The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-02
TIE THREE PARTNERS
The Big Strike on Heavy Tree Hill,
BY BRET HARTE
Or,
copuioht, 1897, bv Bret Harte.

"And when IL does come you'll geo me and
Eddy just waltzin' in and takin' the chief seats
u the synaeorue. And you'll have q free pass
to he show"
Either he was too IN :oxicated with his venRe.
;ul vision or the shadows of the room had deep
ened. but no did not SEQ the quick flush that
had risen! to his wife's Ghce with this ~allusion
to Barker. nor the after scttliuE Of her hand
some features into a logged determination
equal to his own. His bind fury against the
three partners did not touch her curiosity: she
was only struck with the evident depth of his
emotion. He had mover been q bragRnrt; his
hostility had always been lazy and cynical.
Remembering this. she had q faint stirring Of
respect for the undoubted courage and con-
sciousness Of strength shown in this wild but
single handed crusade against wealth and
power; rather. perhaps. IL seemed to her to
condono her own weakness in her youthful
and inexplicable pa Ision for him. No wonder
she had submitted.
Then ysu have nothing moro to tell mel"
bhc taid, after a pause, rising and going toward
the mantel.
You needn't light up for me-" he returned.
rising also. II am going. Unless" he added.
with his coarse laugh. you think IL wouldn't
look we'll for Mrs. Horncastlc to have been sit
ting in the dark wita-a stranger" He paused
as she contemptuously put d,wn the CANDLE
stick and threw the unlit match into the crate.
No.. I've nothing more to tell. He's u fancy
looking pun. You'd take him for 81, though
he's only 10 clean limbed and perfect-b but for
one thing" He stopped. He net her quick
look OF Interrogation. however. with a lowering
silence that. nevertheless, changed again as
lie surveyed her figure by the faint light of tho
window with n sar,lcnic smile. ".Ie favors you,
i think, and in all but one thing, too"
And that?" she asked coldly. as he seemed
to hesitate.
III amt ashamed of me-" he returned. with
O laugh.
The docr closed behind him: she heard his
heavy step descend the creaking stairs: lie was
gone. She went to tho window and thre " It
open. as IL to yet rid OF the atmosphere charged
with his presence-a presence s:iil so potent
that she now knew that for the last five min
u,es she had been. to her horror. struggling
=. against its magnetism. She oven recoiled now
at the thought Of her child. as If. in these new
condolences over it, IL had revived tho old in
t!macy In this linz of their Common flesh. She
looked down from her window on the square
shoulders. thick throat. and crisp matted hair
of her husband as lie vanished in the dark
ness, and arew q breath of freedoni-a freedom
not SO much from him as from her own weak
ness that he was bearing away with him into
the generating night.
She shut The window and sank down in her
chair again. but in the encompassing and COM
passionate ohscurity Of the room. And this
was the man size had loved and for whom she
had wrecked her young life. Or was 1t love?
aud II not. how was she better than he? wor.a,
for he was more loyal to that passion that had
brought them together and It's responsible
ties than she was. She had suffered tho
perils and nanCs of maternity. and yet had only
the mere animal yearninG for her offspring,
while he had taken over the toll and duty and
even the devotion OF parentage himself. But
then che remembered also how he had fasci-
mated her-a simple schoolglrl-by his cheer
domineering strength. and no the objections
Of her parents to this Coarse and common man
had forced her int" a clandesfine intimacy
that ended In her complete su5iection to him.
She remembered the birth of All infant whose
concealnent from ler parents and friend,
was CO IN passed by bis low cunning: she re.
memberei the late atonement Of marriage
profered by the man she had already begun to
loathe and fear. and whom she now believed
was eager only for her Inheritance. She re-
membered her abiect compliance through the
greater fear OF the WORLD. o; the stormy sceues
that followed their ill.omencd union, OF her
final Abandonment of her husband. and the
efforts OF her friends and family who Ind res
cued the last Of her property from him.
Sho was clad she remembered it: she 6welt
upon 1t. upon his cruelty. his coarseness ard
vu'rrrity. until she saw. as sho honestly be-
Loved, the hidden springs OF his affection for
their child. 1t was his child in nature, how
ever It might have favored her in looks: IL was
his own brutal self he was worshipping in his
bru>a! progeny. How else could 1t have iR-
nored her its own mother? She never doubt
ed the truth Of wat no had told her she had
reen 1t in his own triumphant eyes. And yet
Khe would have made a kind mother: she re-
memb-rsd with a smile md a slight rising of
color the affection OF Bark-r's baby FOR her;
Ahc with n deepening OF that color
the thrill OF satisfaction she had felt in her
husbands Nominations against Mrs. Barker.
and. more THAI all. she felt In his blind and
foolish hatred OF Barker himself n delicious
confederation OF the strange feeling that had
tprnng u2 In her heart for Ba-ker's sim ole,
stra!GhtfOrward nature. How could he UNDER
stand; how could they understand Thy the plu-
raj she meant Mrs. Barker and horncastle) n
character 30 inratc!y noble? In her strange
attraction toward him shs had FELT a charming
sanse OF whit size believed was = superior aud
oven matroniy protection: in the utter isola-
ton of her life now-and with her husbands
foolish abuse CT him ringing in her ears-it
seemed II sacred duty. She had lost a son.
Providence had sent her an ideal friend to re-
place him. And this was quite consistent, too,
with n faint smile that began TO pl sy about her
mouth as she recalled Barker's delightful and
irresistible Ynuthfulness.
There was the CHATTER Of hoofs and the sound
OF many voices from tho street. Mrs. Horn
castle knew IL was the down coach" chang
ing horses; it wouia be OF again in a few mo-
ments. aud. no doubt, bearing her husband
~away.wlth II: A now feeling Of relief came
oyer her as she at last heard the warming "AlI
aboard y and the great vehicle clattered and
rolled into the darkness. trailing its burning
lights across her walls and ceiling. But now
she heard steps on the staircase. u pause be-
fore her room, n whisper of voices. the Cpen-
Ing OF the door. the rustic Of skirt, and a lit
tle feminine cry Of protest as n man apparently
tried 10 follow the figure into the room. No,
no: ! tell you no." demonstrated the woman's
voice in a hurried whisper. rs won't do.
EVERYBODY knows me Lere. You must not
come in now. ioH must wait to be announced
by the servant. Hush. Got"
There was a slight struggle. the soand of a
kiss, and the woman succeeded In finally shut
ting the door. Then shs walked slowly, but
with a certain 70 familiarity. toward the mantel,
struck a match and lit tho candle. The light
shuno upon the bright eyes ana slightly flushed
face Of Mrs. Barker. But tho motioniess NO.
man in the char had recognized her voice
and the voice OF her companion at once. And