidewise, wheeling +almost in the air, neighing his terror. Like a stone she dropped +from the saddle. She did not see the horse break into the woods, +but she heard him. Her gaze never left the bear even while she +was falling, and it seemed she alighted in an upright position +with her back against a bush. It upheld her. The bear wagged his +huge head from side to side. Then, as the hound barked close at +hand, he turned to run heavily uphill and out of the opening.</p> + +<p>The instant of his disappearance was one of collapse for +Helen. Frozen with horror, she had been unable to move or feel or +think. All at once she was a quivering mass of cold, helpless +flesh, wet with perspiration, sick with a shuddering, retching, +internal convulsion, her mind liberated from paralyzing shock. +The moment was as horrible as that in which the bear had bawled +his frightful rage. A stark, icy, black emotion seemed in +possession of her. She could not lift a hand, yet all of her body +appeared shaking. There was a fluttering, a strangling in her +throat. The crushing weight that surrounded her heart eased +before she recovered use of her limbs. Then, the naked and +terrible thing was gone, like a nightmare giving way to +consciousness. What blessed relief! Helen wildly gazed about her. +The bear and hound were out of sight, and so was her horse. She +stood up very dizzy and weak. Thought of Bo then seemed to revive +her, to shock different life and feeling throughout all her cold +extremities. She listened.</p> + +<p>She heard a thudding of hoofs down the slope, then Dale's +clear, strong call. She answered. It appeared long before he +burst out of the woods, riding hard and leading her horse. In +that time she recovered fully, and when he reached her, to put a +sudden halt upon the fiery Ranger, she caught the bridle he threw +and swiftly mounted her horse. The feel of the saddle seemed +different. Dale's piercing gray glance thrilled her +strangely.</p> + +<p>"You're white. Are you hurt?" he said.</p> + +<p>"No. I was scared."</p> + +<p>"But he threw you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he certainly threw me."</p> + +<p>"What happened?"</p> + +<p>"We heard the hound and we rode along the timber. Then we saw +the bear -- a monster -- white -- coated --"</p> + +<p>"I know. It's a grizzly. He killed the colt -- your pet. Hurry +now. What about Bo?"</p> + +<p>"Pedro was fighting the bear. Bo said he'd be killed. She rode +right up here. My horse followed. I couldn't have stopped him. +But we lost Bo. Right there the bear came out. He roared. My +horse threw me and ran off. Pedro's barking saved me -- my life, +I think. Oh! that was awful! Then the bear went up -- there. . . +. And you came."</p> + +<p>"Bo's followin' the hound!" ejaculated Dale. And, lifting his +hands to his mouth, he sent out a stentorian yell that rolled up +the slope, rang against the cliffs, pealed and broke and died +away. Then he waited, listening. From far up the slope came a +faint, wild cry, high-pitched and sweet, to create strange +echoes, floating away to die in the ravines.</p> + +<p>"She's after him!" declared Dale, grimly.</p> + +<p>"Bo's got your rifle," said Helen. "Oh, we must hurry."</p> + +<p>"You go back," ordered Dale, wheeling his horse.</p> + +<p>"No!" Helen felt that word leave her lips with the force of a +bullet.</p> + +<p>Dale spurred Ranger and took to the open slope. Helen kept at +his heels until timber was reached. Here a steep trail led up. +Dale dismounted.</p> + +<p>"Horse tracks -- bear tracks -- dog tracks," he said, bending +over. "We'll have to walk up here. It'll save our horses an' +maybe time, too."</p> + +<p>"Is Bo riding up there?" asked Helen, eying the steep +ascent.</p> + +<p>"She sure is." With that Dale started up, leading his horse. +Helen followed. It was rough and hard work. She was lightly clad, +yet soon she was hot, laboring, and her heart began to hurt. When +Dale halted to rest Helen was just ready to drop. The baying of +the hound, though infrequent, inspirited her. But presently that +sound was lost. Dale said bear and hound had gone over the ridge +and as soon as the top was gained he would hear them again.</p> + +<p>"Look there," he said, presently, pointing to fresh tracks, +larger than those made by Bo's mustang. "Elk tracks. We've scared +a big bull an' he's right ahead of us. Look sharp an' you'll see +him."</p> + +<p>Helen never climbed so hard and fast before, and when they +reached the ridge-top she was all tuckered out. It was all she +could do to get on her horse. Dale led along the crest of this +wooded ridge toward the western end, which was considerably +higher. In places open rocky ground split the green timber. Dale +pointed toward a promontory.</p> + +<p>Helen saw a splendid elk silhouetted against the sky. He was a +light gray over all his hindquarters, with shoulders and head +black. His ponderous, wide-spread antlers towered over him, +adding to the wildness of his magnificent poise as he stood +there, looking down into the valley, no doubt listening for the +bay of the hound. When he heard Dale's horse he gave one bound, +gracefully and wonderfully carrying his antlers, to disappear in +the green.</p> + +<p>Again on a bare patch of ground Dale pointed down. Helen saw +big round tracks, toeing in a little, that gave her a chill. She +knew these were grizzly tracks.</p> + +<p>Hard riding was not possible on this ridge crest, a fact that +gave Helen time to catch her breath. At length, coming out upon +the very summit of the mountain, Dale heard the hound. Helen's +eyes feasted afar upon a wild scene of rugged grandeur, before +she looked down on this western slope at her feet to see bare, +gradual descent, leading down to sparsely wooded bench and on to +deep-green cañon.</p> + +<p>"Ride hard now!" yelled Dale. "I see Bo, an' I'll have to ride +to catch her."</p> + +<p>Dale spurred down the slope. Helen rode in his tracks and, +though she plunged so fast that she felt her hair stand up with +fright, she saw him draw away from her. Sometimes her horse slid +on his haunches for a few yards, and at these hazardous moments +she got her feet out of the stirrups so as to fall free from him +if he went down. She let him choose the way, while she gazed +ahead at Dale, and then farther on, in the hope of seeing Bo. At +last she was rewarded. Far Down the wooded bench she saw a gray +flash of the little mustang and a bright glint of Bo's hair. Her +heart swelled. Dale would soon overhaul Bo and come between her +and peril. And on the instant, though Helen was unconscious of it +then, a remarkable change came over her spirit. Fear left her. +And a hot, exalting, incomprehensible something took possession +of her.</p> + +<p>She let the horse run, and when he had plunged to the foot of +that slope of soft ground he broke out across the open bench at a +pace that made the wind bite Helen's cheeks and roar in her ears. +She lost sight of Dale. It gave her a strange, grim exultance. +She bent her eager gaze to find the tracks of his horse, and she +found them. Also she made out the tracks of Bo's mustang and the +bear and the hound. Her horse, scenting game, perhaps, and afraid +to be left alone, settled into a fleet and powerful stride, +sailing over logs and brush. That open bench had looked short, +but it was long, and Helen rode down the gradual descent at +breakneck speed. She would not be left behind. She had awakened +to a heedlessness of risk. Something burned steadily within her. +A grim, hard anger of joy! When she saw, far down another open, +gradual descent, that Dale had passed Bo and that Bo was riding +the little mustang as never before, then Helen flamed with a +madness to catch her, to beat her in that wonderful chase, to +show her and Dale what there really was in the depths of Helen +Rayner.</p> + +<p>Her ambition was to be short-lived, she divined from the lay +of the land ahead, but the ride she lived then for a flying mile +was something that would always blanch her cheeks and prick her +skin in remembrance.</p> + +<p>The open ground was only too short. That thundering pace soon +brought Helen's horse to the timber. Here it took all her +strength to check his headlong flight over deadfalls and between +small jack-pines. Helen lost sight of Bo, and she realized it +would take all her wits to keep from getting lost. She had to +follow the trail, and in some places it was hard to see from +horseback.</p> + +<p>Besides, her horse was mettlesome, thoroughly aroused, and he +wanted a free rein and his own way. Helen tried that, only to +lose the trail and to get sundry knocks from trees and branches. +She could not hear the hound, nor Dale. The pines were small, +close together, and tough. They were hard to bend. Helen hurt her +hands, scratched her face, barked her knees. The horse formed a +habit suddenly of deciding to go the way he liked instead of the +way Helen guided him, and when he plunged between saplings too +close to permit easy passage it was exceedingly hard on her. That +did not make any difference to Helen. Once worked into a frenzy, +her blood stayed at high pressure. She did not argue with herself +about a need of desperate hurry. Even a blow on the head that +nearly blinded her did not in the least retard her. The horse +could hardly be held, and not at all in the few open places.</p> + +<p>At last Helen reached another slope. Coming out upon +cañon rim, she heard Dale's clear call, far down, and Bo's +answering peal, high and piercing, with its note of exultant +wildness. Helen also heard the bear and the hound fighting at the +bottom of this cañon.</p> + +<p>Here Helen again missed the tracks made by Dale and Bo. The +descent looked impassable. She rode back along the rim, then +forward. Finally she found where the ground had been plowed deep +by hoofs, down over little banks. Helen's horse balked at these +jumps. When she goaded him over them she went forward on his +neck. It seemed like riding straight downhill. The mad spirit of +that chase grew more stingingly keen to Helen as the obstacles +grew. Then, once more the bay of the hound and the bawl of the +bear made a demon of her horse. He snorted a shrill defiance. He +plunged with fore hoofs in the air. He slid and broke a way down +the steep, soft banks, through the thick brush and thick clusters +of saplings, sending loose rocks and earth into avalanches ahead +of him. He fell over one bank, but a thicket of aspens upheld him +so that he rebounded and gained his feet. The sounds of fight +ceased, but Dale's thrilling call floated up on the pine-scented +air.</p> + +<p>Before Helen realized it she was at the foot of the slope, in +a narrow cañon-bed, full of rocks and trees, with a soft +roar of running water filling her ears. Tracks were everywhere, +and when she came to the first open place she saw where the +grizzly had plunged off a sandy bar into the water. Here he had +fought Pedro. Signs of that battle were easy to read. Helen saw +where his huge tracks, still wet, led up the opposite sandy +bank.</p> + +<p>Then down-stream Helen did some more reckless and splendid +riding. On level ground the horse was great. Once he leaped clear +across the brook. Every plunge, every turn Helen expected to come +upon Dale and Bo facing the bear. The cañon narrowed, the +stream-bed deepened. She had to slow down to get through the +trees and rocks. Quite unexpectedly she rode pell-mell upon Dale +and Bo and the panting Pedro. Her horse plunged to a halt, +answering the shrill neighs of the other horses.</p> + +<p>Dale gazed in admiring amazement at Helen.</p> + +<p>"Say, did you meet the bear again?" he queried, blankly.</p> + +<p>"No. Didn't -- you -- kill him?" panted Helen, slowly sagging +in her saddle.</p> + +<p>"He got away in the rocks. Rough country down here."</p> + +<p>Helen slid off her horse and fell with a little panting cry of +relief. She saw that she was bloody, dirty, disheveled, and +wringing wet with perspiration. Her riding habit was torn into +tatters. Every muscle seemed to burn and sting, and all her bones +seemed broken. But it was worth all this to meet Dale's +penetrating glance, to see Bo's utter, incredulous +astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Nell -- Rayner!" gasped Bo.</p> + +<p>"If -- my horse 'd been -- any good -- in the woods," panted +Helen, "I'd not lost -- so much time -- riding down this +mountain. And I'd caught you -- beat you."</p> + +<p>"Girl, did you <em>ride</em> down this last slope?" queried +Dale.</p> + +<p>"I sure did," replied Helen, smiling.</p> + +<p>"We walked every step of the way, and was lucky to get down at +that," responded Dale, gravely. "No horse should have been ridden +down there. Why, he must have slid down."</p> + +<p>"We slid -- yes. But I stayed on him."</p> + +<p>Bo's incredulity changed to wondering, speechless admiration. +And Dale's rare smile changed his gravity.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry. It was rash of me. I thought you'd go back. . . . +But all's well that ends well. . . . Helen, did you wake up +to-day?"</p> + +<p>She dropped her eyes, not caring to meet the questioning gaze +upon her.</p> + +<p>"Maybe -- a little," she replied, and she covered her face +with her hands. Remembrance of his questions -- of his assurance +that she did not know the real meaning of life -- of her stubborn +antagonism -- made her somehow ashamed. But it was not for +long.</p> + +<p>"The chase was great," she said. "I did not know myself. You +were right."</p> + +<p>"In how many ways did you find me right?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I think all -- but one," she replied, with a laugh and a +shudder. "I'm near starved <em>now</em> -- I was so furious at Bo +that I could have choked her. I faced that horrible brute. . . . +Oh, I know what it is to fear death! . . . I was lost twice on +the ride -- absolutely lost. That's all."</p> + +<p>Bo found her tongue. "The last thing was for you to fall +wildly in love, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"According to Dale, I must add that to my new experiences of +to-day -- before I can know real life," replied Helen, +demurely.</p> + +<p>The hunter turned away. "Let us go," he said, soberly.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XIII</p> + +<p>After more days of riding the grassy level of that wonderfully +gold and purple park, and dreamily listening by day to the +ever-low and ever-changing murmur of the waterfall, and by night +to the wild, lonely mourn of a hunting wolf, and climbing to the +dizzy heights where the wind stung sweetly, Helen Rayner lost +track of time and forgot her peril.</p> + +<p>Roy Beeman did not return. If occasionally Dale mentioned Roy +and his quest, the girls had little to say beyond a recurrent +anxiety for the old uncle, and then they forgot again. Paradise +Park, lived in a little while at that season of the year, would +have claimed any one, and ever afterward haunted sleeping or +waking dreams.</p> + +<p>Bo gave up to the wild life, to the horses and rides, to the +many pets, and especially to the cougar, Tom. The big cat +followed her everywhere, played with her, rolling and pawing, +kitten-like, and he would lay his massive head in her lap to purr +his content. Bo had little fear of anything, and here in the +wilds she soon lost that.</p> + +<p>Another of Dale's pets was a half-grown black bear named Muss. +He was abnormally jealous of little Bud and he had a +well-developed hatred of Tom, otherwise he was a very +good-tempered bear, and enjoyed Dale's impartial regard. Tom, +however, chased Muss out of camp whenever Dale's back was turned, +and sometimes Muss stayed away, shifting for himself. With the +advent of Bo, who spent a good deal of time on the animals, Muss +manifestly found the camp more attractive. Whereupon, Dale +predicted trouble between Tom and Muss.</p> + +<p>Bo liked nothing better than a rough-and-tumble frolic with +the black bear. Muss was not very big nor very heavy, and in a +wrestling bout with the strong and wiry girl he sometimes came +out second best. It spoke well of him that he seemed to be +careful not to hurt Bo. He never bit or scratched, though he +sometimes gave her sounding slaps with his paws. Whereupon, Bo +would clench her gauntleted fists and sail into him in +earnest.</p> + +<p>One afternoon before the early supper they always had, Dale +and Helen were watching Bo teasing the bear. She was in her most +vixenish mood, full of life and fight. Tom lay his long length on +the grass, watching with narrow, gleaming eyes.</p> + +<p>When Bo and Muss locked in an embrace and went down to roll +over and over, Dale called Helen's attention to the cougar.</p> + +<p>"Tom's jealous. It's strange how animals are like people. +Pretty soon I'll have to corral Muss, or there'll be a +fight."</p> + +<p>Helen could not see anything wrong with Tom except that he did +not look playful.</p> + +<p>During supper-time both bear and cougar disappeared, though +this was not remarked until afterward. Dale whistled and called, +but the rival pets did not return. Next morning Tom was there, +curled up snugly at the foot of Bo's bed, and when she arose he +followed her around as usual. But Muss did not return.</p> + +<p>The circumstance made Dale anxious. He left camp, taking Tom +with him, and upon returning stated that he had followed Muss's +track as far as possible, and then had tried to put Tom on the +trail, but the cougar would not or could not follow it. Dale said +Tom never liked a bear trail, anyway, cougars and bears being +common enemies. So, whether by accident or design, Bo lost one of +her playmates.</p> + +<p>The hunter searched some of the slopes next day and even went +up on one of the mountains. He did not discover any sign of Muss, +but he said he had found something else.</p> + +<p>"Bo you girls want some more real excitement?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Helen smiled her acquiescence and Bo replied with one of her +forceful speeches.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind bein' good an' scared?" he went on.</p> + +<p>"You can't scare me," bantered Bo. But Helen looked +doubtful.</p> + +<p>"Up in one of the parks I ran across one of my horses -- a +lame bay you haven't seen. Well, he had been killed by that old +silvertip. The one we chased. Hadn't been dead over an hour. +Blood was still runnin' an' only a little meat eaten. That bear +heard me or saw me an' made off into the woods. But he'll come +back to-night. I'm goin' up there, lay for him, an' kill him this +time. Reckon you'd better go, because I don't want to leave you +here alone at night."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to take Tom?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"No. The bear might get his scent. An', besides, Tom ain't +reliable on bears. I'll leave Pedro home, too."</p> + +<p>When they had hurried supper, and Dale had gotten in the +horses, the sun had set and the valley was shadowing low down, +while the ramparts were still golden. The long zigzag trail Dale +followed up the slope took nearly an hour to climb, so that when +that was surmounted and he led out of the woods twilight had +fallen. A rolling park extended as far as Helen could see, +bordered by forest that in places sent out straggling stretches +of trees. Here and there, like islands, were isolated patches of +timber.</p> + +<p>At ten thousand feet elevation the twilight of this clear and +cold night was a rich and rare atmospheric effect. It looked as +if it was seen through perfectly clear smoked glass. Objects were +singularly visible, even at long range, and seemed magnified. In +the west, where the afterglow of sunset lingered over the dark, +ragged, spruce-speared horizon-line, there was such a transparent +golden line melting into vivid star-fired blue that Helen could +only gaze and gaze in wondering admiration.</p> + +<p>Dale spurred his horse into a lope and the spirited mounts of +the girls kept up with him. The ground was rough, with tufts of +grass growing close together, yet the horses did not stumble. +Their action and snorting betrayed excitement. Dale led around +several clumps of timber, up a long grassy swale, and then +straight westward across an open flat toward where the +dark-fringed forest-line raised itself wild and clear against the +cold sky. The horses went swiftly, and the wind cut like a blade +of ice. Helen could barely get her breath and she panted as if +she had just climbed a laborsome hill. The stars began to blink +out of the blue, and the gold paled somewhat, and yet twilight +lingered. It seemed long across that flat, but really was short. +Coming to a thin line of trees that led down over a slope to a +deeper but still isolated patch of woods, Dale dismounted and +tied his horse. When the girls got off he haltered their horses +also.</p> + +<p>"Stick close to me an' put your feet down easy," he whispered. +How tall and dark he loomed in the fading light! Helen thrilled, +as she had often of late, at the strange, potential force of the +man. Stepping softly, without the least sound, Dale entered this +straggly bit of woods, which appeared to have narrow byways and +nooks. Then presently he came to the top of a well-wooded slope, +dark as pitch, apparently. But as Helen followed she perceived +the trees, and they were thin dwarf spruce, partly dead. The +slope was soft and springy, easy to step upon without noise. Dale +went so cautiously that Helen could not hear him, and sometimes +in the gloom she could not see him. Then the chill thrills ran +over her. Bo kept holding on to Helen, which fact hampered Helen +as well as worked somewhat to disprove Bo's boast. At last level +ground was reached. Helen made out a light-gray background +crossed by black bars. Another glance showed this to be the dark +tree-trunks against the open park.</p> + +<p>Dale halted, and with a touch brought Helen to a straining +pause. He was listening. It seemed wonderful to watch him bend +his head and stand as silent and motionless as one of the dark +trees.</p> + +<p>"He's not there yet," Dale whispered, and he stepped forward +very slowly. Helen and Bo began to come up against thin dead +branches that were invisible and then cracked. Then Dale knelt +down, seemed to melt into the ground.</p> + +<p>"You'll have to crawl," he whispered.</p> + +<p>How strange and thrilling that was for Helen, and hard work! +The ground bore twigs and dead branches, which had to be +carefully crawled over; and lying flat, as was necessary, it took +prodigious effort to drag her body inch by inch. Like a huge +snake, Dale wormed his way along.</p> + +<p>Gradually the wood lightened. They were nearing the edge of +the park. Helen now saw a strip of open with a high, black wall +of spruce beyond. The afterglow flashed or changed, like a +dimming northern light, and then failed. Dale crawled on farther +to halt at length between two tree-trunks at the edge of the +wood.</p> + +<p>"Come up beside me," he whispered.</p> + +<p>Helen crawled on, and presently Bo was beside her panting, +with pale face and great, staring eyes, plain to be seen in the +wan light.</p> + +<p>"Moon's comin' up. We're just in time. The old grizzly's not +there yet, but I see coyotes. Look."</p> + +<p>Dale pointed across the open neck of park to a dim blurred +patch standing apart some little distance from the black +wall.</p> + +<p>"That's the dead horse," whispered Dale. "An' if you watch +close you can see the coyotes. They're gray an' they move. . . . +Can't you hear them?"</p> + +<p>Helen's excited ears, so full of throbs and imaginings, +presently registered low snaps and snarls. Bo gave her arm a +squeeze.</p> + +<p>"I hear them. They're fighting. Oh, gee!" she panted, and drew +a long, full breath of unutterable excitement.</p> + +<p>"Keep quiet now an' watch an' listen," said the hunter.</p> + +<p>Slowly the black, ragged forest-line seemed to grow blacker +and lift; slowly the gray neck of park lightened under some +invisible influence; slowly the stars paled and the sky filled +over. Somewhere the moon was rising. And slowly that vague +blurred patch grew a little clearer.</p> + +<p>Through the tips of the spruce, now seen to be rather close at +hand, shone a slender, silver crescent moon, darkening, hiding, +shining again, climbing until its exquisite sickle-point topped +the trees, and then, magically, it cleared them, radiant and +cold. While the eastern black wall shaded still blacker, the park +blanched and the border-line opposite began to stand out as +trees.</p> + +<p>"Look! Look!" cried Bo, very low and fearfully, as she +pointed.</p> + +<p>"Not so loud," whispered Dale.</p> + +<p>"But I see something!"</p> + +<p>"Keep quiet," he admonished.</p> + +<p>Helen, in the direction Bo pointed, could not see anything but +moon-blanched bare ground, rising close at hand to a little +ridge.</p> + +<p>"Lie still," whispered Dale. "I'm goin' to crawl around to get +a look from another angle. I'll be right back."</p> + +<p>He moved noiselessly backward and disappeared. With him gone, +Helen felt a palpitating of her heart and a prickling of her +skin.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my! Nell! Look!" whispered Bo, in fright. "I know I saw +something."</p> + +<p>On top of the little ridge a round object moved slowly, +getting farther out into the light. Helen watched with suspended +breath. It moved out to be silhouetted against the sky -- +apparently a huge, round, bristling animal, frosty in color. One +instant it seemed huge -- the next small -- then close at hand -- +and far away. It swerved to come directly toward them. Suddenly +Helen realized that the beast was not a dozen yards distant. She +was just beginning a new experience -- a real and horrifying +terror in which her blood curdled, her heart gave a tremendous +leap and then stood still, and she wanted to fly, but was rooted +to the spot -- when Dale returned to her side.</p> + +<p>"That's a pesky porcupine," he whispered. "Almost crawled over +you. He sure would have stuck you full of quills."</p> + +<p>Whereupon he threw a stick at the animal. It bounced straight +up to turn round with startling quickness, and it gave forth a +rattling sound; then it crawled out of sight.</p> + +<p>"Por -- cu -- pine!" whispered Bo, pantingly. "It might -- as +well -- have been -- an elephant!"</p> + +<p>Helen uttered a long, eloquent sigh. She would not have cared +to describe her emotions at sight of a harmless hedgehog.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" warned Dale, very low. His big hand closed over +Helen's gauntleted one. "There you have -- the real cry of the +wild."</p> + +<p>Sharp and cold on the night air split the cry of a wolf, +distant, yet wonderfully distinct. How wild and mournful and +hungry! How marvelously pure! Helen shuddered through all her +frame with the thrill of its music, the wild and unutterable and +deep emotions it aroused. Again a sound of this forest had +pierced beyond her life, back into the dim remote past from which +she had come.</p> + +<p>The cry was not repeated. The coyotes were still. And silence +fell, absolutely unbroken.</p> + +<p>Dale nudged Helen, and then reached over to give Bo a tap. He +was peering keenly ahead and his strained intensity could be +felt. Helen looked with all her might and she saw the shadowy +gray forms of the coyotes skulk away, out of the moonlight into +the gloom of the woods, where they disappeared. Not only Dale's +intensity, but the very silence, the wildness of the moment and +place, seemed fraught with wonderful potency. Bo must have felt +it, too, for she was trembling all over, and holding tightly to +Helen, and breathing quick and fast.</p> + +<p>"A-huh!" muttered Dale, under his breath.</p> + +<p>Helen caught the relief and certainty in his exclamation, and +she divined, then, something of what the moment must have been to +a hunter.</p> + +<p>Then her roving, alert glance was arrested by a looming gray +shadow coming out of the forest. It moved, but surely that huge +thing could not be a bear. It passed out of gloom into silver +moonlight. Helen's heart bounded. For it was a great +frosty-coated bear lumbering along toward the dead horse. +Instinctively Helen's hand sought the arm of the hunter. It felt +like iron under a rippling surface. The touch eased away the +oppression over her lungs, the tightness of her throat. What must +have been fear left her, and only a powerful excitement remained. +A sharp expulsion of breath from Bo and a violent jerk of her +frame were signs that she had sighted the grizzly.</p> + +<p>In the moonlight he looked of immense size, and that wild park +with the gloomy blackness of forest furnished a fit setting for +him. Helen's quick mind, so taken up with emotion, still had a +thought for the wonder and the meaning of that scene. She wanted +the bear killed, yet that seemed a pity.</p> + +<p>He had a wagging, rolling, slow walk which took several +moments to reach his quarry. When at length he reached it he +walked around with sniffs plainly heard and then a cross growl. +Evidently he had discovered that his meal had been messed over. +As a whole the big bear could be seen distinctly, but only in +outline and color. The distance was perhaps two hundred yards. +Then it looked as if he had begun to tug at the carcass. Indeed, +he was dragging it, very slowly, but surely.</p> + +<p>"Look at that!" whispered Dale. "If he ain't strong! . . . +Reckon I'll have to stop him."</p> + +<p>The grizzly, however, stopped of his own accord, just outside +of the shadow-line of the forest. Then he hunched in a big frosty +heap over his prey and began to tear and rend.</p> + +<p>"Jess was a mighty good horse," muttered Dale, grimly; "too +good to make a meal for a hog silvertip."</p> + +<p>Then the hunter silently rose to a kneeling position, swinging +the rifle in front of him. He glanced up into the low branches of +the tree overhead.</p> + +<p>"Girls, there's no tellin' what a grizzly will do. If I yell, +you climb up in this tree, an' do it quick."</p> + +<p>With that he leveled the rifle, resting his left elbow on his +knee. The front end of the rifle, reaching out of the shade, +shone silver in the moonlight. Man and weapon became still as +stone. Helen held her breath. But Dale relaxed, lowering the +barrel.</p> + +<p>"Can't see the sights very well," he whispered, shaking his +head. "Remember, now -- if I yell you climb!"</p> + +<p>Again he aimed and slowly grew rigid. Helen could not take her +fascinated eyes off him. He knelt, bareheaded, and in the shadow +she could make out the gleam of his clear-cut profile, stern and +cold.</p> + +<p>A streak of fire and a heavy report startled her. Then she +heard the bullet hit. Shifting her glance, she saw the bear lurch +with convulsive action, rearing on his hind legs. Loud clicking +snaps must have been a clashing of his jaws in rage. But there +was no other sound. Then again Dale's heavy gun boomed. Helen +heard again that singular spatting thud of striking lead. The +bear went down with a flop as if he had been dealt a terrific +blow. But just as quickly he was up on all-fours and began to +whirl with hoarse, savage bawls of agony and fury. His action +quickly carried him out of the moonlight into the shadow, where +he disappeared. There the bawls gave place to gnashing snarls, +and crashings in the brush, and snapping of branches, as he made +his way into the forest.</p> + +<p>"Sure he's mad," said Dale, rising to his feet. "An' I reckon +hard hit. But I won't follow him to-night."</p> + +<p>Both the girls got up, and Helen found she was shaky on her +feet and very cold.</p> + +<p>"Oh-h, wasn't -- it -- won-wonder-ful!" cried Bo.</p> + +<p>"Are you scared? Your teeth are chatterin'," queried Dale.</p> + +<p>"I'm -- cold."</p> + +<p>"Well, it sure is cold, all right," he responded. "Now the +fun's over, you'll feel it. . . . Nell, you're froze, too?"</p> + +<p>Helen nodded. She was, indeed, as cold as she had ever been +before. But that did not prevent a strange warmness along her +veins and a quickened pulse, the cause of which she did not +conjecture.</p> + +<p>"Let's rustle," said Dale, and led the way out of the wood and +skirted its edge around to the slope. There they climbed to the +flat, and went through the straggling line of trees to where the +horses were tethered.</p> + +<p>Up here the wind began to blow, not hard through the forest, +but still strong and steady out in the open, and bitterly cold. +Dale helped Bo to mount, and then Helen.</p> + +<p>"I'm -- numb," she said. "I'll fall off -- sure."</p> + +<p>"No. You'll be warm in a jiffy," he replied, "because we'll +ride some goin' back. Let Ranger pick the way an' you hang +on."</p> + +<p>With Ranger's first jump Helen's blood began to run. Out he +shot, his lean, dark head beside Dale's horse. The wild park lay +clear and bright in the moonlight, with strange, silvery radiance +on the grass. The patches of timber, like spired black islands in +a moon-blanched lake, seemed to harbor shadows, and places for +bears to hide, ready to spring out. As Helen neared each little +grove her pulses shook and her heart beat. Half a mile of rapid +riding burned out the cold. And all seemed glorious -- the +sailing moon, white in a dark-blue sky, the white, passionless +stars, so solemn, so far away, the beckoning fringe of +forest-land at once mysterious and friendly, and the fleet +horses, running with soft, rhythmic thuds over the grass, leaping +the ditches and the hollows, making the bitter wind sting and +cut. Coming up that park the ride had been long; going back was +as short as it was thrilling. In Helen, experiences gathered +realization slowly, and it was this swift ride, the horses neck +and neck, and all the wildness and beauty, that completed the +slow, insidious work of years. The tears of excitement froze on +her cheeks and her heart heaved full. All that pertained to this +night got into her blood. It was only to feel, to live now, but +it could be understood and remembered forever afterward.</p> + +<p>Dale's horse, a little in advance, sailed over a ditch. Ranger +made a splendid leap, but he alighted among some grassy tufts and +fell. Helen shot over his head. She struck lengthwise, her arms +stretched, and slid hard to a shocking impact that stunned +her.</p> + +<p>Bo's scream rang in her ears; she felt the wet grass under her +face and then the strong hands that lifted her. Dale loomed over +her, bending down to look into her face; Bo was clutching her +with frantic hands. And Helen could only gasp. Her breast seemed +caved in. The need to breathe was torture.</p> + +<p>"Nell! -- you're not hurt. You fell light, like a feather. All +grass here. . . . You can't be hurt!" said Dale, sharply.</p> + +<p>His anxious voice penetrated beyond her hearing, and his +strong hands went swiftly over her arms and shoulders, feeling +for broken bones.</p> + +<p>"Just had the wind knocked out of you," went on Dale. "It feels +awful, but it's nothin'."</p> + +<p>Helen got a little air, that was like hot pin-points in her +lungs, and then a deeper breath, and then full, gasping +respiration.</p> + +<p>"I guess -- I'm not hurt -- not a bit," she choked out.</p> + +<p>"You sure had a header. Never saw a prettier spill. Ranger +doesn't do that often. I reckon we were travelin' too fast. But +it was fun, don't you think?"</p> + +<p>It was Bo who answered. "Oh, glorious! . . . But, gee! I was +scared."</p> + +<p>Dale still held Helen's hands. She released them while looking +up at him. The moment was realization for her of what for days +had been a vague, sweet uncertainty, becoming near and strange, +disturbing and present. This accident had been a sudden, violent +end to the wonderful ride. But its effect, the knowledge of what +had got into her blood, would never change. And inseparable from +it was this man of the forest.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XIV</p> + +<p>On the next morning Helen was awakened by what she imagined +had been a dream of some one shouting. With a start she sat up. +The sunshine showed pink and gold on the ragged spruce line of +the mountain rims. Bo was on her knees, braiding her hair with +shaking hands, and at the same time trying to peep out.</p> + +<p>And the echoes of a ringing cry were cracking back from the +cliffs. That had been Dale's voice.</p> + +<p>"Nell! Nell! Wake up!" called Bo, wildly. "Oh, some one's +come! Horses and men!"</p> + +<p>Helen got to her knees and peered out over Bo's shoulder. +Dale, standing tall and striking beside the campfire, was waving +his sombrero. Away down the open edge of the park came a string +of pack-burros with mounted men behind. In the foremost rider +Helen recognized Roy Beeman.</p> + +<p>"That first one's Roy!" she exclaimed. "I'd never forget him +on a horse. . . . Bo, it must mean Uncle Al's come!"</p> + +<p>"Sure! We're born lucky. Here we are safe and sound -- and all +this grand camp trip. . . . Look at the cowboys. . . . +<em>Look!</em> Oh, maybe this isn't great!" babbled Bo.</p> + +<p>Dale wheeled to see the girls peeping out.</p> + +<p>"It's time you're up!" he called. "Your uncle Al is here."</p> + +<p>For an instant after Helen sank back out of Dale's sight she +sat there perfectly motionless, so struck was she by the singular +tone of Dale's voice. She imagined that he regretted what this +visiting cavalcade of horsemen meant -- they had come to take her +to her ranch in Pine. Helen's heart suddenly began to beat fast, +but thickly, as if muffled within her breast.</p> + +<p>"Hurry now, girls," called Dale.</p> + +<p>Bo was already out, kneeling on the flat stone at the little +brook, splashing water in a great hurry. Helen's hands trembled +so that she could scarcely lace her boots or brush her hair, and +she was long behind Bo in making herself presentable. When Helen +stepped out, a short, powerfully built man in coarse garb and +heavy boots stood holding Bo's hands.</p> + +<p>"Wal, wal! You favor the Rayners," he was saying, "I remember +your dad, an' a fine feller he was."</p> + +<p>Beside them stood Dale and Roy, and beyond was a group of +horses and riders.</p> + +<p>"Uncle, here comes Nell," said Bo, softly.</p> + +<p>"Aw!" The old cattle-man breathed hard as he turned.</p> + +<p>Helen hurried. She had not expected to remember this uncle, +but one look into the brown, beaming face, with the blue eyes +flashing, yet sad, and she recognized him, at the same instant +recalling her mother.</p> + +<p>He held out his arms to receive her.</p> + +<p>"Nell Auchincloss all over again!" he exclaimed, in deep +voice, as he kissed her. "I'd have knowed you anywhere!"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Al!" murmured Helen. "I remember you -- though I was +only four."</p> + +<p>"Wal, wal, -- that's fine," he replied. "I remember you +straddled my knee once, an' your hair was brighter -- an' curly. +It ain't neither now. . . . Sixteen years! An' you're twenty now? +What a fine, broad-shouldered girl you are! An', Nell, you're the +handsomest Auchincloss I ever seen!"</p> + +<p>Helen found herself blushing, and withdrew her hands from his +as Roy stepped forward to pay his respects. He stood bareheaded, +lean and tall, with neither his clear eyes nor his still face, +nor the proffered hand expressing anything of the proven quality +of fidelity, of achievement, that Helen sensed in him.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Miss Helen? Howdy, Bo?" he said. "You all both look +fine an' brown. . . . I reckon I was shore slow rustlin' your +uncle Al up here. But I was figgerin' you'd like Milt's camp for +a while."</p> + +<p>"We sure did," replied Bo, archly.</p> + +<p>"Aw!" breathed Auchincloss, heavily. "Lemme set down."</p> + +<p>He drew the girls to the rustic seat Dale had built for them +under the big pine.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you must be tired! How -- how are you?" asked Helen, +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Tired! Wal, if I am it's jest this here minit. When Joe +Beeman rode in on me with thet news of you -- wal, I jest fergot +I was a worn-out old hoss. Haven't felt so good in years. Mebbe +two such young an' pretty nieces will make a new man of me."</p> + +<p>"Uncle Al, you look strong and well to me," said Bo. "And +young, too, and --"</p> + +<p>"Haw! Haw! Thet 'll do," interrupted Al. "I see through you. +What you'll do to Uncle Al will be aplenty. . . . Yes, girls, I'm +feelin' fine. But strange -- strange! Mebbe thet's my joy at +seein' you safe -- safe when I feared so thet damned greaser +Beasley --"</p> + +<p>In Helen's grave gaze his face changed swiftly -- and all the +serried years of toil and battle and privation showed, with +something that was not age, nor resignation, yet as tragic as +both.</p> + +<p>"Wal, never mind him -- now," he added, slowly, and the warmer +light returned to his face. "Dale -- come here."</p> + +<p>The hunter stepped closer.</p> + +<p>"I reckon I owe you more 'n I can ever pay," said Auchincloss, +with an arm around each niece.</p> + +<p>"No, Al, you don't owe me anythin'," returned Dale, +thoughtfully, as he looked away.</p> + +<p>"A-huh!" grunted Al. "You hear him, girls. . . . Now listen, +you wild hunter. An' you girls listen. . . . Milt, I never +thought you much good, 'cept for the wilds. But I reckon I'll +have to swallow thet. I do. Comin' to me as you did -- an' after +bein' druv off -- keepin' your council an' savin' my girls from +thet hold-up, wal, it's the biggest deal any man ever did for me. +. . . An' I'm ashamed of my hard feelin's, an' here's my +hand."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Al," replied Dale, with his fleeting smile, and he +met the proffered hand. "Now, will you be makin' camp here?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, no. I'll rest a little, an' you can pack the girls' +outfit -- then we'll go. Sure you're goin' with us?"</p> + +<p>"I'll call the girls to breakfast," replied Dale, and he moved +away without answering Auchincloss's query.</p> + +<p>Helen divined that Dale did not mean to go down to Pine with +them, and the knowledge gave her a blank feeling of surprise. Had +she expected him to go?</p> + +<p>"Come here, Jeff," called Al, to one of his men.</p> + +<p>A short, bow-legged horseman with dusty garb and sun-bleached +face hobbled forth from the group. He was not young, but he had a +boyish grin and bright little eyes. Awkwardly he doffed his +slouch sombrero.</p> + +<p>"Jeff, shake hands with my nieces," said Al. "This 's Helen, +an' your boss from now on. An' this 's Bo, fer short. Her name +was Nancy, but when she lay a baby in her cradle I called her +Bo-Peep, an' the name's stuck. . . . Girls, this here's my +foreman, Jeff Mulvey, who's been with me twenty years."</p> + +<p>The introduction caused embarrassment to all three principals, +particularly to Jeff.</p> + +<p>"Jeff, throw the packs an' saddles fer a rest," was Al's order +to his foreman.</p> + +<p>"Nell, reckon you'll have fun bossin' thet outfit," chuckled +Al. "None of 'em's got a wife. Lot of scalawags they are; no +women would have them!"</p> + +<p>"Uncle, I hope I'll never have to be their boss," replied +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Wal, you're goin' to be, right off," declared Al. "They ain't +a bad lot, after all. An' I got a likely new man."</p> + +<p>With that he turned to Bo, and, after studying her pretty +face, he asked, in apparently severe tone, "Did you send a cowboy +named Carmichael to ask me for a job?"</p> + +<p>Bo looked quite startled.</p> + +<p>"Carmichael! Why, Uncle, I never heard that name before," +replied Bo, bewilderedly.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! Reckoned the young rascal was lyin'," said +Auchincloss. "But I liked the fellar's looks an' so let him +stay."</p> + +<p>Then the rancher turned to the group of lounging riders.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, come here," he ordered, in a loud voice.</p> + +<p>Helen thrilled at sight of a tall, superbly built cowboy +reluctantly detaching himself from the group. He had a red-bronze +face, young like a boy's. Helen recognized it, and the flowing +red scarf, and the swinging gun, and the slow, spur-clinking +gait. No other than Bo's Las Vegas cowboy admirer!</p> + +<p>Then Helen flashed a look at Bo, which look gave her a +delicious, almost irresistible desire to laugh. That young lady +also recognized the reluctant individual approaching with flushed +and downcast face. Helen recorded her first experience of Bo's +utter discomfiture. Bo turned white then red as a rose.</p> + +<p>"Say, my niece said she never heard of the name Carmichael," +declared Al, severely, as the cowboy halted before him. Helen +knew her uncle had the repute of dealing hard with his men, but +here she was reassured and pleased at the twinkle in his eye.</p> + +<p>"Shore, boss, I can't help thet," drawled the cowboy. "It's +good old Texas stock."</p> + +<p>He did not appear shamefaced now, but just as cool, easy, +clear-eyed, and lazy as the day Helen had liked his warm young +face and intent gaze.</p> + +<p>"Texas! You fellars from the Pan Handle are always hollerin' +Texas. I never seen thet Texans had any one else beat -- say from +Missouri," returned Al, testily.</p> + +<p>Carmichael maintained a discreet silence, and carefully +avoided looking at the girls.</p> + +<p>"Wal, reckon we'll all call you Las Vegas, anyway," continued +the rancher. "Didn't you say my niece sent you to me for a +job?"</p> + +<p>Whereupon Carmichael's easy manner vanished.</p> + +<p>"Now, boss, shore my memory's pore," he said. "I only says +--"</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me thet. My memory's not p-o-r-e," replied Al, +mimicking the drawl. "What you said was thet my niece would speak +a good word for you."</p> + +<p>Here Carmichael stole a timid glance at Bo, the result of +which was to render him utterly crestfallen. Not improbably he +had taken Bo's expression to mean something it did not, for Helen +read it as a mingling of consternation and fright. Her eyes were +big and blazing; a red spot was growing in each cheek as she +gathered strength from his confusion.</p> + +<p>"Well, didn't you?" demanded Al.</p> + +<p>From the glance the old rancher shot from the cowboy to the +others of his employ it seemed to Helen that they were having fun +at Carmichael's expense.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I did," suddenly replied the cowboy.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! All right, here's my niece. Now see thet she speaks +the good word."</p> + +<p>Carmichael looked at Bo and Bo looked at him. Their glances +were strange, wondering, and they grew shy. Bo dropped hers. The +cowboy apparently forgot what had been demanded of him.</p> + +<p>Helen put a hand on the old rancher's arm.</p> + +<p>"Uncle, what happened was my fault," she said. "The train +stopped at Las Vegas. This young man saw us at the open window. +He must have guessed we were lonely, homesick girls, getting lost +in the West. For he spoke to us -- nice and friendly. He knew of +you. And he asked, in what I took for fun, if we thought you +would give him a job. And I replied, just to tease Bo, that she +would surely speak a good word for him."</p> + +<p>"Haw! Haw! So thet's it," replied Al, and he turned to Bo with +merry eyes. "Wal, I kept this here Las Vegas Carmichael on his +say-so. Come on with your good word, unless you want to see him +lose his job."</p> + +<p>Bo did not grasp her uncle's bantering, because she was +seriously gazing at the cowboy. But she had grasped +something.</p> + +<p>"He -- he was the first person -- out West -- to speak kindly +to us," she said, facing her uncle.</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet's a pretty good word, but it ain't enough," +responded Al.</p> + +<p>Subdued laughter came from the listening group. Carmichael +shifted from side to side.</p> + +<p>"He -- he looks as if he might ride a horse well," ventured +Bo.</p> + +<p>"Best hossman I ever seen," agreed Al, heartily.</p> + +<p>"And -- and shoot?" added Bo, hopefully.</p> + +<p>"Bo, he packs thet gun low, like Jim Wilson an' all them Texas +gun-fighters. Reckon thet ain't no good word."</p> + +<p>"Then -- I'll vouch for him," said Bo, with finality.</p> + +<p>"Thet settles it." Auchincloss turned to the cowboy. "Las +Vegas, you're a stranger to us. But you're welcome to a place in +the outfit an' I hope you won't never disappoint us."</p> + +<p>Auchincloss's tone, passing from jest to earnest, betrayed to +Helen the old rancher's need of new and true men, and hinted of +trying days to come.</p> + +<p>Carmichael stood before Bo, sombrero in hand, rolling it round +and round, manifestly bursting with words he could not speak. And +the girl looked very young and sweet with her flushed face and +shining eyes. Helen saw in the moment more than that little +by-play of confusion.</p> + +<p>"Miss -- Miss Rayner -- I shore -- am obliged," he stammered, +presently.</p> + +<p>"You're very welcome," she replied, softly. "I -- I got on the +next train," he added.</p> + +<p>When he said that Bo was looking straight at him, but she +seemed not to have heard.</p> + +<p>"What's your name?" suddenly she asked.</p> + +<p>"Carmichael."</p> + +<p>"I heard that. But didn't uncle call you Las Vegas?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. But it wasn't my fault. Thet cow-punchin' outfit +saddled it on me, right off. They Don't know no better. Shore I +jest won't answer to thet handle. . . . Now -- Miss Bo -- my real +name is Tom."</p> + +<p>"I simply could not call you -- any name but Las Vegas," +replied Bo, very sweetly.</p> + +<p>"But -- beggin' your pardon -- I -- I don't like thet," +blustered Carmichael.</p> + +<p>"People often get called names -- they don't like," she said, +with deep intent.</p> + +<p>The cowboy blushed scarlet. Helen as well as he got Bo's +inference to that last audacious epithet he had boldly called out +as the train was leaving Las Vegas. She also sensed something of +the disaster in store for Mr. Carmichael. Just then the +embarrassed young man was saved by Dale's call to the girls to +come to breakfast.</p> + +<p>That meal, the last for Helen in Paradise Park, gave rise to a +strange and inexplicable restraint. She had little to say. Bo was +in the highest spirits, teasing the pets, joking with her uncle +and Roy, and even poking fun at Dale. The hunter seemed somewhat +somber. Roy was his usual dry, genial self. And Auchincloss, who +sat near by, was an interested spectator. When Tom put in an +appearance, lounging with his feline grace into the camp, as if +he knew he was a privileged pet, the rancher could scarcely +contain himself.</p> + +<p>"Dale, it's thet damn cougar!" he ejaculated.</p> + +<p>"Sure, that's Tom."