The Promise
Page 49
CHAPTER XLVIII
THE WEDDING
The events incident to the wedding of Bill Carmody and Ethel Manton areindelibly stamped upon the memory of every person present. The day waswarmer than any preceding one, with a lowering, overcast sky. The dark,soggy snow melted rapidly, and the swollen surface stream gnawed andtore at the honeycombed ice of the river.
In the cook-shack Daddy Dunnigan superintended the labors of half adozen flunkies in the preparation of the Gargantuan wedding feast whichwas to follow the ceremony, and each man of the crew worked feverishlyin the staging of the great event.
The table, which extended the full length of the grub-shack, wasscrubbed until it shone and was moved to one side to make room for theheavy benches arranged transversely, one behind the other.
The wide aisle between the table and the ends of the benches, leadingfrom the door to the improvised altar at the farther end of the room,was carpeted with blankets from the bunk-house, and suspended from theceiling immediately in front of the altar swung the massive horseshoe,fresh and green with sprouting grain.
During the afternoon a warm drizzle set in and the men completed thepreparations amid a muttered cursing of the weather.
An ominous booming and cracking now and then reached their ears fromthe direction of the river where the sullen, pent-up waters threatenedmomentarily to break their ice bonds, and the men knew that the logsmust go out on the flood though the heavens fell.
The drizzle continued, the gray daylight wore into darkness, and withthe darkness came the return of good cheer. For rollways must be brokenout in the light of day, and the air rang with loud laughter and therhythmic swing of roaring chanteys, as the men realized that they werenot to be robbed of their gala day with its long night of feasting.
The phonograph, with its high-piled box of records, occupied aconspicuous place upon the dais, and upon the long table was displayedan enormous collection of gifts, chief among which was the ingeniouslyconstructed chair with its broad back of flaring moose antlers.
At seven-thirty the men filed in from the bunk-house and found placesupon the benches where they sat awkwardly, conversing in loud whispers.
Father Lapre, book in hand, took his place at the altar, and a fewminutes later Bill Carmody entered with Sheridan and strode rapidly upthe aisle. At the sight of the boss the crew rose as one man and theroom rang with a loud, spontaneous cheer.
The little priest held up his hand for silence. At a signal someonestarted the graphophone, and to the sweet strains of a march the brideappeared, leaning upon the arm of her uncle.
Slowly, with bowed head, in the midst of a strained silence, shetraversed the length of the long room, the cynosure of all eyes. Whenalmost at the altar she raised her eyes to the man who awaited herthere.
Her quick, indrawn breath was almost a gasp, and Appleton felt her armtremble upon his.
He stood waiting for her--this man into whose keeping she was givingher life--exactly as she had seen him at the time of their firstmeeting in the North country when he stood, big and bearded, in thegathering dusk, framed in the doorway of the little office.
In one swift glance she saw that every detail was the same, from thehigh-laced boots to the embroidered hunting-shirt open at thethroat--only his eyes were different--there was no pain, now, in thegray eyes that blazed eagerly into her own--only happiness, and theburning passion of love.
And then her uncle retired, and she stood alone with the man, facingthe priest. She could hear the voice of the little pink priest and ofthe big man at her side, and as in a dream she found herself repeatingthe words of the ritual.
She knew that a ring was being placed upon her finger, and she was awife. And that the priest, in solemn voice, with outstretched hands,was extending them his blessing.
The voice hesitated--stopped.
In the rear of the room the door was thrown violently open and bangedloudly against the log wall. There was a confused scuffling of feet anda scraping of heavy benches as the men craned their necks toward theentrance.
Involuntarily Ethel turned, and there, gliding swiftly toward her upthe blanket-carpeted aisle, was the most picturesquely beautiful womanshe had ever seen.
Wide-eyed she stared at the newcomer. Her face went deathly white, andthe heart within her breast turned to ice, for instinctively she knew,by the wild, intense beauty of the woman, that she stood face to facewith the Indian girl--the Jeanne of Bill Carmody's whispered words!
Her brain took in the details with incredible rapidity; and the girlwas still coming toward her as she noted the dazzling brightness of thegreat silvery wolf-skin that was flung about her shoulders and caughttogether at her soft throat; the mass of black hair, upon which themist-beads sparkled like a million diamonds; the dark, liquid eyes, andthe even, white teeth that glistened between the curving red lips.
The girl was at her side now, and with a low cry threw herself upon herknees before the man, and stretched her arms toward him gropingly.
"M's'u' Bill!" she cried, and the voice was sweet and soft; the wordsuttered with imploring intensity. And then in Ethel's ears was thevoice of her husband.
