CHAPTER IX
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SHAFT
While Elsa had been entertaining the stranger within doors Jessica hadsought Wolfgang and compelled him, by her coaxing, to admit that EphraimMarsh had been there and, also, that Antonio Bernal had ridden up thatmorning to give orders about the coal.
"None of it is to be sent down to the ranch, he said, no matter whocalls for it, till he comes back. He was going away for a time and----Howwill you get on at Sobrante without him, Lady Jess?"
"Wolfgang, better than with him. Listen. Look at me. I'm the'manager' now. The captain. The 'boys' all elected me or made me,whatever way they fixed it. I'm to be the master. I, just Jessica.Guess I'm proud? Guess I'll do the very, very best ever a girl cando? Nobody is to be any different, though. You're to go on miningjust the same and John Benton says, quite often, it's high time youhad another hand to help up here. He says with coal fifteen dollars aton there's money in it, even if it is a weeny little mine. So, if youwant a man, any time, just let me know. Ha!"
With an amusing little strut that was mostly affectation the girl passedup and down before the miner, and ended her performance by a heartyhug. It was impossible for her to withhold her caresses from anybody wholoved her; and who did not, at Sobrante, save Antonio and Ferd, thedwarf? But she sobered quickly enough and at Wolfgang's petition to"Tell me all about it already," gave him a vivid picture of the changesat her home.
"But now Antonio has gone for a month, things will get straightenedall out again. When he comes back I'll have that deed to show him, andonce he gets it out of his vain head that he is owner and not my mother,he'll get sensible and good again, as he used to be. I wish I liked himbetter. That would make it easier for me to give up being 'captain'when the time comes. What makes one love some people and not others,Wolfgang? You ought to know, you've lived a long time."
"The good God."
"He wouldn't make us dislike anybody. That can't be the right reason."
"Then I know not. Though I am getting old I'm not so wise, little one.But--ought I? Ought I not?"
"What?"
"Now you hark me. This Ephraim--guess you what that Antonio said ofhim?"
"How should I? Yes, that's not the truth. But what he said was sodreadful I wouldn't even tell my mother."
"Ach! A child should tell the mother all things. Heed that. It is so wetrain our Otto."
Jessica laughed.
"Otto is no child. He is a grown man. He is bigger than you. You shouldnot shame him by keeping him a boy always."
"Pst! girl! I would not he heard you, for my life."
"He'll not hear. Elsa is talking. But what did Antonio say about myold 'Forty-niner'?"
"That much went with that old man besides his boots."
"Of course. The feet that were in them, I suppose. Silly Wolfgang, tobe so impressed by a sillier Antonio. The boys say his Spanish maximshave little sense in them. That proves it."
"This deed of yours. He said: 'Where Ephraim, the wicked, goes, goestheir deed to the land.' And more."
"What more? The cruel, cruel man!"
"That it mattered not already. He would come back, the master. It washis, had always been. My friend--your father--well, it was not we wholistened. Nor for once would Elsa make the cup of coffee she was asked.Not a morsel got he here, save that the little boy ran after him and gavehim his own bit swiebach lest he faint by the way. And that was the lastword of Antonio Bernal."
Jessica's laughter was past. On her face there was a trouble it grievedher old friend to see, and he hastened to comfort her.
"If one goes, some are left already. Come now to one whose eyes willbe cured by a sight of your pretty face."
"To Ephraim?"
"Even so."
He took her hand to lead her, like the tender babe he still consideredher, and they passed behind the cabin, toward the rickety shaft leadinginto the mine. At its very mouth stood old Stiffleg, and in her delightthe girl gave him, too, one of her abounding hugs, which called a commentfrom the miner.
"Beasts or humans, all one to your lips. Well, no matter. It's nature.Some are made that foolish way. As for me--old horses----"
"Wolfgang Winkler, shame! Now, sir, you'll wait till you ask before Ikiss you again!"
"Then I ask right quick. Now! Eh? No? Well, before you go then, toprove you bear no malice; and because I'll show you a new vein I didn'tshow Antonio. Ach! He'll mine his own coal when once he comes--'themaster'--as he said! And so I think, though I know not, will all theothers say. Sobrante will not be Sobrante with us all gone. So?"
"You'll not be gone. It is my mother's."
"He is big and strong. He can plot evil, I believe."
Wolfgang spoke as if he were disclosing a mystery and not a fact wellknown to all who really knew the Senor Bernal.
"I will be stronger. He shall not hurt my mother. I will fight the worldfor her and for my brother!"
The miner had been arranging the rope upon the windlass and now held therude little car steady with his foot.
"Step in."
"Is he below? Down in the mine?"
"Already."
Jessica needed no second bidding, but leaped lightly into the car andWolfgang followed her more cautiously. He knew that was a forbiddendelight to her, for Mrs. Trent was nervously timid concerning suchvisits, but, like her, felt that the present circumstances justifiedthe proceeding. Was not one below in the darkness, nursing a brokenheart? And was not it the supreme business of each and all at Sobrante tocomfort the sorrowing? How else had he and his been there, so happyand comfortable? So rich, also. Why, Elsa had----
"Lady Jess! Get Elsa to show you the buckskin bag! It has grown as fatas herself since you last saw it. The child will own the mine some day,believe me!"
