SIGNS AND OMENS
The reason of the temporary residence of Angus and his wife at her
cottage lay principally in her whim. Angus laughed at it, but yielded,
and found it rather pleasant to be alone with his wife. From force of
habit he found a number of jobs which needed doing, things which should
be put in order before the winter; but Faith insisted that it was to be
a holiday. And so by day they rode leisurely along the base of the
hills, rested at noon beside clear springs, ate with healthy appetites,
and in the evenings returned to the cottage. Then there would be the
cheery open fire against the chill of the fall night, and by its
flickering light the banjo would talk and whimper, and chuckle, until
Faith, laying it aside, would snuggle against her husband, watching the
red heart of the fire, giving free rein to fancy.
So, she thought and said, men and women had sat in the dim, forgotten
nights of the world, when the Red Flower first bloomed on the rude
hearts of cave and forest and beside the lone beaches of dead seas.
Angus laughed at her fancies, but in his own heart the spell of gut and
string and fire stirred something, too; and when the winds soughed
around the cottage and strained through the tree-tops he found himself
listening subconsciously for he knew not what.
"You are a dreamer, too," Faith accused him.
"I will be in about ten minutes."
"You might as well 'fess up. I wonder if you and I ever sat before a
fire in a cave, together?"
"I don't remember it, myself."
"Oh, you may laugh, but it seems real to me--to-night. The wind in the
trees is like the hiss and roar of squall-swept seas. I can hear other
things, too--the soft padding of feet, and heavy, grunting, snuffling
breaths. That is the tiger or the great cave bear. But they can't get
in, because you have rolled the stone against the mouth of our cave."
"Suppose I forgot it?"
"Then to pay for your carelessness, you would have to fight old Sabre
Tooth. You would fight to the death for me, wouldn't you?"
"And for myself."
"Be gallant, please."
"Cave men weren't gallant. They walloped ladies with clubs and abducted
them."
"Happy thought. You have abducted me. No, not that, either, because I
was never anybody's but yours. But there is a very great warrior who is
trying to take me from you."
"The old warrior sure has some nerve. What am I doing about that time?"
"You fight," she told him, her eyes on the heart of the fire, "while I
stand by praying to the unknown God that you may kill him. And you do
kill him. And then you set your foot on his body and shake your war club
on high and shout a great wild song to the stars. Oh, I can see you now!
There is blood on your face, and the club is dripping with it, and I can
hear the fierce song!"
"I'll bet the singing is fierce, too," Angus commented. But to his
surprise she was trembling in his arms, every nerve aquiver. "What the
dickens! Old girl, you're shaking! There now, that's plenty of that
nonsense. It isn't good for sleeping."
For a moment she clung to him. "I'm awfully silly. But somehow it
seemed real--to-night. I wonder if it ever did happen?"
"Of course not."
"Well, it's funny. I was just making it up. And then suddenly I felt
that instead of making it up I was _recollecting_."
As she paused, Angus' ear caught a faint sound from without. To him it
resembled the faint creak of a board beneath a stealthy footstep. For an
instant his body tensed.
"What's the matter?" Faith asked. "Have you nerves, too?"
"Not that I know of. Turn in now and get a good rest, and don't dream of
things."
But when she had gone to her room he yawned, stretched himself, wound
the clock and passed into the hall leading to the kitchen. There hung
his belt with holster and gun. He took the gun, went swiftly through the
kitchen and outside. He circled the house, but neither saw nor heard
anything, and so he went in again. But when he turned in, having
extinguished the light, he laid the gun on the floor beside the bed, and
in the morning smuggled it out without Faith's knowledge. Before she had
risen he examined the ground around the house, but found no footprints
other than their own. And so he came to the conclusion that whatever he
had heard had not been a footstep.
He pottered around all morning, and in the afternoon decided to ride in
to town and see Judge Riley. The latter might have some news.
"Well, I won't go," Faith decided. "I have bread to bake, and it's too
far, anyway. I'll have supper ready when you get back."
