CHAPTER XXXIII
FRIENDS IN NEED
Because of the moonlight she did not heed the graying of the east. Butthe whinnying of the picketed horses roused her from the apathy ofmisery into which she had sunk. She stood up and looked along theridge. A small roundish object appeared above the crest--then others.They rose quickly--the heads of riders spurring their horses up thefar side of the ridge.
Singly, in pairs, in groups, the rescuers burst up into view and cameloping down to her, shouting and waving. In the lead rode her fatherand the sheriff; in the midst Genevieve, between two attendant youngpunchers. In all, there were nearly two dozen eager, resolute men,everyone an admiring friend of Miss Chuckie, everyone zealous to serveher and hers.
The girl stood waiting beside the fire. She had tried to run to meetthem and found that she could not move. The suddenness of their comingafter all that fearful night of waiting seemed to numb her limbs.
They rushed down upon her, waving, shouting questions. Her father, onRocket, was the first to reach her. He sprang off and ran to put hisarm about her quivering shoulders.
"Honey! it's all right now!" he assured her. "We're here witheverything that's needed. We'll soon yank him up out of that hole!"
The baby, frightened by the rush and tumult of the off-leaping riders,began to scream. Someone took him from the girl's arms and handed himto his mother as she was lifted down out of her saddle. Isobel pressedher face against her father's sweaty breast.
"Hold on, Miss Chuckie!" sang out one of the men. "Don't let go yet.Where's Gowan--Kid Gowan?"
She shuddered convulsively, yet managed to reply: "He--was tryingto--to roll the rock down. Tom, my brother, is right below it. I heardand came to see. His back was to me. I could not shoot--I could notraise my pistol. When I spoke, he whirled and shot at me. He--"
"Kid--shot at you?" cried Knowles. "At you? 'Tain't possible!"
"He didn't mean to. He fired before he saw who I was. Then he saw. Heforgot everything--everything except that he had shot at me. He backedoff--there--over the edge!"
A sudden hush fell on the excited crowd. One man went to peer downfrom the place to which the girl had pointed. He came back softly."Same place where the last bunch of sheep went over," he said. "Restof us were pretty sick--ready to quit. He kept after them until thelast ewe jumped. Said they'd gone to hell, where they belonged."
"He's the one that's gone there!" said the sheriff. "Look at the waythis bowlder is pried loose, ready to roll over! Once heard tell thathis real dad was Billie the Kid. Some of you mayn't have heard tell ofBillie. He was the coldest blooded, promiscuous murderer of them dayswhen we used to drive from Texas to Montana and the boys used toshoot-up towns and each other just for fun. Well, this Kid Gowan hasgot Billie's eyes and slit mouth. Can't say I ever took to him, butseeing as how he was a crack-up puncher and Wes Knowles' foreman--"
"That's it! I can't understand it--Kid has been almost like a son tome all these years!" complained Knowles perplexedly. He explained tohis daughter. "You're wondering why I didn't come sooner, honey. ThoseUtes had been let go. We had to follow them up a long ways. When wegot them back and put them on that trail from the waterhole, theyfound it led straight across the flats to where the horses and wagonhad stood. There the tracks of the Indian shoes ended, and the tracksof shod hoofs led off into the brush. We followed them all the way'round to the lower waterhole and up the lower creek to the ranch, andthere they took us right to Rocket's heels. The Jap said Kid had hissaddle in the wagon when he came back from town, and he had a new hat.Mr. Blake did some hot shooting at that assassin on the hill. So,putting two and two together--"
"Oh, Daddy, I know--I knew when I saw him look at Lafe!"
"The--" Knowles choked back the epithet. "Yes, Mrs. Blake told usabout that--and about her husband! Jumping Jehosaphat! Think of hisbeing your brother! You must have been plumb locoed, to keep stillabout that! Why didn't you tell us, honey?--leastways me, yourDaddy!"
