CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Doctor Powell, lured by Chappo's description of the cave on Jacksontrail, had reached the place an hour after Katherine and Donnie hadstarted for the Box. It was while examining the designs on the variousbits of pottery that he found fragments of broken geodes, and eagerlycontinued his search, which was rewarded with several specimens thatwere unbroken.
Powell, who was deeply interested in geology, knew there were few placeswhere the curious white crystals were found, and his delight wasaugmented when he discovered two of them in which the water could bedistinctly heard; moisture which had fallen on hot lava that hadhardened too quickly to allow evaporation.
He was engaged in wrapping these rare specimens in his handkerchief,when he heard his horse whinny, and as he moved to the entrance of thecave, noticed Fox and Pet picking their way down the steep trail. He sawthe saddles and that the ponies were tied together, so concluded thehorses had broken away and were homeward bound, leaving Katherine andDonnie afoot higher up on the trail.
Powell waited until the ponies stood beside his horse. Then he movedquietly and secured them with his tie-rope, and mounted his horse tolead the strays up the trail. He had no thought of any danger toKatherine or Donnie, until a turn in the trail revealed the top of theclimb and a woman standing perilously near the edge of the cliff. Hedared not call out, for fear of startling her and precipitating atragedy; but he dropped the rope of the two horses and urged his ownforward.
Beads of perspiration stood on his forehead and his teeth bit into hislower lip. The horse puffed and stumbled, for the big Spanish spursslashed its sides without mercy. Fox and Pet scrambled behind, thetie-ropes dragging on the ground.
He reached the summit and closed his eyes, fearing he was too late. Witha throb of relief he saw Katherine still poised at the edge of the Box,while bits of decomposed earth crumbled unnoticed beneath her feet. Herealized her danger. Chappo had spoken of the treacherous shaleoverhanging the Box.
So engrossed was the woman that she did not hear him slip from his horseand hasten noiselessly to her side; but, when his hand grasped her arm,gently, yet firmly, she turned in shrinking fear that changed to piteousappeal when she saw it was Powell, not Glendon, who stood beside her.
The man read the tragedy in her eyes. Slowly he drew her from the dangerpoint, speaking quietly as he did so.
"This place is not safe, Mrs. Glendon. A moment's dizziness might seizeanyone." The earth at the edge was crumbling as he spoke, a chunk of itcrashed down into the canyon below, and Powell drew her further back."That shale is rotten and liable to slide without an instant's warning.I was in an Indian cave when I saw the ponies had gotten away from youand Donnie."
She knew he was giving her a chance to evade explanations, but the womanhad reached a point where she scorned further subterfuge. When one facesEternity all else shrivels to insignificance. "I was not dizzy," shereplied in a dull monotone. Then turning on him passionately, she cried,"Why did you come? Do you know Donnie is going away from me? In threedays more my boy will be taken out of my life and given to strangers whocare nothing for him? Why should we go on struggling? I am tired of itall!"
In a flash he understood her purpose, and knew the horses had notescaped accidentally.
"And you thought that you could keep him with you--down there?" Powellasked in a voice unsteady with emotion.
She looked at him defiantly. "Yes, you may call it a crime; but I amwilling to bear the punishment if there is another world--if there isanother world! It is a worse crime to take a child from its mother andgive it to the father--no matter how unworthy he may be! I have borneeverything for the boy's sake; I could go on--bearing everything therest of my life--if I could only keep my boy!"
Her voice dropped. Powell saw that her hands and limbs were shaken withtremors. "I love him enough to give him up with a smile, if I could knowthat it was for his good. My only happiness lies in knowing I have donethe best I could for him."
He silently waited the reaction that must come. Her hands covered herface; then a terrible sob shook her body. It was not the sharp cry ofremorse; but the terrible soul-rending cry of a heart that is near tobreaking, and the man beside her ached to take her in his arms andcomfort her as he would a child.
"Tell me about it," he said at last, and she raised her tear-stainedface.
Without reservation, she told the story of the long, bitter struggle toreform her husband; the hope that the child would bring compensation andfinally the letter and her husband's decision which had driven her todesperation.
