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diff --git a/old/69880-h/69880-h.htm b/old/69880-h/69880-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index abb23be..0000000 --- a/old/69880-h/69880-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10442 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html lang="en"> -<head> - <meta charset="UTF-8"> - <title> - The Valley of Arcana, by Arthur Preston Hankins—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> - <style> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - -.tdr {text-align: right;} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; - text-indent: 0; -} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; -} - -.x-ebookmaker .blockquot { - margin-left: 7.5%; - margin-right: 7.5%; -} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.marginright {margin-right: 5em;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.ph1 {text-align: center; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph2 {text-align: center; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;} - -div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;} -div.titlepage p {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 2em;} - -p.drop-cap { - text-indent: -0.35em; -} -p.drop-cap2 { - text-indent: -0.75em; -} -p.drop-cap:first-letter, p.drop-cap2:first-letter -{ - float: left; - margin: 0em 0.15em 0em 0em; - font-size: 250%; - line-height:0.85em; - text-indent: 0em; -} -.x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap, .x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap2 { - text-indent: 0em; -} -.x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap:first-letter, .x-ebookmaker p.drop-cap2:first-letter -{ - float: none; - margin: 0; - font-size: 100%; -} - -.xlarge {font-size: 150%;} -.large {font-size: 125%;} - -.x-ebookmaker .hide {display: none; visibility: hidden;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%; -} - -.antiqua { - font-family: Blackletter, Fraktur, Textur, "Old English Text MT", "Olde English Mt", "Olde English", Gothic, serif, sans-serif;} - -.bb {border-bottom: 2px solid;} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} -.poetry .first {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block; margin-left: 3em;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - margin-left: 17.5%; - margin-right: 17.5%; - padding: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -</style> -</head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Valley of Arcana, by Arthur Preston Hankins</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Valley of Arcana</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Arthur Preston Hankins</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 26, 2023 [eBook #69880]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALLEY OF ARCANA ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter hide"><img src="images/coversmall.jpg" width="450" alt=""></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>THE VALLEY<br> -OF ARCANA</h1> - -<p>BY<br> -<span class="xlarge">ARTHUR PRESTON HANKINS</span></p> - -<p><small>AUTHOR OF<br> -“THE JUBILEE GIRL,” “THE HERITAGE OF THE HILLS,” ETC.</small></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt=""></div> - -<p>NEW YORK<br> -<span class="large">DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY</span><br> -1923</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1923,<br> -By</span> DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, <span class="smcap">Inc.</span><br> -<br> -<br> -PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY<br> -<br> -<span class="antiqua"><span class="bb">The Quinn & Boden Company</span></span><br> - -BOOK MANUFACTURERS<br> -RAHWAY       NEW JERSEY<br> -</p> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">TO<br> -THE MEMORY OF<br> -<span class="large"><span class="smcap">My Father</span></span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table> - -<tr><td class="tdr"><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td class="tdr" colspan="2"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">I</td><td>  <span class="smcap">An Extra Bed</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1"> 1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">II</td><td>  <span class="smcap">El Trono de Tolerancia</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_9"> 9</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">III</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Prospector’s Story</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18"> 18</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IV</td><td>  <span class="smcap">A Member of the Clan</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_26"> 26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">V</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Conference at Jorny Springs</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33"> 33</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VI</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Second Sight</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43"> 43</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Lot’s Wife and Shirttail Henry</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_54"> 54</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">VIII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Missing</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65"> 65</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">IX</td><td>  <span class="smcap">A Case for Rejuvenation</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74"> 74</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">X</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Shirttail Bend</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_82"> 82</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XI</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Trail to Mosquito</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_93"> 93</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Land of Queer Delights</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_101"> 101</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">At Two in the Cañon</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113"> 113</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIV</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Long Straw</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128"> 128</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XV</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Vagrancy Cañon</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_136"> 136</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVI</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Camp in Vagrancy Cañon</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_145"> 145</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Bear Pass</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_156"> 156</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XVIII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">In the Palm of the Mountains</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_169"> 169</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XIX</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Riddles</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_180"> 180</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XX</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Interim of Doubts</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_190"> 190</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXI</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Cave of Hypocritical Frogs</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_201"> 201</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Dr. Shonto Rides Alone</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_211"> 211</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Old Acquaintances</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_221"> 221</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXIV</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Mary Chooses a Seat</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_228"> 228</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXV</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Deadly Bull and the Silver Fox</span>     </td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_238"> 238</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVI</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Last Tablet</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_248"> 248</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">Adrift on Lost River</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_260"> 260</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdr">XXVIII</td><td>  <span class="smcap">The Message</span></td><td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_270"> 270</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span> - -<p class="ph2">THE VALLEY OF ARCANA</p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I<br> - -<small>AN EXTRA BED</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">TRIED outlanders though they were, Dr. Inman -Shonto and Andy Jerome were hopelessly lost. -Afoot, horseback, and by motor car the pair -had covered thousands of square miles of desert and -forest land in Southern California. But it was different -up here in the mountainous region of the northern -part of the state, where they found themselves surrounded -by heavy timber vaster than they had dreamed -could have been left standing by the ensanguined hand -of the lumberman. And, besides, thin fingers of fog -were reaching in from the sea, about eighteen miles -to the west of them.</p> - -<p>For hours they had been following wooded ridges, -which here and there offered a view of the seemingly -illimitable sweep of redwood forests below them. -Spruce, fir, several varieties of oak, and madrones -crowned these ridges—trees of a height and girth that -they could understand. But down below them towered -the monarchs of the vegetable kingdom, straight as -the path of righteousness, solemn, aloof—impossible -trees—whose height would bring their tops on a level -with the clock of the Metropolitan Building, whose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span> -boles occupied a space greater than a good-sized living -room.</p> - -<p>They awed the southerners immeasurably, for this -was their first trip into the northern part of their state. -They were silent as they hurried on, sliding down steep -slopes, clambering up rocky, timbered inclines, always -hoping for some familiar object that would show them -they were on the campward trail.</p> - -<p>Each carried a .25-.35 rifle, for they had left camp -early that morning to hunt deer—and both had entertained -fond hopes that a wandering bear or a panther -might cross their path. The doctor had wounded a -big six-pointer close to noon, and following the bloody -trail which the cripple left had led the pair astray.</p> - -<p>Now night was close at hand, and, for all they knew, -they were still many miles from camp. The trail had -inveigled them down into the mysteries of the dark -forest below them, and there they had lost all sense -of direction. With the approach of night they had -abandoned the bloody trail and climbed to the ridges -once more, in the hope of relocating themselves. But -an hour had passed, and they still were lost.</p> - -<p>“This is a little serious, Andy,” remarked the doctor. -“I’m afraid we haven’t much of an idea as to -the vast scope of this forest. Of course we’ll make it -back sometime, and I guess we’re old enough hands -at the game to take care of ourselves until we do; -but meanwhile we’re going to be up against a little -inconvenience, to put it mildly.”</p> - -<p>“It’s going to be mighty cold to-night,” was the -only answer that the younger man vouchsafed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>He was about twenty-four, this companion of the -doctor—a good-looking youth with light curly hair -and a friendly blue eye. He was of medium height, -well knit, wiry. His step was light and his muscles -sure, and more than once the older man eyed him -admiringly as they hurried on into the coming dusk.</p> - -<p>Dr. Inman Shonto was one of those men who -command attention wherever they go. He was tall -and lean and broad-shouldered, and his outing clothes -had been fitted to his remarkable body with precision. -He was an ugly man as masculine comeliness goes, -but, for all that, women found him intensely interesting. -His nose was monstrous, and lightly pitted -from bridge to tip. His mouth was big, and the lips -were thick, puckered, and firm. His hair was thin -and neutral in colour—somewhere between a dark -brown and a light. His ears were rather large and -a trifle outstanding. His eyes were grey and very -intense in their manner of observing others.</p> - -<p>It was the strong face of a strong man. One knew -instinctively that great will power was this man’s heritage. -One believed, after a glance into that homely -face, that this man took what he wanted from life, -and that his wants were by no means puny. Even in -hunting clothes Dr. Inman Shonto was fastidious. -And his walk was fastidious, even here in the wilderness. -The realization that he and his young companion -were lost in the wilds did not serve to ruffle the doctor’s -calm exterior. He was nothing if not self-controlled -on all occasions.</p> - -<p>Despite his homeliness, his smile was engaging as he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span> -turned and looked back at Andy after topping a little -bald rise toward which the two had been travelling, -hoping on its summit to gain a better view of the -surrounding country.</p> - -<p>“Andy,” he said, “I smell smoke. Sound encouraging?”</p> - -<p>The young man reached his side, and the two stood -looking in every direction and sniffing speculatively.</p> - -<p>“I get it, too, Doctor,” Andy told the other finally. -“It seems to be over in that direction.”</p> - -<p>Andy pointed west, and the doctor nodded silently.</p> - -<p>“There’s a ranch or a camp pretty close,” he decided. -“Now let’s locate that smoke definitely and make a -bee-line for it. I don’t just fancy a night in this cold, -unfriendly forest.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know, Dr. Shonto,” said Andy, “that I -don’t exactly think of the forest as unfriendly. Time -and again, when you and I have been together in the -outlands, you’ve thought nature unkind—bleak—unfriendly. -Nature never strikes me that way.”</p> - -<p>“That’s your inheritance from your Alps-climbing -Swiss ancestors, I imagine,” replied the doctor. “But, -if you’ll pardon me, Andrew, I’m more interested right -now in locating a welcoming curl of blue smoke over -the treetops than I am in a discussion of the attitude -of Mother Nature toward two of her misplaced atoms. -Look over there to the west. (I suppose that’s west.) -Don’t you imagine you see a thin stream of smoke -going up over there—just above that massive bull pine -on the brow of that hill? Confound this infernal -fog!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>“Yes, I believe you’re right,” Andy agreed after -looking a long time in the direction the doctor had -indicated. And after another pause—“Yes, smoke, all -right. And if it weren’t for the fog it would spread, -and we’d never have seen it. Now what, Doctor?”</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto gave the surrounding country careful -study.</p> - -<p>“It seems to me,” he decided, “that, if we head -straight for that tall fir on the brow of the hill beyond -the next one, we ought to see what’s causing the smoke. -But we’ve got to go down and up, down and up; and -we’ll pass through heavy timber between here and -there. We must keep our wits about us and not -swerve from a straight line. And that’s hard to do, -with the fog rolling in on us. Anyway, it’s up to us -to try it. Let’s go!”</p> - -<p>With each of them picking his own way, they rattled -down steep slopes and came upon tiny creeks, cold, -brown from the dye of fallen autumn leaves. They -clambered up slopes that seemed far steeper because -of the extra strain they put upon their hearts and -muscles. Dense growths of chaparral occasionally -confronted them and made them make detours, despite -their firm resolve to keep to the straight and narrow -way. But in half an hour after sighting the thin -stream of smoke they came out in an open space on -a hillside and saw the tall fir which was their goal.</p> - -<p>They crossed to it on level land, to look down a more -precipitous slope than they had before encountered. -And down there far below them they saw the misty -gleam of cabin lights as they struggled with the night<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span> -and the increasing obstinacy of the fog that marched -in from the sea.</p> - -<p>“Here’s a sort of trail, Doctor,” announced Andrew -Jerome. “And it looks to be leading straight -toward those lights. Shall we try it?”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” replied the doctor. “By all means. You’re -the better mountaineer, Andy—take the lead. We -can get a shakedown on the floor of the man who made -those lights, I guess, and get set on the right trail to-morrow -morning.”</p> - -<p>It was dark now, and the insweeping fog added to -the density of the surrounding gloom. Far to their -left coyotes lifted their mocking, plaintive yodel to -the Goddess of Darkness, their patron saint, who -shielded their stealthy deviltry from the eyes of men. -But the blurred lights beckoned the wanderers downward, -and they obeyed the signal, slipping over -rounded stones, staggering into prickly bushes, sliding -over abrupt ledges.</p> - -<p>Andrew Jerome followed the trail by instinct, and -Dr. Shonto was glad to follow Andy. The youth’s -aptitude in the mountains was ever a source of wonder -for the doctor, and often he had told the boy that he -attributed it to heredity. For on his mother’s side of -the family Andy’s ancestors had been of Alpine Swiss -stock, by name Zanini. Dr. Inman Shonto was a -firm believer in heredity, anyway, and his young -friend’s dexterous mountaineering presented a sound -basis for his theorizing.</p> - -<p>They came out eventually on level land, heavily timbered -with pines. Straight through the pines the trail<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span> -led them, and soon they were confronted by a set of -bars. Beyond the bars the fog-screened lights still -invited them, so the doctor lifted his voice and -called.</p> - -<p>There came no answer from the gloom. No dog -rushed around an invisible cabin to challenge them.</p> - -<p>“Let’s take a chance, Andy,” said the doctor. “If -a pack of hounds leaps out at us, we can retreat as -gracefully as possible. We’ve got to get closer to -make ourselves heard.”</p> - -<p>They crawled between the bars and struck out along -a beaten path. Still no outraged canine came catapulting -toward them. Still the house remained invisible. -Only the smeared lights stared at them through the -fog.</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto came to a halt, and Andy stopped beside -him.</p> - -<p>“In the cabin there!” called Shonto. “Cabin ahoy!”</p> - -<p>Several silent moments followed, and then, between -the window lights that had lured them there, a new -streak of muddy brilliancy grew to a rectangle, and a -woman’s figure stood framed by a door.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” shouted the doctor. “We’re lost in the -woods and hunting shelter for the night. Our camp is -far from here, and we can’t find it. Can you help us -out? There are two of us—two men! We’ll gladly -pay you for your inconvenience.”</p> - -<p>They saw the figure of the woman turn. She was -speaking with somebody within the cabin, and her -profile was toward them. It vanished as she once -more turned her face their way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>“Come on in!” came her invitation. “She says she’ll -do the best she can for you.”</p> - -<p>“She,” muttered the doctor. “I once knew a man -that never called his wife anything but ‘she.’ Come -on—I smell baking-powder biscuits, or my name’s not -Shonto. Here’s the backwoods for you.”</p> - -<p>And then, as if to give the lie to his words, he -stepped upon a broad stone doorstep and was faced -by a radiant girl in a sky-blue evening gown, with -precious stones in her dark hair, and gilded, high-heeled -slippers on her feet.</p> - -<p>“Good evening,” she greeted them easily. “Welcome -to El Trono de Tolerancia. There are baking -powder biscuits, venison, and chocolate for supper, and -we’ve an extra bed.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II<br> - -<small>EL TRONO DE TOLERANCIA</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DR. INMAN SHONTO was not easily moved -to a display of surprise, but for at least once -in his life he found himself unequal to the occasion.</p> - -<p>The girl in the doorway was galvanically pretty. -Her features were of that striking, contrasty quality -that is the result of an artistic makeup—but she was -not made up. She was dark, red-lipped, large-eyed, -and her figure brought a quick flush of masculine appreciation -in the doctor’s face. Physically, it seemed -to him, he had never before seen so gloriously all-right -a girl. But the desirable physical characteristics which -she displayed were not what had caused the cat to get -the physician’s tongue. It was the low-neck, sleeveless -gown, the sparkling hair ornaments, the gilded slippers -and the creaseless silk stockings—all of which had for -their background the coal-oil-lighted interior of a log -cabin lost in the wilderness—that had wrecked his customary -poise.</p> - -<p>Her ringing laugh served in a measure to readjust -his scattered wits. She had interpreted the meaning -of his surprise.</p> - -<p>“It’s my birthday!” was the girlish announcement -that followed her fun-provoking laugh. “It’s my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span> -birthday—and I’m twenty-two—and my name is -Charmian Reemy. <i>Mrs.</i> Charmian Reemy, I suppose -it is my duty to inform you. Aren’t you coming in, -Dr. Shonto?”</p> - -<p>At last the doctor’s hat was in his hand, and Andy -Jerome, standing just behind him and equally amazed, -removed his too.</p> - -<p>Shonto was mumbling something about the unexpected -pleasure of meeting a girl in the wilderness who -knew his name while Andy followed him inside. The -girl hurried on before them and was arranging comfortable -thong-bottom chairs before a huge stone fireplace. -Skins and bright-coloured Navajo rugs half -covered the puncheon floor. Dainty, inexpensive curtains -hung at the windows. Deer antlers and enlarged -photographs of wildwood scenes broke the solemnity -of the dark log walls.</p> - -<p>Before the fireplace another woman bent and cooked -in a Dutch oven on red coals raked one side from the -roaring fire of fir wood.</p> - -<p>“This is Mary Temple, my companion, nurse, cook, -and adviser in all matters pertaining to my general -welfare,” announced the girl. “I love her companionship, -appreciate her nursing, rave over her cooking, -and ignore her advice entirely. Mary Temple, this -is Dr. Inman Shonto, lost in the woods with a friend -whom I have not given him time to introduce.”</p> - -<p>Once more the bombarded doctor stood by his guns, -bowed gravely to middle-aged Mary Temple—who -smiled over her lean shoulder but continued to hover -her Dutch oven—then turned to Andy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>“Mrs. Reemy, permit me,” he said. “My friend, -Andrew Jerome.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Jerome,” laughed the girl, extending her hand, -“I am happy to welcome you to my birthday party.” -Then, with one of her amazingly swift movements, she -swung about to the physician. “And you, Dr. Shonto, -are to be the guest of honour—and you are going to -tell us all about glands and things like that.”</p> - -<p>“It is absolutely impossible,” Dr. Shonto returned -gallantly, “that I could have met you and forgotten -you, Mrs. Reemy.”</p> - -<p>“Very well spoken, Doctor,” she retorted, with a -smile that twisted up a trifle at one corner of her -mouth. “But I have heard that before. One would -expect Dr. Inman Shonto, renowned gland specialist, -to say something more original. There—I’m being -impolite again! (Beat you to it that time, didn’t I, -Mary Temple!) But you are pardoned for a commonplace -speech, Doctor. It must have stunned you not -a little to come upon a dolled-up flapper out here in -the forest. I’ll relieve your mind instantly. We have -never met before. But I have read about you for -years. And this morning, when I was down at Lovejoy’s -for my mail—and incidentally a big piece of -venison which I hadn’t expected to be given me—I saw -you and Mr. Jerome walking up the road with your -guns. I inquired about you, and was told that the eminent -Dr. Shonto and his friend Mr. Jerome, of Los -Angeles, were in our midst. And, though I saw only -your backs this morning, those shoulders of yours, -Doctor, are as wide when seen from the front as from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span> -the rear. And when I saw them threatening to push -to right and left the uprights of my door frame, I -thought Samson was about to bring the house down -on us two Philistines. For that’s what we are, gentlemen—outlawed -Philistines. And this is the house -called El Trono de Tolerancia—which in Spanish is -equivalent to The Throne of Tolerance. All right, -Mary Temple—I see your shoulders quivering! I’ll -stop right now and let somebody else get in a word. -But since I already know the doctor and his friend—and -a great deal about the doctor that he doesn’t suspect—doesn’t -it stand to reason that they ought to -hear about us before sitting down to my birthday dinner?”</p> - -<p>“You oughtn’t to’ve called yourself a flapper,” said -the kneeling Mary Temple, showing one fire-crimsoned -cheek.</p> - -<p>With her ready laughter, which was hearty and -whole-souled without a suggestion of boisterousness, -Mrs. Charmian Reemy seated herself. Then Andy and -Doctor Shonto found seats one on either side of her.</p> - -<p>“This is certainly a refreshing experience, Mrs. -Reemy,” were the younger man’s first words since acknowledging -his introduction to her.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you think so,” she replied. “I dearly -love to make life refreshing for folks. For myself as -well. I thought it would be refreshing fun to dress -to-night, with only Mary Temple and me ’way out here -in the woods. It was just a freakish whim of mine. -I get ’em frequently. Don’t I, Mary Temple?”</p> - -<p>The firelight showed red through one of Mary Temple’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span> -thin ears as she half turned her head, doubtless -to administer a reproof, and executed “eyes front” -again when she changed her mind.</p> - -<p>“I had no idea at the time, though, that two distressed -gentlemen were to come to my party and admire -me and my table decorations.”</p> - -<p>She swept a white arm in the direction of a table at -one side of the large room, on which were a spotless -cloth, china and silver, and an earth-sweet centerpiece -of ferns and California holly berries.</p> - -<p>“Now I’ll tell you who I am, so that you will be -better able to celebrate properly with me—and then -for the glands. I’m dying to learn all about glands. -Could you rejuvenate me, Doctor Shonto? Now’s -your chance for that pretty birthday speech!”</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Shonto, with his grave smile, “that -you, Mrs. Reemy, are a far more successful rejuvenator -right now than I shall ever be. I’ve sloughed -off five years since entering your door.”</p> - -<p>“Better! That was extremely well done. And now -let’s get down to business:</p> - -<p>“I am Charmian Reemy, aged twenty-two to-day. -I was born in San Francisco, and live there now. When -I was seventeen I was married to Walter J. Reemy, a -mining man from Alaska. To be absolutely frank, -that marriage was the result of a plot by my father -and mother to marry me off to a wealthy man. And I -was too young and pliable to put up a decent fight.</p> - -<p>“I went to Alaska with my husband, where we lived -two years. He was killed in a gambling game, and his -will left everything to me. I sold out his Alaska mining<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span> -property and returned to the United States, where I -lived with my parents in San Francisco until both were -taken away in the recent flu epidemic.</p> - -<p>“Since then I have been alone except for Mary Temple, -who was with me in Alaska. She had returned to -San Francisco with me after Walter’s death. So when -I was left entirely alone again I hunted her up, and she -has been my companion and housekeeper ever since.</p> - -<p>“When I was little I was what is generally called a -misunderstood child. Whether that was true or not I -can’t say, but I know that, almost from my earliest -remembrance, my home life was unpleasant. My parents -were plodders in the footsteps of Tradition. At -an early age I showed radical tendencies.</p> - -<p>“I am a radical to-day. I am intolerant of all the -intolerance of this generation of false prophets. I -come up here to forget man’s stupidity. And I call my -retreat in the big-timber country The Throne of Tolerance. -Wait until to-morrow morning. Then, if you -can look from those west windows and be intolerant -of anything or anybody, you don’t belong to my clan.</p> - -<p>“I make pilgrimage to El Trono de Tolerancia -whenever I begin to choke up down in San Francisco. -Mary Temple and I live simply up here in the woods -until the suffocation passes, then we return to the city—and -boredom. I learned to love the outdoors up in -Alaska. And sometime I’m going on a great adventure. -I’m going to some far-off place where man never -before has set his foot. And maybe I shan’t come -back.</p> - -<p>“That’s about all there is to be told about me. Except<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span> -that I never intend to marry again. Oh, yes!—and -I always call Mary Temple Mary Temple. If I -were to call her Mary it would sound disrespectful -from one so much younger than she is. If I called her -Miss Temple it would sound stiff and throw a wet -blanket over our comradeship. And I’m too human, -and I hope too genuine, to ape high society and call -her Temple. So she’s Mary Temple to me, and everything -seems to move smoothly. Now I’m through—positively -through. Now tell me about the glands, -Doctor Shonto.”</p> - -<p>Shonto was smiling in quiet amusement. He could -not quite make out this girl. Shonto was very much -a radical himself, and he believed that she knew it. -But he considered her too young to hold such a pessimistic -outlook on life as she had hinted at. That she -was ready to worship him because of his reputation -as a specialist in gland secretions seemed apparent. -The doctor had been fawned upon by many women -intellectually inclined, and they had nauseated him immeasurably. -He admired Charmian Reemy for her -physical charm, her vivacity, and her good-fellowship; -but he was experienced and therefore wary.</p> - -<p>But he was saved for the present from committing -himself by Mary Temple, who had completed her -ministrations over the Dutch oven, and had carried the -result to the table.</p> - -<p>“Dinner’s ready,” she announced unceremoniously.</p> - -<p>Whereupon Charmian rose and seated her guests.</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto was not a little puzzled at the behaviour -of his friend. Andy Jerome had spoken to Mrs. Reemy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span> -but once since their entrance into her home, aside from -muttering her name when the doctor had introduced -him. It was true that their hostess had done most of -the talking herself, but Shonto had managed to get in -a word edgewise now and then. While Andy had -showed little or no inclination to talk at all.</p> - -<p>For the most part he had sat and almost stared at -her, as if never before had he seen a beautiful girl in -an evening gown. The doctor knew that this was far -from the case, and that Andy ordinarily was quick to -respond to pretty women. He usually could hold his -own with them, too. But it seemed that Charmian -Reemy had fairly swept him off his feet. Shonto felt -a slight twinge of regret. He found that he himself -was rather impressed by this frank, free-spoken girl of -the woods and the cities.</p> - -<p>Mary Temple occupied the foot of the table, where -she sat stiffly and with an austere mien, and attended -to the greater part of the serving. They were no more -than seated when Charmian Reemy again began begging -the gland specialist to initiate her into the mysteries -of his witchcraft. But Shonto, seeking an avenue -of escape, hit upon a topic that at once changed her -thoughts into another, though no less interesting, -channel.</p> - -<p>“You say, Mrs. Reemy,” he began, “that you are -contemplating going off for a big adventure some day. -If you haven’t anything definite in mind, I’d like to -offer a suggestion. How would you like to make an -attempt to explore a lost valley—a forgotten valley—in -reality, an undiscovered valley?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>“What?” Her dark eyes were sparkling.</p> - -<p>“Just that. Andy and I heard about it the other -day. And on the way to this undiscovered valley you -may hunt for opals. Of course, a fellow may hunt for -opals anywhere he chooses. But in this case he may -do so with reasonable hopes of success.”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean that, Doctor Shonto?”</p> - -<p>“Absolutely. But I have only the story of a couple -of prospectors, one of whom has been an old-time opal -miner in Australia. They are both intelligent men, -and their story rang true.”</p> - -<p>“Please let’s hear all about it!” begged Charmian. -“An undiscovered valley! How can it be undiscovered -when these prospectors know about it? And opals! -You’ve lured me away from glands for the present, -Doctor. Give us the yarn!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III<br> - -<small>THE PROSPECTOR’S STORY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">“WELL,” began Dr. Shonto reflectively, “Andy -and I were in our camp on the North Fork -of the Lizard, about two and a half miles -from Lovejoy’s place. Two men came along with pack -burros, bound up into the Catfish Country—if you know -where that is.”</p> - -<p>Charmian nodded eagerly.</p> - -<p>“They stopped, and as lunch was about ready we -invited them to eat with us.</p> - -<p>“They called themselves Smith Morley and Omar -Leach. They are both middle-aged men and seem to -have had a great deal of experience at prospecting.</p> - -<p>“Well, Andy and I are old-time ramblers ourselves. -We spend a great deal of time together in the outlands, -mostly just loafing around and enjoying camp -life and the scenery. We were able to talk with the pair -about many things of interest to both factions. One -thing led to another, and finally Smith Morley mentioned -that he had hunted for opals with a camel train -in Australia. We at once became interested and asked -him all about the life. It is vastly entertaining, from -his account.</p> - -<p>“Then he told us of the California opals, but when -Andy asked if he ever found any in this state he grew -reticent. Finally, however, when he learned that both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span> -of us were men of some means, he told us about certain -opal claims that he and his partner had filed on -this year, and which they would be obliged to lose -because they were financially unable to get into the country -and do their assessment work.</p> - -<p>“They offered to sell the claims to us, and to take -us to them and establish us if we would defray the expenses. -Morley showed us one of the handsomest opals -I have ever seen. Its fire was simply wonderful—I’d -never before seen anything to equal it.</p> - -<p>“We weren’t greatly interested, however, until they -mentioned the undiscovered valley. While Andy has -nothing much to occupy his time, I have my investigations -to carry on and a great deal of laboratory work, -though I am not practising medicine regularly. Anyway, -we didn’t want to go into the opal-mining game. -But, as I said, the undiscovered valley enticed us, and -we wanted to know all about it.</p> - -<p>“The opal claims are on the desert in what is called -the Shinbone Country. It is very difficult to get to -them, and the soft, deep sand makes automobiles a -failure. One must use horses and pack burros, and at -best the water supply is dangerously short. However, -the undiscovered valley is something like thirty miles -beyond the desert, in the mountains, at an elevation of -perhaps eight thousand feet.</p> - -<p>“From the description they gave us, those who -know of its existence say that it is about thirteen miles -long by seven or eight miles in width. It is surrounded -by high peaks upon which the snow lies for almost the -entire year. These peaks are said to be straight up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span> -and down, to use Morley’s phrase, and heavily timbered -up to the snow-line. The valley is therefore like -the crater of an extinct volcano, and many claim that -it is just that. To reach the timbered section, one -must cross miles and miles of country covered with the -densest chaparral. He must either cut his way through -it with a knife and an ax or crawl on all fours. This -stretch is waterless, and exposed to the sunny side of -steep mountains, where the heat beats down unmercifully.</p> - -<p>“But assuming that a fellow gets through this -chaparral country, he has yet to scale those grim peaks -which Morley calls straight up and down. And if he -reaches the summit, he then will be obliged to get down -into the valley, perhaps several thousand feet in depth.</p> - -<p>“The valley was discovered some years ago by a -forest ranger. He had climbed to a high peak about -sixteen miles distant from it, and assumed that, even -then, he was on ground where no man of to-day, at -least, had ever stood before. He suffered a great deal -on that trip, but determination kept up his courage -and he finally reached the goal for which he had set -out. And from the summit of that peak he glimpsed -the unexplored valley.</p> - -<p>“It seems strange that, in this day and age, such a -valley could remain unknown. But such seems to be -the case. Andy and I have found in our travels over -the state that there are vast stretches of forest land -where a white man has probably never set his foot. -But in almost every case, there was nothing to draw -him. This instance is different.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>“Fortunately the ranger had a telescope with him, -and was able to see a portion of the valley between -two of the peaks that surround it. He circulated the -report that the valley is wooded, and that a fair-sized -river flows down the centre of it. He saw great quantities -of meadow land, and on it animals were grazing, -but he could not determine what they were. Altogether -the valley presented a pleasing outlook, and he made up -his mind to explore it.</p> - -<p>“He made many trips, alone and with friends, which -occupied months. They strove to get at that valley -from every angle, and one man lost his life in the attempt. -Finally they were obliged to give it up, though -they estimated that they had approached to within -three miles of their goal. So throughout the Shinbone -Country the undiscovered valley is well known to be in -existence, but that’s the end of it. The country is -thinly populated, of course, and the people who live -there mind their own business pretty well and are completely -out of touch with the outside world. And thus -it transpires that the unexplored valley is not generally -known to be in existence.</p> - -<p>“One of the most remarkable features concerning it -is the river that flows through it. All rivers in this -country flow in a general westerly direction, of course, -toward the Pacific Ocean. Not so the river that flows -through the undiscovered valley. It runs due east, according -to the ranger, though that may mean much or -nothing at all, for it may change to a westward course -farther on.</p> - -<p>“But the question is, where does it come out of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span> -valley? All of the rivers and streams in that section -are known and named. No one can account for a river -without a name, flowing toward the coast on the west -side of the range. But farther back in the mountains, -estimated at about ten miles from the peaks that surround -the undiscovered valley, there is what is known as -a lost river. In fact, it is called Lost River.</p> - -<p>“The source of Lost River is known. It rises from -springs high up in the range, and is fed by other -springs as it flows westward and gathers width. Then, -about ten miles from the high peaks, it vanishes—is -swallowed up by the earth in a mountain meadow. It -is not just soaked up by the ground, but plunges into a -cave in the side of a hill. And, so far as anybody -knows, that is the end of it.</p> - -<p>“Of course, it is assumed that this river runs underground -from that point and eventually reaches the undiscovered -valley, where it rises again and flows serenely -across the valley—quite a large stream, it seems—and -then vanishes once more. And for the remainder -of its course to the sea, it may be any one of -the known rivers in the Shinbone Country. It probably -would not pop up out of the ground in the lowlands -so abruptly as it plunges into the cave in the high altitudes. -It may rise again as springs—seep up from the -soil in a natural way. Or its waters may separate -during their underground journey after leaving the unexplored -valley, and they may form two or more -streams in the lowlands.</p> - -<p>“So that’s about all there is to be said about the -undiscovered valley—or perhaps the unexplored valley<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span> -would be more proper—and the river that loses itself -in the ground. Andy and I grew quite excited over it, -but when we tried to pump Morley and Leach to find -out the location of the Shinbone Country they refused -to come across. Shinbone is a local name, it seems, -and few besides the people who live there know it as -such. We don’t even know what county it is in. Leach -and Morley, however, promised to tell us all about it -and to take us to it, provided we would interest ourselves -in their opal claims. So, as we didn’t care to -do that, we let the matter slide.”</p> - -<p>Charmian Reemy had forgotten her dinner and was -resting her bare elbows on the table, nesting her chin -in her hands. Her dark eyes were fixed on Inman -Shonto. And Andy’s eyes were fixed on her.</p> - -<p>“Where,” she asked in a low voice, “are Morley -and Leach now?”</p> - -<p>“Still on their way to the Catfish Country, I suppose,” -Shonto replied.</p> - -<p>“When was it that they were in your camp?”</p> - -<p>“Day before yesterday, about noon—wasn’t it, -Andy?”</p> - -<p>Andy Jerome nodded absently.</p> - -<p>“Then they can’t have reached the Catfish Country -yet,” said Charmian. “I’m going after them to-morrow -morning. Now, for the first time in my life, I -wish I had a car. I could travel in it as far as Jorny -Springs, and there I could get a saddle horse and run -them down before they get into the wilderness.”</p> - -<p>“Do you really want to go after opals and the unexplored -valley?” asked Andy suddenly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>She turned her dark eyes on him. “I want to more -than anything else I’ve ever wanted to do,” she told -him.</p> - -<p>“Then you can have my car to-morrow morning. -And, if you’ll let me, I’ll go with you after Leach and -Morley. And if we find them, and can come to terms -with them, I’ll—I’ll— Well, if we can arrange matters -to suit you, I’d like to go with you to the Shinbone -Country.”</p> - -<p>For a short time they gazed into each other’s eyes. -Andy Jerome’s lips were parted, and Shonto noted the -quick rise and fall of his breast. Then a slight flush -covered Charmian Reemy’s cheeks, and her long, dark -lashes hid her eyes.</p> - -<p>“If we can arrange matters,” she said, “I’d—I’d be -glad to have you, Mr. Jerome.”</p> - -<p>Then, with another pang, Dr. Inman Shonto interpreted -the strange silence that had existed between -these two. It was the result of an odd embarrassment -that both had felt since they first clasped hands. It -was love at first sight between them, and they were -backward and afraid of each other.</p> - -<p>The eyes of both now were lowered. Shonto glanced -quickly at Mary Temple. Her gaunt face was set in -hard lines. She knew, and she disapproved—at least -until she knew more about this handsome young man -who had invaded their quiet retreat.</p> - -<p>And Shonto— Well, Shonto disapproved, too. -Shonto was far older than Andy—too old, perhaps, to -think of loving a woman of Charmian Reemy’s age. -But he put all this behind him. If Andy and Charmian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span> -were going in search of the unexplored valley, he -meant to go along. Several years her senior though he -knew himself to be, Shonto believed that he was the -man for a woman like Charmian Reemy rather than -Andy Jerome. Anyway, he meant to know more about -her. It would not do for Andy to win her away from -him if she was what he believed her to be. Yes, Shonto -would go along, and his life’s work could go hang, -for all he cared. Until he knew the truth about Charmian -Reemy, at any rate.</p> - -<p>“We could find it easily, I guess, in an airplane,” -Andy suggested.</p> - -<p>“An airplane!” scoffed the girl. “Not I! I hate -airplanes—I hate anything mechanical. I’ll find that -valley as my forefathers would have found it, or I’ll -stay away. And I must think up an appropriate name -for it. Doctor Shonto seems undecided between ‘the -undiscovered valley’ and ‘the unexplored valley.’ -Neither is romantic enough. I’ll think up a name -before morning. I like to name things. And I’m going, -really—if we can overtake Leach and Morley. Do -you approve, Mary Temple?”</p> - -<p>“No!” snapped Mary Temple, and passed the venison -to Andy with jerky hospitality.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV<br> - -<small>A MEMBER OF THE CLAN</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DR. INMAN SHONTO, always an early riser, -was the first one stirring at El Trono de -Tolerancia the following morning. He left the -log house by the door through which he had entered -it the night before, and gazed off into the timberland -to the east, through which Andy and he had reached -the place. He turned and walked around the cabin, and -then he realized what Charmian Reemy had meant -when she stated that it was next to impossible for one -to be intolerant when he looked from her home to the -west.</p> - -<p>The cabin was set on a gigantic rock that overhung -the brow of the mountain. A metal railing had been -erected along the edge of the rock to prevent the unwary -from plunging down at least forty feet to the -rock’s massive base. From the base the land sloped -off sharply for perhaps half a mile. And beyond that -it continued to slope more gently to level wooded -stretches below. The great forest over which one -looked would have seemed endless were it not for the -broad Pacific in the far distance, which began at the -end of the mass of green and rolled on to the uttermost -ends of the earth.</p> - -<p>Never in his life had the nature-loving man seen a -more gorgeous picture. It seemed that the very world<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span> -was laid out for him to gaze upon from that gaunt -pinnacle. He stepped to the iron rail, cold and dewy, -grasped it in his strong, lean hands, and stood there, -bareheaded, reverent.</p> - -<p>“Do you feel tolerant of all mankind now, Doctor?” -came a low voice at his elbow.</p> - -<p>Shonto wheeled about, startled, as if awakened from -a dream. Charmian Reemy stood beside him, dressed -in a man’s flannel shirt, a divided whipcord skirt, and -high-laced boots. She had combed her dark brown hair, -but had not stopped to do it up. It fell in a cataract, -gleaming bronze-gold with the rays of the early-morning -sun behind her, almost to her knees. She was -smiling that smile which lifted one corner of her mouth -in a whimsical little twist.</p> - -<p>“I am tolerant of all mankind,” said the doctor seriously. -“But now that you have come, I don’t know -whether to look at you or—that.” And he pointed -over the mysterious forest to the sea, which seemed to -stand upright before him as if painted on a huge canvas.</p> - -<p>“Do you think I’m pretty?”</p> - -<p>“I know it—you’re almost beautiful.”</p> - -<p>“But that,” she said, pointing over the forest, “is -not only beautiful but mighty—stupendous. You’d -better look at that, Doctor.”</p> - -<p>“The redwood forests are mighty,” he told her, “but -they are no more beautiful than the redwood lily that -hides in the perpetual shade they cast. One cannot say -that the giant redwood tree is more wonderful than the -slender lily at its feet. Both are the product of nature’s -mysterious laboratory. And you are, too.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>“Speaking of tolerance,” she went on, without comment -upon his comparison, “don’t you think that we -could all be more tolerant of others if we only would -look at every one we meet as a distinct product of nature? -I mean this: We say, ‘Here is a redwood tree. -Isn’t it magnificent?’ Or, ‘Here is a redwood lily. -Doesn’t it smell sweet?’ Or, ‘Here is a buckthorn -bush. Aren’t its spines prickly?’ We never think of -comparing them. We would not say, ‘This redwood -lily is puny compared with a redwood tree.’ Or, ‘This -buckthorn bush is so prickly. I don’t think nearly so -much of it as I do of the whitethorn bush, which has -beautiful flowers and is soft to the touch.’ Wouldn’t -that sound ridiculous! We accept all things in nature -as they are, except man. For man we have set a -standard, and he must live up to it or be forever displeasing -to us. I wonder if you know what I’m talking -about.”</p> - -<p>“I think I understand you perfectly,” replied Shonto. -“And I believe that you are entirely right. In fact, my -life’s work is based on what you have just expressed.”</p> - -<p>“The glands?” she asked eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t you please explain? We have lots of time. -None of the others are up yet.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto was tempted. “It is my firm belief,” he -said, “that man’s daily life—all that he does and all -that he is—depends almost entirely upon his gland -secretions. His height, his attitude toward others, the -colour of his complexion, his strength or weakness, his -ability or lack of ability—all this, and much more, is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span> -controlled by his glands, or their secretions. The -glands are collections of cells which make substances -that bring about a specific effect on the economy of the -body. The microscope proves that every gland is a -chemical factory, and the product of these factories -is their secretions. For instance, the sweat glands -manufacture perspiration, the lachrymal glands manufacture -tears.</p> - -<p>“The thyroid gland—the most interesting of all—consists -of two dark-red masses in the neck, above the -windpipe, and near the larynx. A narrow strip of the -same tissue connects them. The secretion of the -thyroid glands is called thyroxin, and it contains a relatively -high per cent of iodine. The more thyroid a -person has the faster does he live. An abundance of -thyroid causes one to feel, sense, and think more -quickly. The less he has the slower will be his mental -processes. And the thyroid gland puts iodine into our -blood.</p> - -<p>“Sea water, you know, contains iodine. And as -man was originally a creature of the sea, iodine is necessary -to his existence. There is little or no iodine in -the food we eat, so, when man became a land animal, -Nature gave him the thyroid gland to supply him with -this necessary element. In certain parts of the world—in -high altitudes and fresh-water regions—the water -does not contain enough iodine. In such regions goiter -is prevalent.</p> - -<p>“To sum up very briefly the workings of the thyroid -gland, life is worth while when it is sufficiently active; -and when it is not, life is a burden to the unfortunate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span> -individual so affected. It is my belief, then, that when -we come to know more about the glands we will realize -that man is regulated by them. Then we will be more -tolerant, won’t we?—and seek to rectify the errors -rather than condemn promiscuously?</p> - -<p>“It would be next to impossible for me to tell you all -that has been discovered about the functions of the -various glands. There are the thyroids, the pituitary, -the adrenals, the pineal, the thymus, the interstitial, -the parathyroids, and the pancreas to be dealt with; -but for you and me the thyroids are by far the most -important. And I regret to say that I am not in a -position to go into the matter thoroughly with you at -this time.”</p> - -<p>“But you haven’t told me anything!” she expostulated.</p> - -<p>He looked at her gravely. “I really do not feel -free to discuss the subject,” he said. “I hope you’ll -pardon me.”</p> - -<p>Her dark eyes showed a trace of embarrassment as -she turned them upon his face. “I’m sorry,” she said. -“I didn’t mean to intrude. I guess it was stupid of me -to ask a specialist to disclose his secrets to me.”