Gabriel Conroy

by Bret Harte

  CHAPTER V.

  SIMPLICITY _versus_ SAGACITY.

  When Gabriel reached his home it was after dark, and Olly was anxiouslywaiting to receive him.

  "You're wet all through, you awful Gabe, and covered with mud into thebargain. Go and change your clothes, or you'll get your death, as sureas you're a born sinner!"

  The tone and manner in which this was uttered was something unusual withOlly, but Gabriel was too glad to escape further questioning tocriticise or rebuke it. But when he had reappeared from behind thescreen with dry clothes, he was surprised to observe by the light of thenewly-lit candle that Olly herself had undergone since morning a decidedchange in her external appearance. Not to speak alone of an unusualcleanliness of face and hands, and a certain attempt at confining heryellow curls with a vivid pink ribbon, there was an unwonted neatness inher attire, and some essay at adornment in a faded thread-lace collarwhich she had found among her mother's "things" in the family bag, anda purple neck-ribbon.

  "It seems to me," said the delighted Gabriel, "that somebody else hezbeen dressin' up and makin' a toylit, sence I've been away. Hev you beenin the ditches agin, Olly?"

  "No," said Olly, with some dignity of manner, as she busied herself insetting the table for supper.

  "But I reckon I never seen ye look so peart afore, Olly; who's beenhere?" he added, with a sudden alarm.

  "Nobody," said Olly; "I reckon some folks kin get along and look decentwithout the help of other folks, leastways of Susan Markle."

  At this barbed arrow Gabriel winced slightly. "See yer, Olly," saidGabriel, "ye mustn't talk thet way about thet woman. You're only achile--and ef yer brother did let on to ye, in confidence, certingthings ez a brother may say to his sister, ye oughtn't say anythin'about it."

  "Say anythin'!" echoed Olly, scornfully; "do you think I'd ever let onto thet woman ennything? Ketch me!"

  Gabriel looked up at his sister in awful admiration, and felt at thedepths of his conscience-stricken and self-deprecatory nature that hedidn't deserve so brave a little defender. For a moment he resolved totell her the truth, but a fear of Olly's scorn and a desire to bask inthe sunshine of her active sympathy withheld him. "Besides," he added tohimself, in a single flash of self-satisfaction, "this yer thing may bethe makin' o' thet gal yet. Look at thet collar, Gabriel! look at thethair, Gabriel! all your truth-tellin' never fetched outer thet purtychild what thet one yarn did."

  Nevertheless, as Gabriel sat down to his supper he was still haunted bythe ominous advice and counsel he had heard that day. When Olly hadfinished her meal, he noticed that she had forborne, evidently at greatpersonal sacrifice, to sop the frying-pan with her bread. He turned toher gravely--

  "Ef you wus ever asked, Olly, ef I had been sweet upon Mrs. Markle, wotwould ye say?"

  "Say," said Olly savagely, "I'd say that if there ever was a woman ezhad run arter a man with less call to do it--it was Mrs. Markle--thatsame old disgustin' Susan Markle. Thet's wot I'd say, and I'd say it--toher face! Gabe, see here!"

  "Well," said the delighted Gabriel.

  "Ef that school-ma'am comes up here, do you jest make up to her!"

  "Olly!" ejaculated the alarmed Gabriel.

  "You jest go for her! You jest do for her what you did for that SusanMarkle. And jest you do it, if you can, Gabe--when Mrs. Markle'saround--or afore little Manty--she'll go and tell her mother--she tellsher everything. I've heerd, Gabe, that some o' them school-ma'ams isnice."

  In his desire to please Olly, Gabriel would have imparted to her thestory of his adventure in the ca[~n]on, but a vague fear that Olly mightdemand from him an instant offer of his hand and heart to the woman hehad saved, checked the disclosure. And the next moment there was a rapat the door of the cabin.

  "I forgot to say, Gabe, that Lawyer Maxwell was here to-day to see ye,"said Olly, "and I bet you thet's him. If he wants you to nuss anybody,Gabe, don't ye do it! You got enough to do to look arter me!"

