THE VISION O
ELIJAH BERL
FRANK LEWIS NASON
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The Vision of Elijah Berl
The
Vision of Elijah Berl
By
Frank Lewis Nason
Author of " To the End of the Trail," and
" The Blue Goose"
Boston
Little, Brown, and Company
1905
Copyright, 1905,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
All rights resen-cd.
Published April, 1905.
8. J. PARKHILL & Co., BOSTON, U. 8. A.
PRELUDE
Eight hundred and fifty miles of winding coast
line bend in and out. So far as the eye can reach
over the wrinkling sheet of the Pacific, to where its
giant swells beat against bare, brown cliffs and
break in smothers of hissing foam, not a sail is
seen, not a sign of life, save flocks of white-winged
gulls and sea-mews, or herds of barking seals that
swarm on rocky islets. Mountains spring from the
sea and climb, mount on mount, three miles into
the air, or sloping sea-washed sands stretch dry and
barren and forbidding, to rise at length in verdure-
clad hills and snow-capped mountains. In the
mountains are savage beasts and more savage men.
On the plains a few straggling herds of cattle, with
uncouth vaqueros, cluster around a seeping spring
of bitter water. Here and there white-washed
adobe mission houses, all but hidden in a clamber
of vines and trees, mark a feeble stream that
trickles from the distant mountains. Olive-skinned
signors and olive-skinned sigiioritas round out the
circle of their lives and there lie down and die, un
knowing and unknown; tiny and their fellows, un
dreamed of, the land of their abode a hazy myth.
As by the wave of a magic wand, att is changed.
Root;
PRELUDE
The ocean now is dotted with sails from the utter
most parts of the earth. They choke the Golden
Gate with their numbers. From their crowded
decks, swarms of men, ministers of God and min
isters of the devil learned, ignorant, murderers,
thieves women, traitors to their kind, pour forth
and swarm over the land. Mad with the lust of
Gold, they burroiv in the beds of streams, tear and
claw at mountain-gulch and slope. Tented towns
rise like night-grown fungi, and wither away, to
spring again into existence, lawless, in a land where
law is not, in a land that no man owns. Through
days that are full of sweating toil and nights that
cover vigils of lust and death, the ferment of hell
grows in the blood of human beings ivho have left
their God with their country.
Another wave of the wand and God reclaims his
own. The courthouse and the gibbet, ivithout
mercy but full of stern justice, have taken the
place of the murderer s greed that sharpened the
murderer s knife.
From a thousand hills, a thousand streams have
quickened the arid acres of drifting sand into fruit
ful life. League on league are fields of waving
grain. League on league are green vineyards with
their clustered fruit blushing and sweetening in the
sun. League on league happy homes are all but
hidden by dark-leaved trees, with fruit yellow as
the golden apples of the Hesperides.
vi
PRELUDE
And this is California! For unknown ages more
desolate and terrible than Dante s wildest dream o/
the Inferno, in fifty years surpassing his picture of
Paradise. Barred from the world on one side by
ten thousand miles of stormy seas, on the other by
tier on tier of mountains and miles on miles of
dreary desert, were the whole United States to
fade as did the cities of Nineveh and Babylon,
California icould still live in song and story, more
golden than the mines of Ophir, more beautiful
than the storied plains of the Tigris and the Eu
phrates.
vn
The
Vision of Elijah Berl
CHAPTER ONE
"But I know what I need. I need you."
There was a dogged tone in Elijah Bed s voice
that was almost sullenly insistent.
"I have given you all that I have to give, Elijah.
You don t need me. What you need is money, and
that s what I haven t got."
"And I say again that I have thought of this
for five years. Ever since I left New England. I
have not been alone, I have been guided. Step by
step I have gone over my ground up to this point.
I have studied men as carefully as I have my work.
You are the man I have selected, and you are the
man I want."
Ralph AVinston looked thoughtfully into the
plowing eyes bent full upon him. The impulse was
strong within him to do as the man before him
wished almost compelled him to do; but because
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of this subtle powe/ which moved him so strongly,
he hesitated. To what further lengths might it not
impel him when the first step had been taken?
Clear-eyed, clear-headed, never so cautious as when
his desires called most loudly to him, he hesitated
to take the first step in the path which Elijah Berl
had so insistently opened before him. Therefore
he spoke deliberately, almost coldly.
"Don t misunderstand me, Elijah. I have faith
in you and I have more faith in your idea. For
this very reason I hesitate to accept your offer.
You and I are so different. I "
Elijah interrupted impatiently.
* I have thought of all that, I have prayed over
it. Be ye not unequally yoked together with un
believers, and as the voice from heaven came to
Paul, even so it came to me What God hath
cleansed, that call not thou common.
A smile flickered for a moment on the lips of the
young engineer as he turned to a pretty little
woman who, with her light sewing in her hands, was
rocking gently on the wide verandah.
"What do you think about it, Amy?"
Amy Berl drew her needle the full length of the
thread and held it poised for a moment as she made
reply.
"Elijah knows what is best, Ralph." Then,
with a swift glance at her husband, she again bent
over her work.
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Of course he knows some things "
"He knows every thing." Amy did not raise
her eyes from her work this time.
With a sigh of impatience, Elijah threw himself
into a chair near his wife. The needle dropped
from the hand which she timidly rested upon his,
while her eyes sought his face. Absorbed in him
self, not a quiver responded to the touch of Amy s
hand, not a glance answered the caress of her eyes.
It was a pretty picture in a grandly beautiful
setting. A wide verandah, covered with climbing
roses in full bloom, opened upon a scene almost
tropical in its beauty. Down the redwood steps the
eyes wandered across a luxuriant flower garden,
still lower they rested upon a great square of dark,
shining green; below this, in sharp contrast, and
surrounding the shining green, tawny sand pricked
in with tufts and clumps of dusty, green sage, roll
ing hills in descending cadence, till, in the far dis
tance, a grayer, wimpling gray, the great Pacific
marked the limits of the desert.
To the left, the eyes leaped the rock-strewn bed
of the Rio Sangre de Cristo, climbed rock-ribbed,
wooded slopes, up and up to the dizzy snow-clad
peaks of the San Bernardinos that rested purple
and white against the constant azure of a Cali
fornia sky. Within the limits of the cottage, the
flower Lranlrn, and the irrigated orange grove, the
sun seemed to hold its fierceness in awesome leash
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
only to let loose its fervid power upon the glowing
sands and their tortured growths.
The characters were in harmony with their set
ting. The blue-eyed little woman, delicate, with
tawny hair, a sweet-scented mountain gentian
ready to shrink and fold upon itself at a shadow
that could not harm, but could only feebly threaten ;
the young engineer, with close-cropped hair, a face
chiselled with strong, undoubting strokes, a mouth
half hidden by a mustache that gave a glimpse of
lips too thick to be merciless, too thin to be sen
suous. There was an air of alertness about the
man, a suggested tireless energy that renewed its
strength on the food of humor gathered even from
the most monotonous commonplaces. Ralph Win
ston was not a rare type of man, but he was a sav
ing one. With him was an air of inflexibility of
purpose, softened with mercy; a rugged honesty
that made no compromise with evil-doers, an hon
esty that, with laughing eyes, left the uncovered
sinner ashamed and repentant, instead of defiant
and revengeful in his defeat.
A tyro, looking at the smooth-shaven, boyish face
of Elijah Berl, would fail to note the hardly defined
lines that ran from mouth to eyes ; lines broad, un
dulating through the whole gamut of enthusiasm,
but lines that grew hard and merciless as they con
verged to eyes narrowed before opposition and
lightened with fanatical zeal.
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Winston s footing with the Berls was intimate,
though upon short acquaintance. This was not
strange in California. Twenty miles from the Berl
ranch was a booming town that had attracted Win
ston. Here was a good opening for an engineer,
with large and sure pay. Winston made light of
the town and its promoters, and among these he
had no intimates. On a hunting trip he had dis
covered the Berl ranch and had found it worthy of
the more intimate acquaintance to which he was
cordially invited. Little by little he had drawn
from Elijah the story of his life in California. It
had been an isolated life, full of hardship, but de
voted to a single idea, that of reclaiming the vast
extent of country which now lay barren and un
fruitful.
The young engineer s eyes grew deep and
thoughtful. This offer of an equal partnership
meant even more to him than Elijah realized. Why
not accept it ? It was what he had hoped for, had
sought for a life work in which he could enlist
his strength and his sense of honor. It was worth
while, grandly worth while. His heart beat high at
the thought of it. The building of a great storage
dam in the mountains, the laying out of canals that
should lead the stored waters to the sun-parched
deserts; this was an engineer s work, and he was
an engineer. In imagination he could see, as Elijah
saw, the bare brown hillsides clothed in verdure
5
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
and teeming with prosperity. Why did he hesi
tate? Was it lack of money? That would come.
Yet he hesitated. Why ? Clearer than ever before
came the thought of Elijah, and Winston knew
that his question was answered. Elijah was his
answer. Elijah himself was the obstacle in the
way of his acceptance. There was no doubt of the
worth of Elijah s idea, no doubt of his enthusiasm,
no doubt of his patient, tireless energy. Of his
integrity? There was the doubtful point.
If he accepted Elijah s offer, he could foresee the
struggle that would follow. His own sense of
right pitted against Elijah s fanatical zeal that
recognized no right except its own desires. When
the fully expanded idea of redeeming the desert
hillsides should open before Elijah, before the eyes
of men, when wealth and power should beckon,
just a little at first, from the path of stern uncom
promising honor, Elijah would not restrain him
self. Would he be able to control him ? Winston s
lips set firmly. He knew that he would conquer
in the end.
Elijah was pacing restlessly up and down the
verandah, now and then casting an impatient look
upon the young engineer who sat motionless, his
eyes on the hillsides below them. At length he
paused abruptly before Winston.
"Well?" he exclaimed explosively, "you haven t
given me an answer yet.
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Winston s words were, measured.
"No; I haven t. If you insist upon an answer
today, it will be no."
"You want time to think it overt" Elijah s voice
was sarcastic.
"That s just it. I do want time. I know that if
I accept your offer, you and I are going to come
into collision. You have one way of looking at
things, I have another. Not once, but many times,
you and I are going to look at the same thing at
the same time and in different ways. When these
times come, one of us will have to give way." Win
ston waved aside Elijah s attempt to interrupt.
"When these times come, I may be the one to give
up, but if I am, it will be because your way appeals
to my reason as being better than my own."
Winston s meaning was clear to Elijah. The
"word" that he reverenced, the voice to which he
listened and which he followed, meant not the
weight of a feather to the man before him. Elijah
moistened his nervous lips with his tongue. He had
been guided to seek Winston Winston he must
have. Impatiently he put Winston s words aside.
"All this is not to the point."
"What is?" Winston asked curtly.
"This. Will you accept my offer?"
"An equal partnership with yourself?"
"Yes."
"I suppose you realize that if I accept, the raan-
7
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
agement is no longer yours alone, but yours and
mine?"
"Yes."
1 And that it is my right to put forth every effort
to compel you to my way of thinking?" Winston
deliberately used the word compel, instead of per
suade.
"Yes, yes!"
"Then I will think it over, Elijah, and will give
you my final ans- /er the next time you are in
Ysleta."
"Suppose I come tomorrow?" Elijah s voice
was assured.
"My answer will be ready."
8
CHAPTER TWO
" I am so happy ! This had been the unbroken
song of Amy Berl for the five years of her married
life. Maternity had not altered a line of her girl
ish figure, neither had it crou ^ed her with the
rounded, satisfying glory of womanhood. The cease-
lOH, parching winds had not dimmed the lustre of
her clear blue eyes, nor deadened the gloss of her
soft flaxen hair. Even the hot, dry air, so trying to
most, only heightened the beauty of her complexion,
as the peach reveals the rich glow of its color by
diffusion through the meshes of its downy veil. Del
icate in face and figure, there was no suggestion of
frailty, neither was there a suggestion of strength.
There was the glow of perfect health. In the
eye* that looked fearlessly ami frankly into the
eyes of others, there was unmistakably a capacity
lor infinite happiness and infinite suffering. This
was all. The eyes were frank because they had
nothing to conceal; nor did they dream that other
eyes differed from them They were fear
less because they knew no sin in th. inst 1\. s or in
others. There was not strength of mind or of intel
lect to compel the fruition of her desire for love.
9
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
It must come to her without her volition or not at
all. As the flowers of the field unfold in beauty
under sun and shower, even so she grew and blos
somed and was fair to look upon. As the flowers
of the field wither away in parching drouth, even so
would the beauty of happiness fall from her shrink
ing soul. She was of a religious nature, not be
cause of a consciousness of its necessity to the
human soul, but because, to her, God was love
and his works beautiful to look upon. God to her
was impersonal, because in her was not strength
of intellect to construct an entity from its mani
festations. When Elijah Berl came to her, she
received him as a god. Her love was not selective ;
it was responsive. Henceforth her daily prayers
on her bended knees were to her husband, not to the
Divine Giver of every good and perfect gift. Even
when her first-born lay in her arms, the light that
shone in her eyes was not the giving of maternal
love, but the thrill of assurance that the helpless
mite was but another bond that bound her happi
ness to her soul and made it more her own. She
gave with the unconscious selfishness of a perfect
mirror that which she received, no more, no less.
Elijah Berl had not yet realized what his wife
was, because he was selfish in another way. He
saw himself in his wife. For the present, this
sufficed. Five years of struggle in the land of
golden promise had not lessened his faith in him-
10
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
self, had not wearied his restless energy, nor
dulled his faith in his God. From NVw England s
granite hills, he believed God s hand had led him to
this distant field. Since the day of his birth, the
firm, unwavering, fanatical belief that the Bible
was God s direct, unchangeable revelation to man,
made him, as it had made his father, impregnable
to the assaults of reason. The figurative, s. ini-
scriptural language of his father and of his
father s father had been as the breath of his nos
trils. It had become a part of him as it was of
his father. It was neither cant nor hypocrisy.
"As it was written," was an unanswerable dictum.
The very things that had shaken and are shaking
to its foundation the faith in the Bible as an infalli
ble guide, only rooted Elijah the more firmly in
his belief. In California as in New England, he
felt that in good time God s hand would point out
the \\ork which He had planned for him to do. II
was marking time with restless steps, ready to
swing into action when God should give tin* word.
Only one part of his work had he forecast in his
mind. A son of the soil, in the soil was his work
to be. This was his unshaken belief. From San
Benito, under the shadow of abrupt mountains,
over to San Quentin where ragged chaparral grew
as it might on the blood-red hills, and where cot-
tonwoods and willows throve rank on the moisture
of hidden streams, he had pitched his tent for the
11
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
night and had folded it in the morning. What
mattered it to him that the scattered ranchers
looked approvingly upon his fair-haired wife, and,
moved with pity for her, cursed him as a heartless
idiot; or that uncouth vaqueros shrugged their
shoulders and softly named him a locoed gringo?
The few dollars which he had brought with him
from the East, had long since been spent in his
wanderings. The goodly sum which had come to
him on the death of his father, was no longer what
it had been ; yet he had no thought of despair. The
limit of his wanderings was narrowing in concen
tric circles, and at length its centre was fixed.
With almost his last dollar, he had bought a wide
ranch from a dreamy Mexican who had then gone
his way. Already the land around his was heaving
and swelling in undulating rolls that warn the
mariner of a coming storm. Bearded ranchers
laughed in scorn, and mild-eyed Mexicans spoke
even more softly. What were a few seeping springs
on the hillsides? What were the hillsides them
selves beside the rolling plains at their feet, where
herds of cattle fed and drank and mired them
selves in green-fringed cienagas? Elijah was dis
turbed no more than was Noah when he closed the
doors of his ark against the gibes of the unbe
lievers. His mission was being disclosed, point by
point and line by line, to his waiting eye.
Elijah deepened his springs and hoarded the
12
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
water they gave. Between rows of dark-green
leaves, shrubs that faded not in summer s drouth
nor in winter s rains, he guided trickling streams,
apportioning to each its proper share. Through
the day he toiled with increasing energy.
Towards each night, with Amy by his side, he
rested by the door of his cottage and looked below,
over reddening hills, across the rolling plains, be
yond where the half-buried disc of the sun spread
wide the golden mantle of its light upon the
wrinkling waters of the Pacific. Behind the cot
tage, from the rock-strewn wash of the Rio Sangre
de Cristo, the lowest foot-hills rose to wooded
slopes, grew to timbered mountains, up and up
till the forests gave way to the snow-capped peaks
of the San Bernardinos. "I will lift up mine eyes
unto the hills whence cometh my help." In mid
day s toil when Elijah paused to rest his strained
back, or to wipe the perspiration from his stream
ing face, in the silence of the night, when the moon
lay white and still upon the slumbering landscape,
his eyes sought out the solemn mountains which
were shaping his dreams. He listened to the roar
of the torrents that came faint with distance, when
the mountains wrung dry the clouds that shrouded
their peaks, or when the fierce sun swept away
their winter s mantle of white. He watched the
surL r in<_r flood that rolled breast-hiph in receding
waves through the Sangre de Cristo, tossing boul-
13
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ders like feathers in their boisterous strength;
watched it rush through torrid plains and finally
sink from sight beneath the sands. He watched
the parched lips held to the Tantalean cup, saw
the few drops of stolen moisture quicken into
verdant life, saw, when the flood had passed by
and the mountains had ceased to give forth their
murmurs, the mocking sun crackle the up-sprung
life to choking dust, and once more the shimmering
heat-waves rise in trembling agony from the tor
tured sands. Then the voice that was calling him
grew more distinct, the guiding hand more clearly
outlined. As the blood of Christ quickened into
life the soul dead in sin, so should the stream that
bore His name quicken into blooming fields the
dead, dry sands of the desert. His lips moved rev
erently with his unuttered words, a prayer for
guidance, a chant of faith, as his eyes swept from
crest to crest of the blood-red hills that held the
river of the blood of Christ against the mountains
of its birth.
In spite of his words to the -contrary, Elijah was
disturbed by Winston s attitude. What was the
flaw in his scheme that held Winston aloof? Elijah
was in an agony of doubt. Up and down the
flower-scented paths, through groves of orange,
yellow with golden fruit, he paced with restless
stops. With all his soul he strained to catch an
opening in the clouds that held the future from
14
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
his eyes. Little by little the sense of depression
yielded to his efforts, little by little the vision that
had kept him constant, returned to him in the
full glory of perfection. He had been watching
the hills as they glowed in the light of the setting
sun. As the gray night, settling over all, blotted
out the details of the landscape, leaving the moun
tains a purple blur against the faint blue of the
sky. Elijah felt a strong reaction. He feared, yet
longed for the coming light; feared, lest it should
prove that the plan which had been revealed to him
might be but the figment of a frenzied dream.