</p> + +<p>"He ought to be corralled or chained. I've no use for +cougars," protested Al.</p> + +<p>"Tom is as tame an' safe as a kitten."</p> + +<p>"A-huh! Wal, you tell thet to the girls if you like. But not +me! I'm an old hoss, I am."</p> + +<p>"Uncle Al, Tom sleeps curled up at the foot of my bed," said +Bo.</p> + +<p>"Aw -- what?"</p> + +<p>"Honest Injun," she responded. "Well, isn't it so?"</p> + +<p>Helen smilingly nodded her corroboration. Then Bo called Tom +to her and made him lie with his head on his stretched paws, +right beside her, and beg for bits to eat.</p> + +<p>"Wal! I'd never have believed thet!" exclaimed Al, shaking his +big head. "Dale, it's one on me. I've had them big cats foller me +on the trails, through the woods, moonlight an' dark. An' I've +heard 'em let out thet awful cry. They ain't any wild sound on +earth thet can beat a cougar's. Does this Tom ever let out one of +them wails?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes at night," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Wal, excuse me. Hope you don't fetch the yaller rascal down +to Pine."</p> + +<p>"I won't."</p> + +<p>"What'll you do with this menagerie?"</p> + +<p>Dale regarded the rancher attentively. "Reckon, Al, I'll take +care of them."</p> + +<p>"But you're goin' down to my ranch."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>Al scratched his head and gazed perplexedly at the hunter. +"Wal, ain't it customary to visit friends?"</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Al. Next time I ride down Pine way -- in the spring, +perhaps -- I'll run over an' see how you are."</p> + +<p>"Spring!" ejaculated Auchincloss. Then he shook his head sadly +and a far-away look filmed his eyes. "Reckon you'd call some +late."</p> + +<p>"Al, you'll get well now. These, girls -- now -- they'll cure +you. Reckon I never saw you look so good."</p> + +<p>Auchincloss did not press his point farther at that time, but +after the meal, when the other men came to see Dale's camp and +pets, Helen's quick ears caught the renewal of the subject.</p> + +<p>"I'm askin' you -- will you come?" Auchincloss said, low and +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"No. I wouldn't fit in down there," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Milt, talk sense. You can't go on forever huntin' bear an' +tamin' cats," protested the old rancher.</p> + +<p>"Why not?" asked the hunter, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>Auchincloss stood up and, shaking himself as if to ward off +his testy temper, he put a hand on Dale's arm.</p> + +<p>"One reason is you're needed in Pine."</p> + +<p>"How? Who needs me?"</p> + +<p>"I do. I'm playin' out fast. An' Beasley's my enemy. The ranch +an' all I got will go to Nell. Thet ranch will have to be run by +a man an' <em>held</em> by a man. Do you savvy? It's a big job. +An' I'm offerin' to make you my foreman right now."</p> + +<p>"Al, you sort of take my breath," replied Dale. "An' I'm sure +grateful. But the fact is, even if I could handle the job, I -- I +don't believe I'd want to."</p> + +<p>"Make yourself want to, then. Thet 'd soon come. You'd get +interested. This country will develop. I seen thet years ago. The +government is goin' to chase the Apaches out of here. Soon +homesteaders will be flockin' in. Big future, Dale. You want to +get in now. An' --"</p> + +<p>Here Auchincloss hesitated, then spoke lower:</p> + +<p>"An' take your chance with the girl! . . . I'll be on your +side."</p> + +<p>A slight vibrating start ran over Dale's stalwart form.</p> + +<p>"Al -- you're plumb dotty!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Dotty! Me? Dotty!" ejaculated Auchincloss. Then he swore. "In +a minit I'll tell you what you are."</p> + +<p>"But, Al, that talk's so -- so -- like an old fool's."</p> + +<p>"Huh! An' why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because that -- wonderful girl would never look at me," Dale +replied, simply.</p> + +<p>"I seen her lookin' already," declared Al, bluntly.</p> + +<p>Dale shook his head as if arguing with the old rancher was +hopeless.</p> + +<p>"Never mind thet," went on Al. "Mebbe I am a dotty old fool -- +'specially for takin' a shine to you. But I say again -- will you +come down to Pine and be my foreman?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Milt, I've no son -- an' I'm -- afraid of Beasley." This was +uttered in an agitated whisper.</p> + +<p>"Al, you make me ashamed," said Dale, hoarsely. "I can't come. +I've no nerve."</p> + +<p>"You've no what?"</p> + +<p>"Al, I don't know what's wrong with me. But I'm afraid I'd +find out if I came down there."</p> + +<p>"A-huh! It's the girl!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but I'm afraid so. An' I won't come."</p> + +<p>"Aw yes, you will --"</p> + +<p>Helen rose with beating heart and tingling ears, and moved +away out of hearing. She had listened too long to what had not +been intended for her ears, yet she could not be sorry. She +walked a few rods along the brook, out from under the pines, and, +standing in the open edge of the park, she felt the beautiful +scene still her agitation. The following moments, then, were the +happiest she had spent in Paradise Park, and the profoundest of +her whole life.</p> + +<p>Presently her uncle called her.</p> + +<p>"Nell, this here hunter wants to give you thet black hoss. An' +I say you take him."</p> + +<p>"Ranger deserves better care than I can give him," said Dale. +"He runs free in the woods most of the time. I'd be obliged if +she'd have him. An' the hound, Pedro, too."</p> + +<p>Bo swept a saucy glance from Dale to her sister.</p> + +<p>"Sure she'll have Ranger. Just offer him to <em>me!</em>"</p> + +<p>Dale stood there expectantly, holding a blanket in his hand, +ready to saddle the horse. Carmichael walked around Ranger with +that appraising eye so keen in cowboys.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, do you know anything about horses?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"Me! Wal, if you ever buy or trade a hoss you shore have me +there," replied Carmichael.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of Ranger?" went on Bo.</p> + +<p>"Shore I'd buy him sudden, if I could."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Las Vegas, you're too late," asserted Helen, as she +advanced to lay a hand on the horse.</p> + +<p>"Ranger is mine."</p> + +<p>Dale smoothed out the blanket and, folding it, he threw it +over the horse; and then with one powerful swing he set the +saddle in place.</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much for him," said Helen, softly.</p> + +<p>"You're welcome, an' I'm sure glad," responded Dale, and then, +after a few deft, strong pulls at the straps, he continued. +"There, he's ready for you."</p> + +<p>With that he laid an arm over the saddle, and faced Helen as +she stood patting and smoothing Ranger. Helen, strong and calm +now, in feminine possession of her secret and his, as well as her +composure, looked frankly and steadily at Dale. He seemed +composed, too, yet the bronze of his fine face was a trifle +pale.</p> + +<p>"But I can't thank you -- I'll never be able to repay you -- +for your service to me and my sister," said Helen.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you needn't try," Dale returned. "An' my service, as +you call it, has been good for me."</p> + +<p>"Are you going down to Pine with us?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But you will come soon?"</p> + +<p>"Not very soon, I reckon," he replied, and averted his +gaze.</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"Hardly before spring."</p> + +<p>"Spring? . . . That is a long time. Won't you come to see me +sooner than that?"</p> + +<p>"If I can get down to Pine."</p> + +<p>"You're the first friend I've made in the West," said Helen, +earnestly.</p> + +<p>"You'll make many more -- an' I reckon soon forget him you +called the man of the forest."</p> + +<p>"I never forget any of my friends. And you've been the -- the +biggest friend I ever had."</p> + +<p>"I'll be proud to remember."</p> + +<p>"But will you remember -- will you promise to come to +Pine?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. All's well, then. . . . My friend, goodby."</p> + +<p>"Good-by," he said, clasping her hand. His glance was clear, +warm, beautiful, yet it was sad.</p> + +<p>Auchincloss's hearty voice broke the spell. Then Helen saw +that the others were mounted. Bo had ridden up close; her face +was earnest and happy and grieved all at once, as she bade +good-by to Dale. The pack-burros were hobbling along toward the +green slope. Helen was the last to mount, but Roy was the last to +leave the hunter. Pedro came reluctantly.</p> + +<p>It was a merry, singing train which climbed that brown odorous +trail, under the dark spruces. Helen assuredly was happy, yet a +pang abided in her breast.</p> + +<p>She remembered that half-way up the slope there was a turn in +the trail where it came out upon an open bluff. The time seemed +long, but at last she got there. And she checked Ranger so as to +have a moment's gaze down into the park.</p> + +<p>It yawned there, a dark-green and bright-gold gulf, asleep +under a westering sun, exquisite, wild, lonesome. Then she saw +Dale standing in the open space between the pines and the +spruces. He waved to her. And she returned the salute.</p> + +<p>Roy caught up with her then and halted his horse. He waved his +sombrero to Dale and let out a piercing yell that awoke the +sleeping echoes, splitting strangely from cliff to cliff.</p> + +<p>"Shore Milt never knowed what it was to be lonesome," said +Roy, as if thinking aloud. "But he'll know now."</p> + +<p>Ranger stepped out of his own accord and, turning off the +ledge, entered the spruce forest. Helen lost sight of Paradise +Park. For hours then she rode along a shady, fragrant trail, +seeing the beauty of color and wildness, hearing the murmur and +rush and roar of water, but all the while her mind revolved the +sweet and momentous realization which had thrilled her -- that +the hunter, this strange man of the forest, so deeply versed in +nature and so unfamiliar with emotion, aloof and simple and +strong like the elements which had developed him, had fallen in +love with her and did not know it.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XV</p> + +<p>Dale stood with face and arm upraised, and he watched Helen +ride off the ledge to disappear in the forest. That vast spruce +slope seemed to have swallowed her. She was gone! Slowly Dale +lowered his arm with gesture expressive of a strange finality, an +eloquent despair, of which he was unconscious.</p> + +<p>He turned to the park, to his camp, and the many duties of a +hunter. The park did not seem the same, nor his home, nor his +work.</p> + +<p>"I reckon this feelin's natural," he soliloquized, resignedly, +"but it's sure queer for me. That's what comes of makin' friends. +Nell an' Bo, now, they made a difference, an' a difference I +never knew before."</p> + +<p>He calculated that this difference had been simply one of +responsibility, and then the charm and liveliness of the +companionship of girls, and finally friendship. These would pass +now that the causes were removed.</p> + +<p>Before he had worked an hour around camp he realized a change +had come, but it was not the one anticipated. Always before he +had put his mind on his tasks, whatever they might be; now he +worked while his thoughts were strangely involved.</p> + +<p>The little bear cub whined at his heels; the tame deer seemed +to regard him with deep, questioning eyes, the big cougar padded +softly here and there as if searching for something.</p> + +<p>"You all miss them -- now -- I reckon," said Dale. "Well, +they're gone an' you'll have to get along with me."</p> + +<p>Some vague approach to irritation with his pets surprised him. +Presently he grew both irritated and surprised with himself -- a +state of mind totally unfamiliar. Several times, as old habit +brought momentary abstraction, he found himself suddenly looking +around for Helen and Bo. And each time the shock grew stronger. +They were gone, but their presence lingered. After his camp +chores were completed he went over to pull down the lean-to which +the girls had utilized as a tent. The spruce boughs had dried out +brown and sear; the wind had blown the roof awry; the sides were +leaning in. As there was now no further use for this little +habitation, he might better pull it down. Dale did not +acknowledge that his gaze had involuntarily wandered toward it +many times. Therefore he strode over with the intention of +destroying it.</p> + +<p>For the first time since Roy and he had built the lean-to he +stepped inside. Nothing was more certain than the fact that he +experienced a strange sensation, perfectly incomprehensible to +him. The blankets lay there on the spruce boughs, disarranged and +thrown back by hurried hands, yet still holding something of +round folds where the slender forms had nestled. A black scarf +often worn by Bo lay covering the pillow of pine-needles; a red +ribbon that Helen had worn on her hair hung from a twig. These +articles were all that had been forgotten. Dale gazed at them +attentively, then at the blankets, and all around the fragrant +little shelter; and he stepped outside with an uncomfortable +knowledge that he could not destroy the place where Helen and Bo +had spent so many hours.</p> + +<p>Whereupon, in studious mood, Dale took up his rifle and strode +out to hunt. His winter supply of venison had not yet been laid +in. Action suited his mood; he climbed far and passed by many a +watching buck to slay which seemed murder; at last he jumped one +that was wild and bounded away. This he shot, and set himself a +Herculean task in packing the whole carcass back to camp. +Burdened thus, he staggered under the trees, sweating freely, +many times laboring for breath, aching with toil, until at last +he had reached camp. There he slid the deer carcass off his +shoulders, and, standing over it, he gazed down while his breast +labored. It was one of the finest young bucks he had ever seen. +But neither in stalking it, nor making a wonderful shot, nor in +packing home a weight that would have burdened two men, nor in +gazing down at his beautiful quarry, did Dale experience any of +the old joy of the hunter.</p> + +<p>"I'm a little off my feed," he mused, as he wiped sweat from +his heated face. "Maybe a little dotty, as I called Al. But +that'll pass."</p> + +<p>Whatever his state, it did not pass. As of old, after a long +day's hunt, he reclined beside the camp-fire and watched the +golden sunset glows change on the ramparts; as of old he laid a +hand on the soft, furry head of the pet cougar; as of old he +watched the gold change to red and then to dark, and twilight +fall like a blanket; as of old he listened to the dreamy, lulling +murmur of the water fall. The old familiar beauty, wildness, +silence, and loneliness were there, but the old content seemed +strangely gone.</p> + +<p>Soberly he confessed then that he missed the happy company of +the girls. He did not distinguish Helen from Bo in his slow +introspection. When he sought his bed he did not at once fall to +sleep. Always, after a few moments of wakefulness, while the +silence settled down or the wind moaned through the pines, he had +fallen asleep. This night he found different. Though he was +tired, sleep would not soon come. The wilderness, the mountains, +the park, the camp -- all seemed to have lost something. Even the +darkness seemed empty. And when at length Dale fell asleep it was +to be troubled by restless dreams.</p> + +<p>Up with the keen-edged, steely-bright dawn, he went at the his +tasks with the springy stride of the deer-stalker.</p> + +<p>At the end of that strenuous day, which was singularly full of +the old excitement and action and danger, and of new +observations, he was bound to confess that no longer did the +chase suffice for him.</p> + +<p>Many times on the heights that day, with the wind keen in his +face, and the vast green billows of spruce below him, he had +found that he was gazing without seeing, halting without object, +dreaming as he had never dreamed before.</p> + +<p>Once, when a magnificent elk came out upon a rocky ridge and, +whistling a challenge to invisible rivals, stood there a target +to stir any hunter's pulse, Dale did not even raise his rifle. +Into his ear just then rang Helen's voice: "Milt Dale, you are no +Indian. Giving yourself to a hunter's wildlife is selfish. It is +wrong. You love this lonely life, but it is not work. Work that +does not help others is not a real man's work."</p> + +<p>From that moment conscience tormented him. It was not what he +loved, but what he ought to do, that counted in the sum of good +achieved in the world. Old Al Auchincloss had been right. Dale +was wasting strength and intelligence that should go to do his +share in the development of the West. Now that he had reached +maturity, if through his knowledge of nature's law he had come to +see the meaning of the strife of men for existence, for place, +for possession, and to hold them in contempt, that was no reason +why he should keep himself aloof from them, from some work that +was needed in an incomprehensible world.</p> + +<p>Dale did not hate work, but he loved freedom. To be alone, to +live with nature, to feel the elements, to labor and dream and +idle and climb and sleep unhampered by duty, by worry, by +restriction, by the petty interests of men -- this had always +been his ideal of living. Cowboys, riders, sheep-herders, farmers +-- these toiled on from one place and one job to another for the +little money doled out to them. Nothing beautiful, nothing +significant had ever existed in that for him. He had worked as a +boy at every kind of range-work, and of all that humdrum waste of +effort he had liked sawing wood best. Once he had quit a job of +branding cattle because the smell of burning hide, the bawl of +the terrified calf, had sickened him. If men were honest there +would be no need to scar cattle. He had never in the least +desired to own land and droves of stock, and make deals with +ranchmen, deals advantageous to himself. Why should a man want to +make a deal or trade a horse or do a piece of work to another +man's disadvantage? Self-preservation was the first law of life. +But as the plants and trees and birds and beasts interpreted that +law, merciless and inevitable as they were, they had neither +greed nor dishonesty. They lived by the grand rule of what was +best for the greatest number.</p> + +<p>But Dale's philosophy, cold and clear and inevitable, like +nature itself, began to be pierced by the human appeal in Helen +Rayner's words. What did she mean? Not that he should lose his +love of the wilderness, but that he realize himself! Many chance +words of that girl had depth. He was young, strong, intelligent, +free from taint of disease or the fever of drink. He could do +something for others. Who? If that mattered, there, for instance, +was poor old Mrs. Cass, aged and lame now; there was Al +Auchincloss, dying in his boots, afraid of enemies, and wistful +for his blood and his property to receive the fruit of his +labors; there were the two girls, Helen and Bo, new and strange +to the West, about to be confronted by a big problem of ranch +life and rival interests. Dale thought of still more people in +the little village of Pine -- of others who had failed, whose +lives were hard, who could have been made happier by kindness and +assistance.</p> + +<p>What, then, was the duty of Milt Dale to himself? Because men +preyed on one another and on the weak, should he turn his back +upon a so-called civilization or should he grow like them? Clear +as a bell came the answer that his duty was to do neither. And +then he saw how the little village of Pine, as well as the whole +world, needed men like him. He had gone to nature, to the forest, +to the wilderness for his development; and all the judgments and +efforts of his future would be a result of that education.</p> + +<p>Thus Dale, lying in the darkness and silence of his lonely +park, arrived at a conclusion that he divined was but the +beginning of a struggle.</p> + +<p>It took long introspection to determine the exact nature of +that struggle, but at length it evolved into the paradox that +Helen Rayner had opened his eyes to his duty as a man, that he +accepted it, yet found a strange obstacle in the perplexing, +tumultuous, sweet fear of ever going near her again.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, then, all his thought revolved around the girl, and, +thrown off his balance, he weltered in a wilderness of unfamiliar +strange ideas.</p> + +<p>When he awoke next day the fight was on in earnest. In his +sleep his mind had been active. The idea that greeted him, +beautiful as the sunrise, flashed in memory of Auchincloss's +significant words, "Take your chance with the girl!"</p> + +<p>The old rancher was in his dotage. He hinted of things beyond +the range of possibility. That idea of a chance for Dale remained +before his consciousness only an instant. Stars were +unattainable; life could not be fathomed; the secret of nature +did not abide alone on the earth -- these theories were not any +more impossible of proving than that Helen Rayner might be for +him.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, her strange coming into his life had played +havoc, the extent of which he had only begun to realize.<br> +</p> + +<p>For a month he tramped through the forest. It was October, a +still golden, fulfilling season of the year; and everywhere in +the vast dark green a glorious blaze of oak and aspen made +beautiful contrast. He carried his rifle, but he never used it. +He would climb miles and go this way and that with no object in +view. Yet his eye and ear had never been keener. Hours he would +spend on a promontory, watching the distance, where the golden +patches of aspen shone bright out of dark-green mountain slopes. +He loved to fling himself down in an aspen-grove at the edge of a +senaca, and there lie in that radiance like a veil of gold and +purple and red, with the white tree-trunks striping the shade. +Always, whether there were breeze or not, the aspen-leaves +quivered, ceaselessly, wonderfully, like his pulses, beyond his +control. Often he reclined against a mossy rock beside a mountain +stream to listen, to watch, to feel all that was there, while his +mind held a haunting, dark-eyed vision of a girl. On the lonely +heights, like an eagle, he sat gazing down into Paradise Park, +that was more and more beautiful, but would never again be the +same, never fill him with content, never be all and all to +him.</p> + +<p>Late in October the first snow fell. It melted at once on the +south side of the park, but the north slopes and the rims and +domes above stayed white.</p> + +<p>Dale had worked quick and hard at curing and storing his +winter supply of food, and now he spent days chopping and +splitting wood to burn during the months he would be snowed-in. +He watched for the dark-gray, fast-scudding storm-clouds, and +welcomed them when they came. Once there lay ten feet of snow on +the trails he would be snowed-in until spring. It would be +impossible to go down to Pine. And perhaps during the long winter +he would be cured of this strange, nameless disorder of his +feelings.</p> + +<p>November brought storms up on the peaks. Flurries of snow fell +in the park every day, but the sunny south side, where Dale's +camp lay, retained its autumnal color and warmth. Not till late +in winter did the snow creep over this secluded nook.</p> + +<p>The morning came at last, piercingly keen and bright, when +Dale saw that the heights were impassable; the realization +brought him a poignant regret. He had not guessed how he had +wanted to see Helen Rayner again until it was too late. That +opened his eyes. A raging frenzy of action followed, in which he +only tired himself physically without helping himself +spiritually.</p> + +<p>It was sunset when he faced the west, looking up at the pink +snow-domes and the dark-golden fringe of spruce, and in that +moment he found the truth.</p> + +<p>"I love that girl! I love that girl!" he spoke aloud, to the +distant white peaks, to the winds, to the loneliness and silence +of his prison, to the great pines and to the murmuring stream, +and to his faithful pets. It was his tragic confession of +weakness, of amazing truth, of hopeless position, of pitiful +excuse for the transformation wrought in him.</p> + +<p>Dale's struggle ended there when he faced his soul. To +understand himself was to be released from strain, worry, +ceaseless importuning doubt and wonder and fear. But the fever of +unrest, of uncertainty, had been nothing compared to a sudden +upflashing torment of love.</p> + +<p>With somber deliberation he set about the tasks needful, and +others that he might make -- his camp-fires and meals, the care +of his pets and horses, the mending of saddles and pack-harness, +the curing of buckskin for moccasins and hunting-suits. So his +days were not idle. But all this work was habit for him and +needed no application of mind.</p> + +<p>And Dale, like some men of lonely wilderness lives who did not +retrograde toward the savage, was a thinker. Love made him a +sufferer.</p> + +<p>The surprise and shame of his unconscious surrender, the +certain hopelessness of it, the long years of communion with all +that was wild, lonely, and beautiful, the wonderfully developed +insight into nature's secrets, and the sudden-dawning revelation +that he was no omniscient being exempt from the ruthless ordinary +destiny of man -- all these showed him the strength of his +manhood and of his passion, and that the life he had chosen was +of all lives the one calculated to make love sad and +terrible.</p> + +<p>Helen Rayner haunted him. In the sunlight there was not a +place around camp which did not picture her lithe, vigorous body, +her dark, thoughtful eyes, her eloquent, resolute lips, and the +smile that was so sweet and strong. At night she was there like a +slender specter, pacing beside him under the moaning pines. Every +camp-fire held in its heart the glowing white radiance of her +spirit.</p> + +<p>Nature had taught Dale to love solitude and silence, but love +itself taught him their meaning. Solitude had been created for +the eagle on his crag, for the blasted mountain fir, lonely and +gnarled on its peak, for the elk and the wolf. But it had not +been intended for man. And to live always in the silence of wild +places was to become obsessed with self -- to think and dream -- +to be happy, which state, however pursued by man, was not good +for him. Man must be given imperious longings for the +unattainable.</p> + +<p>It needed, then, only the memory of an unattainable woman to +render solitude passionately desired by a man, yet almost +unendurable. Dale was alone with his secret; and every pine, +everything in that park saw him shaken and undone.</p> + +<p>In the dark, pitchy deadness of night, when there was no wind +and the cold on the peaks had frozen the waterfall, then the +silence seemed insupportable. Many hours that should have been +given to slumber were paced out under the cold, white, pitiless +stars, under the lonely pines.</p> + +<p>Dale's memory betrayed him, mocked his restraint, cheated him +of any peace; and his imagination, sharpened by love, created +pictures, fancies, feelings, that drove him frantic.</p> + +<p>He thought of Helen Rayner's strong, shapely brown hand. In a +thousand different actions it haunted him. How quick and deft in +camp-fire tasks! how graceful and swift as she plaited her dark +hair! how tender and skilful in its ministration when one of his +pets had been injured! how eloquent when pressed tight against +her breast in a moment of fear on the dangerous heights! how +expressive of unutterable things when laid on his arm!</p> + +<p>Dale saw that beautiful hand slowly creep up his arm, across +his shoulder, and slide round his neck to clasp there. He was +powerless to inhibit the picture. And what he felt then was +boundless, unutterable. No woman had ever yet so much as clasped +his hand, and heretofore no such imaginings had ever crossed his +mind, yet deep in him, somewhere hidden, had been this waiting, +sweet, and imperious need. In the bright day he appeared to ward +off such fancies, but at night he was helpless. And every fancy +left him weaker, wilder.</p> + +<p>When, at the culmination of this phase of his passion, Dale, +who had never known the touch of a woman's lips, suddenly yielded +to the illusion of Helen Rayner's kisses, he found himself quite +mad, filled with rapture and despair, loving her as he hated +himself. It seemed as if he had experienced all these terrible +feelings in some former life and had forgotten them in this life. +He had no right to think of her, but he could not resist it. +Imagining the sweet surrender of her lips was a sacrilege, yet +here, in spite of will and honor and shame, he was lost.</p> + +<p>Dale, at length, was vanquished, and he ceased to rail at +himself, or restrain his fancies. He became a dreamy, sad-eyed, +camp-fire gazer, like many another lonely man, separated, by +chance or error, from what the heart hungered most for. But this +great experience, when all its significance had clarified in his +mind, immeasurably broadened his understanding of the principles +of nature applied to life.</p> + +<p>Love had been in him stronger than in most men, because of his +keen, vigorous, lonely years in the forest, where health of mind +and body were intensified and preserved. How simple, how natural, +how inevitable! He might have loved any fine-spirited, +healthy-bodied girl. Like a tree shooting its branches and +leaves, its whole entity, toward the sunlight, so had he grown +toward a woman's love. Why? Because the thing he revered in +nature, the spirit, the universal, the life that was God, had +created at his birth or before his birth the three tremendous +instincts of nature -- to fight for life, to feed himself, to +reproduce his kind. That was all there was to it. But oh! the +mystery, the beauty, the torment, and the terror of this third +instinct -- this hunger for the sweetness and the glory of a +woman's love!</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XVI</p> + +<p>Helen Rayner dropped her knitting into her lap and sat +pensively gazing out of the window over the bare yellow ranges of +her uncle's ranch.</p> + +<p>The winter day was bright, but steely, and the wind that +whipped down from the white-capped mountains had a keen, frosty +edge. A scant snow lay in protected places; cattle stood bunched +in the lee of ridges; low sheets of dust scurried across the +flats.</p> + +<p>The big living-room of the ranch-house was warm and +comfortable with its red adobe walls, its huge stone fireplace +where cedar logs blazed, and its many-colored blankets. Bo Rayner +sat before the fire, curled up in an armchair, absorbed in a +book. On the floor lay the hound Pedro, his racy, fine head +stretched toward the warmth.</p> + +<p>"Did uncle call?" asked Helen, with a start out of her +reverie.</p> + +<p>"I didn't hear him," replied Bo.</p> + +<p>Helen rose to tiptoe across the floor, and, softly parting +some curtains, she looked into the room where her uncle lay. He +was asleep. Sometimes he called out in his slumbers. For weeks +now he had been confined to his bed, slowly growing weaker. With +a sigh Helen returned to her window-seat and took up her +work.</p> + +<p>"Bo, the sun is bright," she said. "The days are growing +longer. I'm so glad."</p> + +<p>"Nell, you're always wishing time away. For me it passes +quickly enough," replied the sister.</p> + +<p>"But I love spring and summer and fall -- and I guess I hate +winter," returned Helen, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>The yellow ranges rolled away up to the black ridges and they +in turn swept up to the cold, white mountains. Helen's gaze +seemed to go beyond that snowy barrier. And Bo's keen eyes +studied her sister's earnest, sad face.</p> + +<p>"Nell, do you ever think of Dale?" she queried, suddenly.</p> + +<p>The question startled Helen. A slow blush suffused neck and +cheek.</p> + +<p>"Of course," she replied, as if surprised that Bo should ask +such a thing.</p> + +<p>"I -- I shouldn't have asked that," said Bo, softly, and then +bent again over her book.</p> + +<p>Helen gazed tenderly at that bright, bowed head. In this +swift-flying, eventful, busy winter, during which the management +of the ranch had devolved wholly upon Helen, the little sister +had grown away from her. Bo had insisted upon her own free will +and she had followed it, to the amusement of her uncle, to the +concern of Helen, to the dismay and bewilderment of the faithful +Mexican housekeeper, and to the undoing of all the young men on +the ranch.</p> + +<p>Helen had always been hoping and waiting for a favorable hour +in which she might find this wilful sister once more susceptible +to wise and loving influence. But while she hesitated to speak, +slow footsteps and a jingle of spurs sounded without, and then +came a timid knock. Bo looked up brightly and ran to open the +door.</p> + +<p>"Oh! It's only -- <em>you!</em>" she uttered, in withering +scorn, to the one who knocked.</p> + +<p>Helen thought she could guess who that was.</p> + +<p>"How are you-all?" asked a drawling voice.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mister Carmichael, if that interests you -- I'm quite +ill," replied Bo, freezingly.</p> + +<p>"Ill! Aw no, now?"</p> + +<p>"It's a fact. If I don't die right off I'll have to be taken +back to Missouri," said Bo, casually.</p> + +<p>"Are you goin' to ask me in?" queried Carmichael, bluntly. +"It's cold -- an' I've got somethin' to say to --"</p> + +<p>"To <em>me?</em> Well, you're not backward, I declare," +retorted Bo.</p> + +<p>"Miss Rayner, I reckon it 'll be strange to you -- findin' out +I didn't come to see you."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! No. But what was strange was the deluded idea I had +-- that you meant to apologize to me -- like a gentleman. . . +. Come in, Mr. Carmichael. My sister is here."</p> + +<p>The door closed as Helen turned round. Carmichael stood just +inside with his sombrero in hand, and as he gazed at Bo his lean +face seemed hard. In the few months since autumn he had changed +-- aged, it seemed, and the once young, frank, alert, and +careless cowboy traits had merged into the making of a man. Helen +knew just how much of a man he really was. He had been her +mainstay during all the complex working of the ranch that had +fallen upon her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I reckon you was deluded, all right -- if you thought +I'd crawl like them other lovers of yours," he said, with cool +deliberation.</p> + +<p>Bo turned pale, and her eyes fairly blazed, yet even in what +must have been her fury Helen saw amaze and pain.</p> + +<p>"<em>Other</em> lovers? I think the biggest delusion here is +the way you flatter yourself," replied Bo, stingingly.</p> + +<p>"Me flatter myself? Nope. You don't savvy me. I'm shore hatin' +myself these days."</p> + +<p>"Small wonder. I certainly hate you -- with all my heart!"</p> + +<p>At this retort the cowboy dropped his head and did not see Bo +flaunt herself out of the room. But he heard the door close, and +then slowly came toward Helen.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, Las Vegas," said Helen, smiling. "Bo's +hot-tempered."</p> + +<p>"Miss Nell, I'm just like a dog. The meaner she treats me the +more I love her," he replied, dejectedly.</p> + +<p>To Helen's first instinct of liking for this cowboy there had +been added admiration, respect, and a growing appreciation of +strong, faithful, developing character. Carmichael's face and +hands were red and chapped from winter winds; the leather of +wrist-bands, belt, and boots was all worn shiny and thin; little +streaks of dust fell from him as he breathed heavily. He no +longer looked the dashing cowboy, ready for a dance or lark or +fight.</p> + +<p>"How in the world did you offend her so?" asked Helen. "Bo is +furious. I never saw her so angry as that."</p> + +<p>"Miss Nell, it was jest this way," began Carmichael. "Shore +Bo's knowed I was in love with her. I asked her to marry me an' +she wouldn't say yes or no. . . . An', mean as it sounds -- she +never run away from it, thet's shore. We've had some quarrels -- +two of them bad, an' this last's the worst."</p> + +<p>"Bo told me about one quarrel," said Helen. "It was -- because +you drank -- that time."</p> + +<p>"Shore it was. She took one of her cold spells an' I jest got +drunk."</p> + +<p>"But that was wrong," protested Helen.</p> + +<p>"I ain't so shore. You see, I used to get drunk often -- +before I come here. An' I've been drunk only once. Back at Las +Vegas the outfit would never believe thet. Wal, I promised Bo I +wouldn't do it again, an' I've kept my word."</p> + +<p>"That is fine of you. But tell me, why is she angry now?"</p> + +<p>"Bo makes up to all the fellars," confessed Carmichael, +hanging his head. "I took her to the dance last week -- over in +the town-hall. Thet's the first time she'd gone anywhere with me. +I shore was proud. . . . But thet dance was hell. Bo carried on +somethin' turrible, an' I --"</p> + +<p>"Tell me. What did she do?" demanded Helen, anxiously. "I'm +responsible for her. I've got to see that she behaves."</p> + +<p>"Aw, I ain't sayin' she didn't behave like a lady," replied +Carmichael. "It was -- she -- wal, all them fellars are fools +over her -- an' Bo wasn't true to me."</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, is Bo engaged to you?"</p> + +<p>"Lord -- if she only was!" he sighed.</p> + +<p>"Then how can you say she wasn't true to you? Be +reasonable."</p> + +<p>"I reckon now, Miss Nell, thet no one can be in love an' act +reasonable," rejoined the cowboy. "I don't know how to explain, +but the fact is I feel thet Bo has played the -- the devil with +me an' all the other fellars."</p> + +<p>"You mean she has flirted?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon."</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, I'm afraid you're right," said Helen, with growing +apprehension. "Go on. Tell me what's happened."</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet Turner boy, who rides for Beasley, he was hot after +Bo," returned Carmichael, and he spoke as if memory hurt him. +"Reckon I've no use for Turner. He's a fine-lookin', strappin', +big cow-puncher, an' calculated to win the girls. He brags thet +he can, an' I reckon he's right. Wal, he was always hangin' round +Bo. An' he stole one of my dances with Bo. I only had three, an' +he comes up to say this one was his; Bo, very innocent -- oh, +she's a cute one! -- she says, 'Why, Mister Turner -- is it +really yours?' An' she looked so full of joy thet when he says to +me, 'Excoose us, friend Carmichael,' I sat there like a locoed +jackass an' let them go. But I wasn't mad at thet. He was a +better dancer than me an' I wanted her to have a good time. What +started the hell was I seen him put his arm round her when it +wasn't just time, accordin' to the dance, an' Bo -- she didn't +break any records gettin' away from him. She pushed him away -- +after a little -- after I near died. Wal, on the way home I had +to tell her. I shore did. An' she said what I'd love to forget. +Then -- then, Miss Nell, I grabbed her -- it was outside here by +the porch an' all bright moonlight -- I grabbed her an' hugged +an' kissed her good. When I let her go I says, sorta brave, but I +was plumb scared -- I says, 'Wal, are you goin' to marry me +now?'"</p> + +<p>He concluded with a gulp, and looked at Helen with woe in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh! What did Bo do?" breathlessly queried Helen.</p> + +<p>"She slapped me," he replied. "An' then she says, I did like +you best, but <em>now</em> I hate you!' An' she slammed the door +in my face."</p> + +<p>"I think you made a great mistake," said Helen, gravely.</p> + +<p>"Wal, if I thought so I'd beg her forgiveness. But I reckon I +don't. What's more, I feel better than before. I'm only a cowboy +an' never was much good till I met her. Then I braced. I got to +havin' hopes, studyin' books, an' you know how I've been lookin' +into this ranchin' game. I stopped drinkin' an' saved my money. +Wal, she knows all thet. Once she said she was proud of me. But +it didn't seem to count big with her. An' if it can't count big I +don't want it to count at all. I reckon the madder Bo is at me +the more chance I've got. She knows I love her -- thet I'd die +for her -- thet I'm a changed man. An' she knows I never before +thought of darin' to touch her hand. An' she knows she flirted +with Turner."</p> + +<p>"She's only a child," replied Helen. "And all this change -- +the West -- the wildness -- and you boys making much of her -- +why, it's turned her head. But Bo will come out of it true blue. +She is good, loving. Her heart is gold."</p> + +<p>"I reckon I know, an' my faith can't be shook," rejoined +Carmichael, simply. "But she ought to believe thet she'll make +bad blood out here. The West is the West. Any kind of girls are +scarce. An' one like Bo -- Lord! we cowboys never seen none to +compare with her. She'll make bad blood an' some of it will be +spilled."</p> + +<p>"Uncle Al encourages her," said Helen, apprehensively. "It +tickles him to hear how the boys are after her. Oh, she doesn't +tell him. But he hears. And I, who must stand in mother's place +to her, what can I do?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Nell, are you on my side?" asked the cowboy, wistfully. +He was strong and elemental, caught in the toils of some power +beyond him.</p> + +<p>Yesterday Helen might have hesitated at that question. But +to-day Carmichael brought some proven quality of loyalty, some +strange depth of rugged sincerity, as if she had learned his +future worth.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," Helen replied, earnestly. And she offered her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Wal, then it 'll shore turn out happy," he said, squeezing +her hand. His smile was grateful, but there was nothing in it of +the victory he hinted at. Some of his ruddy color had gone. "An' +now I want to tell you why I come."</p> + +<p>He had lowered his voice. "Is Al asleep?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Helen. "He was a little while ago."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'd better shut his door."</p> + +<p>Helen watched the cowboy glide across the room and carefully +close the door, then return to her with intent eyes. She sensed +events in his look, and she divined suddenly that he must feel as +if he were her brother.</p> + +<p>"Shore I'm the one thet fetches all the bad news to you," he +said, regretfully.</p> + +<p>Helen caught her breath. There had indeed been many little +calamities to mar her management of the ranch -- loss of cattle, +horses, sheep -- the desertion of herders to Beasley -- failure +of freighters to arrive when most needed -- fights among the +cowboys -- and disagreements over long-arranged deals.</p> + +<p>"Your uncle Al makes a heap of this here Jeff Mulvey," +asserted Carmichael.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. Uncle absolutely relies on Jeff," replied +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I hate to tell you, Miss Nell," said the cowboy, +bitterly, "thet Mulvey ain't the man he seems."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"When your uncle dies Mulvey is goin' over to Beasley an' he's +goin' to take all the fellars who'll stick to him."</p> + +<p>"Could Jeff be so faithless -- after so many years my uncle's +foreman? Oh, how do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon I guessed long ago. But wasn't shore. Miss Nell, +there's a lot in the wind lately, as poor old Al grows weaker. +Mulvey has been particular friendly to me an' I've nursed him +along, 'cept I wouldn't drink. An' his pards have been particular +friends with me, too, more an' more as I loosened up. You see, +they was shy of me when I first got here. To-day the whole deal +showed clear to me like a hoof track in soft ground. Bud Lewis, +who's bunked with me, come out an' tried to win me over to +Beasley -- soon as Auchincloss dies. I palavered with Bud an' I +wanted to know. But Bud would only say he was goin' along with +Jeff an' others of the outfit. I told him I'd reckon over it an' +let him know. He thinks I'll come round."</p> + +<p>"Why -- why will these men leave me when -- when -- Oh, poor +uncle! They bargain on his death. But why -- tell me why?"</p> + +<p>"Beasley has worked on them -- won them over," replied +Carmichael, grimly. "After Al dies the ranch will go to you. +Beasley means to have it. He an' Al was pards once, an' now +Beasley has most folks here believin' he got the short end of +thet deal. He'll have papers -- shore -- an' he'll have most of +the men. So he'll just put you off an' take possession. Thet's +all, Miss Nell, an' you can rely on its bein' true."</p> + +<p>"I -- I believe you -- but I can't believe such -- such +robbery possible," gasped Helen.</p> + +<p>"It's simple as two an' two. Possession is law out here. Once +Beasley gets on the ground it's settled. What could you do with +no men to fight for your property?"</p> + +<p>"But, surely, some of the men will stay with me?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon. But not enough."</p> + +<p>"Then I can hire more. The Beeman boys. And Dale would come to +help me."</p> + +<p>"Dale would come. An' he'd help a heap. I wish he was here," +replied Carmichael, soberly. "But there's no way to get him. He's +snowed-up till May."</p> + +<p>"I dare not confide in uncle," said Helen, with agitation. +"The shock might kill him. Then to tell him of the unfaithfulness +of his old men -- that would be cruel. . . . Oh, it can't be so +bad as you think."</p> + +<p>"I reckon it couldn't be no worse. An' -- Miss Nell, there's +only one way to get out of it -- an' thet's the way of the +West."</p> + +<p>"How?" queried Helen, eagerly.</p> + +<p>Carmichael lunged himself erect and stood gazing down at her. +He seemed completely detached now from that frank, amiable cowboy +of her first impressions. The redness was totally gone from his +face. Something strange and cold and sure looked out of his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"I seen Beasley go in the saloon as I rode past. Suppose I go +down there, pick a quarrel with him -- an' kill him?"</p> + +<p>Helen sat bolt-upright with a cold shock.</p> + +<p>"Carmichael! you're not serious?" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Serious? I shore am. Thet's the only way, Miss Nell. An' I +reckon it's what Al would want. An' between you an' me -- it +would be easier than ropin' a calf. These fellars round Pine +don't savvy guns. Now, I come from where guns mean somethin'. An' +when I tell you I can throw a gun slick an' fast, why I shore +ain't braggin'. You needn't worry none about me, Miss Nell."</p> + +<p>Helen grasped that he had taken the signs of her shocked +sensibility to mean she feared for his life. But what had +sickened her was the mere idea of bloodshed in her behalf.</p> + +<p>"You'd -- kill Beasley -- just because there are rumors of his +-- treachery?" gasped Helen.</p> + +<p>"Shore. It'll have to be done, anyhow," replied the +cowboy.</p> + +<p>"No! No! It's too dreadful to think of. Why, that would be +murder. I -- I can't understand how you speak of it -- so -- so +calmly."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I ain't doin' it calmly. I'm as mad as hell," said +Carmichael, with a reckless smile.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you are serious then, I say no -- no -- no! I forbid +you. I don't believe I'll be robbed of my property."</p> + +<p>"Wal, supposin' Beasley does put you off -- an' takes +possession. What 're you goin' to say then?" demanded the cowboy, +in slow, cool deliberation.</p> + +<p>"I'd say the same then as now," she replied.</p> + +<p>He bent his head thoughtfully while his red hands smoothed his +sombrero.</p> + +<p>"Shore you girls haven't been West very long," he muttered, as +if apologizing for them. "An' I reckon it takes time to learn the +ways of a country."</p> + +<p>"West or no West, I won't have fights deliberately picked, and +men shot, even if they do threaten me," declared Helen, +positively.</p> + +<p>"All right, Miss Nell, shore I respect your wishes," he +returned. "But I'll tell you this. If Beasley turns you an' Bo +out of your home -- wal, I'll look him up on my own account."</p> + +<p>Helen could only gaze at him as he backed to the door, and she +thrilled and shuddered at what seemed his loyalty to her, his +love for Bo, and that which was inevitable in himself.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you might save us all some trouble -- now if you'd -- +just get mad -- an' let me go after thet greaser."</p> + +<p>"Greaser! Do you mean Beasley?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. He's a half-breed. He was born in Magdalena, where I +heard folks say nary one of his parents was no good."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't matter. I'm thinking of humanity of law and +order. Of what is right."</p> + +<p>"Wal, Miss Nell, I'll wait till you get real mad -- or till +Beasley --"</p> + +<p>"But, my friend, I'll not get mad," interrupted Helen. "I'll +keep my temper."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet you don't," he retorted. "Mebbe you think you've +none of Bo in you. But I'll bet you could get so mad -- once you +started -- thet you'd be turrible. What 've you got them eyes +for, Miss Nell, if you ain't an Auchincloss?"</p> + +<p>He was smiling, yet he meant every word. Helen felt the truth +as something she feared.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, I won't bet. But you -- you will always come to me +-- first -- if there's trouble."</p> + +<p>"I promise," he replied, soberly, and then went out.</p> + +<p>Helen found that she was trembling, and that there was a +commotion in her breast. Carmichael had frightened her. No longer +did she hold doubt of the gravity of the situation. She had seen +Beasley often, several times close at hand, and once she had been +forced to meet him. That time had convinced her that he had +evinced personal interest in her. And on this account, coupled +with the fact that Riggs appeared to have nothing else to do but +shadow her, she had been slow in developing her intention of +organizing and teaching a school for the children of Pine. Riggs +had become rather a doubtful celebrity in the settlements. Yet +his bold, apparent badness had made its impression. From all +reports he spent his time gambling, drinking, and bragging. It +was no longer news in Pine what his intentions were toward Helen +Rayner. Twice he had ridden up to the ranch-house, upon one +occasion securing an interview with Helen. In spite of her +contempt and indifference, he was actually influencing her life +there in Pine. And it began to appear that the other man, +Beasley, might soon direct stronger significance upon the liberty +of her actions.