A Study in Scarlet Page 11

  CHAPTER IV. A FLIGHT FOR LIFE.

  ON the morning which followed his interview with the Mormon Prophet,John Ferrier went in to Salt Lake City, and having found hisacquaintance, who was bound for the Nevada Mountains, he entrusted himwith his message to Jefferson Hope. In it he told the young man of theimminent danger which threatened them, and how necessary it was that heshould return. Having done thus he felt easier in his mind, and returnedhome with a lighter heart.

  As he approached his farm, he was surprised to see a horse hitched toeach of the posts of the gate. Still more surprised was he on enteringto find two young men in possession of his sitting-room. One, with along pale face, was leaning back in the rocking-chair, with his feetcocked up upon the stove. The other, a bull-necked youth with coarsebloated features, was standing in front of the window with his hands inhis pocket, whistling a popular hymn. Both of them nodded to Ferrier ashe entered, and the one in the rocking-chair commenced the conversation.

  "Maybe you don't know us," he said. "This here is the son of ElderDrebber, and I'm Joseph Stangerson, who travelled with you in the desertwhen the Lord stretched out His hand and gathered you into the truefold."

  "As He will all the nations in His own good time," said the other in anasal voice; "He grindeth slowly but exceeding small."

  John Ferrier bowed coldly. He had guessed who his visitors were.

  "We have come," continued Stangerson, "at the advice of our fathers tosolicit the hand of your daughter for whichever of us may seem good toyou and to her. As I have but four wives and Brother Drebber here hasseven, it appears to me that my claim is the stronger one."

  "Nay, nay, Brother Stangerson," cried the other; "the question is nothow many wives we have, but how many we can keep. My father has nowgiven over his mills to me, and I am the richer man."

  "But my prospects are better," said the other, warmly. "When theLord removes my father, I shall have his tanning yard and his leatherfactory. Then I am your elder, and am higher in the Church."

  "It will be for the maiden to decide," rejoined young Drebber, smirkingat his own reflection in the glass. "We will leave it all to herdecision."

  During this dialogue, John Ferrier had stood fuming in the doorway,hardly able to keep his riding-whip from the backs of his two visitors.

  "Look here," he said at last, striding up to them, "when my daughtersummons you, you can come, but until then I don't want to see your facesagain."

  The two young Mormons stared at him in amazement. In their eyes thiscompetition between them for the maiden's hand was the highest ofhonours both to her and her father.

  "There are two ways out of the room," cried Ferrier; "there is the door,and there is the window. Which do you care to use?"

  His brown face looked so savage, and his gaunt hands so threatening,that his visitors sprang to their feet and beat a hurried retreat. Theold farmer followed them to the door.

  "Let me know when you have settled which it is to be," he said,sardonically.

  "You shall smart for this!" Stangerson cried, white with rage. "You havedefied the Prophet and the Council of Four. You shall rue it to the endof your days."

  "The hand of the Lord shall be heavy upon you," cried young Drebber; "Hewill arise and smite you!"

  "Then I'll start the smiting," exclaimed Ferrier furiously, and wouldhave rushed upstairs for his gun had not Lucy seized him by the arm andrestrained him. Before he could escape from her, the clatter of horses'hoofs told him that they were beyond his reach.

  "The young canting rascals!" he exclaimed, wiping the perspiration fromhis forehead; "I would sooner see you in your grave, my girl, than thewife of either of them."

  "And so should I, father," she answered, with spirit; "but Jeffersonwill soon be here."

  "Yes. It will not be long before he comes. The sooner the better, for wedo not know what their next move may be."

  It was, indeed, high time that someone capable of giving advice andhelp should come to the aid of the sturdy old farmer and his adopteddaughter. In the whole history of the settlement there had never beensuch a case of rank disobedience to the authority of the Elders. Ifminor errors were punished so sternly, what would be the fate of thisarch rebel. Ferrier knew that his wealth and position would be of noavail to him. Others as well known and as rich as himself had beenspirited away before now, and their goods given over to the Church. Hewas a brave man, but he trembled at the vague, shadowy terrors whichhung over him. Any known danger he could face with a firm lip, butthis suspense was unnerving. He concealed his fears from his daughter,however, and affected to make light of the whole matter, though she,with the keen eye of love, saw plainly that he was ill at ease.