"I--I--But about Genevieve? Tell me. You could have come sooner ifshe--Was she lost? I was sure that pony--"
"Better have given her a fast one. It came on so dark before he washalf down the mountain that she was knocked out of the saddle by abranch. He went on down to the waterhole. She tried to catchhim--couldn't. Got lost and wandered all around before she got down tothe waterhole and caught him. We had got to the ranch at dusk, and allthe posse had turned in for the night. She came loping down the dividejust after moonrise. We started as soon as we could rake up all thepicket-pins and rope. Wanted Mrs. Blake to wait and come on later; buttalk about grit! We simply couldn't make her stay behind."
Isobel thrust herself free from her father's arms and darted outthrough the circle of rugged, earnest-faced punchers and cowmen towhere Genevieve lay resting with the baby clasped to her bosom.
"Dear! you poor dear!" she murmured, kneeling to stroke the head ofthe weary young mother.
"I shall soon be rested," replied Genevieve. "How about Tom? Have youkept watch of him? Has he moved?"
The girl shrank back, unable to face her sister-in-law's eager look.
"No--I--The fire--it--it disappeared, and I could not see."
Genevieve smiled, and the reddening dawn lent a trace of color to herpale face. "It was a good sign. He could not have been suffering somuch. He must have slept, and the fire died down."
"Oh! you think that was it?" sighed Isobel. "I feared--"
She did not say what it was she had feared. As she paused Genevievelooked up into her agitated face and asked quickly: "But Lafayette? Ishe still sleeping?"
"Yes, where's Lafe, honey?" inquired Knowles. "We'll have to roust himout to tell us just what way he came up."
"Haven't I told you?" cried Isobel, her head still in a whirl ofconflicting emotions. Then, as tersely and quietly as her father wouldhave related it, she told the bald facts of how Ashton had beenwakened by the snarl of the wolf, how he had insisted upon going backto help her brother, and how he had gone down into the darkness, thepack and lantern slung over his shoulder.
"By--James!" vowed Knowles, when she had finished. "Any man on theWestern Slope say that boy's not acclimated, he'd better look foranother climate himself."
"Gentleman," the sheriff addressed the exclaiming crowd, "you heardtell what the little lady had to say about her husband and this LafeAshton going down into Deep Canyon, where no man ever went before. NowMiss Chuckie has told us again how Ashton climbed up here, where noman in this section had a notion anything short of a mountain sheepcould climb. Well, what does the gritty kid do but turn round andclimb down again--in the dark, mind you! They're down there now, bothof them--down in the bottom of Deep Canyon. We called them tenderfeet,that day when Mr. Blake honored our county seat by sidetracking hispalatial car. Boys, down there in that hole are the two nerviest men Iever heard tell about. One of 'em has a broken leg. The other hasbroke the trail for us. I ask for volunteers to go down with me andyank 'em up out of there. Gentlemen, who offers?"
Instantly the crowd surged forward. Every man shouted, whooped,struggled to thrust himself ahead of the others and force theacceptance of his services on the sheriff.
"Hold on, boys!" he remonstrated. "Just hold your hawsses. I didn'task for a stampede. You can't all go down. Last man over might get ina hurry to catch the first, and start a manslide."
"I vote we set a thirty-year limit," put in one of the youngerpunchers.
This raised a clamor of dissent from the older men.
"Tell you what," shouted another. "Let Miss Chuckie cut out the luckyones."
"That's the ticket--Now you're talking!" Every man shouted approval,and fell silent as Isobel sprang up from beside Genevieve.
"Friends!" she exclaimed, her eyes radiant, "it's such times as thesethat makes life grand! I believe six of you would be enough, but I'llmake it ten. First, I'm going to bar everyone who has a wife orchildren."
"That doesn't include me, honey," hastily protested her father.
"Then y
ou come in the next--none over thirty-five nor under twenty."
A groan arose from some of the youngsters, but the older men tooktheir disappointment in stolid silence. She went on with calmdecisiveness: "Now those of you that have done any considerablemountain climbing afoot this summer, please step this way."
