JESSICA GETS HER WISH
Ninian Sharp had closed his eyes against a catastrophe which,
seemingly, nothing less than a miracle could prevent. When he opened
them again the miracle had been performed.
Love had lent to Jessica a strength and swiftness almost incredible
even to her active body, and she had crossed the steep, slated roof
just in time to clasp Ned's feet and to drag him backward with her as
she rolled down upon the broader portion. Yet even here was imminent
danger, for the lad was struggling, in his sudden awakening, and the
pair were slipping hopelessly toward the eaves.
But now was the reporter's chance and the test of his athletic
training. He threw himself prone upon the slippery slates, worming his
lean person over them till he caught the girl's frock, and bidding her
"hold fast!" drew both the children slowly toward the scuttle. When
his feet had found the edge of this the danger was past; and they were
presently down upon the hall floor, laughing and sobbing together in
one excited group. That is, the sister was sobbing and Ninian was
laughing in a nervous way that had grown upon him with his illness,
and that told to Aunt Sally's keen ear how really frail he still was.
But Master Ned, the cause of all this emotion, looked calmly upon the
stranger, and demanded:
"Where's that printing press you promised, hey? I can say five, ten
letters now, and I can spell cat backwards!"
"Is it possible? Before such erudition I bow my humble head!" laughed
the visitor, grateful for any, even nonsensical, words that would
relieve the tension of the moment.
But here Aunt Sally caught up the boy and looked him over anxiously;
then joyfully declared:
"He's got his senses back. Oh! Gabriella, where are you? Neddy's all
right!"
"Oh, auntie, hush! There's no need to tell mother anything of this
last danger, and if you'll only please put Ned back to bed she won't
have to know."
"Ain't goin' to bed. Been a-bed 'nough," protested the supposed
invalid. "Want my clothes. Want to go downstairs and get my supper."
"Get my supper," assented Luis, creeping forward from the corner where
he had hidden in fear of he knew not what.
"Hello, echo! You on hand again? How's business?" demanded Ninian,
drawing the child towards him.
"First rate," answered Ned, for his comrade, who promptly echoed:
"'Strate."
But now came the mother, hurrying up the stairs, with a bowl of gruel
she had gone to prepare, and interest in which had opportunely
prevented her knowing either of the reporter's arrival or her son's
peril. And the visitor sprang to his feet again, while she welcomed
him as cordially and gracefully as if she had been sitting in state,
expectant, within her own pretty parlor.
One flash of her eyes toward her boy, safe in Mrs. Benton's arms again
and carefully wrapped about in her capacious apron, relieved any
anxiety she might have felt in coming upon this unexpected group, and
she asked, with a little burst of laughter:
"Is it possible that Ned was so quick to welcome you? Well, son, it
might have been more courteous to have gone downstairs; but I'm sure
our friend will pardon a little lad who's been ill. He's really
better, isn't he, Aunt Sally? He looks quite natural."
"Yes, honey, he's better. I reckon he's passed the turnin' point now,
if nothin' new sets in. You take Mr. Sharp down into the settin'-room,
'cause he's seen the children and I'll set with them a spell. Wun Lung
can get the supper well's I can, if he'll put his heatheny mind to it.
Eh? What is it, sonny?"
Fortunately, Ned, like most sleepwalkers, was wholly unconscious of
his actions while in that abnormal state, and made no comments on
anything save his own reluctance to go to bed while so interesting a
gentleman was in the house; but was finally coaxed to do so by the
promise of Luis sharing his cot as well as his porridge; whereupon
Mrs. Trent kissed him good-night and invited the guest below.
His protestations against another supper, after the excellent one he
had taken at Aleck McLeod's, met with nothing but the hospitable
rejoinder:
"Oh! but you can surely manage a light refreshment, since you've
ridden thirty miles from Marion."
To which the little captain added her entreaties, saying:
"I'm hungry, anyway. I'm always so, I guess, but I couldn't think of
breaking bread before you unless you share it."