"Yet, when it came to the point, you never would have been cowardlyenough to take your life and Donnie's," he asserted.
"I don't know," she faltered. "A swimmer who struggles against the tidereaches a moment when further efforts are impossible. I have struggled,prayed and fought until I am tired of it all. I want to stop thinking,stop fearing the future--and sleep. It is sometimes easier to die thanto keep on living. Life is too hard, too bitter, too hopeless! You can'tunderstand."
"But I do understand!" replied Powell earnestly. "Sometimes one reachesa stone wall where there is no way around, no way over it, yet, if wehave the courage to hold on, the wall topples when we least expect it.What seems impossible today may be accomplished tomorrow. I am upagainst the hardest wall in my life, but I shall not give up. In thequest of the Grail there must be no faltering. We all see the visiononce in life."
He laid his hands on hers, compelling her to look into his eyes. "I haveheard a soldier whose bravery was beyond question, say that the impulseto seek a place of safety during a battle is almost overpowering. Manymen have been unable to resist the temptation; and the pity is thatoften one deserts his colours just when victory is at hand. You arebrave enough to face the bullets. Don't you know the man who deserts,influences many others to drop their colours too? Carry your coloursbravely, comrade, that I may have the courage to go on with myfight--won't you?"
She turned impulsively and laid her two hands in his close grasp thatimparted new courage. "I was a coward," she said, "but I promise I'llnot give up again! You can't realize how much you have helped me! I willprove my gratitude by not running from the bullets."
The doctor smiled at her. "That's right," he said heartily; "but youoverrate what I have done. You would have won the battle by yourself."
He turned then, to see Donnie looking at them from sleep-heavy eyes.
"Hello, Rip Van Winkle," called the doctor.
With a cry of delight the child leaped up and running to Powell, threwhis arms about the man's neck. "Oh, you did come after all!" he criedtriumphantly. Then Katherine and Powell understood how the child missedthe man.
The boy's unrestrained gladness relieved the tension between his motherand the doctor. Finally Powell rose.
"Do you know, I forgot that Chappo fixed a lunch for me? Let's see whatit is, Donnie. I'm getting hungry."
Katherine watched them make their way over the rough ground, the child'shand held by the man. The mingled voices happy with laughter, floatedback to her from where the ponies were tied. There might be anoccasional gleam of sunshine in life, if only the child were not takenfrom her, she thought hopefully. Then she saw them returning, carryingvarious articles which the doctor had extricated from his big saddlebags, and now deposited on the ground at her feet.
"Chappo knows I am a confirmed coffee-fiend," confessed Powell. "Yougather some sticks, Donnie, and we'll pretend your mother is a captivequeen whom we have rescued from the cannibals. I'm Crusoe and you'reFriday."
"Friday was black," objected Donnie.
"Well, that was an island. This is a mountain, so you can be a whiteFriday here, you see."
When the fire crackled and the large cup which Chappo had provided forboiling coffee, sang merrily, the remnants of Katherine's lunch wereadded to what the Doctor had, so a plentiful meal was spread.
"The trail is rather bad," suggested Powell as they finished theimpromptu feast, "so we had better start before it grows
late."
He tightened the cinches of the three saddles and adjusted the bridleswhile Katherine and Donnie picked up the cups and spoons. She wasreplacing a few articles in a sack hanging on her saddle when she feltthe rock and remembered the note she had written to her husband. Untyingthe sack, she tore the paper into fragments that were caught by thelight evening breeze and tossed over the edge of the Box. She watchedthem, then with a smile turned to Powell, who waited to lift her to herpony's back. Donnie, already on his pony, followed his mother as Foxpicked his way down the trail behind Powell's horse.
Six miles away the Rim Rock rose over two thousand feet or more, themassive, jagged sides reflecting a riotous confusion of colours from thesetting sun, until its vivid beauty merged into a soft blue-grey, likethe plumage on the breast of a wild dove.
