Chapter III
Payment in Raw Gold
'You were merely speaking by way of jest, I take it, Mr. Howard,'remarked Longstreet, after he had interestedly watched the rancher puta third and fourth heaping spoonful of sugar in his tin cup of coffee.'I refer, you understand, to your hinting a moment ago at there beingany truth in the old Indian superstitions. I am not to suppose, am I,that you actually give any credence to tales of supernatural influencesmanifested hereabouts?'
Alan Howard stirred his coffee meditatively, and after so leisurely afashion that Longstreet began to fidget. The reply, when finally itcame, was sufficiently non-committal.
'I said "_Quien sabe_?" to the question just now,' he said, a twinklein the regard bestowed upon the scientist. 'They are two pretty goodlittle old words and fit in first-rate lots of times.'
'Spanish for "Who knows?" aren't they?'
Howard nodded. 'They used to be Spanish; I guess they're Mex by now.'
Longstreet frowned and returned to the issue.
'If you were merely jesting, as I supposed----'
'But was I?' demanded Howard. 'What do I know about it? I know horsesand cows; that's my business. I know a thing or two about men, sincethat's my business at times, too; also something like half of thatabout half-breeds and mules; I meet up with them sometimes in the runof the day's work. You know something of what I think you callauriferous geology. But what does either of us know of the nightlycustom of dead Indians and Indian gods?'
Helen wondered with her father whether there were a vein of seriousnessin the man's thought. Howard squatted on his heels, from which he hadremoved his spurs; they were very high heels, but none the less heseemed comfortably at home rocking on them. Longstreet noted with hiskeen eyes, altered his own squatting position a fraction, and openedhis mouth for another question. But Howard forestalled him, sayingcasually:
'I have known queer things to happen here, within a few hundred yardsof this place. I haven't had time to go finding out the why of them;they didn't come into my day's work. I have listened to someinteresting yarns; truth or lies it didn't matter to me. They say thatghosts haunt the Pool just yonder. I have never seen a ghost; there'snothing in raising ghosts for market, and I'm the busiest man I knowtrying to chew a chunk that I have bitten off. They tell you down atSan Juan and in Poco Poco, and all the way up to Tecolote, that if youwill come here a certain moonlight night of the year and will watch thewater of the pool, you'll see a vision sent up by the gods of theUnderworld. They'll even tell you how a nice little old god by thename of Pookhonghoya appears now and then by night, hunting souls ofenemies--and running by the side of the biggest, strangest wolf thathuman eyes ever saw.'
Helen looked at him swiftly. He had added the last item almost as anafterthought. She imagined that he had embellished the old tale fromhis own recent experience, and, further, that Mr. Alan Howard wasmaking fun of them and was no adept in the science of fabrication.
'They go further,' Howard spun out his tale. 'Somewhere in the desertcountry to the north there is, I believe, a tribe of Hidden People thatthe white man has never seen. The interesting thing about them is thatthey are governed by a young and altogether maddeningly pretty goddesswho is white and whose name is Yahoya. When they come right down tothe matter of giving names,' he added gravely, 'how is a man to go anyfurther than just say, "_Quien sabe_?"'
'That is stupid.' said Longstreet irascibly. 'It's a man's chiefaffair in life to _know_. These absurd legends----'
'Don't you think, papa,' said Helen coolly, 'that instead of taxing Mr.Howard's memory and--and imagination, it would be better if you askedhim about our way from here on?'
Howard chuckled. Professor Longstreet set aside his cup, cleared histhroat and agreed with his daughter.
'I am prospecting,' he announced, 'for gold. We are headed for what isknown as the Last Ridge country. I have a map here.'
He drew it from his pocket, neatly folded, and spread it out. It was amap such as is to be purchased for fifty cents at the store in SanJuan, showing the main roads, towns, waterholes and trails. With ablue pencil he had marked out the way they planned to go. Howard bentforward and took the paper.
'We are going the same way, friend,' he said as he looked up. 'What ismore, we are going over a trail I know by heart. There is a goodchance I can save you time and trouble by making it a party of three.Am I wanted?'
'It is extremely kind of you,' said Longstreet appreciatively. 'Butyou are on horseback and we travel slowly.'
'I can spare the time,' was the even rejoinder. 'And I'll be glad todo it.'
