CHAPTER XXXIII
THE FIERY FURNACE
To be a Huff, of course, was to be brave and true and never go back on afriend; but as the Colonel that evening began to speak on the subject,Virginia crept off to bed. She was tired from her night trip across theSink of Death Valley, with only Crazy Charley for a guide; but it wasWiley, the inexorable, who drove her off weeping, for he would not takeher hand. His mind was still fixed on the Gethsemane of the soul that hehad gone through in Blount's bank at Vegas, and strive as she would shecould not bring him back to play his poor part as lover. Whether sheloved him or not was not the question--not even if she was willing tothrow away her life by following him in his wanderings. Three times hehad trusted her and three times she had played him false--and was thatthe honor of the Huffs?
She was penitent now and, in the presence of her father, more gentle andwomanly than seemed possible; but next week or next month or in the longyears to come, was she the woman he could trust? They passed before hiseyes in a swift series of images, the days when he had trusted herbefore; and always, behind her smile, there was something else,something cold and calculating and unkind. Her eyes were soft now, andgentle and imploring, but they had looked at him before with scorn andhateful laughter, when he had staked his soul on her word. He hadtrusted her--too far--and before Blount and all his sycophants she hadmade him a mock and a reviling.
The Colonel was talking, for his mood was expansive, but at last he fellsilent and waited.
"Wiley, my boy," he said when Wiley looked up, "you must not let the pastovermaster you. We all make mistakes, but if our hearts are right thereis nothing that should cause vain regrets. I judged from what you saidonce that your present disaster is due to a misplaced trust--in fact, ifI remember, to a woman. But do not let this treachery, this betrayal ofa trust, turn your mind against all womankind. I have known many nobleand high-minded women whom I would trust with my very life; and sinceVirginia, as I gather, has offered to bind up your wounds, I hope youwill not remain embittered. She is my daughter, of course, and my lovemay have blinded me; but in all the long years she has been at my side,I can think of no instance in which she has played me false. Her natureis passionate, and she is sometimes quick to anger, but behind it allshe is devotion itself and you can trust her absolutely."
He paused expectantly, but as Wiley made no response he rose up andknocked out his pipe.
"Well, good night," he said. "It is time we were retiring if we are tocross the Valley to-morrow. Have a drink? Well, all right; it's just aswell. You're a good boy, Wiley; I'm proud of you."
He clapped him on the shoulder as he went off to bed, but Wiley satbrooding by the fire. Death Valley Charley took his blankets and rolledup in the creek bed, so that his burros could not sneak by him in thenight, and Heine laid down beside him; but when all was quiet Wiley roseup silently and tiptoed about the camp. He strapped on his pistol andpicked up his gun, but as he was groping in the darkness for his canteenHeine trotted up and flapped his ears. It was his sign of friendship,like wagging his tail, and Wiley patted him quietly; but when he wasgone, he lifted the canteen and slung it over his shoulder. In the landwhere he was going there were more dangers than one, but lack of waterwas the greatest. He stepped out into the moonlight and then, from thecave, he heard a muffled sound. Virginia was there and he was runningaway from her. He listened again--she was crying! Not weeping aloud orin choking sobs but in stifled, heart-broken sighs. He lowered his gunand stood scowling and irresolute, then he turned back and went to bed.
In the morning they started late, resting in the shade of the Gatewayuntil the sun had swung to the west; and then, as the shadow of thePanamints stretched out across the Valley, they repacked and starteddown the slope. In the lead went old Jinny, the mother of the bunch, andJack and Johnny and Baby; and following behind his burros, paced DeathValley Charley with a long, willow club in his hand. The Colonel strodeahead, his mind on weighty matters; and behind him came Virginia on herfree-footed burro with Wiley plodding silently in the rear. At irregularintervals Heine would drop back from the lead and sniff at them each inturn, but nothing was said, for the air was furnace dry and they weresaving their strength for the sand.
At sundown they reached the edge of the first yielding sand-dune thatpresaged the long pull to come and Death Valley Charley stopped andopened up a water-can while the burros gathered eagerly around. Then hepoured each of them a drink in his shapeless old hat and started themacross the Sink.
"Now, you see?" he said, "you see where Jinny goes? She heads straightfor Stovepipe Hole. She knows she gits water there and that makes herhurry--and the others they tag along behind."
He took another drink from the Colonel's private stock and smiled as hesmacked his lips. "It's hot to-day," he observed, squinting down hiseyes and gazing ahead through the haze; "yes, it's hot for this time ofyear. But Virginia, you ride; and when Tom won't go no further, git offand he'll lead you to camp."
