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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Their Mariposa Legend, by Charlotte Herr
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-Title: Their Mariposa Legend
-
-Author: Charlotte Herr
-
-Release Date: February, 2004  [EBook #5196]
-[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
-[This file was first posted on June 3, 2002]
-
-Edition: 10
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-Language: English
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-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND ***
-
-
-
-
-This eBook was produced by David Schwan <davidsch@earthlink.net>.
-
-
-
-Their Mariposa Legend
-
-A Romance of Santa Catalina
-
-
-
-By Charlotte Herr
-
-
-
-
-To Little Bruce Parker
-Who Loved Stories
-
-
-
-Part I
-
-
-
-Sir Francis Starts It
-
-
-
-It began to happen a long time ago, centuries ago, when, in a fragrant
-rush of rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, fairest of the Channel
-Islands. Beneath the golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. On
-steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of wild lilac bloomed, the lark
-shook from his tiny throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed niches of
-the canyons lilies waited to fill with light their gleaming ivory cups.
-Spring in very truth was there.
-
-And looking down upon it from her cavern bower high above the beach,
-watched the Princess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of dawn shining
-on her long black hair, she was, herself, the sweetest blossom of the
-spring. Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the Mariposa and of
-royal blood besides; although of this the great chief Torquam, who even
-at that moment lay sleeping in his lodge of deerskin on the crescent
-beach below, knew more than he had ever told.
-
-With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring the folds of softest
-fawnskin drawn across her breast, the princess bent her gaze to where
-the waves ran silver on the ocean's distant rim. There she knew the sun
-must rise and, as the first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, she
-rose slowly until she stood erect, a slender, graceful figure against
-the dim, gray rocks, and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke in
-the musical words of her people.
-
-"Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit-father," she pleaded, "have mercy on me.
-Grant to me, thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I pray thee,
-that it need not be I wed with Torquam's friend, the pale-face stranger.
-Well knowest thou I would not disobey my father, him the bravest and
-most powerful of all thy warriors, him whom his people delight to honor,
-and whom I strive to please. All the more I feel my duty since, many
-moons ago, they laid my mother underneath the flowers. Yet, even so, I
-cannot find it in my heart to wed with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does my
-father wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great power, turn his
-heart, oh lord of spirits, that he no longer may desire it? Help me in
-this, my only trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I be indeed his
-loyal daughter, - in all else save alone in this one thing!"
-
-Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to her knees, bending her head
-until her forehead touched the ground. For many minutes she lay thus
-prostrate while the glory of the rising sun bathed the sea in splendor.
-Yet, when at last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears.
-
-But now from the beach below there drifted up to her the sounds of a
-village astir. Shrill voices of women mingled with the crackling of
-freshly kindled fires. A canoe, pushed hastily into the water, grated
-harshly on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. Leaning against
-the rocky ledge, her chin in her hands, she gazed listlessly out over
-the shining sea. If any interests lived for her among the dark-skinned
-people beneath the cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign.
-
-Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of the Indian village, rose the
-hoarse shouting of men. Wildenai lifted her eyes, - eyes that widened
-first with wonder, then with fear. For there, far down the shoreline to
-the south, her sails gleaming white against the walls of rock behind her
-as she rounded a distant point, a ship came slowly into view. With
-wildly beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the
-long curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen
-such another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don
-Cabrillo first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year
-ago. For many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship
-with the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his
-father, hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast
-anchor off the shore, - the first white man to see their island. Nor was
-the lingering without result. Torquam he taught to speak the Spanish
-tongue, learning in his turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields
-of the north, while not the least among the treasures carried with him
-when at last he sailed away did he hold the promise that the beautiful
-daughter of the chief should become his bride when next he touched upon
-that shore. Could this, then, be the Spaniard's fleet returning? Was the
-Great Spirit powerless, after all, to save her? In sore bewilderment and
-terror Wildenai watched the distant ship.
-
-Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its outline grew each moment more
-distinct, gradually her fears departed. For this was not the clumsy
-Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was
-the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet,
-though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was
-about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by
-this time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of
-the crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At
-length, as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, the
-crew were seen to bring the vessel sharply about. An anchor was cast
-over, the creaking of the hawsers distinctly audible in the clear
-morning air, and a few moments later a small boat was lowered. Into this
-boat immediately several sailors swung themselves and after a short
-delay, amidst the shouting of the Indians, now running in wild
-excitement up and down the beach, the men picked up their oars and
-started for the land.
-
-"Alla-hoa, Wildenai!"
-
-Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a
-lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet.
-
-"Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge.
-Strangers, - paleface strangers, - enemies, who can tell, are coming.
-See, - the ship!" With dark forefinger he pointed toward the sea.
-"Torquam would have thee hide with the rest of the women in the cave at
-the Great Rock. There Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. Make
-haste, oh Wildenai!"
-
-"And am I not as safe up here?" returned the princess, calmly. "Be not
-so lost in thy terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship and I fear
-not. Yet will I obey if so my father bids," she added quickly. "Go thou
-ahead. I follow." And hastily gathering together some reeds and colored
-grasses lying on the ledge, parts of an unfinished basket upon which,
-evidently, she had during some previous visit been at work, she flung
-them into a corner of the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow path
-leading to the village.
-
-Here all by this time was tense excitement, the dramatic, ungoverned
-excitement of children. While with shrill cries two or three of the
-women gathered the little ones together, the rest pulled frantically at
-the poles holding each tepee in place. Still apparently quite unmoved,
-Wildenai sought first her father standing surprised but unafraid in the
-doorway of his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, straight as
-some lonely pine on the slopes of distant San Jacinto. Yet even in the
-stress of such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes as they
-rested upon his motherless daughter.
-
-Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each
-other in silence. Then,
-
-"It is well thou art come, my beloved one," spoke the chief. "Stranger
-pale-faces will soon be amongst us."
-
-"Wildenai feels no fear, my father," quietly answered the girl.
-
-"If they come in friendship," quickly Torquam replied, "then indeed may
-all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that
-we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see."
-
-Bending her head in mute acquiescence the girl moved away to join the
-group of women now almost ready to depart.
-
-
-
-Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven onward by the stout arms of
-three strong sailors, steadily approached the bay.
-
-"What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the
-savages?" inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that
-he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. "Wot ye not that
-if water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much
-better on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache
-only yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were
-away on the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious
-scalps to row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the
-whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's
-fleets!" and without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust.
-
-The others laughed.
-
-"Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with
-thy big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else
-our captain seeks? Water, - pouf!" the speaker made a rough grimace,
-"water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were
-the lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the
-balance? The Apache told him, too, - thou see'st thou hast not played
-the listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself,
-I heard him say it, - that here lay that famous island, San - how is't
-they call it? San Catlina - I know not how 'tis spoken, - some Spanish
-lingo not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your Spanish
-robber, Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious son as
-well, stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold. The
-savage sware besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to war and
-murder like the rest. I hearkened well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I
-would be een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The devil take the
-Apache an he lied," he added fiercely, "I'll break his head across till
-even he shrieks out for help when I get back!"
-
-He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern cliffs now looming close at
-hand, beneath which the excited natives still ran back and forth,
-pointing with frantic gestures at the boat.
-
-The third man spoke. He was smaller than the other two and darker, with
-a sly look about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast to the bluff
-frankness of his comrades. So far he had appeared content to listen in
-amused silence, but now with a short laugh he interrupted.
-
-"The Apache did not lie. This is the island Santa Catalina, though that,
-mark you, is not the Indian name. And right well can the chief who rules
-here direct our captain also to the goldfields of the north. But
-hearkee, comrades. 'Tis not Drake will reap the profits this time!" He
-lowered his voice mysteriously as though fearful of being overheard,
-albeit nothing was nearer than his two companions and the clear, green
-stretch of water. "Have ye not observed the boy who travels with the
-captain? - the boy I serve, - the one they call Sir Harry? To my mind,
-cub though he be, 'tis he who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how the
-great Drake himself bends to his slightest wish?"
-
-"Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, is he, think'st thou?" inquired
-the man who had spoken first.
-
-"Some close kin to the queen, - that much I know," the other answered
-quickly, "the heir to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise to see the
-world and make a fortune. 'Tis his desire we land, so much he told me,
-and 'tis to learn more than directions, my hearties, and that I'll
-warrant ye! But, look ye, the water grows too shallow! We can use the
-oars no longer."
-
-And even as he spoke the boat grated upon the pebbles. An incoming
-breaker would have carried it ashore, but before the sailors could take
-advantage of this help or even so much as ship their oars, half a dozen
-swarthy youths had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, whether of
-welcome or hostility the Englishmen had no means of knowing, pushed it
-high upon the beach. At once, then, for well they realized the danger of
-delay, and with a stolid courage born of many a like adventure, the
-seamen leaped fearlessly out upon the sand. In their hands they held
-aloft bolts of brightly colored cloth snatched on the instant from the
-bottom of the boat. These they offered for the wondering inspection of
-the women who, observing the small number of invaders, were cautiously
-returning. To the warriors grouped about the chief they proffered knives
-of which the steel blades, set in strong handles of bone, glistened in
-the sun. Eagerly, yet with a certain unexpected formality, the men
-accepted these, passing them for examination from one to another with
-many a grunt of satisfaction. To be sure, no brave among them but might
-the next moment decide to try out the merits of his gift upon the
-bestower, but this danger the adventurers had to risk. More timidly the
-women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the gaudy red and yellow cloth,
-approached the strangers, offering in their turn bits of abalone shell
-polished to iridescent beauty.
-
-They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly people, so much so that at
-length the sailors, deeming it safe to undertake the second part of
-their errand, began to plead for water and to request, besides, an
-interview between their captain and the chief. All this by means of
-signs in which they displayed no little wit and skill, the Englishmen
-accomplished until, well on toward the middle of the morning, they made
-ready to return to the ship, the casks they had brought brimming with
-sweet mountain water, while with them they bore as well the promise of
-an interview of state between the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis
-Drake, to take place upon the beach at sunset.
-
-And then at once the little village of Toyobet seethed again with
-excitement. For these good paleface friends and their god-like commander
-a fitting welcome must be prepared. Fleet-footed messengers, bearing
-flaming torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain trails that all
-who saw might know without words spoken of the assembling of the tribe.
-To the distant village at the isthmus they hurried, and to the cove on
-the western coast, some twenty miles away, to which a band of warriors
-had gone several days before to hunt the otter. That no one among his
-people might remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam even caused
-signal fires to be kindled on each of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes,
-near the center of the island. Smoke rising there was visible from every
-corner of his land, and woe to any subject who dared to disregard that
-warning!
-
-Throughout the long bright day the women toiled, preparing a ceremonial
-feast. Three antelope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild sheep which
-roamed the hills were killed and placed for roasting over deep pits dug
-in the sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude
-fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their
-heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The
-women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with
-strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely
-greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief
-Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by
-the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back until
-almost it touched the ground. About his neck, as token of his
-priesthood, he threw the bear-claw necklace, known far and wide among
-the tribes for its famous powers of healing. Wildenai alone made no
-change except to bind the satin black of her hair still more smoothly
-within a fillet of silver. In the center of the band, so that it rested
-just above her brow, a strange device appeared, a circle enclosing many
-rays, - the royal insignia of the tribe which only the daughter of the
-chief might wear.
-
-
-
-Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays of light rested golden on
-the bay and turned to amethyst the distant mountains on the mainland,
-all was ready. Once again, this time to the weird music of tom-toms and
-the beating of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship while on the
-shore the Indians watched.
-
-It was in truth a picture not soon to be forgotten. Behind the mirrored
-Bay of Moons, its crescent of sand gleaming white against the rocks, the
-bands of dusky men and women stood motionless as statues in the quiet
-light of the setting sun, while in the doorway of his lodge, his
-daughter close beside him, Torquam waited with simple dignity to receive
-his guests, the fair-skinned strangers.
