“Those Indians!” he muttered, dragging the sheet over his ears. “Drunk again!”
“Tanto amor!” Godfrey was looking down on the river.
Such a night! It poured wine into the veins of one! Such a voice! To pour it out, thrilling himself over the call of it! Touching something, what was it he touched? That gleam of moonlight on the river, footlights of fairies. Ah, holy night! “Tanto amor!”
Caught in his own spell, Godfrey passed down the levee. And the camp slept again. But even the dreams of Wooster were of love.
CHAPTER XXXIX
THE BATTLE IN THE NIGHT
GATHERING on the bank were the camp groups to watch the last stand of the river against the rock bombardment. The reporters from the outside, pads and pencils in hand, were there, and Brandon; Molly Silent, with little Jim in her arms, who had crept down from the Crossing, full of fears. Out there, somewhere on the trestles, on one of those rock cars was her Jim. She sat on the bank by Innes and Mrs. Marshall, who at last had laid aside her knitting. Tony, his white cap askew, danced from group to group, finding poor audiences. Later, he forced a heartier reception when he returned, bearing sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs, his Indian “help” carrying a pot of steaming coffee.
“That’s a capital idea, Tony,” commended Rickard, stopping for a snatch of lunch. “Tell Ling to do the same; here, MacLean, you tell him. We’ll keep coffee and bread and beans going all day. A lunch-counter on the bank.” He was off, his hands full of sandwiches.
A great wave broke into an obliterating eruption of spray. A cry burst from Molly Silent. “Oh, I thought it was gone. There’s Jim. He’s on the car that’s pulling in!”
“Give me the boy,” Mrs. Marshall reached out her unpractised arms. “Run down and speak to your husband.” She shook her head ominously at Innes as the mother stumbled heavily down the bank. “This excitement is bad for her. Before Christmas, she tells me.” She held the little body close to hers. Innes, watching her rapt look, felt her eyes warm up with tears.
Molly toddled back, radiant.