But when Angus reached the judge's office it was closed. In the post
office he found a note from him, consisting of four words: "Want to see
you," and upon inquiry he learned that the lawyer had driven out with
Dr. Wilkes to see a rancher named McLatchie who being taken suddenly ill
had sent for legal as well as medical assistance. Angus decided to wait.
As he strolled down the street he met Rennie emerging from Dr. Wilkes'
office.
"Hello," he said. "What's the matter with _you_?"
"Nothing with me," Rennie returned. "I was just doin' an errand. But
they tell me the doc's out."
"What is it?" Angus asked, for Rennie's face was troubled.
"You ain't heard? Well, Mary, that granddaughter of old Paul Sam, has
been missin' some days, and to-day they find her--drowned."
"Good Lord!" Angus exclaimed. "How did it happen?" Rennie's face
darkened.
"I dunno. They say she drowned herself. They say some white man is mixed
up in it. She was a notch or two above the ordinary klootch, and so--oh,
well, it's just the same old rotten mess!"
"Poor girl!" Angus said after a moment of silence. "This will be hard on
old Paul Sam. Do the Indians know this white man?"
"I dunno. I heard--mind you I dunno what there is in it--that Blake
French is the man. He's dirty enough. But I dunno's the Injuns know it.
I seen old Paul Sam. He wasn't talkin'. Just sittin' starin' straight
ahead. And the klootch lyin' on her bed alongside him where they'd put
her down. Ugh! Some of 'em wanted to send the doc out. He makes reports
of deaths and such to the government, and then he's coroner. So I
come."
The event touched Angus deeply. He had known the dead girl all his life.
She was, as Rennie said, a notch or two above the ordinary klootch. Paul
Sam, too, was a good Indian, a friend of his and of his father's, so far
as the white man who knows the Indian admits him to friendship. It would
be a heavy blow for the old man. But unless some of the young bucks took
the law into their own hands it was unlikely that the man responsible
for the tragedy--Blake French or another--would suffer at all.
It was long after dark when the judge drove in, and Angus waiting at the
livery stable, greeted him.
"How's McLatchie?" he asked. The judge, with emphasis, consigned
McLatchie to torment.
"A bellyache!" he exclaimed, "and he thought he was going to die. I
wanted Wilkes to cut him open, just as a lesson. And will you believe
me, the damned Scotch--I beg your pardon, Angus, I mean the damned
lowlander--when the fear of God produced by the fear of death left his
rotten heart with the pain from his equally rotten stomach, refused to
make his will. I made him do it, though--and pay for it. Well, you got
my note. Come up to the office, where we can talk."
But when he had lit a couple of lamps which illuminated his office and
turned to his desk he stopped short.
"Somebody's been in here," he said. "Things are not as I left them." He
drew out the drawers of his desk. "Aha!" he exclaimed, for the papers
they held had evidently been taken out and jammed back in disorder. "Now
what misguided idiot thought a law office worth robbing? I wonder,
now--By the Lord! but I believe that's it!"
"What?"
"Why somebody's been after _your_ documents," the judge replied. "O-ho,
Braden, me buck! You must think I'm a fool!"
"You mean you think Braden was trying to get back the original deeds?"
"And something else. It's a poor tribute he pays to my intelligence,
thinking I'd leave such papers lying at the mercy of a flimsy door lock.
People think I am careless, old-fashioned, because they can't see a safe
in my office. Well, anybody can blow a safe--if the safe can be found. I
had one blown once, and it was nearly the ruin of me. But look here!" A
section of wainscoting swung out under his hand, revealing the face of a
steel safe. "No local man had anything to do with installing this," the
judge said; "and back of it is a false wall to my inner room." He spun
the combination and threw the door open. Taking out a thick envelope he
drew from it a single sheet of paper which he handed to Angus.
Angus read in amazement. It was a brief statement signed by Braden
acknowledging forgery by French and himself, and an acknowledgment of
the authenticity of the original deeds.
