_CHAPTER SEVENTEEN_
David was still flushed with the excitement of the tale, and he wasperplexed and troubled when Connor's strange, high laughter brought toan abrupt end the picture they had both lived in.
The gambler saw the frown on David's brow, and with an effort he madehimself suddenly grave, though he was still pale and shaking.
"David, this is the reason Jurith can win. Somewhere in the past therewas a freak gray horse. There are other kinds of freaks; oranges hadseeds in 'em; all at once up pops a tree that has seedless fruit. Peopleplant shoots from it. There you have the naval orange, all out of onetree. It's the same way with that gray horse. It was a freak; had a highcroup and muscles as stretchy as India-rubber, and strong--like thedifference between the muscles of a mule and the muscles of most horses.That's what that first horse was. He was bred and the get came into thisvalley. They kept improving--and the result is Glani! The Eden Gray,David, is the finest horse in the world because it's a _different_ and abetter horse!"
The master paused for some time, and Connor knew he was deep in thought.Finally he spoke:
"But if we know the speed of the Eden Grays, why should we go out intothe world and take the money of other men because they do not know howfast our horses run?"
Connor made sure the master was serious and nerved himself for thesecond effort.
"What do you wish, David?"
"In what measure, Benjamin?"
"The sky's the limit! I say, what do you wish? The last wish that was inyour head."
"Shakra stumbled a little while ago; I wished for a smoother road."
"David, with the money we win on the tracks we'll tear up these roads,cut trenches, fill 'em with solid blocks of rock, lay 'em over withasphalt, make 'em as smooth as glass! What else?"
"You jest, Benjamin. That is a labor for a thousand men."
"I say, it's nothing to what we'll do. What else do you want? Turn yourmind loose--open up your eyes and see something that's hard to get."
"Every wish is a regret, and why should I fail of gratitude to God bymaking my wishes? Yet, I have been weak, I confess. I have sometimesloathed the crumbling walls of my house. I have wished for a tallchamber--on the floor a covering which makes no sound, colors aboutme--crystal vases for my flowers--music when I come--"
"Stop there! You see that big white cliff? I'll have that stone cut inchunks as big as you and your horse put together. I'll have 'em piled ona foundation as strong as the bottom of those hills. You see the waythose mountain-tops walk into the sky? That's how the stairways willstep up to the front of your house and put you out on a big terrace withcolumns scooting up fifty feet, and when you walk across the terrace acouple of great big doors weighing about a ton apiece will drift openand make a whisper when you mosey in. And when you get inside you'llstart looking up and up, but you'll get dizzy before your eyes hit theceiling; and up there you'll see a lighting stunt that looks like amillion icicles with the sun behind 'em."
He paused an instant for breath and saw David smiling in a hazypleasure.
"I follow you," he said softly. "Go on!" And his hand stretched out asthough to open a door.
"What I've told you about is only a beginning. Turn yourself loose;dream, and I'll turn your dream into stone and color, and fill up yourwindows with green and gold and red glass till you'll think a rainbowhas got all tangled up there! I'll give you music that'll make youforget to think, and when you think I'll give you a room so big thatyou'll have silence with an echo to it."
"All this for my horses?"
"Send one of the grays--just one, and let me place the wagers. You don'teven have to risk your own money. I've made a slough of it betting onthings that weren't lead pipe cinches like this. I made on FidgetyMidget at fifty to one. I made on Gosham at eight to one. Nobody told mehow to bet on 'em. I know a horse--that's all! You stay in the Garden; Itake one of the grays; I bring her back in six months with more cointhan she can pack, and we split it fifty-fifty. You furnish the horse. Ifurnish the jack. Is it a go?"
A bird stopped above them, whistled and dipped away over the treetops.David turned his head to follow the trailing song, and Connor realizedwith a sick heart that he had failed to sweep his man off his feet.
"Would you have me take charity?" asked David at length.
It seemed to Connor that there was a smile behind this. He himself burstinto a roar of laughter.
"Sure, it sounds like charity. They'll be making you a gift rightenough. There isn't a horse on the turf that has a chance with one ofthe grays! But they'll bet their money like fools."
"Would it not be a sin, then?"
"What sin?" asked Connor roughly. "Don't they grab the coin of otherpeople? Does the bookie ask you how much coin you have and if you canafford to lose it? No, he's out to get all that he can grab. And we'llgo out and do some grabbing in turn. Oh, they'll squeal when we turn thescrew, but they'll kick through with the jack. No fear, Davie!"
"Whatever sins may be theirs, Benjamin, those sins need not be mine."
Connor was dumb.
"Because they are foolish," said David, "should I take advantage oftheir folly? A new man comes into the valley. He sees Jurith, andnotices that she runs well in spite of her years. He says to me: 'Thismare will run faster than your stallion. I have money and this ringupon my finger which I will risk against one dollar of your money; Ifthe mare beats Glani I take your dollar. If Glani beats the mare, youtake my purse and my ring; I have no other wealth. It will ruin me, butI am willing to be ruined if Jurith is not faster than Glani.
