It was very extraordinary. It was not strange that I turned back to the cabin with a chagrin and mortification which for a moment made me entertain the wild idea of saddling Chu Chu, and shaking the dust of that taciturn house from my feet. But the ridiculousness of such an act, to say nothing of its ingratitude, as quickly presented itself to me. Johnson had offered me only food and shelter; I could have claimed no more from the inn I had asked him to direct me to. I did not re-enter the house, but, lighting my last cigar, began to walk gloomily up and down the trail. With the outcoming of the stars it had grown lighter; through a wind opening in the trees I could see the heavy bulk of the opposite mountain, and beyond it a superior crest defined by a red line of forest fire, which, however, cast no reflection on the surrounding earth or sky. Faint woodland currents of air, still warm from the afternoon sun, stirred the leaves around me with long-drawn aromatic breaths. But these in time gave way to the steady Sierran night wind sweeping down from the higher summits, and rocking the tops of the tallest pines, yet leaving the tranquillity of the dark lower aisles unshaken. It was very quiet; there was no cry nor call of beast or bird in the darkness; the long rustle of the tree-tops sounded as faint as the far-off wash of distant seas. Nor did the resemblance cease there; the close-set files of the pines and cedars, stretching in illimitable ranks to the horizon, were filled with the immeasurable loneliness of an ocean shore. In this vast silence I began to think I understood the taciturnity of the dwellers in the solitary cabin.
When I returned, however, I was surprised to find the tallest girl standing by the door. As I approached she retreated before me, and pointing to the corner where a common cot bed had been evidently just put up, said, “Ye can turn in thar, only ye'll have to rouse out early when 'Dolphus does the chores,” and was turning towards the extension again, when I stopped her almost appealingly.
“One moment, please. Can I see your mother?”
She stopped and looked at me with a singular expression. Then she said sharply:—
“You know, fust rate, she's dead.”
She was turning away again, but I think she must have seen my concern in my face, for she hesitated. “But,” I said quickly, “I certainly understood your father, that is, Mr. Johnson,” I added, interrogatively, “to say that—that I was to speak to”—I didn't like to repeat the exact phrase—“his WIFE.”
“I don't know what he was playin' ye for,” she said shortly. “Mar has been dead mor'n a year.”
“But,” I persisted, “is there no grown-up woman here?”
“No.”
“Then who takes care of you and the children?”