Sometimes the boy and Powell talked together as they rode down thetrail, or the mother joined in the conversation, but all the time shewas conscious of a new strength, a sense of comradeship that she hadnever before known in her entire life. Her heart was lighter than it hadbeen for many years when she, Powell and Donnie reached the gate of theCircle Cross. To her surprise, Glendon slouched on the porch.
It was only Thursday and Glendon had said he would be absent untilSunday night. She wondered what it meant.
Her eyes turned to the child and fear gripped her heart until it seemedas if she were suffocating. But Powell's words came back to her, "Carryyour colours bravely, comrade"--She determined not to meet troubleprematurely. After all, there probably was a very natural explanation ofthe sudden return. Juan was coming up from the barn, carrying a pail offresh milk. It was the usual routine of the ranch. She put her fearsaside.
Powell opening the gate for Katherine and Donnie to ride through, raisedhis hat courteously and spoke to Glendon. It was the best way to aidGlendon's wife. The other man looked at him between half-closed eyesthat were a studied insult, and made no reply. Neither did he make anyeffort to assist his wife.
The doctor helped her from her horse, then lifted Donnie to the ground,paying no heed to Glendon's attitude. With a few words to the woman andboy, Powell rode through the gate toward Hot Springs. His blood boiled,and it required all his will-power to avoid turning back and maulingGlendon as he deserved; but, he realized it would not help the woman.
Juan, having disposed of the milk-pail, hastened to lead the ponies tothe stable. Knowing that Glendon was in one of his most surly moods,Katherine moved slowly up the steps of the porch, trying to choke backher terrible dread. "Carry your colours," she heard.
Something of the new-born hope and peace shone in her eyes as she facedher husband silently. He knew that she stood on heights he could notattain, and from which he was powerless to drag her to his own level.Enraged, he leaned closer. His unshaven face, bloodshot eyes, soiledshirt and hot breath redolent of liquor, struck her senses like aphysical blow! With an effort she conquered the sickening repugnance,recalling her promise to Powell to carry her colours bravely. She smiledat her husband and was passing into the house, when he caught her arm ina brutal clutch, jerking her back so that his face was close to her own.
"Took you by surprise, coming back today, didn't I?" he said meaningly.The child stood with pale face and frightened eyes. "Thought I was outof the way, and you sneaked off to meet your affinity, using your childas a cloak! You can't fool me. If you and that dude think you arepulling the wool over my eyes, you'll find yourselves mistaken. You cantell him that, next time you and he arrange to meet each other. Ithought you'd fall for the trap when I fixed it up yesterday morning."
Her face flushed deep red. She had borne every ignominy possible; butthis accusation hurt like corroding acid. Her impulse to cry out inself-defense faded as she looked steadily into his wavering eyes. Like awhisper came the memory of Powell's words, "Carry your colours bravely."Quietly she answered, "Down in your heart, Jim, you don't believe whatyou say. Doctor Powell saved me and Donnie from death today. If he hadnot been riding on the Jackson trail and found us when he did, the boyand I would both have been lying at the bottom of the Box tonight."
"What were you doing up there?" he snarled, glaring at her. "More ofyour melodramatic drivel, as usual? Powell for an audience!"
"I wonder if it would make any difference to you if you knew the truth?"she said brokenly. "I am worn out struggling. The Box seemed the onlyway."
Dumbly, as though she had reached the limit of physical as well asmental endurance, she turned from him and entered the place she calledhome.
For a second Glendon hesitated; then with an oath he called after her:"You can't bluff me with threats of suicide. You haven't the nerve. I'vesaid my last word about sending the boy to Father. I'm going on Monday,whether he's ready or not. I'll break your pride!"
Donnie's startled eyes widened and his face grew paler as he realizedthat he was to be parted from his mother. With a stifled sob the childstumbled blindly up the steps, past his father and threw himself intohis mother's arms.
"Marmee! Marmee! Don't let me go!"
Katherine clasped the boy tightly, her eyes were dry, but it seemed asif her aching heart would burst with agony, knowing that she washelpless.
"Oh, God, give me the courage to live!" was her unuttered prayer.
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