The Wedge of Gold

by C. C. Goodwin

  CHAPTER XXV.

  A WEDGE OF GOLD INDEED.

  Sedgwick and Jordan waited at Port Natal for the coming of the "Pallas."Sedgwick explained what the ship would bring, and told Jordan about Gracebeing in San Francisco to receive him, and how while the mill was beingbuilt, he and his wife had raced around the country.

  Jordan was delighted. "I told yo' she war a game girl," he said. "Thinkof her traveling six thousand mile to jine ther man who hed run away fromher at ther meetin' house do'! But I'm mighty glad she did, all the same.It confirms my estermation of ther lady."

  Then he explained that he put on eight-hour shifts to run the tunnel, twoEnglish miners on each shift to handle the drills and gads, and Boers andKaffirs to carry back the debris; that the rock was most favorable, andrapid progress was made, averaging a little over ten feet per day; thathe offered bribes and bounties to the shift that should make mostprogress; and that he had tapped the ledge and cross-cut it in fourmonths, "because," he added naively, "we lost all reckonin' o' time, 'ndI'm afeerd we worked of er Sunday sometimes;" that the ore was quite upto the average, or a little better than what was on the dump; that sosoon as the vein was struck he had started drifts up and down the ledgeand an upraise, and had, when he left, probably 1,000 tons of ore on thedump, and that as the mine was further opened the daily output wassteadily increasing. He had, moreover, got the mill site graded, and thewall that the battery was to be set in front of, built, comfortablequarters put up, and the road through the canon made so that it would begood for heavy teams.

  When he heard that Sedgwick had sent some heavy wagons, yokes, harnessand chains he was glad, saying: "I war afeerd you'd forget it," and atonce went about to select the stock and drivers for those wagons.

  After they had waited eight days, the "Pallas" made the port.

  Captain McGregor reported a prosperous voyage, and the next day thedischarging of cargo into lighters began and was rushed with all speed.As soon as the wagons were landed, the work of setting them up began, andthe training of the teams was likewise inaugurated.

  The first full loads were started for the mine in a week. The heavymachinery was loaded on the imported wagons, native conveyances weresecured for the other freight, and in fourteen days everything was intransit.

  In the meantime another mail had arrived from England, bringing lettersfrom Grace to Sedgwick. One had news of special interest. It told thatthe confidence of Mrs. Hazleton had been partly gained; that she hadlearned much of the lady's life; how she was left an orphan at thirteenin New Jersey; how at seventeen when at school she had run away andmarried a wild youth; how they left at once for the West; how the wildboy settled down, and with a few hundred dollars which he had when theywere married he had made a few thousand and was doing well when hesuddenly sickened and died; how then his relatives came forward and madea contest for his property, setting up that she had never been married;that the showing was so fearful against her that the court in Iowarefused her any support from the estate, and in her shame and confusionshe went away to Texas and taught school for six months to earn moneyenough to make her defense; that there she met an unlettered andsensitive man, but at the same time one of the clearest-brained, mostgenerous and noble-hearted men in the world, but in whom, from the facthe was so sensitive and generous, she could not confide, lest she mightnot be able to vindicate herself; and if she failed, she feared she wouldnot only lose his confidence, but that it would make him believe therewas no truth in the world. How with the money she earned, she was able togo to New Jersey, to find in the papers of the old clergyman who hadmarried her (and who had in the meantime died), not only a full record ofthe marriage, but the marriage certificate with the names of thewitnesses attached, which certificate had never been called for. By it,too, she was able to find the witnesses of the marriage, and one of thosewitnesses had known her all her life. So when the case came on forhearing she was so completely vindicated that her neighbors who hadturned on her a cold shoulder came back with every outward demonstrationof joy over her triumph. But she hated the place; converted all she hadinto money; bought a lot in a cemetery outside that State and had herhusband's remains moved there, because she thought his sleep would bevexed in a community so mean; and then wrote to her friend in Texas,merely asking if he was well, and if she might explain something to him.

