the Light Of Western Stars (1992) (60 page)

"Well, she left me for a little, an' when she came back she wore some pretty yellow flowers in her hair
.
Her eyes were big an' black an' beautiful
.
She said some queer things about spirits rollin' rocks down the canon
.
Then she said she wanted to show me where she always sat an' waited an' watched for me when I was away
.

She led me around under the crags to a long slope
.
It was some pretty there-clear an' open, with a long sweep, an' the desert yawnin' deep an' red
.
There were yellow flowers on that slope, the same kind she had in her hair-the same kind that Apache girl wore hundreds of years ago when she led the padre to the gold-mine
.

"When I thought of that, an' saw Bonita's eyes, an' then heard the strange crack of rollin' rocks-heard them rattle down an' roll an' grow faint-I was some out of my head
.
But not for long
.
Them rocks were rollin' all right, only it was the weatherin' of the cliffs
.

"An' there under the crags was a gold pocket
.

"Then I was worse than locoed
.
I went gold-crazy
.
I worked like seventeen burros
.
Bill, I dug a lot of goldbearin' quartz
.
Bonita watched the trails for me, brought me water
.
That was how she come to get caught by Pat Hawe an' his guerrillas
.
Sure! Pat Hawe was so set on doin' Gene dirt that he mixed up with Don Carlos
.
Bonita will tell you some staggerin' news about that outfit
.
Just now my story is all gold
.
"

Danny Mains got up and kicked back his chair
.
Blue lightning gleamed from his eyes as he thrust a hand toward Stillwell
.

"Bill, old pal, put her there-give me your hand," he said
.
"You were always my friend
.
You had faith in me
.
Well, Danny Mains owes you, an' he owes Gene Stewart a good deal, an' Danny Mains pays
.
I want two pardners to help me work my gold-mine
.
You an' Gene
.
If there's any ranch hereabouts that takes your fancy I'll buy it
.
If Miss Hammond ever gets tired of her range an stock an' home I'll buy them for Gene
.
If there's any railroad or town round here that she likes I'll buy it
.
If I see anythin' myself that I like I'll buy it
.
Go out; find Gene for me
.
I'm achin' to see him, to tell him
.
Go fetch him; an' right here in this house, with my wife an' Miss Hammond as witnesses, we'll draw up a pardnership
.
Go find him, Bill
.
I want to show him this gold, show him how Danny Mains pays!An' the only bitter drop in my cup to-day is that I can't ever pay Monty Price
.
"

***

Madeline's lips tremblingly formed to tell Danny Mains and Stillwell that the cowboy they wanted so much had left the ranch; but the flame of fine loyalty that burned in Danny's eyes, the happiness that made the old cattleman's face at once amazing and beautiful, stiffened her lips
.
She watched the huge Stillwell and the little cowboy, both talking wildly, as they walked off arm in arm to find Stewart
.
She imagined something of what Danny's disappointment would be, of the elder man's consternation and grief, when he learned Stewart had left for the border
.
At this juncture she looked up to see a strange, yet familiar figure approaching
.
Padre Marcos! Certain it was that Madeline felt herself trembling
.
What did his presence mean on this day?He had always avoided meeting her whenever possible
.
He had been exceedingly grateful for all she had done for his people, his church, and himself; but he had never thanked her in person
.
Perhaps he had come for that purpose now
.
But Madeline did not believe so
.

Mention of Padre Marcos, sight of him, had always occasioned Madeline a little indefinable shock; and now, as he stepped to the porch, a shrunken, stooped, and sad-faced man, she was startled
.

The padre bowed low to her
.

"Senora, will you grant me audience?" he asked, in perfect English, and his voice was low-toned and grave
.

"Certainly, Padre Marcos," replied Madeline; and she led him into her office
.

"May I beg to close the doors?" he asked
.
"It is a matter of great moment, which you might not care to have any one hear
.
"

Wonderingly Madeline inclined her head
.
The padre gently closed one door and then the others
.

"Senora, I have come to disclose a secret-my own sinfulness in keeping it-and to implore your pardon
.
Do you remember that night Senor Stewart dragged me before you in the waiting-room at El Cajon?"

"Yes," replied Madeline
.

"Senora, since that night you have been Senor Stewart's wife!"

Madeline became as motionless as stone
.
She seemed to feel nothing, only to hear
.

"You are Senor Stewart's wife
.
I have kept the secret under fear of death
.
But I could keep it no longer
.
Senor Stewart may kill me now
.
Ah, Senora, it is very strange to you
.
You were so frightened that night, you knew not what happened
.
Senor Stewart threatened me
.
He forced you
.
He made me speak the service
.
He made you speak the Spanish yes
.
And I, Senora, knowing the deeds of these sinful cowboys, fearing worse than disgrace to one so beautiful and so good as you, I could not do less than marry you truly
.
At least you should be his wife
.
So I married you, truly, in the service of my church
.
"

"My God!" cried Madeline, rising
.

