"He loved her, but it was long before she consented to marry him. At last, she did so, and they married, both believing me in my grave."
Frank was fascinated by the story.
"Go on," he urged.
"When I appeared both were horrified. When I left them, Marian accused Foster of treachery. She was unreasonable and would listen to nothing he could say. She bade him leave her and never return. He departed, and they have not seen each other since. He does not know she is somewhere in the park, as she must be, else the child would not be here. I did not tell him of the peril of his child, but I resolved to save her and restore her to his arms. I have saved her, but I shall be unable to take her to him. I shall not live to see the light of another day."
"Oh, you may not be so badly injured as all that."
"I am. I am sure of it. I will leave the child in your care. Take her to him, and tell him that I forgive everything. Never again will I rise like one from the dead to come between Foster and Marian."
Frank remained with the man a while longer, and then, telling Fay to stay there that she might keep beyond the reach of bullets, he returned to the mouth of the cave.
"I"m glad ye"ve come, boy," said Old Rocks. "Ef them pesky varmints ain"t gone away entirely, they"re up ter mischief, an" I needs yer hyar."
They crouched behind the bowlders and waited, while the minutes slipped away, and the same silence reigned.
At least an hour pa.s.sed, and then came a sudden sound that filled both with surprise and alarm.
Behind them there was a faint dropping in the cave, a movement, a rush, and a roar. Then a cloud of dust swirled out and nearly smothered them.
"What is the meaning of that?" said Frank, bewildered.
"A cave-in!" shouted Old Rocks, making a hasty examination. "By ther livin" G.o.ds! ther hull derned cave is blocked, an" ther Hermit an" ther leetle gal is both buried beneath ur beyond thet fall!"
Frank was horrified beyond measure.
"It is terrible!" he gasped. "Poor little Fay!"
"What you want?" asked the familiar voice of the child, near at hand.
"It was lonetome in dere. The mans goed to sleep, an" I tomed out to see you."
"Thank G.o.d!" came fervently from Frank"s lips, as he caught her up in his arms and covered her face with kisses.
"Wa-al, thet"s whut I call luck!" gurgled the guide.
"Luck!" cried Frank, rebukingly. "It was the hand of Providence! Can you doubt the wisdom and goodness of an Overruling Power after this?"
"Dunno ez I kin," admitted the old man. "It duz look like something a"
ther kind took her out o" thar jest at ther right time."
A complete examination showed that the whole roof of the cave had apparently fallen in, and the pa.s.sage was blocked with tons upon tons of earth and sand.
"This yar"s ther end o" Sand Cave," said Old Rocks.
They kept the child with them and waited behind the rocks for the attack of the Blackfeet, but no attack came. Thus the long night pa.s.sed, and another day came round.
Then it was found that the Indians had departed.
"They didn"t dar" stay hayer longer," said Old Rocks. "Ther whelps wuz afeared o" ther soldiers. I"d like ter run onter ther soldiers an" set "em arter Half Hand an" ther gang."
Led by the guide, they left the spot. Frank carried Fay in his arms.
Old Rocks first proceeded to the spot where he had hidden his rifle, and, with that again in his possession, he expressed himself as feeling ready to "chaw up ther hull Blackfeet tribe."
They found some game for breakfast and dinner, and before nightfall they reached the camp on the sh.o.r.e of the lake, where Preston March and Foster Fairfax had met.
A large party of tourists had gathered there, and the appearance of the man and boy, the latter bearing Fay in his arms, created the greatest excitement. Several persons rushed into the tent and drew forth a man and woman, the latter white and grief-stricken, and pointed out the child, who was sitting on Frank"s shoulder and waving her hand, as she laughingly called:
"I dess my mamma is dere! I knowed you"d tate me bat to my mamma!"
The man and woman were Foster Fairfax and his wife, who had met by accident there in the Wonderland of America. She had told him how little Fay had wandered away and become lost, and both had feared that they would never see their child again.
Their unutterable joy cannot be depicted in words. Frank and Old Rocks were the heroes of the occasion.
"Yer don"t want ter give me too much credit fer this yar," said the guide. "I done ther trailin", but this yar tenderfut saved me frum bein"
killed twice, an" he"s got nerves o" steel. It ain"t often I take ter a tenderfut, but I will allow thet this yar chap is a boy ter tie to. Ther babby sticks by him; he has won her heart. Dog my cats ef I blame her either!"
Then the old man told how Frank had saved him from the grizzly, how the boy had been tireless on the trail, how he had not murmured at any hardship, and how he had broken the arm of the Blackfoot Indian who was about to brain the guide.
As a result, Frank found himself regarded with unspeakable admiration by all the tourists, while Foster Fairfax and his wife could not say or do enough to express their feelings.
Frank told them of the death of Preston March, and, later, when Professor Scotch and Barney had been found by Rocks and brought into the party, all visited the spot where the Hermit of Yellowstone Park lay buried beneath tons of earth.
At the mouth of the cave Foster Fairfax caused a cross to be erected, bearing the name of the unfortunate man, the date of his birth and of his death.
Frank remained in the park till he succeeded in photographing some "real wild buffalo," and then he was well satisfied to move on to other fields of adventure.
Half Hand was shot while trying to get away with a stolen horse about a year later.
When the time came to part from Frank, little Fay was almost heart-broken. She clung to him, sobbing:
"Is you doin" to leave me? I don"t want you to! You know I is your Fairy."
"You will ever be my Fairy," said the boy, with deep feeling. "Your mamma has promised me your picture, and I shall keep it with me ever.
Some time by and by, dear, I will come back to you again."
And he kissed her farewell.
CHAPTER x.x.xV.
A PECULIAR GIRL.
The remainder of the stop in Yellowstone Park proved a delightful time.