Beth Norvell

"De vay--poof! You speak ver' foolish. De vay?--you tink I cannot

find de vay! Vy, I Mexicana, señor; I know de vay of de desert; I read

de sign here, dar, everyvere, like miladi does de book. I know how;

si, si. Señor Brown he show me how get down de side of de mountain,

den I know de res'. Twenty mile south to de rail; I read de stars, I

feel de wind, I give de pony de quirt, and it vas done--bueno!"

Winston sat silently watching her, impressed by the earnestness of her

broken English, the eloquent energy of her gesticulations.

"Vas dat not de bettah vay, señor? I no good here; I just girl in de

vay, an' ven de fight come maybe I be 'fraid. But Señor Brown he not

git 'fraid; he fight hard, more as ten men. So I help too; I just ride

de pony, but I help. I go San Juan; I see de Distric' Attorney." She

clapped her hands, laughing at the thought. "Si, I know de Distric'

Attorney ver' veil. He tink Mercedes ver' nice girl; he tink I dance

bettah as any he ever saw; he say so to me. He do vat Mercedes vant,

vat she say vas de right ting--sure he do. Vas dat not de bettah,

señor?"

"Possibly," yet secretly questioning her motives, "but--but really, you

know, I always supposed you to be a friend of Farnham's!"

The girl instantly flushed crimson to the roots of her black hair,

bringing her hands together sharply, her eyes straying from Winston to

the suddenly uplifted face of Miss Norvell.

"No, no," she said, at last, her voice softer. "He vas not to me

anyting! She know how it vas; maybe she tell you sometime. Not now,

but sometime. I jus' vant do right. I vant serve Señor Brown, not dat

Farnham no more. No, no! once, maybe, I tink dat man ver' nice; I tink

him good friend; he say much promise Mercedes. Now I tink dat no

more--I know he lie all de time; I see tings as dey vas right, an' I

try be good girl. You sabe all dat, señor?"

"I understand some of it at least," and he smiled back into her

pleading eyes, "enough to trust you. If Hicks and Brown consent, your

going will be all right with me."

"Bueno!" and she dropped him a deep Spanish courtesy, executing a

quick dancing step toward the door. "Den eet vill be so. I no 'fraid.

I go see dem both. Adios."

The door opened, and she flashed forth into the fading sunlight; it

closed behind her, and left the two alone among the shadows.