Plutina's treatment of Hodges had had a curious effect on that lawless
character. The humiliation to which he had been subjected had indeed
filled him with vicious rage, but, too, it had inflamed his passion
for the girl. Her scorn and her fierce mastery of him had made her
more than ever desirable. He was fascinated by the strength and
courage she had displayed. Brutal and evil as he was, Hodges was
strong physically, and, in his own wicked way, strong of will. Because
he was stronger than his fellows, he ruled them. Strength was, in
fact, the one thing that he could admire. The revelation of it in
Plutina at once set her apart from all other women, and gave to his
craving for her a clumsy sort of veneration. But that veneration was
strangely modified by resolve to be avenged for the insult she had put
upon him. Thus, it had come about that he planned to satisfy his
varied feelings toward the girl by the abduction. He swore to master
her, to change her insolence to fawning submission, to abject
fondness.
Hodges wasted no time. His sluggish brain began its scheming the
moment a turn in the trail hid him from view, after the ignominious
march from the Holloman Gate. At sunrise, next morning, he was lurking
on the borders of the Siddon clearing, spying on the movements of the
family. He even witnessed Plutina's confession to her grandfather, of
which he guessed the purport, and at which he cursed vilely beneath
his breath. When Plutina set forth for the Cherry Lane post-office, he
followed, slinking through the forest at a safe distance from the
trail. He was not quite certain as to where or when he should attack
the girl, but he meant to seize the first favorable opportunity,
whether it came sooner or later. It came, as a matter of fact, very
soon, and it was given by Plutina herself.
There at the fallen poplar, the girl found a comfortable nook on the
big trunk, where her back was supported by a limb. The serenity of the
scene soothed her over-wrought nerves. The sense of relief that had
come from confession to her grandfather was less vivid now. In its
stead was a blessed peacefulness. She watched lazily the visible
details of forest life around about her. Her attention centered
finally on a yellow-hammer, which was industriously boring the trunk
of a dead chestnut. From the nest near-by, the callow young thrust
naked heads, with bills gaping hungrily. Then, in a twinkling, birds
and forest vanished, and she was standing on the mist-strewn steeps
of Stone Mountain, and Zeke's arm was about her, and her hand was
clasped in his. So, she slept, and smiled a little in her dreams, for
the touch of the breeze on her cheek seemed the caress of her lover's
lips. From his lair in the laurel, Dan Hodges, watching, knew that his
opportunity was come. The outlaw laid down his rifle, and drew from a
pocket a stout leash of cowhide, a yard long. Glancing from time to
time at his intended victim, to see that she still slept, he hastily
fashioned a slip-noose at either end of the thong. This done, he began
moving forward with the utmost caution, taking advantage of the cover,
that he might remain invisible should the girl awake. He held the
leash in his two hands ready for instant action. A slight detour
brought him around the stump of the poplar, just behind Plutina.
Advancing with even increased carefulness now, he approached until the
girl was easily within his reach. As she reclined on the tree-trunk,
her left hand hung at length on the side next to him. The right arm
was bent along the supporting branch, and the hand pillowed her cheek.
After a moment of doubt, Hodges decided that he would attempt to
secure the free wrist in a noose of the leash without awakening her.
It would be easy then to catch and bind the other wrist. In the
confusion of sudden rousing from sleep, she would make no effective
resistance. The capture would be very simple.
It was, in truth, tragically simple, yet not so simple as the outlaw
had anticipated. From dreams of tenderness, Plutina was suddenly
started to hateful realization by the scarcely perceptible touch of
this being so repugnant to her every instinct. She was confused,
indeed, but not too confused for frantic resistance. It needed no more
than recognition of the man's brutal face so close to hers to inspire
her. She fought him with every ounce of her strength. The left hand
was useless, held down by his on the thong, with the noose drawn taut
about the wrist. But the outlaw, though he contrived to get the other
noose over her right hand, failed somehow to tighten it at once. She
was able to strike at him again and again. Her blows fell on his face,
and they were sturdy blows. Hodges made no effort to avoid them, nor
struck back--only busied himself with the effort to tighten the noose.
