ralph's struggle only exhausted him, and bruised his wrists and ankles. he gave it up, and lay outwardly quiet, seething with resentment, within. deprived of his sight, his hearing became preternaturally acute, and he had no difficulty in following the various steps of their preparations for departure. before the bandage was clapped on his eyes, he had had a glimpse of daylight. he guessed from the poignant freshness of the air in his nostrils that the dawn had just broken.
after the tent had been taken down over his head and carried away, nahnya and charley came back to him together. charley lifted him under the arms, and nahnya took his feet. charley's manner of carrying him suggested an insulting indifference that caused ralph to grind his teeth. they climbed cautiously down the steep bank, finishing with a sudden slide to the bottom, and almost dropping ralph between them. charley laughed, and ralph swore savagely.
they laid him in the dugout, and he heard charley's steps retreating. nahnya was arranging the blankets under him.
"ralph, i sorry," she said in a low voice, sharp with emotion. "i not know anything else to do."
it did not help matters any. he was too full of resentment to give a thought to her side of the case. "this is what i get for trying to do the square thing by you!" he cried. "for holding myself in night and day to keep from distressing you! you worked on my sympathies. you made me think you were on the square. you talked about friendship, and then you attacked me while i was asleep! oh! i have been nicely taken in!"
he heard no more from her.
they slid the boat off the stones; nahnya climbed over ralph to take her place in the stern; and they set off in the current. for hours after that ralph had nothing to go on but the quiet dip of the paddles, the answering leap of the boat to the thrust of their strong arms, and the drip of the water as the blades were withdrawn. both brother and sister had a great capacity for silence.
ralph's frame of mind was anything but an enviable one. it is not pleasant to a man to be confronted by a mystery in the woman he loves. as long as they had been in accord it had troubled him very little; he had looked in her clear eyes, thinking, "whatever may be in store, she's on the square." but when she turned against him all this was changed. every look, word, act that he had not understood at the time recurred to him charged with a sinister significance. wounded pride hatefully suggested to him that she was using his love for her to further her own ends.
nevertheless he could not but admit that for such a hardy villainess some of her acts were strange. he had plenty of time to think things out. he remembered how she had boxed charley's ears when the boy had first suggested tying him up; he remembered how her eyes had filled, and how sadly she whispered, "i think you going to hate me by and by." this suggested that she might be the victim of circumstances no less than himself. "why can't she trust me a little?" he thought. "she knows i'd do anything for her!"
behind all this was the mystery of what lay ahead, hanging like a heavy black curtain athwart his gaze. when a man has his eyes to see, and his arms to fight with, a mystery is pleasantly provocative and stimulating. when he lies blindfolded, bound, and helpless, the darkest apprehensions seize upon him. thus the weary round continued in ralph's mind.
the long silence was broken by nahnya. she uttered in cree what sounded like a quiet warning. immediately afterward the dugout lurched violently as under a side blow, spun around, and went on as smoothly as before. for a long time ralph lay vainly threshing his brain for an explanation of this odd shock.
a new sound slowly stole on his ears, a dull, heavy growl from down the river. he did not need to be told what this was; rapids—but no such rapids as they had shot in the pony river, or hitherto in the rice. those compared with this sound were as the laughter of children to the voice of a giant. the growl became a roar which grew louder with every moment. ralph's heart began to beat painfully. it is probable that it never occurred to nahnya, certainly not to charley, what a refined species of torture they were inflicting on their prisoner. there is no terror like terror of the unseen. "if anything happens i'll drown like a cat in a bag!" thought ralph. he would not stoop to make any complaint aloud.
charley and nahnya stopped paddling, and talked low-voiced; nahnya gave unmistakable orders. the slight, sharp note of excitement in their voices shook ralph's breast. from the sounds ahead he pictured a very cataclysm of the waters awaiting them, wilder indeed than any earthly rapids. little beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead. oh! for his sight! the use of his arms! but he would not ask it. they started paddling again. the roaring seemed to be on every side of them now. ralph clenched his teeth and his hands. "now we're going to take the plunge!" he thought. "now! now!" and still it held off, until he could have screamed with the suspense.
and then the dugout seemed to drop from under him, and immediately afterward precipitated itself with a crash against a wall of water. a wave leaped aboard, drenching ralph to the waist. he thought it was all over, and suddenly ceased to trouble. charley yelled with pure excitement; the dugout gave a series of mad leaps and plunges, flinging ralph from side to side like a sack of meal, and suddenly they floated in smooth water again. an uncanny stillness descended on them. a long breath escaped between ralph's teeth.
there followed what seemed like the greater part of a day to ralph, with scarcely anything to register the passing of the heavy time. it was perhaps four hours. the sunshine grew warm in his face, and he smelled the pines on shore. high overhead he heard the eagles screaming. charley complained—of hunger, ralph guessed, and nahnya laconically silenced him. at intervals a new sound gave ralph food for thought. this was the loud, brawling voice of a stream, now on one side, now on the other.
