by Rex Beach
CHAPTER XXVI
A subdued but continuous whispering irritated Calvin Gray. When itpersisted, minute after minute, he opened his eyes, asking himself,dully, why it was that people couldn't let a fellow sleep. He lay, forsome time, trying to recognize his unfamiliar surroundings; oddlyenough, he could not discover the origin of that low-pitched murmur,since there was nobody in his bedroom. Evidently he had slept too hard,for his eyes were heavy, his vision was distorted, and an unaccustomedlassitude bore down his body and stupefied his brain. A thousandindistinct memories were moving about in the penumbral borderland ofconsciousness, but they refused to take shape. They would emerge intothe light presently, of course. Meanwhile, it was restful to remain inthis state of semi-stupefaction. He was pretty tired.
That whispering, he realized after a while, was nothing more than themonotonous murmur of rain upon a shingle roof, and the gurgle fromdripping eaves. Oh yes! It had been pouring for several days; rainingbuckets, barrels--Ten thousand barrels a day!
Yonder was something familiar; a patent, spring rocking-chair. Grayknew it well. It creaked miserably when you sat in it, and when you gotup to look at diamond rings it snapped its jaws at you like analligator. Odd that they'd let an alligator into the Ajax Hotel.Nelson's doings, probably. Always up to some deviltry, that Nelson.But, thank God, the fire was out, and that ear-splitting racket thathurt his head had changed into the soothing patter of raindrops. Therecouldn't be any fire with ten thousand barrels of rain falling.
Gray closed his eyes and dozed briefly. But he had dreams; calamityhaunted him; he awoke to the realization of some horror. Slowly hisbrain began to function, then more swiftly, until, like a floodreleased, memory returned. He groaned aloud.
Allegheny Briskow appeared out of nowhere and laid a soothing hand uponhis brow. When she saw the light of sanity in his eyes, her facebrightened and she cried, eagerly:
"You're coming around all right, aren't you?"
"Ten thousand barrels!" he mumbled. "They said it would be a big welland I counted on it."
"Don't try to think--"
"But it came in a gasser. I remember it all now--nearly all. I--I'mabout ruined, I guess."
"No, no!"
"It caught fire."
"You mustn't talk. Everything is all right--all right, honestly. I'lltell you everything, but just you rest now until Buddy comes." Therewas magnetism to the girl's touch and comfort in her voice.
It was some time later that Gray opened his eyes and spoke in a morenatural voice, saying, "How do I happen to be here in your house,Allie?"
"We brought you over at daylight. Buddy's gone for a doctor, but he'llbe back." The girl averted her face quickly and moved toward the window.
"I remember being hurt in some way--derrick fell on me, or something.Then the well caught fire. What time is it?"
"It's afternoon. About four o'clock. Buddy 'll be back--" Allie's voicecaught queerly. "He'll get back somehow."
"He ought to be at the well--putting it out. God! What a sight! I seeit yet!"
"The well is out!" Allie returned and seated herself beside the bed."You probably won't understand it or believe it--I can scarcely believeit myself, for it's a miracle. All the same, it is out, shut in, andnot much damage done. You're not ruined, either, for Buddy says they'reshort of fuel here, and a gasser this size is worth a good deal--'mostas much as a fair oil well.'"
"How can it be shut in? It was blazing, roaring--a tower of flame. Thederrick itself was going--"
"I know, but the strangest thing--" Allie spoke breathlessly. "Let medo the talking, please. You remember the drill stems were standing overin one corner? Well, the fire drove everybody off, of course; there wasno facing it, and they thought sure they'd have a job--have to send forboilers and smother it down with steam, maybe, or tunnel under, orsomething--work for days, maybe weeks, and spend a fortune. Anyhow,they were in a panic, but when the derrick went down what do you think?That stack of drill stems fell in such a way as to close the gate valveat the top of the casing."
Gray frowned, he shook his head. "Impossible. You're trying to ease mymind."
"Of course it's impossible. But it happened, just as I tell you. Buddyhad a bar fixed in the valve wheel, like a long handle, so that a halfturn, or maybe a quarter, would shut it. Anyhow, those drill stemscaught that bar in falling and closed the valve. Somebody said ithappened once before, to an oil well over in Louisiana--"
"It--sounds incredible." The speaker made an effort to collect himself,he raised an uncertain hand to his bandaged head. "What ails me? Irecall a lot of things, but they're pretty well confused."
