CHAPTER VII.
A STARTLING TELEGRAM.
Sunset in the Enchanted Valley. Below the little waterfall which plungeddown into the fissure at the southern end of the valley Frank and Barthad toiled hard all through the day. Their sleeves were rolled up andtheir clothes mud-bespattered. There they had worked in the sandy soilnear the stream, and there they had found the shining stuff for whichthey sought. Every panful was carefully washed in the stream, showingdull yellow grains in the bottom when the last particles remained.
Not far away, on the level of the valley above them, set near thestream, was their tent. In front of it little Abe was building a fireand was seeking to prepare supper for them, knowing they would beravenously hungry when they quit work for the night. At intervals thecripple hobbled to the brink of the fissure and looked down at them asthey toiled.
No one had troubled them since their return to the valley. No longer didthe place seem enchanted or mysterious. All the mysteries were solved,and it lay sleeping and silent amid that vast mountainous solitude.
"Well, Bart," said Frank, as he dropped his spade, "it seems to me thatthe thing is done to our satisfaction. At the northern end of the valleywe have found Clark's quartz claim, and the specimens we have taken fromit seem decidedly promising. Here we have located this placer, and weknow from what we have washed out that it is rich and will proveextremely valuable while it lasts. Now it's up to us to register ourclaims and open them for operation in the proper manner. We ought to besatisfied."
"Satisfied!" exclaimed Bart. "You bet I am satisfied! What if I hadremained in Boston, Merry? Why, I would be plugging away to-day on apoor paying job, with decidedly poor prospects ahead of me. It was amost fortunate thing for me when I decided to stick by you and comeWest."
Frank smiled.
"It was lucky, Hodge," he agreed. "But I don't forget that you camewithout a selfish thought on your part. You came to help me in my fightagainst Milton Sukes. I am far better pleased for your sake than for myown that we have had this streak of luck. Let's knock off for the night,old man. There's no reason why we should stick to it longer."
As they were climbing from the fissure by the narrow and difficult path,little Abe came rushing excitedly to the brink above and called to them.
"Come quick! Come quick!" he cried.
"What's the matter, Abe?" asked Frank, alarmed by the boy's manner.
"Somebody's coming," said the hunchback; "a man on a horse. He is comingright this way. He has seen the tent!"
"We may have some trouble after all, Merry," said Hodge.
Ere they could reach the head of the path near the waterfall theyplainly heard the thudding hoofs of the horse coming rapidly in thatdirection. When they had reached the level ground above they beheld thehorseman approaching. It seemed that he observed them at the same time,for he suddenly waved his hat in the air and gave a yell.
"By Jove!" exclaimed Merry, "I know him! It is Wiley!"
"Right you are!" agreed Hodge. "What the dickens could have brought himhere at this time?"
"Perhaps he has some message for me. You know I made arrangements withhim to bring any message of importance."
The sailor drew up his horse as he approached.
"Ahoy there, mates!" he cried. "At last I have struck port, although I'dbegun to wonder if I'd ever find it. This confounded old valley hasmoved since I was here last. I thought I knew just where it was, but Ihave spent two whole days cruising around in search of it."
"Hello, cap'n!" said Frank. "You're just in time for supper."
"Supper!" exclaimed the sailor. "Say it again! Supper! Why, I have beenliving on condensed air for the last twenty-four hours. Look at me! I amso thin and emaciated that I can't cast a shadow. Hungry! Mates, abootleg stew would be a culinary luxury to me. I will introduce ravageand devastation among your provisions. This morning I found an emptytomato can and another that once contained deviled ham, and I lunchedoff them. They were rather hard to digest, but they were better thannothing."
He sprang down from his horse, which betrayed evidence of hard usage.
"How did you happen to come?" asked Merry.
Wiley fumbled in his pocket and brought forth a telegram.
"I believe I made arrangements to deliver anything of importancedirected to you," he said. "This dispatch arrived in Prescott, and Ilost no time in starting to fulfill my compact."
Merry took the telegram and quickly tore it open. There was a look ofanxiety on his face when he had read its contents.
"Anything serious the matter?" asked Hodge.
"It's a message from my brother, Dick," answered Frank. "You know Iwired him to address his letters to Prescott. He didn't stop to send aletter. Instead he sent this telegram. You know Felicia Delores, Dick'scousin, with whom he was brought up? The climate of the East did notagree with her, therefore I provided a home for her in San Diego,California, where she could attend school. Dick has learned that she isill and in trouble. He wants me to go to her at once."
"What will you do?" asked Hodge.
"I must go," said Frank quietly.
* * * * *
Frank mounted the steps of a modern residence, standing on a palm-linedstreet in San Diego, and rang the bell. He was compelled to ring twicemore before the door was opened by a sleepy-looking Mongolian.
"I wish to see Mr. Staples at once," said Merry. "Is he home?"
"Mistal Staple not home," was the serene answer, as the Chinaman movedto close the door.
Frank promptly blocked this movement with a foot and leg.
"Don't be so hasty," he said sharply. "If Mr. Staples is not home, wherecan I find him?"
"No tellee. Velly solly."
"Then I must see Mrs. Staples," persisted Merry.