-
-At length along the beach advanced the little group of English, friends
-and fellow adventurers with the most renowned of all their great queen's
-buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis himself marched young Harold of Wessex,
-little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and feared in his own land
-even then - a possible heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short distance
-in front of these two, standard bearers carried the flags of Merry
-England, each glorious with fringes and tassels of gold. Well might such
-banners dazzle the eyes and wits of simple savages.
-
-Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been for the lengthy ceremonial
-of the peace-pipe, Wildenai could not have taken time to observe so
-closely, in stolen glances from beneath her long black lashes, the
-splendor of the young noble standing proudly erect beside his captain;
-nor could he have stared so often, with no attempt to hide his
-admiration, at the dark beauty of the princess.
-
-Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to place them side by side at
-the feast which followed, young Harold might never have discovered that
-an Indian girl, however beautiful, possessed the wit to learn a foreign
-language. Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well spoken in which, at
-length, she softly asked of her father a question intended obviously for
-himself.
-
-Under cover of one of the Indian dances with which, from time to time,
-the feast was enlivened, he leaned impulsively toward her.
-
-"Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?" he hastily inquired.
-
-The princess dropped her eyes. For a moment she remained silent as if
-debating to what extent such boldness might involve her. Then, with a
-glance as shy as if some deer gazed at him startled from the thicket,
-
-"Yes, mon senor," she answered simply. "I learned it when Don Cabrillo
-came to Punagwandah many moons ago."
-
-After that it was only that one thing led to another, as was sometimes
-true of men and maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, as if by
-common consent, then, they drew a little apart from the rest, where,
-throwing himself on the sand beside her while the firelight threw
-flickering shadows among the rocks, the young man related fragments of
-his story, - of the long journey across the sea, something of his home
-in England, and of the brilliant court of the great queen wherein he had
-served as gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet soon, but here her
-guest had suddenly flushed and paused as though he spoke too hastily or
-of what he should not. To all of it the princess listened with
-fast-beating heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place
-in this splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter
-of a king? Yet how different and how unimportant beside that wonderful
-woman of whom he spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam,
-feared by every tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden
-in many a canyon among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct
-told her that to this proud Englishman her people were at best little
-more than a curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter.
-
-When at last the feast was finished, Torquam rose, and removing with
-slow solemnity his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon the head
-of Sir Francis, a seal of everlasting friendship. With difficulty young
-Harold suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well aware of what the
-situation demanded as he was keenly alive to its danger, received the
-attention with a gravity fully equal to that of his host. Indeed, he
-went still further.
-
-"Most gracious hast thou been, oh Torquam, all wise chief of the
-Mariposa," he began in carefully chosen Spanish, "nor shall thy kingly
-gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry
-steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains
-of the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than
-all the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring
-to you after our return tonight."
-
-In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him
-more. He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those
-strange yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until the
-Spanish landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his eyes betrayed his
-pleasure. But Harold of Wessex stared at his captain in blank
-astonishment, for the gift he had just bestowed with such apparent
-carelessness was the most valuable bit of cargo in the ship, a costly
-Arabian horse intended for the young noble's own special comfort and
-convenience during the search for gold on which they were bound. Was
-Drake gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw away, and that without
-permission, his choicest property on a mere savage? Hot with resentment
-he was about to interfere; but before he could obey the rash impulse his
-better judgment prevailed, and just in time he remembered how, on
-several other such occasions, his very life had been saved by some swift
-expedient of Drake's and his tact in handling the natives.
-
-Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now one watching intently might have
-sensed from the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the real point in
-the interview.
-
-"One question, nevertheless, would I ask of all-wise Torquam before we
-part." He hesitated, searching the impassive face of the Indian. "Can'st
-tell me of a Spaniard, one Cabrillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain,
-who, since his father's death, still sails upon these waters? To him I
-bear a message," - again he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in
-sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but Torquam's face remained
-blank as a page unwritten, - "a message from our queen," added Drake.
-The last words were uttered with significance.
-
-The Indian slowly shook his head.
-
-"The noble white chief asks what is unknown to any man," he answered.
-"The young Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwandah. Many moons
-ago it was. Where he is now, how should Torquam know?"
-
-In his bitter disappointment the hand of the Englishman sought the hilt
-of his sword. Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about the
-chief.
-
-Drake laughed.
-
-"Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, thinking thou mightst tell
-me. It matters not. The gift I promised thee will come, as I said,
-tonight."
-
-He turned to go and young Harold rose to follow. Then, perceiving the
-dark eyes of the princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated and,
-obeying a sudden impulse, he stepped hastily to her side.
-
-"When they return with the gift for thy father," he whispered, "I will
-come with them," he smiled into her soft eyes shining with pleased
-surprise, "and I will bring a gift to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest
-of maidens!"
-
-Drake gave a sharp command. His followers sprang to their feet, and
-without further ceremony the party passed quickly down the beach to
-their boat.
-
-But the princess Wildenai did not leave the feasting ground. Hidden by
-deepening shadows she watched the ship's lights glimmer across the
-water. Glad indeed was she of the darkness, for a warm flush glowed in
-her cheeks and her heart throbbed with a strange new pleasure, a
-pleasure bordering close on fear, yet wholly sweet.
-
-But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had descended upon the village,
-once again she sought her father. He, too, within the open doorway of
-his lodge, watched intently the distant ship. Without surprise he saw
-his daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the blanket beside him, he
-stretched a hand and drew her close.
-
-"It grows cold. The wind is rising. 'Twere best to wait inside." He
-spoke in the musical Indian tongue. For a moment he stroked her hair in
-silence, then -
-
-"What think'st thou by now of the English, Wildenai, my little wild
-rose?" he asked.
-
-But the princess seemed not to have heard his question.
-
-"My father," she began after another short silence, "I have a favor to
-ask of thee."
-
-"And what may that be, my daughter?" he returned gravely.
-
-But again the young girl made no answer and for many minutes they
-watched the tremulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel.
-
-After a time he felt her hand tighten upon his arm.
-
-"It is but the old boon over again, my father." Her voice was low as the
-sighing of the wind among the oak trees. "I would be freed from my
-promise to wed with Don Cabrillo."
-
-An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to
-wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any
-woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee.
-
-"Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, the judgment of him who loves
-thee?" he asked.
-
-"I doubt it not, my father," answered his daughter. "Yet would I not wed
-with the Spaniard," she added stubbornly.
-
-"The blue-eyed senor from England" - there was a hint of humor in his
-tone, - "he it is who steals thy fancy! Is it not so, my Wildenai?"
-
-Then, after a moment: "Right well knowest thou my only wish is to make
-thee happy." Again his voice, though gentle, grew serious almost to
-sadness. "No mere whim it is that counsels me to wed thee to Cabrillo.
-"There is something - " He paused, continuing with effort, - "a reason I
-have never told thee why it seems most fitting. Now I will tell thee.
-That reason is because, because, my Wildenai, thou art Spanish born
-thyself."
-
-The princess drew a hasty breath. In the darkness he felt rather than
-saw her startled eyes upon him.
-
-"My father!" The exclamation, filled with pain as well as astonishment,
-touched him to the quick. Tenderly he drew her to him. Then briefly, as
-was the Indian way, yet with the pictured phrasing which caused each
-scene to spring into vivid life before the young girl's eyes, he told
-her of the day, already more than eighteen years gone by, when, in the
-wake of a long midwinter storm, the first sailing vessel ever beheld by
-his people had fled for refuge to their bay; and of the little girl
-carefully brought to shore by her old nurse in the first boat to touch
-the beach. A mere baby she was, too young to know aught of her
-misfortune, yet a princess royal, rudely dispossessed of her right to
-the throne of Spain, and smuggled aboard the adventurer Cabrillo's ship
-to be dropped in some out-of-the-way corner of the western world. Even
-then, he made it clear, she might have perished, - since little recked
-the Spanish explorer what should happen, well knowing that upon his
-return no questions would be asked, - had it not been for his Indian
-wife. She, lacking children of her own, had taken an instant fancy to
-the dark-eyed little girl, a fancy so strong that nothing would do but
-they must adopt her as their own daughter into the tribe to belong
-forever, according to their law, she and her children, to the Mariposa.
-
-"Nor, because thy mother - for ever was she a true mother to thee -
-thought that it might grieve thee, have any of my people ever given thee
-cause to doubt that thou wert native born," he finished proudly. "Loyal
-have they been, doing all they could to make thee happy. But now that
-thy Indian mother is dead, and I myself grow old, I thought to wed thee,
-knowing his desire, to the son of that same Cabrillo who brought thee to
-us, for I long to be sure, when at length I go, that thou art safe, - at
-home."
-
-He waited then and in the silence only the low weeping of the girl was
-heard. At length the old chief spoke again, and now in his voice love
-conquered disappointment.
-
-"Much do I desire it, but that matters not. I would not have thee
-unhappy. I myself will tell the senor that what he hopes for cannot be."
-
-Slowly Wildenai bent her head until it touched his feet. Then she
-nestled close against him.
-
-"I thank thee, oh my father!" she cried, and all her voice was music
-because of her joy. "And thou art still my father," she added,
-earnestly. "What care I to go to Spain? I will stay always with thee."
-
-"For a time, it may be. Yet have a care, little wild rose," he
-cautioned, smiling, "Let not the Englishman lure thee away! He, too, may
-not be all that thou thinkest."
-
-And even as he spoke, in mocking confirmation of his words, there came
-to them suddenly from across the water, the distant creaking of ropes,
-the snapping of sails flung hastily to the wind. Before their
-unbelieving eyes the vessel swung about and put slowly out to sea. Dumb
-with amazement they watched until the last faint light flickered into
-darkness. Not until the remotest chance of a mistake was past did the
-old chief rise, trembling with rage, to his feet.
-
-"See'st thou now what I meant, my daughter? The English pale-faces know
-not the meaning of honor, - no, nor of gratitude either!"
-
-He lifted his long spear from the ground and shook it fiercely.
-
-"The words of the Mariposa are few," he cried, "but their revenge is
-sure. Let but an Englishman set foot again on Punagwandah and, swifter
-than the arrow leaves the bowstring, he dies!"
-
-And at once, without answer, in the silence of suffering which only the
-wild things of the earth understand, Wildenai crept from the lodge, her
-heart heavy with its own bitter disappointment. Noiselessly she passed
-among the tepees where her father's people slept. Not one of them should
-ever know how far dwelt slumber from her own eyes that night. Up the
-steep trail beyond the Bay of Moons she climbed and flung herself
-weeping on the bed of skins within the cavern.
-
-"Oh, thou false one," she moaned, "why did'st thou promise then, when
-never did'st thou mean to keep it?"
-
-
-
-Yet nothing had been farther from the young Englishman's thoughts when
-he left her than faithlessness to his word. On reaching the ship again
-he had gone directly to his cabin. Here he took from its small but
-richly embroidered case a slender chain of gold, threaded so closely
-with garnets that even in the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the
-only illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a glancing stream of
-crimson, in his hand. This he carried to the light and as he examined it
-under the lantern he smiled.
-
-"Never saw the little maid such jewels before, I'll warrant me! Yet,
-beshrew my heart, but she deserves them. Indian though she be, still is
-she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman that ever mine eyes have looked
-upon!"
-
-Then, stowing the necklace carefully away in his belt, he went at once
-in search of the commander.
-
-But at this point an unexpected difficulty had presented itself. He
-found Sir Francis in close conversation with his pilot.
-
-"Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy wish," the keen-eyed old
-mariner was saying. "I still maintain it were a shame to lose this wind.
