Henry West had gone on and joined James at the door.
At the offertory Bess sang Mascagni’s Ave Maria, and as her soft, glorious voice arose and fell in beautiful tone waves, even Father Damien and the Indians held their breath for fear of losing a sound.
When Bess had finished Sister Agnes kissed her cheek, and left the imprint of her own wet one.
[CHAPTER X]
A WESTERN TRAGEDY
“After all, we have not gained much by staying at the Mission over night, for another storm is coming and we better hurry to some place of shelter or we shall all be drenched to the skin,” remarked Henry West, as he casually glanced over his shoulder toward the Southwestern horizon, where an ominous looking rain-cloud was rapidly rising. As he had predicted the day before, a heavy rain began just as they were about to re-saddle the horses to return to HW ranch. The morning dawned soft and warm; fresh from the washed hillsides came the ozone; the east was filled with fiery, red clouds, which warned them that the rain was not yet all spilled upon the thirsty earth. How green the stretch of grazing land looked; how verdant the distant pines and firs, fresh from nature’s bath! The dust in the wagon road was all gone, and now occasionally the horses splashed with delight through mud puddles.
“Mauchacho, if you spatter my go-to-meeting riding togs you’ll get your ears pulled,” Bess said to her horse. She had not heard West’s remark regarding the weather for she was in an abstracted mood.
“Hold on a moment, boys,” she cried after the two. They had given their horses rein, thinking she was aware of the coming storm, and were riding swiftly to where they might be kept dry, for a time at least. Just then Bess noticed the light becoming dimmed. Hastily glancing back she saw the hurrying rain and was greeted by a splash of heralding drops.
“Oh, so that’s the hurry! Come, Mauchacho, it’s up to you to keep me dry and save this green gown from making a blot on the already verdant landscape,” she said whimsically, and the horse, as if he understood, in haste to overtake his fleeing companions, sped like the bird he really was and reached the sheltering, overhanging rock before the others.