CHAPTER XV
ANGEL
Scott, starting breezily down the trail after the recreant horses,whistled a tune as he went, for he was happy. He did not weigh reasonagainst happiness--it was too soon for that. He would have given you,however, if pressed, a number of very good reasons why he and Polly Streetwere going to be happy together, in spite of their different upbringing,and his own not very lucid reasons for not having wanted to marry her.
Just at present he was occupied with the idea of the horses. He felt thatthey would not be apt to go back on the trail unless it was to look forwater, and water they might find at the bottom of the ravine though theunderbrush was too dense for him to see it. He could follow their trailvery easily in the sandy path but he walked a quarter of a mile before hefound the place where they had struck out of the trail for the bottom ofthe ravine.
Very cautiously he started down, for the going was decidedly bad and hehad no wish to risk a fall. He trailed the prints, marveling at thesure-footedness of the animal which can follow so hazardous a path.
"I wouldn't dare put a horse down a trail like this," he mused with agrin, "and yet the rascals will go down by themselves as smooth as silk.Hullo, I guessed right! There is water down here. There's old Jasperfilling up on it, and the mare, too. Well, I guess we don't walk home thistrip." And just as Polly, some hundreds of feet above him was trying madlyto reach the cave, Scott, quite oblivious of impending danger, started onhis difficult climb, leading the two horses.
"Serve you darn well right, you fellows, if I was to make you haul me," hesaid, as Jasper's soft nose rubbed against his shoulder. "I would, too, ifI didn't think you'd slide down and break my neck just when my girl needsme. Come on, you grafters, shake a leg, will you?"
It was a bad climb. The perspiration rolled off Scott's face and the veinsstood out upon his forehead. Gasping for breath, he dug his toes into thesoft earth and plugged ahead, pulling the reluctant animals after him. Hehad nearly gained the top, was within twenty feet, perhaps, of the end ofthe climb, when Jasper began to pull back. They were breaking through somebrush, Scott being nearly through when Jasper began pulling. Scott gavethe bridle an irritated jerk and spoke sharply to the horse. As he did so,he looked up and saw Angel Gonzales and his band coming down the trail.For a second, Scott lost his wits. He took a quick step forward, givingthe bridle another jerk as he did so. Jasper, naturally aggrieved, pulledback again, and Scott, standing on a loose bit of rock, slipped, tried toright himself, slipped again, overbalanced, fell and rolled down--overboulders, through brush, falling ever faster as he tried to regain afoothold.
Both bridles had been wrenched from his hand as he fell and the horses,half scared, half inquisitive, followed him a few steps and then returnedto the munching of grass, behind the clump of brush.
Angel Gonzales, a large, brutal-looking man, his face covered with a blackbeard, his clothes bearing the mark of many a scuffle, swung down thetrail in the lead, his particular crony, one Porfirio Cortes, ridingimmediately after him. A little distance intervened between Cortes and theother members of the party. Even in bandit circles the line is drawnsomewhere, and in Angel's band it was drawn immediately after PorfirioCortes.
Angel rode, one leg thrown over his pommel, which enabled him to chatcomfortably with Cortes. They were talking of Juan Pachuca.
"A slippery one, that," Cortes had remarked, keenly. "I don't believe hemeans to throw in his lot with us. When I see him do it, I willbelieve--not before."
"Why not? I have more men than he has. He needs men. All he has is thisunderstanding that he brags of with the new government."
"Lies, _amigo_, lies! His record with Carranza is against him."
"Well, all men lie," replied Angel, tersely, and with probably nointention of plagiarism. "Anyhow, we can do some good fighting together.There will be some fine pickings when we get the old man out of MexicoCity. Think of the money, the fine clothes, the women!"
"Yes, I think of them," replied Cortes, meditatively. "But I think also ofObregon. I hate that man. He hung a cousin of mine, once, for less thanwhat you and I did to those Yaquis. Also, he has persecuted Villa."
"Well, so will I persecute Villa if I ever get a chance," replied Angel,cheerfully. "The fat thief! Think of the gold he has hidden in thesemountains! Hold--what is that? Down in the canyon? Horses! Is it troops,do you think?"
"Troops--in a hole like that? It might be those Indians--an ambush!"
"It would be like the devils. I don't see them now."
"You saw Soria's burro, most likely. Your nerves are bad, as the gringossay." Both men grinned and rode on. Suddenly, they heard a crashing soundof scattering stones that rose even above the noise made by their horses.Angel threw up his head in alarm, very much as a horse does when he scentsdanger. "It is the Indians," he said to Porfirio. "We must not be attackedin this narrow place. Forward! Ride! The Yaquis are upon us!" he cried,driving the spurs into his horse. He was followed by Cortes, who in turnwas followed by the others. The entire band gave a vivid moving picture ofa reckless run down a narrow trail, by a hundred men, any one of whomwould have considered it utter madness had he been alone.
