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Sanchia's Town, that had been a busy, humming human hive no longer ago than yesterday was this morning still, deserted, empty and dead. Those who had rushed hitherward seeking gold were gone; be the explanation where it might, shacks stood with doors flung wide; tents had been torn down, outworn articles discarded, dumped helter-skelter into the road.
Sanchia bestowed upon the girl a long searching look; it may have suggested itself to Sanchia's open mind at that instant that Helen was likely to prove a more troublesome factor than she had counted on. 'If you don't mind, Howard said with slow stubbornness, 'I'd like just a few words with you and Miss Helen. Mrs. Murray came alone, and no doubt would prefer to return alone.
He had known men before now to make towns upon dry bare ground and in a mere handful of days; not even he, with his first-hand knowledge of such venturings, had ever seen the like of Sanchia's Town. The spirit which had initiated it into the world was still its driving spirit. It sprawled, it overflowed its boundaries incessantly, it hooted and yelled and sang.
No person of Sanchia's acquaintance had suffered more than he by her desperate affair. He had been her first lover, and her only confidant, for she had been what one calls a "difficult" girl, who gave out nothing and had no friends. Her sisters knew very little about her, her mother nothing.
John Chevenix, a young and lively woman with ash-coloured hair, audacious nose, and a clear complexion, was devoted to her husband's family, and especially tender to our young friend and Sanchia's, with whom she had a strong alliance. Her husband had a sense of humour, which he indulged for the most part in silence. He spoke rarely, swallowed his laughter, and yet was good company.
Sanchia's still serenity, seen through the rosy mist of her momentary confusion, pleased Mrs. John. The invitation was made and accepted in parting. "Do come. We shan't have many people, you know; but I won't let you be dull. And Bill will be there, of course and you rather like Bill and a queer old Aunt of ours who knows everybody. So I hope you won't mind."
He was mounted and led two horses, her own and Sanchia's white mare. 'Hurry! he called. 'We'll play my hunch and beat her to it yet. Helen understood and scrambled wildly into her own saddle. She heard Sanchia calling; she could even hear the woman running back toward them.
'I am apt to have my hands full, she admitted. She even smiled a little. 'Maybe there will be work for both of us. But when he sought to come to her side, she ran on ahead of him. The face which she presented at the door for Sanchia's vision was radiant. Even Sanchia was at a loss for the amazing alteration. How these two could have come to an understanding in two minutes baffled her.
Then Howard turned Sanchia's horse loose, driving the animal down into a dark ravine where there would be no finding it in the night-time. 'It's only a chance, he said, 'but then that's better than just sitting and sucking our thumbs. We take the up-trail here. They came out upon the tablelands above Bear Valley.
"The child finds that she's a valuable article," she said to herself; "so she locks herself up in the cupboard, like the best china." Sanchia's resolution persisted, and enthusiasm followed its growth. She frequented the churches early in the mornings, and one fine day presented herself in the vestry of one of them.
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