"the whole character of the country must have changed," he thought. "we must be passing between steep hills or mountains for the streams to come tumbling down like that."
the long wait for something to happen was ended by the voice of another great rapid ahead. ralph's heart began to beat. "must i go through with that again?" he thought.
but while he was steeling himself for the ordeal, the nose of the dugout grounded, and charley, springing out, pulled her up on shore.
ralph was lifted out and laid on a flat rock. there was a long wait. a very real hunger began to assail him. one of the brawling streams came down nearby. from the sounds that reached his ears, ralph pictured the dugout being dragged across the rock on rollers, and hidden under bushes. evidently their journey by water was at an end. nahnya and charley sat down near him, seemingly to make something. finally ralph was lifted up and laid down again, and then, much to his surprise, hoisted on a litter and borne away.
a long journey over rough ground followed, and all uphill, ralph judged. they never passed out of hearing of the voice of the small stream. they stopped often to rest. even so, it was wonderful to ralph how easily they went. he was no light-weight. once or twice charley grumbled at taking up the load, and nahnya angrily silenced him. there was no faltering in her. in spite of his resentment against her ralph felt a kind of compunction at being carried by a woman. anyway, his resentment had cooled somewhat; cooled enough to allow him to glance at the oddity of his situation.
"lord! here's a queer go!" he thought. "what next?"
he was not under any apprehensions of danger to himself.
they went on for an hour or more, and the question of food became of more vital moment to ralph than of what was before him. the air had the lack of motion and the cool smell of vegetable decay that suggested a deep forest. finally he was put down for a longer period, and he heard the welcome sound of charley's axe, and shortly afterward the crackle of the growing fire. in a little while the delicious emanation from baking bannock reached his nostrils, and at last he heard the hissing of the bacon in the pan, which signified the completion of the preparations. a certain anxiety attacked him.
"how the deuce are they going to manage about feeding me?" he thought. "by gad! if they think they're going to make me go without my dinner——!"
however, charley presently untied his ankles and his wrists. ralph tore the bandage from his eyes, stretched himself luxuriously, and looked about him.
they were in the magnificent gloom of a primeval forest. gigantic trunks of fir and spruce rose on every hand with lofty branches that darkened the heavens. the little patches of sky that showed between seemed immeasurably far off. the fallen monarchs of ages past lay here and there in confusion, rotting by infinitesimally slow degrees. the ground was stony, but stones and fallen trunks alike were largely covered with moss, incredibly soft and thick and green. the moss masked treacherous holes, as ralph discovered when he attempted to move about. there was no undergrowth except a few spindling berry-bushes, and a low plant with huge leaves called the "devil's club," both pale from lack of sunlight.
the forest grew on a steepish slope. ralph affirmed to himself that the way home lay straight downhill. he could still hear the voice of the little stream off to one side. he discovered a faintly marked trail that climbed straight from below, and continued on uphill. this explained how nahnya and charley had been able to avoid the fallen trunks and the holes. a trail once made never becomes totally effaced. the wildest, most deserted forest wilderness shows such forgotten paths.
so far ralph's deductions carried him. later he made a fresh discovery. facing downhill and looking straight away through the tree trunks, he distinguished the outline of a noble, snow-capped peak a mile or two away. from the direction of the shadows upon it he saw that the sun was slightly to the left of it. as it was now half-past ten or eleven, that peak must therefore be directly south of where he stood. walking up and down, he searched through the trees and gathered from the suggestions of the outlines of other mountains that the peak was part of a chain running right and left.
little by little he pieced it all together in his mind. "we shot a big rapid, and paddled for three or four hours, or until we came within hearing of the next big rapid. the big river must flow parallel with that range yonder—that is to say, east and west. i knew it was flowing between mountains. we landed on a big flat rock at the mouth of a stream and struck straight up-hill, which is due north. blindfolded or not," he said to himself triumphantly, "i guess i won't have much trouble finding my way back if i want to."
nahnya with a sullen, troubled face, watched ralph making his observations but offered no comment.
breakfast or dinner, whichever it was, was eaten in silence. nahnya and ralph each wore a mask, and each avoided the other's eyes. charley was solely concerned with his long-delayed food. ralph, secretly elated by his own perspicacity, later made no objections to being bound and blindfolded again. it seemed to him rather a ridiculous precaution, because if he ever got as far as this, he would naturally continue by the trail. however, if they wished to give themselves the trouble of carrying him, so be it.
the journey of the morning was repeated, but for a longer period. ralph marvelled at his bearers' endurance. for at least two hours they toiled with frequent pauses, always uphill. finally upon laying him down they left him, and he guessed they had come to the next halting-place. a long time passed without his hearing them talk, or hearing any preparations to camp. the possibility of their abandoning him there in the woods occurred to him, causing a disagreeable prickling up and down his spine.
at last he heard charley's footsteps, and the bandage was removed from his eyes. still the virgin forest. no sign of nahnya. more mystifications!
