登陆注册
5247100000061

第61章 CHAPTER XIV(1)

On the next morning Helen was awakened by what she imagined had been a dream of some one shouting. With a start she sat up. The sunshine showed pink and gold on the ragged spruce line of the mountain rims. Bo was on her knees, braiding her hair with shaking hands, and at the same time trying to peep out.

And the echoes of a ringing cry were cracking back from the cliffs. That had been Dale's voice.

"Nell! Nell! Wake up!" called Bo, wildly. "Oh, some one's come! Horses and men!"Helen got to her knees and peered out over Bo's shoulder.

Dale, standing tall and striking beside the campfire, was waving his sombrero. Away down the open edge of the park came a string of pack-burros with mounted men behind. In the foremost rider Helen recognized Roy Beeman.

"That first one's Roy!" she exclaimed. "I'd never forget him on a horse. . . . Bo, it must mean Uncle Al's come!""Sure! We're born lucky. Here we are safe and sound -- and all this grand camp trip. . . . Look at the cowboys. . . .

LOOK! Oh, maybe this isn't great!" babbled Bo.

Dale wheeled to see the girls peeping out.

"It's time you're up!" he called. "Your uncle Al is here."For an instant after Helen sank back out of Dale's sight she sat there perfectly motionless, so struck was she by the singular tone of Dale's voice. She imagined that he regretted what this visiting cavalcade of horsemen meant --they had come to take her to her ranch in Pine. Helen's heart suddenly began to beat fast, but thickly, as if muffled within her breast.

"Hurry now, girls," called Dale.

Bo was already out, kneeling on the flat stone at the little brook, splashing water in a great hurry. Helen's hands trembled so that she could scarcely lace her boots or brush her hair, and she was long behind Bo in making herself presentable. When Helen stepped out, a short, powerfully built man in coarse garb and heavy boots stood holding Bo's hands.

"Wal, wal! You favor the Rayners," he was saying I remember your dad, an' a fine feller he was."Beside them stood Dale and Roy, and beyond was a group of horses and riders.

"Uncle, here comes Nell," said Bo, softly.

"Aw!" The old cattle-man breathed hard as he turned.

Helen hurried. She had not expected to remember this uncle, but one look into the brown, beaming face, with the blue eyes flashing, yet sad, and she recognized him, at the same instant recalling her mother.

He held out his arms to receive her.

"Nell Auchincloss all over again!" he exclaimed, in deep voice, as he kissed her. "I'd have knowed you anywhere!""Uncle Al!" murmured Helen. "I remember you -- though I was only four.""Wal, wal, -- that's fine," he replied. "I remember you straddled my knee once, an' your hair was brighter -- an' curly. It ain't neither now. . . . Sixteen years! An' you're twenty now? What a fine, broad-shouldered girl you are! An', Nell, you're the handsomest Auchincloss I ever seen!"Helen found herself blushing, and withdrew her hands from his as Roy stepped forward to pay his respects. He stood bareheaded, lean and tall, with neither his clear eyes nor his still face, nor the proffered hand expressing anything of the proven quality of fidelity, of achievement, that Helen sensed in him.

"Howdy, Miss Helen? Howdy, Bo?" he said. "You all both look fine an' brown. . . . I reckon I was shore slow rustlin' your uncle Al up here. But I was figgerin' you'd like Milt's camp for a while.""We sure did," replied Bo, archly.

"Aw!" breathed Auchincloss, heavily. "Lemme set down."He drew the girls to the rustic seat Dale had built for them under the big pine.

"Oh, you must be tired! How -- how are you?" asked Helen, anxiously.

"Tired! Wal, if I am it's jest this here minit. When Joe Beeman rode in on me with thet news of you -- wal, I jest fergot I was a worn-out old hoss. Haven't felt so good in years. Mebbe two such young an' pretty nieces will make a new man of me.""Uncle Al, you look strong and well to me," said Bo. "And young, too, and --""Haw! Haw! Thet 'll do," interrupted Al. "I see through you.

What you'll do to Uncle Al will be aplenty. . . . Yes, girls, I'm feelin' fine. But strange -- strange! Mebbe thet's my joy at seein' you safe -- safe when I feared so thet damned greaser Beasley --"In Helen's grave gaze his face changed swiftly -- and all the serried years of toil and battle and privation showed, with something that was not age, nor resignation, yet as tragic as both.

"Wal, never mind him -- now," he added, slowly, and the warmer light returned to his face. "Dale -- come here."The hunter stepped closer.

"I reckon I owe you more 'n I can ever pay," said Auchincloss, with an arm around each niece.

"No, Al, you don't owe me anythin'," returned Dale, thoughtfully, as he looked away.

"A-huh!" grunted Al. "You hear him, girls. . . . Now listen, you wild hunter. An' you girls listen. . . . Milt, I never thought you much good, 'cept for the wilds. But I reckon I'll have to swallow thet. I do. Comin' to me as you did --an' after bein' druv off -- keepin' your council an' savin' my girls from thet hold-up, wal, it's the biggest deal any man ever did for me. . . . An' I'm ashamed of my hard feelin's, an' here's my hand.""Thanks, Al," replied Dale, with his fleeting smile, and he met the proffered hand. "Now, will you be makin' camp here?""Wal, no. I'll rest a little, an' you can pack the girls' outfit -- then we'll go. Sure you're goin' with us?""I'll call the girls to breakfast," replied Dale, and he moved away without answering Auchincloss's query.

