the skillful hands of the horsemen had effected these captures, was
COMPLETELY INVISIBLE! The horsemen were Peyton's vacqueros, making a
selection from the young horses for the market. He remembered now
that Peyton had told him that he might be obliged to raise money by
sacrificing some of his stock, and the thought brought back Clarence's
uneasiness as he turned again to the trail. Indeed, he was hardly in
the vein for a gentle tryst, as he entered the wooded ravine to seek the
madrono tree which was to serve as a guide to his lady's bower.
A few rods further, under the cool vault filled with woodland spicing,
he came upon it. In its summer harlequin dress of scarlet and green,
with hanging bells of poly-tinted berries, like some personified sylvan
Folly, it seemed a fitting symbol of Susy's childish masquerade of
passion. Its bizarre beauty, so opposed to the sober gravity of the
sedate pines and hemlocks, made it an unmistakable landmark. Here he
dismounted and picketed his horse. And here, beside it, to the right,
ran the little trail crawling over mossy boulders; a narrow yellow track
through the carpet of pine needles between the closest file of trees;
an almost imperceptible streak across pools of chickweed at their roots,
and a brown and ragged swath through the ferns. As he went on, the
anxiety and uneasiness that had possessed him gave way to a languid
intoxication of the senses; the mysterious seclusion of these woodland
depths recovered the old influence they had exerted over his boyhood. He
was not returning to Susy, as much as to the older love of his youth, of
which she was, perhaps, only an incident. It was therefore with an odd
boyish thrill again that, coming suddenly upon a little hollow, like
a deserted nest, where the lost trail made him hesitate, he heard the
crackle of a starched skirt behind him, was conscious of the subtle odor
of freshly ironed and scented muslin, and felt the gentle pressure of
delicate fingers upon his eyes.
"Susy!"
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