  In ten days the letter came back with the endorsement on it by thepostmaster that her friend had sold his property at a sacrifice anddisappeared, his nearest friends did not know where. Grace's letter addedthat she was worrying under the fear that perhaps if she had not gone toTexas the true man would never have made the sacrifice.

  Grace declared that she was in love with the lady; that she was afine scholar, a finished elocutionist, a marvelous musician, and thecomfort of her life in her husband's absence. The letter closed with aninjunction that Sedgwick must bring Jordan safely home with him, and notbe too long about it.

  How Sedgwick wanted to show that letter to Jordan! But he realized thatif Mrs. Hazleton loved him it was for her to tell him so.

  He racked his brain to invent a necessity for Jordan's return to London,but a little thought convinced him that all such expedients would be invain, because Jordan had, as he said, "enlisted fo' the wah," andSedgwick realized that if on any pretext he sent him away, the suspicionmight arise in Jordan's mind that the object was a selfish one, now thatthe labor and anxiety of making the enterprise a success had well-nighpassed.

  So he decided that the thing to do was to hurry the work in hand toculmination. The rainy season was pretty well over, and the material forthe mill was pushed forward with reasonable dispatch. It was all on theground, set up, and in motion in fifty days.

  Sedgwick found on reaching the mine that Jordan had built the neededhouses, and had the mill as nearly completed as it could be before themachinery was set in place.

  The ore crushed easily, and the mill reduced two tons and a half perstamp readily in every twenty-four hours, in thirty days crushing 3,000tons. It yielded in the mill $35 per ton, and at the end of thirty daysthere were bars of the value of $100,000 ready for shipment. ThenSedgwick said: "Come, Tom, our work is finished here, at least for thepresent; let us seek civilization."

  "Agreed, old friend," said Jordan. "I'll get my trophies together and beready ter start in ther morning."

  "And what are your trophies?" asked Sedgwick.

  "Why, didn't I tell yer?" was the reply. "It got kinder lonesome whileyo' war away, so I went on a hunt. I've got ther finest pair o' leopardskins yo' ever seen, some elephant tusks, 'nd I migh'er brought a sarpentskin that war a daisy, but I drew ther line on snakes. But he wartwenty-three feet long, and ther look outer his eyes war not reassurin'by a blamed sight. I migh'er got a giraff skin, too, but she hed her babywith her, and I'm not breakin' up no giraffe families."

  It was understood that they were to leave in the morning; were to go inthe covered spring wagon, and were to carry the gold.

  One of the English miners was made superintendent of the mine. Themill-men from San Francisco agreed to look after the mill for a year,and the civil engineer undertook to see to the books, to attend to thefinances and send an express to the coast once a week.

  So Sedgwick and Jordan, with one Boer, started early in the morning. Itwas in the last week in May; the weather was cold for that region, for itwas the beginning of winter.

  They drove out of the narrow valley, through the canon, out upon the opentable-land and down to the house or dug-out which they had first foundwhen in search of a way out. They rested there, ate some luncheon, fedtheir horses, and after an hour and a half started on.

  They had brought with them their repeating rifles and revolvers. Beforegetting into the wagon, Jordan had rolled up and fastened the curtains ofthe wagon, examined closely the guns, and then gave a long, sweeping lookall around the horizon.

  "What are you looking for, Jordan?" asked Sedgwick.

  "Nuthin' much," he answered. "Only, Jim, have yer gun whar yo'
can reachit quick if wanted."

  "Why?" asked Sedgwick.

  "Nuthin," said Jordan. "Only I never seen this place afore thet thar warnot a dozen cut-throat-lookin' scoundrels 'round, and they mighter meanmischief, knowin' as how we have ther treasure aboard."

  They had driven on for perhaps a mile, when the road ran down close tothe stream. All at once half a dozen shots rang out of the willows, andthe Boer sprang from the wagon and ran for the bush.

  Sedgwick was driving. Jordan in a second caught his gun, and springingover the seat, said:

  "Drive on quick, Jim, and in ther meantime I'll try ter entertain thervarmints."

  A Boer stepped out of the willows and raised his gun. He never fired it,but threw up his hands and fell on his face. A shot from Jordan's gun hadchanged his calculations.

