A yell welcomed this suggestion, and the crowd set off en masse up the hill toward the hut. Varley Howard knew that he was powerless to stem the torrent, and that it was better to let it have its way up to a certain point, so he went a little ahead of the rest; but, having reached the hut, stood in the open door-way, shielding the startled and terrified Mr. Pinchook, who gazed at the crowd affrightedly over Varley’s shoulder. Then Varley said:
“Look here, boys; I let you come up here that you may see Ralda herself and learn from her own lips that she is going of her own free will. She’s come into a slice of luck.” He did not mention the amount for the simple reason that he felt it would destroy all credence in the minds of his audience, and make them suspect that he was tricking them. “Her people have turned up, and—she’s got to go. I guess Three Star isn’t going to stand in the way of her good fortune.”
“Ralda, Ralda!” shouted the crowd, excitedly, and refusing to be pacified. “Let’s see her, and hear what she’s got to say herself.”
Esmeralda pushed Mr. Pinchook aside, and stepped forward at Varley’s left hand. She was very pale, and her lovely eyes looked through a mist of tears.
A shout went up at her appearance, and Taffy, with the marks of his recent encounter fresh upon him, demanded, with outstretched hands:
“Is this true, Ralda, or is Varley only spoofing us?”
Her lips quivered, and it seemed for a moment as if she could not speak. Then she said, with a catch in her voice:
“It’s true, boys. They’ve found me, and I’ve got to go. I don’t want to go—to leave you all”—a big tear rolled down her cheek and fell on the stocking she still held in her hand—“but I’ve got to go. But I’m coming back—I’m coming back soon. Don’t make it hard for me!” she pleaded, as the crowd murmured audibly. “Tell them, Varley!” She went into the hut with her arm across her eyes like a heart-broken child.
“Ralda’s hit the nail on the head, boys,” said Varley. “It’s as hard for her as it is for us.”