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diff --git a/old/51919.txt b/old/51919.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6e98a70..0000000 --- a/old/51919.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8900 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rancho Del Muerto, by Charles King and Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Rancho Del Muerto - and Other Stories of Adventure from "Outing" by Various Authors - -Author: Charles King - Various - -Release Date: May 1, 2016 [EBook #51919] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RANCHO DEL MUERTO *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -RANCHO DEL MUERTO - -By Charles King, Capt. U. S. Army. - -And Other Stories of Adventure by Various Authors - -From "Outing" (Illustrated) - -The Outing Publishing Company, - -New York And London - - -[Illustration: 0001] - - -[Illustration: 0007] - - - - -RANCHO DEL MUERTO, By Charles King, Capt. U. S. Army. - - -FIRST PART - -[Illustration: 9013] - -O denying it--there was something uncanny about the place at the very -first glance. The paymaster admitted that to himself as his ambulance -slowly drove in, and his escort of half a dozen troopers came clattering -after. It was his first visit to the spot, and he shrugged his broad -shoulders and murmured a word of caution to the silent clerk who sat -beside him: - -[Illustration: 0015] - -[Illustration: 0016] - -"I want you to keep eyes and ears open here, Staines. We've got to make -a night of it. You remember that this is where Sergeant Dinsmore was -murdered, and I've heard nothing but bad accounts of the people for the -last six months." - -Mr. Staines was apparently a man who wasted no words. Acquiescence with -him may have been expressed by silence. At all events he made no reply. - -"Were you ever at the ranch before, when you made the trips with Colonel -Forte?" asked the paymaster. - -"No, sir, it's--all strange to me hereabouts." - -"How far are we from Canyon del Muerto now, sergeant?" asked the -officer of the bearded trooper who rode close alongside. - -"Sixteen miles, sir, on a bee line, but at least twenty by the road. -We're off the direct trail now. We could have got through the canyon and -reached the camp before this if that mule hadn't gone lame." - -"Major," said Staines in a low tone, "I can get a saddle horse or mule -here, no doubt. Had I not better ride right on? I can reach Captain -Rawlins' camp by 9 or 10 o'clock. He will be mighty anxious at your -non-arrival." - -"I was thinking of sending one man ahead; I don't like to let you go. It -will wear you out for to-morrow's work." - -"Indeed it won't, sir; I'm feeling fresh enough, and the change from -wagon to saddle will just suit me. I think I'd better go." And there was -an eager look in Staines' clear-cut face. - -"I'll think about it" was the dubious answer. "These cavalry men are the -proper ones to send, not a paymaster's clerk. If anything befell you on -the route I would be crippled in making payments." - -"Nothing would be apt to befall me, sir; I know that road well." - -"I thought you said all was strange to you hereabouts" said the -paymaster quickly. But the clerk showed no discomfiture. - -"I said here, around the ranch. The direct road lies off there nearly -nine miles to the southwest, sir. That is the one we always took going -to Tucson." - -The paymaster relapsed into silence. It is all very well to have -subordinates who know far more than does the senior officer, yet the -latter does not always find it agreeable. His own clerk having resigned -some six months previous and returned to the East, when Major Sherrick -was ordered from San Francisco to Arizona he had employed Mr. Staines at -the urgent request of the officer whom he relieved. Staines had property -interests in the Territory, he was told, and wanted to remain. He was a -man profoundly versed in his duties; accurate, temperate, reliable and -of unimpeachable character, said his recommenders. Sherrick was glad -to get him, for he himself had no head for figures, and had been made a -paymaster from civil life simply because his uncle the Senator found him -a failure in every other capacity, and demanded the appointment of an -Executive who could not deny him, though he felt like kicking himself -when he looked at the long list of grizzled, war-tried captains who were -wistful applicants for the longed-for promotion. - -A tall Mexican stepped forward with much urbanity and grace of manner to -assist the paymaster to alight as the ambulance stopped in front of the -ranch, and Major Sherrick looked with emotions of surprise upon Pedro -Ruiz, the proprietor. - -"You don't mean to say that's the scoundrel we heard so much bad -talk about at headquarters?" he whispered to Staines at the first -opportunity. - -"The very same, sir; the most accomplished cutthroat in Arizona, if we -can believe our senses and disregard evidence." - -"Where are his men? He seems alone here, all but that old greaser -yonder." - -"Dios sabe," answered the clerk briefly, though his eyes glanced quickly -away toward the purpling range to the south. "But we shall need our -guards every moment we are here, sir, that's certain." An hour later -night had settled down upon the broad valley, black and forbidding. All -day long the wind had been sighing about the corral, whirling clouds of -dust from the loose, sandy soil and sifting it in through many a chink -and crevice over the floor of Pedro's ranch. The great ranges to the -northwest, the Sierras to the south, were whitecapped at their lofty -summits, but all over the arid miles of surrounding desert the sun had -been hotly blazing from noon to the dewless eve, and not until it sank -behind the western wave did the wind sweep down untempered. Through its -shallow bed the Gila rolled, a lazy, turbid current, not a rifle shot -away. Quicksands and muddy pools flanked its course for miles and barred -all attempts at crossing except at the point where thrifty Pedro had -"corduroyed" the flats with boards that had formerly done duty at the -agency building, and, having originally cost the paternal Government -something in the neighborhood of $1 apiece, had now come down to the -base uses of daily trampling under foot. The stage to the Gripsack -Mines, the huge ox teams and triple-hitched wagons, the nimble pack -mules, even the buckboard with the United States mail, paid reluctant -tribute into Pedro's dingy palm, though the owners mentally damned him -for a thief. - -Everybody in that part of Arizona well knew that in the unprecedented -rise of the Gila, a few years back, two of the agency storehouses had -been floated away down the stream, accompanied by a dense flotilla of -joists, scantling and clapboards, which had been piled up on the river -bank after weeks of laborious transportation from Plummer's saw mill in -the San Gabriel. So, too, had sundry casks of bacon, barrels of beans -and bales of Indian goods; and while portions of this flood-swept -assortment were found stranded and scattered along the winding shores -as far down as Pedro's bailiwick, not so much as a solitary shingle had -passed beyond, and the laws of flotsam and jetsam had received at the -hands of this shrewd "greaser" their most liberal construction. More -than once had the Federal authorities been compelled to proceed to -stringent measures with Pedro and arraign him before a jury of his peers -on charges of having robbed and defrauded the General Government, -and more than once with prompt and cheering unanimity had the jury -pronounced him not guilty, a service which he never failed to requite in -kind when Garcia, Gomez or Sancho came up for his turn. And now the old -Mexican was proprietor of a goodly ranch, built mainly of adobe, it is -true, as were his roomy corrals and storehouses, yet roofed, floored, -partitioned, doored and menu for either breakfast, dinner or supper, at -a charge of $1 a head for any and all travelers who sought to appease -their appetite at his table. He kept a bar, too, and dealt out -villainous "tanglefoot" and windowed, too, by the unwilling -contributions wrung from Uncle Sam. - -For three years he had furnished bacon, _frijoles_ and fried eggs, the -unvarying fiery mescal to such stomachs as could stand the onslaught -and the tax of two bits a thimbleful. He ran a "brace game" of monte -whenever the packers were drunk or strangers fool enough to play. He was -a thorough-paced rascal in the opinion of every "gringo" who passed that -way, and a man of unimpeachable character according to all records -in the case. He was a "greaser" of whom everything had been said and -nothing proved; that is, to the satisfaction of an old-time Arizona -jury. But Mr. Whitlock, the new United States District Attorney, was -said to be "laying" for Pedro, and between those who knew them both and -were aware of the possibilities of finding twelve better men and truer -outside of Maricopa County, bets were even as to the result. - -[Illustration: 0021] - -"Just let me get that thieving greaser across the line into Yavapai," -said a local luminary, "and I'll find a jury that will hang him on -sight or lynch him on general principles." But Pedro knew better than to -venture northward along the tempting shores of the Hassayampa. Even the -chance of collecting a bad debt from a fellow countryman, known to -be lurking in Wickenburg, failed to lure Pedro thither. He smiled -suggestively, showing his white teeth and waving aside the blue smoke of -his cigarrito with sinewy brown hand. "A--Wickenburg is too damn close -to Yavapai, and Yavapai to 'ell," he remarked. And it had more than once -been said of Pedro that he spoke English like a native. - -"Rancho Ruiz" was the sonorous and pretentious title he had bestowed -upon the establishment to which the winding Arizona roadway led. -"Cutthroat Crossing" was what the soldiers and placer miners had called -this half ferry, half ford of Pedro's ever since the body of young -Sergeant Dinsmore had been found stranded on a sand bar of the Gila two -miles below,' his neck and his money belt slashed by the same knife. -Going into Yuma with well-lined pockets, Dinsmore had been warned to -make no stay among the gang of monte players always hovering about -Pedro's. But he had been a bold and successful gambler at Tucson. He -had nothing but contempt for Mexican bravos and confidence in his own -prowess as a shot. The card table had attractions he could not well -resist, but the ranch had still another--Pedro's daughter. - -Now it was when he was sent thither with a squad of a dozen troopers, -hunting up the missing sergeant, that Lieutenant Adriance caught -sight of this siren of a senorita. She could not have been more than -seventeen, and her mother would have denied her even that number of -years. "She is a mere child," protested Senora Dolores, when the subject -was mentioned. Pedro had moved up from Sonora only a few years before, -and had lived a while at the old Mexico-Spanish town of Tucson, whither, -ere long, there came unflattering tales as to the cause of his change -of residence. He had money, and that in Arizona covered more sins than -charity. The boundary line lay conveniently near. Extradition was an -unpracticed art in the days whereof we write. Apaches of the mountains -and assassins of the mines found equal refuge across the border, and in -exchange we received such choice spirits as proved too tough for even -a Mexican town to tolerate. Of such was Pedro; but no one to look at -Pedro's daughter would have called her a felon's child. - -The night that Adriance reached the rancho on the search just mentioned -he had purposely left his little escort some distance up the Gila, and -advanced alone to reconnoitre. It was a perfectly still evening, soft -and starry. The hoofs of his broncho made no sound upon the sandy waste -of road, and not even the dogs about the corral seemed aware of his -coming. Adriance had thrice visited the ranch before, when returning -from scout or pursuit of Apaches, and never once had he been greeted by -feminine voice about the premises. It was with no little surprise, then, -that he heard the tinkle of a guitar and the sound of low, soft, girlish -tones singing a plaintive melody. He had heard many a Mexican ditty, -and had pronounced the singers twangy, shrill and nasal; but this was -different. He had come to Rancho Ruiz with every expectation of finding -evidence of the murder of one of his most valued troopers, and here, on -the instant of his arrival, was disarmed by a song. East of the ranch -there stood a little lattice-work structure, something after the manner -of a summer house, and from thence the sounds proceeded. The lieutenant -leaped from his horse and strode to the entrance, wondering what -manner of woman he should find beyond. There was not light enough to -distinguish either form or feature, but over in the farther corner was -a shadowy something in white. The song continued but a moment before -the singer became aware of the equally shadowy form at the entrance, and -stopped abruptly. - -"Leon!" spoke a girlish voice in the Spanish tongue, "you frightened me. -Is that you?" - -"I am Felipe, otherwise Phil. Adriance, of the American Cavalry, -senorita, and far more surprised than you are at seeing me." - -The girl started to her feet as though flight was her first impulse, -then hesitated. Did not the "Senor Teniente" bar the way in merely -standing in the entrance? - -"Do not be alarmed, I beg of you," implored the young officer, "it is so -long since I have heard a song in a woman's voice. It is such a surprise -to hear one now. Do sing for me again. I will have to stand here where I -can hold my horse." - -For a moment she was silent, then: "You have been to the rancho? You -have seen my father?" she asked at length, her voice tremulous and -almost inaudible. - -"I? No, I have just come; I am alone, and heard your song and forgot -everything else." - -To his surprise she came hurriedly forward out of the dusk, and stood -close to his side, looking fearfully over toward the night lights at the -bar, whence the sounds of Mexican voices could be heard. - -"Alone? You came here alone? O senor, ride on or ride back. Stay not -here! Not at the rancho! There are wicked men--not my father; not Pedro -Ruiz, but--there are others." - -"Is this true? Are you Pedro's daughter?" queried the lieutenant, -evidently far more impressed with this fact than with her tidings. "I -never knew he had a child like you, and I have been here often and have -never seen you." - -"But I--have seen you, senor, when you were last here, and I saw you, -too, at the _cuartel_ at Tucson. Do you know--do you remember the day of -the race?" And her dark eyes were for one instant lifted timidly to his. - -"Is this possible?" he exclaimed, seizing her hand as it fell listlessly -by her side. "Let me see your face. Surely I have heard your voice -before." But she shrank back, half timid, half capricious. - -"I must not; I must go, senor, and you--you must ride away." - -And now her eyes glanced half fearfully toward the house, then sought -his face in genuine anxiety. He had been fumbling in the pocket of his -hunting shirt, and suddenly drew forth a little silver case. The next -instant, while he held her wrist firmly with one hand, the brilliant -flame of an electric match flashed over her face and form. - -[Illustration: 0027] - -"Oh, senor," she cried, even when bowing her blushing face upon her -bared arm, "this is madness! Put it out!" Then, like a frightened deer, -she went bounding to the ranch, but not before he had recognized in her -the pretty Mexican girl with whom he had thrice danced at the _festa_ -at Tucson and whose name he had vainly sought to learn. Nor did he again -see her on this visit. Nor did he hear again her voice. Returning with -his men at dawn, he began the day's investigations and had occasion -to ask many questions of old Pedro, who promptly answered that he well -remembered the sergeant and that the sergeant had drunk at his bar; had -partaken of his cheer; had stabled his horse at the corral; but that, -after gambling with "los otros," men of whom he, Pedro, knew naught, the -sergeant had gone on his way. More he could not tell. He shrugged his -shoulders and protested his ignorance even of the names of the men with -whom Dinsmore had gambled. - -"You enter my house, Senor Teniente. You ask for food, for drink. You -pay. You go. Ask I you your name--your home? No! Should I demand it of -any caballero who so come and go?" - -And failing in extracting information from the master, Adriance sought -the hirelings and found them equally reticent. Shrewd frontiersmen and -campaigners in his little detachment were equally unsuccessful until -nearly night, when a brace of prospectors rode in and said they saw what -looked to be a human body over on a sand bar down the Gila. Then Pedro's -face had turned ashen gray, and one of his henchmen trembled violently. - -Poor Dinsmore was given such soldier burial as his comrades could -devise, and Pedro, of his own accord, and with much reverential gravity -of mien, had graced the ceremony with his presence. - -Every man of the cavalry detachment felt morally certain that Pedro Ruiz -knew far more than he would tell, but there was no way in which they -could proceed farther, and civil process was ineffectual in those days -except in the court of final jurisdiction of which Judge Lynch was sole -presiding officer. - -Adriance rode away with a distinct sense of discomfiture at heart. What -business had he to feel baffled and chagrined at his failure to see -that girl again when the original object of his mission had been the -discovery of Dinsmore's fate? What right had he to wish to speak with -the daughter of the man whom he believed an accessory to the sergeant's -murder? "Do not let them know you have seen me" she had whispered ere -she scurried away to the ranch, and as neither mother nor daughter -once appeared during the presence of his escort about the corral, there -seemed no way in which he could open the subject. - -Six months passed, during which period he had been sent to Tucson -on escort duty, and while there had sought and found some well-to-do -Mexican residents whom he remembered as being friends of the graceful -girl who had danced so delightfully with him at the _baile_ only the -year before. From them he learned her name, Isabel, and something of her -history. And the very next scout down the Gila found him in command and -eager to go, and this very night, black and forbidding, that had settled -down on Rancho Ruiz after the arrival of Paymaster Sherrick and his -train, who should come riding noiselessly through the gloaming but -Lieutenant Adriance himself, as before, all alone. - -Nearing the lights of the rancho and moving at slow and cautious walk, -his ears alert for every sound, the lieutenant became aware of the fact -that Roderick, his pet horse, was pricking up his own ears and showing -vast interest in some mysterious and unseen presence which they were -steadily approaching. Before he had got within two hundred yards of -the dim light of the house he caught sight of a lantern or two flitting -about the corral. Then Roderick quickened his nimble walk and began -edging off to the right front, where presently, against the low western -sky, Adriance could distinguish some object like a big covered wagon, -and plainly heard the pawing and snorting of a horse. Roderick evidently -wanted to answer, but the lieutenant reined him abruptly to the left, -and veered away southward. - -Just now it was not the society of his fellow men he sought. A woman's -voice, one woman's at least, would have called him eagerly forward from -the darkness into the light of her waiting eyes. As it was, he made -wide circuit, and not until well to the south did he again approach -the silent walls of the corral. And now the wind, blowing toward him, -brought with it the sound of voices, and Adriance was suddenly warned -that someone was here, close at hand. Dismounting, the lieutenant slowly -led his horse toward the dark barrier before him, but not until he had -softly traversed the length of the southern wall did he become aware -of other voices, low toned and eager. Around the corner, on the western -side, the dark forms of a horseman and someone afoot were dimly defined, -then a brief conversation became audible: - -[Illustration: 0031] - -[Illustration: 0019] - -"You have no time to lose, Leon. Go softly until you are a mile away, -then ride like hell. - -"I understand, but the money?" - -"That shall be yours to-morrow--now skip." - -The jingle of a Mexican spur, the soft thud of mustang hoofs upon the -yielding soil were heard a moment, and the horseman rode slowly away -southwestward, the broad stiff brim of his sombrero revealed against the -starry sky; then all was silence. The American, whoever he was, still -stood there. Adriance felt sure he had heard the voice before. As for -the horseman--Leon--that was the name he heard her speak the night he -surprised her in the little summer house. Who was Leon? - -[Illustration: 0035] - -Presently the American turned and strolled slowly back toward the -rancho. Slipping Roderick's rein over the post at the angle, the -lieutenant followed. Keeping close to the wall, the stranger led the -way, all unconscious of pursuit or observation, yet when he reached the -next corner, whence could be seen the night lights of the rancho and -the far-away gleam of the camp fire, out toward the Gila, he stopped and -peered cautiously around. - -Mindful of the evil fame that hung about the premises, Adriance -halted too and waited. The next moment his heart beat hard. A woman's -voice--soft, silvery and young--had accosted the stranger. It was -Isabel's. - -"You have sent my brother away again, when he had but just returned. Why -is this, senor? Whither has he gone?" - -"Never mind about Leon, Belita," said the American, soothingly, "he's -all right. He has simply ridden over to let Captain Rawlins know of our -mishap." - -"It is not true, senor! I heard him speak to my father. It is to Sancho -and to Manuel he rides, and for no good. To what new crime do you lead -him? Why are they all gone? Why are we alone here this night? Why----" - -"Don't be a fool, girl," said the man curtly, as he took her by the -wrist. "Come, Leon's gone. Come back to the house." - -"He has not gone. He promised me he would not go from me without a word -to-night. The moment I saw you I knew that trouble would come, and I -warned him when he returned. You have made him wicked--you Americanos. -You are all----' - -"Oh, yes, all, even Teniente Adriance, Isabel. I heard all about you and -your affair with him. Have a care!" - -"No. He is good. It is not in him to make a gambler and a rover of my -brother." - -"He would make worse of your brother's sister, you fool," the man -muttered, with brutal emphasis. "Come now, no nonsense with that fellow; -he's as good as married already, I tell you; he is to be married in two -months." - -"Oh, it is not true!" was the fiery answer. "You lie!" And then, with -feminine inconsequence, "Who is she? Who does he marry?" - -"The Senorita Abert--a lovely girl, too, and rich--in San Francisco." - -"Yes, it is a lie, Staines, and you know it!" came in cool and measured -tones, and Mr. Adriance suddenly stepped from the corner of the wall. - -Staines dropped the captive's hand and recoiled a pace or two with a -stifled exclamation, half amaze, half dismay; then with sudden effort -strove to recover himself. "Well," he exclaimed, with a nervous laugh; -"talk of angels and you hear the rustle, etc. Indeed, lieutenant, I -beg your pardon, though; I was merely joking with our little Mexican -friend." - -"That will do, Mr. Staines; I know a joke when I hear one. Wait here -a moment, if you please, for I want a word with you. Pardon me for -startling you, senorita. Will you take my arm?" - -The girl was trembling violently. With bowed head and fluttering heart -she leaned upon the trooper's arm and was slowly led away toward the -rancho, never seeming to note that the little brown hand that had been -so firmly taken and drawn within by his was still tightly clasped -by that cavalry gauntlet. The moment they were out of the earshot of -Staines the lieutenant bent down. - -"It was to see you I came here, Isabel; I had hoped to find you at the -summer house. Come to me there in ten minutes, will you? I must see you -before I go. First, though, I have to investigate that fellow Staines." - -"Oh, I cannot! I dare not! I slipped away from my room because of Leon. -They will lead him into trouble again. Indeed, I must go back. I must -go, Senor Felipe." - -"You remember my name, then, little one!" he laughed, delightedly. "I -have been to Tucson since I saw you that blessed night, and I heard all -about you." - -"Hush, senor! It is my mother who calls. List! Let me go, sefior!" -for his arm had suddenly stolen about her waist. "Promise you will -come--promise!" - -"I dare not! O Felipe, no!" she cried, for he had with quick impulse -folded her tightly in his strong embrace and his lips were seeking hers. -Struggling to avoid them she had hidden her face upon his breast. - -"Promise--quick!" he whispered. - -"Ah, if I can--yes. Now let me go." His firm hand turned her glowing -face to his; his eager lips pressed one lingering kiss just at the -corner of her pretty mouth. She hurled herself from him then and bounded -into the darkness. An instant more and he heard the latch of the rear -door click; a stream of light shot out toward the corral and she was -gone. Then slowly he returned to the corner of the wall, fully expecting -that Staines had left. To his surprise, there was the clerk composedly -awaiting him. - -"Where have you sent Leon Ruiz?" was the stern question. - -"I do not recognize your right to speak to me in that tone, Mr. -Adriance. If you have nothing else to ask me--good night!" - -"By God, sir! I heard your whispered talk with him and I know there is -mischief afoot," said the lieutenant, as he strode after the retreating -form. "This thing has got to be explained, and in the major's presence." - -Staines halted, and lifting his hat with Castilian grace of manner bowed -profoundly to the angry officer. "Permit me, sir, to conduct you to -him." - -An hour later, baffled, puzzled, balked in his precious hopes, Mr. -Adriance returned to the bivouac of his little command. Major Sherrick -had promptly and fully confirmed the statement of his clerk. It was he -who told Mr. Staines to employ a ranchman to ride by night to Captain -Rawlins, and the mysterious caution that surrounded the proceedings was -explained by the fact that Pedro had refused his permission and that -Leon had to be bribed to disobey the paternal order. Adriance was -dissatisfied and suspicious, but what was there left for him to say? - -Then he had hastened to the summer house, and waited a whole hour, but -there came no Isabel. It was nearly 10 o'clock when he turned his horse -over to the care of the guard in a little clump of cottonwoods near the -Gila. - -"We remain here to-morrow," he briefly told the sergeant. "No need -to wake the men before 6." With that he went to the little wall tent, -pitched for his use some yards away. - -How long he slumbered Adriance could not tell. Ill at ease as to the -strange conduct of Staines, he had not slept well. Conscience, too, was -smiting him. Something in the tones of that girlish voice thrilled and -quivered through his memory. What right had he even to ask her to meet -him? What wrong had he not wrought in that one kiss? - -Somebody was fumbling at the fastening of the tent flap. - -"What is wanted, sergeant?" he quickly hailed. - -"Open, quick!" was the low-toned answer. "Come to the door. No, no, -bring no light," was the breathless caution, as he struck a match. - -"Who is this?" he demanded, with strange thrill at heart--something in -those tones he well knew--yet it could not be. A dim figure in shrouding -_serape_ was crouching at the front tent pole as he threw open the flap. - -"Good God! Isabel!" - -"Si---- Yes. Hush, senor, no one must hear, no one must know 'twas I. -Quick! Wake your men! Saddle! Ride hard till you catch the paymaster! -Never leave him till you are beyond Canyon del Muerto, and then never -come to the rancho again--never!" - -[Illustration: 5039] - - -SECOND CHAPTER - -[Illustration: 0040] - -[Illustration: 9040] - -HAT off mule of the paymaster's ambulance been a quadruped of wonderful -recuperative powers. She had gone nearly dead lame all the previous day, -and now at 5 o'clock on this breezy morning was trotting along as though -she had never known a twinge in her life. Mr. Staines was apparently -nonplussed. Acting on his advice, the paymaster had decided to break -camp soon after 2 o'clock, make coffee, and then start for Rawlins' camp -at once. He confidently expected to have to drag along at a slow walk, -and his idea was to get well through the Canyon del Muerto before the -heat of the day. The unexpected recovery of Jenny, however, enabled -them to go bowling ahead over the level flat, and at sunrise they were -already in sight of the northern entrance to the gorge. It was odd how -early Mr. Staines began to develop lively interest in the condition of -that mule. First he suggested to the driver that he was going too fast, -and would bring on that lameness again; but the driver replied that it -was Jenny herself who was doing most of the pulling. Then Staines became -fearful lest the cavalry escort should get exhausted by such steady -trotting, and ventured to say to Major Sherrick that they ought to rein -up on their account. Sherrick was eager to push ahead, and, like most -other men not to the manner born, never for a moment thought of such a -thing as a horse's getting used up by simply carrying a man-at-arms six -hours at ceaseless trot or lope. However, he knew that Staines was far -more experienced in such matters than he, and so could not disregard his -advice. - -[Illustration: 8041] - -"How is it, sergeant, are we going too fast for you?" he asked. - -"Not a bit of it, sir," was the cheery answer. - -"We're glad enough to go lively now and rest all day in the shade." - -"You see how it is, Staines; they don't want to slack up speed. We'll -get to Rawlins' in time for breakfast at this rate," and again Staines -was silent. Presently the team began the ascent of a rolling wave of -foothill, around which the roadway twisted as only Arizona roadways can, -and at the crest the driver reined in to give his mules a "breather." -Staines leaped from the ambulance for a stretch. The troopers promptly -dismounted and loosened saddle girths. - -"Yonder is the mouth of the Canyon, sir," said the sergeant, pointing -to a rift in the range to the south, now gorgeously lighted up by the -morning sunshine. - -"How long is the defile, sergeant?" - -"Not more than four miles, sir--that is, the Canyon itself--but it is -crooked as a ram's horn, and the approach on the other side is a long, -winding valley." - -"When were you there last?" asked Staines. - -"About six months ago, just after Dins-more was murdered." - -Staines turned quickly away and strolled back a few yards along the -road. - -"You knew Dinsmore, then?" asked the paymaster. - -"I knew him well, sir. We had served together during the war. They said -he fell in love with a pretty Mexican girl at Tucson, and she would -not listen to him. Some of the men heard that she was a daughter of old -Pedro who keeps that ranch, and that it was hoping to see her that he -went there." - -"I know. I remember hearing about it all then," said the paymaster. "Did -you ever see anything of the man who was said to have killed him?" - -"Sonora Bill? No, sir; and I don't know anyone who ever did. He was -always spoken of as the chief of a gang of cutthroats and stage robbers -down around Tucson. They used to masquerade as Apaches sometimes--that's -the way they were never caught. The time they robbed Colonel Wood and -killed his clerk 'I' troop was scouting not ten miles away, and blessed -if some of the very gang didn't gallop to Lieutenant Breese and swear -the Apaches had attacked their camp here in Canyon del Muerto, so that -when the lieutenant was wanted to chase the thieves his troop couldn't -be found anywhere--he was 'way up here hunting for Apaches in the -Maricopa range. The queer thing about that gang was that they always -knew just when a paymaster's outfit or a Government officer with funds -would be along. It was those fellows that robbed Major Rounds, the -quartermaster, and jumped the stage when Lieutenant Spaulding and his -wife were aboard. She had beautiful diamonds that they were after, -but the lieutenant fooled them--he had them sent by express two days -afterward." - -Mr. Staines came back toward the ambulance at this moment, took a field -glass from its case, and retraced his steps along the road some twenty -yards. Here he adjusted the glass and looked long toward the northeast. - -"All ready to start, sir," said the driver. - -The major swung himself up to his seat; the troopers quietly "sinched" -their saddles and mounted, and still the clerk stood there absorbed. - -"Come, Staines!" shouted the paymaster, impatiently, "we're waiting for -you." And still he did not move. The sergeant whirled his horse about -and clattered back to where he stood. - -"Come, sir, the major's waiting." Staines turned abruptly and, silent as -ever, hurried to the wagon. - -"What were you staring at so long?" said the paymaster, pettishly, as -his assistant clambered in. "I shouted two or three times." - -Staines' face was pale, yet there were drops of sweat upon his brow. - -"I thought I saw a party of horsemen out there on the flats." - -"The devil!" said the paymaster, with sudden interest. "Where? Let me -look." - -"You can't see now, sir. Even the dust cloud is gone. They are behind -that low ridge some eight or ten miles out there in the valley." - -"Go on, driver, it's only cattle from the ranch or something of that -kind. I didn't know, by the way you looked and spoke, but that it might -be some of Sonora Bill's gang." - -"Hardly, sir; they haven't been heard of for a year, and once away from -Pedro's we are safe enough anyhow." - -Half an hour later the four-mule team was winding slowly up a rocky -path. On both sides the heights were steep, covered with a thick -undergrowth of scrub oak and juniper. Here and there rocky cliffs -jutted out from the hillside and stood like sentinels along the way. -The sergeant, with one trooper, rode some distance ahead, their carbines -"advanced" and ready for use, for Edwards was an old campaigner, and, -though he thought it far from probable that any outlaws would be fools -enough to attempt to "get away with" a paymaster's bank when he and his -five men were the guardians and Captain Rawlins with his whole troop -was but a short distance away, he had learned the lesson of precaution. -Major Sherrick, with his iron safe under his own seat, grasped a rifle -in both hands. The driver was whistling softly to himself and glancing -attentively ahead, for there was a continuous outcrop of boulders all -along the road. The remaining troopers, four in number, rode close -behind or alongside the wagon. - -Presently they reached a point where, after turning a precipitous ledge -of rock, glistening in the morning sunshine, they saw before them a -somewhat steep incline. Here, without a word, Staines swung lightly -from the vehicle and trudged for a moment alongside; then he stooped to -adjust his boot lace, and when Sherrick looked back the clerk was coming -jauntily after them, only a dozen paces in rear. In this order they -pushed ahead perhaps a hundred yards farther, moving slowly up the -defile, and Staines could easily have regained his distance, but for -some reason failed to do so. Suddenly, and for no apparent cause, Jenny -and her mate shied violently, swerved completely around and were tangled -up with the wheel team before the driver could use the lash. Even his -ready blasphemy failed to straighten things out. - -"Look out for those rocks up there on the right!" he shouted. "Grab -their heads, Billy!" - -Even as he spoke the rocky walls of the Canyon resounded with the crash -of a score of firearms. The driver, with a convulsive gasp, toppled -forward out of his seat, his hand still clinching the reins. One of the -troopers clapped his hand to his forehead, his reins falling useless -upon his horse's neck, and reeled in the saddle as his charger whirled -about and rushed, snorting with fright, down the narrow road. At the -instant of the firing the sound of a dozen "spats" told where -the leaden missiles had torn through the stiff canvas cover of the -ambulance; and Sherrick, with blanched face, leaped from the riddled -vehicle and plunged heavily forward upon his hands and knees. Two of -the troopers sprang from their saddles, and, crouching behind a boulder -across the road, opened fire up the opposite hillside. The sergeant and -his comrade, bending low over their horses' necks, came thundering back -down the Canyon, just in time to see the mules whirl about so suddenly -as to throw the ambulance on its side. The iron safe was hurled into the -shallow ditch; the wagon bed dragged across the prostrate form of the -paymaster, rolling him over and over half a dozen times, and then, with -a wreck of canvas, splinters, chains and traces clattering at their -heels, the four mules went rattling away down the gorge. - -[Illustration: 0047] - -"Jump for shelter, men!" shouted Sergeant Edwards, as he dragged the -senseless form of the major under the great ledge to the right. "Stand -them off as long as you can! Come out of your holes, you cowardly -hounds!" he roared, shaking his fist at the smoke-wreathed rocks up the -heights. "Come out and fight fair! There's only five of us left!" - -Here in the road lay the major, bleeding from cuts and bruises, with -every breath knocked out of his battered body; yonder, his hands -'clinched in the death agony, the stiffening form of the driver--plucky -to the last. Twenty yards away down the road, all in a heap, lay one -poor soldier shot through the head, and now past praying for. One of -the others was bleeding from a gash along the cheek where a bullet had -zipped its way, and Edwards shouted in vain for Staines to join them; -the clerk had disappeared. For full five minutes the desperate combat -was maintained; the sergeant and his little squad crouching behind the -nearest rocks and firing whenever head or sombrero showed itself along -the heights. Then came shots from the rear, and another poor fellow was -laid low, and Edwards realized, to his despair, that the bandits were on -every side, and the result only a question of time. - -And then--then, there came a thunder of hoof beats, a storm of ringing -cheers, a rush and whirl of panting, foaming steeds and a score of -sunburnt, stalwart troopers racing in the lead of a tall young soldier, -whose voice rang clear above the tumult: "Dismount! Up the rocks, men! -Lively now!" And, springing from his own steed, leaping catlike from -rock to rock, Phil Adriance went tearing up the heights, his soldiers at -his heels. Edwards and his unwounded men seized and held the trembling -horses; Sherrick feebly crawled to his precious safe and fell across it, -his arms clasping about his iron charge. For five minutes more there was -a clamor of shots and shouts, once in a while a wild Mexican shriek -for mercy, all the tumult gradually receding in the distance, and at -last--silence. Then two men came down the bluffs, half bearing between -them the limp form of their young leader. The lieutenant was shot -through both thighs and was faint from loss of blood. - -"Has no one a little whiskey?" asked Corporal Watts. - -"Here you are" was the answer. And Mr. Staines, with very white face, -stepped down from behind the ledge and held out his flask. - -A week later the lieutenant lay convalescing at Rawlins' camp. A -vigorous constitution and the healthful, bracing, open-air life he -had led for several years, either in the saddle or tramping over the -mountains, had enabled him to triumph speedily over such minor ills as -flesh wounds, even though the loss of blood had been very great. The -young soldier was soon able to give full particulars of his chase, and -to one man alone, Rawlins, the secret of its inspiration. - -Most important had been the results. It was evident to everyone who -examined the ground--and Rawlins had scoured the range with one platoon -of his troop that very afternoon after the fight, while his lieutenant, -Mr. Lane, was chasing the fugitives with another--that a band of at -least twenty outlaws had been concealed among the rocks of Canyon del -Muerto for two or three days, evidently for the purpose of waylaying -the escort of the paymaster when he came along. Their horses had been -concealed half a mile away in a deep ravine, and it was in trying to -escape to them that they had sustained their losses. Five of their -number were shot down in full flight by Adri-ance's men, and, could they -have caught the others, no quarter would have been given, for the men -were infuriated by the sight of the havoc the robbers had wrought, and -by the shooting of their favorite officer. - -[Illustration: 0052] - -No papers had been found on the bodies; nothing, in fact, to identify -them with any band. All, with one exception, were Mexicans; he was a -white man whom none of the troopers could identify, though Corporal -Watts, of Troop B, declared he had seen him at "Cutthroat Crossing" the -last time he went through there on escort duty. The others, whoever they -were, rode in a body until they got around the range to the southward, -then seemed to scatter over the face of the earth. Some odd things had -transpired, over which Rawlins pondered not a little. It was Corporal -Watts who brought to his camp at 11 o'clock the news of the desperate -attempt to murder and rob the paymaster, and as they rode back together -the corporal gave the captain such information as lay in his power. -Lieutenant Adriance had "routed out" the detachment just at daybreak, -when it was still dark, and saddling with the utmost haste had led away -across country for the canyon, leaving the pack mules and a small guard -at camp. "We rode like the wind," said Watts, "after the first few -miles, and every man seemed to know just what to expect when at last we -struck the road and saw the trail of the ambulance and escort. We got -there just in the nick of time." - -When Sherrick--who though severely battered and bruised had no bones -broken--was able to talk at all, he never could say enough in praise of -Adriance and his men; but what he wanted to know was how they came to -learn of the threatened danger. Captain Rawlins protested that it was -"past finding out." The major questioned the men, but without -success, and as for Staines, it was remarked that his pertinacity in -cross-examination was simply wonderful. For some reason, however, the -men of B troop did not like the fellow and would have little to do with -him. But up to the time that Major Sherrick was able to push ahead for -Tucson it is certain that he had discovered nothing as to the source of -the lieutenant's information; neither had they heard of Leon Ruiz, the -night messenger. Staines opined that he must have been intercepted by -the bandits, perhaps killed by them, when it was found that he was the -bearer of a message to Captain Rawlins. After a brief chat with the -lieutenant himself, one which the doctor did not interdict, the old -troop commander sent a trusty sergeant with six men to scout the -neighborhood of the rancho. - -Lieutenant Lane was detached to take command of Adriance's troop, -which was sent on its way forthwith, leaving the gloomy rancho alone to -sentinel the Gila crossing. But the moment Sherrick and his silent clerk -drove on toward Tucson the old captain said a few words of farewell to -the invalid, left him in the doctor's charge and rode away northward -on the trail of his sergeant. That night he rapped for admission and -ordered supper at Rancho Ruiz, while his men, strolling about the -premises, took careful note of the three or four scowling "greasers" who -infested the corral. - -Adriance was sitting up and beginning to hobble around when Rawlins -returned to camp during the week that followed, and was all eagerness -to hear what tidings the captain had to tell. But Rawlins had little to -say; he had seen Pedro and had had one glimpse of Senora Dolores, -but not so much as a word with the senorita; she was kept carefully -concealed. Within the month Adriance was quite well enough to travel to -his station, but refused. He would remain here, he said, until able to -relieve Lane of the command of his troop and continue the scouting work. -He did not wish to go to the fort. Sherrick and his clerk had come back -in the course of a fortnight, and Mr. Staines asked to see Lieutenant -Adriance, but that gentleman refused--a matter which caused the clerk -to "bite his lips and look queer," reported the soldier who took the -message, but he said nothing at all. - -Ten days afterward a Prescott paper mentioned the fact that Mr. Albert -G. Staines, so long and favorably known in this Territory, had dropped -in to look over valuable mining properties in the Big Bug and Hassayampa -districts; and this Rawlins silently showed to Adriance. - -"Then you may be sure he'll come down to the rancho, and in less than no -time," said Adriance, "and I must go." Rawlins made no reply at first, -then he rose and nervously paced the floor a moment and turned upon his -junior. - -"Philip, I say no!" - -The color mounted to the lieutenant's - -"Why not?" - -"Ask yourself; ask your conscience, Adriance. You have told her that he, -Staines, was a liar. You have virtually told her that you were engaged -to no woman. You have inspired a sentiment, perhaps a passion, in that -young girl's heart, and you're going there to defend her--a thing that I -can do much better than you, now that you are a cripple. Then, think, my -boy, I have known you six years; I have never known you to say or do a -mean or unmanly thing. I'm an old fogy--an old fool perhaps--but I -like to think most women pure and some men honest. You are one of them, -Phil." There was a moment's silence. - -"And yet you think I mean her harm." - -"Not yet, Philip, but would you marry that old scoundrel's daughter?" - -Adriance had no answer. - -"Philip, if you look into that girl's eyes again, unless it be to ask -her to be your wife, I shall lose my faith in manly honor." - -Two days afterward Rawlins rode away on duty. A strange unrest had -possessed the lieutenant since that brief talk with this old Puritan of -a captain. Not another word had been said upon the subject, but every -syllable that Rawlins spoke had struck home. Adriance respected -and honored the grim, duty-loving troop commander whom some of the -youngsters openly laughed at and referred to as "Praise the Lord -Barebones" and "Captain Roundhead," but the lieutenant well knew that no -braver soldier, no "squar-er" captain drew sabre in the whole regiment -than this faithful friend, who had long since singled him out for many -an unusual kindness. He knew more--that in his high standard of honor -and rectitude old Rawlins had said nothing which was not just and true. - -Adriance knew well that he ought not to again seek that young girl's -presence, and the blood rushed hotly to his cheek as he recalled the -kiss his eager lips had stolen. Marry that old scoundrel's daughter? No, -he could not; and yet how his pulses bounded at the thought of her--the -sweet, shy gladness in her eyes, the soft, thrilling tones in her voice -when she spoke his name, the heroism of her conduct in daring to -seek his camp in the darkness of night and bring him warning of that -diabolical scheme of robbery and murder; the refinement of her manner, -and then, too, her knowledge of the English tongue. Where had she -acquired these? What would she not be justified in thinking of him if he -never came to seek and thank her? - -"Hello! what's that?" was the sudden cry among the men. Two or three -soldiers sat up in the shade and curiously inspected the coming object; -others shouted laughing challenge. Riding solemnly forward, a little -Mexican boy came straight to where Adriance was lying and handed him a -note which he eagerly opened and read: - -_They suspect me, and they send me away tomorrow. To-night I go for the -last time to the summer house alone. Isabel._ - -Gone was every resolution at the instant; gone all hesitancy. Adriance -had not even time to wonder at the fact that she had written to him in -English. Leaving the note for Rawlins to read when he returned, in one -hour Phil was rolling from the camp in the ambulance. Soon after dark, -leaving Private Regan and another man half a mile back from the walls -of the corral, Mr. Adriance, all alone, slowly made his way afoot toward -the dim lights at the rancho. Making wide circuit so as not to alarm the -dogs, he never sought to draw near the little summer house until, from -the east, he could see the brighter lights that gleamed in the bar and -card room. Then he cautiously approached, his heart beating quickly and -his knees trembling a little, perhaps from weakness. Hark! Faint, soft -and clear, there rose upon the evening air the liquid notes of a guitar. -It was she then--it was Isabel awaiting his coming, aye, signaling -softly to call him to her. What could it mean but that she loved and -longed to see him? A moment more and he was at the doorway, the -very spot where he had surprised her that well-remembered night. The -plaintive tinkle of the guitar continued, and there in the dark corner -was the dim, white-robed form. He could almost distinguish the folds of -the graceful _rebosa_. - -"Isabel!" he whispered. Three more steps and he would be at her side. -Suddenly two stalwart arms were thrown about him, a broad hand was on -his mouth, stifling the utterance of a sound; the white-robed form in -front leaped toward him, the _rebosa_ falling to the ground. It was a -man's voice--a Mexican's--that hissed the word's: "Quick! the pistol." -Another hand was at his holster. He realized instantly that he was -lured, trapped; that his life was threatened. He was struggling -violently, but, weakened by his wound, even his superb physique was well -nigh powerless in the grasp of two or three men. Suddenly there came -a whisper: "The sponge, the sponge!" and then the subtle odor of -chloroform on the night air. And now he nerved himself for one supreme -effort. A quick twist of his head and the hand was dislodged, a finger -slipping between his teeth. With all his strength he crushed it to the -very bone, and there was a yell of pain and terror. Then his own brave -young voice rang out in one startling, rallying cry. - -"Help! Regan, help!" Then crash and blows, the gleam of a knife, a -rolling, rough-and-tumble struggle on the ground; then a woman's scream, -a light, and Isabel had bounded into their midst, her mother at her -back. - -"Leon, my brother! In God's name, what do you mean?" - -Even as she spoke her startled eyes fell on Adriance, staggering to his -feet, pale, bleeding, faint. Another instant and he went crashing back -against the guitar that, like siren's song, had lured him. One brave -leap and she was at his side, her arms about his neck, his pallid face -pillowed on her bosom. - -Senora Dolores flew to her aid; then turning, holding her lantern on -high, her shrill voice rang out in fury: - -"Look at the monstrous work your son has wrought, Pedro Ruiz! Look! Tear -off that mantle, senor!" she said, whirling upon another form now slowly -rising from the earth. "Coward! murderer that you are! It is you who -have ruined this boy and made him what he is!" - -"Hush! You fool! there lies your daughter's betrayer. Leon would have -been coward indeed if he had not punished him." - -"Oh, you lie! She never saw him alone in her life!" - -"Ask your son," was the sneering answer. "Ask Jose, too." - -"She was with him--in his tent--the last night he was here; I swear it!" -cried Jose. - -"Mother," cried the girl, "listen, it was but to warn him--I heard the -plot--I heard all. I rushed to him only to tell him of the danger. -Mother, believe me. And I dare not tell it even to you, for fear--for -fear of him." And she pointed to the fierce, scowling face of the old -Mexican, now striding forward, knife in hand. - -"No, Pedro--back! You shall not harm her! No!" and the mother hurled -herself before her husband. - -"Out of the way!" was the hissing answer, "or you, too, feel my knife. -Ah, traitress!" - -"O my God! help! There will be murder here! Pedro, husband! O, villain, -she is not your child! You shall not kill!" And then a piercing shriek -rang out upon the night. But at the same instant there came the rush of -hoofs without--a rush of panting men; a brawny trooper sprang into -the summer house and with one blow of his revolver butt sent Pedro -staggering into a corner, his knife falling from his nerveless hand. A -dark, agile figure leaped for the doorway, with muttered curse. And then -in came old Rawlins, somewhat "blown," but preternaturally cool, and the -doctor close behind. - -"Bring another light here, one of you men!" And a trooper ran to the -card room. "Lie still there, Pedro! Blow his brains out if he moves! -Doctor, you look to the women and Adriance. Now, where's that man -Staines?" - -"Some fellow ran in through here, captain," said a trooper. "Corporal -Watts is after him with Royce." - -"Who was it, you greaser? Speak, damn you! You were here with him!" - -"Sonora Bill," said Jose, shaking from head to foot. - -Then there came the sound of pistol shots out toward the corral, and -then the louder bang of a cavalry carbine. - -"What is it?" asked Rawlins of a soldier who came running back. - -[Illustration: 0061] - -"Can we have the doctor, sir? It was Mr. Staines. He shot the corporal, -who was chasing him, but he got a carbine bullet through the heart." - -Four days afterward, lying in a little white room, Mr. Adriance listened -to the story of Leon's confession. It