</p> - -<p>“It’s not that,” he told her. “But there is a reason -why I must refrain from discussing this subject with -you just now. Perhaps at some later date I shall find -it possible to go into the matter more fully. And you -don’t need to apologize. I have no professional secrets. -But, as I said, for a rather strange reason, I -must not be the one to initiate you into the mysteries -of the gland secretions, and what science has accomplished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span> -in the way of treating patients who are lacking -in these secretions. I’m extremely sorry, Mrs. Reemy, -for I must confess that, ordinarily, I like to talk about -my work.”</p> - -<p>She continued to gaze at him, completely mystified; -then she showed her good breeding by dropping the -subject entirely.</p> - -<p>“I have thought up a name for the undiscovered -valley,” she announced.</p> - -<p>“Good! Let’s have it.”</p> - -<p>“The Valley of Arcana.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto lifted his scanty eyebrows. “Arcana,” -he repeated. “That sounds familiar. Let me paw -through my vocabulary.... I’ve got it. ‘Arcanum’ is -the singular, isn’t it? And it means something hidden -from ordinary men. In medicine it means a great -secret remedy—a panacea. But you use it in the first -sense—a mystery. Or in the plural, ‘arcana’—mysteries. -The Valley of Mysteries. Good! A dandy!”</p> - -<p>“Give Webster the credit,” she said demurely. “I -stumbled upon the word by accident last night, browsing -through the dictionary in search of something new. -I’m surprised, and a little piqued, that you knew the -meaning. I thought I was springing something on -you.”</p> - -<p>She turned her head quickly as she spoke, and once -more the doctor saw the pink creep into her cheeks.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Jerome is up,” she said, “and is coming around -the house to find us. Don’t say anything. I mean, -don’t call his attention to that.” She pointed over the -glistening forest to the sea once more. “I want to see<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span> -how he reacts to it when he steps up here and finds it -suddenly stretched out before him.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to ask you a question,” the doctor declared -quickly. “Do you really intend to go to the Shinbone -Country?”</p> - -<p>“Why, certainly—if everything turns out all right.”</p> - -<p>“When?”</p> - -<p>“Right away.”</p> - -<p>“But it is rather late in the season for such an -undertaking, isn’t it? Winter is almost upon us.”</p> - -<p>“But doesn’t the assessment work have to be done on -the opal mines immediately in order to hold them?”</p> - -<p>“I’d forgotten about that,” said Shonto.</p> - -<p>And then came Andy’s “Good morning,” as he -stepped to the rail beside Charmian and caught his first -glimpse of the stupendous scene below him.</p> - -<p>“Lord!” he breathed. “Oh, Lord! Look at that!”</p> - -<p>And Charmian Reemy smiled. Andy Jerome had -shown himself to be a member of her clan.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V<br> - -<small>THE CONFERENCE AT JORNY SPRINGS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT was seven o’clock in the morning when Andy -Jerome set off on Charmian Reemy’s gray saddler -for his camp. A trail led direct from El Trono -de Tolerancia to the county road, and once upon it -Andy could not possibly miss the way. He was to -leave the horse at Lovejoy’s, a wilderness resort, and -continue on afoot to camp. There he would get his -big touring car and drive back to a point in the county -road opposite Charmian’s home. She and the doctor -were to travel after him afoot and meet him there. -And Mary Temple had flatly refused to allow Charmian -to “go traipsin’ off with a couple o’ strange men -the Lord knew where,” so she had truculently constituted -herself one of the party.</p> - -<p>Andy met the trio about noon. Dr. Shonto took the -seat in the tonneau with the stern-faced Mary Temple, -and Charmian rode in front with Andy. The handsome -big car purred along through the solemn redwoods, -following the level valley which paralleled the -coast, with a range of wooded mountains between. -Gray squirrels scurried across the narrow road, to -scamper up lofty trees and bark at them mockingly. -The streams that they crossed were riotous and roared -about the huge boulders in their courses. The sun<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span> -scarcely penetrated the dark avenues of the forest. -Huckleberry bushes lined the road, the berries ripe and -coloured like grapes.</p> - -<p>They estimated that the prospectors would not make -over twenty miles a day with their slow-moving burros, -and maybe less. It was about fifty miles from the -North Fork of the Lizard to the outskirts of the Catfish -Country; so, as they were virtually two days and -a half behind the men, Andy pushed the big car at every -opportunity. But the road was so narrow, and there -were so many abrupt turns in it, made necessary by -gigantic trees, that the driver averaged little better -than fifteen miles an hour.</p> - -<p>But they reached Jorny Springs, at the gateway to -the Catfish Country, before four o’clock that afternoon. -And there, to their great satisfaction, they -found the prospectors in camp. One of the burros had -gone lame on them, and they were resting the little -animal before beginning the rough journey into the -wilds that lay before them.</p> - -<p>Jorny Springs was a backwoods resort conducted by -an old man and his wife. They bottled the effervescent -water that bubbled up in a dozen places from the -ground, and shipped it to San Francisco, where it was -known in cafes and soft-drink establishments as Jorny -Water. Every house in that country was, on occasion, -a hotel and summer resort, and such places were known -as stations.</p> - -<p>Smith Morley and Omar Leach were camped under -the big trees by one of the springs. Shonto went over -and talked with them a little, while Charmian and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span> -Andy ordered lunch at the house. The doctor returned -to them before lunch was ready and made his report -of the preliminary conference.</p> - -<p>“They are willing enough to drop their present prospecting -project right now,” he began. “They have -gold claims up in the Catfish Country, but their importance -is more or less problematical. However, they -had enough capital to make this trip, they say, but -could not rake up enough for the Shinbone expedition. -So they will be only too glad to deal with us.”</p> - -<p>“What do they want?” asked Charmian.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t go into that with them,” replied Shonto. -“But I imagine they prefer to sell the claims outright -rather than to take in partners. If you’ll accept my -advice, Mrs. Reemy, you’ll be mighty careful what -kind of a deal you make with these boys. They may -be all right, and their claims may be all that they say, -but, somehow or other, I don’t just fancy their looks.”</p> - -<p>“The one you pointed out to me as Morley,” said -Charmian, “is a delightful looking villain. I like to -deal with villains. That is, I think I should. I’ve -never had an opportunity. I do hope they try to put -something over on us.”</p> - -<p>Shonto and Andy laughed heartily at this, but the -austere Mary Temple tightened her thin lips and -glared at the young widow.</p> - -<p>“Mary Temple refuses to let me have any fun in -life,” said Charmian. “She doesn’t understand my -romantic and adventuresome nature in the least. She -wants everything to move along smoothly. Well, -everything has always moved entirely too smoothly to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span> -suit me. I want a few obstacles set in my path. I -want to have things happen to me. I want to live!”</p> - -<p>After lunch the quartette approached the prospectors. -Dr. Shonto introduced Charmian and Mary -Temple, and all found seats on stones or logs or filled -pack-bags.</p> - -<p>Charmian was eying the two men closely.</p> - -<p>Smith Morley was dark and tall, and his features -were fine except for the black eyes, which were set too -close together. Omar Leach was older and heavier, -with a sprinkling of grey in his hair. His face was -full and inclined to be red. He looked to be a powerful -man.</p> - -<p>When they spoke Charmian was surprised. Both -used good, everyday English, and Morley’s account of -his opal seeking in Australia was intensely interesting -and fired her imagination. They talked for half an -hour before Morley spoke of the matter that had -brought them together. And when he did so he made -the plain statement that the opal claims in the Shinbone -Country were for sale, on a cash basis, and that -he and Leach would take the others to them, prove -their value, and do anything in reason to establish -them.</p> - -<p>“And how much do you ask for the claims?” asked -the girl.</p> - -<p>“Fifty thousand dollars,” was Morley’s prompt -reply.</p> - -<p>Before she could express surprise at the amount, or -make any comment whatever, Smith Morley reached -into an inner pocket of his canvas coat and took out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span> -a wad of tissue paper. He deliberately unfolded it, -and dropped seven large opals into the girl’s hand.</p> - -<p>“Look ’em over,” he invited. “They all came from -our claims. And there are plenty more like them to -be found.”</p> - -<p>“They’re beautiful,” admitted Charmian, turning a -stone this way and that so that it might catch the light -filtering down through the treetops. “But I can’t -understand why, if you can find gems like these, it -doesn’t pay you to work the claims and make them -defray their own expenses.”</p> - -<p>“We could do it if we were there,” put in Omar -Leach. “But we’re practically broke, and it’s a long, -expensive trip to the Shinbone Country.”</p> - -<p>“Then why don’t you sell these?” she asked, rattling -the opals in her hand.</p> - -<p>“We’ve kept them to show prospective buyers,” explained -Morley. “We tried all summer to interest -somebody, and that’s one reason why we’re so short of -funds. Showing the gems and trying to induce somebody -to take hold caused us to lose lots of time, when -we ought to have been working for our winter’s grubstake. -When we saw that our efforts were a failure, -we worked a little and got together a small grubstake -for this trip into the Catfish Country. Our placer -claims up in there are pretty good, and we can sometimes -pan out as high as twenty-five dollars a day. -It’s seldom that we run less than ten dollars. So we -thought we could get up there and pan enough to get -us down into the Shinbone Country before winter set -in. Then we could rush things and finish our assessment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span> -work before the end of the year. But if a person -had money, Mrs. Reemy, he could get down there at -once and hire half a dozen men to finish the work in -short order. Then he could sit pretty until spring, -provided he didn’t care to winter it in the Shinbone -Country and dig for opals.”</p> - -<p>“You’ll pardon me for what may seem to be an -insolent question,” said the girl, “but how do I know -that you did not bring these opals from Australia?”</p> - -<p>Smith Morley laughed and shrugged. “You have -every right to look into the matter from every angle,” -he exonerated her. “We want you to be cautious and -investigate thoroughly. That’s business, Mrs. Reemy. -Of course we can’t prove to you now that those stones -didn’t come from Australia, or that they did come -from our claims. But we can show you when you -reach the Shinbone Country.”</p> - -<p>“When can you start?”</p> - -<p>“Just as soon as we can make arrangements with -somebody to take care of our outfit, Mrs. Reemy. -We can put the burros on pasture here at Jorny -Springs, I guess, and cache the outfit. Unless it would -be more advisable to take the outfit along. I have an -idea we’ll be ready to hit the trail to-morrow.”</p> - -<p>“And how do we go?”</p> - -<p>“Well, by train, if you prefer. Or if we had a -couple of machines like the one you drove here in—”</p> - -<p>“We have two,” put in Dr. Shonto briefly.</p> - -<p>Both Charmian and Andy Jerome glanced at him -curiously.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>“Why, you’re not going along, are you, Doctor?” -asked the girl.</p> - -<p>“If I’m welcome, I am,” he stated.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course you’re welcome!” cried Andy. -“But—but I’m surprised, Doctor.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t let it affect you too seriously, Andy,” said -Shonto, with his quiet smile. “Don’t you suppose that -I am interested in a project like this one?”</p> - -<p>“But you weren’t the other day,” his friend pointed -out.</p> - -<p>“The other day is not to-day,” said the doctor. “In -other words, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll be frank. I -wouldn’t consider going at all if Mrs. Reemy weren’t -taking the matter up. I think she’ll need my mature -judgment in many things; and I mean to go along—if -she wants me to—and give her the benefit of it.”</p> - -<p>“Nothing would delight me more than to have you -go, Doctor,” Charmian said quickly. “But can you -spare the time?”</p> - -<p>“I can,” he replied. “I haven’t had a real vacation -in the past ten years. And it strikes me that a fellow -might run across some new medicinal herbs up in your -Valley of Arcana. For all we know, there may be -valuable scientific phenomena in that valley that only -await discovery. Your valley, Mrs. Reemy, tempts -me more than the opal mines. But to find the location -of the valley, it seems, we must tackle the mines. So -if everything turns out satisfactorily when we get to -the Shinbone Country, I’ll go partners with you on the -opal project.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>“Let’s make it a triple partnership,” Andy suggested.</p> - -<p>“That suits me,” said Charmian. “To be frank, I -hardly wanted to go into the thing alone. This is -going to be my life’s big adventure—the adventure that -I have been planning for and longing for and waiting -for for several years. This looks like the big opportunity -at last—and I’m going to take a chance.”</p> - -<p>And here a new voice piped up.</p> - -<p>“Charmian Reemy,” said Mary Temple, “you are -not going down into that hideous country with the -hideous name in the company of four strange men.”</p> - -<p>“Why, old dear,” laughed Charmian, “two of them -are not strangers at all.”</p> - -<p>“What two are not, please?”</p> - -<p>“Doctor Inman Shonto is known all over the United -States and Europe,” Charmian pointed out. “And -Mr. Jerome is his friend. What better recommendation -could one ask for, Mary Temple?”</p> - -<p>“There will be four men, and only two women,” -Mary told her. “And it’s—it’s all but downright indecent.”</p> - -<p>“Two women?”</p> - -<p>“Certainly. You are one, and I am one.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, you mean to go, too, then? I thought you -would return to San Francisco and wait there for me.”</p> - -<p>“If you persist in going into that boneyard country, -Charmian, I am going with you. And that ends -that.”</p> - -<p>“Well, goodness knows you’re welcome, Mary Temple,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span> -laughed Charmian. “But I didn’t for a minute -imagine that you would care to go.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t,” snapped Mary Temple. “But that’s not -saying I’m not going. And there must be two more -women in the party.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mary Temple! What a prig you are! Do -you want to pair us off?”</p> - -<p>“Common decency demands that there be as many -women as there are men,” declared Mary.</p> - -<p>“We might take my wife along,” Smith Morley put -in. “She’s in Los Angeles now. She could meet us -at ——. Well, I’ll arrange that. But Leach hasn’t -a wife—yet. Wouldn’t three women do, Miss Temple? -Another person would make the two machines -pretty full, you know. We’ll have a world of baggage -to pile in the tonneaus and lash on the running-boards.”</p> - -<p>“What is your wife like?” demanded Mary Temple -unfeelingly.</p> - -<p>“Why, Mary Temple! What an impertinent question!” -cried Charmian.</p> - -<p>“Impertinent or not,” barked Mary, “I want to -know what his wife is like before I give my consent.”</p> - -<p>Morley only laughed and showed no resentment. -“Why, she’s a pretty good old girl,” he told her. -“She’s a good housewife, not bad looking, a good -dresser when I’m in luck, and pretty rough and ready -when it comes to camp life in the wilderness. You’ll -like her, I think.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any children?” demanded Mary.</p> - -<p>“No.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>Mary sighed and clasped her veiny hands. “Well,” -she declared, “I’d feel safer if you had a child to take -along—preferably a little girl of seven or eight. The -child, perhaps, would restrain you if you had anything -evil in your mind.”</p> - -<p>“Mary Temple, I’m ashamed of you!” Charmian -half laughed, and the colour flooded her face.</p> - -<p>“I’m only looking out for your interests, my dear,” -said Mary. “If I didn’t, who would? I distrust men -on general principles, as you know very well. But if -you’re determined to go, Charmian, we can at least -travel to where we are to meet Mrs. Morley. Then -if she suits me, we’ll go on. If not, we’ll come back.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a regular tyrant, Mary Temple!” pouted -Charmian.</p> - -<p>“I know it,” Mary retorted. “But I get results.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI<br> - -<small>SECOND SIGHT</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">BECAUSE Mary Temple was afraid to ride over -the narrow curving road after dark, the four -prospective adventurers remained at Jorny -Springs all night. Before going to bed Charmian, -coached by the doctor, made arrangements with Leach -and Morley to go to San Francisco and sign certain -papers to show good faith, which papers would be -drawn up by the young widow’s attorney. When this -matter had been settled, they were to drive together -to the Shinbone Country—wherever that was—and -make a thorough investigation of the properties.</p> - -<p>Both Leach and Morley had protested against entering -into a written agreement. They offered to produce -references which ought to satisfy the most suspicious, -but Dr. Shonto remained firm. Finally, seeing -no way around the obstacle, they consented, but declared -that they begrudged the time that would be -taken up by the trip to San Francisco.</p> - -<p>After the plain, old-fashioned dinner served by the -owners of Jorny Springs, Charmian took a walk -through the twilight. Shortly after she left the house -Andy Jerome set off in the opposite direction, stating -that he too would like a stroll. But when the great -trees hid him from the house he made a swift circle<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span> -back, and soon was on Charmian’s trail. He found -her leaning over a fence, watching a dozen fat and -shockingly muddy pigs in a stake-and-rider corral.</p> - -<p>“I see you prefer to choose your own company,” he -observed, as he rested his arms on the fence beside -her. “I hope one more won’t constitute a crowd.”</p> - -<p>“Aren’t they funny!” she laughed. “I love pigs and -things like that. Cows and chickens and horses and -everything. Do you know that I, as the head of the -expedition to be, intend to make a hard-and-fast ruling -at the very outset? It’s this: No one in the party will -be permitted to kill any living thing.”</p> - -<p>“Why, that’s a funny idea,” he laughed. “If a fellow -can’t do a little hunting to pass away dull hours, -how’s he going to amuse himself? And it may be that -we’ll frequently find ourselves in need of fresh meat.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t care,” she said. “I don’t approve of the -slaughter of the innocents. I used to hunt myself, but -I gave it up. I can’t bear to take a life. Man can’t -create, yet in the winking of an eyelid he can and will -destroy a life that he can never reproduce. It’s the -same with a tree. One can cut down a tree in thirty -minutes which nature has spent hundreds of years in -growing. And man can’t replace it. Whenever I hear -one of these giant redwoods fall groaning under the -ax my heart fairly bleeds.”</p> - -<p>“But man must live,” Andy pointed out.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know whether he must or not,” she said -seriously. “He’s made a complete botch of existence. -Sometimes I wish the entire race were wiped out, so -nature could begin all over again. Man is as barbarous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span> -to-day as he was a thousand years ago. The -only difference is that he has invented new machinery -with which to practise his barbarism.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you’re a regular little cynic!” Andy accused.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps. I have little patience with mankind, if -that’s what you mean. The so-called lower animals -have my love and sympathy. They haven’t made a -farce of their lives, as we have. And vivisection—that’s -what makes me wild! Man, by his own selfish -indulgences, by his reckless living, his complete disregard -of the laws of nature, has succeeded in shortening -his life and depleting his physical vigour. So, -in his eagerness to continue the debauch, scared stiff -at thought of the yawning precipice just ahead of him, -he turns in his cowardly way to the so-called lower animals. -He robs these helpless creatures of their health -and vitality in order to patch up his poor, miserable, -worthless body. Like the five foolish virgins, men say -to these wise virgins—these innocents of the earth -who have conserved their oil of life—‘Give us of your -oil, for our lamps are gone out.’ Could anything be -more cowardly, Mr. Jerome?”</p> - -<p>“But aren’t the lower animals placed on this earth -for the benefit of man?” asked Andy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—man imagines everything on earth is put -here for him to exploit and ruin! Where are the buffaloes? -Where are the beavers? Where are the elks? -Where are the bighorns? Were they put here for man -to destroy—to wipe almost completely from the face -of the earth? When man has learned to step down -from his papier-mâché throne of insufferable conceit,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span> -he will find that he is only a part of nature’s scheme—that -every other atom in the universe is as important -as he is. Then we can begin to look for the dawn of -civilization.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid,” said Andy, “that you and Doctor -Shonto are not destined to get along very well together.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Well, it is his business to exploit nature for the -rebuilding of man.”</p> - -<p>“Yes—I know. I tried to draw him out this morning, -but he refused to be tempted into a discussion of -his work. How long have you known him, Mr. -Jerome?”</p> - -<p>“Why, almost all my life, it seems. He is an old -friend of my father and mother. I can’t remember -when I didn’t know the doctor.”</p> - -<p>“That seems strange. He is not so much older than -you are. How old are you?”</p> - -<p>“Twenty-four,” Andy replied.</p> - -<p>“And I should say the doctor is not much over -thirty.”</p> - -<p>“Thirty-four, I believe.”</p> - -<p>“Then he was ten years old when you were born. -Could you call him a ‘friend of your father and -mother’ when he was ten years old? Did you play -with him when you were a boy?”</p> - -<p>For a long time Andy Jerome was silent. Then he -said slowly:</p> - -<p>“I must tell you something about myself. I can recall -almost nothing of my childhood before my twelfth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span> -birthday. And my earliest recollections are of Doctor -Shonto. I remember him as about twenty-two or -twenty-three years old. And, to me, he never was -younger than that.”</p> - -<p>“Why, I can’t understand you at all!” exclaimed the -girl.</p> - -<p>“It’s very difficult to understand,” he said in low -tones. “But when I was about eight years old, they -tell me, something happened to me. It seems that I -got a crack on the noodle while playing and lost my -memory. I remained in that condition from the age -of eight until I was perhaps between eleven and twelve. -It was Doctor Shonto, who had just been graduated -from a medical college and was already making a big -name for himself, who treated me and brought me out -of my coma. But, strange to say, it left me with a weak -heart. I have to take treatment for it right along, and -the doctor tells me that, if I neglect this treatment, my -old condition will come back, or I may suddenly drop -dead. For all that, I’m fit as a fiddle and strong as an -ox. It seems funny to think that I may bump off at any -moment—hard to believe. But nobody ever doubts -Doctor Shonto. However, he has assured me again -and again that I have nothing whatever to worry -about, so long as I take my medicine diligently. I -guess I haven’t missed a day since he began his treatment.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how strange!” was Charmian’s only comment.</p> - -<p>“It is strange—mighty strange. Now and then I -get a faint glimmering of something that took place<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span> -before I was eight years of age, but it’s so hazy that -it seems like it happened to some one else instead of -me. And it seemed that, when I gradually regained -my memory, I was being born all over again. I had -the mind of a child of two or three, though I was over -twelve years old. I remembered nothing of what had -been taught me in the private school that they told -me I had once attended. I had to begin my schooling -at the very bottom again. Lord, how they made me -cram! I studied night and day, and seemed eager -enough to learn. They tell me that I have caught up -because of my perpetual digging—that I now have the -mentality of a normal man of my age. And so for -the past year I have studied very little, and have been -catching up on the physical end. I have lived in the -open months at a time, and frequently Doctor Shonto -has been with me. He likes it himself, and he likes -to be with me. And I can tell you right here and now -that I think Doctor Inman Shonto the greatest man -alive!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet you do,” said Charmian warmly. “But it -strikes me as rather strange that you should never call -him Doc, since you two are so close.”</p> - -<p>“I guess I’d never think of calling him that,” said -Andy reflectively. “No, that wouldn’t seem the proper -thing to do.”</p> - -<p>“What do you do when you’re at home, Mr. -Jerome?”</p> - -<p>“Why, I hope to become a lawyer some day,” he -replied. “You see, I’m still a student. I’ve studied -law a little and mean to take up a regular course<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span> -next year. But for the present my parents and Doctor -Shonto think it best for me to loaf around outdoors.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose your folks are wealthy,” said Charmian -in her frank way.</p> - -<p>“Yes, they’re accounted so. Pop has retired. He -was a candy and cracker manufacturer. I’d like to -have you meet my mother. She’s a peach. You’d -like her. She’d like you, too.”</p> - -<p>“And so your hero is Doctor Inman Shonto,” mused -Charmian. “I wonder if it would be proper for me to -ask you about his work, after he himself has refused -to tell me anything?”</p> - -<p>“Precious little I can tell you,” laughed Andy. “But -I’ll do my best. If Doctor Shonto has any secrets, -they’re safe with me because I couldn’t explain them -if I wanted to. Fire ahead. Doctor Shonto doesn’t -like to talk about himself. He’s entirely too modest.”</p> - -<p>“I wanted to ask you,” said the girl, “if Doctor -Shonto is in any way responsible for the horrible things -I have read about in the papers lately. Rich men -hiring thugs to waylay strong, healthy men, knock -them out, and take them to doctors, who operate on -them and steal their glands, which are substituted for -the worn-out glands of the rich men?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing doing!” loyally cried Andy. “Doctor -Shonto says the most of that news is nothing but hot -air. No, he never uses human glands in his work. -He uses sheep glands exclusively. And the animals -are killed before he cuts the glands out of them.”</p> - -<p>“Are you positive?”</p> - -<p>“I have only his word for it. But he’s a very tender-hearted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span> -man—for a surgeon. And he has a magnificent -sense of justice. No, not in a thousand years would -Doctor Shonto countenance anything like that.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad to hear you say so,” she sighed. “I think -that is simply horrible—ghoulish! But why was it, -then, that the doctor refused to tell me anything about -his work?”</p> - -<p>“Well, he has accomplished wonders, they say. And, -as I told you before, he’s modest.”</p> - -<p>“Modesty reaps its reward only in fiction.”</p> - -<p>“I imagine the doctor is keener after results than -rewards,” Andy mused. “I’ll tell you the little that I -have gleaned—mostly about the thyroid gland, which, -you know, is in our throats.</p> - -<p>“It seems that, if a fellow is shy on thyroid, he’s -up against it in many ways. He may be slow to learn, -clumsy, and may have an unbalanced sense of right and -wrong. If he is fed the extract of the thyroid glands -of sheep, this can be corrected.</p> - -<p>“It is the same with the other glands in our system. -Some control one thing, some another. And, according -to Doctor Shonto’s theory, the time is close at hand -when deficient people can be entirely remade by injecting -into them, or feeding them, the extract of the -gland secretion that they’re shy on. This will revolutionize -our social system, according to Doctor Shonto. -We will know then that mental defectives, criminals, -people who are petulant and hard to get along with—in -fact, everybody who is in any way not up to normal—are -so because of the absence, or the over-supply, -of the secretions of certain glands. This science can<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span> -correct, and the time may come when we will be able -to do away with prisons and corrective institutions, -and treat our fellowmen instead of mistreating them.”</p> - -<p>“Heaven speed the day!” said Charmian fervently. -“But why, tell me, did Doctor Shonto hesitate about -telling me that?”</p> - -<p>Andy shrugged his broad shoulders. “<i>Quien sabe</i>,” -he said, “unless his modesty made him reticent. I -think he’s afraid of being ridiculed as a visionary -theorist.”</p> - -<p>“Doctor Shonto doesn’t strike me as a man who -would shrink from ridicule, if he thought he was in the -right,” Charmian declared.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Two days later the six who were interested in the -opal project and the Valley of Arcana arrived in San -Francisco late in the evening. It was after business -hours, so nothing could be done toward drawing up -the papers until the following morning. Charmian -called up her attorney, briefly outlined the situation, and -arranged for a conference at ten the following day. -Then she went to her apartments with Mary Temple, -while Andy and Dr. Shonto took rooms in the Palace -Hotel. Smith Morley sent a telegram to his wife in -Los Angeles, after which he and his partner sought a -cheap rooming house on Kearny Street. They were to -meet the others in the offices of Charmian’s lawyer -at eleven o’clock next morning.</p> - -<p>Charmian Reemy was tired from the long automobile -ride from the wilderness, and went early to -bed. Shortly after her retirement Mary Temple stepped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span> -softly to her bedroom door and listened until convinced -that her young charge was sound asleep. Then -she put on her ancient fur coat and her surprisingly -old-fashioned hat, and noiselessly left the apartment.</p> - -<p>The elevator was still running, and she rode in it -to the ground floor, where she slipped out into a cold, -foggy night. At the corner she took a streetcar and -rode to a point in the city directly opposite Golden -Gate Park. Here she left the car, walked three blocks, -and rang the bell of a three-story flat.</p> - -<p>Presently the door automatically swung open, and -she entered a warm, carpeted hall. She briskly ascended -a long flight of stairs, at the top of which a -large woman in a blue-silk kimono awaited her.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s you, is it, dearie?” greeted the woman. -“I thought you were in the country.”</p> - -<p>“We came back this evening, Madame Destrehan,” -said Mary, reaching the large woman’s side and extending -her hand. “And I came direct to you. I’m -in trouble again. That little minx has a new wild -scheme in her head. I can’t talk her out of it. But -I’m afraid. I just know there’s something wrong.”</p> - -<p>“Come in and tell me all about it,” offered Madame -Destrehan. “I know I can help you. I—I—” She -placed a fat, white, bejewelled hand to her forehead -and brushed across it. “I see something now.”</p> - -<p>They entered the medium’s apartment. Both seated -themselves, and Mary Temple poured out the story -of the two strangers who had invaded El Trono de -Tolerancia, and of the opal claims and the Valley of -Arcana. Madame Destrehan listened with both eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span> -closed. She sat immovable after Mary’s cracked voice -ceased, her eyelids still lowered.</p> - -<p>Then she began waving her plump hands slowly this -way and that. She did not open her eyes, but she -mumbled something which Mary could not interpret. -Then suddenly she began speaking in a low, awed tone.</p> - -<p>“I see that valley,” said the seventh daughter of a -seventh daughter. “It’s beautiful, but death stalks -across it from end to end. And I see— Oh, horrors! -I see an ugly face. The face of a man. It is bluish, -and the eyes are popping from the head. The eyes are -glazed, and his thick, blue tongue hangs out like the -tongue of a tired dog. The man’s hair is dishevelled -and long. A matted beard covers his face. His eyes -stare, then gleam with ferocity. His skin is withered -and yellow, and his finger nails are long. He grits his -teeth and babbles like a madman. And—oh, horrors! -He is leaning over Mrs. Reemy, and his crooked fingers -are drawing nearer and nearer to her white -throat!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII<br> - -<small>LOT’S WIFE AND SHIRTTAIL HENRY</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THE papers had been signed. Andy Jerome and -Dr. Inman Shonto had wired to Los Angeles -to explain that they probably would not be -home for a month. Smith Morley’s wife had arrived -in San Francisco, since the adventurers’ trip to the city -had necessitated a change in their route to the Shinbone -Country. Several days were spent in outfitting -the expedition. And just a week after Dr. Shonto had -told Charmian Reemy of the prospectors they set off -early in the morning, with Charmian, Andy, and Mr. -and Mrs. Morley in the leading car.</p> - -<p>Two days later, having driven leisurely and stopped -at hotels en route, they negotiated a steep, wooded -pass and saw the yellow desert stretched out before -them, three thousand feet above the sea. Across it -continued the road, straight as a carpenter’s chalk-line, -until it contracted to a pinpoint in the hazy distance -and disappeared with the curvature of the earth.</p> - -<p>The big cars wallowed into the sandy ruts and continued -on. Weird growths were on either side of the -road—great flat-palmed cacti, whispering yucca palms, -scattering greasewood bushes. The wind was strong, -and the sand was driven into the travellers’ faces in -waves. Now and then the cars crossed dry lakes, -which, before they reached them, had looked deceptively<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span> -wet. These were smooth, like hardened plaster -of Paris, except that now and then the mud, in drying, -had cracked and peeled, leaving a sea of shards that -extended for many miles. Nothing at all grew on the -dark surface of these dry lakes.</p> - -<p>In the dim distance a hazy line of calico buttes appeared -after an hour of fast travel over the desert. -As the machines neared them a long line of mountains -showed behind the buttes, and the uninitiated of the -party were told that between the buttes and the range -of wooded mountains lay another stretch of desert -as barren as the one they then were crossing. The -buttes marked the beginning of the Shinbone Country, -which extended into the higher altitudes. In the buttes -were the opal claims.</p> - -<p>They came to an oasis, green with alfalfa. Here -for forty years a family had lived because of the -artesian water that spurted up from the level land. -The cottonwood trees, though they had shed their -leaves for the coming winter, looked inviting to the -sand-blistered pilgrims. The place was called Diamond -H Ranch, and the owner herded his cattle on the desert -during winter months, when bunchgrass grew, and -drove them to the distant mountains for the summer -grazing.</p> - -<p>Not until they reached the ranch did Smith Morley -inform his prospective buyers that here their journey -by automobile would end. There was a huge stable, -and in it there was plenty of room to store the -cars. Also, Morley told them, they would meet with -no difficulty in buying or hiring saddle horses and pack<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span> -animals from the ranchman. Furthermore, he conducted -a tiny store in connection with his ranch, and -if it should become necessary to do so, they could return -to the ranch at any time and purchase such staple -articles of food as might be needed.</p> - -<p>Roger Furlong was the rancher’s name. He and his -family made the guests welcome and treated them hospitably. -The afternoon was spent in the selection of -saddle stock, and the rancher’s boy was sent scouring -the desert for a herd of burros, which were at large -and living off the sage. It was late in the afternoon -before the herd was rounded up and driven in to the -corrals. Here Furlong picked out twelve animals that -were old-time packers. The outfit’s supplies and paraphernalia -were transferred from the tonneaus and -running-boards of the machines to the pack-bags. -When darkness came everything was ready for an -early start for the calico buttes the following morning.</p> - -<p>All of which caused Mary Temple to register a look -of high disapproval.</p> - -<p>Mary had roughed it considerably in Alaska, so the -trip in the saddle had no terrors for her. Neither did -she shrink from their proposed sojourn in a wild, waterless, -and unfriendly country. But she was amazed -and resentful over the whole proceedings.</p> - -<p>In San Francisco, while they were outfitting, she -had done her utmost to dissuade Charmian from continuing -her erratic undertaking. But that young lady -had a mind of her own and was not to be led astray -from her life’s great adventure. Every plan for preventing -her from going having failed, Mary had recourse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span> -to a recital of what Madame Destrehan’s second -sight had revealed to her. At this Charmian had -scoffed disdainfully and laughed hilariously, for Charmian -was well aware that Mary often consulted people -who claimed to have occult powers. So Mary perforce -carried out her original intention and made one of the -party, for only death could separate her from Charmian -Reemy. But as preparations for the final lap -of their journey went forward she continued to glare -her displeasure and to shake her greying head with -misgivings.</p> - -<p>They left Diamond H Ranch at sunup next morning, -driving the laden burros ahead of them. Their -course took them at right angles to the road over -which they had reached the oasis, and extended in a -northeasterly direction through the trackless sage and -greasewood.</p> - -<p>The sand grew heavier as they progressed. The -wind came up and drove clouds of it into their faces, -sometimes with stinging force. Laden with alkali as -it was, their lips and eyelids soon began to swell, and -their throats grew parched. They drank heavily of -the water in the desert bags on the burros’ backs, for -Morley assured the party that there would probably -be sufficient water near the claims at that time of year. -There was an intermittent spring in the buttes, he explained, -that went dry during the hot months through -evaporation. But with the approach of winter, even -though no rain had fallen, the water rose again in the -spring because the evaporation was lessened by the -coolness in the air.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>They camped at noon, halfway to the buttes. The -morning had been cool and bracing, and the temperature -of the noontide was moderate. Morley informed -the newcomers that in less than a month the weather -would be cool enough to suit any of them, and that -snow, even, might sweep down from the mountains -and lie on the ground for several hours.</p> - -<p>It was a long, hard trip, for none of them, with the -exception of the young widow, had been in the saddle -to any great extent for many months. Charmian rode -just behind the waddling burros, with Andy at her side. -Shonto rode beside Mary Temple, who for the most -part made an uncommunicative companion. The prospectors -rode with Morley’s wife in the rear, and the -trio had very little to say to the others.</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto watched Andy and Charmian and could -not help but admire them. Physically they were well -suited to each other, and both were young and handsome. -Since their first meeting Shonto had taken note -of the gradual drawing together of the two. He -realized that, on the surface of things, this was as it -should be. They were equals socially and intellectually, -and few there were who would not have called it a fine -match.</p> - -<p>Still, Dr. Shonto knew in his heart that he could not -allow this thing to go on and culminate in the age-old -life partnership between man and woman. He sincerely -believed that he himself was the man for Charmian -Reemy. Never before had he met a woman -who appealed to him as she did, both physically and -mentally. Despite the difference in their ages, he felt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span> -that he, rather than Andy, was the one to satisfy her -and round out her life to a point as near completeness -as humanity can achieve. She was far older than Andy -mentally. Andy was only a strong, handsome boy. He—the doctor—was -a man of experience, of achievement, -of broad ideals. But all that aside, Dr. Shonto knew -that he was falling in love with Charmian, and that, -if necessary, he would sacrifice Andy’s friendship to -win her. For love is primitive; and when a man of the -doctor’s age and experience falls in love for the first -time he makes a rival that will brook no interference. -In shorter phraseology, the doctor wanted this girl—and -he meant to have her.</p> - -<p>As the long evening shadows crawled over the yucca- -and cactus-studded wastes the party entered the buttes. -Here they found relief from the monotonous desolation -they had left, for huge rocks squatted on either -side of their course, and the yuccas were larger and -seemed more friendly. The buttes themselves showed -a variety to which the level land could not lay claim, -and here and there was a juniper tree, alone and unwatered, -but displaying a greenery that made it in a -way companionable.</p> - -<p>Darkness had overtaken them when Smith Morley -called a halt. They were far within the chain of -buttes, in an enfilade with walls of stone towering high -above them on either side. They had reached the -spring, and, after an examination of it, the prospector -made the welcome announcement that there was considerable -water in the natural stone basin beneath the -drip. For some time, however, the water supply would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span> -be short, and it would possibly prove necessary to take -the saddle horses into the mountains, the foothills of -which were about five miles distant, and leave them -there in a certain well-watered meadow of which the -opal miners knew. The burros, camel-like, could live -on very little water; and the spring perhaps would -drip enough for them and the domestic use of the -party. The claims were two miles farther on, in the -direction of the mountains.</p> - -<p>They pitched camp at once. Leach and Mrs. Morley -went on a search for petrified yucca with which to -build a fire. The others unpacked the burros, hobbled -the horses, and pitched the tents.</p> - -<p>Mary Temple, because of her superior culinary -knowledge—which no one disputed—constituted herself -camp cook; and the first thing she had not condemned -since leaving El Trono de Tolerancia was the -excellent fire that the petrified yucca made. Her -appetizing supper was ready before the last tent had -been pitched, and they all gathered around it under the -cold desert stars and ate as enjoyably as their cracked -and swollen lips would permit.</p> - -<p>All were excessively weary, and, though the meal -revived their spirits in a measure, no one would have -been averse to seeking his roll of blankets at an early -hour. This, however, was forestalled by the sound of -a voice that came suddenly from the night about them—a -strange, cracked voice that startled them.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” it said. “I hope and trust ye ain’t used -up all the water in the spring, ’cause I ain’t had a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span> -drop since noon, an’ Lot’s Wife ain’t had none since -yistiddy mornin’.”</p> - -<p>Omar Leach, who was reclining on one elbow placidly -smoking a short briar pipe, flipped himself to a sitting -posture and stared at Morley. Morley’s face twitched, -and his close-set eyes seemed to narrow perceptibly as -he gazed back at his partner.</p> - -<p>Then Leach gave himself another flip and was on -his feet. “Get outa here!” he bawled. “Go on home, -and you’ll find plenty of water. We’re tired and want -to go to bed and can’t be bothered with you.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’s you, is it, Omar?” called the voice. “An’ -ye’d send me on to the mountains without a drink, would -ye? It’s like ye, by gum! Well, I’m comin’ in for -water for me an’ Lot’s Wife. Maybe the rest o’ yer -gang ain’t so all-fired selfish. C’m’ere, ye pillar o’ salt! -Wait a min-ut, can’t ye!”</p> - -<p>This last apparently was addressed to Lot’s Wife, -who, when she dashed into camp and buried her muzzle -in the spring basin, proved to be a slant-eared, knock-kneed -female burro as shaggy as the trunk of a shell-bark -hickory. After her plodded a man, who had lost -his hold on her lead-rope.</p> - -<p>Smith Morley darted toward the burro and gave -her a kick in the belly that brought a grunt of pain from -her. He drew back his leg for another, but found himself -facing Charmian Reemy’s flashing eyes.</p> - -<p>“You kick that burro again,” she said, “and I start -for home to-morrow morning. So that’s the kind of -man you are, is it? You would keep a fellow traveller<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span> -in this forsaken land and his burro from drinking water, -would you? Well, Mr. Morley, I don’t know whether -it is safe to trust in a business deal a man who has -such selfishness in his heart as you have shown. I may -decide to go back anyway.”</p> - -<p>Smith Morley looked foolish and embarrassed.</p> - -<p>“But you don’t understand, Mrs. Reemy,” he defended -himself. “This water is mighty precious. We’ll -have to let it drip twelve hours to get enough for ourselves -and the pack animals for a day; and I can see -right now that the horses will have to go to the -mountains in the morning. And this fellow here—I -know him well. He’s the recognized nuisance of the -Shinbone Country. A burro can go for days without -water—they’re like a camel, Mrs. Reemy. And this -old desert rat can do it, too. He’s less than ten miles -from his home. Why don’t he go there for his water? -We were here first. It’s first come first served in the -Shinbone Country, when it comes to water.”</p> - -<p>“Ten miles is a long trip when one hasn’t had a drink -in about seven hours,” said Charmian. Then she -wheeled upon the comical figure that had followed the -burro into camp.</p> - -<p>“Your burro shall have all the water she needs,” -she promised him. “And you may fill up your bags, -if you have any. I’m Mrs. Charmian Reemy, of San -Francisco, and this lady is my companion, Miss Mary -Temple. These two gentlemen are Doctor Shonto and -Mr. Jerome, of Los Angeles. You know the others, -it seems. We’re here to investigate their opal claims.”</p> - -<p>The man was tall, and his bronzed face was covered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span> -with ragged brown whiskers. His eyes were large -and blue and innocent-looking. His clothes were far -too large for him, enormous though his body was. -Quaintness stood out all over him.</p> - -<p>“I’m reg’lar glad to meet ye, ma’am,” he grinned, -bowing profoundly. “And, lady”—he made another -impressive bow to Mary—“the same to you.” He -turned to Dr. Shonto and Andy. “Gentle-<i>men</i>,” he -said, and bent nearly double again. “I am Shirttail -Henry. They call me Shirttail because I live at Shirttail -Bend, which is a hairpin curve in th’ trail that leads -from these here buttes here to the meadows up on -top o’ the mountains. My right name’s Henry Richkirk, -an’ I ain’t a nuisance in these parts, if I do say -it myself. But I could name some that are, though -I wouldn’t. You,” he continued, swinging back toward -Charmian as if the wind had caught his fluttery garments -and whisked him about, “are a gorgeous pretty -girl, an’ seein’ ye stood up for Lot’s Wife, I guess -ye’re perfect. If ye wanta make Shirttail Henry your -friend, stand up f’r Lot’s Wife. Ye done it, an’ I’ll -tell ye somethin’ about opals before ye go any furder. -Shirttail Henry knows th’ stones that’ve caught the -colours o’ the rainbow. An’ he knows how they get -them colours. Ye stood up f’r Lot’s Wife, an’ Shirttail -Henry’s gonta stand up f’r you. Nuisance, eh! -Well—”</p> - -<p>But here Smith Morley and Omar Leach leaped upon -the man, and together they bore him, fighting, to the -ground.</p> - -<p>“He’s crazy, Mrs. Reemy,” puffed Leach, struggling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span> -to keep the big man on his back. “Crazy as a roadrunner. -Dangerous, too! He’s lived in this country -all alone too long—and he’s—”</p> - -<p>At this point Dr. Inman Shonto and Andy Jerome -took a hand in the rough proceedings.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VIII<br> - -<small>MISSING</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DESPITE the fact that there were two against -him, the curious man from the mountains -needed little aid. He was a powerful Cyclops, -and his columnar arms flailed out to right and left -as he fought on his back like a ’coon. He might -have pounded off his enemies and gained his feet alone -in time. But Andy had grabbed the coat collar of -Omar Leach, and Dr. Shonto, himself a snarl of -sinewy muscles, was in like manner dragging Smith -Morley from the prostrate mountaineer. Charmian -Reemy, biting her lips, looked on without a word. -Mary observed proceedings with an acidulous smile, -which might have signified any one of several primitive -emotions.</p> - -<p>While the doctor and Andy held the prospectors -off, Shirttail Henry bounded to his feet and broadcasted -a wide grin about the circle.</p> - -<p>“You boys,” he said to Leach and Morley, “come -purty near goin’ too fur that time. Some o’ these -days when ye get rambunctious with me, I’ll take a -stick and knock yer gysh-danged heads off. Heh-heh-heh!”</p> - -<p>Despite the rather serious aspect of the situation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span> -Charmian burst into a fit of laughter. Nothing could -have been milder than the tone that Shirttail Henry -used in reproaching his assailants. And his grin, together -with the cackling laugh that followed his words -of censure, took all of the menace out of his speech. -Time and again in later days she was to hear Shirttail -Henry utter dire threats of vengeance on some one, but -invariably the sting was taken from his venomous tirade -by the cracked “heh-heh-heh” that followed it.</p> - -<p>Morley and Leach glowered at him, but made no -further move to molest him. They knew that they -were “in bad” with the prospective buyers of their -mining properties, so they held their peace and did -not struggle to free themselves.</p> - -<p>It was Charmian who broke the silence that followed -Shirttail Henry Richkirk’s prophecy.</p> - -<p>“This is a fine set of proceedings,” she said witheringly. -“Mr. Richkirk, if you care to, we’d like to -have you camp with us to-night. We—I mean the -greenhorns of the party—are ready and willing to do -anything to make amends for the inhospitable treatment -Mr. Leach and Mr. Morley have shown you. -And if you feel inclined to tell me what you hinted -at—about opals, you know—I’ll certainly be glad to -hear it.”</p> - -<p>But to her surprise Shirttail Henry had half turned -from her and was gazing through a break in the buttes -at the distant mountains. The moon was showering -its pale radiance on the desert. Shirttail Henry extended -one of his long arms and pointed to a tiny cloud<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span> -above the distant range, which the moonlight now revealed.