He went on ahead, swinging his club and laughing, and Heine trottedsoberly at his side; and as he followed the trough of sand-wave aftersand-wave, the rest plodded along behind. A dry, baking heat seemed torise up from the ground and the air was heavy and still; the burrosbegan to groan as they toiled up the slope and their flanks turned wetwith sweat; and then, as they topped a wave, they felt the scorchingbreath of the Sink. It came in puffs like the waves of some great seaupon whose shores they had set their feet; a seething, heaving sea ofheat, breathing death along its lonely beach. It struck through theirclothes like a blast of wind or the shimmering glow of a furnace and ateach drink of water the sweat damped their brows and trickled in streamsdown their faces. A wearied burro halted and, as Charley chased him withhis club, the rest rushed ahead to escape; and then, as they came to thecrest of the wave, Virginia's burro stopped dead.
"I'll lead him," she said as Wiley came up, and started after the pack.Wiley walked along beside her, for he saw that she was spent; and as herslender feet sank deep in the yielding sand she lagged and slowed down,and stopped. Then as she turned to take her canteen from the saddle, sheswayed and clutched at the horn.
"You'd better ride," he said and, taking her in his arms, he lifted herto the saddle like a child. Then he walked along behind, flogging theburro into action, but still they lagged to the rear. The moon rose upgleaming and cast black shadows along the sand-dunes, and in the lee ofthe wind-wracked mesquite trees; and from the darkness ahead of themthey could hear crazy shoutings as Charley belabored his fleeinganimals. They showed dim and ghostly, as they topped a distant ridge;and then Wiley and Virginia were alone. The pack-train, the Colonel andDeath Valley Charley had vanished behind the crest of a wave; and asWiley stopped to listen Virginia drooped in the saddle and fell, verygently, into his arms.
He held her a moment, overcome with sudden pity, and then in a rush ofunexpected emotion, he crushed her to his breast and kissed her. She washis, after all, to cherish, and protect; a frail reed, broken by hishand; and as he gave her water and bathed her face he remembered herweeping in the night. Her tears had been for him, whom she had followedso far only to find him harsh and unforgiving; and now, weak from grief,she had fainted in his arms, which had never reached out to console her.He gathered her to his breast in a belated atonement and as he kissedher again she stirred. Then he put her down, but when she felt his handsslacken she reached up and caught him by the neck. So she held him awhile, until something gave way within him and he pressed his lips tohers.
CHAPTER XXXIV
A CLEAN-UP
A cool breeze drew down through Emigrant Wash and soothed the fever heatof Death Valley, and as the morning star rose up like a blazing beacon,Wiley carried Virginia to Stovepipe. They had sat for hours on thecrest of a sand-hill, looking out over the sea of waves that seemed toride on and mingle in the moonlight, and with no one to listen they hadtalked out their hearts and pledged the future in a kiss. Then they hadgazed long and rested, looking up at the countless stars that obscuredthe Milky
Way with their pin-points; and when the Colonel had found themWiley was carrying her in his arms as if her weight were nothing.
They camped at Stovepipe that day while Virginia gained back herstrength, and at last they came in sight of Keno. She was riding now andWiley was walking, with his head bowed down in thought; but when helooked up she reached out, smiling wistfully, and touched him with herhand. But the Colonel strode ahead, his head held high, his eagle eyessearching the distance; and when people ran out to greet him he thrustthem aside, for he had spied Samuel Blount in the crowd.
Blount was standing just outside the Widow's gate and a voice,unmistakable, was demanding in frantic haste the return of certainshares of stock. It was hardly the time for a business transaction, forher husband was returning as from the dead, but a sudden sense of hermisused stewardship had driven the Widow to distraction.
"What now?" demanded the Colonel, as he appeared upon the scene and hiswife made a rush to embrace him. "Is this the time for scolding? Why,certainly I was alive--why should anybody doubt it? You may await me inthe house, Aurelia!"
"But Henry!" she wailed. "Oh, I thought you were dead--and this devilhas robbed me of everything!"
She pointed a threatening finger at Blount, who stepped forward, hislower lip trembling.
"Why, how are you, Colonel!" he exclaimed with affected heartiness."Well, well; we thought you were dead."
"So I hear!" observed the Colonel, and looked at him so coldly thatBlount blushed and withdrew his outstretched hand. "So I hear, sir!" herepeated, "but you were misinformed--I have come back to protect myrights."
"He took all your stock," cried the Widow, vindictively, "on a loan ofeight hundred dollars. And now he won't give it back."
"Never mind," returned the Colonel. "I will attend to all that if youwill go in and cook me some dinner. And next time I leave home I wouldrecommend, Madam, that you leave my business affairs alone."
"But Henry," she began, but he gazed at her so sternly that she turnedand slipped away.
"And you, sir," continued the Colonel, his words ringing out like pistolshots as he unloosed his wrath upon Blount, "I would like to inquirewhat excuse you have to offer for imposing on my wife and child? Is ittrue, as I hear, that you have taken my stock on a loan of eight hundreddollars?"
"Why--why, no! That is, Colonel Huff----"
"Have you the stock in your possession?" demanded the Colonelperemptorily. "Yes or no, now; and no 'buts' about it!"
"Why, yes; I have," admitted Blount in a scared voice, "but I came by itaccording to law!"