  Gabriel rose with a perplexed face and opened the door. A tall dark man,with a beard heavily streaked with grey, entered. There was something inhis manner and dress, although both conformed to local prejudices andcustoms, that denoted a type of man a little above the average socialcondition of One Horse Gulch. Unlike Gabriel's previous eveningvisitor, he did not glance around him, but fixed a pair of keen,half-humorous, half-interrogating grey eyes upon his host's face, andkept them there. The habitual expression of his features was serious,except for a certain half-nervous twitching at the left corner of hismouth, which continued usually, until he stopped and passed his handsoftly across it. The impression always left on the spectator was, thathe had wiped away a smile, as some people do a tear.

  "I don't think I ever before met you, Gabriel," he said, advancing andoffering his hand. "My name is Maxwell. I think you've heard of me. Ihave come for a little talk on a matter of business."

  The blank dismay of Gabriel's face did not escape him, nor the gesturewith which he motioned to Olly to retire.

  "It's quite evident," he said to himself, "that the child knows nothingof this, or is unprepared. I have taken him by surprise."

  "If I mistake not, Gabriel," said Maxwell aloud, "yourlittle--er--girl--is as much concerned in this matter as yourself. Whynot let her remain?"

  "No, no;" said Gabriel, now feeling perfectly convinced in the depths ofhis conscience-stricken soul that Maxwell was here as the legal adviserof the indignant Mrs. Markle. "No! Olly, run out and get some chips inthe wood-house agin to-morrow morning's fire. Run!"

  Olly ran. Maxwell cast a look after the child, wiped his mouth, andleaning his elbow on the table, fixed his eyes on Gabriel. "I havecalled to-night, Gabriel, to see if we can arrange a certain matterwithout trouble, and even--as I am employed against you--with as littletalk as possible. To be frank, I am entrusted with the papers in a legalproceeding against you. Now, see here! is it necessary for me to saywhat these proceedings are? Is it even necessary for me to give the nameof my client?"

  Gabriel dropped his eyes, but even then the frank honesty of his naturespoke for him. He raised his head and said simply--"No!"

  Lawyer Maxwell was for a moment staggered, but only for a moment."Good," he said thoughtfully; "you are frank. Let me ask you now if, toavoid legal proceedings, publicity, and scandal--and allow me to add,the almost absolute certainty of losing in any suit that might bebrought against you--would you be willing to abandon this house andclaim at once, allowing it to go for damages in the past? If you would,I think I could accept it for such. I think I could promise that eventhis question of a closer relationship would not come up. Briefly, _she_might keep her name, and _you_ might keep yours, and you would remain toeach other as strangers. What do you say?"

  Gabriel rose quickly and took the lawyer's hands with a tremulous grasp."You're a kind man, Mr. Maxwell," he said, shaking the lawyer's handvigorously; "a good man. It's a bad business, and you've made the bestof it. Ef you'd been my own lawyer instead o' hers, you couldn't hevtreated me better. I'll leave here at once. I've been thinking o' doingit ever since this yer thing troubled me; but I'll go to-morrow. Ye canhev the house, and all it contains. If I had anything else in a way of afee to offer ye, I'd do it. She kin hev the house and all that they isof it. And then nothing will be said?"

  "Not a word," said Maxwell, examining Gabriel curiously.

  "No talk--nothin' in the newspapers?" continued Gabriel.

  "Your conduct toward her and your attitude in this whole affair will bekept a profound secret, unless you happen to betray it yourself and thatis my one reason for advising you to leave here."

  "I'll do it--to-morrow," said Gabriel, rubbing his hands. "Wouldn't youlike to have me sign some bit o' paper?"

  "No, no," said the lawyer, wiping his mouth with his hand, and lookingat Gabriel as if he belonged to some entirely new species. "Let meadvise you, as a friend, to sign no paper that might be brought againstyou hereafter. Your simple abandonment of the claim and house issufficient for our purposes. I will make o
ut no papers in the case untilThursday; by that time I expect to find no one to serve them on. Youunderstand?"