</p> - -<p>“See that cloud?” he asked. “Well, that means -Shirttail Henry and Lot’s Wife have gotta go. I can’t -stay with ye to-night, ma’am—thank ye kindly. I gotta -be gettin’ to Shirttail Bend right quick, for maybe that -cloud means rain. C’m’on, Mrs. Lot.” He hurried -to the burro and grabbed up the lead-rope. “Good -night, people. I’ll see ye maybe to-morrow, ma’am, -an’ tell ye about the opals. Good night, all—and thank -ye kindly!”</p> - -<p>With the newcomers staring after him in wonderment, -he hustled his dejected pack animal out of camp, -and they faded away into the desert night.</p> - -<p>“Well, of all things!” gasped Mary Temple.</p> - -<p>“You can see for yourselves,” said Leach, with a -note of doggedness in his tones, “that he’s a regular -nut. He’s a hermit and lives all alone up there, not -seeing anybody in months. He traps and fishes, and -makes out in a disreputable cabin, with only his burro -for company. He’s the biggest nuisance imaginable, -and, besides, he’s dangerously insane.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe that, Mr. Leach,” Charmian declared, -and set her red lips tightly after the words.</p> - -<p>Leach shrugged. “Can’t help that, Mrs. Reemy,” -he told her in a hurt tone. “But it’s the truth. I don’t -want him in camp with me when I’m asleep. He might -sneak up and cut my throat. The one thing on earth -that I fear is a crazy man.”</p> - -<p>Andy and Dr. Shonto had released their captives,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span> -and now they silently sat down on the ground and -awaited the outcome of the dialogue between Charmian -and the opal miners. This was her adventure, and they -did not wish to interfere so long as their opinions were -not asked for.</p> - -<p>“What did he mean about the cloud?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that,” said Morley, and laughed shortly. “He -is employed by the weather bureau to record the rainfall -and snowfall in the section of the mountains where -he lives. He gets seven or seven and a half a month—I -forget just how much—for being on hand to read -his rain gauge and sending in his reports. It’s the -most ridiculous thing you ever heard of, Mrs. Reemy. -Henry will be away ’tending to his traps, and up comes -a little cloud about the size of his ear. Then he drops -everything and races home to his rain gauge, over -which he’ll squat until the cloud floats out of his section -of the mountains. And when it does rain or snow he -chases with his report all the way to Diamond H Ranch -and sends it in to the weather bureau. And maybe -while he’s making the trip another cloud will show up. -Then he’s between the devil and the deep blue sea, for -his report ought to go in at once, while at the same -time more rain is threatening on his station. All that -for not over seven and a half a month. Can you beat it! -What do you think of him now? Is he crazy? And -the kick he gets out of that job would make a horse -laugh. He’s always calling himself a goverment official; -and when his check doesn’t arrive promptly he -writes a complaint to the President. Oh, Henry’s a -scream, all right!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>“He may be all of that,” Charmian spoke thoughtfully, -“but that’s no excuse for mistreating him.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Mrs. Reemy—”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe that I care to hear any defence of -what you two men did to-night,” she interrupted -crisply. “Please let’s drop the subject. I’m tired; -I’m going to bed. Good night, everybody.”</p> - -<p>She walked away toward her tent, but paused suddenly, -turned, and hurled back a parting shot.</p> - -<p>“And I shall have a talk with Shirttail Henry before -going any further into the buying of your opal -claims.”</p> - -<p>Then she walked on out of the radius of the firelight glow.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>It was dawn when Dr. Inman Shonto awoke. He -crawled halfway out of his blankets and parted the -tent flaps. Through the inchoate light he saw the -gleam of the campfire and a figure moving about it. -He heard the low rattle of pots and pans. The figure, -he knew soon, was that of the industrious Mary Temple, -and she was all alone.</p> - -<p>The doctor himself had intended to rise first, rebuild -the fire, and set water on to boil; but Mary had -forestalled him. Provoked at himself for allowing a -woman to rise first and begin the hard work of camp -life, he struggled into his clothes without awaking -Andy and hurried out to her.</p> - -<p>“Good morning,” he greeted her. “It’s pretty -shivery out here. You beat me to it, and I apologize<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span> -for oversleeping and allowing you to start breakfast -alone.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a very considerate gentleman, Doctor,” replied -Mary Temple. “But this is nothing new for me, -and I like to work. I like to smell the dawn come, too. -They’ve gone.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that? Who’s gone, Miss Temple?”</p> - -<p>“Leach and Morley and his wife,” Mary replied, -raking coals one side from the fire on which to place -the coffeepot to simmer.</p> - -<p>“Gone? Gone where?”</p> - -<p>“Land knows! But I guessed it last night. They -knew they’d not have any chance after Charmian talked -with that Shirttail body. They’re crooked, Doctor. -A dog’s hind leg would look like a steel ruler ’longside -of Leach and Morley. I knew it—I just knew it all -along!”</p> - -<p>“Do you mean, Miss Temple, that Morley and his -wife and Leach have ridden off and left us here on the -desert?—that their opal claims are a fake, and that -they were afraid Shirttail Henry would expose them -to Mrs. Reemy?”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” answered Mary simply. “I knew it all -along, but nobody would have paid any attention to -me, so I couldn’t say boo to a goose. Now isn’t this -a beautiful splatchet?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe I understand you,” puzzled the physician. -“A ‘splatchet’?”</p> - -<p>Mary never seemed to find the dictionaries adequate -to the needs of her vocabulary. She invented words<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span> -indiscriminately when the sound of them seemed to -suggest the thought she wanted to express.</p> - -<p>“A splatchet,” she said carefully, “is a double mess -on the floor. If you were baking pancakes, for instance, -and turned to the sink a second to rinse out a couple -of teacups, then saw that the pancakes were about to -burn, and then you jumped for them and upset both -the dishwater and the pancake batter, you’d make a -splatchet on the floor.”</p> - -<p>“What animals have they taken?” asked Shonto, -with a smile at her droll word coinage. “Have you -investigated?”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said Mary. “They’ve taken the three -horses they rode here on, a little grub, and three canteens -of water. That’s all. No great loss to us. -We’ve plenty left to travel back on. They tied what -grub they took behind their saddles, for all the burros -are here.”</p> - -<p>“You didn’t find a note or anything like that?”</p> - -<p>“Nothing.”</p> - -<p>“Well, this is a pretty mess, Miss Temple! Mrs. -Reemy will be sick with disappointment.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe so. It’ll do her good. If she’d taken my -advice she’d be tucked in her pretty ivory bed at El -Trono de Tolerancia this minute, and I’d be turning -flapjacks at the fireplace. But, no—I don’t know anything! -Nobody listens to me!”</p> - -<p>“To be quite frank with you,” said the doctor, “I’m -a little glad too that things have turned out like this. -I hated to see Mrs. Reemy sink fifty thousand dollars<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span> -in opal mines, so I offered to go in with her. So did -Andy. But all three of us have about as much need -for an opal mine as we have for two noses. Just the -same, I was willing to put my shoulder under a third -of the proposition to please Mrs. Reemy and help her -out with her great adventure. But now, as I said, -I’m rather satisfied that it has turned out as it has.”</p> - -<p>“You like to see the fire flash in her brown eyes -when she talks about her big adventure, don’t you, -Doctor?” Mary Temple shot at him.</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto laughed, though by no means mirthfully. -“What do you mean by that?” he asked.</p> - -<p>Mary’s faded eyes looked at him steadily, and the -thin nostrils of her long nose twitched squirrel-like. -“Oh, you know what I mean,” she lashed out. “I can -read the signs. Well, I never was a body to hold my -tongue. I say what I think. And now I’m thinking -that I’d rather see you get her than your friend Mr. -Jerome. He may be all right, so far as men go, but -he’s too much like her to suit me. Too young and -rattle-headed. You could tone her down a bit. But -Jerome’ll get her—that’s plain. She’s in love with him -this minute. But it won’t last, Doctor. There’ll be a -divorce if they marry. Then you can step in. But -for my part I’d rather see her single.”</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Shonto soberly, “that in your youth -you must have sung an old ditty that comes to my -mind—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="first">“What are the little girls made out of?</div> -<div class="verse">What are the little girls made out of?</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span> -<div class="verse">Sugar and spice and everything nice—</div> -<div class="verse">That’s what the little girls are made out of.</div> -</div> -<div class="stanza"> -<div class="first">“What are the little boys made out of?</div> -<div class="verse">What are the little boys made out of?</div> -<div class="verse">Rats and snails and puppy-dogs’ tails—</div> -<div class="verse">That’s what the little boys are made out of.”</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>“You have a pretty good bass voice,” was all that -Mary said, as she began slicing bacon on the bottom -of a bucket.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IX<br> - -<small>A CASE FOR REJUVENATION</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">CHARMIAN REEMY received the news of the -flight of Leach and the Morleys with equanimity.</p> - -<p>“I have been afraid for some time,” she asserted at -breakfast, “that there was something wrong. Oh, well, -it doesn’t greatly matter. I never should have considered -buying the opal claims, anyway, if it hadn’t -been necessary to do it in order to get the location of -the Valley of Arcana. And Shirttail Henry ought to -be able to at least show us how to get a peep at it.”</p> - -<p>“Charmian Reemy, you’re going home,” announced -Mary stiffly.</p> - -<p>“Wrong again, Mary Temple. We’re going to find -the Valley of Arcana and explore it.”</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll not move another foot, Charmian. -That’s flat.”</p> - -<p>“So is the desert,” said Charmian demurely, “and -to spend the remainder of your life on it, Mary Temple, -would be frightfully monotonous.”</p> - -<p>“You know what I mean well enough,” snapped -Mary. “I’ll find a way to get home without you.”</p> - -<p>“Mary Temple, your miner’s bread is simply exquisite -this morning,” Charmian told her placidly. -“You haven’t forgotten our delightful days in Alaska,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span> -I see. Mary Temple, hereafter I intend to refer to -you as my companion at arms. You’re so companionable -that I couldn’t think of existing without you, and -you’re always up in arms. Companion at arms is -right. I’m glad I thought of that one. Naming -things is my hobby, you know, Doctor.”</p> - -<p>“Charmian,” quoth Mary in a sepulchral voice, -“have you forgotten what Madame Destrehan saw in -your Valley of Foolishness?”</p> - -<p>“Let’s see. It was a madman bending over me, -wasn’t it?—and stretching out his talonlike fingers toward -my throat?”</p> - -<p>“It was—and you know it. Well, haven’t you had -warning enough?”</p> - -<p>“You are well aware, Mary Temple, that I put no -faith whatever in the second sight of Madame Destrehan -or any other swindler,” Charmian reminded her.</p> - -<p>“But in this case, isn’t her prophecy working out? -Haven’t we had the madman right here in our camp? -What better evidence of her powers can you ask for, -Charmian?”</p> - -<p>“In camp,” said the perverse young widow, “I always -take two cups of coffee for breakfast, Doctor. -One with the trimmings, and one black. May I trouble -you to pour me another cup? And do you really think -Shirttail Henry is a nut, Mary Temple?”</p> - -<p>“Putting aside what Leach and Morley told us about -him,” Mary replied, “didn’t we see him strike off for -the mountains when he saw a tiny cloud no bigger than -a pancake? And think of him writing to the President -when his puny little check fails to come on the dot!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span> -I wouldn’t call him a nut. I wouldn’t call anybody a -nut, because that’s vulgar. But he’s a subject for a -padded cell, and he’ll choke you to death in your old -Valley of Tomfoolery if you persist in going up there -and giving him the chance.”</p> - -<p>“That would be a rather unique experience, don’t -you think, Andy?” asked the girl. “I’ve never even -had a madman’s fingers at my throat, let alone being -choked to death by one. I think, if I barely succeeded -in escaping alive, that my life would be fuller ever -afterward. And if Henry wants to give me the delicious -experience I mean to let him have his chance. -But he mustn’t overdo it. You’ll keep close and see -that Henry doesn’t go too far, won’t you, Doctor -Shonto? When my tongue lolls out and I’m beginning -to get blue in the face, just yell, ‘Look at that -cloud drifting over your rain gauge, Henry!’”</p> - -<p>“Funny, ain’t you?” sniffed Mary.</p> - -<p>“Trying to be,” said Charmian humbly.</p> - -<p>The four ate in silence after this, Charmian’s roguish -brown eyes hidden by the long lashes. Now and -then she looked up and smiled mischievously at Andy -or the doctor, for all the world like a contrary little -girl who knows she is exasperating and glories in it.</p> - -<p>“When do we start?” asked Mary suddenly.</p> - -<p>“For where?”</p> - -<p>“For the mountains and Henry Richkirk’s place.”</p> - -<p>“Why, we don’t just know how to find him,” said -Charmian, winking at the two men. “But he’s calling -on us to-day, you’ll remember. I guess we’ll just have -to stay here and wait for him. Well, we’re all through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span> -eating, and I suppose, as hostess, I ought to rise first. -But I’m so stiff from yesterday’s ride. Won’t you get -up and help me on my feet, Andy?”</p> - -<p>“‘Mr. Jerome’ would sound better, wouldn’t it, -Charmian?” There was a decided corrective note in -Mary’s tone.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we can’t bother with mistering and missising -and missing one another,” protested the girl. “I call -Doctor Shonto ‘Doctor,’ and I’ve simply got to have -a brief name for Mr. Jerome. Andy’s mighty handy. -And, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have you two gentlemen, -or overgrown boys, or whatever you call yourselves, -address me as Charmian. It takes all the kick -out of camp life to go about mistering and missising -one another. Which would sound more practical, -Mary Temple?—‘Doctor Inman Shonto, I think that -rattlesnake is about to bite you’ or ‘<i>Jiggers, Doc! -Rattlesnake!</i>’ I think our eminent physician would -jiggers more promptly if he heard the latter, don’t -you? Why, I seem to be in pretty good spirits this -morning, don’t I?”</p> - -<p>“You’re talking a lot,” said Mary, and rose to -gather up the “dead and wounded” and place them in -the dishwater.</p> - -<p>The doctor had fed and watered the stock while -Mary was completing her breakfast-getting. This ascertained, -Charmian proposed a ride in search of the -opal mines of their vanished dreams. They were only -two miles farther in the buttes, the prospectors had -revealed, and the girl wanted to visit them while they -awaited the coming of the devoted weather man.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span> -Also, she wished to limber up again in preparation for -the ride to the mountains. Mary Temple refused to -be lured from the domestic duties of the camp, so the -girl and the two men rode off without her.</p> - -<p>As they started Mary shrilled after them:</p> - -<p>“Andy Jerome—if I <i>must</i> call you Andy—did you -forget to take your medicine this morning?”</p> - -<p>Andy grinned sheepishly, stopped his horse, and dismounted.</p> - -<p>“Humph!” sniffed Mary. “I thought as much.”</p> - -<p>Andy went to his tent and took a tablet from a pasteboard -box. As he carried it to the spring for water -to wash it down, he asked:</p> - -<p>“How did you know I am taking medicine, Mary?—if -I <i>must</i> call you Mary.”</p> - -<p>“Humph! Haven’t I seen you swallow one of those -little tablets regularly every morning since I first met -you? And I know medicine must be taken regularly -in order to get the full benefit of it. I don’t know -what you’re taking those tablets for, and I don’t care, -but I do know that, so long as I am one of the idiots -in this Bonehead Country, you’ll not miss a morning -while the medicine lasts.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks for your thoughtfulness, Mary,” Andy -laughed. “I don’t wonder that Charmian finds you -indispensable. But did you call the Shinbone Country -the Bonehead Country by accident, or—”</p> - -<p>“Or,” Mary interjected decisively.</p> - -<p>There was but one direction for the trio to travel, -they found, because they were in a pass between the -two lines of buttes. It was not long before they saw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span> -evidences of bygone mining activities—several dumps -of rather large proportions, and above them tunnels -in the side of a hill. They left their horses on the -level land and clambered up among the rocks, to find -that, in some past day, a great deal of work had been -done.</p> - -<p>They investigated for an hour or more, and then a -voice hailed them from a distance, and they saw the -gigantic figure of Shirttail Henry approaching along -the floor of the pass. He came straight toward them, -negotiated the hillside with ease, and made his profound -bows all around when he reached them.</p> - -<p>“No rain a-tall,” he announced morosely. “That -cloud was gone before I got there. I’m glad ye left -Leach an’ Morley behind. I wanted to talk to ye -alone about these here claims here.”</p> - -<p>A few words sufficed to apprise him of the unexpected -decampment of the designing opal miners, and -the recital brought forth Shirttail Henry’s cackling -“Heh-heh-heh.”</p> - -<p>“I ain’t a-tall s’prised, ma’am,” he told Charmian. -“They’re ornery, them two boys. This ain’t th’ first -time they tried to sell these ole abandoned opal mines -to some one.”</p> - -<p>“Abandoned mines?” puzzled Charmian.</p> - -<p>“Course,” said Henry. “That’s what they are. -Twenty year ago they was a lot o’ fine stones took -outa here. There’s lots o’ opal here yet, but it ain’t -got any fire. Ye see, ma’am, it takes time for an opal -to gather its fire. The fellas that staked out these -claims got rich. I know they sold one stone they found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span> -for ten thousand dollars—one of the biggest prices -ever paid for an opal. But the good stones run out, -so they abandoned the claims. Then Leach an’ Morley -filed on ’em just to have somethin’ to sell to some -sucker. In time the opals here will gather their fire, -but you folks wouldn’t be here to mine ’em.”</p> - -<p>“How long does it take an opal to get its fire?” -asked Charmian.</p> - -<p>“Oh, matter of a hundred thousan’ years,” said -Henry.</p> - -<p>“Good night!” exclaimed the widow. “If we’d bought -the claims, Doctor, you’d have had a good chance to -prove the efficacy of rejuvenation by the gland treatment. -Well, that for the opals!”—and she snapped -her fingers. “They’re unlucky, anyway. Mary Temple -says so. Now, Mr. Henry, what do you know -about an undiscovered or an unexplored valley somewhere -up in the mountains?”</p> - -<p>“I know she’s there, ma’am—that’s about as much,” -answered the mountaineer.</p> - -<p>“Have you ever seen it?”</p> - -<p>“Onct—from the top of a high peak. But nobody’s -ever been there. They tried it—lots of ’em—an’ -failed to make it. It can’t be done. Who told ye -about that valley—Leach an’ Morley?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Charmian. “But I don’t agree with you -when you say it can’t be done. We’ll pay you well to -show us the valley from the peak that you mention, -and for any hints or suggestions about reaching the -valley that you can give us. Also, we want to find a -certain mountain meadow that Morley told us of,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span> -where we can pasture our horses and such burros as -we won’t need in the undertaking. What do you -say?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll help ye out,” Shirttail Henry promised. “An’ -I’ll tell ye all I know. That’s more’n most of ’em in -the Shinbone Country know, at that. But ye’ll never -make it, ma’am. When I take ye to th’ top o’ the -peak, where ye c’n see all over this country, ye’ll know -I’m right.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’ll do our best, anyway,” Charmian told -him. “And we’re ready to begin when you are.”</p> - -<p>“Poor time o’ year to tackle a job like that. Better -wait till May or June next year.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll go as far as we can at any rate,” Charmian -decided. “Then if we fail we will know better how -to go about it to succeed next summer.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Henry. “I’m ready now.”</p> - -<p>“Then if you’ll wait here for us we’ll ride back and -break camp at once. We haven’t an extra horse for -you, so—”</p> - -<p>“I never fork a hoss, ma’am,” Henry interrupted. -“I c’n go where a hoss can’t with these here ole legs -here. You ride; I’ll hoof it. Don’t worry about Shirttail -Henry gettin’ there time yer hosses do, ma’am.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER X<br> - -<small>SHIRTTAIL BEND</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SHIRTTAIL HENRY walked ahead up the -mountain trail, Ichabod Crane come to life. His -loose-jointed figure shuttled about as if the huge -trunk were threatening to topple from the legs that -shook it with their gigantic strides. His loose clothes -fluttered in the wind, adding to the shimmylike effect. -But Henry covered ground.</p> - -<p>The four who had undertaken the exotic adventure -followed on their horses, urging the complaining -burros ahead of them. When practicable Charmian -rode with Andy, Shonto with that attitudinized wet -blanket known as Mary Temple.</p> - -<p>Hours ago the party had left the level reaches of -the desert. They now were ascending sharply into a -rarer atmosphere, and the yuccas, cacti, sage and greasewood -had surrendered to junipers, piñon pines, and -an occasional taller conifer. The trail twisted about -the heads of deep cañons in S curves, U curves, and -abrupter V’s. Now and then a break in the ever-thickening -forest revealed the yellow desert below -them like a gigantic slice of buttered bread. Birds -and squirrels inhabited the trees. Once a big buck -bounded across the trail ahead of them, tiny front hoofs -touching his breast as he shot himself forward and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span> -upward like an airplane leaving the earth. The trees -and the wild life made a pleasing relief from the barren -wastes below.</p> - -<p>For the remainder of the day they climbed, camping -at noon on the trail. As the day drew toward its close -they found themselves surrounded by a vast forest, -primeval as Evangeline’s, with no view of the desert -offered. As dusk descended upon the mountains the -trail began to grow painfully steeper, and then it swung -about the brow of a rise in a long curve. Henry paused -and looked back at his followers.</p> - -<p>“This here long curve here is Shirttail Bend,” he -announced. “My cabin’s just around th’ corner.”</p> - -<p>The land rose sharply at the middle of the hairpin -curve, and horses and burros panted as they struggled -upward. They then reached a level shelf in the mountainside, -a small plateau of perhaps five acres. In the -centre of it, with the trail leading directly by, stood the -tumble-down cabin of the erratic weather man.</p> - -<p>The cabin was built half of logs, half of boards -from the lumber mill. A huge stone chimney promised -the warmth of an open fireplace within. Climbing -vines fingered the walls of the structure. A spring -above it was the source of a tiny stream that trickled -across the dooryard and fed a mat of watercress. -Henry had gooseberry bushes and currant bushes, and -there was a pear and apple orchard of a dozen trees. -The water from the spring eventually found its way -into a man-made ditch, from which it seeped onto a -small patch of frost-nipped alfalfa.</p> - -<p>Henry’s dooryard was cluttered with every imaginable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span> -thing that had seen its day, from a grindstone -whose three remaining legs sagged rheumatically beneath -it to a hay rake with one wheel and a depleted -set of teeth. There were pieces of rusty iron of all -descriptions, old sets of hames, wagon wheels, joints -of gaspipe of all sizes and lengths, lopped-over wagon -seats, one of which had been hung as a swing, innumerable -chains, sleds, broken pack-saddles, chicken -coops upside-down, spewing mattresses, axles, an ancient -dresser minus its mirror and resting placidly on -its back, the iron-and-wood pedestal of an office swivel -chair—and from every tree hung chains, frayed ropes, -wagon-seat springs, iron hounds, countless horseshoes, -more hames and other fragments of harness, and steel -traps of every size. All these treasures, Henry confided -to his guests, he had brought in, piece at a time, -on the back of Lot’s Wife or his own sturdy shoulders, -imagining that “sometime they might come in handy.” -Often he had been obliged to dismember the larger -pieces of junk—the hay rake, for example—and pack -them in by sections. “Un Rincon Confusión,” Charmian -promptly christened the place, which in Spanish -is equivalent to “A Corner of Chaos.” Mary called -it a whompus—which, she interpreted, was either a -dish that she made of left-over boiled potatoes, bread -crumbs, and sage, or a dog’s breakfast.</p> - -<p>But the home was picturesque and quaint, and the -smells of the virgin forest all about were sweet and -bracing. The light mountain air hinted at frost. Innumerable -birds twittered their good-night melodies in -the treetops. Frogs croaked in satisfaction in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span> -ditch that watered the alfalfa. A few hens troubled -with insomnia loitered about the yard, crooning to -themselves as they pecked hopefully at pebbles that -looked like grain. The brook sang softly its unchangeable -song of the days when the mountains heaved as -the earth grew cold, the travail that gave it birth.</p> - -<p>“Just make yerselves to home, folks,” invited the -mountaineer. “Ye c’n turn yer stock on th’ ’falfy if -ye ain’t afraid o’ founderin’ ’em. Lot’s Wife she don’t -care for ’falfy. She likes to browse offen th’ sage an’ -bresh. I’ll look at my rain gauge, an’ then I’ll chop -some wood and we’ll get a fire goin’.”</p> - -<p>He fluttered to the alfalfa patch and gave studious -attention to something on the ground. Then he returned -to the tired party, and sighing, “Not a drop!” -he began helping to off-saddle the steaming animals.</p> - -<p>The quartette left Henry to his own domestic serenity -in the little cabin, themselves camping at a decent -distance from the house on a spot where Henry had -neglected to distribute his heterogeneous treasure -trove. They built a cheery campfire, over which Mary -Temple cooked supper. Then when Shirttail Henry -had rejoined them they settled down for a discussion -of the morrow’s undertaking.</p> - -<p>“She’s a rarin’ trip,” Henry said discouragingly. -“First ye gotta finish climbin’ this here mountain here, -and then ye’ll come on a level valley where they’s a -lake. They’s salt grass and bluejoint around the lake, -but the frost’s ketched it by now, an’ it’ll be dryin’. -Yer stock’ll eat it, though, and fatten on it. An’ that’s -th’ place to pasture ’em till ye get back ag’in.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>“So now we’ve disposed o’ th’ critters. An’ then -we hike across th’ valley an’ cut up a cañon on th’ other -side. In th’ cañon they’s a crick that empties into th’ -lake. Well, then we folly that crick for ten miles, -maybe—an’ it’s a job. All boulders bigger ner my -cabin, an’ down trees an’ th’ like. Well, then we’re -pretty high up, an’ now we cut across through th’ timber -towards Dewlap Mountain. That’s where we’re -headin’ for.</p> - -<p>“Now and then we’ll be seein’ th’ mountain, but not -often. We gotta go by compass—at least you folks -would. I go by guess and by gosh. Well, then, that’s -a matter o’ twenty mile to th’ foot o’ th’ peak, and up -it’s a heap more.</p> - -<p>“Now not a few folks have made this side o’ Dewlap -Mountain, but mighty few ever got on th’ other -side. I done it, and so has Reed. That’s th’ forest -ranger that first saw th’ undiscovered valley. Gettin’ -’round on th’ other side o’ the mountain is where th’ -rub comes in—that is, th’ rubbin’est rub. The top o’ -th’ peak’s above th’ line of perpetual snow, an’ up -there, besides, it’s all rocks an’ steep places till ye can’t -rest. It’s skeery gettin’ ’round to th’ other side; an’ -many a time ye wisht ye hadn’t come, when ye look -down on what’s below ye—or what ain’t below ye. -But I made her an’ Reed he made her, an’ ye gotta do -it to see the undiscovered valley. But gettin’ to the -toes o’ Dewlap Mountain ain’t no fun neither.”</p> - -<p>Shirttail Henry came to a thoughtful pause. The -firelight played on his kindly, rugged features as he -sat tailor-fashion and gazed with his dreamy blue eyes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span> -into the blaze. His was almost a poetic face, Charmian -thought, as she studied what was revealed of it -above the flaring torch of whiskers.</p> - -<p>“Seems to me,” the mountaineer went on softly, -“that, when all’s said an’ done, this time o’ year’d be -about th’ best to tackle th’ trip. Ye see, th’ snow’s -been meltin’ all summer, more or less, an’ so fur this -season they ain’t any fell yet. So right now th’ snow’s -at her shallowest depth up on that there mountain -there. An’ ye might get in an’ out before snow begins -to fly, if luck was with ye.</p> - -<p>“And I thought of another thing: They was a big -fire up in thataway this summer, an’ maybe it took out -a part o’ th’ big bresh stretches that lies between th’ -head o’ the cañon an’ th’ toes o’ Dewlap. If it done -that th’ trip’ll be lots easier. But we’ll know more -time we tried her.”</p> - -<p>“Is it necessary to go over Dewlap Mountain to -reach the Valley of Arcana?” asked Charmian.</p> - -<p>“Well, no, ’tain’t,” replied the weather man. “Contrary -to that, ma’am, she’d be a fool way to go about -it. Ye go up there to see th’ valley; but to get to her -ye’d oughta go round th’ mountain. That’s th’ way -Reed went. He tried both sides. But he never made -th’ riffle. It can’t be done.”</p> - -<p>“Why?”</p> - -<p>“Chaparral that ye can’t get through an’ walls o’ -rock that can’t be climbed.”</p> - -<p>“And how about Lost River?”</p> - -<p>“That’s another proposition, ma’am. Lost River’s -forty mile to th’ north o’ Dewlap Mountain, an’ about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span> -th’ same distance from yer Valley of Arcana. Over -toward th’ Alondra Country, where they’s an Indian -reservation that’s got gold on it. Leach an’ Morley -they got run out for pannin’ gold on that reservation, -an’ gov’ment agents was after ’em for a spell. That’s -how come it they know about Lost River, ma’am. But -if Lost River runs through yer valley, that ain’t no -help to ye.”</p> - -<p>“I thought that perhaps we might build a canoe and -drift down the river underground to the Valley of -Arcana,” Charmian stated simply.</p> - -<p>“Holy sufferin’ cats!” bellowed Shirttail Henry.</p> - -<p>Even Andy and Dr. Shonto laughed at the girl’s -naïve assurance.</p> - -<p>“You’ve been reading fantastic fiction, Charmian,” -said Andy. “That’s a pipe dream.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps,” half conceded the young widow, unperturbed. -She turned her brown eyes on Henry again. -“But why climb to the peak of Dewlap Mountain -merely to gain a view of the valley?” she asked. “Why -not circle the mountain when we reach it and try for -the valley itself?”</p> - -<p>“Too late in th’ season,” Henry maintained. “Th’ -snow she’d ketch us, ma’am.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not afraid of snow. I’ve roughed it in Alaska. -Any snow you’d have here would be a joke, compared -with what I’ve experienced.”</p> - -<p>“Pretty cold joke sometimes,” Henry remarked. -“But I been thinkin’ ag’in, ma’am: Reed he always tried -to make th’ riffle in summer, an’ then th’ snow over -thataway’s deepest. An’ in winter blizzards are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span> -blowin’, an’ ye can’t do nothin’. Same as in th’ case o’ -gettin’ to th’ top o’ Dewlap, right now would be th’ -easiest time to tackle th’ valley trip, after th’ snow’s -melted all summer long. I guess Reed thought o’ that, -but was afraid to tackle her with winter comin’ on. If -a body got ketched in that country after th’ blizzards -started— Say, none o’ that in mine! He’d never -come out, that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!” scoffed the girl. “The chances are -that Reed didn’t have enough money to properly equip -himself for a trip of that nature.”</p> - -<p>“No, Reed he ain’t got anything but his pay from -th’ gov’ment—same as me. An’ th’ boys that tackled -th’ trip with him two three times, they never had -nothin’. If a body could get enough supplies in th’ -country to stand a siege, come blizzard time, he might -get through to th’ valley between storms. He’d want -skis or snowshoes, though—and a heap o’ grub an’ -things. Once he made th’ valley everything’d be jake. -It’s like summer down in there, I’m thinkin’.”</p> - -<p>“I can ski,” Charmian announced. “So can Mary -Temple. How about the rest of you?”</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto and Andy shook their heads. Henry -professed familiarity with snowshoes, but never in his -life had he been on skis.</p> - -<p>“I reckon, after all,” Henry decided, “that skis -wouldn’t do. Ye might enter th’ Valley of Arcana -too pronto fer yer health. Snowshoes would be safest. -You two men could learn to use them in no time, after -ye’d practised a bit.”</p> - -<p>“I’m for striking out direct for the valley to-morrow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span> -morning,” Charmian said suddenly. “What’s -the use hemming and hawing about it? Nothing was -ever accomplished by indecision. It’s a chance, and -we take it—that’s all. If the storms were to hold off -for any considerable time, Henry, how long ought it -to take us for the trip in and out?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell ye, ma’am—never havin’ finished her. -But I’d say a month.”</p> - -<p>“<i>A month!</i> So long as that?”</p> - -<p>“Outside time, ma’am,” Henry explained.</p> - -<p>“And is there any possibility of winter holding back -that long?”</p> - -<p>“Yes’m, they is. Ye never can tell what she’s gonta -do. I’m a United States weather man, an’ I’m speakin’ -from experience. One year winter she’ll set in as -early as this. Next, they maybe won’t be any snow -to speak of before Christmas. We’ve had three early -winters hand-runnin’ now an’ I’d say it’s time for a late -one.”</p> - -<p>“Will you go along, Henry, and show us the way?” -the girl asked eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I been thinkin’,” Henry replied. “How’m I gonta -tend to my weather reports?”</p> - -<p>“Take your gauge along with you, can’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I dunno ’bout that,” said Henry. “But if ye was -to pay me well enough—”</p> - -<p>“How much will your services be worth?”</p> - -<p>Henry pursed his lips. “I get seven and a half a -month for bein’ weather man,” he mused, “and, come -next month, I’ll have a line o’ traps strung between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span> -Rustler Crick an’ Palance Ridge. If I’m lucky, I -oughta clean up a hundred dollars at th’ traps th’ -month we’d be gone. An’ then—”</p> - -<p>“I’ll give you two hundred and fifty dollars to take -us to where we can continue on ourselves to the Valley -of Arcana,” Charmian interrupted.</p> - -<p>“Well-l-l—” Shirttail Henry Richkirk puckered his -lips doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“Or until we give up in despair,” Charmian supplemented.</p> - -<p>Henry rose briskly from the fireside. “Be up an’ -fed by six o’clock,” he said. “I’ll be ready.”</p> - -<p>He started to flutter toward his cabin when the -sharp voice of Mary Temple stayed his steps.</p> - -<p>“Where are your snowshoes? Where is any grub -sufficient to take these idiots on a trip like that?” she -demanded.</p> - -<p>“Well, now, ma’am,” replied the weather man, “I -think we c’n git more snowshoes at Mosquito Ranch, -which is halfway up this here mountain here from my -place to th’ lake. I got two good pair myself. An’ -we c’n git a beef critter killed for us at the ranch an’ -freeze th’ meat an’ take a lot of it along with us. Besides, -I got a lot o’ jerky, which comes in mighty handy -when everything else has give out.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any soap?” asked Mary crisply.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes’m—I got a whole case of her that’s -never been opened.”</p> - -<p>“Take it along,” said Mary.</p> - -<p>“Why, Mary Temple!” cried Charmian. “What<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span> -need have we for a hundred cakes of soap? Think of -the weight it will add to the pack, which weight ought -to be composed of something to eat.”</p> - -<p>“Henry himself will need half a case,” said Mary. -“Don’t for a minute imagine, Charmian Reemy, that -I mean to live like an Indian on this fool trip. Supplies -are supplies, and no supplies are complete without -an ample amount of soap. Henry, did you think -about the snowshoes and the beef when you proposed -setting off at six o’clock to-morrow morning?”</p> - -<p>“Well, now, no’m,” Henry confessed, shifting his -great weight from one huge foot to the other. “Maybe -I just didn’t,” he added weakly.</p> - -<p>“And you didn’t want to go until Charmian promised -to pay you even if the expedition failed, did you?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say that, ma’am,” poor Henry tried to -defend himself.</p> - -<p>“No, you didn’t. But your legs did when you jumped -up so suddenly. Henry, do you know that, probably -because of your great service to the government as -weather man, the United States Navy has a war ship -named after you?”</p> - -<p>Henry’s blue eyes bugged. “No’m, I didn’t,” he -gasped. “D’ye honestly mean to tell me they got a -ship they call th’ Richkirk?”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mary Temple. “It’s called the Marblehead. -Good night.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XI<br> - -<small>THE TRAIL TO MOSQUITO</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap2">ANDY JEROME was up early the following morning, -even before Shirttail Henry was astir. He -went to the creek, broke a thin sheet of ice, and -washed his hands and face. Then, quite proud of his -achievement, he stepped briskly back to camp to start -a fire, only to find that newly laid kindling had been -lighted while he was at his toilet.</p> - -<p>Now came Mary Temple, her lean arms encircling -a big load of Henry’s firewood, proving that she herself -was still supreme as the early riser of the party.</p> - -<p>“Well, Mary, you’re a wonder!” Andy praised her. -“I thought that for once I’d beaten you to it. Good -morning.”</p> - -<p>“Get another armload of wood,” said Mary. “Good -morning.”</p> - -<p>Andy returned from the wood pile and let his burden -clatter on the ground.</p> - -<p>“What’s for breakfast?”</p> - -<p>“Beans.”</p> - -<p>“Good! Beans are the stuff in camp, all right.”</p> - -<p>“They’re the stuff in the Palace Hotel,” said Mary. -“Beans conquered the West. They won the war. -They’re—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, don’t tell me about the marvellous bean,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span> -Andy cut in. “I’ve always been a bean hound. And -I’ll bet you can cook ’em, too. You’re a wonderful -cook, Mary, do you know it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve hinted as much to myself a couple of times,” -Mary sniffed. “But I’m nothing compared with my -brother Ed.” Mary was diligently searching in a pack-bag -as she talked.</p> - -<p>“That so?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Ed was a master cook—a chef. He worked -for one of the big bean-canning factories back East -until they fired him.”</p> - -<p>“That was too bad,” Andy sympathized. “What -was the difficulty?—if I’m not too inquisitive.”</p> - -<p>“Ed killed a woman,” Mary explained, still fumbling -in the bag.</p> - -<p>Andy said nothing; the topic of their conversation -seemed to be growing a little delicate.</p> - -<p>“Killed a woman he’d never seen,” Mary added.</p> - -<p>“Mary Temple, are you trying to kid me?” asked -Andy warily.</p> - -<p>“To this day we don’t know her name,” Mary went -on, still searching. “But we know Ed killed her.”</p> - -<p>“Spring it—I’ll bite. How’d he kill her?”</p> - -<p>“He put two bites of pork in a can of pork and -beans instead of one,” said Mary. “And I know the -woman that opened that can dropped dead. Anyway, -they fired Ed for wasting the company’s profits.”</p> - -<p>She stood erect with a can-opener in one hand and -a large can labelled Pork and Beans in the other, and -without a smile began the conflict between them. -“Better wake the doctor,” she advised. “The wonderful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span> -cook will have breakfast ready in no time this morning. -She and you and the doctor can draw straws for -the pork—I don’t care for it. Here comes the good -ship Marblehead.”</p> - -<p>Andy chuckled. He liked this droll, gaunt Mary -Temple who was so devoted to the girl he loved. “And -do you never expect to find more than one bite of pork -in a can of pork and beans?” he asked.</p> - -<p>“I’d as soon think of finding the Valley of Arcana,” -Mary replied.</p> - -<p>With a brief “Good mornin’, ma’am” Shirttail -Henry passed Mary Temple at the campfire and went -to his tumble-down stable. When Andy had awakened -Dr. Shonto and had received a feeble response to his -call from Charmian, he returned to Mary, to find -Henry there with a slim sledge that he had found -among his belongings.</p> - -<p>“Thought she might come in handy,” he grinned. -“If we c’n pack her on one o’ th’ burros, she’ll carry all -our truck when we leave the critters and keep on afoot. -Can’t use her, though, lessen it snows. But I thought -we’d better take her along.”</p> - -<p>“Good idea,” said Andy lightly, and turned to Mary, -who was pointing to a small die of fat pork, a tiny -monument in the pan of sizzling beans.</p> - -<p>“I found it,” she announced grimly.</p> - -<p>A great deal of time was consumed after breakfast -in packing the twelve burros, for among the party -only Shirttail Henry was an expert at the art. He -was careful in his preparations, and when all was ready -for the start nobody could think of anything necessary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span> -that he had omitted from the pack. He hazed the -little animals into the trail and followed them on foot, -the remainder of the party bringing up the rear on -their saddle horses.</p> - -<p>The morning was crisp, the air tingling with frost. -The thud of the animals’ hoofs came clear and distinct, -for the ground was frozen and an uncanny hush dwelt -in the heavy forest through which they passed. The -saddle horses frisked about, shying at this and that -familiar object, and their nostrils shot forth white -steam, even as the nostrils of fearsome dragons shoot -forth smoke and fire and brimstone. Squirrels scurried -rattlingly over dead leaves from their interrupted -breakfasts, to twitch their grey plumes and wrinkle -their muzzles at the travellers from the security of -lofty branches.</p> - -<p>“Great morning to start our adventure,” commented -Andy Jerome, as they came upon a wide stretch of -trail and he urged his horse to the side of Charmian’s.</p> - -<p>“Absolutely perfect,” Charmian agreed. “My, but -my feet are cold! Andy, I wonder if we <i>are</i> absolute -idiots, after all. Sometimes I think that, if Doctor -Shonto weren’t with us to lend the expedition an air of -dignity and—well, consequence—I’d lose my nerve. -You and I are mere kids, and don’t really know whether -we have any business to undertake this thing or not. -But Doctor Shonto is a man of brains and experience—a -somebody—and it bolsters up my courage a lot to -know that he is with us and seems to approve. Were -you surprised at his coming along?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Andy shortly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>“I wonder why he did come,” mused the girl.</p> - -<p>“That’s a simple question to answer,” Andy told her -with boyish sulkiness. “He came because of you.”</p> - -<p>She looked at him quickly, then lowered her eyes. -Charmian knew perfectly well that Andy Jerome was in -love with her, and this knowledge did not distress her -in the least. She did not know whether or not she was -in love with Andy, but she knew that she liked to have -his admiring eyes upon her and to note the little caress -in his tones when he spoke to her in lowered accents. -She knew now that Andy bitterly resented his friend’s -interest in her. But, of course, womanlike, she pretended -innocence.</p> - -<p>“Do you think the doctor is interested in me?” she -asked.</p> - -<p>“Humph!”</p> - -<p>“Why?—do you suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Heavens and earth, Charmian! Wouldn’t any he-man -be interested in a woman like you?”</p> - -<p>Charmian took a bold step. She was no unsophisticated -débutante, this young widow from Alaska. The -relations between the sexes were no closed book to her. -She was modernly ready and willing to discuss the -tender passion. It was an integral part of life, and no -false modesty caused her to shrink from facing any of -the realities. Furthermore, she was a woman, young -and pretty and desirable, and she liked to utilize her -world-old heritage of making all men admire her.</p> - -<p>“You don’t for a moment imagine that Doctor -Shonto is in love with me, do you?” she asked, round-eyed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>“Humph! Of course he is. And you know it as -well as I do, Charmian.”</p> - -<p>She threw back her head and laughed, while Andy -watched her frosty breath and suffered silently.</p> - -<p>“How ridiculous!” she exclaimed. “To think that -a man of the calibre of Doctor Inman Shonto could -consider me in such a light as that. Andy, you’re a -scream!”</p> - -<p>“Then why <i>is</i> he with us?”—still gloomily.</p> - -<p>“That’s just what I’m trying to find out. But your -answer is silly—stupid, Andy. But I suppose the -novelty of the thing appeals to him, as it does to you -and me. After all, the doctor is not so old. I find -him quite naïve and boyish at times. Only thirty-four. -Why, a man shouldn’t begin to think of being serious -until he has passed fifty. Henry Ford says, even, that -he ought not to begin to accumulate money until he’s -over forty. That from probably the richest man in the -world! And the doctor doesn’t look a day over -twenty-five, does he?”</p> - -<p>“I’ve never given his age much thought,” said Andy -with impolite abruptness.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you feel well this morning, Andy? You -seem so sort of grouchy.”</p> - -<p>“I’m feeling fine,” said Andy in the same stiff tones.</p> - -<p>There was a smile of vast complacency on Charmian’s -lips as she looked away from him off through -the towering pines. She wondered if she loved this -boy, who carried his heart so openly on his coatsleeve. -He certainly was attractive in his handsome young manhood. -He would make an ardent lover. But what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span> -else, she wondered? He seemed to do little or no -thinking for himself. He just took life lightly and let -things slide, never worrying, never striving for anything, -never revealing any depth of soul in any of his -varied moods. His family was well off, and he did -not have to work. Neither did she have to work, for -that matter; but she did work. She worked her mind. -She pondered over many things. She forced herself -into deep reveries, reveries which were not consumed -with egotism. She thought of life and the problems -of humanity, and always she strove to think constructively. -And thinking is the hardest work that one -can do.</p> - -<p>Andy loved her—or thought he did. Quite well was -she aware of that. And it pleased her. She wanted -fine young men to love her. She could not help it. -She—<i>they</i>—are born that way. Would men have it -otherwise?</p> - -<p>But Dr. Shonto! The radiance with which the morning -had endued her transparent skin was heightened by -the glowing thought. If she had swayed Shonto, either -by her physical or her mental or her plain womanly -charms, or all these combined (herself, in short), she -had made a conquest to be proud of. Of course to -marry him was out of the question entirely. The gulf -of years was between them. But it was warmly satisfactory -for her to realize that a man of his importance -had entered into her novel little game of make-believe -discovery, and that he had not decided to come -until she had assured him that she was serious in her -desire to undertake the trip. And she was in nowise<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span> -depressed over the thought that there was the remote -possibility of her being in the wilds, on the great, romantic -adventure of which she had dreamed so many -times, with two seemly men who both were in love -with her. Born romancer that she was, Charmian -Reemy could not have pictured, in her most fantastic -dreams, a situation more likely to add a wondrous and -thrilling page to a life that she had long ago decided -to make as novel as she could.</p> - -<p>On up the trail the party forged, the labouring -burros ahead, nibbling at this and that prospective -edible along the way. The sun climbed high and -sucked the frost from the stiff, chilled leaves. A clear -sky overhung the mountains, and all was still. A stone -clattering into a deep cañon made much ado, for the -reverberations of its fall came hollowly to the listeners’ -ears. The bark of a squirrel as he revelled in the -doubtful warmth of the autumn sun was heard for -miles, for the mountains were steeped in that solemn -hush that almost seems to sigh for another summer that -has gone, a hush that bespeaks resignment to the dead -days of winter yet to come.</p> - -<p>And so to Mosquito they came, and camped there in -the middle of a half glad, half melancholy afternoon -that dreamed its short hours away in golden silence.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XII<br> - -<small>THE LAND OF QUEER DELIGHTS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THEY left Mosquito the next morning, their pack -replenished with a generous supply of beef. -Also, as the mountain ranch had a quantity of -stores on hand, they were allowed to purchase enough -to bring their supplies up to the limit of the burros’ -carrying capacity. So now, over a hundred miles from -the desert ranch where they had left the automobiles -and at the beginning of their gruelling march to the -Valley of Arcana, they were as well equipped for the -ordeal as at the very start.</p> - -<p>Four hours from Mosquito they topped the summit -of the ridge, and looked down upon a smiling lake three -miles in length by one in width. A carpet of dying -grass surrounded the lake, near which but few trees -grew, because of the strongly alkaline soil. They -wormed their way down to the floor of the level mountain -valley, and here they loosed the saddle horses -and cached their equipment in a near-by cañon. Shirttail -Henry guaranteed that the animals would not stray -from the grazing ground. Once more he took the lead, -and, driving the reluctant burros ahead of him, worked -around the eastern end of the lake.</p> - -<p>When they had completed a half-circle of the sheet of -blue water and were on the south side opposite the -grazing horses, Shirttail Henry made an abrupt turn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span> -to the left and hazed the string of burros up a little -creek. For two miles or more the creek flowed through -virtually level land, with mountain meadows on either -side of it. Then gradually the land grew steeper, -and the creek banks narrowed. The forest grew denser -as they left the valley, and before half an hour had -passed they were in a country as wild and rugged as -that below Mosquito Ranch.</p> - -<p>They camped for a late nooning before attempting -the fierce climb that awaited them. When the burros -had browsed an hour they were away again, up the -ever narrowing cañon.</p> - -<p>The little creek was a plunging torrent now, leaping -over boulders, bellowing madly about snarls of ancient -driftwood. Often there stood in the burros’ path a -huge boulder or outcropping that it seemed impossible -for them to surmount, but Henry always found a way -to get them over or around each obstacle. The burros -climbed like goats when forced to it. Several times -the men were obliged to take off their pack-bags so -that they could squeeze through some gateway between -gigantic stones.