Amy was sitting beside him as usual, her hand
in his. Her eyes dreamily watched the shifting
shadows as the sinking sun moved them to and fro
in a stately march. As the shadows deepened to
darkness, her eyes closed and her head sank upon
Elijah s shoulder. Elijah could no longer endure
the strain of questioning doubt that the shadows
\\vre pouring over his soul.
"Amy! Amy!" he called.
What is it, Elijah?"
"I can t see, Amy. I saw it all, and now it s
gone."
What is gone, Elijah?" The voice was heavy
will) slrrp.
"I can t sit still any longer. Let s walk. The
moon will be up soon and then I can see if I was
wrong. Come."
15
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Amy was again sleeping. He shook her gently as
he rose to his feet.
"Come,"
"I am so tired, Elijah." She rose and turned
toward the open door. " Let s wait until tomor
row.
"I can t wait. It s now, now!"
Amy was conscious of nothing save her over
powering drowsiness.
"Come in with me, Elijah."
"No, no! I can t." Elijah was irritated; not
at Amy, but at the tingle of opposition that played
upon his strained nerves.
"Goodnight, Elijah." She put up her dreamy
lips for his goodnight kiss; but Elijah had left her
and was again striding up and down, his eyes fixed
on the purple blur. Without further word, she
entered the cottage and lay down to the rest for
which her eyes so longed.
One by one the stars pricked through the arching
sky, filling the space above the earth with a light
that only intensified the darkness below. Hour
after hour passed by. At length a silver halo
fringed the mountain summits, a band of light
softly parting the blue of the sky from the purple
of the mountains. A silver disc, barred with dense
black lines, moved grandly into the waiting sky,
and twinklinir stars veiled their faces before their
coming queen. Par out on the plain a banded line
16
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of light moved against the retreating darkness.
Against the hills it swept, charging their steep
slopes, creeping up their darkened gulches, glowing
on their conquered crests ; on and on it swept, until
the retreating shadows sank from the earth before
the hosts of light. As the outlines of the hills came
sharply into sight, Elijah s dream took substance
that would never wane again.
Amy arose, bright and fresh for the day. Upon
Elijah the strained vigil of the night had left its
mark. There was no longer ecstasy. The settled
lines of his face were almost sullen in their inten
sity. The sparkle died from Amy s eyes and a
look of anxious questioning took its place. With
the strange unconscious conceit confined to narrow
minds, she never dreamed that her husband s pre
occupation was a thing entirely apart from
herself. Wholly self-centred, her husband s smil
ing attention meant approbation; preoccupation
meant disapproval or resentment. Her sun was
her husband s love. In its full warm rays she
basked with the happy abandon of a well-fed
animal. Preoccupation was the eclipsing shadow
that chilled her to the marrow, with no sustaining
faith that it was only obscuration, not destruction
for all time. When the shadow fell, there was no
<ith-r sii _ L r <^ti<>M than to beat her sounding soul
with a heathen s anlor. in order to frighten from
its prey the devouring dragon that would forever
17
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
destroy her source of life and light. Now her
anxiety grew to pain ; her lips were tremulous.
"What have I done to offend you, Elijah?"
"Nothing," he answered abruptly. "I m not
offended. Can t you see that I m absorbed in my
work? I can t spend all my time in telling you
that I love you just the same as ever. Why can t
you take something for granted?"
Elijah s words were sharp-cut, almost explosive.
It was not resentment at Amy ; it was the irritation
of a dog who is having a bone taken from his jaws.
Amy was cut to the depths of her sensitive soul.
Her words were not a reproach, but a hopeless
wail.
"It s these miserable orange trees! I wish
oranges had never grown in this country. I was
so happy before. Now you never think of me. You
look at the mountains and the springs and the
orange trees, but never at me." Her tears were
flowing freely, her lips were tremulous.
Elijah was moved, but without understanding.
"Why! Haven t I always enjoyed showing
them to you and talking to you about them ? You
know that I always tell you every thing that I am
doing."
"Yes, I know; but you get just as enthusiastic
over them to Ralph Winston and he looks cold
all the time and keeps criticising and contradicting
you. It s just the same with the other men who
18
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
come to look at your work. They don t care one
single thing about you, and I do, and I tell you so,
but you won t believe me."
Amy s tears had ceased, her voice was steadier;
but there was a suggestion of the eager heart hunger
that looked from her eyes.
"Winston isn t my wife, Amy "
"And he doesn t care for you. He says things
to you I would not think of saying."
Elijah made an impatient gesture, resuming his
interrupted words.
"I have a great idea, a great work. I have only
shown what can be done. To actually do it, I must
have money. I know these men don t care any
thing about me; I don t care anything about them,
only to get them interested and convinced. If I
can only do this, it means fame and fortune to me
and, just think of what it all means ! Just think !
When these great, barren, red hillsides are all
covered with orchards; with beautiful houses and
thousands of happy, prosperous people; when the
snows and rains of the San Bernardinos, instead of
running to waste, will flow through tunnels and
canals and make the desert blossom as the rose;
then they will all say that this is the work of one
man, of me, Elijah Berl!" Elijah s -\vs kindled
anew with the thought which he had elaborated.
Amy saw and was terrified. HT soul shrank and
shiveivd before the vision which he had conjured
19
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
up. She could not have stated to herself the reason
of her fear. Only one thought was keenly present
to her, that henceforth she would be no longer the
sole centre of her husband s life.
"I don t want you to be great, Elijah. I want
you, just as you are."
Elijah saw the expression of his wife, not the
principle which gave it birth. He caught a fleeting
glimpse, a faint suggestion of the impelling prin
ciple that stimulates all men to the heights of
achievement; the pride and glory of laying at the
feet of love the laurels of their triumphs, the testi
monials of worth wrung from a grudging world;
the proud conviction that love is made secure by the
assurance that its object is not unworthy. He
failed to see that the principles which control a
narrow though amiable mind, may be in hopeless
antagonism with the broader views of higher mental
endowment. He failed to see that each life has its
limitations, that when it has given all, it can give no
more. The time had not yet come for this knowl
edge. Therefore it was hidden from his eyes, that
when it should come, a hopeless sorrow should
come with it. He turned again to Amy.
"I am not always going to be just what I am.
I am going to do great things and you will be proud
that I am your husband."
4 Don t, Elijah! Don t!" Amy clutched
Elijah as if already she felt him slipping from her
20
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
grasp. "I loved you as you were. I love you as
you are. You can never be more dear to me. I
don t know, Elijah; I am afraid." She buried hoi-
head on his shoulder. "I am afraid I shall not
always be everything to you. I am so happy with
you now. If I should ever be less happy, it would
kill D
"Nonsense. Don t make pictures to get scared
at." He drew his watch from his pocket. "I must
go now. You know I promised to see Ralph at
Ysleta this morning. Goodbye, and don t scare
yourself any more."
Elijah began to unclasp her arms. They were
reluctant rather than resisting. He kissed her with
a show of affection which was not absent, only
obscured by other things ; then he saddled his horse
and rode away.
Amy stood watching him with hard, dry eyes;
with the unconscious superstition of the maiden
who with trembling fingers plucks one by one the
petals from a prophetic flower. "He loves me,
he loves me not." She stood watching for a motion,
a gesture which should assure her that her hus
band s thoughts were of her, even as hers were of
him, making herself the wretched plaything of
senseless Fate, instead of resting tranquil in the
surety that she was its master.
Elijah was absorbed in himself. He grew but a
speck on the trail to Amy s watching eyes. There
21
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
was not a motion which she could distort into a
recognition of her existence. The last petal had
fallen. * * He loves me not.
22
CHAPTER THREE
Ysleta was booming and was being boomed.
Avenues of graded sand, cleared of- their desert
growth, stretched in prim right angles far out into
the horizon. White posts with staring, black
numerals heralded city lots and bounded patches of
cactus and chaparral which were thus protected
from further molestation, and gave asylum to
gophers and prairie dogs who had not lost their
wits in the booming hubbub for the sole reason that
nature had given them none to lose. Straining
teams dragged great ploughs that tore through
matted roots and turned furrows which slid back
bfliind the parting share. Other sweating horses
pulled scrapers of sand from dusty hummocks and
plumped their loads in dustier hollows. Rows of
bedraggled palms trailed out behind gangs of bur
rowing men or gathered in quincunx clumps where
a glaring signboard proclaimed a city park.
Thumping hammers and clinking trowels were rais
ing uncouth buildings around the central plaza,
adding other grotesque monstrosities to those which
had already attained perfection in every detail
that rebelled against a sense of beauty. Throngs
23
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of men and women trailed ankle deep through the
new-turned sand and broke up into knots of ani
mated discussion, or paused before a map of Ysleta
to listen to a perspiring real estate agent repeating
with tireless enthusiasm "the beauties of eternal
sunshine in a land where burning heat and blast
ing cold never entered; a land where perennial
spring went hand in hand with perennial autumn,
where seed time and harvest trailed side by side,
where dividing lines between summer and winter
solstice were but meaningless numerals in the cycles
of succeeding years; a land that for untold ages
had slumbered and waxed fat with accumulated
richness and where the sun had stored its genial
warmth against the day when suffering humanity
should wake to the knowledge of what California
was and hasten to enjoy her stored up treasures."
Blaring trumpets and booming drums accom
panied aligned men, gorgeous with purple and
gold; beribboned four-in-hands with varnished
carriages trailed along behind, and a brazen-
throated herald proclaimed a bounteous repast
free to all who would honor his master by partak
ing.
"Fall in! Fall in!" and knots of men balanced
to the swing of the band and wheeled into line,
choked with dust, blinded with dust, and covered
with dust which the tearing ploughshares had
24
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BKK L
softened up, and which eager feet were beating into
the air.
Into this bustle and blare, Elijah Berl rode as
he had ridden many times of late. Unmoved, save
for a contemptuous pity, he looked down upon the
hurrying crowd, crazed by the lust of wealth, who
bought today to sell tomorrow, each knowing that
some would be caught in the reaction that was sure
to come, but each steadfast in the confidence that
his own good sense would protect him from the
general ruin. He looked down to where the Sangre
de Cristo, no longer an impetuous torrent, seeped
lazily through its bed of shining sand ; at the mass
of tangled shrubs and clinging vines quickened by
its waters into a riotous growth that blossomed and
fruited in the sensuous sun. Over his shoulder, he
looked at the distant slopes from which he had
come. At the open door of a redwood cottage he
dismounted and entered.
"Hello, Ralph!"
At the salutation, Winston s compact athletic
figure strni _rhtened from his drawing-board.
"Oh, hello, Elijah! You re just the man I
wanted to see."
"Have you decided yet?" Elijah s voice was
eager.
"Do you still want me?"
"Yes. It s tomorrow now. If this is too soon,
tomorrow and tomorrow are yet to come."
25
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Well, Elijah, if it s all right, my answer is
yes."
Elijah took Winston s hand in both of his own;
his eyes spoke the words his tongue could not utter.
"It s going to be uphill work, Elijah, but I guess
we ll manage it."
"Of course we will." Elijah was striding up
and down the little office. He paused and looked
thoughtfully out of the window.
"This hasn t got into your blood yet, eh?" he
jerked his thumb toward the hustling street.
"Not much! It would be fun to watch this
racket if a fellow hadn t a conscience. Do you
know, I m getting to believe that men and things
are built on the same lines. The sweeter the wine,
the sharper the vinegar, and you may pound my
head for a drum if the smartest man doesn t make
the biggest kind of a fool."
"I guess that s so, if he lets himself go. I m not
going to let go."
Winston looked at Elijah with an expression that
might be interpreted as jocular or serious.
"Hold tight. I ve seen men as sharp as you,
crowding another fellow out and blowing hot air
into his balloon."
"Are you getting scared on my account?" Elijah
smiled, looking at Winston with confident half-
closed eyes.
"No. If your bearings begin to smoke, I m go-
26
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ing to cooi you off. It isn t going to be all lavender
and roses, Elijah. You ll find me a pretty trying
party at times, I give you fair warning."
Elijah turned from the window, looking straight
at Winston.
"I m going to begin right now. I ve been at
work all night. Now cool off and let s get to
work."
Winston sat down before the drawing-board.
"Here s the map of the canal line. It isn t
inked in yet, but you can see how it s going to come
out. There must be two long tunnels; but that s
no great matter. It s one of three things. Tunnels,
aqueducts, or inverted siphons. It s a toss-up be
tween tunnels and aqueducts, so far as cost is con
cerned. Siphons will cost about half, but you know
what a choke or a break means, so out go siphons."
"You favor tunnels?"
"By all means. The ditch line is shortened by
them, anyway. You ll save there."
Elijah gazed long and lovingly at the map, then
looked up with a ivli.-vod sigh.
"Just a little dam will turn the whole stream into
the canal."
"Yes. Just a little dam. That s easy." Wins
ton drew a dust cloth over the map and weighted
it down. "I wish I could get reliable data on the
si/o of the dam it will take to turn some of this
fool-money into a channel of common sense. What
27
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
I am afraid of is, that when this boom breaks, the
fools who have not been ruined, will be too badly
scared to put money into government bonds, let
alone an irrigation plant, and before they recover
their wits, they ll either forget that there is such
a place as California, or use it to slug themselves
with when they feel another fool attack coming
on."
You leave that to me. I ve got something more
to show than a sand-flat pegged full of white stakes.
Oranges will do better than that. Dry hillsides at
nothing a square mile are going to be a thousand
an acre when we get water on them."
"Let up, Elijah. Keep your chips off from that
spot. That s a safer proposition than Ysleta lots
with hot-air values, but it s the same kind of a
wheel after all. If you once get the hum of it in
your ears you ll go to pieces like all the rest."
"Are your estimates completed?"
"Yes; ready to be typed. You think they d bet
ter be typed first, don t you?"
"Yes. We can have them printed afterward. I
don t want anything gorgeous. Just plain, con
servative figures. I have my statement of what has
been done in the three years on my ranch. There
is just one thing I have left out. It would be a
telling thing to put in, but I think we can use it to
better advantage by keeping it to ourselves."
"What s that?"
28
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Elijah drew a neatly folded sheet from his pocket.
It was filled with columns of figures.
"It s an idea of my own. What do you think
of it?"
Winston looked rapidly over the sheet, then
gave a low, meditative whistle.
"Are you sure of this?"
"Dead sure. I ve been making observations with
self-registering thermometers. That s the result."
Elijah pointed to the sheet.
A frostless belt!" Winston snatched the sheet
from his drawing-board and bent over the map, one
finger on the sheet, the other eagerly tracing lines
on the surface of the map. "That s the greatest
thing yet ! There is a big fortune for all of us in
that alone."
Elijah half closed his eyes, his teeth bared with
a smile siiLTi:estive of malice.
"May I offer you some of your advice to me?"
"Certainly, and I ll take it too, when I need it.
But say, Elijah, what in the name of the immortals
do you want to leave this out for? It s the most
telling thing we ve got."
Elijah s eyes narrowed closely.
"I haven t got control of the whole belt yet.
That s one thing. Another is, that when orange
lands get under way, there s going to be a demand
that the frostless belt isn t going to supply."
Winston s face set.
29
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"You don t mean that you are going to sell lands
for orange ranches that you know won t grow
oranges ?
"I don t know that they won t grow oranges,"
Elijah answered doggedly. "I only know what
will."
"You are going to let people find that out at
their own expense?"
"Why not? That s the way I got my informa
tion."
There was a contemptuous look on Winston s
face.
"Well, I ll be hanged. God does move in a mys
terious way, if you are a fair sample of his stamp
ing ground."
Elijah s face set with resentment. He straight
ened his lips for an angry retort, but restrained
himself. He ans\vered sullenly.
"I tell you, I don t know that the land won t
grow oranges. I only know what will. I m going
to get control of this f rostless belt. I found it and
there s nothing wrong in taking advantage of it.
Why not tell the Mexicans who own it now and are
glad to sell for a dollar an acre, that their land
will grow oranges and that it s worth a thousand?"
There was a triumphant note in his last words.
Winston was ready to dismiss this phase of the
question.
"Don t ask me. You settle that between you. I
30
/ ~ /} J
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
notice that the Almighty isn t a hard one to manage
when you take him in your lap and reason with
him. He usually comes around to your way of
thinking. *
Elijah s puritanism blinded his eyes to Winston s
sarcasm. He saw only the apparently sacrilegious
blasphemy of his words. He stood aghast as a
superstitious heathen before his smitten idol. His
five years of struggle in the West had changed him
in no essential point. It had only given room for
the full development of the motive that had lain
dormant in his former cramped surroundings. Side
by side, yet wholly independent the one of the
other, his faith in Divine guidance, his reverence
for God, his New England land-hunger, his greed
for wealth, his lust for power, had grown and were
growing with every new opportunity. He had
learned to keep in the background, to some extent,
the expression of his fanatical beliefs, not because*
his personal faith had waned, but in reality because
he saw that Divine guidance had less convincing
wt-ight with others than the logic of hard, common
sense. Ho learned only that which he wished to
learn, believed only that which he wished to believe,
did only that which he wished to do; not because
of conscious hypocrisy, but because his very faith
in God s guidance had blinded his eyes to its recog
nition and forbidden him to question his own de
sires.
31
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Elijah thought quickly. Even Winston was
hardly aware of the pause that ensued after his
last words.
"We re drifting from our point. The water
question comes first. The other can come up later."
"A good deal later, I hope," Winston replied
drily., "Let s get over to Miss Lonsdale s office.
She s doing my clerical work now.
Winston was not slow in noting signs and he
had seen a good many in his relations with Elijah
which had disquieted him. He went steadily on
his way, however, confident in his own strength.
He gathered a few papers in his hand and with
Elijah went out into the street. They entered
another redwood cottage that bore a sign, announc
ing, "Helen Lonsdale, Stenographer, Typewriter
and Notary Public."
"Miss Lonsdale, my friend, Mr. Berl. We want
some work done right away. Can you attend to
it?"
Miss Lonsdale acknowledged the introduction,
swept aside a litter of papers, stripped a half-writ
ten page from her machine, drew forth a note-book,
and, after pushing her cuffs from her wrists, as
sumed a waiting attitude.
Winston addressed Elijah.
1 I guess you re fixed now. You go on with Helen
and I ll get back to my work. If you need me,
I ll come in." Then he left the office.
32
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Elijah had all but forgotten his business in the
contemplation of the girl before him. It was with
an almost unconscious feeling of resentment that
he heard Winston call her familiarly "Helen."
