[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
."Some rich," he said."Now, Bill, what've we got here, say, offhand?""Oh, Lord, Danny! I'm afraid to say.Look, Miss Majesty, jest look at thegold.I've lived among prospectors an' gold-mines fer thirty years, an' Inever seen the beat of this.""The Lost Mine of the Padres!" cried Danny, in stentorian voice."An' it belongs to me!"Stillwell made some incoherent sound as he sat up fascinated, quite besidehimself."Bill, it was some long time ago since you saw me," said Danny."Fact is, I know how you felt, because Gene kept me posted.Ihappened to run across Bonita, an' I wasn't goin' to let her ride away alone,when she told me she was in trouble.We hit the trail for the Peloncillos.Bonita had Gene's horse, an' she was to meet him up on the trail.We got tothe mountains all right, an' nearly starved for a few days till Gene found us.He had gotin trouble himself an' couldn't fetch much with him."We made for the crags an' built a cabin.I come down that dayGene sent his horse Majesty to you.Never saw Gene so broken-hearted.Well,after he sloped for the border Bonita an'I were hard put to it to keep alive.But we got along, an' Ithink it was then she began to care a little for me.Because Iwas decent.I killed cougars an' went down to Rodeo to get bounties for theskins, an' bought grub an' supplies I needed.Once I went to El Cajon an' run plumb into Gene.He was back from therevolution an' cuttin' up some.But I got away from him after doin' all Icould to drag him out of town.A long time after that Gene trailed up to thecrags an' found us.Gene had stopped drinkin', he'd changed wonderful, wasfine an' dandy.It was then he began to pester the life out of me to make memarryBonita.I was happy, so was she, an' I was some scared of spoilin' it.Bonita had been a little flirt, an' I was afraid she'd get shy of a halter, soI bucked against Gene.But I was all locoed, as it turned out.Gene wouldcome up occasionally, packin' supplies for us, an' always he'd get after me todo the right thing by Bonita.Gene's so dog-gone hard to buck against!I had to give in, an' I asked Bonita to marry me.Well, she wouldn't atfirst--said she wasn't good enough for me.But I saw the marriage idea wasworkin' deep, an' I just kept on bein' as decent as I knew how.So it was mywantin' to marry Bonita--my bein' glad to marry her--that made her grow softan' sweet an'pretty as--as a mountain quail.Gene fetched up Padre Marcos, an' he marriedus."Danny paused in his narrative, breathing hard, as if the memory of theincident described had stirred strong and thrilling feeling in him.Stillwell's smile was rapturous.Madeline leaned toward Danny with her eyesshining.Page 210 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Miss Hammond, an' you, Bill Stillwell, now listen, for this is strange I'vegot to tell you.The afternoon Bonita an' I were married, when Gene an' thepadre had gone, I was happy one minute an' low-hearted the next.I wasmiserable because I had a bad name.I couldn't buy even a decent dress for mypretty wife.Bonita heard me, an' she was some mysterious.She told me the story of thelost mine of the padres, an' she kissed me an made joyful over me in thestrangest way.I knew marriage went towomen's heads, an' I thought even Bonita had a spell."Well, she left me for a little, an' when she came back she wore some prettyyellow flowers in her hair.Her eyes were big an'black an' beautiful.She said some queer things about spirits rollin' rocksdown the canon.Then she said she wanted to show me where she always sat an'waited an' watched for me when I was away.She led me around under the crags to a long slope.It was some prettythere--clear an' open, with a long sweep, an' the desert yawnin' deep an' red.There were yellow flowers on that slope, the same kind she had in herhair--the same kind that Apache girl wore hundreds of years ago when she ledthe padre to the gold-mine."When I thought of that, an' saw Bonita's eyes, an' then heard the strangecrack of rollin' rocks--heard them rattle down an'roll an' grow faint--I was some out of my head.But not for long.Them rockswere rollin' all right, only it was the weatherin' of the cliffs."An' there under the crags was a gold pocket."Then I was worse than locoed.I went gold-crazy.I worked like seventeenburros.Bill, I dug a lot of goldbearin' quartz.Bonita watched the trails for me, brought me water.That was how she come toget caught by Pat Hawe an' his guerrillas.Sure!Pat Hawe was so set on doin' Gene dirt that he mixed up with DonCarlos.Bonita will tell you some staggerin' news about that outfit.Justnow my story is all gold."Danny Mains got up and kicked back his chair.Blue lightning gleamed from hiseyes as he thrust a hand toward Stillwell."Bill, old pal, put her there--give me your hand," he said."You were alwaysmy friend.You had faith in me.Well, Danny Mains owes you, an' he owes GeneStewart a good deal, an' Danny Mains pays.I want two pardners to help mework my gold-mine.You an'Gene.If there's any ranch hereabouts that takes your fancy I'll buy it.IfMiss Hammond ever gets tired of her range an stock an' home I'll buy them forGene.If there's any railroad or townround here that she likes I'll buy it.If I see anythin' myself that I likeI'll buy it.Go out; find Gene for me.I'm achin'to see him, to tell him.Go fetch him; an' right here in this house, with mywife an' Miss Hammond as witnesses, we'll draw up a pardnership.Go find him,Bill.I want to show him this gold, show him how Danny Mains pays! An' theonly bitter drop in my cup to-day is that I can't ever pay Monty Price."Page 211 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