  He expected that he would receive some message or remonstrance fromYoung as to his conduct, and he was not mistaken, though it came in anunlooked-for manner. Upon rising next morning he found, to his surprise,a small square of paper pinned on to the coverlet of his bed just overhis chest. On it was printed, in bold straggling letters:--

  "Twenty-nine days are given you for amendment, and then----"

  The dash was more fear-inspiring than any threat could have been. Howthis warning came into his room puzzled John Ferrier sorely, for hisservants slept in an outhouse, and the doors and windows had all beensecured. He crumpled the paper up and said nothing to his daughter, butthe incident struck a chill into his heart. The twenty-nine days wereevidently the balance of the month which Young had promised. Whatstrength or courage could avail against an enemy armed with suchmysterious powers? The hand which fastened that pin might have struckhim to the heart, and he could never have known who had slain him.

  Still more shaken was he next morning. They had sat down to theirbreakfast when Lucy with a cry of surprise pointed upwards. In thecentre of the ceiling was scrawled, with a burned stick apparently,the number 28. To his daughter it was unintelligible, and he did notenlighten her. That night he sat up with his gun and kept watch andward. He saw and he heard nothing, and yet in the morning a great 27 hadbeen painted upon the outside of his door.

  Thus day followed day; and as sure as morning came he found that hisunseen enemies had kept their register, and had marked up in someconspicuous position how many days were still left to him out of themonth of grace. Sometimes the fatal numbers appeared upon the walls,sometimes upon the floors, occasionally they were on small placardsstuck upon the garden gate or the railings. With all his vigilance JohnFerrier could not discover whence these daily warnings proceeded. Ahorror which was almost superstitious came upon him at the sight ofthem. He became haggard and restless, and his eyes had the troubled lookof some hunted creature. He had but one hope in life now, and that wasfor the arrival of the young hunter from Nevada.

  Twenty had changed to fifteen and fifteen to ten, but there was no newsof the absentee. One by one the numbers dwindled down, and still therecame no sign of him. Whenever a horseman clattered down the road, or adriver shouted at his team, the old farmer hurried to the gate thinkingthat help had arrived at last. At last, when he saw five give way tofour and that again to three, he lost heart, and abandoned all hope ofescape. Single-handed, and with his limited knowledge of the mountainswhich surrounded the settlement, he knew that he was powerless. Themore-frequented roads were strictly watched and guarded, and none couldpass along them without an order from the Council. Turn which way hewould, there appeared to be no avoiding the blow which hung over him.Yet the old man never wavered in his resolution to part with life itselfbefore he consented to what he regarded as his daughter's dishonour.

  He was sitting alone one evening pondering deeply over his troubles, andsearching vainly for some way out of them. That morning had shown thefigure 2 upon the wall of his house, and the next day would be the lastof the allotted time. What was to happen then? All manner of vague andterrible fancies filled his imagination. And his daughter--what was tobecome of her after he was gone? Was there no escape from the invisiblenetwork which was drawn all round them. He sank his head upon the tableand sobbed at
the thought of his own impotence.

  What was that? In the silence he heard a gentle scratching sound--low,but very distinct in the quiet of the night. It came from the door ofthe house. Ferrier crept into the hall and listened intently. Therewas a pause for a few moments, and then the low insidious sound wasrepeated. Someone was evidently tapping very gently upon one of thepanels of the door. Was it some midnight assassin who had come to carryout the murderous orders of the secret tribunal? Or was it some agentwho was marking up that the last day of grace had arrived. John Ferrierfelt that instant death would be better than the suspense which shookhis nerves and chilled his heart. Springing forward he drew the bolt andthrew the door open.

