Bob always stayed at the Monterosa Hotel when in town; a circumstance that had sent Oldham to the Buena Vista1. Although it wanted but a few hours until train time, he drifted around to his customary stopping place, resolved to enjoy a quiet smoke by the great plate-glass windows before which the ever-varying theatre crowds stream by from Main Street cars. He had been thus settled for some time, when he heard his name pronounced by the man occupying the next chair.
"Bob Orde!" he cried; "but this is luck!"
Bob looked around to see an elderly, gray-haired, slender man, of keen, intelligent face, pure white hair and moustache, in whom he recognized Mr. Frank Taylor, a lifelong friend of his father's and one of the best lawyers his native state had produced. He sprang to his feet to grasp the older man's hand. The unexpected meeting was especially grateful, for Bob had been long enough without direct reminders2 of his old home to be hungry for them. Ever since he could remember, the erect3, military form of Frank Taylor had been one of the landmarks4 of memory, like the sword that had belonged to Georgie Cathcart's father, or like the kindly5, homely6, gray figure of Mr. Kincaid in his rickety, two-wheeled cart--the man who had given Bob his first firearm.
After first greetings and inquiries7, the two men sank back to finish their smoke together.
"It's good to see you again," observed Bob, "but I'm sorry your business brings you out here at this time of year. This is our dry season, you know. Everything is brown. I like it myself, as do most Californians, but an Easterner has to get used to it. After the rains, though, the country is wonderful."
"This isn't my first trip," said Taylor. "I was out here for some months away back in--I think it was '79. I remember we went in to Santa Barbara on a steamer that fired a gun by way of greeting! Strangely enough, the same business brings me here now."
"You are out here on father's account?" hazarded Bob, to whom the year 1879 now began to have its significance.
"Exactly. Didn't you get your father's letter telling of my coming?"
"I've been from headquarters three days," Bob explained.
"I see. Well, he sent you this message: 'Tell Bob to go ahead. I can take care of myself.'"
"Bully8 for dad!" cried Bob, greatly heartened.
"He told me he did not want to advise you, but that in the old days when a fight was on, the spectators were supposed to do their own dodging9."
"I'd about come to that conclusion," said Bob, "but it surely does me good to feel that father's behind me in it."
"My trip in '79--or whenever it was--was exactly on this same muss-up." Mr. Taylor went on: "Your father owned this timber land then, and wanted to borrow money on it. At the time a rascally10 partner was trying to ruin him; and, in order to prevent his getting this money, which would save him, this partner instigated11 investigations12 and succeeded temporarily in clouding the title. Naturally the banks declined to lend money on doubtful titles; which was all this partner wanted.[A] Perhaps you know all this?"
Bob shook his head. "I was a little too young to know anything of business."
"Your father sent me out to straighten things. The whole matter was involved in endless red tape, obscured in every ingenious way possible. Although there proved to be nothing to the affair, to prove that fact took time, and time was what your father's partner was after. As a matter of fact, he failed; but that was not the result of miscalculation. Now I strongly suspect that your friend Baker13, or his lawyers, have dug up a lot of this old evidence on the records and are going to use it to annoy us. There is nothing more in it how than there was at the beginning, but it's colourable enough to start a noisy suit on, and that's all these fellows are after."
"But if it was decided14 once, how can they bring it up again?" Bob objected.
"It was never brought to court. When the delay had been gained--or rather, when I unravelled15 the whole matter--it was dropped."
"I see," said Bob. "Then the titles are all right?"
"Every bit of that tract16 is as good as gold," said Taylor impressively. "Your father bought only from men who had taken up land with their own money. He paid as high as fifteen or sixteen hundred dollars for claims where by straight 'colonizing17' he could have had them for three or four hundred."
"I'm glad to hear that," said Bob. "But are you sure you can handle this?"
"As for a suit, they can never win this in the world," said Taylor. "But that isn't the question. What they want is a chance for big headlines."
"Well, can you head them off?"
"I'm going to try, after I look over the situation. If I can't head it off completely, I'll at least be in a position to reply publicly at once. It took me three months to dig this thing out, but it won't take me half an hour to get it in the papers."
"I should think they'd know that."
"I don't think their lawyer really knows about it. As I say, it took me three months to dig it all out. My notion is that while they have no idea they can win the case, they believe that we did actually colonize18 the lands. In other words, they think they have it on us straight enough. The results of my investigations will surprise them. I'll keep the thing out of court if I can; but in any case we're ready. It will be a trial in the newspapers."
"Well," said Bob, "you want to get acquainted then. Western newspapers are not like those in the East. They certainly jump in with both feet on any cause that enlists19 them one way or another. It is a case of no quarter to the enemy, in headlines, subheads, down to the date--reading matter, of course. They have a powerful influence, too, for they are very widely read."
"Can they be bought?" asked Taylor shrewdly.
Bob glanced at him.
"I was thinking of the Power Company," explained Taylor.
"Blessed if I know," confessed Bob; "but I think not. I disagree with them on so many things that I'd like to think they are bought. But they are more often against those apt to buy, than for them. They lambaste impartially20 and with a certain Irish delight in doing the job thoroughly21. I must say they are not fair about it. They hit a man just as hard when he is down. What you want to do is to be better news than Baker."
"I'll be all of that," promised Taylor, "if it comes to a newspaper trial."
Bob glanced at his watch and jumped to his feet with an exclamation22 of dismay.
