Hamlin Garland 
 
 xw
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 "SO I 'M TO RIDE THIS TIN PONY, AM I?" SAID JIM.
 
 HER 
 MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 BY 
 HAMLIN GARLAND 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE CENTURY CO. 
 
 1901
 
 Copyright, 1900, 1901, by 
 THE CENTURY Co. 
 
 THE DEVINNE PRESS.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY ... 3 
 
 II THE BIG CANOE 23 
 
 III JIM REACHES LAND . 53 
 
 IV AFOOT IN LONDON ....... 65 
 
 V A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY . . . . .114 
 
 VI JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY . . . .158 
 
 VII JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN OUT UPON THE 
 
 MOOR . 188 
 
 VIII JIM DEMANDS A REASON . . . . . .214 
 
 IX JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR . . . 224 
 
 X JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 242 
 
 XI THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" . . .254 
 
 XII HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE . . . .269 
 
 XIII THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK . . .280 
 
 XIV THE SNOWY PEAKS 325 
 
 XV ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL . . . .340 
 
 XVI BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK . . . . . .380
 
 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER
 
 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 
 
 THE young miner uttered a shout of pro 
 test. 
 
 " Say, now, doc, don't do that. What 
 could I do in London ? Why, they 'd sure 
 eat me up there. I can't even count their 
 durn money. I won't do it. That 's askin' 
 too much of a pardner." 
 
 The Chicago member of the firm smiled. 
 " Jim, you 're taking on too much worry. 
 They 're a slow-going lot over there. You '11 
 have plenty of time to count your change 
 while they 're getting out o' their chairs. The 
 question is, have we a good property or not ? " 
 
 3
 
 4 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "Property 's all right, but " 
 " Do we need money, or don't we? " 
 "Yes. But suppose I don't " 
 " You 've got to. That mine properly 
 handled is worth five hundred thousand dol 
 lars, and the thing for you to do is to interest 
 some English ' sport ' who has money to throw 
 at the cats, and get him to take a half-interest 
 and help us develop the property." 
 
 " But see here, doc. I was raised in the 
 hills. I 'm no water-dog. I can't paddle a 
 stone-boat. It makes me seasick to see a 
 girl shake a table-cloth. I can't go over there 
 in a boat." 
 
 " You can't walk." 
 
 "A Pullman 's good enough for me. I 
 guess I '11 put off goin' to Europe till I can 
 go by train." The young fellow left his chair, 
 and began pacing the office floor. " See 
 here, doc ; I don't want to gigg back I 'm 
 a sure-'nough pardner. Say the word, and I '11 
 jump a cayuse and back him clear to the 
 Yukon valley ; but this going to England in 
 a boat makes my fur bristle ; it does for 
 sure." 
 
 The doctor, turning in his noiseless swivel- 
 chair, followed his partner with amused glance.
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 5 
 
 "Jim, the thing is settled. It would n't do to 
 send a 'slick one' on such business; he'd 
 queer the whole show. No ; you 're the man. 
 The tone of your voice carries conviction. 
 You got me to go into a hole when no one 
 else could win a nickel out o' my pocket with 
 the best dirt in the pan. My going is out of 
 the question. It would n't do to leave Maidie 
 and the babes, and, besides, I Ve got to hold 
 on to my practice here till you make a raise. 
 You remember I 've kept the thing going 
 now for two years." 
 
 The younger man's handsome face grew 
 tender. "That 's the God's truth, doc. It's 
 time I made a break. The stuff is in there 
 all right, all right, and we 've got to have 
 help to get it out. I see all that." He put 
 both hands in his pockets and asked : " When 
 had I better start ? " 
 
 " Saturday's boat." 
 
 Jim fell into a chair. " Great Scott ! Soon 
 as that?" 
 
 "Sooner the quicker," replied the inexor 
 able partner. 
 
 " I know ; but I need an outfit." 
 
 "What do you want? This is n't exactly 
 like getting married. That 's a neat suit
 
 6 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 you Ve got on. A sack-suit like that will go 
 anywhere Wagon Wheel or London." 
 
 " But I thought they all wore plug-hats and 
 dress-suits over there." 
 
 " Some of 'em do, and others wear smock- 
 shirts. You 're all right just as you are. In 
 fact, it would be good business for you to 
 dress just as you do in Wagon Wheel. They 
 like an American to be picturesque ; and, be 
 sides, you 're the real thing cow-boy, miner, 
 trailer. You work this thing right, and some 
 young ' scion of nobility,' as the reporters say, 
 will get curious as a buck antelope, and you 
 can rope him, and bring him and his pile right 
 back with you. But you don't seem to be 
 jubilating ? " remarked the doctor, still vastly 
 amused at his partner's troubled face. 
 
 Jim did not smile. " Jubilating ! Honestly, 
 doc, this is the toughest proposition I ever 
 had to face. It sure takes the wind out of 
 me. But I '11 do it." He rose, and his frame 
 expanded with power. "I '11 rozum up my 
 hands, and take a fall out o' the British aris 
 tocracy, or know the reason why. It 's our 
 last play, and we make it." 
 
 The doctor also rose, and extended his 
 hand. As they clasped hands they looked
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 7 
 
 each into the other's face in perfect under 
 standing. They were both stalwart fellows, 
 and nearly of a height. Jim was not more 
 than twenty-five ; the doctor looked some 
 five or six years older, plump and prosperous. 
 He wore a full beard to make him look 
 middle-aged, but his step betrayed him. Jim 
 was dressed in a shapely sack-suit of rough 
 brown cloth, and wore a soft hat, such as 
 professional men wear in the Middle West. 
 Its large brim suited well his broad shoulders 
 and thick brown hair. His clean-shaven chin 
 was strong and fine, and' his brown eyes were 
 clear and pleasant. 
 
 " Well, now the thing is settled," said the 
 doctor, briskly pulling down the lid of his 
 desk, "let 's go out and see Maidie. She 's 
 been across twice, and will fix you out in an 
 hour with a full schedule, and you can get 
 off on the noon train to-morrow. Nothing 
 pleases her more than to help some one set 
 sail for Europe." 
 
 Jim was silent, and continued silent all the 
 way down the elevator. Once in the street, 
 which was roaring full of people on their way 
 homeward, the doctor talked of their mine, 
 secure in the midst of the crowd,
 
 8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "The reason I advocate this London 
 scheme is, they don't want the whole hog 
 over there. I mean they don't know the con 
 ditions as well as Americans. They 'd take 
 it all if they did, but they don't. They 're 
 willing to allow the discoverer something for 
 his skill and energy." 
 
 Suddenly, after a silence, the doctor said : 
 " Jim, you Ve got to stop eatin' tobacco. It 's 
 behind the times and it 's unwholesome. Now, 
 I don't want you to surrender any good traits, 
 but that 's an American habit you can do with 
 out. For heaven's sake, stop it ! " 
 
 Jim was astonished and grieved. " Mebbe 
 you 'd like to have me wear a collar that 
 buttons at the back ? " 
 
 " I don't care what kind of a collar you 
 wear, provided it 's clean ; but this everlasting 
 spitting is intolerable. It 's unsanitary, and 
 it does you harm. You can get all the nico 
 tine you want by smoking. If you got to 
 eating a plug o' tobacco while talking with 
 our investing earl, he 'd go home in a hearse. 
 It won't do. Keep the hat and the miner's 
 boots and the wool shirt, they are useful, 
 but leave the plug-tobacco right here." 
 
 " Oh, anything at all," Jim said, ominously 
 gentle, "What else?"
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 9 
 
 " And don't get too much interested in 
 the girls you meet over there. Maidie 's 
 got a wife picked out for you right here in 
 the Park." 
 
 The doctor cut across corners and raced 
 between cable-cars and drays, during all this 
 admonitory talk, without haste or confusion, 
 because native to it; but the mountaineer 
 visibly perspired in his apprehension of " trou 
 ble." 
 
 " Don't hurry so, doc. Give a feller time 
 to look around." 
 
 Ultimately the doctor led his guest and 
 partner down a long flight of steps into the 
 comparative safety and quiet of a great rail 
 way-depot, and when they were comfortably 
 seated in a suburban car, he changed the sub 
 ject by asking abruptly : 
 
 "Where's Kelly?" 
 
 " Gone to the Klondike." 
 
 "You don't say! Kelly was too old for 
 that. Jim, there was a great man. Discov 
 ered more veins of ore and made less out of 
 them than any man in the mountain. Glover 
 go with him ? " 
 
 " No. Hank married, you know." 
 
 " No ! Whom ? " 
 
 "A widow from St. Paul. She was n't ex-
 
 to HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 actly in high-toned society, but she was as 
 good as Hank, so I 'm not kickin'. She was 
 sober, and that 's more than you could say of 
 Hank Glover ordinarily." 
 
 " Drink beat Hancy, too." 
 
 "Sure." 
 
 " Well, Jim, that is n't your trouble, and 
 I 'm glad of it. That won't beat you on this 
 trip. All the same, watch out they don't 
 down you with some new breed o' drink. 
 They '11 be for drawing absinthe or some 
 other green liquor on you. Go by on the 
 other sidewalk." 
 
 " Oh, that 's all right, old man ; don't you 
 worry. The feller that does me up over there 
 has got to keep guessin'. I 'm goin' to kick 
 every bush before I camp down by it. No 
 varmint gets the sneak on me not if I 'm 
 sober, and I generally am." 
 . " I know, Jim, you can take care of such 
 things all right. But girls are your weakness, 
 old boy. You 're too good-lookin' not to get 
 a bid. Turn 'em down beware of them ; 
 wait till you get this deal through and get 
 back to Aspen Park." . 
 
 " If tickets was as cheap as advice it 
 would n't cost me a blame cent to get there,
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY n 
 
 would it ? " retorted Jim, musingly, looking 
 out of the car-window at the maze of railway- 
 tracks. 
 
 The doctor remained unmoved. " Wait till 
 we strike Maidie. Then you will have advice 
 in car-loads." 
 
 " Oh, well, advice won't do me no hurt if I 
 don't follow it, I reckon." 
 
 The two men understood each other per 
 fectly, for they had camped together on the 
 trail, months at a time, in the loneliest parts 
 of the Rocky Mountains. Jim was always 
 picking up pieces of " float," while the doctor 
 had eyes only for signs of sheep and grizzlies. 
 When together they talked in the rapid, syn 
 copated, picturesque vernacular of the plains ; 
 but Jim had a country-school education, and 
 Ramsdell was a graduate of an Eastern uni 
 versity, and had taken a degree in a well- 
 known medical college. He loved the lingo, 
 the life, and the dress of wild America, to 
 which he returned every year with the aban 
 don of a man who fears to lose something 
 large and fine and sane out of his life. When 
 Jim found his big mine on the Grizzly Bear, 
 just above Wagon Wheel, he wired the doc 
 tor to come, and Ramsdell went. Since then
 
 12 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 they had put every cent they could spare into 
 the development of the mine. When he 
 reached the limit Ramsdell wired Jim to come 
 to Chicago, and Jim came by the next train. 
 Brothers could not be more intimate, more 
 dependent than they. 
 
 The doctor slyly looked at his partner with 
 pride and satisfaction. Jim never looked 
 handsomer, and there was some hint of the 
 wild country in everything he did, in the set 
 of his hat-brim, in his broad, strong hands, in 
 his long brown mustache, and in the swing of 
 his legs. 
 
 " You fellers here walk for a business, 
 don't you ? " remarked the mountaineer as 
 they got out of the car in Aspen Park and 
 started up the street. "When we 're in 
 business, we ride a cayuse ; when we walk, 
 we saunter. You don't give a man time to 
 look around and see what 's rampin' down on 
 him. Maybe an elephant might be surgin' 
 round the corner you can't tell." 
 
 As the two men approached the corner of 
 the third block a very handsome woman in 
 a black gown came on the low porch of a 
 pretty cottage to welcome them. She was 
 large and graceful, her flesh was like ivory,
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 13 
 
 and the guileless candor of a child was in her 
 big brown eyes. It was plain that she wor 
 shiped her husband. 
 
 After a quick and hearty kiss Ramsdell 
 turned, his eyes shining. " Maidie, this is 
 my partner, Jim Matteson." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell put her hand in Jim's broad 
 palm with a smile that went deep down into 
 the lonely man's soul. 
 
 " I 'm glad to meet you, Mr. Matteson." 
 
 " Oh, don't 'mister' him, Maidie." 
 
 " Call me Jim," said the young miner. 
 
 She smiled archly. " May I ?" 
 
 "Why, sure; everybody calls me Jim, 
 except doc, who says ' James ' when he wants 
 to rile me. I never was called ' mister ' in my 
 life." 
 
 "Well, then Jim, you are welcome," said 
 Mrs. Ramsdell, with just a little hesitation 
 before his name. " Come in at once ; dinner 
 is quite ready to serve." 
 
 Jim was profoundly impressed by his hos 
 tess, and said so to Ramsdell as soon as they 
 entered his room. 
 
 " Say, doc, if you could locate a claim with 
 the same success Why, durn it, man, you Ve 
 got the handsomest woman in seventeen
 
 14 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 counties. Let me look at you again." He 
 laid hands on the shoulders of his smiling 
 host. " I reckon I undervalued your good 
 looks. Of course I always liked you you 
 rode well, and you held a gun pretty fair; 
 but, say, I did n't think you could do a thing 
 like this. Any more where she comes from ?" 
 
 " Lots of 'em. You '11 have one beside you 
 at dinner my wife's niece. She 's listened 
 to my talk about you till she 's crazy to see 
 you. Oh, you 're in for it, pard." 
 
 Jim was seized with a sudden panic. " Oh, 
 Lord ! Say, lend me your razor. My chin 
 is all brussely." 
 
 "Oh, you 're all right, son! Brace up. 
 You must get used to guileless girls in low- 
 necked gowns, and to six-course dinners, too. 
 They '11 make a dead-set at you in the East." 
 
 " I begin to weaken right now," replied 
 Jim, dolefully. " I 'm not fitted for it. I can 
 camp down in the rain and cook a hunk o' 
 bacon on a forked stick all right, but I can't 
 kie-to in a parlor worth a red cent. I 'm sure 
 no account on a carpet." 
 
 The doctor was relentless. He dragged 
 Jim down to the parlor and introduced him to 
 Miss Bessie Blake, a very pretty girl with
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 15 
 
 timid eyes, who gazed at Jim in wonder and 
 admiration, while he looked at her in awe. 
 She was very fair and flushed easily. There 
 was a little wavy strand of her red-gold hair 
 falling loose over her temple, which gave him 
 a troublesome desire to reach over and put it 
 behind her ear, where it evidently belonged. 
 She carried also a little black patch on her 
 chin, which he thought concealed some wound 
 on her delicate flesh. 
 
 " Oh, we Ve heard so much about you, Mr. 
 Matteson," Bessie fervently began. 
 
 " Nothing bad, I hope." 
 
 "Call him Jim," interrupted Ramsdell, with 
 mischievous intent to confuse the girl. 
 
 Jim ignored his partner's suggestion this 
 time. " I wish I 'd 'a' heard more about you; 
 I 'd 'a' come on sooner." 
 
 The doctor shouted : " Not so bad for an 
 old pancake-turner ! I told you ! " 
 
 He turned triumphantly to Mrs. Ramsdell, 
 who rescued Jim by saying, " Dinner is wait 
 ing," and led the way out into the dining- 
 room, where an exquisite little dinner-service 
 was spread. Jim felt like a saw-horse, and his 
 hands were like pack-saddles as he sat down, 
 and he was flushing and chilling within. How-
 
 i6 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 ever, he did not show his embarrassment, but 
 remained deliberate, watchful, and outwardly 
 at ease, his handsome face set in stern lines. 
 The women communicated their admiration of 
 him by means of significant glances which Jim 
 did not see, and which the doctor most thor 
 oughly enjoyed. Jim was quite up to the 
 doctor's report of him. 
 
 "Well, Maidie," Ramsdell began as he 
 served the soup, "you must prepare Jim for 
 his fate. I 'm sending him to London." 
 
 " To London ! " The wife was amazed. 
 
 " Oh, how nice ! " said Bessie, with shining 
 eyes fixed on Jim. 
 
 " When do you go ? " asked Mrs, Ramsdell. 
 
 "To-morrow if my grit holds out, and 
 the doctor don't change his mind." 
 
 " How perfectly delightful ! " exclaimed 
 Bessie, impulsively. " How I wish I were 
 going, too ! " 
 
 " Well, Bessie ! " exclaimed Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 
 The girl flushed in an agony of confusion. 
 " Oh, you know what I mean, aunty," she 
 cried in appeal. 
 
 " We know what you said" remarked the 
 doctor, who was a remorseless tease. " It 
 seemed a little precipitate, to tell the truth."
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 17 
 
 The girl turned to Jim, who was also 
 warm, but by no means confused. " You 
 won't mind what he says, will you, Mr. 
 Matteson ? " 
 
 " Not a bit," he sturdily replied. " It 's 
 none o' his business, anyhow." Jim's words 
 were blunt and homely, but his tone gave the 
 girl relief and pleasure. " I wish somebody 
 I knew was going along." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell helped them both by saying, 
 " Have you never been abroad? " 
 
 " Never." 
 
 " You Ve been in Chicago before ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, in a way. I Ve come in with 
 cattle two or three times. But I .don't know 
 much about the town. I never was out in 
 this part before." 
 
 " What are you sending him to London 
 for, Willard?" 
 
 "To rope a cotton wood stump, my dear. 
 Wives should n't ask too many questions on 
 such subjects. I 'm sending Jim out after 
 fire- wood ; in other words, Jim has got to 
 sell some stock in our mine." 
 
 "Have you thought about your boat?" 
 asked Mrs. Ramsdell. " Which will you 
 take. The Concord, I suppose."
 
 i8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " They 're all alike to me," he replied. " I 
 jest as soon die in one as the other." 
 
 " Are you a bad sailor ? " 
 
 " Bad sailor ! Why, bless your heart, I 'm 
 not a sailor at all ! I never was in anything 
 bigger than a canoe in my life." 
 
 " Anybody that can ride a pitching bronco 
 ought not to get queasy when a steamer rolls 
 a little," said the doctor. 
 
 "What kind of a thing is a pitching 
 bronco ? " asked Bessie. 
 
 " It 's a horse with a calico-colored hide, 
 a bad red eye, and a habit of walking on his 
 ears," the doctor replied. 
 
 " Oh, how funny ! " said Bessie. 
 
 Jim faced her gravely. "Yes, it always is 
 funny to the feller lookin' on. A man on a 
 mean bronco is a circus. I Ve heard folks 
 don't get much sympathy for bein' seasick, 
 either." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell turned from a low-voiced 
 order to the servant, and said : " Willard, have 
 you told Jim what ship to take and what part 
 of the ship to get his berth in ? " 
 
 " Now it 's coming, Jim cure for seasick 
 ness and all." 
 
 The young wife colored a little. " Now,
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 19 
 
 Will, hush ! It would be cruel not to give 
 Jim some hints of how to get safely off." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," replied the doctor, in 
 the tone used on the vaudeville stage. "Jim 's 
 bound to be sick. He 's going to cuss me 
 and the ship and the ocean and everything 
 else ; but that 's what a sea-voyage is for. 
 It 's the best possible preparation for London. 
 Any old sog of an island will do Jim after he 's 
 been on the ocean a week." 
 
 " Willard, do keep still ! " interrupted Mrs. 
 Ramsdell. " You Ve spoiled Jim's appetite 
 already. He is n't eating a thing." 
 
 " Nonsense ; you can't spoil Jim's appetite. 
 He 's waiting to see which fork to take up," 
 said the doctor, brutally. " Take the biggest 
 one, Jim, or the nearest one. Neither of 'em 
 cuts any ice. All the one I claim to know is 
 the little one for oysters." 
 
 Jim stiffened again, but manfully stood to 
 the truth. "I 'm not so bad as that, but 
 there are two or three little kinks here that 
 I don't quite savvy." 
 
 " Don't lay 'em to me, Jim. I am a plain 
 man, but my wife is n't a bit plain. I keep 
 her down to five courses and three forks, but 
 it is the result of eternal vigilance."
 
 20 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The women turned to Jim and got him to 
 talk about his mine, his horses, his prospect 
 ing, and a dozen other interesting topics. 
 His diction became vivid, terse, and powerful, 
 and the women glowed with pleasure. Jim, on 
 his part, was inspired by such eager listeners 
 to do his best. 
 
 " Do you mean to say Willard goes with 
 you on these trips ? " asked Mrs. Rams- 
 dell. 
 
 " He used to. Lately he 's been too busy, 
 so he says." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell turned reproachfully. "Will, 
 you never told us about these things." 
 
 " Why, yes, I did," replied the doctor, " only 
 I did n't tell my story so well, that 's all. Jim 's 
 a poetic naturalist and a naturalistic poet. 
 He sees things without looking for 'em. I 'm 
 sending him to England because he '11 interest 
 them over there, and while they 're listening 
 to his tales of grizzly bears and Indians, he '11 
 hypnotize 'em into putting money into our 
 mine. Oh, I 'm long-headed. Let me man 
 age this thing, and when Jim comes back 
 we '11 move over on the Lake Shore Drive, 
 and Bessie and Jim can visit us there." 
 
 " Willard Ramsdell you are brutal ! " cried
 
 A MEETING IN THE LOW COUNTRY 21 
 
 his indignant wife, while Bessie again blushed 
 most vividly. 
 
 Ramsdell was quite unmoved. " I 'm an 
 inspired prophet," he calmly replied. " I 
 thought you were interested in having them 
 on good terms," he added, making matters 
 worse. 
 
 He had succeeded in spoiling the evening 
 by throwing a palpable constraint over the 
 young people, and though the women did 
 their best to get Jim back to his former vigor 
 and freedom of narrative, he remained mono 
 syllabic in his remarks. 
 
 He went to bed, however, with a feeling of 
 having passed one of the most profitable 
 evenings of his life. Miss Blake's clear, can 
 did glance and ready smile had pleased him 
 mightily. 
 
 " I wonder how she would stand the climate 
 of Colorado, "he thought, with a shy inward 
 smile. " Mebbe I '11 ask her one o' these days, 
 after I sell the mine." 
 
 Bessie was a vigorous girl, and made a 
 blooming breakfast companion for Jim, who 
 sat opposite her at the table next morning ; 
 and while Mrs. Ramsdell talked to him about 
 ways and aids to crossing the water, Jim
 
 22 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 studied the girl with a curious reflective stare 
 which threw her into self-conscious confusion. 
 He sat like a man in a dream, eating mechan 
 ically, hearing little that any one else said, but 
 seeing and hearing all that Bessie did or said. 
 Her like he had never seen at close range. 
 
 He had very little further to say to her till 
 the time came to say good-by. She stood 
 beside Mrs. Ramsdell as the latter said : 
 
 "Write to us, won't you, Mr. Matteson ? 
 We '11 be eager to know how you like Lon 
 don. Tell us all you feel." 
 
 " Oh, do ! " cried Bessie. 
 
 "All right," said Jim. "I 'm a purty 
 poor hand with pen and ink, but I '11 do my 
 best I 'd like mighty well to hear from you," 
 he added, looking at her intently. Then with 
 a final " Good-by till next time," he left the 
 room. 
 
 Bessie turned to Mrs. Ramsdell after he 
 went out, and said: "I think he 's wonderful. 
 I wish I could see him 'do' London." 
 
 " I 'm afraid it will spoil him," replied Mrs. 
 Ramsdell. 
 
 * " I don't," Bessie stoutly declared. " He's 
 too big and true-hearted to be spoiled by any 
 thing."
 
 II 
 
 THE BIG CANOE 
 
 JIM left Chicago in the evening, and did not 
 see much of the country till he was well on 
 into Ohio next day. There he was amazed 
 at the number of towns. No sooner was the 
 engine done ringing for one than another 
 flashed into view. The State seemed all low 
 and marshy to him. He had the feeling of 
 one who is descending to the base of the 
 world. The sea-level was to him merely a 
 fixed point from which to measure the high 
 places of the earth. That people lived there 
 he now began to realize, and he wondered 
 how they endured the damp, close air. He 
 understood also that the whole trip was a 
 descent from the high country he loved so 
 well. 
 
 He saw very little of New York, for it was 
 late when he arrived at Jersey City, and he 
 took a car at once for a famous old hotel on 
 
 23
 
 24 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Broadway. He breakfasted at eight, and im 
 mediately thereafter boarded a car for the 
 dock. From the vantage-ground of the back 
 platform he surveyed the town. With the 
 offhand freedom of a countryman he remarked 
 upon the age of the buildings and upon the 
 primitiveness of the horse-cars which tinkled 
 along on the cross-town circuit. 
 
 " We would n't ride in such a car in Wagon 
 Wheel Gap," he said to the conductor, who 
 defended the city vigorously. 
 
 "We 're putting in electricity," he replied. 
 " I '11 admit these cars are pretty 'yaller,' but 
 we 're layin' 'em off as fast as we can." 
 
 " How close do you go to the big canoe ? " 
 
 "The what?" 
 
 " The steamboat. I 'm on my way to take 
 the steamboat for England." 
 
 "What line?" 
 
 " Well, now you Ve got me. I did n't know 
 there was more than one. The name of the 
 boat is the King George." 
 
 " Oh, the Red Cross Line." 
 
 " I believe that is her brand." 
 
 " Oh, that 's very near. You 're from the 
 West, I guess ? " 
 
 " I am, and I wish I was back there this
 
 THE BIG CANOE 25 
 
 minute. I never was so lonesome in my 
 life." 
 
 " Oh, New York 's not so bad when you 
 get used to it," replied the conductor, good- 
 naturedly. 
 
 " Oh, I could stand New York all right ; 
 it 's the ocean that makes my brussles point 
 the wrong way. It 's a great big proposition 
 for a land-crab like me." 
 
 As he neared the boat Jim's blood quick 
 ened a little at the great confusion and 
 clangor going on in the " station," as he 
 called the wharf. Cabs were clattering up to 
 drop women and children and bags and bun 
 dles. Express-wagons, piled high with trunks, 
 were lined up, waiting a chance to unload, 
 while men with hand-trucks were running 
 about like ants, fastening on baggage with 
 intent and unhurried action. The clatter of 
 their trucks was like the sound of a storm. 
 Cries and commands echoed. Out of the 
 vast, dim cavern -shed two or three doorways 
 opened to the left, and, approaching them, 
 Jim found what he called "chutes" leading 
 to the ship, which towered in majestic impas 
 sivity beside the wharf. It had the bulk of a 
 mountain and the lines of a Siwash canoe.
 
 26 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The mountaineer swore softly as he com 
 prehended the bigness and the beauty of the 
 boat. He had expected something- grand and 
 powerful, in harmony with the sea-waves it 
 had to fight; but the reality was far beyond 
 his conception of what it should be. For 
 some time he stood about watching the peo 
 ple stream up the gangway. There seemed 
 to be hundreds of them, all happy, well dressed, 
 and for the most part young. Afar down ap 
 peared other crowds of poorer-dressed people. 
 "The second-class passengers, I reckon," he 
 remarked to a man with a couple of small 
 children. 
 
 It was all vastly interesting and confusing 
 to a man of solitudes, but, after referring to 
 his card of instructions from Mrs. Ramsdell, 
 Jim had a blue label pasted on his trunk, hired 
 a deck-chair, and got his valise into his state 
 room, which turned out to be a little smaller 
 than a miner's dugout, and not much bigger 
 than a coffin. This ended his preparations, 
 and settling down on the edge of his "bunk," 
 as he called it, he faced the emptiness of the 
 moment. A great void seemed to settle down 
 over him. For eight days he would have 
 nothing to do but eat and sleep, and the out-
 
 THE BIG CANOE 27 
 
 look was appalling. He was frankly home 
 sick right there, and would gladly have laid 
 down his hand and would have done so 
 had he been " playing it alone," but there was 
 his partner and the little girl. 
 
 He took a turn about the boat, which was 
 to him actually " palatial." The music-room, 
 the stairways, the dining-room, were com 
 parable in their glory to the hotels he had 
 seen in his occasional visits to Denver and 
 Chicago. 
 
 " It 's all pretty rich for my blood," he 
 thought ; " but it don't last long." 
 
 Eventually he drifted out upon deck, and 
 stood observing the excited passengers, who 
 swarmed restlessly about, surrounded by 
 throngs of friends bidding them good-by. 
 
 " They 're all too mighty slick for any good 
 use," was his inward comment ; " but the girls 
 are sure-enough blooded stock." 
 
 A tall woman standing beside him had a 
 big bunch of roses in her hand, and their odor 
 came to his senses as if it were a part of her 
 own regal beauty. Many of the other women 
 were to him as artificial as colored fashion- 
 plates. They possessed curious little affecta 
 tions of voice quite new to Jim. They stood
 
 28 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 about in chattering groups, surrounded by 
 young men almost equally " smooth." 
 
 " Never done a stroke o' work in their 
 lives, I reckon," said Jim to himself. 
 
 However, in the midst of these excessively 
 well-dressed people there were men who had 
 the manner of business agents, and one or 
 two of them looked as though they might be 
 from the West or South. Jim determined to 
 collar one of these, by and by, for the sake 
 of an acquaintance some one to talk to. 
 
 As he drifted toward the back end of the 
 boat he came in close sight of the second- 
 class passengers. " There, "thought he, "these 
 act people. They 're human. That 's where 
 I should be save fifty dollars, too." He 
 hung about this end of the boat, feeling dis 
 tinctly less lonely as he listened to the talk 
 going on among them. 
 
 They acted like "folks." They wept, and 
 shouted affectionate incoherences from boat 
 to land, and the eyes of many of the women 
 were inflamed with tears. Some of them 
 sniveled and were not ashamed, and whole 
 families set up a wail as the gang-plank began 
 to be drawn off. Jim could understand such 
 people; but those "smooth ones" forward
 
 THE BIG CANOE 29 
 
 were alien, quite alien. Where work was, ** 
 where heads were grizzled and backs bent, 
 there Jim was at home ; but these finely 
 gowned, cold-faced women he could not com 
 prehend, although their beauty appealed to 
 his highest taste. One scornful creature 
 seemed to be holding a reception like a po 
 litical candidate at a country fair. She was 
 surrounded by men with arms filled with roses, 
 and her manners were those of a queen. 
 
 At last the clangor of the gong started 
 these groups into tepid embraces and polite 
 kisses. They all parted gracefully, without 
 red eyelids or grimaces of uncontrollable grief. 
 One by one they passed down the runway 
 waving their gloved hands, while the outgo 
 ing ones took their places at the rail to wave 
 them adieu with dainty handkerchiefs. Sin 
 gularly enough, all the prettiest girls stayed 
 in New York, or so it seemed to Jim; only 
 the plain ones and the old women remained 
 on board. He was astonished to see how 
 few people of any kind remained. "I reckon 
 they 're like me," he thought. " Like to make 
 a bluff at going, but mighty glad to get off." 
 
 Slowly, stupidly, majestically, the great 
 craft sidled, slid, and edged away from her
 
 30 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 moorings, churning the water into foam with 
 her spasmodic efforts at getting under way, 
 while the throng on the wharf cheered and 
 waved hats and handkerchiefs. Pale and 
 tearful faces were uplifted here and there, the 
 voices sounding faint and fainter ; and at last 
 there was silence on the boat, and the close- 
 packed wharf looked like a dark-purple robe, 
 with flecks of terra-cotta where the bared 
 foreheads of the men appeared. 
 
 The ship, once in good steering way, began 
 to utter breath like a powerful but reluctant 
 draft-horse. The water began to hiss away 
 from her black sides, and the quiver of audi 
 ble effort ran through her vast bulk. She 
 was warming up for her long run across the 
 gray floods, resolute and wary. 
 
 As the land of his flag fell away into the 
 midst of the sky-line, leaving only the vivid 
 sun and the shining sea, it almost seemed to 
 Jim as though he were again on the alkali 
 plains of Utah. The dazzling light, the low 
 horizon-line, the enormous sky filled with 
 sparse clouds, made up a world like that where 
 a cloudless heaven forever arches a change 
 less desert. The sky did not seem strange ; 
 it seemed natural in beauty. At the same
 
 THE BIG CANOE 31 
 
 time it reminded him of the splendors he was 
 leaving behind. All that was familiar and 
 trustworthy was back there, where the sun 
 was sinking. To the east lay the unimagi 
 nable, the dangerous, and the wearisome ; and 
 a feeling of timidity came over his bold heart : 
 this water world was dangersome. 
 
 In a short time a great change took place 
 in the looks of the passengers. Men appeared 
 in short coats and sailor-caps ; the women 
 grew gayer, plainer, more human, as they 
 laid aside their street dress and came out in 
 deck costume. A rush to secure the best 
 seats in the dining-room took place, and the 
 choice locations for chairs on deck were being 
 taken up ; but Jim scorned to take any part 
 in these scrambles, and accepted with resig 
 nation whatever came his way. " I reckon 
 I '11 get my share someway without rushing 
 for it," he said to a steward. 
 
 There were stewards for chairs, state-room 
 stewards, stewards who presided on deck, 
 over the boats, over the baths. They were 
 all distressingly courteous and ready to help 
 anybody and in any way for a considera 
 tion, as Jim well understood. 
 
 The dining-room was very gay that night,
 
 32 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 every seat being filled. Jim found himself 
 between two old women and opposite two 
 children. Being in no mood to talk, he cared 
 very little who his seat-mates were, but ate 
 a good meal, and went up on deck to watch 
 the sun go down. The west was filled with 
 great, heavy April clouds, piled in masses 
 like mountains, and Jim's throat closed tight 
 with a homesick ache. When he looked to 
 the east a feeling of awe fell upon him, as he 
 realized that the ship was rushing each mo 
 ment away from land into a gray sea. 
 
 He stayed on deck until the sea grew dark, 
 musing more deeply on life than ever before. 
 He had a deep-seated feeling that this trip 
 marked an epoch in his life, but he had no 
 foreknowledge of success. On the contrary, 
 he perceived in all its fantastic bulk the folly 
 of sending an old pickax like himself on such 
 an errand. 
 
 As he got out of bed next morning he felt 
 queer. He had slept well, and until a few 
 moments before rising was vigorous and 
 happy ; but as he stood before his mirror a 
 giddy and joyless feeling swept over him. 
 His solid footing was gone. The boat had a 
 complex movement not violent, but diffi-
 
 THE BIG CANOE 33 
 
 cult As he went down the corridor he stag 
 gered like a drunken man, and the close air 
 of the passageway ran into his veins like 
 poison. 
 
 " Great snakes ! I 'm in for it!" he groaned 
 as he returned to his bunk. " I 'm sick as a 
 horse first crack out o' the box." 
 
 He was. His stomach closed up like a 
 rubber bag, and for four days refused all 
 nourishment, rejecting even a drop of water. 
 It became a place of burning and of trouble. 
 For four days and four nights he lay in his 
 ill-smelling little room, as querulous as a babe, 
 while the steward and the ship's doctor 
 worked over him with perfunctory sympathy. 
 They tried him with sedatives and cordials 
 and cathartics and bromides, all to no pur 
 pose. His poor digestive sack rejected them 
 all. Each hour of agony seemed a day, each 
 day a month, each night a year. To add to 
 his suffering, his companion, a fat traveling 
 man, snored, and there were times when Jim's 
 wrath became maniacal. He rose once and 
 clutched the sleeper with a hand of iron. 
 " Pardner, I 'd hate to kill you, but there are 
 limits ; turn over and shut up." 
 
 The scared drummer abjectly apologized,
 
 34 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 for he had a notion that Jim was a " bad man" 
 from the wild West. By day the mountain 
 eer lay utterly alone, hearing the creak and 
 jar of the ship, the tiger-clutch and snarl of 
 the waves outside, enduring at once the ago 
 nies of death and solitary confinement, while 
 the daylight paled out of his little cell, and 
 night came to bring new smells and new 
 noises. His bunk was narrow and high, and 
 his blankets regularly rolled out on the floor. 
 The only fresh air that came to him fell upon 
 his face, filling his throat and lungs with in 
 flammation ; and each night his companion 
 developed new powers of snoring. Each time 
 the ship's doctor came he tried a new remedy, 
 always with the same failure. "Wall, wall," 
 he said, " you are sairtainlie seasick, mon." 
 
 As the days wore on, the creak of the ship 
 became as great a torment as his inflamed 
 stomach and aching head. He could hear 
 the water slash and churn like brine in a barrel, 
 and that wore upon hinTalso. 
 
 " Curse the idiotic thing, won't it never let 
 up ! " he groaned as the doctor bent over him 
 in genuine pity on the third day. 
 
 " Keep your heart, mon ; ye '11 soon be 
 over it."
 
 THE BIG CANOE 35 
 
 Once the mountaineer staggered up on deck 
 and looked out on the cold gray sea ; but as 
 he felt the graveyard chill of the cabin, he 
 crept back to his dank, dark hole it was 
 less cheerless than the upper ship. For com 
 fort he fixed his inward eyes on the brilliant 
 sun, the splendid peaks, the singing streams 
 of the high country, and he fairly wept with 
 agony of longing. 
 
 "If God lets me live to see old Ouray, I 
 never '11 leave it again." 
 
 He could not think of food, not even of 
 toast, without loathing. The merry clangor 
 of the bugle calling to meals came to be re 
 pulsive to him. It mocked at him, voiced the 
 indifference of those who were sea-tested, and 
 it belittled him. The world of water became 
 absolutely hellish in his eyes. What a fool he 
 had been to leave the springtime, the growing 
 grass, the fresh winds of Colorado, for this ! 
 Lying there, he felt his utter helplessness to 
 do the work demanded of him. 
 
 There was no place on the ship to rest 
 or get warm. It was an enormous ice-box 
 plunging through a desolate and senseless 
 waste of brine. The passengers sat about 
 like dyspeptic ravens, the women drawn and
 
 36 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 yellow of visage, the men savage and sullen. 
 The library resembled a parlor wherein a 
 country funeral was about to be held ; the 
 sparse occupants were like the first assembly 
 of mourners. From all this Jim was glad to 
 flee even to his ill-smelling little cistern, 
 wherein he knew every knot and every curtain- 
 spot. Would it never end, that idiotic repeti 
 tion of the same noise, that foolish wabbling ? 
 Talk of the dignity of the ocean ! It had no 
 dignity ; it was the plaything of the wind. 
 But the range, oh, God ! the glory of the 
 Needle Peaks, whose waves endure for ages, 
 whose granite walls ride through every storm 
 in steadfast and unshakable majesty ! " Let 
 me get back to the high country ! " was the 
 cry of his soul. He was comforted by the 
 thought of Bessie, whose timid eyes had 
 studied him so flatteringly. Often the recol 
 lection of her smile stilled the curses on his 
 lips and made him forget the chill of his cell. 
 
 If he could only have a friend to sit by his 
 bed ; if Ramsdell or his wife or or that 
 lovely, sympathetic girl but no; he was con 
 demned to lie alone, counting the creaking of 
 the bolts, the swing of his overcoat on its 
 hook, listening to the passing of feet and
 
 THE BIG CANOE 37 
 
 the pounding rush of the waves, mocked by 
 the clangor of the bugle, and made mad by 
 the thought of the long days to come. 
 
 Sometimes when his mind reverted to the 
 Ramsdells' cottage and to Bessie, he set his 
 teeth and said : " I '11 have her yet. I '11 carry 
 this thing through, and then " But he never 
 quite articulated the remaining words of the 
 sentence. 
 
 The exquisite line of her pink lips and the 
 gleam of her little white teeth as white as 
 those of a young wolf had made the most, 
 vivid impression on him. Her dainty person 
 ality seemed perfectly expressed in the purity 
 and sweetness of her smile. Feeling his own 
 unworthiness, he hoped to reinforce his cause 
 by gaining wealth. " Oh, I 'm down," he 
 said once, aloud, " but no bones broke. I '11 
 get up sure when 1 feel dirt under foot." 
 
 At last there came a change in the motion 
 of the vessel : it ceased to pitch and began to 
 roll ; and his poor head felt the change in 
 stantly. He dressed as quickly as possible 
 and staggered up on deck again. It was just 
 sunrise, and the steward was resetting the 
 chairs for the day. The sun was breaking 
 out of a deeply cloudy sky the blessed sun !
 
 38 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The ocean, dark green, solemn, silent, was 
 rolling in long swells, over which the boat slid. 
 Water suddenly seemed good to think of, and 
 he drank a huge glassful with feverish eager 
 ness. Strange to say, it passed into his veins, 
 allaying the fever, and he was encouraged to 
 think that the horrible gnawing of his vitals 
 was, after all, just plain hunger. Staggering 
 up to a steward, he broke forth : 
 
 " Say, see here, stranger, if you 'd been four 
 days without grub, what would you break in 
 on?" 
 
 The steward touched his cap. 
 
 " I think, sir, a cup of gruel will do you the 
 most good, sir. I '11 fetch it directly." 
 
 "I '11 be mighty obliged," said Jim, and 
 reeled to a chair, with the resignation of a 
 gambler who has staked all upon the red. 
 
 The gruel came near tasting good, and in 
 five minutes Jim was able to sit erect. He 
 took a seat in the sun far aft, and with a fixed 
 grinning, like a feeble-minded inmate of the 
 county poorhouse, anxiously awaited the out 
 come. He grew stronger with great rapidity. 
 The world brightened, the sun came out and lay 
 over him like a golden coverlet. It was the 
 same old sun that shone upon Colorado and
 
 THE BIG CANOE 39 
 
 upon Aspen Park, after all. The deep-blue 
 sea began to glitter, and the rush of the 
 waves no longer added to his misery. One 
 by one other sad-visaged men and haggard 
 women crept up the stairway and lay about 
 in chairs, blinking like toads freshly thrown 
 into the light. The bugle sounding for break 
 fast was less mocking ; his gorge did not rise 
 at it, and he determined upon a real meal. 
 As he entered the dining-room the waiter took 
 a personal interest in him. " Good morning, 
 sir ; glad to see you up again, sir." 
 
 " I 'm mighty glad to be up," replied Jim. 
 " I have n't troubled you much for four days, 
 have I ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; we missed you, sir. Wat '11 you 
 'ave, sir ? " 
 
 "Make it eggs on toast; and, say, add a 
 strip of bacon to it I jest nacherly believe I 
 can eat it." 
 
 While the waiter was gone the mountaineer 
 studied the suggestive little corrals in which 
 the dishes were placed in order that the roll 
 ing of the boat should not send them to the 
 floor. " Nice way to eat," he thought : " about 
 as comfortable as takin' dinner on top of a 
 'bus."
 
 40 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The bacon proved to be an inspiration, for 
 it carried Jim back to the trail. It had in it 
 the smoke of a thousand camp-fires, and it 
 cleared away the last trace of his illness. 
 He ate it all, every scrap of it, and desired 
 more, but had sense enough to rise from the 
 table hungry, content to let well enough 
 alone. 
 
 Quite at peace with the world for the 
 moment, he went on deck and watched the 
 other passengers as they crawled up like 
 torpid crickets from below, expanding into 
 cheerfulness and spasmodic chirping under 
 the beaming sun. Each woman said, " Is n't 
 it a lovely morning ? " and plump old gentle 
 men put their heads together like couples 
 of fighting-cocks, and held jerky dialogues 
 concerning breakfast and the quality of the 
 cigars which the boat carried. Girls who 
 looked like wax figures to Jim, and who 
 talked in tones as much a matter of fashion as 
 their dresses, began to appear and to walk 
 up and down the deck with young men in 
 very new yachting-shoes and very gay short 
 coats. The day grew steadily brighter and 
 the sea less to be dreaded. 
 
 However, it did not interest Jim very much;
 
 THE BIG CANOE 41 
 
 it was all too far removed and too artificial 
 for his liking. It seemed to him that to be 
 interested in the sky and the sea, as the other 
 passengers pretended to be, was an affectation ; 
 they were, in fact, much more concerned over 
 their costumes. Again he found that the 
 " real folks " were to be seen at the after part 
 of the ship, and standing at the rail, he made 
 some very pleasant acquaintances with hard- 
 fingered old men who were returning to Eng 
 land or Scotland or Ireland on a visit after 
 years of labor in America. They were all 
 hearty and communicative. 
 
 As he sat contemplating the sunny sky, 
 which grew each moment more and more 
 luminous and comforting, Jim observed a 
 man with a cow-boy hat, which he wore pulled 
 low down on his head. Jim was interested 
 in him because he dared to wear such a som 
 brero when every one else wore a cap. Thus 
 far the mountaineer had not spoken a single 
 word to any of his fellow-passengers ; but 
 seeing this man almost as lonely as himself, 
 he spoke to him as he was passing : 
 
 " Pardner, where did you meet up with that 
 hat?" 
 
 The stranger stopped instantly and pride-
 
 42 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 fully grinned. "In Denver; I bought it to 
 wear on me ranch, you know," he replied with 
 a strong English accent. 
 
 "Is that so ! Well, I 'm from Colorado 
 myself," said Jim. 
 
 The stranger was very much interested. 
 He was English, but of a peculiar confiding 
 sort that one occasionally meets with. 
 
 " Is it possible ! Fancy ! I took you for 
 a New-Yorker," he said. 
 
 Jim laid a finger on the side of his head. 
 "That 's due to the cap. Never wore one 
 before, never expect to wear one again. See 
 here ; you don't get the right scorch on that 
 hat. This is the way you want to do it." He 
 whipped off the hat, and struck the crown 
 lightly four times, till it stood up in a peak. 
 "There, that 's the trick," he said, as he 
 placed it back on the young man's head. " It 
 ain't the clear quill, though : the crown 's 
 too flat. I worked cattle myself for five 
 years." 
 
 The young fellow was filled with instant 
 admiration. " Where was your ranch ? " 
 
 " Oh, I took a hand all along the line. I Ve 
 punched cattle from the Panhandle country 
 clear up to the Bad Lands, and once I crossed
 
 THE BIG CANOE 43 
 
 over to the Pecos, worked there two years, 
 then drifted over into the Lost Park country 
 for two years." 
 
 " May I ask how you happen to be here ? " 
 
 " Oh, I just thought I 'd take a whirl across 
 and see the other side, just for greens, as the 
 feller says. I wish I had n't done it, as Pete 
 Gaven said when he roped the grizzly." 
 
 "Are you a cattleman I mean a pro 
 prietor ? " 
 
 "No; I 'm only a miner," Jim replied 
 curtly. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," said the young fel 
 low, who perceived that Jim was not ready 
 to discuss his private affairs. " Here 's my 
 card." 
 
 Jim took the card, which presented the 
 name of " Mr. George Arthur Hastings," and 
 cautiously replied : " My name is Matteson - 
 Jim Matteson of Wagon Wheel Gap, Colo 
 rado." 
 
 The young Englishman became excited. 
 " Is it possible ! I Ve been there ; I was 
 there last October put up at the Palace 
 Hotel. Beastly bad place, but I stopped a 
 week." 
 
 Jim smiled. "My hotel was made out of
 
 44 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 popple slabs and set into the side of the big 
 'draw' that runs just west of the town. I 
 was taking a shy at placer-mining just then." 
 
 "You are a practised miner, I fancy?" 
 
 "Well, a kind of a one. I Ve ranged the 
 hills of Colorado off and on for five or six 
 years, if that makes a man a miner. No, I 'm 
 a prospector; I 've always been a prospector; 
 even when I was punching cattle I had my 
 plans for striking a mine." 
 
 " Did you ever really find one ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes, I Ve found mines a-plenty 
 generally on somebody else's land. I lost 
 one or two because I had n't money to fight 
 contests." Here he rose, as if to shut off 
 conversation. 
 
 " I 'm very glad I met you," said Hastings; 
 " I hope I shall be able to talk to you again. 
 Are you to be in London long ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't know. You see, I Ve got 
 a mine to sell, and it may take me all summer." 
 
 "How much of a mine, if I may ask?" 
 said Hastings, as if ready to buy it at once. 
 
 "Well, it 's a right smart piece of a mine. 
 I 'm holding the half-interest at two hundred 
 and fifty thousand dollars. It 's a good mine 
 all right, all right."
 
 THE BIG CANOE 45 
 
 Hastings sighed regretfully. " That 's 
 quite out of my reach, but I may be able to 
 help you, after all. I know some fellows with 
 money to invest. I '11 be glad to introduce 
 you to them." 
 
 " Much obliged," said Jim, coldly. " I 
 reckon I '11 hit a hot trail as soon as I pre 
 sent some letters I have." 
 
 "Oh, no doubt; but I would like my friends 
 to have a chance." 
 
 Jim regarded the young fellow as alto 
 gether too easy game. It was like going out 
 to kill a mountain-sheep and having the thing 
 turn and walk right down the hill to you. 
 He began to wonder if the Englishman were 
 not about to work some game on him. He 
 made an end of the conversation brusquely, 
 and turned away. 
 
 Dragging his chair far off, he lay out in the 
 sun like a lizard absorbing heat, his eyes on 
 the sky. When he looked at the great clouds 
 sailing through the deep blue above him he 
 could easily imagine himself on the Grizzly 
 Bear trail once more, and the foam which 
 hissed from the boat's rushing prow was not 
 unlike the hurrying waters of the Uncom- 
 pahgre. The mountain world was coming to
 
 46 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 have a beauty which he had never definitely 
 understood before. It seemed that he was 
 leaving it forever as he saw the ship rush into 
 this deep-blue waste hour after hour, day 
 after day ; and yet he had no sense of 
 progress. He was in a world without end 
 and without change. 
 
 During the afternoon Hastings came round 
 with his sister a plain little woman, who 
 also had been very seasick. She was nice 
 and sympathetic, and deeply interested in all 
 the stories he permitted himself to relate 
 about the wild country. She was quite as 
 homely as anybody's hired girl, but Jim liked 
 her because she did n't pretend to either style 
 or beauty. 
 
 His mind dwelt more and more on the girl 
 in Aspen Park, who had blushed so furiously 
 at the doctor's hectoring. He was not accus 
 tomed to girls who blushed, and Bessie's color 
 took hold of his fancy. He wished he could 
 see her in comparison with the girls saunter 
 ing about the deck. She was so much more 
 simple and modest and and nice : that was 
 as near as he could come to phrasing her 
 charm. 
 
 Aside from a little speech occasionally with
 
 THE BIG CANOE 47 
 
 Hastings and his sister and two or three 
 of the second-class passengers, Jim walked 
 about as silent as an owl in daytime. The 
 boat continued to roll, but less violently. The 
 waves, big, smooth, and colored like smoky 
 topaz, came on from the side, and the ship 
 seemed to slide over them without effort. 
 The passengers did a great deal of foolish 
 walking up and down the decks. Jim, who 
 had never footed it for exercise, was irritated 
 by this promenading. It is doubtful if he 
 would have consented to walk with the pret 
 tiest girl on board. To walk for pleasure or 
 for exercise was, to men of Jim's world, e 
 dence of unsound mind. 
 
 He brooded a great deal on the strangeness 
 of the plan which had flung him, a man of 
 camps, mines, and cayuses, into these singu 
 lar surroundings. "It 's enough to loco a 
 government mule," he muttered to himself. 
 
 A young girl seated near him turned her 
 head to the young man in the chair beside 
 her and laughingly replied to a question : 
 " Oh, I shall go down to Rome in May. 
 London is impossible till June; so is Flor 
 ence. I think I '11 spend January and Feb 
 ruary in Egypt or Tunis."
 
 48 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Jim looked at her with wondering abstrac 
 tion. She was about the age and "build" 
 of the Aspen Park girl, but she was a long 
 way from having the same simple grace. 
 Had he possessed the word blase, it would 
 have risen in his mind, but he had no phrase 
 to express his conception of this singular 
 creature. To him Rome existed only in school- 
 books, and was as remote as the river Styx 
 or Mount Olympus. His McGuffey Readers, 
 he remembered, had pieces of prose and poe 
 try about Rome and Egypt, which the boys 
 used to spout with awe ; and yet here was 
 this girl who seemed to be saying, "I '11 just 
 saunter round by way of purgatory and the 
 New Jerusalem, and winter in Rome." Truly 
 the world contained people to puzzle a plain 
 mountaineer. His thought returned to the 
 dainty little woman in Aspen Park, and a 
 singular glow came into his heart at the idea 
 of home, chilled by the thought that all his 
 work and half his journey were still before 
 him. 
 
 He became inexpressibly weary of the sea. 
 Its ceaseless slosh, the cold wind, the roll of 
 the boat everything tortured him. He had 
 nothing to do but think, and thought came
 
 THE BIG CANOE 49 
 
 at last to circle, like a milling herd, round and 
 round to no purpose. The hours again grew 
 long not so long as when he was confined 
 to his foul dungeon, but so long that his bones 
 ached with their slow, deadly drag. It was 
 not the sweet loneliness of the trail ; it was 
 inescapable monotony. 
 
 His loneliness threw him often in young 
 Hastings's company, and he could not help 
 running into talks that were almost confi 
 dences. He had never been so long sepa 
 rated from friends before, and it produced in 
 him a bitter melancholy and a startling sense 
 of weakness. He tried to be civil to Miss 
 Hastings, but found it difficult, for she had 
 an irritating habit of interrupting, and often 
 threw him off the trail by her unexpected 
 remarks. 
 
 " Only fancy ! " she would interject inop 
 portunely, her big gray eyes fixed in a stren 
 uous stare on his face. Her astonishment 
 was quite usually at some matter-of-course 
 point in his tales. " Fancy that ! " she would 
 say to Arthur, or, " There ! he can tell where 
 to go by the snow on the peaks. Is n't it 
 wonderful ? " when the point of his story had 
 nothing whatever to do with following the
 
 50 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 trail, which was a mere commonplace, like 
 saying, " I went down the street." 
 
 Once she interrupted him to say: "I sup 
 pose living is very dear so far from New 
 York?" 
 
 Jim paused. "Well, that depends on what 
 you eat. There 's always a little game even 
 high up, and bacon and beans are cheap." 
 
 She stared fixedly. " Fancy living on bacon 
 and beans ! Do you have no bread ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; sinkers." 
 
 "I beg pardon ? " 
 
 "Sinkers dough-balls skillet-bread. 
 Flour and water and baking-powder mixed 
 and baked in a kittle or gold-pan." 
 
 " I know ! " cried Hastings. " I Ve seen 
 the cow-boys baking it." 
 
 " Bread in a skillet fancy that, Artie ! " 
 
 Jim grew irritated. " That 's not the point. 
 What I was saying was, even after you find 
 the ' float ' you may spend weeks hunting for 
 the lode," etc. He never was quite able to 
 complete his story when the sister was pres 
 ent, and ultimately he avoided her. 
 
 Hastings himself developed much admira 
 tion for the mountaineer. " You must let 
 me see you in London," he said several times.
 