"where's nahnya?" demanded ralph.
"him come back tepiskow," charley answered stolidly.
the boy held up a piece of paper with writing upon it for ralph to read, but held it upside down. since it did no good to yell at charley, and ralph's hands were tied, it was a little while before they came to an understanding. when the paper was finally righted ralph saw that it was a letter from nahnya, and once more he was astonished by her. it was written in a hand as fine and precise as a nun's. this strange girl could write as well as steer a canoe!
"to the doctor," it began. (she had made an attempt to spell ralph, and had given it up.) "if you promise not to go away from here till i get back, charley will untie the ropes and make you free. if you promise, make a holy cross on this paper for him to see. annie crossfox."
ralph had not by any means forgiven nahnya her high-handed proceedings, but an extraordinary curiosity modified his anger. he was determined to discover what lay behind all these mysteries. he decided to submit to the promise, and signed to charley to put the pencil between his teeth. charley holding up the paper, he made the sign as decreed. pocketing the paper as a warrant for the proceedings, charley liberated him.
ralph walked to and fro to stretch his legs, and to see what he could see. here there was nothing but endless vistas of the forest whichever way he looked. because of the higher altitude to which they had climbed, the trees were not of such a staggering magnitude, and there was more undergrowth. he saw gigantic raspberry bushes with pale flowers as big as mallows. the silence was unearthly; not a bird cheeped, not a leaf fluttered.
ralph was finally reduced to studying the impassive charley. there was not much reward here. charley sat with his back against a tree, smoking a pipe, and staring into vacancy. charley had the faculty of being able to suspend animation when he chose. ralph wondered why he did not fall asleep. by and by it came to him that the indian boy was actually uneasy, not the uneasiness of alarm, but of impatience. his head would turn slightly in a given direction, and a desirous look appear in his hard, bright eyes. his head was cocked to listen.
"nahnya has kept him out of something that he is keen for," ralph deduced.
charley prepared a meal, and they ate. afterward, since there was nothing better to do, ralph rolled himself in the blanket he had lain on, and slept. when he awoke the indefatigible charley was cooking another meal. they had eaten it and were smoking; darkness was already creeping through the forest aisles, though far overhead the sky was bright, when without warning the indian boy sprang up with a whoop, and seizing his hat and gun darted away. ralph, gazing after him, wondered if he had gone mad. presently from the same direction he saw nahnya coming through the trees, followed by an old woman in a black cotton dress. at sight of the girl the recollection of the indignities she had put upon him flamed up in ralph's breast, and his eyes hardened. he forgot about charley.
nahnya, after a quick glance in his face, lowered her eyes. "this my mot'er," she said in a low voice.
the old woman made a bob to the doctor. she was frankly terrified by the sight of him. she did not in any way suggest the mother of nahnya, being without grace. she looked merely the middle-aged mother of many children. she had jetty hair neatly parted and braided, eyes as stoical as charley's, and a skin like wrinkled, waxed brown paper. she had the strong, patient look of the aging worker. ralph, looking from one to the other, could not find the least point of resemblance between mother and daughter. the fact caused him a certain grim satisfaction. his professional eye fixed on the old woman's pitiful, crooked arm.
so it was true after all that nahnya had fetched him to cure her mother. he felt relieved, but only the more mystified. for why, if everything was plain and aboveboard, had she taken such desperate precautions to insure secrecy? nahnya was no fool. he angrily gave it up, and turned his back on the old woman, who, as soon as his eye fell upon it, began to soothe the injured arm with deprecating glances toward him. ralph had already observed with a hard smile that they had brought up his little satchel of instruments and medicaments on the litter. he had made up his mind that nothing should induce him to open it.
the two women had brought packs containing everything needful for a comfortable camp, and they set about making ready for the night. nahnya said no more to ralph, nor did she look at him again, but her actions were eloquent. watching her with sidelong glances, a great uneasiness grew in him. she cut a heap of spruce boughs to make him a soft bed. she roasted a ptarmigan she had brought with her, and when it was done, took it to tempt his appetite before he turned in. she offered it to him silently, with an extraordinary upward look, soft, penitent, and imploring.