-Gift or no gift, I've sailed these latitudes before, my lord, and by
-heaven I swear we're not like to have such another breeze, no, not till
-the change of the moon, and that you know yourself, sir, is a good
-fortnight hence."
-
-Sir Francis, striding back and forth within the narrow confines of the
-quarter deck, appeared to be weighing the old man's words with unusual
-care. At length, however, he turned as one who has made his decision.
-
-"By the mass and it shall be even as you say, Jarvis," he declared. "I
-think myself 'twere well to push on at once. At the most they be but
-Indians!" The last words were spoken in a lower tone as if to himself.
-"'Twill matter little either way!"
-
-It was at this point that young Harold stepped hastily forward. For,
-strangely enough, although on the morning of that same day such a
-proceeding would scarcely have appealed to him as being at all unfitting
-or out of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable.
-
-"But, good sir," he interrupted, "you would not so belie your promise!
-To do as Jarvis here advises, - by heaven, 'twould be neither truthful
-nor honorable! 'Tis not like you, Sir Francis!"
-
-Drake shot at him a surprised glance from under his bushy eyebrows, then
-shrugged his shoulders.
-
-"Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or honor amongst these savages," he
-replied. "Did not their chief himself but even now lie to me? Well knew
-the rascally heathen where the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They
-know not the meaning of such words."
-
-In vain the younger man petitioned to be allowed to deliver the promised
-gift with the aid of his own retinue.
-
-"Thou can'st not get under way for two hours at best, sir," he pleaded,
-"and well within that time I will be back. 'Tis but a stone's throw to
-the shore!"
-
-But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, then, finally losing patience,
-as commander of the expedition he sternly forbade him or any of his men
-to leave the ship.
-
-"We dare not lose the wind," he finished emphatically, "and are like to
-start at any minute." Then, turning on his heel, he strode away to his
-cabin and shut the door behind him.
-
-Left in this unceremonious fashion, young Harold considered a moment,
-glancing with anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just visible in
-the darkness. For some minutes he leaned upon the rail, lost in thought.
-
-"The old man will e'en have to bear his disappointment," he muttered at
-length, "but, an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!"
-
-Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his favorite retainer, the dark,
-swarthy man who had sat that morning in the prow of the long boat. To
-him he explained his difficulty, adding grimly:
-
-"And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have work cut out for thee!"
-
-He threw an arm about the other's shoulders and in this familiar fashion
-the two men paced the deck together, conversing in low tones.
-
-"And besides," observed the nobleman as they paused a moment before
-parting, "would'st know the truth about the matter? For all old Jarvis'
-prating, the Golden Hind is not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor
-even then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show of much hurry, but - "
-he snapped his fingers scornfully, "only aid me now, unseen by anyone,
-to launch the Zephir, and by our virgin queen herself I swear, when once
-again we see the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 'twas well
-worth thy trouble."
-
-His companion smiled even while, with the trained servility of the
-retainer, he doffed his cap.
-
-"Aye, truly, my lord," he answered, "but, since it were an impossible
-feat to get so much as a colt into the Zephir, methinks thou hast a gift
-of thine own to bestow on yonder pretty Indian maid!"
-
-The blood leaped to Sir Harry's cheek. With a quick gesture he placed
-his hand upon his sword.
-
-"Presume not upon my favor, Mortimer, or by heaven! - " he began
-angrily, but stopped suddenly as, with a fearless laugh, the man beside
-him pushed the half-drawn weapon back into its place.
-
-"Nay then, not so fast, my lord," he chuckled gaily. "Hearkee, my
-master. I did but use my eyes during their everlasting pow-wow. Surely
-ye would not grudge me that! And the maid is comely, well worth a
-trinket from thy store. Besides," he laughed slyly, "I saw e'en more to
-thine interest, for methinks the princess is as much in love with thy
-looks as art thou with hers."
-
-"Silence, fool! Thou hast said more than enough already. Think'st thou
-the son of a duke royal would look at a brown-skinned savage, an
-unbelieving pagan, no matter how comely, as thou call'st it, she might
-be!"
-
-But the flush remained, nevertheless, on the dark cheek of the young
-nobleman as he strode angrily from the deck.
-
-
-
-The moonlight had laid a quivering path of light across the water before
-Wildenai raised her bowed head from the ground. But, at length, drawing
-her blanket more closely about her, for into the night air the chill of
-the ocean had crept, she was about to leave the cave when a sudden sound
-from the beach below arrested her. For a moment she listened in silence
-while the shout was repeated, then stood dumb with amazement. A third
-time it came to her, borne on the rising wind, the terrified cry of a
-man in dire distress. Nor was it one of her own people who thus called
-out of the darkness for help. Swiftly she ran to an overhanging ledge of
-rock from which, by lying flat and peeping over, she could, without
-exposing herself, command a wide view of the sea.
-
-At the first glance there appeared to be nothing amiss. Far beneath her
-the noisy breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. Above their
-musical booming no other sound could be heard. Then suddenly she saw
-him. A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close to the great rounded
-boulder which, together with a still larger one from which it had at
-some distant time been broken off, formed the outermost boundary of the
-curving Beach of Moons. The dark figure standing erect in the boat
-strove with the aid of an oar to keep it from being dashed to pieces
-against the giant rock. Again there floated up to her the desperate call
-for help. The voice was that of the English noble!
-
-Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, and without the slightest
-hesitation ran lightly down the perilous incline, leaping fearlessly
-from rock to rock, until, within a few seconds, she stood poised above
-the seething surf on the top of the larger boulder. Here, balancing
-herself as easily and securely as a wild antelope, she raised her arms
-to dive. But now from the shadows below the white man called once more.
-
-"Attempt it not, oh Wildenai! 'Tis death to leap from there!"
-
-But without waiting even to reply, the Indian girl sprang into the
-waves. An instant later and he saw her arms gleam in the moonlight as,
-with the strong slow strokes of an experienced swimmer, she struck out
-for the boat. In spite of the perilous rocking of the little craft he
-rested on his oar to watch her for a moment in sheer admiration of her
-skill. But the maid knew well the danger of every instant's delay. In
-the very nick of time she seemed almost to throw herself between him and
-the rocks while, with a strength he would have believed impossible in
-one so small, she pulled the boat around. Then, still swimming and
-without a word to him, she began to push it ahead of her toward the
-shore. It was but a few minutes before they stood together on the beach.
-
-And now the young noble, overcome with gratitude, fell on his knees
-before her and caught her hand between his own. He would have kissed it
-in sheer joy at his escape, but the Indian girl drew sharply back.
-
-"Quick!" she whispered, yet remembering to speak in Spanish, "You must
-hide yourself at once. My father will kill you if he should find you
-here!"
-
-Swiftly she concealed the boat in a tiny cove behind the boulder, a
-hiding place he would never have seen though it was apparently perfectly
-familiar to her.
-
-"Sometimes my own canoe I keep there too," she whispered. "Now come!"
-and she hurried him along the beach and up an easier trail beyond the
-rocks to her cavern bower above.
-
-Nor did she pause for an instant's rest until they had passed safely
-behind the manzanita branches which concealed the entrance. Here,
-motioning him to do the same, she dropped upon a pile of skins. But
-instead, in real concern, the young Englishman knelt again beside her.
-
-"Thou art so wet and cold," he began anxiously, "Will it not make thee
-ill? Yet 'twas a wondrous feat," he added admiringly, "well conceived
-and carried out with skill such as any man might envy!"
-
-The princess laughed.
-
-'Twas nothing," she answered briefly. "I do it almost every day."
-
-"I came to bring to thee the gift I promised," explained Lord Harold
-then, and from his belt he drew the little case. Eagerly he flung the
-gleaming string of garnets about her slim brown throat.
-
-"Jewels brought by my father to my mother on the morning of their
-marriage," he told her. "When she lay dying she gave them me and told me
-never to part with them except I gave them to my - " He paused suddenly,
-"But thou hast saved my life!" he added as quickly, "Who else could ever
-deserve them more? Well know I my mother would wish thee to have them."
-
-Silently, though her eyes were bright with, pleasure, the princess
-lifted the beautiful necklace.
-
-"Wildenai will wear them always, senor lord," she answered softly, "for
-now she knows that truly you did mean to keep your word!"
-
-And so, his mission accomplished, her guest rose hastily to his feet. He
-must return immediately to the ship.
-
-"Know you not, then, that it is gone?" exclaimed the girl, amazed.
-
-"Gone?" echoed young Harold, and stared at her astounded. He seemed not
-to have grasped her meaning. "Gone, said'st thou?"
-
-"The ship was out of sight a full hour or more ere ever I heard you
-call," she explained.
-
-Still he continued to gaze at her fixedly as if totally unable to
-comprehend what she would have him know. Then it was plain to be seen
-that, for the moment at least, blank despair took hold upon him. Up and
-down the length of the cave he strode like some imprisoned wild thing.
-At length, standing quite still with folded arms, he seemed to lose
-himself in thought.
-
-"Battling with the surf I did not see nor hear," he muttered at last.
-"But he could not sail without me!" he added. Fiercely he raised his
-head and his eyes flashed. "He dare not so betray me!"
-
-Wildenai, too, had been considering.
-
-"The great white captain knew, then, that you were not on board?" she
-asked suddenly.
-
-"No," replied the young man reluctantly, "that did he not. I came
-without his knowledge. He would have prevented me," he continued
-stubbornly, "and I had promised thee a gift. Never did I break my word,
-nor would not then. But I did not dream it possible they could get away
-so soon! By our virgin lady in Heaven I swear I know not what to do."
-And once more he seemed lost in despair.
-
-But only for a moment. Then he turned hastily to the entrance.
-
-"I must follow them at once," he declared impatiently, "I can overtake
-them even yet."
-
-Swift as lightning the girl threw herself between him and the opening in
-the cave.
-
-"No, no, senor Englishman," she cried. "It is impossible! Listen, only
-listen to me! What have you, then, to steer by save the stars? And you
-see that, drowned in moonlight, they do not shine tonight. And, more
-than that, you do not even know what course the vessel takes. Remember,
-too, that there is neither food nor drink within your boat. You would
-surely die ere you could ever find the ship."
-
-Gradually she compelled him to listen to reason until, seating himself
-again upon the skins, he challenged her still further.
-
-"But what, then, shall I do?" he demanded. "Can'st also tell me that?"
-
-And with equal readiness the princess replied:
-
-"If you will but let me I can hide you here. The cavern is my own. Here
-for many a moon have I worked and waited. No one would dare to enter.
-You will be safe. Besides, my father's anger will grow cold in time, and
-then I know that, if I ask him, he will help you."
-
-His chin propped upon his hands, the young nobleman moodily considered.
-
-"Well, do then as thou deemest best," he told her finally.
-
-And from that moment there began for the little princess a time so
-wonderful that for all the rest of her life she remembered each separate
-hour as though it had been some beautiful word in a poem learned by
-heart.
-
-With deft fingers she piled her softest doeskins for his bed.
-
-"But what wilt thou do, tell me, if I rob thee of thy nest?" he asked,
-watching her with amused eyes as she worked.
-
-"I go always to the village to sleep," she answered simply, and so left
-him.
-
-But in the morning while yet the red of sunrise burned above the great
-peak Orazaba, she returned, bearing upon her head an olla of carved
-stone filled with water from a mountain spring. This in smiling silence
-she set before him and disappeared. Within the hour, however, she was
-back again and this time, kneeling on the ground, she laid at his feet
-the ripe fruit of the manzanita tree, lying like small red apples, dewy
-fresh, upon a wild-grape leaf.
-
-"Ala - ate, see! Are they not good?" she asked triumphantly.
-
-And so from day to day she ministered to him. Many a time as he sat,
-listless and moody, within his hiding-place, a handful of wild
-strawberries, steeped in the warm sweetness of the hills, would be
-pushed beneath the leafy branches that concealed the door. Sometimes she
-brought him bread baked from a curious kind of meal made of pounded
-seeds.