Therefore sleepy Wun Lung came with the tray, and was gratified by the
friendly notice of the stranger; and Mrs. Trent made tea in the little
swinging kettle over her alcohol lamp, her daughter declaring that it
always tasted better served in that way. Ninian found that, in spite
of his protestations, the simple refreshments were very acceptable,
and the trio were quietly enjoying their reunion when Jessica suddenly
remembered Ephraim and sprang up to go in search of him, exclaiming:
"Even if Mr. Sharp isn't hungry, dear old 'Forty-niner' is sure to be.
He'll be here soon, maybe, but I won't wait till the kettle is cold.
He's been sleeping at the 'house' ever since he got back and might go
straight to his room, if I don't prevent."
When she had gone Ninian observed upon the remarkable devotion between
the old sharpshooter and his small pupil, and the mother assented; yet
added, as an after-thought:
"I sometimes regret it. Jessica is a child of impulsive, yet absorbing
affections. She can see no flaw in the character of anybody she loves;
and--well, none of us are perfect, and Ephraim grows old."
Still, when he entered, the lady greeted him with cordiality, and
served him promptly; and presently they were all talking eagerly of
the recent events at Sobrante. Of course, Pedro came in for a brief
but loving mention; and to the guest's inquiry as to what had been
done with the fine flock of sheep which the old man had herded, the
mistress replied:
"I have sent them up into the mountains, with the herds of a neighbor,
for the present. Ephraim, here, petitioned for the post of shepherd,
but I dared not give it to him," and she looked deprecatingly toward
the sharpshooter.
"No, she didn't," assented he. "She could trust that Old Century, but
she couldn't trust me."
There was greater bitterness in the tone than he had ever manifested
before his small captain, and she was quick to notice and resent it.
"Look here, you blessed old grumbler, you stop that, please. If not
'please,' stop it anyway, because I'm your commander. You know why,
and only why, my mother said 'no' to that bright scheme of yours."
Then she explained to Ninian, who was listening closely: "You must
understand that shepherding is the very loneliest thing that has to be
done on a ranch. The shepherd is alone from week to week; on some
ranches from month to month. He hasn't a soul to speak to save when
somebody chances to cross his field, which isn't often. A lot of men
go crazy, living that way, and mother has always been afraid for even
Pedro. I never was for him, though, 'cause he always liked it and had
lived so--well, forever. But naughty old 'Forty-niner' felt it would
be his 'duty' to go up there away from all of us, and mother wouldn't
let him, and so----"
"And so, my honored captain, you'll force me to be a mere hanger-on
and idler."
Jessica held up her forefinger, warningly. "That's enough, Ephraim. I
am 'She that must be obeyed,' Samson says, sometimes. And one of the
times is now. If you and mother aren't ashamed to disagree before my
dear Mr. Sharp, I'm ashamed to have you!"
All laughed and none took offense at this plain talk which, jesting
though it seemed, covered a serious meaning, and soon "Forty-niner"
remarked, as if to close the subject:
"Well, all's said and done; yet, still, I know if I'd been let to have
my way in this I'd have stopped a deal of mischief. It would be
better, seems to me, to have an old frontiersman living in Pedro's
cabin than a spook."
Mrs. Trent started, and, the guest fancied, shivered slightly. But she
rejoined, impatiently:
"Oh, Mr. Marsh! that nonsense again, and from you!"
"So they say, ma'am."
Cried Jessica gayly:
"The only thing Sobrante needed to make it as lovely as those old
English places one reads about in the story books was a 'ghost', and
now we've got it! Honest, and I do hope you'll see it for yourself. I
want to so much, and one night Samson and I chased it, but--it got
away. The 'boys' say now that it has even taken to horseback. Don't
you wish you might be luckier than I, Mr. Ninian?"