Two members of a recently disbanded surveying party, four punchers whohad tried their luck at prospecting on the snowy range, and three wildhorse hunters sprang forward in response to the request.
"That's enough," said the sheriff. "I've got to own up to being forty.But I'm leading this here posse, and I'll eat my hat if I can'toutclimb anything on two legs in this county. String out your ropes,boys, and pass over all them picket-pins. We'll need a purchase nowand again, I figure, hauling up Mr. Blake. Hustle! Here's the sunclean up."
Under the brusquely jovial directions of their leader, the lucky ninedivested themselves of spurs and cartridge belts, tied themselves tothe line at intervals of several feet, and promptly started down thedizzy ledges. The others helped them during the first fifty yards ofdescent with the line that Isobel had drawn up after it had been castloose by Ashton. They then gathered along the brink, enviouslywatching the descent of their companions into the shadowy abyss.
Genevieve came to where Isobel and her father crouched beside theothers. "Thomas will not let me put him down, Belle," she said. "I seeyou left the glasses beside the rock. If Lafayette has reached thebottom safely--"
"If--safely!" echoed Isobel. "Daddy, you look--quick, please!"
Knowles hastened to skirt along the brink to where the little fieldglasses lay at the near side of the split rock. The two followed him,Genevieve smiling with pleasant anticipation, Isobel trembling withdoubt and dread. The cowman stretched out on the rim shelf and peeredover.
"Um-m-m," he muttered. "Can't see anything down there. Too dark yet."
"Look straight below you," said Genevieve.
"Hey?--Uh! By--James! Well, if that ain't a picture now! These sureare mighty fine little glasses, ma'am. I can see 'em plain as day."
"Them?--you say 'them,' Daddy?" cried Isobel.
"Sure. Come and look for yourself. Guess Lafe is fixing Mr. Blake'sleg.--Which reminds me, honey, that before we left the ranch, Mrs.Blake had me send for that lunger sawbones that's come to live atStockchute. He'll be here, I figure, before or soon after the boys getMr. Blake up into God's sunshine."
"Brother Tom, Daddy--you mean my Brother Tom!" joyfully corrected thegirl as she took the glasses.
"Well, you've got to give me time to chew on it, honey. It's come toosudden for me to take it all in." He stood up and gazed gravely at thesmiling mother and her comforted baby. "Hum-m-m. Then that yearling ismy Chuckie's own blood nephew. Well, ma'am, what do _you_ think of it,if I may ask?"
"Can't you make it 'Jenny,' Uncle Wes?" asked Genevieve.
He stared at her blankly. "But I didn't adopt him, ma'am--only her."
"He is the brother of your dear daughter, and I am his wife. Comenow," she coaxed, "you must admit that brings me near enough to callyou 'Uncle Wes.'"
"You've got me, ma'am--Jenny. I give in, I throw up the fight. Thatirrigation project now--Chuckie's brother can have anything of mine heasks for. Only there's one thing--you've got to make that yearling say'Granddad' when he talks to me."
"O-oh!" cooed Genevieve. "To think you feel that way towards him! Ofcourse he shall say it. And I--Will you not allow me to make it'Daddy'?"
He could not resist her enticingly upturned lips. He brushed down hisbristly mustache, and bent over awkwardly, to kiss his new daughter.
"Thought you were one of those super-high-toned ladies, m'm--Jenny,"he remarked.
The cultured child of millions smiled up at him reproachfully. "What!after I have been with you so long, Daddy? But it's true there was atime--before Tom taught me that men cannot be judged by mere polishand veneer, or the lack of polish and veneer."
Isobel, all her doubts and fears allayed, had risen from theprecipice's edge in time to hear Genevieve's reply. She added eagerly:"Nor should men be judged by what they have been if they have becomesomething else--if they have climbed up--up out of the depths!"
"Belle! dear Sister Belle! Then he has proved it to you? Oh, I am soglad for you! He has proved to you that he has climbed--to theheights."