It was evident that he disdained her attack. A certain virile pride
forbade defense against this onslaught of a girl. Finally, he brought
his left hand to aid in adjusting the second noose. In the few seconds
of liberty, Plutina abandoned blows, and resorted to savage clawing at
the evil face. Her ten nails streaked the coarse features with blood.
But still he seemed absolutely indifferent to such wounds as she
could inflict. Then, the noose slipped to tightness. The girl's hands
were brought close together behind her back, where she stood beside
him. He knotted the slack of the leash, and holding the loop, grinned
triumphantly at his captive. His bloody face was a mask of malice.
"Ye damned little wildcat," he growled, yet with an unmistakable note
of admiration in his voice, "if I sarved ye 'cordin' to yer earnin's,
I'd shorely tap ye over thet-thar purty haid o' your'n, an' pitch ye
over into the Devil's Kittle, to wait fer yer runt lover to come arter
ye." He twisted her about viciously. Despite her strength, unusual in
a woman, Plutina was powerless in his grip. Holding her close, face to
face, he contemplated the girl's pitiable distress with gloating eyes
in which there was no faintest suggestion of pity. The prisoner met
the malignant gaze for an instant. Then, her eyes fell, and she stood
trembling. She was panting, partly from terror, partly from the
violence with which she had struggled. Hodges chuckled, well content
over the impression he had made. He would show her how a woman should
be tamed! But the thing must be done in full accord with a plan he had
made. Now that the captive had duly learned her first lesson in
submissiveness, he might relax a little from his severity for a time.
Besides, too much fright might leave her helpless on his hands, which
would be highly inconvenient, since there was a rough journey on foot
before them. When he next spoke, he tried, without much success, to
make his voice conciliatory.
"Thar hain't no call fer ye to be so dum skeery--leastways, not yit. I
hain't a-hurtin' ye none--not yit--only jest a-tyin' yer han's to keep
'em out o' mischief. But I reckon as how ye'll hev to eat them words
ye spoke to me at the gate yistiddy. I 'low ye done forgot the warnin'
I gin ye 'bout playin' Dan Hodges fer a fool. Ye're lookin' mighty
sorry ye ever tried hit." He chuckled again, as he meditated a
humorous effort: "Ye know thet pore feller what ye winged yistiddy?"
He shook his head reprovingly. "You-all shore hadn't orter never 'ave
done no sech thing. Garry wa'n't a-bitin' on ye none. He's hurt bad,
Garry is, an' he needs a nuss the worst way, Garry does. An' so I come
an' got ye." He guffawed over his wit. "If ye'll behave I'll let loose
o' ye a mite, an' we'll stroll along a matter of a few mile to whar
Garry's waitin' awful impatient."
Suddenly, unreasoning fear surged up in Plutina, brimmed over in a
torrent of pleading words. She knew the uselessness of appeal to this
callous wretch. But the instinct of terror in her horrible situation
mastered the girl, so that she forgot pride, and besought his mercy.
She was ghastly pale, and the dilated eyes were almost black, with a
stricken look in their clouded depths. Her voice was shaking.
"Lemme go Dan--lemme go. Ye've done got even with me now fer yistiddy.
Lemme go--I ax it of ye, Dan. I done ye dirt yistiddy, 'cause I was
scared o' ye. An' I'm scared o' ye now, Dan. Lemme go home, an' I
won't never tell nobody how ye kotched me."
She had raised her eyes beseechingly. Now, as she saw the smug mockery
on her captor's face, she fell silent. The futility of any pleading
was too plain. Her eyes shifted to the ground again. But the first
wild fear was past, and she began to think with some clearness. At
once, it occurred to her that she must guard her strength jealously.
She had already wasted too much in vain physical struggling and in
vainer emotional outbursts. She must save her energies henceforth both
of body and of mind, that she might have wherewith to contrive, escape
and wherewith to accomplish it, or wherewith to fight against a
lustful brute to the very death.
Hodges spoke approval.
"Ye're gittin' sense. Better save yer breath to cool yer porrich, stid
o' wastin' hit a-whinin' to me. But I shore admire fer to hear ye
squawk. Ye hain't quite so damned uppitty as ye was yistiddy."
"I 'low I must do what ye says," Plutina agreed, listlessly. She felt
very weary, now that the reaction was upon her. At whatever cost, she
must have an interval in which to recover from this weakness.