 THE BIG CANOE 51 
 
 "I '11 put you down at my club ; and then, the 
 governor will want to see you in the country." 
 
 Jim had no idea of what was involved in 
 being put down at a club, but he consented. 
 " That 's mighty white of you, old man, but 
 I don't know where I shall make down." 
 
 Though still weak and ill, he could not 
 bring himself to go to his room during the 
 day ; but as night came on, and his bones 
 ached with the weariness of waiting, and his 
 brain grew numb with the monotonous swirl 
 of his thinking, he crept down the stairs 
 again like a lame dog, weary and downcast. 
 That close, ill-smelling little den came to seem 
 worth while as the sea grew dark, just as a 
 gully in the plains, or a hollow in a rock be 
 side the trail, used to develop a wondrous 
 homeliness as the cold dusk fell upon him and 
 his horse. 
 
 His release from pain was of short dura 
 tion. The gray-green liquid over which the 
 boat rolled began again to boil and hiss and 
 swell, and the ship returned to its old tricks, 
 and creaked and slid and side-stepped, and 
 rose and fell like a teeter-board, and up-ended 
 like a rearing bronco, and pitched like a mule, 
 nosing deep down into the gloomy hollows
 
 52 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 between the waves. Jim went flat on his 
 back again. " My heavens ! won't it never 
 end ? " he muttered, and in the semi-darkness 
 of his room he lay in disgust too great for 
 any words. 
 
 At last in the middle of the night he woke 
 with a start, thinking himself in his shack 
 beside the Grizzly Bear. The vessel was 
 still, so still that he did not remember where 
 he was. Then it began to reel again and 
 shake ; and with a sudden chill at his heart, 
 he said, " Oh, Lord ! I 'm still afloat." But 
 the sea was growing quiet, and, soothed by 
 the changed motion of the ship, he fell asleep 
 again.
 
 Ill 
 
 JIM REACHES LAND 
 
 WHEN he woke the second time, people 
 were calling to each other with a note 
 of excitement in their voices, and he knew that 
 new worlds were to be seen. His room-mate 
 was already on deck, and dressing quickly, Jim 
 followed him. 
 
 " Land ho ! " was the joyous cry. 
 
 On the left, treeless hills thrust themselves 
 boldly into the sea. They were brown, with 
 faint patches of green in their hollows. " That 
 must be Ireland," said Jim. High, gleaming 
 stone towers rose from these eminences 
 lighthouses, old and new, Hastings told him. 
 Soon little huts could be seen, and stone walls 
 which checkered the land into irregular 
 squares. The cottages thickened into clumps, 
 looking like natural rock forms. At last the 
 fields began to cover the hills, and growing 
 
 53
 
 54 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 grain and fresh-plowed earth betrayed the 
 farmer's busy care. 
 
 " So that 's Ireland ? " mused Jim. " Well, 
 it 's a lonesome country ; not a tree in sight." 
 
 " Every inch has been harrowed by human 
 hands for centuries," volunteered an old gentle 
 man, addressing Jim and Hastings. 
 
 " Poor beggars ! No wonder they go to 
 America in swarms," said Hastings. " Still, 
 it 's not so lonely as the plains." 
 
 "That 's true," Jim admitted. " But then, 
 you don't look for anything different on the 
 flats." 
 
 The tone of the ship's conversation was 
 utterly changed. Into the emptiness of the 
 sea something worth while had been born. 
 Laughter could be heard from all parts of the 
 deck. Field-glasses were focused upon every 
 object which could yield amusement. The 
 mere sight of hills made Jim's blood quicken. 
 That day he ate his second full meal. 
 
 A new terror now confronted the moun 
 taineer Liverpool and the customs officers. 
 He asked Hastings about these matters. 
 
 The young fellow seemed vastly pleased to 
 be of any service. 
 
 "I '11 put you through," he said. " It 's
 
 JIM REACHES LAND 55 
 
 quite simple, you know. A couple o' shil 
 lings and the thing 's done. You '11 find Liv 
 erpool quite like Chicago." 
 
 It happened that Jim did not see Liverpool 
 at all. When he came on deck the next morn 
 ing the vessel was already anchored in what 
 seemed to be a muddy river, the dim shores 
 of which were enveloped in fog, out of which 
 bells and whistles and the rumble of heavy 
 wheels came in ever-increasing volume ; and 
 even when the steamer swung alongside the 
 dock, only a row of dingy buildings (which 
 might have been West Chicago) could be 
 seen : all else was hidden by mist. 
 
 Piloted by Hastings, the mountaineer found 
 his way into the huge hall wherein the bag 
 gage was laid out for inspection. " You 
 want to look after your own luggage and see 
 it into the van ; we have no checking system 
 like yours," Hastings explained as he mounted 
 his pile of baggage and bawled for a porter. 
 All about the place, men, women, and chil 
 dren, perspiring, excited, yet resolute, stood 
 guard over piles of bags, trunks, shawl-straps, 
 and hat-boxes, while myriads of porters moved 
 about like deliberative beetles, and fastened 
 upon variform parcels with grimy claws.
 
 56 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Jim "caught on" quickly, and clapping a 
 porter on the back, said : " See here, cap ; 
 what '11 you take to get my baggage out upon 
 the railway-platform ? " The porter mumbled 
 something in reply and laid hold on his trunks. 
 Jim followed him out to the platform. " Well, 
 I '11 be hanged ! " he said as he looked at the 
 cars. " Is this a narrow-gage train ? " 
 
 "A w'at, sir?" queried the porter, who 
 was used to queer Americans and remained 
 stolidly calm. 
 
 " Is this as big as you make 'em ? Do they 
 all come this size ? Is this the London spe 
 cial ? " 
 
 " This is the reg'lar trine, sir." 
 
 "All right," said Jim, seeing the porter's 
 inability to comprehend his joke. " Go 
 ahead. What 's the next ground-hop? 
 Where do I get in at?" 
 
 Hastings appeared at this point. " Put 
 your luggage on here. I Ve saved a seat for 
 you in this coach." 
 
 " Don't I get a check for my truck ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; it will be all right. Just make a 
 note of the van, that 's all." 
 
 Jim waved his hand at his trunk. " All 
 right ; see you later mebbe."
 
 JIM REACHES LAND 57 
 
 The porter sidled close to him. " I siy, sir, 
 if you give me a shillin', don't let t' old man 
 see it; we 're not hallowed a tip." 
 
 Jim looked round at " t' old man," a fussy, 
 choleric, childish old giant who was bellowing 
 useless orders to the hurrying porters. 
 
 "All right, pardner. Wait till I dig up a 
 piece. What 's that ? Is that a sixpence ? 
 Looks to me to be worth about a dime. 
 How 's this ? That 's a quarter, I take it." 
 
 "Thank you, sir; much obliged, sir," said 
 the porter, as he sidled off out of reach of 
 " t' old man." 
 
 Jim gave his attention to the train, which 
 was a long row of little, lightly built, dirty 
 white cars, like a lot of stage-coaches set end 
 to end. They had doors only on the side, and 
 the seats were exactly like those in an old 
 Concord coach. On one side a minute corri 
 dor ran from end to end of each car, but it was 
 so narrow that a broad-shouldered man had 
 to go sidewise, " like a hog to war," as he said. 
 
 Jim smiled broadly, and taking from his 
 pocket a circular, re-read to Hastings the 
 words : " In deference to our American travel 
 we have put on a superb corridor-train out 
 fitted in the American fashion. Travelers
 
 58 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 from the States will find every comfort on 
 these fine up-to-date coaches." 
 
 "Why, bless 'em," he said earnestly, "you 
 could put this pony-train, wheels and all, into 
 the Overland Flier on the Santa Fe or North 
 ern Pacific ! " 
 
 " It looks small to me," confessed Hastings ; 
 " it never did before. But this is not the 
 regular coach, you know ; it is quite Ameri 
 canized." 
 
 " I 'd like to see the sure-enough English 
 train," replied Jim. 
 
 Meanwhile the excitable little engine far 
 down the track uttered little squeaks of im 
 patience like a restive colt, till Jim shook 
 with laughter. " Is the engine the same 
 breed as the cars ? " he asked. " Its nicker 
 'pears to be narrow-gage." 
 
 Before Hastings could answer, the con 
 ductor blew a sort of bicycle whistle, and 
 the brakeman began to run along the train 
 and slam the doors shut. Doubling himself 
 up, Jim got into a "stall" with Arthur and 
 his sister. A tall and gloomy old man was 
 already seated by the window, with a plaid 
 shawl over his knees. He looked with dis 
 favor on the newcomers.
 
 JIM REACHES LAND 59 
 
 " How many does each pew hold ? " asked 
 Jim. 
 
 Hastings smiled feebly. Jim's humor was 
 making an impression. 
 
 "Ten; but it seldom happens that more 
 than six get in." 
 
 "It 's for all the world like the stage that 
 goes from Wagon Wheel over to Williams 
 Gulch." 
 
 As the complaining little engine drew out 
 into the city, Jim was amazed to find how 
 much like Chicago the streets were. The 
 atmosphere, smoky, foggy, shut close over 
 the ugly roofs and lay along the grimy walls. 
 The people all stopped to look at the train, 
 which seemed to interest them almost as 
 much as though it came only once a year. 
 For nearly half an hour the train wandered 
 through gloomy caverns the walls of which 
 resounded to the solemn tolling of bells on 
 and on, till at last green fields, flowery trees, 
 and a pale sun proclaimed the end of Liver 
 pool and the beginning of rural England. 
 Jim's spirits brightened. The sight of a 
 tree was medicinal. 
 
 A white mist was in the air. The wind 
 was cold, but the fields were deliciously
 
 60 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 springlike, and the mountaineer fixed his 
 eyes upon them with great joy. The land 
 was like a garden. It had been plowed and 
 harrowed and sandpapered and currycombed 
 for centuries ; that was evident. It was 
 every inch in use ; the plow ran to the very 
 door-step of the little brick cottages, and 
 furrows swirled round the buttresses of the 
 small stone churches. Curving roads, as 
 smooth as asphalt, led between fields outlined 
 by hedges. On the green slopes sheep lay 
 scattered, looking like gray boulders. Over 
 all fell a sickly sunlight. A cold wind blew 
 in at the window. 
 
 " It 's a good deal the way I expected it to 
 look," said Jim to Hastings. " But, say, your 
 freight- trains cork me up," he broke out as 
 they passed a string of "goods-vans" laden 
 with hay and brick and coal. " They 're 
 nothing but carts drays. Look at that 
 one carrying coal. Must have as much as a 
 ton and a half on. Look at the tall wheels ! 
 Makes me think of a long-legged boy in 
 knickerbockers." 
 
 The tall old gentleman in the corner glared 
 at Jim, and Hastings grew a little nervous. 
 
 The country genuinely interested the miner.
 
 JIM REACHES LAND 61 
 
 He studied it carefully. Everything he saw 
 was the direct antitype of Colorado. The 
 little rivers wound through the valleys, as 
 submissive as canals between their carefully 
 ordered banks. The woods were parks, the 
 hills looked like artificial mounds built to 
 diversify a public garden. The hedges were 
 barbered, the brooks walled with stone, the 
 marshes drained. 
 
 " This country is too slick for me," said Jim, 
 with a sigh, turning to Hastings. " No place 
 to hide. Could n't build a camp-fire. Think 
 of livin' where you can't set foot outside a 
 road without gettin' into some old woman's 
 garden-truck. There 's a feller sowing wheat 
 by hand ! Have n't seen that since I was a 
 kid. It 's all too purty f r me, too blame nar 
 row and slow. There 's a straw-covered 
 shack ' thatched 'is it ? Well, by ging ! I 
 did n't expect to run on to that. Used to 
 read about it in McGuffey's Fourth Reader. 
 What if a spark should lodge in it some dry 
 day ; or mebbe it never gets dry here ? " 
 
 " They burn up sometimes. There are not 
 many of them, as you see. They 're passing 
 away," Hastings explained. 
 
 The old man, who had been looking at Jim
 
 62 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 with mingled curiosity and disapproval, now 
 contemptuously remarked in a nasal snarl : 
 
 " If you don't like England, young man, 
 you know what you can do." 
 
 Jim smiled. " I do ; I can get out. I shall. 
 Don't worry, my Christian friend. I 'm not 
 rooted here." 
 
 The old gentleman returned to his paper, 
 and Miss Hastings threw in a gentle word : 
 " If we all wished to live in England it would 
 be very uncomfortable, would n't it ? " 
 
 "That 's so," said Jim. " I 'd hate to see 
 England all moving into Colorado ; it 's get 
 ting tame and populous too rapidly as it is." 
 
 And then peace fell upon the group. 
 
 After a long silence Jim said : " Reckon 
 I '11 have to revise my remarks about this 
 train. It 's shufflin' along like a house afire. 
 It 's little and it 's squeaky, but it gets 
 there." 
 
 Hastings pointed out famous ruins and 
 sites of historical happenings, and the moun 
 taineer replied in each case, " You don't say ! " 
 or "fs that so?" but his voice betrayed no 
 interest. It was of no value to him to point 
 out an oak and say, " Once a castle stood 
 there."
 
 JIM REACHES LAND 63 
 
 "If you 're bankin' on your age," he said 
 finally, " I can take you to places in Colorado 
 and New Mexico that the Smithsonian sharps 
 say were old when Pharaoh was king down 
 there in Egypt. That 's what they tell me. 
 I 'm not insuring it. But I know I 've seen 
 ruined cities where the streets were lined with 
 trails six inches deep in solid rock, worn by the 
 moccasined feet of the people that lived there. 
 And I Ve been in the caves in the lava of a 
 volcano in Arizona where the hairy man lived. 
 That 's what / call an old town. If you Ve 
 got anything that beats that, trot it out." 
 
 It was evident that he had no sense of 
 being historically connected with this country, 
 and Hastings was rather glad of it. 
 
 The train rattled along steadily, flashing 
 through towns of brick every few minutes, 
 and winding along river valleys wherein ran 
 small sluggish streams, through fields where 
 slow-moving men with teams were at work. 
 The sky began to fill with heavy clouds, and the 
 sun fell but infrequently upon the landscape. 
 
 Sitting so, Jim sobered at last, for he be 
 gan to realize that he was sweeping, as swift 
 as an eagle's flight, down upon the greatest 
 center of human life in the world ; and to a
 
 64 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 man of solitudes nothing is more appalling 
 than floods of men and women crowded 
 between granite walls. He had no other 
 sentiment about London its age, its his 
 tory. Nothing counted but its masses of 
 human souls, its welter of confusing activities. 
 
 Hastings and his sister got out at Rugby 
 Junction, after many cordial good words and 
 repeated invitations to Jim to come down and 
 see them at Heathcote. 
 
 " Look for me," said Jim ; " I '11 come a-rack- 
 in' over the divide some o' these fine days 
 and take a snack out of you." 
 
 Hastings beamed with pleasure. " I say, 
 now, that will be worth while. We shall look 
 for you. Let me know your London hotel, 
 won't you ? " 
 
 Jim missed these good people, and after 
 they got out he rode in silence with the old 
 man, who dozed in his corner, waking now 
 and again to clutch at his plaid shawl, looking 
 up each time to see that his bag had not been 
 rifled by the man from the Rocky Mountains. 
 At last London began to loom as a dark 
 presence, and with a warning clang the train 
 plunged into a singular yellow obscurity, and 
 the "trailer" was enveloped in a London fog.
 
 IV 
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 
 
 1"^O be "set afoot" on the plains is consid 
 ered by a cow-boy to be a dire misfor 
 tune, for the reason that he is put at such 
 great disadvantage with the concave earth 
 which spreads out beneath a burning hemi 
 sphere of steel and glass. The horseman has 
 weak limbs for walking, anyhow, and Jim was 
 ill fitted to cope with any city, much less with 
 London. His first instinct was to " hole up " 
 somewhere, and watch the dangers go by. 
 He was vastly amused by the wild scramble 
 for baggage which took place after the train 
 drew into the station, and was also being in 
 structed in the London vernacular. The por 
 ters, the cabmen, and the ticket-clerks all said 
 "wiy"for way, and "nime"for name. When 
 the porter handed him his valise he said 
 "Thankjj/0," and when Jim gave up a piece 
 of money he also said " Thank you" and both 
 5 65
 
 66 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 phrases were uttered in a voice of insolent 
 imprecation. 
 
 Hastings had told Jim to go to the Railway 
 Hotel, at the road's end ; and this he did, only 
 to find it " full up." Leaving his trunk in the 
 hall, Jim wandered along the street with an 
 eye for other hotel signs. There were plenty 
 of them. " The Teviot House," the " Dun 
 dee Hotel," the "Wessex House," and other 
 names calculated to appeal to the country 
 visitor attracted him. He was particularly 
 taken with the Teviot House, which faced on 
 a little parkway and had a little clump of 
 bushes on each side of the door. Upon enter 
 ing the hallway, he faced a tall and sleepy 
 porter, who took his valise with a yawning 
 " Thank your 
 
 Jim doubled up his back and thrust his head 
 in at a little window where a severe young 
 woman in a black gown confronted him. 
 
 " Are you the clerk ? " 
 
 "I am, sir; yes, sir. What can I do for 
 you?" 
 
 " Have yo.u any beds left ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, I have one. It 's on the upper 
 floor, if you cjon't mind." 
 
 " Anything as big as my back will do," said
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 67 
 
 
 
 Jim ; " I 'm not so particular as I used to be. 
 How much do I bleed ? " 
 
 " I beg pardon ! " 
 
 " What 's the price of the bed ? " 
 
 " Three and six." 
 
 " Three and six what ? " 
 
 " Shillings, sir." 
 
 " All right ; it 's a whack." 
 
 " Thank you. Will you sign your name, 
 please?" He signed. "Thank you" she re 
 marked briskly, closing the boo. " Thomas, 
 show the gentleman to his room." 
 
 "This wiy, sir," said the porter, who had 
 also discovered Jim's nationality. 
 
 Everything seemed old and very queer to 
 Jim as he tramped up the stone stairway to 
 his room ; but nothing was more irritatingly 
 unexpected than that " Thank you" to which 
 the porter gave a new wrench as he turned 
 away. 
 
 The room had only one little window, which 
 swung on hinges at the side, like a door; and 
 when Jim opened it a savage sound entered. 
 It was like the snarling of a forest of cougars 
 it was the voice of London ! He shut the 
 window hastily, and, being worn out for lack 
 of rest, determined to go at once to bed.
 
 68 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 t 
 
 The floor seemed to be in motion, like the 
 deck of a ship, and his brain still pulsated 
 with the plashing of the waves. Flinging off 
 his outer clothing merely, the mountaineer 
 stretched out on the bed, and fell at once into 
 dreamless sleep. 
 
 When he awoke there was only a gray 
 light in his room, and the air was heavy. 
 Pushing the window open, he looked out 
 again on the parkway, on the farther side of 
 which great gaudy two-story 'buses were 
 rolling, the big horses pounding along at a 
 swift trot. Across the park in every direc 
 tion hundreds of human beings were moving 
 like flies, not distinguishably different in any 
 way from the people of New York or Chicago. 
 Dressing quickly, Jim started down the stairs, 
 hungry, and elated because of his hunger. 
 
 "Where do I connect with the grub?" he 
 asked of the clerk, who looked at him with 
 uncomprehending stare like a black-bug. 
 
 " I beg pardon, sir oh, you 'd like break 
 fast, would you, sir ? " 
 
 "That 's my next intention." 
 
 " Step right into the coffee-room, thank 
 you" 
 
 " Don't mention it," said Jim, not to be
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 69 
 
 outdone by this English clerk. By peering 
 round a little he found a minute sign, " Coffee 
 Room," on a door, and entered cautiously, 
 prepared for assault. 
 
 A chuckle-headed youth in a low-cut vest 
 and "steel-pen" coat, both of incredible dir 
 tiness and shininess, led him to a seat in a 
 small, shabby sort of parlor looking on the 
 park. 
 
 " What '11 you 'ave, sir, plain breakfast or 
 meat breakfast ? " 
 
 " Whichever has most grub into it," Jim 
 replied. " I reckon I 'm due to try a meat 
 breakfast." 
 
 " Thank you" 
 
 " Oh, not at all ; I '11 take 'em both if it '11 
 help you out," Jim replied, profoundly mysti 
 fied by this general politeness, which had a 
 curse in it somewhere like a poison -fang in 
 a beautiful ring. 
 
 The waiters began to signal to one another : 
 " An American ; a jolly queer one, too. Watch 
 him ! " 
 
 Jim looked round with a feeling of comfort. 
 The windows, which were tall and filled 
 with old-fashioned panes of glass, looked out 
 on a lilac or two and a black iron fence. A
 
 70 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 wan sunlight fell into the room and lay ex 
 hausted, hardly pulsating, on the floor. At 
 one of the small tables, near him, an elderly 
 gentleman, with thick side-whiskers and a 
 broad, red face, was crumbling a roll into 
 his coffee while reading his paper. Occa 
 sionally he bullied the waiter in a voice that 
 was fitted to incite murder, but the attendant 
 remained brisk, handy, unmoved. Jim looked 
 for trouble, but none came. Aside from one 
 or two women at a table in a corner, the room 
 was empty. It was too early for the regular 
 guests. 
 
 The breakfast did him a great deal of good ; 
 even the jam tasted good. The surging and 
 swinging had passed out of his head, and he 
 went forth into the street ready for all that 
 came. " I need a trail-map first ground-hop," 
 he said to himself, while passing a stationer's. 
 He bought a small guide, and unfolded it on 
 the counter. " Lord ! she 's a sure-enough 
 tangle," he said to the tradesman. " No north 
 or south to this thing. Nothing will do but 
 to get the lay o' the land. I reckon I '11 make 
 the river the starting-point that 's the way 
 I 'd do in a new country. I reckon water 
 runs downhill here same as in Colorado ? "
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 71 
 
 " Quite the same the world over, sir," 
 replied the tradesman, smiling pleasantly. 
 
 Taking his course as nearly as possible, 
 Jim set forth, eying his surroundings closely. 
 " I 11 just blaze a tree occasionally ; I may 
 want to take the same trail back," he said. 
 The two-story 'buses filled the street, and he 
 could not but admire the big horses as they 
 strode forward, calm yet alert. It was amaz 
 ing to think that they could drag such im 
 mense vehicles. The little policemen in their 
 long-tailed coats had a comical look ; but they 
 were on duty, and it was evident that the 
 drivers knew it, for their lightest motion was 
 heeded. " They must carry guns," thought 
 Jim. "They 're too little to do harm any 
 other way." 
 
 For nearly two hours he wandered, seeking 
 the river, threading narrow streets filled with 
 screaming children and women moving about 
 like squaws wrapped in shawls, and at last 
 came out upon St. Martin's. 
 
 Hundreds of cabs and gaudy 'buses were 
 sweeping along the Strand, which was a 
 narrow street, he found, and not at all im 
 posing. Jim turned to the left, and walked 
 slowly along, seeing everything which took
 
 72 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 place. The people struck him as being very 
 small and dark. The women were quite mea 
 ger and bent. The " stores" were small, the 
 side streets narrow and queer, with big stone 
 buildings in vista. 
 
 He had very little sense that the city was 
 old or even foreign. New York would have 
 had much the same effect on him, for he did 
 not approach it with a tourist's bent of mind. 
 He had no reverence whatsoever, and little 
 historic sense. He did n't know and he did n't 
 care what the city had been; he was interested 
 in the present. 
 
 He wandered about all the forenoon, breast 
 ing the streams of people, and studying the 
 shop-windows. He became exceedingly hun 
 gry by twelve o'clock, and stepped into a 
 restaurant near a big bridge. It happened 
 to be a French restaurant, and the names of 
 all the dishes were not only in French, but in 
 bad script, and Jim was quite helpless. 
 
 " Make it a beefsteak," he exclaimed in de 
 spair. " Make it a big one, with bacon and 
 coffee." 
 
 As the waiter brought his change Jim 
 looked up in astonishment. " Is all that gun- 
 metal mine ? " he asked severely.
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 73 
 
 " Your change yes, sir." 
 
 Jim pawed it over. "Oh, all right; only 
 I don't want anybody else's discard trunk- 
 checks palmed off on me. I won't stand for it. 
 That dollar I turned in must have been over 
 weight to bring a steak and bacon and coffee 
 and this scrap-heap. You keep the coppers 
 for luck." 
 
 " Thank you, sir." 
 
 It was a hard day. He had a queer ache 
 in his legs, and his feet pained him by the 
 time he got back to the Teviot House. He 
 pondered on this feeling for a long time, and 
 was apprehensive of sickness, but the ache in 
 his limbs passed away after he reached his 
 little den, and as he lay on his bed it sud 
 denly occurred to him that he was tired. That 
 singular pain was just simple fatigue. For the 
 firsttime inhis life he was leg- weary. " Haven't 
 walked so much since I was a kid," he said to 
 himself, in astonishment; "and if I know my 
 self, I '11 never break the record again." 
 
 Going down-stairs, he again thrust his head 
 in at the window, and said : " Howdy, Maud ! 
 can I get supper here ? " 
 
 " You can 'ave dinner, sir," replied the 
 clerk, in calm disregard of his greeting.
 
 74 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "We call it supper out in Wagon Wheel. 
 What 's the damage ? " 
 
 " The what, sir? " 
 
 " Damage tariff cost ? " 
 
 " Three shillings, sir, for dinner. Tea, one 
 shilling. Meat tea, two shillings." 
 
 " I guess I '11 try the dinner." 
 
 " Thank you" 
 
 Thfe only seat left in the little dining-room 
 was at the table with a very tall, blond 
 woman, with a sixteen-year-old daughter in 
 short clothes, very prim, very shy, and rather 
 pretty in a stolid way. A boy of fourteen, 
 evidently a son, sat beside the girl. 
 
 "Good evening," said Jim, heartily, as he 
 stood beside his chair. " Nice night." 
 
 The woman bowed most frigidly, the girl 
 looked down at her plate, but the boy civilly 
 replied, " Good evening, sir." 
 
 "That is, a nice night for London," con 
 tinued Jim, as he unfolded his napkin. The 
 woman pursed up her lips and did not reply. 
 
 Jim said no more, although he was suffer 
 ing for a little conversation, and had the 
 desire to hear the girl's voice. He called for 
 a paper, and read it, so far as he could do so, 
 as it lay beside his plate. The English papers
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 75 
 
 seemed very dull, very queer, and quite alien 
 to him ; indeed, he was delighted to find him 
 self comprehending the words, so foreign 
 were they in appearance. They were largely 
 concerned with lords and ladies, for whom 
 the trailer had a democratic contempt and 
 frank disgust. He had seen a few samples 
 of the English aristocracy out in Colorado, 
 and they had given him an exceedingly un 
 favorable idea of nobility in general. The 
 other tables were filled with what he called 
 a "job lot" of English and Scotch people, all 
 quiet and peaceful. For the most part they 
 did not see him at all. 
 
 Having discovered that he was tired, Jim 
 concluded to go to bed. His first day in Lon 
 don had produced no very orderly impression 
 on his mind. A maze of streets filled with 
 crawling, twisting lines of yellow 'buses ; a 
 hurried, unintermittent, snarling roar of car 
 riages ; a welter, a chaos, ugly, menacing, 
 grimy these were the main impressions. 
 The sidewalks were narrower than in Chi 
 cago, and the buildings lower. The grim, 
 gray-black buildings testified to a similar use 
 of soft coal. His keen eyes had taken hold 
 of a million minute scenes and incidents which
 
 76 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the Londoner takes no note of, and his brain 
 was as weary as his legs. " This won't do," 
 he said to himself. "Jim, you loafed to-day. 
 To-morrow to hump your back and make a 
 singletree crack." 
 
 All night long the beat of the horses' feet 
 sounded through his brain, mingling with the 
 pulsations of the ship, and he rose early, 
 unrefreshed and hungry. 
 
 Soon after breakfast he set forth to find 
 some of the men to whom his letters of intro 
 duction were addressed. The first on the list 
 was a Mr. Fletcher, the agent for a Chicago 
 woolen firm. He turned out to be a brisk 
 little man who had become exceedingly Brit 
 ish in accent and in dress. He was offensively 
 stiff at the start, and treated Jim like a mes 
 senger, leaving him standing while he read 
 the letter, after which he said, in very broad 
 English vowels: "Oh, so you are the real 
 thing, are you, Mr. Matteson ? Now, what 
 can I do to be of service to you ? I 'm very 
 busy at this hour, but of course you know I 
 shall be quite pleased " 
 
 "Where was you raised at?" asked Jim, 
 with startling abruptness. 
 
 Mr. Fletcher was surprised into saying, 
 " Cohoes, New York."
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 77 
 
 " Well, say, suppose you an' me talk United 
 States no one is listenin'." 
 
 Fletcher got red and lost some of his 
 accent as he sharply asked, " What do you 
 mean ? " 
 
 Jim stepped closer and leaned menacingly 
 over the corner of the desk. " I reckon you 
 savvy all right. Out where I camp we talk 
 as we shoot nothing fancy, but we reach 
 people. Now, I Ve got a mine 'to sell, and 
 my pardner sent me to you, thinkin' you 'd be 
 some help. You 're under no obligations to 
 do a thing, not a blank thing, and I don't 
 want you to hem and haw and side-step with 
 me, not for a holy minute. And I don't want 
 any muslin frills. Either you do us a turn or 
 you don't. Now show your hand like a man. 
 What are you going to do ? " 
 
 Fletcher grew pale as he looked into Jim's 
 piercing eyes. " I guess I can't do anything 
 for you." 
 
 "All right, pardner; that 's talk I can un 
 derstand. I 'm a little touchy on being 
 'strung,' even by one of the English 'upper 
 clawses,' and I certain sure did n't come over 
 here to have the lines drawn on me by a mon- 
 gril dude from Cohoes. Good day" he said 
 in conclusion.
 
 78 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 In writing about this to Ramsdell, he said : 
 " I never had a man rile me worse with the 
 same number of words. For a red cent Id a 
 caved his ribs in. What did you send me up 
 against him for ? " 
 
 The next man showed no interest at all for 
 the moment. He was a middle-aged physi 
 cian, with only a slight English accent. He 
 was, in fact, a Canadian. He asked Jim to 
 take a seat* and when he had read half the 
 letter rose to shake hands, saying, " I 'm glad 
 to meet you, Mr. Matteson," after which he 
 resumed the letter. He read it twice before 
 he spoke. His voice was kindly, though his 
 face was quite impassive. "We will see 
 I '11 consider the matter." He pulled his long 
 gray beard in silence for several minutes. 
 
 At last he said: "Have you had lun 
 cheon ? " 
 
 " I reckon we call it dinner in Wagon 
 Wheel. No." 
 
 "Then suppose we go out to luncheon and 
 talk it over." He pushed a button, and a 
 butler (or a valet, or something of that nature) 
 with a pair of neat side-whiskers appeared, 
 exactly as in a play Jim had once seen in 
 Denver.
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 79 
 
 "James, I 'm going out to luncheon." 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied James, mechanically. 
 
 " I '11 be back at three." 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Tell Mrs. Robertson an old friend from 
 America called." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "And, James " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Don't the Australians play at Crystal 
 Palace to-day ? " 
 
 The man's face at this point betrayed in 
 terest. " I think they do ; yes, sir." 
 
 Robertson turned to Jim. " Ever see a 
 cricket match ? " he asked. 
 
 " Not when I was sober enough to re 
 member it." 
 
 " You shall see one with me. I think, 
 James, I '11 try to get back by half-past two 
 and leave at three. Mr. Harleigh will come 
 at two-fifteen; have him wait." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "That will do." 
 
 "Thank you, sir." 
 
 The doctor was moderate of movement, 
 but everything he did counted. In a very 
 short time he had Jim in a cab and had
 
 80 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 driven to a noted chop-house in the news 
 paper quarter. It was a fine old place, with 
 dark oaken tables, a sanded floor, and a 
 big fireplace where the customer could see 
 the meat before it was cut and the fire that 
 was to broil it. Jim was pleased to see the 
 red glow of fire once more. 
 
 " It makes me think of slapping a chunk of 
 deer-meat on the coals," he said. "I like 
 this old shack. Makes me feel at home. I 
 have n't been warm since I took the boat in 
 New York." 
 
 "Americans all complain in the same way 
 of the cold. We like it." 
 
 " You can have it." 
 
 " How did you leave Ramsdell? I was very 
 fond of him; he was a bright student." 
 
 "The doc?" responded Jim. "The doc 
 is all right at least he was till he met up 
 with me and got locoed with my ore-talk." 
 
 By this time the doctor had leisure to ob 
 serve that his guest was not the conventional 
 American traveler. He began to unlimber, 
 and after one of Jim's characteristic remarks 
 he smiled. " Your speech makes me think of 
 old times in Canada," he said. "Canadians and 
 Americans seem very much alike to me now."
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 81 
 
 " Ain't such a powerful difference in the 
 Northwest ; I don't know about the East. 
 You have to look close to tell the Selkirks 
 from the Kalispells." 
 
 " I wish you 'd state your plans very fully, 
 Mr. Matteson." 
 
 " Call me Jim. Well, here goes "; and there 
 upon he told his story, without haste and with 
 great vividness of phrase. 
 
 The doctor listened gravely, and at the end 
 said : " This is out of my line, but I believe 
 in Ramsdell, and I '11 help you to the extent 
 of my power. I must think it over and 
 here comes our chop, so we '11 give attention 
 to that." 
 
 During the meal he asked shrewd questions 
 concerning the Rocky Mountains, and seemed 
 to be mildly interested in Jim's picturesque 
 replies. 
 
 Jim liked him because he did n't say " quite 
 so" and "indeed" to everything he said. His 
 gravity and kindly preoccupation were grate 
 ful, too. The room filled up with men, 
 mostly young newspaper men, the doctor 
 explained, and the cook at the glowing fire 
 was kept busy. It was all as simple as a 
 ranch-house, and Jim was pleased with it and
 
 82 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 wished to remain. " I would n't mind hangin' 
 up my roll o' blankets right here," he said. 
 " I could take a hand with the boys at the fire 
 when I got lonesome." 
 
 Promptly at half-past two the doctor re 
 turned to his office, where two patients were 
 waiting. 
 
 " Jim, I want you to meet my wife," said 
 he, ushering his guest into a long, dark room, 
 wherein a small grate fire glowed like a ruby. 
 " Please be seated while I fetch her." 
 
 "Surely," thought Jim, " I 'm getting into 
 queer trails." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson turned out to be a very 
 handsome woman, much younger than her hus 
 band. She smiled very sweetly as she offered 
 her hand, but Jim did not like her : her greet 
 ing seemed insincere. She was, in fact, 
 slightly bored at the thought of entertaining 
 a crude young man from the States, and took 
 her seat languidly, saying, with icy politeness, 
 " You are a friend of Dr. Ramsdell, my hus 
 band tells me ? " 
 
 "More than that we 're pardners." 
 
 " Ah ! you 're a physician also ? " 
 
 Jim smiled. " Well, not exactly. I 'm a 
 miner."
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 83 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! That 's very interesting ; tell 
 me about it." 
 
 " Don't want to invest in a mine ? " he 
 asked, with a peculiar smile which took the 
 listlessness out of her pose. It seemed that 
 this young American was making game of her. 
 
 "Are you selling a mine ? " she asked less 
 sweetly. 
 
 " I 'm trying to ; it is n't exactly the same 
 thing." 
 
 " Is Dr. Robertson investing?" Her voice 
 grew sharper. 
 
 " He 's thinking of it." 
 
 There was an instant's silence, and the 
 sweetness went out of her lips. " I don't 
 think I approve of such speculations," she said 
 at length. Jim liked her better as she threw 
 off her languid air. "The doctor has made 
 several very foolish investments of late, and 
 we 're in no position to take further risks," 
 she added. 
 
 Jim still smiled. " Ours is a dead-sure 
 shot." 
 
 " They all are." She was certain now that 
 Jim was a sharper who had secured some 
 uncanny influence over her husband. 
 
 " This is the chance of his life."
 
 84 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " That 's exactly the phrase the other men 
 used," she quickly replied. 
 
 Jim continued to smile. " They were talk 
 ing through their hats ; I 'm in dead earnest. 
 If the doctor puts in two hundred thousand 
 dollars" 
 
 " You deal in big figures over there," she 
 interrupted, smiling again, but in a different 
 way. 
 
 " When we have a big thing we talk to its 
 level. I reckon the doctor could n't do a bet 
 ter thing than bring his blankets right into 
 our teepee. We '11 treat him white." 
 
 She was perfectly sure that this singularly 
 handsome young fellow was laughing at her, 
 and that he did not intend to give her the 
 slightest clue to his real business. She turned 
 suddenly to other topics. 
 
 " How do you enjoy London ? " 
 
 His face darkened. " I 'm just a-campin', 
 and hopin' it won't last long." 
 
 "You don't like it, then ? " 
 
 " If I get back to Wagon Wheel Gap I '11 
 forget London so quick you can hear the glass 
 break inside. All I want out of it now is one 
 man with two hundred thousand dollars." 
 
 "You are very frank," she said coldly.
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 85 
 
 " I was raised that way." 
 
 She smiled again. " I hope your candor 
 will not interfere with your business plans." 
 
 " I don't think it will. If it does I can't 
 help it. It 's too late for me to begin a new 
 campaign." 
 
 " You spoke of Wagon Wheel Gap what 
 a singular name ! Is that your birthplace?" 
 
 " Birthplace ! Oh, no ; no one ever had 
 time to be born in Wagon Wheel. We die in 
 Wagon Wheel, but I never heard of any one 
 being born there." 
 
 "How singular ! Are there no women and 
 children in the town ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, plenty of women ; but few chil 
 dren. Camps like Wagon Wheel could n't 
 get along without women. Children well, 
 that 's different. But they 're comin'. You 
 see, Wagon Wheel broke out only a few years 
 ago, and " 
 
 Mrs. Robertson was becoming interested, 
 and seemed face to face with the elemental 
 life of a mining-camp, when the doctor reap 
 peared. "Well, Jim, I am ready." As he 
 went out, the mountaineer nodded to Mrs. 
 Robertson and said " Good day," with a 
 curious dry emphasis which puzzled her.
 
 86 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " I never held such a singular conversation 
 in my life," she said to her friend Mary Brien, 
 who was waiting for her in an up-stairs sitting- 
 room. " He laughed at me every minute of 
 the time, and I could n't stop him." 
 
 " Why did n't you call me down to help 
 you ? I like these odd Americans." 
 
 " ' Odd' is n't the word. He 's incomprehen 
 sible," Mrs. Robertson replied, not without 
 pique. " He 's either a savage or a very un 
 scrupulous man and not at all gallant. Wait 
 till you meet him." 
 
 " I shall wait with impatience. You 've 
 roused my curiosity," replied Miss Brien. 
 
 Once more in the cab, which seemed rui 
 nous extravagance to Jim, the doctor spun 
 away down the street to a passenger-station, 
 and, with the hustler a close second, hurried 
 down into the bowels of the earth to take 
 the underground railway-train, which was 
 crowded with people. A noisy, dirty, dark, 
 and tedious ride of half an hour brought 
 them to the great open green surrounding 
 the Crystal Palace. The doctor led the way 
 toward a big pavilion in which thousands of 
 spectators of all classes were seated, watching 
 a dozen men dressed like base-ball players,
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 87 
 
 who seemed mildly active on the green in a 
 game which Jim supposed to be cricket. 
 
 Two men with broad, flat bats in their 
 hands stood several rods apart, just before 
 some little sticks stuck upright on the beauti 
 ful greensward. The " outs " were dispersed 
 about, a little like the fielders in base-ball. 
 The pitcher, with a long-legged trot and an 
 awkward swing of the whole arm from the 
 shoulder, sent the ball toward the batsman, 
 who faced him. The ball touched the ground 
 just before the batsman, and, eluding his bat, 
 scattered the little sticks. Then the men of 
 the immense assembly clapped hands and 
 cried: " H'yah ! H'yah ! " "Good boy, 
 Jones ! " 
 
 " He must have got a twister on that one," 
 said Jim. 
 
 The doctor looked pleased. " Precisely ; 
 Jones has a peculiar ' break ' of the ball. 
 That was one of the Australians' best bats 
 men, too." 
 
 Jim studied the pitcher with critical eyes. 
 "His game, I take it, is to fool the striker 
 and smash them little sticks. It certainly is 
 a new one on me. Where do the runs come 
 in? Oh, I see," he said, as the new batsman
 
 88 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 lifted the ball into the air and shifted places 
 with his fellow twice before it was caught and 
 returned to the pitcher. " It 's a little like 
 two old cat, a game we played when I was a 
 boy back in Kansas. I 'm purty near pro 
 fessional base-ball twister myself." 
 
 The doctor was much gratified at Jim's 
 quick understanding of the game, and said: 
 " You must have played well ? " 
 
 " I was captain of the cow-punchers' nine 
 from the Cimarron one year. We scooped 
 in all the money in the west part of the State 
 till I lost my catcher " He broke off to 
 clap his hands. " That was a good stop ! 
 Who is the old seed with the long goatee ? " 
 
 " That is Grace, the most noted player in 
 all England," replied the doctor, his face 
 shining with pride. 
 
 " It was a good stop, anyhow." 
 
 The doctor seemed to know a good many 
 of the cricket enthusiasts, and pointed them 
 out as they passed to their seats. When 
 the intermission came, he took Jim to a near 
 by tea-house for refreshments, and there 
 introduced the mountaineer to a couple of 
 gentlemen who began every sentence on a 
 very high key, from which they tumbled to a
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 89 
 
 period so swiftly that Jim was compelled to 
 say, "How?" and so force them to repeat, 
 while he bent his ear to listen like a coyote 
 hunting mice. 
 
 They, too, had been to America. Robert 
 son seemed to select those who had been at 
 some time in the Rockies, in order to bring 
 out Jim's knowledge of the country, as well 
 as to make talk easy and pleasant. Jim met 
 each man with the same keen gaze, and his 
 reticence gave way to no one but the doctor, 
 whose odd fits of abstraction, followed by 
 sudden enthusiasm, interested the keen-eyed 
 mountaineer like the actions of a new sort of 
 animal. Robertson asked a great many ques 
 tions about Ramsdell, and made an equal 
 number of vague suggestions. It was plain 
 his whole mind was set on doing his friend 
 the right turn. 
 
 Jim liked him better and better as the after 
 noon wore away. His shagginess was not 
 unlike that of some old miner. 
 
 Just in the midst of an exciting moment of 
 play Robertson slapped his thigh and said : 
 "Twombly is your man! You must see 
 Twombly." 
 
 "There 's the best man on the field," ex-
 
 9 o HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 claimed Jim "that man Gregory. He 's a 
 stopper for your life. Makes me think of Dan 
 Meeker from 'The Circle-bar,' who played 
 short-stop with me one season." 
 
 The doctor went on: 
 
 " I '11 have Twombly to dinner on Thurs 
 day, and you can talk the mine to him. 
 Bring your papers." 
 
 " I '11 come loaded for bear," replied Jim, 
 who had only partly comprehended what 
 Robertson was saying. He continued a most 
 active partizan of the Australians, and in 
 sisted that Gregory would win the match. 
 "Your home teams stand toward the young 
 players from Australia just the way Denver 
 does to Wagon Wheel. You need the con 
 ceit taken out of ye. These colonials, as you 
 call 'em, are my kind." 
 
 On the way home the doctor talked ram- 
 blingly about the mine and Ramsdell. " Ever 
 since I got Will's letter I 've been racking 
 my brain to think whom I could interest. I 
 never thought of Twombly till Trumble made 
 that great play Trumble made me think of 
 Twombly. There are three brothers of 
 them. Alexander is a mining engineer. 
 They 're all rich and ambitious. Alex was
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 91 
 
 talking of going to the Rockies last year. 
 He 's your man. As soon as I can get him, 
 I '11 send for you. Come and see me any 
 day at one. I lunch then." 
 
 " I '11 think of it," said Jim, remembering 
 his discouraging experience with Mrs. Rob 
 ertson. 
 
 Altogether he was much encouraged by the 
 finding of so good a friend as Robertson had 
 already proved himself to be, and set about 
 presenting the remainder of his bunch of 
 introductory letters with good cheer. 
 
 One morning some days later the waiter 
 handed him a dainty little envelop. It was 
 from the doctor's wife. 
 
 DEAR MR. MATTESON : Can't you come to me on 
 Thursday ? Mr. Twombly is in the country, but I hope 
 to have him also. It will give us great pleasure to have 
 you with us. Please let us know at once if we may 
 expect you. We dine at seven. 
 
 Yours cordially, GRACE ROBERTSON. 
 
 Jim read this note with a great deal of 
 interest. First of all he was interested in 
 knowing that Mrs. Robertson considered it 
 worth while to second the doctor's invitation, 
 and then there was a curious significance in
 
 9 2 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 that phrase, " Come to me." He would have 
 regarded a letter containing such a phrase 
 with suspicion, had it come from some one 
 not accounted for. They dined at seven, it 
 seemed. Why did n't they put it off till bed 
 time, and just take a snack in the buttery ? 
 " However, I can stand it one day if they 
 can all the year round," he said, and sat 
 down and penned this reply : 
 
 DEAR MADAM : Im agreeable to coming round if you 
 can stand my ways. Ive eat with my hunting-knife so 
 long, its hard to break in on forks. You cant expect a 
 musketeer to gather honey like a bumblebee. Ill tie up 
 to your hitching-pole about 6:55, sos to have time to un 
 saddle before grub-pile. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 JAMES MATTESON. 
 
 This letter alarmed Mrs. Robertson, and 
 she took it to the doctor to read. " What 
 sort of savage is this man Jim?" 
 
 He laughed heartily over it. " It 's his 
 way, my dear ; don't be uneasy. He '11 turn 
 up in irreproachable dinner-jacket without 
 doubt. These Americans enjoy fooling us to 
 the top of our bent. Jim knows we expect 
 eccentricity of him, and so he lives up to our 
 expectations."
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 93 
 
 " I expect him to act like a gentleman, and 
 this letter is insufferable." 
 
 " Oh, now, my dear, you 're too quick of 
 offense. He meant no harm. You wrote him 
 a polite note in London fashion, and he replies 
 in hunter fashion. As that American come 
 dian used to say, it 's ' hoss an' hoss.' ' 
 
 " Don't you get coarse, Hugh," his wife re 
 plied. " And I hope you 're not going to put 
 your money into any wild-eyed project. What 
 do you know of him?" 
 
 "Nothing, except that he 's Ramsdell's 
 trusted partner and I like him. What does 
 Twombly say ? " 
 
 " 'Another engagement prevents,' etc. I 
 hope you '11 consider well before " 
 
 " Don't worry, my dear. I don't intend to 
 put in a shilling. Nobody will, until the mine 
 is proved to be right." 
 
 As a matter of fact, Jim did not look for 
 ward with keen pleasure to meeting the doc 
 tor's wife. She had interested him more as 
 an opponent in a game than as a hostess ; 
 he had enjoyed mystifying her and playing 
 upon her mistaken notion of him, but he 
 was indifferent about her dinner-party. He 
 liked the doctor thoroughly, and it was busi-
 
 94 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 ness ; but spending an evening with Mrs. Rob 
 ertson might be toil. The feeling that he 
 was going about the work his partner had set 
 him to do sustained him as he thought of the 
 possible annoyances and embarrassments of 
 sitting at the same table with the doctor's 
 stately and prideful wife. 
 
 Meanwhile Hastings, his acquaintance of 
 the sea-voyage, came up to see him, and 
 brought his father, a cautious old fellow who 
 plainly considered Jim a dangerous associate 
 for his son. Hastings the elder was the typi 
 cal Briton in Jim's mind short and stout, 
 and exceedingly ruddy of visage, and with no 
 proper use for "aitches" at all. The visit 
 resulted chiefly in a lunch at young Hastings's 
 club and in a certain growth of confidence on 
 the part of the squire. The mine was not 
 discussed. 
 
 Jim had the directions for finding Dr. Rob 
 ertson's house written out on a card which he 
 carried in the sweat-band of his best hat, and 
 when the time came to start he put on his long 
 frock-coat and his wide-rimmed sombrero, 
 and joylessly set forth. He slipped a small 
 but high-class revolver into his hip pocket 
 a dress-revolver, but by no means a toy. On
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 95 
 
 the little finger of his left hand he wore a ring 
 hammered out of a nugget which he had 
 found in the San Juan gravel ; a Navajo 
 metal-worker had fashioned it for him. It was 
 a cruel weapon on the hand of a strong man. 
 As the evening was fine, he wore no overcoat 
 and no gloves. 
 
 He made a handsome figure, not so notice 
 able otherwise as might be supposed. His 
 easy, quiet movement and his alert and hu 
 morous eyes modified the bizarre effect of the 
 broad hat and the long coat, which he wore 
 unbuttoned and swinging, in the manner of 
 "the hills," which is, in fact, Southern. He 
 walked the entire distance, and was " hungry 
 enough to eat mountain-goat " when he 
 arrived on time to a minute. 
 
 James opened the door. 
 
 "Howdy do?" said the trailer, heartily. 
 " Is the boss ready to receive the Rocky 
 Mountain delegation ? " 
 
 James smiled. " He 's waiting, sir. Shall 
 I take your hat, sir ? " 
 
 " Oh, I guess I can slam it on a peg if 
 you '11 show me the peg. I reckon you 'd 
 call this a fine night in London." 
 
 The tone of his voice was such as James
 
 96 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 had never heard. It was expressive of genu 
 ine good will and natural and simple democ 
 racy. To the miner, James was the doctor's 
 hired hand and an honorable citizen ; in fact, 
 he rather liked him. 
 
 " How do you stand this indoor life ? " he was 
 asking when the doctor stepped into the hall. 
 
 Jim turned. " Hello, doctor ! how are you 
 to-night?" He put an odd emphasis on the 
 last word. 
 
 " Very well indeed. Come right in ; I want 
 to present you to some friends of mine." 
 
 The doctor wore a " swallowtail " coat, and 
 as Jim entered the drawing-room he per 
 ceived two other gentlemen in similar dress, 
 and several ladies in low-necked gowns of gay 
 color. This little party was unexpected, but 
 the mountaineer did not let his trouble show. 
 
 " Howdy ! " he said to Mrs. Robertson. 
 "How are you by this time?" His words 
 were strange, but his smile was very winning. 
 
 "Very well indeed, Mr. Matteson. Let me 
 present you to Miss Brien." 
 
 A small girl with a shrewd, bright face 
 turned toward him. 
 
 " Howdy do, Miss Brien ? No relation to 
 our William J.? "
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 97 
 
 " If he 's Irish, it may be," she replied, with 
 a quaint twist of her pretty mouth, which he 
 liked. She could see a joke. "We spell ours 
 with an z." 
 
 " I guess that lets him out," he replied. 
 
 Mrs. Robertson plucked at his arm, and he 
 followed her. 
 
 " Mother, this is Mr. Matteson; my mother, 
 Mrs. Cullen." 
 
 " Happy to meet you," said Jim, pumping 
 at the arm of a grim old woman, who bowed 
 haughtily and kept her lips in a straight line, 
 as though afraid to betray her disgust of him. 
 He was presented next to Mr. Cullen, a very 
 heavy old gentleman with close-cut white 
 whiskers; and last of all to a young man of 
 slight frame, who had very round red lips, a 
 pointed black beard, and a pale face. He spoke 
 in a most singular lisp as he greeted the trailer. 
 
 " We have heard very singular tales of you, 
 Mr. Matteson." 
 
 " I wonder they let you come out alone," 
 was Jim's harsh inward comment. The sin 
 gular young man's name was Seargeant, and 
 Jim's mind formulated a pun: "Seargeant! 
 He ain't fit to be a corporal." 
 
 In looking about for a seat Jim naturally
 
 98 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 took one by the little Irish girl, who had been 
 saying under her breath to her hostess: 
 " Is n't he handsome ! I like him, I tell you. 
 Don't dare to send him out to dinner with any 
 one else. He 's utterly unconscious of being 
 noticeable." 
 
 She was quite right. Jim was not suffering 
 because of his singularity of dress. If people 
 wished to wear low-cut waistcoats or red 
 trousers or six-inch plaids, he had no objec 
 tion. He bought clothes to suit himself, and 
 expected others to do the same. There was 
 no trace of awkwardness in his bearing. He 
 recognized no social distinctions, and being 
 properly clothed, accepted the peculiar manner 
 and dress of others tolerantly. Privately he 
 thought Mrs. Robertson a little "flashy." The 
 Irish girl, being little and less florid, pleased 
 him better. He thought her almost as hand 
 some as Mrs. Ramsdell, though her expression 
 was less agreeable and more changeable. 
 
 Before he could reply to a question from 
 her, Mrs. Robertson said : 
 
 " Mr. Matteson, you are to take Miss Brien 
 in to dinner." 
 
 "That suits me, if she don't object. If she 
 does, I '11 take her anyway."
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 99 
 
 " I am perfectly delighted, Mr. Matteson, 
 for I want to ask you a thousand questions." 
 
 " Make it two thousand, if you want," he 
 replied, and his liking was made plain to her. 
 He rose, and she took his arm, and they 
 walked out in such a matter-of-fact way that 
 Miss Brien had a suspicion the miner had 
 been playing a part and forgot himself at the 
 moment. His bluff, blunt manner was a con 
 stant surprise, for his eyes were gentle and 
 humorous. 
 
 " I wonder if he is fooling us," she thought. 
 
 Jim found himself just opposite Seargeant, 
 who looked at him through his one eye-glass 
 with eager attention. Miss Brien began con 
 versation : 
 
 " How do you like London ? " 
 
 " Not a bit." 
 
 "Well, that 's frank." 
 
 "It 's the truth. I 'd rather camp where I 
 can hear the roar of the Uncompahgre or the 
 Kicking Horse than have a whole floor in the 
 best hotel in London." 
 
 " Kicking Horse what is that, please? " 
 
 "A stream the purtiest that ever washed 
 gold out of a hill." 
 
 "In Colorado?"
 
 ioo HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Could n't be nowhere else." 
 
 " You 're very loyal to your State." 
 
 " Sure ; and if I ever get back to it I '11 
 never leave it." 
 
 " Mrs. Robertson tells me you came over 
 to sell a mine." 
 
 " I came over to try that 's different." 
 
 The little lady was fast winning his confi 
 dence, her eyes were so bright, her expression 
 so alert. She was listening to every syllable 
 he uttered, as if she found him interesting. 
 " Her thinking-box is all in order," Jim said 
 to himself as he began to question her. He 
 left his soup quite untasted when it came, 
 although he was hungry. 
 
 " You must n't let me interrupt your eating, 
 Mr. Matteson." 
 
