Mr. Marsh promptly sat down upon the boards and motioned the lads to come to him, and when they had done so, closed his arms around them, with a comforting pressure, saying:
"There now! We"re as snug as bugs in a rug, and n.o.body in the wide world dare harm you. Hurry up and talk fast, or you and I will never get a taste of that fine poundcake Aunt Sally wants to make."
Another moment of hesitation, and then came Ned"s triumphant statement:
""Twasn"t no ghost, anyhow."
"Of course it wasn"t," answered "Forty-niner," promptly agreeing, but considerably puzzled. He had not, as yet, heard from any of the others about the "vision" which Mrs. Benton had seen beside the window.
""Twasn"t n.o.body but "Tonio himself."
"That"s exactly what I thought," he again agreed, and encouragingly patted the boy"s hand.
"And he come--and he come--and he gave us one--two boxes of that nice, nice candy; and all we gave him was Pedro"s old stick!"
Aunt Sally"s egg beater fell to the floor unheeded, this time she really put her spectacles in their proper place and stared through them at the narrator.
Ned warmed to his task and Luis cuddled beside him, complacently adding his affirmative "Yep," at fitting intervals.
"And so he said it wasn"t nothin". And so--and so--I fell offen the bookcase and made a noise; and my mother didn"t hear it "cause she was asleep. Me and Luis was asleep, wasn"t we, Luis?"
"Yep. Sleep."
"And he waked us up through the window----"
"Waked froo winder, yep."
"And said: "Go get that pointed stick, Ned Trent, and I"ll give you a dollar." Didn"t he?"
"Gimme dollar. Didn"t gimme dollar. What"s a dollar?" asked the echo.
Ned went on, unheeding:
"And I said no. "Twasn"t my stick; "twas my mother"s."
"Oh! Neddy, Neddy! if you"d only stuck to that!" groaned Mrs. Benton, wiping her face with her ap.r.o.n.
But being now fairly launched upon his narrative, and also feeling wholly secure within the shelter of "Forty-niner"s" arms, Ned paused no more till he had completed it:
"And then he gave us the candy, "cause I didn"t want dollars. You can"t eat dollars, can you? And the candy was like the kind my mother never gives, and just for an old stick was older than Pedro. Huh! And then he--he--he made me put my hand on the top of my head----"
"Hands on tops of heads!" cried the echo, dramatically.
"And swore a swore I"d never, never, honest Injun, tell a single tell, else he"d--he"d kill me! Kill me right straight down dead! And now I have and he will, and I forgot and you made me! I hate you, I hate you! And won"t you feel bad when I"m all deaded and you you done it, "stead of him--and--and----"
The sense of security had fled instantly, and completely. The memory of Antonio"s dark face as he had stood threateningly before the little fellow, at midnight by the window, returned with all its vivid, terrorizing power. Springing to the farthest reach of the room Ned crouched there, wide-eyed and trembling, and, of course, Luis followed his example.
To "Forty-niner"s" rea.s.suring words, and to Mrs. Benton"s cajoling ones, neither child paid any further heed. They had been trained to believe that their promised word was the most sacred of all things, and now they had not only been induced to break that, but to break it in the face of Antonio Bernal"s terrible threat.
The elders left them to themselves and regarded one another with regretful eyes. Then Aunt Sally repeated in detail all that there was to tell concerning the curious wand which had pointed the way to wealth; and now Ephraim listened in vast respect. On the first recital, so hurriedly given by Jessica, and when she had run to get the staff, he had thought of the matter as one of the shepherd"s "pious mummeries." It now a.s.sumed a graver aspect. The lost staff might possess some magnetic quality which was invaluable, as Old Century believed; but beyond all that was the uncomfortable reflection that Antonio Bernal was somewhere in hiding about Sobrante, and that doubtless it had been he, or his emissary, who had tampered with the mail pouch and caused Marty"s disaster.
"Well, a man that hides must have somethin" to be ashamed of. And I believe every single word that child has told," said Aunt Sally, in conclusion of her long harangue.
