Darragh gazed at her, astounded; took the hand she stretched out to him; held it with a silly expression on his features.
"Hal Smith," she said with perceptible emotion, "I take back what I once said to you on Owl Marsh. No man is a real crook by nature who did what you have done. That is "faithfulness unto death"--the supreme offer--loyalty----"
Her voice broke; she pressed Darragh"s hand convulsively and her lip quivered.
Darragh, with the morocco case full of jewels b.u.t.toned into his hip pocket, stood motionless, mutely swallowing his amazement.
What in the world did this girl mean, talking about an _empty_ case?
But this was no time to unravel that sort of puzzle. He turned to Stormont who, as perplexed as he, had been listening in silence.
"Lead your horse forward," he said. "I know the trail. All you need do is to follow me." And, shouldering his rifle, he walked leisurely into the woods, the cartridge belt sagging _en bandouliere_ across his woollen undershirt.
II
When Stormont gently halted his horse it was dawn, and Eve, sagging against him with one arm around his neck, sat huddled up on her saddle fast asleep.
In a birch woods, on the eastern slope of the divide, stood the log camp, dimly visible in the silvery light of early morning.
Darragh, cautioning Stormont with a slight gesture, went forward, mounted the rustic veranda, and knocked at a lighted window.
A man, already dressed, came and peered out at him, then hurried to open the door.
"I didn"t know you, Captain Darragh----" he began, but fell silent under the warning gesture that checked him.
"I"ve a guest outside. She"s Clinch"s step-daughter, Eve Strayer. She knows me by the name of Hal Smith. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir----"
"Cut _that_ out, too. I"m Hal Smith to you, also. State Trooper Stormont is out there with Eve Strayer. He was a comrade of mine in Russia. I"m Hal Smith to him, by mutual agreement. _Now_ do you get me, Ralph?"
"Sure, Hal. Go on; spit it out!"
They both grinned.
"You"re a hootch runner," said Darragh. "This is your shack. The hatchery is only a blind. That"s all you have to know, Ralph. So put that girl into my room and let her sleep till she wakes of her own accord.
"Stormont and I will take two of the guest-bunks in the _L._ And for heaven"s sake make us some coffee when you make your own. But first come out and take the horse."
They went out together. Stormont lifted Eve out of the saddle. She did not wake. Darragh led the way into the log house and along a corridor to his own room.
"Turn down the sheets," whispered Stormont. And, when the bed was ready: "Can you get a bath towel, Jim?"
Darragh fetched one from the connecting bath-room.
"Wrap it around her wet hair," whispered Stormont. "Good heavens, I wish there were a woman here."
"I wish so too," said Darragh; "she"s chilled to the bone. You"ll have to wake her. She can"t sleep in what she"s wearing; it"s almost as damp as her hair----"
He went to the closet and returned with a man"s morning robe, as soft as fleece.
"Somehow or other she"s got to get into that," he said.
There was a silence.
"Very well," said Stormont, reddening.... "If you"ll step out I"ll--manage...." He looked Darragh straight in the eyes: "I have asked her to marry me," he said.
When Stormont came out a great fire of birch-logs was blazing in the living-room, and Darragh stood there, his elbow on the rough stone mantel-shelf.
Stormont came straight to the fire and set one spurred boot on the fender.
"She"s warm and dry and sound asleep," he said. "I"ll wake her again if you think she ought to swallow something hot."
At that moment the fish-culturist came in with a pot of steaming coffee.
"This is my friend, Ralph Wier," said Darragh. "I think you"d better give Eve a cup of coffee." And, to Wier, "Fill a couple of hot water bags, old chap. We don"t want any pneumonia in this house."
When breakfast was ready Eve once more lay asleep with a slight dew of perspiration on her brow.
Darragh was half starved: Stormont ate little. Neither spoke at all until, satisfied, they rose, ready for sleep.
At the door of his room Stormont took Darragh"s offered hand, understanding what it implied:
"Thanks, Jim.... Hers is the loveliest character I have ever known....
If I weren"t as poor as a homeless dog I"d marry her to-morrow.... I"ll do it anyway, I think.... I _can"t_ let her go back to Clinch"s Dump!"
"After all," said Darragh, smiling, "if it"s only money that worries you, why not talk about a job to _me_!"
Stormont flushed heavily: "That"s rather wonderful of you, Jim----"
"Why? You"re the best officer I had. Why the devil did you go into the Constabulary without talking to me?"
Stormont"s upper lip seemed inclined to twitch but he controlled it and scowled at s.p.a.ce.
"Go to bed, you darned fool," said Darragh, carelessly. "You"ll find dry things ready. Ralph will take care of your uniform and boots."
Then he went into his own quarters to read two letters which, conforming to arrangements made with Mrs. Ray the day he had robbed Emanuel Sard, were to be sent to Trout Lodge to await his arrival.
Both, written from the Ritz, bore the date of the day before: the first he opened was from the Countess Orloff-Strelwitz:
"Dear Captain Darragh,
"--You are so wonderful! Your messenger, with the _ten_ thousand dollars which you say you already have recovered from those miscreants who robbed Ricca, came aboard our ship before we landed. It was a G.o.dsend; we were nearly penniless,--and oh, _so_ shabby!
"Instantly, my friend, we shopped, Ricca and I. Fifth Avenue enchanted us. All misery was forgotten in the magic of that paradise for women.