 " I 'd like to drink the blame stuff," he said 
 in a low voice, " and save trouble. I never 
 eat soup if I can help it. It 's too thin for 
 me." 
 
 " Come and dine with me, and we '11 have 
 things all to your liking ; will you ? " 
 
 He smiled down into her gray, mysterious 
 eyes, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Sure thing ! Where do you hang out ? 
 I mean, where 's your house ? "
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 101 
 
 " It 's over Kensington way. I '11 give you 
 a card before we part." 
 
 "All right; I '11 be on hand. You Ye my 
 kind. You savvy like a shot. What makes 
 the difference ? " 
 
 " Oh, I Ve been in South Africa ; maybe 
 that helps me. My brother has a mine down 
 there. He 's in London now ; indeed, the 
 town is full of provincials on account of 
 ' Savage Africa.' ' 
 
 "What 's that?" 
 
 " Oh, it 's an imitation of your ' Buffalo 
 Bill ' show, full of horsemen and savages and 
 shooting. Do you know, I believe you 'd 
 like to see it. Will you go with me? I '11 
 make up a party and invite the doctor and 
 Grace to go also. Will you come ? " 
 
 " Dead-sure shot. When will it be ? " 
 
 " I '11 let you know. Where are you stay- 
 ing?" 
 
 " I hole up nights in a queer little hotel 
 up near the Northwestern Depot. It 's called 
 the Teviot House." 
 
 " Very well ; you '11 hear from me as soon 
 as I can arrange a date. And now tell me 
 all about mining and the mountains. The 
 doctor tells me you were a real cow-boy."
 
 102 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Well, I served my time at it. I began 
 business in eastern Kansas, and worked right 
 through the State, dodgin' all the school- 
 houses on the way, as you can see." He 
 smiled, a slow, curious grin. " I know five or 
 six things about cows and country rock and the 
 trail, but mighty little besides ; and the worst 
 of it is, I don't feel bad about it." He 
 paused, and his face grew thoughtful. " I 
 piloted a Smithsonian bug-sharp all through 
 New Mexico one slack season, and we 
 agreed that it was a stand-off. He knew 
 the size of the sun, and what comets was, and 
 how the stars moved ; but I had him on the 
 best way to build a fire in a rain, and how to 
 foller a trail in the night, and how to find a 
 spring of water, and the like o' that. He was 
 a mighty reasonable chap, in spite of his 
 notions, and when we come to part, he says : 
 'Jim, I come out here with some conceit of 
 myself, but I don't know as it 's any bigger 
 business weighin' a star than it is trackin' up 
 a piece of float. All human knowledge is of 
 small account, anyway.' He put it just that 
 way ; I remember it all as well as if it hap 
 pened this morning." 
 
 The girl's eyes were very grave. " What 
 did you say ? " she asked in a low voice.
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 103 
 
 " I said, ' Shake; let it stand on that.' And 
 we shook. The trail forked right there ; he 
 took one and I took another. I never saw 
 him again. Aside from Doc Ramsdell, he 
 was the best-educated man I ever met. The 
 worst of it was, he was bit by a rattler out in 
 Arizona and died that same summer. I 've 
 never felt right about that. If I 'd gone with 
 him, as he wanted me to, I might 'ave helped 
 him; but " His voice choked, and he looked 
 away for a moment. " You see, he proved 
 his case : all he knew did him no good in the 
 pinch." 
 
 "What are you two so serious about?" 
 inquired Mrs. Robertson across the corner of 
 the table. 
 
 The girl gave her a silencing glance, and 
 replied : " Mr. Matteson has just asked me to 
 buy his mine, and I Ve told him I can't afford 
 a mine in Colorado and one in Africa." 
 
 Jim was touched by her desire to shield 
 him. " You can't have too many mines if 
 they 're good ones," he said. " There 's only 
 one thing better than ownin' a mine, and 
 that 's findin' one. It sure beats any kind o' 
 game-shootin'. To ride along in a mineral 
 belt knowin' you may pick a piece o' float 
 any minute that '11 trail up a big ledge o'
 
 104 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 quartz well, that is about the best fun I 
 ever took a hand in." 
 
 " I can understand," she said with shining 
 eyes. " And the mountains and the streams 
 all around ! I can imagine it all." 
 
 Thereafter Jim felt much better acquainted 
 with the girl, and she looked at him with the 
 frankest liking and admiration. At the earli 
 est moment she said in a low voice : 
 
 " I know a thousand things that you don't 
 know, things that go with what is called 
 culture and the higher education, and cities 
 and ball-rooms, and all that, but I 'm in 
 clined to think your friend was right. It 
 does n't matter what you know ; it 's what 
 you are. I hope you won't like London. 
 You must n't stay here ; it 's no place for a 
 big, natural man like you." 
 
 He smiled as he said: "No danger o' my 
 stayin' long." 
 
 " You must n't. It would be a sorrowful 
 thing if you conformed to our ways. Life 
 will be a dreary business when all the world 
 conforms to the ideals of London and Paris. 
 Go back to your mountains, to your trail, and 
 forget London. It is n't worth your while." 
 
 There was an intensity of passion in her
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 105 
 
 voice, her glance, which moved him deeply. 
 In a dim way he perceived that she was a 
 soul of unusual powers. The little, flushed 
 face, the soft curves of her girlish bust, con 
 fused him also. He liked her, but she puz 
 zled him. Her low-cut gown displayed more 
 of her body than was seemly in his eyes ; but 
 he was certain she was frank and good, and 
 a thinker as well one who could meet Rob 
 ertson or Ramsdell on his own ground. 
 
 All this he thought out, sitting in silence 
 in the midst of the chatter, while Miss Brien 
 looked at him intently. She liked his sudden 
 fit of abstraction, but did not understand the 
 cause of it. 
 
 " Now you must try some of this duck," 
 she said. " I Ve kept you talking, and you Ve 
 had no time to eat at all." 
 
 " I can eat any time," he replied, and she 
 gladly filled out his elliptical compliment. 
 
 She went on : " You '11 like my brother. 
 He will be in after dinner to take me home, 
 and I '11 introduce you. He had a billiard 
 match to play off, and could not come in to 
 dinner. Nothing will make him conform 
 since having a taste of freedom. He will be 
 our guide to see ' Savage Africa.' "
 
 io6 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " If he 's anything- like you," replied Jim, 
 " I know he 's worth knowin'." 
 
 After the ladies left and the cigars went 
 round, the doctor began to talk in his queer, 
 disjointed way and to ask questions ; but Jim 
 was in a dark mood, and shut up like a cellar 
 door. Young Seargeant's childish lisp irritated 
 him, and the old man bored him with his long 
 speeches about the South African problem. 
 And yet he did n't care particularly to see 
 Miss Brien again. She mystified him, and 
 he wanted time to think her over and find 
 her out. She was like a new kind of ore 
 with surprising combinations of metal and 
 country rock. 
 
 Meanwhile the ladies were talking about 
 the mountaineer while smoking their ciga 
 rettes. 
 
 " Is n't he singular ? I saw you were inter 
 ested in him. Did n't you find him rather 
 primitive ? " asked Mrs. Robertson of Mary. 
 
 " He 's elemental. I am going to turn him 
 into a novel. We are to see each other again. 
 I 'm to make a date." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson laughed outright. " You 
 are his slave, I can see that; but be careful 
 he 's not the guileless bear he pretends to be.
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 107 
 
 He was nice with you because you are young 
 and pretty ; but there 's something savage in 
 him. I confess I don't know how to meet 
 him. I 'm afraid of him, to tell the truth, and 
 I think he has designs on the doctor's little 
 bank reserve. It is n't quite natural that a 
 man so f elemental,' as you call him, should 
 turn up here in the midst of the London sea 
 son with a mine to sell. He may be playing 
 a part in the interests of the Chicago partner. 
 His simplicity may turn out to be artifice. 
 I Ve warned the doctor against him." 
 
 " I know him a good deal better than you do. 
 He 's all right," replied Mary, with a smile. 
 "He 's the real josey." 
 
 " What an expression ! Did you catch that 
 from him ? " 
 
 "Yes that 's one of Jim's phrases." 
 " He told you to call him ' Jim,' did he ? " 
 " He did, and I 'm practising for it. It seems 
 a little precipitate when I am out of his pres 
 ence, but when those big, beautiful, honest, 
 St. Bernard eyes are looking into mine I could 
 call him 'Jim dear." 
 
 Mrs. Cullen was horrified at these remarks^ 
 She had never reconciled herself to the smok- ; ; 
 ing of the younger generation of English-
 
 io8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 women, and these dangerously frank words 
 of a young girl were shocking. Mrs. Robert 
 son only laughed. She enjoyed Mary's un 
 conventional moods. 
 
 " I 'm not as bad as you fancy," she said to 
 Mrs. Cullen. " I only say what other girls 
 think. It is n't often I have an opportunity to 
 talk to a soul in a sombrero. I only know 
 one who interested me in the same way, and 
 he ' lies low in the level sand,' so far away I 
 shall never plant a rose on his grave." Her 
 'voice grew suddenly vehement. " I like men, 
 faig, savage, hot-blooded, good men, and that 's 
 what Jim is. No woman can corrupt Jim. 
 She might hurt him and make him suffer, but 
 he will always stand tall. Joe would have 
 liked him. I like him, and I see no reason 
 why we should not be friends." 
 
 She got up and seized a banjo by its be- 
 ribboned neck as if to bang the wall with it, 
 but changed her mind, and sat down to pick 
 at its strings. Before she was fairly at it Jim 
 appeared at the door, his face alight with a 
 boyish smile. 
 
 " Did I hear a banjo ? By the Lord Harry ! 
 that sounds good. Let me look at it." He 
 took it from her and gave it a whirl in his
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 109 
 
 hands. " Why, it 's a sure-enough coon-con 
 jurer." He gave it two or three big, rattling 
 sweeps with his fingers, and the ladies gasped. 
 " Why, this ain't no silver-bowed tinkle-tank ; 
 this was made by a nigger out of a blue-gum 
 tree. Where 'd you get it ? " 
 
 " My husband bought it of a runaway slave 
 when he was a lad in Canada." 
 
 "That accounts for it. I 'm just honin' for 
 the sound of one," he said, turning it deftly. 
 " I was raised in southern Kansas, and an 
 old darky showed me how to conjure with 
 the banjo." 
 
 " Oh, play, play ! " called Miss Brien. 
 
 " I 'm going to," he replied. 
 
 JIM walked up the street, his mind busy draw 
 ing contrasts between Miss Brien and Bessie. 
 Aspen Park seemed a long way off at the mo 
 ment, and the power of this strange London 
 woman was not easy to elude. He was irri 
 tated by her low dress. He could n't imagine 
 the little girl in Aspen Park wearing such 
 a dress in any circumstances whatever.} 
 Perhaps a little feeling of proprietorship 
 added to his disapproval. 
 
 However, it was good to be understood as
 
 i io HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 this London woman understood him, and to 
 be complimented as a superior and treated on a 
 plane of good-fellowship at the same time was 
 a new experience. They had been delighted 
 with his playing, and when he left Mrs. 
 Robertson had said, " Come again." And 
 yet he felt as though he had been wasting 
 time. 
 
 He received a letter from Bessie the next 
 day, and it gave him a shock. Nothing of 
 the same size had ever happened to him. He 
 knew instantly that it was from her, and yet 
 he held it a long while before he opened it ; 
 and when he saw the little sprig of heliotrope 
 on the corner, the neat, odd handwriting, and 
 the opening phrase, " Dear Mr. Matteson," 
 he laid it down and went and washed his 
 hands carefully before going further. 
 
 " This is a new lay for you, pardner," he 
 said to himself. " This is no grocer's bill. 
 This is a letter from your best girl." 
 
 He settled himself in his chair, and took 
 up the dainty sheets again as if holding 
 some fragile flower. 
 
 DEAR MR. MATTESON: Mrs. Ramsdell has asked me 
 to write for her to inquire how you are getting along.
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON ill 
 
 We talk of you every day. The doctor has had a spell 
 of the blues, but Mrs. Ramsdell and I insist you '11 suc 
 ceed. How do you like London ? We are all waiting 
 impatiently for your first letter. Do tell us all that hap 
 pens to you. You will see everything in a new way, and 
 we want to get long letters from you. I liked your talk 
 about the mountains so much. I 've made Dr. Ramsdell 
 promise to take me with him when he goes out to see the 
 mine again, so you may see me out there. Of course I 
 expect to meet you when you come to Chicago again. 
 You will find London very tame after your wonderful life 
 in the mountains. 
 
 Very sincerely, 
 
 BESSIE R. BLAKE. 
 
 On the bottom of the sheet was a line in 
 a different handwriting, heavily underscored : 
 "You made a deep impression on Bessie." 
 
 For half an hour the man of the trail sat in 
 his chair and pondered. Could it be possible 
 that such a girl Then he thought of his 
 big, unskilful fist. " I can't write a decent 
 letter," he thought. "I 'm stumped right 
 now. If I do write, she '11 laugh at my gram 
 mar ; if I don't, she '11 be offended. It 's got 
 to be done, but I don't see how. Ain't it 
 slick ? " He referred back to the letter, and 
 compared the envelop with the paper, glad to 
 discover that they were exactly the same 
 shade of blue. " Oh, she is a little thorough-
 
 112 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 bred. Too fine for an old bronc like me. 
 All the same, that letter has got to be writ." 
 
 He tried his pen and his paper, and got 
 squared to his work and stuck fast, fearing 
 to begin. He could n't call her by her first 
 name, and " Dear Miss " did n't seem right. 
 " Dear Friend " covered the ground, but 
 seemed a little " too previous." It might 
 scare her. He compromised by plunging into 
 the middle of the page. 
 
 Ive only had time yet to hunt up two of the men doc 
 put me onto. Im going to make a break for the other 
 two this afternoon. This job didnt seem easy to me when 
 I started, and it aint got no easier since. Its about the 
 lonesomest trail I ever camped down on. Your letter 
 heartened me up, it did, sure thing, and Im on the war 
 path from this on. Ill tell you right now, I dont want 
 any more sailing in mine. If they was any way round, Id 
 take it if it was forty thousand miles long. When I start 
 back I jump the fastest boat with a bottle of chloroform. 
 First Im going to win out here. Its a tough proposition, 
 but I nail it to the wall. Theys a fellow over here by the 
 name of Rhodes, from Africa. I understand hes workin 
 the British for his own good. I dont know his game 
 exactly. Its something like mine, only on a bigger scale. 
 I only want one or two men ; hes doing things like he 
 wanted all outdoors. 
 
 Dont you worry about me. Ill make a killing yet and 
 bring the meat right along home with me. Chicago 
 seems like home to me now, with you and the doc and his
 
 AFOOT IN LONDON 113 
 
 wife living there. See you ! Well, I rather gamble I 
 shall, unless you take to the woods. I hope youll write 
 again ; it kindo puts a streak of sunshine into the durn old 
 town. 
 
 Yours respcfly, 
 
 JIM MATTESON.
 
 V 
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 
 
 AT Dr. Robertson's suggestion, Jim moved 
 down to the Grand Central Hotel, an 
 enormous caravansary filled with gamblers, 
 rich tourists, touts, jockeys, florid ladies, Ameri 
 can salesmen, newspaper correspondents, and 
 every other conceivable sort of adventurer 
 from the Old World and the New. Jim was 
 suspicious of it and all the people in it at once, 
 feeling that danger lurked in every corner. 
 His little stock of money seemed very small 
 in the midst of the paint and putty of this big 
 palace. 
 
 Suspicion was not all on his side either. 
 He was immediately "spotted" by the clerk 
 as a man with a "graft" of some kind, but 
 Jim concealed his own uneasiness so well that 
 no one accosted him for a couple of days. 
 
 A newspaper man, looking over the regis 
 ter, saw his name, "Jim Matteson, Wagon 
 
 114
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 115 
 
 Wheel, Colo.," and said to the clerk: "Can 
 you give me a pointer on this Jim Matteson ? 
 When did he come ? " 
 
 "Yesterday. There he is now the chap 
 in the sombrero." 
 
 Jim was walking up and down the rotunda 
 with his hands in his pockets when a small 
 man with a smooth, boyish face stepped up to 
 him. 
 
 " Are you Mr. Matteson ? " 
 
 " I 'm Jim Matteson ; what 's wanted ? " 
 
 " Of Wagon Wheel Gap ? " 
 
 Jim faced him with a quizzical smile. " Hold 
 on right there, stranger. / 'm the man with 
 the gold brick. You 're wasting valuable 
 time." 
 
 The newspaper man smiled. " You 're all 
 right, Jim. Say, you must know Ed Brai- 
 nard ? " 
 
 " I do. It 's your next throw." 
 
 " Well, I 'm Joe McAllister of the Denver 
 ' Record.' Ed and I used to work on the 
 'Journal' together. I Ve heard him talk a 
 whole lot about you, so I 'lowed I 'd side 
 track you for a little interview." 
 
 Jim looked at the little man with keen eyes. 
 " Well, Joe, I 'm a long way from home, it 's a
 
 ii6 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 cloudy day, and the formations are all new to 
 me here. But don't you run away with any 
 notion that I 'm easy game. I 'm out for 
 meat myself, and the man that steers me 
 into a dark corner is sure taking desperate 
 chances ; now, that 's right." 
 
 McAllister writhed in silent laughter. " That 
 proves it ! Ed used to spend hours telling 
 yarns about you. He told me of your throw 
 ing the white goat over the cliff." 
 
 Jim looked surprised. " Did he ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and also about the time you de 
 fended the Ute squaw." 
 
 Jim 's open palm shot out. " Joe, how are 
 ye ? I 'm glad to see ye. When did you 
 come to town ? And what 's the good word 
 from the hills ? " 
 
 They shook hands, all reserve gone. " Come 
 up to my room," said Joe. " I '11 read a letter 
 from Ed that will interest you." 
 
 As they stepped into the elevator, Jim said 
 to the boy : " Go easy, son ; I 'd hate to surge 
 through the roof." 
 
 " Would n't these English lifts frost a 
 man? " asked Joe. "This is one of the best 
 in the town, but it rises and falls with the 
 tide."
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 117 
 
 Joe's room was littered with boots and un 
 derwear which had apparently boiled from an 
 open trunk and mixed with dusty newspapers. 
 A type-writer stood under a window, and a 
 big table, inches deep with a litter of thin yel 
 low paper, filled the center of the room. Af 
 ter rooting through a heap of this rubbish 
 Joe found Brainard's letter at last, and sat 
 down to read it. 
 
 It was breezy and slangy, full of personali 
 ties and news of the camps, and on Jim's face 
 a shadow fell. For the first time since leaving 
 the boat he was homesick. He could see old 
 Ouray looming like a vast yellow moon in the 
 sky, and he could hear the Grizzly Bear roar 
 ing up through the pines of its deep canon. 
 
 "Stop that!" he said suddenly. "You '11 
 have me layin' down my pack and takin' to 
 the back trail. Stop, or I '11 cut your wind 
 pipe." 
 
 McAllister laughed incomprehension. "Ed 
 says a little further on : 'I hear Jim Matteson 
 has gone to London to sell his mine. Look 
 him up and give him a lift.' " 
 
 " That 's Ed all over. He 's with his friend 
 clear through till the spring rains ; he sure is 
 loyal."
 
 u8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " What about this mine ? " asked Joe. " Is 
 that true ? " 
 
 " I reckon it is." 
 
 Again Jim told his story to an eager lis 
 tener ; but at the end Joe said slowly : 
 
 " You 've gone up against a hard proposi 
 tion, Jim. You see, the British public has 
 been worked by so many sharp sports, they 
 won't listen to a man with a good thing. I 
 should say on general principles that you 
 could n't sell gold dollars at three shillings 
 each in England just now. Have you looked 
 around the town at all ? " 
 
 " Well, yes ; I Ve cantered around a few 
 enough to get the slant of the hills." 
 
 " Well, let 's go out and take a ride on a 'bus, 
 and we '11 talk things over. I like to look at 
 the old town from a 'bus. A good deal of it 
 has n't any more interest than a railway-dump, 
 but you want to see it." 
 
 As they climbed into the front seats on the 
 top of the omnibus, he said : " I '11 help you 
 on this. We '11 make a go of it or set a wheel 
 smoking." 
 
 Jim took only a mild interest in St. Paul's 
 Cathedral and the Bank of England and the 
 Tower. The bridges were of more value.
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 119 
 
 But Joe was good company, and he talked 
 with him very freely, and together they made 
 out a list of good men to see. 
 
 "You 're up against a whole lot o' work, 
 Jim, but you '11 pull through. If anybody 
 could hypnotize money out of old man 
 Cramer " 
 
 "I 've got a good thing, but I can't stand 
 expense. I 've got to do my work quick. 
 I 'm like the feller who went down to Mexico 
 for Walters to see about a silver-mine. First 
 he heard of the chap was a telegram : ' On 
 my way home with car-load of bar silver. Wire 
 fifty dollars for expenses.' ' 
 
 Joe laughed. " You 're all right." 
 
 After they returned to the hotel, McAllister 
 introduced him to a medley of people a re 
 nowned jockey, a couple of actors, and several 
 newspaper men. Each new acquaintance 
 wanted to show his good will by treating, and 
 after two or three drinks Jim was forced to 
 defend himself by taking cigars or " fizz- 
 water." They lunched in the Turkish room, 
 and by that time Jim was a little weary of his 
 new-found friend. 
 
 He rose on the second morning with a 
 determination to leave the Grand Central.
 
 120 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " It 's a little too rich and too rapid for me," 
 he said to Joe. " I Ve lived too long in the 
 hills to stand this kind o' thing. When I was 
 a boy I used to be crazy to have the thrashin'- 
 machine come ; but I noticed it wore on me, 
 and the farm-yard seemed mighty restful after 
 it was gone. Same way this durned circus 
 kept buzzin' in my head last night. So I 
 hunt another hole to-day." 
 
 He moved a little way up the street into a 
 neat-looking small hotel, which was, in fact, 
 a boarding-house grown ambitious. It had 
 the usual plain female clerk who said "Thank 
 you" and a useless porter. The mail was 
 spread out on a hall table, and coats and hats 
 and umbrellas hung about on hooks and racks. 
 The elevator, according to Jim, had the speed 
 of cold molasses, and the man who ran it 
 stepped off now and then to go and mend a 
 trunk or move a bedstead, while the bell rang 
 and the tenants of the upper floors waited in 
 blasphemous impatience. The fireplaces were 
 of the size of cigar-boxes, and the tables 
 were like camp-stools, but everything was 
 clean, and Jim accepted the situation without 
 comment. 
 
 His room looked away over the roofs of
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 121 
 
 the city to the west, and the roar of the 
 Strand came up like angry water. That 
 night, as he sat by his small window and 
 watched the sulphurous light of the sunset 
 fade from the sky, he came close to despair 
 again. Out there to the west was the gray 
 ocean, and it was a long way to Aspen Park 
 and Bessie, and farther yet to the glittering 
 peaks of the Needle Range. He clenched 
 his teeth in resolution to make short work 
 of the task in hand and get back. His was 
 not an impatient nature, but he could not 
 help feeling the futility of his efforts thus far. 
 From this chilly little room he descended 
 each morning to breakfast on fried soles and 
 steak and coffee, and set forth into the city 
 streets, tracing up clues, presenting his propo 
 sition to whomever would listen. At night 
 he returned to his bed like a sick eagle, 
 sullen, silent, lonely. The city did not inter 
 est him very much, but he had enough of 
 the tourist in him to feel the need of seeing 
 all he could while it was at his hand, and so 
 when he had a spare hour he wandered away 
 into the jungle of the East End. McAllister 
 called once or twice and took him to his club 
 and gave him lunch and introduced him to
 
 122 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 several of his friends, who were pleased with 
 Jim's stories but had no money to put into 
 his mine. They all said: " You Ve happened 
 upon London at a bad time. We 're flooded 
 with schemes for Canadian and South African 
 mines just now. Sorry, old man, you know ; 
 but so it is." 
 
 To these remarks the miner merely said : 
 "I 'm not a pot-hunter. Work goes with 
 this killing, and I down my meat before I go 
 back. I 'm due to win a big chunk, and I '11 
 wait." 
 
 Miss Brien continued to interest him 
 mightily. In all his moments of leisure she 
 filled his mind. She appealed to him in ways 
 quite different from Bessie, and he mentally 
 compared them to Mary's advantage. She 
 was so vivid, so swiftly sympathetic, so keen 
 to comprehend, that talk with her was a 
 greater pleasure than with any one else he 
 had ever known. " She sure keeps me guess 
 ing," he said to himself each time. "She 's 
 a new kind." Her life, her associations, were 
 all strange ; so were Bessie's, but, neverthe 
 less, he thought he understood Bessie. Mary 
 had more complex motives, and her trail cov 
 ered a wider and more wonderful territory.
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 123 
 
 He was a keen analyst in his way. He did 
 not merely look, he saw, and comprehended 
 a great deal more than he could put into 
 words. Miss Brien made Bessie seem like a 
 sweet child, but did not take from her any 
 charm. They were so different that neither 
 lost by the other's presence. 
 
 One day the word was passed from the 
 clerk to the porter, thence to the elevator- 
 man, thence to the chambermaid, that a gen 
 tleman had called to see Mr. Matteson, and 
 would he go down to the smoking-room to 
 see him ? It proved to be Mary's brother 
 Will, an alert young fellow of rapid speech. 
 He met Jim with a generous hand-clasp. 
 
 " Mr. Matteson, I 'm glad to see you. 
 Sorry I could n't have met you at Dr. Rob 
 ertson's. My sister sends her compliments, 
 and wants you to take luncheon with us this 
 afternoon. It 's a snap shot, but we could n't 
 get the people my sister spoke of, so you are 
 the only guest. In fact, it 's our regular 
 luncheon, and you 're to come without cere 
 mony. Hope you can do so." 
 
 Jim soberly replied : " What your sister 
 says goes. Where '11 we meet-up for a 
 start?"
 
 124 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " I was commissioned to bring you back 
 with me, if possible." 
 
 " Reckon I 'd better shake off a rag or two. 
 Can you wait ? " 
 
 " With pleasure." 
 
 " I '11 make the turn in about two jerks of 
 a mule's hind leg," said Jim, gravely, as he 
 turned away. 
 
 He liked young Brien, and when he came 
 down again he began abruptly : 
 
 " You 're no Britisher. You might be from 
 Kansas City or Chicago ? " 
 
 " Or Cork," replied Brien. " Are you get 
 ting acquainted with London ? " 
 
 "Well, not to hurt. I 've just about got 
 the lay o' the land, that 's all. The forma 
 tions are so near alike I can't run a trail with 
 out keepin' an eye on the sun and there 's 
 no sun. Have n't seen my shadow but once 
 since I came." 
 
 " It is a gloomy old sky, don't you think ? " 
 
 " I do. It sure puts the cover on anything 
 I ever saw. People here all look like corn 
 stalks in a cellar ; that 's right. Where 's the 
 big red Englishman at the feller we always 
 read about ? " 
 
 " He 's in our novels and in the country."
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 125 
 
 "Well, I reckon he'd better stay there: 
 people here in London are runty." 
 
 As they came out upon the sidewalk young 
 Brien led the way to a carriage in waiting. 
 
 Jim stopped him : " Hold on. If it 's just 
 the same to you, I 'd rather ride on top o' one 
 o' these circus-wagons. I can see where I 'm 
 a-goin' to better." 
 
 Brien smiled, " Oh, certainly," and dis 
 missed the driver. 
 
 As they mounted a 'bus, Jim pointed at a 
 couple of redcoats out on leave, and broke 
 loose : 
 
 " Will you tell me why in the name o' Moses 
 your soldiers carry that little red monkey-cap 
 stuck on the side o' their heads ? They sure 
 make a man's teeth ache." 
 
 " That cap is the button on which the Eng 
 lish empire hangs," replied Brien. " It repre 
 sents our conservatism. It would take a 
 revolution to get rid of that ridiculous wart on 
 Tommy Atkins's head. We have a thousand 
 things just as absurd as that, but no immediate 
 change can take place." He indicated a big 
 building. " That 's Westminster Abbey." 
 
 " Aha ! I want to know," said Jim, without 
 interest.
 
 126 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " This is the Parliament Building." 
 
 Jim was roused. " Say, now you 're talkin'. 
 So that 's where your Congress meets, is it ? 
 I 'd like to see the inside o' that building." 
 
 " I '11 take you sometime." 
 
 " I wish you would ; I 'd be mighty 
 obliged." 
 
 He looked upward at the splendid mass. 
 " She 's a lou-lou 'most as big as Cathedral 
 Butte," he said, in sincere admiration. 
 
 As they rolled westward, the houses grew 
 larger and the people better dressed, and 
 these differences did not escape the keen gaze 
 of the mountaineer. 
 
 " We 're in the plug-hat belt now, sure 
 thing," he remarked, as they passed the en 
 trance of the park. A little farther on he 
 raised a shout : " Wait ! There 's a flock o' 
 sheep feedin' on the park ! Well, now, that 
 heads me off! You 'd suppose them sheep 
 was deef and blind. See 'em feed, and all 
 the racket goin' on around 'em." He paused, 
 and a slow smile crept round his lips. " Makes 
 me think of a pet antelope old Navajo Pete 
 had at Taos. A gang of us cow-punchers 
 was layin' on the grass one Fourth o' July in 
 the edge o' town, waitin' for Pete to fry us 
 some bacon, when up feeds this antelope.
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 127 
 
 One of the boys lit a cracker and dropped it 
 under the brute's nose. I expected to see 
 Mr. Antelope jump clear over the tent when 
 it went off, but he did n't. He never batted 
 an eye. The feller threw out a whole bunch : 
 the antelope fed on just the same. Then 
 Denver Dan come a-runnin' with a big fifty- 
 center, one o' these things as big as a can 
 dle-stick, and touched it smokin' and laid it 
 down right plumb under the antelope's nose. 
 It went off like an anvil a-crackin', and when 
 the dust cleared away that durn brute was 
 shakin' his ears and nippin' grass unconcerned 
 as a can o' green corn. You can't always tell 
 about these shy critters." 
 
 Will was laughing silently at Jim's quaint 
 yarn, when he rose, saying, " Here we are." 
 They got down at the corner of a fine street 
 which began at the park, and a few moments' 
 walk brought them to the door of a big gray 
 building, which stood facing a little green 
 garden. 
 
 Jim looked up at its facade, and said slowly : 
 " She 's big as a hotel. Your mine must be 
 a sure-enough bonanza." 
 
 Will smiled. " Oh, don't think we own 
 this; we only have a flat in it." 
 
 Jim did n't know what a flat was, but ex-
 
 128 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 pected to find out. He followed young Brien 
 up a flight of stairs, through a side door, and 
 into a hall filled with curious things, which his 
 eyes took in with a swift glance. He stooped 
 to examine the bottom of an umbrella-stand, 
 and called out excitedly : " Why, here, this is 
 an elephant's foot ! Real thing ? " 
 
 " Yes, the real thing. I killed it myself." 
 
 " And this lion ? " 
 
 "Killed him, too!" 
 
 Jim straightened up. " I guess I Ve un 
 derestimated you. A man who kills lions and 
 elephants is a sure-enough hunter, and don't 
 need any back talk from me." 
 
 Will hastened to depreciate himself: " But 
 I never killed a grizzly. I want to go to the 
 Rockies and get a grizzly. I suppose you Ve 
 killed a lot of 'em." 
 
 Jim looked grave. " Nobody kills a lot o' 
 grizzlies, stranger. I Ve had my share. 
 They 're lonesome beasts, and they make a 
 country mighty empty when they come 
 rampin' down a grassy slope. Why, howdy, 
 howdy ! I 'm mighty glad to see you again," 
 he said as Mary came out to greet him. 
 
 She looked prettier than ever and very wo 
 manly in the modest gray dress which she
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 129 
 
 chose with design to please Jim. " I can't have 
 you talking about grizzly bears and elephants 
 where I cannot hear you. Come in. Luncheon 
 is quite ready." 
 
 She led the way through a big, well-lighted 
 room (which the mountaineer studied with 
 another swift side glance) out into a dining- 
 room set for three only. It was a beautiful 
 room, and Jim said : " This is purty slick for 
 an old Injun like me." 
 
 " Sit right opposite me, Jim, where I can 
 see you. Your complexion will bear the light 
 better than mine. Now, you 're to call me 
 Mary, and my brother Will." 
 
 "All right, Mary; anything at all," replied 
 Jim, with a smile such as women rarely saw 
 on his face. " I 'm agreeable." 
 
 " Since when, this familiar discourse ? '' 
 asked Will. " Occasionally you surprise 
 me." 
 
 " Oh, it began immediately after we became 
 acquainted, did n't it, Jim?" 
 
 " It did so. All my friends call me Jim. I 
 don't think I 'd come to dinner if any one 
 shouted ' Mister ' at me. We don't even call 
 a congressman Mister in Wagon Wheel." 
 
 " Go on with your talk about grizzly bears
 
 130 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 and the Rocky Mountains," said Mary. " I 
 wish I might see them ; perhaps I shall some 
 time." 
 
 A shadow fell on the mountaineer's face. 
 " They 're not what they were when I first 
 rode through the Gap fifteen years ago," he 
 said slowly. "They were sure-enough wild, 
 at least in places ; but now the silver-miners 
 have lined every hill with trails and spotted 
 'em with cabins and pock-marked 'em with 
 prospect-holes. I Ve done my share of it 
 too and I 'm ashamed of it. The game is 
 mostly all gone; but the peaks are there." 
 He smiled exultantly. " Can't any of us tear 
 them down yet awhile " He paused abruptly. 
 " But I 'm not playing my ace for Will here 
 to trump with a lion story. I 'm layin' low in 
 the company of a man who cuts the toe-nails 
 of elephants." 
 
 " Oh, you must n't mind Will. When he 
 goes hunting he has a little army of camp- 
 followers and a whole magazine of special 
 guns. His hunting doesn't call for bravery." 
 
 Will colored a little. " That is true, Jim. 
 I have n't pretended to do the kind of hunting 
 you Americans do ; you must bear me out in 
 that. The Daniel Boone sort of thing does n't
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 131 
 
 suit a lazy fellow like me. Too much work 
 about it ; too lonesome, too." 
 
 Jim looked at Will's small white hands, and 
 then at his own big hairy knuckles. " I guess 
 we did n't come out o' the same box. I need 
 exercise to keep my cog-wheels workin' smooth 
 I need it right now. A year o' London 
 would send me home by freight." 
 
 " Have n't sold your mine, have you ? " 
 asked Mary. 
 
 " Not that I know of. I Ve been twistin' a 
 forked stick down a whole lot of holes, but no 
 rabbit shows up yet. Have n't raised a bunch 
 of fur even." 
 
 Mary looked at Will comically, then back 
 to Jim. "What do you mean by that? Do 
 people catch rabbits with forked sticks ? " 
 
 " I used to when I was a kid." 
 
 " Have you seen Twombly ? " 
 
 " Twombly keeps the other side o' the 
 ridge ; I reckon he smells bear." 
 
 " Well, we must help you sell that mine. 
 We might take a share or two ourselves, 
 Will?" 
 
 " I 'm going to see Twombly myself in a 
 day or two," replied Will. " We ought to 
 look into' the prospect, at least."
 
 132 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 All the time this talk was going on Jim 
 and the girl were looking into each other's 
 eyes, he with a puzzled intentness, she with 
 a singularly eager gaze. Her face was as 
 fair as a rose, and her teeth were white and 
 even. The mountaineer's eyes grew deep and 
 dark with a growing comprehension of her 
 beauty. 
 
 "Don't you think he 's like Joe?" Mary 
 asked abruptly of her brother, quite as though 
 Jim had left the room. 
 
 "Not a bit," replied Will. "Joe was 
 sandy." 
 
 " I know ; but his ways, his speech ? " 
 
 "Well, a little yes, now you speak of it. 
 There are some similarities due to the out 
 door life, I fancy." 
 
 Mary turned to Jim. " Are you still find 
 ing fault with our climate ? " 
 
 "I 'd as soon live in a cistern with the 
 cover on," he replied without smiling. 
 
 She laughed at his frank disgust, and the 
 curve of her beautiful lips was deeply allur 
 ing. This brilliant creature, as swift as flame, 
 was a dazzling form of human life to a man 
 accustomed only to the rudest types of women. 
 Her audacity, her passion, were not to be
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 133 
 
 taken for what they seemed : back of all her 
 moods was design. What her motives were 
 he could not divine. He was not a clod. He 
 lacked polish and training, but not discern 
 ment. Mary's mounting interest in him 
 moved him powerfully, but instead of growing 
 voluble he became silent, and at last looked 
 at her with a meditative, absent-minded stare 
 which puzzled her. 
 
 " It 's a strange thing I can't quite think 
 you are real," she said. " I feel as though I 
 were reading a story." 
 
 "Same here," he replied, with curt gravity. 
 " Play your next card." 
 
 Mary laughed. " I know what you mean." 
 
 The brother, in obedience to a significant 
 look from his sister, strolled away and left the 
 two together. Mary leaned her chin on her 
 folded hands, and said : 
 
 "Jim, I like you, and I 'm going to help 
 you sell that mine." 
 
 "That 's mighty white of you," he replied. 
 " If I don't sell I 'm sure side-tracked in 
 ' Lonesome Valley.' " 
 
 " I suppose there 's a woman waiting for 
 you somewhere ? " 
 
 " I 'm not so sure of that. I wish there was.
 
 134 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 I Ve got a notion I could find one somewhere 
 if I had time to take a lantern and go look 
 especially after I sell my mine." 
 
 She reached her right hand toward him 
 with a sudden pretty gesture. " Jim, confide 
 in me. Were you ever in love ? " He did not 
 reply instantly, and she added swiftly : " Now, 
 don't be angry ; we 're going to be chums, 
 you know." 
 
 Jim twisted in his seat; at length he said 
 slowly : " Well, I '11 tell you how it is. Men 
 like me don't use that word very often." 
 
 " What word ? " she asked relentlessly. 
 
 He ignored her question. " I Ve liked a 
 couple of girls pretty well in my time. I 
 reckon I 'd 'a' married one of 'em, only things 
 did n't come my way, and so I got off the 
 bridge and let the other feller go by. Now, 
 see here," he said, with a sudden smile, " it 's 
 your ante who is this 'Joe' you mentioned 
 a little piece back ? " 
 
 She looked away. When she faced him 
 her eyes were wet. " He was a man a big 
 man like you. He liked the sun and the 
 woods and the mountains, and talked of them 
 with the same wild light in his eyes. He was 
 an Irishman, and that means he would have
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 135 
 
 been a comrade to you in any enterprise that 
 bespoke freedom and good will to man. He 
 went to Africa one autumn, and he never came 
 back to me. He went away on an expedition 
 into the wild country with no one but ne 
 groes for company. A fever seized him, and 
 he died among the blacks, who loved him 
 and buried him and put a cairn above his 
 grave " 
 
 She paused and closed her eyes tightly as 
 if to keep back the tears, but they came steal 
 ing out in spite of her will, wetting the edges 
 of her long lashes. 
 
 Jim's heart grew very tender, and reaching 
 out a long arm, he took her hand. " See 
 here, little woman, that 's powerful hard lines. 
 I wish I could 'a' been there to help Joe." 
 
 She withdrew her hand and smiled up at 
 him with pathetic brightness. " Now I 'm 
 ashamed of my nerves. You men are so big 
 and slow-moving. I wish I had your power 
 to be calm and " She shook off her emo 
 tion. " It's just nerves ; you can't understand 
 it. We of the civilized centers are just rotten 
 with nerves. Don't talk about me any more ; 
 tell me all about yourself. Tell me about the 
 snow-slides and the way the rocks fall in the
 
 136 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 spring. Dr. Robertson said you gave a won 
 derful talk about these things the last time 
 you were there and do you know you Ve 
 converted Mrs. Robertson ? " 
 
 " Converted her to what ? " 
 
 " To a liking for you. She could n't toler 
 ate you at first." 
 
 " Could n't she ? I don't remember asking 
 her to do anything with me but just let me 
 alone." 
 
 " She 's quite enthusiastic over you now. 
 She 's to have another dinner-party soon, and 
 Mr. Twombly is to be there. We are all 
 going to help you corral Twombly corral is 
 right, is n't it ? " she added brightly. 
 
 " It '11 do ; but I want to rope and tie him 
 myself." 
 
 She puzzled an instant over his phrase, then 
 said : " We are all united in a desire to sac 
 rifice Twombly. He 's rich, and a mining 
 engineer, and thinks he knows all about such 
 things. He can command barrels of money, 
 as you Americans say." She called her bro 
 ther, who was reading by the window of the 
 sitting-room : " Will, come here a moment." 
 
 Will rose and came forward with a quizzical 
 smile on his face. " Have you just missed
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 137 
 
 me ? I 've read the ' Tale of Desert Sands ' 
 half-way through. I 'm bound to say I would 
 rather have listened to Jim, however. What 
 are you talking about ? " 
 
 " Oh, grizzlies and Indians at least, I 'm 
 about to ask Jim concerning the Indians. Are 
 they as fierce as people say ? " 
 
 Jim hesitated a little. " Well, now, I '11 tell 
 you about the Injuns. I never lived with 'em, 
 like ' Black Mose,' but I can sign-talk a little, 
 and I 've seen a good deal of four or five 
 tribes, and I don't line up against 'em the way 
 some men do. They 're walkin' hard lines 
 these days, and it appears to me they 're doin' 
 better than I could in their places." There 
 was unmistakable gravity in Jim's voice. "As 
 I say, I don't like 'em very much any more 
 than I do Chinamen ; but then, they 're hu 
 mans, same as the rest of us, and mighty 
 patient, considerin' the projeckin' they have 
 to stand on the part of cattle-men and agents." 
 
 Will looked very serious. " I suppose it 's 
 with them as it is with our black fellows down 
 in the Colony. They 're very decent chaps 
 when given fair treatment." 
 
 " The way I put it up is like this," Jim 
 went on : " they have a right to their way
 
 138 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 of thinkin', and they Ve got a right to a 
 place on earth but they are up against a 
 hard outfit." 
 
 As Mary rose a little later, Jim said : " I 'm 
 much obliged for this snack. It 's been right 
 hearty grub. When you call at my shack on 
 the edge of the Grizzly Bear, I '11 give you 
 snow-water to drink and mountain trout baked 
 in the ashes. If I 'm not in when you come 
 by, just help yourself to any cold coffee or 
 beans you may find, and camp till I come 
 home." 
 
 " We will, we will ! " cried Mary. " Cold 
 beans ! Think of it ! I never ate cold beans 
 in my life." 
 
 "Well, I never eat much of anything else. 
 That sizes us both up, I reckon," said Jim, 
 with a sly smile, as they were returning to 
 the sitting-room. 
 
 " Here are some photographs of my coun 
 try," said Will, handing a handful of amateur 
 prints to the miner. "I did them myself. 
 They 're rather good, don't you think ? " 
 
 " You mean Africa? Can't get it into my 
 head Africa is anything but a sand desert or 
 a thick swamp full of snakes as big as stove 
 pipes. I heard a feller lecture about it once
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 139 
 
 in Wagon Wheel, and never have had any 
 notion o' goin' there since." 
 
 As he ran the photographs over in his 
 hand his attention was arrested. " Hello ! 
 Why, this looks like New Mexico and say, 
 here 's a chap that can set a horse ! What is 
 he Australian ? " 
 
 " No ; he 's one of our South African fel 
 lows. Rather good seat, don't you think ? " 
 
 " He 's all right ; but the dudes I see here 
 in your parks break my sleep knees all 
 hunched up, reins in both hands ; they all 
 ride like a sack o' shot. They ought to be 
 arrested for disturbin' the peace." 
 
 " I wish I could see you ride," said Mary. 
 
 "That 's easy. Bring on your horse and 
 saddle, and your strip o' road, and I '11 show 
 you how we do it in the West." 
 
 Mary instantly seized upon the idea. 
 " We '11 do it ! Will, have Admiral saddled 
 for Jim. I '11 take Dapple, and we '11 off for a 
 ride. Come, let 's out for a lark ! " She 
 glowed with anticipation of it. 
 
 Will was also interested. "Very well ; I '11 
 order the horses saddled at once. You '11 just 
 have time to take a turn." 
 
 Jim interposed : " But wait. I can't ride
 
 140 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 in these togs. I ought to have a short coat 
 and 'chaps/ at least." 
 
 " What are 'chaps'?" 
 
 " A sort of leather leggings. The boys 
 used to wear 'em in the mesquite country ; 
 they 're supposed to be the proper outfit for a 
 cow-boy, and I reckon you want me to look 
 the whole proposition ? " 
 
 " Oh, we '11 fix you out," said Will. " You 
 can take my leggings and breeches." 
 
 Jim smiled. " I reckon you '11 need to let 
 'em all out a link or two. No ; if you Ve got 
 any sort of jacket that I can squeeze into, I 
 can put a wrinkle into my pants and hold 
 'em down some way. This coat is the main 
 trouble." 
 
 " Oh, we '11 furnish you, never fear ! " 
 replied Mary, as she ran out of the room to 
 dress. 
 
 Will took Jim to his room and fitted him 
 out with a reefer, which was a very decent 
 fit hext to Jim's shirt. " Man, what a chest 
 you have ! " he said, as he watched Jim wriggle 
 into it. 
 
 "How would this do for a sombrero?" he 
 asked, holding up a clay-colored hat with a 
 rooster's feather in the band.
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 141 
 
 Jim's eyes lightened. " First-rate. Where 'd 
 you dig that up at ? " 
 
 " It 's an Australian militiaman's head 
 gear." 
 
 Jim took it and looked it over carefully. 
 " I 'm a little suspicious of the feather, but the 
 rest of it is in line," he said. 
 
 He bluntly refused to wear the hunting- 
 breeches. " No ; thank ye kindly, but I 
 would n't be found dead in such things. Why, 
 they look like two quarters of venison. I '11 
 just slip your leggings over my pants 
 that 's the checker; makes me look like a 
 ' yaller-legged expert,' as the boys say in 
 Wagon Wheel ; but they '11 do for the once. 
 Would n't the boys make it hot for me in 
 this rig ! " 
 
 As they all met in the library, Mary 
 clapped her hands in joy of his appearance. 
 " You are superb ! " she said, facing him 
 nearly. 
 
 Jim smiled down at her as if humoring a 
 child. The top of her riding-hat came just to 
 his chin. " Little pardner, I can return the 
 compliment. You 're as neat as a smoke 
 less cartridge. You look like a girl that 
 come a-ridin' over the Silver City trail one
 
 142 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 day and spoiled every man's appetite for a 
 week." 
 
 She laughed. "How dreadful ! I hope 
 I shall not interfere with your enjoyment of 
 dinner." She thrust out her hand. " Please 
 button my glove ? " 
 
 Jim took the little hand in his bear-like 
 paws. " I never did such a thing in my life 
 before, but I 'm letting no good thing pass me 
 to-day. Great Moses ! what a wrist ! 'Bout 
 as big as a lizard's, ain't it ? " 
 
 She made a mouth of disgust, and tried to 
 take her hand away. He held it in his big 
 right fist. 
 
 "Hold on, now don't get grouchy. A 
 lizard has a mighty purty hand purty as a 
 baby's. You need n't get mad over it. I 
 was handing you out a compliment." 
 
 " Indeed ! were you ? I don't enjoy being 
 compared to reptiles. Well, we must be 
 going," she said, and Will led the way down 
 into the courtyard, where a groom was hold 
 ing a couple of saddled horses. 
 
 Jim looked them over critically. " They 're 
 clipped and sandpapered and polished by 
 hand like your fields," he said, "too slick for 
 any use. Regular rocking-horses."
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 143 
 
 Mary was disappointed. " Don't you like 
 them ? Whoa, Dapple ! You dare n't say 
 she is n't lovely ! Don't you think she is 
 handsome ? " 
 
 " M-m yes oh, yes ; they 're purty, but I 
 was wondering how they 'd stand a sixty- 
 mile jaunt over the hills. You ride the gray, 
 do ye ? Well, gimme your foot ! " 
 
 " Oh, Ferguson will help, thank you." 
 
 Jim stopped the groom. " Ferguson, you 're 
 not in it this time. When I take a girl out, 
 I do all the waitin' and tendin' myself. Come, 
 up ye go ! " He took his position beside the 
 horse. 
 
 Mary laughingly put her small foot in his 
 lowered palm, and he commanded, " Now, 
 jump ! " 
 
 She rose to the saddle with a precision 
 which pleased him. " You 're on to your 
 job." He grasped her foot. " Here 's the 
 stirrup; where 's your knee?" He laid his 
 hand on her knee. " Your stirrup 's too high. 
 What in Sam Hill do you English hunch 
 your knees up that way for ? Straighten your 
 leg." He let the stirrup down a couple of 
 holes. " There, that 's more like it. You 
 want to grip your horse. If I had you on
 
 144 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the trail a few days I 'd show you how to 
 ride." He turned to his own mount. " So 
 I 'm to ride this tin pony, am I ? And on that 
 back-pad ? " 
 
 He gathered the reins into his left hand, 
 and leaped into the saddle without touching 
 the stirrup. The horse, surprised and alarmed, 
 sprang wildly forward, and being checked 
 strongly, reared high on his hind legs, and 
 slipped and fell backward. Mary uttered a 
 cry of terror, and the groom and Will rushed 
 forward. Jim came down safely on his feet 
 beside the excited animal, and his face had a 
 comical look as he said: "Why, it is alive! 
 Don't be scared; I won't hurt him. He '11 
 get used to me in a few minutes. Get up, 
 Sampson ! " As the horse rose, Jim took his 
 seat again. And as he soothed the horse to. 
 a standstill, he remarked : " There ain't any 
 new tricks for a pony like this to teach an old 
 cow-puncher. This saddle queers me," he 
 added. " Like ridin' a silk-handkerchief." 
 Letting down the stirrups several inches, he 
 set spur to the dancing horse. 
 
 "What does an English horse know about 
 the rein?" He urged the horse about the 
 court, trying to guide him, cow-boy fashion,
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 145 
 
 by pressing the rein across the neck ; but the 
 horse only gaumed. " Not a blame thing ! 
 I don't suppose there 's a horse in England 
 knows the cross-neck rein. You can't do any 
 high-class riding while you rein like a dray 
 man," he explained to Will. " Well, the pro 
 cession is ready to move. Strike out ! I '11 
 keep alongside someway." 
 
 As they rode out through the arched gate 
 way into the street, Mary realized for the first 
 time how indisguisably big and singular her 
 cavalier was. The long, straight thrust of his 
 legs, the swing of his powerful shoulders, the 
 graceful suppling of every joint of his frame to 
 the horse's motion, would have made him a 
 marked figure even in conventional riding- 
 dress ; clothed in close-fitting black trousers, 
 gray coat, and gray sombrero, he looked as 
 alien as an Arapaho. 
 
 Mary was vastly pleased with him. " You 
 ride like Buffalo Bill," she said. "I like it; 
 it 's so different from our way. Everybody 
 will take you for an Australian, with that 
 hat." 
 
 " I don't mind that ; but I 'd hate to be 
 taken for a London dude or an earl, or any 
 thing like that."
 
 146 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " You are quite safe," she said, laughing up 
 at him. "How do I ride?" 
 
 " Like the queen of Barnum's circus." 
 
 " Thank you for another original compli 
 ment." 
 
 " No compliment at all ; just the plain 
 God's truth. Don't it go better with that 
 knee down ? " 
 
 " Indeed, yes. I shall always ride this way 
 hereafter in memory of you." 
 
 " I 'm not dead yet," he said ; "but I think 
 I would be if I had to live a year in this city. 
 I 'd get so I could n't ride a horse down to 
 the spring and back." He sat his trotting 
 horse without apparent concern as to its gait, 
 while Mary rose and fell in the English fashion. 
 
 "Whole lot of exercise connected with that 
 way of riding," remarked Jim. " Ought to 
 produce calves like a killdee's. It tickled the 
 boys mightily the first time they saw an Eng 
 lishman ride that way ; it was in Garden 
 City" 
 
 He broke off" and followed Mary's lead 
 through a granite gateway. 
 
 Entering the park, they rode along a great 
 curving driveway, which was thick with car 
 riages moving slowly, formally great glit-
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 147 
 
 tering vehicles drawn by sleek horses, the 
 embodiment of family pride and fixed income 
 to Jim, who looked upon the stolid faces 
 of the occupants with instinctive hatred. 
 They represented to him the pitiless few who 
 live on the toil of thousands, corrupt and self- 
 satisfied. 
 
 Some of the heavy women in these car 
 riages recognized Mary and bowed, and some 
 of the men in tall hats also saluted her ; but 
 she turned to Jim and said: " I 'm not going 
 to see anybody but you this afternoon. It 's 
 too much bother for you." She watched him 
 as he rode at ease. " Does n't that trot tire 
 you ? Shall we gallop ? " 
 
 Jim smiled. " I Ve rode on a worse trot 
 than this ten hours at a stretch without eat 
 ing or drinking. Of course I was n't doing it 
 for fun " He broke off and rode in silence 
 for a few moments. " That was in western 
 Kansas " Suddenly the strangeness, the 
 impossibility, of his condition swept over him. 
 To be riding thus in the heart of London with 
 a woman whose life was as far removed from 
 his as this terraced drive was from the Kit 
 Carson trail, was the inconceivable realized. 
 For an instant it seemed a dream. It seemed
 
 148 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 that he could turn his horse's head and ride 
 away into the plains, and in an hour see the 
 San Francisco peaks loom in the deep-blue 
 sky. It could not be that three thousand 
 miles of gray water and nearly the same ex 
 panse of earth lay between this smooth drive, 
 glittering with carriages, and the green-and- 
 purple slopes of Mount Ouray. He swept 
 his hand across his eyes as if to clear his 
 vision. 
 
 "What are you thinking about, cow-boy?" 
 Mary asked, pulling her horse down to a walk, 
 and turning a radiant face upon him. 
 
 He did not smile. " I 'm thinkin' I 'm a 
 long way from home, and night comin' on," 
 he replied. " I feel as lonesome as I did once 
 when I was ridin' through the Navajo reser 
 vation. You see, I 'd been prospectin' around 
 down just over the line, and on my way out I 
 took a short cut toward Durango. I did n't 
 know that a lot o' lahees had been on the 
 reservation, and that old Black Fox was on 
 his ear, till I was high on the divide and into 
 the thick of the fuss. The worst of it was I 
 had a pick and shovel on my pack-mule, and I 
 did n't want to throw 'em away. First I knew, 
 a raw-boned old Injun come a-runnin' out of a
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 149 
 
 hogan, and, pointing at my tools, began to jab 
 ber bloody murder. Then the whole blame 
 settlement come pilin' out. The women 
 joined in, and the dogs, too. They sure are 
 a hot people when they wake up, and I 
 was nervous. I put up some sign -talk, and 
 asked, ' What 's the row ? ' Then the old 
 hosteen said that some white men had been on 
 Navajo land digging for gold, that the people 
 were angry, and that Black Fox threatened 
 to kill every white man found digging inside 
 the Navajo lines." 
 