  Gabriel nodded, and wrung the lawyer's hand warmly.

  Maxwell walked toward the door, still keeping his glance fixed onGabriel's clear, honest eyes. On the threshold he paused, and leaningagainst it, wiped his mouth with a slow gesture, and said--"From all Ican hear, Gabriel, you are a simple, honest fellow, and I franklyconfess to you, but for the admission you have made to me, I would havethought you incapable of attempting to wrong a woman. I should havesupposed it some mistake. I am not a judge of the motives of men; I amtoo old a lawyer, and too familiar with things of this kind to besurprised at men's motives, or even to judge their rights or wrongs bymy own. But now that we understand each other, would you mind telling mewhat was your motive for this peculiar and monstrous form of deception?Understand me; it will not alter my opinion of you, which is, that youare not a bad man. But I am curious to know how you could deliberatelyset about to wrong this woman; what was the motive?"

  Gabriel's face flushed deeply. Then he lifted his eyes and pointed tothe screen. The lawyer followed the direction of his finger, and sawOlly standing in the doorway.

  Lawyer Maxwell smiled. "It is the sex, anyway," he said to himself;"perhaps a little younger than I supposed; of course, his own child." Henodded again, smiled at Olly, and with the consciousness of aprofessional triumph, blent with a certain moral satisfaction that didnot always necessarily accompany his professional success, he passed outinto the night.

  Gabriel avoided conversation with Olly until late in the evening. Whenshe had taken her accustomed seat at his feet before the fire, she camedirectly to the point. "What did he want, Gabe?"

  "Nothing partickler," said Gabriel, with an affectation of supremeindifference. "I was thinking, Olly, that I'd tell you a story. It's along time since I told one." It had been Gabriel's habit to improvethese precious moments by relating the news of the camp, or the currenttopics of the day, artfully imparted as pure fiction; but since hispre-occupation with Mrs. Markle, he had lately omitted it.

  Olly nodded her head, and Gabriel went on--

  "Once upon a time they lived a man ez hed lived and would live--for thetwas wot was so sing'ler about him--all alone, 'cept for a little sisterez this man hed, wot he loved very dearly. They was no one ez this manwould ever let ring in, so to speak, between him and this little sister,and the heaps o' private confidence, and the private talks about thisand thet, thet this yer man hed with this little sister, was wonderfulto behold."

  "Was it a real man--a pure man?" queried Olly.

  "The man was a real man, but the little sister, I oughter say, was akind o' fairy, you know, Olly, ez hed a heap o' power to do good to thisyer man, unbeknownst to him and afore his face. They lived in a sorterpaliss in the woods, this yer man and his sister. And one day this yerman hed a heap o' troubil come upon him that was sich ez would make himleave this beautiful paliss, and he didn't know how to let on to hislittle sister about it; and so he up, and he sez to her, sez he,'Gloriana'--thet was her name--'Gloriana,' sez he, 'we must quit thisbeautiful paliss and wander into furrin parts, and the reason why is asecret ez I can't tell ye.' And this yer little sister jest ups and sez,'Wot's agreeable to you, brother, is agreeable to me, for we iseverything to each other the wide world over, and variety is the spiceo' life, and I'll pack my traps to-morrow.' And she did. For why, Olly?Why, don't ye see, this yer little sister was a fairy, and knowed it allwithout bein' told. And they went away to furrin parts and strangeplaces, war they built a more beautiful paliss than the other was, andthey lived thar peaceful like and happy all the days o' their life."

  "And thar wasn't any old witch of a Mrs. Markle to bother them. When areye goin', Gabe?" asked the practical Olly.

  "I thought to-morrow," said Gabriel, helplessly abandoning all allegory,and looking at his sister in respectful awe, "thet ez, I reckoned, Olly,to get to Casey's in time to take the arternoon stage up to Marysville."

  "Well," said Olly, "then I'm goin' to bed now."