  Outside all was calm and quiet. The night was fine, and the stars weretwinkling brightly overhead. The little front garden lay before thefarmer's eyes bounded by the fence and gate, but neither there nor onthe road was any human being to be seen. With a sigh of relief, Ferrierlooked to right and to left, until happening to glance straight down athis own feet he saw to his astonishment a man lying flat upon his faceupon the ground, with arms and legs all asprawl.

  So unnerved was he at the sight that he leaned up against the wall withhis hand to his throat to stifle his inclination to call out. His firstthought was that the prostrate figure was that of some wounded or dyingman, but as he watched it he saw it writhe along the ground and into thehall with the rapidity and noiselessness of a serpent. Once within thehouse the man sprang to his feet, closed the door, and revealed to theastonished farmer the fierce face and resolute expression of JeffersonHope.

  "Good God!" gasped John Ferrier. "How you scared me! Whatever made youcome in like that."

  "Give me food," the other said, hoarsely. "I have had no time for biteor sup for eight-and-forty hours." He flung himself upon the [21] coldmeat and bread which were still lying upon the table from his host'ssupper, and devoured it voraciously. "Does Lucy bear up well?" he asked,when he had satisfied his hunger.

  "Yes. She does not know the danger," her father answered.

  "That is well. The house is watched on every side. That is why I crawledmy way up to it. They may be darned sharp, but they're not quite sharpenough to catch a Washoe hunter."

  John Ferrier felt a different man now that he realized that he hada devoted ally. He seized the young man's leathery hand and wrung itcordially. "You're a man to be proud of," he said. "There are not manywho would come to share our danger and our troubles."

  "You've hit it there, pard," the young hunter answered. "I have arespect for you, but if you were alone in this business I'd think twicebefore I put my head into such a hornet's nest. It's Lucy that brings mehere, and before harm comes on her I guess there will be one less o' theHope family in Utah."

  "What are we to do?"

  "To-morrow is your last day, and unless you act to-night you are lost.I have a mule and two horses waiting in the Eagle Ravine. How much moneyhave you?"

  "Two thousand dollars in gold, and five in notes."

  "That will do. I have as much more to add to it. We must push for CarsonCity through the mountains. You had best wake Lucy. It is as well thatthe servants do not sleep in the house."

  While Ferrier was absent, preparing his daughter for the approachingjourney, Jefferson Hope packed all the eatables that he could find intoa small parcel, and filled a stoneware jar with water, for he knew byexperience that the mountain wells were few and far between. He hadhardly completed his arrangements before the farmer returned with hisdaughter all dressed and ready for a start. The greeting between thelovers was warm, but brief, for minutes were precious, and there wasmuch to be done.

  "We must make our start at once," said Jefferson Hope, speaking in a lowbut resolute voice, like one who realizes the greatness of the peril,but has steeled his heart to meet it. "The front and back entrances arewatched, but with caution we may get away through the side window andacross the fields. Once on the road we are only two miles from theRavine where the horses are waiting. By daybreak we should be half-waythrough the mountains."

  "What if we are stopped," asked Ferrier.

  Hope slapped the revolver butt which protruded from the front of histunic. "If they are too many for us we shall take two or three of themwith us," he said with a sinister smile.

  The lights inside the house had all been extinguished, and from thedarkened window Ferrier peered over the fields which had been his own,and which he was now about to abandon for ever. He had long nervedhimself to the sacrifice, however, and the thought of the honour andhappiness of his daughter outweighed any regret at his ruined fortunes.All looked so peaceful and happy, the rustling trees and the broadsilent stretch of grain-land, that it was difficult to realize thatthe spirit of murder lurked through it all. Yet the white face and setexpression of the young hunter showed that in his approach to the househe had seen enough to satisfy him upon that head.

