Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-29

sound of galloping hoofs behind her. She
turned quickly and saw she was followed
BY a horseman. But her momentarY
alarm was succeeded by a feeling of re-
lief as she recognized the erect figure and
square shoulders Of Poindexter. Yet she
could not help thinking that he looked
more like militant scout and less ike a
cautious legal adviser than ever.
With unaffected wOmanliness she re-
arranged her slightly disOrdered hair as he
drew up beside her. Il thought you were
in yonder boat" she said.
''Not II he laughed; II distanced you
by the high road two hours, and have been
accommodating, until saw you hesitate at
the cross FOads.v
.sBut who is in the bOat?r asked Mrs.
Tucker partly to hide her embarrassment.
ss0nly some early Chinese market gar
dener, / dare say. But you are safe now.
You are on your own land. You passed
the boundary monument Of the rancho five
minutes ago. Look! All you see before
you is yours, from the egnbareaderot to yon-
der Coast range"
The tone of half railIery did not how
ever, cheer Mrs. Tucker. She shuddered
slightly and cast her eyes over the monot-
onous sea of tule and meadow.
sit doesn't look pretty, Perhaps" con-
tinued POindexter. ''but it's the richest
land in the State, and the enlbdrcddero
will some day be town. l suppose
you'll call it Blue GrassYille. But YOU
seemed tired!' he said suddenly dropping
his voice to a tone Of half humorous SYM
pathy.
Mrs. Tucker managed to get rid of an
impending tear under the pretence of
clearing her eyes. "Are we nearly there?'
she asked.
''Nearly. You know" he added, with
the same half-mischieyous half-sympa-
iyfn " lu
you've coming to. Hardly. It's the old
casa that has been deserted for years, but
L thought ii better you should go into DOS
session there than take up your abode at
the shanty where your husbands farm
| hands are. No one will know when you
take possession Of the casa, while the very
hour of your arrival at the shanty would
be knOwn-and if they should make any
trouble"
eff they should make any trouble?" re-
peated Mrs. Tucker, lifting her frank, in
quiring eyes to Poindexter.
His horse suddenly rearing from an APP
parently accidental prick Of the spur, it
was minute or two before he was able
to explain. Il mean if this ever comes
up as matter Of evidence, you know. But
here we arelv
What had seemed to be an overgrown
mound rising like an island out of the
dead level Of the grassy sea now resolved
! itself into a collection OF adobe walls,
eaten and enerusted with shrubs and
vines that bore some resemblance to the
usual notwithstanding exterior of
! Spanish-American dwelling. Apertures
that might have been lance-shaped win
| dOws or only cracks and assures in the
/ walls were chOked up with weeds and
grass, and gave no passing glimpse of the
| interior. Entering a ruinous corral they
| came to a second entrance. which proved
tn 10 hp Or rH ba tod
wooden corridor, with beams, rafters and
| floors whitened by the eternal sun and
! wind, contained a few withered leaves,
dryly rottiDg skins and thongs of leather,
as if undisturbed by human care. But
among these scattered debris of former
! life and habitation there was no noisome
or unclean suggestion of decay. A faint
! spiced odor of dessication filed the bare
walls. There was no slime on stone or
sun-drIed brick. In place of fungus or
discolored moisture, the dust of efflores-
| cence whitened in the obscured corners
The elements had picked clean the bones
of the crumbling tenement ere they should
finally absorb it.
A withered old peOn woman, who in
dress, complexion and fibrous hair might
have been an animated fragment of the
| debris, rustled out of a low vaulted pas
sage and welcomed them with a feeble
crepitation. Following her into the dim
interior, Mrs. Tucker was surprised to
find some slight attempt at comfort, an,
even adornment, in the two or three hab-
liable apartments. They were scrupu-
lousy clean and dry-two qualities which,
in her feminine eyes, at0ned for poverty
of material.
81 could not send anything from San
Bruno, the nearest village, without at
tracing attention." explained Poindex-
| ter; "but if you can manage to picnic
hnr for Of
| Chinese friends here" he pointed to the
! slough, ''to bring over, for his return cargo
| from across the bay, any necessaries YOU
may want. There is no danger of his be-
! traying you,' he added, with an ironical
| smile; 'Chinamen and Indians are, by
| an ingenious provision OF the statute of
| California, incapable of giving evidence
| against white person. You can trust
| your handmaiden perfectly-eyen if she
| can't trust qOu. That is your sacred
| privilege under the constitution. And
| now, as l expect to catch the up boat ten
miles from here, I must say ''good-by''
| until tomorrow night. / hope to bring
| you, then, some more definite plans for
| the future. The worst is over" He held
| her hand for moment and, with graver
| voice, continued: t'YOu have done it very
| well--do you knOw-very welll''
In the slight embarrassment produced
| by his sudden change of manner, she felt
/
strained. "DOn't thank me,o he laughed
| with a prompt return of his former Ievity.
''That's my trade. L only advised. You
| have saved yourself like plucky woman
| shall say like Blue Grass? "Good-by1
! He mounted his horse, but, as if struck
! by an after-thought, wheeled and drewup
| by her side again. ''If / were you /
wouldn't see many strangers for day or
i two, and listen to as little news as a wo-
man possibly CAM He laughed again.
waved her half-gallant, half-military
| salute and was gone. The question she
| had been trying to frame, regarding the
/ probability of communication with her
| husband, remained unasked. At least
| she had saved her pride before him.
Addressing herself to the care of her
narrow household, she mechanically put
! away the few things she had brought with
| her and began to readjust the scant fur
niture. She was little discOmposed first
/ by the absence of bolts, locks and even
window fastenings, until assured by Con-
cha's evident inability to comprehend her
concern that they were quite unknown at
Los Cuervos. Her slight knowledge Of
| Spanish was barely sufficient to make her
wants known, so that the relief Of CONVEX
| sation with her only companion was de-
! barred her, and she was obliged to content
/ herself with the sapleSs. cracking smiles
and withered genufections that the old
woman dropped like dead leaves in her
path. 1t was staring noon when, the
house singing like an empty shell in the
monotonous wind, she felt she could stand
the solitude no longer, and, crossing the
glazing patio and whistling corridor, made
| her way to the open gateway.
But the view without seemed to inten-
sify her desolation. The broad expanse
of the shadowless plain reached appar-
emily to the Coast range, trackless and
unbroken save by one or two clusters of
dwarfed oaks, which at that distance were
| but messy eXcrescences on the surface,
barely raised above the dead level. On
the other side the marsh took up the mo-
nOtony and carried it, scarcely interrupt
| ed by underlined water courses, to the
/ family marked-Out horizon line of the re-
mote bay. Scattered and apparently mo-
tionless black spots on the meadows that
gave dreary significance to the title of
''The Crows" which the rancho bore, and
sudden gray clouds of sand pipers on the
marshes, that rose and vanished down the
wind, were the only signs of life. Even
the white sail of the early morning was
| gone.
She stood there until the aching OF her
straining eyes and the stiffening of her
| limbs in the cold wind, compelled her to
seek the sheltered warmth Of the court
yard. Here she endeavored to make
/ friends with bright-eyed lizard who was
4