  "Olly," said Gabriel reproachfully, as he watched the little figuredisappear behind the canvas, "ye didn't kiss me fur good-night."

  Olly came back. "You ole Gabe--you!" she said patronisingly, as she ranher fingers through his tangled curls, and stooped to bestow a kiss onhis forehead from an apparently immeasurable moral and intellectualheight--"You old big Gabe, what would you do without me, I'd like toknow?"

  The next morning Gabriel was somewhat surprised at observing Olly,immediately after the morning meal, proceed gravely to array herself inthe few more respectable garments that belonged to her wardrobe. Over awhite muslin frock, yellow and scant with age, she had tied a scarf ofglaring cheap pink ribbon, and over this again she had secured, by theaid of an enormous tortoiseshell brooch, a large black and white checkshawl of her mother's, that even repeated folding could not reduce insize. She then tied over her yellow curls a large straw hat trimmed withwhite and yellow daisies and pale-green ribbon, and completed her toiletby unfurling over her shoulder a small yellow parasol. Gabriel, who hadbeen watching these preparations in great concern, at last ventured toaddress the _bizarre_ but pretty little figure before him.

  "War you goin', Olly?"

  "Down the gulch to say good-bye to the Reed gals. 'Taint the squarething to vamose the ranch without lettin' on to folks."

  "Ye ain't goin' near Mrs. Markle's, are ye?" queried Gabriel, indeprecatory alarm.

  Olly turned a scornful flash of her clear blue eye upon her brother, andsaid curtly, "Ketch me!"

  There was something so appalling in her quickness, such a suddenrevelation of quaint determination in the lines of her mouth andeyebrows, that Gabriel could say no more. Without a word he watched theyellow sunshade and flapping straw hat with its streaming ribbons slowlydisappear down the winding descent of the hill. And then a sudden andgrotesque sense of dependence upon the child--an appreciation of somereserved quality in her nature hitherto unsuspected by him--somethingthat separated them now, and in the years to come would slowly widen therift between them--came upon him with such a desolating sense ofloneliness that it seemed unendurable. He did not dare to re-enter orlook back upon the cabin, but pushed on vaguely toward his claim on thehillside. On his way thither he had to pass a solitary red-wood treethat he had often noticed, whose enormous bulk belittled the rest of theforest; yet, also, by reason of its very isolation had acquired acertain lonely pathos that was far beyond the suggestion of its heroicsize. It seemed so imbecile, so gratuitously large, so unproductive ofthe good that might be expected of its bulk, so unlike the smart sprucesand pert young firs and larches that stood beside it, that Gabrielinstantly accepted it as a symbol of himself, and could not helpwondering if there were not some other locality where everything elsemight be on its own plane of existence. "If I war to go thar," saidGabriel to himself, "I wonder if I might not suit better than I do yer,and be of some sarvice to thet child." He pushed his way through theunderbrush, and stood upon the ledge that he had first claimed on hisarrival at One Horse Gulch. It was dreary--it was unpromising--a vaststony field high up in air, covered with scattered boulders of darkiron-grey rock. Gabriel smiled bitterly. "Any other man but me couldn'thev bin sich a fool as to pre[:e]mpt sich a claim fur gold. P'r'aps it'sall for the best that I'm short of it now," said Gabriel, as he turnedaway, and descended the hill to his later claim in the gulch, whichyielded him that pittance known in the mining dialect as "grub."

  It was nearly three o'clock before he returned to the cabin with the fewtools that he had gathered. When he did so, he found Olly awaiting him,with a slight flush of excitement on her cheek, but no visible evidencesof any late employment to be seen in the cabin.

  "Ye don't seem to have been doin' much packin', Olly," saidGabriel--"tho' thar ain't, so to speak, much to pack up."

  "Thar ain't no use in packin', Gabe," replied Olly, looking directlyinto the giant's bashful eyes.

  "No use?" echoed Gabriel.

&n
bsp; "No sort o' use," said Olly decidedly. "We ain't goin', Gabe, andthat's the end on't. I've been over to see Lawyer Maxwell, and I've madeit all right!"

