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diff --git a/old/63014-h/63014-h.htm b/old/63014-h/63014-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 920a840..0000000 --- a/old/63014-h/63014-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8508 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> - -<head> - -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> - -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> - -<title> -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Masterpieces of Adventure--Adventures within Walls -</title> - -<style type="text/css"> -body { color: black; - background: white; - margin-right: 10%; - margin-left: 10%; - font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; - text-align: justify } - -p {text-indent: 4% } - -p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } - -p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 200%; - text-align: center } - -p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 150%; - text-align: center } - -p.t2b {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 150%; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center } - -p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 100%; - text-align: center } - -p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 100%; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center } - -p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 80%; - text-align: center } - -p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 80%; - font-weight: bold; - text-align: center } - -p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 60%; - text-align: center } - -h1 { text-align: center } -h2 { text-align: center } -h3 { text-align: center } -h4 { text-align: center } -h5 { text-align: center } - -p.poem {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10%; } - -p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; - letter-spacing: 4em ; - text-align: center } - -p.letter {text-indent: 0%; - margin-left: 10% ; - margin-right: 10% } - -p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; - font-size: 80%; - margin-left: 10% ; - margin-right: 10% } - -.smcap { font-variant: small-caps } - -p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; - margin-left: 10% ; - margin-right: 10% } - -p.intro {font-size: 90% ; - text-indent: -5% ; - margin-left: 5% ; - margin-right: 0% } - -p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; - margin-left: 0% ; - margin-right: 0% } - -p.finis { font-size: larger ; - text-align: center ; - text-indent: 0% ; - margin-left: 0% ; - margin-right: 0% } - -</style> - -</head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Masterpieces of Adventure--Stories of -Desert Places, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Masterpieces of Adventure--Stories of Desert Places - -Author: Various - -Editor: Nella Braddy - -Release Date: August 23, 2020 [EBook #63014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURE--STORIES OF DESERT PLACES *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t2"> - Masterpieces of<br /> - Adventure<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t3"> - <i>In Four Volumes</i><br /> -</p> - -<h1> -<br /><br /> - STORIES OF DESERT PLACES<br /> -</h1> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - Edited by<br /> - Nella Braddy<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - Garden City New York<br /> - Doubleday, Page & Company<br /> - 1922<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t4"> - COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY<br /> - DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY<br /> -<br /><br /> - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION<br /> - INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN<br /> -<br /><br /> - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES<br /> - AT<br /> - THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - GRATEFULLY DEDICATED<br /> - TO<br /> - BLANCHE COLTON WILLIAMS, Ph.D.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -EDITOR'S NOTE -</p> - -<p> -In these volumes the word <i>adventure</i> has been -used in its broadest sense to cover not only strange -happenings in strange places but also love and life -and death—all things that have to do with the great -adventure of living. Questions as to the fitness of a -story were settled by examining the qualities of the -narrative as such rather than by reference to a -technical classification of short stories. -</p> - -<p> -It is the inalienable right of the editor of a work -of this kind to plead copyright difficulties in -extenuation for whatever faults it may possess. We beg the -reader to believe that this is why his favorite story -was omitted while one vastly inferior was included. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -CONTENTS -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="noindent"> -I. <a href="#chap01">THE BARON'S QUARRY</a><br /> - <i>Edgerton Castle</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -II. <a href="#chap02">A MAN AND SOME OTHERS</a><br /> - <i>Stephen Crane</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -III. <a href="#chap03">THE OUTLAWS</a><br /> - <i>Selma Lagerlöf</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -IV. <a href="#chap04">PRINCESS BOB AND HER FRIENDS</a><br /> - <i>Bret Harte</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -V. <a href="#chap05">THE THREE STRANGERS</a><br /> - <i>Thomas Hardy</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -VI. <a href="#chap06">THE PASSING OF BLACK EAGLE</a><br /> - <i>O. Henry</i><br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -VII. <a href="#chap07">NIÑO DIABLO</a><br /> - <i>W. H. Hudson</i><br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> - -<p class="t2"> -Masterpieces of Adventure -</p> - -<p class="t2b"> -<i>STORIES OF DESERT PLACES</i> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<h3> -I -<br /><br /> -THE BARON'S QUARRY* -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -EGERTON CASTLE -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -*Reprinted by permission of D. Appleton & Co. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -"Oh no, I assure you, you are not boring -Mr. Marshfield," said this personage himself in -his gentle voice—that curious voice that -could flow on for hours, promulgating profound -and startling theories on every department of -human knowledge or conducting paradoxical -arguments without a single inflection or pause of -hesitation. "I am, on the contrary, much interested in -your hunting talk. To paraphrase a well-worn -quotation somewhat widely, <i>nihil humanum a me -alienum est</i>. Even hunting stories may have their -point of biological interest: the philologist sometimes -pricks his ear to the jargon of the chase; moreover, -I am not incapable of appreciating the subject-matter -itself. This seems to excite some derision. -I admit I am not much of a sportsman to look at, -nor, indeed, by instinct, yet I have had some -out-of-the-way experiences in that line—generally when -intent on other pursuits. I doubt, for instance, if -even you, Major Travers, notwithstanding your -well-known exploits against man and beast, -notwithstanding that doubtful smile of yours, could -match the strangeness of a certain hunting adventure -in which I played an important part." -</p> - -<p> -The speaker's small, deep-set, black eyes, that -never warmed to anything more human than a purely -speculative, scientific interest in his surroundings, -here wandered round the sceptical yet expectant -circle with bland amusement. He stretched out his -bloodless fingers for another of his host's superfine -cigars and proceeded, with only such interruptions -as were occasioned by the lighting and careful -smoking of the latter. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -"I was returning home after my prolonged stay in -Petersburg, intending to linger on my way and test -with mine own ears certain among the many dialects -of eastern Europe—anent which there is a symmetrical -little cluster of philological knotty points it is my -modest intention one day to unravel. However, -that is neither here nor there. On the road to -Hungary I bethought myself opportunely of proving -the once pressingly offered hospitality of the Baron -Kossowski. -</p> - -<p> -"You may have met the man, Major Travers, he -was a tremendous sportsman, if you like. I first -came across him at McNeil's place in remote Ireland. -Now, being in Bukowina, within measurable distance -of his Carpathian abode, and curious to see a -Polish lord at home, I remembered his invitation. -It was already of long standing, but it had been -warm, born in fact of a sudden fit of enthusiasm -for me"—here a half-mocking smile quivered an -instant under the speaker's black moustache—"which, -as it was characteristic, I may as well tell -you about. -</p> - -<p> -"It was on the day of, or rather, to be accurate, -on the day after my arrival, toward the small hours -of the morning, in the smoking-room at Rathdrum. -Our host was peacefully snoring over his empty pipe -and his seventh glass of whiskey, also empty. The -rest of the men had slunk off to bed. The baron, -who all unknown to himself had been a subject of -most interesting observation to me the whole -evening, being now practically alone with me, -condescended to turn an eye, as wide awake as a fox's, -albeit slightly bloodshot, upon the contemptible -white-faced person who had preferred spending the -raw hours over his papers, within the radius of a -glorious fire's warmth, to creeping slily over -treacherous quagmires in the pursuit of timid bog creatures -(snipe shooting had been the order of the -day)—the baron, I say, became aware of my existence and -entered into conversation with me. -</p> - -<p> -"He would no doubt have been much surprised -could he have known that he was already mapped -out, craniologically and physiognomically, -catalogued with care, and neatly laid by in his proper -ethnological box, in my private type museum, that, -as I sat and examined him from my different coigns -of vantage in library, in dining and smoking room -that evening, not a look of his, not a gesture went -forth but had significance for me. -</p> - -<p> -"You, I had thought, with your broad shoulders -and deep chest, your massive head that should have -gone with a tall stature, not with those short, sturdy -limbs; with your thick red hair, that should have -been black for that matter, with your wide-set, -yellow eyes, you would be a real puzzle to one who -did not recognize in you equal mixtures of the fair, -stalwart, and muscular Slav with the bilious-sanguine, -thick-set, wiry Turanian. Your pedigree -would no doubt bear me out; there is as much of the -Magyar as of the Pole in your anatomy. Athlete, -and yet a tangle of nerves; a ferocious brute at -bottom, I dare say, for your broad forehead inclines -to flatness, under your bristling beard your jaw -must protrude, and the base of your skull is -ominously thick. And, with all that, capable of ideal -transports; when that girl played and sang to-night -I saw the swelling of your eyelid veins, and how that -small, tenacious, clawlike hand of yours twitched. -You would be a fine leader of men—but God help -the wretches in your power! -</p> - -<p> -"So had I mused upon him. Yet I confess that -when we came into closer contact with each other -even I was not proof against the singular courtesy -of his manner and his unaccountable personal -charm. -</p> - -<p> -"Our conversation soon grew interesting; to me as -a matter of course, and evidently to him also. A -few general words led to interchange of remarks -upon the country we were both visitors in and so to -national characteristics—Pole and Irishman have -not a few in common, both in their nature and -history. An observation which he made, not without -a certain flash in his light eyes and a transient -uncovering of the teeth, on the Irish type of female -beauty, suddenly suggested to me a stanza of an -ancient Polish ballad, very full of milk-and-blood -imagery, of alternating ferocity and voluptuousness. -This I quoted to the astounded foreigner, in the -vernacular, and this it was that metamorphosed -his mere perfection of civility into sudden warmth, -and, in fact, procured me the invitation in -question. -</p> - -<p> -"When I left Rathdrum the baron's last words -to me were that if I ever thought of visiting his -country otherwise than in books he held me bound -to make Yany, his Galician seat, my headquarters -of study. -</p> - -<p> -"From Czernowicz, therefore, where I stopped -some time, I wrote, received in due time a few lines -of prettily worded reply, and ultimately entered -my sled in the nearest town to, yet at a most forbidding -distance from, Yany, and started on my journey -thither. -</p> - -<p> -"The undertaking meant many long hours of -undulation and skidding over the November snow, -to the somniferous bell-jangle of my dirty little -horses; the only impression of interest being a weird -gipsy concert I came in for at a miserable drinking-booth -half buried in the snow where we halted for -the refreshment of man and beast. Here, I -remember, I discovered a very definite connection -between the characteristic run of the tsimbol, the -peculiar bite of the Zigeuner's bow on his -fiddle-string, and some distinctive points of Turanian -tongues—in other countries, in Spain for instance, -your gipsy speaks differently on his instrument. -But, oddly enough, when I later attempted to put -this observation on paper I could find no word to -express it." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -A few of our company evinced signs of sleepiness, -but most of us who knew Marshfield, and that he -who could, unless he had something novel to say, be -as silent and retiring as he now evinced signs of -being copious, awaited further with patience. He -has his own deliberate way of speaking, which he -evidently enjoys greatly, though it be occasionally -trying to his listeners. -</p> - -<p> -"On the afternoon of my second day's drive, the -snow, which till then had fallen fine and continuous, -ceased, and my Jehu, suddenly interrupting himself -in the midst of some exciting wolf story, quite in -keeping with the time of year and the wild surroundings, -pointed to a distant spot against the grey sky -to the north-west, between two wood-covered folds -of ground—the first eastern spurs of the great -Carpathian chain. -</p> - -<p> -"'There stands Yany,' said he. -</p> - -<p> -"I looked at my far-off goal with interest. As -we drew nearer, the sinking sun, just dipping behind -the hills, tinged the now distinct frontage with a -cold, copperlike gleam, but it was only for a minute; -the next the building became nothing more to the -eye than a black irregular silhouette against the -crimson sky. -</p> - -<p> -"Before we entered the long, steep avenue of -poplars, the early winter darkness was upon us, -rendered all the more depressing by grey mists -which gave a ghostly aspect to such objects as the -sheen of the snow rendered visible. Once or twice -there were feeble flashes of light looming in -iridescent halos as we passed little clusters of hovels, -but for which I should have been induced to fancy -that the great Hof stood alone in the wilderness, -such was the deathly stillness around. But even -as the tall square building rose before us above -the vapour, yellow lighted in various stories, and -mighty in height and breadth, there broke upon -my ear a deep-mouthed, menacing bay, which gave -at once almost alarming reality to the eerie -surroundings. -</p> - -<p> -"'His lordship's boar and wolf hounds,' quoth my -charioteer calmly, unmindful of the regular -pandemonium of howls and barks which ensued as he -skilfully turned his horses through the gateway and -flogged the tired beasts into a sort of shambling -canter that we might land with glory before the -house door; a weakness common, I believe, to drivers -of all nations. -</p> - -<p> -"I alighted in the court of honour, and while -awaiting an answer to my tug at the bell, stood, -broken with fatigue, depressed, chilled and aching, -questioning the wisdom of my proceedings and the -amount of comfort, physical and moral, that was -likely to await me in a <i>tête-à-tête</i> visit with a -well-mannered savage in his own home. -</p> - -<p> -"The unkempt tribe of stable retainers who began -to gather round me and my rough vehicle in the -gloom, with their evil-smelling sheepskins and their -resigned battered visages, were not calculated to -reassure me. Yet when the door opened, there stood -a smart chasseur and a solemn major-domo who -might but just have stepped out of Mayfair; and -there was displayed a spreading vista of warm, -deep-coloured halls, with here a statue and there a stuffed -bear, and underfoot pile carpets strewn with rarest -skins. -</p> - -<p> -"Marvelling, yet comforted withal, I followed the -solemn butler, who received me with the deference -due to an expected guest and expressed the master's -regret for his enforced absence till dinner-time. I -traversed vast rooms, each more sumptuous than -the last, feeling the strangeness of the contrast -between the outer desolation and this sybaritic excess -of luxury growing ever more strongly upon me; -caught a glimpse of a picture-gallery, where peculiar -yet admirably executed latter-day French pictures -hung side by side with ferocious boar hunts of Snyder -and such kin; and, at length, was ushered into a -most cheerful room, modern to excess in its comfortable -promise, where, in addition to the tall stove -necessary for warmth, there burned on an open -hearth a vastly pleasant fire of resinous logs, and -where, on a low table, awaited me a dainty service -of fragrant Russian tea. -</p> - -<p> -"My impression of utter novelty seemed somehow -enhanced by this unexpected refinement in the heart -of the solitudes and in such a rugged shell, and yet, -when I came to reflect, it was only characteristic of -my cosmopolitan host. But another surprise was in -store for me. -</p> - -<p> -"When I had recovered bodily warmth and mental -equilibrium in my downy armchair, before the -roaring logs, and during the delicious absorption of -my second glass of tea, I turned my attention to the -French valet, evidently the baron's own man, who -was deftly unpacking my portmanteau, and who, -unless my practised eye deceived me, asked for -nothing better than to entertain me with agreeable -conversation the while. -</p> - -<p> -"'Your master is out, then,' quoth I, knowing -that the most trivial remark would suffice to -start him. -</p> - -<p> -"True, monseigneur was out; he was desolated in -despair (this with the national amiable and imaginative -instinct); but it was doubtless important business. -M. le Baron had the visit of his factor during -the midday meal; had left the table hurriedly, and -had not been seen since. Madame la Baronne had -been a little suffering, but she would receive -monsieur. -</p> - -<p> -"'Madame!' exclaimed I, astounded. 'Is your -master then married? since when?'—visions of a -fair Tartar, fit mate for my baron, immediately -springing somewhat alluringly before my mental -vision. But the answer dispelled the picturesque -fancy. -</p> - -<p> -"'Oh yes,' said the man, with a somewhat peculiar -expression. 'Yes, monseigneur is married. Did -monsieur not know? And yet it was from England -that monseigneur brought back his wife.' -</p> - -<p> -"'An Englishwoman!' -</p> - -<p> -"My first thought was one of pity; an Englishwoman -alone in this wilderness—two days' drive -from even a railway station—and at the mercy of -Kossowski! But the next minute I reversed my -judgment. Probably she adored her rufous lord, -took his veneer of courtesy—a veneer of the most -exquisite polish, I grant you, but perilously thin—for -the very perfection of chivalry. Or perchance it -was his inner savageness itself that charmed her; the -most refined women often amaze one by the fascination -which the preponderance of the brute in the -opposite sex seems to have for them. -</p> - -<p> -"I was anxious to hear more. -</p> - -<p> -"'Is it not dull for the lady here at this time of -year?' -</p> - -<p> -"The valet raised his shoulders with a gesture of -despair that was almost passionate. -</p> - -<p> -"Dull! Ah, monsieur could not conceive to -himself the dulness of it. That poor Madame la -Baronne! not even a little child to keep her company on -the long, long days when there was nothing but snow -in the heaven and on the earth and the howling of -the wind and the dogs to cheer her. At the beginning, -indeed, it had been different; when the master -first brought home his bride the house was gay -enough. It was all redecorated and refurnished to -receive her (monsieur should have seen it before, a -mere <i>rendezvous-de-chasse</i>—for the matter of that so -were all the country houses in these parts!) Ah, -that was the good time! There were visits month -after month; parties, sleighing, dancing, trips to -St. Petersburg and Vienna. But this year it seemed -they were to have nothing but boars and wolves. -How madame could stand it—well, it was not for -him to speak—and heaving a deep sigh he delicately -inserted my white tie round my collar, and with a -flourish twisted it into an irreproachable bow -beneath my chin. -</p> - -<p> -"I did not think it right to cross-examine the -willing talker any further, especially as, despite his -last asseveration, there were evidently volumes he -still wished to pour forth; but I confess that, as I -made my way slowly out of my room along the -noiseless length of passage, I was conscious of an -unwonted, not to say vulgar, curiosity concerning -the woman who had captivated such a man as the -Baron Kossowski. -</p> - -<p> -"In a fit of speculative abstraction I must have -taken the wrong turning, for I presently found -myself in a long, narrow passage I did not remember. I -was retracing my steps when there came the sound of -rapid footfalls upon stone flags; a little door flew -open in the wall close to me, and a small, thick-set -man, huddled in the rough sheepskin of the Galician -peasant, with a mangy fur cap on his head, nearly ran -headlong into my arms. I was about condescendingly -to interpellate him in my best Polish when I -caught the gleam of an angry yellow eye and noted -the bristle of a red beard—Kossowski! -</p> - -<p> -"Amazed, I fell back a step in silence. With a -growl, like an uncouth animal disturbed, he drew his -filthy cap over his brow with a savage gesture and -pursued his way down the corridor at a sort of -wild-boar trot. -</p> - -<p> -"This first meeting between host and guest was -so odd, so incongruous, that it afforded me plenty -of food for a fresh line of conjecture as I traced my -way back to the picture-gallery, and from thence -successfully to the drawing-room, which, as the door -was ajar, I could not this time mistake. -</p> - -<p> -"It was large and lofty and dimly lit by shaded -lamps; through the rosy gloom I could at first only -just make out a slender figure by the hearth; but -as I advanced, this was resolved into a singularly -graceful woman in clinging, fur-trimmed velvet -gown, who, with one hand resting on the high -mantelpiece, the other hanging listlessly by her side, -stood gazing down at the crumbling wood fire as if -in a dream. -</p> - -<p> -"My friends are kind enough to say that I have -a catlike tread; I know not how that may be, at -any rate the carpet I was walking upon was thick -enough to smother a heavier footfall; not until I -was quite close to her did my hostess become aware -of my presence. Then she started violently and -looked over her shoulder at me with dilating eyes. -Evidently a nervous creature, I saw the pulse in her -throat, strained by her attitude, flutter like a -terrified bird. -</p> - -<p> -"The next instant she had stretched out her hand -with sweet, English words of welcome, and the face, -which I had been comparing in my mind to that of -Guide's Cenci, became transformed by the arch and -exquisite smile of a Greuse. For more than two -years I had had no intercourse with any of my -nationality. I could conceive the sound of his native -tongue under such circumstances moving a man in a -curious, unexpected fashion. -</p> - -<p> -"I babbled some commonplace reply, after which -there was silence while we stood opposite each other, -she looking at me expectantly. At length, with a -sigh checked by a smile and an overtone of sadness -in a voice that yet tried to be sprightly:— -</p> - -<p> -"'Am I then so changed, Mr. Marshfield?' she -asked. And all at once I knew her: the girl whose -nightingale throat had redeemed the desolation of -the evenings at Rathdrum, whose sunny beauty had -seemed (even to my celebrated, cold-blooded -aestheticism) worthy to haunt a man's dreams. Yes, -there was the subtle curve of waist, the warm line of -throat, the dainty foot, the slender, tip-tilted -fingers—witty fingers, as I had classified them—which I -now shook like a true Briton, instead of availing -myself of the privilege the country gave me, and -kissing her slender wrist. -</p> - -<p> -"But she was changed; and I told her so with -unconventional frankness, studying her closely as I -spoke. -</p> - -<p> -"'I am afraid,' I said gravely, 'that this place -does not agree with you.' -</p> - -<p> -"She shrank from my scrutiny with a nervous -movement and flushed to the roots of her red-brown -hair. Then she answered coldly that I was wrong, -that she was in excellent health, but that she could -not expect, any more than other people, to preserve -perennial youth (I rapidly calculated she might be -two-and-twenty), though indeed, with a little forced -laugh, it was scarcely flattering to hear one had -altered out of all recognition. Then, without -allowing me time to reply, she plunged into a general -topic of conversation which, as I should have been -obtuse indeed not to take the hint, I did my best to -keep up. -</p> - -<p> -"But while she talked of Vienna and Warsaw, of -her distant neighbours and last year's visitors, it was -evident that her mind was elsewhere; her eye -wandered, she lost the thread of her discourse; -answered me at random, and smiled her piteous -smile incongruously. -</p> - -<p> -"However lonely she might be in her solitary -splendour, the company of a countryman was -evidently no such welcome diversion. -</p> - -<p> -"After a little while she seemed to feel herself that -she was lacking in cordiality, and, bringing her -absent gaze to bear upon me with a puzzled, strained -look:— -</p> - -<p> -"'I fear you will find it very dull,' she said; 'my -husband is so wrapped up this winter in his country -life and his sport, you are the first visitor we have -had. There is nothing but guns and horses here, and -you do not care for these things.' -</p> - -<p> -"The door creaked behind us; and the baron -entered, in faultless evening dress. Before she -turned toward him I was sharp enough to catch -again the upleaping of a quick dread in her eyes, not -even so much dread perhaps, I thought afterward, -as horror—the horror we notice in some animals at -the nearing of a beast of prey. It was gone in a -second, and she was smiling. But it was a revelation. -</p> - -<p> -"Perhaps he beat her in Russian fashion, and she -as an English woman was narrow-minded enough to -resent this; or perhaps merely I had the misfortune -to arrive during a matrimonial misunderstanding. -</p> - -<p> -"The baron would not give me leisure to reflect; -he was so very effusive in his greeting—not a hint -of our previous meeting—unlike my hostess, all in -all to me; eager to listen, to reply; almost affectionate, -full of references to old times and genial allusions. -No doubt when he chose he could be the most -charming of men; there were moments when, looking -at him in his correct attire, hearkening to his -cultured voice, marking his quiet smile and restrained -gesture, the almost exaggerated politeness of his -manner to his wife, whose fingers he had kissed with -pretty, old-fashioned gallantry upon his entrance, -I asked myself, could that encounter in the passage -have been a dream? could that savage in the -sheepskin be my courteous entertainer? -</p> - -<p> -"'Just as I came in, did I hear my wife say there -was nothing for you to do in this place?' he said -presently to me. Then, turning to her:— -</p> - -<p> -"'You do not seem to know Mr. Marshfield. -Wherever he can open his eyes, there is for him -something to see which might not interest other -men. He will find things in my library which I have -no notion of. He will discover objects for scientific -observation in all the members of my household, -not only in the good-looking maids—though he -could, I have no doubt, tell their points as I could -those of a horse. We have maidens here of several -distinct races, Marshfield. We have also witches, -and Jew leeches, and holy daft people. In any case, -Yany, with all its dependencies, material, male, and -female, are at your disposal, for what you can make -out of them.' -</p> - -<p> -"'It is good,' he went on gaily, 'that you should -happen to have this happy disposition, for I fear -that, no later than to-morrow, I may have to absent -myself from home. I have heard that there are -news of wolves—they menace to be a greater pest -than usual this winter, but I am going to drive them -on quite a new plan, and it will go hard with me if I -don't come even with them. Well for you, by the -way, Marshfield, that you did not pass within their -scent to-day.' Then, musingly: 'I should not give -much for the life of a traveller who happened to -wander in these parts just now.' Here he interrupted -himself hastily, and went over to his wife who had -sunk back on her chair, livid, seemingly on the point -of swooning. -</p> - -<p> -"His gaze was devouring; so might a man look at -the woman he adored, in his anxiety. -</p> - -<p> -"'What! faint, Violet, alarmed!' His voice was -subdued, yet there was an unmistakable thrill of -emotion in it. -</p> - -<p> -"'Pshaw!' thought I to myself, 'the man is a -model husband.' -</p> - -<p> -"She clenched her hands, and by sheer force -of will seemed to pull herself together. These -nervous women have often an unexpected fund of -strength. -</p> - -<p> -"'Come, that is well,' said the baron, with a -flickering smile; 'Mr. Marshfield will think you but -badly acclimatized to Poland if a little wolf-scare -can upset you. My dear wife is so soft-hearted,' he -went on to me, 'that she is capable of making herself -quite ill over the sad fate that might have, but has -not, overcome you. Or, perhaps,' he added, in a still -gentler voice, 'her fear is that I may expose myself -to danger for the public weal.' -</p> - -<p> -"She turned her head away, but I saw her set her -teeth as if to choke a sob. The baron chuckled in -his throat and seemed to luxuriate in the pleasant -thought. -</p> - -<p> -"At this moment folding doors were thrown open, -and supper was announced. I offered my arm, she -rose and took it in silence. This silence she -maintained during the first part of the meal, despite her -husband's brilliant conversation and almost uproarious -spirits. But, by and by, a bright colour mounted -to her cheeks and lustre to her eyes. I suppose -you will all think me horribly unpoetical if I add that -she drank several glasses of champagne one after -the other, a fact which perhaps may account for the -change. -</p> - -<p> -"At any rate she spoke and laughed and looked -lovely, and I did not wonder that the baron could -hardly keep his eyes off her. But—whether it was -her wifely anxiety or not—it was evident her mind -was not at ease through it all, and I fancied that her -brightness was feverish, her merriment slightly -hysterical. -</p> - -<p> -"After supper—an exquisite one it was—we -adjourned together, in foreign fashion, to the -drawing-room; the baron threw himself into a chair and, -somewhat with the air of a pasha, demanded music. -He was flushed; the veins of his forehead were -swollen and stood out like cords; the wine drunk at -table was potent; even through my phlegmatic -frame it ran hotly. -</p> - -<p> -"She hesitated a moment or two, then docilely -sat down to the piano. That she could sing I have -already made clear; how she could sing, with what -pathos, passion, as well as perfect art, I had never -realized before. -</p> - -<p> -"When the song was ended she remained for a -while, with eyes lost in distance, very still, save for -her quick breathing. It was clear she was moved -by the music; indeed she must have thrown her -whole soul into it. -</p> - -<p> -"At first we, the audience, paid her the rare -compliment of silence. Then the baron broke forth into -loud applause. -</p> - -<p> -"'Brava, brava! that was really said <i>con amore</i>. -A delicious love-song, delicious—but French. You -must sing one of our Slav melodies for Marshfield -before you allow us to go and smoke.' -</p> - -<p> -"She started from her reverie with a flush, and -after a pause struck slowly a few simple chords, -then began one of those strangely sweet yet -intensely pathetic Russian airs which give one a -curious revelation of the profound, endless melancholy -lurking in the national mind. -</p> - -<p> -"'What do you think of it?' asked the baron of -me when it ceased. -</p> - -<p> -"'What I have always thought of such music—it -is that of a hopeless people; poetical, crushed, and -resigned.' -</p> - -<p> -"He gave a loud laugh. 'Hear the analyst, the -psychologue—why, man, it is a love-song! Is it -possible that we, uncivilized, are truer realists than -our hyper-cultured Western neighbours? Have we -gone to the root of the matter, in our simple way?' -</p> - -<p> -"The baroness got up abruptly. She looked white -and spent; there were bistre circles round her eyes. -</p> - -<p> -"'I am tired,' she said, with dry lips. 