</p> - -<p>The party was still in the cañon when the early -mountain night closed down upon them. They fortunately -had come upon a tiny level spot on which there -was room to move about with comfort. Here they -camped to await the coming of another day.</p> - -<p>The night was cold and still, the sky cloudless. -Nevertheless Shirttail Henry set up his rain gauge, -muttering that he could not imagine how he was to -send in his report if the gauge showed moisture in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span> -the morning. But no rain or snow fell to discomfit -him, and the weary trailers passed the night in peace.</p> - -<p>An hour after sunup the following day they came to -the end of the cañon, to find that the source of the -creek was a series of springs in a hillside. From the -springs Henry set a course southwest through unbroken -forest land, across which the going would have been -easy but for the fact that the trail led continually up -and down over a seemingly endless system of ridges. -The party would struggle wearily up one steep hill, -only to be obliged to clamber and slide down the other -side of it into a deep V-shaped cañon—and then up the -near side of another hill as steep as the one just -mastered. Then down again, and up again—forever -and ever, it seemed.</p> - -<p>“Henry,” said Mary, as they stood panting on the -top of about the fifteenth rise that they had negotiated, -“is this ever going to end?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes’m,” Henry told her meekly. “These -here little rises here get bigger and bigger until we’re -top o’ th’ mountains. Then we begin to crawl.”</p> - -<p>“Crawl!” puffed Mary. “I’ve done nothing else but -crawl up and slide down since we left the creek back -there. I don’t feel like a human being any more. I’m -a four-footed beast. I growl and show my teeth when -a rock or a root gets in my way.”</p> - -<p>“But what I’m talkin’ about,” said Henry patiently, -“is reg’lar crawlin’. Sure enough on yer hands an’ -knees, ma’am. An’ f’r miles an’ miles at that. Th’ -patch o’ chaparral we’ll have to go through ain’t got -its match in th’ whole West, I’m thinkin’.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>“Do you mean, Henry, that we’re actually to <i>crawl</i> -for miles and miles? Like a father playing bear with -his baby on the floor?”</p> - -<p>“Jest crawl, ma’am,” replied Henry softly. “Unless -we cut our way through with th’ axes—an’ that would -take forever ’n’ ever ’n’ after.”</p> - -<p>“And you realize that, do you, Charmian?” Mary -asked of the head of the party.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—it’s all been explained to me,” Charmian -assured her.</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Mary. “Then let’s find a place to -eat. I’m so hungry I could eat quirkus.”</p> - -<p>“Which is?”—Andy’s question.</p> - -<p>“Quirkus,” Mary explained, “is the stuff you skim -off the top of a kettle of fruit when you’re cooking it -for canning. Or it’s the stuff that grows on the bottom -of a watering trough in summer. Or sometimes it’s -any soft stuff that you don’t know the name of, and that -isn’t fit to eat, but looks too valuable to throw away.”</p> - -<p>They spent two nights in the forest, forging onward -throughout the short, cold, crystal days in the same -southwesterly direction, up and down, up and down, -but always gaining in altitude. They had left the Canadian -Zone and were well into the Hudsonian, which -constitutes the belt of forest just below timberline. -Lodgepole pine, Alpine hemlock, silver pine, and white-bark -pine had replaced the Jeffrey pine, red firs and -aspens of the life zone immediately below them. They -were over eight thousand feet above the sea, Henry -told them, when at last, about ten o’clock of the third -day after leaving the creek, the woods began to grow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span> -thinner, and they encountered frequent patches of short -chaparral, bleak and rugged and rock strewn. They -were entering the Arctic-Alpine Zone, comprising an -elevation of from ten thousand five hundred feet to the -tops of the highest peaks.</p> - -<p>On and on, always climbing higher into an atmosphere -more breath-taking, more crystalline. The -chilled silences became awesome. Unfamiliar growths -presented themselves, stunted, grotesque. An occasional -patch of snow was crossed. A snow-white bird as -large as a pigeon fluttered down to their camping -ground, cocked his head on one side, and surveyed them -with comical curiosity. A few grains of rolled barley, -left by the wasteful burros, lay on the ground, for a -small quantity had been brought along to tempt them -back to camp when they wandered, browsing throughout -the nights. The white bird pecked contemplatively -at these, chattered his bill over one, and dropped it as -unfit for avian consumption. As he hopped about, still -intent on trying the unfamiliar particles that looked -like food, his course took him directly over the foot of -Charmian, who was standing very still and watching -him. Utterly without fear of these human beings, he -hopped upon the toe of her hiking shoe, and from that -vantage point lifted his body and gazed about as a -robin does for worms.</p> - -<p>“The dear thing!” breathed the girl. “I guess he’s -never before seen a human being, and can’t have any -conception of what brutes we are. I wonder if I could -pick it up!”</p> - -<p>“Try it,” urged the doctor softly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>Charmian stooped, her hands outspread. The movement -caused the bird to hop from her shoe, but it did -not make away. The girl stooped lower and lower, -outspread fingers on either side of it. Her hands -closed in to within six inches of the warm, white body. -The bird looked up at her and hopped off sedately, -without a sign of fear, but as much as to say, -“Familiarity breeds contempt.”</p> - -<p>“I could have grabbed it, but I wouldn’t!” maintained -the widow. “But I <i>did</i> just want to touch it -once!”</p> - -<p>They decided that their visitor was an albino robin, -probably a native of the regions above the line of perpetual -snow, and that never before had it seen a human -being.</p> - -<p>“It makes me sort of shuddery,” said Mary Temple. -“That’s no way for a bird to act, even if he is a country -jake. It isn’t right that he shouldn’t be afraid of us. -It’s uncanny—and this is getting to be mighty uncanny -country. Things get queerer and queerer every day, -and I feel queerer and queerer every hour. I can just -barely breathe in this light air. My head is on a spree -and my feet are dead drunk.”</p> - -<p>“It only goes to show,” argued Charmian, “how -the wild creatures would consider us if only we were -as decent as they are. There is no reason on earth -why any wild thing should fear a human being. I -have read arguments built up about the hypothesis -that wild animals fear man instinctively, that they -naturally recognize him as their master. More of -man’s monumental egotism! When an animal distrusts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span> -man, that distrust is bred in him by reason of his ancestors -having been obliged to escape from human -ruthlessness. Or the individual itself has suffered at -the hands of man.”</p> - -<p>And not many days had passed before she proved, -in part at least, that her contentions were correct; for -the farther they forged into that untamed wilderness -the more trusting the wild life became. Small, queer -birds which none of them could name, most of them -with long bills and heads that seemed almost as large -as their bodies, followed them on the trail, perched -above them in the chaparral and cocked their heads -one side to stare down in puzzlement, and often flew -to their very knees or alighted on their shoulders.</p> - -<p>Upward and ever upward, over the sprawling toes -and then over the generous knees of Dewlap Mountain. -The only bird seen now was an occasional rosy finch; -the mammals encountered consisted of the Alpine chipmunk, -the grey bushy-tailed woodrat, and that quaint -and ingenious native of the bleak altitudes, the Yosemite -cony. This little animal, called variously rock -rabbit, little chief hare, pika, or cony, is less than seven -inches over all, and, much more so than the rabbit, -has a tail which “mustn’t be talked about.” It has -short rounded ears, dense hair, and, though closely resembling -the rabbit, it runs an all fours, with a hobbling -gait. It never sits up on its haunches, as does the -rabbit, nor does it leave the Alpine Zone for a warmer -clime when blizzards rage. Its home is in rock slides, -where it cuts, dries, and stores up hay for use when -the land is covered deep with snow. Often the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span> -travellers saw one perched on a lofty granite rock -and heard its strange bleating cry of alarm.</p> - -<p>The actinic quality of the light in this Boreal Zone -made the few plants that the trailers came upon present -rare, pure colours delectable to the eye. Most of these -plants were cushion plants, spread out over the barren -rocks where a little soil had gathered, and from the -centre of the cushion the flower stalks arose. The -doctor named the golden draba, the Alpine flox, and -others; but the yellow columbine—not a cushion plant—was -most remarkable of all. On the highest peaks -flourished the Alpine buttercup, the Sierra primrose, -and small Alpine willow trees, not above an inch in -height. And at the very outskirts of snow banks they -discovered the steer’s head, a queer relic of pre-glacial -times, whose flowers, modestly lopped over, resembled -the heads of a sleepy bunch of cattle. Often this -flower grew with snow all about it and seemed to -thrive.</p> - -<p>They were in a land of nothingness—cold and -bleak and comfortless. On all sides wastes of loose -stones and snow patches swept away from them. About -them were the lofty peaks, so diamond clear in their -dazzling whiteness that it pained the eye to look at -them. They were crossing the knees of Dewlap mountain, -making toward the south. They camped on -windswept reaches, their mattresses the cold, hard -rocks. Melted snow formed their water supply, and -fuel that they had picked up in the warmer zone -below them was nursed with miserly discretion.</p> - -<p>After a day and a night in this forbidding land<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span> -Shirttail Henry loosed the burros, for nothing grew -for them to eat except the inch-high dwarf willows, -and these were few. Burros will continue content -for days and days without food or water, but Charmian -demanded their release after twenty-four hours -of deprivation. With indignant snorts, they kicked up -their heels, and the bell burro set a bee-line course over -the backward trail. When they reached the Hudsonian -Zone, Henry said, they would browse their way gradually -down through the Canadian, and into the Transition, -where they would find an abundance of chaparral; -and later they would reach the horses at the lake and -remain close to them until snow drove the entire band -to the lower contours, from whence they might wander -even to the home ranch on the desert.</p> - -<p>A rather serious catastrophe overtook the United -States Weather Bureau on the day before the burros -were released. Shirttail Henry had installed his rain -gauge for the night, and had no more than turned his -back on it when the bell burro was attracted by the -brightness of its brass. She approached it with mincing -steps, and, as is the custom of her kind, began trying -to eat it. A burro seems incapable of deciding whether -an object is for food by looking at it or smelling of it. -He starts in to eat it, assuming that all things are good -to eat until proved otherwise. The burro soon decided -that in this instance she had made a grave mistake, -and forthwith dropped the gauge. But not until the -thin cylinder of brass had been dented and pinched -in so that, as a recorder of the fall of rain, it was -absolutely useless.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>Mary Temple witnessed the desecration, but shouted -too late. Henry wheeled in time, however, to capture -the miscreant. He held her by the leather band that -encircled her neck, and to which her tinkling bell was -fastened, and looked her fiercely in the eye.</p> - -<p>“Ass,” he said, “ye ain’t my canary, an’ I know ye -ain’t got no sense. But if ye <i>was</i> mine, d’ye know -what I’d do to ye? I’d hold ye by this here strap -here, an’ I’d get me a club, an’ I’d take it an’ I’d -knock yer gysh-danged head off. Heh-heh-heh!”</p> - -<p>Snow covered the greater part of the land where -the explorers had loosed the asses. Henry rigged -up his drag, and on it stowed the outfit. Henry and -Andy took the lead ropes, and Dr. Shonto walked -behind to push. By following a zigzag course the -leaders were able to keep the sledge running upon snow -for the greater part of the time, and when only bare -rocks lay before them the party portaged the cargo -and the sledge to snowy stretches beyond.</p> - -<p>Their up-and-down course continued, and many a -slope taxed the strength of all to get the laden sledge -to the summit. But the general trend was downward, -for they were crossing the knees of Dewlap, the only -divide which gave access to the country wherein lay the -mysterious valley of their quest. Gradually, after days -of slow travel, the snow patches grew fewer and fewer, -and the air grew noticeably warmer as they worked -downward into the Hudsonian Zone once more. Then -altogether the snow disappeared; scattering trees -greeted them, Alpine hemlocks, silver pines—trees -more friendly, it seemed to the awed wanderers, than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span> -any they ever had seen before. They saw a wolverine—infrequent -animal—a white-tailed jackrabbit, and on -one rare day a pure white squirrel, with pink-lidded -eyes, quite curious and friendly.</p> - -<p>They discarded the sledge, cached such tin-protected -provisions as they could not carry on their backs, and -forged on into a land of growing delights. They left -the semi-bleak Hudsonian Zone above them and entered -the friendly Canadian, where the Yosemite fox sparrow, -the Sierra grouse, and the ruby-crowned kinglet -greeted them; and among the mammals the jumping -mouse, the yellow-haired porcupine, the Sierra chickaree, -and the navigator shrew. The forest was heavy -again, and there was firewood and the shelter of companionable -conifers. Straight into the south Shirttail -Henry led the way, down into a gigantic cup of the -mountain range where grasses grew and sunlight -flooded the land.</p> - -<p>The forest became patchy, broken by occasional -mountain meadows, rubble slides, cañons through which -fires had spread their devastation and left sentinel trees -and slopes covered with chaparral. Deep, impassible -gorges forced them miles and miles to the east or the -west, and sometimes turned them in the direction -from whence they came. And in descending into one -of these, after having followed its grim lip for many -miles in search of a crossing, the redoubtable Mary fell, -rolled down a steep incline, and terminated her mad -descent in an ice-cold creek.</p> - -<p>“Well,” she remarked, as her anxious friends -stumbled and slid down to her, “it’s lucky I landed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span> -close to water, for right here I stay until the rest of you -forsake your life of sin and come back to me on your -way home. I’ve sprained my ankle terribly. Two -of you hold me while Doctor Shonto pulls my leg.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIII<br> - -<small>AT TWO IN THE CAÑON</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THOUGH the afternoon was not far spent, the -party immediately went into camp in the gorge. -If Mary’s sprain was severe, the doctor told -the others gravely, it would be impossible for her to -touch the injured foot to the ground for many days. -The men might carry her back, but it would be next -to impossible, and altogether reckless, to carry her forward. -What were they to do?</p> - -<p>Mary was suffering silently beside the campfire, and -the others had withdrawn to a distance to hold their -conference. Then came her snappy voice:</p> - -<p>“That’s mighty impolite. I know what you’re talking -about. Come over here by the fire and I’ll relieve -your minds.”</p> - -<p>When they had congregated about her she said -placidly:</p> - -<p>“Now, there’s just one thing for you to do. That -is to go on, and leave me here in the cañon with enough -grub to last me until you give up hope of ever finding -the Valley of Tomfoolery. Which will be in a few -days, at most, I’m thinking.”</p> - -<p>“Mary Temple,” Charmian told her firmly, “we’ll -do nothing of the sort. We’ll stay with you till you -can walk or carry you over the back trail right now—and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span> -that ends that. We were only trying to decide -which of the two would be the better plan.”</p> - -<p>“Charmian,” said Mary, “will you kindly remember -that it is <i>my</i> ankle that is sprained. I’m running that -ankle myself, and whatever I say that has that ankle -for a subject goes. This is not the first time that I -have been in the wilderness, and a little thing like -this doesn’t trouble me in the least. This expedition, -foolish though it is, means a lot to you. And I’m not -going to allow you to come this far and have to give up -because of me. You’ll see this thing to the bitter end -or I’ll never move from this country, this cañon, this -fireside, or this rock on which I’m sitting. You, and -all of you—even old Marblehead—have browbeaten -me, bullied me, overrun me since we lost those rascals, -Leach and Morley, on the desert. But now at last, -because of my sprained ankle, I am in command of the -situation. And I mean to be obeyed. You’ll leave me -here, with provisions and an ample supply of firewood -within arm’s reach, while you continue on to the end -of the Bonehead Country. You’re not going to all -this expense and deprivation and hardship for nothing. -The sky’s still clear. Henry’s late winter seems assured. -You may not have another chance in years to -even come as far as you have. And you’re going to -shoot the piece while you’re about it.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Mary Temple!” laughed Charmian. “What -atrocious slang!”</p> - -<p>“It’s time for slang,” Mary declared testily. “Shoot -the piece!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>“But, Mary, it’s perfectly—perfectly <i>hideous</i> to -leave you here in this God-forsaken wilderness all alone—and -you a woman with a sprained ankle. Neither -the doctor nor Andy will consent to such a thing.”</p> - -<p>“They’ll either go one way and leave me, or go -the other way and leave me. This rock on which I’m -sitting is my throne, and I won’t move from it until -I have my way. I’ll die right here on this rock, I tell -you, before I’ll give in one inch!”</p> - -<p>“But a mountain lion might attack you, Mary -Temple!”</p> - -<p>“Go on! You talk as if I were good to eat! Lions -don’t kill for the fun of it; they kill for meat. Only -rats eat leather.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto was regarding her thoughtfully. His -examination of her ankle had puzzled him. It was -not swelling, and when he felt the bones he had been -unable to detect any evidence of sprain whatever. But -her contorted features and white lips spoke plainly of -pain. Now Mary surprised him by winking at him -desperately, and, wondering, he held his peace.</p> - -<p>“Now all of you but Doctor Shonto go up the cañon, -around that bend, and stay there till we call you,” -ordered Mary. “Maybe you can talk some sense into -one another’s heads. I want the doctor to examine -my ankle, and I’m too modest to have the bunch of you -staring at me.”</p> - -<p>With a queer look at Shonto, Charmian led the way -up the cañon for Henry and Andy, and they went out -of sight around the bend.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>“Well, Mary, what’s all this about, anyway?” asked -the doctor. “You haven’t sprained your ankle, and -you know it as well as I do.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” replied Mary complacently. “But -I’ve broken at least a couple of ribs.”</p> - -<p>“What!”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t want Charmian to know.”</p> - -<p>“Are you in pain?”</p> - -<p>“Doctor,” said Mary, “if you ever tell Charmian -that I said what I’m going to say I’ll never, never -speak to you again. <i>It hurts like hell!</i> There—now -you know, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“Well, for the love of Mike!” gasped Shonto. “Let -me help you into your tent. Strip to the waist in there, -while I rummage through the pack for my supplies.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t need your help,” snapped Mary. “You -forget that my ankle isn’t sprained. I can walk, but -I can’t <i>crawl</i>. And we’re getting close to the crawling -ground, Henry tells me.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I understand,” said Shonto.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he helped her to her feet and held -her arm as she walked slowly and painfully to her and -Charmian’s tent. The doctor pawed through the pack, -found his medicine case, and brought forth a tin spool -of wide adhesive plaster. A little later, stripped to -the waist and blushing furiously, Mary Temple came -from the tent and stood before him.</p> - -<p>Shonto’s skilful fingers kneaded her torso as gently -as possible, but Mary’s lips were colourless and beads -of perspiration stood out on her forehead.</p> - -<p>“That hurt?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>“Humph! Of course!”</p> - -<p>“And that?”</p> - -<p>“I guess you know it does as well as I do.”</p> - -<p>“Well, Mary, I guess you’ve cracked one of them,” -remarked Shonto, after his careful examination.</p> - -<p>He stepped behind her and flattened one end of a -strip of adhesive plaster at the middle of her back, then -brought it around to her right side.</p> - -<p>“Now get all the breath out of you,” he ordered. -“Deflate your lungs as much as possible.”</p> - -<p>Mary took a deep breath, and then obediently blew -lustily through her white lips until her lungs were free -of air. As her chest went down, Shonto put his -strength on the plaster and brought it around the -front of her body, binding her tight. He put on one -more strip, then told her he could do nothing else -for her—that the plasters would hold the rib in place -while it was knitting, and that, at her age, nature -would not complete this process until the end of about -three weeks.</p> - -<p>“Don’t let Charmian know anything about it,” cautioned -Mary, coming from the tent again. “I’ll keep -on pretending that I sprained my ankle. She’d worry -if she knew I had a rib broken. And I could manage -to walk back this way, couldn’t I, Doctor?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, if you walked slowly and carefully you might -get by.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I thought. In fact, I’ve had a broken -rib before, and while it pained me a lot—especially -in bed at night—I was able to move around. So make -Charmian think my ankle is sprained and that I can’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span> -walk a step. Then she’ll think it’s just as well for the -rest of you to go on for a few days as to turn back—seeing -that I can’t walk either way. As I said, however, -I can walk, after a fashion, but I can’t crawl a -single inch. You get the idea, don’t you? I don’t -want to break up the expedition.”</p> - -<p>“But, Mary,” he reminded her, “you have been -against it from the start. It strikes me that now you -have an excellent excuse to call it off.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’m against everything, Doctor,” she chuckled -grimly. “At first, anyway. I have to be to keep -Charmian from going to extremes. Did you think -for one moment, back there at El Trono de Tolerancia, -that I’d allow her to go on this wild-goose -chase without me? Not in a thousand years! And -last night, before we went to sleep, she told me something, -with her head resting on my lean old shoulder, -that would keep me going to the end of time if she -asked it.”</p> - -<p>“And what was that?” asked Shonto.</p> - -<p>“Well, that queer country we just passed through -seemed to work a sort of spell over her. Up until -we struck the high altitudes this thing has been more -or less of a lark with her. But up there, it seems, -the queer things she saw made her mighty thoughtful. -That was a weird, queer country, you’ll admit yourself. -It gave me the creeps; but it fired Charmian -with the realization that this is, after all, a big undertaking, -and that there’s nothing foolish or childish -about it.</p> - -<p>“Charmian always wanted to do something different—something<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span> -outstanding. She hates a commonplace -existence. She told me last night that at last -she saw a way to realize her ambition. Other women -have climbed the Alps, she said, explored the Andes, -and nosed into all sorts of queer places. She said -that she had the strength and the courage to do as -much as any woman can. And she thought her trip -to the Valley of Arcana would make a good beginning. -It really amounted to a lot, she said, for a girl -to be the first, so far as anybody knows, to enter that -hidden valley. It would add something to the geographical -knowledge of the state, and who knew what -she might not discover?</p> - -<p>“I never before saw her so enthusiastic over anything. -And now that she has come so far, I’d be the -last one on earth to turn her back. So you must go -on—you and Charmian and Andy and Marblehead. -I can live here quite comfortably till you get back. -I’m used to it—but I know now that I am too old to -have considered coming along.”</p> - -<p>“Mary,” said the doctor—and his unhandsome face -was aglow with appreciation—“I am proud to know -you. Your devotion to that girl is wonderful. But -I think your present sacrifice is too great. Charmian -will never—”</p> - -<p>Mary Temple lifted a lean hand to stop him. “I -won’t have it any other way,” she said. “To-morrow -a couple of you men go back to the cache and pack -in all that you can of the provisions we left there. -That will give me an assurance of plenty, and you can -start out, loaded to capacity again, from this point.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span> -I’ll be all right. Don’t worry about me. And what -better plan have you to offer, anyway?”</p> - -<p>“We could all camp here until you are fit to travel -back,” suggested Shonto, “and then—”</p> - -<p>“Absolute nonsense!” Mary objected. “What’s the -use in wasting your opportunity that way? Don’t try -to be frivolously chivalrous, Doctor. This is no time -for useless sentiment. Winter is close at hand, and -this is a hard, hard country. It’s time to look at the -matter seriously.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go and talk with the others,” said Shonto -abruptly, and swung away up the cañon.</p> - -<p>It was a difficult situation. No one wanted to leave -a middle-aged woman alone in that wild cañon, with -a vast, rugged wilderness between her and the comforts -of life. But Mary remained tyrannically obdurate, -so they decided that they would think the matter -over during the two or three days which it would -take Andy and Shirttail Henry to go for more provisions -and return.</p> - -<p>Early next morning the two set off on the back -trail. The doctor busied himself at making a more -or less permanent camp for Mary, provided they decided -in the end to accept her ultimatum. Charmian -spent hours at bringing her diary up to date. Mary, -though in pain and obliged to move about with caution, -feigned a limp and kept busy in order to deceive -Charmian.</p> - -<p>The afternoon of the third day of Henry and -Andy’s absence brought boredom to all three. The -sky still was clear as crystal, with no suggestion of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span> -clouds; and down in the cañon it was warm while the -sun remained overhead. Mary was confined to camp, -of course, but she insisted that Charmian and Shonto -go on a short trip of exploration either up or down -the gorge.</p> - -<p>The pair set off about two o’clock. The cañon -floor was a mass of nigger-head boulders, through -which snaked the rushing green creek. The walls -were all but perpendicular in places and of a height -close to two hundred and fifty feet. Few trees grew -near the floor of the cañon, but there were numberless -entanglements of driftwood from which to draw -upon for fuel.</p> - -<p>The birds were singing their praise of the comforting -sunlight. Delicate ferns, unmolested by the -frost, waved their green fronds above stones set in -the cañon walls, their stems upreared from soft, vari-coloured -mossbanks as lustrous and yielding as Oriental -rugs and sparkling with diamonds of dew. A -pensive languor pervaded the cañon, a sort of armistice -between the mellow sun warmth and the gorge’s -lifelong heritage of clammy coldness. It made these -human beings moody. The warmth was the gipsy -warmth of early springtime, when the smells of earth -are sweetest, as, deep down within the soil, the sleepy -seeds begin to rub their eyes and stretch in their great -awakening to a short life of ceaseless struggles. The -pair were moody because they realized that it was not -spring, that the half-hearted promise of the sun was -altogether insincere. And while they were susceptible -to the indolence of this tantalizing afternoon, the false<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span> -warmth stirred their blood and kindled their imaginations -to deeds of high emprise and thoughts of life -as it ought to be, but never is. They were filled with -vague feelings of unrest; they spoke but little and -dreamed ambitious girlish and boyish dreams.</p> - -<p>“Let’s sit down,” said Charmian, when they were a -mile or more from camp.</p> - -<p>An ancient bleached pine log had drifted into a -little nook of rocks, where it was upheld from the -floor by short, broken-off, horizontal limbs to a convenient -height for a seat. It looked like a great white -thousand-legged worm with porcupine quills in its -back, said Charmian, as she seated herself between -two of the upper-side stumps of limbs.</p> - -<p>“What a day!” she continued. “I never was more -ambitious in my life, Doctor, but I just want to sit -here and ambish with my eyes half closed. I didn’t -know one could be lazy and ambitious at the same -time. I imagine dope must affect one something like -this. Gee, but I could slay pirates on the Spanish -Main this afternoon—that is, if they’d move the -Spanish Main up here to this log and I could keep -from gaping long enough to draw my cutlass. Don’t -know that I’d want to kill pirates, either—I’d rather -be a pirate myself and murder honest people. But -either would be an effort—unless I could sit here and -slay ’em with the evil eye.”</p> - -<p>She made an arm-rest of one of the stumpy branches -and sank her round chin in one hand. The posture -pushed up one ruddy cheek and caused her red lips to -show a pout, and that odd little upward flirt at one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span> -corner lent them an unconscious smile. The long dark -lashes, so delicately upturned at the end, drooped -downward. Her profile stood out clean-cut against the -flimsy light of the winter sun. Her throat showed -soft and dimpled and dusky. Her hoard of hair had -loosened and slipped downward in artistic disarray. -She relaxed, eyes half closed, and her sinuous body -slackened as it settled into unrestrained repose. Her -full bosom rose and fell as softly and smoothly as -the oily ground swell of a lazy tropic bay.</p> - -<p>Inman Shonto likened womanly beauty to that of -flowers. He knew lily girls and primrose girls, daisy -girls and violet and pansy girls, even sunflower girls. -But here was a rose girl—a great passionate American -beauty rose, bold in colouring, strong and stanch, upright -and unafraid, dominant, outstanding amid the -other flowers, but owner of all the loveliness and grace -of the lesser blossoms, as delicate of texture and as -compelling in its tenderness.</p> - -<p>The firm, puckered, rather thick lips of Dr. Shonto -made a corrugated horizontal line as he drank in the -beauty of the picture the drooping girl unconsciously -posed for him. He thought of his own pale-blue -eyes, his sparse sandy eyebrows, his thin, neutral-coloured -hair, his pitted, Gargantuan nose. But he -straightened. He had the body of a gladiator, the -heart of a knight, the soul of a poet, and his intellect -had brought both fame and wealth to his feet. The -doctor knew all this; he knew himself, his possibilities -and his limitations. He wanted this girl—he deserved -her—he had given up his important work to go with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span> -her on this impulsively planned expedition and shield -her and win her. She was a combination of all that -he desired in a wife. To let Andy Jerome take her -away from him would be an injustice to all concerned. -His brains and his character and his manhood had -made an appeal to her, he felt. Were these attributes -enough for her? Was not he possessed of attributes -of sufficient worthiness to offer in exchange for her -beauty and womanly charm? And some women, he -knew, were strangely attracted by an ugly man who -offers them virility and a masterful personality. And -nearly all such women, he had noted in his vast experience -of life, were lovely women and intensely -feminine.</p> - -<p>“Charmian,” he said suddenly, in a voice just loud -enough to be heard above the boisterous laughter of -the creek, “I’ve been thinking, since the night Andy -and I first saw you at El Trono de Tolerancia, that -maybe you’re the woman I have been waiting for and -longing for ever since I became a man. I came upon -this trip with you to find out if my intuition had told -me right. It has. The last week of you has shown -me that you and I will not be doing our full duty to -life unless we are together.”</p> - -<p>Her supple body tensed a trifle, then relaxed again. -Her long lashes had lifted until he saw the silken -sheen of her dark eyes, but now they were dropped -once more.</p> - -<p>“I’ll admit that I have gone about this thing with -practicality,” he continued. “It is, perhaps, my scientific -nature that caused me to. It’s better that way.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span> -It’s safest. Boys don’t make love as I am making -it, but I’m no boy, though I’m none the less sincere. -I look upon successful marriage as the ideal partnership. -And you will realize when you are a little older, -as I do, that companionship is the most important -feature of married life. Don’t think that I don’t love -you. I do—deeply. But I’m not offering you the -blind, fiery, uncontrolled passion of a youth in his -twenties. I’m offering you the sincere love of a mature, -reasoning man. What do you think of it?”</p> - -<p>Charmian Reemy opened her eyes and stole a quick -glance at him. The colour in her face was heightened -only a little; and, though her heart may have beat a -little faster, she was not greatly confused. But a -feeling of triumph glowed warm within her. That -she, by the not consciously exercised force of her personality -and feminine charm, had intrigued this man -of big achievements into a proposal of marriage was -thrilling.</p> - -<p>He was so desperately in earnest that his homely -face was transfigured. Facial ugliness she saw only in -the light of great strength. His broad smile was winning, -tolerant, unutterably tender. His eyes were -kind, whimsical, wistful; and there was in them now -a lustre that she never had seen glowing there before.</p> - -<p>Inman Shonto was not ugly now. The great soul -of the man had enthroned itself in his countenance. -The effect was spellbinding.</p> - -<p>Charmian had told herself that, if ever she married -again, she would marry a big man, a man of -accomplishment. Her husband had been a big man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span> -in his small way. He had been a money-maker, a -George F. Babbitt, but the girl-wife had not been able -to interest herself in his activities. He had created -nothing, discovered nothing, added nothing to the -knowledge or welfare of the race. Walter J. Reemy -had been commonplace in every way—a man whose -commonplace mind followed a daily routine of commonplaceness.</p> - -<p>“You and I, Charmian,” the doctor was saying -while she dreamed, “can make our life together an -ideal one. Won’t you even consider it?”</p> - -<p>She had closed her eyes again, but now she opened -them and smiled at him half bashfully.</p> - -<p>“I am considering it,” she said.</p> - -<p>Shonto grasped her hand with eagerness and pressed -it. “Thank heaven for that encouragement,” he -whispered fervently.</p> - -<p>“But—but could I ever understand you?” asked -Charmian. “I’m nothing—nobody—a dreamer. They -say that I am pretty. If so, isn’t it merely that which -has attracted you to me, Doctor? If we were married, -wouldn’t you shut yourself away from me, treat -me generously and courteously and devotedly, but at -the same time never take me into your confidence? -Don’t you want me merely as an ornament for the -mantle of your success?”</p> - -<p>“Why should that be, Charmian?”</p> - -<p>“Haven’t you already declined to take me into your -confidence about your work—about the glands? I -didn’t ask much, did I? I wasn’t trying to pry into -your secrets—the mysteries of your profession. I was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span> -just looking for a little enlightenment on a subject -that has interested me ever since it was brought to -the attention of the general public. And you shut up -like a clam.”</p> - -<p>Shonto’s face showed troubled lines.</p> - -<p>“I tried to explain, very carefully,” he pointed out, -“that, in this instance, there is a peculiar reason why -I cannot tell you what you want to know. But there -may come a time when I shall feel at liberty to tell -you all. Please trust me—and believe me when I say -that, if you can look on my proposal in a favourable -light, I will tell you everything. Don’t you think me -worthy of such trust, Charmian?”</p> - -<p>There was a pleading note in his tones, though they -were none the less manly, that caused her to say impulsively:</p> - -<p>“Of course I trust you. I know you must have an -excellent reason for not talking over your work with -me. I’m afraid I’m pretty much of a kid at times, -Doctor. And I’ll—I’ll— Well, I’ll think about what -you said. Oh, but what a matter-of-fact way we’re -taking to talk about such a subject! I think— My -goodness! Here comes Andy—alone!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIV<br> - -<small>THE LONG STRAW</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap2">ANDY JEROME came swinging down the cañon -with the stride of a conquering hero, straight -and strong under a burdensome pack. Both -Charmian and Shonto regarded him in admiration as -he came—he was so handsome, so well fortified with -the confidence of youth, so sure that his vigorous -young manhood was a match for any obstacle.</p> - -<p>Charmian shouted and waved her hand. The homecomer -waved back and sent the echoes cantering down -the gorge after his long-drawn baritone whoop of -greeting.</p> - -<p>“What can have happened to Henry?” the young -widow murmured, half to herself.</p> - -<p>Shonto made no reply, but his face looked worried.</p> - -<p>“Well, for mercy’s sake!” cried the girl when Andy -was close enough to hear her high-pitched words. -“Where are you coming from? Where’s the weather -bureau?”</p> - -<p>Andy Jerome came swinging on, slipping on the -nigger-heads repeatedly, but always catching himself -with the indifference that springy, always-ready muscles -bequeath to youth.</p> - -<p>“Some trip!” he laughed. “I just naturally walked -old Marblehead off his feet. Then I left him to die -and made the rounds alone.”</p> - -<p>He reached them, eased his pack to the stones with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span> -a great sigh, and held out both hands to them—his -right to Charmian.</p> - -<p>“Golly, I’m tired!” he ejaculated; but he looked as -if any weariness that he might feel would forsake him -after an hour’s rest.</p> - -<p>“Where <i>is</i> Henry?” asked Shonto soberly. “And -how are you back so soon?—and coming down the -gorge?”</p> - -<p>“Well, last question answered first, I’m hitting her -up down the gorge because I discovered an easier -route back than the one Henry brought us over. And -Henry is on his way home to write a letter to the -Weather Bureau for a new rain gauge.”</p> - -<p>“Andy, you don’t mean it!”—from Charmian -Reemy.</p> - -<p>“Sure do. I couldn’t hold ’im. Thought I’d talked -him out of shaking us, but in the night, while I was -pounding my ear, he ups and beats it.”</p> - -<p>“But his money?” said Shonto.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I paid him in advance,” Charmian confessed -with guilty reticence.</p> - -<p>“The old rascal!” the doctor snorted.</p> - -<p>“But I’m not worrying,” Andy continued. “He’d -virtually told me how to find the Valley of Arcana, -and it strikes me that he’s already about fulfilled his -contract. I believe I can go straight to it from here. -I’ll tell you later what I got out of him.</p> - -<p>“Personally, I won’t miss the old coot in the least. -He’s not so much in the mountains. I walked the head -off the old boy on the trip back to the cache. I let -myself out—see?—which I couldn’t do in travelling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span> -with you folks—if you’ll pardon me. So I took our -bold mountaineer on for a regular ramble, and I had -him begging for less speed three hours out of camp.”</p> - -<p>“He’s quite a little older than you are, Andy,” -Charmian made reminder.</p> - -<p>She did not exactly approve of Andy’s slightly -boastful tone. Dr. Shonto caught the note in her -voice, and hastened to say:</p> - -<p>“Don’t pay too much attention to our young -friend’s high opinion of his own prowess. Ordinarily -Andy isn’t the least bit boastful. But we’re living a -more or less primitive life these days. Our existence -may depend on what we can do with our legs and -arms and hands. Surmounting the difficulties of this -wilderness has become the most important thing in -our lives. We must excuse one another for being -primevally proud of our little achievements.”</p> - -<p>“Good work, Doctor!” laughed Andy, a trifle red -of face. “Was I shooting the old bazoo too hard? -Maybe so. Thanks for your explanation to Charmian. -The doctor’s a wonder at keeping the serene equilibrium -of camp life at par. He always understands -that folks are different once they’ve shaken the dust -of civilization from their feet. They’re more primitive—that’s -right.</p> - -<p>“Well, to continue, old Henry has been worrying -ever since the bell burro made a sandwich out of his -old gauge. Reading that gauge and sending in his -reports are the greatest things in life for him. And -so—well, he just up and hit the trail, that’s all. He’s -got a loose screw in his head, of course. So we were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span> -camped at the cache, ready to start back in the morning. -And when I found he’d gone I knew right away -what had happened and struck out at dawn alone. -And—boasting or no boasting—I’ve brought all that -I meant to pack in and at least half of what Shirttail -Henry had laid out for his pack. So we’re not so -bad off, after all. How’s our pillar of determination -and her sprain?”</p> - -<p>The three walked down the cañon toward their -camp, Shonto carrying the pack. Andy told the -others, as they stumbled over the round, smooth stone -cannon balls of the creek-bed, what Shirttail Henry -had divulged concerning the onward trail to the Valley -of Arcana.</p> - -<p>When they had climbed the steep southern wall of -the cañon in which they were encamped they would -find themselves on a wooded plateau, none too level. -For several miles they would travel across timberland, -then the trees would become scarcer and patches of -chaparral would make their appearance. Gradually -the chaparral would claim the land, and would extend -for miles—how many he did not know—to the country -immediately surrounding the valley of their quest. -Halfway through this immense stretch of prickly -brush Reed, the ranger, and his companions had been -obliged to discontinue the trip.</p> - -<p>“But they always tried it in summer,” said Andy. -“In summer or spring, when the air is hot and a fellow -needs a lot of water. It’s cool now—cold—and -we won’t suffer much along that line. We’ll pack -every drop of water we can and nurse it religiously.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span> -We won’t need much. Strikes me a fellow could catch -enough dew over night to last him all next day. -Stretch out a closely woven piece of canvas, maybe. -And if it should rain or snow, we’d perhaps be mighty -uncomfortable, but we’d be assured of plenty of -water.”</p> - -<p>“Let’s not pray for either,” the girl suggested. -“I’d rather chance a drought.”</p> - -<p>“For my part,” said Shonto, “I almost wish we -could go back and give it up entirely. It’s going to -be serious if winter overtakes us; and, because of the -many delays we’ve been up against, it strikes me that -that’s almost sure to happen.”</p> - -<p>“Can’t give up and go back now, with Mary unable -to travel,” Andy reminded him.</p> - -<p>“Yes, that’s so,” sighed the older man. “We’re in -for it now, and we may as well forge on as to twiddle -our thumbs in the cañon while Mary’s—er—sprain -gets better. But I’ll tell you one thing: I’m never -going to consent to leave that woman alone in the -gorge, crippled as she is. Either you or I, Andy, must -stay with her. Of course Charmian must go on, if -anybody does; this is her circus. And as you are the -expert mountaineer of the party, I have decided to -stay with Mary. But it’s going to give me grey hairs -whether I go or stay. If I go, Mary will be constantly -on my guilty mind. If I stay with her, I won’t be -able to sleep for worrying about you two.”</p> - -<p>“Shucks, Doctor! You’re not like yourself at all -here lately,” was Andy’s complaint. “You used to be -a sport—nothing was too rough for you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>“I never had a couple of women along with me before,” -Shonto defended himself. “And I don’t know -that I’ve ever before been in quite so precarious a -situation, Andy. It’s no difficult matter to become -food for the coyotes in a country like we’re in.”</p> - -<p>All three were a trifle serious now and talked but -little. Charmian and Andy agreed with Dr. Shonto, -however, that it would be ungenerous to leave Mary -Temple alone in this dismal gorge while they continued -the adventure. Andy had made no offer to -stay and allow his friend to go with Charmian. His -heart was leaping madly at thought of braving the -trail into an unknown land with her alone.</p> - -<p>Mary Temple listened without a show of consternation -to the story of Shirttail Henry’s duty-bound -flight.</p> - -<p>“Well,” she observed dispassionately, “we seem -destined to lose our support. First the Morleys and -Leach threw us down, and now the good ship <i>Marblehead</i> -goes on the rocks. He was more or less of a -doodunk, anyway.”</p> - -<p>“What’s a doodunk?” Andy asked.</p> - -<p>“A doodunk,” she informed her questioner, “is -something that makes a man say damn and a woman -think damn. For example, a doodunk is a lumpy -place in a mattress. But Henry’s going knocks something -galley west and crooked.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” Charmian wished to know.</p> - -<p>“With Henry out of it, who’s going to be the madman -that leans over you and chokes you in the Valley -of Arcana?” snapped Mary. “I hope you haven’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span> -forgotten that, Charmian Reemy! You wait! -Madame Destrehan knows—she saw it all!”</p> - -<p>Mary was not exactly in an amiable mood, but the -others broached the subject of some one remaining -with her, nevertheless. To their utter surprise, she -made reply:</p> - -<p>“Well, I’ve been thinking that over myself this -afternoon. I guess maybe you’re right, at that. Charmian -must go on—that’s settled. This is her fool -party, and the rest of us are just invited guests. So -either Doctor Shonto or Andy will have to stay with me, -and the other one go on with Charmian and get the -ridiculous thing over with while my ankle’s getting -well.”</p> - -<p>“Now, neither of you two fellows want to stay -with an old battleaxe like me. I know that. Just -the same, all alone here in this cold, dark cañon this -afternoon, I changed my tune. So you’ll draw -straws to see which one is elected. And as I’m the -innocent party concerned, I’ll hold the straws. Suit -you?”</p> - -<p>Her defiant eyes coasted from Shonto to the -younger man.</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” both made answer. And Andy added, -in tones none too strong:</p> - -<p>“Nothing could be fairer.”</p> - -<p>“All right.” Mary bent over—with difficulty and -pain, the doctor noted—and took up from the ground -a box of safety matches. She extracted two, closed -the box and dropped it, and turned herself slowly on -her rocky throne until her back was toward the expectant<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span> -gamblers. “Got a piece of money, either of -you?” she asked.</p> - -<p>Andy produced a silver coin.</p> - -<p>“Toss it up,” commanded the arbiter of their fortunes. -“Heads, the doctor draws first; tails, Andy -gets first crack. And the one that draws the long -match stays with me. What about it?”</p> - -<p>“Suits me,” both men said; and Andy flipped the -half-dollar into the air.</p> - -<p>“Tails,” he announced as the coin rang on the -stones. “I draw first.”</p> - -<p>Mary wheeled slowly back and faced them. She -held out one big-veined and skinny hand, above the -closed fingers of which two match-heads protruded.</p> - -<p>With a swift glance at his rival, Andy took a step -and stood before her, hesitated a moment, then -reached out and pulled a match.</p> - -<p>He caught his breath, turned red, and glanced confusedly -at Charmian.</p> - -<p>He had drawn an entire match—the long straw. -He was elected to stay with Mary Temple.</p> - -<p>“I don’t care if I did cheat,” Mary consoled herself -as she sought her bed early that night. “They’ll -never guess that neither match was broken. Andy -had no chance to win—and I wanted it that way.”</p> - -<p>But at the same time that she was saying this Dr. -Shonto sat alone over the red coals of the dying campfire. -Charmian and Andy were strolling down the -cañon together under the light of the moon, and the -girl did not protest when Andy’s arm stole round her -waist.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XV<br> - -<small>VAGRANCY CAÑON</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">“CHARMIAN,” said Andy passionately, “do -you know that I love you more than anything -else in all the world? I can’t live without -you, darling! Don’t want to live without you! You -know I love you, don’t you, dear? Tell me you know -it! You must know it! You can’t help but know! -I’ve loved you from the moment I first set eyes on -you, when you stood in the door in your evening gown -at El Trono de Tolerancia. God, how I love you, -Charmian!”</p> - -<p>He stopped her, made her face him, and threw his -other arm about her. He was trembling violently, -and in the moonlight she saw the twitching of his -parted lips.</p> - -<p>“Charmian! Charmian!” he cried brokenly, as he -realized that she was not struggling in his arms. -“You love me, don’t you? I know you love me! -God!”</p> - -<p>He tightened his hold on her, drew her close to his -breast, kissed her dark hair, then savagely threw her -body sidewise and found her lips with his.</p> - -<p>She was shaken—swept away. He was so young, -so handsome, so strong, so intensely masculine. Every -primitive instinct of her being went out to him. She -could no more escape the passionate appeal of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span> -male in him than can the innocent, nature-ruled females -of the wilderness escape at mating time. She -had no desire to escape. They were man and woman, -alone under the stars and the moon, in a deep, grim -cañon that scarred the heart of this wild region; and -all the sounding brass and tinkling cymbals of our -false and hectic civilization were far away. A man -and a woman, alone and aloof as Adam and Eve in -the Garden of Eden, young, courageous, ripe for love. -“Male and female created he them.” She gave him -her warm, firm lips. He kissed her lips and eyes and -her dusky throat, while the blood hammered in his -veins as if freshets of old port wine were rushing -through them.</p> - -<p>They spoke a thousand words that night, reclining -in each other’s arms on the uncompromising floor of -that severe old gorge, but they only said, “I love -you.” They said it in a hundred ways, lips to lips, -but no way was original. Love knows no originality -when it is sincere. “I love you” is all that can be said—three -words, “I love you,” but they are the hinges -that swing the door of life.</p> - -<p>“And to-morrow you’re going with him to the Valley -of Arcana, Charmian! Will you think of me all -the time, dearest? You won’t listen if he makes love -to you, will you, Charmian? I know you won’t—you’re -the dearest, truest, sweetest girl on earth! -Oh, why did I have to draw the long match! Why -couldn’t I go with you instead of him? But as soon -as you find the valley, you’ll come right back, won’t -you, honey?