Marc Scott, stopped by a mesquite bush near the bottom of the canyon, layfor a few moments where he had fallen, literally too shaken to move. Whenhe realized what had happened to him, he crawled to his feet and listened.All was still. The sounds from above had ceased, and a cloud of dusthovering over the trail was the only evidence that he had not imagined thepassing of a crowd of men.
"By golly, I believe they didn't hear me after all!" he gasped. Then thethought came to him of Polly--alone on the trail above him. A sickeningfear shook him; how could she possibly have escaped those men? In a blindfury he started to climb the ravine. It had been hard going before--now,in spite of his body, stiff and shaken, he did not feel the effort. Hisface was purple with heat and exertion, his hands were bloody with thecactus he had clutched when falling, but his terror for the girl dwarfedall physical discomfort. Panting and choking, he forged ahead. If he couldonly reach Jasper he would follow that cloud of dust until he knew whathad happened to the woman he loved.
Jasper and the mare, uninfluenced by motives either of fear or anger,still grazed by the clump of brush and allowed the almost exhausted Scottto lead them back to the trail. He mounted Jasper, and turned the mareloose. He started down the trail after the vanished band at a pace quiteas reckless as their own.
"Marc! Marc Scott!" Polly's voice rose desperately as she saw himdisappearing down the trail. "Come back here!"
Scott turned, bewildered, to see Polly running wildly toward him. Sheflung herself upon him and upon Jasper before he could dismount, pouringout the story of the men who had gone down the trail.
"And the worst of it was," she wept, stormily, "that I didn't even try towarn you. I just made for that cave and hid myself. That's the sort of agirl I am."
"Did you, honey? Do you know, that strikes me as mighty sensible? I don'thold much with girls saving men's lives outside the movies, where they'rewell paid for it. It strikes me life-saving is a man-sized job."
"But you're all scratched! What in the world----"
"I had to roll down the hill to dodge 'em," chuckled Scott, as he caughtthe mare and helped the girl to mount her. "I'll tell you about it after awhile; just now I think we'd better be on our way."
They rode on in silence, back over the trail and around the curve past theimitation cave which had sheltered Polly. Scott eyed the horses withinward pessimism.
"They're never going to make it," he thought. "They're about all in now.Wish I knew whether to camp out and go on in the morning or to keep onpushing. If I was alone I'd bed down for the night but I hate to ask herto spend a night in the open unless I have to. Well, we'll go on awhile."
They rode on, the tired horses going more and more slowly and respondingless and less readily to urging. The trail did not go all the way downinto the canyon, but met a rocky ledge which crossed it like a naturalbrid
ge. It was narrow and it was slippery with loose stones, but the girltook it silently. She was too tired and hungry to be afraid. The twosandwiches seemed things belonging to another life. She tried to smilewhen Scott looked back at her but it was hard work.
They came off the ledge onto the side of a hill which formed a part of thesecond range of mountains. The spot, green as a deer park, was directly onthe side of the hill, about half-way up. Around it were trees--pines andlive oaks. The trail seemed to have disappeared altogether. Scott haddismounted and was waiting for the girl to come up.
"What's the matter?" she demanded, anxiously.
He dropped his horse's bridle and came to her side. "I've a question foryou, best girl," he said, his hand on the pommel of her saddle, "Thesehorses are hardly fit to climb this next range. They might do it and makethe rest of the trip to-day if we urged them but it ain't a square deal.Then, too, it would be dark before we got there.
"This is a place where we could stay. There's pasture for the horses and Ithink that little stream that I found down in the canyon starts from uphere somewhere. If we go on we may make it and again we may get tangled upin the mountains after dark, which I don't fancy. I'm no forest ranger,you know. Shall we stay here till three or four o'clock in the morning orshall we plug ahead? It's up to you."
Polly turned an appalled face toward him. "But, Marc, you don't mean tostay here--in this place--all night?" she said, faintly.
"Well, it won't be exactly all night. It's nearly five o'clock now and wecould start at daybreak."
"But--why, we haven't anything to stop with! No tent and no blankets andnothing to eat! It would be rather dreadful, wouldn't it?"
"Well, not dreadful, exactly. We've the blankets under our saddles, andyou have your long cloak. I'll build you a fire. Of course there's nothingto eat except the rest of the sandwiches."
"Well, perhaps--it would be pretty bad to get lost up here after dark.There might be mountain lions or mad skunks. They do have mad skunks outhere, don't they?"
Scott chuckled. "Search me, honey, all the skunks I ever met were mad.Come on down and we'll have a look at the country."
"Marc," Polly looked down at him, her eyes soft, "I'm wondering what Iwould have done if those bandits had gobbled you."
