Chapter XXII
The Professor Dictates
Sanchia was cool and bright and merry. She sat flicking at hergleaming boot with her whip, and laughing. Helen, who had stood veryclose to a great happiness, now shivered as though the day had turnedcloudy and cold. But she was still Helen Longstreet, her pride anessential portion of the fibre of her being. Because she was hurt,because suddenly she hated Sanchia Murray with a hatred which seemed tosear her heart like a hot iron, she commanded her smile and hid alltraces of agitation and spoke with serene indifference.
'Mr. Howard was telling me of the work on the ranch. Isn't itinteresting?'
'So interesting,' laughed Sanchia, 'that no doubt the heartlessvagabond forgot to mention that he had just left me and that I had sentword by him that I was coming?'
'I don't believe you did say anything about it, did you?' Helen'slevel regard was for Howard now; the red of anger still flared underhis tan and looked as much like guilt as anything else. 'Although,'and again she glanced carelessly toward the trim form on the whitemare's back, 'we were speaking of you only a moment ago.'
If Sanchia understood that nothing complimentary had been spoken of hershe kept the knowledge her own.
'We just had a little visit together in the mining-camp,' she said,veiling the look she bestowed upon Howard so that one might makeanything he pleased of it. 'Alan knows he'd better always run in andsee me first when he's been away for ten days at a stretch; don't you,Boy?'
For Howard the moment was nothing less than a section of purgatory. Hewas no fine hand to deal with women; he stood utterly amazed atSanchia's words and Sanchia's attitude. He had not learned the trickof saying to a woman, 'You lie.' He had a confused sort of impressionthat the two girls were merely and lightly teasing him. But havingeyes that were keen and a brain which, though a plain-dealing man's,was quick, he understood that somehow there was a stern seriousnessunder all of this seeming banter. Single-purposed he turned to Helen;bluntly he intended to tell how he had seen Sanchia and how he had lefther.
But Helen's quick perception grasped his purpose, and in an anger whichincluded him as well as herself with Sanchia, she wanted noexplanations. It was enough for her that he had seen Sanchia Murrayfirst; that he had come direct from her. She left the new bridle andspurs lying on the ground, passed swiftly by him and as she walked onsaid carelessly:
'If you both will excuse me a moment I must run into the house. I havesomething to do before papa comes in.'
Sanchia's face glowed triumphantly, and her triumph was clearly one ofsheer malevolence. Howard lifted his face to hers, letting her readhis blazing wrath. She only shrugged her shoulders.
'I wish to God you were a man!' was all that he said.
'I don't,' she rejoined coolly. 'It's a whole lot more fun being awoman. Men are such fools.'
She saw a tremor shake him from head to foot. He came a quick steptoward her, even laid a tense hand on her horse's mane as involuntarilyhis other hand was lifted; for the instant a wild fear thrilled throughher. She thought that he was going to drag her from the saddle; shehad driven him hard, perhaps too hard. But she saw beyond him Helenhurrying down the trail, she saw even that Helen was turning to glanceback. Resourceful in a crisis had Sanchia Murray always been;resourceful now. She leaned forward, and, for Helen to see, patted therigid hand on her horse's neck. She laughed again as she saw thatHelen was almost running now; she could fancy that she had heard a gaspcatch in the girl's throat.
'You'll keep your hands off my affairs, Mr. Alan Howard,' she saidevenly. 'Or I'll spoil every dream of your life.'
He held back his answer, his throat working. He saw the forsaken spursand bridle near the bower which John Carr had constructed; he saw thesunlight and shadow across the trail down which Helen had vanished.Then, his own spurs clanking to his long strides, he too went down thetrail, his back and shoulders to Sanchia, stiff and belligerent.
Helen was in the cabin, the door closed. He called, and she did notanswer. He could hear her within, rummaging about, evidently very busywith something or other; had it not been for the little snatch of songwhich came out to him he could have thought that she was in the grip ofa frenzy no less than that riding him. He rapped on the door andcalled again.
'Is that you, papa?' Helen's song was suspended briefly.
'No,' answered Howard. 'Won't you let me have a word with you?'
'I'd love to,' she rejoined. 'But I'm terribly busy just now. I'll beout in a minute.' And again he heard her humming and stirring about.
