"De vay--poof! You speak ver' foolish. De vay?--you tink I cannot
find de vay! Vy, I Mexicana, señor; I know de vay of de desert; I read
de sign here, dar, everyvere, like miladi does de book. I know how;
si, si. Señor Brown he show me how get down de side of de mountain,
den I know de res'. Twenty mile south to de rail; I read de stars, I
feel de wind, I give de pony de quirt, and it vas done--bueno!"
Winston sat silently watching her, impressed by the earnestness of her
broken English, the eloquent energy of her gesticulations.
"Vas dat not de bettah vay, señor? I no good here; I just girl in de
vay, an' ven de fight come maybe I be 'fraid. But Señor Brown he not
git 'fraid; he fight hard, more as ten men. So I help too; I just ride
de pony, but I help. I go San Juan; I see de Distric' Attorney." She
clapped her hands, laughing at the thought. "Si, I know de Distric'
Attorney ver' veil. He tink Mercedes ver' nice girl; he tink I dance
bettah as any he ever saw; he say so to me. He do vat Mercedes vant,
vat she say vas de right ting--sure he do. Vas dat not de bettah,
señor?"
"Possibly," yet secretly questioning her motives, "but--but really, you
know, I always supposed you to be a friend of Farnham's!"
The girl instantly flushed crimson to the roots of her black hair,
bringing her hands together sharply, her eyes straying from Winston to
the suddenly uplifted face of Miss Norvell.
"No, no," she said, at last, her voice softer. "He vas not to me
anyting! She know how it vas; maybe she tell you sometime. Not now,
but sometime. I jus' vant do right. I vant serve Señor Brown, not dat
Farnham no more. No, no! once, maybe, I tink dat man ver' nice; I tink
him good friend; he say much promise Mercedes. Now I tink dat no
more--I know he lie all de time; I see tings as dey vas right, an' I
try be good girl. You sabe all dat, señor?"
"I understand some of it at least," and he smiled back into her
pleading eyes, "enough to trust you. If Hicks and Brown consent, your
going will be all right with me."
"Bueno!" and she dropped him a deep Spanish courtesy, executing a
quick dancing step toward the door. "Den eet vill be so. I no 'fraid.
I go see dem both. Adios."
The door opened, and she flashed forth into the fading sunlight; it
closed behind her, and left the two alone among the shadows.