CHAPTER 6
Zell
IN a rude log shack in the little mining camp of Big Chance a young man lay on a rough bunk. By his side sat Marion Brisbane. She had done all in her power on his behalf, but she was fully aware that greater skill than she possessed was needed. Only a doctor could probe for the bullet which was lodged in his side. She felt her own helplessness as she sat there with the still form so near.
Marion had several things to worry her this night. She thought of the journey from the patrol-house to the mining camp. She knew that Sergeant North loved her with all the intensity of his strong nature. And she loved him. But was she true to him? She had not told him that the man who had fled from the patrol-house out into the storm was Hugo, the trapper, and her father. He would find it out some day, and what would he then think of her? Should she have told him? she asked herself over and over again. But it was too late now. He had been gone from Big Chance for over an hour, and who could tell what might happen ere his return? Perhaps he would never come back. He had gone in search of a man who would not lightly be captured. And in the struggle which she felt sure would ensue what terrible things might happen. Her father would fight to the last, she was certain, and so would John North. He had never been known to turn from the face of man, so she had heard, and so far he had never come back from a quest empty-handed.
And while she sat and meditated, the door was pushed gently open and a girl entered. She came at once over to the bunk, stooped and looked earnestly upon the unconscious man. She then dropped upon her knees by his side, took his left hand in hers and pressed it to her lips. Not a word did she utter, and seemed to pay no heed to the nurse. But Marion did not need any explanation. She understood the meaning of the girl’s action, and her heart went out to her in sympathy. She believed that the two were lovers, and that because of their love a tragedy had been enacted there in that little mining camp. The girl impressed her by her remarkable beauty and strange abandon. Her clothes were of the roughest, but so graceful was her form, that they fitted her perfectly. Her hair, black as a raven’s wing, fell in two long braids to her waist. The color of her face betrayed Indian blood in her veins, causing Marion to surmise that she was a half-breed. She had met several before, but none as graceful and charming as the one before her. She longed to know her history, and the story of her love for the white man upon the bunk.
At length the girl raised her head and looked up at the nurse.
“Will he get better?” she asked in a voice with a pronounced English accent.
“Let us hope so,” Marion replied. “But he needs a doctor at once. He is the only one who can do anything for him now.”
“When will he be here?”
“I cannot tell. But I left word for him to come as soon as possible. He was away from Kynox when I left.”
“And you can do nothing for him?” the girl asked.
“Nothing, I am sorry to say.”
“Then he must have the missionary. He will come, I know.”
“The missionary? Where is he?”
“At ‘The Gap.’ I shall go for him. He will come for me. He is a good doctor, and he will pray and make him well.”
The girl rose to her feet as if to hurry away. But Marion caught her by the arm and told her to sit down.
“What is your name?” she asked.
“Zell.”
“What else? What is your father’s name?”
“Sam Rixton, but people always call him ‘Sam, the Siwash.’ My mother is an Indian. Her name is Susie.”
“And have you lived here all your life?”
“Oh, no. I was put in the Mission school at The Gap when very young, and left only a year ago.”
“So that is where you learned to speak English so well, I suppose.”
“Yes, the missionary and his wife were good to me. I guess they thought more of me than of all the others. They wanted to keep me and take me back to England. They came from there, you see.”
“But you preferred to stay here?”
“I wanted to go until I met Tim,” was the low reply. “After that nothing could drag me away from the North. Oh, we were so happy until that trouble came.” The girl gave a deep sigh as she looked longingly upon the face of the man before her.
“Where did you first meet him?” Marion asked.
“At The Gap. I was at school then and met Tim when he was prospecting in the hills. He used to come to church every Sunday, and I saw him as we all marched in and out. Then for a time we managed to get letters to each other, and one night after all had gone to bed I slipped out of the house and met Tim by a big tree. He told me how much he loved me, and asked me to leave school and go back to my father and mother so he could see me often.”
The girl paused and a troubled expression overspread her face. Then with tear-dimmed eyes she turned impulsively to the nurse.
