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Last night was I very much of a baby? she asked, watching him.
Pretty much.
Oh, I couldn t help it!
I m glad you were afraid.
Why? she asked, in slow surprise.
I ll tell you some day, he answered, soberly. Then around the camp-fire and
through the morning meal he was silent; afterward he strolled thoughtfully off
alone along the terrace. He climbed a great yellow rock raising its crest
among the spruces, and there he sat down to face the valley and the west.
I love her!
Aloud he spoke unburdened his heart confessed his secret. For an instant
the golden valley swam before his eyes, and the walls waved, and all about him
whirled with tumult within.
I love her! & I understand now.
Reviving memory of Jane Withersteen and thought of the complications of the
present amazed him with proof of how far he had drifted from his old life. He
discovered that he hated to take up the broken threads, to delve into dark
problems and difficulties. In this beautiful valley he had been living a
beautiful dream. Tranquility had come to him, and the joy of solitude, and
interest in all the wild creatures and crannies of this incomparable valley
and love. Under the shadow of the great stone bridge God had revealed Himself
to Venters.
The world seems very far away, he muttered, but it s there and I m not
yet done with it. Perhaps I never shall be& Only how glorious it would be to
live here always and never think again!
Whereupon the resurging reality of the present, as if in irony of his wish,
steeped him instantly in contending thought. Out of it all he presently
evolved these things: he must go to Cottonwoods; he must bring supplies back
to Surprise Valley; he must cultivate the soil and raise corn and stock, and,
most imperative of all, he must decide the future of the girl who loved him
and whom he loved. The first of these things required tremendous effort, the
last one, concerning Bess, seemed simply and naturally easy of accomplishment.
He would marry her. Suddenly, as from roots of poisonous fire, flamed up the
forgotten truth concerning her. It seemed to wither and shrivel up all his joy
on its hot, tearing way to his heart. She had been Oldring s Masked Rider. To
Venters s question, What were you to Oldring? she had answered with scarlet
shame and drooping head.
What do I care who she is or what she was! he cried, passionately. And he
knew it was not his old self speaking. It was this softer, gentler man who had
awakened to new thoughts in the quiet valley. Tenderness, masterful in him
now, matched the absence of joy and blunted the knife-edge of entering
jealousy. Strong and passionate effort of will, surprising to him, held back
the poison from piercing his soul.
Wait! & Wait! he cried, as if calling. His hand pressed his breast, and he
might have called to the pang there. Wait! It s all so strange so
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wonderful. Anything can happen. Who am I to judge her? I ll glory in my love
for her. But I can t tell it can t give up to it.
Certainly he could not then decide her future. Marrying her was impossible in
Surprise Valley and in any village south of Sterling. Even without the mask
she had once worn she would easily have been recognized as Oldring s Rider. No
man who had ever seen her would forget her, regardless of his ignorance as to
her sex. Then more poignant than all other argument was the fact that he did
not want to take her away from Surprise Valley. He resisted all thought of
that. He had brought her to the most beautiful and wildest place of the
uplands; he had saved her, nursed her back to strength, watched her bloom as
one of the valley lilies; he knew her life there to be pure and sweet she
belonged to him, and he loved her. Still these were not all the reasons why he
did not want to take her away. Where could they go? He feared the rustlers
he feared the riders he feared the Mormons. And if he should ever succeed in
getting Bess safely away from these immediate perils, he feared the sharp eyes
of women and their tongues, the big outside world with its problems of
existence. He must wait to decide her future, which, after all, was deciding
his own. But between her future and his something hung impending. Like
Balancing Rock, which waited darkly over the steep gorge, ready to close
forever the outlet to Deception Pass, that nameless thing, as certain yet
intangible as fate, must fall and close forever all doubts and fears of the
future.
I ve dreamed, muttered Venters, as he rose. Well, why not? & To dream is
happiness! But let me just once see this clearly wholly; then I can go on
dreaming till the thing falls. I ve got to tell Jane Withersteen. I ve
dangerous trips to take. I ve work here to make comfort for this girl. She s
mine. I ll fight to keep her safe from that old life. I ve already seen her
forget it. I love her. And if a beast ever rises in me I ll burn my hand off
before I lay it on her with shameful intent. And, by God! sooner or later I ll
kill the man who hid her and kept her in Deception Pass!
As he spoke the west wind softly blew in his face. It seemed to soothe his
passion. That west wind was fresh, cool, fragrant, and it carried a sweet,
strange burden of far-off things tidings of life in other climes, of
sunshine asleep on other walls of other places where reigned peace. It
carried, too, sad truth of human hearts and mystery of promise and hope
unquenchable. Surprise Valley was only a little niche in the wide world whence
blew that burdened wind. Bess was only one of millions at the mercy of unknown
motive in nature and life. Content had come to Venters in the valley;
happiness had breathed in the slow, warm air; love as bright as light had
hovered over the walls and descended to him; and now on the west wind came a
whisper of the eternal triumph of faith over doubt.
How much better I am for what has come to me! he exclaimed. I ll let the
future take care of itself. Whatever falls, I ll be ready.
Venters retraced his steps along the terrace back to camp, and found Bess in
the old familiar seat, waiting and watching for his return.
I went off by myself to think a little, he explained.
You never looked that way before. What what is it? Won t you tell me?
Well, Bess, the fact is I ve been dreaming a lot. This valley makes a fellow
dream. So I forced myself to think. We can t live this way much longer. Soon
I ll simply have to go to Cottonwoods. We need a whole pack train of supplies.
I can get
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Can you go safely? she interrupted.
Why, I m sure of it. I ll ride through the Pass at night. I haven t any fear
that Wrangle isn t where I left him. And once on him Bess, just wait till
you see that horse!
Oh, I want to see him to ride him. But but, Bern, this is what troubles
me, she said. Will will you come back?
Give me four days. If I m not back in four days you ll know I m dead. For
that only shall keep me.
Oh!
Bess, I ll come back. There s danger I wouldn t lie to you but I can
take care of myself.
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