Then she knew that he was going straight into the very jaws of death. If
it had been a trap set for him it could not have been any surer. In a
sheep-shed far below, close to the reef of rocks above Fritz's grave, a
score of men were waiting, and he was rushing toward them, down the
mountain side, lighted by the white moonlight. And what was she doing,
groveling there among the rocks? Like a flash she was after him, but at
a speed much less than his had been.
Before she was halfway down three shots rang out. The girl clutched her
heart and listened, but not a sound could be heard save the long echoes
in the valley, which sounded like a dying breath.
On she sped from rock to rock, keeping ever out of sight of the shed,
her senses keenly alive to the one object in view--a bit of white far
below. It might have been a bunch of flowers along the hillside, but
white flowers never grew there--a heap of bones, then, she thought. She
made a zigzag line along the jagged ridge of rocks, closer and closer to
the white object below. She wondered if he lay on his face or his back.
How calm she was in the shock and terror of her grief! The light of the
moon was growing dim, she had reached the very tip of the rocks, the
white object was not twenty feet away, but out in the open in perfect
view of the sheep-shed and the score of men it hid. Another shot broke
the stillness. The white object moved, and then a moan followed, so low
that none but the ears of the frenzied girl could have heard. Like an
enraged lioness she sprang out into the open and dragged the heavy body
up toward the shelter of rocks. Several bullets rang about her, but the
increasing darkness made her an uncertain target. A couple of men
ventured outside the sheep-shed, encouraged by the stillness. The girl
laughed savagely, as if in glee, and pulled the man's body close to the
side of rocks, covering it with her own.
"Come on," she cried to herself. "Come on, show yourselves! I shall have
you all! For every pang you have made him suffer, you shall have twenty,
and for his death you shall have a lingering one! Come on, come on!"
Three stood outside. The addition pleased her. She laughed. Taking
deliberate aim she fired again and again. Three wounded, frightened men
crawled into the shelter of the shed. Then a score of bullets splashed
against the rocks about her. She lifted the warm bleeding body closer
under the rocks, drawing her own over it to protect it from all harm and
talking frantically the while.
"The hounds, the hounds! They murdered you right in my sight, dear, and
I will tear out their hearts with my hands! See, they are hiding
themselves again! I can wait, yes, I can wait! _My love, my love!_ For
everything they have made you suffer! Oh, you can't be _dead_, dear! You
can't be dead! Open your eyes and let me tell you just once I love you!
Only once, dear!" She put her mouth close to his ear. "_I love you, love
you, love you!_ Only hear me once and know, dear! Know how I love you!
Why didn't I tell you? I don't care if you are married a thousand times,
a _million_ times! I love you with all my life--my soul! See, he's
trying to get away! But he'll never reach his horse! See! A hole right
through his knee! Death is too good for them, dear. My love, speak to me
just once--only know that I love you, that I am mad with love for you!
Tell me that you feel my face against yours--and my kisses! See, they're
crawling out like flies! and making for their horses--and now they're
crawling back again so that I cannot get them. Oh, God, let me get them
_all_! My love, my love, how I love you, and _never told you so_!"
With the first hint of dawn another volley came from the opposite side,
and out of the gloom a rush of cavalry closed in about the sheep-shed,
and ten men, most of them suffering from slight wounds, were taken
captive. The man lying against the reef of rocks partially opened his
eyes as Hope, with one last kiss upon his face, rose to meet a small
group of riders.
"I say, Hope, it's a blasted shame we didn't get here in time to save
him!" exclaimed O'Hara, with grief in his voice. "I'll just send the
doctor over here at once."
While the surgeon bent over Livingston the girl stood close by, against
the rocks, quiet as the stone itself.
"A bad shoulder wound," he commented at length. "A little of your flask,
O'Hara, and he'll be all right. Why, he's quite conscious! How do you
feel? You're all right, my boy! A shattered shoulder isn't going to
bother you any, is it? Not much!"
The girl moved closer.
"Is he alive and conscious? Will he live?" she asked.
"He's all right, madam," replied the surgeon. As he spoke Livingston
turned his face toward her, his eyes alight with all the love-light of
his heart--answering every prayer she had breathed upon him. Her own
answered his. Then she drew back, farther and farther away, until she
stood outside the group of riders. O'Hara tried to detain her as she
passed him.
"Why, you're wounded yourself, girl!" he exclaimed.
She looked at her sleeve, and the wet stream of blood upon her dress,
and laughed. It was true, but she had not felt the wound.
"Not at all, Larry," she replied. "The blood came from _him_," and she
pointed back to the rocks. She started on, but turned back. "Tell me,"
she said, "what became of little Ned."
"I sent him home," replied Larry. "The poor little chap was about all
in. We met his uncle, Long Bill, riding like blazes for the doctor. It
seems that those young divils of twins shot old Harris some time during
the night, which stopped that faction from joining these fellows here as
they had planned. A pretty lucky shot, I'm thinking! They ought to have
a gold medal for it, bless their souls, but they'll both dangle from the
end of a rope before they're forty, the devils, or I'll miss my guess!"
Larry looked around to speak to an officer, and before he could realize
it Hope had disappeared, climbing back toward the summit of the hill
where she had left her horse.
In the gulch on the opposite side she fell exhausted into the very arms
of old Jim McCullen, who had returned in time to hear the shooting, and
was hastening toward the scene.
"My poor little Hopie!" he cried, carrying her to the stream, where the
alarmed party from the camp found them a few minutes later.
"You will drown her, Mr. McCullen!" exclaimed Clarice Van Rensselaer,
rushing up quite white and breathless. "The poor darling, I just _knew_
she'd get into trouble with all those dreadful Indians! Someone give me
some whisky, _quick_! That's right, Sydney, _make_ her swallow it! Here,
give it to me! _There!_"
Louisa, stricken with grief, pointed to the damp, stiffened sleeve of
the girl's shirt-waist. "See," she sobbed, "they have shot her, too,
like my Fritz!"
Of them all, Mrs. Van Rensselaer was the most contained, and showed
remarkable coolness and nerve in the way she ripped off the sleeve and
bathed the wound, which was hardly more than a deep scratch, yet had
caused considerable loss of blood.
"It's exhaustion, pure and simple," said Jim McCullen. Then he and
Sydney drew away a short distance, and examined the horse.
Hope finally looked up into the anxious faces above her.
"I think, Clarice," she said, "I'll go back to New York with you."