was brief enough. Staines had -acquired an ascendency over him in Tucson, and it was not difficult to -induce him to become a confederate in every plot. It was Staines -who sent him to Manuel and Garcia to warn them that the paymaster's -ambulance would not reach Canyon del Muerto until morning. It was -Staines who murdered Sergeant Dinsmore after a quarrel and then had had -his throat cut and the body thrown into the Gila near the ranch. Staines -had fallen in love with Isabel when she first came from Sonora, but the -girl shrank from him; neither would she listen to Sergeant Dinsmore. - -After it was safe for Leon to return to the ranch, he found that his -mother and Isabel were practically prisoners. His father was furious at -the failure of the plan, and daily accused his wife of having, in some -way, given warning to Adriance, and swore that he would have the blood -of the man or woman who had betrayed the scheme; and then Staines -himself came back and wrung from Jose that he had seen Isabel scurrying -from Adri-ance's tent at daybreak, and so denounced her to Leon as the -mistress of an accursed Gringo. Staines wrote the note that was to lure -Adriance to the bower, where Leon was to take the guitar and _rebosa_ -and the two, with Jose's help, were to overpower him. It was his life or -theirs said Staines. Pedro was not in the project, for he had prohibited -bloodshed about the place--"It would ruin his business" he said. But -both Pedro and Leon were now in irons, and Rawlins' troop was in camp -around gloomy old Rancho Ruiz. - -[Illustration: 0063] - -A day or two later he heard another story, this time from the lips of -Senora Dolores herself: Isabel was not the daughter of Pedro Ruiz. - -With sobs and tears the poor, broken woman told her tale. She had -been married when quite a young girl to Senor Moreno, an officer of -distinction in the Mexican army. Her brave husband made her life a happy -one, and the birth of the little daughter strengthened the ties -that bound them. Alas! Moreno, colonel of lancers, was killed before -Queretaro; and in two years more the widow, with her winsome little -girl, had not where to lay her head. It was in the city of Mexico that -Senora Dolores then met Ruiz, a widower with an only son, prosperous and -apparently respected. He promised to educate Isabel and provide for her -as his own, and sought the widow as his wife. For a time all went well; -then she learned his true character. He was compelled to leave the -city and flee up the coast to Mazatlan, while she remained with little -Isabel, who was being educated at the convent. At last they had to join -him at Hermosillo, whence he was soon after driven to Tucson. Their -lives were wrecked by his scoundrelism. Her papers clearly established -the truth of her story. - -One soft, still evening, not a week after the tragic events of that -rueful night, Captain Rawlins sat by the lieutenant's side, reading -aloud some letters just received from department headquarters. Major -Sherrick had been in a state of dismay ever since the news of the death -of Staines had reached him, but his dismay changed to wonderment, even -gratitude, as he learned the true character of the man. It was Sonora -Bill himself, beyond doubt. - -"What a blessing you left that note for me to see!" said Rawlins. "How -came it you never saw it was a forgery, Phil? Had she never written to -you before?" - -"Never a line, nor have I seen her to thank her. By Heaven, Rawlins! why -am I forbidden?" - -"You are not--now, Phil," was the smiling answer. - -Perhaps an hour later, Adriance limped slowly out of the room and down -the narrow passageway to the side door. Yonder stood the little summer -house "in the gloaming," and he was right--he had heard women's voices -there--Dolores and her daughter. There were tears in the maiden's words, -and he could not withstand the longing of his heart. He would have -hobbled thither, but suddenly there came the sound of rustling skirt -and a tiny footfall. It was she--his dark-eyed, dark-haired sweetheart, -hastening toward him, her face hidden in her hands. One instant more and -he had torn the hands away and had clasped her to his breast. - -"Isabel! darling! I have found you at last! No, you shall not go--you -shall not until you promise--promise to be my wife! - -"O, senor, you cannot--you do not mean it," she sobbed, Struggling to be -free. - -"Do not mean it! Why, sweet one, you do not dream how I love you--how I -long for you! Not mean it? Isabel, look in my eyes. Look for yourself." -He laughed low and happily. He was brimming over with hope and gladness, -for now at last without a struggle she nestled on his heart. - -Despite his grizzled beard old Rawlins was best man when that strange, -very quiet, yet very happy wedding came off in the Old Mission Church at -Tucson early in the spring. Pedro was not there to give the bride away. -With considerable escort and much reluctance he had traversed "Cutthroat -Crossing" some months before. He went to Yavapai, and Yavapai--we have -his own words for it--was "too damn close to 'ell." The rancho passed -within the year to other hands. It, too, had taken on another name--a -grewsome one--_Rancho del Muerto_. - - - - -A MIGHTY HUNTER BEFORE THE LORD, By Virginius Dabney. - - -[Illustration: 0066] - - -FIRST PART - - -|THE man unacquainted with the joys of the chase would be surprised if -told, as he sauntered through some city market, that there was far more -pleasure in hunting those plump little brown birds hanging in bunches -around the stalls than in pursuing that imposing beast whose antlers -reach the pavement. Yet it would be true. - -Deer hunting under its usual conditions leaves something, often much, to -be desired. If a dozen men are placed on isolated "stands" the solitary -hours of waiting are long and weary. And should you happen to be a tyro -the knowing ones hide you away in some unlikely spot, where hardly -by any possibility will the chance come to you of seeing and, in the -shivers of "buck ague," missing the game. "Still hunting," another mode, -is well named. As a rule it may be depended upon to afford no end of -stillness, and little else. And to be rowed up by a hired guide on a -lake to within a few feet of a poor, helpless buck, swimming for dear -life, and blow out his brains is almost as bad as shooting pheasants in -an English preserve or poultry in a barnyard. Under all these methods -deer hunting lacks what is the conspicuous charm of partridge (quail) -shooting--vivid and continuous excitement. - -For, from the moment when you enter, on a sparkling autumn morning, a -brown stubble field, fresh of limb and eager for the fray, till you limp -back at sunset, wolfish for dinner, and broken with a delicious fatigue, -you have not had one dull moment. You may not have been firing steadily; -the birds may even have been a little scarce; but every instant of the -day, as you have watched your dogs sweeping to and fro, you have been -buoyed up by an ever lively hope that the next moment your heart will be -gladdened by seeing them halt--frozen as it were--in their tracks. Ah, -there they are! You hurry up, you and your friend, breathing short. Up -bursts the brown covey, with startling buzz! You bang away--innocuously -it may be, but no matter, you have made a prodigious noise, at any -rate--that's some comfort. And see now! The little brown balls have -dropped into the weeds, one here, one there, along the ditch, and a -little bunch, all together, in that clump of briars on the hillside. -Better luck next time! - -Still, after all, "Bob White," for all his bustle, is but a small chap. -It would take hundreds, nay, bushels of him, to outweigh one "antlered -monarch." Toothsome though he be (on toast) he tips the scales at a -beggarly half pound. On the other hand, it often takes you a week or so -to get one chance at a deer. - -Now, it so happens that it was once my fortune to take part in a deer -hunt, where the excitement was as continuous as that in a stubble field, -and, naturally, far more intense. This was years ago, and in Scott -County, Mississippi, two days' journey on horseback from our plantation. - -Every November, as a child, I had eagerly hailed the return from the -camp hunt of the big four-mule wagon, laden with tents, cooking utensils -and provisions, and upon which were piled high the noble bucks and sleek -does. At last, when I had reached the age of sixteen, the longed-for -permission was granted me, and one crisp, frosty morning my father and I -mounted our horses and set out for Scott County, followed by Beverly and -the great covered wagon. Both Beverly and Ned, his whitish-gray saddle -mule, had their peculiarities, as will appear later. - -As we journeyed on we were joined at successive cross roads by others -of our hunting party, and when we reached the ground we numbered, with -those already arrived by other routes, about fifteen. The tents were -soon pitched and a roaring fire of logs six feet long was sending up -its merry sparks into the starry vault above us. Would supper never be -ready? - -Meanwhile the tents flashed in the fire light, the ruddy glow of which -battled with the hosts of darkness that advanced upon us under cover -of the primeval, mysterious forest that surrounded us far and wide. And -that forest teeming with deer and wolves. Oh, how delightful! And -my Latin grammar miles and miles away! And dust accumulating on my -arithmetic! - -"Why, where is Billy?" - -"Detained by business; he will join us in a day or two." - -"Good! A hunt without Billy Blount is no hunt at all." - -At the mere mention of his name every eye brightened. Mr. Blount had -more than one peculiarity, all of them pleasant. He was just one of -those mortals whom mothers in their fatuity christen William. If ever -there was a man born with an inalienable right to be called Billy it was -he. A stranger meeting him in the road would know by intuition that that -was his name. His twinkling eye suggested it. His ruddy brown dimpled -cheek, his breadth of smile proclaimed it, and when he laughed every -well-lined rib shouted aloud, "Our name is Billy!" - -But he was not with us; so the next best thing was to tell stories of -his exploits. To these I listened with wide-eyed delight. I will give -one as a sample. But that it may be understood, it will be necessary -to show beforehand the very unusual method of hunting that obtained in -Scott County. - -That portion of Mississippi was in those days almost uninhabited and was -covered by a forest--it would be almost correct to call it a grove--of -post oaks, beneath which grew waist high underbrush. The oaks which -covered the ground almost to the exclusion of other trees stood so far -apart that one had an outlook of perhaps a couple of hundred yards in -every direction, so that a good rider could gallop in comfort along the -open spaces. This tree bears a small but sweet nutritious acorn; hence -the great store of deer that frequented these forests. - -Such being the nature of the ground the chase is conducted as follows: -The hunters throw themselves into a skirmish line at intervals of sixty -or eighty yards. In the centre rides the leader of the hunt with a -compass fixed upon the pommel of his saddle. The line advances through -the woods due north, let us say, for a few hours; then wheels at right -angle and moves east; then south, then west--back to camp, venison -steaks and wild turkey; for, in the interests of better fare, it was -permitted to knock over a gobbler if he were too hospitably saucy to -get out of the way. The deer were not equally abundant year after year. -Occasionally it was found that "black tongue" had worked havoc among -them since the preceding hunt. But they were always numerous enough to -maintain a continuous and intense glow of expectation in the breast of -every hunter. As a rule you rode straight ahead, swerving neither to the -right nor the left, every nerve on the alert, from sunrise till' sunset. -But if you saw a little out of your path an upturned tree you bent your -course toward it, your heart in your mouth. I have known as many as -seven deer to bound forth from the brown-leaved "lap" of one fallen oak. -But at any moment during the day you were liable to be startled by a -buck springing up out of the undergrowth, often from beneath the very -feet of your horse. - -Only an inexperienced hunter would ask: "Why not shoot them where they -lie?" You do not know they are there. The detective eye that can make -out the form of a deer crouched down on a bed of brown leaves and veiled -with a fringe of underbrush is given to few. Among these favored ones -was our friend Billy. It was generally believed in camp that he shot -most of his game in their beds. Billy himself was at no pains, of -course, to spread this view. In his highly-illustrated accounts of his -achievements the quarry was always going like the wind; he had not been -sure, in fact, what he fired at; he saw a brown flash, that was all; -banged away, and down came that thumping buck. Never was so surprised in -his life; thought it was a hawk or something. But this is the story of -Mr. Jennings, brother of the leader of the hunt: "Blount rides on my -right, and I don't know how I shall get on without him, even for a day -or two. However, I may live longer if he is not there, for he sows his -buckshot broadcast. Three years ago--I never knew the deer so thick as -they were that season--happening to look in his direction, I saw him -dismounting with an agility that was surprising considering his 225 -pounds. He halted me with an eager wave of his hand and began advancing -on tiptoe; every fibre of his vast form tense, his eyes riveted upon -some object in front, finger on trigger. Barely had he crept forward -ten yards when up sprang a buck hardly twenty feet in front of him -and darted to the rear, between Blount and me. Instantly, without once -removing his eyes from the game upon which he was stealing, he whirled -his gun to the right and pulled the trigger. The buck passed on, while -twigs and bark rained on me from the whizzing buckshot. Would you -believe it?--but you all know him--not a moment did he halt or once -remove his eyes from whatever it was that had fascinated his gaze in -front. He still danced forward, light as an Indian, with eyes starting -from their sockets. Presently up jumps a doe. She, too, bounded to the -rear, but on Blount's left this time. Again, with his staring eyes -still glued to the something in front--bang! 'What in the ------ are -you about?' roared Parrish from Blount's left; 'you will be shooting -somebody the first thing you know. Here is one of your crazy shot -through my hat.' To all which our wild man paid not the least attention. -'Jennings! Jennings! come here! come here! come here! quick! quick! -quick! For God's sake, man, hurry!' - -"I dismounted and ran up to him. 'There! there! give it to him! Good -Lord, man, can't you see him? There, in that lap!' I strained my eyes -in vain. I could see nothing. 'Why, don't you see him turning his head? -He is looking at us! My Lord, Jennings, gimme the gun! gimme the gun! -gimme the gun!' Just as I did so a noble buck sprang from the lap and -bounded off. Blount drew down upon him. Bound after bound, and still -Blount did not fire, though he seemed to be pulling away for dear life -at the triggers. Presently the deer, passing behind a clump of trees, -disappeared. I carried my gun at half cock. This Blount did not know or -remember. He bent both my triggers. Any other man might very well have -bagged all three deer with such a chance. And what do you suppose he -then said? 'At any rate, I laid out two of the rascals. Come, Jennings, -help me find 'em.'" - -Dogs were not used on these hunts. Two or three trusty old hounds, it is -true, hung about the heels of our leader's horse, but they were employed -only in running down badly-wounded animals. For the first day or so -these dogs were hard to control, so rich was the scent that met their -nostrils at every turn; but after the third day they grew too _blase_ to -take any interest in any trail not sprinkled with blood. We had a number -of horn signals. If a gun was heard, followed by a long blast (every man -wore a horn), the line halted. A deer had been killed in its tracks. -A second blast indicated that the quarry had been strapped behind the -saddle of the lucky man; and once more the line moved forward. But if -three or four short, excited toots, mingled with shouts, rang out upon -the frosty air, a wounded deer was being pursued, and the leader of the -hunt galloped up, followed by his little pack, who soon pulled down the -game. - -After all my boasting about the abundance of deer in these post-oak -forests the reader is, I dare say, prepared to learn that with a party -of fifteen the spoil of a ten-days hunt would be one thousand head at -the very least. Great will be his surprise therefore to learn that -at the close of our first day's hunt we returned to camp without one -solitary buck or doe to show to our disgusted cooks. Never had the game -been so scarce, and yet not a man of us all had the same loads in his -gun with which he had sallied gaily forth full of hope in the morning. -One fine buck alone had emptied just thirty barrels for us. Flushed on -the extreme right, he had bounded along in front of the whole line, a -trifle out of range, perhaps, and each one of us had given him a roaring -double salute. As the rolling thunder approached me I almost ceased -to breathe. What were conjugations and declensions and rules of three -compared with this! It was like a battle, as I have since discovered, -with the notable difference that our side made all the noise, and the -deer did not shoot back. But none of us had been able, in the language -of Mr. Sam Weller's Dick Turpin ditty, to "prewail upon him for to -stop." Other shots at other deer all of us had, but we supped on bacon -that evening. - -[Illustration: 0075] - - -SECOND PART - - -|ONE who has never tried the experiment can have no idea how easy it -is to miss when firing from horseback at a buck who sends your heart -up into your mouth by springing up from beneath your horse's heels, and -then speeds away, twisting and turning among the boles of the trees. -Men who could bring down a partridge with each barrel have been known to -shoot away half a bag of shot before they began to get the hang of the -thing. - -The shades of evening were falling. Humiliating though it was, we had -fallen, too, with a will on our gameless supper. - -"S-t! Listen! What's that?" - -We pricked up our ears. Presently there came softly echoing from far -away in the forest a long-drawn cry, ringing, melodious, clear as a -bugle call. - -"Billy!" - -The welkin rang with our joyous shouts. Half our party sprang to their -feet and red-hot coffee splashed from tin cups. "Hurrah!" - -"Marse Billy got the keenest holler I ever hear!" chuckled Beverly. -"Bound he fetch luck 'long wid him! No mo' bacon for supper arter dis." - -We craned our necks to catch the first glimpse of our mascot. Obviously, -from the direction of the joyous yells with which he answered our -welcoming shouts, he had abandoned the road and was riding straight -through the open woods. Presently we descried through the deepening -twilight his portly form looming up atop a tall gray. Then two vivid -flashes and two loud reports, followed by a mad rush of the gray, which -came tearing down on us in wild terror, and for a minute we were treated -to something like an amateur episode from one of Mr. Buffalo Bill's -entertainments. Amid roars of laughing welcome the ponderous knight was -at last helped down from his trembling steed, whose bridle Beverly had -been able luckily to snatch as he floundered among the tent ropes. - -"And where the deuce did you pick up that wild beast? Surely you can't -expect to shoot from him!" - -"Oh, I'll cool him down in a day or two; he'll soon get used to it." - -In point of fact a horse who dreads a gun gets more and more terror -stricken as the hunt goes on, the mere sight of a deer, the cocking of -a gun even, sufficing to set him off into plungings that grow day by day -more violent. This none should have known better than Blount; for never, -by any chance, did he ride to the hunt with an animal that would "stand -fire." The discharge of his gun, the rise of a buck even, was always the -opening of a circus with him. But he managed invariably to let off both -barrels--one perhaps through the tree tops, the other into the ground. -In one particular alone was he provident. He brought always so immense -a supply of ammunition that toward the close of the hunt his tent was a -supply magazine to the less thoughtful. - -"What!" exclaimed Blount, "not a single one! Ah! boys, that was because -I was not with you." The jovial soul had not a trace of conceit; he was -merely sanguine--contagiously, gloriously, magnificently sanguine. - -"Ah, but won't we knock 'em over tomorrow!" And straightway we lifted up -our hearts and had faith in this prophet of pleasant things. - -"Beverly, will that mule Ned stand fire?" - -"I dunno, Marse Billy; nobody ain't nebber tried him. But I 'spec' you -wouldn't ax him no odds." - -"I'll go and have a look at him." - -Shortly afterward we heard two tremendous explosions, followed by a -frenzied clatter of hoofs and the sound of breaking branches, and up -there came, running and laughing, a Monsieur Wynen, a Belgian violinist, -a real artist, who was one of our party (though never a trigger did he -pull during the entire hunt). - -"What's the matter?" - -Wynen was first violin in an opera troupe. - -"It is only Blount rehearsing Ned." - -Any man in the world except Blount would have tested that demure wheel -mule's views as to firearms by firing off his gun in his neighborhood as -he stood tethered. Not so Billy. Mounting the guileless and unsuspecting -Ned, and casting the reins upon his bristly neck, he had let drive. - -Shocked beyond expression by the dreadful roar and flash (it was now -night) Ned had made a mad rush through the woods. In vain; for -Blount had a good seat. Then had there come into Ned's wily brain the -reminiscence of a trick that he had never known to fail in thirty years. -He stopped suddenly, still as a gate post, at the same time bracing his -vertebrae into the similitude of a barrel hoop, and instantly Blount lay -sprawling upon his jolly back; and there was a second roar, followed by -a rush of buckshot among the leaves and around the legs of the audience -that was watching the rehearsal. "Never mind, Jack," said he to me, -shortly afterward, "I'll find something that will stand fire" and -throwing his arm around my shoulder for a confidential talk of the -slaughter he was to do on the morrow, his sanguine soul bubbled into my -sympathetic ear: - -"I say, Jack, don't tell the boys; but I have got two bags of shot. They -would laugh, of course. Now, how many ought a fellow to bring down with -two bags? I mean a cool-headed chap who does not lose his head. How -does one dozen to the bag strike you? Reasonable? H'm? Of course. -Twenty-four, then. Well, let us say twenty-five, just to round off -things. Golly! Why, nine is the highest score I ever made. Twenty-five! -Why, that is a quarter of a hundred. Did you notice that? Whee-ew! The -boys will stop bedeviling me after that, h'm? I should say so. Not a -rascal of them all ever killed so many. Cool and steady, that's the -thing, my boy. Up he jumps! What of that? Don't be flustered, I tell -you. Count ten. Then lower your gun. There is not the least hurry in the -world. Drop the muzzle on his side, just behind his shoulder. Steady! -Let him think you are not after deer this morning. If it is a doe let it -appear that you are loaded for buck. Bang! Over he tumbles in his -tracks. You load up and are off again. Up hops another--a beauty. Same -tactics--boo-doo-ee! Got him! What's the sense of throwing away your -shot? Costs money--delays the line. Cool--cool and steady--that's the -word, my boy. Get any shots to-day? Three? Hit anything?" - -It was too dark for him to see how pale I went at this question. "Mr. -Blount," said I, with a choking in my throat (nobody could help telling -the big-hearted fellow everything), "you won't tell my father, will -you?" - -"Tell him what?" - -"Well, you see, he cautioned me over and over again never, under -any circumstances, to fire at a deer that ran toward a neighboring -huntsman." - -"Of course not--never!" echoed Blount with conviction. - -"And to-day--and to-day, when I was not thinking of such a thing, a big -buck jumped up from right under my horse's belly, and did you notice -that gray-headed old gentleman by the fire? Well, the buck rushed -straight toward him--and I forgot all about what my father had said and -banged away." - -"Did you pepper him?" put in Billy eagerly. - -"Pepper him!" - -"I mean the buck." - -"I don't know, he went on." - -"They will do it, occasionally, somehow." - -"When I saw the leaves raining down on the old gentleman, my heart -stopped beating. You will not tell my father?" - -"Pshaw! There was no harm done. We must trust to Providence in these -matters. What did the old gentleman say?" - -"Not a word; it was his first campaign, too. His eyes were nearly -popping out of his head. He let off both barrels. The shot whistled -around me!" - -"The old fool! He ought to know better. To-morrow your father must put -you next to me." - -Blount brought us hilarity and hope, but no luck, at any rate at first. -When we rode slowly into camp on the following day, just as the sun went -down, we had one solitary doe to show. Blount--Blount of all men--had -killed it. The servants hung it up on one of the poles that remained -from year to year stretched against the neighboring trees. - -Owing to Blount's weight his game was always strapped behind some less -lucky huntsman; so we had had no opportunity of examining his riddled -quarry. - -"Why, how is this?" exclaimed he. "Oh, I remember; the other side was -toward me." - -We went around to the other side. Had the doe died of fright? After -much searching we found one bullet hole just behind the shoulder. Blount -always put four extra bullets into his load. So he had showered down -forty buckshot upon a doe lying in her bed at a distance of twenty feet -and struck her with one. - -"I say, Jack, for the Lord's sake don't tell the boys!" - -After these two days our luck improved, and at the end of the hunt our -score reached seventy-eight; the smallest number, by the way, that the -club had ever killed. It would hardly be interesting to go into the -details of each day's sport, but our hero's adventures one night seem -worth recording. To this joyous and indefatigable spirit the day was all -too short. No sooner had he eaten his supper each day than he began to -importune the younger men of the party to join him in a "fire hunt;" -but, as they were not Blounts, they felt that a long day in the saddle -was enough. In his despair Blount turned to Beverly. That amiable -creature, not knowing how to refuse the request of a white gentmun, -assented, but with a quaking heart, for were not the surrounding forests -swarming with ravenous wolves? He had often lain awake and listened -complacently enough to their howling, but to trust, to thrust, himself -wantonly among them at dead of night! - -"Wid nobody along but Marse Billy Blount, an' he couldn't hit nothin', -even by daylight, onless dey asleep. He hear 'em say wolf 'fraid o' -fire. Maybe he is. But lights draws dem wild varmints, an' 'sposin' -arter a whole congregation un 'em done come up starin' at de light; -'sposin' somehow or nuther de torch got out--whar Beverly den? Marse -Billy got de gun; but whar Beverly? Ain't I hear people say wolf more -ambitiouser for nig-gar dan for sheep meat? Howsomever, ef my own -mahster willin' to resk losin' of me, I can stand it, I reckon. But Tom, -ef you should wake up, and hear something coming through de bresh like a -drove o' steers, you needn't ax what dat; it's me and de wolves a-makin' -for camp; an' me in the lead, wid de help o' de Laud." Sitting in front -of the blazing logs and chatting with his fellow cooks, Beverly could -see the humor of his quite real fears. - -Behold, then, the burly knight and his dusky and not over-valiant squire -setting forth in quest of adventure--the one mounted on his tall gray, -the other astraddle of Ned. It appears incredible that any man in his -senses would take two such ani-malson such an expedition, but there -never was but one Blount. Beverly carried the gun, his chief the torch, -consisting of "lightwood" knots blazing in the bowl of a long-handled -frying pan. The handle, resting on the right shoulder, was held -somewhat depressed, so that the light should shine above the head of -the huntsman, illumining the woods in his front. The sportsman, slowly -waving the handle to and fro, peers intently into the darkness in quest -of the gleaming eyes of some staring buck. - -Presently a dismal howl from far away to the right came stealing through -the silence. And presently an answering cry from the left, and much -nearer. And another, and another! _Ugh! what was that?_ A rabbit had -darted under Ned, across the rattling leaves. Beverly, shivering, dug -his heels into Ned's ribs. Ned pressed forward till his nose touched -the ticklish flank of the gray. The gray let fly with whizzing hoof. Ned -shut his eyes, unwilling to witness the enormity of an aged mule being -kicked at by torchlight. - -"Beverly! Beverly!" breathed the knight eagerly, "gimme the gun! gimme -the gun! I see a pair of eyes as big as saucers!" - -"M--M--Marse B--B--Billy------------" - -"Quick! gimme the gun! What the devil is the matter with you?" - -"De wolves, Marse Billy! 'Sposin' arter de gun done empty dey splunge in -upon us? I bound a whole nation un 'em watchin' us dis minute!" - -Blount wrested the gun from the reluctant Beverly, whose knee now -trembled against his. Pressing down the pan handle so as to throw the -light well in front, he cocked the gun, adjusted it to his shoulder, -took aim, and pulled the trigger. - -Blount, in reply to the warning of his friends, had urged that it -might very well be that a horse that shied by day at a gun would act -differently at night. And he was right. By daylight the gray was in the -habit of making one or two violent plunges when his rider fired. But -tonight, when that terrible roar broke the stillness and that fierce -blaze flashed into his eyes---- - -Immediately after the sound of the gun reached us we heard the anxious, -jolting bray of a trotting mule. The disjointed, semi-asinine song came -nearer, and presently Ned hurried past the fire to his place by his -tethered mate, with a low equine chuckle of satisfaction. In his wake -rushed Beverly, panting, wide eyed. It was a full minute before he could -speak. - -"Lord, mahsters, don't ax me nothin'; I don't know nothin' 'bout it. -I 'most don't know whether I here or no arter de way dem revengious -varmints whoop me through dem woods, a-yelpin' an' a-gnash-in' o' deir -teeth. B'fo' Gaud, I thought every minute was gwine to be my next! When -Marse Billy shoot, though I beg him not to, seein' dat de whole woods -was a-bilin' wid wolves, dat fool of a horse o' hisn jess riz on -his hind legs an' splunge right over me an' Ned, jess like we warn't -nothin''t all. Dem lightwood knots flew right up, same as one o' dem -blaze o' glories I see when I got religion. I lit on my head. Ned he -went oneway; Marse Billy horse anudder. But seein' as I done knowed -Ned de longest, I followed him--an' he fotch me home. Run? No, twarnt -runnin', twas flyin'; an' every jump de varmints was a-reachin' for me. -I hear deir teeth, jess as plain, clashin' like sheep shears. Umgh-umgh! -Beverly hump heself he did. Jess look at my clothes! I left de rest -of 'em on de bushes. Whar Marse Billy? Lord a-mussy, I dunno! I mighty -'fraid de wolves done got him, leastwise ef he didn't set hard on dat -dere fool gray. - -"Mahster, couldn't you gimme jess a leetle tetch o' dat whiskey? I'se -powerful downhearted. Thank you, mahster. But mahster, don't lemme go -no mo' a spotin' along o' Marse Billy; seem like I ain't dat kind. Lemme -drive my mules, lemme cook, don't lemme go projickin' about wid Marse -Billy Blount no mo'. You laughin', is you, Tom? Nemmind--you go next -time!" - -Presently there came to us from far away a doleful yell, with nothing -of the bugle blast in it. "There he is!" and we made response with -laughter-choked shouts. - -About fifteen minutes afterward the sound of hoofs was heard, and -presently our mighty hunter appeared, but _quantum mutatus ab illo!_ No -hat, no gun, one skirt of his coat and half of the buttons gone; shirt -bosom torn out, trousers hanging in ribbons! But though his face was -scratched beyond recognition he remained the one, only true Blount in -the world; though his eyes were bloodshot they beamed with conscious -victory. - -"Boys," said he, "which of you will go and help me bring him in?" - -"Bring what in?" - -"Why, the buck--I blew his infernal head off, sure!" - -Next morning Blount and Beverly rode to the scene of their exploit, and -Blount secured his gun and Beverly his frying pan. 'The buck had either -walked off without his head or been swallowed by one of the varmints. - - - - -A CAHUTTA VALLEY SHOOTING MATCH, By Will N. Harben - - -[Illustration: 9087] - -HERE was a sound of merriment on Farmer Bagley's place. It was "corn -shucking" night, and the young people from all sides had met to partake -of mirth and hospitality. After all had taken seats in the large sitting -room and parlor, the men were invited with a mysterious wink and grin -from the countenance of jovial Bagley to taste the contents of a large -brown jug which smiled on a shelf beside the water bucket out in the -entry. Its saturated corn-cob stopper, lying whiskey colored in the -moonlight by the side of the jug, gave a most tempting aroma to the -crisp, invigorating November air and rendered Bagley's signs and hints -all the more comprehensible. - -They were mostly young men who, with clattering boots, filed out to the -shelf and turned, with smacking lips wiped on their hands, back to the -clusters of shy, tittering maidens round the blazing log fires. They -wore new jean trousers neatly folded round muscular calves and stowed -away, without a visible wrinkle, into high, colored-topped boots with -sharp, brightly-polished heels, upon which were strapped clanking spurs. -Their sack coats, worn without vests over low-necked woolen shirts, -fitted their strong bodies admirably. - -Dick Martin, a tall, well-built young man with marked timidity in his -voice, considerably augmented by the brightness of Melissa Bagley's -eyes, drew near that young lady and said: - -"Yore pap has certainly got some o' the best corn licker in this county, -Melissa; it liter'ly sets a feller on fire." - -"Be ashamed, Dick Martin!" she answered, with a cautious glance around -her as if she feared that someone would observe the flush that had -risen into her pretty face as he approached. "Be ashamed o' yorese'f fur -techin' licker; last log-rollin' you 'lowed you'd tuk yore last dram. -Paw ort to be churched fur settin' temptation 'fore so many young men. -Ef I had my way the' wouldn't be a still, wild cat nur licensed, in the -Co-hutta Mountains nowhar." - -"Shucks, Melissa!" exclaimed Dick. "Don't git yore dander up 'bout -nothin'. I'm that anxious to git yore pap on my side I'd drink slop, -mighty high, ef he 'uz to ax me. He don't like me, an' blame me ef I -know why, nuther. I ain't been here in the last three Sunday nights -'thout him a-callin' you to bed most 'fore dark. He didn't raise no -objections to Bill Miller a-stayin' tell 'leven o'clock last Tuesday -night. Oh, I ain't blind to hurt! Bill owns his own land and I havn't -a shovelful; thar's the difference. He's a-comin' now, but mind you I'm -agwine to set by you at shuckin'." - -The bright flush which had added such beauty to the girl's face vanished -as Bill Miller swaggered up and said with a loud voice, as he roughly -shook her hand: - -"Meliss', kin I wait on you at shuckin'?" - -"Dick's jest this minute axed me," she stammered, beginning to blush -anew. - -"Well, he ain't axed to set on both sides uv you, I reckon. You'd be a -uncommon quar pusson ef the' wuz jest one side to you. What's to keep me -frum settin' on tother side frum Dick?" - -To this the farmer's daughter made no reply, and as the guests were now -starting to the barnyard she was escorted between the two rivals to the -great coneshaped heap of unhusked corn gleaming in the pale moonlight. - -"All keep yore feet an' form a ring round the pile!" called out Bagley, -so as to be overheard above the sound of their voices. "The' ain't no -r'al fun 'thout everything is conducted fa'r and squar'. Now" (as all -the merrymakers stood hand in hand round the corn heap, Dick with one of -Melissa's hands in his tight clasp and his rival with the other)--"now, -all march round an' somebody start 'King William Wuz King James' Son,' -an' when I tell you to halt set down right whar' you are. I'm a-doin' -this 'kase at Wade's last week some fellers hid red yeers o' corn nigh -the'r places an' wuz etarnally a-kissin' o' the gals, which ain't fa'r -nur decent. The rule on this occasion shall be as common, in regard to -the fust feller that finds a red yeer o'corn bein' 'lowed to kiss any -gal he likes, but atter that one time--understand everybody--atter -that no bussin' kin take place, red yeer ur no red yeer. I advocate -moderation in all things, especially whar' a man an' woman's mouth is -con-sarned." - -While the musical tones of the familiar song were rising, and the straw -beneath the feet of the human chain was rustling, Bagley called aloud -the word: "Halt!" and all sat down immediately and went to work with -a will. Song after song was sung. The hard, pearly silk-tipped ears of -corn flew through the air and rained into the crib near at hand, and -billows of husks rolled up behind the eager workers and were raked away -by negroes who were not permitted to take part in the sport. - -"Here's a red un, by hunky!" yelled out a sunburnt, downy-faced youth, -standing up and holding aloft a small ear of blood-red corn. - -"Hold on thar!" shouted Bagley in commanding tones. "The rules must be -enforced to the letter. Jim Lash, ef yore yeer measures full six inches -ye're the lucky man, but ef it falls short o' that size its a nubbin an' -don't count." - -An eager group encircled the young man, but soon a loud laugh rose and -they all fell back into their places, for the ear had proved to be only -five inches in length. - -"Not yit, Jimmy Lash; not yit," grunted Dick Martin, as he raked an -armful of unhusked corn into his and Melissa's laps. Then to Melissa -in an undertone: "Ef wishin' 'u'd do any good, I'd be the fust to run -acrost one, fur, by jingo! the' ain't a livin' man, Melissa, that could -want it as bad as I do with you a-settin' so handy. By glory! [aloud] -here she is, as red as sumac an' as long as a rollin' pin. The Lord be -praised!" He had risen to his feet and stood holding up the trophy for -Bagley's inspection, fairly aglow with triumph and exercise. - -The rustling in the corn husks ceased. All eyes were directed upon -the erect forms of Dick Martin and Farmer Bagley. The clear moonlight -revealed an unpleasant expression on the older man's face in vivid -contrast to the cast of the younger's. Bagley seemed rather slow to form -a decision; all present suspected the cause of his hesitation. - -"Fair's fair, Bagley!" called out an old farmer outside of the circle. -"Don't belittle yorese'f by 'lowin' anything o' a personal natur' to -come in an' influence you ag'in right. Dick Martin's the fust an' is -entitled to the prize." - -"Yore right, Wilson," admitted Bagley, with his eyes downcast. "Dick -Martin is the winner an' kin proceed; howsomever, thar's some things -that----" - - Salute yore bride an' kiss her sweet, - - Now you may rise upon yore feet! - -sang the leader of the singers, completely drowning the remainder of -Bagley's sentence. As quick as a flash of lightning Dick had thrown his -arm round struggling Melissa and imprinted a warm kiss on her lips. Then -the workers applauded vociferously, and Melissa sat, suffused with -crimson, between sullen Bill Miller and beaming Dick Martin. Bagley -showed plainly that Dick's action and the applause of all had roused his -dislike for Dick even deeper than ever. - -"I'm knowed to be a man o' my word," he fumed, white in the face and -glancing round the ring of upturned faces. "I'm firm as firm kin be, -I mought say as the rock o' Bralty, when I take a notion. I've heerd a -leetle o' the talk in this settlement 'mongst some o' the meddlin' sort, -an' fur fear this leetle accident mought add to the'r tattle I'd jest -like to remark that ef thar's a man on the top side o' the earth that -knows what's to be done with his own flesh an' blood it ort to be me. -What's been the talk ain't so, not a speck of it. I've got somethin' to -say to----" - -"Paw!" expostulated Melissa, almost crying. - -"Mr. Bagley--I say, Abrum Bagley, don't make a born fool o' yorese'f," -broke in Mrs. Bagley, as she waddled into the circle and laid her hand -heavily upon her husband's arm. "Now, folks, it's about time you wuz -gittin' somethin' warm into you. You kin finish the pile atter you've -eat. Come on, all hands, to the house!" - -A shadow of mortification fell athwart Dick's honest face as soon as -Bagley had spoken. His sensitive being was wounded to the core. As he -and Melissa walked back to the farm house together, Bill Miller having -dropped behind to gossip with someone over Bagley's remarks, he was -silent, and timid Melissa was too shy to break the silence, although it -was very painful to her. - -Reaching the entrance to the farm house, Dick held back and refused to -enter with the others. - -"Ain't you gwine to come in an' have some supper?" Melissa asked, -pleadingly. - -"I ain't a-goin' narry nuther step. Anything cooked in this house would -stick in my throat atter what's been said. He struck me a underhanded -lick. I won't force myse'f on 'im nur to his table." - -"I think you mought, bein' as I axed you," said she tremblingly, as she -shrank into the honeysuckle vines that clung to the latticework of the -entry. - -"No, blame me ef I do!" he answered firmly. "I'm of as good stock as -anybody in this county; nobody cayn't run no bull yearlin' dry shod over -me." - -All Melissa could do could not induce him to join the others in the -dining room, and when he walked angrily away she ran into her own room, -and sitting down in the darkness alone she burst into a flood of tears. -After supper the guests repaired again to the corn heap, but Melissa was -not among them, and the spirits of all seemed somewhat dampened. - -After that night Dick Martin and Melissa Bagley did not meet each other -for several days. However, on the Sunday following the corn shucking, as -Melissa was returning from meeting through the woods alone, the very one -who was uppermost in her troubled mind joined her. He emerged from the -thick-growing bushes which skirted her path, with a very pale face and -unhappy mien. - -"I jest couldn't wait another minute, Melissa," he said, standing -awkwardly before her, "not ef I had to be shot fur it." - -"Paw's mighty stubborn an' contrary when he takes a notion," she said, -with hanging head and an embarrassed kick of her foot at a tuft of -grass. "I think he mought let me alone. You ain't the only one he hates. -Thar's ol' man Lawson; law, he hates him wuss'n canker! I heerd 'im say -tother day ef somebody 'u'd jest beat Lawson shootin' next match he'd be -his friend till death. He ain't never got over his lawsuit with Lawson -over the sheep our dog killed. Paw fit it in court through three terms, -an' then had to give in an' settle the claim an' all the costs besides. -It mighty nigh broke im. Fur the last five years Lawson has driv home -the prize beef from the fall match, an' every time paw jest fairly -shakes with madness over it." - -When Dick left Melissa at the bars in sight of her house and turned -toward his home a warm idea was tingling in his brain, and by the time -he had reached his father's cottage he was fairly afire with it. The -shooting match was to take place in a month--what was to prevent him -from taking part in it? He had an excellent rifle, and had done some -good shooting at squirrels. Perhaps if he would practice a good deal -he might win. Lawson was deemed the best marksman in all the Cohutta -valleys, and frequently it had been hard to get anyone to enter a match -against him. Dick at last decided to enter the forthcoming match at -all events. He went into his cottage and took down his rifle from its -deer-horn rack over the door. While he was eyeing the long, rusty barrel -critically his old mother entered. - -"Fixin' fur a hunt, Dick? Thar's a power o' pa'tridges in the sage -field down the hollar. A rifle ain't as good fur that sort o' game as a -shotgun; suppose you step over an' ax Hanson to loan you his'n?" - -"I jest 'lowed I'd shine this un up a bit bein' as it's Sunday an' I -hate to be idle," he answered, evasively, as he seated himself at the -wide fireplace with a pan of grease and a piece of cloth and rubbed his -gun barrel until it fairly shone in the firelight. The next morning he -threw it over his shoulder and, taking an axe in his hand, he started -toward the woods. - -"Didn't know but I mought find a bee tree somers," he said sheepishly, -as he saw his mother looking wonderingly at the axe. "Not likely, but -I mought, thar's no tellin', though the darn little varmints do keep -powerful close hid this time o' year." - -He went over the hills and through the tangled woods until he came to -a secluded old field. He singled out a walnut tree near its centre, and -going to it he cut a square white spot in the bark with his axe. It is -needless to detail all that took place there that day, or on other days -following it. For the first week the earnest fellow would return from -this spot each afternoon with a very despondent look upon him. As time -passed, however, and his visits to the riddled tree grew more frequent -his face began to grow brighter. - -Once his mother came suddenly upon him as he stood in the cottage before -the open door with his rifle placed in position for firing. He lowered -his gun with a deep blush. - -"I 'us jest a tryin' to see how long I could keep the sight on that shiny -spot out thar in the field without flinchin'. Blame me, ef you hadn't -come in I believe I could a helt her thar tell it thundered." - -"Dick," said the old woman, with a deep breath, "what on earth has got -in you here lately? Are you gwine plump stark crazy 'bout that old gun? -You never tuk on that way before." - -"I've jest found out I'm purty good on a shot, that's all," he replied, -evasively. - -"Well," said she, "as fur as that's concerned, in old times our stock -was reckoned to be the best marksmen in our section. You ort to be; yore -narrer 'twixt the eyes, an' that's a shore sign." - -Dick caught a glimpse of Melissa now and then, and managed to exchange -a few words with her occasionally, the nature of which we will not -disclose. It may be said, however, that she was always in good spirits, -which puzzled her father considerably, for he was at a loss to see why -she should be so when Dick had not visited her since the night of the -corn shucking. Moreover, she continually roused her father's anger by -speaking frequently of the great honor that belonged to Farmer Lawson -for so often Winning the prizes in the shooting matches. - -"Dang it, Melissa, dry up!" he exclaimed, boiling with anger, "you know -I hate that daddrated man. I'd fling my hat as high as the moon ef some -o' these young bucks 'u'd beat him this fall; he's as full o' brag as a -lazy calf is with fleas." - -"No use a hopin' fur anything o' that sort, paw; Lawson's too old a -han'. He ain't got his equal at shootin' ur lawin.' The whole country -couldn't rake up a better one." After speaking in this manner she would -stifle a giggle by holding her hand over her mouth until she was livid -in the face, and escape from her mystified parent, leaving him to vent -his spleen on the empty air. - -The day of the annual shooting match drew near. It was not known who -were to be the participants aside from Lawson, for the others usually -waited till the time arrived to announce their intentions. No better -day could have been chosen. The sky was blue and sprinkled with frothy -clouds, and the weather was not unpleasantly cold. Women and men, boys, -girls and children from all directions were assembled to witness the -sport and were seated in chairs and wagons all over the wide, open -space. - -Melissa was there in a cluster of girls, and her father was near by in -a group of men, all of whom--like himself--disliked the blustering, -boasting Lawson and fondly hoped that someone would beat him on this -occasion. Lawson stood by himself, with a confident smile on his face. -His rifle butt rested on the grass and his hands were folded across each -other on the end of his gun barrel. - -"Wilks," said he to the clerk of the county court, who had been chosen -as referee for the occasion, "git up yore list o' fellers that are bold -enough to shoot agin the champion. I reckon my nerves are 'bout as they -wuz six yeer ago when I fust took my stan' here to larn this settlement -how to shoot." - -Just before the list of aspirants was read aloud Dick managed to reach -Melissa's side unobserved by her father. - -"Did you keep yore promise 'bout cut-tin' my patchin' fur me?" he asked -in a whisper. - -With trembling fingers she drew from her pocket several little pieces -of white cotton cloth about the size of a silver quarter of a dollar and -gave them to him. - -"They're jest right to a gnat's heel," he said, warmly. "A ball packed -in one o' them'll go straight ur I'm no judge." - -"Dick," whispered she, looking him directly in the eyes, "you ain't a -bit flustered. I believe you'll win." - -With a smile Dick turned away and joined the crowd round the referee's -chair, and when his name was called a moment later among the names of -four others he brought his rifle from a wagon and stood in view of -the crowd. The first applause given that day was accorded him, for in -addition to its being his first appearance in a shooting match he was -universally popular. - -"Bully fur you, Dick; here's my han' wishing you luck!" said a -cheery-voiced farmer, shaking Dick's hand. - -"It's the way with all these young strips," said Lawson in a loud, -boastful tone. "Gwine to conquer the whole round world. He'll grin on -tother side o' his mouth when Bettie, the lead queen, barks and spits in -the very centre o' that spot out yander." - -A feeble murmur of admiration greeted this vaunting remark, but it -quickly subsided as the crowd noted that Dick Martin did not reply even -by so much as to raise his eyes from the inspection of his gun. The -referee called for order. - -"Jim Baker," said he, "be so kind as to drive round yore stall-fed -heifer. Ladies an' gentlemen [as a man emerged from a group of wagons -and drove a fine-looking young cow into the open space], here's a heifer -in fine enough order to make any man's eyes sore to look. Fifteen round -dollars has been paid in, by the five men who are to burn powder -to-day, $3 apiece, an' the man whose shootin' iron can fling lead -the straightest on this occasion is entitled to the beef and the -championship o' this valley till next fall. Now, Mr. Baker, lead out -yore cow, an' the shooters will please form in a line." - -When the aspirants stood in front of him the referee continued: - -"Here is five pieces o' straw, all different lengths. The man who gets -the shortest one shoots fust, the next longest next, an' so on till -you've all had yore crack." - -Passing the straws to the riflemen, and af ter they had drawn one each -from his tightly closed hands, he ordered a man to set up the target--a -planed plank, about one foot in width and six in length, with a round -marked spot about three inches in diameter, near the top. - -"I'd willin'ly give my chance o' oats to have some o' them boys knock -the stuffin' clean out'n Lawson; he's that stuck up he cayn't hardly -walk," said Bagley, his anger intensified by observing the sneering -smile on Lawson's face. - -"I'm mighty afeard," said the man to whom Bagley was speaking, "that -Dick Martin 'll lose his $3. I never heerd o' him bein' any han' with a -gun." - -To this Bagley offered no reply. In his hatred for Lawson, and at such a -time he had no thought to give to Dick. - -"All ready!" rang out the voice of the referee. "Bob Ransom gits the -first pull at trigger to-day." - -Silence fell on the crowd as the tall, slender young man stepped forth -and stood with his left foot on a line cut in the grass exactly 100 -yards from the tree against which the yellow board with its single eye -leaned in the sunbeams. Not a whisper escaped the motionless assembly as -the young man slowly brought his weapon into position. "Crack!" sounded -the rifle out of a balloon-shaped cloud of blue smoke. - -"Missed centre, board, tree an' all!" cried out Bagley, in a tone of -deep regret. - -"I seed yore lead plough up the dirt away out tother side; it's powerful -hard to hold a steady han' when you are fust called on." - -"Next is Taylor Banks!" announced the referee; and as a middle-aged man -advanced and toed the mark, Lawson was heard to say, with a loud laugh; -"Fust one missed the tree; you folks on the left out thar 'u'd better -set back fur-der; no tellin' who Banks 'll hit, fur he's a-tremblin' -like so much jelly." - -"Hit about three inches due north o' the spot," called out the referee, -as the smoke rose from the peering marksman. "I'm afraid, Tayl', that -somebody 'll come nigher than that when the pinch comes. Joe Burk is the -next, an' I'll take occasion to say here that I know of no man in all -this mountain country that is more prompt to pay his taxes." - -"Crack!" A universal bending of necks to get the target in better view -and a rolling billow of voices in the crowd. - -"A inch an' a half below the