the Light Of Western Stars (1992) (28 page)

A strong shock vibrated through Madeline, and her eyelids swept open
.
Instantly she associated the name El Capitan with Stewart and experienced a sensation of strange regret
.
It was not pursuit or rescue she thought of then, but death
.
These men would kill Stewart
.
But surely he had not come alone
.
The lean, dark faces, corded and rigid, told her in what direction to look
.
She heard the slow, heavy thump of hoofs
.
Soon into the wide aisle between the trees moved the form of a man, arms flung high over his head
.
Then Madeline saw the horse, and she recognized Majesty, and she knew it was really Stewart who rode the roan
.
When doubt was no longer possible she felt a suffocating sense of gladness and fear and wonder
.

Many of the guerrillas leaped up with drawn weapons
.
Still Stewart approached with his hands high, and he rode right into the camp-fire circle
.
Then a guerrilla, evidently the chief, waved down the threatening men and strode up to Stewart
.
He greeted him
.
There was amaze and pleasure and respect in the greeting
.
Madeline could tell that, though she did not know what was said
.
At the moment Stewart appeared to her as cool and careless as if he were dismounting at her porch steps
.
But when he got down she saw that his face was white
.
He shook hands with the guerrilla, and then his glittering eyes roved over the men and around the glade until they rested upon Madeline
.
Without moving from his tracks he seemed to leap, as if a powerful current had shocked him
.
Madeline tried to smile to assure him she was alive and well; but the intent in his eyes, the power of his controlled spirit telling her of her peril and his, froze the smile on her lips
.

With that he faced the chief and spoke rapidly in the Mexican jargon Madeline had always found so difficult to translate
.
The chief answered, spreading wide his hands, one of which indicated Madeline as she lay there
.
Stewart drew the fellow a little aside and said something for his ear alone
.
The chief's hands swept up in a gesture of surprise and acquiescence
.
Again Stewart spoke swiftly
.
His hearer then turned to address the band
.
Madeline caught the words "Don Carlos" and "pesos
.
"There was a brief muttering protest which the chief thundered down
.
Madeline guessed her release had been given by this guerrilla and bought from the others of the band
.

Stewart strode to her side, leading the roan
.
Majesty reared and snorted when he saw his mistress prostrate
.
Stewart knelt, still holding the bridle
.

"Are you all right?" he asked
.

"I think so," she replied, essaying a laugh that was rather a failure
.
"My feet are tied
.
"

Dark blood blotted out all the white from his face, and lightning shot from his eyes
.
She felt his hands, like steel tongs, loosening the bonds round her ankles
.
Without a word he lifted her upright and then upon Majesty
.
Madeline reeled a little in the saddle, held hard to the pommel with one band, and tried to lean on Stewart's shoulder with the other
.

"Don't give up," he said
.

She saw him gaze furtively into the forest on all sides
.
And it surprised her to see the guerrillas riding away
.
Putting the two facts together, Madeline formed an idea that neither Stewart nor the others desired to meet with some one evidently due shortly in the glade
.
Stewart guided the roan off to the right and walked beside Madeline, steadying her in the saddle
.
At first Madeline was so weak and dizzy that she could scarcely retain her seat
.
The dizziness left her presently, and then she made an effort to ride without help
.
Her weakness, however, and a pain in her wrenched arm made the task laborsome
.

Stewart had struck off the trail, if there were one, and was keeping to denser parts of the forest
.
The sun sank low, and the shafts of gold fell with a long slant among the firs
.
Majesty's hoofs made no sound on the soft ground, and Stewart strode on without speaking
.
Neither his hurry nor vigilance relaxed until at least two miles had been covered
.
Then he held to a straighter course and did not send so many glances into the darkening woods
.
The level of the forest began to be cut up by little hollows, all of which sloped and widened
.
Presently the soft ground gave place to bare, rocky soil
.
The horse snorted and tossed his head
.
A sound of splashing water broke the silence
.
The hollow opened into a wider one through which a little brook murmured its way over the stones
.
Majesty snorted again and stopped and bent his head
.

"He wants a drink," said Madeline
.
"I'm thirsty, too, and very tired
.
"

Stewart lifted her out of the saddle, and as their hands parted she felt something moist and warm
.
Blood was running down her arm and into the palm of her hand
.

