CHAPTER XII
BARBARA SEES A LIGHT
When Barbara regained consciousness it was with a gasp of horror over therealization of what had happened. She stiffened immediately, however, andlay, straining at the dread paralysis that had gripped her; for she sawHarlan standing at her side, looking down into her face, his own set in agrim smile.
She must have fainted again, for it seemed to her that a long period oftime elapsed until she again became conscious of her surroundings. Harlanhad moved off a little, though he was still watching her with the grimlyhumorous expression.
She sat up, staring wildly at him; then shrank back, getting as far awayfrom him as she could.
"You!" she gasped, "You! Didn't I----"
He interrupted her, drawling his words a little:
"The guy you shot was Lawson. You bored him a heap. I've toted himdownstairs. He's plenty dead. It was plumb good shootin'--for a woman."
His words shocked her to action, and she got up and walked around thefoot of the bed, from where she could see the spot where the intrudermust have fallen after she had shot him. A dark stain showed on the floorwhere the man had lain, and the sight of it sent her a step backward, sothat she struck the foot of the bed. She caught at the bed and graspedone of the posts, holding tightly to it while she looked Harlan over withdreading, incredulous eyes.
"It--it wasn't _you_!" she demanded. "Are you sure?"
He smiled and said, slowly and consolingly: "I reckon if you'd shot _me_I'd be knowin' it. Don't take it so hard, ma'am. Why, if a man goes tobreakin' into a woman's room that way he sure ain't fit to go on livin'in a world where there _is_ a woman."
"It was Lawson--you say? Meeder Lawson--the Rancho Seco foreman? Ithought--why, I thought it was you!"
"I'm thankin' you, ma'am," he said, ironically. "But if you'll just stickyour head out of that window, you'll see it was Lawson, right enough.He's layin' right below the window."
She did as bidden, and she saw Lawson lying on the ground beneath thewindow, flat on his back, his face turned upward with the radiantmoonlight shining full upon his wide-open, staring eyes.
Barbara glanced swiftly, and then drew back into the room, shuddering.
Harlan stood, silently regarding her, while she walked again to the bedand sat upon it, staring out into the flood of moonlight, her faceghastly, her hands hanging limply at her sides.
She had killed a man. And though there was justification for the deed,she could not fight down the shivering horror that had seized her, theoverpowering and terrible knowledge that she had taken human life.
She sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, and Harlan said no wordto her, standing motionless, his arms folded, one hand slowly caressinghis chin, as he watched her.
After a time, drawing a long, shuddering breath, she looked up at him.
"How did you know--what made you come--here?" she asked.
"I wasn't reckonin' to sleep tonight--havin' thoughts--about things," hesaid. "I was puttin' in a heap of my time settin' in the doorway of thebunkhouse, wonderin' what had made you so scared of me. While I wastryin' to figure it out I saw Lawson comin'. There was somethin' in hisactions which didn't jibe with my ideas of square dealin', an' so I keptlookin' at him. An' when I saw him prowlin' around, tryin' to open doorsan' windows, why, I just naturally trailed him. An' I found the window heopened. I reckon that's all."
She got up, swaying a little, a wan smile on her face that reflected herastonishment and wonder over the way she had jumbled things. For thisman--the man she had feared when she had left him standing outside thedoor some hours before--had been eager to protect her from the other, whohad attacked her. He had been waiting, watching.
Moreover, there was in Harlan's eyes as he stood in the room aconsiderate, deferential gleam that told her more than words could haveconveyed to her--a something that convinced her that he was not the typeof man she had thought him.
The knowledge filled her with a strange delight. There was relief in hereyes, and her voice was almost steady when she again spoke to him:
"Harlan," she said, "did father really send you here? Did he make youpromise to come?"
"I reckon he did, ma'am," he said.
For an instant she looked fairly at him, intently searching his eyes forindications of untruthfulness. Then she drew a long breath of conviction.
"I believe you," she said.
Harlan swept his hat from his head. He bowed, and there was an odd leapin his voice:
"That tickles me a heap, ma'am. I don't know when I've heard anythingthat pleased me more."
He backed away from her until he reached the doorway. And she saw hiseyes--wide and eloquent--even in the subdued light of the doorway.
"I'd go to sleep now, ma'am, if I was you. You need it a heap. It's beena long day for you--an' things ain't gone just right. I don't reckonthere'll be anybody botherin' you any more tonight."
"And you?" she asked, "won't you try to get some sleep, too?"
He laughed, telling her that he would "ketch a wink or two." Then heturned and went down the stairs--she could hear him as he opened a lowerdoor and went out.
Looking out of the window an instant later, she saw him taking Lawson'sbody away. And still later, hearing a sound outside, she stole to thewindow again.
Below, seated on the threshold of the door that led into the room she hadentered when she had crossed the _patio_, she saw Harlan. He was smokinga cigarette, leaning against the door jamb in an attitude of completerelaxation.
There was something in his manner that comforted her--a calm confidence,a slow ease of movement as he fingered his cigarette that indicatedperfect tranquility--an atmosphere of peace that could not havesurrounded him had he meditated any evil whatever.
She knew, now, that she had misjudged him. For he had made no attempt totake advantage of her loneliness and helplessness. And whatever hisreputation--whatever the crimes he had committed against the laws--he hadbeen a gentleman in his attitude toward her. That feature of his conductdominated her thoughts as she stretched out on the bed; it was her lastcoherent thought as she went to sleep.
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