“Lucy,” he whispered, “you will understand me. I have never kissed any one since my mother died––could––could you kiss me first?”
“Ah, yes, Rufus,” she answered, and as their lips met he held her gently in his arms.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE END OF IT ALL
There is a mocking-bird at Hidden Water that sings the songs of all the birds and whistles for the dog. His nest is in a great cluster of mistletoe in the mesquite tree behind the house and every morning he polishes his long curved bill against the ramada roof, preens out his glossy feathers, and does honor to the sun. For two years, off and on, Hardy had heard him, mimicking orioles and larks and sparrows and whistling shrilly for the dog, but now for the first time his heart answered to the wild joy of the bird lover. The world had taken on light and color over night, and the breeze, sifting in through the barred window, was sweet with the fragrance of untrampled flowers.
April had come, and the grass; the air was untainted; there was no braying by the river––the sheep had gone. It had been bought at the price of blood, but at last there was peace. The dreamy quah, quah of the quail was no longer a mockery of love; their eggs would not be broken in the nest but the mothers would lead forth their little ones; even 472 the ground-doves and the poor-wills, nesting in last year’s sheep tracks, would escape the myriad feet––and all because a crazy man, hiding among the cliffs, had shot down Jasper Swope. Without hate or pity Hardy thought of that great hairy fighting-man; the God that let him live would judge him dead––and Bill Johnson too, when he should die. The sheep were gone and Lucy had kissed him––these were the great facts in the world.
They were sitting close together beneath the ramada, looking out upon the sunlit valley and talking dreamily of the old days, when suddenly Hardy edged away and pointed apologetically to the western trail. There in single file came Judge Ware in his linen duster, a stranger in khaki, and a woman, riding astride.
“There comes father!” cried Lucy, springing up eagerly and waving her hand.