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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5196-0.txt b/5196-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6d866f --- /dev/null +++ b/5196-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2610 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Their Mariposa Legend + +Author: Charlotte Herr + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5196] +Posting Date: April 19, 2009 +Last Updated: March 15, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + + + + +Produced by David Schwan + + + + + +THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND + +A Romance of Santa Catalina + + +By Charlotte Herr + + + To Little Bruce Parker + Who Loved Stories + + + + +Part I. Sir Francis Starts It + + +It began to happen a long time ago, centuries ago, when, in a fragrant +rush of rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, fairest of the Channel +Islands. Beneath the golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. On +steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of wild lilac bloomed, the lark +shook from his tiny throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed niches of +the canyons lilies waited to fill with light their gleaming ivory cups. +Spring in very truth was there. + +And looking down upon it from her cavern bower high above the beach, +watched the Princess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of dawn shining +on her long black hair, she was, herself, the sweetest blossom of the +spring. Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the Mariposa and of +royal blood besides; although of this the great chief Torquam, who even +at that moment lay sleeping in his lodge of deerskin on the crescent +beach below, knew more than he had ever told. + +With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring the folds of softest +fawnskin drawn across her breast, the princess bent her gaze to where +the waves ran silver on the ocean's distant rim. There she knew the sun +must rise and, as the first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, she +rose slowly until she stood erect, a slender, graceful figure against +the dim, gray rocks, and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke in +the musical words of her people. + +“Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit-father,” she pleaded, “have mercy on me. +Grant to me, thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I pray thee, +that it need not be I wed with Torquam's friend, the pale-face stranger. +Well knowest thou I would not disobey my father, him the bravest and +most powerful of all thy warriors, him whom his people delight to honor, +and whom I strive to please. All the more I feel my duty since, many +moons ago, they laid my mother underneath the flowers. Yet, even so, I +cannot find it in my heart to wed with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does +my father wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great power, turn his +heart, oh lord of spirits, that he no longer may desire it? Help me in +this, my only trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I be indeed his +loyal daughter,--in all else save alone in this one thing!” + +Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to her knees, bending her head +until her forehead touched the ground. For many minutes she lay thus +prostrate while the glory of the rising sun bathed the sea in splendor. +Yet, when at last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears. + +But now from the beach below there drifted up to her the sounds of a +village astir. Shrill voices of women mingled with the crackling of +freshly kindled fires. A canoe, pushed hastily into the water, grated +harshly on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. Leaning against +the rocky ledge, her chin in her hands, she gazed listlessly out over +the shining sea. If any interests lived for her among the dark-skinned +people beneath the cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign. + +Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of the Indian village, rose the +hoarse shouting of men. Wildenai lifted her eyes,--eyes that widened +first with wonder, then with fear. For there, far down the shoreline to +the south, her sails gleaming white against the walls of rock behind +her as she rounded a distant point, a ship came slowly into view. With +wildly beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the +long curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen +such another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don +Cabrillo first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year +ago. For many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship +with the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his +father, hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast +anchor off the shore,--the first white man to see their island. Nor was +the lingering without result. Torquam he taught to speak the Spanish +tongue, learning in his turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields +of the north, while not the least among the treasures carried with him +when at last he sailed away did he hold the promise that the beautiful +daughter of the chief should become his bride when next he touched upon +that shore. Could this, then, be the Spaniard's fleet returning? Was the +Great Spirit powerless, after all, to save her? In sore bewilderment and +terror Wildenai watched the distant ship. + +Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its outline grew each moment more +distinct, gradually her fears departed. For this was not the clumsy +Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was +the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet, +though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was +about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by +this time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of +the crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At +length, as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, +the crew were seen to bring the vessel sharply about. An anchor was +cast over, the creaking of the hawsers distinctly audible in the clear +morning air, and a few moments later a small boat was lowered. Into +this boat immediately several sailors swung themselves and after a +short delay, amidst the shouting of the Indians, now running in wild +excitement up and down the beach, the men picked up their oars and +started for the land. + +“Alla-hoa, Wildenai!” + +Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a +lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet. + +“Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge. +Strangers,--paleface strangers,--enemies, who can tell, are coming. +See,--the ship!” With dark forefinger he pointed toward the sea. +“Torquam would have thee hide with the rest of the women in the cave at +the Great Rock. There Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. Make +haste, oh Wildenai!” + +“And am I not as safe up here?” returned the princess, calmly. “Be not +so lost in thy terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship and I fear +not. Yet will I obey if so my father bids,” she added quickly. “Go thou +ahead. I follow.” And hastily gathering together some reeds and colored +grasses lying on the ledge, parts of an unfinished basket upon which, +evidently, she had during some previous visit been at work, she flung +them into a corner of the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow path +leading to the village. + +Here all by this time was tense excitement, the dramatic, ungoverned +excitement of children. While with shrill cries two or three of the +women gathered the little ones together, the rest pulled frantically at +the poles holding each tepee in place. Still apparently quite unmoved, +Wildenai sought first her father standing surprised but unafraid in the +doorway of his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, straight as +some lonely pine on the slopes of distant San Jacinto. Yet even in +the stress of such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes as they +rested upon his motherless daughter. + +Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each +other in silence. Then, + +“It is well thou art come, my beloved one,” spoke the chief. “Stranger +pale-faces will soon be amongst us.” + +“Wildenai feels no fear, my father,” quietly answered the girl. + +“If they come in friendship,” quickly Torquam replied, “then indeed may +all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that +we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see.” + +Bending her head in mute acquiescence the girl moved away to join the +group of women now almost ready to depart. + + + +Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven onward by the stout arms of +three strong sailors, steadily approached the bay. + +“What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the +savages?” inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that +he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. “Wot ye not that +if water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much +better on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache +only yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were +away on the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious +scalps to row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the +whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's +fleets!” and without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust. + +The others laughed. + +“Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with +thy big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else +our captain seeks? Water,--pouf!” the speaker made a rough grimace, +“water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were +the lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the +balance? The Apache told him, too,--thou see'st thou hast not played the +listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself, I +heard him say it,--that here lay that famous island, San--how is't they +call it? San Catlina--I know not how 'tis spoken,--some Spanish lingo +not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your Spanish robber, +Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious son as well, +stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold. The savage +sware besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to war and murder like +the rest. I hearkened well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I would be +een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The devil take the Apache an +he lied,” he added fiercely, “I'll break his head across till even he +shrieks out for help when I get back!” + +He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern cliffs now looming close +at hand, beneath which the excited natives still ran back and forth, +pointing with frantic gestures at the boat. + +The third man spoke. He was smaller than the other two and darker, with +a sly look about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast to the bluff +frankness of his comrades. So far he had appeared content to listen in +amused silence, but now with a short laugh he interrupted. + +“The Apache did not lie. This is the island Santa Catalina, though that, +mark you, is not the Indian name. And right well can the chief who +rules here direct our captain also to the goldfields of the north. But +hearkee, comrades. 'Tis not Drake will reap the profits this time!” He +lowered his voice mysteriously as though fearful of being overheard, +albeit nothing was nearer than his two companions and the clear, green +stretch of water. “Have ye not observed the boy who travels with the +captain?--the boy I serve,--the one they call Sir Harry? To my mind, +cub though he be, 'tis he who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how the +great Drake himself bends to his slightest wish?” + +“Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, is he, think'st thou?” inquired +the man who had spoken first. + +“Some close kin to the queen,--that much I know,” the other answered +quickly, “the heir to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise to see the +world and make a fortune. 'Tis his desire we land, so much he told +me, and 'tis to learn more than directions, my hearties, and that I'll +warrant ye! But, look ye, the water grows too shallow! We can use the +oars no longer.” + +And even as he spoke the boat grated upon the pebbles. An incoming +breaker would have carried it ashore, but before the sailors could take +advantage of this help or even so much as ship their oars, half a dozen +swarthy youths had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, whether of +welcome or hostility the Englishmen had no means of knowing, pushed it +high upon the beach. At once, then, for well they realized the danger +of delay, and with a stolid courage born of many a like adventure, the +seamen leaped fearlessly out upon the sand. In their hands they held +aloft bolts of brightly colored cloth snatched on the instant from the +bottom of the boat. These they offered for the wondering inspection of +the women who, observing the small number of invaders, were cautiously +returning. To the warriors grouped about the chief they proffered knives +of which the steel blades, set in strong handles of bone, glistened +in the sun. Eagerly, yet with a certain unexpected formality, the men +accepted these, passing them for examination from one to another with +many a grunt of satisfaction. To be sure, no brave among them but +might the next moment decide to try out the merits of his gift upon the +bestower, but this danger the adventurers had to risk. More timidly the +women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the gaudy red and yellow cloth, +approached the strangers, offering in their turn bits of abalone shell +polished to iridescent beauty. + +They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly people, so much so that at +length the sailors, deeming it safe to undertake the second part of +their errand, began to plead for water and to request, besides, an +interview between their captain and the chief. All this by means of +signs in which they displayed no little wit and skill, the Englishmen +accomplished until, well on toward the middle of the morning, they made +ready to return to the ship, the casks they had brought brimming with +sweet mountain water, while with them they bore as well the promise of +an interview of state between the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis +Drake, to take place upon the beach at sunset. + +And then at once the little village of Toyobet seethed again with +excitement. For these good paleface friends and their god-like commander +a fitting welcome must be prepared. Fleet-footed messengers, bearing +flaming torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain trails that all +who saw might know without words spoken of the assembling of the tribe. +To the distant village at the isthmus they hurried, and to the cove on +the western coast, some twenty miles away, to which a band of warriors +had gone several days before to hunt the otter. That no one among his +people might remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam even caused +signal fires to be kindled on each of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes, +near the center of the island. Smoke rising there was visible from every +corner of his land, and woe to any subject who dared to disregard that +warning! + +Throughout the long bright day the women toiled, preparing a ceremonial +feast. Three antelope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild sheep which +roamed the hills were killed and placed for roasting over deep pits dug +in the sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude +fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their +heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The +women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with +strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely +greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief +Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by +the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back +until almost it touched the ground. About his neck, as token of his +priesthood, he threw the bear-claw necklace, known far and wide among +the tribes for its famous powers of healing. Wildenai alone made no +change except to bind the satin black of her hair still more smoothly +within a fillet of silver. In the center of the band, so that it rested +just above her brow, a strange device appeared, a circle enclosing many +rays,--the royal insignia of the tribe which only the daughter of the +chief might wear. + + + +Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays of light rested golden on +the bay and turned to amethyst the distant mountains on the mainland, +all was ready. Once again, this time to the weird music of tom-toms +and the beating of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship while on the +shore the Indians watched. + +It was in truth a picture not soon to be forgotten. Behind the mirrored +Bay of Moons, its crescent of sand gleaming white against the rocks, the +bands of dusky men and women stood motionless as statues in the quiet +light of the setting sun, while in the doorway of his lodge, his +daughter close beside him, Torquam waited with simple dignity to receive +his guests, the fair-skinned strangers. + +At length along the beach advanced the little group of English, friends +and fellow adventurers with the most renowned of all their great queen's +buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis himself marched young Harold of Wessex, +little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and feared in his own land +even then--a possible heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short distance in +front of these two, standard bearers carried the flags of Merry England, +each glorious with fringes and tassels of gold. Well might such banners +dazzle the eyes and wits of simple savages. + +Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been for the lengthy ceremonial +of the peace-pipe, Wildenai could not have taken time to observe so +closely, in stolen glances from beneath her long black lashes, the +splendor of the young noble standing proudly erect beside his captain; +nor could he have stared so often, with no attempt to hide his +admiration, at the dark beauty of the princess. + +Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to place them side by side at +the feast which followed, young Harold might never have discovered that +an Indian girl, however beautiful, possessed the wit to learn a foreign +language. Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well spoken in which, at +length, she softly asked of her father a question intended obviously for +himself. + +Under cover of one of the Indian dances with which, from time to time, +the feast was enlivened, he leaned impulsively toward her. + +“Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?” he hastily inquired. + +The princess dropped her eyes. For a moment she remained silent as if +debating to what extent such boldness might involve her. Then, with a +glance as shy as if some deer gazed at him startled from the thicket, + +“Yes, mon senor,” she answered simply. “I learned it when Don Cabrillo +came to Punagwandah many moons ago.” + +After that it was only that one thing led to another, as was sometimes +true of men and maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, as if +by common consent, then, they drew a little apart from the rest, where, +throwing himself on the sand beside her while the firelight threw +flickering shadows among the rocks, the young man related fragments of +his story,--of the long journey across the sea, something of his home +in England, and of the brilliant court of the great queen wherein he had +served as gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet soon, but here her +guest had suddenly flushed and paused as though he spoke too hastily +or of what he should not. To all of it the princess listened with +fast-beating heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place +in this splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter +of a king? Yet how different and how unimportant beside that wonderful +woman of whom he spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam, +feared by every tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden +in many a canyon among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct +told her that to this proud Englishman her people were at best little +more than a curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter. + +When at last the feast was finished, Torquam rose, and removing with +slow solemnity his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon the head +of Sir Francis, a seal of everlasting friendship. With difficulty young +Harold suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well aware of what the +situation demanded as he was keenly alive to its danger, received the +attention with a gravity fully equal to that of his host. Indeed, he +went still further. + +“Most gracious hast thou been, oh Torquam, all wise chief of the +Mariposa,” he began in carefully chosen Spanish, “nor shall thy kingly +gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry +steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains +of the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than +all the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring +to you after our return tonight.” + +In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him +more. He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those +strange yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until +the Spanish landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his eyes betrayed +his pleasure. But Harold of Wessex stared at his captain in blank +astonishment, for the gift he had just bestowed with such apparent +carelessness was the most valuable bit of cargo in the ship, a costly +Arabian horse intended for the young noble's own special comfort and +convenience during the search for gold on which they were bound. Was +Drake gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw away, and that without +permission, his choicest property on a mere savage? Hot with resentment +he was about to interfere; but before he could obey the rash impulse +his better judgment prevailed, and just in time he remembered how, on +several other such occasions, his very life had been saved by some swift +expedient of Drake's and his tact in handling the natives. + +Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now one watching intently might have +sensed from the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the real point in +the interview. + +“One question, nevertheless, would I ask of all-wise Torquam before we +part.” He hesitated, searching the impassive face of the Indian. “Can'st +tell me of a Spaniard, one Cabrillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain, +who, since his father's death, still sails upon these waters? To him I +bear a message,”--again he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in +sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but Torquam's face remained +blank as a page unwritten,--“a message from our queen,” added Drake. The +last words were uttered with significance. + +The Indian slowly shook his head. + +“The noble white chief asks what is unknown to any man,” he answered. +“The young Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwandah. Many moons +ago it was. Where he is now, how should Torquam know?” + +In his bitter disappointment the hand of the Englishman sought the +hilt of his sword. Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about the +chief. + +Drake laughed. + +“Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, thinking thou mightst tell +me. It matters not. The gift I promised thee will come, as I said, +tonight.” + +He turned to go and young Harold rose to follow. Then, perceiving the +dark eyes of the princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated and, +obeying a sudden impulse, he stepped hastily to her side. + +“When they return with the gift for thy father,” he whispered, “I will +come with them,” he smiled into her soft eyes shining with pleased +surprise, “and I will bring a gift to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest +of maidens!” + +Drake gave a sharp command. His followers sprang to their feet, and +without further ceremony the party passed quickly down the beach to +their boat. + +But the princess Wildenai did not leave the feasting ground. Hidden +by deepening shadows she watched the ship's lights glimmer across the +water. Glad indeed was she of the darkness, for a warm flush glowed +in her cheeks and her heart throbbed with a strange new pleasure, a +pleasure bordering close on fear, yet wholly sweet. + +But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had descended upon the village, +once again she sought her father. He, too, within the open doorway of +his lodge, watched intently the distant ship. Without surprise he saw +his daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the blanket beside him, he +stretched a hand and drew her close. + +“It grows cold. The wind is rising. 'Twere best to wait inside.” He +spoke in the musical Indian tongue. For a moment he stroked her hair in +silence, then-- + +“What think'st thou by now of the English, Wildenai, my little wild +rose?” he asked. + +But the princess seemed not to have heard his question. + +“My father,” she began after another short silence, “I have a favor to +ask of thee.” + +“And what may that be, my daughter?” he returned gravely. + +But again the young girl made no answer and for many minutes they +watched the tremulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel. + +After a time he felt her hand tighten upon his arm. + +“It is but the old boon over again, my father.” Her voice was low as +the sighing of the wind among the oak trees. “I would be freed from my +promise to wed with Don Cabrillo.” + +An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to +wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any +woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee. + +“Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, the judgment of him who loves +thee?” he asked. + +“I doubt it not, my father,” answered his daughter. “Yet would I not wed +with the Spaniard,” she added stubbornly. + +“The blue-eyed senor from England”--there was a hint of humor in his +tone,--“he it is who steals thy fancy! Is it not so, my Wildenai?” + +Then, after a moment: “Right well knowest thou my only wish is to make +thee happy.” Again his voice, though gentle, grew serious almost to +sadness. “No mere whim it is that counsels me to wed thee to Cabrillo. +There is something--” He paused, continuing with effort,--“a reason I +have never told thee why it seems most fitting. Now I will tell thee. +That reason is because, because, my Wildenai, thou art Spanish born +thyself.” + +The princess drew a hasty breath. In the darkness he felt rather than +saw her startled eyes upon him. + +“My father!” The exclamation, filled with pain as well as astonishment, +touched him to the quick. Tenderly he drew her to him. Then briefly, +as was the Indian way, yet with the pictured phrasing which caused each +scene to spring into vivid life before the young girl's eyes, he told +her of the day, already more than eighteen years gone by, when, in the +wake of a long midwinter storm, the first sailing vessel ever beheld +by his people had fled for refuge to their bay; and of the little girl +carefully brought to shore by her old nurse in the first boat to +touch the beach. A mere baby she was, too young to know aught of her +misfortune, yet a princess royal, rudely dispossessed of her right to +the throne of Spain, and smuggled aboard the adventurer Cabrillo's ship +to be dropped in some out-of-the-way corner of the western world. Even +then, he made it clear, she might have perished,--since little recked +the Spanish explorer what should happen, well knowing that upon his +return no questions would be asked,--had it not been for his Indian +wife. She, lacking children of her own, had taken an instant fancy to +the dark-eyed little girl, a fancy so strong that nothing would do +but they must adopt her as their own daughter into the tribe to belong +forever, according to their law, she and her children, to the Mariposa. + +“Nor, because thy mother--for ever was she a true mother to +thee--thought that it might grieve thee, have any of my people ever +given thee cause to doubt that thou wert native born,” he finished +proudly. “Loyal have they been, doing all they could to make thee happy. +But now that thy Indian mother is dead, and I myself grow old, I thought +to wed thee, knowing his desire, to the son of that same Cabrillo who +brought thee to us, for I long to be sure, when at length I go, that +thou art safe,--at home.” + +He waited then and in the silence only the low weeping of the girl was +heard. At length the old chief spoke again, and now in his voice love +conquered disappointment. + +“Much do I desire it, but that matters not. I would not have thee +unhappy. I myself will tell the senor that what he hopes for cannot be.” + +Slowly Wildenai bent her head until it touched his feet. Then she +nestled close against him. + +“I thank thee, oh my father!” she cried, and all her voice was +music because of her joy. “And thou art still my father,” she added, +earnestly. “What care I to go to Spain? I will stay always with thee.” + +“For a time, it may be. Yet have a care, little wild rose,” he +cautioned, smiling, “Let not the Englishman lure thee away! He, too, may +not be all that thou thinkest.” + +And even as he spoke, in mocking confirmation of his words, there came +to them suddenly from across the water, the distant creaking of +ropes, the snapping of sails flung hastily to the wind. Before their +unbelieving eyes the vessel swung about and put slowly out to sea. Dumb +with amazement they watched until the last faint light flickered into +darkness. Not until the remotest chance of a mistake was past did the +old chief rise, trembling with rage, to his feet. + +“See'st thou now what I meant, my daughter? The English pale-faces know +not the meaning of honor,--no, nor of gratitude either!” + +He lifted his long spear from the ground and shook it fiercely. + +“The words of the Mariposa are few,” he cried, “but their revenge is +sure. Let but an Englishman set foot again on Punagwandah and, swifter +than the arrow leaves the bowstring, he dies!” + +And at once, without answer, in the silence of suffering which only the +wild things of the earth understand, Wildenai crept from the lodge, her +heart heavy with its own bitter disappointment. Noiselessly she passed +among the tepees where her father's people slept. Not one of them should +ever know how far dwelt slumber from her own eyes that night. Up the +steep trail beyond the Bay of Moons she climbed and flung herself +weeping on the bed of skins within the cavern. + +“Oh, thou false one,” she moaned, “why did'st thou promise then, when +never did'st thou mean to keep it?” + + + +Yet nothing had been farther from the young Englishman's thoughts when +he left her than faithlessness to his word. On reaching the ship again +he had gone directly to his cabin. Here he took from its small but +richly embroidered case a slender chain of gold, threaded so closely +with garnets that even in the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the +only illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a glancing stream of +crimson, in his hand. This he carried to the light and as he examined it +under the lantern he smiled. + +“Never saw the little maid such jewels before, I'll warrant me! Yet, +beshrew my heart, but she deserves them. Indian though she be, still is +she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman that ever mine eyes have looked +upon!” + +Then, stowing the necklace carefully away in his belt, he went at once +in search of the commander. + +But at this point an unexpected difficulty had presented itself. He +found Sir Francis in close conversation with his pilot. + +“Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy wish,” the keen-eyed old +mariner was saying. “I still maintain it were a shame to lose this wind. +Gift or no gift, I've sailed these latitudes before, my lord, and by +heaven I swear we're not like to have such another breeze, no, not +till the change of the moon, and that you know yourself, sir, is a good +fortnight hence.” + +Sir Francis, striding back and forth within the narrow confines of the +quarter deck, appeared to be weighing the old man's words with unusual +care. At length, however, he turned as one who has made his decision. + +“By the mass and it shall be even as you say, Jarvis,” he declared. “I +think myself 'twere well to push on at once. At the most they be but +Indians!” The last words were spoken in a lower tone as if to himself. +“'Twill matter little either way!” + +It was at this point that young Harold stepped hastily forward. For, +strangely enough, although on the morning of that same day such a +proceeding would scarcely have appealed to him as being at all unfitting +or out of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable. + +“But, good sir,” he interrupted, “you would not so belie your promise! +To do as Jarvis here advises,--by heaven, 'twould be neither truthful +nor honorable! 'Tis not like you, Sir Francis!” + +Drake shot at him a surprised glance from under his bushy eyebrows, then +shrugged his shoulders. + +“Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages,” he +replied. “Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew +the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They +know not the meaning of such words.” + +In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the promised +gift with the aid of his own retinue. + +“Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir,” he pleaded, +“and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to +the shore!” + +But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience, +as commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men +to leave the ship. + +“We dare not lose the wind,” he finished emphatically, “and are like to +start at any minute.” Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his +cabin and shut the door behind him. + +Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment, +glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in +the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought. + +“The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment,” he muttered at +length, “but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!” + +Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark, +swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat. To +him he explained his difficulty, adding grimly: + +“And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have work cut out for thee!” + +He threw an arm about the other's shoulders and in this familiar fashion +the two men paced the deck together, conversing in low tones. + +“And besides,” observed the nobleman as they paused a moment before +parting, “would'st know the truth about the matter? For all old Jarvis' +prating, the Golden Hind is not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor +even then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show of much hurry, but--” + he snapped his fingers scornfully, “only aid me now, unseen by anyone, +to launch the Zephir, and by our virgin queen herself I swear, when once +again we see the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 'twas well +worth thy trouble.” + +His companion smiled even while, with the trained servility of the +retainer, he doffed his cap. + +“Aye, truly, my lord,” he answered, “but, since it were an impossible +feat to get so much as a colt into the Zephir, methinks thou hast a gift +of thine own to bestow on yonder pretty Indian maid!” + +The blood leaped to Sir Harry's cheek. With a quick gesture he placed +his hand upon his sword. + +“Presume not upon my favor, Mortimer, or by heaven!--” he began angrily, +but stopped suddenly as, with a fearless laugh, the man beside him +pushed the half-drawn weapon back into its place. + +“Nay then, not so fast, my lord,” he chuckled gaily. “Hearkee, my +master. I did but use my eyes during their everlasting pow-wow. Surely +ye would not grudge me that! And the maid is comely, well worth a +trinket from thy store. Besides,” he laughed slyly, “I saw e'en more to +thine interest, for methinks the princess is as much in love with thy +looks as art thou with hers.” + +“Silence, fool! Thou hast said more than enough already. Think'st +thou the son of a duke royal would look at a brown-skinned savage, an +unbelieving pagan, no matter how comely, as thou call'st it, she might +be!” + +But the flush remained, nevertheless, on the dark cheek of the young +nobleman as he strode angrily from the deck. + + + +The moonlight had laid a quivering path of light across the water before +Wildenai raised her bowed head from the ground. But, at length, drawing +her blanket more closely about her, for into the night air the chill of +the ocean had crept, she was about to leave the cave when a sudden sound +from the beach below arrested her. For a moment she listened in silence +while the shout was repeated, then stood dumb with amazement. A third +time it came to her, borne on the rising wind, the terrified cry of a +man in dire distress. Nor was it one of her own people who thus called +out of the darkness for help. Swiftly she ran to an overhanging ledge +of rock from which, by lying flat and peeping over, she could, without +exposing herself, command a wide view of the sea. + +At the first glance there appeared to be nothing amiss. Far beneath her +the noisy breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. Above their +musical booming no other sound could be heard. Then suddenly she saw +him. A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close to the great rounded +boulder which, together with a still larger one from which it had at +some distant time been broken off, formed the outermost boundary of +the curving Beach of Moons. The dark figure standing erect in the boat +strove with the aid of an oar to keep it from being dashed to pieces +against the giant rock. Again there floated up to her the desperate call +for help. The voice was that of the English noble! + +Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, and without the slightest +hesitation ran lightly down the perilous incline, leaping fearlessly +from rock to rock, until, within a few seconds, she stood poised above +the seething surf on the top of the larger boulder. Here, balancing +herself as easily and securely as a wild antelope, she raised her arms +to dive. But now from the shadows below the white man called once more. + +“Attempt it not, oh Wildenai! 'Tis death to leap from there!” + +But without waiting even to reply, the Indian girl sprang into the +waves. An instant later and he saw her arms gleam in the moonlight as, +with the strong slow strokes of an experienced swimmer, she struck out +for the boat. In spite of the perilous rocking of the little craft he +rested on his oar to watch her for a moment in sheer admiration of her +skill. But the maid knew well the danger of every instant's delay. In +the very nick of time she seemed almost to throw herself between him and +the rocks while, with a strength he would have believed impossible +in one so small, she pulled the boat around. Then, still swimming and +without a word to him, she began to push it ahead of her toward the +shore. It was but a few minutes before they stood together on the beach. + +And now the young noble, overcome with gratitude, fell on his knees +before her and caught her hand between his own. He would have kissed it +in sheer joy at his escape, but the Indian girl drew sharply back. + +“Quick!” she whispered, yet remembering to speak in Spanish, “You must +hide yourself at once. My father will kill you if he should find you +here!” + +Swiftly she concealed the boat in a tiny cove behind the boulder, a +hiding place he would never have seen though it was apparently perfectly +familiar to her. + +“Sometimes my own canoe I keep there too,” she whispered. “Now come!” + and she hurried him along the beach and up an easier trail beyond the +rocks to her cavern bower above. + +Nor did she pause for an instant's rest until they had passed safely +behind the manzanita branches which concealed the entrance. Here, +motioning him to do the same, she dropped upon a pile of skins. But +instead, in real concern, the young Englishman knelt again beside her. + +“Thou art so wet and cold,” he began anxiously, “Will it not make thee +ill? Yet 'twas a wondrous feat,” he added admiringly, “well conceived +and carried out with skill such as any man might envy!” + +The princess laughed. + +“'Twas nothing,” she answered briefly. “I do it almost every day.” + +“I came to bring to thee the gift I promised,” explained Lord Harold +then, and from his belt he drew the little case. Eagerly he flung the +gleaming string of garnets about her slim brown throat. + +“Jewels brought by my father to my mother on the morning of their +marriage,” he told her. “When she lay dying she gave them me and told me +never to part with them except I gave them to my--” He paused suddenly, +“But thou hast saved my life!” he added as quickly, “Who else could ever +deserve them more? Well know I my mother would wish thee to have them.” + +Silently, though her eyes were bright with, pleasure, the princess +lifted the beautiful necklace. + +“Wildenai will wear them always, senor lord,” she answered softly, “for +now she knows that truly you did mean to keep your word!” + +And so, his mission accomplished, her guest rose hastily to his feet. He +must return immediately to the ship. + +“Know you not, then, that it is gone?” exclaimed the girl, amazed. + +“Gone?” echoed young Harold, and stared at her astounded. He seemed not +to have grasped her meaning. “Gone, said'st thou?” + +“The ship was out of sight a full hour or more ere ever I heard you +call,” she explained. + +Still he continued to gaze at her fixedly as if totally unable to +comprehend what she would have him know. Then it was plain to be seen +that, for the moment at least, blank despair took hold upon him. Up and +down the length of the cave he strode like some imprisoned wild thing. +At length, standing quite still with folded arms, he seemed to lose +himself in thought. + +“Battling with the surf I did not see nor hear,” he muttered at last. +“But he could not sail without me!” he added. Fiercely he raised his +head and his eyes flashed. “He dare not so betray me!” + +Wildenai, too, had been considering. + +“The great white captain knew, then, that you were not on board?” she +asked suddenly. + +“No,” replied the young man reluctantly, “that did he not. I came +without his knowledge. He would have prevented me,” he continued +stubbornly, “and I had promised thee a gift. Never did I break my word, +nor would not then. But I did not dream it possible they could get away +so soon! By our virgin lady in Heaven I swear I know not what to do.” + And once more he seemed lost in despair. + +But only for a moment. Then he turned hastily to the entrance. + +“I must follow them at once,” he declared impatiently, “I can overtake +them even yet.” + +Swift as lightning the girl threw herself between him and the opening in +the cave. + +“No, no, senor Englishman,” she cried. “It is impossible! Listen, only +listen to me! What have you, then, to steer by save the stars? And you +see that, drowned in moonlight, they do not shine tonight. And, more +than that, you do not even know what course the vessel takes. Remember, +too, that there is neither food nor drink within your boat. You would +surely die ere you could ever find the ship.” + +Gradually she compelled him to listen to reason until, seating himself +again upon the skins, he challenged her still further. + +“But what, then, shall I do?” he demanded. “Can'st also tell me that?” + +And with equal readiness the princess replied: + +“If you will but let me I can hide you here. The cavern is my own. Here +for many a moon have I worked and waited. No one would dare to enter. +You will be safe. Besides, my father's anger will grow cold in time, and +then I know that, if I ask him, he will help you.” + +His chin propped upon his hands, the young nobleman moodily considered. + +“Well, do then as thou deemest best,” he told her finally. + +And from that moment there began for the little princess a time so +wonderful that for all the rest of her life she remembered each separate +hour as though it had been some beautiful word in a poem learned by +heart. + +With deft fingers she piled her softest doeskins for his bed. + +“But what wilt thou do, tell me, if I rob thee of thy nest?” he asked, +watching her with amused eyes as she worked. + +“I go always to the village to sleep,” she answered simply, and so left +him. + +But in the morning while yet the red of sunrise burned above the great +peak Orazaba, she returned, bearing upon her head an olla of carved +stone filled with water from a mountain spring. This in smiling silence +she set before him and disappeared. Within the hour, however, she was +back again and this time, kneeling on the ground, she laid at his feet +the ripe fruit of the manzanita tree, lying like small red apples, dewy +fresh, upon a wild-grape leaf. + +“Ala--ate, see! Are they not good?” she asked triumphantly. + +And so from day to day she ministered to him. Many a time as he +sat, listless and moody, within his hiding-place, a handful of wild +strawberries, steeped in the warm sweetness of the hills, would be +pushed beneath the leafy branches that concealed the door. Sometimes +she brought him bread baked from a curious kind of meal made of pounded +seeds. + +Once, too, when a sudden storm had chilled the air, she kindled a fire +for him within a smaller cave, receding like a fire-place into the rocky +wall opposite the opening. It was a long and tedious process which +the man watched curiously. First, kneeling on the ground, she rubbed +together two dry willow sticks until a little pile of dust had gathered. +Then, still stooping, she struck two flints together until at last a +spark fell into the dust. Some dry leaves were dropped upon the tiny +blaze, then twigs, and lo, a fire! + +In spite of himself the Englishman smiled, though a softer feeling shown +in his eyes. How beautiful and yet how childish she looked kneeling +there with the anxious pucker between her brows. Poor little princess, +how very hard she worked to serve him! + +“It takes a long time, Wildenai,” he observed, “dost thou try it often?” + +“Never for myself,” she answered gravely. “I have no need. But I do it +gladly for you.” She smiled brightly back at him, then rose and moved +swiftly to the doorway. “Another thing I do for you today. Wait!” + +And when she returned a few minutes later she brought with her, +carefully wrapped in cool green leaves, a fish freshly caught that +morning. + +“A brook trout, on my word, such as I have often taken in the streams at +home!” exclaimed Lord Harold, amazed. + +“I got it far up the canyon before the sun was risen,” she answered, +delighted at his surprise. + +This, having quickly dressed it, she wrapped again in leaves and placed +under the hot ashes to bake, and it being, evidently, a feast out of +the ordinary, a merry-making to which a third guest might be bidden, +suddenly Wildenai left the cavern again to return this time with a tiny +gray fox perched familiarly upon her shoulder. + +“'Tis Onatoa, senor Englishman,” she announced, gently stroking the +bushy tail of the little creature as it lay about her neck. + +But from his vantage point above his rival, Onatoa merely sniffed +disdainfully with his sharp black nose. He looked far from friendly. + +The princess laughed softly. + +“He does not know you yet,” she defended her pet. “He will soon learn to +love you, too.” + +“I will catch fish with thee next time thou goest,” declared young +Harold later as they ate together. “There's no reason I can see why I +should stay mewed up forever in this cave. I fear not Indians! No, not +even Torquam, thy father, himself.” + +For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. Then she laughed. + +“You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!” she exclaimed with pride. “Nor +would there be much danger. We will go to the other side of the island +where the waves run high and the cliffs are tall and black. There will +I show you the nests of the great eagles, and the antelope leaping +among the rocks. And,--who can tell?” she laughed again with child-like +pleasure, “perhaps we shall find a white otter!” + +And, true to her word, he heard at dawn next day outside the cavern +the whistle of a blackbird, a signal early contrived between them. She +deemed it best, she explained, to start thus early that the darkness +might conceal them until they had passed well beyond the outskirts of +the village. But this danger overcome, they spent the whole day rambling +fearlessly among the hills,--a long, idle, happy day. Up many a dim +trail winding back into the canyons the princess led him. Through golden +thickets of wild mustard they passed, coming, when he least expected it, +upon glimpses of the summer sea framed between the branches of knarled +old oak trees. + +“They are low and crooked, and they spread themselves over the ground as +do our English oaks,” the young nobleman informed her. + +As Wildenai had promised they discovered, poised high among the crags +of the wild southern shore, the great eagles of which she had told him, +measuring easily, from wing-tip to wing-tip, fully a dozen feet. The +white otter, rarest and most valuable of all the game hunted by her +people, eluded them, but many a small gray fox slipped away among the +bushes, leaving the Englishman tingling for the chase. + +At twilight, as they made their way back to the cavern, they came upon +a tiny lake lying asleep within the crater of a dead volcano. From the +sides little clouds of ashes rose, floating softly away on the breezes +of evening. The princess gathered a handful and murmuring some musical +words in her own tongue she threw them into the air. + +“And would it be amiss for me to ask what 'tis you do?” questioned her +companion, observing her closely. + +“I was sending a prayer to Wakan-ate, the Great Spirit,” she replied +quietly. + +“A prayer,--and borne to heaven on the wings of ashes!” He seemed +amused. “But what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?” + +Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she replied: “It were not fitting +that any maiden tell for what she prays!” + +The words were spoken with such gravity that the young man flushed under +the rebuke. + +When she left him at the doorway of the cavern that evening she said as +she made a gay little gesture of farewell: “Today the land, but tomorrow +we shall find still more beautiful things that lie hidden under the deep +waters. You shall see!” + +And once again with dawn she came. This time it was the splash of a +paddle that brought him to the opening in the rock. + +“Aloho-ate, lazy one!” she called gaily from below. “Make haste! The +world is always loveliest while it lies waiting for the sun!” + +That day, perhaps, from among them all, lived longest within the memory +of young Harold,--the porpoises playing fearlessly around her canoe +as the princess, with graceful, effortless strokes, paddled around one +after another of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, skimming +the surface of the ocean until, by virtue of their speed alone, they +rose like gleaming bows of silver from the foam. Intent to show him all +her treasures, Wildenai guided him to a quiet stretch of water lying +close to shore within the shadow of tall cliffs which rose at that point +with precipitous abruptness from the sea itself. + +“Here are my gardens that grow under the water,” she explained, as they +glided above the spot. “Look well at them. They are most beautiful.” + +And gazing down at her command through the clear green into the luminous +depths below, he caught glimpses of these gardens of the sea where +goldfish darted like tropical birds among the branches of tall tree-like +stalks of swaying seaweed, and strange shapes of jade and blue floated +in the shadows. + +“Is it not wonderful?” she asked. + +“It is indeed, my Wildenai,” he answered earnestly. “Never in all my +travels, methinks, have I seen aught before like this your island here! +It seems to me indeed a charmed land, a kind of magic isle!” + +One day it rained, the last belated rain of winter. But even the storm +brought pleasures of its own, for, seated on the pile of skins beside +him, the little gray fox curled contentedly at her feet, Wildenai worked +at her loom. Within its dull-colored warp a blanket, woven in a strange +design of mingled red, and black, and white, grew slowly beneath her +busy fingers. + +For hours the maiden drew the short woolen threads in and out while the +young man, stretched lazily upon the ground, told her many a tale of the +England he had left. Then, quite without warning, she ceased her work +and sat pensively watching through the opening in the rocks the long +gray swell of the sea. + +“And what is it now, my princess?” laughed young Harold. “The pattern is +not yet finished, nor is the rain abated.” + +“Ah, senor Harold lord,” wistfully replied the girl, “I was but wishing +I had been born one of those same fair English maids with the eyes of +blue and golden hair you tell about. Then would you love me even as +you do them!” she added artlessly, and leaned her chin upon her hand, +considering. A secret trembled on her lips. + +“And how if I were Spanish born?” she questioned, and lifted hesitating, +frightened eyes to his, “dark to look at, that I know well, but even so, +the white man's kind of princess, who also has a throne?” + +And all unwitting Lord Harold answered scornfully, “Spanish! Say no +such word to me! The English hate the Spanish!” Fiercely he caught up a +pebble and sent it whirling out across the water. “Even now their robber +king plans his huge armada to take our queen and rule our land, but +that, by the holy virgin herself, shall never be! Sooner will every drop +of blood in bonny England be spilt. Never could I make thee understand +how much I hope to be at home before he comes! Spanish indeed! Nay, +never let me hear the hateful word again!” + +Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, with the impulsive +changeableness which had so endeared him to her, he caught one little +brown hand and raised it to his lips. + +“But I do love thee even as thou art, my Wildenai,” he told her with the +careless assurance of one much older speaking to a child. “Is not a wild +rose sweet as any garden bloom? Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!” + +Again he laughed and the little princess laughed with him now, for +into her heart at his words had come a happiness so unlooked for and so +wildly sweet as wholly to bewilder her. Quickly she rose, struck by a +sudden thought, and running to the farthermost corner of the cavern she +brushed aside a pile of leaves and lifted some stones, disclosing at +length a box fashioned from the choicest cedar. Out of it, while the +Englishman watched with wondering eyes, she drew a garment made of +creamy doeskin, deeply fringed and trimmed besides with strings of +wampum, the polished fragments of abalone shells and many-colored beads. +Silently she brought it to him and when he touched it admiringly, for +the dress was beautiful. “It is my marriage robe,” she told him gravely. + +That night, while the rain tapped softly at her tepee, the princess +dreamed of a wondrous land beyond the sea where proudly she walked by +her white chief's side and fair women with braided, golden hair spoke +kind words of welcome, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes. + + + +Then, without warning, came the end of all her dreams. Hurrying along +the beach at sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught the first +glimpse of the returning vessel as it stole around a distant point. For +the space of a second her heart stood still, then throbbed wildly, but +whether with joy or pain she could not herself have told. One question +only demanded all her thought. Should she let Lord Harold know? Perhaps +the great white captain would not remember their bay. Perhaps,--her +breath came fast,--perhaps the ship, unseen by anyone, would pass and +Lord Harold remain behind content. With hands tight-clenched she watched +the distant sail, fear growing in her eyes. Yet she knew that she would +tell him. Nothing else was honorable. This, surely, he must decide for +himself. + +But tidings of such moment outran even her swift feet. She found him +buckling on his swordbelt, in his eyes the glad light of some trapped +bird which sees the door of its cage suddenly open. + +“The ship--” she began with sinking heart. + +“Yes, yes, I know! I saw it!” he answered, a fever of impatience in his +voice. “'Tis Drake. I knew he dared not leave me! 