IN WHICH I SUFFER FOUR SHOCKS, THREE OF THE EARTH AND ONE FROM THE SKY,
AND FIND ANOTHER MAID A-FISHING
Now that has come to pass of which I had a premonition the first time I
sat on the top of old Baldy and hugged my knees. In consequence thereof
I write to-night with my left wrist rudely bandaged, from a hurt I took
this morning. The day has been full of adventure and surprise, and I
find it difficult to harness my leaping brain as I start about my record
of events. Truly I have encountered enough to set my mind buzzing, and
two long, full pipes since supper have failed to tranquilize and soothe.
But the happenings of the day must be transcribed before I go to bed.
I went to the post-office soon after breakfast, to see if a reply had
come from 'Crombie. A package and a letter awaited me. The thought came
to me to run on up the hill and inquire about Beryl Drane, but I didn't.
I can't say why I didn't. But I merely asked the sloth-like storekeeper
about her instead, and learned from him that she was "putty peart," and
was up and about the house. When I passed the blacksmith shop I saw the
door was open, but there was no one within. I started to ask the
storekeeper where Buck was, but refrained on second thought, and betook
myself up the railroad instead, intending to reach home by a circuitous
route. By this time I was fairly familiar with the lay of the country,
and I had a natural longing for exploration anyway. Then, too, deep in
the bottom of my mind, I had laid a plan to come down the huge spur back
of Lessie's house, and surprise her with a short visit.
I followed the railroad for perhaps a mile, made some calculations as to
distance and location, then descended into a heavily wooded ravine and
continued my way in a northeasterly course. I had never been in this
part of the knobs before, and I found the country more rugged, if
possible, than that to which I was accustomed. As I proceeded, I closely
scanned the ground before me and on either side as far as my eyes would
go. I had scant hope of finding the life-plant here, because one of its
requisites was sunshine, and the shade was so dense that I walked in a
sort of cool, green gloom, wonderfully attractive to the senses. Now and
again a sun-shaft would come trembling and swaying down, brightening the
brown forest floor with shining, shaking spots of pale yellow. But no
green stemmed plant with golden leaves rose up from the mold to confront
me. I have begun to think my quest is almost as elusive as that for the
Holy Grail, but, like Sir Launfal, I shall persevere.
I became engrossed in the natural beauty of the hollow I was traversing,
and forgot my secret determination to go by Granny's house. After a time
the ravine opened and broadened into a little amphitheater, grass-set,
jungle-like in its wildness. But few tall trees were here. Dozens of
smaller ones grew on every side, and many of these were covered with the
odorous green mantle of the wild grapevine. The birds had likewise
sought out this spot, and the air was musical with chirp, and twitter,
and song. I stopped to regale myself with Nature's prodigal loveliness,
and as I drew a deep breath of satisfaction and appreciation I heard
something which had come to my ears once before. A long-drawn bird note,
shrill but sweet, and ending with a quick upward inflection. I started
guiltily, and knew that my whole body was a-tingle. Then I stared about,
trying to locate the sound. Again I heard it, and again I thrilled.
Straight ahead, beyond that bosky wall of herbage. Eagerly I started
forward, my pulse bounding. I reached the screening leaves and thrust
out one hand to make a way, but a vagrant gust of wind at that moment
formed a lane for my eyes, and the next instant I was staggering back,
choking, muttering crazily, my face afire, my chest tight as though
bound by constricting bands of steel. God above! Suppose I had crashed
through, as I would have done a second later! With gritted teeth and set
eyes I tiptoed away--away--anywhere, so that spot was left to Nature and
to her!