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>“Of course”—and she smothered the words against -his lips.</p> - -<p>“I wonder, if I were to tell him that we love each -other, if he wouldn’t consent to let me go instead. If -Mary needs help, he, being a doctor, ought to stay -with her. But then I couldn’t ask it. He wouldn’t -expect me to. I know he’d give in to me—but he’d -think I wasn’t a sport. We’ve always played square—the -doctor and I. I hope he doesn’t love you too -much, Charmian. Has he told you that he loves you? -What were you saying in the cañon this afternoon?”</p> - -<p>“He told me he loved me,” said Charmian softly.</p> - -<p>“He did!”—belligerently. “And what—what did -you say?”</p> - -<p>“I—I promised to consider it, Andy. I couldn’t -think of anything else to say. And that was before -you—before to-night, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you tell him there was nothing doing?”</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t. I didn’t want to— That is, I—I—he -took me so by surprise. And you hadn’t once -mentioned love to me then, Andy. And who could -hurt his feelings—he’s such a dear—such a manly -man!”</p> - -<p>“But you knew I was going to blurt it out sometime—when -I found my nerve.”</p> - -<p>“I know—I felt it, I guess. But—oh, don’t think -of Doctor Shonto to-night. I love you—I love <i>you</i>! -I don’t want to think of anything else in all the world!”</p> - -<p>The hour was late when they returned to camp, -floating in air. The doctor had long since sought his -blankets. They lengthened the good-night kiss of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span> -their new-found love, for in the morning there would -be no opportunity to kiss before the parting.</p> - -<p>Charmian, Andy, and Shonto had talked at length -over the directions given to Andy by the defaulting -Henry for the continuation of the journey. Before -the girl and Andy had gone down the gorge for their -love-making all arrangements had been made for an -early-morning start.</p> - -<p>The four were rather silent as they ate breakfast -in the frosty cañon. Mary Temple assumed the initiative -in such conversation as was indulged in, fussing -over the out-going pair, as needlessly agitated as a -mother hen, a couple of whose brood are ducklings -and persist in taking to the water. But at last the -meal was over, the good-byes were spoken, the packs -and water-bags shouldered, the final love message -wirelessed between Charmian and Andy. And now -Mary stood needlessly shading her eyes with her hand -as she watched the couple up the gorge, so dismal at -that early-morning hour, while Andy watched from a -seat on a large boulder, spread-legged, with hands -clasped between his knees, hopelessness in his eyes.</p> - -<p>Then shrilly shouted the mother hen after her -erring ducklings:</p> - -<p>“Doctor! <i>Doc</i>-tor! Did you leave Andy plenty -of his little pills?”</p> - -<p>Poor Mary Temple! She was not gifted with the -ability to look into the future for which she gave -Madame Destrehan credit. Had she been able to she -could have envisioned Dr. Shonto trudging wearily -back to her and Andy six days later—alone.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>Half a mile up the clammy cañon from the camp -Charmian and the doctor turned abruptly to the right -and entered a steep branch cañon that tentacled from -the larger one to the south. Their course was still -due south, according to the bewhiskered deserter, and, -as they carried a dependable compass, it was without -misgivings that they abandoned landmarks which they -knew and clambered upward into an unknown country.</p> - -<p>The branch cañon was rock-tenoned and perilously -steep, though mercifully dry for a mile above its -mouth. It was, said Charmian, the most outspoken -cañon in its querulous complaints over their trespassing -that they had as yet encountered. It seemed that -nature had designed it as the closest attempt to an -impossible approach to what was beyond as lay -within her power. Into its V bottom she had in a -fit of anger hurled immense boulders from the heights -above. She had uptilted in her tantrum huge strata -of leaflike stone whose edges were sharp as a butcher’s -cleaver. Then, out to make a night of it, she had -poured rubble from the size of an egg to that of a -muskmelon down the reaching slopes, wildly mirthful -as a miser raining his shekels from bags to glittering -heaps on the table-top. These rubble slides were -sometimes half a mile in length—nothing but a slanted -sea of round, smooth stones of reddish hue, with not -a grain of soil or one single gasping blade of vegetation. -Across these slides the wanderers laboured -heavily, for the stones, always eager to continue their -interrupted rush into the cañon, gave under their feet -like dough; often slid under them, carrying them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span> -along on the crest of a new slide; and, thus releasing -the pressure, caused slides above them which threatened -to swoop down and engulf them or mangle their -arms and legs; threw them headlong on occasion; -twisted their ankles; endangered every bone; made -progress a nightmare of apprehensions by clutching -their feet at every step, as when the dream-tortured -victim tries to flee from some murderous phantom and -terror palsies his legs. Once Shonto pitched headlong -as the rubble sank under his feet like breaking ice. -The break started a slide above him, which extended -upward and upward to the lip of the cañon until their -ears were filled with the deafening roar of a far-reaching -avalanche. Large stones were pushed upward -above the mass, and, released, came bounding -down alone over the top of the sliding sea, gaining -momentum at every leap, living devils of menace.</p> - -<p>For a brief space the two were bewildered, the -doctor the more so because his head had struck a -rock in falling and left him dazed. Then Charmian -screamed, and he struggled up and ploughed a way to -her side. Almost before they could plan escape the -vanguard of the great slide was rushing past them -and piling up about their ankles.</p> - -<p>“The other side!” shouted the doctor.</p> - -<p>He grasped her hand and together they plunged -recklessly toward the V bottom of the cañon. It was -no longer dry, and this feature had forced them to -traverse the rubble, for the opposite wall was all but -perpendicular, with overhanging crags. There was -no footing. Every frantic step landed them on top<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span> -of a rolling stone or in the midst of a nest of them. -Their ankles turned; they were pitched drunkenly -from right to left, thrown to their knees, carried -downward in a sitting posture, sometimes backward. -The increasing roar was terrifying; a tidal wave of -reddish stones was vomited at them—a charging army -pursuing them, its skirmish line already heckling them, -its cannon balls pounding down from the artillery in -the rear.</p> - -<p>Charmian pitched forward; would have sprawled -on her face upon the wriggling mass of stones had -the doctor lost his crushing grip on her hand. Her -right arm was almost jerked from its socket as their -arms straightened between them and the doctor held -on. She thought of her girlhood game of “crack the -whip,” when she had been the “snapper” at the tail -end of the line and had absorbed the greatest part of -the dizzying shock. Next moment she felt herself -swept up into his arms, pack and all; and then—though -only Heaven knows how he did it—the man pitched -with his burden into the cañon, lunged through the -water, and started to climb the wall on the opposite -side.</p> - -<p>Here she struggled free. “I’m all right,” she -panted. “I can climb. Oh, hurry!”</p> - -<p>Upwards they struggled, grasping jutting stones and -the roots of bushes. Into the cañon below them poured -the avalanche of stones with the clatter of a billion -dice. They struggled on for fifty feet or more, then -the girl dropped in helpless exhaustion; and Shonto, -faring little better, threw himself down beside her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>“We’re safe,” he gulped. “Just—just rest.”</p> - -<p>Gradually the roar subsided while they lay there -gasping for the air that seemed to be denied them. -Only an occasional angry snarl came from some section -of the slide that tried to renew the wild dervish -dance of destruction. Then all sounds ceased, and the -beleaguered travellers sat up and gazed at the opposite -side of the cañon. Everything looked as it had looked -before the doctor fell, except that the bottom of the -cañon was covered with rubble to a depth of maybe -twenty feet. The freshets of a hundred springs to -come would carry these on down towards the floor of -the mother cañon below, and all would seem to be -as it had been for centuries past until some leaping -deer or prowling cougar or skulking coyote passed that -way and started another slide.</p> - -<p>“Gosh!” breathed Charmian. “Ain’t nature wonderful! -Thanks for the lift, dear old thing. Well, -who’s scared? Where do we go from here?”</p> - -<p>“That’s the difficulty,” said Shonto seriously. “I -don’t like to risk another slide by travelling over the -rubble stones again, and if we keep to this side of the -cañon we won’t make half a mile an hour. And to -walk up the floor of the cañon means wet feet and a -continual battle with big boulders and outcroppings.”</p> - -<p>But time was of the essence of their contract. They -risked the slides again.</p> - -<p>They crossed two more as large as the one on which -catastrophe had threatened, then several of lesser dimensions -until they went out of the district of slides. -Now they worked their slow way along the same steep<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span> -slope, over roots and rocks and soft black soil, mellow -with decayed chaparral leaves and foamy from the -heaving frost. The travelling was heart-breaking until -they stepped into a deer trail by sheerest accident. -Birds cheered them along their way—silent, solemn -birds, but companionable in their flattering curiosity. -They were very small birds with indistinguishable necks, -impossible long bills, big heads, swollen breasts, dull -colouring, and manners pontifical in seriousness. These -were the questioning little aborigines that, on the other -side of the divide, Mary Temple had called squirks, -explaining that a squirk was an important little man -who looked like a shabbily clothed preacher, but who -made his living by taking orders for enlargements of -portrait photographs.</p> - -<p>The cañon dwindled—petered out entirely on the -ample breast of a hill. It that had been so jagged and -yawning and formidable down below now showed no -cause for its being—Vagrancy Cañon, Charmian named -it because, she said, it could show no visible means of -support. Over the rounded breast of the eminence -they trailed and found themselves on virtually level -land, on the wooded plateau of Shirttail Henry’s -promise. The day was almost spent; they retraced -their way back to the cañon, to where they had seen a -spring. Fleecy clouds drifted across the sky, mobilizing -in the west, where the reflection of the sinking sun -on the far-off ocean was re-reflected on their snowy -scallops—orange, cerise, and giddy yellow.</p> - -<p>They camped by the little spring.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVI<br> - -<small>THE CAMP IN VAGRANCY CAÑON</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SHONTO collected wood and built a fire, while -Charmian undid the packs. At an early hour the -sun sank behind the mountain peaks, and night -descended fast. They cooked and ate a simple meal -and wasted not a crumb, for this was a serious business -that they were upon and the success of it might depend -on their husbanding of food.</p> - -<p>They cleaned up after the meal, and, while the thin -light lasted, sought out their sleeping places for the -night and spread the blankets. Both were ineffably -weary, for even Charmian’s pack was a heavy one. -But the warmth of the leaping fire that they now built -up from the red cooking coals soothed their aching -joints and muscles and made existence rosier. They -sat one on either side of it, and Shonto rolled and -lighted a cigarette to be drawn upon between sips of -hot black coffee.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take one too, please,” said Charmian. “I don’t -often smoke, but I know how; and it seems to me that, -with only us two away out here in the land of nowhere, -I ought to smoke to keep you company. Do -you approve of women smoking, Doctor?”</p> - -<p>“Never before having had any women to be solicitous -about,” replied Shonto thoughtfully, as he rolled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span> -her cigarette, “I have never given the subject much -thought.”</p> - -<p>He arose and handed her the rolled cylinder. She -accepted it a bit awkwardly and ran the tip of her pink -tongue along the edge of the paper to moisten it. With -the toe of his heavy high-laced boot he scraped a -burning twig from the fire and supplied her with a -light.</p> - -<p>“Women who smoke not being looked upon with -favour,” he remarked, as he squatted over his coffee -cup again, “strikes me as only another example of the -slavery to which woman has been subjected from the -beginning of history. Laying aside any harm that may -come from the practice, why shouldn’t she smoke? It -may stain her teeth and work havoc with her digestive -apparatus, but her teeth and digestive apparatus are -identical with man’s. So we can’t justly prohibit her -from smoking on those grounds. The smoking woman -is looked upon with disfavour, then, merely because -tradition has it that she cannot smoke and remain in the -good graces of conservative society. To the bourgeois -mind, she is not a lady. Now, the act of smoking is in -itself absolutely no more unmoral than spinning a top. -If men derived pleasure from top-spinning, doubtless -women would be permitted to likewise enjoy themselves. -Men eat candy, and women may do so too -without losing caste. Just why they can’t smoke without -getting in bad is beyond me.”</p> - -<p>“It’s simply another of our stupid taboos,” said -Charmian, puffing grandly to show her independence, -and choking just a little now and then. “We’re<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span> -hemmed in with taboos on all sides. They are -grounded in our conservative minds from childhood, -and we can’t shake them off. Years ago some one -decided that women ought not to smoke. Some one -agreed with him. Others took it up, perhaps; and -finally it became the accepted rule. So in childhood we -were taught that women shouldn’t smoke—that good -women didn’t smoke. We grew up unaccustomed to -see women smoking. Therefore when we encountered -an occasional individual who did smoke, she was considered -immoral. But why immoral? What is there -immoral about placing a cigarette between one’s lips, -lighting it, and inhaling and exhaling the smoke? Injurious -it may be, but we’re not discussing that phase -of the subject. A man may thus injure himself with -impunity, but if a woman does so she is immoral. Now -isn’t that illogical?”</p> - -<p>“Logic plays a small part in our lives,” said -Shonto. “We’re not on very friendly terms with logic. -Logic means thinking and shaking off the old ideas that -are handed down to us from the ancients, and we’re -too lazy to do that. Logic calls for reasoning, and -why reason when our beliefs and our behaviour have -been regulated for us for seventeen or eighteen hundred -years? Why think for ourselves, when the ancients -went to so much trouble to prescribe for us our -taboos and our religious beliefs and our standard of -morals? Why think, in short? It’s such hard work. -And it has a tendency to uproot old beliefs in which -we are quite comfortable. We might feel the urge to -clean house if we sat down and thought a little, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span> -everybody knows how upsetting is house-cleaning -day!”</p> - -<p>“And isn’t there any hope for us, Doctor Shonto? -Will nothing make us think?”</p> - -<p>Shonto’s dull eyes brightened. “Yes, we’re beginning -to think. The great war did that much for us -here in America, anyway. I really believe there is a -serious attempt being made to-day to think. People -are at least trying to think. They are at least reading -more thoughtful books than ever before, and, thank -God, we have a few men who are capable of writing -thoughtful books! There’s a whisper going along the -line, a faint and timorous suggestion that maybe all is -not as it should be on this earth—that maybe we are -selling our heritage for a mess of pottage—that perhaps -we are trampling life’s riches under our feet, like -swine trampling into the mud nuggets of gold as they -rush to the swill trough.</p> - -<p>“But as yet only the people who have been trying for -some time to think are absorbing the books which will -help them to think. These books are beyond the -masses. The authors of many of them are slaves to -style and big-sounding words. The newspapers are -the unthinking man’s school—and what a farce, what -a seedbed of corruption they are! Reporters and -editors must remain loyal to the policies of their papers, -regardless of their own opinions. They who could -help us to think are forbidden to do so on the penalty -of losing their jobs.</p> - -<p>“And the children of this country, and doubtless -every other so-called civilized country, must depend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span> -upon the schools to learn to think. And every thinking -teacher who takes the rostrum is fired for his attempt -to break down the walls of superstition and slash the -hedges of tradition. But for all that, the youth of this -country at least are gradually—no, pretty swiftly—breaking -away. The world-old conflict between Age -and Youth is at its hottest now. In the past thirty -years the world has made revolutionary discoveries -which are daily changing our lives and methods of -thinking. All this came about after Age had settled -down to an acceptance of life without any changes. At -forty or fifty one does not readily change his views. -The sutures of his skull are closed, and it is difficult for -him to learn new ideas. He is beyond the plastic -period, and his head is as hard as his arteries. He is -entirely unable to accept the electron theory in the -place of ‘in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, -the sea, and all that in them is.’ Simply because he -never heard of the electron theory at the age when his -brain was capable of accepting a new idea. It’s too -late for him—he’s hopeless. But he’s dying off! -To-morrow he won’t be running the world. His sons -and his daughters will be in the saddle.</p> - -<p>“And they have come upon the earth and grown to -young manhood and young womanhood while these -radical changes were taking place. They are able to -consider, even accept, the findings of modern science -because they are presented to them while their brains -are still in the receptive period of life. What seems -most plausible to them they accept, and they naturally -will laugh at the old traditions, superstitions, taboos,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span> -and beliefs that have come down to us from the days -of savagery, and which were ingrained in the lives of -their parents when <i>they</i> were of a receptive age. Fifty -years, I think, will show many a mossy institution -crumbled to ashes. The Aged of to-day will be gone, -without having been able to force their lifelong beliefs -on Youth. Then Youth will become Old Age, and if -we have progressed at all, the coming generation will -refuse to accept what <i>their</i> fathers and mothers believed -in and made the ruling factor in their lives. So -the conflict between Age and Youth, between conservatism -and change, between receptive minds and locked -minds, goes on to the end of time.”</p> - -<p>“My stars!” cried Charmian. “You’re more pessimistic -about it—more hopeless—than I am, even!”</p> - -<p>“I hadn’t finished,” said Shonto dreamily. “That -will be the result unless men learn to think. They -have brains, why don’t they think? Because they have -been relieved of the necessity for thinking by the -ancient spellbinders whom we still worship to-day. -That’s why they don’t think. Man is naturally lazy—more -so mentally than any other way. If others have -done his thinking for him, he should worry! It gives -him time to pursue the things that he likes—money, -pleasure, love, self-aggrandizement.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I understand all that. But it doesn’t help.”</p> - -<p>“We’re going to make him think in spite of himself,” -said Shonto. “We’re going to give him a quicker -brain, so that he will be compelled to think willy-nilly. -His brain is good, but it needs exercise. And he has -not been obliged to exercise it. Hence it has become<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span> -slothful. Considering the progress that our few -thinkers have made, the brain of the average man is -far below normal. We must bring it up to normal so -that it will exercise itself and grow whether he wants it -to or not. Then he’ll shed his stupidity and open his -eyes, and maybe something will go bust in the wheels -of the system that rules us. We’re going to feed him -the extract of the thyroid glands of sheep, sharpen his -intellect, put the zip of life into him. Then he’ll think, -and he’ll probably get mad. But we are only at the -beginning of this great study of the glands and their -secretions, and what they may do for man.</p> - -<p>“The thyroid is the gland of energy. It controls the -growth of certain organs and tissues of brain and sex. -The internal secretions of our thyroid glands, mind -you, are not necessary to life. If these secretions are -inadequate, we may go on living, but we shall be below -normal mentally, and our level of energy will remain -low. But when more thyroid is introduced into the -system our vital chemical reactions will speed up. It -has been proved and accepted without qualification by -men of science that the more thyroid a person has the -more energetic will he be. Our dull people are, in -many cases, only victims of an insufficiency of thyroid. -One’s memory is affected by his thyroid glands. And -without memory, who can learn? Judgment depends -on memory, doesn’t it? It requires memory, the association -of experiences. Quick thinking calls for thyroid -glands that are normal. Do you know, Charmian, that -many criminals are only the victims of their glands—and -that science can probably correct this in time by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span> -supplying the unfortunates with the gland secretions -which they lack? Do you realize that it is, even now, -an established scientific fact that idiocy can be cured by -feeding the subject the extract of the thyroid glands of -sheep? And—and— Well, I simply have great hopes -for the race if science eventually finds it possible to -quicken the thinking apparatus by the introduction of -gland extracts.”</p> - -<p>“Has anything been accomplished along that line?” -she asked. “Have you accomplished anything?”</p> - -<p>“I have,” he told her. “I am convinced that we are -on the right track.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me of some case,” she begged.</p> - -<p>He seemed to be searching his mind. “The greater -part of the cases that I have handled,” he said at last, -“were concerned with subjects whose maladies I cannot -discuss with you because of their delicate nature. In -brief, subjects who were troubled with the problems of -sex. And such cases as I have had that called for the -introduction of thyroxin are still in the experimental -stage. Only time will tell whether we are right or -not.”</p> - -<p>“But can’t you notice results?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes—in many cases. But whether or not the -results will be permanent no one can say at present.”</p> - -<p>“For a little,” she said thoughtfully, “I imagined -you were about to tell me something, but you’re still -reticent and I shan’t press you. Well, here we are, all -alone together, on the outskirts of nowhere, and between -us we have solved many riddles of the race. And -I have been immoral and smoked a cigarette, if I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span> -wasn’t immoral in the first place in coming here with -you. But it seemed that in no other way could I -find the Valley of Arcana—and here I am. I wonder -if we’re to begin crawling to victory to-morrow?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t like those clouds that we saw at sunset,” he -remarked. “But they’re all gone now. The sky’s as -clear as ever.”</p> - -<p>Charmian gaped, placed a slim hand over her distorted -mouth, and patted the aperture, ending with a -burst of air that was wrenched out of her until her jaw -muscles seemed to creak.</p> - -<p>“Pardon me,” she laughed. “I couldn’t help it—I’m -about all in. That means the blankets for mine. -Good night, Doctor.</p> - -<p>“How you have interested me,” she sighed, as she -rose to her feet and stretched her arms and torso as -unreservedly as a young panther would. “You have -worked so much—have accomplished so much. You -make me feel like a baseball fan in the grandstand, -yelling his head off over the good work of some famous -player in the field. I hate fans. They’re so willing to -get entertainment from the achievements of others. -They dote on baseball, know all the players by name -and their records from A to Z. They never miss a -game, never fail to bloat their blood vessels by shouting -their approval. Yet not one of them can toss a rubber -ball twenty feet in air and be sure of catching it!</p> - -<p>“I’m not picking on baseball fans in particular. I -just used them as a handy example. All of us in this -world but the thinkers are fans. We’re wild about the -conveniences that electricity has brought to us, but not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span> -one out of a hundred of us could splice a broken electric -wire. We rave over a famous lecturer or writer, but -how many of us try to become lecturers or writers? -Can you imagine a man—I know him—who never -misses a professional billiard game, knows all the professional -players, all the niceties of their work, but -never takes a billiard cue in hand?</p> - -<p>“Most of us are fans—we admire and worship and -gloat over the success of the few, particularly if it is -designed for our entertainment, but never make an -effort at being anything ourselves. Oh, I’m sick of -shouting from the grandstand, Doctor! I want to do -something. I want to be one of the few who make the -world go round for the others!”</p> - -<p>“Leave the grandstand, then,” said the doctor -softly, “and come down on the diamond with me.”</p> - -<p>Charmian caught her breath at the suddenness of -it. She had not suspected that she was leading herself -into a trap. And she had given herself to Andy! She -had let him fondle her, had told him that she loved -him, with her lips pressed to his.</p> - -<p>“I—I haven’t finished thinking about it,” she said -hurriedly, and hastened off to her blankets.</p> - -<p>For an hour she lay looking up at the black sky and -the tracery of pine branches against it, thinking, thinking, -groping patiently but fruitlessly.</p> - -<p>Next morning at an early hour they climbed the hill -again, crossed the wooded plateau, came upon the thinning -trees and the encroaching brush. That afternoon -they left all traces of the forest behind them, and faced -a desolate sweep of chaparral, stretching away as far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span> -as the eye could see, hemmed in on the south by snowy -peaks barely outlined against the paleness of the sky. -And somewhere in the midst of that seemingly unbroken -sea of hoary grey and antique gold the undiscovered -Valley of Arcana lay in hiding.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVII<br> - -<small>BEAR PASS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">YEARS beyond conjecture had passed since a great -forest fire had swept across the waste of chaparral -which Charmian and Doctor Shonto looked -upon. Probably never before or since in the history of -the California forests had such a far-reaching fire -ravaged the peaks and valleys.</p> - -<p>A mighty forest had stood there then, to be laid low -by the consuming flames. In its place had come the -comparatively rapid growing chaparral, claiming the -land to the exclusion of all other vegetation. Here and -there a lone pine stood erect and disdainful above the -twelve-foot brush, and here and there on the ground -under the bushes lay down trees, ancient corpses that -had disintegrated to corklike particles and powder, -mere shadows of logs that were ready to crumble when -a boot toe touched them.</p> - -<p>The chaparral was compromised of buckthorn -bushes, interspersed with manzanita. The buckthorn -bushes formed what is known as locked chaparral—which -means that their prickly upper branches are -twined and intertwined until they form a solid mat, -more impenetrable than a hedge. So compact was this -mat that little sun trickled through to the earth, and -as a consequence of this not a blade of grass could live<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span> -under the dense canopy. But even where a single -chaparral bush grows in the open no grass will be found -within a radius of ten feet on all sides of it. It claims -the land, selfishly sucks all the nutriment from the soil, -and will share existence with no other plant.</p> - -<p>The ground under the canopy was covered with the -tiny leaves that had shattered off through countless -years. This carpet was several inches thick, with dry, -newly shattered leaves on top, and, below these, leaves -in various stages of disintegration, down to the bottom -layer of powdered leaf-mould. To stand erect and try -to push one’s way into this thicket would be as useless -as attempting to forge through a barbed-wire entanglement. -But underneath the branches the ground -was clean, and no limbs grew from the sturdy trunks -of the bushes lower than a foot from the earth. And -as the limbs had a decided upward trend, like the limbs -of a cypress tree, there was ample opportunity for one -to crawl on hands and knees for any distance that he -might choose. Of course now and then close-growing -bushes would balk him, but there always would be a way -around. To travel through the thicket depended entirely -on one’s powers of endurance in reverting to the -mode of going calling employed by his simian precursors. -To hack a trail through was a task for an -army of axemen.</p> - -<p>The pilgrims seated themselves on the ground and -looked expectantly at each other.</p> - -<p>“What do you think of it, Doctor?” asked Charmian.</p> - -<p>“I think,” replied Shonto, “that we’d better go back.”</p> - -<p>“Honestly?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>“Honestly.”</p> - -<p>For a long time Charmian was thoughtful, a little -pucker between her eyebrows. Then she resolutely -shook her head, and her upper lip turned up a trifle -in her characteristic smile.</p> - -<p>“No, we’ve set our hands to the plough,” she said. -“‘Go back’ is not in my lexicon.”</p> - -<p>“I think,” Shonto returned, “that a half-hour or so -of crawling on all fours under that tangle of branches -will convince the two of us that we’ve never known -fatigue before.”</p> - -<p>“Which doesn’t mean that you’re not game, of -course.”</p> - -<p>“I am thinking more of you than of myself,” he -told her.</p> - -<p>“Don’t do that,” she requested. “I think I’ve shown -that I’m pretty tough. And I’m of the opinion, Doctor, -that I shall crawl better than you will. I have less -weight to push along, and I’m somewhat of a tumbler, -though I guess I’ve never told you. I can turn handsprings, -do the cartwheel, and throw flip-flops forward -and backward. My life has not been entirely -wasted, you see. Besides all that, women are more -primitive than men, both mentally and physically. I -imagine that, ’way back in the misty ages when we -were learning to pick up a club to defend ourselves -instead of biting altogether, man was walking erect a -long time before the female of the species stood up -and tried the new fad. Don’t you know that a woman -can sit down on the floor with more comfort than a -man? You birds are over-civilized, and that’s what’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span> -the matter with the world. Are you ready? Let’s -go!”</p> - -<p>In an hour Dr. Inman Shonto was ready to admit -that her logic was sound. “You go back farther than -primitive man,” he puffed, as he lumbered along after -her. “You go back to when we were saurians wallowing -in the slime and the seaweed. You’re a lizard.”</p> - -<p>In the beginning he had taken the lead, but his slow, -clumsy progress had nettled her.</p> - -<p>“Give me the compass,” she had demanded. “I’ll -go ahead and show you how. It’s a pity you’re so big. -‘The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the -strong’—Ecclesiastes something or other. They’re to -the springy-boned and wiggly. Watch auntie, Inman!”</p> - -<p>Watching auntie was difficult, for auntie glided along -so bonelessly and snakily that half the time she was out -of sight and had to wait for him to catch up. When -an occasional low-growing limb fought her demand for -the right of way, she went flat and swam under it, -while the man was obliged to surrender and find a way -around it.</p> - -<p>Often the packs on their shoulders caught like Absalom’s -hair, and then there was difficulty for both. One -usually had to extricate the other. “You’re like a pig -caught under a fence,” the widow told her companion. -“Why don’t you squeal when I pull your leg? And, -my stars, you’re heavy, man!”</p> - -<p>Despite the carpet of leaves under them, their knees -became chafed. They cut pieces of leather from the -uppers of their high-laced boots, made two holes on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span> -either side of them, and tied them over their knees -with heavy twine. Every muscle in their bodies ached. -They were obliged to rest frequently, especially the -doctor, to lie flat on the earth and straighten their -limbs. At rare intervals they came upon breaks in the -thicket, where for maybe several hundred feet they -could walk erect. In one of these breaks, where two -Digger pines grew, they made camp for their first night -in the chaparral.</p> - -<p>They were in the thicket another day and night and -until noon of the next day. They had come upon deep -cañons, where the chaparral broke and scrub oak grew. -Here they found moisture, enough to replenish the -water-bags, the contents of which they had been nursing -carefully. But always the chaparral reached out -to meet them when they had crossed one of these earth -scars, and before long they were crawling again.</p> - -<p>Toward noon of the third day they found themselves -crawling over level land, where the ragged -growth was sparse. Both were nearly spent, when of a -sudden the land began descending rapidly. And almost -before they were aware of it they were gazing down -spellbound into an abyss which could be nothing else -than the long-sought Valley of Arcana.</p> - -<p>It was freakish. Neither had ever seen its like before. -Thinking themselves in the midst of a waste of -chaparral and far from their goal, the land suddenly -had dropped to a shelf a thousand feet below them. -Charmian said that, if she had had her eyes shut, she -probably would have crawled right over the precipice -and pitched to her death on the rocks below.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>It was a miniature Grand Cañon of the Colorado, -with surrounding walls as steep and perilous. The -break was as abrupt and stupefying as the far-famed -Pali of the Island of Oahu.</p> - -<p>Far below them flashed a river, jade-green, a winding -snake. Trees followed its course, and beyond were -delectable meadows, half green, half brown in tinge. -The spreading trees—probably live oaks—looked -miniature, like buckthorn bushes; the lofty pines like -toothpicks. Over crags below them eagles soared. -Not a sound came; a vast, solemn hush hung over the -smiling valley. In the far distance, perhaps seven or -eight miles away, the saw-tooth tops of the craggy -peaks that guarded the southern limit of the Valley of -Arcana were dimly traced against the skim-milk blue -of the sky. Below the peaks lay an enchanted lake, -blue and sparkling, swimming miragelike in the sunlight.</p> - -<p>For minutes neither of the trespassers spoke. -Shonto stepped close to Charmian and took her hand, -and side by side they gazed upon the wonders spread -before them. They were awed by the grandeur and -solemnity of this masterpiece of Nature, a little lonely, -a little timid.</p> - -<p>They had accomplished much. Probably never before -in the annals of exploration had any one been -forced to blaze a trail into an unknown country crawling -on all fours. They were painfully weary and sore -from the unaccustomed strain; their provisions were -low, and but several mouthfuls of water remained in -the canvas bags. But they had found the Valley of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span> -Arcana, and its myriad delights rewarded them for the -torture they had undergone.</p> - -<p>It was Charmian Reemy who broke the silence. “I -think,” she said, “that Ranger Reed was nearer to the -Valley of Arcana than he knew when he turned back, -discouraged. In an hour, Doctor, <i>we</i> might have -turned back, too, with our grub and water so low.”</p> - -<p>They seated themselves on stones to discuss the -situation.</p> - -<p>It would be absolutely necessary for them to find a -route down into the valley to replenish the water-bags. -Also, they must have more food. They had lived -principally on jerked venison for that day and the day -before, conserving the other supplies, and had nibbled -the strong nutritious chocolate from the army emergency -rations which they carried. They had not dared -to make coffee because they could not spare the water. -The only firearm that they had brought along was the -doctor’s .22 rifle, because of its lightness. Shonto was -a crack shot with the little weapon, and Charmian was -obliged to shelve her repugnance for the slaughter of -the innocents and give him permission to kill jackrabbits -or any other small game that they might see.</p> - -<p>These things decided, they nibbled a cake of chocolate -each and divided the remaining “jerky” between -them. They drank the last of the water. Then they -set off along the lip of the precipice in search of a possible -way to get down into the valley. After a mile or -more of winding in and out among the outcroppings, -boulders, and tentacles of chaparral that extended -from the main thicket to the edge of the declivity they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span> -were seriously wondering whether it was possible to -reach the floor of the valley at all. For the wall below -them was, figuratively speaking, as perpendicular as -the side of a skyscraper. They discovered several false -breaks that promised to open upon routes leading -downward, but each time they were halted by a yawning -precipice as steep as any yet encountered.</p> - -<p>A few oak trees grew close to the lip of the gorge, -some of them on the very edge and slanting over the -abyss as if straining to gaze down upon the mysteries -below. Under one of these, as they walked around a -point of chaparral, they came face to face with a big -brown bear. He was an industrious bear and had not -seen them nor smelled them, as the slight breeze that -was astir was blowing in their faces. His majesty was -sitting on his haunches, profile toward the surprised -adventurers, with both paws to his mouth and with -huge jaws working. As they came to a stop he lowered -his body to all fours as lightly as a squirrel, for all his -several hundred pounds of weight, picked up an acorn -with one paw, and broke the shell of it with the butt -of the other paw. He carried the kernel to his mouth -and chonked with satisfaction. He sat erect again, -saw the intruders, lowered both paws droopingly in -abject surprise, and, with a startled <i>Wuff</i>, wheeled and -went lumbering off at astonishing speed.</p> - -<p>At the end of about fifteen shuffling leaps he swung -abruptly toward the precipice and disappeared between -an overhanging oak and an upstanding rock.</p> - -<p>But for him, then, Charmian and Dr. Shonto would -have walked directly past what seemed to be an animal-made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span> -trail that zigzagged down into the Valley of -Arcana, the gateway of which was the monumentlike -stone and the twisted black oak. They halted in the -pass and heard the rattling of stones below and the -scraping footsteps of the fleeing bear. A trail, narrow -but plainly outlined, descended along the side of a portion -of the precipice less steep than heretofore. The -brush that grew over it here and there had been -scraped of its bark in many places, and the smooth -wood showing through had been polished by contact -with the hair of various animals that had ascended and -descended the trail for unreckoned years. The stones -protruding from the earth were claw-scratched and -eroded.</p> - -<p>“I christen thee Bear Pass,” saluted Charmian. -“Can we go where that bear can, Doctor?”</p> - -<p>“He may be bound for a den in the side of the precipice,” -suggested Shonto. “The trail may lead only to -that. But it’s worth a trial, provided—”</p> - -<p>“Well?”</p> - -<p>“It’s narrow,” finished the physician. “I wouldn’t -care to meet that bear down there, and find it necessary -to argue the right of way with him with this -.22.”</p> - -<p>“We won’t argue,” said Charmian. “It isn’t polite. -We’ll excuse ourselves and go back. It’s his trail, -anyway. Let’s try it. But I wish I hadn’t crowed so -loudly when I outcrawled you in the chaparral. I feel -sick and dizzy every time I look over the edge. And -on a narrow trail, with that chasm grinning up at me—<i>whew</i>! -Don’t you remember the iron rail at the edge<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span> -of the great boulder overlooking the forest at El Trono -de Tolerancia? I had to have it there. I never dared -to stand and look without the feel of that iron pipe in -my hands.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t let that worry you,” he cheered her. “Try -to make it. Don’t think of the chasm. Don’t look at -it. Keep your eyes on the trail. But if you get dizzy -and nauseated let me know. I’ll fix you up. Don’t -want to do it, though, unless it becomes necessary. -But, being a doctor, I realize what a terrible sensation -it is for one who suffers that way. It’s dangerous, too. -I never feel it myself. I would have made a wonderful -mechanic at erecting the framework of skyscrapers.”</p> - -<p>He smiled at her encouragingly. “I’ll go ahead,” he -said. “Keep close to me and think of something -pleasant.”</p> - -<p>With a brave but wan little smile she fell in behind -him, and he started along the descending shelf that -followed the wall of the cavern.</p> - -<p>It was dangerously narrow, a ticklish piece of business -to follow it. Above them rose a craggy wall, -growing in height as they progressed slowly downward. -Occasionally the trail grew wider, but this usually -occurred above a slope that was less precipitous. -They wound in and out as the trail rounded gashes that -extended from the lip above to the valley’s floor.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what,” said Shonto, stopping suddenly -and facing her: “This is not a natural trail, by any -means. Though it’s ages old, there are evidences left -of the work of man. This shelf has been hacked in -the cañon wall by somebody. It’s preposterous to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span> -believe that animals—even wild goats or bighorn -sheep—could have climbed up and down along this -wall and eventually worn a level trail. They can go -almost where a fly can, but they never could have -struggled along this wall in its natural state.”</p> - -<p>“But who could have built it?” asked Charmian.</p> - -<p>“I’m only too eager to find out,” returned the doctor. -“We may discover something mighty valuable -down there on the floor. And I’m convinced that the -trail extends entirely down. I’ve seen deer tracks. I -don’t believe deer would travel this trail, where there -is not a blade for them to nibble, unless they were -bound for the grass and the water down below. I’ve -noticed ’coon tracks and skunk tracks and coyote tracks, -too—but no sign of a man track. Yet men built this -trail—hacked it in the side of this stone wall. I’ll -show you the next time I see a place where this is -evident.”</p> - -<p>They went on, Charmian’s face white, her upper -teeth grasping her lower lip. She felt faint and vertiginous. -Her knees shook. But she marched on -bravely, hugging the upstanding wall on her left.</p> - -<p>They came to a portion of the descent where the -trail was little more than eighteen inches in width. -Above them an absolutely perpendicular wall upreared -itself. Below them yawned the abyss, at its very feet -the green river, which swung in to the wall in a great -bend from the meadows. To follow that eighteen-inch -shelf would be like walking along the eaves trough of -a house.</p> - -<p>Charmian came to a halt. “Oh, I can’t! I can’t!”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span> -she moaned piteously. “I can’t go on another step, -Doctor! Don’t ask me to! I’m—oh, I’m ill! I’m—I’m—”</p> - -<p>His long arms closed about her, and she dropped -her head on his breast, sobbing nervously, shaking like -an aspen.</p> - -<p>“There-there-there!” he soothed. “Don’t worry. -I’ll fix you up. Lie down, now, and look up. That’ll -give you courage and relieve you. I’ll fix you up so -you can walk a tight rope and laugh.”</p> - -<p>He eased her to the ground and made her lie on her -back. Her pretty face was dirty, and the tears had -wriggled down her cheeks and washed elongated hieroglyphics -in the grime. She gulped and licked her lips -and looked up bravely into the heavens.</p> - -<p>“There! There!” Shonto had removed his pack -and was fumbling within for his medicine case. “Fix -you up in a minute. Then you’ll feel like climbing telegraph -poles.”</p> - -<p>He was bending over her now. He took hold of one -arm and pushed up the sleeve. She felt him squeezing -the flesh. Then came a little stab of pain, and she -rolled her eyes to see the glitter of a hypodermic -syringe in his strong fingers.</p> - -<p>“Wh-what did you do to me?”</p> - -<p>“Hush! Never mind. Lie still a little and you’ll -feel dandy. Just a shot of cocaine. Feel it yet?”</p> - -<p>“Ye-yes, I believe I do. I seem to be floating—floating; -I’m getting light as a feather. My stars! I -was never so happy in my life! I want to get up.”</p> - -<p>“Of course you do,” chuckled Shonto. “Not only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span> -that, but you want to tell the world, when you get up, -that you’re equal to about anything, don’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I want to flap my wings and crow, even if I -am a hen. I don’t care for anything. I’m a whizgimp. -Mary Temple says that a whizgimp is a person who is -happy, even though he knows one more hot day will -send him to the bug house.”</p> - -<p>She sat up suddenly and unexpectedly, turned to her -knees, and in springing lightly to her feet with a glad -little laugh, her foot struck the medicine case.</p> - -<p>With a muttered oath the doctor sprawled in the -trail and grasped at it. His frantic fingers touched it, -but the contact served only to push it over the edge, -and it went rattling and bounding down the cliff into -the green waters of the river.</p> - -<p>“Come on!” Charmian giggled. “Let it go! What’s -the difference! Lead out—I’m crazy to get down into -the Valley of Arcana! And I can run along that narrow -shelf and laugh while I’m about it!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XVIII<br> - -<small>IN THE PALM OF THE MOUNTAINS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">SHONTO and his artificially elated companion -continued their journey down the side of the -steep cliffs without further mishap. The girl had -taken the lead, stepping with a firm, springy stride, all -horror of the abyss gone by reason of the potent drug. -She was fearless but never reckless. The doctor had -known that this would be the result of the hypodermic -injection, so he did not worry about her safety and -made no objection to her going first.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he was worried—worried as never -before. A great calamity had come upon all that were -concerned in the expedition, but only Dr. Shonto knew -that this was true. The lost medicine case was responsible -for it. It was so prodigiously serious that his -homely face had turned a shade paler, and his mind -was struggling desperately with the problem that it -presented for him alone to solve.</p> - -<p>Eventually the pair rounded the last switchback, -and followed a gently sloping trail, quite wide, to the -level floor of the valley. They came out upon the floor -through a rocky pass, an eighth of a mile above the -point where the green river swung in so abruptly to the -foot of the cliffs. The land was wooded here. Sycamores, -cottonwoods, water oaks, live oaks, willows and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span> -alders bespoke a more temperate clime than they had -passed through since hours before they reached the -cabin of Shirttail Henry Richkirk. The valley was -lower than Ranger Reed had estimated, and the explorers -had entered the Upper Sonoran Life Zone, -where existence would be less problematical during -rigorous seasons in the wilderness.</p> - -<p>There was little underbrush. The grass, though -frost-nipped, was still green. Digger pines were -sprawling, their immense cones beneath the branches -on the ground, many of them munched down to stems -and scaly fragments by foraging squirrels. Linnets -were singing in the willows. Wild canaries, mere dabs -of pale yellow, flitted about importantly, bright-eyed, -businesslike.</p> - -<p>Charmian’s brief sojourn in the land of Don’t-give-a-whoop -was over. The effects of the cocaine were -waning. Her mouth was dry, and she was nervous -and depressed. The reaction had set in, but the melancholy -period would last little longer than the space of -blissful unconcern for which it was the price.</p> - -<p>The doctor took her hand. “You won’t feel tough -long,” he consoled her, as, together, they invaded the -solitary valley. “I would have given you a little touch -of morphine to counteract the effects of the cocaine, -but— Well, you know why I couldn’t.”</p> - -<p>He heaved a sigh, and she looked up into his face -questioningly.</p> - -<p>“Does the loss of your medicine case mean so very -much to you?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“More than you know now,” he said soberly. “Not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span> -only to me, but to you and Mary and Andy. But don’t -question me just now, please. My mind was never so -busy before. I must decide what is best to do—and -decide right. And every expedient that presents itself -strikes me as impossible.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how serious you are! You worry me, Doctor. -Won’t you—”</p> - -<p>“Not now,” he interrupted hastily. “I shall be -obliged to explain soon enough—after I have made -my decision. To-morrow I’ll tell you—well, tell you -all that I dare tell.”</p> - -<p>He came to a halt as he finished speaking. They -were following a well-defined trail that led them -among natural obelisks of stone, tall and freakish. -There was no other route to the floor proper of the -valley. And at their very feet yawned a hole of large -dimensions.</p> - -<p>Shonto sank to his knees and looked in. “I thought -as much,” he muttered. “Look, Charmian! See those -skeletons down in there?”</p> - -<p>She knelt beside him, and when her eyes became -accustomed to the gloom of the hole she saw the skeletons -and skulls of many animals.</p> - -<p>The walls of the hole were of solid rock, though -masonry was not in evidence. The floor was level and -many times wider than the mouth. This made the -whole assume the shape of a funnel upside-down or an -Indian wigwam.</p> - -<p>“Why, they couldn’t get out!” cried Charmian. “It -is impossible to climb those walls.”</p> - -<p>“And you’ll notice that the hole is directly in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span> -middle of the narrow pass from the cliffs above,” said -he. “This, Charmian, is an Indian man-trap. In -years gone by it was made here by residents of the -valley to trap any enemies that might come down the -trail to attack them. The hole was covered with light -boughs, perhaps, with earth spread on top to hide -them. I know this to be a trick of the Klamath Indians -and the Pitt River tribes. But we are hundreds of -miles from their stamping ground. We are in the -rocks, you’ll notice. There is not a grain of dirt near -us. This accounts for the hole’s not filling up with -debris and disappearing through all these years. It’s -been gouged with infinite pains in comparatively solid -stone. It’s conclusive now that at one time the Valley -of Arcana was inhabited and was the scene of tribal -warfare. That was doubtless years before the fire -swept down the forest and the chaparral locked the -valley against intrusion.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t it all interesting?” she cried, dark eyes -aglow.</p> - -<p>But the enthusiasm died out of them as she took -note of the continued gravity of her companion’s mien.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you worry me so!” she complained again. -“Please don’t look so solemn. Tell me, and let me -help.