</p> + +<p>The responsibility of the ranch had turned out to be a heavy +burden. It could not be managed, at least by her, in the way +Auchincloss wanted it done. He was old, irritable, irrational, +and hard. Almost all the neighbors were set against him, and +naturally did not take kindly to Helen.</p> + +<p>She had not found the slightest evidence of unfair dealing on +the part of her uncle, but he had been a hard driver. Then his +shrewd, far-seeing judgment had made all his deals fortunate for +him, which fact had not brought a profit of friendship.</p> + +<p>Of late, since Auchincloss had grown weaker and less +dominating, Helen had taken many decisions upon herself, with +gratifying and hopeful results. But the wonderful happiness that +she had expected to find in the West still held aloof. The memory +of Paradise Park seemed only a dream, sweeter and more intangible +as time passed, and fuller of vague regrets. Bo was a comfort, +but also a very considerable source of anxiety. She might have +been a help to Helen if she had not assimilated Western ways so +swiftly. Helen wished to decide things in her own way, which was +as yet quite far from Western. So Helen had been thrown more and +more upon her own resources, with the cowboy Carmichael the only +one who had come forward voluntarily to her aid.</p> + +<p>For an hour Helen sat alone in the room, looking out of the +window, and facing stern reality with a colder, graver, keener +sense of intimacy than ever before. To hold her property and to +live her life in this community according to her ideas of +honesty, justice, and law might well be beyond her powers. To-day +she had been convinced that she could not do so without fighting +for them, and to fight she must have friends. That conviction +warmed her toward Carmichael, and a thoughtful consideration of +all he had done for her proved that she had not fully appreciated +him. She would make up for her oversight.</p> + +<p>There were no Mormons in her employ, for the good reason that +Auchincloss would not hire them. But in one of his kindlier +hours, growing rare now, he had admitted that the Mormons were +the best and the most sober, faithful workers on the ranges, and +that his sole objection to them was just this fact of their +superiority. Helen decided to hire the four Beemans and any of +their relatives or friends who would come; and to do this, if +possible, without letting her uncle know. His temper now, as well +as his judgment, was a hindrance to efficiency. This decision +regarding the Beemans; brought Helen back to Carmichael's fervent +wish for Dale, and then to her own.</p> + +<p>Soon spring would be at hand, with its multiplicity of range +tasks. Dale had promised to come to Pine then, and Helen knew +that promise would be kept. Her heart beat a little faster, in +spite of her business-centered thoughts. Dale was there, over the +black-sloped, snowy-tipped mountain, shut away from the world. +Helen almost envied him. No wonder he loved loneliness, solitude, +the sweet, wild silence and beauty of Paradise Park! But he was +selfish, and Helen meant to show him that. She needed his help. +When she recalled his physical prowess with animals, and imagined +what it must be in relation to men, she actually smiled at the +thought of Beasley forcing her off her property, if Dale were +there. Beasley would only force disaster upon himself. Then Helen +experienced a quick shock. Would Dale answer to this situation as +Carmichael had answered? It afforded her relief to assure herself +to the contrary. The cowboy was one of a blood-letting breed; the +hunter was a man of thought, gentleness, humanity. This situation +was one of the kind that had made him despise the littleness of +men. Helen assured herself that he was different from her uncle +and from the cowboy, in all the relations of life which she had +observed while with him. But a doubt lingered in her mind. She +remembered his calm reference to Snake Anson, and that caused a +recurrence of the little shiver Carmichael had given her. When +the doubt augmented to a possibility that she might not be able +to control Dale, then she tried not to think of it any more. It +confused and perplexed her that into her mind should flash a +thought that, though it would be dreadful for Carmichael to kill +Beasley, for Dale to do it would be a calamity -- a terrible +thing. Helen did not analyze that strange thought. She was as +afraid of it as she was of the stir in her blood when she +visualized Dale.</p> + +<p>Her meditation was interrupted by Bo, who entered the room, +rebellious-eyed and very lofty. Her manner changed, which +apparently owed its cause to the fact that Helen was alone.</p> + +<p>"Is that -- cowboy gone?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. He left quite some time ago," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>"I wondered if he made your eyes shine -- your color burn so. +Nell, you're just beautiful."</p> + +<p>"Is my face burning?" asked Helen, with a little laugh. "So it +is. Well, Bo, you've no cause for jealousy. Las Vegas can't be +blamed for my blushes."</p> + +<p>"Jealous! Me? Of that wild-eyed, soft-voiced, two-faced +cow-puncher? I guess not, Nell Rayner. What 'd he say about +me?"</p> + +<p>"Bo, he said a lot," replied Helen, reflectively. "I'll tell +you presently. First I want to ask you -- has Carmichael ever +told you how he's helped me?"</p> + +<p>"No! When I see him -- which hasn't been often lately -- he -- +I -- Well, we fight. Nell, has he helped you?"</p> + +<p>Helen smiled in faint amusement. She was going to be sincere, +but she meant to keep her word to the cowboy. The fact was that +reflection had acquainted her with her indebtedness to +Carmichael.</p> + +<p>"Bo, you've been so wild to ride half-broken mustangs -- and +carry on with cowboys -- and read -- and sew -- and keep your +secrets that you've had no time for your sister or her +troubles."</p> + +<p>"Nell!" burst out Bo, in amaze and pain. She flew to Helen and +seized her hands. "What 're you saying?"</p> + +<p>"It's all true," replied Helen, thrilling and softening. This +sweet sister, once aroused, would be hard to resist. Helen +imagined she should hold to her tone of reproach and +severity.</p> + +<p>"Sure it's true," cried Bo, fiercely. "But what's my fooling +got to do with the -- the rest you said? Nell, are you keeping +things from me?"</p> + +<p>"My dear, I never get any encouragement to tell you my +troubles."</p> + +<p>"But I've -- I've nursed uncle -- sat up with him -- just the +same as you," said Bo, with quivering lips.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you've been good to him."</p> + +<p>"We've no other troubles, have we, Nell?"</p> + +<p>"You haven't, but I have," responded Helen, reproachfully.</p> + +<p>"Why -- why didn't you tell me?" cried Bo, passionately. "What +are they? Tell me now. You must think me a -- a selfish, hateful +cat."</p> + +<p>"Bo, I've had much to worry me -- and the worst is yet to +come," replied Helen. Then she told Bo how complicated and +bewildering was the management of a big ranch -- when the owner +was ill, testy, defective in memory, and hard as steel -- when he +had hoards of gold and notes, but could not or would not remember +his obligations -- when the neighbor ranchers had just claims -- +when cowboys and sheep-herders were discontented, and wrangled +among themselves -- when great herds of cattle and flocks of +sheep had to be fed in winter -- when supplies had to be +continually freighted across a muddy desert and lastly, when an +enemy rancher was slowly winning away the best hands with the end +in view of deliberately taking over the property when the owner +died. Then Helen told how she had only that day realized the +extent of Carmichael's advice and help and labor -- how, indeed, +he had been a brother to her -- how --</p> + +<p>But at this juncture Bo buried her face in Helen's breast and +began to cry wildly.</p> + +<p>"I -- I -- don't want -- to hear -- any more," she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"Well, you've got to hear it," replied Helen, inexorably "I +want you to know how he's stood by me."</p> + +<p>"But I hate him."</p> + +<p>"Bo, I suspect that's not true."</p> + +<p>"I do -- I do."</p> + +<p>"Well, you act and talk very strangely then."</p> + +<p>"Nell Rayner -- are -- you -- you sticking up for that -- that +devil?"</p> + +<p>"I am, yes, so far as it concerns my conscience," rejoined +Helen, earnestly. "I never appreciated him as he deserved -- not +until now. He's a man, Bo, every inch of him. I've seen him grow +up to that in three months. I'd never have gotten along without +him. I think he's fine, manly, big. I --"</p> + +<p>"I'll bet -- he's made love -- to you, too," replied Bo, +woefully.</p> + +<p>"Talk sense," said Helen, sharply. "He has been a brother to +me. But, Bo Rayner, if he <em>had</em> made love to me I -- I +might have appreciated it more than you."</p> + +<p>Bo raised her face, flushed in part and also pale, with +tear-wet cheeks and the telltale blaze in the blue eyes.</p> + +<p>"I've been wild about that fellow. But I hate him, too," she +said, with flashing spirit. "And I want to go on hating him. So +don't tell me any more."</p> + +<p>Whereupon Helen briefly and graphically related how Carmichael +had offered to kill Beasley, as the only way to save her +property, and how, when she refused, that he threatened he would +do it anyhow.</p> + +<p>Bo fell over with a gasp and clung to Helen.</p> + +<p>"Oh -- Nell! Oh, now I love him more than -- ever," she cried, +in mingled rage and despair.</p> + +<p>Helen clasped her closely and tried to comfort her as in the +old days, not so very far back, when troubles were not so serious +as now.</p> + +<p>"Of course you love him," she concluded. "I guessed that long +ago. And I'm glad. But you've been wilful -- foolish. You +wouldn't surrender to it. You wanted your fling with the other +boys. You're -- Oh, Bo, I fear you have been a sad little +flirt."</p> + +<p>"I -- I wasn't very bad till -- till he got bossy. Why, Nell, +he acted -- right off -- just as if he <em>owned</em> me. But he +didn't. . . . And to show him -- I -- I really did flirt with +that Turner fellow. Then he -- he insulted me. . . . Oh, I hate +him!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Bo. You can't hate any one while you love him," +protested Helen.</p> + +<p>"Much you know about that," flashed Bo. "You just can! Look +here. Did you ever see a cowboy rope and throw and tie up a mean +horse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have."</p> + +<p>"Do you have any idea how strong a cowboy is -- how his hands +and arms are like iron?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm sure I know that, too."</p> + +<p>"And how savage he is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And how he goes at anything he wants to do?"</p> + +<p>"I must admit cowboys are abrupt," responded Helen, with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss Rayner, did you ever -- when you were standing +quiet like a lady -- did you ever have a cowboy dive at you with +a terrible lunge -- grab you and hold you so you couldn't move or +breathe or scream -- hug you till all your bones cracked -- and +kiss you so fierce and so hard that you wanted to kill him and +die?"</p> + +<p>Helen had gradually drawn back from this blazing-eyed, +eloquent sister, and when the end of that remarkable question +came it was impossible to reply.</p> + +<p>"There! I see you never had that done to you," resumed Bo, +with satisfaction. "So don't ever talk to me."</p> + +<p>"I've heard his side of the story," said Helen, +constrainedly.</p> + +<p>With a start Bo sat up straighter, as if better to defend +herself.</p> + +<p>"Oh! So you have? And I suppose you'll take his part -- even +about that -- that bearish trick."</p> + +<p>"No. I think that rude and bold. But, Bo, I don't believe he +meant to be either rude or bold. From what he confessed to me I +gather that he believed he'd lose you outright or win you +outright by that violence. It seems girls can't play at love out +here in this wild West. He said there would be blood shed over +you. I begin to realize what he meant. He's not sorry for what he +did. Think how strange that is. For he has the instincts of a +gentleman. He's kind, gentle, chivalrous. Evidently he had tried +every way to win your favor except any familiar advance. He did +that as a last resort. In my opinion his motives were to force +you to accept or refuse him, and in case you refused him he'd +always have those forbidden stolen kisses to assuage his +self-respect -- when he thought of Turner or any one else daring +to be familiar with you. Bo, I see through Carmichael, even if I +don't make him clear to you. You've got to be honest with +yourself. Did that act of his win or lose you? In other words, do +you love him or not?"</p> + +<p>Bo hid her face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nell! it made me see how I loved him -- and that made me +so -- so sick I hated him. . . . But now -- the hate is all +gone."</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XVII</p> + +<p>When spring came at last and the willows drooped green and +fresh over the brook and the range rang with bray of burro and +whistle of stallion, old Al Auchincloss had been a month in his +grave.</p> + +<p>To Helen it seemed longer. The month had been crowded with +work, events, and growing, more hopeful duties, so that it +contained a world of living. The uncle had not been forgotten, +but the innumerable restrictions to development and progress were +no longer manifest. Beasley had not presented himself or any +claim upon Helen; and she, gathering confidence day by day, began +to believe all that purport of trouble had been exaggerated.</p> + +<p>In this time she had come to love her work and all that +pertained to it. The estate was large. She had no accurate +knowledge of how many acres she owned, but it was more than two +thousand. The fine, old, rambling ranch-house, set like a fort on +the last of the foot-hills, corrals and fields and barns and +meadows, and the rolling green range beyond, and innumerable +sheep, horses, cattle -- all these belonged to Helen, to her +ever-wondering realization and ever-growing joy. Still, she was +afraid to let herself go and be perfectly happy. Always there was +the fear that had been too deep and strong to forget so soon.</p> + +<p>This bright, fresh morning, in March, Helen came out upon the +porch to revel a little in the warmth of sunshine and the crisp, +pine-scented wind that swept down from the mountains. There was +never a morning that she did not gaze mountainward, trying to +see, with a folly she realized, if the snow had melted more +perceptibly away on the bold white ridge. For all she could see +it had not melted an inch, and she would not confess why she +sighed. The desert had become green and fresh, stretching away +there far below her range, growing dark and purple in the +distance with vague buttes rising. The air was full of sound -- +notes of blackbirds and the baas of sheep, and blasts from the +corrals, and the clatter of light hoofs on the court below.</p> + +<p>Bo was riding in from the stables. Helen loved to watch her on +one of those fiery little mustangs, but the sight was likewise +given to rousing apprehensions. This morning Bo appeared +particularly bent on frightening Helen. Down the lane Carmichael +appeared, waving his arms, and Helen at once connected him with +Bo's manifest desire to fly away from that particular place. +Since that day, a month back, when Bo had confessed her love for +Carmichael, she and Helen had not spoken of it or of the cowboy. +The boy and girl were still at odds. But this did not worry +Helen. Bo had changed much for the better, especially in that she +devoted herself to Helen and to her work. Helen knew that all +would turn out well in the end, and so she had been careful of +her rather precarious position between these two young +firebrands.</p> + +<p>Bo reined in the mustang at the porch steps. She wore a +buckskin riding-suit which she had made herself, and its soft +gray with the touches of red beads was mightily becoming to her. +Then she had grown considerably during the winter and now looked +too flashing and pretty to resemble a boy, yet singularly healthy +and strong and lithe. Red spots shone in her cheeks and her eyes +held that ever-dangerous blaze.</p> + +<p>"Nell, did you give me away to that cowboy?" she demanded.</p> + +<p>"Give you away!" exclaimed Helen, blankly.</p> + +<p>"Yes. You know I told you -- awhile back -- that I was wildly +in love with him. Did you give me away -- tell on me?"</p> + +<p>She might have been furious, but she certainly was not +confused.</p> + +<p>"Why, Bo! How could you? No. I did not," replied Helen.</p> + +<p>"Never gave him a hint?"</p> + +<p>"Not even a hint. You have my word for that. Why? What's +happened?"</p> + +<p>"He makes me sick."</p> + +<p>Bo would not say any more, owing to the near approach of the +cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Mawnin', Miss Nell," he drawled. "I was just tellin' this +here Miss Bo-Peep Rayner --"</p> + +<p>"Don't call me that!" broke in Bo, with fire in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I was just tellin' her thet she wasn't goin' off on any +more of them long rides. Honest now, Miss Nell, it ain't safe, +an' --"</p> + +<p>"You're not my boss," retorted Bo.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, sister, I agree with him. You won't obey me."</p> + +<p>"Reckon some one's got to be your boss," drawled Carmichael. +"Shore I ain't hankerin' for the job. You could ride to Kingdom +Come or off among the Apaches -- or over here a ways" -- at this +he grinned knowingly -- "or anywheres, for all I cared. But I'm +workin' for Miss Nell, an' she's boss. An' if she says you're not +to take them rides -- you won't. Savvy that, miss?"</p> + +<p>It was a treat for Helen to see Bo look at the cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Mis-ter Carmichael, may I ask how you are going to prevent me +from riding where I like?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, if you're goin' worse locoed this way I'll keep you +off'n a hoss if I have to rope you an' tie you up. By golly, I +will!"</p> + +<p>His dry humor was gone and manifestly he meant what he +said.</p> + +<p>"Wal," she drawled it very softly and sweetly, but venomously, +"if -- you -- ever -- touch -- me again!"</p> + +<p>At this he flushed, then made a quick, passionate gesture with +his hand, expressive of heat and shame.</p> + +<p>"You an' me will never get along," he said, with a dignity +full of pathos. "I seen thet a month back when you changed +sudden-like to me. But nothin' I say to you has any reckonin' of +mine. I'm talkin' for your sister. It's for her sake. An' your +own. . . . I never told her an' I never told you thet I've seen +Riggs sneakin' after you twice on them desert rides. Wal, I tell +you now."</p> + +<p>The intelligence apparently had not the slightest effect on +Bo. But Helen was astonished and alarmed.</p> + +<p>"Riggs! Oh, Bo, I've seen him myself -- riding around. He does +not mean well. You must be careful."</p> + +<p>"If I ketch him again," went on Carmichael, with his mouth +lining hard, "I'm goin' after him."</p> + +<p>He gave her a cool, intent, piercing look, then he dropped his +head and turned away, to stride back toward the corrals.</p> + +<p>Helen could make little of the manner in which her sister +watched the cowboy pass out of sight.</p> + +<p>"A month back -- when I changed sudden-like," mused Bo. "I +wonder what he meant by that. . . . Nell, did I change -- right +after the talk you had with me -- about him?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed you did, Bo," replied Helen. "But it was for the +better. Only he can't see it. How proud and sensitive he is! You +wouldn't guess it at first. Bo, your reserve has wounded him more +than your flirting. He thinks it's indifference."</p> + +<p>"Maybe that 'll be good for him," declared Bo. "Does he expect +me to fall on his neck? He's that thick-headed! Why, he's the +locoed one, not me."</p> + +<p>"I'd like to ask you, Bo, if you've seen how he has changed?" +queried Helen, earnestly. "He's older. He's worried. Either his +heart is breaking for you or else he fears trouble for us. I fear +it's both. How he watches you! Bo, he knows all you do -- where +you go. That about Riggs sickens me."</p> + +<p>"If Riggs follows me and tries any of his four-flush desperado +games he'll have his hands full," said Bo, grimly. "And that +without my cowboy protector! But I just wish Riggs would do +something. Then we'll see what Las Vegas Tom Carmichael cares. +Then we'll see!"</p> + +<p>Bo bit out the last words passionately and jealously, then she +lifted her bridle to the spirited mustang.</p> + +<p>"Nell, don't you fear for me," she said. "I can take care of +myself."</p> + +<p>Helen watched her ride away, all but willing to confess that +there might be truth in what Bo said. Then Helen went about her +work, which consisted of routine duties as well as an earnest +study to familiarize herself with continually new and complex +conditions of ranch life. Every day brought new problems. She +made notes of all that she observed, and all that was told her, +which habit she had found, after a few weeks of trial, was going +to be exceedingly valuable to her. She did not intend always to +be dependent upon the knowledge of hired men, however faithful +some of them might be.</p> + +<p>This morning on her rounds she had expected developments of +some kind, owing to the presence of Roy Beeman and two of his +brothers, who had arrived yesterday. And she was to discover that +Jeff Mulvey, accompanied by six of his co-workers and associates, +had deserted her without a word or even sending for their pay. +Carmichael had predicted this. Helen had half doubted. It was a +relief now to be confronted with facts, however disturbing. She +had fortified herself to withstand a great deal more trouble than +had happened. At the gateway of the main corral, a huge inclosure +fenced high with peeled logs, she met Roy Beeman, lasso in hand, +the same tall, lean, limping figure she remembered so well. Sight +of him gave her an inexplicable thrill -- a flashing memory of an +unforgettable night ride. Roy was to have charge of the horses on +the ranch, of which there were several hundred, not counting many +lost on range and mountain, or the unbranded colts.</p> + +<p>Roy took off his sombrero and greeted her. This Mormon had a +courtesy for women that spoke well for him. Helen wished she had +more employees like him.</p> + +<p>"It's jest as Las Vegas told us it 'd be," he said, +regretfully. "Mulvey an' his pards lit out this mornin'. I'm +sorry, Miss Helen. Reckon thet's all because I come over."</p> + +<p>"I heard the news," replied Helen. "You needn't be sorry, Roy, +for I'm not. I'm glad. I want to know whom I can trust."</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas says we're shore in for it now."</p> + +<p>"Roy, what do you think?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon so. Still, Las Vegas is powerful cross these days +an' always lookin' on the dark side. With us boys, now, it's +sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. But, Miss Helen, if +Beasley forces the deal there will be serious trouble. I've seen +thet happen. Four or five years ago Beasley rode some greasers +off their farms an' no one ever knowed if he had a just +claim."</p> + +<p>"Beasley has no claim on my property. My uncle solemnly swore +that on his death-bed. And I find nothing in his books or papers +of those years when he employed Beasley. In fact, Beasley was +never uncle's partner. The truth is that my uncle took Beasley up +when he was a poor, homeless boy."</p> + +<p>"So my old dad says," replied Roy. "But what's right don't +always prevail in these parts."</p> + +<p>"Roy, you're the keenest man I've met since I came West. Tell +me what you think will happen."</p> + +<p>Beeman appeared flattered, but he hesitated to reply. Helen +had long been aware of the reticence of these outdoor men.</p> + +<p>"I reckon you mean cause an' effect, as Milt Dale would say," +responded Roy, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"Yes. If Beasley attempts to force me off my ranch what will +happen?"</p> + +<p>Roy looked up and met her gaze. Helen remembered that singular +stillness, intentness of his face.</p> + +<p>"Wal, if Dale an' John get here in time I reckon we can bluff +thet Beasley outfit."</p> + +<p>"You mean my friends -- my men would confront Beasley -- +refuse his demands -- and if necessary fight him off?"</p> + +<p>"I shore do," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>"But suppose you're not all here? Beasley would be smart +enough to choose an opportune time. Suppose he did put me off and +take possession? What then?"</p> + +<p>"Then it 'd only be a matter of how soon Dale or Carmichael -- +or I -- got to Beasley."</p> + +<p>"Roy! I feared just that. It haunts me. Carmichael asked me to +let him go pick a fight with Beasley. Asked me, just as he would +ask me about his work! I was shocked. And now you say Dale -- and +you --"</p> + +<p>Helen choked in her agitation.</p> + +<p>"Miss Helen, what else could you look for? Las Vegas is in +love with Miss Bo. Shore he told me so. An' Dale's in love with +you! . . . Why, you couldn't stop them any more 'n you could stop +the wind from blowin' down a pine, when it got ready. . . . Now, +it's some different with me. I'm a Mormon an' I'm married. But +I'm Dale's pard, these many years. An' I care a powerful sight +for you an' Miss Bo. So I reckon I'd draw on Beasley the first +chance I got."</p> + +<p>Helen strove for utterance, but it was denied her. Roy's +simple statement of Dale's love had magnified her emotion by +completely changing its direction. She forgot what she had felt +wretched about. She could not look at Roy.</p> + +<p>"Miss Helen, don't feel bad," he said, kindly. "Shore you're +not to blame. Your comin' West hasn't made any difference in +Beasley's fate, except mebbe to hurry it a little. My dad is old, +an' when he talks it's like history. He looks back on happenin's. +Wal, it's the nature of happenin's that Beasley passes away +before his prime. Them of his breed don't live old in the West. . +. . So I reckon you needn't feel bad or worry. You've got +friends."</p> + +<p>Helen incoherently thanked him, and, forgetting her usual +round of corrals and stables, she hurried back toward the house, +deeply stirred, throbbing and dim-eyed, with a feeling she could +not control. Roy Beeman had made a statement that had upset her +equilibrium. It seemed simple and natural, yet momentous and +staggering. To hear that Dale loved her -- to hear it spoken +frankly, earnestly, by Dale's best friend, was strange, sweet, +terrifying. But was it true? Her own consciousness had admitted +it. Yet that was vastly different from a man's open statement. No +longer was it a dear dream, a secret that seemed hers alone. How +she had lived on that secret hidden deep in her breast!</p> + +<p>Something burned the dimness from her eyes as she looked +toward the mountains and her sight became clear, telescopic with +its intensity. Magnificently the mountains loomed. Black inroads +and patches on the slopes showed where a few days back all bad +been white. The snow was melting fast. Dale would soon be free to +ride down to Pine. And that was an event Helen prayed for, yet +feared as she had never feared anything.<br> +</p> + +<p>The noonday dinner-bell startled Helen from a reverie that was +a pleasant aftermath of her unrestraint. How the hours had flown! +This morning at least must be credited to indolence.</p> + +<p>Bo was not in the dining-room, nor in her own room, nor was +she in sight from window or door. This absence had occurred +before, but not particularly to disturb Helen. In this instance, +however, she grew worried. Her nerves presaged strain. There was +an overcharge of sensibility in her feelings or a strange +pressure in the very atmosphere. She ate dinner alone, looking +her apprehension, which was not mitigated by the expressive fears +of old Maria, the Mexican woman who served her.</p> + +<p>After dinner she sent word to Roy and Carmichael that they had +better ride out to look for Bo. Then Helen applied herself +resolutely to her books until a rapid clatter of hoofs out in the +court caused her to jump up and hurry to the porch. Roy was +riding in.</p> + +<p>"Did you find her?" queried Helen, hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't no track or sign of her up the north range," replied +Roy, as he dismounted and threw his bridle. "An' I was ridin' +back to take up her tracks from the corral an' trail her. But I +seen Las Vegas comin' an' he waved his sombrero. He was comin' up +from the south. There he is now."</p> + +<p>Carmichael appeared swinging into the lane. He was mounted on +Helen's big black Ranger, and he made the dust fly.</p> + +<p>"Wal, he's seen her, thet's shore," vouchsafed Roy, with +relief, as Carmichael rode up.</p> + +<p>"Miss Nell, she's comin'," said the cowboy, as he reined in +and slid down with his graceful single motion. Then in a violent +action, characteristic of him, he slammed his sombrero down on +the porch and threw up both arms. "I've a hunch it's come +off!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, what?" exclaimed Helen.</p> + +<p>"Now, Las Vegas, talk sense," expostulated Roy. "Miss Helen is +shore nervous to-day. Has anythin' happened?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon, but I don't know what," replied Carmichael, drawing +a long breath. "Folks, I must be gettin' old. For I shore felt +orful queer till I seen Bo. She was ridin' down the ridge across +the valley. Ridin' some fast, too, an' she'll be here right off, +if she doesn't stop in the village."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I hear her comin' now," said Roy. "An' -- if you asked +me I'd say she <em>was</em> ridin' some fast."</p> + +<p>Helen heard the light, swift, rhythmic beat of hoofs, and then +out on the curve of the road that led down to Pine she saw Bo's +mustang, white with lather, coming on a dead run.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, do you see any Apaches?" asked Roy, +quizzingly.</p> + +<p>The cowboy made no reply, but he strode out from the porch, +directly in front of the mustang. Bo was pulling hard on the +bridle, and had him slowing down, but not controlled. When he +reached the house it could easily be seen that Bo had pulled him +to the limit of her strength, which was not enough to halt him. +Carmichael lunged for the bridle and, seizing it, hauled him to a +standstill.</p> + +<p>At close sight of Bo Helen uttered a startled cry. Bo was +white; her sombrero was gone and her hair undone; there were +blood and dirt on her face, and her riding-suit was torn and +muddy. She had evidently sustained a fall. Roy gazed at her in +admiring consternation, but Carmichael never looked at her at +all. Apparently he was examining the horse. "Well, help me off -- +somebody," cried Bo, peremptorily. Her voice was weak, but not +her spirit.</p> + +<p>Roy sprang to help her off, and when she was down it developed +that she was lame.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bo! You've had a tumble," exclaimed Helen, anxiously, and +she ran to assist Roy. They led her up the porch and to the door. +There she turned to look at Carmichael, who was still examining +the spent mustang.</p> + +<p>"Tell him -- to come in," she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Hey, there, Las Vegas!" called Roy. "Rustle hyar, will +you?"</p> + +<p>When Bo had been led into the sitting-room and seated in a +chair Carmichael entered. His face was a study, as slowly he +walked up to Bo.</p> + +<p>"Girl, you -- ain't hurt?" he asked, huskily.</p> + +<p>"It's no fault of yours that I'm not crippled -- or dead or +worse," retorted Bo. "You said the south range was the only safe +ride for me. And there -- I -- it happened."</p> + +<p>She panted a little and her bosom heaved. One of her gauntlets +was gone, and the bare band, that was bruised and bloody, +trembled as she held it out.</p> + +<p>"Dear, tell us -- are you badly hurt?" queried Helen, with +hurried gentleness.</p> + +<p>"Not much. I've had a spill," replied Bo. "But oh! I'm mad -- +I'm boiling!"</p> + +<p>She looked as if she might have exaggerated her doubt of +injuries, but certainly she had not overestimated her state of +mind. Any blaze Helen had heretofore seen in those quick eyes was +tame compared to this one. It actually leaped. Bo was more than +pretty then. Manifestly Roy was admiring her looks, but +Carmichael saw beyond her charm. And slowly he was growing +pale.</p> + +<p>"I rode out the south range -- as I was told," began Bo, +breathing hard and trying to control her feelings. "That's the +ride you usually take, Nell, and you bet -- if you'd taken it +to-day -- you'd not be here now. . . . About three miles out I +climbed off the range up that cedar slope. I always keep to high +ground. When I got up I saw two horsemen ride out of some broken +rocks off to the east. They rode as if to come between me and +home. I didn't like that. I circled south. About a mile farther +on I spied another horseman and he showed up directly in front of +me and came along slow. That I liked still less. It might have +been accident, but it looked to me as if those riders had some +intent. All I could do was head off to the southeast and ride. +You bet I did ride. But I got into rough ground where I'd never +been before. It was slow going. At last I made the cedars and +here I cut loose, believing I could circle ahead of those strange +riders and come round through Pine. I had it wrong."</p> + +<p>Here she hesitated, perhaps for breath, for she had spoken +rapidly, or perhaps to get better hold on her subject. Not +improbably the effect she was creating on her listeners began to +be significant. Roy sat absorbed, perfectly motionless, eyes keen +as steel, his mouth open. Carmichael was gazing over Bo's head, +out of the window, and it seemed that he must know the rest of +her narrative. Helen knew that her own wide-eyed attention alone +would have been all-compelling inspiration to Bo Rayner.</p> + +<p>"Sure I had it wrong," resumed Bo. "Pretty soon heard a horse +behind. I looked back. I saw a big bay riding down on me. Oh, but +he was running! He just tore through the cedars. . . . I was +scared half out of my senses. But I spurred and beat my mustang. +Then began a race! Rough going -- thick cedars -- washes and +gullies I had to make him run -- to keep my saddle -- to pick my +way. Oh-h-h! but it was glorious! To race for fun -- that's one +thing; to race for your life is another! My heart was in my mouth +-- choking me. I couldn't have yelled. I was as cold as ice -- +dizzy sometimes -- blind others -- then my stomach turned -- and +I couldn't get my breath. Yet the wild thrills I had! . . . But I +stuck on and held my own for several miles -- to the edge of the +cedars. There the big horse gained on me. He came pounding closer +-- perhaps as close as a hundred yards -- I could hear him plain +enough. Then I had my spill. Oh, my mustang tripped -- threw me +'way over his head. I hit light, but slid far -- and that's what +scraped me so. I know my knee is raw. . . . When I got to my feet +the big horse dashed up, throwing gravel all over me -- and his +rider jumped off. . . . Now who do you think he was?"</p> + +<p>Helen knew, but she did not voice her conviction. Carmichael +knew positively, yet he kept silent. Roy was smiling, as if the +narrative told did not seem so alarming to him.</p> + +<p>"Wal, the fact of you bein' here, safe an' sound, sorta makes +no difference who thet son-of-a-gun was," he said.</p> + +<p>"Riggs! Harve Riggs!" blazed Bo. "The instant I recognized him +I got over my scare. And so mad I burned all through like fire. I +don't know what I said, but it was wild -- and it was a whole +lot, you bet.</p> + +<p>"You sure can ride,' he said.</p> + +<p>"I demanded why he had dared to chase me, and he said he had +an important message for Nell. This was it: 'Tell your sister +that Beasley means to put her off an' take the ranch. If she'll +marry me I'll block his deal. If she won't marry me, I'll go in +with Beasley.' Then he told me to hurry home and not to breathe a +word to any one except Nell. Well, here I am -- and I seem to +have been breathing rather fast."</p> + +<p>She looked from Helen to Roy and from Roy to Las Vegas. Her +smile was for the latter, and to any one not overexcited by her +story that smile would have told volumes.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I'll be doggoned!" ejaculated Roy, feelingly.</p> + +<p>Helen laughed.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, the working of that man's mind is beyond me. . . . +Marry him to save my ranch? I wouldn't marry him to save my +life!"</p> + +<p>Carmichael suddenly broke his silence.</p> + +<p>"Bo, did you see the other men?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I was coming to that," she replied. "I caught a glimpse +of them back in the cedars. The three were together, or, at +least, three horsemen were there. They had halted behind some +trees. Then on the way home I began to think. Even in my fury I +had received impressions. Riggs was <em>surprised</em> when I got +up. I'll bet he had not expected me to be who I was. He thought I +was <em>Nell!</em> . . . I look bigger in this buckskin outfit. +My hair was up till I lost my hat, and that was when I had the +tumble. He took me for Nell. Another thing, I remember -- he made +some sign -- some motion while I was calling him names, and I +believe that was to keep those other men back. . . . I believe +Riggs had a plan with those other men to waylay Nell and make off +with her. I absolutely know it."</p> + +<p>"Bo, you're so -- so -- you jump at wild ideas so," protested +Helen, trying to believe in her own assurance. But inwardly she +was trembling.</p> + +<p>"Miss Helen, that ain't a wild idee," said Roy, seriously. "I +reckon your sister is pretty close on the trail. Las Vegas, don't +you savvy it thet way?"</p> + +<p>Carmichael's answer was to stalk out of the room.</p> + +<p>"Call him back!" cried Helen, apprehensively.</p> + +<p>"Hold on, boy!" called Roy, sharply.</p> + +<p>Helen reached the door simultaneously with Roy. The cowboy +picked up his sombrero, jammed it on his head, gave his belt a +vicious hitch that made the gun-sheath jump, and then in one +giant step he was astride Ranger.</p> + +<p>"Carmichael! Stay!" cried Helen.</p> + +<p>The cowboy spurred the black, and the stones rang under +iron-shod hoofs.</p> + +<p>"Bo! Call him back! Please call him back!" importuned Helen, +in distress.</p> + +<p>"I won't," declared Bo Rayner. Her face shone whiter now and +her eyes were like fiery flint. That was her answer to a loving, +gentle-hearted sister; that was her answer to the call of the +West.</p> + +<p>"No use," said Roy, quietly. "An' I reckon I'd better trail +him up."</p> + +<p>He, too, strode out and, mounting his horse, galloped swiftly +away.<br> +</p> + +<p>It turned out that Bo, was more bruised and scraped and shaken +than she had imagined. One knee was rather badly cut, which +injury alone would have kept her from riding again very soon. +Helen, who was somewhat skilled at bandaging wounds, worried a +great deal over these sundry blotches on Bo's fair skin, and it +took considerable time to wash and dress them. Long after this +was done, and during the early supper, and afterward, Bo's +excitement remained unabated. The whiteness stayed on her face +and the blaze in her eyes. Helen ordered and begged her to go to +bed, for the fact was Bo could not stand up and her hands +shook.</p> + +<p>"Go to bed? Not much," she said. "I want to know what he does +to Riggs."</p> + +<p>It was that possibility which had Helen in dreadful suspense. +If Carmichael killed Riggs, it seemed to Helen that the bottom +would drop out of this structure of Western life she had begun to +build so earnestly and fearfully. She did not believe that he +would do so. But the uncertainty was torturing.</p> + +<p>"Dear Bo," appealed Helen, "you don't want -- Oh! you do want +Carmichael to -- to kill Riggs?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't, but I wouldn't care if he did," replied Bo, +bluntly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think -- he will?"</p> + +<p>"Nell, if that cowboy really loves me he read my mind right +here before he left," declared Bo. "And he knew what I thought +he'd do."</p> + +<p>"And what's -- that?" faltered Helen.</p> + +<p>"I want him to round Riggs up down in the village -- somewhere +in a crowd. I want Riggs shown up as the coward, braggart, +four-flush that he is. And insulted, slapped, kicked -- driven +out of Pine!"</p> + +<p>Her passionate speech still rang throughout the room when +there came footsteps on the porch. Helen hurried to raise the bar +from the door and open it just as a tap sounded on the door-post. +Roy's face stood white out of the darkness. His eyes were bright. +And his smile made Helen's fearful query needless.</p> + +<p>"How are you-all this evenin'?" he drawled, as he came in.</p> + +<p>A fire blazed on the hearth and a lamp burned on the table. By +their light Bo looked white and eager-eyed as she reclined in the +big arm-chair.</p> + +<p>"What 'd he do?" she asked, with all her amazing force.</p> + +<p>"Wal, now, ain't you goin' to tell me how you are?"</p> + +<p>"Roy, I'm all bunged up. I ought to be in bed, but I just +couldn't sleep till I hear what Las Vegas did. I'd forgive +anything except him getting drunk."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I shore can ease your mind on thet," replied Roy. "He +never drank a drop."</p> + +<p>Roy was distractingly slow about beginning the tale any child +could have guessed he was eager to tell. For once the hard, +intent quietness, the soul of labor, pain, and endurance so plain +in his face was softened by pleasurable emotion. He poked at the +burning logs with the toe of his boot. Helen observed that he had +changed his boots and now wore no spurs. Then he had gone to his +quarters after whatever had happened down in Pine.</p> + +<p>"Where <em>is</em> he?" asked Bo.</p> + +<p>"Who? Riggs? Wal, I don't know. But I reckon he's somewhere +out in the woods nursin' himself."</p> + +<p>"Not Riggs. First tell me where <em>he</em> is."</p> + +<p>"Shore, then, you must mean Las Vegas. I just left him down at +the cabin. He was gettin' ready for bed, early as it is. All +tired out he was an' thet white you wouldn't have knowed him. But +he looked happy at thet, an' the last words he said, more to +himself than to me, I reckon, was, 'I'm some locoed gent, but if +she doesn't call me Tom now she's no good!'"</p> + +<p>Bo actually clapped her hands, notwithstanding that one of +them was bandaged.</p> + +<p>"Call him Tom? I should smile I will," she declared, in +delight. "Hurry now -- what 'd --"</p> + +<p>"It's shore powerful strange how he hates thet handle Las +Vegas," went on Roy, imperturbably.</p> + +<p>"Roy, tell me what he did -- what <em>Tom</em> did -- or I'll +scream," cried Bo.</p> + +<p>"Miss Helen, did you ever see the likes of thet girl?" asked +Roy, appealing to Helen.</p> + +<p>"No, Roy, I never did," agreed Helen. "But please -- please +tell us what has happened."</p> + +<p>Roy grinned and rubbed his hands together in a dark delight, +almost fiendish in its sudden revelation of a gulf of strange +emotion deep within him. Whatever had happened to Riggs had not +been too much for Roy Beeman. Helen remembered hearing her uncle +say that a real Westerner hated nothing so hard as the swaggering +desperado, the make-believe gunman who pretended to sail under +the true, wild, and reckoning colors of the West.</p> + +<p>Roy leaned his lithe, tall form against the stone mantelpiece +and faced the girls.</p> + +<p>"When I rode out after Las Vegas I seen him 'way down the +road," began Roy, rapidly. "An' I seen another man ridin' down +into Pine from the other side. Thet was Riggs, only I didn't know +it then. Las Vegas rode up to the store, where some fellars was +hangin' round, an' he spoke to them. When I come up they was all +headin' for Turner's saloon. I seen a dozen hosses hitched to the +rails. Las Vegas rode on. But I got off at Turner's an' went in +with the bunch. Whatever it was Las Vegas said to them fellars, +shore they didn't give him away. Pretty soon more men strolled +into Turner's an' there got to be 'most twenty altogether, I +reckon. Jeff Mulvey was there with his pards. They had been +drinkin' sorta free. An' I didn't like the way Mulvey watched me. +So I went out an' into the store, but kept a-lookin' for Las +Vegas. He wasn't in sight. But I seen Riggs ridin' up. Now, +Turner's is where Riggs hangs out an' does his braggin'. He +looked powerful deep an' thoughtful, dismounted slow without +seein' the unusual number of hosses there, an' then he slouches +into Turner's. No more 'n a minute after Las Vegas rode down +there like a streak. An' just as quick he was off an' through +thet door."</p> + +<p>Roy paused as if to gain force or to choose his words. His +tale now appeared all directed to Bo, who gazed at him, +spellbound, a fascinated listener.</p> + +<p>"Before I got to Turner's door -- an' thet was only a little +ways -- I heard Las Vegas yell. Did you ever hear him? Wal, he's +got the wildest yell of any cow-puncher I ever beard. Quicklike I +opened the door an' slipped in. There was Riggs an' Las Vegas +alone in the center of the big saloon, with the crowd edgin' to +the walls an' slidin' back of the bar. Riggs was whiter 'n a dead +man. I didn't hear an' I don't know what Las Vegas yelled at him. +But Riggs knew an' so did the gang. All of a sudden every man +there shore seen in Las Vegas what Riggs had always bragged +<em>he</em> was. Thet time comes to every man like Riggs.</p> + +<p>"'What 'd you call me?' he asked, his jaw shakin'.</p> + +<p>"'I 'ain't called you yet,' answered Las Vegas. 'I just +whooped.'</p> + +<p>"'What d'ye want?'</p> + +<p>"'You scared my girl.'</p> + +<p>"'The hell ye say! Who's she?' blustered Riggs, an' he began +to take quick looks 'round. But he never moved a hand. There was +somethin' tight about the way he stood. Las Vegas had both arms +half out, stretched as if he meant to leap. But he wasn't. I +never seen Las Vegas do thet, but when I seen him then I +understood it.</p> + +<p>"'You know. An' you threatened her an' her sister. Go for your +gun,' called Las Vegas, low an' sharp.</p> + +<p>"Thet put the crowd right an' nobody moved. Riggs turned green +then. I almost felt sorry for him. He began to shake so he'd +dropped a gun if he had pulled one.</p> + +<p>"'Hyar, you're off -- some mistake -- I 'ain't seen no gurls +-- I --'</p> + +<p>"'Shut up an' draw!' yelled Las Vegas. His voice just pierced +holes in the roof, an' it might have been a bullet from the way +Riggs collapsed. Every man seen in a second more thet Riggs +wouldn't an' couldn't draw. He was afraid for his life. He was +not what he had claimed to be. I don't know if he had any friends +there. But in the West good men an' bad men, all alike, have no +use for Riggs's kind. An' thet stony quiet broke with haw -- haw. +It shore was as pitiful to see Riggs as it was fine to see Las +Vegas.</p> + +<p>"When he dropped his arms then I knowed there would be no +gun-play. An' then Las Vegas got red in the face. He slapped +Riggs with one hand, then with the other. An' he began to cuss +him. I shore never knowed thet nice-spoken Las Vegas Carmichael +could use such language. It was a stream of the baddest names +known out here, an' lots I never heard of. Now an' then I caught +somethin' like low-down an' sneak an' four-flush an' long-haired +skunk, but for the most part they was just the cussedest kind of +names. An' Las Vegas spouted them till he was black in the face, +an' foamin' at the mouth, an' hoarser 'n a bawlin' cow.</p> + +<p>"When he got out of breath from cussin' he punched Riggs all +about the saloon, threw him outdoors, knocked him down an' kicked +him till he got kickin' him down the road with the whole +haw-hawed gang behind. An' he drove him out of town!"</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XVIII</p> + +<p>For two days Bo was confined to her bed, suffering +considerable pain, and subject to fever, during which she talked +irrationally. Some of this talk afforded Helen as vast an +amusement as she was certain it would have lifted Tom Carmichael +to a seventh heaven.</p> + +<p>The third day, however, Bo was better, and, refusing to remain +in bed, she hobbled to the sitting-room, where she divided her +time between staring out of the window toward the corrals and +pestering Helen with questions she tried to make appear casual. +But Helen saw through her case and was in a state of glee. What +she hoped most for was that Carmichael would suddenly develop a +little less inclination for Bo. It was that kind of treatment the +young lady needed. And now was the great opportunity. Helen +almost felt tempted to give the cowboy a hint.</p> + +<p>Neither this day, nor the next, however, did he put in an +appearance at the house, though Helen saw him twice on her +rounds. He was busy, as usual, and greeted her as if nothing +particular had happened.</p> + +<p>Roy called twice, once in the afternoon, and again during the +evening. He grew more likable upon longer acquaintance. This last +visit he rendered Bo speechless by teasing her about another girl +Carmichael was going to take to a dance. Bo's face showed that +her vanity could not believe this statement, but that her +intelligence of young men credited it with being possible. Roy +evidently was as penetrating as he was kind. He made a dry, +casual little remark about the snow never melting on the +mountains during the latter part of March; and the look with +which he accompanied this remark brought a blush to Helen's +cheek.