  Three or four more shots were fired from the bush, but they did no harm.

  Sedgwick had urged the team into a run, and they had just begun to hopethe ambuscade had been passed, when three more Boers sprang out of thewillows nearly opposite them and fired.

  Jordan killed two of them in a moment, but the third one fired again, andthe bullet struck Jordan's left arm, disabling it and making a bad wound.

  "Can you drive, think?" asked Sedgwick.

  Jordan thought he could, and took the reins; Sedgwick picked up his gun.

  Three more Boers just then appeared by the willows opposite. Sedgwickcould shoot as rapidly and as accurately as Jordan, and he cleared thefield in a moment.

  The road bent away from the stream soon after, back upon the table-land,and they were safe. They stopped, and Sedgwick bound up Jordan's arm. Thebone was not broken, and no great blood-vessel was seriously injured, buthe had received a nasty flesh wound through the muscles of his fore-arm.

  As they proceeded on their journey, Jordan said: "That black guard as Ifirst got a crack at hed been working for us two months. He war at hiswork yesterday. He put up this business, but how we sprised him! Therdevil that jumped from the wagon when ther scrimmage begun war hisrunnin' pard. Wur it not lucky neither hoss war hit?"

  They reached Port Natal in six days without further incident; but despiteall the care that Sedgwick could give it, Jordan's arm was badly inflamedand very painful when they reached the seashore.

  No regular steamer was in port, but the "Pallas" was seen at anchor outin the roadstead.

  Sedgwick engaged a boat, and with Jordan pulled out to the steamer.

  McGregor was delighted at their coming, took them on board and said:"Now, boys, we will have a night of it."

  But Sedgwick said: "First, Captain, I want your surgeon to look atJordan's arm."

  "Why, of course," said McGregor. The doctor was called. He examined thearm, then tested the man's temperature, and finally said:

  "The wound is nothing in itself. Under normal conditions it would heal ina fortnight, but Mr. Jordan's system is run down. He has a low fever onhim now, and needs immediate treatment and careful nursing."

  This was a new situation, and one that troubled Sedgwick exceedingly. Hewas silent for a few seconds, and then looking up, said:

  "Captain McGregor, where do you go next?"

  "I was just going to pull out for Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama and SanFrancisco," he replied.

  "And when do you sail?" asked Sedgwick.

  "I intended to put to sea to-morrow," was the answer; "everything isready."

  "Can I induce you for love and money to make the run at full speed toNaples or Marseilles?" asked Sedgwick.

  "Not for money, but for love, yes," was the reply.

  "And can I have a room for Jordan right now?" was the next question.

  "You shall have the bridal chamber of my ship," said McGregor.

  "Thanks, Captain," said Sedgwick, "and now let us get the dear old boy tobed."

  Jordan insisted that he was not ill, but before they could get himundressed he was seized with a chill, and they worked upon him an hourbefore he rallied, grew warm and fell asleep.

  In the meantime the night had come down, so Sedgwick got a little supperand then went back to his friend. The captain, steward, indeed all hands,were all attention, for they knew all about both men.

  Next morning Jordan was comfortable, but the fever was having its way.Sedgwick went ashore, got his own and Jordan's baggage and the bullion,and when he returned the ship was at once got under way for her northernvoyage.

  The attentions of Sedgwick to his sick friend were simply incessant. Theship's surgeon was also assiduous in his care. Captain McGregor was allthe time most solicitous. As they approached the equator, they fixed forJordan a bed on deck where the air, even if it was hot, was better inmotion over him than in the stifling state-room.

  The ship rounded the great cape in ten days, and reached the Red Sea onthe twelfth day. Then the surgeon motioned Sedgwick aside, and said: "Thecase of your friend makes me very anxious. His wound is not of itselfserious. He has a little fever, but it would not be of a dangerous typein an ordinary patient. In this case the sick man acts like one who haslost hope, and under the sorrow of his loss his nerve power has ceased toexert its force, and the man is liable to die simply because he will makeno effort to live."