During the half-hour required to break camp and pack the two horses,Alan Howard gave signs of an interest which now and then mounted almostto high delight. He made no remark concerning the elaborate system ofwater-bottles and canteens, but his eyes brightened as he aided theprofessor in making them fast. When the procession was ready to starthe strode on ahead, leading his own horse and hiding from his newfriends the widening grin upon his face.
The sun was up; already the still heat of the desert was in the air.Behind the tall rancher and his glossy mare came Professor Longstreetdriving his two pack animals. Just behind him, with much gravespeculation in her eyes, came Helen. A new man had swum allunexpectedly into her ken and she was busy cataloguing him. He lookedthe native in this environment, but for all that he was plainly a manof her own class. No illiteracy, no wild shy awkwardness marked hisdemeanour. He was as free and easy as the north wind; he might, afterall, be likeable. Certainly it was _courtois_ of him to set himself onfoot to be one of them. The mare looked gentle despite her high life;Helen wondered if Alan Howard had thought of offering her his mount?
They had come to the first of the low-lying hills.
'Miss Longstreet,' called Howard, stopping and turning, 'wouldn't youlike to swing up on Sanchia? She is dying to be ridden.'
The trail here was wide and clearly defined; hence Longstreet and histwo horses went by and Helen came up with Howard. Hers was the trickof level, searching eyes. She looked steadily at him as she saidevenly:
'So her name is Sanchia?'
For an instant the man did not appear to understand. Then suddenlyHelen was treated to the sight of the warm red seeping up under histan. And then he slapped his thigh and laughed; his laughter seemingunaffected and joyous.
'Talk about getting absent-minded in my old age,' he declared. 'Hername did use to be Sanchia; I changed it to Helen. Think of my slidingback to the old name.'
Helen's candid look did not shift for the moment that she paused. Thenshe went on by him, following her father, saying merely:
'Thank you, I'll walk. And if she were mine I'd keep the old name;Sanchia suits her exactly.'
But as she hurried on after her father she had time for reflection;plainly the easy-mannered Mr. Alan Howard had renamed his mare onlythis very morning; as plainly had he in the first place called herSanchia in honour of some other friend or chance acquaintance. Helenwondered vaguely who the original Sanchia was. To her imagination thename suggested a slim, big-eyed Mexican girl. She found time to wonderfurther how many times Mr. Howard had named his horse.
They skirted a hill, dipped into the hollow which gave passagewaybetween this hill and its twin neighbour, mounted briefly, and withintwenty minutes came to the pool about which legends flocked. Fromtheir vantage point they looked down upon it. The sun searched it outalmost at the instant that their eyes caught the glint of it. Fed bymany hidden springs it was a still, smooth body of water in the bowl ofthe hills; it looked cool and deep and had its own air of mystery; inits ancient bosom it may have hidden bones or gold. Some devotee hadplanted a weeping willow here long ago; the great tree now flourishedand cast its reflection across its own fallen leaves.
Helen's eyes dreamed and sought visions; the spot touched her with itsromance, and she, after the true style of youth, lent aid to the stillinfluences. Alan Howard, to whom this was scarcely
other than aneveryday matter, turned naturally to the new and was content to watchthe girl. As for Longstreet, his regard was busied with the stones athis feet, and thereafter with a washout upon a hill-side where theformation of the hills themselves was laid bare to a scientific eye.
'There's gold everywhere about here,' he announced placidly. 'But notin the quantities I have promised you, Helen. We'll go on to the LastRidge country before we stop.'
Howard turned from the daughter to consider the father long andsearchingly, after the way of one man seeking another's measure.
'As a rule I go kind of slow when it comes to cutting in on anotherfellow's play,' he said bluntly. 'But I'm going to chip in now withthis: I know that Last Ridge country from horn to tail, and all thegold that's in it or has ever been in it wouldn't buy a drink of badwhisky in Poco Poco.'
The light of forensic battle leaped up bright and eager in Longstreet'seyes. But Howard saw it, and before the professor's unshakenpositiveness could pour itself forth in a forensic flood the ranchercut the whole matter short by saying crisply:
'I know. And it's up to you. I've shot my volley to give you theright slant and you can play out your string your own way. Right nowwe'd better be moseying on; the sun's climbing, partner.'