-
-Once, too, when a sudden storm had chilled the air, she kindled a fire
-for him within a smaller cave, receding like a fire-place into the rocky
-wall opposite the opening. It was a long and tedious process which the
-man watched curiously. First, kneeling on the ground, she rubbed
-together two dry willow sticks until a little pile of dust had gathered.
-Then, still stooping, she struck two flints together until at last a
-spark fell into the dust. Some dry leaves were dropped upon the tiny
-blaze, then twigs, and lo, a fire!
-
-In spite of himself the Englishman smiled, though a softer feeling shown
-in his eyes. How beautiful and yet how childish she looked kneeling
-there with the anxious pucker between her brows. Poor little princess,
-how very hard she worked to serve him!
-
-"It takes a long time, Wildenai," he observed, "dost thou try it often?"
-
-"Never for myself," she answered gravely. "I have no need. But I do it
-gladly for you." She smiled brightly back at him, then rose and moved
-swiftly to the doorway. "Another thing I do for you today. Wait!"
-
-And when she returned a few minutes later she brought with her,
-carefully wrapped in cool green leaves, a fish freshly caught that
-morning.
-
-"A brook trout, on my word, such as I have often taken in the streams at
-home!" exclaimed Lord Harold, amazed.
-
-"I got it far up the canyon before the sun was risen," she answered,
-delighted at his surprise.
-
-This, having quickly dressed it, she wrapped again in leaves and placed
-under the hot ashes to bake, and it being, evidently, a feast out of the
-ordinary, a merry-making to which a third guest might be bidden,
-suddenly Wildenai left the cavern again to return this time with a tiny
-gray fox perched familiarly upon her shoulder.
-
-"'Tis Onatoa, senor Englishman," she announced, gently stroking the
-bushy tail of the little creature as it lay about her neck.
-
-But from his vantage point above his rival, Onatoa merely sniffed
-disdainfully with his sharp black nose. He looked far from friendly.
-
-The princess laughed softly.
-
-He does not know you yet," she defended her pet. "He will soon learn to
-love you, too."
-
-"I will catch fish with thee next time thou goest," declared young
-Harold later as they ate together. "There's no reason I can see why I
-should stay mewed up forever in this cave. I fear not Indians! No, not
-even Torquam, thy father, himself."
-
-For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. Then she laughed.
-
-"You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!" she exclaimed with pride. "Nor
-would there be much danger. We will go to the other side of the island
-where the waves run high and the cliffs are tall and black. There will I
-show you the nests of the great eagles, and the antelope leaping among
-the rocks. And, - who can tell?" she laughed again with child-like
-pleasure, "perhaps we shall find a white otter!"
-
-And, true to her word, he heard at dawn next day outside the cavern the
-whistle of a blackbird, a signal early contrived between them. She
-deemed it best, she explained, to start thus early that the darkness
-might conceal them until they had passed well beyond the outskirts of
-the village. But this danger overcome, they spent the whole day rambling
-fearlessly among the hills, - a long, idle, happy day. Up many a dim
-trail winding back into the canyons the princess led him. Through golden
-thickets of wild mustard they passed, coming, when he least expected it,
-upon glimpses of the summer sea framed between the branches of knarled
-old oak trees.
-
-"They are low and crooked, and they spread themselves over the ground as
-do our English oaks," the young nobleman informed her.
-
-As Wildenai had promised they discovered, poised high among the crags of
-the wild southern shore, the great eagles of which she had told him,
-measuring easily, from wing-tip to wing-tip, fully a dozen feet. The
-white otter, rarest and most valuable of all the game hunted by her
-people, eluded them, but many a small gray fox slipped away among the
-bushes, leaving the Englishman tingling for the chase.
-
-At twilight, as they made their way back to the cavern, they came upon a
-tiny lake lying asleep within the crater of a dead volcano. From the
-sides little clouds of ashes rose, floating softly away on the breezes
-of evening. The princess gathered a handful and murmuring some musical
-words in her own tongue she threw them into the air.
-
-"And would it be amiss for me to ask what 'tis you do?" questioned her
-companion, observing her closely.
-
-"I was sending a prayer to Wakan-ate, the Great Spirit," she replied
-quietly.
-
-"A prayer, - and borne to heaven on the wings of ashes!" He seemed
-amused. "But what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?"
-
-Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she replied: "It were not fitting
-that any maiden tell for what she prays!"
-
-The words were spoken with such gravity that the young man flushed under
-the rebuke.
-
-When she left him at the doorway of the cavern that evening she said as
-she made a gay little gesture of farewell: "Today the land, but tomorrow
-we shall find still more beautiful things that lie hidden under the deep
-waters. You shall see!"
-
-And once again with dawn she came. This time it was the splash of a
-paddle that brought him to the opening in the rock.
-
-"Aloho-ate, lazy one!" she called gaily from below. "Make haste! The
-world is always loveliest while it lies waiting for the sun!"
-
-That day, perhaps, from among them all, lived longest within the memory
-of young Harold, - the porpoises playing fearlessly around her canoe as
-the princess, with graceful, effortless strokes, paddled around one
-after another of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, skimming
-the surface of the ocean until, by virtue of their speed alone, they
-rose like gleaming bows of silver from the foam. Intent to show him all
-her treasures, Wildenai guided him to a quiet stretch of water lying
-close to shore within the shadow of tall cliffs which rose at that point
-with precipitous abruptness from the sea itself.
-
-"Here are my gardens that grow under the water," she explained, as they
-glided above the spot. "Look well at them. They are most beautiful."
-
-And gazing down at her command through the clear green into the luminous
-depths below, he caught glimpses of these gardens of the sea where
-goldfish darted like tropical birds among the branches of tall tree-like
-stalks of swaying seaweed, and strange shapes of jade and blue floated
-in the shadows.
-
-"Is it not wonderful?" she asked.
-
-"It is indeed, my Wildenai," he answered earnestly. "Never in all my
-travels, methinks, have I seen aught before like this your island here!
-It seems to me indeed a charmed land, a kind of magic isle!"
-
-One day it rained, the last belated rain of winter. But even the storm
-brought pleasures of its own, for, seated on the pile of skins beside
-him, the little gray fox curled contentedly at her feet, Wildenai worked
-at her loom. Within its dull-colored warp a blanket, woven in a strange
-design of mingled red, and black, and white, grew slowly beneath her
-busy fingers.
-
-For hours the maiden drew the short woolen threads in and out while the
-young man, stretched lazily upon the ground, told her many a tale of the
-England he had left. Then, quite without warning, she ceased her work
-and sat pensively watching through the opening in the rocks the long
-gray swell of the sea.
-
-"And what is it now, my princess?" laughed young Harold. "The pattern is
-not yet finished, nor is the rain abated."
-
-"Ah, senor Harold lord," wistfully replied the girl, "I was but wishing
-I had been born one of those same fair English maids with the eyes of
-blue and golden hair you tell about. Then would you love me even as you
-do them!" she added artlessly, and leaned her chin upon her hand,
-considering. A secret trembled on her lips.
-
-"And how if I were Spanish born?" she questioned, and lifted hesitating,
-frightened eyes to his, "dark to look at, that I know well, but even so,
-the white man's kind of princess, who also has a throne?"
-
-And all unwitting Lord Harold answered scornfully, "Spanish! Say no such
-word to me! The English hate the Spanish!" Fiercely he caught up a
-pebble and sent it whirling out across the water. "Even now their robber
-king plans his huge armada to take our queen and rule our land, but
-that, by the holy virgin herself, shall never be! Sooner will every drop
-of blood in bonny England be spilt. Never could I make thee understand
-how much I hope to be at home before he comes! Spanish indeed! Nay,
-never let me hear the hateful word again!"
-
-Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, with the impulsive
-changeableness which had so endeared him to her, he caught one little
-brown hand and raised it to his lips.
-
-"But I do love thee even as thou art, my Wildenai," he told her with the
-careless assurance of one much older speaking to a child. "Is not a wild
-rose sweet as any garden bloom? Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!"
-
-Again he laughed and the little princess laughed with him now, for into
-her heart at his words had come a happiness so unlooked for and so
-wildly sweet as wholly to bewilder her. Quickly she rose, struck by a
-sudden thought, and running to the farthermost corner of the cavern she
-brushed aside a pile of leaves and lifted some stones, disclosing at
-length a box fashioned from the choicest cedar. Out of it, while the
-Englishman watched with wondering eyes, she drew a garment made of
-creamy doeskin, deeply fringed and trimmed besides with strings of
-wampum, the polished fragments of abalone shells and many-colored beads.
-Silently she brought it to him and when he touched it admiringly, for
-the dress was beautiful. "It is my marriage robe," she told him gravely.
-
-That night, while the rain tapped softly at her tepee, the princess
-dreamed of a wondrous land beyond the sea where proudly she walked by
-her white chief's side and fair women with braided, golden hair spoke
-kind words of welcome, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes.
-
-
-
-Then, without warning, came the end of all her dreams. Hurrying along
-the beach at sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught the first
-glimpse of the returning vessel as it stole around a distant point. For
-the space of a second her heart stood still, then throbbed wildly, but
-whether with joy or pain she could not herself have told. One question
-only demanded all her thought. Should she let Lord Harold know? Perhaps
-the great white captain would not remember their bay. Perhaps, - her
-breath came fast, - perhaps the ship, unseen by anyone, would pass and
-Lord Harold remain behind content. With hands tight-clenched she watched
-the distant sail, fear growing in her eyes. Yet she knew that she would
-tell him. Nothing else was honorable. This, surely, he must decide for
-himself.
-
-But tidings of such moment outran even her swift feet. She found him
-buckling on his swordbelt, in his eyes the glad light of some trapped
-bird which sees the door of its cage suddenly open.
-
-"The ship - " she began with sinking heart.
-
-"Yes, yes, I know! I saw it!" he answered, a fever of impatience in his
-voice. "'Tis Drake. I knew he dared not leave me! 'Twill soon be too
-close in. Needs not he risk his safety. I must go before he gains the
-shore."
-
-The princess hesitated. What meant that strange heaviness at her heart?
-Was he not still her brave, true warrior, - her great white chief? Had
-he not told her that he loved her? Crossing to where he stood she bowed
-herself before him until her silver fillet touched his feet.
-
-"I, too!" she whispered, "I shall go to England with thee!"
-
-And at her words, within the little cavern there came a silence to be
-felt. In undisguised dismay the Englishman gazed at her where she knelt.
-Then:
-
-"By the holyrood!" he muttered aghast, "She must have thought, - God
-only knows what she must have thought!"
-
-He glanced hurriedly toward the doorway and back again, ashamed. Then
-even such impatience as was his gave way, for the moment at least, to
-something more chivalric. He stooped and patted awkwardly the smooth
-black head.
-
-"Come, Wildenai, little wild rose, look up and speak to me. I must be
-going!"
-
-But still the maid lay prostrate, clasping close his rough buskins in
-her little brown hands. Never in all his life had Lord Harold been so
-sorely uncomfortable. How was it possible she had ever imagined that he
-could take her with him, - that he had meant so much? Resentment grew
-within him at the thought, yet strangely mingled always with something
-far more tender. Hastily he considered, his heart torn between the
-desire not to wound her and dread of what he knew she wanted. To be sure
-the maid was beautiful, with the softened beauty of a moonlit night in
-summer, her eyes beneath her dusky hair like stars between the branches
-of dark trees, her voice that of the forest stream when it sings itself
-to sleep. Yet past all doubt he knew that not one among the gorgeous
-throng that crowded about Elizabeth would ever see that beauty, no
-English ear take heed to hear the music of her voice. Nay, he could
-even, as he thought of it, picture the amazement of the great queen,
-could hear her scornful laughter, should he present, to help adorn her
-court, a savage Indian girl! No, a thousand times no! Such disgrace he
-could not suffer. Nor was the maid herself, so he defended himself,
-fitted for such a life. Soon would she be as unhappy in England as he
-would be to have her there. Besides, she was but a child. Else had she
-never so far forgot all womanly dignity as to force herself upon him,
-and being but a child she would soon forget. Gently he made to raise her
-to her feet.
