_CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE_
From the gate of the patio Connor, watching all that time in a nightmareof suspense, saw, first of all, the single figure of David come aroundthe trees, David alone and walking. But before that shock passed he sawGlani at the heels of the master, and then, farther back, Ruth!
She had passed the gate and two-thirds of the battle was fought and won.Yet all was not well, as he plainly saw. With long, swift steps Davidcame over the terrace, and finally paused as if his thoughts had stoppedhim. He turned as Glani passed, and the girl came up to him; hisextended arm halted Abra and he stood looking up to the girl andspeaking. Only the faint murmur of his voice came unintelligibly toConnor, but he recognized danger in it as clearly as in the hum of bees.Suddenly the girl, answering, put out her hands as if in gesture ofsurrender. Another pause--it was only a matter of a second or so, but itwas a space for life or death with Connor. In that interval he knew thathis scheme was made or ruined. What had the girl said? Perhaps thatmighty extended arm holding back Abra had frightened her, and with thewind blowing his long black hair aside, David of Eden was a figure wildenough to alarm her. Perhaps in fear of her life she had exposed thewhole plan. If so, it meant broken bones for Connor.
But now David turned again, and this time he was talking by the side ofAbra as they came up the hill. He talked with many gestures, and thegirl was laughing down to him.
"God bless her!" muttered Connor impulsively. "She's a true-blue one!"
He remembered his part in the nick of time as they came closer, andDavid helped the girl down from the saddle and brought her forward. Thegambler drew himself up and made his face grave with disapproval. Now ornever he must prove to David that there was no shadow of a connectionbetween him and the girl. Yet he was by no means easy. There wassomething forced and stereotyped in the smile of the girl that told himshe had been through a crucial test and was still near the breakingpoint.
David presented them to one another uneasily. He was even a littleembarrassed under the accusing eye of Connor.
"I make you known, Ruth," he said, "to my brother Benjamin. He is thatman of whom I told you."
"I am happy," said the girl, "to be known to him."
"That much I cannot say," replied the gambler.
He turned upon David with outstretched arm.
"Ah, David, I have warned you!"
"As Abraham warned me against you, Benjamin. And dying men speak truth."
The counter-attack was so shrewd, so unexpected, that the gambler, forthe moment, was thrown completely off his guard.
He could only murmur: "You are the judge for yourself, David."
"I am. Do not think that the power is in me. But God loves the Gardenand His voice is never far from me. Neither are the spirits of the fourwho lived here before me and made this place. When there is danger theywarn me. When I am in error the voice of God corrects me. And just as Iheard the voice against the woman, Ruth, and heed it not."
He seemed to have gathered conviction for himself, much neededconviction, as he spoke. He turned now toward the girl.
"Be not wroth with Benjamin; and bear him no malice."
"I bear him none in the world," she answered truthfully, and held outher hand.
But Connor was still in his role. He folded his arms and pointedlydisregarded the advance.
"Woman, let there be peace and few words between us. My will is the willof David."
"There speaks my brother!" cried the master of the valley.
"And yet," muttered Connor, "why is she here?"
"She came to buy a horse."
"But they are not sold."
"That is true. Yet she has traveled far and she is in great need of foodand drink. Could I turn her away hungry, Benjamin?"
"She could have been fed at the gate. She could surely have restedthere."
It was easy to see that David was hardpressed. His eye roved eagerly toRuth. Then a triumphant explanation sparkled in his eye.
"It is the horse she rides, a gelding from my Garden. His lot in theworld has been hard. He is scarred with the spur and the whip. I havedetermined to take him back, at a price. But who can arrange matters ofbuying and selling all in a moment? It is a matter for much talk.Therefore she is here."
"I am answered," said Connor, and turning to Ruth he winked broadly.
"It is well," said David, "and I foresee happy days. In the meantimethere is a duty before me. Abraham must be laid in his grave and I leaveRuth to your keeping, Benjamin. Bear with her tenderly for my sake."