"How on earth did you get this?" he asked.
The judge told him.
"Well, that was mighty clever of you," Angus said in admiration. "I'd
never have thought of that."
"Braden didn't either," the judge said drily. "And what's more he never
thought that my statement about the watermark might be worth verifying."
"Do you mean you bluffed him?" Angus exclaimed.
"It was the only way," the judge nodded. "His story, stuck to through
thick and thin, would have prevailed because we had no evidence to
contradict it. But being guilty, it never occurred to him to demand an
inspection of the papers. It may have occurred to him now. He may have
searched my office in my absence, hoping to get back his confession as
well as the deeds. But most of us realize our mistakes too late."
"Judge" Angus said solemnly, "you are a wonder."
"When I was your age I would have agreed with that," the judge grinned.
"But I am merely an old dog with some experience of foxes. This settles
Braden's hash. He will leave town--and possibly leave some creditors."
"I thought he had plenty of money."
"He has lost a good deal lately in speculation--lost it or tied it up. I
imagine he will get together what cash he can and leave. His debts are
none of my business. I will now have these deeds registered, and you
will have no more trouble about title."
"When you send me your bill, put in the watermark."
"My bill will have a sufficiently high watermark to suit you," the judge
chuckled. "And now, young man, I'm too old to be modest. Naturally you
will incorporate, sooner or later, to work this property to advantage. I
want to incorporate you, and I want such of the company's legal work as
I am competent to handle."
"That's all of it."
"I meant that," the judge admitted. "And if I were permitted to buy a
block of stock on as good terms as anybody I would take it."
"That goes, of course," Angus agreed, "and it doesn't by any means
cancel our obligation to you. And now I must be drifting. My wife is
alone, and I was to have been back by supper."
"You'll have a dark ride."
"My horse has good feet. Good night, judge, and thank you again."
The wind struck Angus hard as he left the office. It was blowing great
guns, and as the judge had said, it was very dark. When he left the
lights behind it was better as his eyes became accustomed to the
darkness. But ragged clouds hung low, and the mountains usually visible
against even the sky of night could not be seen. The wind was roaring
through the tops of the firs with a sound of running waves. But the road
was good, and when Chief of his own notion struck into a long,
trail-devouring lope, he did not check him.
He was suddenly anxious to get back to Faith. He wished to tell her the
good news, but that did not account for the uneasy feeling that
possessed him, tugging at his ordinarily steady nerves. There seemed to
be no reason for it; yet it persisted and even increased. He realized
with disgust that he was nervous. Something seemed to impend. The roar
of the wind was sinister, minatory. The darkness seemed to hover above
like a bird of prey, ready to strike. He swore angrily at himself for
such fancies.
"I've got the nerves of a squirrel to-night," he muttered. "I'll be
seeing things next. Go on, Chief, old boy! Leak out of here!"
With the touch of his feel the big chestnut settled to the business of
covering ground. The wind increased, and with it came rain, huge drops
driving like buckshot, stinging as they hit. Somewhere off the road a
tree snapped and crashed down.
"Timber!" Angus shouted to the darkness, for the storm and the pace were
getting into his blood, and with their entry his nervousness was
replaced by a feeling of exhilaration. Then the chestnut rose in a clean
sailing jump, and Angus realized that he had cleared a fallen tree. But
he did not slacken speed.
They were off the main road now, on the less used trail, and the ranch
was little over a mile distant. Angus could picture Faith waiting,
wondering what had detained him, perhaps a little anxious because of the
storm. She would laugh when he told her that he had suffered from
nerves. She--
Chief snorted, leaped, and something caught Angus across the chest. For
a moment it yielded, tautened and snapped back, tearing his tight grip
loose. At the pace he was riding it plucked him from the saddle as a
hawk lifts a chick from the brood, flinging him backward to the earth.
He struck it heavily on his shoulders and the back of his head. He had a
dim impression of somebody or something leaping on him, of a blow, and
then darkness shut down absolutely.