-
-"Wildenai, little wild rose," he began again, "what thou hast asked of
-me thou dost well know thyself is an unheard of thing. Much as I owe to
-thee, and well know I that 'tis so much I never can repay it; still for
-thine own sweet sake 'tis not in this way thy reward must come. The long
-journey and the strange new life would kill thee, Wildenai." Having once
-begun he stumbled on, but half aware of how each word he uttered hurt
-her, eager only to have done with the whole sorry scene. "Thou art but a
-little wild flower. Thou couldst not live away from this, thy sunny
-island. Can'st thou not understand, my Wildenai?"
-
-He paused, waiting for a reply; but the maiden answered nothing. Silent
-she lay as though in very truth she were a wild flower tossed to earth
-and trampled upon by some uncaring foot.
-
-At last the man could bear it no longer. Forcibly he loosed her hands
-and stepped back. For a moment longer he lingered, looking down upon her
-in mingled impatience and regret; then, turning abruptly, he passed
-hastily out of the cavern and down the trail to the beach.
-
-Still the girl lay motionless. It was as if every sense were stunned,
-all power of thought suspended except to grasp the one fact that made
-her whole world empty, - he was gone! As in a dream she heard the
-grating of the pebbles when he pushed his boat into the water, heard the
-clank of the oars as they dropped into the oar-locks. Even yet she did
-not move. Then, after many minutes, she crept to the opening and
-searched the sea with eyes almost, too dim with tears to find that for
-which she sought. But yes, there it was, - a black speck against the
-golden sunset. She watched until she had seen the distant vessel put
-about, making for the open sea. Ah, now she knew that he was safe
-aboard, - no need had they to come farther into shore. Yet still she
-waited, straining her eyes to see the ship sink slowly beneath the
-horizon. One last glint of sunlight against a white sail, and it was
-gone.
-
-Then at once she rose, and moving quietly about the little cavern, she
-put all in perfect order with touch as tender as that of a mother
-preparing for its last sleep some little child. Here was the basket he
-had helped to weave, here the mat on which he had lain. Her fingers
-lingered caressingly on each thing that he had touched. There in the
-corner still stood the olla in which she had brought him water. How
-amused he had been that she could carry it on her head all the way up
-the hill from the spring without so much as spilling one drop! But that
-was all past now.
-
-When at last everything was finished she gave the little rock-walled
-room one long, lingering look, the look of one who would carry in his
-heart the image of what he beholds all the rest of his life. Then she,
-too, made her way through the doorway into the deepening dusk.
-
-
-
-On the beach below, squatted within the opened flap of his tepee,
-Torquam, mighty chief of the Mariposa, smoked his evening pipe. A
-wonderful pipe it was, long and delicately fashioned, inlaid with
-iridescent fragments of shell. Yet instantly he laid it aside as the
-slender form of his daughter darkened the doorway.
-
-"Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art thou as sunshine after
-rain!" His eyes lighted with the tenderness never seen there by any
-other than this motherless girl. He stretched his hand to her and the
-princess came silently and knelt before him.
-
-"My father," she said firmly, though in so low a tone that Torquam bent
-to hear. "Oh, father, thou art always wise! Thou only knowest best. I
-come to thee to tell that I will wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him
-whenever thou dost choose!"
-
-Taking her face between his hands, Torquam gazed long and searchingly
-into the sorrowful eyes of his daughter.
-
-"And thou art wise to do so, my beloved one," he said at last. "He will
-make to thee a good husband." In his voice was the keen understanding of
-a father. "He will be kind to thee and heal thy wounded heart, my
-daughter. Don Cabrillo is a good man," he repeated solemnly."
-
-
-
-Miss Hastings Brings It to an End
-
-
-
-Part II
-
-
-
-Miss Hastings Brings It to an End
-
-
-
-Centuries passed, and again, with the same sweet suddenness as in the
-days gone by, spring came to Catalina. Guests of the St. Catherine,
-lounging on its wide verandahs, gazed across a sunlit sea to where the
-faint cloud that was San Jacinto hovered, the merest ghost of a
-mountain, above the misty mainland. Along the broad board-walk leading
-down to Avalon benches, shaded by brightstriped awnings, flaunted an
-invitation to every passing tourist. Strings of Japanese lanterns bobbed
-merrily above the narrow village streets. Everywhere were laughter and
-movement and color from the bathing beaches, dotted with gay umbrellas -
-even to the last yacht anchored round the point.
-
-To the man making slow progress down the crowded wharf from the
-afternoon boat this holiday world into which he thus suddenly stepped,
-presented an appearance so different from that he had pictured as almost
-to bewilder him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus waiting to haul
-him up the winding grade to the hotel, he actually hesitated. Yet seldom
-before, to his knowledge, had he found it difficult to adapt himself to
-an unexpected situation.
-
-"Hotel St. Catherine! Bus to the hotel, sir?"
-
-Other guests, more certain of their intentions, pushed impatiently
-against him, and presently he found himself, wedged well toward the
-middle of the long seat, chugging comfortably up the hill. Still
-half-daunted, he gazed about him. It was all of it charming to be sure,
-fascinating even; yet, could this festive summering place be the Avalon
-of his dreams? Was this the quaint village of Spanish times, reaching
-back still further through dimly remembered Indian lore to a world lost
-now except to legend? Yet it was for the sake of a mere legend, a
-fanciful tale handed down in his family through many a generation, that
-he had made the long journey from New York to California, nor - and here
-he set his lips with dogged determination, did he intend to return until
-he had found that for which he searched.
-
-It was now something over two years since Harrison Blair, then fresh
-from Yale, had astonished both those who wished him well and those who,
-for various envious reasons, did not, with the wholly unreasonable
-success of his first book. For, to those who did not understand, his
-sudden fame had seemed all the more surprising in that it rested upon
-nothing more substantial than a slender volume of Indian verse. So
-unusual, however, had been his treatment of this well-worn subject as to
-call forth more than a little comment from even the most conservative of
-critics. The Brush and Pen had hastened to confer upon him an honorary
-membership. Cadmon, magic weaver of Indian music, had written a warm
-letter of appreciation. And, most precious tribute of all, the Atlantic
-Monthly had become interested in his career.
-
-To be sure, it was nothing more than might have been expected of a man
-whose undergraduate work in English had aroused the reluctant wonder of
-more than one instructor. Nevertheless, the fact that he pulled stroke
-on the 'varsity crew had somewhat blinded other contemporaries to his
-more scholarly attainments. Nor had anyone thought it probable, because
-of his father's wealth, that Blair, in any event, would feel called upon
-to do much more than make a frolic of life. No one, indeed, had been
-more taken aback than had his father to find him, a year after
-graduation, drudging over the assistant editor's desk of a struggling
-magazine the payroll of which, to put it mildly, offered no financial
-inducements.
-
-"It's good practice for me, though, - quickest way to learn," was all he
-vouchsafed when the older man remonstrated.
-
-Yet, had that same father, shrewd capitalist that he was, but taken the
-trouble to reason back from premises evident enough, he might have been
-the first to realize that this tall son of his, with the keen gray eyes
-and a face the strength of which was but increased by the high cheek
-bones and squarely molded chin, was scarcely the type of man to sit idly
-by enjoying the fruits of another's labor.
-
-And now, after two years more of grinding apprenticeship, he had in mind
-something much bigger than the slender volume of verse, - an adventure
-into authorship more suited to his metal, - a story for which an intense
-personal sympathy would furnish fitting atmosphere, with the final spur
-to his ambition a letter from the Atlantic even at the moment stowed
-safely away in his pocket.
-
-Some two hours later, after an unexpectedly excellent dinner in the
-luxurious dining room, he sauntered over to the hotel desk. There was no
-more than the faintest probability that a clerk of the St. Catherine
-would be able to tell him how to reach a secret cavern bower above the
-Bay of Moons; still, he had to enter an opening wedge somewhere. The one
-man on duty was for the moment occupied with another guest, and Blair,
-lighting his after-dinner cigar, prepared with leisurely patience to
-await his turn.
-
-The guest happened to be a young woman, rather pretty, he casually
-decided, although her greatest claim to beauty lay more, perhaps, in the
-swift changes in expression of which her face was capable, than in any
-actual regularity of line. For lack of anything better to do, Blair
-watched idly her encounter with the clerk. There appeared to be some
-kind of misunderstanding.
-
-"Awfully sorry it's happened that way, Miss Hastings," the man behind
-the desk was saying. He lifted with genuine reluctance the key she had
-just laid down. "We'd be mighty sorry to interfere with your work, but
-those small rooms always do go first. You know that yourself."
-
-"I hadn't heard about it, though. I didn't know they were all gone." Her
-voice quivered with disappointment.
-
-Blair, whose vocation taught him a certain technical sympathy, shot a
-swift glance at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-two or
-thereabouts, he decided less casually, and went on to observe her still
-further. She wore a shabby, broad-brimmed hat much faded as if from
-constant exposure to the sun, but the shadows in the coil of hair
-beneath were warmly golden.
-
-"Couldn't you find a room down in the village somewhere, - at Mrs.
-Merrill's perhaps?" suggested the clerk.
-
-"But Mrs. Merrill isn't here this spring." In spite of its quiver the
-voice was very sweet.
-
-"No," she started to turn away, "I'll have to put it off again, I
-suppose. I've looked everywhere."
-
-She took a step or two, hesitated, then returned to the desk.
-
-"You're positive there isn't a single one of the small rooms left?" she
-pleaded. "I wouldn't care how far back it was, - anything would do. You
-can't think how I hate to give up. I had so hoped to finish it this
-time!"
-
-The man shook his head.
-
-"No, we're absolutely full just now. Later on there might be something,
-- after the season is over."
-
-"But that will be after school begins," answered the girl bitterly. "I
-can't work at all then!" and catching up a bag fully as shabby as the
-hat, she hurried away.
-
-"Who is she?" asked Blair abruptly, overlooking for the moment his
-original purpose in seeking the man.
-
-"School-teacher from Pasadena," replied the clerk briefly. "Teaches art
-in some private school over there, I believe." He eyed Blair amusedly.
-"Think you've met her before somewhere?"
-
-Blair allowed his annoyance to show. "No, never laid eyes on her till
-just now. But I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her," he
-persisted. "She seemed so sort of cut up. What's the trouble?"
-
-"I'm sorry for her myself," declared the man on the other side as he
-hung the returned key on its board. "This is the third time that poor
-little woman's had to leave before she could finish what she came for on
-account of the expense. But what can we do?" He shrugged his shoulders.
-"The St. Catherine isn't exactly a Y. W. C. A."
-
-"What is it she's trying to do?"
-
-Amusement deepened in the man's eyes.
-
-"She's supposed to be painting Indians."
-
-"Indians!" To the amazement of the other man Blair suddenly leaned
-forward, his eyes agleam with interest.
-
-"But I didn't know there were any around here."
-
-"There aren't."
-
-"Then how - ?"
-
-"Makes 'em up out of her head, I guess. I never heard that she had even
-a model."
-
-"But - but what I want to know is why she comes here at all?" The
-situation seemed to Blair to offer possibilities, yet he was thoroughly
-puzzled. "I met a fellow on the train who does that sort of thing, but
-he always goes to the desert to paint, - at least he said he did."
-
-"Yes, they do mostly. Probably he meant Taos, - whole nest of artists at
-Taos."