Moved by the thought he swiftly lowered away, and as the car touched thebottom, the girl sprang out and ran calling in the narrow tunnel:
"Ephraim! My Ephraim! Where are you? I've come for you, I, Jessica!It's a dreadful mistake. My mother--ah! here you are! Why down in thishorrid hole, Ephraim Marsh? You're all shivering, it's so damp anddismal. For shame! To run away from your best friends and never givethem a chance to tell you. Whoever wrote that note and sent you off fromyour own home, it never was my mother. Never! She said so, and it'salmost broken her heart."
"It's quite broken mine," said the old frontiersman, sobbing in hisrelief at having been thus promptly sought and found by his beloved"lady." For he did not know it was quite by accident that she hadstumbled on this trace of him, nor did anybody enlighten him. Whethershe would have set him right or not she had no chance, for, at thatinstant, they heard a hoarse cry at the mouth of the shaft and saw thecar, their only means of ascent, moving swiftly out of reach.
"Heart of grace! Why that? Hark the woman! 'Tis the child! It is thelittle boy! Harm has befallen and I--the father--I below in the ground!"
In his alarm Wolfgang danced about the narrow space and wrung his hands,gazing frantically up the shaft, catching hold of his companions andconducting himself altogether like one bereft of common sense. Whichbehavior was sufficient to restore Ephraim Marsh to his own self-command,and none too soon; for the anxious father had already begun to try theascent by climbing up the timbered sides when, suddenly, as if propelledby some extraordinary force the car shot downward again. Before itreally touched bottom the shrieks had become deafening, and when Elsajumped out and rushed upon her husband, he clapped his hands to his earsand retreated as far as the chamber permitted.
"She has gone mad, already! The woman is dement! Hark, the clamor!"
Then he remembered his first fear and clutched his wife's arm, whichpromptly went around his neck and threatened him with suffocation.
"Well, well, I never had no wife, but if I'd had I wouldn't cared tohave her choke me to death a-loving me, nor split my ears a-telling meof it," commented "Forty-niner," dryly.
At which Elsa's screams instantly ceased, and she turned her attentionupon him.
; "Where is it, thief? Give it up, this minute! How could you rob me of myhard-earned money? That was to buy the mine--and the vein runs deep--formy little boy, my child! 'Twas Antonio Bernal, the great man, told usalready of the deed you stole! But I believed him not--I. Now, give me mymoney, my money--money!"
Overcome by her own violent emotion, rather than by any opposition ofpoor Ephraim's, her hands slid from his shoulders, which she had beenshaking as if she would jingle the cash from his pockets, and her plumpperson settled limply against him for support.
"Hello, here, woman! This is a drop too much! Take the creature,Winkler, and find out if you can what in misery ails her. She's cleanout of her wits."
Instinctively, Jessica had placed herself at the old sharpshooter'sside. He should feel that she did not believe this terrible accusation,which recalled to her, with painful significance, the parting words ofAntonio Bernal as he had ridden away from her window that morning.These had practically accused him of stealing the missing deed, andnow came Elsa with this talk of "money, money." She brushed her handacross her eyes as if to waken herself from some frightful dream and thensmiled up into Ephraim's eyes, now bent inquiringly upon her. Dim asthe light was, there was yet sufficient descending through the shallowshaft to reveal each troubled face to the other, and the old man'sown frightened at the confiding trust of his beloved pupil's.
"Never mind her. Let her scream and loll around, if she wants to. Whatmatters it? Little lady, am I or am I not a--a--that pizen thing shecalled me?"
"Never!"
"Then come on. Let's get out of this."
But he was not to be permitted to escape so easily. Elsa had nowrecovered her full strength and, oddly enough, her composure. Shewaved her husband toward the waiting car and he obeyed her gesturewithout protest, gently lifting Jessica into it, for she would nototherwise have been removed from Ephraim's side.
"Go with him, lady. Elsa won't want to _live_ down here and we'llfollow presently. Never had a woman seem so fond of my company, not inall my eighty years. H-m-m!"
Commonly, the most genial of men, the sharpshooter's spirits had fullyregained their normal poise. Since he had not been dismissed by Mrs.Trent, and since his little Jessica believed in him, everything was allright. Elsa had been hoarding so long for her overgrown "child" thatshe had lost her wits. He wasn't surprised. She was a woman.
So, with a smile, he was able to watch the car disappear upward, andhe even began to whistle, lest Elsa should improve this opportunity andresume her racket.
"No disrespect to you, ma'am, remembering the good victuals you'veoften given me, but kind of to keep my courage up, like the boy goingthrough the woods."
Elsa vouchsafed no reply, beyond grasping his sleeve firmly, as if toassure herself that he should not vanish through the solid wall behindthem; and he, at least, was relieved when the little car came rollingdownward again, empty.
