Owen and I sat up before the fire talking until late that night, for one of the buyers wanted the home place. It was hard to give it up, for we both loved it, but the old life had passed, and we were not a part of the new. Owen’s business kept him almost constantly in Denver, and we were at the ranch so little it seemed useless to cling to it longer. The most difficult decision had been made ten years before. This, in a way, was more simple, yet this was final; it meant the breaking of the last tie which bound us to those broad acres, and we were both silent a long time after we had agreed that it was best to let the old place go.
Suddenly I thought of my conversation with Mrs. Parker, and told Owen of the finding of the passage under the bunk house. He sat looking into the fire, and made no comment until I had finished.
“It is strange, to say the least. I don’t suppose we shall ever know the real truth about it, but it doesn’t make much difference now; and if old Bohm’s spirit is wandering about here it will feel a little out of place in a cornfield.”
“It certainly will, but, Owen, don’t you hope ‘it’s mighty restless somewhere’?”
“Indeed I do,” he laughed, and then grew serious again. “It’s been wonderful from first to last, our life here.” He sighed a little. “What experiences we’ve had!”
“Yes, it has,” I said, getting up and standing by the fireplace, where Owen joined me. “It hasn’t always been easy, but I wouldn’t take anything for the things I’ve learned. I’m not the ‘Tenderfoot’ you brought out sixteen years ago; I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Westerner now. My whole view of life has changed. It has not only been a wonderful experience, Owen, but a wonderful privilege—to have lived here.”
Without a word we watched the last log break apart. The glowing sparks lighted the room for a single instant, then died down, and in the fading light of the coals we turned away.
That night I lay awake. Vivified by the thought of the final parting which was to come, our whole life on the ranch passed in review before me, the problems and the difficulties, the adjustments, the changed conditions and that disturbing sense of unsolved mystery.
I got up and stood by the window looking out upon a world of silver. Myriads of stars shone faintly in the heavens dimmed by the glory of the moon, the pale outline of the mountain was just visible, and, as on that first day when my heart was so heavy, I felt the sense of confusion give way to peace.