spot!" proclaimed the referee. "Why, -friends, what ails you all? This ain't nigh such shootin' as we had last -fall. Too many women present, I reckon. Ladies, if you'll cover up yore -faces maybe the next two will do better. The straws say that Abraham -Lawson has the next whack. Lawson, make yore bow." - -The champion of the settlement stepped into view with a haughty strut, -dragging his rifle butt on the ground and swinging his broad-brimmed -hat carelessly in his hand. Turning to a negro behind him as he took his -place, he said so that all could hear: - -"Tobe, git yore rope ready an' stan' over thar nigh the beef. When you -git 'er home turn 'er in the pastur'. Ef this thing goes on year atter -year I'll start a cattle ranch an' quit farmin'." - -"Dang his hide!" exclaimed Bagley to Melissa, who was very pale and -quite speechless. "Dang it, I'd lay this here right arm on any man's -meat block an' give 'im leave to chop it off ef he'd jest git beat. He's -that spiled flies is on 'im." - -Lawson's hat was now on the grass at his feet and he had deliberately -raised his brightly-polished weapon to his broad shoulder. The sun -glittered on the long steel tube. The silence for an instant was so -profound that the birds could be heard singing in the woods and the -cawing of the crows in the corn fields near by sounded harsh to the ear. -For an instant the sturdy champion stood as if molded in metal, his -long hair falling over his gun stock, against which his tanned cheek was -closely pressed. Not a sound passed the lips of the assembly, and when -the rifle report came it sent a twinge to many a heart. - -"Dang it!" ejaculated Lawson, as he lowered his gun and peered through -the rising smoke toward the target. "I felt a unsteady quiver tech me -jest as I pulled the trigger." - -"About half an inch from the very centre o' the mark. Yore ahead. Nobody -is likely to come up to you, Lawson," said the referee. "The' ain't but -one more." - -"I don't keer," replied Lawson. "I know the cow's mine; but I did want -to come up to my record. I walked too fast over here an' it made me -unsteady." - -"The next an' last candidate for glory," said the referee, "is Dick -Martin. No cheerin', friends, it ain't been give to the others and you -oughtn't to show partiality. Besides, it might excite him, an' he needs -all the nerve he's got." - -Bagley was still at Melissa's side. He had his eyes too intently fixed -on the stalwart form of Dick Martin and the young man's pale, determined -visage to note that his daughter had covered her pale face with her -cold, trembling hands and bowed her head. - -"By Jinks! he's the coolest cucumber that's lifted shootin' iron -to-day," said Bagley under his breath. "Ef he beats Lawson dagg me if I -don't give him a dance in my barn an' invite every man, woman an' child -in the whole valley." With his left foot on the mark and his right -thrown back easily, as if he were taking a step forward, and his -well-formed body bent slightly toward the target, Dick stood motionless, -sighting along his gun barrel at the target. Then, to the surprise of -all, he raised his gun until it pointed to the top of the tree against -which the target leaned. Here a gentle sigh, born from the union of half -surprise and half disappointment, swept over the crowd as low as the -whisper of a breeze through a dry foliaged tree. The sigh died away and -intense silence claimed the moment, for the gun's point was sweeping -rapidly downward. Hardly a second did it pause in a line with the -target's centre before the report came, putting every breast in sudden -motion. The marker's eyes saw a clean splinter fly from the very centre -of the round. - -"The beef is won by Dick Martin!" loudly proclaimed the referee. - -"Whoopee! Glory! Glory!" The shout was from the lips of Bagley, and -in an instant he had stridden across to Dick with outstretched hand. -"Glory, Glory! Dick!" he exclaimed; "le'me have a hold o' yore fist. -Tell judgment day I'm yore friend. I've said some sneakin' underhand -things about you that's hurt yore feelin's an' I want to ax yore pardon. -Dang it! I cayn't harbor no ill will agin a feller that's beat Abrum -Lawson a-shootin'. Thank goodness you've fetched his kingdom to a end!" - -When down-fallen Lawson had slunk away unnoticed from the enthusiastic -crowd who were eager to congratulate Dick, Bagley came up to him and -said: - -"Dick, le'me have the honor o' drivin' the prize home fur you. Fur some -reason ur other you didn't stay to supper with us corn-shuckin' night; -Melissa's a waitin' fur you out thar in the bresh to ax you to come -home with us to-night. By glory, Tobe," turning to Lawson's negro, "this -yer's the same identical beef Lawson ordered you to drive home an' put -in his pastur', ain't it? Well, you jest tell 'im his friend Bagley tuk -the job off'n yore han's." - -[Illustration: 0105] - - - - -MOERAN'S MOOSE--A HUNTING STORY, By Ed. W. Sandys. - - -|ONE of the best fellows among the hardy lot who have ran the trails -and paddled the lonely tributaries of the tipper Ottawa was Moeran. -No bolder sportsman ever went into the woods, and few, or none of the -guides or professional hunters could rival his skill with rifle or -paddle. The tough old "Leatherstockings" fairly idolized him, for he -got his game as they did, by straight shooting, perfect woodcraft, and -honest hard work; and most of them, while they usually charged a heavy -price for their services, would have gladly thrown in their lots with -him for an outing of a month or more, and asked nothing save what he -considered a fair division of the spoils. He was also a keen observer -and a close student of the ways of bird and beast. The real pleasure of -sport seemed to him to lie in the fact that it brought him very near to -nature, and permitted him to pore at will over that marvelous open page -which all might read if they chose, yet which few pause to study. His -genial disposition and long experience made him ever a welcome and -valuable companion afield or afloat, and the comrades he shot with -season after season would have as soon gone into the woods without their -rifles as without Moeran. Physically, he was an excellent type of the -genuine sportsman. Straight and tall, and strongly made, his powerful -arms could make a paddle spring, if need be, or his broad shoulders bear -a canoe or pack over a portage that taxed even the rugged guides; and -his long limbs could cover ground in a fashion that made the miles seem -many and long to whoever tramped a day with him. - -And this was the kind of man that planned a trip for a party of four -after the lordly moose. Moeran had, until that year, never seen a wild -moose free in his own forest domain, and needless to say he was -keenly anxious to pay his respects to the great king of the Canadian -wilderness. He had been in the moose country many times while fishing -or shooting in the provinces of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and -Manitoba; he had seen the slots of the huge deer about pool and stream, -on beaver meadow and brule; he had spent more than one September night -"calling," with a crafty Indian to simulate the plaintive appeals of -a love-lorn cow; he had heard the great bulls answer from the distant -hills--had heard even the low, grunting inquiry a bull moose generally -makes ere emerging from the last few yards of shadowy cover, and -revealing himself in all his mighty strength and pride in the moonlit -open. More than once he had lain quivering with excitement and hardly -daring to breathe, close-hidden in a little clump of scrub, about which -stretched full forty yards of level grass on every side--lain so for an -hour with every nerve strained to the ready, with ears striving to catch -the faintest sound on the stillness of the night, and with eyes sweeping -warily over the expanse of moonlit grass and striving vainly to pierce -the black borders of forest, somewhere behind which his royal quarry was -hidden. Upon such occasions he had lain and listened and watched until -he fancied he could see the moose standing silently alert among the -saplings, with ears shifting to and fro and with keen nose searching the -air ceaselessly for trace of his mortal enemy. The occasional distant -rattle of broad antlers against the trees as the big brute shook himself -or plunged about in lusty strength had sounded on his ears, followed -by the faint sounds of cautiously advancing footsteps seemingly bent -straight toward the ambush. Then would follow a long agonizing pause, -and then a snap of a twig or a faint rustling told that the crafty bull -was stealing in a circle through the cover around the open space before -venturing upon such dangerous ground. - -[Illustration: 0108] - -At last a deathlike silence for many minutes, and then a faint, far snap -of twigs and "wish" of straightening branches as the great bull stole -away to his forested hills, having read in breeze or on ground a -warning of the foe concealed in the harmless scrub. All these were -disappointments, but not necessarily bitter ones. The long night-vigils -were after all rarely spent entirely in vain, for each brought to him -some new ideas, or let him a little further into the dark mysteries of -the great wild world's nightly moods and methods. The skilled craft of -his Indian "caller;" the strange voices of the night that came to his -ears, telling of the movements of creatures but seldom seen or heard by -day, were full of interest to a genuine woodsman. And then the fierce -though subdued excitement of the weird watch for the huge beast that -never came, and yet might come at any moment full into the silvery -moonlight from out the black belt of silent wood--these were each -fascinating to such a nature as his. But still he had never once seen -his long-looked-for game, though several seasons had slipped away and -the month of July, 18----, had come and half passed by. Then Moeran -got ready his fishing tackle and camping gear and vowed to find a good -district for the party to shoot over the coming season, even if he had -to remain in the woods an entire month. Right well he knew some of the -likeliest points in New Brunswick, Quebec and Manitoba, the eastern -portion of the latter province being the best moose country now -available, but none of them met the requirements of the party, and so he -decided to go into northern Ontario and prospect until he found what he -sought. - -In the region of the upper Ottawa River, and in the wild lands about the -Mattawa River and about the lakes forming its headwaters, is a country -beloved of moose. Thither went Moe-ran, satisfied that his quest would -not be in vain. Early in the third week of July he and his Peterboro -canoe and outfit reached the railway station of North Bay, on the shore -of noble Lake Nipissing. While awaiting the arrival of the guide and -team for the next stage of his journey, he put rod together and strolled -out on the long pier which extends for a considerable distance into the -lake. Reaching the farther end and looking down into the clear, green -depths below, he saw watchful black bass skulking in the shadows, and -lazy pickerel drifting hither and thither, in and out, among the great -piles which supported the pier. To tempt a few of these to their doom -was an easy task, and soon the lithe rod was arching over a game black -gladiator and a master hand was meeting every desperate struggle of a -fighting fish, or slowly raising a varlet pickerel to his inglorious -death. In time a hail announced the arrival of the team, and after -presenting his captives to the few loungers on the pier, he busied -himself stowing canoe and outfit upon the wagon. - -Their objective point was on the shore of Trout Lake, a lovely sheet -of water distant from Nipissing about four miles. The road was in many -places extremely bad and the team made slow progress, but there was -plenty of time to spare and about noon they reached the lake. The guide, -as guides are given to do, lied cheerfully and insistently every yard -of the way, about the beauty of the lake, the countless deer and grouse -upon its shores, the gigantic fish within its ice-cold depths, the game -he, and parties he had guided, had killed, and the fish they had caught. -He did well with these minor subjects, but when he touched upon moose -and bear he rose to the sublime, and lied with a wild abandon which made -Moeran seriously consider the advantage of upsetting the canoe later -on and quietly drowning him. But he was not so far astray in his -description of the lake. It formed a superb picture, stretching its -narrow length for a dozen miles between huge, rolling, magnificently -wooded hills, while here and there lovely islands spangled its silver -breast. After a hurried lunch they launched the good canoe, the guide -insisting upon taking his rifle, as, according to his story, they were -almost certain to see one or more bear. The guide proved that he could -paddle almost as well as he could lie, and the two of them drove the -light craft along like a scared thing, the paddles rising and falling, -flashing and disappearing, with that beautiful, smooth, regular sweep -that only experts can give. For mile after mile they sped along, until -at last they neared the farther end of the lake, where the huge hills -dwindled to mere scattered mounds, between which spread broad beaver -meadows, the nearest of them having a pond covering many acres near its -center. All about this pond was a dense growth of tall water-grasses, -and in many places these grasses extended far into the water which was -almost covered, save a few open leads, with the round, crowding leaves -of the water-lily. A channel, broad and deep enough to float the canoe, -connected this pond with the lake, and, as the locality was an ideal -summer haunt for moose, Moeran decided to investigate it thoroughly -and read such "sign" as might be found. Landing noiselessly, he and the -guide changed places, Moeran kneeling, forward, with the rifle on the -bottom of the canoe in front of him, where he alone could reach it. -"Now," he whispered, "you know the route and how to paddle; work her up -as if a sound would cost your life. I'll do the watching." - -[Illustration: 0112] - -Slowly, silently, foot by foot, and sometimes inch by inch, the canoe -stole up the currentless channel, the guide never raising his paddle, -but pushing with it cautiously against the soft bottom and lily-roots. -It was a good piece of canoe work, worthy even of Moeran's noted skill, -and he thoroughly appreciated it. By motions of his hand he indicated -when to halt and advance, while his eyes scanned sharply every yard of -marsh revealed by the windings of the channel. Not the slightest sound -marked their progress until they had almost entered the open water in -the center of the pond, and were creeping past the last fringe of tall -grass. Suddenly Moeran's hand signaled a halt, and the canoe lost its -slow, forward motion. He looked and looked, staring fixedly at a point -some twenty yards distant, where the growth of grass was thin and short -and the lily-pads denser than usual, and as he gazed with a strange -concentration, a wild light flashed in his eyes until they fairly blazed -with exultant triumph. Straight before him among the faded greens and -bewildering browns of the lily-pads was a motionless, elongated brown -object very like the curved back of a beaver, and a foot or more from -it, in the shadow of a clump of grass, something shone with a peculiar -liquid gleam. It was an eye--a great, round, wild eye--staring full into -his own--the eye of a moose--and the curving object like the back of -a beaver was naught else than the enormous nose, or muffle, of a -full-grown bull. Something like a sigh came from it, and then it slowly -rose higher and higher until the head and neck were exposed. The big -ears pointed stiffly forward, and the nose twitched and trembled for an -instant as it caught the dreaded taint; then with a mighty floundering -and splashing the great brute struggled to his feet. It was a grewsome -spectacle to see this uncouth creature uprise from a place where it -seemed a muskrat could hardly have hidden. For a few seconds he stood -still. - -[Illustration: 0116] - -"Shoot! Shoot!" - -Moeran simply picked up the rifle and brought it level. - -"Load! 'Tain't loaded--the lever--quick!" - -He made no response, merely covered, first the point of the shoulder and -then the ear, and then, as the bull plunged for the shore, he covered -the shoulder twice more, then lowered the rifle, while a horribly -excited guide cursed and raved and implored by turns in vain. And just -how great was the temptation was never known, but it certainly would -have proved irresistible to most men who call themselves sportsmen. In -speaking about it afterward Moeran said: "It would have been a crime -to have murdered the beast under such conditions, and out of season. I -covered him fair four times, and could have dropped him dead where he -stood--but we'll attend to them later on." For there were, in all, four -moose in the pond, and, shortly after the big bull commenced his noisy -retreat, a tremendous splashing and plunging from the other side of the -pond attracted their attention. They turned just in time to see a grand -old cow and two younger moose struggle through the last few yards of -mud and water, and then crash their way into the cover at the rapid, -pounding trot peculiar to the species. - -Moeran's mission had been accomplished much easier than was expected, -and he certainly had discovered a most promising locality for the trip -with his friends. After a day spent fishing, he departed homeward, -leaving his canoe and camp outfit in charge of the guide, whom he also -bound by most solemn pledge neither to betray the secret of the beaver -meadow, nor to molest the moose himself, before Moeran and his friends -returned in time for the first lawful day. - -The last day of the close season saw the party and the guide snugly -encamped at a point half-way down the lake. His three friends had -unanimously agreed that Moeran should have the honor of visiting the -beaver meadow first, and alone if he desired. He was the surest shot and -by far the best hand at this sort of business, and he had discovered the -moose, while all hands knew how keen he was to secure a head to his own -rifle. So at earliest dawn Moeran put lunch and rifle into his -shapely Peterboro and sped noiselessly away through the ghostly vapors -curtaining the sleeping lake, and they saw him no more for many hours. -The guide had questioned the others about their comrade's shooting (of -his ability at the paddle he had somewhat sorrowful remembrance), and -then, strange to say, had advised Moeran to go alone. - -"So much more glory for you," he said, "and I'll look after these other -gentlemen and give them a day's fishing." But his manner was shifty, and -Moeran mistrusted him. - -In due time he reached the little channel leading to the beaver meadow, -and, as the sun lifted clear of the distant hills, he began working his -way to the pond. He hardly expected to find the moose there then, but he -had made up his mind to steal into the high grass and hide and watch all -day, if necessary, and, at all events, study the thing out thoroughly. -As the sun rose higher a brisk breeze sprang up, but as it came from the -woods toward his station he did not mind, although it would have been -fatal to his chance, probably, had it come from any other point of -the compass. Presently his nose detected a strong, sickening odor of -carrion, which, in time, as the breeze gained force, became almost -overpowering, and he started to investigate. Paddling straight up-wind -he came at last to a small pool, and the trouble was explained. The -half-decomposed body of a full-grown cow moose lay in the pool and -Moeran muttered savagely his opinion of all such butchery when he saw -that not even the feet had been taken for trophies. Then he poled his -canoe to the edge of the meadow and scouted carefully entirely round the -open, seeking for any possible sign of the remainder of the quartet. -To his utter disgust he found the remains of another moose, one of the -younger animals, lying just within the borders of the cover, and, as in -the other case, the butcher had not troubled himself to take away any -portion of his victim. Moeran understood, of course, that the guide -had played him false, and if that worthy had been present he might have -seriously regretted his wrong-doing, for he it was who had guided a -learned and honorable (?) American judge to the sanctuary of the moose -a month previously, and, for a consideration of twenty-five dollars, -enabled his patron to gratify his taste for the shambles. - -Moeran's careful search discovered no fresh sign, and he made up his -mind that the two survivors, the old bull and the yearling, had fled the -scene and had probably sought another expanse of beaver meadow and ponds -the guide had mentioned as being about ten miles from Trout Lake. Moeran -knew that some sort of a trail led thither, and he resolved to find it -and follow it to the end and endeavor to locate the moose. - -Of the ensuing long, hard day's work it will be unnecessary to speak in -detail. - -At nine o'clock that night his three friends sat near their roaring -camp-fire on the lake shore, wondering at his protracted absence. The -guide had turned in an hour previous, but the three were anxious, so -they sat and smoked, and discussed the question, piling great drift-logs -on their fire till it roared and cracked in fierce exultation and leaped -high in air to guide the wanderer home. Its long, crimson reflection -stretched like a pathway of flame far over the black waters of the lake, -and the three sat and waited, now glancing along this glowing path, anon -conversing in subdued tones. The lake was as still and dark as a lake -of pitch, and some way the three felt ill at ease, as though some evil -impended. At last the veteran of the trio broke a longer silence than -usual: - -"Boys, I don't like this. It's ten o'clock and he should have been back -long ago. I hope to Heaven----" - -A touch on his arm from the man at his right caused him to glance -quickly lakeward. - -Forty feet from them, drifting noiselessly into the firelight, was the -Peterboro, with Moeran kneeling as usual and sending the light craft -forward in some mysterious manner which required no perceptible movement -of the arms nor lifting of the paddle. It was a fine exhibition of his -skill to thus approach unheard three anxious, listening men on such a -night, for he had heard their voices good two miles away. His appearance -was so sudden, so ghostlike, that for a few seconds the party stared in -mute surprise at the forms of man and craft standing out in sharp relief -against the blackness of the night; then a whoop of delight welcomed -him. - -He came ashore, swiftly picked up the canoe and turned it bottom upward -on the sand for the night, carried his rifle into camp, then approached -the fire and looked sharply round. - -"The guide's asleep." - -"Oh, he is; -------- him!" Then he flung himself down on the sand. -Something in his tone and manner warned his friends not to talk, and -they eyed him curiously. His face was white as death and drawn with an -expression of utter exhaustion, and marked with grimy lines, showing -where rivulets of sweat had trickled downward. As they looked, his eyes -closed; he was going to sleep as he lay. - -Quietly the veteran busied himself getting food ready, and presently -roused the slumberer. - -"Here, old chap, have a nip and eat a bite. Why, you're dead beat. Where -on earth have you been?" - -A strangely hollow voice answered: - -"To the back lakes." - -His listeners whistled a combined long-drawn "whew" of amazement, for -right well they knew the leagues of toilsome travel this statement -implied. - -"See anything?" - -"Wounded the old bull badly, and trailed him from the lakes to within -five miles of here. That cur sleeping yonder sold us; but you hear me!" -he exclaimed with sudden fierce energy, "_I'll get that moose if I have -to stay in the woods forever!_" - -The three looked at him in admiring silence, for they guessed that, -in spite of his terrible day's work, he intended starting again at -daylight. In a few moments he finished his meal and staggered to the -tent, and fell asleep as soon as he touched his blanket. - -When the party turned out next morning the canoe was gone, though the -sun was not yet clear, of the hills. After breakfast they started in -quest of grouse, working through the woods in the direction of the -beaver meadows, and finding plenty of birds. About ten o'clock they -heard the distant report of a rifle, followed in a few minutes by a -second, and the veteran exclaimed, "That's him, for an even hundred, and -he's got his moose, or something strange has happened." - -At noon they returned to camp laden with grouse. No sign of the canoe -as yet, so they had dinner, and lounged about and fished during the -afternoon, casting many expectant glances down the lake for the laggard -canoe. Night fell, with still no sound or sign of the wanderer, and -again the camp-fire roared and flamed and sent its glowing reflection -streaming far over the black waste of water. And again the three -sat waiting. At ten o'clock the veteran rose and said, "Keep a sharp -lookout, boys, and don't let him fool you again, and I'll get up a royal -feed. He'll have moose-meat in the canoe this time, for he said _he'd -get that moose if he had to stay in the woods forever_. He'll be dead -beat, sure, for he's probably dragged the head out with him." So they -waited, piling the fire high, and staring out over the lake for the -first glimpse of the canoe. Eleven o'clock and midnight came and went, -and still no sign. Then they piled the fire high for the last time and -sought the tent. At the door the veteran halted, and laying a hand on -the shoulder of his chum, drew him aside. - -"Why, whatever's the matter with you?" - -The old man's face wore a piteous expression, and his voice trembled as -he whispered: - -"Hush! Don't let _him_ hear you--but there's something wrong. Something -horrible has happened--I feel it in my heart." - -"Nonsense, man! You're sleepy and nervous. He's all right. Why, he's -just cut himself a moose steak, and had a feed and laid down----" - -The sentence was never completed. A sound that caused both men to start -convulsively tore through the black stillness of the night. A horrible, -gurgling, demoniacal laugh came over the lake, and died away in fading -echoes among the hills. "Woll-oll-all-ollow-wall-all-ollow!" as though -some hideous fiend was laughing with his lips touching the water. They -knew what it was, for the loon's weird cry was perfectly familiar to -them, and they laughed too, but there was no mirth in their voices. Then -one sought the tent, but the veteran paced up and down upon the cold -beach, halting sometimes to replenish the fire or to stare out over the -water, until a pale light spread through the eastern sky. Then he too -turned in for a couple of hours of troubled, unrefreshing slumber. - -The bright sunshine of an Indian summer's day brought a reaction and -their spirits rose wonderfully; but still the canoe tarried, and as the -hours wore away, the veteran grew moody again and the midday meal was a -melancholy affair. Early in the afternoon he exclaimed: - -"Boys, I tell you what it is: I can stand this no longer--something's -wrong, and we're going to paddle those two skiffs down to the beaver -meadow and find out what we can do, and we're going to start right now. -God forgive us if we have been idling here while we should have been -yonder!" - -Two in a boat they went, and the paddles never halted until the channel -to the beaver meadow was gained. Dividing forces, they circled in -opposite directions round the open, but only the taint of the long-dead -moose marked the spot. Then they fired three rifles in rapid succession -and listened anxiously, but only the rolling, bursting echoes of the -woods answered them. - -"Guide, where would he probably have gone?" - -"Wa'al, he told you he'd run the old bull this way from the back -lakes--thar's another leetle mash a mile north of us; it's an awful -mud-hole, and the bull might possibly hev lit out fur thar. Enyhow, we'd -best hunt the closest spots first." - -The picture of that marsh will haunt the memories of those three men -until their deaths. A few acres of muskeg, with broad reaches of sullen, -black, slimy water, its borders bottomless mud, covered with a loathsome -green scum, and a few pale-green, sickly-looking larches dotting the -open--the whole forming a repulsive blemish, like an ulcer, on the face -of the earth. All round rose a silent wall of noble evergreens, rising -in massive tiers upon the hills, with here and there a flame of gorgeous -color where the frost had touched perishable foliage. Overhead a -hazy dome of dreamy blue, with the sun smiling down through the gauzy -curtains of the Indian summer. Swinging in easy circles, high in air, -were two ravens, challenging each other in hollow tones, their orbits -crossing and recrossing as they narrowed in slow-descending spirals. -"Look, look at him!" - -[Illustration: 0124] - -One bird had stooped like a falling plummet, and now hung about fifty -yards above the farther bounds of the muskeg, beating the air with -heavy, sable pinions and croaking loudly to his mate above. Closing her -wings, she stooped with a whizzing rush to his level, and there the two -hung flapping side by side, their broad wings sometimes striking sharply -against each other, their hoarse, guttural notes sounding at intervals. -A nameless horror seized the men as they looked. Their hunter's instinct -told them that death lay below those flapping birds, and with one -impulse they hurried round on the firmer ground to the ill-omened spot. - -The veteran, white-faced but active as a lad, tore his way through the -bordering cover first, halted and stared for an instant, then dropped -his rifle in the mud, threw up his hands and exclaimed in an agonized -voice: - -"Oh, my God, my God!" - -One by one they crashed through the brush and joined him, and stood -staring. No need for questions. Ten square yards of deep-trodden, -reeking mud and crushed grass, a trampled cap, and here and there a rag -of brown duck; a silver-mounted flask shining in a little pool of bloody -water; a stockless rifle-barrel, bent and soiled, sticking upright; -beyond all a huge, hairy body, and below it a suggestion of another body -and a blood-stained face, that even through its terrible disfigurement -seemed to scowl with grim determination. Throwing off their coats, they -dragged the dead moose aside and strove to raise Moeran's body, but in -vain. Something held it; the right leg was broken and they found the -foot fast fixed in a forked root the treacherous slime had concealed. In -the right hand was firmly clutched the haft of his hunting knife, and -in the moose's throat was the broken blade. The veteran almost smiled -through his tears as they worked to loosen the prisoned foot, and -muttered, "Caught like a bear in a trap; he'd have held his own with -a fair chance." Carrying the poor, stamped, crushed body to the shade, -they laid it upon the moss and returned to read the story of the fearful -battle. To their hunter's eyes it read as plainly as printed page. The -great bull, sore from his previous wound, had sought the swamp. Moeran -had trailed him to the edge and knocked him down the first shot, and -after reloading had run forward to bleed his prize. Just as he got -within reach the bull had struggled up and charged, and Moeran had shot -him through the second time. Then he had apparently dodged about in the -sticky mud and struck the bull terrific blows with the clubbed rifle, -breaking the stock and bending the barrel, and getting struck himself -repeatedly by the terrible forefeet of the enraged brute. To and fro, -with ragged clothes and torn flesh, he had dodged, the deadly muskeg -behind and on either side, the furious bull holding the only path to the -saving woods. At last he had entrapped his foot in the forked root, and -the bull had rushed in and beaten him down, and as he fell he struck -with his knife ere the tremendous weight crushed out his life. The -veteran picked up the rifle-barrel, swept it through a pool and examined -the action, and found a shell jammed fast. - -In despairing voice he said, "Oh, boys, boys, if that shell had but come -into place our friend had won the day, but he died like the noble fellow -he was!" - -With rifles and coats they made a stretcher and carried him sadly out to -the lake. - -"_He would get that moose, or stay in the woods forever!_" - - - - -THE MYSTERY OF A CHRISTMAS HUNT, By Talbot Torrance - - -[Illustration: 9129] - -"Clug!" The wad went home in the last shell, and as I removed it from -the loader and finished the fill of my belt I heaved a sigh of profound -relief at the completion of a troublesome job. - -I hate making cartridges. Perhaps I am a novice, and have not a good -kit, and am lazy, and clumsy, and impatient, and---- But go on and -account for it yourself at greater length, if you will, my friends; -only accept my solemn statement that I detest the operation, which, I -am convinced, ought to be confined to able-bodied colored men with -perseverance and pachydermatous knuckles. - -An ordinary man is always in fluster and fever before he completes -loading up for a day's gunning. His patent plugger becomes inexplicably -and painfully fractious; his percussions are misfits; his No. 10 wads -prove to be No. 12s; his shot sack is sure to spill; his canister is -certain to sustain a dump into the water pail, and, when he begins to -reflect on all the unmentionable _lapsi linguae_ of which his numerous -vexations are the immediately exciting, though possibly not the -responsible, cause, he is apt to conclude that, say what you may in -favor of the breechloader, there are a certain few points which commend -the old-time muzzle-loader, especially when it comes around to charging -a shell. - -[Illustration: 0130] - -At all events, that is the kind of man I now am; and if the reader -is not prepared to absolutely indorse me all through these crotchety -cogitations, may I not hope he will at least bear with me patiently and -give me time to outgrow it, if possible? But, as I was saying, I have -charged up and am ready to sally forth and join the hunting party of the -Blankville Gun Club, who had organized a match for Christmas Eve, a -bright, nippy day of "an open winter"--as experienced in Northeastern -Ontario, at any rate. I don my game bag, strap on my belt, pick up my -newly-bought hammerless and prepare to leave the house. My cocker -Charlie, long since cognizant of what my preparations meant, is at heel. - -There is a wild light in his eyes, but, self-contained animal that he -is, not a yelp, whine or even tail wag is manifested to detract from his -native dignity and self possession. "Native" dignity? Aye! My dog boasts -it naturally; and yet, at the same time, I fancy the switch and I have -had something to do in developing it and teaching the pup its apparently -unconscious display. - -[Illustration: 0136] - -"You're no fool dog, are you, Charlie? You're no funny, festive, -frolicsome dog, who cannot hold himself in when a run is on the -programme--eh, boy?" - -The silky-coated canine knows as well as I do that he is in for an -afternoon a-wood. He has the inclination to leap and roll and essay to -jump out of his hide. Yet the only answer he dare give to the inquiry -is an appealing glance from his hazel orbs up at his master's immovable -face. Yes, my dog Charlie is sober and sensible, and I am proud of these -characteristics and their usefulness to me before the gun. - -[Illustration: 0134] - -"Good-bye, little woman!" I sing out cheerily to my wife as I pass down -the hall. She comes to the door to see me off. Sometimes, perhaps, a -man will find his adieu on an occasion of this kind responded to -uncordially, not to say frigidly, or perhaps not at all. But he must -not grieve deeply over it or let it act as an excitative of his mean -moroseness or angry passion. Think the thing all over. You are to be far -away from home. Why should not the thought of the vacant chair--next to -that of the demonstrative and exacting baby at meal time--rise up and -sadden your wife? Can you wonder at her distant bearing as she foresees -how she will sigh "for the touch of a vanished hand"--on the coal -scuttle and water pail? Of course, she will "miss your welcome -footsteps"--carrying in kindlings, and the "dear, familiar -voice"--calling up the chickens. And so you cannot in reason expect her -invariably to answer your kindly _adios_ in a gladsome, gleesome, wholly -satisfied sort of way. But never you go away without the goodbye on your -part--the honest, manly, loving-toned good-bye that will ring in her -ears in your absence and cause her to fancy that perhaps you are not -such a selfish old bear after all. - -With some of us men--only a limited few, of course, and we are not -inclined to think over and enumerate them--it is unhappily the case -that - - We have cheerful words for the stranger, - - And smiles for the sometime guest; - - But oft for our own the bitter tone, - - Though we love our own the best. - -"will miss your welcome footsteps." - -[Illustration: 0134] - - Now, if such men only thought - - How many go forth in the morning, - - Who never come back at night! - - And hearts are broken for harsh words spoken, - - Which time may never set right, - -what a different atmosphere might permeate the domicile on "first days," -to say nothing of the rest of the time! - -The real fact of the matter is, men and brothers, we do not accurately -appreciate the objections which the domestic partners may entertain -against our occasional outings. For my part I verily believe they are -largely, if not entirely, prompted by the feeling that - - There's nae luck aboot the hoose, - - There's nae luck at a'! - - There's nae luck about the hoose, - - Since oor guid mon's avva'. - -And here we go on thinking it is purely a matter of petty petulance and -small selfishness on their part! Come, gentlemen, let us once and for -all rightly appreciate the situation and resolve to do better in the -future! But let us return to our sheep. My hand is on the door knob, -when, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, is heard the tread of tiny feet. It is Ted, -my little two year old, coming to say good-bye to papa. I take him up -and sing gaily: - - Bye, baby bunting, - - Papa goes a-hunting, - - To get a little rabbit skin - - To wrap the baby bunting in. - -How the little man crows and gurgles in glee! Then he grows -demonstrative and he wants to take off my cap. He makes a grab at my -game bag. As I put him down gently he tries to disarm me and possess -himself of the gun. - -I say, what an awful bother about the house of the sportsman is the -toddling tot of a baby! He is always getting hold of your gun swab for -a fish pole or to bang the dog about. Putting holes in your fish basket -with a big nail or a table knife is a supreme source of delight to him. -He has a mania for planting carpet tacks in your hunting boots. Making -smokestacks for mud houses with your brass shells is a passion with him. -If he can get hold of your ammunition to make paste of the powder, and -pulp of the wads, and a hopeless mixture of the shot, he is simply in -his element. Give him possession of your lines and access to your fly -book and he enjoys an hour of what is, to him, immense fun, but to you -pronounced and positive destruction. - -And yet--you wouldn't be without, that self-same baby if to keep him -cost you every shooting iron and foot of tackle you ever owned or hoped -to own, and at the same time destroyed the prospect of you ever again -having a "day out" on this rare old earth of ours. - -It is quite safe to say that the article for which you would exchange -that merry, mischievous toddler of yours, who clasps your brown neck -with little white, soft arms and presses a sweet baby kiss to your -bristled lips, as he sees you off on an outing, has not now an -existence--and you do not seem to exactly remember when it had. And you -do not care whether he destroys your possessions; they can be replaced. - -Yes, indeed! Even you, most inveterate and selfish and calloused votary -of the chase--you have a tender spot in your hard old heart for the -baby boy. He may not be all that is orderly, obedient, non-combatable, -non-destructive, but still we all love him! Not one of us, at all -events, but will frankly admit that we respect him--for his father's -sake. Need anything more be said? - -And do not we also respect those who depict him in tenderness and -affection? - -Don't we think all the more of Scanlon the actor for his inimitable -"Peek-a-boo?" and of Charles Mackay for his "Baby Mine?" and of Bret -Harte for his "Luck of Roaring Camp?" and of Dickens--wasn't it Dickens -who wrote: - - When the lessons and tasks all are ended, - - And the school for the day is dismissed, - - And the little ones gather around me - - To bid me good-bye and be kissed. - - Oh, the little, white arms that encircle - - My neck in a tender embrace! - - Oh, the smiles that are halos of Heaven - - Shedding light in a desolate place! - -Has it ever occurred to you, my friend, that the baby is the same -unchanged, unimproved article since the world began? Men are making -smokeless powder, constructing pneumatic bicycle tires, inventing -long-distance guns, training horses down to two minutes, getting -sprinters to cover 100 yards close to nine seconds--revolutionizing -everything, but leaving the baby the old-time brand! - -People seem satisfied with the original make, and far from any movement -to abolish it as out of date. The sentiment would appear to be pretty -universal: - - Drear were the world without a child, - - Where happy infant never smiled. - - We sooner could the flowerets spare, - - The tender bud and blossom fair, - - Or breath of spring time in the air. - -I have said "bye-bye" to my tiny Ted half a dozen times and at last am -about to escape during his sudden flight to another part of the -house, when I am arrested by the eager cry, half in inquiry, half in -jubilation, "Baby barlo! Papa, baby barlo! Dee!" - -There he stands, holding up my little patent flask as though he had made -a wonderful discovery. To humor the child I took the little companion, -said "Ta-ta," and was in the act of slipping it back to my wife, when -I decided to keep it. I am not partial to the cup that cheers and also -inebriates, and yet I have an appreciation of the pocket pistol that -warms, sustains and heartens in a long tramp on a zero afternoon with -only a dog for companionship and the chances of bagging anything much -reduced to a minimum. I stepped to the sideboard and filled the "barlo" -_quantum suff_. - -"Ah, Scrib! You're early on deck" was the grunting of the Doc. "None of -the others are here yet. But I guess we'll not have long to wait. There -is surely no laggard or lunkhead in our jolly sextette. On such an -occasion as a Christmas Eve hunt, with an oyster supper at stake, the -resources of our whole happy hunting grounds on trial, and the pluck -and prowess of six rival sports in question there should certainly be no -such word as 'funk!"' - -Even as the Doc spoke Tinker dropped in. Hardly was he seated when Shy -puffed his way into the little smoking room. We waited five minutes for -the Judge, and had become impatient before Budge put in an appearance. - -What an assortment of unique nomenclature! Gun-club designations they -were, of course. In polite society "Scrib" was the village editor; -"Tinker" was our general store keeper; "The Judge" was young Lawyer -B------; "Budge" was mine host of the Queen's Arms, and the "Doc" was just -the doctor--our large-hearted, clever, hard-working local M. D., the -life and soul of the sport-loving community, as he was also the idol of -the village and district for his skill, his unselfishness and his -unvarying _bonhomie_. - -"Budge!" exclaims the Doc. "As president of this club I fine you----" - -"I rise to a point of order!" breaks in the Judge. "This meeting is not -yet duly open, and, at all events, this is a special one, and -business of the regular order must be excluded. Referring to the -constitution----" - -"Oh, to thunder with the constitution! Let us get off on our hunt!" And -Tinker looks annihilation at the order pointer. - -"Well, well, fellows," laughs the Doc, "I shall rule partially in -favor of both. I shall rule that Budge do tell us his latest joke as a -penalty. Come now, prisoner, out with it and save your fine!" - -"Say, boys," begins Budge, deprecatingly, "don't insist. I'm sorry I -was late, but the fact is I was giving elaborate orders for the supper, -which I know it will be just my luck to get stuck for. One of my special -orders was to secure a magnificent roast and have it cooked in Ben -Jonson style." - -"Ben Jonson style? How is that?" queries the Doc. - -"'O, rare Ben Jonson!' There, Mr. President," he adds, when the laugh -ceases, "I believe that debt is squared." We have made out our list and -fixed points, ranging from chipmunk, 1, to bear, 1,000. - -"You leave out quail, I notice. Now that is an omission which----" - -But the Judge is cut short on all sides. - -"Out in the wild and woolly West, from whence you have but recently -emigrated to civilization and refinement," remarks the Doc, "quail are -about as plentiful as hedge sparrows are here. But a quail has not been -seen in this section for ten years, I'll venture to say. No, Judge, we -needn't point on quail this time!" - -"And yet," I observe in an encouraging tone, "who knows but we may each -and all happen on a covey." - -"That is extravagant. But if any man should be lucky enough to bag a -brace, that I may enjoy one more good square meal of quail on toast, -I'll stand the supper." And the Judge looked straight at Budge. - -"Now that is what I would call extravagant--supper for a whole party in -consideration of a dish of quail on toast. Suppose you yourself should -bag the brace. But this reminds me of the man who ordered quail on toast -in a Boston restaurant. He was brought in some toast. He waited a while. -Presently he called the waiter and repeated the order. 'There you are, -sir!' answered Thomas. 'That? That is toast, of course; but where's the -quail?' The waiter pointed to a small speck in the centre of each slice, -looking like a baked fly. 'Ah! so this dish is quail on toast, is it?' -'Yes, sir!' 'Then you just remove it and bring me turkey on toast!'" - -We draw lots for choice of directions, and fix 8 p. m. sharp for -reassembling to compare scores. My choice fell on a due north course, -along which, seven miles distant, lay cover where I had scarcely ever -failed to find at least fair sport and to take game, such as it was. And -I went it alone--barring my dog. - -[Illustration: 0142] - -Seven miles of hard footing it and I had only the brush of a couple of -red squirrels, the wing of a chicken hawk, and the lean carcass of a -small rabbit to show. I had sighted a fox far out of range, and had been -taken unawares by a brace of birds which Charlie had nobly flushed and I -had shockingly muffed. - -The dog had followed the birds deeper into the wood, leaving me -angry and uncertain what to do. Suddenly I heard his yelp of rage and -disappointment give place to his business bark, and I knew my pup had a -tree for me. It was a sound not to be mistaken. My dog never now plays -spoof with me by tonguing a tree for hair. His business bark means -partridge every time. I hurried on as the dog gave tongue more sharp and -peremptory, taking a skirt to avoid a tangled piece of underbrush as I -began-to approach the critical spot. - -The ruins of an old shanty lay fifty yards to my left, and between them -and me was a sort of _cache_ or root cellar, the sides intact but the -roof half gone. - -All of a sudden there broke on my ear a sound I had not heard for many a -day. - -I listened, almost dumfounded. There it is again! And no mistaking it. -It is the pipe of a quail! - -It came from a patch of meadow not many rods off, and it set every -nerve in my body a-tingling. Charlie and his partridges were out of mind -instanter. I had no manner of use for them at that supreme moment. - -"It's no stray bird!" I mentally ejaculated. "Perhaps it's a regular -Kansas covey!" Heavens, what luck! The boys--the Judge--quail on -toast--the laugh--the amazement--the consternation--I conjured all these -things up in my excited brain in less time than it takes to tell it. - -I started forward with every fibre a-tension. I was wild to get even a -glimpse of the little strangers. - -[Illustration: 0144] - -Suddenly--enough almost to puzzle me--the pipe was answered from the -mouth of the old potato pit, and the next instant "whir-r-r-r!" rose the -birds, and "bang! bang!" I gave them right and left at a range and with -a calculation that left three only to join and tell the tale to the -whistler in the meadow. Seven was the drop, and the birds were as plump -and pretty as ever I had set eyes on. I fairly chuckled aloud in glee -at the surprise I had in store for my club mates. I sat down, took a -congratulatory nip, and actually toyed with the quail as a boy would -with the first fruits of his initial day's outing with his own boughten -gun! - -My faithful dog Charlie had during this time stuck to his birds. I could -hear his angry bark growing angrier, and I could detect, as I fancied, -a shade of impatience and disappointment therein. A crack at a partridge -will be a change, I thought, and so I hurried in Charlie's direction. - -There he sat on a rotten stump, with eyes fixed on the brushy top of a -dead pine. - -I looked that top over, limb by limb, but not a sign of a feather could -I detect. I made a circuit, and skinned every twig aloft in a vain -endeavor to discover a roosting bird. I began to think the pup was daft, -but I dismissed the reflection promptly as ungenerous and unfair to my -trusty cocker. I make solemn affidavit that, though I could not note the -suggestion of a partridge up that pine, my spaniel could see it as plain -as a pike staff. - -"I'll climb the stump!" said I. _Mirabile dictu!_ There, on lower limbs, -one above the other and hugging the bark so close that they seemed part -of it, were my missed brace! - -"Bang!" and the topmost tumbles, nearly knocking his mate off as he -falls. - -"Bang!" and down comes No. 2. - -[Illustration: 8146] - -Charlie manifests a sense of relieved anxiety and satisfaction that of -itself rewards me for the perplexing search. - -But a drowsiness had been creeping over me till its influence had -become almost irresistible. I felt stupid and sleep-inclined. - -Almost without knowing what I did I pulled out my flask, poured "just a -nip" a fair portion in the cup and drank it off. The twilight was -coming on and casting its sombre shadows, _avant coureurs_ of the black -winter night that was soon to envelop the scene for a brief while, till -fair Luna lit up the heavens and chased Darkness to its gloomy lair. - -I have an indistinct recollection of recalling lines I have read -somewhere or other: - - When Life's last sun is sinking slow and sad, - - How cold and dark its lengthened shadows - - fall. - - They lie extended on the straightened path - - Whose narrow close, the grave, must end it - - all. - - Oh, Life so grudging in your gifts, redeem - - By one great boon the losses of the Past! - - Grant me a full imperishable Faith, - - And let the Light be with me till the last. - -Then all became a blank! - -* * * * * - -"Full? I never knew him to more than taste liquor. No, no! You're -mistaken. He has either been knocked senseless by some accident or -mischance, or else he has fallen in a fit." - -It was the Doc who spoke. I suddenly grew seized of consciousness to the -extent of recognizing my old friend's voice. But to indicate the fact -physically was impossible. I lay in a sort of trance, with lips that -would not open and hands that would not obey. - -"Oh, all right, Doc! You ought to know!" - -This time I caught the voice of the Judge. - -"But he is in a pitiable plight. We must get to him and move him or he -may perhaps perish, if he's not gone now. Drat that dog! I don't want -to shoot him; and yet he'll tear us if we try to lay hand on his master. -But lay hand on him we must. Is it a go, Doc?" - -"It's the only alternative, Judge. I like canine fidelity; but hang me -if this brute doesn't suit too well! We'll have to get him out of the -way and succor the man. Give it to him, Judge!" - -"Stop!" - -By a superhuman effort, through some agency I never could account for, -I managed to utter that one word in a sort of half expostulatory, half -authoritative tone, or rather groan. - -[Illustration: 0148] - -It broke the spell. - -My eyes opened. My arms regained power. Instinctively I reached out a -hand and drew my canine guardian toward me, placing a cheek against his -cold, moist nose. That was enough for Charlie. The faithful brute grew -wild with joy. He barked, whined, jumped, capered, pirouetted after his -own stump, and, in a word, did the most tremendous despite to all my -careful training in the line of reserved and dignified demeanor. - -I rose to a sitting posture and finally drew myself up on my feet, -gazing around me in a bewildered, uncertain sort of way. - -"Hello, boys, what's the matter?" I managed to articulate. - -"Hello, and what's the matter yourself?" replied the Doc. - -"Yes, that's precisely what we came out here to know," put in the Judge. - -"I guess--I think--yes, let me see!