"I am afraid, Miss Lonsdale," he began, when
he was interrupted.
"You can call me Helen. Every one does. It
saves time. Time is money, pretty fast too, just
now." The words were spoken with a light ripple.
It faintly occurred to Elijah that he had heard
something like her laughter before. There was a
suggestion of fresh, crisp air, the opening of
spring, of young green plants pushing through the
black soil beside New England brooks. There was
a further suggestion that very hard stones in the
brook caused the soft ripples. One look in the
great, liquid, black eyes that absorbed everything
and gave back nothing, took away the disagreeable
impression and replaced it with one more agreeable.
There was no perceptible pause, for while Elijah s
thoughts were busy with Helen Lonsdale, his hands
were assorting his papers. He turned to Helen.
"I was going to say, that I am afraid this work
will be rather dry."
Helen vouchsafed no reply, but, with eyes now
bent upon her note-book and pencil ready poised
for action, waited for Elijah. IU> bc^an rather
slowly and awkwardly. II was unaccustomed to
dictation, and besides he was conscious of Helen
33
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Lonsd ale s beauty; but more and more rapidly he
went on, as he forgot all else in the absorbing in
terest of his subject. He sorted paper from paper,
went from point to point, clearly and logically,
down to the last figure that Winston had given
him. He hardly noted the flying fingers and mov
ing hand that drew lines, and hooks, and dots, and
dashes with the graceful ease and regularity of
an inanimate machine. At length he paused, fold
ing his papers.
Helen threw down her pencil and straightened
her cramped fingers.
"Well!" she exclaimed. "You have given me
the time of my life ! I was on the point of calling
you off once or twice; but I didn t. I ll read it
over to you now and see if I have made any mis
takes."
Elijah s face was eager, partly from Helen s in
direct praise, but more from the enthusiasm of his
subject.
"Aren t you tired?" he asked.
"Tired!" she repeated. "This doesn t make me
tired. It s more fun than a toboggan slide. It s
these everlasting drones who make me tired. Fel
lows who haven t anything to say and who don t
know how to get at it." She took her note-book
and began reading rapidly. Elijah listened, watch
ing her through his narrowed eyes. She laid her
note-book down.
34
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"How is it!"
"Perfect. You ve got everything."
That s a great piece of work you ve got blocked
out." Helen s voice was approving.
"The work is not mine."
"No?" Helen s eyes were opened wide.
"No." Elijah s face drooped in reverent lines.
* It has been given me to do. *
"A-a-h!" Helen dared to commit herself no
farther. She could not trust her eyes even. Her
lids veiled them and her face assumed a look of
non-committal interest. Elijah was a new species.
She had no pigeonhole, even in the wide experience
of her limited years, ready made into which she
could thrust him.
Elijah felt impelled to go farther. He wanted
to look again into the great, black eyes. He steered
boldly into a sea where many a time before no less
confident mariners had as boldly entered and had
come to grief.
He told of his coming to California, of his life
after reaching his goal, and how, little by little, the
great work he was engaged upon had been revealed
to him. lie did not speak freely at first, only wln-n
he saw recognition and appreciation in Helen s
face. If she was surprised at the freedom with
which Elijah spoke to her, she was too wise to show
it. Though not heralding the fact, she never tried
to conceal that she was not in business for her
35
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
health or from purely philanthropic motives. She
was no innocent fledgeling, nor was her knowledge
purchased with sacrifice. Individuality was the at
mosphere which surrounded her; an atmosphere
where everyone was somebody or nobody. She was
simply determined to be somebody. She was beau
tiful. She knew that. She had a clear, alert mind,
a quick grasp, a ready tact, a capacity for throwing
herself heart and soul into any work that came to
her hands to do. She valued these as effective tools
with which to shape her ambition, to individualize
herself, to get on in the world. She had a heart;
but of this she was not conscious. She had innate
honesty and she was a woman. It had never oc
curred to her that a woman s heart and a woman s
sense of honor were liable to become paradoxes with
the certain death of one. She looked frankly at
Elijah, not concealing her interest.
"Your work is the kind of thing that s going to
save this part of California." Helen spoke with
conviction.
"You don t approve of all this?" Elijah glanced
toward the bustling street.
"No. You ve been giving me figures, now I ll
give you some. This city, two miles wide, is laid out
in streets three miles long. Sixty blocks long and
forty wide ; two thousand four hundred blocks. At
one hundred dollars a front foot (that was the price.
a few minutes ago), Ysleta is selling at the rate of
36
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
two hundred and fifty-three million, four hundred
and forty thousand dollars, unimproved."
Elijah looked at her in surprise. She too had
been thinking in figures for herself.
"Who gave you these figures?"
Helen laughed. She had noted Elijah s surprise
and had divined its cause.
Wait. That isn t all. Before there can be any
solid returns in this investment, it will have to be
trebled at least, for sewers, pavements, sidewalks,
and buildings. We will leave out odd hundred
thousands, only millions count now." She smiled*
"Seven hundred and fifty million dollars at least.
Let s see about the population. At five hundred
and twenty to the block, Ysleta should have a popu
lation of one million, two hundred and forty thou
sand. Quite a neat little town for a new country!"
Elijah s surprise grew. Helen was not even con
sulting notes.
"The total population of California isn t a mil
lion today. Most of these are miners, the next
greater part live in towns. Hardly half are en
gaged in agriculture. How would Ysleta be fed,
where would it get money to pay?"
Elijah s face showed still greater surprise.
"What put these figures into your head?"
Helen laughed sarcastically.
"I was advised to invest in building lots, so I
looked the matter up. I am jrivinpr you these figures
37
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
so you can see that I know how to appreciate what
your work means. Her face sobered. She screwed
paper and carbons into her machine and opened
her note-book. She did not raise her eyes from her
work.
"Don t wait, Mr. Berl. I ll have the work done
in three hours."
Elijah left the office half dazed. Every word of
Helen Lonsdale smote hard and deep. Not alone
because of their surprising nature, but because his
own work had never before appeared so worth
while. Heretofore it had only appeared great in
itself. Now it stood out gigantic by contrast. He
was pleasantly conscious of another element that
was entering his life for the first time; the sym
pathetic interest of an intelligent woman.
Punctually at the appointed time, Elijah re
turned. Helen was still busily at work.
"Am I too soon?" he asked.
She handed him a neatly enclosed package.
"That s all right, I think. Do you want to open
an account, or will this be all?"
Elijah spoke very deliberately.
"I will open an account. I shall have more
work."
"Very well. I send out monthly statements to
my regular customers." Her eyes were again fol
lowing her note-book, her fingers working at the
rattling keys.
38
CHAPTER FOUR
It was well that the work which Helen was doing
when Elijah left the office was mechanical, else it
might have lacked the finish which made her in
demand above all others. She could not keep her
thoughts from this man and his work. With a
frown, she glanced at her watch. Returning it to
her belt, she drew her finished work from her ma
chine and began to put the office in order. She
stood absently before a mirror as she pinned her
hat in place, turning with perfunctory pats here
and there, touching a stray lock into order and
smoothing down her gown. She passed out into the
street, locking the door behind her, and turned to
Winston s office. Her light footsteps as she entered,
did not arouse his attention. For a moment she
stood, looking at him as he bent over his work.
"You are cordial, I must confess."
Ralph looked up.
1 Ah ! What s the matter ? he concluded, noting
her sober face.
"What is the matter!"
"Why, you re as solemn as an owl."
"Do you object to my sitting down for a mo
ment!"
39
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Not for two moments. I m glad to see you."
Winston rose hastily and swung a chair into posi
tion.
" That s better, 7 she approved.
"Good! Now if you ll get better, I shall know
where I m at."
"I ve come here to find out where I m at."
"If you are lost, it s the first time, I m thinking,
and I m not so sure that I can set you straight."
" I 11 take my chances. Who is Elijah Berl ?
Winston laughed.
"Oh, he s gotten hold of you, has he?"
"No, he hasn t ; but I want to get hold of him to
the extent of five thousand dollars. That is the
limit of my cash money."
Winston smiled tolerantly.
"Elijah has certainly missed his calling. If he
can work you up five thousand dollars worth in an
hour or so, I ll play him the limit against Wall
street."
"No you won t. You don t know Elijah Berl."
"Then what are you asking me about him for?"
"Oh! that was just a starter. I had to begin
somewhere."
"Isn t five thousand dollars a pretty heavy
starter for you, Helen?" Winston asked the ques
tion soberly, for he saw that Helen was in earnest.
"No. I ve kept out of Ysleta because it wasn t
40
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
worth while. I want to get into Las Cruces because
it is."
"It may be, Helen. It is full of promise, but it
may not mature. I know the proposition pretty
thoroughly and I know Elijah Berl. The elements
of this may not be so solid as they appear."
"The watershed is all right, isn t it?"
"Without a question."
* The water can be brought from the reservoir to
the lands?"
"No question about that, either."
"And the land is fertile and suited to oranges?"
"That s true too, but it needs money."
"You 11 get that all right."
"I expect to, without doubt."
Helen had spoken with growing animation.
"Then the whole doubt in your mind centres in
Elijah Berl?"
"You ve hit it exactly."
"And yet you are a friend of Elijah s?" There
was a touch of contempt in her voice.
"Yes."
"Then I must say that I don t value your friend
ship quite so highly as I did." Helen made no at
tempt to conceal her disapproval.
Winston spoke deliberately, weighing every
word.
"I m sorry to hear you say that, Helen. Your
friendship means a great deal to me. Just remem-
41
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
her that in a way you have come to me for advice.
If not advice exactly, you really ask for the ap
proval of what I cannot approve without reserve.
I have counted you as my friend. If I have seemed
to be a traitor to Elijah, it is only that I might be
true to you. I would not say to any one else what
I have said to you."
Helen s resentment died away before Winston s
words.
"You haven t answered my first question yet.
You seem able, if you only will.
"In a way, yes. Elijah Berl and I are partners."
"Partners!" Helen did not try to conceal her
surprise.
"Yes. The agreement was signed today. Elijah
was more than generous in his terms."
"And yet you could say what you did of him !"
"Yes. I gave him fair warning. I didn t tell
him in so many words that I distrusted him; I
simply said that our different views of things might
in the future bring us into conflict. If he couldn t
understand that, it was useless to say more."
"And yet, distrusting him, you have tied your
self to him. It doesn t seem quite harmonious to
me and not a bit like you."
"It isn t harmonious. Nothing is, for that mat
ter, unless you make it so."
"Then the success of the whole business depends
upon your ability to manage Elijah Berl?"
42
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"That s about the gist of it."
"Yours must be a comfortable state of mind."
There was sarcasm in the voice.
"I am speaking as freely to you, Helen, as I do
to myself. I thought our standing would allow
that."
Helen made no reply. She sat gazing absently
into the street. She was in an uncomfortable frame
of mind. Twice that day she had been swept hither
and thither under influences outside herself. It
was unusual for her and it was discomposing. The
Las Cruces Irrigation Company had looked so
safe as a permanent and a big paying investment,
and Elijah Berl himself had stirred her as she had
never before been stirred. And now Ralph Win
ston had told her in so many words that she did not
know what she was about. She resented this hotly.
She resented it the more strongly, because she
recognized the injustice she was doing Ralph. It
was long before she had herself under control. At
length she turned from the street and looked at
Winston.
"I had a letter from home today."
Winston responded eagerly to her changed mood.
"How are they all?"
"Just as well as ever. Mother says that father
bobbed up from under that anti-debris decision
like a cork in salt water. He says he is going to
put up a dam that the debris commission can t look
43
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
over in a week s climbing. Jimmie is his ablest as
sistant."
"Little rascal! Say, Helen, you ought to take
him in hand and make him go to college. You re
the only one who can manage him. He has the
making of one of the biggest engineers in the
country."
1 Why don t you try your hand, Ralph ? Mother
says that you are his god yet. When he gets cor
nered, he insists that his way is just what Mr. Win
ston would do, and there he sticks. Father and
mother both ask when you are coming back."
Winston shook his head almost regretfully.
"I sometimes wish I had never left, but that s
too late now. When I get a little despondent, the
roar of the monitors eating into the gravel, the
swish of the water and the clatter of boulders in
the sluices get into my ears till I m nearly wild."
"That is all over now. When I came away there
were only a few discouraged miners digging in the
banks and listening for the officers to come around
and stop even that."
Winston went on even more regretfully.
"And I remember when you and I went barefoot,
wading around with gold pans and scrapping as to
which had the biggest pan
Helen rose to go. Her intuition told her that
they were on dangerous ground.
"Old things and times are gone. We have put
44
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
away childish things and gold pans, for something
new."
Winston took her hand. A momentary pressure
on her part and she withdrew it. She could not
look into his eyes.
"Be careful about the new, Helen. There s
fool s gold in these diggings too."
" Which reminds me, our last scrap as children
was over that very thing."
Then the door closed behind her and Winston
was alone.
45
CHAPTER FIVE
A country that has yielded a billion and a half
of gold is, perforce, well and favorably known to
the uttermost parts of the earth. Though the
stream of yellow wealth diminishes, or even ceases
to flow, yet the channel is carved through which
the thoughts of men longingly roll. Upon such a
land no limit^of impossibility is placed. Upon what
has been, the faith of man lays the foundations of
nobler structures yet to be. The structures may
rise and fall, but the foundation yet remains. It
matters not to the builders of golden castles that,
between the gold fields of California and the line
that marked another nation, the whole of New
England could lie, like an island in a sea of desert
sand ; California was yet California, and the Pacto-
lean sands of the Cascades and the Sierras spread
their yellow sheen over the whole vast expanse of
mountain, and valley, and desert.
Winston was right. The gold that had flowed
to the Eastward was now returning in heavy waves.
From the pockets of idle tourists, it was scattered
with lavish hand. From the pockets of gamblers,
46
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
it came also ; gamblers who, with trembling fingers,
placed their gold on checkered town-lots, and
waited for the spinning wheel to return it with
usury, and went out white and haggard when the
croupier declared against them. It came in the
pockets of shrewd-eyed men who parted with it for
a proper consideration, or not at all.
Into this stream of wealth, Winston was plan
ning to build his dam. His efforts were rewarded
more abundantly and sooner than either he or the
more sanguine Elijah had expected.
Elijah had suggested a movement on the specula
tors in Ysleta lots, but against this Winston had
set his hand.
"We don t want floaters; we want stayers. I
met a man in the crowd yesterday who s a stayer
all right. I think he ll come in. If he does, it will
make me feel good in more ways than one. He s
got money and he s got a head that tells him where
there s more."
"What s his name?"
"Seymour. He ll be in, in a day or two, to look
the matter up. That young orange grove of yours
took his hard head by storm. He didn t do a thing
yesterday but roll those navels that Amy gave him,
in his list, all the way down. He would ha\v rubbed
them under his nose if he hadn t boon afraid to
trust his teeth. As it was, he kept smelling of his
47
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
fingers. Didn t say a word!" Winston laughed.
"It makes us feel good, doesn t it, Elijah?"
A few days later, they were again in Winston s
office, awaiting the coming of Seymour.
Winston turned to Elijah.
"You remember Helen Lonsdale?"
"Yes, what about her?" Elijah looked up ques-
tioningly.
"What did you make out of her?"
"She appeared to be a very able young woman."
"You don t think she would get stampeded very
easily, do you?"
I hardly think so. Elijah smiled. She gave
me some very telling reasons for keeping out of
Ysleta lots."
"And you gave her some pretty convincing rea
sons for thinking that orange trees on a hillside
would grow better crops than corner stakes on a
sand dune."
"What makes you think so?"
"Because you hadn t been gone an hour before
she was in here and wanted to know if she could
get into this building on the ground floor. She
said she had a few thousands that she wanted to put
in a good thing."
"You told her yes, didn t you?" Elijah s voice
was eager.
"I told her no. "
"You ought to have taken her up."
48
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I don t know about that. This business is a
sure thing one way, but in another, it isn t. It s
a big thing. If we can swing it, it s all right. If
a n t, it s going to go hard with the small fry.
I may want to look into those big black eyes of hers
again sometime. *
"Why haven t you introduced me to Helen
Lonsdale before?"
Winston was surprised, more at the manner of
Elijah s question than at the question itself. He
shifted the onus of the surprise to Elijah s shoul
ders.
" Why should I?" he asked bluntly.
"That s a Yankee trick, not a Calif ornian s," re
torted Elijah.
I m not too old to learn."
Elijah laughed consciously.
"It doesn t matter. We re acquainted now."
"It s up to you to make it worth her while to
it up. She s rather particular about her
friends."
Elijah was irritated, and not for the first time
in his relations with Winston. Winston seemed to
him to be contradictory. At times he was defer
ential to the point of enthusiasm ; at times reserved,
if not cynical. Elijah was not a close reasoner
and he failed to understand that Winston s prin
ciples were a kind of moral straight-edge which he
49
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
applied impartially. Winston had no hesitancy in
calling attention to discrepancies.
" Helen Londsdale is a mighty bright girl. She
may be of use to us/ hazarded Elijah.
Winston s momentary glance was searching.
I expect she will be, he answered curtly.
After a short pause, Elijah resumed the broken
conversation.
"You re going for Seymour?"
"Oh, yes. That s all right. A few hundred
thousand wouldn t hurt Seymour. Five thousand
would break Helen Lonsdale. Beside, if Seymour
takes hold of it, it s going."
Elijah changed the point bluntly.
"Well, who s going to do the talking? You ve
done all the work and made out the estimates ; you d
better. We don t want to make any mistakes."
"That s all right Elijah, but it isn t always the
folks who make the cartridges that shoot the
straightest. I 11 stand by to furnish ammunition if
you run short, but you work the trigger." Win
ston laughed. "I loaded him with estimates and
facts. They re good so far as they go; but you
know that champagne is pretty flat without the fizz.
Here he comes now."
A man of medium height entered the office. There
was more than a suggestion of iron about him.
Iron-gray hair and mustache ; steely, quick moving
eyes, but not restless; hard lines that blocked out
50
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
close-set lips; a firm decided step. Withal, a not
unpleasant man; but one who suggested that the
pleasure of acquiring money and the pleasure of
spending it, had appropriate and distinct seasons.
He acknowledged Winston s introduction with a
quick look at Elijah.
"From what Mr. Winston said, I expected to
meet an older man, Mr. Berl."
"That s all right, Mr. Seymour, " Winston put
in. "We don t put new wine in old bottles out
here. This is a new country. Elijah is a new
man, and he s chuck full of new ideas."