'You will -excuse me, Mr. Marshfield, I must really go to bed.' -</p> - -<p> -"'Go to bed, go to bed,' cried her husband gaily. -Then, quoting in Russian from the song she had -just sung: 'Sleep, my little soft white dove; my -little innocent, tender lamb!' -</p> - -<p> -"She hurried from the room. The baron laughed -again, and, taking me familiarly by the arm led me -to his own set of apartments for the promised smoke. -He ensconced me in an armchair, placed cigars of -every description, and a Turkish pipe ready to my -hand and a little table on which stood cut glass flasks -and beakers in tempting array. -</p> - -<p> -"After I had selected my cigar with some precautions, -I glanced at him over a careless remark, and -was startled to see a sudden alteration in his whole -look and attitude. -</p> - -<p> -"'You will forgive me, Marshfield,' he said, as he -caught my eye, speaking with spasmodic politeness. -'It is more than probable that I shall have to set -out upon this chase I spoke of to-night, and I must -now go and change my clothes, that I may be ready -to start at any moment. This is the hour when it is -most likely these hell-beasts are to be got at. You -have all you want, I hope,' interrupting an outbreak -of ferocity by an effort after his former courtesy. -</p> - -<p> -"It was curious to watch the man of the world -struggling with the primitive man. -</p> - -<p> -"'But, baron,' said I, 'I do not at all see the fun -of sticking at home like this. You know my passion -for witnessing everything new, strange, and -outlandish. You will surely not refuse me such an -opportunity for observation as a midnight wolf-raid. -I will do my best not to be in the way if you will -take me with you.' -</p> - -<p> -"At first it seemed as if he had some difficulty in -realizing the drift of my words, he was so engrossed -by some inner thought. But as I repeated them, he -gave vent to a loud cachinnation. -</p> - -<p> -"'By heaven! I like your spirit,' he exclaimed, -clapping me strongly on the shoulder. 'Of course -you shall come. You shall,' he repeated, 'and I -promise you a sight, a hunt such as you never heard -or dreamt of—you will be able to tell them in -England the sort of thing we can do here in that -line—such wolves are rare quarry,' he added, looking slyly -at me, 'and I have a new plan for getting at them.'" -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -"There was a long pause, and then there rose in the -stillness the unearthly howling of the baron's -hounds, a cheerful sound which only their owner's -somewhat loud converse of the evening had kept -from becoming excessively obtrusive. -</p> - -<p> -"'Hark at them—the beauties!' cried he, showing -his short, strong teeth, pointed like a dog's, in a -wide grin of anticipative delight. 'They have been -kept on pretty short commons, poor things! They -are hungry. By the way, Marshfield, you can sit -tight to a horse, I trust? If you were to roll off, -you know, these splendid fellows they would chop -you up in a second. They would chop you up,' he -repeated unctuously, 'snap, crunch, gobble, and -there would be an end of you!' -</p> - -<p> -"'If I could not ride a decent horse without being -thrown,' I retorted, a little stung by his manner, -'after my recent three months' torture with the -Guard Cossacks, I should indeed be a hopeless -subject. Do not think of frightening me from the -exploit, but say frankly if my company would be -displeasing.' -</p> - -<p> -"'Tut!' he said, waving his hand impatiently, -'it is your affair. I have warned you. Go and -get ready if you want to come. Time presses.' -</p> - -<p> -"I was determined to be of the fray; my blood -was up. I have hinted that the baron's Tokay had -stirred it. -</p> - -<p> -"I went to my room and hurriedly donned clothes -more suitable for rough nightwork. My last care -was to slip into my pockets a brace of double-barrelled -pistols which formed part of my travelling kit. -</p> - -<p> -"When I returned I found the baron already -booted and spurred; this without metaphor. He -was stretched full length on the divan, and did not -speak as I came in, or even look at me. Chewing -an unlit cigar, with eyes fixed on the ceiling, he was -evidently following some absorbing train of ideas. -</p> - -<p> -"The silence was profound; time went by; it grew -oppressive; at length, wearied out, I fell, over my -chibouque, into a doze filled with puzzling visions, -out of which I was awakened with a start. My -companion had sprung up, very lightly, to his feet. In -his throat was an odd, half-suppressed cry, gruesome -to hear. He stood on tiptoe, with eyes fixed, as -though looking through the wall, and I distinctly -saw his ears point in the intensity of his listening. -</p> - -<p> -"After a moment, with hasty, noiseless energy, -and without the slightest ceremony, he blew the -lamps out, drew back the heavy curtains and threw -the tall window wide open. -</p> - -<p> -"A rush of icy air, and the bright rays of the -moon—gibbous, I remember, in her third quarter—filled -the room. Outside, the mist had condensed, -and the view was unrestricted over the white plains -at the foot of the hill. -</p> - -<p> -"The baron stood motionless in the open window, -callous to the cold in which, after a minute, I could -hardly keep my teeth from chattering, his head bent -forward, still listening. I listened too, with 'all my -ears,' but could not catch a sound; indeed the silence -over the great expanse of snow might have been -called awful; even the dogs were mute. -</p> - -<p> -"Presently, far, far away, came a faint tinkle of -bells; so faint, at first, that I thought it was but -fancy, then distincter. It was even more eerie than -the silence I thought, though I knew it could come -but from some passing sleigh. All at once that -ceased, and again my duller senses could perceive -nothing, though I saw by my host's craning neck -that he was more on the alert than ever. But at -last I too heard once more, this time not bells, but as -it were the tread of horses muffled by the snow, -intermittent and dull yet drawing nearer. And then in -the inner silence of the great house it seemed to me I -caught the noise of closing doors; but here the -hounds, as if suddenly becoming alive to some -disturbance, raised the same fearsome concert of yells -and barks with which they had greeted my arrival, -and listening became useless. -</p> - -<p> -"I had risen to my feet. My host, turning from -the windows, seized my shoulder with a fierce grip, -and bade me 'hold my noise;' for a second or two I -stood motionless under his iron talons, then he -released me with an exultant whisper:— -</p> - -<p> -"'Now for our chase!' and made for the door with -a spring. Hastily gulping down a mouthful of -arrack from one of the bottles on the table, I -followed him, and, guided by the sound of his footsteps -before me, groped my way through passages black -as Erebus. -</p> - -<p> -"After a time, which seemed a long one, a small -door was flung open in front, and I saw Kossowski -glide into the moonlit courtyard and cross the -square. When I too came out he was disappearing -into the gaping darkness of the open stable door, -and there I overtook him. -</p> - -<p> -"A man who seemed to have been sleeping in a -corner jumped up at our entrance, and led out a -horse ready saddled. In obedience to a gruff order -from his master, as the latter mounted, he then -brought forward another which he had evidently -thought to ride himself and held the stirrup for me. -</p> - -<p> -"We came delicately forth, and the Cossack -hurriedly barred the great door behind us—I caught -a glimpse of his worn, scarred face by the moonlight, -as he peeped after us for a second before shutting -himself in; it was stricken with terror. -</p> - -<p> -"The baron trotted briskly toward the kennels -from whence there was now issuing a truly infernal -clangour, and, as my steed followed suit of his own -accord, I could see how he proceeded dexterously -to unbolt the gates without dismounting, while the -beasts within dashed themselves against them and -tore the ground in their fury of impatience. -</p> - -<p> -"He smiled, as he swung back the barriers at last, -and his 'beauties' came forth. Seven or eight -monstrous brutes, hounds of a kind unknown to me; -fulvous and sleek of coat, tall on their legs, -square-headed, long-tailed, deep-chested; with terrible -jaws slobbering in eagerness. They leapt around -and up at us, much to our horses' distaste. Kossowski, -still smiling, lashed at them unsparingly with -his hunting whip, and they responded, not with yells -of pain, but with snarls of fury. -</p> - -<p> -"Managing his restless steed and his cruel whip -with consummate ease, my host drove the unruly -crew before him, out of the precincts, then halted -and bent down from his saddle to examine some -slight prints in the snow which led, not the way I had -come, but toward what seemed another avenue. -In a second or two the hounds were gathered round -this spot, their great snake-like tails quivering, nose -to earth, yelping with excitement. I had some ado -to manage my horse, and my eyesight was far from -being as keen as the baron's, but I had then no doubt -he had come already upon wolf-tracks, and I shuddered -mentally, thinking of the sleigh-bells. -</p> - -<p> -"Suddenly Kossowski raised himself from his -strained position; under his low fur cap his face, -with its fixed smile, looked scarcely human in the -white light; and then we broke into a hand canter -just as the hounds dashed, in a compact body, -along the trail. -</p> - -<p> -"But we had not gone more than a few hundred -yards before they began to falter, then straggled, -stopped, and ran back and about with dismal cries. -It was clear to me they had lost the scent. My -companion reined in his horse, and mine, luckily a -well-trained brute, halted of himself. -</p> - -<p> -"We had reached a bend in a broad avenue of -firs and larches, and just where we stood, and where -the hounds ever returned and met nose to nose in -frantic conclave, the snow was trampled and soiled, -and a little further on planed in a great sweep, as -if by a turning sleigh. Beyond was a double-furrowed -track of skates and regular hoof-prints -leading far away. -</p> - -<p> -"Before I had time to reflect upon the bearing of -this unexpected interruption, Kossowski, as if -suddenly possessed by a devil, fell upon the hounds -with his whip, flogging them upon the new track, -uttering the while the most savage cries I have ever -heard issue from human throat. The disappointed -beasts were nothing loth to seize upon another trail; -after a second of hesitation they had understood, -and were off upon it at a tearing pace, and we after -them at the best speed of our horses. -</p> - -<p> -"Some unformed idea that we were going to -escort, or rescue, benighted travellers flickered -dimly in my mind as I galloped through the night -air; but when I managed to approach my companion -and called out to him for explanation, he only -turned half round and grinned at me. -</p> - -<p> -"Before us lay now the white plain, scintillating -under the high moon's rays. That light is -deceptive; I could be sure of nothing upon the wide -expanse, but of the dark, leaping figures of the hounds -already spread out in a straggling line, some right -ahead, others just in front of us. In a short time -also the icy wind, cutting my face mercilessly as we -increased our pace, well-nigh blinded me with -tears of cold. -</p> - -<p> -"I can hardly realize how long this pursuit after -an unseen prey lasted; I can only remember that I -was getting rather faint with fatigue, and ignominiously -held on to my pommel, when all of a sudden -the black outline of a sleigh merged into sight in -front of us. -</p> - -<p> -"I rubbed my smarting eyes with my benumbed -hand; we were gaining upon it second by second; -two of those hell-hounds of the baron's were already -within a few leaps of it. -</p> - -<p> -"Soon I was able to make out two figures, one -standing up and urging the horses on with whip and -voice, the other clinging to the back seat and looking -toward us in an attitude of terror. A great fear -crept into my half frozen brain—were we not bringing -deadly danger, instead of help to these travellers? -Great God! did the baron mean to use them as a -bait for his new method of wolf-hunting? -</p> - -<p> -"I would have turned upon Kossowski with a cry -of expostulation or warning, but he, urging on his -hounds, as he galloped on their flank, howling and -gesticulating like a veritable Hun, passed me by -like a flash, and all at once I knew." -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Marshfield paused for a moment and sent his -pale smile round upon his listeners, who now showed -no signs of sleepiness; he knocked the ash from his -cigar, twisted the latter round in his mouth, and -added dryly:— -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -"And I confess it seemed to me a little strong, -even for a baron in the Carpathians. The travellers -were our quarry. But the reason why the Lord of -Yany had turned man-hunter I was yet to learn. -Just then I had to direct my energies to frustrating -his plans. I used my spurs mercilessly. Whilst I -drew up even with him I saw the two figures in the -sleigh change places; he who had hitherto driven -now faced back, while his companion took the reins; -there was the pale blue sheen of a revolver barrel -under the moonlight, followed by a yellow flash, and -the nearest hound rolled over in the snow. -</p> - -<p> -"With an oath the baron twisted round in his -saddle to call up and urge on the remainder. My -horse had taken fright at the report and dashed -irresistibly forward, bringing me at once almost -level with the fugitives, and the next instant the -revolver was turned menacingly toward me. There -was no time to explain; my pistol was already drawn, -and as another of the brutes bounded up, almost -under my horse's feet, I loosed it upon him—I -must have let off both barrels at once, for the weapon -flew out of my hand, but the hound's back was -broken. I presume the traveller understood; at -any rate he did not fire at me. -</p> - -<p> -"In moments of intense excitement like these, -strangely enough, the mind is extraordinarily open -to impressions. I shall never forget that man's -countenance, in the sledge, as he stood upright and -defied us in his mortal danger; it was young, very -handsome, the features not distorted, but set into -a sort of desperate, stony calm, and I knew it, -beyond all doubt, for that of an Englishman. -And then I saw his companion—it was the baron's -wife. -</p> - -<p> -"It takes a long time to say all this; it only -required an instant to see it. The loud explosion of -my pistol had hardly ceased to ring before the baron, -with a fearful imprecation, was upon me. First he -lashed at me with his whip as we tore along side by -side, and then I saw him wind the reins round his -off-arm and bend over, and I felt his angry fingers -close tightly on my right foot. The next instant -I should have been lifted out of my saddle, but there -came another shot from the sledge. The baron's -horse plunged and stumbled, and the baron, hanging -on to my foot with a fierce grip, was wrenched -from his seat. His horse, however, was up again -immediately, and I was released, and then I caught -a confused glimpse of the frightened and wounded -animal galloping wildly away to the right, leaving a -black track of blood behind him in the snow, his -master, entangled in the reins, running with -incredible swiftness by his side and endeavouring to -vault back into the saddle. -</p> - -<p> -"And now came to pass a terrible thing which, in -his savage plans, my host had doubtless never -anticipated. -</p> - -<p> -"One of the hounds that had during this short -check recovered lost ground, coming across this hot -trail of blood, turned away from his course, and -with a joyous yell darted after the running man. -In another instant the remainder of the pack were -upon the new scent. -</p> - -<p> -"As soon as I could stop my horse, I tried to -turn him in the direction the new chase had taken, -but just then, through the night air, over the -receding sound of the horse's scamper and the sobbing -of the pack in full cry, there came a long scream, -and after that a sickening silence. And I knew -that somewhere yonder, under the beautiful -moonlight, the Baron Kossowski was being devoured by -his starving dogs. -</p> - -<p> -"I looked round, with the sweat on my face, -vaguely, for some human being to share the horror -of the moment, and I saw, gliding away, far away, -in the white distance, the black silhouette of the -sledge." -</p> - -<p> -"Well?" said we, in divers tones of impatience, -curiosity, or horror, according to our divers -temperaments, as the speaker uncrossed his legs and gazed -at us in mild triumph, with all the air of having -said his say, and satisfactorily proved his point. -</p> - -<p> -"Well," repeated he, "what more do you want -to know? It will interest you but slightly, I am -sure, to hear how I found my way back to the Hof; -or how I told as much as I deemed prudent of the -evening's gruesome work to the baron's servants, -who, by the way, to my amazement, displayed the -profoundest and most unmistakable sorrow at the -tidings, and sallied forth (at their head the Cossack -who had seen us depart) to seek for his remains. -Excuse the unpleasantness of the remark; I fear the -dogs must have left very little of him; he had dieted -them so carefully. However, since it was to have -been a case of 'chop, crunch, and gobble,' as the -baron had it, I preferred that that particular fate -should have overtaken him than me—or, for that -matter, either of these two country people of ours -in the sledge. -</p> - -<p> -"Nor am I going to inflict upon you," continued -Marshfield, after draining his glass, "a full account -of my impressions when I found myself once more -in that immense, deserted, and stricken house, so -luxuriously prepared for the mistress who had fled -from it; how I philosophized over all this, according -to my wont; the conjectures I made as to the first -acts of the drama, the untold sufferings my -country-woman must have endured from the moment her -husband first grew jealous till she determined on -this desperate step; as to how and when she had -met her lover, how they communicated, and how -the baron had discovered the intended flitting in -time to concoct his characteristic revenge. -</p> - -<p> -"One thing you may be sure of, I had no mind to -remain at Yany an hour longer than necessary. -I even contrived to get well clear of the neighbourhood -before the lady's absence was discovered. -Luckily for me—or I might have been taxed with -connivance; though indeed the simple household -did not seem to know what suspicion was, and -accepted my account with childlike credence—very -typical, and very convenient to me at the same -time." -</p> - -<p> -"But how do you know," said one of us, "that -the man was her lover?—he might have been her -brother or some other relative?" -</p> - -<p> -"That," said Marshfield, with his little flat -laugh, "I happen to have ascertained—and, curiously -enough, only a few weeks ago. It was at the -play, between the acts, from my comfortable seat -(first row of the pit), I was looking leisurely round -the house when I caught sight of a woman, in a -box, close by, whose head was turned from me, and -who presented the somewhat unusual spectacle of a -young neck and shoulders of the most exquisite -contour—and perfectly gray hair; and not dull -gray, but rather of a pleasing tint—like frosted -silver. This aroused my curiosity. I brought my -glasses to a focus on her, and waited patiently till -she turned round. Then I recognized the Baroness -Kossowski, and I no longer wondered at the young -hair being white. -</p> - -<p> -"Yet she looked placid and happy; strangely so, -it seemed to me, under the sudden reviving in my -memory of such scenes as I have now described. -But presently I understood further; beside her, in -close attendance, was the man of the sledge, a -handsome fellow, with much of a military air about him. -</p> - -<p> -"During the course of the evening, as I watched, -I saw a friend of mine come into the box, and at the -end I slipped out into the passage to catch him as he -came out. -</p> - -<p> -"'Who is the woman with the white hair?' I -asked. Then, in the fragmentary style approved -of by ultra-fashionable young men—this earnest-languid -mode of speech presents curious similarities -in all languages—he told me: 'Most charming -couple in London—awfully pretty, wasn't she? -<i>He</i> had been in the Guards—<i>attaché</i> at Vienna -once—they adored each other. White hair, devilish -queer, wasn't it? Suited her, somehow. And then -she had been married to a Russian, or something, -somewhere in the wilds, and their names were—' But -do you know," said Marshfield, interrupting -himself, "I think I had better let you find that out -for yourselves, if you care." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> - -<h3> -II -<br /><br /> -A MAN AND SOME OTHERS -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -STEPHEN CRANE -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -I -</p> - -<p> -Dark mesquit spread from horizon to -horizon. There was no house or horseman -from which a mind could evolve a city or a -crowd. The world was declared to be a desert and -unpeopled. Sometimes, however, on days when no -heat-mist arose, a blue shape, dun, of the substance -of a specter's veil, appeared in the southwest, and a -pondering sheep-herder might remember that there -were mountains. -</p> - -<p> -In the silence of these plains the sudden and -childish banging of a tin pan could have made an -iron-nerved man leap into the air. The sky was ever -flawless; the manoeuvring of clouds was an unknown -pageant; but at times a sheep-herder could see, -miles away, the long, white streamers of dust rising -from the feet of another's flock, and the interest -became intense. -</p> - -<p> -Bill was arduously cooking his dinner, bending -over the fire and toiling like a blacksmith. A -movement, a flash of strange colour, perhaps, off in -the bushes, caused him suddenly to turn his head. -Presently he arose, and, shading his eyes with his -hand, stood motionless and gazing. He perceived -at last a Mexican sheep-herder winding through the -brush toward his camp. -</p> - -<p> -"Hello!" shouted Bill. -</p> - -<p> -The Mexican made no answer, but came steadily -forward until he was within some twenty yards. -There he paused, and, folding his arms, drew himself -up in the manner affected by the villain in the play. -His serape muffled the lower part of his face, and his -great sombrero shaded his brow. Being unexpected -and also silent, he had something of the quality of -an apparition; moreover, it was clearly his intention -to be mystic and sinister. -</p> - -<p> -The American's pipe, sticking carelessly in the -corner of his mouth, was twisted until the wrong side -was uppermost, and he held his frying-pan poised in -the air. He surveyed with evident surprise this -apparition in the mesquit. "Hell, José!" he said; -"what's the matter?" -</p> - -<p> -The Mexican spoke with the solemnity of funeral -tellings: "Beel, you mus' geet off range. We want -you geet off range. We no like. Un'erstan'? We -no like." -</p> - -<p> -"What you talking about?" said Bill. "No like -what?" -</p> - -<p> -"We no like you here. Un'erstan'? Too mooch. -You mus' geet out. We no like. Un'erstan'?" -</p> - -<p> -"Understand? No: I don't know what the blazes -you're gittin' at." Bill's eyes wavered in bewilderment, -and his jaw fell. "I must git out? I must git -off the range? What you givin' us?" -</p> - -<p> -The Mexican unfolded his serape with his small -yellow hand. Upon his face was then to be seen a -smile that was gently, almost caressingly, -murderous. "Beel," he said, "git out!" -</p> - -<p> -Bill's arm dropped until the frying-pan was at his -knee. Finally he turned again toward the fire. "Go -on, you dog-gone little yaller rat!" he said over his -shoulder. "You fellers can't chase me off this -range. I got as much right here as anybody." -</p> - -<p> -"Beel," answered the other in a vibrant tone, -thrusting his head forward and moving one foot, -"you geet out or we keel you." -</p> - -<p> -"Who will?" said Bill. -</p> - -<p> -"I—and the others." The Mexican tapped his -breast gracefully. -</p> - -<p> -Bill reflected for a time, and then he said: "You -ain't got no manner of license to warn me off'n this -range, and I won't move a rod. Understand? I've -got rights, and I suppose if I don't see 'em through, -no one is likely to give me a good hand and help -me lick you fellers, since I'm the only white man in -half a day's ride. Now, look: if you fellers try to -rush this camp, I'm goin' to plug about fifty per -cent. of the gentlemen present, sure. I'm goin' in -fur trouble, an' I'll git a lot of you. 'Nuther thing: -if I was a fine valuable caballero like you, I'd stay -in the rear till the shootin' was done, because I'm -goin' to make a particular p'int of shootin' you -through the chest." He grinned affably, and made a -gesture of dismissal. -</p> - -<p> -As for the Mexican, he waved his hands in a consummate -expression of indifference. "Oh, all right," -he said. Then, in a tone of deep menace and glee, -he added: "We will keel you eef you no geet. They -have decide." -</p> - -<p> -"They have, have they?" said Bill. "Well, you -tell them to go to the devil!" -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -II -</p> - -<p> -As his Mexican friend tripped blithely away, Bill -turned with a thoughtful face to his frying-pan and -his fire. After dinner he drew his revolver from its -scarred old holster, and examined every part of it. -It was the revolver that had dealt death to the -foreman, and it had also been in free fights in which it -had dealt death to several or none. Bill loved it -because its allegiance was more than that of man, -horse, or dog. It questioned neither social nor moral -position; it obeyed alike the saint and the assassin. -It was the claw of the eagle, the tooth of the lion, -the poison of the snake; and when he swept it from -its holster, this minion smote where he listed, even -to the battering of a far penny. Wherefore it was -his dearest possession, and was not to be exchanged -in southwestern Texas for a handful of rubies. -</p> - -<p> -During the afternoon he moved through his -monotony of work and leisure with the same air of -deep meditation. The smoke of his supper time fire -was curling across the shadowy sea of mesquit when -the instinct of the plainsman warned him that the -stillness, the desolation, was again invaded. He saw -a motionless horseman in black outline against the -pallid sky. The silhouette displayed serape and -sombrero, and even the Mexican spurs as large as -pies. When this black figure began to move toward -the camp, Bill's hand dropped to his revolver. -</p> - -<p> -The horseman approached until Bill was enabled -to see pronounced American features, and a skin too -red to grow on a Mexican face. Bill released his grip -on his revolver. -</p> - -<p> -"Hello!" called the horseman. -</p> - -<p> -"Hello!" answered Bill. -</p> - -<p> -The horseman cantered forward. "Good evening," -he said, as he again drew rein. -</p> - -<p> -"Good evenin'," answered Bill, without committing -himself by too much courtesy. -</p> - -<p> -For a moment the two men scanned each other in -a way that is not ill-mannered on the plains, where -one is in danger of meeting horse-thieves or tourists. -</p> - -<p> -Bill saw a type which did not belong in the -mesquit. The young fellow had invested in some -Mexican trappings of an expensive kind. Bill's -eyes searched the outfit for some sign of craft, but -there was none. Even with his local regalia, it was -clear that the young man was of a far, black -northern city. He had discarded the enormous stirrups -of his Mexican saddle; he used the small English -stirrup, and his feet were thrust forward until the -steel tightly gripped his ankles. As Bill's eyes -travelled over the stranger, they lighted suddenly -upon the stirrups and the thrust feet, and immediately -he smiled in a friendly way. No dark purpose -could dwell in the innocent heart of a man who rode -thus on the plains. -</p> - -<p> -As for the stranger, he saw a tattered individual -with a tangle of hair and beard, and with a -complexion turned brick-colour from the sun and whiskey. -He saw a pair of eyes that at first looked at him as -the wolf looks at the wolf, and then became childlike, -almost timid, in their glance. Here was evidently a -man who had often stormed the iron walls of the -city of success, and who now sometimes valued -himself as the rabbit values his prowess. -</p> - -<p> -The stranger smiled genially, and sprang from -his horse. "Well, sir, I suppose you will let me camp -here with you to-night?" -</p> - -<p> -"Eh?" said Bill. -</p> - -<p> -"I suppose you will let me camp here with you -to-night?" -</p> - -<p> -Bill for a time seemed too astonished for words. -</p> - -<p> -"Well," he answered, scowling in inhospitable -annoyance, "well, I don't believe this here is a good -place to camp to-night, Mister." -</p> - -<p> -The stranger turned quickly from his saddle-girth. -</p> - -<p> -"What?" he said in surprise. "You don't want -me here? You don't want me to camp here?" -</p> - -<p> -Bill's feet scuffled awkwardly, and he looked -steadily at a cactus-plant. "Well, you see, Mister," -he said, "I'd like your company well enough, but—you -see, some of these here greasers are goin' to -chase me off the range to-night; and while I might -like a man's company all right, I couldn't let him in -for no such game when he ain't got nothin' to do -with the trouble." -</p> - -<p> -"Going to chase you off the range?" cried the -stranger. -</p> - -<p> -"Well, they said they were goin' to do it," said -Bill. -</p> - -<p> -"And—great heavens!—will they kill you, do you -think?" -</p> - -<p> -"Don't know. Can't tell till afterward. You see, -they take some feller that's alone like me, and then -they rush his camp when he ain't quite ready for 'em, -and ginerally plug 'im with a sawed-off shot-gun -load before he has a chance to git at 'em. They lay -around and wait for their chance, and it comes soon -enough. Of course a feller alone like me has got to -let up watching some time. Maybe they ketch 'im -asleep. Maybe the feller gits tired waiting, and goes -out in broad day, and kills two or three just to make -the whole crowd pile on him and settle the thing. I -heard of a case like that once. It's awful hard on a -man's mind—to git a gang after him." -</p> - -<p> -"And so they're going to rush your camp tonight?" -cried the stranger. "How do you know? -Who told you?" -</p> - -<p> -"Feller come and told me." -</p> - -<p> -"And what are you going to do? Fight?" -</p> - -<p> -"Don't see nothin' else to do," answered Bill, -gloomily, still staring at the cactus-plant. -</p> - -<p> -There was a silence. Finally the stranger burst -out in an amazed cry. "Well, I never heard of -such a thing in my life! How many of them are -there?" -</p> - -<p> -"Eight," answered Bill. "And now look-a-here; -you ain't got no manner of business foolin' around -here just now, and you might better lope off before -dark. I don't ask no help in this here row. I know -your happening along here just now don't give me -no call on you, and you'd better hit the trail." -</p> - -<p> -"Well, why in the name of wonder don't you go -get the sheriff?" cried the stranger. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, hell!" said Bill. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -III -</p> - -<p> -Long, smouldering clouds spread in the western -sky, and to the east silver mists lay on the purple -gloom of the wilderness. -</p> - -<p> -Finally, when the great moon climbed the heavens -and cast its ghastly radiance upon the bushes, it -made a new and more brilliant crimson of the -campfire, where the flames capered merrily through its -mesquit branches, filling the silence with the fire -chorus, an ancient melody which surely bears a -message of the inconsequence of individual tragedy—a -message that is in the boom of the sea, the shiver -of the wind through the grass-blades, the silken -clash of hemlock boughs. -</p> - -<p> -No figures moved in the rosy space of the camp, -and the search of the moonbeams failed to disclose -a living thing in the bushes. There was no owl-faced -clock to chant the weariness of the long silence that -brooded upon the plain. -</p> - -<p> -The dew gave the darkness under the mesquit a -velvet quality that made air seem nearer to water, -and no eye could have seen through it the black -things that moved like monster lizards toward the -camp. The branches, the leaves, that are fain to -cry out when death approaches in the wilds, were -frustrated by these mystic bodies gliding with the -finesse of the escaping serpent. They crept forward -to the last point where assuredly no frantic attempt -of the fire could discover them, and there they -paused to locate the prey. A romance relates the -tale of the black cell hidden deep in the earth, where, -upon entering, one sees only the little eyes of snakes -fixing him in menaces. If a man could have -approached a certain spot in the bushes, he would not -have found it romantically necessary to have his -hair rise. There would have been sufficient expression -of horror in the feeling of the death-hand at the -nape of his neck and in his rubber knee-joints. -</p> - -<p> -Two of the bodies finally moved toward each other -until for each there grew out of the darkness a face -placidly smiling with tender dreams of assassination. -"The fool is asleep by the fire, God be praised!" -The lips of the other widened in a grin of affectionate -appreciation of the fool and his plight. There was -some signalling in the gloom and then began a series -of subtle rustlings, interjected often with pauses, -during which no sound arose but the sound of faint -breathing. -</p> - -<p> -A bush stood like a rock in the stream of firelight, -sending its long shadow backward. With painful -caution the little company travelled along this -shadow, and finally arrived at the rear of the bush. -Through its branches they surveyed for a moment of -comfortable satisfaction a form in a gray blanket -extended on the ground near the fire. The smile of -joyful anticipation fled quickly, to give place to a -quiet air of business. Two men lifted shot-guns -with much of the barrels gone, and sighting these -weapons through the branches, pulled trigger together. -</p> - -<p> -The noise of the explosions roared over the lonely -mesquit as if these guns wished to inform the entire -world; and as the grey smoke fled, the dodging -company back of the bush saw the blanketed form -twitching. Whereupon they burst out in chorus -in a laugh, and arose as merry as a lot of banqueters. -They gleefully gestured congratulations, and strode -bravely into the light of the fire. -</p> - -<p> -Then suddenly a new laugh rang from some -unknown spot in the darkness. It was a fearsome -laugh of ridicule, hatred, ferocity. It might have -been demoniac. It smote them motionless in their -gleeful prowl, as the stern voice from the sky smites -the legendary malefactor. They might have been a -weird group in wax, the light of the dying fire on -their yellow faces, and shining athwart their eyes -turned toward the darkness whence might come the -unknown and the terrible. -</p> - -<p> -The thing in the grey blanket no longer twitched; -but if the knives in their hands had been thrust -toward it, each knife was now drawn back, and its -owner's elbow was thrown upward, as if he expected -death from the clouds. -</p> - -<p> -This laugh had so chained their reason that for a -moment they had no wit to flee. They were prisoners -to their terror. Then suddenly the belated decision -arrived, and with bubbling cries they turned -to run; but at that instant there was a long flash of -red in the darkness, and with the report one of the -men shouted a bitter shout, spun once, and tumbled -headlong. The thick bushes failed to impede the -route of the others. -</p> - -<p> -The silence returned to the wilderness. The tired -flames faintly illumined the blanketed thing and -the flung corpse of the marauder, and sang the fire -chorus, the ancient melody which bears the message -of the inconsequence of human tragedy. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -IV -</p> - -<p> -"Now you are worse off than ever," said the -young man, dry-voiced and awed. -</p> - -<p> -"No, I ain't," said Bill, rebelliously. "I'm one -ahead." -</p> - -<p> -After reflection, the stranger remarked, "Well, -there's seven more." -</p> - -<p> -They were cautiously and slowly approaching the -camp. The sun was flaring its first warming rays -over the gray wilderness. Upreared twigs, prominent -branches, shone with golden light, while the -shadows under the mesquit were heavily blue. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly the stranger uttered a frightened cry. -He had arrived at a point whence he had, through -openings in the thicket, a clear view of a dead -face. -</p> - -<p> -"Gosh!" said Bill, who at the next instant had -seen the thing; "I thought at first it was that there -José. That would have been queer, after what I -told 'im yesterday." -</p> - -<p> -They continued their way, the stranger wincing -in his walk, and Bill exhibiting considerable curiosity. -</p> - -<p> -The yellow beams of the new sun were touching -the grim hues of the dead Mexican's face, and -creating there an inhuman effect, which made his -countenance more like a mask of dulled brass. One -hand, grown curiously thinner, had been flung out -regardlessly to a cactus bush. -</p> - -<p> -Bill walked forward and stood looking respectfully -at the body. "I know that feller; his name is -Miguel. He——" -</p> - -<p> -The stranger's nerves might have been in that -condition when there is no backbone to the body, -only a long groove. "Good heavens!" he -exclaimed, much agitated; "don't speak that way!" -</p> - -<p> -"What way?" said Bill. "I only said his name -was Miguel." -</p> - -<p> -After a pause the stranger said: -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, I know; but—" He waved his hand. -"Lower your voice, or something. I don't know. -This part of the business rattles me, don't you -see?" -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, all right," replied Bill, bowing to the other's -mysterious mood. But in a moment he burst out -violently and loud in the most extraordinary -profanity, the oaths winging from him as the sparks go -from the funnel. -</p> - -<p> -He had been examining the contents of the bundled -gray blanket, and he had brought forth, among -other things, his frying-pan. It was now only a -rim with a handle; the Mexican volley had centred -upon it. A Mexican shot-gun of the abbreviated -description is ordinarily loaded with flatirons, -stove-lids, lead pipe, old horseshoes, sections of chain, -window weights, railroad sleepers and spikes, -dumbbells, and any other junk which may be at hand. -When one of these loads encounters a man vitally, -it is likely to make an impression upon him, and a -cooking-utensil may be supposed to subside before -such an assault of curiosities. -</p> - -<p> -Bill held high his desecrated frying-pan, turning -it this way and that way. He swore until he -happened to note the absence of the stranger. A -moment later he saw him leading his horse from the -bushes. In silence and sullenly the young man -went about saddling the animal. Bill said, "Well, -goin' to pull out?" -</p> - -<p> -The stranger's hands fumbled uncertainly at the -throat-latch. Once he exclaimed irritably, blaming -the buckle for the trembling of his fingers. Once -he turned to look at the dead face with the light -of the morning sun upon it. At last he cried, "Oh, -I know the whole thing was all square enough—couldn't -be squarer—but—somehow or other, that -man there takes the heart out of me." He turned -his troubled face for another look. "He seems to -be all the time calling me a—he makes me feel like a -murderer." -</p> - -<p> -"But," said Bill, puzzling, "you didn't shoot him, -Mister; I shot him." -</p> - -<p> -"I know; but I feel that way, somehow. I can't -get rid of it." -</p> - -<p> -Bill considered for a time; then he said -diffidently, "Mister, you'r a' eddycated man, ain't -you?" -</p> - -<p> -"What?" -</p> - -<p> -"You're what they call a'—a' eddycated man, -ain't you?" -</p> - -<p> -The young man, perplexed, evidently had a -question upon his lips, when there was a roar of -guns, bright flashes, and in the air such hooting -and whistling as would come from a swift flock of -steamboilers. The stranger's horse gave a mighty, -convulsive spring, snorting wildly in its sudden -anguish, fell upon its knees, scrambled afoot again, -and was away in the uncanny death-run known to -men who have seen the finish of brave horses. -</p> - -<p> -"This comes from discussin' things," cried Bill, -angrily. -</p> - -<p> -He had thrown himself flat on the ground facing -the thicket whence had come the firing. He could -see the smoke winding over the bush-tops. He -lifted his revolver, and the weapon came slowly up -from the ground and poised like the glittering crest -of a snake. Somewhere on his face there was a -kind of smile, cynical, wicked, deadly, of a ferocity -which at the same time had brought a deep flush to -his face, and had caused two upright lines to glow -in his eyes. -</p> - -<p> -"Hello, José!" he called, amiable for satire's sake. -"Got your old blunderbusses loaded up again yet?" -</p> - -<p> -The stillness had returned to the plain. The -sun's brilliant rays swept over the sea of mesquit, -painting the far mists of the west with faint rosy -light, and high in the air some great bird fled -toward the south. -</p> - -<p> -"You come out here," called Bill, again addressing -the landscape, "and I'll give you some shootin' -lessons. That ain't the way to shoot." Receiving -no reply, he began to invent epithets and yell them -at the thicket. He was something of a master of -insult, and, moreover, he dived into his memory -to bring forth imprecations tarnished with age, -unused since fluent Bowery days. The occupation -amused him, and sometimes he laughed so that it -was uncomfortable for his chest to be against the -ground. -</p> - -<p> -Finally the stranger, prostrate near him, said -wearily, "Oh, they've gone." -</p> - -<p> -"Don't you believe it," replied Bill, sobering -swiftly. "They're there yet—every man of 'em." -</p> - -<p> -"How do you know?" -</p> - -<p> -"Because I do. They won't shake us so soon. -Don't put your head up, or they'll get you, sure." -</p> - -<p> -Bill's eyes, meanwhile, had not wavered from -their scrutiny of the thicket in front. "They're -there, all right; don't you forget it. Now you -listen." So he called out: "José! Ojo, José! -Speak up, <i>hombre</i>! I want have talk. Speak up, -you yaller cuss, you!" -</p> - -<p> -Whereupon a mocking voice from off in the -bushes said, "Senor?" -</p> - -<p> -"There," said Bill to his ally; "didn't I tell you? -The whole batch." Again he lifted his voice. -"José—look—ain't you gittin' kinder tired? You -better go home, you fellers, and git some rest." -</p> - -<p> -The answer was a sudden furious chatter of -Spanish, eloquent with hatred, calling down upon -Bill all the calamities which life holds. It was as -if some one had suddenly enraged a cageful of -wildcats. The spirits of all the revenges which they -had imagined were loosened at this time, and filled -the air. -</p> - -<p> -"They're in a holler," said Bill, chuckling, "or -there'd be shootin'." -</p> - -<p> -Presently he began to grow angry. His hidden -enemies called him nine kinds of coward, a man -who could fight only in the dark, a baby who would -run from the shadows of such noble Mexican -gentlemen, a dog that sneaked. They described the -affair of the previous night, and informed him of -the base advantage he had taken of their friend. -In fact, they in all sincerity endowed him with -every quality which he no less earnestly believed -them to possess. One could have seen the phrases -bite him as he lay there on the ground fingering his -revolver. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -V -</p> - -<p> -It is sometimes taught that men do the furious -and desperate thing from an emotion that is as even -and placid as the thoughts of a village clergyman -on Sunday afternoon. Usually, however, it is to be -believed that a panther is at the time born in the -heart, and that the subject does not resemble a -man picking mulberries. -</p> - -<p> -"B' G—!" said Bill, speaking as from a throat -filled with dust, "I'll go after 'em in a minute." -</p> - -<p> -"Don't you budge an inch!" cried the stranger, -sternly. "Don't you budge!" -</p> - -<p> -"Well," said Bill, glaring at the bushes—"well." -</p> - -<p> -"Put your head down!" suddenly screamed the -stranger, in white alarm. As the guns roared, -Bill uttered a loud grunt, and for a moment leaned -panting on his elbow, while his arm shook like a -twig. Then he upreared like a great and bloody -spirit of vengeance, his face lighted with the blaze -of his last passion. The Mexicans came swiftly -and in silence. -</p> - -<p> -The lightning action of the next few moments -was of the fabric of dreams to the stranger. The -muscular struggle may not be real to the drowning -man. His mind may be fixed on the far, straight -shadows back of the stars, and the terror of them. -And so the fight, and his part in it, had to the -stranger only the quality of a picture half drawn. -The rush of feet, the spatter of shots, the cries, the -swollen faces seen like masks on the smoke, -resembled a happening of the night. -</p> - -<p> -And yet afterward certain lines, forms, lived out -so strongly from the incoherence that they were -always in his memory. -</p> - -<p> -He killed a man, and the thought went swiftly -by him, like a feather on a gale, that it was easy -to kill a man. -</p> - -<p> -Moreover, he suddenly felt for Bill, this grimy -sheep-herder, some deep form of idolatry. Bill -was dying, and the dignity of last defeat, this -superiority of him who stands in his grave, was in the -pose of the lost sheep-herder. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The stranger sat on the ground idly mopping -the sweat and powder-stain from his brow. He -wore the gentle idiotic smile of an aged beggar as -he watched three Mexicans limping and staggering -in the distance. He noted at this time that one -who still possessed a serape had from it none of -the grandeur of the cloaked Spaniard, but that -against the sky the silhouette resembled a -cornucopia of childhood's Christmas. -</p> - -<p> -They turned to look at him, and he lifted his -weary arm to menace them with his revolver. They -stood for a moment banded together, and hooted -curses at him. -</p> - -<p> -Finally he arose, and, walking some paces, stooped -to loosen Bill's gray hands from a throat. Swaying -as if slightly drunk, he stood looking down into the -still face. -</p> - -<p> -Struck suddenly with a thought, he went about -with dulled eyes on the ground, until he plucked his -gaudy blanket from where it lay dirty from trampling -feet. He dusted it carefully, and then returned -and laid it over Bill's form. There he again stood -motionless, his mouth just agape and the same -stupid glance in his eyes, when all at once he made -a gesture of fright and looked wildly about him. -</p> - -<p> -He had almost reached the thicket when he -stopped, smitten with alarm. A body contorted, -with one arm stiff in the air, lay in his path. Slowly -and warily he moved around it, and in a moment -the bushes nodding and whispering, their leaf-faces -turned toward the scene behind him, swung and -swung again into stillness and the peace of the -wilderness. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> - -<h3> -III -<br /><br /> -THE OUTLAWS -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -SELMA LAGERLÖF -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -A peasant who had murdered a monk took -to the woods and was made an outlaw. -He found there before him in the wilderness -another outlaw, a fisherman from the outer-most -islands, who had been accused of stealing a -herring net. They joined together, lived in a cave, -set snares, sharpened darts, baked bread on a granite -rock and guarded one another's lives. The peasant -never left the woods, but the fisherman, who had -not committed such an abominable crime, sometimes -loaded game on his shoulders and stole down -among men. There he got in exchange for black-cocks, -and long-eared hares and fine-limbed red -deer, milk and butter, arrow-heads and clothes. -These helped the outlaws to sustain life. -</p> - -<p> -The cave where they lived was dug in the side of -a hill. Broad stones and thorny-sloe-bushes hid -the entrance. Above it stood a thick growing -pine-tree. At its roots was the vent-hole of the -cave. The rising smoke filtered through the tree's -thick branches and vanished into space. The men -used to go to and from their dwelling-place, wading -in the mountain stream, which ran down the hill. -No one looked for their tracks under the merry, -bubbling water. -</p> - -<p> -At first they were hunted like wild beasts. The -peasants gathered as if for a chase of bear or wolf. -The wood was surrounded by men with bows and -arrows. Men with spears went through it and left -no dark crevice, no bushy thicket unexplored. While -the noisy battue hunted through the wood, the outlaws -lay in their dark hole, listening breathlessly, -panting with terror. The fisherman held out a -whole day, but he who had murdered was driven by -unbearable fear out into the open, where he could -see his enemy. He was seen and hunted, but it -seemed to him seven times better than to lie still in -helpless inactivity. He fled from his pursuers, slid -down precipices, sprang over streams, climbed up -perpendicular mountain walls. All latent strength -and dexterity in him was called forth by the -excitement of danger. His body became elastic like a -steel spring, his foot made no false step, his hand -never lost its hold, eye and ear were twice as sharp -as usual. He understood what the leaves whispered -and the rocks warned. When he had climbed up a -precipice, he turned toward his pursuers, sending -them gibes in biting rhyme. When the whistling -darts whizzed by him, he caught them, swift as -lightning, and hurled them down on his enemies. -As he forced his way through whipping branches, -something within him sang a song of triumph. -</p> - -<p> -The bald mountain ridge ran through the wood -and alone on its summit stood a lofty fir. The -red-brown trunk was bare, but in the branching top -rocked an eagle's nest. The fugitive was now so -audaciously bold that he climbed up there, while his -pursuers looked for him on the wooded slopes. -There he sat twisting the young eaglets' necks, while -the hunt passed by far below him. The male and -female eagle, longing for revenge, swooped down on -the ravisher. They fluttered before his face, they -struck with their beaks at his eyes, they beat him -with their wings and tore with their claws bleeding -weals in his weather-beaten skin. Laughing, he -fought with them. Standing upright in the shaking -nest, he cut at them with his sharp knife and forgot -in the pleasure of the play his danger and his -pursuers. When he found time to look for them, they -had gone by to some other part of the forest. No -one had thought to look for their prey on the bald -mountain-ridge. No one had raised his eyes to the -clouds to see him practising boyish tricks and -sleep-walking feats while his life was in the greatest -danger. -</p> - -<p> -The man trembled when he found that he was -saved. With shaking hands he caught at a support, -giddy he measured the height to which he had -climbed. And moaning with the fear of falling, -afraid of the birds, afraid of being seen, afraid of -everything, he slid down the trunk. He laid himself -down on the ground, so as not to be seen, and dragged -himself forward over the rocks until the underbrush -covered him. There he hid himself under the young -pine-tree's tangled branches. Weak and powerless, -he sank down on the moss. A single man could -have captured him. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * -</p> - -<p> -Tord was the fisherman's name. He was not more -than sixteen years old, but strong and bold. He -had already lived a year in the woods. -</p> - -<p> -The peasant's name was Berg, with the surname -Rese. He was the tallest and the strongest man in -the whole district, and moreover handsome and -well-built. He was broad in the shoulders and -slender in the waist. His hands were as well shaped as -if he had never done any hard work. His hair was -brown and his skin fair. After he had been some -time in the woods he acquired in all ways a more -formidable appearance. His eyes became piercing, -his eyebrows grew bushy, and the muscles which -knitted them lay finger thick above his nose. It -showed now more plainly than before how the upper -part of his athlete's brow projected over the lower. -His lips closed more firmly than of old, his whole -face was thinner, the hollows at the temples grew -very deep, and his powerful jaw was much more -prominent. His body was less well filled out but -his muscles were as hard as steel. His hair grew -suddenly grey. -</p> - -<p> -Young Tord could never weary of looking at this -man. He had never before seen anything so beautiful -and powerful. In his imagination he stood high -as the forest, strong as the sea. He served him as -a master and worshipped him as a god. It was a -matter of course that Tord should carry the hunting -spears, drag home the game, fetch the water and -build the fire. Berg Rese accepted all his services, -but almost never gave him a friendly word. He -despised him because he was a thief. -</p> - -<p> -The outlaws did not lead a robber's or brigand's -life: they supported themselves by hunting and -fishing. If Berg Rese had not murdered a holy man, the -peasants would soon have ceased to pursue him and -have left him in peace in the mountains. But they -feared great disaster to the district, because he who -had raised his hand against the servant of God was -still unpunished. When Tord came down to the -valley with game, they offered him riches and pardon -for his own crime if he would show them the way to -Berg Rese's hole, so that they might take him while -he slept. But the boy had always refused; and if -anyone tried to sneak after him up to the wood, he -led him so cleverly astray that he gave up the pursuit. -</p> - -<p> -Once Berg asked him if the peasants had not tried -to tempt him to betray him, and when he heard -what they offered him as a reward, he said scornfully -that Tord had been foolish not to accept such a -proposal. -</p> - -<p> -Then Tord looked at him with a glance, the like -of which Berg Rese had never before seen. Never -had any beautiful woman in his youth, never had his -wife or child looked so at him. "You are my lord, -my elected master," said the glance. "Know that -you may strike me and abuse me as you will, I am -faithful notwithstanding." -</p> - -<p> -After that Berg Rese paid more attention to the -boy and noticed that he was bold to act but timid to -speak. He had no fear of death. When the ponds -were first frozen, or when the bogs were most -dangerous in the spring, when the quagmires were hidden -under richly flowering grasses and cloudberry, he -took his way over them by choice. He seemed to -feel the need of exposing himself to danger as a -compensation for the storms and terrors of the ocean, -which he had no longer to meet. At night he was -afraid in the woods, and even in the middle of the day -the darkest thickets or the wide-stretching roots of a -fallen pine could frighten him. But when Berg Rese -asked him about it, he was too shy even to answer. -</p> - -<p> -Tord did not sleep near the fire, far in in the cave, -on the bed which was made soft with moss and warm -with skins, but every night, when Berg had fallen -asleep, he crept out to the entrance and lay there on -a rock. Berg discovered this, and although he well -understood the reason, he asked what it meant. -Tord would not explain. To escape any more questions, -he did not lie at the door for two nights, but -then he returned to his post. -</p> - -<p> -One night, when the drifting snow whirled about -the forest tops and drove into the thickest -underbrush, the driving snowflakes found their way into -the outlaws' cave. Tord, who lay just inside the -entrance, was, when he waked in the morning, -covered by a melting snowdrift. A few days later he -fell ill. His lungs wheezed, and when they were -expanded to take in air, he felt excruciating pain. -He kept up as long as his strength held out, but when -one evening he leaned down to blow the fire, he fell -over and remained lying. -</p> - -<p> -Berg Rese came to him and told him to go to his -bed. Tord moaned with pain and could not raise -himself. Berg then thrust his arms under him and -carried him there. But he felt as if he had got hold -of a slimy snake; he had a taste in the mouth as if -he had eaten the unholy horseflesh, it was so odious -to him to touch the miserable thief. -</p> - -<p> -He laid his own big bearskin over him and gave -him water, more he could not do. Nor was it -anything dangerous. Tord was soon well again. But -through Berg's being obliged to do his tasks and to -be his servant, they had come nearer to one another. -Tord dared to talk to him when he sat in the cave in -the evening and cut arrow shafts. -</p> - -<p> -"You are of a good race, Berg," said Tord. "Your -kinsmen are the richest in the valley. Your ancestors -have served with kings and fought in their castles." -</p> - -<p> -"They have often fought with bands of rebels -and done the kings great injury," replied Berg Rese. -</p> - -<p> -"Your ancestors gave great feasts at Christmas, -and so did you, when you were at home. Hundreds -of men and women could find a place to sit in your -big house, which was already built before Saint -Olof first gave the baptism here in Viken. You -owned old silver vessels and great drinking-horns, -which passed from man to man, filled with mead." -</p> - -<p> -Again Berg Rese had to look at the boy. He -sat up with his legs hanging out of the bed and his -head resting on his hands, with which he at the -same time held back the wild masses of hair which -would fall over his eyes. His face had become pale -and delicate from the ravages of sickness. In his -eyes fever still burned. He smiled at the pictures -he conjured up: at the adorned house, at the silver -vessels, at the guests in gala array and at Berg -Rese, sitting in the seat of honour in the hall of his -ancestors. The peasant thought that no one had -ever looked at him with such shining, admiring eyes, -or thought him so magnificent, arrayed in his festival -clothes, as that boy thought him in the torn skin -dress. -</p> - -<p> -He was both touched and provoked. That miserable -thief had no right to admire him. -</p> - -<p> -"Were there no feasts in your house?" he asked. -</p> - -<p> -Tord laughed. "Out there on the rocks with father -and mother! Father is a wrecker and mother is a -witch. No one will come to us." -</p> - -<p> -"Is your mother a witch?" -</p> - -<p> -"She is," answered Tord, quite untroubled. "In -stormy weather she rides out on a sea to meet the -ships over which the waves are washing, and those -who are carried overboard are hers." -</p> - -<p> -"What does she do with them?" asked Berg. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, a witch always needs corpses. She makes -ointments out of them, or perhaps she eats them. -On moonlight nights she sits in the surf, where it is -whitest, and the spray dashes over her. They say -that she sits and searches for shipwrecked children's -fingers and eyes." -</p> - -<p> -"That is awful," said Berg. -</p> - -<p> -The boy answered with infinite assurance: "That -would be awful in others, but not in witches. They -have to do so." -</p> - -<p> -Berg Rese found that he had here come upon a -new way of regarding the world and things. -</p> - -<p> -"Do thieves have to steal, as witches have to use -witchcraft?" he asked sharply. -</p> - -<p> -"Yes, of course," answered the boy; "everyone -has to do what he is destined to do." But then he -added, with a cautious smile: "There are thieves -also who have never stolen." -</p> - -<p> -"Say out what you mean," said Berg. -</p> - -<p> -The boy continued with his mysterious smile, -proud at being an unsolvable riddle: "It is like -speaking of birds who do not fly to talk of thieves -who do not steal." -</p> - -<p> -Berg Rese pretended to be stupid in order to find -out what he wanted. "No one can be called a thief -without having stolen," he said. -</p> - -<p> -"No; but," said the boy, and pressed his lips -together as if to keep in the words, "but if someone -had a father who stole," he hinted after a while. -</p> - -<p> -"One inherits money and lands," replied Berg -Rese, "but no one bears the name of thief if he has -not himself earned it." -</p> - -<p> -Tord laughed quietly. "But if somebody has a -mother who begs and prays him to take his father's -crime on him. But if such a one cheats the hangman -and escapes to the woods. But if someone is -made an outlaw for a fish-net which he has never -seen." -</p> - -<p> -Berg Rese struck the stone table with his clenched -fist. He was angry. This fair young man had -thrown away his whole life. He could never win -love, nor riches, nor esteem after that. The wretched -striving for food and clothes was all which was left -him. And the fool had let him, Berg Rese, go on -despising one who was innocent. He rebuked him -with stern words, but Tord was not even as afraid as -a sick child is of its mother, when she chides it -because it has caught cold by wading in the spring -brooks. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * -</p> - -<p> -On one of the broad, wooded mountains lay a dark -tarn. It was square, with as straight shores and as -sharp corners as if it had been cut by the hand of -man. On three sides it was surrounded by steep -cliffs, on which pines clung with roots as thick as a -man's arm. Down by the pool, where the earth had -been gradually washed away, their roots stood up -out of the water, bare and crooked and wonderfully -twisted about one another. It was like an infinite -number of serpents which had wanted all at the -same time to crawl up out of the pool but had got -entangled in one another and been held fast. Or it -was like a mass of blackened skeletons of drowned -giants which the pool wanted to throw up on the -land. Arms and legs writhed about one another, -the long fingers dug deep into the very cliff to get a -hold, the mighty ribs formed arches, which held up -primeval trees. It had happened, however, that the -iron arms, the steel-like fingers with which the pines -held themselves fast, had given way, and a pine had -been borne by a mighty north wind from the top -of the cliff down into the pool. It had burrowed -deep down into the muddy bottom with its top and -now stood there. The smaller fish had a good place -of refuge among its branches, but the roots stuck up -above the water like a many-armed monster and -contributed to make the pool awful and terrifying. -</p> - -<p> -On the tarn's fourth side the cliff sank down. -There a little foaming stream carried away its -waters. Before this stream could find the only -possible way, it had tried to get out between stones -and tufts, and had by so doing made a little world of -islands, some no bigger than a little hillock, others -covered with trees. -</p> - -<p> -Here where the encircling cliffs did not shut out -all the sun, leafy trees flourished. Here stood -thirsty, gray-green alders and smooth-leaved -willows. The birch-tree grew there as it does -everywhere where it is trying to crowd out the pine woods, -and the wild cherry and the mountain ash, those -two which edge the forest pastures, filling them with -fragrance and adorning them with beauty. -</p> - -<p> -Here at the outlet there was a forest of reeds as -high as a man, which made the sunlight fall green -on the water just as it falls on the moss in the real -forest. Among the reeds there were open places; -small, round pools, and water-lilies were floating -there. The tall stalks looked down with mild -seriousness on those sensitive beauties, who -discontentedly shut their white petals and yellow -stamens in a hard, leather-like sheath as soon as the -sun ceased to show itself. -</p> - -<p> -One sunshiny day the outlaws came to this tarn -to fish. They waded out to a couple of big stones -in the midst of the reed forest and sat there and -threw out bait for the big, green-striped pickerel -that lay and slept near the surface of the water. -</p> - -<p> -These men, who were always wandering in the -woods and the mountains, had, without their knowing -it themselves, come under nature's rule as much -as the plants and the animals. When the sun -shone, they were open-hearted and brave, but in -the evening, as soon as the sun had disappeared, -they became silent; and the night, which seemed to -them much greater and more powerful than the -day, made them anxious and helpless. Now the -green light, which slanted in between the rushes and -coloured the water with brown and dark-green -streaked with gold, affected their mood until they -were ready for any miracle. Every outlook was -shut off. Sometimes the reeds rocked in an -imperceptible wind, their stalks rustled, and the long, -ribbon-like leaves fluttered against their faces. -They sat in grey skins on the grey stones. The -shadows in the skins repeated the shadows of the -weather-beaten, mossy stone. Each saw his -companion in his silence and immovability change into -a stone image. But in among the rushes swam -mighty fishes with rainbow-coloured backs. When -the men threw out their hooks and saw the circles -spreading among the reeds, it seemed as if the motion -grew stronger and stronger, until they perceived -that it was not caused only by their cast. A -sea-nymph, half human, half a shining fish, lay and -slept on the surface of the water. She lay on her -back with her whole body under water. The waves -so nearly covered her that they had not noticed -her before. It was her breathing that caused the -motion of the waves. But there was nothing strange -in her lying there, and when the next instant she -was gone, they were not sure that she had not been -only an illusion. -</p> - -<p> -The green light entered through the eyes into the -brain like a gentle intoxication. The men sat and -stared with dulled thoughts, seeing visions among -the reeds, of which they did not dare to tell one -another. Their catch was poor. The day was -devoted to dreams and apparitions. -</p> - -<p> -The stroke of oars was heard among the rushes, -and they started up as from sleep. The next -moment a flat-bottomed boat appeared, heavy, -hollowed out with no skill and with oars as small as -sticks. A young girl, who had been picking water-lilies, -rowed it. She had dark-brown hair, gathered -in great braids, and big dark eyes; otherwise she -was strangely pale. But her paleness toned to -pink and not to grey. Her cheeks had no higher -colour than the rest of her face, the lips had hardly -enough. She wore a white linen shirt and a leather -belt with a gold buckle. Her skirt was blue with a -red hem. She rowed by the outlaws without seeing -them. They kept breathlessly still, but not for -fear of being seen, but only to be able to really see -her. As soon as she had gone they were as if -changed from stone images to living beings. -Smiling, they looked at one another. -</p> - -<p> -"She was white like the water-lilies," said one. -"Her eyes were as dark as the water there under -the pine-roots." -</p> - -<p> -They were so excited that they wanted to laugh, -really laugh as no one had ever laughed by that -pool, till the cliffs thundered with echoes and the -roots of the pines loosened with fright. -</p> - -<p> -"Did you think she was pretty?" asked Berg Rese. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, I do not know, I saw her for such a short -time. Perhaps she was." -</p> - -<p> -"I do not believe you dared to look at her. You -thought that it was a mermaid." -</p> - -<p> -And they were again shaken by the same -extravagant merriment. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * -</p> - -<p> -Tord had once as a child seen a drowned man. -He had found the body on the shore on a summer -day and had not been at all afraid, but at night he -had dreamed terrible dreams. He saw a sea, where -every wave rolled a dead man to his feet. He saw, -too, that all the islands were covered with drowned -men, who were dead and belonged to the sea, but -who still could speak and move and threaten him -with withered white hands. -</p> - -<p> -It was so with him now. The girl whom he had -seen among the rushes came back in his dreams. -He met her out in the open pool, where the sunlight -fell even greener than among the rushes, and -he had time to see that she was beautiful. He -dreamed that he had crept up on the big pine root in -the middle of the dark tarn, but the pine swayed -and rocked so that sometimes he was quite under -water. Then she came forward on the little islands. -She stood under the red mountain ashes and laughed -at him. In the last dream-vision he had come so -far that she kissed him. It was already morning, -and he heard that Berg Rese had got up, but he -obstinately shut his eyes to be able to go on with -his dream. When he awoke, he was as though dizzy -and stunned by what had happened to him in the -night. He thought much more now of the girl than -he had done the day before. -</p> - -<p> -Toward night he happened to ask Berg Rese if -he knew her name. -</p> - -<p> -Berg looked at him inquiringly. "Perhaps it is -best for you to hear it," he said. "She is Unn. We -are cousins." -</p> - -<p> -Tord then knew that it was for that pale girl's -sake Berg Rese wandered an outlaw in forest and -mountain. Tord tried to remember what he knew -of her. Unn was the daughter of a rich peasant. -Her mother was dead, so that she managed her -father's house. This she liked, for she was fond of -her own way and she had no wish to be married. -</p> - -<p> -Unn and Berg Rese were the children of brothers, -and it had been long said that Berg preferred to sit -with Unn and her maids and jest with them than to -work on his own lands. When the great Christmas -feast was celebrated at his house, his wife had invited -a monk from Draksmark, for she wanted him to -remonstrate with Berg, because he was forgetting -her for another woman. This monk was hateful to -Berg and to many on account of his appearance. -He was very fat and quite white. The ring of hair -about his bald head, the eyebrows above his watery -eyes, his face, his hands and his whole cloak, -everything was white. Many found it hard to endure -his looks. -</p> - -<p> -At the banquet table, in the hearing of all the -guests, this monk now said, for he was fearless and -thought that his words would have more effect if -they were heard by many, "People are in the habit -of saying that the cuckoo is the worst of birds -because he does not rear his young in his own nest, -but here sits a man who does not provide for his -home and his children, but seeks his pleasure with -a strange woman. Him will I call the worst of men." Unn -then rose up. "That, Berg, is said to you and -me," she said. "Never have I been so insulted, and -my father is not here either." She had wished to go, -but Berg sprang after her. "Do not move!" she -said. "I will never see you again." He caught up -with her in the hall and asked her what he should -do to make her stay. She had answered with flashing -eyes that he must know that best himself. Then -Berg went in and killed the monk. -</p> - -<p> -Berg and Tord were busy with the same thoughts, -for after a while Berg said: "You should have seen -her, Unn, when the white monk fell. The mistress -of the house gathered the small children about her -and cursed her. She turned their faces toward her, -that they might forever remember her who had -made their father a murderer. But Unn stood calm -and so beautiful that the men trembled. She -thanked me for the deed and told me to fly to the -woods. She bade me not to be robber, and not to -use the knife until I could do it for an equally just -cause." -</p> - -<p> -"Your deed had been to her honour," said Tord. -</p> - -<p> -Berg Rese noticed again what had astonished him -before in the boy. He was like a heathen, worse -than a heathen; he never condemned what was -wrong. He felt no responsibility. That which -must be, was. He knew of God and Christ and the -saints, but only by name, as one knows the gods of -foreign lands. The ghosts of the rocks were his -gods. His mother, wise in witchcraft, had taught -him to believe in the spirits of the dead. -</p> - -<p> -Then Berg Rese undertook a task which was as -foolish as to twist a rope about his own neck. He -set before those ignorant eyes the great God, the -Lord of justice, the Avenger of misdeeds, who casts -the wicked into places of everlasting torment. And -he taught him to love Christ and his mother and the -holy men and women, who with lifted hands kneeled -before God's throne to avert the wrath of the great -Avenger from the hosts of sinners. He taught him -all that men do to appease God's wrath. He showed -him the crowds of pilgrims making pilgrimages to -holy places, the flight of self-torturing penitents -and monks from a worldly life. -</p> - -<p> -As he spoke, the boy became more eager and more -pale, his eyes grew large as if for terrible visions. -Berg Rese wished to stop, but thoughts streamed to -him, and he went on speaking. The night sank -down over them, the black forest night, when the -owls hoot. God came so near to them that they -saw his throne darken the stars, and the chastising -angels sank down to the tops of the trees. And -under them the fires of Hell flamed up to the earth's -crust, eagerly licking that shaking place of refuge -for the sorrowing races of men. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * -</p> - -<p> -The autumn had come with a heavy storm. Tord -went alone in the woods to see after the snares and -traps. Berg Rese sat at home to mend his clothes. -Tord's way led in a broad path up a wooded height. -</p> - -<p> -Every gust carried the dry leaves in a rustling -whirl up the path. Time after time Tord thought -that someone went behind him. He often looked -round. Sometimes he stopped to listen, but he -understood that it was the leaves and the wind, and -went on. As soon as he started on again, he heard -someone come dancing on silken foot up the slope. -Small feet came tripping. Elves and fairies played -behind him. When he turned round, there was no -one, always no one. He shook his fists at the rustling -leaves and went on. -</p> - -<p> -They did not grow silent for that, but they took -another tone. Then began to hiss and to pant -behind him. A big viper came gliding. Its tongue -dripping venom hung far out of its mouth, and its -bright body shone against the withered leaves. -Beside the snake pattered a wolf, a big, gaunt -monster, who was ready to seize fast in his throat when -the snake had twisted about his feet and bitten Him -in the heel. Sometimes they were both silent, as -if to approach him unperceived, but they soon -betrayed themselves by hissing and panting, and -sometimes the wolf's claws rang against a stone. -Involuntarily Tord walked quicker and quicker, but -the creatures hastened after him. When he felt -that they were only two steps distant and were -preparing to strike, he turned. There was nothing -there, and he had known it the whole time. -</p> - -<p> -He sat down on a stone to rest. Then the dry -leaves played about his feet as if to amuse him. All -the leaves of the forest were there: small, light -yellow birch leaves, red speckled mountain ash, the -elm's dry, dark-brown leaves, the aspen's tough -light red, and the willow's yellow green. -Transformed and withered, scarred and torn were they, -and much unlike the downy, light green, delicately -shaped leaves which a few months ago had rolled -out of their buds. -</p> - -<p> -"Sinners," said the boy, "sinners, nothing is pure -in God's eyes. The flame of his wrath has already -reached you." -</p> - -<p> -When he resumed his wandering, he saw the -forest under him bend before the storm like a heaving -sea, but in the path it was calm. But he heard -what he did not feel. The woods were full of voices. -</p> - -<p> -He heard whisperings, wailing songs, coarse -threats, thundering oaths. There were laughter and -laments, there was the noise of many people. That -which hounded and pursued, which rustled and -hissed, which seemed to be something and still was -nothing, gave him wild thoughts. He felt again -the anguish of death, as when he lay on the floor in -his den and the peasants hunted him through the -wood. He heard again the crashing of branches, -the people's heavy tread, the ring of weapons, the -resounding cries, the wild, bloodthirsty noise, which -followed the crowd. -</p> - -<p> -But it was not only that which he heard in the -storm. There was something else, something still -more terrible, voices which he could not interpret, -a confusion of voices, which seemed to him to speak -in foreign tongues. He had heard mightier storms -than this whistle through the rigging, but never -before had he heard the wind play on such a many-voiced -harp. Each tree had its own voice; the pine -did not murmur like the aspen nor the poplar like -the mountain ash. Every hole had its note, every -cliff's sounding echo its own ring. And the noise of -the brooks and the cry of foxes mingled with the -marvellous forest storm. But all that he could -interpret; there were other strange sounds. It was -those which made him begin to scream and scoff and -groan in emulation with the storm. -</p> - -<p> -He had always been afraid when he was alone in -the darkness of the forest. He liked the open sea -and the bare rocks. Spirits and phantoms crept -about among the trees. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly he heard who it was who spoke in the -storm. It was God, the great Avenger, the God of -justice. He was hunting him for the sake of his -comrade. He demanded that he should deliver up -the murderer to His vengeance. -</p> - -<p> -Then Tord began to speak in the midst of the storm. -He told God what he had wished to do, but had -not been able. He had wished to speak to Berg Rese -and to beg him to make his peace with God, but he -had been too shy. Bashfulness had made him -dumb. "When I heard that the earth was ruled by -a just God," he cried, "I understood that he was a -lost man. I have lain and wept for my friend many -long nights. I knew that God would find him out, -wherever he might hide. But I could not speak, -nor teach him to understand. I was speechless, -because I loved him so much. Ask not that I shall -speak to him, ask not that the sea shall rise up -against the mountain." -</p> - -<p> -He was silent, and in the storm the deep voice, -which had been the voice of God for him, ceased. -It was suddenly calm, with a sharp sun and a splashing -as of oars and a gentle rustle as of stiff rushes. -These sounds brought Unn's image before him. -The outlaw cannot have anything, not riches, nor -women, nor the esteem of men. If he should -betray Berg, he would be taken under the protection -of the law. But Unn must love Berg, after what -he had done for her. There was no way out of it all. -</p> - -<p> -When the storm increased, he heard again steps -behind him and sometimes a breathless panting. -Now he did not dare to look back, for he knew that -the white monk went behind him. He came from -the feast at Berg Rese's house, drenched with blood, -with a gaping axe-wound in his forehead. And he -whispered: "Denounce him, betray him, save his -soul. Leave his body to the pyre, that his soul may -be spared. Leave him to the slow torture of the -rack, that his soul may have time to repent." -</p> - -<p> -Tord ran. All this fright of what was nothing -in itself grew, when it so continually played on the -soul, to an unspeakable terror. He wished to escape -from it all. As he began to run, again thundered -that deep, terrible voice which was God's. God -himself hunted him with alarms, that he should give -up the murderer. Berg Rese's crime seemed more -detestable than ever to him. An unarmed man had -been murdered, a man of God pierced with shining -steel. It was like a defiance of the Lord of the -world. And the murderer dared to live! He -rejoiced in the sun's light and in the fruits of the -earth as if the Almighty's arm were too short to -reach him. -</p> - -<p> -He stopped, clenched his fists and howled out a -threat. Then he ran like a madman from the wood -down to the valley. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -* * * * * -</p> - -<p> -Tord hardly needed to tell his errand; instantly -ten peasants were ready to follow him. It was -decided that Tord should go alone up to the cave, so -that Berg's suspicions should not be aroused. But -where he went he should scatter peas, so that the -peasants could find the way. -</p> - -<p> -When Tord came to the cave, the outlaw sat on -the stone bench and sewed. The fire gave hardly -any light, and the work seemed to go badly. The -boy's heart swelled with pity. The splendid Berg -Rese seemed to him poor and unhappy. And the -only thing he possessed, his life, should be taken -from him. Tord began to weep. -</p> - -<p> -"What is it?" asked Berg. "Are you ill? Have -you been frightened?" -</p> - -<p> -Then for the first time Tord spoke of his fear. -"It was terrible in the wood. I heard ghosts and -saw spectres. I saw white monks." -</p> - -<p> -"'Sdeath, boy!" -</p> - -<p> -"They crowded round me all the way up Broad -mountain. I ran, but they followed after and sang. -Can I never be rid of the sound? What have I to -do with them? I think that they could go to one -who needed it more." -</p> - -<p> -"Are you mad to-night, Tord?" -</p> - -<p> -Tord talked, hardly knowing what words he used. -He was free from all shyness. The words streamed -from his lips. -</p> - -<p> -"They are all white monks, white, pale as death. -They all have blood on their cloaks. They drag -their hoods down over their brows, but still the -wound shines from under; the big, red, gaping -wound from the blow of the axe." -</p> - -<p> -"The big, red, gaping wound from the blow of -the axe?" -</p> - -<p> -"Is it I who perhaps have struck it? Why shall -I see it?" -</p> - -<p> -"The saints only know, Tord," said Berg Rese, -pale and with terrible earnestness, "what it means -that you see a wound from an axe. I killed the -monk with a couple of knife-thrusts." -</p> - -<p> -Tord stood trembling before Berg and wrung his -hands. "They demand you of me! They want to -force me to betray you!" -</p> - -<p> -"Who? The monks?" -</p> - -<p> -"They, yes, the monks. They show me visions. -They show me her, Unn. They show me the shining, -sunny sea. They show me the fisherman's camping-ground, -where there is dancing and merry-making. -I close my eyes, but still I see. 'Leave me in peace,' -I say. 'My friend has murdered, but he is not bad. -Let me be, and I will talk to him, so that he repents -and atones. He shall confess his sin and go to -Christ's grave. We will both go together to the -places which are so holy that all sin is taken away -from him who draws near them.'" -</p> - -<p> -"What do the monks answer?" asked Berg. -"They want to have me saved. They want to have -me on the rack and wheel." -</p> - -<p> -"Shall I betray my dearest friend, I ask them," -continued Tord. "He is my world. He has saved -me from the bear that had his paw on my throat. -We have been cold together and suffered every want -together. He has spread his bearskin over me -when I was sick. I have carried wood and water for -him; I have watched over him while he slept; I -have fooled his enemies. Why do they think that -I am one who will betray a friend? My friend will -soon of his own accord go to the priest and -confess, then we will go together to the land of -atonement." -</p> - -<p> -Berg listened earnestly, his eyes sharply searching -Tord's face. "You shall go to the priest and tell -him the truth," he said. "You need to be among -people." -</p> - -<p> -"Does that help me if I go alone? For your sin, -Death and all his spectres follow me. Do you not -see how I shudder at you? You have lifted your -hand against God himself. No crime is like yours. -I think that I must rejoice when I see you on rack -and wheel. It is well for him who can receive his -punishment in this world and escapes the wrath to -come. Why did you tell me of the just God? You -compel me to betray you. Save me from that sin. -Go to the priest." And he fell on his knees before -Berg. -</p> - -<p> -The murderer laid his hand on his head and looked -at him. He was measuring his sin against his -friend's anguish, and it grew big and terrible before -his soul. He saw himself at variance with the Will -which rules the world. Repentance entered his -heart. -</p> - -<p> -"Woe to me that I have done what I have done," -he said. "That which awaits me is too hard to -meet voluntarily. If I give myself up to the priests, -they will torture me for hours; they will roast me -with slow fires. And is not this life of misery, which -we lead in fear and want, penance enough? Have I -not lost lands and home? Do I not live parted from -friends and everything which makes a man's -happiness? What more is required?" -</p> - -<p> -When he spoke so, Tord sprang up wild with -terror. "Can you repent?" he cried. "Can my -words move your heart? Then come instantly! -How could I believe that! Let us escape! There is -still time." -</p> - -<p> -Berg Rese sprang up, he too. "You have done it, -then——" -</p> - -<p> -"Yes, yes, yes! I have betrayed you! But come -quickly! Come, as you can repent! They will let -us go. We shall escape them!" -</p> - -<p> -The murderer bent down to the floor, where the -battle-axe of his ancestors lay at his feet. "You -son of a thief!" he said, hissing out the words, "I -have trusted you and loved you." -</p> - -<p> -But when Tord saw him bend for the axe, he -knew that it was now a question of his own life. -He snatched his own axe from his belt and struck at -Berg before he had time to raise himself. The edge -cut through the whistling air and sank in the bent -head. Berg Rese fell head foremost to the floor, his -body rolled after. Blood and brains spouted out, -the axe fell from the wound. In the matted hair -Tord saw a big, red, gaping hole from the blow of -an axe. -</p> - -<p> -The peasants came rushing in. They rejoiced -and praised the deed. -</p> - -<p> -"You will win by this," they said to Tord. -</p> - -<p> -Tord looked down at his hands as if he saw there -the fetters with which he had been dragged forward -to kill him he loved. They were forged from nothing. -Of the rushes' green light, of the play of the shadows, -of the song of the storm, of the rustling of the leaves, -of dreams were they created. And he said aloud: -"God is great." -</p> - -<p> -But again the old thought came to him. He fell -on his knees beside the body and put his arm under -his head. -</p> - -<p> -"Do him no harm," he said. "He repents; he -is going to the Holy Sepulchre. He is not dead, he -is not a prisoner. We were just ready to go when -he fell. The white monk did not want him to repent, -but God, the God of justice, loves repentance." -</p> - -<p> -He lay beside the body, talked to it, wept and -begged the dead man to awake. The peasants -arranged a bier. They wished to carry the peasant's -body down to his house. They had respect for the -dead and spoke softly in his presence. When they -lifted him up on the bier, Tord rose, shook the hair -back from his face, and said with a voice which -shook with sobs,— -</p> - -<p> -"Say to Unn, who made Berg Rese a murderer, that -he was killed by Tord the fisherman, whose father is -a wrecker and whose mother is a witch, because he -taught him that the foundation of the world is -justice." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> - -<h3> -IV -<br /><br /> -THE PRINCESS BOB AND HER FRIENDS* -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -BRET HARTE -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -*Reprinted by permission of, and by special arrangement with -Houghton Mifflin Co. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -She was a Klamath Indian. Her title was, I -think, a compromise between her claim as -daughter of a chief and gratitude to her -earliest white protector, whose name, after the -Indian fashion, she had adopted. "Bob" Walker had -taken her from the breast of her dead mother at a -time when the sincere volunteer soldiery of the -California frontier were impressed with the belief that -extermination was the manifest destiny of the Indian -race. He had with difficulty restrained the noble -zeal of his compatriots long enough to convince -them that the exemption of one Indian baby would -not invalidate this theory. And he took her to his -home,—a pastoral clearing on the banks of the -Salmon River,—where she was cared for after a frontier -fashion. -</p> - -<p> -Before she was nine years old, she had exhausted -the scant kindliness of the thin, overworked -Mrs. Walker. As a playfellow of the young Walkers she -was unreliable; as a nurse for the baby she was -inefficient. She lost the former in the trackless -depths of a redwood forest; she basely abandoned -the latter in an extemporized cradle, hanging like a -chrysalis to a convenient bough. She lied and she -stole,—two unpardonable sins in a frontier -community, where truth was a necessity and provisions -were the only property. Worse than this, the -outskirts of the clearing were sometimes haunted -by blanketed tatterdemalions with whom she had -mysterious confidences. Mr. Walker more than -once regretted his indiscreet humanity; but she -presently relieved him of responsibility, and possibly -of blood-guiltiness, by disappearing entirely. -</p> - -<p> -When she reappeared, it was at the adjacent village -of Logport, in the capacity of housemaid to a -trader's wife, who, joining some little culture to -considerable conscientiousness, attempted to instruct -her charge. But the Princess proved an unsatisfactory -pupil to even so liberal a teacher. She accepted -the alphabet with great good-humour, but -always as a pleasing and recurring novelty, in which -all interest expired at the completion of each lesson. -She found a thousand uses for her books and writing -materials other than those known to civilized -children. She made a curious necklace of bits of -slate-pencil, she constructed a miniature canoe from the -pasteboard covers of her primer, she bent her pens -into fish-hooks, and tattooed the faces of her -younger companions with blue ink. Religious -instruction she received as good-humouredly, and -learned to pronounce the name of the Deity with a -cheerful familiarity that shocked her preceptress. -Nor could her reverence be reached through analogy; -she knew nothing of the Great Spirit, and professed -entire ignorance of the Happy Hunting-Grounds. -Yet she attended divine service regularly, and as -regularly asked for a hymn-book; and it was only -through the discovery that she had collected -twenty-five of these volumes and had hidden them behind -the woodpile, that her connection with the First -Baptist Church of Logport ceased. She would -occasionally abandon these civilized and Christian -privileges, and disappear from her home, returning -after several days of absence with an odour of bark -and fish, and a peace-offering to her mistress in the -shape of venison or game. -</p> - -<p> -To add to her troubles, she was now fourteen, -and, according to the laws of her race, a woman. -I do not think the most romantic fancy would have -called her pretty. Her complexion defied most of -those ambiguous similes through which poets -unconsciously apologize for any deviation from the -Caucasian standard. It was not wine nor amber -coloured; if anything, it was smoky. Her face was -tatooed with red and white lines on one cheek, as if -a fine-toothed comb had been drawn from -cheek-bone to jaw, and, but for the good-humour that -beamed from her small berry-like eyes and shone in -her white teeth, would have been repulsive. She -was short and stout. In her scant drapery and -unrestrained freedom she was hardly statuesque, -and her more unstudied attitudes were marred by a -simian habit of softly scratching her left ankle with -the toes of her right foot, in moments of -contemplation. -</p> - -<p> -I think I have already shown enough to indicate -the incongruity of her existence with even the low -standard of civilization that obtained at Logport in -the year 1860. It needed but one more fact to prove -the far-sighted political sagacity and prophetic -ethics of those sincere advocates of extermination -to whose virtues I have done but scant justice in -the beginning of this article. This fact was presently -furnished by the Princess. After one of her periodical -disappearances—this time unusually prolonged—she -astonished Logport by returning with a half-breed -baby of a week old in her arms. That night a -meeting of the hard-featured serious matrons of -Logport was held at Mrs. Brown's. The immediate -banishment of the Princess was demanded. -Soft-hearted Mrs. Brown endeavoured vainly to get a -mitigation or suspension of the sentence. But, as on -a former occasion, the Princess took matters into -her own hands. A few mornings afterwards a wicker -cradle containing an Indian baby was found hanging -on the handle of the door of the First Baptist Church. -It was the Parthian arrow of the flying Princess. -From that day Logport knew her no more. -</p> - -<p> -It had been a bright clear day on the upland, so -clear that the ramparts of Fort Jackson and the -flagstaff were plainly visible twelve miles away from -the long curving peninsula that stretched a bared -white arm around the peaceful waters of Logport -Bay. It had been a clear day upon the seashore, -albeit the air was filled with the flying spume and -shifting sand of a straggling beach whose low dunes -were dragged down by the long surges of the Pacific -and thrown up again by the tumultuous tradewinds. -But the sun had gone down in a bank of -fleecy fog that was beginning to roll in upon the -beach. Gradually the headland at the entrance of -the harbour and the lighthouse disappeared, then -the willow fringe that marked the line of Salmon -River vanished, and the ocean was gone. A few -sails still gleamed on the waters of the bay; but the -advancing fog wiped them out one by one, crept -across the steel-blue expanse, swallowed up the white -mills and single spire of Logport, and, joining with -reinforcements from the marshes, moved solemnly -upon the hills. Ten minutes more and the landscape -was utterly blotted out; simultaneously the wind -died away, and a death-like silence stole over sea -and shore. The faint clang, high overhead, of unseen -brent, the nearer call of invisible plover, the lap and -wash of undistinguishable waters, and the monotonous -roll of the vanished ocean, were the only sounds. -As night deepened, the far-off booming of the fog-bell -on the headland at intervals stirred the thick air. -</p> - -<p> -Hard by the shore of the bay, and half hidden -by a drifting sand-hill, stood a low nondescript -structure, to whose composition sea and shore had -equally contributed. It was built partly of logs and -partly of driftwood and tarred canvas. Joined to -one end of the main building—the ordinary -log-cabin of the settler—was the half-round pilot-house -of some wrecked steamer, while the other gable -terminated in half of a broken whaleboat. Nailed -against the boat were the dried skins of wild animals, -and scattered about lay the flotsam and jetsam of -many years' gathering,—bamboo crates, casks, -hatches, blocks, oars, boxes, part of a whale's -vertebræ, and the blades of swordfish. Drawn up on -the beach of a little cove before the house lay a -canoe. As the night thickened and the fog grew -more dense, these details grew imperceptible, and -only the windows of the pilot-house, lit up by a -roaring fire within the hut, gleamed redly through -the mist. -</p> - -<p> -By this fire, beneath a ship's lamp that swung -from the roof, two figures were seated, a man and a -woman. The man, broad-shouldered and heavily -bearded, stretched his listless powerful length -beyond a broken bamboo chair, with his eyes fixed on -the fire. The woman couched cross-legged upon -the broad earthen hearth, with her eyes blinkingly -fixed on her companion. They were small, black, -round, berry-like eyes, and as the firelight shone -upon her smoky face, with its one striped cheek of -gorgeous brilliancy, it was plainly the Princess Bob -and no other. -</p> - -<p> -Not a word was spoken. They had been sitting -thus for more than an hour, and there was about their -attitude a suggestion that silence was habitual. -Once or twice the man rose and walked up and down -the narrow room, or gazed absently from the -windows of the pilot-house, but never by look or sign -betrayed the slightest consciousness of his -companion. At such times the Princess from her nest -by the fire followed him with eyes of canine -expectancy and wistfulness. But he would as inevitably -return to his contemplation of the fire, and the -Princess to her blinking watchfulness of his -face. -</p> - -<p> -They had sat there silent and undisturbed for -many an evening in fair weather and foul. They had -spent many a day in the sunshine and storm, gathering -the unclaimed spoil of sea and shore. They had -kept these mute relations, varied only by the -incidents of the hunt or meagre household duties, for -three years, ever since the man, wandering moodily -over the lonely sands, had fallen upon the -half-starved woman lying in the little hollow where she -had crawled to die. It had seemed as if they would -never be disturbed, until now, when the Princess -started, and, with the instinct of her race, bent her -ear to the ground. -</p> - -<p> -The wind had risen and was rattling the tarred -canvas. But in another moment there plainly came -from without the hut the sound of voices. Then -followed a rap at the door; then another rap; and -then, before they could rise to their feet, the door -was flung briskly open. -</p> - -<p> -"I beg your pardon," said a pleasant but somewhat -decided contralto voice, "but I don't think you -heard me knock. Ah, I see you did not. May I -come in?" -</p> - -<p> -There was no reply. Had the battered figurehead -of the Goddess of Liberty, which lay deeply -embedded in the sand on the beach, suddenly -appeared at the door demanding admittance, -the occupants of the cabin could not have -been more speechlessly and hopelessly astonished -than at the form which stood in the open doorway. -</p> - -<p> -It was that of a slim, shapely, elegantly dressed -young woman. A scarlet-lined silken hood was -half thrown back from the shining mass of the black -hair that covered her small head; from her pretty -shoulders drooped a fur cloak, only restrained by a -cord and tassel in her small gloved hand. Around -her full throat was a double necklace of large white -beads, that by some cunning feminine trick relieved -with its infantile suggestion the strong decision of -her lower face. -</p> - -<p> -"Did you say yes? Ah, thank you. We may -come in, Barker." (Here a shadow in a blue army -overcoat followed her into the cabin, touched its -cap respectfully, and then stood silent and erect -against the wall.) "Don't disturb yourself in the -least, I beg. What a distressingly unpleasant night! -Is this your usual climate?" -</p> - -<p> -Half graciously, half absently overlooking the -still embarrassed silence of the group, she went on: -"We started from the fort over three hours ago,—three -hours ago, wasn't it, Barker?" (the erect -Barker touched his cap)—"to go to Captain -Emmons's quarters on Indian Island,—I think you call -it Indian Island, don't you?" (she was appealing to -the awe-stricken Princess),—"and we got into the fog -and lost our way; that is, Barker lost his way" -(Barker touched his cap deprecatingly), "and -goodness knows where we didn't wander to until we -mistook your light for the lighthouse and pulled up -here. No, no, pray keep your seat, do! Really I -must insist." -</p> - -<p> -Nothing could exceed the languid grace of the -latter part of this speech,—nothing except the easy -unconsciousness with which she glided by the offered -chair of her stammering, embarrassed host and stood -beside the open hearth. -</p> - -<p> -"Barker will tell you," she continued, warming -her feet by the fire, "that I am Miss Portfire, -daughter of Major Portfire, commanding the post. Ah, -excuse me, child!" (She had accidentally trodden -upon the bare yellow toes of the Princess.) "Really, -I did not know you were there. I am very -near-sighted." (In confirmation of her statement, she -put to her eyes a dainty double eyeglass that -dangled from her neck.) "It's a shocking thing to -be near-sighted, isn't it?" -</p> - -<p> -If the shamefaced uneasy man to whom this -remark was addressed could have found words to -utter the thought that even in his confusion -struggled uppermost in his mind, he would, looking at -the bold, dark eyes that questioned, have denied -the fact. But he only stammered, "Yes." The next -moment, however, Miss Portfire had apparently -forgotten him and was examining the Princess through -her glass. -</p> - -<p> -"And what is your name, child?" -</p> - -<p> -The Princess, beatified by the eyes and eyeglass, -showed all her white teeth at once, and softly -scratched her leg. -</p> - -<p> -"Bob." -</p> - -<p> -"Bob? What a singular name!" -</p> - -<p> -Miss Portfire's host here hastened to explain the -origin of the Princess's title. -</p> - -<p> -"Then you are Bob." (Eyeglass.) -</p> - -<p> -"No, my name is Grey,—John Grey." And he -actually achieved a bow where awkwardness was -rather the air of imperfectly recalling a forgotten -habit. -</p> - -<p> -"Grey?