AN INTERVIEW
Immediately following breakfast the next morning Jack and Jimmie went
out to the tennis court near the Rainbow lodge, which they had recently
been trying to get into condition. There they began batting balls back
and forth across the net. Not old enough to play a good game of tennis
for the present, nevertheless Jimmie Kent was determined to make as good
a beginning as possible and to learn whatever his mother might be able
to teach him. He was very like Jack rather than his English relatives, a
straightforward, determined little fellow, self-willed and frank, with a
vigorous body and an ardent love of outdoor sports.
"You've missed that ball and it was such an easy one!" he called out in
an annoyed tone, and then saw his mother run across the court waving her
racquet.
"Excuse me for the present, Jimmie, but here comes Frieda from the big
house and it is so early for her to be out that I am afraid there is
something the matter."
Frieda Russell was walking a little more rapidly than usual and seemed
to be slightly out of breath when her sister joined her and slipped an
arm through hers.
"Nothing has happened, Frieda? Peace is all right, and Professor Russell
and the others?"
The younger woman nodded and yet her face remained grave and there was a
suggestion of a frown between her large clear blue eyes.
"Yes and no, Jack. Oh, I know you hate any one to speak in so
non-committal a fashion and yet one can not always be so direct and so
certain about things as you are. Everybody is well at the big house,
physically well I mean, and yet there is something I felt I wanted to
discuss with you this morning before any one else sees you. I
particularly want to talk to you alone, so suppose we sit down in the
hammock on the front porch and you can see and tell me if any one draws
near."
A moment later, Frieda spread out her plaid blue gingham skirt with as
much care as if it had been of silk and took off her big blue shade
hat, holding it in her lap. She had always been extremely careful of her
costume and her physical appearance as a young girl and now devoted even
more attention to them, with the result that she had an air of
daintiness which was very pleasing and that her skin remained as fair
and soft as a baby's.
"You are rather a comfort, you know. Jack, when one is in a difficulty,
not that I always rely upon your judgment, but I do like to talk things
over with you and get your point of view," she began. "The truth is I am
worried about Jean and Ralph. Ralph returned to the ranch late yesterday
afternoon and saw Jean while we were away. I did not see either of them
until later when they came in to dinner together and then I have never
seen Ralph or Jean look as they did. Even Henry noticed it, and you know
he notices very little that has to do with human beings. He actually
inquired if they were feeling ill, which was most unfortunate, since
they both said 'no,' and then tried to behave as if there was nothing
the matter. They were neither of them successful. I know Jim saw there
was some trouble, but Jim is so wonderful, he never has interfered in
any way with us since we married. We must first give him our confidence,
and even then he is very careful.
"Of course I do not understand whether the trouble is between Jean and
Ralph or whether it is due to some outside cause. But I must say, Jack
dear, that though she has confided nothing to me, I did think Jean's
manner toward her husband a strange one. And yet perhaps I am a little
suspicious or just over anxious because--well, because," Frieda
hesitated a fraction of a second and then went on, "because Henry and I
had that misunderstanding after we were married which made us both so
dreadfully unhappy and except for an accident might have wrecked our
lives. It's a funny thing, isn't it, Jack, when one marries one thinks
one's problems are over. I suppose that is because one is very young,
and then naturally one finds out that if the old problems are over,
there is an entirely new set. Even you and Frank used to have little
differences now and then! And yet here you are still little more than a
girl, and a widow, with a wholly different life to live until you marry
again. Don't shake your head. One never knows. You always insisted,
Jack, that you would not marry when you were a girl, and yet you were
married before any one of us.
"But I am wandering from my subject. You see, about Jean and Ralph, I
don't know what to do, or whether any one of us has the right to attempt
to secure their confidence unless they first offer it to us. At
breakfast this morning Ralph Merritt announced that he was leaving the
ranch again to-day and might be gone for some time. He was going to some
frightfully hot place in New Mexico to see about a lately discovered
gold mine, but Jean and the children would not go with him. And Jean
made no protest of any kind. She did not even try to persuade Ralph to
stay on at the Rainbow ranch for a few days until he had a chance to
rest and they could be together for a little while. I never saw Jean
behave so queerly or look so strangely. She was white and cold and
severe, although she does look so unhappy, almost as if she were ill.