"To the very heights! I must tell Daddy. Give me Thomas. See, he isfast asleep, the poor abused little darling! Go and watch them, andour climbers. They are going down like a string of mountain sheep."
Genevieve placed the baby in his aunt's outstretched arms and went tolook into the abyss through the field glasses. Isobel drew her fatheraway, out of earshot of the down-peering group of men. She stoppedbehind the tent, which Gowan had pitched part way up the slope of theridge.
"You want to talk with me about Lafe, honey?" surmised Knowles, as thegirl started to speak and hesitated.
Her cheeks flamed scarlet, but she raised her shyly lowered eyes andlooked up at him with a clear, direct gaze. "Yes, Daddy. He--he lovesme, and I--love him."
"That so?" said Knowles. His eyes contracted. It was his only betrayalof the wrench she had given the tender heart within his toughexterior. "Well, I figured it was bound to come some day. I've beenlucky not to lose you any time the last four years."
"You--you do not say anything about him, Daddy."
"Haven't you cut him out of the herd?" he dryly replied. "That'senough for me, long as I know he's your choice and is square."
"He has nothing; he is very poor."
"He's got the will to work. He'll get there, with you pushing on thereins. That's how I size him up."
"But, Daddy, he told me he had been bad, very bad."
Knowles searched the girl's face, with a sudden up-leaping ofconcern--that vanished as quickly before what he saw in her cleareyes.
"Might have expected it of you, honey. You stand by him. You've gotsense enough to know what it means when a man thinks enough of a girlto tell her the wrong things he has done. I was wild, too, when I wasa youngster. There was a girl I thought enough of to tell. She wasn'tyour kind, honey. It came near sending me to the devil for good. Youknow better. No girl ought to be fool enough to hitch up with a man toreform him. But if he has already taken a brace and straightened thekinks out of himself, that's different."
"He has come up, Daddy--out of the depths."
Knowles only half caught her meaning. "Sure he climbed up. That proveshe has the grit and the nerve. He had proved that even better, goingdown at the other place. Put any man down there, and he'd make a tryto get out. No, the real test was his going back down again. He mighthave come up just for himself. But going down again--that's the proofof what's in him; that's what proves he's white!"
"Dear Daddy!... But I'm afraid. He thinks he has been too bad everto--to marry me. I'm so afraid he'll go away and leave me!"
The cowman straightened up, his eyes glinting with righteousindignation.
"What! Go 'way and leave you?--when you want him to stay? By--James!He's going to stay! Don't you worry, honey. He's going to stay, if Ihave to rope and hogtie him for you!"
The girl stared into the frowning face of her father. There was notwinkle in the corner of his eyes. He was absolutely serious. For thefirst time in over two days her dimples flashed. Her eyes sparkledwith merriment. Her lips parted. But she checked the gay laugh beforeit could burst out.
"Oh!" she reproached herself. "How could I? And they still downthere--and Tom suffering!"
"Tom?" repeated Knowles. "Thomas Blake--your brother! That's why yougot me started reading all those reports and engineering journals.You guessed it."
"It did not seem possible. Yet I could not help hoping."
"Things do happen our way--sometimes," qualified Knowles. "Mrs.Blake--Jenny--says Lafe brought up word that the project can be putthrough. I meant to fight. But now--he is your brother, and he hasdone something no man ever before thought could be done--he hassurveyed Deep Canyon. He has me beat. I've told Mrs
.--Jenny straightout."
"I know he will do what is right by you, dear, dear Daddy."
"He's your brother, honey. That settles it."
CHAPTER XXXIV
RECLAMATION
Even with the mutual assistance that they could give one another, andwith the certain knowledge that the descent was possible, the rescuershad no easy task following the trail "broken" by Ashton. Their verynumbers prevented them from going down as fast as he had gone. On theother hand, those on the upper part of the life-line could steadytheir companions over ledges and down the steeper crevices, while theleaders helped the ones who followed by hammering footholds in therock and at the very worst places driving in picket-pins to hold theextra ropes brought down for the purpose.