—ah, let me see. Yes, certainly. You are -Mr. Grey the recluse, the hermit, the philosopher, -and all that sort of thing. Why, certainly; -Dr. Jones, our surgeon, has told me all about you. Dear -me, how interesting a rencontre! Lived all alone -here for seven—was it seven years?—yes, I -remember now. Existed quite <i>au naturel</i>, one might say. -How odd! Not that I know anything about that -sort of thing, you know. I've lived always among -people, and am really quite a stranger, I assure you. -But honestly, Mr.—I beg your pardon—Mr. Grey, -how do you like it?" -</p> - -<p> -She had quietly taken his chair and thrown her -cloak and hood over its back, and was now -thoughtfully removing her gloves. Whatever were the -arguments,—and they were doubtless many and -profound,—whatever the experience,—and it was -doubtless hard and satisfying enough,—by which -this unfortunate man had justified his life for the -last seven years, somehow they suddenly became -trivial and terribly ridiculous before this simple but -practical question. -</p> - -<p> -"Well, you shall tell me all about it after you -have given me something to eat. We will have -time enough; Barker cannot find his way back in -this fog to-night. Now don't put yourselves to any -trouble on my account. Barker will assist." -</p> - -<p> -Barker came forward. Glad to escape the -scrutiny of his guest, the hermit gave a few rapid -directions to the Princess in her native tongue, and -disappeared in the shed. Left a moment alone, -Miss Portfire took a quick, half-audible, feminine -inventory of the cabin. "Books, guns, skins, <i>one</i> -chair, <i>one</i> bed, no pictures, and no looking-glass!" She -took a book from the swinging shelf and resumed -her seat by the fire as the Princess re-entered with -fresh fuel. But while kneeling on the hearth the -Princess chanced to look up and met Miss Portfire's -dark eyes over the edge of her book. -</p> - -<p> -"Bob!" -</p> - -<p> -The Princess showed her teeth. -</p> - -<p> -"Listen. Would you like to have fine clothes, -rings, and beads like these, to have your hair nicely -combed and put up so? Would you?" -</p> - -<p> -The Princess nodded violently. -</p> - -<p> -"Would you like to live with me and have them? -Answer quickly. Don't look round for him. Speak -for yourself. Would you? Hush; never mind -now." -</p> - -<p> -The hermit re-entered, and the Princess, blinking, -retreated into the shadow of the whaleboat shed, -from which she did not emerge even when the homely -repast of cold venison, ship biscuit, and tea was -served. Miss Portfire noticed her absence: "You -really must not let me interfere with your usual -simple ways. Do you know this is exceedingly -interesting to me, so pastoral and patriarchal and all -that sort of thing. I must insist upon the Princess -coming back; really, I must." -</p> - -<p> -But the Princess was not to be found in the shed, -and Miss Portfire, who the next minute seemed to -have forgotten all about her, took her place in the -single chair before an extemporized table. Barker -stood behind her, and the hermit leaned against the -fireplace. Miss Portfire's appetite did not come up -to her protestations. For the first time in seven -years it occurred to the hermit that his ordinary -victual might be improved. He stammered out -something to that effect. -</p> - -<p> -"I have eaten better, and worse," said Miss -Portfire, quietly. -</p> - -<p> -"But I thought you—that is, you said——" -</p> - -<p> -"I spent a year in the hospitals, when father was -on the Potomac," returned Miss Portfire, -composedly. After a pause she continued: "You -remember after the second Bull Run— But, dear -me! I beg your pardon; of course, you know -nothing about the war and all that sort of thing, and -don't care." (She put up her eyeglass and quietly -surveyed his broad muscular figure against the -chimney.) "Or, perhaps, your prejudices— But -then, as a hermit you know you have no politics, of -course. Please don't let me bore you." -</p> - -<p> -To have been strictly consistent, the hermit -should have exhibited no interest in this topic. -Perhaps it was owing to some quality in the narrator, -but he was constrained to beg her to continue in -such phrases as his unfamiliar lips could command. -So that little by little Miss Portfire yielded up -incident and personal observation of contest then -raging; with the same half-abstracted, half-unconcerned -air that seemed habitual to her, she told the -stories of privation, of suffering, of endurance, and -of sacrifice. With the same assumption of timid -deference that concealed her great self-control, she -talked of principles and rights. Apparently without -enthusiasm and without effort, of which his morbid -nature would have been suspicious, she sang the -great American Iliad in a way that stirred the depths -of her solitary auditor to its massive foundations. -Then she stopped and asked quietly, "Where is -Bob?" -</p> - -<p> -The hermit started. He would look for her. But -Bob, for some reason, was not forthcoming. Search -was made within and without the hut, but in vain. -For the first time that evening Miss Portfire showed -some anxiety. "Go," she said to Barker, "and find -her. She <i>must</i> be found; stay, give me your -overcoat, I'll go myself." She threw the overcoat over -her shoulders and stepped out into the night. In -the thick veil of fog that seemed suddenly to inwrap -her, she stood for a moment irresolute, and then -walked toward the beach, guided by the low wash -of waters on the sand. She had not taken many -steps before she stumbled over some dark crouching -object. Reaching down her hand she felt the coarse -wiry mane of the Princess. -</p> - -<p> -"Bob!" -</p> - -<p> -There was no reply. -</p> - -<p> -"Bob. I've been looking for you, come." -</p> - -<p> -"Go 'way." -</p> - -<p> -"Nonsense, Bob. I want you to stay with me -to-night, come." -</p> - -<p> -"Injin squaw no good for waugee woman. Go 'way." -</p> - -<p> -"Listen, Bob. You are daughter of a chief: so -am I. Your father had many warriors: so has -mine. It is good that you stay with me. Come." -</p> - -<p> -The Princess chuckled and suffered herself to be -lifted up. A few moments later they re-entered -the hut hand in hand. -</p> - -<p> -With the first red streaks of dawn the next day -the erect Barker touched his cap at the door of the -hut. Beside him stood the hermit, also just risen -from his blanketed nest in the sand. Forth from -the hut, fresh as the morning air, stepped Miss -Portfire, leading the Princess by the hand. Hand in -hand also they walked to the shore, and when the -Princess had been safely bestowed in the stern -sheets, Miss Portfire turned and held out her own -to her late host. -</p> - -<p> -"I shall take the best of care of her, of course. -You will come and see her often. I should ask you -to come and see me, but you are a hermit, you -know, and all that sort of thing. But if it's the -correct anchorite thing, and can be done, my father -will be glad to requite you for this night's hospitality. -But don't do anything on my account that -interferes with your simple habits. Good-bye." -</p> - -<p> -She handed him a card, which he took mechanically. -</p> - -<p> -"Good-bye." -</p> - -<p> -The sail was hoisted, and the boat shoved off. As -the fresh morning breeze caught the white canvas -it seemed to bow a parting salutation. There was a -rosy flush of promise on the water, and as the light -craft darted forward toward the ascending sun, it -seemed for a moment uplifted in its glory. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Miss Portfire kept her word. If thoughtful care -and intelligent kindness could regenerate the -Princess, her future was secure. And it really seemed -as if she were for the first time inclined to heed the -lessons of civilization and profit by her new -condition. An agreeable change was first noticed in her -appearance. Her lawless hair was caught in a net, -and no longer strayed over her low forehead. Her -unstable bust was stayed and upheld by French -corsets; her plantigrade shuffle was limited by heeled -boots. Her dresses were neat and clean, and she -wore a double necklace of glass beads. With this -physical improvement there also seemed some moral -awakening. She no longer stole nor lied. With the -possession of personal property came a respect for -that of others. With increased dependence on the -word of those about her came a thoughtful consideration -of her own. Intellectually she was still feeble, -although she grappled sturdily with the simple -lessons which Miss Portfire set before her. But her -zeal and simple vanity outran her discretion, and she -would often sit for hours with an open book before -her, which she could not read. She was a favourite -with the officers at the fort, from the Major, who -shared his daughter's prejudices and often yielded -to her powerful self-will, to the subalterns, who liked -her none the less that their natural enemies, the -frontier volunteers, had declared war against her -helpless sisterhood. The only restraint put upon -her was the limitation of her liberty to the enclosure -of the fort and parade; and only once did she break -this parole, and was stopped by the sentry as she -stepped into a boat at the landing. -</p> - -<p> -The recluse did not avail himself of Miss Portfire's -invitation. But after the departure of the -Princess he spent less of his time in the hut, and -was more frequently seen in the distant marshes of -Eel River and on the upland hills. A feverish -restlessness, quite opposed to his usual phlegm, led him -into singular freaks strangely inconsistent with his -usual habits and reputation. The purser of the -occasional steamer which stopped at Logport with the -mails reported to have been boarded, just inside the -bar, by a strange bearded man, who asked for a -newspaper containing the last war telegrams. He -tore his red shirt into narrow strips, and spent two -days with his needle over the pieces and the tattered -remnant of his only white garment; and a few days -afterward the fishermen on the bay were surprised -to see what, on nearer approach, proved to be a -rude imitation of the national flag floating from a -spar above the hut. -</p> - -<p> -One evening, as the fog began to drift over the -sand-hills, the recluse sat alone in his hut. The fire -was dying unheeded on the hearth, for he had been -sitting there for a long time, completely absorbed in -the blurred pages of an old newspaper. Presently -he arose, and, refolding it,—an operation of great -care and delicacy in its tattered condition,—placed -it under the blankets of his bed. He resumed his -seat by the fire, but soon began drumming with his -fingers on the arm of his chair. Eventually this -assumed the time and accent of some air. Then he -began to whistle softly and hesitatingly, as if -trying to recall a forgotten tune. Finally this took -shape in a rude resemblance, not unlike that which -his flag bore to the national standard, to Yankee -Doodle. Suddenly he stopped. -</p> - -<p> -There was an unmistakable rapping at the door. -The blood which had at first rushed to his face now -forsook it and settled slowly around his heart. He -tried to rise, but could not. Then the door was -flung open, and a figure with a scarlet-lined hood -and fur mantle stood on the threshold. With a -mighty effort he took one stride to the door. The -next moment he saw the wide mouth and white -teeth of the Princess, and was greeted by a kiss -that felt like a baptism. -</p> - -<p> -To tear the hood and mantle from her figure in -the sudden fury that seized him, and to fiercely -demand the reason of this masquerade, was his only -return to her greeting. "Why are you here? Did -you steal these garments?" he again demanded in -her guttural language, as he shook her roughly by -the arm. The Princess hung her head. "Did you?" -he screamed, as he reached wildly for his rifle. -</p> - -<p> -"I did." -</p> - -<p> -His hold relaxed, and he staggered back against -the wall. The Princess began to whimper. -Between her sobs, she was trying to explain that the -Major and his daughter were going away, and that -they wanted to send her to the Reservation; but he -cut her short. "Take off those things!" The -Princess tremblingly obeyed. He rolled them up, placed -them in the canoe she had just left, and then leaped -into the frail craft. She would have followed, but -with a great oath he threw her from him, and with -one stroke of his paddle swept out into the fog, -and was gone. -</p> - -<p> -"Jessamy," said the Major, a few days after, as -he sat at dinner with his daughter, "I think I can -tell you something to match the mysterious -disappearance and return of your wardrobe. Your crazy -friend, the recluse, has enlisted this morning in the -Fourth Artillery. He's a splendid-looking animal, -and there's the right stuff for a soldier in him, if I'm -not mistaken. He's in earnest too, for he enlists in -the regiment ordered back to Washington. Bless -me, child, another goblet broken; you'll ruin the -mess in glassware, at this rate!" -</p> - -<p> -"Have you heard anything more of the Princess, papa?" -</p> - -<p> -"Nothing, but perhaps it's as well that she has -gone. These cursed settlers are at their old -complaints again about what they call 'Indian -depredations,' and I have just received orders from -headquarters to keep the settlement clear of all -vagabond aborigines. I am afraid, my dear, that a strict -construction of the term would include your <i>protégée</i>." -</p> - -<p> -The time for the departure of the Fourth Artillery -had come. The night before was thick and foggy. -At one o'clock, a shot on the ramparts called out -the guard and roused the sleeping garrison. The -new sentry, Private Grey, had challenged a dusky -figure creeping on the glacis, and, receiving no -answer, had fired. The guard sent out presently -returned, bearing a lifeless figure in their arms. The -new sentry's zeal, joined with an ex-frontiersman's -aim, was fatal. -</p> - -<p> -They laid the helpless, ragged form before the -guard-house door, and then saw for the first time -that it was the Princess. Presently she opened her -eyes. They fell upon the agonized face of her -innocent slayer, but haply without intelligence or -reproach. -</p> - -<p> -"Georgy!" she whispered. -</p> - -<p> -"Bob!" -</p> - -<p> -"All's same now. Me get plenty well soon. Me -make no more fuss. Me go to Reservation." -</p> - -<p> -Then she stopped, a tremor ran through her limbs, -and she lay still. She had gone to the Reservation. -Not that devised by the wisdom of man, but that -one set apart from the foundations of the world for -the wisest as well as the meanest of His creatures. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> - -<h3> -V -<br /><br /> -THE THREE STRANGERS* -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -THOMAS HARDY -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -*Reprinted from "Wessex Tales" by permission -of Harper and Brothers. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Among the few features of agricultural -England which retain an appearance but little -modified by the lapse of centuries, may be -reckoned the high, grassy, and furzy downs, coombs, -or ewe-leases, as they are indifferently called, that -fill a large area of certain counties in the south and -south-west. If any mark of human occupation is -met with hereon it usually takes the form of the -solitary cottage of some shepherd. -</p> - -<p> -Fifty years ago such a lonely cottage stood on -such a down, and may possibly be standing there -now. In spite of its loneliness, however, the spot, -by actual measurement, was not more than five -miles from a county town. Yet, what of that? Five -miles of irregular upland, during the long inimical -seasons, with their sleets, snows, rains, and mists, -afford withdrawing space enough to isolate a Timon -or a Nebuchadnezzar; much less, in fair weather, to -please that less repellant tribe, the poets, -philosophers, artists, and others who "conceive and -meditate of pleasant things." -</p> - -<p> -Some old earthen camp or barrow, some clump of -trees, at least some starved fragment of ancient -hedge, is usually taken advantage of in the erection -of these forlorn dwellings. But, in the present case, -such a kind of shelter had been disregarded. Higher -Crowstairs, as the house was called, stood quite -detached and undefended. The only reason for its -precise situation seemed to be the crossing of two -footpaths at right angles hard by, which may have -crossed there and thus for a good five hundred -years. The house was thus exposed to the elements -on all sides. But, though the wind up here blew -unmistakably when it did blow, and the rain hit -hard whenever it fell, the various weathers of the -winter season were not quite so formidable on the -coomb as they were imagined to be by dwellers on -low ground. The raw rimes were not so pernicious -as in the hollows, and the frosts were scarcely so -severe. When the shepherd and his family who -tenanted the house were pitied for their sufferings -from the exposure, they said that upon the whole -they were less inconvenienced by "wuzzes and -flames" (hoarses and phlegms) than when they had -lived by the stream of a snug neighbouring valley. -</p> - -<p> -The night of March 28, 182-, was precisely one of -the nights that were wont to call forth these -expressions of commiseration. The level rainstorm smote -walls, slopes, and hedges like the clothyard shafts of -Senlac and Crécy. Such sheep and outdoor animals -as had no shelter stood with their buttocks to the -wind; while the tails of little birds trying to roost on -some scraggy thorn were blown inside out like -umbrellas. The gable-end of the cottage was stained -with wet, and the eaves-droppings flapped against -the wall. Yet never was commiseration for the -shepherd more misplaced. For that cheerful rustic -was entertaining a large party in glorification of the -christening of his second girl. -</p> - -<p> -The guests had arrived before the rain began to -fall, and they were all now assembled in the chief or -living-room of the dwelling. A glance into the -apartment at eight o'clock on this eventful evening -would have resulted in the opinion that it was as -cosy and comfortable a nook as could be wished for -in boisterous weather. The calling of its inhabitant -was proclaimed by a number of highly-polished -sheep-crooks without stems that were hung ornamentally -over the fireplace, the curl of each shining -crook varying from the antiquated type engraved in -the patriarchal pictures of old family Bibles to the -most approved fashion of the last local sheep-fair. -The room was lighted by half-a-dozen candles, having -wicks only a trifle smaller than the grease which -enveloped them, in candlesticks that were never -used but at high-days, holy-days, and family feasts. -The lights were scattered about the room, two of -them standing on the chimneypiece. This position -of candles was in itself significant. Candles on the -chimneypiece always meant a party. -</p> - -<p> -On the hearth, in front of a back-brand to give -substance, blazed a fire of thorns, that crackled -"like the laughter of the fool." -</p> - -<p> -Nineteen persons were gathered here. Of these, -five women, wearing gowns of various bright hues, -sat in chairs along the wall; girls shy and not shy -filled the window-bench; four men, including Charley -Jake the hedge-carpenter, Elijah New the parish-clerk, -and John Pitcher, a neighbouring dairyman, -the shepherd's father-in-law, lolled in the settle; a -young man and maid, who were blushing over -tentative <i>pourparlers</i> on a life-companionship, sat -beneath the corner-cupboard; and an elderly -engaged man of fifty or upward moved restlessly about -from spots where his betrothed was not to the spot -where she was. Enjoyment was pretty general, and -so much the more prevailed in being unhampered -by conventional restrictions. Absolute confidence -in each other's good opinion begat perfect ease, -while the finishing stroke of manner, amounting to -a truly princely serenity, was lent to the majority -by the absence of any expression or trait denoting -that they wished to get on in the world, enlarge -their minds, or do any eclipsing thing whatever—which -nowadays so generally nips the bloom and -bonhomie of all except the two extremes of the social -scale. -</p> - -<p> -Shepherd Fennel had married well, his wife being -a dairyman's daughter from the valley below, who -brought fifty guineas in her pocket—and kept them -there, till they should be required for ministering to -the needs of a coming family. This frugal woman -had been somewhat exercised as to the character -that should be given to the gathering. A sit-still -party had its advantages; but an undisturbed position -of ease in chairs and settles was apt to lead on -the men to such an unconscionable deal of toping -that they would sometimes fairly drink the house -dry. A dancing-party was the alternative; but this, -while avoiding the foregoing objection on the score -of good drink, had a counterbalancing disadvantage -in the matter of good victuals, the ravenous -appetites engendered by the exercise causing immense -havoc in the buttery. Shepherdess Fennel fell back -upon the intermediate plan of mingling short dances -with short periods of talk and singing, so as to -hinder any ungovernable rage in either. But this -scheme was entirely confined to her own gentle -mind: the shepherd himself was in the mood to -exhibit the most reckless phases of hospitality. -</p> - -<p> -The fiddler was a boy of those parts, about twelve -years of age, who had a wonderful dexterity in jigs -and reels, though his fingers were so small and short -as to necessitate a constant shifting for the high -notes, from which he scrambled back to the first -position with sounds not of unmixed purity of tone. -At seven the shrill tweedle-dee of this youngster had -begun, accompanied by a booming ground-bass from -Elijah New, the parish-clerk, who had thoughtfully -brought with him his favourite musical instrument, -the serpent. Dancing was instantaneous, Mrs. Fennel -privately enjoining the players on no account to let -the dance exceed the length of a quarter of an hour. -</p> - -<p> -But Elijah and the boy, in the excitement of their -position, quite forgot the injunction. Moreover, -Oliver Giles, a man of seventeen, one of the dancers, -who was enamoured of his partner, a fair girl of -thirty-three rolling years, had recklessly handed a -new crown-piece to the musicians, as a bribe to keep -going as long as they had muscle and wind. -Mrs. Fennel, seeing the steam begin to generate on the -countenances of her guests, crossed over and touched -the fiddler's elbow and put her hand on the serpent's -mouth. But they took no notice, and fearing -she might lose her character of genial hostess if she -were to interfere too markedly, she retired and sat -down helpless. And so the dance whizzed on with -cumulative fury, the performers moving in their -planet-like courses, direct and retrograde, from -apogee to perigee, till the hand of the well-kicked -clock at the bottom of the room had travelled over -the circumference of an hour. -</p> - -<p> -While those cheerful events were in course of -enactment within Fennel's pastoral dwelling, an -incident having considerable bearing on the party had -occurred in the gloomy night without. Mrs. Fennel's -concern about the growing fierceness of the -dance corresponded in point of time with the ascent -of a human figure to the solitary hill of Higher -Crowstairs from the direction of the distant town. This -personage strode on through the rain without a -pause, following the little-worn path which, further -on in its course, skirted the shepherd's cottage. -</p> - -<p> -It was nearly the time of full moon, and on this -account, though the sky was lined with a uniform -sheet of dripping cloud, ordinary objects out-of-doors -were readily visible. The sad wan light revealed -the lonely pedestrian to be a man of supple -frame; his gait suggested that he had somewhat -passed the period of perfect and instinctive agility, -though not so far as to be otherwise than rapid of -motion when occasion required. In point of fact he -might have been about forty years of age. He -appeared tall, but a recruiting sergeant, or other -person accustomed to the judging of men's heights by -the eye, would have discerned that this was chiefly -owing to his gauntness, and that he was not more -than five feet eight or nine. -</p> - -<p> -Notwithstanding the regularity of his tread, there -was caution in it, as in that of one who mentally -feels his way; and despite the fact that it was not a -black coat nor a dark garment of any sort that he -wore, there was something about him which suggested -that he naturally belonged to the black-coated -tribes of men. His clothes were of fustian, and -his boots hobnailed, yet in his progress he showed -not the mud-accustomed bearing of hobnailed and -fustianed peasantry. -</p> - -<p> -By the time that he had arrived abreast of the -shepherd's premises the rain came down, or rather -came along, with yet more determined violence. -The outskirts of the little homestead partially broke -the force of wind and rain, and this induced him to -stand still. The most salient of the shepherd's -domestic erections was an empty sty at the forward -corner of his hedgeless garden, for in these latitudes -the principle of masking the homelier features of -your establishment by a conventional frontage was -unknown. The traveller's eye was attracted to this -small building by the pallid shine of the wet slates -that covered it. He turned aside, and, finding it -empty, stood under the pent-roof for shelter. -</p> - -<p> -While he stood, the boom of the serpent within, -and the lesser strains of the fiddler, reached the spot -as an accompaniment to the surging hiss of the -flying rain on the sod, its louder beating on the -cabbage-leaves of the garden, on the eight or ten -beehives just discernible by the path, and its dripping -from the eaves into a row of buckets and pans that -had been placed under the walls of the cottage. For -at Higher Crowstairs, as at all such elevated -domiciles, the grand difficulty of housekeeping was an -insufficiency of water; and a casual rainfall was -utilized by turning out, as catchers, every utensil that -the house contained. Some queer stories might be -told of the contrivances for economy in suds and -dish-waters that are absolutely necessitated in -upland habitations during the droughts of summer. -But at this season there were no such exigencies: a -mere acceptance of what the skies bestowed was -sufficient for an abundant store. -</p> - -<p> -At last the notes of the serpent ceased and the -house was silent. This cessation of activity aroused -the solitary pedestrian from the reverie into which -he had lapsed, and, emerging from the shed, with -an apparently new intention, he walked up the path -to the house-door. Arrived here, his first act was to -kneel down on a large stone beside the row of -vessels, and to drink a copious draught from one of -them. Having quenched his thirst, he rose and -lifted his hand to knock, but paused with his eye upon -the panel. Since the dark surface of the wood -revealed absolutely nothing, it was evident that he -must be mentally looking through the door, as if he -wished to measure thereby all the possibilities that -a house of this sort might include, and how they -might bear upon the question of his entry. -</p> - -<p> -In his indecision he turned and surveyed the scene -around. Not a soul was anywhere visible. The -garden-path stretched downward from his feet, -gleaming like the track of a snail; the roof of the -little well (mostly dry), the well cover, the top rail -of the garden-gate, were varnished with the same -dull liquid glaze; while, far away in the vale, a faint -whiteness of more than usual extent showed that -the rivers were high in the meads. Beyond all this -winked a few bleared lamplights through the beating -drops, lights that denoted the situation of the -county-town from which he had appeared to come. The -absence of all notes of life in that direction seemed -to clinch his intentions, and he knocked at the door. -</p> - -<p> -Within, a desultory chat had taken the place of -movement and musical sound. The hedge-carpenter -was suggesting a song to the company, which nobody -just then was inclined to undertake, so that -the knock afforded a not unwelcome diversion. -</p> - -<p> -"Walk in!" said the shepherd promptly. -</p> - -<p> -The latch clicked upward, and out of the night -our pedestrian appeared upon the door-mat. The -shepherd arose, snuffed two of the nearest candles, -and turned to look at him. -</p> - -<p> -Their light disclosed that the stranger was dark -in complexion, and not unprepossessing as to -feature. His hat, which for a moment he did not -remove, hung low over his eyes, without concealing -that they were large, open, and determined, moving -with a flash rather than a glance round the room. -He seemed pleased with the survey, and, baring his -shaggy head, said, in a rich deep voice, "The rain -is so heavy, friends, that I ask leave to come in and -rest awhile." -</p> - -<p> -"To be sure, stranger," said the shepherd. "And -faith, you've been lucky in choosing your time, for -we are having a bit of a fling for a glad -cause—though to be sure a man could hardly wish that -glad cause to happen more than once a year." -</p> - -<p> -"Nor less," spoke up a woman. "For 'tis best to -get your family over and done with, as soon as you -can, so as to be all the earlier out of the fag o't." -</p> - -<p> -"And what may be this glad cause?" asked the -stranger. -</p> - -<p> -"A birth and christening," said the shepherd. -</p> - -<p> -The stranger hoped his host might not be made -unhappy either by too many or too few of such -episodes, and being invited by a gesture to a pull at -the mug, he readily acquiesced. His manner, which -before entering had been so dubious, was now -altogether that of a careless and candid man. -</p> - -<p> -"Late to be traipsing athwart this coomb—hey?" -said the engaged man of fifty. -</p> - -<p> -"Late it is, master, as you say.