"I m getting near enough to the age limit to
make your figure rather doubtful, so far as I am
concerned." Seymour s features relaxed in a grim
smile as he pointed to his gray hair.
" \Ve don t count a horse old, so long as he can
kick the top rail off a fence."
Seymour looked closely at Winston, but made
no reply. He began to talk with Elijah. At first,
Elijah was conscious of the momentous importance
of the interview : but this did not prevent him from
grasping the import of Seymour s questions and
answering clearly and to the point. Gradually he
lost himself in his subject and poured forth fact
after fact, estimate on estimate, with such rapidity
that Seymour felt compelled at times to interrupt
him.
"This is new business to me, Mr. Berl. I can t
51
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
keep up with you." He spoke sharply, almost im
patiently, but his manner showed that he was
deeply impressed, both with the proposition and
with Elijah himself.
"That is a strong presentation of your proposi
tion, Mr. Berl. Now I want a few definite answers
to definite questions. As I understand you, you
propose to do something entirely new. What war
rant have you for believing that oranges can be
successfully grown in this district ? Oranges are a
tropical fruit."
"People are used to thinking that oranges are a
tropical fruit. They aren t. Look at Spain, and
France, and Italy. They are famous for this very
fruit. Here," Elijah swept his hands around,
"those conditions are reproduced. Here are the
San Bernadinos, there the Pacific, between are des
ert hills. Bring water to this sunshine and soil,
and California will become the garden of the New
World."
Seymour smiled at Elijah s enthusiasm. His
words were fervid, but Seymour realized their
truth.
"That s all right for Spain, and Italy and the
rest; but those countries are only a few hours by
water from three hundred millions of people, while
California is six days by rail from sixty millions,
and high rate express at that."
Elijah s face lost none of its assurance; but his
52
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ryes half closed as he grasped Seymour s import.
He answered with less fire but no less conviction.
"I ll take your estimate of sixty millions and six
days express. Suppose that each of those sixty
millions ate only two oranges a year, that calls for
one hundred and twenty millions. If these oranges
sold at five cents, there are six million dollars in a
year. That s worth while, isn t it?"
Seymour nodded assent and Elijah resumed. He
pointed out the cost of the land, of water, the care
of the orchards, express rates and other charges.
"Taking all this into account, your net yield on
your investment will be at least fifteen percent."
Seymour again smiled.
"That s all right too; but it hasn t been proved
that California will produce one hundred and
twenty million oranges."
Elijah was nettled. It irritated him to be ques
tioned too closely. He was too thoroughly con
vinced, too thoroughly in earnest.
"No one believed in the Western hemisphere till
Columbus found it."
Seymour paid no attention to Elijah s impa
tience. He had a concentrated look on his face.
II spoke again sharply and decidedly.
"You believe in this thing. So do I. If suitable
t.Tins can be arranged, I am prepared to back my
belief with cash."
"To what extent?" Elijah asked briefly.
53
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"A hundred thousand or so. Think over what
you will do and I will be in again, in an hour.
If your terms are all right, I ll get the money for
you at once." He left the office.
Elijah turned jubilantly to Winston.
"We re all right now."
"For a starter." Winston was sober.
"What do you mean?" Elijah spoke sharply.
"We ve got a hundred thousand dollars. That s
one thing. Now it s up to us to make it pay.
That s another." Winston did not lack confidence
or faith. He was realizing his responsibilities.
They began arranging terms for the transfer of
an interest. Elijah, full of the enthusiasm of suc
cess, could hardly pin himself down to details. His
years of dreams were being realized. He was look
ing upon a step as taken. With his foot as yet
hardly lifted, already he was looking toward other
paths. Winston held him down to the present.
At the appointed hour, Seymour reappeared.
The terms offered were satisfactory.
"I must get back East and attend to my other
business. I shall have to trust this to you."
Perhaps it was a mistake; but Winston had the
feeling that Seymour s eyes rested upon him with
his last words, that it was to him that the work was
entrusted, that upon him was the responsibility,
that he would be the one called to account. This
54
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
did not oppress him ; it sobered him. As Seymour
finally left the office, Winston turned to Elijah.
"It s up to us now to show what there is in us."
55
CHAPTER SIX
It did not follow because Seymour had promised
to back the Las Cruces Water Company to the ex
tent of one hundred thousand dollars, that he in-
tended to put in that amount of his own money;
nor because he had promised a certain sum, that
that sum was the limit. He had become thoroughly
convinced that the enterprise was well conceived
and that with proper management it was bound
to succeed and to " succeed big." He wisely con
cluded that those who had conceived the project
and had figured out so minutely the cost and detail,
were the proper ones to trust with its execution.
He was too cold blooded to be figurative, but Win
ston s figure to Elijah exactly expressed his attitude
of mind. Elijah furnished the fizz of enthusiasm,
while Winston supplied the necessary body to the
wine, with his well-balanced, matter-of-fact mind.
There was nothing in his contract to prevent his
disposing at par of one half of the two hundred
thousand shares which he had acquired at fifty,
and this was the step which he proposed to take
and which he did take. He too regarded the la
borer as worthy of his hire.
56
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BEKI,
Mr. Seymour was a business man. lie was
shivwd and he was very successful. It did not nee- j
irily follow that he was unscrupulous. In fact,
from a purely business standpoint, he was not ; but
he had no Quixotic limitations to the end that he
was his brother s keeper. The world was full of
disastrous mistakes; he took it as he found it. He
did not count as a sin of his own, the omission to do
good unto others when opportunity offered ; but he
regarded the opportunity as an indication of sin or
at least of poor judgment in his fellow. He was a
church communicant in good and regular standing;
but religion was one thing, business another. He
did not search the scriptures either for approbation
or for defense. He acted upon the principle that
offenses must be and that woe was the lot of the one
through whom they came. The woo that was visited
upon the offender was in reality no less a reward of
merit than the benefit which accrued to the one who
vise enough to take advantage of the offense.
He never pointed to the decaloirue with the SMIULT
;<>n that this had been kept from his youth
up. If his business record did not show this, words
would be useless. lie wasted no love on his neigh- J
bor, for love was a dissipater of energy. Love
engendered pity, pity sacrifice, and sacrifice pre
cluded success. Every tub must stand on its own
bottom. If his neighbor s tub leaked, it was his
neighbor s fault for not keeping it calked. His
57
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
neighbor had no ground for complaint if the liquor
which he spilled, was gathered by a more fitting
Mr. Seymour s one hundred thousand shares of
Las Cruces had cost him nothing, save a little en
ergy. If he did no better, he would have so much
clear. That was worth while. If Winston and
Berl made a mess of the affair, that was no concern
of his. One man s extremity was to him another
man s opportunity. He intended to be the other
man. Elijah was an enthusiast, Winston a profes
sional man. Enthusiasm would inflate iridescent
bubbles, professional pride would be an absorbing
end in itself. Both were essential, neither would
necessarily supply the third element of success,
business acumen. At the proper time he would
supply this himself and at his own price. In any
event, he would be perfectly safe.
The orderly bustle which succeeded Seymour s
departure, argued well for the success of the new
company. Experienced Ysleta boomers saw in
"Las Cruces" a new kind of boom, and beyond of
fering to put their experience and methods at the
service of the new company, did nothing further.
The idea of taking up land on a venture near
Elijah s ranch, was discussed, but the conclusion
was reached that this land was too far from Ysleta
to be advantageous and that attention distracted
from their own kettle of fish would result in the
58
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
deadening of the fires that wore keeping their own
pot boilinpr.
The division of the entailed labor fell naturally.
The engineering work demanded Winston s pres
ence in the field. The office duties fell to
Elijah. It was Winston who suggested to Elijah
the necessity of a bookkeeper and that there was
no one better fitted in every way than Helen Lons-
dale. Winston had no doubts of Elijah s inten
tional integrity and he had great confidence in
Helen Lonsdale s ability both in business and in
looking out for herself. So she was installed as an
essential feature of the company. She felt herself
in a position of great and growing responsibility.
Days slipped into weeks and weeks into months
with the easy motion of well-organized work.
Helen hardly surpassed Winston s expectations,
but as he darted in and out of the office, full of his
work, he felt no more than a passing sense of satis
faction at the readiness with which everything that
he wanted came to his hands. Helen might have a
personal pride in never being caught unprepared,
but she never displayed the emotion. It was Win
ston himself who was first caught off his guard.
II o rushed into the office one afternoon with a look
of annoyance, almost of disgust on his face.
"I ve made a moss, Ilelon. I want you to help
me out."
59
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Short of powder at No. 1 ? " Helen hardly looked
up from her work.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"I ordered two tons from the magazine. It s on
its way there now.
"Good! But how did you know that I was
short ?"
"From the reports. I thought you wouldn t be
in, so I ordered it."
"You are a jewel, Helen. I haven t had time to
tell you so before, but I ve known it all along."
"Jewels are ornamental, not useful."
"You are both."
Helen glanced at the clock.
"Office hours aren t over yet and the company
isn t paying me to trade sugar plums."
"All right. I ll see you off shift sometime."
Elijah s work kept him much in the office and he
was held to business quite as closely as was Winston.
Helen showed her appreciation of his work by say
ing nothing, but doing everything that came to
her hands. He longed to drink of the sparkling
waters of his dreams, and with all that was in her,
Helen was trying to convert these iridescent
dreams into material facts. Elijah longed also to
see Helen s eyes kindle, to hear her words of com
mendation; but she never spoke now of his idea.
Thus it happened that one phase of his nature was
hungered, the other fully satisfied.
60
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Poor Amy was the only party to the new order of
things who was unhappy. She had accepted the
necessity of Elijah s absence at the Ysleta office,
not with resignation, but with unprotesting grief.
She regarded this as the dregs of her cup of bit
terness; but when she learned of Elijah s assistant,
she discovered her mistake. She mourned over his
absence, yet utterly refused to consider the idea of
moving to Ysleta. He must come to her at her
bidding; she could not bring herself to go to him
at his. This was her touchstone of love and devo
tion. It was failing her, and in sackcloth and ashes
she was mourning it. She made a brave attempt at
cheerfulness when Elijah broached the subject, but
she could neither keep the color in her cheeks nor
her lips steady when she made reply.
* Don t ask me, Elijah. I can t bear it.
"Why?" he asked in surprise.
"Because," she paused for a moment. "We
have been here almost four years, just you, and I
and th children. Every spot of it is a part of you.
It would be like death to leave it. While you are
away, I shall look forward to your coming back.
If I should go to Ysleta, you wouldn t be coming
back."
"Of course not. I d be there all the time. You d
have lots of company. I could run in to lunch and
bring my friends." Elijah lifted his head and
squared his shoulders. lie caught not the slightest
61
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
glimpse of Amy s real feeling. His words and
gestures showed that only too plainly even to her.
Amy smiled wanly.
"I wouldn t have you all to myself there. I
would rather have you all to myself part of the
time, than part of you all the time." It was a tre
mendous thought for Amy. She almost stood in
awe of herself over its utterance.
"You are a silly goose." Elijah caught her in
his arms and swung her to and fro as if she were
a child. "You have me all the time, wherever I
am."
Amy lay in his arms with closed eyes. The color
came back to her face. It was only a dream; a
dream of what had been. She knew it was only a
dream and she tried to close her mental eyes to this
knowledge. She was aroused when Elijah set her
on her feet.
"I have lots to do at the office now."
Amy s face showed a sudden gleam of inspiration.
* Couldn t I be in the office with you ?
* * Of course not, goose. You d be in the way.
"Is the bookkeeper in the way?" The words
were almost gasped.
"Of course not. She d be in the way if she
wasn t there."
"Why?" The word was spoken perforce and
with fear.
62
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Because I couldn t get along without her. She s
no end of help to me in my work."
"Couldn t I help you? I would try hard."
Elijah laughed long and loud. Not brutally, at
least he had no intention of brutality; but the
thought of Amy s doing Helen Lonsdale s work in
cited his thoughtless mirth. It was inconsiderate
rather than thoughtless, for he had not personified
Amy s words. Her white face brought the truth
home. He grew sober.
Xot the way you mean, Amy. You will have
to help me in your way, and Miss Lonsdale in an
other. Goodbye, dear. Don t scare yourself with
pictures, as I said before."
Amy watched him as on a former occasion; then
she had thought her lot hard. She would now be
glad to exchange forever and to ask no more. Then,
she feared. Now she knew that there were others,
In-side herself, upon whom Elijah depended.
Farther, she could not go, for she could not see her
<;wn limitations.
At his office in Ysleta, Elijah found Helen Lons
dale bent over a map and oblivious to her surround
ings. A pad and pencil were at her elbow. She was
tracing the map with one finger which occasionally
recurred to one point, while with the other hand
she was apparently recording memoranda. Fin
ally the maps were pushed aside and pad and pen
cil absorbed her entire attention. There were pauses
63
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
during which she looked at the map, ran over her
figures and then her pencil flew over the pad more
rapidly than before. At length she sat up straight,
spread the slips of paper before her, and, rolling
her pencil meditatively between her fingers, ap
peared absorbed in thought.
"You seem to be deeply interested." Elijah was
standing at the door of the inner office.
Helen turned her head sharply.
"You re just in time to sign these letters before
the mail closes."
Elijah seated himself at his desk and signed the
letters, as one by one, she placed them before him.
"Do you want to look them over?" she asked.
"No, you never make mistakes."
She began reading and folding the letters.
"I think they are all right. You stamp them."
She glanced at the clock. "You ll have to hurry."
Elijah stamped the letters as she tossed them to
him. As the last stamp was affixed, she shuffled
them together, and, with a glance over her shoul
der at the clock, started through the door.
"Have the boy take them over." Elijah called
out.
"Boy and hurry aren t on intimate terms." She
was already on the threshold of the outer door. In
a few moments she returned. "If I had sent the
boy, the letters would have lain over until tomor
row, I was just in time." She drew a handkerchief
64
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
over her flushed face. The handkerchief was not
purely ornamental, neither did it suggest unre
fined utilitarianism. It lacked lace, but not deli-
caoy. The motion that swept it over her face was
decided, but not harsh. Her movements, as she
seated herself at her desk and turned her face full
toward Elijah, were quick, yet rhythmic and grace
ful. There was masculine alertness and concentra
tion ; yet both were softened by a femininity, unob
trusive but not to be ignored. For over six months,
she had been "Helen" to him as he was "Elijah"
to her. Yet the barrier between man and woman
that seemed so frail, had effectively obstructed the
path that led to intimacy.
Elijah was half -conscious of a longing which he
could not express, half-conscious that every attempt
to gratify it was repulsed by an intangible atmos
phere which seemed transparent and unresisting,
yet was dense and impenetrable. Had he been able
to state his position to himself at this time, he would
have shrunk from the picture. He was not analyt
ical, therefore he did not know that the greater
part of the sins of the world are the result not of
deliberate premeditation and decision, but of the
almost unconscious, initial yielding to apparently
innocent impulses which should be recognized for
what they are, for what they may be, and crushed
out of existence at once.
Elijah was strong in his vision of possibilities,
65
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
strong in his purpose to wrest success from the
teeth of defeat, strong in the enthusiasm that made
him tingle with restless impatience to be doing,
strong in his power to kindle others with the fire
of his own purpose ; yet he was weak. Weak because
of an unconscious, yet all-pervading selfishness.
Imperative as were his visions, even so were his de
sires, and unconsciously both centred in himself.
As in the rock-ribbed, narrow confines of his New
England home, so in the desolate, sun-burned des
erts of California, unchecked by contact with his
fellow men, his thoughts ran riot in the channels
of his glowing soul. He had longed for sympathetic
companionship ; but his solitary, isolated life for
bade it. This longing had found gratification in
what he grew to believe was fellowship with God.
His youth fostered the idea, his growing, solitary
years developed it into a fanatical belief. If he was
in doubt, he took refuge in prayer, not for guid
ance, firmly as he may have believed it, but for con
firmation. From his youth up, he had had a fanati
cal belief in the guidance of Divinity, and had
placed the Bible as a lamp to his feet. Elijah
prayed to God for guidance in paths which he
should have chosen for himself, blindly putting
aside the fact that in the very seeking for guid
ance, he was longing to be confirmed in a course
which in the depths of his soul he knew to be wrong.
Fortified by his belief, armed by God s sanction, he
66
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
followed liis desires mercilessly and without shame.
Helen Lonsdale was not analytical, she was not
fanatical, nor was she deeply religious. Her sur
roundings had precluded that. She had strong
common sense. When for lack of experience this
failed her, she had intuition. She moved among
men fearlessly, because in the field of their move
ments, sex was not thought of, only things to be
done. The two men with whom, in her present re
lations, her lot was so intimately cast, stood re
spectively on an entirely different footing. In
their childhood days, she and Ralph Winston had
been playmates. Later, they had been parted only
to be thrown into closer relations by a strange turn
of Fortune s wheel. She had welcomed Ralph with
the unreserve of the days of their childhood. She
was, perhaps, on this very account, unconscious that
his memories were the more faithful of the two.
Elijah had come into her life, full-fledged, with
no childish memories to blur the outlines of the
image. However strong Winston was in the eyes
of others, there were yet in her eyes the clinging
shreds of the memory of other days. She was at
tracted by Elijah s enthusiasm, the stnn-th of
his ideas, of his purpose to succeed. With a
woman s intuition she saw the barren stretch of
his unsympathetic surroundings, and, with no
idea of injustice tin- si-lit prompted her to give
in full that which had hitherto been denied him.
67
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Her sympathy was aroused, her enthusiasm kin
dled by his work; but it was apparently im
personal. She was surrounded by an atmosphere
of womanliness as delicate as an electric field,
which warned off and repelled any disturbing
element. Yet her atmosphere was polar; it would
respond to the proper element. The element was
existent, but as yet unrecognized.
Elijah again turned to Helen.
"How are things going?"
"Ralph is short of powder and cement at the
dam. I sent up a pack-train this morning. It will
leave two tons of powder at No. 1 tunnel. The
magazine is getting low, but San Francisco is send
ing a carload. It will be here tomorrow. That
will keep Ralph supplied for a month. Seymour
writes from New York that Las Cruces is snapped
at one-twenty ; that he is going to run it up to one-
thirty. Everything is coming our way on the run.
"We ve got a pretty heavy balance to our
credit." Elijah spoke meditatively. "Pretty
heavy to carry in the local banks.
"That s just what I was going to speak of. I d
let San Francisco carry the bulk of our deposits.
It s solid. The local banks may be called any time.
You can leave just enough here to keep them good-
natured."
"All right. We ll deposit our next checks in
68
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Frisco. What were you mulling over this morn
ing?"
