"I"ll try something new on you, Allie," he muttered, and the boy in him that would never grow into a man meant to be serious even in his fun.
Allie sat in the shady place under the low pine where the brook spilled out of the big spring. She drooped and appeared oblivious to her surroundings. A stray gleam of sunlight, touching her hair, made it shine bright. Neale"s quick eye took note of the fact that she had washed the blood-stain from the front of her dress. He was glad. What hope had there been for her so long as she sat hour after hour with her hands pressed to that great black stain on her dress--that mark where her mother"s head had rested? Neale experienced a renewal of hope. He began to whistle, and, drawing his knife, he went into the brush to cut a fishing-pole. The trout in this brook had long tempted his fisherman"s eye, and upon this visit he had brought a line and hooks. He made a lot of noise all for Allie"s benefit; then, tramping out of the brush, he began to trim the rod within twenty feet of where she sat. He whistled; he even hummed a song while he was rigging up the tackle. Then it became necessary to hunt for some kind of bait, and he went about this with pleasure, both because he liked the search and because, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Allie was watching him. Therefore he redoubled his efforts at pretending to be oblivious of her presence and at keeping her continually aware of his. He found crickets, worms, and grubs under the dead pine logs, and with this fine variety of bait he approached the brook.
The first cast Neale made fetched a l.u.s.ty trout, and right there his pretensions of indifference vanished, together with his awareness of Allie"s proximity. Neale loved to fish. He had not yet indulged his favorite pastime in the West. He saw trout jumping everywhere. It was a beautiful little stream, rocky, swift here and eddying there, clear as crystal, murmurous with tiny falls, and bordered by a freshness of green and gold; there were birds singing in the trees, but over all seemed to hang the quiet of the lonely hills. Neale forgot Allie--forgot that he had meant to discover if she could be susceptible to a little neglect.
The brook was full of trout, voracious and tame; they had never been angled for. He caught three in short order.
When his last bait, a large and luscious grub, struck the water there was a swirl, a splash, a tug. Neale excitedly realized that he had hooked a father of the waters. It leaped. That savage leap, the splash, the amazing size of the fish, inflamed in Neale the old boyish desire to capture, and, forgetting what little skill he possessed, he gave a mighty pull. The rod bent double. Out with a vicious splash lunged the huge, glistening trout, to dangle heavily for an instant in the air.
Neale thought he heard a cry behind him. He was sitting down, in awkward posture. But he lifted and swung. The line snapped. The fish dropped in the gra.s.s and began to thresh. Frantically Neale leaped to prevent the escape of the hugest trout he had ever seen. There was a dark flash--a commotion before him. Then he stood staring in bewilderment at Allie, who held the wriggling trout by the gills.
"You don"t know how to fish!" she exclaimed, with great severity.
"I don"t, eh?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Neale, blankly.
"You should play a big trout. You lifted him right out. He broke your line. He"d have--gotten--away--but for me."
She ended, panting a little from her exertion and quick speech. A red spot showed in each white cheek. Her eyes were resolute and flashing. It dawned upon Neale that he had never before seen a tinge of color in her face, nor any of the ordinary feelings of life glancing in her eyes. Now she seemed actually pretty. He had made a discovery--perhaps he had now another means to distract her from herself. Then the squirming trout drew his attention and he took it from her.
"What a whopper! Oh, say, Allie, isn"t he a beauty? I could hug--I--You bet I"m thankful. You were quick.... He certainly is slippery."
Allie dropped to her knees and wiped her hands on the gra.s.s while Neale killed the fish and strung it upon a willow with the others he had caught. Then turning to Allie, he started to tell her how glad he was to see her again, to ask her if she were glad to see him. But upon looking at her he decided to try and keep her mind from herself. She was different now and he liked the difference. He feared he might frighten it away.
"Will you help me get more bait?" he asked.
Allie nodded and got up. Then Neale noticed her feet were bare. Poor child! She had no shoes and he did not know how to procure any suitable footwear in that wilderness.
"Have you ever fished for trout?" he asked, as he began to dig under a rotting log.
"Yes. In California," she replied, with sudden shadowing of her eyes.
"Let"s go down the brook," said Neale, hastily, fearful that he had been tactless. "There are some fine holes below."
She walked beside him, careful of the sharp stones that showed here and there. Presently they came to a likely-looking pool.
"If you hook another big one don"t try to pull him right out,"
admonished Allie.
Neale could scarcely conceal his delight, and in his effort to appear natural made a poor showing at this pool, losing two fish and scaring others so they would not rise.
"Allie, won"t you try?" he asked, offering the rod.
"I"d rather look on. You like it so much."
"How do you know that?" he asked, more to hear her talk than from curiosity.
"You grow so excited," she said.