—I'll take a seat -in the chimney-corner, if you have nothing to urge -against it, ma'am; for I am a little moist on the -side that was next the rain." -</p> - -<p> -Mrs. Shepherd Fennel assented, and made room -for the self-invited comer, who, having got -completely inside the chimney-corner, stretched out his -legs and his arms with the expansiveness of a -person quite at home. -</p> - -<p> -"Yes, I am rather thin in the vamp," he said -freely, seeing that the eyes of Shepherd's wife fell -upon his boots, "and I am not well-fitted, either. I -have had some rough times lately, and have been -forced to pick up what I can get in the way of wearing, -but I must find a suit better fit for working-days -when I reach home." -</p> - -<p> -"One of hereabouts?" she inquired. -</p> - -<p> -"Not quite that—further up the country." -</p> - -<p> -"I thought so. And so am I; and by your tongue -you come from my neighbourhood." -</p> - -<p> -"But you would hardly have heard of me," he -said quickly. "My time would be long before -yours, ma'am, you see." -</p> - -<p> -This testimony to the youthfulness of his hostess -had the effect of stopping her cross-examination. -</p> - -<p> -"There is only one thing more wanted to make -me happy," continued the newcomer. "And that -is a little baccy, which I am sorry to say I am out -of." -</p> - -<p> -"I'll fill your pipe," said the shepherd. -</p> - -<p> -"I must ask you to lend me a pipe likewise." -</p> - -<p> -"A smoker, and no pipe about ye?" -</p> - -<p> -"I have dropped it somewhere on the road." -</p> - -<p> -The shepherd filled and handed him a new clay -pipe, saying, as he did so, "Hand me your -baccy-box—I'll fill that too, now I am about it." -</p> - -<p> -The man went through the movement of searching -his pockets. -</p> - -<p> -"Lost that too?" said his entertainer, with some -surprise. -</p> - -<p> -"I am afraid so," said the man with some confusion. -"Give it to me in a screw of paper." Lighting -his pipe at the candle with a suction that drew -the whole flame into the bowl, he resettled himself -in the corner, and bent his looks upon the faint -steam from his damp legs, as if he wished to say no -more. -</p> - -<p> -Meanwhile the general body of guests had been -taking little notice of this visitor by reason of an -absorbing discussion in which they were engaged -with the band about a time for the next dance. -The matter being settled, they were about to stand -up when an interruption came in the shape of -another knock at the door. -</p> - -<p> -At sound of the same the man in the chimney-corner -took up the poker and began stirring the -fire as if doing it thoroughly were the one aim of -his existence; and a second time the shepherd said -"Walk in!" In a moment another man stood -upon the straw-woven door-mat. He too was a -stranger. -</p> - -<p> -This individual was one of a type radically different -from the first. There was more of the commonplace -in his manner, and a certain jovial cosmopolitanism -sat upon his features. He was several years -older than the first arrival, his hair being slightly -frosted, his eyebrows bristly, and his whiskers cut -back from his cheeks. His face was rather full and -flabby, and yet it was not altogether a face without -power. A few grog-blossoms marked the neighbourhood -of his nose. He flung back his long drab greatcoat, -revealing that beneath it he wore a suit of -cinder-grey shade throughout, large heavy seals, of -some metal or other that would take a polish, -dangling from his fob as his only personal ornament. -Shaking the water-drops from his low-crowned -glazed hat, he said, "I must ask for a few minutes' -shelter, comrades, or I shall be wetted to my skin -before I get to Casterbridge." -</p> - -<p> -"Make yerself at home, master," said the shepherd, -perhaps a trifle less heartily than on the first -occasion. Not that Fennel had the least tinge of -niggardliness in his composition; but the room was -far from large, spare chairs were not numerous, and -damp companions were not altogether comfortable -at close quarters for the women and girls in their -bright-coloured gowns. -</p> - -<p> -However, the second comer, after taking off his -greatcoat, and hanging his hat on a nail in one of -the ceiling-beams as if he had been specially invited -to put it there, advanced and sat down at the table. -This had been pushed so closely into the chimney-corner, -to give all available room to the dancers, -that its inner edge grazed the elbow of the man who -had ensconced himself by the fire; and thus the two -strangers were brought into close companionship. -They nodded to each other by way of breaking the -ice of unacquaintance, and the first stranger handed -his neighbour the large mug—a huge vessel of brown -ware, having its upper edge worn away like a threshold -by the rub of whole genealogies of thirsty lips -that had gone the way of all flesh, and bearing the -following inscription burnt upon its rotund side in -yellow letters:— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - THERE iS NO FUN<br /> - UNTiLL i CUM.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -The other man, nothing loth, raised the mug to his -lips, and drank on, and on, and on—till a curious -blueness overspread the countenance of the shepherd's -wife, who had regarded with no little -surprise the first stranger's free offer to the second of -what did not belong to him to dispense. -</p> - -<p> -"I knew it!" said the toper to the shepherd with -much satisfaction. "When I walked up your garden -afore coming in, and saw the hives all of a row, -I said to myself, 'Where there's bees there's honey, -and where there's honey there's mead.' But mead -of such a truly comfortable sort as this I really -didn't expect to meet in my older days." He took -yet another pull at the mug, till it assumed an -ominous horizontality. -</p> - -<p> -"Glad you enjoy it!" said the shepherd warmly. -</p> - -<p> -"It is goodish mead," assented Mrs. Fennel with -an absence of enthusiasm, which seemed to say that -it was possible to buy praise for one's cellar at too -heavy a price. "It is trouble enough to make—and -really I hardly think we shall make any more. -For honey sells well, and we can make shift with a -drop o' small mead and metheglin for common use -from the comb-washings." -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, but you'll never have the heart!" reproachfully -cried the stranger in cinder-grey, after taking -up the mug a third time and setting it down empty. -"I love mead, when 'tis old like this, as I love to go -to church o' Sundays, or to relieve the needy any -day of the week." -</p> - -<p> -"Ha, ha, ha!" said the man in the chimney-corner, -who, in spite of the taciturnity induced by the -pipe of tobacco, could not or would not refrain from -this slight testimony to his comrade's humour. -</p> - -<p> -Now the old mead of those days, brewed of the -purest first-year or maiden honey, four pounds to -the gallon—with its due complement of whites of -eggs, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, mace, rosemary, -yeast, and processes of working, bottling, and -cellaring—tasted remarkably strong; but it did not -taste so strong as it actually was. Hence, presently, -the stranger in cinder-grey at the table, moved -by its creeping influence, unbuttoned his waistcoat, -threw himself back in his chair, spread his legs, and -made his presence felt in various ways. -</p> - -<p> -"Well, well, as I say," he resumed, "I am going -to Casterbridge, and to Casterbridge I must go. I -should have been almost there by this time, but the -rain drove me into ye; and I'm not sorry for it." -</p> - -<p> -"You don't live in Casterbridge?" said the shepherd. -</p> - -<p> -"Not as yet; though I shortly mean to move there." -</p> - -<p> -"Going to set up in trade, perhaps?" -</p> - -<p> -"No, no," said the shepherd's wife. "It is easy -to see that the gentleman is rich, and don't want to -work at anything." -</p> - -<p> -The cinder-gray stranger paused, as if to consider -whether he would accept that definition of himself. -He presently rejected it by answering, "Rich is not -quite the word for me, dame. I do work, and I -must work. And even if I only get to Casterbridge -by midnight I must begin work there at eight -tomorrow morning. Yes, het or wet, blow or snow, -famine or sword, my day's work to-morrow must be -done." -</p> - -<p> -"Poor man! Then, in spite o' seeming, you be -worse off than we?" replied the shepherd's wife. -</p> - -<p> -"'Tis the nature of my trade, men and maidens. -'Tis the nature of my trade more than my -poverty.... But really and truly I must up and -off, or I shan't get a lodging in the town." However, -the speaker did not move, and directly added, -"There's time for one more draught of friendship -before I go; and I'd perform it at once if the mug -were not dry." -</p> - -<p> -"Here's a mug o' small," said Mrs. Fennel. -"Small, we call it, though to be sure 'tis only the -first wash o' the combs." -</p> - -<p> -"No," said the stranger disdainfully. "I won't -spoil your first kindness by partaking o' your second." -</p> - -<p> -"Certainly not," broke in Fennel. "We don't -increase and multiply every day, and I'll fill the mug -again." He went away to the dark place under the -stairs where the barrel stood. The shepherdess -followed him. -</p> - -<p> -"Why should you do this?" she said reproachfully, -as soon as they were alone. "He's emptied it -once, though it held enough for ten people; and -now he's not contented wi' the small, but must -needs call for more o' the strong! And a stranger -unbeknown to any of us. For my part I don't like -the look o' the man at all." -</p> - -<p> -"But he's in the house, my honey; and 'tis a wet -night, and a christening. Daze it, what's a cup of -mead more or less? there'll be plenty more next -bee-burning." -</p> - -<p> -"Very well—this time, then," she answered, looking -wistfully at the barrel. "But what is the man's -calling, and where is he one of, that he should come -in and join us like this?" -</p> - -<p> -"I don't know. I'll ask him again." -</p> - -<p> -The catastrophe of having the mug drained -dry at one pull by the stranger in cinder-grey -was effectually guarded against this time by -Mrs. Fennel. She poured out his allowance in a small -cup, keeping the large one at a discreet distance -from him. When he had tossed off his portion the -shepherd renewed his inquiry about the stranger's -occupation. -</p> - -<p> -The latter did not immediately reply, and the -man in the chimney-corner, with sudden -demonstrativeness, said, "Anybody may know my -trade—I'm a wheelwright." -</p> - -<p> -"A very good trade for these parts," said the -shepherd. -</p> - -<p> -"And anybody may know mine—if they've the -sense to find it out," said the stranger in -cinder-grey. -</p> - -<p> -"You may generally tell what a man is by his -claws," observed the hedge-carpenter, looking at his -hands. "My fingers be as full of thorns as an old -pincushion is of pins." -</p> - -<p> -The hands of the man in the chimney-corner -instinctively sought the shade, and he gazed into the -fire as he resumed his pipe. The man at the table -took up the hedge-carpenter's remark, and added -smartly, "True; but the oddity of my trade is that, -instead of setting a mark upon me, it sets a mark -upon my customers." -</p> - -<p> -No observation being offered by anybody in elucidation -of this enigma, the shepherd's wife once more -called for a song. The same obstacles presented -themselves as at the former time—one had no voice, -another had forgotten the first verse. The stranger -at the table, whose soul had now risen to a good -working temperature, relieved the difficulty by -exclaiming that, to start the company, he would sing -himself. Thrusting one thumb into the arm-hole of -his waistcoat, he waved the other hand in the air, -and, with an extemporizing gaze at the shining -sheep-crooks above the mantelpiece, began: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - Oh my trade it is the rarest one,<br /> - Simple shepherds all—<br /> - My trade is a sight to see;<br /> - For my customers I tie, and take them up on high,<br /> - And waft 'em to a far countree.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -The room was silent when he had finished the -verse—with one exception, that of the man in the -chimney-corner, who, at the singer's word, "Chorus!" -joined him in a deep bass voice of musical relish— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - And waft 'em to a far countree.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -Oliver Giles, John Pitcher the dairyman, the -parish-clerk, the engaged man of fifty, the row of young -women against the wall seemed lost in thought not -of the gayest kind. The shepherd looked meditatively -on the ground, the shepherdess gazed keenly -at the singer, and with some suspicion; she was -doubting whether this stranger were merely singing -an old song from recollection or was composing one -there and then for the occasion. All were as -perplexed at the obscure revelation as the guests at -Belshazzar's Feast, except the man in the chimney-corner, -who quietly said, "Second verse, stranger," -and smoked on. -</p> - -<p> -The singer thoroughly moistened himself from his -lips inward, and went on with the next stanza as -requested:— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - My tools are but common ones,<br /> - Simple shepherds all,<br /> - My tools are no sight to see:<br /> - A little hempen string, and a post whereon to swing,<br /> - Are implements enough for me.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -Shepherd Fennel glanced round. There was no -longer any doubt that the stranger was answering -his question rhythmically. The guests one and all -started back with suppressed exclamations. The -young woman engaged to the man of fifty fainted -half-way, and would have proceeded, but finding -him wanting in alacrity for catching her she sat -down trembling. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, he's the—!" whispered the people in the -background, mentioning the name of an ominous -public officer. "He's come to do it. 'Tis to be at -Casterbridge gaol to-morrow—the man for -sheep-stealing—the poor clock-maker we heard of, who -used to live away at Anglebury and had no work to -do—Timothy Sommers, whose family were a-starving, -and so he went out of Anglebury by the highroad, -and took a sheep in open daylight, defying the -farmer and the farmer's wife and the farmer's man, -and every man jack among 'em. He" (and they -nodded toward the stranger of the terrible trade) -"is come from up the country to do it because -there's not enough to do in his own county-town, -and he's got the place here now our own county -man's dead; he's going to live in the same cottage -under the prison wall." -</p> - -<p> -The stranger in cinder-grey took no notice of this -whispered string of observations, but again wetted -his lips. Seeing that his friend in the chimney-corner -was the only one who reciprocated his joviality -in any way, he held out his cup toward that -appreciative comrade, who also held out his own. They -clinked together, the eyes of the rest of the room -hanging upon the singer's actions. He parted his -lips for the third verse; but at that moment another -knock was audible upon the door. This time the -knock was faint and hesitating. -</p> - -<p> -The company seemed scared; the shepherd looked -with consternation toward the entrance, and it was -with some effort that he resisted his alarmed wife's -deprecatory glance, and uttered for the third time -the welcoming words, "Walk in!" -</p> - -<p> -The door was gently opened, and another man -stood upon the mat. He, like those who had -preceded him, was a stranger. This time it was a -short, small personage, of fair complexion, and -dressed in a decent suit of dark clothes. -</p> - -<p> -"Can you tell me the way to—?" he began; -when, gazing round the room to observe the nature -of the company amongst whom he had fallen, his -eyes lighted on the stranger in cinder-grey. It was -just at the instant when the latter, who had thrown -his mind into his song with such a will that he -scarcely heeded the interruption, silenced all whispers -and inquiries by bursting into his third verse:— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - To-morrow is my working day,<br /> - Simple shepherds all—<br /> - To-morrow is a working day for me:<br /> - For the farmer's sheep is slain, and the lad who did it ta'en,<br /> - And on his soul may God ha' merc-y!<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -The stranger in the chimney-corner, waving cups -with the singer so heartily that his mead splashed -over on the hearth, repeated in his bass voice as -before:— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - And on his soul may God ha' merc-y!<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -All this time the third stranger had been standing -in the doorway. Finding now that he did not come -forward or go on speaking, the guests particularly -regarded him. They noticed to their surprise that -he stood before them the picture of abject terror—his -knees trembling, his hand shaking so violently -that the door-latch by which he supported himself -rattled audibly; his white lips were parted, and his -eyes fixed on the merry officer of justice in the -middle of the room. A moment more and he had -turned, closed the door, and fled. -</p> - -<p> -"What a man can it be?" said the shepherd. -</p> - -<p> -The rest, between the awfulness of their late -discovery and the odd conduct of this third visitor, -looked as if they knew not what to think, and said -nothing. Instinctively they withdrew further and -further from the grim gentleman in their midst, -whom some of them seemed to take for the Prince -of Darkness himself, till they formed a remote -circle, an empty space of floor being left between them -and him— -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - ——circulus, cujus centrum diabolus.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -The room was so silent—though there were more -than twenty people in it—that nothing could be -heard but the patter of the rain against the -window-shutters, accompanied by the occasional hiss of -a stray drop that fell down the chimney into the -fire, and the steady puffing of the man in the -corner, who had now resumed his pipe of long clay. -</p> - -<p> -The stillness was unexpectedly broken. The -distant sound of a gun reverberated through the -air—apparently from the direction of the county-town. -</p> - -<p> -"Be jiggered!" cried the stranger who had sung -the song, jumping up. -</p> - -<p> -"What does that mean?" asked several. -</p> - -<p> -"A prisoner escaped from the gaol—that's what -it means." -</p> - -<p> -All listened. The sound was repeated, and none -of them spoke but the man in the chimney-corner, -who said quietly, "I've often been told that in this -county they fire a gun at such times; but I never -heard it till now." -</p> - -<p> -"I wonder if it is my man?" murmured the personage -in cinder-grey. -</p> - -<p> -"Surely it is!" said the shepherd involuntarily. -"And surely we've seen him! That little man who -looked in at the door by now, and quivered like a -leaf when he seed ye and heard your song!" -</p> - -<p> -"His teeth chattered, and the breath went out of -his body," said the dairyman. -</p> - -<p> -"And his heart seemed to sink within him like a -stone," said Oliver Giles. -</p> - -<p> -"And he bolted as if he'd been shot at," said the -hedge-carpenter. -</p> - -<p> -"True—his teeth chattered, and his heart seemed -to sink; and he bolted as if he'd been shot at," -slowly summed up the man in the chimney-corner. -</p> - -<p> -"I didn't notice it," remarked the grim songster. -</p> - -<p> -"We were all a-wondering what made him run off -in such a fright," faltered one of the women against -the wall, "and now 'tis explained." -</p> - -<p> -The firing of the alarm-gun went on at intervals, -low and sullenly, and their suspicions became a -certainty. The sinister gentleman in cinder-grey roused -himself. "Is there a constable here?" he asked in -thick tones. "If so, let him step forward." -</p> - -<p> -The engaged man of fifty stepped quavering out -of the corner, his betrothed beginning to sob on the -back of the chair. -</p> - -<p> -"You are a sworn constable?" -</p> - -<p> -"I be, sir." -</p> - -<p> -"Then pursue the criminal at once, with assistance, -and bring him back here. He can't have -gone far." -</p> - -<p> -"I will, sir, I will—when I've got my staff. I'll -go home and get it, and come sharp here, and start -in a body." -</p> - -<p> -"Staff!—never mind your staff; the man'll be gone!" -</p> - -<p> -"But I can't do nothing without my staff—can I, -William, and John, and Charles Jake? No; for -there's the king's royal crown a painted on en in -yaller and gold, and the lion and the unicorn, so as -when I raise en up and hit my prisoner, 'tis made a -lawful blow thereby. I wouldn't 'tempt to take up -a man without my staff—no, not I. If I hadn't the -law to gie me courage, why, instead o' my taking -up him he might take up me!" -</p> - -<p> -"Now, I'm a king's man myself, and can give -you authority enough for this," said the formidable -person in cinder-grey. "Now then, all of ye, be -ready. Have ye any lanterns?" -</p> - -<p> -"Yes—have ye any lanterns?—I demand it," -said the constable. -</p> - -<p> -"And the rest of you able-bodied——" -</p> - -<p> -"Able-bodied men—yes—the rest of ye," said the -constable. -</p> - -<p> -"Have you some good stout staves and pitchforks——" -</p> - -<p> -"Staves and pitchforks—in the name o' the law. -And take 'em in yer hands and go in quest, and do -as we in authority tell ye." -</p> - -<p> -Thus aroused, the men prepared to give chase. -The evidence was, indeed, though circumstantial, so -convincing, that but little argument was needed to -show the shepherd's guests that after what they -had seen it would look very much like connivance if -they did not instantly pursue the unhappy third -stranger, who could not as yet have gone more -than a few hundred yards over such uneven -country. -</p> - -<p> -A shepherd is always well provided with lanterns; -and, lighting these hastily, and with hurdle-staves -in their hands, they poured out of the door, taking -a direction along the crest of the hill away from -the town, the rain having fortunately a little -abated. -</p> - -<p> -Disturbed by the noise, or possibly by unpleasant -dreams of her baptism, the child who had been -christened began to cry heartbrokenly in the room -overhead. These notes of grief came down through -the chinks of the floor to the ears of the women -below, who jumped up one by one, and seemed glad -of the excuse to ascend and comfort the baby, for -the incidents of the last half hour greatly oppressed -them. Thus in the space of two or three minutes -the room on the ground floor was deserted quite. -</p> - -<p> -But it was not for long. Hardly had the sound -of footsteps died away when a man returned round -the corner of the house from the direction the -pursuers had taken. Peeping in at the door, and -seeing nobody there, he entered leisurely. It was the -stranger of the chimney-corner, who had gone out -with the rest. The motive of his return was shown -by his helping himself to a cut piece of skimmer-cake -that lay on a ledge beside where he had sat, -and which he had apparently forgotten to take with -him. He also poured out half a cup more mead -from the quantity that remained, ravenously eating -and drinking these as he stood. He had not -finished when another figure came in just as -quietly—the stranger in cinder-grey. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh—you here?" said the latter smiling. "I -thought you had gone to help in the capture." And -this speaker also revealed the object of his return -by looking solicitously round for the fascinating -mug of old mead. -</p> - -<p> -"And I thought you had gone," said the other, -continuing his skimmer-cake with some effort. -</p> - -<p> -"Well, on second thoughts, I felt there were -enough without me," said the first confidentially, -"and such a night as it is, too. Besides, 'tis the -business o' the Government to take care of its -criminals—not mine." -</p> - -<p> -"True; so it is. And I felt as you did, that there -were enough without me." -</p> - -<p> -"I don't want to break my limbs running over -the humps and hollows of this wild country." -</p> - -<p> -"Nor I neither, between you and me." -</p> - -<p> -"These shepherd-people are used to it—simple-minded -souls, you know, stirred up to anything in -a moment. They'll have him ready for me before -the morning, and no trouble to me at all." -</p> - -<p> -"They'll have him, and we shall have saved -ourselves all labour in the matter." -</p> - -<p> -"True, true. Well, my way is to Casterbridge; -and 'tis as much as my legs will do to take me that -far. Going the same way?" -</p> - -<p> -"No, I am sorry to say. I have to get home over -there" (he nodded indefinitely to the right), "and -I feel as you do, that it is quite enough for my legs -to do before bedtime." -</p> - -<p> -The other had by this time finished the mead in -the mug, after which, shaking hands at the door, and -wishing each other well, they went their several ways. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime the company of pursuers had -reached the end of the hog's-back elevation which -dominated this part of the coomb. They had -decided on no particular plan of action; and, finding -that the man of the baleful trade was no longer in -their company, they seemed quite unable to form -any such plan now. They descended in all directions -down the hill, and straightway several of the -party fell into the snare set by Nature for all -misguided midnight ramblers over the lower cretaceous -formation. The "lynchets," or flint slopes, which -belted the escarpment at intervals of a dozen yards, -took the less cautious ones unawares, and losing -their footing on the rubbly steep they slid sharply -downward, the lanterns rolling from their hands to -the bottom, and there lying on their sides till the -horn was scorched through. -</p> - -<p> -When they had again gathered themselves -together, the shepherd, as the man who knew the -country best, took the lead, and guided them round -these treacherous inclines. The lanterns, which -seemed rather to dazzle their eyes and warn the -fugitive than to assist them in the exploration, were -extinguished, due silence was observed; and in this -more rational order they plunged into the vale. It -was a grassy, briary, moist channel, affording some -shelter to any person who had sought it; but the -party perambulated it in vain, and ascended on the -other side. Here they wandered apart, and after -an interval closed together again to report progress. -At the second time of closing in they found themselves -near a lonely oak, the single tree on this part -of the upland, probably sown there by a passing -bird some hundred years before. And here, standing -a little to one side of the trunk, as motionless as -the trunk itself, appeared the man they were in -quest of, his outline being well defined against the -sky beyond. The band noiselessly drew up and -faced him. -</p> - -<p> -"Your money or your life!" said the constable -sternly to the still figure. -</p> - -<p> -"No, no," whispered John Pitcher. "'Tisn't our -side ought to say that. That's the doctrine of -vagabonds like him, and we be on the side of -the law." -</p> - -<p> -"Well, well," replied the constable impatiently; -"I must say something, mustn't I? and if you had -all the weight o' this undertaking upon your mind, -perhaps you'd say the wrong thing too.—Prisoner -at the bar, surrender, in the name of the -Fath——the Crown, I mane!" -</p> - -<p> -The man under the tree seemed now to notice -them for the first time, and, giving them no -opportunity whatever for exhibiting their courage, he -strolled slowly toward them. He was, indeed, the -little man, the third stranger; but his trepidation -had in a great measure gone. -</p> - -<p> -"Well, travellers," he said, "did I hear ye speak -to me?" -</p> - -<p> -"You did: you've got to come and be our prisoner -at once," said the constable. "We arrest ye -on the charge of not biding in Casterbridge gaol in -a decent proper manner to be hung to-morrow morning. -Neighbours, do your duty, and seize the culpet!" -</p> - -<p> -On hearing the charge, the man seemed enlightened, -and, saying not another word, resigned himself -with preternatural civility to the search-party, -who, with their staves in their hands, surrounded -him on all sides, and marched him back toward the -shepherd's cottage. -</p> - -<p> -It was eleven o'clock by the time they arrived. -The light shining from the open door, a sound of -men's voices within, proclaimed to them as they -approached the house that some new events had -arisen in their absence. On entering they -discovered the shepherd's living-room to be invaded by -two officers from Casterbridge gaol, and a -well-known magistrate who lived at the nearest country -seat, intelligence of the escape having become -generally circulated. -</p> - -<p> -"Gentlemen," said the constable, "I have brought -back your man—not without risk and danger; but -every one must do his duty. He is inside this -circle of able-bodied persons, who have lent me useful -aid considering their ignorance of Crown work. -Men, bring forward your prisoner." And the third -stranger was led to the light. -</p> - -<p> -"Who is this?" said one of the officials. -</p> - -<p> -"The man," said the constable. -</p> - -<p> -"Certainly not," said the other turnkey; and the -first corroborated his statement. -</p> - -<p> -"But how can it be otherwise?" asked the constable. -"Or why was he so terrified at sight o' the -singing instrument of the law?" Here he related -the strange behaviour of the third stranger on -entering the house. -</p> - -<p> -"Can't understand it," said the officer coolly. -"All I know is that it is not the condemned man. -He's quite a different character from this one; a -gauntish fellow, with dark hair and eyes, rather -good-looking, and with a musical bass voice that if -you heard it once you'd never mistake as long as -you lived." -</p> - -<p> -"Why, souls—'twas the man in the chimney-corner!" -</p> - -<p> -"Hey—what?" said the magistrate, coming forward -after inquiring particulars from the shepherd -in the background. "Haven't you got the man after -all?" -</p> - -<p> -"Well, sir," said the constable, "he's the man we -were in search of, that's true; and yet he's not the -man we were in search of. For the man we were in -search of was not the man we wanted, sir, if you -understand my everyday way; for 'twas the man in -the chimney-corner." -</p> - -<p> -"A pretty kettle of fish altogether!" said the -magistrate. "You had better start for the other -man at once." -</p> - -<p> -The prisoner now spoke for the first time. The -mention of the man in the chimney-corner seemed -to have moved him as nothing else could do. "Sir," -he said, stepping forward to the magistrate, "take -no more trouble about me. The time is come when -I may as well speak. I have done nothing; my -crime is that the condemned man is my brother. -Early this afternoon I left home at Anglebury to -tramp it all the way to Casterbridge gaol to bid -him farewell. I was benighted, and called here to -rest and ask the way. When I opened the door I -saw before me the very man, my brother, that I -thought to see in the condemned cell at Casterbridge. -He was in this chimney-corner; and jammed -close to him, so that he could not have got out -if he had tried, was the executioner who'd come to -take his life, singing a song about it and not -knowing that it was his victim who was close by, -joining in to save appearances. My brother looked -a glance of agony at me, and I knew he meant, -'Don't reveal what you see; my life depends on it.' I -was so terror-struck that I could hardly stand, -and, not knowing what I did, I turned and hurried -away." -</p> - -<p> -The narrator's manner and tone had the stamp -of truth, and his story made a great impression on -all around. "And do you know where your brother -is at the present time?" asked the magistrate. -</p> - -<p> -"I do not. I have never seen him since I closed -this door." -</p> - -<p> -"I can testify to that, for we've been between ye -ever since," said the constable. -</p> - -<p> -"Where does he think to fly to? What is his -occupation?" -</p> - -<p> -"He's a watch-and-clock-maker, sir." -</p> - -<p> -"'A said 'a was a wheelwright—a wicked rogue," -said the constable. -</p> - -<p> -"The wheels o' clocks and watches he meant, no -doubt," said Shepherd Fennel. "I thought his -hands were palish for's trade." -</p> - -<p> -"Well, it appears to me that nothing can be gained -by retaining this poor man in custody," said the -magistrate; "your business lies with the other, -unquestionably." -</p> - -<p> -And so the little man was released off-hand; but -he looked nothing the less sad on that account, it -being beyond the power of magistrate or constable -to raze out the written troubles in his brain, for -they concerned another whom he regarded with -more solicitude than himself. When this was done, -and the man had gone his way, the night was found -to be so far advanced that it was deemed useless to -renew the search before the next morning. -</p> - -<p> -Next day, accordingly, the quest for the clever -sheep-stealer became general and keen, to all -appearance at least. But the intended punishment -was cruelly disproportioned to the transgression, -and the sympathy of a great many country folk in -that district was strongly on the side of the fugitive. -Moreover, his marvellous coolness and daring under -the unprecedented circumstances of the shepherd's -party won their admiration. So that it may be -questioned if all those who ostensibly made -themselves so busy in exploring woods and fields and -lanes were quite so thorough when it came to the -private examination of their own lofts and outhouses. -Stories were afloat of a mysterious figure -being occasionally seen in some old overgrown -trackway or other, remote from turnpike roads; but when -a search was instituted in any of these suspected -quarters nobody was found. Thus the days and -weeks passed without tidings. -</p> - -<p> -In brief, the bass-voiced man of the chimney-corner -was never recaptured. Some said that he went -across the sea, others that he did not, but buried -himself in the depths of a populous city. At any -rate, the gentleman in cinder-grey never did his -morning's work at Casterbridge, nor met anywhere -at all, for business purposes, the comrade with -whom he had passed an hour of relaxation in the -lonely house on the coomb. -</p> - -<p> -The grass has long been green on the graves of -Shepherd Fennel and his frugal wife; the guests -who made up the christening party have mainly -followed their entertainers to the tomb; the baby in -whose honour they all had met is a matron in the -sere and yellow leaf. But the arrival of the three -strangers at the shepherd's that night, and the -details connected therewith, is a story as well known -as ever in the country about Higher Crowstairs. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> - -<h3> -VI -<br /><br /> -THE PASSING OF BLACK EAGLE -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -O. HENRY -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -For some months of a certain year a grim -bandit infested the Texas border along the Rio -Grande. Peculiarly striking to the optic -nerve was this notorious marauder. His personality -secured him the title of "Black Eagle, the Terror -of the Border." Many fearsome tales are of -record concerning the doings of him and his followers. -Suddenly, in the space of a single minute, -Black Eagle vanished from the earth. He was -never heard of again. His own band never even -guessed the mystery of his disappearance. The -border ranches and settlements feared he would come -again to ride and ravage the mesquite flats. He -never will. It is to disclose the fate of Black Eagle -that this narrative is written. -</p> - -<p> -The initial movement of the story is furnished by -the foot of a bartender in St. Louis. His discerning -eye fell upon the form of Chicken Ruggles as he -pecked with avidity at the free lunch. Chicken was -a "hobo." He had a long nose like the bill of a -fowl, an inordinate appetite for poultry, and a habit -of gratifying it without expense, which accounts for -the name given him by his fellow vagrants. -</p> - -<p> -Physicians agree that the partaking of liquids at -meal times is not a healthy practice. The hygiene -of the saloon promulgates the opposite. Chicken -had neglected to purchase a drink to accompany -his meal. The bartender rounded the counter, -caught the injudicious diner by the ear with a -lemon squeezer, led him to the door and kicked him -into the street. -</p> - -<p> -Thus the mind of Chicken was brought to realize -the signs of coming winter. The night was cold; -the stars shone with unkindly brilliancy; people -were hurrying along the streets in two egotistic, -jostling streams. Men had donned their overcoats, -and Chicken knew to an exact percentage the -increased difficulty of coaxing dimes from those -buttoned-in vest pockets. The time had come for his -annual exodus to the South. -</p> - -<p> -A little boy, five or six years old, stood looking -with covetous eyes in a confectioner's window. In -one small hand he held an empty two-ounce vial; in -the other he grasped tightly something flat and -round, with a shining milled edge. The scene -presented a field of operations commensurate to -Chicken's talents and daring. After sweeping the horizon -to make sure that no official tug was cruising near, -he insidiously accosted his prey. The boy, having -been early taught by his household to regard altruistic -advances with extreme suspicion, received the -overtures coldly. -</p> - -<p> -Then Chicken knew that he must make one of -those desperate, nerve-shattering plunges into -speculation that fortune sometimes requires of those who -would win her favour. Five cents was his capital, -and this he must risk against the chance of winning -what lay within the close grasp of the youngster's -chubby hand. It was a fearful lottery, Chicken -knew. But he must accomplish his end by strategy, -since he had a wholesome terror of plundering -infants by force. Once, in a park, driven by -hunger, he had committed an onslaught upon a bottle -of peptonized infant's food in the possession of an -occupant of a baby carriage. The outraged infant -had so promptly opened its mouth and pressed the -button that communicated with the welkin that help -arrived, and Chicken did his thirty days in a snug -coop. Wherefore he was, as he said, "leary of -kids." -</p> - -<p> -Beginning artfully to question the boy concerning -his choice of sweets, he gradually drew out the -information he wanted. Mamma said he was to -ask the drug-store man for ten cents' worth of -paregoric in the bottle; he was to keep his hand shut -tight over the dollar; he must not stop to talk to -anyone in the street; he must ask the drug-store -man to wrap up the change and put it in the pocket -of his trousers. Indeed, they had pockets—two -of them! And he liked chocolates cream best. -</p> - -<p> -Chicken went into the store and turned plunger. -He invested his entire capital in C.A.N.D.Y. stocks, -simply to pave the way to the greater risk -following. -</p> - -<p> -He gave the sweets to the youngster, and had -the satisfaction of perceiving that confidence was -established. After that it was easy to obtain -leadership of the expedition, to take the investment by -the hand and lead it to a nice drug store he knew of -in the same block. There Chicken, with a parental -air, passed over the dollar and called for the -medicine, while the boy crunched his candy, glad to be -relieved of the responsibility of the purchase. And -then the successful investor, searching his pockets, -found an overcoat button—the extent of his winter -trousseau—and, wrapping it carefully, placed the -ostensible change in the pocket of confiding -juvenility. Setting the youngster's face homeward, and -patting him benevolently on the back—for Chicken's -heart was as soft as those of his feathered -namesakes—the speculator quit the market with a profit -of 1,700 per cent. on his invested capital. -</p> - -<p> -Two hours later an Iron Mountain freight engine -pulled out of the railroad yards, Texas bound, with -a string of empties. In one of the cattle cars, half -buried in excelsior, Chicken lay at ease. Beside -him in the nest was a quart bottle of very poor -whiskey and a paper bag of bread and cheese. -Mr. Ruggles, in his private car, was on his trip south -for the winter season. -</p> - -<p> -For a week that car was trundled southward, -shifted, laid over, and manipulated after the manner -of rolling stock, but Chicken stuck to it, leaving it -only at necessary times to satisfy his hunger and -thirst. He knew it must go down to the cattle -country, and San Antonio, in the heart of it, was -his goal. There the air was salubrious and mild; -the people indulgent and long-suffering. The -bartenders there would not kick him. If he should eat -too long or too often at one place they would swear -at him as if by rote and without heat. They swore -so drawlingly, and they rarely paused short of their -full vocabulary, which was copious, so that Chicken -had often gulped a good meal during the process of -the vituperative prohibition. The season there was -always spring-like; the plazas were pleasant at night, -with music and gaiety; except during the slight and -infrequent cold snaps one could sleep comfortably -out-of-doors in case the interiors should develop -inhospitality. -</p> - -<p> -At Texarkana his car was switched to the I. and -G. N. Then still southward it trailed until, at -length, it crawled across the Colorado bridge at -Austin, and lined out, straight as an arrow, for the -run to San Antonio. -</p> - -<p> -When the freight halted at that town Chicken -was fast asleep. In ten minutes the train was off -again for Laredo, the end of the road. Those empty -cattle cars were for distribution along the line at -points from which the ranches shipped their stock. -</p> - -<p> -When Chicken awoke his car was stationary. -Looking out between the slats he saw it was a -bright, moonlit night. Scrambling out, he saw his -car with three others abandoned on a little siding -in a wild and lonesome country. A cattle pen and -chute stood on one side of the track. The railroad -bisected a vast, dim ocean of prairie, in the midst -of which Chicken, with his futile rolling stock, was -as completely stranded as was Robinson with his -land-locked boat. -</p> - -<p> -A white post stood near the rails. Going up to -it, Chicken read the letters at the top, S.A.90. -Laredo was nearly as far to the south. He was -almost a hundred miles from any town. Coyotes -began to yelp in the mysterious sea around him. -Chicken felt lonesome. He had lived in Boston -without an education, in Chicago without nerve, in -Philadelphia without a sleeping place, in New York -without a pull, and in Pittsburgh sober, and yet he -had never felt so lonely as now. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly through the intense silence, he heard -the whicker of a horse. The sound came from the -side of the track toward the east, and Chicken -began to explore timorously in that direction. He -stepped high along the mat of curly mesquite grass, -for he was afraid of everything there might be in -this wilderness—snakes, rats, brigands, centipedes, -mirages, cowboys, fandangoes, tarantulas, tamales—he -had read of them in the story papers. Rounding -a clump of prickly pear that reared high its -fantastic and menacing array of rounded heads, he was -struck to shivering terror by a snort and a thunderous -plunge, as the horse, himself startled, bounded -away some fifty yards, and then resumed his grazing. -But here was the one thing in the desert that -Chicken did not fear. He had been reared on a -farm; he had handled horses, understood them, and -could ride. -</p> - -<p> -Approaching slowly and speaking soothingly, he -followed the animal, which, after its first flight -seemed gentle enough, and secured the end of the -twenty-foot lariat that dragged after him in the -grass. It required him but a few moments to -contrive the rope into an ingenious nose-bridle, after -the style of the Mexican <i>borsal</i>. In another he was -upon the horse's back and off at a splendid lope, -giving the animal free choice of direction. "He will -take me somewhere," said Chicken to himself. -</p> - -<p> -It would have been a thing of joy, that untrammelled -gallop over the moonlit prairie, even to -Chicken, who loathed exertion, but that his mood -was not for it. His head ached; a growing thirst -was upon him; the "somewhere" whither his lucky -mount might convey him was full of dismal peradventure. -</p> - -<p> -And now he noted that the horse moved to a -definite goal. Where the prairie lay smooth he kept -his course straight as an arrow's toward the east. -Deflected by hill or arroyo or impracticable spinous -brakes he quickly flowed again into the current, -charted by his unerring instinct. At last, upon the -side of a gentle rise, he suddenly subsided to a -complacent walk. A stone's cast away stood a little -mott of coma trees; beneath it a jacal such as the -Mexicans erect—a one-room house of upright poles -daubed with clay and roofed with grass or tule -reeds. An experienced eye would have estimated -the spot as the headquarters of a small sheep ranch. -In the moonlight the ground in the nearby corral -showed pulverized to a level smoothness by the -hoofs of the sheep. Everywhere was carelessly -distributed the paraphernalia of the place—ropes, -bridles, saddles, sheep pelts, wool sacks, feed troughs -and camp litter. The barrel of drinking water stood -in the end of the two-horse wagon near the door. -The harness was piled, promiscuous, upon the -wagon tongue, soaking up the dew. -</p> - -<p> -Chicken slipped to earth, and tied the horse to a -tree. He halloed again and again, but the house -remained quiet. The door stood open, and he entered -cautiously. The light was sufficient for him -to see that no one was at home. He struck a match -and lighted a lamp that stood on a table. The room -was that of a bachelor ranchman who was content -with the necessaries of life. Chicken rummaged -intelligently until he found what he had hardly dared -hope for—a small, brown jug that still contained -something near a quart of his desire. -</p> - -<p> -Half an hour later, Chicken—now a gamecock of -hostile aspect—emerged from the house with -unsteady steps. He had drawn upon the absent -ranchman's equipment to replace his own ragged attire. -He wore a suit of coarse brown ducking, the coat -being a sort of rakish bolero, jaunty to a degree. -Boots he had donned, and spurs that whirred with -every lurching step. Buckled around him was a -belt full of cartridges with a big six-shooter in each -of its two holsters. -</p> - -<p> -Prowling about, he found blankets, a saddle and -bridle with which he caparisoned his steed. Again -mounting, he rode swiftly away, singing a loud and -tuneless song. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Bud King's band of desperadoes, outlaws and -horse and cattle thieves were in camp at a secluded -spot on the bank of the Frio. Their depredations in -the Rio Grande country, while no bolder than usual, -had been advertised more extensively, and Captain -Kinney's company of rangers had been ordered -down to look after them. Consequently, Bud King, -who was a wise general, instead of cutting out a hot -trail for the upholders of the law, as his men wished -to do, retired for the time to the prickly fastnesses -of the Frio valley. -</p> - -<p> -Though the move was a prudent one, and not -incompatible with Bud's well-known courage, it raised -dissension among the members of the band. In -fact, while they thus lay ingloriously <i>perdu</i> in the -brush, the question of Bud King's fitness for the -leadership was argued, with closed doors, as it were, -by his followers. Never before had Bud's skill or -efficiency been brought to criticism; but his glory -was waning (and such is glory's fate) in the light of -a newer star. The sentiment of the band was -crystallising into the opinion that Black Eagle could lead -them with more lustre, profit, and distinction. -</p> - -<p> -This Black Eagle—sub-titled the "Terror of the -Border"—had been a member of the gang about -three months. -</p> - -<p> -One night while they were in camp on the San -Miguel water-hole a solitary horseman on the -regulation fiery steed dashed in among them. The -new-comer was of a portentous and devastating aspect. -A beak-like nose with a predatory curve projected -above a mass of bristling, blue-black whiskers. His -eye was cavernous and fierce. He was spurred, -sombreroed, booted, garnished with revolvers, -abundantly drunk, and very much unafraid. Few people -in the country drained by the Rio Bravo would have -cared thus to invade alone the camp of Bud King. -But this fell bird swooped fearlessly upon them and -demanded to be fed. -</p> - -<p> -Hospitality in the prairie country is not limited. -Even if your enemy pass your way you must feed -him before you shoot him. You must empty your -larder into him before you empty your lead. So the -stranger of undeclared intentions was set down to a -mighty feast. -</p> - -<p> -A talkative bird he was, full of most marvellous -loud tales and exploits, and speaking a language at -times obscure but never colourless. He was a new -sensation to Bud King's men, who rarely encountered -new types. They hung, delighted, upon his -vainglorious boasting, the spicy strangeness of his -lingo, his contemptuous familiarity with life, the -world, and remote places, and the extravagant -frankness with which he conveyed his sentiments. -</p> - -<p> -To their guest the band of outlaws seemed to be -nothing more than a congregation of country -bumpkins whom he was "stringing for grub" just as he -would have told his stories at the back door of a -farmhouse to wheedle a meal. And, indeed, his -ignorance was not without excuse, for the "bad -man" of the Southwest does not run to extremes. -Those brigands might justly have been taken for a -little party of peaceable rustics assembled for a -fish-fry or pecan gathering. Gentle of manner, -slouching of gait, soft-voiced, unpicturesquely clothed; -not one of them presented to the eye any witness of -the desperate records they had earned. -</p> - -<p> -For two days the glittering stranger within the -camp was feasted. Then, by common consent, he -was invited to become a member of the band. He -consented, presenting for enrollment the prodigious -name of "Captain Montressor." This name was -immediately overruled by the band, and "Piggy" -substituted as a compliment to the awful and -insatiate appetite of its owner. -</p> - -<p> -Thus did the Texas border receive the most -spectacular brigand that ever rode its chaparral. -</p> - -<p> -For the next three months Bud King conducted -business as usual, escaping encounters with law -officers and being content with reasonable profits. -The band ran off some very good companies of -horses from the ranges, and a few bunches of fine -cattle which they got safely across the Rio Grande -and disposed of to fair advantage. Often the band -would ride into the little villages and Mexican -settlements, terrorising the inhabitants and plundering -for the provisions and ammunition they needed. It -was during these bloodless raids that Piggy's -ferocious aspect and frightful voice gained him a -renown more widespread and glorious than those -other gentle-voiced and sad-faced desperadoes could -have acquired in a lifetime. -</p> - -<p> -The Mexicans, most apt in nomenclature, first -called him The Black Eagle, and used to frighten -the babes by threatening them with tales of the -dreadful robber who carried off little children in his -great beak. Soon the name extended, and Black -Eagle, the Terror of the Border, became a recognized -factor in exaggerated newspaper reports and -ranch gossip. -</p> - -<p> -The country from the Nueces to the Rio Grande -was a wild but fertile stretch, given over to the -sheep and cattle ranches. Range was free; the -inhabitants were few; the law was mainly a letter -and the pirates met with little opposition until the -flaunting and garish Piggy gave the band undue -advertisement. Then McKinney's ranger company -headed for those precincts, and Bud King knew -that it meant grim and sudden war or else temporary -retirement. Regarding the risk to be unnecessary, -he drew off his band to an almost inaccessible -spot on the bank of the Frio. Wherefore, as has -been said, dissatisfaction arose among the members, -and impeachment proceedings against Bud were -premeditated, with Black Eagle in high favour for -the succession. Bud King was not unaware of the -sentiment, and he called aside Cactus Taylor, his -trusted lieutenant, to discuss it. -</p> - -<p> -"If the boys," said Bud, "ain't satisfied with me, -I'm willin' to step out. They're buckin' against my -way of handlin' 'em. And 'specially because I -concludes to hit the brush while Sam Kinney is ridin' -the line. I saves 'em from bein' shot or sent up on -a state contract, and they up and says I'm no -good." -</p> - -<p> -"It ain't so much that," explained Cactus, "as it -is they're plum locoed about Piggy. They want -them whiskers and that nose of his to split the wind -at the head of the column." -</p> - -<p> -"There's somethin' mighty seldom about Piggy," -declared Bud, musingly. "I never yet see anything -on the hoof that he exactly grades up with. He -can shore holler a plenty, and he straddles a hoss -from where you laid the chunk. But he ain't never -been smoked yet. You know, Cactus, we ain't had -a row since he's been with us. Piggy's all right for -skearin' the greaser kids and layin' waste a -crossroads store. I reckon he's the finest canned oyster -buccaneer and cheese pirate that ever was, but -how's his appetite for fightin'? I've knowed some -citizens you'd think was starvin' for trouble get a -bad case of dyspepsy the first dose of lead they had -to take." -</p> - -<p> -"He talks all spraddled out," said Cactus, "'bout -the rookuses he's been in. He claims to have saw -the elephant and hearn the owl." -</p> - -<p> -"I know," replied Bud, using the cowpuncher's -expressive phrase of skepticism, "but it sounds to -me!" -</p> - -<p> -This conversation was held one night in camp -while the other members of the band—eight in -number—were sprawling around the fire, lingering over -their supper. When Bud and Cactus ceased talking -they heard Piggy's formidable voice holding forth to -the others as usual while he was engaged in checking, -though never satisfying, his ravening appetite. -</p> - -<p> -"Wat's de use," he was saying, "of chasin' little -red cowses and hosses 'round for t'ousands of miles? -Dere ain't nuttin' in it. Gallopin' t'rough dese -bushes and briers, and gettin' a t'irst dat a brewery -couldn't put out, and missin' meals! Say! You -know what I'd do if I was main finger of dis bunch? -I'd stick up a train. I'd blow de express car and -make hard dollars where you guys gets wind. Youse -makes me tired. Dis sook-cow kind of cheap sport -gives me a pain." -</p> - -<p> -Later on, a deputation waited on Bud. They -stood on one leg, chewed mesquit twigs and circumlocuted, -for they hated to hurt his feelings. Bud -foresaw their business, and made it easy for them. -Bigger risks and larger profits was what they wanted. -</p> - -<p> -The suggestion of Piggy's about holding up a -train had fired their imagination and increased their -admiration for the dash and boldness of the -instigator. They were such simple, artless, and -custom-bound bush-rangers that they had never before -thought of extending their habits beyond the -running off of live-stock and the shooting of such of -their acquaintances as ventured to interfere. -</p> - -<p> -Bud acted "on the level," agreeing to take a -subordinate place in the gang until Black Eagle should -have been given a trial as leader. -</p> - -<p> -After a great deal of consultation, studying of -time-tables, and discussion of the country's -topography, the time and place for carrying out their -new enterprise was decided upon. At that time -there was a feedstuff famine in Mexico and a cattle -famine in certain parts of the United States, and -there was a brisk international trade. Much money -was being shipped along the railroads that connected -the two republics. It was agreed that the most -promising place for the contemplated robbery was -at Espina, a little station on the I. and G. N., about -forty miles north of Laredo. The train stopped -there one minute; the country around was wild and -unsettled; the station consisted of but one house in -which the agent lived. -</p> - -<p> -Black Eagle's band set out, riding by night. -Arriving in the vicinity of Espina they rested their -horses all day in a thicket a few miles distant. -</p> - -<p> -The train was due at Espina at 10.30 P.M. They -could rob the train and be well over the Mexican -border with their booty by daylight the next morning. -</p> - -<p> -To do Black Eagle justice, he exhibited no signs -of flinching from the responsible honours that had -been conferred upon him. -</p> - -<p> -He assigned his men to their respective posts with -discretion, and coached them carefully as to their -duties. On each side of the track four of the band -were to lie concealed in the chaparral. Gotch-Ear -Rodgers was to stick up the station agent. Bronco -Charlie was to remain with the horses, holding them -in readiness. At a spot where it was calculated the -engine would be when the train stopped, Bud King -was to lie hidden on one side, and Black Eagle -himself on the other. The two would get the drop on -the engineer and fireman, force them to descend -and proceed to the rear. Then the express car -would be looted, and the escape made. No one was -to move until Black Eagle gave the signal by firing -his revolver. The plan was perfect. -</p> - -<p> -At ten minutes to train time every man was at -his post, effectually concealed by the thick chaparral -that grew almost to the rails. The night was dark -and lowering, with a fine drizzle falling from the -flying gulf clouds. Black Eagle crouched behind a -bush within five yards of the track. Two six-shooters -were belted around him. Occasionally he drew -a large black bottle from his pocket and raised it to -his mouth. -</p> - -<p> -A star appeared far down the track which soon -waxed into the headlight of the approaching train. -It came on with an increasing roar; the engine bore -down upon the ambushing desperadoes with a glare -and a shriek like some avenging monster come to -deliver them to justice. Black Eagle flattened -himself upon the ground. The engine, contrary -to their calculations, instead of stopping between -him and Bud King's place of concealment, passed -fully forty yards farther before it came to a -stand. -</p> - -<p> -The bandit leader rose to his feet and peered -around the bush. His men all lay quiet, awaiting -the signal. Immediately opposite Black Eagle was -a thing that drew his attention. Instead of being a -regular passenger train it was a mixed one. Before -him stood a box car, the door of which, by some -means, had been left slightly open. Black Eagle -went up to it and pushed the door farther open. An -odour came forth—a damp, rancid, familiar, musty, -intoxicating, beloved odour stirring strongly at old -memories of happy days and travels. Black Eagle -sniffed at the witching smell as the returned -wanderer smells of the rose that twines his boyhood's -cottage home. Nostalgia seized him. He put his -hand inside. Excelsior—dry, springy, curly, soft, -enticing, covered the floor. Outside the drizzle had -turned to a chilling rain. -</p> - -<p> -The train bell clanged. The bandit chief unbuckled -his belt and cast it, with its revolvers, upon the -ground. His spurs followed quickly, and his broad -sombrero. Black Eagle was moulting. The train -started with a rattling jerk. The ex-Terror of the -Border scrambled into the box car and closed the -door. Stretched luxuriously upon the excelsior, with -the black bottle clasped closely to his breast, his -eyes closed, and a foolish, happy smile upon his -terrible features Chicken Ruggles started upon his -return trip. -</p> - -<p> -Undisturbed, with the band of desperate bandits -lying motionless, awaiting the signal to attack, the -train pulled out from Espina. As its speed increased, -and the black masses of chaparral went whizzing -past on either side, the express messenger, lighting -his pipe, looked through his window and remarked, -feelingly: -</p> - -<p> -"What a jim-dandy place for a hold-up!" -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> - -<h3> -VII -<br /><br /> -NIÑO DIABLO* -</h3> - -<p class="t3"> -W. H. HUDSON -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -*Reprinted from the volume, Tales of the Pampas, -by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -The wide pampas rough with long grass; a vast -level disc now growing dark, the horizon -encircling it with a ring as faultless as that -made by a pebble dropped into smooth water; above -it the clear sky of June, wintry and pale, still -showing in the west the saffron hues of the afterglow -tinged with vapoury violet and grey. In the centre -of the disc a large low rancho thatched with yellow -rushes, a few stunted trees and cattle enclosures -grouped about it; and dimly seen in the shadows, -cattle and sheep reposing. At the gate stands -Gregory Gorostiaga, lord of house, lands and ruminating -herds, leisurely unsaddling his horse; for whatsoever -Gregory does is done leisurely. Although no person -is within earshot he talks much over his task, now -rebuking his restive animal, and now cursing his -benumbed fingers and the hard knots in his gear. A -curse falls readily and not without a certain -natural grace from Gregory's lips; it is the oiled feather -with which he touches every difficult knot encountered -in life. From time to time he glances toward -the open kitchen door, from which issue the far-flaring -light of the fire and familiar voices, with savoury -smells of cookery that come to his nostrils -like pleasant messengers. -</p> - -<p> -The unsaddling over at last the freed horse gallops -away, neighing joyfully, to seek his fellows; -but Gregory is not a four-footed thing to hurry -himself; and so, stepping slowly and pausing frequently -to look about him as if reluctant to quit the cold -night air, he turns toward the house. -</p> - -<p> -The spacious kitchen was lighted by two or three -wicks in cups of melted fat, and by a great fire in -the middle of the clay floor that cast crowds of -dancing shadows on the walls and filled the whole -room with grateful warmth. On the walls were -fastened many deers' heads, and on their convenient -prongs were hung bridles and lassos, ropes of onions -and garlic, bunches of dried herbs, and various -other objects. At the fire a piece of beef was -roasting on a spit; and in a large pot suspended by hook -and chain from the smoke-blackened central beam, -boiled and bubbled an ocean of mutton broth, -puffing out white clouds of steam redolent of herbs and -cummin-seed. Close to the fire, skimmer in hand, -sat Magdalen, Gregory's fat and florid wife, -engaged in frying pies in a second smaller pot. There -also, on a high, straight-backed chair, sat Ascension, -her sister-in-law, a wrinkled spinster; also, in a low -rush-bottomed seat, her mother-in-law, an ancient -white-headed dame, staring vacantly into the flames. -On the other side of the fire were Gregory's two -eldest daughters, occupied just now in serving <i>maté</i> to -their elders—that harmless bitter decoction the -sipping of which fills up all vacant moments from -dawn to bed-time—pretty dove-eyed girls of -sixteen, both also named Magdalen, but not after their -mother nor because confusion was loved by the family -for its own sake; they were twins, and born on -the day sacred to Santa Magdalena. Slumbering -dogs and cats were disposed about the floor, also -four children. The eldest, a boy, sitting with legs -outstretched before him, was cutting threads from a -slip of colt's hide looped over his great toe. The -two next, boy and girl, were playing a simple game -called nines, once known to English children as nine -men's morrice; the lines were rudely scratched on -the clay floor, and the men they played with were -bits of hardened clay, nine red and as many white. -The youngest, a girl of five, sat on the floor nursing -a kitten that purred contentedly on her lap and -drowsily winked its blue eyes at the fire; and as -she swayed herself from side to side she lisped out -the old lullaby in her baby voice: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - A-ro-ró mi niño<br /> - A-ro-ró mi sol,<br /> - A-ro-ró pedazos<br /> - De mi corazon.