--I believe I--I--must have dropped -off in a little doze, boys! Very kind of you to look me up. Only--say, -you never surely meant to shoot my dog? I'd have haunted both of you -to your respective dying days if you had, supposing I was a cold corpse -instead of a man taking a little nap." - -"Taking a little nap! Hear him! I should rather say you were. But, look -here, Scrib, do your little naps always mean two or three hours of the -soundest sleep a man ever slept who wasn't dead or drugged?" - -"Dead or drugged, Doc? Pshaw, you're away off. You can see for yourself -I am not dead, and I can vow I wasn't drugged." - -"Then you've been intoxicated, by George; and as president of the -Blank-ville Gun Club I'll fine you----" - -"Quail, as I live!" - -"One--two--three; three brace and a half, Doc, and beauties, too! It -does my heart good to handle the darlings. Doc, if Scrib has been full -forty times to-day, he has more than atoned for the _lapsi_ with this -glorious bag. Whoop! Ya, ha! There'll be quail on toast for the whole -party." - -By the time the Judge's jubilation had ceased I had about regained my -normal condition and we were ready to make tracks homeward. - -The clock strikes the midnight hour as I re-enter my own home. My wife -sits rocking the cradle, in which lies our darling Ted. She turns a -weary-looking, tear-stained face to me. - -"Its all right, dear," I gently remark, "I'm quite safe, as you see." - -"I haven't the slightest doubt of it, sir," she returns, icily. "It's -not of you I've been thinking, but of baby." - -"Baby," I repeat inquiringly. "What is the matter with him?" - -"There is nothing the matter with him, but there is no telling what -might have been. And all owing to your foolish indulgence of his fancy -for bottles." - -"What does it mean, dear?" I venture. "It means that you had not been -gone an hour when I found Ted with that little two-ounce phial you left -half filled with laudanum on the lower pantry shelf yesterday. He had -evidently climbed a chair and reached it down. The cork was out and the -bottle was empty. You can perhaps imagine my feelings. I didn't know -whether he had taken the stuff or not, but was in an agony of anxiety on -the point, you may be sure. The doctor was away hunting, you were away -hunting, and here was I fairly consumed with apprehension lest my baby -had poisoned himself." - -Like a flash the whole mystery of my stupor sleep revealed itself to -me. "Baby barlo"--flask--laudanum phial--whiskey--it was all as clear as -day. - -I said: "But it transpires he hadn't taken any of the laudanum, eh?" - -"Yes, thank Heaven! But for all of you-----" - -"Listen, please. All I want to say is that what Ted missed I got. Do you -understand?" - -"Do _I_ understand! Are _you_ in your sane and sober senses, William?" - -"I have a shrewd suspicion that I am," I replied, with a slight laugh, -"and being so, I will repeat it: Baby didn't down the poison; but I -guess I made up for that, because _I did!_" - -Then I told her the story. - -Of course I gained my point. It ended with---- but, no matter. The Judge -stood the supper in consideration of quail on toast being incorporated -in the menu, and we sat around the festive board in the Queen's Arms -a week later, and talked over our Xmas Eve hunting match. No one was -disposed to question the sentiment in a speech by the Doc, who declared: -"Fellows, our prowess as a gun club is growing, and I verily believe -the old district is getting to be once more something like a half-decent -hunting ground. Let us keep together, be as men and brothers always, -and--I was nearly overlooking it--let us invariably wash out our pocket -pistols before filling 'em up afresh." - - - - -HERNE THE HUNTER, By William Perry Brown - - -|Herne the Hunter was tall, brown and grizzled. The extreme roundness -of his shoulders indicated strength rather than infirmity, while -the severing of his great neck at a blow would have made a feudal -executioner famous in his craft. An imaginative man might have divined -something comely beneath the complex conjunction of lines and ridges -that made up his features, but it would have been more by suggestion, -however, than by any actual resemblance to beauty traceable thereon. The -imprint of strength, severity and endurance was intensified by an open -contempt of appearance; only to a subtle second-sight was revealed aught -nobler, sweeter and sadder, like faint stars twinkling behind filmy -clouds. - -Some town-bred Nimrod, with a misty Shakespearean memory, had added to -his former patronymic of "Old Herne" that of Windsor's ghostly visitor. -The mountaineers saw the fitness of the title, and "Herne the Hunter" -became widely current. - -His place of abode was as ambiguous as his history, being somewhere -beyond the "Dismal," amid the upper caves and gorges of the Nantahalah. -The Dismal was a weird, wild region of brake and laurel, walled in by -lonely mountains, with a gruesome outlet between two great cliffs, -that nearly met in mid-air hundreds of feet over a sepulchral Canyon, -boulder-strewn, and thrashed by a sullen torrent, that led from a -dolorous labyrinth, gloomy at midday, and at night resonant with fierce -voices and sad sighings. - -Far down in Whippoorwill Cove, the mountaineers told savage tales of -adventure about the outskirts of the Dismal, yet, beyond trapping -round the edges or driving for deer, it was to a great extent a _terra -incognita_ to all, unless Herne the Hunter was excepted. - -"The devil air in the man, 'nd hopes him out'n places no hones' soul -keers to pester hisse'f long of." - -This was common opinion, though a few averred that "Old Herne 'nd the -devil wern't so master thick atter all." Said one: "Why, the dinged old -fool totes his Bible eroun' ez riglar ez he do his huntin'-shirt. Onct -when the parson wuz holdin' the big August meetin' down ter Ebeneezer -Meetin'-house, he stepped in. The meetin' was a gittin' ez cold ez hen's -feet, 'nd everybody a lookin' at Herne the Hunter, when down he draps -onto his knees, 'nd holdin' on by his rifle he 'gun ter pray like a -house afire. Wal, he prayed 'nd he prayed, 'twel the people, arter thur -skeer wuz over, 'gun ter pray 'nd shout too, 'nd fust they all knowed, -the front bench wuz plum full of mou'ners. Wal, they hed a hog-killin' -time fur a while, 'nd all sot on by Herne the Hunter, but when they -quieted down 'nd begun ter luk fer him--by jing!--he wern't thar. Nobody -hed seed him get erway, 'nd that set 'em ter thinkin', 'nd the yupshot -wuz they hed the bes' meetin' old Ebeneezer hed seed in many a year." - -Once a belated hunter discovered, when the fog came down, that he was -lost amid the upper gorges of the Nantahalahs. While searching for some -cranny wherein to pass the night, he heard a voice seemingly in mid-air -before him, far out over an abyss of seething vapor which he feared -concealed a portion of the dreaded Dismal. Memories of Herne the Hunter -crowded upon him, and he strove to retrace his steps, but fell into a -trail that led him to a cave which seemed to bar his further way. The -voice came nearer; his blood chilled as he distinguished imprecations, -prayers and entreaties chaotically mingled, and all the while -approaching him. He fled into the cave, and peering thence, beheld a -shadowy form loom through the mist, gesticulating as it came. - -A whiff blew aside shreds of the fog, and he saw Herne the Hunter on the -verge of a dizzy cliff, shaking his long rifle, his hair disheveled, his -eyes dry and fiery, and his huge frame convulsed by the emotions that -dominated him. The very fury and pathos of his passion were terrifying, -and the watcher shrank back as old Herne, suddenly dropping his rifle, -clutched at the empty air, then paused dejectedly. - -"Always thus!" he said, in a tone of deep melancholy. "Divine in -form--transfigured--beautiful--oh, so beautiful!--yet ever with the same -accursed face. I have prayed over these visitations. I, have sought in -God's word that confirmation of my hope which should yet save me from -despair; but, when rising from my supplications, the blest -vision confronts me--the curse is ever there--thwarting its -loveliness--reminding me of what was, but will never be again." - -He drew a tattered Bible from his bosom and searched it intently. He was -a sight at once forbidding and piteous, as he stood with wind-fluttered -garments, his foot upon the edge of a frightful precipice, his head bent -over the book as though devouring with his eyes some sacred antidote -against the potency of his sorrow. Then he looked up, and the Bible fell -from his hands. His eyes became fixed; he again clutched at the air, -then fell back with a despairing gesture, averting his face the while. - -"Out of my sight!" he cried. "Your eyes are lightning, and your smile is -death. I will have no more of you--no more! And yet--O God! O God!--what -dare I--what can I do without you?" - -He staggered back and made directly for the cavern. The watcher shrank -back, while Herne the Hunter brushed blindly by, leaving Bible and rifle -on the rock without. Then the wanderer, slipping out, fled down the -narrow trail as though there were less peril from the dizzy cliffs -around than in the society of the strange man whose fancies peopled -these solitudes with such soul-harrowing phantoms. - -Thus for years Herne the Hunter had been a mystery, a fear, and a -fascination to the mountaineers; recoiling from men, abhorring women, -rebuffing curiosity, yet' at times strangely tender, sad, and ever -morbidly religious. He clung to his Bible as his last earthly refuge -from his darker self, and to the aspirations it engendered as a bane to -the fatalistic stirrings within him. - -He was a mighty hunter and lived upon the proceeds of his skill. Once -or twice a year he would appear at some mountain store, fling down a -package of skins, and demand its worth in powder and lead. The jean-clad -loungers would regard him askance, few venturing to idly speak with -him, and none repeating the experiment. His mien daunted the boldest. If -women were there he would stand aloof until they left; on meeting them -in the road he would sternly avert his eyes as though from a distasteful -presence. One day the wife of a storekeeper, waiting on him in her -husband's absence, ventured to say, while wrapping up his purchases: - -"I've all'ays wonnered, Mr. Herne, what makes ye wanter git outen the -wimmen folks' way? Mos' men likes ter have 'em eroun'." - -Herne the Hunter frowned heavily, but made no reply. - -"I'm shore, if ye had a good wife long with ye way up thar whur ye -live, she'd make ye a leetle more like a man 'nd less like a--a--" she -hesitated over a term which might censure yet not give offense. - -"Like a beast you would say." He exclaimed then with vehemence: "Were -the necks of all women in one, and had I my hands on it, I'd strangle -them all, though hell were their portion thereafter." - -He made a gesture as of throttling a giant, snatched his bundle from the -woman's hand and took himself off up the road with long strides. - -***** - -That night was a stormy one. Herne the Hunter was covering the last ten -miles between him and the Dismal in a pelting rain. The incident at the -store, trivial as it was, had set his blood aflame. He prayed and fought -against himself, oblivious of the elements and the darkness, sheltering -his powder beneath his shirt of skins where his Bible lay secure. In his -ears was the roar of wind and the groans of the tortured forest. Dark -ravines yawned beside him, out of which the wolf howled and the mountain -owl laughed; and once came a scream like a child, yet stronger and more -prolonged. He knew the panther's voice, yet he heeded nothing. - -At last another cry, unmistakably human, rose nearer by. Then he paused, -like a hound over a fresher scent, until it was repeated. He made his -way around a shoulder of the mountain, and aided by the gray light of a -cloud-hidden moon, approached the figures of a woman, a boy and a horse, -all three dripping and motionless. - -"Thank God! we will not die here, after all," exclaimed the female, as -Herne the Hunter grimly regarded them. "Oh, sir, we have missed the -way. This boy was guiding me to the survey camp of Captain Renfro, my -husband, on the upper Swananoa. He has sprained his foot, and we have -been lost for hours. Can you take us to a place of shelter? I will pay -you well--" - -"I hear a voice from the pit," said Herne, fiercely. "It is the way with -your sex. You think, though you sink the world, that with money you can -scale Heaven. Stay here--rot--starve--perish--what care I!" - -After this amazing outburst he turned away, but her terror of the night -overbore her fear of this strange repulse, and she grasped his arm. He -shook himself free, though the thrill accompanying her clasp staggered -him. For years no woman's hand had touched him; but at this rebuff she -sank down, crying brokenly: - -"What shall I do? I should not have started. They warned me below, but I -thought the boy knew the way. Oh, sir! if you have a heart, do not leave -us here." - -"A heart!" he cried. "What's that? A piece of flesh that breeds endless -woes in bosoms such as yours. All men's should be of stone--as mine -is now!" He paused, then said abruptly: "Up with you and follow me. I -neither pity nor sympathize; but for the sake of her who bore me, I will -give you such shelter as I have." - -He picked up the boy, who, knowing him, had sat stupefied with fear, and -bade the woman follow him. - -"But the horse?" she said, hesitating. - -"Leave it," he replied. "The brute is the best among you, but whither we -go no horse may follow." - -He turned, taking up the boy in his arms, and she dumbly followed him, -trembling, faint, yet nerved by her fears to unusual exertion. So rapid -was his gait, encumbered though he was, that she kept him in view with -difficulty. Through the gloom she could divine the perils that environed -their ever upward way. The grinding of stricken trees, the brawl of -swollen waters harrowed her nerves not less than the partial gleams -of unmeasured heights and depths revealed by the lightning. A sense of -helplessness exaggerated these terrors among the unknown possibilities -surrounding her. - -It seemed as though they would never stop again. Her limbs trembled, her -heart thumped suffocatingly, yet their guide gave no heed, but pressed -on as though no shivering woman pantingly dogged his steps. They -traveled thus for several miles. She felt herself giving way totally -when, on looking up once more, she saw that the hunter had vanished. - -"Where am I?" she cried, and a voice, issuing seemingly out of the -mountain-side, bade her come on. Her hands struck a wall of rock; on her -right a precipice yawned; so, groping toward the left, she felt as she -advanced that she was leaving the outer air; the wind and rain no longer -beat upon her, yet the darkness was intense. - -She heard the voice of the boy calling upon her to keep near. Into the -bowels of the mountains she felt her way until a gleam of light shone -ahead. She hastened forward round a shoulder of rock into a roomy -aperture branching from the main cavern. The boy lay upon a pallet of -skins, while Herne the Hunter fixed the flaring pine-knot he had lighted -into a crevice of the rock. Then he started a fire, drew out of another -crevice some cold cooked meat and filled a gourd with water from a -spring that trickled out at one end of the cave. - -"Eat," he said, waving his hand. "Eat--that ye may not die. The more -unfit to live, the less prepared for death. Eat!" - -With that he turned away and busied himself in bathing and bandaging the -boy's foot, which, though not severely sprained, was for the time quite -painful. Mrs. Renfro now threw back the hood of her waterproof and laid -the cloak aside. Even old Herne--women hater that he was--could not -have found fault with the matronly beauty of her face, unless with its -expression of self-satisfied worldliness, as of one who judged others -and herself solely by conventional standards, shaped largely by flattery -and conceit. - -She was hungry--her fears were somewhat allayed, and though rather -disgusted at such coarse diet, ate and drank with some relish. -Meanwhile, Herne the Hunter turned from the boy for something, and -beheld her face for the first time. A water-gourd fell from his hands, -his eyes dilated, and he crouched as he gazed like a panther before its -unsuspecting prey. Every fibre of his frame quivered, and drops of cold -sweat stood out upon his forehead. The boy saw with renewed fear this -new phase of old Herne's dreaded idiosyncrasies. Mrs. Renfro at length -raised her eyes and beheld him thus. Instantly he placed his hands -before his face, and abruptly left the cavern. Alarmed at his -appearance, she ran toward the boy, exclaiming: - -"What _can_ be the matter with him? Do you know him?" - -"I knows more of him 'n I wants ter," replied the lad. "Oh, marm, that's -old Herne, 'nd we uns air the fust ones ez hev be'n in hyar whar he -stays. I ganny! I thort shore he'd hev yeaten ye up." - -"Well, but who is he?" - -"Well, they do say ez the devil yowns him, not but what he air -powerful 'ligyus. No one knows much 'bouten him, 'cep'n' he's all'ays a -projeckin' eround the Dismal whar no one yelse wants ter be." - -"Has he been here long?" - -"Yurs 'nd yurs, they say." Tommy shook his head as though unable to -measure the years during which Herne the Hunter had been acquiring his -present unsavory reputation, but solved the riddle by exclaiming: "I -reckon he hev all'ays be'n that-a-way." - -An hour or more passed. Tommy fell asleep, while the lady sat musing by -his side. She did not feel like sleeping, though much fatigued. Finally -she heard a deep sigh behind her, and turning saw the object of her -fears regarding her sombrely. The sight of her face appeared to shock -him, for he turned half away as he said: - -"You have eaten the food that is the curse of life, in that it sustains -it. Yet such we are. Sleep, therefore, for you have weary miles to go, -ere you can reach the Swananoa." - -There was an indescribable sadness in his tone that touched her, and she -regarded him curiously. - -"Who are you," she asked, "and why do you choose to live in such a place -as this?" - -"Ask naught of me," he said, with an energy he seemed unable to repress. -"Ask rather of yourself who am I and how came I--thus." - -He struck himself upon the breast, and without awaiting an answer again -abruptly left the cave. She sat there wondering, trying to-weave into -definite shape certain vague impressions suggested by his presence, -until weariness overcame her and she slept. - -Hours after, Herne the Hunter reentered the cave, bearing a torch. His -garments were wet, the rain-drops clung to his hair, and his face was -more haggard than ever. He advanced towards the slumbering woman softly, -and stood over her, gazing mournfully upon her, while large tears rolled -down his cheeks. Then his expression changed to one that was stern and -vindictive. His hand nervously toyed with the knife in his belt. Milder -thoughts again seemed to sway him, and his features worked twitchingly. - -"I cannot, I cannot," he whispered to himself. "The tears I thought -forever banished from these eyes return at this sight. There has never -been another who could so move me. Though thou hast been my curse, and -art yet my hell--I cannot do it. Come! protector of my soul; stand thou -between me and all murderous thoughts!" - -He drew his Bible from his bosom, kissed it convulsively, then held it -as though to guard her from himself, and drawing backward slowly, he -again fled into the storm and darkness without. - -***** - -The gray light of morning rose over the Dismal, though within the cave -the gloom still reigned supreme, when Herne the Hunter again stood at -the entrance holding a flaring light. Then he said aloud: "Wake, you -that sleep under the shadow of death! Wake, eat, and--pass on!" Mrs. -Renfro aroused herself. The boy, however, slept on. Herne fixed -his torch in the wall, and replenished the fire. Then he withdrew, -apparently to give the lady privacy in making her toilet. - -She was stiff in limb and depressed in mind. After washing at the -spring, she wandered listlessly about the cave, surveying old Herne's -scanty store of comforts. Suddenly she paused before a faded picture, -framed in long, withered moss, that clung to an abutment of the rock. -It was that of a girl, fair, slender and ethereal. There was a wealth of -hair, large eyes, and features so faultless that the witching sense of -self-satisfaction permeating them, added to rather than marred their -loveliness. - -The lady--glancing indifferently--suddenly felt a thrill and a pain. -A deadly sense of recognition nearly overcame her, as this -memento--confronting her like a resurrected chapter of the past--made -clear the hitherto inexplicable behavior of their host. She recovered, -and looked upon it tenderly, then shook her head gently and sighed. - -"You cannot recognize it!" said a deep voice behind her. "You dare -not! For the sake of your conscience--your hope in heaven--your fear of -hell--you dare not recognize and look upon me!" - -She did not look round, though she knew that Herne the Hunter stood -frowning behind, but trembled in silence as he went on with increasing -energy: - -"What does that face remind you of? See you aught beneath that beauty -but treachery without pity, duplicity without shame? Lo! the pity and -the shame you should have felt have recoiled upon me--me, who alone have -suffered." He broke off abruptly, as though choked by emotion. She dared -not face him; she felt incapable of a reply. After a pause, he resumed, -passionately: "Oh! Alice, Alice! The dead rest, yet the living dead can -only endure. Amid these crags, and throughout the solitude of years, I -have fought and refought the same old battle; but with each victory it -returns upon me, strengthened by defeat, while with me all grows weaker -but the remorselessness of memory and the capacity for pain." - -She still stood, with bowed head, shivering as though his words were -blows. - -"Have you nothing to say?" he asked. "Does that picture of your own -youth recall no vanished tenderness for one who--self-outcast of -men--fell to that pass through you?" - -"I have a husband," she murmured, almost in a whisper. - -"Aye, and because of that husband I have no wife--no wife--no wife!" -His wailing repetition seemed absolutely heartbroken; but sternly he -continued: "You have told me where he is. I say to you--hide -him--hide him from me! Even this"--he struck his bosom with his Bible -feverishly--"may not save him. I have prayed and wrought, but it is as -nothing--nothing--when I think--when I remember. Therefore, hide him -from me--lest I slay him--" - -"You would not--you dare not harm him!" She faced him now, a splendid -picture of an aroused wife and mother. "He is not to blame--he knew you -not--he has been good to me--and--and--I love him." - -He shrank from the last words as though from a blow, and stood cowering. -Then he hissed out: - -"Let me not find him. Hide him--hide him!" - -Tommy here awoke with a yawn, and announced that his foot was about -well. Herne, closing his lips, busied himself about preparing breakfast, -which cheerless meal was eaten in silence. When they finally emerged -from the cave the sun was peeping into the Dismal below them; bright -gleams chased the dark shadows down the cliffs, and the morning mists -were melting. The storm was over; there was a twitter of birds, the -tinkle of an overflowing burn, and a squirrel's bark emphasizing the -freshness of the morn. The pure air entered the lips like wine, and Mrs. -Renfro felt her depression roll off as they retraced the devious trail -of the night before. - -They found the lady's horse standing dejectedly near where he had been -left. The fog, in vast rolls, was climbing out of the Dismal, disclosing -dark masses of forest below. The flavor of pine and balsam slept -beneath the trees, every grass blade was diamond-strewn, and every sound -vivified by the sense of mighty walls and unsounded depths. - -After Mrs. Renfro had mounted, Herne the Hunter swept an arm around. The -scene was savage and sombre, despite the sunlight. The intensity of the -solitude about them dragged upon the mind like a weight. - -"Behold," he said sadly, "this is my world. I can tolerate no other." - -She inwardly shuddered; then a wave of old associations swept over her -mind. Beneath the austerity of the man, beyond his selfish nurture of -affliction, she--for the moment--remembered him as he once was, homely, -kindly, enthusiastic and true. Had _she_ indeed changed him to this? Or -was it not rather the imperativeness of a passion, unable to endure -or forget her preference of another? Whatever the cause, her heart now -ached for him, though she feared him. - -"Come with us," she said. "You were not made to live thus." - -"I cannot--I dare not. It will take months to undo the misery of this -meeting." - -"My husband--" - -"Do not name him!" he cried fiercely; then abruptly lowering his tone, -he said, with infinite sadness: "Ask me no more. Yonder, by that white -cliff, lies the Swan-anoa trail you missed yesterday. The kindest thing -you can do is to forget that you have seen me. Farewell!" - -He turned away and swung himself down the mountain-side into the Dismal. -She saw the rolling mists close over him, and remained motionless in a -reverie so deep that the boy spoke twice to her before she turned her -horse's head and followed him. - -* * * * * - -Above the surveyor's camp lay the Swananoa Gap, a gloomy, precipitous -gorge through which the river lashed itself into milder reaches below. -Mrs. Renfro found her husband absent. With a single assistant he had -started for the upper defiles, intending to be gone several days. They -told her that he would endeavor to secure the services of Herne the -Hunter as a guide, as one knowing more of that wilderness than any one -else. - -Here was fresh food for wifely alarm. Herne had never met her husband, -yet the latter's name would make known his relationship to herself. She -shuddered over the possibilities that might result from their sojourn -together--far from aid--in those wild mountains, and made herself -wretched for a week in consequence. - -Meanwhile the transient fine weather passed; the rains once more -descended, and the peaks of Nantahalah were invisible for days amid a -whirl of vapor. The boom of the river, the grinding of forest limbs, -the shriek of the wind, made life unusually dreary at the camp. She lay -awake one night when the elements were apparently doing their worst. Her -husband was still absent--perhaps alone with a possible maniac, raving -over the memory of fancied wrongs. - -Finally another sound mingled with and at last overmastered all -others--something between a crash and a roar, interblended with -sullen jars and grindings. Near and nearer it came. She sprang to the -tent-floor and found her feet in the water. The darkness was intense. -What could be the matter? Fear overcame her resolution and she shrieked -aloud. - -A man bearing a lantern burst into the tent with a hoarse cry. Its -gleams showed her Herne the Hunter, drenched, draggled, a ghastly cut -across his face, with the blood streaming down, his long hair flying, -and in his eyes a fierce flame. - -"I feared I would not find you," he shouted, for the roar without was -now appalling. "It is a cloud-burst above. In five minutes this hollow -will be fathoms deep. The tents lower down are already gone. Come!" - -He had seized and was bearing her out. - -"Save--alarm the others!" she cried. - -"You first--Alice." - -In that dread moment she detected the hopelessness with which he called -her thus, as though such recognition was wrung from his lips by the pain -he hugged, even while it rended him. - -"My husband?" she gasped, growing faint over the thought of his possible -peril--or death. - -"Safe," he hissed through his clenched teeth, for his exertions were -tremendous. With a fierce flap the tent was swept away as they left -it. About his knees the waters swirled, while limbs and other floating -debris swept furiously by. - -What seemed to her minutes--though really seconds--passed amid a -terrific jumble of sounds, while the rain fell in sheets. It seemed -as though the invisible mountains were dissolving. They were, however, -slowly rising above the floods. She heard Herne's hard breathing, and -felt his wild heart-throbs as he held her close. Something heavy struck -them, or rather him, for he shielded her. One of his arms fell limp, and -he groaned heavily. Then she swooned away, with a fleeting sensation of -being grasped by some one else. - -Later, when she revived, there was a great hush in the air. Below, the -river gently brawled-; there was a misty darkness around, and the gleam -of a lantern held before a dear and familiar form. - -"Husband--is it you?" she murmured. - -"Yes, yes," said Captain Renfro, "I thought I had lost you. You owe -your life to Herne the Hunter. In fact, but for him I would have been -overwhelmed myself." - -"Where is he?" she asked feebly. - -"The men are searching for him. Just as one of them got hold of you, he -fell back--something must have struck him, and the flood swept him off. -I tell you, Alice, that man--crazy or not--is a hero. We were on our way -down and had camped above the Gap, when the cloud-burst came. We knew -you all would be overwhelmed before we could get round here by the -trail; so what does Herne do but send us on horseback by land, while -he scoots down that Canyon in a canoe--little better than an eggshell. -Risked his life in that awful place to get here in time. I insisted on -going with him at first." - -"Just like you, George," said the wife fondly, though in her mind's eye -came a vision of Herne the Hunter battling with that Niagara to save -and unite the two, through whom his own life had been made a burden. She -sighed and clasped her husband's hand, while he resumed: - -"I was a fool, I expect, for the canoe would have swamped under both of -us. He knew this, and ordered me off with a look I did not like; -there was madness in it. Well, we hurried round by the trail with, one -lantern; Herne took the other. When we got here, you were apparently -dead, Herne and two of the men swept off--the camp gone from below, and -so on." - -A cry was now heard. Several men hastened down, and soon lights were -seen returning. Four of them bore Herne the Hunter. One arm and a leg -were broken, and his skull crushed in; yet the wonderful vitality of the -man had kept him alive and sensible. - -"We found him clinging to a sapling," said one. "But he's about -gone--poor fellow!" - -Poor fellow, indeed! Mrs. Renfro felt the lumps rise in her throat as -she gazed upon that wreck, and thought. Presently Herne opened his -eyes--already filling with the death-mist--and his gaze fell upon her -face. - -"Alice," he whispered, "my troubles--are over. This"--he tugged at -something in his bosom with his uninjured arm, when some one drew forth -his Bible, drenched and torn--"this saved me. I could have killed him--" -he glanced at Renfro, who amid his pity now wondered. "I could--but--I -saved you. And--now--Jesus--have mercy--" - -These were his last words, for in another minute Herne the Hunter was a -thing of the past, and a weeping woman bent over him. After that there -was silence for a while. Then the wife said to her husband, while the -others removed the dead man: - -"It was his misfortune, not my fault, that he loved me. Has he not made -amends?" - -And the husband, with his hands clasped in hers, could find no other -heart than to say: - -"Aye--most nobly!" - - - - -UNCLE DUKE'S "B'AR" STORY, By Lillian Gilfillan - - -|I 'LOWED ez mebbe you uns ud like ter hear thet thar b'ar story. I -reckon it's ten year this December since it all happened. I war a-livin' -up in thet house on th' edge uv th' corn fiel' 'long side th' branch, -an' ef it 't'warn't fer thet b'ar I'd be a-livin' thar yet, 'stead uv -a-settin' in th' warm corner uv Jim Ladd's fireplace. - -I 'low ez yer knowed Jim didn't hev no great sight uv worldly efects -when he married Becky Crabtree; I don't reckon his daddy war able ter do -much fer him, 'ceptin' 'lowin' him the use uv thet yoke uv ole steers uv -his'n. - -Thet war afore they moved th' mill out'n th' holler yander, so it war -right handy fer Jim ter haul his logs ter, an' he jes' worked hisse'f -plumb nigh ter death a-gettin' up thet leetle log house uv his'n, an' -a-plantin' fruit trees an' sech, an' all summer Becky worked jes' ez -hard a-berry pickin', tendin' her truck patch an' a-peddlin' up ter th' -station. - -An' in th' winter time when Jim war a-makin' dish shelves an' a-puttin' -some new splits inter th' bottoms uv them ole chiers his daddy give him, -Becky war a-peecin' quilts an' a-spinnin' cloth fer dresses. Waal, in -th' spring they war married an' went ter live in ther house on th' side -uv th' mounting, out'n no neighbors, 'ceptin' me, fer a mile or more -down th' cove. - -Thet war th' spring I war tuck so bad with this misery in my back an' -afore summer I war so cript up I warn't no 'count whatever. - -One mornin' jes' ez I war a gettin' up from afore the fire whar I hed -been a-eatin' a snack uv breakfast, Becky walked in, lookin' ez fresh ez -a fiel' uv early corn, and sez: - -"Uncle Duke, I 'lowed I'd come in an' see how you war an' rid up a -leetle fur yer." - -I h'ant never been used ter wimen folks, an' I could'nt git th' consent -uv my mind ter set by an' see every thin' pot out'n its nat'ral place, -so I reched my stick an' out'n sayin' nothin' I riz up an' went out -under th' big gum tree. - -It warn't long afore Becky kem out with her bucket on her arm, an' sez: - -"Good-bye, Uncle Duke. I reckon I'll be a-gittin' along ter th' berry -patch yan-der." - -I sed, "Thank yer, Becky. Don't yer come no more ter tend ter me. I 'low -you's got a plenty ter do 'out'n a-doin' thet." - -Yer see, I didn't want ter be pestered with her fixin', yit she was so -obleegin' ter everybody I didn't want ter 'fend her by axin' her ter -stay ter hum. Waal, when I went in an' seed how piert things looked, I -jes' wished I'd a-kep' my pipe in my mouth 'stead uv a-jawin' her. Spite -uv my sayin' time an' ag'in fer her ter rest when her own work war done, -she kep' a-comin'. I 'lowed she seed how much I enjoyed havin' things -liken white folks lived in the house. - -I 'low she war jes' ez bright an' happy thet year ez enny woman in the -cove ez hed a plenty. - -An' summer an' winter she 'peared ter be always a-workin'. - -Waal in th' middle uv March leetle Jim kem, and I reckon thar warn't -no two happier people in th' world. They war proud uv thet baby, an' no -mistake. - -The fust time I seed Becky arter it war born, she pulled a leetle hand -out'n from under th' kiver an' sez: - -"Uncle Duke, some day thet leetle han'll chop wood fur his mammy." - -Waal, it did'nt look much like handlin' an axe thin. - -Thet summer she use ter roll th' baby up in her daddie's ole army -blanket an' take it with her berry pickin' an' peddlin' an' everywhars; -it 'peared like she didn't think its weight nothin', un' she'd go -'long th' road talkin' ter it like ez ef a baby four months ole knowed -ennythin'. With th' money from her berries she bought th' winter -clothes--mostely things fur th' baby an' flannel shirts fur her -man--'peared like she thought th' cold wouldn't tech her. - -It war th' last uv th' next June thet th' twins war born. This time -Becky didn't seem ter git 'long so piert--jes' lay still an' pale like, -an' a lookin' at the baby gals sad an' pityin'. I reckon she war a -wonderin' whar th' warm winter clothes they'd need by' an' by' war -ter be got from. It warn't in reason ter 'spose a woman could tote two -babies an' do much at pickin' berries. - -Jim worked ez hard ez enny man could, but his ole mare died jist at -fodder pickin' time, an' he couldn't do much out'n a critter, so a right -smart uv his crap war lost. Becky didn't seem ter get strong ez she did -afore, an' her sister up an' left her sooner 'en she oughter. She seemed -tar be kinder mad all th' time ter think Becky had gone an' hed twins, -an' she didn't keep her 'pinions hid. I reckon Becky warn't sorry when -she went back ter her man. - -Ez I war a-sayin', it war ten year ago this December, an' a right smart -uv snow on th' ground, when Becky came by my house one mornin' ter ax me -ef I'd go down an' watch th' fire an' leetle Jim fer a spell. I seed she -war lookin' anxious like, an' I axed her what war th' matter. -"Jim went a-rabbit huntin' yesterday evenin'," she sed, "an' he ain't -kem hum yit; I reckon somethin' hes happened ter him, an' I 'lowed I'd -go an' see. The babies ez both asleep an' I speck ter be home afore -long." - -She went on up th' mounting path a-makin' fur the top, a-holpin' herse'f -over the sleek places with that hickory stick uv her'n. - -I went on down ter th' house an' found leetle Jim a-noddin' afore th' -fire. It war about'n th' time he always tuck his nap. Pretty soon he -war ez sound asleep ez ef he war on th' biggest feather bed in th' cove, -'stead uv jes' his mammy's cook apron under his little yaller head. - -I pot on a fresh log an' was mighty nigh asleep myse'f when one o' th' -babies waked up an' cried a leetle. - -Somehow I got th' cradle in an awk'ard place acrost a plank ez war all -warped up an' th' churnin' back an' fore waked up th' t'other 'un. -She jes' lay thar a-look-in' fust at me an' then at her leetle sister, -kinder onsartin whether ter cry or not. - -By an' by I thought I'd holp her back ter sleep, so I tuck her leetle -han' an' tried ter pot her thumb in ter her mouth, but thar warn't -nobody knowed enny better thin thet thar baby thet she didn't want no -thumb feedin'. I got up an' went fur some milk, fust a-lookin' out'n th' -door ter see ef Becky war a-comin'. - -Seein' ez thar warn't no sign uv her no-whar, I 'lowed I try ter feed -th' young uns, beein's th' both uv them war a-doin' ther best at cryin'. - -They didn't seem ter take much ter my feedin'; I reckon thet war 'cause -I didn't set th' milk afore th' fire fust, an' somehow it 'peared like' -th' milk most in general went down th' outside uv ther necks; an' Annie -(that war th' little un) kept a chokin' tell I had ter take her up. Jes' -ez soon ez thet leetle critter got whar she could look 'round an' sense -things, she 'peared quite satisfied. - -I managed ter git t'other un (Fannie) out'n the cradle. They jumped an' -twisted tell I thought I'd die uv the misery in my back, but whin I pot -them down they yelled like hallelujer! - -'Peard like they'd kept me a-dancin' a powerful long time, whin I heerd -voices an' I 'lowed Becky war come, but it turned out ter be Mitch -Pendergrass an' Sonk Levan, with some rabbits an' ther guns. They hed -stopped by ter git warm. - -Whin they seed me a-settin' thar nussin' two babies ter onct they bust -out larfin'. Fannie hed holt uv my left year an' the leetle hair I hed -on my head. Annie war a-sittin' on my knee a gazin' at Sonk an' Mitch, -a-wonderin' why they war a-larfin'. - -"I 'low, Uncle Duke," sez Sonk, "ez yer've tuck ter lamin' nussin' late -in life. It shows yer pluck ter commence on two ter onct. Whar's Becky?" - -"She air gone ter look fer Jim," sez I. "He went out a-huntin' last -night an' he ain't never come hum this mornin'. She war oneasy 'bout him -an' went out ter look fur him. 'Lowed ez she'd be hum afore this." - -Mitch went ter the door an' looked out an' thin cornin' back ter th' -fire, sez he: - -"It's arter twelve o'clock, nigh ez I kin calkerlate. Thar seems ter be -a big black cloud a-hangin' over th' Top. - -"Becky ought'en ter be out in no sich. I reckon we'd better be a-movin'. -Mebbe Jim's happened ter an acci_tent_ an' she's a-tryin' ter holp him -by herse'f. - -"She's plucky, _she_ is." - -"Waal," sez Sonk, "Mitch, you give Uncle Duke a lesson in baby feedin' -(the father uv ten ought'n ter know somethin' bout'n thet business); -I'll tote in enough wood ter burn a spell, an' thin we'll light out'n -hyar an' hunt up Becky an' Jim." Arter Mitch's learnin' me ter hold th' -spoon un' ter warm th' milk an' ter pot in sweetenin' me an' th' babies -got on fine. Soon I hed them both sleepin', kivered up ter th' years, -an' th' cradle sot in a warm place. Then I began ter feel powerful -hungry, an' leetle Jim, though he ain't sed nothin', hed been a-watchin' -thet thar spoon an' milk cup while I fed th' babies, an' a openin' his -mouth long side uf them. - -I skun one uv Sonk's rabbits, an' it warn't no time tel th' corn bread -war a-cookin' in th' bake pan an' th' rabbit a-jumpin' up in th' grease. - -Arter dinner Jim set on my knee jes' ez quiet, never axin' fer his mammy -onct, an' thim babies slept on jes' like they knowed they war twins -an' ther mammy gone. Pretty soon it began ter get dark an' th' snow war -a-fallin' ag'in a leetle. Jim went ter sleep an' I pot him ter bed. The -time 'peared ter go powerful slow arter that, an' I began ter nod. - -It must have been eight o'clock whin voices in th' yard waked me. I -opened th' door an' Mitch called out: - -"Stir up the fire an' give us a leetle more light. Thar ain't no bones -broke, but Jim don't feel egsactly piert." - -They brung him in an' his face war jes' ez pale an' he looked powerful -weak. - -Most of his coat war tore of'en him an' th' blood war a-droppin' from -a place in his arm. Becky looked plumb wore out, but th' fust thin' she -did soon ez Jim war on th' bed war ter lean over th' cradle an' sez: - -"Uncle Duke, war my babies good?" - -"Jes' ez good ez two leetle angels," I sed, spitin' th' fact th' side uv -my head war pretty sore from ther pullin' an' scratchin'. - -She helped ter git Jim's arm wrapped up an' him warm in bed, an' thin -began ter get supper, like nothin' hed happened out'n th' common. Whin I -seed how pale she looked, I sed: - -"Jus' yer git out th' plates an' I'll tend the fire. I 'low arter -cookin' fer nigh thirty year, I kin git a snack yer can eat." - -It twarn't long until another rabbit war in th' pan an' th' coffee -a-boilin'. Jim looked up whin he smelt the cookin' an' sez: - -"I reckon we'll hev a little bigger meat fer to-morrow." - -I war jes' ez curious ez enny ole woman, but everybody was so tired an' -hungry I didn't ax anny questions. - -Becky war a-sittin' in a low chier afore th' fire with leetle Jim on her -lap a-warm-in' his leetle feet in her han'. I could see th' tears war -a-chasin' each other down her face. - -Mon! but they did eat. Jim, too, and I had' ter git th' cold meat left -from dinner ter hev enough. - -When they hed got up from th' table Sonk sed: - -"Mitch, your wife'll need you with all thim chil'n; I 'low you'd better -be a-goin'. I reckon I'll stop hyer; step by an' tell Sallie ter hev -breakfast early, an' tell leetle Lular pappy'll be home in th' mornin'. -You hev th' mules ready early; I am afeard uv th' varmints a-gittin' -Becky's game." - -Arter Mitch war gone an' things picked up they told me ther story. - -'Pears like thar warn't no trouble in a trackin' Becky up ter th' top, -an' they found her a-tryin' ter work Jim out'n a hole in th' bluff. - -Th' night afore, jes' ez Jim war a-makin' fur hum with his game, he hed -run agin' a big b'ar. He up an' fired, but missed, it bein' most dark. -The b'ar war on him afore he could load agin, an' makin' a pass at him -with its big paw, knocked th' musket out'n his han's an' bruck it plumb -in two. Jim hed jes' time ter make up a saplin' an' Mr. B'ar set down -under him ter bide his time. - -He sot thar a long spell, an' it war most midnight, nigh ez Jim could -tell, whin the b'ar made off an' lay down, seein' Jim warn't willin' ter -come down an' be et. Waal, Jim decided thin he would come down an' run -fur it, 'lowin' a hot chase war better'n freezin' up thar. So down he -dumb an' lit out, Mr. B'ar arter him. Jes' ez they struck the bluff path -the b'ar got so near thet it riz up an' grabbed him. Jim bein' quick -got away, leavin' Mr. B'ar most uv his coat ter 'member him by, but in -backin' away he wint too far an' fell inter a crack in th' bluff. - -It warn't very nice failin', but the crack warn't over four feet deep -an' full uv leaves at the bottom, so bein' out'n the wind they made a -more comfortable place ter spend th' night in then th' saplin'. - -Pretty soon Jim hed occasion ter know he war hurt some. - -The bar had tore his left arm right smart an' in fallin' his face hed -got skun up dreadful. Th' b'ar walked up an' down, a-smellin' down thet -crack sorter much like, but by-an'-by he went off a leetle an' lay down, -I spect arguin' with hisse'f thet Jim would come out'n th' hole liken he -did out'n th' saplin.' - -Jim wrapped up his arm the best he could with a piece uv his shirt -sleeve. - -It war daylight when he waked an' th' fust thin' he seed war th' head uv -thet thar b'ar a-lookin' down at him. - -He knowed it war'n't no use ter holler, so he jes' lay thar thinkin' -'bout Becky an' th' babies an' leetle Jim--wonderin' ef she'd think he'd -quit her. - -The thought uv Becky's thinkin' enny bad uv him made him groan with a -new kind uv pain, an' whin he moved a leetle he fainted away. I reckon -thet war jes' 'bout'n th' time Becky got thar, fer she said she heerd a -groan down in thet hole an' thin all war still. She war jes' a-goin' ter -call whin she spied thet b'ar a-lookin' down inter th' crack. - -'Bout ten foot to th' left uv whar Jim war fust the mounting breaks -away, leavin' a pres'pus uv forty foot or more, but thar's a leetle -ledge at th' top whar you kin look inter thet crack in th' bluff. - -It war fur thet leetle ledge the b'ar made jes' ez Becky halted. When -it clumb down she made sure it would git ter Jim (she war sure he war in -thet crack), so she follered quiet ez she could, an th' snow bein' soft -kept th' b'ar from hearing her--until she war right behind it--whar it -war leanin' down over th' edge a-tryin' ter git inter th' crack. 'Fore -it could turn on her she gave it a powerful push with her hickory stick, -an' being so fur over an' so heavy the b'ar lost hisse'f, an' down he -went with a crash into th' underbrush. - -Becky'd gone too, only her dress war caught in some bushes an' thet -saved her. - -She couldn't do nothin' but lay on th' ground an' rest a spell, thin she -crawled ter th' edge an' looked down ter make sure th' b'ar war dead. - -Hearin' Jim groan agin she got up an' went ter him. - -He war clean gone in a faint agin before she could get down ter him. -When she got him to again she gave him th' flask uv milk she hed -brought. - -She worked with him ter keep him warm, but she couldn't do much, -th' place war so norrow. It seemed an age before he got so he knowed -anythin', an' she had made up her mind ter leave him an' go fur help -whin Sonk and Mitch got thar. An' 'twixt 'm they soon got Jim out an' -laid him on the ole army blanket I hed sent, an' they axed Becky how -come he thar. She told them what she knowed, but they wouldn't believe -about th' b'ar until she showed them whar it lay. Whin Mitch looked over -an' seed fur hisse'f he jis' sed 'By Gosh!' an' runnin' back to whar he -could scramble down made down th' side like a coon. Sonk war about ter -follow, when he stopped an' turned ter Becky, tellin' her ter see ter -Jim till they could come up agin. He give her a bottle uv applejack -out'n his pocket, which he said he carried fur snake bite. Becky never -said nothin' 'bout'n snakes most in general stayin' in th' ground in -winter time, but gave a little of the liquor ter Jim an' tuck a leetle -dram herse'f. - -I reckon ef it hadn't been fer Sonk's snake medicine, they both a-been -down sick from th' cold an' wet. - -Ez soon ez th' men could git a good kiverin' uv snow over th' b'ar ter -keep wild cats from pesterin' it, they kem up an' took up th' ends uv -Jim's blanket ter fotch him hum. It war slow work, th' path bein' steep -an' norrow, an' Jim heavy, so it war eight o'clock afore they got down. -Waal, th' next day they got th' bar down, an' mon! he war a big 'un. - -They skun him an' put th' meat up fur sale at th' store. A young fellar -from th' North ez war a-stayin' at th' station give Becky $12 fur th' -hide, ter take home ter his gal, I reckon. - -The meat sold well, an' altergether I reckon Becky never seed so much -money at one time afore in her life. She wanted ter divide with Sonk -an' Mitch, but they wouldn't hear to it, an' she couldn't make them took -nary cent. Afore th' week war out she went ter th' station an' bought -shoes an' warm clothes fur all an' enough ter last two winters, an' soon -Becky's fingers war busy. She made some red flannel shirts fur me, -'cause she sed they be good fer th' misery in my back. - -An' whin I sed my fire hed been out a week an' I'd eat enough uv other -folks' corn bread an' coffee, Becky up and sed: - -"I 'low ez yer'd better stay, Uncle Duke; I've got a sight uv sewin' -ter do an' yer got ter be so handy with th' babies I can't hardly spare -yer." - -Arter thet we jined corn fiel's an' next year war a powerful good one -fer craps an' fruit. - -I tended th' chil'n while Becky went fur berries and did her peddlin'. - -We ain't a-gettin' rich, but we has a plenty, an' I don't reckon we air -got anythin' in a worldly line to ax th' Lord fur he ain't already done -give us. - -[Illustration: 5184] - - - - -A CIGARETTE FROM CARCINTO, By Edward French - -_A Bit of Mexican Adventure_. - - -|WE were sitting in the hotel in San Antonio, and the conversation had -taken that satisfactory turn and confidential coloring which it will -take amongst congenial companions round an open wood fire. - -[Illustration: 9185] - -We had been expressing our individual opinions about men and things, -especially men, and had derived a sleepy satisfaction from our general -criticisms. There were men among us who had seen a good deal of frontier -life, and, as one man said, "he had seen so many men die with their -boots on, it seemed the natural end." My nearest neighbor in the circle -was a young artist from New Orleans, known throughout the city as "Jim -the Painter," from the art he practiced to get his living. He turned and -asked me if I knew Jack Dunton; and when I denied the honor, he said: -"Well, you ought to; he is a map of the whole Indian country." - -This awakened my interest. I found that Dunton was living in San -Antonio, that his life had been really wonderful in experiences and -adventures, that he was very intelligent as well as recklessly -brave, and finally, that his acquaintance was worth any man's time to -cultivate. Later in the evening we walked over to Dunton's office, -a long, pleasant room in the second story of a flat-roofed _adobe_ -building that covered nearly half an acre. Both its stories were -crammed full of the goods he sold--wagons, harnesses, and all sorts of -agricultural tools. - -Dunton's own room was a mighty interesting place, principally in its -decorations. The walls and doorways were hung with bright-colored and -strange-figured Mojave and Navajoe blankets, skins and weapons were -scattered around or arranged as trophies, while clumsy and rude -implements of Aztec and Mexican fashioning, from Yucatan to Chihuahua, -were suspended against the sides, or heaped in the corners. A large open -fire, with blazing cedar logs, filled the room with the aromatic odor -so pleasant and characteristic of that wood, and lighted it with -fitful glares. There were many interesting stories connected with this -collection, and every article in the room seemed to remind Dunton of an -experience or incident in his varied career. After being introduced and -comfortably seated in a chair, he passed us cigars, and while we were -lighting these preliminaries to sociability he drew a square of corn -husk from one side-pocket of his sack coat and a pinch of tobacco from -the other side-pocket, and quietly rolled a cigarette, which gave out a -pungent, penetrating odor. It was not disagreeable, but it struck me as -being peculiar, even for Texas. Upon remarking that it seemed different -from ordinary tobacco, Dunton replied, "It is, and I have good reason to -like it, for once it saved my life." - -This aroused my curiosity, and with some little urging he told us the -story. "This tobacco," said Dunton, "comes from the town of Carcinto, -quite a mining settlement of _adobe_ houses and stockades, surrounding -a Mexican convict station in the center of the state of Chihuahua. It is -made by the convicts, who treat the ordinary tobacco with the juice of -a native plant, which gives it the pungent flavor you notice and, I -suspect, a slight narcotic power; be that as it may, now that I am used -to it, other tobacco is flat and tasteless. I was down there some years -ago, trying to sell the mine-owners some carts, harness, and things in -my line, and I became well acquainted with the nature of these convicts, -and I tell you, I would rather take my chances in a den of mountain -lions than among those fellows when they revolt. At such times they are -madly insane, and nothing is too hellish for them. - -"I had made a good thing of my deal and was anxiously waiting for an -escort,--for I had four thousand Mexican dollars, and a man of my shape -takes no chances in toting money around in that country. - -"The day that I remember particularly--and you will see I have reason -to--was the day before I was to go out from the mine with the mule -train. That afternoon I went in the levels with Senor Bustino, one of -the owners, a gentleman, every inch of him--and I tell you, no finer -gentleman walks the earth than a high-caste Mexican of Castilian blood. - -"I had sold them a few dozen American pickaxes, and one of the convict -gangs was to try them that day for the first time. It was the first lot -of pickaxes ever used in that mine, and, as the sequel proved, the last. -The men were doing with them twice the business they had formerly done -with their clumsy heavy hoes. Two soldiers with _escopetas_ were on -guard, and two overseers with pistols and heavy canes were directing -the work. To get a better and nearer view, Sefior Bustino and I crowded -through until we came to the rotten ledge filled with the silver, upon -which they worked. The convicts stopped and gazed upon us curiously, -some of them pushing back their long black hair out of their eyes -and staring with undisguised wonder at me, for I was a _gringo_, a -_heretico_, and a strange object to them in those early days, with my -paler skin and peculiar dress. Near me was a large black fellow, bare -to the waist.. He was short-necked and