“That was the beginning of all my trouble,” she confessed. “I was found out and ordered not to meet Tim again. The missionary and his wife talked to me. They did not scold me, but said if I would not obey I would have to leave the school. I promised that I would be good. But, oh, Miss, as the weeks went by I did so long to see Tim just once again. I couldn’t live without him. I met him again by the tree, and—and,” her voice was very low now, “I was sent from the school in disgrace, and came to my parents.”
“Have you seen the missionary and his wife since?” Marion asked.
“No. Mrs. Norris died not long after I left. I did want to go to her funeral, but it was a long way, and I was afraid to meet the missionary. I believe she died because I left, for she thought so much of me. I couldn’t bear the thought of the missionary seeing me. I knew he wouldn’t scold, for he never did that, but he would look at me with those wonderful eyes of his, and, oh, Miss, if you could see them you would know just what I mean.”
“Is the missionary still living at The Gap?”
“Yes, he is there, but he has no school now. Nearly all of the Indians have deserted him. Bad white men did it. They took in rum, made fun of the missionary and his school, and got the Indians to leave the place. They are all scattered now, some here, and some in other camps, always hanging around for rum. They will do anything for hootch, and the women are just as bad as the men.”
“Why does the missionary stay at The Gap when the Indians have gone?” Marion enquired.
“He is waiting for them to come back, so I have been told. He prays and prays for them. He has service in the church every night, and most of the time he is the only one there. But he rings the little bell just as he used to do, and then goes on with the service.”
“He must be a good man,” Marion remarked.
“Oh, he is very good. But he is getting old and feeble now, so maybe he won’t be there much longer. But if he were only here I am sure he would help Tim. His prayers, I guess, would do more for him than anything else.”
“You haven’t forgotten what you learned at the school, I see. You still believe in prayers, even though you have gone astray.”
“I haven’t gone astray in the way you mean,” the girl declared as she gave her head a slight toss. “I was sent from the school, I know, but I have done nothing really wrong. I always remember what I was taught, and say my prayers night and morning. Tim is a good man and he always told me to do what was right.”
“But he was willing for you to disobey orders, and get dismissed from the school,” Marion reminded.
“Oh, that was different, Miss. You see, we loved each other so much that we couldn’t bear to be kept apart. Nothing must stand in the way of love, so Tim said.”
Marion was tempted to smile at the simplicity and candor of the girl. To her, whatever Tim said was right. She longed to know more about the young man who had won the heart of this beautiful half-breed.
“Were you and Tim planning to get married soon?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. He said he was going to take me outside next summer, and we would then be married. But now this trouble has come, and Tim may die.”
“How did it happen, Zell? You don’t mind telling me, do you?”
“I don’t mind, Miss. But I am afraid all the time. Bill did that to Tim, and he might do worse to me. He is a bad, bad man.”
“Who is Bill?”
“The man who shot Tim. He hates him because he wants me. Oh, I am afraid of him! He follows me around. He is called ‘Bill, the Slugger’ because he hits so hard.”
“So he wants to marry you, does he?” Marion queried, for the first time beginning to understand a little of the situation.
“Yes, he does. But I hate him, and have told him so over and over again. I slapped him in the face once, and he swore awful, called me a ‘she-devil,’ and said that he would pay me back. And that is the way he has done it.” She motioned to the man on the bunk. “I am afraid to go home, for I know Bill will be waiting for me.”
“But how did he come to shoot Tim?” Marion asked. “Was it for revenge?”
The girl looked anxiously toward the door and then at the nurse.
“Bend your head so I can whisper in your ear,” she ordered. “There, that’s better. I don’t want anybody to hear. Bill might be listening at the door. It was partly for revenge and partly for fear that he shot Tim.”
“Fear of what?”
“He was afraid that Tim knew too much, so he wanted to get him out of the way. Bill picked a quarrel with him, so Tim got mad and hit him. Oh, I found out all about it.”