</p> + +<p>After Roy had departed Bo said to Helen: "Confound that +fellow! He sees right through me."</p> + +<p>"My dear, you're rather transparent these days," murmured +Helen.</p> + +<p>"You needn't talk. He gave you a dig," retorted Bo. "He just +knows you're dying to see the snow melt."</p> + +<p>"Gracious! I hope I'm not so bad as that. Of course I want the +snow melted and spring to come, and flowers --"</p> + +<p>"Hal Ha! Ha!" taunted Bo. "Nell Rayner, do you see any green +in my eyes? Spring to come! Yes, the poet said in the spring a +young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. But that +poet meant a young woman."</p> + +<p>Helen gazed out of the window at the white stars.</p> + +<p>"Nell, have you seen him -- since I was hurt?" continued Bo, +with an effort.</p> + +<p>"Him? Who?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, whom do you suppose? I mean Tom!" she responded, and the +last word came with a burst.</p> + +<p>"Tom? Who's he? Ah, you mean Las Vegas. Yes, I've seen +him."</p> + +<p>"Well, did he ask a-about me?"</p> + +<p>"I believe he did ask how you were -- something like +that."</p> + +<p>"Humph! Nell, I don't always trust you." After that she +relapsed into silence, read awhile, and dreamed awhile, looking +into the fire, and then she limped over to kiss Helen good night +and left the room.</p> + +<p>Next day she was rather quiet, seeming upon the verge of one +of the dispirited spells she got infrequently. Early in the +evening, just after the lights had been lit and she had joined +Helen in the sitting-room, a familiar step sounded on the loose +boards of the porch.</p> + +<p>Helen went to the door to admit Carmichael. He was +clean-shaven, dressed in his dark suit, which presented such +marked contrast from his riding-garb, and he wore a flower in his +buttonhole. Nevertheless, despite all this style, he seemed more +than usually the cool, easy, careless cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Evenin', Miss Helen," he said, as he stalked in. "Evenin', +Miss Bo. How are you-all?"</p> + +<p>Helen returned his greeting with a welcoming smile.</p> + +<p>"Good evening -- <em>Tom</em>," said Bo, demurely.</p> + +<p>That assuredly was the first time she had ever called him Tom. +As she spoke she looked distractingly pretty and tantalizing. But +if she had calculated to floor Carmichael with the initial, +half-promising, wholly mocking use of his name she had reckoned +without cause. The cowboy received that greeting as if he had +heard her use it a thousand times or had not heard it at all. +Helen decided if he was acting a part he was certainly a clever +actor. He puzzled her somewhat, but she liked his look, and his +easy manner, and the something about him that must have been his +unconscious sense of pride. He had gone far enough, perhaps too +far, in his overtures to Bo.</p> + +<p>"How are you feelin'?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I'm better to-day," she replied, with downcast eyes. "But I'm +lame yet."</p> + +<p>"Reckon that bronc piled you up. Miss Helen said there shore +wasn't any joke about the cut on your knee. Now, a fellar's knee +is a bad place to hurt, if he has to keep on ridin'."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'll be well soon. How's Sam? I hope he wasn't +crippled."</p> + +<p>"Thet Sam -- why, he's so tough he never knowed he had a +fall."</p> + +<p>"Tom -- I -- I want to thank you for giving Riggs what he +deserved."</p> + +<p>She spoke it earnestly, eloquently, and for once she had no +sly little intonation or pert allurement, such as was her wont to +use on this infatuated young man.</p> + +<p>"Aw, you heard about that," replied Carmichael, with a wave of +his hand to make light of it. "Nothin' much. It had to be done. +An' shore I was afraid of Roy. He'd been bad. An' so would any of +the other boys. I'm sorta lookin' out for all of them, you know, +actin' as Miss Helen's foreman now."</p> + +<p>Helen was unutterably tickled. The effect of his speech upon +Bo was stupendous. He had disarmed her. He had, with the finesse +and tact and suavity of a diplomat, removed himself from +obligation, and the detachment of self, the casual thing be +apparently made out of his magnificent championship, was +bewildering and humiliating to Bo. She sat silent for a moment or +two while Helen tried to fit easily into the conversation. It was +not likely that Bo would long be at a loss for words, and also it +was immensely probable that with a flash of her wonderful spirit +she would turn the tables on her perverse lover in a twinkling. +Anyway, plain it was that a lesson had sunk deep. She looked +startled, hurt, wistful, and finally sweetly defiant.</p> + +<p>"But -- you told Riggs I was your girl!" Thus Bo unmasked her +battery. And Helen could not imagine how Carmichael would ever +resist that and the soft, arch glance which accompanied it.</p> + +<p>Helen did not yet know the cowboy, any more than did Bo.</p> + +<p>"Shore. I had to say thet. I had to make it strong before thet +gang. I reckon it was presumin' of me, an' I shore +apologize."</p> + +<p>Bo stared at him, and then, giving a little gasp, she +drooped.</p> + +<p>"Wal, I just run in to say howdy an' to inquire after +you-all," said Carmichael. "I'm goin' to the dance, an' as Flo +lives out of town a ways I'd shore better rustle. . . . Good +night, Miss Bo; I hope you'll be ridin' Sam soon. An' good night, +Miss Helen."</p> + +<p>Bo roused to a very friendly and laconic little speech, much +overdone. Carmichael strode out, and Helen, bidding him good-by, +closed the door after him.</p> + +<p>The instant he had departed Bo's transformation was +tragic.</p> + +<p>"Flo! He meant Flo Stubbs -- that ugly, cross-eyed, bold, +little frump!"</p> + +<p>"Bo!" expostulated Helen. "The young lady is not beautiful, I +grant, but she's very nice and pleasant. I liked her."</p> + +<p>"Nell Rayner, men are no good! And cowboys are the worst!" +declared Bo, terribly.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you appreciate Tom when you had him?" asked +Helen.</p> + +<p>Bo had been growing furious, but now the allusion, in past +tense, to the conquest she had suddenly and amazingly found dear +quite broke her spirit. It was a very pale, unsteady, and +miserable girl who avoided Helen's gaze and left the room.</p> + +<p>Next day Bo was not approachable from any direction. Helen +found her a victim to a multiplicity of moods, ranging from woe +to dire, dark broodings, from them to' wistfulness, and at last +to a pride that sustained her.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon, at Helen's leisure hour, when she and +Bo were in the sitting-room, horses tramped into the court and +footsteps mounted the porch. Opening to a loud knock, Helen was +surprised to see Beasley. And out in the court were several +mounted horsemen. Helen's heart sank. This visit, indeed, had +been foreshadowed.</p> + +<p>"Afternoon, Miss Rayner," said Beasley, doffing his sombrero. +"I've called on a little business deal. Will you see me?"</p> + +<p>Helen acknowledged his greeting while she thought rapidly. She +might just as well see him and have that inevitable interview +done with.</p> + +<p>"Come in," she said, and when he had entered she closed the +door. "My sister, Mr. Beasley."</p> + +<p>"How d' you do, Miss?" said the rancher, in bluff, loud +voice.</p> + +<p>Bo acknowledged the introduction with a frigid little bow.</p> + +<p>At close range Beasley seemed a forceful personality as well +as a rather handsome man of perhaps thirty-five, heavy of build, +swarthy of skin, and sloe-black of eye, like that of the Mexicans +whose blood was reported to be in him. He looked crafty, +confident, and self-centered. If Helen had never heard of him +before that visit she would have distrusted him.</p> + +<p>"I'd called sooner, but I was waitin' for old José, the +Mexican who herded for me when I was pardner to your uncle," said +Beasley, and he sat down to put his huge gloved hands on his +knees.</p> + +<p>"Yes?" queried Helen, interrogatively.</p> + +<p>"José rustled over from Magdalena, an' now I can back +up my claim. . . . Miss Rayner, this hyar ranch ought to be mine +an' is mine. It wasn't so big or so well stocked when Al +Auchincloss beat me out of it. I reckon I'll allow for thet. I've +papers, an' old José for witness. An' I calculate you'll +pay me eighty thousand dollars, or else I'll take over the +ranch."</p> + +<p>Beasley spoke in an ordinary, matter-of-fact tone that +certainly seemed sincere, and his manner was blunt, but perfectly +natural.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Beasley, your claim is no news to me," responded Helen, +quietly. "I've heard about it. And I questioned my uncle. He +swore on his death-bed that he did not owe you a dollar. Indeed, +he claimed the indebtedness was yours to him. I could find +nothing in his papers, so I must repudiate your claim. I will not +take it seriously."</p> + +<p>"Miss Rayner, I can't blame you for takin' Al's word against +mine," said Beasley. "An' your stand is natural. But you're a +stranger here an' you know nothin' of stock deals in these +ranges. It ain't fair to speak bad of the dead, but the truth is +thet Al Auchincloss got his start by stealin' sheep an' unbranded +cattle. Thet was the start of every rancher I know. It was mine. +An' we none of us ever thought of it as rustlin'."</p> + +<p>Helen could only stare her surprise and doubt at this +statement.</p> + +<p>"Talk's cheap anywhere, an' in the West talk ain't much at +all," continued Beasley. "I'm no talker. I jest want to tell my +case an' make a deal if you'll have it. I can prove more in black +an' white, an' with witness, than you can. Thet's my case. The +deal I'd make is this. . . . Let's marry an' settle a bad deal +thet way."</p> + +<p>The man's direct assumption, absolutely without a qualifying +consideration for her woman's attitude, was amazing, ignorant, +and base; but Helen was so well prepared for it that she hid her +disgust.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Mr. Beasley, but I can't accept your offer," she +replied.</p> + +<p>"Would you take time an' consider?" he asked, spreading wide +his huge gloved hands.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely no."</p> + +<p>Beasley rose to his feet. He showed no disappointment or +chagrin, but the bold pleasantness left his face, and, slight as +that change was, it stripped him of the only redeeming quality he +showed.</p> + +<p>"Thet means I'll force you to pay me the eighty thousand or +put you off," he said.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Beasley, even if I owed you that, how could I raise so +enormous a sum? I don't owe it. And I certainly won't be put off +my property. You can't put me off."</p> + +<p>"An' why can't I" he demanded, with lowering, dark gaze.</p> + +<p>"Because your claim is dishonest. And I can prove it," +declared Helen, forcibly.</p> + +<p>"Who 're you goin' to prove it to -- thet I'm dishonest?"</p> + +<p>"To my men -- to your men -- to the people of Pine -- to +everybody. There's not a person who won't believe me."</p> + +<p>He seemed curious, discomfited, surlily annoyed, and yet +fascinated by her statement or else by the quality and appearance +of her as she spiritedly defended her cause.</p> + +<p>"An' how 're you goin' to prove all thet?" he growled.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Beasley, do you remember last fall when you met Snake +Anson with his gang up in the woods -- and hired him to make off +with me?" asked Helen, in swift, ringing words.</p> + +<p>The dark olive of Beasley's bold face shaded to a dirty +white.</p> + +<p>"Wha-at?" he jerked out, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"I see you remember. Well, Milt Dale was hidden in the loft of +that cabin where you met Anson. He heard every word of your deal +with the outlaw."</p> + +<p>Beasley swung his arm in sudden violence, so hard that he +flung his glove to the floor. As he stooped to snatch it up he +uttered a sibilant hiss. Then, stalking to the door, he jerked it +open, and slammed it behind him. His loud voice, hoarse with +passion, preceded the scrape and crack of hoofs.<br> +</p> + +<p>Shortly after supper that day, when Helen was just recovering +her composure, Carmichael presented himself at the open door. Bo +was not there. In the dimming twilight Helen saw that the cowboy +was pale, somber, grim.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what's happened?" cried Helen.</p> + +<p>"Roy's been shot. It come off in Turner's saloon But he ain't +dead. We packed him over to Widow Cass's. An' he said for me to +tell you he'd pull through."</p> + +<p>"Shot! Pull through!" repeated Helen, in slow, unrealizing +exclamation. She was conscious of a deep internal tumult and a +cold checking of blood in all her external body.</p> + +<p>"Yes, shot," replied Carmichael, fiercely.</p> + +<p>"An', whatever he says, I reckon he won't pull through."</p> + +<p>"O Heaven, how terrible!" burst out Helen. "He was so good -- +such a man! What a pity! Oh, he must have met that in my behalf. +Tell me, what happened? Who shot him?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I don't know. An' thet's what's made me hoppin' mad. I +wasn't there when it come off. An' he won't tell me."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know thet, either. I reckoned first it was because he +wanted to get even. But, after thinkin' it over, I guess he +doesn't want me lookin' up any one right now for fear I might get +hurt. An' you're goin' to need your friends. Thet's all I can +make of Roy."</p> + +<p>Then Helen hurriedly related the event of Beasley's call on +her that afternoon and all that had occurred.</p> + +<p>"Wal, the half-breed son-of-a-greaser!" ejaculated Carmichael, +in utter confoundment. "He wanted you to marry him!"</p> + +<p>"He certainly did. I must say it was a -- a rather abrupt +proposal."</p> + +<p>Carmichael appeared to be laboring with speech that had to be +smothered behind his teeth. At last he let out an explosive +breath.</p> + +<p>"Miss Nell, I've shore felt in my bones thet I'm the boy +slated to brand thet big bull."</p> + +<p>"Oh, he must have shot Roy. He left here in a rage."</p> + +<p>"I reckon you can coax it out of Roy. Fact is, all I could +learn was thet Roy come in the saloon alone. Beasley was there, +an' Riggs --"</p> + +<p>"Riggs!" interrupted Helen.</p> + +<p>"Shore, Riggs. He come back again. But he'd better keep out of +my way. . . . An' Jeff Mulvey with his outfit. Turner told me he +heard an argument an' then a shot. The gang cleared out, leavin' +Roy on the floor. I come in a little later. Roy was still layin' +there. Nobody was doin' anythin' for him. An' nobody had. I hold +that against Turner. Wal, I got help an' packed Roy over to Widow +Cass's. Roy seemed all right. But he was too bright an' talky to +suit me. The bullet hit his lung, thet's shore. An' he lost a +sight of blood before we stopped it. Thet skunk Turner might have +lent a hand. An' if Roy croaks I reckon I'll --"</p> + +<p>"Tom, why must you always be reckoning to kill somebody?" +demanded Helen, angrily.</p> + +<p>"'Cause somebody's got to be killed 'round here. Thet's why!" +he snapped back.</p> + +<p>"Even so -- should you risk leaving Bo and me without a +friend?" asked Helen, reproachfully.</p> + +<p>At that Carmichael wavered and lost something of his sullen +deadliness.</p> + +<p>"Aw, Miss Nell, I'm only mad. If you'll just be patient with +me -- an' mebbe coax me. . . . But I can't see no other way +out."</p> + +<p>"Let's hope and pray," said Helen, earnestly. "You spoke of my +coaxing Roy to tell who shot him. When can I see him?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, I reckon. I'll come for you. Fetch Bo along with +you. We've got to play safe from now on. An' what do you say to +me an' Hal sleepin' here at the ranch-house?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I'd feel safer," she replied. "There are rooms. Please +come."</p> + +<p>"Allright. An' now I'll be goin' to fetch Hal. Shore wish I +hadn't made you pale an' scared like this."<br> +</p> + +<p>About ten o'clock next morning Carmichael drove Helen and Bo +into Pine, and tied up the team before Widow Cass's cottage.</p> + +<p>The peach and apple-trees were mingling blossoms of pink and +white; a drowsy hum of bees filled the fragrant air; rich, +dark-green alfalfa covered the small orchard flat; a wood fire +sent up a lazy column of blue smoke; and birds were singing +sweetly.</p> + +<p>Helen could scarcely believe that amid all this tranquillity a +man lay perhaps fatally injured. Assuredly Carmichael had been +somber and reticent enough to rouse the gravest fears.</p> + +<p>Widow Cass appeared on the little porch, a gray, bent, worn, +but cheerful old woman whom Helen had come to know as her +friend.</p> + +<p>"My land! I'm thet glad to see you, Miss Helen," she said. +"An' you've fetched the little lass as I've not got acquainted +with yet."</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Mrs. Cass. How -- how is Roy?" replied Helen, +anxiously scanning the wrinkled face.</p> + +<p>"Roy? Now don't you look so scared. Roy's 'most ready to git +on his hoss an' ride home, if I let him. He knowed you was +a-comin'. An' he made me hold a lookin'-glass for him to shave. +How's thet fer a man with a bullet-hole through him! You can't +kill them Mormons, nohow."</p> + +<p>She led them into a little sitting-room, where on a couch +underneath a window Roy Beeman lay. He was wide awake and +smiling, but haggard. He lay partly covered with a blanket. His +gray shirt was open at the neck, disclosing bandages.</p> + +<p>"Mornin' -- girls," he drawled. "Shore is good of you, now, +comin' down."</p> + +<p>Helen stood beside him, bent over him, in her earnestness, as +she greeted him. She saw a shade of pain in his eyes and his +immobility struck her, but he did not seem badly off. Bo was +pale, round-eyed, and apparently too agitated to speak. +Carmichael placed chairs beside the couch for the girls.</p> + +<p>"Wal, what's ailin' you this nice mornin'?" asked Roy, eyes on +the cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Huh! Would you expect me to be wearin' the smile of a fellar +goin' to be married?" retorted Carmichael.</p> + +<p>"Shore you haven't made up with Bo yet," returned Roy.</p> + +<p>Bo blushed rosy red, and the cowboy's face lost something of +its somber hue.</p> + +<p>"I allow it's none of your d -- darn bizness if <em>she</em> +ain't made up with me," he said.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, you're a wonder with a hoss an' a rope, an' I +reckon with a gun, but when it comes to girls you shore ain't +there."</p> + +<p>"I'm no Mormon, by golly! Come, Ma Cass, let's get out of +here, so they can talk."</p> + +<p>"Folks, I was jest a-goin' to say thet Roy's got fever an' he +oughtn't t' talk too much," said the old woman. Then she and +Carmichael went into the kitchen and closed the door.</p> + +<p>Roy looked up at Helen with his keen eyes, more kindly +piercing than ever.</p> + +<p>"My brother John was here. He'd just left when you come. He +rode home to tell my folks I'm not so bad hurt, an' then he's +goin' to ride a bee-line into the mountains."</p> + +<p>Helen's eyes asked what her lips refused to utter.</p> + +<p>"He's goin' after Dale. I sent him. I reckoned we-all sorta +needed sight of thet doggone hunter."</p> + +<p>Roy had averted his gaze quickly to Bo.</p> + +<p>"Don't you agree with me, lass?"</p> + +<p>"I sure do," replied Bo, heartily.</p> + +<p>All within Helen had been stilled for the moment of her +realization; and then came swell and beat of heart, and +inconceivable chafing of a tide at its restraint.</p> + +<p>"Can John -- fetch Dale out -- when the snow's so deep?" she +asked, unsteadily.</p> + +<p>"Shore. He's takin' two hosses up to the snow-line. Then, if +necessary, he'll go over the pass on snow-shoes. But I bet him +Dale would ride out. Snow's about gone except on the north slopes +an' on the peaks."</p> + +<p>"Then -- when may I -- we expect to see Dale?"</p> + +<p>"Three or four days, I reckon. I wish he was here now. . . . +Miss Helen, there's trouble afoot."</p> + +<p>"I realize that. I'm ready. Did Las Vegas tell you about +Beasley's visit to me?"</p> + +<p>"No. You tell me," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>Briefly Helen began to acquaint him with the circumstances of +that visit, and before she had finished she made sure Roy was +swearing to himself.</p> + +<p>"He asked you to marry him! Jerusalem! . . . Thet I'd never +have reckoned. The -- low-down coyote of a greaser! . . . Wal, +Miss Helen, when I met up with Señor Beasley last night he +was shore spoilin' from somethin'; now I see what thet was. An' I +reckon I picked out the bad time."</p> + +<p>"For what? Roy, what did you do?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I'd made up my mind awhile back to talk to Beasley the +first chance I had. An' thet was it. I was in the store when I +seen him go into Turner's. So I followed. It was 'most dark. +Beasley an' Riggs an' Mulvey an' some more were drinkin' an' +powwowin'. So I just braced him right then."</p> + +<p>"Roy! Oh, the way you boys court danger!"</p> + +<p>"But, Miss Helen, thet's the only way. To be afraid +<em>makes</em> more danger. Beasley 'peared civil enough first +off. Him an' me kept edgin' off, an' his pards kept edgin' after +us, till we got over in a corner of the saloon. I don't know all +I said to him. Shore I talked a heap. I told him what my old man +thought. An' Beasley knowed as well as I thet my old man's not +only the oldest inhabitant hereabouts, but he's the wisest, too. +An' he wouldn't tell a lie. Wal, I used all his sayin's in my +argument to show Beasley thet if he didn't haul up short he'd end +almost as short. Beasley's thick-headed, an' powerful conceited. +Vain as a peacock! He couldn't see, an' he got mad. I told him he +was rich enough without robbin' you of your ranch, an' -- wal, I +shore put up a big talk for your side. By this time he an' his +gang had me crowded in a corner, an' from their looks I begun to +get cold feet. But I was in it an' had to make the best of it. +The argument worked down to his pinnin' me to my word that I'd +fight for you when thet fight come off. An' I shore told him for +my own sake I wished it 'd come off quick. . . . Then -- wal -- +then somethin' did come off quick!"</p> + +<p>"Roy, then he shot you!" exclaimed Helen, passionately.</p> + +<p>"Now, Miss Helen, I didn't say who done it," replied Roy, with +his engaging smile.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, then -- who did?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I reckon I sha'n't tell you unless you promise not to +tell Las Vegas. Thet cowboy is plumb off his head. He thinks he +knows who shot me an' I've been lyin' somethin' scandalous. You +see, if he learns -- then he'll go gunnin'. An', Miss Helen, thet +Texan is bad. He might get plugged as I did -- an' there would be +another man put off your side when the big trouble comes."</p> + +<p>"Roy, I promise you I will not tell Las Vegas," replied Helen, +earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Wal, then -- it was Riggs!" Roy grew still paler as he +confessed this and his voice, almost a whisper, expressed shame +and hate. "Thet four-flush did it. Shot me from behind Beasley! I +had no chance. I couldn't even see him draw. But when I fell an' +lay there an' the others dropped back, then I seen the smokin' +gun in his hand. He looked powerful important. An' Beasley began +to cuss him an' was cussin' him as they all run out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, coward! the despicable coward!" cried Helen.</p> + +<p>"No wonder Tom wants to find out!" exclaimed Bo, low and deep. +"I'll bet he suspects Riggs."</p> + +<p>"Shore he does, but I wouldn't give him no satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"Roy, you know that Riggs can't last out here."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I hope he lasts till I get on my feet again."</p> + +<p>"There you go! Hopeless, all you boys! You must spill blood!" +murmured Helen, shudderingly.</p> + +<p>"Dear Miss Helen, don't take on so. I'm like Dale -- no man to +hunt up trouble. But out here there's a sort of unwritten law -- +an eye for an eye -- a tooth for a tooth. I believe in God +Almighty, an' killin' is against my religion, but Riggs shot me +-- the same as shootin' me in the back."</p> + +<p>"Roy, I'm only a woman -- I fear, faint-hearted and unequal to +this West."</p> + +<p>"Wait till somethin' happens to you. 'Supposin' Beasley comes +an' grabs you with his own dirty big paws an', after maulin' you +some, throws you out of your home! Or supposin' Riggs chases you +into a corner!"</p> + +<p>Helen felt the start of all her physical being -- a violent +leap of blood. But she could only judge of her looks from the +grim smile of the wounded man as he watched her with his keen, +intent eyes.</p> + +<p>"My friend, anythin' can happen," he said. "But let's hope it +won't be the worst."</p> + +<p>He had begun to show signs of weakness, and Helen, rising at +once, said that she and Bo had better leave him then, but would +come to see him the next day. At her call Carmichael entered +again with Mrs. Cass, and after a few remarks the visit was +terminated. Carmichael lingered in the doorway.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Cheer up, you old Mormon!" he called.</p> + +<p>"Cheer up yourself, you cross old bachelor!" retorted Roy, +quite unnecessarily loud. "Can't you raise enough nerve to make +up with Bo?"</p> + +<p>Carmichael evacuated the doorway as if he had been spurred. He +was quite red in the face while he unhitched the team, and silent +during the ride up to the ranch-house. There he got down and +followed the girls into the sitting room. He appeared still +somber, though not sullen, and had fully regained his +composure.</p> + +<p>"Did you find out who shot Roy?" he asked, abruptly, of +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But I promised Roy I would not tell," replied Helen, +nervously. She averted her eyes from his searching gaze, +intuitively fearing his next query.</p> + +<p>"Was it thet -- Riggs?"</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, don't ask me. I will not break my promise."</p> + +<p>He strode to the window and looked out a moment, and +presently, when he turned toward Bo, he seemed a stronger, +loftier, more impelling man, with all his emotions under +control.</p> + +<p>"Bo, will you listen to me -- if I swear to speak the truth -- +as I know it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, certainly," replied Bo, with the color coming swiftly to +her face.</p> + +<p>"Roy doesn't want me to know because he wants to meet thet +fellar himself. An' I want to know because I want to stop him +before he can do more dirt to us or our friends. Thet's Roy's +reason an' mine. An' I'm askin' <em>you</em> to tell me."</p> + +<p>"But, Tom -- I oughtn't," replied Bo, haltingly.</p> + +<p>"Did you promise Roy not to tell?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Or your sister?"</p> + +<p>"No. I didn't promise either."</p> + +<p>"Wal, then you tell me. I want you to trust me in this here +matter. But not because I love you an' once had a wild dream you +might care a little for me --"</p> + +<p>"Oh -- Tom!" faltered Bo.</p> + +<p>"Listen. I want you to trust me because I'm the one who knows +what's best. I wouldn't lie an' I wouldn't say so if I didn't +know shore. I swear Dale will back me up. But he can't be here +for some days. An' thet gang has got to be bluffed. You ought to +see this. I reckon you've been quick in savvyin' Western ways. I +couldn't pay you no higher compliment, Bo Rayner. . . . Now will +you tell me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I will," replied Bo, with the blaze leaping to her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bo -- please don't -- please don't. Wait!" implored +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Bo -- it's between you an' me," said Carmichael.</p> + +<p>"Tom, I'll tell you," whispered Bo. "It was a lowdown, +cowardly trick. . . . Roy was surrounded -- and shot from behind +Beasley -- by that four-flush Riggs!"</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XIX</p> + +<p>The memory of a woman had ruined Milt Dale's peace, had +confounded his philosophy of self-sufficient, lonely happiness in +the solitude of the wilds, had forced him to come face to face +with his soul and the fatal significance of life.</p> + +<p>When he realized his defeat, that things were not as they +seemed, that there was no joy for him in the coming of spring, +that he had been blind in his free, sensorial, Indian relation to +existence, he fell into an inexplicably strange state, a +despondency, a gloom as deep as the silence of his home. Dale +reflected that the stronger an animal, the keener its nerves, the +higher its intelligence, the greater must be its suffering under +restraint or injury. He thought of himself as a high order of +animal whose great physical need was action, and now the +incentive to action seemed dead. He grew lax. He did not want to +move. He performed his diminishing duties under compulsion.</p> + +<p>He watched for spring as a liberation, but not that he could +leave the valley. He hated the cold, he grew weary of wind and +snow; he imagined the warm sun, the park once more green with +grass and bright with daisies, the return of birds and squirrels +and deer to heir old haunts, would be the means whereby he could +break this spell upon him. Then he might gradually return to past +contentment, though it would never be the same.</p> + +<p>But spring, coming early to Paradise Park, brought a fever to +Dale's blood -- a fire of unutterable longing. It was good, +perhaps, that this was so, because he seemed driven to work, +climb, tramp, and keep ceaselessly on the move from dawn till +dark. Action strengthened his lax muscles and kept him from those +motionless, senseless hours of brooding. He at least need not be +ashamed of longing for that which could never be his -- the +sweetness of a woman -- a home full of light, joy, hope, the +meaning and beauty of children. But those dark moods were +sinkings into a pit of hell.</p> + +<p>Dale had not kept track of days and weeks. He did not know +when the snow melted off three slopes of Paradise Park. All he +knew was that an age had dragged over his head and that spring +had come. During his restless waking hours, and even when he was +asleep, there seemed always in the back of his mind a growing +consciousness that soon he would emerge from this trial, a +changed man, ready to sacrifice his chosen lot, to give up his +lonely life of selfish indulgence in lazy affinity with nature, +and to go wherever his strong hands might perform some real +service to people. Nevertheless, he wanted to linger in this +mountain fastness until his ordeal was over -- until he could +meet her, and the world, knowing himself more of a man than ever +before.</p> + +<p>One bright morning, while he was at his camp-fire, the tame +cougar gave a low, growling warning. Dale was startled. Tom did +not act like that because of a prowling grizzly or a straying +stag. Presently Dale espied a horseman riding slowly out of the +straggling spruces. And with that sight Dale's heart gave a leap, +recalling to him a divination of his future relation to his kind. +Never had he been so glad to see a man!</p> + +<p>This visitor resembled one of the Beemans, judging from the +way he sat his horse, and presently Dale recognized him to be +John.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the jaded horse was spurred into a trot, soon +reaching the pines and the camp.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, there, you ole b'ar-hunter!" called John, waving his +hand.</p> + +<p>For all his hearty greeting his appearance checked a like +response from Dale. The horse was mud to his flanks and John was +mud to his knees, wet, bedraggled, worn, and white. This hue of +his face meant more than fatigue.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, John?" replied Dale.</p> + +<p>They shook hands. John wearily swung his leg over the pommel, +but did not at once dismount. His clear gray eyes were +wonderingly riveted upon the hunter.</p> + +<p>"Milt -- what 'n hell's wrong?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Bust me if you ain't changed so I hardly knowed you. You've +been sick -- all alone here!"</p> + +<p>"Do I look sick?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I should smile. Thin an' pale an' down in the mouth! +Milt, what ails you?"</p> + +<p>"I've gone to seed."</p> + +<p>"You've gone off your head, jest as Roy said, livin' alone +here. You overdid it, Milt. An' you look sick."</p> + +<p>"John, my sickness is here," replied Dale, soberly, as he laid +a hand on his heart.</p> + +<p>"Lung trouble!" ejaculated John. "With thet chest, an' up in +this air? . . . Get out!"</p> + +<p>"No -- not lung trouble," said Dale.</p> + +<p>"I savvy. Had a hunch from Roy, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"What kind of a hunch?"</p> + +<p>"Easy now, Dale, ole man. . . . Don't you reckon I'm ridin' in +on you pretty early? Look at thet hoss!" John slid off and waved +a hand at the drooping beast, then began to unsaddle him. "Wal, +he done great. We bogged some comin' over. An' I climbed the pass +at night on the frozen snow."</p> + +<p>"You're welcome as the flowers in May. John, what month is +it?"</p> + +<p>"By spades! are you as bad as thet? . . . Let's see. It's the +twenty-third of March."</p> + +<p>"March! Well, I'm beat. I've lost my reckonin' -- an' a lot +more, maybe."</p> + +<p>"Thar!" declared John, slapping the mustang. "You can jest +hang up here till my next trip. Milt, how 're your hosses?"</p> + +<p>"Wintered fine."</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet's good. We'll need two big, strong hosses right +off."</p> + +<p>"What for?" queried Dale, sharply. He dropped a stick of wood +and straightened up from the camp-fire.</p> + +<p>"You're goin' to ride down to Pine with me -- thet's what +for."</p> + +<p>Familiarly then came back to Dale the quiet, intent +suggestiveness of the Beemans in moments foreboding trial.</p> + +<p>At this certain assurance of John's, too significant to be +doubted, Dale's thought of Pine gave slow birth to a strange +sensation, as if he had been dead and was vibrating back to +life.</p> + +<p>"Tell what you got to tell!" he broke out.</p> + +<p>Quick as a flash the Mormon replied: "Roy's been shot. But he +won't die. He sent for you. Bad deal's afoot. Beasley means to +force Helen Rayner out an' steal her ranch."</p> + +<p>A tremor ran all through Dale. It seemed another painful yet +thrilling connection between his past and this vaguely calling +future. His emotions had been broodings dreams, longings. This +thing his friend said had the sting of real life.</p> + +<p>"Then old Al's dead?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Long ago -- I reckon around the middle of February. The +property went to Helen. She's been doin' fine. An' many folks say +it's a pity she'll lose it."</p> + +<p>"She won't lose it," declared Dale. How strange his voice +sounded to his own ears! It was hoarse and unreal, as if from +disuse.</p> + +<p>"Wal, we-all have our idees. I say she will. My father says +so. Carmichael says so."</p> + +<p>"Who's he?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon you remember thet cow-puncher who came up with Roy an' +Auchincloss after the girls -- last fall?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. They called him Las -- Las Vegas. I liked his +looks."</p> + +<p>"Humph! You'll like him a heap when you know him. He's kept +the ranch goin' for Miss Helen all along. But the deal's comin' +to a head. Beasley's got thick with thet Riggs. You remember +him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Wal, he's been hangin' out at Pine all winter, watchin' for +some chance to get at Miss Helen or Bo. Everybody's seen thet. +An' jest lately he chased Bo on hossback -- gave the kid a nasty +fall. Roy says Riggs was after Miss Helen. But I think one or +t'other of the girls would do thet varmint. Wal, thet sorta +started goin's-on. Carmichael beat Riggs an' drove him out of +town. But he come back. Beasley called on Miss Helen an' offered +to marry her so's not to take the ranch from her, he said."</p> + +<p>Dale awoke with a thundering curse.</p> + +<p>"Shore!" exclaimed John. "I'd say the same -- only I'm +religious. Don't thet beady-eyed greaser's gall make you want to +spit all over yourself? My Gawd! but Roy was mad! Roy's powerful +fond of Miss Helen an' Bo. . . . Wal, then, Roy, first chance he +got, braced Beasley an' give him some straight talk. Beasley was +foamin' at the mouth, Roy said. It was then Riggs shot Roy. Shot +him from behind Beasley when Roy wasn't lookin'! An' Riggs brags +of bein' a gun-fighter. Mebbe thet wasn't a bad shot for +him!"</p> + +<p>"I reckon," replied Dale, as he swallowed hard. "Now, just +what was Roy's message to me?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I can't remember all Roy said," answered John, +dubiously. "But Roy shore was excited an' dead in earnest. He +says: 'Tell Milt what's happened. Tell him Helen Rayner's in more +danger than she was last fall. Tell him I've seen her look away +acrost the mountains toward Paradise Park with her heart in her +eyes. Tell him she needs him most of all!'"</p> + +<p>Dale shook all over as with an attack of ague. He was seized +by a whirlwind of passionate, terrible sweetness of sensation, +when what he wildly wanted was to curse Roy and John for their +simple-minded conclusions.</p> + +<p>"Roy's -- crazy!" panted Dale.</p> + +<p>"Wal, now, Milt -- thet's downright surprisin' of you. Roy's +the level-headest of any fellars I know."</p> + +<p>"Man! if he <em>made</em> me believe him -- an' it turned out +untrue -- I'd -- I'd kill him," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Untrue! Do you think Roy Beeman would lie?"</p> + +<p>"But, John -- you fellows can't see my case. Nell Rayner wants +me -- needs me! . . . It can't be true!"</p> + +<p>"Wal, my love-sick pard -- it jest <em>is</em> true!" +exclaimed John, feelingly. "Thet's the hell of life -- never +knowin'. But here it's joy for you. You can believe Roy Beeman +about women as quick as you'd trust him to track your lost hoss. +Roy's married three girls. I reckon he'll marry some more. Roy's +only twenty-eight an' he has two big farms. He said he'd seen +Nell Rayner's heart in her eyes, lookin' for you -- an' you can +jest bet your life thet's true. An' he said it because he means +you to rustle down there an' fight for thet girl."</p> + +<p>"I'll -- go," said Dale, in a shaky whisper, as he sat down on +a pine log near the fire. He stared unseeingly at the bluebells +in the grass by his feet while storm after storm possessed his +breast. They were fierce and brief because driven by his will. In +those few moments of contending strife Dale was immeasurably +removed from that dark gulf of self which had made his winter a +nightmare. And when he stood erect again it seemed that the old +earth had a stirring, electrifying impetus for his feet. +Something black, bitter, melancholy, and morbid, always unreal to +him, had passed away forever. The great moment had been forced +upon him. He did not believe Roy Beeman's preposterous hint +regarding Helen; but he had gone back or soared onward, as if by +magic, to his old true self.<br> +</p> + +<p>Mounted on Dale's strongest horses, with only a light pack, an +ax, and their weapons, the two men had reached the snow-line on +the pass by noon that day. Tom, the tame cougar, trotted along in +the rear.</p> + +<p>The crust of the snow, now half thawed by the sun, would not +hold the weight of a horse, though it upheld the men on foot. +They walked, leading the horses. Travel was not difficult until +the snow began to deepen; then progress slackened materially. +John had not been able to pick out the line of the trail, so Dale +did not follow his tracks. An old blaze on the trees enabled Dale +to keep fairly well to the trail; and at length the height of the +pass was reached, where the snow was deep. Here the horses +labored, plowing through foot by foot. When, finally, they sank +to their flanks, they had to be dragged and goaded on, and helped +by thick flat bunches of spruce boughs placed under their hoofs. +It took three hours of breaking toil to do the few hundred yards +of deep snow on the height of the pass. The cougar did not have +great difficulty in following, though it was evident he did not +like such traveling.</p> + +<p>That behind them, the horses gathered heart and worked on to +the edge of the steep descent, where they had all they could do +to hold back from sliding and rolling. Fast time was made on this +slope, at the bottom of which began a dense forest with snow +still deep in places and windfalls hard to locate. The men here +performed Herculean labors, but they got through to a park where +the snow was gone. The ground, however, soft and boggy, in places +was more treacherous than the snow; and the travelers had to +skirt the edge of the park to a point opposite, and then go on +through the forest. When they reached bare and solid ground, just +before dark that night, it was high time, for the horses were +ready to drop, and the men likewise.</p> + +<p>Camp was made in an open wood. Darkness fell and the men were +resting on bough beds, feet to the fire, with Tom curled up close +by, and the horses still drooping where they had been unsaddled. +Morning, however, discovered them grazing on the long, bleached +grass. John shook his head when he looked at them.</p> + +<p>"You reckoned to make Pine by nightfall. How far is it -- the +way you'll go?"</p> + +<p>"Fifty mile or thereabouts," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Wal, we can't ride it on them critters."</p> + +<p>"John, we'd do more than that if we had to."</p> + +<p>They were saddled and on the move before sunrise, leaving snow +and bog behind. Level parks and level forests led one after +another to long slopes and steep descents, all growing sunnier +and greener as the altitude diminished. Squirrels and grouse, +turkeys and deer, and less tame denizens of the forest grew more +abundant as the travel advanced. In this game zone, however, Dale +had trouble with Tom. The cougar had to be watched and called +often to keep him off of trails.</p> + +<p>"Tom doesn't like a long trip," said Dale. "But I'm goin' to +take him. Some way or other he may come in handy."</p> + +<p>"Sic him onto Beasley's gang," replied John. "Some men are +powerful scared of cougars. But I never was."</p> + +<p>"Nor me. Though I've had cougars give me a darn uncanny +feelin'."</p> + +<p>The men talked but little. Dale led the way, with Tom trotting +noiselessly beside his horse. John followed close behind. They +loped the horses across parks, trotted through the forests, +walked slow up what few inclines they met, and slid down the +soft, wet, pine-matted descents. So they averaged from six to +eight miles an hour. The horses held up well under that steady +travel, and this without any rest at noon.</p> + +<p>Dale seemed to feel himself in an emotional trance. Yet, +despite this, the same old sensorial perceptions crowded thick +and fast upon him, strangely sweet and vivid after the past dead +months when neither sun nor wind nor cloud nor scent of pine nor +anything in nature could stir him. His mind, his heart, his soul +seemed steeped in an intoxicating wine of expectation, while his +eyes and ears and nose had never been keener to register the +facts of the forest-land. He saw the black thing far ahead that +resembled a burned stump, but he knew was a bear before it +vanished; he saw gray flash of deer and wolf and coyote, and the +red of fox, and the small, wary heads of old gobblers just +sticking above the grass; and he saw deep tracks of game as well +as the slow-rising blades of bluebells where some soft-footed +beast had just trod. And he heard the melancholy notes of birds, +the twitter of grouse, the sough of the wind, the light dropping +of pine-cones, the near and distant bark of squirrels, the deep +gobble of a turkey close at hand and the challenge from a rival +far away, the cracking of twigs in the thickets, the murmur of +running water, the scream of an eagle and the shrill cry of a +hawk, and always the soft, dull, steady pads of the hoofs of the +horses.</p> + +<p>The smells, too, were the sweet, stinging ones of spring, warm +and pleasant -- the odor of the clean, fresh earth cutting its +way through that thick, strong fragrance of pine, the smell of +logs rotting in the sun, and of fresh new grass and flowers along +a brook of snow-water.</p> + +<p>"I smell smoke," said Dale, suddenly, as he reined in, and +turned for corroboration from his companion.</p> + +<p>John sniffed the warm air.</p> + +<p>"Wal, you're more of an Injun than me," he replied, shaking +his head.</p> + +<p>They traveled on, and presently came out upon the rim of the +last slope. A long league of green slanted below them, breaking +up into straggling lines of trees and groves that joined the +cedars, and these in turn stretched on and down in gray-black +patches to the desert, that glittering and bare, with streaks of +somber hue, faded in the obscurity of distance.</p> + +<p>The village of Pine appeared to nestle in a curve of the edge +of the great forest, and the cabins looked like tiny white dots +set in green.</p> + +<p>"Look there," said Dale, pointing.</p> + +<p>Some miles to the right a gray escarpment of rock cropped out +of the slope, forming a promontory; and from it a thin, pale +column of smoke curled upward to be lost from sight as soon as it +had no background of green.</p> + +<p>"Thet's your smoke, shore enough," replied John, thoughtfully. +"Now, I jest wonder who's campin' there. No water near or grass +for hosses."</p> + +<p>"John, that point's been used for smoke signals many a +time."</p> + +<p>"Was jest thinkin' of thet same. Shall we ride around there +an' take a peek?"</p> + +<p>"No. But we'll remember that. If Beasley's got his deep scheme +goin', he'll have Snake Anson's gang somewhere close."</p> + +<p>"Roy said thet same. Wal, it's some three hours till sundown. +The hosses keep up. I reckon I'm fooled, for we'll make Pine all +right. But old Tom there, he's tired or lazy."</p> + +<p>The big cougar was lying down, panting, and his half-shut eyes +were on Dale.</p> + +<p>"Tom's only lazy an' fat. He could travel at this gait for a +week. But let's rest a half-hour an' watch that smoke before +movin' on. We can make Pine before sundown."<br> +</p> + +<p>When travel had been resumed, half-way down the slope Dale's +sharp eyes caught a broad track where shod horses had passed, +climbing in a long slant toward the promontory. He dismounted to +examine it, and John, coming up, proceeded with alacrity to get +off and do likewise. Dale made his deductions, after which he +stood in a brown study beside his horse, waiting for John.</p> + +<p>"Wal, what 'd you make of these here tracks?" asked that +worthy.</p> + +<p>"Some horses an' a pony went along here yesterday, an' to-day +a single horse made, that fresh track."</p> + +<p>"Wal, Milt, for a hunter you ain't so bad at hoss tracks," +observed John, "But how many hosses went yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't make out -- several -- maybe four or five."</p> + +<p>"Six hosses an' a colt or little mustang, unshod, to be +strict-correct. Wal, supposin' they did. What 's it mean to +us?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know as I'd thought anythin' unusual, if it hadn't +been for that smoke we saw off the rim, an' then this here fresh +track made along to-day. Looks queer to me."</p> + +<p>"Wish Roy was here," replied John, scratching his head. "Milt, +I've a hunch, if he was, he'd foller them tracks."</p> + +<p>"Maybe. But we haven't time for that. We can backtrail them, +though, if they keep clear as they are here. An' we'll not lose +any time, either."</p> + +<p>That broad track led straight toward Pine, down to the edge of +the cedars, where, amid some jagged rocks, evidences showed that +men had camped there for days. Here it ended as a broad trail. +But from the north came the single fresh track made that very +day, and from the east, more in a line with Pine, came two tracks +made the day before. And these were imprints of big and little +hoofs. Manifestly these interested John more than they did Dale, +who had to wait for his companion.</p> + +<p>"Milt, it ain't a colt's -- thet little track," avowed +John.</p> + +<p>"Why not -- an' what if it isn't?" queried Dale.</p> + +<p>"Wal, it ain't, because a colt always straggles back, an' from +one side to t'other. This little track keeps close to the big +one. An', by George! it was made by a led mustang."</p> + +<p>John resembled Roy Beeman then with that leaping, intent fire +in his gray eyes. Dale's reply was to spur his horse into a trot +and call sharply to the lagging cougar.</p> + +<p>When they turned into the broad, blossom-bordered road that +was the only thoroughfare of Pine the sun was setting red and +gold behind the mountains. The horses were too tired for any more +than a walk. Natives of the village, catching sight of Dale and +Beeman, and the huge gray cat following like a dog, called +excitedly to one another. A group of men in front of Turner's +gazed intently down the road, and soon manifested signs of +excitement. Dale and his comrade dismounted in front of Widow +Cass's cottage. And Dale called as he strode up the little path. +Mrs. Cass came out. She was white and shaking, but appeared calm. +At sight of her John Beeman drew a sharp breath.</p> + +<p>"Wal, now --" he began, hoarsely, and left off.</p> + +<p>"How's Roy?" queried Dale.</p> + +<p>"Lord knows I'm glad to see you, boys! Milt, you're thin an' +strange-lookin'. Roy's had a little setback. He got a shock +to-day an' it throwed him off. Fever -- an' now he's out of his +head. It won't do no good for you to waste time seein' him. Take +my word for it he's all right. But there's others as -- For the +land's sakes, Milt Dale, you fetched thet cougar back! Don't let +him near me!"</p> + +<p>"Tom won't hurt you, mother," said Dale, as the cougar came +padding up the path. "You were sayin' somethin' -- about others. +Is Miss Helen safe? Hurry!"</p> + +<p>"Ride up to see her -- an' waste no more time here."</p> + +<p>Dale was quick in the saddle, followed by John, but the horses +had to be severely punished to force them even to a trot. And +that was a lagging trot, which now did not leave Torn behind.