by Rex Beach
CHAPTER XVIII
RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE
"No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, andfound Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred.
"Say! What's this about you and Stark? I hear you had a horriblerun-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail."
"We had a row," admitted the trader. "It's been a long time workingout, and last night it came to a head."
"Lord-ee! And to think of Ben Stark's bein' licked! Why, the wholecamp's talkin' about it! They say he emptied two six-shooters at you,but you kept a-comin', and when you did get to him you just carved yourinitials on him like he was a bass-wood tree. Say, John, he's a goner,sure."
"Do you mean he's--passing out?"
"Oh no! I reckon he'll get well, from what I hear, though he won't letnobody come near him except old Doc; but he's lost a battle, and thatends him. Don't you savvy? Whenever a killer quits second best, itbreaks his hoodoo. Why, there's been men laying for him these twentyyears, from here to the Rio Grande, and every feller he ever bestedwill hear of this and begin to grease his holster; then the firstshave-tail desperado that meets him will spit in his eye, just to makea name for himself. No, sir! He's a spent shell. He's got to fight allhis battles over again, and this time the other feller will open theball. Oh, I've seen it happen before. You killed him last night, justas sure as if you'd hung up his hide to dry, and he knows it."
"I'm a peaceable man," said Gale, on the defensive. "I had to do it."
"I know! I know! There was witnesses--this dress-maker at the fort seenit, so I hear."
The other acquiesced silently.
"Well! Well! Ben Stark licked! I can't get over that. It must 'a' beensomethin' powerful strong to make you do it, John." It was as close toa question as the miner dared come, although he was avid withcuriosity, and, like the entire town, was in a fret to know what layback of this midnight encounter, concerning which the most exaggeratedrumors were rife. These stories grew the more grotesque and ridiculousthe longer the truth remained hidden, for Stark could not be seen, andneither Gale nor Burrell would speak. All that the people knew was thatone lay wounded to death behind the dumb walls of his cabin, and thatthe other had brought him down. When the old man vouchsafed no morethan a nod to his question, the prospector inquired:
"Where's Poleon? I've got news for him from the creek."
"I don't know; he's gone."
"Back soon?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"His laymen have give up. They've cross-cut his ground and the payain't there, so they've quit work for good."
"He drew a blank, eh?"
"Worse'n that--three of them. The creek is spotteder than a leopard.Runnion's men, for instance, are into it bigger than a house, whilePoleon's people can't raise a color. I call it tough luck--yes, worse'ntough: it's hard-biled and pickled. To them as has shall it be given,and to them as hasn't shall be took even what they 'ain't got, as thepoet says. Look at Necia! She'll be richer than a cream puff. GuessI'll step around and see her."
"She's gone," said the trader, wearily, turning his haggard face fromthe prospector.
"Gone! Where?"
"Up-river with Runnion. They got her away from me last night."
"Sufferin' snakes!" ejaculated Lee. "So that's why!" Then he added,simply, "Let's go and git her, John."
The trader looked at him queerly.
"Maybe I won't--on the first boat! I'm eating my heart out hour by hourwaiting--waiting--waiting for some kind of a craft to come, and so isBurrell."
"What's he got to do with it?" said the one-eyed miner, jealously."Can't you and me bring her back?"
"He'll marry her! God, won't there never be a boat!"
For the hundredth time that morning he went to the door of the post andstrained his eyes down-stream.
"Well, well! Them two goin' to be married," said Lee. "Stark licked,and Necia goin' to be married--all at once. I hate to see it, John; heain't good enough; she could 'a' done a heap better. There's a lot ofreg'lar men around here, and she could 'a' had her pick. Of course,always bein' broke like a dog myself, I 'ain't kept up my personalappearance like I'd ought, but I've got some new clothes now, and youwouldn't know me. I bought 'em off a tenderfoot with cold feet, butthey're the goods, and you'd see a big improvement in me."
"He's a good man," said Gale. "Better than you or me, and he's all tornup over this. I never saw a man act so. When he learned about it Ithought he'd go mad--he's haunted the river-bank ever since, ragingabout for some means of following her, and if I hadn't fairly held himhe'd have set out single-handed."
"I'm still strong in the belief that Necia could have bettered her handby stayin' out awhile longer," declared Lee, stubbornly; "but if shewants a soldier, why, we'll get one for her, only I'd rather have gother somethin' real good and pronounced in the military line--like anagitant-gen'ral or a walkin' delegate."