'Twill soon be too +close in. Needs not he risk his safety. I must go before he gains the +shore.” + +The princess hesitated. What meant that strange heaviness at her heart? +Was he not still her brave, true warrior,--her great white chief? Had +he not told her that he loved her? Crossing to where he stood she bowed +herself before him until her silver fillet touched his feet. + +“I, too!” she whispered, “I shall go to England with thee!” + +And at her words, within the little cavern there came a silence to be +felt. In undisguised dismay the Englishman gazed at her where she knelt. +Then: + +“By the holyrood!” he muttered aghast, “She must have thought,--God only +knows what she must have thought!” + +He glanced hurriedly toward the doorway and back again, ashamed. Then +even such impatience as was his gave way, for the moment at least, to +something more chivalric. He stooped and patted awkwardly the smooth +black head. + +“Come, Wildenai, little wild rose, look up and speak to me. I must be +going!” + +But still the maid lay prostrate, clasping close his rough buskins in +her little brown hands. Never in all his life had Lord Harold been so +sorely uncomfortable. How was it possible she had ever imagined that +he could take her with him,--that he had meant so much? Resentment grew +within him at the thought, yet strangely mingled always with something +far more tender. Hastily he considered, his heart torn between the +desire not to wound her and dread of what he knew she wanted. To be sure +the maid was beautiful, with the softened beauty of a moonlit night in +summer, her eyes beneath her dusky hair like stars between the branches +of dark trees, her voice that of the forest stream when it sings itself +to sleep. Yet past all doubt he knew that not one among the gorgeous +throng that crowded about Elizabeth would ever see that beauty, no +English ear take heed to hear the music of her voice. Nay, he could +even, as he thought of it, picture the amazement of the great queen, +could hear her scornful laughter, should he present, to help adorn her +court, a savage Indian girl! No, a thousand times no! Such disgrace +he could not suffer. Nor was the maid herself, so he defended himself, +fitted for such a life. Soon would she be as unhappy in England as he +would be to have her there. Besides, she was but a child. Else had she +never so far forgot all womanly dignity as to force herself upon him, +and being but a child she would soon forget. Gently he made to raise her +to her feet. + +“Wildenai, little wild rose,” he began again, “what thou hast asked of +me thou dost well know thyself is an unheard of thing. Much as I owe to +thee, and well know I that 'tis so much I never can repay it; still for +thine own sweet sake 'tis not in this way thy reward must come. The long +journey and the strange new life would kill thee, Wildenai.” Having once +begun he stumbled on, but half aware of how each word he uttered hurt +her, eager only to have done with the whole sorry scene. “Thou art but +a little wild flower. Thou couldst not live away from this, thy sunny +island. Can'st thou not understand, my Wildenai?” + +He paused, waiting for a reply; but the maiden answered nothing. Silent +she lay as though in very truth she were a wild flower tossed to earth +and trampled upon by some uncaring foot. + +At last the man could bear it no longer. Forcibly he loosed her hands +and stepped back. For a moment longer he lingered, looking down upon +her in mingled impatience and regret; then, turning abruptly, he passed +hastily out of the cavern and down the trail to the beach. + +Still the girl lay motionless. It was as if every sense were stunned, +all power of thought suspended except to grasp the one fact that made +her whole world empty,--he was gone! As in a dream she heard the grating +of the pebbles when he pushed his boat into the water, heard the clank +of the oars as they dropped into the oar-locks. Even yet she did not +move. Then, after many minutes, she crept to the opening and searched +the sea with eyes almost, too dim with tears to find that for which she +sought. But yes, there it was,--a black speck against the golden sunset. +She watched until she had seen the distant vessel put about, making for +the open sea. Ah, now she knew that he was safe aboard,--no need had +they to come farther into shore. Yet still she waited, straining her +eyes to see the ship sink slowly beneath the horizon. One last glint of +sunlight against a white sail, and it was gone. + +Then at once she rose, and moving quietly about the little cavern, +she put all in perfect order with touch as tender as that of a mother +preparing for its last sleep some little child. Here was the basket +he had helped to weave, here the mat on which he had lain. Her fingers +lingered caressingly on each thing that he had touched. There in the +corner still stood the olla in which she had brought him water. How +amused he had been that she could carry it on her head all the way up +the hill from the spring without so much as spilling one drop! But that +was all past now. + +When at last everything was finished she gave the little rock-walled +room one long, lingering look, the look of one who would carry in his +heart the image of what he beholds all the rest of his life. Then she, +too, made her way through the doorway into the deepening dusk. + + + +On the beach below, squatted within the opened flap of his tepee, +Torquam, mighty chief of the Mariposa, smoked his evening pipe. A +wonderful pipe it was, long and delicately fashioned, inlaid with +iridescent fragments of shell. Yet instantly he laid it aside as the +slender form of his daughter darkened the doorway. + +“Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art thou as sunshine after +rain!” His eyes lighted with the tenderness never seen there by any +other than this motherless girl. He stretched his hand to her and the +princess came silently and knelt before him. + +“My father,” she said firmly, though in so low a tone that Torquam bent +to hear. “Oh, father, thou art always wise! Thou only knowest best. +I come to thee to tell that I will wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him +whenever thou dost choose!” + +Taking her face between his hands, Torquam gazed long and searchingly +into the sorrowful eyes of his daughter. + +“And thou art wise to do so, my beloved one,” he said at last. “He will +make to thee a good husband.” In his voice was the keen understanding +of a father. “He will be kind to thee and heal thy wounded heart, my +daughter. Don Cabrillo is a good man,” he repeated solemnly. + + + + +Part II. Miss Hastings Brings It to an End + + +Centuries passed, and again, with the same sweet suddenness as in the +days gone by, spring came to Catalina. Guests of the St. Catherine, +lounging on its wide verandahs, gazed across a sunlit sea to where +the faint cloud that was San Jacinto hovered, the merest ghost of a +mountain, above the misty mainland. Along the broad board-walk leading +down to Avalon benches, shaded by brightstriped awnings, flaunted an +invitation to every passing tourist. Strings of Japanese lanterns bobbed +merrily above the narrow village streets. Everywhere were laughter +and movement and color from the bathing beaches, dotted with gay +umbrellas--even to the last yacht anchored round the point. + +To the man making slow progress down the crowded wharf from the +afternoon boat this holiday world into which he thus suddenly stepped, +presented an appearance so different from that he had pictured as almost +to bewilder him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus waiting to haul +him up the winding grade to the hotel, he actually hesitated. Yet seldom +before, to his knowledge, had he found it difficult to adapt himself to +an unexpected situation. + +“Hotel St. Catherine! Bus to the hotel, sir?” + +Other guests, more certain of their intentions, pushed impatiently +against him, and presently he found himself, wedged well toward the +middle of the long seat, chugging comfortably up the hill. Still +half-daunted, he gazed about him. It was all of it charming to be sure, +fascinating even; yet, could this festive summering place be the Avalon +of his dreams? Was this the quaint village of Spanish times, reaching +back still further through dimly remembered Indian lore to a world +lost now except to legend? Yet it was for the sake of a mere legend, a +fanciful tale handed down in his family through many a generation, that +he had made the long journey from New York to California, nor--and here +he set his lips with dogged determination, did he intend to return until +he had found that for which he searched. + +It was now something over two years since Harrison Blair, then fresh +from Yale, had astonished both those who wished him well and those +who, for various envious reasons, did not, with the wholly unreasonable +success of his first book. For, to those who did not understand, his +sudden fame had seemed all the more surprising in that it rested upon +nothing more substantial than a slender volume of Indian verse. So +unusual, however, had been his treatment of this well-worn subject as to +call forth more than a little comment from even the most conservative of +critics. The Brush and Pen had hastened to confer upon him an honorary +membership. Cadmon, magic weaver of Indian music, had written a warm +letter of appreciation. And, most precious tribute of all, the Atlantic +Monthly had become interested in his career. + +To be sure, it was nothing more than might have been expected of a man +whose undergraduate work in English had aroused the reluctant wonder of +more than one instructor. Nevertheless, the fact that he pulled stroke +on the 'varsity crew had somewhat blinded other contemporaries to his +more scholarly attainments. Nor had anyone thought it probable, because +of his father's wealth, that Blair, in any event, would feel called upon +to do much more than make a frolic of life. No one, indeed, had +been more taken aback than had his father to find him, a year after +graduation, drudging over the assistant editor's desk of a struggling +magazine the payroll of which, to put it mildly, offered no financial +inducements. + +“It's good practice for me, though,--quickest way to learn,” was all he +vouchsafed when the older man remonstrated. + +Yet, had that same father, shrewd capitalist that he was, but taken the +trouble to reason back from premises evident enough, he might have been +the first to realize that this tall son of his, with the keen gray eyes +and a face the strength of which was but increased by the high cheek +bones and squarely molded chin, was scarcely the type of man to sit idly +by enjoying the fruits of another's labor. + +And now, after two years more of grinding apprenticeship, he had in mind +something much bigger than the slender volume of verse,--an adventure +into authorship more suited to his metal,--a story for which an intense +personal sympathy would furnish fitting atmosphere, with the final spur +to his ambition a letter from the Atlantic even at the moment stowed +safely away in his pocket. + +Some two hours later, after an unexpectedly excellent dinner in the +luxurious dining room, he sauntered over to the hotel desk. There was +no more than the faintest probability that a clerk of the St. Catherine +would be able to tell him how to reach a secret cavern bower above the +Bay of Moons; still, he had to enter an opening wedge somewhere. The one +man on duty was for the moment occupied with another guest, and Blair, +lighting his after-dinner cigar, prepared with leisurely patience to +await his turn. + +The guest happened to be a young woman, rather pretty, he casually +decided, although her greatest claim to beauty lay more, perhaps, in the +swift changes in expression of which her face was capable, than in any +actual regularity of line. For lack of anything better to do, Blair +watched idly her encounter with the clerk. There appeared to be some +kind of misunderstanding. + +“Awfully sorry it's happened that way, Miss Hastings,” the man behind +the desk was saying. He lifted with genuine reluctance the key she had +just laid down. “We'd be mighty sorry to interfere with your work, but +those small rooms always do go first. You know that yourself.” + +“I hadn't heard about it, though. I didn't know they were all gone.” Her +voice quivered with disappointment. + +Blair, whose vocation taught him a certain technical sympathy, shot +a swift glance at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-two or +thereabouts, he decided less casually, and went on to observe her still +further. She wore a shabby, broad-brimmed hat much faded as if from +constant exposure to the sun, but the shadows in the coil of hair +beneath were warmly golden. + +“Couldn't you find a room down in the village somewhere,--at Mrs. +Merrill's perhaps?” suggested the clerk. + +“But Mrs. Merrill isn't here this spring.” In spite of its quiver the +voice was very sweet. + +“No,” she started to turn away, “I'll have to put it off again, I +suppose. I've looked everywhere.” + +She took a step or two, hesitated, then returned to the desk. + +“You're positive there isn't a single one of the small rooms left?” she +pleaded. “I wouldn't care how far back it was,--anything would do. You +can't think how I hate to give up. I had so hoped to finish it this +time!” + +The man shook his head. + +“No, we're absolutely full just now. Later on there might be +something,--after the season is over.” + +“But that will be after school begins,” answered the girl bitterly. “I +can't work at all then!” and catching up a bag fully as shabby as the +hat, she hurried away. + +“Who is she?” asked Blair abruptly, overlooking for the moment his +original purpose in seeking the man. + +“School-teacher from Pasadena,” replied the clerk briefly. “Teaches art +in some private school over there, I believe.” He eyed Blair amusedly. +“Think you've met her before somewhere?” + +Blair allowed his annoyance to show. “No, never laid eyes on her +till just now. But I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her,” he +persisted. “She seemed so sort of cut up. What's the trouble?” + +“I'm sorry for her myself,” declared the man on the other side as he +hung the returned key on its board. “This is the third time that poor +little woman's had to leave before she could finish what she came for on +account of the expense. But what can we do?” He shrugged his shoulders. +“The St. Catherine isn't exactly a Y. W. C. A.” + +“What is it she's trying to do?” + +Amusement deepened in the man's eyes. + +“She's supposed to be painting Indians.” + +“Indians!” To the amazement of the other man Blair suddenly leaned +forward, his eyes agleam with interest. + +“But I didn't know there were any around here.” + +“There aren't.” + +“Then how--?” + +“Makes 'em up out of her head, I guess. I never heard that she had even +a model.” + +“But--but what I want to know is why she comes here at all?” The +situation seemed to Blair to offer possibilities, yet he was thoroughly +puzzled. “I met a fellow on the train who does that sort of thing, but +he always goes to the desert to paint,--at least he said he did.” + +“Yes, they do mostly. Probably he meant Taos,--whole nest of artists at +Taos.” + +“Well, but why in thunder then--?” + +The clerk smiled skeptically. + +“Why, you see, it's something like this. Miss Hastings' bent on being +an illustrator, pays better than teaching, I suppose, or--well, at any +rate, that's what she's aiming for,--and she has an idea that if she can +only get a series of pictures,--several of them on the same subject, you +understand,--accepted by one of those Eastern magazines, she can soon +work in with some big publisher and get an order. She told us all about +it one night last winter when she was over.” + +“But in heaven's name, why Indians?” persisted Blair. + +“Because she thinks she's found some good material here. She told me +about that, too. Seems there's an old legend connected with Catalina, +about an Indian princess and a cavern. The princess died of a broken +heart or something of the sort, I believe she said. I never heard the +particulars myself. Nobody else, either, seems to know anything about +it. But Miss Hastings says there's quite a story, and she's got it all +down pat from A to Z. She's using it for her series.” + +A porter brought up some newcomers and Blair stepped aside. But the +moment his man was at leisure again he cornered him at once. An idea had +come to him, an idea almost dazzling in its possibilities. + +“You say she hasn't finished her series yet?” + +“Beg pardon? Oh, the teacher?” The man shook his head. “Evidently not +from what she said just now. She never stays long enough really to put +it over. Every few months she bobs up over a week-end, but that doesn't +give her time even to visit some of the places she's after. She never +seems to get much more than started before she has to go home again.” + +For a moment Blair smoked in silence. Then: + +“Look here,” he cut in abruptly, “You split my suite and give her one of +my rooms.” + +The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. + +“Her? What do you mean?” + +Blair made an impatient gesture. + +“Why, this Miss--the teacher, you know. Didn't you just say you hadn't +any room for her? Well, I've got three, you know.” + +“Yes, but that's altogether a different proposition. You made your +reservation weeks ago.” + +“But you could still give her one of them, couldn't you?” + +Clerks in large hotels listen with patience to a vast number of +strange proposals, but at this from Blair, the man opposite eyed him in +unflattering amazement. + +“But you said, when you wired, you wanted the extra room to work in,” he +objected, “and you'll remember, Mr. Blair, that you were pretty emphatic +about it, too, at the time. We went to all kinds of trouble to fix that +up for you.” + +“I can get along all right without it, though,” coolly observed his +changeable guest, “and I'd rather she'd have it. It's possible to split +suites here, isn't it?” he persisted. “They do at most hotels.” + +“It's possible, of course.” Across the desk the eyes of the two men met +squarely. “That part of it's easy enough. But why? and who's going to +pay for it?” + +“I'm going to pay for it! What did you suppose?” exploded Blair. “It's +worth that and a lot more to me just now to keep her from getting away. +Oh, I'm in earnest all right. I mean it! Look here! Can't you see how +that woman can be a perfect gold mine to me? You know enough about my +work to understand that I'm really out here after Indians myself, and +she--well, I'll wager a cool thousand there isn't a spot on this whole +island that ever dreamed of seeing an Indian that she doesn't know all +about!” + +The clerk nodded. “But--” + +“But nothing!” Impatiently Blair brushed aside all objections. “Why, I +hadn't the remotest idea how I was going to get started. It's a rattling +piece of good luck, and we'll fix it up right now!” + +“Yes, but--” Still the other man hesitated. “It sounds all right +enough,--from your end of it especially, but you'd better see her first. +She's a proud little piece,--doesn't like obligations of any kind,--and +a stranger,--a man--I'm sorry to discourage you, but I don't believe +she'll have a thing to do with it.” + +In Blair's eyes impatience threatened to become something more emphatic. + +“It's a business proposition pure and simple,” he argued. “She gives +me all the information she's been able to get together, and I pay her +expenses while she does it. That gives her a chance to finish her own +work, don't you see? A mighty good proposition for her, too, I should +say, and if she doesn't see it that way herself,--why,--well, she isn't +as intelligent as she looks, that's all!” + +“Providing you can persuade her it is just business. I'd advise you to +talk with her first, just the same. And you'll have to be quick about +it, too. She's planning to wait in the village tonight for the morning +boat, and she'll be starting down about now.” + + + +Outside was one of those radiant nights intended for dreams and the +makers of dreams. Over an ocean white with light long breakers rolled +crests gleaming with silver that fell in soft thunder on the beach. Miss +Hastings, hurrying along the board-walk to the village, glanced at them +and looked quickly away. + +“Oh, I say!” came a voice out of the darkness behind her, “if you don't +mind, hold on there a minute, will you? Wait for me, please!” The voice +was that of a man, pleasant, but exceedingly determined. Without so much +as turning her head Miss Hastings quickened her steps. + +But it was of no use. Whoever her pursuer might be, he was even then at +her side. + +“I beg your pardon,” breathlessly he began again, “but I've been chasing +you all the way down from the hotel. I want you to come right back there +with me. I have a proposal to make to you.” + +Even in the darkness he could see how the girl's eyes blazed. + +“I never listen--” she began hotly, “to proposals from people I don't +know,” she had meant to add, but he gave her no time. + +“It will mean the biggest chance for your pictures you've ever had,” he +broke in. “Now, listen!” + +And, to her complete surprise, Miss Hastings suddenly found herself +doing that very thing. + +“There are a lot of things I've got to find out right away,” continued +the astonishing stranger, “and the clerk up there tells me you're +painting a series of Indian portraits.” + +The little art teacher gazed at him fascinated. What manner of man could +this be, she wondered. + +“I don't see the connection--” Coldness struggled with curiosity in her +voice. + +“Listen!” With uplifted, peremptory hand again he stopped her. Nor is it +safe to say that any book agent, watching the door slowly closing upon +him, ever talked faster, or more rigidly to the point, than did Blair +within the next few minutes. + +“Perhaps you won't understand it all right off. I wouldn't expect that. +But it's this way. I'm representing Harper's, and Houghton and Mifflin, +and Dodd and Mead, and--several other firms” (to satisfy his conscience +Blair contended with himself that he might as well as not have been +their representative--a mere oversight on their part ought not to +be allowed to stand in his way), “and I'm out here to find the best +illustrator I can lay hands on to do the pictures for some Indian stuff +I'm getting into shape for one of 'em. I want to see your work. And, +if I like it, I'll pay you well. And anyway, I'll pay every bit of the +expense while you finish your series here if you'll tell me what you +know about Wildenai!” + +But, at the name, the girl beside him had given a low cry of utter +amazement. She stopped short. + +“Do you know it too, then?” she gasped. “How did you hear about it?” + +“Oh, I've known it for years,” replied Blair carelessly. “Some of it +I've known all my life. But look here now. Is it a bargain?--about your +helping me, I mean?” + +Before he left her, an hour or so later, every detail had been arranged. +Miss Hastings had meekly agreed to return to the hotel in the morning. +Blair would pay her expenses and something he called a retaining fee +besides. That would make an extra fifty dollars,--she smiled to herself +in the dark,--a new winter suit at least, and perhaps one or two +matinees if she managed! All this for the information she could give him +about the island and its history. The various points in their contract +spun dizzily in her dazed brain. No spot known to legend to which it was +possible to conduct him should remain unvisited. Four hours out of every +day were pledged without fail to his interests. The rest of the time she +might have for her own work. It had all come about so unexpectedly, +and was altogether so extraordinary that, after he had gone, his new +employee, stretched uncomfortably upon a narrow cot in the tent of a +fellow teacher, spent the remainder of the night in imaginary interviews +with Eastern publishers regarding impossible royalties. She was far too +excited to sleep. + +And, for a week, the arrangement worked very well,--almost too well. +Every day brought with it some new adventure, and every adventure became +a pleasure. + +Mounted at Blair's expense on more or less energetic ponies, for from +the first he had insisted that horses were a necessary part of their +business equipment, they cantered gaily along the shady canyon trails, +or over the sunlit slopes sheeted in pale lavender wherever the wild +lilacs were in bloom. Often, emerging from some thicket of dwarf +oak they caught glimpses of a sapphire sea held between red, twisted +branches of manzanita as in a frame. About them rang the music of the +meadow larks. Merry shouts of bathers floated up from the beaches far +below, mingled with the distant click of golf balls on the greens. + +For the whole of a golden day they chartered a sailboat from one, Capt. +Warren, and rounding the yellow headlands under his lazy guidance, they +went to examine the Ning Po, the ancient Chinese barge stranded, no one +knew how many hundreds of years before, among the rocks off the isthmus. + +“Fascinating old place,” observed Blair gazing, his eyes aglow with +interest, around the mediaeval cabin. “Don't doubt a dozen murders at +least were pulled off in this one room!” + +“Oh yes, of course,” eagerly echoed his assistant. “It's absolutely +unique!” + +Her gaze, as bright with interest as his own, rested upon Blair himself. +She was considering, absent-mindedly, how becoming white trousers can +be to most men, especially when they are reasonably dark themselves. +But,--her glance travelled upward,--how unusually dark he was, and his +hair,--yes, without question, the straightest and blackest she had ever +seen. Yet it seemed in some indefinable way to become him,--to belong, +as it were, to his type. Leaning her elbows meditatively upon the rusty +anchor, her chin in her hands, she silently appraised him. He really +was a handsome man, she decided, and clever, too, of the sort who does +things in the world! A dreamy light grew within her eyes. + +It was only two or three evenings later when, on their way back from the +site of an historic Indian village on the other side of the island, +they walked their horses slowly around the Wishbone Loop, the ostensible +reason being that, as Blair had already discovered, it commanded the +widest view of the ocean at sunset. + +He was the first to speak when they struck again into the main trail. + +“I wished for something about a rose, a wild rose,--want to guess?” He +eyed her mischievously. + +“Hush,--mustn't tell!” she laughed. “Your wish won't come true if you +tell.” Then, for no reason at all, she blushed. + +Never, in truth, during her twenty-three years of working, and +scrimping, and going without, had life shown to the little art teacher +so fair and generous a side, seemed so extravagantly joyous an affair as +during that magic week. The spending of money, it was easy to see, meant +little or nothing to Blair. But that was the least of his attractions, +for, to the girl herself, mere wealth for its own sake had never +appealed. The charm lay rather in the genial broadness of his view +of things, the strength of reasoning behind the few opinions he put +forward, his reticence, and quiet modesty. In these dwelt the spell that +swept her into an almost delirious enjoyment of his society. For, all +unknown to herself, like many another woman in like condition, she had +needed a change of people. In the cramped life of a private school men +played but little part, and the men who were most worth while, almost no +part at all. Instinctively, in time, she had wearied of little girls +and their lessons. Sorely had she craved the stimulus which only the +companionship of congenial men can give. Of this fact, however, she had +been even less aware. + +One crisp morning, seated in a diminutive wicker cart behind a +discontented pony, they searched out Chicken John's cabin on the mesa +behind the golf links. + +“Not that it has anything to do with Indians,” she apologized, “only +I want you to see him. He's such a character, so nice and untidy and +queer!” + +As a result of this expedition they brought away with them what old John +designated a “plump little fry” to be served at the cosy table for two +in the sunniest window of the dining room, a luxury which Blair had +likewise confiscated in the interests of business. + +And so for seven glorious days they tramped the fragrant hills, or +sailed a sea as softly blue as though fallen fresh that morning from +the cloudless heaven above. In the warmth and glow of his friendship +the starved heart of the little art teacher opened like some hot-house +flower carried suddenly into the wide outdoors. And when at last +the week drew to an end, their work, both his and hers, was still +unfinished, so that there was nothing else to do but to live on through +another fully as wonderful. + +Blair himself took things much more for granted, and even when their +talk strayed farthest afield it was plain to the girl that his mind +never fully lost sight of the purpose for which he had come. His work +stood always first, while,--she blushed to own it even to herself,--she +had sometimes entirely forgotten her own. + +At the end of the third week they had seen almost everything he +considered essential and at times she sensed in his manner, even when he +was least aware of it, a kind of repressed impatience. She knew what it +meant and shivered. Presently he would leave her, and life would become +again the same dull round of work. Only one spot of real importance +remained unvisited,--the cavern bower above the Bay of Moons. Of this +he had spoken frequently, and well she knew he held it the climax of his +search. + +But for reasons best known to herself Miss Hastings put off from day to +day this final expedition until Blair began to chaff at the delay. + +“That's really the one place I came to see!” he told her more than once. +“After I've been there I think I can go.” + +“But we've planned Middle Ranch for today,” she would answer evasively, +or, “This is the best time to see Orazaba; it's so clear this morning. +That's the mountain, you know, where the Indians carved out their ollas. +Some of them are still there, only half cut away. It would be too bad +for you to miss that.” + +At length, however, there came a day when excuses would do no longer. + +“We've waited long enough,” he declared that morning over their coffee, +“Besides, I may have to go now in a few days.” + +And although at his words the sunshine of her new world faded suddenly +away, yet the little teacher kept a brave front. She even laughed +carelessly. + +“Men are so impatient,” she teased, “But we'll go today.” + +Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of sunset rested among the hills +that at last they found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff which +commanded so wide a stretch of the ocean and the shimmering valleys +below. + +“It reminds one of the Bay of Naples,” observed Blair, pausing to +scan the rocky coastline against which, far beneath them, the foaming +breakers threw themselves. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked +far out to sea. “What a wonderful place for a watch tower it would have +made!” + +“It had one once,” softly replied the girl, “Wildenai's watch tower!” + +Blair turned, their eyes met, and he smiled. + +“It's been splendid to have you with me all these days,” he said, “I've +been wanting to tell you. You've been more of a help than you'll ever +know.” And then, after a pause, “It's because you care so much about the +story yourself, I suppose, that you've been such an inspiration to me.” + +Something in the girl's heart seemed suddenly to snap. + +“It's because I care more about your work, and--and you. You are so +wonderful!” she broke forth impulsively, and stood before him crimson +with confusion. For a second, which seemed to her an age, there was +silence. Then he spoke and, in her bitter humiliation, his voice sounded +strained and cold. + +“Shall we go in?” he asked. + +Silently he parted the tangle of manzanita that for centuries had veiled +the secrets of the princess, and stood aside for her to enter. Wildly +the little art teacher glanced about her. This moment to which she had +so looked forward, and yet had dreaded as much because it meant the +end,--this moment which might, nevertheless, have meant much to them +both even though it were the end, she herself had spoiled! All its +delicate beauty changed to a sordid suspicion, it lay in ruins now +because of her thoughtless words. She dared not guess at what he must be +thinking! For a desperate second she considered flight. Then proudly +she raised her head. One more thing, at least, about her now he should +learn! + +“Did you know--?” she began, then broke off irresolute. + +Blair glanced at her and again their eyes met. This time he did not +smile. + +“Know what?” he asked. + +She laughed with embarrassment. + +“It really isn't of any interest to you, but--” and again she paused. + +“Suppose you let me be the judge of that,” he suggested stiffly. “You're +making me horribly curious, you know. You can't very well drop the +subject now.” He was evidently making an effort at pleasantry. + +She flushed brightly. + +“Of course it couldn't be of the slightest importance to anyone except +myself,” she explained. Then, as if doubting her courage to continue +long, she hurried on, “but one reason I take such an interest in--your +work is because I'm a direct descendant of Lord Harold myself. He became +the Duke of Norfolk afterward, you know, but Hastings was always the +family name.” She flashed him a haughty glance, a pride that changed to +wide-eyed surprise as she noted his amazement. + +“Not really?” He had turned abruptly and in his eyes there was a +curious expression, almost of alarm. “How extraordinary,--how perfectly +extraordinary!” + +“Why extraordinary?” That her cup of humiliation might brim to the full, +resentment was added to confusion. “You consider me unworthy, then, of +having had nobility among my ancestry? But, just the same, there +was nothing strange about it. The colonies were chiefly English, +you remember!” He smiled at her sarcasm. “The duke married one of +Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting after he went home and there was a younger +son, and he had a younger son, and after a long time one of them came +over to Virginia just like anybody else. They have always been good, +loyal, highly respected American citizens,” she told him fiercely, “and +I'm proud of them! Besides--” with reckless emphasis, “I've always felt +so sorry for Wildenai.” + +But at this point, quite incomprehensibly, Blair broke into peals of +laughter. + +“And by and by, after a long, long time, one of these good, loyal, +American citizens that we're both so proud of had a hot-tempered, most +disloyal little daughter who intends to show her employer his proper +place before she dismisses him! But why are you sorry for Wildenai?” + +With mischievous eyes he searched her face. + +She flushed, then, looking squarely at him, “Because she was impulsive +like me, and just for that reason Lord Harold ran away and left her,” + she said. “He's the only one of them I never had any use for.” + +Blair wandered the length of the cavern and back before he replied. + +“You think him a coward, I suppose.” He still looked as though he wanted +to laugh, yet something in his tone seared her outraged pride. He might +as well have touched an iron to quivering flesh. “You ought to remember, +however,--I mean every woman ought to remember,--that when a girl lets a +man know that she cares for him she generally forfeits, then and there, +whatever interest she may have had for him. Wildenai risked too much. +Of course, in her case there was some excuse. She was only an untrained +barbarian. But, under ordinary circumstances, I tell you there's nothing +a man despises so much!” + +What was done or said after that Miss Hastings never could have told. +She was possessed of but one desire,--to get away, to go back to the +hotel,--home, anywhere beyond the reach of his voice and his eyes. For +the moment she hated him, and although Blair, conscience smitten at +he knew not what, waited in the lobby a full hour before going in to +dinner, she did not come down. + +Up in her room, mechanically brushing her hair for the night, Miss +Hastings stormily addressed the girl in the glass who stared so +scornfully back at her. + +“I tell you I don't care a thing about it! He probably thought he was +justified in every word he said. He's probably smiling this very minute +because he thinks he managed it so well! But he's a coward just the +same, and I despise him,--I do despise him!” Her eyes brimming with +tears, she fiercely repeated the word. “Well, he'll soon find out how +much I really meant!” + +Over and over she re-lived the short scene,--all of its humiliation, all +of its hurt, seeking at every turn solace for her woman's pride. + +“Naturally I wanted to help him all I could, to appear, at least, to be +interested, especially when he was paying so much for it! It was only +a business arrangement anyway,” she continued bitterly, “nothing but +business from start to finish, and if he doesn't know that yet, he'll +find it out the very first thing tomorrow morning!” + +And having tumbled into bed she lay staring into the dark, planning +the details of a campaign warranted either to cure or kill the enemy. +Outside, a mocking bird, perched provokingly near her window, kept the +night ringing with music. Resolutely she closed her ears to his song. +But presently, through the faint fragrance of oleanders, other sounds +began to penetrate,--the strains of the waltz to which they had danced +only the night before. The little art teacher turned wearily over and +cried herself to sleep. + +On the morning which followed she rose very early, however, much too +early to breakfast with Blair at the little table in the sunny corner. +Instead, she ordered some coffee and toast at Jim's Waffle Shop in +the village and was hard at work sketching on the wharf before eight +o'clock. She had suddenly remembered a promise to sketch Capt. Warren's +dog holding the gaff, a feat of which both Pal and his master were +justifiably proud. Indeed, so long had the arrangement been made and so +entirely had it been neglected, that no one was more surprised than the +Captain himself at her unexpected appearance. + +“But Pal and me ought to be at the Tuna Club in fifteen minutes, to take +a party o' members out fishin',” he demurred. “You can't paint Pal in no +quarter of an hour!” + +“I'm sorry to have had to put it off so long,” replied Miss Hastings +crisply, “but I'm planning to go home in a few days now,--this afternoon +probably. It's the only chance I shall have.” And she prepared to make +good the belated promise with such determination that, after a wistful +glance or two across the slapping white caps, the old skipper meekly +succumbed. + +It was here Blair found her an hour or so later. Unceremoniously he +placed himself in front of her, his hands in his pockets, and gave vent +to a low whistle. + +“Well, of all the--!” + +“Oh, is it you, Mr. Blair?” she inquired in cool, sweet tones. “I +thought most probably you'd gone! Didn't you say yesterday you intended +to as soon as you'd seen the cavern?” Then, after a pause during which +Blair said nothing, “I've been getting dreadfully behind with my own +work, so I thought, if you didn't mind, I'd try to catch up a little +this morning.” + +“Certainly not. Take all the time you want! We've about finished anyway, +I guess.” His coolness matched her own. + +Another silence during which she painted furiously. + +“I'm making a sketch of Pal holding the gaff,” she ventured at length +when the strain had become too uncomfortable. + +“So I see.” + +This second tentative effort at conversation having flickered and gone +out she bent again to her work, while Blair remained, looking down at +her, in his eyes mingled amusement and resentment. What had he done, he +wondered, to account for such a change? Or, perhaps, it was something he +had not done. He tried again. + +“Aren't we going for our ride this morning? It's a glorious day, and I +have the refusal of the two best horses.” + +“No, I think not,--not this morning, thank you,” she answered. In her +voice was the same crisp sweetness. “I haven't time!” + +With a shrug of pure bewilderment he backed away, then lingered a moment +longer to watch the sketch take shape beneath her hurrying brush. That +was the particular moment Miss Hastings chose for the final reckless +stab. + +“You're standing in my light,” she said. “If you'd just as soon, please +do go away, Mr. Blair. It makes me nervous to have people looking over +my shoulder when I'm trying to paint.” + +This was just a trifle more than Blair at the moment was prepared to +stand. His eyes grew dark. + +“Certainly,” he replied icily. “So sorry to have bothered you at all. +I only came down to tell you that I've decided to leave today. There's +nothing more to keep me now, I think, and I'm rather anxious to get +home. You'll find your check at the desk.” And he sauntered away. + +She did not go back to the hotel for luncheon. She had finished her +sketch, yet, somehow, when the time came, she discovered that it would +be quite impossible to enter the dining room. She found it equally +impossible to take the afternoon boat herself. Instead, having clambered +half way up the steep slope to the cavern, she watched from behind +a flaming riot of wild nasturtians while, preceded by a hotel porter +bearing bags and suit-cases, Blair boarded the Avalon for Los Angeles. +He was going away, then, without even a word of farewell. + +The heart of the little art teacher turned cold within her, so cold that +she sank numbly into the red and gold tangle; nor did she look up again +until the steamer, dipping below the horizon, had left only a trail of +smoke to show where it disappeared. She had not believed that he would +do quite that! + +When evening came she went stoically in to dinner. There was no reason +any longer for staying away. Sternly she kept her eyes from the vacant +place opposite. Yet somehow she could not persuade herself that he was +really gone. More than once she caught herself watching the door, half +expecting to see him stroll in with apologies for tardiness and take his +empty chair. When again the orchestra drifted suddenly into the waltz to +which they had danced, she rose abruptly and left the room. + +Well, she would go herself in the morning. She would settle everything +and pack her things at once. She went to the desk to ask for the check. +But there was nothing for her. No, the clerk assured her after much +fumbling, Mr. Blair hadn't left anything, either in her box or his own. +But,--the man stole a covert glance at her downcast face,--he was still +holding his rooms. Probably he meant to attend to it when he returned. + +That he might not see the wild joy that leaped to her eyes, Miss +Hastings turned with startling suddenness and fled upstairs. Safe in her +own room she flung herself with tears and laughter on the bed. So that +was the hand he was playing, was it?--the dear, wicked, unmanageable--! +Of course he would have to be punished,--well punished! but--she laughed +aloud for pure joy--the world was a radiant place once more, and nothing +of any sort really mattered, because he was coming back. + +But the next day went by, and the next, and he had not come. Day after +day passed in an empty procession, yet no one of them brought that for +which she waited. And there was nothing else to do. Work was out of the +question. She could not sit still long enough. It became, instead, her +sole occupation to linger each morning and afternoon on the verandah +until the steamer from Los Angeles had rounded the point and crossed the +bay in front of the hotel. Then, hidden behind the palms she would watch +until the last straggling tourist had left the pier. But still he did +not come. + +Doubt in every tormenting guise assailed her. Perhaps he had changed his +mind and decided later not to return. Yet the clerk had said he meant to +come back! Perhaps her check, sent by mail, was even now in her box. +But she had not the courage to go again to the desk. Driven by alternate +hope and fear she lost color, and she could not sleep. During seven +miserable nights she planned to go back to Pasadena by the morning boat, +and as many times she put it off. Yet, if he did return to find her +waiting, what, then, would she have given him the right to think? But, +on the other hand, if she went she might never see him again! + +On the eighth day she took herself grimly in hand. No longer would she +humiliate herself by any further delay. Wildenai had not waited, and +even a school teacher can be as proud as an Indian princess! That very +afternoon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. Then tomorrow she +would go back to Pasadena and the long gray round of work. Desolately +she wandered up the secret trail to Wildenai's bower. Never had her +sympathy for the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, she mournfully +considered, if the spirit of the Indian maiden still lingered there +it might feel sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, would find +comfort in the spot where that other woman had paid an equal price for +her impulsiveness. + +The shadows in the little cavern were dark and cool and, laying aside +her box of colors, for a long time she sat quite motionless, staring out +to where the gulls drifted and glinted against the blue. She heard after +a while the whistle of the approaching steamer but gave no heed. Lying +back against the moss she had almost dropped asleep when something in +the corner opposite attracted her attention. She sat up nervously and +stared into the shadows. Was it only that the darkness was deeper over +there, or was that really something propped against the wall? And had it +moved? + +In the years that followed she never knew how long she sat there after +the stones had been lifted away, holding in her lap those shreds of torn +white doeskin. Still caught together, though in tatters, by long strings +of shells and beads, they shone, a ghostly film of white from out the +dimness. A breath, and the whole would have crumbled into dust. Yet +the beads, she noticed, were still perfect as when strung by slim brown +fingers centuries before. Only half believing it was not all of it a +dream, she lifted them strand after strand. Then, suddenly, she gave +a little cry. Somewhere from out the torn folds a slender chain had +slipped. Trembling with a curiosity that bordered close on terror, +she carried it to the light, and there it glowed, a glancing stream of +crimson, in her hand. + +“Wildenai's necklace!” she breathed, and hid her face. + +There came the sound of a step outside. The manzanita branches were +pushed impatiently aside and he stood before her. + +The journey across the channel from Los Angeles had seemed twice as long +as when he made it a few weeks before, and he had hurried all the way +from the hotel straight to the little cavern. But now that he had found +her again, there seemed to be plenty of time for everything, and he +stood quite silent looking down at her. He was glad he had found her +there, glad, in a curious, unreasoning way, for the quiet of the late +afternoon, for the faint fragrance of the Mariposa lilies blooming just +beyond the ledge. Yet he let her know nothing of this in what he said. + +“So here you are, after all! I thought I should find you here.” + +She had not heard him come and was startled into a cry. + +“You!” she gasped, and lifted eyes in which the telltale signs of tears +were still quite evident, so evident that, with a woman's instinct to +hide them, she caught up the necklace and held it toward him. + +“See what I've found!” she exclaimed. + +But he paid no heed. Instead, manlike, he proceeded, quite +unconsciously, to say the one thing that could hurt her most. + +“I looked for you at the hotel first, then I came on up here. I knew you +wouldn't go till I came!” + +The color that had flooded her face at the sound of his voice faded +again. She was quite white as she asked quietly: + +“How could you know I would stay?” + +He laughed easily, settling himself confidently on the moss at her side. + +“Because I hadn't paid you yet,” he answered gaily. “Don't you think +that was clever of me, Wildenai?” + +“I would rather you did not call me that,” she told him coldly, “It +sounds irreverent.” And she dropped her eyes, which had filled again +miserably, to the film of white in her lap. Then, with a pitiful attempt +to hurt him in return: “Of course you realize that I really don't +know much about you. I don't want you to think that I distrusted you +exactly--” she marvelled at herself that she could say such things to +him, but went recklessly on. “The check wasn't there,--and so, well, it +seemed wisest to wait. They said you were coming back, and I couldn't +afford to lose it; so I stayed. Just a matter of business, you see!” + She finished in a tone which, except for a suspicious tremble, was +satisfactorily disagreeable. + +But Blair's armor, since his return, seemed proof against such thrusts +as she could give. + +“Won't play Indian at all, then?” he retorted teasingly. “But of course +not! How could you when you happen to come from the other side of the +house? However,” he continued whimsically, “there are such things as +English roses, you know. I've always loved them, too, even when they +were thorny!” + +He pulled absently at a fern growing near, while, suddenly, for no +particular reason, the color glowed again in the cheeks of the little +art teacher. She smiled, half unwillingly. + +“But don't pull up the wild flowers here,” she warned him, “You'll have +the forester after you! When did you get back?” she added. “Where have +you been so long?” burned on her lips, but she scorned to ask it. + +“About an hour ago,” he replied amiably. “The boat was late.” + +“I was beginning to think you'd given up coming at all.” She could not +keep it back. “The duke never bothered to, you know.” + +But this blow, like the first, failed to reach any vulnerable spot. +Blair did not flinch. + +“No, naturally he didn't! He was English, and you can't depend upon +the English, I've discovered. But there's not the slightest reason for +linking me up with him. The princess never ran away now, did she? And +I--” He paused, then without looking at her he began again. + +“Seriously, I'm sorry if I seemed to be deserting. I--well, honestly, +I didn't know what else to do. You suggested it yourself, you remember! +And I'd promised my father to look after some business for him in Los +Angeles while I was out here. You see, he--our family, have lived in +the East for a long time now, but we used to own pretty much all of Los +Angeles county some three centuries ago, when the Spanish were here, +and--” Again he broke off abruptly. “Do you want to know about me?” he +demanded. + +Miss Hastings leaned breathlessly toward him. Her heart was beating +wildly. + +“Oh, please!” she begged. + +“Perhaps I should have told you at the first,” he began, “or at least +after you told me who you were, but--anyway, I didn't. I'd never told +anyone before and I didn't much suppose I ever would. There's a reason, +though, why I'm particularly interested in this legend, too, a reason +just as good as you've got. I'm--well, I'm one of Wildenai's great, +great grandsons!” + +And then, because she sat quite silent there in the shadows, and +motionless except for fingering something white that lay in her lap, he +waited uneasily. Was she angry again, he wondered, or perhaps she was +only laughing! + +She was the first to break the silence. + +“Are you trying to be funny?” Her voice was very cold. + +“Not at all,” he answered hotly. “It must be all of ten generations back +or even more, and of course it wasn't all Spanish afterward, but, just +the same, I'm as much a descendant of the princess as you are of the +duke,--always have been! I'm just as proud of it, too. Possibly you +will remember that the Spanish beat the English to it, at least in +California. Anyway,” he finished bitterly, “what difference does it +make? So far as I can see, it only gives us one more good subject to +quarrel about!” + +Then out of the dimness came a queer little sound, whether of tears or +of laughter it was impossible to know. For the least part of a second a +hand brushed his own. + +“Oh, no!” she whispered, “Let's not do that. It wouldn't be right! And +see,” she laughed tremulously, “Isn't it strange I should have found it +today, but,” she lifted the white thing in her lap, “here is Wildenai's +wedding dress--and the chain of garnets!” + +The cavern was quite dark before they had finished talking about it, but +at length they laid the poor little ghost of a garment reverently back +among the stones and rose to go. + +“But the necklace?” Blair asked, hesitating, “do you think we ought to +leave that here?” + +The girl considered a moment. + +“It's really yours,” she decided. “Nobody else could have the least +claim to it.” + +“Except--” Suddenly his eyes shone with a strange expression before +which the little art teacher instinctively shrank. He took a step toward +her. + +“I believe I'll give the garnets back,” he announced. “I fancy that's +what the princess would have liked to do if she'd had the chance. +Besides,” his eyes grew still darker, “they were meant in the first +place for a wedding gift, and so if you--” + +He would have clasped them about her neck, but Miss Hastings backed +frantically away. + +“No!--not for worlds,” she cried. “You know you're only saying it +because you think you can't get out of it!” And before he could realize +just what was happening, she was gone. + + + +The boat for Los Angeles was unusually crowded that night. For either +this reason, or some other she would not acknowledge, Miss Hastings +found herself pushed aside by more impatient passengers every time she +attempted to enter the gangway. + +“All aboard!” called a peremptory voice from somewhere on deck. She took +a step forward, hesitated, drew back. The plank was hauled irrevocably +away, and she turned to face Blair standing just behind her on the +wharf. + +“I was sure you wouldn't run away,” he declared, “but if you had--!” + +She let him lead her back along the broad boardwalk toward the hotel +until they stood within the shadow of the huge boulder which for +centuries has marked the outer boundary of the Bay of Moons. Beyond them +the lights of the St. Catherine glimmered down the hill and on over the +water, rimming with golden bubbles the outlines of the pier. + +“Wildenai!” Out of the darkness his voice came to her, mocking, tender, +wholly insistent. “Foolish, obstinate little lady! Can't you see how +it's up to you,--up to the English to make amends? Honestly now, when +he began it I don't imagine even that rascal Drake himself would have +believed a family scrap could last the better part of four centuries. +Don't you really think it's about time for you to call it off?” + +And flinging her scruples to the winds, Miss Hastings suddenly decided +that it was. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + +***** This file should be named 5196-0.txt or 5196-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/9/5196/ + +Produced by David Schwan + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/5196-0.zip b/5196-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..82ecb5d --- /dev/null +++ b/5196-0.zip diff --git a/5196-h.zip b/5196-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..18e9ce5 --- /dev/null +++ b/5196-h.zip diff --git a/5196-h/5196-h.htm b/5196-h/5196-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c817e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/5196-h/5196-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3075 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Their Mariposa Legend + +Author: Charlotte Herr + +Release Date: April 19, 2009 [EBook #5196] +Last Updated: March 15, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + + + + +Produced by David Schwan, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND + </h1> + <h3> + A Romance of Santa Catalina + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Charlotte Herr + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h5> + To Little Bruce Parker<b></b> Who Loved Stories + </h5> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> Part I. Sir Francis Starts It </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> Part II. Miss Hastings Brings It to an End + </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Part I. Sir Francis Starts It + </h2> + <p> + It began to happen a long time ago, centuries ago, when, in a fragrant + rush of rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, fairest of the Channel + Islands. Beneath the golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. On + steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of wild lilac bloomed, the lark + shook from his tiny throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed niches of + the canyons lilies waited to fill with light their gleaming ivory cups. + Spring in very truth was there. + </p> + <p> + And looking down upon it from her cavern bower high above the beach, + watched the Princess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of dawn shining + on her long black hair, she was, herself, the sweetest blossom of the + spring. Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the Mariposa and of + royal blood besides; although of this the great chief Torquam, who even at + that moment lay sleeping in his lodge of deerskin on the crescent beach + below, knew more than he had ever told. + </p> + <p> + With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring the folds of softest fawnskin + drawn across her breast, the princess bent her gaze to where the waves ran + silver on the ocean's distant rim. There she knew the sun must rise and, + as the first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, she rose slowly until + she stood erect, a slender, graceful figure against the dim, gray rocks, + and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke in the musical words of her + people. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit-father,” she pleaded, “have mercy on me. + Grant to me, thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I pray thee, that + it need not be I wed with Torquam's friend, the pale-face stranger. Well + knowest thou I would not disobey my father, him the bravest and most + powerful of all thy warriors, him whom his people delight to honor, and + whom I strive to please. All the more I feel my duty since, many moons + ago, they laid my mother underneath the flowers. Yet, even so, I cannot + find it in my heart to wed with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does my father + wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great power, turn his heart, oh lord + of spirits, that he no longer may desire it? Help me in this, my only + trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I be indeed his loyal daughter,—in + all else save alone in this one thing!” + </p> + <p> + Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to her knees, bending her head until + her forehead touched the ground. For many minutes she lay thus prostrate + while the glory of the rising sun bathed the sea in splendor. Yet, when at + last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears. + </p> + <p> + But now from the beach below there drifted up to her the sounds of a + village astir. Shrill voices of women mingled with the crackling of + freshly kindled fires. A canoe, pushed hastily into the water, grated + harshly on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. Leaning against the + rocky ledge, her chin in her hands, she gazed listlessly out over the + shining sea. If any interests lived for her among the dark-skinned people + beneath the cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign. + </p> + <p> + Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of the Indian village, rose the + hoarse shouting of men. Wildenai lifted her eyes,—eyes that widened + first with wonder, then with fear. For there, far down the shoreline to + the south, her sails gleaming white against the walls of rock behind her + as she rounded a distant point, a ship came slowly into view. With wildly + beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the long + curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen such + another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don Cabrillo + first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year ago. For + many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship with the + Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his father, + hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast anchor + off the shore,—the first white man to see their island. Nor was the + lingering without result. Torquam he taught to speak the Spanish tongue, + learning in his turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields of the + north, while not the least among the treasures carried with him when at + last he sailed away did he hold the promise that the beautiful daughter of + the chief should become his bride when next he touched upon that shore. + Could this, then, be the Spaniard's fleet returning? Was the Great Spirit + powerless, after all, to save her? In sore bewilderment and terror + Wildenai watched the distant ship. + </p> + <p> + Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its outline grew each moment more + distinct, gradually her fears departed. For this was not the clumsy + Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was + the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet, + though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was + about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by this + time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of the + crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At length, + as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, the crew were + seen to bring the vessel sharply about. An anchor was cast over, the + creaking of the hawsers distinctly audible in the clear morning air, and a + few moments later a small boat was lowered. Into this boat immediately + several sailors swung themselves and after a short delay, amidst the + shouting of the Indians, now running in wild excitement up and down the + beach, the men picked up their oars and started for the land. + </p> + <p> + “Alla-hoa, Wildenai!” + </p> + <p> + Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a + lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet. + </p> + <p> + “Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge. Strangers,—paleface + strangers,—enemies, who can tell, are coming. See,—the ship!” + With dark forefinger he pointed toward the sea. “Torquam would have thee + hide with the rest of the women in the cave at the Great Rock. There + Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. Make haste, oh Wildenai!” + </p> + <p> + “And am I not as safe up here?” returned the princess, calmly. “Be not so + lost in thy terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship and I fear not. + Yet will I obey if so my father bids,” she added quickly. “Go thou ahead. + I follow.” And hastily gathering together some reeds and colored grasses + lying on the ledge, parts of an unfinished basket upon which, evidently, + she had during some previous visit been at work, she flung them into a + corner of the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow path leading to the + village. + </p> + <p> + Here all by this time was tense excitement, the dramatic, ungoverned + excitement of children. While with shrill cries two or three of the women + gathered the little ones together, the rest pulled frantically at the + poles holding each tepee in place. Still apparently quite unmoved, + Wildenai sought first her father standing surprised but unafraid in the + doorway of his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, straight as some + lonely pine on the slopes of distant San Jacinto. Yet even in the stress + of such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes as they rested upon + his motherless daughter. + </p> + <p> + Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each other + in silence. Then, + </p> + <p> + “It is well thou art come, my beloved one,” spoke the chief. “Stranger + pale-faces will soon be amongst us.” + </p> + <p> + “Wildenai feels no fear, my father,” quietly answered the girl. + </p> + <p> + “If they come in friendship,” quickly Torquam replied, “then indeed may + all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that + we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see.” + </p> + <p> + Bending her head in mute acquiescence the girl moved away to join the + group of women now almost ready to depart. + </p> + <p> + Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven onward by the stout arms of three + strong sailors, steadily approached the bay. + </p> + <p> + “What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the + savages?” inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that + he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. “Wot ye not that if + water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much better + on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache only + yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were away on + the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious scalps to + row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the whim of as + obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's fleets!” and + without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust. + </p> + <p> + The others laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with thy + big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else our + captain seeks? Water,—pouf!” the speaker made a rough grimace, + “water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were the + lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the balance? + The Apache told him, too,—thou see'st thou hast not played the + listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself, I + heard him say it,—that here lay that famous island, San—how + is't they call it? San Catlina—I know not how 'tis spoken,—some + Spanish lingo not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your + Spanish robber, Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious + son as well, stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold. + The savage sware besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to war and + murder like the rest. I hearkened well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I + would be een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The devil take the Apache + an he lied,” he added fiercely, “I'll break his head across till even he + shrieks out for help when I get back!” + </p> + <p> + He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern cliffs now looming close at hand, + beneath which the excited natives still ran back and forth, pointing with + frantic gestures at the boat. + </p> + <p> + The third man spoke. He was smaller than the other two and darker, with a + sly look about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast to the bluff + frankness of his comrades. So far he had appeared content to listen in + amused silence, but now with a short laugh he interrupted. + </p> + <p> + “The Apache did not lie. This is the island Santa Catalina, though that, + mark you, is not the Indian name. And right well can the chief who rules + here direct our captain also to the goldfields of the north. But hearkee, + comrades. 'Tis not Drake will reap the profits this time!” He lowered his + voice mysteriously as though fearful of being overheard, albeit nothing + was nearer than his two companions and the clear, green stretch of water. + “Have ye not observed the boy who travels with the captain?—the boy + I serve,—the one they call Sir Harry? To my mind, cub though he be, + 'tis he who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how the great Drake himself + bends to his slightest wish?” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, is he, think'st thou?” inquired + the man who had spoken first. + </p> + <p> + “Some close kin to the queen,—that much I know,” the other answered + quickly, “the heir to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise to see the + world and make a fortune. 'Tis his desire we land, so much he told me, and + 'tis to learn more than directions, my hearties, and that I'll warrant ye! + But, look ye, the water grows too shallow! We can use the oars no longer.” + </p> + <p> + And even as he spoke the boat grated upon the pebbles. An incoming breaker + would have carried it ashore, but before the sailors could take advantage + of this help or even so much as ship their oars, half a dozen swarthy + youths had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, whether of welcome or + hostility the Englishmen had no means of knowing, pushed it high upon the + beach. At once, then, for well they realized the danger of delay, and with + a stolid courage born of many a like adventure, the seamen leaped + fearlessly out upon the sand. In their hands they held aloft bolts of + brightly colored cloth snatched on the instant from the bottom of the + boat. These they offered for the wondering inspection of the women who, + observing the small number of invaders, were cautiously returning. To the + warriors grouped about the chief they proffered knives of which the steel + blades, set in strong handles of bone, glistened in the sun. Eagerly, yet + with a certain unexpected formality, the men accepted these, passing them + for examination from one to another with many a grunt of satisfaction. To + be sure, no brave among them but might the next moment decide to try out + the merits of his gift upon the bestower, but this danger the adventurers + had to risk. More timidly the women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the + gaudy red and yellow cloth, approached the strangers, offering in their + turn bits of abalone shell polished to iridescent beauty. + </p> + <p> + They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly people, so much so that at length + the sailors, deeming it safe to undertake the second part of their errand, + began to plead for water and to request, besides, an interview between + their captain and the chief. All this by means of signs in which they + displayed no little wit and skill, the Englishmen accomplished until, well + on toward the middle of the morning, they made ready to return to the + ship, the casks they had brought brimming with sweet mountain water, while + with them they bore as well the promise of an interview of state between + the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis Drake, to take place upon the + beach at sunset. + </p> + <p> + And then at once the little village of Toyobet seethed again with + excitement. For these good paleface friends and their god-like commander a + fitting welcome must be prepared. Fleet-footed messengers, bearing flaming + torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain trails that all who saw + might know without words spoken of the assembling of the tribe. To the + distant village at the isthmus they hurried, and to the cove on the + western coast, some twenty miles away, to which a band of warriors had + gone several days before to hunt the otter. That no one among his people + might remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam even caused signal fires + to be kindled on each of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes, near the + center of the island. Smoke rising there was visible from every corner of + his land, and woe to any subject who dared to disregard that warning! + </p> + <p> + Throughout the long bright day the women toiled, preparing a ceremonial + feast. Three antelope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild sheep which + roamed the hills were killed and placed for roasting over deep pits dug in + the sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude fashion + to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their heads with + feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The women clothed + themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with strings of wampum, + and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely greens and blues of uncut + turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief Torquam donned his ceremonial + dress, a string of eagle feathers held by the crimsoned quills of the + porcupine and extending down his back until almost it touched the ground. + About his neck, as token of his priesthood, he threw the bear-claw + necklace, known far and wide among the tribes for its famous powers of + healing. Wildenai alone made no change except to bind the satin black of + her hair still more smoothly within a fillet of silver. In the center of + the band, so that it rested just above her brow, a strange device + appeared, a circle enclosing many rays,—the royal insignia of the + tribe which only the daughter of the chief might wear. + </p> + <p> + Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays of light rested golden on the + bay and turned to amethyst the distant mountains on the mainland, all was + ready. Once again, this time to the weird music of tom-toms and the + beating of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship while on the shore the + Indians watched. + </p> + <p> + It was in truth a picture not soon to be forgotten. Behind the mirrored + Bay of Moons, its crescent of sand gleaming white against the rocks, the + bands of dusky men and women stood motionless as statues in the quiet + light of the setting sun, while in the doorway of his lodge, his daughter + close beside him, Torquam waited with simple dignity to receive his + guests, the fair-skinned strangers. + </p> + <p> + At length along the beach advanced the little group of English, friends + and fellow adventurers with the most renowned of all their great queen's + buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis himself marched young Harold of Wessex, + little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and feared in his own land + even then—a possible heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short distance + in front of these two, standard bearers carried the flags of Merry + England, each glorious with fringes and tassels of gold. Well might such + banners dazzle the eyes and wits of simple savages. + </p> + <p> + Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been for the lengthy ceremonial of + the peace-pipe, Wildenai could not have taken time to observe so closely, + in stolen glances from beneath her long black lashes, the splendor of the + young noble standing proudly erect beside his captain; nor could he have + stared so often, with no attempt to hide his admiration, at the dark + beauty of the princess. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to place them side by side at the + feast which followed, young Harold might never have discovered that an + Indian girl, however beautiful, possessed the wit to learn a foreign + language. Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well spoken in which, at + length, she softly asked of her father a question intended obviously for + himself. + </p> + <p> + Under cover of one of the Indian dances with which, from time to time, the + feast was enlivened, he leaned impulsively toward her. + </p> + <p> + “Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?” he hastily inquired. + </p> + <p> + The princess dropped her eyes. For a moment she remained silent as if + debating to what extent such boldness might involve her. Then, with a + glance as shy as if some deer gazed at him startled from the thicket, + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mon senor,” she answered simply. “I learned it when Don Cabrillo + came to Punagwandah many moons ago.” + </p> + <p> + After that it was only that one thing led to another, as was sometimes + true of men and maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, as if by + common consent, then, they drew a little apart from the rest, where, + throwing himself on the sand beside her while the firelight threw + flickering shadows among the rocks, the young man related fragments of his + story,—of the long journey across the sea, something of his home in + England, and of the brilliant court of the great queen wherein he had + served as gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet soon, but here her + guest had suddenly flushed and paused as though he spoke too hastily or of + what he should not. To all of it the princess listened with fast-beating + heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place in this splendid + stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter of a king? Yet how + different and how unimportant beside that wonderful woman of whom he + spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam, feared by every + tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden in many a canyon + among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct told her that to + this proud Englishman her people were at best little more than a + curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter. + </p> + <p> + When at last the feast was finished, Torquam rose, and removing with slow + solemnity his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon the head of Sir + Francis, a seal of everlasting friendship. With difficulty young Harold + suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well aware of what the situation + demanded as he was keenly alive to its danger, received the attention with + a gravity fully equal to that of his host. Indeed, he went still further. + </p> + <p> + “Most gracious hast thou been, oh Torquam, all wise chief of the + Mariposa,” he began in carefully chosen Spanish, “nor shall thy kingly + gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry + steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains of + the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than all the + rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring to you + after our return tonight.” + </p> + <p> + In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him more. + He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those strange + yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until the Spanish + landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his eyes betrayed his pleasure. But + Harold of Wessex stared at his captain in blank astonishment, for the gift + he had just bestowed with such apparent carelessness was the most valuable + bit of cargo in the ship, a costly Arabian horse intended for the young + noble's own special comfort and convenience during the search for gold on + which they were bound. Was Drake gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw + away, and that without permission, his choicest property on a mere savage? + Hot with resentment he was about to interfere; but before he could obey + the rash impulse his better judgment prevailed, and just in time he + remembered how, on several other such occasions, his very life had been + saved by some swift expedient of Drake's and his tact in handling the + natives. + </p> + <p> + Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now one watching intently might have + sensed from the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the real point in + the interview. + </p> + <p> + “One question, nevertheless, would I ask of all-wise Torquam before we + part.” He hesitated, searching the impassive face of the Indian. “Can'st + tell me of a Spaniard, one Cabrillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain, + who, since his father's death, still sails upon these waters? To him I + bear a message,”—again he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in + sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but Torquam's face remained blank + as a page unwritten,—“a message from our queen,” added Drake. The + last words were uttered with significance. + </p> + <p> + The Indian slowly shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “The noble white chief asks what is unknown to any man,” he answered. “The + young Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwandah. Many moons ago it + was. Where he is now, how should Torquam know?” + </p> + <p> + In his bitter disappointment the hand of the Englishman sought the hilt of + his sword. Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about the chief. + </p> + <p> + Drake laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, thinking thou mightst tell me. + It matters not. The gift I promised thee will come, as I said, tonight.” + </p> + <p> + He turned to go and young Harold rose to follow. Then, perceiving the dark + eyes of the princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated and, obeying a + sudden impulse, he stepped hastily to her side. + </p> + <p> + “When they return with the gift for thy father,” he whispered, “I will + come with them,” he smiled into her soft eyes shining with pleased + surprise, “and I will bring a gift to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest + of maidens!” + </p> + <p> + Drake gave a sharp command. His followers sprang to their feet, and + without further ceremony the party passed quickly down the beach to their + boat. + </p> + <p> + But the princess Wildenai did not leave the feasting ground. Hidden by + deepening shadows she watched the ship's lights glimmer across the water. + Glad indeed was she of the darkness, for a warm flush glowed in her cheeks + and her heart throbbed with a strange new pleasure, a pleasure bordering + close on fear, yet wholly sweet. + </p> + <p> + But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had descended upon the village, + once again she sought her father. He, too, within the open doorway of his + lodge, watched intently the distant ship. Without surprise he saw his + daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the blanket beside him, he stretched + a hand and drew her close. + </p> + <p> + “It grows cold. The wind is rising. 'Twere best to wait inside.” He spoke + in the musical Indian tongue. For a moment he stroked her hair in silence, + then— + </p> + <p> + “What think'st thou by now of the English, Wildenai, my little wild rose?” + he asked. + </p> + <p> + But the princess seemed not to have heard his question. + </p> + <p> + “My father,” she began after another short silence, “I have a favor to ask + of thee.” + </p> + <p> + “And what may that be, my daughter?” he returned gravely. + </p> + <p> + But again the young girl made no answer and for many minutes they watched + the tremulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel. + </p> + <p> + After a time he felt her hand tighten upon his arm. + </p> + <p> + “It is but the old boon over again, my father.” Her voice was low as the + sighing of the wind among the oak trees. “I would be freed from my promise + to wed with Don Cabrillo.” + </p> + <p> + An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to + wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any + woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee. + </p> + <p> + “Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, the judgment of him who loves + thee?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “I doubt it not, my father,” answered his daughter. “Yet would I not wed + with the Spaniard,” she added stubbornly. + </p> + <p> + “The blue-eyed senor from England”—there was a hint of humor in his + tone,—“he it is who steals thy fancy! Is it not so, my Wildenai?” + </p> + <p> + Then, after a moment: “Right well knowest thou my only wish is to make + thee happy.” Again his voice, though gentle, grew serious almost to + sadness. “No mere whim it is that counsels me to wed thee to Cabrillo. + There is something—” He paused, continuing with effort,—“a + reason I have never told thee why it seems most fitting. Now I will tell + thee. That reason is because, because, my Wildenai, thou art Spanish born + thyself.” + </p> + <p> + The princess drew a hasty breath. In the darkness he felt rather than saw + her startled eyes upon him. + </p> + <p> + “My father!” The exclamation, filled with pain as well as astonishment, + touched him to the quick. Tenderly he drew her to him. Then briefly, as + was the Indian way, yet with the pictured phrasing which caused each scene + to spring into vivid life before the young girl's eyes, he told her of the + day, already more than eighteen years gone by, when, in the wake of a long + midwinter storm, the first sailing vessel ever beheld by his people had + fled for refuge to their bay; and of the little girl carefully brought to + shore by her old nurse in the first boat to touch the beach. A mere baby + she was, too young to know aught of her misfortune, yet a princess royal, + rudely dispossessed of her right to the throne of Spain, and smuggled + aboard the adventurer Cabrillo's ship to be dropped in some out-of-the-way + corner of the western world. Even then, he made it clear, she might have + perished,—since little recked the Spanish explorer what should + happen, well knowing that upon his return no questions would be asked,—had + it not been for his Indian wife. She, lacking children of her own, had + taken an instant fancy to the dark-eyed little girl, a fancy so strong + that nothing would do but they must adopt her as their own daughter into + the tribe to belong forever, according to their law, she and her children, + to the Mariposa. + </p> + <p> + “Nor, because thy mother—for ever was she a true mother to thee—thought + that it might grieve thee, have any of my people ever given thee cause to + doubt that thou wert native born,” he finished proudly. “Loyal have they + been, doing all they could to make thee happy. But now that thy Indian + mother is dead, and I myself grow old, I thought to wed thee, knowing his + desire, to the son of that same Cabrillo who brought thee to us, for I + long to be sure, when at length I go, that thou art safe,—at home.” + </p> + <p> + He waited then and in the silence only the low weeping of the girl was + heard. At length the old chief spoke again, and now in his voice love + conquered disappointment. + </p> + <p> + “Much do I desire it, but that matters not. I would not have thee unhappy. + I myself will tell the senor that what he hopes for cannot be.” + </p> + <p> + Slowly Wildenai bent her head until it touched his feet. Then she nestled + close against him. + </p> + <p> + “I thank thee, oh my father!” she cried, and all her voice was music + because of her joy. “And thou art still my father,” she added, earnestly. + “What care I to go to Spain? I will stay always with thee.” + </p> + <p> + “For a time, it may be. Yet have a care, little wild rose,” he cautioned, + smiling, “Let not the Englishman lure thee away! He, too, may not be all + that thou thinkest.” + </p> + <p> + And even as he spoke, in mocking confirmation of his words, there came to + them suddenly from across the water, the distant creaking of ropes, the + snapping of sails flung hastily to the wind. Before their unbelieving eyes + the vessel swung about and put slowly out to sea. Dumb with amazement they + watched until the last faint light flickered into darkness. Not until the + remotest chance of a mistake was past did the old chief rise, trembling + with rage, to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “See'st thou now what I meant, my daughter? The English pale-faces know + not the meaning of honor,—no, nor of gratitude either!” + </p> + <p> + He lifted his long spear from the ground and shook it fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “The words of the Mariposa are few,” he cried, “but their revenge is sure. + Let but an Englishman set foot again on Punagwandah and, swifter than the + arrow leaves the bowstring, he dies!” + </p> + <p> + And at once, without answer, in the silence of suffering which only the + wild things of the earth understand, Wildenai crept from the lodge, her + heart heavy with its own bitter disappointment. Noiselessly she passed + among the tepees where her father's people slept. Not one of them should + ever know how far dwelt slumber from her own eyes that night. Up the steep + trail beyond the Bay of Moons she climbed and flung herself weeping on the + bed of skins within the cavern. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, thou false one,” she moaned, “why did'st thou promise then, when + never did'st thou mean to keep it?” + </p> + <p> + Yet nothing had been farther from the young Englishman's thoughts when he + left her than faithlessness to his word. On reaching the ship again he had + gone directly to his cabin. Here he took from its small but richly + embroidered case a slender chain of gold, threaded so closely with garnets + that even in the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the only + illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a glancing stream of + crimson, in his hand. This he carried to the light and as he examined it + under the lantern he smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Never saw the little maid such jewels before, I'll warrant me! Yet, + beshrew my heart, but she deserves them. Indian though she be, still is + she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman that ever mine eyes have looked + upon!” + </p> + <p> + Then, stowing the necklace carefully away in his belt, he went at once in + search of the commander. + </p> + <p> + But at this point an unexpected difficulty had presented itself. He found + Sir Francis in close conversation with his pilot. + </p> + <p> + “Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy wish,” the keen-eyed old + mariner was saying. “I still maintain it were a shame to lose this wind. + Gift or no gift, I've sailed these latitudes before, my lord, and by + heaven I swear we're not like to have such another breeze, no, not till + the change of the moon, and that you know yourself, sir, is a good + fortnight hence.” + </p> + <p> + Sir Francis, striding back and forth within the narrow confines of the + quarter deck, appeared to be weighing the old man's words with unusual + care. At length, however, he turned as one who has made his decision. + </p> + <p> + “By the mass and it shall be even as you say, Jarvis,” he declared. “I + think myself 'twere well to push on at once. At the most they be but + Indians!” The last words were spoken in a lower tone as if to himself. + “'Twill matter little either way!” + </p> + <p> + It was at this point that young Harold stepped hastily forward. For, + strangely enough, although on the morning of that same day such a + proceeding would scarcely have appealed to him as being at all unfitting + or out of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable. + </p> + <p> + “But, good sir,” he interrupted, “you would not so belie your promise! To + do as Jarvis here advises,—by heaven, 'twould be neither truthful + nor honorable! 'Tis not like you, Sir Francis!” + </p> + <p> + Drake shot at him a surprised glance from under his bushy eyebrows, then + shrugged his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages,” he + replied. “Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew + the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They know + not the meaning of such words.” + </p> + <p> + In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the promised + gift with the aid of his own retinue. + </p> + <p> + “Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir,” he pleaded, + “and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to the + shore!” + </p> + <p> + But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience, as + commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men to + leave the ship. + </p> + <p> + “We dare not lose the wind,” he finished emphatically, “and are like to + start at any minute.” Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his + cabin and shut the door behind him. + </p> + <p> + Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment, + glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in + the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought. + </p> + <p> + “The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment,” he muttered at + length, “but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!” + </p> + <p> + Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark, + swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat. To him + he explained his difficulty, adding grimly: + </p> + <p> + “And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have work cut out for thee!” + </p> + <p> + He threw an arm about the other's shoulders and in this familiar fashion + the two men paced the deck together, conversing in low tones. + </p> + <p> + “And besides,” observed the nobleman as they paused a moment before + parting, “would'st know the truth about the matter? For all old Jarvis' + prating, the Golden Hind is not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor even + then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show of much hurry, but—” he + snapped his fingers scornfully, “only aid me now, unseen by anyone, to + launch the Zephir, and by our virgin queen herself I swear, when once + again we see the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 'twas well worth + thy trouble.” + </p> + <p> + His companion smiled even while, with the trained servility of the + retainer, he doffed his cap. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, truly, my lord,” he answered, “but, since it were an impossible feat + to get so much as a colt into the Zephir, methinks thou hast a gift of + thine own to bestow on yonder pretty Indian maid!” + </p> + <p> + The blood leaped to Sir Harry's cheek. With a quick gesture he placed his + hand upon his sword. + </p> + <p> + “Presume not upon my favor, Mortimer, or by heaven!—” he began + angrily, but stopped suddenly as, with a fearless laugh, the man beside + him pushed the half-drawn weapon back into its place. + </p> + <p> + “Nay then, not so fast, my lord,” he chuckled gaily. “Hearkee, my master. + I did but use my eyes during their everlasting pow-wow. Surely ye would + not grudge me that! And the maid is comely, well worth a trinket from thy + store. Besides,” he laughed slyly, “I saw e'en more to thine interest, for + methinks the princess is as much in love with thy looks as art thou with + hers.” + </p> + <p> + “Silence, fool! Thou hast said more than enough already. Think'st thou the + son of a duke royal would look at a brown-skinned savage, an unbelieving + pagan, no matter how comely, as thou call'st it, she might be!” + </p> + <p> + But the flush remained, nevertheless, on the dark cheek of the young + nobleman as he strode angrily from the deck. + </p> + <p> + The moonlight had laid a quivering path of light across the water before + Wildenai raised her bowed head from the ground. But, at length, drawing + her blanket more closely about her, for into the night air the chill of + the ocean had crept, she was about to leave the cave when a sudden sound + from the beach below arrested her. For a moment she listened in silence + while the shout was repeated, then stood dumb with amazement. A third time + it came to her, borne on the rising wind, the terrified cry of a man in + dire distress. Nor was it one of her own people who thus called out of the + darkness for help. Swiftly she ran to an overhanging ledge of rock from + which, by lying flat and peeping over, she could, without exposing + herself, command a wide view of the sea. + </p> + <p> + At the first glance there appeared to be nothing amiss. Far beneath her + the noisy breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. Above their + musical booming no other sound could be heard. Then suddenly she saw him. + A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close to the great rounded boulder + which, together with a still larger one from which it had at some distant + time been broken off, formed the outermost boundary of the curving Beach + of Moons. The dark figure standing erect in the boat strove with the aid + of an oar to keep it from being dashed to pieces against the giant rock. + Again there floated up to her the desperate call for help. The voice was + that of the English noble! + </p> + <p> + Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, and without the slightest + hesitation ran lightly down the perilous incline, leaping fearlessly from + rock to rock, until, within a few seconds, she stood poised above the + seething surf on the top of the larger boulder. Here, balancing herself as + easily and securely as a wild antelope, she raised her arms to dive. But + now from the shadows below the white man called once more. + </p> + <p> + “Attempt it not, oh Wildenai! 'Tis death to leap from there!” + </p> + <p> + But without waiting even to reply, the Indian girl sprang into the waves. + An instant later and he saw her arms gleam in the moonlight as, with the + strong slow strokes of an experienced swimmer, she struck out for the + boat. In spite of the perilous rocking of the little craft he rested on + his oar to watch her for a moment in sheer admiration of her skill. But + the maid knew well the danger of every instant's delay. In the very nick + of time she seemed almost to throw herself between him and the rocks + while, with a strength he would have believed impossible in one so small, + she pulled the boat around. Then, still swimming and without a word to + him, she began to push it ahead of her toward the shore. It was but a few + minutes before they stood together on the beach. + </p> + <p> + And now the young noble, overcome with gratitude, fell on his knees before + her and caught her hand between his own. He would have kissed it in sheer + joy at his escape, but the Indian girl drew sharply back. + </p> + <p> + “Quick!” she whispered, yet remembering to speak in Spanish, “You must + hide yourself at once. My father will kill you if he should find you + here!” + </p> + <p> + Swiftly she concealed the boat in a tiny cove behind the boulder, a hiding + place he would never have seen though it was apparently perfectly familiar + to her. + </p> + <p> + “Sometimes my own canoe I keep there too,” she whispered. “Now come!” and + she hurried him along the beach and up an easier trail beyond the rocks to + her cavern bower above. + </p> + <p> + Nor did she pause for an instant's rest until they had passed safely + behind the manzanita branches which concealed the entrance. Here, + motioning him to do the same, she dropped upon a pile of skins. But + instead, in real concern, the young Englishman knelt again beside her. + </p> + <p> + “Thou art so wet and cold,” he began anxiously, “Will it not make thee + ill? Yet 'twas a wondrous feat,” he added admiringly, “well conceived and + carried out with skill such as any man might envy!” + </p> + <p> + The princess laughed. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas nothing,” she answered briefly. “I do it almost every day.” + </p> + <p> + “I came to bring to thee the gift I promised,” explained Lord Harold then, + and from his belt he drew the little case. Eagerly he flung the gleaming + string of garnets about her slim brown throat. + </p> + <p> + “Jewels brought by my father to my mother on the morning of their + marriage,” he told her. “When she lay dying she gave them me and told me + never to part with them except I gave them to my—” He paused + suddenly, “But thou hast saved my life!” he added as quickly, “Who else + could ever deserve them more? Well know I my mother would wish thee to + have them.” + </p> + <p> + Silently, though her eyes were bright with, pleasure, the princess lifted + the beautiful necklace. + </p> + <p> + “Wildenai will wear them always, senor lord,” she answered softly, “for + now she knows that truly you did mean to keep your word!” + </p> + <p> + And so, his mission accomplished, her guest rose hastily to his feet. He + must return immediately to the ship. + </p> + <p> + “Know you not, then, that it is gone?” exclaimed the girl, amazed. + </p> + <p> + “Gone?” echoed young Harold, and stared at her astounded. He seemed not to + have grasped her meaning. “Gone, said'st thou?” + </p> + <p> + “The ship was out of sight a full hour or more ere ever I heard you call,” + she explained. + </p> + <p> + Still he continued to gaze at her fixedly as if totally unable to + comprehend what she would have him know. Then it was plain to be seen + that, for the moment at least, blank despair took hold upon him. Up and + down the length of the cave he strode like some imprisoned wild thing. At + length, standing quite still with folded arms, he seemed to lose himself + in thought. + </p> + <p> + “Battling with the surf I did not see nor hear,” he muttered at last. “But + he could not sail without me!” he added. Fiercely he raised his head and + his eyes flashed. “He dare not so betray me!” + </p> + <p> + Wildenai, too, had been considering. + </p> + <p> + “The great white captain knew, then, that you were not on board?” she + asked suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied the young man reluctantly, “that did he not. I came without + his knowledge. He would have prevented me,” he continued stubbornly, “and + I had promised thee a gift. Never did I break my word, nor would not then. + But I did not dream it possible they could get away so soon! By our virgin + lady in Heaven I swear I know not what to do.” And once more he seemed + lost in despair. + </p> + <p> + But only for a moment. Then he turned hastily to the entrance. + </p> + <p> + “I must follow them at once,” he declared impatiently, “I can overtake + them even yet.” + </p> + <p> + Swift as lightning the girl threw herself between him and the opening in + the cave. + </p> + <p> + “No, no, senor Englishman,” she cried. “It is impossible! Listen, only + listen to me! What have you, then, to steer by save the stars? And you see + that, drowned in moonlight, they do not shine tonight. And, more than + that, you do not even know what course the vessel takes. Remember, too, + that there is neither food nor drink within your boat. You would surely + die ere you could ever find the ship.” + </p> + <p> + Gradually she compelled him to listen to reason until, seating himself + again upon the skins, he challenged her still further. + </p> + <p> + “But what, then, shall I do?” he demanded. “Can'st also tell me that?” + </p> + <p> + And with equal readiness the princess replied: + </p> + <p> + “If you will but let me I can hide you here. The cavern is my own. Here + for many a moon have I worked and waited. No one would dare to enter. You + will be safe. Besides, my father's anger will grow cold in time, and then + I know that, if I ask him, he will help you.” + </p> + <p> + His chin propped upon his hands, the young nobleman moodily considered. + </p> + <p> + “Well, do then as thou deemest best,” he told her finally. + </p> + <p> + And from that moment there began for the little princess a time so + wonderful that for all the rest of her life she remembered each separate + hour as though it had been some beautiful word in a poem learned by heart. + </p> + <p> + With deft fingers she piled her softest doeskins for his bed. + </p> + <p> + “But what wilt thou do, tell me, if I rob thee of thy nest?” he asked, + watching her with amused eyes as she worked. + </p> + <p> + “I go always to the village to sleep,” she answered simply, and so left + him. + </p> + <p> + But in the morning while yet the red of sunrise burned above the great + peak Orazaba, she returned, bearing upon her head an olla of carved stone + filled with water from a mountain spring. This in smiling silence she set + before him and disappeared. Within the hour, however, she was back again + and this time, kneeling on the ground, she laid at his feet the ripe fruit + of the manzanita tree, lying like small red apples, dewy fresh, upon a + wild-grape leaf. + </p> + <p> + “Ala—ate, see! Are they not good?” she asked triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + And so from day to day she ministered to him. Many a time as he sat, + listless and moody, within his hiding-place, a handful of wild + strawberries, steeped in the warm sweetness of the hills, would be pushed + beneath the leafy branches that concealed the door. Sometimes she brought + him bread baked from a curious kind of meal made of pounded seeds. + </p> + <p> + Once, too, when a sudden storm had chilled the air, she kindled a fire for + him within a smaller cave, receding like a fire-place into the rocky wall + opposite the opening. It was a long and tedious process which the man + watched curiously. First, kneeling on the ground, she rubbed together two + dry willow sticks until a little pile of dust had gathered. Then, still + stooping, she struck two flints together until at last a spark fell into + the dust. Some dry leaves were dropped upon the tiny blaze, then twigs, + and lo, a fire! + </p> + <p> + In spite of himself the Englishman smiled, though a softer feeling shown + in his eyes. How beautiful and yet how childish she looked kneeling there + with the anxious pucker between her brows. Poor little princess, how very + hard she worked to serve him! + </p> + <p> + “It takes a long time, Wildenai,” he observed, “dost thou try it often?” + </p> + <p> + “Never for myself,” she answered gravely. “I have no need. But I do it + gladly for you.” She smiled brightly back at him, then rose and moved + swiftly to the doorway. “Another thing I do for you today. Wait!” + </p> + <p> + And when she returned a few minutes later she brought with her, carefully + wrapped in cool green leaves, a fish freshly caught that morning. + </p> + <p> + “A brook trout, on my word, such as I have often taken in the streams at + home!” exclaimed Lord Harold, amazed. + </p> + <p> + “I got it far up the canyon before the sun was risen,” she answered, + delighted at his surprise. + </p> + <p> + This, having quickly dressed it, she wrapped again in leaves and placed + under the hot ashes to bake, and it being, evidently, a feast out of the + ordinary, a merry-making to which a third guest might be bidden, suddenly + Wildenai left the cavern again to return this time with a tiny gray fox + perched familiarly upon her shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis Onatoa, senor Englishman,” she announced, gently stroking the bushy + tail of the little creature as it lay about her neck. + </p> + <p> + But from his vantage point above his rival, Onatoa merely sniffed + disdainfully with his sharp black nose. He looked far from friendly. + </p> + <p> + The princess laughed softly. + </p> + <p> + “He does not know you yet,” she defended her pet. “He will soon learn to + love you, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I will catch fish with thee next time thou goest,” declared young Harold + later as they ate together. “There's no reason I can see why I should stay + mewed up forever in this cave. I fear not Indians! No, not even Torquam, + thy father, himself.” + </p> + <p> + For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. Then she laughed. + </p> + <p> + “You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!” she exclaimed with pride. “Nor + would there be much danger. We will go to the other side of the island + where the waves run high and the cliffs are tall and black. There will I + show you the nests of the great eagles, and the antelope leaping among the + rocks. And,—who can tell?” she laughed again with child-like + pleasure, “perhaps we shall find a white otter!” + </p> + <p> + And, true to her word, he heard at dawn next day outside the cavern the + whistle of a blackbird, a signal early contrived between them. She deemed + it best, she explained, to start thus early that the darkness might + conceal them until they had passed well beyond the outskirts of the + village. But this danger overcome, they spent the whole day rambling + fearlessly among the hills,—a long, idle, happy day. Up many a dim + trail winding back into the canyons the princess led him. Through golden + thickets of wild mustard they passed, coming, when he least expected it, + upon glimpses of the summer sea framed between the branches of knarled old + oak trees. + </p> + <p> + “They are low and crooked, and they spread themselves over the ground as + do our English oaks,” the young nobleman informed her. + </p> + <p> + As Wildenai had promised they discovered, poised high among the crags of + the wild southern shore, the great eagles of which she had told him, + measuring easily, from wing-tip to wing-tip, fully a dozen feet. The white + otter, rarest and most valuable of all the game hunted by her people, + eluded them, but many a small gray fox slipped away among the bushes, + leaving the Englishman tingling for the chase. + </p> + <p> + At twilight, as they made their way back to the cavern, they came upon a + tiny lake lying asleep within the crater of a dead volcano. From the sides + little clouds of ashes rose, floating softly away on the breezes of + evening. The princess gathered a handful and murmuring some musical words + in her own tongue she threw them into the air. + </p> + <p> + “And would it be amiss for me to ask what 'tis you do?” questioned her + companion, observing her closely. + </p> + <p> + “I was sending a prayer to Wakan-ate, the Great Spirit,” she replied + quietly. + </p> + <p> + “A prayer,—and borne to heaven on the wings of ashes!” He seemed + amused. “But what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?” + </p> + <p> + Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she replied: “It were not fitting + that any maiden tell for what she prays!” + </p> + <p> + The words were spoken with such gravity that the young man flushed under + the rebuke. + </p> + <p> + When she left him at the doorway of the cavern that evening she said as + she made a gay little gesture of farewell: “Today the land, but tomorrow + we shall find still more beautiful things that lie hidden under the deep + waters. You shall see!” + </p> + <p> + And once again with dawn she came. This time it was the splash of a paddle + that brought him to the opening in the rock. + </p> + <p> + “Aloho-ate, lazy one!” she called gaily from below. “Make haste! The world + is always loveliest while it lies waiting for the sun!” + </p> + <p> + That day, perhaps, from among them all, lived longest within the memory of + young Harold,—the porpoises playing fearlessly around her canoe as + the princess, with graceful, effortless strokes, paddled around one after + another of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, skimming the + surface of the ocean until, by virtue of their speed alone, they rose like + gleaming bows of silver from the foam. Intent to show him all her + treasures, Wildenai guided him to a quiet stretch of water lying close to + shore within the shadow of tall cliffs which rose at that point with + precipitous abruptness from the sea itself. + </p> + <p> + “Here are my gardens that grow under the water,” she explained, as they + glided above the spot. “Look well at them. They are most beautiful.” + </p> + <p> + And gazing down at her command through the clear green into the luminous + depths below, he caught glimpses of these gardens of the sea where + goldfish darted like tropical birds among the branches of tall tree-like + stalks of swaying seaweed, and strange shapes of jade and blue floated in + the shadows. + </p> + <p> + “Is it not wonderful?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “It is indeed, my Wildenai,” he answered earnestly. “Never in all my + travels, methinks, have I seen aught before like this your island here! It + seems to me indeed a charmed land, a kind of magic isle!” + </p> + <p> + One day it rained, the last belated rain of winter. But even the storm + brought pleasures of its own, for, seated on the pile of skins beside him, + the little gray fox curled contentedly at her feet, Wildenai worked at her + loom. Within its dull-colored warp a blanket, woven in a strange design of + mingled red, and black, and white, grew slowly beneath her busy fingers. + </p> + <p> + For hours the maiden drew the short woolen threads in and out while the + young man, stretched lazily upon the ground, told her many a tale of the + England he had left. Then, quite without warning, she ceased her work and + sat pensively watching through the opening in the rocks the long gray + swell of the sea. + </p> + <p> + “And what is it now, my princess?” laughed young Harold. “The pattern is + not yet finished, nor is the rain abated.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, senor Harold lord,” wistfully replied the girl, “I was but wishing I + had been born one of those same fair English maids with the eyes of blue + and golden hair you tell about. Then would you love me even as you do + them!” she added artlessly, and leaned her chin upon her hand, + considering. A secret trembled on her lips. + </p> + <p> + “And how if I were Spanish born?” she questioned, and lifted hesitating, + frightened eyes to his, “dark to look at, that I know well, but even so, + the white man's kind of princess, who also has a throne?” + </p> + <p> + And all unwitting Lord Harold answered scornfully, “Spanish! Say no such + word to me! The English hate the Spanish!” Fiercely he caught up a pebble + and sent it whirling out across the water. “Even now their robber king + plans his huge armada to take our queen and rule our land, but that, by + the holy virgin herself, shall never be! Sooner will every drop of blood + in bonny England be spilt. Never could I make thee understand how much I + hope to be at home before he comes! Spanish indeed! Nay, never let me hear + the hateful word again!” + </p> + <p> + Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, with the impulsive changeableness + which had so endeared him to her, he caught one little brown hand and + raised it to his lips. + </p> + <p> + “But I do love thee even as thou art, my Wildenai,” he told her with the + careless assurance of one much older speaking to a child. “Is not a wild + rose sweet as any garden bloom? Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!” + </p> + <p> + Again he laughed and the little princess laughed with him now, for into + her heart at his words had come a happiness so unlooked for and so wildly + sweet as wholly to bewilder her. Quickly she rose, struck by a sudden + thought, and running to the farthermost corner of the cavern she brushed + aside a pile of leaves and lifted some stones, disclosing at length a box + fashioned from the choicest cedar. Out of it, while the Englishman watched + with wondering eyes, she drew a garment made of creamy doeskin, deeply + fringed and trimmed besides with strings of wampum, the polished fragments + of abalone shells and many-colored beads. Silently she brought it to him + and when he touched it admiringly, for the dress was beautiful. “It is my + marriage robe,” she told him gravely. + </p> + <p> + That night, while the rain tapped softly at her tepee, the princess + dreamed of a wondrous land beyond the sea where proudly she walked by her + white chief's side and fair women with braided, golden hair spoke kind + words of welcome, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes. + </p> + <p> + Then, without warning, came the end of all her dreams. Hurrying along the + beach at sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught the first glimpse + of the returning vessel as it stole around a distant point. For the space + of a second her heart stood still, then throbbed wildly, but whether with + joy or pain she could not herself have told. One question only demanded + all her thought. Should she let Lord Harold know? Perhaps the great white + captain would not remember their bay. Perhaps,—her breath came fast,—perhaps + the ship, unseen by anyone, would pass and Lord Harold remain behind + content. With hands tight-clenched she watched the distant sail, fear + growing in her eyes. Yet she knew that she would tell him. Nothing else + was honorable. This, surely, he must decide for himself. + </p> + <p> + But tidings of such moment outran even her swift feet. She found him + buckling on his swordbelt, in his eyes the glad light of some trapped bird + which sees the door of its cage suddenly open. + </p> + <p> + “The ship—” she began with sinking heart. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, I know! I saw it!” he answered, a fever of impatience in his + voice. “'Tis Drake. I knew he dared not leave me! 'Twill soon be too close + in. Needs not he risk his safety. I must go before he gains the shore.” + </p> + <p> + The princess hesitated. What meant that strange heaviness at her heart? + Was he not still her brave, true warrior,—her great white chief? Had + he not told her that he loved her? Crossing to where he stood she bowed + herself before him until her silver fillet touched his feet. + </p> + <p> + “I, too!” she whispered, “I shall go to England with thee!” + </p> + <p> + And at her words, within the little cavern there came a silence to be + felt. In undisguised dismay the Englishman gazed at her where she knelt. + Then: + </p> + <p> + “By the holyrood!” he muttered aghast, “She must have thought,—God + only knows what she must have thought!” + </p> + <p> + He glanced hurriedly toward the doorway and back again, ashamed. Then even + such impatience as was his gave way, for the moment at least, to something + more chivalric. He stooped and patted awkwardly the smooth black head. + </p> + <p> + “Come, Wildenai, little wild rose, look up and speak to me. I must be + going!” + </p> + <p> + But still the maid lay prostrate, clasping close his rough buskins in her + little brown hands. Never in all his life had Lord Harold been so sorely + uncomfortable. How was it possible she had ever imagined that he could + take her with him,—that he had meant so much? Resentment grew within + him at the thought, yet strangely mingled always with something far more + tender. Hastily he considered, his heart torn between the desire not to + wound her and dread of what he knew she wanted. To be sure the maid was + beautiful, with the softened beauty of a moonlit night in summer, her eyes + beneath her dusky hair like stars between the branches of dark trees, her + voice that of the forest stream when it sings itself to sleep. Yet past + all doubt he knew that not one among the gorgeous throng that crowded + about Elizabeth would ever see that beauty, no English ear take heed to + hear the music of her voice. Nay, he could even, as he thought of it, + picture the amazement of the great queen, could hear her scornful + laughter, should he present, to help adorn her court, a savage Indian + girl! No, a thousand times no! Such disgrace he could not suffer. Nor was + the maid herself, so he defended himself, fitted for such a life. Soon + would she be as unhappy in England as he would be to have her there. + Besides, she was but a child. Else had she never so far forgot all womanly + dignity as to force herself upon him, and being but a child she would soon + forget. Gently he made to raise her to her feet. + </p> + <p> + “Wildenai, little wild rose,” he began again, “what thou hast asked of me + thou dost well know thyself is an unheard of thing. Much as I owe to thee, + and well know I that 'tis so much I never can repay it; still for thine + own sweet sake 'tis not in this way thy reward must come. The long journey + and the strange new life would kill thee, Wildenai.” Having once begun he + stumbled on, but half aware of how each word he uttered hurt her, eager + only to have done with the whole sorry scene. “Thou art but a little wild + flower. Thou couldst not live away from this, thy sunny island. Can'st + thou not understand, my Wildenai?” + </p> + <p> + He paused, waiting for a reply; but the maiden answered nothing. Silent + she lay as though in very truth she were a wild flower tossed to earth and + trampled upon by some uncaring foot. + </p> + <p> + At last the man could bear it no longer. Forcibly he loosed her hands and + stepped back. For a moment longer he lingered, looking down upon her in + mingled impatience and regret; then, turning abruptly, he passed hastily + out of the cavern and down the trail to the beach. + </p> + <p> + Still the girl lay motionless. It was as if every sense were stunned, all + power of thought suspended except to grasp the one fact that made her + whole world empty,—he was gone! As in a dream she heard the grating + of the pebbles when he pushed his boat into the water, heard the clank of + the oars as they dropped into the oar-locks. Even yet she did not move. + Then, after many minutes, she crept to the opening and searched the sea + with eyes almost, too dim with tears to find that for which she sought. + But yes, there it was,—a black speck against the golden sunset. She + watched until she had seen the distant vessel put about, making for the + open sea. Ah, now she knew that he was safe aboard,—no need had they + to come farther into shore. Yet still she waited, straining her eyes to + see the ship sink slowly beneath the horizon. One last glint of sunlight + against a white sail, and it was gone. + </p> + <p> + Then at once she rose, and moving quietly about the little cavern, she put + all in perfect order with touch as tender as that of a mother preparing + for its last sleep some little child. Here was the basket he had helped to + weave, here the mat on which he had lain. Her fingers lingered caressingly + on each thing that he had touched. There in the corner still stood the + olla in which she had brought him water. How amused he had been that she + could carry it on her head all the way up the hill from the spring without + so much as spilling one drop! But that was all past now. + </p> + <p> + When at last everything was finished she gave the little rock-walled room + one long, lingering look, the look of one who would carry in his heart the + image of what he beholds all the rest of his life. Then she, too, made her + way through the doorway into the deepening dusk. + </p> + <p> + On the beach below, squatted within the opened flap of his tepee, Torquam, + mighty chief of the Mariposa, smoked his evening pipe. A wonderful pipe it + was, long and delicately fashioned, inlaid with iridescent fragments of + shell. Yet instantly he laid it aside as the slender form of his daughter + darkened the doorway. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art thou as sunshine after rain!” + His eyes lighted with the tenderness never seen there by any other than + this motherless girl. He stretched his hand to her and the princess came + silently and knelt before him. + </p> + <p> + “My father,” she said firmly, though in so low a tone that Torquam bent to + hear. “Oh, father, thou art always wise! Thou only knowest best. I come to + thee to tell that I will wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him whenever thou + dost choose!” + </p> + <p> + Taking her face between his hands, Torquam gazed long and searchingly into + the sorrowful eyes of his daughter. + </p> + <p> + “And thou art wise to do so, my beloved one,” he said at last. “He will + make to thee a good husband.” In his voice was the keen understanding of a + father. “He will be kind to thee and heal thy wounded heart, my daughter. + Don Cabrillo is a good man,” he repeated solemnly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Part II. Miss Hastings Brings It to an End + </h2> + <p> + Centuries passed, and again, with the same sweet suddenness as in the days + gone by, spring came to Catalina. Guests of the St. Catherine, lounging on + its wide verandahs, gazed across a sunlit sea to where the faint cloud + that was San Jacinto hovered, the merest ghost of a mountain, above the + misty mainland. Along the broad board-walk leading down to Avalon benches, + shaded by brightstriped awnings, flaunted an invitation to every passing + tourist. Strings of Japanese lanterns bobbed merrily above the narrow + village streets. Everywhere were laughter and movement and color from the + bathing beaches, dotted with gay umbrellas—even to the last yacht + anchored round the point. + </p> + <p> + To the man making slow progress down the crowded wharf from the afternoon + boat this holiday world into which he thus suddenly stepped, presented an + appearance so different from that he had pictured as almost to bewilder + him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus waiting to haul him up the + winding grade to the hotel, he actually hesitated. Yet seldom before, to + his knowledge, had he found it difficult to adapt himself to an unexpected + situation. + </p> + <p> + “Hotel St. Catherine! Bus to the hotel, sir?” + </p> + <p> + Other guests, more certain of their intentions, pushed impatiently against + him, and presently he found himself, wedged well toward the middle of the + long seat, chugging comfortably up the hill. Still half-daunted, he gazed + about him. It was all of it charming to be sure, fascinating even; yet, + could this festive summering place be the Avalon of his dreams? Was this + the quaint village of Spanish times, reaching back still further through + dimly remembered Indian lore to a world lost now except to legend? Yet it + was for the sake of a mere legend, a fanciful tale handed down in his + family through many a generation, that he had made the long journey from + New York to California, nor—and here he set his lips with dogged + determination, did he intend to return until he had found that for which + he searched. + </p> + <p> + It was now something over two years since Harrison Blair, then fresh from + Yale, had astonished both those who wished him well and those who, for + various envious reasons, did not, with the wholly unreasonable success of + his first book. For, to those who did not understand, his sudden fame had + seemed all the more surprising in that it rested upon nothing more + substantial than a slender volume of Indian verse. So unusual, however, + had been his treatment of this well-worn subject as to call forth more + than a little comment from even the most conservative of critics. The + Brush and Pen had hastened to confer upon him an honorary membership. + Cadmon, magic weaver of Indian music, had written a warm letter of + appreciation. And, most precious tribute of all, the Atlantic Monthly had + become interested in his career. + </p> + <p> + To be sure, it was nothing more than might have been expected of a man + whose undergraduate work in English had aroused the reluctant wonder of + more than one instructor. Nevertheless, the fact that he pulled stroke on + the 'varsity crew had somewhat blinded other contemporaries to his more + scholarly attainments. Nor had anyone thought it probable, because of his + father's wealth, that Blair, in any event, would feel called upon to do + much more than make a frolic of life. No one, indeed, had been more taken + aback than had his father to find him, a year after graduation, drudging + over the assistant editor's desk of a struggling magazine the payroll of + which, to put it mildly, offered no financial inducements. + </p> + <p> + “It's good practice for me, though,—quickest way to learn,” was all + he vouchsafed when the older man remonstrated. + </p> + <p> + Yet, had that same father, shrewd capitalist that he was, but taken the + trouble to reason back from premises evident enough, he might have been + the first to realize that this tall son of his, with the keen gray eyes + and a face the strength of which was but increased by the high cheek bones + and squarely molded chin, was scarcely the type of man to sit idly by + enjoying the fruits of another's labor. + </p> + <p> + And now, after two years more of grinding apprenticeship, he had in mind + something much bigger than the slender volume of verse,—an adventure + into authorship more suited to his metal,—a story for which an + intense personal sympathy would furnish fitting atmosphere, with the final + spur to his ambition a letter from the Atlantic even at the moment stowed + safely away in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + Some two hours later, after an unexpectedly excellent dinner in the + luxurious dining room, he sauntered over to the hotel desk. There was no + more than the faintest probability that a clerk of the St. Catherine would + be able to tell him how to reach a secret cavern bower above the Bay of + Moons; still, he had to enter an opening wedge somewhere. The one man on + duty was for the moment occupied with another guest, and Blair, lighting + his after-dinner cigar, prepared with leisurely patience to await his + turn. + </p> + <p> + The guest happened to be a young woman, rather pretty, he casually + decided, although her greatest claim to beauty lay more, perhaps, in the + swift changes in expression of which her face was capable, than in any + actual regularity of line. For lack of anything better to do, Blair + watched idly her encounter with the clerk. There appeared to be some kind + of misunderstanding. + </p> + <p> + “Awfully sorry it's happened that way, Miss Hastings,” the man behind the + desk was saying. He lifted with genuine reluctance the key she had just + laid down. “We'd be mighty sorry to interfere with your work, but those + small rooms always do go first. You know that yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “I hadn't heard about it, though. I didn't know they were all gone.” Her + voice quivered with disappointment. + </p> + <p> + Blair, whose vocation taught him a certain technical sympathy, shot a + swift glance at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-two or thereabouts, + he decided less casually, and went on to observe her still further. She + wore a shabby, broad-brimmed hat much faded as if from constant exposure + to the sun, but the shadows in the coil of hair beneath were warmly + golden. + </p> + <p> + “Couldn't you find a room down in the village somewhere,—at Mrs. + Merrill's perhaps?” suggested the clerk. + </p> + <p> + “But Mrs. Merrill isn't here this spring.” In spite of its quiver the + voice was very sweet. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she started to turn away, “I'll have to put it off again, I suppose. + I've looked everywhere.” + </p> + <p> + She took a step or two, hesitated, then returned to the desk. + </p> + <p> + “You're positive there isn't a single one of the small rooms left?” she + pleaded. “I wouldn't care how far back it was,—anything would do. + You can't think how I hate to give up. I had so hoped to finish it this + time!” + </p> + <p> + The man shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “No, we're absolutely full just now. Later on there might be something,—after + the season is over.” + </p> + <p> + “But that will be after school begins,” answered the girl bitterly. “I + can't work at all then!” and catching up a bag fully as shabby as the hat, + she hurried away. + </p> + <p> + “Who is she?” asked Blair abruptly, overlooking for the moment his + original purpose in seeking the man. + </p> + <p> + “School-teacher from Pasadena,” replied the clerk briefly. “Teaches art in + some private school over there, I believe.” He eyed Blair amusedly. “Think + you've met her before somewhere?” + </p> + <p> + Blair allowed his annoyance to show. “No, never laid eyes on her till just + now. But I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her,” he persisted. “She + seemed so sort of cut up. What's the trouble?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sorry for her myself,” declared the man on the other side as he hung + the returned key on its board. “This is the third time that poor little + woman's had to leave before she could finish what she came for on account + of the expense. But what can we do?” He shrugged his shoulders. “The St. + Catherine isn't exactly a Y. W. C. A.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it she's trying to do?” + </p> + <p> + Amusement deepened in the man's eyes. + </p> + <p> + “She's supposed to be painting Indians.” + </p> + <p> + “Indians!” To the amazement of the other man Blair suddenly leaned + forward, his eyes agleam with interest. + </p> + <p> + “But I didn't know there were any around here.” + </p> + <p> + “There aren't.” + </p> + <p> + “Then how—?” + </p> + <p> + “Makes 'em up out of her head, I guess. I never heard that she had even a + model.” + </p> + <p> + “But—but what I want to know is why she comes here at all?” The + situation seemed to Blair to offer possibilities, yet he was thoroughly + puzzled. “I met a fellow on the train who does that sort of thing, but he + always goes to the desert to paint,—at least he said he did.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, they do mostly. Probably he meant Taos,—whole nest of artists + at Taos.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, but why in thunder then—?” + </p> + <p> + The clerk smiled skeptically. + </p> + <p> + “Why, you see, it's something like this. Miss Hastings' bent on being an + illustrator, pays better than teaching, I suppose, or—well, at any + rate, that's what she's aiming for,—and she has an idea that if she + can only get a series of pictures,—several of them on the same + subject, you understand,—accepted by one of those Eastern magazines, + she can soon work in with some big publisher and get an order. She told us + all about it one night last winter when she was over.” + </p> + <p> + “But in heaven's name, why Indians?” persisted Blair. + </p> + <p> + “Because she thinks she's found some good material here. She told me about + that, too. Seems there's an old legend connected with Catalina, about an + Indian princess and a cavern. The princess died of a broken heart or + something of the sort, I believe she said. I never heard the particulars + myself. Nobody else, either, seems to know anything about it. But Miss + Hastings says there's quite a story, and she's got it all down pat from A + to Z. She's using it for her series.” + </p> + <p> + A porter brought up some newcomers and Blair stepped aside. But the moment + his man was at leisure again he cornered him at once. An idea had come to + him, an idea almost dazzling in its possibilities. + </p> + <p> + “You say she hasn't finished her series yet?” + </p> + <p> + “Beg pardon? Oh, the teacher?” The man shook his head. “Evidently not from + what she said just now. She never stays long enough really to put it over. + Every few months she bobs up over a week-end, but that doesn't give her + time even to visit some of the places she's after. She never seems to get + much more than started before she has to go home again.” + </p> + <p> + For a moment Blair smoked in silence. Then: + </p> + <p> + “Look here,” he cut in abruptly, “You split my suite and give her one of + my rooms.” + </p> + <p> + The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. + </p> + <p> + “Her? What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + Blair made an impatient gesture. + </p> + <p> + “Why, this Miss—the teacher, you know. Didn't you just say you + hadn't any room for her? Well, I've got three, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but that's altogether a different proposition. You made your + reservation weeks ago.” + </p> + <p> + “But you could still give her one of them, couldn't you?” + </p> + <p> + Clerks in large hotels listen with patience to a vast number of strange + proposals, but at this from Blair, the man opposite eyed him in + unflattering amazement. + </p> + <p> + “But you said, when you wired, you wanted the extra room to work in,” he + objected, “and you'll remember, Mr. Blair, that you were pretty emphatic + about it, too, at the time. We went to all kinds of trouble to fix that up + for you.” + </p> + <p> + “I can get along all right without it, though,” coolly observed his + changeable guest, “and I'd rather she'd have it. It's possible to split + suites here, isn't it?” he persisted. “They do at most hotels.” + </p> + <p> + “It's possible, of course.” Across the desk the eyes of the two men met + squarely. “That part of it's easy enough. But why? and who's going to pay + for it?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to pay for it! What did you suppose?” exploded Blair. “It's + worth that and a lot more to me just now to keep her from getting away. + Oh, I'm in earnest all right. I mean it! Look here! Can't you see how that + woman can be a perfect gold mine to me? You know enough about my work to + understand that I'm really out here after Indians myself, and she—well, + I'll wager a cool thousand there isn't a spot on this whole island that + ever dreamed of seeing an Indian that she doesn't know all about!” + </p> + <p> + The clerk nodded. “But—” + </p> + <p> + “But nothing!” Impatiently Blair brushed aside all objections. “Why, I + hadn't the remotest idea how I was going to get started. It's a rattling + piece of good luck, and we'll fix it up right now!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but—” Still the other man hesitated. “It sounds all right + enough,—from your end of it especially, but you'd better see her + first. She's a proud little piece,—doesn't like obligations of any + kind,—and a stranger,—a man—I'm sorry to discourage you, + but I don't believe she'll have a thing to do with it.” + </p> + <p> + In Blair's eyes impatience threatened to become something more emphatic. + </p> + <p> + “It's a business proposition pure and simple,” he argued. “She gives me + all the information she's been able to get together, and I pay her + expenses while she does it. That gives her a chance to finish her own + work, don't you see? A mighty good proposition for her, too, I should say, + and if she doesn't see it that way herself,—why,—well, she + isn't as intelligent as she looks, that's all!” + </p> + <p> + “Providing you can persuade her it is just business. I'd advise you to + talk with her first, just the same. And you'll have to be quick about it, + too. She's planning to wait in the village tonight for the morning boat, + and she'll be starting down about now.” + </p> + <p> + Outside was one of those radiant nights intended for dreams and the makers + of dreams. Over an ocean white with light long breakers rolled crests + gleaming with silver that fell in soft thunder on the beach. Miss + Hastings, hurrying along the board-walk to the village, glanced at them + and looked quickly away. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I say!” came a voice out of the darkness behind her, “if you don't + mind, hold on there a minute, will you? Wait for me, please!” The voice + was that of a man, pleasant, but exceedingly determined. Without so much + as turning her head Miss Hastings quickened her steps. + </p> + <p> + But it was of no use. Whoever her pursuer might be, he was even then at + her side. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” breathlessly he began again, “but I've been chasing + you all the way down from the hotel. I want you to come right back there + with me. I have a proposal to make to you.” + </p> + <p> + Even in the darkness he could see how the girl's eyes blazed. + </p> + <p> + “I never listen—” she began hotly, “to proposals from people I don't + know,” she had meant to add, but he gave her no time. + </p> + <p> + “It will mean the biggest chance for your pictures you've ever had,” he + broke in. “Now, listen!” + </p> + <p> + And, to her complete surprise, Miss Hastings suddenly found herself doing + that very thing. + </p> + <p> + “There are a lot of things I've got to find out right away,” continued the + astonishing stranger, “and the clerk up there tells me you're painting a + series of Indian portraits.” + </p> + <p> + The little art teacher gazed at him fascinated. What manner of man could + this be, she wondered. + </p> + <p> + “I don't see the connection—” Coldness struggled with curiosity in + her voice. + </p> + <p> + “Listen!” With uplifted, peremptory hand again he stopped her. Nor is it + safe to say that any book agent, watching the door slowly closing upon + him, ever talked faster, or more rigidly to the point, than did Blair + within the next few minutes. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you won't understand it all right off. I wouldn't expect that. + But it's this way. I'm representing Harper's, and Houghton and Mifflin, + and Dodd and Mead, and—several other firms” (to satisfy his + conscience Blair contended with himself that he might as well as not have + been their representative—a mere oversight on their part ought not + to be allowed to stand in his way), “and I'm out here to find the best + illustrator I can lay hands on to do the pictures for some Indian stuff + I'm getting into shape for one of 'em. I want to see your work. And, if I + like it, I'll pay you well. And anyway, I'll pay every bit of the expense + while you finish your series here if you'll tell me what you know about + Wildenai!” + </p> + <p> + But, at the name, the girl beside him had given a low cry of utter + amazement. She stopped short. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know it too, then?” she gasped. “How did you hear about it?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I've known it for years,” replied Blair carelessly. “Some of it I've + known all my life. But look here now. Is it a bargain?—about your + helping me, I mean?” + </p> + <p> + Before he left her, an hour or so later, every detail had been arranged. + Miss Hastings had meekly agreed to return to the hotel in the morning. + Blair would pay her expenses and something he called a retaining fee + besides. That would make an extra fifty dollars,—she smiled to + herself in the dark,—a new winter suit at least, and perhaps one or + two matinees if she managed! All this for the information she could give + him about the island and its history. The various points in their contract + spun dizzily in her dazed brain. No spot known to legend to which it was + possible to conduct him should remain unvisited. Four hours out of every + day were pledged without fail to his interests. The rest of the time she + might have for her own work. It had all come about so unexpectedly, and + was altogether so extraordinary that, after he had gone, his new employee, + stretched uncomfortably upon a narrow cot in the tent of a fellow teacher, + spent the remainder of the night in imaginary interviews with Eastern + publishers regarding impossible royalties. She was far too excited to + sleep. + </p> + <p> + And, for a week, the arrangement worked very well,—almost too well. + Every day brought with it some new adventure, and every adventure became a + pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Mounted at Blair's expense on more or less energetic ponies, for from the + first he had insisted that horses were a necessary part of their business + equipment, they cantered gaily along the shady canyon trails, or over the + sunlit slopes sheeted in pale lavender wherever the wild lilacs were in + bloom. Often, emerging from some thicket of dwarf oak they caught glimpses + of a sapphire sea held between red, twisted branches of manzanita as in a + frame. About them rang the music of the meadow larks. Merry shouts of + bathers floated up from the beaches far below, mingled with the distant + click of golf balls on the greens. + </p> + <p> + For the whole of a golden day they chartered a sailboat from one, Capt. + Warren, and rounding the yellow headlands under his lazy guidance, they + went to examine the Ning Po, the ancient Chinese barge stranded, no one + knew how many hundreds of years before, among the rocks off the isthmus. + </p> + <p> + “Fascinating old place,” observed Blair gazing, his eyes aglow with + interest, around the mediaeval cabin. “Don't doubt a dozen murders at + least were pulled off in this one room!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes, of course,” eagerly echoed his assistant. “It's absolutely + unique!” + </p> + <p> + Her gaze, as bright with interest as his own, rested upon Blair himself. + She was considering, absent-mindedly, how becoming white trousers can be + to most men, especially when they are reasonably dark themselves. But,—her + glance travelled upward,—how unusually dark he was, and his hair,—yes, + without question, the straightest and blackest she had ever seen. Yet it + seemed in some indefinable way to become him,—to belong, as it were, + to his type. Leaning her elbows meditatively upon the rusty anchor, her + chin in her hands, she silently appraised him. He really was a handsome + man, she decided, and clever, too, of the sort who does things in the + world! A dreamy light grew within her eyes. + </p> + <p> + It was only two or three evenings later when, on their way back from the + site of an historic Indian village on the other side of the island, they + walked their horses slowly around the Wishbone Loop, the ostensible reason + being that, as Blair had already discovered, it commanded the widest view + of the ocean at sunset. + </p> + <p> + He was the first to speak when they struck again into the main trail. + </p> + <p> + “I wished for something about a rose, a wild rose,—want to guess?” + He eyed her mischievously. + </p> + <p> + “Hush,—mustn't tell!” she laughed. “Your wish won't come true if you + tell.” Then, for no reason at all, she blushed. + </p> + <p> + Never, in truth, during her twenty-three years of working, and scrimping, + and going without, had life shown to the little art teacher so fair and + generous a side, seemed so extravagantly joyous an affair as during that + magic week. The spending of money, it was easy to see, meant little or + nothing to Blair. But that was the least of his attractions, for, to the + girl herself, mere wealth for its own sake had never appealed. The charm + lay rather in the genial broadness of his view of things, the strength of + reasoning behind the few opinions he put forward, his reticence, and quiet + modesty. In these dwelt the spell that swept her into an almost delirious + enjoyment of his society. For, all unknown to herself, like many another + woman in like condition, she had needed a change of people. In the cramped + life of a private school men played but little part, and the men who were + most worth while, almost no part at all. Instinctively, in time, she had + wearied of little girls and their lessons. Sorely had she craved the + stimulus which only the companionship of congenial men can give. Of this + fact, however, she had been even less aware. + </p> + <p> + One crisp morning, seated in a diminutive wicker cart behind a + discontented pony, they searched out Chicken John's cabin on the mesa + behind the golf links. + </p> + <p> + “Not that it has anything to do with Indians,” she apologized, “only I + want you to see him. He's such a character, so nice and untidy and queer!” + </p> + <p> + As a result of this expedition they brought away with them what old John + designated a “plump little fry” to be served at the cosy table for two in + the sunniest window of the dining room, a luxury which Blair had likewise + confiscated in the interests of business. + </p> + <p> + And so for seven glorious days they tramped the fragrant hills, or sailed + a sea as softly blue as though fallen fresh that morning from the + cloudless heaven above. In the warmth and glow of his friendship the + starved heart of the little art teacher opened like some hot-house flower + carried suddenly into the wide outdoors. And when at last the week drew to + an end, their work, both his and hers, was still unfinished, so that there + was nothing else to do but to live on through another fully as wonderful. + </p> + <p> + Blair himself took things much more for granted, and even when their talk + strayed farthest afield it was plain to the girl that his mind never fully + lost sight of the purpose for which he had come. His work stood always + first, while,—she blushed to own it even to herself,—she had + sometimes entirely forgotten her own. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the third week they had seen almost everything he considered + essential and at times she sensed in his manner, even when he was least + aware of it, a kind of repressed impatience. She knew what it meant and + shivered. Presently he would leave her, and life would become again the + same dull round of work. Only one spot of real importance remained + unvisited,—the cavern bower above the Bay of Moons. Of this he had + spoken frequently, and well she knew he held it the climax of his search. + </p> + <p> + But for reasons best known to herself Miss Hastings put off from day to + day this final expedition until Blair began to chaff at the delay. + </p> + <p> + “That's really the one place I came to see!” he told her more than once. + “After I've been there I think I can go.” + </p> + <p> + “But we've planned Middle Ranch for today,” she would answer evasively, + or, “This is the best time to see Orazaba; it's so clear this morning. + That's the mountain, you know, where the Indians carved out their ollas. + Some of them are still there, only half cut away. It would be too bad for + you to miss that.” + </p> + <p> + At length, however, there came a day when excuses would do no longer. + </p> + <p> + “We've waited long enough,” he declared that morning over their coffee, + “Besides, I may have to go now in a few days.” + </p> + <p> + And although at his words the sunshine of her new world faded suddenly + away, yet the little teacher kept a brave front. She even laughed + carelessly. + </p> + <p> + “Men are so impatient,” she teased, “But we'll go today.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of sunset rested among the hills + that at last they found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff which + commanded so wide a stretch of the ocean and the shimmering valleys below. + </p> + <p> + “It reminds one of the Bay of Naples,” observed Blair, pausing to scan the + rocky coastline against which, far beneath them, the foaming breakers + threw themselves. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked far out to + sea. “What a wonderful place for a watch tower it would have made!” + </p> + <p> + “It had one once,” softly replied the girl, “Wildenai's watch tower!” + </p> + <p> + Blair turned, their eyes met, and he smiled. + </p> + <p> + “It's been splendid to have you with me all these days,” he said, “I've + been wanting to tell you. You've been more of a help than you'll ever + know.” And then, after a pause, “It's because you care so much about the + story yourself, I suppose, that you've been such an inspiration to me.” + </p> + <p> + Something in the girl's heart seemed suddenly to snap. + </p> + <p> + “It's because I care more about your work, and—and you. You are so + wonderful!” she broke forth impulsively, and stood before him crimson with + confusion. For a second, which seemed to her an age, there was silence. + Then he spoke and, in her bitter humiliation, his voice sounded strained + and cold. + </p> + <p> + “Shall we go in?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Silently he parted the tangle of manzanita that for centuries had veiled + the secrets of the princess, and stood aside for her to enter. Wildly the + little art teacher glanced about her. This moment to which she had so + looked forward, and yet had dreaded as much because it meant the end,—this + moment which might, nevertheless, have meant much to them both even though + it were the end, she herself had spoiled! All its delicate beauty changed + to a sordid suspicion, it lay in ruins now because of her thoughtless + words. She dared not guess at what he must be thinking! For a desperate + second she considered flight. Then proudly she raised her head. One more + thing, at least, about her now he should learn! + </p> + <p> + “Did you know—?” she began, then broke off irresolute. + </p> + <p> + Blair glanced at her and again their eyes met. This time he did not smile. + </p> + <p> + “Know what?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + She laughed with embarrassment. + </p> + <p> + “It really isn't of any interest to you, but—” and again she paused. + </p> + <p> + “Suppose you let me be the judge of that,” he suggested stiffly. “You're + making me horribly curious, you know. You can't very well drop the subject + now.” He was evidently making an effort at pleasantry. + </p> + <p> + She flushed brightly. + </p> + <p> + “Of course it couldn't be of the slightest importance to anyone except + myself,” she explained. Then, as if doubting her courage to continue long, + she hurried on, “but one reason I take such an interest in—your work + is because I'm a direct descendant of Lord Harold myself. He became the + Duke of Norfolk afterward, you know, but Hastings was always the family + name.” She flashed him a haughty glance, a pride that changed to wide-eyed + surprise as she noted his amazement. + </p> + <p> + “Not really?” He had turned abruptly and in his eyes there was a curious + expression, almost of alarm. “How extraordinary,—how perfectly + extraordinary!” + </p> + <p> + “Why extraordinary?” That her cup of humiliation might brim to the full, + resentment was added to confusion. “You consider me unworthy, then, of + having had nobility among my ancestry? But, just the same, there was + nothing strange about it. The colonies were chiefly English, you + remember!” He smiled at her sarcasm. “The duke married one of Elizabeth's + ladies-in-waiting after he went home and there was a younger son, and he + had a younger son, and after a long time one of them came over to Virginia + just like anybody else. They have always been good, loyal, highly + respected American citizens,” she told him fiercely, “and I'm proud of + them! Besides—” with reckless emphasis, “I've always felt so sorry + for Wildenai.” + </p> + <p> + But at this point, quite incomprehensibly, Blair broke into peals of + laughter. + </p> + <p> + “And by and by, after a long, long time, one of these good, loyal, + American citizens that we're both so proud of had a hot-tempered, most + disloyal little daughter who intends to show her employer his proper place + before she dismisses him! But why are you sorry for Wildenai?” + </p> + <p> + With mischievous eyes he searched her face. + </p> + <p> + She flushed, then, looking squarely at him, “Because she was impulsive + like me, and just for that reason Lord Harold ran away and left her,” she + said. “He's the only one of them I never had any use for.” + </p> + <p> + Blair wandered the length of the cavern and back before he replied. + </p> + <p> + “You think him a coward, I suppose.” He still looked as though he wanted + to laugh, yet something in his tone seared her outraged pride. He might as + well have touched an iron to quivering flesh. “You ought to remember, + however,—I mean every woman ought to remember,—that when a + girl lets a man know that she cares for him she generally forfeits, then + and there, whatever interest she may have had for him. Wildenai risked too + much. Of course, in her case there was some excuse. She was only an + untrained barbarian. But, under ordinary circumstances, I tell you there's + nothing a man despises so much!” + </p> + <p> + What was done or said after that Miss Hastings never could have told. She + was possessed of but one desire,—to get away, to go back to the + hotel,—home, anywhere beyond the reach of his voice and his eyes. + For the moment she hated him, and although Blair, conscience smitten at he + knew not what, waited in the lobby a full hour before going in to dinner, + she did not come down. + </p> + <p> + Up in her room, mechanically brushing her hair for the night, Miss + Hastings stormily addressed the girl in the glass who stared so scornfully + back at her. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you I don't care a thing about it! He probably thought he was + justified in every word he said. He's probably smiling this very minute + because he thinks he managed it so well! But he's a coward just the same, + and I despise him,—I do despise him!” Her eyes brimming with tears, + she fiercely repeated the word. “Well, he'll soon find out how much I + really meant!” + </p> + <p> + Over and over she re-lived the short scene,—all of its humiliation, + all of its hurt, seeking at every turn solace for her woman's pride. + </p> + <p> + “Naturally I wanted to help him all I could, to appear, at least, to be + interested, especially when he was paying so much for it! It was only a + business arrangement anyway,” she continued bitterly, “nothing but + business from start to finish, and if he doesn't know that yet, he'll find + it out the very first thing tomorrow morning!” + </p> + <p> + And having tumbled into bed she lay staring into the dark, planning the + details of a campaign warranted either to cure or kill the enemy. Outside, + a mocking bird, perched provokingly near her window, kept the night + ringing with music. Resolutely she closed her ears to his song. But + presently, through the faint fragrance of oleanders, other sounds began to + penetrate,—the strains of the waltz to which they had danced only + the night before. The little art teacher turned wearily over and cried + herself to sleep. + </p> + <p> + On the morning which followed she rose very early, however, much too early + to breakfast with Blair at the little table in the sunny corner. Instead, + she ordered some coffee and toast at Jim's Waffle Shop in the village and + was hard at work sketching on the wharf before eight o'clock. She had + suddenly remembered a promise to sketch Capt. Warren's dog holding the + gaff, a feat of which both Pal and his master were justifiably proud. + Indeed, so long had the arrangement been made and so entirely had it been + neglected, that no one was more surprised than the Captain himself at her + unexpected appearance. + </p> + <p> + “But Pal and me ought to be at the Tuna Club in fifteen minutes, to take a + party o' members out fishin',” he demurred. “You can't paint Pal in no + quarter of an hour!” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sorry to have had to put it off so long,” replied Miss Hastings + crisply, “but I'm planning to go home in a few days now,—this + afternoon probably. It's the only chance I shall have.” And she prepared + to make good the belated promise with such determination that, after a + wistful glance or two across the slapping white caps, the old skipper + meekly succumbed. + </p> + <p> + It was here Blair found her an hour or so later. Unceremoniously he placed + himself in front of her, his hands in his pockets, and gave vent to a low + whistle. + </p> + <p> + “Well, of all the—!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, is it you, Mr. Blair?” she inquired in cool, sweet tones. “I thought + most probably you'd gone! Didn't you say yesterday you intended to as soon + as you'd seen the cavern?” Then, after a pause during which Blair said + nothing, “I've been getting dreadfully behind with my own work, so I + thought, if you didn't mind, I'd try to catch up a little this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly not. Take all the time you want! We've about finished anyway, I + guess.” His coolness matched her own. + </p> + <p> + Another silence during which she painted furiously. + </p> + <p> + “I'm making a sketch of Pal holding the gaff,” she ventured at length when + the strain had become too uncomfortable. + </p> + <p> + “So I see.” + </p> + <p> + This second tentative effort at conversation having flickered and gone out + she bent again to her work, while Blair remained, looking down at her, in + his eyes mingled amusement and resentment. What had he done, he wondered, + to account for such a change? Or, perhaps, it was something he had not + done. He tried again. + </p> + <p> + “Aren't we going for our ride this morning? It's a glorious day, and I + have the refusal of the two best horses.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I think not,—not this morning, thank you,” she answered. In her + voice was the same crisp sweetness. “I haven't time!” + </p> + <p> + With a shrug of pure bewilderment he backed away, then lingered a moment + longer to watch the sketch take shape beneath her hurrying brush. That was + the particular moment Miss Hastings chose for the final reckless stab. + </p> + <p> + “You're standing in my light,” she said. “If you'd just as soon, please do + go away, Mr. Blair. It makes me nervous to have people looking over my + shoulder when I'm trying to paint.” + </p> + <p> + This was just a trifle more than Blair at the moment was prepared to + stand. His eyes grew dark. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” he replied icily. “So sorry to have bothered you at all. I + only came down to tell you that I've decided to leave today. There's + nothing more to keep me now, I think, and I'm rather anxious to get home. + You'll find your check at the desk.” And he sauntered away. + </p> + <p> + She did not go back to the hotel for luncheon. She had finished her + sketch, yet, somehow, when the time came, she discovered that it would be + quite impossible to enter the dining room. She found it equally impossible + to take the afternoon boat herself. Instead, having clambered half way up + the steep slope to the cavern, she watched from behind a flaming riot of + wild nasturtians while, preceded by a hotel porter bearing bags and + suit-cases, Blair boarded the Avalon for Los Angeles. He was going away, + then, without even a word of farewell. + </p> + <p> + The heart of the little art teacher turned cold within her, so cold that + she sank numbly into the red and gold tangle; nor did she look up again + until the steamer, dipping below the horizon, had left only a trail of + smoke to show where it disappeared. She had not believed that he would do + quite that! + </p> + <p> + When evening came she went stoically in to dinner. There was no reason any + longer for staying away. Sternly she kept her eyes from the vacant place + opposite. Yet somehow she could not persuade herself that he was really + gone. More than once she caught herself watching the door, half expecting + to see him stroll in with apologies for tardiness and take his empty + chair. When again the orchestra drifted suddenly into the waltz to which + they had danced, she rose abruptly and left the room. + </p> + <p> + Well, she would go herself in the morning. She would settle everything and + pack her things at once. She went to the desk to ask for the check. But + there was nothing for her. No, the clerk assured her after much fumbling, + Mr. Blair hadn't left anything, either in her box or his own. But,—the + man stole a covert glance at her downcast face,—he was still holding + his rooms. Probably he meant to attend to it when he returned. + </p> + <p> + That he might not see the wild joy that leaped to her eyes, Miss Hastings + turned with startling suddenness and fled upstairs. Safe in her own room + she flung herself with tears and laughter on the bed. So that was the hand + he was playing, was it?—the dear, wicked, unmanageable—! Of + course he would have to be punished,—well punished! but—she + laughed aloud for pure joy—the world was a radiant place once more, + and nothing of any sort really mattered, because he was coming back. + </p> + <p> + But the next day went by, and the next, and he had not come. Day after day + passed in an empty procession, yet no one of them brought that for which + she waited. And there was nothing else to do. Work was out of the + question. She could not sit still long enough. It became, instead, her + sole occupation to linger each morning and afternoon on the verandah until + the steamer from Los Angeles had rounded the point and crossed the bay in + front of the hotel. Then, hidden behind the palms she would watch until + the last straggling tourist had left the pier. But still he did not come. + </p> + <p> + Doubt in every tormenting guise assailed her. Perhaps he had changed his + mind and decided later not to return. Yet the clerk had said he meant to + come back! Perhaps her check, sent by mail, was even now in her box. But + she had not the courage to go again to the desk. Driven by alternate hope + and fear she lost color, and she could not sleep. During seven miserable + nights she planned to go back to Pasadena by the morning boat, and as many + times she put it off. Yet, if he did return to find her waiting, what, + then, would she have given him the right to think? But, on the other hand, + if she went she might never see him again! + </p> + <p> + On the eighth day she took herself grimly in hand. No longer would she + humiliate herself by any further delay. Wildenai had not waited, and even + a school teacher can be as proud as an Indian princess! That very + afternoon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. Then tomorrow she + would go back to Pasadena and the long gray round of work. Desolately she + wandered up the secret trail to Wildenai's bower. Never had her sympathy + for the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, she mournfully + considered, if the spirit of the Indian maiden still lingered there it + might feel sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, would find comfort + in the spot where that other woman had paid an equal price for her + impulsiveness. + </p> + <p> + The shadows in the little cavern were dark and cool and, laying aside her + box of colors, for a long time she sat quite motionless, staring out to + where the gulls drifted and glinted against the blue. She heard after a + while the whistle of the approaching steamer but gave no heed. Lying back + against the moss she had almost dropped asleep when something in the + corner opposite attracted her attention. She sat up nervously and stared + into the shadows. Was it only that the darkness was deeper over there, or + was that really something propped against the wall? And had it moved? + </p> + <p> + In the years that followed she never knew how long she sat there after the + stones had been lifted away, holding in her lap those shreds of torn white + doeskin. Still caught together, though in tatters, by long strings of + shells and beads, they shone, a ghostly film of white from out the + dimness. A breath, and the whole would have crumbled into dust. Yet the + beads, she noticed, were still perfect as when strung by slim brown + fingers centuries before. Only half believing it was not all of it a + dream, she lifted them strand after strand. Then, suddenly, she gave a + little cry. Somewhere from out the torn folds a slender chain had slipped. + Trembling with a curiosity that bordered close on terror, she carried it + to the light, and there it glowed, a glancing stream of crimson, in her + hand. + </p> + <p> + “Wildenai's necklace!” she breathed, and hid her face. + </p> + <p> + There came the sound of a step outside. The manzanita branches were pushed + impatiently aside and he stood before her. + </p> + <p> + The journey across the channel from Los Angeles had seemed twice as long + as when he made it a few weeks before, and he had hurried all the way from + the hotel straight to the little cavern. But now that he had found her + again, there seemed to be plenty of time for everything, and he stood + quite silent looking down at her. He was glad he had found her there, + glad, in a curious, unreasoning way, for the quiet of the late afternoon, + for the faint fragrance of the Mariposa lilies blooming just beyond the + ledge. Yet he let her know nothing of this in what he said. + </p> + <p> + “So here you are, after all! I thought I should find you here.” + </p> + <p> + She had not heard him come and was startled into a cry. + </p> + <p> + “You!” she gasped, and lifted eyes in which the telltale signs of tears + were still quite evident, so evident that, with a woman's instinct to hide + them, she caught up the necklace and held it toward him. + </p> + <p> + “See what I've found!” she exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + But he paid no heed. Instead, manlike, he proceeded, quite unconsciously, + to say the one thing that could hurt her most. + </p> + <p> + “I looked for you at the hotel first, then I came on up here. I knew you + wouldn't go till I came!” + </p> + <p> + The color that had flooded her face at the sound of his voice faded again. + She was quite white as she asked quietly: + </p> + <p> + “How could you know I would stay?” + </p> + <p> + He laughed easily, settling himself confidently on the moss at her side. + </p> + <p> + “Because I hadn't paid you yet,” he answered gaily. “Don't you think that + was clever of me, Wildenai?” + </p> + <p> + “I would rather you did not call me that,” she told him coldly, “It sounds + irreverent.” And she dropped her eyes, which had filled again miserably, + to the film of white in her lap. Then, with a pitiful attempt to hurt him + in return: “Of course you realize that I really don't know much about you. + I don't want you to think that I distrusted you exactly—” she + marvelled at herself that she could say such things to him, but went + recklessly on. “The check wasn't there,—and so, well, it seemed + wisest to wait. They said you were coming back, and I couldn't afford to + lose it; so I stayed. Just a matter of business, you see!” She finished in + a tone which, except for a suspicious tremble, was satisfactorily + disagreeable. + </p> + <p> + But Blair's armor, since his return, seemed proof against such thrusts as + she could give. + </p> + <p> + “Won't play Indian at all, then?” he retorted teasingly. “But of course + not! How could you when you happen to come from the other side of the + house? However,” he continued whimsically, “there are such things as + English roses, you know. I've always loved them, too, even when they were + thorny!” + </p> + <p> + He pulled absently at a fern growing near, while, suddenly, for no + particular reason, the color glowed again in the cheeks of the little art + teacher. She smiled, half unwillingly. + </p> + <p> + “But don't pull up the wild flowers here,” she warned him, “You'll have + the forester after you! When did you get back?” she added. “Where have you + been so long?” burned on her lips, but she scorned to ask it. + </p> + <p> + “About an hour ago,” he replied amiably. “The boat was late.” + </p> + <p> + “I was beginning to think you'd given up coming at all.” She could not + keep it back. “The duke never bothered to, you know.” + </p> + <p> + But this blow, like the first, failed to reach any vulnerable spot. Blair + did not flinch. + </p> + <p> + “No, naturally he didn't! He was English, and you can't depend upon the + English, I've discovered. But there's not the slightest reason for linking + me up with him. The princess never ran away now, did she? And I—” He + paused, then without looking at her he began again. + </p> + <p> + “Seriously, I'm sorry if I seemed to be deserting. I—well, honestly, + I didn't know what else to do. You suggested it yourself, you remember! + And I'd promised my father to look after some business for him in Los + Angeles while I was out here. You see, he—our family, have lived in + the East for a long time now, but we used to own pretty much all of Los + Angeles county some three centuries ago, when the Spanish were here, and—” + Again he broke off abruptly. “Do you want to know about me?” he demanded. + </p> + <p> + Miss Hastings leaned breathlessly toward him. Her heart was beating + wildly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, please!” she begged. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps I should have told you at the first,” he began, “or at least + after you told me who you were, but—anyway, I didn't. I'd never told + anyone before and I didn't much suppose I ever would. There's a reason, + though, why I'm particularly interested in this legend, too, a reason just + as good as you've got. I'm—well, I'm one of Wildenai's great, great + grandsons!” + </p> + <p> + And then, because she sat quite silent there in the shadows, and + motionless except for fingering something white that lay in her lap, he + waited uneasily. Was she angry again, he wondered, or perhaps she was only + laughing! + </p> + <p> + She was the first to break the silence. + </p> + <p> + “Are you trying to be funny?” Her voice was very cold. + </p> + <p> + “Not at all,” he answered hotly. “It must be all of ten generations back + or even more, and of course it wasn't all Spanish afterward, but, just the + same, I'm as much a descendant of the princess as you are of the duke,—always + have been! I'm just as proud of it, too. Possibly you will remember that + the Spanish beat the English to it, at least in California. Anyway,” he + finished bitterly, “what difference does it make? So far as I can see, it + only gives us one more good subject to quarrel about!” + </p> + <p> + Then out of the dimness came a queer little sound, whether of tears or of + laughter it was impossible to know. For the least part of a second a hand + brushed his own. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no!” she whispered, “Let's not do that. It wouldn't be right! And + see,” she laughed tremulously, “Isn't it strange I should have found it + today, but,” she lifted the white thing in her lap, “here is Wildenai's + wedding dress—and the chain of garnets!” + </p> + <p> + The cavern was quite dark before they had finished talking about it, but + at length they laid the poor little ghost of a garment reverently back + among the stones and rose to go. + </p> + <p> + “But the necklace?” Blair asked, hesitating, “do you think we ought to + leave that here?” + </p> + <p> + The girl considered a moment. + </p> + <p> + “It's really yours,” she decided. “Nobody else could have the least claim + to it.” + </p> + <p> + “Except—” Suddenly his eyes shone with a strange expression before + which the little art teacher instinctively shrank. He took a step toward + her. + </p> + <p> + “I believe I'll give the garnets back,” he announced. “I fancy that's what + the princess would have liked to do if she'd had the chance. Besides,” his + eyes grew still darker, “they were meant in the first place for a wedding + gift, and so if you—” + </p> + <p> + He would have clasped them about her neck, but Miss Hastings backed + frantically away. + </p> + <p> + “No!—not for worlds,” she cried. “You know you're only saying it + because you think you can't get out of it!” And before he could realize + just what was happening, she was gone. + </p> + <p> + The boat for Los Angeles was unusually crowded that night. For either this + reason, or some other she would not acknowledge, Miss Hastings found + herself pushed aside by more impatient passengers every time she attempted + to enter the gangway. + </p> + <p> + “All aboard!” called a peremptory voice from somewhere on deck. She took a + step forward, hesitated, drew back. The plank was hauled irrevocably away, + and she turned to face Blair standing just behind her on the wharf. + </p> + <p> + “I was sure you wouldn't run away,” he declared, “but if you had—!” + </p> + <p> + She let him lead her back along the broad boardwalk toward the hotel until + they stood within the shadow of the huge boulder which for centuries has + marked the outer boundary of the Bay of Moons. Beyond them the lights of + the St. Catherine glimmered down the hill and on over the water, rimming + with golden bubbles the outlines of the pier. + </p> + <p> + “Wildenai!” Out of the darkness his voice came to her, mocking, tender, + wholly insistent. “Foolish, obstinate little lady! Can't you see how it's + up to you,—up to the English to make amends? Honestly now, when he + began it I don't imagine even that rascal Drake himself would have + believed a family scrap could last the better part of four centuries. + Don't you really think it's about time for you to call it off?” + </p> + <p> + And flinging her scruples to the winds, Miss Hastings suddenly decided + that it was. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + +***** This file should be named 5196-h.htm or 5196-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/9/5196/ + +Produced by David Schwan, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Their Mariposa Legend + +Author: Charlotte Herr + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5196] +Posting Date: April 19, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + + + + +Produced by David Schwan + + + + + +THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND + +A Romance of Santa Catalina + + +By Charlotte Herr + + + To Little Bruce Parker + Who Loved Stories + + + + +Part I. Sir Francis Starts It + + +It began to happen a long time ago, centuries ago, when, in a fragrant +rush of rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, fairest of the Channel +Islands. Beneath the golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. On +steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of wild lilac bloomed, the lark +shook from his tiny throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed niches of +the canyons lilies waited to fill with light their gleaming ivory cups. +Spring in very truth was there. + +And looking down upon it from her cavern bower high above the beach, +watched the Princess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of dawn shining +on her long black hair, she was, herself, the sweetest blossom of the +spring. Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the Mariposa and of +royal blood besides; although of this the great chief Torquam, who even +at that moment lay sleeping in his lodge of deerskin on the crescent +beach below, knew more than he had ever told. + +With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring the folds of softest +fawnskin drawn across her breast, the princess bent her gaze to where +the waves ran silver on the ocean's distant rim. There she knew the sun +must rise and, as the first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, she +rose slowly until she stood erect, a slender, graceful figure against +the dim, gray rocks, and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke in +the musical words of her people. + +"Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit-father," she pleaded, "have mercy on me. +Grant to me, thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I pray thee, +that it need not be I wed with Torquam's friend, the pale-face stranger. +Well knowest thou I would not disobey my father, him the bravest and +most powerful of all thy warriors, him whom his people delight to honor, +and whom I strive to please. All the more I feel my duty since, many +moons ago, they laid my mother underneath the flowers. Yet, even so, I +cannot find it in my heart to wed with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does +my father wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great power, turn his +heart, oh lord of spirits, that he no longer may desire it? Help me in +this, my only trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I be indeed his +loyal daughter,--in all else save alone in this one thing!" + +Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to her knees, bending her head +until her forehead touched the ground. For many minutes she lay thus +prostrate while the glory of the rising sun bathed the sea in splendor. +Yet, when at last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears. + +But now from the beach below there drifted up to her the sounds of a +village astir. Shrill voices of women mingled with the crackling of +freshly kindled fires. A canoe, pushed hastily into the water, grated +harshly on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. Leaning against +the rocky ledge, her chin in her hands, she gazed listlessly out over +the shining sea. If any interests lived for her among the dark-skinned +people beneath the cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign. + +Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of the Indian village, rose the +hoarse shouting of men. Wildenai lifted her eyes,--eyes that widened +first with wonder, then with fear. For there, far down the shoreline to +the south, her sails gleaming white against the walls of rock behind +her as she rounded a distant point, a ship came slowly into view. With +wildly beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the +long curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen +such another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don +Cabrillo first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year +ago. For many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship +with the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his +father, hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast +anchor off the shore,--the first white man to see their island. Nor was +the lingering without result. Torquam he taught to speak the Spanish +tongue, learning in his turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields +of the north, while not the least among the treasures carried with him +when at last he sailed away did he hold the promise that the beautiful +daughter of the chief should become his bride when next he touched upon +that shore. Could this, then, be the Spaniard's fleet returning? Was the +Great Spirit powerless, after all, to save her? In sore bewilderment and +terror Wildenai watched the distant ship. + +Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its outline grew each moment more +distinct, gradually her fears departed. For this was not the clumsy +Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was +the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet, +though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was +about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by +this time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of +the crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At +length, as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, +the crew were seen to bring the vessel sharply about. An anchor was +cast over, the creaking of the hawsers distinctly audible in the clear +morning air, and a few moments later a small boat was lowered. Into +this boat immediately several sailors swung themselves and after a +short delay, amidst the shouting of the Indians, now running in wild +excitement up and down the beach, the men picked up their oars and +started for the land. + +"Alla-hoa, Wildenai!" + +Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a +lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet. + +"Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge. +Strangers,--paleface strangers,--enemies, who can tell, are coming. +See,--the ship!" With dark forefinger he pointed toward the sea. +"Torquam would have thee hide with the rest of the women in the cave at +the Great Rock. There Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. Make +haste, oh Wildenai!" + +"And am I not as safe up here?" returned the princess, calmly. "Be not +so lost in thy terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship and I fear +not. Yet will I obey if so my father bids," she added quickly. "Go thou +ahead. I follow." And hastily gathering together some reeds and colored +grasses lying on the ledge, parts of an unfinished basket upon which, +evidently, she had during some previous visit been at work, she flung +them into a corner of the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow path +leading to the village. + +Here all by this time was tense excitement, the dramatic, ungoverned +excitement of children. While with shrill cries two or three of the +women gathered the little ones together, the rest pulled frantically at +the poles holding each tepee in place. Still apparently quite unmoved, +Wildenai sought first her father standing surprised but unafraid in the +doorway of his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, straight as +some lonely pine on the slopes of distant San Jacinto. Yet even in +the stress of such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes as they +rested upon his motherless daughter. + +Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each +other in silence. Then, + +"It is well thou art come, my beloved one," spoke the chief. "Stranger +pale-faces will soon be amongst us." + +"Wildenai feels no fear, my father," quietly answered the girl. + +"If they come in friendship," quickly Torquam replied, "then indeed may +all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that +we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see." + +Bending her head in mute acquiescence the girl moved away to join the +group of women now almost ready to depart. + + + +Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven onward by the stout arms of +three strong sailors, steadily approached the bay. + +"What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the +savages?" inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that +he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. "Wot ye not that +if water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much +better on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache +only yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were +away on the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious +scalps to row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the +whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's +fleets!" and without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust. + +The others laughed. + +"Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with +thy big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else +our captain seeks? Water,--pouf!" the speaker made a rough grimace, +"water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were +the lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the +balance? The Apache told him, too,--thou see'st thou hast not played the +listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself, I +heard him say it,--that here lay that famous island, San--how is't they +call it? San Catlina--I know not how 'tis spoken,--some Spanish lingo +not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your Spanish robber, +Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious son as well, +stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold. The savage +sware besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to war and murder like +the rest. I hearkened well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I would be +een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The devil take the Apache an +he lied," he added fiercely, "I'll break his head across till even he +shrieks out for help when I get back!" + +He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern cliffs now looming close +at hand, beneath which the excited natives still ran back and forth, +pointing with frantic gestures at the boat. + +The third man spoke. He was smaller than the other two and darker, with +a sly look about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast to the bluff +frankness of his comrades. So far he had appeared content to listen in +amused silence, but now with a short laugh he interrupted. + +"The Apache did not lie. This is the island Santa Catalina, though that, +mark you, is not the Indian name. And right well can the chief who +rules here direct our captain also to the goldfields of the north. But +hearkee, comrades. 'Tis not Drake will reap the profits this time!" He +lowered his voice mysteriously as though fearful of being overheard, +albeit nothing was nearer than his two companions and the clear, green +stretch of water. "Have ye not observed the boy who travels with the +captain?--the boy I serve,--the one they call Sir Harry? To my mind, +cub though he be, 'tis he who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how the +great Drake himself bends to his slightest wish?" + +"Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, is he, think'st thou?" inquired +the man who had spoken first. + +"Some close kin to the queen,--that much I know," the other answered +quickly, "the heir to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise to see the +world and make a fortune. 'Tis his desire we land, so much he told +me, and 'tis to learn more than directions, my hearties, and that I'll +warrant ye! But, look ye, the water grows too shallow! We can use the +oars no longer." + +And even as he spoke the boat grated upon the pebbles. An incoming +breaker would have carried it ashore, but before the sailors could take +advantage of this help or even so much as ship their oars, half a dozen +swarthy youths had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, whether of +welcome or hostility the Englishmen had no means of knowing, pushed it +high upon the beach. At once, then, for well they realized the danger +of delay, and with a stolid courage born of many a like adventure, the +seamen leaped fearlessly out upon the sand. In their hands they held +aloft bolts of brightly colored cloth snatched on the instant from the +bottom of the boat. These they offered for the wondering inspection of +the women who, observing the small number of invaders, were cautiously +returning. To the warriors grouped about the chief they proffered knives +of which the steel blades, set in strong handles of bone, glistened +in the sun. Eagerly, yet with a certain unexpected formality, the men +accepted these, passing them for examination from one to another with +many a grunt of satisfaction. To be sure, no brave among them but +might the next moment decide to try out the merits of his gift upon the +bestower, but this danger the adventurers had to risk. More timidly the +women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the gaudy red and yellow cloth, +approached the strangers, offering in their turn bits of abalone shell +polished to iridescent beauty. + +They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly people, so much so that at +length the sailors, deeming it safe to undertake the second part of +their errand, began to plead for water and to request, besides, an +interview between their captain and the chief. All this by means of +signs in which they displayed no little wit and skill, the Englishmen +accomplished until, well on toward the middle of the morning, they made +ready to return to the ship, the casks they had brought brimming with +sweet mountain water, while with them they bore as well the promise of +an interview of state between the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis +Drake, to take place upon the beach at sunset. + +And then at once the little village of Toyobet seethed again with +excitement. For these good paleface friends and their god-like commander +a fitting welcome must be prepared. Fleet-footed messengers, bearing +flaming torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain trails that all +who saw might know without words spoken of the assembling of the tribe. +To the distant village at the isthmus they hurried, and to the cove on +the western coast, some twenty miles away, to which a band of warriors +had gone several days before to hunt the otter. That no one among his +people might remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam even caused +signal fires to be kindled on each of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes, +near the center of the island. Smoke rising there was visible from every +corner of his land, and woe to any subject who dared to disregard that +warning! + +Throughout the long bright day the women toiled, preparing a ceremonial +feast. Three antelope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild sheep which +roamed the hills were killed and placed for roasting over deep pits dug +in the sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude +fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their +heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The +women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with +strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely +greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief +Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by +the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back +until almost it touched the ground. About his neck, as token of his +priesthood, he threw the bear-claw necklace, known far and wide among +the tribes for its famous powers of healing. Wildenai alone made no +change except to bind the satin black of her hair still more smoothly +within a fillet of silver. In the center of the band, so that it rested +just above her brow, a strange device appeared, a circle enclosing many +rays,--the royal insignia of the tribe which only the daughter of the +chief might wear. + + + +Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays of light rested golden on +the bay and turned to amethyst the distant mountains on the mainland, +all was ready. Once again, this time to the weird music of tom-toms +and the beating of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship while on the +shore the Indians watched. + +It was in truth a picture not soon to be forgotten. Behind the mirrored +Bay of Moons, its crescent of sand gleaming white against the rocks, the +bands of dusky men and women stood motionless as statues in the quiet +light of the setting sun, while in the doorway of his lodge, his +daughter close beside him, Torquam waited with simple dignity to receive +his guests, the fair-skinned strangers. + +At length along the beach advanced the little group of English, friends +and fellow adventurers with the most renowned of all their great queen's +buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis himself marched young Harold of Wessex, +little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and feared in his own land +even then--a possible heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short distance in +front of these two, standard bearers carried the flags of Merry England, +each glorious with fringes and tassels of gold. Well might such banners +dazzle the eyes and wits of simple savages. + +Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been for the lengthy ceremonial +of the peace-pipe, Wildenai could not have taken time to observe so +closely, in stolen glances from beneath her long black lashes, the +splendor of the young noble standing proudly erect beside his captain; +nor could he have stared so often, with no attempt to hide his +admiration, at the dark beauty of the princess. + +Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to place them side by side at +the feast which followed, young Harold might never have discovered that +an Indian girl, however beautiful, possessed the wit to learn a foreign +language. Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well spoken in which, at +length, she softly asked of her father a question intended obviously for +himself. + +Under cover of one of the Indian dances with which, from time to time, +the feast was enlivened, he leaned impulsively toward her. + +"Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?" he hastily inquired. + +The princess dropped her eyes. For a moment she remained silent as if +debating to what extent such boldness might involve her. Then, with a +glance as shy as if some deer gazed at him startled from the thicket, + +"Yes, mon senor," she answered simply. "I learned it when Don Cabrillo +came to Punagwandah many moons ago." + +After that it was only that one thing led to another, as was sometimes +true of men and maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, as if +by common consent, then, they drew a little apart from the rest, where, +throwing himself on the sand beside her while the firelight threw +flickering shadows among the rocks, the young man related fragments of +his story,--of the long journey across the sea, something of his home +in England, and of the brilliant court of the great queen wherein he had +served as gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet soon, but here her +guest had suddenly flushed and paused as though he spoke too hastily +or of what he should not. To all of it the princess listened with +fast-beating heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place +in this splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter +of a king? Yet how different and how unimportant beside that wonderful +woman of whom he spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam, +feared by every tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden +in many a canyon among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct +told her that to this proud Englishman her people were at best little +more than a curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter. + +When at last the feast was finished, Torquam rose, and removing with +slow solemnity his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon the head +of Sir Francis, a seal of everlasting friendship. With difficulty young +Harold suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well aware of what the +situation demanded as he was keenly alive to its danger, received the +attention with a gravity fully equal to that of his host. Indeed, he +went still further. + +"Most gracious hast thou been, oh Torquam, all wise chief of the +Mariposa," he began in carefully chosen Spanish, "nor shall thy kingly +gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry +steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains +of the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than +all the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring +to you after our return tonight." + +In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him +more. He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those +strange yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until +the Spanish landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his eyes betrayed +his pleasure. But Harold of Wessex stared at his captain in blank +astonishment, for the gift he had just bestowed with such apparent +carelessness was the most valuable bit of cargo in the ship, a costly +Arabian horse intended for the young noble's own special comfort and +convenience during the search for gold on which they were bound. Was +Drake gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw away, and that without +permission, his choicest property on a mere savage? Hot with resentment +he was about to interfere; but before he could obey the rash impulse +his better judgment prevailed, and just in time he remembered how, on +several other such occasions, his very life had been saved by some swift +expedient of Drake's and his tact in handling the natives. + +Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now one watching intently might have +sensed from the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the real point in +the interview. + +"One question, nevertheless, would I ask of all-wise Torquam before we +part." He hesitated, searching the impassive face of the Indian. "Can'st +tell me of a Spaniard, one Cabrillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain, +who, since his father's death, still sails upon these waters? To him I +bear a message,"--again he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in +sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but Torquam's face remained +blank as a page unwritten,--"a message from our queen," added Drake. The +last words were uttered with significance. + +The Indian slowly shook his head. + +"The noble white chief asks what is unknown to any man," he answered. +"The young Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwandah. Many moons +ago it was. Where he is now, how should Torquam know?" + +In his bitter disappointment the hand of the Englishman sought the +hilt of his sword. Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about the +chief. + +Drake laughed. + +"Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, thinking thou mightst tell +me. It matters not. The gift I promised thee will come, as I said, +tonight." + +He turned to go and young Harold rose to follow. Then, perceiving the +dark eyes of the princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated and, +obeying a sudden impulse, he stepped hastily to her side. + +"When they return with the gift for thy father," he whispered, "I will +come with them," he smiled into her soft eyes shining with pleased +surprise, "and I will bring a gift to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest +of maidens!" + +Drake gave a sharp command. His followers sprang to their feet, and +without further ceremony the party passed quickly down the beach to +their boat. + +But the princess Wildenai did not leave the feasting ground. Hidden +by deepening shadows she watched the ship's lights glimmer across the +water. Glad indeed was she of the darkness, for a warm flush glowed +in her cheeks and her heart throbbed with a strange new pleasure, a +pleasure bordering close on fear, yet wholly sweet. + +But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had descended upon the village, +once again she sought her father. He, too, within the open doorway of +his lodge, watched intently the distant ship. Without surprise he saw +his daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the blanket beside him, he +stretched a hand and drew her close. + +"It grows cold. The wind is rising. 'Twere best to wait inside." He +spoke in the musical Indian tongue. For a moment he stroked her hair in +silence, then-- + +"What think'st thou by now of the English, Wildenai, my little wild +rose?" he asked. + +But the princess seemed not to have heard his question. + +"My father," she began after another short silence, "I have a favor to +ask of thee." + +"And what may that be, my daughter?" he returned gravely. + +But again the young girl made no answer and for many minutes they +watched the tremulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel. + +After a time he felt her hand tighten upon his arm. + +"It is but the old boon over again, my father." Her voice was low as +the sighing of the wind among the oak trees. "I would be freed from my +promise to wed with Don Cabrillo." + +An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to +wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any +woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee. + +"Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, the judgment of him who loves +thee?" he asked. + +"I doubt it not, my father," answered his daughter. "Yet would I not wed +with the Spaniard," she added stubbornly. + +"The blue-eyed senor from England"--there was a hint of humor in his +tone,--"he it is who steals thy fancy! Is it not so, my Wildenai?" + +Then, after a moment: "Right well knowest thou my only wish is to make +thee happy." Again his voice, though gentle, grew serious almost to +sadness. "No mere whim it is that counsels me to wed thee to Cabrillo. +There is something--" He paused, continuing with effort,--"a reason I +have never told thee why it seems most fitting. Now I will tell thee. +That reason is because, because, my Wildenai, thou art Spanish born +thyself." + +The princess drew a hasty breath. In the darkness he felt rather than +saw her startled eyes upon him. + +"My father!" The exclamation, filled with pain as well as astonishment, +touched him to the quick. Tenderly he drew her to him. Then briefly, +as was the Indian way, yet with the pictured phrasing which caused each +scene to spring into vivid life before the young girl's eyes, he told +her of the day, already more than eighteen years gone by, when, in the +wake of a long midwinter storm, the first sailing vessel ever beheld +by his people had fled for refuge to their bay; and of the little girl +carefully brought to shore by her old nurse in the first boat to +touch the beach. A mere baby she was, too young to know aught of her +misfortune, yet a princess royal, rudely dispossessed of her right to +the throne of Spain, and smuggled aboard the adventurer Cabrillo's ship +to be dropped in some out-of-the-way corner of the western world. Even +then, he made it clear, she might have perished,--since little recked +the Spanish explorer what should happen, well knowing that upon his +return no questions would be asked,--had it not been for his Indian +wife. She, lacking children of her own, had taken an instant fancy to +the dark-eyed little girl, a fancy so strong that nothing would do +but they must adopt her as their own daughter into the tribe to belong +forever, according to their law, she and her children, to the Mariposa. + +"Nor, because thy mother--for ever was she a true mother to +thee--thought that it might grieve thee, have any of my people ever +given thee cause to doubt that thou wert native born," he finished +proudly. "Loyal have they been, doing all they could to make thee happy. +But now that thy Indian mother is dead, and I myself grow old, I thought +to wed thee, knowing his desire, to the son of that same Cabrillo who +brought thee to us, for I long to be sure, when at length I go, that +thou art safe,--at home." + +He waited then and in the silence only the low weeping of the girl was +heard. At length the old chief spoke again, and now in his voice love +conquered disappointment. + +"Much do I desire it, but that matters not. I would not have thee +unhappy. I myself will tell the senor that what he hopes for cannot be." + +Slowly Wildenai bent her head until it touched his feet. Then she +nestled close against him. + +"I thank thee, oh my father!" she cried, and all her voice was +music because of her joy. "And thou art still my father," she added, +earnestly. "What care I to go to Spain? I will stay always with thee." + +"For a time, it may be. Yet have a care, little wild rose," he +cautioned, smiling, "Let not the Englishman lure thee away! He, too, may +not be all that thou thinkest." + +And even as he spoke, in mocking confirmation of his words, there came +to them suddenly from across the water, the distant creaking of +ropes, the snapping of sails flung hastily to the wind. Before their +unbelieving eyes the vessel swung about and put slowly out to sea. Dumb +with amazement they watched until the last faint light flickered into +darkness. Not until the remotest chance of a mistake was past did the +old chief rise, trembling with rage, to his feet. + +"See'st thou now what I meant, my daughter? The English pale-faces know +not the meaning of honor,--no, nor of gratitude either!" + +He lifted his long spear from the ground and shook it fiercely. + +"The words of the Mariposa are few," he cried, "but their revenge is +sure. Let but an Englishman set foot again on Punagwandah and, swifter +than the arrow leaves the bowstring, he dies!" + +And at once, without answer, in the silence of suffering which only the +wild things of the earth understand, Wildenai crept from the lodge, her +heart heavy with its own bitter disappointment. Noiselessly she passed +among the tepees where her father's people slept. Not one of them should +ever know how far dwelt slumber from her own eyes that night. Up the +steep trail beyond the Bay of Moons she climbed and flung herself +weeping on the bed of skins within the cavern. + +"Oh, thou false one," she moaned, "why did'st thou promise then, when +never did'st thou mean to keep it?" + + + +Yet nothing had been farther from the young Englishman's thoughts when +he left her than faithlessness to his word. On reaching the ship again +he had gone directly to his cabin. Here he took from its small but +richly embroidered case a slender chain of gold, threaded so closely +with garnets that even in the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the +only illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a glancing stream of +crimson, in his hand. This he carried to the light and as he examined it +under the lantern he smiled. + +"Never saw the little maid such jewels before, I'll warrant me! Yet, +beshrew my heart, but she deserves them. Indian though she be, still is +she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman that ever mine eyes have looked +upon!" + +Then, stowing the necklace carefully away in his belt, he went at once +in search of the commander. + +But at this point an unexpected difficulty had presented itself. He +found Sir Francis in close conversation with his pilot. + +"Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy wish," the keen-eyed old +mariner was saying. "I still maintain it were a shame to lose this wind. +Gift or no gift, I've sailed these latitudes before, my lord, and by +heaven I swear we're not like to have such another breeze, no, not +till the change of the moon, and that you know yourself, sir, is a good +fortnight hence." + +Sir Francis, striding back and forth within the narrow confines of the +quarter deck, appeared to be weighing the old man's words with unusual +care. At length, however, he turned as one who has made his decision. + +"By the mass and it shall be even as you say, Jarvis," he declared. "I +think myself 'twere well to push on at once. At the most they be but +Indians!" The last words were spoken in a lower tone as if to himself. +"'Twill matter little either way!" + +It was at this point that young Harold stepped hastily forward. For, +strangely enough, although on the morning of that same day such a +proceeding would scarcely have appealed to him as being at all unfitting +or out of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable. + +"But, good sir," he interrupted, "you would not so belie your promise! +To do as Jarvis here advises,--by heaven, 'twould be neither truthful +nor honorable! 'Tis not like you, Sir Francis!" + +Drake shot at him a surprised glance from under his bushy eyebrows, then +shrugged his shoulders. + +"Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages," he +replied. "Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew +the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They +know not the meaning of such words." + +In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the promised +gift with the aid of his own retinue. + +"Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir," he pleaded, +"and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to +the shore!" + +But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience, +as commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men +to leave the ship. + +"We dare not lose the wind," he finished emphatically, "and are like to +start at any minute." Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his +cabin and shut the door behind him. + +Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment, +glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in +the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought. + +"The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment," he muttered at +length, "but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!" + +Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark, +swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat. To +him he explained his difficulty, adding grimly: + +"And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have work cut out for thee!" + +He threw an arm about the other's shoulders and in this familiar fashion +the two men paced the deck together, conversing in low tones. + +"And besides," observed the nobleman as they paused a moment before +parting, "would'st know the truth about the matter? For all old Jarvis' +prating, the Golden Hind is not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor +even then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show of much hurry, but--" +he snapped his fingers scornfully, "only aid me now, unseen by anyone, +to launch the Zephir, and by our virgin queen herself I swear, when once +again we see the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 'twas well +worth thy trouble." + +His companion smiled even while, with the trained servility of the +retainer, he doffed his cap. + +"Aye, truly, my lord," he answered, "but, since it were an impossible +feat to get so much as a colt into the Zephir, methinks thou hast a gift +of thine own to bestow on yonder pretty Indian maid!" + +The blood leaped to Sir Harry's cheek. With a quick gesture he placed +his hand upon his sword. + +"Presume not upon my favor, Mortimer, or by heaven!--" he began angrily, +but stopped suddenly as, with a fearless laugh, the man beside him +pushed the half-drawn weapon back into its place. + +"Nay then, not so fast, my lord," he chuckled gaily. "Hearkee, my +master. I did but use my eyes during their everlasting pow-wow. Surely +ye would not grudge me that! And the maid is comely, well worth a +trinket from thy store. Besides," he laughed slyly, "I saw e'en more to +thine interest, for methinks the princess is as much in love with thy +looks as art thou with hers." + +"Silence, fool! Thou hast said more than enough already. Think'st +thou the son of a duke royal would look at a brown-skinned savage, an +unbelieving pagan, no matter how comely, as thou call'st it, she might +be!" + +But the flush remained, nevertheless, on the dark cheek of the young +nobleman as he strode angrily from the deck. + + + +The moonlight had laid a quivering path of light across the water before +Wildenai raised her bowed head from the ground. But, at length, drawing +her blanket more closely about her, for into the night air the chill of +the ocean had crept, she was about to leave the cave when a sudden sound +from the beach below arrested her. For a moment she listened in silence +while the shout was repeated, then stood dumb with amazement. A third +time it came to her, borne on the rising wind, the terrified cry of a +man in dire distress. Nor was it one of her own people who thus called +out of the darkness for help. Swiftly she ran to an overhanging ledge +of rock from which, by lying flat and peeping over, she could, without +exposing herself, command a wide view of the sea. + +At the first glance there appeared to be nothing amiss. Far beneath her +the noisy breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. Above their +musical booming no other sound could be heard. Then suddenly she saw +him. A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close to the great rounded +boulder which, together with a still larger one from which it had at +some distant time been broken off, formed the outermost boundary of +the curving Beach of Moons. The dark figure standing erect in the boat +strove with the aid of an oar to keep it from being dashed to pieces +against the giant rock. Again there floated up to her the desperate call +for help. The voice was that of the English noble! + +Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, and without the slightest +hesitation ran lightly down the perilous incline, leaping fearlessly +from rock to rock, until, within a few seconds, she stood poised above +the seething surf on the top of the larger boulder. Here, balancing +herself as easily and securely as a wild antelope, she raised her arms +to dive. But now from the shadows below the white man called once more. + +"Attempt it not, oh Wildenai! 'Tis death to leap from there!" + +But without waiting even to reply, the Indian girl sprang into the +waves. An instant later and he saw her arms gleam in the moonlight as, +with the strong slow strokes of an experienced swimmer, she struck out +for the boat. In spite of the perilous rocking of the little craft he +rested on his oar to watch her for a moment in sheer admiration of her +skill. But the maid knew well the danger of every instant's delay. In +the very nick of time she seemed almost to throw herself between him and +the rocks while, with a strength he would have believed impossible +in one so small, she pulled the boat around. Then, still swimming and +without a word to him, she began to push it ahead of her toward the +shore. It was but a few minutes before they stood together on the beach. + +And now the young noble, overcome with gratitude, fell on his knees +before her and caught her hand between his own. He would have kissed it +in sheer joy at his escape, but the Indian girl drew sharply back. + +"Quick!" she whispered, yet remembering to speak in Spanish, "You must +hide yourself at once. My father will kill you if he should find you +here!" + +Swiftly she concealed the boat in a tiny cove behind the boulder, a +hiding place he would never have seen though it was apparently perfectly +familiar to her. + +"Sometimes my own canoe I keep there too," she whispered. "Now come!" +and she hurried him along the beach and up an easier trail beyond the +rocks to her cavern bower above. + +Nor did she pause for an instant's rest until they had passed safely +behind the manzanita branches which concealed the entrance. Here, +motioning him to do the same, she dropped upon a pile of skins. But +instead, in real concern, the young Englishman knelt again beside her. + +"Thou art so wet and cold," he began anxiously, "Will it not make thee +ill? Yet 'twas a wondrous feat," he added admiringly, "well conceived +and carried out with skill such as any man might envy!" + +The princess laughed. + +"'Twas nothing," she answered briefly. "I do it almost every day." + +"I came to bring to thee the gift I promised," explained Lord Harold +then, and from his belt he drew the little case. Eagerly he flung the +gleaming string of garnets about her slim brown throat. + +"Jewels brought by my father to my mother on the morning of their +marriage," he told her. "When she lay dying she gave them me and told me +never to part with them except I gave them to my--" He paused suddenly, +"But thou hast saved my life!" he added as quickly, "Who else could ever +deserve them more? Well know I my mother would wish thee to have them." + +Silently, though her eyes were bright with, pleasure, the princess +lifted the beautiful necklace. + +"Wildenai will wear them always, senor lord," she answered softly, "for +now she knows that truly you did mean to keep your word!" + +And so, his mission accomplished, her guest rose hastily to his feet. He +must return immediately to the ship. + +"Know you not, then, that it is gone?" exclaimed the girl, amazed. + +"Gone?" echoed young Harold, and stared at her astounded. He seemed not +to have grasped her meaning. "Gone, said'st thou?" + +"The ship was out of sight a full hour or more ere ever I heard you +call," she explained. + +Still he continued to gaze at her fixedly as if totally unable to +comprehend what she would have him know. Then it was plain to be seen +that, for the moment at least, blank despair took hold upon him. Up and +down the length of the cave he strode like some imprisoned wild thing. +At length, standing quite still with folded arms, he seemed to lose +himself in thought. + +"Battling with the surf I did not see nor hear," he muttered at last. +"But he could not sail without me!" he added. Fiercely he raised his +head and his eyes flashed. "He dare not so betray me!" + +Wildenai, too, had been considering. + +"The great white captain knew, then, that you were not on board?" she +asked suddenly. + +"No," replied the young man reluctantly, "that did he not. I came +without his knowledge. He would have prevented me," he continued +stubbornly, "and I had promised thee a gift. Never did I break my word, +nor would not then. But I did not dream it possible they could get away +so soon! By our virgin lady in Heaven I swear I know not what to do." +And once more he seemed lost in despair. + +But only for a moment. Then he turned hastily to the entrance. + +"I must follow them at once," he declared impatiently, "I can overtake +them even yet." + +Swift as lightning the girl threw herself between him and the opening in +the cave. + +"No, no, senor Englishman," she cried. "It is impossible! Listen, only +listen to me! What have you, then, to steer by save the stars? And you +see that, drowned in moonlight, they do not shine tonight. And, more +than that, you do not even know what course the vessel takes. Remember, +too, that there is neither food nor drink within your boat. You would +surely die ere you could ever find the ship." + +Gradually she compelled him to listen to reason until, seating himself +again upon the skins, he challenged her still further. + +"But what, then, shall I do?" he demanded. "Can'st also tell me that?" + +And with equal readiness the princess replied: + +"If you will but let me I can hide you here. The cavern is my own. Here +for many a moon have I worked and waited. No one would dare to enter. +You will be safe. Besides, my father's anger will grow cold in time, and +then I know that, if I ask him, he will help you." + +His chin propped upon his hands, the young nobleman moodily considered. + +"Well, do then as thou deemest best," he told her finally. + +And from that moment there began for the little princess a time so +wonderful that for all the rest of her life she remembered each separate +hour as though it had been some beautiful word in a poem learned by +heart. + +With deft fingers she piled her softest doeskins for his bed. + +"But what wilt thou do, tell me, if I rob thee of thy nest?" he asked, +watching her with amused eyes as she worked. + +"I go always to the village to sleep," she answered simply, and so left +him. + +But in the morning while yet the red of sunrise burned above the great +peak Orazaba, she returned, bearing upon her head an olla of carved +stone filled with water from a mountain spring. This in smiling silence +she set before him and disappeared. Within the hour, however, she was +back again and this time, kneeling on the ground, she laid at his feet +the ripe fruit of the manzanita tree, lying like small red apples, dewy +fresh, upon a wild-grape leaf. + +"Ala--ate, see! Are they not good?" she asked triumphantly. + +And so from day to day she ministered to him. Many a time as he +sat, listless and moody, within his hiding-place, a handful of wild +strawberries, steeped in the warm sweetness of the hills, would be +pushed beneath the leafy branches that concealed the door. Sometimes +she brought him bread baked from a curious kind of meal made of pounded +seeds. + +Once, too, when a sudden storm had chilled the air, she kindled a fire +for him within a smaller cave, receding like a fire-place into the rocky +wall opposite the opening. It was a long and tedious process which +the man watched curiously. First, kneeling on the ground, she rubbed +together two dry willow sticks until a little pile of dust had gathered. +Then, still stooping, she struck two flints together until at last a +spark fell into the dust. Some dry leaves were dropped upon the tiny +blaze, then twigs, and lo, a fire! + +In spite of himself the Englishman smiled, though a softer feeling shown +in his eyes. How beautiful and yet how childish she looked kneeling +there with the anxious pucker between her brows. Poor little princess, +how very hard she worked to serve him! + +"It takes a long time, Wildenai," he observed, "dost thou try it often?" + +"Never for myself," she answered gravely. "I have no need. But I do it +gladly for you." She smiled brightly back at him, then rose and moved +swiftly to the doorway. "Another thing I do for you today. Wait!" + +And when she returned a few minutes later she brought with her, +carefully wrapped in cool green leaves, a fish freshly caught that +morning. + +"A brook trout, on my word, such as I have often taken in the streams at +home!" exclaimed Lord Harold, amazed. + +"I got it far up the canyon before the sun was risen," she answered, +delighted at his surprise. + +This, having quickly dressed it, she wrapped again in leaves and placed +under the hot ashes to bake, and it being, evidently, a feast out of +the ordinary, a merry-making to which a third guest might be bidden, +suddenly Wildenai left the cavern again to return this time with a tiny +gray fox perched familiarly upon her shoulder. + +"'Tis Onatoa, senor Englishman," she announced, gently stroking the +bushy tail of the little creature as it lay about her neck. + +But from his vantage point above his rival, Onatoa merely sniffed +disdainfully with his sharp black nose. He looked far from friendly. + +The princess laughed softly. + +"He does not know you yet," she defended her pet. "He will soon learn to +love you, too." + +"I will catch fish with thee next time thou goest," declared young +Harold later as they ate together. "There's no reason I can see why I +should stay mewed up forever in this cave. I fear not Indians! No, not +even Torquam, thy father, himself." + +For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. Then she laughed. + +"You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!" she exclaimed with pride. "Nor +would there be much danger. We will go to the other side of the island +where the waves run high and the cliffs are tall and black. There will +I show you the nests of the great eagles, and the antelope leaping +among the rocks. And,--who can tell?" she laughed again with child-like +pleasure, "perhaps we shall find a white otter!" + +And, true to her word, he heard at dawn next day outside the cavern +the whistle of a blackbird, a signal early contrived between them. She +deemed it best, she explained, to start thus early that the darkness +might conceal them until they had passed well beyond the outskirts of +the village. But this danger overcome, they spent the whole day rambling +fearlessly among the hills,--a long, idle, happy day. Up many a dim +trail winding back into the canyons the princess led him. Through golden +thickets of wild mustard they passed, coming, when he least expected it, +upon glimpses of the summer sea framed between the branches of knarled +old oak trees. + +"They are low and crooked, and they spread themselves over the ground as +do our English oaks," the young nobleman informed her. + +As Wildenai had promised they discovered, poised high among the crags +of the wild southern shore, the great eagles of which she had told him, +measuring easily, from wing-tip to wing-tip, fully a dozen feet. The +white otter, rarest and most valuable of all the game hunted by her +people, eluded them, but many a small gray fox slipped away among the +bushes, leaving the Englishman tingling for the chase. + +At twilight, as they made their way back to the cavern, they came upon +a tiny lake lying asleep within the crater of a dead volcano. From the +sides little clouds of ashes rose, floating softly away on the breezes +of evening. The princess gathered a handful and murmuring some musical +words in her own tongue she threw them into the air. + +"And would it be amiss for me to ask what 'tis you do?" questioned her +companion, observing her closely. + +"I was sending a prayer to Wakan-ate, the Great Spirit," she replied +quietly. + +"A prayer,--and borne to heaven on the wings of ashes!" He seemed +amused. "But what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?" + +Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she replied: "It were not fitting +that any maiden tell for what she prays!" + +The words were spoken with such gravity that the young man flushed under +the rebuke. + +When she left him at the doorway of the cavern that evening she said as +she made a gay little gesture of farewell: "Today the land, but tomorrow +we shall find still more beautiful things that lie hidden under the deep +waters. You shall see!" + +And once again with dawn she came. This time it was the splash of a +paddle that brought him to the opening in the rock. + +"Aloho-ate, lazy one!" she called gaily from below. "Make haste! The +world is always loveliest while it lies waiting for the sun!" + +That day, perhaps, from among them all, lived longest within the memory +of young Harold,--the porpoises playing fearlessly around her canoe +as the princess, with graceful, effortless strokes, paddled around one +after another of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, skimming +the surface of the ocean until, by virtue of their speed alone, they +rose like gleaming bows of silver from the foam. Intent to show him all +her treasures, Wildenai guided him to a quiet stretch of water lying +close to shore within the shadow of tall cliffs which rose at that point +with precipitous abruptness from the sea itself. + +"Here are my gardens that grow under the water," she explained, as they +glided above the spot. "Look well at them. They are most beautiful." + +And gazing down at her command through the clear green into the luminous +depths below, he caught glimpses of these gardens of the sea where +goldfish darted like tropical birds among the branches of tall tree-like +stalks of swaying seaweed, and strange shapes of jade and blue floated +in the shadows. + +"Is it not wonderful?" she asked. + +"It is indeed, my Wildenai," he answered earnestly. "Never in all my +travels, methinks, have I seen aught before like this your island here! +It seems to me indeed a charmed land, a kind of magic isle!" + +One day it rained, the last belated rain of winter. But even the storm +brought pleasures of its own, for, seated on the pile of skins beside +him, the little gray fox curled contentedly at her feet, Wildenai worked +at her loom. Within its dull-colored warp a blanket, woven in a strange +design of mingled red, and black, and white, grew slowly beneath her +busy fingers. + +For hours the maiden drew the short woolen threads in and out while the +young man, stretched lazily upon the ground, told her many a tale of the +England he had left. Then, quite without warning, she ceased her work +and sat pensively watching through the opening in the rocks the long +gray swell of the sea. + +"And what is it now, my princess?" laughed young Harold. "The pattern is +not yet finished, nor is the rain abated." + +"Ah, senor Harold lord," wistfully replied the girl, "I was but wishing +I had been born one of those same fair English maids with the eyes of +blue and golden hair you tell about. Then would you love me even as +you do them!" she added artlessly, and leaned her chin upon her hand, +considering. A secret trembled on her lips. + +"And how if I were Spanish born?" she questioned, and lifted hesitating, +frightened eyes to his, "dark to look at, that I know well, but even so, +the white man's kind of princess, who also has a throne?" + +And all unwitting Lord Harold answered scornfully, "Spanish! Say no +such word to me! The English hate the Spanish!" Fiercely he caught up a +pebble and sent it whirling out across the water. "Even now their robber +king plans his huge armada to take our queen and rule our land, but +that, by the holy virgin herself, shall never be! Sooner will every drop +of blood in bonny England be spilt. Never could I make thee understand +how much I hope to be at home before he comes! Spanish indeed! Nay, +never let me hear the hateful word again!" + +Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, with the impulsive +changeableness which had so endeared him to her, he caught one little +brown hand and raised it to his lips. + +"But I do love thee even as thou art, my Wildenai," he told her with the +careless assurance of one much older speaking to a child. "Is not a wild +rose sweet as any garden bloom? Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!" + +Again he laughed and the little princess laughed with him now, for +into her heart at his words had come a happiness so unlooked for and so +wildly sweet as wholly to bewilder her. Quickly she rose, struck by a +sudden thought, and running to the farthermost corner of the cavern she +brushed aside a pile of leaves and lifted some stones, disclosing at +length a box fashioned from the choicest cedar. Out of it, while the +Englishman watched with wondering eyes, she drew a garment made of +creamy doeskin, deeply fringed and trimmed besides with strings of +wampum, the polished fragments of abalone shells and many-colored beads. +Silently she brought it to him and when he touched it admiringly, for +the dress was beautiful. "It is my marriage robe," she told him gravely. + +That night, while the rain tapped softly at her tepee, the princess +dreamed of a wondrous land beyond the sea where proudly she walked by +her white chief's side and fair women with braided, golden hair spoke +kind words of welcome, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes. + + + +Then, without warning, came the end of all her dreams. Hurrying along +the beach at sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught the first +glimpse of the returning vessel as it stole around a distant point. For +the space of a second her heart stood still, then throbbed wildly, but +whether with joy or pain she could not herself have told. One question +only demanded all her thought. Should she let Lord Harold know? Perhaps +the great white captain would not remember their bay. Perhaps,--her +breath came fast,--perhaps the ship, unseen by anyone, would pass and +Lord Harold remain behind content. With hands tight-clenched she watched +the distant sail, fear growing in her eyes. Yet she knew that she would +tell him. Nothing else was honorable. This, surely, he must decide for +himself. + +But tidings of such moment outran even her swift feet. She found him +buckling on his swordbelt, in his eyes the glad light of some trapped +bird which sees the door of its cage suddenly open. + +"The ship--" she began with sinking heart. + +"Yes, yes, I know! I saw it!" he answered, a fever of impatience in his +voice. "'Tis Drake. I knew he dared not leave me! 'Twill soon be too +close in. Needs not he risk his safety. I must go before he gains the +shore." + +The princess hesitated. What meant that strange heaviness at her heart? +Was he not still her brave, true warrior,--her great white chief? Had +he not told her that he loved her? Crossing to where he stood she bowed +herself before him until her silver fillet touched his feet. + +"I, too!" she whispered, "I shall go to England with thee!" + +And at her words, within the little cavern there came a silence to be +felt. In undisguised dismay the Englishman gazed at her where she knelt. +Then: + +"By the holyrood!" he muttered aghast, "She must have thought,--God only +knows what she must have thought!" + +He glanced hurriedly toward the doorway and back again, ashamed. Then +even such impatience as was his gave way, for the moment at least, to +something more chivalric. He stooped and patted awkwardly the smooth +black head. + +"Come, Wildenai, little wild rose, look up and speak to me. I must be +going!" + +But still the maid lay prostrate, clasping close his rough buskins in +her little brown hands. Never in all his life had Lord Harold been so +sorely uncomfortable. How was it possible she had ever imagined that +he could take her with him,--that he had meant so much? Resentment grew +within him at the thought, yet strangely mingled always with something +far more tender. Hastily he considered, his heart torn between the +desire not to wound her and dread of what he knew she wanted. To be sure +the maid was beautiful, with the softened beauty of a moonlit night in +summer, her eyes beneath her dusky hair like stars between the branches +of dark trees, her voice that of the forest stream when it sings itself +to sleep. Yet past all doubt he knew that not one among the gorgeous +throng that crowded about Elizabeth would ever see that beauty, no +English ear take heed to hear the music of her voice. Nay, he could +even, as he thought of it, picture the amazement of the great queen, +could hear her scornful laughter, should he present, to help adorn her +court, a savage Indian girl! No, a thousand times no! Such disgrace +he could not suffer. Nor was the maid herself, so he defended himself, +fitted for such a life. Soon would she be as unhappy in England as he +would be to have her there. Besides, she was but a child. Else had she +never so far forgot all womanly dignity as to force herself upon him, +and being but a child she would soon forget. Gently he made to raise her +to her feet. + +"Wildenai, little wild rose," he began again, "what thou hast asked of +me thou dost well know thyself is an unheard of thing. Much as I owe to +thee, and well know I that 'tis so much I never can repay it; still for +thine own sweet sake 'tis not in this way thy reward must come. The long +journey and the strange new life would kill thee, Wildenai." Having once +begun he stumbled on, but half aware of how each word he uttered hurt +her, eager only to have done with the whole sorry scene. "Thou art but +a little wild flower. Thou couldst not live away from this, thy sunny +island. Can'st thou not understand, my Wildenai?" + +He paused, waiting for a reply; but the maiden answered nothing. Silent +she lay as though in very truth she were a wild flower tossed to earth +and trampled upon by some uncaring foot. + +At last the man could bear it no longer. Forcibly he loosed her hands +and stepped back. For a moment longer he lingered, looking down upon +her in mingled impatience and regret; then, turning abruptly, he passed +hastily out of the cavern and down the trail to the beach. + +Still the girl lay motionless. It was as if every sense were stunned, +all power of thought suspended except to grasp the one fact that made +her whole world empty,--he was gone! As in a dream she heard the grating +of the pebbles when he pushed his boat into the water, heard the clank +of the oars as they dropped into the oar-locks. Even yet she did not +move. Then, after many minutes, she crept to the opening and searched +the sea with eyes almost, too dim with tears to find that for which she +sought. But yes, there it was,--a black speck against the golden sunset. +She watched until she had seen the distant vessel put about, making for +the open sea. Ah, now she knew that he was safe aboard,--no need had +they to come farther into shore. Yet still she waited, straining her +eyes to see the ship sink slowly beneath the horizon. One last glint of +sunlight against a white sail, and it was gone. + +Then at once she rose, and moving quietly about the little cavern, +she put all in perfect order with touch as tender as that of a mother +preparing for its last sleep some little child. Here was the basket +he had helped to weave, here the mat on which he had lain. Her fingers +lingered caressingly on each thing that he had touched. There in the +corner still stood the olla in which she had brought him water. How +amused he had been that she could carry it on her head all the way up +the hill from the spring without so much as spilling one drop! But that +was all past now. + +When at last everything was finished she gave the little rock-walled +room one long, lingering look, the look of one who would carry in his +heart the image of what he beholds all the rest of his life. Then she, +too, made her way through the doorway into the deepening dusk. + + + +On the beach below, squatted within the opened flap of his tepee, +Torquam, mighty chief of the Mariposa, smoked his evening pipe. A +wonderful pipe it was, long and delicately fashioned, inlaid with +iridescent fragments of shell. Yet instantly he laid it aside as the +slender form of his daughter darkened the doorway. + +"Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art thou as sunshine after +rain!" His eyes lighted with the tenderness never seen there by any +other than this motherless girl. He stretched his hand to her and the +princess came silently and knelt before him. + +"My father," she said firmly, though in so low a tone that Torquam bent +to hear. "Oh, father, thou art always wise! Thou only knowest best. +I come to thee to tell that I will wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him +whenever thou dost choose!" + +Taking her face between his hands, Torquam gazed long and searchingly +into the sorrowful eyes of his daughter. + +"And thou art wise to do so, my beloved one," he said at last. "He will +make to thee a good husband." In his voice was the keen understanding +of a father. "He will be kind to thee and heal thy wounded heart, my +daughter. Don Cabrillo is a good man," he repeated solemnly. + + + + +Part II. Miss Hastings Brings It to an End + + +Centuries passed, and again, with the same sweet suddenness as in the +days gone by, spring came to Catalina. Guests of the St. Catherine, +lounging on its wide verandahs, gazed across a sunlit sea to where +the faint cloud that was San Jacinto hovered, the merest ghost of a +mountain, above the misty mainland. Along the broad board-walk leading +down to Avalon benches, shaded by brightstriped awnings, flaunted an +invitation to every passing tourist. Strings of Japanese lanterns bobbed +merrily above the narrow village streets. Everywhere were laughter +and movement and color from the bathing beaches, dotted with gay +umbrellas--even to the last yacht anchored round the point. + +To the man making slow progress down the crowded wharf from the +afternoon boat this holiday world into which he thus suddenly stepped, +presented an appearance so different from that he had pictured as almost +to bewilder him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus waiting to haul +him up the winding grade to the hotel, he actually hesitated. Yet seldom +before, to his knowledge, had he found it difficult to adapt himself to +an unexpected situation. + +"Hotel St. Catherine! Bus to the hotel, sir?" + +Other guests, more certain of their intentions, pushed impatiently +against him, and presently he found himself, wedged well toward the +middle of the long seat, chugging comfortably up the hill. Still +half-daunted, he gazed about him. It was all of it charming to be sure, +fascinating even; yet, could this festive summering place be the Avalon +of his dreams? Was this the quaint village of Spanish times, reaching +back still further through dimly remembered Indian lore to a world +lost now except to legend? Yet it was for the sake of a mere legend, a +fanciful tale handed down in his family through many a generation, that +he had made the long journey from New York to California, nor--and here +he set his lips with dogged determination, did he intend to return until +he had found that for which he searched. + +It was now something over two years since Harrison Blair, then fresh +from Yale, had astonished both those who wished him well and those +who, for various envious reasons, did not, with the wholly unreasonable +success of his first book. For, to those who did not understand, his +sudden fame had seemed all the more surprising in that it rested upon +nothing more substantial than a slender volume of Indian verse. So +unusual, however, had been his treatment of this well-worn subject as to +call forth more than a little comment from even the most conservative of +critics. The Brush and Pen had hastened to confer upon him an honorary +membership. Cadmon, magic weaver of Indian music, had written a warm +letter of appreciation. And, most precious tribute of all, the Atlantic +Monthly had become interested in his career. + +To be sure, it was nothing more than might have been expected of a man +whose undergraduate work in English had aroused the reluctant wonder of +more than one instructor. Nevertheless, the fact that he pulled stroke +on the 'varsity crew had somewhat blinded other contemporaries to his +more scholarly attainments. Nor had anyone thought it probable, because +of his father's wealth, that Blair, in any event, would feel called upon +to do much more than make a frolic of life. No one, indeed, had +been more taken aback than had his father to find him, a year after +graduation, drudging over the assistant editor's desk of a struggling +magazine the payroll of which, to put it mildly, offered no financial +inducements. + +"It's good practice for me, though,--quickest way to learn," was all he +vouchsafed when the older man remonstrated. + +Yet, had that same father, shrewd capitalist that he was, but taken the +trouble to reason back from premises evident enough, he might have been +the first to realize that this tall son of his, with the keen gray eyes +and a face the strength of which was but increased by the high cheek +bones and squarely molded chin, was scarcely the type of man to sit idly +by enjoying the fruits of another's labor. + +And now, after two years more of grinding apprenticeship, he had in mind +something much bigger than the slender volume of verse,--an adventure +into authorship more suited to his metal,--a story for which an intense +personal sympathy would furnish fitting atmosphere, with the final spur +to his ambition a letter from the Atlantic even at the moment stowed +safely away in his pocket. + +Some two hours later, after an unexpectedly excellent dinner in the +luxurious dining room, he sauntered over to the hotel desk. There was +no more than the faintest probability that a clerk of the St. Catherine +would be able to tell him how to reach a secret cavern bower above the +Bay of Moons; still, he had to enter an opening wedge somewhere. The one +man on duty was for the moment occupied with another guest, and Blair, +lighting his after-dinner cigar, prepared with leisurely patience to +await his turn. + +The guest happened to be a young woman, rather pretty, he casually +decided, although her greatest claim to beauty lay more, perhaps, in the +swift changes in expression of which her face was capable, than in any +actual regularity of line. For lack of anything better to do, Blair +watched idly her encounter with the clerk. There appeared to be some +kind of misunderstanding. + +"Awfully sorry it's happened that way, Miss Hastings," the man behind +the desk was saying. He lifted with genuine reluctance the key she had +just laid down. "We'd be mighty sorry to interfere with your work, but +those small rooms always do go first. You know that yourself." + +"I hadn't heard about it, though. I didn't know they were all gone." Her +voice quivered with disappointment. + +Blair, whose vocation taught him a certain technical sympathy, shot +a swift glance at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-two or +thereabouts, he decided less casually, and went on to observe her still +further. She wore a shabby, broad-brimmed hat much faded as if from +constant exposure to the sun, but the shadows in the coil of hair +beneath were warmly golden. + +"Couldn't you find a room down in the village somewhere,--at Mrs. +Merrill's perhaps?" suggested the clerk. + +"But Mrs. Merrill isn't here this spring." In spite of its quiver the +voice was very sweet. + +"No," she started to turn away, "I'll have to put it off again, I +suppose. I've looked everywhere." + +She took a step or two, hesitated, then returned to the desk. + +"You're positive there isn't a single one of the small rooms left?" she +pleaded. "I wouldn't care how far back it was,--anything would do. You +can't think how I hate to give up. I had so hoped to finish it this +time!" + +The man shook his head. + +"No, we're absolutely full just now. Later on there might be +something,--after the season is over." + +"But that will be after school begins," answered the girl bitterly. "I +can't work at all then!" and catching up a bag fully as shabby as the +hat, she hurried away. + +"Who is she?" asked Blair abruptly, overlooking for the moment his +original purpose in seeking the man. + +"School-teacher from Pasadena," replied the clerk briefly. "Teaches art +in some private school over there, I believe." He eyed Blair amusedly. +"Think you've met her before somewhere?" + +Blair allowed his annoyance to show. "No, never laid eyes on her +till just now. But I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her," he +persisted. "She seemed so sort of cut up. What's the trouble?" + +"I'm sorry for her myself," declared the man on the other side as he +hung the returned key on its board. "This is the third time that poor +little woman's had to leave before she could finish what she came for on +account of the expense. But what can we do?" He shrugged his shoulders. +"The St. Catherine isn't exactly a Y. W. C. A." + +"What is it she's trying to do?" + +Amusement deepened in the man's eyes. + +"She's supposed to be painting Indians." + +"Indians!" To the amazement of the other man Blair suddenly leaned +forward, his eyes agleam with interest. + +"But I didn't know there were any around here." + +"There aren't." + +"Then how--?" + +"Makes 'em up out of her head, I guess. I never heard that she had even +a model." + +"But--but what I want to know is why she comes here at all?" The +situation seemed to Blair to offer possibilities, yet he was thoroughly +puzzled. "I met a fellow on the train who does that sort of thing, but +he always goes to the desert to paint,--at least he said he did." + +"Yes, they do mostly. Probably he meant Taos,--whole nest of artists at +Taos." + +"Well, but why in thunder then--?" + +The clerk smiled skeptically. + +"Why, you see, it's something like this. Miss Hastings' bent on being +an illustrator, pays better than teaching, I suppose, or--well, at any +rate, that's what she's aiming for,--and she has an idea that if she can +only get a series of pictures,--several of them on the same subject, you +understand,--accepted by one of those Eastern magazines, she can soon +work in with some big publisher and get an order. She told us all about +it one night last winter when she was over." + +"But in heaven's name, why Indians?" persisted Blair. + +"Because she thinks she's found some good material here. She told me +about that, too. Seems there's an old legend connected with Catalina, +about an Indian princess and a cavern. The princess died of a broken +heart or something of the sort, I believe she said. I never heard the +particulars myself. Nobody else, either, seems to know anything about +it. But Miss Hastings says there's quite a story, and she's got it all +down pat from A to Z. She's using it for her series." + +A porter brought up some newcomers and Blair stepped aside. But the +moment his man was at leisure again he cornered him at once. An idea had +come to him, an idea almost dazzling in its possibilities. + +"You say she hasn't finished her series yet?" + +"Beg pardon? Oh, the teacher?" The man shook his head. "Evidently not +from what she said just now. She never stays long enough really to put +it over. Every few months she bobs up over a week-end, but that doesn't +give her time even to visit some of the places she's after. She never +seems to get much more than started before she has to go home again." + +For a moment Blair smoked in silence. Then: + +"Look here," he cut in abruptly, "You split my suite and give her one of +my rooms." + +The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. + +"Her? What do you mean?" + +Blair made an impatient gesture. + +"Why, this Miss--the teacher, you know. Didn't you just say you hadn't +any room for her? Well, I've got three, you know." + +"Yes, but that's altogether a different proposition. You made your +reservation weeks ago." + +"But you could still give her one of them, couldn't you?" + +Clerks in large hotels listen with patience to a vast number of +strange proposals, but at this from Blair, the man opposite eyed him in +unflattering amazement. + +"But you said, when you wired, you wanted the extra room to work in," he +objected, "and you'll remember, Mr. Blair, that you were pretty emphatic +about it, too, at the time. We went to all kinds of trouble to fix that +up for you." + +"I can get along all right without it, though," coolly observed his +changeable guest, "and I'd rather she'd have it. It's possible to split +suites here, isn't it?" he persisted. "They do at most hotels." + +"It's possible, of course." Across the desk the eyes of the two men met +squarely. "That part of it's easy enough. But why? and who's going to +pay for it?" + +"I'm going to pay for it! What did you suppose?" exploded Blair. "It's +worth that and a lot more to me just now to keep her from getting away. +Oh, I'm in earnest all right. I mean it! Look here! Can't you see how +that woman can be a perfect gold mine to me? You know enough about my +work to understand that I'm really out here after Indians myself, and +she--well, I'll wager a cool thousand there isn't a spot on this whole +island that ever dreamed of seeing an Indian that she doesn't know all +about!" + +The clerk nodded. "But--" + +"But nothing!" Impatiently Blair brushed aside all objections. "Why, I +hadn't the remotest idea how I was going to get started. It's a rattling +piece of good luck, and we'll fix it up right now!" + +"Yes, but--" Still the other man hesitated. "It sounds all right +enough,--from your end of it especially, but you'd better see her first. +She's a proud little piece,--doesn't like obligations of any kind,--and +a stranger,--a man--I'm sorry to discourage you, but I don't believe +she'll have a thing to do with it." + +In Blair's eyes impatience threatened to become something more emphatic. + +"It's a business proposition pure and simple," he argued. "She gives +me all the information she's been able to get together, and I pay her +expenses while she does it. That gives her a chance to finish her own +work, don't you see? A mighty good proposition for her, too, I should +say, and if she doesn't see it that way herself,--why,--well, she isn't +as intelligent as she looks, that's all!" + +"Providing you can persuade her it is just business. I'd advise you to +talk with her first, just the same. And you'll have to be quick about +it, too. She's planning to wait in the village tonight for the morning +boat, and she'll be starting down about now." + + + +Outside was one of those radiant nights intended for dreams and the +makers of dreams. Over an ocean white with light long breakers rolled +crests gleaming with silver that fell in soft thunder on the beach. Miss +Hastings, hurrying along the board-walk to the village, glanced at them +and looked quickly away. + +"Oh, I say!" came a voice out of the darkness behind her, "if you don't +mind, hold on there a minute, will you? Wait for me, please!" The voice +was that of a man, pleasant, but exceedingly determined. Without so much +as turning her head Miss Hastings quickened her steps. + +But it was of no use. Whoever her pursuer might be, he was even then at +her side. + +"I beg your pardon," breathlessly he began again, "but I've been chasing +you all the way down from the hotel. I want you to come right back there +with me. I have a proposal to make to you." + +Even in the darkness he could see how the girl's eyes blazed. + +"I never listen--" she began hotly, "to proposals from people I don't +know," she had meant to add, but he gave her no time. + +"It will mean the biggest chance for your pictures you've ever had," he +broke in. "Now, listen!" + +And, to her complete surprise, Miss Hastings suddenly found herself +doing that very thing. + +"There are a lot of things I've got to find out right away," continued +the astonishing stranger, "and the clerk up there tells me you're +painting a series of Indian portraits." + +The little art teacher gazed at him fascinated. What manner of man could +this be, she wondered. + +"I don't see the connection--" Coldness struggled with curiosity in her +voice. + +"Listen!" With uplifted, peremptory hand again he stopped her. Nor is it +safe to say that any book agent, watching the door slowly closing upon +him, ever talked faster, or more rigidly to the point, than did Blair +within the next few minutes. + +"Perhaps you won't understand it all right off. I wouldn't expect that. +But it's this way. I'm representing Harper's, and Houghton and Mifflin, +and Dodd and Mead, and--several other firms" (to satisfy his conscience +Blair contended with himself that he might as well as not have been +their representative--a mere oversight on their part ought not to +be allowed to stand in his way), "and I'm out here to find the best +illustrator I can lay hands on to do the pictures for some Indian stuff +I'm getting into shape for one of 'em. I want to see your work. And, +if I like it, I'll pay you well. And anyway, I'll pay every bit of the +expense while you finish your series here if you'll tell me what you +know about Wildenai!" + +But, at the name, the girl beside him had given a low cry of utter +amazement. She stopped short. + +"Do you know it too, then?" she gasped. "How did you hear about it?" + +"Oh, I've known it for years," replied Blair carelessly. "Some of it +I've known all my life. But look here now. Is it a bargain?--about your +helping me, I mean?" + +Before he left her, an hour or so later, every detail had been arranged. +Miss Hastings had meekly agreed to return to the hotel in the morning. +Blair would pay her expenses and something he called a retaining fee +besides. That would make an extra fifty dollars,--she smiled to herself +in the dark,--a new winter suit at least, and perhaps one or two +matinees if she managed! All this for the information she could give him +about the island and its history. The various points in their contract +spun dizzily in her dazed brain. No spot known to legend to which it was +possible to conduct him should remain unvisited. Four hours out of every +day were pledged without fail to his interests. The rest of the time she +might have for her own work. It had all come about so unexpectedly, +and was altogether so extraordinary that, after he had gone, his new +employee, stretched uncomfortably upon a narrow cot in the tent of a +fellow teacher, spent the remainder of the night in imaginary interviews +with Eastern publishers regarding impossible royalties. She was far too +excited to sleep. + +And, for a week, the arrangement worked very well,--almost too well. +Every day brought with it some new adventure, and every adventure became +a pleasure. + +Mounted at Blair's expense on more or less energetic ponies, for from +the first he had insisted that horses were a necessary part of their +business equipment, they cantered gaily along the shady canyon trails, +or over the sunlit slopes sheeted in pale lavender wherever the wild +lilacs were in bloom. Often, emerging from some thicket of dwarf +oak they caught glimpses of a sapphire sea held between red, twisted +branches of manzanita as in a frame. About them rang the music of the +meadow larks. Merry shouts of bathers floated up from the beaches far +below, mingled with the distant click of golf balls on the greens. + +For the whole of a golden day they chartered a sailboat from one, Capt. +Warren, and rounding the yellow headlands under his lazy guidance, they +went to examine the Ning Po, the ancient Chinese barge stranded, no one +knew how many hundreds of years before, among the rocks off the isthmus. + +"Fascinating old place," observed Blair gazing, his eyes aglow with +interest, around the mediaeval cabin. "Don't doubt a dozen murders at +least were pulled off in this one room!" + +"Oh yes, of course," eagerly echoed his assistant. "It's absolutely +unique!" + +Her gaze, as bright with interest as his own, rested upon Blair himself. +She was considering, absent-mindedly, how becoming white trousers can +be to most men, especially when they are reasonably dark themselves. +But,--her glance travelled upward,--how unusually dark he was, and his +hair,--yes, without question, the straightest and blackest she had ever +seen. Yet it seemed in some indefinable way to become him,--to belong, +as it were, to his type. Leaning her elbows meditatively upon the rusty +anchor, her chin in her hands, she silently appraised him. He really +was a handsome man, she decided, and clever, too, of the sort who does +things in the world! A dreamy light grew within her eyes. + +It was only two or three evenings later when, on their way back from the +site of an historic Indian village on the other side of the island, +they walked their horses slowly around the Wishbone Loop, the ostensible +reason being that, as Blair had already discovered, it commanded the +widest view of the ocean at sunset. + +He was the first to speak when they struck again into the main trail. + +"I wished for something about a rose, a wild rose,--want to guess?" He +eyed her mischievously. + +"Hush,--mustn't tell!" she laughed. "Your wish won't come true if you +tell." Then, for no reason at all, she blushed. + +Never, in truth, during her twenty-three years of working, and +scrimping, and going without, had life shown to the little art teacher +so fair and generous a side, seemed so extravagantly joyous an affair as +during that magic week. The spending of money, it was easy to see, meant +little or nothing to Blair. But that was the least of his attractions, +for, to the girl herself, mere wealth for its own sake had never +appealed. The charm lay rather in the genial broadness of his view +of things, the strength of reasoning behind the few opinions he put +forward, his reticence, and quiet modesty. In these dwelt the spell that +swept her into an almost delirious enjoyment of his society. For, all +unknown to herself, like many another woman in like condition, she had +needed a change of people. In the cramped life of a private school men +played but little part, and the men who were most worth while, almost no +part at all. Instinctively, in time, she had wearied of little girls +and their lessons. Sorely had she craved the stimulus which only the +companionship of congenial men can give. Of this fact, however, she had +been even less aware. + +One crisp morning, seated in a diminutive wicker cart behind a +discontented pony, they searched out Chicken John's cabin on the mesa +behind the golf links. + +"Not that it has anything to do with Indians," she apologized, "only +I want you to see him. He's such a character, so nice and untidy and +queer!" + +As a result of this expedition they brought away with them what old John +designated a "plump little fry" to be served at the cosy table for two +in the sunniest window of the dining room, a luxury which Blair had +likewise confiscated in the interests of business. + +And so for seven glorious days they tramped the fragrant hills, or +sailed a sea as softly blue as though fallen fresh that morning from +the cloudless heaven above. In the warmth and glow of his friendship +the starved heart of the little art teacher opened like some hot-house +flower carried suddenly into the wide outdoors. And when at last +the week drew to an end, their work, both his and hers, was still +unfinished, so that there was nothing else to do but to live on through +another fully as wonderful. + +Blair himself took things much more for granted, and even when their +talk strayed farthest afield it was plain to the girl that his mind +never fully lost sight of the purpose for which he had come. His work +stood always first, while,--she blushed to own it even to herself,--she +had sometimes entirely forgotten her own. + +At the end of the third week they had seen almost everything he +considered essential and at times she sensed in his manner, even when he +was least aware of it, a kind of repressed impatience. She knew what it +meant and shivered. Presently he would leave her, and life would become +again the same dull round of work. Only one spot of real importance +remained unvisited,--the cavern bower above the Bay of Moons. Of this +he had spoken frequently, and well she knew he held it the climax of his +search. + +But for reasons best known to herself Miss Hastings put off from day to +day this final expedition until Blair began to chaff at the delay. + +"That's really the one place I came to see!" he told her more than once. +"After I've been there I think I can go." + +"But we've planned Middle Ranch for today," she would answer evasively, +or, "This is the best time to see Orazaba; it's so clear this morning. +That's the mountain, you know, where the Indians carved out their ollas. +Some of them are still there, only half cut away. It would be too bad +for you to miss that." + +At length, however, there came a day when excuses would do no longer. + +"We've waited long enough," he declared that morning over their coffee, +"Besides, I may have to go now in a few days." + +And although at his words the sunshine of her new world faded suddenly +away, yet the little teacher kept a brave front. She even laughed +carelessly. + +"Men are so impatient," she teased, "But we'll go today." + +Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of sunset rested among the hills +that at last they found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff which +commanded so wide a stretch of the ocean and the shimmering valleys +below. + +"It reminds one of the Bay of Naples," observed Blair, pausing to +scan the rocky coastline against which, far beneath them, the foaming +breakers threw themselves. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked +far out to sea. "What a wonderful place for a watch tower it would have +made!" + +"It had one once," softly replied the girl, "Wildenai's watch tower!" + +Blair turned, their eyes met, and he smiled. + +"It's been splendid to have you with me all these days," he said, "I've +been wanting to tell you. You've been more of a help than you'll ever +know." And then, after a pause, "It's because you care so much about the +story yourself, I suppose, that you've been such an inspiration to me." + +Something in the girl's heart seemed suddenly to snap. + +"It's because I care more about your work, and--and you. You are so +wonderful!" she broke forth impulsively, and stood before him crimson +with confusion. For a second, which seemed to her an age, there was +silence. Then he spoke and, in her bitter humiliation, his voice sounded +strained and cold. + +"Shall we go in?" he asked. + +Silently he parted the tangle of manzanita that for centuries had veiled +the secrets of the princess, and stood aside for her to enter. Wildly +the little art teacher glanced about her. This moment to which she had +so looked forward, and yet had dreaded as much because it meant the +end,--this moment which might, nevertheless, have meant much to them +both even though it were the end, she herself had spoiled! All its +delicate beauty changed to a sordid suspicion, it lay in ruins now +because of her thoughtless words. She dared not guess at what he must be +thinking! For a desperate second she considered flight. Then proudly +she raised her head. One more thing, at least, about her now he should +learn! + +"Did you know--?" she began, then broke off irresolute. + +Blair glanced at her and again their eyes met. This time he did not +smile. + +"Know what?" he asked. + +She laughed with embarrassment. + +"It really isn't of any interest to you, but--" and again she paused. + +"Suppose you let me be the judge of that," he suggested stiffly. "You're +making me horribly curious, you know. You can't very well drop the +subject now." He was evidently making an effort at pleasantry. + +She flushed brightly. + +"Of course it couldn't be of the slightest importance to anyone except +myself," she explained. Then, as if doubting her courage to continue +long, she hurried on, "but one reason I take such an interest in--your +work is because I'm a direct descendant of Lord Harold myself. He became +the Duke of Norfolk afterward, you know, but Hastings was always the +family name." She flashed him a haughty glance, a pride that changed to +wide-eyed surprise as she noted his amazement. + +"Not really?" He had turned abruptly and in his eyes there was a +curious expression, almost of alarm. "How extraordinary,--how perfectly +extraordinary!" + +"Why extraordinary?" That her cup of humiliation might brim to the full, +resentment was added to confusion. "You consider me unworthy, then, of +having had nobility among my ancestry? But, just the same, there +was nothing strange about it. The colonies were chiefly English, +you remember!" He smiled at her sarcasm. "The duke married one of +Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting after he went home and there was a younger +son, and he had a younger son, and after a long time one of them came +over to Virginia just like anybody else. They have always been good, +loyal, highly respected American citizens," she told him fiercely, "and +I'm proud of them! Besides--" with reckless emphasis, "I've always felt +so sorry for Wildenai." + +But at this point, quite incomprehensibly, Blair broke into peals of +laughter. + +"And by and by, after a long, long time, one of these good, loyal, +American citizens that we're both so proud of had a hot-tempered, most +disloyal little daughter who intends to show her employer his proper +place before she dismisses him! But why are you sorry for Wildenai?" + +With mischievous eyes he searched her face. + +She flushed, then, looking squarely at him, "Because she was impulsive +like me, and just for that reason Lord Harold ran away and left her," +she said. "He's the only one of them I never had any use for." + +Blair wandered the length of the cavern and back before he replied. + +"You think him a coward, I suppose." He still looked as though he wanted +to laugh, yet something in his tone seared her outraged pride. He might +as well have touched an iron to quivering flesh. "You ought to remember, +however,--I mean every woman ought to remember,--that when a girl lets a +man know that she cares for him she generally forfeits, then and there, +whatever interest she may have had for him. Wildenai risked too much. +Of course, in her case there was some excuse. She was only an untrained +barbarian. But, under ordinary circumstances, I tell you there's nothing +a man despises so much!" + +What was done or said after that Miss Hastings never could have told. +She was possessed of but one desire,--to get away, to go back to the +hotel,--home, anywhere beyond the reach of his voice and his eyes. For +the moment she hated him, and although Blair, conscience smitten at +he knew not what, waited in the lobby a full hour before going in to +dinner, she did not come down. + +Up in her room, mechanically brushing her hair for the night, Miss +Hastings stormily addressed the girl in the glass who stared so +scornfully back at her. + +"I tell you I don't care a thing about it! He probably thought he was +justified in every word he said. He's probably smiling this very minute +because he thinks he managed it so well! But he's a coward just the +same, and I despise him,--I do despise him!" Her eyes brimming with +tears, she fiercely repeated the word. "Well, he'll soon find out how +much I really meant!" + +Over and over she re-lived the short scene,--all of its humiliation, all +of its hurt, seeking at every turn solace for her woman's pride. + +"Naturally I wanted to help him all I could, to appear, at least, to be +interested, especially when he was paying so much for it! It was only +a business arrangement anyway," she continued bitterly, "nothing but +business from start to finish, and if he doesn't know that yet, he'll +find it out the very first thing tomorrow morning!" + +And having tumbled into bed she lay staring into the dark, planning +the details of a campaign warranted either to cure or kill the enemy. +Outside, a mocking bird, perched provokingly near her window, kept the +night ringing with music. Resolutely she closed her ears to his song. +But presently, through the faint fragrance of oleanders, other sounds +began to penetrate,--the strains of the waltz to which they had danced +only the night before. The little art teacher turned wearily over and +cried herself to sleep. + +On the morning which followed she rose very early, however, much too +early to breakfast with Blair at the little table in the sunny corner. +Instead, she ordered some coffee and toast at Jim's Waffle Shop in +the village and was hard at work sketching on the wharf before eight +o'clock. She had suddenly remembered a promise to sketch Capt. Warren's +dog holding the gaff, a feat of which both Pal and his master were +justifiably proud. Indeed, so long had the arrangement been made and so +entirely had it been neglected, that no one was more surprised than the +Captain himself at her unexpected appearance. + +"But Pal and me ought to be at the Tuna Club in fifteen minutes, to take +a party o' members out fishin'," he demurred. "You can't paint Pal in no +quarter of an hour!" + +"I'm sorry to have had to put it off so long," replied Miss Hastings +crisply, "but I'm planning to go home in a few days now,--this afternoon +probably. It's the only chance I shall have." And she prepared to make +good the belated promise with such determination that, after a wistful +glance or two across the slapping white caps, the old skipper meekly +succumbed. + +It was here Blair found her an hour or so later. Unceremoniously he +placed himself in front of her, his hands in his pockets, and gave vent +to a low whistle. + +"Well, of all the--!" + +"Oh, is it you, Mr. Blair?" she inquired in cool, sweet tones. "I +thought most probably you'd gone! Didn't you say yesterday you intended +to as soon as you'd seen the cavern?" Then, after a pause during which +Blair said nothing, "I've been getting dreadfully behind with my own +work, so I thought, if you didn't mind, I'd try to catch up a little +this morning." + +"Certainly not. Take all the time you want! We've about finished anyway, +I guess." His coolness matched her own. + +Another silence during which she painted furiously. + +"I'm making a sketch of Pal holding the gaff," she ventured at length +when the strain had become too uncomfortable. + +"So I see." + +This second tentative effort at conversation having flickered and gone +out she bent again to her work, while Blair remained, looking down at +her, in his eyes mingled amusement and resentment. What had he done, he +wondered, to account for such a change? Or, perhaps, it was something he +had not done. He tried again. + +"Aren't we going for our ride this morning? It's a glorious day, and I +have the refusal of the two best horses." + +"No, I think not,--not this morning, thank you," she answered. In her +voice was the same crisp sweetness. "I haven't time!" + +With a shrug of pure bewilderment he backed away, then lingered a moment +longer to watch the sketch take shape beneath her hurrying brush. That +was the particular moment Miss Hastings chose for the final reckless +stab. + +"You're standing in my light," she said. "If you'd just as soon, please +do go away, Mr. Blair. It makes me nervous to have people looking over +my shoulder when I'm trying to paint." + +This was just a trifle more than Blair at the moment was prepared to +stand. His eyes grew dark. + +"Certainly," he replied icily. "So sorry to have bothered you at all. +I only came down to tell you that I've decided to leave today. There's +nothing more to keep me now, I think, and I'm rather anxious to get +home. You'll find your check at the desk." And he sauntered away. + +She did not go back to the hotel for luncheon. She had finished her +sketch, yet, somehow, when the time came, she discovered that it would +be quite impossible to enter the dining room. She found it equally +impossible to take the afternoon boat herself. Instead, having clambered +half way up the steep slope to the cavern, she watched from behind +a flaming riot of wild nasturtians while, preceded by a hotel porter +bearing bags and suit-cases, Blair boarded the Avalon for Los Angeles. +He was going away, then, without even a word of farewell. + +The heart of the little art teacher turned cold within her, so cold that +she sank numbly into the red and gold tangle; nor did she look up again +until the steamer, dipping below the horizon, had left only a trail of +smoke to show where it disappeared. She had not believed that he would +do quite that! + +When evening came she went stoically in to dinner. There was no reason +any longer for staying away. Sternly she kept her eyes from the vacant +place opposite. Yet somehow she could not persuade herself that he was +really gone. More than once she caught herself watching the door, half +expecting to see him stroll in with apologies for tardiness and take his +empty chair. When again the orchestra drifted suddenly into the waltz to +which they had danced, she rose abruptly and left the room. + +Well, she would go herself in the morning. She would settle everything +and pack her things at once. She went to the desk to ask for the check. +But there was nothing for her. No, the clerk assured her after much +fumbling, Mr. Blair hadn't left anything, either in her box or his own. +But,--the man stole a covert glance at her downcast face,--he was still +holding his rooms. Probably he meant to attend to it when he returned. + +That he might not see the wild joy that leaped to her eyes, Miss +Hastings turned with startling suddenness and fled upstairs. Safe in her +own room she flung herself with tears and laughter on the bed. So that +was the hand he was playing, was it?--the dear, wicked, unmanageable--! +Of course he would have to be punished,--well punished! but--she laughed +aloud for pure joy--the world was a radiant place once more, and nothing +of any sort really mattered, because he was coming back. + +But the next day went by, and the next, and he had not come. Day after +day passed in an empty procession, yet no one of them brought that for +which she waited. And there was nothing else to do. Work was out of the +question. She could not sit still long enough. It became, instead, her +sole occupation to linger each morning and afternoon on the verandah +until the steamer from Los Angeles had rounded the point and crossed the +bay in front of the hotel. Then, hidden behind the palms she would watch +until the last straggling tourist had left the pier. But still he did +not come. + +Doubt in every tormenting guise assailed her. Perhaps he had changed his +mind and decided later not to return. Yet the clerk had said he meant to +come back! Perhaps her check, sent by mail, was even now in her box. +But she had not the courage to go again to the desk. Driven by alternate +hope and fear she lost color, and she could not sleep. During seven +miserable nights she planned to go back to Pasadena by the morning boat, +and as many times she put it off. Yet, if he did return to find her +waiting, what, then, would she have given him the right to think? But, +on the other hand, if she went she might never see him again! + +On the eighth day she took herself grimly in hand. No longer would she +humiliate herself by any further delay. Wildenai had not waited, and +even a school teacher can be as proud as an Indian princess! That very +afternoon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. Then tomorrow she +would go back to Pasadena and the long gray round of work. Desolately +she wandered up the secret trail to Wildenai's bower. Never had her +sympathy for the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, she mournfully +considered, if the spirit of the Indian maiden still lingered there +it might feel sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, would find +comfort in the spot where that other woman had paid an equal price for +her impulsiveness. + +The shadows in the little cavern were dark and cool and, laying aside +her box of colors, for a long time she sat quite motionless, staring out +to where the gulls drifted and glinted against the blue. She heard after +a while the whistle of the approaching steamer but gave no heed. Lying +back against the moss she had almost dropped asleep when something in +the corner opposite attracted her attention. She sat up nervously and +stared into the shadows. Was it only that the darkness was deeper over +there, or was that really something propped against the wall? And had it +moved? + +In the years that followed she never knew how long she sat there after +the stones had been lifted away, holding in her lap those shreds of torn +white doeskin. Still caught together, though in tatters, by long strings +of shells and beads, they shone, a ghostly film of white from out the +dimness. A breath, and the whole would have crumbled into dust. Yet +the beads, she noticed, were still perfect as when strung by slim brown +fingers centuries before. Only half believing it was not all of it a +dream, she lifted them strand after strand. Then, suddenly, she gave +a little cry. Somewhere from out the torn folds a slender chain had +slipped. Trembling with a curiosity that bordered close on terror, +she carried it to the light, and there it glowed, a glancing stream of +crimson, in her hand. + +"Wildenai's necklace!" she breathed, and hid her face. + +There came the sound of a step outside. The manzanita branches were +pushed impatiently aside and he stood before her. + +The journey across the channel from Los Angeles had seemed twice as long +as when he made it a few weeks before, and he had hurried all the way +from the hotel straight to the little cavern. But now that he had found +her again, there seemed to be plenty of time for everything, and he +stood quite silent looking down at her. He was glad he had found her +there, glad, in a curious, unreasoning way, for the quiet of the late +afternoon, for the faint fragrance of the Mariposa lilies blooming just +beyond the ledge. Yet he let her know nothing of this in what he said. + +"So here you are, after all! I thought I should find you here." + +She had not heard him come and was startled into a cry. + +"You!" she gasped, and lifted eyes in which the telltale signs of tears +were still quite evident, so evident that, with a woman's instinct to +hide them, she caught up the necklace and held it toward him. + +"See what I've found!" she exclaimed. + +But he paid no heed. Instead, manlike, he proceeded, quite +unconsciously, to say the one thing that could hurt her most. + +"I looked for you at the hotel first, then I came on up here. I knew you +wouldn't go till I came!" + +The color that had flooded her face at the sound of his voice faded +again. She was quite white as she asked quietly: + +"How could you know I would stay?" + +He laughed easily, settling himself confidently on the moss at her side. + +"Because I hadn't paid you yet," he answered gaily. "Don't you think +that was clever of me, Wildenai?" + +"I would rather you did not call me that," she told him coldly, "It +sounds irreverent." And she dropped her eyes, which had filled again +miserably, to the film of white in her lap. Then, with a pitiful attempt +to hurt him in return: "Of course you realize that I really don't +know much about you. I don't want you to think that I distrusted you +exactly--" she marvelled at herself that she could say such things to +him, but went recklessly on. "The check wasn't there,--and so, well, it +seemed wisest to wait. They said you were coming back, and I couldn't +afford to lose it; so I stayed. Just a matter of business, you see!" +She finished in a tone which, except for a suspicious tremble, was +satisfactorily disagreeable. + +But Blair's armor, since his return, seemed proof against such thrusts +as she could give. + +"Won't play Indian at all, then?" he retorted teasingly. "But of course +not! How could you when you happen to come from the other side of the +house? However," he continued whimsically, "there are such things as +English roses, you know. I've always loved them, too, even when they +were thorny!" + +He pulled absently at a fern growing near, while, suddenly, for no +particular reason, the color glowed again in the cheeks of the little +art teacher. She smiled, half unwillingly. + +"But don't pull up the wild flowers here," she warned him, "You'll have +the forester after you! When did you get back?" she added. "Where have +you been so long?" burned on her lips, but she scorned to ask it. + +"About an hour ago," he replied amiably. "The boat was late." + +"I was beginning to think you'd given up coming at all." She could not +keep it back. "The duke never bothered to, you know." + +But this blow, like the first, failed to reach any vulnerable spot. +Blair did not flinch. + +"No, naturally he didn't! He was English, and you can't depend upon +the English, I've discovered. But there's not the slightest reason for +linking me up with him. The princess never ran away now, did she? And +I--" He paused, then without looking at her he began again. + +"Seriously, I'm sorry if I seemed to be deserting. I--well, honestly, +I didn't know what else to do. You suggested it yourself, you remember! +And I'd promised my father to look after some business for him in Los +Angeles while I was out here. You see, he--our family, have lived in +the East for a long time now, but we used to own pretty much all of Los +Angeles county some three centuries ago, when the Spanish were here, +and--" Again he broke off abruptly. "Do you want to know about me?" he +demanded. + +Miss Hastings leaned breathlessly toward him. Her heart was beating +wildly. + +"Oh, please!" she begged. + +"Perhaps I should have told you at the first," he began, "or at least +after you told me who you were, but--anyway, I didn't. I'd never told +anyone before and I didn't much suppose I ever would. There's a reason, +though, why I'm particularly interested in this legend, too, a reason +just as good as you've got. I'm--well, I'm one of Wildenai's great, +great grandsons!" + +And then, because she sat quite silent there in the shadows, and +motionless except for fingering something white that lay in her lap, he +waited uneasily. Was she angry again, he wondered, or perhaps she was +only laughing! + +She was the first to break the silence. + +"Are you trying to be funny?" Her voice was very cold. + +"Not at all," he answered hotly. "It must be all of ten generations back +or even more, and of course it wasn't all Spanish afterward, but, just +the same, I'm as much a descendant of the princess as you are of the +duke,--always have been! I'm just as proud of it, too. Possibly you +will remember that the Spanish beat the English to it, at least in +California. Anyway," he finished bitterly, "what difference does it +make? So far as I can see, it only gives us one more good subject to +quarrel about!" + +Then out of the dimness came a queer little sound, whether of tears or +of laughter it was impossible to know. For the least part of a second a +hand brushed his own. + +"Oh, no!" she whispered, "Let's not do that. It wouldn't be right! And +see," she laughed tremulously, "Isn't it strange I should have found it +today, but," she lifted the white thing in her lap, "here is Wildenai's +wedding dress--and the chain of garnets!" + +The cavern was quite dark before they had finished talking about it, but +at length they laid the poor little ghost of a garment reverently back +among the stones and rose to go. + +"But the necklace?" Blair asked, hesitating, "do you think we ought to +leave that here?" + +The girl considered a moment. + +"It's really yours," she decided. "Nobody else could have the least +claim to it." + +"Except--" Suddenly his eyes shone with a strange expression before +which the little art teacher instinctively shrank. He took a step toward +her. + +"I believe I'll give the garnets back," he announced. "I fancy that's +what the princess would have liked to do if she'd had the chance. +Besides," his eyes grew still darker, "they were meant in the first +place for a wedding gift, and so if you--" + +He would have clasped them about her neck, but Miss Hastings backed +frantically away. + +"No!