You dont hear anything else?
No.
Nothing likelikelike
Rand, who had been listening with an intensity that distorted the left side of his face, interrupted him impatiently.
Like what?
Like a woman sobbin?
Ruth, said Rand, suddenly looking up in his brothers face, whats gone of you?
Ruth laughed. The fires out, he said, abruptly re-entering the cabin. Im goin to turn in.
Rand, following his brother half reproachfully, saw him divest himself of his clothing, and roll himself in the blankets of his bed.
Good-night, Randy!
Rand hesitated. He would have liked to ask his brother another question; but there was clearly nothing to be done but follow his example.
Good-night, Ruthy! he said, and put out the light. As he did so, the glow in the eastern horizon faded, too, and darkness seemed to well up from the depths below, and, flowing in the open door, wrapped them in deeper slumber.
CHAPTER II
THE CLOUDS GATHER
Twelve months had elapsed since the quarrel and reconciliation, during which interval no reference was made by either of the brothers to the cause which had provoked it. Rand was at work in the shaft, Ruth having that morning undertaken the replenishment of the larder with game from the wooded skirt of the mountain. Rand had taken advantage of his brothers absence to prospect in the drift,a proceeding utterly at variance with his previous condemnation of all such speculative essay; but Rand, despite his assumption of a superior practical nature, was not above certain local superstitions. Having that morning put on his gray flannel shirt wrong side out,an abstraction recognized among the miners as the sure forerunner of divination and treasure-discovery,he could not forego that opportunity of trying his luck, without hazarding a dangerous example. He was also conscious of feeling chipper,another local expression for buoyancy of spirit, not common to men who work fifty feet below the surface, without the stimulus of air and sunshine, and not to be overlooked as an important factor in fortunate adventure. Nevertheless, noon came without the discovery of any treasure. He had attacked the walls on either side of the lateral drift skilfully, so as to expose their quality without destroying their cohesive integrity, but had found nothing. Once or twice, returning to the shaft for rest and air, its grim silence had seemed to him pervaded with some vague echo of cheerful holiday voices above. This set him to thinking of his brothers equally extravagant fancy of the wailing voices in the air on the night of the fire, and of his attributing it to a lovers abstraction.
I laid it to his being struck after that gal; and yet, Rand continued to himself, heres me, who havent been foolin round no gal, and dog my skin if I didnt think I heard one singin up thar! He put his foot on the lower round of the ladder, paused, and slowly ascended a dozen steps. Here he paused again. All at once the whole shaft was filled with the musical vibrations of a womans song. Seizing the rope that hung idly from the windlass, he half climbed, half swung himself, to the surface.
The voice was there; but the sudden transition to the dazzling level before him at first blinded his eyes, so that he took in only by degrees the unwonted spectacle of the singer,a pretty girl, standing on tiptoe on a bowlder not a dozen yards from him, utterly absorbed in tying a gayly-striped neckerchief, evidently taken from her own plump throat, to the halliards of a freshly-cut hickory-pole newly reared as a flag-staff beside her. The hickory-pole, the halliards, the fluttering scarf, the young lady herself, were all glaring innovations on the familiar landscape; but Rand, with his hand still on the rope, silently and demurely enjoyed it.
For the better understanding of the general reader, who does not live on an isolated mountain, it may be observed that the young ladys position on the rock exhibited some study of POSE, and a certain exaggeration of attitude, that betrayed the habit of an audience; also that her voice had an artificial accent that was not wholly unconscious, even in this lofty solitude. Yet the very next moment, when she turned, and caught Rands eye fixed upon her, she started naturally, colored slightly, uttered that feminine adjuration, Good Lord! gracious! goodness me! which is seldom used in reference to its effect upon the hearer, and skipped instantly from the bowlder to the ground. Here, however, she alighted in a POSE, brought the right heel of her neatly-fitting left boot closely into the hollowed side of her right instep, at the same moment deftly caught her flying skirt, whipped it around her ankles, and, slightly raising it behind, permitted the chaste display of an inch or two of frilled white petticoat. The most irreverent critic of the sex will, I think, admit that it has some movements that are automatic.
Hope I didnt disturb ye, said Rand, pointing to the flag-staff.