Allie made known, the nature of the accident resulting in Gray'sinjury, and he nodded his understanding. "So Buddy saved my life!" Hesmiled. "Great boy, Buddy! I'll know better than to mix it with himagain--he learns too quickly."
"Oh, it was terrible! I've been so--so frightened!" Allie Briskowsuddenly lost control of herself and, bowing her head, she hid her facein the musty patchwork quilt. Her shoulders shook, her whole strongbody twitched and trembled. "You've b-been awful sick. I did the best Icould, but--"
"There, there!" Gray placed his hand upon the girl's head; he took herpalm in his and stroked it. "I'm not worth your tears, child. And,anyhow, I'm all right again; I am, indeed. I'm as well as ever, so faras I can tell. By the way, what set the well afire?"
"Buddy thinks somebody must have dropped a cigarette when the stampedecame." The girl raised her face and wiped the tears from it. "Itdoesn't seem possible anybody would be so careless as to smoke near awell that was coming in, but--Just think, Mr. Gray, those drill stemsshut it off! Why, it was the hand of God!"
"It seems so. My luck hasn't run out, that's plain." The speakerpondered briefly, then he said: "Shut in! Safe! Jove, it's wonderful!Buddy can take me to the railroad to-night and--"
"Oh, you can't leave. You're not able."
"I must. This gasser was a great disappointment to me. I allowed myselfto count on a big well, and now I have a serious problem to meet. Itmust be met without delay. Buddy will soon be back, I dare say?" Allieundertook to evade the speaker's eye, but unsuccessfully, and heinquired, sharply: "What's wrong? What's happened to him?"
"Nothing. He's all right, but"--Gray's evident alarm demanded thetruth, therefore she explained--"but I don't know when he'll be back.That's why I've been so frightened. It has been raining cats and dogs;the creek has overflowed and everything is under water."
"Under water? Here? Why, that can't be." Gray insisted upon rising, andAllie finally consented to his doing so; then, despite his protest thathe was quite able to take care of himself, she helped him to thewindow. From that position he beheld a surprising scene.
The Briskow farm lay in a flat, saucerlike valley, arid and dusty atmost seasons of the year, but now a shallow lake, the surface of whichwas broken by occasional fences, misty clumps of bushes, or the tops ofdead weeds. The nearest Briskow derrick was dimly visible, its floorawash, its shape suggestive of the battle mast of a sunken man-of-war.
"It's not more than a foot or two deep on the level," Allie explained,"but that's enough. And it has come up six inches since Buddy left.He'd have been back before this if he could have made it."
"Did you ever see it like this before?"
"Once, when I was a little girl. Some years the creek never has a dropin it."
"Then we're marooned."
"We were cut off for three days that time."
Gray frowned. What next? he asked himself. Here was a calamity thatcould not be dodged. He shrugged, finally. "No use to fret. No use tocrouch beneath a load. I'd give my right arm to be back in Dallas,but--this is our chance to cultivate the Christian virtue ofsubmission. So be it! One must have a heart for every fate, but," hesmiled at the girl, "it is hard to be philosophical when you're hungry.And I'm hungry."
"Oh, you _are_ better!"
"I'm well, I tell you, except for the bruises bequeathed me by yourbrutal brother. Three days--a week, maybe! My God! By
the way, is thereany food in the house?"
"Plenty."
"Then--we've nothing to do except get better acquainted, and that issomething I've wanted to do for some time."
Allegheny Briskow sang while she prepared supper, for the reaction fromthe strain of the last twelve hours was like an intoxication. Mr. Graywas in no further danger; he was well except for a bandaged head andsome bruises. And he was here alone with her. They were as completelycut off from the outside world as if shipwrecked on some island, and,for the time being at least, he was hers to look out for, hers to waitupon and to guard. Allie laughed at the drumming of the rain upon thekitchen roof, and she thrilled at memory of some of the things she haddone. She could feel again Gray's head upon her bosom, his lips againsthers, his body strained to hers. She had listened to his heartbeats;with her own abundant strength she had shielded him, fought for him,drawn him, by very force of her will, back to life; the anguish she hadsuffered during those long hours became, in retrospect, a poignantpleasure.
