Elam Parsons stood on the front porch of the Arrow ranchhouse for a
long time after Marion and Martha departed, watching them as they
slowly negotiated the narrow trail that led toward Dawes. Something of
the mans guilt assailed his consciousness as he stood therea
conception of the miserable part he had played in the girls life.
No doubt had not Fate and Carrington played a mean trick on Parsons,
in robbing him of his money and his prospects, the man would not have
entertained the thoughts he entertained at this moment; for success
would have made a reckoning with conscience a remote possibility, dim
and far.
And perhaps it was not conscience that was now troubling Parsons; at
least Parsons did not lay the burden of his present thoughts upon so
intangible a chimera. Parsons was too much of a materialist to admit
he had a conscience.
But a twinge of something seized Parsons as he watched the girl ride
away, and bitter thoughts racked his soul. He could not, however,
classify his emotions, and so he stood there on the porch, undecided,
vacillating, in the grip of a vague disquiet.
Parsons sat on the porch until long after noon; for, after Marion and
Martha had vanished into the haze of distance, Parsons dropped into a
chair and let his chin sink to his chest.
He did not get up to prepare food for himself; he did not think of
eating, for the big, silent ranchhouse and the gloomy, vacant
appearance of the other buildings drew the mans attention to the
aching emptiness of his own life. He had sought to gain
everythingscheming, planning, plotting dishonestly; taking unfair
advantage; robbing people without compunctionand he had gained
nothing. Yeshe had gained Carringtons contempt!
The recollection of Carringtons treatment of him fired his passions
with a thousand licking, leaping flames. In his gloomy meditations
over the departure of the girl, he had almost forgotten Carrington.
But he thought of Carrington now; and he sat stiff and rigid in the
chair, glowering, his lips in a pout, his soul searing with hatred.
But even the nursing of that passion failed to satisfy Parsons.
Something lacked. There was still that conviction of utter
basenesshis own basenessto torture him. And at last, toward evening,
he discovered that he longed for the girl. He wanted to be near her;
he wanted to do something for her to undo the wrong he had done her;
he wanted to make some sort of reparation.
So the man assured himself. But he knew that deep in his inner
consciousness lurked the dread knowledge that Taylor was aware of his
baseness. For Taylor had overheard the conversation between Carrington
and himself on the train, and Parsons feared that should Taylor by any
chance escape Keats and his men and return to the Arrow to find Marion
gone, he would vent his rage and fury upon the man who had sinned
against the woman he loved. That was the emotion which dominated
Parsons as he sat on the porch; it was the emotion that made the man
fervently desire to make reparation to the girl; it was the emotion
that finally moved him out of his chair and upon a horse that he found
in the stable, to ride toward Dawes in the hope of finding her.
Parsons, too, stopped at the Mullarky cabin. He discovered that Marion
had left there shortly before, after having refused Mrs. Mullarkys
proffer of shelter until the charge against Taylor could be disproved.
Parsons listened impatiently to the womans voluble defense of Taylor,
and her condemnation of Keats and all those who were leagued against
the Arrow owner. And then Parsons rode on.
Far out in the basin, indistinct in the twilight haze, he saw Marion
and Martha riding toward Dawes, and he urged his horse in an effort to
come up with them before they reached the bottom of the long, gradual
rise that would take them into town.
Parsons had got within half a mile of them when he saw them halt and
wait the coming of three horsemen, who advanced toward them from the
opposite direction. Parsons did not feel like joining the group, for
just at that moment he felt as though he could not bear to have anyone
see his facethey might have discovered the guilt in itand so he
waited.
He saw the three men ride close to the other riders; he watched in
astonishment while one of the strange riders pursued one of the women,
catching her.
Parsons saw it all. But he did not ride forward, for he was in the
grip of a mighty terror that robbed him of power to move. For he knew
one of the strange riders was Carrington. He would have recognized him
among a thousand other men.
Parsons watched the three men climb the big slope that led to the
great house on the flat-topped hill. For many minutes after they had
reached the crest of the hill Parsons sat motionless on his horse,
gazing upward. And when he saw a light flare up in one of the rooms of
the big house, he cursed, his face convulsed with impotent rage.
* * * * *
Marion Harlan did not yield to the overpowering weakness that seized
her after she realized that further resistance to Carrington would be
useless. And instead of yielding to the hysteria that threatened her,
she clenched her hands and bit her lips in an effort to retain her
composure. She succeeded. And during the progress of her captors
horse up the long slope she kept a good grip on herself, fortifying
herself against what might come when she and her captor reached the
big house.
When they reached the crest of the hill, Carrington ordered the two
men to take Martha around to the back of the house and confine her in
one of the rooms. One man was to guard her. The other was to wait on
the front porch until Carrington called him.
The girl had decided to make one more struggle when Carrington
dismounted with her, but though she fought hard and bitterly, she did
not succeed in escaping Carrington, and the latter finally lifted her
in his arms and carried her into the front room, the room in which
Carrington had fought with Taylor the day Taylor had killed the three
men who had ambushed him.
Carrington lighted a lampit was this light Parsons had seen from the
basinplaced it on a shelf, and in its light grinned triumphantly at
the girl.
Well, we are here, he said.
In his voice was that passion that had been in it that other time,
when he had pursued her into the house, and she had escaped him by
hiding in the attic. She cringed from him, backing away a little, and,
noting the movement, he laughed hoarsely.
Dont worry, he said, at least for an hour or two. Ive got
something more important on my mind. Do you know what it is? he
demanded, grinning hugely. Its Taylor! He suddenly seemed to
remember that he did not know why she had been abroad at dusk on the
Dawes trail, and he came close to her.
Did you see Keats today?
She did not answer, meeting his gaze fairly, her eyes flashing with
scorn and contempt. But he knew from the flame in her eyes that she
had seen Keats, and he laughed derisively.
So you saw him, he jeered; and you know that he came for Taylor.
Did he find Taylor at the Arrow?
Again she did not answer, and he went on, suspecting that Taylor had
not been at the Arrow, and that Keats had gone to search for him. No,
Keats didnt find himthats plain enough. I should have enjoyed being
there to hear Keats tell you that Taylor had killed your father. You
heard that, didnt you? Yes, he added, his grin broadening; you
heard that. So thats why you left the Arrow! Well, I dont blame you
for leaving.
He turned toward the door and wheeled again to face her. Youll enjoy
this, he sneered; youve been so thick with Taylor. Bah! he added
as he saw her face redden at the insult; Ive known where you stood
with Taylor ever since I caught you flirting with him on the station
platform the day we came to Dawes. Thats why you went to the Arrow
from hererefusing my attentions to _give_ yourself to the man who
killed your father!
He laughed, and saw her writhe under the sound of it.
It hurts, eh? he said venomously; well, this will hurt, too. Keats
went out to get Taylor, but he will never bring Taylor inalive. He
has orders to kill himunderstand? Thats why Ive got more important
business than you to attend to for the next few hours. Im going to
Dawes to find out if Keats has returned. And when Keats comes in with
the news that Taylor is done for, Im coming back here for you!
Calling the man who was waiting on the porch, Carrington directed him
to watch the girl; and then, with a last grin at her, he went out,
mounted his horse, and rode the trail toward Dawes. And as he rode, he
laughed maliciously, for he had not told her that the charge against
Taylor was a false one, and that, so far as he knew, Taylor was not
guilty of murdering her father.