  "I know," said Sedgwick, "and I have been dreading such a report as youhave made me, for the last seven days. If you can keep his life fromgoing out until we can reach Naples, I believe we can then find a tonicthat will save him."

  "I will try," was the answer, "but he is growing weaker every day, and Iam afraid. However, the temperature is growing cooler and it gives us abetter chance."

  Sedgwick tried by talking, by reading, and by drawing rosy pictures ofwhat they would do in England and America, to rouse Jordan, but withoutmuch success.

  He lay patient and still on his couch, and to all inquiries would answer:"I'm perfectly comfortable, dear friend. Do not worry about me;everything is as it should be."

  Then Sedgwick tried another experiment. He told the sick man that he mustexert himself to be better; that sickness was often influenced by thewill of the patient, and added that the real work of trying to undo thewrong perpetrated upon Browning would have to be done when they reachedEngland, and that he should then need the best counsel and help of hisfriend.

  Jordan listened and said: "I'll do the best I ken, Jim, but it will beall right, I'm shor."

  So the hours went by, and Captain McGregor told the engineer to crowd onall steam, and to bribe the fireman to give the ship all the speedpossible.

  At Suez, Sedgwick went ashore and cabled his wife that he was on the"Pallas;" to come at once to Naples; to induce Jack and Rose to comealso, and, if she thought best, to bring Mrs. Hazleton, for Jordan wasill, and he feared nothing but the cheer of friendly faces would arousehim and give him the strength to live. He added that she must use herwoman's wits as to what she would tell Mrs. H., and that to outsiders itmust all seem but as running over to the continent for a few days'outing.

  When Grace Sedgwick, very early one morning, received and read thatmessage, she held it for many minutes, lost in thought. She had grownvery near to Mrs. Hazleton, but except when she had drawn from her thestory of her life, she had never probed in the least to see if in herheart she was nursing a vast regret.

  But she had noticed some things that led her to believe that the lady hadan anxiety which she was trying to conceal. She was always ready to visitany point of interest that would naturally attract a stranger, or toattend any public assemblage that a stranger might be lured to. Again,she always approached such places with vivacity, and returned from themin silence.

  As Mrs. Sedgwick sat with the dispatch doubled up in her closed hand,Mrs. Hazleton came into the room. Touching a chair by her side, Gracesaid: "Come and sit by me, Margaret. I want to talk with you."

  She complied, merely saying: "What do you want to talk about, love?"

  "Are you happy?" asked Grace.

  "Indeed, yes. Why do you ask?" was the reply. "Have you not been makingmy life a bed of roses eve
r since your blessed eyes first rested on me?"

  Grace looked at her intently for a moment, then said: "Is there some onewhom you wish exceedingly to see?"

  A rosy flush swept like a wave over her face, which was followed by aquick pallor. But she recovered herself almost instantly, and said: "Why,Mrs. Sedgwick, do you ask me so strange a question?"

  Grace arose, then bending down, took her hand, laid the dispatch upon thepalm, closed the fingers gently over it and said:

  "My dear, there is a paper for you to read. I am going to Rose for afew minutes. When I return, you may tell me anything you please, ornothing at all, as you please; only let me tell you first that beforemy husband went to Nevada, he went to another State, lived there witha great-hearted man for a year, and that man was with him when he left meat the church door on my wedding day, and they have been together since,except when my husband left him to go to America to buy machinery andcame back this way to join him again." Then she suddenly bent and kissedher friend and was gone.

  She went through to Rose's side of the house, found her, and asked whereMr. Browning was.

  "He is in the library," said Rose; "he has not yet gone out thismorning."

  "Then come with me," said Grace. Once in the library, she said: "I havenews from my James this morning. He cabled me from Suez. He is cominghome, and he wants us to meet him at Naples. Mr. Jordan has been withhim--is coming with him, is ill, I fear very ill, and he wants us to meethim, I believe chiefly on that dear man's account. I shall leave thisafternoon; can you go with me?"

  "I can," said Jack.

  "I can," said Rose.