"Hear me!I implore you, Senora, hear me out!Do not leave me! Do not look so-so- Ah, Senora, let me speak a word for Senor Stewart
.
He was drunk that night
.
He did not know what he was about
.
In the morning he came to me, made me swear by my cross that I would not reveal the disgrace he had put upon you
.
If I did he would kill me
.
Life is nothing to the American vaquero, Senora
.
I promised to respect his command
.
But I did not tell him you were his wife
.
He did not dream I had truly married you
.
He went to fight for the freedom of my country-Senora, he is one splendid soldier-and I brooded over the sin of my secret
.
If he were killed I need never tell you
.
But if he lived I knew that I must some day
.

"Strange indeed that Senor Stewart and Padre Marcos should both come to this ranch together
.
The great change your goodness wrought in my beloved people was no greater than the change in Senor Stewart
.
Senora, I feared you would go away one day, go back to your Eastern home, ignorant of the truth
.
The time came when I confessed to Stewart-said I must tell you
.
Senor, the man went mad with joy
.
I have never seen so supreme a joy
.
He threatened no more to kill me
.
That strong, cruel vaquero begged me not to tell the secret-never to reveal it
.
He confessed his love for you-a love something like the desert storm
.
He swore by all that was once sacred to him, and by my cross and my church, that he would be a good man, that he would be worthy to have you secretly his wife for the little time life left him to worship at your shrine
.
You needed never to know
.
So I held my tongue, half pitying him, half fearing him, and praying for some God-sent light
.

"Senora, it was a fool's paradise that Stewart lived in
.
I saw him, often
.
When he took me up into the mountains to have me marry that wayward Bonita and her lover I came to have respect for a man whose ideas about nature and life and God were at a variance with mine
.
But the man is a worshiper of God in all material things
.
He is a part of the wind and sun and desert and mountain that have made him
.
I have never heard more beautiful words than those in which he persuaded Bonita to accept Senor Mains, to forget her old lovers, and henceforth to he happy
.
He is their friend
.
I wish I could tell you what that means
.
It sounds so simple
.
It is really simple
.
All great things are so
.
For Senor Stewart it was natural to be loyal to his friend, to have a fine sense of the honor due to a woman who had loved and given, to bring about their marriage, to succor them in their need and loneliness
.
It was natural for him never to speak of them
.
It would have been natural for him to give his life in their defense if peril menaced them
.
Senora, I want you to understand that to me the man has the same stability, the same strength, the same elements which I am in the habit of attributing to the physical life around me in this wild and rugged desert
.
"

Madeline listened as one under a spell
.
It was not only that this soft-voiced, eloquent priest knew how to move the heart, stir the soul; but his defense, his praise of Stewart, if they had been couched in the crude speech of cowboys, would have been a glory to her
.

"Senora, I pray you, do not misunderstand my mission
.
Beyond my confession to you I have only a duty to tell you of the man whose wife you are
.
But I am a priest and I can read the soul
.
The ways of God are inscrutable
.
I am only a humble instrument
.
You are a noble woman, and Senor Stewart is a man of desert iron forged anew in the crucible of love
.
Quien sabe?Senor Stewart swore he would kill me if I betrayed him
.
But he will not lift his hand against me
.
For the man bears you a very great and pure love, and it has changed him
.
I no longer fear his threat, but I do fear his anger, should he ever know I spoke of his love, of his fool's paradise
.
I have watched his dark face turned to the sun setting over the desert
.
I have watched him lift it to the light of the stars
.
Think, my gracious and noble lady, think what is his paradise? To love you above the spirit of the flesh; to know you are his wife, his, never to be another's except by his sacrifice; to watch you with a secret glory of joy and pride; to stand, while he might, between you and evil; to find his happiness in service; to wait, with never a dream of telling you, for the hour to come when to leave you free he must go out and get himself shot!Senora, that is beautiful, it is sublime, it is terrible
.
It has brought me to you with my confession
.
I repeat, Senora, the ways of God are inscrutable
.
What is the meaning of your influence upon Senor Stewart?Once he was merely an animal, brutal, unquickened; now he is a man-I have not seen his like!So I beseech you in my humble office as priest, as a lover of mankind, before you send Stewart to his death, to be sure there is here no mysterious dispensation of God
.
Love, that mighty and blessed and unknown thing, might be at work
.
Senora, I have heard that somewhere in the rich Eastern cities you are a very great lady
.
I know you are good and noble
.
That is all I want to know
.
To me you are only a woman, the same as Senor Stewaft is only a man
.
So I pray you, Senora, before you let Stewart give you freedom at such cost be sure you do not want his love, lest you cast away something sweet and ennobling which you yourself have created
.
"