 Mary's eyes were wide with interest. 
 " Were n't you frightened ? " 
 
 " Well, I can't say I felt like Saturday 
 night, but I handed out a fancy bluff. I told 
 the old hosteen to take my back trail, and if 
 he found I had been digging on Indians' land 
 I 'd give 'em my whole outfit. Finally he 
 made the sign to follow, and off we pattered 
 straight toward a big black, pine-covered 
 butte. It was sure a wild country and new to 
 me. We rode till about ten o'clock, passing 
 through a settlement once in a while, and 
 trailing along a lot of sassy-looking warriors. 
 It certainly looked owly for Jim ; but I kept 
 a wooden lip, and rode along tired and hun-
 
 150 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 gry. Finally we slid down into a deep val 
 ley, into a snarl of dogs, and pulled up in a 
 big village. Then four different things broke 
 loose. For five minutes I could n't hear a 
 thing but the yapping of dogs, and the hish- 
 ing of the women and young uns as they tried 
 to stop the howl. When the dogs finally shut 
 up, the hosteen raised a signal-yawp, and an 
 old chief came out and gave a few orders, and 
 I was snaked over to his hogan, and he said, 
 ' Who are you ? ' I told him I was a miner. 
 
 " 'What are you on Indians' land for?' he 
 asked. 
 
 " I told him. 
 
 " ' You are lying,' he says. 
 
 "'That 's all right,' I signed; 'but you 
 send a man back on my trail and see be 
 sides, I 'm hungry,' I said. The old chief 
 turned and gave orders for some grub, and 
 suspended my trial till I filled up on roast mut 
 ton and pounded corn. All of a sudden I had 
 a bright notion. 'You know Blazing Hand?' 
 I asked. The old chap got interested right 
 off. ' Yes ; what of it ? ' he says, gruff as a 
 grizzly. I could see I had him going. 
 
 "'Well, I am his brother. See here.' I 
 took out my wallet and I showed 'em a little
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 151 
 
 tintype picture of Mose. They all fell on my 
 neck. Nothing was good enough for me 
 after that. They hardly let me sleep a wink. 
 I had to spin a lot of fancy talk about Mose. 
 I knew he stood in with 'em ; but I did n't 
 know he was considered the angel Gabriel." 
 
 " How strange, how wonderful ! Who was 
 this ' Mose ' ? " asked Mary. The two horses 
 were walking along a quiet curve of the 
 drive. 
 
 "Mose? Well, Mose is the real thing. 
 He don't wear long hair nor a fringed shirt ; 
 but he 's the best shot, the sandiest bronco- 
 buster, and the best man to a man in trouble 
 that ever drifted over the divide. There 's 
 some mystery about Mose. They say he was 
 thrown down by his girl. I don't know any 
 thing about that, for Mose is a mighty bad 
 man to cross-examine. Everybody in the 
 mountains knows Black Mose, and the Indians 
 just about think he 's king of the grizzlies." 
 
 It was Mary's turn to look thoughtful now. 
 Jim's voice, words, accent, and above all his 
 emotions, were so alien to her thought, her life, 
 and her surroundings that they appealed to her 
 imagination with great power. She looked up 
 at him. His handsome face was set in resolute
 
 152 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 lines ; his skin was brown with the winds of 
 the mountains ; and every movement of his 
 splendid body suggested free spaces. A sud 
 den disgust seized her. 
 
 " How mean and restricted all this seems 
 to me when you talk!" she said, indicating the 
 swarming walks and drives of the park. 
 " You take me to the big, vital, earthy things. 
 You make me feel the fascination of a world 
 where clothes count for nothing, and where 
 ' society ' has no meaning. See these people 
 stare ! " she said in sudden bitter loathing. 
 " See these two-legged things in long coats 
 and tall hats. They think they 're men ! If 
 you and Joe and Mose are men, what are 
 they? Oh, I 'm heart-weary of the life we 
 call civilized. We 're all rotten and dying of 
 it. Nine tenths of us are degenerates. Look 
 at me, with arms like your little fingers, and 
 a head full of hate of God and man. What is 
 the good of it all ? Come, let us escape ! " 
 
 She struck her horse with the whip, and 
 galloped away beyond the reach of those who 
 sauntered idly along the garden side of the 
 drive. 
 
 Jim spurred after her, stirred by the inten 
 sity of her passionate voice and her blazing
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 153 
 
 eyes, comprehending" little of the sudden deep 
 disquiet below the words she uttered. 
 
 When he reached her side again they were 
 beyond the crowds, and she said lightly, 
 " What do you think of our parks ? " 
 
 He understood her desire to cover her 
 emotional outburst. " Your trees are mighty 
 fine," he replied, looking at the splendid old 
 oaks and elms. " They look like the pines 
 that grow in the canons deep down out of 
 the wind. A tree is a neighbor to me any 
 where. I remember the first time I ever saw 
 a big pine. It was on the old Kit Carson 
 trail ; I 'd lived on the Kansas prairies all 
 my life up to that time, and had never seen 
 anything but a cottonwood or a willow, and 
 when I turned a corner and sighted a bunch 
 of big pines I set up a yell." 
 
 " You started to say something about the 
 way all this affected you," said Mary a few 
 moments later, indicating the slowly moving 
 streams of carriages across the green, the 
 troops of horsemen on shining horses rising 
 and falling laboriously in their saddles, the 
 richly dressed ladies on the walks, attended by 
 men all alike in tall hats and long coats. Jim 
 looked at the scene with serious eyes, but did
 
 154 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 not reply till Mary asked, "What do you think 
 of it?" 
 
 The mountaineer's face grew thoughtful. 
 " It scares me ; it sure does. I 'd rather 
 break a leg in the middle of the Navajo reser 
 vation than fall sick here. I could n't trust 
 these black-coated dudes for a minute. 
 They 'd see a man die, squinting at him all 
 the while through their eye-glasses. I s'pose 
 they mean well enough, too ; but they don't 
 know how it is themselves. I 'm afraid of 
 cities, anyhow ; they 're just like so many rat 
 tlesnake pastures to me. I can't trust the 
 people. I only know six men in Denver and 
 one man and two women in Chicago ; all my 
 friends live in the mountains or on the range. 
 You can trust a mountaineer to take care of 
 any man that falls down ; but here not on 
 your life ! It 's dog eat dog when you strike 
 a town. They are all your enemy or they 
 don't care. This seems to me the worst on 
 the line. Every time I think of being in this 
 town sick or without money, I just nacherly 
 have a cold chill that makes my teeth chatter 
 like a woodchuck's." 
 
 " Are n't you rather hard on us ? " asked 
 Mary, with a side glance.
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 155 
 
 " I s'pose I am. Mebbe I 'm wrong about 
 it, too ; but that 's my feeling about it. I 'm 
 plumb scared of cities. I 'm not built right 
 to feel safe alone in the middle of all these 
 slick folks now that 's right." 
 
 Mary looked up at him with a smile. 
 " You 're not afraid of me ? " 
 
 " Well, not to hurt." His eyes began to 
 twinkle a little. 
 
 "Nor of Will?" 
 
 " No ; but he 's an Irishman, and besides 
 he 's a hunter. He knows how it is himself." 
 
 " Nor of Dr. Robertson ? " 
 
 " No ; doc' 's all right. But there it is he 
 was born in the woods of Canada. He had 
 the right kind of a bringin' up. He can swing 
 an ax and fry a flapjack. He 's educated in 
 the right lines." 
 
 She laughed. "Then it seems that all the 
 people really worth while are of the woods or 
 the mountains ? " 
 
 " I reckon that 's about it. That 's my 
 notion to a dot. You see, such men know 
 how much a cup o' hot coffee means to a man 
 just off the trail. These others well, now 
 I '11 stop right there. They are your people, 
 and I don't want to hurt your feelin's. Any-
 
 156 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 body can have the town that wants it ; the 
 mountains are good enough for me. Which 
 way do we turn now ? " 
 
 " To the left. How does Admiral go ? " 
 
 " Oh, so-so if he 'd only rein a little less 
 like a mule." 
 
 " You '11 like the ' Savage Africa ' show ; 
 there are some good riders there. I fancy 
 it 's a little like your own wild West." 
 
 " When do we go ? " 
 
 " Very soon." Suddenly turning, she cried : 
 " Oh, I Ve an idea ! Could n't you show us 
 how to make a camp-fire, and all that? It 
 would be jolly good fun." 
 
 " Sure thing ! but where 's your outfit and 
 your timber ? I have n't seen a place as big 
 as my hat that was n't barbered as smooth as 
 the back of your hand. You can't camp in 
 a park like this. You 've got to have timber 
 and water." 
 
 " Oh, I know a place. It 's on the famous 
 Black Moor. We have a cottage down that 
 way, and we could manage it perfectly. Will 
 you go ? " She was fairly breathless with 
 interest in the idea. 
 
 " Certain sure, for a day or two. I 've got 
 to sell my mine."
 
 A RARE FLOWER OF DECAY 157 
 
 " Be quite easy about that. I '11 invite Mr. 
 Twombly, and we '11 all make a set at him. 
 He shall be sacrificed. Now, let me think " 
 And she began to plan the outing. 
 
 As they clattered through the arched gate 
 into the little courtyard, Will came out to 
 meet them. 
 
 "How did you enjoy your ride ? " he asked 
 of the miner. 
 
 Jim reached out a long arm and a big, 
 clutching hand. " I feel full size to-day. 
 Seems like I could take a fall out of any man 
 livin'," he said. 
 
 " We 've had a glorious ride ! " exclaimed 
 Mary ; " and oh, Will, Jim is going to show us 
 how he camps on the trail ! " 
 
 As he climbed to his hole in the wall that 
 night Jim suddenly realized that the little girl 
 in Aspen Park was very far away and that 
 another woman had drawn very near. Lon 
 don was distinctly less lonely and menacing 
 by reason of Mary's flower-like face and burn 
 ing, vivid
 
 VI 
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 
 
 IN the days which followed, Mary formed 
 almost daily plans for the mountaineer, and 
 Jim yielded himself to them as though he were 
 indulging a child. Will was, of course, her 
 stalking-horse, and though very patient of 
 her whims, nearly reached the point of rebel 
 lion one day. 
 
 "See here, sis, where is this to end?" he 
 asked as they sat at breakfast. " You 're 
 seeing a great deal of Jim." 
 
 "No matter; I am amused," she recklessly 
 replied. " I have n't been really entertained, 
 carried out of myself, since you know when ; 
 so let me laugh for a day or two." 
 
 " The laugh will come to a sob, I 'm think 
 ing," he sagely answered. 
 
 "That 's the Irish of it, too," she answered. 
 " Jim 's all right. I won't hurt him, and as 
 for me, it does n't much matter. He 's doing 
 
 158
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 159 
 
 me good. I am getting a totally new con 
 ception of life from him. I am looking at the 
 East through the eyes of the West, and I find 
 it diverting." 
 
 "I don't like it, Mary. It is n't quite 
 honest with an honest man," Will replied 
 very gently. He did not say what he already 
 knew, that people were beginning to discuss 
 her relation to Jim as the "freak attachment" 
 * of a lawless woman. It was in the hope that 
 he might persuade her to a different course 
 that he joined heartily in her plan for a camp 
 on the moor. At any rate, what she did 
 there would be less conspicuous than in 
 London. 
 
 Dr. Robertson uttered a word of warning 
 to Jim one evening after they had all been 
 to the theater together. 
 
 "Jim, I must put you on your guard against 
 Mary Brien. She 's one of these ambitious 
 young novelists who serve up their own emo 
 tions, as well as those of their friends, for the 
 public's gratification. She 's a fine woman 
 in many ways, and we are all fond of her, 
 but she 's a bit theatric. She 's a good deal 
 of a fraud also. You should take her tears 
 and smiles at a liberal discount. She likes to
 
 160 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 
 
 experiment with men. Don't let her use you 
 to her own amusement." 
 
 " She 's welcome to all she gets out o' me," 
 said Jim, coldly. " I pipped my shell as many 
 as two seasons ago. I 'm not afraid of a 
 little woman like Mary." 
 
 " Now don't underestimate her," replied the 
 doctor, earnestly. " She is by no means the 
 child she looks. She is an old, old woman 
 in some ways a rare blossom of degeneracy, 
 I fear ; and she has all the wiles of a pretty 
 woman at ready command. I have seen her 
 fool several good men." 
 
 " I '11 get a mouthful while she 's getting a 
 full meal," said the mountaineer, grimly. 
 
 Jim was now on excellent terms with Mrs. 
 Robertson, whose matronly charm he freely 
 acknowledged. She kept at Twombly cour 
 ageously till at last he was forced, in decency, 
 to set aside a night for dinner. Immediately 
 word was sent to Jim, who turned up promptly, 
 though skeptical of results. 
 
 Twombly turned out to be a familiar type, 
 the kind of Englishman one often meets in 
 the mining towns of the Rocky Mountains 
 a big, blond, handsome, loose-jointed man, 
 who shook hands awkwardly. His clothes
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 161 
 
 did not fit, but his eyes were clear and calm, 
 and his smile was amiable. He said " indeed " 
 and "quite so," and remained non-committal 
 through all the explanations. His judicial 
 impassivity was a little irritating to Jim, who 
 was not yet inured to the English stare. 
 
 " When did you leave Colorado ? " Twombly 
 asked. 
 
 " About five years ago, judgin' by my own 
 wear and tear ; by the almanac it 's about five 
 weeks." 
 
 Mary fairly pounced upon Twombly in her 
 eagerness to help Jim sell his mine. " I Ve 
 agreed to take some stock," she said, "pro 
 vided you go on and report favorably." 
 
 " Indeed," said Twombly, ironically; "then 
 I must report favorably, willy-nilly." 
 
 Nothing that Mary could say enabled him 
 to take a serious view of the situation ; and 
 Jim, feeling the edge of Twombly's skepticism, 
 refused to say a word more than this: "The 
 mine is open to your inspection ; take it or 
 leave it. That 's all I Ve got to say." 
 
 However, Twombly showed a little more 
 interest when Mary touched on Jim's expe 
 rience as an actual miner and mountaineer, 
 and asked some questions which might have
 
 162 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 led to a deeper interest had Jim answered 
 with his usual vividness ; but he did not. He 
 was brief to curtness, and lounged low in his 
 chair, with a dangerous glitter in his eyes. 
 He was not accustomed to having men 
 question his word, or express doubt even in 
 looks, and he would have "broken loose" if 
 Twombly had not been skilfully drawn off by 
 Will, leaving Mary alone with him. 
 
 Jim then said : " Your man Twombly 's got 
 my quills all pointin' the wrong way. He 'd 
 better keep on the other side o' the creek, 
 or I '11 reach out and gather a handful of fur. 
 I 'm mean to-day just plumb measly ; and 
 I '11 take a fall out of Twombly for exercise 
 if he rubs against me again." 
 
 " Don't be foolish, Jim," she hastened to 
 say. " Mr. Twombly comes in, as you would 
 say, like a wolf into a trap, and he naturally 
 doubts. Give him time to understand you 
 and trust you as we do, and things will take 
 a turn. Let me manage. You will, won't 
 you?" 
 
 There could be no resisting when Mary 
 pleaded. Jim did not say a word to indicate 
 his softening ; but Mary knew his ways, and 
 when he smiled, she rose and sought out
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 163 
 
 Twombly, warning him to be less openly 
 ironical, and inviting him to join her camping 
 party on the moor. 
 
 Mrs. Robertson was the only woman in 
 Mary's party. " I want Jim all to myself," 
 she said calmly, "and you make a tractable 
 chaperon. Jim is impressionable, and I 'm 
 careful not to introduce him to young and 
 pretty girls." 
 
 " Of course you are of responsible age, 
 Mollie, but I 'm apprehensive., You could n't 
 possibly marry this mountaineer, and go into 
 his wild land." 
 
 "Oh, hush! Don't force everything to 
 conclusions that way. Will is croaking the 
 same old tune. It is n't a question of mar 
 riage. Let us alone. We '11 settle things 
 ourselves. He amuses me nothing more." 
 
 " I consider him far less simple," Mrs. Rob 
 ertson replied. "His utterance is plain and 
 direct, but his thinking is not easy for me to 
 understand. He seems to me sometimes to 
 be laughing at us all. No good can come of 
 your intimacy. I sincerely hope you won't 
 invite him down to Wyndhurst." 
 
 Mary did not immediately reply, and when 
 she did she was smiling.
 
 164 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Is n't his comment delicious ? I take him 
 to all the show-places, the historic spots, and 
 he says, ' Aha, I want to know ! ' I took him 
 to Westminster Abbey the other day, and 
 after we had walked through it from end to 
 end, he merely said : ' I 'd hate to live where 
 land is so scarce you have to bury folks in the 
 cellar.' " 
 
 " Did he show any appreciation of Shak- 
 spere or Milton ? " 
 
 " Not a particle. He was interested in 
 Cromwell because he ' downed the kings,' and 
 in Darwin because he ' knew all about ani 
 mals.' " 
 
 " I never could tell whether he was fright 
 fully ignorant or only making believe. He 
 bluntly told me he did n't think much of Eng 
 lish ways or English books." 
 
 "Why should he? He is n't English. 
 He 's Norman French. We take it for 
 granted that all Americans are Englishmen, 
 but they are not. The ordinary American 
 tourist who bows down before our idols, and 
 feels his blood thrill at the names of our kings, 
 is only an Englishman born in America. But 
 most Americans care nothing for England. 
 Jim says he fairly represents a good many 
 young Americans who have nothing 'ag'in" us
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 165 
 
 particularly, but they don't ' hone ' after us. 
 That 's why I like Jim. He 's honest. He 
 is n't looking for a social success, and can afford 
 to be himself. His frank contempt for our time- 
 honored absurdities is delicious." 
 
 " He does n't despise our money," retorted 
 Mrs. Robertson, a little maliciously. 
 
 "No and yet he is n't here of his own 
 accord. As he says, ' good American dollars ' 
 are rich enough for him ; but he 's over here, 
 and naturally wishes to be successful in his 
 trip." 
 
 "I like him, too," said Grace; "but he 's 
 a little too assertive of his peculiar views 
 sometimes." 
 
 " I would n't have him different for worlds ! " 
 exclaimed Mary. " And I 'm getting more 
 deeply interested in this camping trip than I 
 ever was in a ball." 
 
 Grace looked at her solemnly. " If I did 
 not know you so well, Mollie, I 'd think you a 
 little crazy." 
 
 Mary laughed. " Jim thinks I am the only 
 entirely sensible woman in London. So it 's 
 'an even break,' as Jim says." 
 
 JIM was freshly impressed with the crowds 
 over on the Surrey side, where they went the
 
 166 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 following Friday morning to take the train. 
 "Too many people," he said. " I Ve got to 
 find a lonesome spot, or go crazy. I want to 
 ride off somewhere where nothing moves but 
 once in a while a chipmunk. I 'm sick for 
 the lonesomeness on the Kicking Horse. 
 These crawling maggots are getting into my 
 brain. See 'em crowd ; see 'em hurry ! " he 
 broke out, indicating the thousands of rush 
 ing travelers, porters, guards, and policemen. 
 " Like a herd o' sheep around a water-hole. I 
 could stand it for a few hours every day ; 
 but to be where I Ve got to see 'em every 
 hour of the day is hell ; it sure is. I 'd 
 sooner lead sheep like a greaser in the Toltec 
 hills." 
 
 When they were seated in a coach, with 
 bags and bundles all in place, Mary turned 
 and gravely said: "I like your profanity; 
 it 's so satisfying. Please don't mind me. 
 Indeed, I wish you 'd swear a few good 
 strong words on my account. I feel just as 
 you do about this city life, only my voice 
 won't allow me to curse. It 's comical to hear 
 a woman swear, her voice is so squeaky and 
 uncertain. Once when I was very angry I 
 said, ' Hillty divelty dam ! ' and I thought I
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 167 
 
 was very wicked ; but Will laughed till he 
 cried." She sat up straight. " But, Jim, you 
 must n't get savage ; you must n't lose your 
 humor. It won't do. Don't take us too 
 seriously over here ; it would spoil you en 
 tirely. I like you best when you laugh at us ; 
 I like your cheerful irreverence. So few 
 Americans that I meet are natural. They 
 bow down to historical dust and ashes and 
 tombstones. You 're the one out of ten mil 
 lion to value us as we deserve. Walk round 
 us ; then sniff and ride on into your mountains 
 and forget us." 
 
 " There are one or two folks I reckon I 
 can't shake so easy as that," he replied, with 
 a singular side glance at her. 
 
 " Quite probably they are the very ones you 
 should soonest forget," she made answer, and 
 there was no humor in her voice. 
 
 They rode in silence for a few minutes, and 
 Jim's face grew very grim and dark. At last 
 he said: "I had a letter from Chicago this 
 morning ; my old pardner, the doc, is depend 
 ing on me to sell this mine. It '11 just about 
 break his leg if I don't. That 's one bur 
 that 's tight in my sock to-day. I feel just 
 now like a man running away from his job. I
 
 1 68 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 had n't ought to be picnickin' with you; I 
 ought to be rustlin' tenderfeet earls for the 
 good of the outfit." 
 
 " Trust me, Jim. Twombly is coming down 
 on Wednesday, and we will secure his deci 
 sion. All you want is for him to return with 
 you and look at the mine, is n't it ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well, please be happy again. It will all 
 come out right. You must let him like you, 
 and then it will be easier to ' rope him in.' ' : 
 
 Jim recovered himself as the train drew out 
 into the beautiful low-lying country toward the 
 south. The thick, tall grass starred with but 
 tercups made him realize that it was spring. 
 The wind was as cold and keen as a sword, 
 and the sun was pale and lifeless ; but the 
 hedges were in full flower. The land was 
 June, though the wind was sullen March. 
 Opulent gardens flashed by, radiant with pear- 
 and thorn-blossoms, and narrow lanes wound 
 away, flecked with the pale-purple shadows 
 of overhanging willows. 
 
 Suddenly he clutched Mary's arm. " Hold 
 on ! Pull up ! There 's a piece of wild pine- 
 lands." 
 
 Mary laughed at his excitement.
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 169 
 
 " Oh, we have barrens down in my country 
 that have never known the plow." 
 
 Jim looked back at the vanishing village. 
 
 " What town was that? " 
 
 " That was Farm vale." 
 
 "When I go back I 'm going to stop off 
 and take a run through that grove, just to see 
 something that has n't been currycombed ; 
 and the man that stops me will sure wish he 
 had n't. I feel like a wildcat in a cellar ; 
 'pears to me I 've been gone six months from 
 the rocks and the smell of the pine-trees. I 'd 
 hate to live in a place where people had lived 
 and died for a thousand years. I spent a 
 half a day once on the big mesa in the Santa 
 Clara valley, digging around among the ruins. 
 It was a hot, still day, and I laid down under 
 some little old pifion-trees close by the trail. 
 And all of a sudden I thought I heard voices 
 a whole lot of 'em. Then they began to 
 sing, and a woman began to moan. I jumped 
 up, my hair bristling ; but there wa'n't a thing 
 in sight. I 'd gone into a doze, and the wind 
 moanin' in the pinon-trees made me dream. 
 Then I shut my eyes and listened again, 
 and I could hear 'em whisper them dead 
 women and moan. I climbed down that
 
 170 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 cliff, pulled in my pony, and rode off. I 
 did n't want any more of that. That 's about 
 the way I feel here. Too many dead people 
 in the ground. That 's why I like the high 
 country. You get the first whack at the 
 water there. Nobody above ye to poison 
 it." 
 
 Mary looked at him with musing eyes. 
 " You 're a strange wild creature. You don't 
 belong here." 
 
 "The way I put it up is this," replied 
 Jim, still on high ground. " A feller belongs 
 where the air tastes best to him. Where he 
 can throw out his arms and say, ' All this is 
 mine, I 'm at home.' Now I could n't do that 
 with a city any city. I can feel myself 
 weakening every day I 'm shut up here." 
 
 " Oh, you must n't stay in London. But 
 down here it will be different. You '11 like 
 the moor. The country, even if it is old, is 
 wholesome." 
 
 " I 'm disappointed in your farms," said Jim, 
 a little later. " Your cattle are dogy. Whole 
 country seems asleep. Nothin' doing. What 's 
 the matter ? " 
 
 " You 're getting beyond my depth," re 
 plied Mary. -Ask Will."
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 171 
 
 " Let 'er go. I can live without the in 
 formation." 
 
 " Tell me more about those ancient cities 
 on the mesas. Are there many of them ? " 
 
 " New Mexico is pock-marked with 'em. 
 So is Arizona in spots. Some places they Ve 
 had irrigating-ditches and gardens. It must 
 have been a long time ago, for there is n't 
 any water within forty miles of some of 'em 
 now. I camped with some Smithsonian 
 sharps at Canon De Shay once, and from 
 their talk I judge they could n't agree. One 
 feller argued these cities were built a thousand 
 years ago by another Creed o' people alto 
 gether ; and the others claimed they were built 
 by the Pueblo Injuns that live near. I sided 
 in with the lonesome feller, but I guess the 
 other chaps had the best of the argument." 
 
 " It 's a strange old world we inhabit ; don't 
 you think so ? " 
 
 " It sure is a puzzle to an old quartz- 
 cracker like me. I just plumb give the thing 
 up." 
 
 They left the train at a little town the like 
 of which the mountaineer had never seen. A 
 cluster of little brick houses, old and vine- 
 grown, stood close to narrow, smooth, hard
 
 172 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 streets. Flowering trees, as radiant as June 
 clouds, rose above gray garden walls. On 
 the velvet meadows, which reached to the door- 
 stones of the churches, sheep were feeding. 
 A few birds were twittering, and a cart was 
 moving slowly through the street ; otherwise 
 the town seemed asleep in the pale, sad sun 
 light, which seemed always to forecast some 
 bitter storm. 
 
 Mary led the way to a gay road-wagon 
 wherein a coachman sat angularly erect, with 
 a smile that would not be restrained. At 
 Mary's greeting he touched his hat, but did 
 not loose his hold on the horses, which Jim 
 studied silently. 
 
 "Smooth team you drive," he said to the 
 coachman. " How do you keep 'em so 
 slick ? " 
 
 "What do you really think of them?" 
 asked Mary. 
 
 " They look all right. The nigh one is the 
 best," he answered, taking a look at his chest 
 and fore limbs. 
 
 Mary put Grace and Will on the hinder 
 seat of the carriage, and without trouble or 
 foresight, Jim found himself by Mary's side in 
 the middle seat.
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 173 
 
 The horses got away with vigor, and Jim 
 silently watched the play of their hoofs till 
 they swung into a narrow lane leading up 
 a hill, then gave his attention to the land* 
 scape. 
 
 " How far are we from London ? " 
 
 " About forty miles." 
 
 " Seems a thousand. Peaceful as a perta- 
 ter-patch, ain't it ? I don't imagine these 
 chaps make a living out o' the ground," he 
 said, indicating a group of fine houses on the 
 hillside. 
 
 " Oh, no ; those are summer cottages." 
 
 " Just shacks, eh ? Well, for God's sake, 
 what would they call a house ? The more I 
 see of you people over here, the more I won 
 der where your living all comes from. You 
 must have a cinch on the rest of the world. 
 You don't seem to earn a dollar." 
 
 "That's a dangerous truth," said Mary; 
 " don't say it out loud." 
 
 The road climbed a long hill by following 
 what Jim called a " draw." " If you 'd only 
 keep going for a couple o' days, you 'd get 
 up where I live," he said, and his face bright 
 ened with his most attractive smile. "This 
 is the way we follow the course of the
 
 174 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Grizzly Bear. Imagine that draw a canon, 
 with side walls ranging from one to three 
 thousand feet, and old Ouray and Lizard 
 Head rising up here on the right seven thou 
 sand feet above us " 
 
 Mary interrupted: " I can't imagine it. The 
 demand is too great. I must see them to 
 realize it." 
 
 He took her arm with an affectionate 
 squeeze. "I '11 tell you, you come over and 
 let me show you how it goes." 
 
 She withdrew her arm. " I 'm afraid it 's 
 too far away," she said, and her tone was a 
 warning to him. " I 'd never get back ; and 
 I 'd miss all this after a while and long for 
 London. The low country is home to me, 
 you know." 
 
 He smiled at her again, and in such wise 
 that she could not understand his mind toward 
 her. For a moment she felt that possibly 
 Grace was right, and that he was not so 
 simple as he seemed. 
 
 "There 's Wyndhurst," she said, pointing 
 at a long, low house ahead. It was built of 
 brick, and was sprinkled with all sorts of 
 windows on the southern side. 
 
 " Right at the head of the draw," remarked
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 175 
 
 Jim. " That ought to be a mighty safe spot 
 to hole up in for the winter." 
 
 " It is. When I come back to it I always 
 wonder why I leave it for the city." 
 
 " Now you 're shouting ! " exclaimed Jim. 
 " I can understand bein' homesick for a tree 
 or a garden ; but it beats me that anybody 
 can hone for a lot o' brick walls, like London. 
 There are some trees just below my shack 
 that I would n't lose for a whole hatful of 
 money. They stand just right, not too thick, 
 not too thin. The grass under 'em looks like 
 a carpet. The tops of 'em from above look 
 like you could walk on 'em. I know what a 
 tree is worth, for I held down a claim for two 
 years that was above timber-line. I 'm pretty 
 near 'leven hundred now." 
 
 " I can't realize that either, though I Ve 
 been in the Alps." 
 
 Jim turned toward her : " There ! that 's a 
 range o' hills I 'd like to see. I 'd like to see 
 whether they 're so much of a muchness as 
 folks say. I have a notion they 're overesti 
 mated, like the Alleghanies. You take prairie 
 people who never have seen the Rocky 
 Mountains, and the little wooded foot-hills 
 they call the Alleghanies are world-beaters."
 
 1 76 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Oh, I don't think you 'd like the Alps ; 
 they 're all 'sandpapered,' as you call it, in 
 the valleys, and pastured far up the sides. 
 Then they are only a group of peaks 
 nothing like the great ranges you describe." 
 
 Jim set about being generous. "Well, 
 now, of course you must bear in mind I 'm 
 whooping it up for my own country. I '11 
 admit I 'm prejudiced. Mebbe you would n't 
 think the Rockies much, especially if you just 
 rode through on a Pullman over Marshall 
 Pass. I 've seen some pictures of the Alps 
 that made 'em out to be cracker-jacks clouds 
 and snow and ice. Now, in August, only a 
 part of even old Lizard Head is covered with 
 snow, but in winter they can trump anybody's 
 best card, you bet. Ever see a snow-slide ? " 
 
 " No ; I never saw anything that is, any 
 thing worth while." 
 
 " Well, the Uncompahgre range is streaked 
 with furrows where the snow-slides have 
 ripped away the trees. You see a terrible 
 lot of snow falls in this range This ain't 
 the house, is it ? " he asked, as they neared 
 a small stone cottage. 
 
 " Oh, no; this is the porter's lodge." 
 
 "The how much?"
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 177 
 
 " The place where my gardener lives." 
 
 "Aha, I see. I thought it did n't quite 
 size up with the other view I had of it. But 
 then you never can tell. Sometimes, when 
 the light is just right, a dog on the trail ahead 
 of you will look as big as a burro. In a bliz 
 zard I Ve took a shingle to be the roof of a 
 house." 
 
 They entered a roadway which circled the 
 head of the " draw," and pulled up in front of 
 the house, which was big and shapeless, but 
 sunny with windows and covered with vines 
 and surrounded by trees. Tennis-courts, 
 arbors, and hothouses added other indu 
 bitable signs of luxurious recreation. Far 
 below glimmered the village they had left, 
 half hidden in the mist. 
 
 Jim leaped to the ground and held up his 
 arms toward Mary. " Now, then, jump! " he 
 commanded. 
 
 As she yielded herself to his arms he held 
 her suspended in the air for an instant, smil 
 ing into her flushed face. " You see, you 'd 
 better be good," he said, as he set her on her 
 feet. 
 
 Putting his hands in his pockets, he looked 
 around him searchingly. Scattered irregu-
 
 178 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 larly on the dark-brown hills were other 
 houses of brick or stone, some of them very 
 imposing. Near by a cluster of smaller, older 
 dwellings stood along a broad, smooth high 
 way. " Looks like a town," said Jim. 
 
 "It is the historic village of Wyndham," 
 Mary explained. " That used to be the post- 
 road to East Port. We '11 go up and look 
 at the old inn after lunch. Come in now, 
 and let me show you the house. You can 
 come out and look at the garden afterward." 
 
 Jim thought Ramsdell's home nice and 
 comfortable ; but there was something about 
 this house which subdued him, something 
 which he could not understand, something 
 which enriched and enlightened. The phrase 
 "an artistic home," which had contained only 
 a vague notion before, became suddenly lumi 
 nous and definite. It meant Mary's house to 
 him thereafter, with its music, books, warm 
 colors, and sunlit nooks. 
 
 His boots thumped loudly on the polished 
 stairway as he followed Mary's light and child 
 ish form, and when she invited him to enter 
 an open door, saying, " You '11 camp here," 
 he was abashed. 
 
 " See here, little pardner, you 're miscalcu-
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 179 
 
 latin' you sure am. This is too mighty 
 fine for me. Just dig up a blanket some 
 where and let me make down in the barn. 
 This is made for some pretty girl, and not for 
 an old cow-puncher like me. I '11 break 
 something in here." 
 
 " Nothing is too fine for you," she said, 
 with a smile. "You take what I offer you, 
 and don't complain. I won't complain when 
 I come to Colorado." 
 
 " All right, Mary ; what you say goes with 
 me. But what '11 I set down on ? These 
 chairs ain't made for my style of beauty. 
 Expect me to read all these books ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; you 're to read them when you 
 want to go to sleep." 
 
 " Never laid awake a night in my life," he 
 replied. " See here ; this won't do. Nobody 
 ought to be as fine as this. You won't want 
 to die and go to heaven." 
 
 She laughed merrily. " Oh, this is all 
 good, usable material," she said. " It 's made 
 for use, like your shack. Don't be ' skeered ' 
 of it. ' Make down ' in it. You see, I 'm 
 getting your phrases. And get ready for 
 lunch. I 'm hungry, and I know you are 
 also."
 
 i8o HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Jim threw off his coat. "Well, here goes, 
 pardner; I '11 be with you in a couple of jif 
 fies hungrier 'n a bear in March." 
 
 Mary fled, laughing. To Grace she said 
 breathlessly: "Oh, but he is exciting, deli 
 cious ! He 's a rough old bear, but he has 
 splendid possibilities of passion." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson was very grave as she 
 looked at her friend. 
 
 "My dear! you be very careful. 
 You 're too inflammable to play with a big, 
 fierce flame like that man's love." 
 
 " I 'm not afraid of Jim." 
 
 " But yourself " 
 
 "Well, that, I admit, is a different matter; 
 but then I am having a heavenly release from 
 being bored and let me play"; and she 
 went away humming a merry little song, glad 
 to think she had this mountaineer all to her 
 self for a week. 
 
 In the midst of this genial, friendly com 
 pany, where he was not merely considered 
 but honored, Jim returned to the mood which 
 dominated him in Ramsdell's home. He 
 became extremely reticent, and this sudden 
 change in him provoked Mary's insatiate 
 curiosity about his real inner self. Thus far
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 181 
 
 she was completely baffled by him : the life 
 of which he seemed the complete embodiment 
 was so far removed from all she knew that at 
 times the man himself seemed mythical. The 
 guileless, simple mountaineer, with his vivid 
 and powerful phraseology, became each day 
 less simple, less easily fathomed. Like a 
 mountain lake, he concealed unknown deeps. 
 He was developing new phases, like a 
 strange plant whose flowering is unknown. 
 In him arose an elemental sadness which 
 he could not understand. This home and its 
 life, as it came to seem more and more worth 
 while, to be even defensible, made him 
 think that even the best of the wild days in the 
 mountains might be made holier by the intro 
 duction of such a woman, such a home. Bessie, 
 too, grew fainter on his inner eye, becoming 
 colorlessly sweet and far off and dim a girl 
 ish figure whose momentary passing had left 
 him sadder and richer. As he entered his 
 room late that night he had a sudden and 
 
 o 
 
 powerful upwelling of distrust and irritation 
 with himself. What business had he to be 
 down in the country, coming and going at the 
 call of a girl, when he had a work to do ? 
 Could he afford to waste time in this way ?
 
 182 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 He met Mary with something of this in his 
 face next morning, and she asked: "What 
 is your trouble, Jim? You don't look happy 
 this morning." 
 
 " I 'm not. I can't stay here much longer. 
 I Ve got to hustle my stock together and 
 make a sale." 
 
 " I see ; you feel as if you were wasting 
 time here with me. I don't agree with you. 
 I know Twombly, and there 's nothing like 
 lier to ' rope him in,' as you say, than this 
 camping party. Trust me a little longer, old 
 pard." She smiled with sunny candor. " I '11 
 bring you through. I 'm a shrewd advo 
 cate and I bring good luck." 
 
 In such wise she held him to her own plans. 
 She had already formed a little syndicate 
 pledged to take stock in the mine provided 
 Twombly should approve of it, and under her 
 influence Jim prepared to meet Twombly 
 with a full statement of the mine, and he was 
 expecting some fresh samples of ore from 
 Ramsdell. 
 
 The days which followed were not like days 
 in a dream, because Jim could not have ima 
 gined them even in a dream ; it seemed that 
 he was living out some story-book, some im-
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 183 
 
 possible tale. With Mary standing near to 
 hand him saw and hammer and screw-driver, 
 he worked out a couple of " sawbuck " pack- 
 saddles, put on cinches and sling-ropes, and 
 sacked up provisions, in preparation for their 
 camping party. 
 
 "This is to be no 'hippodrome,'" he said. 
 " We hit the trail right here, with all our out 
 fit ; and when we camp there 's to be no run 
 ning to cover." 
 
 "All right," she replied, in his favorite 
 phrase. " I want it to be as real as possible. 
 I want to know just how it seems to live in a 
 tent in the wilderness." 
 
 " All I ask you to do is to keep the game- 
 wardens off'n me. I '11 do the rest," he 
 replied. He had not been so happy since 
 leaving Chicago. He was living in pleasant 
 memories of the past, and the charm of Mary's 
 presence wrought upon him with equal power. 
 
 She was bewitchingly girlish as she followed 
 Jim about, with fair hair blowing round her 
 flushed cheeks, her eyes shining with excite 
 ment. She rushed on errands, she ordered 
 canvas, ropes, cooking-utensils, with the en 
 thusiasm of a boy, unmindful of how her 
 actions might be interpreted ; and when she
 
 184 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 grew tired and said, " Come, let us walk," 
 or " Let us ride," he dropped his tools obedi 
 ently. 
 
 " You 're the boss," he often said. " If 
 you say picnic, I 'm ready." 
 
 "What 's to be the end of this?" asked 
 Mrs. Robertson of Will, one day as they stood 
 observing Mary and Jim from the library win 
 dow. 
 
 "Heaven knows; I don't. It '11 end all at 
 once, like 'the fall of a house of cards, when 
 it does end." 
 
 Jim was seated on a bench beside the drive, 
 busied with a saddle, and Mary, with hands 
 folded, sat watching him like a girl whose doll 
 is being mended. 
 
 " I hope it won't hurt him too deeply," said 
 Mrs. Robertson. 
 
 "As Jim says, I reckon he won't be the 
 only one hurt." 
 
 "What does she mean? It is impossible 
 for her to marry him." 
 
 " Nothing is impossible with Mollie," Will 
 calmly replied. " She insists that Jim under 
 stands her perfectly, and that he knows she 
 cannot think of marriage." 
 
 " She should not encourage him on any
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 185 
 
 basis. Her freedom with him is amazing. 
 Can't you stop it ? " 
 
 " Stop it ! You know Mary ? " She nodded 
 soberly. He went on: "Well, when you ask 
 me to step in between Mollie and this moun 
 taineer, I must beg to be excused. She is 
 two years my senior and has always done 
 with me as she well pleased, and I can't begin 
 to govern her at this late date. Mother used 
 to be able to guide her, but now she 's the 
 head of the house ! " 
 
 In the intervals of his labor, Jim galloped 
 over the moors with Mary, he in loose blue 
 shirt, dark trousers belted with cartridge-belt, 
 the Australian sombrero on his head. Every 
 one stared, of course, but Mary merely said : 
 "Jim, we are a blessing to the countryside. 
 My neighbors will have their knowledge of 
 men vastly extended by your visit." 
 
 Jim was interested in the occasional farms 
 which they passed on the lower levels, and 
 often stopped to have a word with the men 
 working in the fields. "They 're too blame 
 respectful," he said once. "They 're like 
 niggers. I don't like to see a white man 
 cringe ; it 's bad enough in a black. I s'pose 
 they think they 're using the English language.
 
 i86 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Now we don't; we 're talkin' United States. 
 Funny thing your workmen seem like for 
 eigners, but your rich neighbors here act a 
 good deal like Americans." 
 
 " In what way ? " asked Mary, always de 
 lighted to get Jim's impressions. 
 
 " Why, you just meet and say ' Howdy,' 
 man to man, like we do; but all the rest cringe, 
 and hold out a paw for a penny. Seems like 
 only you rich people stand for anything." 
 
 " We are not rich people," protested Mary ; 
 " we 're only the well-to-do classes. Besides, 
 we 're Irish don't forget that." 
 
 " Well, if you 're only well-to-do, I 'd like 
 to see how your aristocrats live." 
 
 " You would n't like their ways ; they are 
 quite stupid a good many of them, at least. 
 They 're weighed down by the dignities they 
 think have been solemnly committed to their 
 care. They are by no means cheerful com 
 pany. However, when we go back to town 
 I '11 introduce you to one or two I chance to 
 know." 
 
 In one of their rides they selected a camp 
 ing-place deep in a valley in the moor, and 
 Will made arrangements with the landlord 
 for the privilege of setting up a tent there.
 
 JIM MEETS HIS MAN TWOMBLY 187 
 
 It was a wilder surrounding than Jim had be 
 lieved it possible to find in England. On all 
 sides but one the hills rose ruggedly, covered 
 with gorse, " mesquite," Jim called it, a 
 bleak, singular land with only an occasional 
 donkey or lean cow feeding therein. A small 
 stream, rising from several dark, slow springs, 
 flowed silently through peat-bogs to the north. 
 Down this valley several farm-houses could 
 be seen, but they were dull-colored and quite 
 inconspicuous. It was a spot sometimes used 
 by gipsies, and the knowledge of this helped 
 to make the idea of camping there less star 
 tling to the farmers. To reach this place it 
 was necessary to descend a steep hill over a 
 maze of cow-paths winding about among the 
 clumps of furze and gorse. Altogether, Jim 
 found it most gratifyingly wild, and was re 
 minded of the Texas flats when riding over it.
 
 VII 
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN OUT UPON THE 
 MOOR 
 
 T last all was ready for the start; but 
 Twombly was delayed, and did not 
 reach Wyndhurst till Wednesday noon. He 
 came in holiday mood, however, and promised 
 to be a little more manageable than before. 
 He manifested genuine interest in Jim's tin- 
 kered-up pack-saddles, and joined heartily in 
 the proposed trip, which he called a "jolly 
 original sort of game, y' know." 
 
 Dinner that night was taken up with talk 
 of the mountains and trailing. Mary skil 
 fully led Jim to talk of his mine, and how he 
 found it, and what he did with it; and Twom 
 bly listened with growing interest. 
 
 At nine o'clock, however, Jim abruptly 
 said: " Well, folkses, this won't do. We must 
 turn in early to-night. We hit the trail at 
 
 sun-up to-morrow." 
 
 188
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 189 
 
 Mrs. Robertson looked alarmed. " Sun 
 up ! Do you mean before breakfast ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; we '11 catch a snack before we 
 saddle ; but the train moves at sun-up, sure 
 thing." 
 
 "But why so early?" she queried tim 
 orously. 
 
 "Well, if you want to tackle the real busi 
 ness it 's got to be did. I 'm putting this 
 through according to Hoyle." 
 
 Mary firmly supported him : " Certainly ; 
 we must obey our guide when we are deep in 
 the wilderness. Think how interesting it will 
 be to see the sun come up. Grace, when did 
 you ever see the sun rise ? " 
 
 Mrs. Robertson considered. " Eight years 
 ago, when my father was so ill." 
 
 " Eight years ! What a city heathen you 
 are ! I see it rise often at least once every 
 year, when I first come down here, because 
 the cocks' crowing disturbs me." 
 
 " Where are we to go ? " asked Twombly. 
 
 " That 's a secret. We Ve arranged for it, 
 and nobody is to know but Jim. We set 
 forth as if into unknown seas." 
 
 "That 's right," said Jim. "This trip has 
 nothing fancy about it. Another thing : you
 
 190 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 leave soft drinks and plug-hats behind. It 's 
 a case of beans and bacon and slickers, from 
 now till the first of October." 
 
 " And the first one who complains is to be 
 fined one pound," added Mary. 
 
 " That '11 be you, Mollie," said Will. 
 
 " I '11 bet forty to one she don't," replied 
 Jim. " She 's the kind that stays right by till 
 kingdom come." 
 
 Mary turned a grateful glance upon him. 
 " Thank you, Jim. You, at least, appreciate 
 me." 
 
 "It 's a case of going to bed with the 
 thrushes if you get up with the blue jays," 
 Jim further remarked, as he rose to his feet. 
 " You '11 hear me stirring around about day 
 light. I '11 be out helping your yaller-legged 
 hired men rustle the broncos. Good night!" 
 he ended, and unceremoniously went to bed. 
 
 Mrs. Robertson gasped. " Well, this cer 
 tainly is the most extraordinary situation I 
 can conceive of. He tosses us about as if we 
 were dolls in his game." 
 
 " It will make a fine chapter in your novel, 
 Mollie," said Will. 
 
 Twombly was delighted with Jim's manner. 
 " He has the air of being the ' real thing,' as
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 191 
 
 Robertson says. It behooves us as mighty 
 hunters, Brien, to be up at dawn to help him 
 inspan, as they say in Africa. I wonder 
 what the fellow really is is he playing a 
 game with us all ? He appears uncommonly 
 like one of these American jokers." 
 
 " Stop discussing my partner and go to bed, 
 everybody ; and wear your plainest cloth 
 ing to-morrow no golf-stockings or -coats. 
 We must look as much like gipsies as possi 
 ble. Jim will be very critical of us when we 
 appear at the breakfast-table." 
 
 " I wish the doctor were here," sighed Mrs. 
 Robertson. 
 
 " Oh, we '11 have him over on Sunday. 
 You would n't get any comfort from him ; 
 he would join in with Jim. You '11 see him 
 at camp." 
 
 "If we hold out so long," Will slyly inter 
 posed ; and the party broke up and went to 
 bed, though reluctantly. 
 
 MARY was sleeping blissfully deep in her dainty 
 bed when a firm knock on her door startled 
 her into dazed wakefulness. 
 
 " Five o'clock, little pard. I 'm going out 
 to wrangle the horses. Set out the grub-
 
 192 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 pile, and have the coffee steaming hot. We '11 
 get a move on ourselves right after." 
 
 "All right, Jim," she called. His cheery 
 phrase was coming to be ready speech to her. 
 As she heard his rapid walk through the hall 
 and out into the yard, something elementally 
 sweet and primitive filled her mind. Here 
 was the fundamental relation of men and 
 women helpmates, toilers: the man strid 
 ing out into the dawn to his toil, the woman 
 preparing his food. At that moment it 
 seemed not merely possible, but most desira 
 ble and beautiful, that she should go forth 
 with him into the New World as his helper, his 
 housewife. It would be a sure and exquisite 
 daily pleasure to look into his face, to listen 
 to his coming. He was handsome, he was 
 sincere, he moved her. 
 
 She laid the fingers of her right hand on 
 her left wrist, and smiled to find her pulse 
 accelerating. " You little fool ! " she said, 
 and sprang from her bed to knock at Mrs. 
 Robertson's door. 
 
 Will was in the dining-room window with 
 Jim, looking out at the horses, when she 
 entered. The trailer greeted her gravely: 
 " How are ye, pardner ? Up for all day ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ; and ready for any trials."
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 193 
 
 " Time we top the range you '11 be ready 
 to camp." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson came in yawning and lan 
 guid. " I feel very strange," she said smile- 
 lessly. " I feel as if somebody were sick in 
 the house. I can't eat any breakfast at this 
 dreadful hour. I don't like the overture to 
 your play, Mollie." 
 
 " Oh, this is the best part of it. I am now 
 quite able to realize the start of a train up the 
 Grizzly Bear trail." 
 
 " All hands down for grub," called Jim, as 
 the servant brought in the last big covered 
 dish. " Eat whether you like it or not. 
 We 're due for a long drive ; got to cross the 
 snowy divide before we camp." 
 
 " By Jove ! this is extraordinarily worth 
 while, you know," said Twombly, as he burst 
 into the dining-room, rubbing his hands to 
 gether briskly. He was in gray bicycle-suit, 
 with high, light-colored boots, such as Rocky 
 Mountain miners wear. 
 
 The others eyed him with pitying amuse 
 ment as he awkwardly shuffled about the side 
 board for a dram of whisky. 
 
 "Will I do, think?" he asked, as he put 
 down his glass. 
 
 " Yes ; I reckon you '11 do," Mary cheerily 
 13
 
 194 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 replied. " You look like a caricature of Jim; 
 but it 's the best we could expect of a thor 
 oughgoing Devonshire man." 
 
 Twombly laughed uneasily, feeling himself 
 at a disadvantage. "Ha, ha ! Well, you 
 know it was great luck, my having these 
 hunting-boots. They really are Canadian 
 manufacture. I bought them to wear in Scot 
 land last autumn. They are really very com 
 fortable, you know, in case of wet weather." 
 
 " Sit in and eat," commanded Jim. " We 're 
 falling behind our schedule." 
 
 Twombly meekly obeyed. Grace was still 
 yawning and uneasy. " How queer it all 
 seems ! I feel like a housemaid, getting up 
 at this time of the morning. What can we 
 do to fill in the day ? " 
 
 " You '11 be kept busy," said Jim. " I '11 
 attend to that part." 
 
 Mary was exceedingly alert. She sat at Jim's 
 left hand, and played the part of submissive 
 child to perfection. She referred everything 
 to " guide," as she now called the trailer. The 
 trampling of the horses outside continued, 
 and their restless movement hastened the meal. 
 
 As he finished his coffee, Jim pushed back 
 resolutely. " Is everybody fed ? "
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 195 
 
 " Quite so," replied Twombly. 
 
 -We are," said Will. 
 
 " Aye, aye ! " cried Mary. 
 
 "Then we hit leather. Let every man 
 rope his pony and drag up his cinches while 
 I throw on the packs." 
 
 " It 's exactly like a story," said Mrs. Rob 
 ertson, beginning to feel the influence of the 
 hot coffee. 
 
 " I wish it were the real thing instead," 
 exclaimed Mary, as she rose to follow. She 
 wore a plain riding-skirt and cap, as did 
 Mrs. Robertson, while Will, dressed like an 
 Australian rough rider, looked very well 
 indeed. 
 
 When they came out into the yard they 
 found seven horses in the hands of several 
 perturbed grooms. Each horse had a " hack- 
 amore " of new rope, two carried pack-sad 
 dles with sling-ropes neatly coiled on the 
 horns, and three were already saddled. They 
 filled the brick-laid court with an uneasy 
 trampling, which excited Mary almost to the 
 point of shouting. The sun was not yet 
 above the dark ridge to the east. 
 
 " Girls, grab your cayuses ! " said Jim. 
 "Twombly, you help 'em jump their saddles.
 
 196 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Will, you 're my assistant packer ; give me a 
 hand here with these wild-eyed broncs." 
 
 While Twombly was helping the women to 
 their saddles, Jim led one of the sober cart 
 horses forward to a pile of sacks and bales 
 of " camp stuff," and said, " Hold him a 
 minute." 
 
 " Oh, let me watch ! " cried Mary, riding 
 near. " I want to see how you do that work." 
 
 Jim let down the rope in a loop, threw the 
 loose end over a horn, gave a quick knot to 
 it, and behold a little sling into which he 
 dropped a sack. On the other side he placed 
 a 'similar pack, and then, with Will's help, 
 swung a big bale of bedding to the center. 
 He next threw the end of a long rope with a 
 wooden hook under the horse's belly. 
 
 " Hang to that ! " he commanded. He 
 flung a doubled end across. " Hook that ! " 
 Will did as bid. "Now cinch her up a little. 
 No, no ! run the rope the other way. That 's 
 right ! " He came round a moment later, 
 carrying a larger loop, which went over the 
 corners of the pack ; and as he went, the rope 
 tightened, and at last, standing at the horse's 
 shoulder, he set his foot against the pack and 
 pulled; and every loop tightened.
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 197 
 
 " I see, I see ! " cried Mary. " Is n't it 
 wonderful ! " 
 
 " That 's the diamond hitch," said Jim, as 
 he "pinched" the front lashings with a final 
 knot of the rope's end. 
 
 " By Jove ! that 's ingenious. So that is 
 the hitch, is it? I never saw it done before," 
 said Twombly, in high admiration. " It is 
 jolly clever. I 've read about it in American 
 novels." 
 
 His wonder increased as Jim slung upon 
 the other horse bales, tinware, boxes, and 
 camp-stools, throwing over them all a folded 
 tent. 
 
 " It 's juggling with feathers and cannon- 
 balls, is n't it ? " said Will to Jim. 
 
 "We pack anything from a sack of flour to 
 a steam-boiler," he replied. "It 's a little 
 science all by itself. Now I '11 show you 
 another trick. I '11 pack my saddle-horse," 
 he said, as he drew the knot on the second 
 horse. In a few minutes, by an ingenious 
 arrangement of ropes, he placed upon the 
 American saddle (which Mary had bought for 
 him) a load about as varied as those upon 
 the other horses. " Now, then, are you all 
 set?" he asked. "Then fall in. I will lead
 
 198 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 with two pack-horses ; Mary, you come next, 
 and Mrs. Robertson third. Twombly, you 
 are to lead the third pack-horse, and Will 
 brings up the rear. Hy-ak / " 
 
 And so, with all the servants staring in a 
 stupor of wonder, Jim led the way through 
 the garden gate out upon the moor, which 
 looked wild and bleak in the morning light. 
 The lazy old cart-horses that bore the packs 
 lifted their heads and sidled along under their 
 singular burdens, as awkward as camels, while 
 the saddle-horses pranced with excitement, 
 and Mrs. Robertson clung to her saddle in 
 dismay. 
 