While they were talking Burrell came in, and "No Creek" saw that thenight had affected the youth even more than it had Gale, or at least heshowed the marks more plainly, for his face was drawn, his eyes weresunken as if from hunger, and his whole body seemed to have fallen awaytill his uniform hung upon him loose, unkempt, and careless. It was asif hope had been a thing of avoirdupois, and when taken away had causeda shrinkage. He had interrogated Stark again after getting the doctor,but the man had only cursed at him, declaring that his daughter was outof reach, where he would take care to keep her, and torturing the loveranew by linking Runnion's name with the girl's till the young man fledfrom the sound of the monster's voice back to his own quarters. Hestrove to keep the image of Runnion out of his mind, for his reasoncould not endure it. At such times he cried aloud, cursing in a waythat was utterly strange to a God-fearing man, only to break off andrush to the other extreme, praying blindly, beseechingly, for thegirl's safe-keeping. At intervals an unholy impulse almost drove him toStark's cabin to finish the work Gale had begun, to do it coldly as amatter of justice, for was he not the one who had put Necia into thehands of that ruffian? Greeting Lee mechanically, he said to Gale:
"I can't wait much longer," and sank wearily into a seat. Almost thenext instant he was on his feet again, saying to the trader, as he hadsaid it a score of times already: "Runnion comes to me, Gale! Youunderstand he's mine, don't you?"
The old man nodded. "Yes! You can take him."
"Well, who do _I_ git?" asked Lee.
"You can't come along," the trader said. "We may have to follow thehound clean to the States. Think of your mine--"
"To hell with the mine!" exploded the shaggy prospector. "I reckon I'mkind of a daddy to your gal, and I'm goin' to be in at the finish."
Back and forth paced the Lieutenant restlessly, pausing every now andthen to peer down the river. Suddenly he uttered a cry, and with abound Gale was beside him, Lee at his shoulder.
"Look! Over the point! Down yonder! I saw smoke!"
The three stared at the distant forest fringe that masked the bend ofthe river until their eyes ached, and the dark-green grew black andwavered indistinctly.
"You're tired, my boy," said Gale.
"Wait!"
They obeyed, and finally over the tree-tops saw a faint streamer ofblack.
"It is! It is!" cried the soldier. "I'm going for my war bag." Andbefore the steamboat had hove into sight he was back with his scantybundle of baggage, behaving like one daft, talking and laughing andrunning here and there. Lee watched him closely, then went behind thebar and poured out a stiff glass of whiskey, which he made Burrelldrink. To Gale he whispered, a moment later:
"Keep your eye on him, John--he'll go mad at this rate."
They waited, it seemed interminably, until at last a white hull slowlyrounded the point, then shaped a course across the current towards theother bank, where the water was less swift. As it came fully intosight, Gale swore aloud in despair:
"It's the Mission boat!"
"Well, what of that?" said Burrell.
"We'll hire it--buy it--take it!"
"It's no use; she ain't got but three dog-power to her engines," Leeexplained. "She's a down-river boat--has to run with the current tomove."
"We can't use her," Gale gave in, reluctantly. "She'd only lose timefor us. We've got to wait for one of the A. C. boats."
"Wait!" cried Burrell. "Good God! we've done nothing but wait, WAIT,_WAIT_! Let's do something!"
"You go back yonder and set down," commanded Lee. "We'll have a boatbefore long."
The arrival of the tiny Mission steamer was never of sufficientimportance to draw a crowd to the riverbank, so the impatient men atthe post relaxed interest in her as she came creeping up abreast of thetown. It was little Johnny Gale who first saw Necia and Poleon onboard, for he had recognized Father Barnum's craft at a distance, andstationed himself at the bank hand-in-hand with Molly to bid the good,kind old man welcome.
The men inside the house did not hear the boy crying Necia's name, forhis voice was small, and they had gone to the rear of the store.
"Understand! You leave Runnion to me," Burrell was saying. "No manshall lay hands on him except me--" His voice trailed away; he roseslowly to his feet, a strange light on his face. The others turned tosee what sight had drawn his eyes. In the opening, all splendid withthe golden sunlight, stood Necia and Poleon Doret, who had her by thehand--and she was smiling!
Gale uttered a great cry and went to meet them, but the soldier couldmove nothing save his lips, and stood dazed and disbelieving. He sawthem dimly coming towards him, and heard Poleon's voice as if at agreat distance, saw that the Frenchman's eyes were upon him, and thathis words were directed to him.
