Heart of the Sunset, Page 2

  II

  THE AMBUSH

  Alaire Austin slept badly. The day's hardships had left their traces.The toxins of fatigue not only poisoned her muscles with aches andpains, but drugged her brain and rendered the night a long successionof tortures during which she experienced for a second time the agoniesof thirst and fatigue and despair. Extreme physical ordeals, likeprofound emotional upheavals, leave imprints upon the brain, and whilethe body may recover quickly, it often requires considerable time torest exhausted nerves. The finer the nervous organism, the slower isthe process of recuperation. Like most normal women, Alaire had asurprising amount of endurance, both nervous and muscular, but, havingdrawn heavily against her reserve force, she paid the penalty. Duringthe early hours of the night she slept hardly at all, and as soon asher bodily discomfort began to decrease her mind became unruly. Twiceshe rose and limped to the water-hole for a drink, and it was not untilnearly dawn that she dropped off into complete unconsciousness. She wasawakened by a sunbeam which pierced her leafy shelter and with hottouch explored her upturned face.

  It was still early; the sun had just cleared the valley's rim and theground was damp with dew. Somewhere near by an unfamiliar bird wassweetly trilling. Alaire listened dreamily until the bird-carol changedto the air of a familiar cowboy song, then she sat up, queerly startled.

  David Law was watering his horse, grooming the animal meanwhile with aburlap doth. Such attention was unusual in a stock country where horsesrun wild, but this horse, Mrs. Austin saw, justified unusual care. Itwas a beautiful blood-bay mare, and as the woman looked it lifted itshead, then with wet, trembling muzzle caressed its owner's cheek.Undoubtedly this attention was meant for a kiss, and was as daintilyconferred as any woman's favor. It brought a reward in a lump of sugar.There followed an exhibition of equine delight; the mare's lipstwitched, her nose wrinkled ludicrously, she stretched her neck andtossed her head as the sweetness tickled her palate. Even the nervousswitching of her tail was eloquent of pleasure. Meanwhile the ownershowed his white teeth in a smile.

  "Good morning," said Mrs. Austin.

  Law lifted his hat in a graceful salute as he approached around theedge of the pool, his spurs jingling musically. The mare followed.

  "You have a fine horse, there."

  "Yes'm. Her and me get along all right. I hope we didn't wake you,ma'am."

  "No. I was too tired to sleep well."

  "Of course. I heard you stirring about during the night." Law paused,and the mare, with sharp ears cocked forward, looked over his shoulderinquisitively. "Tell the lady good morning, Bessie Belle," he directed.The animal flung its head high, then stepped forward and, stretchingits neck, sniffed doubtfully at the visitor.

  "What a graceful bow!" Mrs. Austin laughed. "You taught her that, Ipresume."

  "Yes'm! She'd never been to school when I got her; she was plumbignorant. But she's got all the airs of a fine lady now. Sometimes I gowithout sugar, but Bessie Belle never does."

  "And you with a sweet tooth!"

  The Ranger smiled pleasantly. "She's as easy as a rockin'-chair. We'rekind of sweethearts. Ain't we, kid?" Again Bessie Belle tossed her headhigh. "That's 'yes,' with the reverse English," the speaker explained."Now you just rest yourself, ma'am, and order your breakfast. What 'llit be--quail, dove, or cottontail?"

  "Why--whatever you can get."

  "That ain't the kind of restaurant we run. Bessie Belle would sure beoffended if she understood you. Ever see anybody call a quail?"

  "Can it really be done?"

  Law's face brightened. "You wait." He led his mare down the arroyo,then returned, and, taking his Winchester from its scabbard, explained:"There's a pair of 'top-knots' on that side-hill waitin' for a drink.Watch 'em run into my lap when I give the distress signal of our secretorder." He skirted the water-hole, and seated himself with his heelstogether and his elbows propped upon his spread knees in the militaryposition for close shooting. From where he sat he commanded anunobstructed view of the thicket's edge. Next he moistened his lips anduttered an indescribable low whistle. At intervals he repeated thecall, while the woman looked on with interest. Suddenly out of thegrass burst a blue quail, running with wings outstretched and everyfeather ruffled angrily. It paused, the man's cheeks snuggled againstthe stock of his gun, and the bark of the thirty-thirty sounded loudly.Mrs. Austin saw that he had shot the little bird's head off. She spoke,but he stilled her with a gesture, threw in a second shell, andrepeated his magic call. There was a longer wait this time, but finallythe performance was repeated. The marksman rose, picked up the twobirds, and came back to the camping-place.