Still, Deep Canyon was Deep Canyon--the ladder it offered was a ladderof Titans. Many long hours of waiting passed after the rescuing partydisappeared among the shadows less than a third of the way down thesteep-sloping precipices, before they came struggling upwards againinto view of the anxious watchers on the brink. The sun had circledwell over into the western sky.
There was yet a thousand feet for the rescuers to clamber, haulingand pushing up in their midst the heavy body of the injured engineer.All during the first half of the ascent Blake had made the task aseasy as he could by the strenuous exertion of the great strength stillleft in his arms and his sound leg. But at last the bandages thatbound his broken leg had chafed in two on the rough ledges; and evenhis iron nerve had not long been able to withstand the torture of thetwisting break.
He now dangled helpless in the sling by which they had secured him.Half the time he was mercifully unconscious; the other half his jawwas set rigid and his lips were compressed to stifle his groans ofagony. Whenever possible Ashton climbed beside him, striving to easethe roughness of the ascent.
A full hour before they reached the top, the thin-faced consumptivesurgeon arrived from Stockchute with his splints and medical case.Waited upon by Isobel and Genevieve, he was fully recovered from theexertion of his ride when at last the panting rescuers came toiling upto the brink.
Eager hands dragged the unconscious engineer to the top and carriedhim to where the surgeon sat waiting. A few of the watchers lingeredto help the rescuers over the rim; then they, too, hurried away to seeif Blake had survived that terrible ascent. For the last two hundredfeet he had looked like a dead man. There was no cheering. Deep Canyonhad been conquered; but it was yet to be seen whether the victory hadnot been won at a disastrous cost.
The sheriff and his nine men sank down on the grassy slope, gasping,outspent. Ashton collapsed in their midst. He was more than outspent;he was utterly exhausted. The instant he had seen Blake lifted overthe rim-rock, he had given way to the strain of his frightfulexertions. When a man sent by Isobel came hurrying to the rescuerswith water and coffee, Ashton was unable to move or speak. The man hadto hold him up and pour the coffee down his throat.
One by one, the sheriff and the others staggered up and went to jointhe silent group about Blake. No one left that circle of watchers.They were waiting for the result of the surgeon's efforts toresuscitate the unconscious man. It was a desperate fight. But thesurgeon had won a place in the forefront of his profession before thewhite plague had driven him from New York to this health-givingwilderness. He knew all the latest, most wonderful methods ofresuscitation. And he had for assistants two who loved and were lovedby his patient.
When at last the announcement was made that the engineer had come outof his swoon and probably would live, the sheriff and all the membersof the posse not employes of Knowles prepared to ride down to PlumCreek ranch for the night. The cowman ordered his men to go down withthe party, to water the horses and bring back food and water for thecamp. The surgeon had said that his patient could not be moved formany days.
But before the party rode off, each man, from the sheriff to theyoungest of the punchers, came to where Ashton was still lying on thegrass, and took his limp hand in theirs. They did not grip it, for thetattered glove and shredded bandages were wet with blood; nor did theyput into speech what they thought of him. A gruff word or two offellowship and parting was all they gave him. Yet he saw and knew thathe had won his place among these reddest blooded of all red-bloodedmen.
When one of his fellow employes came to him, leading Rocket, he soughtto summon strength enough to rise, but found that he could not eventurn on his side. He had driven his body to superhuman efforts. Hemust now pay the price. At his request, he was lifted up on Rocket,but he could not hold up his head, much less his body. They laid himagain on the grass, and told Knowles his condition, before they rodeoff.
The cowman fetched the surgeon, who felt the pulse of the exhaustedman, gave him a pellet, and hastened back to Blake. In a few momentsAshton's feeble, racing pulse became calm and slow, the wild whirl ofhis thoughts lulled. He sank into profound slumber.
When he awoke the sun of another day was just clearing the great whitepeaks of the snowy range. He was outstretched on a soft bed ofblankets spread over a thick layer of pine needles. Above his facesloped the roof of a small tent. He had been cared for--but there wasno one watching at his bedside. He thought he understood, and smiledin bitter resignation.