"I bring her back to you, M'sieu'!"
Doret laid Necia's hand in that of her lover, and Burrell saw hersmiling shyly up at him. Something gripped him chokingly, and he couldutter no sound. There was nothing to say-she was here, safe, smiling,that was all. And the girl, beholding the glory in his eyes, understood.
Gale caught her away from him then, and buried her in his arms.
A woman came running into the store, and, seeing the group, paused atthe door--a shapeless, silent, shawled figure in silhouette against theday. The trader brought the girl to her foster-mother, who began totalk in her own tongue with a rapidity none of them had ever heardbefore, her voice as tender as some wild bird's song; then the twowomen went away together around the store into the house. Poleon hadtold Necia all the amazing story that had come to him that direfulnight, all that he had overheard, all that he knew, and much that heguessed.
The priest came into the store shortly, and the men fell upon him forinformation, for nothing was to be gained from Poleon, who seemedstrangely fagged and weary, and who had said but little.
"Yes, yes, yes!" laughed Father Barnum. "I'll tell you all I know, ofcourse, but first I must meet Lieutenant Burrell and take him by thehand."
The story did not lose in his telling, particularly when he came todescribe the fight on the gravel bar which no man had seen, and ofwhich Poleon had told him little; but the good priest was of a militantturn, and his blue eyes glittered and flashed like an old crusader's.
"It was a wondrous combat," he declared, with all the spirit of aspectator, "for Poleon advanced bare-handed and beat him down even asthe man fired into his face. It is due to the goodness and mercy of Godthat he was spared a single wound from this desperado--a miraclevouchsafed because of his clean heart and his righteous cause."
"But where is Runnion?" broke in Burrell.
"Nursing his injuries at some wood-cutter's camp, no doubt; but God bepraised for that double spirit of generosity and forgiveness whichprompted our Poleon to spare the wretch. No finer thing have I known inall my life, Doret, even though you have ever been an ungodly fellow."
The Frenchman moved uneasily.
"Wal, I don' know; he ain' fight so dam' hard."
"You couldn't find no trace of him?" said Lee.
"No trace whatever," Father Barnum replied; "but he will surely reachsome place of refuge where we can pick him up, for the days are stillmild and the woods full of berries, and, as you know, the streamsoverflow with salmon, which he can kill with a stick. Why, a man mightlive a fortnight without inconvenience!"
"I'll be on the lookout for him," said the Lieutenant, grimly."To-night I'll send Thomas and a couple of men down the river."
When the voluble old priest had at last exhausted his narrative herequested of Burrell the privilege of a few words, and drew him apartfrom the others. His face was shrewdly wrinkled and warm withunderstanding.
"I had a long conversation with my little girl, for she is like adaughter to me, and I discovered the depth of her love for you. Do youthink you are worthy of her?"
"No."
"Do you love her as much as you should?"
"As much as I can. They don't make words or numbers big enough to tellyou how dear she is to me."
"Then why delay? To-morrow I leave again, and one never knows what aday may bring forth."
"But Stark?" the young man cried. "He's her father, you know; he's likea madman, and she's still under age."
"I know very little of law outside of the Church," the Father observed,"but, as I understand it, if she marries before he forbids her, the lawwill hold him powerless. Now, he has never made himself known to her,he has never forbidden her anything; and although my conclusion may notbe correct, I believe it is, and you have a chance if you make haste.At your age, my boy, I never needed a spur."
"A spur? Good Lord! I'm from Kentucky."
"Once she is yours before God, your hold will be stronger in the eyesof men. If I am wrong, and he takes her from you--well, may some otherpriest re-wed you two--I sha'n't!"
"Don't worry," laughed Burrell, ablaze at the thought. "You're the onlypreacher who'll kiss my bride, for I'm a jealous man, and all theStarks and all the fathers in the world won't get her away from me. Doyou think she'll do it?"
"A woman in love will do anything."
Burrell seized the little man by the hand. "If I had known more law youneedn't have given me this hint."
"I must go now to this Stark," said the Father; "he may need me. Butfirst I shall talk with Necia. Poor child, she is in a difficultposition, standing between the love of John Gale and the loyalty sheowes her father. I--I fear I cannot counsel her as well as I ought, forI am very weak and human. You had better come with me; perhaps the pleaof a lover may have more weight than the voice of reason." As theystarted towards the house, he continued, energetically: "Young man, I'mbeginning to live once more. Do you know, sometimes I think I was notdesigned for this vocation, and, just between you and me, there was aday when--" He paused and coughed a trifle, then said, sharply, "Well,what are you waiting for?"