He passed by them, leading his mare toward a crease in the hills whichgave ready passage out of the bowl and again to the sweep of thedesert. Longstreet dropped in behind him, driving his two horses,while Helen stood a little alone by the pool, looking at it with eyeswhich still brooded. In her hatband was a bluebird feather; herfingers rose to it reminiscently. A faint, dying breeze just barelystirred the drooping branches of the willow; in one place the gracefulpendant leaves merged with their own reflections below, faintlyblurring them with the slightest of ripples. Here, in the sunlight,was a languid place of dreams; by mellow, magic moonlight what wonderif there came hither certain of the last remnants and relics of an oldsuperstitious people, seeking visions? And an old saw hath it, 'Whatye seek for ye shall find.'
Helen looked up; already Howard had passed out of sight; already herfather's two pack horses had followed the rancher's mare beyond thebrushy flank of the hill and Longstreet himself would be out of hersight in another moment. She turned a last look upon the still pondand hurried on.
Now again, as upon yesterday and the day before, the desert seemedwithout limit about them. The hot sun mounted; the earth sweltered andbaked and blistered. Heat waves shimmered in the distances; thedistances themselves were withdrawn into the veil of ultimate distancesover which the blazing heat lay in what seemed palpable strata;crunching rock and gravel in the dry water-courses burned through thicksole-leather; burning particles of sand got into boots and irritatedthe skin; humans and horses toiled on, hour after hour, from earlylistlessness to weariness and, before noon, to parched misery. EvenHoward, who confessed that he was little used to walking, admitted thatthis sort of thing made no great hit with him. During the forenoon heagain offered his mount to Helen; when she sought to demur and hoped tobe persuaded, he suggested a compromise; they would take turns, she,her father and himself. By noon, when they camped for lunch and a twohours' rest, all three had ridden.
Barely perceptibly the sweeps about them had altered during the lasthour before midday. Here and there were low hills dotted occasionallyby trees, covered with sparse dry grass. Here, said Howard, were theouter fringes of the grazing land; his cattle sometimes strayed as faras this. The spot chosen for nooning was a suspicion less breathlesslyhot; there was a sluggish spring ringed about with wiry green grass andshaded by a clump of mongrel trees.
Helen ate little and then lay down and slept. Longstreet, his kneesgathered in his arms, his back to a tree, sat staring thoughtfullyacross the billowing country before them; Howard smoked a cigarette,stood a moment looking curiously down at the weary figure of the girl,and then strode off to the next shade for his own siesta.
'Rode pretty well all night,' he explained half apologetically toLongstreet as he went. 'And haven't walked this much since last time.'
Between two and three they started on again. It grew cooler;constantly as they went forward the earth showed growing signs offertility and, here and there, of moisture guarded and treasured undera shaggy coat of herbage. Within the first hour they glimpsed a numberof scattered cattle and mules; once Helen cried out at the discovery ofa small herd of deer browsing in a shaded draw. Then came a lowdivide; upon its crest was an outcropping of rock. Here Howard waiteduntil his two companions came up with him; from here he pointed,sweeping his arm widely from north to east and south of east.
'The Last Ridge country, yonder,' he said.
They saw it against the north-eastern horizon. From the base of thehills on which they stood a broad valley spread out generously.Marking the valley's northern boundary some half-dozen miles away,thrown up against the sky like a bulwark, was a long broken ridge likea wall of cliff, an embankment stained the many colours of thesouth-west; red it looked in streaks and yellow and orange and evenlavender and pale elusive green. It swept in a broad, irregular curveabout the further level lands; it was carved and notched along itscrest into strange shapes, here thrusting upward in a singleneedle-like tower, there offering to the clear sky a growth like amonster toadstool, again notched into saw-tooth edges.
'And here,' said Howard, his voice eloquent of his pride of ownership,'my valley lands. From Last Ridge to the hills across yonder, fromthose hills as far as you can see to the south, mile after mile of it,it's mine, by the Lord! That is,' he amended with a slow smile underHelen's amazed eyes, 'when I get it all paid for! And there,' hecontinued, pointing this time to something white showing through thegreen of a grove upon a meadow land far off toward the southern rim ofthe valley, 'there is home. You'll know the way; I'm only twelve orfifteen miles from the Ridge, and so, you see, we're next-doorneighbours.'