  Ferrier carried the bag of gold and notes, Jefferson Hope had the scantyprovisions and water, while Lucy had a small bundle containing a fewof her more valued possessions. Opening the window very slowly andcarefully, they waited until a dark cloud had somewhat obscured thenight, and then one by one passed through into the little garden. Withbated breath and crouching figures they stumbled across it, and gainedthe shelter of the hedge, which they skirted until they came to the gapwhich opened into the cornfields. They had just reached this point whenthe young man seized his two companions and dragged them down into theshadow, where they lay silent and trembling.

  It was as well that his prairie training had given Jefferson Hope theears of a lynx. He and his friends had hardly crouched down before themelancholy hooting of a mountain owl was heard within a few yardsof them, which was immediately answered by another hoot at a smalldistance. At the same moment a vague shadowy figure emerged from thegap for which they had been making, and uttered the plaintive signal cryagain, on which a second man appeared out of the obscurity.

  "To-morrow at midnight," said the first who appeared to be in authority."When the Whip-poor-Will calls three times."

  "It is well," returned the other. "Shall I tell Brother Drebber?"

  "Pass it on to him, and from him to the others. Nine to seven!"

  "Seven to five!" repeated the other, and the two figures flitted awayin different directions. Their concluding words had evidently been someform of sign and countersign. The instant that their footsteps had diedaway in the distance, Jefferson Hope sprang to his feet, and helping hiscompanions through the gap, led the way across the fields at the topof his speed, supporting and half-carrying the girl when her strengthappeared to fail her.

  "Hurry on! hurry on!" he gasped from time to time. "We are through theline of sentinels. Everything depends on speed. Hurry on!"

  Once on the high road they made rapid progress. Only once did theymeet anyone, and then they managed to slip into a field, and so avoidrecognition. Before reaching the town the hunter branched away into arugged and narrow footpath which led to the mountains. Two dark jaggedpeaks loomed above them through the darkness, and the defile which ledbetween them was the Eagle Canon in which the horses were awaiting them.With unerring instinct Jefferson Hope picked his way among the greatboulders and along the bed of a dried-up watercourse, until he came tothe retired corner, screened with rocks, where the faithful animals hadbeen picketed. The girl was placed upon the mule, and old Ferrier uponone of the horses, with his money-bag, while Jefferson Hope led theother along the precipitous and dangerous path.

  It was a bewildering route for anyone who was not accustomed to faceNature in her wildest moods. On the one side a great crag towered up athousand feet or more, black, stern, and menacing, with long basalticcolumns upon its rugged surface like the ribs of some petrified monster.On the other hand a wild chaos of boulders and debris made all advanceimpossible. Between the two ran the irregular track, so narrow in placesthat they had to travel in Indian file, and so rough that only practisedriders could have traversed it at all. Yet in spite of all dangers anddifficulti
es, the hearts of the fugitives were light within them,for every step increased the distance between them and the terribledespotism from which they were flying.

  They soon had a proof, however, that they were still within thejurisdiction of the Saints. They had reached the very wildest and mostdesolate portion of the pass when the girl gave a startled cry, andpointed upwards. On a rock which overlooked the track, showing out darkand plain against the sky, there stood a solitary sentinel. He saw themas soon as they perceived him, and his military challenge of "Who goesthere?" rang through the silent ravine.

  "Travellers for Nevada," said Jefferson Hope, with his hand upon therifle which hung by his saddle.

  They could see the lonely watcher fingering his gun, and peering down atthem as if dissatisfied at their reply.

  "By whose permission?" he asked.

  "The Holy Four," answered Ferrier. His Mormon experiences had taught himthat that was the highest authority to which he could refer.

  "Nine from seven," cried the sentinel.

  "Seven from five," returned Jefferson Hope promptly, remembering thecountersign which he had heard in the garden.

  "Pass, and the Lord go with you," said the voice from above. Beyond hispost the path broadened out, and the horses were able to break into atrot. Looking back, they could see the solitary watcher leaning uponhis gun, and knew that they had passed the outlying post of the chosenpeople, and that freedom lay before them.