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Gregory stood on the threshold surveying this -domestic scene with manifest pleasure. -</p> - -<p> -"Papa mine, what have you brought me?" cried -the child with the kitten. -</p> - -<p> -"Brought you, interested? Stiff whiskers and -cold hands to pinch your dirty little cheeks. How -is your cold to-night, mother?" -</p> - -<p> -"Yes, son, it is very cold to-night; we knew that -before you came in," replied the old dame testily as -she drew her chair a little closer to the fire. -</p> - -<p> -"It is useless speaking to her," remarked Ascension. -"With her to be out of temper is to be deaf." -</p> - -<p> -"What has happened to put her out?" he asked. -</p> - -<p> -"I can tell you, papa," cried one of the twins. -"She wouldn't let me make your cigars to-day, and -sat down out-of-doors to make them herself. It was -after breakfast when the sun was warm." -</p> - -<p> -"And of course she fell asleep," chimed in Ascension. -</p> - -<p> -"Let me tell it, auntie!" exclaimed the other. -"And she fell asleep, and in a moment Rosita's -lamb came and ate up the whole of the tobacco-leaf -in her lap." -</p> - -<p> -"It didn't!" cried Rosita, looking up from her -game. "I opened its mouth and looked with all -my eyes, and there was no tobacco-leaf in it." -</p> - -<p> -"That lamb! that lamb!" said Gregory slily. "Is -it to be wondered at that we are turning grey before -our time—all except Rosita! Remind me to-morrow, -wife, to take it to the flock: or if it has grown -fat on all the tobacco-leaf, aprons and old shoes it -has eaten——" -</p> - -<p> -"Oh no, no, no!" screamed Rosita, starting up -and throwing the game into confusion, just when -her little brother had made a row and was in the -act of seizing on one of her pieces in triumph. -</p> - -<p> -"Hush, silly child, he will not harm your lamb," -said the mother, pausing from her task and raising -eyes that were tearful with the smoke of the fire -and of the cigarette she held between her -good-humoured lips. "And now, if these children have -finished speaking of their important affairs, tell me, -Gregory, what news do you bring?" -</p> - -<p> -"They say," he returned, sitting down and taking -the maté-cup from his daughter's hand, "that -the invading Indians bring seven hundred lances, -and that those that first opposed them were all -slain. Some say they are now retreating with the -cattle they have taken; while others maintain that -they are waiting to fight our men." -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, my sons, my sons, what will happen to -them!" cried Magdalen, bursting into tears. -</p> - -<p> -"Why do you cry, wife, before God gives you -cause?" returned her husband. "Are not all men -born to fight the infidel? Our boys are not -alone—all their friends and neighbours are with them." -</p> - -<p> -"Say not this to me, Gregory, for I am not a fool -nor blind. All their friends indeed! And this very -day I have seen the Niño Diablo; he galloped past -the house, whistling like a partridge that knows no -care. Why must my two sons be called away, while -he, a youth without occupation and with no mother -to cry for him, remains behind?" -</p> - -<p> -"You talk folly, Magdalen," replied her lord. -"Complain that the ostrich and puma are more -favoured than your sons, since no man calls on -them to serve the state; but mention not the -Niño, for he is freer than the wild things which -Heaven has made, and fights not on this side -nor on that." -</p> - -<p> -"Coward! Miserable!" murmured the incensed -mother. -</p> - -<p> -Whereupon one of the twins flushed scarlet, and -retorted, "He is not a coward, mother!" -</p> - -<p> -"And if not a coward why does he sit on the -hearth among women and old men in times like -these? Grieved am I to hear a daughter of mine -speak in defence of one who is a vagabond and a -stealer of other men's horses!" -</p> - -<p> -The girl's eyes flashed angrily, but she answered -not a word. -</p> - -<p> -"Hold your tongue, woman, and accuse no man -of crimes," spoke Gregory. "Let every Christian -take proper care of his animals; and as for the -infidel's horses, he is a virtuous man that steals them. -The girl speaks truth; the Niño is no coward, but he -fights not with our weapons. The web of the spider -is coarse and ill-made compared with the snare he -spreads to entangle his prey." Thus fixing his eyes -on the face of the girl who had spoken, he added: -"therefore be warned in season, my daughter, and -fall not into the snare of the Niño Diablo." -</p> - -<p> -Again the girl blushed and hung her head. -</p> - -<p> -At this moment a clatter of hoofs, the jangling of -a bell, and shouts of a traveller to the horses driven -before him, came in at the open door. The dogs -roused themselves, almost overturning the children -in their hurry to rush out; and up rose Gregory to -find out who was approaching with so much noise. -</p> - -<p> -"I know, <i>papita</i>," cried one of the children. "It -is Uncle Polycarp." -</p> - -<p> -"You are right, child," said her father. "Cousin -Polycarp always arrives at night, shouting to his -animals like a troop of Indians." And with that he -went out to welcome his boisterous relative. -</p> - -<p> -The traveller soon arrived, spurring his horse, -scared at the light and snorting loudly, to within -two yards of the door. In a few minutes the -saddle was thrown off, the fore feet of the bell-mare -fettered, and the horses allowed to wander away in -quest of pasturage; then the two men turned into -the kitchen. -</p> - -<p> -A short, burly man aged about fifty, wearing a -soft hat thrust far back on his head, with truculent -greenish eyes beneath arched bushy eyebrows, and -a thick shapeless nose surmounting a bristly -moustache—such was Cousin Polycarp. From neck to -feet he was covered with a blue cloth poncho, and -on his heels he wore enormous silver spurs that -clanked and jangled over the floor like the fetters -of a convict. After greeting the women and bestowing -the avuncular blessing on the children, who had -clamoured for it as for some inestimable boon—he -sat down, and flinging back his poncho displayed at -his waist a huge silver-hilted knife and a heavy -brass-barrelled horse-pistol. -</p> - -<p> -"Heaven be praised for its goodness, Cousin -Magdalen," he said. "What with pies and spices your -kitchen is more fragrant than a garden of flowers. -That's as it should be, for nothing but rum have I -tasted this bleak day. And the boys are away -fighting, Gregory tells me. Good! When the eaglets -have found out their wings let them try their -talons. What, Cousin Magdalen, crying for the boys! -Would you have had them girls?" -</p> - -<p> -"Yes, a thousand times," she replied, drying her -wet eyes on her apron. -</p> - -<p> -"Ah, Magdalen, daughters can't be always young -and sweet-tempered, like your brace of pretty -partridges yonder. They grow old, Cousin Magdalen—old -and ugly and spiteful; and are more bitter and -worthless than the wild pumpkin. But I speak not -of those who are present, for I would say nothing to -offend my respected Cousin Ascension, whom may -God preserve, though she never married." -</p> - -<p> -"Listen to me, Cousin Polycarp," returned the -insulted dame so pointedly alluded to. "Say nothing to -me nor of me, and I will also hold my peace concerning -you; for you know very well that if I were disposed -to open my lips I could say a thousand things." -</p> - -<p> -"Enough, enough, you have already said them a -thousand times," he interrupted. "I know all that, -cousin; let us say no more." -</p> - -<p> -"That is only what I ask," she retorted, "for I -have never loved to bandy words with you; and you -know already, therefore I need not recall it to your -mind, that if I am single it is not because some men -whose names I could mention if I felt disposed—and -they are the names not of dead but of living -men—would not have been glad to marry me, but -because I preferred my liberty and the goods I -inherited from my father; and I see not what -advantage there is in being the wife of one who is a -brawler and a drunkard and spender of other people's -money, and I know not what besides." -</p> - -<p> -"There it is!" said Polycarp, appealing to the fire. -"I knew that I had thrust my foot into a red ant's -nest—careless that I am! But in truth, Ascension, -it was fortunate for you in those distant days you -mention that you hardened your heart against all -lovers. For wives, like cattle that must be branded -with their owner's mark, are first of all taught -submission to their husbands; and consider, cousin, -what tears! what sufferings!" And having ended -thus abruptly, he planted his elbows on his knees -and busied himself with the cigarette he had been -trying to roll up with his cold drunken fingers for -the last five minutes. -</p> - -<p> -Ascension gave a nervous twitch at the red cotton -kerchief on her head, and cleared her throat with a -sound "sharp and short like the shrill swallow's -cry," when—— -</p> - -<p> -"<i>Madre del Cielo</i>, how you frightened me!" -screamed one of the twins, giving a great start. -</p> - -<p> -The cause of this sudden outcry was discovered -in the presence of a young man quietly seated on -the bench at the girl's side. He had not been there -a minute before, and no person had seen him enter -the room—what wonder that the girl was startled! -He was slender in form and had small hands and -feet, and oval olive face, smooth as a girl's except -for the incipient moustache on his lip. In place of -a hat he wore only a scarlet ribbon bound about his -head, to keep back the glossy black hair that fell -to his shoulders; and he was wrapped in a white -woollen Indian poncho, while his lower limbs were -cased in white coltskin coverings, shaped like stockings -to his feet, with the red tassels of his embroidered -garters falling to the ankles. -</p> - -<p> -"The Niño Diablo!" all cried in a breath, the -children manifesting the greatest joy at his -appearance. But old Gregory spoke with affected anger. -"Why do you always drop on us in this treacherous -way, like rain through a leaky thatch?" he exclaimed. -"Keep these strange arts for your visits in the -infidel country; here we are all Christians, and praise -God on the threshold when we visit a neighbour's -house. And now, Niño Diablo, what news of the -Indians?" -</p> - -<p> -"Nothing do I know and little do I concern -myself about specks on the horizon," returned the -visitor with a light laugh. And at once all the children -gathered round him, for the Niño they considered to -belong to them when he came, and not to their -elders with their solemn talk about Indian warfare and -lost horses. And now, now he would finish that -wonderful story, long in the telling, of the little girl -alone and lost in the great desert, and surrounded -by all the wild animals met to discuss what they -should do with her. It was a grand story, even -mother Magdalen listened, though she pretended -all the time to be thinking only of her pies—and -the teller, like the grand old historians of other -days, put most eloquent speeches, all made out of -his own head, into the lips (and beaks) of the -various actors—puma, ostrich, deer, cavy, and -the rest. -</p> - -<p> -In the midst of this performance supper was -announced, and all gathered willingly round a dish of -Magdalen's pies, filled with minced meat, hard-boiled -eggs chopped small, raisins, and plenty of -spice. After the pies came roast beef; and, finally, -great basins of mutton broth fragrant with herbs -and cummin-seed. The rage of hunger satisfied, -each one said a prayer, the elders murmuring with -bowed heads, the children on their knees uplifting -shrill voices. Then followed the concluding -semi-religious ceremony of the day, when each child in -its turn asked a blessing of father, mother, -grandmother, uncle, aunt, and not omitting the stranger -within the gates, even the Niño Diablo of -evil-sounding name. -</p> - -<p> -The men drew forth their pouches, and began -making their cigarettes, when once more the -children gathered round the story-teller, their faces -glowing with expectation. -</p> - -<p> -"No, no," cried their mother. "No more stories -to-night—to bed, to bed!" -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, mother, mother!" cried Rosita pleadingly, -and struggling to free herself; for the good woman -had dashed in among them to enforce obedience. -"Oh, let me stay till the story ends! The reed-cat -has said such things! Oh, what will they do with -the poor little girl?" -</p> - -<p> -"And oh, mother mine!" drowsily sobbed her little -sister; "the armadillo that said—that said nothing -because it had nothing to say, and the partridge -that whistled and said,—" and here she broke into -a prolonged wail. The boys also added their voices -until the hubbub was no longer to be borne, and -Gregory rose up in his wrath and called on someone -to lend him a big whip; only then they yielded, -and still sobbing and casting many a lingering look -behind, were led from the kitchen. -</p> - -<p> -During this scene the Niño had been carrying on -a whispered conversation with the pretty Magdalen -of his choice, heedless of the uproar of which he had -been the indirect cause; deaf also to the bitter -remarks of Ascension concerning some people who, -having no homes of their own, were fond of coming -uninvited into other people's houses, only to repay -the hospitality extended to them by stealing their -silly daughters' affections, and teaching their -children to rebel against their authority. -</p> - -<p> -But the noise and confusion had served to arouse -Polycarp from a drowsy fit; for like a boa -constrictor, he had dined largely after his long fast, -and dinner had made him dull; bending toward his -cousin he whispered earnestly: "Who is this young -stranger, Gregory?" -</p> - -<p> -"In what corner of the earth have you been hiding -to ask who the Niño Diablo is?" returned the -other. -</p> - -<p> -"Must I know the history of every cat and dog?" -</p> - -<p> -"The Niño is not cat nor dog, cousin, but a man -among men, like a falcon among birds. When a -child of six the Indians killed all his relations and -carried him into captivity. After five years he -escaped out of their hands, and, guided by sun and -stars and signs on the earth, he found his way back -to the Christian's country, bringing many beautiful -horses stolen from his captors; also the name of -Niño Diablo first given to him by the infidel. We -know him by no other." -</p> - -<p> -"This is a good story; in truth I like it well—it -pleases me mightily," said Polycarp. "And what -more, cousin Gregory?" -</p> - -<p> -"More than I can tell, cousin. When he comes -the dogs bark not—who knows why? his tread is -softer than the cat's; the untamed horse is tame for -him. Always in the midst of dangers, yet no harm, -no scratch. Why? Because he stoops like the -falcon, makes his stroke and is gone—Heaven knows -where!" -</p> - -<p> -"What strange things are you telling me? -Wonderful! And what more, cousin Gregory?" -</p> - -<p> -"He often goes into the Indian country, and lives -freely with the infidel, disguised, for they do not -know him who was once their captive. They speak -of the Niño Diablo to him, saying that when they -catch that thief they will flay him alive. He listens -to their strange stories, then leaves them, taking -their finest ponchos and silver ornaments, and the -flower of their horses." -</p> - -<p> -"A brave youth, one after my own heart, cousin -Gregory. Heaven defend and prosper him in all -his journeys into the Indian territory! Before we -part I shall embrace him and offer him my friendship, -which is worth something. More, tell me -more, cousin Gregory?" -</p> - -<p> -"These things I tell you to put you on your -guard; look well to your horses, cousin." -</p> - -<p> -"What!" shouted the other, lifting himself up -from his stooping posture, and staring at his -relation with astonishment and kindling anger in his -countenance. -</p> - -<p> -The conversation had been carried on in a low -tone, and the sudden loud exclamation startled them -all—all except the Niño, who continued smoking -and chatting pleasantly to the twins. -</p> - -<p> -"Lightning and pestilence, what is this you say -to me, Gregory Gorostiaga!" continued Polycarp, -violently slapping his thigh and thrusting his hat -farther back on his head. -</p> - -<p> -"Prudence!" whispered Gregory. "Say nothing -to offend the Niño, he never forgives an -enemy—with horses." -</p> - -<p> -"Talk not to me of prudence!" bawled the other. -"You hit me on the apple of the eye and counsel me -not to cry out. What! have not I, whom men call -Polycarp of the South, wrestled with tigers in the -desert, and must I hold my peace because of a -boy—even a boy devil? Talk of what you like, cousin, -and I am a meek man—meek as a sucking babe; -but touch not on my horses, for then I am a whirlwind, -a conflagration, a river flooded in winter, and -all wrath and destruction like an invasion of -Indians! Who can stand before me? Ribs of steel -are no protection! Look at my knife; do you ask -why there are stains on the blade? Listen: because -it has gone straight to the robber's heart!" And -with that he drew out his great knife and flourished -it wildly, and made stabs and slashes at an -imaginary foe suspended above the fire. -</p> - -<p> -The pretty girls grew silent and pale and trembled -like poplar leaves; the old grandmother rose -up, and clutching at her shawl toddled hurriedly -away, while Ascension uttered a snort of disdain. -But the Niño still talked and smiled, blowing thin -smoke-clouds from his lips, careless of that tempest -of wrath gathering before him; till, seeing the other -so calm, the man of war returned his weapon to its -sheath, and glancing round and lowering his voice -to a conversational tone, informed his hearers that -his name was Polycarp, one known and feared by -all men,—especially in the south; that he disposed -to live in peace and amity with the entire human -race, and he therefore considered it unreasonable of -some men to follow him about the world asking him -to kill them. "Perhaps," he concluded, with a -touch of irony, "they think I gain something by -putting them to death. A mistake, good friends; I -gain nothing by it! I am not a vulture and their -bodies can be of no use to me." -</p> - -<p> -Just after this sanguinary protest and disclaimer -the Niño all at once made a gesture as if to impose -silence, and turning his face toward the door, his -nostrils dilating, and his eyes appearing to grow -large and luminous like those of a cat. -</p> - -<p> -"What do you hear, Niño?" asked Gregory. -</p> - -<p> -"I hear lapwings screaming," he replied. -</p> - -<p> -"Only at a fox perhaps," said the other. "But -go to the door, Niño, and listen." -</p> - -<p> -"No need," he returned, dropping his hand, the -light of a sudden excitement passing from his face. -"'Tis only a single horseman riding this way at a -fast gallop." -</p> - -<p> -Polycarp got up and went to the door, saying -that when a man was among robbers it behooved -him to look well after his cattle. Then he came -back and sat down again. "Perhaps," he remarked, -with a side glance at the Niño, "a better plan would -be to watch the thief. A lie, cousin Gregory; no -lapwings are screaming; no single horseman -approaching at a fast gallop. The night is serene, and -earth as silent as the sepulchre." -</p> - -<p> -"Prudence!" whispered Gregory again. "Ah, -cousin, always playful like a kitten; when will you -grow old and wise? Can you not see a sleeping snake -without turning aside to stir it up with your naked -foot?" -</p> - -<p> -Strange to say, Polycarp made no reply. A long -experience in getting up quarrels had taught him -that these impassive men were, in truth, often -enough like venomous snakes, quick and deadly -when roused. He became secret and watchful in -his manner. -</p> - -<p> -All now were intently listening. Then said -Gregory, "Tell us, Niño, what voices, fine as the -trumpet of the smallest fly, do you hear coming from -that great silence? Has the mother skunk put her -little ones to sleep in their kennel and gone out to -seek for the pipit's nest? Have fox and armadillo -met to challenge each other to fresh trials of strength -and cunning? What is the owl saying this moment -to his mistress in praise of her big green eyes?" -</p> - -<p> -The young man smiled slightly but answered not; -and for full five minutes more all listened, then -sounds of approaching hoofs became audible. Dogs -began to bark, horses to snort in alarm, and -Gregory rose and went forth to receive the late -night-wanderer. Soon he appeared, beating the angry -barking dogs off with his whip, a white-faced -wild-haired man, furiously spurring his horse like a -person demented or flying from robbers. -</p> - -<p> -"Ave Maria!" he shouted aloud; and when the -answer was given in suitable pious words, the -scared-looking stranger drew near, and bending down said, -"Tell me, good friend, is one whom men call Niño -Diablo with you; for to this house I have been -directed in my search for him?" -</p> - -<p> -"He is within, friend," answered Gregory. "Follow -me and you shall see him with your own eyes. -Only first unsaddle, so that your horse may roll -before the sweat dries on him." -</p> - -<p> -"How many horses have I ridden their last journey -on this quest!" said the stranger, hurriedly -pulling off the saddle and rugs. "But tell me one -thing more: is he well—no indisposition? Has he -met with no accident—a broken bone, a sprained -ankle?" -</p> - -<p> -"Friend," said Gregory, "I have heard that once -in past times the moon met with an accident, but of -the Niño no such thing has been reported to me." -</p> - -<p> -With this assurance the stranger followed his -host into the kitchen, made his salutation, and sat -down by the fire. He was about thirty years old, a -good-looking man, but his face was haggard, his -eyes bloodshot, his manner restless, and he appeared -like one half-crazed by some great calamity. The -hospitable Magdalen placed food before him and -pressed him to eat. He complied, although reluctantly, -despatched his supper in a few moments, and -murmured a prayer; then, glancing curiously at the -two men seated near him, he addressed himself to -the burly, well-armed, and dangerous-looking -Polycarp. "Friend," he said, his agitation increasing -as he spoke, "four days have I been seeking you, -taking neither food nor rest, so great was my need -of your assistance. You alone, after God, can help -me. Help me in this strait, and half of all I possess -in land and cattle and gold shall be freely given to -you, and the angels above will applaud your deed!" -</p> - -<p> -"Drunk or mad?" was the only reply vouchsafed -to this appeal. -</p> - -<p> -"Sir," said the stranger with dignity, "I have -not tasted wine these many days, nor has my great -grief crazed me." -</p> - -<p> -"Then what ails the man?" said Polycarp. "Fear -perhaps, for he is white in the face like one who has -seen the Indians." -</p> - -<p> -"In truth I have seen them. I was one of those -unfortunates who first opposed them, and most of -the friends who were with me are now food for wild -dogs. Where our houses stood there are only ashes -and a stain of blood on the ground. Oh, friend, can -you not guess why you alone were in my thoughts -when this trouble came to me—why I have ridden -day and night to find you?" -</p> - -<p> -"Demons!" exclaimed Polycarp, "into what -quagmires would this man lead me? Once for all I -understand you not! Leave me in peace, strange man, -or we shall quarrel." And here he tapped his -weapon significantly. -</p> - -<p> -At this juncture, Gregory, who took his time about -everything, thought proper to interpose. "You are -mistaken, friend," said he. "The young man -sitting on your right is the Niño Diablo, for whom -you inquired a little while ago." -</p> - -<p> -A look of astonishment, followed by one of intense -relief, came over the stranger's face. Turning -to the young man he said, "My friend, forgive me -this mistake. Grief has perhaps dimmed my sight; -but sometimes the iron blade and the blade of finest -temper are not easily distinguished by the eye. -When we try them we know which is the brute -metal, and cast it aside to take up the other, and -trust our life to it. The words I have spoken were -meant for you, and you have heard them." -</p> - -<p> -"What can I do for you, friend?" said the Niño. -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, sir, the greatest service! You can restore -my lost wife to me. The savages have taken her -away into captivity. What can I do to save her—I -who cannot make myself invisible, and fly like the -wind, and compass all things!" And here he bowed -his head, and covering his face gave way to -overmastering grief. -</p> - -<p> -"Be comforted, friend," said the other, touching -him lightly on the arm. "I will restore her to -you." -</p> - -<p> -"Oh, friend, how shall I thank you for these -words!" cried the unhappy man, seizing and -pressing the Niño's hand. -</p> - -<p> -"Tell me her name—describe her to me." -</p> - -<p> -"Torcuata is her name—Torcuata de la Rosa. -She is one finger's width taller than this young -woman," indicating one of the twins who was standing. -"But not dark; her cheeks are rosy—no, no, I -forget, they will be pale now, whiter than the grass -plumes, with stains of dark colour under the eyes. -Brown hair and blue eyes, but very deep blue. -Look well, friend, lest you think them black and -leave her to perish." -</p> - -<p> -"Never!" remarked Gregory, shaking his head. -</p> - -<p> -"Enough—you have told me enough, friend," -said the Niño, rolling up a cigarette. -</p> - -<p> -"Enough!" repeated the other, surprised. "But -you do not know; she is my life; my life is in your -hands. How can I persuade you to be with me? -Cattle I have. I had gone to pay the herdsmen -their wages when the Indians came unexpectedly; -and my house at La Chilca, on the banks of the -Langueyü, was burnt, and my wife taken away -during my absence. Eight hundred head of cattle have -escaped the savages, and half of them shall be yours; -and half of all I possess in money and land." -</p> - -<p> -"Cattle!" returned the Niño smiling, and holding -a lighted stick to his cigarette. "I have enough -to eat without molesting myself with the care of cattle." -</p> - -<p> -</p> - -<p> -"But I told you that I had other things," said -the stranger full of distress. -</p> - -<p> -The young man laughed, and rose from his seat. -</p> - -<p> -"Listen to me," he said. "I go now to follow -the Indians—to mix with them, perhaps. They are -retreating slowly, burdened with much spoil. In -fifteen days go to the little town of Tandil, and wait -for me there. As for land, if God has given so much -of it to the ostrich it is not a thing for a man to -set a great value on." Then he bent down to whisper -a few words in the ear of the girl at his side; and -immediately afterward, with a simple "good-night" -to the others, stepped lightly from the kitchen. By -another door the girl also hurriedly left the room, -to hide her tears from the watchful censuring eyes -of mother and aunt. -</p> - -<p> -Then the stranger, recovering from his astonishment -at the abrupt ending of the conversation -started up, and crying aloud, "Stay! stay one -moment—one word more!" rushed out after the young -man. At some distance from the house he caught -sight of the Niño, sitting motionless on his horse, as -if waiting to speak to him. -</p> - -<p> -"This is what I have to say to you," spoke the -Niño, bending down to the other. "Go back to -Langueyü, and rebuild your house, and expect me -there with your wife in about thirty days. When I -bade you go to the Tandil in fifteen days, I spoke -only to mislead that man Polycarp, who has an evil -mind. Can I ride a hundred leagues and back in -fifteen days? Say no word of this to any man. And -fear not. If I fail to return with your wife at the -appointed time take some of that money you have -offered me, and bid a priest say a mass for my -soul's repose; for eye of man shall never see me -again, and the brown hawks will be complaining -that there is no more flesh to be picked from my -bones." -</p> - -<p> -During this brief colloquy, and afterward, when -Gregory and his women-folk went off to bed, leaving -the stranger to sleep in his rugs beside the -kitchen fire, Polycarp, who had sworn a mighty oath -not to close his eyes that night, busied himself -making his horses secure. Driving them home, he tied -them to the posts of the gate within twenty-five -yards of the kitchen door. Then he sat down by -the fire and smoked and dozed, and cursed his dry -mouth and drowsy eyes that were so hard to keep -open. At intervals of about fifteen minutes he -would get up and go out to satisfy himself that his -precious horses were still safe. At length in rising, -some time after midnight, his foot kicked against -some loud-sounding metal object lying beside him -on the floor, which on examination proved to be a -copper bell of a peculiar shape, and curiously like -the one fastened to the neck of his bell-mare. Bell -in hand, he stepped to the door and put out his -head, and lo! his horses were no longer at the gate! -Eight horses: seven iron-grey geldings, every one of -them swift and sure-footed, sound as the bell in his -hand, and as like each other as seven claret-coloured -eggs in the tinamou's nest; and the eighth the -gentle piebald mare—the madrina his horses loved and -would follow to the world's end, now, alas! with a -thief on her back! Gone—gone! -</p> - -<p> -He rushed out, uttering a succession of frantic -howls and imprecations; and finally, to wind up the -performance, dashed the now useless bell with all -his energy against the gate, shattering it into a -hundred pieces. Oh, that bell, how often and how -often in how many a wayside public-house had he -boasted, in his cups and when sober, of its mellow, -far-reaching tone,—the sweet sound that assured -him in the silent watches of the night that his -beloved steeds were safe! Now he danced on the -broken fragments, digging them into the earth with -his heel; now in his frenzy, he could have dug -them up again to grind them to powder with his -teeth! -</p> - -<p> -The children turned restlessly in bed, dreaming -of the lost little girl in the desert; and the stranger -half awoke, muttering, "Courage, O Torcuata—let -not your heart break.... Soul of my life, he -gives you back to me—on my bosom, rosa fresca, -rosa fresca!" Then the hands unclenched themselves -again, and the muttering died away. But -Gregory woke fully, and instantly divined the cause -of the clamour. "Magdalen! Wife!" he said. -"Listen to Polycarp; the Niño has paid him out for his -insolence! Oh, fool, I warned him, and he would -not listen!" But Magdalen refused to wake; and -so, hiding his head under the coverlet, he made the -bed shake with suppressed laughter, so pleased was -he at the clever trick played on his blustering cousin. -All at once his laughter ceased, and out popped his -head again, showing in the dim light a somewhat -long and solemn face. For he had suddenly thought -of his pretty daughter asleep in the adjoining room. -Asleep! Wide awake, more likely, thinking of her -sweet lover, brushing the dews from the hoary pampas -grass in his southward flight, speeding away into -the heart of the vast mysterious wilderness. Listening -also to her uncle, the desperado, apostrophising -the midnight stars; while with his knife he excavates -two deep trenches, three yards long and intersecting -each other at right angles—a sacred symbol on -which he intends, when finished, to swear a most -horrible vengeance. "Perhaps," muttered Gregory, -"the Niño has still other pranks to play in this -house." -</p> - -<p> -When the stranger heard next morning what had -happened he was better able to understand the -Niño's motive in giving him that caution overnight; -nor was he greatly put out, but thought it better -that an evil-minded man should lose his horses than -that the Niño should set out badly mounted on such -an adventure. -</p> - -<p> -"Let me not forget," said the robbed man, as he -rode away on a horse borrowed from his cousin, "to -be at the Tandil this day fortnight, with a sharp -knife and a blunderbuss charged with a handful of -powder and not fewer than twenty-three slugs." -</p> - -<p> -Terribly in earnest was Polycarp of the South! -He was there at the appointed time, slugs and -all; but the smooth-cheeked, mysterious, child-devil -came not; nor stranger still, did the scared-looking -de la Rosa come clattering in to look for his lost -Torcuata. At the end of the fifteenth day de la -Rosa was at Langueyü, seventy-five miles from the -Tandil, alone in his new rancho, which had just -been rebuilt with the aid of a few neighbours. -Through all that night he sat alone by the fire, -pondering many things. If he could only recover his -lost wife, then he would bid a long farewell to that -wild frontier and take her across the great sea, and -to that old tree-shaded stone farm-house in Andalusia, -which he had left a boy, and where his aged -parents still lived, thinking no more to see their -wandering son. His resolution was taken; he would -sell all he possessed, all except a portion of land in -the Langueyü with the house he had just rebuilt; -and to the Niño Diablo, the deliverer, he would -say, "Friend, though you despise the things that -others value, take this land and poor house for the -sake of the girl Magdalen you love; for then -perhaps her parents will no longer deny her to you." -</p> - -<p> -He was still thinking of these things when a -dozen or twenty military starlings—that cheerful -scarlet-breasted songster of the lonely pampas—alighted -on the thatch outside, and warbling their -gay, careless winter-music told him that it was day. -And all day long, on foot and on horseback, his -thoughts were of his lost Torcuata; and when -evening once more drew near his heart was sick with -suspense and longing; and climbing the ladder placed -against the gable of his rancho he stood on the roof -gazing westward into the blue distance. The sun, -crimson and large, sunk into the great green sea of -grass, and from all the plain rose the tender fluting -notes of the tinamou-partridges, bird answering -bird. "Oh, that I could pierce the haze, with my -vision," he murmured, "that I could see across a -hundred leagues of level plain, and look this -moment on your sweet face, Torcuata!" -</p> - -<p> -And Torcuata was in truth a hundred leagues -distant from him at that moment; and if the -miraculous sight he wished for had been given, this was -what he would have seen. A wide barren plain -scantily clothed with yellow tufts of grass and -thorny shrubs, and at its southern extremity, -shutting out the view of that side, a low range of -dune-like hills. Over this level ground, toward the range, -moves a vast herd of cattle and horses—fifteen or -twenty thousand head—followed by a scattered -horde of savages armed with their long lances. In -a small compact body in the centre ride the -captives, women and children. Just as the red orb -touches the horizon the hills are passed, and lo! a -wide grassy valley beyond, with flocks and herds -pasturing, and scattered trees, and the blue gleam -of water from a chain of small lakes! There full in -sight is the Indian settlement, the smoke rising -peacefully up from the clustered huts. At the sight -of home the savages burst into loud cries of joy and -triumph, answered, as they drew near, with piercing -screams of welcome from the village population, -chiefly composed of women, children and old men. -</p> - -<p> -</p> - -<p> -It is past midnight; the young moon has set; the -last fires are dying down; the shouts and loud noise -of excited talk and laughter have ceased, and the -weary warriors, after feasting on sweet mare's flesh -to repletion, have fallen asleep in their huts, or -lying out-of-doors on the ground. Only the dogs are -excited still and keep up an incessant barking. Even -the captive women, huddled together in one hut in -the middle of the settlement, fatigued with their -long rough journey, have cried themselves to sleep -at last. -</p> - -<p> -At length one of the sad sleepers wakes, or half -wakes, dreaming that someone has called her name. -How could such a thing be? Yet her own name -still seems ringing in her brain, and at length, fully -awake, she finds herself intently listening. Again it -sounded—"Torcuata"—a voice fine as the pipe of -a mosquito, yet so sharp and distinct that it tingled -in her ear. She sat up and listened again, and once -more it sounded "Torcuata!" "Who speaks?" she -returned in a fearful whisper. The voice, still fine -and small, replied: "Come out from among the others -until you touch the wall." Trembling she obeyed, -creeping out from among the sleepers until she came -into contact with the side of the hut. Then the -voice sounded again, "Creep round the wall until -you come to a small crack of light on the other -side." Again she obeyed, and when she reached -the line of faint light it widened quickly to an -aperture, through which a shadowy arm was passed -round her waist; and in a moment she was lifted up -and saw the stars above her, and at her feet dark -forms of men wrapped in their ponchos lying asleep. -But no one woke, no alarm was given; and in a very -few minutes she was mounted, man-fashion, on a -barebacked horse, speeding swiftly over the dim -plains, with the shadowy form of her mysterious -deliverer some yards in advance, driving before him -a score or so of horses. He had only spoken -half-a-dozen words to her since their escape from the hut -but she knew by those words that he was taking -her to Langueyü. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> -END -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Masterpieces of Adventure--Stories of -Desert Places, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ADVENTURE--STORIES OF DESERT PLACES *** - -***** This file should be named 63014-h.htm or 63014-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/0/1/63014/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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