She was there, bathing in a sheltered pool in the secluded heart of the
everlasting hills. My one swift glance had showed me the Dryad in her
haunts. The curling mass of her copper-gold hair she had piled
regardlessly on top of her small, shapely head; she was almost entirely
immersed; her back was toward me, and I saw only her head with its
bewildering crown, one ivory shoulder upthrust from the water, gleaming
like wet marble in the sunlight, and a naked, outheld arm whereon sat
the tiny bird she had summoned. Small cause for wonder that I reeled,
grew dizzy with the hard-pumped, hot blood which deluged my brain, and
crept like a thief from that hidden pool--crept crouching, with rigid
face and bated breath. Dear Christ! How thankful I was that the
protecting water had covered her! Had it been otherwise; had my
unwilling gaze dwelt upon her revealed beauty from head to foot, I think
I could have taken my own life from shame. Certain it is I never again
could have looked into those honest Irish gray eyes. It was what might
have been, rather than what was, which planted the volcano in my breast,
and sent me trembling and quaking through the bird-sung silence of that
secret, sacred glen. As I went, I heard a bubbling laugh, and the tinkle
of falling water drops.
Now I was speedily destined to another shock, almost as great. How far I
had gone I cannot say, but all at once I knew that I was looking down
upon a plant about a foot in height, with green stem and yellow leaves.
I halted as though turned to stone, but I did not think. I couldn't
think. My mind refused its office, and in the face of what I took to be
a momentous discovery, stood still. Almost simultaneously with my
finding this significant growth the third shock came, as important in
its way as either of the other two, and far more ominous.
"Whut 'n' hell yo' doin' prowlin' 'roun' here?"
The voice was harsh and deep; indignation and rage ran through it.
The savage tones brought me to myself; they acted on my senses as a
battery might on my flesh. I stood erect and threw my head up. The smith
was not a dozen steps away. Where he had come from, how he had got
there, and why he was there I could not guess. He was dressed as I had
seen him at the forge on the occasion of my first visit to Hebron;
plainly he had not come courting in that garb. One hand held a large
club, in a position almost of menace. I brought a serious, determined
expression to my face, and looked him squarely in the eyes. In that
moment as we stood in silence, a darkness spread over the glen, and a
cool breath as from a summer storm cloud blew upon us; I saw it lift and
drop the brown hair on the forehead of the man facing me. He had me at a
disadvantage. He had doubtless seen me coming from the direction of the
pool, and weaker circumstantial evidence than this has condemned many a
man. If he supposed for a moment that I had been spying upon the privacy
of the girl he loved--and that this idea was in full possession of his
mind I did not doubt--then mischief was brewing, and from his
standpoint, justly so. Had our positions been reversed, had I seen him
skulking away from that fringe of greenery, I doubt if I would have
given him the chance he offered me. All this raced swiftly through my
brain in that short period following his hard question, and though my
first feeling, a very human one, was of cold and haughty resentment, I
quelled this immediately as both dangerous and unjust, and decided to
speak him fairly and honestly. So I said:
"I might ask the same of you, Buck Steele."
I purposely pitched my voice low. Not that I feared she would hear it,
for I realized the pool must be out of earshot from where we stood, but
there is a certain low tone which permits of modulation and inflection
carrying greater convincing power than when spoken in a higher key. I
paused only long enough to take breath after my first sentence, then
resumed.
"It's none of your business what I am doing here, but I am going to tell
you, because, in a way, you have a right to know."
There flashed upon me the thought that I must play for time. If Lessie
had not left the pool she would leave soon, for a storm impended. In
what direction she would go to reach home I had no notion. She might
come straight down the glen where we were. In any event, if blows were
to be struck, and in my heart I believed they would come before we
parted, it would be better if the girl was not in the neighborhood. This
train of reasoning came and passed without interrupting my flow of
speech.
"It's not my fault we're not friends. I came to these knobs a total
stranger, intending to treat everybody right. But when I spoke to you in
Hebron, you turned your back on me. Why did you do that? I know why, and
in a measure I forgive it. But it was not a manly thing to do. I'm going
to talk plainly to you, Buck. I'm glad of this chance to have it out
right here in the woods. But before we go any further tell me
this--what's that thing?"