The young lady slightly turned her head. No, she said; but I didnt know anybody was here, of course. Our PARTYshe emphasized the word, and accompanied it with a look toward the further extremity of the plateau, to show she was not aloneour party climbed this ridge, and put up this pole as a sign to show they did it. The ridiculous self-complacency of this record in the face of a man who was evidently a dweller on the mountain apparently struck her for the first time. We didnt know, she stammered, looking at the shaft from which Rand had emerged, thatthat She stopped, and, glancing again towards the distant range where her friends had disappeared, began to edge away.
They cant be far off, interposed Rand quietly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for the lady to be there. Table Mountain aint as big as all that. Dont you be scared! So you thought nobody lived up here?
She turned upon him a pair of honest hazel eyes, which not only contradicted the somewhat meretricious smartness of her dress, but was utterly inconsistent with the palpable artificial color of her hair,an obvious imitation of a certain popular fashion then known in artistic circles as the British Blonde,and began to ostentatiously resume a pair of lemon-colored kid gloves. Having, as it were, thus indicated her standing and respectability, and put an immeasurable distance between herself and her bold interlocutor, she said impressively, We evidently made a mistake: I will rejoin our party, who will, of course, apologize.
Whats your hurry? said the imperturbable Rand, disengaging himself from the rope, and walking towards her. As long as youre up here, you might stop a spell.
I have no wish to intrude; that is, our party certainly has not, continued the young lady, pulling the tight gloves, and smoothing the plump, almost bursting fingers, with an affectation of fashionable ease.
Oh! I havent any thing to do just now, said Rand, and its about grub time, I reckon. Yes, I live here, Ruth and me,right here.
The young woman glanced at the shaft.
No, not down there, said Rand, following her eye, with a laugh. Come here, and Ill show you.
A strong desire to keep up an appearance of genteel reserve, and an equally strong inclination to enjoy the adventurous company of this good-looking, hearty young fellow, made her hesitate. Perhaps she regretted having undertaken a role of such dignity at the beginning: she could have been so perfectly natural with this perfectly natural man, whereas any relaxation now might increase his familiarity. And yet she was not without a vague suspicion that her dignity and her gloves were alike thrown away on him,a fact made the more evident when Rand stepped to her side, and, without any apparent consciousness of disrespect or gallantry, laid his large hand, half persuasively, half fraternally, upon her shoulder, and said, Oh, come along, do!
The simple act either exceeded the limits of her forbearance, or decided the course of her subsequent behavior. She instantly stepped back a single pace, and drew her left foot slowly and deliberately after her; then she fixed her eyes and uplifted eyebrows upon the daring hand, and, taking it by the ends of her thumb and forefinger, lifted it, and dropped it in mid-air. She then folded her arms. It was the indignant gesture with which Alice, the Pride of Dumballin Village, received the loathsome advances of the bloated aristocrat, Sir Parkyns Parkyn, and had at Marysville, a few nights before, brought down the house.
This effect was, I think, however, lost upon Rand. The slight color that rose to his cheek as he looked down upon his clay-soiled hands was due to the belief that he had really contaminated her outward superfine person. But his color quickly passed: his frank, boyish smile returned, as he said, Itll rub off. Lord, dont mind that! Thar, nowcome on!
The young woman bit her lip. Then nature triumphed; and she laughed, although a little scornfully. And then Providence assisted her with the sudden presentation of two figures, a man and woman, slowly climbing up over the mountain verge, not far from them. With a cry of Theres Sol, now! she forgot her dignity and her confusion, and ran towards them.
Rand stood looking after her neat figure, less concerned in the advent of the strangers than in her sudden caprice. He was not so young and inexperienced but that he noted certain ambiguities in her dress and manner: he was by no means impressed by her dignity. But he could not help watching her as she appeared to be volubly recounting her late interview to her companions; and, still unconscious of any impropriety or obtrusiveness, he lounged down lazily towards her. Her humor had evidently changed; for she turned an honest, pleased face upon him, as she girlishly attempted to drag the strangers forward.
The man was plump and short; unlike the natives of the locality, he was closely cropped and shaven, as if to keep down the strong blue-blackness of his beard and hair, which nevertheless asserted itself over his round cheeks and upper lip like a tattooing of Indian ink. The woman at his side was reserved and indistinctive, with that appearance of being an unenthusiastic family servant peculiar to some mens wives. When Rand was within a few feet of him, he started, struck a theatrical attitude, and, shading his eyes with his hand, cried, What, do me eyes deceive me! burst into a hearty laugh, darted forward, seized Rands hand, and shook it briskly.