"You did not, sir!" retorted the Colonel, "because it was all in my nameand my wife had no authority to transfer it. Do you deny the fact? Well,then give me back my stock or I shall hold you, sir, personallyresponsible!"
Blount started back, for he knew the import of those dread words, andthen he heaved a great sigh.
"Very well," he said, "but I loaned her eight hundred dollars----"
"Wiley!" called the Colonel, beckoning him quickly from the crowd. "Giveme the loan of eight hundred dollars."
And at that Blount opened up his eyes.
"Oho!" he said, "so Wiley is with you? Well, just a moment, Mr. Huff."He turned to a man who stood beside him. "Arrest that man!" he said. "Hekilled my watchman, George Norcross."
"Not so fast!" rapped out the Colonel, fixing the officer with steelyeyes. "Mr. Holman is under my protection. Ah, thank you, Wiley--here isyour money, Mr. Blount, with fifty dollars more for interest. And now Iwill thank you for that stock."
"Do you set yourself up," demanded Blount with sudden bluster, "as beingabove the law?"
"No, sir, I do not," replied the Colonel tartly. "But before we go anyfurther I must ask you to restore my stock. Your order is sufficient, ifthe certificates are elsewhere----"
"Well--all right!" sighed Blount, and wrote out an order which ColonelHuff gravely accepted. "And now," went on Blount, "I demand that youstep aside and allow Wiley Holman to be taken."
The Colonel's eyes narrowed, and he motioned the officer aside as helaid his own hand on Wiley's shoulder.
"Every citizen of the state," he said with dignity, "has the authorityto arrest a fugitive--and Mr. Holman is my prisoner. Is thatsatisfactory to you, Mr. Officer?"
"Why--why, yes," stammered the Constable and as the Colonel smiledBlount forgot his studied repose. He had been deprived in one minute ofa block of stock that was worth a round million dollars and the sting ofhis great loss maddened him.
"You may smile, sir," he burst out, "but as sure as there's a law I'llput Wiley Holman in the Pen. And if you knew the truth, if you knew whathe has done; I wonder, now, if you would go to such lengths? You mightask your wife how she has fared in your absence--or ask Virginia there!Didn't he send her as his messenger, to make a fake payment that wouldhave deprived her and her mother of their rights? If it hadn't been forme your two hundred thousand shares wouldn't be worth two hundred cents.I ask Virginia now--didn't he send you to my bank----"
"What?" demanded the Colonel, suddenly whirling upon his daughter, butVirginia avoided his eyes.
"Yes," she said, "he did send me down--and I betrayed my trust. But it'sjust because of that that we'll stand by him now----"
"Virginia!" said the Colonel, speaking with painful distinctness. "Do Iunderstand that you were--that woman? And did Mr. Blount here, by anymeans whatever, persuade you to violate your trust?"
"Yes, he did!" cried out Virginia, "but it was all my fault and I don'twant Mr. Blount blamed for it. I did it out of meanness, but I was sorryfor it afterwards and--oh, I wonder if I've got any mail." She brokeaway and dashed into the house and the Colonel brushed back his hair.
"A Huff!" he murmured. "My God, what a blow! And Wiley, how can we everrepay you?"
"Never mind," answered Wiley as he took the old man's hand. "I don'tcare about the money."
"No, but the wrong, the disgrace," protested the Colonel, brokenly, andthen he flared up at Blount.
"You scoundrel, sir!" he cried. "How dared you induce my daughter toviolate her sacred trust? By the gods, Sam Blount, I am greatlytempted----"
"It's come!" called Virginia, running gayly down the steps, but at sightof her father she stopped. "Well, there it is," she said, putting apaper in his hand. "It shows that I was sorry, anyway."
"What is this?" inquired the Colonel, fumbling feebly for his glasses,and Virginia snatched the paper away.
"It's a letter from my lawyers!" she said, smiling wickedly. "And we'llshow it to Mr. Blount."
She took it over and put it in Blount's hands, and as he read the firstline he turned pale.
"Why--Virginia!" he gasped and then he clutched at his heart and reachedout quickly for the fence. "Why--why, I thought that was all settled! Icertainly understood it was--and what authority had you to interfere?"
"Wiley's power of attorney," she answered defiantly, "I fired thatcrooked lawyer, after you'd got him all fixed, and hired a good one withmy stock."
"My Lord!" moaned Blount, "and after all I'd done for you!" And then hecollapsed and was borne into the house. But Wiley, who had been so calm,suddenly leapt for the letter and read it through to the end.
"Holy--jumping--Judas!" he burst out, running over to the Colonel whowas standing with lack luster eyes. "Look here what Virginia has done!She's bought all Blount's stock, under that option I had, and cleanedhim--down to a cent. She's won back the mine, and we can all go intogether----"
"Virginia!" spoke up the Colonel, beckoning her sternly to him. "Comedown here, I wish to speak to you."
She came down slowly and as her father began to talk the tears rosequickly to her eyes, but when Wiley took her hand she smiled backwistfully and crept within the circle of his arm.
THE END
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