He stepped to the girl.
"You are not afraid?"
"I am not afraid," she answered.
"My thoughts shall be near you. Farewell."
He had hardly reached the gate of the patio when Joseph, going out afterfinishing his labor at the fountain, passed between the gambler and thegirl. Connor stopped him with a sign.
"The whip hasn't fallen, you see," he said maliciously.
"There is still much time," replied Joseph. "And before the end it willfall. Perhaps on you. Or on that!"
He indicated the girl with his pointing finger; his glance turnedsavagely from one to the other, and then he went slowly out of the patioand they were alone. She came to Connor at once and even touched his armin her excitement.
"What did he mean?"
"That's the one I told you about. The one David beat up with the whip.He'd give his eye teeth to get back at me, and he has an idea thatthere's going to be hell to pay because another person has come into thevalley. Bunk! But--what happened down the hill?"
"When he stopped me? Did you see that?"
"My heart stopped the same minute. What was it?"
"He had just heard the last words of Abraham. When he stopped me on thehill his face was terrible. Like a wolf!"
"I know that look in him. How did you buck up under it?"
"I didn't. I felt my blood turn to water and I wanted to run."
"But you stuck it out--I saw! Did he say anything?"
"He said: 'Dying men do not lie. And I have been twice warned. Woman,why are you here?'"
"And you?" gasped Connor. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. My head spun. I looked up the terrace. I wanted to see you,but you weren't in sight. I felt terribly alone and absolutely helpless.If I'd had a gun, I would have reached for it."
"Thank God you didn't!"
"But you don't know what his face was like! I expected him to tear meoff the horse and smash me with his hands. All at once I wanted to tellhim everything--beg him not to hurt me." Connor groaned.
"I knew it! I knew that was in your head!"
"But I didn't."
"Good girl."
"He said: 'Why are you here? What harm have you come to work in theGarden?'"
"And you alone with him!" gasped Connor.
"That was what did it. I was so helpless that it made me bold. Can youimagine smiling at a time like that?"
"Were you able to?"
"I don't know how. It took every ounce of strength in me. But I mademyself smile--straight into his face. Then I put out my hands to him allat once.
"'How could I harm you?' I asked him.
"And then you should have seen his face change and the anger break uplike a cloud. I knew I was safe, then, but I was still dizzy--just asif I'd looked over a cliff--you know?"
"And yet you rode up the hill after that laughing down to him! Ruth,you're the gamest sport and the best pal in the world. The finest littleact I ever saw on the stage or off. It was Big Time stuff. My hat's off,but--where'd you get the nerve?"
"I was frightened almost to death. Too much frightened for it to show.When I saw you, my strength came back."
"But what do you think of him?"
"He's--simply a savage. What do I think of an Indian?"
"No more than that?"
"Ben, can you pet a tiger after you've seen his claws?"
He looked at her with anxiety.
"You're not going to break down later
on--feeling as if he's dynamiteabout to explode all the time?"
"I'm going to play the game through," she said with a sort of fiercehappiness. "I've felt like a sneak thief about this. But now it'sdifferent. He's more of a wolf than a man. Ben, I saw murder in hisface, I swear! And if it isn't wrong to tame wild beasts it isn't wrongto tame him. I'm going to play the game, lead him as far as I can untilwe get the horses--and then it'll be easy enough to make up by beinggood the rest of my life."
"Ruth--girl--you've covered the whole ground. And when you have thecoin--" He broke off with laughter that was filled with drunkenexcitement. "But what did you think of my game?"
She did not hear him, and standing with her hands clasped lightly behindher she looked beyond the roof of the house and over the tops of thewestern mountains, with the sun-haze about them.
"I feel as if I were on the top of the world," she said at last. "And Iwouldn't have one thing changed. We're playing for big stakes, but we'retaking a chance that makes the game worth while. What we win we'llearn--because he's a devil. Isn't it what you'd call a fair bet?"
"The squarest in the world," said Connor stoutly.