  "Kind of a low-down trick when they've just started housekeeping, ain'tit?" he smiled.

  Mrs. Austin saw that both crested heads had been cleanly severed. "Thatis quite wonderful" she said. "You must be an unusually good shot."

  "Yes'm. You can fool turkeys the same way. Turkeys are easy."

  "What do you say to them? What brings them out, all ruffled up?" sheasked, curiously.

  Law had one of the birds picked by this time. "I tell 'em a snake hasgot me. I reckon each one thinks the other is in trouble and comes tothe rescue. Anyhow, it's a mighty mean trick."

  He would not permit her to help with the breakfast, so she lay backenjoying the luxury of her hard bed and watching her host, whosepersonality, now that she saw him by daylight, had begun to challengeher interest. Of late years she had purposely avoided men, andcircumstances had not permitted her to study those few she had beenforced to meet; but now that fate had thrown her into the company ofthis stranger, she permitted some play to her curiosity.

  Physically Law was of an admirable make--considerably over six feet inheight, with wide shoulders and lean, strong limbs. Although his facewas schooled to mask all but the keenest emotions, the deftness of hismovements was eloquent, betraying that complete muscular and nervouscontrol which comes from life in the open. A pair of blue-gray,meditative eyes, with a whimsical fashion of wrinkling half-shut whenhe talked, relieved a countenance that otherwise would have been atrifle grim and somber. The nose was prominent and boldly arched, theears large and pronounced and standing well away from the head; themouth was thin-lipped and mobile. Alaire tried to read that bronzedvisage, with little success until she closed her eyes and regarded themental image. Then she found the answer: Law had the face and the headof a hunter. The alert ears, the watchful eyes, the predatory nose werelike those of some hunting animal. Yes, that was decidedly thestrongest impression he gave. And yet in his face there was nothinganimal in a bad sense. Certainly it showed no grossness. The man waswild, untamed, rather than sensual, and despite his careless use of theplains vernacular he seemed to be rather above the average in educationand intelligence. At any rate, without being stupidly tongue-tied, heknew enough to remain silent when there was nothing to say, and thatwas a blessing, for Mrs. Austin herself was not talkative, and idlechatter distressed her.

  On the whole, when Alaire had finished her analysis she rather resentedthe good impression Law had made upon her, for on general principlesshe chose to dislike and distrust men. Rising, she walked painfully tothe pond and made a leisurely toilet.

  Breakfast was ready when she returned, and once more the man sat uponhis heels and smoked while she ate. Alaire could not catch his eyesupon her, except when he spoke, at which time his gaze was direct andopen; yet never did she feel free from his intensest observation.

  After a while she remarked: "I'm glad to see a Ranger in this county.There has been a lot of stealing down our way, and the Association mencan't seem to stop it. Perhaps you can."

  "The Rangers have a reputation in that line," he admitted. "But thereis stealing all up and down the border, since the war. You lost anystuff?"

  "Yes. Mostly horses."

  "Sure! They need horses in Mexico."

  "The ranchers have organized. They have formed a sort of vigilancecommittee in each town, and talk of using bloodhounds."

  "Bloodhounds ain't any good, ou
tside of novels. If beef got scarce,them Greasers would steal the dogs and eat 'em." He added,meditatively, "Dog ain't such bad eatin', either."

  "Have you tried it?"

  Mr. Law nodded. "It was better than some of the army beef we got in thePhilippines." Then, in answer to her unspoken inquiry, "Yes'm, I servedan enlistment there."

  "You--were a private soldier?"

  "Yes'm."

  Mrs. Austin was incredulous, and yet she could not well express hersurprise without too personal an implication. "I can't imagineanybody--that is, a man like you, as a common soldier."