Pinkney, Pinkney, my boy! how are you? And this is your little prop? your quarter-section, your country-seat, that weve been trespassing on, eh? A nice little spot, cool, sequestered, remote,a trifle unimproved; carriage-road as yet unfinished. Ha, ha! But to think of our making a discovery of this inaccessible mountain, climbing it, sir, for two mortal hours, christening it Sols Peak, getting up a flag-pole, unfurling our standard to the breeze, sir, and then, by Gad, winding up by finding Pinkney, the festive Pinkney, living on it at home!
Completely surprised, but still perfectly good-humored, Rand shook the strangers right hand warmly, and received on his broad shoulders a welcoming thwack from the left, without question. She dont mind her friends making free with ME evidently, said Rand to himself, as he tried to suggest that fact to the young lady in a meaning glance.
The stranger noted his glance, and suddenly passed his hand thoughtfully over his shaven cheeks. No, he saidyes, surely, I forgetyes, I see; of course you dont! Rosy, turning to his wife, of course Pinkney doesnt know Phemie, eh?
No, nor ME either, Sol, said that lady warningly.
Certainly! continued Sol. Its his misfortune. You werent with me at Gold Hill.Allow me, he said, turning to Rand, to present Mrs. Sol Saunders, wife of the undersigned, and Miss Euphemia Neville, otherwise known as the Marysville Pet, the best variety actress known on the provincial boards. Played Ophelia at Marysville, Friday; domestic drama at Gold Hill, Saturday; Sunday night, four songs in character, different dress each time, and a clog-dance. The best clog-dance on the Pacific Slope, he added in a stage aside. The minstrels are crazy to get her in Frisco. But money cant buy herprefers the legitimate drama to this sort of thing. Here he took a few steps of a jig, to which the Marysville Pet beat time with her feet, and concluded with a laugh and a winkthe combined expression of an artists admiration for her ability, and a man of the worlds scepticism of feminine ambition.
Miss Euphemia responded to the formal introduction by extending her hand frankly with a re-assuring smile to Rand, and an utter obliviousness of her former hauteur. Rand shook it warmly, and then dropped carelessly on a rock beside them.
And you never told me you lived up here in the attic, you rascal! continued Sol with a laugh.
No, replied Rand simply. How could I? I never saw you before, that I remember.
Miss Euphemia stared at Sol. Mrs. Sol looked up in her lords face, and folded her arms in a resigned expression. Sol rose to his feet again, and shaded his eyes with his hand, but this time quite seriously, and gazed at Rands smiling face.
Good Lord! Do you mean to say your name isnt Pinkney? he asked, with a half embarrassed laugh.
It IS Pinkney, said Rand; but I never met you before.
Didnt you come to see a young lady that joined my troupe at Gold Hill last month, and say youd meet me at Keelers Ferry in a day or two?
No-o-o, said Rand, with a good-humored laugh. I havent left this mountain for two months.
He might have added more; but his attention was directed to Miss Euphemia, who during this short dialogue, having stuffed alternately her handkerchief, the corner of her mantle, and her gloves, into her mouth, restrained herself no longer, but gave way to an uncontrollable fit of laughter. O Sol! she gasped explanatorily, as she threw herself alternately against him, Mrs. Sol, and a bowlder, youll kill me yet! O Lord! first we take possession of this mans property, then we claim HIM. The contemplation of this humorous climax affected her so that she was fain at last to walk away, and confide the rest of her speech to space.
Sol joined in the laugh until his wife plucked his sleeve, and whispered something in his ear. In an instant his face became at once mysterious and demure. I owe you an apology, he said, turning to Rand, but in a voice ostentatiously pitched high enough for Miss Euphemia to overhear: I see I have made a mistake. A resemblanceonly a mere resemblance, as I look at you nowled me astray. Of course you dont know any young lady in the profession?
Of course he doesnt, Sol, said Miss Euphemia. I could have told you that. He didnt even know ME!
The voice and mock-heroic attitude of the speaker was enough to relieve the general embarrassment with a laugh. Rand, now pleasantly conscious of only Miss Euphemias presence, again offered the hospitality of his cabin, with the polite recognition of her friends in the sentence, and you might as well come along too.
But wont we incommode the lady of the house? said Mrs. Sol politely.
What lady of the house? said Rand almost angrily.
Why, Ruth, you know!
It was Rands turn to become hilarious. Ruth, he said, is short for Rutherford, my brother. His laugh, however, was echoed only by Euphemia.
Then you have a brother? said Mrs. Sol benignly.