You know she has always cared for me more than for you or Olive, and yet
when I put my arm around her this morning and asked if she felt badly,
she almost pushed me away and said that I would soon grow too tired of
her to care whether she were well or ill. Of course she will probably
talk to me later on, yet it is funny. One might not think it, yet Jean
is really more reserved than the rest of us.
"But what I am worrying over is, that by the time Jean makes up her mind
to confide in any member of her family, Ralph will have gone. And if he
goes, somehow I have a strange presentiment that it may be a long while
before we see him again. Do you suppose you could speak to him? Ralph
said this morning that he was coming to the lodge to have a talk with
you as he really has never seen you alone since your arrival in this
country. You and Ralph are pretty good friends! I don't know why it is,
Jack, but boys and men talk to you more freely than they do to most
girls or women, so will you undertake to find out what is the difficulty
between Jean and Ralph before Ralph goes away? Try to learn if the
trouble is some outside thing in which we could be useful. I know Jim
Colter wants to offer to help Ralph, if he needs help, he admires and
likes him so much, but I don't think Jim dares, Ralph looks in such an
uncomfortable mood."
Without even an exclamation to interrupt her sister's story, Jacqueline
Kent had listened intently, her gray eyes a little clouded, her
sympathetic face responding to every suggestion.
"Yet, Frieda, you feel I ought to question Ralph when Jim, who is his
dear friend, is unwilling? I am afraid not, Frieda dear. You realize I
have seen so little of Ralph and Jean since their marriage, as I have
been living in England and they have been in the United States except
while Ralph was in service in France. Secretly I confess I am a little
afraid of Ralph, more than I am of either your husband or Olive's, Ralph
is so quiet and apparently so self-sufficient. If he has made up his
mind to a certain action I cannot believe that any one save Jean _could_
influence him."
"Yes, but Jean won't _try_ to influence him this time, at least this is
my impression," Frieda added hastily, "and Ralph feels sorry for you at
present, Jack dear, and admires the way you are facing things. He said
so last night at dinner, said quite plainly that he admired you more
than any one of the former Ranch girls, which was not especially polite
of him, although I did not mind, even if Henry was there and might feel
he had made a mistake in marrying me instead of you, not that he could
have married you, as you were engaged already. But I must get back home
now, or else Ralph may arrive and perhaps believe I have been gossiping
about him."
Hastily Frieda jumped up.
"Good gracious, Jack, isn't that Ralph on his way here this instant? It
is either Ralph or some one like him! Let me slip into the house and
stay there until you persuade Ralph to go for a walk, then I'll run
home. I hope Jean will be too much engaged to miss me, I did not mention
to any one I was coming over to the lodge. Good-by, dear; anyhow, you
can do your best to follow my advice."
Scarcely a moment after Frieda had disappeared Jacqueline Kent went
quickly forward to greet Ralph Merritt, who was walking slowly across
one of the fields in the direction of the Rainbow lodge. At once Jack
believed that even had Frieda not forewarned her, she must nevertheless
have observed the trouble in Ralph's face.
"I have come to say good-by and hello at the same time, Jack," he
announced. "Sorry not to see more of you, but I'm off for New Mexico
this afternoon, I don't know for how long a time."
Perhaps there are occasions in this life when frankness may not be
desirable. But the spiritual frankness of Jacqueline Kent, which did not
consist of saying unkind things to people under such a guise, but of
going directly to the heart of what she felt and believed and of
expecting the same thing of other human beings, nearly always served.
She did not hesitate at this instant.
