Part 21 (1/2)
”And if he was not dead,” said Aldous quietly, ”I would kill hi more to say than that He dared trust himself no further, and in silence he held out his hands, and for a ave hiesture, and the s about her mouth, she said:
”Donald will think this is scandalous We ize!”
She led him down the slope, and her face was filled with the pink flush of a wild rose when she ran up to Donald, and asked him to help her into her saddle John Aldous rode like one in a dream as they went back into the valley, for with each minute that passed Joanne seemed more and more to hie, and in him mind and soul were absorbed in the wonder of it and in his own rejoicing
She was free, and in her freedoht that pounded steadily in his brain He forgot Quade, and Culver Rann, and the gold; he forgot his own danger, his oork, almost his own existence Of a sudden the world had become infinitesimally small for him, and all he could see was the soft shi+mmer of Joanne's hair in the sun, the wonder of her face, the marvellous blue of her eyes--and all he could hear was the sweet thrill of her voice when she spoke to hihter trembled on her lips in the sheer joy of the life that had dawned anew for her this day
They stopped for dinner, and then went on over the range and down into the valley where lay Tete Jaune And all this ti in his own face the desire that was like a hot fire within hio to Joanne and tell her that he loved her as he had never dreamed it possible for love to exist in the whole orld He knew that to surrender to that desire in this hour would be souess that Joanne saw his struggle, that even old MacDonald mumbled loords in his beard When they caht that he had kept this thing from her, and he did not see--and would not have understood if he had seen--the wonderful and y Blackton
Blackton had come in frolad you folks have returned,” he cried, bearipped Aldous by the hand ”The last rock is packed, and to-night we're going to shake the earth We're going to blow up Coyote Nu as you live!”
Not until Joanne had disappeared into the house with Peggy Blackton did Aldous feel that he had descended firmly upon his feet oncewith the horses, and Blackton was pointing over toward the steel workers, and was saying so about ten thousand pounds of black powder and dynaoing to be blown up that night
”It's the best bit of work I've ever done, Aldous--that and Coyote Nu to touch the electric button to Twenty-seven to-night, but we've decided to let Miss Gray do that, and Peggy'll fire Twenty-eight to-ht is alo over and see it in theMebby Miss Gray would like to see for herself that a coyote isn't only an ani into rock an' filled with enough explosives to play high jinks with all the navies in the world if they happened to be on hand at the time What do you say?”
”Fine!” said Aldous
”And Peggy wants me to say that it's a matter of only couest while here,” added the contractor, stuffing his pipe ”We've got plenty of roo to be polite enough to accept, aren't you?”
”With all ht of being near Joanne ”I've got some business with MacDonald and as soon as that's over I'll domicile myself here It's bully of you, Blackton! You know----”
”Why, da his pipe
”Can't I see, Aldous? D'ye think I'y before I ot over it yet--and never will I coular to see her, and if I don't coy saw it first She said it was a shame to put you off in that cabin with Miss Gray away up here I don't want to stick ratulate you! I've only seen one lovelier woy”
He thrust out a hand and pu suddenly waroodness sake don't say anything, or act anything, old ”
Blackton nodded with prodigious understanding in his eyes
”Cooing in and clean up for to-night's fireworks”
A question was in Aldous' mind, but he did not put it in words He wanted to know about Quade and Culver Rann
”Blackton is such a ridiculously forgetful fellow at times that I don't want to rouse his alar toward the corral a fewout to Joanne and his wife, and I've got reasons-- this affair as quiet as possible We'll have to discover what Rann and Quade are doing ourselves”
MacDonald edged his horse in nearer to Aldous
”See here, Johnny, boy--tell rizzled face, and there was solow of the old mountaineer's eyes that made him think of a father
”You know, Mac”
Old Donald nodded
”Yes, I guess I do, Johnny,” he said in a low voice ”You think of Mis'