The girl-sweetheart he was then going to rejoin was now the wife of
another; the woman who had been her guardian was now his own wife. He
had accepted without a pang the young girl's dereliction, but it was
through her revelation that he was now about to confront the dereliction
of his own wife. And this was the reward of his youthful trust and
loyalty! A bitter laugh broke from his lips. It was part of his still
youthful self-delusion that he believed himself wiser and stronger for
it.
It was quite dark when he reached the upper field or first terrace of
the Rancho. He could see the white walls of the casa rising dimly out of
the green sea of early wild grasses, like a phantom island. It was here
that the cut-off joined the main road--now the only one that led to the
casa. He was satisfied that no one could have preceded him from Fair
Plains; but it was true that he must take precautions against his
own discovery. Dismounting near a clump of willows, he unsaddled and
unbridled his horse, and with a cut of the riata over its haunches
sent it flying across the field in the direction of a band of feeding
mustangs, which it presently joined. Then, keeping well in the shadow of
a belt of shrub-oaks, he skirted the long lesser terraces of the casa,
intending to approach the house by way of the old garden and corral.
A drizzling rain, occasionally driven by the wind into long, misty,
curtain-like waves, obscured the prospect and favored his design. He
reached the low adobe wall of the corral in safety; looking over he
could detect, in spite of the darkness, that a number of the horses
were of alien brands, and even recognized one or two from the Santa Inez
district. The vague outline of buggies and carryalls filled the long
shed beside the stables. There WAS company at the casa--so far Susy was
right!
Nevertheless, lingering still by the wall of the old garden for the
deepening of night, his nervous feverishness was again invaded and
benumbed by sullen memories. There was the opening left by the old
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