Finally he went slowly off toward the faint reflection, holding his hands palm outward before him, and walking in the manner of a blind man.
VIII.
The immovable Dan again sat unaddressed in the midst of comrades, who did not joke aloud. The dampness of the usual morning fog seemed to make the little camp-fires furious.
Suddenly a cry arose in the streets, a shout of amazement and delight.
The men making breakfast at the fire looked up quickly. They broke forth in clamorous exclamation: "Well! Of all things! Dan! Dan! Look who"s coming! Oh, Dan!"
Dan the silent raised his eyes and saw a man, with a bandage of the size of a helmet about his head, receiving a furious demonstration from the company. He was shaking hands, and explaining, and haranguing to a high degree.
Dan started. His face of bronze flushed to his temples. He seemed about to leap from the ground, but then suddenly he sank back, and resumed his impa.s.sive gazing.
The men were in a flurry. They looked from one to the other. "Dan! Look!
See who"s coming!" some cried again. "Dan! Look!"
He scowled at last, and moved his shoulders sullenly. "Well, don"t I know it?"
But they could not be convinced that his eyes were in service. "Dan! Why can"t you look? See who"s coming!"
He made a gesture then of irritation and rage. "Curse it! Don"t I know it?"
The man with a bandage of the size of a helmet moved forward, always shaking hands and explaining. At times his glance wandered to Dan, who saw with his eyes riveted.
After a series of shiftings, it occurred naturally that the man with the bandage was very near to the man who saw the flames. He paused, and there was a little silence. Finally he said: "h.e.l.lo, Dan."
"h.e.l.lo, Billie."
THREE MIRACULOUS SOLDIERS.
I.
The girl was in the front room on the second floor, peering through the blinds. It was the "best room." There was a very new rag carpet on the floor. The edges of it had been dyed with alternate stripes of red and green. Upon the wooden mantel there were two little puffy figures in clay--a shepherd and a shepherdess probably. A triangle of pink and white wool hung carefully over the edge of this shelf. Upon the bureau there was nothing at all save a spread newspaper, with edges folded to make it into a mat. The quilts and sheets had been removed from the bed and were stacked upon a chair. The pillows and the great feather mattress were m.u.f.fled and tumbled until they resembled great dumplings.
The picture of a man terribly leaden in complexion hung in an oval frame on one white wall and steadily confronted the bureau.
From between the slats of the blinds she had a view of the road as it wended across the meadow to the woods, and again where it reappeared crossing the hill, half a mile away. It lay yellow and warm in the summer sunshine. From the long gra.s.ses of the meadow came the rhythmic click of the insects. Occasional frogs in the hidden brook made a peculiar chug-chug sound, as if somebody throttled them. The leaves of the wood swung in gentle winds. Through the dark-green branches of the pines that grew in the front yard could be seen the mountains, far to the southeast, and inexpressibly blue.
Mary"s eyes were fastened upon the little streak of road that appeared on the distant hill. Her face was flushed with excitement, and the hand which stretched in a strained pose on the sill trembled because of the nervous shaking of the wrist. The pines whisked their green needles with a soft, hissing sound against the house.
At last the girl turned from the window and went to the head of the stairs. "Well, I just know they"re coming, anyhow," she cried argumentatively to the depths.
A voice from below called to her angrily: "They ain"t. We"ve never seen one yet. They never come into this neighbourhood. You just come down here and "tend to your work insteader watching for soldiers."
"Well, ma, I just know they"re coming."
A voice retorted with the shrillness and mechanical violence of occasional housewives. The girl swished her skirts defiantly and returned to the window.
Upon the yellow streak of road that lay across the hillside there now was a handful of black dots--hors.e.m.e.n. A cloud of dust floated away. The girl flew to the head of the stairs and whirled down into the kitchen.
"They"re coming! They"re coming!"
It was as if she had cried "Fire!" Her mother had been peeling potatoes while seated comfortably at the table. She sprang to her feet. "No--it can"t be--how you know it"s them--where?" The stubby knife fell from her hand, and two or three curls of potato skin dropped from her ap.r.o.n to the floor.
The girl turned and dashed upstairs. Her mother followed, gasping for breath, and yet contriving to fill the air with questions, reproach, and remonstrance. The girl was already at the window, eagerly pointing.
"There! There! See "em! See "em!"
Rushing to the window, the mother scanned for an instant the road on the hill. She crouched back with a groan. "It"s them, sure as the world!
It"s them!" She waved her hands in despairing gestures.
The black dots vanished into the wood. The girl at the window was quivering and her eyes were shining like water when the sun flashes.
"Hush! They"re in the woods! They"ll be here directly." She bent down and intently watched the green archway whence the road emerged. "Hush! I hear "em coming," she swiftly whispered to her mother, for the elder woman had dropped dolefully upon the mattress and was sobbing. And indeed the girl could hear the quick, dull trample of horses. She stepped aside with sudden apprehension, but she bent her head forward in order to still scan the road.
"Here they are!"
There was something very theatrical in the sudden appearance of these men to the eyes of the girl. It was as if a scene had been shifted. The forest suddenly disclosed them--a dozen brown-faced troopers in blue--galloping.
"Oh, look!" breathed the girl. Her mouth was puckered into an expression of strange fascination as if she had expected to see the troopers change into demons and gloat at her. She was at last looking upon those curious beings who rode down from the North--those men of legend and colossal tale--they who were possessed of such marvellous hallucinations.
The little troop rode in silence. At its head was a youthful fellow with some dim yellow stripes upon his arm. In his right hand he held his carbine, slanting upward, with the stock resting upon his knee. He was absorbed in a scrutiny of the country before him.
At the heels of the sergeant the rest of the squad rode in thin column, with creak of leather and tinkle of steel and tin. The girl scanned the faces of the hors.e.m.e.n, seeming astonished vaguely to find them of the type she knew.
The lad at the head of the troop comprehended the house and its environments in two glances. He did not check the long, swinging stride of his horse. The troopers glanced for a moment like casual tourists, and then returned to their study of the region in front. The heavy thudding of the hoofs became a small noise. The dust, hanging in sheets, slowly sank.
The sobs of the woman on the bed took form in words which, while strong in their note of calamity, yet expressed a querulous mental reaching for some near thing to blame. "And it"ll be lucky fer us if we ain"t both butchered in our sleep--plundering and running off horses--old Santo"s gone--you see if he ain"t--plundering----"
"But, ma," said the girl, perplexed and terrified in the same moment, "they"ve gone."
"Oh, but they"ll come back!" cried the mother, without pausing her wail.
"They"ll come back--trust them for that--running off horses. O John, John! why did you, why did you?" She suddenly lifted herself and sat rigid, staring at her daughter. "Mary," she said in tragic whisper, "the kitchen door isn"t locked!" Already she was bended forward to listen, her mouth agape, her eyes fixed upon her daughter.
"Mother," faltered the girl.
Her mother again whispered, "The kitchen door isn"t locked."
Motionless and mute they stared into each other"s eyes.
At last the girl quavered, "We better--we better go and lock it." The mother nodded. Hanging arm in arm they stole across the floor toward the head of the stairs. A board of the floor creaked. They halted and exchanged a look of dumb agony.