</p> + +<p>The ride up to Auchincloss's ranch-house seemed endless to +Dale. Natives came out in the road to watch after he had passed. +Stern as Dale was in dominating his feelings, he could not wholly +subordinate his mounting joy to a waiting terrible anticipation +of catastrophe. But no matter what awaited -- nor what fateful +events might hinge upon this nameless circumstance about to be +disclosed, the wonderful and glorious fact of the present was +that in a moment he would see Helen Rayner.</p> + +<p>There were saddled horses in the courtyard, but no riders. A +Mexican boy sat on the porch bench, in the seat where Dale +remembered he had encountered Al Auchincloss. The door of the big +sitting-room was open. The scent of flowers, the murmur of bees, +the pounding of hoofs came vaguely to Dale. His eyes dimmed, so +that the ground, when he slid out of his saddle, seemed far below +him. He stepped upon the porch. His sight suddenly cleared. A +tight fullness at his throat made incoherent the words he said to +the Mexican boy. But they were understood, as the boy ran back +around the house. Dale knocked sharply and stepped over the +threshold.</p> + +<p>Outside, John, true to his habits, was thinking, even in that +moment of suspense, about the faithful, exhausted horses. As he +unsaddled them he talked: "Fer soft an' fat hosses, winterin' +high up, wal, you've done somethin'!"</p> + +<p>Then Dale heard a voice in another room, a step, a creak of +the door. It opened. A woman in white appeared. He recognized +Helen. But instead of the rich brown bloom and dark-eyed beauty +so hauntingly limned on his memory, he saw a white, beautiful +face, strained and quivering in anguish, and eyes that pierced +his heart. He could not speak.</p> + +<p>"Oh! my friend -- you've come!" she whispered.</p> + +<p>Dale put out a shaking hand. But she did not see it. She +clutched his shoulders, as if to feel whether or not he was real, +and then her arms went up round his neck.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank God! I knew you would come!" she said, and her head +sank to his shoulder.</p> + +<p>Dale divined what he had suspected. Helen's sister had been +carried off. Yet, while his quick mind grasped Helen's broken +spirit -- the unbalance that was reason for this marvelous and +glorious act -- he did not take other meaning of the embrace to +himself. He just stood there, transported, charged like a tree +struck by lightning, making sure with all his keen senses, so +that he could feel forever, how she was clinging round his neck, +her face over his bursting heart, her quivering form close +pressed to his.</p> + +<p>"It's -- Bo," he said, unsteadily.</p> + +<p>"She went riding yesterday -- and -- never -- came -- back!" +replied Helen, brokenly.</p> + +<p>"I've seen her trail. She's been taken into the woods. I'll +find her. I'll fetch her back," he replied, rapidly.</p> + +<p>With a shock she seemed to absorb his meaning. With another +shock she raised her face -- leaned back a little to look at +him.</p> + +<p>"You'll find her -- fetch her back?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered, instantly.</p> + +<p>With that ringing word it seemed to Dale she realized how she +was standing. He felt her shake as she dropped her arms and +stepped back, while the white anguish of her face was flooded out +by a wave of scarlet. But she was brave in her confusion. Her +eyes never fell, though they changed swiftly, darkening with +shame, amaze, and with feelings he could not read.</p> + +<p>"I'm almost -- out of my head," she faltered.</p> + +<p>"No wonder. I saw that. . . . But now you must get +clear-headed. I've no time to lose."</p> + +<p>He led her to the door.</p> + +<p>"John, it's Bo that's gone," he called. "Since yesterday. . . +. Send the boy to get me a bag of meat an' bread. You run to the +corral an' get me a fresh horse. My old horse Ranger if you can +find him quick. An' rustle."</p> + +<p>Without a word John leaped bareback on one of the horses he +had just unsaddled and spurred him across the courtyard.</p> + +<p>Then the big cougar, seeing Helen, got up from where he lay on +the porch and came to her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's Tom!" cried Helen, and as he rubbed against her +knees she patted his head with trembling hand. "You big, +beautiful pet! Oh, how I remember! Oh, how Bo would love to +--"</p> + +<p>"Where's Carmichael?" interrupted Dale. "Out huntin' Bo?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. It was he who missed her first. He rode everywhere +yesterday. Last night when he came back he was wild. I've not +seen him to-day. He made all the other men but Hal and Joe stay +home on the ranch."</p> + +<p>"Right. An' John must stay, too," declared Dale. "But it's +strange. Carmichael ought to have found the girl's tracks. She +was ridin' a pony?"</p> + +<p>"Bo rode Sam. He's a little bronc, very strong and fast."</p> + +<p>"I come across his tracks. How'd Carmichael miss them?"</p> + +<p>"He didn't. He found them -- trailed them all along the north +range. That's where he forbade Bo to go. You see, they're in love +with each other. They've been at odds. Neither will give in. Bo +disobeyed him. There's hard ground off the north range, so he +said. He was able to follow her tracks only so far."</p> + +<p>"Were there any other tracks along with hers?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Miss Helen, I found them 'way southeast of Pine up on the +slope of the mountain. There were seven other horses makin' that +trail -- when we run across it. On the way down we found a camp +where men had waited. An' Bo's pony, led by a rider on a big +horse, come into that camp from the east -- maybe north a little. +An' that tells the story."</p> + +<p>"Riggs ran her down -- made off with her!" cried Helen, +passionately. "Oh, the villain! He had men in waiting. That's +Beasley's work. They were after me."</p> + +<p>"It may not be just what you said, but that's close enough. +An' Bo's in a bad fix. You must face that an' try to bear up +under -- fears of the worst."</p> + +<p>"My friend! You will save her!"</p> + +<p>"I'll fetch her back, alive or dead."</p> + +<p>"Dead! Oh, my God!" Helen cried, and closed her eyes an +instant, to open them burning black. "But Bo isn't dead. I know +that -- I feel it. She'll not die very easy. She's a little +savage. She has no fear. She'd fight like a tigress for her life. +She's strong. You remember how strong. She can stand anything. +Unless they murder her outright she'll live -- a long time -- +through any ordeal. . . . So I beg you, my friend, don't lose an +hour -- don't ever give up!"</p> + +<p>Dale trembled under the clasp of her hands. Loosing his own +from her clinging hold, he stepped out on the porch. At that +moment John appeared on Ranger, coming at a gallop.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'll never come back without her," said Dale. "I reckon +you can hope -- only be prepared. That's all. It's hard. But +these damned deals are common out here in the West."</p> + +<p>"Suppose Beasley comes -- here!" exclaimed Helen, and again +her hand went out toward him.</p> + +<p>"If he does, you refuse to get off," replied Dale. "But don't +let him or his greasers put a dirty hand on you. Should he +threaten force -- why, pack some clothes -- an' your valuables -- +an' go down to Mrs. Cass's. An' wait till I come back!"</p> + +<p>"Wait -- till you -- come back!" she faltered, slowly turning +white again. Her dark eyes dilated. "Milt -- you're like Las +Vegas. You'll kill Beasley!"</p> + +<p>Dale heard his own laugh, very cold and strange, foreign to +his ears. A grim, deadly hate of Beasley vied with the tenderness +and pity he felt for this distressed girl. It was a sore trial to +see her leaning there against the door -- to be compelled to +leave her alone. Abruptly be stalked off the porch. Tom followed +him. The black horse whinnied his recognition of Dale and snorted +at sight of the cougar. Just then the Mexican boy returned with a +bag. Dale tied this, with the small pack, behind the saddle.</p> + +<p>"John, you stay here with Miss Helen," said Dale. "An' if +Carmichael comes back, keep him, too! An' to-night, if any one +rides into Pine from the way we come, you be sure to spot +him."</p> + +<p>"I'll do thet, Milt," responded John.</p> + +<p>Dale mounted, and, turning for a last word to Helen, he felt +the words of cheer halted on his lips as he saw her standing +white and broken-hearted, with her hands to her bosom. He could +not look twice.</p> + +<p>"Come on there, you Tom," he called to the cougar. "Reckon on +this track you'll pay me for all my trainin' of you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my friend!" came Helen's sad voice, almost a whisper to +his throbbing ears. "Heaven help you -- to save her! I --"</p> + +<p>Then Ranger started and Dale heard no more. He could not look +back. His eyes were full of tears and his breast ached. By a +tremendous effort he shifted that emotion -- called on all the +spiritual energy of his being to the duty of this grim task +before him.</p> + +<p>He did not ride down through the village, but skirted the +northern border, and worked round to the south, where, coming to +the trail he had made an hour past, he headed on it, straight for +the slope now darkening in the twilight. The big cougar showed +more willingness to return on this trail than he had shown in the +coming. Ranger was fresh and wanted to go, but Dale held him +in.</p> + +<p>A cool wind blew down from the mountain with the coming of +night. Against the brightening stars Dale saw the promontory lift +its bold outline. It was miles away. It haunted him, strangely +calling. A night, and perhaps a day, separated him from the gang +that held Bo Rayner prisoner. Dale had no plan as yet. He had +only a motive as great as the love he bore Helen Rayner.</p> + +<p>Beasley's evil genius had planned this abduction. Riggs was a +tool, a cowardly knave dominated by a stronger will. Snake Anson +and his gang had lain in wait at that cedar camp; had made that +broad hoof track leading up the mountain. Beasley had been there +with them that very day. All this was as assured to Dale as if he +had seen the men.</p> + +<p>But the matter of Dale's recovering the girl and doing it +speedily strung his mental strength to its highest pitch. Many +outlines of action flashed through his mind as he rode on, +peering keenly through the night, listening with practised ears. +All were rejected. And at the outset of every new branching of +thought he would gaze down at the gray form of the cougar, long, +graceful, heavy, as he padded beside the horse. From the first +thought of returning to help Helen Rayner he had conceived an +undefined idea of possible value in the qualities of his pet. Tom +had performed wonderful feats of trailing, but he had never been +tried on men. Dale believed he could make him trail anything, yet +he had no proof of this. One fact stood out of all Dale's +conjectures, and it was that he had known men, and brave men, to +fear cougars.</p> + +<p>Far up on the slope, in a little hollow where water ran and +there was a little grass for Ranger to pick, Dale haltered him +and made ready to spend the night. He was sparing with his food, +giving Tom more than he took himself. Curled close up to Dale, +the big cat went to sleep.</p> + +<p>But Dale lay awake for long.</p> + +<p>The night was still, with only a faint moan of wind on this +sheltered slope. Dale saw hope in the stars. He did not seem to +have promised himself or Helen that he could save her sister, and +then her property. He seemed to have stated something +unconsciously settled, outside of his thinking. Strange how this +certainty was not vague, yet irreconcilable with any plans he +created! Behind it, somehow nameless with inconceivable power, +surged all his wonderful knowledge of forest, of trails, of +scents, of night, of the nature of men lying down to sleep in the +dark, lonely woods, of the nature of this great cat that lived +its every action in accordance with his will.</p> + +<p>He grew sleepy, and gradually his mind stilled, with his last +conscious thought a portent that he would awaken to accomplish +his desperate task.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XX</p> + +<p>Young Burt possessed the keenest eyes of any man in Snake +Anson's gang, for which reason he was given the post as lookout +from the lofty promontory. His instructions were to keep sharp +watch over the open slopes below and to report any sight of a +horse.</p> + +<p>A cedar fire with green boughs on top of dead wood sent up a +long, pale column of smoke. This signal-fire had been kept +burning since sunrise.</p> + +<p>The preceding night camp had been made on a level spot in the +cedars back of the promontory. But manifestly Anson did not +expect to remain there long. For, after breakfast, the packs had +been made up and the horses stood saddled and bridled. They were +restless and uneasy, tossing bits and fighting flies. The sun, +now half-way to meridian, was hot and no breeze blew in that +sheltered spot.</p> + +<p>Shady Jones had ridden off early to fill the water-bags, and +had not yet returned. Anson, thinner and scalier and more +snakelike than ever, was dealing a greasy, dirty deck of cards, +his opponent being the square-shaped, black-visaged Moze. In lieu +of money the gamblers wagered with cedar-berries, each of which +berries represented a pipeful of tobacco. Jim Wilson brooded +under a cedar-tree, his unshaven face a dirty dust-hue, a +smoldering fire in his light eyes, a sullen set to his jaw. Every +little while he would raise his eyes to glance at Riggs, and it +seemed that a quick glance was enough. Riggs paced to and fro in +the open, coatless and hatless, his black-broadcloth trousers and +embroidered vest dusty and torn. An enormous gun bumped awkwardly +in its sheath swinging below his hip. Riggs looked perturbed. His +face was sweating freely, yet it was far from red in color. He +did not appear to mind the sun or the flies. His eyes were +staring, dark, wild, shifting in gaze from everything they +encountered. But often that gaze shot back to the captive girl +sitting under a cedar some yards from the man.</p> + +<p>Bo Rayner's little, booted feet were tied together with one +end of a lasso and the other end trailed off over the ground. Her +hands were free. Her riding-habit was dusty and disordered. Her +eyes blazed defiantly out of a small, pale face.</p> + +<p>"Harve Riggs, I wouldn't be standing in those cheap boots of +yours for a million dollars," she said, sarcastically. Riggs took +no notice of her words.</p> + +<p>"You pack that gun-sheath wrong end out. What have you got the +gun for, anyhow?" she added, tauntingly.</p> + +<p>Snake Anson let out a hoarse laugh and Moze's black visage +opened in a huge grin. Jim Wilson seemed to drink in the girl's +words. Sullen and somber, he bent his lean head, very still, as +if listening.</p> + +<p>"You'd better shut up," said Riggs, darkly.</p> + +<p>"I will not shut up," declared Bo.</p> + +<p>"Then I'll gag you," he threatened.</p> + +<p>"Gag me! Why, you dirty, low-down, two-bit of a bluff!" she +exclaimed, hotly, "I'd like to see you try it. I'll tear that +long hair of yours right off your head."</p> + +<p>Riggs advanced toward her with his hands clutching, as if +eager to throttle her. The girl leaned forward, her face +reddening, her eyes fierce.</p> + +<p>"You damned little cat!" muttered Riggs, thickly. "I'll gag +you -- if you don't stop squallin'."</p> + +<p>"Come on. I dare you to lay a hand on me. . . . Harve Riggs, +I'm not the least afraid of you. Can't you savvy that? You're a +liar, a four-flush, a sneak! Why, you're not fit to wipe the feet +of any of these outlaws."</p> + +<p>Riggs took two long strides and bent over her, his teeth +protruding in a snarl, and he cuffed her hard on the side of the +head.</p> + +<p>Bo's head jerked back with the force of the blow, but she +uttered no cry.</p> + +<p>"Are you goin' to keep your jaw shut?" he demanded, +stridently, and a dark tide of blood surged up into his neck.</p> + +<p>"I should smile I'm not," retorted Bo, in cool, deliberate +anger of opposition. "You've roped me -- and you've struck me! +Now get a club -- stand off there -- out of my reach -- and beat +me! Oh, if I only knew cuss words fit for you -- I'd call you +them!"</p> + +<p>Snake Anson had stopped playing cards, and was watching, +listening, with half-disgusted, half-amused expression on his +serpent-like face. Jim Wilson slowly rose to his feet. If any one +had observed him it would have been to note that he now seemed +singularly fascinated by this scene, yet all the while absorbed +in himself. Once he loosened the neck-band of his blouse.</p> + +<p>Riggs swung his arm more violently at the girl. But she +dodged.</p> + +<p>"You dog!" she hissed. "Oh, if I only had a gun!"</p> + +<p>Her face then, with its dead whiteness and the eyes of flame, +held a tragic, impelling beauty that stung Anson into +remonstrance.</p> + +<p>"Aw, Riggs, don't beat up the kid," he protested. "Thet won't +do any good. Let her alone."</p> + +<p>"But she's got to shut up," replied Riggs.</p> + +<p>"How 'n hell air you goin' to shet her up? Mebbe if you get +out of her sight she'll be quiet. . . . How about thet, +girl?"</p> + +<p>Anson gnawed his drooping mustache as he eyed Bo.</p> + +<p>"Have I made any kick to you or your men yet?" she +queried.</p> + +<p>"It strikes me you 'ain't," replied Anson.</p> + +<p>"You won't hear me make any so long as I'm treated decent," +said Bo. "I don't know what you've got to do with Riggs. He ran +me down -- roped me -- dragged me to your camp. Now I've a hunch +you're waiting for Beasley."</p> + +<p>"Girl, your hunch 's correct," said Anson.</p> + +<p>"Well, do you know I'm the wrong girl?"</p> + +<p>"What's thet? I reckon you're Nell Rayner, who got left all +old Auchincloss's property."</p> + +<p>"No. I'm Bo Rayner. Nell is my sister. She owns the ranch. +Beasley wanted her."</p> + +<p>Anson cursed deep and low. Under his sharp, bristling eyebrows +he bent cunning green eyes upon Riggs.</p> + +<p>"Say, you! Is what this kid says so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. She's Nell Rayner's sister," replied Riggs, +doggedly.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! Wal, why in the hell did you drag her into my camp an' +off up here to signal Beasley? He ain't wantin' her. He wants the +girl who owns the ranch. Did you take one fer the other -- same +as thet day we was with you?"</p> + +<p>"Guess I must have," replied Riggs, sullenly.</p> + +<p>"But you knowed her from her sister afore you come to my +camp?"</p> + +<p>Riggs shook his head. He was paler now and sweating more +freely. The dank hair hung wet over his forehead. His manner was +that of a man suddenly realizing he had gotten into a tight +place.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he's a liar!" exclaimed Bo, with contemptuous ring in her +voice. "He comes from my country. He has known Nell and me for +years."</p> + +<p>Snake Anson turned to look at Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Jim, now hyar's a queer deal this feller has rung in on us. I +thought thet kid was pretty young. Don't you remember Beasley +told us Nell Rayner was a handsome woman?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, pard Anson, if this heah gurl ain't handsome my eyes +have gone pore," drawled Wilson.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! So your Texas chilvaree over the ladies is some +operatin'," retorted Anson, with fine sarcasm. "But thet ain't +tellin' me what you think?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I ain't tellin' you what I think yet. But I know thet +kid ain't Nell Rayner. For I've seen her."</p> + +<p>Anson studied his right-hand man for a moment, then, taking +out his tobacco-pouch, he sat himself down upon a stone and +proceeded leisurely to roll a cigarette. He put it between his +thin lips and apparently forgot to light it. For a few moments he +gazed at the yellow ground and some scant sage-brush. Riggs took +to pacing up and down. Wilson leaned as before against the cedar. +The girl slowly recovered from her excess of anger.</p> + +<p>"Kid, see hyar," said Anson, addressing the girl; "if Riggs +knowed you wasn't Nell an' fetched you along anyhow -- what 'd he +do thet fur?"</p> + +<p>"He chased me -- caught me. Then he saw some one after us and +he hurried to your camp. He was afraid -- the cur!"</p> + +<p>Riggs heard her reply, for he turned a malignant glance upon +her.</p> + +<p>"Anson, I fetched her because I know Nell Rayner will give up +anythin' on earth for her," he said, in loud voice.</p> + +<p>Anson pondered this statement with an air of considering its +apparent sincerity.</p> + +<p>"Don't you believe him," declared Bo Rayner, bluntly. "He's a +liar. He's double-crossing Beasley and all of you."</p> + +<p>Riggs raised a shaking hand to clench it at her. "Keep still +or it 'll be the worse for you."</p> + +<p>"Riggs, shut up yourself," put in Anson, as he leisurely rose. +"Mebbe it 'ain't occurred to you thet she might have some talk +interestin' to me. An' I'm runnin' this hyar camp. . . . Now, +kid, talk up an' say what you like."</p> + +<p>"I said he was double-crossing you all," replied the girl, +instantly. "Why, I'm surprised you'd be caught in his company! My +uncle Al and my sweetheart Carmichael and my friend Dale -- +they've all told me what Western men are, even down to outlaws, +robbers, cutthroat rascals like you. And I know the West well +enough now to be sure that four-flush doesn't belong here and +can't last here. He went to Dodge City once and when he came back +he made a bluff at being a bad man. He was a swaggering, +bragging, drinking gun-fighter. He talked of the men he'd shot, +of the fights he'd had. He dressed like some of those +gun-throwing gamblers. . . . He was in love with my sister Nell. +She hated him. He followed us out West and he has hung on our +actions like a sneaking Indian. Why, Nell and I couldn't even +walk to the store in the village. He rode after me out on the +range -- chased me. . . . For that Carmichael called Riggs's +bluff down in Turner's saloon. Dared him to draw! Cussed him +every name on the range! Slapped and beat and kicked him! Drove +him out of Pine! . . . And now, whatever he has said to Beasley +or you, it's a dead sure bet he's playing his own game. That's to +get hold of Nell, and if not her -- then me! . . . Oh, I'm out of +breath -- and I'm out of names to call him. If I talked forever +-- I'd never be -- able to -- do him justice. But lend me -- a +gun -- a minute!"</p> + +<p>Jim Wilson's quiet form vibrated with a start. Anson with his +admiring smile pulled his gun and, taking a couple of steps +forward, held it out butt first. She stretched eagerly for it and +he jerked it away.</p> + +<p>"Hold on there!" yelled Riggs, in alarm.</p> + +<p>"Damme, Jim, if she didn't mean bizness!" exclaimed the +outlaw.</p> + +<p>"Wal, now -- see heah, Miss. Would you bore him -- if you hed +a gun?" inquired Wilson, with curious interest. There was more of +respect in his demeanor than admiration.</p> + +<p>"No. I don't want his cowardly blood on my hands," replied the +girl. "But I'd make him dance -- I'd make him run."</p> + +<p>"Shore you can handle a gun?"</p> + +<p>She nodded her answer while her eyes flashed hate and her +resolute lips twitched.</p> + +<p>Then Wilson made a singularly swift motion and his gun was +pitched butt first to within a foot of her hand. She snatched it +up, cocked it, aimed it, all before Anson could move. But he +yelled:</p> + +<p>"Drop thet gun, you little devil!"</p> + +<p>Riggs turned ghastly as the big blue gun lined on him. He also +yelled, but that yell was different from Anson's.</p> + +<p>"Run or dance!" cried the girl.</p> + +<p>The big gun boomed and leaped almost out of her hand. She took +both hands, and called derisively as she fired again. The second +bullet hit at Riggs's feet, scattering the dust and fragments of +stone all over him. He bounded here -- there -- then darted for +the rocks. A third time the heavy gun spoke and this bullet must +have ticked Riggs, for he let out a hoarse bawl and leaped sheer +for the protection of a rock.</p> + +<p>"Plug him! Shoot off a leg!" yelled Snake Anson, whooping and +stamping, as Riggs got out of sight.</p> + +<p>Jim Wilson watched the whole performance with the same +quietness that had characterized his manner toward the girl. +Then, as Riggs disappeared, Wilson stepped forward and took the +gun from the girl's trembling hands. She was whiter than ever, +but still resolute and defiant. Wilson took a glance over in the +direction Riggs had hidden and then proceeded to reload the gun. +Snake Anson's roar of laughter ceased rather suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Hyar, Jim, she might have held up the whole gang with thet +gun," he protested.</p> + +<p>"I reckon she 'ain't nothin' ag'in' us," replied Wilson.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! You know a lot about wimmen now, don't you? But thet +did my heart good. Jim, what 'n earth would you have did if thet +'d been you instead of Riggs?"</p> + +<p>The query seemed important and amazing. Wilson pondered.</p> + +<p>"Shore I'd stood there -- stock-still -- an' never moved an +eye-winker."</p> + +<p>"An' let her shoot!" ejaculated Anson, nodding his long head. +"Me, too!"</p> + +<p>So these rough outlaws, inured to all the violence and +baseness of their dishonest calling, rose to the challenging +courage of a slip of a girl. She had the one thing they respected +-- nerve.</p> + +<p>Just then a halloo, from the promontory brought Anson up with +a start. Muttering to himself, he strode out toward the jagged +rocks that hid the outlook. Moze shuffled his burly form after +Anson.</p> + +<p>"Miss, it shore was grand -- thet performance of Mister Gunman +Riggs," remarked Jim Wilson, attentively studying the girl.</p> + +<p>"Much obliged to you for lending me your gun," she replied. "I +-- I hope I hit him -- a little."</p> + +<p>"Wal, if you didn't sting him, then Jim Wilson knows nothin' +about lead."</p> + +<p>"Jim Wilson? Are you the man -- the outlaw my uncle Al +knew?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon I am, miss. Fer I knowed Al shore enough. What 'd he +say aboot me?"</p> + +<p>"I remember once he was telling me about Snake Anson's gang. +He mentioned you. Said you were a real gun-fighter. And what a +shame it was you had to be an outlaw."</p> + +<p>"Wal! An' so old Al spoke thet nice of me. . . . It's +tolerable likely I'll remember. An' now, miss, can I do anythin' +for you?"</p> + +<p>Swift as a flash she looked at him.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, shore I don't mean much, I'm sorry to say. Nothin' to +make you look like thet. . . . I hev to be an outlaw, shore as +you're born. But -- mebbe there's a difference in outlaws."</p> + +<p>She understood him and paid him the compliment not to voice +her sudden upflashing hope that he might be one to betray his +leader.</p> + +<p>"Please take this rope off my feet. Let me walk a little. Let +me have a -- a little privacy. That fool watched every move I +made. I promise not to run away. And, oh! I'm thirsty."</p> + +<p>"Shore you've got sense." He freed her feet and helped her get +up. "There'll be some fresh water any minit now, if you'll +wait."</p> + +<p>Then he turned his back and walked over to where Riggs sat +nursing a bullet-burn on his leg.</p> + +<p>"Say, Riggs, I'm takin' the responsibility of loosin' the girl +for a little spell. She can't get away. An' there ain't any sense +in bein' mean."</p> + +<p>Riggs made no reply, and went on rolling down his trousers +leg, lapped a fold over at the bottom and pulled on his boot. +Then he strode out toward the promontory. Half-way there he +encountered Anson tramping back.</p> + +<p>"Beasley's comin' one way an' Shady's comin' another. We'll be +off this hot point of rock by noon," said the outlaw leader.</p> + +<p>Riggs went on to the promontory to look for himself.</p> + +<p>"Where's the girl?" demanded Anson, in surprise, when he got +back to the camp.</p> + +<p>"Wal, she's walkin' 'round between heah an' Pine," drawled +Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Jim, you let her loose?"</p> + +<p>"Shore I did. She's been hawg-tied all the time. An' she said +she'd not run off. I'd take thet girl's word even to a +sheep-thief."</p> + +<p>"A-huh. So would I, for all of thet. But, Jim, somethin's +workin' in you. Ain't you sort of rememberin' a time when you was +young -- an' mebbe knowed pretty kids like this one?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, if I am it 'll shore turn out bad fer somebody."</p> + +<p>Anson gave him a surprised stare and suddenly lost the +bantering tone.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! So thet's how it's workin'," he replied, and flung +himself down in the shade.</p> + +<p>Young Burt made his appearance then, wiping his sallow face. +His deep-set, hungry eyes, upon which his comrades set such +store, roved around the camp.</p> + +<p>"Whar's the gurl?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"Jim let her go out fer a stroll," replied Anson.</p> + +<p>"I seen Jim was gittin' softy over her. Haw! Haw! Haw!"</p> + +<p>But Snake Anson did not crack a smile. The atmosphere appeared +not to be congenial for jokes, a fact Burt rather suddenly +divined. Riggs and Moze returned from the promontory, the latter +reporting that Shady Jones was riding up close. Then the girl +walked slowly into sight and approached to find a seat within ten +yards of the group. They waited in silence until the expected +horseman rode up with water-bottles slung on both sides of his +saddle. His advent was welcome. All the men were thirsty. Wilson +took water to the girl before drinking himself.</p> + +<p>"Thet's an all-fired hot ride fer water," declared the outlaw +Shady, who somehow fitted his name in color and impression. "An', +boss, if it's the same to you I won't take it ag'in."</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, Shady. We'll be rustlin' back in the mountains +before sundown," said Anson.</p> + +<p>"Hang me if that ain't the cheerfulest news I've hed in some +days. Hey, Moze?"</p> + +<p>The black-faced Moze nodded his shaggy head.</p> + +<p>"I'm sick an' sore of this deal," broke out Burt, evidently +encouraged by his elders. "Ever since last fall we've been +hangin' 'round -- till jest lately freezin' in camps -- no money +-- no drink -- no grub wuth havin'. All on promises!"</p> + +<p>Not improbably this young and reckless member of the gang had +struck the note of discord. Wilson seemed most detached from any +sentiment prevailing there. Some strong thoughts were revolving +in his brain.</p> + +<p>"Burt, you ain't insinuatin' thet I made promises?" inquired +Anson, ominously.</p> + +<p>"No, boss, I ain't. You allus said we might hit it rich. But +them promises was made to you. An' it 'd be jest like thet +greaser to go back on his word now we got the gurl."</p> + +<p>"Son, it happens we got the wrong one. Our long-haired pard +hyar -- Mister Riggs -- him with the big gun -- he waltzes up +with this sassy kid instead of the woman Beasley wanted."</p> + +<p>Burt snorted his disgust while Shady Jones, roundly swearing, +pelted the smoldering camp-fire with stones. Then they all lapsed +into surly silence. The object of their growing scorn, Riggs, sat +a little way apart, facing none of them, but maintaining as bold +a front as apparently he could muster.</p> + +<p>Presently a horse shot up his ears, the first indication of +scent or sound imperceptible to the men. But with this cue they +all, except Wilson, sat up attentively. Soon the crack of +iron-shod hoofs on stone broke the silence. Riggs nervously rose +to his feet. And the others, still excepting Wilson, one by one +followed suit. In another moment a rangy bay horse trotted out of +the cedars, up to the camp, and his rider jumped off nimbly for +so heavy a man.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Beasley?" was Anson's greeting.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Snake, old man!" replied Beasley, as his bold, +snapping black eyes swept the group. He was dusty and hot, and +wet with sweat, yet evidently too excited to feel discomfort. "I +seen your smoke signal first off an' jumped my hoss quick. But I +rode north of Pine before I headed 'round this way. Did you +corral the girl or did Riggs? Say! -- you look queer! . . . +What's wrong here? You haven't signaled me for nothin'?"</p> + +<p>Snake Anson beckoned to Bo.</p> + +<p>"Come out of the shade. Let him look you over."</p> + +<p>The girl walked out from under the spreading cedar that had +hidden her from sight.</p> + +<p>Beasley stared aghast -- his jaw dropped.</p> + +<p>"Thet's the kid sister of the woman I wanted!" he +ejaculated.</p> + +<p>"So we've jest been told."</p> + +<p>Astonishment still held Beasley.</p> + +<p>"Told?" he echoed. Suddenly his big body leaped with a start. +"Who got her? Who fetched her?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Mister Gunman Riggs hyar," replied Anson, with a subtle +scorn.</p> + +<p>"Riggs, you got the wrong girl," shouted Beasley. "You made +thet mistake once before. What're you up to?"</p> + +<p>"I chased her an' when I got her, seein' it wasn't Nell Rayner +-- why -- I kept her, anyhow," replied Riggs. "An' I've got a +word for your ear alone."</p> + +<p>"Man, you're crazy -- queerin' my deal thet way!" roared +Beasley. "You heard my plans. . . . Riggs, this girl-stealin' +can't be done twice. Was you drinkin' or locoed or what?"</p> + +<p>"Beasley, he was giving you the double-cross," cut in Bo +Rayner's cool voice.</p> + +<p>The rancher stared speechlessly at her, then at Anson, then at +Wilson, and last at Riggs, when his brown visage shaded dark with +rush of purple blood. With one lunge he knocked Riggs flat, then +stood over him with a convulsive hand at his gun.</p> + +<p>"You white-livered card-sharp! I've a notion to bore you. . . +. They told me you had a deal of your own, an' now I believe +it."</p> + +<p>"Yes -- I had," replied Riggs, cautiously getting up. He was +ghastly. "But I wasn't double-crossin' you. Your deal was to get +the girl away from home so you could take possession of her +property. An' I wanted her."</p> + +<p>"What for did you fetch the sister, then?" demanded Beasley, +his big jaw bulging.</p> + +<p>"Because I've a plan to --"</p> + +<p>"Plan hell! You've spoiled my plan an' I've seen about enough +of you." Beasley breathed hard; his lowering gaze boded an +uncertain will toward the man who had crossed him; his hand still +hung low and clutching.</p> + +<p>"Beasley, tell them to get my horse. I want to go home," said +Bo Rayner.</p> + +<p>Slowly Beasley turned. Her words enjoined a silence. What to +do with her now appeared a problem.</p> + +<p>"I had nothin' to do with fetchin' you here an' I'll have +nothin' to do with sendin' you back or whatever's done with you," +declared Beasley.</p> + +<p>Then the girl's face flashed white again and her eyes changed +to fire.</p> + +<p>"You're as big a liar as Riggs," she cried, passionately. "And +you're a thief, a bully who picks on defenseless girls. Oh, we +know your game! Milt Dale heard your plot with this outlaw Anson +to steal my sister. You ought to be hanged -- you half-breed +greaser!"</p> + +<p>"I'll cut out your tongue!" hissed Beasley.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'll bet you would if you had me alone. But these +outlaws -- these sheep-thieves -- these tools you hire are better +than you and Riggs. . . . What do you suppose Carmichael will do +to you? Carmichael! He's my sweetheart -- that cowboy. You know +what he did to Riggs. Have you brains enough to know what he'll +do to you?"</p> + +<p>"He'll not do much," growled Beasley. But the thick purplish +blood was receding from his face. "Your cowpuncher --"</p> + +<p>"Bah!" she interrupted, and she snapped her fingers in his +face. "He's from Texas! He's from <em>Texas!</em>"</p> + +<p>"Supposin' he is from Texas?" demanded Beasley, in angry +irritation. "What's thet? Texans are all over. There's Jim +Wilson, Snake Anson's right-hand man. He's from Texas. But thet +ain't scarin' any one."</p> + +<p>He pointed toward Wilson, who shifted uneasily from foot to +foot. The girl's flaming glance followed his hand.</p> + +<p>"Are you from Texas?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Miss, I am -- an' I reckon I don't deserve it," replied +Wilson. It was certain that a vague shame attended his +confession.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I believed even a bandit from Texas would fight for a +helpless girl!" she replied, in withering scorn of +disappointment.</p> + +<p>Jim Wilson dropped his head. If any one there suspected a +serious turn to Wilson's attitude toward that situation it was +the keen outlaw leader.</p> + +<p>"Beasley, you're courtin' death," he broke in.</p> + +<p>"You bet you are!" added Bo, with a passion that made her +listeners quiver. "You've put me at the mercy of a gang of +outlaws! You may force my sister out of her home! But your day +will come.' Tom Carmichael will <em>kill</em> you."</p> + +<p>Beasley mounted his horse. Sullen, livid, furious, he sat +shaking in the saddle, to glare down at the outlaw leader.</p> + +<p>"Snake, thet's no fault of mine the deal's miscarried. I was +square. I made my offer for the workin' out of my plan. It 'ain't +been done. Now there's hell to pay an' I'm through."</p> + +<p>"Beasley, I reckon I couldn't hold you to anythin'," replied +Anson, slowly. "But if you was square you ain't square now. We've +hung around an' tried hard. My men are all sore. An' we're broke, +with no outfit to speak of. Me an' you never fell out before. But +I reckon we might."</p> + +<p>"Do I owe you any money -- accordin' to the deal?" demanded +Beasley.</p> + +<p>"No, you don't," responded Anson, sharply.</p> + +<p>"Then thet's square. I wash my hands of the whole deal. Make +Riggs pay up. He's got money an' he's got plans. Go in with +him."</p> + +<p>With that Beasley spurred his horse, wheeled and rode away. +The outlaws gazed after him until he disappeared in the +cedars.</p> + +<p>"What'd you expect from a greaser?" queried Shady Jones.</p> + +<p>"Anson, didn't I say so?" added Burt.</p> + +<p>The black-visaged Moze rolled his eyes like a mad bull and Jim +Wilson studiously examined a stick he held in his hands. Riggs +showed immense relief.</p> + +<p>"Anson, stake me to some of your outfit an' I'll ride off with +the girl," he said, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Where'd you go now?" queried Anson, curiously.</p> + +<p>Riggs appeared at a loss for a quick answer; his wits were no +more equal to this predicament than his nerve.</p> + +<p>"You're no woodsman. An' onless you're plumb locoed you'd +never risk goin' near Pine or Show Down. There'll be real +trackers huntin' your trail."</p> + +<p>The listening girl suddenly appealed to Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Don't let him take me off -- alone -- in the woods!" she +faltered. That was the first indication of her weakening.</p> + +<p>Jim Wilson broke into gruff reply. "I'm not bossin' this +gang."</p> + +<p>"But you're a man!" she importuned.</p> + +<p>"Riggs, you fetch along your precious firebrand an' come with +us," said Anson, craftily. "I'm particular curious to see her +brand you."</p> + +<p>"Snake, lemme take the girl back to Pine," said Jim +Wilson.</p> + +<p>Anson swore his amaze.</p> + +<p>"It's sense," continued Wilson. "We've shore got our own +troubles, an' keepin' her 'll only add to them. I've a hunch. Now +you know I ain't often givin' to buckin' your say-so. But this +deal ain't tastin' good to me. Thet girl ought to be sent +home."</p> + +<p>"But mebbe there's somethin' in it for us. Her sister 'd pay +to git her back."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I shore hope you'll recollect I offered -- thet's all," +concluded Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Jim, if we wanted to git rid of her we'd let Riggs take her +off," remonstrated the outlaw leader. He was perturbed and +undecided. Wilson worried him.</p> + +<p>The long Texan veered around full faced. What subtle +transformation in him!</p> + +<p>"Like hell we would!" he said.</p> + +<p>It could not have been the tone that caused Anson to quail. He +might have been leader here, but he was not the greater man. His +face clouded.</p> + +<p>"Break camp," he ordered.</p> + +<p>Riggs had probably not heard that last exchange between Anson +and Wilson, for he had walked a few rods aside to get his +horse.</p> + +<p>In a few moments when they started off, Burt, Jones, and Moze +were in the lead driving the pack-horses, Anson rode next, the +girl came between him and Riggs, and significantly, it seemed, +Jim Wilson brought up the rear.</p> + +<p>This start was made a little after the noon hour. They +zigzagged up the slope, took to a deep ravine, and followed it up +to where it headed in the level forest. From there travel was +rapid, the pack-horses being driven at a jogtrot. Once when a +troop of deer burst out of a thicket into a glade, to stand with +ears high, young Burt halted the cavalcade. His well-aimed shot +brought down a deer. Then the men rode on, leaving him behind to +dress and pack the meat. The only other halt made was at the +crossing of the first water, a clear, swift brook, where both +horses and men drank thirstily. Here Burt caught up with his +comrades.</p> + +<p>They traversed glade and park, and wended a crooked trail +through the deepening forest, and climbed, bench after bench, to +higher ground, while the sun sloped to the westward, lower and +redder. Sunset had gone, and twilight was momentarily brightening +to the afterglow when Anson, breaking his silence of the +afternoon, ordered a halt.</p> + +<p>The place was wild, dismal, a shallow vale between dark slopes +of spruce. Grass, fire-wood, and water were there in abundance. +All the men were off, throwing saddles and packs, before the +tired girl made an effort to get down. Riggs, observing her, made +a not ungentle move to pull her off. She gave him a sounding slap +with her gloved hand.</p> + +<p>"Keep your paws to yourself," she said. No evidence of +exhaustion was there in her spirit.</p> + +<p>Wilson had observed this by-play, but Anson had not.</p> + +<p>"What come off?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Wal, the Honorable Gunman Riggs jest got caressed by the lady +-- as he was doin' the elegant," replied Moze, who stood +nearest.</p> + +<p>"Jim, was you watchin'?" queried Anson. His curiosity had held +through the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"He tried to yank her off an' she biffed him," replied +Wilson.</p> + +<p>"That Riggs is jest daffy or plain locoed," said Snake, in an +aside to Moze.</p> + +<p>"Boss, you mean plain cussed. Mark my words, he'll hoodoo this +outfit. Jim was figgerin' correct."</p> + +<p>"Hoodoo --" cursed Anson, under his breath.</p> + +<p>Many hands made quick work. In a few moments a fire was +burning brightly, water was boiling, pots were steaming, the odor +of venison permeated the cool air. The girl had at last slipped +off her saddle to the ground, where she sat while Riggs led the +horse away. She sat there apparently forgotten, a pathetic droop +to her head.</p> + +<p>Wilson had taken an ax and was vigorously wielding it among +the spruces. One by one they fell with swish and soft crash. Then +the sliding ring of the ax told how he was slicing off the +branches with long sweeps. Presently he appeared in the +semi-darkness, dragging half-trimmed spruces behind him. He made +several trips, the last of which was to stagger under a huge +burden of spruce boughs. These he spread under a low, projecting +branch of an aspen. Then he leaned the bushy spruces slantingly +against this branch on both sides, quickly improvising a V-shaped +shelter with narrow aperture in front. Next from one of the packs +he took a blanket and threw that inside the shelter. Then, +touching the girl on the shoulder, he whispered:</p> + +<p>"When you're ready, slip in there. An' don't lose no sleep by +worryin', fer I'll be layin' right here."</p> + +<p>He made a motion to indicate his length across the front of +the narrow aperture.</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you! Maybe you really are a Texan," she whispered +back.</p> + +<p>"Mebbe," was his gloomy reply.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XXI</p> + +<p>The girl refused to take food proffered her by Riggs, but she +ate and drank a little that Wilson brought her, then she +disappeared in the spruce lean-to.</p> + +<p>Whatever loquacity and companionship had previously existed in +Snake Anson's gang were not manifest in this camp. Each man +seemed preoccupied, as if pondering the dawn in his mind of an +ill omen not clear to him yet and not yet dreamed of by his +fellows. They all smoked. Then Moze and Shady played cards awhile +by the light of the fire, but it was a dull game, in which either +seldom spoke. Riggs sought his blanket first, and the fact was +significant that he lay down some distance from the spruce +shelter which contained Bo Rayner. Presently young Burt went off +grumbling to his bed. And not long afterward the card-players did +likewise.</p> + +<p>Snake Anson and Jim Wilson were left brooding in silence +beside the dying camp-fire.</p> + +<p>The night was dark, with only a few stars showing. A fitful +wind moaned unearthly through the spruce. An occasional thump of +hoof sounded from the dark woods. No cry of wolf or coyote or cat +gave reality to the wildness of forest-land.</p> + +<p>By and by those men who had rolled in their blankets were +breathing deep and slow in heavy slumber.</p> + +<p>"Jim, I take it this hyar Riggs has queered our deal," said +Snake Anson, in low voice.</p> + +<p>"I reckon," replied Wilson.</p> + +<p>"An' I'm feared he's queered this hyar White Mountain country +fer us."</p> + +<p>"Shore I 'ain't got so far as thet. What d' ye mean, +Snake?"</p> + +<p>"Damme if I savvy," was the gloomy reply. "I only know what +was bad looks growin' wuss. Last fall -- an' winter -- an' now +it's near April. We've got no outfit to make a long stand in the +woods. . . . Jim, jest how strong is thet Beasley down in the +settlements?"</p> + +<p>"I've a hunch he ain't half as strong as he bluffs."</p> + +<p>"Me, too. I got thet idee yesterday. He was scared of the kid +-- when she fired up an' sent thet hot-shot about her cowboy +sweetheart killin' him. He'll do it, Jim. I seen that Carmichael +at Magdalena some years ago. Then he was only a youngster. But, +whew! Mebbe he wasn't bad after toyin' with a little red +liquor."</p> + +<p>"Shore. He was from Texas, she said."</p> + +<p>"Jim, I savvied your feelin's was hurt -- by thet talk about +Texas -- an' when she up an' asked you."</p> + +<p>Wilson had no rejoinder for this remark.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Lord knows, I ain't wonderin'. You wasn't a hunted +outlaw all your life. An' neither was I. . . . Wilson, I never +was keen on this girl deal -- now, was I?"</p> + +<p>"I reckon it's honest to say no to thet," replied Wilson. "But +it's done. Beasley 'll get plugged sooner or later. Thet won't +help us any. Chasin' sheep-herders out of the country an' +stealin' sheep -- thet ain't stealin' gurls by a long sight. +Beasley 'll blame that on us, an' be greaser enough to send some +of his men out to hunt us. For Pine an' Show Down won't stand +thet long. There's them Mormons. They'll be hell when they wake +up. Suppose Carmichael got thet hunter Dale an' them hawk-eyed +Beemans on our trail?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, we'd cash in -- quick," replied Anson, gruffly.</p> + +<p>"Then why didn't you let me take the gurl back home?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, come to think of thet, Jim, I'm sore, an' I need money +-- an' I knowed you'd never take a dollar from her sister. An' +I've made up my mind to git somethin' out of her."</p> + +<p>"Snake, you're no fool. How 'll you do thet same an' do it +quick?"</p> + +<p>"'Ain't reckoned it out yet."</p> + +<p>"Wal, you got aboot to-morrer an' thet's all," returned +Wilson, gloomily.</p> + +<p>"Jim, what's ailin' you?"</p> + +<p>"I'll let you figger thet out."</p> + +<p>"Wal, somethin' ails the whole gang," declared Anson, +savagely. "With them it's nothin' to eat -- no whisky -- no money +to bet with -- no tobacco!. . . But thet's not what's ailin' you, +Jim Wilson, nor me!"</p> + +<p>"Wal, what is, then?" queried Wilson.</p> + +<p>"With me it's a strange feelin' thet my day's over on these +ranges. I can't explain, but it jest feels so. Somethin' in the +air. I don't like them dark shadows out there under the spruces. +Savvy? . . . An' as fer you, Jim -- wal, you allus was half +decent, an' my gang's got too lowdown fer you."</p> + +<p>"Snake, did I ever fail you?"</p> + +<p>"No, you never did. You're the best pard I ever knowed. In the +years we've rustled together we never had a contrary word till I +let Beasley fill my ears with his promises. Thet's my fault. But, +Jim, it's too late."</p> + +<p>"It mightn't have been too late yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Mebbe not. But it is now, an' I'll hang on to the girl or git +her worth in gold," declared the outlaw, grimly.</p> + +<p>"Snake, I've seen stronger gangs than yours come an' go. Them +Big Bend gangs in my country -- them rustlers -- they were all +bad men. You have no likes of them gangs out heah. If they didn't +get wiped out by Rangers or cowboys, why they jest naturally +wiped out themselves. Thet's a law I recognize in relation to +gangs like them. An' as for yours -- why, Anson, it wouldn't hold +water against one real gun-slinger."</p> + +<p>"A-huh' Then if we ran up ag'in' Carmichael or some such +fellar -- would you be suckin' your finger like a baby?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I wasn't takin' count of myself. I was takin' +generalities."</p> + +<p>"Aw, what 'n hell are them?" asked Anson, disgustedly. "Jim, I +know as well as you thet this hyar gang is hard put. We're goin' +to be trailed an' chased. We've got to hide -- be on the go all +the time -- here an' there -- all over, in the roughest woods. +An' wait our chance to work south."</p> + +<p>"Shore. But, Snake, you ain't takin' no count of the feelin's +of the men -- an' of mine an' yours. . . . I'll bet you my hoss +thet in a day or so this gang will go to pieces."