CHAPTER XVIII
BACK TO ATHENS
Mendoza and Tom walked toward the Casa Grande ranch-house with fearfulhearts.
"Dark as a pocket," commented Tom. "You set down here, Mendoza, while I goaround in back." From the side, a faint light was visible from thedining-room of the house. "Hullo, what have we here?" ejaculated theengineer. At the same time, he saw a man's figure coming toward him; avery familiar figure. "Hard!" he gasped, darting forward and knocking theload of firewood from Hard's arms with the fervency of his greeting.
"Hullo, Tom!" Hard returned the handshake quite as heartily. "Glad to seeyou. We were beginning to think we were marooned on this place."
"We?" Tom's face lit up. "You're all right? All of you? Didn't none of youget killed by them Yaquis?"
"Why, didn't Scott tell you?" demanded Hard, with sudden anxiety.
"I ain't seen Scott sence you all went off together," said Tom, puzzled.
"Hold on! Do you mean to say that they haven't shown up yet? Scott and thegirl?"
"Well, I left Athens yestiddy morning. You see, I walked to Conejo andpicked up Mendoza and his car."
"You walked to Conejo!" Hard's voice was awed.
"'Twa'n't much. I took my time. You see, the Chink brought us word thatthere was something going on over here. He seen the barn burning when hewas up on the mesa, and he didn't know what was up. He pretty nigh killedCochise, so I had to walk. I knew there was no use coming here with nohorses, so I went to Conejo. They've got martial law there. The Colonel'sa nice young feller, if he is a greaser, and he loaned me Mendoza and theFord. Now what happened here, anyhow?"
Hard gave a brief outline of their adventures.
"Mrs. Conrad," he said, "is an old friend of Herrick's and mine, who's hadto leave her plantation in the South, and is on her way home. She is goingEast with Miss Street. She and I tried camping out at Soria's last nightafter Gonzales left us, but we got starved out and we tramped it backhere, waiting for someone to come after us. I'm lame as I can be."
Clara's face lit up when she saw the three men enter, and she shook handscordially with Johnson and the old Mexican. Then an anxious look came intoher eyes. Hard, seeing it, spoke quickly.
"Johnson left Athens yesterday before Scott and Polly got there," he said,reassuringly. "He walked to Conejo."
"Walked to Conejo!"
"You see, Tom, Mrs. Conrad and I walked here from Soria's and we've bothbeen crippled ever since. A walk to Conejo fills us with excitedadmiration."
Tom chuckled. "Well, I always could walk," he replied. "Never doneanything particular with the other end of me, but I could always depend onmy feet. Say, folks, Mendoza's got his car outside. How about a quick biteand then beating it for Athens?"
Clara turned eagerly to Herrick.
"You'll come, won't you, Victor? I hate to think of your being here alonewhen everything is so upset."
Herrick smiled and patted her hand affectionately.
"You will give me no peace until I do, so I will go," he said.
* * * * *
It was a sober little crowd that sat around the dining-room table atAthens that night. Though their joy had been very great at the safe comingof Hard and Clara in Mendoza's car, it had been tinged with gloom at thenon-arrival of Scott and Polly. Jimmy Adams was reported much improved.
"That Chinaman doesn't cook any more," confided Mrs. Van to Clara. "He'shad a rise in life and he just sits and meditates. Awful people tomeditate--the Chinese. What they find to think about I can't see, but itseems to make 'em happy."
Clara's mind, however, was upon the absent. "I can't see what could havehappened to them. They didn't fall in with Angel Gonzales, that we know,"she said. "I'm dreadfully worried about them."
"Hello!" It was O'Grady's voice. "Here comes horses down the road--two ofthem. I believe it's our folks." And he bolted out into the moonlight,followed by the others.
It was, and a more exhausted and bedraggled couple it would have been hardto find.
"Look like a pair of forty-niners," said O'Grady, "on the last lap of thetrip."
Scott rolled out of the saddle while Hard lifted Polly to her feet.
"Coffee!" whispered the girl. "Is it really coffee that I smell?"
"Gracious, I believe they're starving," gasped Mrs. Van, running into thehouse.
"All we've had to-day is a cake of chocolate and some lumps of sugar,"said Scott, briefly. "Look after the horses, O'Grady, will you? They'vehad it pretty rough, too."