Elsa, who understood its management as well as her husband, grasped itsside and motioned Ephraim forward.
"Ladies first," he objected, gallantly.
"Get in, wretch, already."
"Oh! I'm not loath to get in, now. Even your sweet presence doesn'tmake this hole a paradise. And I came down here a heavy-hearted man, yetI've going up light as a feather. Glad I've got you along to ballast,else I'd likely shoot clean up to the sky."
Poor Elsa thought his hilarity ill-timed. She glared at him first, thenbegan to weep, and her tears sobered him as no frowns could do.
"Look, here, old girl, cheer up! Likely it's only a passing fit ofmadness has got you in tow. Women are kittle cattle, I've been told.Except Lady Jess and the madam. But they're quality. It's in theirblood to be noble just as 'tis in--well, let that go. If you've lostany of your money, as you 'pear to think, you'll find it again. Why,you're bound to. Who is there to steal it save your own selves? Likelyyou've got up some dark night in your sleep and hid it away so carefulyou've forgot the place. Good! The top and fresh air again, thankHeaven!"
Mr. Hale had left the cabin immediately after Elsa, and though inclinedto stoop and gather up her scattered coins had refrained from doing so,restrained by that prudence which becomes second nature to lawyers.
"She thinks somebody has robbed her and would probably accuse me ofpocketing some of these. Too much money for anybody to keep in a house,"he reflected, forgetting that banks were not accessible to everybody."But it's an ill wind, etc. Now I shall be apt to escape that promisedvisit to an amateur coal mine, and not endanger my life in their ricketycar."
Elsa's conduct upon reaching home was as curious and contradictory asever. Instead of collecting her scattered treasure, she merely said, witha shrug of her fat shoulders:
"What good? let it lie. When the much is gone who cares for the little?"
Then she dropped into a chair and began again to cry, disconsolately.
Jessica could not endure the scene.
"Oh! I hate this! Elsa, stop. Be happy. Nobody has robbed you. If therehas 'tis nobody here. I'm going home. I was having such a good timeand I've found dear Ephraim. I'll ask leave to come again to-morrow,maybe, and you'll have it by then. Just as I shall the title. 'Tis onlythat you've been careless, as--as somebody else was. Good-by. We'regoing. Say good-by, won't you?"
Elsa's good-by was to seize Ephraim's coat and hold it with all herforce, but he was now too happy to object to this.
"Certain, ma'am. If you've took a notion to it, I'll leave it withyou. Coats don't matter, when hearts are light. Yes, look in thepockets. Like enough 'twill ease your mind a bit. I'd give her adose of sagebrush tea, Wolfgang. Catnip 'd be better, but ain't sohandy. Good-by, all. I'll be 'round again, myself, soon, if the ladycan spare me," and with this remark, "Forty-niner" quietly slippedout of the loose garment and made his escape.
There was no more talk of inspecting the ranch. The little party ofthree rode thoughtfully homeward. Even Ephraim's gayety had ebbed andthe strange accusation Elsa had made began at last to claim his seriousattention. Thieving was a new matter at Sobrante, though he, along withall the other "boys," had thought for many months that the managerwas dealing unfairly by his mistress and employer. This affair wouldhave to be sifted to the bottom, and he didn't like it. He was gladto be going back to his familiar quarters, glad of many things, yethis light-heartedness was quite gone.
Mr. Hale was equally silent and self-absorbed. Every hour he spentamong these people, like innocent children all they seemed to him, butinterested him the more in them. Their unhappiness disturbed him and yethis own mission was to make them more unhappy still.
Jessica was angry, indignant, and amused by turns; but these troubleswere changing her swiftly from a careless little girl to a sadlyperplexed captain, and she rode along in silence, for most of the way,forgetting entirely that she had meant to take quite another route, orthat her present errand was to exhibit the wonders of her belovedSobrante.
They cantered peacefully downward across the valley, old Stiffleg himselfleading the way, till they struck upon the main road and saw in thedistance a vehicle crawling forward upon it.
"Oh! oh!" cried Jessica, who had been first to observe this object.
"Heigho! What's that--a circus?" asked Mr. Hale, gazing curiously atthe strange wagon.
Ephraim shaded his eyes with his hand and peered into the distance. Thenhe dropped it, and drooping ridiculously, groaned:
"Oh! my fathers!"
"Looks like a circus. All the colors of the rainbow," persisted Mr.Hale, glad of any diversion to his perturbed thoughts.
"'Tis a circus, temperance union, a salvation army, a woman's rightsconvention, what Samson calls a Mother Carey's chicken, an Amazon, awild Indian, a--a--shucks! There isn't anything on earth that yonderdoesn't try a hand at. Land of Goshen! I'd almost rather turn and goback to be jawed by the Dutchwoman. And I've come home--just for this!"
But Jessica was laughing as she had not laughed all day, and if theperson driving along in front was objectionable to Ephraim it wasevidently not the fact
in her case.
"Oh! how glad I am!" she cried, and touched Buster to his swiftestgallop, while the sharpshooter grimaced and groaned:
"To have come back to this!"