Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-01

oats, thlckset ana I'm mpassoDle, ulled the air
with the heated dust of germination. In
this quickening irritation of lite it would
be strange if the unfortunate mans torpid
intellect was not helped in its awakening,
and he was allowed to ramble at will over
the rancho; but with the instinct of a do
mestic animal he always returned to the
house, and sat in the porch, where Josephine
usually found him awaiting her when she
herself returned from visit to the mill.
Coming thence one day she espied him on
the mountain-side leaning against a pro-
iecting ledge in an attitude so rapt and i'm
movable that she felt compelled to approach
him. BE appeared to be dumbly absorbed
in the prospect, which might have intoxi-
Gated saner mind.
Half veiled by the heat that rose culver
ingly from the fiery canon below, the do
main of Burnt Ridge stretched away before
him, until, lifted in successive terraces
hearsed and plumed with pines, it was at
last lost in the ghostly snow peaks. But
i the practical Josephine seized the oppor-
tunity to try once more to awaken the
slumbering memory OF her pupil. Follow
| ing his gaze with signs and questions, she
sought to draw from him some indication of
familiar recollection of certain points of the
map thus unrolled behind him. But in vain.
She even pointed out the fateful shadow of
the overhanging ledge on the road where
she had picked him up-there was no re-
sponse in his abstracted eyes She bit her
lips: she was becoming irrtated again.
Then it occurred to her that, instead Of ap-
| pealing to his hopeless memory,
she had better trust to some unrehective
automatic instinct independent of it, and
she put the question a little forward:
when you leave us where will you 60
from here?" He stirred slightly and turned
toward her. She repeated her query slowly
and patiently with signs and gestures rec
ognized between them. A faint glow of in
telligence struggled into his eyes; he lifted
his arm slowly and pointed.
''Ahl those white peaks-the Sierras7"
she asked eagerly. No reply. Beyond
them?"
| eyes"
"The states?" No reply. 'Further
still?,'
He remained so patiently quiet and still
| pointing that she leaned forward and, fol-
lowing with her eyes the direction of his
hand, saw that he was pointing to the sky.
Then great quiet fell upon them. The
whole mountain side seemed to her to be
hushed as if to allow her to grasp and real
! ize the pathos of the ruined lite at her side,
which it had known so long, but which she
had never felt till now. The tears came to
her eyes; in her swift revulsion of feeling
she caught the thin uplifted hand between
her own. It seemed to her that he was
about to raise them to his lips, but she with
drew them hastily and moved away. She
had a strange fear thatif he had kissed them
it might seem as ii pet dog had touched
| them-or-it might not. The next day she
| felt consciousness of this in his presence,
and a wish that he was well cured and away
| She determined to consult DR.. Duchesne on
the subject when he next called. -.is
But the doctor, secure in the welfare of
his patient, had not visited him lately, and
she found herself presently absorbed in the
business of the rancho, which at this season
was particularly trying. There had also
been a quarrel between Dick Shiplev her
mill foreman, and Miguel, her abiesf and
most trusted vaquero, and in her strict sense
of impartial justice she was obliged to side
on the merits of the case with Shiplev
against her Oldest retainer. This troubled
her, as she knew that with the Mex
lean nature, fidelity and loyalty were
not unmixed with quick and unrea-
soning jealousy. For this reason she
was somewhat watchful of the two
men when work was over and there
was chance of their being thrown togeth-
er. Once or twice she had remained upd
late to meet Miguel returning from the
Posada at San Ramon, filled with aguar-
diente and recollection of his wrongs, and
to see him safely bestowed before she her
self retired. 1t was on one of those occa-
sions, however, that she learned that Dick
Shipley, hearing that Miguel had dispar-
aged him freely at the Posada, had broken
the discipline of the ranch and absented
himself the same night that Miguel chad
leave, with view of facing his antago-
mist on his own ground. To prevent this
the fearless girl at once secretly set out
alone to oVertake and bring back the de-
linquent
For two or three hours the house was thus
left to the sole occupancy of Mr.. and Mrs.
Forsyth and the invalid-a fact only dimly
suspected by the latter, who had become
vaguely conscious of Josephine's anxiety.
and had noticed the absence of light and
movement in her room. It was, therefore.
that, having risen again and mechanically
taken his seat in the porch to wait her re-
turn, ne was startled by hearing her voice
in the shadow of the lower porch, accom-
panied by a hurried tapping against the
door Of the old couple. The half-reasoning
man arose and would have moved toward it.
but suddenly he stopped rigidly, with white
and parted lips and yacantly distended eye
balls.
Meantime the voice and mufled tapping
had brought the tremulous fingers of old
Forsyth to the door-latch. He opened the
door partly; slight figure that had been
lurking in the shadow of the porch pushed
rapidly through the opening There was a
faint outcry quickly hushed, and the door
closed again. The rays of a single candle
showed the two old people Historically
clasping in their arms the figure that had
entered, a slight but vicious looking Young
fellow of 6ve-and-twenty.
''There, = itP' he said impatiently. in
the voice whose rich depth was like jose
phine's, but whose querulous accents were
those of the two old people before him, 'slet |
me go, and quit that didn't come here TO |
be strangled! want some money-money,
you hearl Devilish quick, too, for I've got |
to be off again before daylight. So look |
sharp, will you?''
"But. Stevy dear, when you didn't come |
that time three months ago, but wrote from |
Los Angeles, you said you'd made strike |
at last, and"-
"What are you talking about?" he inter |
rupted violently. 'Ihat was just my lyin' |
to keep you from worryin' me. Three |
months ago-three months agoI Why, you |
must have been crazy to have swallowed it;
1 hadn't cent"
"Nor have we," said the old woman
shrilly. THAT hellish sister of yours still |
keeps us like beggars. Our only hope was
you, our own boy. And now you only come
to-to 60 again."
But she has money; she's doing well,
and she shall give it to me-" he went on
angrily. 'She can't bully me with her
business airs and morality. Who else has
got q right to share, if it is not her own
brother?"
Alas for the fatuousness of human vicious
ness! Had the unhappy couple related the
simple facts thew kneuv ahouf the nav 0uasf |