He tried to open the door. It was locked. He turned away and sat downon the doorstep.
'I'll wait here,' he told her. 'I'll wait all day and all night if Ihave to.'
But there is nothing harder than an indefinite waiting. He saw thatSanchia still sat upon her white mare where he had left her, that herhead was bent, and she seemed to be in a profound study. Now and thenhe heard Helen; she appeared to be re-arranging their scantfurnishings. Ten minutes passed. He called softly:
'Aren't you coming out, Helen?'
'Presently.' By now Helen had commanded and subdued her agitationentirely to her own satisfaction. 'I know it seems rude, but I simply_must_ get a few things done.'
'What sort of things? Can't I help you?'
'Help?' She laughed. 'Men are such funny animals when it is a matterof helping indoors.
Sanchia had just said men were such fools. Well, come right down toit, he was rather inclined to accept the statement as largely true.And women were so utterly beyond comprehension.
'Anyway, can't I just come in and watch you?'
He wondered why she should seem so highly amused.
'In this little house you always seem about seven feet tall,' shelaughed at him. 'You'd be terribly in my way. And you haven't waitedhalf a day yet, let alone all night.'
He saw that Sanchia had suddenly lifted her head and had jerked herhorse about in the trail. But she was not riding this way. She hadturned toward the cliffs and was waving her hand. Then he sawLongstreet, grotesque in the various bits of Western accoutrement whichhe had incorporated into his wardrobe, humorously militant as toswinging revolver, miner's pick in hand, high-booted and red-shirted.
'Your father is coming,' he offered. 'That Murray woman is going tomeet him.'
Helen had paused in her activities. But he could not guess how herexpression had changed. 'That Murray woman,' as he spoke the words,did sound convincing. Still she did not come out. She knew that itwould be a full ten minutes before Longstreet would make his way downthe steep slope and come to the cabin. She resumed her occupation andremembered to accompany it with her tantalizing bit of song. Howardbegan to hate that air whole-heartedly.
The longest day has its end, the longest ten minutes fall somethingshort of an eternity. At length, walking side by side, leading thewhite mare and chatting gaily, Longstreet and Sanchia approached thehouse. Longstreet saw Howard and put out a friendly hand.
'Glad to see you, my boy,' he called warmly. 'Helen and I have talkedof you every day; we've missed you like the very mischief. Where isHelen, by the way?'
'Inside,' Howard told him sombrely. 'Changing things around and makingthem all over.'
Helen opened the door. Howard wondered how she had found the time tolay aside her hat, give a new effect to her hair and pin on those fieldflowers. Her cheeks were only delicately flushed, her eyes were filledwith dancing lights.
'Back again, pops?' She appeared to see only her father, though Howardstill had a foot on the step and Sanchia was fluttering close at hiselbow. 'And no new gold mine to-day!' It was quite as though a goldmine were virtually an everyday occurrence. She patted his dustyshoulder.
'No,' said Longstreet lightly. 'No new mine to-day, my dear. But I'mright; I'm getting all the signs I want and expected. To-morrow ormaybe the next day, we'll have it. I know right where it is. Take thetrail by----'
'Papa,' said Helen hastily
and a trifle impatiently, 'can't you everlearn, even after you have been bitten? If you do stumble on anything,I should think you would remember and not talk about it.'
'But, my dear,' he expostulated, 'we are among friends.'
'Are we?' Helen demanded coolly. 'We were among the same friendsbefore.'
Longstreet looked frankly displeased, vaguely distressed. Sanchia waslistening eagerly, her eyes stony in their covetousness. Howard,staring only at Helen, had hardly heard.
'Well, well,' said Longstreet. 'I haven't found anything, so that'sall there is to to-day's tale, anyway.' He got his first view of thecabin's interior. 'What in the world has happened in there?' hedemanded, in amazement.
'Nothing,' answered Helen. 'I'm just packing; that's all.'
'Packing, my dear? Packing what? And, pray, with what intention?'
'Packing everything, of course. And with the intention of travelling.'
Longstreet looked perplexed. He turned to both Howard and Sanchia asthough he suspected that they must share the secret.