Together they went into the trader's house.
Back in the store there was silence after the priest and the soldierwent out, which Gale broke at last:
"This forgiveness talk is all right, I suppose--but _I_ WANT RUNNION!"
"We'll git him, too," growled Lee, at which Poleon uttered a curtexclamation:
"No!"
"Why not?" said the miner.
"Wal," the Canadian drawled, slowly, then paused to light the cigarettehe had rolled in a bit of wrapping-paper, inhaled the smoke deeply tothe bottom of his lungs, held it there a moment, and blew it outthrough mouth and nostrils before adding, "you'll jus' be wastin' tam'!"
Gale looked up from beneath his thatch of brow, and asked, quietly:
"Why?"
"You 'member--story I tol' you wan day, two, t'ree mont' ago," Poleonremarked, with apparent evasion, "'bout Johnny Platt w'at I ketch on dePorcupine all et up by skeeter-bugs?"
"I do," answered Gale.
"Wal,"--he met their eyes squarely, then drew another long breath fromhis cigarette--"I'm jus' hopin' nobody don' pick it up dis Runnionfeller de same way. Mebbe dey fin' hees han's tie' behin' 'im wit'piece of hees shirt-"
"Good God!" cried the trader, starting to his feet. "You--you-
-"
"--of course, I'm jus' s'posin'. He was feel purty good w'en I lef'. Hewas feel so good I tak' hees coat for keepin' off dem bugs from me,biccause I lef it my own shirt on de canoe. He's nice feller dat way;he give up easy. Ba gosh! I never see worse place for skeeters!"
Gale fell silent, and "No Creek" Lee began to swear in little, useless,ineffective oaths, which were but two ways of showing similar emotions.Then the former stepped up and laid a big hand upon Poleon's shoulder.
"That saves us quite a trip," he said, but "No Creek" Lee continued toswear softly.
It seemed that Poleon's wish was to be gratified, for no news of themissing man came through in the days that followed. Only at a fishingvillage far down the river, where a few native families had stakedtheir nets and weirs for salmon, a hunter told a strange tale to hisbrothers--a tale of the white man's idiosyncrasies. In sooth, they werea strange people, he observed, surpassing wise in many things, yetignorant and childish in all others, else why should a half-naked mango wandering idly through the thickets holding a knotted rag behind hisback, and that when the glades were dense and the moss-chinks filledwith the singing people who lived for blood? The elders of the villagenodded their heads sagely, and commended the hunter for holding alooffrom the inert body, for the foolishness of this man was past belief,and--well, his people were swift and cruel in their vengeance, andsometimes doubted an Indian's word, wherefore it were best to pay noheed to their ways and say nothing. But they continued to wonder why.
Father Barnum found the three still talking in the store when he hadfinished an hour's counsel with Necia, so came straight to the point.It was work that delighted his soul, for he loved the girl, and hadformed a strong admiration for Burrell. Two of them took hisannouncement quietly, the other cried out strenuous objections. It wasthe one-eyed miner.
"Right away! Not on your life! It's too onexpected. You've got to hold'em apart for an hour, anyhow, till I get dressed." He slid down fromhis seat upon the counter. "What do you reckon I got all them clothesfor?"
"Come as you are," urged the Father, but Lee fought his pointdesperately.
"I'll bust it up if you don't gimme time. What's an hour or two whenthey've got a life sentence comin' to 'em. Dammit, you jest ought tosee them clothes!" And by very force of his vociferations he succeededin exacting the promise of a brief stay in the proceedings before hebolted out, the rags of his yellow mackinaw flapping excitedly.
The priest returned to Necia, leaving the trader and Poleon alone.
"I s'pose it's best," said the former.
"Yes!"
"Beats the deuce, though, how things work out, don't it?"
"I'm glad for see dis day," said the Frenchman. "He's good man, an' heain' never goin' to hurt her none." He paused. "Dere's jus' wan t'ing Iwant for ask it of you, John--you 'member dat day we stop on de birchgrove, an' you spik 'bout her an' tol' me dose story 'bout her moder?Wal, I was dreamin' dat tam', so I'm goin' ask it you now don' nevertell her w'at I said."
"Doesn't she know, my boy?"
"No; I ain' never spoke 'bout love. She t'inks I'm broder wit' her,an'--dat's w'at I am, ba Gar!" He could not hold his voice even--itbroke with him; but he avoided the old man's gaze. Gale took him by theshoulders.