She wondered if by any chance he would remember--there had been timeswhen he had seemed to be almost rational. She hoped not. And yet--whynot? If he did remember, if indeed he had felt her kisses or heard herpleadings, that memory, even if subconscious, might serve to awakenhim. It might evoke some response to the flaming passion that hadfinally escaped her control. Gray was a strong man; his emotions, onceroused, were probably as wild as hers, therefore who could tell whatmight happen? Irresistible forces, fire and flood, had thrown themtogether. They were at the mercy of elemental powers, and they werealone with each other--a man and a woman. Allie hoped against hope; sheprayed recklessly, defiantly, that her hour had struck.
Gray came into the kitchen after a while to warm himself over thestove. He was still a little bit unsteady on his feet, and his headfelt queer; but he assumed a certain gayety and insisted upon bearingan awkward hand with the cooking and the dishes. He had never seenAllie as she was now, nor in a mood to compare with this, and for thefirst time he realized how fully she had developed. It was notsurprising that her metamorphosis had escaped his attention, for he hadnever taken time to do more than briefly appraise her. With leisure forobservation, however, he noted that she had made good her promise ofrare physical charm, and that her comeliness had ripened into realbeauty--beauty built on an overwhelming scale, to be sure, and hencedoubly striking--moreover, he saw that all traces of her stolidity hadvanished. She was an intelligent, wide-awake, vibrant person, and atthis moment a genial fire, a breathless excitement, was ablaze withinher. Gray complimented her frankly, and she was extravagantly pleased.
"Buddy said almost the same thing," she told him. "I don't care whetherit's true or not, if you believe it."
"Oh, it's true! I saw great things in you, but--"
"Even when you saw me hoeing in the garden that first day?"
"Even then; but I wasn't prepared for a miracle. You were an enchantedprincess, and it required only a magic word to break the spell."
"It is all your doings, Mr. Gray. Whatever I am I owe it all to you.And it's the same with the rest of the family. I--" Allie hesitated,looked up from her work, then shook her head smilingly.
"What?"
"I feel as if--well, as if you'd made me and I--belonged to you." Itwas dusk by this time; the girl's face was lit only by the indirectglow from the open door of the stove, therefore Gray could make nothingof her expression.
"How very flattering!" he laughed. "As a real matter of fact, I hadalmost nothing to do with it."
"All the same that's how I feel--as if I owed you everything and had togive something back. Women are queer, I guess. They love to give. Andyet they're selfish--more selfish than men."
"I wouldn't say so."
"You don't know how bad hurt you were, Mr. Gray. I saved your life asmuch as Buddy did. You'd have died only for--only I wouldn't let you."
"I believe it. So, you see, you have more than evened the score. Afterall, I merely awakened the Sleeping Beauty, while you--"
"The prince woke her up with a kiss, didn't he?" Allie said, with asmile.
"So the story goes. Fairy stories, by the way, are the only kind onecan afford to believe."
"Then I've got--something coming to me, haven't I?"
This time the girl turned her face invitingly to the speaker and waited.
Here was a new Allie Briskow, indeed, and one that amazed, nay,disturbed, Gray. Romance, he told himself. The girl meant nothing bythis; nevertheless, her fancy had run far enough. He ignored herinvitation, and instead of kissing her he patted her shoulderaffectionately, saying:
"You're a dear child, and I can never repay you for mending my poorcracked head."
He turned his back, went to the table and lit the lamp, uncomfortablyaware of the fact, meanwhile, that Allie remained motionless where hehad left her. He ran on, casually, during the time he adjusted chimneyand wick: "I was on the porch just now and found a rabbit crouchingthere. The poor thing was too wet and frightened to move." Allie didnot seem to hear him. "All sorts of things are floating about; deadchickens, rattlesnakes, and--Oh yes, another thing I noticed; there's agood deal of oil on the water! I wonder where it comes from?"
Allie stirred herself; she jerked open the oven door, peered in, thenslammed it shut. Her voice was sullen as she said: "They've beenexpecting a gusher on sixteen. Maybe the reservoirs have overflowed, ora pipe line has broken. Maybe it came in wild, you can't tell. Thisflood will cost a good many people a lot."
Supper, when the two sat down to it, proved to be a pleasant meal, forthe soft glow of the lamp, the warmth from the stove, made of theBriskow kitchen a cozy place, while the drumming of the rain overheadenhanced their feeling of comfort and security. Gray's appetite was notthat of a sick man, and Allie, who had regained her agreeable humor bythis time, waited upon him with eager face and shining eyes. He paused,finally, to say:
"See here! You're not eating a bite."