  "Well, I wasn't exactly that," he grinned. "No, I was about the mostUNcommon soldier out there. I had a speakin' acquaintance with most ofthe guard-houses in the islands before I got through."

  "But why did you enlist--a man like you?"

  "Why?" He pondered the question. "I was young. I guess I needed theexcitement. I have to get about so much or I don't enjoy my food."

  "Did you join the Maderistas for excitement?"

  "Mostly. Then, too, I believed Panchito Madero was honest and wouldgive the peons land. An honest Mexican is worth fightin' for, anywhere.The pelados are still struggling for their land--for that and a chanceto live and work and be happy."

  Mrs. Austin stirred impatiently. "They are fighting because they aretold to fight. There is no PATRIOTISM in them," said she.

  "I think," he said, with grave deliberateness, "the majority feelsomething big and vague and powerful stirring inside them. They don'tknow exactly what it is, perhaps, but it is there. Mexico has outgrownher dictators. They have been overthrown by the same causes thatbrought on the French Revolution."

  "The French Revolution!" Alaire leaned forward, eying the speaker withstartled intensity. "You don't talk like a--like an enlisted man. Whatdo you know about the French Revolution?"

  Reaching for a coal, the Ranger spoke without facing her. "I've read agood bit, ma'am, and I'm a noble listener. I remember good, too. Why, Ihad a picture of the Bastille once." He pronounced it "Bastilly," andhis hearer settled back. "That was some calaboose, now, wasn't it?" Amoment later he inquired, ingenuously, "I don't suppose you ever sawthat Bastille, did you?"

  "No. Only the place where it stood."

  "Sho! You must have traveled right smart for such a young lady." Hebeamed amiably upon her.

  "I was educated abroad, and I only came home--to be married."

  Law noted the lifeless way in which she spoke, and he understood. "I'llbet you hablar those French and German lingoes like a native," heventured. "Beats me how a person can do it."

  "You speak Spanish, don't you?"

  "Oh yes. But I was born in Mexico, as near as I can make out."

  "And you probably speak some of the Filipino dialects?"

  "Yes'm, a few."

  There was something winning about this young man's modesty, andsomething flattering in his respectful admiration. He seemed, also, toknow his place, a fact which was even more in his favor. Undoubtedly hehad force and ability; probably his love of adventure and a happy lackof settled purpose had led him to neglect his more commonplaceopportunities and sent him first into the army and thence into theRanger service. The world is full of such, and the frontier is theirgathering-place. Mrs. Austin had met a number of men like Law, and toher they seemed to be the true soldiers of fortune--fellows who livedpurely for the fun of living, and leavened their days with adventure.They were buoyant souls, for the most part, drifting with the tide,resentful of authority and free from care; meeting each day withenthusiastic expectancy for what it held in store. They were restlessand improvident; the world counted them ne'er-do-wells, and yet sheknew that at least their hours were full and that their names--some ofthem--were written large in the distant places. Alaire Austin oftentold herself that, had she been born a man, such a life as this mighthave been hers, and she took pleasure in dreaming sometimes of theexperience that fate, in such a case, would have brought to her.

  Being a woman, however, and being animated at this particular moment bya peculiarly feminine impulse, she felt urged to add her own touch towhat nature had roughed out. This man had been denied what she termedan education; therefore she decided to put one in his way.

  "Do you like to read?" she asked him.

  "Say! It's my favorite form of exercise." Law's blue-gray eyes wereexpressionless, his face was bland. "Why?"

  "I have a great many books at Las Palmas. You might enjoy some of them."

  "Now that's nice of you, ma'am. Mebbe I'll look into thiscattle-stealin' in your neighborhood, and if I do I'll sure comeborrowin'."

  "Oh, I'll send you a boxful when I get back," said Alaire, and Davethanked her humbly.

  Later, when he went to move his mare into a shady spot, the Rangerchuckled and slapped his thigh with his hat. "Bessie Belle, we're goingto improve our minds," he said, aloud. "We're going to be literary andread Pilgrim's Progress and Alice in Wonderland. I bet we'll enjoy 'em,eh? But--doggone! She's a nice lady, and your coat is just the samecolor as her hair."

  Where the shade was densest and the breeze played most freely, thereDave fixed a comfortable couch for his guest, and during the heat ofthe forenoon she dozed.