"I've five minutes to get to the station," he said. "Goodbye."
He rushed out of the hotel, caught a car, ran a block--and arrived in time to see the tail lights slipping away. He had to wait until the morning train, but that mattered little to him now. His wait and the journey back to the mountains were considerably23 lightened by this partial relief of the situation. At the first sign of trouble his father had taken the field to fight out his own fights. That much responsibility was lifted from Bob's shoulders. He might have known!
Of the four dangerous elements of his problem one was thus unexpectedly, almost miraculously24, relieved. Remained, however, poor Welton's implication in the bribery25 matter, and Pollock's danger. Bob could not count in himself. If he could only relieve the others of the consequences of his action, he could face his own trouble with a stout26 heart.
At White Oaks he was forced to wait for the next stage. This put him twenty-four hours behind, and he was inclined to curse his luck. Had he only known it, no better fortune could have fallen him. The news came down the line that the stage he would have taken had been held up by a lone27 highwayman just at the top of Flour Gold grade. As the vehicle carried only an assortment28 of perishable29 fruit and three Italian labourers, for the dam, the profits from the transaction were not extraordinary. The sheriff and a posse at once set out in pursuit. Their efforts at overtaking the highwayman were unavailing, for the trail soon ran out over the rocky and brushy ledges30, and the fugitive31 had been clever enough to sprinkle some of his tracks liberally with red pepper to baffle the dogs. The sheriff made a hard push of it, however, and for one day held closely enough on the trail. Bob's journey to Sycamore Flats took place on this one day--during which Saleratus Bill was too busy dodging his pursuers to resume a purpose which Bob's delay had frustrated32.
On arriving at Auntie Belle's, Bob resolved to push on up the mountain that very night, instead of waiting as usual until the following morning. Accordingly, after supper, he saddled his horse, collected the camp mail, and set himself in motion up the steep road.
Before he had passed Fern Falls, the twilight33 was falling. Hermit34 thrushes sang down through the cooling forest. From the side hill, exposed all the afternoon to the California summer sun, rose tepid35 odours of bear-clover and snowbush, which exhaled36 out into space, giving way to the wandering, faint perfumes of night. Bob took off his hat, and breathed deep, greatly refreshed after the long, hot stage ride of the day. Darkness fell. In the forest the strengthening moonlight laid its wand upon familiar scenes to transform them. New aisles37 opened down the woodlands, aisles at the end of which stood silvered, ghostly trees thus distinguished38 by the moonbeams from their unnumbered brethren. The whole landscape became ghostly, full of depths and shadows, mysteries and allurements39, heights and spaces unknown to the more prosaic40 day. Landmarks were lost in the velvet41 dark; new features sprang into prominence42. Were it not for the wagon43 trail, Bob felt that in this strange, enchanted44, unfamiliar45 land he might easily have become lost. His horse plodded46 mechanically on. One by one he passed the homely roadside landmarks, exempt47 from the necromancies of the moon--the pile of old cedar48 posts, split heaven knows when, by heaven knows whom, and thriftlessly abandoned; the water trough, with the brook49 singing by; the S turn by the great boulders50; the narrow defile51 of the Devil's Grade--and then, still under the spell of the night, Bob surmounted52 the ridge53 to look out over the pine-clad plateau slumbering54 dead-still under the soft radiance of the moon.
He rode the remaining distance to headquarters at a brisker pace. As he approached the little meadow, and the group of buildings dark and silent, he raised joyously55 the wild hallo of the late-comer with mail. Immediately lights were struck. A moment later, by the glimmer56 of a lantern, he was distributing the coveted57 papers, letters and magazines to the half-dressed group that surrounded him. Amy summoned him to bring her share. He delivered it to the hand and arm extended from the low window.
"You must be nearly dead," said Amy, "after that long stage ride--to come right up the mountain."
"It's the finest sort of a night," said Bob. "I wouldn't have missed it for anything. It's H-O-T, hot, down at the Flats. This ride just saved my life."
This might have been truer than Bob had thought, for at almost that very moment Saleratus Bill, having successfully shaken off his pursuers, was making casual and guarded inquiries at Austin's saloon. When he heard that Orde had arrived at the Flats on the evening's stage, he manifested some satisfaction. The next morning, however, that satisfaction vanished, for only then he learned that the young man must be already safe at headquarters.
[Footnote A: See "The Riverman."]
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vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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reminders
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| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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landmarks
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| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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rascally
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| adj. 无赖的，恶棍的 adv. 无赖地，卑鄙地 | |
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instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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unravelled
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| 解开，拆散，散开( unravel的过去式和过去分词 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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colonizing
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| v.开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的现在分词 ) | |
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colonize
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| v.建立殖民地，拓殖；定居，居于 | |
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enlists
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| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的第三人称单数 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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impartially
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| adv.公平地，无私地 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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bribery
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| n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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perishable
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| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
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30
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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31
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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32
frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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33
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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tepid
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| adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的 | |
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exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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allurements
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| n.诱惑( allurement的名词复数 )；吸引；诱惑物；有诱惑力的事物 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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43
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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44
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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45
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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46
plodded
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| v.沉重缓慢地走（路）( plod的过去式和过去分词 )；努力从事；沉闷地苦干；缓慢进行（尤指艰难枯燥的工作） | |
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47
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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48
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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49
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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50
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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51
defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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52
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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53
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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54
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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55
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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56
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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57
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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