"I don't let bandits gobble me when I'm escorting ladies," replied Scott.Then meeting her eyes, the twinkle faded out of his. "You'd better saywhat would I have done if you hadn't hidden in that cave." His head restedfor a moment against her knee.
"I don't know. Seems as though things were being managed for us, doesn'tit?"
"I hope so."
He lifted her to her feet and she looked around her curiously.
"It's a pretty place," she pronounced. "I hope you're right about thewater. I saw a little stream way up in the mountains when I climbed to thecave."
"I'm going to let Jasper find it for me," replied Scott. He had thesaddles off the tired horses in a few seconds and they lay down and rolledhappily, drying their sweaty backs in the dust. When they got to theirfeet again, he took the two long ropes from the saddles and fastened themaround the horses' necks.
"Are you going to tie them up?" demanded the girl.
"Not now. Going to let them drag the ropes around. I can catch 'em easythat way. Guess they're too tired to go far."
The horses had smelled the water and made for it. It ran in a tricklinglittle stream down the hillside about a dozen feet away, hidden by somebrush. Once refreshed, they were easily led back and began to feed on thecoarse grass. Scott shook out the blankets.
"They're a bit horsey," he admitted, "but they'll keep you warm. I putthem under the saddles instead of the regular saddle blankets because I'vebeen caught out this way before. A man learns things in this country." Hehanded Polly her long coat and she slipped into it. "This isn't exactlythe time of year I'd pick for a camping trip," he added, "but we'll do, Ireckon. Do you want to eat the sandwiches now, or do you prefer dinner atsix?"
Polly eyed the two big sandwiches with a serious eye. "Let's look at thema while first," she said, hungrily. "Isn't there any way of gettinganything else? Can't you shoot something?"
"I don't see anything but you and me and the horses. What's the matter?"For the girl had given a shriek of joy.
"In my coat pocket! A cake of chocolate that Mrs. Van put there--and thesugar. I always bring it for the horses. We'll keep the chocolate forbreakfast, shall we?"
They ate the sandwiches and topped off with the sugar. "Which," saidPolly, seriously, "is very strengthening. I've heard that they feed it tothe Japanese army."
"Yes, I've heard that, too," assented Scott, "but I reckon that's not allthey feed 'em."
"Well, it's not all you've been fed, either, so don't grumble," said thelady, practically.
"I think," said Scott, rising, "that before it grows dark I'll investigatethis trail a bit. It looks sort of blind to me. If we have to start bymoonlight it'll be just as well to have some notion of where to begin."
Polly leaned back against a tree and watched him lazily. He looked verystrong and capable. She recalled Joyce Henderson's graceful proportionsand smiled. She had had to come a long way to find the man she wanted butshe was well content. It was odd, she reflected, that she and JoyceHenderson, who had known each other all their lives, were like strangersonce they attempted the more intimate relation; while for this man whomshe had known but a few weeks she felt a sense of familiarity, ofbelongingness, that she could scarcely believe. She was trusting him nowin a way that she had never imagined herself trusting any man and yet shefelt at ease.
Scott, returning, threw himself down beside her. "I've found the trail,"he said, "but we've got some traveling ahead of us. Don't look to me as ifanybody'd been over it since Gomez was."
"Didn't those men come this way?"
"No. They must have hit the trail lower down--from some place we'vemissed. I'll swear no crowd like that have been where I've just been."
The girl looked at him gravely. "Do you think we ought to go back?"
"Back? No, I don't. Those folks are waiting for us at Soria's and I wantto get Tom started for them as soon as I can."
"I wonder if those men will make any trouble at Soria's?"
"I don't believe so. If it was Angel Gonzales, he's heading for yourgentleman friend's place and he'll be in a hurry."
"Why do you go on calling him my gentleman friend?"
"Well, you think he's some kind of a guy, don't you?" demanded Scott, witha grin. "Pretty manners, soft voice, nice long eyelashes--all that kind ofthing?"
"Yes, I do," replied Polly, stoutly. "I like Juan Pachuca and I believehe's been led away by bad company. I believe what he told me about thattreasure, too. I only wish I'd made him tell me the name of the bordertown where it was."
"Women are queer," remarked Scott, with more truth than originality."Well, Polly Street, I think I'll gather the wood for your fire."
Together they gathered the loose twigs and branches--they were not many,but eked out with pine cones would make a fire for a few hours, and Scottmade Polly's bed close by it. He put his rubber poncho on the ground andmade the girl wrap herself in both blankets.
"I've got a heavy sweater under my coat," he said, "and I'll have to keepmoving a good deal to look after the horses and keep the fire going." Andhe refused to take a blanket, much to Polly's dismay. "Curl up and becomfortable, girlie, and relax. It don't matter if you don't sleep if youcan relax."
