“You say that we must go—that we must protect Marta? Do you mean that you will help me to save her from whatever threatens through this Sonora Jack?”
Natachee bowed his head for a moment, then met the white man’s eyes proudly.
“Did I not say that the trail which I, Natachee, was following had suddenly changed as the course of a mountain stream is lost in the desert sands? When Sonora Jack and his companions caught me and tied me with their ropes to that rock, I was as helpless as a dove in the coils of a snake. Do you think that I, Natachee, would have weakened under their torture fire? Sonora Jack would have burned the heart out of the Indian’s breast but he never would have heard from the Indian’s lips the secret of the Mine with the Iron Door. It is not a new thing for an Indian to be tortured for gold. I, Natachee, would have died as so many of my fathers have died, without a word. But you, a white man, obedient to your strange white man’s nature, offered your own life to save the life of Natachee the Indian, who had for months been torturing you. The trail of hatred and revenge that lay so clear before the red man is lost in the strange desert of the white man’s ways. I, Natachee, cannot understand, but who am I to disobey? The life you saved belongs to you, Hugh Edwards. I, Natachee, am yours until I pay the debt. Can the heart of the white man understand?”
The Indian, with an earnestness that left no doubt of his sincerity, offered his hand. And Hugh Edwards, though he did not yet realize the full significance of the Indian’s words, gladly accepted the proffered friendship, saying as he grasped the Indian’s hand:
“I am more than glad you feel that way about it, Natachee, but really, old man, I’m afraid you overrate what I did. I can’t believe yet that those fellows would have dared to go the limit with you. They might have burned you pretty bad, I’ll grant, but——“
At the touch of the white man’s hand and the hearty comradeship of his words, Natachee dropped his Indian manner and became the Natachee of the white man’s schools. Smiling, he said:
“It is evident, my friend, that you do not know Sonora Jack and his methods. I hope for your sake that if you are ever introduced to him you will kill him before he can identify you as the man who blocked his way, as he thinks, to the treasure which brought him from Mexico at such a risk.
“But no more of this,” he added. “We have work to do. I went to see Doctor Burton and told him everything—everything except of our visit to the mine. Together we made a plan and he bade me assure you of Marta’s love and tell you how glad he was for you. Then I called on the Pardners as the Doctor and I had agreed was best. They knew no more of Sonora Jack than every one who lives in this part of Arizona knows. I explained to the old prospectors and their girl why you had disappeared and how you had been hiding with me this winter. I told them of your innocence of the crime for which you are under sentence—of your love for Marta—of your efforts to find the gold that would enable you to leave the country and take her with you. I leave you to imagine the girl’s happiness. She would have come to you with me but I would not permit it. I promised her that instead to-morrow you should go to her.”
Hugh Edwards, in a fever of longing and anxiety, paced to and fro.
“But why to-morrow?” he cried. “Why not now—this moment? Who can say what may happen while we wait?”