  Asleep she exercised upon him an even more disturbing effect than whenawake, for now he could study her beauty deliberately, from the loosepile of warm, red hair to the narrow, tight-laced boots. What he sawwas altogether delightful. Her slightly parted lips offered anirresistible attraction--almost an invitation; the heat had lent afeverish flush to her cheeks; Dave could count the slow pulsations ofher white throat. He closed his eyes and tried to quell his unrulylongings. He was a strong man; adventurous days and nights spent in theopen had coarsened the masculine side of his character, perhaps atexpense to his finer nature, for it is a human tendency to revert. Hewas masterful and ruthless; lacking obligations or responsibilities ofany sort, he had been accustomed to take what he wanted; therefore thegaze he fixed upon the sleeping woman betrayed an ardor calculated todeepen the color in her cheeks, had she beheld it.

  And yet, strangely enough, Dave realized that his emotions wereunaccountably mixed. This woman's distress had, of course, brought aprompt and natural response; but now her implicit confidence in hishonor and her utter dependence upon him awoke his deepest chivalry.Then, too, the knowledge that her life was unhappy, indeed tragic,filled him with a sort of wondering pity. As he continued to look ather these feelings grew until finally he turned away his face. With hischin in his hands he stared out somberly into the blinding heat. He hadmet few women, of late years, and never one quite like this--never one,for instance, who made him feel so dissatisfied with his ownshortcomings.

  After a time he rose and withdrew to the shelter of another tree, thereto content himself with mental images of his guest.

  But one cannot sleep well with a tropic sun in the heavens, and sincethere was really nothing for her to do until the heat abated, Alaire,when she awoke, obliged the Ranger to amuse her.

  Although she was in fact younger than he, married life had matured her,and she treated him therefore like a boy. Law did not object. Mrs.Austin's position in life was such that most men were humble in herpresence, and now her superior wisdom seemed to excite the Ranger'sliveliest admiration. Only now and then, as if in an unguarded moment,did he appear to forget himself and speak with an authority equalingher own. What he said at such times indicated either a remarkablyretentive memory or else an ability to think along original lines toorare among men of his kind to be easily credited.

  For instance, during a discussion of the Mexican situation--and ofcourse their talk drifted thither, for at the moment it was the onevitally interesting topic along the border--he excused the barbarouspractices of the Mexican soldiers by saying:

  "Of course they're cruel, vindictive, treacherous, but after all thereare only a hundred and forty generations between us and Adam; only ahundred and forty lifetimes since the Garden of Eden. We civilizedpeoples are only a lap or two ahead of the uncivilized o
nes. When youthink that it takes ten thousand generations to develop a plant androot out some of its early heredities, you can see that human beingshave a long way yet to go before they become perfect. We're creaturesof environment, just like plants. Environment has made the Mexican whathe is."

  Certainly this was an amazing speech to issue from a sun-browned cowboysitting cross-legged under a mesquite-tree.

  From under her hat-brim Alaire Austin eyed the speaker with a curiosityinto which there had come a vague hostility. For the moment she wassuspicious and piqued, but Law did not appear to notice, and as hetalked on her doubts gradually subsided.

  "You said, last night, that you were born on the other side?" Sheinclined her ruddy head to the west.

  "Yes'm. My father was a mining man, and he done well over there untilhe locked horns with the Guadalupes. Old Don Enrique and him had arun-in at the finish, over some land or something. It was when the Donwas gobbling all the property in the state, and laying the foundationfor his big fortune. You know he had permission from the president tosteal all the land he cared to, just like the rest of those localgovernors had. Well, Guadalupe tried to run my people out."

  "Did he succeed?"

  "No'm. He killed 'em, but they stayed."

  "Not--really?" The listener was shocked. "American citizens, too?"

  "Times wasn't much different then than now. There's plenty of goodAmericans been killed in Mexico and nothing done about it, even in ourday. I don't know all the details--never could get 'em, either--for Iwas away at school; but after I came back from the Philippines theMadero fuss was just brewing, so I went over and joined it. But itdidn't last long, and there wasn't enough fighting to suit me. I'vebeen back, off and on, since, and I've burned a good deal of Guadalupeproperty and swum a good many head of Guadalupe stock."

