Christine, however, caught at this last straw of hope, saying, when Alison related her story, “And he was alive while I was mourning him as dead, so why should he not be living now? For the first time, Alison, I have a real hope that he will come back. Oh, why did we not know this when Cyrus Sparks was alive? I cannot forgive him for keeping silence when he knew how terrible it was for us to have found Steve missing.”
“You could not expect him to tell of a thing so much to his own discredit. You know what would have happened if it had been known that he belonged to a gang of horse thieves.”
“He might have found some way of letting us know without implicating himself.”
“I don’t see how he could, for if Steve had come back it would have been all up with Cyrus and Pike.”
“I see, I see,” sighed Christine. “Well, little sister, you have brought me some good news, anyhow, and I thank you for it. How did John happen to take you to see that old woman?”
“Because I can speak tolerable Spanish. You see what an immense advantage my acquaintance with Lolita has been,” said Alison, laughing.
“I am sure I never objected to it greatly. It is Ira and Neal and the Haleys who despise the Mexicans.”
“If they were all like Lolita I should think them very foolish, but those I have seen to-day are certainly not descended from blue-blood dons, or if they are they have deteriorated.”
“I wish I could see that old woman and could talk to her,” said Christine, striking her hands impatiently together. “I would ask her a thousand questions about Steve. Oh, Alison, to think that he was so near and we did not know it. I am fairly wild when I think of it. Now where is he? Ah, if I but knew, if I but knew.”
“Never mind, dear, it will come out well yet; mark my words. See, there comes Mrs. Van Dorn.”