To Helen, as she gazed whither his finger led, came a strange,unaccustomed thrill. For the first time she felt the glory, and forgotthe discomfort, of the hot sun and the hot land. There was a man'shome; set apart from the world and yet sufficient unto itself; here wasa man's holding, one man's, and it was as big and wide as a king'sestate. She looked swiftly at the tall man at her side; it was his orwould be his. And he need not have told her; what she had read in thetimbre of his voice she saw written large in his eyes; they were brightwith the joy of possession.
'Neighbours, folks,' he was saying. 'So let's begin things inneighbourly style. Come on home with me now; stick over a day or soresting up. Then I'll send a wagon and a couple of the boys over tothe ridge with you and they'll lend you a hand at digging in for thelength of your stay. It's the sensible thing,' he insistedargumentatively as he saw how Longstreet's gaze grew eager for theRidge. 'And I'd consider it an honour, a high honour.'
'You are extremely kind, sir,' said Longstreet hesitatingly. 'But----'
'Come on,' cut in Howard warmly, his hand on the older man's shoulder.'Just as a favour to me, neighbour. Everything's plain out our way;nothing fancy. But I've got clean beds to sleep in and the kitchenstore-room's full and---- Why, man, I've even got a bathtub! Comeahead; be a sport and take a chance.'
Longstreet smiled; Helen watched him questioningly. Suddenly sherealized that she was a trifle curious about Alan Howard; bath andclean beds did tempt her weary body, and besides there would be acertain interest in looking in upon the stranger's establishment. Shewondered for the first time if there were a young Mrs. Howard awaitinghim?
'How about it, Helen?' asked her father. 'Shall we accept further ofthis gentleman's kindness?'
'If we were sure,' hesitated Helen, 'that we would not be imposing----'
So it was settled, and Howard, highly pleased, led the way down intothe valley. Making the gradual descent their trail, well marked now bythe shod hoofs of horses, wound into a shady hollow. In the heart ofthis where there was a thin trickle of water Howard stopped abruptly.Helen, who was close to him, heard him
mutter something under hisbreath and in a new tone of wrath. She looked at him wondering. Hestrode across the stream and stopped again; he stooped and she saw whathe had seen; he straightened up and she saw blazing anger in his eyes.
Here, no longer ago than yesterday, a yearling beef had beenslaughtered; the carcass lay half hidden by the bushes.
'Now who the hell did that for me?' cried out the man angrily. 'Lookhere; he's killed a beef for a couple of steaks. He's taken that andleft the rest for the buzzards. The low-down, hog-hearted son of ascurvy coyote.'
Helen held back, frightened at what she read in his face. Her fathercame up with her and demanded:
'What is it? What's wrong?'
'Some one has killed one of his cows,' she whispered, catching hold ofhis arm. 'I believe he would kill the man who did it.'
Howard was looking about him for signs to tell whence the marauder hadcome, whither gone. He picked up a fresh rib bone, that had beenhacked from its place with a heavy knife and then gnawed and broken asby a wolf's savage teeth. He noted something else; he went to ithurriedly. Upon a conspicuous rock, held in place by a smaller stone,was a small rawhide pouch. It was heavy in his palm; he opened it andpoured its contents into his palm. And these contents he showed toLongstreet and Helen, looking at them wonderingly.
'The gent took what he wanted, but he paid for it,' he said slowly, 'inenough raw gold to buy half a dozen young beeves! That's fair enough,isn't it? The chances are he was in a hurry.'
'Maybe,' suggested Helen quickly, 'he was the same man whose camp firewe found. _He_ was in a hurry.'
Howard pondered but finally shook his head. 'No; that man had baconand coffee to leave behind him. It was some other jasper.'
Longstreet was absorbed in another interest. He took the unminted goldinto his own hands, fingering it and studying it.
'It is around here everywhere, my dear,' he told Helen with his oldplacid assurance. 'It is quite as I have said; if you want fish, lookfor them in the sea; if you seek gold, not in insignificant quantities,but in a great, thick, rich ledge, come out toward the Last Ridgecountry.'
He returned the raw metal to Howard, who dropped it into its bag andthe bag into his pocket. Silent now as each one found company in hisown thoughts, they moved down the slope and into the valley.
The Desert Valley Page 3