</p> + +<p>"I'm feared you spoke what's been crowdin' to git in my mind," +replied Anson. Then he threw up his hands in a strange gesture of +resignation. The outlaw was brave, but all men of the wilds +recognized a force stronger than themselves. He sat there +resembling a brooding snake with basilisk eyes upon the fire. At +length he arose, and without another word to his comrade he +walked wearily to where lay the dark, quiet forms of the +sleepers.</p> + +<p>Jim Wilson remained beside the flickering fire. He was reading +something in the red embers, perhaps the past. Shadows were on +his face, not all from the fading flames or the towering spruces. +Ever and anon he raised his head to listen, not apparently that +he expected any unusual sound, but as if involuntarily. Indeed, +as Anson had said, there was something nameless in the air. The +black forest breathed heavily, in fitful moans of wind. It had +its secrets. The glances Wilson threw on all sides betrayed that +any hunted man did not love the dark night, though it hid him. +Wilson seemed fascinated by the life inclosed there by the black +circle of spruce. He might have been reflecting on the strange +reaction happening to every man in that group, since a girl had +been brought among them. Nothing was clear, however; the forest +kept its secret, as did the melancholy wind; the outlaws were +sleeping like tired beasts, with their dark secrets locked in +their hearts.</p> + +<p>After a while Wilson put some sticks on the red embers, then +pulled the end of a log over them. A blaze sputtered up, changing +the dark circle and showing the sleepers with their set, shadowed +faces upturned. Wilson gazed on all of them, a sardonic smile on +his lips, and then his look fixed upon the sleeper apart from the +others -- Riggs. It might have been the false light of flame and +shadow that created Wilson's expression of dark and terrible +hate. Or it might have been the truth, expressed in that lonely, +unguarded hour, from the depths of a man born in the South -- a +man who by his inheritance of race had reverence for all +womanhood -- by whose strange, wild, outlawed bloody life of a +gun-fighter he must hate with the deadliest hate this type that +aped and mocked his fame.</p> + +<p>It was a long gaze Wilson rested upon Riggs -- as strange and +secretive as the forest wind moaning down the great aisles -- and +when that dark gaze was withdrawn Wilson stalked away to make his +bed with the stride of one ill whom spirit had liberated +force.</p> + +<p>He laid his saddle in front of the spruce shelter where the +girl had entered, and his tarpaulin and blankets likewise and +then wearily stretched his long length to rest.</p> + +<p>The camp-fire blazed up, showing the exquisite green and +brown-flecked festooning of the spruce branches, symmetrical and +perfect, yet so irregular, and then it burned out and died down, +leaving all in the dim gray starlight. The horses were not moving +around; the moan of night wind had grown fainter; the low hum of +insects was dying away; even the tinkle of the brook had +diminished. And that growth toward absolute silence continued, +yet absolute silence was never attained. Life abided in the +forest; only it had changed its form for the dark hours.<br> +</p> + +<p>Anson's gang did not bestir themselves at the usual early +sunrise hour common to all woodsmen, hunters, or outlaws, to whom +the break of day was welcome. These companions -- Anson and Riggs +included -- might have hated to see the dawn come. It meant only +another meager meal, then the weary packing and the long, long +ride to nowhere in particular, and another meager meal -- all +toiled for without even the necessities of satisfactory living, +and assuredly without the thrilling hopes that made their life +significant, and certainly with a growing sense of approaching +calamity.</p> + +<p>The outlaw leader rose surly and cross-grained. He had to boot +Burt to drive him out for the horses. Riggs followed him. Shady +Jones did nothing except grumble. Wilson, by common consent, +always made the sour-dough bread, and he was slow about it this +morning. Anson and Moze did the rest of the work, without +alacrity. The girl did not appear.</p> + +<p>"Is she dead?" growled Anson.</p> + +<p>"No, she ain't," replied Wilson, looking up. "She's sleepin'. +Let her sleep. She'd shore be a sight better off if she was +daid."</p> + +<p>"A-huh! So would all of this hyar outfit," was Anson's +response.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Sna-ake, I shore reckon we'll all be thet there soon," +drawled Wilson, in his familiar cool and irritating tone that +said so much more than the content of the words.</p> + +<p>Anson did not address the Texas member of his party again.</p> + +<p>Burt rode bareback into camp, driving half the number of the +horses; Riggs followed shortly with several more. But three were +missed, one of them being Anson's favorite. He would not have +budged without that horse. During breakfast he growled about his +lazy men, and after the meal tried to urge them off. Riggs went +unwillingly. Burt refused to go at all.</p> + +<p>"Nix. I footed them hills all I'm a-goin' to," he said. "An' +from now on I rustle my own hoss."</p> + +<p>The leader glared his reception of this opposition. Perhaps +his sense of fairness actuated him once more, for he ordered +Shady and Moze out to do their share.</p> + +<p>"Jim, you're the best tracker in this outfit. Suppose you go," +suggested Anson. "You allus used to be the first one off."</p> + +<p>"Times has changed, Snake," was the imperturbable reply.</p> + +<p>"Wal, won't you go?" demanded the leader, impatiently.</p> + +<p>"I shore won't."</p> + +<p>Wilson did not look or intimate in any way that he would not +leave the girl in camp with one or any or all of Anson's gang, +but the truth was as significant as if he had shouted it. The +slow-thinking Moze gave Wilson a sinister look.</p> + +<p>"Boss, ain't it funny how a pretty wench --?" began Shady +Jones, sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"Shut up, you fool!" broke in Anson. "Come on, I'll help +rustle them hosses."</p> + +<p>After they had gone Burt took his rifle and strolled off into +the forest. Then the girl appeared. Her hair was down, her face +pale, with dark shadows. She asked for water to wash her face. +Wilson pointed to the brook, and as she walked slowly toward it +he took a comb and a clean scarf from his pack and carried them +to her.</p> + +<p>Upon her return to the camp-fire she looked very different +with her hair arranged and the red stains in her cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Miss, air you hungry?" asked Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," she replied.</p> + +<p>He helped her to portions of bread, venison and gravy, and a +cup of coffee. Evidently she relished the meat, but she had to +force down the rest.</p> + +<p>"Where are they all?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Rustlin' the hosses."</p> + +<p>Probably she divined that he did not want to talk, for the +fleeting glance she gave him attested to a thought that his voice +or demeanor had changed. Presently she sought a seat under the +aspen-tree, out of the sun, and the smoke continually blowing in +her face; and there she stayed, a forlorn little figure, for all +the resolute lips and defiant eyes.</p> + +<p>The Texan paced to and fro beside the camp-fire with bent +head, and hands locked behind him. But for the swinging gun he +would have resembled a lanky farmer, coatless and hatless, with +his brown vest open, his trousers stuck in the top of the high +boots.</p> + +<p>And neither he nor the girl changed their positions relatively +for a long time. At length, however, after peering into the +woods, and listening, he remarked to the girl that he would be +back in a moment, and then walked off around the spruces.</p> + +<p>No sooner had he disappeared -- in fact, so quickly after-ward +that it presupposed design instead of accident -- than Riggs came +running from the opposite side of the glade. He ran straight to +the girl, who sprang to her feet.</p> + +<p>"I hid -- two of the -- horses," he panted, husky with +excitement. "I'll take -- two saddles. You grab some grub. We'll +run for it."</p> + +<p>"No," she cried, stepping back.</p> + +<p>"But it's not safe -- for us -- here," he said, hurriedly, +glancing all around. "I'll take you -- home. I swear. . . . Not +safe -- I tell you -- this gang's after me. Hurry!"</p> + +<p>He laid hold of two saddles, one with each hand. The moment +had reddened his face, brightened his eyes, made his action +strong.</p> + +<p>"I'm safer -- here with this outlaw gang," she replied.</p> + +<p>"You won't come!" His color began to lighten then, and his +face to distort. He dropped his hold on the saddles.</p> + +<p>"Harve Riggs, I'd rather become a toy and a rag for these +ruffians than spend an hour alone with you," she flashed at him, +in unquenchable hate.</p> + +<p>"I'll drag you!"</p> + +<p>He seized her, but could not hold her. Breaking away, she +screamed.</p> + +<p>"Help!"</p> + +<p>That whitened his face, drove him to frenzy. Leaping forward, +he struck her a hard blow across the mouth. It staggered her, +and, tripping on a saddle, she fell. His hands flew to her +throat, ready to choke her. But she lay still and held her +tongue. Then he dragged her to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Hurry now -- grab that pack -- an' follow me." Again Riggs +laid hold of the two saddles. A desperate gleam, baleful and +vainglorious, flashed over his face. He was living his one great +adventure.</p> + +<p>The girl's eyes dilated. They looked beyond him. Her lips +opened.</p> + +<p>"Scream again an' I'll kill you!" he cried, hoarsely and +swiftly. The very opening of her lips had terrified Riggs.</p> + +<p>"Reckon one scream was enough," spoke a voice, slow, but +without the drawl, easy and cool, yet incalculable in some +terrible sense.</p> + +<p>Riggs wheeled with inarticulate cry. Wilson stood a few paces +off, with his gun half leveled, low down. His face seemed as +usual, only his eyes held a quivering, light intensity, like +boiling molten silver.</p> + +<p>"Girl, what made thet blood on your mouth?"</p> + +<p>"Riggs hit me!" she whispered. Then at something she feared or +saw or divined she shrank back, dropped on her knees, and crawled +into the spruce shelter.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Riggs, I'd invite you to draw if thet 'd be any use," +said Wilson. This speech was reflective, yet it hurried a +little.</p> + +<p>Riggs could not draw nor move nor speak. He seemed turned to +stone, except his jaw, which slowly fell.</p> + +<p>"Harve Riggs, gunman from down Missouri way," continued the +voice of incalculable intent, "reckon you've looked into a heap +of gun-barrels in your day. Shore! Wal, look in this heah +one!"</p> + +<p>Wilson deliberately leveled the gun on a line with Riggs's +starting eyes.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't you heard to brag in Turner's saloon -- thet you could +see lead comin' -- an' dodge it? Shore you must be swift! . . . +<em>Dodge this heah bullet!</em>"</p> + +<p>The gun spouted flame and boomed. One of Riggs's starting, +popping eyes -- the right one -- went out, like a lamp. The other +rolled horribly, then set in blank dead fixedness. Riggs swayed +in slow motion until a lost balance felled him heavily, an inert +mass.</p> + +<p>Wilson bent over the prostrate form. Strange, violent contrast +to the cool scorn of the preceding moment! Hissing, spitting, as +if poisoned by passion, he burst with the hate that his character +had forbidden him to express on a living counterfeit. Wilson was +shaken, as if by a palsy. He choked over passionate, incoherent +invective. It was class hate first, then the hate of real manhood +for a craven, then the hate of disgrace for a murder. No man so +fair as a gun-fighter in the Western creed of an "even +break"!</p> + +<p>Wilson's terrible cataclysm of passion passed. Straightening +up, he sheathed his weapon and began a slow pace before the fire. +Not many moments afterward he jerked his head high and listened. +Horses were softly thudding through the forest. Soon Anson rode +into sight with his men and one of the strayed horses. It +chanced, too, that young Burt appeared on the other side of the +glade. He walked quickly, as one who anticipated news.</p> + +<p>Snake Anson as he dismounted espied the dead man.</p> + +<p>"Jim -- I thought I heard a shot."</p> + +<p>The others exclaimed and leaped off their horses to view the +prostrate form with that curiosity and strange fear common to all +men confronted by sight of sudden death.</p> + +<p>That emotion was only momentary.</p> + +<p>"Shot his lamp out!" ejaculated Moze.</p> + +<p>"Wonder how Gunman Riggs liked thet plumb center peg!" +exclaimed Shady Jones, with a hard laugh.</p> + +<p>"Back of his head all gone!" gasped young Burt. Not improbably +he had not seen a great many bullet-marked men.</p> + +<p>"Jim! -- the long-haired fool didn't try to draw on you!" +exclaimed Snake Anson, astounded.</p> + +<p>Wilson neither spoke nor ceased his pacing.</p> + +<p>"What was it over?" added Anson, curiously.</p> + +<p>"He hit the gurl," replied Wilson.</p> + +<p>Then there were long-drawn exclamations all around, and glance +met glance.</p> + +<p>"Jim, you saved me the job," continued the outlaw leader. "An' +I'm much obliged. . . . Fellars, search Riggs an' we'll divvy. . +. . Thet all right, Jim?"</p> + +<p>"Shore, an' you can have my share."</p> + +<p>They found bank-notes in the man's pocket and considerable +gold worn in a money-belt around his waist. Shady Jones +appropriated his boots, and Moze his gun. Then they left him as +he had fallen.</p> + +<p>"Jim, you'll have to track them lost hosses. Two still missin' +an' one of them's mine," called Anson as Wilson paced to the end +of his beat.</p> + +<p>The girl heard Anson, for she put her head out of the spruce +shelter and called: "Riggs said he'd hid two of the horses. They +must be close. He came that way."</p> + +<p>"Howdy, kid! Thet's good news," replied Anson. His spirits +were rising. "He must hev wanted you to slope with him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I wouldn't go."</p> + +<p>"An' then he hit you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Wal, recallin' your talk of yestiddy, I can't see as Mister +Riggs lasted much longer hyar than he'd hev lasted in Texas. +We've some of thet great country right in our outfit."</p> + +<p>The girl withdrew her white face.</p> + +<p>"It's break camp, boys," was the leader's order. "A couple of +you look up them hosses. They'll be hid in some thick spruces. +The rest of us 'll pack."<br> +</p> + +<p>Soon the gang was on the move, heading toward the height of +land, and swerving from it only to find soft and grassy ground +that would not leave any tracks.</p> + +<p>They did not travel more than a dozen miles during the +afternoon, but they climbed bench after bench until they reached +the timbered plateau that stretched in sheer black slope up to +the peaks. Here rose the great and gloomy forest of firs and +pines, with the spruce overshadowed and thinned out. The last +hour of travel was tedious and toilsome, a zigzag, winding, +breaking, climbing hunt for the kind of camp-site suited to +Anson's fancy. He seemed to be growing strangely irrational about +selecting places to camp. At last, for no reason that could have +been manifest to a good woodsman, he chose a gloomy bowl in the +center of the densest forest that had been traversed. The +opening, if such it could have been called, was not a park or +even a glade. A dark cliff, with strange holes, rose to one side, +but not so high as the lofty pines that brushed it. Along its +base babbled a brook, running over such formation of rock that +from different points near at hand it gave forth different +sounds, some singing, others melodious, and one at least of a +hollow, weird, deep sound, not loud, but strangely +penetrating.</p> + +<p>"Sure spooky I say," observed Shady, sentiently.</p> + +<p>The little uplift of mood, coincident with the rifling of +Riggs's person, had not worn over to this evening camp. What talk +the outlaws indulged in was necessary and conducted in low tones. +The place enjoined silence.</p> + +<p>Wilson performed for the girl very much the same service as he +had the night before. Only he advised her not to starve herself; +she must eat to keep up her strength. She complied at the expense +of considerable effort.</p> + +<p>As it had been a back-breaking day, in which all of them, +except the girl, had climbed miles on foot, they did not linger +awake long enough after supper to learn what a wild, weird, and +pitch-black spot the outlaw leader had chosen. The little spaces +of open ground between the huge-trunked pine-trees had no +counterpart up in the lofty spreading foliage. Not a star could +blink a wan ray of light into that Stygian pit. The wind, cutting +down over abrupt heights farther up, sang in the pine-needles as +if they were strings vibrant with chords. Dismal creaks were +audible. They were the forest sounds of branch or tree rubbing +one another, but which needed the corrective medium of daylight +to convince any human that they were other than ghostly. Then, +despite the wind and despite the changing murmur of the brook, +there seemed to be a silence insulating them, as deep and +impenetrable as the darkness.</p> + +<p>But the outlaws, who were fugitives now, slept the sleep of +the weary, and heard nothing. They awoke with the sun, when the +forest seemed smoky in a golden gloom, when light and bird and +squirrel proclaimed the day.</p> + +<p>The horses had not strayed out of this basin during the night, +a circumstance that Anson was not slow to appreciate.</p> + +<p>"It ain't no cheerful camp, but I never seen a safer place to +hole up in," he remarked to Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Wal, yes -- if any place is safe," replied that ally, +dubiously.</p> + +<p>"We can watch our back tracks. There ain't any other way to +git in hyar thet I see."</p> + +<p>"Snake, we was tolerable fair sheep-rustlers, but we're no +good woodsmen."</p> + +<p>Anson grumbled his disdain of this comrade who had once been +his mainstay. Then he sent Burt out to hunt fresh meat and +engaged his other men at cards. As they now had the means to +gamble, they at once became absorbed. Wilson smoked and divided +his thoughtful gaze between the gamblers and the drooping figure +of the girl. The morning air was keen, and she, evidently not +caring to be near her captors beside the camp-fire, had sought +the only sunny spot in this gloomy dell. A couple of hours +passed; the sun climbed high; the air grew warmer. Once the +outlaw leader raised his head to scan the heavy-timbered slopes +that inclosed the camp.</p> + +<p>"Jim, them hosses are strayin' off," he observed.</p> + +<p>Wilson leisurely rose and stalked off across the small, open +patches, in the direction of the horses. They had grazed around +from the right toward the outlet of the brook. Here headed a +ravine, dense and green. Two of the horses had gone down. Wilson +evidently heard them, though they were not in sight, and he +circled somewhat so as to get ahead of them and drive them back. +The invisible brook ran down over the rocks with murmur and +babble. He halted with instinctive action. He listened. Forest +sounds, soft, lulling, came on the warm, pine-scented breeze. It +would have taken no keen ear to hear soft and rapid padded +footfalls. He moved on cautiously and turned into a little open, +mossy spot, brown-matted and odorous, full of ferns and +bluebells. In the middle of this, deep in the moss, he espied a +huge round track of a cougar. He bent over it. Suddenly he +stiffened, then straightened guardedly. At that instant he +received a hard prod in the back. Throwing up his hands, he stood +still, then slowly turned. A tall hunter in gray buckskin, +gray-eyed and square-jawed, had him covered with a cocked rifle. +And beside this hunter stood a monster cougar, snarling and +blinking.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XXII</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Dale," drawled Wilson. "Reckon you're a little +previous on me."</p> + +<p>"Sssssh! Not so loud," said the hunter, in low voice. "You're +Jim Wilson?"</p> + +<p>"Shore am. Say, Dale, you showed up soon. Or did you jest +happen to run acrost us?"</p> + +<p>"I've trailed you. Wilson, I'm after the girl."</p> + +<p>"I knowed thet when I seen you!"</p> + +<p>The cougar seemed actuated by the threatening position of his +master, and he opened his mouth, showing great yellow fangs, and +spat at Wilson. The outlaw apparently had no fear of Dale or the +cocked rifle, but that huge, snarling cat occasioned him +uneasiness.</p> + +<p>"Wilson, I've heard you spoken of as a white outlaw," said +Dale.</p> + +<p>"Mebbe I am. But shore I'll be a scared one in a minit. Dale, +he's goin' to jump me!"</p> + +<p>"The cougar won't jump you unless I make him. Wilson, if I let +you go will you get the girl for me?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, lemme see. Supposin' I refuse?" queried Wilson, +shrewdly.</p> + +<p>"Then, one way or another, it's all up with you."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I 'ain't got much choice. Yes, I'll do it. But, Dale, +are you goin' to take my word for thet an' let me go back to +Anson?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am. You're no fool. An' I believe you're square. I've +got Anson and his gang corralled. You can't slip me -- not in +these woods. I could run off your horses -- pick you off one by +one -- or turn the cougar loose on you at night."</p> + +<p>"Shore. It's your game. Anson dealt himself this hand. . . . +Between you an' me, Dale, I never liked the deal."</p> + +<p>"Who shot Riggs? . . . I found his body."</p> + +<p>"Wal, yours truly was around when thet come off," replied +Wilson, with an involuntary little shudder. Some thought made him +sick.</p> + +<p>"The girl? Is she safe -- unharmed?" queried Dale, +hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"She's shore jest as safe an' sound as when she was home. +Dale, she's the gamest kid thet ever breathed! Why, no one could +hev ever made me believe a girl, a kid like her, could hev the +nerve she's got. Nothin's happened to her 'cept Riggs hit her in +the mouth. . . . I killed him for thet. . . . An', so help me, +God, I believe it's been workin' in me to save her somehow! Now +it'll not be so hard."</p> + +<p>"But how?" demanded Dale.</p> + +<p>"Lemme see. . . . Wal, I've got to sneak her out of camp an' +meet you. Thet's all."</p> + +<p>"It must be done quick."</p> + +<p>"But, Dale, listen," remonstrated Wilson, earnestly. "Too +quick 'll be as bad as too slow. Snake is sore these days, +gittin' sorer all the time. He might savvy somethin', if I ain't +careful, an' kill the girl or do her harm. I know these fellars. +They're all ready to go to pieces. An' shore I must play safe. +Shore it'd be safer to have a plan."</p> + +<p>Wilson's shrewd, light eyes gleamed with an idea. He was about +to lower one of his upraised hands, evidently to point to the +cougar, when he thought better of that.</p> + +<p>"Anson's scared of cougars. Mebbe we can scare him an' the +gang so it 'd be easy to sneak the girl off. Can you make thet +big brute do tricks? Rush the camp at night an' squall an' chase +off the horses?"</p> + +<p>"I'll guarantee to scare Anson out of ten years' growth," +replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Shore it's a go, then," resumed Wilson, as if glad. "I'll +post the girl -- give her a hunch to do her part. You sneak up +to-night jest before dark. I'll hev the gang worked up. An' then +you put the cougar to his tricks, whatever you want. When the +gang gits wild I'll grab the girl an' pack her off down heah or +somewheres aboot an' whistle fer you. . . . But mebbe thet ain't +so good. If thet cougar comes pilin' into camp he might jump me +instead of one of the gang. An' another hunch. He might slope up +on me in the dark when I was tryin' to find you. Shore thet ain't +appealin' to me."</p> + +<p>"Wilson, this cougar is a pet," replied Dale. "You think he's +dangerous, but he's not. No more than a kitten. He only looks +fierce. He has never been hurt by a person an' he's never fought +anythin' himself but deer an' bear. I can make him trail any +scent. But the truth is I couldn't make him hurt you or anybody. +All the same, he can be made to scare the hair off any one who +doesn't know him."</p> + +<p>"Shore thet settles me. I'll be havin' a grand joke while them +fellars is scared to death. . . . Dale, you can depend on me. An' +I'm beholdin' to you fer what 'll square me some with myself. . . +. To-night, an' if it won't work then, to-morrer night +shore!"</p> + +<p>Dale lowered the rifle. The big cougar spat again. Wilson +dropped his hands and, stepping forward, split the green wall of +intersecting spruce branches. Then he turned up the ravine toward +the glen. Once there, in sight of his comrades, his action and +expression changed.</p> + +<p>"Hosses all thar, Jim?" asked Anson, as he picked up, his +cards.</p> + +<p>"Shore. They act awful queer, them hosses," replied. Wilson. +"They're afraid of somethin'."</p> + +<p>"A-huh! Silvertip mebbe," muttered Anson. "Jim, You jest keep +watch of them hosses. We'd be done if some tarnal varmint +stampeded them."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I'm elected to do all the work now," complained +Wilson, "while you card-sharps cheat each other. Rustle the +hosses -- an' water an' fire-wood. Cook an' wash. Hey?"</p> + +<p>"No one I ever seen can do them camp tricks any better 'n Jim +Wilson," replied Anson.</p> + +<p>"Jim, you're a lady's man an' thar's our pretty hoodoo over +thar to feed an' amoose," remarked Shady Jones, with a smile that +disarmed his speech.</p> + +<p>The outlaws guffawed.</p> + +<p>"Git out, Jim, you're breakin' up the game," said Moze, who +appeared loser.</p> + +<p>"Wal, thet gurl would starve if it wasn't fer me," replied +Wilson, genially, and he walked over toward her, beginning to +address her, quite loudly, as he approached. "Wal, miss, I'm +elected cook an' I'd shore like to heah what you fancy fer +dinner."</p> + +<p>The outlaws heard, for they guffawed again. "Haw! Haw! if Jim +ain't funny!" exclaimed Anson.</p> + +<p>The girl looked up amazed. Wilson was winking at her, and when +he got near he began to speak rapidly and low.</p> + +<p>"I jest met Dale down in the woods with his pet cougar. He's +after you. I'm goin' to help him git you safe away. Now you do +your part. I want you to pretend you've gone crazy. Savvy? Act +out of your head! Shore I don't care what you do or say, only act +crazy. An' don't be scared. We're goin' to scare the gang so I'll +hev a chance to sneak you away. To-night or to-morrow -- +shore."</p> + +<p>Before he began to speak she was pale, sad, dull of eye. +Swiftly, with his words, she was transformed, and when he had +ended she did not appear the same girl. She gave him one blazing +flash of comprehension and nodded her head rapidly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I understand. I'll do it!" she whispered.</p> + +<p>The outlaw turned slowly away with the most abstract air, +confounded amid his shrewd acting, and he did not collect himself +until half-way back to his comrades. Then, beginning to hum an +old darky tune, he stirred up and replenished the fire, and set +about preparation for the midday meal. But he did not miss +anything going on around him. He saw the girl go into her shelter +and come out with her hair all down over her face. Wilson, back +to his comrades, grinned his glee, and he wagged his head as if +he thought the situation was developing.</p> + +<p>The gambling outlaws, however, did not at once see the girl +preening herself and smoothing her long hair in a way calculated +to startle.</p> + +<p>"Busted!" ejaculated Anson, with a curse, as he slammed down +his cards. "If I ain't hoodooed I'm a two-bit of a gambler!"</p> + +<p>"Sartin you're hoodooed," said Shady Jones, in scorn. "Is thet +jest dawnin' on you?"</p> + +<p>"Boss, you play like a cow stuck in the mud," remarked Moze, +laconically.</p> + +<p>"Fellars, it ain't funny," declared Anson, with pathetic +gravity. "I'm jest gittin' on to myself. Somethin's wrong. Since +'way last fall no luck -- nothin' but the wust end of everythin'. +I ain't blamin' anybody. I'm the boss. It's me thet's off."</p> + +<p>"Snake, shore it was the gurl deal you made," rejoined Wilson, +who had listened. "I told you. Our troubles hev only begun. An' I +can see the wind-up. Look!"</p> + +<p>Wilson pointed to where the girl stood, her hair flying wildly +all over her face and shoulders. She was making most elaborate +bows to an old stump, sweeping the ground with her tresses in her +obeisance.</p> + +<p>Anson started. He grew utterly astounded. His amaze was +ludicrous. And the other two men looked to stare, to equal their +leader's bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"What 'n hell's come over her?" asked Anson, dubiously. "Must +hev perked up. . . . But she ain't feelin' thet gay!"</p> + +<p>Wilson tapped his forehead with a significant finger.</p> + +<p>"Shore I was scared of her this mawnin'," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"Naw!" exclaimed Anson, incredulously.</p> + +<p>"If she hain't queer I never seen no queer wimmin," vouchsafed +Shady Jones, and it would have been judged, by the way he wagged +his head, that he had been all his days familiar with women.</p> + +<p>Moze looked beyond words, and quite alarmed.</p> + +<p>"I seen it comin'," declared Wilson, very much excited. "But I +was scared to say so. You-all made fun of me aboot her. Now I +shore wish I had spoken up."</p> + +<p>Anson nodded solemnly. He did not believe the evidence of his +sight, but the facts seemed stunning. As if the girl were a +dangerous and incomprehensible thing, he approached her step by +step. Wilson followed, and the others appeared drawn +irresistibly.</p> + +<p>"Hey thar -- kid!" called Anson, hoarsely.</p> + +<p>The girl drew her slight form up haughtily. Through her +spreading tresses her eyes gleamed unnaturally upon the outlaw +leader. But she deigned not to reply.</p> + +<p>"Hey thar -- you Rayner girl!" added Anson, lamely. "What's +ailin' you?"</p> + +<p>"My lord! did you address me?" she asked, loftily.</p> + +<p>Shady Jones got over his consternation and evidently extracted +some humor from the situation, as his dark face began to break +its strain.</p> + +<p>"Aww!" breathed Anson, heavily.</p> + +<p>"Ophelia awaits your command, my lord. I've been gathering +flowers," she said, sweetly, holding up her empty hands as if +they contained a bouquet.</p> + +<p>Shady Jones exploded in convulsed laughter. But his merriment +was not shared. And suddenly it brought disaster upon him. The +girl flew at him.</p> + +<p>"Why do you croak, you toad? I will have you whipped and put +in irons, you scullion!" she cried, passionately.</p> + +<p>Shady underwent a remarkable change, and stumbled in his +backward retreat. Then she snapped her fingers in Moze's +face.</p> + +<p>"You black devil! Get hence! Avaunt!"</p> + +<p>Anson plucked up courage enough to touch her.</p> + +<p>"Aww! Now, Ophelyar --"</p> + +<p>Probably he meant to try to humor her, but she screamed, and +he jumped back as if she might burn him. She screamed shrilly, in +wild, staccato notes.</p> + +<p>"You! You!" she pointed her finger at the outlaw leader. "You +brute to women! You ran off from your wife!"</p> + +<p>Anson turned plum-color and then slowly white. The girl must +have sent a random shot home.</p> + +<p>"And now the devil's turned you into a snake. A long, scaly +snake with green eyes! Uugh! You'll crawl on your belly soon -- +when my cowboy finds you. And he'll tramp you in the dust."</p> + +<p>She floated away from them and began to whirl gracefully, arms +spread and hair flying; and then, apparently oblivious of the +staring men, she broke into a low, sweet song. Next she danced +around a pine, then danced into her little green inclosure. From +which presently she sent out the most doleful moans.</p> + +<p>"Aww! What a shame!" burst out Anson. "Thet fine, healthy, +nervy kid! Clean gone! Daffy! Crazy 'n a bedbug!"</p> + +<p>"Shore it's a shame," protested Wilson. "But it's wuss for us. +Lord! if we was hoodooed before, what will we be now? Didn't I +tell you, Snake Anson? You was warned. Ask Shady an' Moze -- they +see what's up."</p> + +<p>"No luck 'll ever come our way ag'in," predicted Shady, +mournfully.</p> + +<p>"It beats me, boss, it beats me," muttered Moze.</p> + +<p>"A crazy woman on my hands! If thet ain't the last straw!" +broke out Anson, tragically, as he turned away. Ignorant, +superstitious, worked upon by things as they seemed, the outlaw +imagined himself at last beset by malign forces. When he flung +himself down upon one of the packs his big red-haired hands +shook. Shady and Moze resembled two other men at the end of their +ropes.</p> + +<p>Wilson's tense face twitched, and he averted it, as apparently +he fought off a paroxysm of some nature. Just then Anson swore a +thundering oath.</p> + +<p>"Crazy or not, I'll git gold out of thet kid!" he roared.</p> + +<p>"But, man, talk sense. Are you gittin' daffy, too? I declare +this outfit's been eatin' loco. You can't git gold fer her!" said +Wilson, deliberately.</p> + +<p>"Why can't I?"</p> + +<p>"'Cause we're tracked. We can't make no dickers. Why, in +another day or so we'll be dodgin' lead."</p> + +<p>"Tracked! Whar 'd you git thet idee? As soon as this?" queried +Anson, lifting his head like a striking snake. His men, likewise, +betrayed sudden interest.</p> + +<p>"Shore it's no idee. I 'ain't seen any one. But I feel it in +my senses. I hear somebody comin' -- a step on our trail -- all +the time -- night in particular. Reckon there's a big posse after +us."</p> + +<p>"Wal, if I see or hear anythin' I'll knock the girl on the +head an' we'll dig out of hyar," replied Anson, sullenly.</p> + +<p>Wilson executed a swift forward motion, violent and +passionate, so utterly unlike what might have been looked for +from him, that the three outlaws gaped.</p> + +<p>"Then you'll shore hev to knock Jim Wilson on the haid first," +he said, in voice as strange as his action.</p> + +<p>"Jim! You wouldn't go back on me!" implored Anson, with +uplifted hands, in a dignity of pathos.</p> + +<p>"I'm losin' my haid, too, an' you shore might as well knock it +in, an' you'll hev to before I'll stand you murderin' thet pore +little gurl you've drove crazy."</p> + +<p>"Jim, I was only mad," replied Anson. "Fer thet matter, I'm +growin' daffy myself. Aw! we all need a good stiff drink of +whisky."</p> + +<p>So he tried to throw off gloom and apprehension, but he +failed. His comrades did not rally to his help. Wilson walked +away, nodding his head.</p> + +<p>"Boss, let Jim alone," whispered Shady. "It's orful the way +you buck ag'in' him -- when you seen he's stirred up. Jim's true +blue. But you gotta be careful."</p> + +<p>Moze corroborated this statement by gloomy nods.</p> + +<p>When the card-playing was resumed, Anson did not join the +game, and both Moze and Shady evinced little of that +whole-hearted obsession which usually attended their gambling. +Anson lay at length, his head in a saddle, scowling at the little +shelter where the captive girl kept herself out of sight. At +times a faint song or laugh, very unnatural, was wafted across +the space. Wilson plodded at the cooking and apparently heard no +sounds. Presently he called the men to eat, which office they +surlily and silently performed, as if it was a favor bestowed +upon the cook.</p> + +<p>"Snake, hadn't I ought to take a bite of grub over to the +gurl?" asked Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Do you hev to ask me thet?" snapped Anson. "She's gotta be +fed, if we hev to stuff it down her throat."</p> + +<p>"Wal, I ain't stuck on the job," replied Wilson. "But I'll +tackle it, seein' you-all got cold feet."</p> + +<p>With plate and cup be reluctantly approached the little +lean-to, and, kneeling, he put his head inside. The girl, +quick-eyed and alert, had evidently seen him coming. At any rate, +she greeted him with a cautious smile.</p> + +<p>"Jim, was I pretty good?" she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Miss, you was shore the finest aktress I ever seen," he +responded, in a low voice. "But you dam near overdid it. I'm +goin' to tell Anson you're sick now -- poisoned or somethin' +awful. Then we'll wait till night. Dale shore will help us +out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm on fire to get away," she exclaimed. "Jim Wilson, +I'll never forget you as long as I live!"</p> + +<p>He seemed greatly embarrassed.</p> + +<p>"Wal -- miss -- I -- I'll do my best licks. But I ain't +gamblin' none on results. Be patient. Keep your nerve. Don't get +scared. I reckon between me an' Dale you'll git away from +heah."</p> + +<p>Withdrawing his head, he got up and returned to the camp-fire, +where Anson was waiting curiously.</p> + +<p>"I left the grub. But she didn't touch it. Seems sort of sick +to me, like she was poisoned."</p> + +<p>"Jim, didn't I hear you talkin'?" asked Anson.</p> + +<p>"Shore. I was coaxin' her. Reckon she ain't so ranty as she +was. But she shore is doubled-up, an' sickish."</p> + +<p>"Wuss an' wuss all the time," said Anson, between his teeth. +"An' where's Burt? Hyar it's noon an' he left early. He never was +no woodsman. He's got lost."</p> + +<p>"Either thet or he's run into somethin'," replied Wilson, +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>Anson doubled a huge fist and cursed deep under his breath -- +the reaction of a man whose accomplices and partners and tools, +whose luck, whose faith in himself had failed him. He flung +himself down under a tree, and after a while, when his rigidity +relaxed, he probably fell asleep. Moze and Shady kept at their +game. Wilson paced to and fro, sat down, and then got up to bunch +the horses again, walked around the dell and back to camp. The +afternoon hours were long. And they were waiting hours. The act +of waiting appeared on the surface of all these outlaws did.</p> + +<p>At sunset the golden gloom of the glen changed to a vague, +thick twilight. Anson rolled over, yawned, and sat up. As he +glanced around, evidently seeking Burt, his face clouded.</p> + +<p>"No sign of Burt?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Wilson expressed a mild surprise. "Wal, Snake, you ain't +expectin' Burt now?"</p> + +<p>"I am, course I am. Why not?" demanded Anson. "Any other time +we'd look fer him, wouldn't we?"</p> + +<p>"Any other time ain't now. . . . Burt won't ever come back!" +Wilson spoke it with a positive finality.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! Some more of them queer feelin's of yourn -- operatin' +again, hey? Them onnatural kind thet you can't explain, hey?"</p> + +<p>Anson's queries were bitter and rancorous.</p> + +<p>"Yes. An', Snake, I tax you with this heah. Ain't any of them +queer feelin's operatin' in you?"</p> + +<p>"No!" rolled out the leader, savagely. But his passionate +denial was a proof that he lied. From the moment of this +outburst, which was a fierce clinging to the old, brave instincts +of his character, unless a sudden change marked the nature of his +fortunes, he would rapidly deteriorate to the breaking-point. And +in such brutal, unrestrained natures as his this breaking-point +meant a desperate stand, a desperate forcing of events, a +desperate accumulation of passions that stalked out to deal and +to meet disaster and blood and death.</p> + +<p>Wilson put a little wood on the fire and he munched a biscuit. +No one asked him to cook. No one made any effort to do so. One by +one each man went to the pack to get some bread and meat.</p> + +<p>Then they waited as men who knew not what they waited for, yet +hated and dreaded it.</p> + +<p>Twilight in that glen was naturally a strange, veiled +condition of the atmosphere. It was a merging of shade and light, +which two seemed to make gray, creeping shadows.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a snorting and stamping of the horses startled the +men.</p> + +<p>"Somethin' scared the hosses," said Anson, rising. "Come +on."</p> + +<p>Moze accompanied him, and they disappeared in the gloom. More +trampling of hoofs was heard, then a cracking of brush, and the +deep voices of men. At length the two outlaws returned, leading +three of the horses, which they haltered in the open glen.</p> + +<p>The camp-fire light showed Anson's face dark and serious.</p> + +<p>"Jim, them hosses are wilder 'n deer," he said. "I ketched +mine, an' Moze got two. But the rest worked away whenever we come +close. Some varmint has scared them bad. We all gotta rustle out +thar quick."</p> + +<p>Wilson rose, shaking his head doubtfully. And at that moment +the quiet air split to a piercing, horrid neigh of a terrified +horse. Prolonged to a screech, it broke and ended. Then followed +snorts of fright, pound and crack and thud of hoofs, and crash of +brush; then a gathering thumping, crashing roar, split by +piercing sounds.</p> + +<p>"Stampede!" yelled Anson, and he ran to hold his own horse, +which he had haltered right in camp. It was big and wild-looking, +and now reared and plunged to break away. Anson just got there in +time, and then it took all his weight to pull the horse down. Not +until the crashing, snorting, pounding melee had subsided and +died away over the rim of the glen did Anson dare leave his +frightened favorite.</p> + +<p>"Gone! Our horses are gone! Did you hear 'em?" he exclaimed, +blankly.</p> + +<p>"Shore. They're a cut-up an' crippled bunch by now," replied +Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Boss, we'll never git 'ern back, not 'n a hundred years," +declared Moze.</p> + +<p>"Thet settles us, Snake Anson," stridently added Shady Jones. +"Them hosses are gone! You can kiss your hand to them. . . . They +wasn't hobbled. They hed an orful scare. They split on thet +stampede an' they'll never git together. . . . See what you've +fetched us to!"</p> + +<p>Under the force of this triple arraignment the outlaw leader +dropped to his seat, staggered and silenced. In fact, silence +fell upon all the men and likewise enfolded the glen.</p> + +<p>Night set in jet-black, dismal, lonely, without a star. +Faintly the wind moaned. Weirdly the brook babbled through its +strange chords to end in the sound that was hollow. It was never +the same -- a rumble, as if faint, distant thunder -- a deep +gurgle, as of water drawn into a vortex -- a rolling, as of a +stone in swift current. The black cliff was invisible, yet seemed +to have many weird faces; the giant pines loomed spectral; the +shadows were thick, moving, changing. Flickering lights from the +camp-fire circled the huge trunks and played fantastically over +the brooding men. This camp-fire did not burn or blaze cheerily; +it had no glow, no sputter, no white heart, no red, living +embers. One by one the outlaws, as if with common consent, tried +their hands at making the fire burn aright. What little wood had +been collected was old; it would burn up with false flare, only +to die quickly.</p> + +<p>After a while not one of the outlaws spoke or stirred. Not one +smoked. Their gloomy eyes were fixed on the fire. Each one was +concerned with his own thoughts, his own lonely soul +unconsciously full of a doubt of the future. That brooding hour +severed him from comrade.</p> + +<p>At night nothing seemed the same as it was by day. With +success and plenty, with full-blooded action past and more in +store, these outlaws were as different from their present state +as this black night was different from the bright day they waited +for. Wilson, though he played a deep game of deceit for the sake +of the helpless girl -- and thus did not have haunting and +superstitious fears on her account -- was probably more conscious +of impending catastrophe than any of them.</p> + +<p>The evil they had done spoke in the voice of nature, out of +the darkness, and was interpreted by each according to his hopes +and fears. Fear was their predominating sense. For years they had +lived with some species of fear -- of honest men or vengeance, of +pursuit, of starvation, of lack of drink or gold, of blood and +death, of stronger men, of luck, of chance, of fate, of +mysterious nameless force. Wilson was the type of fearless +spirit, but he endured the most gnawing and implacable fear of +all -- that of himself -- that he must inevitably fall to deeds +beneath his manhood.</p> + +<p>So they hunched around the camp-fire, brooding because hope +was at lowest ebb; listening because the weird, black silence, +with its moan of wind and hollow laugh of brook, compelled them +to hear; waiting for sleep, for the hours to pass, for whatever +was to come.</p> + +<p>And it was Anson who caught the first intimation of an +impending doom.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XXIII</p> + +<p>"Listen!"</p> + +<p>Anson whispered tensely. His poise was motionless, his eyes +roved everywhere. He held up a shaking, bludgy finger, to command +silence.</p> + +<p>A third and stranger sound accompanied the low, weird moan of +the wind, and the hollow mockery of the brook -- and it seemed a +barely perceptible, exquisitely delicate wail or whine. It filled +in the lulls between the other sounds.</p> + +<p>"If thet's some varmint he's close," whispered Anson.</p> + +<p>"But shore, it's far off," said Wilson.</p> + +<p>Shady Jones and Moze divided their opinions in the same +way.</p> + +<p>All breathed freer when the wail ceased, relaxing to their +former lounging positions around the fire. An impenetrable wall +of blackness circled the pale space lighted by the camp-fire; and +this circle contained the dark, somber group of men in the +center, the dying camp-fire, and a few spectral trunks of pines +and the tethered horses on the outer edge. The horses scarcely +moved from their tracks, and their erect, alert heads attested to +their sensitiveness to the peculiarities of the night.</p> + +<p>Then, at an unusually quiet lull the strange sound gradually +arose to a wailing whine.</p> + +<p>"It's thet crazy wench cryin'," declared the outlaw +leader.</p> + +<p>Apparently his allies accepted that statement with as much +relief as they had expressed for the termination of the +sound.</p> + +<p>"Shore, thet must be it," agreed Jim Wilson, gravely.</p> + +<p>"We'll git a lot of sleep with thet gurl whinin' all night," +growled Shady Jones.</p> + +<p>"She gives me the creeps," said Moze.</p> + +<p>Wilson got up to resume his pondering walk, head bent, hands +behind his back, a grim, realistic figure of perturbation.</p> + +<p>"Jim -- set down. You make me nervous," said Anson, +irritably.</p> + +<p>Wilson actually laughed, but low, as if to keep his strange +mirth well confined.</p> + +<p>"Snake, I'll bet you my hoss an' my gun ag'in' a biscuit thet +in aboot six seconds more or less I'll be stampedin like them +hosses."</p> + +<p>Anson's lean jaw dropped. The other two outlaws stared with +round eyes. Wilson was not drunk, they evidently knew; but what +he really was appeared a mystery.</p> + +<p>"Jim Wilson, are you showin' yellow?" queried Anson, +hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Mebbe. The Lord only knows. But listen heah. . . . Snake, +you've seen an' heard people croak?"</p> + +<p>"You mean cash in -- die?"</p> + +<p>"Shore."</p> + +<p>"Wal, yes -- a couple or so," replied Anson, grimly.</p> + +<p>"But you never seen no one die of shock -- of an orful +scare?"</p> + +<p>"No, I reckon I never did."</p> + +<p>"I have. An' thet's what's ailin' Jim Wilson," and he resumed +his dogged steps.</p> + +<p>Anson and his two comrades exchanged bewildered glances with +one another.</p> + +<p>"A-huh! Say, what's thet got to do with us hyar? asked Anson, +presently.</p> + +<p>"Thet gurl is dyin'!" retorted Wilson, in a voice cracking +like a whip.</p> + +<p>The three outlaws stiffened in their seats, incredulous, yet +irresistibly swayed by emotions that stirred to this dark, +lonely, ill-omened hour.</p> + +<p>Wilson trudged to the edge of the lighted circle, muttering to +himself, and came back again; then he trudged farther, this time +almost out of sight, but only to return; the third time he +vanished in the impenetrable wall of light. The three men +scarcely moved a muscle as they watched the place where he had +disappeared. In a few moments he came stumbling back.</p> + +<p>"Shore she's almost gone," he said, dismally. "It took my +nerve, but I felt of her face. . . . Thet orful wail is her +breath chokin' in her throat. . . . Like a death-rattle, only +long instead of short."</p> + +<p>"Wal, if she's gotta croak it's good she gits it over quick," +replied Anson. "I 'ain't hed sleep fer three nights. . . . An' +what I need is whisky."</p> + +<p>"Snake, thet's gospel you're spoutin'," remarked Shady Jones, +morosely.</p> + +<p>The direction of sound in the glen was difficult to be assured +of, but any man not stirred to a high pitch of excitement could +have told that the difference in volume of this strange wail must +have been caused by different distances and positions. Also, when +it was loudest, it was most like a whine. But these outlaws heard +with their consciences.</p> + +<p>At last it ceased abruptly.</p> + +<p>Wilson again left the group to be swallowed up by the night. +His absence was longer than usual, but he returned hurriedly.</p> + +<p>"She's daid!" he exclaimed, solemnly. "Thet innocent kid -- +who never harmed no one -- an' who'd make any man better fer +seein' her -- she's daid! . . . Anson, you've shore a heap to +answer fer when your time comes."</p> + +<p>"What's eatin' you?" demanded the leader, angrily. "Her blood +ain't on my hands."</p> + +<p>"It shore is," shouted Wilson, shaking his hand at Anson. "An' +you'll hev to take your medicine. I felt thet comin' all along. +An' I feel some more."</p> + +<p>"Aw! She's jest gone to sleep," declared Anson, shaking his +long frame as he rose. "Gimme a light."</p> + +<p>"Boss, you're plumb off to go near a dead gurl thet's jest +died crazy," protested Shady Jones.</p> + +<p>"Off! Haw! Haw! Who ain't off in this outfit, I'd like to +know?" Anson possessed himself of a stick blazing at one and, and +with this he stalked off toward the lean-to where the girl was +supposed to be dead. His gaunt figure, lighted by the torch, +certainly fitted the weird, black surroundings. And it was seen +that once near the girl's shelter he proceeded more slowly, until +he halted. He bent to peer inside.