Helen laughed.
"How to get even with you and Ralph."
1 Get even with us!" Elijah looked at her in sur
prise.
"Yes."
"What do you mean?"
"You wouldn t let me into Las Cruces on the
ground floor, so I am planning a building of my
own."
"That was Ralph s doing; he didn t want you to
run the risk of losing."
* My five thousand was as good, so far as it went,
as Seymour s hundred. He got in at fifty. He s
made good at one hundred and forty. If you had
let me in, I would have had twelve thousand five
hundred now. It will take me a long time to earn
that." She spoke with assumed levity.
Elijah was regarding her through half-closed
eyes. He spoke very deliberately.
"You are right. I wanted to do it, but Ralph
wouldn t consent. He meant all right," he added
hastily. "I ll tell you what I ll do. I ll let you
have five thousand dollars of my stock at fifty.
That will set you straight."
"No it won t." There was no levity in Helen s
voice.
"Why?" Elijah s eyes opened in surprise.
69
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
" Because that would be a present, and I don t
want presents. What I get, I want to get myself. *
"It wouldn t be a present. It would be a re
ward. You ve earned it." Elijah spoke ear
nestly and warmly.
"From you, not from the company," she replied
decidedly and with finality. "Besides, I ve discov
ered a way to help myself. That s better."
"That brings us back to the first point. What
were you mulling over?"
Helen drew the map toward them and weighted
down the corners.
"Oranges don t mind a breath of cold air now
and then; they re dead set against a freeze out."
She was looking quizzically at Elijah. An expres
sion of assured satisfaction came over her face at
Elijah s astonishment.
His head was thrown back as he raised his eyes
to Helen s face.
* What do you mean ?
"As if I needed to tell you." Her lips were
scornful at the limitations Elijah had put upon her.
A smile softened the scorn and left a doubt as to
which emotion was dominant. "You know that
oranges on a hillside with southwestern exposure
will do better than in an unprotected river bottom."
Elijah looked up fiercely.
"Has Ralph been talking?"
"No; but you have."
70
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I never said anything of the kind to you.*
"I m not a phonograph."
"You ve no right to make use of information
that you get from a confidential position." Elijah s
voice was decided. There was a startled look on his
face that he could not keep from being anxious.
Xot even to make myself more useful?"
Elijah did not commit himself to words. His
eyes were expectant. Helen continued, pointing to
the map.
"This land is practically vacant. It s owned by
a Mexican. He would jump at a dollar an acre. It
is separated from this of yours by a hill. He would
never dream of a tunnel. Some one else may.
There are thousands of acres just as good as the
land you control. What s the matter w r ith forming
a land company independent of the Las Cruces?
My five thousand would cover five thousand acres.
When w r ater gets to it, say it s worth a hundred;
that will make me five hundred thousand to the
good. That s better than a present of Las Cruces
at fifty, and it will come from myself."
"I never told you about the tunnel. How did
you find it out?"
Helen could not restrain a satisfied smile.
"You didn t tell me about a belt of country
around here where the temperature never falls to
thirty-two?"
Elijah glanced hastily around the room.
71
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
" That s all right." Helen had noted the look.
"We re all alone."
"What do you want?" Elijah s look was not yet
wholly one of relief.
"To get a little closer."
"There s a big future in that idea. I have been
thinking of forming a land company. We can get
control of the whole section." He swept his hand
over the map.
"We don t want the earth, Elijah. It would be
too much work to handle it. There wouldn t be any
time for fun. We only want a goodly portion. We
want to do things, don t we?"
Elijah s eyes opened. An expression as of a
revelation swept over his face. The simple "we"
thrilled him through and through. Unconscious
ness was dropping its mask and standing out in
bold relief.
"We do, we do! and we will."
Helen was quite unconscious. She laughed at
Elijah s enthusiasm.
"What kind of women have you lived with, I
would like to know. This idea would not have sur
prised you if it had come from a man."
Helen spoke in ignorance. Unconsciously she
had opened Elijah s eyes still wider. In a blind
ing flash, he saw Amy and Helen Lonsdale side by
side. The vision brought him face to face with his
past life with Amy; with its barren stretch, un-
72
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
watered by sympathetic appreciation, only parched
and withered by the burning rays of selfish love.
He had given ; but he had not received. What he
;:ccomplished, he had accomplished not only by
himself, but in spite of a hostile influence. So
long as his work had been limited to the little patch
of ground irrigated by the developed springs of
his horn. , Amy had offered no objections to his
enthusiasm. So far as it was possible for her, she
had been interested, almost encouraging. Even over
his visions of greater things, which he had laid be-
before her unseeing eyes, she had smiled with ac-
jiiiesccnce which he mistook for appreciation. Only
when the films bewail to grow into material form,
when the warp and woof must be gathered from
others, and the frame of the loom itself must be
Imilded witli another s aid, did the real meaning of
Elijah s dream sn-iirst it<. If to Amy. Not that
i\v dearly, only intuitively, that in the carry
ing out of his plans he would come in contact with
others, that this contact would develop a compari
son of herself with others, that this coinp;:
would he unfavorable to her, and would end for
ever her ability to fill Elijah s mental vision. Th.-re-
fore, at the very first signs of expansion, she had
opposed the feeble barrier of her will. Elijah had
no more recognized the barrier than he had Amy s
limitations which made the barrier imperative to
her. He had felt her opposition, and, without un-
73
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
derstanding it, he had chafed against it. He had
not compared her with others, because up to this
time he had not come in contact with those who
made a comparison imperative.
Now the comparison was coming to him, had in
deed already come. Appreciation, sympathy, en
ergy, assistance were manifest to him in every word
and action of Helen Lonsdale. Her first sugges
tion of independent action had startled, then
brought to him a sudden, overpowering realization
of what she was, of what she might be to him in
comparison with Amy. His first emotion was fear
lest she might leave him, and, equipped with the
knowledge which she had gained from her confi
dential relation with the company, start out on an
independent course of her own. There was almost
a feeling of resentment against Amy, as if she had
defrauded him, and this was a thing which Elijah
should have put aside; but he did not.
Helen was watching him. There was decided
humor in her eyes, in the motion of her lips.
"What are you mulling over? *
Elijah started as if waking from a dream. He
spoke hastily, but none the less decidedly.
"\Ve must drive over together and see that land
as soon as possible.
74
CHAPTER SEVEN
In spite of Elijah s earnest conviction that the
land should be inspected and a course of action
mapped out as soon as possible, it was several \\vrks
before the trip could be arranged. To Elijah it
seemed as if one insistent detail after another was
crowding upon him in a most extraordinary man
ner. He grew fretful, and at the last decidedly
irritable
"Don t worry, Elijah," Helen said, after an
unusually impatient outburst. "The world wasn t
made in a day."
"Opportunities are, and are short-lived too."
"Not when they travel via Mexieanos. You can
always count on one day more with them. Mariana
has some redeeming features after all."
"Well," Elijah s lips straightened, "mafiana is
tomorrow, and tomorrow we start."
Il.-len glanced at her desk with its litter of cor
respondence.
"I guess we can manage it in some way."
"I don t guess, I know. It s tomorrow; so be
ready early. Don t come to the office ; I will call for
you
75
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Elijah was as good as his word. At six o clock
he was waiting at Helen s door, and they were early
on their way.
In the days that had followed their conversation
relative to unpurchased lands, Helen had given
much thought to the possible results of the plan
suggested by Elijah. She had experienced no waver
of hesitation over their present confidential rela
tions. These presumed nothing more than their
face value and were in no sense different from her
relations with other employers. Had she been
possessed of a fortune, the proposed partnership
would have had a plausible excuse. She would then
merely have furnished the money necessary to
carry out their mutual plans and a partnership
would naturally have followed. She had no for
tune. Her relations with Elijah would of neces
sity become more confidential, more personal.
Elijah was a married man, and intuitively she hesi
tated. But then; here was the great business op
portunity of her life; the opportunity for which
she had been waiting and hoping until hope had
become all but expectation, and now hope and ex
pectation needed only her consent to become reality.
She had been really glad of the delays which put
from her the necessity of immediate decision. She
would decide when the time came. She thought of
going to Winston again for advice; but Winston
was occupied. This was her excuse to herself. In
76
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
her heart she knew what he would say and she did
not wish to listen to his words. She dwelt long
over the idea of buying land independently, for her
self. But this savored of using for her own benefit,
information gained indirectly from her present
position. Moreover, being a woman, she shrank
from wholly independent action. The appeal to her
ambition was a powerful one. A great transforma
tion was going on in California. It was so radical,
so unthought of, that those connected with it in any
of its phases were bound to become prominent, and
prominence was one great thing that she desired.
Elijah was the ori.Lrinator of orange growing on a
large scale. He had made his particular field a
variety of seedless orange which had been hitherto
unknown; he had conceived of fertile lands that
w. iv now worthless; had, by sheer will power, got
under way an irrigation scheme which would bring
fame and fortune. These possibilities were known
to only half a dozen individuals who could take
advantage of thriii, and Helm was one. It was
strange that, as sin- now faced the question finally,
she felt none of that senae of triumph and satisfac
tion which she had imagined such an outlook would
j^ive her.
As she took her scat beside Elijah and was
whirled through the sandy streets of Ysleta, out
over the rolling desert toward tho foot-hills of the
San Bernardinos, she felt, instead of elation, a
77
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
strange depression which she could not explain
away. Perhaps it was the chill which is always in
the California air before the rising sun has asserted
its power, or lost it when its daily course is run
and it is sinking towards the western horizon. The
scenes they passed only served to heighten this
feeling; the torpid Mexicans, crawling from their
cheerless adobe huts, squatted on what should be
the sunny side, their sombreros pulled low, their
ponchos wrapped closely around face, and neck,
and shoulders, one grimy hand with numbed fingers,
thrusting the inevitable cigarro between blue lips,
as they watched with dull eyes the team flash by.
Stiffened bunches of scrawny cattle rose regret
fully from the sand which their bodies had warmed
through the night. Shambling the least possible
distance from the wagon trail, they stood with
arched backs and low-hung heads, looking mild re
proach at the disturbers of their dismal peace. Even
the long, blue shadows stretched themselves stiffly
along the yellow sands or lost their form in the
soggy mists that hung damp and chill over the river
bottoms and deep-sunk hollows, where seeping
springs oozed out into the shivery air. Toward the
west, the great Pacific was hidden by a waveless
wall of milky white that flowed inland by imper
ceptible motions, overwhelming with its advancing
flood, town and plain, but leaving here and there a
78
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
tawny hill rising above the choking mist, like barren
islands in a sea of arctic white.
Elijah shivered.
"It doesn t look like a land of perpetual sunshine,
does it?"
"No, and it doesn t feel like one either. " Helen s
teeth fairly chattered as she drew her wraps more
closely about her.
"When we get ready to sell fruit ranches from
our block of ground, we will entertain our Eastern
purchasers with lateness. Late suppers, late retir
ing, late rising"
"And late sales." Helen shrugged her shoul
ders. "We ll have to keep prospective purchasers
under cover all of the time. If we take them out
early, we ll freeze them, if late, we ll roast them,
and almost any time they re liable to be blown
away. Just look at that!" She nodded toward a
grove of native orange trees. The outer row had
had every leaf twisted from it by the constant
winds.
Elijah glanced at his companion.
"I ll ti-11 you my first move. I m going to get
you into a cheerful mood and thru put you under
cover and ki-i-p you tln-iv. What is the matter,
anyway?"
Helm made no reply. Perhaps sh- could not. in
exact truth. Her youthful philosophy had hardly
gone far enough to emphasize the fact that nature
79
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
is only responsive to our moods, not creative of
them.
"Twenty miles is a long drive on an empty stom
ach. " Elijah spoke apologetically. I can go a
week without eating, or sleeping either, if neces
sary. It came pretty near being necessary one
time." He shrugged his shoulders. Poor Amy!
She never complained. Do you think you would
have put up with a husband who gave you only oat
meal week in and week out, and not over much at
that?"
"I might have put up with the husband, that
would depend; but the oatmeal, never! If I had
thought it worth while, I wouldn t have troubled
him about that, even. I would have found some
thing else for him and for myself too!"
Helen spoke with decision. Elijah s words were
uppermost in her mind, a realization of what his
work had cost him. Her enthusiasm kindled, she
forgot for the moment that the suggestion of the
more helpful course which she would have pursued,
was an unqualified condemnation of Amy. It was
partly owing to the singleness of the vision of youth,
partly to the fact that Elijah s wife was hardly a
tangible entity to her.
Elijah looked down at Helen. His face was
sober. A moment he looked, then turned his eyes
to the distant hills.
"I believe you would."
80
THE VISION OF ELIJAH: BERL
His look and manner of speaking disturbed
Helen, though she could not tell why. All the
doubts and fears of the past weeks again assailed
her. She began to feel a vague distrust of her am
bition. Was it after all so very different from
the sordid motives she had despised in others T A
vision of Ysleta rose before her, with the glaring
rawness and gaudy pretensions which she had re
garded with such humorous contempt. She had
been keen enough to forecast the ruin in store for
the promoters ; but were her own plans so superior
to these as she had once imagined ? Did not they too
possess some elements of ruin? Suppose success
should crown her efforts, would success bring hap
piness? There was Elijah s wife; how would this
success affect this woman whom she had never seen,
(if whose existence she was barely conscious? Her
depression deepened. Why not tell Elijah, even
without a plausible reason, that she had decided
against it? Her lips half opened to speak, but a
host of conflicting impulses held her dumb. Suc-
wealth, these were the golden spurs that had
ur-T -d her on. Without this shining goal, what
would lift be but a dreary round of duties?
Tin- sun was beating with licrcc heat on her un
protected face. The clammy chill of the lowlands
was gone. The towering heights of the San Bernar-
dinos rose clear against the blur of the sky.
Elijah drew rein, and Helen turned to look behind.
81
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
To the west and south as far as the eye could reach,
stretched a great, softly moving sea of milky white.
Thus far and no farther, soft fingers of creamy
vapor reached out against the foothills, crept up
into the gulches, reached upward and were dis
solved by the sun into transparent air. Far up on
one of the foothills, was a huge square of dark green
set in a frame of tawny sand. Helen knew the
map ; she recognized the locality. She had no need
of Elijah s words as he pointed with his whip.
"There s the first grove of navel oranges ever
raised on this continent. I had just three trees to
start with, now you can see for yourself. There s
Pico s ranch. That s the one we are to buy." He
again pointed with his whip, tracing the boundaries
in the air. "There s the Sangre de Cristo; here s
where it s going to be." He indicated with his
whip the crest of the hills, the line of the main
canal ; showed where it would pierce a higher peak
with tunnels, and where, the main canal being
tapped, the life-giving waters would be distributed
to every field.
"It is great." Elijah was speaking with solemn
voice. "It was all revealed to me. The work is
too great for me alone, I must have help. I shall
have to give up to others, but not too much. They
must not push me too hard. I shall be guided. But
this shall be my work alone." He swept his whip
again over the barren hillsides. "Yours and mine.
82
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
I shall need your help. I have never had human
help before, nor human sympathy. What little
help I have had, was because I could promise money,
money! What is money beside this great work?
Just think! I shall make this, all this a living
green. The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose. It shall bloom abundantly and rejoice even
with joy and singing/ Elijah s eyes swept over
the hills, his hands outstretched as if to gather to
them the fruits of his vision.
"This is my especial work; yours and mine. I
was going to do it all alone, but it was not to be.
Why else did I trust you and why else did you
see what I believed was for my eyes alone?"
He bent his eyes full upon Helen. She looked
shrinkingly into their solemn distance. The con
viction was forcing itself upon her that she could
of herself have nothing to say. There was more
than fame, more than glory and wealth in the
vision he was forcing her to see as he saw; some
thing great to be done, a life to be lived too great
to be measured by the petty standards of humanity,
and thus beyond her power to gauge; something
above her, beyond her, yet enveloping her like the
air she breathed.
He laid his hand on hers, not questioning^, but
masterfully, and without power to resist, sh felt
his clasp tighten. She heard his voice ; words that
83
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
hummed and throbbed, lulling her to a numb in
sensibility to all but the thoughts she felt, rather
than heard. She saw the visions he saw, heard the
voice that he heard, and she followed, not him, but
the vision and the voice. She shrank without mo
tion; but she knew that she must follow. Sorrow
was nothing, regret was nothing; only the vision
that beckoned, the voice that called, these were
everything. She would have given worlds to have
been beyond their spell; but the eyes that were
looking into hers she could not turn away from, the
clasp of the hand that held her, she could not shake
off. Her eyelids drooped, but they could not shut
from her sight the great, solemn eyes that balanced
and swung, grew large and small, but ever burned
and burrowed into her soul.
Elijah gathered up the reins and the horses
moved on. They followed the winding trail down
the hill, up the gulch, then a quick turn and the
dark green square cut off the burning rays of the
sun.
In front of a little cottage almost hidden by blos
soming roses the team came to a halt. Elijah
sprang from the wagon, and Helen caught a
glimpse of a delicately beautiful face among the
roses. The next instant it was hidden from sight
upon Elijah s shoulder. Helen could not believe
the voice to be the same that she had just heard.
84
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Hollo, Amy ! I Ve brought you a visitor. Have
you got anything to eat? We re awfully hungry.
Driven from Ysleta since six o clock."
85
CHAPTER EIGHT
In response to the brusque introduction that fol
lowed, Amy turned her eyes to Helen. The motion
was evidently without volition on her part, only
obedience to an unexpressed command. She ad
vanced timidly, with outstretched hand.
"lam glad to see you ; I have heard my husband
speak of you very often. 1
There was a touch of the pride of possession in
the words, "My husband," but it sounded plead
ing and doubtful, rather than confident. With
the words, the eyes again sought Elijah.
Helen was outwardly self possessed, inwardly,
her thoughts were confused.
"He speaks to me quite often; I didn t know that
he spoke of me."
Elijah was sizzling with impatience.
"This doesn t look much like breakfast." With
out even a glance at Amy, he turned toward the
cottage. His words seemed to crowd each other,
as he called back through the door, "You two stay
and talk women stuff. I ll rustle breakfast."
Helen turned to Amy.
"That s considerate, if not complimentary."
8G
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Elijah has no time for compliments; he s -too
busy." Amy spoke rather stiffly. She longed with
all her heart to follow Elijah ; but at the same time,
she was glad of the opportunity to show Helen that
she had talents along other lines than "women
stuff. "
Helen laughed.
" Women stuff isn t so bad as it s painted."
"Why?" Amy inquired blankly.
