near the end of the eucalyptus avenue, and close to the gate, david dismounted and made jacob do likewise.
"we may come on them by surprise and listen," he said. "a soft step has won great causes."
they went forward cautiously, interchanging sharp glances as though they were stalking some dangerous beast, and so they came within earshot of the gate and sheltered from view of it by the edge of the cliff. david paused and cautioned his companion with a mutely raised hand.
"he lived through the winter," ephraim was saying. "i took him into my room and cherished him by the warmth of my fire and with rubbing, so that when spring came, and gentler weather, he was still alive—a great leggy colt with a backbone that almost lifted through the skin. only high bright eyes comforted me and told me that my work was a good work."
david and jacob interchanged nods of wonder, for ephraim was telling to this woman the dearest secret of his life.
it was how he had saved the weakling colt, jumis, and raised him to a beautiful, strong stallion, only to have him die suddenly in the height of his promise. certainly ephraim was nearly won over by the woman; it threw david on guard.
"go back to abra," he whispered. "ride on to the gate and tell her boldly to be gone. i shall wait here, and in time of need i shall help you. make haste. ephraim grows like wet clay under her fingers. ah, how wise is benjamin!"
jacob obeyed. he stole away and presently shot past at the full gallop of abra. the stallion came to a sliding halt, and jacob spoke from his back, which was a grave discourtesy in the garden of eden.
"the master will not see you," he said. "the sun is still high. return by the way you have come; you get no more from the garden than its water and its air. he does not sell horses."
for the first time she spoke, and at the sound of her voice david eden stepped out from the rock; he remembered himself in time and shrank back to shelter.
"he sold this horse."
"it was the will of the men before david that these things should be done, but the lord knows the mind of david and that his heart bleeds for every gelding that leaves the garden. see what you have done to him! the marks of the whip and the spur are on his sides. woe to you if david should see them!"
she cried out at that in such a way that david almost felt she had been struck.
"it was the work of a drunken fool, and not mine."
"then god have mercy on that man, for if the master should see him, david would have no mercy. i warn you: david is one with a fierce eye and a strong hand. be gone before he comes and sees the scars on the gray horse."
"then he is coming?"
"she is quick," thought david, as an embarrassed pause ensued. "truly, benjamin was right, and there is danger in these creatures."
"he has many horses," the girl went on, "and i have only this one. besides, i would pay well for another."
"what price?"
"he should not have asked," muttered david.
"everything that i have," she was answering, and the low thrill of her voice went through and through the master of the garden. "i could buy other horses with this money, but not another like my gray. he is more than a horse. he is a companion to me. he understands me when i talk, and i understand him. you see how he stands with his head down? he is not tired, but hungry. when he neighs in a certain way from the corral i know that he is lonely. you see that he comes to me now? that is because he knows i am talking about him, for we are friends. but he is old and he will die, and what shall i do then? it will be like a death in my house!"
another pause followed.
"you love the horse," said the voice of ephraim, and it was plain that jacob was beyond power of speech.
"and i shall pay for another. hold out your hand."
"i cannot take it."
nevertheless, it seemed that he obeyed, for presently the girl continued: "after my father died i sold the house. it was pretty well blanketed with a mortgage, but i cleared out this hundred from the wreck. i went to work and saved what i could. ten dollars every month, for twenty months—you can count for yourself—makes two hundred, and here's the two hundred more in your hand. three hundred altogether. do you think it's enough?"
"if there were ten times as much," said jacob, "it would not be enough. there—take your money. it is not enough. there is no money price on the heads of the master's horses."
but a new light had fallen upon david. women, as he had heard of them, were idle creatures who lived upon that which men gained with sweaty toil, but this girl, it seemed, was something more. she was strong enough to earn her bread, and something more. money values were not clear to david eden, but three hundred dollars sounded a very considerable sum. he determined to risk exposure by glancing around the rock. if she could work like a man, no doubt she was made like a man and not like those useless and decorative creatures of whom matthew had often spoken to him, with all their graces and voices.
cautiously he peered and he saw her standing beside the old, broken gray horse. even old ephraim seemed a stalwart figure in comparison.
at first he was bewildered, and then he almost laughed aloud. was it on account of this that benjamin had warned him, this fragile girl? he stepped boldly from behind the rock.
