Horncastle had saved
his boy."
"Yes," said Demorest; "but what has that to do with it?"
"Nothing, I reckon," said Jack, with a slight shrug of his shoulders,
"only Mrs. Horncastle was the mother of the boy that's lying there."
*****
Two years later as Demorest and Stacy sat before the fire in the old
cabin on Marshall's claim--now legally their own--they looked from the
door beyond the great bulk of Black Spur to the pallid snow-line of the
Sierras, still as remote and unchanged to them as when they had
gazed upon it from Heavy Tree Hill. And, for the matter of that, they
themselves seemed to have been left so unchanged that even now, as
in the old days, it was Barker's voice as he greeted them from the
darkening trail that alone broke their reverie.
"Well," said Demorest cheerfully, "your usual luck, Barker boy!" for
they already saw in his face the happy light they had once seen there on
an eventful night seven years ago.
"I'm to be married to Mrs. Horncastle next month," he said breathlessly,
"and little Sta loves her already as if she was his own mother. Wish me
joy."
A slight shadow passed over Stacy's face; but his hand was the first to
grasp Barker's, and his voice the first to say "Amen!"
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Partners, by Bret Harte
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THREE PARTNERS ***
***** This file should be named 2560.
Pages:
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259