When he moved, racking pains shot through his stiff muscles. Only therenewed life that surged through his veins enabled him to turn andtwist and bend until the pains subsided to a dull aching and he wasable to command his limbs. His hands were swathed fast in bandages. Hetore them off with his teeth until the fingers were free enough foruse. After much effort, he succeeded in forcing his swollen feet intohis boots.
In the midst Yuki, the Jap cook, appeared before the low entrance ofthe tent and sank down on his knees to set a trayful of food besidethe occupant. He hissed a pleasant, "Good morning, Mistah Lafe!" andwas gone before Ashton could reply. The aroma of hot coffee and thesavory smell of chicken broth forced Ashton to forget all else thanthat he was famished. Besides the coffee and broth, there was a noggof eggs and thick cream slightly flavored with whiskey. He drank oneliquid after the other with the greediness of a starving man; nor didhe stop until he had drained the last drop of all three. He could havefollowed with a hearty meal of solids, but the fluids were enough tostimulate him to renewed energy.
He crept out of his tent and looked around. Up where they had carriedBlake from the precipices stood a larger tent. Near it, under alow-growing pine, the surgeon lay rolled in a blanket, fast asleep.Some distance away, in the other direction, Yuki and two of the ranchhands were building a stone fireplace. Beyond them were picketed threehorses, the nearest of which was Rocket.
Ashton stood up and started rapidly towards the big rawboned horse.Within a few yards, however, his pace slackened. He faltered andstopped to look back at the larger tent. After a pause, he turnedabout and slowly approached the tent.
As he drew near he heard a murmur of voices barely distinguishableabove the booming of the canyon. Again he faltered and stopped andstood hesitating. The open front of the tent faced at right angles tohis line of approach. As he hesitated, he saw Isobel's head appear,veiled in the loose meshes of her chestnut hair. She looked abouttowards him, and drew back with a startled little cry.
He turned away to go to Rocket. A quick heavy step sounded behind him.Knowles had sprung out of the tent and was striding to overtake theretreating man.
"Hold on, Lafe," he ordered. "Where you going?"
Ashton faced him with quiet resolution. His eyes were dark withmisery, but his once lax mouth was strangely like Blake's in its firmfull lines.
"There's only one thing for me to do, Mr. Knowles," he replied. "I amgoing away. Your daughter will understand why."
"How're you going?" asked the cowman, his face impassive.
"I traded with Miss--Miss Knowles for Rocket. Didn't she ever tellyou?"
"Don't matter if she did. Rocket wasn't her hawss to trade."
"Then, unless my pony is up here, I shall walk down as far as theranch," said Ashton. He added with bi
tter humiliation: "It's well Ihave learned about Rocket in time. I've done enough, without addinghorse thief to the list. I would have started at once, but I could notleave until I had asked about Mr. Blake. I wished to thank him for allthat he has done for me."
"All that he--!" echoed Knowles. "If you want to know, it was a mightynarrow squeak. But we pulled him through. He's awake now and says he'sdoing fine. He wants to talk to you."
"I should like very much to do as he wishes, Mr. Knowles, butI--cannot bear to--meet her. You may realize that it is hard enough atbest."
"_Sho!_ If that's all," readily reassured the cowman, "I'll askChuckie to go out and hide in the bushes."
"But I could not allow that, you know."
"Then I figure you've got to come anyhow. Can't let you go off withoutsaying good-by to him and Jenny."
"Jenny?" repeated Ashton.
"It's all in the family now," explained Knowles. "Tom has been tellingus how he's got that irrigation project all figured out in his head.He was saying what he and Jenny had planned to do for us even beforeChuckie let out her secret. Come on and hear the rest."
"I fear I must ask you to excuse me, Mr. Knowles. I--"
"No, you don't," rejoined the cowman. "After what you've done youcan't make me believe you're afraid of anything. You'll come and faceit out before you go."
