CHAPTER X
A moment later some one came surging through the crowd, and called Aldousby name. It was Blackton. His thin, genial face with its little spikedmoustache rose above the sea of heads about him, and as he came he grinneda welcome.
"A beastly mob!" he exclaimed, as he gripped his friend's hand. "I'm sorryI couldn't bring my wife nearer than the back platform."
Aldous turned to Joanne. He was still half in a daze. His heart was chokinghim with its swift and excited beating. Even as he introduced her toBlackton the voice kept crying in his brain that she had expected to findsome one in this crowd whom she knew. For a space it was as if the Joannewhom he had known had slipped away from him. She had told him about thegrave, but this other she had kept from him. Something that was almostanger surged up in him. His face bore marks of the strain as he watched hergreet Blackton. In an instant, it seemed to him, she had regained a part ofher composure. Blackton saw nothing but the haggard lines about her eyesand the deep pallor in her face, which he ascribed to fatigue.
"You're tired, Miss Gray," he said. "It's a killing ride up from Miettethese days. If we can get through this mob we'll have supper within fifteenminutes!"
With a word to Aldous he began worming his long, lean body ahead of them.An instant Joanne's face was very close to Aldous', so close that he felther breath, and a tendril of her hair touched his lips. In that instant hereyes looked into his steadily, and he felt rush over him a sudden shame. Ifshe was seeking and expecting, it was to him more than ever that she wasnow looking for protection. The haunting trouble in her eyes, theirentreaty, their shining faith in him told him that, and he was glad thatshe had not seen his sudden fear and suspicion. She clung more closely tohim as they followed Blackton. Her little fingers held his arm as if shewere afraid some force might tear him from her. He saw that she was lookingquickly at the faces about them with that same questing mystery in hersearch.
At the thin outer edge of the crowd Blackton dropped back beside them. Afew steps more and they came to the end of the platform, where a buckboardwas waiting in the dim light of one of the station lamps. Blacktonintroduced Joanne, and assisted her into the seat beside his wife.
"We'll leave you ladies to become acquainted while we rustle the baggage,"he said. "Got the checks, Aldous?"
Joanne had given Aldous two checks on the train, and he handed them toBlackton. Together they made their way to the baggage-room.
"Thought Miss Gray would have some luggage, so I had one of my men comewith another team," he explained. "We won't have to wait. I'll give him thechecks."
Before they returned to the buckboard, Aldous halted his friend.
"I couldn't say much in that telegram," he said. "If Miss Gray wasn't abit tired and unstrung I'd let her explain. I want you to tell Mrs.Blackton that she has come to Tete Jaune on a rather unpleasant mission,old man. Nothing less than to attend to the grave of a--a near relative."
"I regret that--I regret it very much," replied Blackton, flinging away thematch he had lighted without touching it to his cigar. "I guessed somethingwas wrong. She's welcome at our place, Aldous--for as long as she remainsin Tete Jaune. Perhaps I knew this relative. If I can assist you--orher----"
"He died before the steel came," said Aldous. "FitzHugh was his name. OldDonald and I are going to take her to the grave. Miss Gray is an old friendof mine," he lied boldly. "We want to start at dawn. Will that be too muchtrouble for you and your wife?"
"No trouble at all," declared Blackton. "We've got a Chinese cook who'smore like an owl than a human. How will a four o'clock breakfast suit you?"
"Splendidly!"
As they went on, the contractor said:
"I carried your word to MacDonald. Hunted him down out in the bush. He isvery anxious to see you. He said he would not be at the depot, but that youmust not fail him. He's kept strangely under cover of late. Curious oldghost, isn't he?"
"The strangest man in the mountains," said Aldous "And, when you come toknow him, the most lovable. We're going North together."
This time it was Blackton who stopped, with a hand on his companion's arm.A short distance from them they could see the buckboard in the light ofthe station lamp.
"Has old Donald written you lately?" he asked.
"No. He says he hasn't written a letter in twenty years."
Blackton hesitated.
"Then you haven't heard of his--accident?"
The strange look in the contractor's face as he lighted a cigar made JohnAldous catch him sharply by the arm.
"What do you mean?"
"He was shot. I happened to be in Dr. Brady's office when he draggedhimself in, late at night. Doc got the bullet out of his shoulder. Itwasn't a bad wound. The old man swore it was an accident, and asked us tosay nothing about it. We haven't. But I've been wondering. Old Donald saidhe was careless with his own pistol. But the fact is, Aldous--_he was shotfrom behind!_"
"The deuce you say!"
"There was no perforation except from _behind_. In some way the bullet hadspent itself before it reached him. Otherwise it would have killed him."
For a moment Aldous stared in speechless amazement into Blackton's face.
"When did this happen?" he asked then.
"Three days ago. Since then I have not seen old Donald until to-night.Almost by accident I met him out there in the timber. I delivered thetelegram you sent him. After he had read it I showed him mine. He scribbledsomething on a bit of paper, folded it, and pinned it with a porcupinequill. I've been mighty curious, but I haven't pulled out that quill. Hereit is."
From his pocket he produced the note and gave it to Aldous.
"I'll read it a little later," said Aldous. "The ladies may possibly becomeanxious about us."
He dropped it in his pocket as he thanked Blackton for the trouble he hadtaken in finding MacDonald. As he climbed into the front seat of thebuckboard his eyes met Joanne's. He was glad that in a large measure shehad recovered her self-possession. She smiled at him as they drove off, andthere was something in the sweet tremble of her lips that made him almostfancy she was asking his forgiveness for having forgotten herself. Hervoice sounded more natural to him as she spoke to Mrs. Blackton. Thelatter, a plump little blue-eyed woman with dimples and golden hair, wasalready making her feel at home. She leaned over and placed a hand on herhusband's shoulder.
"Let's drive home by way of town, Paul," she suggested. "It's only a littlefarther, and I'm quite sure Miss Gray will be interested in our Great WhiteWay of the mountains. And I'm crazy to see that bear you were telling meabout," she added.
Nothing could have suited Aldous more than this suggestion. He was surethat Quade, following his own and Culver Rann's old methods, had alreadyprepared stories about Joanne, and he not only wanted Quade's friends--butall of Tete Jaune as well--to see Joanne in the company of Mrs. PaulBlackton and her husband. And this was a splendid opportunity, for thenight carnival was already beginning.
"The bear is worth seeing," said Blackton, turning his team in thedirection of the blazing light of the half-mile street that was theBroadway of Tete Jaune. "And the woman who rides him is worth seeing, too,"he chuckled. "He's a big fellow--and she plays the Godiva act. Rides him upand down the street with her hair down, collecting dimes and quarters andhalf dollars as she goes."
A minute later the length of the street swept out ahead of them. It isprobable that the world had never before seen a street just like thisBroadway in Tete Jaune--the pleasure Mecca of five thousand workers alongthe line of steel. There had been great "camps" in the building of otherrailroads, but never a city in the wilderness like this--a place that hadsprung up like magic and which, a few months later, was doomed to disappearas quickly. For half a mile it blazed out ahead of them, two garishlylighted rows of shacks, big tents, log buildings, and rough boardstructures, with a rough, wide street between.
To-night Tete Jaune was like a blazing fire against the darkness of theforest and mountain beyond. A hundred sputtering "jack
s" sent up columns ofyellow flame in front of places already filled with the riot and tumult ofthe night. A thousand lamps and coloured lanterns flashed like firefliesalong the way, and under them the crowd had gathered, and was flowing backand forth. It was a weird and fantastic sight--this one strange and almostuncanny street that was there largely for the play and the excitement ofmen.
Aldous turned to Joanne. He knew what this town meant. It was the first andthe last of its kind, and its history would never be written. The worldoutside the mountains knew nothing of it. Like the men who made up itstransient life it would soon be a forgotten thing of the past. Even themountains would forget it. But more than once, as he had stood a part ofit, his blood had warmed at the thought of the things it held secret, thethings that would die with it, the big human drama it stood for, its hiddentragedies, its savage romance, its passing comedy. He found something ofhis own thought in Joanne's eyes.
"There isn't much to it," he said, "but to-night, if you made the hunt, youcould find men of eighteen or twenty nationalities in that street."
"And a little more besides," laughed Blackton. "If you could write thecomplete story of how Tete Jaune has broken the law, Aldous, it would filla volume as big as Peggy's family Bible!"
"And after all, it's funny," said Peggy Blackton. "There!" she criedsuddenly. "Isn't _that_ funny?"
The glare and noisy life were on both sides of them now. Half a dozenphonographs were going. From up the street came the softer strains of apiano, and from in between the shrieking notes of bagpipe. Peggy Blacktonwas pointing to a brilliantly lighted, black-tarpaulined shop. Huge whiteletters on its front announced that Lady Barbers were within. They couldsee two of them at work through the big window. And they were pretty. Theplace was crowded with men. Men were waiting outside.