broad-shouldered, and his cheeks -were so high as to partly close his little fierce eyes; his nose was low -and flat, while his chin was sharp and prominent, with a deep scowl; -in fact, a bundle of animal appetites and passions done up in a hideous -form. As we passed he drew from the folds of his drawers--the only -clothing he wore--a pinch of tobacco and a com husk, and making a -cigarette he stepped to one of the grease-wood torches and lighted it, -blowing out a great cloud of pungent, aromatic smoke from his broad -nostrils, that filled the space around us with the odor you noticed from -my cigarette. - -"That was my first experience with that tobacco, and, indeed, my first -smell of its peculiar odor, and I have never forgotten it. I dined that -evening with the old senor and was introduced to his family; his wife, a -Mexican lady prematurely aged--as they all are, two daughters, handsome -as angels, and was shown the picture of their son, a young man who was -then being educated in Paris. They were delightful people, especially -to one who had been trucking for weeks across the dusty plains of -Chihuahua, with only _peons_ and mules for company, and we had a fiery -Mexican dinner, spiced with the jokes of the village priest, who was an -honored guest. At ten, with the hearty wishes of the whole family, and -after the elaborate Mexican custom of withdrawal, I left them. As I -sauntered out in the moonlight I could not shut out of my mind the -brutish face of the convict in the mine. Perhaps the round faces and -handsome eyes of the senor's pretty daughters may have emphasized the -memory of the convict's ugly head; otherwise I was in a happy mood. - -"I turned the corner of the street and entered a short dark lane that -led toward the prison stockade. There was an occasional _adobe_ house, -but the street was mostly lined with the miserable mud _jacals_ of the -poorer Mexicans. I had hardly gotten well into it when I sniffed -the same pungent odor that the convict's cigarette had given out. -It startled me a trifle, conjuring up, as it did, the hideous mental -picture of the man. I had but just realized this association when I -heard the clanging of the cathedral bells in that hurried, nervous -manner which has alarm in its every note--for the tone of a bell always -partakes of the state that its ringer is in. I heard the sound of -approaching voices, loud and fierce, mixed with the alarming notes of -the bells, and I stepped into the dark doorway of the nearest house. -Next, there was the spatting of bare feet on the hard street, and a -yelling crowd hurriedly rushed by my hiding-place, leaving a trailing -smell of the same tobacco. I noticed the gleam of white handles in the -moon-lighted street that I had seen in the yellow light of the mine, -and then I knew that the convicts had revolted, and that they were armed -with the pick-axes I had sold the mining company. - -"The bells continued to clang out their terror, and the distant shouting -became blended into the continuous murmur that you hear from a distant -crowd of excited people. Once in a while the roar of an _escopeta_ would -be heard, and soon I saw a magenta glow in the sky, and I knew the town -had been fired. Then followed the rapid snapping of pistols, and soon -the bellow of the old brass _escopetas_ denoted that the guards had -mustered, and that there was an organized resistance to the revolt. All -this occurred quicker than I can tell it. I concluded to get back into -the broad street I had just come out of, for if there is to be shooting, -I want a clear space and as much light as I can get. - -"Just as I turned the corner, on a run, with both of my colts on a -shooting level--for, by the way, it is always best to come upon your -enemy suddenly and surprise him before he knows you are there--I -saw several bodies in the street, and in the distance some dozen men -retreating. I stopped near by the first body I came to; and to my horror -I saw it was the still warm corpse of Senor Bustino. As I paused and -stooped to more closely examine, I thought I could detect the lingering -smell of that hellish convict's tobacco. Had the fiends attacked my -host's home and dragged him insensate through the streets, or had he -been slain whilst hurrying to the post of duty, at the sound of the -alarm he knew well the meaning of? If the former, good God! what had -been the fate of his wife and lovely daughters? The very thought -momentarily unnerved me; and if the convicts had not yet wreaked their -vengeance, could I reach them in time to be of effective service? Louder -and louder roared the tumult, nearer and nearer came the flashing, -glinting lights of torch and pistol, and as I swept round into the -street in which Senor Bustino's house stood I could see, pouring down -the hill toward it, a demoniac gang led by the bare-breasted convict -whose baleful face had haunted me. - -"I found the senora and her daughters alone and, thank God! unharmed; -but not a moment too soon, for even as I hurried them through into the -darkness of the night the convicts, with curses on their tongues, lust -in their heart, and red ruin in their hands, swarmed into the house. -A momentary check came as their leader and another fell in the narrow -door, beneath the fire of my two revolvers, and the flames which leaped -up from that erewhile home lent their last protection in the shadow they -cast, which enabled us, by availing ourselves of it, to escape. By the -time we arrived at my hotel the convicts had flown to the mountains and -we heard the story of the revolt. If I had not smelled that tobacco I -should not have concealed myself in the doorway, my life would not have -been worth a picayune, and you may imagine what would have been the fate -of my hostess and her household. Senor Bustino, it appeared, had fallen -a victim to the high chivalry which prompted him, hearing the bell and -knowing its meaning, to hastily summon his servants, and with five or -six armed _peons_ hasten out to overtake me and bid me return to his -house until all danger was over. He had met the convicts, who had -attacked him and struck him down, while most of his servants fled." - -Dunton paused, made and lighted another cigarette, and continued: "I -could not get away for a month, for it was not safe for a small party -to leave the town. I brought out some of that tobacco as a curiosity -and learned to like it. I send for more every year where it is still -prepared, in the prison-pens." - -"It is sometimes said, 'Follow your nose and it will take you out of -danger,' and in my case the proverb proved true. Sometimes, when I sit -here alone, half sleepily watching the curling smoke wreaths, I can -almost see the place again, and the rings of smoke shape themselves into -a horde of convict demons killing the poor old noble senor, whose elder -daughter I have married. And now you know what I owe to the pungent -aroma of a cigarette from Carcinto." - - - - -ANTAEUS, By Frank M. Bicknell - - -[Illustration: 0199] - -[Illustration: 9200] - -ATE one night, after having been a week out of town, I was returning -home by a short cut across fields, when, on coming upon the street -again, I found my path barred by a huge, hulking fellow, whose -unexpected appearance startled me not a little. This was my introduction -to Antaeus, whose better acquaintance I was to make later under rather -peculiar circumstances. Antaeus was not a highway robber, but a highway -roller, and when he first confronted me he was drawn up beside the -road, enjoying an elephantine slumber after his hard day's labor--being, -despite his formidable aspect, quiescent and inoffensive. - -I am not sure that it is usual to confer upon steam-rollers the -dignity of a name, but my friend had one, and I read it on the neat, -black-lettered brass plate affixed to the side of his boiler, near the -smoke-stack. This, I take it, was the nearest practicable approach to -hanging a locket about his neck that could be managed, and I have -always felt grateful to his unknown sponsors for their little act of -consideration. - -I cannot think of Antaeus otherwise than as a creature--not simply as a -creation--as a reasoning and responsible being, rather than as a docile, -slavish piece of mechanism; but to the unimaginative he seemed to be -under the domination of a tolerably clean specimen of humanity whom I -shall call the Driver. - -It was nearly a fortnight after our first meeting when I next saw -Antaeus, for he was occupied in parts of the town remote from that in -which I lived. I heard him occasionally, however, as he passed through -the neighborhood after dark, _en route_ for another field of labor, or -propelling his weary weight toward the shed under which he was lodged -for his Sunday's rest. On such occasions, when I heard him lumbering by, -I used to fancy he was taking an after-supper promenade and puffing a -meditative cigar as he went along. - -At length, after he had come several times for pleasure, or his own -convenience, he made us a professional call and buckled down to work -at repairing a strip of street which had long stood in need! of his -services. Antaeus was with us for several weeks and during his stay -I became, in a measure, "chummy" with the Driver, from whom I learned -various interesting facts about my muscular friend. - -Antaeus was a "fifteen-tonner," and his market price was $4,000; he was -about sixteen feet long by seven wide at his widest part; he consumed -from three to four hundred pounds of coal per diem; his strength was -equal to that of more horses than I can recollect; he came down upon the -dust at the rate of two tons weight per foot in width; and, when put to -his best, he could settle into what was intended to be its final resting -place about two thousand square yards of new road material per day of -ten hours. As regarded wheels he was tricycular, that is, he rested -upon one roller in front and two behind, the former being also used -for steering purposes. He had two small coal-bunkers in the rear, a -reasonably commodious space, with a spring seat, for the Driver, and a -good-sized awning overhead. He worked under a low pressure of I forget -just how many pounds of steam, and when traveling for pleasure could do -rather more miles a day than could a crack trotter per hour when put to -his best paces. - -These particulars I learned during the first week that Antaeus was -busied in our neighborhood. It was thus that I took the preliminary -steps toward making his acquaintance and came to be on pleasant speaking -terms with him, as it were. For the subsequent intimacy between Antaeus -and myself, neither he nor I were wholly responsible. - -A young lady had appeared at the house across the way. She was pretty, -but I noticed her more particularly on account of the seemingly -boundless capabilities of her wardrobe. She had a fresh gown for every -new day, or at least, in the course of the first fortnight she had -displayed a series of fourteen charming costumes, which I could no -more hope to describe than could a North Greenland Eskimo to write -an intelligent treatise on the flora of the torrid zone. I sat at my -window, not too near, every morning when she came out of doors, and -admired her through a spy-glass. This may appear like a piece of -impertinence--perhaps it was--but I shall urge in my defence the fact -that the street between us was nearly a hundred feet wide, and our -two houses were set so far back that even by using my comparatively -short-sighted little telescope, I could not bring her much nearer -than we might actually have been without its aid in a more crowded -neighborhood. - -One afternoon I stood talking with the Driver, while Antaeus was -awaiting the deposit of more material by two tip-carts which were -attached to his service, when she passed on the sidewalk, and I imagined -she glanced at me with a certain degree of interest, as if she recalled -having seen me before--or was it Antaeus who was the more worthy object -of' her attention? Had I dared I should have smiled a little--merely -a vague, sketchy, tentative smile--but, hardly thinking it prudent, I -resisted the temptation and tried, as the photographers put it, to look -natural; with the probable result of looking only cross. After having -been her neighbor for more than two weeks it seemed as if I ought to -have the right to speak, but proper consideration for _les convenances_ -forbade. It was vacation season, I was alone in the house, and, there -being no womankind to make the necessary advances, I knew not how long -it might be ere I could be formally introduced. - -[Illustration: 0204] - -While I was meditating upon this state of affairs--peculiarly -unfortunate for me--she walked on and disappeared around a corner. A few -minutes later the fire-alarm bell sounded the number of a box near by, -and presently our beautiful fire-engine, all glittering with gold and -silver plate, the just pride of the town, dashed rather noisily by. At -sight of this brilliant appearance Antaeus gave vent to a species of -snort and started up as if to follow, but naturally his lumbering pace -was no match for the swiftness of the other machine, and from the first -he was left hopelessly in the rear. I went off to see where the fire -was--it proved to be of small account--and forgot Antaeus entirely until -that night, when he recalled himself to my mind by figuring in an odd -and whimsical dream. - -The scene I have just described was reproduced in part, the Driver, -however, being eliminated from it. I thought I was standing beside -Antaeus when the young lady appeared, only to disappear. As she went -I sighed regretfully, whereupon something happened which ought to have -surprised me, and would have done so anywhere else than in a dream. As -if in sympathy with me, Antaeus heaved a sigh also--a most ponderous -one--and thus addressed me: - -"I can understand your feelings," he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "You -are longing for what seems the unattainable. Alas! so am I. We might -mingle our tears," he went on, beginning to exude moisture around the -gauges; "or better still," he added, as if struck by an idea, "perhaps -we can be of assistance to each other." - -"In what way?" I asked, dubiously. - -"I might help you to know _her_ if you would help me to an acquaintance -with the charming Electra." - -Intuitively I divined that Electra must be the steam fire-engine. Big, -brawny Antaeus was in love! The ludicrousness of the notion did not -strike me then as it did afterward. On the contrary, it seemed to be one -of the most natural things imaginable. - -"Yes," he said, in response to my thoughts, "I am passionately enamored -of her. I desire unutterably to gain her friendship, her esteem, her -love--even though she may scorn me. I realize that her station in life -is far above mine. I am only a plodder, while she is--Did you see her -pass me like a flash of light this afternoon? Was she not entrancing, -enthralling, irresistible! Ah, me! when she bestows her love it will -be upon one of those fast, dashing railway fellows, I dare say. Yet -I should like her to know that I am her friend, that I would risk any -danger, that I would go through the torments of--of the repair -shop, that I would give my last puff to serve her. I may be ugly -and slow-going, and awkward and ungainly--Do you think I am so very -ungainly, that is, for one in my walk of life?" he broke off, in rather -piteous query. - -"Not at all," I hastened to assure him; "when we consider your great -adaptability to your--your vocation, I am sure your form would be -considered remarkably symmetrical." - -"Thank you!" he exclaimed, gratefully, "and whether or not such be the -case, at least I am honest and straightforward and true-hearted, though -I do blow my own whistle in saying it." - -"You certainly are." - -"Then I trust I am not too aspiring in wishing to be numbered among -Electra's friends. I hope she would not be ashamed to acknowledge me if -she met me in the street." - -"I should hope not, indeed," I murmured, when he paused for an -encouraging word. - -"Shall we call it a bargain, then, that I aid you to an introduction to -the young lady, your neighbor, and in return you so contrive as to bring -about a meeting between Electra and me?" - -"A bargain it is, with all my heart," I assented, grasping and shaking -the handle of his throttle-lever, "and the sooner the better for the -carrying out of it." - -"Very good; call on me to-morrow, and I will see what can be done for -you." - -"Shall--shall I come in business hours?" I asked, hesitatingly, thinking -he might possibly prefer to attend to the matter between twelve and one. - -"Of course," he answered, "in business hours, certainly. I mean -business, and I hope you do." - -I hastened to set his mind at rest on that point, and, after promising -to come on the following afternoon, I shook his handle again, which had -the effect of starting him off, and so our interview ended. - -When I awoke in the morning, my dream seemed so vividly real that I -resolved to risk making myself ridiculous in my own eyes and to keep -my appointment with Antaeus. Accordingly, after lunch, I strolled out -toward the section of highway where he was at work. Soon I caught sight -of a light-complexioned wagon standing on the opposite side of the -street. Attached to it were two plump, blonde ponies, garbed in -russet harness, and, on the front seat, reins in hand, talking with an -acquaintance upon the sidewalk, sat my young lady. - -The natty vehicle had one other occupant, a sooty-faced pug, sitting up -very straight on the cushion beside his mistress, with quite the air of -a personage of distinction. In front of the ponies' noses was a horse of -another breed, a four-legged structure of wood, upholding a sign-board, -upon which was painted in glaring letters the word, "Danger," and in -smaller ones, "No Passing; Steam Roller Running." - -Upon this scene presently entered an important actor--I might call him -the heavy villian--Antaeus, grumbling, groaning, puffing and perspiring -in his efforts to consolidate the various ingredients for a durable -roadbed that had been laid down in his path. As he drew nearer he gave -utterance to a significant "ahem!"--as I thought--by way of calling my -attention to what was about to happen. Apparently he was going to keep -his part of our agreement. A suspicion of what might be his idea began -to dawn upon me. He purposed frightening the ponies, an incipient -runaway would ensue, and I should be enabled to play the part of heroic -rescuer. There were no very original features in the scheme, but it -struck me as being quite practicable nevertheless; consequently I was -somewhat surprised and grieved when nothing of the nature of what I had -anticipated took place. - -But Antaeus was more subtle than I. He wished to avoid the appearance -of collusion between us, which might have been given by the execution -of the rudimentary strategem I have outlined. (Or perhaps the real -explanation of it is that he knew the fat little beasts of ponies were -of too phlegmatic a temperament to be disturbed by a bugaboo.) At any -rate they only blinked sleepily at Antaeus and then went off into a -peaceful doze, entirely unmoved by his nearness. With the black-vis-aged -pug, however, it was quite otherwise. He regarded the monster as -an interloper, a trespasser, and he began to bark at him angrily. -Perceiving that his scoldings had no effect, he lost his temper -entirely, and, jumping down from the carriage seat, ran forward toward -the advancing engine and continued his barking with redoubled force -and fury. His mistress' attention was now aroused, and, seeing how -persistently he put himself in the track of the roller, she became -uneasy. She called to him persuasively, authoritatively, beseechingly, -but he paid her no heed. Apparently he had more faith in himself than -had King Canute when he gave his memorable lesson to his courtiers by -the seashore. - -From his position in the rear the Driver could not see the dog, and I -doubt if he clearly understood the situation, for he made no attempt to -avert the threatened catastrophe. The ridiculous animal stood his ground -and kept up his remonstrances against the invader; the alarmed young -lady threw an eloquently imploring look at me; and Antaeus came on, -stolid, grim and impassive. Meanwhile, strangely enough--as it seems -to me now--I remained inactive until my coadjutor, justly irritated, -suddenly growled out what I took to mean: - -"Come! come; stupid, now is your time; why don't you bestir yourself?" - -Then I awakened to a full sense of my responsibilities and -opportunities, and rushing to the fore, seized the rash and obstinate -pug by the scruff of the neck and restored him, rescued from the -Juggernaut, to the arms of his grateful mistress. - -Thus did Antaeus fulfill his share of our agreement. - -This little incident broke the ice. In less than a week the young lady -and I knew each other almost intimately. It transpired that we were in -fact old acquaintances. That is to say, she remembered me when I was at -home during one college vacation, and she hoped I had not forgotten the -small miss who used to come over and play tea-party with my sister. I -replied that I should hope not, indeed, and mentally took myself to task -for not being surer about it. The boy of seventeen is less likely to be -impressed with the girl of eight than is the young man of twenty-eight -with the maiden of nineteen. I was positive that at the end of another -eleven years I should have had no trouble in recalling her to mind. - -I am not a tennis enthusiast, but I will admit that my white flannel -suit had a chance to contrast itself with the velvety green of the lawn -across the way rather frequently after that. It was a convenient and -plausible excuse for being with her a good deal. - -[Illustration: 0212] - -The pleasure of her society was worth some physical discomfort, and -I couldn't complain if I did feel for a week or more as if I had been -given a sound drubbing. One day, after we had finished a series -of games--in which mine was second-best record--who should appear, -laboriously rumbling by, but my well-nigh forgotten friend Antaeus. - -"What an uncouth piece of mechanism that is!" she exclaimed, turning -to look at him--"a sort of caricature of a locomotive, one might say. A -veritable snail for traveling, too, isn't it?" - -"Yes; his--I mean it's--best speed does not exceed five miles an hour, I -am told. A man might walk as fast as that with a little exertion." - -"I wonder if it is a pleasant mode of riding--in a steam-roller?" she -said, half musing, her gaze still resting on Antaeus. "At least one -would have plenty of leisure for viewing the scenery along the way. I -should rather like to try a short ride on it." - -"Should you, really," I asked, doubting whether or not she was in -earnest. - -"Yes, indeed, I should." If she had been half in jest before she was -serious now. "It would be a new experience." - -"Hardly an agreeable one for a lady, though," I commented. - -"Oh, that would be a secondary consideration," she returned with a -shrug. "I should value the experience as an experience, and I should be -glad to have it to put on my list." - -I looked inquisitive and she proceeded to explain. - -"I keep a diary--not a regulation school girl's diary, in which one -feels bound to write something every single day of the year, whether -there is anything worth recording or not--but a collection of memoranda -in which I take a good deal of satisfaction. Mine is a classified diary -and is contained in about a dozen different books which began as -mere covers with nothing between. By putting in leaves when there was -occasion the volumes grew until now several of them have attained to a -very respectable thickness." - -"Might I ask, without indiscretion, for a hint as to the nature of their -contents, or would that be----" - -"Certainly; there is no secret about them. In fact I have been known to -show their pages to certain of my friends, and, to be quite honest, I -am rather proud of them. As far as I can recollect now, they are labeled -with these titles: 'Books I have read, Places I have visited, Notable -personages I have seen, Odd or eccentric characters I have met, Strange -sights I have seen, Curious dishes of which I have eaten, Rides I have -taken----" - -"Do you mean," I interposed, "that every time you take a ride you enter -an account of it in your collection?" - -"I mean that whenever I ride in or on any unusual sort of conveyance -I make a note of it. That particular book dates far back into my -childhood. The idea of starting it was suggested to me by a ride I took -on a tame ostrich in South Africa." - -My increased respect for a young lady who had ridden upon an ostrich -near, if not actually in his native desert, will be understood by the -untraveled. - -"You have seen something of the world," I remarked. - -"Yes," she admitted; "I have been about with my father a great deal. An -uncle of mine, who abhors what he calls globe-trotting, tells people, -with a look of mock commiseration on his face, that I have been -everywhere except at the North Pole and in a Trappist monastery. A -slight exaggeration that, and yet not so very far from the truth either. -I have visited most of the inhabited countries of the globe, I -think, and I have had a chance to try riding in a good many peculiar -conveyances. I have ridden on an elephant in India, on a dromedary in -Egypt, in a sort of horse-litter in Persia, in a man-carriage in Japan, -in a sledge on bare ground at Funchal, on a log-raft down the Rhine, on -an Indian's back in Mexico, in the cab of a locomotive on the Southern -Pacific, in a fast newspaper train out of New York, on an open car moved -by gravity--and moved very fast, too--on that wonderful railroad -in Peru, on a small landslide among the White Mountains, in a -dwelling-house being moved through the streets of this town, in---- but -I will spare you further enumeration.'' - -"I hope, however, that you will let me read the catalogue for myself -some time. I no longer wonder that so successful a collector should -be eager for an additional specimen. I happen to have some little -acquaintance with the man who runs our steam-roller; perhaps I could -arrange to have your wish for a ride gratified." - -"Oh, if you _only_ could!" she exclaimed, looking so hopefully expectant -that I secretly vowed the thing should come to pass or I would know the -most unanswerable of reasons why. - -I had learned that Antaeus was neither a native nor a naturalized -citizen of our town, but that he owed allegiance to a firm of -contractors in a distant city, whose delegate and sole representative -here was the Driver; consequently if I could prevail upon him to lend -Antaeus I need apprehend no interference from the town authorities. - -I began upon the Driver the next forenoon. My persuasiveness took a -conventional form, for, not being gifted with an oily tongue, I was -forced to trust for success in a great measure upon my chance of -stupefying the Driver's conscience with the fumes of several superfine -cigars. I spent about two hours in company with Antaeus, taking many -turns up and down the street with him for the special purpose of -observing his manners and customs. With the advice and consent of his -guardian I learned to start, to stop, to reverse, and to steer to my own -satisfaction. I had intended to broach the important question that day, -but, fearing I might not yet have sufficiently blunted the Driver's -moral sensibilities, my courage failed at the critical moment and I -permitted myself the expensive luxury of procrastination. - -The next day I found the task no easier, and so put it off again, but on -the day after I awakened to the fact that delays are dangerous and made -the fateful plunge. I frankly told the Driver the whole story, under -the belief that he would be less likely to refuse the petition of a lady -than one made in my own name. - -If he had suspected all the while, from my persistent attentions, that I -had an axe to grind he did not mortify me by showing it. He accepted -my fifth cigar as he had my first, with an air of supposing it to be -offered from motives of the most disinterested friendliness. - -I did not meet with success in the outset. The Driver had grave doubts -as to the propriety of "loaning" a steam-roller. Had he been a Frenchman -he might reasonably have urged that, like a tooth-brush, _ca ne se prete -pas_. However, I overcame his scruples in the end, and, probably in -the belief that "if it were done 'twere well it were done quickly," he -agreed to deliver Antaeus into my charge that evening. - -Accordingly, not long after sunset, I went across the street and called -for the young lady. I realized fully that her father and mother would -not have approved of our escapade, but they were absent from home and -I tried to believe it was not my duty to stand toward her _in loco -parentium_. She was a bit wilful too, and I feared my remonstrances -would do no good unless I carried them to the extreme of refusing my -assistance, which, after my ready offer of it, would have been uncivil -and unkind. - -At an unfrequented spot, on a broad highway, near the outskirts of the -town, Antaeus and the Driver--the former under head of steam, and both -smoking--were awaiting us. We met them there by appointment at nine -o'clock. After many instructions and cautions touching the fire, the -water, the steam, the use of the levers, the necessity of keeping a -sharp lookout ahead, etc., the Driver left me in sole command, as proud -as a boy with his first bicycle. - -"You find you have got into rather close quarters here, don't you?" said -I, as I perched myself upon the high seat, from which the machine was -most conveniently directed. - -"The passenger accommodations might be more spacious, but all things -considered I hardly think I shall complain," laughingly returned my -companion, who had seated herself on one of the coal-boxes behind me. "I -took the precaution not to wear my best frock, so I can stow myself away -in small compass without fear of damage." - -Having in mind the trouble I had taken, her delight in the novelty of -her situation was highly gratifying to me. She eagerly asked about the -functions of the various levers, try-cocks, and gauges, and insisted -upon being allowed to experiment with them, as well as with the steering -gear, herself. The knowledge, she said, might be useful to her in the -future. Antaeus proved to be entirely docile and allowed himself to -be guided as easily as a well-broken flesh and blood horse. The big -fly-wheel revolved, the fussy little piston pumped up and down with -an ado that seemed absurd considering the slow progress resulting, the -steam fretted and hissed, the three massive rollers bore with all -their might upon the hard surface of the macadam, and thus crunching, -clanking, thumping and rattling, we sluggishly made our way into the -obscurity of the night. - -By and by, in the course of our journey, we came to a gentle rise, the -ascent of which made Antaeus puff rather laboriously. For a moment my -passenger looked slightly uneasy. "Why does it do that?" she asked. - -"The exertion of going up hill makes him breathe a little hard, -naturally," I answered, reassuring her. "He is feeling in fine -condition, though," I added, inspecting the steam-gauge by the light of -my lantern; "the effect of a plentiful supply of oats, doubtless." - -"You speak of _it_ as _he_," she said, questioningly. - -"Certainly; why not?" I retorted. "He seems to me unequivocally -masculine." - -"True," she assented; "still in personifying inanimate objects, are they -not more frequently made members of the other sex?" - -"Undoubtedly they are, but it strikes me as a ridiculous -custom--particularly in the case of great machines. No engine, however -big, black or ungainly, but it must be spoken of by the feminine -pronoun. It is hardly a compliment to your sex, is it? Think of the -incongruity of putting, for instance, a huge steamboat, named for the -president of the company, into the feminine gender!" - -She laughed at my fancy, but her merriment did not wound my -sensibilities. "So it's--I beg pardon, _his_--name is Antaeus, is it?" - -"Yes, in honor of that old giant--do you recollect?--whom Hercules -overcame." - -"By lifting him quite off the ground, because as often as he came in -contact with Mother Earth his strength was renewed? Yes, I recall the -story, and I can see a certain propriety in the name. I rather think -this fellow, if he were to be lifted off the ground, could scarcely use -his great strength to advantage. Imagine him turned upon his back like a -huge beetle, kicking about frantically into the air to no purpose!" - -"Undoubtedly he gets his grip from his contact with the earth," said I. -"As a flying-machine he would hardly be a success." - -"Doesn't it strike you that he is almost unnecessarily deliberate?" -she queried, presently, with a slight show of impatience; evidently the -novelty of the adventure was beginning to wear off. - -"More so than usual for the reason that we are ascending an incline; -but you must remember that Antaeus was not built for speed," returned I, -defending my friend. - -"Evidently not. He belongs to the plodders--the slow and sure sort. He -would be entered for a race in the tortoise class probably. Fancy an -absconding cashier trying to escape from justice in a steam-roller! It -would be funny, wouldn't it?" - -I agreed with her that it would be very funny. "Or imagine an eloping -couple fleeing before an irate father on such a conveyance!" I -suggested, with a consciousness of blushing in the dark for the audacity -of the conceit. - -"Now, that is good!" she exclaimed, seizing on my idea with an eagerness -that showed how far her thoughts were from taking the direction in -which mine had dared to stray. "What a situation for a modern realistic, -sensational drama!" - -"It might be worked up into something rather impressive, I should think. -In these days of bringing steamboats, pile-drivers, fire-engines, -real water, and railway trains in upon the stage I don't know why a -steam-roller might not be given a chance." - -"Why not?" she cried, waxing enthusiastic. "Picture the scene. Enter -lovers on 'steam-roller, followed by incensed father in--in----" - -"In an electric-car," I supplied experimentally. - -"Pshaw! don't be foolish!" she exclaimed thanklessly. "Followed -by father in a light gig, drawn by a spirited horse. Overtakes -lovers--demands his daughter--young man respectfully declines to give -her up. Old gentleman prepares to come and take her. Is about to descend -from gig when steamroller whistles, spirited horse begins to prance, he -is obliged to keep tight hold of reins----" - -"Very good!" I put in approvingly. "Stern parent threatens direst -vengeance, horse cavorts alarmingly, parent rages unavailingly, -resolute lover pushes throttle wide open with one hand and retains firm -grip upon the helm with the other." - -"While the devoted loveress, with her own dainty hands, shovels in coal -and encourages him to stand firm----" - -"By the way, that reminds me of something," I interrupted and, getting -off my elevated seat, I bent down and opened the furnace-door; "I rather -think I should have given Antaeus his supper before now." - -In truth, I had neglected the fire altogether too long. I hastily threw -in more coal, but it was already too late to avert the consequences of -my forgetfulness. The pressure of steam was diminishing and continued -to diminish in spite of all my efforts to prevent it. Back fell the -indicator upon the dial, and more and more slowly worked the machinery -as the power behind it became less and less. - -"We shall not reach the top of the hill at the present rate," remarked -my companion. "The vital spark appears to be in danger of extinction, so -to speak." - -"In very great danger," I sorrowfully assented as, with one last feeble -effort, Antaeus wearily gave up the struggle. - -"Nor is that the worst of it," I added, filled with a sudden -apprehension. - -"What do you mean?" she asked, disquieted by my manner, though not yet -divining the inevitable outcome of the existing state of affairs. - -"You had better descend to _terra firma_ unless you want to go back down -hill faster than you came up," I replied significantly. - -"Oh!" she exclaimed, comprehending the danger. - -"Yes; the attraction of gravitation is going to take us back a deal -faster than Antaeus ever traveled before. Shall I help you out?" - -"Can't you put on the brakes?" - -"There are none; the builders of this machine did not foresee such a -contingency as this. It was not to be supposed that Antaeus ever would -fall into the unskillful hands of a bungling, blundering amateur," said -I, calling up hard names for myself from out of the depths of my -humiliation. - -"Don't reproach yourself," she begged; "it is I who am to be blamed." - -"Shall I not help you out before it is too late?" I interposed, as -Antaeus began to gather way. - -"What are you going to do," she demanded. - -"Oh, I shall stick to the ship," I answered grimly. - -"But you will get hurt if you do," she objected. - -"Antaeus will get hurt if I don't. Come!" - -"No; I shall stay on board, too," she declared heroically. "Now don't -try and persuade me to desert, for I shall not do it. Can't I be of some -use?" - -Seeing that she was firm in her resolve to stand by me, I gratefully -accepted her offer of assistance, which indeed, was of considerable -value. It was important that I should keep a firm hold upon the steering -wheel, to prevent the craft from yawing, and, unless I were to be -continually screwing my head about in a very painful position, I could -not very well see the road over which we were traveling. From a position -between the coal-boxes behind me--now the front of the conveyance--she -could keep a look-out and pass the word to me when it became necessary -to correct the deviations in our course. Without her help, it is more -than probable that I should have run Antaeus ignominiottsly, perhaps -disastrously, into a ditch before reaching the foot of the incline. Even -as it was, I had my hands full. - -During the ride, which certainly was one of the most disquieting, -mentally and physically, that I ever have taken, we said very little to -each other. I gripped the wheel, and she grasped the iron sides of the -coal-bunkers, between which she stood, opening her lips only to call, -"right! left!" or "steady!" as I had hastily instructed her to do for my -guidance in steering. So we rumbled and rattled and jolted on down the -hill, at continually increasing speed, until at length we reached the -base, and I drew a deep breath of relief at knowing that the worst was -over. - -Arrived upon a level, our momentum gradually expended itself. From an -estimated ten-mile rate--which had seemed terrific--we slowed to a five, -to a three, to a one, to a snail's pace, and then something occurred -which, although not threatening any danger to us personally, filled our -minds with the liveliest anxiety for the safety of others. Antaeus came -to a stand-still just across the railway track. - -"Well?" said my passenger, inquiringly. - -"Well," I returned, blankly, as I pulled my watch from my pocket, "this -is--interesting, to say the least." - -"Are there--how about trains?" she queried anxiously. - -During the jolting of our forced--and forcible--descent our lantern -had gone out; but there was an electric lamp near, and by its light I -managed to read the hour upon my watch-dial. - -"There is a train leaving the city at ten, due here at ten-seventeen; it -now lacks five minutes of that. I must go to the station and report that -the way is blocked. I am sorry to leave you--or would you prefer going -while I wait here?" - -"I think it will be better for you to go." - -"Very well, then; I'll not be long." - -[Illustration: 0220] - -This promise of mine was ill-advised. I hurried up the track to the -station, only to find it locked and deserted. It was not the principal -station of the town, being one of the half-dozen smaller ones strung -at short intervals along the line. In all probability it would not be -opened until a few minutes before train-time. As I knew the outcoming -train would stop at that station, and thus give me a chance to warn the -engineer of the obstruction ahead, I did not feel particularly alarmed -at not finding the agent at once. Still I was conscious of some nervous -uneasiness while awaiting his arrival. - -At last he came leisurely across the street, jingling his keys as he -walked. As soon as he stepped foot upon the platform I went to 'him -and began to tell my story. I had not proceeded far with it ere he -interrupted me with a startled ejaculation. - -"Great Scott! The White Mountain express!" - -"What? What do you mean?" I gasped, - -"New train--put on yesterday--passes here on the way in at ten-ten, -and it's more than that now!" he exclaimed in staccato, as he hastily -unlocked the station door, and, putting in his hand, seized a red -lantern that had been sitting ready lighted on the floor within. - -He did not waste any more time with me, but rushed along to the end of -the platform, and then began to run with all his might down the track. -I succeeded in following him at not too great a distance, although I was -turning sick and giddy with all sorts of horrible apprehensions. Visions -of a frightful wreck photographed themselves on my brain, the shrieks of -the dying sounded prophetically in my ears, and in the midst of it all -I was selfishly deploring the fact that I should be called on to pay the -damages--at least to Antaeus--and wondering if I could contrive to get a -hardware discount off the market price of steam-rollers. - -The crossing was still hidden from us around a curve when a shrill -whistling broke upon my startled ears. - -"T-o-o-t!--t-o-o-t! Toot! toot!" - -The agent uttered an explosive invocation to the Deity, and added in -tones of despair: - -"We're too late; she's onto us!" - -Still we staggered mechanically forward, until suddenly, with a cry of -warning, the agent sprang aside, and the express went thundering by. - -"See here, young man," my companion exclaimed angrily, "if this is a -put-up job----" - -"But it is not!" I interposed with indignant protest. "I don't -understand it any better than you do. Certainly I left Ant--the roller -sprawled across both tracks." - -"Well, I guess it ain't there now," dryly remarked the agent, watching -the rear lights of the fast-receding train, until they were swallowed up -in the glare of the "local's" head-light. "I must run back," he added, -recalled to a sense of his duties. "You take this lantern and go and -see if the outward track is clear. Stand between the rails and swing -the lantern if it ain't. I'll tell the engineer to go slow and be on the -lookout." - -In another minute I was at the crossing. I looked up and down the street -for Antaeus, but neither he nor the young lady were to be seen. If -that Hercules of a locomotive actually had lifted him into the air and -carried him off his absence could not have been more conspicuous. But -naturally such a feat>could not have been accomplished, nor had it been -attempted. - -The real explanation of the mysterious disappearance was this. During -my absence the fire under the boiler had been getting up, until finally -enough steam had made to start the machinery and so the roller had been -enabled to roll itself away out of danger. - -I was about to start toward town, under the supposition that Antaeus had -taken that direction, when I chanced to recollect that with the levers -as I had left them he naturally must go just the opposite way--that is, -retrace the course over which he had lately come. Accordingly I set out -on the run toward the hill. Near the foot of it I found him, diagonaled -off the road-side with his nose against a tree, loudly hissing in -impotent rage at the unwelcome bar to his progress. - -I jumped into the engineer's place, reversed the machinery, and without -very much trouble succeeded in getting him back into the road and -started on the homeward way. I was putting to myself an uneasy question -as to the whereabouts of my passenger, when, to my relief, I heard her -voice close at hand. - -"Is it all right?" she inquired anxiously; "I feared it was going to -blow up or something, it made such a horribly distressing noise." - -"That very noise was a guarantee that he was _not_ going to blow up," -I replied, bringing Antaeus to a stop. "He was merely getting rid of -superfluous steam through the safety-.valve. I am very glad to find you -again. Will you ride? I think we shall get on smoothly this time." - -Rather hesitatingly she allowed me to help her in. Then, after taking -the precaution to add some fuel to the fire, and to inspect the steam -and water indicators by the light of my borrowed red lantern, I opened -the throttle and started on again. - -"Did the train frighten you?" I bethought myself to ask, presently. - -"Oh, don't speak of it," she returned with a shudder; "I heard it coming -from two or three miles away, and when it got nearer and nearer and you -did not return I was almost frantic. But I couldn't do anything. I -don't think it was more than a quarter of a mile distant, with the light -gleaming along the rails and making it seem even nearer, when the roller -began to move--but, oh, how slowly! I thought I should--well, if my hair -hasn't turned gray from that scare it never will do so until the natural -time for it comes, I am sure." - -"Well, the old fellow got off in time, evidently." - -"Yes; but with hardly a second to spare. He hadn't cleared the rails -of the other track when the train passed. It was a frightfully narrow -margin." - -"You were not on board all this while, I hope." - -"Oh, no; that would have been too foolhardy. But when I saw it was -making off I didn't want it--I mean _him_--to go careering and cavorting -about the country alone, so I climbed up and tried to take command. You -showed me how to use the reversing-lever, and it all seemed easy when -you were here, but when I was alone I didn't dare touch it for fear -something disastrous would happen. All I ventured to do was to take the -wheel and keep, him in the road--or rather try to do so, for I didn't -succeed very well. My strength was not equal to it. He swerved a little -and then got to going more and more on the bias, until at last, despite -all I could do to the contrary, he ran off against a tree and was -obliged to stop. Soon afterward that hissing noise began, and, fearing -an explosion, I ran and got behind the wall on the other side of the -street, and then--then you came. I don't think I ever was more rejoiced -to see anybody in all my life." - -I resisted a temptation to make a speech, which, however much in earnest -I was, might have sounded silly, and contented myself with remarking -that I was glad to have arrived in such good time, and I turned my -attention to the taking of her--and Antaeus--safe home. - -I could not get to sleep after going to bed that night. The evening's -experience of itself was hardly a soporific, but there was yet another -matter to occupy my thoughts and prevent my sleeping. Should I venture -at the next favorable opportunity to put a certain question to a certain -person? If I did so what answer should I receive? I hoped and I feared -and I doubted concerning the sentiments of the said certain person -toward my unworthy self. I revolved the thing in my mind until -there seemed to be little else there but revolution. Progress in any -direction, certainly there was none. My body was hardly less restless -than my mind. - -At three o'clock it flashed across me like a revelation, that I was -hungry. I had eaten a light supper hours ago, and now my stomach was -eloquent with emptiness; while the blood which should be doing good -service there was pulsing madly about in my brain to no purpose. I went -down stairs and inspected the contents of the ice-chest. Roast pork and -brown bread make rather a hearty late supper, but breakfast time was so -near I thought I would risk them--and a good deal of them. - -Returning to my room, I set a lamp upon a stand at the head of the -bed and, taking the first book that came to hand--it chanced to be an -Italian grammar--I began to read. I had gone as far in the introduction -as "CC like t-ch in hatchet," when I grew drowsy. I laid down the book, -my eyelids drooped, and there is good circumstantial evidence that a -moment later I fell asleep, lying on my back with the upper half of my -body bent into the form of a bow. - -My slumbers were visited by a dream--a nightmare, composed, I estimate, -of cold roast pork and brown bread, uncomfortable bodily position, the -memory of certain occurrences in my past history, and an event to be -described later. In this dream Antaeus figured largely. He seemed to -come rolling across the bed, and me, until he had stopped upon my chest -and stomach. - -[Illustration: 0228] - -"What are you doing?" I asked in alarm. "Do you know you are crushing -me? Get away!" - -"I dare say I am. I _weigh_ fifteen tons," Antaeus replied, heavily -jocose. "I say," he continued with a burst of anger, "you are an -honorable, high-minded sort of person, you are. What do you mean by -treating me so? Have you forgotten our compact? I have given you every -chance man could ask for with _her_; what have you done for me in -return? Nothing. Even worse than nothing. To faithlessness you have -added treachery. Not content with deceiving me, you have sought to -destroy me. I suppose you hoped to see my _debris_ strewn along the iron -way." - -I was conscience-stricken by his accusations; but I could refute a part -of them. "Oh, no! oh, no!" I protested, "it was an accident, I assure -you. So far from desiring such a thing, I declare that I cannot even -imagine your being reduced to _debris_. I----" - -"Bah!" roared Antaeus, and in his rage he began to belch forth -smoke--smoke so thick and black that I thought I should be stifled by -it. In another moment I awoke gasping. - -One feature of my dream was a reality--the smoke. The room was filled -with it, and there were flames beside. As nearly as I can guess, the -situation on which I opened my eyes had been thus brought about. While -I slept the wind had risen and, pushing inward the shade at the open -window, had pressed it against the small, unstable stand until the -latter had been tipped over, bringing the lighted lamp to the floor. -The muslin curtains had caught fire; from them the straw matting, -kerosene-soaked, had flamed up, so that now a pretty lively blaze was -in progress. - -I sprang off the bed, made a snatch at some of my clothes, and got out -of the room as soon as possible. After I had helped save everything -portable, that could be saved without risk to life, I went and stood -before the house in the cool air of the early dawn and watched the -struggle between flames and flood. In the midst of my perturbation I -noticed something that struck me as being worthy of remark. I had left -Antaeus at the edge of the roadway before our gate; now the fire-engine, -Electra, had been drawn up beside him. He was maintaining strict -silence, but I hoped he was being well entertained, for Electra kept -up an incessant buzzing--woman like, quite willing to do all of the -talking. At any rate my share of our compact was now fulfilled; Antaeus -and I were quits. - -In the later morning I saw the young lady. My misfortunes called forth -from her expressions of sincerest pity; indeed, she bitterly reproached -herself for having been the direct cause of them. When I described my -narrow escape from death by suffocation, she grew so pale that I thought -she must feel considerable interest in me, although I immediately -reflected that it could not be very pleasant to have one's next-door -neighbor roasted alive. - -By-and-by I told her of my two dreams, and of the way in which I finally -kept faith with Antaeus. - -"It is a shame that you had to burn up your house to do it," she -commented, "when a brush-heap might have answered the purpose quite as -well." - -I thought--or I hoped--that the time had come for making a decisive move -with some chance of its being effective. I furtively possessed myself of -her hand. - -"I should not regret the house so much," said I, "if I might hope -you would deign to extend to me the favor with which Electra has made -Antaeus happy." - -This was bunglingly put, but she understood me well enough, although she -murmured in reply: - -"You have it already; we are--acquainted. Surely you don't -want--anything--more." - -But she did not withdraw her hand. - -I have just heard that the town fathers contemplate purchasing Antaeus -and giving him a permanent residence "within our borders." If -this report be true, I shall use all my influence--from motives of -gratitude--to have him lodged beside the engine-house, so that he may be -near his bewitching Electra. - -[Illustration: 0238] - - - - -WHICH MISS CHARTERIS? By C. G. Rogers - - -[Illustration: 0239] - -[Illustration: 9239] - -AVING completed his breakfast, Mr. Percy Darley seated himself in a n -easy-chair, facing the cheerful grate-fire of ruddy anthracite, placed -his toes upon the fender, and relapsed into a thoughtful contemplation -of Leonard's letter. - -"You had best come, my dear boy," said the letter. "It is a sleepy -little town--one of those idyllic Acadian places of which you used to -rave when you were tired of the city and fretful at her ways. We can -smoke our pipes and chat over the old days, before a fire in my big, -old-fashioned grate. There is a noble stretch of clear ice here now. Our -little river is frozen over, solid and safe, and the darkest prospects -do not foreshadow another fall of snow for a fortnight. The sleighing is -superb; and, as Madeline Bridges says, 'the nights are splendid.' Pack -up your traps and come." - -The invitation was an alluring one, thought Darley. His head ached, and -his heart was sick of the everlasting round of parties and calls and -suppers. What a vision of beatific rest that idea of a chat over