"Thet's the ticket!" Hodges exclaimed, with a jovialty meant to be
winning. He went behind her, and loosened the knot he had last tied,
so that her wrists, although still fast bound, had a little play. The
length of the loop allowed him to move by her side with it over his
arm. "You-all jest mosey acrost to thet-thar birch clump," he
directed, pointing. "I got a rifle-gun yender, what I kain't noways do
without."
Plutina walked obediently at his side in the direction indicated, and
stood passively while he picked up the weapon. Then, in response to
his command, she set off with him through the tortuous forest paths to
the southward.
For the time being, Plutina's dominant emotion was a vast depression.
It bore down on her like a physical burden, under which she had hardly
the power to go forward with slouching steps. It was as if the end of
the world were come, with the loss of everything good and clean and
happy. The only reality was this foul creature to whom she was bound,
from whom there was no escape, who had but to speak and she must obey,
who had the authority to compel obedience. She was sick with horror
of the man's nearness. She felt defilement from the avid eyes, which
moved over her in wanton lingering from head to foot, and back again.
But she had no resource against him. She could only endure for the
present, awaiting the return of strength. She could see no glimmer of
hope anywhere. Yet, she strove numbly against this enveloping despair.
She told herself again and again that, somehow, relief would come
before the dreaded crisis. The words were spiritless; they brought no
conviction. Nevertheless, she kept repeating them mutely to herself,
as she trudged drearily beside Hodges toward Stone Mountain.
"I'll git clar o' him somehow--I will, I will! Gran'pap'll kill 'im!
Zeke'll come! He will!"
It was incredible that her lover could come, that he could even know
of the evil, until too late to save her. Yet, the thought of his
coming subtly cheered her. It persisted in defiance of all reason. And
the affrighted girl clung to it with desperate tenacity, as a drowning
man to the life line. She kept repeating to herself, "Zeke'll come! He
will, he will!" as if the phrases were a spell for the soothing of
terror. She wished that her hands were free to touch the fairy crystal
in her bosom.
The outlaw, after uncouth efforts at conversation, which met with no
response, relapsed into sullen silence, and he mended the pace until
the girl was hard put to it to keep up with his stride. On the first
slopes of Stone Mountain, he halted, evidently at a spot where he had
camped on other occasions, for presently he produced a skillet and
coffee-pot and materials for a rude meal from their concealment in the
bushes. But his first care was to place the prisoner on a log, where a
sapling at her back served for attaching the loop of the leash. He
then busied himself with making a fire and preparing the food, from
time to time jeering at the helpless girl, who watched him with
smouldering hate in her eyes.
"Hit's you-all orter be a-doin' these-hyar chores," he declared, with
a grin. "An' they's a good time a-comin' when ye'll be plumb tickled
to death to wait on yer Danny boy. A good time comin', cuss ye!"
He devoured his food ravenously, washing it down with the coffee.
Finally, he brought slices of bread and bacon to Plutina, and laid
them in her lap. He loosened her right hand and so permitted her to
feed herself. It was her impulse to refuse the offering, but she
resisted the folly, knowing the necessity of food, if she would have
energy for the ordeal before her. So, she gulped down the bread and
meat, and drank from the dipper full of coffee. Then, her bonds were
tightened again, and the two renewed their march.
The going was harder here, up and down the rock-strewn slopes. Fatigue
lay very heavy on Plutina, after the strains of the two days. Only her
hate of the man at her side bolstered up pride, so that she compelled
herself to keep moving by sheer force of will. It was already dusk,
when, at last, they issued from the wood and went forward over the
shore of the pool at Sandy Creek Falls.
"Wall, hyar we be!" Hodges cried loudly. There was satisfaction in his
voice.
That satisfaction aroused Plutina from the apathy into which she had
fallen, during the last half-mile of difficult scrambling, made more
toilsome by the constraint of her bound wrists. Now, puzzlement
provoked interest in her surroundings. She had expected that the
outlaw would bear her away to the most convenient or the most
inaccessible of the various secret retreats with which rumor credited
him. But here was neither cave nor shack--only the level space of
sand, the mist-wreathed pool, the rushing volume of the falls, the
bleak wall of the cliff which towered above them where they had halted
at its base. She knew this place. There could be no cavern at hand.