-
-"Well, but why in thunder then - ?"
-
-The clerk smiled skeptically.
-
-"Why, you see, it's something like this. Miss Hastings' bent on being an
-illustrator, pays better than teaching, I suppose, or - well, at any
-rate, that's what she's aiming for, - and she has an idea that if she
-can only get a series of pictures, - several of them on the same
-subject, you understand, - accepted by one of those Eastern magazines,
-she can soon work in with some big publisher and get an order. She told
-us all about it one night last winter when she was over."
-
-"But in heaven's name, why Indians?" persisted Blair.
-
-"Because she thinks she's found some good material here. She told me
-about that, too. Seems there's an old legend connected with Catalina,
-about an Indian princess and a cavern. The princess died of a broken
-heart or something of the sort, I believe she said. I never heard the
-particulars myself. Nobody else, either, seems to know anything about
-it. But Miss Hastings says there's quite a story, and she's got it all
-down pat from A to Z. She's using it for her series."
-
-A porter brought up some newcomers and Blair stepped aside. But the
-moment his man was at leisure again he cornered him at once. An idea had
-come to him, an idea almost dazzling in its possibilities.
-
-"You say she hasn't finished her series yet?"
-
-"Beg pardon? Oh, the teacher?" The man shook his head. "Evidently not
-from what she said just now. She never stays long enough really to put
-it over. Every few months she bobs up over a week-end, but that doesn't
-give her time even to visit some of the places she's after. She never
-seems to get much more than started before she has to go home again."
-
-For a moment Blair smoked in silence. Then:
-
-"Look here," he cut in abruptly, "You split my suite and give her one of
-my rooms."
-
-The man's eyebrows rose in surprise.
-
-"Her? What do you mean?"
-
-Blair made an impatient gesture.
-
-"Why, this Miss - the teacher, you know. Didn't you just say you hadn't
-any room for her? Well, I've got three, you know."
-
-"Yes, but that's altogether a different proposition. You made your
-reservation weeks ago."
-
-"But you could still give her one of them, couldn't you?"
-
-Clerks in large hotels listen with patience to a vast number of strange
-proposals, but at this from Blair, the man opposite eyed him in
-unflattering amazement.
-
-"But you said, when you wired, you wanted the extra room to work in," he
-objected, "and you'll remember, Mr. Blair, that you were pretty emphatic
-about it, too, at the time. We went to all kinds of trouble to fix that
-up for you."
-
-"I can get along all right without it, though," coolly observed his
-changeable guest, "and I'd rather she'd have it. It's possible to split
-suites here, isn't it?" he persisted. "They do at most hotels."
-
-"It's possible, of course." Across the desk the eyes of the two men met
-squarely. "That part of it's easy enough. But why? and who's going to
-pay for it?"
-
-"I'm going to pay for it! What did you suppose?" exploded Blair. "It's
-worth that and a lot more to me just now to keep her from getting away.
-Oh, I'm in earnest all right. I mean it! Look here! Can't you see how
-that woman can be a perfect gold mine to me? You know enough about my
-work to understand that I'm really out here after Indians myself, and
-she - well, I'll wager a cool thousand there isn't a spot on this whole
-island that ever dreamed of seeing an Indian that she doesn't know all
-about!"
-
-The clerk nodded. "But - "
-
-"But nothing!" Impatiently Blair brushed aside all objections. "Why, I
-hadn't the remotest idea how I was going to get started. It's a rattling
-piece of good luck, and we'll fix it up right now!"
-
-"Yes, but - " Still the other man hesitated. "It sounds all right
-enough, - from your end of it especially, but you'd better see her
-first. She's a proud little piece, - doesn't like obligations of any
-kind, - and a stranger, - a man - I'm sorry to discourage you, but I
-don't believe she'll have a thing to do with it."
-
-In Blair's eyes impatience threatened to become something more emphatic.
-
-"It's a business proposition pure and simple," he argued. "She gives me
-all the information she's been able to get together, and I pay her
-expenses while she does it. That gives her a chance to finish her own
-work, don't you see? A mighty good proposition for her, too, I should
-say, and if she doesn't see it that way herself, - why, - well, she
-isn't as intelligent as she looks, that's all!"
-
-"Providing you can persuade her it is just business. I'd advise you to
-talk with her first, just the same. And you'll have to be quick about
-it, too. She's planning to wait in the village tonight for the morning
-boat, and she'll be starting down about now."
-
-
-
-Outside was one of those radiant nights intended for dreams and the
-makers of dreams. Over an ocean white with light long breakers rolled
-crests gleaming with silver that fell in soft thunder on the beach. Miss
-Hastings, hurrying along the board-walk to the village, glanced at them
-and looked quickly away.
-
-"Oh, I say!" came a voice out of the darkness behind her, "if you don't
-mind, hold on there a minute, will you? Wait for me, please!" The voice
-was that of a man, pleasant, but exceedingly determined. Without so much
-as turning her head Miss Hastings quickened her steps.
-
-But it was of no use. Whoever her pursuer might be, he was even then at
-her side.
-
-"I beg your pardon," breathlessly he began again, "but I've been chasing
-you all the way down from the hotel. I want you to come right back there
-with me. I have a proposal to make to you."
-
-Even in the darkness he could see how the girl's eyes blazed.
-
-"I never listen - " she began hotly, "to proposals from people I don't
-know," she had meant to add, but he gave her no time.
-
-"It will mean the biggest chance for your pictures you've ever had," he
-broke in. "Now, listen!"
-
-And, to her complete surprise, Miss Hastings suddenly found herself
-doing that very thing.
-
-"There are a lot of things I've got to find out right away," continued
-the astonishing stranger, "and the clerk up there tells me you're
-painting a series of Indian portraits."
-
-The little art teacher gazed at him fascinated. What manner of man could
-this be, she wondered.
-
-"I don't see the connection - " Coldness struggled with curiosity in her
-voice.
-
-"Listen!" With uplifted, peremptory hand again he stopped her. Nor is it
-safe to say that any book agent, watching the door slowly closing upon
-him, ever talked faster, or more rigidly to the point, than did Blair
-within the next few minutes.
-
-"Perhaps you won't understand it all right off. I wouldn't expect that.
-But it's this way. I'm representing Harper's, and Houghton and Mifflin,
-and Dodd and Mead, and - several other firms" (to satisfy his conscience
-Blair contended with himself that he might as well as not have been
-their representative - a mere oversight on their part ought not to be
-allowed to stand in his way), "and I'm out here to find the best
-illustrator I can lay hands on to do the pictures for some Indian stuff
-I'm getting into shape for one of 'em. I want to see your work. And, if
-I like it, I'll pay you well. And anyway, I'll pay every bit of the
-expense while you finish your series here if you'll tell me what you
-know about Wildenai!"
-
-But, at the name, the girl beside him had given a low cry of utter
-amazement. She stopped short.
-
-"Do you know it too, then?" she gasped. "How did you hear about it?"
-
-"Oh, I've known it for years," replied Blair carelessly. "Some of it
-I've known all my life. But look here now. Is it a bargain? - about your
-helping me, I mean?"
-
-Before he left her, an hour or so later, every detail had been arranged.
-Miss Hastings had meekly agreed to return to the hotel in the morning.
-Blair would pay her expenses and something he called a retaining fee
-besides. That would make an extra fifty dollars, - she smiled to herself
-in the dark, - a new winter suit at least, and perhaps one or two
-matinees if she managed! All this for the information she could give him
-about the island and its history. The various points in their contract
-spun dizzily in her dazed brain. No spot known to legend to which it was
-possible to conduct him should remain unvisited. Four hours out of every
-day were pledged without fail to his interests. The rest of the time she
-might have for her own work. It had all come about so unexpectedly, and
-was altogether so extraordinary that, after he had gone, his new
-employe, stretched uncomfortably upon a narrow cot in the tent of a
-fellow teacher, spent the remainder of the night in imaginary interviews
-with Eastern publishers regarding impossible royalties. She was far too
-excited to sleep.
-
-And, for a week, the arrangement worked very well, - almost too well.
-Every day brought with it some new adventure, and every adventure became
-a pleasure.
-
-Mounted at Blair's expense on more or less energetic ponies, for from
-the first he had insisted that horses were a necessary part of their
-business equipment, they cantered gaily along the shady canyon trails,
-or over the sunlit slopes sheeted in pale lavender wherever the wild
-lilacs were in bloom. Often, emerging from some thicket of dwarf oak
-they caught glimpses of a sapphire sea held between red, twisted
-branches of manzanita as in a frame. About them rang the music of the
-meadow larks. Merry shouts of bathers floated up from the beaches far
-below, mingled with the distant click of golf balls on the greens.
-
-For the whole of a golden day they chartered a sailboat from one, Capt.
-Warren, and rounding the yellow headlands under his lazy guidance, they
-went to examine the Ning Po, the ancient Chinese barge stranded, no one
-knew how many hundreds of years before, among the rocks off the isthmus.
-
-"Fascinating old place," observed Blair gazing, his eyes aglow with
-interest, around the mediaeval cabin. "Don't doubt a dozen murders at
-least were pulled off in this one room!"
-
-"Oh yes, of course," eagerly echoed his assistant. "It's absolutely
-unique!"
-
-Her gaze, as bright with interest as his own, rested upon Blair himself.
-She was considering, absent-mindedly, how becoming white trousers can be
-to most men, especially when they are reasonably dark themselves. But, -
-her glance travelled upward, - how unusually dark he was, and his hair,
-- yes, without question, the straightest and blackest she had ever seen.
-Yet it seemed in some indefinable way to become him, - to belong, as it
-were, to his type. Leaning her elbows meditatively upon the rusty
-anchor, her chin in her hands, she silently appraised him. He really was
-a handsome man, she decided, and clever, too, of the sort who does
-things in the world! A dreamy light grew within her eyes.
-
-It was only two or three evenings later when, on their way back from the
-site of an historic Indian village on the other side of the island, they
-walked their horses slowly around the Wishbone Loop, the ostensible
-reason being that, as Blair had already discovered, it commanded the
-widest view of the ocean at sunset.
-
-He was the first to speak when they struck again into the main trail.
-
-"I wished for something about a rose, a wild rose, - want to guess?" He
-eyed her mischievously.
-
-"Hush, - mustn't tell!" she laughed. "Your wish won't come true if you
-tell." Then, for no reason at all, she blushed.
-
-Never, in truth, during her twenty-three years of working, and
-scrimping, and going without, had life shown to the little art teacher
-so fair and generous a side, seemed so extravagantly joyous an affair as
-during that magic week. The spending of money, it was easy to see, meant
-little or nothing to Blair. But that was the least of his attractions,
-for, to the girl herself, mere wealth for its own sake had never
-appealed. The charm lay rather in the genial broadness of his view of
-things, the strength of reasoning behind the few opinions he put
-forward, his reticence, and quiet modesty. In these dwelt the spell that
-swept her into an almost delirious enjoyment of his society. For, all
-unknown to herself, like many another woman in like condition, she had
-needed a change of people. In the cramped life of a private school men
-played but little part, and the men who were most worth while, almost no
-part at all. Instinctively, in time, she had wearied of little girls and
-their lessons. Sorely had she craved the stimulus which only the
-companionship of congenial men can give. Of this fact, however, she had
-been even less aware.
-
-One crisp morning, seated in a diminutive wicker cart behind a
-discontented pony, they searched out Chicken John's cabin on the mesa
-behind the golf links.
-
-"Not that it has anything to do with Indians," she apologized, "only I
-want you to see him. He's such a character, so nice and untidy and
-queer!"
-
-As a result of this expedition they brought away with them what old John
-designated a "plump little fry" to be served at the cosy table for two
-in the sunniest window of the dining room, a luxury which Blair had
-likewise confiscated in the interests of business.
