An hour or two later, the Pacific Express was slowly winding up the
long mountain grade, the engine puffing and wheezing in apoplectic
fashion, and occasionally emitting short shrieks of protest. The
mountains, which had gradually been assuming shape and color, were now
looming up in grand proportions, their rugged outlines clearly defined
against the sky. Already the mountain breezes, fragrant with the
breath of tamarack, spruce and pine, stole in on adventurous wings
through the car windows; lifted locks, both golden and silvered, from
heated brows, kissed a fretful infant into peaceful slumber, turned
the pages of novels and flapped newspapers so persistently that their
readers were compelled to abandon them, and brought new energy and
inspiration to the languid, listless passengers, so that they began to
evince symptoms of interest in their surroundings.
In his favorite lounging attitude, Houston sat, his eyes fixed on the
mountains, moment by moment growing more distinct in their rugged
grandeur, a half-smile of amusement playing over his face, as he
recalled the interview with the president of The Northwestern Mining,
Land and Investment Company. Upon inquiry, he had learned that Mr.
Wilson had boarded the train at a little way station, before daylight
that morning, and the zeal displayed by that gentleman in thus seeking
to ascertain something regarding the characteristics of his future
clerk, by anticipating his arrival in this manner seemed to Houston
decidedly amusing, and at the same time furnished him a clue
concerning the character of one of the men with whom he was to be
associated.
He was aroused by the entrance of Rutherford, who, having learned that
the train would make stops among the canyons they were approaching,
was getting his kodak and plates in readiness, preparatory to taking
impressions of some of the finest views.
After a few moments, the conversation drifted to the subject of their
destination, which they would reach in three or four hours.
"I suppose," said Rutherford, addressing his companion rather
hesitatingly, "I suppose you will remain in Silver City for some
time?"
"I am not quite certain," he replied, "my impression is, however, that
I shall not be detained there more than a day or two."
"Indeed! then are you going on farther west?"
"No, I expect to go out among the mines for a while."
"Among the mines! Now I should think that would be fine; you'll have a
chance to see western life in earnest. So you are interested in mines!
Well, I thought something of the kind when you said you were out on
business. No wonder you were so cool with old Boomerang this morning,
and didn't care for any of his wonderful investments."
Houston was silent for a moment, a curious smile playing over his fine
features; then watching Rutherford keenly through half-closed eyes, he
said,
"On the contrary, instead of being a mine owner, as you surmise, I am
the employe of a mining company, and 'old Boomerang,' as you call him,
is the president of that company."
Rutherford sat for an instant as if petrified; then managed to gasp,
"Great Heavens! are you associated in business with that man?"
"Yes," said Houston, looking almost as if he enjoyed the situation,
"associated as employer and employe. I am going out to fill the
position of accountant for the same company of which he is president."
"Oh, I see; you are just going to take the position. Did you know all
the time who he was?"
"I had no more idea than you until I saw his card; but I think he knew
me, was looking around, in fact, to see what his new clerk was like."
"The old beast!" exclaimed Rutherford. His face was a study, it
represented so many conflicting emotions; several times he seemed
about to speak, then remained silent, looking more and more perplexed.
He was sorely puzzled; Houston was the embodiment of courtesy and
refinement, his every word and gesture revealed a man of wealth,
education and culture,--and yet, a clerk, and for such a man! and
strangest of all, he seemed to feel no chagrin in speaking of his
position.
Houston's voice broke in pleasantly upon his cogitations: "I saw it
would never do for you to travel about here under such erroneous
impressions; imagining you were associating with a heavy capitalist,
or a mining broker, when--"
"Oh, hang it all!" interrupted Rutherford, brusquely, "What difference
does it make? You're a gentleman, anybody can see that. I'll own up
that it did knock me out at first to find you were connected in any
way with that old chap; but I know you're all right, and I had no
business questioning around as I did about your affairs; I beg your
pardon, and I'll explain now why I did it. I'm a stranger out here,
and I've taken an awful liking to you, and when we get to Silver City,
if you don't mind, I'd like to keep in with you until I get a little
accustomed to the ways out here; that is, if you've no objections."
"That's all right," responded Houston cordially, "stay with me as long
as you like; and now, let's go out and take a look at the mountains,"
and the two young men shook hands, each feeling a sort of presentiment
that the friendship begun under these peculiar circumstances was one
for life, and such it proved.
On reaching the rear platform they discovered that the train was
following the course of a river winding through a rocky gorge that
grew narrower, moment by moment. The walls grew higher and steeper at
every turn, while towering above and beyond were the mountain peaks.
They stood clinging to the railings, and watching the rapidly changing
scene, as the train swerved and swept from one direction to another,
following the winding of the river.
Suddenly the walls shot upward almost perpendicularly for hundreds of
feet, shutting out the sunlight, leaving nothing visible but a narrow
strip of sky; and still the great rocks came closer and closer, until
little more than the width of the car was left, and it seemed that in
a moment that must be crushed. The ponderous wheels were slowly
revolving over a trestle bridge of steel, mortised into the rocks,
while the deafening echoes reverberated between the narrowing walls,
and rippled the surface of the river flowing deep and black below.
Then suddenly another swift, sharp turn, and they were out in the
dazzling sunshine, amidst a scene of untold beauty and grandeur.
Here, at the entrance of the canyon, the train stopped, giving the
passengers an opportunity to alight and enjoy the scenery. On all
sides rose masses of rock, some fashioned in wondrous beauty, others
in forms weird and fantastic; some gray and rugged, some tinted with
intermingling shades of color, and others sparkling in the sunlight as
though studded with gems innumerable. Here and there were piles of
rock, crimson and green and golden, resembling the moss-grown,
ivy-covered castles of the olden time. Farther on were mountains
covered with heavy forests of pine, through which the winds sighed and
whispered mysteriously, while at their feet the little streams
lingered lovingly long enough to catch the whispered secrets, and
bear them away, laughing and singing, on their journey toward the
great sea.
The train moved slowly on to another canyon, more grand in its awful
solitude than the first, surrounded on all sides by walls nearly a
thousand feet in height. At one side, a broad sheet of water,
shimmering in the sunlight, fell, like a bridal veil, down the
precipitous rock, with a deafening roar disappearing into unseen
depths below, while at the base of the canyon lay a lake of sapphire,
in whose calm, untroubled depths, rocks and cascade and sky were
mirrored in perfect beauty.
Slowly the train wound its way upward, until it paused again near the
summit of the range, on the "divide," the boundary line between the
east and the west. There were the serried ranks of the mountains,
vast, solemn, grand; and in that awful solitude, under the spell of
that eternal silence, a sense of the infinite hushed every tongue, and
each one stood with bated breath, as if on holy ground. On every side
the billowy ranges surged, like the gigantic waves of a storm-tossed
ocean suddenly congealed to stone, while here and there, towered
mighty peaks, like huge sentinels, their brows seamed with furrows
plowed by the hand of the centuries, their heads white with the snows
of countless ages.
Here two tiny streams flowed side by side, then separated; the one to
start on its long journey toward the old Atlantic, the other toward
the Golden Gate, to mingle its waters with those of the sunset sea.
Slowly the passengers returned to the train, stopping on their way to
gather the little wild flowers growing between the loosened
rocks,--frail mountain children of the sun and wind,--to be preserved
as souvenirs of the "divide."