"Paul says they charge a dollar for a haircut and fifty cents for a shave,"explained Peggy Blackton. "And the man over there across the street isgoing broke because he can't get business at fifteen cents a shave. _Isn't_it funny?"
As they went on Aldous searched the street for Quade. Several times heturned to the back seat, and always he found Joanne's eyes questing in thatstrange way for the some one whom she expected to see. Mrs. Blackton waspointing out lighted places, and explaining things as they passed, but heknew that in spite of her apparent attention Joanne heard only a part ofwhat she was saying. In that crowd she hoped--or feared--to find a certainface. And again Aldous told himself that it was not Quade's face.
Near the end of the street a crowd was gathering, and here, for a moment,Blackton stopped his team within fifty feet of the objects of attraction. Aslim, exquisitely formed woman in shimmering silk was standing beside ahuge brown bear. Her sleek black hair, shining as if it had been oiled,fell in curls about her shoulders. Her rouged lips were smiling. Even atthat distance her black eyes sparkled like diamonds. She had evidently justfinished taking up a collection, for she was fastening the cord of a silkenpurse about her neck. In another moment she bestrode the bear, the crowdfell apart, and as the onlookers broke into a roar of applause the bigbeast lumbered slowly up the street with its rider.
"One of Culver Rann's friends," said Blackton _sotto voce_, as he drove on."She takes in a hundred a night if she makes a cent!"
A slim, exquisitely formed woman in shimmering silk wasstanding beside a huge brown bear. In another moment she bestrode the bear,and the big beast lumbered up the street with its rider.]
Blackton's big log bungalow was close to the engineers' camp half a miledistant from the one lighted street and the hundreds of tents and shacksthat made up the residential part of the town. Not until they were inside,and Peggy Blackton had disappeared with Joanne for a few moments, didAldous take old Donald MacDonald's note from his pocket. He pulled out thequill, unfolded the bit of paper, and read the few crudely written wordsthe mountain man had sent him. Blackton turned in time to catch the suddenamazement in his face. Crushing the note in his hand, Aldous looked at theother, his mouth tightening.
"You must help me make excuses, old man," he said quietly. "It will seemstrange to them if I do not stay for supper. But--it is impossible. I mustsee old Donald as quickly as I can get to him."
His manner more than his words kept Blackton from urging him to remain. Thecontractor stared at him for a moment, his own eyes growing harder and moredirect.
"It's about the shooting," he said. "If you want me to go with you,Aldous----"
"Thanks. That will be unnecessary."
Peggy Blackton and Joanne were returning. Aldous turned toward them as theyentered the room. With the note still in his hand he repeated to them whathe had told Blackton--that he had received word which made it immediatelyurgent for him to go to MacDonald. He shook hands with the Blacktons,promising to be on hand for the four o'clock breakfast.
Joanne followed him to the door and out upon the veranda. For a moment theywere alone, and now her eyes were wide and filled with fear as he claspedher hands closely in his own.
"I saw him," she whispered, her fingers tightening convulsively. "I sawthat man--Quade--at the station. He followed us up the street. Twice Ilooked behind--and saw him. I am afraid--afraid to let you go back there. Ibelieve he is somewhere out there now--waiting for you!"
She was frightened, trembling; and her fear for him, the fear in hershining eyes, in her throbbing breath, in the clasp of her fingers, sentthrough John Aldous a joy that almost made him free her hands and crush herin his arms in the ecstasy of that wonderful moment. Then Peggy Blacktonand her husband appeared in the door. He released her hands, and steppedout into the gloom. The cheery good-nights of the Blacktons followed him.And Joanne's good-night was in her eyes--following him until he was gone,filled with their entreaty and their fear.
A hundred yards distant, where the trail split to lead to the camp of theengineers, there was a lantern on a pole. Here Aldous paused, out of sightof the Blackton bungalow, and in the dim light read again MacDonald's note.
In a cramped and almost illegible hand the old wanderer of the mountainshad written:
Don't go to cabin. Culver Rann waiting to kill you. Don't show yorself in town. Cum to me as soon as you can on trail striking north to Loon Lake. Watch yorself. Be ready with yor gun.
DONALD MacDONALD.
Aldous shoved the note in his pocket and slipped back out of thelantern-glow into deep shadow. For several minutes he stood silent andlistening.
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