"I'm-bleeding," she said, a little unsteadily
.
"Oh, I remember
.
My arm was hurt
.
"

She held it out, the blood making her conscious of her weakness
.
Stewart's fingers felt so firm and sure
.
Swiftly he ripped the wet sleeve
.
Her forearm had been cut or scratched
.
He washed off the blood
.

"Why, Stewart, it's nothing
.
I was only a little nervous
.
I guess that's the first time I ever saw my own blood
.
"

He made no reply as he tore her handkerchief into strips and bound her arm
.
His swift motions and his silence gave her a hint of how he might meet a more serious emergency
.
She felt safe
.
And because of that impression, when he lifted his head and she saw that he was pale and shaking, she was surprised
.
He stood before her folding his scarf, which was still wet, and from which he made no effort to remove the red stains
.

"Miss Hammond," he said, hoarsely, "it was a man's hands-a Greaser's finger-nails-that cut your arm
.
I know who he was
.
I could have killed him
.
But I mightn't have got your freedom
.
You understand?I didn't dare
.
"

Madeline gazed at Stewart, astounded more by his speech than his excessive emotion
.

"My dear boy!" she exclaimed
.
And then she paused
.
She could not find words
.

He was making an apology to her for not killing a man who had laid a rough hand upon her person
.
He was ashamed and seemed to be in a torture that she would not understand why he had not killed the man
.
There seemed to be something of passionate scorn in him that he had not been able to avenge her as well as free her
.

"Stewart, I understand
.
You were being my kind of cowboy
.
I thank you
.
"

But she did not understand so much as she implied
.
She had heard many stories of this man's cool indifference to peril and death
.
He had always seemed as hard as granite
.
Why should the sight of a little blood upon her arm pale his cheek and shake his hand and thicken his voice?What was there in his nature to make him implore her to see the only reason he could not kill an outlaw? The answer to the first question was that he loved her
.
It was beyond her to answer the second
.
But the secret of it lay in the same strength from which his love sprang-an intensity of feeling which seemed characteristic of these Western men of simple, lonely, elemental lives
.
All at once over Madeline rushed a tide of realization of how greatly it was possible for such a man as Stewart to love her
.
The thought came to her in all its singular power
.
All her Eastern lovers who had the graces that made them her equals in the sight of the world were without the only great essential that a lonely, hard life had given to Stewart
.
Nature here struck a just balance
.
Something deep and dim in the future, an unknown voice, called to Madeline and disturbed her
.
And because it was not a voice to her intelligence she deadened the ears of her warm and throbbing life and decided never to listen
.

"Is it safe to rest a little?" she asked
.
"I am so tired
.
Perhaps I'll be stronger if I rest
.
"

"We're all right now," he said
.
"The horse will be better, too
.
I ran him out
.
And uphill, at that
.
"

"Where are we?"

"Up in the mountains, ten miles and more from the ranch
.
There's a trail just below here
.
I can get you home by midnight
.
They'll be some worried down there
.
"

"What happened?"

"Nothing much to any one but you
.
That's the-the hard luck of it
.
Florence caught us out on the slope
.
We were returning from the fire
.
We were dead beat
.
But we got to the ranch before any damage was done
.
We sure had trouble in finding a trace of you
.
Nick spotted the prints of your heels under the window
.
And then we knew
.
I had to fight the boys
.
If they'd come after you we'd never have gotten you without a fight
.
I didn't want that
.
Old Bill came out packing a dozen guns
.
He was crazy
.
I had to rope Monty
.
Honest, I tied him to the porch
.
Nels and Nick promised to stay and hold him till morning
.
That was the best I could do
.
I was sure lucky to come up with the band so soon
.
I had figured right
.
I knew that guerrilla chief
.
He's a bandit in Mexico
.
It's a business with him
.
But he fought for Madero, and I was with him a good deal
.
He may be a Greaser, but he's white
.
"

"How did you effect my release?"

"I offered them money
.
That's what the rebels all want
.
They need money
.
They're a lot of poor, hungry devils
.
"

"I gathered that you offered to pay ransom
.
How much?"

"Two thousand dollars Mex
.
I gave my word
.
I'll have to take the money
.
I told them when and where I'd meet them
.
"

"Certainly
.
I'm glad I've got the money
.
"Madeline laughed
.
"What a strange thing to happen to me!I wonder what dad would say to that?Stewart, I'm afraid he'd say two thousand dollars is more than I'm worth
.
But tell me
.
That rebel chieftain did not demand money?"