第59章

"Well," he said at length, "I may be of some use, anyway.Surely a fellow has a right to offer his services to his friends in trouble."With this explanation on his lips he sailed down upon the company.

Marion and the half-breed were riding far in front, Crawley following as closely as he could with the wagon.Some distance in the rear were Shock and the doctor in the backboard.The Kid could hear Crawley pointing out to Marion in a loud voice the striking features of the beauty that lay around them in such a wealth and variety of profusion.The words of Ike came to his mind, "mighty ingraciousin'.""Confound his impudence!" he growled."I wonder if she knows the kind of snake he is? I believe I'll tell her, for her own sake.No, that won't do, either.Well, I guess I must wait my chance."Put the chance seemed slow in coming.

"Thought I would ride after you and offer--see if you--if I could be of service.""And we are very glad to have you," said Shock heartily.

"Yes, we found you useful on occasion before, and doubtless shall again," said the doctor, in a tone of pleasant sufferance.

The Kid reined up behind the buckboard, waiting for an excuse to ride forward, but for miles finding a none.

"I wonder now," said Shock at length, "if we had not better stop and have tea, and then ride till dark before we camp.If Marion is not tired that would be the better way.""I'll ride up and ask," said The Kid eagerly, and before any other suggestion could be made he was gone.

The proposition found acceptance with Marion and, what was of more importance, with the half-breed guide.

If The Kid had any doubt of his reception by the girl the glad, grateful look in her eyes as he drew near was enough to assure him of her welcome; and as he took the guide's place by her side she hastened to say, "I am glad you came, Mr.Stanton.It was very kind of you to come.It was awful riding alone mile after mile.""Alone!" echoed The Kid.

"Well, I mean you know he cannot talk much English and--""Of course," promptly replied The Kid, "I am awfully glad I came, now.Wasn't sure just how you might take it.I mean, I did not like pushing myself in, you understand.""Oh, surely one does not need to explain a kindness such as this,"said the girl simply."You see, the doctor and Mr.Macgregor are together, and will be, and the others--well, I hardly know them."The trail wound in and out, with short curves and sharp ascents, among the hills, whose round tops were roughened with the rocks that jutted through the turf, and were decked with clumps of poplar and spruce and pine.The world seemed full of brightness to the boy.His heart overflowed with kindness to all mankind.He found it possible, indeed, to think of Crawley, even, with a benignant compassion.

Far up in the Pass they camped, in a little sheltered dell all thick with jack pines, through whose wide-spreading roots ran and chattered a little mountain brook.But for the anxiety that lay like lead upon her heart, how delightful to Marion would have been this, her first, experience of a night out of doors.And when after tea Shock, sitting close by the fire, read that evening Psalm, breathing a trust and peace that no circumstances of ill could break, the spicy air and the deep blue sky overhead, sown with stars that rained down their gentle beams through the silent night, made for Marion a holy place where God seemed near, and where it was good to lie down and rest."I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety"And that sense of security, of being under tender, loving care, did not forsake her all through the long watches of the night, and through the weary miles of the next day's travel that brought them at length to the Old Prospector's camp.

As they neared the camp the trail emerged out of thick bushes into a wide valley, where great pines stood, with wide spaces between, and clear of all underbrush.The whole valley was carpeted thick with pine needles, and gleamed like gold in the yellow light of the evening sun.The lower boughs under which they rode were dead, and hung with long streamers of grey moss that gave the trees the appearance of hoary age.

As they entered the valley instinctively they lowered their voices and spoke in reverent tones, as if they had been ushered into an assemblage of ancient and silent sages.On every side the stately pines led away in long vistas that suggested the aisles of some noble cathedral.There was no sign of life anywhere, no motion of leaf or bough, no sound to break the solemn stillness.The clatter of a hoof over a stone broke on the ear with startling discordance.

The wide reaches of yellow carpet of pine needles, golden and with black bars of shadow, the long drawn aisles of tall pines, bearing aloft like stately pillars the high, arched roof of green, the lower limbs sticking out from the trunks bony and bare but for the pendant streamers of grey moss, all bathed in the diffused radiance of the yellow afternoon light, suggested some weird and mighty fane of a people long dead, whose spirits, haunting these solemn spaces, still kept over their temple a silent and awful watch.

Out on the trail they met Perault in a frenzy of anxious excitement.

"Tank de Bon Dieu!" he cried brokenly, with hands uplifted."Come wit' me, queek! queek!""Perault, tell us how your boss is." The doctor's voice was quiet and authoritative."And tell us how long he has been ill, and how it came on.Be very particular.Take plenty of time."Perault's Gallic temperament responded to the doctor's quiet tone and manner.

"Oui.Bon," he said, settling down."Listen to me.We come nice and slow to dis place, an' den we go up dat gulch for little prospect.