  Gabriel dropped speechless into a chair, and gazed, open-mouthed, at hissister. "I've made it all right, Gabe," continued Olly coolly, "you'llsee. I jest went over thar this morning, and hed a little talk with thelawyer, and giv him a piece o' my mind about Mrs. Markle--and jestsettled the whole thing."

  "Good Lord! Olly, what did you say?"

  "Say?" echoed Olly. "I jest up and told him everythin' I knew about thetwoman, and I never told you, Gabe, the half of it. I jest sed ez howshe'd been runnin' round arter you ever sence she first set eyes on you,when you was nussin' her husband wot died. How you never ez much ezlooked at her ontil I set you up to it! How she used to come round yer,and sit and sit and look at you, Gabe, and kinder do this et ye over hershoulder."--(Here Olly achieved an admirable imitation of certain archglances of Mrs. Markle that would have driven that estimable ladyfrantic with rage, and even at this moment caused the bashful blood ofGabriel to fly into his very eyes.) "And how she used to let on allsorts of excuses to get you over thar, and how you refoosed! And wot adeceitful, old, mean, disgustin' critter she was enny way!" and hereOlly paused for want of breath.

  "And wot did he say?" said the equally breathless Gabriel.

  "Nothin' at first! Then he laughed and laughed, and laughed till Ithought he'd bust! And then--let me see," reflected the conscientiousOlly, "he said thar was some 'absurd blunder and mistake'--that's jestwhat he called thet Mrs. Markle, Gabe--those was his very words! Andthen he set up another yell o' laughin', and somehow, Gabe, I got tolaughin', and she got to laughin' too!" And Olly laughed at therecollection.

  "Who's _she_?" asked Gabriel, with a most lugubrious face.

  "O Gabe! you think everybody's Mrs. Markle," said Olly swiftly. "_She_was a lady ez was with thet Lawyer Maxwell, ez heerd it all. Why, Lord!she seemed to take ez much interest in it as the lawyer. P'r'aps," saidOlly, with a slight degree of conscious pride as _raconteur_, "p'r'apsit was the way I told it. I was _thet_ mad, Gabe, and sassy!"

  "And what did he say?" continued Gabriel, still ruefully, for to him, asto most simple, serious natures devoid of any sense of humour, all thisinconsequent hilarity looked suspicious.

  "Why, he was fur puttin' right over here 'to explain,' ez he called it,but the lady stopped him, and sed somethin' low I didn't get to hear.Oh, she must be a partickler friend o' his, Gabe--for he did everythin'thet she said. And she said I was to go back and say thet we needn'thurry ourselves to git away at all. And thet's the end of it, Gabe."

  "But didn't he say anythin' more, Olly?" said Gabriel anxiously.

  "No. He begin to ask me some questions about old times and StarvationCamp, and I'd made up my mind to disremember all them things ez I toldyou, Gabe, fur I'm jest sick of being called a cannon-ball, so I jestdisremembered everything ez fast ez he asked it, until he sez, sez he tothis lady, 'she evidently knows nothin' o' the whole thing.' But thelady had been tryin' to stop his askin' questions, and he'd been kindersignin' to me not to answer too. Oh, she's cute, Gabe; I could see thetez soon ez I set down."

  "What did she look like, Olly?" said Gabriel, with an affectation ofcarelessness, but still by no means yet entirely relieved in his mind.

  "Oh, she didn't look like Mrs. Markle, Gabe, or any o' thet kind. Akinder short woman, with white teeth, and a small waist, and goodclo'es. I didn't sort o' take to her much, Gabe, though she was verykind to me. I don't know ez I could say ezackly what she did look like;I reckon thar ain't anybody about yer looks like she. Saints andgoodness! Gabe, that's her now; thar she is!"

  Something darkened the doorway. Gabriel, looking up, beheld the woman hehad saved in the ca[~n]on. It was Madame Devarges!

  BOOK III.

  _THE LEAD._