A glance flashed between the reporter and the sharpshooter, but not
quite swiftly enough to escape the girl's observation; and, after a
moment's pause, she exclaimed:
"Why, I believe you have already seen it!"
There was an awkward silence, which Mrs. Trent broke by the stern
reproof she managed to throw into one word: "Jessica!"
"Yes, mother, I know. It's silly, and I will be careful not to mention
the delightful subject before the children."
"What are you but a child yourself, my mature little woman?" demanded
the visitor, playfully.
"Why, I'm a little girl, of course; but one who always wanted to see a
fairy, till somebody told me there was none. Now I'm longing for this
'spook'--that really is, 'cause so many, many have seen it--and I'm
not even let to talk about him."
Mrs. Trent shook her head regretfully.
"I'm afraid we've spoiled you among us, my darling. But, leaving these
unexplained things to explain themselves at their proper time, suppose
you go and see that all is ready in Mr. Sharp's room? Wun Lung is
still mooning by himself on the kitchen stoop and will do what you ask
him."
"They all do that, I infer," commented Ninian, as the child hastened
away, eager to serve all whom she loved.
"Yes, they do. It's a delightful, but not, maybe, the wisest life for
any girl to live. No playmates except her two small brothers, and no
schooling that is at all regular or effective. I can't imagine what
Sobrante would be without her, and yet----"
She paused and "Forty-niner" took up her sentence:
"It wouldn't be Sobrante, mistress. That's all. I, for one, couldn't
stay here and serve under any other body now except my captain;" and
so saying, as if a shadow of the future fell upon him, the old man
rose and went out, quite forgetting to say good-night.
Meanwhile, Jessica had found Wun Lung and also found him more than
willing to go with her and perform even additional tasks, since by so
doing he might have the comfort and safety of human presence.
Fragments of talk had come to him in his kitchen concerning the
apparitions which had startled the whole countryside, during these
past few days, and had received the strongest confirmation from his
housemate, Pasqual. The latter believed, indeed, all that he himself
heard and invented much more. He had grown to be afraid of his own
shadow and now resorted to the men's quarters on each and every
occasion that presented, feeling a safety among them he could not feel
at the "house" among a lot of women. Of course, his defection from
duty entailed endless conflicts between himself and Aunt Sally, but
since this resulted in nothing worse to the delinquent than a loss of
some dainty food, he could put up with it. He was away now, bunking in
Marty's room, and Wun Lung sat alone, too afraid to go to bed, yet too
uneasy to enjoy the beauty of the night. His sharp, black eyes peered
here and there and everywhere, about the place; and when Jessica came
running to him, in her noiseless moccasins, he jumped so high that his
queue flew out at a right angle from his head, and he screeched:
"Oh, mly flathe's, mly flathe's!"
Lady Jess laughed aloud.
"No, good Wun Lung. Not your fathers, nor even any of your relatives,
but only me. Having had supper, the next thing for our dear Mr. Sharp
is a bed and sleep. Come help me make it ready."
The Chinaman rose with alacrity, and soon had collected the bed linen,
towels and bucket of water, suggesting that Jessica should bring a
lighted candle.
"Oh! we don't need a light, Wun Lung. It's as bright as day with the
shutters open, and we must be quick, anyway, for the dear man has been
ill and is tired."
The room was the same that Mr. Hale had found so delightful during his
own visit to the ranch, and the girl threw the shutters wide, to let
in the fresh air and moonlight while they arranged the place for
occupancy. She left the bed making to the longer and stronger arms of
her assistant, but herself attended to the pitchers and toilet things;
and while so engaged, with her back toward the open windows, was
suddenly startled by an ear-piercing shriek from the Chinaman.
Shriek? Not one, but many; prolonged, reiterated, till the whole house
seemed in an uproar; and facing swiftly about, to learn the cause and
still the clamor, Jessica found her lately expressed desire completely
gratified. For there, clearly distinct in the moonlight, not ten paces
from the window whence she gazed, was the phantom horse and rider!