 "Keep in line! Keep the trail!" called 
 Jim ; and as he looked back at the little train 
 winding along the path, his heart swelled big 
 with the memories the scene called up. Put 
 ting away the houses and the hedges, the moor 
 was not unlike some of the sage-bush-covered 
 hills of the dry country, and the party not 
 widely different from the ethnological explor 
 ers he had once led into the hills west of San 
 Ildefonso. He was bitterly homesick for the 
 moment, and the play became a burden. 
 
 But Mary's delight in it all cleared his eyes 
 of reminiscent shadow, and in much better
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 199 
 
 form than he had expected they made slow 
 and devious way over the big ridge, and 
 halted on the side of the steep slope toward 
 the camping-place. He had led them by 
 the most circuitous path in order to prolong the 
 journey, stopping occasionally to tighten a 
 cinch or to explain some manceuver of the 
 march. 
 
 " You see yon clump of willows? " he said, 
 pointing away with a gesture which symbo 
 lized miles of travel. "We must make that 
 before we loosen cinches. Keep a tight rein, 
 and don't ride the pommel of your saddle. 
 Set your weight into the stirrups. In the 
 steep places you girls had better ride man- 
 fashion. Be careful the ponies don't scrouge 
 against the trees. All ready ? Hy-ak boys! 
 Hike ! " 
 
 The sun was shining, the larks twittering 
 innumerably, and the party most thoroughly 
 awake and merry of voice. As they went 
 zigzagging down the slope, even Grace got a 
 thrill of the excitement which kept Mary chat 
 tering with joyous vehemence. 
 
 " Was anything ever so absurd ? " she asked. 
 
 "This is n't far from the real thing," said 
 Will. " My own experience in the bush tells
 
 200 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 me that Jim is giving us a first-class imitation 
 of wild things." 
 
 " By Jove ! who would have supposed we 
 could have bee;i got to set out on a delight 
 fully idiotic expedition like this ? This man's 
 seriousness is convincing," Twombly took 
 early opportunity to say, and it was evident 
 that Jim's stock was rising in value. His skill 
 with rope and saddle made a strong appeal. 
 
 Thus far few people were abroad to be 
 amazed at Jim's pack-train ; two or three farm 
 ers and a couple of early bicyclers only had 
 stopped to stare ; and for this comparative 
 freedom from observation Mrs. Robertson 
 was particularly grateful. She alone of all 
 the group suffered from the thought of how 
 this performance would seem to the outsider 
 or to her city friends. 
 
 " Halt ! " commanded Jim. " Girls will keep 
 their saddles a second or two. Twombly, 
 bring up your pack-pony." 
 
 In a short time the packs were on the 
 ground, the ropes neatly coiled, and the 
 horses picketed to the trees. "We '11 let 'em 
 stand for a while, then we '11 run 'em back 
 over the hill to feed. Twombly, you rustle 
 some water while I get a fire going."
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 201 
 
 Under his swift command the tents were set, 
 the packs set in place, and a fire crackling. 
 No detail was omitted. The lesson was to be 
 as complete as possible in the circumstances. 
 
 Suddenly it broke upon Mrs. Robertson 
 that they were out in the open air at the 
 mercy of the earth and sky. "Would n't it 
 be dreadful if it should rain ? " she asked, with 
 a shudder. 
 
 " By Jove ! it would be nasty, that ! " said 
 Twombly, looking up at the sky. " I don't 
 think it will." 
 
 Mary looked at Will and laughed. " It al 
 ways rains when one is living in a tent. It 's 
 so nice to hear the rain pattering over one's 
 head as one goes to sleep." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson echoed this word. "Sleep! 
 You surely are not in earnest about staying 
 here overnight ! " 
 
 "We can't help ourselves. Our guide is 
 inexorable, and we could n't find our way 
 back without him." 
 
 A little later, when alone with Mary in the 
 tent, Mrs. Robertson said : " Mollie, it is quite 
 impossible for us to stay here overnight. 
 Why," here she lowered her voice, "we 
 can't dress or undress or anything ! "
 
 202 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Did you think people carried bath-rooms 
 and brass bedsteads on the trail ? " asked 
 Mary. 
 
 Mrs. Robertson did not perceive the humor 
 of this. " I never thought much about it. It 
 was all very obscure, and belonged to the 
 world of men." 
 
 "That 's just why I 'm so pleased. I 'm 
 getting an insight into the man's world. How 
 can I widen my thinking ? that is what inter 
 ests me now. Jim is opening up new terri 
 tory to me. I am tired of gardens ; I want 
 mountain-peaks and grizzly bears. I 'm hav 
 ing sensations every moment or two, and I 'm 
 deeply grateful to Jim." 
 
 She lolled on a pile of blankets, looking up 
 at the tent- roof. 
 
 " Is n't it gloriously savage to be living in 
 a tent! How frail it seems! and yet Jim 
 says he has camped in deep winter snow with 
 only a little tent like this to shelter him. 
 How little we know of life, after all we 
 women." 
 
 " Girls, are you getting hungry ? " inquired 
 Will. " If you are, come out and see Jim 
 cook his beans." 
 
 Mary left off her rhapsody, and they all
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 203 
 
 went out to look at Jim. Over a red little 
 fire, built in a trench, he had swung a kettle 
 on a long pole, one end of which was thrust into 
 the sod, while the other rested in a low 
 crotch. Near the small end a forking branch 
 caught and held the kettle's bail. Jim was 
 intently examining his stores and utensils 
 while his pot boiled. 
 
 As the women drew near he shook a slab 
 of bacon in the air, and tossed it back into the 
 heap. " That will save our lives yet there 's 
 nothing so good on the trail." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson shuddered. " Good hea 
 vens ! Does he think we '11 eat bacon after 
 seeing it handled thus ? " 
 
 " I am prepared to eat anything that Jim 
 gives me," said Mary. "He is my guide, 
 consoler, and friend." 
 
 " You 're putting yourself quite into his 
 hands," insisted Mrs. Robertson. 
 
 " I might fall into worse." 
 
 " You ridiculous creature ! " 
 
 " Not at all. It is never ridiculous to 
 acquire wisdom. It 's worth being hurt just 
 to achieve a new conception of life. Jim's 
 attitude is new to me. It is worth while, and 
 I am hoping to acquire it ; that is all."
 
 204 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Twombly got out his rod and prepared to 
 go fishing. "Did you arrange with the 
 manor about that ? " he asked of Mary. 
 
 " Certainly. Don't fail to bring us some 
 trout to go with Jim's bacon. If you don't, 
 Grace will starve." 
 
 " Depend on me," he stoutly replied. " I 
 am a redoubtable fisherman at least, in 
 theory." 
 
 Will was commissioned to take the horses 
 down to the near-by farm in relays and get 
 them stabled. Mrs. Robertson retired to her 
 tent in order to catch up on her sleep, and 
 Mary was left to follow Jim around like a 
 child as he put the camp to rights. He was 
 intent, handy, and silent, and came as near 
 ignoring Mary as any one ever did ; for the 
 business of pitching the camp brought back 
 the good days on the trail, and made him 
 think of Ramsdell, and of Bessie also. The 
 Ramsdells became very sweet and reposeful, 
 and more and more worth while by contrast 
 with the worrisome peculiarities of Twombly 
 and Mrs. Robertson. 
 
 " How long does it take the beans to cook ? " 
 Mary broke silence to inquire. 
 
 " A couple o' days. On the trail we soak
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 205 
 
 'em one night and boil 'em two about six 
 hours in all, I reckon." 
 
 "What are you doing now?" 
 
 " I 'm going to make some ' sinkers.' ' 
 
 "Sinkers?" 
 
 " Yes ; kettle-bread dough-balls." 
 
 Mary laughed. " Is that your nice name 
 for them ? I Ve been wondering what you 
 do for bread. Of course you could n't carry 
 enough with you. Do you carry biscuit ? " 
 
 " Well, no ; it's all you can do to carry raw 
 material." 
 
 He put some flour in a big pan, and after 
 adding some baking-powder, began stirring 
 it with a stick. Later he poured in some 
 water, and the loaf began to form. At last 
 he threw away the stick, and putting a big 
 fist into the dish, began to knead the gluey 
 mass. 
 
 " I think I ought to call Grace," said Mary ; 
 "she 'd like to see you make bread." 
 
 " I reckon she '11 eat better if she don't," he 
 replied gravely. " I had a feller once with 
 me on a trip that fussed about his grub the 
 first day or two ; but he come to it about the 
 fourth day out was glad to eat anything." 
 
 When the flour was all taken up, Jim patted
 
 206 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the loaf into shape, and seizing a shovel, dug 
 a slanting wall toward the fire, against which 
 he set the skillet containing the dough. " Now 
 watch and you '11 see her puff up," he said, 
 and together they kept watch upon it. 
 
 As the loaf began to swell and to darken 
 under the blaze, Jim seized the handle of the 
 skillet, and by a skilful jerk of his wrist made 
 the dough whirl in the pan until the browned 
 side was uppermost. When the whole of one 
 side was toasted, he tossed the loaf in air and 
 caught it, unbaked side up, whereat Mary 
 clapped her hands in acknowledgment of his 
 skill. 
 
 " Beautiful ! May I try it ? " 
 
 " I guess not. It 's too heavy for your little 
 hands." 
 
 He soon had bread enough, and set about 
 the dinner. " Dinner comes at twelve on the 
 trail," he said, "and I reckon you '11 all be 
 ready for it." 
 
 " I 'm ready now," she replied ; " I am eager 
 to try your cooking." 
 
 He sliced the bacon, set the potatoes to 
 boil, and stewed some dried apricots. " This 
 is a real trail dinner," he explained. 
 
 Long before the potatoes were ready to
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 207 
 
 serve, all his party were standing about, ob 
 serving him wistfully; and when at last the 
 coffee-pot began to boil and Twombly's trout 
 had browned with the bacon in the pan, even 
 Mrs. Robertson admitted that the meal prom 
 ised well. 
 
 "Trouble is, you did n't ride far enough," 
 protested Jim. "If you 'd been over about 
 twenty miles of mountain trail you 'd ask no 
 questions." 
 
 They really ate as if hungry. Twombly 
 and Will consumed two servings of the bacon 
 and trout, and Mrs. Robertson said, " It tastes 
 better than I feared." They drank their cof 
 fee without milk, and the bread was a " diffi 
 cult proposition " ; but, on the whole, dinner 
 was finished in the best of spirits. 
 
 "We are real trailers now," said Mary, as 
 she rolled up her sleeves to help Jim with the 
 dishes, while Twombly and Will smoked pipes 
 and fed the fire to keep the beans boiling. 
 Mary was very alluring to Jim at this moment 
 more potent than at any other time ; for 
 she seemed realizable, seemed in the circle of 
 his arm, and a willing prisoner. 
 
 She maintained her interest in the camp, 
 and chattered on about their plans. " I wish
 
 208 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 that farm-house were not so close ; and we '11 
 have visitors this afternoon, too. I 'm sorry, 
 for I wanted to have you all to myself. Sup 
 pose we go riding ? There 's another valley 
 I 'd like you to see. Will you ? " 
 
 " After the beans are done," he replied in a 
 matter-of-fact way. " Can't afford to let 'em 
 boil dry." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson asked Twombly to go with 
 her to the farm-house to purchase some cream. 
 " We can't drink coffee without cream," she 
 said privately to Mary. " But don't let our 
 guide know; he would regard it as a weakness." 
 
 " Don't engage board down there," replied 
 Mary, laughing. " I know you 're on the 
 verge of deserting camp." 
 
 As she came back to Jim she said, " You Ve 
 no idea what a sociologic upheaval it is, our 
 getting permission to camp here and burn 
 these twigs. The things which seem natural 
 and easy to you in Colorado are destructive 
 here." 
 
 " I know it; that 's why I can't stand Eng 
 land. I 'm like a bronco in a buggy ; I want 
 to bust a thill every time I feel the rein. I 
 suppose I 'd get used to it in time, but it 
 would be a lifetime."
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 209 
 
 Working together side by side with bared 
 arms, the two fell into alluring intimacy. 
 Mary was a-quiver with the novelty of the 
 situation and the magnetism of the trailer's 
 reticent and suggestive presence. There was 
 a note of melancholy in his voice as he said : 
 
 " This makes me hone for the West. I Ve 
 no more business being over here than a 
 Piute. I might 'a' known I 'd make a failure 
 of it. I did know it, and I told the doc so ; 
 but he was so plumb certain I could do the 
 thing, he fooled me into it. Every time I 
 look at that camp-fire and see them beans 
 a-bubblin', I 'm crazy to take the back trail ; 
 now that 's the honest fact." 
 
 "Is n't that rather ungracious to me ? " she 
 asked archly. 
 
 " If I could take you along that would settle 
 it ; I 'd go to-morrow," he replied, rising to his 
 full height and looking down at her with a 
 keen glance. 
 
 " Thank you, sir ; you are improving," she 
 said, with a courtesy. Then, with a sudden 
 turn to fury, she said : " No, you 're not ; 
 you 're losing a little of your good, blunt self. 
 I 'm sorry you said that. You must n't talk 
 to me like other men ; if you do, I won't like
 
 210 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 you any more. I want you to be yourself ; 
 you must n't do as other men do." 
 
 Jim looked at her with eyes which scared 
 her a little. When he spoke his voice was 
 low and firm. " See here, little woman, 
 you 're just a little too swift for me. When I 
 think I 've got my hand on you, you go up a 
 bank or drop into an arrojo, and I don't follow. 
 But you want to go careful. No woman that 
 ever lived can make game of me not for a 
 little minute. Don't you think it." 
 
 She bowed her head to his protest and 
 meekly said, " Forgive me, Jim." He did 
 not immediately reply, and she laid her small 
 hand on his arm. " You will, won't you ? I 
 did n't mean to lecture you." 
 
 " I '11 see how you perform during the rest 
 of the evening," he grimly replied. He 
 could n't have told what she had done, but 
 something in her voice and manner had 
 roused him. For a moment he suspected 
 her of double dealing with him, and he added : 
 
 "Whatever else you do with me, don't you 
 try to use the forked tongue. I 'm Indian 
 enough to mighty quick tell when a woman is 
 lying. Just when you think you Ve got me 
 guessin', I '11 fool ye. There are a whole lot
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 211 
 
 of things I don't know, and don't want to 
 know ; but don't you size me up for a farm 
 hand." 
 
 " You 're a man ! " she said passionately, 
 with her eyes fearlessly looking into his. " A 
 big, free, honest, sincere man ; and I want you 
 to remain so. Go on ! Shatter all our con 
 ventions and prejudices and foolish customs. 
 I like you best when you are savage. You 
 walk through our traditions as if they were 
 mist ; you don't even see them. Beat me, 
 bruise me, trample me ; but don't pay me com 
 pliments ! I love your plainness of speech. I 
 believe in you. You are real. Oh, if I only 
 dared escape, if I could, but I must not 
 dream of it ; I am a part of London, and must 
 live and die in it." 
 
 He listened to her incoherent outburst 
 gravely, and his face softened. " Something 
 has hurt you mighty bad, little pardner. It 
 don't seem reasonable that anybody would do 
 you harm, but I can see they have, and I 'm 
 sorry." He laid his hand on her shoulder. 
 " If I can do you any good " 
 
 He had forgotten where they stood, but 
 she had not, and with a sudden impulse she 
 withdrew from the weight of his hand and ran
 
 212 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 into the tent. For the moment her culture, 
 her modernity of thought, her knowledge of 
 the world, availed nothing. A strong, simple, 
 manly soul had put her where she really be 
 longed among the piteous, the sick ones of 
 the earth. It was not a new mood with her, 
 but it came with added intensity at this 
 time. 
 
 It startled her to have this man of the 
 mountains read her to the soul when she was 
 not only patronizing him, but pretending to 
 security and happiness. He perceived and 
 pitied her mental disquietude ; and when her 
 inner heart bled with its hidden wound, he 
 knew it, and loved her, and tried to comfort 
 her as a big brother might solace a little sister 
 in agony. After all, why not accept his love? 
 {Nothing but the devotion of a good man was 
 worth while, after all. 
 
 She remembered with a twinge of self-con 
 tempt her original intention to use him as 
 material for a novel. " I might as well try to 
 harness the west wind," she said to herself. 
 Her respect for him deepened as she recalled 
 his firm, clear voice and quiet eyes. " He 
 represents the centrifugal force of civilization, 
 as I embody the centripetal. Society in cen-
 
 JIM LEADS A PACK-TRAIN 213 
 
 tralizing grinds a certain proportion of us to 
 dust! Jim is not yet in the grasp of the mael 
 strom, while I nothing interests me at this 
 moment but this big mountaineer ; and he is 
 my certain sorrow."
 
 VIII 
 
 MARY was napping when Jim woke her 
 by cheerily calling, " Wrangle your 
 horses ! " 
 
 Springing up hastily, she rubbed her 
 cheeks furiously to remove all trace of tears, 
 and when she appeared outside the tent 
 was as radiant as if no cloud had passed over 
 her mental sky. 
 
 "I Ve had a delicious doze. Now for our 
 ride. Are you ready ? " 
 
 " Yes. Will is to watch the beans. Don't 
 let 'em boil dry," he said in warning. 
 
 Together they walked down to the farm 
 house, where they found Mrs. Robertson 
 taking tea with the farmer's wife, quite in 
 the way of the patronizing city visitor. " Oh, 
 you traitor ! " cried Mary. 
 
 Mrs. Robertson had a mysterious smile on 
 214
 
 JIM DEMANDS A REASON 215 
 
 her face. " I Ve engaged a bed," she whis 
 pered. 
 
 Mary was indignant. " You shall not sleep 
 here. It would be disgraceful." 
 
 Jim saddled the horses, and brought them 
 around to the door just as Mary had drawn a 
 reluctant promise from Mrs. Robertson that 
 she would remain in camp. Again Jim lifted 
 Mary to the saddle, and the firm grip of his 
 hand on her ankle, as he set ner foot in the 
 stirrup, made her flush, though he was appa 
 rently without design. 
 
 He swung into his saddle with easy grace, 
 saying: "Now, pardner, you show me the 
 trail. I 'm a passenger this trip." 
 
 Mary's face shone. "Will you trust to my 
 guidance ? " 
 
 " I reckon so ; but I always keep my eyes 
 open, and break a twig once in a while, so I 
 can know where I went in at," he replied; 
 and more than one meaning lay in his hunter's 
 phrase. 
 
 Together they rode away down the valley, 
 past little pastures inclosed by flowering 
 hedges, wherein lazy cattle and sheep grazed 
 with placid content, and crossing a canal-like 
 brook, they climbed the high ridge to the
 
 216 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 east, where the chalk-white thoroughfare ran, 
 speckled with bicyclers drifting along in flocks 
 like birds upon the wind. Turning aside 
 from this highway, Mary followed a bridle 
 path through the furze and heather down into 
 a circular valley, somewhat similar to the one 
 in which their camp was pitched. There she 
 drew rein, and Jim, dismounting, led his 
 horse up to Mary and curtly asked : 
 
 " Want to get off? " 
 
 For answer she shook her foot from the 
 stirrup, and he put his right arm around her 
 and lifted her from the saddle to the ground. 
 
 " You 're about as big as a pint of soap." 
 
 She laughed. "That 's very expressive, 
 but it is n't very nice." 
 
 He made no reply, but looked away at the 
 sky-line with a peculiar and unwavering direct 
 ness that was like the aim of a rifle. His 
 attitude and profile were superb, and her 
 heart quickened as she studied him. With 
 the trailer's keen, far-reaching eye, he had 
 caught some animal's movement on the hill 
 side. The habits of years of life on the trail 
 were not easily to be laid aside. 
 
 "I suppose that must have been a fox," he 
 said.
 
 JIM DEMANDS A REASON 217 
 
 "I see nothing; but there are foxes about 
 here, I believe." 
 
 " I thought it was a coyote at first; then I 
 knew it could n't be, of course. Never saw 
 a coyote, I reckon ? Well, they Ve sung me 
 to sleep ever since I was a kid. I never got 
 clear of 'em till I jumped the train for Chicago. 
 I like to hear 'em. If one should yap right 
 now, I 'd jump clean over your horse." 
 
 " What are they like ? " 
 
 "They 're a small wolf a kind of half- 
 breed between a fox and a wolf. They 're 
 always hungry, and always thin as a match. 
 But they are wonderful chaps ; they sure 
 are so. The Injuns all think the coyote is 
 a sort of magician. Sure thing ! They say 
 'coyote big medicine-man all same spirit,' 
 and he certainly is queer. I never got to the 
 bottom of him. He 's always lookin' for 
 something he 's lost, and his voice at sunrise 
 sometimes is like a woman cryin' over a dead 
 child. He 's a mysterious pup, and no two 
 ways about it ; he and the loon are a pair to 
 draw to and beat the world. I Ve camped 
 before now on the edge of a lake with a couple 
 o' loons on one side of me and a coyote on 
 the other, and had more fun than an insane
 
 2i8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 asylum. But see here; this won't do ! I got 
 off here to ask you something. That fox 
 switched me off on a side trail. Are there 
 many women like you ? " 
 
 " I hope not," she replied bitterly. 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " Nothin' ; only you keep me guessin' 
 right straight along. I don't pretend to 
 know many women, and those I do know 
 are purty measly. A man like me don't have 
 a chance to meet-up with women like you. 
 There are a whole lot o' things about you I 
 don't savvy. I don't see why you 're not as 
 happy as a bobolink. Mebbe it 's all due 
 to that feller buried down there in the sand 
 in Africa. Anyhow, I 'd like, to know what 
 makes you talk against your own people, and 
 take up with an old two-fisted miner like me. 
 Out with it, now. What 's your little game? 
 Are you havin' fun with me ? You can't 
 play me, my girl, without giving an account 
 of yourself. What did you get me down 
 here for, anyway ? Now be honest about 
 it." 
 
 She was leaning against her horse, and 
 her eyes were on the ground. Suddenly she 
 looked at him timidly, and said tremulously:
 
 JIM DEMANDS A REASON 219 
 
 " Because I like you, Jim, and I wanted to 
 know you better." 
 
 "Well, then, come back to the mountains 
 with me." 
 
 She flared out like a flame, " Oh, I can't 
 do that, Jim." 
 
 He put his big hand on her shoulder again, 
 awkwardly, caressingly. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Oh, I can't tell you ; it 's just impossible, 
 that 's all." 
 
 " You hate everything here, so you say. 
 You want to see the high country, you tell 
 me. Now, why not do it? I '11 take care o' 
 you ; you won't need to worry about that 
 Of course I can't give you such a home as 
 you have here, unless the mine pans out ; if 
 it does nothing 's too good for you." 
 
 She took a seat on a bank beside a clump 
 of furze. " Sit down, Jim ; I want to talk to 
 you. I can't say what I want to while we 
 stand." 
 
 He tethered the horses to a shrub, and 
 dropped on the grass at her side. She ner 
 vously took up and broke small twigs as he 
 waited. When she spoke her voice was low, 
 but it was firm.
 
 220 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " You can't understand women like me, Jim. 
 You 're too sane and elemental ; your world 
 is too simple. If you understood our disease, 
 even imaginatively, I would n't like you 
 any more. I know what you mean when 
 you ask me to share your life. But I 
 distrust myself and this mood in which 
 I find myself. If I thought it would last, I 
 might but it would not. Our worlds are 
 too wide apart ; I could n't fit into your 
 life, and I would n't under any condition ask 
 you to fit into mine. It would be wicked to 
 transform you into a citizen of London, if I 
 could ; and of course I could n't. You 'd die 
 here ; you could n't live as we do. I can see 
 now that I 'm going to be very sorry when 
 you leave England. You have captured my 
 imagination you Ve done more than that. 
 If I were younger I might adjust myself to 
 your ways; but now it is impossible quite 
 impossible." 
 
 " I 'm going to be rich," he said quietly. 
 " It is n't a question of living in Wagon 
 Wheel. You could live anywhere - in the 
 high country, anyhow." 
 
 " I know I know ; you 'd do everything you 
 could for me. But it is n't that. Even in a man-
 
 JIM DEMANDS A REASON 221 
 
 sion your life would be so simple, I am afraid 
 of it. I both hate and love the things that 
 surround me ; even the things I loathe most 
 are an inescapable part of me. I 'm a bond 
 woman. I have moods when the city, with its 
 constant, conventional demands, becomes un 
 endurable ; but after a few weeks at the sea 
 or down here, I become restless, and hurry 
 back to the same old round of activities we 
 call gaieties. Nothing interests me for long. 
 Everybody bores me, except you and Will. 
 The fact is, I 'm sick and in bondage." 
 
 " Mebbe I can set you free," he said, lay 
 ing his hand on her wrist a tender and chiv- 
 alric caress. "The mountains would do you 
 good. It 's mighty fine business to climb the 
 Grizzly Bear trail." 
 
 She shivered with emotion, but shook her 
 head. " No, no ; it is madness to think of it. 
 Moreover, I 'm not worthy a big, wholesome 
 man like you. I 'd only torture you. I am 
 selfish and greedy. Since Joe died I Ve 
 been careless of the feelings of men ; I was 
 remorseless till I met you." She hesitated 
 only a moment. " I intended to amuse my 
 self with you that 's the plain truth. You 
 did n't bore me. You were good 'copy/ as
 
 222 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the journalists say. Now I find myself hurt. 
 You are bigger than I thought you were. I 
 fancied you would be good game ; you end 
 by mastering me. When you go I 'm going 
 to be sorry but the memory of you will be 
 good. Now I have confessed, you may 
 strangle me. I deserve it." She looked up 
 at him with a look of fearless question. 
 " What are you going to say ? " 
 
 His eyes were like those of a beautiful and 
 kindly animal as he looked at her in deep 
 thought. He pitied her without understand 
 ing her. When he spoke it was in a musing 
 tone. 
 
 " One year Ramsdell brought a feller out 
 from the States who talked just about as 
 queer and as slick as you do. It looked like 
 he was scheduled to go over the Big Di 
 vide at the end of a week. ' Jim, what '11 we do 
 with him ? ' asks the doc. ' Put him to work 
 on the trail,' I said. ' Give him something 
 else to think about besides his lungs.' ' I 
 don't know but you 're right,' he says. ' I 
 turn him over to you.' I took him on a trip 
 I was making over in the West Elk range, 
 and I abused that feller. I used to roust him 
 out o' bed before sun-up, and hammer him up
 
 JIM DEMANDS A REASON 223 
 
 and down the hills till he was so dead tired 
 he could n't wag a leg. He stopped his 
 queer talk, and eat three full meals a day. 
 Little pardner, what you need is work just I 
 good, old-fashioned buckling right to it. You 
 want to have something to do every day, and 
 do it hard, and get hungry and leg-weary. 
 That will cure you." 
 
 She smiled, and shook her head. "Work 
 is a sovereign remedy, but it won't cure me." 
 
 "That 's what that one-lunger said; but it 
 did. He got so blame sassy toward the last 
 that I had to mighty near turn in and lam 
 his head. Now if you were to enter new ter 
 ritory with me you might get a new grip on 
 things." 
 
 She wearily rose. " The sky is getting 
 gray ; we must return." 
 
 He said nothing further on that line, and 
 they rode back to camp in almost complete 
 silence. His masterful reticence again made 
 her afraid of him even while she admired him. 
 He could shut his mouth like a steel trap 
 when his cue for silence came.
 
 IX 
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 
 
 r I ^HEY found Mrs. Robertson at camp, pro- 
 JL foundly alarmed at the growing grayness 
 of the sky. Night now assumed a terror it 
 had never possessed before. 
 
 "Has n't this gone far enough, Mollie?" 
 she asked anxiously. " It is impossible that 
 we are to sleep here in the midst of this wild 
 field." 
 
 "I'm sure our tent looks very inviting; 
 besides, our sensations are only just begun. I 
 want to feel the darkness pressing round me, 
 and I want to hear the rain on the tent. Jim 
 says it is a lovely sound. Then I want to 
 wake in the night and fancy I hear the wolves 
 howling. Our trip would be a failure if we 
 failed to sleep in camp." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson shuddered. " I can't under 
 stand your depraved tastes. They are not 
 
 normal." 
 
 224
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 225 
 
 The supper was less cheerful than the mid 
 day meal, for Jim made no effort to lighten it. 
 He ate in silence, and cleared away the dishes 
 alone, while the women, wrapped in thick 
 rugs, sat in the door of the tent and watched 
 him. Twombly and Will smoked while sit 
 ting humped before the fire as nearly in the 
 attitude of red men as they knew how. Al 
 together, the evening was oppressive not at 
 all the jolly camping party Mary had expected 
 it to be ; yet she knew the fault was her own. 
 
 When the camp was in shape for the night, 
 Jim lighted his pipe and took his seat beside 
 the fire also. There was an indefinable grace 
 and distinction in his manner, as he took his 
 place beside the fire, which did not escape 
 Mary's keen eyes. The slant of his hat was 
 just right, and his strong, stern profile had 
 in it something of the serene dignity of the 
 Sioux. 
 
 As the night began to fall the fire sparkled 
 with a keener light. To Mary's mind it 
 seemed to take on new passion and added 
 power like a nocturnal animal. The sky grew 
 thick and dark, but the wind died down and 
 the threatened rain did not come. 
 
 Suddenly Twombly said: "This mine, now,
 
 226 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Matteson; are there some good properties 
 near something one might reason from ? " 
 
 Jim did not instantly reply, and when he 
 did his voice was cold and his accent 
 indifferent. 
 
 ''There are six million dollars' worth of 
 properties on the same hill, and it 's my notion 
 that we 're in line to strike the Concordia vein. 
 Of course that 's my notion ; I can't prove it 
 till we push a little deeper into the hill. The 
 formation there is a little skew-geed, and we 
 may not hit it." 
 
 Twombly seemed afraid of committing him 
 self, and only said: "It's a large sum to put in 
 without an assurance of something coming out." 
 
 " If we had the security you want we 
 would n't sell at all. It 's all a gamble," said 
 Jim, putting up his pipe. " Come, girls, you 'd 
 better turn in ; this fog seems likely to grow 
 up into a rain." 
 
 " Oh, let us sit up, Jim. I like to sit here 
 and watch you and the fire ; it makes me feel 
 like a squaw or something prehistoric." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson moaned. " I wish I were 
 back in Wyndhurst. I shall be ill of a cold 
 to-morrow ; I know I shall." 
 
 "I '11 see that you don't take cold," said
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 227 
 
 Jim, coming to the tent "Where is your 
 candle ? " 
 
 After lighting the candle, he set to work 
 at the bed. " You want the bulk of your 
 blankets beneath you," he said ; " the cold 
 comes up from below when the ground is 
 damp. In the mountains, in the fall, the 
 ground is warmer than the air, and you want 
 to keep close to it. A big rock will hold the 
 heat all night there you want the cover 
 over ye, but here it 's the cold below that '11 
 make your bones ache." 
 
 After he had rearranged the bed, he handed 
 the candle to Mary. "I reckon you 've got 
 ' kiver ' enough. Good night ! " 
 
 " Good night, Jim ! " 
 
 Jim dropped the flap of the tent and tied 
 the string. " If you hear a bear nosin' around 
 during the night, just let him alone and he '11 
 go off. The coyotes may begin to yelp about 
 midnight; but they 're harmless, too." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson was not amused, and after 
 Jim went away she said : " I think his pleas 
 antry is ill-judged. I know I shall not sleep 
 a wink under these conditions, and I 'm per 
 fectly certain I shall hear a whole menagerie 
 of wild beasts during the night."
 
 228 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " I am blissful, resigned," Mary dreamily 
 replied. " I wish I could be scared ; but I 'm 
 not : I 'm only sleepy. If an elephant trum 
 peted I would n't hear him." 
 
 " Oh, what is that ? " Mrs. Robertson turned 
 to inquire with wild eyes. 
 
 A low, muffled, hollow wail arose in the 
 darkness outside. It mounted to a howl, then 
 died suddenly away, only to rise again, wild, 
 sorrowful, hungry, appalling, and savage. It 
 stiffened both women in terror, and Mary 
 shuddered with exquisite horror. The cry 
 rose like the moan of a big, wounded, despair 
 ing dog. It was as if a lonely forest had 
 found voice or the hollow night had con 
 densed itself into a cry of anguish and fore 
 boding. At last it ended, and Twombly cried : 
 "Bravo! Well done!" 
 
 " Oh ! " cried Mary, " it is Jim ; he 's deter 
 mined to make the play as realistic as possible. 
 That is the howl of the coyote, I suppose." 
 
 " I wish he were a little less solicitous about 
 his play. He gave me a terrible fright. My 
 heart is thumping so hard I can hardly 
 breathe. If I live till morning I shall cer 
 tainly go back to London and stay there. 
 I'm not fitted to be a hunter of wild animals."
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 229 
 
 Mary laughed and called out: "Was that 
 the coyote, Jim ? " 
 
 " Well, not exactly," he replied. " That 
 was the timber-wolf when he is hungry and 
 the snow beginning to fall. I '11 give you his 
 signal when he sees game and wants com 
 pany." He uttered a different note, less 
 mournful, but with greater carrying power. 
 "That means, 'Come on; I need help,'" he 
 explained. "I '11 give you the coyote song 
 now, "he called, and immediately broke forth 
 into a singular, high-keyed, yelping clamor 
 that made Mrs. Robertson seize Mary by the 
 arm and grip hard. 
 
 " Ask him to stop , " she gasped. " It gets 
 on my nerves." 
 
 " That 's beautiful ! " Mary called out ; " but 
 Grace is frightened nearly out of her senses. 
 Please don't do it any more." 
 
 The men all laughed, and Jim said : " I 'd 
 like to give you the cry o' the loon, but I 
 reckon we 'd have the whole township a-ramp- 
 in' down on us if I did. It 's bedtime, any 
 how; so good night again ! " 
 
 "This is all superb material for me," re 
 marked Mary to Mrs. Robertson. " If I could 
 only use it properly, but "
 
 230 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " He might have spared us his animal 
 show," interrupted Mrs. Robertson. 
 
 " I wish you were n't so idiotic at times, 
 Grace. You 're going to spoil the whole 
 trip if you keep on." This was the first note 
 of protest which Mary had permitted herself. 
 Her voice cut deep, and Mrs. Robertson closed 
 her lips so tight they quivered. Mary was 
 immediately remorseful : " Forgive me, dear; 
 I did n't mean to be so cross." And Mrs. Rob 
 ertson said: " I '11 try to bear it for your sake ; 
 but it is so foolish and dangerous to be out 
 here and the rain coming on." 
 
 Eventually they kissed each other and went 
 to bed friends, though Mary was amazed at 
 the action of her companion, whom these un 
 wonted surroundings subdued from a proud 
 and self-contained matron to the mental stat 
 ure of a nervous child. 
 
 Mrs. Robertson effectually put an end to the 
 camping expedition. She passed a miserable 
 night ; and when Jim, imitating the far-off, 
 liquid, flute-like wail of the coyote at dawn, 
 roused all the camp, her mind was made up. 
 " I cannot endure another such night," she 
 said. " I 'm completely fagged out. I must 
 find other ways of amusing myself."
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 231 
 
 Mary, who had slept very well the latter 
 part of the night, looked at her and laughed. 
 " You poor wreck ! The doctor should see 
 you now." 
 
 " Don't revile me, dear. If I look the way 
 I feel, I must be dreadful ; but you should 
 pity me, not make game of me, after the sacri 
 fices I 've made to your whims. I Ve done a 
 good deal for you, Mary Brien, but this is 
 decidedly too much." 
 
 Mary yawned. "It did n't rain after all; 
 but oh, is n't it cold outside ! I 'm glad I 'm 
 not obliged to kindle the fire and get break 
 fast. It really would have been cheerless this 
 morning if it had rained during the night." 
 She peered out. " Is n't Jim a comfort ? He 
 has a bright fire going, and coffee hot." 
 
 Mrs. Robertson drew a rug about her 
 shoulders. " I am in perfect torture. I can 
 neither lie down nor sit up. Every bone I 
 possess is aching. I never had such a feeling 
 in my life. I believe I 'm going to have pneu 
 monia. I wish the doctor would come and 
 take me away." 
 
 " I wish he would, dear," Mary tartly re 
 plied, as she returned to her bed. 
 
 " Well, girls ! " called Jim, at the door of the
 
 232 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 tent; and Mrs. Robertson dived beneath the 
 coverlet, and heard no more of his morning 
 greeting as he untied the tent-strings. " Day 
 light down the crick. Birds a-singin' the 
 night herd comin' over the hill." 
 
 Mary sprang up and began dressing. The 
 men were talking in their tent, and Twombly 
 was saying: "Slept like a top a regular 
 hummer." 
 
 "There was a hummock under my bed 
 which began as a mole-hill and ended by be 
 coming Mount Ararat," replied Will; "other 
 wise I was quite comfortable." 
 
 Before they were fairly clothed, Jim called 
 with peculiar intonation: "Grub-pile! Every 
 body rustle and walk chalk, or the snakes '11 
 git ye ! Wow, wow, wow whoop ! " 
 
 Every one responded but Mrs. Robertson. 
 Mary came forth as vivid as a rain-wet pink, 
 and with a pretty swagger walked up to the 
 fire. " Hello, pard ! Top o' the mornin' to 
 ye!" 
 
 Jim's heart warmed to her mightily. She 
 was so exquisite of color, and so amusing as she 
 rubbed her little fists together before the blaze. 
 
 His greeting was mystic : " Well, now, 
 how are they comin' ? "
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 233 
 
 " Whom do you mean ? " 
 
 He smiled. " Where 's the tenderfoot ? " 
 
 " She 's abed. Wants her coffee brought 
 to her." 
 
 " She 's all right," he replied in a tone that 
 meant she was all wrong. " Mebbe she 
 thinks this is a hotel with nigger waiters." 
 
 Mary could not help a little shiver. It was 
 barely sunrise, and the moor was desolate 
 and gray with morning mist. The wind was 
 keen, and though Jim had erected a canvas 
 wall to shield the table from its sweep, it was 
 a cheerless breakfast-scene to a delicate 
 woman. But Mary was too proud to show 
 her dismay. She took her seat at the table, 
 and made a brave show of eating the bacon 
 and beans and the hot bread which Jim set 
 before her amply. 
 
 The camping expedition ended right there. 
 The day continued cold and gray, and Mrs. 
 Robertson's coffee merely gave her courage 
 to dress and to complain. " Mollie, you must 
 let me go back to Wyndhurst. I will not 
 stay here another hour. It 's all very well 
 for a harum-scarum like you, but I cannot 
 be your chaperon at such sacrifice." 
 
 Mary reluctantly asked Jim to get the
 
 234 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 horses and send them home. " Grace has 
 worked herself into a state of frenzy, and of 
 course if she goes I must go too. I am 
 sorry, but you know it is a good deal to ask 
 of a person so conventional as Grace." 
 
 Jim took this request in good spirit. 
 
 "All right, pardner; you 're the doctor. We 
 hit the back trail whenever you give the sign. 
 Reckon we Ve about got to the end of our 
 rope, anyway. This kind of campin' makes 
 me think of a horse-race in a theater show I 
 saw in Denver once. The horses racked 
 away hard, and the jockeys plied the quirt ; but 
 they were nailed to the floor : it was only the 
 scenery drifting past." He smiled again, with 
 a slow growth of little wrinkles round his eyes. 
 " When you come out to Colorado, I '11 take 
 you on a campin' trip where the sceneries 
 are stationary and the horses do all the 
 hustlin'." 
 
 The retreat was made in good order. Jim 
 refused to divide his party, but led his little 
 pack-train back with the same seriousness 
 with which he had gone forth. He gravely un 
 packed before the door, and laid everything in 
 its place before he finally relinquished com 
 mand.
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 235 
 
 " Now I 'm a passenger again," he said as 
 he turned away. 
 
 Mary smiled with a certain sadness as she 
 said: "All this outfit I shall preserve in mem 
 ory of you." 
 
 "They come purty near representin' me," 
 he said, glancing back at them. " They 're 
 the tools I know best." 
 
 He was silent at lunch. After they rose 
 from the table he went out for a walk, and 
 was gone till nearly dinner-time. Whether 
 he had walked all the afternoon or not he did 
 not say, but he had recovered his usual good 
 humor, and laid out his maps before Twombly 
 and for half an hour really assumed the role of 
 salesman. Mary kept within ear-shot, delight 
 ing in the talk of shafts, tunnels, up-raises, 
 free-milling ore, and questions of veins pinch 
 ing out or faulting, as Jim pitted his practical 
 experience against Twombly's theoretical 
 knowledge. 
 
 As Mary said, " Dinner is ready," Jim, with 
 no other sign of having heard her, rolled his 
 papers together. 
 
 " There is the proposition. All we ask is 
 an investigation. You take it or leave it. 
 My comin' over here was the doc's doings.
 
 236 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 I wanted to deal with Denver men on a small 
 scale ; but my pardner said no ; it was a big 
 thing, and London the place to get it consid 
 ered. As the Indians say, ' I have spoken.' ' 
 
 He was fairly companionable at the table, 
 and told a number of stories which caused the 
 stolid Twombly to exclaim; but to Mary's 
 subtler sense the miner was restless and 
 distrait. As soon as they were alone he 
 said: 
 
 "Well, little pardner, I 'm going back to 
 London to hustle. If you '11 have my truck 
 packed to the station " 
 
 " You don't mean to-night? " 
 
 " I mean this minute." 
 
 " Oh, no. Don't go to-night. I want to 
 talk with you. I was going to propose a 
 walk on the moor." 
 
 " Do we go alone?" he asked quickly. 
 
 She hesitated. "Why, yes if you 'd 
 rather." 
 
 "Then I stay," he said. "Pull on your 
 rubber boots." 
 
 Mary had a deliciously guilty feeling as she 
 said to Grace : "Jim and I are out for a little 
 spin on the moor. Will you go ? " 
 
 " Certainly not," was the blunt answer.
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 237 
 
 " The grass is wet, and I 'm tired. I 'm going 
 straight to my room." 
 
 To Twombly, sunk low in his chair, enjoy 
 ing his pipe, she took a different tack : 
 
 " We are going up to the old inn for a few 
 minutes. Will you go too ? " 
 
 " Thanks ; not just now, if you '11 pardon me. 
 I 'm quite like an anaconda. I shall not be 
 able to move for an hour. You won't mind, 
 will you ? " 
 
 "Oh, not at all," replied Mary, with a 
 righteous feeling that her duties as hostess 
 were discharged in the letter at least. It 
 was a keen pleasure to be alone with this un 
 accountable mountaineer, whose words sprang 
 forth from the secret places of his thought like 
 forest birds, with much noise of wings, but 
 gentle of spirit. She was so curious to know 
 what he wished to say that she would have 
 dared much to take his arm in the dusk. 
 
 Without hesitation he struck out along the 
 road which ran on the very top of the "hog 
 back," as he called it, and his long strides 
 kept her trotting to keep up. He was silent 
 at first, and too absorbed in thought to take 
 note of her effort in keeping pace with him. 
 
 She was forced to protest :
 
 238 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "What a long-legged creature you are!" 
 
 He paused. " Did I strike too high a 
 gait?" 
 
 " Mercy ! I should think so. I 'm posi 
 tively breathless already." 
 
 " I 'm sorry. I did n't notice. Why did n't 
 you say so ? " 
 
 " I was too proud, I reckon," she said hum 
 bly. " I wanted to be a good trailer." 
 
 "You 're too little to be anything but a 
 ghost," he said, looking down at her. 
 " Every little while I get a real notion of you, 
 and then you 're nothin' but a baby. That 's 
 what you are a doll baby. Your head 's 
 all right ; but look at your wrists ! About as 
 big as two straws." She looked at them in 
 the dim moonlight. 
 
 "And your neck." She put her hands to 
 her throat. " About as big as my wrist. But 
 the comical thing is, I would n't have you any 
 bigger. You 've got me twisted as it is." 
 
 " What do you mean by ' twisted ' ? " 
 
 " What am I doin' down here ? Do you 
 know? What did I come to England for? 
 See you ? Looks like it, don't it ? Nice 
 howl I 'd get from the doc if he knew how I 
 was putting in my time. He sends me out to
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 239 
 
 round-up some mustangs, and I stop and go 
 to eatin' blackberries with the birds." 
 
 She laughed out joyously. "Well, maybe 
 the mustangs will come home themselves, like 
 Miss Bo-peep's sheep." 
 
 " Mustangs ain't built that way. You Ve 
 got to rustle and howl and cuss and throw 
 stones and wade in the sloos before you get 
 'em all in. What am I doin' now this min 
 ute ? I 'm takin' a walk with a girl, when I 
 ought to be on my way to London to sell a 
 mine." 
 
 " Mr. Twombly will take " 
 
 " Twombly ! " His scornful tone was most 
 emphatic. " Say, let me tell you. I 've been in 
 a store in Wagon Wheel 'fore now, and seen 
 women come in and paw over calico of every 
 shade in the box, and price it all, and think 
 hard, and then paw down another pile, and 
 finally say, ' So much obliged,' and go out. 
 That 's Twombly." 
 
 He struck out again, but at a slower pace ; 
 and at last they stood on a high knoll, with a 
 pale moon wallowing in mist overhead, and 
 the mysterious blackness of the moon lying on 
 either side, with only one or two lights to in 
 dicate the presence of man.
 
 240 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Jim straightened himself and drew a deep 
 breath. " This is worth while. I can pretty 
 near imagine I 'm on the top of the hog-back 
 butte. The air here is fit to breathe." 
 
 Mary moved a little closer to him. " This 
 is a grim old spot. In the good old days the 
 coaches used to be stopped here by highway 
 men." 
 
 " It would be a good place for a hold-up. 
 But see here ; this won't do. This air is sure 
 chilly. Let 's take the back track." 
 
 As they reached the broad, beaten carriage- 
 road, Jim said : " I leave here to-morrow morn- 
 in', and then it 's a case of hustle till something 
 drops ; and then no more England for me." 
 
 " Anyhow we Ve had a pleasant week of it, 
 have n't we ? " 
 
 He did not reply, for he was thinking of 
 roaring old London, and how much grimmer 
 it was going to be without Mary and Will. 
 Mary led the conversation to more imper 
 sonal topics, and they reached the house 
 before Jim again shook off his reticence. 
 
 "I 'm mightily obliged to you, Mary. 
 You Ve tried to help me, and you sure have 
 been a comfort to me. But when a man is 
 a miner, and forced to whack his living out of
 
 JIM BREAKS CAMP ON THE MOOR 241 
 
 lumps of quartz, it stands him in hand not to 
 forget it not for a minute. It 's different 
 with you and Will. Everything 's sort o' 
 smoothed out for you. What is just common 
 every-day life to you is a waste of time for me. 
 So, as I say, our trails fork right here. I may 
 strike it, and I may not. I think we Ve got 
 it ; but gold is a mighty shy proposition. It 's 
 where you find it ; that 's all. So, as I say, 
 I 'm much obliged. You Ve tried to help me 
 interest Twombly, and I take the word for the 
 deed" 
 
 "I '11 take stock myself, Jim," she eagerly 
 interrupted, feeling the discouragement of his 
 mood. 
 
 " No ; I can't do that now," he said firmly. 
 " Good night."
 
 X 
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 
 
 A 5 the mountaineer reentered London the 
 next morning it was again the destruc 
 tive maelstrom it seemed on his first arrival. 
 He went back to the same little hotel, but 
 took a larger room, and opened his box of ore 
 samples and got out his photographs of the 
 mine and the locality. He was obliged to 
 draw again on his partner for funds, and it 
 made him sick at heart to spend so much 
 money to so little purpose. Under the spur 
 of this feeling he began a brisk campaign. 
 His days were torture and his evenings were 
 lonely and very gloomy. His proud soul 
 chafed under the neglects and insolences of 
 lackeys, and resented the blunt questions 
 of capitalists. 
 
 "If this is so good a venture, why do you 
 come here ? Could n't you interest men 
 nearer home ? " were questions he could not 
 
 242
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 243 
 
 heartily respond to, for he had never agreed 
 with Ramsdell in this plan. 
 
 With a feeling that his relations with Mary 
 were completely broken, he read his letters 
 from Bessie and Mrs. Ramsdell with more 
 interest than he had felt for some weeks. 
 Bessie wrote very charmingly, giving all the 
 news of the family, and expressing the great 
 interest they were all taking in his splendid 
 effort to save the mine. Her small, well- 
 governed handwriting expressed the charm 
 of her sweet and simple nature to him, and 
 under the influence of it he wrote her a letter 
 which filled nearly two pages of note-paper. 
 
 " Im mighty glad to hear from camp," he 
 wrote. " Im standing on a slippery cedar- 
 root in this big swamp, and the mud is bot 
 tomless and the snakes are thick. I dont 
 know how Im goin to pull out, but 111 hit 
 dry ground soon." 
 
 Ramsdell's letters had become a little 
 urgent. "All depends on you, Jim," he 
 wrote. "I don't want to hurry you, but 
 don't waste time. I 'm sending the draft you 
 asked for, but it pinches me a little. I hate 
 to see that mine waiting out there. I 've cut 
 down the force to six men. Get a large
 
 244 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 hump on yourself, and pull us out o' the hole 
 if possible. Beware of the charmer, old man. 
 Disable the ' Earl,' and come home as quick 
 as possible." 
 
 His former dependence upon Mary became 
 more and more evident as he went about the 
 streets alone during that week. He became 
 irritable as well as reticent, and the man who 
 took liberties with him regretted it. He was 
 distinctly less social, and the porter and the 
 waiters missed his former hearty greeting. 
 Even Dr. Robertson found him difficult to draw 
 out, and he flatly refused to come to dinner. 
 His dislike of Mrs. Robertson was now fixed, 
 though he was (for a moment) amused at her 
 return to the airs and graces of a society 
 hostess so calm, so gracious, so patronizing. 
 She was on her native carpet now, and could 
 speak of " that delicious little camping trip of 
 ours," even to Jim himself. 
 
 Mary had not for a moment intended to 
 lose sight of her mountaineer, and toward the 
 end of the week she wrote a little note and 
 mailed it to his old address : 
 
 We are coming back to town on Monday. I found it 
 too lonesome out here with my mountaineer away. Come 
 to me for lunch at one. I want to hear how you get on.
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 245 
 
 Mr. Twombly left the same day you did bound for Exeter, 
 he said, to see his brother. I think he is favorable to your 
 proposition. Don't be discouraged about him. 
 
 This letter opened up a trail he had con 
 sidered locked beyond retracing. His first 
 sound impulse was to curtly say, " I 'm too busy ; 
 I can't come." But the longing to see Mary's 
 bright face overcame him, and he scrawled a 
 characteristic line : 
 
 111 be there. JIM. 
 
 Once again in her presence, he surrendered 
 himself completely to the comfort of her sym 
 pathetic smile and the charm of her voice. 
 Her eager, searching eyes hardly left his face 
 during lunch, and she pierced to the lowest 
 deep of his discouragement at once. 
 
 " You can't do anything working alone 
 that way," she said, after he had detailed a 
 few of his discouragements. "These things 
 go by favor like kissing. You must make 
 acquaintances ; you must let me introduce 
 you to nice people ; you must go with Will to 
 the clubs." 
 
 In the end she convinced him, and secured 
 from him a promise to go to afternoon tea at
 
 246 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the home of a well-known editor of a weekly 
 paper. In a word, she took charge of him 
 again, quite ignoring his good-by on the moor, 
 and after a week filled with rebuffs and barely 
 civil treatment on the part of London business 
 men, Jim found the Brien flat a very beautiful 
 place to take refuge in. He did not entirely 
 lose his sense of humor even under these try 
 ing circumstances. " I have n't walked so 
 much since I went to district school in Kansas," 
 he said once, as he came in. "I started 
 out to see a feller who told me to 'come in 
 again ' ; but when I got to his door I shied 
 round the corner and walked back. I could 
 n't face his clerk without killin' him. I can 
 stand the old beefers in the inside office if 
 I can reach 'em ; but that 's just it. To do 
 it I Ve got to throttle the little skunk who 
 says, ' Nime and business, please." 
 
 When not with Mary he did not know how 
 to employ his time. He was really waiting 
 for Twombly to make the next advance, and 
 while walking aimlessly about the city his 
 mind dwelt on the Englishman's last letter, in 
 which he said : 
 
 " I have talked your mine over with my 
 brothers, and if I do not go to South Africa I
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 247 
 
 may go to America with you. I will let you 
 know in a few days quite definitely. Mean 
 time don't let any other offer wait on mine." 
 
 The plain truth was, Jim had lost all confi 
 dence in his power to do the work his partner 
 set for him to do, and yet he could not bring 
 himself to abandon the field and return, hun 
 dreds of dollars poorer than when he came. 
 
 Time would have hung heavily on his 
 hands had not all his afternoons been taken 
 up by singular social expeditions, the purport 
 of which he did not in the least comprehend. 
 He often drove with Mary in the park, or 
 rode with her, training his horse to guide in 
 the cow-boy fashion. In all ways he remained 
 the mountaineer. Mary had no wish to see 
 him conform to British models ; on the con 
 trary, she continued to delight in his most 
 noticeable characteristics, and was quite indif 
 ferent to the gossip of her friends. She took 
 him with her to call at great houses where 
 " hired hands " in gay red-and-yellow coats 
 stood in rows beside the doorway ; and Jim 
 shook the cold hands of thin ladies and the 
 puffy hands of fat old gentlemen, while Mary 
 smilingly introduced him as " Mr. Matteson of 
 Colorado."
 
 248 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "What does it all lead to, pardner?" he 
 asked once, as they were driving home from a 
 visit of this character. 
 
 " Trust it all to me," she replied. 
 
 " I reckon I '11 have to," he said, and imme 
 diately became silent and sad. He was indeed 
 trusting all to her ; he was doing nothing on 
 his own part now, and at times he was at the 
 point of giving it up entirely. 
 
 During these days of trial he went to Mary, 
 sure of an attentive ear and a radiant smile. At 
 the start he had talked of the mountains to en 
 tertain others; now he talked of them to hearten 
 himself. Nearly every day he called he had a 
 new story of his old-time prospecting tours, and 
 Mary's dilated eyes helped him to feel once 
 more the stern presence of the shining peaks. 
 