"I'm not hungry. I couldn't eat, to-night. Please--I'm perfectly happy.I feel like a slave at the great lord's table; all I care to do is lookon." After a moment she continued: "It couldn't have been so bad to bea slave--a girl slave. Somebody owned them, anyhow; they belonged totheir masters, body and soul, and that's something. Women are likethat. They've got to belong to somebody to be happy."
Gray was a talkative man, therefore he argued this point until he beganto suspect that his companion was not heeding his words so much as thesound of his voice. More plainly than before he realized that there wassomething about Allie to-night utterly strange and quite contrary tohis conception of her, but, because he believed her to be unlike otherwomen, he did not try to understand it.
During the night an explosive crash followed by a loud reverberationawoke Calvin Gray and brought him up sitting. His room was lit by whiteflickers, against which he saw that the rain still sheeted his windows;he fumbled for his watch and found that it was two o'clock. This was astorm, indeed, and he began to fear that this deluge might swell thewaters to a danger point; therefore he rose, struck a light, anddressed himself. Sleep was out of the question, anyhow, amid such anuproar. As he stepped out upon the front porch, his attention wasinstantly drawn to a yellow glow in the west, a distant torch, theflame of which illuminated the angry night. He stared at it for amoment before he realized its meaning. A well was afire! Lightning hadwrecked a derrick and ignited the stream of oil. No wonder, he toldhimself, for this field was dotted with towers well calculated to leadlightning out of the skies, and amid a play of destructive forces suchas this nothing less than a miracle could have prevented something ofthe sort. But it was a pity, for yonder a small-sized fortune was goingup in smoke.
By the next flare he saw that the waters had crept higher. They werenearly up to the porch floor now, and, obviously, they were stillrising. That rabbit was crouched where he had last seen it, a wet ballof fur with round, black eyes. The heavens echoed almost constantly,now to a thick, distant rumble, again to an appalling din directlyoverhead; for se
conds at a time there was light enough to read by. Thehouse, Gray decided, was in no danger, except from a direct bolt, forthe valley was nothing more than a shallow lake; nevertheless--
A blinding, blue-white streak came, and he counted the seconds beforethe sound reached him. Sound traveled something like a thousand feet asecond, he reflected; that bolt must have struck about a mile distant.Nothing alarming about that, surely. A moment, then he blinked andrubbed his eyes, for out of the murk was born another bonfire like thatto the westward.
Hearing an exclamation behind him, Gray turned to behold AllieBriskow's dim figure in the door.
"Hello!" he cried, excitedly. "Did you see that? Yonder are two wellsafire."
"I know. I haven't closed my eyes. You can see another one from mywindow." Allia snapped the light from a pocket flash upon Gray, and,noting that he was only partly clad, she urged him to come into thehouse. When he ignored the request she joined him, and together theystared at the mounting flames.
"Jove! That's terrible!" he muttered.
"Look here." Allie directed the beam of her light down over the edge ofthe porch, and moved it slowly from side to side. The surface of thewater was not only burdened with debris, but also it was thick withoil. "It's just like that on the other side. That gusher on sixteenmust be wild."
"Why didn't you call me?" the man inquired, sharply.
"What was the use? There's no chance for us to get out."
"How far is it back to high ground?"
"Quite a ways. Too far to wade. It would be over our heads in places,too. I don't like the look of it, do you? Not with those fires going,and--"
"I dare say it won't get any worse." Gray spoke with a carelessnessthat he was far from feeling, but his tone did not deceive the girl.
"It doesn't have to get any worse," she declared, im patiently."There's oil enough here to burn. We're in the middle of a lake of it.What 'll happen if it catches fire?"
"Frankly, I don't know. I've never been marooned in a lake of oil.Probably this rain would quench it-"
"You know better than that!" Allie cried. "Don't act as if I were akid. We're in a bad fix, with fire on three sides of us."
"At least we'll be as well off inside as out here," Gray declared, andhis companion agreed, so together they went into her room, where, sideby side, they peered through her window. What Allie had said was true,and the man pinched himself to see if he were dreaming. Thisconflagration was even closer than the others, and he could not doubtthat there was every likelihood of its spreading to the surface of thelake itself. Here was a situation, truly. For the life of him he couldthink of no way out of it.
"I've read about this sort of thing," Allie was saying. "Tanks burstingand rivers afire. It spreads all over, the fire does, and there's noputting it out."