"Jeanne, Jeanne," he said; "why have you come? Speak, girl; why haveyou come to me?"
At the sound of the name, the thought that at the very altar thiswoman's name was upon the lips of her husband, the hot blood surged toher face and the tiny fists clenched. She was about to speak, but wasforestalled by the half-breed girl who had leaped to her feet andthrown her arms about Bill's neck and was speaking in short, stabbingwords:
"Come! Come now--with me! Oh, do not wait! Come--even now it may be toolate!"
The low voice quivered with excitement, and the man's hand patted hershoulder soothingly as he endeavored to quiet her. Ethel took a quickstep forward, and the hard tone of her voice cut upon the air like thering of tempered steel.
"Who are you?" she cried. "Speak! What is this man to you?"
The Indian girl turned and faced her, seeming for the first time awareof her presence. The dark, liquid eyes flashed as she drew herself toher full height.
"To me, he is _everything_! I would die for him! _I love him!_"
The tense tones rang through the long room where a hundred and fiftybig men sat silent--hypnotized by the intense drama of the scene.
With a lithe, swift movement the half-breed girl raised her hands toher bosom and tore at the fastenings of her hunting-shirt. There wasthe sound of popping buttons, the heavily embroidered shirt flew open,and there, gleaming cold and gray in the lamplight, upon the warm ivoryof her bared breast lay a naked blade--the broken blade of a sheathknife!
She broke the cord that held it suspended about her neck and extendedthe blade toward the man, uttering but a single word:
"Come!"
And as Bill's eyes fell upon the bit of metal his form stiffened andhis fists clenched.
"I will come--lead on!" he answered For in his mind rang the words ofhis solemn promise: "No people of the earth, and nothing that is uponthe earth, nor of the earth, shall prevent me--and one day you willknow that my words are true."
The half-breed girl had already turned away when the man's eyes soughtthe eyes of his wife. She was regarding him with a strange, frightenedstare. Her face had turned marble white at his words, and she gaspeduncertainly for breath.
Her pallor alarmed Bill, who stepped toward her with outstretched arms;but she shrank from his touch and her blue eyes fixed him with theircold, frightened stare.
"Ethel!" he cried. "Darling--my wife! _I must go!_ It is _ThePromise_!" Unconsciously he repeated the words of the old squaw."Wa-ha-ta-na-ta, in the last extremity of her need, is calling--and Imust go to her.
"Oh, can't you see?" he cried suddenly, as the look of horror deepenedupon the face of his wife. "Darling--only long enough to give heraid--then I will return! Surely, surely, dear, you trust me! You willbelieve in me--just this once! When I return to you I will explainall--I can't wait, now--good-by!"
He
turned to follow the Indian girl, but before he could take a stephis wife's arms were about his neck and her words came in great chokingsobs:
"No! No! No! You are _mine_! You cannot go! You will not leave me atthe altar! Oh, if you loved me--if you loved me, you could not go!"
Bill's arms were about her, and the words rushed from his lips: "Loveyou! I love you more than life itself--I live for _you_! But Ipromised--my word has passed--_I must go!_ In a day--two days--aweek--you shall know and understand."
With a low, moaning cry Ethel tore herself from his embrace and reeled,fainting into the arms of the priest, while her husband, white lipped,followed swiftly after the Indian girl who had already gained the endof the aisle.
But a few moments had elapsed since Jeanne Lacombie had burst into theroom. Moments so tense--so laden with terrible portent--that, althoughevery person in the room heard each spoken word, brains failed to grasptheir significance; and Appleton, from his bench near the door, as hesaw Bill Carmody turn from his fainting wife, for the first timedoubted his sincerity.
Men were on their feet now, gazing incredulously at the boss, who,looking neither to the left nor to the right, strode rapidly down theaisle.
Scarcely knowing what he did, with the one thought uppermost in hismind, to stop the foreman and bring him to his senses, Appleton leapedthe intervening benches and, slamming the heavy door, shot the stoutbar.
With a roar of anger Bill seized a heavy split log bench, sending acouple of lumber-jacks tumbling among the feet of their fellows, andwhirling it high above his head, drove it crashing through the door.
The bar snapped like a toothpick, the heavy panel split in half anddropped sidewise, and without a moment's hesitation Bill grasped thehalf-breed girl about the waist and swung her through the splinteredaperture.
Turning, he swept the room with a glare of defiance. For a moment menlooked into the narrowed eyes; and then, as the eyes of the boss restedfor an instant upon the inert form of his wife, they saw the defiantglare melt into a look of compassion and misery such as none had everseen in human eyes.
Then his shoulders stiffened, his jaw squared, and without a word hestepped through the shattered door and disappeared in the blackdrizzle.