 There were times when he had more than 
 a suspicion that people were "having fun with 
 him," but considered it an "even break" so 
 long as he got a little amusement out of it 
 himself. But when he had attended three or 
 four precisely similar receptions, all incredibly 
 dull, he said : " See here, little pard ; I 'm 
 willing to play horse so long as it amuses 
 you, but I don't think you 're gettin' much 
 out of this business yourself. How about it ?"
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 249 
 
 Mary laughed. " No, I don't ; but to-day I 
 expected to have you meet an old lady we 
 want to interest in the mine scheme. She 
 has a son, and is eager to settle him in some 
 thing." 
 
 "All right; anything to pull that hole out 
 of the ground." 
 
 By such means she continued to exhibit 
 him in drawing-rooms where his presence was 
 almost as exciting as that of a Navajo medi 
 cine-man. He could not complain of any 
 plan which kept him near Mary, whose allure 
 ment became more powerful day by day. He 
 had given up any notion that she might go 
 home with him ; he went to see her because 
 she pleased him made his life less lonely 
 and lightened his discouragements. It was a 
 keen pleasure just to sit low in his chair and 
 look at her. When his work for the day was 
 done he went straight to her. 
 
 " Well, pardner, what 's the program for 
 to-day?" 
 
 London itself became ever more hateful to 
 him. What did it all amount to, anyway ? 
 It was nothing, he thought, but a jumble of 
 old bricks and mortar, soaked with sweat and 
 blood, swarming with men and women as un-
 
 250 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 important as lice and almost as ephemeral. 
 Set over against the peaks and the clear, cold 
 streams of the "high country," it was a place 
 of fever-germinating sewers and pest-houses 
 a place where men died under one another's 
 eyes. Something of this he expressed to Mary 
 one day when he came in worn with fruitless 
 interviews. 
 
 She cordially agreed with him. " Of course 
 you 're right. London is a wen the wen of 
 civilization. Civilization writhes in agony, 
 and great cities result. But you must not 
 let London defeat you. Forget it all when 
 you come to me. Let 's take a gallop in the 
 park, and fancy we 're on the trail again. I 
 have some news for you. I saw Twombly 
 again to-day. I think he has determined to 
 go over and inspect the mine ; but he is so 
 stupidly sly. He prides himself on his self- 
 restraint. By the way, we are invited to Sel- 
 don Douglass's reception Tuesday. I know 
 you hate these things, but I 'd like you to go. 
 There are a few people there who are worth 
 while." 
 
 "Well, now, see here, little pardner; I Ve 
 reached the limit. I can't stand any more 
 of " At this moment a couple of the wide-
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 251 
 
 hatted men of the Australian militia passed 
 the window, and he called out : 
 
 " Hello, there are some of the ' rooster- 
 tails ' ! That reminds me, we have n't been 
 over to see their camp yet, have we ? " 
 
 " I '11 secure tickets at once," she replied. 
 " Say to-morrow after lunch. Twombly is 
 coming, and we '11 all go to Earl's Court. This 
 afternoon I want you to go to Mrs. Semple's 
 tea." 
 
 Jim rose, ominously stern. " Little pard- 
 ner, I 'm done. Right here I quit fooling 
 and begin to fight." He looked at her stead 
 ily. " I Ve taken a hand in these teas and 
 lunches to please you, because you said it 
 was all right ; but from this time on, you Ve 
 got to tell me the kind of a shindig I 'm gal 
 loping down into before I stir a hoof. This 
 ' Wild West ' Africa interests me a whole lot, 
 and I want to go ; but no more weak tea and 
 old ladies for me." 
 
 Mary met this moment of rebellion with a 
 certain pleasure, for she enjoyed the exercise 
 of her power over him. Hitherto when she 
 turned her smiling, arch, and subtle face upon 
 him he had yielded. She took hold of his 
 lapels and said : " Now, you old bear, don't
 
 252 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 you get cross ! You are going just once 
 more to please me." 
 
 " No," he said, and his voice was harsh. 
 " Right here the men in calico pants and me 
 part company. I Ve kept from killin' 'em so 
 far, but I 'm ugly to-day. You 'd better not 
 bother me. I 'm goin' to see the 'Wild West 
 show at Earl's Court." 
 
 Mary knew when to yield. " Well, if you 're 
 determined, we '11 cut the reception and go ; 
 but if we wait till to-morrow Twombly and 
 Dr. Robertson may be able to go." 
 
 "All right. That goes. I '11 be on hand like 
 a sore thumb," he replied, and turned to go. 
 
 "Wait a few minutes," said Mary, "and 
 I '11 drive you home." 
 
 She counted on being able to regain her 
 power over him when they were seated in the 
 carriage ; but he continued firm. 
 
 " What 's the use playing tame bear 
 when the game is one-sided ? As long as I 
 enjoyed it we broke even. Now the fun is 
 all on one side, like the handle to a jug. I Ve 
 got a sore ear, and the performance is a good 
 deal like work." 
 
 "What is the cause of your sore ear?" 
 asked Mary. " What has happened ? "
 
 JIM RETURNS TO LONDON 253 
 
 " I Ve had to send to Ramsdell for more 
 money." 
 
 She was instantly sympathetic. " You 
 must n't lack money so long as we are part 
 ners." 
 
 " I guess our pardnership is a kind of play- 
 pardnership," he replied ungraciously. 
 
 " It need n't be. I '11 take my shares any 
 
 A.' 
 
 time. 
 
 " I can't sell you stock," he replied. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Because it would n't be right," he replied, 
 and would add no further explanation. 
 
 She put him down at his door, and said 
 with her sweetest smile: "To-morrow, then, 
 at lunch, and Earl's Court." 
 
 " I '11 be there ; but no more teas and recep 
 tions," he replied. " It 's business from now 
 on."
 
 XI 
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 
 
 HE turned up at lunch next day, still in a 
 somber mood, and Mary put forth all her 
 charm in the effort to win him back to his 
 frank, good self, but failed. He continued 
 silent and preoccupied. Mrs. Robertson and 
 Will held a lively discussion of South African 
 politics, in which Mary finally joined, leaving 
 Jim free to listen or not, as he pleased. He 
 had been curiously reticent before, but nothing 
 so near gloom. 
 
 " I feel like a man missing something," he 
 explained to Mary. " I don't know what it 
 is, but it 's something I need." 
 
 He was unpleasantly censorious of England 
 and everything English. As they went out 
 to the carriage he said, " The sun blame near 
 makes a shadow to-day, don't it ? " 
 
 " The shadow is on you," replied Mary. " I 
 wish I could help you to shake it off." 
 
 254
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 255 
 
 He kept silence all the way to Earl's Court, 
 and not till he caught sight of the brown uni 
 forms and gray sombreros of the Australian 
 guards on duty in the great corridor did he 
 shake off his gloomy meditation. 
 
 " Howdy, boys, howdy ! " he called to them 
 cheerily. " How did you leave the folks at 
 home?" The Australians recognized a fellow 
 in him, and smilingly replied, and Jim was 
 benefited by their replies. " By the Lord ! 
 they look good after these cussed red monkey- 
 cap soldiers with canes." 
 
 " I hear they look like your own soldier- 
 boys." 
 
 "They do; they \odaright. They know 
 how it is themselves. If I had time, I 'd like 
 to shake hands with 'em all." He contented 
 himself with waving his hand at them with a 
 hearty word. 
 
 As he ran swiftly through the " Greater 
 Britain " exhibit, Jim became thoughtful. 
 "She 's a big country," he said; "mighty 
 big and rich. She just about covers the earth, 
 don't she ? " 
 
 Will delivered a little lecture on this theme : 
 " Yes; one feels the width of the Empire here. 
 Consider the names: New South Wales,
 
 256 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Ontario, Columbia, South Africa, Australia, 
 India ! " 
 
 Jim replied: "It 's queer. I don't under 
 stand how this little bog of an island got hold 
 of all these countries. She 's got to use 'em 
 mighty well or they won't stay by her." 
 
 "That 's her policy," said Will. 
 
 They met Twombly and Dr. Robertson at 
 a certain booth, and together they crossed a 
 sort of bridge and entered a vast auditorium, 
 one entire side of which was covered by a 
 curtain. The building was, in fact, a mighty 
 oblong theater with a lofty arch, the stage of 
 which was a sanded acre of beaten earth. 
 
 Mary was careful to have Jim take a seat 
 beside her, in order that she might hear every 
 word he uttered, and have the pleasure also 
 of his near glance. Their seats were the 
 choicest to be had, being close down to the 
 railing of the arena, and they were much ob 
 served by the occupants of the near-by seats. 
 Of this scrutiny Jim was the main cause, but 
 he did not realize it as he stood for a moment 
 studying the audience. " People are plenty 
 as potato-bugs," he remarked, with a sigh. 
 " Must be as many people here as there are in 
 Wagon Wheel all told."
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 257 
 
 When the great curtain rose, disclosing a 
 wide, wild, rocky, barren country, the moun 
 taineer sat up with a jerk. " By the Lord 
 Harry ! that looks like Utah ! " he said. "All 
 it needs is a little sage-brush. It certainly 
 looks good to see an empty space for a minute. 
 I 'm seein' too many people this trip." 
 
 Loud shouts were heard, accompanied by 
 the fierce cracking of whips, and an eight-span 
 team of oxen drawing a big covered wagon 
 came crawling over the plain. It was an 
 immigrant- wagon laden with household goods 
 and speckled with children. 
 
 " Now you 're drifting into my climate," 
 exclaimed Jim, laying a hand on Will's knee. 
 " That 's a prairie-schooner. These chaps are 
 striking into the new country." 
 
 The wagon passed, leaving the scene as 
 silent and lonely as before. Then arose a 
 distant wild singing, " Ille-a-eo-eo-aha ! " and 
 two hundred powerful black men, armed 
 with spears and shields, and adorned with 
 snow-white plumes and gay beads, came 
 marching in, their deep voices rolling in 
 splendid, rhythmic waves from head to heel 
 of their solemn line of march. 
 
 " That 's like the chieftains' song among 
 17
 
 258 -HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the Sioux ! " Jim explained, in growing ex 
 citement. " Great Moses ! but they make my 
 hair bristle. No pink teas about this ! Their 
 feet are on the earth." 
 
 The blacks passed on, and Jim settled back 
 into his seat. " This is queer business. It's 
 a mixture of a Sioux warrior's song and a 
 negro camp-meeting. Here comes the boys / " 
 he shouted, oblivious of every other spectator, 
 his eyes aflame with exultation, his big hands 
 gripping his seat. With shrill shouting, two 
 and two, a troop of horsemen galloped in, led 
 by a middle-aged man who sat his horse in 
 careless serenity. They were all mounted on 
 tough, brown little ponies, not unlike the 
 American bronco; but their saddles were low, 
 without pommels, and had a sort of pad with 
 ridges running along the thigh, which held 
 each leg in place. 
 
 "They 're trailin' up the niggers," said 
 Jim. " But wait a minute ! Some of these 
 chaps are bogus. They 're London runties. 
 See their knees all hunched up ! The feller 
 in the lead is right, all right. See the 
 straight leg? See the way he guides his 
 horse? He knows his business. But about 
 half the others are frauds ; they can't ride."
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 259 
 
 As the men dismounted and went into camp, the 
 mountaineer turned to look at Mary, his eyes 
 glowing, his lips tremulous. " This puts me 
 back on the Pecos. I 'm homesick right now. 
 I 'd like to go down and shake hands with 
 the cow-boss, and jump a horse and take a 
 hand in the fight ; he 's my kind." He took 
 a grip on Mary's wrist. " Hold me, some 
 body, or I '11 jump that fence." 
 
 His heart was big with emotion, and his 
 throat ached with the tension of it. Every 
 time a horse made a fine leap or a rider 
 swayed in his saddle with the free balancing 
 swing of the natural horseman, he cried out 
 like a boy : 
 
 "That 's right! You 're the real thing! 
 You Ve handled a horse before ! " 
 
 Mary and Will shared very little in his ex 
 citement. How could they ? To them it was 
 amusing merely. To Jim it was elemental. It 
 suggested the open spaces, the hardy life of 
 cattle-men, the storm of stampeding herds, and 
 long rides in the deep of night over the plain. 
 It meant everything that London was not : all 
 the adventures and joys of mountain life. It 
 brought up all his days of toil and danger on 
 the trail, with a hundred camps by rushing
 
 260 - HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 mountain streams. It subtended the life he 
 had lived and loved, and to which he was 
 longing to return, and the force of it made 
 Mary of little account and England a dreary 
 prison-place. Had he been in love with the 
 woman at his side and in bondage to London, 
 the memories called up by these riders would 
 have delivered him. 
 
 The grizzled old veteran of the Southern 
 plains rode by with his trained horse, a su 
 perb animal, and as he whirled and saluted 
 with bare head, proudly erect, Jim said : 
 "There 's a man ! Nothing the matter with 
 him ! Your dukes and earls are brindle 
 broncos by the side of a thoroughbred like 
 him. He 's fit to ride with Black Mose and 
 General Miles." 
 
 The scene changed to a camp beside a big 
 river. The immigrants were just hitching up to 
 begin another day's run, when a detail of the 
 black fellows came charging upon them. The 
 cracking of guns arose, and the black men gave 
 way. The immigrants hurriedly broke camp. 
 The long line of oxen plunged boldly into 
 the river, and, with nostrils spouting water, 
 dragged the wagon safely through, and on 
 through a rocky defile in the hills.
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 261 
 
 There was much significance in all this to 
 Jim. " That 's bad business," he said, with a 
 sigh. " That 's the way we did it in my 
 country ; only the men we tackled were red. 
 I reckon these blacks are fighting for their 
 country just the way the Sioux did." 
 
 The scene returned to the camp of the 
 blacks. Uttering their splendid, ululating 
 chant, they filed before their chief. "We go 
 to fight the white man ! " they shouted in uni 
 son. " He shall die ! He comes to steal our 
 lands to kill our babies. He must be 
 beaten back ! " They knelt on the earth, im 
 ploring the help of the High Ones. Their 
 prayers were like the moaning of November 
 winds in the trees. Their naked bodies glis 
 tened like oiled ebony. On their heads were 
 tufts of ostrich-plumes. Great bracelets of 
 silver clasped their arms. Their decorated 
 shields were of bull's hide, and their short 
 spears, shaken in their swarthy right hands, 
 menaced invisible multitudes. Pride and an 
 epic resolution transfigured their dark uplifted 
 faces. They stood as the representatives of 
 those whom civilization conquers and destroys. 
 
 They passed away, and into the arena rode 
 the English troops, careless, easy of seat,
 
 262 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 weary, and watchful. The captain called a 
 halt. The bustle of camping began. A shot 
 was heard outside, and soon a rider appeared, 
 dragging a gigantic negro at his horse's heels. 
 The black was a scout, and was brought be 
 fore the commander in order to be forced to 
 tell where and in what number his people were 
 camped. He refused to reply, and, with mag 
 nificent defiance of death, shouted: "I can 
 die ; I will not speak ! " 
 
 The commander hesitated about torturing 
 so fine a man, and the captive was led away. 
 Alarums sounded without. The blacks rushed 
 in, armed mainly with short spears, but a few 
 carried rifles. Then the withering, blasting, 
 roaring flame of the machine-guns was turned 
 upon them, and they fell like mown grain. 
 Again and again, with desperate, tragic cour 
 age, they rushed upon the British line, falling 
 at the very mouth of the guns, the reports of 
 which blended into a long, high-keyed, crack 
 ling, appalling roar. The auditors shuddered, 
 as if they had not heretofore realized the hor 
 ror which lay behind the quiet description of 
 a machine-gun. The process of civilizing 
 the earth was brought near. 
 
 " Is that what our men do ? " asked Mary.
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 263 
 
 " That 's about as exact as they can repre 
 sent it," replied Will. " The blacks were brave 
 men; they fell inside our lines just that way." 
 
 " Poor fellows ! They are worthy of a bet 
 ter fate. They are patriots in their way, I 
 suppose." 
 
 " It 's a hopeless struggle, and the machine- 
 guns went far to teach them the folly of try 
 ing to hold back the white man," remarked 
 Will, as the black men, with wailing chants, 
 gathered up their dead and marched away into 
 the mountain defiles. 
 
 "The Apaches were too sharp to fight that 
 way," said Jim. " They did n't give our men 
 a chance to rake 'em with a Maxim." 
 
 But beneath all other feeling on Jim's part 
 ran a rising tide of homesickness. The pic 
 tured peaks, the mimic waterfalls, the canvas 
 trees, made him long with a mighty yearning 
 for the realities of the far-off lands he called 
 his own. As this emotion grew he forgot his 
 companions and their words ; he dreamed like 
 an eagle on his perch, with senses filled with 
 old-time sounds and scenes. It seemed that 
 he had been away from home a full year. At 
 the moment he could not have told what the 
 season was.
 
 264 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 He was singularly silent as they moved out 
 with the crowd into the wide halls. His face 
 had lost all its laughter-lines, and looked dark 
 and stern. He paid no attention to the talk 
 of his companions, and Mary, eager as she 
 was to hear him speak, respected his mood. 
 As they stood for a moment at the point 
 where the great hall entered upon a sort of 
 plaza wherein fountains were rushing, they 
 heard the black men singing again. They 
 were approaching. The noise of their com 
 ing echoed in the lofty halls as in a cavern ; 
 their deep, gusty voices, rolling on in deep- 
 toned chant, formed a flood of sound each 
 moment growing in majesty. Soon they 
 came in view, with spears held high above 
 their heads, their bangles, their gay shields, 
 their snowy plumes, transforming the glisten 
 ing ebony of their splendid bodies into some 
 singular and beautiful metal. They came two 
 abreast, with eyes of mystery, dreaming of 
 their native hills, and their song arose in im 
 pulses and moved backward as waves arise 
 and flee and break on dim shores. 
 
 As they passed a shudder swept over Jim. 
 " Come!" he said imperiously, falling in behind 
 the column; and Mary followed without a word.
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 265 
 
 The negroes entered a gate, and Jim, ac 
 companied by Mary, found himself in a lofty 
 amphitheater of painted hills the hills of 
 Lobengula's land. In the middle of the 
 inclosing walls stood a kraal of conical mud 
 teepees such as geographies had made famil 
 iar to Jim. On the painted hills other simi 
 lar huts, wondrously real, were perched beside 
 bright pools and foaming waterfalls. The 
 land was deliciously green and smooth. Nar 
 row paths ran from village to village. High 
 mountains rose on all sides, and the whole 
 glorious valley and its swarming life seemed 
 serene and unmarked of war or greed. Jim 
 lifted his shoulders and drew a deep breath. 
 " This makes me think I 'm in the high coun 
 try," he said. 
 
 The rest of the party joined them here, but 
 he did not seem to see them. His face was 
 lifted to the peaks. 
 
 As he stood there among the huts, night 
 began to fall. Over small fires women 
 crouched, preparing food. The warriors, 
 smoking slowly, sat at their doors, talking in 
 low voices. On every side women began to 
 croon in half- voice, like happy, sleepy fowls, 
 and the murmur of soft speech was broken
 
 266 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 only by the sudden, soft laughter of young 
 girls. 
 
 Jim, listening to this flood of soft sound, 
 rose on it as on an invisible wave. The mine, 
 London, Mary, became of no account. Home, 
 the peaks, the clouds, the streams, reasserted 
 full dominion over him. " To hell with Lon 
 don ! " he said through his set teeth. 
 
 Mary laid a hand on his arm. " Come, 
 Jim ; we '11 be late to dinner ! " 
 
 He turned his face upon her with a look 
 which made her shiver with sudden pain. 
 " I 'm done with England and you. I 'm go 
 ing home. Good night ! " 
 
 Without another word, he turned on his 
 heel, and was lost in the crowd and the dusk. 
 
 Mary stood in a daze till Will laid his hand 
 on her arm. " Come, sis, it 's time to go 
 home. Where is Jim ? " 
 
 " I don't know," she said, a sudden deep 
 weariness in her voice. 
 
 IT was nearly twelve o'clock when Jim 
 reached the hotel, and he was tired. He had 
 walked all the way from Earl's Court, and 
 had lost his direction a dozen times in his 
 abstraction. His heart was very bitter, and
 
 THE EFFECT OF "SAVAGE AFRICA" 267 
 
 he said : "They have been fooling with me. 
 It was all right for a while, but it ends right 
 here. Mary has had her fun with me, but I 
 reckon she can't have any more." In this 
 mood he was suspicious of everybody ; every 
 Englishman was his enemy. 
 
 The clerk handed him two notes. One was 
 from Twombly, the other from Mary. Twom- 
 bly was anxious. 
 
 Don't leave England without seeing me again. I think 
 I may arrange to go back with you if you are still of a 
 mind to have me. . . . 
 
 Mary's was abruptly passionate : 
 
 You must not leave me in this way ! It is brutal ! Come 
 and see me again. What is wrong with you ? What have 
 I done ? Give me a chance to set myself right with you. 
 What did I do or say to make you leave us so abruptly ? 
 I 'm scribbling this here, with brother Will waiting. I 
 can't put here what is in my heart to say. You must come 
 for a good talk. You are a great, fresh, bitter wind to me. 
 You 've done me much good : you 've restored my faith 
 in men; you 've made me love the lonely mountains. 
 Come and say good-by to me once more in a different 
 spirit. Yours, MARY. 
 
 " I reckon the boat is waiting for me," he 
 said grimly, at the end of the reading of this
 
 268 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 letter. " I Ve wasted five months on a fool 
 project. I 'm due to hit the back trail to 
 morrow, and hit it hard while I Ve got money 
 enough to get home on."
 
 XII 
 
 HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE 
 
 JIM was awake at daylight the next morn 
 ing, and set to work sullenly and swiftly to 
 pack his trunk. At ten o'clock he was on his 
 way to Liverpool. He was not sure that he 
 could get a boat, but he had determined to 
 leave London at all costs. Again green Eng 
 land solemn, silent, and empty rural Eng 
 land passed before his eyes; but this time 
 he was too discouraged and too deeply moved 
 to observe any detail. 
 
 He felt as if he had torn himself away from 
 something very sweet and beautiful, and this 
 feeling, combined with a realizing sense of his 
 failure, took away the elation which would 
 naturally have been his at starting out to re 
 turn to the West. The accent of the people 
 in his compartment annoyed him : three of 
 them were plainly London "runties," who 
 smoked tobacco which should have cut their 
 
 269
 
 270 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 throats ; and the fourth was a very silent, 
 moon-faced individual, who opened his mouth 
 to speak only when he thrust his head from 
 the window and called to the guards: "Weer 
 are us noo ? " which he did at every station. 
 
 The fifth man was a Scotsman, and his 
 burring tongue at last helped Jim to forget 
 his bitter failure. The small cockneys were 
 contending for the grandeur of Liverpool, 
 while the Scotsman defended "Glassgie" as 
 the only place in which to live. Their clamor 
 was genuinely amusing. Jim took a hand at 
 last, and argued that the only place to live 
 was Wagon Wheel Gap. 
 
 Itwas raining in Liverpool, andthe sunshine- 
 lover was miserable. The fast boat did not 
 go till the next day, and so all day he lounged 
 about his hotel, silent and sullen. At the ear 
 liest moment next day he sought the steamer, 
 and boarded her ; and so weary was he of the 
 city and the rain, and so homesick for the 
 mountains, he felt very little hate of the boat. 
 The ugly smells, now sickeningly familiar, 
 were there, but the interior was newer and 
 cleaner in all ways than on the other line. 
 The miner spent nearly his last dollar in get 
 ting a berth where little motion would be felt,
 
 HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE 271 
 
 and was quite overawed by the polished cabi 
 nets and the fittings of the room. 
 
 " Money 's no object here," he said to the 
 purser. " If there 's a cubby-hole on this 
 boat that 's easier for a seasick man than an 
 other, I want it. I 'm going into solitary 
 confinement this time, if I don't lay up a cent. 
 No more snoring drummers for me." 
 
 Again he stood looking down on the bustle 
 of embarkation, but this time with a different 
 feeling. " I 'm going home, no more to roam," 
 kept ringing in his head, and he could not 
 keep out the rest of the hymn, " No more to 
 sin and sorrow." The thought of Mary came 
 circling again and again in the swirl of his 
 thought, and always with a sunny radiance 
 and an odor of flowers, but always, too, with 
 a subtle pain quite beyond his analysis. She 
 was the one sweet and sunny place in all 
 England to him. 
 
 He was leaning over the rail, watching the 
 busy porters dimly, but thinking of Wynd- 
 hurst, when he caught sight of Twombly him 
 self stalking majestically up the gang-plank, 
 attended by a porter or two. He was dressed 
 in a gray-and-yellow plaid suit, wore a cap 
 with two "bills," as Jim would say, and car-
 
 272 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 ried a brown-and-green shawl over his arm. 
 Altogether he made a stalwart and striking 
 figure. 
 
 When Jim met him at the top of the plank, 
 Twombly grinned a little sheepishly and said, 
 " I turn up, you see." 
 
 " I 'm mighty glad to see you. Are you 
 going my way ? " 
 
 " I am that, provided you are still of a mind 
 to let me look at that property." 
 
 "That 's what it 's for; but how did you 
 happen to hit on this boat ? " 
 
 " Oh, Mary told me you had planned to 
 board the fastest steamer on your return, and 
 so I assumed you 'd take this line." 
 
 Twombly's manner toward the mountaineer 
 had undergone great change. All stiffness 
 had melted away, and his eyes were frank 
 and manly. He no longer affected to look at 
 Jim's hat-rim without seeing it. He entered 
 upon the most unreserved good-comradeship 
 at once, and Jim warmed toward him without 
 intending to do so. 
 
 " I say, old chap," Twombly said suddenly, 
 "you left Mary and the rest of your friends 
 quite cut up by your sudden departure. Here 
 is a letter intrusted to my keeping." He
 
 HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE 273 
 
 handed Jim a letter addressed " James Matte- 
 son, Esq.," and the handwriting was Mary's. 
 Jim took it and, with the face of a poker- 
 player, put it into his pocket. Twombly 
 searched deeper. 
 
 " And here are some letters handed to me 
 by the clerk at your hotel. You left no for 
 warding address, you know." 
 
 Jim pocketed these without a word, and 
 Twombly turned to his men. " Here, porter, 
 get my luggage stowed into my room. The 
 steward will show you." 
 
 When he turned Jim said: "Well, I '11 tell you 
 how it was. I stood the climate about as long 
 as I could, and then I had to hit the back trail 
 or go plumb twisted. I 'm sorry they feel that 
 way; but when I heard them blacks a-singin', 
 and saw their camp-fires sparkle, I just nach- 
 erly had to pack my kit and hy-ak kil-pi, as 
 the Siwash says. I 'm mighty sorry, but that 's 
 the way I 'm made. The air 's too moist for 
 my lungs. Your sun 's too pale. You 're 
 not my kind, and I 'm not yours. That 's the 
 how of it." 
 
 It was wonderful to see how thoroughly 
 Twombly made himself at home on the ship. 
 Wherever he walked porters attended him. 
 
 18
 
 274 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 He secured the snuggest corner on deck for 
 his chair, and the best seat at the table, and 
 his state-room at the end often minutes looked 
 like a place of permanent residence. The 
 tone in which he spoke to the various stew 
 ards gave Jim a desire to kick him, and yet 
 he liked him after all, and in spite of all. 
 
 After Twombly left him the miner con 
 tinued to lean across the rail, absorbed in the 
 noise and movement of the wharf. His long, 
 strong body, grown gaunt during his days of 
 worry, was graceful as that of a panther, and 
 his profile, clear cut as the stamp on a coin, 
 was serene and cold. He had lost much of 
 his tan in the misty light of England, and his 
 strong, lean hands were without sign of toil, 
 and yet he was more subtly alien than ever. 
 Girls passing looked upon him with admira 
 tion and in wonder of what manner of man he 
 could be. 
 
 Though so serene of profile, Jim was in 
 wardly a-quiver with impatience. He hoped 
 each flock of excited passengers would be the 
 last and that the signal for departure would 
 sound. He did not care to read his letters 
 till the boat was under way. He was done 
 with Mary and all she represented ; that he
 
 HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE 275 
 
 had settled in the long hours of waiting in 
 Liverpool. Whether she had been genu 
 inely interested in him or not counted for lit 
 tle in the face of his clear realization that 
 he, a man of the mountains, could not ask a 
 woman of Mary's life and temperament to for 
 sake her own and follow him. As for Bessie 
 well, that would bear thinking about. She 
 was closer to his way of life. If the mine 
 panned out 
 
 The stream of incoming passengers slack 
 ened. The stewards went about warning all 
 visitors to go ashore. All about him he saw 
 people embracing one another in fervent fare 
 wells. Deep down in the monstrous bulk of 
 the boat mysterious noises began, as though 
 the creature were trying its own heart's action. 
 The mountaineer straightened his big frame 
 and lifted his face. The throb of engines 
 began, and the rush of water told of the accel 
 erating motion of the screws. At last the 
 great vessel began to move. The miner was 
 homeward bound. Lifting his broad-brimmed 
 hat from his head, he stood for an instant 
 bared; then he waved it and shouted, " Good- 
 by ! " Those who stood near him at the rail 
 thought he called to some one on the wharf,
 
 276 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 but he did not. His good-by was addressed 
 to a small, fair woman in London, and included 
 a relinquishment of all the complicated, worri 
 some social relations which she represented. 
 He was returning to the simpler ways of living 
 among the tall peaks of the Uncompahgre. 
 
 As the boat felt its way out of the harbor 
 the mist lifted a little, and Jim caught a mo 
 mentary glimpse of rows of low brick houses, 
 red in the setting sun ; then the fog rolled 
 back, and he left England as he had found 
 it, dark with clouds. With a feeling of exul 
 tation which crowded out all apprehension of 
 sickness, he went below to read his letters. 
 
 He opened those from home first One 
 was from Mrs. Ramsdell, and contained a 
 small picture of Bessie, which Jim looked at a 
 long time before going on with the text. Mrs. 
 Ramsdell said that they were all a little wor 
 ried about him, and wished to see him return 
 ing soon. "We realize how hard it is to sell 
 mining stock just now, and if it were not so 
 dull here the doctor says he would ask you 
 to come home and let things go. He is 
 making great sacrifices to keep the men at 
 work. I inclose a proof of some new pictures 
 Bessie has just had taken. She did n't want
 
 HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE 277 
 
 to have me send it, but I thought it might 
 serve as a charm to keep off the power of 
 some pretty English girl. We talk of you 
 every day, and wonder when you will be able 
 to start back." 
 
 Mary's letter was unexpectedly calm and 
 kindly. He was not in a mood to understand 
 the spirit in which it was written. 
 
 DEAR JIM : I hope Mr. Twombly will overtake you and 
 hand you my letter. If he does I wish you would write 
 me a word to say that you forgive me and that you are 
 not angry at us. I know you think we were " having 
 fun" with you; but we were not at least, not after we 
 really knew you. My memory of your visit will always be 
 a great joy to me if only you '11 write and say that you do 
 not wholly hate and despise me. I am horribly lonesome 
 to-day. If only you could come in to lunch ! Twombly 
 thinks you have had news of a " strike " in your mine, and 
 is suddenly very anxious to go in with you. This is for 
 your private ear. He 's a good fellow, and I do hope 
 you '11 take him into the venture. And, remember, I want 
 a share also a very little, but enough so that I can feel 
 myself your partner. 
 
 It 's a suffocating thing to say good-by, Jim, when you 
 know it ts good-by. I know I shall never see you again 
 but you 've done me good, and every thought of you is 
 wholesome and medicinal. I shall always think of you 
 striding up the trail or smoking your pipe with old Ouray 
 soaring behind you and the Grizzly Bear roaring in the canon. 
 There is a wild side to my nature, so that I can understand 
 you ; but you are not tame enough, not insane enough, to
 
 278 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 understand me, and so we must always live at opposite 
 poles of the world. When you die they '11 bury you on 
 the mountain- side, where it is lonely of humankind and 
 bright with sun, where the winds roar in the pines. When 
 I die they '11 put me into ground rotten with thousands 
 of others like me, and so even in death we '11 be set as far 
 apart as the width of the world. 
 
 It was a comfort to me that you seemed to understand 
 that man whose body lies buried in the sands of Africa. 
 It is time to seal my letter. I could write all day to you, 
 but I must say 
 
 Good-by and all happiness. 
 
 MARY. 
 
 Jim intently read and re-read this letter. 
 There was something in it which moved him 
 deeply, yet he could not analyze its power. 
 He felt dimly the woman's love for her dead 
 hero, but her attitude toward him was too com 
 plicated for his ways of thinking. In the end 
 he fastened upon one dominant note, that of 
 her loneliness, and set to work to answer and 
 assuage that pain. 
 
 LITTLE PARTNER: Dont you worry a minute. Im 
 not disgusted about anything special Im not mad at 
 you. I was homesick, thats the fact about it, and so 
 I just naturally jumped the whole business. I like you 
 all, but youre strangers after all. I dont quite savvy 
 you. Youre not my people. I have no kick coming. 
 You all treated me white mighty white, considering
 
 HOMEWARD IN THE BIG CANOE 279 
 
 what an old lahoo I am anyway. Id no business to get 
 into your country ; its like a caribou wandering into the 
 buffalo-grass country : he can live, but he aint happy- 
 I was pretty lonesome myself yesterday waiting for the 
 boat, but Im all right to-day, for Im going back. Im 
 aiming for old Ouray, and if we dont blow out a cylinder- 
 head or bust a knee 111 see the snow-peaks again in ten 
 days. Im mighty sorry youre not going along, but I 
 reckon youre right. Colorados a little too far from 
 London and the air a little chilly for you. Yes, I reckon 
 its good-by except when I hear from you in a letter. 
 Anyhow, Im much obliged for all you did for me. I 
 wont forget it, not in a thousand years. You certainly 
 made London a mighty sight cheerfuller for me by being 
 in it. Yours respectfly, 
 
 JIM MATTESON.
 
 XIII 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 
 
 HAPPILY Jim's return voyage was less 
 painful than his going. He was sick only 
 two days ; and yet he was never quite well, 
 and never happy. The feeling of insecurity, 
 of being suspended in the air, never quite left 
 him. He ate, but took no pleasure in it. 
 " I go through the motions ; but it ain't eatin' : 
 it 's just coalin' up," he said. 
 
 He was much touched when at Queens- 
 town he received a telegram signed " Mary 
 and Will," wishing him " a good voyage and a 
 pot of gold at the end of every rainbow "; but 
 he did not attempt to reply to it. His eyes 
 were on the western sky. 
 
 The weather was cold and cloudy, but the 
 sea was smooth, and Jim took a hand in 
 throwing rings at a peg, and also at shovel- 
 board, which Twombly played from morning 
 
 till night if he could induce any one to keep 
 
 280
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 281 
 
 him company. As for the gambling of the 
 smoking-room, Jim kept out of that for lack 
 of funds, much as he would have liked to 
 throw a card. He had barely money enough 
 to carry him to Chicago, and he did not care 
 to be under obligations to the Englishman. 
 
 Twombly was willing to spend hours in 
 discussing the mine, now that he was fairly 
 off; but he was cautious of even half-promises, 
 and Jim, being bored and irritated, refused to 
 go over the ground a second time. " There 's 
 the mine. You can have an option on a 
 quarter-interest at fifty thousand by pay 
 ing me five thousand dollars now, or take 
 your chances after examining it. After we 
 reach New York the whole business may take 
 a flirt. The doc may or may not take your 
 offer." 
 
 " I think I '11 wait till I see the mine." 
 " Suit yourself," Jim carelessly replied, 
 though he knew that his trip was a dismal 
 failure unless the Englishman came in. He 
 did not know that the cautious Twombly had 
 already in his pocket a favorable report of the 
 mine from a friend in Denver. The boat 
 entered a rolling sea, and Jim talked no more 
 on any topic for three days.
 
 282 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 As the gray-green vastness of the ocean 
 slipped away day by day, his mind regained 
 tone, and his words began to smack of the 
 pines and the country rock again. The 
 boat running smoothly enabled him to al 
 most enjoy sailing, and the near prospect 
 of landing excited him to the point of singing. 
 He woke one night with a sudden thrill of joy. 
 The boat was at anchor ! Dressing hurriedly, 
 he went on deck, expecting to see the lights 
 of New York ; but all was blackness and si 
 lence. The boat had stopped to repair an 
 engine. He returned to his berth raging at 
 the loss of time. 
 
 It was early on the last day of July when 
 the outlook sighted the Statue of Liberty, and 
 as the majestic, generous New York harbor 
 opened out to receive his ship the mountaineer 
 felt something hot surge round his heart, and 
 his breath quickened. He took off his hat to 
 New York. It was the gate to America, after 
 all, and the greatest American city less dis 
 tinctive than Denver to him, but nevertheless 
 American, and he was glad of any beauty 
 or grandeur it might possess. Besides, he 
 was weary of the sea and eager for the 
 land.
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 283 
 
 " Right here I quit," he said. " Hereafter, 
 when I feel like a sea-voyage, I '11 go to jail 
 with a good ripe rain-barrel." 
 
 Twombly was astonished by what he saw. 
 " I say, now, this is magnificent ! There 's 
 nothing finer anywhere. No wonder you are 
 proud of New York." The glittering bay, 
 with its crawling tugs, its lazily moving steam 
 ers, its loitering sailing-vessels, appealed to 
 the Englishman with all the greater force by 
 reason of its unexpected largeness. " Nature 
 has been kind to New York, you know. 
 Think of Paris with her small Seine, and Lon 
 don with her Thames. I wonder you Ve 
 not said more about this great city." 
 
 Jim looked uneasy. " Well, you see, we 
 fellers in the West are a little leery of New 
 York. She 's too much of a money power to 
 suit us. She 's too selfish and overbearing 
 accordin' to our notion. She 's big and fine, 
 sure thing ; but she 's after the dollar, all 
 right. Wants it a good dollar too, which 
 makes the West extra hot under the collar 
 just now." 
 
 "Ah, yes; I 've heard something about that: 
 but I don't understand that silver controversy, 
 y' know."
 
 284 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "Well, I can't say I do; but I kind o' 'sit 
 in ' with the boys out West, although I 'm a 
 gold-miner and nacherly " 
 
 A cannon-shot breaking from a near-by 
 point of land interrupted him; and then, as the 
 gay flag of the Republic went aloft on its 
 high mast like a wind-blown rose, Jim's heart 
 leaped, and a sudden singular contraction 
 came into his throat. "There she rises the 
 prettiest flag afloat ! " he said to the English 
 man. 
 
 " I suppose every nation thinks the same 
 of its own standard," said Twombly. 
 
 " Well, we don't think ; we know it ! " re 
 plied Jim, inclined to be insistent at the 
 moment. " She 's pretty as the face of a 
 .girl." 
 
 As the big boat crept slowly up the nar 
 rowing harbor Twombly expressed a growing 
 disappointment in the look of the city. " It's 
 immense!" he said. "But what a ragged 
 sky-line ! Not without impressiveness," he 
 added thoughtfully. " It seems to me very 
 American, though I know you consider it quite 
 European. Those tall buildings, now " 
 Jim was thinking of trains, and paid little 
 attention to the big Englishman, who mopped
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 285 
 
 his neck and cried out against the increasing 
 heat. To most of his questions concerning 
 the city Jim could only acknowledge igno 
 rance. At last he said: 
 
 " Now see here ; I can tell you all about 
 the mountains from Sierra Blanca to the Grin- 
 nell Glacier, but New York is new country 
 to me. I camped here just one night, and 
 was mighty glad to get away with my shirt 
 on. I don't want any more city in mine. I 
 think about three hours will do me this trip. 
 I climb the first good train that gets out for 
 the West." 
 
 To go from the boat to the city streets was 
 like stepping from March into August. The 
 morning was murky and still and damp, and 
 the clamor of teamsters and fruit- sellers, the 
 hot stenches of the alleys and the oppressive 
 crowds, took away a large part of Jim's new 
 born love for the East. 
 
 " I reckon about one hour of this swamp 
 will do me," he said to Twombly. " I 'm 
 climbin' for high country these days. I 'd 
 jump clear over Chicago if I could, and if it 
 were n't for the folks in Aspen Park." 
 
 Twombly was much disturbed at this haste. 
 " Oh, I say now, Matteson, this won't do. I
 
 286 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 want to see a little of New York. Can't you 
 stop over a couple of days ? " 
 
 " Not a minute," Jim grimly replied. " I 'm 
 on the home stretch now, and you could n't 
 switch me off on a bear track." 
 
 Twombly, who did not care to be left 
 behind, stood on the stern of the ferry-boat 
 and sorrowfully looked back at the great row 
 of mysterious buildings. " It looks uncom 
 monly interesting," he said at last; "but I '11 
 have a look at it as I return." 
 
 " All right. Drive your stakes here if you 
 want to ; but my name is Colorado Jim, and 
 I 'm going home." 
 
 He fairly dragged Twombly from the boat 
 and on through the waiting-room to the ticket- 
 window. Not till the tickets were purchased 
 and their trunks checked did he permit him 
 self a moment in which to think of other 
 things. 
 
 "There, now," he said; "we have nothing 
 to do but wait till the whistle blows." 
 
 " How soon does it blow ? " 
 
 "At one, according to the man in the box." 
 
 Twombly looked at his watch. " It 's only 
 half after ten. Suppose we take a turn about 
 the city."
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 287 
 
 " Not for a half o' hog. I 'm keeping my 
 eye on that hired man at the gate. When he 
 opens it a half a link I get away. I 'm not 
 curious about things. I 'm just in a hurry to 
 see familiar grass." 
 
 Jim had another reason for hurry, and that 
 was Bessie. America and home began 
 where she stood to welcome him ; the other 
 thousands of miles of town and country were 
 merely part of his foreign travels. There was 
 a restlessness in his brain, a gnawing hurry 
 in his heart quite new to him. Whenever the 
 words "Colorado" or "Denver" caught his 
 eye on time-tables or posters he experienced a 
 curious warming of the heart, and this emotion 
 included the girl at Chicago. Mary was 
 receding into the past; Bessie was drawing 
 near. The sea, with all its glooms and un- 
 retraceable terrors, rolled between Mary and 
 his thought; but the little girl in Aspen 
 Park was almost within reach of his hand. 
 
 He had filled his pockets with folders of 
 the Western railways, and amused himself 
 and instructed Twombly by looking up the 
 time-tables. Twombly was rather better in 
 structed than most Englishmen in the vast 
 distances of the United States, but he was
 
 288 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 properly astonished to find Denver more than 
 a thousand miles west of Chicago. 
 
 It was a long wait, but Jim had the patience 
 of a man of the wilderness; and while Twombly 
 wandered about the station and read the plac 
 ards on the wall and chaffered the newsman, 
 the mountaineer sat almost immovably in a 
 seat not far from the door. He refused to 
 go to lunch for fear of overstaying the time ; 
 and when the crier announced his train, he 
 sprang to his feet, and remorselessly made 
 for the door with Twombly's bag. The Eng 
 lishman was just returning from the cafe, and 
 was able to follow his guide closely. 
 
 Jim began to brag a little as they entered 
 the train. "There, I call these cars ; they're 
 no stage-coaches tacked end for end." 
 
 Twombly now took the attitude of critic. 
 " I object to having the passengers all thrown 
 together in this way. It 's too common too 
 promiscuous, y' know. I 'd rather have a 
 separate compartment. You don't want to 
 be exposed to the talk of the yokels in this 
 way, really." 
 
 " Oh, you 're too blank highfalutin," said 
 Jim. " You must n't take any of that out 
 to Wagon Wheel. Your life would n't be
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 289 
 
 worth a leatherette if you tried to draw lines 
 on the ' yokels ' out there." 
 
 Twombly had a notion Jim was venting his 
 high spirits on him, and did not reply ; and 
 as the train moved out soon, they had other 
 things to think of. 
 
 " What an extraordinary country ! " said 
 Twombly once or twice each hour. " What 
 State is this ? " 
 
 "New Jersey, I reckon one of the old 
 States." 
 
 " Is Colorado at all like this ? " 
 
 Jim smiled'. "Well, not enough to hurt. 
 Colorado is all kinds of a country except this. 
 The most of it is a plumb mile nearer the sky 
 than that hill, and the rest of it is three." 
 
 " Upon my word ! How soon do we reach 
 Chicago ? " 
 
 " To-morrow afternoon, if nothing happens." 
 
 "Moving at this speed? It's like going 
 from Paris to Moscow. It is a. big country 
 like Russia." 
 
 " Big ain't no name for it. Wait till you 
 hit the slope on a Santa Fee ' Overland Flier.' 
 You '11 think all outdoors is lined up and 
 going East." 
 
 At six Jim led the way into the dining-car
 
 290 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 with the air of a man on a familiar trail, and 
 enjoyed the Englishman's amazement and 
 pleasure. " This is what I call a dining-car. 
 Your narrow lunch-counters and little ' corri 
 dor-cars ' are fitten to make a sheep laugh." 
 
 Twombly endured all this brag with very 
 good grace, and admitted that England was 
 " behind America in some things." 
 
 As he sobered down a little, Jim ceased to 
 be so disagreeably boastful, and admitted 
 that the sleeping-cars were stuffy, and that 
 their publicity might be distressing to ladies 
 not accustomed to them. Twombly, on his 
 part, conceded that no one could undertake 
 these long distances without some such plan 
 of accommodation. 
 
 In the morning the Englishman, being up 
 early, had the whole smoking-room and all 
 the wash-stands to himself, and was enthu 
 siastic. " Really, now, this is unexpected 
 good fortune. It is quite like a moving 
 hotel. But the country seems unkempt," he 
 added, looking out of the window. 
 
 Jim studied it meditatively. " Does look 
 kind o' laid out for the wash, don't it ? " 
 
 "What State is this?" 
 
 " I put this up for Ohio."
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 291 
 
 " Are we in the West now ? " 
 
 " No ; we don't hit the West till we begin 
 to climb the slope a day and a night out of 
 Chicago. We consider Chicago in the East, 
 and New York next door to England." 
 
 The gathered grain standing in the shock, 
 the portly ricks of hay, the busy teams, the 
 little wooden towns, the roomy trains, the 
 enormous engines, the absence of women and 
 old men in the fields, the free-and-easy man 
 ner of the train-hands, all came in for remark 
 from Twombly ; and as he slowly talked of it 
 all, the Colorado mountaineer began to feel a 
 singular affection for Ohio and Indiana. His 
 point of view had changed. From his high 
 place in the mountains he had always looked 
 back over these Eastern States as slow-going 
 communities from which some good raw ma 
 terial for cow-boys occasionally came. Now 
 he began to feel that America meant not 
 merely the mountain country and the cities 
 he knew, but all the cities and all the States. 
 He rose on the surge of a patriotic emotion 
 which lifted him above all sectional differences, 
 all warring political ideals, to a conception of 
 the dignity and promise of his country which 
 made him feel a pride in every pretty girl and
 
 292 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 every fine field he saw. He acknowledged 
 a kinship with every youth toiling in the 
 fields. In the glow of this emotion Mary 
 became as insubstantial as a wreath of smoke. 
 Correspondingly, from the moment he set 
 foot on shore Bessie grew in importance to 
 him. She was akin someway to all that he 
 found sweet and wholesome in American life. 
 As Mary passed out of his life the little girl 
 in Aspen Park assumed immensest value. 
 She stood again in the light of a possible 
 wife. She was realizable, tangible. 
 
 In the long hours of the journey he per 
 mitted his mind to follow out the leadings of 
 a shining, beckoning hand. If the mine yielded 
 certain results and " she " (the girl) continued 
 to be interested in him, he would build a house 
 in Wagon Wheel for summer, and one in 
 Sweet Water Springs for winter. He could 
 come and go between the mine and home. 
 
 Home ! His heart grew warm with the 
 word. Since thirteen years of age he had 
 never known a home ; he had only camped. 
 His boyhood had been one of toil and weari 
 ness, and the house in which his mother 
 walked her ceaseless round of toil had been 
 small and graceless. A bed in the garret at
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 293 
 
 home, a bunk in a cow-camp, a blanket and a 
 " purp"-tent these had made up for the most 
 part his home comforts. He had never com 
 plained, and had not given much thought to 
 anything better than board at a hotel till after 
 meeting Bessie and Mrs. Ramsdell in their 
 lovely cottage. Now his ambition was to own 
 a house as good as Ramsdell's. 
 
 Meanwhile Twombly was full of talk, and 
 his reflections on the country were a heavy 
 strain on the mountaineer, who wished to 
 spend his time in mapping out a course of 
 action toward winning a timid young girl. 
 Jim's replies became each time more dis 
 tinctly curt, and at last he said, with con 
 siderable irritation : 
 
 "Just bottle up your questions till you 
 strike the doc, and you '11 get a whole car-load 
 of information. What he don't know would 
 go into a hat. I never saw his beat. He 
 used to lecture to me every night in the 
 mountains on how the rocks was laid down, 
 and how the rivers got into the cracks, and 
 about the stars, and all that, till I was plumb 
 locoed with it. Now, I was raised in Mis 
 souri and Kansas. I went to school till I was 
 thirteen at the district school, and one winter
 
 294 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 at the graded school at Sunflower when I 
 was fourteen. Right there I quit. After 
 that all I got I picked up along the trail. So 
 don't you size me up as a professor or a 
 leather-bound history ; for if you do you '11 
 fall right down." 
 
 Thereafter Twombly spared him. 
 
 At last the low sand-dunes which mark the 
 ancient site of Lake Michigan came into view, 
 and other trains spinning round on parallel 
 curves, under great columns of black smoke, 
 told that Chicago was near. Jim was again 
 tense with excitement, and pointing out a 
 freight-earmarked "Denver and Rio Grande," 
 said, " We 're getting home." 
 
 "What a grimy country; but what a sky! " 
 Twombly exclaimed at South Chicago. "It is 
 like Algiers. Are these the prairies ? " he 
 asked, looking out over the marshes. 
 
 " Not yet," replied Jim. " You won't see 
 the prairies till we strike out from Chicago 
 to-morrow. These are only low flat lands." 
 
 Slowly the monstrous engine felt its way 
 through the tangle of streets, under hovering 
 clouds of vapor, and at last drew into the 
 great shed, where it stood breathing heavily, 
 like a horse too tired to do more than wait
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 295 
 
 with heaving sides and drooping head for the 
 harness to be removed. Jim, who had been 
 restlessly walking the aisles for a good half- 
 hour, seized Twombly by the shoulder. 
 
 " Come on, colonel ; here 's where we con 
 nect with the West." 
 
 Followed by Twombly and the porter, Jim 
 hurried toward the big iron grating which 
 shut his waiting friends from him. His keen 
 eyes distinguished Bessie standing beside the 
 doctor's shoulder. His heart warmed mightily 
 toward them all, and he waved his big hat in 
 greeting. 
 
 Leaving Mrs. Ramsdell and Bessie outside, 
 the doctor charged through the crowd, and 
 clapped his partner on the shoulder. " Hello, 
 old man ! How are you ? " 
 
 " I 'm all right. How are you and the 
 folks?" 
 
 " Never better. Give me your valise." 
 
 The mountaineer was astonished to find 
 his breath rather short as he faced the slim 
 little girl outside, and for a few moments he 
 was not quite able to command his lips. He 
 thrust out his hand to her first of all, with a 
 few words which she could not understand. 
 She shook hands, but drew away a little. He
 
 296 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 turned to Mrs. Ramsdell, who was smilingly 
 studying him. 
 
 " You 've lost your good, brown com 
 plexion," she said. " You stayed so long we 
 were afraid you were not coming back at all." 
 
 Jim's brain suddenly cleared. " Little old 
 America is good enough for me," he said, 
 and turned to Bessie as he spoke. 
 
 She looked older and less girlish to him, 
 and her voice was cold as she said : " You 
 must have had a wonderful time." 
 
 " I had the time of my life," he replied, in a 
 tone which they could not understand. He 
 turned to Twombly, who stood waiting. 
 " Folks, this is the Mr. Twombly I wrote 
 about. He 's our ' woodchuck.' ' 
 
 Ramsdell shook hands. " I 'm glad to meet 
 you, Mr. Twombly, even if you don't fill our 
 pot.'-' 
 
 " He 's the best I could do," said Jim. 
 
 Twombly gallantly tried to enter into the 
 joke. " I can testify to the loyalty of your 
 partner, Dr. Ramsdell," he said. " He is 
 vastly persuasive." 
 
 Ramsdell then introduced the Englishman 
 to the two ladies, and they all moved out 
 into the waiting-room. Jim perceived a sub-
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 297 
 
 tie change in Bessie. She made no opportu 
 nities to speak to him as she had done before. 
 She seemed rather to avoid him, and ap 
 peared taller and paler, and more self-re 
 strained than when he had last seen her. 
 
 Ramsdell led the way to the side door, 
 where his two-seated yellow runabout stood 
 waiting. Jim's telegram had not mentioned 
 Twombly, but he said : 
 
 " You 're to go right home with us." 
 
 Twombly protested : "I can see you did 
 not expect me. I beg you will allow me to 
 go to a hotel." 
 
 " By no means," said the doctor. " If we 
 are to do business together we must move 
 quickly, and to be on the spot to-night is 
 essential." 
 
 Twombly consented, but more on account 
 of the women, whom he admired very much, 
 than on account of the mine. 
 
 Being mindful of his partner, the doctor 
 took charge of matters at the carriage. " Mr. 
 Twombly, you take a seat in the back with 
 my wife ; and, Jim, you '11 be obliged to sit be 
 side Bessie. I know you hate it, but there 's 
 no help for it. I '11 take a trolley car and 
 beat you all home."
 
 298 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Bessie could not object to this, and as Mrs. 
 Ramsdell carefully absorbed all of Twombly's 
 attention, the two young people were left to 
 themselves on the seat next the driver. 
 
 Bessie spoke first. 
 
 " I 'm so anxious to hear the story of your 
 trip. I hope you are going to tell us all 
 about it." 
 
 Her words were right, but her tone was 
 merely polite. 
 
 " It was n't much," he replied. " The main 
 thing is I collared the Earl." 
 
 Her face lighted up a little. 
 
 " Is he an earl ? " she whispered, leaning 
 toward him. 
 
 Jim was so taken up with the faint touch 
 of her breath on his ear that he fairly stam 
 mered. 
 
 "Well no; you see I call him that for 
 fun. He 's just a plain, every-day engineer. 
 He 's interested in drain-pipes." He turned 
 toward her as he said : "I was mighty glad 
 to get your letters. It was sure a blue trip 
 for me in London, and I was glad to hear 
 from home." 
 
 " You did n't show it very much in your 
 answers," she said, with a sudden change of
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 299 
 
 tone. There was a little silence. " Were you 
 sick coming back ? " she asked indifferently. 
 
 11 Sick ! Yes, of course I was sick. Had 
 two meals one off the coast of Ireland, the 
 other when I sighted the Statue of Liberty. 
 Oh, I 'm a prize sailor ! I told doc before I 
 went it would bust my constitution. It did, 
 and I 'm going to lay claim to damages." 
 