"there is no more to say," quoth jacob.
"but i tell you, he himself will come."
"you are right," said david.
at that her eyes turned on him, and david was stopped in the midst of a stride until she shrank back against the horse.
then he went on, stepping softly, his hand extended in that sign of peace which is as old as mankind.
"stay in peace," said david, "and have no fear. it is i, david."
he hardly knew his own voice, it was so gentle. a twilight dimness seemed to have fallen upon jacob and ephraim, and he was only aware of the girl. her fear seemed to be half gone already, and she even came a hopeful step toward him.
"i knew from the first that you would come," she said, "and let me buy one horse—you have so many."
"we will talk of that later."
"david," broke in the grave voice of ephraim, "remember your own law!"
he looked at the girl instead of ephraim as he answered: "who am i to make laws? god begins where david leaves off."
and he added: "what is your name?"
"ruth."
"come, ruth," said david, "we will go home together."
she advanced as one in doubt until the shadow of the cliff fell over her. then she looked back from the throat of the gate and saw ephraim and jacob facing her as though they understood there was no purpose in guarding against what might approach the valley from without now that the chief enemy was within. david, in the pause, was directing jacob to place the girl's saddle on the back of abra.
"for it is not fitting," he explained, "that you should enter my garden save on one of my horses. and look, here is glani."
the stallion came at the sound of his name. she had heard of the great horse from connor, but the reality was far more than the words.
"and this, glani, is ruth."
she touched the velvet nose which was stretched inquisitively toward her, and then looked up and found that david was smiling. a moment later they were riding side by side down the avenue of the eucalyptus trees, and through the tall treetrunks new vistas opened rapidly about her. every stride of abra seemed to carry her another step into the life of david.
"i should have called shakra for you," said david, watching her with concern, "but she is ridden by another who has the right to the best in the garden."
"even glani?"
"even glani, save that he fears to ride my horse, and therefore he has shakra. i am sorry, for i wish to see you together. she is like you—beautiful, delicate, and swift."
she urged abra into a shortened gallop with a touch of her heel, so that the business of managing him gave her a chance to cover her confusion. she could have smiled away a compliment, but the simplicity of david meant something more.
"peace, abra!" commanded the master. "oh, unmannerly colt! it would be other than this if the wise shakra were beneath your saddle."
"no, i am content with abra. let shakra be for your servant."
"not servant, but friend—a friend whom glani chose for me. consider how fickle our judgments are and how little things persuade us. abraham is rich in words, but his face is ugly, and i prefer the smooth voice of zacharias, though he is less wise. i have grieved for this and yet it is hard to change. but a horse is wiser than a fickle-minded man, and when glani went to the hand of benjamin without my order, i knew that i had found a friend."
she knew the secret behind that story, and now she looked at david with pity.
"in my house you will meet benjamin," the master was saying thoughtfully, evidently encountering a grave problem. "i have said that little things make the judgments of men! if a young horse shies once, though he may become a true traveler and a wise head, yet his rider remembers the first jump and is ever uneasy in the saddle."
she nodded, wondering what lay behind the explanation.
"or if a snake crosses the road before a horse, at that place the horse trembles when he passes again."
"yes."
she found it strangely pleasant to follow the simple processes of his mind.
"it is so with benjamin. at some time a woman crosses his way like a snake, and because of her he has come to hate all women. and when i started for the gate, even now, he warned me against you."
the clever mind of the gambler opened to her and she smiled at the trick.
"yes, it is a thing for laughter," said david happily. "i came with a mind armed for trouble—and i find you, whom i could break between my hands."
he turned, casting out his arms.
"what harm have i received from you?"
they had reached the head of the bridge, and even as david turned a changing gust carried to them a chorus of men's voices. david drew rein.
"there is a death," he said, "in my household."
