by Brand, Max
“Restless? He may be restless to leave us!” she exclaimed. “What did he say when he went in?”
“Only that he was going to get something to put on. The wild geese had flown across the moon; when they called out of the sky, he looked up suddenly. And then I suppose that he felt the cold as he heard them, and he went inside.”
“The wild geese?” she murmured.
And she in turn heard the distant chorus swept down from the chilly regions about. Between her and the moon the unseen hosts were flying and sending their harsh music toward the earth.
“The wild geese — and he has gone! He has gone to follow them. He has gone to — ”
She fled suddenly from the terrace. Arturo Monterey stood up, startled and amazed. He cried after her.
But she, unheeding, ran on into the house, and hurried to the room of Silver. There was no answer to her knock. She threw the door open, and the darkness seemed to roll out just like a thick mist across her eyes.
She fled down to the patio.
“Señor Silver!” she cried to one of the house mozos. “Have you seen him?”
“Going toward the stable,” said the servant.
“The stable!” moaned Julia Monterey, and ran on, breathless with fear.
It was near the stable that she met with Juan Perez, walking with his head thoughtfully bowed.
“Juan!” she cried. “Juan, have you seen Señor Silver? Has he been here?”
“Here and gone again,” said Juan Perez. “There was trouble in his face. And he left this for you and the señor.”
She snatched the letter and tore it open, to read:
MY DEAR FRIENDS: It came over me all at once, to-night, that I must go. I wanted to stay and say good-by to you, but I knew that you would be kind, and ask me why I should leave, and then I would be able to give no answer.
Forgive me for leaving like a thief in the night.
Some day I shall surely come to you again. From wherever I light, I shall write to you everything.
ADIOS, ADIOS.
She crushed the paper in her hand and ran across the patio to the great entrance arch, crying out his name. The sound of her voice passed down the road and echoed back to her emptily from the hillside.
It was dawn of the next day. High up in the center of the northern pass, Silvertip turned in the saddle and looked back on the blue of the river and the green, rolling lands that swept up from the stream. He could see the cattle as dull spots of color, and the distant house of Monterey was like a child’s toy that one could have picked up between thumb and forefinger.
He looked at it until a certain mistiness came over his eyes. Then he turned and walked the horse little by little over the ridge.
He knew that he was leaving a glorious chance of happiness behind him; but he closed his eyes to it.
The chance was so great indeed that he felt it pulling at his heart with hands.
He would not surrender to it. The old unrest moved in him like new blood. The wind of the mountains vainly caused his new wounds to ache.
He set his teeth firmly and aimed his course toward the blue and crystal-white of distant mountains.
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Copyright © 1933 by Frederick Faust. Copyright © renewed 1960 by Dorothy Faust.
The name Max Brand® is a registered trademark with the United States Patent and
Trademark Office and cannot be used for any purpose without express written
permission. Published by arrangement with Golden West Literary Agency. All rights reserved.
Cover Images © www.Clipart.com
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.
ISBN 10: 1-4405-4931-1
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-4931-1
eISBN 10: 1-4405-4929-X
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-4929-8