--not for worlds," she cried. "You know you're only saying it +because you think you can't get out of it!" And before he could realize +just what was happening, she was gone. + + + +The boat for Los Angeles was unusually crowded that night. For either +this reason, or some other she would not acknowledge, Miss Hastings +found herself pushed aside by more impatient passengers every time she +attempted to enter the gangway. + +"All aboard!" called a peremptory voice from somewhere on deck. She took +a step forward, hesitated, drew back. The plank was hauled irrevocably +away, and she turned to face Blair standing just behind her on the +wharf. + +"I was sure you wouldn't run away," he declared, "but if you had--!" + +She let him lead her back along the broad boardwalk toward the hotel +until they stood within the shadow of the huge boulder which for +centuries has marked the outer boundary of the Bay of Moons. Beyond them +the lights of the St. Catherine glimmered down the hill and on over the +water, rimming with golden bubbles the outlines of the pier. + +"Wildenai!" Out of the darkness his voice came to her, mocking, tender, +wholly insistent. "Foolish, obstinate little lady! Can't you see how +it's up to you,--up to the English to make amends? Honestly now, when +he began it I don't imagine even that rascal Drake himself would have +believed a family scrap could last the better part of four centuries. +Don't you really think it's about time for you to call it off?" + +And flinging her scruples to the winds, Miss Hastings suddenly decided +that it was. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + +***** This file should be named 5196.txt or 5196.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/9/5196/ + +Produced by David Schwan + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Their Mariposa Legend + +Author: Charlotte Herr + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5196] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 3, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by David Schwan <davidsch@earthlink.net>. + + + +Their Mariposa Legend + +A Romance of Santa Catalina + + + +By Charlotte Herr + + + + +To Little Bruce Parker +Who Loved Stories + + + +Part I + + + +Sir Francis Starts It + + + +It began to happen a long time ago, centuries ago, when, in a fragrant +rush of rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, fairest of the Channel +Islands. Beneath the golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. On +steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of wild lilac bloomed, the lark +shook from his tiny throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed niches of +the canyons lilies waited to fill with light their gleaming ivory cups. +Spring in very truth was there. + +And looking down upon it from her cavern bower high above the beach, +watched the Princess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of dawn shining +on her long black hair, she was, herself, the sweetest blossom of the +spring. Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the Mariposa and of +royal blood besides; although of this the great chief Torquam, who even +at that moment lay sleeping in his lodge of deerskin on the crescent +beach below, knew more than he had ever told. + +With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring the folds of softest +fawnskin drawn across her breast, the princess bent her gaze to where +the waves ran silver on the ocean's distant rim. There she knew the sun +must rise and, as the first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, she +rose slowly until she stood erect, a slender, graceful figure against +the dim, gray rocks, and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke in +the musical words of her people. + +"Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit-father," she pleaded, "have mercy on me. +Grant to me, thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I pray thee, +that it need not be I wed with Torquam's friend, the pale-face stranger. +Well knowest thou I would not disobey my father, him the bravest and +most powerful of all thy warriors, him whom his people delight to honor, +and whom I strive to please. All the more I feel my duty since, many +moons ago, they laid my mother underneath the flowers. Yet, even so, I +cannot find it in my heart to wed with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does my +father wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great power, turn his +heart, oh lord of spirits, that he no longer may desire it? Help me in +this, my only trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I be indeed his +loyal daughter, - in all else save alone in this one thing!" + +Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to her knees, bending her head +until her forehead touched the ground. For many minutes she lay thus +prostrate while the glory of the rising sun bathed the sea in splendor. +Yet, when at last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears. + +But now from the beach below there drifted up to her the sounds of a +village astir. Shrill voices of women mingled with the crackling of +freshly kindled fires. A canoe, pushed hastily into the water, grated +harshly on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. Leaning against +the rocky ledge, her chin in her hands, she gazed listlessly out over +the shining sea. If any interests lived for her among the dark-skinned +people beneath the cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign. + +Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of the Indian village, rose the +hoarse shouting of men. Wildenai lifted her eyes, - eyes that widened +first with wonder, then with fear. For there, far down the shoreline to +the south, her sails gleaming white against the walls of rock behind her +as she rounded a distant point, a ship came slowly into view. With +wildly beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the +long curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen +such another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don +Cabrillo first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year +ago. For many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship +with the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his +father, hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast +anchor off the shore, - the first white man to see their island. Nor was +the lingering without result. Torquam he taught to speak the Spanish +tongue, learning in his turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields +of the north, while not the least among the treasures carried with him +when at last he sailed away did he hold the promise that the beautiful +daughter of the chief should become his bride when next he touched upon +that shore. Could this, then, be the Spaniard's fleet returning? Was the +Great Spirit powerless, after all, to save her? In sore bewilderment and +terror Wildenai watched the distant ship. + +Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its outline grew each moment more +distinct, gradually her fears departed. For this was not the clumsy +Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was +the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet, +though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was +about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by +this time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of +the crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At +length, as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, the +crew were seen to bring the vessel sharply about. An anchor was cast +over, the creaking of the hawsers distinctly audible in the clear +morning air, and a few moments later a small boat was lowered. Into this +boat immediately several sailors swung themselves and after a short +delay, amidst the shouting of the Indians, now running in wild +excitement up and down the beach, the men picked up their oars and +started for the land. + +"Alla-hoa, Wildenai!" + +Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a +lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet. + +"Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge. +Strangers, - paleface strangers, - enemies, who can tell, are coming. +See, - the ship!" With dark forefinger he pointed toward the sea. +"Torquam would have thee hide with the rest of the women in the cave at +the Great Rock. There Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. Make +haste, oh Wildenai!" + +"And am I not as safe up here?" returned the princess, calmly. "Be not +so lost in thy terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship and I fear +not. Yet will I obey if so my father bids," she added quickly. "Go thou +ahead. I follow." And hastily gathering together some reeds and colored +grasses lying on the ledge, parts of an unfinished basket upon which, +evidently, she had during some previous visit been at work, she flung +them into a corner of the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow path +leading to the village. + +Here all by this time was tense excitement, the dramatic, ungoverned +excitement of children. While with shrill cries two or three of the +women gathered the little ones together, the rest pulled frantically at +the poles holding each tepee in place. Still apparently quite unmoved, +Wildenai sought first her father standing surprised but unafraid in the +doorway of his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, straight as +some lonely pine on the slopes of distant San Jacinto. Yet even in the +stress of such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes as they +rested upon his motherless daughter. + +Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each +other in silence. Then, + +"It is well thou art come, my beloved one," spoke the chief. "Stranger +pale-faces will soon be amongst us." + +"Wildenai feels no fear, my father," quietly answered the girl. + +"If they come in friendship," quickly Torquam replied, "then indeed may +all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that +we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see." + +Bending her head in mute acquiescence the girl moved away to join the +group of women now almost ready to depart. + + + +Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven onward by the stout arms of +three strong sailors, steadily approached the bay. + +"What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the +savages?" inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that +he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. "Wot ye not that +if water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much +better on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache +only yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were +away on the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious +scalps to row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the +whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's +fleets!" and without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust. + +The others laughed. + +"Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with +thy big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else +our captain seeks? Water, - pouf!" the speaker made a rough grimace, +"water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were +the lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the +balance? The Apache told him, too, - thou see'st thou hast not played +the listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself, +I heard him say it, - that here lay that famous island, San - how is't +they call it? San Catlina - I know not how 'tis spoken, - some Spanish +lingo not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your Spanish +robber, Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious son as +well, stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold. The +savage sware besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to war and +murder like the rest. I hearkened well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I +would be een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The devil take the +Apache an he lied," he added fiercely, "I'll break his head across till +even he shrieks out for help when I get back!" + +He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern cliffs now looming close at +hand, beneath which the excited natives still ran back and forth, +pointing with frantic gestures at the boat. + +The third man spoke. He was smaller than the other two and darker, with +a sly look about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast to the bluff +frankness of his comrades. So far he had appeared content to listen in +amused silence, but now with a short laugh he interrupted. + +"The Apache did not lie. This is the island Santa Catalina, though that, +mark you, is not the Indian name. And right well can the chief who rules +here direct our captain also to the goldfields of the north. But +hearkee, comrades. 'Tis not Drake will reap the profits this time!" He +lowered his voice mysteriously as though fearful of being overheard, +albeit nothing was nearer than his two companions and the clear, green +stretch of water. "Have ye not observed the boy who travels with the +captain? - the boy I serve, - the one they call Sir Harry? To my mind, +cub though he be, 'tis he who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how the +great Drake himself bends to his slightest wish?" + +"Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, is he, think'st thou?" inquired +the man who had spoken first. + +"Some close kin to the queen, - that much I know," the other answered +quickly, "the heir to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise to see the +world and make a fortune. 'Tis his desire we land, so much he told me, +and 'tis to learn more than directions, my hearties, and that I'll +warrant ye! But, look ye, the water grows too shallow! We can use the +oars no longer." + +And even as he spoke the boat grated upon the pebbles. An incoming +breaker would have carried it ashore, but before the sailors could take +advantage of this help or even so much as ship their oars, half a dozen +swarthy youths had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, whether of +welcome or hostility the Englishmen had no means of knowing, pushed it +high upon the beach. At once, then, for well they realized the danger of +delay, and with a stolid courage born of many a like adventure, the +seamen leaped fearlessly out upon the sand. In their hands they held +aloft bolts of brightly colored cloth snatched on the instant from the +bottom of the boat. These they offered for the wondering inspection of +the women who, observing the small number of invaders, were cautiously +returning. To the warriors grouped about the chief they proffered knives +of which the steel blades, set in strong handles of bone, glistened in +the sun. Eagerly, yet with a certain unexpected formality, the men +accepted these, passing them for examination from one to another with +many a grunt of satisfaction. To be sure, no brave among them but might +the next moment decide to try out the merits of his gift upon the +bestower, but this danger the adventurers had to risk. More timidly the +women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the gaudy red and yellow cloth, +approached the strangers, offering in their turn bits of abalone shell +polished to iridescent beauty. + +They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly people, so much so that at +length the sailors, deeming it safe to undertake the second part of +their errand, began to plead for water and to request, besides, an +interview between their captain and the chief. All this by means of +signs in which they displayed no little wit and skill, the Englishmen +accomplished until, well on toward the middle of the morning, they made +ready to return to the ship, the casks they had brought brimming with +sweet mountain water, while with them they bore as well the promise of +an interview of state between the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis +Drake, to take place upon the beach at sunset. + +And then at once the little village of Toyobet seethed again with +excitement. For these good paleface friends and their god-like commander +a fitting welcome must be prepared. Fleet-footed messengers, bearing +flaming torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain trails that all +who saw might know without words spoken of the assembling of the tribe. +To the distant village at the isthmus they hurried, and to the cove on +the western coast, some twenty miles away, to which a band of warriors +had gone several days before to hunt the otter. That no one among his +people might remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam even caused +signal fires to be kindled on each of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes, +near the center of the island. Smoke rising there was visible from every +corner of his land, and woe to any subject who dared to disregard that +warning! + +Throughout the long bright day the women toiled, preparing a ceremonial +feast. Three antelope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild sheep which +roamed the hills were killed and placed for roasting over deep pits dug +in the sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude +fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their +heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The +women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with +strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely +greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief +Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by +the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back until +almost it touched the ground. About his neck, as token of his +priesthood, he threw the bear-claw necklace, known far and wide among +the tribes for its famous powers of healing. Wildenai alone made no +change except to bind the satin black of her hair still more smoothly +within a fillet of silver. In the center of the band, so that it rested +just above her brow, a strange device appeared, a circle enclosing many +rays, - the royal insignia of the tribe which only the daughter of the +chief might wear. + + + +Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays of light rested golden on +the bay and turned to amethyst the distant mountains on the mainland, +all was ready. Once again, this time to the weird music of tom-toms and +the beating of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship while on the +shore the Indians watched. + +It was in truth a picture not soon to be forgotten. Behind the mirrored +Bay of Moons, its crescent of sand gleaming white against the rocks, the +bands of dusky men and women stood motionless as statues in the quiet +light of the setting sun, while in the doorway of his lodge, his +daughter close beside him, Torquam waited with simple dignity to receive +his guests, the fair-skinned strangers. + +At length along the beach advanced the little group of English, friends +and fellow adventurers with the most renowned of all their great queen's +buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis himself marched young Harold of Wessex, +little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and feared in his own land +even then - a possible heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short distance +in front of these two, standard bearers carried the flags of Merry +England, each glorious with fringes and tassels of gold. Well might such +banners dazzle the eyes and wits of simple savages. + +Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been for the lengthy ceremonial +of the peace-pipe, Wildenai could not have taken time to observe so +closely, in stolen glances from beneath her long black lashes, the +splendor of the young noble standing proudly erect beside his captain; +nor could he have stared so often, with no attempt to hide his +admiration, at the dark beauty of the princess. + +Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to place them side by side at +the feast which followed, young Harold might never have discovered that +an Indian girl, however beautiful, possessed the wit to learn a foreign +language. Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well spoken in which, at +length, she softly asked of her father a question intended obviously for +himself. + +Under cover of one of the Indian dances with which, from time to time, +the feast was enlivened, he leaned impulsively toward her. + +"Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?" he hastily inquired. + +The princess dropped her eyes. For a moment she remained silent as if +debating to what extent such boldness might involve her. Then, with a +glance as shy as if some deer gazed at him startled from the thicket, + +"Yes, mon senor," she answered simply. "I learned it when Don Cabrillo +came to Punagwandah many moons ago." + +After that it was only that one thing led to another, as was sometimes +true of men and maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, as if by +common consent, then, they drew a little apart from the rest, where, +throwing himself on the sand beside her while the firelight threw +flickering shadows among the rocks, the young man related fragments of +his story, - of the long journey across the sea, something of his home +in England, and of the brilliant court of the great queen wherein he had +served as gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet soon, but here her +guest had suddenly flushed and paused as though he spoke too hastily or +of what he should not. To all of it the princess listened with +fast-beating heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place +in this splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter +of a king? Yet how different and how unimportant beside that wonderful +woman of whom he spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam, +feared by every tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden +in many a canyon among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct +told her that to this proud Englishman her people were at best little +more than a curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter. + +When at last the feast was finished, Torquam rose, and removing with +slow solemnity his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon the head +of Sir Francis, a seal of everlasting friendship. With difficulty young +Harold suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well aware of what the +situation demanded as he was keenly alive to its danger, received the +attention with a gravity fully equal to that of his host. Indeed, he +went still further. + +"Most gracious hast thou been, oh Torquam, all wise chief of the +Mariposa," he began in carefully chosen Spanish, "nor shall thy kingly +gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry +steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains +of the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than +all the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring +to you after our return tonight." + +In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him +more. He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those +strange yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until the +Spanish landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his eyes betrayed his +pleasure. But Harold of Wessex stared at his captain in blank +astonishment, for the gift he had just bestowed with such apparent +carelessness was the most valuable bit of cargo in the ship, a costly +Arabian horse intended for the young noble's own special comfort and +convenience during the search for gold on which they were bound. Was +Drake gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw away, and that without +permission, his choicest property on a mere savage? Hot with resentment +he was about to interfere; but before he could obey the rash impulse his +better judgment prevailed, and just in time he remembered how, on +several other such occasions, his very life had been saved by some swift +expedient of Drake's and his tact in handling the natives. + +Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now one watching intently might have +sensed from the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the real point in +the interview. + +"One question, nevertheless, would I ask of all-wise Torquam before we +part." He hesitated, searching the impassive face of the Indian. "Can'st +tell me of a Spaniard, one Cabrillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain, +who, since his father's death, still sails upon these waters? To him I +bear a message," - again he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in +sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but Torquam's face remained +blank as a page unwritten, - "a message from our queen," added Drake. +The last words were uttered with significance. + +The Indian slowly shook his head. + +"The noble white chief asks what is unknown to any man," he answered. +"The young Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwandah. Many moons +ago it was. Where he is now, how should Torquam know?" + +In his bitter disappointment the hand of the Englishman sought the hilt +of his sword. Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about the +chief. + +Drake laughed. + +"Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, thinking thou mightst tell +me. It matters not. The gift I promised thee will come, as I said, +tonight." + +He turned to go and young Harold rose to follow. Then, perceiving the +dark eyes of the princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated and, +obeying a sudden impulse, he stepped hastily to her side. + +"When they return with the gift for thy father," he whispered, "I will +come with them," he smiled into her soft eyes shining with pleased +surprise, "and I will bring a gift to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest +of maidens!" + +Drake gave a sharp command. His followers sprang to their feet, and +without further ceremony the party passed quickly down the beach to +their boat. + +But the princess Wildenai did not leave the feasting ground. Hidden by +deepening shadows she watched the ship's lights glimmer across the +water. Glad indeed was she of the darkness, for a warm flush glowed in +her cheeks and her heart throbbed with a strange new pleasure, a +pleasure bordering close on fear, yet wholly sweet. + +But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had descended upon the village, +once again she sought her father. He, too, within the open doorway of +his lodge, watched intently the distant ship. Without surprise he saw +his daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the blanket beside him, he +stretched a hand and drew her close. + +"It grows cold. The wind is rising. 'Twere best to wait inside." He +spoke in the musical Indian tongue. For a moment he stroked her hair in +silence, then - + +"What think'st thou by now of the English, Wildenai, my little wild +rose?" he asked. + +But the princess seemed not to have heard his question. + +"My father," she began after another short silence, "I have a favor to +ask of thee." + +"And what may that be, my daughter?" he returned gravely. + +But again the young girl made no answer and for many minutes they +watched the tremulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel. + +After a time he felt her hand tighten upon his arm. + +"It is but the old boon over again, my father." Her voice was low as the +sighing of the wind among the oak trees. "I would be freed from my +promise to wed with Don Cabrillo." + +An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to +wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any +woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee. + +"Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, the judgment of him who loves +thee?" he asked. + +"I doubt it not, my father," answered his daughter. "Yet would I not wed +with the Spaniard," she added stubbornly. + +"The blue-eyed senor from England" - there was a hint of humor in his +tone, - "he it is who steals thy fancy! Is it not so, my Wildenai?" + +Then, after a moment: "Right well knowest thou my only wish is to make +thee happy." Again his voice, though gentle, grew serious almost to +sadness. "No mere whim it is that counsels me to wed thee to Cabrillo. +"There is something - " He paused, continuing with effort, - "a reason I +have never told thee why it seems most fitting. Now I will tell thee. +That reason is because, because, my Wildenai, thou art Spanish born +thyself." + +The princess drew a hasty breath. In the darkness he felt rather than +saw her startled eyes upon him. + +"My father!" The exclamation, filled with pain as well as astonishment, +touched him to the quick. Tenderly he drew her to him. Then briefly, as +was the Indian way, yet with the pictured phrasing which caused each +scene to spring into vivid life before the young girl's eyes, he told +her of the day, already more than eighteen years gone by, when, in the +wake of a long midwinter storm, the first sailing vessel ever beheld by +his people had fled for refuge to their bay; and of the little girl +carefully brought to shore by her old nurse in the first boat to touch +the beach. A mere baby she was, too young to know aught of her +misfortune, yet a princess royal, rudely dispossessed of her right to +the throne of Spain, and smuggled aboard the adventurer Cabrillo's ship +to be dropped in some out-of-the-way corner of the western world. Even +then, he made it clear, she might have perished, - since little recked +the Spanish explorer what should happen, well knowing that upon his +return no questions would be asked, - had it not been for his Indian +wife. She, lacking children of her own, had taken an instant fancy to +the dark-eyed little girl, a fancy so strong that nothing would do but +they must adopt her as their own daughter into the tribe to belong +forever, according to their law, she and her children, to the Mariposa. + +"Nor, because thy mother - for ever was she a true mother to thee - +thought that it might grieve thee, have any of my people ever given thee +cause to doubt that thou wert native born," he finished proudly. "Loyal +have they been, doing all they could to make thee happy. But now that +thy Indian mother is dead, and I myself grow old, I thought to wed thee, +knowing his desire, to the son of that same Cabrillo who brought thee to +us, for I long to be sure, when at length I go, that thou art safe, - at +home." + +He waited then and in the silence only the low weeping of the girl was +heard. At length the old chief spoke again, and now in his voice love +conquered disappointment. + +"Much do I desire it, but that matters not. I would not have thee +unhappy. I myself will tell the senor that what he hopes for cannot be." + +Slowly Wildenai bent her head until it touched his feet. Then she +nestled close against him. + +"I thank thee, oh my father!" she cried, and all her voice was music +because of her joy. "And thou art still my father," she added, +earnestly. "What care I to go to Spain? I will stay always with thee." + +"For a time, it may be. Yet have a care, little wild rose," he +cautioned, smiling, "Let not the Englishman lure thee away! He, too, may +not be all that thou thinkest." + +And even as he spoke, in mocking confirmation of his words, there came +to them suddenly from across the water, the distant creaking of ropes, +the snapping of sails flung hastily to the wind. Before their +unbelieving eyes the vessel swung about and put slowly out to sea. Dumb +with amazement they watched until the last faint light flickered into +darkness. Not until the remotest chance of a mistake was past did the +old chief rise, trembling with rage, to his feet. + +"See'st thou now what I meant, my daughter? The English pale-faces know +not the meaning of honor, - no, nor of gratitude either!" + +He lifted his long spear from the ground and shook it fiercely. + +"The words of the Mariposa are few," he cried, "but their revenge is +sure. Let but an Englishman set foot again on Punagwandah and, swifter +than the arrow leaves the bowstring, he dies!" + +And at once, without answer, in the silence of suffering which only the +wild things of the earth understand, Wildenai crept from the lodge, her +heart heavy with its own bitter disappointment. Noiselessly she passed +among the tepees where her father's people slept. Not one of them should +ever know how far dwelt slumber from her own eyes that night. Up the +steep trail beyond the Bay of Moons she climbed and flung herself +weeping on the bed of skins within the cavern. + +"Oh, thou false one," she moaned, "why did'st thou promise then, when +never did'st thou mean to keep it?" + + + +Yet nothing had been farther from the young Englishman's thoughts when +he left her than faithlessness to his word. On reaching the ship again +he had gone directly to his cabin. Here he took from its small but +richly embroidered case a slender chain of gold, threaded so closely +with garnets that even in the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the +only illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a glancing stream of +crimson, in his hand. This he carried to the light and as he examined it +under the lantern he smiled. + +"Never saw the little maid such jewels before, I'll warrant me! Yet, +beshrew my heart, but she deserves them. Indian though she be, still is +she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman that ever mine eyes have looked +upon!" + +Then, stowing the necklace carefully away in his belt, he went at once +in search of the commander. + +But at this point an unexpected difficulty had presented itself. He +found Sir Francis in close conversation with his pilot. + +"Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy wish," the keen-eyed old +mariner was saying. "I still maintain it were a shame to lose this wind. +Gift or no gift, I've sailed these latitudes before, my lord, and by +heaven I swear we're not like to have such another breeze, no, not till +the change of the moon, and that you know yourself, sir, is a good +fortnight hence." + +Sir Francis, striding back and forth within the narrow confines of the +quarter deck, appeared to be weighing the old man's words with unusual +care. At length, however, he turned as one who has made his decision. + +"By the mass and it shall be even as you say, Jarvis," he declared. "I +think myself 'twere well to push on at once. At the most they be but +Indians!" The last words were spoken in a lower tone as if to himself. +"'Twill matter little either way!" + +It was at this point that young Harold stepped hastily forward. For, +strangely enough, although on the morning of that same day such a +proceeding would scarcely have appealed to him as being at all unfitting +or out of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable. + +"But, good sir," he interrupted, "you would not so belie your promise! +To do as Jarvis here advises, - by heaven, 'twould be neither truthful +nor honorable! 'Tis not like you, Sir Francis!" + +Drake shot at him a surprised glance from under his bushy eyebrows, then +shrugged his shoulders. + +"Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages," he +replied. "Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew +the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They +know not the meaning of such words." + +In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the promised +gift with the aid of his own retinue. + +"Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir," he pleaded, +"and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to +the shore!" + +But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience, +as commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men +to leave the ship. + +"We dare not lose the wind," he finished emphatically, "and are like to +start at any minute." Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his +cabin and shut the door behind him. + +Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment, +glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in +the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought. + +"The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment," he muttered at +length, "but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!" + +Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark, +swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat. To +him he explained his difficulty, adding grimly: + +"And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have work cut out for thee!" + +He threw an arm about the other's shoulders and in this familiar fashion +the two men paced the deck together, conversing in low tones. + +"And besides," observed the nobleman as they paused a moment before +parting, "would'st know the truth about the matter? For all old Jarvis' +prating, the Golden Hind is not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor +even then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show of much hurry, but - " +he snapped his fingers scornfully, "only aid me now, unseen by anyone, +to launch the Zephir, and by our virgin queen herself I swear, when once +again we see the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 'twas well +worth thy trouble." + +His companion smiled even while, with the trained servility of the +retainer, he doffed his cap. + +"Aye, truly, my lord," he answered, "but, since it were an impossible +feat to get so much as a colt into the Zephir, methinks thou hast a gift +of thine own to bestow on yonder pretty Indian maid!" + +The blood leaped to Sir Harry's cheek. With a quick gesture he placed +his hand upon his sword. + +"Presume not upon my favor, Mortimer, or by heaven! - " he began +angrily, but stopped suddenly as, with a fearless laugh, the man beside +him pushed the half-drawn weapon back into its place. + +"Nay then, not so fast, my lord," he chuckled gaily. "Hearkee, my +master. I did but use my eyes during their everlasting pow-wow. Surely +ye would not grudge me that! And the maid is comely, well worth a +trinket from thy store. Besides," he laughed slyly, "I saw e'en more to +thine interest, for methinks the princess is as much in love with thy +looks as art thou with hers." + +"Silence, fool! Thou hast said more than enough already. Think'st thou +the son of a duke royal would look at a brown-skinned savage, an +unbelieving pagan, no matter how comely, as thou call'st it, she might +be!" + +But the flush remained, nevertheless, on the dark cheek of the young +nobleman as he strode angrily from the deck. + + + +The moonlight had laid a quivering path of light across the water before +Wildenai raised her bowed head from the ground. But, at length, drawing +her blanket more closely about her, for into the night air the chill of +the ocean had crept, she was about to leave the cave when a sudden sound +from the beach below arrested her. For a moment she listened in silence +while the shout was repeated, then stood dumb with amazement. A third +time it came to her, borne on the rising wind, the terrified cry of a +man in dire distress. Nor was it one of her own people who thus called +out of the darkness for help. Swiftly she ran to an overhanging ledge of +rock from which, by lying flat and peeping over, she could, without +exposing herself, command a wide view of the sea. + +At the first glance there appeared to be nothing amiss. Far beneath her +the noisy breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. Above their +musical booming no other sound could be heard. Then suddenly she saw +him. A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close to the great rounded +boulder which, together with a still larger one from which it had at +some distant time been broken off, formed the outermost boundary of the +curving Beach of Moons. The dark figure standing erect in the boat +strove with the aid of an oar to keep it from being dashed to pieces +against the giant rock. Again there floated up to her the desperate call +for help. The voice was that of the English noble! + +Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, and without the slightest +hesitation ran lightly down the perilous incline, leaping fearlessly +from rock to rock, until, within a few seconds, she stood poised above +the seething surf on the top of the larger boulder. Here, balancing +herself as easily and securely as a wild antelope, she raised her arms +to dive. But now from the shadows below the white man called once more. + +"Attempt it not, oh Wildenai! 'Tis death to leap from there!" + +But without waiting even to reply, the Indian girl sprang into the +waves. An instant later and he saw her arms gleam in the moonlight as, +with the strong slow strokes of an experienced swimmer, she struck out +for the boat. In spite of the perilous rocking of the little craft he +rested on his oar to watch her for a moment in sheer admiration of her +skill. But the maid knew well the danger of every instant's delay. In +the very nick of time she seemed almost to throw herself between him and +the rocks while, with a strength he would have believed impossible in +one so small, she pulled the boat around. Then, still swimming and +without a word to him, she began to push it ahead of her toward the +shore. It was but a few minutes before they stood together on the beach. + +And now the young noble, overcome with gratitude, fell on his knees +before her and caught her hand between his own. He would have kissed it +in sheer joy at his escape, but the Indian girl drew sharply back. + +"Quick!" she whispered, yet remembering to speak in Spanish, "You must +hide yourself at once. My father will kill you if he should find you +here!" + +Swiftly she concealed the boat in a tiny cove behind the boulder, a +hiding place he would never have seen though it was apparently perfectly +familiar to her. + +"Sometimes my own canoe I keep there too," she whispered. "Now come!" +and she hurried him along the beach and up an easier trail beyond the +rocks to her cavern bower above. + +Nor did she pause for an instant's rest until they had passed safely +behind the manzanita branches which concealed the entrance. Here, +motioning him to do the same, she dropped upon a pile of skins. But +instead, in real concern, the young Englishman knelt again beside her. + +"Thou art so wet and cold," he began anxiously, "Will it not make thee +ill? Yet 'twas a wondrous feat," he added admiringly, "well conceived +and carried out with skill such as any man might envy!" + +The princess laughed. + +'Twas nothing," she answered briefly. "I do it almost every day." + +"I came to bring to thee the gift I promised," explained Lord Harold +then, and from his belt he drew the little case. Eagerly he flung the +gleaming string of garnets about her slim brown throat. + +"Jewels brought by my father to my mother on the morning of their +marriage," he told her. "When she lay dying she gave them me and told me +never to part with them except I gave them to my - " He paused suddenly, +"But thou hast saved my life!" he added as quickly, "Who else could ever +deserve them more? Well know I my mother would wish thee to have them." + +Silently, though her eyes were bright with, pleasure, the princess +lifted the beautiful necklace. + +"Wildenai will wear them always, senor lord," she answered softly, "for +now she knows that truly you did mean to keep your word!" + +And so, his mission accomplished, her guest rose hastily to his feet. He +must return immediately to the ship. + +"Know you not, then, that it is gone?" exclaimed the girl, amazed. + +"Gone?" echoed young Harold, and stared at her astounded. He seemed not +to have grasped her meaning. "Gone, said'st thou?" + +"The ship was out of sight a full hour or more ere ever I heard you +call," she explained. + +Still he continued to gaze at her fixedly as if totally unable to +comprehend what she would have him know. Then it was plain to be seen +that, for the moment at least, blank despair took hold upon him. Up and +down the length of the cave he strode like some imprisoned wild thing. +At length, standing quite still with folded arms, he seemed to lose +himself in thought. + +"Battling with the surf I did not see nor hear," he muttered at last. +"But he could not sail without me!" he added. Fiercely he raised his +head and his eyes flashed. "He dare not so betray me!" + +Wildenai, too, had been considering. + +"The great white captain knew, then, that you were not on board?" she +asked suddenly. + +"No," replied the young man reluctantly, "that did he not. I came +without his knowledge. He would have prevented me," he continued +stubbornly, "and I had promised thee a gift. Never did I break my word, +nor would not then. But I did not dream it possible they could get away +so soon! By our virgin lady in Heaven I swear I know not what to do." +And once more he seemed lost in despair. + +But only for a moment. Then he turned hastily to the entrance. + +"I must follow them at once," he declared impatiently, "I can overtake +them even yet." + +Swift as lightning the girl threw herself between him and the opening in +the cave. + +"No, no, senor Englishman," she cried. "It is impossible! Listen, only +listen to me! What have you, then, to steer by save the stars? And you +see that, drowned in moonlight, they do not shine tonight. And, more +than that, you do not even know what course the vessel takes. Remember, +too, that there is neither food nor drink within your boat. You would +surely die ere you could ever find the ship." + +Gradually she compelled him to listen to reason until, seating himself +again upon the skins, he challenged her still further. + +"But what, then, shall I do?" he demanded. "Can'st also tell me that?" + +And with equal readiness the princess replied: + +"If you will but let me I can hide you here. The cavern is my own. Here +for many a moon have I worked and waited. No one would dare to enter. +You will be safe. Besides, my father's anger will grow cold in time, and +then I know that, if I ask him, he will help you." + +His chin propped upon his hands, the young nobleman moodily considered. + +"Well, do then as thou deemest best," he told her finally. + +And from that moment there began for the little princess a time so +wonderful that for all the rest of her life she remembered each separate +hour as though it had been some beautiful word in a poem learned by +heart. + +With deft fingers she piled her softest doeskins for his bed. + +"But what wilt thou do, tell me, if I rob thee of thy nest?" he asked, +watching her with amused eyes as she worked. + +"I go always to the village to sleep," she answered simply, and so left +him. + +But in the morning while yet the red of sunrise burned above the great +peak Orazaba, she returned, bearing upon her head an olla of carved +stone filled with water from a mountain spring. This in smiling silence +she set before him and disappeared. Within the hour, however, she was +back again and this time, kneeling on the ground, she laid at his feet +the ripe fruit of the manzanita tree, lying like small red apples, dewy +fresh, upon a wild-grape leaf. + +"Ala - ate, see! Are they not good?" she asked triumphantly. + +And so from day to day she ministered to him. Many a time as he sat, +listless and moody, within his hiding-place, a handful of wild +strawberries, steeped in the warm sweetness of the hills, would be +pushed beneath the leafy branches that concealed the door. Sometimes she +brought him bread baked from a curious kind of meal made of pounded +seeds. + +Once, too, when a sudden storm had chilled the air, she kindled a fire +for him within a smaller cave, receding like a fire-place into the rocky +wall opposite the opening. It was a long and tedious process which the +man watched curiously. First, kneeling on the ground, she rubbed +together two dry willow sticks until a little pile of dust had gathered. +Then, still stooping, she struck two flints together until at last a +spark fell into the dust. Some dry leaves were dropped upon the tiny +blaze, then twigs, and lo, a fire! + +In spite of himself the Englishman smiled, though a softer feeling shown +in his eyes. How beautiful and yet how childish she looked kneeling +there with the anxious pucker between her brows. Poor little princess, +how very hard she worked to serve him! + +"It takes a long time, Wildenai," he observed, "dost thou try it often?" + +"Never for myself," she answered gravely. "I have no need. But I do it +gladly for you." She smiled brightly back at him, then rose and moved +swiftly to the doorway. "Another thing I do for you today. Wait!" + +And when she returned a few minutes later she brought with her, +carefully wrapped in cool green leaves, a fish freshly caught that +morning. + +"A brook trout, on my word, such as I have often taken in the streams at +home!" exclaimed Lord Harold, amazed. + +"I got it far up the canyon before the sun was risen," she answered, +delighted at his surprise. + +This, having quickly dressed it, she wrapped again in leaves and placed +under the hot ashes to bake, and it being, evidently, a feast out of the +ordinary, a merry-making to which a third guest might be bidden, +suddenly Wildenai left the cavern again to return this time with a tiny +gray fox perched familiarly upon her shoulder. + +"'Tis Onatoa, senor Englishman," she announced, gently stroking the +bushy tail of the little creature as it lay about her neck. + +But from his vantage point above his rival, Onatoa merely sniffed +disdainfully with his sharp black nose. He looked far from friendly. + +The princess laughed softly. + +He does not know you yet," she defended her pet. "He will soon learn to +love you, too." + +"I will catch fish with thee next time thou goest," declared young +Harold later as they ate together. "There's no reason I can see why I +should stay mewed up forever in this cave. I fear not Indians! No, not +even Torquam, thy father, himself." + +For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. Then she laughed. + +"You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!" she exclaimed with pride. "Nor +would there be much danger. We will go to the other side of the island +where the waves run high and the cliffs are tall and black. There will I +show you the nests of the great eagles, and the antelope leaping among +the rocks. And, - who can tell?" she laughed again with child-like +pleasure, "perhaps we shall find a white otter!" + +And, true to her word, he heard at dawn next day outside the cavern the +whistle of a blackbird, a signal early contrived between them. She +deemed it best, she explained, to start thus early that the darkness +might conceal them until they had passed well beyond the outskirts of +the village. But this danger overcome, they spent the whole day rambling +fearlessly among the hills, - a long, idle, happy day. Up many a dim +trail winding back into the canyons the princess led him. Through golden +thickets of wild mustard they passed, coming, when he least expected it, +upon glimpses of the summer sea framed between the branches of knarled +old oak trees. + +"They are low and crooked, and they spread themselves over the ground as +do our English oaks," the young nobleman informed her. + +As Wildenai had promised they discovered, poised high among the crags of +the wild southern shore, the great eagles of which she had told him, +measuring easily, from wing-tip to wing-tip, fully a dozen feet. The +white otter, rarest and most valuable of all the game hunted by her +people, eluded them, but many a small gray fox slipped away among the +bushes, leaving the Englishman tingling for the chase. + +At twilight, as they made their way back to the cavern, they came upon a +tiny lake lying asleep within the crater of a dead volcano. From the +sides little clouds of ashes rose, floating softly away on the breezes +of evening. The princess gathered a handful and murmuring some musical +words in her own tongue she threw them into the air. + +"And would it be amiss for me to ask what 'tis you do?" questioned her +companion, observing her closely. + +"I was sending a prayer to Wakan-ate, the Great Spirit," she replied +quietly. + +"A prayer, - and borne to heaven on the wings of ashes!" He seemed +amused. "But what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?" + +Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she replied: "It were not fitting +that any maiden tell for what she prays!" + +The words were spoken with such gravity that the young man flushed under +the rebuke. + +When she left him at the doorway of the cavern that evening she said as +she made a gay little gesture of farewell: "Today the land, but tomorrow +we shall find still more beautiful things that lie hidden under the deep +waters. You shall see!" + +And once again with dawn she came. This time it was the splash of a +paddle that brought him to the opening in the rock. + +"Aloho-ate, lazy one!" she called gaily from below. "Make haste! The +world is always loveliest while it lies waiting for the sun!" + +That day, perhaps, from among them all, lived longest within the memory +of young Harold, - the porpoises playing fearlessly around her canoe as +the princess, with graceful, effortless strokes, paddled around one +after another of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, skimming +the surface of the ocean until, by virtue of their speed alone, they +rose like gleaming bows of silver from the foam. Intent to show him all +her treasures, Wildenai guided him to a quiet stretch of water lying +close to shore within the shadow of tall cliffs which rose at that point +with precipitous abruptness from the sea itself. + +"Here are my gardens that grow under the water," she explained, as they +glided above the spot. "Look well at them. They are most beautiful." + +And gazing down at her command through the clear green into the luminous +depths below, he caught glimpses of these gardens of the sea where +goldfish darted like tropical birds among the branches of tall tree-like +stalks of swaying seaweed, and strange shapes of jade and blue floated +in the shadows. + +"Is it not wonderful?" she asked. + +"It is indeed, my Wildenai," he answered earnestly. "Never in all my +travels, methinks, have I seen aught before like this your island here! +It seems to me indeed a charmed land, a kind of magic isle!" + +One day it rained, the last belated rain of winter. But even the storm +brought pleasures of its own, for, seated on the pile of skins beside +him, the little gray fox curled contentedly at her feet, Wildenai worked +at her loom. Within its dull-colored warp a blanket, woven in a strange +design of mingled red, and black, and white, grew slowly beneath her +busy fingers. + +For hours the maiden drew the short woolen threads in and out while the +young man, stretched lazily upon the ground, told her many a tale of the +England he had left. Then, quite without warning, she ceased her work +and sat pensively watching through the opening in the rocks the long +gray swell of the sea. + +"And what is it now, my princess?" laughed young Harold. "The pattern is +not yet finished, nor is the rain abated." + +"Ah, senor Harold lord," wistfully replied the girl, "I was but wishing +I had been born one of those same fair English maids with the eyes of +blue and golden hair you tell about. Then would you love me even as you +do them!" she added artlessly, and leaned her chin upon her hand, +considering. A secret trembled on her lips. + +"And how if I were Spanish born?" she questioned, and lifted hesitating, +frightened eyes to his, "dark to look at, that I know well, but even so, +the white man's kind of princess, who also has a throne?" + +And all unwitting Lord Harold answered scornfully, "Spanish! Say no such +word to me! The English hate the Spanish!" Fiercely he caught up a +pebble and sent it whirling out across the water. "Even now their robber +king plans his huge armada to take our queen and rule our land, but +that, by the holy virgin herself, shall never be! Sooner will every drop +of blood in bonny England be spilt. Never could I make thee understand +how much I hope to be at home before he comes! Spanish indeed! Nay, +never let me hear the hateful word again!" + +Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, with the impulsive +changeableness which had so endeared him to her, he caught one little +brown hand and raised it to his lips. + +"But I do love thee even as thou art, my Wildenai," he told her with the +careless assurance of one much older speaking to a child. "Is not a wild +rose sweet as any garden bloom? Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!" + +Again he laughed and the little princess laughed with him now, for into +her heart at his words had come a happiness so unlooked for and so +wildly sweet as wholly to bewilder her. Quickly she rose, struck by a +sudden thought, and running to the farthermost corner of the cavern she +brushed aside a pile of leaves and lifted some stones, disclosing at +length a box fashioned from the choicest cedar. Out of it, while the +Englishman watched with wondering eyes, she drew a garment made of +creamy doeskin, deeply fringed and trimmed besides with strings of +wampum, the polished fragments of abalone shells and many-colored beads. +Silently she brought it to him and when he touched it admiringly, for +the dress was beautiful. "It is my marriage robe," she told him gravely. + +That night, while the rain tapped softly at her tepee, the princess +dreamed of a wondrous land beyond the sea where proudly she walked by +her white chief's side and fair women with braided, golden hair spoke +kind words of welcome, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes. + + + +Then, without warning, came the end of all her dreams. Hurrying along +the beach at sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught the first +glimpse of the returning vessel as it stole around a distant point. For +the space of a second her heart stood still, then throbbed wildly, but +whether with joy or pain she could not herself have told. One question +only demanded all her thought. Should she let Lord Harold know? Perhaps +the great white captain would not remember their bay. Perhaps, - her +breath came fast, - perhaps the ship, unseen by anyone, would pass and +Lord Harold remain behind content. With hands tight-clenched she watched +the distant sail, fear growing in her eyes. Yet she knew that she would +tell him. Nothing else was honorable. This, surely, he must decide for +himself. + +But tidings of such moment outran even her swift feet. She found him +buckling on his swordbelt, in his eyes the glad light of some trapped +bird which sees the door of its cage suddenly open. + +"The ship - " she began with sinking heart. + +"Yes, yes, I know! I saw it!" he answered, a fever of impatience in his +voice. "'Tis Drake. I knew he dared not leave me! 'Twill soon be too +close in. Needs not he risk his safety. I must go before he gains the +shore." + +The princess hesitated. What meant that strange heaviness at her heart? +Was he not still her brave, true warrior, - her great white chief? Had +he not told her that he loved her? Crossing to where he stood she bowed +herself before him until her silver fillet touched his feet. + +"I, too!" she whispered, "I shall go to England with thee!" + +And at her words, within the little cavern there came a silence to be +felt. In undisguised dismay the Englishman gazed at her where she knelt. +Then: + +"By the holyrood!" he muttered aghast, "She must have thought, - God +only knows what she must have thought!" + +He glanced hurriedly toward the doorway and back again, ashamed. Then +even such impatience as was his gave way, for the moment at least, to +something more chivalric. He stooped and patted awkwardly the smooth +black head. + +"Come, Wildenai, little wild rose, look up and speak to me. I must be +going!" + +But still the maid lay prostrate, clasping close his rough buskins in +her little brown hands. Never in all his life had Lord Harold been so +sorely uncomfortable. How was it possible she had ever imagined that he +could take her with him, - that he had meant so much? Resentment grew +within him at the thought, yet strangely mingled always with something +far more tender. Hastily he considered, his heart torn between the +desire not to wound her and dread of what he knew she wanted. To be sure +the maid was beautiful, with the softened beauty of a moonlit night in +summer, her eyes beneath her dusky hair like stars between the branches +of dark trees, her voice that of the forest stream when it sings itself +to sleep. Yet past all doubt he knew that not one among the gorgeous +throng that crowded about Elizabeth would ever see that beauty, no +English ear take heed to hear the music of her voice. Nay, he could +even, as he thought of it, picture the amazement of the great queen, +could hear her scornful laughter, should he present, to help adorn her +court, a savage Indian girl! No, a thousand times no! Such disgrace he +could not suffer. Nor was the maid herself, so he defended himself, +fitted for such a life. Soon would she be as unhappy in England as he +would be to have her there. Besides, she was but a child. Else had she +never so far forgot all womanly dignity as to force herself upon him, +and being but a child she would soon forget. Gently he made to raise her +to her feet. + +"Wildenai, little wild rose," he began again, "what thou hast asked of +me thou dost well know thyself is an unheard of thing. Much as I owe to +thee, and well know I that 'tis so much I never can repay it; still for +thine own sweet sake 'tis not in this way thy reward must come. The long +journey and the strange new life would kill thee, Wildenai." Having once +begun he stumbled on, but half aware of how each word he uttered hurt +her, eager only to have done with the whole sorry scene. "Thou art but a +little wild flower. Thou couldst not live away from this, thy sunny +island. Can'st thou not understand, my Wildenai?" + +He paused, waiting for a reply; but the maiden answered nothing. Silent +she lay as though in very truth she were a wild flower tossed to earth +and trampled upon by some uncaring foot. + +At last the man could bear it no longer. Forcibly he loosed her hands +and stepped back. For a moment longer he lingered, looking down upon her +in mingled impatience and regret; then, turning abruptly, he passed +hastily out of the cavern and down the trail to the beach. + +Still the girl lay motionless. It was as if every sense were stunned, +all power of thought suspended except to grasp the one fact that made +her whole world empty, - he was gone! As in a dream she heard the +grating of the pebbles when he pushed his boat into the water, heard the +clank of the oars as they dropped into the oar-locks. Even yet she did +not move. Then, after many minutes, she crept to the opening and +searched the sea with eyes almost, too dim with tears to find that for +which she sought. But yes, there it was, - a black speck against the +golden sunset. She watched until she had seen the distant vessel put +about, making for the open sea. Ah, now she knew that he was safe +aboard, - no need had they to come farther into shore. Yet still she +waited, straining her eyes to see the ship sink slowly beneath the +horizon. One last glint of sunlight against a white sail, and it was +gone. + +Then at once she rose, and moving quietly about the little cavern, she +put all in perfect order with touch as tender as that of a mother +preparing for its last sleep some little child. Here was the basket he +had helped to weave, here the mat on which he had lain. Her fingers +lingered caressingly on each thing that he had touched. There in the +corner still stood the olla in which she had brought him water. How +amused he had been that she could carry it on her head all the way up +the hill from the spring without so much as spilling one drop! But that +was all past now. + +When at last everything was finished she gave the little rock-walled +room one long, lingering look, the look of one who would carry in his +heart the image of what he beholds all the rest of his life. Then she, +too, made her way through the doorway into the deepening dusk. + + + +On the beach below, squatted within the opened flap of his tepee, +Torquam, mighty chief of the Mariposa, smoked his evening pipe. A +wonderful pipe it was, long and delicately fashioned, inlaid with +iridescent fragments of shell. Yet instantly he laid it aside as the +slender form of his daughter darkened the doorway. + +"Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art thou as sunshine after +rain!" His eyes lighted with the tenderness never seen there by any +other than this motherless girl. He stretched his hand to her and the +princess came silently and knelt before him. + +"My father," she said firmly, though in so low a tone that Torquam bent +to hear. "Oh, father, thou art always wise! Thou only knowest best. I +come to thee to tell that I will wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him +whenever thou dost choose!" + +Taking her face between his hands, Torquam gazed long and searchingly +into the sorrowful eyes of his daughter. + +"And thou art wise to do so, my beloved one," he said at last. "He will +make to thee a good husband." In his voice was the keen understanding of +a father. "He will be kind to thee and heal thy wounded heart, my +daughter. Don Cabrillo is a good man," he repeated solemnly." + + + +Miss Hastings Brings It to an End + + + +Part II + + + +Miss Hastings Brings It to an End + + + +Centuries passed, and again, with the same sweet suddenness as in the +days gone by, spring came to Catalina. Guests of the St. Catherine, +lounging on its wide verandahs, gazed across a sunlit sea to where the +faint cloud that was San Jacinto hovered, the merest ghost of a +mountain, above the misty mainland. Along the broad board-walk leading +down to Avalon benches, shaded by brightstriped awnings, flaunted an +invitation to every passing tourist. Strings of Japanese lanterns bobbed +merrily above the narrow village streets. Everywhere were laughter and +movement and color from the bathing beaches, dotted with gay umbrellas - +even to the last yacht anchored round the point. + +To the man making slow progress down the crowded wharf from the +afternoon boat this holiday world into which he thus suddenly stepped, +presented an appearance so different from that he had pictured as almost +to bewilder him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus waiting to haul +him up the winding grade to the hotel, he actually hesitated. Yet seldom +before, to his knowledge, had he found it difficult to adapt himself to +an unexpected situation. + +"Hotel St. Catherine! Bus to the hotel, sir?" + +Other guests, more certain of their intentions, pushed impatiently +against him, and presently he found himself, wedged well toward the +middle of the long seat, chugging comfortably up the hill. Still +half-daunted, he gazed about him. It was all of it charming to be sure, +fascinating even; yet, could this festive summering place be the Avalon +of his dreams? Was this the quaint village of Spanish times, reaching +back still further through dimly remembered Indian lore to a world lost +now except to legend? Yet it was for the sake of a mere legend, a +fanciful tale handed down in his family through many a generation, that +he had made the long journey from New York to California, nor - and here +he set his lips with dogged determination, did he intend to return until +he had found that for which he searched. + +It was now something over two years since Harrison Blair, then fresh +from Yale, had astonished both those who wished him well and those who, +for various envious reasons, did not, with the wholly unreasonable +success of his first book. For, to those who did not understand, his +sudden fame had seemed all the more surprising in that it rested upon +nothing more substantial than a slender volume of Indian verse. So +unusual, however, had been his treatment of this well-worn subject as to +call forth more than a little comment from even the most conservative of +critics. The Brush and Pen had hastened to confer upon him an honorary +membership. Cadmon, magic weaver of Indian music, had written a warm +letter of appreciation. And, most precious tribute of all, the Atlantic +Monthly had become interested in his career. + +To be sure, it was nothing more than might have been expected of a man +whose undergraduate work in English had aroused the reluctant wonder of +more than one instructor. Nevertheless, the fact that he pulled stroke +on the 'varsity crew had somewhat blinded other contemporaries to his +more scholarly attainments. Nor had anyone thought it probable, because +of his father's wealth, that Blair, in any event, would feel called upon +to do much more than make a frolic of life. No one, indeed, had been +more taken aback than had his father to find him, a year after +graduation, drudging over the assistant editor's desk of a struggling +magazine the payroll of which, to put it mildly, offered no financial +inducements. + +"It's good practice for me, though, - quickest way to learn," was all he +vouchsafed when the older man remonstrated. + +Yet, had that same father, shrewd capitalist that he was, but taken the +trouble to reason back from premises evident enough, he might have been +the first to realize that this tall son of his, with the keen gray eyes +and a face the strength of which was but increased by the high cheek +bones and squarely molded chin, was scarcely the type of man to sit idly +by enjoying the fruits of another's labor. + +And now, after two years more of grinding apprenticeship, he had in mind +something much bigger than the slender volume of verse, - an adventure +into authorship more suited to his metal, - a story for which an intense +personal sympathy would furnish fitting atmosphere, with the final spur +to his ambition a letter from the Atlantic even at the moment stowed +safely away in his pocket. + +Some two hours later, after an unexpectedly excellent dinner in the +luxurious dining room, he sauntered over to the hotel desk. There was no +more than the faintest probability that a clerk of the St. Catherine +would be able to tell him how to reach a secret cavern bower above the +Bay of Moons; still, he had to enter an opening wedge somewhere. The one +man on duty was for the moment occupied with another guest, and Blair, +lighting his after-dinner cigar, prepared with leisurely patience to +await his turn. + +The guest happened to be a young woman, rather pretty, he casually +decided, although her greatest claim to beauty lay more, perhaps, in the +swift changes in expression of which her face was capable, than in any +actual regularity of line. For lack of anything better to do, Blair +watched idly her encounter with the clerk. There appeared to be some +kind of misunderstanding. + +"Awfully sorry it's happened that way, Miss Hastings," the man behind +the desk was saying. He lifted with genuine reluctance the key she had +just laid down. "We'd be mighty sorry to interfere with your work, but +those small rooms always do go first. You know that yourself." + +"I hadn't heard about it, though. I didn't know they were all gone." Her +voice quivered with disappointment. + +Blair, whose vocation taught him a certain technical sympathy, shot a +swift glance at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-two or +thereabouts, he decided less casually, and went on to observe her still +further. She wore a shabby, broad-brimmed hat much faded as if from +constant exposure to the sun, but the shadows in the coil of hair +beneath were warmly golden. + +"Couldn't you find a room down in the village somewhere, - at Mrs. +Merrill's perhaps?" suggested the clerk. + +"But Mrs. Merrill isn't here this spring." In spite of its quiver the +voice was very sweet. + +"No," she started to turn away, "I'll have to put it off again, I +suppose. I've looked everywhere." + +She took a step or two, hesitated, then returned to the desk. + +"You're positive there isn't a single one of the small rooms left?" she +pleaded. "I wouldn't care how far back it was, - anything would do. You +can't think how I hate to give up. I had so hoped to finish it this +time!" + +The man shook his head. + +"No, we're absolutely full just now. Later on there might be something, +- after the season is over." + +"But that will be after school begins," answered the girl bitterly. "I +can't work at all then!" and catching up a bag fully as shabby as the +hat, she hurried away. + +"Who is she?" asked Blair abruptly, overlooking for the moment his +original purpose in seeking the man. + +"School-teacher from Pasadena," replied the clerk briefly. "Teaches art +in some private school over there, I believe." He eyed Blair amusedly. +"Think you've met her before somewhere?" + +Blair allowed his annoyance to show. "No, never laid eyes on her till +just now. But I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her," he +persisted. "She seemed so sort of cut up. What's the trouble?" + +"I'm sorry for her myself," declared the man on the other side as he +hung the returned key on its board. "This is the third time that poor +little woman's had to leave before she could finish what she came for on +account of the expense. But what can we do?" He shrugged his shoulders. +"The St. Catherine isn't exactly a Y. W. C. A." + +"What is it she's trying to do?" + +Amusement deepened in the man's eyes. + +"She's supposed to be painting Indians." + +"Indians!" To the amazement of the other man Blair suddenly leaned +forward, his eyes agleam with interest. + +"But I didn't know there were any around here." + +"There aren't." + +"Then how - ?" + +"Makes 'em up out of her head, I guess. I never heard that she had even +a model." + +"But - but what I want to know is why she comes here at all?" The +situation seemed to Blair to offer possibilities, yet he was thoroughly +puzzled. "I met a fellow on the train who does that sort of thing, but +he always goes to the desert to paint, - at least he said he did." + +"Yes, they do mostly. Probably he meant Taos, - whole nest of artists at +Taos." + +"Well, but why in thunder then - ?" + +The clerk smiled skeptically. + +"Why, you see, it's something like this. Miss Hastings' bent on being an +illustrator, pays better than teaching, I suppose, or - well, at any +rate, that's what she's aiming for, - and she has an idea that if she +can only get a series of pictures, - several of them on the same +subject, you understand, - accepted by one of those Eastern magazines, +she can soon work in with some big publisher and get an order. She told +us all about it one night last winter when she was over." + +"But in heaven's name, why Indians?" persisted Blair. + +"Because she thinks she's found some good material here. She told me +about that, too. Seems there's an old legend connected with Catalina, +about an Indian princess and a cavern. The princess died of a broken +heart or something of the sort, I believe she said. I never heard the +particulars myself. Nobody else, either, seems to know anything about +it. But Miss Hastings says there's quite a story, and she's got it all +down pat from A to Z. She's using it for her series." + +A porter brought up some newcomers and Blair stepped aside. But the +moment his man was at leisure again he cornered him at once. An idea had +come to him, an idea almost dazzling in its possibilities. + +"You say she hasn't finished her series yet?" + +"Beg pardon? Oh, the teacher?" The man shook his head. "Evidently not +from what she said just now. She never stays long enough really to put +it over. Every few months she bobs up over a week-end, but that doesn't +give her time even to visit some of the places she's after. She never +seems to get much more than started before she has to go home again." + +For a moment Blair smoked in silence. Then: + +"Look here," he cut in abruptly, "You split my suite and give her one of +my rooms." + +The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. + +"Her? What do you mean?" + +Blair made an impatient gesture. + +"Why, this Miss - the teacher, you know. Didn't you just say you hadn't +any room for her? Well, I've got three, you know." + +"Yes, but that's altogether a different proposition. You made your +reservation weeks ago." + +"But you could still give her one of them, couldn't you?" + +Clerks in large hotels listen with patience to a vast number of strange +proposals, but at this from Blair, the man opposite eyed him in +unflattering amazement. + +"But you said, when you wired, you wanted the extra room to work in," he +objected, "and you'll remember, Mr. Blair, that you were pretty emphatic +about it, too, at the time. We went to all kinds of trouble to fix that +up for you." + +"I can get along all right without it, though," coolly observed his +changeable guest, "and I'd rather she'd have it. It's possible to split +suites here, isn't it?" he persisted. "They do at most hotels." + +"It's possible, of course." Across the desk the eyes of the two men met +squarely. "That part of it's easy enough. But why? and who's going to +pay for it?" + +"I'm going to pay for it! What did you suppose?" exploded Blair. "It's +worth that and a lot more to me just now to keep her from getting away. +Oh, I'm in earnest all right. I mean it! Look here! Can't you see how +that woman can be a perfect gold mine to me? You know enough about my +work to understand that I'm really out here after Indians myself, and +she - well, I'll wager a cool thousand there isn't a spot on this whole +island that ever dreamed of seeing an Indian that she doesn't know all +about!" + +The clerk nodded. "But - " + +"But nothing!" Impatiently Blair brushed aside all objections. "Why, I +hadn't the remotest idea how I was going to get started. It's a rattling +piece of good luck, and we'll fix it up right now!" + +"Yes, but - " Still the other man hesitated. "It sounds all right +enough, - from your end of it especially, but you'd better see her +first. She's a proud little piece, - doesn't like obligations of any +kind, - and a stranger, - a man - I'm sorry to discourage you, but I +don't believe she'll have a thing to do with it." + +In Blair's eyes impatience threatened to become something more emphatic. + +"It's a business proposition pure and simple," he argued. "She gives me +all the information she's been able to get together, and I pay her +expenses while she does it. That gives her a chance to finish her own +work, don't you see? A mighty good proposition for her, too, I should +say, and if she doesn't see it that way herself, - why, - well, she +isn't as intelligent as she looks, that's all!" + +"Providing you can persuade her it is just business. I'd advise you to +talk with her first, just the same. And you'll have to be quick about +it, too. She's planning to wait in the village tonight for the morning +boat, and she'll be starting down about now." + + + +Outside was one of those radiant nights intended for dreams and the +makers of dreams. Over an ocean white with light long breakers rolled +crests gleaming with silver that fell in soft thunder on the beach. Miss +Hastings, hurrying along the board-walk to the village, glanced at them +and looked quickly away. + +"Oh, I say!" came a voice out of the darkness behind her, "if you don't +mind, hold on there a minute, will you? Wait for me, please!" The voice +was that of a man, pleasant, but exceedingly determined. Without so much +as turning her head Miss Hastings quickened her steps. + +But it was of no use. Whoever her pursuer might be, he was even then at +her side. + +"I beg your pardon," breathlessly he began again, "but I've been chasing +you all the way down from the hotel. I want you to come right back there +with me. I have a proposal to make to you." + +Even in the darkness he could see how the girl's eyes blazed. + +"I never listen - " she began hotly, "to proposals from people I don't +know," she had meant to add, but he gave her no time. + +"It will mean the biggest chance for your pictures you've ever had," he +broke in. "Now, listen!" + +And, to her complete surprise, Miss Hastings suddenly found herself +doing that very thing. + +"There are a lot of things I've got to find out right away," continued +the astonishing stranger, "and the clerk up there tells me you're +painting a series of Indian portraits." + +The little art teacher gazed at him fascinated. What manner of man could +this be, she wondered. + +"I don't see the connection - " Coldness struggled with curiosity in her +voice. + +"Listen!" With uplifted, peremptory hand again he stopped her. Nor is it +safe to say that any book agent, watching the door slowly closing upon +him, ever talked faster, or more rigidly to the point, than did Blair +within the next few minutes. + +"Perhaps you won't understand it all right off. I wouldn't expect that. +But it's this way. I'm representing Harper's, and Houghton and Mifflin, +and Dodd and Mead, and - several other firms" (to satisfy his conscience +Blair contended with himself that he might as well as not have been +their representative - a mere oversight on their part ought not to be +allowed to stand in his way), "and I'm out here to find the best +illustrator I can lay hands on to do the pictures for some Indian stuff +I'm getting into shape for one of 'em. I want to see your work. And, if +I like it, I'll pay you well. And anyway, I'll pay every bit of the +expense while you finish your series here if you'll tell me what you +know about Wildenai!" + +But, at the name, the girl beside him had given a low cry of utter +amazement. She stopped short. + +"Do you know it too, then?" she gasped. "How did you hear about it?" + +"Oh, I've known it for years," replied Blair carelessly. "Some of it +I've known all my life. But look here now. Is it a bargain? - about your +helping me, I mean?" + +Before he left her, an hour or so later, every detail had been arranged. +Miss Hastings had meekly agreed to return to the hotel in the morning. +Blair would pay her expenses and something he called a retaining fee +besides. That would make an extra fifty dollars, - she smiled to herself +in the dark, - a new winter suit at least, and perhaps one or two +matinees if she managed! All this for the information she could give him +about the island and its history. The various points in their contract +spun dizzily in her dazed brain. No spot known to legend to which it was +possible to conduct him should remain unvisited. Four hours out of every +day were pledged without fail to his interests. The rest of the time she +might have for her own work. It had all come about so unexpectedly, and +was altogether so extraordinary that, after he had gone, his new +employe, stretched uncomfortably upon a narrow cot in the tent of a +fellow teacher, spent the remainder of the night in imaginary interviews +with Eastern publishers regarding impossible royalties. She was far too +excited to sleep. + +And, for a week, the arrangement worked very well, - almost too well. +Every day brought with it some new adventure, and every adventure became +a pleasure. + +Mounted at Blair's expense on more or less energetic ponies, for from +the first he had insisted that horses were a necessary part of their +business equipment, they cantered gaily along the shady canyon trails, +or over the sunlit slopes sheeted in pale lavender wherever the wild +lilacs were in bloom. Often, emerging from some thicket of dwarf oak +they caught glimpses of a sapphire sea held between red, twisted +branches of manzanita as in a frame. About them rang the music of the +meadow larks. Merry shouts of bathers floated up from the beaches far +below, mingled with the distant click of golf balls on the greens. + +For the whole of a golden day they chartered a sailboat from one, Capt. +Warren, and rounding the yellow headlands under his lazy guidance, they +went to examine the Ning Po, the ancient Chinese barge stranded, no one +knew how many hundreds of years before, among the rocks off the isthmus. + +"Fascinating old place," observed Blair gazing, his eyes aglow with +interest, around the mediaeval cabin. "Don't doubt a dozen murders at +least were pulled off in this one room!" + +"Oh yes, of course," eagerly echoed his assistant. "It's absolutely +unique!" + +Her gaze, as bright with interest as his own, rested upon Blair himself. +She was considering, absent-mindedly, how becoming white trousers can be +to most men, especially when they are reasonably dark themselves. But, - +her glance travelled upward, - how unusually dark he was, and his hair, +- yes, without question, the straightest and blackest she had ever seen. +Yet it seemed in some indefinable way to become him, - to belong, as it +were, to his type. Leaning her elbows meditatively upon the rusty +anchor, her chin in her hands, she silently appraised him. He really was +a handsome man, she decided, and clever, too, of the sort who does +things in the world! A dreamy light grew within her eyes. + +It was only two or three evenings later when, on their way back from the +site of an historic Indian village on the other side of the island, they +walked their horses slowly around the Wishbone Loop, the ostensible +reason being that, as Blair had already discovered, it commanded the +widest view of the ocean at sunset. + +He was the first to speak when they struck again into the main trail. + +"I wished for something about a rose, a wild rose, - want to guess?" He +eyed her mischievously. + +"Hush, - mustn't tell!" she laughed. "Your wish won't come true if you +tell." Then, for no reason at all, she blushed. + +Never, in truth, during her twenty-three years of working, and +scrimping, and going without, had life shown to the little art teacher +so fair and generous a side, seemed so extravagantly joyous an affair as +during that magic week. The spending of money, it was easy to see, meant +little or nothing to Blair. But that was the least of his attractions, +for, to the girl herself, mere wealth for its own sake had never +appealed. The charm lay rather in the genial broadness of his view of +things, the strength of reasoning behind the few opinions he put +forward, his reticence, and quiet modesty. In these dwelt the spell that +swept her into an almost delirious enjoyment of his society. For, all +unknown to herself, like many another woman in like condition, she had +needed a change of people. In the cramped life of a private school men +played but little part, and the men who were most worth while, almost no +part at all. Instinctively, in time, she had wearied of little girls and +their lessons. Sorely had she craved the stimulus which only the +companionship of congenial men can give. Of this fact, however, she had +been even less aware. + +One crisp morning, seated in a diminutive wicker cart behind a +discontented pony, they searched out Chicken John's cabin on the mesa +behind the golf links. + +"Not that it has anything to do with Indians," she apologized, "only I +want you to see him. He's such a character, so nice and untidy and +queer!" + +As a result of this expedition they brought away with them what old John +designated a "plump little fry" to be served at the cosy table for two +in the sunniest window of the dining room, a luxury which Blair had +likewise confiscated in the interests of business. + +And so for seven glorious days they tramped the fragrant hills, or +sailed a sea as softly blue as though fallen fresh that morning from the +cloudless heaven above. In the warmth and glow of his friendship the +starved heart of the little art teacher opened like some hot-house +flower carried suddenly into the wide outdoors. And when at last the +week drew to an end, their work, both his and hers, was still +unfinished, so that there was nothing else to do but to live on through +another fully as wonderful. + +Blair himself took things much more for granted, and even when their +talk strayed farthest afield it was plain to the girl that his mind +never fully lost sight of the purpose for which he had come. His work +stood always first, while, - she blushed to own it even to herself, - +she had sometimes entirely forgotten her own. + +At the end of the third week they had seen almost everything he +considered essential and at times she sensed in his manner, even when he +was least aware of it, a kind of repressed impatience. She knew what it +meant and shivered. Presently he would leave her, and life would become +again the same dull round of work. Only one spot of real importance +remained unvisited, - the cavern bower above the Bay of Moons. Of this +he had spoken frequently, and well she knew he held it the climax of his +search. + +But for reasons best known to herself Miss Hastings put off from day to +day this final expedition until Blair began to chaff at the delay. + +"That's really the one place I came to see!" he told her more than once. +"After I've been there I think I can go." + +"But we've planned Middle Ranch for today," she would answer evasively, +or, "This is the best time to see Orazaba; it's so clear this morning. +That's the mountain, you know, where the Indians carved out their ollas. +Some of them are still there, only half cut away. It would be too bad +for you to miss that." + +At length, however, there came a day when excuses would do no longer. + +"We've waited long enough," he declared that morning over their coffee, +"Besides, I may have to go now in a few days." + +And although at his words the sunshine of her new world faded suddenly +away, yet the little teacher kept a brave front. She even laughed +carelessly. + +"Men are so impatient," she teased, "But we'll go today." + +Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of sunset rested among the hills +that at last they found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff which +commanded so wide a stretch of the ocean and the shimmering valleys +below. + +"It reminds one of the Bay of Naples," observed Blair, pausing to scan +the rocky coastline against which, far beneath them, the foaming +breakers threw themselves. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked +far out to sea. "What a wonderful place for a watch tower it would have +made!" + +"It had one once," softly replied the girl, "Wildenai's watch tower!" + +Blair turned, their eyes met, and he smiled. + +"It's been splendid to have you with me all these days," he said, "I've +been wanting to tell you. You've been more of a help than you'll ever +know." And then, after a pause, "It's because you care so much about the +story yourself, I suppose, that you've been such an inspiration to me." + +Something in the girl's heart seemed suddenly to snap. + +"It's because I care more about your work, and - and you. You are so +wonderful!" she broke forth impulsively, and stood before him crimson +with confusion. For a second, which seemed to her an age, there was +silence. Then he spoke and, in her bitter humiliation, his voice sounded +strained and cold. + +"Shall we go in?" he asked. + +Silently he parted the tangle of manzanita that for centuries had veiled +the secrets of the princess, and stood aside for her to enter. Wildly +the little art teacher glanced about her. This moment to which she had +so looked forward, and yet had dreaded as much because it meant the end, +- this moment which might, nevertheless, have meant much to them both +even though it were the end, she herself had spoiled! All its delicate +beauty changed to a sordid suspicion, it lay in ruins now because of her +thoughtless words. She dared not guess at what he must be thinking! For +a desperate second she considered flight. Then proudly she raised her +head. One more thing, at least, about her now he should learn! + +"Did you know - ?" she began, then broke off irresolute. + +Blair glanced at her and again their eyes met. This time he did not +smile. + +"Know what?" he asked. + +She laughed with embarrassment. + +"It really isn't of any interest to you, but - " and again she paused. + +"Suppose you let me be the judge of that," he suggested stiffly. "You're +making me horribly curious, you know. You can't very well drop the +subject now." He was evidently making an effort at pleasantry. + +She flushed brightly. + +"Of course it couldn't be of the slightest importance to anyone except +myself," she explained. Then, as if doubting her courage to continue +long, she hurried on, "but one reason I take such an interest in - your +work is because I'm a direct descendant of Lord Harold myself. He became +the Duke of Norfolk afterward, you know, but Hastings was always the +family name." She flashed him a haughty glance, a pride that changed to +wideeyed surprise as she noted his amazement. + +"Not really?" He had turned abruptly and in his eyes there was a curious +expression, almost of alarm. "How extraordinary, - how perfectly +extraordinary!" + +"Why extraordinary?" That her cup of humiliation might brim to the full, +resentment was added to confusion. "You consider me unworthy, then, of +having had nobility among my ancestry? But, just the same, there was +nothing strange about it. The colonies were chiefly English, you +remember!" He smiled at her sarcasm. "The duke married one of +Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting after he went home and there was a younger +son, and he had a younger son, and after a long time one of them came +over to Virginia just like anybody else. They have always been good, +loyal, highly respected American citizens," she told him fiercely, "and +I'm proud of them! Besides - " with reckless emphasis, "I've always felt +so sorry for Wildenai." + +But at this point, quite incomprehensibly, Blair broke into peals of +laughter. + +"And by and by, after a long, long time, one of these good, loyal, +American citizens that we're both so proud of had a hot-tempered, most +disloyal little daughter who intends to show her employer his proper +place before she dismisses him! But why are you sorry for Wildenai?" + +With mischievous eyes he searched her face. + +She flushed, then, looking squarely at him, "Because she was impulsive +like me, and just for that reason Lord Harold ran away and left her," +she said. "He's the only one of them I never had any use for." + +Blair wandered the length of the cavern and back before he replied. + +"You think him a coward, I suppose." He still looked as though he wanted +to laugh, yet something in his tone seared her outraged pride. He might +as well have touched an iron to quivering flesh. "You ought to remember, +however, - I mean every woman ought to remember, - that when a girl lets +a man know that she cares for him she generally forfeits, then and +there, whatever interest she may have had for him. Wildenai risked too +much. Of course, in her case there was some excuse. She was only an +untrained barbarian. But, under ordinary circumstances, I tell you +there's nothing a man despises so much!" + +What was done or said after that Miss Hastings never could have told. +She was possessed of but one desire, - to get away, to go back to the +hotel, - home, anywhere beyond the reach of his voice and his eyes. For +the moment she hated him, and although Blair, conscience smitten at he +knew not what, waited in the lobby a full hour before going in to +dinner, she did not come down. + +Up in her room, mechanically brushing her hair for the night, Miss +Hastings stormily addressed the girl in the glass who stared so +scornfully back at her. + +"I tell you I don't care a thing about it! He probably thought he was +justified in every word he said. He's probably smiling this very minute +because he thinks he managed it so well! But he's a coward just the +same, and I despise him, - I do despise him!" Her eyes brimming with +tears, she fiercely repeated the word. "Well, he'll soon find out how +much I really meant!" + +Over and over she re-lived the short scene, - all of its humiliation, +all of its hurt, seeking at every turn solace for her woman's pride. + +"Naturally I wanted to help him all I could, to appear, at least, to be +interested, especially when he was paying so much for it! It was only a +business arrangement anyway," she continued bitterly, "nothing but +business from start to finish, and if he doesn't know that yet, he'll +find it out the very first thing tomorrow morning!" + +And having tumbled into bed she lay staring into the dark, planning the +details of a campaign warranted either to cure or kill the enemy. +Outside, a mocking bird, perched provokingly near her window, kept the +night ringing with music. Resolutely she closed her ears to his song. +But presently, through the faint fragrance of oleanders, other sounds +began to penetrate, - the strains of the waltz to which they had danced +only the night before. The little art teacher turned wearily over and +cried herself to sleep. + +On the morning which followed she rose very early, however, much too +early to breakfast with Blair at the little table in the sunny corner. +Instead, she ordered some coffee and toast at Jim's Waffle Shop in the +village and was hard at work sketching on the wharf before eight +o'clock. She had suddenly remembered a promise to sketch Capt. Warren's +dog holding the gaff, a feat of which both Pal and his master were +justifiably proud. Indeed, so long had the arrangement been made and so +entirely had it been neglected, that no one was more surprised than the +Captain himself at her unexpected appearance. + +"But Pal and me ought to be at the Tuna Club in fifteen minutes, to take +a party o' members out fishin'," he demurred. "You can't paint Pal in no +quarter of an hour!" + +"I'm sorry to have had to put it off so long," replied Miss Hastings +crisply, "but I'm planning to go home in a few days now, - this +afternoon probably. It's the only chance I shall have." And she prepared +to make good the belated promise with such determination that, after a +wistful glance or two across the slapping white caps, the old skipper +meekly succumbed. + +It was here Blair found her an hour or so later. Unceremoniously he +placed himself in front of her, his hands in his pockets, and gave vent +to a low whistle. + +"Well, of all the - !" + +"Oh, is it you, Mr. Blair?" she inquired in cool, sweet tones. "I +thought most probably you'd gone! Didn't you say yesterday you intended +to as soon as you'd seen the cavern?" Then, after a pause during which +Blair said nothing, "I've been getting dreadfully behind with my own +work, so I thought, if you didn't mind, I'd try to catch up a little +this morning." + +"Certainly not. Take all the time you want! We've about finished anyway, +I guess." His coolness matched her own. + +Another silence during which she painted furiously. + +"I'm making a sketch of Pal holding the gaff," she ventured at length +when the strain had become too uncomfortable. + +"So I see." + +This second tentative effort at conversation having flickered and gone +out she bent again to her work, while Blair remained, looking down at +her, in his eyes mingled amusement and resentment. What had he done, he +wondered, to account for such a change? Or, perhaps, it was something he +had not done. He tried again. + +"Aren't we going for our ride this morning? It's a glorious day, and I +have the refusal of the two best horses." + +"No, I think not, - not this morning, thank you," she answered. In her +voice was the same crisp sweetness. "I haven't time!" + +With a shrug of pure bewilderment he backed away, then lingered a moment +longer to watch the sketch take shape beneath her hurrying brush. That +was the particular moment Miss Hastings chose for the final reckless +stab. + +"You're standing in my light," she said. "If you'd just as soon, please +do go away, Mr. Blair. It makes me nervous to have people looking over +my shoulder when I'm trying to paint." + +This was just a trifle more than Blair at the moment was prepared to +stand. His eyes grew dark. + +"Certainly," he replied icily. "So sorry to have bothered you at all. I +only came down to tell you that I've decided to leave today. There's +nothing more to keep me now, I think, and I'm rather anxious to get +home. You'll find your check at the desk." And he sauntered away. + +She did not go back to the hotel for luncheon. She had finished her +sketch, yet, somehow, when the time came, she discovered that it would +be quite impossible to enter the dining room. She found it equally +impossible to take the afternoon boat herself. Instead, having clambered +half way up the steep slope to the cavern, she watched from behind a +flaming riot of wild nasturtians while, preceded by a hotel porter +bearing bags and suit-cases, Blair boarded the Avalon for Los Angeles. +He was going away, then, without even a word of farewell. + +The heart of the little art teacher turned cold within her, so cold that +she sank numbly into the red and gold tangle; nor did she look up again +until the steamer, dipping below the horizon, had left only a trail of +smoke to show where it disappeared. She had not believed that he would +do quite that! + +When evening came she went stoically in to dinner. There was no reason +any longer for staying away. Sternly she kept her eyes from the vacant +place opposite. Yet somehow she could not persuade herself that he was +really gone. More than once she caught herself watching the door, half +expecting to see him stroll in with apologies for tardiness and take his +empty chair. When again the orchestra drifted suddenly into the waltz to +which they had danced, she rose abruptly and left the room. + +Well, she would go herself in the morning. She would settle everything +and pack her things at once. She went to the desk to ask for the check. +But there was nothing for her. No, the clerk assured her after much +fumbling, Mr. Blair hadn't left anything, either in her box or his own. +But, - the man stole a covert glance at her downcast face, - he was +still holding his rooms. Probably he meant to attend to it when he +returned. + +That he might not see the wild joy that leaped to her eyes, Miss +Hastings turned with startling suddenness and fled upstairs. Safe in her +own room she flung herself with tears and laughter on the bed. So that +was the hand he was playing, was it? - the dear, wicked, unmanageable - ! +Of course he would have to be punished, - well punished! but - she +laughed aloud for pure joy - the world was a radiant place once more, +and nothing of any sort really mattered, because he was coming back. + +But the next day went by, and the next, and he had not come. Day after +day passed in an empty procession, yet no one of them brought that for +which she waited. And there was nothing else to do. Work was out of the +question. She could not sit still long enough. It became, instead, her +sole occupation to linger each morning and afternoon on the verandah +until the steamer from Los Angeles had rounded the point and crossed the +bay in front of the hotel. Then, hidden behind the palms she would watch +until the last straggling tourist had left the pier. But still he did +not come. + +Doubt in every tormenting guise assailed her. Perhaps he had changed his +mind and decided later not to return. Yet the clerk had said he meant to +come back! Perhaps her check, sent by mail, was even now in her box. But +she had not the courage to go again to the desk. Driven by alternate +hope and fear she lost color, and she could not sleep. During seven +miserable nights she planned to go back to Pasadena by the morning boat, +and as many times she put it off. Yet, if he did return to find her +waiting, what, then, would she have given him the right to think? But, +on the other hand, if she went she might never see him again! + +On the eighth day she took herself grimly in hand. No longer would she +humiliate herself by any further delay. Wildenai had not waited, and +even a school teacher can be as proud as an Indian princess! That very +afternoon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. Then tomorrow she +would go back to Pasadena and the long gray round of work. Desolately +she wandered up the secret trail to Wildenai's bower. Never had her +sympathy for the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, she mournfully +considered, if the spirit of the Indian maiden still lingered there it +might feel sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, would find +comfort in the spot where that other woman had paid an equal price for +her impulsiveness. + +The shadows in the little cavern were dark and cool and, laying aside +her box of colors, for a long time she sat quite motionless, staring out +to where the gulls drifted and glinted against the blue. She heard after +a while the whistle of the approaching steamer but gave no heed. Lying +back against the moss she had almost dropped asleep when something in +the corner opposite attracted her attention. She sat up nervously and +stared into the shadows. Was it only that the darkness was deeper over +there, or was that really something propped against the wall? And had it +moved? + +In the years that followed she never knew how long she sat there after +the stones had been lifted away, holding in her lap those shreds of torn +white doeskin. Still caught together, though in tatters, by long strings +of shells and beads, they shone, a ghostly film of white from out the +dimness. A breath, and the whole would have crumbled into dust. Yet the +beads, she noticed, were still perfect as when strung by slim brown +fingers centuries before. Only half believing it was not all of it a +dream, she lifted them strand after strand. Then, suddenly, she gave a +little cry. Somewhere from out the torn folds a slender chain had +slipped. Trembling with a curiosity that bordered close on terror, she +carried it to the light, and there it glowed, a glancing stream of +crimson, in her hand. + +"Wildenai's necklace!" she breathed, and hid her face. + +There came the sound of a step outside. The manzanita branches were +pushed impatiently aside and he stood before her. + +The journey across the channel from Los Angeles had seemed twice as long +as when he made it a few weeks before, and he had hurried all the way +from the hotel straight to the little cavern. But now that he had found +her again, there seemed to be plenty of time for everything, and he +stood quite silent looking down at her. He was glad he had found her +there, glad, in a curious, unreasoning way, for the quiet of the late +afternoon, for the faint fragrance of the Mariposa lilies blooming just +beyond the ledge. Yet he let her know nothing of this in what he said. + +"So here you are, after all! I thought I should find you here." + +She had not heard him come and was startled into a cry. + +"You!" she gasped, and lifted eyes in which the telltale signs of tears +were still quite evident, so evident that, with a woman's instinct to +hide them, she caught up the necklace and held it toward him. + +"See what I've found!" she exclaimed. + +But he paid no heed. Instead, manlike, he proceeded, quite +unconsciously, to say the one thing that could hurt her most. + +"I looked for you at the hotel first, then I came on up here. I knew you +wouldn't go till I came!" + +The color that had flooded her face at the sound of his voice faded +again. She was quite white as she asked quietly: + +"How could you know I would stay?" + +He laughed easily, settling himself confidently on the moss at her side. + +"Because I hadn't paid you yet," he answered gaily. "Don't you think +that was clever of me, Wildenai?" + +"I would rather you did not call me that," she told him coldly, "It +sounds irreverent." And she dropped her eyes, which had filled again +miserably, to the film of white in her lap. Then, with a pitiful attempt +to hurt him in return: "Of course you realize that I really don't know +much about you. I don't want you to think that I distrusted you exactly +- " she marvelled at herself that she could say such things to him, but +went recklessly on. "The check wasn't there, - and so, well, it seemed +wisest to wait. They said you were coming back, and I couldn't afford to +lose it; so I stayed. Just a matter of business, you see!" She finished +in a tone which, except for a suspicious tremble, was satisfactorily +disagreeable. + +But Blair's armor, since his return, seemed proof against such thrusts +as she could give. + +"Won't play Indian at all, then?" he retorted teasingly. "But of course +not! How could you when you happen to come from the other side of the +house? However," he continued whimsically, "there are such things as +English roses, you know. I've always loved them, too, even when they +were thorny!" + +He pulled absently at a fern growing near, while, suddenly, for no +particular reason, the color glowed again in the cheeks of the little +art teacher. She smiled, half unwillingly. + +"But don't pull up the wild flowers here," she warned him, "You'll have +the forester after you! When did you get back?" she added. "Where have +you been so long?" burned on her lips, but she scorned to ask it. + +"About an hour ago," he replied amiably. "The boat was late." + +"I was beginning to think you'd given up coming at all." She could not +keep it back. "The duke never bothered to, you know." + +But this blow, like the first, failed to reach any vulnerable spot. +Blair did not flinch. + +"No, naturally he didn't! He was English, and you can't depend upon the +English, I've discovered. But there's not the slightest reason for +linking me up with him. The princess never ran away now, did she? And I +- " He paused, then without looking at her he began again. + +"Seriously, I'm sorry if I seemed to be deserting. I - well, honestly, I +didn't know what else to do. You suggested it yourself, you remember! +And I'd promised my father to look after some business for him in Los +Angeles while I was out here. You see, he - our family, have lived in +the East for a long time now, but we used to own pretty much all of Los +Angeles county some three centuries ago, when the Spanish were here, and +- " Again he broke off abruptly. "Do you want to know about me?" he +demanded. + +Miss Hastings leaned breathlessly toward him. Her heart was beating +wildly. + +"Oh, please!" she begged. + +"Perhaps I should have told you at the first," he began, "or at least +after you told me who you were, but - anyway, I didn't. I'd never told +anyone before and I didn't much suppose I ever would. There's a reason, +though, why I'm particularly interested in this legend, too, a reason +just as good as you've got. I'm - well, I'm one of Wildenai's great, +great grandsons!" + +And then, because she sat quite silent there in the shadows, and +motionless except for fingering something white that lay in her lap, he +waited uneasily. Was she angry again, he wondered, or perhaps she was +only laughing! + +She was the first to break the silence. + +"Are you trying to be funny?" Her voice was very cold. + +"Not at all," he answered hotly. "It must be all of ten generations back +or even more, and of course it wasn't all Spanish afterward, but, just +the same, I'm as much a descendant of the princess as you are of the +duke, - always have been! I'm just as proud of it, too. Possibly you +will remember that the Spanish beat the English to it, at least in +California. Anyway," he finished bitterly, "what difference does it +make? So far as I can see, it only gives us one more good subject to +quarrel about!" + +Then out of the dimness came a queer little sound, whether of tears or +of laughter it was impossible to know. For the least part of a second a +hand brushed his own. + +"Oh, no!" she whispered, "Let's not do that. It wouldn't be right! And +see," she laughed tremulously, "Isn't it strange I should have found it +today, but," she lifted the white thing in her lap, "here is Wildenai's +wedding dress - and the chain of garnets!" + +The cavern was quite dark before they had finished talking about it, but +at length they laid the poor little ghost of a garment reverently back +among the stones and rose to go. + +"But the necklace?" Blair asked, hesitating, "do you think we ought to +leave that here?" + +The girl considered a moment. + +"It's really yours," she decided. "Nobody else could have the least +claim to it." + +"Except - " Suddenly his eyes shone with a strange expression before +which the little art teacher instinctively shrank. He took a step toward +her. + +"I believe I'll give the garnets back," he announced. "I fancy that's +what the princess would have liked to do if she'd had the chance. +Besides," his eyes grew still darker, "they were meant in the first +place for a wedding gift, and so if you - " + +He would have clasped them about her neck, but Miss Hastings backed +frantically away. + +"No! - not for worlds," she cried. "You know you're only saying it +because you think you can't get out of it!" And before he could realize +just what was happening, she was gone. + + + +The boat for Los Angeles was unusually crowded that night. For either +this reason, or some other she would not acknowledge, Miss Hastings +found herself pushed aside by more impatient passengers every time she +attempted to enter the gangway. + +"All aboard!" called a peremptory voice from somewhere on deck. She took +a step forward, hesitated, drew back. The plank was hauled irrevocably +away, and she turned to face Blair standing just behind her on the +wharf. + +"I was sure you wouldn't run away," he declared, "but if you had - !" + +She let him lead her back along the broad boardwalk toward the hotel +until they stood within the shadow of the huge boulder which for +centuries has marked the outer boundary of the Bay of Moons. Beyond them +the lights of the St. Catherine glimmered down the hill and on over the +water, rimming with golden bubbles the outlines of the pier. + +"Wildenai!" Out of the darkness his voice came to her, mocking, tender, +wholly insistent. "Foolish, obstinate little lady! Can't you see how +it's up to you, - up to the English to make amends? Honestly now, when +he began it I don't imagine even that rascal Drake himself would have +believed a family scrap could last the better part of four centuries. +Don't you really think it's about time for you to call it off?" + +And flinging her scruples to the winds, Miss Hastings suddenly decided +that it was. + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND *** + +This file should be named marip10.txt or marip10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, marip11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, marip10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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