The women had started out to watch the performance, when a great cry of pain and the smell of burning flesh reached Bess. For an instant she stood frozen with horror, then without a word to her companions turned and fled back to her tent. Here she sat in a huddled heap with her fingers thrust into her ears. Here the other women discovered her, but no word of coaxing or joking derision succeeded in drawing her out again to watch the nauseous spectacle of branding. At noon-time, when all the others were hungry and enjoying the delicious roast, Bess felt sick at the very mention of food. All she wanted was her horse so that she might ride far away from all the confusion and heart-rending sounds.
Henry West asked Bess if she would ride part way with one of the women who was returning to her home at Dayton Creek. “By the time you return the branding will be over for today, and then tomorrow I will accompany you and Mrs. White part of the way home. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that you are feeling so disturbed,” said West.
“I am ashamed of being such a—a baby, but the sight of pain or suffering always fills me with horror. I cannot bear it,” answered Bess, putting on her gloves and sombrero preparatory to accompanying the woman on her long ride.
How glad she was to leave the camp behind and to ride out into the clear, bright air! The gentle slopes on either side of the Big Draw were soft with the delicate green of the tamaracks, whose vivid verdure was enhanced by the dark branches of the pines and fir trees. Great rocks of varied hues jutted forth in places as if they concealed the den of some formidable mountain lion.
So impressed was Bess at the sublime grandeur and beauty of the scene that she was oblivious of her companion.
“You are enjoying the view, also, Miss Fletcher?” asked the woman.
“I beg your pardon for being so rude. Somehow, words always spoil this for me,” answered the abstracted girl, as she drew herself together and made a sweeping gesture toward the bordering hills and distant mountains. Presently they neared the gulch with its deserted cabin, and Bess gave an involuntary shudder at the sight of its isolated loneliness. They started their horses into a swift gallop, and before long came in sight of the great, high cliff near Dayton Creek.
“There, Miss Fletcher, I think you have come far enough. I’ll take the trail across to the cliff and will soon be home. I fear you have come too far. A storm seems to be coming.”
Bess scanned the sky and saw dark clouds rapidly rising from the south-west. A sharp flash of lightning, unusual for June in the mountains, gave them both warning to hurry. The one turned her horse toward the cliff, while the other reined Mauchacho about to re-enter the Big Draw. The swift beating of a horse’s hoofs behind her made her give a swift glance over her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of some man, probably one of the round-up men, riding hurriedly in the direction of the camp. She felt glad that she would not have to go on alone, for now the warning flashes were growing more frequent, while the wind was gradually increasing. She noticed the horse’s speed slacken, heard a commanding voice speak to the animal, then felt the breath from its nostrils as it reached her side. She waited an instant for the man to speak, then lifted her face abruptly to look at the one so near her, a smile of salutation parting her lips. For the flash of an instant the smile lasted, then a look of incredulity crept into her eyes and stopped her heart beats. Mauchacho had instantly responded to the tight, resisting hand upon the bridle and stood taut as a cow-horse. Deep, glowing eyes held her fascinated so that she could scarcely catch her breath! What phantom was this, so like yet so different from the man who passed out of her life! A face thin and worn, with great, burning, piercing eyes; lips thick and distended above a quivering chin! Could such a transformation be wrought?
With a sob she recovered her senses as the man grasped her hand in his own. “Why are you here?” she cried, trying in vain to extricate her hand from his loathsome grasp.