"Oh, it fills in. One can t always be so terribly
in earnest."
"Elijah is."
Helen restrained herself with difficulty. She
felt an hysterical and unreasonable desire to laugh.
"That s why I m in his office, probably. I m a
relief."
Helen s reply was reassuring to Amy. It was a
new reason for the relations between Elijah and
Helen. She accepted it without question.
"I m afraid that I am too much interested in his
work. It isn t good for him, but I can t help it. I
think you are right about his being too much in
earnest." Amy spoke laboriously; she evidently
had some ulterior purpose in view, more evident to
Helen than she knew. With all the guile that she
could muster, Amy looked at Helen. "What is
your work?"
Helen did not feel the pathos of what was pass-
87
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ing before her eyes, she only saw tHe absurdity of
it.
"Oh, nothing much. I just keep the books.
That s easy. Then I write letters, and see that
they are mailed, and for amusement, I have argu
ments with Ralph Winston; he s the engineer, you
know."
"Yes, I know Mr. Winston. I don t think much
of him. He s rather conceited, don t you think
so?"
"Very."
"I am sure he is. My husband knows more about
orange trees, and land, and irrigation than any
body, and yet I have heard Mr. Winston contradict
him time and time again. My husband is very
patient with him."
Again Helen felt an almost uncontrollable im
pulse to laughter.
"Ralph tries everyone s patience when he doesn t
agree with them."
Amy felt that she was wandering from her pur
pose. She had a vague idea of returning to it by
a graceful transition, but one did not suggest itself
to her, and she dared temporize no further.
* Is book-keeping so very hard ? she asked.
"Not at all; it s just a little puzzling once in a
while."
"Where did you learn?"
"At a business college. I took a regular course."
88
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I can t that is I " Amy stumbled, her face
flushed with confusion. She had almost disclosed
her purpose in so many words. "Really," she
continued, regaining her mental foothold, "I know
nothing about such things. Do you really have to
go to college to learn book-keeping?"
"No, indeed." Helen was moved to pity. "Get
A and B s elements, any book store has them; a
little paper and pencil, a small journal, a cash book
and ledger. A little practice, and the thing is
done."
Helen s face was smiling and imperturbable. A
glance at it convinced Amy that her purpose was
undivined.
"Thank you. I have always been curious about
such things." Then she grew oblivious of Helen,
more completely absorbed than she had ever been
before in her life. Her face flushed a delicate pink
with the glow of the resolution which had at last
taken definite shape in her mind. It was all so
simple. Why hadn t she thought of it before?
Ilrl.-n was watching her with a pitying smile on her
lips, but the pity was for Elijah, not for Amy. She
recalled involuntarily her first meeting with Elijah,
the intangible something that had puzzled her about
him. Then the incidents of the morning came to
her with a rush that overpow n-d her. She saw
rv.-rythinpr now, and the smile died from her lips.
"What might he not have accomplished, had he mar-
89
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ried a different sort of a woman? if," her face
was scarlet now.
Breakfast!" Elijah stood in the door, flourish
ing a dauby spoon. Oatmeal ! " he called, looking
at Helen. "Come!"
He darted forward, flung one arm with the spoon
attached around Amy s waist and swept her to
wards the open door.
Helen followed, laughing. The laugh was not
the hearty, spontaneous expression of innocent
mirth, of was it only hours, or was it ages ago?
Helen could not answer. She was not clearly con
scious of the question. She was not certain whether
the present was a reality, or whether it was a vague,
disagreeable dream, threatening hideous things that
were nameless and terrifying, as the demon-peopled
shadows surrounding a shrinking child. Her eager
anticipations, the sudden, indefinite repugnance to
the ride with Elijah, the chill morning, the huddled
numbness of the blanketed Mexicans, the hunched-
up cattle by the roadside, the clammy, milky fog,
the fierce blast of the smiting sun, the land of prom
ise in the blazing light, Elijah s "My work, mine
and yours," the consuming enthusiasm of Elijah,
the empty, inane beauty of Amy, these two people,
twain and one flesh, and she, apart or a part ; which
should it be? Weaving out and in, confusing, tan*
talizing, and she, drifting and floating like an errant
90
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
leaf on these currents of destiny, going hither and
thither, to find a resting place, where?
The sound of her own laughter mocked her. She
was conscious that her smile was labored, that her
spontaneous effort would be tears. This she was
resisting. Everything seemed strange to her.
Why? She could not answer.
The breakfast table was set on a verandah,
shaded with climbing roses and honeysuckle in full
bloom. Flecks of sunshine pierced the clustered
leaves, but the fierceness of the sun was tempered to
a soft glow by the matted vines. The fragrance of
flowers perfumed the air, and light and perfume
gave a heightened pleasure from consciousness of
the conditions without. A dish of steaming oatmeal
\\as before Elijah, a pitcher of thick cream and a
bowl of powdered sugar. In the centre of the table
was a plate of oranges, golden and fair.
Elijah motioned Helen to a seat on the opposite
side of the table, and swung Amy into a chair by his
side. His face was flushed, his motions quick and
H Tvous. llrlfii dumbly wondered if he too ITON
conscious of a struggle within himself, if his ac
tions were forced, or if they were natural, and
she were reading her own unrest into them.
Elijah selected from the dish the largest and
fairest orange, if choice were possible. He p
it in the air for the fraction of a second. "Catch,"
he said, and tossed it into Helen s hands. Another
91
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
orange was dropped into Amy s lap. Selecting one
for himself, he began to tear the acrid rind from
the fruit and holding the stripped orange, looked
at Helen with eyes momentarily half-closed.
" Let s eat and drink to our success." His eyes
opened wide as he turned to Amy. " Here s food
and drink, typical of all objects worth the struggle.
1 The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower. !
Elijah rose as he spoke, holding in one hand the
stripped orange, in the other the rind.
"This fruit is typical of life. It is fair to look
upon. Its acrid rind burns the lips; the thought
less cast it aside. Only those who can see beneath
the bitter rind, the sweet, refreshing fruit, are
worthy to taste of it. We have tasted the bitterness,
little girl, let us refresh ourselves with the sweet
ness."
He raised the orange to his lips. Helen and Amy
did the same. Helen was still conscious of the
tense muscles shaping her lips in a smile.
"Oatmeal?" Elijah was filling a dish and look
ing at Helen. Her face flushed slightly.
"If you please."
Elijah laughed, and Amy gazed in mild wonder.
"It s our joke," he explained. "Miss Lonsdale
said that she would have fed me with something bet
ter than oatmeal if she had been my wife."
92
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
To this, Amy made no reply. She was absorbed
in her thoughts. Her fear of Helen was diminish
ing. In a way, she was enjoying her own clever
ness. It was clever in her to have drawn from
Helen the secret of her hold upon Elijah, without
arousing any suspicions. "It s not so very hard,
just a little puzzling once in a while." These
\vonls stood out so sharply and clearly. Amy s
face clouded. She must not forget, and her mem
ory was not good. "A little practice and the thing
is done." This was clear. "A paper and pencil,
a _" "\Yhat was it? Some kind of books." Her
face grew more perplexed and clouded. "Oh!
What if she should forget? It would never do to
ask Helen again, Helen would suspect. She must
remember." Her eyes grew dim with tears that
were ! -manding to be shed. "Any book-seller has
them." Her face cleared. She felt like shouting
her triumph. She could go to any book-seller and
he would tell her what she wanted to know.
"That sail." Elijah sprang from the table. He
lifted Amy from her feet, caught her in his arms,
(1 her and darted through the house and out
into the drive- way.
"Hook up the horses, Jos.-: Move lively! We ve
got a long drive."
Helen and Amy were standing under a rose-cov
ered trellis. Helen was sober, Amy was peaceful.
"Sorry to leave you so soon, little :irl. \\Vre
93
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
going out on business." The team pulled up beside
them. "We ll be home tonight." The words
floated back through the crush of wheels on the
gravel.
Amy watched them drive away. This time she
held no Fate-dealing daisy in her hands; a full
blown rose was there instead. The flush of it was
on her cheeks, its perfume in her nostrils as she
cleared the table, and washing the dishes, put them
away. She sang softly to herself, with her sewing
in her lap, as she rocked gently to and fro through
the long, hot day. In the shade of the rose and the
honeysuckle, the tempered sunbeams fell on her
hair, on her work, the sweet perfume of the air
mingling with the perfume of her dreams.
It was almost six o clock when Elijah and Helen
returned. Following them closely was a dusty
horseman. Without dismounting the horseman
handed a note to Elijah. Elijah tore open the en
velope, his face clouding as he read. He turned to
Helen.
"You re right, as usual. The Pacific will close
its doors tomorrow. We ve got to get back to
Ysleta tonight. The cashier tells me that we can
get our money out if we re on hand early when the
bank opens in the morning." Elijah turned to the
stable man. "Take out these horses and put in
Chica and Lota. Hurry!" He slipped his arm
through Amy s. "Too bad, little girl. Thought
94
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
we d have an evening together. Let s go in and
have a bite. Jose will be ready in fifteen minutes.
iSixty miles is a long drive for one day; are you
good for it?" He looked sharply at Helen.
"Of course I am." The answer was brusque.
The day, for very good reasons, had not eased
Helen s mind.
Amy stood bright-eyed and smiling, as Elijah
kissed her goodbye. A fleeting wonder swept over
Elijah s mind; but he had no time for riddles.
Amy was still smiling as Elijah and Helen drove
away. The setting sun rested a halo on her hair,
shone softly in her triumphant eyes. A long time
she stood looking towards the great ocean, then she
turned to the cottage. "A pencil and paper, and a
little practice and the thing is done."
95
CHAPTER NINE
The Rio Vista was the famous hostelry of Ysleta.
With full appreciation of the truth of the old
adage that the path to a man s heart leads through
his stomach, the promoters of the Ysleta boom had
built a gorgeous edifice and equipped it with a
cuisine not equalled west of the Mississippi. It is
true that their artistic palates were not so finely
educated as were their gastronomic, but the glitter
of plate glass windows and the constant warfare of
hostile colors, affected not at all the delicate viands
which were placed before the guests. Since her
connection with the Las Cruces, Helen Lonsdale
had made this palace her home
As she ascended the steps of the Rio Vista, after
her return from the Berl ranch, Helen s attention
was attracted to an old man who was seated near
the head of the broad stone steps that led to the
broader verandah. He seemed utterly out of har
mony with his surroundings. His clothes were not
shabby, but they were evidently worn more with an
eye to the useful than to the ornamental. The
heavy boots were wrinkled and worn, yet solid,
and the blacking suggested a reluctant concession
96
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BKKL
to custom rather than to a sense of propriety. His
trousers were baggy and his coat hung in loose folds
from a pair of broad, square shoulders. A white
shirt was topped by a high old-fashioned collar,
held by a flowing ti<> of navy blue. These incon
gruities, in sharp contrast to the finished specimens
of weli-groomed humanity who circled around him,
first attracted Helen. It was the face that com
pelled from her more than a passing notice.
As she looked at the face, more especially the
eyes, a sense of relief from oppression, an almost
irresistible impulse to laughter came over her. It
was not ridicule, but a light-hearted response to the
contagious humor radiating from every line and
wrinkle. Yet the weathered face, with its closely-
cropped fringe of gray beard, resting like a sphere
on the sharp lips of the high collar, carried the
conviction that the mobile lines could set hard as
frozen metal, that the humorous eyes, deep beneath
overhanging brows, could pierce like sharpened
steel. Perhaps it was her imagination, but the eyes
seemed to answer her own and the face to turn as
as she passed, in order to prolong the interchange
"I wordless n
LatT in th.- <lay Helen was seated apart from the
f-n.wd in the rotunda. She wanted to get away
from herself but there was no desire to seek com
panionship. Consequently she was annoy.-d at the
sound of footsteps which evidently had her for an
97
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
object. She was more annoyed when a chair was
dragged from its position and thrust beside her
own. She did not even turn her head when she
heard a slump in the chair which testified that the
intruder intended to maintain his position. With
no preliminary cough, a rugged voice remarked :
"Pretty considerable goin on in these parts, if
tis three thousand miles from nowhere, an a hard
road at that."
Helen s annoyance vanished. She turned bright
ly to the old man.
"Please excuse me. I didn t know who it was till
you spoke."
"If you know now, you ve got the advantage o
me, in one sense. I m Uncle Sid Harwood, retired
sea captain, at present cruisin for pleasure."
Helen bowed with sedate humor.
"I m Helen Lonsdale and nothing in particu
lar."
Uncle Sid Harwood surveyed his companion
leisurely.
"First time I ever found nothin in particular
worth while. You come from around here?"
"Yes, I m Calif ornian, born and bred."
"Glad to know it. I ve been lyin at anchor here
some days lookin for a pilot. I reckoned you
knew the harbor. Met a young fellow by the name
o Berl?"
"Elijah Berl?" Helen asked in surprise.
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"That s him."
"Why yes. of course I have. He s president of
the Las Cruces Irrigation Company."
"Praisin the Lord an callyhootin around like
a sky rocket with its tail a-fire?" pursued Uncle
Sid.
Helen laughed at the apt though rather super
ficial analogy.
"Yes, but he s not all fire and fizz after all. He
is doing things worth while."
"Don t doubt it." Uncle Sid spoke with convic
tion. "He always carried high steam, an I guessed
he d do something, if he got hitched to an engine
that would stand the pressure."
"Wouldn t you like to see him? He s in the
hotel now, I think. I ll send for him."
Uncle Sid made no objections and Helen beck
oned a waiter.
"Please see if Mr. Berl is in his room and tell
him he s wanted."
"Eunice an I thought maybe we d see Lige.
That s one reason why we came here instead o*
somewhere s else. Eunice s my sister," Uncle Sid
added.
Before Helen had time to reply, she heard th
quick beat of Elijah s feet on the floor.
"That s him," Uncle Sid remarked, as he rose to
his feet.
The footsteps halted and Helen saw Elijah stand-
99
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ing in mute surprise before the old man. The next
instant he had Uncle Sid s outstretched hand in
both his own with crushing grasp.
"Well! well! Uncle Sid! You re looking as
natural as life."
Uncle Sid winced.
"I m feelin as natural s life too, just this very
minute. Cast off, Lige ! I brought my rheurnatiz
with me."
Elijah turned to Helen.
"How under the sun did you come to know Un
cle Sid?"
"She don t know me. We re just gettin ac
quainted.
"Uncle Sid is worth knowing, Helen, I can vouch
for that." Elijah surveyed Uncle Sid with a beam
ing face. "Where s your sister, Mrs. MacGregor;
why didn t you bring her with you?"
"I did. She ll be down in a minute. Sit down.
How do you make it out here, Lige ? You used to
be great on temperance back East, but I haven t
seen any water worth drinkin out here."
"There s plenty of water, all right, and good
water too. We 11 show him, won t we, Helen ?
" I 11 believe that when I see it. Lucky thing the
Lord didn t start in makin man in this section,"
growled Uncle Sid, "he wouldn t have had water
enough to have pasted him together with. He d a
had dust enough, goodness knows. I want a hand-
100
THE VISION OF ELIJAH HKRL
bcllus, to blow off some o this dust. Just as sure
as I touch water I shan t be nothin but a mud
puddle. "
"You can afford to even up, Uncle Sid. You ve
had more than your share of water all your life.
A little soil won t hurt you now."
"Huh!" Uncle Sid grunted. "I was on top of
the water then, an I kept there. This dirt gets
on top o me an inside me an everywhere it ain t
no business to be. Here s Eunice now. Look here,
Eunice, here s an old friend o yours, and here s
Miss Lonsdale, a new friend o mine, and I won t
swap either."
A tall woman, deliberate in all her motions, ad
vanced upon the little party. Her eyes rested for
a moment upon Elijah as he rose with extended
hand, then, acknowledging the introduction to
Helen, they slipped from Elijah and glanced slowly
over Helen from her boots to the coils of dark hair
that crowned her head. Helen experienced a creep
ing sensation. The touch of the deliberate eyes re
minded her of the inquisitive fingers of a jockey
feeling for blemishes on the smooth limbs of a
horse.
Mrs. MacGregor seated herself with studied ele
gance.
"It occurs to me, Sidney, that Miss Lonsdale
may object to your rather broad claims to her
friendship upon so short an acquaintance."
101
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I guess she s able to let me know her own mind.
We took to each other like ducks to a patch o wild
rice. I m too old to be dangerous an young enough
to know what s good for me."
Mrs. MacGregor ignored her brother s remark.
She turned to Elijah.
* How does the change from sedate New England
to this new life affect you, Elijah?"
"Not at all, personally, Mrs. MacGregor. I m
just the same Lige you used to know."
Uncle Sid broke in.
4 Perhaps not your innards, but your outards
ain t the same. You ain t goin around here bare
foot, with two kinds o cloth in your pants."
Mrs. MacGregor s eyes were wandering from
Helen to Elijah. She was comparing the evidences
of sight gathered from personal inspection, with
those of hearsay, the result of her indirect inquiries
among the hotel guests, as to Elijah s standing in
Ysleta. At length she arose, holding out her hand
to Elijah.
* * I shall hope to renew our old acquaintance. It
is a great pleasure to find one s estimates of an old
friend more than exceeded."
Elijah took Mrs. MacGregor s hand. In spite of
his bewilderment over their implied intimacy in
the past, he felt a glow of pride that she felt it
worth her while to expand the mustard seed of their
102
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
former acquaintance into a luxuriant growth. He
gave the limp hand a warm pressure.
"Let me do anything I can for your pleasure,
Mr*. MaH JIVLTOI-. I am always at your service/*
Mrs. MacGregor bowed formally to Helen.
"We shall meet again, I hope. You are stopping
here? *
"Yes." Helen could hardly bring herself to this
curt response. She felt more like slapping.
It did not escape Mrs. MacGregor, who was fol
lowing Uncle Sid from the room, that Helen had
begun to move as well, and that she was checked
by an almost imperceptible gesture from Elijah.
"What about tomorrow, Helen?" he asked.
"You mean the Pacific bank?"
"Yes. It s not our secret now. Every one knows
that the run will begin when the bank opens."
"There s only one thing to be done. You must
be the first in line."
Elijah took a few quick turns then came to a
sudden halt before Helen.
* That s impossible. The line s a mile lon^ now.
II-- laii jh.d uneasily over the exaggeration.
"Then we are out of it, after all."
Elijah hesitated.
"Not necessarily."
II. 1, n Irnp.Ml to the point of Elijah s meaning.
; can t do that. You mustn t!"
* Why not ? It s our money.
103
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
You know why not." Helen spoke sharply.
"Mellin has fixed it all up." Elijah insisted.
"You know what that means, as well as I do."
Helen s voice was sharper and more decided.
Elijah was again striding up and down. He
looked at his watch, then snapped it shut and thrust
it into his pocket.
"Well, goodnight, Helen, I ll think it over."
"Don t do it. It s dangerous to think about some
things."
Helen was alone, walking thoughtfully to her
room. Her old mood had returned with even darker
shadows. Why couldn t she act on her own keen
suggestion and stop thinking about dangerous
things? This question occurred to her. Another
point suggested itself. Mellin was reading clearly
in Elijah that about which she had only vague pre
sentiments.
104
CHAPTER TEN
The first brick in Ysleta s speculative row had
toppled against its fellow and the whole line was
threatened with collapse. Some worthless specu
lator had begun it by trying to "cash in." The
news had spread like wild-fire that the Pacific was
to be the first point of attack. There was no time
for aid to reach it from the San Francisco banks,
even had they been disposed to tender assistance.
As for the local banks, they were too busy furling
their own sails for the coming storm, to think of
going to the rescue of the storm s first victim.
Early as was the hour, the sharp-lined figures of
the depositors jammed against the closed doors of
the bank and faded to dim shadows at the far end
of the line. Men, who a few hours before had bowed
with deference to their fellow men, were now like
savage tigers, holding their places with tooth and
claw bared for immediate and merciless action.
Woe to the luckless one who in the jam, was
crowded from his position. There was no hope for
him but in the far distance where men were
shadows. No word was spoken. There was no
105
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
need of words where moonlight gleamed coldly on
shining steel. A hand to hand fight meant the end
of the line for the defender as well as the one who
attacked.
Only one thing could have broken the solid
ranks. Could any one in that fierce array of self-
seekers have seen a man slink from a half -opened
window in the rear of the bank, creep from shadow
to shadow in the direction of the Rio Vista, and
finally disappear within a secluded arbor, a timid
fox in a pack of ravening hounds would have had a
better chance of life than he.
Pale as the moonlight that lay soft and white
about him, Elijah stood, awaiting Mellin.
"I have decided that I cannot take the money."
"What the devil are you here for then?"
"To tell that I will take chances with the rest."
"The devil you will." Mellin s voice showed
the contemptuous scorn he felt; but Elijah s course
was not new to him. His experience in life had
taught him that in business the saint and the sin
ner stand on the same plane. He had noted that
the sinner did without a qualm that which the saint
did with moaning and tears. The result was the
same in either case.
"I suppose you know that we are carrying five
hundred thousand in deposits. We have one hun
dred thousand with which to meet the run."
"But the receivership that will follow?"
106
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Mollin lau^hod.
"You are not so innocent as all that. You know
our line of business. Real estate loans!" Mellin
indulged in a sarcastic smile. "Two millions hard
cash and five millions of Ysleta lots that aren t
worth record."
"We took our chances with the other depositors
and we will stay with them." Elijah s words were
firm, but his voice gave them the lie.
Mellin was very patient. It never occurred to
Elijah to ask why. Mellin was worldly wise; Eli
jah was not. Therefore Elijah never asked the
question, "What does the other man want me to
do for him when he is so anxious to do something
for me?"
Mellin was worldly wise. He had read Elijah
aright. Elijah was open to conviction as to what
was right and what was wrong. His well-known
professions only strengthened Mellin in his belief
that Elijah relied upon others for guidance more
than upon himself. So he made answer:
You are not on the same footing as the other de
positors. I am cashier. Yesterday morning I got
a tip that there would be a run on the bank and I
passed it on to you. It s no one s business that
you had a friend on the inside. You were out of
town and I sent a messenger after you. After
sending him, things thickened. I saw that you
wouldn t get back in time, so I drew for you.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Here s the stuff." Mrllin held out a compact bun
dle carefully wrapped and tied. Elijah s hand
closed upon it. He moistened his dry lips as the
package rested in his hand and was transferred to
his pocket. Without a word he turned toward the
hotel. The parting of the ways was behind him
and he was on the wrong path. The return was
not irrevocably barred; but, would he return?
108
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The shadows that had gathered around Elijah
during the night were not dispelled with the dawn
of the following day. On his way to the office, he
was anticipating Helen s criticism of his act in tak
ing the money from the bank in the face of her
strong opposition. He found on arrival, that the
devil had a way of his own in making smooth the
path of his disciples, for a time at least.
Helen greeted him as usual.
"My last night s advice was unnecessary, wasn t
HI"
"How so?"
"I went around by the bank this morning. It was
lit, I can tell you. I didn t see you in the
line." There was an indirect question in Helen s
eyes.
"I wasn t in line." Elijah could not restrain a
sigh of relief as he spoke the half-truth.
"They say the line was begun before ten o clock
night"
"I know it was, and it was kept too." Elijah
turned to his desk and became absorbed in his work.
Whether or not Helen grasped the fact that her
109
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
indirect question of Elijah remained unanswered,
she pursued it no farther.
Toward noon, Elijah went to the safe which stood
in the back of the office. He opened the door, took
from his pocket a bunch of keys and unlocked his
private box. Helen s back w r as towards him.
Without taking his eyes from her, he drew from his
pocket a small package and slipped it beneath a pile
of papers. Then he closed and locked the door and
returned the keys to his pocket. He reseated him
self, swinging his chair from his desk.
"Are you busy, Helen?"
"Not very."
"What do you think this business means?"
"What, the run on the Pacific?"
"Yes."
"It s the beginning of the end, and I m glad it s
come. Helen spoke with decision.
"The end of everything?"
" No ; only a weeding out. It was bound to come,
only I didn t think it would be so soon.
"I don t feel so sure that anything will be left."
"Things that are worth while, will be."
Elijah made no immediate reply. He could not
get away from the thought of the thing that he had
done; the thing that Helen had almost command
ed him not to do. He knew what she would think
could she know of the packet which he had stealth
ily slipped into his private box. He raised his eyes,
110
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
to meet Helen s looking frankly into his own, or
was it his imagination? Was there an anxious
questioning, born of a half suspicion ? He put the
thought from him.
"Ysleta was worth while, " he ventured.
"In itself, it was. * Helen s face was firm with
conviction. "But these scheming rascals have made
it not worth while for a long time. There will be
room for Ysleta if Las Graces is managed right.
"It s going to be." Elijah spoke with no less
conviction.
"Yes, it s going to be just so long as you keep
clear of boomers methods. Not one of the boom
ers has cared a snap of his fingers for Ysleta s fu
ture. Every one has wanted all he could get, now."
"Now?" Elijah repeated.
"Yes, now; but we have to wait for things that
are worth while."
"Good Heavens, Helen! Haven t I waited?"
"Wait a little longer." Her voice was eager, al
most pleading.
"About the Pico ranch?"
"Just that, Elijah." Il -Ion made no attempt
to restrain the sigh of ivlicf that escaped her.
"I can t wait, Helen. Y<m saw wh>iv that <litdi
line was going. Others will see it. You saw that
only a hill lay between it and Pico s ranch. Others
will see it. A tunnel suggested itself to you. It will
suggest itself to others. \\V \\viv the first to see
111
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
these things, why should we not take advantage of
them?"
"But Seymour and Ralph, Elijah. It isn t fair
to them."
"I have given them enough."
"Yes, but"
Elijah interrupted her.
"I want to do things. You want to do things."
He was striding back and forth across the floor of
the office in growing excitement. I don t care for
money. You don t care for money. Look!" He
laid his hand on her arm and pointed to the dusty
street. " Except the Lord build the house, they
labor in vain that build it. Because of this, it is
falling ! falling ! But one can breathe the breath of
life into these dry bones. It shall rise from its
ashes. Deliver these lands from the hands of them
who have wrought this," he flung his hand to
ward the street, "from them and their kind, and
Ysleta shall yet live. It shall look forth upon waters
of plenty flowing from the mountains, upon green
hillsides, and upon valleys standing out with fat
ness." He paused, his voice dropped almost to a
whisper, but vibrating with intense emotion. * * The
vision of the future came to me. I was alone and
I waited. Then you came into my life. What I
lack, you have; patience, sympathy. You don t
know what it means to me."
Helen s eyes were not frank and fearless now.
112
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
They \VITO shrinking, questioning, doubting; but
they could not drop from Elijah s. She felt rather
than knew her feet were trembling on the brink,
but she could not turn back. The old fascination
was yet strong upon her, but she felt its strength
as a whole. Of its elemental compounds she was
ignorant; the religious fanaticism that with fren
zied kisses wears smooth a block of worthless stone ;
the merciless vanity that comes to one who is fixed
in the belief that he is God s elect; the human ele
ment that demands love, sympathy and unswerving
devotion to the idols he worships, whatever the cost
to others. These were strong elements and Helen
felt their power even as Ralph and others had felt
it. There was in Elijah an unshaken, unshakable
belief in himself. His work appealed to others as
it had appealed to Helen. Others selected with un
clouded judgment the grains of Elijah s enthusiasm
from the chaff of his fanaticism. Others had not
a woman s heart; Helen had. She was not con
scious of it, of how it was blinding her judgment,
of w lu-re it was leading her. This consciousness was
dimly suggesting itself to her, not from herself
but from Elijah. Let him arouse that conscious-
to active life, then she would know, then she
would act!
Helen divw a deep, inspiring breath, looking up
again. II- r -\vs were fiercely questioning.
No! This x.i ulous passion that strn<l<- sure-footed
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
on the brink of destruction, could not be assumed,
was not assumed. Helen was quick to judge and
quick to decide when she saw clearly. She was
clean of heart and pure of mind. She could not
know that a human soul, lashed to frenzy by the
stings of an outraged conscience, can yet clothe it
self in robes that might be worn by an angel of
light.
"Then I saw in my dream that there was a way
to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as
from the city of destruction."
114
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Whether warned by intuition that one more step
would be fatal, or whether his blinded sense of right
was asserting itself, the fact remained that for
several days, Elijah was hardly ever in the office
and even then for only a brief time. He seemed to
Helen, absorbed if not sullen. At first she noticed
this with positive relief; later she had misgivings
which grew more insistent as time went on. She
saw and she could not see. She saw the dream of
Elijah s solitary years daily takinir shape and form.
She saw that his work had roots which struck deep
in solid, lasting worth; she saw Ysleta founded on
drifting sand. The one had solid business prin
ciples; the other had glittering promis. s as worth-
as fairy trold. Was this all? From hero on,
her vision was blurred. Was this principle which
one had and the other had not, after all. rooted d.-.-p
in the mysterious influence which guided Klijah s
life?
It was with positive gratitude on.- mornin<_r that
she heard Uncle Sid s pnndi-mus knock on her door
and his raucous voice calling to her.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Come, Helen. Let s you and me take a walk
before the sun has burned the dust all off o the
grass."
All right, Uncle Sid! I ll be there in a mo
ment."
She was up and dressed almost before the echo of
Uncle Sid s voice had died away.
Uncle Sid eyed her approvingly as she stepped
into the hall.
"Pretty trim lookin craft," he remarked.
1 Don t take you long to get under way, either.
"Where are you going, Uncle Sid?"
Anywhere, so I get out o the smell o varnish !
Sand s better n that." Uncle Sid wrinkled his
nose in deep disgust. "You can blow sand off; but
this stuff ! It just soaks into you till you can taste
it."
Helen laughed.
"It is penetrating."
"Penetratin I" Uncle Sid snorted. "I should
say it was. If starvin cannibals just got one whilY
of us they d never think o cookin us unless they d
got used to lunchin off pitch pine."
They passed through the office, startling a dozing
clerk and porter to forced attention ; but these, dis
covering that their services were not needed, settled
themselves to their former positions.
The outside air was heavy with the indescribable
116
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
odor of newness and of hustling activity in drowsy
repose.
Uncle Sid had a bag in his hand which bumped
softly against the outer door as he opened it.
" Oranges/ he explained. "Hope to Gracious
they ain t infected. I gave em a good chance. I
kept em in my room last night."
Outside the door, he gained his first knowledge of
a California fog. The sticky, clammy chill pene
trated their garments like water. Uncle Sid but
toned his sailor jacket as he descended the broad
steps.
"This settles it!"
"Settles what?" Helen inquired, her teeth chat
tering.
"This ere fog has given me an idea. I m goin*
down to the river, the Christopher Sawyer, or some
such heathen name. I just bet it s one of those un
canny sort o streams that fit this country like a wet
sail to a spar."
"You ll have to explain, Uncle Sid; I m stupid
this mornin.L .
Uncle Sid looked sceptical, but resumed his point.
"Just look at this fog! I bet that the Chris
topher Sawyer gets out o bed nights and distrib-
Otei itst-lf through the air general, an waits for the
sun to herd it back. I m goin down to see."
Helen followed the old gi iitlnnan, absently
humoring him in his fancy. She was in a listening
117
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
mood rather than a talkative one, and Uncle Sid
distracted her thoughts from her own perplexities.
"Gosh a mighty!" Uncle Sid was out in the
street, peering through the mist. "Seem s like
wadin through skim milk."
"Which way?" Helen paused beside him.
"I snum to Gracious if I know! I didn t adjust
my compasses last night, an I guess I ll have to
sail by dead reckonin . Every country that ever
I was in before, an I ve been in most of em, the
water ran down hill. Now here, what there is of
it, don t seem to pay any attention to grades.
"When it comes to a hill, it just changes to gas,
coagulates on the other side, an goes on."
Uncle Sid was under way; Helen, absorbed in
thought, followed absently in his wake. The palms
which the industrious boomers had planted along
the streets, loomed hazily through the fog ahead,
gradually sharpened in outline, and again grew
hazy with distance, as they passed them by. From
each palm, a tuft of yellow-green spears stood up
defiantly above a cluster of gray spikes pointing
downward to their warty trunks ; a picture of hope
eternal in spite of inevitable death, as cheerfully
suggestive of mortality, as the upward pointing
hands, and the downward-drooping willows on the
tombstones of New England s puritan dead.
Helen was wondering what possible pleasure there
could be in this walk, but it was new and strange
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
to Uncle Sid and he ploughed steadily ahead. In
spite of the drapririn? sand that made her feet feel
like lead, the exercise did not stir her blood to a
plow of warmth. The physical chill of the fog,
the tawny sand that seemed to tinge the creeping
mist, the mental chill of her mood affected her so
that it suddenly seemed to her as if she could not
take another step.
" Aren t you hunting needless trouble, Uncle
Sid?" she suddenly cried, stopping short and look
ing at Uncle Sid. "Let s go back. We can be no
end more miserable in our awful hotel with only
half the trouble."
"I ain t seen no signs of the Christopher Saw
yer yet, exceptin this." Uncle Sid clove a semi
circle through the mist with his outstretched arm.
"Oh, well, if it s a scientific voyage, Uncle Sid,
let s go right on."
"Must be that. It s something an it ain t no
pleasure excursion, that s sure!"
They plodded on. It seemed to Helen as if it
were miles, she was certain it was hours. At last
it grew lighter, and tin- yellow tawn of the sand
appeared to have risen higher and higher, till the
whole of the shrouding mist was a yellow haze.
"I can t go another step, Uncle Sid." Helen
stopped short and sat down on a hummock of sand.
"What \ the matter little girl? You seem sort o
done up this mornin ," Uncle Sid dropped beside
119
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
her with a sounding slump. "There! here I be!
If I didn t ring, it ain t because I ain t hollow."
He unfolded a paper bag and drawing forth some
formidable sandwiches passed one to Helen and
began eating one himself. The sandwiches dis
posed of, he again investigated the bag. This time
he brought out two large oranges.
"They do one thing shipshape in this country."
He was eyeing Helen keenly while tearing the rind
from his orange. "They do up water in mighty
neat shape, but they do charge for it though. That s
what they do!" he rattled on. "These yellow
water-balls cost me five cents apiece, they did ! " He
parted the segments carefully, anxious lest a drop
of the juice should be wasted. Again his eyes
rested thoughtfully on Helen s somber face.
"What s the trouble, Helen?"
Helen s answer was accompanied by a blended
look of assent to Uncle Sid s assumption and a
humorous denial of it.
"One is often absent minded over troubles that
can t be explained even to one s best friends."
"Well," Uncle Sid was not wholly satisfied,
"perhaps by the time I m your best friend, you ll
be ready to tell me.
"I think that may be very soon," said Helen
soberly, as she finished her orange.
"Have another?" Uncle Sid held out the bag
cordially.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Helen was morally certain that Uncle Sid s New
England thrift was dwelling on foe five cents
apiece; but she took the proffered orange. Uncle
Sid rose clumsily to his feet.
"Now for the Christopher Sawyer."
The mist was rapidly clearing. Without visible
means of locomotion, wisps of fog rose from the
ground in the distance, trailed along like a sea-
bird rising from the water, then melted in the
air. They were standing on the edge of a mesa.
Below them, tall cottonwoods rose in a straggling,
sinuous line, their trunks matted with clinging
vines, their branches loaded almost to the breaking
point with clusters of parasitic plants. A line of
shrubs, filling in between the trees, were bowed in
a mat of tangled verdure that was dotted and
sprinkled with rainbow colors. White-rimmed
ditches appeared from behind projecting promon
tories of yellow sand, crawled under wire fences
whose crooked, ghostly sticks, like the legs of some
gigantic centipede, straggled around patches of
wheat and barley. Outside these patches of green,
adobe huts were surrounded by other scrairirly
sticks, driven into the ground and held upright
by wires which were stretched out to them from
occasional cottonwoods.
Back of them, Ysleta was lost to sight behind a
rising grade of yellow sand, dotted by clumps of
chaparral and cactus. Across the barranca, over
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
the tops of the highest cottonwoods, the rolling
mesa stretched as barren and forbidding as that on
which they were standing.
"I bet that s the Christopher Sawyer! * Uncle
Sid was pointing to the tangled mass of vegeta
tion. "These are the first things I ve seen that
look as if they d had enough to drink."
Helen was looking in another direction.
"How queer those cattle are acting."
She was watching a bunch of cattle about three
hundred yards away. They were clustered thickly,
their heads pointed towards herself and Unclfr-.-Sid.
In front of the herd, a huge bull was pawing the
sand. There was a muffled bellowing and from
beneath the nostrils of his low-hanging head, spurts
of dust rose in the air.
"Those critters do look hostile, an there ain t
no fence to get over an not a gosh-hanged tree to
climb." Uncle Sid spoke uneasily.
Across the barranca, they caught sight of an
other cloud of dust, from which swung wildly
gesticulating arms. At the same time, from one
of the adobes, they saw a vaquero emerge. His
arms too, were wildly waving. In response to his
cries which they heard only faintly, two bunches
of yapping gray fur swept across the white-rimmed
ditches and rolled up the bank.