-
-And so for seven glorious days they tramped the fragrant hills, or
-sailed a sea as softly blue as though fallen fresh that morning from the
-cloudless heaven above. In the warmth and glow of his friendship the
-starved heart of the little art teacher opened like some hot-house
-flower carried suddenly into the wide outdoors. And when at last the
-week drew to an end, their work, both his and hers, was still
-unfinished, so that there was nothing else to do but to live on through
-another fully as wonderful.
-
-Blair himself took things much more for granted, and even when their
-talk strayed farthest afield it was plain to the girl that his mind
-never fully lost sight of the purpose for which he had come. His work
-stood always first, while, - she blushed to own it even to herself, -
-she had sometimes entirely forgotten her own.
-
-At the end of the third week they had seen almost everything he
-considered essential and at times she sensed in his manner, even when he
-was least aware of it, a kind of repressed impatience. She knew what it
-meant and shivered. Presently he would leave her, and life would become
-again the same dull round of work. Only one spot of real importance
-remained unvisited, - the cavern bower above the Bay of Moons. Of this
-he had spoken frequently, and well she knew he held it the climax of his
-search.
-
-But for reasons best known to herself Miss Hastings put off from day to
-day this final expedition until Blair began to chaff at the delay.
-
-"That's really the one place I came to see!" he told her more than once.
-"After I've been there I think I can go."
-
-"But we've planned Middle Ranch for today," she would answer evasively,
-or, "This is the best time to see Orazaba; it's so clear this morning.
-That's the mountain, you know, where the Indians carved out their ollas.
-Some of them are still there, only half cut away. It would be too bad
-for you to miss that."
-
-At length, however, there came a day when excuses would do no longer.
-
-"We've waited long enough," he declared that morning over their coffee,
-"Besides, I may have to go now in a few days."
-
-And although at his words the sunshine of her new world faded suddenly
-away, yet the little teacher kept a brave front. She even laughed
-carelessly.
-
-"Men are so impatient," she teased, "But we'll go today."
-
-Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of sunset rested among the hills
-that at last they found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff which
-commanded so wide a stretch of the ocean and the shimmering valleys
-below.
-
-"It reminds one of the Bay of Naples," observed Blair, pausing to scan
-the rocky coastline against which, far beneath them, the foaming
-breakers threw themselves. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked
-far out to sea. "What a wonderful place for a watch tower it would have
-made!"
-
-"It had one once," softly replied the girl, "Wildenai's watch tower!"
-
-Blair turned, their eyes met, and he smiled.
-
-"It's been splendid to have you with me all these days," he said, "I've
-been wanting to tell you. You've been more of a help than you'll ever
-know." And then, after a pause, "It's because you care so much about the
-story yourself, I suppose, that you've been such an inspiration to me."
-
-Something in the girl's heart seemed suddenly to snap.
-
-"It's because I care more about your work, and - and you. You are so
-wonderful!" she broke forth impulsively, and stood before him crimson
-with confusion. For a second, which seemed to her an age, there was
-silence. Then he spoke and, in her bitter humiliation, his voice sounded
-strained and cold.
-
-"Shall we go in?" he asked.
-
-Silently he parted the tangle of manzanita that for centuries had veiled
-the secrets of the princess, and stood aside for her to enter. Wildly
-the little art teacher glanced about her. This moment to which she had
-so looked forward, and yet had dreaded as much because it meant the end,
-- this moment which might, nevertheless, have meant much to them both
-even though it were the end, she herself had spoiled! All its delicate
-beauty changed to a sordid suspicion, it lay in ruins now because of her
-thoughtless words. She dared not guess at what he must be thinking! For
-a desperate second she considered flight. Then proudly she raised her
-head. One more thing, at least, about her now he should learn!
-
-"Did you know - ?" she began, then broke off irresolute.
-
-Blair glanced at her and again their eyes met. This time he did not
-smile.
-
-"Know what?" he asked.
-
-She laughed with embarrassment.
-
-"It really isn't of any interest to you, but - " and again she paused.
-
-"Suppose you let me be the judge of that," he suggested stiffly. "You're
-making me horribly curious, you know. You can't very well drop the
-subject now." He was evidently making an effort at pleasantry.
-
-She flushed brightly.
-
-"Of course it couldn't be of the slightest importance to anyone except
-myself," she explained. Then, as if doubting her courage to continue
-long, she hurried on, "but one reason I take such an interest in - your
-work is because I'm a direct descendant of Lord Harold myself. He became
-the Duke of Norfolk afterward, you know, but Hastings was always the
-family name." She flashed him a haughty glance, a pride that changed to
-wideeyed surprise as she noted his amazement.
-
-"Not really?" He had turned abruptly and in his eyes there was a curious
-expression, almost of alarm. "How extraordinary, - how perfectly
-extraordinary!"
-
-"Why extraordinary?" That her cup of humiliation might brim to the full,
-resentment was added to confusion. "You consider me unworthy, then, of
-having had nobility among my ancestry? But, just the same, there was
-nothing strange about it. The colonies were chiefly English, you
-remember!" He smiled at her sarcasm. "The duke married one of
-Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting after he went home and there was a younger
-son, and he had a younger son, and after a long time one of them came
-over to Virginia just like anybody else. They have always been good,
-loyal, highly respected American citizens," she told him fiercely, "and
-I'm proud of them! Besides - " with reckless emphasis, "I've always felt
-so sorry for Wildenai."
-
-But at this point, quite incomprehensibly, Blair broke into peals of
-laughter.
-
-"And by and by, after a long, long time, one of these good, loyal,
-American citizens that we're both so proud of had a hot-tempered, most
-disloyal little daughter who intends to show her employer his proper
-place before she dismisses him! But why are you sorry for Wildenai?"
-
-With mischievous eyes he searched her face.
-
-She flushed, then, looking squarely at him, "Because she was impulsive
-like me, and just for that reason Lord Harold ran away and left her,"
-she said. "He's the only one of them I never had any use for."
-
-Blair wandered the length of the cavern and back before he replied.
-
-"You think him a coward, I suppose." He still looked as though he wanted
-to laugh, yet something in his tone seared her outraged pride. He might
-as well have touched an iron to quivering flesh. "You ought to remember,
-however, - I mean every woman ought to remember, - that when a girl lets
-a man know that she cares for him she generally forfeits, then and
-there, whatever interest she may have had for him. Wildenai risked too
-much. Of course, in her case there was some excuse. She was only an
-untrained barbarian. But, under ordinary circumstances, I tell you
-there's nothing a man despises so much!"
-
-What was done or said after that Miss Hastings never could have told.
-She was possessed of but one desire, - to get away, to go back to the
-hotel, - home, anywhere beyond the reach of his voice and his eyes. For
-the moment she hated him, and although Blair, conscience smitten at he
-knew not what, waited in the lobby a full hour before going in to
-dinner, she did not come down.
-
-Up in her room, mechanically brushing her hair for the night, Miss
-Hastings stormily addressed the girl in the glass who stared so
-scornfully back at her.
-
-"I tell you I don't care a thing about it! He probably thought he was
-justified in every word he said. He's probably smiling this very minute
-because he thinks he managed it so well! But he's a coward just the
-same, and I despise him, - I do despise him!" Her eyes brimming with
-tears, she fiercely repeated the word. "Well, he'll soon find out how
-much I really meant!"
-
-Over and over she re-lived the short scene, - all of its humiliation,
-all of its hurt, seeking at every turn solace for her woman's pride.
-
-"Naturally I wanted to help him all I could, to appear, at least, to be
-interested, especially when he was paying so much for it! It was only a
-business arrangement anyway," she continued bitterly, "nothing but
-business from start to finish, and if he doesn't know that yet, he'll
-find it out the very first thing tomorrow morning!"
-
-And having tumbled into bed she lay staring into the dark, planning the
-details of a campaign warranted either to cure or kill the enemy.
-Outside, a mocking bird, perched provokingly near her window, kept the
-night ringing with music. Resolutely she closed her ears to his song.
-But presently, through the faint fragrance of oleanders, other sounds
-began to penetrate, - the strains of the waltz to which they had danced
-only the night before. The little art teacher turned wearily over and
-cried herself to sleep.
-
-On the morning which followed she rose very early, however, much too
-early to breakfast with Blair at the little table in the sunny corner.
-Instead, she ordered some coffee and toast at Jim's Waffle Shop in the
-village and was hard at work sketching on the wharf before eight
-o'clock. She had suddenly remembered a promise to sketch Capt. Warren's
-dog holding the gaff, a feat of which both Pal and his master were
-justifiably proud. Indeed, so long had the arrangement been made and so
-entirely had it been neglected, that no one was more surprised than the
-Captain himself at her unexpected appearance.
-
-"But Pal and me ought to be at the Tuna Club in fifteen minutes, to take
-a party o' members out fishin'," he demurred. "You can't paint Pal in no
-quarter of an hour!"
-
-"I'm sorry to have had to put it off so long," replied Miss Hastings
-crisply, "but I'm planning to go home in a few days now, - this
-afternoon probably. It's the only chance I shall have." And she prepared
-to make good the belated promise with such determination that, after a
-wistful glance or two across the slapping white caps, the old skipper
-meekly succumbed.
-
-It was here Blair found her an hour or so later. Unceremoniously he
-placed himself in front of her, his hands in his pockets, and gave vent
-to a low whistle.
-
-"Well, of all the - !"
-
-"Oh, is it you, Mr. Blair?" she inquired in cool, sweet tones. "I
-thought most probably you'd gone! Didn't you say yesterday you intended
-to as soon as you'd seen the cavern?" Then, after a pause during which
-Blair said nothing, "I've been getting dreadfully behind with my own
-work, so I thought, if you didn't mind, I'd try to catch up a little
-this morning."
-
-"Certainly not. Take all the time you want! We've about finished anyway,
-I guess." His coolness matched her own.
-
-Another silence during which she painted furiously.
-
-"I'm making a sketch of Pal holding the gaff," she ventured at length
-when the strain had become too uncomfortable.
-
-"So I see."
-
-This second tentative effort at conversation having flickered and gone
-out she bent again to her work, while Blair remained, looking down at
-her, in his eyes mingled amusement and resentment. What had he done, he
-wondered, to account for such a change? Or, perhaps, it was something he
-had not done. He tried again.
-
-"Aren't we going for our ride this morning? It's a glorious day, and I
-have the refusal of the two best horses."
-
-"No, I think not, - not this morning, thank you," she answered. In her
-voice was the same crisp sweetness. "I haven't time!"
-
-With a shrug of pure bewilderment he backed away, then lingered a moment
-longer to watch the sketch take shape beneath her hurrying brush. That
-was the particular moment Miss Hastings chose for the final reckless
-stab.
-
-"You're standing in my light," she said. "If you'd just as soon, please
-do go away, Mr. Blair. It makes me nervous to have people looking over
-my shoulder when I'm trying to paint."
-
-This was just a trifle more than Blair at the moment was prepared to
-stand. His eyes grew dark.
-
-"Certainly," he replied icily. "So sorry to have bothered you at all. I
-only came down to tell you that I've decided to leave today. There's
-nothing more to keep me now, I think, and I'm rather anxious to get
-home. You'll find your check at the desk." And he sauntered away.
-
-She did not go back to the hotel for luncheon. She had finished her
-sketch, yet, somehow, when the time came, she discovered that it would
-be quite impossible to enter the dining room. She found it equally
-impossible to take the afternoon boat herself. Instead, having clambered
-half way up the steep slope to the cavern, she watched from behind a
-flaming riot of wild nasturtians while, preceded by a hotel porter
-bearing bags and suit-cases, Blair boarded the Avalon for Los Angeles.
-He was going away, then, without even a word of farewell.