'If you'll come in, pops,' Helen informed him, 'we'll arrange foreverything. I wanted to get the worst of it done before you came, asyou're so frightfully upsetting when there's anything like this to bedone. Mr. Howard and Mrs. Murray,' she added, explaining sweetly,'just ran in for a minute's call. They are both in a hurry, and we hadbetter not detain them.'
Howard flushed. But his jaw muscles only bulged, and he did notwithdraw his foot from the doorstep. Sanchia bestowed upon the girl along searching look; it may have suggested itself to Sanchia's openmind at that instant that Helen was likely to prove a more troublesomefactor than she had counted on.
'If you don't mind,' Howard said with slow stubbornness, 'I'd like justa few words with you and Miss Helen. Mrs. Murray came alone, and nodoubt would prefer to return alone.'
Sanchia's eyes flashed and she bit her lip. Then, though her wordscame quickly, they were smooth and quiet and had a note of banteringlaughter in them.
'Dear me, we must all be tired and hungry like a lot of children whohave played too hard! We'll be quarrelling in another moment. But Iam not going to be so sensitive as to feel hurt and run off and cry; weare too good friends for that, as you've just said, Mr. Longstreet.And I did so want to ask you some questions; I sent right away for thebooks you told me of, and I am simply mad over them. And I got one ofyours, too; the one on south-western desert formations. It is the mostsplendid thing I ever read. But it is so erudite, so technical inplaces. I was going to ask if you would explain certain parts of it tome?'
'Delighted to,' ejaculated Longstreet. His old beaming cheerinessenwrapped him like a rosy mist. 'Come in, come in. And you, too,Alan.'
They entered, Sanchia with a sidelong look at Helen, Howard grave andstubborn. Everything was in a state of confusion which Sanchia wasquick to mark, while Howard saw nothing of it. He saw only Helenlooking a far-off princess, cold and unapproachable. And only a fewminutes ago she had been just a winsome girl who leaned toward him,whom he dared to hope he could gather up into his arms.
Helen's expression was one of set determination. She breathed quicklyand deeply. Her anger rose that her two guests had overridden herexpressed wish. She watched her father hand Sanchia a chair. She sawthem sit down together at the table, Longstreet beginning to talklargely upon his hobby, Sanchia encouraging him with her sympatheticsmile and her pertinent questions. It appeared that Sanchia had reallyread and understood and was interested.
'Papa,' said Helen quietly, though her voice shook a little, 'I supposethat a time for very plain talking has come. We will never getanywhere without it. I have shown Mrs. Murray as plainly as I couldthat I don't trust her and further that I do not like her. She shouldnot come into my house. You should not ask her, if she has not enoughpride to refuse your invitation. Do you want me to go? Or will youask her to go?'
Longstreet had not expected this, and for a moment was utterly at aloss. He looked at his daughter in bewilderment; he turned from her toHoward and finally to Sanchia herself as though for help. His face waspuckered up; he looked ridiculously as though he were on the verge oftears. Sanchia had the effrontery to pat his arm and whisper:
'Dear friend, that you should be distressed because of me.'
But she did not offer to go. She sat still again and watched andwaited.
'I have begun packing for both of us,' Helen went on. 'You should comeback home. If you refuse to go I shall have to go alone.'
To her amazement her father appeared suddenly relieved. He had neverbeen parted from her for forty-eight hours consecutively since shecould remember; he had never seemed competent to get through the daywithout her countless ministrations; he had leaned on her more than sheon him; and yet the stupefying certainty was that now his face clearedand he actually smiled as he accepted her threat as a sensible solutionof the problem.
'No doubt you are right, my dear,' he nodded vigorously. 'This is awild sort of country after all; it is hard for a girl, bred as you havebeen. Perhaps if you went East it would be better. I could stay here;I'd find my mine very soon; I'd take some one in with me in order toraise a large sum of money immediately. And then, when I had builded afine home and had everything ready for you, you'd come back to me!' Hewas carried away with his dream. He rubbed his hands together, and hadhe been playing poker you would have known he held nothing less than aroyal flush. 'You always rise superior to the situation, my dear;always.'
But Helen's face would have indicated that the situation had masteredher. Her own eyes filled with vexation; she dashed the tears aside andher anger rose. Of all men in the world her father, with his gentleinnocence, could at times be the most maddening. And, withdrawn alittle behind her father, she saw Sanchia laughing into herhandkerchief.