</p> + +<p>"SHE'S GONE!" he yelled, in harsh, shaken accents.</p> + +<p>Than the torch burned out, leaving only a red glow. He whirled +it about, but the blaze did not rekindle. His comrades, peering +intently, lost sight of his tall form and the end of the +red-ended stick. Darkness like pitch swallowed him. For a moment +no sound intervened. Again the moan of wind, the strange little +mocking hollow roar, dominated the place. Then there came a rush +of something, perhaps of air, like the soft swishing of spruce +branches swinging aside. Dull, thudding footsteps followed it. +Anson came running back to the fire. His aspect was wild, his +face pale, his eyes were fierce and starting from their sockets. +He had drawn his gun.</p> + +<p>"Did -- ye -- see er hear -- anythin'?" he panted, peering +back, then all around, and at last at his man.</p> + +<p>"No. An' I shore was lookin' an' listenin'," replied +Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Boss, there wasn't nothin'," declared Moze.</p> + +<p>"I ain't so sartin," said Shady Jones, with doubtful, staring +eyes. "I believe I heerd a rustlin'."</p> + +<p>"She wasn't there!" ejaculated Anson, in wondering awe. "She's +gone! . . . My torch went out. I couldn't see. An' jest then I +felt somethin' was passin'. Fast! I jerked 'round. All was black, +an' yet if I didn't see a big gray streak I'm crazier 'n thet +gurl. But I couldn't swear to anythin' but a rushin' of wind. I +felt thet."</p> + +<p>"Gone!" exclaimed Wilson, in great alarm. "Fellars, if thet's +so, then mebbe she wasn't daid an' she wandered off. . . . But +she was daid! Her heart hed quit beatin'. I'll swear to +thet."</p> + +<p>"I move to break camp," said Shady Jones, gruffly, and he +stood up. Moze seconded that move by an expressive flash of his +black visage.</p> + +<p>"Jim, if she's dead -- an' gone -- what 'n hell's come off?" +huskily asked Anson. "It, only seems thet way. We're all worked +up. . . . Let's talk sense."</p> + +<p>"Anson, shore there's a heap you an' me don't know," replied +Wilson. "The world come to an end once. Wal, it can come to +another end. . . . I tell you I ain't surprised --"</p> + +<p>"<em>Thar!</em>" cried Anson, whirling, with his gun leaping +out.</p> + +<p>Something huge, shadowy, gray against the black rushed behind +the men and trees; and following it came a perceptible +acceleration of the air.</p> + +<p>"Shore, Snake, there wasn't nothin'," said Wilson, +"presently."</p> + +<p>"I heerd," whispered Shady Jones.</p> + +<p>"It was only a breeze blowin' thet smoke," rejoined Moze.</p> + +<p>"I'd bet my soul somethin' went back of me," declared Anson, +glaring into the void.</p> + +<p>"Listen an' let's make shore," suggested Wilson.</p> + +<p>The guilty, agitated faces of the outlaws showed plain enough +in the flickering light for each to see a convicting dread in his +fellow. Like statues they stood, watching and listening.</p> + +<p>Few sounds stirred in the strange silence. Now and then the +horses heaved heavily, but stood still; a dismal, dreary note of +the wind in the pines vied with a hollow laugh of the brook. And +these low sounds only fastened attention upon the quality of the +silence. A breathing, lonely spirit of solitude permeated the +black dell. Like a pit of unplumbed depths the dark night yawned. +An evil conscience, listening there, could have heard the most +peaceful, beautiful, and mournful sounds of nature only as +strains of a calling hell.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the silent, oppressive, surcharged air split to a +short, piercing scream.</p> + +<p>Anson's big horse stood up straight, pawing the air, and came +down with a crash. The other horses shook with terror.</p> + +<p>"Wasn't -- thet -- a cougar?" whispered Anson, thickly.</p> + +<p>"Thet was a woman's scream," replied Wilson, and he appeared +to be shaking like a leaf in the wind.</p> + +<p>"Then -- I figgered right -- the kid's alive -- wonderin' +around -- an' she let out thet orful scream," said Anson.</p> + +<p>"Wonderin' 'round, yes -- but she's daid!"</p> + +<p>"My Gawd! it ain't possible!"</p> + +<p>"Wal, if she ain't wonderin' round daid she's almost daid," +replied Wilson. And he began to whisper to himself.</p> + +<p>"If I'd only knowed what thet deal meant I'd hev plugged +Beasley instead of listenin'. . . . An' I ought to hev knocked +thet kid on the head an' made sartin she'd croaked. If she goes +screamin' 'round thet way --"</p> + +<p>His voice failed as there rose a thin, splitting, high-pointed +shriek, somewhat resembling the first scream, only less wild. It +came apparently from the cliff.</p> + +<p>From another point in the pitch-black glen rose the wailing, +terrible cry of a woman in agony. Wild, haunting, mournful +wail!</p> + +<p>Anson's horse, loosing the halter, plunged back, almost +falling over a slight depression in the rocky ground. The outlaw +caught him and dragged him nearer the fire. The other horses +stood shaking and straining. Moze ran between them and held them. +Shady Jones threw green brush on the fire. With sputter and +crackle a blaze started, showing Wilson standing tragically, his +arms out, facing the black shadows.</p> + +<p>The strange, live shriek was not repeated. But the cry, like +that of a woman in her death-throes, pierced the silence again. +It left a quivering ring that softly died away. Then the +stillness clamped down once more and the darkness seemed to +thicken. The men waited, and when they had begun to relax the cry +burst out appallingly close, right behind the trees. It was human +-- the personification of pain and terror -- the tremendous +struggle of precious life against horrible death. So pure, so +exquisite, so wonderful was the cry that the listeners writhed as +if they saw an innocent, tender, beautiful girl torn frightfully +before their eyes. It was full of suspense; it thrilled for +death; its marvelous potency was the wild note -- that beautiful +and ghastly note of self-preservation.</p> + +<p>In sheer desperation the outlaw leader fired his gun at the +black wall whence the cry came. Then he had to fight his horse to +keep him from plunging away. Following the shot was an interval +of silence; the horses became tractable; the men gathered closer +to the fire, with the halters still held firmly.</p> + +<p>"If it was a cougar -- thet 'd scare him off," said Anson.</p> + +<p>"Shore, but it ain't a cougar," replied Wilson. "Wait an' +see!"</p> + +<p>They all waited, listening with ears turned to different +points, eyes roving everywhere, afraid of their very shadows. +Once more the moan of wind, the mockery of brook, deep gurgle, +laugh and babble, dominated the silence of the glen.</p> + +<p>"Boss, let's shake this spooky hole," whispered Moze.</p> + +<p>The suggestion attracted Anson, and he pondered it while +slowly shaking his head.</p> + +<p>"We've only three hosses. An' mine 'll take ridin' -- after +them squalls," replied the leader. "We've got packs, too. An' +hell 'ain't nothin' on this place fer bein' dark."</p> + +<p>"No matter. Let's go. I'll walk an' lead the way," said Moze, +eagerly. "I got sharp eyes. You fellars can ride an' carry a +pack. We'll git out of here an' come back in daylight fer the +rest of the outfit."</p> + +<p>"Anson, I'm keen fer thet myself," declared Shady Jones.</p> + +<p>"Jim, what d'ye say to thet?" queried Anson. "Rustlin' out of +this black hole?"</p> + +<p>"Shore it's a grand idee," agreed Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Thet was a cougar," avowed Anson, gathering courage as the +silence remained unbroken. "But jest the same it was as tough on +me as if it hed been a woman screamin' over a blade twistin' in +her gizzards."</p> + +<p>"Snake, shore you seen a woman heah lately?" deliberately +asked Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I did. Thet kid," replied Anson, dubiously.</p> + +<p>"Wal, you seen her go crazy, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"'An' she wasn't heah when you went huntin' fer her?"</p> + +<p>"Correct."</p> + +<p>"Wal, if thet's so, what do you want to blab about cougars +for?"</p> + +<p>Wilson's argument seemed incontestable. Shady and Moze nodded +gloomily and shifted restlessly from foot to foot. Anson dropped +his head.</p> + +<p>"No matter -- if we only don't hear --" he began, suddenly to +grow mute.</p> + +<p>Right upon them, from some place, just out the circle of +light, rose a scream, by reason of its proximity the most +piercing and agonizing yet heard, simply petrifying the group +until the peal passed. Anson's huge horse reared, and with a +snort of terror lunged in tremendous leap, straight out. He +struck Anson with thudding impact, knocking him over the rocks +into the depression back of the camp-fire, and plunging after +him. Wilson had made a flying leap just in time to avoid being +struck, and he turned to see Anson go down. There came a crash, a +groan, and then the strike and pound of hoofs as the horse +struggled up. Apparently he had rolled over his master.</p> + +<p>"Help, fellars!" yelled Wilson, quick to leap down over the +little bank, and in the dim light to grasp the halter. The three +men dragged the horse out and securely tied him close to a tree. +That done, they peered down into the depression. Anson's form +could just barely be distinguished in the gloom. He lay stretched +out. Another groan escaped him.</p> + +<p>"Shore I'm scared he's hurt," said Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Hoss rolled right on top of him. An' thet hoss's heavy," +declared Moze.</p> + +<p>They got down and knelt beside their leader. In the darkness +his face looked dull gray. His breathing was not right.</p> + +<p>"Snake, old man, you ain't -- hurt?" asked Wilson, with a +tremor in his voice. Receiving no reply, he said to his comrades, +"Lay hold an' we'll heft him up where we can see."</p> + +<p>The three men carefully lifted Anson up on the bank and laid +him near the fire in the light. Anson was conscious. His face was +ghastly. Blood showed on his lips.</p> + +<p>Wilson knelt beside him. The other outlaws stood up, and with +one dark gaze at one another damned Anson's chance of life. And +on the instant rose that terrible distressing scream of acute +agony -- like that of a woman being dismembered. Shady Jones +whispered something to Moze. Then they stood up, gazing down at +their fallen leader.</p> + +<p>"Tell me where you're hurt?" asked Wilson.</p> + +<p>"He -- smashed -- my chest," said Anson, in a broken, +strangled whisper.</p> + +<p>Wilson's deft hands opened the outlaw's shirt and felt of his +chest.</p> + +<p align="CENTER"><tt>-335-</tt><br> +</p> + +<p>"No. Shore your breast-bone ain't smashed," replied Wilson, +hopefully. And he began to run his hand around one side of +Anson's body and then the other. Abruptly he stopped, averted his +gaze, then slowly ran the hand all along that side. Anson's ribs +had been broken and crushed in by the weight of the horse. He was +bleeding at the mouth, and his slow, painful expulsions of breath +brought a bloody froth, which showed that the broken bones had +penetrated the lungs. An injury sooner or later fatal!</p> + +<p>"Pard, you busted a rib or two," said Wilson.</p> + +<p>"Aw, Jim -- it must be -- wuss 'n thet!" he whispered. "I'm -- +in orful -- pain. An' I can't -- git any -- breath."</p> + +<p>"Mebbe you'll be better," said Wilson, with a cheerfulness his +face belied.</p> + +<p>Moze bent close over Anson, took a short scrutiny of that +ghastly face, at the blood-stained lips, and the lean hands +plucking at nothing. Then he jerked erect.</p> + +<p>"Shady, he's goin' to cash. Let's clear out of this."</p> + +<p>"I'm yours pertickler previous," replied Jones.</p> + +<p>Both turned away. They untied the two horses and led them up +to where the saddles lay. Swiftly the blankets went on, swiftly +the saddles swung up, swiftly the cinches snapped. Anson lay +gazing up at Wilson, comprehending this move. And Wilson stood +strangely grim and silent, somehow detached coldly from that self +of the past few hours.</p> + +<p>"Shady, you grab some bread an' I'll pack a bunk of meat," +said Moze. Both men came near the fire, into the light, within +ten feet of where the leader lay.</p> + +<p>"Fellars -- you ain't -- slopin'?" he whispered, in husky +amaze.</p> + +<p>"Boss, we air thet same. We can't do you no good an' this hole +ain't healthy," replied Moze.</p> + +<p>Shady Jones swung himself astride his horse, all about him +sharp, eager, strung.</p> + +<p>"Moze, I'll tote the grub an' you lead out of hyar, till we +git past the wust timber," he said.</p> + +<p>"Aw, Moze --you wouldn't leave -- Jim hyar -- alone," implored +Anson.</p> + +<p>"Jim can stay till he rots," retorted Moze. "I've hed enough +of this hole."</p> + +<p>"But, Moze -- it ain't square --" panted Anson. "Jim wouldn't +-- leave me. I'd stick -- by you. . . . I'll make it -- all up to +you."</p> + +<p>"Snake, you're goin' to cash," sardonically returned Moze.</p> + +<p>A current leaped all through Anson's stretched frame. His +ghastly face blazed. That was the great and the terrible moment +which for long had been in abeyance. Wilson had known grimly that +it would come, by one means or another. Anson had doggedly and +faithfully struggled against the tide of fatal issues. Moze and +Shady Jones, deep locked in their self-centered motives, had not +realized the inevitable trend of their dark lives.</p> + +<p>Anson, prostrate as he was, swiftly drew his gun and shot +Moze. Without sound or movement of hand Moze fell. Then the +plunge of Shady's horse caused Anson's second shot to miss. A +quick third shot brought no apparent result but Shady's cursing +resort to his own weapon. He tried to aim from his plunging +horse. His bullets spattered dust and gravel over Anson. Then +Wilson's long arm stretched and his heavy gun banged. Shady +collapsed in the saddle, and the frightened horse, throwing him, +plunged out of the circle of light. Thudding hoofs, crashings of +brush, quickly ceased.</p> + +<p>"Jim -- did you -- git him?" whispered Anson.</p> + +<p>"Shore did, Snake," was the slow, halting response. Jim Wilson +must have sustained a sick shudder as he replied. Sheathing his +gun, he folded a blanket and put it under Anson's head.</p> + +<p>"Jim -- my feet -- air orful cold," whispered Anson.</p> + +<p>"Wal, it's gittin' chilly," replied Wilson, and, taking a +second blanket, he laid that over Anson's limbs. "Snake, I'm +feared Shady hit you once."</p> + +<p>"A-huh! But not so I'd care -- much -- if I hed -- no wuss +hurt."</p> + +<p>"You lay still now. Reckon Shady's hoss stopped out heah a +ways. An' I'll see."</p> + +<p>"Jim -- I 'ain't heerd -- thet scream fer -- a little."</p> + +<p>"Shore it's gone. . . . Reckon now thet was a cougar."</p> + +<p>"I knowed it!"</p> + +<p>Wilson stalked away into the darkness. That inky wall did not +seem so impenetrable and black after he had gotten out of the +circle of light. He proceeded carefully and did not make any +missteps. He groped from tree to tree toward the cliff and +presently brought up against a huge flat rock as high as his +head. Here the darkness was blackest, yet he was able to see a +light form on the rock.</p> + +<p>"Miss, are you there -- all right?" he called, softly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I'm scared to death," she whispered in reply.</p> + +<p>"Shore it wound up sudden. Come now. I reckon your trouble's +over."</p> + +<p>He helped her off the rock, and, finding her unsteady on her +feet, he supported her with one arm and held the other out in +front of him to feel for objects. Foot by foot they worked out +from under the dense shadow of the cliff, following the course of +the little brook. It babbled and gurgled, and almost drowned the +low whistle Wilson sent out. The girl dragged heavily upon him +now, evidently weakening. At length he reached the little open +patch at the head of the ravine. Halting here, he whistled. An +answer came from somewhere behind him and to the right. Wilson +waited, with the girl hanging on his arm.</p> + +<p>"Dale's heah," he said. "An' don't you keel over now -- after +all the nerve you hed."</p> + +<p>A swishing of brush, a step, a soft, padded footfall; a +looming, dark figure, and a long, low gray shape, stealthily +moving -- it was the last of these that made Wilson jump.</p> + +<p>"Wilson!" came Dale's subdued voice.</p> + +<p>"Heah. I've got her, Dale. Safe an sound," replied Wilson, +stepping toward the tall form. And he put the drooping girl into +Dale's arms.</p> + +<p>"Bo! Bo! You're all right?" Dale's deep voice was +tremulous.</p> + +<p>She roused up to seize him and to utter little cries of +joy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dale! . . . Oh, thank Heaven! I'm ready to drop now. . . +. Hasn't it been a night -- an adventure? . . . I'm well -- safe +-- sound. . . . Dale, we owe it to this Jim Wilson."</p> + +<p>"Bo, I -- we'll all thank him -- all our lives," replied Dale. +"Wilson, you're a man! . . . If you'll shake that gang --"</p> + +<p>"Dale, shore there ain't much of a gang left, onless you let +Burt git away," replied Wilson.</p> + +<p>"I didn't kill him -- or hurt him. But I scared him so I'll +bet he's runnin' yet. . . . Wilson, did all the shootin' mean a +fight?"</p> + +<p>"Tolerable."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dale, it was terrible! I saw it all. I --"</p> + +<p>"Wal, Miss, you can tell him after I go. . . . I'm wishin' you +good luck."</p> + +<p>His voice was a cool, easy drawl, slightly tremulous.</p> + +<p>The girl's face flashed white in the gloom. She pressed +against the outlaw -- wrung his hands.</p> + +<p>"Heaven help you, Jim Wilson! You <em>are</em> from Texas! . . +. I'll remember you -- pray for you all my life!"</p> + +<p>Wilson moved away, out toward the pale glow of light under the +black pines.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XXIV</p> + +<p>As Helen Rayner watched Dale ride away on a quest perilous to +him, and which meant almost life or death for her, it was +surpassing strange that she could think of nothing except the +thrilling, tumultuous moment when she had put her arms round his +neck.</p> + +<p>It did not matter that Dale -- splendid fellow that he was -- +had made the ensuing moment free of shame by taking her action as +he had taken it -- the fact that she had actually done it was +enough. How utterly impossible for her to anticipate her impulses +or to understand them, once they were acted upon! Confounding +realization then was that when Dale returned with her sister, +Helen knew she would do the same thing over again!</p> + +<p>"If I do -- I won't be two-faced about it," she soliloquized, +and a hot blush flamed her cheeks.</p> + +<p>She watched Dale until he rode out of sight.</p> + +<p>When he had gone, worry and dread replaced this other +confusing emotion. She turned to the business of meeting events. +Before supper she packed her valuables and books, papers, and +clothes, together with Bo's, and had them in readiness so if she +was forced to vacate the premises she would have her personal +possessions.</p> + +<p>The Mormon boys and several other of her trusted men slept in +their tarpaulin beds on the porch of the ranch-house that night, +so that Helen at least would not be surprised. But the day came, +with its manifold duties undisturbed by any event. And it passed +slowly with the leaden feet of listening, watching vigilance.</p> + +<p>Carmichael did not come back, nor was there news of him to be +had. The last known of him had been late the afternoon of the +preceding day, when a sheep-herder had seen him far out on the +north range, headed for the hills. The Beemans reported that +Roy's condition had improved, and also that there was a subdued +excitement of suspense down in the village.</p> + +<p>This second lonely night was almost unendurable for Helen. +When she slept it was to dream horrible dreams; when she lay +awake it was to have her heart leap to her throat at a rustle of +leaves near the window, and to be in torture of imagination as to +poor Bo's plight. A thousand times Helen said to herself that +Beasley could have had the ranch and welcome, if only Bo had been +spared. Helen absolutely connected her enemy with her sister's +disappearance. Riggs might have been a means to it.</p> + +<p>Daylight was not attended by so many fears; there were things +to do that demanded attention. And thus it was that the next +morning, shortly before noon, she was recalled to her +perplexities by a shouting out at the corrals and a galloping of +horses somewhere near. From the window she saw a big smoke.</p> + +<p>"Fire! That must be one of the barns -- the old one, farthest +out," she said, gazing out of the window. "Some careless Mexican +with his everlasting cigarette!"</p> + +<p>Helen resisted an impulse to go out and see what had happened. +She had decided to stay in the house. But when footsteps sounded +on the porch and a rap on the door, she unhesitatingly opened it. +Four Mexicans stood close. One of them, quick as thought, flashed +a hand in to grasp her, and in a single motion pulled her across +the threshold.</p> + +<p>"No hurt, Señora," he said, and pointed -- making +motions she must go.</p> + +<p>Helen did not need to be told what this visit meant. Many as +her conjectures had been, however, she had not thought of Beasley +subjecting her to this outrage. And her blood boiled.</p> + +<p>"How dare you!" she said, trembling in her effort to control +her temper. But class, authority, voice availed nothing with +these swarthy Mexicans. They grinned. Another laid hold of Helen +with dirty, brown hand. She shrank from the contact.</p> + +<p>"Let go!" she burst out, furiously. And instinctively she +began to struggle to free herself. Then they all took hold of +her. Helen's dignity might never have been! A burning, choking +rush of blood was her first acquaintance with the terrible +passion of anger that was her inheritance from the Auchinclosses. +She who had resolved never to lay herself open to indignity now +fought like a tigress. The Mexicans, jabbering in their +excitement, had all they could do, until they lifted her bodily +from the porch. They handled her as if she had been a half-empty +sack of corn. One holding each hand and foot they packed her, +with dress disarranged and half torn off, down the path to the +lane and down the lane to the road. There they stood upright and +pushed her off her property.</p> + +<p>Through half-blind eyes Helen saw them guarding the gateway, +ready to prevent her entrance. She staggered down the road to the +village. It seemed she made her way through a red dimness -- that +there was a congestion in her brain -- that the distance to Mrs. +Cass's cottage was insurmountable. But she got there, to stagger +up the path, to hear the old woman's cry. Dizzy, faint, sick, +with a blackness enveloping all she looked at, Helen felt herself +led into the sitting-room and placed in the big chair.</p> + +<p>Presently sight and clearness of mind returned to her. She saw +Roy, white as a sheet, questioning her with terrible eyes. The +old woman hung murmuring over her, trying to comfort her as well +as fasten the disordered dress.</p> + +<p>"Four greasers -- packed me down -- the hill -- threw me off +my ranch -- into the road!" panted Helen.</p> + +<p>She seemed to tell this also to her own consciousness and to +realize the mighty wave of danger that shook her whole body.</p> + +<p>"If I'd known -- I would have killed them!"</p> + +<p>She exclaimed that, full-voiced and hard, with dry, hot eyes +on her friends. Roy reached out to take her hand, speaking +huskily. Helen did not distinguish what he said. The frightened +old woman knelt, with unsteady fingers fumbling over the rents in +Helen's dress. The moment came when Helen's quivering began to +subside, when her blood quieted to let her reason sway, when she +began to do battle with her rage, and slowly to take fearful +stock of this consuming peril that had been a sleeping tigress in +her veins.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Helen, you looked so turrible, I made sure you was +hurted," the old woman was saying.</p> + +<p>Helen gazed strangely at her bruised wrists, at the one +stocking that hung down over her shoe-top, at the rent which +had bared her shoulder to the profane gaze of those grinning, +beady-eyed Mexicans.</p> + +<p>"My body's -- not hurt," she whispered.</p> + +<p>Roy had lost some of his whiteness, and where his eyes had +been fierce they were now kind.</p> + +<p>"Wal, Miss Nell, it's lucky no harm's done. . . . Now if +you'll only see this whole deal clear! . . . Not let it spoil +your sweet way of lookin' an' hopin'! If you can only see what's +raw in this West -- an' love it jest the same!"</p> + +<p>Helen only half divined his meaning, but that was enough for a +future reflection. The West was beautiful, but hard. In the faces +of these friends she began to see the meaning of the keen, +sloping lines, and shadows of pain, of a lean, naked truth, cut +as from marble.</p> + +<p>"For the land's sakes, tell us all about it," importuned Mrs. +Cass.</p> + +<p>Whereupon Helen shut her eyes and told the brief narrative of +her expulsion from her home.</p> + +<p>"Shore we-all expected thet," said Roy. "An' it's jest as well +you're here with a whole skin. Beasley's in possession now an' I +reckon we'd all sooner hev you away from thet ranch."</p> + +<p>"But, Roy, I won't let Beasley stay there," cried Helen.</p> + +<p>"Miss Nell, shore by the time this here Pine has growed big +enough fer law you'll hev gray in thet pretty hair. You can't put +Beasley off with your honest an' rightful claim. Al Auchincloss +was a hard driver. He made enemies an' he made some he didn't +kill. The evil men do lives after them. An' you've got to suffer +fer Al's sins, though Al was as good as any man who ever +prospered in these parts."</p> + +<p>"Oh, what can I do? I won't give up. I've been robbed. Can't +the people help me? Must I meekly sit with my hands crossed while +that half-breed thief -- Oh, it's unbelievable!"</p> + +<p>"I reckon you'll jest hev to be patient fer a few days," said +Roy, calmly. "It'll all come right in the end."</p> + +<p>"Roy! You've had this deal, as you call it, all worked out in +mind for a long time!" exclaimed Helen.</p> + +<p>"Shore, an' I 'ain't missed a reckonin' yet."</p> + +<p>"Then what will happen -- in a few days?"</p> + +<p>"Nell Rayner, are you goin' to hev some spunk an' not lose +your nerve again or go wild out of your head?"</p> + +<p>"I'll try to be brave, but -- but I must be prepared," she +replied, tremulously.</p> + +<p>"Wal, there's Dale an' Las Vegas an' me fer Beasley to reckon +with. An', Miss Nell, his chances fer long life are as pore as +his chances fer heaven!"</p> + +<p>"But, Roy, I don't believe in deliberate taking of life," +replied Helen, shuddering. "That's against my religion. I won't +allow it. . . . And -- then -- think, Dale, all of you -- in +danger!"</p> + +<p>"Girl, how 're you ever goin' to help yourself? Shore you +might hold Dale back, if you love him, an' swear you won't give +yourself to him. . . . An' I reckon I'd respect your religion, if +you was goin' to suffer through me. . . . But not Dale nor you -- +nor Bo -- nor love or heaven or hell can ever stop thet cowboy +Las Vegas!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, if Dale brings Bo back to me -- what will I care for my +ranch?" murmured Helen.</p> + +<p>"Reckon you'll only begin to care when thet happens. Your big +hunter has got to be put to work," replied Roy, with his keen +smile.<br> +</p> + +<p>Before noon that day the baggage Helen had packed at home was +left on the porch of Widow Cass's cottage, and Helen's anxious +need of the hour was satisfied. She was made comfortable in the +old woman's one spare room, and she set herself the task of +fortitude and endurance.</p> + +<p>To her surprise, many of Mrs. Cass's neighbors came +unobtrusively to the back door of the little cottage and made +sympathetic inquiries. They appeared a subdued and apprehensive +group, and whispered to one another as they left. Helen gathered +from their visits a conviction that the wives of the men +dominated by Beasley believed no good could come of this +high-handed taking over of the ranch. Indeed, Helen found at the +end of the day that a strength had been borne of her +misfortune.</p> + +<p>The next day Roy informed her that his brother John had come +down the preceding night with the news of Beasley's descent upon +the ranch. Not a shot had been fired, and the only damage done +was that of the burning of a hay-filled barn. This had been set +on fire to attract Helen's men to one spot, where Beasley had +ridden down upon them with three times their number. He had +boldly ordered them off the land, unless they wanted to +acknowledge him boss and remain there in his service. The three +Beemans had stayed, having planned that just in this event they +might be valuable to Helen's interests. Beasley had ridden down +into Pine the same as upon any other day. Roy reported also news +which had come in that morning, how Beasley's crowd had +celebrated late the night before.</p> + +<p>The second and third and fourth days endlessly wore away, and +Helen believed they had made her old. At night she lay awake most +of the time, thinking and praying, but during the afternoon she +got some sleep. She could think of nothing and talk of nothing +except her sister, and Dale's chances of saving her.</p> + +<p>"Well, shore you pay Dale a pore compliment," finally +protested the patient Roy. "I tell you -- Milt Dale can do +anythin' he wants to do in the woods. You can believe thet. . . . +But I reckon he'll run chances after he comes back."</p> + +<p>This significant speech thrilled Helen with its assurance of +hope, and made her blood curdle at the implied peril awaiting the +hunter.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the fifth day Helen was abruptly awakened +from her nap. The sun had almost set. She heard voices -- the +shrill, cackling notes of old Mrs. Cass, high in excitement, a +deep voice that made Helen tingle all over, a girl's laugh, +broken but happy. There were footsteps and stamping of hoofs. +Dale had brought Bo back! Helen knew it. She grew very weak, and +had to force herself to stand erect. Her heart began to pound in +her very ears. A sweet and perfect joy suddenly flooded her soul. +She thanked God her prayers had been answered. Then suddenly +alive with sheer mad physical gladness, she rushed out.</p> + +<p>She was just in time to see Roy Beeman stalk out as if he had +never been shot, and with a yell greet a big, gray-clad, +gray-faced man -- Dale.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Roy! Glad to see you up," said Dale. How the quiet +voice steadied Helen! She beheld Bo. Bo, looking the same, except +a little pale and disheveled! Then Bo saw her and leaped at her, +into her arms.</p> + +<p>"Nell! I'm here! Safe -- all right! Never was so happy in my +life. . . . Oh-h! talk about your adventures! Nell, you dear old +mother to me -- I've had e-enough forever!"</p> + +<p>Bo was wild with joy, and by turns she laughed and cried. But +Helen could not voice her feelings. Her eyes were so dim that she +could scarcely see Dale when he loomed over her as she held Bo. +But he found the hand she put shakily out.</p> + +<p>"Nell! . . . Reckon it's been harder -- on you." His voice was +earnest and halting. She felt his searching gaze upon her face. +"Mrs. Cass said you were here. An' I know why."</p> + +<p>Roy led them all indoors.</p> + +<p>"Milt, one of the neighbor boys will take care of thet hoss," +he said, as Dale turned toward the dusty and weary Ranger. +"Where'd you leave the cougar?"</p> + +<p>"I sent him home," replied Date.</p> + +<p>"Laws now, Milt, if this ain't grand!" cackled Mrs. Cass. +"We've worried some here. An' Miss Helen near starved a-hopin' +fer you."</p> + +<p>"Mother, I reckon the girl an' I are nearer starved than +anybody you know," replied Dale, with a grim laugh.</p> + +<p>"Fer the land's sake! I'll be fixin' supper this minit."</p> + +<p>"Nell, why are you here?" asked Bo, suspiciously.</p> + +<p>For answer Helen led her sister into the spare room and closed +the door. Bo saw the baggage. Her expression changed. The old +blaze leaped to the telltale eyes.</p> + +<p>"He's done it!" she cried, hotly.</p> + +<p>"Dearest -- thank God. I've got you -- back again!" murmured +Helen, finding her voice. "Nothing else matters! . . . I've +prayed only for that!"</p> + +<p>"Good old Nell!" whispered Bo, and she kissed and embraced +Helen. "You really mean that, I know. But nix for yours truly! +I'm back alive and kicking, you bet. . . . Where's my -- where's +Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Bo, not a word has been heard of him for five days. He's +searching for you, of course."</p> + +<p>"And you've been -- been put off the ranch?"</p> + +<p>"Well, rather," replied Helen, and in a few trembling words +she told the story of her eviction.</p> + +<p>Bo uttered a wild word that had more force than elegance, but +it became her passionate resentment of this outrage done her +sister.</p> + +<p>"Oh! . . . Does Tom Carmichael know this?" she added, +breathlessly.</p> + +<p>"How could he?"</p> + +<p>"When he finds out, then -- Oh, won't there be hell? I'm glad +I got here first. . . . Nell, my boots haven't been off the whole +blessed time. Help me. And oh, for some soap and hot water and +some clean clothes! Nell, old girl, I wasn't raised right for +these Western deals. Too luxurious!"</p> + +<p>And then Helen had her ears filled with a rapid-fire account +of running horses and Riggs and outlaws and Beasley called boldly +to his teeth, and a long ride and an outlaw who was a hero -- a +fight with Riggs -- blood and death -- another long ride -- a +wild camp in black woods -- night -- lonely, ghostly sounds -- +and day again -- plot -- a great actress lost to the world -- +Ophelia -- Snakes and Ansons -- hoodooed outlaws -- mournful +moans and terrible cries -- cougar -- stampede -- fight and +shots, more blood and death -- Wilson hero -- another Tom +Carmichael -- fallen in love with outlaw gun-fighter if -- black +night and Dale and horse and rides and starved and, "Oh, Nell, he +<em>was</em> from Texas!"</p> + +<p>Helen gathered that wonderful and dreadful events had hung +over the bright head of this beloved little sister, but the +bewilderment occasioned by Bo's fluent and remarkable utterance +left only that last sentence clear.</p> + +<p>Presently Helen got a word in to inform Bo that Mrs. Cass had +knocked twice for supper, and that welcome news checked Bo's flow +of speech when nothing else seemed adequate.</p> + +<p>It was obvious to Helen that Roy and Dale had exchanged +stories. Roy celebrated this reunion by sitting at table the +first time since he had been shot; and despite Helen's misfortune +and the suspended waiting balance in the air the occasion was +joyous. Old Mrs. Cass was in the height of her glory. She sensed +a romance here, and, true to her sex, she radiated to it.</p> + +<p>Daylight was still lingering when Roy got up and went out on +the porch. His keen ears had heard something. Helen fancied she +herself had heard rapid hoof-beats.</p> + +<p>"Dale, come out!" called Roy, sharply.</p> + +<p>The hunter moved with his swift, noiseless agility. Helen and +Bo followed, halting in the door.</p> + +<p>"Thet's Las Vegas," whispered Dale.</p> + +<p>To Helen it seemed that the cowboy's name changed the very +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Voices were heard at the gate; one that, harsh and quick, +sounded like Carmichael's. And a spirited horse was pounding and +scattering gravel. Then a lithe figure appeared, striding up the +path. It was Carmichael -- yet not the Carmichael Helen knew. She +heard Bo's strange little cry, a corroboration of her own +impression.</p> + +<p>Roy might never have been shot, judging from the way he +stepped out, and Dale was almost as quick. Carmichael reached +them -- grasped them with swift, hard hands.</p> + +<p>"Boys -- I jest rode in. An' they said you'd found her!"</p> + +<p>"Shore, Las Vegas. Dale fetched her home safe an' sound. . . . +There she is."</p> + +<p>The cowboy thrust aside the two men, and with a long stride he +faced the porch, his piercing eyes on the door. All that Helen +could think of his look was that it seemed terrible. Bo stepped +outside in front of Helen. Probably she would have run straight +into Carmichael's arms if some strange instinct had not withheld +her. Helen judged it to be fear; she found her heart lifting +painfully.</p> + +<p>"Bo!" he yelled, like a savage, yet he did not in the least +resemble one.</p> + +<p>"Oh -- Tom!" cried Bo, falteringly. She half held out her +arms.</p> + +<p>"You, girl?" That seemed to be his piercing query, like the +quivering blade in his eyes. Two more long strides carried him +close up to her, and his look chased the red out of Bo's cheek. +Then it was beautiful to see his face marvelously change until it +was that of the well remembered Las Vegas magnified in all his +old spirit.</p> + +<p>"Aw!" The exclamation was a tremendous sigh. "I shore am +glad!"</p> + +<p>That beautiful flash left his face as he wheeled to the men. +He wrung Dale's hand long and hard, and his gaze confused the +older man.</p> + +<p>"<em>Riggs!</em>" he said, and in the jerk of his frame as he +whipped out the word disappeared the strange, fleeting signs of +his kindlier emotion.</p> + +<p>"Wilson killed him," replied Dale.</p> + +<p>"Jim Wilson -- that old Texas Ranger! . . . Reckon he lent you +a hand?"</p> + +<p>"My friend, he saved Bo," replied Dale, with emotion. "My old +cougar an' me -- we just hung 'round."</p> + +<p>"You made Wilson help you?" cut in the hard voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But he killed Riggs before I come up an' I reckon he'd +done well by Bo if I'd never got there."</p> + +<p>"How about the gang?"</p> + +<p>"All snuffed out, I reckon, except Wilson."</p> + +<p>"Somebody told me Beasley hed ran Miss Helen off the ranch. +Thet so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Four of his greasers packed her down the hill -- most +tore her clothes off, so Roy tells me."</p> + +<p>"Four greasers! . . . Shore it was Beasley's deal clean +through?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Riggs was led. He had an itch for a bad name, you know. +But Beasley made the plan. It was Nell they wanted instead of +Bo."</p> + +<p>Abruptly Carmichael stalked off down the darkening path, his +silver heel-plates ringing, his spurs jingling.</p> + +<p>"Hold on, Carmichael," called Dale, taking a step.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Tom!" cried Bo.</p> + +<p>"Shore folks callin' won't be no use, if anythin would be," +said Roy. "Las Vegas has hed a look at red liquor."</p> + +<p>"He's been drinking! Oh, that accounts! . . . he never -- +never even touched me!"</p> + +<p>For once Helen was not ready to comfort Bo. A mighty tug at +her heart had sent her with flying, uneven steps toward Dale. He +took another stride down the path, and another.</p> + +<p>"Dale -- oh -- please stop!" she called, very low.</p> + +<p>He halted as if he had run sharply into a bar across the path. +When he turned Helen had come close. Twilight was deep there in +the shade of the peach-trees, but she could see his face, the +hungry, flaring eyes.</p> + +<p>"I -- I haven't thanked you -- yet -- for bringing Bo home," +she whispered.</p> + +<p>"Nell, never mind that," he said, in surprise. "If you must -- +why, wait. I've got to catch up with that cowboy."</p> + +<p>"No. Let me thank you now," she whispered, and, stepping +closer, she put her arms up, meaning to put them round his neck. +That action must be her self-punishment for the other time she +had done it. Yet it might also serve to thank him. But, +strangely, her hands got no farther than his breast, and +fluttered there to catch hold of the fringe of his buckskin +jacket. She felt a heave of his deep chest.</p> + +<p>"I -- I do thank you -- with all my heart," she said, softly. +"I owe you now -- for myself and her -- more than I can ever +repay."</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'm your friend," he replied, hurriedly. "Don't talk of +repayin' me. Let me go now -- after Las Vegas."</p> + +<p>"What for?" she queried, suddenly.</p> + +<p>"I mean to line up beside him -- at the bar -- or wherever he +goes," returned Dale.</p> + +<p>"Don't tell me that. <em>I</em> know. You're going straight to +meet Beasley."</p> + +<p>"Nell, if you hold me up any longer I reckon I'll have to run +-- or never get to Beasley before that cowboy."</p> + +<p>Helen locked her fingers in the fringe of his jacket -- leaned +closer to him, all her being responsive to a bursting gust of +blood over her.</p> + +<p>"I'll not let you go," she said.</p> + +<p>He laughed, and put his great hands over hers. "What 're you +sayin', girl? You can't stop me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can. Dale, I don't want you to risk your life."</p> + +<p>He stared at her, and made as if to tear her hands from their +hold.</p> + +<p>"Listen -- please -- oh -- please!" she implored. "If you go +deliberately to kill Beasley -- and do it -- that will be murder. +. . . It's against my religion. . . . I would be unhappy all my +life."</p> + +<p>"But, child, you'll be ruined all your life if Beasley is not +dealt with -- as men of his breed are always dealt with in the +West," he remonstrated, and in one quick move he had freed +himself from her clutching fingers.</p> + +<p>Helen, with a move as swift, put her arms round his neck and +clasped her hands tight.</p> + +<p>"Milt, I'm finding myself," she said. "The other day, when I +did -- this -- you made an excuse for me. . . . I'm not two-faced +now."</p> + +<p>She meant to keep him from killing Beasley if she sacrificed +every last shred of her pride. And she stamped the look of his +face on her heart of hearts to treasure always. The thrill, the +beat of her pulses, almost obstructed her thought of purpose.</p> + +<p>"Nell, just now -- when you're overcome -- rash with feelin's +-- don't say to me -- a word -- a --"</p> + +<p>He broke down huskily.</p> + +<p>"My first friend -- my -- Oh Dale, I <em>know</em> you love +me! she whispered. And she hid her face on his breast, there to +feel a tremendous tumult.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't you?" she cried, in low, smothered voice, as his +silence drove her farther on this mad, yet glorious purpose.</p> + +<p>"If you need to be told -- yes -- I reckon I do love you, Nell +Rayner," he replied.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Helen that he spoke from far off. She lifted her +face, her heart on her lips.</p> + +<p>"If you kill Beasley I'll never marry you," she said.</p> + +<p>"Who's expectin' you to?" he asked, with low, hoarse laugh. +"Do you think you have to marry me to square accounts? This's the +only time you ever hurt me, Nell Rayner. . . . I'm 'shamed you +could think I'd expect you -- out of gratitude --"</p> + +<p>"Oh -- you -- you are as dense as the forest where you live," +she cried. And then she shut her eyes again, the better to +remember that transfiguration of his face, the better to betray +herself.</p> + +<p>"Man -- I love you!" Full and deep, yet tremulous, the words +burst from her heart that had been burdened with them for many a +day.</p> + +<p>Then it seemed, in the throbbing riot of her senses, that she +was lifted and swung into his arms, and handled with a great and +terrible tenderness, and hugged and kissed with the hunger and +awkwardness of a bear, and held with her feet off the ground, and +rendered blind, dizzy, rapturous, and frightened, and utterly +torn asunder from her old calm, thinking self.</p> + +<p>He put her down -- released her.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' could have made me so happy as what you said." He +finished with a strong sigh of unutterable, wondering joy.</p> + +<p>"Then you will not go to -- to meet --"</p> + +<p>Helen's happy query froze on her lips.</p> + +<p>"I've got to go!" he rejoined, with his old, quiet voice. +"Hurry in to Bo. . . . An' don't worry. Try to think of things as +I taught you up in the woods."</p> + +<p>Helen heard his soft, padded footfalls swiftly pass away. She +was left there, alone in the darkening twilight, suddenly cold +and stricken, as if turned to stone.</p> + +<p>Thus she stood an age-long moment until the upflashing truth +galvanized her into action. Then she flew in pursuit of Dale. The +truth was that, in spite of Dale's' early training in the East +and the long years of solitude which had made him wonderful in +thought and feeling, he had also become a part of this raw, bold, +and violent West.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark now and she had run quite some distance +before she saw Dale's tall, dark form against the yellow light of +Turner's saloon.</p> + +<p>Somehow, in that poignant moment, when her flying feet kept +pace with her heart, Helen felt in herself a force opposing +itself against this raw, primitive justice of the West. She was +one of the first influences emanating from civilized life, from +law and order. In that flash of truth she saw the West as it +would be some future time, when through women and children these +wild frontier days would be gone forever. Also, just as clearly +she saw the present need of men like Roy Beeman and Dale and the +fire-blooded Carmichael. Beasley and his kind must be killed. But +Helen did not want her lover, her future husband, and the +probable father of her children to commit what she held to be +murder.</p> + +<p>At the door of the saloon she caught up with Dale.</p> + +<p>"Milt -- oh -- wait!' -- wait!" she panted.</p> + +<p>She heard him curse under his breath as he turned. They were +alone in the yellow flare of light. Horses were champing bits and +drooping before the rails.</p> + +<p>"You go back!" ordered Dale, sternly. His face was pale, his +eyes were gleaming.</p> + +<p>"No! Not till -- you take me -- or carry me!" she replied, +resolutely, with all a woman's positive and inevitable +assurance.</p> + +<p>Then he laid hold of her with ungentle hands. His violence, +especially the look on his face, terrified Helen, rendered her +weak. But nothing could have shaken her resolve. She felt +victory. Her sex, her love, and her presence would be too much +for Dale.</p> + +<p>As he swung Helen around, the low hum of voices inside the +saloon suddenly rose to sharp, hoarse roars, accompanied by a +scuffling of feet and crashing of violently sliding chairs or +tables. Dale let go of Helen and leaped toward the door. But a +silence inside, quicker and stranger than the roar, halted him. +Helen's heart contracted, then seemed to cease beating. There was +absolutely not a perceptible sound. Even the horses appeared, +like Dale, to have turned to statues.</p> + +<p>Two thundering shots annihilated this silence. Then quickly +came a lighter shot -- the smash of glass. Dale ran into the +saloon. The horses began to snort, to rear, to pound. A low, +muffled murmur terrified Helen even as it drew her. Dashing at +the door, she swung it in and entered.</p> + +<p>The place was dim, blue-hazed, smelling of smoke. Dale stood +just inside the door. On the floor lay two men. Chairs and tables +were overturned. A motley, dark, shirt-sleeved, booted, and +belted crowd of men appeared hunched against the opposite wall, +with pale, set faces, turned to the bar. Turner, the proprietor, +stood at one end, his face livid, his hands aloft and shaking. +Carmichael leaned against the middle of the bar. He held a gun +low down. It was smoking.</p> + +<p>With a gasp Helen flashed her eyes back to Dale. He had seen +her -- was reaching an arm toward her. Then she saw the man lying +almost at her feet. Jeff Mulvey -- her uncle's old foreman! His +face was awful to behold. A smoking gun lay near his inert hand. +The other man had fallen on his face. His garb proclaimed him a +Mexican. He was not yet dead. Then Helen, as she felt Dale's arm +encircle her, looked farther, because she could not prevent it -- +looked on at that strange figure against the bar -- this boy who +had been such a friend in her hour of need -- this naïve and +frank sweetheart of her sister's.</p> + +<p>She saw a man now -- wild, white, intense as fire, with some +terrible cool kind of deadliness in his mien. His left elbow +rested upon the bar, and his hand held a glass of red liquor. The +big gun, low down in his other hand, seemed as steady as if it +were a fixture.</p> + +<p>"Heah's to thet -- half-breed Beasley an' his outfit!"</p> + +<p>Carmichael drank, while his flaming eyes held the crowd; then +with savage action of terrible passion he flung the glass at the +quivering form of the still living Mexican on the floor.</p> + +<p>Helen felt herself slipping. All seemed to darken around her. +She could not see Dale, though she knew he held her. Then she +fainted.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XXV</p> + +<p>Las Vegas Carmichael was a product of his day.</p> + +<p>The Pan Handle of Texas, the old Chisholm Trail along which +were driven the great cattle herds northward, Fort Dodge, where +the cowboys conflicted with the card-sharps -- these hard places +had left their marks on Carmichael. To come from Texas was to +come from fighting stock. And a cowboy's life was strenuous, +wild, violent, and generally brief. The exceptions were the +fortunate and the swiftest men with guns; and they drifted from +south to north and west, taking with them the reckless, +chivalrous, vitriolic spirit peculiar to their breed.</p> + +<p>The pioneers and ranchers of the frontier would never have +made the West habitable had it not been for these wild cowboys, +these hard-drinking, hard-riding, hard-living rangers of the +barrens, these easy, cool, laconic, simple young men whose blood +was tinged with fire and who possessed a magnificent and terrible +effrontery toward danger and death.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas ran his horse from Widow Cass's cottage to Turner's +saloon, and the hoofs of the goaded steed crashed in the door. +Las Vegas's entrance was a leap. Then he stood still with the +door ajar and the horse pounding and snorting back. All the men +in that saloon who saw the entrance of Las Vegas knew what it +portended. No thunderbolt could have more quickly checked the +drinking, gambling, talking crowd. They recognized with kindred +senses the nature of the man and his arrival. For a second the +blue-hazed room was perfectly quiet, then men breathed, moved, +rose, and suddenly caused a quick, sliding crash of chairs and +tables.