"One thing sure, this lightning won't last long--"
A blue glare and a ripping explosion gave the lie to Gray's cheeringwords. Allie Briskow recoiled from the window.
"We'll be burned alive!" she gasped. "Roasted like rats in a trap.I--I'm frightened, Mr. Gray." She drew closer to him.
"No need of that. We'll get out of this scrape somehow--people alwaysdo." A flicker lit the room, and he saw that the face upturned to hiswas wide eyed, strained. That brief glimpse of Allie, like a pictureseen through the shutter of a camera, remained long with the man, forher hair was unbound, her lips were parted, and her dark eyes werepeculiarly brilliant; through the opening of her lacy negligee herround, white neck and swelling bosom were exposed. It was a head, abust, to be remembered.
"I--You got to--hold me," she said, huskily, and he felt her bodyshrink close to his. She clung tightly to him, trembling at first, thenshaking in every limb. Fright, it seemed, had suddenly mastered AllieBriskow.
Gray endeavored for a moment to soothe her, then gently to loosen herhold; he spoke to her as he would have spoken to a terrified child, butthe wildness of her emotion matched the wildness of the night, and herstrength was nearly equal to his. Knowing her as he did, this abysmalterror was inexplicable; such abandon was entirely out of keeping withher. But she had acted queerly ever since--Gray was ashamed of thethought that leaped into his mind; he hated himself for harboring it.He hated himself also for the thrill that coursed through him atcontact with this disheveled creature. The touch of her flesh disturbedhim unbearably. Roughly he tore her arms from about his neck and puther away from him; by main strength he forced her into a chair, thensnatched a covering of some sort from the bed and folded it around hershoulders. His voice was hoarse--to him it sounded almost brutal as hesaid:
"Get hold of yourself! We're in no great danger, really. Now then, alight will help us both." With clumsy hands he struck a match and litthe lamp. "Light's a great thing--drives away foolishness--nightmaresand fancies of all sorts." Without looking at her he seized theelectric torch and muttered: "I'll take a look around, just to see thatthings are snug. Back presently."
Gray despised himself thoroughly when the turmoil within him persisted;when he still felt the unruly urge to return whence he had come. Wildhorses! That was how Gus Briskow had described his children. Well,Allie had followed Buddy's example and jumped the fence. Here wassomething unique in the way of an experience, sure enough; here wereforces at play as savage and as destructive as those that lit theheavens. The girl was magnificent, maddening--and he was running awayfrom her! He, a man of the world, as ruthless as most men of his type!It was a phenomenon to awaken sardonic mirth. He wondered what had comeover him. He had changed, indeed.
Could it be that he had read a wrong significance into Allie's actions?Thus his mind worked when he grew calmer. He tried to answer in theaffirmative, but already he hated himself sufficiently. No, the nighthad done it. Texas cattle stampede on stormy nights. They run blindlyto destruction. The very air was surcharged, electric, and the girl wasuntamed, only a step removed from the soil. The possibility that shecould be seriously interested in him, strangely enough, never presenteditself.
Gray laid strong hold of himself, but it is not easy to subdue thought,and he could feel those strong, smooth, velvet arms encircling him.Disorder without and chaos within this house! The heavens rumbled likea mighty drumhead, the lightning made useless the feeble ray in hishand. It was the place, the hour of impulse. Gray swore savagely athimself, then he stumbled into his room and dressed himself more fully.
"Well, there doesn't seem to be much change," he said, cheerfully, ashe opened Allie's door awhile later. "The fires don't seem to bespreading." She was sitting where he had left her, she had not moved."Anything new on this side?"
Allie shrugged; slowly she turned, exposing a face tragic and stony. "Iguess you don't think much of me," she said.
"Indeed!" he declared, heartily. "This is enough to frighten anybody. Idon't mind saying it has upset me. But the worst is over." He laid areassuring hand upon her shoulder.
Allie moved her body convulsively. "Lemme be!" she cried, sharply. "Idon't mind the lightning. I ain't scared of the fire, either--hell fireor any other kind. I ain't scared of anything, and yet--I'm a dam'coward!"
She rose, gathered her loose robe more closely about her, and madeblindly toward the bed. She flung herself upon it and buried her facein the pillows. "Just a--dam' coward!" she repeated, in a muffled wail."My God, I wish the blaze would come!"