"H"m! I thought that "snake" had had his fang extracted down there at Los Angeles; but it seems he"s the sort can grow a new one, when needed. Well, I"m powerful glad I"m home again. It takes a lot of honest men to keep watch of one thief, and I"ll prove handy. I"m off.
I leave the lads with you. I"m going to find out three things: How Ferd, the dwarf, managed to break jail that night and leave no sign; who robbed that mail pouch; and where Antonio Bernal is at this precious minute."
"Here, at your service, amigo!" cried a mocking voice, outside the shuttered window. A voice that all recognized at once as belonging to the late manager; yet, when Ephraim had hastily run out and around to that side of the house, there was n.o.body within sight; and nothing to be heard save the series of terrified shrieks which issued from the room he had left.
CHAPTER XIV.
TAKING THE DOCTOR"S ADVICE
For almost the first time in his life Ninian Sharp was under the doctor"s hands; and that gentleman"s verdict upon his patient"s case was simple and plain:
"Nothing the matter with you but breakdown. The result of doing two men"s work instead of one. What you need, and all you need, is a complete change of thought and scene. Go off on some ranch and take a vacation. That"s your medicine."
"Thank you, doctor, but a prescription upon the nearest drug store would be easier to fill. In the first place I should worry all the time if I were idle, for "hustling" has become my second nature. In the second--where shall I go?"
The physician shrugged his shoulders. He, also, was a busy man and having finished his visit to his patient did not prolong it. He picked up his hat, remarked that he "didn"t doubt so clever a young man could find a fitting place, if he gave what was left of his mind to it," and bowed himself out, leaving the leaven of his sensible advice to accomplish its legitimate result.
As the doctor left the room the nurse entered, bearing with her a telegram which had been delayed en route, and a letter. It was with some reluctance that she delivered these to the man on the lounge, yet realizing, at the same time, how much worse for him was absolute cessation of all his ordinary interests. With a solicitous smile, she inquired:
"Would you not better let me read these first? They are probably unimportant."
"Thank you, no. I"m not yet reduced to imbecility and prefer to examine my own correspondence," returned the invalid, fretfully. Then as if ashamed of his petulance, and with a return to his ordinary manner, added: "This telegram might as well have walked. Would have saved time, judging by the date of it; and as for this letter--that, certainly, has seen better days."
The nurse smiled again, indulgently, and busied herself in tidying the apartment; an occupation which would have incensed Ninian, since her idea of neatness seemed to him to be but the "disarrangement" of the heaps of papers and ma.n.u.script sheets scattered everywhere about, had he not been otherwise interested. A hasty examination of the messages he had received evoked his exultant exclamation:
"Hurrah! The very thing!"
"Good news?" asked the attendant.
"The best in the world. The doctor"s prescription, filled to the letter. A ranch and new business. Say, would you mind going out for a bit? I"d like to get into some other togs and in a hurry. If I can, I"ll make the one o"clock train."
"The--one o"clock train!" gasped the bewildered nurse, believing that her charge"s brain had given away, even as the physician had suggested it might do.
"Exactly. Please don"t be alarmed. Some country friends of mine have invited me to visit them, and I judge they would be glad if I accepted at once. Their invitation fits in excellently with my own needs and, after I"ve dressed for the trip, I"d be grateful to you for packing a few things, while I write to the bank and telephone to some other places. Just touch that messenger call, will you, please?"
Certainly, he did not now look very like a sick man, as he sprang up and looked about him; save that he put his hand to his head because of a momentary dizziness and seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet.
However, his eyes had lost their dullness and a faint color had come into his cheeks; and the attendant saw no reason for opposing his sudden determination.
The letter was Jessica"s, and its envelope had been mended by the postmaster after he had taken it, torn, from the mail pouch. The telegram was from Ephraim Marsh, and had been sent by the first messenger to Marion after that scene in the pantry with Aunt Sally and the little boys. It had been delayed by the curiosity of the operator, but had reached Mr. Sharp at last; and its import was that:
"If you"re willing to use your brains for Sobrante folks, as you used them once before, now"s the time. There"ll be a led horse at Marion till you come, and the sooner the better. "Forty-niner.""