"She velly sick. Velly solly. She can't slee anyblody."
"Well, you take her my card," directed Merry, as he took out a card-caseand tendered his card to the yellow-skinned servant.
"No take cald. She tellee me no bothal her. Go 'way. Comebimeby--to-mollow."
"Now, look here, you son of the Flowery Kingdom," exclaimed Merry, "I amgoing to see Mrs. Staples immediately, if she's in condition to seeanyone. If you don't take her my card, you will simply compel me tointrude without being announced."
"Bold, blad man!" chattered the Chinaman, with growing fear. "I calleepolice; have you 'lested."
"You're too thick-headed for the position you hold!" exasperatedlydeclared Merry. "Take my card to Mrs. Staples instantly, and she willsee me as soon as she reads my name, Frank Merriwell, upon it."
"Flank Mellowell!" almost shouted the Celestial. "You Flank Mellowell?Clome light in, quickee! Mladam, she expectee you."
The door was flung open now, and Frank entered.
"Well, you have come to your senses at last!" he said.
"You no undelstand. Blad men velly thick. Blad men make velly glatetloubal. Little glil she glone; mladam she cly velly much, velly much!"
"Hustle yourself!" ordered Frank. "Don't stand there chattering like amonkey. Hurry up!"
"Hully velly flast," was the assurance, as the Mongolian turned andtoddled away at a snail's pace, leaving Frank in the reception room.
A few moments later there was a rustle of skirts, and a middle-agedwoman, whose face was pale and eyes red and who carried a handkerchiefin her hand, came down the stairs and found him waiting.
"Oh, Mr. Merriwell!" she exclaimed, the moment she saw him. "So it'sreally you! So you have come! We didn't know where to reach you, and sowe wired your brother. He wired back that he had dispatched you and thathe thought you would come without delay."
Her agitation and distress were apparent.
"Felicia," questioned Frank huskily; "what of her?"
"Oh, I can't tell you--I can't tell you!" choked the woman, placing thehandkerchief to her eyes. "It's so dreadful!"
"Tell me, Mrs. Staples, at once," said Frank, immediately cool andself-controlled. "Don't waste time,
please. What has happened toFelicia? Where is she?"
"She's gone!" came in a muffled voice from behind the handkerchief.
"Gone--where?"
The agitated woman shook her head.
"No one knows. No one can tell! Oh, it's a terrible thing, Mr.Merriwell!"
"Where is Mr. Staples?" questioned Frank, thinking he might succeed farbetter in obtaining the facts from the woman's husband.
"That I don't know. He is searching for her. He, too, has been goneseveral days. I heard from him once. He was then in Warner, away up inthe mountains."
Merry saw that he must learn the truth from the woman.
"Mrs. Staples," he said, "please tell me everything in connection withthis singular affair. It's the only way that you can be of immediateassistance. You know I am quite in the dark, save for such informationas I received from my brother's telegram. It informed me that Feliciawas in trouble and in danger. What sort of trouble or what sort ofdanger threatens her, I was not told. In order for me to do anything Imust know the facts immediately."
"It was nearly a month ago," said Mrs. Staples, "that we firstdiscovered anything was wrong. Felicia had not been very well for sometime. She's so frail and delicate! It has been my custom each nightbefore retiring to look in upon her to see if she was comfortable andall right. One night, as I entered her room, light in hand, I was nearlyfrightened out of my senses to see a man standing near her bed. He sawme or heard me even before I saw him. Like a flash he whirled and sprangout of the window to the veranda roof, from which he easily escaped tothe ground.
"I obtained barely a glimpse of him, and I was so frightened at the timethat I could not tell how he looked. Felicia seemed to be sleepingsoundly at the time, and didn't awake until I gave a cry that arousedher and the whole house as well. I never had a thought then that the manmeant her harm. She was so innocent and helpless it seemed no one woulddream of harming her. I took him for a burglar who had entered the houseby the way of her window. After that we took pains to have her windowopened only a short space, and tightly locked in that position, so thatit could not be opened further from the outside without smashing it andalarming some one. I was thankful we had escaped so easily, and myhusband felt sure there would be no further cause for worry. He saidthat, having been frightened off in such a manner, the burglar was notliable to return.
"Somehow it seemed to me that Felicia was still more nervous and paleafter that. She seemed worried about something, but whenever Iquestioned her she protested she was not. The doctor came to see herseveral times, but he could give her nothing that benefited her. Icontinued my practice of looking in at her each night before retiring.One night, a week later, after going to bed, something--I don't knowwhat--led me to rise again and go to her room. Outside her door I pausedin astonishment, for I distinctly heard her voice, and she seemed to bein conversation with some one. I almost fancied I heard another voice,but was not certain about that. I pushed open the door and entered.Felicia was kneeling by her partly opened window, and she gave a greatstart when I came in so quickly. A moment later I fancied I heard asound as of some one or something dropping from the roof upon theground.
"I was so astonished that I scarcely knew what to say. 'Felicia!' Iexclaimed. 'What were you doing at that window?'
"'Oh, I was getting a breath of the cool night air,' she answered. 'Withmy window partly closed it is almost stuffy in here. Sometimes I can'tseem to breathe.'
