Cheyenne record., 1916-03-30
CHAPTER Iv-Continued.

away fishing. she begged me to kill
him. With tears in her eyes she
begged me to kill him. But he was a
afraid. Afterward talked with him
offered him my horse. my pony. my
dogs. all that l possessed. II he would
give Vesta to me. and he grinned in
my face and shook his head He was
very insulting. He said that in the
old days he had been a servant. had
been dirt under the feet Of men like
me and Of women like Vesta, and that
now he had the greatest lady in the
land to be servant to him and cook his
food and nurse his brats You had
your day before the plague he said:
but this Is my day. and damned
good day 1t Is. l wouldn't trade back
to the old times for anything Such
words he spoke. but they are not his
words. He was a vulgar. low-minded
man. and vile oaths fell continually
from his lips
ALSO he told me that If he caught
me making eyes at his woman he'd
wiring my neck and give her beating
as well What was ! to do? ! was
afraid. He was brute. That first
night. when ! discovered the camp.
Vesta and had great talk about the
things of our vanished world We
talked of art. and books. and poetry:
and the Chauffeur listened and grinned
and sneered He was bored and an
gered by our way of speech which he
did not comprehend, and finally he
spoke up and said: And this is Vesta
Van Warden. one-time wife Of Van
Warden the magnate-a high and
stuckup beauty. who is now my
squaw Eth. Professor Smith. times Is
changed. times is changed Here. you
woman. take off my moccasins. and
lively about it. l want Professor
Smith t. see how we'll ! have you
trained
81 saw her clench her teeth. and the
flame of revolt rise in her face. He
drew back his gnarled fist to strike.
and | was afraid. and sick at heart |
could do nothing to prevail against
him So ! got up to go. and not be
witness to such indignity. But the
Chauffeur laughed and threatened me
with a beating II did not stay and
behold And | sat there perforce. by
the campfire on the shore of Lake
Temescal and saw Vesta, Vesta Van
Warden. kneel and remove the moe
cnsins of that grinning. hairy. ape
like human brute.
oh. you do not understand my
eTnndsons. You have never known
anything else. and you do not under
stand
Halter broke and bride wise the
Chauffeur gloated while she performed
that dreadful. menial task "A trifie
balky at times, professor. a trifle balky:
but a clout alongside the jaw makes
her as meek and gentle as lamb.
And another time he said: We've
got to start all over and replenist the
earth and multiply. You're handi-
capped. professor. You amt got no
wife. and we're up against a regular
Garden Of Eden proposition. But
ain't proud I'll tell you what, profes
sor He pointed at their little infant
barely a year old There's your wife,
though you'll have to wait till she
grows up It's rich. amt it? We're
all equals here. and I'm the biggest
toad in the splash But | amt stuck
up-nOt l. W you lue uOUOT. ITO
fessor Smith. the very great honor. OF
betrothing to you my and Vesta War
den's daughter Amt it cussed bad
that Van Warden amt here to see?'
Il lived three weeks of infinite tor.
ment here in the Chauffeur's camp
And then. one Cay. firing of me. or
OF what to i'm was my bad effect on
Vesta, he told me that the year before,
wandering through the Contra Costa
hills to the straits Of Carquinez, across
the straits he had see n a smoke This
meant that there were still other hu
man beings. and that for three weeks
he had kept this inestimable precious
information from me. | departed at
once, my dogs and horses. and jour
neyed across the Contra Costa hills to
the straits. ! saw no smoke on the
other side. but at Port Costa discov.
cred a small steel barge on which
was able to embark my animals Old
canvas which | found served me for
q sail. and sortherly breeze famed
me across the straits and up to the
ruins OF Vallejo. Here. on the out
skirts of the city | found evidences Of
a recently occupied camp. Many clam
shells showed me why these humans
mad come to the shores of the bay
This was the Santa Rosa tribe. and