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t,” he told her, forcing one of those rare -smiles that almost beautified his face. “I alone can -work out an answer to the problem. And I will know -the answer by to-morrow morning. Meantime I’ll try -my best to forget it.”</p> - -<p>A little farther on they found another man-trap,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span> -similar to the first. Then they left the cemeterial -region of obelisks and passed out upon the broad floor -of the cañon.</p> - -<p>Here yellow California poppies were blooming late -among the grasses, their orange-gold beauty staying -the destructive hand of old Jack Frost as a soft answer -turneth away wrath. The air was warm, delectable. -The willows and cottonwoods were losing their leaves, -but as yet their branches were far from nude. Over a -carpet of grass the explorers wandered toward the -river and the untarnished land about it—toward grotesque -cliffs that in the distance upreared themselves -from the level land, toward enchanted forests that -intrigued them from afar.</p> - -<p>Charmian’s depression had gone. She was bright-eyed, -vivacious, eager as a child. Shonto subdued his -gloomy thoughts and made himself enter into the spirit -of the quest; for he knew that, for him, there might -not be another day in the valley that they had come so -far to see.</p> - -<p>They reached the river. It was wide and deep, and -the jade-green hue of its waters that had lured them -from above no longer was revealed. Height and distance -had given the river colour, for now it was like -any other clear, cold mountain stream. Its course was -boulder-strewn, its bottom often pebbly. Large trout -flashed in the sunlit riffles, where the water was like -shaved ice, or lay like amber pencils in shaded -pools.</p> - -<p>They came upon ancient bridge abutments, fashioned -of large stones, the crumbling red adobe mortar still<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span> -to be seen in the crevices. Once a bridge had spanned -the river at this point, probably merely a long pine log, -axed to flatness on the upper side, and suspended between -the pillars, Shonto said. They followed the -river’s course, almost despairing of finding a crossing. -The doctor shot a jackrabbit sleeping under a bush, -long ears laid back along his spine. They continued up -the river for an hour, through a forest of oaks and -alders and an occasional spruce; then they came to a -narrow place through which a torrent roared. Here -grew handily a clump of straight, tall alders, and with -his hunting axe Shonto set about felling one so that it -would fall across the cataract and bridge the gap for -them.</p> - -<p>Alders are not tough-fibred, and soon the tree was -swaying. It leaned nearly in the right direction, and -Charmian pushed at it as he completed the last few -strokes. It groaned and started down. Shonto sprang -up and aided the girl at pushing, then jerked her back -to safety as the tree crashed down. It fell directly -athwart the stream, with each end resting on solid -stone.</p> - -<p>Shonto crossed with both packs, walking sidewise, -cautiously springing the trunk to test its strength. -Then he returned to Charmian, face to the front, -stepping easily and confidently.</p> - -<p>“A romance is never complete,” he smiled, “until -the he character has carried the she character from one -side of a stream of water to the other in his arms. Or -maybe you’d prefer to go hippety-hop to the barber -shop on my manly back.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>She studied a moment. Then, with a trace of colour -sweeping her face, she faltered:</p> - -<p>“Which—whichever way you think better, Doctor.”</p> - -<p>He stooped and placed his long left arm behind her -knees. His right arm he passed behind her back. -He straightened, lifting her to his breast.</p> - -<p>“Don’t move,” he cautioned, “and don’t listen to the -rush of the water. Relax. We’re off!”</p> - -<p>She closed both eyes as he stepped upon the trunk. -Then she opened them again and looked up into his -face. His strong jaw was set, she noted, but not a -tremor did his body convey to hers. The roaring of -the cataract was in her ears. Again she felt faint and -dizzy. But without hesitation he placed one foot firmly -and elastically before the other on the swaying bridge, -until he stepped from it to the solid rocks on the other -side.</p> - -<p>“Nothing to it, was there?” he laughed, without a -sign of nervousness, as he gently stood her on her -feet.</p> - -<p>“You have wonderful control over yourself, haven’t -you?” she said. “You never even trembled.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t I?” He was looking straight into her eyes. -“I thought I was shaking like a leaf—especially when -I reached this side and just before I set you down.”</p> - -<p>“Why, how funny! You certainly weren’t frightened.”</p> - -<p>“No, tempted,” said Shonto, while Charmian’s face -flushed crimson.</p> - -<p>They wandered through an open forest of immense -live and black oaks, with gnarled trunks and bulbous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span> -boles, and roots moss-upholstered where they were exposed. -Gray moss hung from the upper limbs, draped -and festooned with the delicacy of nature’s artistry. -Wild grape vines clambered in all directions, drooped -in loops down the trunks of lofty trees, or extended in -masses from the ground to the topmost branches like -the standing rigging of a sailing ship. The clusters of -grapes were ripe and ready to fall with their seed to -the earth from whence they sprang.</p> - -<p>They came upon large flat-topped stones, in which -holes the size of a man’s head had been gouged. In -these the Indian squaws had powdered the acorns to -make flour for their native bread, using heavy stone -pestles as pulverizers.</p> - -<p>A half-mile from the river they suddenly entered a -clearing, studded with tall, monumental stones of -granite, and with wide-branched oaks scattered about -here and there. In the middle were the ruins of a -house—the remnants of what had been a large house -built of stones and sod and poles.</p> - -<p>“That,” said Shonto, “speaks plainly of some -Northern tribe. The Northern Indians were further -advanced than the tribes of Southern and Central California. -The stone abutments back there made me -believe that a tribe of comparatively high intelligence -once occupied this valley. This ruin confirms it. Few -of the California tribes built large public houses, as -this undoubtedly was, for their ceremonial dances and -big dinners and other social activities. I have never -told you—for I hadn’t the slightest idea that we’d find -evidences of Indian life in the valley—but I’ve made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span> -quite a hobby of studying the aborigines of the Pacific -Slope. So has Andy. We took it up together while -nosing around in the mountains and on the desert, and -we became intensely interested. I wish I could—” -He came to a stop and gave her a look that was as near -an admission of discomfiture as she had ever seen him -reveal. “It’s getting late. No doubt there’s a spring -close by, for this evidently is the site of the old village. -Let’s camp for the night and cook our rabbit.”</p> - -<p>Close by the ruins of the community house they -located the spring. It was in a ferny dell with mossy -banks. Charmian stooped for water and saw a white -object a little distance off, half hidden by the drooping -fronds. Instinctively she knew what it was. She rose -and walked around to it. It was the tibia bone of a -human being, and, scattered here and there throughout -the ferns, she discovered the remainder of the skeleton, -including the skull.</p> - -<p>It gave her somewhat of a shock, but in the days to -follow she was to grow accustomed to finding the -bones and skulls of men in every conceivable place. -This scatteration, the doctor held, bespoke the extinction -of the tribe from the ravages of some epidemic—possibly -smallpox—rather than a war of annihilation. -Particularly so because no weapons were discovered -near skeletons they found on open land.</p> - -<p>The broiled jackrabbit was appetizing, for their -stomachs were turned against salt meat and jerky. -Though the air was frosty, the evening in the protected -valley was pleasant, the smoke of the incense cedar of -their campfire sweet. Dr. Inman Shonto had been taciturn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span> -during the preparations for supper and the coming -night. His face was grave, his eyes thoughtful. -Finally Charmian asked:</p> - -<p>“Your case would sink, of course, wouldn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“I saw it sink out of sight,” he replied. “There -were some surgical instruments in it that made it -heavy. And the river must be deep where it fell, with -that sheer wall above it. Besides, all of my medical -supplies that were not in corked bottles would be -ruined, provided we could drag it up. It’s a goner.”</p> - -<p>They made no further mention of the subject until -the meal was over and Shonto, having heaped more -wood on the coals, leaned back against the hole of a -tree with pipe aglow.</p> - -<p>He puffed thoughtfully for several minutes, while -the girl gazed into the leaping flames, silent, sensing -that her companion was nerving himself to lay his -troubles before her. Finally he knocked the dottle -from his pipe, pocketed it, and looked at her with a -brotherly smile.</p> - -<p>“I have decided sooner than I thought I should,” he -began. “So you may as well know the worst to-night. -I don’t think I’ll have reached a better solution by -morning.”</p> - -<p>He smiled again, patiently, as does a strong man in -the face of threatening disaster.</p> - -<p>“Charmian,” he said, “to-morrow I must start back -to Mary and Andy and leave you here alone. I’ll get -Andy and send him on to you, while I make an effort -to take Mary back to Shirttail Henry’s—or at least as -far as Mosquito. Then I go on to civilization, while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span> -you and Andy wait for me to return to the Valley of -Arcana. I’ll probably come back to you in an aeroplane. -Only by following that plan can Andy Jerome -be saved.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XIX<br> - -<small>RIDDLES</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">CHARMIAN was gazing across the fire at -Shonto, half bewildered at his blunt statement. -She had known that Andy was concerned in the -disaster that had befallen the party, for long since she -had connected the little tablets which he took daily -with the loss of the medicine case.</p> - -<p>“Has Andy told you anything of his physical troubles?” -Shonto questioned.</p> - -<p>“A little,” she replied. “When we were at Jorny -Springs with Leach and Morley. He told me about -the period in his boyhood that he can’t remember. He -told me that it was necessary for him to take his tablets -daily. Some kind of heart trouble, isn’t it?”</p> - -<p>The doctor nodded gravely. “Andy doesn’t hesitate -to tell about it,” he said. “I imagined that you knew. -Well—”</p> - -<p>“Pardon me just a moment,” she interrupted. “You -haven’t said outright that it is heart trouble, Doctor.” -“Have you any reason to think otherwise?</p> - -<p>“Yes—now. It seems to me that you are still reticent—virtually -evasive. You aren’t a practised dissimulator, -Doctor. Why do you try it?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be frank with you,” he said, “if you’ll be as -frank with me. Will you?”</p> - -<p>“Of course.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>“I shall have to ask for your display of frankness -first,” he went on. “You must answer this question -before I shall feel at liberty to tell you why I have been -close-mouthed: In the big cañon that night before you -and I left, did Andy ask you to marry him?”</p> - -<p>Her face went red, but she shook her head.</p> - -<p>“I believe you,” he said. “But Andy would be too -excited to think of asking you to marry him, perhaps. -He—both of you—would take marriage for granted. -So I must ask another question: Didn’t he tell you that -he loves you, and didn’t you surrender yourself to -him?”</p> - -<p>Her long lashes covered her dark eyes, and for a -space she declined to answer. Then she lifted her -head and looked him straight in the face.</p> - -<p>“I suppose,” she said slowly, “that, according to -the standardized procedure, I ought to say, ‘What -right have you to ask me that?’ But you have the -right—I suppose. Anyway, I consider it a fair question, -and I’ll answer it as fairly. He did, and I did. -But—but how did you know, Doctor?”</p> - -<p>The doctor’s laugh was brief and bitter. “When -you two returned to camp,” he informed her, “the announcement -couldn’t have been plainer if you had -pinned placards on your breasts. I knew what had -happened. So did Mary Temple.”</p> - -<p>“Well?”—almost defiantly.</p> - -<p>“Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be said. Theoretically -I should back gracefully away, murmuring my -congratulations. But I’ll not do that. I don’t give -up so easily, Charmian. I am convinced that you and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span> -I are mated, and that you and Andy are not. I think -that it would be a great misfortune for both of us if we -don’t become man and wife. But I’ll play the game -fair and square—with both you and Andy. And this -desire to play square is what has kept my mouth closed -on so many occasions. I won’t tell you why I think it -unwise for you to marry Andy Jerome. On the contrary, -I’ll go out and leave you two here together and -make every effort to get back with more medicine -before you can learn for yourself that I am the man -you should have for a husband instead of him. It’s -hard, Charmian—hard to play square, when I hold -my rival’s future in the hollow of my hand. But the -ethics of my profession demand that I do all in my -power to save him, and my conscience demands the -same.</p> - -<p>“So to-morrow I must leave you, hoping that I can -get back in time. There is no other way. I’ll make it -back to Mary and Andy, and send Andy on here. -With the aid of a compass and the directions that I can -give him he will never miss the pass into the valley. -You must hoist a garment or a blanket on a pole, which -he will be able to see from the top of the wall and all -the way down. Or a smudge of damp leaves will send -up a stream of smoke to direct him to you.</p> - -<p>“Andy is a master mountaineer and woodsman. It -is born in him; he inherited it from his Alps-climbing -ancestors. He will be able to supply you with food -while you are waiting for me to return. But listen -carefully: As soon as he comes, have him show you -how to make rabbit snares and pitfalls and deadfalls,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span> -so that you will be able to get game if he becomes -unable to do it for you. You two get to work at once -gathering all the nuts and acorns you can—and you’d -better be working at it before he comes. Stow them -away. Have Andy show you how to pulverize the -acorns and make Indian bread of the flour. Gather -huckleberries—all you can—I saw a patch of them up -the river from where we crossed to-day. The berries -will be ripe now. Then you’ll find nuts in the cones of -the piñon pines. Andy has a little fishing tackle. -There should be mountain trout in the river. If Indians -could subsist in this valley without drawing upon -civilization for supplies, trust Andy to do it. But the -important point is that you must make him teach you -all that he knows about foraging in the wilderness -before he—before he becomes unable to help you. -For that may happen.”</p> - -<p>“You are not making yourself clear, Doctor,” -Charmian told him. “Why is all this necessary? Why -can’t we all go out together? In other words, if Andy -can get here to me why can’t he make it out to Shirttail -Henry’s or Mosquito? And why can’t Mary -Temple come here with Andy, if she is able to go with -you over the mountains?”</p> - -<p>“Mary deceived you, with my knowledge,” confessed -Shonto. “Her ankle isn’t sprained. She has a broken -rib. She could never crawl through that chaparral. -It would break her in two, almost. But she can walk -in an erect position, after a fashion, with me to help -her. Anyway, there’s nothing else to be done; we’ll -have to try it. And Andy—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>“Why did Mary Temple tell me she had a sprained -ankle when she had broken her rib?” demanded -Charmian.</p> - -<p>“She wanted to force you and me into the wilderness -together,” explained Shonto, without a sign of -contrition. “That’s what I believe now. I know she -doesn’t approve of Andy Jerome as a husband for you. -And she has hinted that she wants you to marry me. -That’s frank enough, isn’t it? But she told me that -she was afraid of putting a stop to your expedition if -she confessed to a broken rib. She knew that she -could walk with her rib broken—see?—and thought -that you would insist on taking her back and spoiling -the fun. But if she pleaded a sprained ankle, you -would imagine that she couldn’t walk one way or the -other, and it would be just as well to leave her there -until she could walk again, while you went on with -your hunt for the valley. It worked out to her satisfaction, -as you see.”</p> - -<p>“And now you think she deliberately planned to get -you and me to continue the trip together?”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid so,” smiled Shonto, “though I give my -word it didn’t occur to me at the time. I never gave a -thought to the old trick of making one person think he -has had a square deal in drawing straws by the use of -two whole matches. You see, there was no short -match for Andy to draw. Both matches were whole. -The one who drew the long straw was elected to stay -in the cañon. When Andy saw that he had drawn an -entire match, he didn’t think to ask to see the other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span> -one, but considered himself defeated then and -there.”</p> - -<p>“I think it was abominable of Mary Temple!” the -girl said sharply.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps it was so,” admitted Shonto. “Nevertheless, -the fact remains that she was, and always is, -working for what she thinks your best interests. And -it struck me as almost noble of her to feign a sprained -ankle in order to keep you on the quest. Sending me -out with you occurred to her later, I think. At the -time she played only to keep your expedition moving—and -it called for a certain amount of sacrifice for a -crippled, middle-aged woman to remain in that deep -cañon all alone.”</p> - -<p>Charmian made no further comment on Mary’s well-meant -perfidy. She thought deeply for a long time, -and when she spoke she reverted to a question that still -remained unanswered:</p> - -<p>“Why can’t Andy go out with the rest of us if he is -able to get to the Valley of Arcana?”</p> - -<p>“It will require a great deal more time for us to get -out with the crippled Mary than it will for Andy to -find you here,” Shonto explained. “And he might— It -might happen that he would succumb on the way. -Andy Jerome, Charmian, is an experiment. I know -that he can hold out for three or four days, but how -much longer I don’t know, because I’ve never experimented -with him to the extent of shutting off his medicine -to find out. Andy is my friend—his family have -been my friends for many years. So I really don’t<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span> -know what would happen if we were many days on the -back trail or if a blizzard came on and left us storm-bound -in the mountains. But here in the Valley of -Arcana, where everything is smiling and there will be -an abundance of food for some time to come, he will -be safe with you to care for him. I simply can’t risk -taking him out.”</p> - -<p>“It’s the loss of his supply of tablets, of course,” -murmured the widow. “Why didn’t you leave him a -sufficient supply?”</p> - -<p>“He has as much as he ever carries when I am with -him,” said the doctor. “I usually carry the main stock -when we are out in the wilderness together. I have -always thought it safer to keep the greater part of it -myself. I don’t go into so many difficult places as -Andy does. I don’t take the risks that he does. Then -if something happened to his supply, I’d still have -enough for him. Perhaps it was foolish for me to -bring along any at all on the trip from the cañon, but -I have become so accustomed to keeping it in my medicine -case that I followed the usual procedure. I knew -that Andy would not be content to stay with Mary all -the time. He’ll be scouring the hills and cañons in -search of things to interest him. And he always takes -his tablets. If he had all of them, he might lose them, -as I did. You see, that’s the way I reasoned. I’m -Andy’s guardian—a poor one, I confess now. And the -difficulty is that I’m never free to talk over his malady -with him or others. To be a little more frank still, it -is a secret, even to Andy himself. This time I reasoned -wrong—if I reasoned at all—and simply didn’t do as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span> -I did from force of habit. And Andy must have more -medicine just as soon as I can get it to him, for I don’t -know how long he’ll last without it when his present -supply is gone.</p> - -<p>“So there’s the nut-shell truth of the situation. Mary -can’t come here; Andy doesn’t dare to try to make it -out. You must stay here in the valley and take care -of Andy. I must get Mary out and hurry to a point -where I can send a wire for more tablets. There’s no -other alternative. I’ve thought it all out; looked at the -matter from every angle.”</p> - -<p>“But—but what shall I do?” she puzzled. “What -can I do to help Andy? What am I to expect?”</p> - -<p>“You can do nothing,” replied the doctor. “I mean, -I can’t give you any instructions. Neither can Andy. -When—if anything happens, you will soon know what -to do. I really can’t tell you any more, Charmian. It -wouldn’t be fair to him. For it may transpire that -nothing at all will happen—and that’s what I’m hoping -for. I must trust to Fate, for I myself am ignorant of -what will be the result if Andy’s supply of tablets runs -out before I can get back with more. Neither do I -know how soon the result will begin to show. And, as -I said, in fairness to him I must not prepare you for -anything simply because nothing at all may happen. -For more reasons than one I don’t want you to marry -Andy Jerome; but I’ll not be the one to tell you anything -that might keep you from doing so.”</p> - -<p>“Why, Doctor!” she cried. “You’ve done nothing -but bewilder me. I can’t imagine what you’re talking -about at all. It’s all riddles.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>“I realize that,” he confessed, “but I consider myself -helpless to make the thing clearer.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe Andy has heart trouble at all!” she -said half angrily. “It’s something about the glands, I -know. That accounts for your repeated refusals to -tell me much about your work. Isn’t that right?”</p> - -<p>He nodded in agreement.</p> - -<p>Another period of staring into the flames on her -part; then she cried passionately:</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t want to stay here alone and wait for -Andy! And I’m afraid—afraid of what may happen -to him! But if I must stay, it’s cruel of you to leave -me in ignorance of what to expect. And I can’t even -talk it over with Andy, it seems.”</p> - -<p>“No, he knows less about it than you do,” Shonto -told her. “His parents and I have deceived him into -thinking he has had heart trouble for years. And no -one but his parents and I know the truth.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that sounds terrible! You think I shouldn’t -marry Andy, and yet—”</p> - -<p>“If Andy remains all right,” he cut in quickly, “there -is no positive reason why you shouldn’t marry him. I -think, however, that he is not the man for you—and -it’s fair enough for me to make that statement for the -simple reason that I’m convinced <i>I’m</i> the man for you. -I refuse to call to your mind any of Andy’s faults. I -have enough of my own. If he has any, you must find -them out for yourself. But I’ll make you marry me -instead of him because you will see that I’m the man to -make your life complete, and that you’re the woman -to make mine complete. You don’t love Andy. I know<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span> -you don’t. You merely think you do. His magnificent -young manhood has carried you off your feet, and -you’ve not gone deeper into the matter. Blind, physical -love you have given him—but it will pass, -Charmian. And that’s enough—positively all. We’ll -turn in and try to forget it all for to-night. And to-morrow -early I’m off to send Andy to you. I know -you’ll care for him if—if he needs it. But if you -believe in God, pray to him that he won’t! Good -night. My bed is over there by the big oak. Call me -if you need me for anything.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XX<br> - -<small>THE INTERIM OF DOUBTS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">CHARMIAN did not begin sobbing until, standing -at the edge of the grove that surrounded -the ruins of the ancient village, she saw a tiny -speck moving slowly up the narrow trail which zigzagged -along the sides of the cliffs from the Valley of -Arcana. The moving speck was Dr. Shonto, and he -was leaving her alone in a vast wilderness, filled with -doubts and dread and loneliness and grave forebodings. -She sank to the ground, laid her arms on a fallen -tree, and drenched them with her tears.</p> - -<p>He had held her hand a long time in parting, smiling -at her in his patient, benign way. His smile had been -encouraging, though he had not told her to be brave. -It was a compliment to her courage, she thought, that -he had taken it for granted that she would be intrepid -and had considered mere words of emboldenment as -idle. He realized, she reasoned, that a girl who would -set out to accomplish such an enormous task as hunting -for an unexplored valley in an unmapped wilderness -would have the bravery to meet with cheerfulness any -unforeseen emergency that might arise.</p> - -<p>When her cry was over she returned to camp and -began to work as the surest way of overcoming her -loneliness. Not many provisions were left, as Shonto -had been obliged to take something along with him to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span> -sustain life between the valley and the waiting pair in -the cañon. Charmian searched for and found a huckleberry -patch, black with fruit which so far had resisted -frost. She spent the remainder of the morning gathering -berries, but realized as she worked that, since she -had no way of preserving them, they represented food -only for temporary use. She was not fond of fruit, -either, but she forced herself to eat quantities of the -juicy huckleberries at noon in order to save the staples -in her pack.</p> - -<p>That afternoon, wandering through the grove, she -came upon a hut which was fairly well preserved. The -construction was typically Indian. Ordinarily such -huts are made by first sinking in the ground a hole -about five feet in depth. Around this pit stout poles -are planted deep. These are bent in at the tops until -they nearly touch, and are bound about with bark or -strips of hide. The hole at the top allows the smoke -to go through, and it also serves as an entrance. A -short ladder or notched pole on the inside leads to the -hole, and leaning against the structure on the outside is -a corresponding pole or ladder. The entire framework -of poles is covered with earth to a depth of several -inches.</p> - -<p>In this instance, however, the pit was a natural one, -formed in solid rock. It probably had been a pothole -in an ancient creek-bed. With this substantial beginning, -the builder of the hut had constructed the above-ground -portion along sturdier lines. Instead of poles -he had used the trunks of small redwood trees ten -inches in diameter, and no other soft wood resists the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span> -ravages of time so well. Unable to sink the butts in -the solid stone, he had dragged great slabs of rock and -piled them about the base of his dwelling as anchors -and had covered the whole with earth in far greater -quantities than are commonly employed.</p> - -<p>The result was that he had left a monument to his -diligence and sound constructive principles, and it gave -promise of a sheltered home for Charmian.</p> - -<p>She noted most of the details when she had found an -ancient notched pole and used it as a ladder to climb to -the entrance in the roof. Shonto had explained the -construction of these huts to her, so she knew how to -go about getting into the seemingly doorless hovel. -There was not much earth left on the sloping sides, -but the straight, peeled redwood logs were close together, -and the cracks between were narrow ones.</p> - -<p>The light filtering in between these cracks revealed -the interior as she clung to the top of the crude ladder -and looked down through the hole.</p> - -<p>As she had shudderingly expected, the first things -that she saw were human skeletons, yellow rather than -bleached, on the stone floor below her. The notched -pole of the interior had broken off at the middle, and -the two parts, old and decayed, lay prone. She dreaded -to enter, but she thought that she must find a better -refuge than the broad, unprotected outdoors. There -probably were mountain lions in the valley, and maybe -grizzlies were not altogether extinct in this remote -region. She sat astride the upper ends of the logs and -contrived to drag her notched pole up the side and -lower it through the hole. To live in there she must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span> -remove the skeletons, and she dreaded to touch them -as she had never before dreaded anything in her life.</p> - -<p>She clambered down to the rock bench surrounding -the hole. She crawled over the edge and lowered herself -backward into the five-foot pit. There were three -skeletons, the bones of which were unscattered. Dry, -brown skin clung to them, wrinkled and harder than a -drum-head. Mats of black hair had slipped from the -skulls and made cushions under them. With a feeling -of deep repugnance she set about her inevitable task -and began lifting the dry bones to the bench above. -Many of them she later was able to pitch through the -hole in the roof, to hear them clattering down the redwood -logs to the ground outside. Larger portions that -persisted in hanging together she laboriously carried to -the top and dropped.</p> - -<p>When this disagreeable task had been finished she -gave more attention to the interior.</p> - -<p>Dirt had sifted in, of course, and the stone floor was -partially covered with it. Rain also would enter at -every crack and settle in a pool in the rocky pit. She -wondered if, when the hut was in shape, the earth -thrown over it had kept it dry. If it were to snow -before it rained, she thought, the snow covering might -be effective in that respect. She knew that Eskimos -lived in huts of snow, but she did not know what held -them up.</p> - -<p>She found red pottery, crude and interesting—water -<i>ollas</i> and great bowls and smaller dishes. She found a -skin garment, well tanned and well preserved. It had -been inlaid with brilliant duck scalps, the greater part<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span> -of which had succumbed to the erosive hand of time. -She found nose rings and goose-quill ornaments and -arrowheads of flint and obsidian and a bowl-shaped -basketwork cap which once had been adorned with the -bright feathers of woodpeckers and jays, for the remnants -of them lay all about it. There were elk-horn -knives and hatchets and awls of the sharpened bones -of mule deer. And on a slab of bone, taken from the -skeleton of some large animal and cut square, she -found a crude carving unmistakably depicting the -rather revolting episode of a woman vomiting up a -frog.</p> - -<p>She forgot her troubles, digging in the dirt for more -relics with the primitive tools of the dead. She found -a fish spear with a yew-wood shaft and a head of volcanic -glass—a veritable treasure. She did not notice -the darkening of the hut as the ephemeral winter sun -sank swiftly nearer to the saw-tooth cliffs that towered -about the Valley of Arcana. Then of a sudden almost -no light at all streamed in through the cracks, and the -hut was dark and cold. She shuddered, scrambled to -the bench, climbed the notched pole as hurriedly as possible, -and, not stopping to drag it out after her, slid -down the sloping side and landed in a heap on the -ground.</p> - -<p>Twilight had come. Night would follow soon, with -the tall cliffs to shut off the last remnants of the sunlight -from the valley. She hurried to her camp, spread -her blankets, and pondered over what she would eat -for supper.</p> - -<p>There was not much choice. She had a little bacon,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span> -a little flour, a little coffee, a quantity of salt, and a can -of baking powder. Her huckleberries were heaped -upon the ground, and she looked at them askance. She -had dined on huckleberries at noon—had forced herself -to do so. She decided to fry some bacon for the -resulting grease, to be used in making biscuits. The -bacon she would not eat then, but would have it cold -for supper to-morrow evening. One meal a day of -staples was all that she could afford, she told herself, -until Andy came with more supplies. If he came!</p> - -<p>She strove to keep Andy from her thoughts. To -think of him was to worry—and she must not worry. -Time for that when he came to her—when they could -worry together and he could comfort her. She was -going to fight her way bravely through the ordeal until -he came—and then she would relax and let him take -the initiative and relieve her of the strain. But how -long could he hold out? And what dread thing was -threatening him? But there! She must not think of -that. Dr. Shonto had consoled her with the repeated -remark that perhaps nothing would happen at all, provided -he—Shonto—was able to get back soon enough. -Provided! But she shook her head resolutely and went -to work at getting supper while the shadows of night -enshrouded the valley and coyotes began their evening -concert in the hills.</p> - -<p>The days and nights that passed until the coming of -the expected one were fraught with torture. Charmian -was not afraid in the general meaning of the word, but -the mysterious sink, so serene and quiet and remote, -awed her and filled her with strange forebodings that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span> -she could not shuffle off. She spent the days at gathering -acorns, scolded at frequently by Douglas squirrels -who claimed the entire crop between the valley walls. -The piñon nuts, too, they considered theirs, and told -her so with angry chatterings, made more emphatic by -the gestures of their jerking tails. A slight midnight -rain brought to life near the river a bed of mushrooms -of a variety which she had often gathered on the -Marin hills across the bay from San Francisco. These -she garnered eagerly, and they grew in quantities. She -feasted on fresh ones for several meals, dipping them -in thin batter and frying them in bacon grease, or -stewing them. Many she dried. And then she bethought -herself to dry wild grapes and huckleberries, -whereupon a new and engrossing task took form. All -day long she managed to keep busy. This helped to -keep away the blues, and at night she found herself so -weary that sleep came easily.</p> - -<p>She had lighted her signal fire, heaping on green -boughs to make dense smoke. There was little wind -in the valley, and the smoke streamed aloft in a graceful -spiral above the treetops. Every morning she -rebuilt the fire and heaped on boughs when it was -burning brightly. And now came a day when she stood -often at the edge of the grove and scanned the zigzag -trail into the sink with her binoculars. Or, gathering -nuts and acorns and mushrooms in the open, stopped -her work and trained her glasses about every fifteen -minutes.</p> - -<p>And at noon one day she was rewarded by the sight -of a tiny speck descending along the trail. She shouted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span> -in her eagerness and loneliness, unmindful that her -lover was miles away. She glanced once to make sure -that the smoke was still streaming aloft from her -signal fire, then began running toward the river. If -she could bring herself to cross the log bridge she could -run into the open on the other side and travel a long -way in the direction of the northern cliffs before Andy -had reached the bottom of the sink. She hesitated only -a little when she reached the fallen tree, then climbed -astride it and worked her way over the boiling water, -gripping with hands and calves.</p> - -<p>They sighted each other in one of the level meadows -of the river bottom. Andy shouted to her; she shrilled -a glad reply. Then both started running, came together -panting for breath, and hung in each other’s -arms.</p> - -<p>Then once more Charmian Reemy sobbed, this time -with her tousled head on the broad shoulder of the -man who loved her. She had promised herself this -weeping spell as a reward for holding back her tears -throughout the days and nights just past; and now she -rewarded herself abundantly and without reserve. But -hers were tears of gladness and relief. Nothing was to -happen to Andy! The doctor had needlessly distressed -her. Here he was in her arms, big and strong and -virile and handsome as a god—what ever could happen -to such a man! There was food in the valley—nuts -and game and fish. And if the huckleberries would -only last she would be content to live on them alone, -while Andy was with her in the valley. The doctor -might never return if he chose to leave them there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span> -together. What mattered it, when she had Andy? -The Valley of Arcana had lost its grimness. It was a -valley of happy smiles, blessed by nature, sun kissed, -gloriously resplendent from wall to wall. It was warm -noontide and the sun was overhead—and she was crying -happily on Andy’s shoulder.</p> - -<p>“And had Mary Temple and the doctor started out -when you left?” she asked finally, wiping her tears on -a sleeve of her flannel shirt.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear—we all started at the same time. Doctor -Shonto told me about Mary’s faking a sprained -ankle. She’ll have a time of it with that broken rib, -I’m thinking. But I guess there was no other way. -What did the doctor tell you about me, Charmian?”</p> - -<p>“He wouldn’t explain anything,” she answered. -“Wouldn’t warn me at all beyond telling me that I -couldn’t be of any help to you if—if anything happened.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry,” he told her lightly. “Nothing at all -is going to happen. I have almost twice as much dope -as Doctor Shonto thought I had; but still the quantity -is small compared with the store he carried. Anyway, -he wouldn’t trust me to try and make the trip out on -it, for some one would have had to return here for you, -and days would have been wasted. But he cheered me -up—and told me to pass it on to you—by saying that -there probably was no danger at all, and that everything -depended on his getting back to us in a couple of -weeks or more. That ought to be easy for him.”</p> - -<p>“But if it snows heavily, Andy?”</p> - -<p>“Not a sign of a cloud now. A little rain a couple<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span> -of nights ago, but just a shower. Doesn’t mean anything -at all as regards the setting in of winter. In the -altitudes it may snow, even, in June, July, and August—any -time. He’ll make it all right, and we’ll all get -out before snow flies.</p> - -<p>“It all seems ridiculous to me, Charmian. Here I -am as strong as an ox, healthy and whole, and enjoying -life immensely. But I have been told ever since I can -remember that if I don’t take those infernal tablets -regularly I’ll die. Yet Doctor Shonto never has warned -me against putting great strains on my heart. Always -has struck me as a funny sort of heart trouble that I’m -afflicted with. But I don’t know anything about diseases -of the heart. This can’t be a common one, -though, can it?”</p> - -<p>“It’s not your heart at all, Andy,” she said. “The -doctor told me so. It’s something else—a secret between -him and your parents. And I don’t know what -to expect if the doctor fails to get in before your tablets -give out.”</p> - -<p>This continually worried her. The doctor had said -that Andy’s life depended on regular doses of the -medicine, but he had not exactly warned her of death. -There was something dreadful back of his solemn -words which convinced her that Andy’s state would be -worse than death—a living death of some sort, her -reason kept on torturing her.</p> - -<p>“Well, no use to worry, sweetheart,” he said -lightly. “Chances are all of your fears are useless. -Have you had plenty to eat? I brought every pound -I could lug. There was plenty left for the doctor and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span> -Mary to get back to the cache on. They can load up -fresh there. That is, Doctor Shonto can—Mary -can’t pack a pound. What have you been doing? -Discovered anything? Doctor Shonto told me about -his advising you to gather all the nuts and acorns you -could before I came. Got any?”</p> - -<p>“Yes—piles. I gathered them in order to forget -myself.”</p> - -<p>“Good idea. Let’s get to your camp now. I’m a -wizard in the woods, and the doctor told me that the -valley is well supplied with things to eat. I’ll show -you how to roast the pine nuts and make <i>bellota</i>—Indian -acorn bread—and make traps and things. This -will be a regular picnic for us, Charmian. Prettiest -spot I ever saw. I’m keen to get to nosing around. -We’ll have the time of our young lives.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, everything will be interesting—now,” said -Charmian, with a happy sigh of relief. “If—if -only—”</p> - -<p>“There! There!” laughed Andy. “No ‘if onlys’ -about it. Forget it and let’s begin our castaway life -with nothing but anticipation.”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXI<br> - -<small>THE CAVE OF HYPOCRITICAL FROGS</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">THEY lived in an enchanted land, bright and -tranquil under an Indian-summer sun while -mid-day hours endured, crisp with frost of -mornings, calmly cold throughout the nights.</p> - -<p>Charmian had not transferred her dwelling-place to -the redwood hut after all her labours at removing -the ghastly reminders of a vanished clan. Andy, -when he saw it, opined that it would be far from -water-tight despite his efforts with a wooden shovel -that he had made with hunter’s axe and jackknife. -What they wanted to do, he said, was to find a cave -in the cliffs somewhere up the river. Who ever heard -of castaways living in anything but a cave! And there -must be caves in those craggy cliffs. Where was the -romance of the Valley of Arcana if it could boast no -caves? Anyway, he was not content to remain in the -grove that harboured the ruined village. There were -over a hundred square miles in the enchanted valley, -and few of them had been explored.</p> - -<p>They set off early the following morning, Charmian -loaded with the packs, Andy carrying her store of -nuts, acorns and half-dried fruit and mushrooms in -a blanket. They struck out for the river, deciding -to explore its mysteries first. If it was in reality the -lost river of the upper benches, Andy wanted to see -how it found its erratic way into the valley.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>They crossed smiling meadows, lush with bronze-green -grass. Once, from a little rise, they caught a -glimpse of the distant blue lake. They came upon -herds of deer which were too curious to continue their -flight after the first startled dash, but turned and surveyed -them in blank amaze. A skunk was hunting -bugs in the grass, rooting in the turf, his plume asway -above his striped back. The banks of the river were -endowed with graceful willows, alders, yews, incense -cedars, cottonwoods, oaks, California buckeyes, red -madrones, spicy bays, and occasional pines and spruces, -with grape vines crawling and climbing everywhere. -The river bottoms were rank with huckleberry bushes, -and Andy said:</p> - -<p>“Find a bee tree and we’ll get some honey and preserve -those berries and grapes in Indian jars—if we -find any more. Stretch a piece of hide over the mouth -and seal it with spruce gum. Stay here all our lives, -by golly! No? Yes?”</p> - -<p>It was like a park, this Valley of Arcana. Meadows -merged into woodland stretches or necks of timber, -to continue on the other side as grassy and level as -before. The river plunged over outcroppings of bedrock, -often in foaming cataracts from ten to fifty feet -in height. In a neck of woods, in a drift that had -collected about the roots of trees, they found a large -canoe. Flat bottomed it was, blunt at either end, -and burned and gouged from solid sycamore. Near -it on the river bank they found an ancient <i>temescal</i>, -or Indian sweat house.</p> - -<p>These were the men’s clubs of the Rogue River<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span> -Indians or the Klamaths, Andy said. The canoe, also, -pointed either to these tribes or Pitt River tribes, all -belonging to the north. The <i>temescals</i> were never -entered by the women, he explained. The males -lolled in them after bathing in the icy water, which -usually followed a terrific sweat over heated stones, -or beside a blazing fire. The canoe, he thought, might -prove serviceable if they could discover some means -of calking the checks and cracks that time had -wrought in its sides and bottom.</p> - -<p>They camped at noon by the river, and Andy cast -a line for trout. They rose to the bait readily, some -big ones so eager as to leap entirely from the water -at the cast. They roasted them wrapped in leaves, -and buried in the heated ground, Indian fashion. The -trees were alive with grey squirrels, impish little -Douglas squirrels, and impertinent chipmunks. Birds -sang ceaselessly. Their tramp of the afternoon -showed them herd after herd of deer, and once a herd -of antelope. Quail, grouse, jackrabbits and the little -“blue peter” rabbit in the plateau chaparral, ducks, -mudhens and dabchicks on the river, a condor, rarest -of California vultures, riding overhead in the beryl -heavens. Closely flying flocks of wild pigeons threw -hovering shadows across the valley, into which they -swooped to feed on the bitter black berries of the -cascara bush. As they neared a pyramidal mountain -in the centre of the valley they saw bighorn sheep -browsing off the brush.</p> - -<p>Abreast the mountain they came upon rugged country, -where the river plunged down incessantly in a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span> -hundred falls and cataracts. And here, as they crossed -the ridge, Andy found his cave and made lengthy -apology to the Valley of Arcana for doubting its -claims to romance.</p> - -<p>It was in the ridge of rocks that extended at right -angles to the river on both sides. If they made a -habitation of the cave there would be constantly in -their ears the roar of the waterfall that found its way -through the ridge and plunged down about thirty feet -to the lower level. Centuries of the rushing water -had worn down the ridge, and the stream leaped -through a narrows, with the piled-up boulders towering -above it on either side. On the side where the -cave was located grew a clump of sucker redwoods, -which had sprung up from a mother stump about six -feet in diameter. Examination of the perdurable -stump showed that the original tree had been felled -with axes. Many years had elapsed since its fall, for -the redwood is of tremendously slow growth, and the -tall, slim suckers that surrounded the stump were a -foot in diameter. Andy decided that he could cut -down two of them and cause them to fall side by side -directly across the chasm. This would give them a -bridge from one rocky eminence to the other, and it -would hang twenty feet or more above the waterfall.</p> - -<p>Though all evidences of a beaten trail to the cave -had disappeared, it was an easy matter to trace the -upward progress of the one that had existed in the -days of the lost tribe. Boulders of large size evidently -had been rolled away from the most logical -route. They wound their way in and out among the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span> -towering rocks to the mouth of the cave, probably -seventy feet above the narrows. From below they -had seen its gaping mouth, but were fearful that it -would prove a shallow disappointment—a mere niche -in the rocky hillside. But it turned out to be a substantial, -denlike tunnel, forty feet or more in length.</p> - -<p>Men had not fashioned it, but within they had -moved huge boulders to one side or the other to make -more room in the middle. Irregular stones had covered -the floor, too, and smaller ones had been thrown into -the crevices, with dirt piled on top, to level it off. The -width and height were probably fifteen feet.</p> - -<p>They found more skeletons, more pottery, more -implements of war and the chase, and crude tools of -stone and bone. The boulders inside were decorated, -designs and hieroglyphics having been hacked below -the surface. Some sort of red paint of a decidedly -perdurable quality had been worked into the gouged -lines. Once again Charmian saw an unhappy lady -ridding herself of the frog that she had swallowed. -But in this instance she did not suffer alone. If -misery loves company, she must have been in an -amiable mood, despite her throes. For no less than -a dozen of her unfortunate sisters were engaged in a -like performance on boulders and stony walls.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got it, Charmian,” Andy cried with the enthusiasm -of an amateur ethnographer. “I know now -what it means. The northern tribes had woman doctors, -and they treated their patients by sucking the -flesh. They were supposed to suck out the evil spirit -that was tormenting them, and this evil spirit often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span> -took the form of a snake or a lizard or a frog. In -order to make good, a doctress is said to have sometimes -swallowed a live frog before beginning treatment; -and when she threw it up the patient and his -relatives were convinced that the faker had done her -best. This was probably the cave of the doctresses. -Say—doesn’t it stand to reason?”</p> - -<p>“How pleasant!” laughed Charmian. “I see now -how the nursery term ‘quack frog’ had its birth. Let’s -remove the wizards’ remains and take possession of -the cave. Can we ever make it cheerful after what -you’ve told me? I christen it the Cave of Hypocritical -Frogs. That’s rather long and confusing, but so the -Indians might have called it had there been unbelievers. -We could live in this cave indefinitely, Andy. It will -be dry and warm, don’t you think? I hope no bear -has decided to hibernate here throughout the winter.”</p> - -<p>Somehow or other both of them were always unconsciously -planning for a long stay in the Valley of -Arcana. Andy had proposed hunting up a bee tree, -the honey from which might be used in preserving -grapes and huckleberries. He had planned a bridge -over the waterfall, when a mile below they had passed -a riffle which offered an easy fording. Now Charmian -was looking at the cave in the light of a more or less -permanent habitation. She thought of this directly -after she had spoken and bit her lip in vexation. -Wasn’t Dr. Shonto to hurry right back to them? -Two weeks, at the most, and he should be worming -his way into the valley, searching the distances for -the smoke of their signal fire. She threw off her sudden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span> -depression. It was best to be prepared. The -fact that they were planning for months to come -meant nothing. That was only the part of wisdom. -And they had nothing else to do. What if they did -leave behind them two weeks hence the results of their -trifling labours in the valley? It was only play. -Weren’t they like children playing at the game of -keeping house?</p> - -<p>Andy removed the skeletons, cleaned house, carried -their belongings up to the cave, and arranged things -for their temporary comfort. Then he went to catch -some trout in the swirling pool below the waterfall -for the evening meal.</p> - -<p>Charmian slept in the cave that night, Andy in the -open. They were about and had breakfast early in -the morning, and they spent the greater part of the -day in carrying flat stones into the cave to be used in -building a partition. The inner room was to be the -girl’s, while Andy would occupy the space within the -mouth of the cave and guard her. They doubted -whether there was anything to guard her from, but -it seemed the proper thing to do.</p> - -<p>When the stone partition was up Andy hacked at -two of the redwood suckers with his hunter’s axe until -they fell almost side by side across the water. The -top of the last to fall, however, was pitched off when -it struck the top of the first down. This left a rather -wide gap between the trunks, so they busied themselves -at cutting and carrying poles, which they laid close -together and parallel with the stream, from trunk to -trunk.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>“That’ll make a better bridge than ever,” Andy approved. -“You won’t be afraid to cross now. What -next? Let’s see—there’s no particular hurry about -sweating the bitterness out of the acorns, or furnishing -our home, or anything like that. We can do all -such things after the winter sets in.” (There it was -again!) “What d’ye say we go back and drag that -canoe out of the drift pile and see what we can do -toward filling the cracks?”