old -times! Ah, dear old times of childhood and youth, when our tears are as -ephemeral as our spendthrift dimes! - -There seemed to be only one rational preclusion--to wit, Miss Charteris. -Not that he thought Miss Charteris would personally object to his -absence, but, rather, that _he_ had an objection to leaving Miss -Charteris. Miss Charteris was an heiress, and a handsome woman; to -be brief, Miss Charteris being rich, and our friend Darley having the -millstone of debt about his neck, he had determined, if possible, to wed -her. If he went away, however, at this period of his acquaintance, -when the heiress and he were becoming fast friends, some one else would -doubtless step into the easy shoes of attention. - -So Darley went down into the city and telegraphed his friend Leonard -that he would be in Dutton on the evening train. He thought he should -like to see Miss Charteris, however, before going. He walked back slowly -along a particularly favorite drive of hers, and presently met this -young lady with her stylish little turn-out, looking very radiant and -happy on this bright winter morning. - -There was some one with her--a fact Darley noticed with no great feeling -of pleasure. It was not a strange thing; but, following the course of -things as they had been for the past few weeks, it should have been -Darley himself. This morning it was a sallow, dark young man whom Darley -did not remember having seen before. - -Darley explained that he was about to leave town for a few weeks, as -soon as Miss Charteris had drawn up alongside the pavement to wish -him goodmorning. Then she introduced him to her companion. "A very old -friend--Mr. Severance--just arrived from Australia." - -"Dear old Dutton!" said Miss Charteris, looking reminiscent. "You must -not break any trusting hearts down there, Mr. Darley; for the Dutton -maids are not only lovely, but proverbially trusting." - -"You know Dutton, then?" Darley answered, surprised. - -"Oh, yes! I have a very dear aunt in Dutton--oh, but you will see! I -spent some of my happiest days there. So did you, I think, Lawrence." - -"Yes," said Mr. Severance reflectively, "days almost as happy as the -present day. Don't you think, Mr. Darley, that a man's best years -cluster round the age of ten?" - -Darley could not help agreeing to this. All men, provided their youth -has been happy, think so. Darley said good-by, and walked on. - -Who was this fellow Severance? _She_ called him Lawrence--_Lawrence_, by -Jove! There was something in it--rather old schoolmates, too, they -had been, and what might they not be now? It was more pique than -disappointment which caused Darley to wish momentarily that he was not -scheduled for Dutton. However, he must stand the hazard of the die. - -His things were soon packed; he also supplied himself with a box of the -cigars Leonard and he used to love in "the days that are no more," and a -copy of "Outing." And ten hours later the train, with a jovial roar, ran -into the little town, where the lights gleamed cozily against the snowy -background, and the sleigh-bells seemed to bid him a merry, musical -welcome. - -A short, erect, trimly built man with a finely chiseled face and a brown -skin that seemed to breathe of pine woods and great wide, sunlit rivers -grasped Darley's hand as he stepped to the platform. - -"Well, old man!" exclaimed the brown man, cheerily. "Awfully glad you've -come! Come this way! Here we are, Joseph! Step in!" - -"By Jove! it _is_ wintry here, isn't it?" said Darley, as he slid under -the buffalo robes. "What a peerless night!" - -After supper the two men made themselves thoroughly comfortable in great -leather chairs before Leonard's promised fire, and smoked and chatted. - -"You look just the same, old boy," said Leonard, scanning Darley -carefully. "But the hair is a little thin in front there, and I think -I see the growing spot of baldness, as Ike Marvel has it. Did you ever -read that great book of his, 'A Bachelor's Reveries?' No? Well, -you should. I find it sweetest company. Yes, you are the same old -sobersides--a great deal deeper than you look, as the little boy said -when he fell into the well. And not married yet, eh?" - -"Who, the little boy?" - -"No; you, you rogue! I should have thought you would have gone off long -ago." - -"Why?" - -"A hard question to answer. Are we not always in a condition of mild -wonder that our friends have not gone over to the married ranks, when -we ourselves have not? However, from floating gossip--that tongue's -flotsam--I have heard that you meditate going over." - -"Eh?" said Darley, pricking up his ears. - -"Why," answered Leonard, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, "Beau -Brummel cannot pay court to a beauty without the world knowing it! I, -even I, have heard of Miss Bella Charteris. She is not the sort of girl, -if I may make so bold, that I would have imagined you pinning yourself -to. I should have thought some quiet, sober, angelic little woman -like----" - -"Like who?" - -"Well, I was going to say like her sister," said Leonard softly, bending -his head over his pipe as he slowly refilled it. "But you do not know -her sister, I think." - -"Why, I did not even know Miss Charteris had a sister!" exclaimed -Dar-ley in amazement. - -"No? Why, Miss Florence Charteris lives here--in Dutton!" - -"Miss Charteris mentioned an aunt, and hinted at some one else whom she -said I would see, now that I think of it." - -"Irony, I suppose," said Leonard quietly, smiling a queer little smile. -"Yes, Miss Charteris the second lives in Dutton: a quaint, gray little -life, good, patient, and God-like. She is the sweet angel of Dutton. But -tell me, Percy, are you in love with your Miss Charteris?" - -"I am afraid she is not my Miss Charteris," said Darley, smiling. "And -to be candid with you, Jack, I am not in love with her--for which, -perhaps, I should be thankful. However, if Miss Charteris _does_ accept -me, which I think is highly improbable, I shall marry her for money." - -Leonard shook his head. "I thought that was the way the wind lay," he -said sagaciously. "Don't do it," he added tersely, after a pause. "Take -an old fool's advice--don't do it. I think you would only live to regret -having sold yourself into bondage. That is what it would amount to in -your case. You are not built upon rough enough lines, I know, not to -care at having your poverty sneered at and constantly thrown in your -face. It is a puzzle to me how any man with any sense of independence -and honor can sell himself, as some men do; and it is beyond my -understanding how _you_, with your fine feelings and high ideal of -manhood, ever thought of such a thing." - -This was certainly rubbing it in, Dar-ley thought. But, then, Leonard -was such an exceptionally odd fellow, with his one-man-in-a-million code -of chivalry and his ethical eccentricities. Still, Darley shrunk at the -castigation, because he knew that the feelings that prompted it were -sincere. - -"But I am terribly in debt, Jack," he said, almost deprecatingly. "What -is there left for me to do?" - -"What is there left? The opportunity to fight it out!" retorted Leonard. -"Retrench. In a year, or two at most, unless you are _hopelessly_ -insolvent, if you live without the profitless pleasures that have -brought you to this pass, you can come out triumphantly independent." - -Darley shook his head. "I am afraid I could not stand the strain, Jack," -he answered, almost sadly. "A fellow of your caliber might. How is it, -by the way, that you yourself are still in single harness?" - -Leonard was silent, gazing in the coals with almost a melancholy air. - -"Perhaps I should not say so," he said at last, "yet you have been so -frank with me; but I do not like the subject when applied to myself. -However, there is but one answer, which is embodied in that one -word that hangs like a pall before the eyes of the young literary -aspirant--_refused_. I shall always be single, Darley. Always the same -old solitary sixpence, with my rods and guns and dogs and books. Not bad -companions, all of them, when used well--faithful, too. Eh, Rosy?" - -The beautiful hound addressed raised her head and looked pathetically at -her master, rubbing her nose in a sympathetic way against his leg. - -Darley felt deeply interested. "What was the trouble, old fellow?" he -ventured. - -"The whole story is contained in that one word--refused. I never cared -for but one woman; and _she_ did not care for me--at least, not enough -to marry. Which was, after all, the most natural thing in the world, I -suppose. I could not blame her, could I, since I would only marry for -love myself? It is not much of a story, is it?" - -"On the contrary, I think there is a great deal in it!" answered Darley, -warmly. "I think I see that you loved this woman as only men with hearts -like yours can love--once and for all." - -"Loved her? My love has no past participle, Darley! I shall always love -her! I shall always think her the sweetest woman in the world, and the -best! There is no other like her--God bless her! But you are sleepy, old -fellow; and even Rosy is yawning and thinks it is time all decent people -went to bed. Let us have one of the old-time horns, one of those old -camp-fire nips--and then to bed. To-morrow you shall see our little -town. By the way, did you bring your skates?" - -"Skates! I haven't seen one for five years." - -"Never mind. I have a dozen pairs, and I dare say we can fit you. Do -you curl? No? Well, you shall learn. We have the finest rink within a -hundred miles. Here's your room, old fellow! Good-night, and rosy dreams -and slumbers bright, as Sir Walter says." - -The days passed happily for Darley. The ice was perfect; and though he -had not skated for years, his old power over the art came swiftly back. -The river was one glaring, narrow, indefinite sheet of incomparable ice. -Then there was the curling-rink, of which Leonard was an ardent devotee. -It is a quiet, satisfying sport, this "roaring" game, and has peculiar -charms for the man who has turned forty. The snow-bird shooting was -good, too, out in the broad white fields beyond the town. And one -glittering night the pair drove out into the country, and went on a hunt -after some depredatory foxes with some farmers. They did not get the -foxes; but they had a jolly supper at the farm-house, and an eight-hand -reel in the kitchen, which Darley thoroughly enjoyed--more, he affirmed -to his black-eyed partner, than any ball in the city he had ever -attended. - -One morning, Leonard having some business to detain him, Darley went off -alone for the customary spin down the river. Skating out of the town -and away past the white fields and the farmhouses, he presently espied a -small feminine figure ahead of him, gliding quietly along. Suddenly -the figure tripped and fell. One skate had come off and flew out to the -center of the ice. - -Darley sped to the rescue. The little figure in gray made a futile -attempt to rise. - -[Illustration: 0252] - -"Are you hurt?" exclaimed the rescuer as he wheeled to a short stop. - -The lady looked up, and Darley saw the likeness in an instant. It was -the other Miss Charteris--not at all like his acquaintance of the city. -A rather pale, patient little face, with quiet gray eyes set far apart; -a plain face, Darley said to himself. But on second thought he decided -that it was not. - -"I am afraid I have hurt my ankle," said this little woman in answer to -Darley's inquiry. "I tried to stand up, but I got a twinge that told me -something was wrong." - -"Let me help you. Which foot is it?" - -"This one," indicating the foot minus the skate. - -Darley lifted her up. "Now you keep the injured member off the ice," he -said, "and I will skate you to shore." - -"It was all my fault," said the patient, as Darley knelt down and -removed the remaining skate. "I would put on these old-fashioned things -just because the blades are splendid." - -Darley secured the refractory skate and removed his own. Then he asked -how the ankle felt. - -Miss Charteris attempted to stand upon both feet, but sat down upon the -bank instantly. - -"It _does_ hurt," she said, as if unwilling to admit the painful fact. -She looked at Darley almost appealingly, then about her. The nearest -house was a quarter of a mile away. Finally she looked back at Darley, -with an expression that seemed to say, What are we going to do now, I -wonder? - -Darley made up his mind quickly. He always did when a woman was in the -question. "You can't walk," he said; "I shall have to carry you." - -Miss Charteris' pale cheeks assumed a rapid flush. "I can walk," she -said, hastily. - -"Very well," said Darley, gently. "Take my arm." - -A few painful steps proved to Miss Charteris that she _could_ walk, at -the expense of excruciating agony. So, being a sensible little soul, she -stopped. - -"You see, it is impossible," said her knight. "You will have to let me -carry you, Miss Charteris. I beg your pardon for not introducing myself. -I am Mr. Percy Darley, a guest at Mr. John Leonard's." - -"I knew you were Mr. Darley, but I don't see how you knew that I was -Miss Charteris," said that young lady, looking surprised, and quite -forgetting her ankle. - -"I have the pleasure of knowing your sister, and I recognized the -likeness," answered Darley, truthfully. "Now, will you allow me? Or I am -afraid I shall have to take the law into my own hands." - -"I am not the law," retorted Miss Charteris, attempting to proceed. - -"The very reason that I should become the law," answered Darley, -laughing. - -"I think I can _hop_," said the girl, desperately. She did so for a few -yards, and then came to a last halt. Hopping through deep snow proved -rather heavy exercise. - -"I am afraid you will have to carry me," she said in a tone of -surrender. - -Darley picked her up. She was no weight, this little gray thing, and -Darley was an athletic young man. Despite the snow, it did not take him -long to reach the farm-house. - -The farmer's wife was a kind soul, and knew Miss Charteris. She also -knew a sprain, she said, when she saw one; and Miss Charteris' ankle was -sprained. So, while the injured member was being attended to by the -deft hand of the farmer's wife, Darley posted off to the town for Miss -Charteris' aunt's sleigh, the farmer being absent with his own. - -Darley secured the sleigh, drove back to the farm-house, and his charge, -her ankle warmly and carefully wrapped up, was placed in the cutter and -driven home. The family doctor had already arrived, and Darley took his -leave. - -"May I call and see how you are get-ing on?" he ventured as he said -good-by. - -"I shall be happy if you will," said Miss Charteris. But the gray eyes -seemed to say to Darley, Could you think of not doing so? - -"I am afraid you are in love, or on the way," said this young man to -himself as he walked briskly to his friend's house. "In love, young -fellow, and with a real woman, not a woman of the world, but a genuine -sweet woman, one worth the loving." - -He related the story as simply as he could to Leonard, and the latter -listened quietly. But Darley did not observe the odd look in his -friend's eyes during the narration, nor did he guess that Leonard was -saying to himself, Ah! my young friend, and have you, too, fallen at the -first shaft? - -"Shall we go round to the rink?" suggested Leonard the following -evening, after dinner, as they sat over their pipes. - -"I think I will stroll round and see how Miss Charteris is," said -Darley, smoking furiously. "I will call in at the rink afterward, eh?" - -"Very well, old fellow," was all Leonard said. - -Darley found Miss Charteris' ankle improved. The doctor had pronounced -it a severe sprain, had prescribed some wonderful liniment, and had -alleviated the pain. - -"But I shall not be able to be out again for three weeks," said the -invalid, plaintively, on the occasion of a second visit of anxious -inquiry. "It is too bad; for I think open-air skating the most -exhilarating of all sport! It always seems to lift me up." - -"It didn't seem to lift you up yesterday," suggested Darley. - -"No, indeed. I have thought since that I should be very grateful to you, -because, if you had not happened along, I am sure I don't know what I -should have done." - -"Don't talk like that, please," said Darley, gravely. It is wonderful -the aversion a young man has to being thanked in a case of this sort--at -least, his profession of dislike. "I cannot tell you how unfortunate -I regard the doctor's mandate," said Darley after one of those awkward -pauses between two young people who fancy, on a short acquaintance, -that they have a tender regard for each other. "On your own account, of -course, because I can understand how you feel over losing such a chance -as the present ice affords; but chiefly, I am selfish enough to say, on -my own behalf, because by the time you are able to skate again, even if -the ice is still good, my visit will have come to an end; and I had been -hoping, presumptuously enough, I know, to see you often." - -"Will it be really imperative for you to return so soon?" said Miss -Charteris, working rapidly at the woolen hood on which she was engaged. - -"I am afraid so," answered Darley, with something very like a sigh. "I -could not infringe on too much of Leonard's time----" - -"Ah! it is not the city which calls, then?" - -"No, it is not the city," answered Darley, laughing, and being angrily -conscious that he was flushing. "But Jack is such a dear good fellow, -that I know he would not dream of sending me away." - -Miss Charteris' eyes were on her work, and she plied her fingers -rapidly. - -"Do you know Leonard very well, Miss Charteris?" continued Darley, as -the girl did not venture a remark. - -"Oh, yes!" The tone might have suggested that Miss Charteris was -agitated; but Darley went on, radiant and sublimely ignorant. - -"He is a grand fellow--the one man in the world that I would fall down -and worship! I think Shakespeare must have had him in his vaticinal eye -when he put those perfect words, that immortal eulogy, in the mouth -of Antony: 'His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him that -Nature might stand up and say to all the world, '_this_ was a man!'" - -The maid came in and asked if she should light the lamps. - -"Not just yet. I prefer this twilight. Do you, Mr. Darley?" - -"Very much--for itself. It is very satisfying and soothing, and always -seems to me like a benediction. But it is very bad for your eyes, and -very soon I shall be only able to half see your face." - -"Which will be very good for _your_ eyes. Well, I have done work -for today." Miss Charteris laid the hood away, which Darley had been -regarding curiously, and folded her hands in her lap. The action and the -moment made Darley think of the "Angelus;" the "Angelus" made him think -that it was getting late, and that made him think that it was time to -go. The lamps, he said, had come round, and---- - -"No, sit down, unless you really want to go," said Miss Charteris. She -was remarkably frank, this young lady. "The lamps have not come round; -and, on the contrary, I think that my disinclination for them should be -taken as proof that I do not think it is time for you to go. Besides, -the days are cruelly short now." - -"I find them so," answered Darley, softly. "Leonard is making everything -so comfortable for me that I do not know what I shall feel like when the -curtain has rung down. It will seem like awaking suddenly from dreamland -to cold earth again. I am sure I shall feel like one of those mountains -falling into the sea of dullness that Poe describes: 'Mountains toppling -evermore into seas without a shore.'" - -"You seem a great admirer of Mr. Leonard," ventured Miss Charteris. -There was just the slightest suspicion of jealousy in her tone, which -Darley did not notice. Was it because he had inadvertently attributed -his loneliness at leaving to his friend's kindness, and not paid her -that little tribute of homage which women love? But who knoweth the -heart of woman? Darley longed to tell her why he should feel lonely -when he came to say good-by; but he did not wish to garnish such -a declaration with quotations from poets. Let a man speak from the -inspiration of the moment when he tells his love, or hints at it. - -"Admirer!" he echoed, in reply to Miss Charteris' remark. "It is more -than that. Just think! We were inseparable for years. I wish we had -remained so. No one who knows Jack Leonard as I have known him could -help thinking him a perfect man, noble and generous, as he is!" - -"We are one in that opinion," answered Miss Charteris, quietly. "And, -next to esteeming a noble man, I can esteem his friend who can speak so -unselfishly and sincerely of him, as you have done." - -Darley felt touched--not so much at the words, but at the way in which -they were spoken, gently, deeply, as if breathing of sincereness. But he -did not distinguish anything beyond that in the grave eulogy to Leonard -and himself. - -At length the lights _had_ to be brought in, and Darley rose to go. - -"You said you felt it unfortunate that I should be unable to skate, -because you had been hoping to see me often," said Miss Charteris. She -was conscious of a slight flush, but she went bravely on. In certain -circumstances a woman _has_ to be what prudes call bold. "Did you mean -it?" - -"How could you doubt that I meant it? I certainly did mean it." -Darley was a little confused by this frankness. All true women must be -coquettes in some degree, was Darley's creed. But Miss Charteris was -hardly a coquette even in a slight degree, he thought. It was not -frivolousness that prompted her to speak in this way. - -"Because, if you meant it," continued this charming young person, "I -shall be glad if you will come and see me as often as you like, if you -will not find it dull." - -Miss Spooner, Miss Charteris' aunt, came in at this moment and spoiled -the eloquent look of reproach that Darley gave her niece. - -"Did you ever see such a girl!" exclaimed Miss Spooner in her high but -pleasant voice. Miss Spooner's speech was emphatic, and endowed with -realism. Darley felt like saying that he never had, indeed. "_I_ never -did! Going into mourning, I believe, because she can't go out and break -another ankle! You wouldn't catch _me_ on that ice! I saw it to-day from -the bridge--horrible, shiny, treacherous stuff! Not going already, Mr. -Darley? Better stop to tea." - -Darley said he could not stop to tea _that evening_; which meant that he -could some other evening, of course, and would be unspeakably happy to -do so. All of which Miss Spooner understood; and so she extended her -hospitality to him for the next evening. - -***** - -"Do you know, Percy, I believe you are going to marry Miss Charteris," -said Leonard, quietly, one evening. "_Our_ Miss Charteris, I mean." - -"What makes you say so?" - -"I believe you are in love with her; in fact, I know you are. And I hope -you will. Nothing could make me happier." Darley looked the satisfaction -he could not speak at this little speech. - -"I am in love with her. But I am not good enough for her," he said, -humbly. "I have been a worthless beggar all these years----" - -"You can prove your worth," said Leonard, warmly. "And you _must_, if -you marry Florence Charteris. I know you are not worthless; but you must -let the good come to the surface." - -"I shall work," answered Darley, earnestly. "I begin to feel now the -approving glow that comes to a man when he anticipates marrying a woman -he loves. But why should I anticipate? I have not the slightest reason -to believe that Miss Charteris cares a jot for me!" - -"Is that true, Percy?" questioned Leonard, sharply. - -Darley did not know whether it was true or not. He did not like to be -sanguine, he said. No; he had no reason to think Miss Charteris cared -whether he went back to town to-morrow. Not an item of which Leonard -believed. - -"I hope earnestly you will win her," he said again. "But you will have -to retrench. Florence Charteris is as poor as a church mouse." - -"I am heartily glad of it," said Darley, warmly. "I shall be the man I -have never yet been if I win her." - -"Well, you will win her," said Leonard. "I feel it in my bones." - -So the days went round; and each one found Darley at Miss Spooner's. -Even little Dutton had begun to watch with interest the outcome of this -quiet wooing of the little lady whom all the town loved. The evolutions -of acquaintance had merged rapidly into the sweeter plane of an almost -wordless courtship; but as yet Darley had not ventured to speak He felt -fearful lest his dream should be dispelled; and yet, though he was not a -vain man, he felt that this lovable little woman cared for him. He could -not go back to town and leave his love unspoken, however; because if he -had done so this little story would not have been written. And at length -came the day when he felt that his visit had been prolonged beyond the -limits that even close friendship allows. - -"I am going away to-morrow," he said on this eventful afternoon. It was -just such an afternoon as that first one which he had spent there. It -was growing dusk; and through the window they could see the red lights -of home, those terrestrial apostles of Hesperus, punctuating the white -landscape. - -"I am going away to-morrow," repeated Darley. Miss Charteris said -nothing, but gazed out of the window. - -"Why don't you say something?" he burst out. "Have you nothing to say?" - -"What should I say? Do you want me to say good-by? Is it such a sweet -word, then, that you are anxious that I should say it now?" - -Darley knelt beside the little dusky figure in the rocker. How sweet it -is to have the woman you love speak to you like this, and to hear her -voice tremble, and to feel that she cares for you! - -"No, I don't want you to say good-by," he said, very gently. "I want you -to tell me not to go. Can't you see that the thought of leaving you has -been like the thought of eternal darkness to me? I love you, and I -want you for my own, always, that I may never know the bitterness of -good-by!" Miss Charteris turned her head, and Darley saw that the gray -eyes he loved so well were wet. She put out one little white hand till -it rested on his. - -"Stay!" she whispered. - -After a while, when the lamps--those horribly real and unromantic -things--were brought in, they talked of other matters. But both seemed -very happy, and ready to talk of anything. Even the mysterious hood, -which was now completed, came in for a share of attention, and the -inquisitive Darley learned that it was for a "poor old soul," as Miss -Charteris expressed it, who lived in a wretched little shanty with -a worthless grandson, at the other end of the town. By-and-by Miss -Charteris said: - -"I have some news for you. Bella was married yesterday. Can you guess to -whom?" - -"No, I cannot," answered Darley, almost breathlessly. Bella was the -Miss Charteris of the city. He did not know whether to feel glad or -indifferent, but he was free of the gentlest touch of spleen. A woman -will be conscious of a twinge of pique when she hears that a man with -whom she has had some little love affair has married some one else. But -Darley was not conscious of any such sensation. - -"It was very quiet," continued Miss Charteris. "At least, I gather so -from the paper which tells me of it. Bella never writes me, and not -even on this occasion has she done so. However, she is now Mrs. Lawrence -Severance." - -"Oh!" exclaimed Darley in a superior tone, which testified that he knew -something about it. Then he mentioned having met Severance. He had not -said anything of the occurrence before, not caring for Miss Charteris of -the city as a subject of conversation with her sister, for reasons best -known to himself. - -"There is quite a little story about it, you know," continued Miss -Florence. "Lawrence, you know, and Bella have been lovers ever since -they were so high, and Bella was Aunt Mary Spooner's favorite. When Aunt -Mary died she left a great deal of money for Bella when she should come -of age, stipulating, however, that Bella should have only a certain -allowance till she was beyond a marriageable age." - -"And, pray, what age is that?" asked Darley, laughing. - -"I should not have cared to ask Aunt Mary that question. The reason was -that Lawrence was the son of an old sweetheart of Aunt Mary's, who had -jilted her without any mercy; and so the sins of the father were visited -upon the head of the son. 'Marry Lawrence, my dear,' says Aunt Mary, 'if -you like, but you don't have my money. Florence shall have it the day -you marry Lawrence Severance.'" - -Darley started as if stung. "Eh?" he exclaimed, "I don't understand!" - -"Then listen. 'Oh, ho!' quoth Lawrence, when he grew up and understood -the story. 'So that is the way of love, is it? Well, there are more -fortunes than Aunt Mary's in the world.' And away went Lawrence, nothing -daunted, to win--what I hear he has won--double the fortune that Bella, -in marrying him, hands over to me." - -"Then you mean to say that this--money comes to you; that you are a rich -woman, in fact?" Darley's tone was almost bitten. - -"Yes!" answered Miss Florence, gleefully, and clapping her little hands. -"Aren't you glad?" - -"Glad? I hate it!" - -"Hate it?" - -"Yes, hate it! I was glorying in the fact that if I won you I would -marry a poor woman. Now--" Darley did not finish his sentence. - -"You must not talk like that," said Miss Florence with some asperity. -"It is very wrong, and it hurts me, although I know I should be pleased. -But I know you love me for all that. Money is a very good thing--God's -gift in the hands of those who use it well. There is a great deal of -good that we can do with Aunt Mary's money. She was very good herself -to the poor, despite her unnatural dislike for Lawrence Severance; and I -should like her to know that her mantle had fallen on worthy shoulders. -You and I shall use this money to a great purpose." - -"But you don't know what a happy thing it has been to me, this thought -of winning you and proving my love by earnest work!" - -"And need that resolve be dissipated?" said Miss Florence, gravely. "You -shall do that. There is a great deal of work to be done." - -***** - -Leonard met Darley on his return, and drew him into the light. - -"I have won her, Jack!" said the younger man, grasping his friend's -hand. "The sweetest and the noblest woman God ever made!" - -"I see it in your face," said Leonard, huskily. Even Darley could not -fail to notice the change in his friend's voice. "What is the matter, -old man?" he exclaimed. "You----" - -"Nothing, nothing, my boy," Leonard answered quickly. "But promise me -one thing: that you will make her a noble husband, always--always!" - -Then Darley understood. - -"Dear old Jack!" he said tenderly. "What a fool I have been! Can you -forgive me?" - -"There is nothing to forgive, my boy--nothing. But you must always be -good to her. But never get angry because another man besides yourself -worships your wife." - -[Illustration: 0265] - -[Illustration: 0266] - - - - -THE BEAR 'S-HEAD BROOCH, By Ernest Ingersoll - - -[Illustration: 0267] - -[Illustration: 0268] - -[Illustration: 9268] - -HE story I am about to narrate happened this way, Thomas Burke and I -were old schoolmates. But his course and mine had been widely divergent -for a score of years, so that by the time he had brought his family back -to New York, and our acquaintance could be renewed, many untold things -had happened to each. - -I knew Tom had won his fortune by mining in the Rocky Mountains. It was -rumored that his accomplished wife also had wealth in her own right, but -Tom never had much to say in regard to his financial matters, and I did -not like to question him notwithstanding our intimacy. I had dined with -him two Christmases in succession, and now for the third time had eaten -my Christmas dinner at his table. - -On each of these occasions Mrs. Burke had worn at her throat a -magificient brooch which I had never seen at any other time, though I -had met her often when such an ornament would have been suitable enough. -This brooch was a bear's face, holding in its teeth a tiny steel key. -It was a marvel of delicacy in the goldsmith's art, and evidently very -costly; for the eyes were each a ruby, and the head was encircled with -large diamonds, half hidden by hairs of gold, as though they represented -a collar round bruin's hirsute neck. - -"Tom," I said, when Mrs. Burke had left us to ourselves after dinner, "I -am very curious about that bear's head brooch your wife wears. Why do -I never see it except at Christmas? I am sure it has a history, and if -there is no secret about it I wish you would enlighten me." - -"Well," said my old friend, "that is rather a lengthy story. There is no -secret about it--at least none to keep from an old chum like you. As for -the brooch, that's only an ornament I had made some years ago; but the -design and the little key--which is a real key--remind Marion and myself -of what we call our Christmas story, because it culminated on that day. - -"When you and I left the old university in 1870, and you came here, and -I went West----" - -But if I were to tell the story as he did, it would hardly be as plain -to you as it was to me. I must write it out. - -When Tom Burke left the university after his graduation he took the few -hundred dollars which were the measure of his capital and went to the -Rocky Mountains to seek his fortune. In the autumn of 1871 he became -the superintendent of the Crimson Canyon Mining Company in Southern -Colorado, where he found as assayer, and scientific assistant generally, -a queer, learned and proud old Scotchman named Corbitt. This man had -been one of the "Forty-niners" and had made a fortune which he had -greatly enjoyed while it lasted, and the loss of which, in some -wrong-headed speculation, he never ceased to deplore. - -Now, a few weeks before Tom's arrival at the camp, Corbitt's home had -been brightened by the coming of his daughter Marion, on what he told -his envious acquaintances was a "veesit," implying that she could not be -expected to make her home there. - -And truly this remote mountain settlement, inclement in climate, -uncouth, dusty, filled with rough men, and bountiful only in pure air -and divine pictures of crag and glen, icy-blue peaks and chromatic -patches of stained cliff above or flower meadow below--all this was -anything but the sort of place for a girl like her to spend her maiden -days in. - -Perhaps it was not quite a case of love at first sight between her and -Tom, but certainly the winter had not passed before each had confessed -that there was no one else in the world beside the other whose presence -much mattered in the way of happiness. - -But that seemed to be the end of it, for Corbitt gave young Burke to -understand most decisively that he could hope for nothing more--an -engagement to marry was out of the question. - -"Love, let us wait," was Marion's last word, when, on her first and last -tryst, she had stolen away to meet him, and he counted her kisses as a -miser counts his gold. - -"Let us wait. I care for nobody else, and nobody can marry me against -my will. We are young yet. Who knows what may happen? You may get money -enough to satisfy papa--I don't suppose he holds me at a very, very high -price, do you? Or I may be freer after a while to do as I wish." - -This was commonplace advice enough, but Tom saw both the good sense and -the pure love in it, and accepted the decree, steeling his heart against -the impulses of rage and revolt. - -And then, quite unexpectedly, Mr. Corbitt resigned his place and went -to Denver, taking his family with him. The same week the mine changed -owners, and Burke was superseded by a new superintendent; and so, almost -at a stroke, the lad lost both his sweetheart and the weapon by which he -was to fight for her in the business tournament of the world. However, -the latter evil was presently remedied, and he worked on, saving his -money and teasing his brain for suggestions how to make it increase -faster. - -At that time the mighty range had never been very carefully prospected. -Men had, indeed, ascended Crimson Creek to its sources in search of -the deposits of quartz whence the auriferous gravels below had been -enriched, but they had brought back a discouraging report. Tom was -not satisfied to accept their conclusions. He was confident, from the -geological and other indications, that treasures of ore lay undiscovered -among those azure heights. At last, resolved to see for himself, he -enlisted the help of a young miner and mountaineer named Cooper, and one -day late in August they started. - -After passing the pillared gateways of the Canyon, and ascending for a -few miles the great gorge down which the creek cascaded over boulders -and ledges of granite and rounded fragments of trachyte and quartz, you -come to a noble cataract leaping into the Canyon from the left through a -narrow gash or depression in the wall. By climbing up the opposite slope -a little way, you see that this stream comes tumbling white and furious -down a long rugged stairway of rocky fragments before it reaches the -brink, whence it shoots out in the air and then falls in a thousand -wreaths of dangling vapor. - -"Cooper," Tom called out to his companion, who was more comrade than -servant, "I guess we'll camp here. I want to examine this side gorge a -bit." - -"It looks to me," remarked Tom, "as if this had formerly been the main -stream, and had carried pretty much all the drainage of the valley until -a big landslide--and it didn't happen so very long ago either--dammed -the exit of the valley and changed the shape of things generally, eh?" - -"That's about the size of it, I guess. But, I say, ain't that smoke down -there by the lake?" - -[Illustration: 0276] - -"I reckon we've got time enough to go and see. It ain't far down there, -and the moon'll show us the way back if we get late." - -Noting their bearings, they began the descent toward the lake and -presently came out upon its border, where the walking was easier. -Advancing cautiously half a mile or thereabout, they again caught sight -of the smoke through the bushes--a feeble column rising from some embers -before a small shelter of boughs and bark that hardly deserved the -name of hut. A skillet, a light pick and shovel, and one or two other -household articles lay near by, but nothing alive appeared. - -"No Injun 'bout that," said Cooper. - -"No, Cooper; more likely a prospector." - -Hallooing as they neared the hut, a lean and miserable dog rushed out -and greeted them with ferocious growls, whereupon they heard a weak -voice speaking to him, and saw a frowsy gray head and a bony hand, -clutching a revolver, stretched out of the opening that answered for a -door. - -[Illustration: 0284] - -"Hello!" Tom cried. "Call off your dog; we're friends." - -Then a tousled, ragged, gaunt-limbed figure, emaciated with hunger, wild -eyed with fever, dragged itself from the sheltering brush, gave one long -look at the stalwart strangers, and fell back on the stony ground in a -dead faint, while the dog, rushing forward with the courage of a starved -wolf, planted himself before the corpse-like form and defied them to -touch it. - -They fought off the animal, brought water from the lake and revived the -man. A dram from Tom's flask stimulated him, whereupon he sat up and -began to chatter incoherently, thanks to God and wild exclamations about -some hidden treasure mingling with such plaintive cries as "She'll be -all right now!" and "Mebbe she'll forgive her old dad!" making up the -whole of his ceaseless talk. - -"He's clean crazy!" was Cooper's opinion. - -"Yes," Tom assented, "but it is fever and famine. Couldn't you shoot a -rabbit or something? Then I could make him a stew. Try it." - -But all that Cooper could quickly find to kill were three mountain jays, -which were converted into a broth, thickened with the dust of flour that -remained. A little tea was also found in the sick man's pack, and this -was brewed for him. Then Cooper volunteered to go back to their own camp -and bring over more food and Tom's little medicine case. - -The next day he fetched the rest of their luggage, and in the afternoon -shot a deer. So they encamped here beside the lake and nursed the old -fellow until his fever subsided and the delirium had ceased to a great -extent. Then by easy stages, partly carrying him on a stretcher, partly -assisting him to walk, they managed to take him back to Crimson Camp and -gave him a bed in Tom's cabin. - -But the strain of this effort had been too much for the aged and feeble -frame. No sooner was the excitement of the march at an end than a -relapse occurred, and for a fortnight the old man hovered on the edge of -death; skill and care seemed to conquer, however, and one morning peace -came to the tortured brain and the old prospector began to get better. - -Now at last he was awake, with seeming intelligence in his eyes, asking -where he was and who were the people around him. Tom explained and then -questioned him in return. - -But the mystery was not to be so easily solved. The invalid could -not tell his name, nor where he had come from. He said he had been -prospecting all his life--where--how long--all particulars were a blank. - -"I can't remember anything but the cache--nothing else at all," he -declared, gazing piteously into one face after another. - -"Tell us about that, then." - -He felt in his bosom and drew out the little pouch. It was opened for -him and its contents--a fragment of quartz heavy with gold and a tiny -steel key--taken out. - -"Ah! What do you call that?" he inquired eagerly, pointing to the yellow -metal. - -"Gold." - -"Yes? Well, there is lots of that in my cache." - -"Where is your cache?" inquired Tom. - -The old fellow dropped his head and tried to think, but couldn't clutch -any of the motes of memory dodging like phantasmagoria before his eyes. - -"I can't tell," he confessed, with infinite sadness. "I reckon I'd know -the place if I saw it. And I've forgotten everything before that, but it -seems to me that I fell a great ways, and lay for years and years with -an awful pain in my head. Then all at once my head got better and I -opened my eyes--mebbe it was a dream--and there I and the dog were in -a little camp 'way up a big gulch. I knew the place, but I felt kind o' -weak and dizzy-like and 'lowed I'd make a cache o' all my stuff, and go -down to Del Nort' and see a doctor. So I dug a hole beside a big rock -that had a peculiar mark on it, and put into it most o' my grub and some -papers, and a lot o' that yellow stuff--what d'ye call it?--and reckoned -they'd be safe till I come back in three or four weeks. I can remember -all about the cache and my camp there, and my leavin' it and climbin' -down a devilish steep place, and there I stop and can't remember nothin' -since." - -This was absolutely all that was left of the man's memory, and, though -he was now quite sane, he had to be taught the names and uses of many -of the commonest objects. Moreover, he seemed to grow weaker instead -of stronger, and after a few days the physician announced that his -patient's end was near. When the old fellow was told this he called Tom -to his bedside, and said to him: - -"Pardner, you've done the square thing by me, and I want you to have -half the traps in that cache after I've passed in my checks, and give -the other half to--to--oh, God! Now I can't remember!" - -Then his face brightened again. - -"Oh, the letters'll tell! Read the letters and give her half of it. I'll -sign a paper if you'll write it." - -So a will was made, and the dying man made a mark before witness, in -lieu of the signature he had lost the power to make, and the next day he -died. - -The miners generally believed the stranger's story of this cache to be -a figment of his disordered imagination, and Tom himself might have -yielded to this theory had not the physician assured him that there was -a fair chance of its truth. - -So Tom preserved the will, the quartz and the key, hoping that chance -might sometime disclose the treasure trove if there were any; and a -few days later he and young Cooper started a second time on their -prospecting tour. This time they took a burro with them, and so were -able to carry a small tent and outfit for a fortnight's trip. - -By active marching they reached the lake that night, finding it slow -work to get their unwilling donkey up the steep rocks at the fall, by a -circuitous trail and aided by some actual lifting of the little beast. -They researched the hut, but found nothing new. The dog, now fat -and strong, and a devoted friend, accompanied them and betrayed most -excitedly his recognition of the bivouac. Next morning they made their -way up to the head of the lake, where the breadth of the gulch and the -appearance of things confirmed Tom's previous surmise that this was -originally the main channel of drainage. - -If this were true they ought to get evidence of drift gold; and several -days were spent in panning the gravels (nowhere, however, of great -extent), with most encouraging results. A few miles above the lake they -found the gulch forked into two ravines divided by a rocky spur. They -chose the right-hand one and lost three days in fruitless exploration of -its bed and walls. Shep (the dog was a collie and they had rechristened -him) did not display anything like the joy he had shown in the advance -up the main stream, and when they finally returned to the forks -they could not but notice his renewed spirits. The dog was again all -eagerness, and intensely delighted when on the following morning they -started up the left-hand gulch. - -"It looks as though his master had come down that way, doesn't it?" -said Tom. "Maybe he could guide us right back to where he came from; but -he'll have to wait a while, for I like the look of that crag up there," -directing his companion's attention to the crest of the wall on the -left, "and I want to examine it. You'd better stay here and try to get a -blacktail. Bacon three times a day is getting monotonous." - -"Don't you think you'd better take the Winchester?" said Cooper. (They -had brought but one rifle.) "You might hit up against a grizzly or a -mountain lion. I heard one of 'em screeching last night." - -"No; I can't lug a gun. I've got my six shooter, and I'll risk it. Come -on, Shep! It's noon now, and we won't get back to supper if we don't -hurry." - -The dog raced gleefully ahead as the young man strode up the gulch, -scanning its rugged slope in search of a convenient place to begin the -ascent, and presently, as though cognizant of the plan, the dog turned -aside and with loud barking and much tail wagging invited attention to a -dry watercourse that offered a sort of path. - -"I guess you're right, Shep," Tom assented, and set his face to the -sturdy climb. - -Half way up a ledge, covered with cedars and Spanish bayonet, made the -ascent really arduous for a little way, and here the dog, which as usual -was some rods in advance, suddenly began barking furiously, and capering -around a small object. - -"Chipmunk, I reckon," said Tom to himself, as he scrambled on, short of -breath; but when Shep came sliding down, holding in his mouth a battered -old felt hat, curiosity changed to amazement. The dog growled at first, -and refused to give up his prize, but after a little coaxing yielded it -into Tom's hands. - -The old prospector had had no hat when found. Could this be it? It did -not seem to have lain out of doors long, and the dog would hardly show -so much interest unless his sharp nose had recognized it as something -belonging to his former inaster. Closely scrutinizing, Tom found tucked -into the lining a slip of sweat-stained paper with a name upon it-- - -ARTHUR F. PIERSON, - -Tucsony Arizona. - -Stuffing the hat into his pocket Tom scrambled on, thinking out the -meaning of the incident; and now he began to notice in this steeper -place that some of the boulders had been misplaced, and here and there -was a broken branch, as, if someone had descended very hastily or -clumsily. - -"If that crazy old man came down here, and perhaps caught a second bad -fall, I don't wonder he was used up by the time he reached the lake" -was Tom's mental ejaculation, as he toiled up the acclivity and at last, -panting and leg weary, gained a narrow grassy level at the foot of a -crag "spiked with firs," which had been conspicuous from the valley not -only by its height and castellated battlements, but because a colossal X -was formed on its face by two broad veins of quartz crossing each other. - -With his eyes fixed upon the rocky wall he walked along in the face of -a stiff breeze, until he noticed a pinkish streak upon the dark cliff, -betokening the outcrop of another vein, and turned aside to climb a pile -of fallen fragments at the foot of the crag to reach it. These fragments -were overgrown with low, dense shrubbery. He ducked his head and was -pushing into them, when suddenly he saw a huge brown body rise almost -into his face, heard the tremendous growl of a grizzly, and amid a crash -of bushes and dislodged stones felt himself hurled backward. - -Clutching instinctively at one of the shrubs as he fell, he whirled -under its hiding foliage, and the vicious stroke of the bear's paw -came down upon his leg instead of his head, while the released branches -snapped upward into the face of the brute, which, as much surprised -as its victim, paused in its onslaught to collect its wits. An -instant later Shep dashed up, and at the bear's hindquarters. Bruin -spasmodically sank his claws deeper into Tom's thigh, but turned his -head and shoulders with a terrific ursine oath at this new and most -palpable enemy; and ten seconds afterward Tom's revolver, its muzzle -pressed close underneath the bear's ear, had emptied half an ounce of -lead into its brain. A blood-freezing death squeal tore the air, and the -ponderous carcass sank down, stone dead, upon Tom's body and upon the -dwarfed spruce which covered it. It pinned him to the ground with an -almost insupportable weight. Perhaps if the animal alone had lain upon -him he might have wriggled out; but the brute's carcass also held down -the tough and firmly-rooted tree, and the rocks on each side formed a -sort of trough. Turn and strain as he would Tom could not free -himself from the burden which threatened to smother him. Moreover, the -convulsive death throe had forcibly tightened the grip of the claws -in the side of his knee, which felt as if in some horrible torturing -machine of the Inquisition; and had he not been able at last to reach -that paw with his left hand and pull it away from the wound he would -have died under the agony. - -Then, as he felt the blood running hot and copious down his leg, a new -fear chilled his heart. Might he not bleed to death? There seemed no end -to the hemorrhage, and what hope had he of succor? He thought of firing -signals of distress, but could not reach the pistol, which had been -knocked out of his hand. He spoke to the dog, which was barking and -worrying at the bear's hind leg, and Shep came and licked his face and -sniffed at his blood-soaked trousers. Then, as if even he realized how -hopeless was the situation, he sat on his haunches and howled until Tom, -hearing him less and less distinctly, imagined himself a boulder slowly -but musically crunching to powder under the resistless advance of a -glacier, and lost consciousness as the cold-blue dream-ice closed over -his dust. - -By and by he awoke. It was dark, and something cold and soft was blowing -against his face. He moved and felt the shaggy fur and the horrible -pain in his leg and in his right arm, which was confined in a twisted -position. Then he remembered, but forgot again. - -A second time he awoke. It was still dark, but a strange pallor -permeated the air, and all around him was a mist of white. - -It was snowing fast. He closed his left hand and grasped a whole fistful -of flakes. The body of the bear was a mound of white--like a new-made -grave over him, he dismally thought. The snow had drifted under and -about his shoulders. Its chill struck the wound in his thigh, which -throbbed as though hit with pointed hammers, keeping time to the -pulsations of his heart; but, thank God! he no longer felt that horrible -warm trickling down his leg. He had been preserved from bleeding to -freeze to death. How long before that would happen; or, if it were not -cold enough for that, how long before the snow would drift clear over -him and cut off the little breath which that ponderous, inert, dead-cold -beast on his chest prevented from entering his lungs? Where was the -dog? He called feebly: "Shep! Shep! Hi-i-i, Sh-e-p!" But no moist nose -or rough tongue responded. He tried to whistle, but his parched mouth -refused. Heavens, how thirsty! He stretched out his hand and gathered -the snow within his reach. Then he closed his eyes and dreamed that two -giants were pulling him asunder, and that a third was pouring molten -lead down his throat. - -But it was only Bill Cooper trying to make him drink whiskey. - -He understood it after a little and realized that he ought to swallow. -Then life came back, and with the knowledge that he was no longer -alone on the cold, remote, relentless mountain top, but that Cooper was -lifting away the bear, and that Shep was wild with sympathy and gladness -because he had been able to bring help, came courage and forbearance of -his suffering. In the morning new strength came with the sunshine. The -snow rapidly melted. Cooper got breakfast and Tom rebandaged his knee. - -"These gashes won't amount to much, unless the claws were poisoned. -You'll have to make me a crutch, and give me a couple of days to get rid -of the stiffness, but then I'll be all right." - -"How did you and the bear get into this scrimmage, anyhow? You surely -didn't go hunting him with that there six shooter?" - -"Not I. The wind was blowing hard toward me, so he didn't smell nor hear -me, and I ran right on to him. Shep was not there to warn me, but if he -hadn't come back just as he did, or if I hadn't been able to get at my -revolver, Old Ephraim would ha' used me up in about a minute." - -"I ain't a betting on one pistol shot against a grizzly, anyhow." - -"Of course, the chances were about one in a thousand, but I wasn't going -to die without a shot. I suppose the bullet struck the lower part of the -brain." - -"Yes," said Bill, who had been probing its track. "Tore it all to -pieces. But what was the bear after in that brush?" - -"Give it up--ants, likely. You know--Great Scott! What's that dog got -now?" Shep was coming out of the bushes, dragging a package wrapped in -buckskin which was almost too heavy for him to handle. Cooper went and -took it from him and brought it to the fire. It was a sort of pouch -firmly tied with a thong. Running a knife under this the bundle fell -apart, and a double handful of flakes and nuggets of gold and quartz -rolled out. - -"The cache!" Tom shouted, comprehending instantly the meaning of this. -"The bear was tearing it to pieces!" - -It was true. His strong feet had displaced the loosely-heaped stones, -and a half-devoured side of bacon lay close by where the animal had been -disturbed. - -Evidently the marauder had just begun his work. There remained in the -cache two more pouches of gold--perhaps a quart of the metal pieces in -all, more or less pure, for all of it had been dug out of a vein with -hammer and knife point, none of the fragments showing the water-worn -roundness characteristic of placer gold. Then there were a small -quantity of provisions, some ammunition and a small rosewood box with an -ornamental brass lock having a remarkably small and irregular keyhole. - -From an inner pocket of his purse Tom drew the odd little key the dead -prospector had given him. It fitted into the hole and easily turned the -lock. The cover sprang open, revealing a package of letters. He lifted -them out, but did not pause to read them. - -Then came an envelope containing a patent to ranch lands in Arizona, -certificates of stock in Mexican and other mines that Burke had never -heard of, and a commission as lieutenant of artillery in the Confederate -army. All these documents were made out to "Arthur F. Pierson," -establishing the fact that the lost hat was really that worn by the old -man, as his dog had recognized. - -At the bottom of the box, however, Tom found what interested him most--a -formal "claim" and description of the lode whence the gold had been -taken, and how to reach it from this cache. It was written in pencil, in -a very shaky hand, on two or three soiled leaves torn from a memorandum -book and eked out with one of the covers. - -Then Tom took up the letters. Most of them were recent and of business -importance, but several were old and worn with much handling. One of -these latter was from a lawyer in San Francisco, acknowledging funds -"sent for the support of your infant daughter," describing her health -and growth, and the care taken of her "at the convent"--all in curt -business phrase, but precious to the father's heart. Then there were -two or three small letters, printed and scratched in a childish hand, to -"dear, dear papa," and signed "Your little Polly." One of these spoke of -Sister Agatha and Sister Theresa, showing that it was written while -the child was still in the convent; but the others, a little later, -prattled about a new home with "my new papa and mamma," but gave no clew -to name or place. - -"This baby girl--she must be a young woman now, if she lives," Tom -mused--"is evidently the person the poor old chap wanted me to divide -with. It ought not to be difficult to trace her from San Francisco, I -suppose the convent Sisters knew where she went to when they gave her -up. But, hello! here's a picture." - -It was an old-fashioned daguerrotype of a handsome woman of perhaps -four-and-twenty, in bridal finery, whose face seemed to him to have -something familiar in its expression. But no name or date was to be -found, and with the natural conclusion that this was probably Pierson's -wife he puzzled a moment more over the pretty face, and then put it -away. - -After a few days, when Burke was able to travel, the prospector's -memorandum and their mountain craft together led them almost directly -to the coveted gold vein, which ran across a shoulder of the mountain at -the head of the gulch, like an obscure trail, finally disappearing under -a great talus at the foot of a line of snowcapped crags. - -Tracing it along, they presently came upon the old man's claim marks. -The stakes were lettered pathetically with the name of the old man's -choosing--"Polly's Hope." - -Adjoining the "Hope" Tom staked out one claim for himself and another -for his sweetheart, intending to do the proper assessment work on it -himself if Corbitt couldn't or wouldn't; and Cooper used up most of -what remained of the visible outcrop in a claim for himself. - -Returning to town their claims were registered in the Crimson Mineral -District, and their report sent a flight of gold hunters in hot haste to -the scene. - -Tom Burke, after selling everything he could send to market to turn -into ready money, departed to Denver, carrying with him documents and -specimens of the gold quartz to support his assertions. - -Keen men feted and flattered him, buttonholing him at every corner with -whispered advice, and many proffered schemes. But he was indifferent to -it all, and anxious as yet only to hear what Marion should say. - -Not a word had he heard from her directly during all the weeks of -her absence, but indirectly he knew she had been a star in the local -society. He had even to hunt out where she lived, finding it in a -cottage near where the stately court house now stands. - -He went there, after tea, with a fastbeating heart. Had she forgotten, -or withdrawn or been turned away by hardhearted parents and friends? He -suspected everything and everybody, yet could give no reasons. And how -absurd these fears looked to him--how _foolish!