"Suppose such foolish man were to come to me, Benjamin, would I not sayto him: 'No, my friend. For I understand better than you, both Jurithand Glani!' Tell me therefore, Benjamin, that you have tempted me towarda sin, unknowing."
It made Connor think of the stubbornness of a woman, or of a priest. Itwas a quiet assurance which could only be paralleled from a basis ofreligion or instinct. He knew the danger of pressing too hard upon thisinstinct or blind faith. He swallowed an oath, and answered, rememberingdim lessons out of his childhood:
"Tell me, David, my brother, is there no fire to burn fools? Is there norod for the shoulders of the proud? Should not such men be taught?"
"And I say to you, Benjamin," said the master of the Garden: "what wronghave these fools done to me with their folly?"
Connor felt that he was being swept beyond his depth. The other went on,changing his voice to gentleness:
"No, no! I have even a kindness for men with such blind faith in theirhorses. When Jacob comes to me and says privately in my ear: 'David,look at Hira. Is she not far nobler and wiser than Ephraim's horse,Numan?' When he says this to me, do I shake my head and frown and say:'Risk the clothes on your back and the food you eat to prove what yousay.' No, assuredly I do neither of these things, but I put my hand onhis shoulder and I say: 'He who has faith shall do great things; and atender master makes a strong colt.' In this manner I speak to him,knowing that truth is good, but the whole truth is sometimes a fire thatpurifies, perhaps, but it also destroys. So Jacob goes smiling on hisway and gives kind words and fine oats to Hira."
Connor turned the flank of this argument.
"These men are blind. You say that your horses can run a mile in suchand such a time, and they shrug their shoulders and answer that theyhave heard such chatter before--from trainers and stable boys. But youput your horse on a race track and prove what you say, and they pay forknowledge. Once they see the truth they come to value your horses. Youopen a stud and your breed is crossed with theirs. The blood of Rustir,passing through the blood of Glani, goes among the best horses of theworld. A hundred years from now there will be no good horse in theworld, of which men do not ask: 'Is the blood of Glani in him? Is he ofthe line of the Eden Grays?' Consider that, David!"
He found the master of the Garden frowning. He pressed home the pointwith renewed vigor.
"If you live in this valley, David, what will men know of you?"
"Have you c
ome to take me out of the Garden of Eden?"
"I have come to make your influence pass over the mountains while youstay here. A hundred years from now who will know David of the Garden ofEden? Of the men who used to live here, who remains? Not one! Where dothey live now? Inside your head, inside your head, David, and no otherplace!"
"They live with God," said David hoarsely.
"But here on earth they don't live at all except in your mind. And whenyou die, they die with you. But if you let me do what I say, a thousandyears from to-day, people will be saying: 'There was a man named David,and he had these gray horses, which were the finest in the world, and hegave their blood to the world.' They'll pick up every detail of yourlife, and they'll trace back the horses--"
"Do I live for the sake of a horse?" cried David, in a voice unnaturallyhigh.
"No, but because of your horses the world will ask what sort of a manyou are. People will follow your example. They'll build a hundredGardens of Eden. Every one of those valleys will be full of the memoriesof David and the men who went before him. Then, David, you'll neverdie!"
It was the highest flight to which Connor's eloquence ever attained. Theresults were alarming. David spoke, without facing his companion,thoughtfully.
"Benjamin, I have been warned. By sin the gate to the Garden was opened,and perhaps sin has entered in you. For why did the first men withdrawto this valley, led by John, save to live apart, perfect lives? And you,Benjamin, wish to undo all that they accomplished."
"Only the horses," said the gambler. "Who spoke of taking you out of theGarden?"
Still David would not look at him.
"God grant me His light," said the master sadly. "You have stirred andtroubled me. If the horses go, my mind goes with them. Benjamin, youhave tempted me. Yet another thing is in my mind. When Matthew came todie he took me beside him and said:
"'David, it is not well that you should lead a lonely life. Man is madeto live, and not to die. Take to yourself a woman, when I am gone, wedher, and have children, so that the spirit of John and Matthew and Lukeand Paul shall not die. And do this in your youth, before five yearshave passed you by.'
"So spoke Matthew, and this is the fifth year. And perhaps the Lordworks in you to draw me out, that I may find this woman. Or perhaps itis only a spirit of evil that speaks in you. How shall I judge? For mymind whirls!"
As if to flee from his thoughts, the master of the Garden called onGlani, and the stallion broke into a full gallop. Shakra followed at apace that took the breath of Connor, but instantly she began to fallbehind; before they had reached the lake Glani was out of sight acrossthe bridge.
Full of alarm--full of hope also--Connor reached the house. In the patiohe found Zacharias standing with folded arms before a door.
"I must find David at once," he told Zacharias. "Where has he gone?"
"Up," said the servant, and pointed solemnly above him.
"Nonsense!" He added impatiently: "Where shall I find him, Zacharias?"
But again Zacharias waved to the blue sky.
"His body is in this room, but his mind is with Him above the world."
There was something in this that made Connor uneasy as he had never beenbefore.
"You may go into any room save the Room of Silence," continuedZacharias, "but into this room only David and the four before him havebeen. This is the holy place."