CHAPTER IV
THE TREE OF LIFE
As the evening came on they walked out together, Wunpost and theworshipful Wilhelmina, and from the portals of her House of Dreams theylooked out over the Sink where they had met but the evening before. Lessthan a single day had passed since their stars had crossed, and alreadythey were talking of life and eternal friendship and of all the greatdreams that youth loves. Each had given of what they had withoutcounting the cost or considering what others might say; and now theywalked together like reunited lovers, though their friendship was nottwenty-four hours old. Yet in that single eventful day what a gamut theyhad run of the emotions which make up the soul's life--of dangers boldlymet, of mutual sacrifice and trust and the joys of vindication andsuccess. They had staked all they had in the greatest game in life and,miracle of miracles, they had won. They had sought out each other'ssouls in the murk of death and doubt and each had been proven pure gold;yet even youth, for all its madness, has its moments of clairvoyance andBilly sensed that her joy could not last. It was too great, too perfect,to endure forever, and as she gazed across the desert she sighed.
"What's the matter?" inquired Wunpost who, after a few hours' sleep, hadawakened in a most expansive mood; but she only sighed again and shookher head and gazed off across the quivering Sink. It was a hell-hole oftorment to those who crossed its moods and yet in that waste she hadfound this man, who had changed her whole outlook on life. He had comeup from the desert, a sun-bronzed young giant, volcanic in his loves andhis hates; and on the morrow the desert would claim him again, for hewas going back to his mine. And her father was going, too--Jail Canyonwould be as empty as it had been for many a long year--and she wholonged to live, to plunge into the swirl of life, would be left therealone, to dream.
But what would dreams be after she had tasted the bitter-sweet of livingand learned what it was that she missed; the tug of strong emotions, thehopes and fears and heartaches that are the fruits of the great Tree ofLife? She wanted to pluck the fruits, be they bitter or sweet, and drainthe world's wine to the dregs; and then, if life went ill, she couldreturn to her House with something about which to dream. But now sheonly sighed and Wunpost took her hand and drew her down beside him inthe shade.
"Don't you worry about _him_ kid?" he observed mysteriously, "I'lltake care of him, all right. And don't you believe a word he said aboutme stealing horses and such. I'm a little rough sometimes when thesejaspers try to rob me, but I never take advantage of a friend. I'm aKentucky Calhoun, related to John Caldwell Calhoun, the great orator whodebated with Webster; and a Kentucky Calhoun never forgets a kindnessnor forgives an intentional injury. Dusty Rhodes thinks he's smart,getting a third of our mine after he went off and left me flat; but I'llshow that old walloper before I get through with him that he can't putone over on me. And there's a man over in Nevada that's going to learnthe same thing as soon as I make my stake--he's another smart Aleck thatthinks he can job me and get away with highway robbery."
"Oh, is that Judson Eells?" broke in Billy quickly and Wunpost noddedhis head.
"That's the hombre," he said his voice waxing louder, "he's one of thesegrubstake sharks. He came to Nevada after the Tonopah excitement with aflunkey they call Flip Flappum. That's another dirty dog that I'm goingto put my mark on when I get him in the door--one of the most low-down,contemptible curs that I know of--he makes his living by selling bumlife insurance. Phillip F. Lapham is his name but we all call him FlipFlappum--he's the black-leg lawyer that drew up that contract that mademe lose my mine. Did Dusty tell you about it--then he told you a lie--Inever even read the cussed contract! I was broke, to tell you the truth,and I'd have signed my own death warrant to get the price of a plate ofbeans; and so I put my name in the place where he told me and neverthought nothing about it.
"It was a grubstake, that's all I knew, giving him half of what I stakedin exchange for what I could eat; but it turned out afterwards it waslike these fire insurance policies, where a man never reads the fineprint. There was more jokers in that contract than in a tinhorngambler's deck of cards--he had me peoned for life--and after I'd givenhim half my strike he came out and claimed it all. Well, no man wouldstand for that but when I went to make a kick there was a rat-facedguard there waiting for me. Pisen-face Lynch they call him, and if hewas half as bad as he looks he'd be the wild wolf of the world; but heain't, not by a long shot, he just had the drop on me, and he run me offmy own claim! I came back and they ganged me and when I woke up I lookedlike I'd been through a barbed-wire fence.
"Well, after that, as the nigger says, I began to think they didn't wantme around there, and so I pulled my freight; and it wasn't a monthafterwards that the ore all pinched out and left Judson Eells belly up.If he lost one dollar I'll bet he lost fifty thousand, besides tippinghis hand on that contract; and I walked clean back from the lower end ofDeath Valley just to see how his lip was hung. He's a big, fat slob, andwhen times are good he goes around with his lip pulled up, so! But thistime he looked like an old muley cow that's come through a long, latespring--his lip was plumb down on his brisket. So I gave him thehorse-laugh, paid my regards to Flip and Lynch, and came away feelingfine. Because I'll tell you Billy, sure as God made little fishes,there's a hereafter coming to them three men; and I'm the boy that'sgoing to deal 'em the misery--you wait, and watch my smoke!"
He smiled benevolently into Billy's startled eyes, and as the subjectseemed to interest her he settled himself more comfortably and proceededwith his views on life.
"Yes sir," he said, "I'll put a torch under them, that'll burn 'em offthe face of the earth. Did you ever see a banker that wasn't a regularrobber--with special attention to widows and orphans? Well, take it fromme, Billy, they're a bunch of crooks--I guess I ought to know. I wasjust eleven years old when they foreclosed the mortgage and turned mymother and us kids into the street; and since then I've done everythingfrom punching cows to highway robbery but I've never forgot thosebankers. That's how come I signed up with Judson Eells, I thought I wassticking him good; but he was playing a system and they didn't anybodytumble to it until I discovered the Wunpost.
"W'y, there wasn't a prospector in the state of Nevada that hadn'tworked old Eells for a grubstake. We thought he was easy, kind of bugson mining like all the rest of these nuts, but the minute I struck theWunpost--_bing_, he's there with his contract and we find wherewe've all been stung. We're tied up, by grab, with more whereases andwherefores, and the parties of the first part, and so on, than you'dfind in a book of law; and the boys all found out from what he did to methat he had us euchered at every turn. I thought I could fool him bycovering up the hole----"
"Oh, did you do that!" burst out Billy reproachfully, "and I made DustyRhodes apologize!"
"Never mind," said Wunpost, "that was nothing but jaw-bone. He just saidit to get a share in our mine."
"No, but listen," protested Billy, "that isn't what I mean. Do you thinkit was right to deceive Eells?"
"Was it _right_, kid!" laughed Wunpost. "That ain't nothing to whatI'm _going_ to do if I ever get the chance. Didn't he hire thatblack-leg lawyer to draw up a cinch contract with the purpose ofgrabbing all I found? Well then, that shows how honest _he_was--and now I'm out after his scalp. I've got to raise a stake, so Ican fight him dollar for dollar; and then, sure as shooting, I'm goingto bust his bank and make him walk out of camp. Was it right--say,that's a good one--you ain't been around much, have you? Well, that'sall right, Billy; I like you, all the same."
He nodded approvingly and Billy sat staring, for her world had gonetopsy-turvy again. She had wanted to leave Jail Canyon and go out intothe world, but was it possible that there existed a state of societywhere there was no right and wrong? She sat thinking a minute, her headin a whirl, and then she came back again.
"But when you covered up this mine and tried to keep it for yourself,he--had Mr. Eells ever done you any harm?"
"Well, not yet, kid--that is, I didn't know it--but believe me, hisintentions were good. T
he time hadn't come, that's all."
"He was your friend, then," contended Billy, "because Dusty Rhodessaid----"
"Dusty Rhodes!" bellowed Wunpost and then he paused. "Go on, let's getthis off your chest."
"Well, he said," continued Billy, "that Mr. Eells gave you everythingand that you lived off his grubstake for two years; so I don't think itwas right, when you finally found a mine----"
"Say, listen," broke in Wunpost leaning over and tapping her on the kneewhile he fixed her with intolerant eyes, "who's your friend, now--DustyRhodes or me?"
"Why--you are," faltered Billy, "but I don't see----"
"All right then," pronounced Wunpost, "if I'm your friend, _stay withme_. Don't tell me what Dusty Rhodes said!"
"That's all right," she defended, "didn't I make him apologize? But I'm_your_ friend, too, and I don't think it was right----"
"Right!" thundered Wunpost, "where do you get this 'right' stuff? Haveyou lived up this canyon all your life? Well, you wait until tomorrow,when the rush is on, and I'll show you how much _right_ there is inmining! You come down to the mine and I'll show you a bunch of mugs thatwould rob you of your claim like _that_! I'm going to be there,myself, and I'm going to borrow that pistol that you stuck in my ribsthe other night; and the first yap that touches a corner or crosses myline I'll make him hard to catch. And then will come the promoters, withtheir diamonds and certified checks, and they'll offer you millions andmillions; but you stay with me, kid, if they offer you the sub-treasury,because they'll clean you if you ever sign up. Don't sign nothing,see--and don't promise anything, either; and I'll tell you about_me_, I'll do anything for a friend--but that's as far as I go.They ain't no right and wrong, as far as I'm concerned. I'm like adanged Injun, I'll keep my word to a friend no matter how the cardsfall; but if that friend turns against me I'll scalp him like_that_, and hang his hide on the fence! So now you know right whereyou'll find me!"