Helen divined that Dale did not mean to go down to Pine with them, and the knowledge gave her a blank feeling of surprise. Had she expected him to go?

"Come here, Jeff," called Al, to one of his men.

A short, bow-legged horseman with dusty garb and sun-bleached face hobbled forth from the group. He was not young, but he had a boyish grin and bright little eyes.

Awkwardly he doffed his slouch sombrero.

同类推荐
  • 大乘宝月童子问法经

    大乘宝月童子问法经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 梅花草堂笔谈

    梅花草堂笔谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 辨言

    辨言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 岭南逸史

    岭南逸史

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Tarzan the Untamed

    Tarzan the Untamed

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 我的妈妈是织女

    我的妈妈是织女

    织之,嗯,听上去很温柔的名字,但是只有方灼才知道,这个女孩子有多恶劣……织之:“小师傅!小师傅!”男孩子就不能被说小!即使他还没有十岁!方灼正经脸:“你不能喊我小师傅。”织之把他从头到脚看了一遍,扭头就走。方灼:你回来!你给我说清楚!别走!………………织之:“小方,你说凡间好玩吗?”方灼抬眸看她一眼:“你问我做什么,你幼时不是在凡间长大的嘛。”织之讨好的笑:“哎呀,小方~方方~”方灼合上书,站起来放回原处,走向门口“走吧”“耶!”
  • 徐小姐请指教

    徐小姐请指教

    什么叫做冤家路窄?这就是!!徐盷要崩溃了。上上次差点撞了这人,别这人骂了一顿,自己怼了回去。上次她喝醉酒了强吻了他。。这次参加了大神云集的作者见面交流会——品书交流会,他竟然是是是名震文学界的………写手瑾韵舒!!!!!!“这位作者,咱们好像见过。。”舒瑾的嘴边勾起一丝坏笑。“你好,又见面了。”
  • 世界儿童必读经典:植物故事

    世界儿童必读经典:植物故事

    有一种东西叫做钻石,如天上的星星,风雨的岁月和空间,凝固成人类精神的永恒,它跨越了世界、语言、年龄,每一本都是你生命中不可不读的经典。
  • 实践与马克思主义理论整体性

    实践与马克思主义理论整体性

    本书从逻辑起点整体性、理论内容整体性、价值指归整体性、实践功能整体性和发展创新整体性等方面论述了实践与马克思主义理论整体的历史联系及内在逻辑关联性;揭示了实践在马克思主义理论整体创立中的奠基作用,构建起了马克思主义理论的整体性;对马克思主义理论三大主要组成部分赋予了新的内容理解和体系定位,对理解马克思主义理论“既是三大主要组成部分又是一个统一整体”这一围绕马克思主义理论整体性的难题作了一种新的研究和解答。
  • 破局者

    破局者

    当年的自私与懦弱意会惹来杀身之祸,在见义勇为与明哲保身之间我们应该如何选择?每一宗罪案都是一个迷局,而谁又是那个破解迷局的人……
  • 青春走向荒芜

    青春走向荒芜

    两岸文学PK大赛对青春的思考,对人生的体会,对亲情、友情、爱情的描绘。
  • 意行天下

    意行天下

    凡人仰观苍天,无明日月潜息,四时更替,幽冥之间,万物已循因缘,恒大者则为天道,天为阳,地属阴。生在正道第一大派,却天生闭脉,无法修炼,遭人冷嘲热讽、唾弃谩骂。
  • BOSS追缉:至爱萌妻很迷糊

    BOSS追缉:至爱萌妻很迷糊

    她傻傻笨笨迷迷糊糊,身边还跟着一枚小竹马。他一无所缺,却唯独睡不着觉,直到遇见她。“顾苏苏,你如果再敢逃,我就把你做成标本放在我的床头!”“温煦,我不是你的催眠枕!”大BOSS倏尔一笑,“你的确还有别的功能。”
  • 读书学习的故事(中华典故故事全集)

    读书学习的故事(中华典故故事全集)

    本套《中华典故故事全集》全部精选我国著名典故故事,并根据具体思想内涵进行相应归类,主要包括《爱国为民的故事》、《军事战争的故事》、《修身立世的故事》、《智慧谋略的故事》、《读书学习的故事》、《品质修养的故事》、《社会世情的故事》、《世事明察的故事》、《心灵情感的故事》和《悟道明理的故事》等十册,书中每个典故都包括诠释、出处和故事等内容,简单明了,短小精悍,具有很强的启迪性、智慧性和内涵性,非常适合青少年用于话题作文的论据,也对青少年的人生成长以及知识增长具有重要的作用,是青少年阅读和收藏的良好版本。
  • 鸿飞集

    鸿飞集

    本书主要内容为:第1章 上个世纪六十年代,我和裴步高同时走进大学校门。在那个高雅圣洁又朴实无华,学风浓郁而鸟语花香的田园式的校园里,共同度过了平常而特殊的五个年头。