On the instant Helen had the clear vision to know that in this skirmishshe was defeated. She had thought her father would follow her; sheknew that she would not go without him. At least not yet. In a momenther anger would get the best of her; she went quickly to the door andoutside. Howard came quickly behind her.
'Helen,' he said harshly, 'you've got to listen to me.'
'Well?' She whirled and confronted him, her body drawn up rigidly.'What have you to say?'
'You mustn't leave like this. You must stay.'
'I am not going to leave,' she retorted. 'I am going to stay!'
'But,' he began, at sea once more, 'I thought----'
'Think what you please, Mr. Howard,' she told him hotly. 'But here'sone thing you don't have to speculate upon. I am not going to leave myfather in the hands of that Murray woman to do as she pleases with.She can have whatever I don't want,' and he knew she meant Alan Howard,'but I am not going to give her the satisfaction of having all of themines and horses in the world named after her.'
The last came out despite her; she could have bitten her tongue to holdback the words which came rushing forth with such vehemence. She didnot know what had put that thought into her mind at this crisis;perhaps it had always been there. But it was this which had chiefsignificance for Howard.
'I have a horse named Sanchia,' he said. 'The one I rode the first dayI saw you. You think that I named it after her?'
'What if you did?' she demanded. 'Do you suppose that I care?'
'That horse,' he went on steadily, 'I bought a long time ago fromYellow Barbee. It was before I had so much as heard of Sanchia Murray.He named the beast.'
Helen's old familiar sniff was his answer. The matter, he was to know,was of no moment to her. But she knew otherwise, and looked at himswiftly hoping he had something else to say.
'You've got to stay here,' he continued gravely. 'And we both know it.I believe in your father and in his ultimate success. We must watchover him, we must see that Mrs. Murray does not worm his secret out ofhim again and steal what he finds. And you've got to know that when aman loves a girl as I love you, he is not going to tolerate any furtherinterference from a lying, de
ceitful jade like that woman in there.'
Helen laughed her disbelief.
'I rode first of all to the place where your cabin used to stand,' hewent on, his big hat crumpled in his hands. 'You had left, and I wasafraid you had gone East. I rode into the mining-camp to get word ofyou. I saw Barbee; he said that Sanchia Murray knew where you hadmoved. I asked her. When she said she was coming up this way, I didnot wait for her. She appears to have it in for me; she hates you forstanding between her and your father. She knows that I love you,and----'
Longstreet was calling from the door,
'Helen, I want you and Howard to come back. We must talk everythingover. Mrs. Murray has much to explain; she hates Jim Courtot and hiscrowd, she is working against them instead of with them. Be fair,young people; remember these words,' he paused, lifted his handoratorically and then made his statement with an unusually deepgravity,--'Every one, though appearing guilty, must be given anopportunity to prove himself innocent. That's it and that's fair: _theopportunity to prove his innocence_.' He emphasized the words inrepeating them. 'That's all that I ask now. Please let's talk thingsover.'
Helen returned slowly to the cabin.
'I must go back,' she said to Howard. 'After all, I must keep my headand watch over papa every minute while she is with him.'
'May I come in, too?' he asked gently.
'Won't you believe me, Helen? And won't you let me help you?'
She hesitated. Then she turned her head so that he could see her eyes.
'I am apt to have my hands full,' she admitted. She even smiled alittle. 'Maybe there _will_ be work for both of us.'
But when he sought to come to her side, she ran on ahead of him. Theface which she presented at the door for Sanchia's vision was radiant.Even Sanchia was at a loss for the amazing alteration. How these twocould have come to an understanding in two minutes baffled her. But asHoward presented his own face at the door there was no misdoubting thathe and Helen had travelled far along the road which she had thought toclose to them.
'What in the world has happened?' Guarded as was the tongue of SanchiaMurray it was human after all.
Helen laughed merrily and gave her eyes for an instant to Howard's.Then, lightly, to Sanchia:
'We were just laughing over a story Alan was telling me. Yellow Barbeehas a new girl.'
Sanchia understood, and her face went red. Howard merely knew that forthe first time Helen had called him Alan. Of trifles is the world made.