"'But I heard you talking, child,' I declared. 'Who were you talkingto?'
"'I talk to myself sometimes, auntie, you know,' she said, in herinnocent way. She always called me auntie. I confess, Mr. Merriwell,that I was completely deceived. This came all the more natural becauseFelicia was such a frank, open-hearted little thing, and I'd never knownher to deceive me in the slightest. I decided that my imagination hadled me to believe I heard another voice than her own, and also hadcaused me to fancy that some one had dropped from the roof of theveranda. After that, however, I was uneasy. And my uneasiness wasincreased by the fact that the child seemed to grow steadily worseinstead of better.
"Often I dreamed of her and of the man I had seen in her room. One nightI dreamed that a terrible black shadow was hanging over her and hadreached out huge clawlike hands to clutch her. That dream awoke me inthe middle of the night, and I could not shake off the impression thatsome danger menaced her. With this feeling on me I slipped out of bed,lighted a candle, and again proceeded to her room. This time I wasastonished once more to hear her talking as if in conversation with someone. But now I knew that, unless I was dreaming or bewitched, I alsoheard another voice than her own--that of a man. My bewilderment was sogreat that I forgot caution and flung her door wide open. The light ofthe candle showed her sitting up in bed, while leaning on the footboardwas a dark-faced man with a black-pointed mustache. I screamed, and, inmy excitement, dropped the candle, which was extinguished. I think Ifainted, for Mr. Staples found me in a dazed condition just outsideFelicia's door. She was bending over me, but when I told her of the manI had seen and when she was questioned, she behaved in a most singularmanner. Not a word would she answer. Had she denied everything I mighthave fancied it all a grewsome dream. I might have fancied I'd walked inmy sleep and dreamed of seeing a man there, for he was gone when myhusband reached the spot.
"She would deny nothing, however, and what convinced us beyond questionthat some one had been in her room was the fact that the window wasstanding wide open. After that we changed her room to another part ofthe house and watched her closely. Although we persisted in urging herto tell everything, not a word could we get from her. Then it was thatMr. Staples wired Richard, your brother.
"Three days later Felicia disappeared. She vanished in the daytime, whenevery one supposed her to be safe in the house. No one saw her go out.She must have slipped out without being observed. Of course we notifiedthe police as soon as we were sure she was gone, and the city wassearched for her. Oh! it is a terrible thing, Mr. Merriwell; but she hasnot been found! Mr. Staples believes he has found traces of her, andthat's why he is now away from home. That's all I can tell you. I hopeyou will not think we were careless or neglected her. She was the lastchild in the world to do such a thing. I can't understand it. I thinkshe must have been bewitched."
Frank had listened quietly to this story, drinking in every word, theexpression on his face failing to show how much it affected him.
"I am sure it was no fault of yours, Mrs. Staples," he said.
"But what do you think has happened to her? She was too young to be ledinto an intrigue with a man. Still, I----"
"You mustn't suspect her of that, Mrs. Staples!" exclaimed Merry."Whatever has happened, I believe it was not the child's fault. When Iplaced her in your hands, you remember, I hinted to you of the fact thatthere was a mystery connected with her father's life, and that he was anoutcast nobleman of Spain. Where he is now I cannot say. I last saw himin Fardale. He was then hunted by enemies, and he disappeared and hasnever been heard from since. I believe it was his intention to seek somespot where he would be safe from annoyance and could lead his enemies tobelieve he was dead. I believe this mystery which hung like a shadowover him has fallen at last on little Felicia. I would that I had knownsomething of this before, that I might have arrived here sooner. I thinkFelicia would have trusted me--I am sure of it!"
"But now--now?"
"Now," said Frank grimly, shaking his head, "now I must find her. Yousay you heard from your husband, who was then in a place called Warner?"
"Yes."
"Then he may have tracked her thus far. It's a start on the trail."
Mrs. Staples placed a trembling hand on Frank's sleeve.
"If you find her--the moment you find her," she pleaded, "let me know.Remember I shall be in constant suspense until I hear from you."
"Depend upon me to let you know," assured Frank.
A moment later he was descending the steps. He walked swiftly along thepalm-lined streets, revolving in his mind the pe
rplexing problem withwhich he was confronted. Seemingly he was buried in deep thought andquite oblivious of his surroundings. As he passed around a corner intoanother street he glanced back without turning his head. Already he hadnoted that another man was walking rapidly in the same direction, andthis sidelong glance gave him a glimpse of the man.
Three corners he turned, coming at length to the main street of thecity. There he turned about a moment later and was face to face with theman who had been following him. This chap would have passed on, butFrank promptly stepped out and confronted him. He saw a small, wiry,dark-skinned individual, on whose right cheek there was a triangularscar.
"I beg your pardon," said Merry.
"_Si, senor_," returned the man with the scar, lifting his eyebrows inapparent surprise.
"You seem very interested in me," said Merry quietly. "But I wish totell you something for your own benefit. It is dangerous for you tofollow me, and you had better quit it. That's all. _Adios!_"
"_Carramba!_" muttered the man, glaring at Frank's back as Merriwellagain strode away.