 " You don't look so nice and brown as you 
 did. London has spoiled you," she said, with 
 a touch of audacity. "We hear you became 
 a great society man over there." 
 
 " Who told you that ? " 
 
 " Oh, we heard all about it. We expected 
 you to come home wearing English plaids and 
 a monocle." 
 
 He tingled a little under her smile. How 
 pretty she was ! He slyly looked her over, 
 from her little ear down to the inordinately 
 small foot which showed at the edge of her 
 gown. She knew he was looking at her ad 
 miringly, but she remained very demure, with 
 eyes turned away. How different from Mary 
 how sweet and comprehensible and un 
 troubled she was ! 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell and Mr. Twombly were talk 
 ing about Chicago. " Yes, it 's a dreadfully
 
 300 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 inartistic place ; but you must remember it is 
 only about fifty years old, .and is changing 
 every day for the better." 
 
 Bessie joined in the conversation, much to 
 Jim's dissatisfaction. He was not interested 
 in Chicago : he only wanted to talk with 
 Bessie; but the more he studied her, the less 
 certain he felt of pleasing her by anything he 
 might say. There was something in her 
 manner which distinctly chilled him. Mrs. 
 Ramsdell's eyes meanwhile were inquiring of 
 Bessie: "What is the matter? Have you 
 quarreled already ? " 
 
 To this glance Bessie paid no heed, and 
 Jim was forced to sit in silence while she told 
 Twombly all about Aspen Park, into which they 
 had then entered. It really was an attractive 
 place, with its smooth green lawns and flower 
 beds, and wide porches looking upon the 
 shaded streets. The wind was from the lake, 
 and the air was cool and sweet. 
 
 Jim threw in a word : " Oh, it 's nice ; but 
 I 'd hate to live here all the time. About eight 
 thousand feet above the sea suits me best." 
 
 " I like it here. I could n't live anywhere 
 else," said Bessie, more emphatically than the 
 case demanded.
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 30! 
 
 Jim was perfectly sure that something had 
 gone wrong, but did not care at the moment 
 to ask for an explanation, especially as Bessie 
 turned again to Twombly, who frankly ad 
 mired her, and accepted her interest in him 
 with unusual grace. 
 
 They found the doctor awaiting them, and 
 Jim, springing out to assist Mrs. Ramsdell, 
 gave Twombly the pleasure of handing Bes 
 sie out. In a few minutes they were all 
 within, and Twombly had a chance to see 
 what the home of his hostess was like. As a 
 matter of fact, he was profoundly pleased. It 
 did not occur to him that Jim was interested 
 in dainty Miss Blake, and he saw no reason 
 why he should not make a long stay in 
 Chicago. 
 
 " By Jove ! you 're ideally situated here 
 quite like a cottage in the country," he said as 
 Ramsdell was taking him to his room. 
 
 "We think it 's rather nice," the doctor 
 replied. " My practice is mainly in the city, 
 and when I 'm here I am free of worry." 
 
 As soon as Twombly was taken care of, 
 Ramsdell came into Jim's room and shut the 
 door. 
 
 " Well, how is it, old man ? Got 'im ? "
 
 302 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " He 's on the line, but we may lose 'im. I 
 done my best, doc ; but they 're a little shy 
 over there just now. These big mining fail 
 ures in Africa have let everybody down hard. 
 Twombly 's a fair man, and means business, 
 if we Ve got the metal ; and we have. He is 
 going out to investigate. Your letter about 
 the Ella Grace just about upended me. I 
 must get out there quick. I have a notion 
 they Ve opened up something good." 
 
 The doctor whistled softly. "Jim, I 'm 
 going to save your life. I 'm arranging a 
 junketing party, and Bessie is to go along." 
 
 Jim turned and held out his hand. " Shake, 
 doc ! that wipes out the grudge I Ve had 
 against ye for sending me on this blank sail 
 ing-trip." 
 
 " Pulled ye down a little, did n't it? " 
 
 Jim looked solemn. "Doc, I caved in; I 
 sure did. It was the worst proposition I ever 
 went up against. But it 's all right now. I 
 forgive you. That is, I will if you help me 
 win out with the little girl down-stairs. She 
 seems a little shy this trip." 
 
 "Win out? Why, man, you Ve got a 
 cinch. She has n't done a thing but talk of 
 you. She 's crazy to see 'Jim's mountains'
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 303 
 
 that 's what she calls God's hills ; you own 
 'em, root and branch, so far as she is con 
 cerned. She would n't let us see one of your 
 letters to her. Hugged every one of 'em to 
 her bosom and scooted for shelter. I knew 
 you were putting the best of it into those 
 bulky packages, but nothing availed. She 
 was rock-bound silence on that side. The 
 ' missus ' is so pleased at the whole arrange 
 ment, she don't do a thing but pat herself on 
 the head. But say, Jim, this Englishman 
 likes Bessie, too. He had eyes like a potato- 
 bug when he looked at her." 
 
 " I '11 cut him off at the pockets if he inter 
 feres," replied Jim, grimly. 
 
 The doctor threw out a warning hand. 
 "No; not till we empty the pockets, Jim. 
 Seriously, I don't know whether we want his 
 money or not. I kept a small crew pickin' 
 away, and we may strike it yet. How much 
 of a contract have you made with him ? " 
 
 " No contract at all. I tried to get him to 
 make a payment to me on board the boat; 
 but he was shy, and kept on the other side of 
 the fence." 
 
 " I 'm glad of it. Things are coming our 
 way out there, if I 'm any judge o' whisky.
 
 304 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 We '11 keep Twombly interested ; but I 'm 
 not a bit anxious since Cuyler wrote." 
 
 Twombly came down to dinner quite un- 
 wrinkled, and set himself to the enjoyment of 
 Mrs. Ramsdell's excellent but very simple 
 dinner. Jim carried the calm countenance of 
 a Sioux chief, but had a watchful eye upon 
 all that passed between the Englishman and 
 Miss Bessie Blake. 
 
 Ramsdell began at once to plan the trip. 
 "We '11 take the ' Overland Flier ' on the Santa 
 Fe, and change to the Rio Grande at Pueblo." 
 
 Bessie fairly shouted : " Oh, oh, oh ! Won't 
 that be jolly ! When do we start ? " 
 
 "We!" said Ramsdell, teasingly. "Who 
 said you were going ? " 
 
 " You did. Did n't he, auntie ? " 
 
 Ramsdell reconsidered. " Well, perhaps 
 I did. Have a little more chicken, Mr. 
 Twombly." 
 
 Bessie's eyes were shining now. In her 
 excitement she forgot to be reserved with 
 Jim. " I Ve longed to see the mountains all 
 my life, and to go this way is beyond every 
 thing. I '11 need a mountain-dress, won't I ? 
 What do girls wear out there, Mr. Matteson ?" 
 
 Jim was taken by surprise. Well, now
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 305 
 
 you Ve got me cornered. Seems like they 
 wear some kind of dark outfit generally. I 
 don't think any of 'em dress the way you do. 
 I reckon anything you wear will be all right." 
 
 " There 's loyalty, Bessie," said Mrs. Rams- 
 dell. 
 
 The doctor interposed : "Jim would n't 
 know whether a girl wore a Paisley shawl or 
 a kimono." 
 
 " Did you stop over in New York?" asked 
 Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 
 " No ; I hustled right through. I was 
 afraid there would n't be another train out." 
 
 Bessie gave her attention thereafter to 
 Twombly, who talked exceedingly well in 
 answer to the girl's eager questions, and soon 
 held the attention of Mrs. Ramsdell also. 
 
 As they rose from the table Bessie turned 
 to Jim. " Can you play tennis ? " 
 
 " I reckon I can if you '11 show me. I never 
 saw a game yet I could n't make a showing 
 at if I was pushed into it." 
 
 "Oh, what fun! We '11 back you, Mr. 
 Cow-boy. Of course you play, Mr. Twombly." 
 
 Her tone as she said "of course" nettled 
 Jim a little, but he went with Ramsdell to try 
 on his tennis-trousers, resolute as ever.
 
 306 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " We like to have early dinner and a game 
 afterward," Mrs. Ramsdell explained. " Our 
 game, like our dinner, is very light, and no 
 harm results." 
 
 Jim was fairly well fitted out with Rams- 
 dell's trousers and shoes, and as he came into 
 the doctor's room he said : " If anybody in 
 March had told me that in August I 'd be 
 playing tennis with the purtiest girl in Chicago, 
 I 'd 'a' said, ' Where 's your keeper ? ' ' 
 
 " The mutations in human affairs ofttimes 
 transcend the phantasmagoric," mused the 
 doctor. 
 
 Jim eyed him suspiciously. "Don't start in 
 having fun with me, pardner. My in'ards are 
 all hair-springs to-day." He looked at him 
 self in the glass. " Great Jupiter ! If the 
 boys should see me in this rig they 'd toss 
 me in a blanket. Don't tell on me, for the 
 Lord's sake." 
 
 As he stepped forth on the porch the women 
 exclaimed in admiration of his handsome figure. 
 His shamefaced look was deliciously boyish. 
 
 " If you play as well as you look, Jim," 
 called Ramsdell, " you '11 sweep the field." 
 
 Bessie chose Twombly for a partner, and 
 Jim understood that she was carrying out a
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 307 
 
 consistent scheme in ignoring him ; but he 
 determined that she should not have a chance 
 to laugh at him. He gave his entire atten 
 tion to the game. He missed the ball, he 
 batted it through the netting, he made a hun 
 dred faults; but he was admirable by reason 
 of the grace and swiftness of his play. 
 
 " If I could only lay out some muscle in the 
 durn thing," he said to Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 
 She smiled encouragingly. " You do beau 
 tifully, Jim." 
 
 " It gravels me to see that slab-sided Eng 
 lishman play so well," he said in a low voice. 
 " If I had a week's practice I 'd make him 
 hunt a hole. For a woman's game, there 's a 
 whole lot of exercise about tennis," he said to 
 Bessie, over the net. 
 
 She laughed mockingly. " You 're improv 
 ing very fast. Never saw any one pick the 
 game up quicker." 
 
 " That elects me to Congress," he replied. 
 " But I guess I '11 pull out and let the doc 
 take my hand." 
 
 Ramsdell refused, and so Bessie and Twom- 
 bly played a game or two while the others 
 looked on. Jim, under pretense of "learning 
 all the wrinkles," kept near Bessie ; and as the
 
 3o8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 girl laughed at one of Jim's quaint remarks, 
 Ramsdell said to his wife : 
 
 " For a plain, every-day miner, Jim seems to 
 be making love with a certain deftness and 
 despatch." 
 
 "It is wonderful. But did you ever see 
 anything like the coquetry of that girl ? She 's 
 playing havoc with him." 
 
 " I seem to remember some scenes in which 
 you and I played much the same parts, my 
 dear," the doctor musingly replied. " I was a 
 green medical student, had n't half the dig 
 nity and reserve of Jim, and you befooled 
 me." 
 
 " Now, Willard, that is not true. You 
 know I was loyal to you from the very start. 
 I never even looked at any one else." 
 
 "I could cite cases " 
 
 "Well, if I did, it was for your good. You 
 were insufferably egotistical." 
 
 " I did n't see your action in that benevolent 
 aspect then." 
 
 " You do now." 
 
 " I did n't say so." 
 
 Bessie and Twombly played on till darkness 
 fell ; but Jim gave up his position on the court 
 and took a seat on the piazza with the doctor,
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 309 
 
 who tried to get him to talk ; but for some 
 reason he was not in a mood for conversation. 
 His replies were curt and sometimes bluntly 
 evasive, and the doctor gave him up and 
 sauntered out to the stable. 
 
 When Twombly brought in the rackets, 
 Mrs. Ramsdell took possession of him and led 
 him away to look at some flowers along the 
 walk, leaving Bessie and Jim sitting on the 
 porch together. Bessie was wonderfully self- 
 possessed, and developed a keen interest in 
 Wagon Wheel Gap, and asked a great many 
 questions, some of them apparently irrelevant. 
 
 " Are there no girls out there ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, a few. I never got acquainted 
 with any except the waiters in the hotels and 
 restaurants. They 're generally mighty plain 
 samples. Once in a while some 'one-lung 
 er' from the East comes out and shows us 
 another kind." 
 
 " W r hat is a ' one-lunger' ? " 
 
 " Feller with one lung consumptive out 
 for his health." 
 
 " Oh, what a funny name ! Do girls like 
 that go out there ? " 
 
 " Sometimes. There was one girl I used 
 to see riding around in a carriage. She was
 
 3io HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 something your style, only paler and kind o' 
 sad-lookin'. She stayed at the same hotel I 
 got my meals at. I was mighty sorry for 
 her. Everybody round the ranch took an 
 interest in her. But they brought her there 
 too late. Mountain air will just about mend 
 a hinge on a door, but it won't cure a girl 
 without any lungs at all." 
 
 " Poor girl ! " Something in Jim's tone 
 sobered Bessie. " Is Wagon Wheel a real 
 city or just a village ? " 
 
 "Well, it 's quite a camp now a big 
 town scattered round over the valley ; and 
 there 's lots o' people in it that I don't know. 
 A feller lopin' around over the hills chasin' up 
 rocks and runnin' ' overland tunnels ' don't 
 get to know many people. When we 're in 
 town we eat at hash-houses, where you have 
 to lay a brick on your pie or the flies '11 get it 
 first." 
 
 " Oh, how horrible ! " The girl shuddered 
 at the picture. 
 
 " It sure makes a man think o' home. I 'm 
 tired of it, and if the Earl goes into our mine, 
 I 'm goin' to change my pie-joint. I 'm go- 
 in' to have a home of my own." He checked 
 himself, and in the pause which followed the
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 311 
 
 girl gazed straight ahead as if seeing some 
 thing far off. Jim's voice changed. " But 
 we must n't count chickens before they 're out 
 o' the shells. They may not be a thing in it, 
 and I may have to climb another big ridge 
 before I build that house." 
 
 Twombly, escaping .from Mrs. Ramsdell, 
 sauntered back, and addressed his conversa 
 tion to Bessie with the frankest intent to 
 monopolize her. He quite outdid himself 
 under the inspiration of Bessie's absorbed 
 interest. Jim rose abruptly and went in the 
 house, deeply chagrined at her easy forget- 
 fulness of him. 
 
 " I reckon I 've taken a whole lot of trouble 
 to trail up the wrong girl," he said to himself. 
 "Tears like I can't do better than just pull 
 out for the Grizzly Bear trail and crawl into 
 my hole." 
 
 The doctor, coming in, made matters worse 
 by saying : "Jim, that Englishman has queered 
 your plans ; to all intents and purposes, Bessie 
 is hisn." 
 
 "You need n't rub it in on me," replied 
 Jim. 
 
 Ramsdell changed his tone. " Oh, come 
 now, don't take it too seriously. She may be
 
 312 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 just playing Twombly to make you come to 
 time." 
 
 " I guess I '11 turn in," said Jim. " I 
 have n't had much sleep for two nights." 
 
 "Very well. We '11 have plenty of time 
 to-morrow to skin our woodchuck." 
 
 To Mrs. Ramsdell the doctor said : " That 
 little flirt of a girl has given Jim a powerful jolt, 
 and he 's too unsophisticated to conceal it." 
 
 "Where is he?" 
 
 " Retired to his lair surly as a bear with 
 a sore ear. What do you suppose the little 
 witch means by it ? " 
 
 " I think her pride was hurt by those stories 
 about Jim and the London society woman." 
 
 " By George, you are right ! I 'd forgotten 
 all about that. I wonder if there was any truth 
 in the yarn. I '11 ask Jim in the morning." 
 
 " It would be safer to wait," Mrs. Ramsdell 
 replied; "perhaps he '11 allude to it himself." 
 
 As he lay in his bed, Jim could hear Bessie 
 singing with Twombly, and it seemed to him 
 he was shut out from all the good things of 
 earth. Something had changed her attitude 
 toward him ; something had angered her. 
 What was it ? Had she heard of Mary ? 
 
 He sprang up and dug the packet of letters
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 313 
 
 out of his valise, and went over them one by 
 one with great care. The first few seemed 
 to justify his former reading of her intent, 
 but in the later ones he came upon the ex 
 pression of the same cool sweetness which 
 was in her greetings. 
 
 In one of Mrs. Ramsdell's letters, which he 
 could not have carefully read, he found a line 
 which instructed him. " We are hearing 
 strange things of you," she had written. "A 
 friend sent us a letter which appeared in the 
 ' Denver Record.' It is evident that you are 
 enjoying yourself very much in London." 
 
 "I see it," he said to himself. "That in 
 fernal Siwash McAllister has handed out a 
 few nice ones to Ed Brainard about Mary 
 and me. I 'd like to break him in two." 
 He did not consider himself to blame in the 
 matter. All his intercourse with Mary was 
 over and gone, and, manlike, he thought it 
 unimportant to any one else, anyway. 
 
 Knowing what the matter was, and curing 
 the matter, were two different things to Jim. 
 It was not easy for him to explain the sim 
 plest of his feelings to a woman, and to justify 
 himself to Bessie in his relations to Mary was 
 quite beyond him. " There is only one thing
 
 3H HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 to do," he concluded grimly, "and that 's to 
 hit the Sunset trail like a hurricane, and 
 leave the whole durn woman business behind." 
 These complications and doubts and allure 
 ments, these hair-hung, triple-jointed mental 
 problems, were enough to wear a man's pa 
 tience to a fringe. What was the use trying 
 to explain, anyhow ? 
 
 With a smothered growl of resentment, he 
 turned his face to the wall and went to sleep. 
 
 HE was a different man when he came 
 down to the table next morning. His brows 
 were set in straight lines, and his eyes were 
 keen and stern. He responded very curtly 
 to the doctor's greetings, and not even Mrs. 
 Ramsdell's cordial smile could soften him. 
 The doctor was sleepy and dull, and Jim 
 understood from this that Twombly had 
 improved his opportunities the night before, 
 and had kept them all up late. 
 
 Bessie did not appear at all, and Jim was 
 glad of that, for the doctor opened up forbid 
 den topics at once. 
 
 " By the way, Jim, what 's all this talk con 
 cerning you and a London society woman ? 
 What about it ? "
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 315 
 
 " What society woman ? " he asked, to gain 
 time. 
 
 " Oh, we know all about it. The Wagon 
 Wheel papers were full of it. You made a 
 bigger hit with the nobs than Buffalo Bill, 
 Mr. Twombly says.." 
 
 Twombly interposed : " Oh, come now ! 
 I 'm not going that far." 
 
 The doctor insisted: "Well, anyhow, we 
 want an account of those rides in the park." 
 
 They all looked as if expecting Jim to joke. 
 He did not; he did not even smile as he 
 slowly answered : 
 
 "That is my business, doc, and I 'd advise 
 any man who 's been havin' fun with me to 
 climb a tree when I come by." 
 
 The doctor was astonished, but he knew 
 his hunting partner too well not to respect 
 that tone in his voice. He hastened to apolo 
 gize. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, old man; I did n't 
 know you took it seriously. It 's all right ; 
 shoot me on sight if I say another word. 
 Now, when can we get off for the mine ? '' 
 he asked, to change 'the subject. 
 
 "I leave this afternoon," Jim replied; "you 
 can come on when you 're ready."
 
 3i6 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Are n't you going to wait and go with 
 the party ? " asked Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 
 " No ; I reckon I 'm a little too swift. I Ve 
 had enough of the low country. I 'm goin' 
 to pull my freight before I catch the swamp- 
 fever," he replied. " I 'm a-goin' to jump 
 high, and hit only the high spots in the scenery. 
 If there was a train runnin' a mile a minute, 
 I 'd take it." 
 
 "By Jove! I '11 go with you," said Twom- 
 bly. "I '11 have me box repacked in half an 
 hour never fear." 
 
 " I reckon you 'd better not," Jim coldly 
 replied. " You '11 fare better if you come 
 along with the women. Right here I turn 
 you over to the doc. I don't want to be 
 responsible for you from this on." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell caught his glance, and said 
 very gently: " I 'm sorry you won't wait, Jim. 
 I had counted on having you show us the 
 great peaks and so had Bessie. I know 
 she '11 be very much disappointed if she 
 does n't enter the mountains with you." 
 
 The trailer felt the sincere regret in the 
 voice of his hostess, but did not weaken. " I 
 reckon she '11 pull through without me," he 
 said, and rose from the table abruptly. "I Ve
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 317 
 
 done my duty, doc ; I Ve had my shout, and 
 now I return to my goats." 
 
 The doctor excused himself to Twombly. 
 " Mrs. Ramsdell will bring you down-town 
 later." He said nothing more to his partner 
 till they were fairly seated in the train, and 
 when he did begin his voice was no longer 
 jocular. He spoke firmly, too, without hesi 
 tation. 
 
 "Jim, what did they do to you over there? 
 You 're not the same man at all. You 
 don't joke ; you 're touchy as a locoed horse. 
 I never saw such a change. Old man, if I 
 thought I 'd lost your friendship through this 
 English trip, I 'd feel like sinking the whole 
 blank mine to the gates of hell. Come, now, 
 this is getting serious ; we Ve cinched too 
 many pack-mules together not to get to the 
 bottom of a thing like this without bad blood. 
 What 's wrong? You must n't bristle up 
 at me." 
 
 Jim sat in silence for a moment, then curtly 
 replied: " I 'm all right. I brought our man 
 out, did n't I ? You 've no call to roar about 
 that, I reckon." 
 
 " Yes. But see here, old man ; I Ve had 
 my joke about you and the girls, but I 'm in
 
 3i8 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 dead earnest about Bessie. You see, the girl 
 had heard me sing your praises till she was 
 fairly crazy to see you, and when you came 
 on you captured her ; we all saw that. After 
 you went to England she did nothing but talk 
 about you, and she wrote regularly to you 
 until that article came out in the Denver 
 papers. It was a nasty letter. It was in 
 tended to do you good, but it hurt you. It 
 said you 'd been taken up by a society woman 
 over there, and that you were seen every 
 where with her. We all thought she was 
 making a fool of you, and naturally Bessie " 
 
 " It was that jackass McAllister. Ed 
 Brainard should have had sense enough not 
 to print his letter." 
 
 " All the papers copied it with glee. Well, 
 that sobered Bessie down. Of course Mrs. 
 Ramsdell and I made light of it; but your 
 letters along about that time did n't help mat 
 ters a little bit. Now, Mrs. Ramsdell had set 
 her heart on making a match between you 
 and Bessie ; but that letter queered the whole 
 proposition for the time being. How much 
 truth was in it?" 
 
 " You want a straight-goods answer? " 
 
 -Yes."
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 319 
 
 ''Well, I don't know myself." 
 
 Ramsdell turned sharply. "What am I to 
 understand by that ? " 
 
 " I don't know that, either. I met her at 
 Dr. Robertson's. I liked her, and she liked 
 me. She was a mighty bright girl, about 
 the brightest I ever saw, and she took 
 a whole lot of interest in my affairs. I 
 would n't 'a' had Twombly only for her. The 
 whole thing seems like a dream to me now. 
 I reckon she started in to make game of 
 me," he paused with instinctive delicacy, 
 "but we got to be good friends. We sure 
 went the rounds together, and we had a good 
 time. But she was a fine woman, don't make 
 any mistake, and I I thought one 
 while I needed her, and I tried to bring her 
 along. Now, that 's the God's truth. But 
 she put the kibosh on that, and so I came 
 home without her." He ended, looking out 
 of the window : "I 'm glad I did now ; but, 
 all the same, we had some mighty fine rides 
 together." 
 
 The doctor sat in silence. Jim's tone made 
 the entanglement much more serious than he 
 had supposed. He wished Mrs. Ramsdell 
 were there to hear the cadences in the trailer's
 
 320 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 voice. "Well, Jim, all I can say is, she must 
 have been a high-class specimen." 
 
 Jim was touched. " She was, doc ; she was 
 sure enough all silk, and I 'd 'a' brought 
 her if I could; but it 's all over now. As 
 I say, it 's like a dream, and I reckon the 
 sooner I forget it the better. It was a mighty 
 queer formation to put me into over there ; they 
 sure had me guessin' most of the time : but 
 they never knew it. I trumped every big 
 card they led, and I won out. Now I reckon 
 I 'm done with women and tea for a few days. 
 I 'm climbin' back to timber-line, and when 
 I git there, I '11 stay there. No more big 
 canoes and nervous women for me ; I want to 
 get my shoulder ag'in' a rock for a while and 
 find out where I 'm at." 
 
 The doctor smiled again. " I guess you '11 
 come out all right. Every man has a weak 
 side. Well, you 're right about getting out for 
 the mine. Go ahead and see if you can ferret 
 out the mystery of the Ella Grace. We '11 
 come sailing along about a week later." 
 
 " All right. When I get old Ouray propped 
 ag'in' the moon, and hear the Grizzly Bear 
 singin' below, I reckon I can just about feel 
 the grass grow. They won't fool me twice."
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 321 
 
 That night at dinner Ramsdell handed to 
 Twombly the slip which contained McAllister's 
 letter about Jim. After he had read it, 
 Twombly looked up to say : 
 
 "Very clever, that and it 's nearly true, 
 too." 
 
 " I wondered about that." 
 
 " Of course Mary is n't the no end of swell 
 that this reporter makes out. She 's a very 
 clever girl, y' know, and all that and goes 
 in for the literary and artistic. And she is 
 degenerate, as this fellow says ; but, really, 
 she is n't half so bad as he paints her. She 's 
 very nice. Her boldness is all talk, y' know 
 oh, quite so! Yes; Jim was no end suc 
 cessful wherever he went, but he would n't 
 let anybody use him. I fancy Mary was 
 obliged to humor him." 
 
 "Did he ride in the park the way the 
 letter says ? " asked Bessie. 
 
 "Oh, quite so. Indeed, they were most 
 conspicuous there. Mary is an excellent 
 horsewoman, and took peculiar pleasure in 
 Jim's cow-boy ways. The camping trip which 
 this fellow just hints at was really great fun. 
 I had a share in that myself. But it was quite 
 innocent. Mrs. Robertson chaperoned it."
 
 322 HER 'MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 He told of Jim's assumption of the airs of 
 the guide with great glee, and described mi 
 nutely the two days' outing. " It was jolly 
 sport. Nothing would have pleased Mary 
 better than to be out a week in a tent, 
 eating Jim's cooking; but Mrs. Robertson 
 was seized with a panic for fear it would rain, 
 or of burglars, I don't recall which, and that 
 ended it all. Mary went black as a thunder 
 cloud, you fancy her feelings, and we all 
 filed away back to Wyndhurst ; and Jim bolted 
 for the city next day, disgusted with the lot 
 of us." 
 
 Bessie did not find this at all amusing. 
 " Were there only two women in the party? " 
 
 "That's all; Mary and Mrs. Robertson." 
 
 " You say Miss Brien has written a book ? 
 What kind of a book ? " asked Ramsdell. 
 
 " Well, really, now, I could n't say. I don't 
 read novels, on principle. But Mrs. Robert 
 son alluded to it occasionally as a dreadful 
 example of what a really fine girl is willing to 
 put into print." 
 
 The doctor smiled at his wife. " I reckon 
 I can guess at the character of it. We Ve 
 had a book or two of that sort crop out here 
 in Chicago."
 
 THE LITTLE GIRL IN ASPEN PARK 323 
 
 " I had a notion that Mary was using Jim 
 as material ; but he is by no means easy lead 
 ing. I fancy she got a different sort of story 
 out of him than she had planned for. Any 
 how, he left her without a word of farewell ; 
 and it was only by a lucky shot that I hit 
 upon him at the boat. He seemed rather 
 overjoyed to be out of it." 
 
 Bessie was very grave. " I think it was 
 very low and deceitful of her to use Jim in 
 that way." 
 
 Not till the women were alone did Bessie 
 permit her aunt to see how deeply she was 
 hurt by Jim's sudden departure. She put her 
 head against Mrs. Ramsdell's bosom and cried 
 a little. 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell was inclined to be severe. 
 " It was your own fault," she said, with more 
 impatience than she had ever shown before. 
 " I never knew a woman to enact that stupid 
 old comedy of flirting to make her lover jeal 
 ous without getting hurt. It 's silly and it 's 
 dangerous. You should have waited for him 
 to explain I don't think Mr. Twombly has 
 given us the whole truth. I mean to suspend 
 judgment till Jim tells me all about it himself. 
 He '11 surely confide in the doctor. There is
 
 324 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 nothing for you to do but go with us and be 
 nice to him, and see what happens. If you 
 really care, and he cares, things will come out 
 right, after all." 
 
 After one has spilled one's porridge, advice 
 as to what might have prevented it is never 
 welcome, and Bessie resented her aunt's emi 
 nently sensible words. The mountaineer had 
 appealed to her imagination even in the vague 
 form given him by the doctor's words : he 
 stood for something big and daring and ele 
 mental ; and his actual presence had not dis 
 appointed her. His powerful and graceful 
 figure, his fine profile, and his humorous brown 
 eyes developed love out of interest. She had 
 made of him an epic figure, and her loyalty to 
 him during the months of his absence made 
 his interest in another woman seem like a 
 breach of faith. She was hurt and deeply 
 resentful of his easy shift of purpose ; but a 
 night's sleep enabled her to recover her na 
 tive serenity. She looked forward to seeing 
 him again. Perhaps ! 
 
 Meanwhile she found Mr. Twombly's atten 
 tions grateful and diverting.
 
 XIV 
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 
 
 WHEN Jim left Chicago the smoke hung 
 low over the roofs of the city, and the 
 engines crept about in the darkness like timid 
 kine. The Colorado express was two hours 
 getting outside the city limits, but when he 
 woke the mountaineer was made glad by the 
 vivid prairie sunshine. The train was rushing 
 through rich pastures and between the waving 
 green blades of soldierly corn. The shaven 
 stubble of garnered wheat-fields was like 
 mottled velvet to the eye. It was all good to 
 see, but Jim was impatient for the mountains. 
 The next day in Kansas was a long day, but 
 signs of home thickened hour by hour. 
 
 When he reached First View, Jim rushed 
 out on the platform to see if the Spanish 
 Peaks were in sight, and when he located 
 their faint outlines in the sky, he took off his 
 hat to them and yelled like a Comanche: 
 
 325
 
 326 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "Whoo-whoop! there she rises!" and turning, 
 waved his hand in good-by to the low country. 
 
 As he neared the majestic wall, over whose 
 tops the sun was setting, every vestige 
 of his gloom and bitterness swept away. 
 The mountain-peaks clarified his brain as the 
 wind from the pass blew the miasma of the 
 low country from his garments. His eyes 
 resumed their quizzical humor and his words 
 regained the full flavor of the West. He spent 
 an hour on the platform with two very plain 
 old women from Massachusetts, explaining 
 the habits of wolves and prairie-dogs, and 
 pointing out the peaks which thickened along 
 the horizon-line; and in the smoking-room 
 he became the center of interest. When alone 
 he sang with a yowl like a mountain-lion. 
 
 At Silver City he was forced to wait six 
 hours for the narrow-gage train ; but he did 
 not mind that, for he was again in the land 
 of the Mexican saddle, the cow-boy, and the 
 miner. He walked the streets, glad of every 
 sign of home. The windows filled with som 
 breros, spurs, and pack-saddles ; the ponies 
 standing with drooping heads and slanting, 
 tired hips, their reins dangling ; the crowds 
 of young men in and about the saloons; the
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 327 
 
 boxes of ore in real-estate windows all 
 these gave him serene joy. They were all 
 proof that he was not dreaming that he 
 was in very truth homeward bound. 
 
 When he found himself in the little sleep 
 ing-car, and fairly doubled into his berth, he 
 gave a sigh of keen pleasure and said : 
 
 " When I look out again I '11 be on the 
 western slope of the Christo range." 
 
 Several times during the night he woke 
 to feel the train moving slowly on a sharp 
 curve, the two little engines panting like tired 
 dogs, and said to himself: "We're on the 
 Elk Horn grade," or, "This must be the ap 
 proach to the tunnel." 
 
 The air grew keener, crisper each moment, 
 and raising the curtain of his berth, he peered 
 out at the giant domes looming somberly 
 against the cloudless sky blazing with low- 
 hung stars. London was a smudge of yellow 
 mist, New York a miasmatic swamp, and 
 Chicago a storm of dangerous traffic, as he 
 looked backward and downward upon them 
 in imagination. 
 
 " It 's a wonder I ever got back alive," he 
 said, thinking of the multiple dangers of his 
 journey. " But here I am, and here I stay."
 
 328 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 From Junction City (which lay squat on 
 the hot sand of the level valley) he could see 
 the clouds circling over his mountains, and his 
 heart yearned for the rain-wet trail which ran 
 to his cabin and to the mine. It was hot 
 noonday, and the gleam of the snow in the 
 gulches lured him with such power he could 
 scarcely endure the wait for dinner. The 
 water was singing below his door, the squirrels 
 were barking, the camp birds and jays were 
 disputing, and down below the purple valleys 
 wound away into silence. 
 
 At last he found himself on the " spur " and 
 driving straight toward the cloudy mountain - 
 land whose ragged peaks rose nearly fifteen 
 thousand feet above the sea. In the narrow- 
 gage car were men he knew, and they all 
 seemed glad to see him. 
 
 " How did you come out on your London 
 trip, Jim ? " one man asked in friendly direct 
 ness. 
 
 "All right, I reckon. I got my man." 
 
 " Don't sell too cheap," said his friend, sig 
 nificantly. 
 
 " What you mean by that ? " 
 
 " Well, I '11 tell you. There 's something 
 going on in the Ella Grace. You know
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 329 
 
 that stock was hard to sell at ten when you 
 left" 
 
 " Yes ; I did n't want it at that." 
 
 "Well, it 's fifty-five now." 
 
 "Whew ! " whistled Jim. " What 's up ? " 
 
 " Somebody 's quietly buying in the stock, 
 I hear. I don't know anything about it. 
 Ask Sam Cuyler. I hear that they 've tapped 
 the vein that is in the Concordia. If they 
 have I say if they have " 
 
 " Any clue to the buyer ? " 
 
 " Well, they say that Cuyler is doing the 
 buying himself through agents. Mind you, 
 that is only what I hear. Meanwhile the ore 
 makes no showing." 
 
 Jim mused. " I see his game. He wants 
 to control the stock before he makes any 
 showing. I 'm much obliged, Tom. I reckon 
 I got home about the right time." 
 
 " You 're in line on that vein all right. It 
 cuts right through the hill." 
 
 "That 's been my calculation all along." 
 
 Jim was doubly anxious now to reach home. 
 It was well toward sunset when the laboring 
 engines climbed into the little flat where the 
 Grizzly Bear roared over its shallows, and 
 stopped in the midst of Wagon Wheel to rest.
 
 330 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The mighty walls, soaring six thousand feet 
 above the town, were lighted with the golden 
 glow of the sun, which had already left the 
 top of the secondary peaks. The broad fields 
 of snow were rosy pink ; the grassy slopes 
 glowed with opalescent lights ; and one or 
 two great, solitary white clouds seemed to 
 stand on edge behind Ouray, waiting in the 
 deep-blue sky. Jim lifted his eyes and took 
 a good look at the peaks he loved, and then 
 struck out up the street with long strides. 
 He had finished sauntering ; he was going to 
 work. 
 
 Every man he met had a word of jocular 
 greeting. 
 
 " Hello, Jim ! Glad to see you back." 
 
 " Glad to be back." 
 
 " Hello, Jim ! How 'd you like the East?" 
 asked another. 
 
 " No more low country for me." 
 
 A third was facetious : "Hello, Jim! Well, 
 by the Lord ! Never expected to see you 
 again, after that article in the ' Record.' I 
 said, 'That ends it! Jim 's sold his mine, and 
 got hooked by a girl." 1 
 
 Jim walked on without reply. 
 
 " Good evening, Jim," said the clerk in the
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 331 
 
 post-office window. "How 's your health?" 
 and she reached her hand to him. 
 
 He took it heartily. " I 'm about as usual, 
 I reckon ; how are you ? " 
 
 " Oh, so 's 't I sit in my box. Say, they 's 
 a whole bunch of mail for you one English 
 letter, sealing-wax, monogram, and all that ! 
 When are we to see that ' mash ' you made 
 over there?" 
 
 "About the day before kingdom come, I 
 reckon," said Jim, as he took the letters. " I 
 was selling a mine. When I hooked my fish, 
 I come home. Girls was a side issue with me". 
 
 " It did n't look so when you was a-ridin' 
 around the parks with Lady Blank- Blank. 
 Oh, we know all about it. The ' Hub ' re 
 printed the article, and we girls all cut it out 
 and pinned it on the wall. You '11 have to 
 give a champagne dinner to square yourself 
 with us ; now that goes." 
 
 " Good night ! " said Jim, with a grin. 
 
 "We '11 ha'nt you if you don't," she called 
 after him. 
 
 He stuffed the letters into the pocket of his 
 rough coat, and handed his valise in at the 
 hotel. "Here, you keep this for me; I 'm 
 goin' up to the mine."
 
 332 . HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Better have supper first," said the clerk. 
 
 " No ; could n't eat now. Good night." 
 
 As he climbed his heart grew gay. On 
 the yellow roads the groaning brakes of great 
 ore-wagons could be heard. Droves of burros 
 pattered along, each with his two sacks of ore, 
 his head held low, his ears flapping. The 
 imperious or jovial calls of the drivers echoed 
 from cliff to cliff, shaking the miner's heart 
 with wordless joy. 
 
 The air was marvelously fresh and soft and 
 clear. The canon water called huskily from 
 its deep, cold shadow, but on the opposite 
 peak the setting sun still lay warm and red. 
 High in the blue air, close to a cloud, a 
 couple of eagles were at play. Jim was 
 coming to his own. London was at the under 
 side of the world ; Chicago was lost in the 
 shadows of the low country. 
 
 Darkness came on swiftly, and the moun 
 tain world grew ever more mysterious and 
 alluring. The voice of the stream grew 
 mightier and mightier, till it seemed to fill the 
 canon as the voice of a lion resounds in a 
 cavern, imperious, insistent, unremitting. As 
 the last rays of the sun rested on the highest 
 peaks, they blazed with light as though on
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 333 
 
 fire from within, and became twin brothers of 
 the mighty clouds that hung motionless above 
 them. 
 
 Jim noticed with disgust that his legs ached 
 and his breath came with an effort. " The 
 low country has taken the tuck out o' me," 
 he said. " Good thing I 'm back." 
 
 In the old days he could walk that ever- 
 mounting trail in two hours, with a pack on 
 his back ; now he was breathing hard with 
 nothing but his coat to carry, and was falling 
 behind his schedule, besides. Though his 
 limbs grew weary, his senses were alert. He 
 heard every insect, every bird, and the odors 
 of the plants and flowers came to his nostrils 
 with infinite suggestion. He had never be 
 fore been absent from the wild things of earth 
 for a single day, and his eyes and ears were 
 avid of the good, familiar sights and sounds. 
 As he hurried on, he passed mine after mine. 
 He knew every light : that was the Commo 
 dore, that was the North Star, and that was 
 the Ella Grace. His mine was on the other 
 side of the Kicking Horse, which entered 
 the Grizzly Bear at right angles just below 
 timber-line. 
 
 There was no light as he came in sight of
 
 334 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the cabin; Bill had gone to bed. A coyote 
 leaped away from the door, where he had 
 been sniffing for bones, and scampered up the 
 trail. 
 
 Jim hammered on the door. " Hello, the 
 house ! Hello ! Open up ! I want to stay 
 all night!" 
 
 Listening, he smiled to hear a muttered 
 oath of surprise. The creak of boards fol 
 lowed, as the man within rolled from his bunk 
 and came across the floor. " Is that you, 
 Jim?" 
 
 Jim resumed his tattoo on the door. 
 
 " You bet your life ! Open up ! I 'm hungry 
 enough to eat nails." 
 
 " Wait a minute till I strike a glim." 
 
 When the feeble glow of a candle fell upon 
 the miner, it disclosed a tall, gaunt, bearded, 
 and very swarthy man of fifty. He shook 
 hands impassively. " Glad to see ye. Why 
 did n't ye tell us you was comin' ? " 
 
 Jim went over to a table which consisted 
 of a flat box nailed against the logs of the 
 cabin. 
 
 " Did n't know when I 'd get here. Did 
 you leave anything to eat ? " 
 
 " Durn little. I reckon they 's a hunk o'
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 335 
 
 beef and some b'iled potatoes. They 's about 
 a spoonful o' prunes in that can, and some 
 coffee. Help yourself." 
 
 " I 'm in luck." 
 
 "You shore be. Andy went to town at 
 noon, and hain't got back. I reckon he won't 
 get back. Simonson come by, and said he see 
 him drunk as a b'iled owl, a-settin' out back o' 
 the blacksmith shop. How are ye, anyway, 
 boy ? " 
 
 " I 'm all right. Go to bed," replied Jim, 
 and the old man obeyed with a yawn. They 
 understood each other too well to require any 
 fancy phrases. 
 
 As he chewed on a hunk of tough beef and 
 drank his cold coffee, Jim thought of Mary 
 and Wyndhurst and its exquisite table, with 
 its flowers, its silver and crystal service, and 
 its dainty food, and the life it subtended seemed 
 like something he had read about in youth. 
 
 He took out his letters and laid them out 
 before him. One was from Mary, and it 
 seemed as alien there on the rough pine table 
 as her glove would have been. It gave him 
 a curious pang of pain to open that delicate 
 little square envelop. Its faint perfume brought 
 vividly to his mind her dress, the gleam of
 
 336 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 her white shoulders, her hair, her rose-tinted 
 face. She was not easy to forget. It seemed 
 so long since he had seen her, he did not 
 perceive that the letter must have been written 
 immediately after he left for Liverpool. The 
 letter ran : 
 
 DEAR OLD TRAILER : I hope this will find you in your 
 aerie on the cliff. I am sending it there because I would 
 n't like you to read it in Chicago or any other city. I 
 am lonely, Jim. I miss my " pard " more than I had sup 
 posed it possible. It is five o'clock. We were to go to 
 Grosvenor Square to tea to-day do you remember ? 
 And to-night we were to attend another " confoozle-um " 
 (as you called it) at the Cray-Crofts. That young Austra 
 lian poet will be disappointed not to meet you. I shall 
 not go out. You 've broken my heart, and my death 
 may be announced any moment. But I am not sorry I 
 met you. I am glad Twombly is going with you. I wish 
 I had only you did not ask me again, as I hoped you 
 would. I 'm ashamed or ought to be to say how 
 lost I feel without you. However, I '11 get over this. 
 You must not worry about me; I know myself a great 
 deal better than you do. I am a changeable person. At 
 the same time, I did n't suppose any human being any 
 man could cause me to miss him as you have done. 
 You interested me. 
 
 You brought something back into my life which I 
 needed a waft of wholesome mountain air. Now it is 
 gone, I seem to be stifling. But no more of that. I 'm 
 not complaining. I 'm going to write you the cheeriest 
 letters, and you must let me know all about the mine;
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 337 
 
 and when you send my shares you put your own name on 
 them ; it will make them more valuable to me. 
 
 Your partner, MARY BRIEN. 
 
 Jim sat for a long time, slowly re-reading 
 each phrase, and wondering how much of its 
 emotion was genuine, how much assumed. It 
 was all too far away now, that life in London, 
 to stir him deeply. The mountains, the roar 
 ing stream, the cabin these were realities. 
 The London streets, the teas, the receptions, 
 Mrs. Robertson, Mary herself all were parts 
 of a dream-world, as insubstantial as the 
 valley mist of a morning, which seemed to be 
 a roadway of granite, but rolled away like 
 a curtain as the sun rose. He began to 
 love that dream, and to cling to its memory 
 as he had often clung to a beautiful vision in 
 boyhood. He turned to his bunk with a 
 somber face, for both Mary and Bessie were 
 lost to him, and he was the lonely miner again. 
 
 " I reckon the Lord did n't intend me to 
 be a man of a family. Anyhow, I 'm right 
 back where I was when I started East, and 
 now I take root." 
 
 THE next morning, as he was crossing the 
 divide, he met Cuyler of the Ella Grace.
 
 338 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Hel-/0, Jim ! " said he, in cordial surprise. 
 " When did you get back ? " 
 
 Jim went straight to his mark. " Last 
 night. Say, Cuyler, you 're the very man I 
 want to see. What 's the meaning of all this 
 boom in the Ella Grace ? " 
 
 Cuyler had the calm face of a poker-player, 
 and remained non-committal. "Why, I don't 
 know as it is a boom. The stock is crawling 
 up slowly, but then we always expected it to 
 do that." 
 
 Jim reached out and took him by the col 
 lar. " See here, Sam ; I don't care what your 
 game is, but I want to ask you a business 
 question, and I want a straight-goods answer." 
 
 "Sail ahead," replied Cuyler, bracing him 
 self. 
 
 " I went to England to sell stock in our 
 hole-in-the-ground. I Ve roped a man to 
 go in if the hole shows the ' pay streak ' to 
 suit him. Well, now, would you sell ? " 
 
 Cuyler remained as blank of visage as a 
 Chinese idol. " How much are you asking ?" 
 
 " Two hundred thousand for a half- interest." 
 
 " You want an answer now ?" 
 
 " Right now." 
 
 "It 's between us strictly ? "
 
 THE SNOWY PEAKS 339 
 
 "Why, sure thing." 
 
 " Double your price. Good morning." 
 
 Jim gave out a yell which scared a mother 
 eagle from her nest high on the shoulder of 
 Lizard Mountain. 
 
 Cuyler turned and came back. " See here, 
 Jim. Before letting anybody else in, see me, 
 will you? I may have a scheme." 
 
 "All right," replied Jim, and wired the doc 
 tor: "Things are bilun'. Come on." 
 
 Three days later he received a letter from 
 the doctor in answer to his telegram : 
 
 Your wire only confirmed me. I 've said nothing further 
 to Twombly, who is too much interested in Bessie to care 
 whether school keeps or not. But don't you worry, old 
 man ; he 's overdoing the thing. She 's getting a little 
 weary of him, and Mrs. Ramsdell tells me very privately 
 that your pulling out was a good move. It taught the 
 girl a lesson. She 's wild to get started West, and I notice 
 Twombly has to just about drag her out to play tennis. 
 If she knew just how you feel about the London girl she 'd 
 be happier. I told her to mind her own business and be 
 a good little girl and I 'd take her out to see you. We '11 
 leave here Sunday night on the Santa Fe". We '11 prob 
 ably lay over a day at the Springs, and be with you Wed. 
 night. We can let Twombly in on a quarter-interest or 
 not, just as you think best. If you 've turned up the 
 actual ore of the Ella Grace vein, we don't need any 
 outside aid. So long. 
 
 Yours, Doc.
 
 XV 
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 
 
 JIM, imperturbable and serene, met the 
 party at the station. He had gone back to 
 his rightful character, and looked very hand 
 some in a loose blue shirt, broad white hat, 
 and dark trousers belted at the waist. 
 
 " Howdy, folks, howdy ! " he said in general 
 greeting, and shook hands all around with 
 out hurry or embarrassment. " Glad to see 
 you all safe. I Ve herded the peaks all the 
 week fer ye. They 're all here." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Matteson, how cool you look ! " 
 said Bessie. "And oh, is n't it wonderful 
 here ! " 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell was gasping, also. "It is 
 like the Alps. No wonder you grew enthu 
 siastic about it." 
 
 "By Jove ! " called Twombly, "it 's more like 
 the Andes. You know, I 'd no idea it was to 
 be like this." 
 
 340
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 341 
 
 "Where is the mine? Can we see it from 
 here ? " asked Bessie, eagerly. 
 
 " Now, doc, I reckon you 'd better corral 
 this herd of tenderfeet and get 'em off the 
 platform," said Jim. "The 'bus is waitin' to 
 take you all to a hotel ; and I " 
 
 " A hotel ! " cried Bessie. " Oh, I thought 
 we were going to camp out in the woods." 
 
 " Time enough for that," put in the doctor. 
 " I want to see one square meal at the Oc 
 cidental before getting down to beans and 
 bacon. That buffet-car lunch was a hollow 
 mockery." 
 
 Jim bundled them all into the 'bus with 
 out ceremony, and they were at the hotel 
 before Bessie had time to exclaim twice. No 
 sooner were they in their rooms than the 
 women began again to cry out and exult over 
 the splendor of the mountains. They ran 
 out upon the piazza to watch the light as it 
 climbed the highest slopes and lighted them 
 into unspeakable glory, second only to the 
 clouds themselves. The -women stood with 
 clasped hands, but not in silence. 
 
 " Is n't it heavenly ! Oh, if I could only 
 paint it before it goes ! " Bessie murmured 
 in a sort of awe.
 
 342 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " I begin to understand why Willard al 
 ways runs away to the mountains when he 
 has a moment's leisure," said Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 " I came to Denver with him once, but de 
 clined to go farther. I had no conception of 
 this." 
 
 " Was n't he fine? " Bessie said musingly. 
 
 " Who, dear ? " 
 
 " Why Jim, of course." 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed ! He looks at home out 
 here, and has quite forgotten his London 
 trip, I hope. I like his rugged strength." 
 
 " So do I," replied Bessie. " But I never 
 can forgive him for running away without 
 saying good-by to me." 
 
 " Well, you know I never blamed him very 
 much. You certainly flirted unconscionably 
 with Mr. Twombly that night." 
 
 " Well, suppose I did ? There was that Lon 
 don affair to be explained, and Mr. Matteson 
 did n't appear to think it worth while to refer 
 to it at all." 
 
 " Perhaps it was a painful subject." 
 
 "You said that before," said Bessie, pout 
 ing. " I don't like it. I don't see why it 
 should be painful. If he did n't encourage 
 her, then his conscience is clear."
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 343 
 
 Ramsdell came out on the piazza., smiling 
 and rubbing his hands as if he were the 
 proprietor of the view and anxious to sell it. 
 
 "Well, girls, what do you think of this? 
 Up to the advance notice ? " 
 
 " Oh, it is beyond anything ! " 
 
 " Wait till you tread the Grizzly Bear trail ; 
 then you '11 shout." 
 
 " We will not wait. We are going to shout 
 now," replied Bessie. "There can't be any 
 thing finer than this. It is impossible." 
 
 "Where is Jim? " asked Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 
 " Gone up the trail." 
 
 Bessie's face lengthened. "Why did he 
 run away again ? " 
 
 " To get out of danger, I reckon." 
 
 " Danger ! What danger? " 
 
 " I don't know ; but I think he was tempted 
 to kill Twombly. But, girls, I Ve got great 
 news " he lowered his voice. 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "The Ella Grace has struck a wonderful 
 vein of free-milling ore and doubled the value 
 of our claim. We don't need Twombly at 
 all." 
 
 " Oh, goody, goody ! " Bessie began to 
 dance. " I knew I 'd bring good luck."
 
 344 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "But, Willard," said Mrs. Ramsdell, "I 
 don't see why that should " 
 
 " Because, my dear, the Ella Grace and the 
 Concordia are now on the same vein, and we 
 are in exact line. We thought we had the 
 same vein as the Concordia, but we did n't 
 know it. Now we are certain, and Jim has 
 an offer from the Concordia people of half a 
 million for a half- interest." 
 
 The women stared in silence for a moment ; 
 then Bessie said : 
 
 "A half-million! And half of that is 
 Jim's ? " 
 
 11 Now will you be good!" exclaimed the 
 doctor. " I guess Twombly's nose is awry. 
 But let me tell you this, my girl : you 've got 
 to eat humble hoe-cake with Jim." 
 
 " Well, I don't think I shall. Let him take 
 his gold and go to England and get that ' so 
 ciety woman ' if he wishes. I won't put a 
 straw in his way." 
 
 " If you put a balsam-fir in his way he 'd 
 jump it, I reckon," laughed the doctor, in boy 
 ish glee. " But come, supper is waiting below. 
 We must eat to live if we live to eat. All the 
 world is ours to-night. To-morrow we will 
 go to see our golden mountain."
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 345 
 
 Twombly came down to supper looking 
 very well cared for indeed; but Bessie was 
 thinking of Jim, and of how graceful and big 
 and naturalhe looked. He fitted into the land 
 scape, while Twombly grew more and more 
 unpleasantly artificial by contrast, and his at 
 tentions at the moment were wearisome. She 
 was bitterly disappointed in Jim. If he had 
 only shown some constraint ; but he did not. 
 On the contrary, he was perfectly at his ease, 
 and his eyes looked into hers like those of a 
 casual acquaintance. He did not seem to 
 notice what she wore or or anything. 
 He did n't seem to care what any one thought 
 or felt. 
 
 "Jim will be down in the morning," the 
 doctor was saying, " and we '11 all go up to 
 the mine and take dinner. He had to go 
 home to set a ham a-b'ilin' and wash up the 
 table-linen. He 's profoundly titivated at the 
 idea of having a couple of women to dinner." 
 
 " He did n't look it," replied Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 " He seemed very much in his element." 
 
 " I don't think he cares in the least about 
 our coming," said Bessie. 
 
 " If he did he would n't show it," replied 
 the doctor.
 
 346 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 After supper they all went out and strolled 
 up a side street to a little knoll which com 
 manded a view of the valley and the town, 
 and there sat to watch the sun go down. For 
 the most part they sat in silence, while the 
 gloom deepened over the river and the lesser 
 peaks grew cold, like torches blown out one 
 by one. 
 
 The valley was nearly circular in shape, and 
 had been formed, apparently, by the coming 
 together of two swift streams. "These first 
 cliffs are three thousand feet in almost sheer 
 rise, while the true rim of the canon or valley, 
 that dove-gray amphitheater, is five thousand 
 feet higher than where we sit ; and lastly, 
 that peak, old Lizard Head, is seven thousand 
 feet above us." The doctor gave these figures 
 with a sort of proprietary gusto. " This is 
 the Wagon Wheel, and that is the Gap. The 
 Rio Grande enters the Gap and stops. When 
 the Rio Grande stops it is for cause. There 
 is no other outlet, save by burro-trail." 
 
 " What is a burro-trail ? " asked Bessie. 
 
 "You '11 know to-morrow. And put on 
 your divided skirts. Jim will put you on a 
 man's saddle; it is n't safe to ride the Grizzly 
 Bear trail womanwise."
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 347 
 
 The women looked at each other slyly, as 
 if to say, " Well, now the trail is upon us." 
 
 Suddenly, during a pause in their conver 
 sation, a faint crackling, rattling noise was 
 heard, and a far-off halloo. These sounds 
 seemed above them on the almost perpen 
 dicular wall of the mountain. 
 
 " What is that ? " both women inquired. 
 