"Ralph, I believe you are in some kind of difficulty. I think I have
guessed partly by your expression and also because you would not leave
the ranch so abruptly and with the suggestion that you may not return
for many months without an important reason. I wonder if the trouble is
a money one, Ralph, because if it is, you must let me help you. You know
I have a fairly large estate and it is costing Jimmie and me almost
nothing to live here at the lodge, and Jean,--Jean has been like my
sister since the days when we spent our girlhood here as the 'Ranch
Girls of the Rainbow Lodge.'"
Ralph shook his head.
"You're a trump, Jack, but that is out of the question. Suppose we walk
down to the Rainbow mine. I had not intended talking to any one, but
perhaps it is best I should, and somehow, Jack, it is not so hard to
confess one's mistakes to you as to most persons. I can't take your
money because I have already lost most of Jean's and all of my own. Jean
hates poverty and has lost faith in me besides. I don't altogether blame
her, yet it has been hard for a good many of us to get started in the
old fashion since the war ended, and these days the Government has so
many regulations about mining gold that only where the output is large
does the work pay. What I want to ask you, Jack, is to look after Jean
and the little girls while I am away. I'll come back when I have made
money, not before."
The man and girl had come to the neighborhood of the old Rainbow mine
and stood near the edge of one of the disused pits.
"Yes, I understand, Ralph. Moreover, you have decided that it will not
be worth while to attempt any more work in the Rainbow mine, at least
not unless a new lode is discovered. Now I wonder, Ralph, if it has ever
occurred to you how much Olive and Frieda and Jean and I owe to your
former skill in working the Rainbow mine in the past, how much of our
fortunes are actually due to you? Does that not make a difference? Are
you not more willing to let me be of assistance to you until you are
able to repay me? Won't you at least promise me to talk to Jim Colter
and to ask his advice before you leave?"
Ralph shook his head.
"No, and even if I were willing, and I am not, Jean would never consent.
Many times she has told me how deeply she appreciated that fact that you
and Frieda shared alike with her the output of the Rainbow mine when she
was only your cousin and with no legal right to your inheritance. Having
lost Jean's money, although she gave me her consent, even urged me to
the investment, she has lost faith in me. What is more serious, I am
even beginning to have less faith in myself. Yet I don't know why I am
telling you all this, Jack, I had not intended to do more than say
good-by. What hurts worse is that Jean does not care for me any more; I
wonder now if she ever did care as I did. You know how important she has
always counted wealth and position and I believed once I could give them
to her, but lately I have failed and so Jean is disappointed. Funny
thing marriage, Jack!"
"Funny thing life, Ralph, one is just a part of the whole! I think you
are mistaken about Jean, but I have no right to express an opinion. Only
if you do consider it wiser to fight it out alone, don't worry over Jean
and the little girls. Jim would look after them even if I were not here.
Queer that Jim, who came to us first as a cowboy and then the manager of
the Rainbow ranch, should have been even kinder than an own father! Not
that I think of Jim as so much older than I am! However, 111 stand by
Jean through whatever comes, Ralph! And after a time, even if she is
disappointed and hurt for the present, she is sure to change. I wish I
dared to tell her the mistake she is making, only I don't dare. In any
case, I'll do my best."
Ralph Merritt held out his hand.
"Shake hands, Jack, and let us say good-by. But before I leave you I
want to say to you something else, something which may surprise you. I
believe you came back to this country for some good purpose, Jacqueline
Kent, some purpose none of us recognizes at present and you least of
all. But if the day should come when you feel that some work calls you,
don't be afraid to undertake it. Life has a queer fashion of preparing
people for what she wishes them to accomplish, without their knowing."
Jack smiled.
"I wonder what there can be ahead for me, Ralph? Yet some day I must
find something, as I shall never marry again. Life on the old ranch is
restful and charming, yet I suppose it won't continue to be enough. So
let us wish each other good luck here in the shadow of the old mine
where we discovered the 'Pot of Gold.' There must be other kinds of gold
at the end of other rainbows."