Thankfully he accepted the realization that after all these weeks of silence it was possible to make her speak. But he must exercise extreme caution. One wrong word might send her back into that apathy--that senseless, voiceless trance.
In every pool where Neale cast he caught or lost a trout. He was enjoying himself tremendously and at the same time feeling a warmth in his heart that was not entirely due to the exhilaration of fishing.
Below the head of the valley, where the stream began and the cabin nestled, the ground was open, like a meadow, with gra.s.s and flowers growing to the edge of the water. There were deep, swirling pools running under the banks, and in these Neale hooked fish he could not handle with his poor tackle, and they broke away. But he did not care.
There was a brightness, a beauty, a fragrance along the stream that seemed to enhance the farther down he went. Presently they came to a place where the water rushed over a rocky bed, and here Neale wanted to cross. He started to wade, curious and eager to see what Allie would do.
"I can"t wade that," she called.
Neale returned to her side. "I"ll carry you," he said. "You hold the rod. We"ll leave the fish here." Then he lifted her in his arms. How light she was--how much lighter than upon that first occasion of his carrying her. He slipped in the middle of the brook and nearly fell with her. Allie squealed. The sound filled Neale with glee. After all, and whatever she had gone through, she was feminine--she was a girl--she was squeamish. Thereupon he slipped purposely and made a heroic effort to save himself. She clasped his neck convulsively with her free arm, and as he recovered his balance her head b.u.mped into his and her hair got into his eyes. He laughed. This was great fun. But it could scarcely have been the exertion that made his heart beat out of time. At last he gained the opposite bank.
"You nearly fell with me," she said.
"Well, I"d have got wet, too," he replied, wondering if it were possible to make her laugh or even smile. If he could do that to-day, even in the smallest degree, he would be a.s.sured that happiness might come back to her.
Soon they met Larry, who came stooping along, burdened with a deer carca.s.s on his shoulder. Relieving himself, he hailed them.
"How air you-all?" he drawled, addressing himself mostly to Allie.
"What"s your name?" she asked.
"Allie, he"s my friend and partner," replied Neale. "Larry King. But I call him Red--for obvious reasons."
"Wal, Miss Allie, I reckon no tall kick would be a-comin" if you was to call me Red," drawled Larry. "Or better--Reddy. No other lady ever had thet honor."
Allie looked at him steadily, as if this was the first time she had seen him, but she did not reply. And Larry, easily disconcerted, gathered up his burden and turned toward camp.
"Wal, I"m sh.o.r.e wishin" you-all good luck," he called, significantly.
Neale shot a quick glance at Allie to see if the cowboy"s good-humored double meaning had occurred to her. But apparently she had not heard.
She seemed to be tiring. Her lips were parted and she panted.
"Are you tired? Shall we go back?" he asked.
"No--I like it," she returned, slowly, as if the thought were strange to her.
They fished on, and presently came to a wide, shallow place with smooth rock bottom, where the trail crossed. Neale waded across alone. And he judged that the water in the middle might come up to Allie"s knees.
"Come on," he called.
Allie hesitated. She gathered up her faded skirt, slowly waded in and halted, uncertain of her footing. She was not afraid, Neale decided, and neither did she seem aware that her slender, shapely legs gleamed white against the dark water.
"Won"t you come and carry me?" she asked.
"Indeed I won"t," replied Neale. "Carry a big girl like you!"
She took him seriously and moved a little farther. "My feet slip so,"
she said.
It became fascinating to watch her. The fun of it--the pleasure of seeing a girl wade a brook, innocently immodest, suddenly ceased for Neale. There was something else. He had only meant to tease; he was going to carry her; he started back. And then he halted. There was a strange earnestness in Allie"s face--a deliberateness in her intent, out of all proportion to the exigency of the moment. It was as if she must cross that brook. But she kept halting. "Come on!" Neale called. And she moved again. Every time this happened she seemed to be compelled to go on. When she got into the swift water, nearly to her knees, then she might well have faltered. Yet she did not falter. All at once Neale discovered that she was weak. She did not have the strength to come on. It was that which made her slip and halt. What then made her try so bravely? How strange that she tried at all! Stranger than all was her peculiar att.i.tude toward the task--earnest, sober, grave, forced.
Neale was suddenly seized with surprise and remorse. That which actuated this girl Allie was merely the sound of his voice--the answer to his demand. He plunged in and reached her just as she was slipping. He carried her back to the side from which she had started. It cost him an effort not to hold her close. Whatever she was--orphan or waif, left alone in the world by a murdering band of Sioux--an unfortunate girl to be cared for, succored, pitied--none of these considerations accounted for the change that his power over her had wrought in him.
"You"re not strong," he said, as he put her down.