"There ain't nothing so cruel in the world as a gentle woman," said he;"but she wouldn't hurt you for all the world, Poleon; only the blaze ofthis other thing has blinded her. She can't see nothing for the lightof this new love of hers."
"I know! Dat's w'y--nobody onderstan's but you an' me--"
Gale looked out through the open door, past the sun-lit river whichcame from a land of mystery and vanished into a valley offorgetfulness, past the forest and the hills, in his deep-set eyes thelight of a wondrous love that had lived with him these many wearyyears, and said:
"Nobody else CAN understand but me--I know how it is. I had even aharder thing to bear, for you'll know she's happy at least, while I--"His voice trembled, but, after a pause, he continued: "They neither ofthem understand what you've done for them, for it was you that broughther back; but some time they'll learn how great their debt is and thankyou. It'll take them years and years, however, and when they do they'lltell their babes of you, Poleon, so that your name will never die. Iloved her mother, but I don't think I could have done what you did."
"She's purty hard t'ing, for sure, but I ain' t'ink 'bout Poleon Doretnone w'en I'm doin' it. No, I'm t'ink 'bout her all de tarn'. She'sli'l' gal, an' I'm beeg, strong feller w'at don' matter much an' w'atain' know much--'cept singin', an' lovin' her. I'm see for sure now datI ain' fit for her--I'm beeg, rough, fightin' feller w'at can't read,an' she's de beam of sunlight w'at blin' my eyes."
"If I was a fool I'd say you'd forget in time, but I've lived my lifein the open, and I know you won't. I didn't."
"I don' want to forget," the brown man cried, hurriedly. "Le bon Dieuwould not let me forget--it's all I've got to keep wit' me w'en I'mlookin' for my 'New Countree.'"
"You're not goin' to look for that 'New Country' any more," Galereplied.
"To-day," said the other, quietly.
"No."
"To-day! Dis affernoon! De blood in me is callin' for travel, John. I'mlivin' here on dis place five year dis fall, an' dat's long tarn' forvoyageur. I'm hongry for hear de axe in de woods an' de moose blow atsundown. I want for see the camp-fire t'rough de brush w'en I come fromtrap de fox an' dem little wild fellers. I want to smell smoke in dedusk. My work she's finish here, so I'm paddle away to-day, an' I'llfin' dat place dis tam', for sure--she's over dere." He raised his longarm and pointed to the dim mountains that hid the valley of theKoyukuk, the valley that called good men and strong, year after year,and took them to itself, while in his face the trader saw the hunger ofhis race, the unslaked longing for the wilderness, the driving desirethat led them ever North and West, and, seeing it, he knew the manwould go.
"Have you heard the news from the creeks?"
"No."
"Your claims are blanks; your men have quit."
The Frenchman shook his head sadly, then smiled--a wistful little smile.
"Wal, it's better I lose dan you--or Necia; I ain' de lucky kin', dat'sall; an', affer all, w'at good to me is riche gol'-mine? I ain' got nouse for money--any more."
They stood in the doorway together, two rugged, stalwart figures,different in blood and birth and every other thing, yet brotherswithal, whom the ebb and flow of the far places had thrown together andnow drew apart again. And they were sad, these two, for their love wasdeeper than comes to other people, and they knew this was farewell; sothey remained thus side by side, two dumb, sorrowful men, until theywere addressed by a person who hurried from the town.
He came as an apparition bearing the voice of "No Creek" Lee, themining king, but in no other way showing sign or symbol of their oldfriend. Its style of face and curious outfit were utterly foreign tothe miner, for he had been bearded with the robust, unkempt growth ofmany years, tanned to a leathery hue, and garbed perennially in thehabit of a scarecrow, while this creature was shaved and clipped andcurried, and the clothes it stood up in were of many startling hues.Its face was scraped so clean of whiskers as to be a pallid white, butlack of adornment ended at this point and the rest was overladenwondrously, while from the centre of the half-brown, half-white facethe long, red nose of Lee ran out. Beside it rolled his lonesome eye,alive with excitement.
He came up with a strut, illumining the landscape, and inquired:
"Well, how do I look?"
"I'm darned if I know," said Gale. "But it's plumb unusual."