-
-The heart of the little art teacher turned cold within her, so cold that
-she sank numbly into the red and gold tangle; nor did she look up again
-until the steamer, dipping below the horizon, had left only a trail of
-smoke to show where it disappeared. She had not believed that he would
-do quite that!
-
-When evening came she went stoically in to dinner. There was no reason
-any longer for staying away. Sternly she kept her eyes from the vacant
-place opposite. Yet somehow she could not persuade herself that he was
-really gone. More than once she caught herself watching the door, half
-expecting to see him stroll in with apologies for tardiness and take his
-empty chair. When again the orchestra drifted suddenly into the waltz to
-which they had danced, she rose abruptly and left the room.
-
-Well, she would go herself in the morning. She would settle everything
-and pack her things at once. She went to the desk to ask for the check.
-But there was nothing for her. No, the clerk assured her after much
-fumbling, Mr. Blair hadn't left anything, either in her box or his own.
-But, - the man stole a covert glance at her downcast face, - he was
-still holding his rooms. Probably he meant to attend to it when he
-returned.
-
-That he might not see the wild joy that leaped to her eyes, Miss
-Hastings turned with startling suddenness and fled upstairs. Safe in her
-own room she flung herself with tears and laughter on the bed. So that
-was the hand he was playing, was it? - the dear, wicked, unmanageable - !
-Of course he would have to be punished, - well punished! but - she
-laughed aloud for pure joy - the world was a radiant place once more,
-and nothing of any sort really mattered, because he was coming back.
-
-But the next day went by, and the next, and he had not come. Day after
-day passed in an empty procession, yet no one of them brought that for
-which she waited. And there was nothing else to do. Work was out of the
-question. She could not sit still long enough. It became, instead, her
-sole occupation to linger each morning and afternoon on the verandah
-until the steamer from Los Angeles had rounded the point and crossed the
-bay in front of the hotel. Then, hidden behind the palms she would watch
-until the last straggling tourist had left the pier. But still he did
-not come.
-
-Doubt in every tormenting guise assailed her. Perhaps he had changed his
-mind and decided later not to return. Yet the clerk had said he meant to
-come back! Perhaps her check, sent by mail, was even now in her box. But
-she had not the courage to go again to the desk. Driven by alternate
-hope and fear she lost color, and she could not sleep. During seven
-miserable nights she planned to go back to Pasadena by the morning boat,
-and as many times she put it off. Yet, if he did return to find her
-waiting, what, then, would she have given him the right to think? But,
-on the other hand, if she went she might never see him again!
-
-On the eighth day she took herself grimly in hand. No longer would she
-humiliate herself by any further delay. Wildenai had not waited, and
-even a school teacher can be as proud as an Indian princess! That very
-afternoon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. Then tomorrow she
-would go back to Pasadena and the long gray round of work. Desolately
-she wandered up the secret trail to Wildenai's bower. Never had her
-sympathy for the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, she mournfully
-considered, if the spirit of the Indian maiden still lingered there it
-might feel sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, would find
-comfort in the spot where that other woman had paid an equal price for
-her impulsiveness.
-
-The shadows in the little cavern were dark and cool and, laying aside
-her box of colors, for a long time she sat quite motionless, staring out
-to where the gulls drifted and glinted against the blue. She heard after
-a while the whistle of the approaching steamer but gave no heed. Lying
-back against the moss she had almost dropped asleep when something in
-the corner opposite attracted her attention. She sat up nervously and
-stared into the shadows. Was it only that the darkness was deeper over
-there, or was that really something propped against the wall? And had it
-moved?
-
-In the years that followed she never knew how long she sat there after
-the stones had been lifted away, holding in her lap those shreds of torn
-white doeskin. Still caught together, though in tatters, by long strings
-of shells and beads, they shone, a ghostly film of white from out the
-dimness. A breath, and the whole would have crumbled into dust. Yet the
-beads, she noticed, were still perfect as when strung by slim brown
-fingers centuries before. Only half believing it was not all of it a
-dream, she lifted them strand after strand. Then, suddenly, she gave a
-little cry. Somewhere from out the torn folds a slender chain had
-slipped. Trembling with a curiosity that bordered close on terror, she
-carried it to the light, and there it glowed, a glancing stream of
-crimson, in her hand.
-
-"Wildenai's necklace!" she breathed, and hid her face.
-
-There came the sound of a step outside. The manzanita branches were
-pushed impatiently aside and he stood before her.
-
-The journey across the channel from Los Angeles had seemed twice as long
-as when he made it a few weeks before, and he had hurried all the way
-from the hotel straight to the little cavern. But now that he had found
-her again, there seemed to be plenty of time for everything, and he
-stood quite silent looking down at her. He was glad he had found her
-there, glad, in a curious, unreasoning way, for the quiet of the late
-afternoon, for the faint fragrance of the Mariposa lilies blooming just
-beyond the ledge. Yet he let her know nothing of this in what he said.
-
-"So here you are, after all! I thought I should find you here."
-
-She had not heard him come and was startled into a cry.
-
-"You!" she gasped, and lifted eyes in which the telltale signs of tears
-were still quite evident, so evident that, with a woman's instinct to
-hide them, she caught up the necklace and held it toward him.
-
-"See what I've found!" she exclaimed.
-
-But he paid no heed. Instead, manlike, he proceeded, quite
-unconsciously, to say the one thing that could hurt her most.
-
-"I looked for you at the hotel first, then I came on up here. I knew you
-wouldn't go till I came!"
-
-The color that had flooded her face at the sound of his voice faded
-again. She was quite white as she asked quietly:
-
-"How could you know I would stay?"
-
-He laughed easily, settling himself confidently on the moss at her side.
-
-"Because I hadn't paid you yet," he answered gaily. "Don't you think
-that was clever of me, Wildenai?"
-
-"I would rather you did not call me that," she told him coldly, "It
-sounds irreverent." And she dropped her eyes, which had filled again
-miserably, to the film of white in her lap. Then, with a pitiful attempt
-to hurt him in return: "Of course you realize that I really don't know
-much about you. I don't want you to think that I distrusted you exactly
-- " she marvelled at herself that she could say such things to him, but
-went recklessly on. "The check wasn't there, - and so, well, it seemed
-wisest to wait. They said you were coming back, and I couldn't afford to
-lose it; so I stayed. Just a matter of business, you see!" She finished
-in a tone which, except for a suspicious tremble, was satisfactorily
-disagreeable.
-
-But Blair's armor, since his return, seemed proof against such thrusts
-as she could give.
-
-"Won't play Indian at all, then?" he retorted teasingly. "But of course
-not! How could you when you happen to come from the other side of the
-house? However," he continued whimsically, "there are such things as
-English roses, you know. I've always loved them, too, even when they
-were thorny!"
-
-He pulled absently at a fern growing near, while, suddenly, for no
-particular reason, the color glowed again in the cheeks of the little
-art teacher. She smiled, half unwillingly.
-
-"But don't pull up the wild flowers here," she warned him, "You'll have
-the forester after you! When did you get back?" she added. "Where have
-you been so long?" burned on her lips, but she scorned to ask it.
-
-"About an hour ago," he replied amiably. "The boat was late."
-
-"I was beginning to think you'd given up coming at all." She could not
-keep it back. "The duke never bothered to, you know."
-
-But this blow, like the first, failed to reach any vulnerable spot.
-Blair did not flinch.
-
-"No, naturally he didn't! He was English, and you can't depend upon the
-English, I've discovered. But there's not the slightest reason for
-linking me up with him. The princess never ran away now, did she? And I
-- " He paused, then without looking at her he began again.
-
-"Seriously, I'm sorry if I seemed to be deserting. I - well, honestly, I
-didn't know what else to do. You suggested it yourself, you remember!
-And I'd promised my father to look after some business for him in Los
-Angeles while I was out here. You see, he - our family, have lived in
-the East for a long time now, but we used to own pretty much all of Los
-Angeles county some three centuries ago, when the Spanish were here, and
-- " Again he broke off abruptly. "Do you want to know about me?" he
-demanded.
-
-Miss Hastings leaned breathlessly toward him. Her heart was beating
-wildly.
-
-"Oh, please!" she begged.
-
-"Perhaps I should have told you at the first," he began, "or at least
-after you told me who you were, but - anyway, I didn't. I'd never told
-anyone before and I didn't much suppose I ever would. There's a reason,
-though, why I'm particularly interested in this legend, too, a reason
-just as good as you've got. I'm - well, I'm one of Wildenai's great,
-great grandsons!"
-
-And then, because she sat quite silent there in the shadows, and
-motionless except for fingering something white that lay in her lap, he
-waited uneasily. Was she angry again, he wondered, or perhaps she was
-only laughing!
-
-She was the first to break the silence.
-
-"Are you trying to be funny?" Her voice was very cold.
-
-"Not at all," he answered hotly. "It must be all of ten generations back
-or even more, and of course it wasn't all Spanish afterward, but, just
-the same, I'm as much a descendant of the princess as you are of the
-duke, - always have been! I'm just as proud of it, too. Possibly you
-will remember that the Spanish beat the English to it, at least in
-California. Anyway," he finished bitterly, "what difference does it
-make? So far as I can see, it only gives us one more good subject to
-quarrel about!"
-
-Then out of the dimness came a queer little sound, whether of tears or
-of laughter it was impossible to know. For the least part of a second a
-hand brushed his own.
-
-"Oh, no!" she whispered, "Let's not do that. It wouldn't be right! And
-see," she laughed tremulously, "Isn't it strange I should have found it
-today, but," she lifted the white thing in her lap, "here is Wildenai's
-wedding dress - and the chain of garnets!"
-
-The cavern was quite dark before they had finished talking about it, but
-at length they laid the poor little ghost of a garment reverently back
-among the stones and rose to go.
-
-"But the necklace?" Blair asked, hesitating, "do you think we ought to
-leave that here?"
-
-The girl considered a moment.
-
-"It's really yours," she decided. "Nobody else could have the least
-claim to it."
-
-"Except - " Suddenly his eyes shone with a strange expression before
-which the little art teacher instinctively shrank. He took a step toward
-her.
-
-"I believe I'll give the garnets back," he announced. "I fancy that's
-what the princess would have liked to do if she'd had the chance.
-Besides," his eyes grew still darker, "they were meant in the first
-place for a wedding gift, and so if you - "
-
-He would have clasped them about her neck, but Miss Hastings backed
-frantically away.
-
-"No! - not for worlds," she cried. "You know you're only saying it
-because you think you can't get out of it!" And before he could realize
-just what was happening, she was gone.
-
-
-
-The boat for Los Angeles was unusually crowded that night. For either
-this reason, or some other she would not acknowledge, Miss Hastings
-found herself pushed aside by more impatient passengers every time she
-attempted to enter the gangway.
-
-"All aboard!" called a peremptory voice from somewhere on deck. She took
-a step forward, hesitated, drew back. The plank was hauled irrevocably
-away, and she turned to face Blair standing just behind her on the
-wharf.
-
-"I was sure you wouldn't run away," he declared, "but if you had - !"
-
-She let him lead her back along the broad boardwalk toward the hotel
-until they stood within the shadow of the huge boulder which for
-centuries has marked the outer boundary of the Bay of Moons. Beyond them
-the lights of the St. Catherine glimmered down the hill and on over the
-water, rimming with golden bubbles the outlines of the pier.
-
-"Wildenai!" Out of the darkness his voice came to her, mocking, tender,
-wholly insistent. "Foolish, obstinate little lady! Can't you see how
-it's up to you, - up to the English to make amends? Honestly now, when
-he began it I don't imagine even that rascal Drake himself would have
-believed a family scrap could last the better part of four centuries.
-Don't you really think it's about time for you to call it off?"
-
-And flinging her scruples to the winds, Miss Hastings suddenly decided
-that it was.
-
-
-
-
-
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