 The doctor listened. " Sounds like a burro- 
 train." He listened again. "That 's what it 
 is a burro-train on the North Star trail." 
 
 The women rose and looked upward. " Wil- 
 lard," said Mrs. Ramsdell, "you don't mean to 
 tell me that there is a living creature up there 
 a four-footed one ? " 
 
 " I suspect there are about twenty," he 
 replied, scanning the cliff. "There they 
 come!" he exclaimed, pointing to a jutting 
 shoulder of the cliff. " See them ! " Round 
 a lofty point the train of patient little animals 
 crept, their sharp hoofs tossing the pebbles 
 in their path. 
 
 " Why, they look like lambs ! " 
 
 " How little they are !" exclaimed Bessie. 
 
 " They are about a third of a mile above us," 
 laughed the doctor. " See the man ! He 's 
 little, too. It 's a long way up to them."
 
 348 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Thenceforth the sunset was forgotten, and 
 the women watched the descending train with 
 breathless anxiety. 
 
 "Oh, the poor little things! Suppose one 
 of them should fall ! " 
 
 "Why do they weave back and forth that 
 way ? " asked Bessie. 
 
 " No other way to get down. That 's the 
 way the trail runs on steep slopes. They 
 could n't come head on." 
 
 " A trail ! Is that a trail ? " 
 
 "That's a trail." 
 
 " Is the trail to our mine like that? " 
 
 " Yes, only worse." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell fetched a deep sigh. " Well, 
 I guess I don't care to see the mine, thank 
 you." 
 
 The doctor changed his tune. " Oh, it is 
 by no means as dangerous as it looks," he 
 hastened to say. 
 
 "I 'm not afraid," said Bessie; "only I do 
 think it mean to load those little things and 
 then hurry them down such steep places. 
 Oh, see them go round that rock ! Why, 
 they 're right on the edge of it. Oh, dear ! 
 They 11 surely fall." 
 
 " Don't worry," the doctor said reassur-
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 349 
 
 ingly. " You could n't throw one of those 
 little chaps from the trail. They go over 
 that rock twice a day all the year round, and 
 never slip a cog." 
 
 "This is all immensely foreign to my no 
 tion of America," put in Twombly. " If that 
 driver were dressed in a conical hat and wore 
 a gay sash, I could imagine myself in Spain. 
 I 'd forgotten that your miners use these 
 little asses." 
 
 "We borrowed most of our packing ideas 
 from Mexico, and these burros come from 
 the Mexican settlements to the south of us." 
 
 At last, moving like some smoothly geared 
 articulated machines, the little beasts came 
 past. Their heads were low, their ears flapped 
 rhythmically, and their little feet made a pat 
 tering noise. They bore their burdens with 
 out apparent effort, and yet each carried, the 
 doctor said, one hundred and fifty pounds of 
 ore. 
 
 Not till they had passed did the women 
 give another thought to the mighty pageantry 
 of flushing, fading, passing color ; and as it 
 was growing dark and cool, they began to 
 walk slowly back toward their hotel, cloyed 
 with color and the grandiose, glad of the
 
 350 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 commonplace walls and furniture of their 
 rooms. 
 
 Meanwhile Jim, on his way up the trail, was 
 thinking of the change in Bessie. The sight 
 of her had shaken all his firm resolutions, and 
 started him dreaming of a home, and a wife 
 to light and warm the home. Maybe the 
 doctor was right. "I '11 find out," he said, in 
 answer to his doubts. 
 
 At breakfast next morning Mrs. Ramsdell 
 flatly refused to consider mounting a man's 
 saddle. 
 
 " Very well," replied her husband ; " then 
 you must walk all the bad places, and that 
 means nearly three miles. I 'd advise stout 
 shoes in any case ; the road is rough." 
 
 " I 'm not afraid," said Bessie. " Every 
 body rides that way out here." 
 
 " I don't care; that does n't help me any," 
 Mrs. Ramsdell replied. 
 
 Once outside the hotel, they found Jim 
 busy with a little herd of saddle-horses. He 
 was going from one to the other, examining 
 stirrups and straining at the cinches. He 
 wore a loose blue shirt with a small red-brown 
 tie, and his trousers were tucked into a sort 
 of tan-colored boot with side laces, the mod-
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 351 
 
 ern miner's boot. He looked extremely alert 
 and very handsome and masterful as he moved 
 deftly about his work. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Matteson. Which is 
 my pony ? " called Bessie. 
 
 " Right here," he replied, patting a small 
 roan mare dozing with lax lips. " Safe as a 
 clock." 
 
 As Jim took charge of the company his 
 thought returned to the make-believe pack- 
 train he had organized and directed for Mary, 
 and it seemed to him at the moment too 
 absurd to have even been a dream. It was 
 of another world. He shook himself clear of 
 the recollection, and his voice was clear and 
 jovial as he said : 
 
 " Doctor, you take the bay, and put Mrs. 
 Ramsdell on the sorrel. Twombly, you jump 
 that pinto, and bring up the rear." 
 
 " Are n't you going to ride ? " asked Bessie. 
 
 "No; I 'm going to walk and look after 
 the rest of you tenderfeet," he replied. "All 
 ready, now." He put down his hand, and 
 she put her foot into it readily enough ; but 
 her heart filled with a sudden timidity as she 
 felt the power in his hand and arm. 
 
 The moment she touched the saddle she
 
 352 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 flushed. " Oh, I forgot. It 's a man's sad 
 dle; I must get on differently. Look the 
 other way, please." 
 
 Jim smiled, and did as he was bid. When 
 he faced her again she was seated astride, 
 very self-conscious and flushed, but deter 
 mined. 
 
 Jim looked at her as though nothing unusual 
 had been said. "Now are you all right? 
 Can you stand in your stirrups ? " She rose 
 on tiptoe. "That 's about right. Now take 
 the reins in your left hand. I '11 lead the old 
 mare, so you need n't bother to rein. Just 
 take it as easy as you can." He had time 
 now to look at the others. " Are you all set, 
 doc ? Line up, boys ! " 
 
 As the horses fell into line, Bessie turned a 
 radiant face to the doctor. " Oh, is n't this 
 fine ! " 
 
 " Have all the joy you can now," he malev 
 olently replied. "We may be obliged to 
 blindfold you both before we round Hell's 
 Corner." 
 
 " No, sir," cried Mrs. Ramsdell ; "I go to 
 my destruction with my eyes open." 
 
 "As you prefer," the doctor replied, as if 
 yielding a point. For the first half-hour they
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 353 
 
 kept the broad wagon-road, and Bessie ex 
 claimed : " Oh, this is splendid ! I like trail- 
 
 ing-" 
 
 Jim smiled up at her. "When you get 
 back to this road again you '11 know what a 
 mountain trail is." 
 
 " I want to know. I want you to teach 
 me," she replied. Her eyes fell before Jim's 
 searching glance. 
 
 A little farther on he halted the train and 
 came alongside her pony to tighten the cinch. 
 "We hit the trail now," he said. 
 
 The doctor dismounted, and tugged at the 
 main cinch of his own saddle. Twombly was 
 left to take care of himself, but he seemed to 
 be getting on very well. 
 
 " Do you see that line across that black 
 slide ? " asked Jim of Bessie. 
 
 " Away up there ? Yes." 
 
 " We cross there." 
 
 " Oh, no ; it can't be possible ! " 
 
 " All ready ? Forward, march ! " called Jim, 
 and his voice rang out with such determina 
 tion as men voice when going into battle. He 
 intended Bessie to feel the solemnity of enter 
 ing upon the Grizzly Bear trail. He led the 
 way into an obscure, narrow path which left
 
 354 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 the road and angled away among some small 
 pines and shrubs. It ran for some minutes to 
 the right, then turned abruptly to the left, and 
 climbed again. As she rose, a sort of exalta 
 tion seized upon the girl, and she grew pale 
 with a pallor that was beautiful to see. 
 
 " Oh, this is wonderful ! " she exclaimed in 
 a voice heard only by Jim. " Now I under 
 stand your love for the high country." 
 
 He looked back at her with a smile which 
 she could not interpret. " Wait till we put 
 the clouds below us," he replied. 
 
 The hills she had considered mountains 
 sank low, dwarfed by the kingly peaks that 
 rose beyond them. The town looked like a 
 handful of a child's building-blocks. The air 
 grew perceptibly cooler and crisper. Immense 
 snow-fields flashed into view, lying like capes 
 of ermine on the northern side of looming 
 peaks. Faint clouds began to come into 
 being far to the south, and still the pathway 
 climbed. 
 
 Just as Bessie was getting used to the 
 doubling of the trail, they came out upon an 
 open space, the track of an avalanche, it 
 seemed. 
 
 "Now don't be scared," called Jim.
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 355 
 
 "Whatever happens, hang to your saddle 
 and nothing will happen. We 've got to 
 cross this slide." 
 
 The trail led nearly athwart the loose bed 
 of shale which hung but insecurely on the 
 slope. To Bessie each step of her horse 
 seemed to threaten disaster. Below, for 
 hundreds of feet, the slide ran so steep that 
 it seemed a touch would set it in motion, 
 carrying everything before it. 
 
 The girl clung to the pommel of her sad 
 dle and looked straight ahead, finding comfort 
 and security in the sight of Jim's powerful 
 and confident figure. It seemed to her that 
 danger thickened at every step; but Jim 
 called back cheerily: "Don't be scared. 
 It 's all right. It looks worse than it is." 
 
 Something in his face and voice made her 
 very happy, and she smiled with a brave little 
 contortion of the lips, which moved him deeply. 
 
 When they reached the firm trail beyond 
 the slide, he halted and came back to her 
 side. 
 
 " How do you like it so far ? " 
 
 "I don't like 'slides.' Are we over the 
 worst of it ? " 
 
 A scream from Mrs. Ramsdell prevented
 
 356 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 his answer. The doctor, walking beside her 
 horse, had crowded him off the path, and he 
 was sliding slowly down the rattling shale. 
 
 " Hang on ! " shouted Jim. " He '11 come 
 up again." 
 
 The horse realized the situation, and, 
 struggling bravely, soon regained the path. 
 When they reached firm footing, Mrs. Rams- 
 dell turned a white, accusing face upon her 
 husband. 
 
 " Willard, I am going to walk." 
 
 " I would n't, my dear. You 're over the 
 worst of it," he replied, and persuaded her 
 to remain in the saddle while they began to 
 climb again. 
 
 " Where are we going ? " called Bessie. 
 " I can't keep direction, for the life of me." 
 
 "We turn right under that ledge," said 
 Jim, pointing to a huge jutting cliff. "Right 
 where you see that man the trail rounds the 
 elbow." 
 
 " How small he looks ! He 's no bigger 
 than a pin. Is that the very top ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; but the trail is comparatively 
 level after we reach that. It 's a long way 
 to the mine yet." 
 
 The mounting was now so rapid that Bessie
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 357 
 
 was forced to cling to the saddle with both 
 hands, while the mare toiled terribly, lunging 
 upward for a few rods, and stopping on the 
 turns to rest. These moments gave time for 
 a word or two, and each moment Jim grew 
 distinctly more lover-like. He was indeed 
 powerfully moved by the eager, wonder-filled 
 face of the girl, who looked like some adorable 
 child, with her hair blowing about her flushed 
 cheeks. 
 
 " Is n't it nice to think the little burros 
 don't have to carry their sacks of ore up 
 these awful trails ? " 
 
 Jim did not tell her that they carried lum 
 ber and sawmills, grindstones and stoves, and 
 big plates of boiler-iron, and boxes and barrels. 
 He left her in unpained ignorance. 
 
 At last they reached the big rock, and Jim 
 again halted and came back to say, " You 'd 
 better get off and rest," and putting his arm 
 around her, took her from the pony and set 
 her on her feet, all in so matter-of-fact a 
 way that she could not cry out or even refer 
 to it. 
 
 " Perhaps he thinks that is the way to help 
 ladies off," she thought. 
 
 " Now we are going to cover a piece of trail
 
 358 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 that will make you nervous ; but you '11 be all 
 right if you stay right by your horse. You 
 can walk if you feel like it ; but it 's just as 
 safe on the horse, and a mighty sight easier. 
 What do you say ? " 
 
 " I '11 do as you think best," she replied ; 
 "but I thought you said the trail was level? " 
 
 "It is ; but it 's a little rough underfoot, 
 and almighty mean to look at." 
 
 " If you lead my horse I won't be scared," 
 she said, with a smile which made him very 
 tender of her. He turned to Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 " I 'd advise you to walk, unless you feel all 
 right in the head." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell stared with round and 
 frightened eyes. 
 
 "Why, please?" 
 
 "The ticklish part of the trail is to come," 
 said the doctor. 
 
 " I thought you said the worst was over." 
 
 " Reckon you 'd better ride ahead, doc, and 
 let her walk just ahead of me, so I can keep 
 an eye on her." 
 
 The women looked at each other in a word 
 less communication of terror. Then Mrs. 
 Ramsdell faced her husband. " Willard, what 
 have you got us into? I 'm going back."
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 359 
 
 Bessie deserted her. " Oh, no. Let 's go 
 on. I 'm not afraid." 
 
 " That 's the talk," said Jim. 
 
 Twombly, who was sticking to his saddle 
 to the dismay of his horse, called out : " Bravo ! 
 Let us proceed." 
 
 The doctor was disturbed. "You must n't 
 turn back now, when the very finest scenery 
 is coming. My dear, be a brave lady." 
 
 " Scenery is of no value to a lady with a 
 broken neck," replied Mrs. Ramsdell. " If I 
 go on I shall walk." 
 
 The doctor helped his wife to the ground, 
 and then rode by, leaving her horse to follow 
 just ahead of Twombly. He was a little dis 
 gusted with her unreasonable terror. 
 
 " Line up ! Line up ! " called Jim, and the 
 horses began to move. " Fall in just ahead 
 of me," he said to Mrs. Ramsdell, "and look 
 straight ahead. I '11 take care of you." 
 
 Bessie fixed her eyes on the doctor's pony 
 and rode resolutely on. As he reached the 
 big rock the pony seemed to be walking 
 calmly out into space to his destruction ; but 
 just on the verge, while outlined on the sky 
 like a figure on a monument, he turned on his 
 hoofs as if on a pivot, and disappeared. A
 
 360 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 moment later the girl found herself gazing 
 over her horse's head into an abyss a thousand 
 feet deep. Her scalp lifted in a spasm of 
 mortal terror ; she clutched her steed by the 
 mane, and bowed her head. As she did so a 
 vast report broke from an unseen mine and 
 went crashing away from cliff to cliff with por 
 tentous rumbling as of certain doom. For a 
 moment the girl believed she had fallen from 
 the cliff; then she became aware of the calm 
 movement of her horse, which neither started 
 nor hastened her step at the monstrous 
 crash. 
 
 Jim was saying, " Go on ! There is no 
 danger if you walk straight." He had one 
 hand under Mrs. Ramsdell's shoulder, and 
 was steadying her. She seemed about to 
 faint. 
 
 The trail was indeed fearsome. It appeared 
 to be nothing but a seam in a prodigious 
 wall of rock three thousand feet in height. 
 A stratum of slate had been picked out and 
 crushed with hammers to make a pack-trail 
 which was wide enough, where they stood, 
 for safe passage, but appeared to narrow in 
 the distance to a path as dangerous as a half- 
 inch cable swung above Niagara. Far down
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 361 
 
 below, the Grizzly Bear was roaring, and around 
 old Lizard Head the thunder-clouds were de 
 veloping with enormous power and celerity. 
 
 Jim looked back at Bessie. " It 's all right. 
 I won't get you into danger. Come on." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell tottered forward, encour 
 aged by her husband and by Jim, until she 
 reached a broader portion of the ledge, when 
 she regained a little of her confidence. 
 
 " Keep your eyes high ! Don't look down!" 
 called Jim, and Bessie lifted her head. A sud 
 den exaltation seized upon her. The roll 
 ing clouds on the high peaks, the roaring 
 of the savage stream far below, the sound of 
 the wind on the opposite wall of the canon, 
 the stupendous heights and depths, moved her 
 so profoundly that she forgot her fears and 
 rode forward with hands clutched in the hair 
 of her loyal mount. Whenever she felt sick 
 with terror of the abyss, she fixed her eyes on 
 Jim's tall form, and was made brave by admi 
 ration of his grace and power. 
 
 Twombly rode along, exclaiming at inter 
 vals: " By Jove, now, this is impressive ! It's 
 like the Andes. How high are we now ? " he 
 called to Jim. 
 
 " Less than ten thousand feet," replied Jim.
 
 362 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "The trail is perfectly level now for two 
 miles," he explained to Bessie. 
 
 As she gained in confidence, the girl began 
 to look up and down and to measure the im 
 mensity of the mountain wall, round which 
 the trail ran like a girdle. 
 
 Suddenly a piercing, peculiar whistle 
 sounded, followed instantly by a terrific crash 
 of thunder, out of which Jim's voice rose : 
 " Turn out, doc! " 
 
 "All right," called the doctor. 
 
 "What is it? " asked Mrs. Ramsdell, whose 
 fright returned in full flood. " Was it a mine 
 exploding ? " 
 
 "A burro-train. We must reach a 'turn 
 out' before they do." 
 
 Across a side canon and round a sharp 
 point, a drove of laden burros crawled in 
 single file. It was precisely as if they were 
 walking an invisible tight-rope. They slid 
 across the face of the mountain like a string 
 of beads on an oiled wire. 
 
 At the head of the side canon a widening 
 of the roadway permitted the two trains to 
 pass, and there the doctor drew up. Riding 
 his horse to the very edge of the cliff, he 
 dismounted, and came back to meet his wife.
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 363 
 
 " Come, my dear; there is n't a particle of 
 danger." 
 
 Jim came back to Bessie's aid. "You 'd 
 better get off, I reckon. It 's a tight squeeze, 
 and sometimes those little jackasses get to 
 crowding." 
 
 After helping her to alight, he led her 
 horse close to the doctor's beast, and then, 
 taking the girl by the arm, stood beside her 
 and very close to her, with the horses crowded 
 to the edge of the rock. 
 
 Bessie looked up at him archly, expecting 
 to meet his glance, but he was looking away at 
 the oncoming burros with an anxious wrinkle 
 on his brow. As the little beasts caught 
 sight of the women they began to weave 
 about and point their ears with concern. 
 
 " Whoo-oosh ! " yelled the driver. " Go on 
 there, you fools ! " 
 
 " Don't crowd 'em ! " shouted Jim. " Give 
 'em time. Don't you see the women here ? 
 Give 'em time." 
 
 Bessie realized that it was not quite so safe 
 as Jim had tried to make her feel it to be. 
 
 " Don't take hold of the horse," he com 
 manded. "Take hold of me. Don't get 
 scared if they crowd us a little."
 
 364 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The leader of the train, with bright eyes 
 fixed on Mrs. Ramsdell's skirt, sidled by ; but 
 the second beast paused, and those behind 
 pressed on. 
 
 " Whoo-oosh ! There, go on ! " yelled the 
 driver. 
 
 " Don't hurry 'em, you idiot ! Give 'em a 
 chance," called Jim again. " Stand close, doc. 
 Keep quiet, everybody. They '11 pass in a 
 minute." 
 
 Twombly had dismounted, and stood beside 
 his horse also, and the three men formed a 
 buffer between the burros and the women and 
 horses. 
 
 " No cause to worry," said Jim to Bessie. 
 " I won't take you where I run any chance of 
 losing you," and something in his glance made 
 her forget where she stood. Twombly was 
 as if he had never been. 
 
 Twice Jim laid his hand on a crowding, 
 shuffling beast and held him from the two 
 women, and at last the jam gave way. The 
 little stream of gray and brown mules passed 
 on, and the way was clear. 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell was sick with terror, but a 
 knowledge that it was now as easy to go for 
 ward as to turn back nerved her to complete
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 365 
 
 the journey. It was a tremendously dramatic 
 half-hour. The sunlight failed suddenly as a 
 heavy storm-cloud swept westward of Lizard 
 Head, and pealing thunder broke like mon 
 strous cannons from the heights. The scene 
 that had been so radiant with beauty be 
 came suddenly cold, gloomy, and illimitably 
 threatening. 
 
 At last they swept round the corner of the 
 ledge into a wooded, grassy, flowery country, 
 where the trail was a smooth purple path 
 winding among aspens and dwarf oaks. 
 
 " Oh, how lovely ! " cried Bessie, and Mrs. 
 Ramsdell, drawing a deep sigh of relief, was 
 able to smile faintly. 
 
 Far ahead of them rose a great peak, seem 
 ingly at the head of the grassy valley, which 
 led upward at an easy grade. On this peak 
 vivid sunlight lay warm and golden. All 
 along the trail flowers waved gentians, 
 asters, Indian paint-brush, sweet-williams. 
 The slopes were radiant with bloom, and the 
 wind in the aspens was as gentle as a baby's 
 breath. A few moments later the sunlight 
 came racing down the gulch, and the world 
 was again dazzling with light and odorous 
 with bloom.
 
 366 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 "There," called the doctor, triumphantly, 
 " is n't this worth while ? " 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell could not instantly throw 
 off her terror, but Bessie was radiant with 
 delight. She asked Jim to pick some flowers 
 for her, and he obediently did so, and she 
 stuck some in the band of his hat, and the 
 action seemed to them both to be very sig 
 nificant. Jim was finding the trail more 
 beautiful than ever before in his life. It was 
 very much worth while, this playing guide to 
 a pretty girl. 
 
 " An hour's climb, and we 're at the mine," 
 said he. " That is the Concordia. X ne Ella 
 Grace is over the ridge to the left. We are 
 between." 
 
 THE cabin stood where a poet or a fastidious 
 trailer would have set it, on a wooded terrace 
 well toward the head of the canon, and about 
 fifty feet above the stream. From the door, 
 range after range of peaks, each more than 
 fourteen thousand feet above the sea, billowed 
 away, gleaming with green and gold and 
 garnet, mingled with snow, over which the 
 clouds dropped purple shadows. 
 
 " Oh, how beautiful ! " exclaimed Bessie.
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 367 
 
 " I thought mountains were either bare or 
 snowy. These are lovely." 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell, having come safely through 
 deadly perils, was also disposed to enjoy the 
 scene to the full. 
 
 " I never expect to see it again," she said, 
 after admitting the beauty of the view. 
 
 "Oh, I like it! May I come again?" 
 Bessie asked of Jim. 
 
 "Why, sure. Every day, if you like." 
 
 " And I want to climb one of these peaks. 
 That one how high is it?" 
 
 "Nearly fifteen thousand feet about as 
 high as the Alps," replied the doctor. 
 
 Bessie stopped suddenly in the midst of her 
 dancing, and laid her hand on her breast. 
 "What 's the matter with me, doctor? My 
 throat hurts me, and so does my head." 
 
 " That 's the rare air," laughed the doctor. 
 " Better not get too ambitious. Put off the 
 climb for a day or two." 
 
 "Oh, the poor horses! Did they feel this 
 way carrying us up ? And you, Mr. Matte- 
 son, it must have been hard on you." 
 
 Jim smiled, and the doctor said: "This is 
 his country; he 's used to it." 
 
 " Well, now, folks," said Jim, heartily, "make
 
 368 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 yourselves at home while I see what my 
 Chinaman is doing about dinner. Doc, you 
 might take the girls over to the mine." 
 
 "No, no!" cried Mrs. Ramsdell. " You 
 must show us the mine. It would n't be right 
 for anybody else to do so. Don't you think 
 so, Bessie ? " 
 
 " Oh, please do, Mr. Matteson ; never mind 
 dinner. No, I '11 tell you, aunty ; let 's help 
 him get dinner, and then we '11 all go to the 
 mine." 
 
 Jim reluctantly permitted them to enter the 
 cabin, which was built of the fine, straight 
 boles of the aspen, and was cozily set on the 
 sunny side of a grove of stocky pines. It 
 presented indubitable signs of having been 
 recently swept and garnished. A smiling 
 Chinaman was clattering busily about on the 
 bare floor of the kitchen lean-to, which Jim 
 had hastily constructed after his return. 
 Savory smells issued from various pots and 
 tins, and the women looked at each other with 
 sly grimaces of amusement while surveying 
 the housekeeping methods and utensils. 
 
 The bunks were swung up against the wall. 
 The chairs (which were made of long slabs, 
 with a shorter slab for support) were freshly
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 369 
 
 scoured, and a big table, also of slabs, filled 
 the center of the room and supported some 
 heavy crockery and tinware. 
 
 " Is n't it all delightfully primitive ? " said 
 Mrs. Ramsdell. " I 'm glad I lived to see it. 
 Who made the chairs ? " 
 
 Jim looked a little self-conscious. " I did. 
 Like 'em ? " 
 
 " I think they are wonderful. How did 
 you ever think of leaning two sticks together 
 like that?" 
 
 The doctor interposed. " Come, now, I 
 can't have Jim take undue credit. These are 
 the regulation miners' chairs. They are not 
 original with Jim. Nobody knows who in 
 vented them." 
 
 Twombly, whom they had for the moment 
 quite forgotten, appeared at the door with a 
 silver-mounted fishing-rod in his hands. " Do 
 you know, I believe I '11 try for a fish." 
 
 "All right," said Jim, cordially. "This is 
 free fishing. No Black Moor restrictions 
 here. Fish in the ripples if you want a trout. 
 Mountain trout are not dead-water fish." 
 
 As Twombly spoke, Jim's mind filled with 
 the scenes in the camp trip to the Black Moor 
 and the little crawling stream wherein Twom-
 
 370 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 bly had angled while he prepared dinner with 
 Mary looking on ; and now, with Bessie's 
 voice mingling with the roar of his river, 
 Mary seemed as artificial and far off as Eng 
 land herself, deep sunk in a dim country 
 crowded with unaccountable and irritating 
 figures a land of worry and of doubt. 
 
 He had sense enough to perceive the vast 
 difference between Bessie's girlish chatter 
 and the half-satiric, half-mournful charm of 
 Mary's speech with him. Bessie was a girl ; 
 Mary was something singularly outside wo 
 mankind as he conceived it. At the moment 
 she seemed a diseased, unnatural being. 
 
 Bessie noticed his sudden abstraction. 
 "What are you thinking of, Mr. Miner?" 
 
 He looked up with a sudden smile. " I 
 was thinking what I could do with my quar 
 ter of the million." 
 
 " Oh, let us help you ! We can be of ser 
 vice there, can't we, aunty ? " 
 
 " I don't think Jim will lack advisers on 
 that score," Mrs. Ramsdell replied. "We 
 are prepared to devote a good deal of time 
 to helping you spend money," she added, 
 turning toward Jim. 
 
 Jim shook off his abstraction, and said :
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 371 
 
 "Well, now, you women -folks, shoo out o' 
 here. John and I don't want any of ybur 
 help " ; and spreading his arms, he drove 
 them out. " Go set on a bench and watch 
 the peaks go by," he added. 
 
 The women laughingly obeyed, and while 
 the doctor unsaddled the horses and picketed 
 them on the sunny slope, Mrs. Ramsdell 
 drew Bessie aside and opened up an intimate 
 conversation : 
 
 " He is fine ! He 's finer than ever out 
 here, for he 's a part of this life. He seems 
 very glad to have you here, and quite takes 
 possession of you. It was beautiful, his 
 care of you on the trail coming up. I 
 could see that, if I was scared nearly out of 
 my wits. He took care of us all. Even 
 Willard depended on him." 
 
 " He did n't seem to watch over Mr. 
 Twombly," said Bessie, with a malicious 
 glitter of her eyes. 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell smiled. "That is true. He 
 did leave Twombly to shift for himself; and 
 I must say Mr. Twombly is quite capable of 
 caring for himself, and he 's very nice, too 
 not a bit officious. I guess that he under 
 stands that Jim 'has the inside track,' as Wil-
 
 372 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 lard says. I 'm sure it would n't require any 
 wonderful insight to discover Jim's mind in 
 the matter." 
 
 Bessie looked away at the splendid peaks 
 with a musing smile on her lips. She was 
 very happy, and she wished Mrs. Ramsdell 
 would not define the situation too exactly. It 
 was so much lovelier just to enjoy it and 
 never, never put it into words. The storm- 
 clouds still circled old Lizard Head and Ouray 
 like great angry birds struggling over a com 
 mon prey, but the thunder had ceased. Oc 
 casionally a stately great cumulus cloud moved 
 out over the valley like a ship, trailing a 
 wine-purple cloud across the gold and green 
 of the slopes, passing on to the west to catch 
 and cling to some great crag and there dis 
 solve in rain. 
 
 In the presence of such prodigious dramas 
 the women ceased to speak, and only dreamed 
 with half-shut eyes, absorbing every detail 
 of this marvelous upper world into which 
 they might never again penetrate a man's 
 world wherein women were weak as the 
 conies and inadaptable. 
 
 Precisely at noon Jim came out, and, lifting 
 his hands to his mouth, sent forth a mellow
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 373 
 
 shout that went echoing down the valley like 
 a strain of music. 
 
 " Hello ! hello ! Dinner-bell ! dinner-bell ! 
 din-ner-bell ! " 
 
 The women scrambled to their feet in haste, 
 and Jim met them at the door with a smile. 
 
 "Want to wash?" 
 
 " Thank you ; we should like to." 
 
 He led them to a squared pine-stump 
 whereon sat a basin. Beside it a pail of the 
 cleanest water waited. " Here you are. Dip 
 in." 
 
 He brought a very obviously new towel, 
 which was as slippery as cambric, and the 
 women eyed it and him with sly amusement. 
 
 " Company towel, is n't it ? " said Mrs. 
 Ramsdell. 
 
 " Sure thing. Do you know what else I Ve 
 got ? " he asked. 
 
 "We could n't possibly guess." 
 
 " Napkins ! " 
 
 " Oh, what marvelous extravagance ! " 
 
 " I bought a whole mule-load of things 
 yesterday canned peaches, canned corn, 
 canned salmon, canned celery, canned toma 
 toes. I sure laid myself out to feed you well, 
 so you 'd stay as many as two days."
 
 374 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 He looked at Bessie as he said this, and 
 Mrs. Ramsdell smiled back at him signifi 
 cantly. Bessie exclaimed at the clean table 
 cloth and the napkins and the silver-plated 
 knives and forks, and then Mrs. Ramsdell 
 said: 
 
 " Now that we Ve seen them, please put 
 them away, and let us eat with the very ones 
 you use when you are alone. We want to live 
 just as you do when we are not here." 
 
 "Impossible!" cried the doctor. "John 
 did n't have time to scour the knives, and 
 Bill was never known to wash a dish." 
 
 "Who is Bill?" 
 
 " Here he is to answer for himself." 
 
 The old miner, spattered with yellow clay, 
 and looking as rusty as a tin can, stood look 
 ing in at the door. He seemed to be frozen 
 in an attitude of suspense till the doctor said : 
 
 " It 's all right, Bill ; they 're real. It 's no 
 dream this time. This is my wife and this is 
 my niece. Girls, this is old Bill Williams, our 
 foreman. Look at him close, for he is to be 
 superintendent of the mine, which hereafter 
 we must call the ' Bessie B.' How about it, 
 Bill? You look stunned." 
 
 Bill was apparently nothing but whiskers
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 375 
 
 and dirt and two black eyes, but he had his 
 share of wit. 
 
 " I never expected to see two such women 
 at once up here," he finally said, with a big 
 smile. 
 
 "That '11 do, Bill," called the doctor; 
 "you 've said it. Go wash now and look 
 pretty, or you '11 stand no show against Jim." 
 
 It was like a story to Bessie. Old Bill 
 came back and sat in the doorway and told 
 of the wonderful vein they had opened, and 
 the doctor joked him about his worshipful 
 glances at Bessie, and the Chinaman clattered 
 about with chirping impertinence, interrupting 
 the choicest joke by presenting a dish of some 
 inedible food. Jim sat at the head of the 
 table, with Bessie at his right, but was kept 
 too busy by the Chinaman and the doctor to 
 be able to have any conversation with any one. 
 
 The doctor expanded from moment to 
 moment. " Come up here a month from now, 
 and you '11 see a hundred men sitting down 
 to dinner, and buildings all around here a 
 village of our own." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said Bessie. " That will spoil 
 it all. One little cabin does n't matter, but " 
 
 "How else do we get our million?" he
 
 376 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 replied. " Did you get a bite ? " he asked 
 of Twombly, who had quietly taken his seat. 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed ! \ had the best of luck. 
 I brought back four choice ones. I could 
 have caught more, only I could n't keep away 
 from the mine. I went over to the tunnel and 
 took a look at the ore." 
 
 " What do you think of it ? " 
 
 " It looks very well. Of course I can't tell 
 till I make an assay of it." 
 
 " Assay till all 's blue," said the doctor. 
 " We know what it is, and we 're satisfied." 
 
 This made them all so anxious to visit the 
 mine that dinner was hastened and the table 
 soon turned over to Williams and his men. 
 Jim led the way to the mine. It was not far 
 away, though a little higher than the cabin, 
 and they soon reached its mouth an irregu 
 lar opening in the granite side of the moun 
 tain. A heap of country-rock lay just below 
 it, and close beside the little tramway was a 
 pile of rust-colored ore. 
 
 Jim picked up a piece from the heap near 
 est the entrance, and his voice was touched 
 with awe as he said: " Here 's the vein, doc. 
 You don't need any glass to see the color 
 on it."
 
 ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR TRAIL 377 
 
 Ramsdell turned visibly paler as he scru 
 tinized it. " By the Lord Harry, so it is." 
 He turned to his wife. " Deary, this makes 
 us!" His voice was tremulous with emotion, 
 and his wife ran to him and threw her arms 
 about his neck, unable to utter a word. Bessie 
 looked at Jim with big, tear-misted eyes. She 
 had never seen the jovial doctor so deeply 
 moved. His emotion was much more con 
 vincing than the gold itself. 
 
 Jim was able to speak first, but he was 
 forced into jocularity to conceal his emotion. 
 
 "Well, now, see here! Are any of you 
 mourners going into the mine with me?" 
 
 At this they all laughed, and the tension of 
 the moment gave way. The doctor straight 
 ened up. " Lead on, Macduff. Is it muddy?" 
 
 " Not much. Keep right in my track." 
 He took down three candles, and handing 
 one to the doctor and another to Twombly, 
 lighted his own, and they all proceeded. 
 
 The tunnel ran nearly straight, with a little 
 up grade, deep into the heart of the moun 
 tain. On the ties of the little tramway strips 
 of board were nailed, and footing remained 
 fairly dry, though the ripple of a small stream 
 of water could be heard beneath the track.
 
 378 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 The way grew darker and colder as they went 
 in, and once Jim called : 
 
 "Shield your light, doc; we pass an old 
 side shaft here on the right." 
 
 Once, as they stood waiting for the doctor 
 to relight his candle, Bessie moved close to 
 Jim as if seeking protection. 
 
 " Oh, is n't it solemn in here ! " 
 
 He reached for her hand and pressed it 
 hard. " Keep close to me, and I '11 take care 
 of you. There 's no danger." 
 
 " Suppose the mountain should cave in, or 
 something ! " 
 
 " We keep watch of that," he replied. 
 "When we see a vein of water seeping in, we 
 shore it up and go on." 
 
 It was very sweet to be the protector of 
 such a little thing as Bessie seemed to him, 
 and Jim was glad that the mine was growing 
 colder and damper and more mysterious ; it 
 gave him an excuse to turn and reassure her. 
 
 " Step out bravely. Don't get scared. I 
 won't take you into danger." 
 
 They heard, at last, the sound of picks, 
 and came upon a couple of men working at 
 the loosened rock. They had struck the 
 vein at an angle, and were drifting to the left 
 toward the Ella Grace claim.
 
 379 
 
 "Well, boys, how does it go?" asked Jim, 
 cheerily. 
 
 " She 's widening out," replied one of the 
 men. " Fully an inch in the last ten 
 feet." 
 
 As the doctor and Twombly picked around 
 the wall under guidance of the men, Jim stood 
 close beside Bessie. 
 
 " I can't realize that there is a great for 
 tune there," said Mrs. Ramsdell. " It seems 
 like madness to go digging into the moun 
 tains like this." 
 
 Jim had Bessie's hand, and as he replied, 
 "It 's all here, and it 's ours," his powerful 
 fingers closed on Bessie's small wrist. His 
 words, so far as Mrs. Ramsdell knew, referred 
 to the doctor and himself. To Bessie they 
 meant something more so much more that 
 a little thrill of fear ran through her blood, 
 and her throat constricted in a singular pain, 
 a pain that was also a profound pleasure. 
 For just a moment she was passive, then her 
 hand struggled to be free. 
 
 " I don't like it in here. I want to get out," 
 she cried in a sort of panic. 
 
 " Well," said Jim, "I reckon we Ve seen all 
 there is to show. Let 's jog along back to 
 sunshine."
 
 XVI 
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 
 
 JIM had determined to have a talk with 
 Bessie which would set everything to 
 rights, but he was too much a son of solitude 
 to enter upon such a dialogue with the pos 
 sibility of interruption. He preferred to be 
 with her on a height overlooking the valley, 
 where only the soaring eagle could listen. 
 
 Bessie was eager to climb a mountain, and 
 when she spoke of it again next day, Jim 
 said : " All right ; but you 'd better wait till 
 your lungs are stronger: the air is mighty 
 thin and cold up there." 
 
 " How long must I wait ? " 
 
 "Oh, a week or so when you come up 
 again." 
 
 " But we 're not going down, at least not 
 while the weather is fine. Aunty says she 
 never expects to get up here again, and so 
 she wants to stay as long as possible." 
 
 380
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 381 
 
 " I 'm mighty glad of that," said Jim, with 
 great satisfaction. " But I '11 jest nacherly 
 have to rack down the trail and stock up, or 
 you '11 go hungry. We don't intend to let 
 you go at all if canned goods will keep you." 
 
 She watched him as he saddled his horses 
 and packed the sacks of ore he wished to 
 have assayed, and when he was about to 
 start, she said, " ' Good-by, Jim ; take keer 
 of yourself.' ' 
 
 And he, not knowing that her speech was 
 a quotation, replied : 
 
 " I 'm a-goin' to sure thing. I Ve got a 
 whole lot to live for these days." 
 
 As he rode off down the trail, his clear voice 
 urging his pack-horses before him, the girl's 
 heart beat quick with admiration of her big, 
 graceful mountain lover, whose every tone 
 and gesture were suited to his splendid environ 
 ment. 
 
 While he was gone the doctor led his flock 
 out upon a grassy shoulder of the mountain, 
 and there they sat, glad of the sun, watching 
 the splendid cloud-dramas of the environing 
 peaks and talking of the mine and its possi 
 bilities. 
 
 " It puts an end to my Chicago practice,
 
 382 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 my dear," he said. " I shall be needed here, 
 and we must get a house in the Gap." 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Will ! And can I come and 
 live with you here ? " cried Bessie. 
 
 The doctor looked concerned. 
 
 "Don't you think you '11 be lonesome? 
 Think of the plays and concerts you 'd miss." 
 
 Bessie stoutly shook her head. " I love it 
 out here. I never want to go back." 
 
 The doctor laid his right hand over his 
 heart and sang in doleful voice, " Where-e'er 
 thou art is ho-o-o-me for me-hee-hee," and 
 Bessie threw a pebble at him. 
 
 " You brought it on yourself," remarked 
 Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 
 Twombly began to feel that he was very 
 much outside of the "whole proposition," and 
 seized the first opportunity to ask : 
 
 " About this mine, now, what terms can we 
 agree upon ? " 
 
 The doctor said: "To tell the square-toed 
 truth, Mr. Twombly, we 're not so anxious to 
 sell as we were ; but, seeing that you have 
 come so far and represent some of Jim's friends, 
 we '11 let you have a block of stock at par, and 
 that 's a concession, for we have a fortune 
 under our hands. If you had taken Jim's
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 383 
 
 offer over there, we would have stood by it ; 
 but as you came to examine first, with option 
 of doing nothing at all, we have the same 
 rights. We withdraw our first offer, and sub 
 stitute one based on the newer developments." 
 
 Twombly looked serious. " I suppose I 
 should do the same thing in your place. But 
 I could n't buy a pig in a poke, y' know." 
 
 " Well, I tell you, it 's all a gamble anyhow. 
 You could n't expect us to sell gold dollars in 
 hand. We can see the money in our ore, and 
 if you come in now you come on our terms 
 strictly. I don't know what we are going to 
 do. We may consolidate with Cuyler. Any 
 how, our original offer can't hold." 
 
 Twombly was disappointed, but could not 
 blame his American friends for his own 
 " failure to come to time," as Jim called it. 
 
 " Very well. I will come in on your terms. 
 I like you all " 
 
 "We like you," interrupted the doctor. 
 " If we did n't we would n't bother with you 
 now." 
 
 Twombly went on: "I want to be associated 
 with the mine in a small way, and so do my 
 friends the Briens. I think I shall go back 
 to the hotel to-night."
 
 384 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " You 're welcome to camp here as long as 
 you please." 
 
 " I 'm sure of that ; but I 'm a little burden 
 some here, and, besides, I want to see what 
 is doing down at the town." 
 
 " Very well. You '11 find a bunk here any 
 time you care to ride up the trail," said the 
 doctor, cordially. 
 
 Mrs. Ramsdell was sincerely sorry to see 
 Twombly go. " If we take a house in the 
 Gap, you must make your home with us during 
 your stay in this country," she said as he rose 
 to leave them. 
 
 " You 're very kind. I 'm deeply grateful 
 for what you 've already done, Mrs. Ramsdell. 
 You Ve made me quite forget that I was among 
 strangers." 
 
 Bessie was very sweet and friendly, but a 
 little distant; and Twombly, being an expe 
 rienced man, understood her changed manner, 
 and said good-by very gravely. He was 
 grateful for the entertainment her innocent 
 flirtation had afforded him, and he was sin 
 cerely glad that Jim was restored to favor. 
 He went away down the trail smiling. He 
 was sorry he had not taken with Jim's des 
 perate offer on shipboard, but then
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 385. 
 
 Jim returned late for supper, and they all 
 gathered round him while he drank his 
 warmed-over coffee and talked of the offers 
 he had had for his share in the mine. 
 
 "We 're going to be overrun with yaller- 
 legged experts," he said disgustedly, "and 
 I 'm goin' to lock the trail." 
 
 Bessie waited on the table, and would have 
 cooked him something nice, but she was afraid 
 of John Chinaman. 
 
 Jim's love for her was very human, and his 
 desire to reach out and encircle her waist had 
 no touch of awe in it. She looked very house 
 wifely as she gathered the dishes together 
 after he had finished. He thought of Mary 
 at the moment, but put the thought aside. 
 
 The days which followed were filled with 
 keen pleasure. When alone, the men dis 
 cussed the mine ; when together with the 
 women, the doctor brought the young people 
 into most intimate relation. He all but spoke 
 of them as engaged. For their own part, 
 Jim and Bessie kept to a laughing, elliptical 
 sort of conversation, which allowed him to 
 say things which meant little, so far as words 
 went, but which were made meaningful by 
 glances and by cadences in the utterance.
 
 386 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 Each morning the sun rose fair, and each 
 day at eleven o'clock the great clouds gath 
 ered on Ouray and Lizard Head, and the 
 thunder broke forth like monster cannon- 
 shots. Each day the doctor said, "Well, 
 shall we go down to the camp to-day ? " and 
 each time Bessie quickly cried, " Oh, no ; not 
 to-day," and Mrs. Ramsdell, with a shudder, 
 said, " Oh, that dreadful trail ! No; let me 
 stay a little longer, Willard. I shall never 
 get up here again." 
 
 "Oh, yes, you will," said Jim. "We '11 
 build a stage-road for you." 
 
 It was not all courtship for Jim. He spent 
 hours with the doctor and various business 
 men in discussing the mine and plans for its 
 development. He rode down nearly every 
 morning to the camp, but contrived to spend 
 his afternoons, and, above all, the sunset 
 hours, with Bessie. The girl, on her part, 
 assumed each day more and more of the 
 management of the cabin, and Jim went so 
 far as to kick the Chinaman for saying, "Lilly 
 gal heap boss no likee." 
 
 ' ' See here, John, " he said ominously. ' ' That 
 little gal is your boss and my boss, and don't 
 you forget it. If you say another sassy word
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 387 
 
 to her," he seized the little man in his arms 
 and swung him high above his head, "I bust 
 you like a squash." 
 
 John went away rubbing the back of his 
 neck. " All light ; me sabby. You belly 
 stlong. Mebbe so lilly gal all time boss." 
 
 Jim smiled. " I guess that 's right, John. 
 She 's going to boss us all right along now." 
 
 With nice clean tents and good bedding, 
 the women had no complaint to make while 
 the weather continued fair ; but the nights 
 grew colder and the clouds of midday more 
 portentous, and at last the noonday showers 
 changed to hail or snow flurries, and then Jim 
 said : 
 
 " Well, folks, it 's powerful good of ye to 
 keep me company so long ; but I reckon you 
 better drop down to a lower level. I don't 
 want the responsibility of keeping you here 
 much longer. It 's liable to snow us up any 
 time now." 
 
 Bessie cried out: " Oh ! then I must climb 
 my mountain." 
 
 "She calls it her mountain now," remarked 
 the doctor. 
 
 Jim looked at her thoughtfully. " Think 
 you can stand it ? "
 
 3 88 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " Oh, yes. My lungs are getting stronger. 
 I can run up that little hill and not hurt me at 
 all. I was half-way to the top of the trail 
 to-day." 
 
 "Well, then," replied Jim, "we '11 make a 
 try for the pass to-morrow. We '11 start right 
 after dinner, and we '11 see how far you can 
 
 go-" 
 
 Of course Bessie invited Mrs. Ramsdell, 
 
 who promptly refused, and equally natural 
 was the doctor's ready assumption that he, 
 too, had been invited. He referred to the 
 trip a great many times during the day, and 
 always in a way which left no doubt as to his 
 intention to share it. 
 
 " I shall enjoy that walk to-morrow," he 
 said. " I Ve always threatened to go up to 
 the top of Lizard Head, but always put it off." 
 
 " I reckon you better put it off again," 
 remarked Jim. " Cuyler is coming over to 
 talk business with you, and you '11 have to 
 stay here." 
 
 " Oh, I can send one of the boys over and 
 tell him to come some other day." 
 
 He was relentless up to the moment when 
 Bessie came from the cabin dressed for the 
 walk. He rose, and said : " Well, I suppose
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 389 
 
 we 'd better be going. It is a nice little 
 climb, and the wind is cold up there." 
 
 "Willard!" exclaimed his wife, and laid 
 hold of his coat-tails. " You 're not going." 
 
 He sighed, and said : " You see how it is, 
 Bessie. I 'm quite willing to accept your 
 kind invitation, but " 
 
 " Are you ready ? " said Jim. 
 
 " All ready." 
 
 "Then we go," he replied, and they set off 
 up the trail, leaving the doctor behind. 
 
 Jim held himself down to a moderate pace, 
 but Bessie's cheeks were soon pink with exer 
 tion, and Jim thought it neighborly to stop 
 and call attention to the change in vegeta 
 tion. 
 
 " Here we see the last of the aspen," he 
 said. " The mountain pine will last far up 
 to the snow-line ; everything else will drop 
 out. After a little you '11 be able to tell the 
 altitude by the trees." 
 
 The path was very beautiful, even after it 
 left the oaks and aspens behind ; it was like a 
 curving ribbon in the rich, thick, short grass 
 of the mountain meadows, and in every ravine 
 it crossed a stream of the purest water. Co 
 nies squeaked round the rocks, and young
 
 390 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 eagles cried from their nests ; everywhere 
 were wide fields of snow, except on the broad, 
 slowly ascending valley, which lay wide to the 
 sun. 
 
 The girl had a sense of being in a world 
 alone with her lover, and it troubled her 
 breathing almost as much as the walking. 
 When they sat beside the trail to rest, Jim 
 talked of the mountains and the birds and 
 beasts, and pointed out the route they must 
 take to reach the summit. 
 
 " Oh, how much farther it is than I 
 thought ! " she said. 
 
 " It '11 use up the evening," he replied in 
 a tone of satisfaction. "I 'm not worried ; 
 are you ? " 
 
 " Not with you for guide," she replied. 
 
 He rose. " Well, we must keep a-lopin'. 
 Let me carry your jacket ; it 's a right sharp 
 climb yet." 
 
 As they rose, Bessie's heart expanded with 
 a pleasure that was almost pain. The world 
 of peaks became awesome with its grandeur 
 of line and splendor of color. On every side 
 great ranges tumbled against the sky like 
 billows of an opalescent sea, with crests of 
 gold and brown and purple, with fields of snow
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 391 
 
 here and there like mighty foam-flecks. 
 Every sign of man except the foot-path dis 
 appeared, and the girl walked a little nearer 
 the stalwart figure of her guide. 
 
 " It scares me," she said in a half-whisper, 
 as they stood side by side to rest. 
 
 " I reckon the Almighty wrote his finest 
 poetry right here," he said. " I wish I 'd 
 'a' known this country before anybody else 
 found it. I 'm a miner that 's my trade. But 
 sometimes I feel disgusted with the business. 
 It tears the hills to pieces." 
 
 They came at last to a big snow-field, and 
 there Jim turned. " Now, my girl, I reckon 
 you better let me help you. It 's a sharp 
 raise here." 
 
 She took his hand, and skirting the snow, 
 they came out upon a smooth, steep slope 
 covered with crumbling masses of rock. With 
 fifteen minutes' painful climbing they reached 
 the base of a vast comb of rock rising from the 
 smooth brow of the mountain. 
 
 " That is the crest of Lizard Head," said 
 Jim, as he drew the girl into a nook out of the 
 wind, which was keen and strong. " Do you 
 want to go up ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I want to go to the actual summit."
 
 392 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 " I like that ! " he said, smiling at her. " I 
 like grit" 
 
 It was a hard task to reach the topmost 
 crag, but at last they set foot there, and the 
 girl clung to the mountaineer in wordless fear 
 and awe. And he, setting his broad breast 
 into the wind to shield her, felt a quick rush 
 of love for her, she seemed so helpless, so 
 tender, in the midst of the savage world of 
 snow and crag. He put his arm around her 
 and drew her closer within his shelter. 
 
 " Did n't realize how cold it was up here, 
 did you?" 
 
 " No ; but is n't it grand ! It makes me 
 want to cry." 
 
 " It makes me want to sing," he replied 
 exultantly. " We 're two miles and a half 
 above New York and London." 
 
 Then, without another word of love, he 
 pointed out rapidly the great ranges and 
 peaks which could be seen. He indicated the 
 direction in which lay the Elk Mountains, 
 the Needle Range, the Lone Cone of Sierra 
 Blanca, and the great wall of the Sangre de 
 Cristo. She, on her part, was feeling the shel 
 tering power of his arm and the sturdy poise 
 of his tall frame, and was happy in his nearness.
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 393 
 
 He had a watchful eye on her. " We must 
 go down ; it is too cold up here for you." 
 
 When they reached the little sheltering 
 hollow in the ragged base of the crest she 
 was shivering with cold and nervous exhaus 
 tion. He took off his coat and made her put 
 it on, and led her round to another niche 
 where the sun fell warm and golden. 
 
 " It was almost too much, was n't it ? " he 
 asked. But her chattering teeth prevented 
 an answer. " I never took a girl on a trip 
 like this before ; women ain't built for this 
 kind o' thing, anyhow. Funny, I never no 
 ticed how little and soft girls are." He mused 
 on this for a moment. 
 
 "A mountain is always twice as high as it 
 seems ; that 's the reason I wanted an early 
 start. It will be sundown before we reach 
 the cabin." 
 
 He sat down close to her, and pulled the 
 collar of the coat close around her face. He 
 was a good deal concerned about her, but tried 
 not to let her know it. 
 
 " You '11 warm up in a minute," he said 
 reassuringly. " You 're tired, you see, and 
 that wind got into your bones. I wish I 'd 
 brought some whisky ; but I never take it
 
 394 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 except for snake-bites, and I did n't think of 
 it this time. Are you warmer now ? " 
 
 He put his arm around her again, and his 
 voice was tender as he said : " I hope you 're 
 not goin' to be sick. I can't afford to lose 
 you now I 've got you." He smiled down at 
 her, and when she turned her face up at him, 
 he said : "You see, I want you to stay in the 
 high country with me will you do it ? " 
 
 Her eyes fell, and he hastened to add: " I 
 don't suppose I ought to say anything more 
 to-day ; but I sure need ye bad. I Ve been 
 chasin' round over these hills till I 'm tired of 
 it. I want to build a cabin up here some- 
 wheres, and put you in it, and kind o' take it 
 easy and watch the sun do the work. I 'm a 
 shaggy specimen, but I can take care of you 
 now the way a man 'd ought to do and I 
 want you. You need n't answer now if you 
 don't want to." 
 
 She lifted her hands, and put them about 
 his neck, and gave him a sudden pull. 
 
 " I love you, Jim." 
 
 "That settles the whole proposition," he 
 said, and gave her a squeeze that made her 
 gasp. " And now we must hurry, for the sun 
 has left us, and you '11 be getting chilled again."
 
 BESSIE CLIMBS A PEAK 395 
 
 As they stood facing each other, she put 
 her arms about his neck again, and asked : 
 
 " Do you love me, Jim ? Do you love me 
 better than you do that London woman ? " 
 
 He took her wrists in both his strong 
 hands, and looked at her very soberly. 
 
 " Now, see here, little girl ; you must n't 
 worry about that woman. It 's like this : I 
 went down into the low country and among 
 queer people, and I had a queer dream : A 
 woman was good to me, and I liked her. I 
 reckon I liked her mighty well, but I was n't 
 her kind, and she was n't my kind, and we 
 said good-by. And I broke away and came 
 back where I belonged ; and the girl I really 
 wanted for my wife was slicker than ever, 
 and I just calculated on getting her. But she 
 had switched off, and was being nice to an 
 other chap " 
 
 "It was your fault." 
 
 "And so I said, 'Well, Jim, you 're due 
 to chew the bitter cud. You 've trailed 
 up somebody else's deer.' So I climbed 
 higher. But the girl was only foolin', after 
 all, it seemed ; and, now we understand 
 each other, let 's let bygones go by, and see 
 if we can't dig out a whole lot of comfort right
 
 396 HER MOUNTAIN LOVER 
 
 here in the mountains. Now, what do you 
 say ? " 
 
 " I wish the other girl had n't been 
 dreamed," she said wistfully. 
 
 " So do I, now," he replied. " But dreams 
 don't last long after sunrise." 
 
 He looked at her with a curious smile. 
 "You know what I 'm going to do?" He 
 stooped suddenly and kissed her. "There 
 you 're mine now. Let us go home and tell 
 the folks what has happened to us."
 
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