"These here shoes leak," said the spectacle, pulling up his baggytrousers to display his tan footgear, "because they was made for drygoin'--that's why they left the tops off; but they've got a nice,healthy color, ain't they? As a whole, it seems to me I'm sort ofnifty." He revolved slowly before their admiring gaze, and while to oneversed in the manners of the Far East it would have been evident thatthe original owner of these clothes had come from somewhere b
eyond theSusquehanna, and had either been a football player or had travelledwith a glee club, to these three Northmen it seemed merely that herewas the modish echo of a distant civilization.
"Wat's de matter on your face?" said Poleon. "You been fightin'?"
"I ain't shaved in a long time, and this here excitement has kind ofshattered my nerves. I didn't have no lookin'-glass, neither, in myshack, so I had to use a lard-can cover. Does it look bad?"
"Not to my way of thinkin'," said Gale, allaying "No Creek's" anxiety."It's more desp'rate than bad, but it sort of adds expression." Atwhich the miner's pride burst bounds.
"I'll kindly ask you to note the shirt--ten dollars a copy, that's all!I got it from the little Jew down yonder. See them red spear-heads onthe boosum? 'Flower dee Lizzies,' which means 'calla lilies' in French.Every one of 'em cost me four bits. On the level--how am I?"
"I never see no harness jus' lak it mese'f!" exclaimed Doret. "You lookgood 'nough for tin-horn gambler. Say, don' you wear no necktie wit'dem kin' of clothes?"
"No, sir! Not me. I'm a rude, rough miner, and I dress the part.Low-cut, blushin' shoes and straw hats I can stand for, likewisecollars--they go hand-in-hand with pay-streaks; but a necktie ain'tneither wore for warmth nor protection; it's a pomp and a vanity, andI'm a plain man without conceit. Now, let's proceed with the obsequies."
It was a very simple, unpretentious ceremony that took place inside thelong, low house of logs, and yet it was a wonderful thing to the dark,shy maid who hearkened so breathlessly beside the man she had singledout--the clean-cut man in uniform, who stood so straight and tall,making response in a voice that had neither fear nor weakness in it.When they had done he turned and took her reverently in his arms andkissed her before them all; then she went and stood beside Gale and thered wife who was no wife, and said, simply:
"I am very happy."
The old man stooped, and for the first time in her memory pressed hislips to hers, then went out into the sunlight, where he might be alonewith himself and the memory of that other Merridy, the woman who, tohim, was more than all the women of the world; the woman who, each dayand night, came to him, and with whom he had kept faith. The burden shehad laid upon him had been heavy, but he had borne it long anduncomplainingly; and now he was very glad, for he had kept his covenant.
The first word of the wedding was borne by Father Barnum, who wentalone to the cabin where the girl's father lay, entering withtrepidation; for, in spite of the pleas of justice and humanity, thisstony-hearted, amply hated man had certain rights which he might chooseto enforce; hence, the good priest feared for the peace of his littlecharge, and approached the stricken man with apprehension. He was therea long time alone with Stark, and when he returned to Gale's house hewould answer no questions.
"He is a strange man--a wonderfully strange man: unrepentant andwicked; but I can't tell you what he said. Have a little patience andyou will soon know."
The mail boat, which had arrived an hour after the Mission boat, wasready to continue its run when, just as it blew a warning blast, downthe street of the camp came a procession so strange for this land thatmen stopped, eyed it curiously, and whispered among themselves. It wasa blanketed man upon a stretcher, carried by a doctor and a priest. Theface was muffled so that the idlers could not make it out; and whenthey inquired, they received no answer from the carriers, who pursuedtheir course impassively down the runway to the water's edge and up thegang-plank to the deck. When the boat had gone, and the last faintcough of its towering stacks had died away, Father Barnum turned to hisfriends:
"He has gone away, not for a day, but for all time. He is a strangeman, and some things he said I could not understand. At first I fearedgreatly, for when I told him what had occurred--of Necia's return andof her marriage--he became so enraged I thought he would burst open hiswounds and die from his very fury; but I talked a long, long time withhim, and gradually I came to know somewhat of his queer, disorderedsoul. He could not bring himself to face defeat in the eyes of men, orto see the knowledge of it in their bearing; therefore, he fled. Hetold me that he would be a hunted animal all his life; that the news ofhis whipping would travel ahead of him; and that his enemies wouldsearch him out to take advantage of him. This I could not grasp, but itseemed a big thing in his eyes--so big that he wept. He said the onlydecent thing he could or would do was to leave the daughter he hadnever known to that happiness he had never experienced, and wished meto tell her that she was very much like her mother, who was the bestwoman in the world."