He was lame and sore from his fall of the day before, and tired and hungryfrom the day's discomforts, but he managed to say enough to give them anidea of what had happened.
"After I climbed out of the arroyo," he said, "I didn't know which way togo. If those fellows had got Polly I wanted to go after them; if theyhadn't--well, I didn't dare take the chance that they hadn't. I waspelting down the trail like a madman when I heard her voice calling mefrom up the trail.
"We got on the horses and began climbing again, pretty well pleased withour luck, but the horses were all in. They'd been at it since earlymorning, climbing most of the time, and I saw that they weren't going tomake it. So I picked a good-looking spot near the head of the stream thatwe'd been following, and we camped there for the night, ate the rest ofour sandwiches, and rolled up in our blankets. It wasn't very comfortablebut it was a case of needs must.
"In the morning I set out to find the trail again. It had pretty welldisappeared--choked up by the brush. We fought our way through it allmorning and finally lost it; struck out higher up on the mountain and cameout on the barren side near the top. That's all, except that we've beengoing since five this morning on nothing but a cake of chocolate thatPolly found in her coat pocket and a few lumps of sugar."
"If I were going back to Chicago to live I believe I'd start soup kitchensfor hungry people," declared Polly, suddenly. "It's the worst thing in theworld--being hungry."
"If you was----" Mrs. Van Zandt started suddenly and stopped equally so.Polly blushed. Scott came to the rescue.
"We may as well tell 'em while we're telling our other troubles," hesuggested, and Polly told them.
"I'm going home because he won't marry me unless Father consents," shesaid, "and he doesn't seem to think a consent by wire is legal. But I'mcoming back."
"Well, I wish you good luck, I'm sure." Mrs. Van Zandt leaned over andkissed Polly impulsively. "He'll browbeat you a bit but he'll stick byyou. Guess I'll make some more coffee," and she bounced into the kitchen.
"Gracious! Would you call that a congratulation?" gasped Polly.
"Here's a bona-fide one, my dear," said Clara, gently. "I am sure you'llbe happy."
The others laughed and joked while Clara and Hard kept their secret tothemselves. Scott followed Mrs. Van Zandt into the kitchen with some emptycups and their voices could be heard talking earnestly.
"Well," said the latter, as she returned, "I'll say I think Mr. Scott'sidea a good one." By a psychological process quite her own and quiteunconsciously followed, Mrs. Van had promoted Scott to the dignity of theprefix upon hearing that he was engaged to the superintendent's sister."He's hired Mendoza and that junk-pile of his to take you all to theborder so's you can get a train East without traveling on the Mexicanrailroads."
"It's like this," Scott explained. "Tom says they told him at Conejo thatthe revolutionary government had taken over all the railroads, bothMexican and American, and is operating them. Now, we might make the tripall right--they say lots of refugees are coming North; but what's the use?I'll run over to Conejo and get them to let us keep Mendoza for a few daysand perhaps we can get some sort of a safe conduct for the road from thatmilitary guy over there.
"I'd rather have old Villa's safe conduct than any of the rest of them; Ithink it cuts more ice with the population at large. But perhaps this chapcan do something for us. We'll try to hit the border at Chula Vista--theroads that way are pretty fair. Now, Hard, suppose you and I ta
ke a turndown the road and have a look at Jimmy before he goes to sleep."
"Scotty," they were outside and Hard spoke frankly, "I didn't want tospeak of it before the others, but Mrs. Conrad and I have made up ourminds to undo an old mistake. We've going to try life together instead ofapart."
"I hoped you would, Hard. She's a fine woman."
"When I say an old mistake, don't misunderstand me," continued Hard,soberly. "She and Dick Conrad were happy together. She loved him when shemarried him--and she didn't love me. The mistake was mine, in not makingher love me when I had the chance. I've got the chance again and I'm goingto make good this time."
"You're very lucky, Hard. Most fellows don't get a second chance--with thesame woman. Will she come back here with you?"
"I don't know. We're going to be married in Chula Vista and she's goinghome just as she had planned. I can't go, of course, but as soon as Streetcomes back I'll either go to her or she'll come to me. She hasn't given upher music and I don't want her to. It's all rather hazy, Scott. I onlyknow that I let her get away from me once, and, selfish brute that I am,I'm going to tie her to me now while she's in the humor."