  As the morning progressed Law proved himself an interesting companion,and in spite of the discomforts of the situation the hours slipped pastrapidly. Luncheon was a disagreeable meal, eaten while the arroyo bakedand the heat devils danced on the hills; but the unpleasantness was ofbrief duration, and Law always managed to banish boredom. Nor did heseem to waste a thought upon the nature of that grim business whichbrought him to this place. Quite the contrary, in the afternoon he puthis mare through her tricks for Alaire's edification, and gossiped idlyof whatever interested his guest.

  Then as the sun edged to the west and Mrs. Austin became restless, hesaddled Bessie Belle and led her down the gulch into a safer covert.

  Returning, he carefully obliterated all traces of the camp. He wateredthe ashes of the fire, gathered up the tell-tale scraps of paper andfragments of food, and then when the place suited him fell to examininghis rifle.

  Alaire watched him with interest. "Where shall I go," she asked, "andwhat shall I do?"

  "You just pick out a good cover beyond the water-hole and stay there,ma'am. It may be a long wait, for something may have happened. If sowe'll have to lie close. And don't worry yourself none, ma'am; he won'tmake no trouble."

  The afternoon drew to a close. Gradually the blinding white glare ofthe sun lessened and yellowed, the shadow of the bluffs began tostretch out. The shallow pool lay silent, deserted save for furtivelittle shapes that darted nervously out of the leaves, or for wingedvisitors that dropped out of the air.

  With the sunset there came the sound of hoofs upon loose stones,branches rustled against breasting bodies, and Mrs. Austin cowered lowin her hiding-place. But it was only the advance-guard of a bunch ofbrush cattle coming to water. They paused at a distance, and nothingexcept their thirst finally overcame their suspicions. One by one theydrifted into sight, drank warily at the remotest edge of the tanque,then, alarmed at some imaginary sight or sound, went clattering up theravine.

  Once again the water-hole lay sleeping.

  Alaire's retreat was far from comfortable; there was an ants' nestsomewhere near her and she thought of moving; but suddenly her breathcaught and her heart jumped uncontrollably. She crouched lower, fordirectly opposite her position, and outlined against the sky where thesharp ridge cut it, was the figure of a mounted man. Rider and horsewere silhouetted against the pearl-gray heaven like an equestrianstatue. How long they had been there Alaire had no faintest notion.Perhaps it was their coming which had alarmed the cattle. She wasconscious that a keen and hostile pair of eyes was searching thecoverts surrounding the charco. Then, as silently as it had appeared,the apparition vanished beyond the ridge, and Alaire wondered if therider had taken alarm. She earnestly hoped so; this breathless vigilwas getting on her nerves, and the sight of that threatening figure hadset her pulses to throbbing. The rider was on his guard, that wasplain; he was armed, too, and probably desperate. The ominouspossibilities of this ambush struck her forcibly.

  Alaire lay close, as she had been directed, praying that the horsemanhad been warned; but shortly she heard again the rustle of stiffbranches, and out into the opening rode a Mexican. He was astride awiry gray pony, and in the strong twilight Alaire could see his everyfeature--the swarthy cheeks, the roving eyes beneath the black felthat. A carbine lay across his saddle-horn, a riata was coiled besidehis leg, a cartridge-belt circled his waist. There was somethingfamiliar about the fellow, but at the moment Alaire could not determinewhat it was.

  After one swift appraising glance the new-comer rode straight to theverge of the water-hole and dismounted; then he and his horse drankside by side.

  It was the moment for a complete and effective surprise, but nothinghappened. Why didn't Law act? Alaire bent low, straining eyes and ears,but no command came from the Ranger. After a while the traveler rose tohis feet and stretched his limbs. Next he walked to the ashes of thefire and looked down at them, stirring them with his toe. Apparentlysatisfied, he lit a cigarette.

  Could it be that something had gone wrong with the Ranger's plan? Hadsomething happened to him? Alaire was startled by the possibility; thisdelay was beyond her comprehension.

  Then, as if in answer to her perplexity, a second horseman appeared,and the woman realized how simply she had been fooled.