Her eyes searched the space of the inclosure wonderingly. Then, they
went to the man, whom she found regarding her bewilderment with a
smirk of gratification.
"Hyar we be, right on the door-step, so to say," he bellowed. "If ye
kain't see the door-step yit, ye will mighty quick, unless thet pore
feller ye shot has gone an' died a-waitin' fer you-all to come an'
nuss 'im.... Yep, he was a-watchin', all right," he added briskly.
"Hyar hit comes!"
Plutina's eyes followed her captor's and, far above, she made out
something that dangled from the slight break in the cliff. It
descended slowly and jerkily, with haphazard gyrations. As its end
drew closer, she perceived that it was a rudely constructed
rope-ladder, with wooden rungs. She watched it fascinated, shivering
with new fears.
When the flimsy means of ascent hung at its full length, Hodges bade
the girl climb. Unnerved as she already was, the ordeal of such a
progress to the mysterious height above seemed too terrible. She
refused mutely, shaking her head, and cowering away from the outlaw as
far as the thong permitted. But the man had no pity for her
timorousness.
"You-all kin jest nacherly crawl up thet-thar ladder," he announced,
"or we'll sling ye on the end of a rope, an' h'ist ye. Thet'll tumble
ye round an' bump ye agin the rocks quite some. But ye're the doctor.
If ye'll climb up, I'll leave yer han's loose, an' foller cluss behind
ye, so ye kain't fall. Hit's shore wobbly, but hit's safe. Dan Hodges
hain't aimin' to git his neck broke--ner to let the law break it fer
him!" he added, in a lower tone to himself.
But Plutina caught the words. She made nothing of them at the time;
afterward, she realized their significance, and thanked God for them.
In the end, the prisoner yielded to necessity and ventured to mount
with reluctant slowness. She found, to her intense relief, that the
strength was returning to her body. She no longer felt the pervasive
lassitude. The physical improvement reacted on her mind to restore
confidence in her powers. She realized that probably the only danger
lay in her own faltering, and she resolved to overcome her natural
dread, to bend all her energies to a safe performance of the task.
Despite her hatred of the man, she found unspeakable comfort in the
sight of his great hairy hands clutching the ropes on either side of
her at the height of her waist. But, as she mounted, the space beneath
grew fearsome to her, and she raised her eyes and held them steadily
on the distance above, as she had learned to do in clambering with her
lover.
Somehow, now, the thought of Zeke heartened Plutina. Swinging dizzily
in the abyss, with the arms of her jailer about her, there flowed into
her soul a new courage. It was without reason, an absurdity, a folly,
but, oh, what a solace to her spirit! Under the stimulus of it, she
ascended more rapidly. The pinched, ugly face of Garry Hawks,
glowering down at her from the ledge, did not dismay her, even though
the thought flashed on her brain that now this man whom she had
wounded could hurl her to destruction by a touch. She had no fear of
him; only pressed upward steadily. In another moment, her head passed
above the level of the ledge. She took the hand Garry Hawks held out
and climbed upon the narrow support, where she shrank back against the
cliff, after one glance into the gulf yawning at her feet. The level
space was a scant yard in width here, and lessened on the side away
from the falls, until it ceased entirely. In the other direction, it
ran, broadening a very little, to where a tiny cleft showed in the
precipice. Plutina guessed that this marked the entrance to a cavern.
Despite the bravery of her changed mood, the eerie retreat daunted her
by its desolate isolation. Then, Hodges climbed upon the ledge, and
she heard his shout, coming faintly to her ears above the roar of the
cascade which fell just beyond the cavern's mouth.
"Welcome, home, Honey!" he bawled, with his detested jocularity.
"They hain't nobody a-goin' to butt in on our love-makin' up hyar."
Tittering and leering, he seized the girl by the arm, and led her,
unresisting, to the cranny that was the door of the cave. A glance
over her shoulder showed Garry Hawks on his knee, hauling up the
ladder. She knew that with its disappearance there would remain nought
by which the searchers could guess whither she had vanished, or how.
Once again, courage went out of her. In its place was despair.