night came as a blessing to ruth, for the scenes of the early day had exhausted her. at the very moment when david succumbed to her domination, her own strength began to fail. as for connor, it was another story. the great dream which had come to him in far away lukin, when he watched the little gray gelding win the horse race, was now verging toward a reality. the concrete accomplishment was at hand. once in the world it was easy to see that david would become clay, molded by the touch of clever ruth manning, and then—it would be simply a matter of collecting the millions as they rolled in.
but ruth was tired. only one thing sustained her, and that was the burning eagerness to humble this proud and selfish david of eden. when she thought how many times she had been on the verge of open admiration and sympathy with the man, she trembled and grew cold. but through the fate of poor little timeh, she thanked heaven that her eyes had been opened.
she went to her room shortly after dinner, and she slept heavily until the first grayness of the morning. once awake, in spite of the early hour, she could not sleep again, so she dressed and went into the patio. connor was already there, pacing restlessly. he had been up all night, he told her, turning over possibilities.
"it seems as though everything has worked out too much according to schedule," he said. "there'll be a break. something will happen and smash everything!"
"nothing will happen," she assured him calmly.
he took her hand in his hot fingers.
"partner"—he began, and then stopped as though he feared to let himself go on.
"where is he?" she asked.
"on his mountain, waiting for the sun, i guess. he told the servants a while ago that he was leaving to-day. great excitement. they're all chattering about it down in the servants' house."
"is no one here?"
"not a soul, i guess."
"then—we're going into that room of silence!"
"take that chance now? never in the world! why, ruth, if he saw us in there, or guessed we'd been there, he'd probably murder us both. you know how gentle he is when he gets well started?"
"but how will he know? no one is here, and david won't be back from the mountain for a long time if he waits for the sun."
"just stop thinking about it, ruth."
"i'll never stop as long as i live, unless i see it. i've dreamed steadily about that room all night."
"go alone, then, and i'll stay here."
she went resolutely across the patio, and connor, following with an exclamation, caught her arm roughly at the door.
"you aren't serious?"
"deadly serious!"
the glitter of her dark eyes convinced him more than words.
"then we'll go together. but make it short!"
they swept the patio with conscience-stricken glances, and then opened the door. as they did so, the ugly face of joseph appeared at the entrance to the patio, looked and hastily was withdrawn.
"this is like a woman," muttered connor, as they closed the door with guilty softness behind them. "risk her life for a secret that isn't worth a tinker's damn!"
for the room was almost empty, and what was in it was the simplest of the simple. there was a roughly made table in the center. five chairs stood about it. on the table was a book, and the seven articles made up the entire furnishings. connor was surprised to see tears in the eyes of ruth.
"don't you see?" she murmured in reply to his exclamation. "the four chairs for the four dead men when david sits down in his own place?"
"well, what of that?"
"what's in the book?"
"are you going to wait to see that?"
"open the door a little, ben, and then we can hear if any one comes near."
he obeyed and came back, grumbling. "we can hear every one except david. that step of his wouldn't break eggs."
he found the girl already poring over the first page of the old book, on which there was writing in a delicate hand.
she read aloud: "the story of the garden of eden, who made it and why it was made. told without error by matthew."
"hot stuff!" chuckled connor. "we got a little time before the sun comes up. but it's getting red in the east. let's hear some more."
there was nothing imposing about the book. it was a ledger with a half-leather binding such as storekeepers use for accounts. time had yellowed the edges of the paper and the ink was dulled. she read:
"in the beginning there was a man whose name was john."
"sounds like the start of the bible," grinned connor. "shoot ahead and let's get at the real dope."
"hush!"
without raising her eyes, she brushed aside the hand of connor which had fallen on the side of the ledger. her own took its place, ready to turn the page.
"in the beginning there was a man whose name was john. the lord looked upon john and saw his sins. he struck john therefor. first he took two daughters from john, but still the man was blind and did not read the writing of his maker. and god struck down the eldest son of john, and john sorrowed, but did not understand. thereat, all in a day, the lord took from john his wife and his lands and his goods, which were many and rich.
"then john looked about him, and lo! he was alone.
"in the streets his friends forgot him and saw not his passing. the sound of his own footfall was lonely in his house, and he was left alone with his sins.
"so he knew that it was the hand of god which struck him, and he heard a voice which said in the night to him: 'o john, ye who have been too much with the world must leave it and go into the wilderness.'
"then the heart of john smote him and he prayed god to send him not out alone, and god relented and told him to go forth and take with him three simple men.
"so john on the next morning called to his negro, a slave who was all that remained in his hands.
"'abraham,' he said, 'you who were a slave are free.'
"then he went into the road and walked all the day until his feet bled. he rested by the side of the road and one came who kneeled before him and washed his feet, and john saw that it was abraham. and abraham said: 'i was born into your service and i can only die out of it.'
"they went on together until they came to three robbers fighting with one strong man, and john helped this man and drove away the robbers.
"then the tall man began to laugh. 'they would have robbed me because i was once rich,' he said, 'but another thief had already plundered me, and they have gotten only broken heads for their industry.' then john was sorry for the fortune that was stolen.
"'not i,' said the tall man, 'but i am sorry for the brother i lost with the money.' then he told them how his own brother had cheated him. 'but,' he said, 'there is only one way to beat the devil, and that is to laugh at him.'
"now john saw this was a good man, so he opened his heart to luke, which was the name of him who had been robbed. then luke fell in with the two and went on with them.
"they came to a city filled with plague so that the dead were buried by the dying and the dog howled over his master in the street; the son fled from the father and the mother left her child. they found one man who tended the sick out of charity and the labor was too great for even his broad shoulders. he had a broad, ugly face, but in his eye was a clear fire.
"'brother, what is your name?' said john, and the man answered that he was called paul, and begged them for the sweet mercy of christ to aid him in his labors.
"but john said: 'rise, paul, and follow me.'
"and paul said: 'how can i follow the living when the dying call to me?'
"but john said: 'nevertheless, leave them, for these are carrion, but your soul in which is life eternal is worth all these and far more.'
"then paul felt the power of john and followed him and took, also, his gray horses which were unlike others, and of his servants those who would follow him for love, and in wagons he put much wealth.
"so they all rode on as a mighty caravan until they came, at the side of the road, to a youth lying in the meadow with his hands behind his head whistling, and a bird hovering above him repeated the same note. they spoke to him and he told them that he was an outcast because he would not labor.
"'the world is too pleasant to work in,' he said, and whistled again, and the bird above him made answer.
"then john said: 'here is a soul worth all of ours. rise, brother, and come with us.'
"so matthew rose and followed him, and he was the third and last man to join john, who was the beginning.
"then they came to a valley set about with walls and with a pleasant river running through it, and here they entered and called it the garden of eden because in it men should be pure of heart once more. and they built their houses with labor and lived in quiet and the horses multiplied and the garden blossomed under their hands."
here ruth marked her place with her finger while she wiped her eyes.
"do you mean to say this babble is getting you?" growled ben connor.
"please!" she whispered. "don't you see that it's beautiful?"
and she returned to the book.