</p> - -<p>They spent a day at this task. Spruce gum, they -found, filled the gaps admirably and stuck there, -hardening when the clumsy craft was in the water. -Andy got in it and guided it about with a makeshift -paddle. But the current was swift and threatened to -carry him down to one of the many cataracts, so he -quickly beached the canoe and dragged it up on the -pebbles until he had time to make a paddle that would -serve.</p> - -<p>They busied themselves during following days at -turning the acorns from cold water into hot water, -and reversing the process time and again to “sweat” -out the bitterness. There were large stone mortars -in the cave, and in these, with the pestles they found, -they powdered nuts for their daily use and made -rather tasteless bread and pasty <i>bellota</i> of the -powder. Their grapes and huckleberries and mushrooms -were thoroughly cured by now, and they stowed -them away. They gathered acorns, loose piñon nuts, -and buckeyes by the thousand, catching them like -squirrels. The cones of the piñon pines they heaped -in piles and built fires over them, which loosened the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span> -nuts and roasted them at one operation. Andy -taught Charmian to make and set figure-four traps -for rabbits. Of willow boughs they made traps for -quail, and gathered the larger grass seeds for bait. -They were constantly employed, and ten days slipped -by before they were aware. Now and then clouds -glided across the blue dome above, but the weather -remained dry and tranquil, though noticeably colder. -Daily Andy trapped game for food, for it was an -easy matter to lure the quail and rabbits and grouse. -They jerked rabbits over cedar-wood fires and hung -them in the cave. Charmian had set her foot down -on shooting deer, though Andy had a heavy-calibre -rifle. They were so tame and inquisitive and confident, -with their big glistening eyes fixed upon the -usurpers in friendly wonder, that to kill one of them -seemed to her wantonly cruel. She turned her back -when Andy took live quail and grouse from the traps -and dispatched them. The rabbits, caught in deadfalls, -died instantly under falling stones or logs.</p> - -<p>And so the short days passed until the sky was overcast -with mackerel clouds and the wind rustled the -dead leaves of the deciduous trees and sent them -scurrying through the air. Andy’s hair was growing -long. They had missed a day or two, they thought, -but they knew that Dr. Shonto should be nearing the -valley on his return. All day long they kept their -signal fire smouldering near the mouth of the Cave -of Hypocritical Frogs, and from it a thin stream of -smoke rose constantly.</p> - -<p>Then one morning Andy confessed to Charmian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span> -that his stock of tablets was growing alarmingly low, -and that for the past four days he had been splitting -them and taking only half doses.</p> - -<p>That night the air over the valley was filled with a -peculiar moan. All seemed quiet about them on the -valley’s floor, but up above the moan continued, a -weird, dismal battle anthem of the mountain winds. -Next morning soft snowflakes were falling into the -sink, while up above a great storm raged, and snow-dust -blew from the tops of distant peaks in awe-inspiring -banners half a mile in length. The war -banners of the mountain winds, mobilizing for the -grand charge and chanting triumphantly!</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXII<br> - -<small>DR. SHONTO RIDES ALONE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DOWN on the desert, a day’s journey in the saddle -from Diamond H Ranch, where the pilgrims -to the Valley of Arcana had left their -cars, lived an old man named Gustav Tanburt. His -rancho had its existence because of an oasis similar to -the one at Diamond H, and he had prospered throughout -the years that he had lived there as a desert rat.</p> - -<p>Through his broad acres passed a road extending -at right angles to the road that entered the property of -his distant neighbour. This last-mentioned road—the -one by which Charmian’s party had reached Diamond -H Ranch—went no farther, and the trackless sweeps -of the desert separated the two properties. But Tanburt’s -road was moderately well travelled. Freighters -driving eight- and ten- and twelve-horse teams pursued -it on their way to a distant mining community in the -mountains. Gus Tanburt’s ranch was a station for -them and all other travellers passing that way, and -Gus took a heavy toll for meals and feed for stock -and even water. In the mountains he had cheap pasturage -in the National Forest, for he was an old-timer -in the Shinbone Country and had used the grass -long before the passage of the act which placed the -forest lands under government control. Hence he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span> -had the preference, as is the government ruling, and -he used it to force out all competing cattlemen in the -district.</p> - -<p>The war, with the resultant high price of beef and -hides, had made him. Ignorant, old, crabbed, alone, -unliked by all who knew him, he was now worth nearly -half a million dollars, which did him very little good. -For he limped about with a cane and had not mounted -a horse for several years. Wretched and old and -worn to a wreck—and he longed for youth and something -to spend his money for, and a bud of a girl named -Rosaline Dimmette, who lived with her parents on a -forest homestead in the centre of his summer grazing -lands.</p> - -<p>Until Gus knew the girl he had put forth every effort -to oust the homesteaders. But Dimmette was -firmly ensconced and had the Agricultural Department -back of him; he was obstinate and a fighter. Then -one day Gus Tanburt rode up to make further snarling -protest against Dimmette’s use of the water in a certain -stream, and for the first time he saw Rosaline—and -wanted her. He decided then and there that the -eighteen-year-old girl, fresh and feminine and ruddy as -mountain mahogany, should be the price of the Dimmettes’ -remaining peacefully on their claim. But he -knew that he was old and crippled and unacceptable -as a husband, and dally growing more so. So the -Dimmettes had remained, unhampered by warfare, -while Gus Tanburt brooded over his lost youth and -vigour and longed for Rosaline.</p> - -<p>Then for weeks the papers were full of articles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span> -about rejuvenation by the substitution of animal glands -in the aged and unambitious. Gus scoffed at it at first, -then believed and suffered with longing, then scoffed -again. And one day to his rancho came two old acquaintances, -Smith Morley and Omar Leach.</p> - -<p>Leach, Morley and his wife, after deserting Charmian’s -expedition on the desert, had ridden back to -Diamond H and tried to get possession of at least one -of the automobiles. One or both they meant to sell -before the party could overtake them, and with the -money flee to Australia, where they might have enough -funds remaining to outfit themselves for an opal-prospecting -trip into the sandy wastes. But Roger Furlong, -owner of Diamond H, knew Leach and Morley -of old, and knew nothing good about them. He positively -refused to turn over to them the cars of Andy -and Dr. Shonto, well knowing that the prospectors -could not afford such cars. Furlong had recovered -his horses and given the two men the boot, but promised -to board Mrs. Morley until such time as he found -it convenient to take her to the main line of travel to -the nearest city. Obliged to be content with this arrangement, -Leach and Morley had set out afoot for -Tanburt’s ranch. They would be more welcome there, -for in the past they had turned several shady deals—mostly -connected with salted mines and unbranded -calves—which had helped to lay the groundwork for -the fortune that old Gus possessed to-day. Yes, they -might be given a grudging welcome at Tanburt Ranch -while they were looking about for a way to get out -of their present difficulties. And they reached old<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span> -Gus at a time when the newspapers, which he read -with one thick, dirt-calloused finger pointing out the -lines, were carrying columns about the rejuvenation of -human glands.</p> - -<p>And Gus learned that one of the most famous gland -specialists in the world was then on the desert, not -many miles away. So with bleary eyes watering in -eagerness and trembling hands, he offered to reward -Leach and Morley handsomely to find Dr. Inman -Shonto and bring him to Tanburt Ranch.</p> - -<p>“But how can we go about it?” Leach asked Morley -when they were alone. “We can’t approach Doctor -Shonto after ducking our nuts the way we did. Confound -that Shirttail Henry!”</p> - -<p>“There’s enough in it,” said Morley, “to make a -trial worth while. We need the money, and it’s no -time to let our pride stand in the way. Just sneak -back and confess we’re crooked, and put it up to -Shonto what Gus wants. Tell him there’ll be a big -fee, and— Oh, we’ll get by some way! Sufficient to -the day is the evil thereof. I can talk better on the -spur of the moment than I can after a careful rehearsal.”</p> - -<p>“Will Shonto come?”</p> - -<p>“That’s a question. He’s got piles of money. He’s -stuck on Mrs. Reemy. Chances are he won’t.”</p> - -<p>Leach grew thoughtful. “D’ye suppose they’re still -out there on the desert? What would they be doing, -Smith? By now Shirttail Henry has spilled the beans -about the opal claims. Chances are they’re on their -way back to Diamond H right now to get their cars.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>“Doubt it. That girl was crazy to find the undiscovered -valley, and if they pump Henry he’ll tell ’em -which way to go to find it. She’s game, that kid—be -just like her to strike out this late in the season to find -it. And the two men would go with her—one to watch -the other. They’re both in love.”</p> - -<p>“If that’s the case, it’ll be harder than ever to find ’em. -And harder than ever to get Shonto to come. -But if we can find ’em, and can get Shonto off alone, -there’s a way to get him.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” Morley agreed pleasantly. “But it’ll -cost Gus several times what he’s offered. And it might -be possible to bring Doctor Shonto here by night, or -blindfolded, and take him away the same, so he won’t -know afterward where he was. That’ll clear Gus and -us, too. And we can arrange to make a getaway by -leaving Shonto somewhere on the desert without a -horse, so we can ride off and be on our way to Frisco -before he gets in touch with anybody.”</p> - -<p>“Of course,” said Leach.</p> - -<p>“Let’s put it up to Gus how difficult the job will be -for us,” suggested Morley. “Confound him, he ought -to pay us a thousand apiece and never miss it! And -say—if we can get Shonto the way we said, we’ll get -out of crawling back to those folks and making monkeys -out of ourselves. That’s the best way to pull -it off, anyway—and there’ll be more in it. If we can -only locate the party and get Shonto off by himself. -How soon d’ye think they’ll be trailing back, Omar, -provided they make a try at locating the undiscovered -valley?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>“They won’t be giving up yet,” thought Leach. -“But they will before long, I guess. Let’s see what -Gus’ll do for us, then get a couple of horses and a -couple of canaries and get back into that country. We -can fool ’round and pretend to be prospecting close to -the trail to Shirttail Bend. They’ll likely come out -that way. We can plan the rest of it when we strike -’em.</p> - -<p>“Fine business! Let’s get to work on Gus and see -how much we can separate him from.”</p> - -<p>The morning following this dialogue Leach and -Morley set off over the desert toward the trail that led -to Shirttail Bend, mounted and with two packed -burros.</p> - -<p>They camped near the spring in the calico buttes, -and every day they were out merely loafing about, but -keeping in sight of the mouth of Henry’s trail. But -many days had passed before they saw another human -being; and they waylaid the first they saw coming -down the trail—Shirttail Henry with Lot’s wife, on -their way with sorrowful news for the Weather Bureau -concerning the masticated rain gauge.</p> - -<p>From a distance Henry looked at them doubtfully -and with long strides tried to evade them. But they -closed in on him because of the reluctance of Mrs. -Lot to make greater speed than that prescribed for -general pack travel. Henry swung flutteringly about -and grinned at the prospectors through his mat of -ragged whiskers.</p> - -<p>“Now, looky-here, you fellas,” he threatened.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span> -“Come any o’ yer monkey-business on me and I’ll get -a club, and I’ll take it and I’ll knock yer gysh-danged -heads off! Heh-heh-heh!”</p> - -<p>This in the face of the fact that there was not a club -within fifteen miles.</p> - -<p>“Close your trap!” growled Smith Morley. -“Where’s the bunch?”</p> - -<p>“None o’ yer gysh-danged business!” was the retort.</p> - -<p>“Don’t rub his fur the wrong way,” came Leach’s -whispered warning to his partner. “Get more out of -him by kidding him along.”</p> - -<p>Morley tacked. “What’s the big idea of being so -sore, Henry?” he asked cheerfully.</p> - -<p>“Why ain’t you boys gone from here?”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’re just still here—that’s all. Prospecting -a little. Where you headed for, Henry?”</p> - -<p>“Say something about the weather,” whispered -Leach.</p> - -<p>“How’s the weather up in the mountains, Henry?” -Morley complied. “Looks a little like rain, don’t it?”</p> - -<p>Henry’s blue eyes brightened. “It sure does,” he -agreed, casting an anxious look at the sky above the -wooded ridges. “And here’s me without a rain gauge. -Plumb ruint, boys. Roger’s bell burro she clean et -her up. And here’s winter comin’ on, and me without -a gauge! I’m hikin’ to Diamond H to send a letter -for another one. If I don’t get her before it storms -I’m plumb ruint—heh-heh-heh!”</p> - -<p>His face was so forlorn and his deep-throated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span> -chuckle so indicative of secret mirth that the result -was ludicrous.</p> - -<p>“When’d that happen, Henry?” Leach questioned, -affecting interest and sympathy.</p> - -<p>“Little time back.”</p> - -<p>“Where? At Shirttail Bend?”</p> - -<p>“No, up above the lake. Furder ner that—up on -th’ toes o’ Dewlap.”</p> - -<p>“What were you doing up there, Henry?”</p> - -<p>“I was showin’ ’em how to get to the Valley of -Arcana, which is her new name,” Henry divulged. -“And Roger Furlong’s bell burro she—”</p> - -<p>“That was sure tough luck, Henry. And did they -get to the valley?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know. I reckon not. I hadta leave ’em -and send in for another rain gauge.”</p> - -<p>“You ditched them up in that God-forsaken country—a -bunch of greenhorns?”</p> - -<p>“What could I do?” pleaded Henry. “I’m a gov’ment -official, and—”</p> - -<p>“Are they up in there yet?”</p> - -<p>“I guess so. Ain’t seen hide ner hair of ’em since. -Left th’ hosses at th’ lake, and we hoofed it with th’ -asses. Then, side o’ Dewlap, we leaves th’ asses -browsin’ off th’ bresh—”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!”—irritably from Morley. “And you’re -sure they’ve not come out?”</p> - -<p>“How could they yet? I been hikin’ straight sence -I left ’em, ’ceptin’ to ketch up Mrs. Lot.”</p> - -<p>“Well, well, well, Henry! Tough luck about your -gauge. Don’t let us keep you.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>“Tough luck, you bet!” Henry agreed. “Heh-heh-heh!”</p> - -<p>He slithered to Lot’s Wife, who had wandered -from the straight and narrow in search of dry bunchgrass, -and shooed her into the trail again.</p> - -<p>“What’ll we do now?” asked Leach. “Go up after -’em or wait here?”</p> - -<p>“They’ll be coming out soon, with Henry gone,” -said Morley. “Bet the old coot ditched ’em in the -night. If that’s so, they’ll give up in a day or two. -Le’s wait for ’em here.”</p> - -<p>They continued to wait for days and days, anxious, -afraid that the party had perished in the wilderness, -afraid that Henry had lied to them. Henry had -not returned; they supposed he was waiting at Diamond -H for the arrival of his new rain gauge, and -they knew that mail came to the desert ranch infrequently -and at irregular intervals. Morley left Leach -on guard and rode back to Tanburt for fresh supplies. -He returned, and they continued their patient vigil.</p> - -<p>Then one afternoon at three o’clock Dr. Inman -Shonto came riding down the trail, alone. They flattened -themselves on the ground behind sagebrush and -elbowed each other in the ribs in silent satisfaction. -Shonto must needs camp at the desert spring that -night.</p> - -<p>When horse and rider were a mere speck in the hazy -distance the prospectors hurried to a draw in which -their saddle animals were picketed and raced in a great -circle toward the buttes. They rounded the buttes -and entered them from the opposite side. They galloped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span> -to the spring, collected their belongings, and -erased all evidences of a recent camp. They watered -their sweating horses and rode out on the desert again, -found their pack animals and picketed them, then made -a dry camp to await the coming of night.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIII<br> - -<small>OLD ACQUAINTANCES</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT was one of those Augean tasks that at least once -in a lifetime confront all earth-dwellers. But -Mary Temple of the lustreless eye and the wispy -hair was game to the very core. Dr. Shonto never -knew how she suffered from that broken rib throughout -the weary days of climbing and sliding back to the -haunts of men. Most women suffer silently, and in -some ways Mary Temple was a super-woman. She -knew, and Dr. Shonto knew, that the broken rib could -not mend under the strain that was put upon it. It -was an ordeal of pain and torment which must be -undergone, and Mary underwent it, acidulously cheerful, -barkingly good-natured, a crusty good fellow from -the bitter beginning to the bitter end. “Let the old -thing hurt,” she said. “What’s the difference? You -get used to pain in time. Our lives are all pain, but -we don’t know it. We’re used to it. When we get to -heaven we’ll wonder how we ever stood it here on -earth, we were so miserable and didn’t know it.”</p> - -<p>This odd philosophy carried her through triumphantly -to the lake, where they found the burros and -horses still content with their mountain pasture.</p> - -<p>To ride, she discovered, was more painful than to -walk. So she dragged herself on down to Mosquito -and scolded the doctor every step of the way because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span> -he insisted on walking with her and leading the saddle -horse on which he was to ride for help. At Mosquito, -after the terrific strain of days of struggling over the -rugged ridges, she collapsed and was put to bed, -greatly to her disgust. “I’m a regular zingwham,” -she sighingly announced. And questioned: “A zingwham -is a fat girl thirteen years old that bawls when -the boys call her ‘Pianolegs.’” And Shonto, days behind -because of the slow progress made, hurried his -horse on to Shirttail Bend, to find the chaotic ranch -deserted by its owner.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Inman Shonto himself was about all in. As medical -adviser to as obstinate a patient as any he had dealt -with, he had not permitted Mary to carry a pound. -(The ensuing argument over this, from the dismal -cañon to Mosquito, had helped in his unstringing.) -Rations had been short beyond the cache, and at that -he had packed a torturing load. His back and shoulders -ached; every muscle in his big body ached. His -brain was leaden. The figure that camped for the -night at the spring in the desert buttes did not closely -resemble the fastidious Dr. Inman Shonto, unresponsive -but idolized lady’s man, renowned gland specialist, -popular clubman of the City of Los Angeles.</p> - -<p>It was with little zest that he collected petrified -yucca for his campfire, fed rolled barley to his horse, -and picketed him. Squatting over the coals, he fried -bacon and made “cowboy’s bread” in the grease. A -cup of strong black coffee finished his meal. Not ten -minutes afterward he was rolled in his blankets.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>For a little his dull senses were aware of the -close-by maudlin laughter of a pair of coyotes up in -the buttes; then the sounds blended with his dreams -and he was fast asleep.</p> - -<p>He awoke with a start, shook his head, sat up -straight. He was vaguely aware that he was not alone. -The fire had died down and only the light of the stars -served to reveal several indistinct bulks blacker than -the general blackness of the night. He made an attempt -to spring to his feet, but found his legs unresponsive -and toppled over on one elbow.</p> - -<p>A chuckle offered him derisive applause. “They’re -tied together, Doctor,” said a faintly familiar voice. -“I just rolled the blankets off your feet and tied your -ankles, and you didn’t move a muscle.”</p> - -<p>“Morley, eh?” said the doctor calmly. “Well, Morley, -what’s it all about? Sore about something—you -and your partner?”</p> - -<p>“Not at all,” Morley replied. Then to Leach: -“Stir up the fire and let’s have a cup of coffee before -we start.”</p> - -<p>Another dark bulk moved from the collection of -shadows, and now Shonto realized that horses and -burros comprised the greater part of the group. The -fire blazed up after a little, and objects became more -distinct.</p> - -<p>Smith Morley squatted on his heels.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you, Doc,” he said. “Leach and I are up -against it. We’re flat broke and miles from our headquarters. -In you we’ve found an opportunity to get -out of our difficulties. So you’re the goat.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>“Well, let’s have it. Am I to be shot at sunrise or -as soon as we’ve had the coffee?”</p> - -<p>Morley chuckled. “I admire your nerve, Doc. -You’re pretty much of a man, all in all. But if you’re -worrying any at all, which I doubt, I’ll relieve your -mind at once. Nothing serious is going to happen to -you. We just want you to go with us and perform -one of your famous operations on an old desert rat -that wants pepping up a little so he can take unto -himself a girl-wife. There’s a big fee in it for you -and a nice little sum for Leach and me to get out of -the country on.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, a friend of yours?”</p> - -<p>“Well, ‘friend’ is a pretty comprehensive word, -Doc. Anyway, we’ve known him a good many years.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Shonto, after a brooding pause, “I’m -sorry, but I haven’t time to perform any operation -just now. I’m about the busiest man in the Shinbone -Country, I imagine, so you’ll have to excuse me. Later, -perhaps.”</p> - -<p>“Just as sorry as you are, Doc, but that’s not the -way it’s scheduled to come out. Leach and I might -have put the matter up to you in an ordinary way if -we hadn’t seen you riding down the trail alone to-day. -We realize that the rest of your party must be in -trouble somewhere up there in the mountains, and that -you’re probably going for help. So we decided you -wouldn’t listen to reason—and tied your ankles. Sorry -to disappoint your friends, but you’re going with us.”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” was Shonto’s brief -reply.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>“No, not in the least, Doctor Shonto. You’re up -against a stacked deck. We’ve got your gun, of -course, and, though I suspect that you’re a pretty -tough <i>hombre</i> in a hand-to-hand mix-up, you can’t do -much with your ankles tied together. So just be reasonable -and make the best of it, and you’ll be free the -sooner.”</p> - -<p>“Humph!”</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto sat upright, thinking. Morley smiled -as he noted the feet constantly twitching and straining -under the drab blankets.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,” said Shonto presently. “Things <i>are</i> -in a pretty serious state up in the mountains. A man’s -future, if not his life, depends on my getting back to -him in time. I’ll compromise with you: I’ll give you -my word of honour that, if you’ll let me go and attend -to what I have in mind, I’ll come back and perform -whatever operation your man wants, charge him nothing, -and forget the entire matter.”</p> - -<p>“Sounds good,” Morley replied. “And I don’t want -you to think for a minute that we doubt your word, -Doctor. But we’re in a desperate hurry. My wife -is in hock, you might say, at Diamond H Ranch. -Leach and I are stripped. The season’s late for prospectors, -and we’ve got to get on our feet at once. -We’re going to Australia on the money we get out of -this, and it’s a long trip. Delays are dangerous. -No, you’ll have to go with us to-night and get it over -with. It won’t take long, I guess. You’ll be on your -way again in no time.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll add as much as you’re to get from your client<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span> -for this kidnapping,” offered Shonto, “if you’ll postpone -it.”</p> - -<p>“That’s tempting,” admitted Morley, “but this is -one of those times when a bird in the hand is worth -two in the bush. No, it’ll be weeks, maybe, before -you’re ready. Leach and I can’t hold out that long. -As it is, we’ll be on the briny days before you’d be -ready. No, Doc, to-night’s the night.”</p> - -<p>“I haven’t an instrument with which to perform any -sort of operation,” Shonto protested. “You don’t -seem to realize that an operation of any sort whatever -is a delicate piece of business. I need a nurse, a table, -anæsthetics, the equipment that a first-class hospital -provides—you don’t know anything at all about it.”</p> - -<p>Leach spoke up from the fireside: “This old bird -is tough, Doc. All you’ll have to do is scrape off the -dirt and cut into ’im. Several steers have operated on -him already, and bad horses have broken half a dozen -bones for him. He can do without the fixings, I -guess.”</p> - -<p>“Well, some things are absolutely necessary,” said -Shonto. “You’ll admit that. And I can’t see—”</p> - -<p>“Just leave all that to us, Doc,” Morley put in. -“We’ll take you to him, then you can give us a message -to wire to Los Angeles, or wherever your headquarters -are located, and I’ll send it in. Have all you’ll -need in a couple of days, at most.”</p> - -<p>Leach approached with two cups of half-cooked -coffee.</p> - -<p>“Better swallow a cup, Doc,” he suggested. “Brace -you up for a long night’s ride.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>Five minutes later, quite unexpectedly, Leach, who -had passed behind Dr. Shonto, dropped the noose of -a lariat over his head, binding his arms to his sides. -The prospector took several turns about his body and -made a knot. Then the two unbound the doctor’s -ankles and helped him to his feet.</p> - -<p>Whereupon the struggle began.</p> - -<p>Shonto was a powerful man and a determined man. -He had small hopes of winning, but there was always a -chance and he made the most of his strength. Unable -to use his hands, nevertheless he whipped about, butted -with his head, tripped with his feet, turned and -squirmed, and hurled himself into the kidnappers until -the three were about the busiest men in several counties.</p> - -<p>But the outcome was inevitable. The lariat did not -loosen, and Shonto’s huge hands did not come into -play. Time and again they bore him to the ground, -and, eventually, by reason of one of them having -rested while the other engaged the rebellious prisoner, -they wore the doctor down. Utterly exhausted, he remained -passive while they lifted him to the back of his -own horse and confined his ankles again by passing a -rope from one to the other under the animal’s belly. -Then they mounted, urged the burros forward, and, -with Morley leading the doctor’s horse and Leach riding -behind to see that nothing happened, they struck -off down the line of buttes. Out on the open desert, -they headed into the southwest in the direction of -Tanburt’s Ranch.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXIV<br> - -<small>MARY CHOOSES A SEAT</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">DR. INMAN SHONTO was a prisoner in a little -adobe hut back of the corrals at Tanburt’s -Ranch. The dun walls were a foot in thickness, -the door of solid slabs of oak securely bolted, and the -lone window was less than ten inches square. This hut -had once been used as a place to keep milk and butter -cool, and in that day was adjacent to the first house -that Gus Tanburt had built on his property. The old -house had been wrecked in time and a new one built, -but the old adobe buttery had withstood the years.</p> - -<p>There was no escape; the thick walls and tiny window -made imprisonment therein effectual. Shonto paced -the floor, smoked his pipe and cigarettes, and tried to -hold his temper. He had written the message, and -either Leach or Morley had gone with it to the nearest -telegraph station. A day and a night had passed, and -Shonto had seen nobody but a halfbreed cowpuncher, -who brought his meals regularly and thrust them in -through the ten-inch opening. He had blankets and -a couch, and was fairly comfortable. But, with the -exception of the halfbreed, no one paid any attention -to him.</p> - -<p>He smiled bitterly as he paced about, strong hands -clasped behind his back. Up in the mountains a young<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span> -man soon would be facing a grinning spectre that -threatened to ruin his life, and the girl who loved him -would be looking on in horror, unable to save him, -forced to witness the ghastly thing that was taking -place before her eyes. Close at hand an ignorant old -man waited for the doctor to perform a trifling operation -that promised renewed vigor and the semblance -of youth, which would place at the mercy of his selfish -desire a ripe girl-woman, pulsing with the warm springtime -of maturity.</p> - -<p>He had not yet set eyes on this old gargoyle of a -man, but he pictured him uncouth, cunning, repulsive, -terrifying, as he gloated over his defenceless and -shrinking prey. What right had this old monster to -demand of life the replenished fires of youth which -he had quenched in the soul-warping fight for wealth? -Was it consistent with progress that this old man, because -he had the means, should be allowed to regain -his physical vigour, and perhaps perpetuate his kind in -a world already hampered with such as he? Sheep -glands substituted for his own worthless organs would -not serve to purge his corroded soul nor wipe from his -fading mind the cobwebs of superstition and ignorance -and prejudice that put him out of step in the march -of progress. Such as he should be left to die and be -forgotten; it seemed a crime to help him to perpetuate -himself, and bring into the world stupid offspring handicapped -by heredity from the very start! No, the -hope of progress lay in new blood. Let the old generation, -with its ignorance and its out-of-tune ideas, become -extinct. Let science better the youth of the age, if<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span> -possible, but refrain from prolonging the life of that -arch enemy of Youth and Advancement—Old Age!</p> - -<p>The scientist was not only a strong advocate of -birth control, but at times he went even further and -longed to see the race die out entirely. This, of course, -in his bitterest moments, when he realized what a -fiasco man had made of life. War and slavery; disease -and pestilence; poverty and greed; the stupidity of -Labour and the tyranny of Capital; the arrogance of -the Church and the cowardice of thinkers; Science devoted -to the problem of disassociating atoms one from -another so that the world need not search for new oil -and coal fields, but neglecting to discover cures for -pyorrhea and catarrh; people suffering for the want of -food and clothes in a world filled to overflowing with -the necessities of life; the timber on a million hills laid -low and wasted in a few short years, and families without -shelter for their heads!—why prolong this hideous -nightmare of confusion? Let the race die out; let the -old world groan once more in the travail of a new upheaval; -and when it cooled, let protoplastic man be -born again in the slime and begin all over from the -bottom!</p> - -<p>Then thought of his lifelong work with the glands -would soothe him, and his kindly eyes would smile. -He never could untwist the brains of the generation -with his efforts, he knew, but he could lay a foundation -for his successors to build upon.</p> - -<p>So Dr. Inman Shonto was a great mind. A pessimist -to the core, as are most thinkers who search for the -eternal truths, he nevertheless worked for the betterment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span> -of what he considered hopeless conditions, and -wooed optimism while he worked.</p> - -<p>Well, he would perform the operation. The deck -was stacked against him. In order to save Youth this -time he needs must bow to the whims of cantankerous -Old Age. But he would make an effort to save that -girl, whoever she might be, from the consequences of -this iniquitous passion. He would take her away from -her poverty to the city and give her a chance in life—he -would take her to Charmian and place her under that -influence. He would rob this twitching old David of -the ewe lamb that he lusted for!</p> - -<p>He had reached the ranch blindfolded. Morley had -told him of the rancher’s cravings, but he had not -divulged his name. When the operation was over -and his services no longer needed, he would be taken -out on the desert, blindfolded again, and left to find -his own way to the nearest habitation. Leach and Morley -would direct him, they promised, but would ride -away and leave him for their own protection. Well, -never mind! (Still pacing back and forth, back and -forth.) He would get to the bottom of this thing. -He would save that girl!</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Two days more had passed. Through the little -window Dr. Inman Shonto saw that the desert was -overhung with clouds. Up over the mountains they -were voluminous and black. He believed that it was -snowing up there. Every day, perhaps, the mantle of -white was being spread deeper and deeper over the -land. The stretch of chaparral between Dewlap Mountain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span> -and the Valley of Arcana would become impassable. -One could not crawl under the branches with the -ground covered with snow; and until the snow had -reached a depth of twelve feet one could not snowshoe -over the tops. Still no sign of the man who had -gone to send the telegram.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Midnight, with Shirttail Henry wrapped in his -blankets beside the spring in the calico buttes, and Lot’s -Wife dozing in the background. Lot’s Wife snorted -and scrambled to her feet. Shirttail Henry stirred, -blinked his mild blue eyes, and sat erect. He felt beside -him, assured himself that the new rain gauge was -safe, and spoke thus to Mrs. Lot:</p> - -<p>“Quit snorin’, ass, and go to sleep!”</p> - -<p>But as he finished the words he heard the thumping -of a horse’s feet.</p> - -<p>Instantly he flung himself from his blankets and -stood in a listening attitude. The burro’s twelve-inch -ears were nearly touching at the tips and her mouseskin -muzzle quivered. Her ears pointed the direction -from which the horse was approaching.</p> - -<p>“Comin’ from th’ mountains,” mumbled Henry. -“Funny time o’ night to be hittin’ th’ trail. One -critter.”</p> - -<p>He stepped lightly to the rocks about the spring and -flattened himself in the shadows. The thudding continued, -and presently, though he could see nothing because -of the blackness cast by a cloudy sky, he knew -that the animal was close. A single eye of light peered -out from the nest of ashes of his waning fire, enough<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span> -to convince the newcomer, if the horse bore a rider, -that some one was camping at the spring. The horse -did bear a rider, for no horse, even though he was an -exceptional horse and gifted with speech, would have -been so peremptory in his demand:</p> - -<p>“I want to know who’s camping here. Speak out! -Who’s here?”</p> - -<p>“It’s me,” came Henry’s voice from the shadows.</p> - -<p>“Oh, old Marblehead, eh? Are you dressed?”</p> - -<p>“Yes’m.”</p> - -<p>“Then step out here, please, and tell me what’s become -of Doctor Shonto!”</p> - -<p>“You’re Miss Mary Temple, ain’t you?”</p> - -<p>“No, I’m Miss William Jennings Bryan. Come on -out! What’re you hiding there for? Where’s Doctor -Shonto? I want to know at once. Talk, you damned -quitter!”</p> - -<p>Henry came forth and stared at the black bulk that -she made in the night. Never before had the mild -Henry heard a woman use profanity. He was completely -flabbergasted.</p> - -<p>“I—I didn’t know ye cussed, ma’am,” he found himself -saying.</p> - -<p>“What you don’t know about me,” snapped Mary, -“would give you a college education if you could find -it out. I curse when I’m mad, like anybody else does -who’s got any gumption. I’m a bad woman, Henry -Richkirk—and don’t you forget it!”</p> - -<p>“I’m plumb s’prised, ma’am,” he puzzled. “You -don’t cuss when Mis’ Reemy’s about, do ye?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t,” barked Mary. “But that’s no sign I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span> -can’t. And when I swear I’m mad. Now poke -up that fire and tell me what’s become of Doctor -Shonto!”</p> - -<p>“I ain’t seen ’im at all, ma’am,” said Henry, stirring -the embers and heaping on kindling and stony yucca.</p> - -<p>“Don’t lie to me!”</p> - -<p>“Honest!”</p> - -<p>“What are you doing here?”</p> - -<p>“I been to town to git me a new rain gauge, ma’am. -It didn’t come right soon, and I—I waited.”</p> - -<p>“What town?”</p> - -<p>“To Emerald, ma’am—that’s sixty miles from -Diamond H. And I had to camp here to-night ’cause -I was all wore out. I got drunk at Emerald, ma’am, -and I’m plumb tuckered. But I oughta be in the mountains. -Is it rainin’ or snowin’ up there?”</p> - -<p>“It is. Above Mosquito.” Mary was dismounting -stiffly. “And Doctor Shonto was due to pass Mosquito -two days ago. I ought to be in bed, but I rode -out to see what had happened to him. I couldn’t find -anybody at your place when I got there at dusk, so -I rode on down. Now I want to know what’s become -of Doctor Shonto.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell ye, ma’am—honest! But I see Omar -Leach and Smith Morley clost to th’ foot o’ th’ trail -when I was ridin’ outa these here mountains here on -my way to Diamond H.”</p> - -<p>“Leach and Morley? What were they doing? -What did they want?”</p> - -<p>“They were askin’ about you folks,” Henry told -her. “I don’t know what they want.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>“I know what they want! They want money! Why -aren’t they out of this country?”</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell ye, ma’am. They ain’t been to Diamond -H sence they went back there after they ditched -you folks. They left Smith’s woman there, but before -I got in she’d went out with Roger Furlong in his -buckboard to the railroad. Smith and Omar they’d -gone to Gus Tanburt’s, Roger said. They’re friends -o’ Gus’s.”</p> - -<p>“Who’s Gus Tanburt?”</p> - -<p>Henry told her, adding: “That’s th’ only place they -could go to, ma’am. Maybe they thought Gus would -get ’em outa th’ Shinbone Country. But, then, I see -’em at th’ foot o’ th’ trail to Shirttail Bend, like I told -ye. And, ma’am, they was somethin’ here in camp here -that I noticed when me and Mrs. Lot rambled in this -evenin’. Ground all tromped, like they’d been a mix-up.”</p> - -<p>“And you’re positive that Doctor Shonto never got -to Diamond H Ranch?”</p> - -<p>“Just so—sure, ma’am.”</p> - -<p>“All right. Get me something to eat, please. My -grub’s back of my saddle. Make me a little tea. I’m -sick, Henry. I’ve got a broken rib, and riding is -killing me. But we’ll eat and get on to this Tanburt -Ranch. How far is it?”</p> - -<p>“Why, ma’am, it’s miles and miles! And ye don’t -know th’ way.”</p> - -<p>“You do, though. I want to know what’s happened -to Doctor Shonto, and you’ve got to go along and help -me find out.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>“But, ma’am, I jest can’t. It’ll be rainin’ in th’ -mountains in less’n twelve hours. You know I’m a -gov’ment official, and—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well—forget it!” exploded Mary. “Make me -some tea and I’ll ride on alone if you can show me the -way.”</p> - -<p>“But, ma’am—”</p> - -<p>“Make me some tea, I said—damn it all!”</p> - -<p>While he bustled about, hopeful of ridding himself -of her after attending to her temporary wants, -she watered and fed her horse rolled barley, then -threw off the saddle, examined the animal’s back with -an expert eye, and put it on the picket rope. Presently -she came and sat down on the ground by the fire, cupped -her bony chin in one lean hand, and gazed eaglelike into -the flames.</p> - -<p>“Henry,” she said, “guess what I’m sitting on.”</p> - -<p>Henry wheeled and stared at her in blank amazement. -He looked all around her, then advanced the -theory that she was sitting on the ground.</p> - -<p>“Wrong, Henry,” said Mary gloomily. “I’m sitting -on your new rain gauge. But don’t be alarmed. I’m -keeping my weight off it. I won’t sit down hard, -Henry, unless you persist in refusing to accompany -me to Tanburt’s Ranch to get on the trail of Doctor -Shonto. What do you say, Henry?”</p> - -<p>Henry had nothing to say, so he looked worried -and cackled his silly “Heh-heh-heh!” At half-past -one he was stalking into the night in a southwesterly -direction, with Mary Temple riding behind him, tortured -by the rolling motion of her walking horse, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span> -enduring silently. The rain gauge was strapped at the -front jockey of her saddle, its thin brass ready to be -squeezed to uselessness if Shirttail Henry became obstinate.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXV<br> - -<small>THE DEADLY BULL AND THE SILVER FOX</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">IT was nearly noon the following day when a lone -horsewoman rode into the grove of cottonwoods -that stood before the ranch house of Gustav Tanburt. -No one came out to meet her. A few chickens -moseyed about, commanded by a black rooster with a -red muffler about his neck and a redder comb, deeply -notched. He gave Mary Temple a wall-eyed stare. -A young calf, tied to a tree on thirty feet of rope, -took the occasion to celebrate Mary’s advent by racing -round in a circle, carrying its tail as if it were broken -in the middle, and ending the performance by encircling -several trees with the rope and coming to an -enforced, bawling standstill.</p> - -<p>Mary dismounted in a spasm of suffering, watered -her horse at a dripping trough adjacent to a flow of -artesian water from a rusty pipe, lowered the reins -over the horse’s head, and walked to the painfully -small and circumspect veranda. She knocked smartly -on a weather-stained door, in which a brown-china -knob hung like a loose tooth. Gus Tanburt, for all the -riches that had been forced upon him, clave to the -familiar relics of his days of haphazard struggling.</p> - -<p>Mary knocked twice. A large black-green blow fly -buzzed about before her peaked nose, seeming to anticipate -the opening of the door. Mary struck at it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span> -viciously, not with the flat of her hand but with her -bony fist. Mary was in no humour to administer -punishment with the flat of her hand. She was in -the mood to deliver a haymaker and put her scant -weight behind it.</p> - -<p>Shuffling footsteps preceded the opening of the door, -and Gus Tanburt bleared at her from between wind-stung -eyelids.</p> - -<p>The eyelids had no lashes, and the skin of the -rancher’s face was slick and shiny as an ancient scar. -His teeth were few and far between—yellow fangs in -his yielding gums. The breath of his brown clay pipe -nearly asphyxiated his gentle caller.</p> - -<p>He glowered at Mary as if she were the tax assessor.</p> - -<p>“Where’d you come from?” was his inhospitable -greeting.</p> - -<p>“I’m riding to Britton,” answered Mary. (Shirttail -Henry had coached her.) “I wanted to know if -I couldn’t buy something to eat and a feed for my -horse.”</p> - -<p>“Who are ye?”</p> - -<p>“My name is Winifred Allison.” (Mary always -wished she had been born Winifred Allison. Most -of us have pet names that we wish our parents had had -the sense to bestow on us. Winifred Allison was -Mary’s.)</p> - -<p>“Where ye from?”</p> - -<p>“Fresno.”</p> - -<p>“I mean jest now.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! I’ve been riding through the mountains from -Glenning.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span>“Glennin’! That’s a hundred an’ fifty miles t’other -side o’ th’ range, woman!”</p> - -<p>“I’m not disputing that, man!” Mary snapped back. -“I’m telling you that I rode from Glenning here, on my -way to Britton. What’s the odds? Can you sell me -some dinner and a feed of hay for the horse?”</p> - -<p>Gus Tanburt looked over her ridgy shoulder and -squinted at her horse. For a few moments Mary -scarcely breathed. But the watery eyes coasted back -to her again, and she knew that the rancher had not -recognized the animal as belonging to Diamond H.</p> - -<p>“I got nothin’ fitten to eat,” he told her. “I’m a -sick man, an’ I’m alone and don’t wanta be pestered. -Ye c’n put th’ brute in th’ corral and pitch ’im a couple -forkfuls o’ hay, if ye want to. That’ll be fifty cents. -Then if ye c’n find anything to eat in th’ kitchen ye’re -welcome to he’p yerself. That’ll be a dollar. Waterin’ -th’ brute is fifty cents, a’g’in. Two dollars in all. -Strike ye right?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes,” muttered Mary. “Quite reasonable—especially -the water, which is going to waste a barrelful -every five minutes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, this here’s a desert country, ma’am, an’ us -folks that put up with stayin’ ’way out here gotta make -a livin’. Ye c’n take it or leave it. Funny, though, -a woman like you all alone forkin’ a hoss from Glennin’ -to Britton. If it’s any o’ my business—”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t,” Mary broke in. “Where shall I put my -horse?”</p> - -<p>He shuffled out and to the corner of the house, where -he pointed a crooked finger toward one of the large<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span> -stables, about which was a tumble-down board corral.</p> - -<p>“Put ’im in that corral,” he said. “That’s th’ hoss -corral. Keep away from t’other’n, though. It runs -’way back in th’ cottonwoods, to where ye can’t see, -an’ I got a bad bull in there. He killed a <i>cholo</i> last -summer.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Mary. “I’ll not go near him.”</p> - -<p>She went to her horse, and, afraid to mount because -she would display her awkwardness and probably be -forced to explain about the broken rib, led the animal -past the rancher toward the corral he had indicated. -He stood at the corner of the house and watched her -until she had taken down the bars and turned in the -horse; but Mary had detected no suspicion in his eyes -as they roved appraisingly over the animal, as a horseman’s -eyes invariably will do. She had walked abreast -the horse’s shoulder to hide the Diamond H brand. -He watched her while she took off the saddle and bridle. -But he had disappeared before she came from the stable -with the second allotted forkful of fragrant alfalfa -hay.</p> - -<p>Mary carried this forkful to the corner of the stable -farthest from the ranch house, as she had the first. -Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, she stepped -past the head of her eagerly eating horse and was -hidden from the house by the stable. She whipped -off her hat and waved furiously to Shirttail Henry, -hidden somewhere in that part of the cottonwood grove -inhabited by the man-killer bull. This bull, Mary believed, -was a myth; for she and Henry had approached -the ranch buildings so that this neck of the grove<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span> -would screen them from the inhabitants. Henry had -slunk through the grove on reaching it, and she had -ridden by to come out on the road that passed through -the ranch. She had seen Henry’s broad, bewhiskered -face peering out at her from a portion of the grove not -far from the stables where she had later found hay for -her horse. This meant that Henry had walked the -length of the grove parallel with her course along the -road, and he had not looked as if he had seen anything -of the alleged destroyer.</p> - -<p>When she began waving Shirttail Henry at once -stepped from behind the hole of a large cottonwood -and returned the signal. Hastily she scribbled a message -on a piece of paper and, holding it up for her aide -to see, slipped it under a batten on the side of the stable. -Henry waved his understanding of the pantomime, -and Mary hurried back in sight of the ranch house -and started walking toward it.</p> - -<p>She had written:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>This old rooster is a crook. He says there is a -fierce bull in the grove where you are. He lies. He -wanted to keep me away from the other corral and the -buildings near it. I’ll keep him busy in the house, -while you look into all the buildings and see what you -can find out. That bull story convinces me that there’s -something wrong. Don’t be a blundering idiot, now, -and make a splatchet of everything.</p> -</div> - -<p>Five minutes after reading the note Shirttail Henry -was clinging with his knees to a rail which he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span> -leaned against the adobe wall under the ten-inch window -of Dr. Shonto’s prison.</p> - -<p>Mary Temple contrived to spend an hour and a half -in the ranch house. She fried fresh eggs for herself -and made baking-powder biscuits and a cup of tea. -Gus Tanburt sat in a decrepit kitchen chair and talked -with her while she worked, questioning her about anything -and everything of which she knew nothing at all. -But Mary’s was an inventive mind, and she told him -about the new schoolhouse at Glenning and spoke feelingly -of the last rites solemnized over the mortal remains -of one Dan Stebbins, shoemaker, as mythical as -Tanburt’s bull. Didn’t he know Dan? That was -strange. But, then, of course he didn’t know a great -deal about Glenning. Maybe he knew the Morgan -girls? No? Mabel had married the young Baptist -minister who had recently come from Ohio; and Ethel -Morgan was—well, perhaps the least said about Ethel -the better. She had bobbed her hair, though, and he -could draw his own conclusions.</p> - -<p>When the ordeal was over Mary laid a couple of -dollars on a place in the oilcloth-covered table where -the oilcloth had not worn off, and thanked the old -profiteer in her sweetest manner. Tanburt did not -know that Mary’s sweetness was inevitably a danger -signal, so, refreshed with much fictitious news, he accompanied -her to the door in a more agreeable frame -of mind and invited her to drop in again if she ever -rode through in the future. But he was too miserable -to saddle her horse for her, and bade her good-by on -the porch.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span>Tucked under the same batten on the east side of the -stable Mary read, on the reverse side of her note:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Doctor is in that little dobe the othir side off the -coral. Met me a mile down the rode to the west of -tanberts. I left this note before I left.</p> -</div> - -<p>“There,” murmured Mary, “is what you call American -efficiency, which I always suspected was pretty much -hot air. He left the note before he left. Henry! -Henry! if all of our government officials were like you!”</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>The short winter day was drawing to its close. The -sun was sinking slowly behind the Coast Range, having -dropped suddenly from under a rack of clouds for its -first smile of the day before seeking its bed in the -mystic west.</p> - -<p>Then two horsemen galloped easily from a short -pass through a chain of half-hearted buttes that barely -broke the monotony of the level desert on the road -from Tanburt Ranch to Britton. The first horse -shied and snorted, almost unseating its rider. The -second, frightened by the action of the first, reared on -its hind legs and wheeled.</p> - -<p>An apparition suddenly had confronted the little -party. Mary Temple, gaunt and severe of mien, had -appeared uncannily in the middle of the road, with a -leveled Winchester at her shoulder.</p> - -<p>“Up!” she commanded acidly, as the horses came to -a dancing halt. “Quick! Climb the ladder, both of -you! Don’t make a mistake. I’ve killed my man.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>Then the hammer clicked icily as she cocked it in the -desert stillness.</p> - -<p>That was the master stroke of the whole performance—that -ominous click that followed her unimpassioned -command. It was psychological. Leach and Morley -thrust their hands above their heads and grinned uncomfortably.