the look raised a storm in ralph's breast. it confused and touched and angered him together. his heart leaped to answer it, and his indignant pride held him back. "why can't she be open with me?" he thought. "does she think she can truss me up like a piece of baggage, and then bring me to my knees again with a soft look?" he accepted the offering as his right, without relenting, and nahnya went sadly back to her own bed beside her mother.
with a great air of unconcern, ralph crawled between his blankets and resolutely closed his eyes. but the struggle within him went blithely forward. he would, and he would not. she had used him intolerably, and he hated her. she was sorry, and he loved her. the mystery she chose to wrap herself in exasperated him; her quiet resistance to his will maddened the male in him. there were times when he felt as if the only thing that would give him any peace would be to crush her utterly. then he would remember the look in her eyes which promised a secret heaven for him to whom she chose to open it. daylight was coming again before ralph fell asleep.
when he awoke the struggle was over. such a struggle in him could have but one outcome. his pride caved in. after all, he told himself, he was a doctor, and he could not turn his back on a grievous injury. he did not mean to forgive nahnya—at least not in a hurry—but he knew he could not forgive himself if he went away leaving a doctor's work undone. perhaps he was not quite frank with himself in this; perhaps it was only pride trying to save something from the ruins; perhaps he never would have left nahnya could he have helped it. every imaginative heart that loves, loves the sentimental satisfaction of heaping coals of fire upon the head of the beloved one. she would feel sorry she had used him so, but he would be relentless. when she had suffered a great deal—perhaps——
so after breakfast, still scowling like a pirate, he opened his doctor's kit, and issued gruff orders to nahnya. the sun came out in her face; she said not a word, but flew to do his bidding. admirable was her capability and her deftness. in no time at all the frightened old woman was made comfortable on a deep bed of spruce boughs, with splints, bandages, and hot water waiting.
when it was all over, and the old woman began to come safely out of the ether, weeping copiously, but vastly relieved in mind, ralph repacked his satchel viciously. when his purely professional absorption was no longer called for, he ran up the flag of resentment again. nahnya had said nothing. once when the danger point was past she had leaned across the patient and squeezed his hand, but he had quickly pulled it away. her eyes followed him expressing a passion of humble gratitude. it infuriated him; why, he could scarcely have told; perhaps because it was so clear that it was only gratitude, and not the other kind of passion that he was hungry to see there. at any rate he could not support the look. snapping the valise shut, and tossing it to one side, he strode away leaving the patient to nahnya.
"it's done," he thought bitterly. "and she's done with me. a lot she cares what i'm suffering. she sacrificed me without a qualm to the old woman. now she's cured, i can go back, and be hanged to me, i suppose. well, i don't mean to be fobbed off so easily. i've done my part, and i'm a free agent. i won't leave here till i've unwound every thread of the silly mystery she entangles herself in!"
by and by the old woman fell into a natural sleep, and ralph was free to leave her. he lit his pipe, and wandered off up the faintly marked trail.
in the perpetual twilight of their camp one got the feeling that this forest rolled on forever, but ralph had not gone above three hundred yards before he unexpectedly came to one of its boundaries. to the left of the trail it ended at the base of a mighty precipice of naked gray rock. standing at the edge of the trees and looking right and left the height of rock extended as far as he could see. looking up, it was too beetling for him to see its summit.
continuing upon the trail a little way farther, he came to the edge of a gulch, where he could obtain a wider prospect. looking up now, he had dizzying, foreshortened glimpses of peaks and domes of rock, with a distant view over all of the supreme summit, shaped like a gigantic thumb of rock sticking up out of fields of snow, gilded and dazzling in the sunshine, and incredibly far-flung. it was a stirring experience thus to be brought without warning into the immediate presence of such a god. ralph gazed, forgetting his private despite against fortune.
at his feet the gulch came down from the left along the base of the unscalable heights. a trickle of water ran musically in the bottom of it, and was borne off to the right to join the larger stream, beside which they had ascended from the river. the trail crossed the gulch, and disappeared within the forest on the other side. the forest skirted the edge of the gulch, and swept on up concealing all on that side.
ralph's only view was therefore up the gulch. the floor of it was heaped with broken masses of rock and fallen trees. as he looked, thinking of nothing but the wild beauty of the scene, suddenly his jaw dropped, and he dashed a hand across his eyes to make sure they were not tricking him. for out of a little tangle of living and dead trees at the base of the cliff, about a furlong from him, issued the figure of a man. it was charley. one would have said that he had issued out of the cliff itself.