_--when, sitting in the -little parlor, hand in hand, they talked over the past, and she confided -that the same doubts had worried her now and then--"most of all, Tom, -dear, when I hear of this wonderful success of yours." - -"Bless me! I had forgotten it. By your side all else----" - -Here the door opened--not too abruptly--and Mr. Corbitt came in, grimly -hospitable and glad, no doubt for his own sake, to see this young fellow -who was still true to his daughter; while Mrs. Corbitt was more openly -cordial, as became her. - -"An' what's this we're hearin' aboot your new mines? They're sayin' -down town that you've struck a regular bonanza, an'll soon be worth your -meellions. But I told 'em 'Hoot! I'd heard the like o' that before!'" - -So Tom recounted briefly the story of the prospector's death and his -will; still more briefly his adventure with the grizzly, and how it led -to the curious disclosure of the cache. Then, with no little dramatic -force, seeing how interested was his audience, he described the hunt for -the vein and the finding it, produced his specimens and handed to Miss -Marion a mass of almost solid gold embedded in its matrix. - -"I can't promise you," he said, as she tried to thank him with her eyes -and a timid touch of her fingers, "that the whole ledge will equal that, -but it is a genuine sample from near the surface." - -"Wonderful! Wonderful!" the old Scotchman ejaculated, with gleaming -eyes, as Tom went on to show how regular and secure was the title to -this possession. "But did ye no find out the name of the poor vagabone?" - -"Oh, yes. Didn't I mention it? His name was Arthur Pierson." - -Corbitt and his wife both started from their seats. - -"Man, did I hear ye aright?--_Arthur F. Pierson?_" - -"That was the name exactly. I can show it to you on the letters." - -"An' he charged ye to give the half of all ye found to his daughter -Polly?" - -"Yes, and I mean to try to find her." - -"_There she sits!_" cried Mother Corbitt excitedly, before her cautious -husband, could say "Hush!"--pointing at Marion, who gazed from one -to the other, too much amazed to feel grieved yet at this stunning -announcement. "We took the lassie when she was a wee bairn, and she -would never ha' known she wasn't ours really till maybe we were dead and -gone. Her feyther was a cankert, fashious body, but her mother was -guid and bonnie (I knew her well in the auld country) and she died when -Mary--that's you, my dearie--was born." - -"Is this her picture?" Tom asked, showing the daguerrotype. - -"Aye, that it is. Puir Jennie!" - -The rest is soon told. A company of capitalists was formed to work the -four consolidated claims on the new vein, under the name of the Hope -Mining Company. - -[Illustration: 0293] - -All the next season was spent by Tom Burke in developing the property -and erecting machinery. Corbitt was there too, much thawed by the sun of -prosperity, but his wife and daughter remained in Denver. In the autumn, -however, the ladies went East, and as the holidays approached Tom and -Corbitt followed them to New York, where, on Christmas eve, my hero and -heroine were married quietly in a little church up town; and his gift -to her was the brooch which had attracted my attention and whose -significance was now plain. - -[Illustration: 0293] - -[Illustration: 0294] - - - - -MISS GWYNNE'S BURGLAR, By Violet Etynge Mitchell - -|IN the heart of Wales, nestling between two dark frowning mountains, -and lulled to drowsy indifference of the big outside world by the -murmurs of the not far distant sea, stands the little village of -Cod-y-glyn. - -Just outside the village, on the main road stands--or did stand ten -years ago--an old stone house, in the middle of a large garden, which -was surrounded on all sides by a high wall, also of stone. It was the -pride of the owner, Miss Gwynne. - -One night, in the early spring of the year, there was to be a wedding at -Cod-y-Glyn--a wedding in humble life, but anticipated with great glee by -the invited guests, among whom were Miss Gwynne's servants, the coachman -and his wife (who was also cook) and Ylva, their daughter, employed as a -maid-of-all-work. - -Knowing the disappointment it would be to them if they were denied the -pleasure of attending the wedding, she had declined the coachman's offer -to remain with her, allowing his wife and daughter to go, and laughingly -assured him that with her father's gun for company she feared nothing. - -Miss Gwynne retired at an early hour, having locked up the house. - -She lay for some time gazing through the window at the twinkling stars, -lost in quiet retrospection. - -I will let Miss Gwynne tell the rest of the story in her own way, -repeating as well as I can from memory the words as I heard them from -her lips ten years ago. - -***** - -I cannot tell if I dozed or not, but I was conscious of the moon shining -dimly through the clouds, and I wondered how long I had lain there. -Reaching out for my watch, which lay on the table, I was horrified to -feel my wrist grasped and held by a firm hand. - -To say I was frightened would be less correct than to say I was -astounded, for I have always been a woman of steady nerve, and the -present occasion called for its use. - -The moon had retired behind a heavy curtain of clouds, and the room was -in complete darkness, but from the drapery at my bedside issued a voice, -and at the same time the python-like grasp on my wrist relaxed. - -"I beg to apologize, madam," said this voice; "I have chosen a bungling -manner of awakening you--foreign to my custom. Pardon me, and do not be -alarmed. I merely wish to relieve you of any superfluous silver, jewelry -or bank notes you do not absolutely need. But as the vandalism of -breaking locks is out of my line, I will request you to arise and show -me where such things are kept." - -By the time he had finished this speech I was myself again. - -"Very well," I said, "I'll get up and show you; but, as it is -embarrassing to dress in your presence, will you step out into the hall -and close the door while I put on my clothing?" - -There was a soft rustling of the curtains at the bedside, and the sound -of footsteps on the carpet, and immediately afterward the door closed. - -"Five minutes, madam, is all I can give you," remarked the burglar, as -he disappeared. - -It took me (after lighting the candle) two minutes to slip on a warm -skirt, and a blue flannel wrapper over it; then, sticking my feet into -a pair of down slippers, I had still time to snatch a roll of bills -amounting to one hundred pounds, and pin them deftly to the lining of -the canopy above my four-post bed. - -Then throwing open the door I stood on the sill facing my visitor, and -threw the glare of the lighted candle full upon him, as he lolled in a -careless, easy attitude against the bannisters. - -I had been prepared for a burglar--but I had looked for one attired -according to the traditions of my ancestors. But here was a gentlemanly, -mild-featured individual, such as I should have expected to find filling -the position of a professor of Latin--perhaps of theology--in Oxford -University. - -There was no appearance of a jimmy, or tools of any kind. Evidently here -was a type of criminal with which history was unacquainted. - -"Madam!" he exclaimed, bowing with the grace of a French courtier, "you -are punctuality itself. And how charming!--no hysterics--no distressing -scenes. Allow me." He took the candle from my hand, and holding it aloft -preceded me down the great oaken stairs, talking fluently all the while, -but pausing at every other step to glance over his shoulder at me with -coquettish politeness. - -"I wish to assure you," he remarked, "that I am no ordinary -house-breaker. Burglary is with me a _profession_, though not the one -(I confess) chosen for me by my parents. I saw, at an early age, that -I must either descend to the level of the burglar, or raise him to the -level of an artist. Behold, my dear lady, the result." - -He stood at the foot of the stairs and looked up at me. - -"Shall we proceed to the diningroom?" he asked airily; "and, as I wish -to give you no unnecessary trouble, let me say that I do not dabble in -_plated_ spoons; nothing but solid silver." - -I opened the old mahogany sideboard, in which Griffiths had, for years, -placed the family heirlooms at night, and beheld my gentlemanly burglar -stow them, one after another, in a capacious felt sack, which he carried -in his hand. - -"Charming!" he cried. "I am a connoisseur, I assure you, and I know -silver from plate. These articles are really worth the risk of the -enterprise." - -You ask me if I was not alarmed. No, I was _not_. Personal violence was -not in his professional line, unless opposed. I summoned all my energies -to outwit him. I thought much and said little, for I had no intention of -allowing him to carry off my mother's silver. - -After having rifled all the rooms of the most valuable articles, he -returned to the dining-room. - -On the table the remains of supper still stood, consisting of a fowl, -hardly touched, some delicately cut bread and butter, cake, and a glass -jar containing some fancy crackers. - -"I will make myself entirely at home," he remarked, sitting down to the -table, and helping himself to a wing of the chicken. - -"Really," he proceeded, "I have thoroughly enjoyed this evening. Not -only have I met a most charming lady, but I have been able to prove to -her that the terms gentleman and burglar may be synonomous." - -He now began on the cake. I pushed the cracker jar toward him. "Try -them," I observed. - -Still smiling indulgently, and talking, he took out one of the crackers -and began to nibble on it. It was _very dry_. - -I rose, and in an absent-minded manner placed on the table the remains -of a bottle of rare old Burgundy, which had been opened the day before. - -"Now, really," he prattled, "I'm a very harmless man five months out -of six--I never steal unless other means fail, or a tailor's bill comes -due. I'm a respectable citizen and--a church member in good standing -when I'm not on one of my professional tours. I took up burglary more -as a resource than from necessity. Candidly speaking, now, _am_ I a -ruffian?" - -[Illustration: 0302] - -"No!" I replied, looking directly at him. "On the contrary, you are a -very fine-looking man." - -A glow of vanity spread over his face. I poured out a glass of the -Burgundy and pushed it toward him. - -"England to Wales!" he cried with gallantry. "I don't generally drink," -he added, "but these crackers make me thirsty." - -"If I could only find a wife suited to my tastes," he mused, "such a -woman as _you_ are, by George! I'd give up aesthetic burglary and settle -down to quiet domestic bliss." He looked questioningly at me. "If"--he -hesitated--"you could be sure I would abandon my profession--would -you--do you think you could--condone my past and--marry me?" - -"That is a matter for consideration," I replied. - -He helped himself to another cracker. - -"Your proposal is so startlingly unique," I continued, "to marry one's -burglar! Really it is quite a joke." - -"Isn't it?" he chuckled, evidently enjoying the idea of the oddity. "We -are kindred spirits!" he exclaimed, convivially, but was interrupted by -a violent fit of coughing. - -Seizing the bottle of Burgundy, he drained the only drop or two left. - -"I think, maybe, there's another bottle down in the cellar," I cried, -artlessly. "I'll go down and see--I feel thirsty myself." - -"We will descend together," exclaimed my burglar, gallantly taking the -candle from my hand and following me to the door leading to the cellar -steps. - -We descended the steps chatting pleasantly--he discoursing on matrimony, -I answering rather vaguely, but measuring the distance to the wine bins -by my eye. They were at the far end of the cellar, and were five in -number, each large enough to hold a quarter of a ton of coal. Before the -furthest one I paused. - -[Illustration: 0300] - -"Here," I said, "is the brand we are looking for." I raised the heavy -lid and looked in. "I will hold the candle," I observed; "will you get -the bottle? I can hardly reach it." - -He handed me the candle and bent low over the bin. Ha! ha! Quicker than -a flash of lightning I tipped up his heels (he was easily overbalanced), -and into the bin he fell headlong. Down came the heavy lid. But there -was no padlock on it. I must hurry! Blowing out the candle, I ran, for I -knew the way, straight to the cellar steps and up them--like a cat. Then -with a locked door between myself and my burglar, I could breathe. - -I heard the man kicking about down below, for of course he got out of -the bin at once. But our cellar is a labyrinth. Seizing father's old gun -from its resting-place in the hall, I sat down near the door at the head -of the stairs, waiting for the worst. - -The door was fairly strong--that I knew; but he was a powerful man. So I -dragged a heavy table from the sitting-room and placed it against it. - -Suddenly I became conscious that he had found his way to the stairs and -was rapidly approaching the door, which was all that lay between me and -his revengeful fury. - -Bracing myself against the opposite wall, I raised the old gun, and, -deliberately aiming it, waited. - -He began by pounding with both fists on the door, but, not receiving any -answer, he tried threats. An instinct seemed to tell him I would remain -on guard. - -His language, I must confess, while threatening, was not abusive. -It was, in fact, incredibly elegant for a burglar, and strictly -grammatical. - -All at once there came a crash, followed by the creaking of heavy -timber, and the door fell. Down he came on top of it, sprawling at my -feet on the floor. I raised my gun and fired. - -"Hit him?" I interrupted. - -"No," replied Miss Gwynne; "here in the wall of the dining-room the -bullet lodged, and is still there." - -The next thing I was conscious of was Mrs. Griffiths bending over me, -and her husband's voice exclaiming: - -"He'd never have escaped if we had not left that door open when we came -in. You see we got home just in time to hear you fire the gun, and as we -ran in he ran out. Drat him!" - -I raised myself on my elbow and looked eagerly about. - -"He had no time to carry off a thing," said Mrs. Griffiths. - -* * * * * - -"I would like to set my eyes on him," I remarked, when Miss Gwynne -had concluded her story. "You are a distinguished woman and are--I -believe--the very first one who ever received an offer of marriage from -a burglar." - -The lady smiled. "Do you not remember reading about the capture of -a notorious bank robber, several years ago? The case created quite a -sensation, owing partly to the difficulty in tracing the thief, who was -clever enough to puzzle the most expert detectives and evade the police, -and also to the respectability of his position. No one could believe him -guilty." - -"Indeed I do remember it," I answered. "Not only that, but I _saw_ the -man after he was in prison. I happened to be going through Chester Jail -at the time and J------ was pointed out to me. He was quite -distinguished looking. In fact, I did not believe him guilty." - -"Nor would I," said Miss Gwynne, "if I had not known." - -"You mean," I said, "that he---- - -"I mean that you saw _my burglar_." - -[Illustration: 5305] - -[Illustration: 0306] - -[Illustration: 0307] - -[Illustration: 0308] - - - - -THE LADY IN ROUGE, By W. E. P. French - -[Illustration: 9308] - -"Pretty woman! That's just like a man. Pretty chromo, you mean, Tom." - -"Well," in a hearty, pleasant voice, "maybe you are the better judge; -but I don't believe she's 'made up,' and if I wasn't the most henpecked -man on earth I'd say she was the loveliest creature I ever saw. As for -her hair, it's----" - -"Blondined! And so utterly impossible in color that it couldn't for -a moment fool anybody but a man," interrupted the first speaker, with -deliciously spiteful emphasis on the very common noun man. - -"Eyebrows stencilled, eyelashes darkened; lips, ears and finger tips -tinged with carmine--don't you know? Complexion enamel, vinegar rouge -and brunette powder--pshaw! The way the men go on about her makes me -positively ill. If you fall in love with her, Harry, you are no brother -of mine. I don't care to be sister-in-law to a lithograph in _fast_ -colors." - -"You make me curious to see her, Nell, dear. By Jove, she must be either -a monster or a paragon! Have the spirit of a man, Tom, and tell me -which." - -"Don't try to extract any more information from me, old man; my teeth -are positively chattering with terror. You can decide for yourself this -evening, if your ferocious sister will allow you to leave your room. By -the way," with an amused laugh, "what do you suppose Nell and the rest -of her charitable sex up here have dubbed the poor girl? 'The lady in -rouge!'" - -"Yes, and she ought to have a sign, 'Paint, don't touch.' I believe -she is a divorcee or a widow, and I know she's thirty in spite of her -sickening affectation of youth." - -"Oh, come, Nell, you are absolutely vicious. She is not a day over -twenty, and she has the prettiest name I ever heard, Violante Solander; -accent on the second syllable, Harry, not on the first, to rhyme with -Hollander, as the bride of my bosom insists on pronouncing it." - -"Sounds like a combination of Spanish and Scandinavian," the younger man -answers. - -"It is," returns his brother-in-law. "I have met her father several -times at the Cosmos Club in Washington. He is a Norwegian, a wonderfully -handsome man, of the purest blonde type, with charming old-time manners -and a voice as deep and sonorous as a fine bell. Jack Kendricks, who -knows him quite well, told me something of his history. As a young man -he traveled pretty much all over the world, and in South America met and -married Miss Viola's mother. She was an Ecuadorean of Spanish descent, -and so beautiful that she was called, in reference to her name, which -was the same as her daughter's, 'The Violet of Quito.' It is really a -case of the Arctic zone wedding the Equator." - -"Or of a walrus committing matrimony with a llama. No wonder she is -neither fish, flesh nor fowl," added madame, with a malicious emphasis -that made both men laugh. - -This conversation floated up to me as I sat smoking my cigar on the -forward edge of the hurricane deck of the little steamer that carried -passengers from the railroad station at the foot of a beautiful and -well-known lake in the Adirondacks to the village at the head of it, -whither we were all bound. - -The party of three had crossed from the other side of the boat and Were -leaning against the guards immediately under me. Later on I came to -know them all well. The lady was a delightful little bundle of -inconsistencies, sharp of tongue, quick of temper and jealous of all -that belonged to her, but as generous as an Arab, very warm hearted, -perfectly fearless and honest and a loyal friend when won. She was born -Miss Eleanor Van Zandt, a family with a tree and traditions, pride, -possessions and position; but the fact that she belonged in the top -layer of the Four Hundred did not prevent her, some ten years before, -refusing a scion of the English nobility (a very wealthy one, too, if -you'll believe me), to her mother's Infinite disgust, and giving her -dimpled little hand, where she had already given her heart, to -big, kindly, genial Thomas Northrup, who was every inch a man and a -gentleman, but who was third in direct descent (and gloried in it, too) -from old John Northrup, saddle and harness maker, of whom I have heard -it told by one that saw it that he died on his sixtieth birthday in -the battle of Gettysburg, from some twenty bullet wounds received while -carrying the colors of his regiment, and that his last words were: -"Don't let the Johnnies get the flag!" - -I feel it to be my painful duty to relate that Madame Nell, when -remonstrated with by her family upon the plebeian nature of the match -she was about to make, flew into a violent rage and said she would -gladly trade a baker's dozen of her eminently high and wellborn -Knickerbocker ancestors for "that grand old saddler." The Van Zandt -crest is a lion rampant gardant, and shortly after the wedding an aunt, -who had declined to be present, received a spirited sketch of the family -beast, leaning upon a musket in the position of parade rest, carrying a -flag in his mouth and bearing upon his lordly back a monstrous saddle, -the motto in the surrounding heraldic belt being, "Don't let the -Johnnies get the flag!" This cheerful device was accompanied by a very -deferential and affectionate note from the bride, asking her aunt if she -did not think it a pretty way of combining the Northrup family (saddle) -tree with the crest of the Van Zandts, or if she thought the "dear old -lion" would appear to better advantage under a saddle that would conceal -him entirely from the gaze of the vulgar herd. - -The old lady declined to receive Mrs. Northrup from that time until the -day of her death, about four years later, but when her will was opened -it was found that she had left $200,000 to her niece, Eleanor Van Zandt, -"as a mark of respect for her truth, courage and _artistic ability_," -and $10,000 for a monument "to that gallant soldier and true gentleman, -John Northrup, who died on the field of Gettysburg in the defense of his -country's flag." Nell designed the monument, and every Decoration Day -she puts a saddle made of flowers on the old lady's grave. But to my -tale. - -Harry Van Zandt, at the time of which I write, was about twenty-six, -tall, broad shouldered, athletic, brown as to eyes, hair, skin and -pointed beard, an engineer and architect by profession, an advanced and -liberal thinker for so young a man, full of high spirits, though with -a depth and earnestness of purpose very refreshing in these days when -selfish indifference is the rule, and altogether a manly, honorable, -self reliant and energetic young fellow. He had charming manners, -reverenced all women, rich or poor, proud or humble, and treated old -people with an affectionate deference that won him many friends. - -The steamer had changed her course to the left rather sharply, heading -for her wharf, when a Long Lake boat, with a woman at the sculls and -a young man holding the tiller ropes, crossed our bow and floated by -within fifteen feet of us. I did not need the quick, "There she is! -Look, Harry!" from Mr. Northrup to know that it was Miss Solander. She -had turned her head slightly toward them to bow, and the setting sun -shone squarely in her face, making the wonderful amber hair seem -a nimbus of golden light against the dark background of her huge -Gainsborough hat. - -A more perfectly, harmoniously, radiantly beautiful girl I have -never seen. Her coloring was simply marvelous, and I inclined to Mrs. -Northrup's opinion that it must be artificial. It is impossible to give -an adequate description of her--the wonderful child-woman. A face of -rounded and exquisite contours, the skin of that warmest, richest, -brunette type that is almost dusky; cheeks that had the soft, tender, -velvety bloom of a sun-kissed peach; a charming mouth, scarlet as a -flower, ripe, luscious, sensitive, ready to curve with sweet, swift -laughter or to droop with grief. Her eyes, in the glimpse I had of her, -I took to be black or a very dark brown, but later I found they were -of that rare deep blue that becomes violet by an artificial light, and, -indeed, owing to the length and thickness of the dark lashes, it was not -easy at any time to determine their exact color, much less shade. Well, -she was more nearly perfect than any other human thing I ever hope to -see. - - From her gold-flax curls' most marvelous shine, - - Down to her lithe and delicate feet, - - There was not a curve nor a waving line - - But moved in a harmony firm and sweet. - -As she passed from view I looked down at the trio below me. Mrs. -Northrup was regarding her brother curiously, and I don't think either -she or I was at all surprised when he turned, his face aglow with -enthusiasm, and said: "What a lovely girl!" Then, with quick change of -tone, "Who is that man with her?" - -"Lovely as a Prang," remarked my lady, dryly. "The man is your hated -rival, of whom you are already madly jealous. He is young, beautiful -and rich, dances divinely, speaks _real_ English and has very nearly -a tablespoonful of brains--not that he needs such a preponderance of -brain, for he has enough money to make a social success of a -jibbering idiot. His name is Francis Floyd-Jones, but we speak of him -affectionately as 'Fluggeon,' and those that know him best sometimes -lovingly refer to him as 'Balaam's Ass'--but you'll like him, Harry." - -Van Zandt's reply I did not hear, as I discreetly moved away; but -I heard both men laugh, and I joined them heartily when at a safe -distance. - -When we landed I found we were all bound for the same hotel, a capital -one, named for and kept by one of a famous hotel-keeping family. The -Northrups' little girl, a madcap child of six, was on the lawn waiting -the return of her parents and the arrival of her uncle, of whom she was -evidently very fond, although she abandoned him speedily in order to hug -and kiss his superb Irish setter, Blarney, who licked the small imp's -face calmly and appeared in his grave dog's way genuinely glad to see -her. - -Ethel, as I found out in a day or two, had taken one of those intense -fancies that children do occasionally to almost entire strangers to "the -lady in rouge," and would escape to her whenever chance permitted. Poor -Mrs. Northrup! Her ranks were deserters to the enemy. Her husband openly -admired the gorgeously-tinted girl, her child simply worshipped her, her -brother had palpably fallen in love at first sight, and, when we came -out from dinner, it was found that Blarney had dumbly sworn allegiance -to the violet of two zones and could with difficulty be induced to leave -her. The dog's infatuation was put to-practical service by his master -during the next few weeks, for that astute young gentleman, when unable -to discover the whereabouts of his idol by peering and prowling, would -take one of Blarney's silky ears in his hand and whisper, "Go, find -her, boy," which the clever animal promptly proceeded to do, usually -successfully, though often the search would receive a check on the edge -of the lake and be resumed after a run of a mile on the island. - -Madame Nell and I soon discovered that we had a host of common friends -in New York and Washington, and that an uncle on her mother's side (poor -Dick Whitney, who was lost on the _Ville de Havre_) had been a classmate -of mine at Harvard forty odd years before. These kindly young people -were as good and affectionate to me as though I had been a relative, and -the heart of a lonely old man went out to them gratefully and lovingly. - -By the way, I am tempted to repeat a compliment that I overheard toward -the end of the summer, because it was the pleasantest and heartiest I -ever had paid to me, or rather about me. Charge it to the garrulity of -age or simple conceit, but here it is: - -I came up behind them one dark night on the piazza, just as Mrs. -Northrop turned to her husband and said: "Do you know, Tom, dear, I -think Dr. Zobel is the very nicest old man I ever knew; he has the head -of a sage and the fresh, pure heart of a little child." - -[Illustration: 0316] - -There was a hop that first evening in the large drawing room of the -hotel, and a little while before the music began I wandered in to find -three or four small groups talking and laughing, among them Van Zandt -and his sister. She made room for me on the sofa, and said I should be -her attendant cavalier, as she did not intend to dance. We chatted a -bit and then madame began a running commentary on the people as they -entered. - -"The Robinsons--papa, mamma and daughter. Papa looketh upon the wine -when it is red. Mamma is a devout Catholic. Daughter openly defies both -parents and, I am convinced, hath a devil. I have ventured to rename -them 'Rum, Romanism and Rebellion.'" - -"What De Quincy would call 'an overt act of alliteration,' Nell," said -Van Zandt, and added: "Who is the imposing-looking old girl leading the -small, meek man?" - -"Where? Oh! of course. The lion and the lamb. Mrs. Colter is literary, -writes things, reads Browning understanding (happy woman!), quotes Greek -to people that never harmed her, and herds the lamb, who never has -any capers in his sauce, and who is, I am told, her third matrimonial -venture." - -"A fulfillness of prophecy," murmured Harry, "'And the lion and the lamb -shall lie down together.'" - -"Harry, you are incorrigible. The young man of peculiarly unwholesome -appearance who has just sneaked in is, I am morally certain, Uriah Heep, -though he says his name is Penrose. That [as a handsome old lady of -large proportions came into the room] is Miss Eldridge. She is very -nice, but is omnipresent, so we call her 'The Almighty,' Her escort -is Mr. Hinton; he is the biggest, jolliest and--except my Tom--the -bestnatured man here. Everyone calls him 'Jumbo' or 'Billy' Look out for -him, Buz; he is another rival and determined to have the chromo at any -price. There she is with 'Buttons' in tow, and the disconsolate 'Wafer' -vainly endeavoring to console himself with his divinity's aunt." - -The young gentlemen were aptly named. The first, a handsome young West -Pointer on furlough, in all the glory of cadet gray and a multitude of -bell buttons; the other, a pleasant-faced fellow, surprisingly tall and -thin. Nell had introduced Van Zandt and me to Miss Solander and her -aunt shortly after dinner, and I had had a very pleasant chat with -the stately, whitehaired old lady, who was so proud and fond of her -exquisite niece. She was Mr. Solander's sister and the widow of Captain -Dupont of the French Navy. - -Several friends of Mrs. Northrup joined her, and Van Zandt excused -himself and went to make one of the little group of men around Miss -Solander, followed by a parting injunction from his sister to remember -that benzine would remove paint spots if applied while they were fresh. - -Beautiful as this flower-faced girl was at all times, by lamp light and -in evening dress she was lovely beyond all power of words to express, -and as I came to know her I found that her beauty was not alone in her -superb coloring, in the perfect lines of her face and figure or in her -exuberant health, but was in her life; for she was--and is--that rare, -sweet thing, a womanly woman, brave, strong, gentle, generous, pure of -heart and clean of thought, a lover of truth, a hater of meanness, with -a mind broadened by travel and burnished by attrition; and she carried, -moreover, a cloak of charity of such wide and ample fold that it fell -lovingly over even the follies and frailties of those weaker ones of her -own sex and was proof against the arrows of envy. - -With old people and children she was a great favorite; the men were her -enthusiastic admirers, and a good half dozen of them were helplessly, -hopelessly, over head and ears in love with her; but a number of the -young married women and girls professed strong disapproval of her, -on similar grounds to those outlined by Mrs. Northrup on the steamer, -though I had my private suspicions that, in some cases at least, they -were a trifle jealous of the attention she received from the men, who, -as is generally the case at summer resorts, were not overabundant. Mrs. -Northrup's dislike was an honest one, for she firmly believed the girl -was artificial, and having carefully avoided an intimacy knew but little -of the lovely nature and bright mind that no one was better fitted to -appreciated than she. - -Besides, Madame Nell was a born matchmaker and wanted her adored -brother to marry her particular friend and crony, Miss Carrie Belmont, -a brighteyed, keen-witted, merry little soul, who took nothing seriously -except medicine and had about as much fixedness of purpose as a -month-old kitten. To a man like Van Zandt, who needed both the curb and -spur of a mentality as strong and earnest as his own, she would have -been about as valuable a helpmeet as was poor little Dora to David -Copperfield. But Nell was fond of the pretty, clever little creature, -felt sure (as our mothers and sisters, God bless 'em! always do) that -her brother was thoroughly incapable of picking out the right kind of -a wife, and weeks before he came had perceived in Miss Solander's -marvelous loveliness a dangerous and powerful factor in the personal -equations she wished to make equal to each other, so that by the -transposition of matrimony they should become one. - -Of course this knowledge came to me gradually; but even that first -evening, as Van Zandt and Miss Solander passed near us in the waltz, I -could see that he was wonderfully taken with his fair partner. For the -next few days he was more or less the victim of some little sisterly -traps that were set with great tact and amused Northrup and me -immensely. Then my young gentleman escaped and made great running, -distancing "Buttons," "The Wafer," "Balaam's Ass," and the rest of what -Nell called the "fry," and crowding Hinton closely for what each felt -was his life's race for a prize that might be for neither of them. They -were a nice, manly, generous pair of rivals, and I never saw either take -an unfair advantage of the other. I remember one day I was fishing, -when they both rushed down to their boats and started for the island -at racing stroke. Just as they were abreast of me Van Zandt, who was -leading, broke a rowlock, and Hinton forged ahead; but the moment he saw -what had occurred he backed water, tossed Harry an extra rowlock, waited -until he had put it in, and then away they went again. - -Which was the favored one it was for some time difficult to decide, as -the girl was evidently used to a great deal of attention, and accepted -it gracefully and even gratefully; but yet somehow as though it was a -matter of course. She took many things as matters of course, by the way, -among others her beauty, of which she was as little vain as a flower -is of its color or perfume, and she labored under the pleasant delusion -that men liked her simply because she could dance and ride and row and -shoot and play tennis. There was another thing she played beside tennis, -and that was the banjo, and it seemed to me that her rich, flexible -contralto, the liquid tingle of the banjo and the Spanish words of the -song she loved best to sing, made a harmony as soft and sweet as the -fragrant, moonlit nights of her Southern home. - -Until I read the generous and intelligent praise of the banjo by the -gifted pen of America's greatest writer of romance, I had been rather -diffident of expressing my liking for this charming instrument, partly -because it was rather impressed upon me by my parents, who were a little -tinged with Puritanism, that it was low, and partly because a musical -friend, whose opinion in matters harmonic I always deferred to, disliked -it; but, under the rose, I thought it delicious, and many years ago I -used to wander pretty often to a beer garden in New York, where an old -darky named Horace touched the strings with a master's hand and drew -from them the half sad, half merry, but wholly sweet melodies of his -child-hearted race, which always struck some responsive chord in me that -no other music ever did. - -There was a good deal of musical talent in the three hotels that -summer. Miss Solander, Miss Belmont, Hinton and Van Zandt were a capital -quartet; Mrs. Robinson was an accomplished pianist and accompanist; -a young girl from Troy sang Irish songs to a zither delightfully; -"Buttons" gave us the lays of West Point, and "Balaam's Ass," as Mrs. -Northrup expressed it, "really brayed very melodiously." - -Van Zandt had one decided advantage over the other men in his wooing, -for he had brought his own saddle horse with him, and as Miss Solander -had hers, a beautiful and very fast bay mare, and was an enthusiastic -horsewoman, riding nearly every day, wet or dry, he frequently managed -to be her escort. - -They asked me to go with them one morning for a long ride through the -mountains, and as it was not impossible that we might see a deer or some -birds Miss Viola took her repeating shotgun, a pretty and close-shooting -little weapon with which she was very expert, and Van Zandt and I our -Stevens rifles. - -My mount was the best to be had in the village, and was a strong, slow -animal, intended by nature to grace a plow. - -It was a grand day, crisp and clear, and the first level stretch of road -we came to my young companions decided to have a race. Away they went, -Blarney and I at an increasing interval behind them. At a turn in the -road, about a quarter of a mile ahead, Harry's big gray was leading -the mare by a good length, and when they rejoined me Miss Solander -acknowledged her defeat handsomely, but put in a saving clause for her -pet by adding, "She runs her best when frightened. I don't think even -your splendid gray could catch her if we saw a bear." - -Harry laughed pleasantly, said he imagined his horse, too, might develop -unexpected speed under such circumstances, and we cantered on. A little -before noon we left the main road and struck into a bridle path that -led through a dense pine forest, utterly impassable by reason of fallen -trees and underbush, except on the narrow trail. We had not gone -far when our way seemed barred by a huge dead pine that had fallen -slantingly across the path and rested on a great boulder on the other -side. It was too high to jump near the roots without great danger and -the triangular opening by the rock did not look high enough for a horse -to go through. However, we dismounted and managed to get the animals -through, though there was very little room to spare. - -In about half a mile we came to the edge of the wood, and the trail -widened out to ten or twelve feet, bordered by a dense second growth -of ash. Perhaps a thousand yards farther on Blarney became excited over -some fresh tracks in the sandy soil, which we found were those of a deer -that had passed only a few minutes before, as was shown by a clump of -fern that was slowly straightening its crushed and bent fronds by the -side of the narrow road. Miss Solander and I halted, while Harry -rode quietly on ahead after Blarney, who was acting rather queerly, I -thought, following the deer track for a few feet, then pausing, with -nose in the air and bristling back, to snuff the air and growl. Van -Zandt spoke to him, and the dog went steadily and slowly forward. He was -a clever beast and the only setter I ever saw that could hunt all -kinds of game well. Miss Solander promptly emptied the magazine of her -shotgun, and refilled it with wire cartridges loaded with "buck and -ball." - -I was watching Van Zandt, who was a few hundred feet away, when there -was a crashing noise in the brush, and midway between him and us a -good-sized black bear stepped out on the trail. My horse made a buck -jump that nearly unseated me and backed half his length into the bush. -Bang! Bang! went Miss Viola's gun. The bear stumbled, gave a roar of -pain and rage, and started for us. The mare plunged wildly, wheeled -about sharply and flew back by the way we came. The brute I rode was -paralyzed with terror and I could not budge him, nor did I dare to shoot -for fear of hitting Van Zandt, and my position of course kept his rifle -silent. But he took in the situation at a glance, fired in the air, gave -a yell that a panther might have envied, and came toward us at a gallop. - -[Illustration: 0326] - -The bear turned to look at this new enemy, and rose promptly on his -hind legs to receive him. I saw the gray swerve slightly, heard a savage -"Jump, ------ you!" from Van Zandt, saw his spurs go home, and then the -great horse rise to the leap and skim over the bear in a splendid arch. -Blarney, who was just behind his master, was not so fortunate. He lit -fairly on the bear, and was sadly scratched and bitten before he got -away. Van Zandt shouted, "I must catch her before she gets to the fallen -tree!" and went by me like a whirlwind. It was not much over a mile, she -had a hundred yards and more the start of him, and the mare was going -like the wind. I fired a shot as soon as the gray passed me, and the -report seemed to rouse my horse, who, oblivious to spur and voice, had -cowered shivering in the brush, for he shook himself, snorted, took -a last look at the bear, which was preparing to join the procession, -turned tail and fled, developing speed of which I would not have -believed him capable. - -It was a horrible ride, not on account of the bear, which might have -been a mouse for all the thought I gave it, but because there, ahead of -me, in that narrow road, a beautiful girl, just blossoming into splendid -womanhood, was rushing to an awful, ghastly death, and a few cruel yards -behind her the man that loved her and would so gladly have given his -life for hers. Oh, how my heart ached for him, and how I wished the old -man that was third in that terrible race might die instead of that sweet -child-woman! Could he overtake her? He was spurring fiercely and the -gray was doing his best; but though the gap between them was closing, -it was closing slowly--and we had entered the wood. Yes, he was surely -gaining now, sixty feet more and he would have her. But there was the -tree, and he couldn't reach her in time. I covered my eyes with my hands -and turned sick and faint. Then came back to me in a man's voice grown -shrill with agony, one word, and following it crash! crash! in rapid -succession, and again the sound of the hurrying hoof beats. - -I opened my eyes. Was I blinded by my tears? There were no dreadful -bundles under the tree. Then that word, with its fierce, imperious note -of command, which had conveyed no meaning to me in that first awful -moment, came through the porch of the outer ear, where it had lingered, -into the brain, and I understood--"Jump!" He had taken the one chance -left to them at the last moment, shrieked his order at her, and she -had obeyed, lifting her mare to a leap that looked impossible. He had -followed her, and they had cleared it safely, for I could see their -heads over the fallen trunk. I checked my horse, dismounted, led him -through the opening and galloped on again. - -In a few moments I had the pleasure of seeing the gray range up -alongside of the mare and Van Zandt seize her bridle. I joined them and -found they were sound in life and limb. Harry was standing by the mare's -head, quieting her, and somehow he had gotten possession of a little -gauntleted hand and was looking at the girl with a world of love in his -fine eyes. She was quite pale, but her face was steadfast and strong, -and in it as she met Van Zandt's look frankly was the dawning of -something that she was unaware of yet, something that, if she lived -would crown her lover's life with happiness "sweet beyond compare"--and -my old heart was glad for them both. - -Neither Blarney nor the bear was in sight, and as I had hung on to my -rifle half unconsciously I proposed going back to look for the dog, but -they insisted on accompanying me, and Miss Solander showed her own gun -in its carbine holster with the flap buttoned. I tell you it took nerve -for a girl on a runaway horse to do that bit of work. Well, we went -cautiously back, Van Zandt holding a strap fastened to the mare's -bridle, and I on ahead. Nothing in sight until we got out of the wood -and had made a slight turn. Then we saw Blarney, very ragged and bloody, -but with an air of proud ownership, sniffing around the dead body of -the bear. We had some trouble in bringing up the horses, but managed it -finally. - -Everyone seemed to feel after that that Van Zandt would win and wear -the violet. Even Mrs. Northrup was preparing to bow gracefully to -the inevitable, when Ethel came on the scene in the role of "enfante -terrible" and spoke her little piece. - -It was a lovely summer afternoon. The next day, Monday, was Miss Viola's -twenty-first birthday; her father was to arrive by the evening boat, -and several of the young men had planned rowing and sailing races in her -honor. Mr. and Mrs. Northrup, Miss Belmont, Hinton and I were chatting -in a little summer house just by the edge of the lake, and a few feet -away, Viola, Harry and Ethel were skipping flat stones over the water. -In a pause in our talk, which had been of Byron, just after someone had -quoted: - - She was his life, - - The ocean to the river of his thoughts, - - Which terminated all, - -We were all looking at the trio outside and speculating probably upon -the future of two of them, when we saw Ethel seize Miss Solander's hand, -look up at her adoringly, and heard her say, in her childish pipes: -"You're so pretty! Why does mamma called you 'the colored lady?' You're -not a nigger, are you?" - -The girl flushed painfully, but stooped, kissed the child and, looking -straight at Mrs. Northrup, said very gently: "No, dear; and if mamma -knew me better she would not think I was colored." Then she turned, -bowed slightly and walked rapidly up the beach. Nell burst into tears, -Van Zandt muttered something that didn't sound like a prayer and tore -after his lady love. Northrup was so startled and angry that, instead of -comforting his wife, he gave her a little shake and exploded with: "It's -too ----- ---------- bad! A nice mess you and the brat have made of -things!" Then, as the ludicrous side of the affair appealed to his -fun-loving nature: "To save time, I'll spank Ethel while you roll out the -crust of a nice, re: "To save time, I'll spank Ethel while you roll out -the crust of a nice, big humble pie." - -Hinton and Miss Belmont slunk off, and I was preparing to follow them, -when the unhappy little woman sobbed out, "Oh, Doctor, please, please -don't go! Stay and tell me what to do. Tom's so nasty--if you laugh, Tom -dear, I'll kill you." So I stayed, and while we were consulting what was -best to do Van Zandt came quietly into the summer house, his face and -tightly-closed lips ashen, and his eyes the eyes of a strong man -in pain. Nell rushed at him, exclaiming: "My poor Harry, my darling -brother! I am so sorry; try to forgive me!" - -He put her away from him with no show of anger, but very coldly, and -then, very evenly and in an emotionless, mechanical sort of way, he -said: "I have asked Miss Solander to be my wife. She refused me. I hope -you are satisfied. I give you my word of honor that I will never forgive -you, nor speak to you, until she accepts your apology and my love--and -that will be never," he added, heavily, and half under his breath. There -was no doubt that he meant it and would stick to it, and his sister, -who knew he never broke his word, after one appealing look at him, threw -herself in her husband's arms and sobbed miserably. I followed the boy -and took an old man's privilege. He listened patiently and thanked me -affectionately, but it was of no use. Then I tried to find Miss Viola, -and came across Nell on the same quest; but no one saw her until the -next afternoon. - -Monday was cloudy and windy, a real gray day. The races were to begin -at 3 o'clock, and the entire community was gathered on the shore of the -lake. Both Miss Solander and Van Zandt were entered, and I knew their -pride would make them show up. The first race was for ladies in Long -Lake boats over a half mile course and return, six entries, a handicap -of one hundred yards on Miss Solander and fifty on Mrs. Claggett. Viola -beat it handsomely and then rowed directly across to the island, where -she would have a good view of the sailing race, though I think her -object was more to escape the crowd. - -[Illustration: 0332] - -After an interval of a few minutes three canoes, manned by Hinton, Van -Zandt and another man, came up to the starter's boat. - -The canoes got away together, Van Zandt to leeward. They had gone -perhaps a quarter of a mile when a squall from the opposite shore struck -them, and the canoe with the violet pennant (Harry's) went over like a -flash, the other two, with loose sheets, running before the wind. Mrs. -Northrup screamed, and so did several other women; but Van Zandt was a -capital swimmer, and I expected every moment to see him on the bottom of -the