</p> - -<p>“Henry! Morley has a six-gun on his hip. Get it. -Morley, let him get it. I’m telling you the God’s -truth when I say I’ll pull the trigger if you move a -hand. Damn you, anyway—I’d as soon take a crack -at you as break an egg!”</p> - -<p>“Wh-why, Miss Temple!” gasped Smith Morley.</p> - -<p>“Shocked, eh? Well, if you’d seen me when I ran -the Silver Fox Dance Hall in Alaska, ten or eleven -years ago, you’d know who you’re dealing with. But -if you want to take a chance—Henry!”</p> - -<p>“Yes’m—here I am.”</p> - -<p>Henry quivered from behind the large greasewood -bush that had concealed him, and, grinning apologetically, -stepped to the side of Morley’s horse and removed -a wooden-handled .45 from its holster.</p> - -<p>He heaved a sigh of relief as he backed away.</p> - -<p>“Now,” he said, “try to come any o’ yer capers on -me, Smith and Omar, an’ I’ll get me a club—”</p> - -<p>“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Mary cut in crisply. -“Why not blow their heads off with their own gat?”</p> - -<p>“Heh-heh-heh!” chuckled Henry.</p> - -<p>“Hit the ground,” Mary commanded. “Keep your -hands up and turn your backs to me.”</p> - -<p>Leach obeyed instantly, but a look of disdain had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span> -come upon Morley’s features as, the first shock over, -his courage began welling up again.</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t shoot—”</p> - -<p>The remainder of his sentence was drowned by the -roar of the Winchester, and the prospector felt the -wind of the bullet as it crashed past his cheek. There -followed the instant clacking of the mechanism as -Mary pumped another cartridge into the chamber. -The horses lunged and danced.</p> - -<p>“You were saying, Mr. Morley?” Mary prompted -sweetly.</p> - -<p>But Morley was sliding from his plunging horse to -the ground, where he carried out to the letter the -commands of the erstwhile mistress of the Silver -Fox.</p> - -<p>“There’s some of the doctor’s stuff tied behind -Leach’s saddle,” Mary said to Henry. “Get it.”</p> - -<p>Henry obeyed.</p> - -<p>“Tie it behind my saddle,” was the next command.</p> - -<p>Henry complied.</p> - -<p>“Now get on Morley’s horse,” said Mary; and -Henry mounted.</p> - -<p>“Take the reins of the other horse and be ready -to lead him.”</p> - -<p>Henry swung Morley’s horse to the head of Leach’s -and took the reins. At the same time Mary was mounting -her own animal, and she did it quickly, despite the -pain that the jerky movement gave her.</p> - -<p>“All right,” she said to Henry. “Lead out at a -gallop.”</p> - -<p>Morley risked a glance over his shoulder. “You’re<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span> -not going to leave us ’way out here on the desert, Miss -Temple!”</p> - -<p>“That’s what <i>you</i> say,” said Mary, and with her hat -spanked the rump of the horse that Henry was to lead -to stir him into a gallop from the jump.</p> - -<p>A clatter of hoofs up the darkening desert road, -and Leach and Morley were alone with their thoughts.</p> - -<p>Perhaps fifteen minutes later Mary slowed down to -a walk, and, racked with pain, sat gasping in her saddle.</p> - -<p>“Ma’am,” said Shirttail Henry, whose horse had -slowed with his mate, “ye’re a outlandish uncommon -woman. I never guessed ye was th’ kind to ever run -a dance hall like that Silver Fox place ye told about -back there.”</p> - -<p>“No?” gulped Mary. “Well, I never did—but don’t -you suppose I ever read a story in my life? You talk -too much. My rib hurts like fury. Shut up!”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVI<br> - -<small>THE LAST TABLET</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">OVER the Valley of Arcana the snow banners -streamed from the mastheads of the surrounding -peaks. Snow fell in the valley—soft snow -that somehow seemed warm instead of cold. It disappeared -on the bosom of the river, but thickened in -eddies and made slush against piles of driftwood. The -Valley of Arcana had not yet felt the grip of winter, -but up above the banners of triumph waved and the -artillery of the blizzards boomed.</p> - -<p>The Cave of Hypocritical Frogs was comfortable. -The cold did not penetrate to its inner recesses. At -the mouth Andy kept a fire going, and enough deadwood -had been gathered to last all winter.</p> - -<p>The snowbound prisoners sat together below the -cave, on boulders close to the redwood saplings which -made a bridge over the waterfall that told them weird -tales of the waste places night and day. Often the -speech of the talkative water changed to music, gathered -unto itself rhythm and tunefulness. Sometimes choir -boys were singing; sometimes male quartets; more -often they fancied that ghost women, wild and distraught -from woes undreamed of by mortal beings, -were wiping their wet, clinging hair from their faces -and lifting their voices in a piercing heathen chant -of denunciation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>They sat together above the fall and watched the -boiling water in the pool below—marvelled over the -frenzied happiness of a lone water ouzel that frolicked -there.</p> - -<p>He stood on a half-submerged stone and danced, -this odd diving bird of the riffles and waterfalls, who -seems to sing best when the water is cold as ice and -dashing over him and about him. He courtesies and -nods to right and left and sings happily whether or -not the sun is shining; and then he dives. His are -the pounding torrents, his the screaming rapids, his -the showers of coldest spray that never chill his song. -Alone, bobbing—smiling, one almost imagines—he -seeks the cold dark cañons where water roars, for -dashing sprays are his sunshine. “The mountain -stream’s own darling, the hummingbird of blooming -waters,” wrote “Wonderful John” of him—John Muir, -lover of God’s own!</p> - -<p>Hand in hand they sat and watched the ouzel, bobbing -and bowing as if pretending to shrink from the -plunge he loved, and listened to his misty notes and the -changing oratory of the waterfall. They were silent. -Both were thinking deeply. For the day before Andy -Jerome had swallowed the last half-tablet, and up -above the snow was hourly closing the way for Dr. -Shonto to come to them with more. Over them hung -this thought like the thread-held sword of old.</p> - -<p>“Dear,” said Charmian, with that little upward twist -of her mouth that always made him want to kiss it, -“do you know that your beard is growing fearfully -long? You see, I’m taking a proprietary interest in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span> -you already. What’ll I do to you after we’re married?”</p> - -<p>Andy laughed. “To tell the truth,” he replied, “I -made a great blunder on this trip. Usually, out in the -woods, I carry an old-fashioned razor. But this time -I brought along my safety. And every blade is dull -as a hoe. Can’t sharpen razor blades on sandstone, -as I do my axe and knife.</p> - -<p>“But wouldn’t I be out of character if I failed to -grow a beard? Ought to hang down on my manly -breast and be full of burrs or something. And you -ought to be wearing a knee-length skin dress, with the -hair on. I’m afraid we aren’t playing up to our rôles -properly.”</p> - -<p>“I’m glad to see you so light-hearted,” she observed -pensively. “I’m—I’m afraid I’m worrying a little -too much, Andy.”</p> - -<p>His brow clouded instantly, and she knew that his -lightness of heart was feigned.</p> - -<p>“It <i>is</i> storming like the dickens up there,” he admitted. -“Doctor Shonto will never be able to get -through that stretch of chaparral if it continues. -And—”</p> - -<p>“Yes?” she prompted.</p> - -<p>“And I guess it’ll continue, all right,” he finished -gloomily.</p> - -<p>The hand that he held trembled a little.</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t be so bad,” she mused, “if—if— Well, -we could live here all winter, I believe. We can get -plenty to eat—such as it is—and we can always keep -warm. But—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>“Yes, I know.” He squeezed her fingers. “It’s the -devil. If we only knew what to expect! What the -dickens is the matter with me, anyway? And why -didn’t the doctor tell <i>you</i>, at least?”</p> - -<p>“He explained that—almost. He wants to be fair. -He hoped that he could get back in time to save you -from—from whatever is to happen to you. Then -there would be no need to tell what he knows. He -took that chance, do you understand? But now he -won’t get back in time, and—and we’ll soon know what -your great trouble is.”</p> - -<p>She sighed wearily.</p> - -<p>“Whatever it is, Charmian, you’ll never give me up, -will you, dearest?”</p> - -<p>“Never!”</p> - -<p>They kissed long and tremulously, then the girl rose -to her feet and pulled at his hand till he stood beside -her.</p> - -<p>“Let’s go back to the Cave of Hypocritical Frogs,” -she said. “It’s getting cold out here. And see, Andy—the -snow is beginning to thicken on the ground. It’ll -be white by morning.”</p> - -<p>That same day she was putting their simple belongings -to rights in the Cave of Hypocritical Frogs. Each -had a table—a flat-topped stone—on which articles -of daily use were kept. Womanlike, she fussed over -his things, which he consistently left awry. He was -outside cutting wood. She cleaned his comb and military -brushes and laid things straight, then opened the -leather-covered case that contained his safety-razor to -make sure that he had not overlooked an unused blade.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span> -And in the little metal container she found three, still -sealed in their paper covers.</p> - -<p>She called to him:</p> - -<p>“No caveman stuff for you for a time, young -fellow! Come in here! I’ve found three new -razor blades!”</p> - -<p>“Good work!” he praised her when he reached -her side. “Wonder how I came to overlook ’em. -Guess I just took it for granted they were all gone, -and didn’t open the case at all.”</p> - -<p>But by next day his beard, which had reached the -most unattractive stage, still covered his face.</p> - -<p>“Andy, why don’t you shave?” she asked.</p> - -<p>“By George! Forgot all about it. Getting used -to this fuzz, I guess. Maybe I like it—I don’t know.”</p> - -<p>His laugh was insincere, and she regarded him in -mild surprise.</p> - -<p>They were busy at separate tasks throughout that -day, Andy having gone down the river alone to make -an effort to get the canoe closer to the cave, and Charmian -washing clothes down by the pool below the -waterfall. At supper she once more reminded him -that he had not shaved.</p> - -<p>His boyish face grew red with confusion, and he -stammered an apology. The pine cones that they -used as torches would not give enough light for shaving -after supper, and next morning he tramped away -again with the beard still covering his face.</p> - -<p>She took him to task again when he returned at -noon, standing before him and demanding, with a -look of worriment in her eyes, the why of it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>“I—I just don’t seem to want to,” he confessed. -“I don’t know why. But I hate to begin. Always -dreaded the thing, and out here it seems so unnecessary.”</p> - -<p>Then it was that she noticed his finger nails, for -he had raised one hand to his shaggy beard and was -fondling it abstractedly while it was under discussion. -His finger nails were long and black with dirt.</p> - -<p>“Why, Andy!” she began; then stopped short, her -face whitening.</p> - -<p>Always Andy had been clean and neat, so far as -the conditions of camp life and the trail would permit. -In fact, saving Dr. Shonto, she never had -known a more fastidious man. Otherwise she never -could have considered him her equal. A terrible -thought came to her: This sudden shuffling off of the -demands of civilization must be the first symptom of -his malady. Considerately she said nothing, but for -two days watched him closely, her heart like lead. He -neither washed nor cleansed his finger nails during -those two days, and she imagined that a certain -amount of lustre had left his one-time bright-blue -eyes.</p> - -<p>And then he yawned directly in her face one night, -his mouth wide open, with no hand raised to cover the -gap and no apology. And two days later she caught -him eating broiled meat with his fingers, tearing it -apart as if he never had seen a knife and fork.</p> - -<p>She cried herself to sleep that night and rose next -morning with terror in her heart.</p> - -<p>And now the change came fast. Andy’s eyes became<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span> -bleary. The colour of his face grew leaden, and the -cheeks were bloated. His skin took on a dirty, flabby -look. His tongue, which the horrified girl often saw -hanging out at one corner of his mouth, had thickened, -and the lips were perpetually moist. His breath became -asthmatic. When he spoke he mumbled his -words. Gradually, but with cruel swiftness, the light -of reason left his leaden eyes; and within ten days -after the last tablet had been swallowed Charmian -Reemy knew that the man she loved was little better -than an idiot.</p> - -<p>His head lopped forward as he sat at the mouth of -the cave and stared, saying not a word, gazing at -nothing, occasionally drawing in his swollen tongue, -but never wiping from the ragged beard the saliva -which he had drooled upon it. Again the tongue -would creep out and downward, as if he lacked the -muscular energy to keep it in its place. His long hair -hung over his imbecile eyes; his long finger nails, unsightly -with dirt, looked like the talons of a bird.</p> - -<p>He would rouse himself when she shook him and, -with tears streaming down her face, begged him to -pull himself together. He would grin at her then -and lick his lips with his thick tongue, but in a moment -or two he would once more lose control of his faculties, -and his head would drop forward, while out -would creep the repulsive tongue. Sometimes he -would laugh—a weird, insane chuckle that wrenched -from the tortured girl a sob half of pity, half of -horror. He walked occasionally, but did no work at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span> -all. When this occurred he dragged his steps, swaying -loosely from side to side as if his body knew no -joints. He would pause often and, swaying slightly, -would gaze this way and that as if trying to replace -in his memory the significance of familiar objects.</p> - -<p>A few days more and he had ceased to speak. He -muttered now and then, for no particular reason -whatever, but his wet lips formed no words. Sometimes -he gazed at her as she moved about, but in his -eyes was no question as to what she might be doing; -the motion of her body simply had attracted him momentarily -and aroused a flicker of interest. But it -would pass at once, and again he would let his head -go forward, and sit gazing at the ground, while his -tongue hung out and dripped.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile it snowed. The ground was covered -two feet deep about the cave. Up in the higher altitudes -the blizzards raged perpetually, and the air was -filled with dismal moanings. All hope of Dr. Shonto’s -returning to the Valley of Arcana, except in an aeroplane, -had vanished.</p> - -<p>And the idiot sat at the door of the Cave of Hypocritical -Frogs and drooled, staring through his hanging -hair!</p> - -<p>Never before had Charmian Reemy known fear, -but now she suffered abject terror. All about her was -ice and snow, and she shivered when a new note came -in the monotonous roar of the waterfall. No longer -sang the silver-throated choir boys. The high-pitched -chorus that her fancy had once named theirs became<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span> -the sinfully gleeful giggling of malicious sprites as -they triumphed over her great disaster. The rollicking -songs that the male quartet had sung changed to -the bellowing of Satan, as when the angel of the Lord -came down from heaven with the key to the bottomless -pit and chained him for a thousand years. -Wrapped in her blankets, nightmares came to her so -that she was afraid to sleep without the flickering -light of a pine knot near her. Often she awoke -screaming, gripped by an icy, throat-contracting fear. -And once the nightmare took upon itself reality—and -Madame Destrehan’s prophecy was fulfilled.</p> - -<p>There were fingers at her throat, long, curving -talons that were black with dirt. Maniacal eyes -looked into hers through a screen of hanging hair. -Wet lips were close to her face, seen through a mat -of unkempt beard, and from them lolled a tongue, -black and swollen.</p> - -<p>She thought that she fainted—she did not know. -But for a space of time—how great she never knew—the -flickering pine-knot torch was gone and an icy -wave swept over her. Then she was up, shrieking, -struggling madly, hers the strength of half a dozen -women. She hurled the ogre away from her, striking, -clawing, pushing, and it crashed against a wall of the -cave and sank to the floor in a disorderly heap.</p> - -<p>Panting, one hand clutching her breast, she gazed -at it, huddled there, inert, breathing asthmatically. -Then it moved, half rose, reclined once more in a posture -more human and natural.</p> - -<p>For an hour she watched, while the cold pierced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span> -her bones. Then, mustering her courage, she stole -past IT to the outer chamber of the cave, where she -collected blankets, brought them back, and threw -them over the prostrate figure of what once had been -Andrew Jerome. With her own blankets wrapped -about her she remained in a sitting position, stark -awake, until the cold, feeble light of another day in -the Valley of Arcana crept in.</p> - -<p>He was not injured. He merely had lost in a -twinkling the brief flicker of energy that had returned -to him, perhaps in a dream. Perhaps he had been -asleep throughout, and his subconscious mind had revived -and energized him where his conscious mind -had failed to function. Perhaps her fierce defence -had awakened him and had caused him to lapse back. -He dragged himself up when it was light, and she -guided him to his customary seat at the mouth of the -cave.</p> - -<p>Her daily needs served eventually to turn her mind -on necessary tasks, which helped her to forget the -horror of her days and nights. She must conserve the -jerked meat, which together they had smoked so carefully -over the smouldering fires, and attend to the -traps. She trudged away through the snow, forced -to leave Andy to his fate, gaping there at the mouth -of the Cave of Hypocritical Frogs. But when she -reached the first dead-fall and found a dead jackrabbit -beneath the fallen stone she let it lie. One by -one she visited other traps, springing them when she -found no little dead body, and releasing live quail -caught in the quail traps. She would eat the jerky,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span> -and when that was gone— Well, then she would find -something else. She could not kill!</p> - -<p>Sometimes she was almost tempted to pray that -something might happen to Andy—that he might -rouse himself and try to wander somewhere through -the rocks, and meet with a fall that would end in -instant death. He was almost helpless. She had -brought herself to wash his hands and face, shuddering -with repulsion, and whacked off the offensive claws. -She wanted to shave him, but was afraid that she did -not know how, and shrank from the task. As yet he -was able to feed himself, but in a manner that was -wolfish when it was not like the food-cramming of a -two-year-old; and she turned her back and never ate -with him. The firewood was plentiful, and she had -only to cut it or break it with the hunter’s axe. All -day long she kept the smoke of the signal fire streaming -aloft, but she imagined that it was dispersed by -the blizzards sweeping overhead, and would serve no -purpose even were the doctor trying to reach her.</p> - -<p>She cut wood and washed clothes, pulverized nuts -and acorns for bread, cooked their meals, and watched -the snow pile up about the Cave of Hypocritical Frogs, -and when there was nothing to do she left her charge -and sought the waterfall, unable to bear the pitiable -sight of him. Not that there was solace in the roaring -and croaking and murmuring of the water. Its -icy sheets depressed her immeasurably. But below it -played and sang the water ouzel, happy, bobbing up -and down and nodding sidewise, singing as if there<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span> -were no terrors upon the earth, while over him and -about him dashed the freezing spray. He who could -sing at the top of his voice and dance throughout days -that were dull and dreary, in the very teeth of the -raging waters, gave solace.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVII<br> - -<small>ADRIFT ON LOST RIVER</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">HERE sat Charmian abreast the pounding -waters, sobbing at times as if her heart -would break, while up at the cave lolled the -drivelling thing that once had been a man, young and -handsome and pulsing with the thrill of life. The -little water ouzel bowed and bobbed to her, perched -on a stone in the frothy pool below. He was like a -boy stripped for the first spring plunge into his -favourite swimming hole, but jouncing on the spring-board, -shivering in anticipation of the chilling dive, -and thinking up excuses to postpone it. Yet always -he dived, broke the surface of the water again, and -perched himself once more on his aquatic throne. -Here he bobbed his head to the girl and danced -about, then lifted a voice attuned to the song of the -dashing waters, but merging trills of gladness with -their funeral dirge. He was always there; he never -failed her. He feared her not at all, neither did he -court her. The only jarring element in their companionship -was his complete indifference to her presence. -But she forgave him this when he sent forth his fluty -notes in defiance of ice and snow and driving spray. -Here she sat and wept, ofttimes trembling from the -cold, and prayed for relief from this hideous thing -that had come upon her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>Her brief dream of love had faded. At first she -had striven bravely to keep the fires burning, devoting -herself to sacrifices for him, trying to remember him -as he had been only a few short days before. At -times she hated herself for what she considered her -inconstancy and lack of character. But her dream of -love had gone—and now she realized that love never -had existed. He had swept her off her feet, this once -handsome, careless boy, and her youth had responded -to his. Now she had time to think, and she knew that -she had dreamed.</p> - -<p>She remembered now how she had tried to draw -him into serious discussion of various topics that interested -her, and should have interested him, and how -persistently he had evaded them. He had been a student -of the law, but even upon that topic she had been -unable to draw a thoughtful word from him. Light-hearted, -boyish, shallow-minded, care-free he had always -been, with never a thought for the morrow, his -distant future, or hers. How bitterly she recalled all -this now! How blind she had been! Never could -they have been happy together. She had not loved -Andy Jerome—the female in her had succumbed to -the male attraction that his vigorous manhood offered; -she had surrendered to that alone.</p> - -<p>Dr. Shonto had been right. Dr. Shonto was always -right. Andy Jerome was not for her. Now she saw -that, with this dreadful thing constantly threatening -him, his family had not urged him to mental performances -which would strengthen his mind and character. -Out of love for him they had let him go his way, well<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span> -supplied with money, and with nothing to bother him. -His schooling, she imagined, had been a mere pretence, -designed to delude him and his friends into believing -he was normal. In the end he would have -turned out a failure, perhaps, but he would not have -been the first failure in a rich man’s family. Nothing -would have come of it, and he would have lived his -life in blissful ignorance of the real cause of his failure. -Dr. Inman Shonto, she believed, had counselled -them to do this.</p> - -<p>She was thinking of Inman Shonto hourly these days—of -his grave, kindly smile, his tolerance of human -shortcomings, his knowledge, success, liberal ideas, and -lofty idealism. She never once thought of his ugliness -of face. In her picture of him she saw only the magnetic -smile and the power of that face.</p> - -<p>It had occurred to her once—just once—that -Shonto might have prolonged his return so that Andy -would run out of his medicine, when he would be revealed -to her in all his monstrousness. But she had -put the ungenerous thought behind her instantly. Dr. -Shonto never would stoop to such a thing as that.</p> - -<p>No, something serious had detained him. He would -come to her soon, if it was possible for an aeroplane -to cope successfully with the mountain blizzards that -raged over the Valley of Arcana. He would return -to her. She heard it in the unceasing song of the -little water ouzel.</p> - -<p>She had lost track of the days. Andy now was -helpless, insensible to cold and pain. At night she -helped him to his blankets, made him lie down, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span> -wrapped him up. She slept in the outer chamber of -the cave now—slept fitfully, for she must needs be -up every other hour to replenish the fire, lest her -charge throw off his covering and freeze to death. -Also her own covering was insufficient, for it was -growing colder, and but for the cave and the leaping -fire she surely would have suffered from the steadily -lowering temperature.</p> - -<p>She rose one morning about nine o’clock. The sky -was leaden, as usual, and the wind moaned over the -Valley of Arcana. It was cold and dreary in the cave, -for she had slept for the past three hours and the fire -had died down to a bed of coals. She glanced once -at the huddled form under the blankets, then with the -wooden shovel moved the drifted snow from the entrance -and rebuilt the signal fire outside. Then she -made acorn bread—how she hated it!—soaked and -stewed jerked rabbit, and laid out on the stone table -an array of dried grapes and huckleberries.</p> - -<p>When the unappetizing meal was ready she tried -to drag the inert man from his blankets, but he muttered -and refused to move. So she ate, and afterward -made an effort to feed him, but without avail.</p> - -<p>She wondered if he was dying. She wondered, too, -at her indifference. Surely he would be better dead. -Her existence had become a primitive one, and primitive -people are wont to look at such things as life and -death in a most pragmatic light. But she hated herself -again for not worrying over his fate. If he refused -to eat, however, what could she do? Dr. -Shonto had told her that she would know what to do<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span> -if the tablets should run out before his return. She -knew now what he had meant. She could feed Andy -and keep him from freezing—and nothing more!</p> - -<p>She left him wrapped in his blankets, breathing -huskily, a motionless heap of animal matter. She -waded through the snow that had drifted into the -trail, which the previous day she had cleared, and -sought the waterfall and her friend of the driving -spray.</p> - -<p>He was there before her, perched upon his stone, -bowing and scraping, and bobbing about like a hard -working auctioneer. This morning, however, his song -failed to cheer her. She wondered if she were going -mad. Strange thoughts had been in her mind since -she had arisen. She somehow seemed indifferent to -what might lie before her. She was dull and apathetic, -and it seemed that she almost was as insensible to -grief and fear as that vegetated man lying like a dying -fish in the Cave of Hypocritical Frogs. She could not -cry this morning. With dull eyes she gazed at the -antics of the water ouzel, and her thoughts were taken -up with a vague wonder of everything—life particularly. -She wondered who she was, why she was, what -she was—wondered if her past were all a dream—wondered -if she had not lived in this deserted valley always, -and only dreamed of civilization and a girl -called Charmian Reemy.</p> - -<p>She must fight this off. She was growing afraid—afraid -of herself! She twisted her fingers together -in a sudden agony of realization of her plight, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span> -when an unannounced wave of understanding sweeps -across the befuddled mind of a drunken man and he -knows that he is drunk, and for a moment suffers deep -remorse. She rose to her feet to walk about for -warmth—</p> - -<p>And then the water ouzel bobbed to the surface -and flew to his perch; and near the place where he had -risen she saw a shining object tossing about in the -writhing current.</p> - -<p>It was such an unfamiliar object that she stood and -looked at it uncomprehendingly. It was about a foot -in length, seemed cylindrical, and was unaccountably -bright. This brightness had attracted her. It was -so out of place in that dull-coloured land.</p> - -<p>It was a length of tree limb, she told herself. -Some piece of driftwood twelve inches long by three -inches in diameter, with the bark slipped off. But what -had made the under bark so bright? Was it river -slime?</p> - -<p>Certainly—it could be nothing else.</p> - -<p>She turned away, stopped—turned back again.</p> - -<p>There it was eddying about in the swirling water. -It was bright! Bright! Bright like metal! And metal -did not float—</p> - -<p>Except!</p> - -<p>With a new strange thought she clambered rapidly -down over the stones and reached the level of the -ouzel’s throne. She found a long stick, but it was -far too short to reach the queer object tossing upon -the boiling water. She watched it tremblingly. It <i>was</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span> -metal. No inner bark could assume that brightness, -no slime of the water could cause a piece of limb to -deceive the eye so easily.</p> - -<p>All eagerness, fearful of disillusionment, she tested -the water’s depth, but had known before she did so -that she dared not venture in.</p> - -<p>The riotous current, twisting this way and that without -stability of direction, had swept the bright object -to the middle of the pool once more. And now it -struck the main channel and went racing downstream, -past the water ouzel’s perch, and into the straight -stretch of river below.</p> - -<p>And Charmian knew that it was of metal and meant -for her.</p> - -<p>The lost river! Down Lost River, through the -mysterious underground passages, Dr. Inman Shonto -had sent a message to her, incased in a metal cylinder!</p> - -<p>Feverish with anxiety, she clambered over the stones -and reached the level land above the pool. Now, -running with all her might, she followed the river’s -course through the heavy snow. The metal cylinder -was being swept downstream at a rapid rate. Her only -hope lay in reaching the canoe ahead of it, and paddling -out to await its coming.</p> - -<p>Trees and boulders shut off her view of the river. -Hence she had no notion of the speed of the drifting -cylinder, and in greatest excitement and dread of loss -she waded on through the drifts, streaming perspiration. -Almost the last rational act of Andy Jerome -before he succumbed to the hideous malady had been -to paddle the canoe upstream as near as possible to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span> -cave. He had been obliged to beach it below a second -waterfall, past which the two of them had been unable -to carry it.</p> - -<p>At last, staggering on, she heard abreast of her the -roar of the lower waterfall. She left the open and -ploughed into the trees. She reached the river, staggering -from the fierce strain. And now a dread -thought came to her: Had she the strength to shove -the heavy, awkward craft into the water? She remembered -that it had required the combined efforts -of her and Andy to launch it before, to which they -had found it necessary to add no little ingenuity.</p> - -<p>But a feeble cry came from her lips as she neared -the spot where they had left it. The river had risen. -The canoe had launched itself and was riding easily -at the end of the tough grass rope that they had braided -for a painter and tied to a sapling on the river bank.</p> - -<p>She had never paddled this canoe, nor any other -canoe. She knew, though, from what Andy had told -her, that she must be cautious and not unbalance the -clumsy craft. In her excitement she had stepped into it, -taken up the paddle, and propelled it to the limit allowed -by the grass rope before she realized that it -was still made fast to the sapling.</p> - -<p>She pulled inshore again and stepped out, when, -as she fumblingly untied the rope, she realized that -it would be folly for her to paddle to the middle of the -stream until the cylinder came in sight. She would wait -inshore in the canoe, with paddle in readiness, until she -saw the bright object coming down on the swift current.</p> - -<p>She carefully entered once more, and knelt on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span> -rough bottom with her crude paddle. And now the -terrible idea seized her that perhaps she had been too -slow and that the cylinder had long since drifted by.</p> - -<p>She waited, torn by doubt and indecision, and was -on the point of leaving the canoe and plunging on -downstream when a bright something came toward her -bobbing on the waves in the middle of the river.</p> - -<p>With an inarticulate cry she shoved off and paddled -awkwardly ahead of it. Then the main current caught -her, whirled her completely around, and started her -downstream at the same rate that the cylinder was -travelling.</p> - -<p>She paddled upstream, but seemed unable to gain a -foot. She dipped more vigorously, her eyes on the -drifting object of her hopes. The canoe was swept -into a rapids, struck a snag—and next instant she was -in the icy water, with the canoe capsized and hurrying -on.</p> - -<p>She could swim, and her bellows breeches did not -impede the movements of her legs as a skirt would -have done. But she wore her heavy hiking shoes; -the current was swift and dangerous; the river was -deep; in a deplorably short time the ice-cold water -would chill her blood and benumb her muscles.</p> - -<p>She struck out bravely; but, already half exhausted -from her race through the snowdrifts, she made little -headway toward the snag that had capsized the canoe. -The water boiled over her, swept her about unmercifully, -and blinded her. Terror seized her as she realized -that she was not equal to the struggle against it. -She went completely under three times, twisted down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span> -by the undertow or whirlpools. She was losing! She -could not make the snag.</p> - -<p>And then, coming up for the fourth time, gasping -for air, her outflung hand touched something hard and -smooth, and her fingers closed over a cylinder of brass.</p> - -<p>Five minutes later, stunned, almost unable to move -a limb from the deadly coldness of the water, she -half swam, half floated to a projecting rock far downstream -from the point where she had grasped the -cylinder. She clutched it with a hand, rested a minute -or more, then dragged herself upon it and lay gasping -for breath, with the cylinder pressed to her heaving -breast.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER XXVIII<br> - -<small>THE MESSAGE</small></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap">CHARMIAN was more dead than alive, as the -saying goes, when she reached the Cave of Hypocritical -Frogs. Here, with shaking hands, she -stripped to the skin and rubbed her limbs and body -as vigorously as her benumbed condition would permit, -her teeth chattering like a tiny riveting machine. The -signal fire was smouldering. She raked away the green -conifer branches which kept the smoke stream rising -and heaped on dry wood. It blazed up soon, and -when she dared she stood close to it invoking its -warmth.</p> - -<p>An hour had passed before she felt able to examine -the brass cylinder that had come floating so mysteriously -down the ice-fringed river.</p> - -<p>As has been stated, it was about a foot in length by -three inches in diameter. One end was solid brass. -The other end had been sealed with brown wax.</p> - -<p>Huddled close to the fire, nude but for the blanket -that was wrapped about her, she hacked tremblingly -at the wax, first with a hunter’s axe and then a jackknife.</p> - -<p>The wax surrendered to her prying, and she hacked -out perhaps two inches of it. It had been poured in -to this depth, she reasoned, to guard against its being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span> -loosened by stones and sticks against which it might -have bumped in its underground passage from the -mountains above the valley.</p> - -<p>At last it was all loose. She dumped the last of it -on the cave floor. Looking in the cylinder, she saw a -pasteboard disc the exact size of the container, which -had been pressed down against the cargo of this -mysterious carrier to stand as a partition against the -contents and the melted wax.</p> - -<p>She pried it out with the point of her knife as one -fishes for an obstinate cork. Then, holding her breath, -she poured the contents of the cylinder on the floor.</p> - -<p>Small paper bundles fell out, and among them was -a folded piece of paper. This she grasped up first, -unfolded, and found to be a note signed Inman Shonto. -She read, while the tears brimmed in her eyes:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p> -“<span class="smcap">My Dear Charmian</span>:<br> -</p> - -<p>“This is the fourth brass cylinder that I have -thrown in Lost River in the hope that it will float -through the underground passages to the Valley of -Arcana, where you may find it. A note accompanied -its three predecessors, and each one instructed you to -build two signal fires if you found the cylinder so that -I would know it had reached you. For several days -I have watched the stream of smoke from your fire, -longing always to see the second stream ascend. And -I have suffered because no second stream came.</p> - -<p>“I have about decided, therefore, that Lost River -does not run through the valley, or that my cylinders -have caught on something and failed to reach you.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span> -For in some strange way it seems to me that, if they -did float into the Valley of Arcana, you would find -them. Which is childish of me, I suppose. But it -bolsters up my courage nevertheless. I have only three -more cylinders to send, and will send them two days -apart unless I see the second stream of smoke.</p> - -<p>“Now follows a repetition of what the other messages -contained:</p> - -<p>“Build another signal fire as soon as you have read -this, so that I will know you have received my message -and are again in command of the situation. By this -time, I think, Andy Jerome will have lapsed into a -terrible state, and you will be almost insane. But in -the cylinder you will find more tablets. Give him one -a day regularly—no more—and if he is not too far -gone he will come back to normalcy with surprising -swiftness. It may seem incredible to you, but it is the -truth.</p> - -<p>“Andy Jerome, Charmian, is a cretin. A cretin, -you perhaps must be told, is an hereditary idiot. Cretinism -is most prevalent in the Swiss Alps, where Andy’s -ancestors lived—on his mother’s side, I mean. Up -until recently cretinism has been considered incurable -by the medical profession; but the discovery that man -is regulated by his gland secretions had done away -with that theory. Cretins are only human beings suffering -from a lack of thyroid in their systems. Their -other glands may be functioning properly, but when -the secretions of the thyroid are deficient they are -hopeless idiots. However, science has discovered that -if they are fed daily a tablet composed of the extract<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span> -of the thyroid glands of sheep they will, to all intents -and purposes, become normal. But in a few days -after the treatment is stopped they will quickly slip back -into cretinism again, with all its degradation. Then -let the treatment be renewed, and in a short while the -patient will have lost all of the symptoms of cretinism -and gradually will come back. It seems incomprehensible, -I realize, but it is nevertheless a thoroughly -demonstrated scientific fact.</p> - -<p>“Cretinism runs in Andy’s family. Certain children -of a generation ago in his mother’s family were born -cretins. Others escaped to a certain extent. Andy’s -mother, for instance, is perfectly normal in every way. -But the taint cropped up in her child when he was -about eight years of age, at which time I was working -hardest on my theory regarding the significance of the -gland secretions as determinants of human personality. -I myself brought Andy out of cretinism and made him -appear like other men.</p> - -<p>“We have been careful with him and have encouraged -an outdoor life. While he seems to learn -readily, he takes no particular interest in his studies, -is irresponsible, and unsettled in his habits. He has -never missed a day in taking his medicine, for I refused -to experiment with him. I am not sure now that he -has lapsed back into cretinism; but, considering the -time that I have been away, it seems almost certain -that he should be pretty far gone.</p> - -<p>“My delay in returning to you was unavoidable. I -think that I could have made it back ahead of the -snows if I had not encountered our old friends Leach<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span> -and Morley, who kidnapped me, blindfolded me, and -led me into a series of strange adventures.”</p> -</div> - -<p>Here followed a brief account of the doctor’s imprisonment -in the adobe hut at Tanburt Ranch and of -his subsequent release by Shirttail Henry and Mary -Temple.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>“Marvellous Mary Temple!” continued the letter. -“Suffering agonies because of her broken rib, she nevertheless -refused to give in until she and Henry had -ridden to the ranch, after her spectacular hold-up of the -prospectors, and set me free. Old Gus Tanburt was -mooning about the house, I guess, and we got away -from the ranch after dark with little difficulty. Then -I relieved Shirttail Henry of his horse—or, rather, -Tanburt’s horse—and Mary and I rode all night to -Diamond H Ranch. Henry, I suppose, walked back -to his camp in the buttes, with fifty dollars that I gave -him for another drunk. He said he had spent all of -the two hundred and fifty that you gave him for his -services as guide. Poor old Henry! Mary says one -more hot day will finish him!</p> - -<p>“At Diamond H we got my car and I drove Mary -to the city, where I rushed her to a hospital and commanded -her to stay there. Then I got what I needed -from my laboratory, having in the meantime thought -of trying to float medicine and other things to you -down Lost River in brass cylinders, provided I should -fail to reach you by airplane. It all depended on -whether Lost River actually ran underground to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span> -Valley of Arcana. I knew that it was snowing hard -in the mountains, but that it was too late for me to get -in afoot.</p> - -<p>“I was fortunate in being able to hire a government -monoplane, but the pilot was doubtful about the mountain -blizzards from the outset. However, he was -game and willing to do his best, and we set out hopefully.</p> - -<p>“In a surprisingly short time the mountains were -below us, and I thought of all the hardships you and I -had gone through in covering the same distance. But -the storms were raging; we could see almost nothing -of the land beneath us. It was impossible to make a -landing anywhere, but when a blizzard caught us we -made one nevertheless.</p> - -<p>“I thought my last day had come when we swooped -down at terrific speed. But the pilot regained control -of the thing, and, though we could not rise again, we -came down much more slowly. We landed in a snowdrift -high up in the mountains, and my pilot was -knocked senseless, having struck his head on something -in the fall. I was completely unhurt.</p> - -<p>“I was a long time locating ourselves. I had to -work alone, because Lieutenant Cantenwine, the pilot, -was helpless. But finally, wandering about, I came -upon a streak through the forest where trees had been -felled and brush cut, indicating a trail under the snow. -I followed it, and it led me to an Indian village.</p> - -<p>“I had stumbled upon the reservation that Henry -told us about at Shirttail Bend. The Indians were -kind and readily offered to help me. The entire tribe,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span> -I believe, accompanied me back to Cantenwine and the -airplane. It was the biggest day in their lives.</p> - -<p>“They carried the lieutenant to the reservation on -a stretcher, where I put him to bed. His skull is not -fractured, but he has had a terrible shaking-up and was -out of business. I had no way of knowing whether the -plane was damaged or not, for I know nothing about -airplanes. So I paid no attention to that, but next -day questioned the Indians about Lost River, and was -told that the source of it was not many miles away. -They offered to take me to it on snowshoes, and we -set out early through a driving storm.</p> - -<p>“We reached it, and, with the awed natives standing -about, I launched two of the cylinders. Two days -later I went again with a guide and launched the third. -Since then I have spent the greater part of my time -doctoring Cantenwine and, since the weather has -cleared, watching for the second stream of smoke, -which never rose.</p> - -<p>“The lieutenant is about now and has examined the -airplane. It is not damaged beyond repair, and he -is at work on it. He hopes to be able to make another -attempt to reach the Valley of Arcana in a few days, -if the weather continues to clear. We will circle over -the valley, when we locate it, and try to make a landing -on the lake. It must be frozen over, and we think -that the high winds that have been blowing ought to -clear the ice of snow. If not, landing will be a serious -matter; but we hope for the best.</p> - -<p>“This is all, Charmian, and I hope fervently that -God will direct this message into your hands. Your<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span> -single stream of smoke tells me that you are alive, -and I thank Him for that. If Andy is in the condition -that I think he is, you will realize now that you can -never marry him. Even though we are able to bring -him back to his old buoyant self, marriage is out of the -question for him. He has no right to bring children -into the world, which may be cretins, as he is. Knowing -him as I do, I feel sure that, when he realizes his -condition, he will give you up to me if it kills him. -Poor Andy! I know that this must be a bitter blow -to you, and I am sorry. But you must be told the truth -now, and Andy must know too. If he comes back before -we reach you, tell him everything.</p> - -<p>“God bless you and help you.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="marginright">“Devotedly,</span><br> -“<span class="smcap">Inman Shonto</span>.”</p> -</div> - -<p>For a long time after reading the message Charmian -sat staring at the fire. Absent-mindedly she opened -the packages—found tablets, coffee, sugar—all dry. -Then she suddenly realized that she was growing -cold again, and rose to put on such dry clothes as she -could find. With these on, and the blanket again -wrapped about her, she went out in a sort of stupor -and built a second signal fire about a hundred feet from -the first. She returned to the cave and seated herself -again, drying her clothes before the blaze. She was -stunned, stupid. She could not think. It was the cold, -she told herself. Everything was all right now. Inman -Shonto would come to her soon. She would hear -a human voice again—his voice!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>Her chin sank to her breast and she fell sound asleep -sitting upright before the fire.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>Days had passed—how many Charmian Reemy did -not know—before she heard the hum of the airplane -in the sky above the Valley of Arcana. Another storm -had raged since she had received the doctor’s message, -and the mystic snow banners had streamed above the -sink from the surrounding peaks. She had realized -that it was impossible for him to reach her under these -conditions, and had bravely submitted to the inevitable. -Daily she cooked and ate her simple food. How delightful -was the coffee! Daily she gave the cretin his -tablet—forced it between his swollen lips and washed -it down his throat with water, often nearly choking -him.</p> - -<p>Gradually the miracle took place. Slowly but surely -the film left the eyes of the sufferer, and day by day -they brightened. The swelling left the protruding -tongue. The sallowness departed from the skin. The -flabbiness departed. The lips became dry and firm. -The asthmatic wheeze was gone from his breathing. -The bloated, baglike abdomen receded. The light of -reason came back in his eyes, and he drew in his protruding -tongue repeatedly, glancing shame-facedly at -Charmian to see if she had observed.</p> - -<p>He smiled at her. He began to mumble. Then -words came, and finally simple, broken sentences expressing -the sufferer’s wants.</p> - -<p>He was at this stage when the snow ceased falling. -Two days of calm were followed by a bitter wind,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span> -which cut the snow from the hillsides and sent Charmian -struggling to a lofty eminence from where she had a -view of the distant ice-locked lake.</p> - -<p>She could see the snow clouds blowing over there, -and her heart leaped with hope. Then the airplane -came roaring over the valley, circled down into it, -glided to one end of the lake, turned, and came on in -a downward swoop with the stretch of ice before it. -She saw it strike the ice and held her breath. Great -clouds of snow-dust arose and hit it, and she screamed -with dread. But next instant she saw it skimming -over the ice at terrific speed, the snow clouds trailing -behind it. Slower and slower became its rate of progress; -and when it was still Charmian sank down in -the snow, and for the first time since reading the -doctor’s message she found relief in tears.</p> - -<p>She stood up after the storm of tears had passed -and saw two tiny figures coming toward her over the -snow. She watched them, fascinated, for over half -an hour, insensible to the biting wind. Then when -they drew nearer she noted that they were headed -toward her smoke streams, and she jumped about and -waved her arms to attract attention to herself.</p> - -<p>Presently she knew that they had seen her, for the -foremost waved his hat and the two changed direction. -The speed at which they travelled showed that they -were on snowshoes. They come on rapidly straight -toward her. Then when they were very near and she -heard a faint shout and recognized the doctor’s voice, -a sudden wild panic seized her. She had been alone -so long in that wild, desolate snow land, with only a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span> -helpless, drivelling idiot for company, that a strange -dread of meeting these men took hold on her. Again -the doctor shouted to her. Hysteria overcame her. -With a little moan she turned and started running -like a wild thing toward her cave.</p> - -<p>Three times she stumbled over rocks hidden in the -snow and pitched forward on her face. She had left -the knoll and was on the level land. She glanced -back over her shoulder as she ran. It seemed that no -one was pursuing her. She slackened her pace, stopped, -trembling and sobbing, and tried to fight off her terror.</p> - -<p>And then it was that a figure suddenly stood before -her with two arms outstretched. She had not realized -that they would not follow her over the knoll, but -would keep to the level land and travel much faster -than she had. They even had passed her, and had cut -in ahead of her.</p> - -<p>She shrank back, biting her white lips.</p> - -<p>“There—there—there!” came in soothing tones. -“It’s all right now—all right now, Charmian.”</p> - -<p>Next instant the long arms closed about her. Her -tears burst forth again, but she lowered her head to -Inman Shonto’s shoulder, and the panic passed.</p> - -<p>“There—there—there!”—as soft as the voice of a -mother bending over the cradle of her child.</p> - -<p>She looked up, dark eyes swimming. There came a -smile—a little up-flirt at one corner of her mouth.</p> - -<p>Without reserve he lowered his lips to hers and -kissed her tenderly, as if all along he had known that -this precious moment would one day come to him.</p> - -<p>“It’s all right now—all right now, Charmian.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>And Charmian knew that it was all right now.</p> - -<p>Two hours later the great man-made bird rose from -the ice-sheet on the lake and roared away over the -Valley of Arcana—away from the ice and snow and -the horrors of the rocky cave—away to the sunny -green lands that border the blue Pacific.</p> - -<p>And the little ouzel, lifting his fluty notes amidst -the icy spray of his beloved waterfall, bobbed and -bowed and dived happily, and knew not of its going.</p> - -<p class="center">THE END</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> - -<p>Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.</p> -</div></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VALLEY OF ARCANA ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -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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