</p> + +<p>The cowboy's glittering eyes flashed to and fro, and then +fixed on Mulvey and his Mexican companion. That glance singled +out these two, and the sudden rush of nervous men proved it. +Mulvey and the sheep-herder were left alone in the center of the +floor.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Jeff! Where's your boss?" asked Las Vegas. His voice +was cool, friendly; his manner was easy, natural; but the look of +him was what made Mulvey pale and the Mexican livid.</p> + +<p>"Reckon he's home," replied Mulvey.</p> + +<p>"Home? What's he call home now?"</p> + +<p>"He's hangin' out hyar at Auchincloss's," replied Mulvey. His +voice was not strong, but his eyes were steady, watchful.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas quivered all over as if stung. A flame that seemed +white and red gave his face a singular hue.</p> + +<p>"Jeff, you worked for old Al a long time, an' I've heard of +your differences," said Las Vegas. "Thet ain't no mix of mine. . +. . But you double-crossed Miss Helen!"</p> + +<p>Mulvey made no attempt to deny this. He gulped slowly. His +hands appeared less steady, and he grew paler. Again Las Vegas's +words signified less than his look. And that look now included +the Mexican.</p> + +<p>"Pedro, you're one of Beasley's old hands," said Las Vegas, +accusingly. "An' -- you was one of them four greasers thet +--"</p> + +<p>Here the cowboy choked and bit over his words as if they were +a material poison. The Mexican showed his guilt and cowardice. He +began to jabber.</p> + +<p>"Shet up!" hissed Las Vegas, with a savage and significant +jerk of his arm, as if about to strike. But that action was read +for its true meaning. Pell-mell the crowd split to rush each way +and leave an open space behind the three.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas waited. But Mulvey seemed obstructed. The Mexican +looked dangerous through his fear. His fingers twitched as if the +tendons running up into his arms were being pulled.</p> + +<p>An instant of suspense -- more than long enough for Mulvey to +be tried and found wanting -- and Las Vegas, with laugh and +sneer, turned his back upon the pair and stepped to the bar. His +call for a bottle made Turner jump and hold it out with shaking +hands. Las Vegas poured out a drink, while his gaze was intent on +the scarred old mirror hanging behind the bar.</p> + +<p>This turning his back upon men he had just dared to draw +showed what kind of a school Las Vegas had been trained in. If +those men had been worthy antagonists of his class he would never +have scorned them. As it was, when Mulvey and the Mexican jerked +at their guns, Las Vegas swiftly wheeled and shot twice. Mulvey's +gun went off as he fell, and the Mexican doubled up in a heap on +the floor. Then Las Vegas reached around with his left hand for +the drink he had poured out.</p> + +<p>At this juncture Dale burst into the saloon, suddenly to check +his impetus, to swerve aside toward the bar and halt. The door +had not ceased swinging when again it was propelled inward, this +time to admit Helen Rayner, white and wide-eyed.</p> + +<p>In another moment then Las Vegas had spoken his deadly toast +to Beasley's gang and had fiercely flung the glass at the +writhing Mexican on the floor. Also Dale had gravitated toward +the reeling Helen to catch her when she fainted.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas began to curse, and, striding to Dale, he pushed him +out of the saloon.</p> + +<p>"--! What 're you doin' heah?" he yelled, stridently. "Hevn't +you got thet girl to think of? Then do it, you big Indian! +Lettin' her run after you heah -- riskin' herself thet way! You +take care of her an' Bo an' leave this deal to me!"</p> + +<p>The cowboy, furious as he was at Dale, yet had keen, swift +eyes for the horses near at hand, and the men out in the dim +light. Dale lifted the girl into his arms, and, turning without a +word, stalked away to disappear in the darkness. Las Vegas, +holding his gun low, returned to the bar-room. If there had been +any change in the crowd it was slight. The tension had relaxed. +Turner no longer stood with hands up.</p> + +<p>"You-all go on with your fun," called the cowboy, with a sweep +of his gun. "But it'd be risky fer any one to start leavin'."</p> + +<p>With that he backed against the bar, near where the black +bottle stood. Turner walked out to begin righting tables and +chairs, and presently the crowd, with some caution and suspense, +resumed their games and drinking. It was significant that a wide +berth lay between them and the door. From time to time Turner +served liquor to men who called for it.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas leaned with back against the bar. After a while he +sheathed his gun and reached around for the bottle. He drank with +his piercing eyes upon the door. No one entered and no one went +out. The games of chance there and the drinking were not enjoyed. +It was a hard scene -- that smoky, long, ill-smelling room, with +its dim, yellow lights, and dark, evil faces, with the +stealthy-stepping Turner passing to and fro, and the dead Mulvey +staring in horrible fixidity at the ceiling, and the Mexican +quivering more and more until he shook violently, then lay still, +and with the drinking, somber, waiting cowboy, more fiery and +more flaming with every drink, listening for a step that did not +come.</p> + +<p>Time passed, and what little change it wrought was in the +cowboy. Drink affected him, but he did not become drunk. It +seemed that the liquor he drank was consumed by a mounting fire. +It was fuel to a driving passion. He grew more sullen, somber, +brooding, redder of eye and face, more crouching and restless. At +last, when the hour was so late that there was no probability of +Beasley appearing, Las Vegas flung himself out of the saloon.</p> + +<p>All lights of the village had now been extinguished. The tired +horses drooped in the darkness. Las Vegas found his horse and led +him away down the road and out a lane to a field where a barn +stood dim and dark in the starlight. Morning was not far off. He +unsaddled the horse and, turning him loose, went into the barn. +Here he seemed familiar with his surroundings, for he found a +ladder and climbed to a loft, where he threw himself on the +hay.</p> + +<p>He rested, but did not sleep. At daylight he went down and +brought his horse into the barn. Sunrise found Las Vegas pacing +to and fro the short length of the interior, and peering out +through wide cracks between the boards. Then during the +succeeding couple of hours he watched the occasional horseman and +wagon and herder that passed on into the village.</p> + +<p>About the breakfast hour Las Vegas saddled his horse and rode +back the way he had come the night before. At Turner's he called +for something to eat as well as for whisky. After that he became +a listening, watching machine. He drank freely for an hour; then +he stopped. He seemed to be drunk, but with a different kind of +drunkenness from that usual in drinking men. Savage, fierce, +sullen, he was one to avoid. Turner waited on him in evident +fear.</p> + +<p>At length Las Vegas's condition became such that action was +involuntary. He could not stand still nor sit down. Stalking out, +he passed the store, where men slouched back to avoid him, and he +went down the road, wary and alert, as if he expected a +rifle-shot from some hidden enemy. Upon his return down that main +thoroughfare of the village not a person was to be seen. He went +in to Turner's. The proprietor was there at his post, nervous and +pale. Las Vegas did not order any more liquor.</p> + +<p>"Turner, I reckon I'll bore you next time I run in heah," he +said, and stalked out.</p> + +<p>He had the stores, the road, the village, to himself; and he +patrolled a beat like a sentry watching for an Indian attack.</p> + +<p>Toward noon a single man ventured out into the road to accost +the cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, I'm tellin' you -- all the greasers air leavin' +the range," he said.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Abe!" replied Las Vegas. "What 'n hell you talkin' +about?"</p> + +<p>The man repeated his information. And Las Vegas spat out +frightful curses.</p> + +<p>"Abe -- you heah what Beasley's doin'?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He's with his men -- up at the ranch. Reckon he can't +put off ridin' down much longer."</p> + +<p>That was where the West spoke. Beasley would be forced to meet +the enemy who had come out single-handed against him. Long before +this hour a braver man would have come to face Las Vegas. Beasley +could not hire any gang to bear the brunt of this situation. This +was the test by which even his own men must judge him. All of +which was to say that as the wildness of the West had made +possible his crimes, so it now held him responsible for them.</p> + +<p>"Abe, if thet -- greaser don't rustle down heah I'm goin' +after him."</p> + +<p>"Sure. But don't be in no hurry," replied Abe.</p> + +<p>"I'm waltzin' to slow music. . . . Gimme a smoke."</p> + +<p>With fingers that slightly trembled Abe rolled a cigarette, +lit it from his own, and handed it to the cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, I reckon I hear hosses," he said, suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Me, too," replied Las Vegas, with his head high like that of +a listening deer. Apparently he forgot the cigarette and also his +friend. Abe hurried back to the store, where he disappeared.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas began his stalking up and down, and his action now +was an exaggeration of all his former movements. A rational, +ordinary mortal from some Eastern community, happening to meet +this red-faced cowboy, would have considered him drunk or crazy. +Probably Las Vegas looked both. But all the same he was a +marvelously keen and strung and efficient instrument to meet the +portending issue. How many thousands of times, on the trails, and +in the wide-streeted little towns all over the West, had this +stalk of the cowboy's been perpetrated! Violent, bloody, tragic +as it was, it had an importance in that pioneer day equal to the +use of a horse or the need of a plow.</p> + +<p>At length Pine was apparently a deserted village, except for +Las Vegas, who patrolled his long beat in many ways -- he lounged +while he watched; he stalked like a mountaineer; he stole along +Indian fashion, stealthily, from tree to tree, from corner to +corner; he disappeared in the saloon to reappear at the back; he +slipped round behind the barns to come out again in the main +road; and time after time he approached his horse as if deciding +to mount.</p> + +<p>The last visit he made into Turner's saloon he found no one +there. Savagely he pounded on the bar with his gun. He got no +response. Then the long-pent-up rage burst. With wild whoops he +pulled another gun and shot at the mirror, the lamps. He shot the +neck off a bottle and drank till he choked, his neck corded, +bulging, and purple. His only slow and deliberate action was the +reloading of his gun. Then he crashed through the doors, and with +a wild yell leaped sheer into the saddle, hauling his horse up +high and goading him to plunge away.</p> + +<p>Men running to the door and windows of the store saw a streak +of dust flying down the road. And then they trooped out to see it +disappear. The hour of suspense ended for them. Las Vegas had +lived up to the code of the West, had dared his man out, had +waited far longer than needful to prove that man a coward. +Whatever the issue now, Beasley was branded forever. That moment +saw the decline of whatever power he had wielded. He and his men +might kill the cowboy who had ridden out alone to face him, but +that would not change the brand.</p> + +<p>The preceding night Beasley bad been finishing a late supper +at his newly acquired ranch, when Buck Weaver, one of his men, +burst in upon him with news of the death of Mulvey and Pedro.</p> + +<p>"Who's in the outfit? How many?" he had questioned, +quickly.</p> + +<p>"It's a one-man outfit, boss," replied Weaver.</p> + +<p>Beasley appeared astounded. He and his men had prepared to +meet the friends of the girl whose property he had taken over, +and because of the superiority of his own force he had +anticipated no bloody or extended feud. This amazing circumstance +put the case in very much more difficult form.</p> + +<p>"One man!" he ejaculated.</p> + +<p>"Yep. Thet cowboy Las Vegas. An', boss, he turns out to be a +gun-slinger from Texas. I was in Turner's. Hed jest happened to +step in the other room when Las Vegas come bustin' in on his hoss +an' jumped off. . . . Fust thing he called Jeff an' Pedro. They +both showed yaller. An' then, damn if thet cowboy didn't turn his +back on them an' went to the bar fer a drink. But he was lookin' +in the mirror an' when Jeff an' Pedro went fer their guns why he +whirled quick as lightnin' an' bored them both. . . . I sneaked +out an --"</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you bore him?" roared Beasley.</p> + +<p>Buck Weaver steadily eyed his boss before he replied. "I ain't +takin' shots at any fellar from behind doors. An' as fer meetin' +Las Vegas -- excoose me, boss! I've still a hankerin' fer +sunshine an' red liquor. Besides, I 'ain't got nothin' ag'in' Las +Vegas. If he's rustled over here at the head of a crowd to put us +off I'd fight, jest as we'd all fight. But you see we figgered +wrong. It's between you an' Las Vegas! . . . You oughter seen him +throw thet hunter Dale out of Turner's."</p> + +<p>"Dale! Did he come?" queried Beasley.</p> + +<p>"He got there just after the cowboy plugged Jeff. An' thet +big-eyed girl, she came runnin' in, too. An' she keeled over in +Dale's arms. Las Vegas shoved him out -- cussed him so hard we +all heerd. . . . So, Beasley, there ain't no fight comin' off as +we figgered on."</p> + +<p>Beasley thus heard the West speak out of the mouth of his own +man. And grim, sardonic, almost scornful, indeed, were the words +of Buck Weaver. This rider had once worked for Al Auchincloss and +had deserted to Beasley under Mulvey's leadership. Mulvey was +dead and the situation was vastly changed.</p> + +<p>Beasley gave Weaver a dark, lowering glance, and waved him +away. From the door Weaver sent back a doubtful, scrutinizing +gaze, then slouched out. That gaze Beasley had not encountered +before.</p> + +<p>It meant, as Weaver's cronies meant, as Beasley's +long-faithful riders, and the people of the range, and as the +spirit of the West meant, that Beasley was expected to march down +into the village to face his single foe.</p> + +<p>But Beasley did not go. Instead he paced to and fro the length +of Helen Rayner's long sitting-room with the nervous energy of a +man who could not rest. Many times he hesitated, and at others he +made sudden movements toward the door, only to halt. Long after +midnight he went to bed, but not to sleep. He tossed and rolled +all night, and at dawn arose, gloomy and irritable.</p> + +<p>He cursed the Mexican serving-women who showed their +displeasure at his authority. And to his amaze and rage not one +of his men came to the house. He waited and waited. Then he +stalked off to the corrals and stables carrying a rifle with him. +The men were there, in a group that dispersed somewhat at his +advent. Not a Mexican was in sight.</p> + +<p>Beasley ordered the horses to be saddled and all hands to go +down into the village with him. That order was disobeyed. Beasley +stormed and raged. His riders sat or lounged, with lowered faces. +An unspoken hostility seemed present. Those who had been longest +with him were least distant and strange, but still they did not +obey. At length Beasley roared for his Mexicans.</p> + +<p>"Boss, we gotta tell you thet every greaser on the ranch hes +sloped -- gone these two hours -- on the way to Magdalena," said +Buck Weaver.</p> + +<p>Of all these sudden-uprising perplexities this latest was the +most astounding. Beasley cursed with his questioning wonder.</p> + +<p>"Boss, they was sure scared of thet gun-slingin' cowboy from +Texas," replied Weaver, imperturbably.</p> + +<p>Beasley's dark, swarthy face changed its hue. What of the +subtle reflection in Weaver's slow speech! One of the men came +out of a corral leading Beasley's saddled and bridled horse. This +fellow dropped the bridle and sat down among his comrades without +a word. No one spoke. The presence of the horse was significant. +With a snarling, muttered curse, Beasley took up his rifle and +strode back to the ranch-house.</p> + +<p>In his rage and passion he did not realize what his men had +known for hours -- that if he had stood any chance at all for +their respect as well as for his life the hour was long past.</p> + +<p>Beasley avoided the open paths to the house, and when he got +there he nervously poured out a drink. Evidently something in the +fiery liquor frightened him, for he threw the bottle aside. It +was as if that bottle contained a courage which was false.</p> + +<p>Again he paced the long sitting-room, growing more and more +wrought-up as evidently he grew familiar with the singular state +of affairs. Twice the pale serving-woman called him to +dinner.</p> + +<p>The dining-room was light and pleasant, and the meal, fragrant +and steaming, was ready for him. But the women had disappeared. +Beasley seated himself -- spread out his big hands on the +table.</p> + +<p>Then a slight rustle -- a clink of spur -- startled him. He +twisted his head.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, Beasley!" said Las Vegas, who had appeared as if by +magic.</p> + +<p>Beasley's frame seemed to swell as if a flood had been loosed +in his veins. Sweat-drops stood out on his pallid face.</p> + +<p>"What -- you -- want?" he asked, huskily.</p> + +<p>"Wal now, my boss, Miss Helen, says, seein' I am foreman heah, +thet it'd be nice an' proper fer me to drop in an' eat with you +-- <em>the last time!</em>" replied the cowboy. His drawl was +slow and cool, his tone was friendly and pleasant. But his look +was that of a falcon ready to drive deep its beak.</p> + +<p>Beasley's reply was loud, incoherent, hoarse.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas seated himself across from Beasley.</p> + +<p>"Eat or not, it's shore all the same to me," said Las Vegas, +and he began to load his plate with his left hand. His right hand +rested very lightly, with just the tips of his vibrating fingers +on the edge of the table; and he never for the slightest fraction +of a second took his piercing eyes off Beasley.</p> + +<p>"Wal, my half-breed greaser guest, it shore roils up my blood +to see you sittin' there -- thinkin' you've put my boss, Miss +Helen, off this ranch," began Las Vegas, softly. And then he +helped himself leisurely to food and drink. "In my day I've shore +stacked up against a lot of outlaws, thieves, rustlers, an' sich +like, but fer an out an' out dirty low-down skunk, you shore take +the dough! . . . I'm goin, to kill you in a minit or so, jest as +soon as you move one of them dirty paws of yourn. But I hope +you'll be polite an' let me say a few words. I'll never be happy +again if you don't. . . . Of all the -- yaller greaser dogs I +ever seen, you're the worst! . . . I was thinkin' last night +mebbe you'd come down an' meet me like a man, so 's I could wash +my hands ever afterward without gettin' sick to my stummick. But +you didn't come. . . . Beasley, I'm so ashamed of myself thet I +gotta call you -- when I ought to bore you, thet -- I ain't even +second cousin to my old self when I rode fer Chisholm. It don't +mean nuthin' to you to call you liar! robber! blackleg! a +sneakin' coyote! an' a cheat thet hires others to do his dirty +work! . . . By Gawd! --"</p> + +<p>"Carmichael, gimme a word in," hoarsely broke out Beasley. +"You're right, it won't do no good to call me. . . . But let's +talk. . . . I'll buy you off. Ten thousand dollars --"</p> + +<p>"Haw! Haw! Haw!" roared Las Vegas. He was as tense as a strung +cord and his face possessed a singular pale radiance. His right +hand began to quiver more and more.</p> + +<p>"I'll -- double -- it!" panted Beasley. "I'll -- make over -- +half the ranch -- all the stock --"</p> + +<p>"Swaller thet!" yelled Las Vegas, with terrible strident +ferocity.</p> + +<p>"Listen -- man! . . . I take -- it back! . . . I'll give up -- +Auchincloss's ranch!" Beasley was now a shaking, whispering, +frenzied man, ghastly white, with rolling eyes.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas's left fist pounded hard on the table.</p> + +<p><em>"Greaser, come on!"</em> he thundered.</p> + +<p>Then Beasley, with desperate, frantic action, jerked for his +gun.</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + + +<p align="CENTER">CHAPTER XXVI</p> + +<p>For Helen Rayner that brief, dark period of expulsion from her +home had become a thing of the past, almost forgotten.</p> + +<p>Two months had flown by on the wings of love and work and the +joy of finding her place there in the West. All her old men had +been only too glad of the opportunity to come back to her, and +under Dale and Roy Beeman a different and prosperous order marked +the life of the ranch.</p> + +<p>Helen had made changes in the house by altering the +arrangement of rooms and adding a new section. Only once had she +ventured into the old dining-room where Las Vegas Carmichael had +sat down to that fatal dinner for Beasley. She made a store-room +of it, and a place she would never again enter.</p> + +<p>Helen was happy, almost too happy, she thought, and therefore +made more than needful of the several bitter drops in her sweet +cup of life. Carmichael had ridden out of Pine, ostensibly on the +trail of the Mexicans who had executed Beasley's commands. The +last seen of him had been reported from Show Down, where he had +appeared red-eyed and dangerous, like a hound on a scent. Then +two months had flown by without a word.</p> + +<p>Dale had shaken his head doubtfully when interrogated about +the cowboy's absence. It would be just like Las Vegas never to be +heard of again. Also it would be more like him to remain away +until all trace of his drunken, savage spell had departed from +him and had been forgotten by his friends. Bo took his +disappearance apparently less to heart than Helen. But Bo grew +more restless, wilder, and more wilful than ever. Helen thought +she guessed Bo's secret; and once she ventured a hint concerning +Carmichael's return.</p> + +<p>"If Tom doesn't come back pretty soon I'll marry Milt Dale," +retorted Bo, tauntingly.</p> + +<p>This fired Helen's cheeks with red.</p> + +<p>"But, child," she protested, half angry, half grave. "Milt and +I are engaged."</p> + +<p>"Sure. Only you're so slow. There's many a slip -- you +know."</p> + +<p>"Bo, I tell you Tom will come back," replied Helen, earnestly. +"I feel it. There was something fine in that cowboy. He +understood me better than you or Milt, either. . . . And he was +perfectly wild in love with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! <em>Was</em> he?"</p> + +<p>"Very much more than you deserved, Bo Rayner."</p> + +<p>Then occurred one of Bo's sweet, bewildering, unexpected +transformations. Her defiance, resentment, rebelliousness, +vanished from a softly agitated face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nell, I know that. . . . You just watch me if I ever get +another chance at him! . . . Then -- maybe he'd never drink +again!"</p> + +<p>"Bo, be happy -- and be good. Don't ride off any more -- don't +tease the boys. It'll all come right in the end."</p> + +<p>Bo recovered her equanimity quickly enough.</p> + +<p>"Humph! You can afford to be cheerful. You've got a man who +can't live when you're out of his sight. He's like a fish on dry +land. . . . And you -- why, once you were an old pessimist!"</p> + +<p>Bo was not to be consoled or changed. Helen could only sigh +and pray that her convictions would be verified.<br> +</p> + +<p>The first day of July brought an early thunder-storm, just at +sunrise. It roared and flared and rolled away, leaving a gorgeous +golden cloud pageant in the sky and a fresh, sweetly smelling, +glistening green range that delighted Helen's eye.</p> + +<p>Birds were twittering in the arbors and bees were humming in +the flowers. From the fields down along the brook came a blended +song of swamp-blackbird and meadow-lark. A clarion-voiced burro +split the air with his coarse and homely bray. The sheep were +bleating, and a soft baa of little lambs came sweetly to Helen's +ears. She went her usual rounds with more than usual zest and +thrill. Everywhere was color, activity, life. The wind swept warm +and pine-scented down from the mountain heights, now black and +bold, and the great green slopes seemed to call to her.</p> + +<p>At that very moment she came suddenly upon Dale, in his +shirt-sleeves, dusty and hot, standing motionless, gazing at the +distant mountains. Helen's greeting startled him.</p> + +<p>"I -- I was just looking away yonder," he said, smiling. She +thrilled at the clear, wonderful light of his eyes.</p> + +<p>"So was I -- a moment ago," she replied, wistfully. "Do you +miss the forest -- very much?"</p> + +<p>"Nell, I miss nothing. But I'd like to ride with you under the +pines once more."</p> + +<p>"We'll go," she cried.</p> + +<p>"When?" he asked, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Oh -- soon!" And then with flushed face and downcast eyes she +passed on. For long Helen had cherished a fond hope that she +might be married in Paradise Park, where she had fallen in love +with Dale and had realized herself. But she had kept that hope +secret. Dale's eager tone, his flashing eyes, had made her feel +that her secret was there in her telltale face.</p> + +<p>As she entered the lane leading to the house she encountered +one of the new stable-boys driving a pack-mule.</p> + +<p>"Jim, whose pack is that?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Ma'am, I dunno, but I heard him tell Roy he reckoned his name +was mud," replied the boy, smiling.</p> + +<p>Helen's heart gave a quick throb. That sounded like Las Vegas. +She hurried on, and upon entering the courtyard she espied Roy +Beeman holding the halter of a beautiful, wild-looking mustang. +There was another horse with another man, who was in the act of +dismounting on the far side. When he stepped into better view +Helen recognized Las Vegas. And he saw her at the same +instant.</p> + +<p>Helen did not look up again until she was near the porch. She +had dreaded this meeting, yet she was so glad that she could have +cried aloud.</p> + +<p>"Miss Helen, I shore am glad to see you," he said, standing +bareheaded before her, the same young, frank-faced cowboy she had +seen first from the train.</p> + +<p>"Tom!" she exclaimed, and offered her hands.</p> + +<p>He wrung them hard while he looked at her. The swift woman's +glance Helen gave in return seemed to drive something dark and +doubtful out of her heart. This was the same boy she had known -- +whom she had liked so well -- who had won her sister's love. +Helen imagined facing him thus was like awakening from a vague +nightmare of doubt. Carmichael's face was clean, fresh, young, +with its healthy tan; it wore the old glad smile, cool, easy, and +natural; his eyes were like Dale's -- penetrating, clear as +crystal, without a shadow. What had evil, drink, blood, to do +with the real inherent nobility of this splendid specimen of +Western hardihood? Wherever he had been, whatever he had done +during that long absence, he had returned long separated from +that wild and savage character she could now forget. Perhaps +there would never again be call for it.</p> + +<p>"How's my girl?" he asked, just as naturally as if he had been +gone a few days on some errand of his employer's.</p> + +<p>"Bo? Oh, she's well -- fine. I -- I rather think she'll be +glad to see you," replied Helen, warmly.</p> + +<p>"An' how's thet big Indian, Dale?" he drawled.</p> + +<p>"Well, too -- I'm sure."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I got back heah in time to see you-all married?"</p> + +<p>"I -- I assure you I -- no one around here has been married +yet," replied Helen, with a blush.</p> + +<p>"Thet shore is fine. Was some worried," he said, lazily. "I've +been chasin' wild hosses over in New Mexico, an' I got after this +heah blue roan. He kept me chasin' him fer a spell. I've fetched +him back for Bo."</p> + +<p>Helen looked at the mustang Roy was holding, to be instantly +delighted. He was a roan almost blue in color, neither large nor +heavy, but powerfully built, clean-limbed, and racy, with a long +mane and tail, black as coal, and a beautiful head that made +Helen love him at once.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm jealous," declared Helen, archly. "I never did see +such a pony."</p> + +<p>"I reckoned you'd never ride any hoss but Ranger," said Las +Vegas.</p> + +<p>"No, I never will. But I can be jealous, anyhow, can't I?"</p> + +<p>"Shore. An I reckon if you say you're goin' to have him -- +wal, Bo 'd be funny," he drawled.</p> + +<p>"I reckon she would be funny," retorted Helen. She was so +happy that she imitated his speech. She wanted to hug him. It was +too good to be true -- the return of this cowboy. He understood +her. He had come back with nothing that could alienate her. He +had apparently forgotten the terrible rôle he had accepted +and the doom he had meted out to her enemies. That moment was +wonderful for Helen in its revelation of the strange significance +of the West as embodied in this cowboy. He was great. But he did +not know that.</p> + +<p>Then the door of the living-room opened, and a sweet, high +voice pealed out:</p> + +<p>"Roy! Oh, what a mustang! Whose is he?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, Bo, if all I hear is so he belongs to you," replied Roy +with a huge grin.</p> + +<p>Bo appeared in the door. She stepped out upon the porch. She +saw the cowboy. The excited flash of her pretty face vanished as +she paled.</p> + +<p>"Bo, I shore am glad to see you," drawled Las Vegas, as he +stepped forward, sombrero in hand. Helen could not see any sign +of confusion in him. But, indeed, she saw gladness. Then she +expected to behold Bo run right into the cowboys's arms. It +appeared, however, that she was doomed to disappointment.</p> + +<p>"Tom, I'm glad to see you," she replied.</p> + +<p>They shook hands as old friends.</p> + +<p>"You're lookin' right fine," he said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm well. . . . And how have you been these six months?" +she queried.</p> + +<p>"Reckon I though it was longer," he drawled. "Wal, I'm pretty +tip-top now, but I was laid up with heart trouble for a +spell."</p> + +<p>"Heart trouble?" she echoed, dubiously.</p> + +<p>"Shore. . . . I ate too much over heah in New Mexico."</p> + +<p>"It's no news to me -- where your heart's located," laughed +Bo. Then she ran off the porch to see the blue mustang. She +walked round and round him, clasping her hands in sheer +delight.</p> + +<p>"Bo, he's a plumb dandy," said Roy. "Never seen a prettier +hoss. He'll run like a streak. An' he's got good eyes. He'll be a +pet some day. But I reckon he'll always be spunky."</p> + +<p>"Bo ventured to step closer, and at last got a hand on the +mustang, and then another. She smoothed his quivering neck and +called softly to him, until he submitted to her hold.</p> + +<p>"What's his name?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Blue somethin' or other," replied Roy.</p> + +<p>"Tom, has my new mustang a name?" asked Bo, turning to the +cowboy.</p> + +<p>"Shore."</p> + +<p>"What then?"</p> + +<p>"Wal, I named him Blue-Bo," answered Las Vegas, with a +smile.</p> + +<p>"Blue-Boy?"</p> + +<p>"Nope. He's named after you. An' I chased him, roped him, +broke him all myself."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Blue-Bo he is, then. . . . And he's a wonderful +darling horse. Oh, Nell, just look at him. . . . Tom, I can't +thank you enough."</p> + +<p>"Reckon I don't want any thanks," drawled the cowboy. "But see +heah, Bo, you shore got to live up to conditions before you ride +him."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Bo, who was startled by his slow, cool, +meaning tone, of voice.</p> + +<p>Helen delighted in looking at Las Vegas then. He had never +appeared to better advantage. So cool, careless, and assured! He +seemed master of a situation in which his terms must be accepted. +Yet he might have been actuated by a cowboy motive beyond the +power of Helen to divine.</p> + +<p>"Bo Rayner," drawled Las Vegas, "thet blue mustang will be +yours, an' you can ride him -- when you're <em>Mrs. Tom +Carmichael!</em>"</p> + +<p>Never had he spoken a softer, more drawling speech, nor gazed +at Bo more mildly. Roy seemed thunderstruck. Helen endeavored +heroically to restrain her delicious, bursting glee. Bo's wide +eyes stared at her lover -- darkened -- dilated. Suddenly she +left the mustang to confront the cowboy where he lounged on the +porch steps.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"Shore do."</p> + +<p>"Bah! It's only a magnificent bluff," she retorted. "You're +only in fun. It's your -- your darned nerve!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Bo," began Las Vegas, reproachfully. "You shore know I'm +not the four-flusher kind. Never got away with a bluff in my +life! An' I'm jest in daid earnest aboot this heah."</p> + +<p>All the same, signs were not wanting in his mobile face that +he was almost unable to restrain his mirth.</p> + +<p>Helen realized then that Bo saw through the cowboy -- that the +ultimatum was only one of his tricks.</p> + +<p>"It <em>is</em> a bluff and I <em>call</em> you!" declared Bo, +ringingly.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas suddenly awoke to consequences. He essayed to speak, +but she was so wonderful then, so white and blazing-eyed, that he +was stricken mute.</p> + +<p>"I'll ride Blue-Bo this afternoon," deliberately stated the +girl.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas had wit enough to grasp her meaning, and he seemed +about to collapse.</p> + +<p>"Very well, you can make me Mrs. Tom Carmichael to-day -- this +morning -- just before dinner. . . . Go get a preacher to marry +us -- and make yourself look a more presentable bridegroom -- +<em>unless it was only a bluff!</em>"</p> + +<p>Her imperiousness changed as the tremendous portent of her +words seemed to make Las Vegas a blank, stone image of a man. +With a wild-rose color suffusing her face, she swiftly bent over +him, kissed him, and flashed away into the house. Her laugh +pealed back, and it thrilled Helen, so deep and strange was it +for the wilful sister, so wild and merry and full of joy.</p> + +<p>It was then that Roy Beeman recovered from his paralysis, to +let out such a roar of mirth as to frighten the horses. Helen was +laughing, and crying, too, but laughing mostly. Las Vegas +Carmichael was a sight for the gods to behold. Bo's kiss had +unclamped what had bound him. The sudden truth, undeniable, +insupportable, glorious, made him a madman.</p> + +<p>"Bluff -- she called me -- ride Blue-Bo saf'ternoon!" he +raved, reaching wildly for Helen. "Mrs. -- Tom -- Carmichael -- +before dinner -- preacher -- presentable bridegroom! . . . Aw! +I'm drunk again! I -- who swore off forever!"</p> + +<p>"No, Tom, you're just happy," said Helen.</p> + +<p>Between her and Roy the cowboy was at length persuaded to +accept the situation and to see his wonderful opportunity.</p> + +<p>"Now -- now, Miss Helen -- what'd Bo mean by pre -- +presentable bridegroom? . . . Presents? Lord, I'm clean busted +flat!"</p> + +<p>"She meant you must dress up in your best, of course," replied +Helen.</p> + +<p>"Where 'n earth will I get a preacher? . . . Show Down's forty +miles. . . . Can't ride there in time. . . . Roy, I've gotta have +a preacher. . . . Life or death deal fer me."</p> + +<p>"Wal, old man, if you'll brace up I'll marry you to Bo," said +Roy, with his glad grin.</p> + +<p>"Aw!" gasped Las Vegas, as if at the coming of a sudden +beautiful hope.</p> + +<p>"Tom, I'm a preacher," replied Roy, now earnestly. "You didn't +know thet, but I am. An' I can marry you an' Bo as good as any +one, an' tighter 'n most."</p> + +<p>Las Vegas reached for his friend as a drowning man might have +reached for solid rock.</p> + +<p>"Roy, can you really marry them -- with my Bible -- and the +service of my church?" asked Helen, a happy hope flushing her +face.</p> + +<p>"Wal, indeed I can. I've married more 'n one couple whose +religion wasn't mine."</p> + +<p>"B-b-before -- d-d-din-ner!" burst out Las Vegas, like a +stuttering idiot.</p> + +<p>"I reckon. Come on, now, an' make yourself pre-senttible," +said Roy. "Miss Helen, you tell Bo thet it's all settled."</p> + +<p>He picked up the halter on the blue mustang and turned away +toward the corrals. Las Vegas put the bridle of his horse over +his arm, and seemed to be following in a trance, with his dazed, +rapt face held high.</p> + +<p>"Bring Dale," called Helen, softly after them.<br> +</p> + +<p>So it came about as naturally as it was wonderful that Bo rode +the blue mustang before the afternoon ended.</p> + +<p>Las Vegas disobeyed his first orders from Mrs. Tom Carmichael +and rode out after her toward the green-rising range. Helen +seemed impelled to follow. She did not need to ask Dale the +second time. They rode swiftly, but never caught up with Bo and +Las Vegas, whose riding resembled their happiness.</p> + +<p>Dale read Helen's mind, or else his own thoughts were in +harmony with hers, for he always seemed to speak what she was +thinking. And as they rode homeward he asked her in his quiet way +if they could not spare a few days to visit his old camp.</p> + +<p>"And take Bo -- and Tom? Oh, of all things I'd like to'" she +replied.</p> + +<p>"Yes -- an' Roy, too," added Dale, significantly.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said Helen, lightly, as if she had not caught his +meaning. But she turned her eyes away, while her heart thumped +disgracefully and all her body was aglow. "Will Tom and Bo +go?"</p> + +<p>"It was Tom who got me to ask you," replied Dale. "John an' +Hal can look after the men while we're gone."</p> + +<p>"Oh -- so Tom put it in your head? I guess -- maybe -- I won't +go."</p> + +<p>"It is always in my mind, Nell," he said, with his slow +seriousness. "I'm goin' to work all my life for you. But I'll +want to an' need to go back to the woods often. . . . An' if you +ever stoop to marry me -- an' make me the richest of men -- +you'll have to marry me up there where I fell in love with +you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Did Las Vegas Tom Carmichael say that, too?" inquired +Helen, softly.</p> + +<p>"Nell, do you want to know what Las Vegas said?"</p> + +<p>"By all means."</p> + +<p>"He said this -- an' not an hour ago. 'Milt, old hoss, let me +give you a hunch. I'm a man of family now -- an' I've been a +devil with the wimmen in my day. I can see through 'em. Don't +marry Nell Rayner in or near the house where I killed Beasley. +She'd remember. An' don't let her remember thet day. Go off into +the woods. Paradise Park! Bo an' me will go with you."</p> + +<p>Helen gave him her hand, while they walked the horses homeward +in the long sunset shadows. In the fullness of that happy hour +she had time for a grateful wonder at the keen penetration of the +cowboy Carmichael. Dale had saved her life, but it was Las Vegas +who had saved her happiness.<br> +</p> + +<p>Not many days later, when again the afternoon shadows were +slanting low, Helen rode out upon the promontory where the dim +trail zigzagged far above Paradise Park.</p> + +<p>Roy was singing as he drove the pack-burros down the slope; Bo +and Las Vegas were trying to ride the trail two abreast, so they +could hold hands; Dale had dismounted to stand beside Helen's +horse, as she gazed down the shaggy black slopes to the beautiful +wild park with its gray meadows and shining ribbons of +brooks.</p> + +<p>It was July, and there were no golden-red glorious flames and +blazes of color such as lingered in Helen's memory. Black spruce +slopes and green pines and white streaks of aspens and lacy +waterfall of foam and dark outcroppings of rock--these colors and +forms greeted her gaze with all the old enchantment. Wildness, +beauty, and loneliness were there, the same as ever, immutable, +like the spirit of those heights.</p> + +<p>Helen would fain have lingered longer, but the others called, +and Ranger impatiently snorted his sense of the grass and water +far below. And she knew that when she climbed there again to the +wide outlook she would be another woman.</p> + +<p>"Nell, come on," said Dale, as he led on. "It's better to look +up."<br> +</p> + +<p>The sun had just sunk behind the ragged fringe of mountain-rim +when those three strong and efficient men of the open had pitched +camp and had prepared a bountiful supper. Then Roy Beeman took +out the little worn Bible which Helen had given him to use when +he married Bo, and as he opened it a light changed his dark +face.</p> + +<p>"Come, Helen an' Dale," he said.</p> + +<p>They arose to stand before him. And he married them there +under the great, stately pines, with the fragrant blue smoke +curling upward, and the wind singing through the branches, while +the waterfall murmured its low, soft, dreamy music, and from the +dark slope came the wild, lonely cry of a wolf, full of the +hunger for life and a mate.</p> + +<p>"Let us pray," said Roy, as he closed the Bible, and knelt +with them.</p> + +<p>"There is only one God, an' Him I beseech in my humble office +for the woman an' man I have just wedded in holy bonds. Bless +them an' watch them an' keep them through all the comin' years. +Bless the sons of this strong man of the woods an' make them like +him, with love an' understandin' of the source from which life +comes. Bless the daughters of this woman an' send with them more +of her love an' soul, which must be the softenin' an' the +salvation of the hard West. O Lord, blaze the dim, dark trail for +them through the unknown forest of life! O Lord, lead the way +across the naked range of the future no mortal knows! We ask in +Thy name! Amen."</p> + +<p>When the preacher stood up again and raised the couple from +their kneeling posture, it seemed that a grave and solemn +personage had left him. This young man was again the dark-faced, +clear-eyed Roy, droll and dry, with the enigmatic smile on his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Dale," he said, taking her hands, "I wish you joy. . . . +An' now, after this here, my crownin' service in your behalf -- I +reckon I'll claim a reward."</p> + +<p>Then he kissed her. Bo came next with her warm and loving +felicitations, and the cowboy, with characteristic action, also +made at Helen.</p> + +<p>"Nell, shore it's the only chance I'll ever have to kiss you," +he drawled. "Because when this heah big Indian once finds out +what kissin' is --!"</p> + +<p>Las Vegas then proved how swift and hearty he could be upon +occasions. All this left Helen red and confused and unutterably +happy. She appreciated Dale's state. His eyes reflected the +precious treasure which manifestly he saw, but realization of +ownership had not yet become demonstrable.</p> + +<p>Then with gay speech and happy laugh and silent look these +five partook of the supper. When it was finished Roy made known +his intention to leave. They all protested and coaxed, but to no +avail. He only laughed and went on saddling his horse.</p> + +<p>"Roy, please stay," implored Helen. "The day's almost ended. +You're tired."</p> + +<p>"Nope. I'll never be no third party when there's only +two."</p> + +<p>"But there are four of us."</p> + +<p>"Didn't I just make you an' Dale one? . . . An', Mrs. Dale, +you forget I've been married more 'n once."</p> + +<p>Helen found herself confronted by an unanswerable side of the +argument. Las Vegas rolled on the grass in his mirth. Dale looked +strange.</p> + +<p>"Roy, then that's why you're so nice," said Bo, with a little +devil in her eyes. "Do you know I had my mind made up if Tom +hadn't come around I was going to make up to you, Roy. . . . I +sure was. What number wife would I have been?"</p> + +<p>It always took Bo to turn the tables on anybody. Roy looked +mightily embarrassed. And the laugh was on him. He did not face +them again until he had mounted.</p> + +<p>"Las Vegas, I've done my best for you -- hitched you to thet +blue-eyed girl the best I know how," he declared. "But I shore +ain't guaranteein' nothin'. You'd better build a corral for +her."</p> + +<p>"Why, Roy, you shore don't savvy the way to break these wild +ones," drawled Las Vegas. "Bo will be eatin' out of my hand in +about a week."</p> + +<p>Bo's blue eyes expressed an eloquent doubt as to this +extraordinary claim.</p> + +<p>"Good-by, friends," said Roy, and rode away to disappear in +the spruces.</p> + +<p>Thereupon Bo and Las Vegas forgot Roy, and Dale and Helen, the +camp chores to be done, and everything else except themselves. +Helen's first wifely duty was to insist that she should and could +and would help her husband with the work of cleaning up after the +sumptuous supper. Before they had finished a sound startled them. +It came from Roy, evidently high on the darkening slope, and was +a long, mellow pealing halloo, that rang on the cool air, burst +the dreamy silence, and rapped across from slope to slope and +cliff to cliff, to lose its power and die away hauntingly in the +distant recesses.</p> + +<p>Dale shook his head as if he did not care to attempt a reply +to that beautiful call. Silence once again enfolded the park, and +twilight seemed to be born of the air, drifting downward.</p> + +<p>"Nell, do you miss anythin'?" asked Dale.</p> + +<p>"No. Nothing in all the world," she murmured. "I am happier +than I ever dared pray to be."</p> + +<p>"I don't mean people or things. I mean my pets."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I had forgotten. . . . Milt, where are they?"</p> + +<p>"Gone back to the wild," he said. "They had to live in my +absence. An' I've been away long."</p> + +<p>Just then the brooding silence, with its soft murmur of +falling water and faint sigh of wind in the pines, was broken by +a piercing scream, high, quivering, like that of a woman in +exquisite agony.</p> + +<p>"That's Tom!" exclaimed Dale.</p> + +<p>"Oh -- I was so -- so frightened!" whispered Helen.</p> + +<p>Bo came running, with Las Vegas at her heels.</p> + +<p>"Milt, that was your tame cougar," cried Bo, excitedly. "Oh, +I'll never forget him! I'll hear those cries in my dreams!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was Tom," said Dale, thoughtfully. "But I never heard +him cry just like that."</p> + +<p>"Oh, call him in!"</p> + +<p>Dale whistled and called, but Tom did not come. Then the +hunter stalked off in the gloom to call from different points +under the slope. After a while he returned without the cougar. +And at that moment, from far up the dark ravine, drifted down the +same wild cry, only changed by distance, strange and tragic in +its meaning.</p> + +<p>"He scented us. He remembers. But he'll never come back," said +Dale.<br> +</p> + +<p>Helen felt stirred anew with the convictions of Dale's deep +knowledge of life and nature. And her imagination seemed to have +wings. How full and perfect her trust, her happiness in the +realization that her love and her future, her children, and +perhaps grandchildren, would come under the guidance of such a +man! Only a little had she begun to comprehend the secrets of +good and ill in their relation to the laws of nature. Ages before +men had lived on the earth there had been the creatures of the +wilderness, and the holes of the rocks, and the nests of the +trees, and rain, frost, heat, dew, sunlight and night, storm and +calm, the honey of the wildflower and the instinct of the bee -- +all the beautiful and multiple forms of life with their +inscrutable design. To know something of them and to love them +was to be close to the kingdom of earth -- perhaps to the greater +kingdom of heaven. For whatever breathed and moved was a part of +that creation. The coo of the dove, the lichen on the mossy rock, +the mourn of a hunting wolf, and the murmur of the waterfall, the +ever-green and growing tips of the spruces, and the thunderbolts +along the battlements of the heights -- these one and all must be +actuated by the great spirit -- that incalculable thing in the +universe which had produced man and soul.</p> + +<p>And there in the starlight, under the wide-gnarled pines, +sighing low with the wind, Helen sat with Dale on the old stone +that an avalanche of a million years past had flung from the +rampart above to serve as camp-table and bench for lovers in the +wilderness; the sweet scent of spruce mingled with the fragrance +of wood-smoke blown in their faces. How white the stars, and calm +and true! How they blazed their single task! A coyote yelped off +on the south slope, dark now as midnight. A bit of weathered rock +rolled and tapped from shelf to shelf. And the wind moaned. Helen +felt all the sadness and mystery and nobility of this lonely +fastness, and full on her heart rested the supreme consciousness +that all would some day be well with the troubled world +beyond.</p> + +<p>"Nell, I'll homestead this park," said Dale. "Then it'll +always be ours."</p> + +<p>"Homestead! What's that?" murmured Helen, dreamily. The word +sounded sweet.</p> + +<p>"The government will give land to men who locate an' build," +replied Dale. "We'll run up a log cabin."</p> + +<p>"And come here often. . . . Paradise Park!" whispered +Helen.</p> + +<p>Dale's first kisses were on her lips then, hard and cool and +clean, like the life of the man, singularly exalting to her, +completing her woman's strange and unutterable joy of the hour, +and rendering her mute.</p> + +<p>Bo's melodious laugh, and her voice with its old mockery of +torment, drifted softly on the night breeze. And the cowboy's +"Aw, Bo," drawling his reproach and longing, was all that the +tranquil, waiting silence needed.</p> + +<p>Paradise Park was living again one of its romances. Love was +no stranger to that lonely fastness. Helen heard in the whisper +of the wind through the pine the old-earth story, beautiful, ever +new, and yet eternal. She thrilled to her depths. The +spar-pointed spruces stood up black and clear against the noble +stars. All that vast solitude breathed and waited, charged full +with its secret, ready to reveal itself to her tremulous +soul.</p> + +<p>THE END</p> + +<hr> +<br> +<br> + The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Man of the Forest, by Zane +Grey +</body> +</html> + + |