The misery in Ashton's eyes deepened, and his lips tightened.
"Very well. Since you put it that way, I shall do as you wish, sir."
When he followed Knowles around to the door of the tent, Isobel, whowas hastily braiding her loose hair, drew back into the far corner andaverted her face from him. But Genevieve met him with a radiant smileand motioned him to kneel down beside her husband.
Blake, with one thick arm crooked about his sleeping son, lay with hiseyes closed. His big square face was drawn and pallid, but there was asmile lurking in the corners of his mouth. As Ashton knelt beside himhe looked up and lifted his free hand.
"You wouldn't take it--down there," he said.
Ashton flushed. "You know why."
"You'll take it now," said Blake, with quiet confidence.
"I will. I am going away," replied Ashton as he held out his bandagedhand.
The big palm closed over it in a clasp as gentle as it was strong.
"No, Lafe. I've got hold of you now. I can't let you go. I need you inmy business. We're organizing the Belle Mesa Irrigation andDevelopment Company.--How do you like my new name for Dry Mesa? Mr.Knowles puts in the reservoir site in exchange for water on his otherland, a tenth share in the company, and a royalty of half the gold weplacer out of the reservoir bed. As Jenny is to put up all thecapital, she and I will take the lion's share. That will leave a tenthfor you and a tenth for Belle."
Ashton sought to draw his hand away. "It is very good of you, Mr.Blake. But I cannot accept--"
"Yes, you can. You can't help yourself. Besides, I've an idea a manalways does better by his work when he has a stake in the undertaking.You're to be our Resident Engineer, you know."
"Resident Engineer?" repeated Ashton, paling and flushing. "Mr. Blake,I--I--It's impossible that you can mean--"
"Make it 'Tom'! You'll have to brush up on mining engineering, too.There's the bonanza."
"Oh, yes, Tom!" exclaimed Genevieve. "Tell him about the gold mine."
"I was going to keep still about it till I had the apex located," hesaid. He looked full at Ashton. "But there's no one here that thesecret will not be as safe with as it is with me. Besides, it's all inthe family. I found the vein a thousand feet up the chute of Dry ForkGulch. We will name it the Genevieve Lode. There are six of us here,counting Tommy. Each of us gets a sixth interest."
Ashton was now pale. "Mr. Blake--Tom, I cannot! If I were fit to stayand work for you--as an axman--anything!--"
Blake's eyes twinkled. "Then your sixth will have to go to Belle."
"Mine too, Tom," hastily put in Knowles.
Blake looked down solemnly at his youthful heir. "Hear that, Tommy?Guess we'll have to pull out, too, and make it half and half to theladies." He looked up at Ashton with a swift change from mock to realgravity. "We've got to begin by installing a turbine power-plant downhere. Where will I find another engineer with nerve enough to go downthese cliffs? I need you, Lafe."
"I am very sorry, Tom." Ashton drew his hand from Blake's weariedclasp, and rose.
Isobel slipped past him and stood with her arms outstretched acrossthe entrance of the tent. There was a dimple in each of her blushingcheeks; her eyes were radiant with tenderness and love.
"No, you can't get away!" she declared. "Don't you see how we've gotyou corralled?"
"That's what," confirmed Knowles. "I promised her to rope and hogtieyou if you made a break."
Ashton was gazing into the girl's eyes, his own shining with reverentadoration.
"Isobel?" he whispered.
"Let us go up on the ridge and look out over our mesa," she murmured.
"Wait a moment, dear," interposed Genevieve. "Lafayette, I wish totell you that as soon as Tom and I return to Chicago, we shall go toyour father. I feel certain that when he hears--"
"No, no!" begged Ashton. "You must wait. Promise that you will wait. Ihave only begun to make a beginning. Wait until I see if I can--" Hestraightened and looked at Isobel, his head well up, his eyes asresolute as his mouth. "Wait until I have proved what I am."
"Come," said Isobel. "We're going to look at our dry mesa that we areto reclaim and make into a garden with the waste waters of thedepths."
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends