CHAPTER VIII
THE HAND OF FATE
For a few days Winn Hardy was the busiest man on Rockhaven. What withsetting up the steam drill that had been sent him, finding a man to workit, adjusting the derricks, and laying out work for the dozen men Jesshad secured, he had no more time than occasionally to think of who themysterious violin-playing maid might be. He arose early, worked late,and evenings wrote his firm a detailed statement of his progress, ordiscussed matters with Jess at the store. By tacit consent that hadbecome a sort of office for the Rockhaven Granite Company, and eveninglounging place for not only the men who were at work for Winn, butothers interested in the new enterprise, and, in fact, all who were notaway on fishing trips.
Here, also, Winn met the Rev. Jason Bush, a worthy, if attenuated,parson and pedagogue, who had so astonished Winn that first Sunday andwho seemed more interested than any one else in the quarry. It was allthe more pleasant experience to Winn, thus to feel that he was bringinga business blessing to these hard-working and needy people, and thebarometer of his hopes and spirits was at top notch when Friday came andwith it funds from the firm to pay the men. He felt, indeed, that hismission was bearing excellent fruit.
Then, too, he received a letter of praise from his employers,congratulating him on the progress he was making, and reminding himthat, as soon as advisable, he should endeavor to interest those who hadmeans and induce them to invest in Rockhaven stock. It was all right, ofcourse, and a part of his mission there; and Winn, guileless of thecloven hoof hidden beneath it, assured himself that he must carry outtheir wishes as soon as possible.
It was while speculating on this part of his duty the next afternoon,and wondering who except Jess was likely to have money to invest in thisstock, that he felt an unaccountable impulse to visit the gorge againand at once. It was as if some invisible voice was calling him and mustbe answered, and yet he could not explain what it was and how histhought, at that particular moment, had turned to this spot. He was nota believer in fate; he was just an ambitious and practical young man,with good common sense and wholesome ideas, and though a littleembittered by the treatment he had received at the hands of EthelSherman and not likely to fall in love easily with another girl, yet hewas the last person who would admit that fate was playing, or wouldplay, any part in his movements, as it did; and more than that, it ledhim that balmy June afternoon, when the sea and sky were in perfectaccord, to the gorge and to the very spot where, ten days before, he hadbeen mystified. And now he was more so, for not only did he hear thesame low, sweet strains mingling with the ocean's murmur, but he beganto realize that some invisible influence, quite beyond hisunderstanding, had brought him hither. What it was he could not tell, orwhere, or from whence it came, only that he felt it and obeyed.
And so forcibly did this uncanny sense of helplessness oppress him, thatthe weird strains of music, issuing from the rocks below, seemed tentimes more so. For one instant he could not help feeling almost scared,and thought it well to pinch himself to see if he were awake, and themusic and his presence there not a dream. Then he sat down. Surely, ifit were a dream, it was a most exquisite one, for away to the eastwardand all around, a half-circle, the boundless ocean, with here and therea white-winged vessel, and white-crested waves flashing in thesunlight, lay before; while beneath him and sloping V-shaped a hundredfeet below, and to where the billows leaped over the weed-clad rocks,lay this chasm. Back of him, and casting their conical shadows over thechaos of boulders in the gorge, was a thicket of spruce, and to add atouch of heaven to this desolate but grand vision, the faint whisper ofmusic mingling with the monotone of the waves and the sighing of windsin the spruces.
And then the wonder of it all, and what a romantic and singular fancy ofthis fisher maid to thus hide herself where only the mermaids of oldmight have come to sing sad ditties while they combed their sea-greentresses. That it was Mona Hutton he felt almost certain, and his firstimpulse was to descend into the chasm at once and surprise her. Then hethought, if perchance it were not, would that be the act of a gentleman?Doubtless whoever it was had come there to find seclusion, and for himto thus intrude would certainly be rude. The next thought, and the onehe acted upon, was to go back a little of the way he came, hide himself,and, when she appeared, advance to meet her. The way to the village wasover a rounded hill a full mile in length, with scattered clusters ofbayberry bushes between. Back over this a hundred rods Winn retreated,and not thinking how his presence there would affect this unknown girl,hid himself behind a rock. He had not long to wait, and soon saw thesame lithe figure, and under her arm the same bundle, emerge from thegorge, and, as she advanced rapidly, saw that it was Mona. Stillunthinking, he stepped out into view and forward to meet her. In oneinstant he saw her halt, turn back a step, then around, facing him, andstand still; and as he neared her and she saw who it was, she sank tothe earth. Then, as he reached her side and saw her, half recliningagainst a small ledge, and looking up at him, her face and lips ashenwhite, he realized for the first time what a foolish thing he had done.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Hutton," he said earnestly, and removing hishat on the instant, "I see that I have scared you half to death and I amsorry; I didn't mean to."
And as she sat up, still looking at him with pitiful eyes, a realizingsense of his own idiotic action came to him, and he told her, a littleincoherently, perhaps, but truthfully how he had come there both days,and for what reason.
Frankness is said to be a virtue, and in this case it was more, for itsaved the reputation of Winn Hardy as a man of honor and a gentleman,in the eyes of Mona Hutton.
"Yes, I was frightened," she said at last, in response to his repeatedplea for forgiveness, after he had told her his story, "and I almostfainted. It is foolish of me to go there, I know, for mother has told meit is not safe."
Then as she picked up the green bag that had fallen at her feet andstarted to rise once more, Winn's wits came to his rescue, and in aninstant he grasped her hand and arm and almost lifted her to her feet.
"I shall never forgive myself for this day's stupidity," he said, "but Ihave wondered a hundred times since that day who on earth it could bethat hid herself in that forbidding spot. I heard you play only one airthen, and that the sweetest ever composed by mortal man. I have heard itmany, many times, but never once when it reached my heart as it did thatday. What blind intuition brought me here I cannot say; but some impulsedid, and if you will believe what I say and that your playing haswrought a spell over me, I shall be grateful."
To simple and utterly unsophisticated Mona Hutton words like these wereas new as life to a babe, and while she could not and did not believe hemeant them all, as uttered, nevertheless they were sweet to her. It islikely, also, they were colored by the plight Winn found himself in andhis desire to set himself right in the eyes of Mona.
"I do not know why it is," she responded, "but when I go there I seem toenjoy my practice better, and then I feel that no one can hear me.Mother says that no one will ever want to," she added naively.
Winn smiled.
"But I want to," he said, "I want to go there with you some day and hearyou play 'Annie Laurie' again; will you let me?"
"I won't promise," she replied, and perhaps mindful of her mother'sopinion added: "Mother doesn't approve of my playing a fiddle. She saysit's not graceful."
This time Winn laughed. "I don't believe you could do anything and notbe graceful," he said. "As for that, I have seen Camilla Urso playingone before an audience of thousands, and no one thought her ungraceful."
"Who is Camilla Urso?" asked Mona.
"She was a wonderful violinist," answered Winn, "and charmed the wholeworld, years ago. If you will let me come to this spot with you, I willtell you all about her."
Mona turned her face away.
"I don't go there very often," she replied evasively; "and if you haveheard such wonderful playing, I wouldn't dare let you hear me. I don'tknow anything except what Uncle Jess has taught me." Then as she started
onward she added, "You must ask him to play for you some time; he knowshow."
"But it is you I want to hear," Winn asserted, and then, as an intuitioncame to him, he added: "I think it best you go on home alone, MissHutton; it might cause comment if we go on together. I passed a mostdelightful hour with you and your mother last Sunday evening, and, withyour permission, I shall repeat it."
And then, having delivered this polite speech, so utterly unlike whatMona was accustomed to hear, he raised his hat and turned away.
On the brink of the gorge he halted, and, turning again, watched herrapidly nearing the top of the hill. Reaching its crest, she faced aboutand looked back.
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