canoe. - -Half a dozen men started in rowboats, but one shot out from the island -and fairly flew for the capsized craft. It was Viola, and we saw her, -when she reached her goal, stand up, shake off her outer skirts and -dive. I had a powerful glass, and when she came up I saw she had him and -was trying to reach her boat, which was drifting away. She gave that -up and struggled toward the canoe. They went down, and then the rescue -boats hid them. It seemed an eternity before two boats pulled swiftly -toward us. In the first was Van Zandt, a nasty cut on his head and -unconscious, but breathing faintly. In the next, held in the arms of -poor "Buttons," whose tears were dropping on her lovely white face, was -the sweet child-woman, all the wonderful rose tints gone from lip and -cheek and in its place the sad, cold hue of death. There was no sign of -vitality, and I was hopeless from the first; but we were still working -over her when the steamer came in, and the next thing we knew there was -a heart-broken cry and her father had her in his arms. - -Was it the bitter agony and yearning love in that strong man's cry that -called back the fleeing life, or was it the sudden jar of lifting her -and the fierce clasp of her father's arms that started the stilled -lungs? I do not know; but, physician though I am, I incline to the -former solution. Whatever may have been the cause there was a faint -flutter in pulse and breast, and we renewed our efforts. In half an -hour she was breathing softly and the color was coming back to her -bonny face. Her father carried her up to the hotel and her aunt and Mrs. -Northrup got her to bed. She recovered rapidly, but Van Zandt was pretty -ill for about a week, and positively refused to see his sister. - -Well, I suppose it was officious and meddlesome in me, but one day when -I knew where Violante was I took Nell's hand in my arm and brought them -together. In a few minutes they were crying over each other in real -womanly fashion, and I prowled off. In about ten minutes little Nell, -her eyes shining with happiness, hunted me up and said, "I want you to -take me to Harry." She showed me in her hand a beautiful and curious -ring, which I knew was the engagement ring of Miss Viola's mother. -Harry was sitting in an easy chair, with his back to the door, when we -entered, and, without turning his head, he asked, "Is that you, Doctor?" - -I answered him, and then Nell stole up behind him, dropped the great -ruby in his lap, and whispered, with a sob in her voice, "With my -dear sister Violante's love." Harry looked at the ring stupidly for an -instant, then Nell came around in front of him, and he pulled her down -into his arms without a word. And I stole away with wet eyes and a -glad heart, and told the news to Tom and Carrie and that prince of good -fellows, "Jumbo" Hinton. - -That is about all. Mr. Solander gave his consent and something more -substantial, and two months later I went to the wedding of "The Lady in -Rouge." - -[Illustration: 0335] - -[Illustration: 0336] - - - - -THE BREAKING OF WINTER, By Patience Stapleton - - -|That's the fust funerel I've went to sence I was a gal, but that I -drove to the graveyard." - -"I dunno as that done the corp enny good." - -"An' seems all to onc't I miss old Tige," muttered the first speaker -half to herself. - -It was snowing now, a fine mist sifting down on deep-drifted stone-walls -and hard, shining roads, and the tinkle of sleigh-bells, as a far-away -black line wound over the hill to the bleak graveyard, sounded musical -and sweet in the muffled air. Two black figures in the dazzling white -landscape left the traveled road and ploughed heavily along a lane -leading to a grove of maples, cold and naked in the winter scene. - -"They say Ann Kirk left a good prop'ty," said the first speaker, a woman -of fifty, with sharp black eyes, red cheeks, few wrinkles and fewer gray -hairs in the black waves under her pumpkin hood. She pulled her worn -fur cape around her neck and took a new grasp on her shawl, pinning it -tight. "Ann an' me used to take a sight of comfort driving old Tige." - -The man, her companion, grunted and went sturdily ahead. He was -enveloped in a big overcoat, a scarf wound around his neck and a -moth-eaten fur cap pulled down over his ears. His blue eyes were watery -from the cold, his nose and chin peaked and purple, and frost clung to -the short gray beard about his mouth. - -"Who'll git the prop'ty?" panted the woman. She held her gown up in -front, disclosing a pair of blue socks drawn over her shoes. - -"Relashuns, I s'pose." - -"She was alius so savin', keepin' drip-pins for fryin', and sfellin' -nearly every mite of butter they made; an' I've heered the Boston -relashuns was extravagant. Her sister hed on a black silk to the funerel -to ride to the grave in; I guess they are well-to-do." - -"Dunno," gruffly. - -Somehow then the woman remembered that glossy silk, and that she had -never had one. Then this sister's husband, how attentive he was leading -his wife out to the sleigh, and she had seen them walking arm-in-arm -the past summer, when no man in Corinth ever offered his arm to his wife -unless it were to a funeral and they were first mourners. "Silas never -give me his arm but the fust Sunday we were merried," she thought; -"bein' kind to wimmen wan't never the Loweirs way." A sharp pain in her -side made her catch her breath and stop a moment, but the man paid no -heed to her distress. At the end of a meadow on a little rise looking -down a long, shady lane, stood a gray old farm-house, to which age had -given picturesqueness and beauty, and here Maria Lowell had lived the -thirty years of her married life. She unlocked the door and went into -the cold kitchen where the fire had died down. A lean cat came purring -from under the table, and the old clock seemed to tick more cheerily now -the mistress had returned. - -"A buryin' on Christmas Eve, the minister said, and how sad it were, -and I felt like tellin' him Ann an' me never knowed Christmas from enny -other day, even to vittles, for turkeys fetched better prices then, an' -we sold ourn." She went into a frozen bedroom, for Corinth folks would -have thought a man crazy to have a fire in a sleeping-room except in -sickness; she folded her shawl and cape and laid them carefully on the -feather bed, covered with its gay quilt, the fruit of her lonely hours. -Mechanically she set about getting supper, stirring the fire, putting a -pan of soda biscuits in to bake, and setting a dish of dried-apple sauce -and a plate of ginger cookies on the table. "Berried on Chrismus Eve, -but little she ever thought of it, nor me, and little of it Jimmy hed -here to home." - -She looked at her biscuits, slammed the oven door, glanced cautiously -around to see if Silas, who had gone to milk the cow, were coming; then -drawing her thin lips tighter, went back into the cold bedroom. With -ruthless hand tearing open an old wound, she unlocked a drawer in -the old mahogany bureau and took out something rolled in a -handkerchief--only a tiny vase, blue and gilt, woefully cheap, laughed -at by the cultured, scorned by the children of today. She held it -tenderly in her cold hand and brought back the memory that would never -die. It was years and years ago in that very room, and a little child -came in holding one chubby hand behind him, and he looked at her -with her own bright eyes under his curly hair. "Muver, Jimmy's got a -s'prise." She remembered she told him crossly to go out of the cold room -and not bother her. She remembered, too, that his lip quivered, the lip -that had yet the baby curve. "It was a present, muver, like the minister -sed. I got candy on the tree, but you didn't git nawthin', and I buyed -you this with my berry money." The poor little vase in that warm chubby -hand--ay, she forgot nothing now; she told him he was silly to spend -good money on trash, and flung the vase aside, but that grieved childish -face came back always. Ah, it would never fade away, it had returned -for a quarter of a century. "I never was used to young ones," she -said aloud, "nor kindness," but that would not heal the wound; no -self-apology could. She went hurriedly to the kitchen, for Silas was -stamping the snow off his feet in the entry. - -"I got fifty dollars for old Tige," he said, as he poured his tea into -his saucer to cool; "he was wuth it, the honest old creetur!" - -The little black-eyed woman did not answer; she only tightened her lips. -Over the mantel where the open fireplace had been bricked up, was a -picture in a narrow black frame, a colored print of Washington on a fine -white horse, and maidens strewing flowers in his pathway. - -"When Tige was feelin' good," continued Silas, "he'd a monstrous likeness -to thet hoss in the pictur, monstrous! held his hed high an' pranced; -done you good to see him in Bath when them hosses tried to parss him; -you'd a thort he was a four-year-old! chock full of pride. The hackman -sed he was a good 'un, but run down; I don't 'low to overfeed stock when -they ain't wurkin'." - -"Ourn has the name of bein' half starved," muttered the woman. - -Silas looked at her in some surprise. "I ginerelly gits good prices for -'em all the same." - -"We ginerelly overreach every one!" - -"Goin' to Ann's funerel hez sorter upset ye, M'ri. Lord, how old Tige -would cavort when Jim would ride him; throw out his heels like a colt. -I never told the hackman Tige was eighteen year old. I ain't over -pertikler in a hoss trade, like everybody else. He wun't last long I -calc'late now, for them hack horses is used hard, standin' out late -nights in the cold an'----" - -"Was the Wilkins place sold out ter-day?" said the woman hastily, with -agonizing impatience to divert his thoughts to something else. - -"Yes, it were," chuckled Silas, handing his cup for more tea, "an' -they'll have ter move ter Bosting. You was ginning me for bein' mean, -how'd you like to be turned outer doors? Ef I do say it, there ain't no -money due on my prop'ty, nor never was." - -"Who air you savin' it fur?" said Maria, quietly. She sat with downcast -eyes tapping her spoon idly on her saucer; she had eaten nothing. - -"Fur myself," he growled, pushing his chair back. He lit a pipe and -began to smoke, his feet at the oven door. - -Outside it was quite dark, snow and night falling together in a dense -black pall. Over the lonely roads drifted the snow, and no footfall -marred it. Through drear, silent forests it sifted, sifted down, clung -to cheery evergreens, and clasped shining summer trees that had no -thought for winter woes; it was heaped high over the glazed brooks that -sang, deep down, songs of summer time and gladness, like happy, good old -folks whose hearts are ever young and joyous. Over the wide Kennebec, in -the line of blue the ferry-boat kept open, the flakes dropped, dropped -and made no blurr, like the cellar builders of temples and palaces, -the rank and file, the millions of good, unknown dead, unmentioned in -history or the Bible. The waves seething in the confined path crackled -the false ice around the edges, leaped upon it in miniature breakers, -and swirled far underneath with hoarse murmur. In the dark water -something dark rose and fell with the tide. Was there a human being -drifting to death in the icy sea? The speck made no outcry; it battled -nobly with nature's mighty force. Surely and slowly the high wharfs and -the lights of Bath faded; nearer grew the woods of Corinth, the ferry -landing and the tavern-keeper's lamp. - -"I heered suthin' on the ferry slip," said a little old man in the -tavern, holding his hand behind his ear. - -"Nawthin', night's too black," said the tavern-keeper; "you're alius a -hearin' what no one else do, Beaman." - -No star nor human eye had seen the black speck on the wild water, and no -hand lent it aid to land. - -In ugly silence Silas smoked his pipe, while equally still, Maria washed -the dishes. She stepped to throw the dish-water outside the door and -then she heard a sound. The night was so quiet a noise traveled miles. -What was it, that steady smothered thud up the lane where so seldom a -stranger came? Was it only the beating of her heart after all? She shut -the door behind her and hurried out, wrapping her wet cold hands in her -apron. Suddenly there came a long, joyful neigh! - -"How on airth did that critter git home?" cried Silas, jumping to his -feet. - -Nearer, nearer, in a grand gallop, with tense muscles and quivering -limbs, with upraised head and flying mane, with eager eyes, nearer, in -great leaps thrusting time and distance far behind, came that apparition -of the night. - -"Oh, my God!" cried the woman wildly, "old Tige has come home--come home -to this place, and there is one living thing that loves it!" - -The light flared out from the open door. "How on airth did he git across -the river?" said Silas, querulously. "An' how am I goin' to git him back -in this weather?" - -There he stood, the noble old horse that her boy had raised from a colt, -had ridden, had given to her when he went away. "Mother," her boy had -said, "be good to old Tige. If ever father wants to sell him, don't you -let him. I'd come back from my grave if the old horse was abused--the -only thing I loved, that loved me in this place I cannot call a home. -Remember he has been so faithful." - -Ay, he had been faithful, in long, hot summer days, in wide, weary -fields, in breaking the stony soil for others' harvest, in bringing wood -from the far forest, in every way of burden and work. - -He stood quivering with cold, covered with ice, panting after his wild -gallop; but he was home, poor brute mind! That old farm was his home: he -had frolicked in its green fields as a colt, had carried a merryvoiced -young master, had worked and rested in that old place; he might be -ill-treated and starved, he did not grieve, he did not question, for it -was home! He could not understand why this time the old master had not -taken him away; never before had he been left in Bath. In his brute way -he reasoned he had been forgotten, and when his chance came, leaped from -the barn, running as horse never ran before, plunged off the wharf into -the black waves, swam across and galloped to his home. - -"If there is a God in Heaven, that horse shall not go back!" cried the -woman fiercely; "if you take him from here again it shall be over my -dead body! Ay, you may well look feared; for thirty years I have frozen -my heart, even to my own son, and now the end's come. It needed that -faithful brute to teach me; it needed that one poor creature that loved -me and this place, to open the flood-gates. Let me pass, and I warn you -to keep away from me. Women go mad in this lonely, starved life. Ay, you -are a man, but I am stronger now than you ever were. I've been taught -all my life to mind men, to be driven by them, and to-night is a rising -of the weak. Put me in the asylum, as other wives are, but tonight my -boy's horse shall be treated as never before." - -"But M'ri," he said, trembling, "there, there now, let me git the -lantern, you're white as a sheet! We'll keep him if you say so; why -hadn't you told me afore?" - -She flung him aside, lit the lantern and then ran up to an attic chamber -under the eaves. "M'ri, you hain't goin' to kill yourself?" he quavered, -waiting at the foot of the stairs. She was back in a moment, her arms -full of blankets. - -"What on airth!" - -"Let me alone, Silas Lowell, these were my weddin' blankets. I've saved -'em thirty years in the cedar chist for this. They was too good for you -and me; they air too poor fur my boy's horse." - -"But there's a good hoss blanket in the barn." - -"The law don't give you these; it mebbe gives you me, but these is -mine." - -She flung by him, and he heard the barn door rattle back. He put on his -coat and went miserably after her, "M'ri, here's yer shawl, you'll git -yer death." The barn lit by the lantern revealed two astonished oxen, -a mild-eyed cow, a line of hens roosting on an old hayrack and Maria -rubbing the frozen sides of the white horse. "Put yer shawl on, M'ri, -you'll git yer death." - -"An' you'd lose my work, eh? Leave me, I say, I'm burning up; I never -will be cold till I'm dead. I can die! there is death 'lowed us poor -critters, an' coffins to pay fur, and grave lots." - -Silas picked up a piece of flannel and began to rub the horse. In -ghastly quiet the two worked, the man patching the woman, and looking -timorously at the axe in the corner. One woman in the neighborhood, -living on a cross-road where no one ever came, had gone mad and -jnur-dered her husband, but "M'ri" had always been so clear-headed! Then -the woman went and began piling hay in the empty stall. - -"You ain't goin' to use thet good hay fur beddin,' be ye, M'ri?" asked -Silas in pathetic anxiety. - -"I tell you let me be. Who has a better right to this? His labor cut it -and hauled it; this is a time when the laborer shall git his hire." - -Silas went on rubbing, listening in painful silence to the click of the -lock on the grain bin, and the swish of oats being poured into a trough. - -"Don't give him too much, M'ri," he pleaded humbly, "I don't mean ter be -savin', but he'll eat hisself to death." - -"The first that ever did on this place," laughed the woman wildly. - -Then standing on the milking-stool she piled the blankets on the -grateful horse, then led him to the stall where she stood and watched -him eat. "I never see you so free 'round a hoss afore," said Silas; "you -used to be skeered of 'em, he might kick ye." - -"He wouldn't because he ain't a man," she answered shrilly; "it's only -men that gives blows for kindness!" - -"Land of the living!" cried Silas, as a step sounded on the floor, and -a queer figure came slowly into the glare of light by the lantern, a -figure that had a Rembrandt effect in the shadow--an old man, lean and -tall, shrouded in a long coat and bearing on his back a heavy basket. - -"You can't be a human creetur, comin' here to-night," said Maria; "mebbe -you're the Santy Claus Jim used to tell on as the boys told him; no man -in his senses would come to Sile Lowell's fur shelter." - -"M'ri's upsot," said Silas meekly, taking the lantern with trembling -hand; "I guess you've got off the road; the tavern's two mile down -toward the river." - -"You've followed the right road," said Maria; "you've come at a day of -reck'nin'; everythin' in the house, the best, you shall have." - -She snatched the light from Silas and slammed the barn door, leaving -Tige contentedly champing his oats, wondering if he was still -dreaming, and if his wild swim had been a nightmare followed by a vision -of plenty. In the kitchen Maria filled the stove, lit two lamps and -began making new tea. - -"Thet was a good strong drorin' we hed fur supper, M'ri," said Silas, -plaintively, keenly conscious of previous economies; "'pears to me you -don't need no new." She paid no heed to him, but set the table with -the best dishes, the preserves--Silas noted with a groan--and then with -quick, skillful hand began cutting generous slices of ham. - -"I hope you're hungry, sir?" she asked eagerly. - -"Wal, I be, marm," said the stranger; "an' if it ain't no trouble, I'll -set this ere basket nigh the stove, there's things in it as will spile. -I be consederable hungry, ain't eat a bite sence yesterd'y." - -Silas's face grew longer and longer; he looked at the hamper hopefully. -That might contain a peddler's outfit and "M'ri" could get paid that -way. - -"An' I hain't money nor nawthin' to pay fur my vittles 'less there was -wood-sawin' to be done." - -"Wood's all sawed," said Silas bitterly. - -"I wouldn't take a cent," went on Maria, with flushed cheeks and -sparkling eyes. "Ann Kirk thet hed the name of bein' as mean as me, was -berried to day, and folks that keered nawthin' fur her is a goin' to hev -her money an' make it fly. They say 'round here no grass will ever grow -on her grave, fur ev'ry blade will be blarsted by the curses of the -poor." - -"M'ri, you a perfessed Christian!" cried Silas. - -"There's good folks unperfessed," interposed the stranger; "but I dunno -but a near Christian is better nor a spendthrift one as fetches up at -the poorhouse." - -"Right you air!" said Silas, almost affably feeling he had an advocate. - -The stranger was tall and bony, with a thin, wrinkled face bronzed by -wind and weather, with a goatee and mustache of pale brown hair, and a -sparse growth of the same above a high bald forehead; his eyes were a -faded brown, too, and curiously wistful in expression. His clothing was -worn and poor, his hands work-hardened, and he stooped slightly. When -the meal was ready he drew up to the table, Maria plying him with food. - -"Would you rather have coffee?" she asked. - -"Now you've got me, marm, but land! tea'll do." - -"I should think it would," snarled Silas; but his grumbling was silenced -in the grinding of the coffee mill. When the ap-appetizing odor floated -from the stove, Silas sniffed it, and his stomach began to yearn. "You -put in a solid cup full," he muttered, trying to worry himself into -refusing it. - -"We want a lot," laughed Maria. - -"Set up an' eat," called the stranger cheerily; "let's make a banquet; -it's Chrismus Eve!" - -"That ham do smell powerful good," muttered Silas, unconsciously drawing -his chair up to the table, where the stranger handed him a plate and -passed the ham. Maria went on frying eggs, as if, thought her husband, -"they warn't twenty-five cents a dozen," and then ran down into the -cellar, returning panting and good-humored with a pan of apples and a -jug of cider; then into the pantry, bringing a tin box out of which she -took a cake. - -"That's pound cake, M'ri," cried Silas, aghast, holding his knife and -fork upraised in mute horror. She went on cutting thick slices, humming -under her breath. - -"Might I, marm," asked the stranger, pleasantly, "put this slice of ham -and cake and this cup of milk aside, to eat bymeby?" - -"How many meals do you eat in a evening?" growled Silas, awestruck at -such an appetite; "an' I want you to know this ain't no tavern." - -"Do eat a bite yourself, marm," said the stranger, as Maria carried the -filled plate to the cupboard. The impudence of a tramp actually asking -the mistress of the house to eat her own food, thought Silas. "We've eat -our supper," he hurled at the stranger. - -"I couldn't tech a mite," said Maria, beginning to clear up, and as he -was through eating, the stranger gallantly helped her while Silas smoked -in speechless rage. - -"I'm used to being handy," explained the tramp. "I allus helped wife. -She's bin dead these twenty years, leaving me a baby girl that I brought -up." - -"You was good to her?" asked Maria wistfully; the stranger had such a -kind voice and gentle ways. - -"I done the best I could, marm." Doubting his senses, Silas saw Maria -bring out the haircloth rocking-chair with the bead tidy from the best -front room. "Lemme carry it," said the tramp politely. "Now set in't -yerself, marin, an' be comfurble." He took a wooden chair, tilted it -back and picked up the cat. Maria, before she sat down, unmindful of -Silas's bewildered stare, filled one of his pipes with his tobacco. - -"I know you smoke, mister," she smiled. - -"Wal, I do," answered the tramp, whiffing away in great comfort. "'Pears -to me you're the biggest-hearted woman I ever see." - -She laughed bitterly. "There wan't a cluser woman in Corinth than me, -an' folks'll tell you so. I turned my own son outer doors." - -"It was part my fault, Mri, an' you hush now," pleaded Silas, forgiving -even her giving his tobacco away if she would not bring out that family -skeleton. - -"I've heered you was cluse," said the stranger, "an' thet you sent Jim -off because he went to circuses in Bath, an' wore store clothes, an' -wanted wages to pay for 'em." - -"All true," said Maria, "an' he wanted to ride the horse, an' was mad at -workin' him so hard." She went on then, and told how the old animal had -come home. - -"An' me thinkin' the critter was a speerit," said the stranger in a -hushed voice. "Beat's all what a dumb brute knows!" - -"I thought mebbe," went on Maria, twisting her thin fingers, "as Jim -might be comin' home this time. They says things happens curious when -folks is goin' ter die----" - -"Your good fur a good meny years, M'ri," said Silas, pitifully. - -"There's folks in this wurld," said the stranger, his kindly face -growing sad and careworn since the mother's eager words, "that ain't -men enuff, an' comes to charity to the end----" - -"That there be," assented Silas. - -"And as can't bring up their folks comfurble, nor keep 'em well an' -happy, nor have a home as ain't berried under a mortgage they can't -never clear off." - -"Ay, there's lots of 'em," cried Silas, "an' Mis Lowell was a twitting -me this very night of bein' mean." - -"An' this good home, an' the fields I passed thro', an' the lane where -the old hoss come a gallopin' up behind me, is paid fur, no mortgage on -a acre?" - -"There never was on the Lowell prop'ty; they'll tell ye thet ennywhere," -said Silas. - -"We uns in the South, where I come from," said the stranger, shading -his face with his bony hand, "ain't never forehanded somehow. My name is -Dexter Brown, marm, an' I was alius misfortinat. I tell you, marm, one -day when my creditors come an' took the cotton off my field, thet -I'd plarnted and weeded and worked over in the brilin' sun, my wife -says--an' she'd been patient and long-sufferin'--'Dex, I'm tired out; -jest you bury me in a bit of ground that's paid fur, an' I'll lie in -peace,' an' she died thet night." - -"Mebbe she never knowed what it were to scrimp an' save, an' do without, -an never see nawthin', till all the good died in her," muttered Maria. - -"Part o' my debt was wines an' good vittles fur her, marm." - -"I'll warrant!" said Maria quickly, "an' she never wept over the graves -of her dead children, an' heered their father complainin' of how much -their sickness hed cost him. Oh, I tell you, there's them that reckons -human agony by dollars an' cents, an' they're wus'n murderers!" - -"M'ri!" cried Silas. - -"Mebbe, marm, you are over-worrited ternight," said the stranger softly; -"wimmen is all feelin', God bless 'em! an' how yer son loved ye, a -tellin' of yer bright eyes an' red cheeks----" - -She turned to him with fierce eagerness. "He couldn't keer fur me, I -wan't the kind. I don't mind me of hardly ever kissin' him. I worked -him hard; I was cross an' stingy. He sed to me, 'There's houses that is -never homes, mother.' I sneered an' blamed him for his little present." -She ran and brought the vase. "I've kept that, Mr. Brown, over twenty -years, but when he give it to me, bought outer his poor little savin's, -I scolded him. I never let him hev the boys here to pop corn or make -candy; it was waste and litter. Oh, I know what he meant; this was never -a home." - -"But he only spoke kind of ye alius." - -"Did you know Jim? Been gone this ten year, an' never a word." - -Silas, a queer shadow on his face, looked eagerly at Brown. - -"I did know him," slowly and cautiously--"he was a cowboy in Texas, as -brave as the best." - -"He could ride," cried Maria, "as part of a horse, an' Tige was the dead -image of that Washington horse in the pictur, an' Jim used to say thet -girl there in the blue gown was his girl--the one with the bouquet; an' -I used to call him silly. I chilled all the fun he hed outer him, an' -broken-speerited an' white-faced he drifted away from us, as far away as -them in the graveyard, with the same weary look as they hed in goin'." - -"An' he took keer of much as a hundred cattle," said Silas; "they has -thet meny I've heerd, in Texas?" - -"They has thousands; they loses hundreds by drought----" - -"Wanter know?" cried Silas, his imagination refusing to grasp such awful -loss. - -"Wal, I knowed Jim, an' he got mer-ried----" - -"Merried!" from both the old parents. "He did. He says, 'I wunt write -the home-folks till I'm well off, for mother will worrit an' blame me, -an' I hain't money, but Minnie an' I love each other, an' are satisfied -with little.'" - -"Minnie," the mother repeated. "Was she pretty?" - -"Woman all over you be, to ask thet, an' she was," said Brown, sadly; -"with dark eyes, sorter wistful, an' hair like crinkled sunshine, an' -a laugh like a merry child, fur trouble slipped off her shoulders like -water off a duck's back." - -"An' they got prosperous?" asked Silas uneasily. - -"They was happy," said Brown with gentle dignity; "they was alius happy, -but they lived under a mortgage, an' it was drift from pillar to post, -an' ups an' downs. - -"An' they're poor now," muttered Silas, visions of Jim and his family to -support coming to him. - -"Hush!" cried Maria. "Tell me, sir, was there children? Oh, the heart -hunger I've had for the sound of a child's voice, the touch of baby -hands. You an' me grandpa and grandma, Sile! an', my God! you think of -money now." - -"Set calm," pleaded Brown, "for I must hev courage to tell ye all." - -"An' they sent ye to tell us they was comin'?" asked Silas, judging of -their prosperity from the shabby herald. - -"They asked me to come, an' I swore it. There's a queer blight as -creeps inter our country, which without thet might be like everlasting -Paradise. Ourn is a land of summer an' flowers, but up here in this -ice-bound region, the air is like water in runnin' brooks, it puts life -an' health in ye." - -"There's the blight o' consumption here. We're foreordained to suffer -all over this airth," muttered the woman. - -"But there it comes in waves of trouble--in awful haste--an' takes all -at once, an' them that's well flees away and the sick dies alone. So the -yellow fever come creepin' inter my home, fur Minnie was my child--the -daughter I'd keered fur; an' fust the baby went from her arms, an' then -little Silas (arter you, sir). Then Minnie sickened, an' her laugh is -only an echo in my heart, for she died and was berried, the baby in her -arms, and Jim was took next--an' he says" (only the ticking of the clock -sounded now, never so loud before): "'I want you, dad,' (he called me -dad) 'to go to my old home in Maine. I want you to tell my father I -named my dead boy for him, and I thought of his frugal, saving life with -pain, and yet I am proud that his name is respected as that of an honest -man, whose word is his bond. I'll never go up the old lane again,' says -Jim, 'nor see mother standing in the door with her bright eyes and red -cheeks that I used to think was like winter apples. And the old horse, -she said she'd care for, I won't see him again, nor hear the bells. In -this land of summer I only long for winter, and dad, if I could hear -those hoarse old jolly bells I'd die in peace. Queer, ain't it? And I -remember some rides I took mother; she wan't afraid of the colt, and -looked so pretty, a white hood over her dark hair. You go, dad, and say -I was sorry, and I'd planned to come some day prosperous and happy, -but it's never to be. Tell mother to think of me when she goes a Sunday -afternoon to the buryin'-ground, as she used to with me, and by those -little graves I fek her mother's heart beat for me, her living child, -and I knew, though she said nothing, she cared for me.' He died tell-in' -me this, marm, an' was berried by my girl, an' I think it was meant kind -they went together, for both would a pined apart. So I've come all the -way from Texas, trampin' for weary months, for I was poor, to give you -Jim's words." - -"Dead! Jim dead!" cried Silas, in a queer, dazed way. "M'ri," -querulously, "you alius sed he was so helthy!" - -She went to him and laid her hand on his bowed head. - -"An' we've saved an' scrimped an' pinched fur strangers, M'ri, fur there -ain't no Lowell to have the prop'ty, an' I meant it all fur Jim. When he -was to come back he'd find he was prosperous, an' he'd think how I tried -to make him so." - -"The Lord don't mean all dark clouds in this life," said the stranger. -"Out of that pestilence, that never touched her with its foul breath, -came a child, with Minnie's face and laugh, but Jim's own eyes--a bit of -mother an' father." - -The old people were looking at him with painful eagerness, dwelling on -his every word. - -"It was little May; named Maria, but we called her May for she was -borned three year ago in that month; a tiny wee thing, an' I stood by -their graves an' I hardened my heart. 'They drove her father out; they -sha'n't crush her young life,' I said. 'I'll keep her.' But I knowed I -couldn't. Poverty was grinding me, and with Jim's words directin' me, I -brought her here." - -"Brought her here!" cried the poor woman. - -"Ay! She's a brave little lass, an' I told her to lie quiet in the -basket till I told her to come out, fur mebbe you wan't kind an' would -send us both out, but I found your hearts ready fur her----" - -With one spring Maria reached the basket and flung open the lid, -disclosing a tiny child wrapped in a ragged shawl, sleeping peacefully -in her cramped bed, but with tears on her long lashes, as if the waiting -had tried her brave little soul. - -"Jest as gritty," said Brown, "an' so good to mind; poor lass!" - -Maria lifted her out, and the child woke up, but did not cry at the -strange face that smiled on her with such pathetic eagerness. "Oh, the -kitty!" cried May. "I had a kitty once!" That familiar household object -reconciled her at once. She ate the cake eagerly and drank the milk, -insisting on feeding the ham to the cat. - -"Him looks hungry," she said. - -"We've all been starved!" cried Maria, clasping the child to her heart. - -Such a beautiful child, with her merry eyes and laugh and her golden -curls, a strange blossom from a New England soil, yet part of her -birthright was the land of flowers and sunshine. Somehow that pathetic -picture of the past faded when the mother saw a blue and gilt vase in -the baby's hand--Jim's baby's. - -"It's pitty; fank you!" said the little creature. Then she got down to -show her new dress and her shoes, and made excursions into the pantry, -opening cupboard doors, but touching nothing, only exclaiming, "Dear me, -how pitty!" at everything. Then she came back, and at Brown's request, -with intense gravity, began a Spanish dance she had learned when they -stopped at San Antonio, from watching the Mexican senoritas. She held -up her little gown on one side and gravely made her steps while Dexter -whistled. The fire leaped up and crackled loudly, as if it would join -her, the cat purred, the tea-kettle sung from the back of the stove, -and little snowflakes, themselves hurrying, skurrying in a merry dance, -clung to the win dow-pane and called other little flakes to hasten and -see such a pretty sight. Maria watched in breathless eagerness, and -Silas, carried beyond himself, forgetting his scruples, cried out: -"Wal, ef that don't beat all I ever see! Come here, you little chick!" -holding out his silver watch. - -With a final pirouette she finished with a grave little courtesy, then -ran to Silas: "Is there birdie in der?" and he caught her up and kissed -her. - -When the old lane is shady in summertime, and golden-rod and daisies -crowd the way, and raspberries climb the stonewall, and merry squirrels -chatter and mock the red-breasted robins, and bees go humming through -the ordorous air, there comes a big white horse that looks like -Washington's in the picture; and how carefully he walks and bears -himself, for he brings a little princess who has made the old house -a home. Such a fairylike little thing, who from her sunshine makes -everybody bright and happy, and Silas' grim old face is smiling as he -leads the horse, and Maria, with her basket of berries, is helped over -the wall by Dexter Brown, who always says he must go but never does, -for they love him, and he and Silas work harmoniously together. And -grandma's eyes are brighter than ever and her cheeks as red. - -"What comfortable folks they air gittin' to be," say the neighbors, -"kinder livin', but I dunno but goin' a berryin' a hull arternoon is -right down shiftless." - -Winter is over and forever gone from that household on the hill; the -coming of gracious, smiling spring in a sweet child's presence has made -eternal sunshine in those ice-bound hearts. - -[Illustration: 5359] - -[Illustration: 0360] - - - - -CYNTHY'S JOE, By Clara Sprague Ross - - -|I DON'T think he'll be sech a fool as to p'int fer home the fust -thing he does." The speaker, a young man with a dull, coarse face and -slouching air, knocked the ashes from a half-smoked cigar with his -little finger, which was heavily ornamented with a large seal ring, and -adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. - -"I dun'no which p'int o' the compass he'd more naterally turn to," -observed another; an elderly man with a stoop in his shoulders, and a -sharp, thin face that with all its petty shrewdness was not without its -compensating feature--a large and kindly mouth. The third man in the -little group was slowly walking back and forth on the platform that ran -across the station, rolling and unrolling a small red flag which he held -in his hands. He turned with a contemptuous "umph" to the young man, -remarking as he did so, "'Tain't mostly fools as goes to prison. Joe -Atherton prob'ly has as many friends in this section o' the kentry as -some who hain't been away so much." - -"Joe was a good little boy," pursued the old station-master; "he wuz -allers kind to his mother. I never heard a word ag'in him till that city -swell came down here fer the summer and raised blazes with the boy." - -"If there ain't the Squire!" exclaimed a hitherto silent member; "he's -the last man as I should jedge would come to the deepo to welcome Joe -Atherton." - -A stout, florid, pompous individual slowdy mounted the platform steps, -wiping his forehead with a flaming red silk handkerchief, which he -had taken from his well-worn straw hat. "Warm afternoon, friends," he -suggested, with an air of having vastly contributed to the information -of the men, whose only apparent concern in life was an anxiety to find a -shady corner within conversational distance of each other. - -The Squire seated himself in the only chair of which the forlorn station -boasted; he leaned back until his head was conveniently supported, and -furtively glanced at a large old-fashioned watch which he drew from his -vest pocket. - -"Train's late this a'ternoon, Squar'," said the man with the red flag. "I -reckon ye'll all hev to go home without seein' the show; 'tain't no ways -sartin Joe'll come to-day. Parson Mayhew sed his time was up the fust -week in September, but there's no tellin' the day as I knows on." - -A sustained, heavy rumble sounded in the distance. Each man straightened -himself and turned his head to catch the first glimpse of the -approaching engine, With a shriek and only a just perceptible lessening -of its speed, the mighty train rushed by them without stopping, and was -out of sight before the eager watchers regained the power of speech. - -Five minutes later the red flag was in its place behind the door, its -keeper turned the key and hastened to overtake his neighbor, who had -reached the highway. Hearing the hurrying footsteps behind him, the man -turned, saying triumphantly, "I'm right-down, glad he didn't come." - -"So be I; there's an express late this evenin' that might bring him -down. I shall be here if Louisy's so as I kin leave her." - -"Wa'al," returned the other, "I shan't be over ag'in to-night, but you -jest tell Joe, fer me, to come right ta my house; he's welcome. Whatever -he done as a boy, he's atoned fer in twenty years. I remember jest how -white and sot his face was the day they took him away; he was only a boy -then, he's a man now, gray-headed most likely; the Athertons turned gray -early, and sorrow and sin are terrible helps to white hair." - -The old man's voice faltered a little; he drew the back of his hard, -brown hand across his eyes. Something that neither of the men could -have defined prompted them to shake hands at the "Corners"; they did so -silently, and without looking up. - -Joe came that night. The moon and the stars were the silent and only -witnesses of the convict's return. It was just as Joe had hoped it might -be; yet there was in the man's soul an awful sense of his loneliness and -isolation The eager, wistful light faded out of his large blue eyes, the -lines about his firm, tightly-drawn mouth deepened, the whole man took -on an air of sullen defiance. Nobody cared for him, why should he care? -He wondered if "Uncle Aaron," as the boys used to call him, still kept -the old station and signaled the trains. Alas! it was one of "Louisy's" -bad nights; her husband could not leave her, and so Joe missed forever -the cordial hand old Aaron would have offered him, and the kind message -he was to give him, for his neighbor. - -Sadly, wearily, Joe turned and walked toward the road, lying white -and still in the moonlight. His head dropped lower and lower upon his -breast; without lifting it he put out his hand, at length, and raised -the latch of a dilapidated gate that opened into a deep, weed-entangled -yard. His heart was throbbing wildly, a fierce, hot pain shot through -his eyes. Could he ever look up? He knew the light of the home he was -seeking had gone out in darkness years before. The only love in the -world that would have met him without question or reproach was silent -forever; but here was her home--his home once--the little white house -with its green blinds and shady porch. - -He must look up or his heart would burst. With a cry that rang loud and -clear on the quiet night, he fell upon his face, his fingers clutching -and tearing the long, coarse grass. There was no house--no home--only -a mass of blackened timbers, a pile of ashes, the angle of a tumbling -wall. Hardly knowing what he did, Joe crept into the shelter of the old -stone wall. With his face buried in his hands he lived over again, in -one short half-hour, the life he hoped he had put away when the prison -doors closed behind him. All through the day there had struggled in his -heart a faint, unreasoning faith that life might yet hold something fair -for him; one ray of comfort, one word of kindness, and faith would have -become a reality. As the man, at last lifted his pale, agonized face to -the glittering sky above him he uttered no word of prayer or entreaty, -but with the studied self-control that years of repression had taught -him, he rose from the ground and walked slowly out of the yard and -down the cheerless road again to the station. Life hereafter could mean -nothing to him but a silent moving-on. Whenever or wherever he -became known, men would shrink and turn away from him. There was no -abiding-place, no home, no love for him in all God's mighty world. He -accepted the facts; there was only one relief--somewhere, some time, a -narrow bed would open for him and the green sod would shelter the man -and his sin till eternity. - -He hastily plucked a bit of golden-rod that nodded by the roadside; then -taking a small, ragged book from a pocket just over his heart, he opened -it and put the yellow spray between the leaves. As he did so a bit of -paper fluttered to the ground. Joe stooped and picked it up. It was a -letter he had promised to deliver from a fellow-prisoner to his mother -in a distant town. - -Not very far away an engine whistled at a crossing. A slowly moving -freight and accommodation train pulled up at the depot a few moments -later. Joe entered the dark, ill-smelling car at the rear and turned his -face once more to the world. - -It was in the early twilight of the next evening that Joe found himself -in the hurry and confusion of a large manufacturing town. As he passed -from the great depot into the brilliantly lighted street, he was -bewildered for a moment and stood irresolute, with his hand shading his -eyes. At one corner of the park that lay between the station and the -next street, a man with a Punch-and-Judy theatre had drawn around him a -crowd of men, women, and children. Joe mechanically directed his steps -that way, and unconsciously became a part of the swaying, laughing -audience. - -"Hold me up once more, do Mariar, I can't see nothin'," begged a piping, -childish voice at Joe's knee. - -"I can't, Cynthy; my arms is most broke now holdin' of ye; ef you -don't stop teasin' I'll never take ye nowheres again," replied a tall, -handsome girl, to whom the child was clinging. - -Joe bent without a word, and picking up the small, ill-shaped morsel of -human longing and curiosity, swung her upon his broad shoulder, where -she sat watching the tiny puppets and listening to their shrill cries, -oblivious of all else in the world. Once she looked down into the man's -face with her great, dark, fiery eyes and said softly, "Oh, how good you -are!" A shiver ran through Joe's frame; these were the first words that -had been addressed to him since he said good-bye to the warden in that -dreary corridor, which for this one moment had been forgotten. The -little girl, without turning her eyes from the dancing figures before -her, put one arm about Joe's neck and nestled a little closer to him. -Joe could have stood forever. The tall, dark girl, however, had missed -Cynthy's tiresome pulling at her skirts and the whining voice. She -looked anxiously about and called "Cynthy! Cynthy! where are you? I'll -be thankful if ever I gets you back to your grandmother." The fretful -words aroused Joe from his happy reverie; he hurriedly placed the child -on the pavement, and in an instant was lost in the crowd. - -He set out upon his quest the following morning and had no difficulty in -finding the old woman he was seeking. At one of a dozen doors marking as -many divisions of a long, low tenement building near the river, he had -knocked, and the door had opened into a small, clean kitchen, where a -bright fire burned in a tiny stove, and a row of scarlet geraniums -in pots ornamented the front window. The woman who admitted him he -recognized at once as the mother of the man in that far-away prison, -whose last hold-upon love and goodness was the remembrance of the aged, -wrinkled face so wonderfully like his own. In a corner behind the door -there stood an old-fashioned trundle-bed. As Joe stepped into the room a -child, perhaps ten years old, started up from it, exclaiming "That's the -man, Granny; the man who put me on his shoulder, when Mariar was cross. -Come in! come in, man," she urged. - -"Be still, Cynthy," retorted the grandmother, not unkindly, as she -placed a chair for Joe, who was walking over to the little bed from -which the child was evidently not able to rise alone. Two frail hands -were outstretched to him, two great black eyes were raised to his full -of unspoken gratitude. Joe took the soiled letter from its hiding-place -and gave it to the woman without a word. She glanced at the scarcely -legible characters, and went into an adjoining room, her impassive face -working convulsively. - -"What's the matter with Granny, was she crying? I never seen her cry -before," said Cynthy. "Granny's had heaps o' trouble. I'm all thet's -left of ten children and a half-dozen grandchildren. She says I'm the -poorest of the lot, too, with the big bone thet's grow'd out on my back; -it aches orful nights, and makes my feet so tired and shaky mornin's. -Granny's kind o' queer; some days she just sets and looks into the fire -fer hours without speakin', and it's so still I kin a'most hear my heart -beat; and I think, and think, and never speak, neither, till Granny -comes back and leans over me and kisses me; then it's all right ag'in, -an' Granny makes a cup o' tea an' a bite o' toast and the sun comes in -the winder, and I forget 'bout the pain, an' go out with Mariar, when -she'll take me, like I did last night." - -The child's white, pinched features flushed feverishly, her solemn, -dusky eyes burned like coals. She had been resting her chin in her -hands, and gazing up into Joe's face with a fascinated intensity. -She fell back wearily upon the pillows as the door opened, and her -grandmother returned and put her hand on Joe's shoulder, saying -brokenly, "You've been very kind." The little clock on the shelf over -the kitchen table ticked merrily, and the tea-kettle hummed, as if it -would drown the ticking, while Joe and Cynthy's grandmother discussed -and planned for the future. - -It was finally settled that Joe should look for work in Danvers, and if -he found it, his home should be with the old woman and Cynthy. He did -not try to express the joy that surged over and through his heart, that -rushed up into his brain, until his head was one mad whirl; but with a -firm, quick step and a brave, calm look on his strong face, he went out -to take his place in the busy, struggling world--a man among men. - -Two months passed; months of toil, of anxiety, sometimes of fear; -but Joe was so gladdened and comforted by Cynthy's childish love and -confidence, that, little by little, he came out of the shadow that had -threatened to blacken his life, into the sunshine and peace of a homely, -self-sacrificing existence in "Riverside Row." - -Cynthy's ideas of heaven were very vague, and not always satisfactory, -even to herself, but she often wondered, since Joe came, if heaven -ever began here and she was not tasting some of its minor delights. Of -course, she did not put it in just this way; but Cynthy's heaven was a -place where children walked and were never tired, where above all things -they wore pretty clothes and had everything that was denied them on -earth. Joe had realized so many of the child's wild dreams, had made -possible so many longed-for or unattainable pleasures, had so brightened -and changed her weary, painful life, that to Cynthy's eyes there was -always about his head a halo as in the pictures of Granny's saints; -goodness, kindness, generosity--love, were for her spelled with three -letters, and read--Joe. Out of the hard-earned wages the man put into -Granny's hand every Saturday night, there was always a little -reserved for Cynthy. Her grandmother sometimes fretted or occasionally -remonstrated; but Joe was firm. Alas! human life, like the never-resting -earth, of which it is a part, swings out of the sunlight into the -shadow, out of the daytime into the darkness through which the moon and -the stars do not always shine. - -One night, a bitter, stormy night in November, he was a little late in -leaving his work. He had to pass, on his way out of the building, a knot -of men who were talking in suppressed voices. They did not ask him -to join them, but the words "prison-scab," "jail-bird", fell on his -ever-alert ear. With a shudder he hurried on. - -Granny was stooping over the trundle-bed in a vain attempt to quiet the -child, who was tossing upon it, in pain and delirium. Cynthy had slipped -upon a piece of ice a few days before, and now she was never free from -the torturing, burning pain in her back. Sometimes it was in her head, -too, and then with shrill, harsh cries, she begged for Joe, until Granny -thanked God when the factory-whistle blew and she heard the man's quick, -short step on the pavement. Joe warmed himself at the fire for a moment, -then taking Cynthy in his tired arms, he walked slowly up and down the -room. Through the long, dreary night he patiently carried the moaning -child. If he attempted, never so carefully, to lay her down, she clung -to him so wildly or cried so wearily that Joe could only soothe her -and take lip the tiresome march again. Granny, thoroughly worn out, sat -sleeping in her large chair. Cynthy grew more restless. Once she nearly -sprang from Joe's arms, screaming, "Go way, Mariar; you're a hateful -thing! I won't listen; 'tain't true; Joe is good," and dropping back -heavily, she whispered, "I love you, Joe." She knew, then! Joe thought -his heart would never throb again. - -He listened for the early morning whistles. One by one they sounded on -the clear, keen air, but never the one for which he waited. As soon -as it was light, he peered through the ice-covered window at the tall -chimneys just beyond the "Row." They rose grim and silent, but no smoke -issued from them. The end had come. Joe knew a strike was on. - -Sometime in the afternoon of that day Cynthy suffered herself to be -placed on the small, white bed; but she was not willing Joe should leave -her, and was quiet only when he held her feeble hand in his close grasp. -No sound escaped the man's white lips. Only God and the angels watched -his struggle with the powers of darkness. As night came on again, Cynthy -sank into a heavy sleep, and Joe, released, took his hat and went out -very softly. - -He stopped after a long walk at the massive doors of a "West End" -palace. He followed with downcast eyes the servant who answered his ring -into a small but elegant reception-room, where he was told he might wait -for the master of the house, the owner of the large manufactory where he -was employed. Into the patient ear of this man, whom he had never seen -before, Joe poured the story of his life. The sin, the shame, the agony -of despair, his salvation through Cynthy. - -"I will call my son," said the sympathizing old gentleman as Joe rose to -go; "he is one of Danvers' best physicians. He will go with you and see -what can be done for the little girl." - -An hour later the two men were bending over the sick child. "She is very -ill," said the young doctor, in reply ta Joe's mute, appealing face. -"This stupor may end in death, or it may result in a sleep which will -bring relief. You must be brave, my friend. A few hours to-night will -decide. You may hope." Joe's weary limbs faltered beneath him. He fell -upon his knees breathing a wordless prayer that the child might be -spared to bless and comfort hi& lonely, aching heart; while all unseen -the Angel of Life hovered over the little bed. - -[Illustration: 5372] - - - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Rancho Del Muerto, by Charles King and Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RANCHO DEL MUERTO *** - -***** This file should be named 51919.txt or 51919.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/9/1/51919/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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