“But what was it about which Tim knew too much?” Marion questioned.
“Can’t you guess?” the girl asked. “I don’t like to tell you because I am afraid even to speak of it.”
“I have no idea what it can be,” Marion replied. “You see, I know very little about what goes on here.”
“But it wasn’t here, Miss, that it happened. It was far away, near the C. D. Cut-Off.”
“Oh!” It was all that Marion said, for a new light was beginning to dawn upon her mind. The C. D. Cut-Off! It was near there that the terrible murder had been committed, of which her father was suspected. Was it possible that this girl knew something about that affair? It did seem likely, and the thought filled her with a new hope. “Was it Bill who did that?” she asked in a very low voice.
Zell started, and again glanced toward the door.
“I didn’t say that, Miss,” she whispered in reply. “I don’t dare to. He would kill me if I did.”
“You needn’t be afraid,” Marion soothed. “The Police will not let any one harm you. Sergeant North must know about this.”
At these words the girl sprang to her feet, her eyes dilated with fear. She was trembling violently, and unconsciously she stooped and caught the nurse’s hands in hers.
“Don’t, don’t tell him!” she begged. “Bill will know who told, and he will kill me. I’m not afraid to die, but I want to live a while longer to help Tim. I must go for the missionary. I shall go just as soon as Bill leaves Big Chance.”
“Where is Bill going?” Marion asked.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think he is planning to go outside. Just after the Police left, he began to get ready for a trip. He was packing up when I came here. He has been almost frightened out of his wits ever since the Police came.”
“How do you know all this, Zell?”
“Oh, I have ways of finding out. I have kept my eyes on Bill ever since he shot Tim. He didn’t know I was watching him.
“So you think he is going to leave this country?”
“I am sure of it.”
“How will he go?”
“By way of The Gap and across the mountains.”
“But the Police have gone in that direction,” Marion reminded. “Why should he go where they are?”
“Bill has a reason,” was the low reply.
“What reason?”
“Can’t you guess? A bad man will stop at nothing.”
“But the Police can stop him.”
“Can they? You don’t know Bill, I guess. He’s a devil.”
“But he is afraid of the Police, so you say.”
“That is so. He is so afraid that he hates them. The missionary used to tell us what the Bible said about the devil going around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; that he hates good people, and tries to harm them. So that is the way with Bill. He has tried over and over again to harm me, but I was too sharp for him. Look what he did to Tim. And he will try to hurt the Police.”
“What! Sergeant North?” Marion had a new interest now in Bill, the Slugger. “Will he dare to do anything to a member of the Force?”
Zell was quick to detect the note of anxiety in Marion’s voice, and at once she suspected something. It drew her closer to the beautiful white woman.
“Do you love Sergeant North?” she frankly asked.
Marion started and flushed at the unexpected question. But so sincere was the girl, that she decided to throw aside all reserve and pretense.
“Yes, I love him,” she candidly acknowledged.
“Ah, that’s good. And does he love you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, Miss, you can understand how I feel about Tim. You wouldn’t want that to happen to the one you love, would you?”
“No! No!” Marion fervently declared. “It would be terrible!”
“It would, so you and I must see that it doesn’t happen.”
“How can we do that?”
“Go with me to The Gap and warn the Sergeant. If we cannot overtake him, we can go to the Police house which is not far from the school. The Sergeant will be sure to stop there.”
“But what about Tim?” Marion asked. “We can’t leave him here alone until the doctor comes.”
“My mother will stay, Miss. She is a good woman, and can do more than I can. My father has a fine team of dogs which I know he will let me have. He will do anything for me when he knows that I am doing what is right. He likes Tim, and he will be glad to have the missionary come and pray for him. Will you go?”
“When?”
“To-night, before Bill starts. We must get ahead of him.”
For a few minutes Marion sat lost in deep thought. At length she arose, and seized the girl’s hands in hers.
“Yes, I shall go,” she firmly said. “I trust you, Zell, to lead the way, and may God help us both.”