"Well, all right," retorted Billy, whose Scotch blood was up, "and I'lltell you right where you'll find _me_. I'll stay with my friendswhether they're right or wrong, but I'll never do anything dishonest.And if you don't like that you can take back your claim because----"
"Sure I like it!" cried Wunpost, laughing and patting her hand, "that'sjust the kind of a friend I want. But all the same, Billy, this is noSunday School picnic--it's more like a dog fight we're going to--and theonly way to stand off that bunch of burglars is to hit 'em with anythingyou've got. You've got to grab with both hands and kick with both feetif you want to win in this mining game; and when you try to fight honestyou're tying one hand behind you, because some of 'em won't stop atmurder. Eells and Flip Flap and their kind don't pretend to be honest,they just get by with the law; and if you give 'em the edge they'll soakyou in the jaw the first time you turn your head."
"Well, I don't care," returned Billy, "my father is honest and nobodyever robbed him of his claim!"
"Hooh! Who wants it?" jeered Wunpost arrogantly. "I'm talking about areal mine. Your old man's claims are stuck up in a canyon where a flyingmachine couldn't hardly go and about the time he gets his road builtanother cloudburst will come along and wash it away. Oh, don't talk tome, I _know_--I've been all along those peaks and right down pasthis mine--and I tell you it isn't worth stealing!"
"And I've been up there, too, and helped pack out the ore, and I tellyou you don't know what you're talking about!"
Billy's eyes flashed dangerously as she sprang up to face him and for aminute they matched their wills; then Wunpost laughed shortly andstepped out into the open where the sun was just topping the mountains.
"Well all right, kid," he said, "have your own way about it. It makes nodifference to me."
"No, I guess not," retorted Billy, "or you'd find out what you weretalking about before you said that my father was a fool. His mine isjust as good as it ever was--all it needs is another road."
"Yes, and then _another_ road," chimed in Wunpost mockingly, "assoon as the first cloudburst comes by. And the price of silver is justhalf what it was when Old Panamint was on the boom. But that makes nodifference, of course?"
"Yes, it does," acknowledged Billy whose eyes were gray with rage, "butthe flotation process is so much cheaper than milling that it more thanevens things up. And there hasn't been a cloudburst in thirteenyears--but that makes no difference, of course!"
She spat it out spitefully and Wunpost curbed his wit for he saw wherehis jesting was leading to. When it came to her father thisunsophisticated child would stand up and fight like a wildcat. And hebegan to perceive too that she was not such a child--she was a woman,with the experience of a child. In the ways of the world she was a merebabe in the woods but in intellect and character she was far from beingdwarfed and her honesty was positively embarrassing. It crowded him intocorners that were hard to get out of and forced him to make excuses forhimself, whereas at the moment he was all lit up with joy over themiracle of his second big strike. He had discovered the Wunpost, andlost it on a fluke; but the Willie Meena was different--if he kept thepeace with her they would both come out with a fortune.
"Never mind now, kid," he said at last, "your father is all right--Ilike him. And if he thinks he can get rich by building roads up thecanyon, that's his privilege; it's nothing to me. But you string alongwith me on our mine down below and there'll be money and to spare for usboth; and then you can take your share and build the old man a roadthat'll make 'em all take notice! About twenty thousand dollars ought tofix the matter up, but if we get to gee-hawing and Dusty Rhodes mixes inthere won't be a dollar for any of us. We've got to stand together,see--you and me against old Dusty--and that will give us control."
"Well, I didn't start the quarrel," said Billy, beginning to blink, "butit makes me mad, just because father won't give up to have everybodysaying he's crazy. But he isn't--he knows just exactly what he'sdoing--and some day he'll be a rich man when these Blackwaterpocket-miners are destitute. The Homestake mine produced half a milliondollars, the second time they opened it up, and if the road hadn'twashed out it would be producing yet and my father would be rated amillionaire. If he would sell out his claims, or just organize a companyand give outside capitalists control----"
"Don't you do it!" warned Wunpost, who made a very poor listener,"they'll skin you, every time. The party that has control can take overthe property and exclude the minority stockholders from the ground, andall they can do is to sue for an accounting and demand a look at thebooks. But the books are nothing, it's what's underground that counts,and if you try to go down they can kill you. I learned that from JudsonEells when he put me out of Wunpost--and say, we can work that on Dusty!We'll treat him white at first, but the minute he gets gay, it's thegate--we'll give him the gate!"
He pranced about joyously, vainly trying to make her smile, butWilhelmina had lost her gaiety.
"No," she said, "let's not do that--because I made him apologize, youknow. But don't you think it's possible that Judson Eells will followafter you and claim this mine too, under his contract?"
"He can't!" chuckled Wunpost starting to do a double-shuffle, "I fooledhim--this isn't Nevada. And when I found the Wunpost I was eating hisgrub, but this time I was strictly on my own. I came to a country whereI'd never been before, so he couldn't say I'd covered it up; and thatcontract was made out in the state of Nevada, but this is clear over inCalifornia. Not a chance, kid, we're rich, cheer up!"
He tried to grab her hand but she drew it away from him and an anxiouslook crept into her eyes.
"No," she said, "let's not be foolish." Already the great dream hadsped.
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