  "I am so glad," said Grace. "And say, there must be nothing said to theservants, except that we have run over to the continent on a lark, for afew days. And now good-bye until we are ready."

  With that she returned to her own sitting room. Mrs. Hazleton was gone,and it was a full half hour before she returned. When she did, she wasvery pale. A look of anxiety was on her face, but a radiant new light wasin her eyes.

  She came straight up to Grace, and in a low voice said: "When do youstart?"

  "To-day," said Grace; "by the first Dover train."

  "O, thanks; pray God we be not too late," was the answer; and then thepoor woman sank into a chair, covered her face with her hands, and brokeinto sobs that were almost hysterical.

  Grace stood by her for a few minutes, then knelt down, put one arm aroundher, drew her toward her, gently drew down the hands and laid her cheekagainst the tear-dripping cheek of her friend, and said: "Now you must bebrave, dear Margaret; it's going to be all well. I feel it in every fibreof my being. My husband is with him. He will supply him with the vitalityto live until the vision of your face above his pillow will bring thestimulus that he needs."

  The true woman recovered herself at length, and said: "O Mrs. Sedgwick,how did you discover my secret, and the great-hearted man whom I havesought for and prayed for so long?"

  "It was not I," said Grace. "It was my husband. He lived with Mr.Jordan a year in Texas. After he had made his little fortune in Nevada,he--thanks be to God--came home with Jack. He met his old friend here,who frankly told him how he loved you, and why he had sold his home andturned wanderer. Just then Jack had been induced by his step-fatherand mine, and the knave Stetson, to invest part of his fortune in a goldmine in South Africa; and by a deception, nearly all that was left of hisfortune was lured away into the same channel. Jack was well-nigh frantic.Rose had been waiting for him for four years and a half, so my husbandinsisted upon their marriage and determined to go and see if anythingcould be made out of the wreck, and asked me to wait until his return.I agreed, only stipulating that we, too, should be married before hewent. I left him at the church. My husband was a silver miner; Mr. Jordanwas a gold miner--I do not know the difference, only the gold miner cantest gold ore--and they together went to Africa. They found the minegood, and found a new road to it, over which the machinery could betransported. Then my husband sailed via Australia for San Francisco tobuy the machinery; Mr. Jordan remained to open the mine. My husbandcabled me from Australia, and the next day I received his letter fromSouth Africa, telling me that he would be two months in San Francisco,and then would come by London on his way back to the South Land. I tookthe first ship and reached San Francisco before his ship came in fromAustralia; then when I knew the ship was coming up the bay, I had theapartments dressed in flowers, robed myself in attire such as I had meantshould be my wedding garments, and waited his coming."

  Then she paused a moment as the memory of that meeting swept over her,while the arms of her friend stole around her.

  Continuing, she said: "When ready to start for England, we, as you know,made arrangements to stop a day or two with our friends in Indiana. Whenyou were presented, my husband recognized you instantly by the name anddescription given of you by his friend. When you sang that first song, heguessed your secret and told me his thought, and helped me to work thestratagem to lure you here. When he reached Port Natal, he tried toinvent some plausible reason to induce Mr. Jordan to come here, but hecould not; and so has hurried to get the mill working, and now both areon the way, and I must meet them. Jack and Rose are going with me; willyou?"

  The arms of Margaret Hazleton were clinging to Grace, and the tears wereraining down her face. So soon as she could speak, she said:

  "And so, while I thought you were my best friend, you have really been myguardian angel. I came with you because I hoped to find the noble man whohad self-exiled himself, and all the time when I thought I was disguisingmy heart, your clear eyes have been reading it. I remember now in Texasthe boys were always talking of a famous Jim who had lived with them, butI never dreamed that he was your husband.

  "My gratitude to you and your grand husband is bankrupt, but now nomatter. The first thing to do is to be on our way--only, do Mr. and Mrs.Browning also know my secret?"

  "Not at all," said Grace. "Until just now they did not even know that Mr.Jordan was with my husband, but I will tell Rose all that may benecessary."

  All left that day, in due time reached Naples, and engaged ample quartersbefore the "Pallas" entered the bay.