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"You were not at the inquiry this afternoon, and may not know that just as Bela and the crowd about him turned this corner, they ran into a woman leading a small child, who stopped the whole throng in order to address him. No one heard what she said; and no one could give any information as to who she was or in what direction she vanished. But I saw that woman myself, earlier.
"Only this: that I don't like to see a friend of mine make a fool of himself over a girl who does not care one hairpin for him." Béla smothered a curse. "How do you know that?" he asked. "Everyone knows that Elsa is over head and ears in love with Andor, and just won't look at anyone else." "Oho!" he sneered, "everyone knows that, do they?
Occasionally he glanced at her full of uncertainty and unwilling admiration. Bela never looked at him. At the end of that time the boat was less than a quarter of a mile offshore. They saw the steersman point, and the two oarsmen stop and look over their shoulders. Evidently they had discovered the two figures on the beach, and wondered at their supineness. They came on with increased energy.
Here the wind whistled harmlessly over their heads, and the surface of the water was quiet except for the catspaws darting hither and thither. Before entering the river, Bela paused again, and bent her head to listen. "Too late!" she said. "We can't pass!" At the same moment the horses burst from behind the willows a quarter of a mile across the sand. They had the ford!
Like all men, they were shy of inquiring too far into an emotional situation. Bela did not eat, but sat still, silent and walled-up. At such moments she was pure Indian. Long afterward the men recollected the picture she made that night, still and dignified as a death mask. Joe could not leave Sam alone. "I wonder where our friend the ex-cook is to-night?" he inquired facetiously of the company.
"I follow you for cause I want talk," said Bela indignantly. "I think maybe you got sense. If you not want talk to me, all right; I go away again. You ain't got sense, I think. Get mad for not'ing." Sam was a little ashamed. "Well I'm sorry," he muttered. "What did you want to talk about?" She did not immediately answer. Coming closer, she dropped to her knees on the little hummock of dry earth.
The suspense was unbearable to them. "You've heard us all now?" said Jack. "What do you say?" Bela was the picture of indifference. "There's anot'er man here," she said. Jack stared. "Another? Who? Oh, the cook! He ain't one of us. He ain't got nothing but the shirt on his back!" Bela shrugged. "You say you want mak' all fair. Let me hear what he got say."
Bela held the best cards. Sam finally threw down his work with an oath. "I can't stand it!" he cried shakily. "I don't care about myself, but I can't see a woman sacrificed even if it's your own mulishness! I don't care about you, either but you're a woman. You needn't think you're getting the best of me. I'll hate you for this but I can't stand it!" Bela sprang up swiftly and resolutely.
His eyes were wide open, and he was smiling at them in a different way. "I feel better," he said slyly. Bela and Sam sprang up in terror and retreated a little way, staring at him, staring at each other with wild eyes. Gradually they realized how they had been tricked, and the old scowls returned to each face. Both were silent. Musq'oosis sat up in his blankets.
During the course of the questioning the prisoner gradually apprehended that the sentiment of the room was against him. The suspicion crept into his mind that it might not be so easy as he had thought to clear himself. "You are charged with having abducted this girl Bela," Coulson went on, "and keeping her a prisoner on Eagle Island.
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