Polly tried to comply, but she was too much interested in what was goingon around her to give up either to sleep or to relaxation. The cracklingof the fire and its wonderful odor, the little hushing noises of the birdsgoing to rest, the gentle coming up of the moon and the myriads of stars,all were too fascinating to risk missing in sleep. Scott had gone afterthe horses and had tethered each by a long rope in a place where feedingcould be attended to, and had come back to the fire and thrown on somemore wood. He sat smoking with his feet nearly in the fire and his facelit by its glow.
r /> "I suppose you've spent lots of glorious nights in the open?" asked Polly,wistfully.
"A good many. Some of them not so glorious, either. One night up in NewMexico----" he paused to light another cigarette.
"Go on," demanded the girl. "When you say 'one night up in New Mexico' Ifeel just as I used to when my father used to say 'once upon a time.'"
"Well, I don't know why I happened to think of this special night,"grinned Scott, "except that on most of my out-of-door nights I've been bymyself--out hunting and that kind of thing--and this one I had somebodywith me. It was when I was mining in Colorado, and some fellows I knew hada big cattle ranch down in New Mexico. It was a real ranch--not a two fora cent one like Herrick's. I went down to visit them at round-up time. I'dnever seen a round-up before so I was hanging around every chance I got.
"They had a lot of cattle--some of them pretty wild--and it wasn't easy tokeep 'em together especially at night. Well, one day Jim Masters got afall from his horse and a kick on the head from another when he was down,and he was in a pretty bad state--it looked to us like concussion of thebrain but we didn't know. We carried him into a tent we'd put up about aquarter of a mile from where the cattle were, and one of the boys rode totown for a doctor.
"We were up on a mesa, like the one we crossed yesterday, remember? We hadoutlaw cattle in the bunch and it took all the boys to handle them. I,being a tenderfoot and not much use with the cattle, said I'd sit with Jimand sort of watch him till the doctor came. He was out of his head so'twasn't any comfort to him but it made the boys feel better."
"I'll bet it was a comfort to him, Marc Scott! You are the sort of personit would be a comfort to have around if one was out of one's head," saidPolly, emphatically.
"Thank you, honey; I'm afraid you're jollying me. Anyhow, I stayed withJim and while he lay there groaning I sat in the doorway of the tent andsmoked--wasn't anything I could do for the poor boy. Man, that was anight! The mesa just like a big green table spread under the sky--what isit that lunger poet said--'under the wide and starry sky'? Well, that'show she looked. Mountains all around, moon blazing away showing up thecattle at the other end of the mesa, not a sound except the river, one ofthose busy little rivers that keep it up night and day. If I'd knownsomething of cattle I wouldn't have thought that stillness was so pretty,but I didn't. I hadn't even noticed that the cows had stoppedbellowing--it seemed like a night that ought to be still.
"When, all of a sudden, I saw a movement in that bunch of cattle. It was astampede. That's what they're cooking up, you know, when they're stilllike that. Before I'd realized what had happened they began to bolt--andin our direction. It was just exactly as if one of those old bulls hadsaid to the crowd: 'There's a couple of stiffs in a tent down by theriver, boys, let's rush 'em.'
"They came down that mesa like all heck let loose. The electricity intheir hides had made a sort of blue haze--phosphorescent, they callit--and it gave 'em an awful look. Of course, the boys hadn't let themstart a stampede without doing anything to stop 'em. They were ridinground 'em, yelling and shooting into the air, but on they came.
"Well, it was no place for me and Jim. It began to look to me as if thatdoctor was going to have his trip for nothing, but what could I do? Icouldn't go off and leave Jim, and when I tried to pick him up he foughtme so I had to drop him. 'Twouldn't have done much good anyhow becausethere was no place to go. So I said to myself: 'Sit tight, old man, and ifyou can't die game, die as game as you can.'
"On they came like a lot of mad things. Then, all at once, when I'd aboutgiven up hope, the boys got 'em to milling. You know how they do that? Get'em started to going round and round instead of straight ahead and thefools will go till they drop in their tracks. When I saw 'em doing that Iknew that Jim and I weren't slated for Heaven that night so I sat stilland enjoyed the sight.
"It was one wild sight. You can read about stampedes till your head achesbut you've got to see one to know how she feels."
"What an interesting life you've had, Marc, and all I've done was to drivea Red Cross ambulance around Chicago and win a few golf trophies,"murmured Polly, sleepily.
"Well, that depends. Perhaps it's been interesting, but it ain't beeneasy."
They sat in silence for a while and then Scott saw that the girl hadfallen asleep. He smiled as he put more wood on the fire.
"Funny that she and I should find each other out of all the world," hemeditated. "Just one nice girl and one no-account chap drawn toward eachother. Some folks call it Fate. I didn't mean to do it and maybe I'm goingto wish I hadn't--but just now I'm satisfied."