There was evidently an unwonted excitement of
which Helen and Uncle Sid were an important
122
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
part. Then the cattle came to a conclusion and,
with lowered heads and tails sticking upright, they
charged straight for Uncle Sid and Helen.
The horsemen, meanwhile had crossed the bar
ranca, and the next instant, horses and riders with
the yapping fur, had turned the vigorously charg
ing cattle to an equally vigorous retreat.
Winston sprang from his horse in front of Uncle
Sid. His face was white with anger.
"Where did you come from? he began.
"From God s country, young man, and we got
lost." Uncle Sid was unabashed. Winston s face
broke into a smile ; then he caught sight of Helen.
"You ought to know better than this, Helen. "
"Better than what, young man?"
"Better than to go walking around here. You
see these cattle are more than half wild. They
don t often see a footman, and when they have
calves, they are dangerous. If you had been
mounted, you could have ridden through the bun eh
and they wouldn t have noticed you."
"Well; we shall have to walk back, apparently."
Helen s smile was not wholly spontaneous.
"To God s country? It s a long way." Ralph
was smiling at Helen s chagrin.
Hrlen laughed.
"Perhaps you could show us the way?"
"You would better go down to Pedro s ranch and
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
wait. Our supply wagons will be along shortly,
and they will take you to. town."
" Young man," Uncle Sid broke in, "you seem
to know this country. Is that strip o damp sand
down there, the Christopher Sawyer?"
"The what?" For a moment, Ralph s face was
blank astonishment, then he burst into a hearty
laugh.
"Oh, the Sangre de Christo! Yes."
"They both mean the same thing. Whew!
Helen, I ve got another idea about this country.
It s a great country for raisin ideas, if it ain t
good for anything else. It s prolific! It would
make a stone man think." He paused, fanning
himself vigorously. "There ain t any use talk-
in ; it s great! Soaks thinks full o fog- water
nights, an then the sun comes out mornin s and
boils em. If it wasn t for fogs twould roast em.
I don t wonder Lige Berl gets a broad view o
Providence, You can get all sorts o vittles in this
country, roasted, boiled and dried. I bet those
critters are carryin around dried beef on their
bones right now."
Ralph s look of amusement gave way to one of
inquiry.
"Are you a friend of Elijah Berl?" he asked.
"Helen, why don t you introduce us?"
But Uncle Sid again interrupted.
"Worse than that, young man, worse than that.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
It s most as bad as blood relations. Me and Lige
Deri s folks have been brought up in the same
neighborhood back in New England for ages.
Ralph started to reply to Uncle Sid, but a glance
at Helen changed his mind.
"Let s get down to Pedro s ranch, in the shade.
The wagons won t be along for an hour yet." He
tried to walk by Helen s side, but she waited for
Uncle Sid.
The last remnant of the fog had departed; the
sun was blazing fiercely. Toward Ysleta, the air
was already shimmering over the sand. By the
ditches and among the vines, was the music of many
birds and the cheerful notes of Bob White.
Half stifled with the choking dust, they scuffled
and slid down the steep trail that led to Pedro s
adobe.
Pedro was following, his stolid face stifling his
emotions. At the gate, the vaquero and Winston,
drawing their reins over their ponies heads,
dropped them on the ground. Pedro stepped for
ward, swept his hat from his head and held the gate
open for his guests to pass through. Following
them, he pointed to an inviting hammock, swung
between two fruit trees. Again he s\\vpt his hat
from his head.
"Perhaps the sefiorita will honor my poor ham
mock by reposing in it."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Helen stepped to the hammock. Another grace
ful bow from Pedro.
"At your feet, sefiorita."
Uncle Sid, uninvited, explored the garden. Pedro
was marching to the adobe. To Helen it seemed
as if she had never before experienced such a
delicious sensation as the resting of her tired body
in the perfectly adjusted hammock. Ralph was
watching her.
Pedro has departed, may I take his place I"
Assuming an affirmative answer, he stretched him
self at her feet.
"Helen, what s wrong?" he asked anxiously.
"Nothing, that I know of." She replied eva
sively.
"Is it the office?" persisted Winston.
"Why can t you believe me?" There was a
trace of annoyance in her manner.
"Because when your eyes tell me one thing and
your lips another, I m going to take my choice."
"I really don t like to ask you to attend to your
own business, Ralph." There was a flash of the
old humor in her voice.
"You oughtn t to say that to me, Helen, for the
sake of old times if for nothing more," he added
deliberately.
Helen understood the conditional "if", as well
as tho expression of his eyes. A surest ion of red
tinged the clear olive of her cheeks.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
This is no place for confidences, even if I had
any to exchai.
Later on then." Ralph s lips were decided.
"Who is your friend?" he added.
"Uncle Sid? He is an old friend of Elijah s.
He and his sister are stopping at the Vista."
There sounded the leisurely chut-chut of the
lumbering wagons. Ralph rose to his feet.
There come the wagons."
At tin- waiTon, Helen insisted upon riding in the
driver s scat. Uncle Sid was stowed in the rear.
Ralph flashed a look toward Helen.
My horse won t lead," he declared. "You ride
him in, Jim, and I ll drive."
If Ralph had counted upon a quiet talk with
ll.-len during the ride to Ysleta, he was certainly
disappointed. Uncle Sid s position in the back
ground was the only thing in the rear which he ac
cepted. In the matter of conversation, he was well
to the front.
"What s Lige Berl doin in this country any
way?" he questioned Ralph.
" Lige?" repeated Ralph. "Oh, he dreamed a
dream; was five years at it. He dreamed of
oranges, big fellows without seeds; of mountains
with too much water ami of deserts without enough.
Then be dn-amed of buiichiuir the ihive toother
I m- their mutual benefit. He convinced some KaM-
127
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
era capital that it was no dream after all. Now
we are trying to make good."
Uncle Sid grunted.
That s tolerably condensed."
Ralph laughed at Uncle Sid s disapproval.
"If you are really interested, you d better let us
show you around a* little. You can see a good deal
better than I can tell you."
Uncle Sid s face had lost its humorous wrinkles.
" Lige is really doin something worth while out
here, is he?"
"He s got me on the jump. That s a good deal
in itself."
"What are you doin ?"
" Oh, " Ralph laughed. " I m being bossed.
Uncle Sid looked sharply at Ralph.
"If I was on the quarter deck as I used to be,
an saw you afore the mast, I d think over my
orders before I handed em to you. If Lige has
any sense with his dreamin , he ll do the same."
"Helen s helping Lige to boss me. When he
isn t around, she does it alone."
Uncle Sid looked at Helen. The humorous
wrinkles returned to his face.
"What s the matter with you? You swallowed
your tongue?"
"No; I m holding it." She answered Uncle
Sid s look as well as his words.
The lumbering wagon drew up in front of the
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Rio Vista. Before Ralph could dispose of the
reins, Helen was on the ground and ascending the
steps of the hotel. At the top she paused, speaking
to Ralph.
"I m going to take Uncle Sid out to the works
before long. Then she entered the door.
Uncle Sid turned to Ralph.
"I don t guess you re bein bossed quite so
much as you say." He slowly clambered from the
wagon and stood, looking at Ralph, his hand on
the wheel. "I ain t askin questions just for fun,"
he began.
Ralph interrupted.
"I won t answer your questions in fun either.
But you do what Helen says. Come out to the
works.
Perhaps it was because she had expected too
much, but Helen was disappointed in the morning.
Certain things had been disquieting. Ralph s
words "For the sake of old times, if for nothing
else" had at first annoyed her. The annoyance
changed to a questioning disquietude. The very
annoyance suggested possibilities which had never
distinctly occurred to her before. She did not, she
could not resent it as she would like to do. She
could not avoid a comparison between the clear,
steady eyes of Ralph Winston and the glowing,
shifting ones of Elijah Berl which had moved her
so profoundly.
129
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BEKL
The contrast between the two men forced itself
upon her. The convincing alertness of Ralph Win
ston, clear and cool and bracing, the glowing mys
tical enthusiasm of Elijah Berl that breathed upon
her, laid hold upon her like languorous exhalations
from a tropic growth. She recalled her childhood
days with Ralph Winston. His masterful ways
which flashed out in open revolt against her im
petuous temper, that took her in his arms and in
spite of her panting protests, soothed her
into forgiving smiles. There was no yielding
to her wrongs, no tyranny in his right, but a subtle
stimulating air that suggested no personality,
rather an impersonal force which compelled him,
even as it did her.
There were tears in her eyes now. There was a
great longing to go to Ralph as she had gone years
ago, to hear again the words which had melted her
darkness into clear light. An almost irresistible
impulse came to her. "Why not go to him now?"
He had opened the way. A word, a motion, a
glance from her eyes and the way would open again.
She rose to her feet and laid her hand upon the
door.
Had Winston been in the hotel that night ! But
he was miles away and she returned to her seat.
Her brain went on and on, twisting and turning
the same old problem. Ralph knew Elijah Berl, yet
he had cast in his lot with him. Ralph trusted in
130
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
his own strength, why should not she trust in hers?
She drew a long, shuddering breath. Elijah had
asked her for bread. Could she give him a stone?
131
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Winston had been in earnest when he invited the
old sea captain to make him a visit. He had felt as
strongly attracted to the kindly old man as Uncle
Sid had been to him. To a certain extent he was
curious to know just why Eliah s affairs so deeply
interested him. The chance remark of the old cap
tain to the effect that he had known Elijah from
childhood up, was a partial explanation that opened
the door to the desire to know the cause in full.
Evidently the youthful Elijah had displayed the
same characteristics which maturer years had de
veloped in California. Winston guessed that the
weak spots in Elijah which had aroused his own
opposition, had not escaped the eyes of the captain.
As day after day passed by, he concluded that
Uncle Sid was waiting for Helen and that Helen
was too busy to accompany him.
Whether Uncle Sid had become tired of waiting
for Helen or whether he decided that a proper
time had elapsed since the invitation had been
given, matters not. Late one afternoon, one of the
supply wagons delivered him at Ralph s tent.
The flaps of the tent were open and Ralph was
132
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
there explaining some blue prints to one of his
assistants. lie looked up at the sound of the wagon.
"Oh, hello, Captain! I m mighty glad to see
you. I had about given you up."
1 Huh ! " the old man grunted. That ain t over
complimentary. From what I ve heard, you ain t
over quick at givin up what is worth while."
"Give me a chance, Captain. You don t want to
believe all that you hear."
"I don t. That s what I m up here for."
"Now we re even on compliments. Let s call it
quits."
Uncle Sid looked up shrewdly.
"Figures and doin things ain t all that you re
quick at." He paused, taking in the assistant.
"Don t mind me. You go on stuffin that young
man. He ain t full yet."
"Just a minute; then I m yours truly." Ralph
devoted a few moments to the "young man" who,
haviiiLr been "stuffed", departed. "How would
you like to take a little drive up the line?"
"Just how much is your little?"
"It s fifteen miles to the next camp. If you say
so, we will drive up there and stay all niirht and
the next day we can make the dam in the moun
tains. I think you ll like it, if it isn t too much.
Ralph purposely touched up Uncle Sid with his
last remark.
"I ain t too old to know when I ve got enough
133
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
an I ain t bashful at hollerin about it, either.
You just drive on till I holler, unless you get
enough before."
Uncle Sid had little to say on the way, but his
keen eyes were taking in everything along the
line. Ralph s explanations were listened to in
silence. Ralph was not slow to note the absorbed
interest of his companion, nor the fact that not a
word of his explanations was lost. At every gang
of men, Ralph was halted by alert foremen, and
often he left the team in charge of Uncle Sid while
he went forth to untangle some snarled bit of work
or to give farther directions in advancing it.
The sun was down when they drew up before
the camp and surrendered the team to a waiting
Mexican.
Uncle Sid glanced at Ralph with a look at once
appreciative and cynical.
"The next time you tell me about a place, you
just say how long it is, not how far."
"You ll have to excuse me there. You see I
know distances, but I can t always say about the
time."
Ralph was up the next morning even before the
captain who believed in early rising.
"Good morning, Captain. Ready for another
trip?"
"I guess so."
"I can tell distance and time all right today.
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
Do you see what you re up against?" Ralph
pointed to the towering San Bernardinos. It s
horseback from here and we ought to be there by
throe o clock anyway."
At the mouth of the canon, Ralph explained the
dam that was being built across the river and the
heavy gates that were being put in.
"You see we let the water come from the reser
voir as far as this, in its natural bed. If any
thing should happen along the canal we can shut
off the water at this point first. Later, we could
shut it off at the reservoir."
Uncle Sid asked a few questions, then they began
to climb the steep mountains. They passed loaded
pack-mules going up and empty trains coming down
the trail. In places the trail was a narrow shelf
along the face of a nearly perpendicular cliff. Be
low them ran the river in its narrow gorge, above
them gleamed a slender strip of sky cut into ragged
I by towering cliffs. Just as the trail climbed
to the edge of the canon it seemed to end against a
smooth wall of granite. A sharp turn to the left,
and Uncle Sid could not repress an exclamation of
a \vt-d delight at the scene before him. The trail
led out upon a broad terrace. Two hundred feet
below, a treeless valley wound out and in among
rounded tree-clad domes of granite. Here and
there, on either side, stately spires of naked rock
135
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
thrust up into the sky, the bare brown of their
sides striped with bands of dazzling white.
The dam was to be situated between two granite
bluffs at the head of the canon. The masonry gate
houses were already the height of the proposed
dam. The gates themselves were closed and the
valley was a great lake. The sight was great, awe-
inspiring yet peaceful.
"What do you think of it?"
"Who thought of this?" Uncle Sid glanced at
Ralph with shrewd eyes.
"It thought itself." Ralph answered evasively.
"We are really only doing here what nature her
self did and then undid. You can see that this
valley was once a great natural lake. The Sangre
de Cristo cut through the canon and drained the
lake. Now we are putting in a dam and restoring
it."
Uncle Sid did not take his eyes from Ralph s im
passive face.
"Young man, there s a lot o dust around here,
but you can t blow it into my eyes, not that way.
You can t do it by keep in still either, any more
than Lige Berl can by talkin about it."
Ralph laughed quietly.
"Oh, well, that doesn t matter. We re going
to get what we re after and that s the main thing.
Let s go down to camp."
They rode down the winding trail that led from
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
the upper terrace. The remainder of the after
noon was spent in an inspection of the work.
After supper, their pipes lighted, they sat looking
out over the valley.
"Engineering is a great business," Uncle Sid
observed meditatively.
"Yes," Ralph assented, "so is anything, if you
push it."
"I guess not." Uncle Sid chuckled. "I ran
away to sea when I was twelve years old. My edu
cation was got dancin at a rope s end when the
captain s mess didn t sit well on his stomach."
Uncle Sid paused, again chuckled. "A rope s end
makes a boy mighty observing
"You didn t learn navigation that way did
you?"
"No-o." Uncle Sid pulled meditatively at his
pipe. "A rope s end is also mighty stimulatin to
the imagination. It struck me that I had got all
I needed. At the same time, I saw old sailors with
bald heads an gray whiskers, still a dancin . The
only difference I could see between them an the
captain was that the captain could squint at the
sun through a spyglass with a half moon hitched
to it, an tell the man at the wheel to hold the ship s
head nor -nor east."
"Then what?"
"Then? Oh, I just got me a nautical almanac and
learned to squint too. The first thing I knew I was
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
mate, then first officer an by squintin long enough
I squinted myself on the quarter deck."
Ralph waited a moment, then spoke laughingly,
"I guess my rope s end wasn t so very different
from yours, only I had mine in college."
"You didn t run away to college, did you?"
1 No, I didn t; but I had a gad flying around
my heels, just the same. After I got out of col
lege, I was engaged as assistant to a famous hy
draulic engineer. He sent me into the mountains
to make a preliminary survey. There weren t many
men as big as I was when I strapped a level and a
transit to my mule s back and started off. I wad
going to show that old bomb-shell that he d got a
man worth having, and I wasn t going to stop with
him either." Ralph paused to give way to a
reminiscent chuckle.
"Well! I wish you could have seen those moun
tains as I saw them. Talk about taking the starch
out of a man! Why, Captain, you could have
wadded me up and drawn me through a finger ring
like one of those Arabian Nights shawls. There
were mountains and mountains, and gulches and
gulches, precipices and canons, and rushing, yelp
ing torrents that I was to lead over them, or
through them or around them, and the old man
hadn t given me a suggestion that I could hang a
guess on. The more I thought, the more scared I
got. I put up a stiff front, or tried to before my
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
men, but all the time I imagined them laughing at
me, or cursing me for making them wade that strip
of ice water, or break their shins dragging a chain
over the slippery rocks. I was thankful when the
sun went down, but that didn t last long. Even in
my sleep I saw those mountains jiggering and
grinning. They moved into places that I had
picked out for my line, and away from them when
I had abandoned it. I stood it for a week, then I
poured out my woes in a long letter to my chief and
sent it out by a special messenger."
Ralph again paused. The old man waited for a
moment.
"Well?" he asked.
"In a week my answer came. Just five sen
tences. You are going at your work the wrong
way. You are asking it questions. By and by
your work will ask you questions. Then you re
getting on. Keep at it.
"And the line?" persisted Uncle Sid.
"Oh, the line? I made the profile and sent it in.
My old man came up and looked it over. lie was
in a hurry as usual. Yon have laid out the line;
now go ahead and build it , then he was off."
"You built it?"
Y.-x after a fashion. It helped to wash the gold
out of the Yuba river sand till the anti-debris laws
headed it off. Then I came down here."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"How did you happen to hit in with Elijah
Berl?"
"He was the only man in Southern California
who was doing anything that was worth while."
"Yes, it is worth while." Uncle Sid brought
down his open hand upon his knee with a resound
ing slap. Then he laid his hand on Ralph s with
emphasizing beats, looking earnestly into his face.
"Don t you let go, either, or it won t be worth
shucks.
Ralph returned the Captain s earnest look.
"I ll hang on," he answered briefly.
"That s right. You stick to it. You an Helen
Lonsdale are goin to make this thing go, if it s a
goin ."
"I think I appreciate what Helen is doing as
well as what Elijah has done; she s the life of the
whole business."
Uncle Sid appeared to take up Ralph s words.
Then he changed his mind, speaking reminiscently.
"I ve known Lige Berl ever since he was so
high an before." Uncle Sid measured Elijah s
former height with his hand. "He s a queer mix
ture. He was always a mixture of ideas an prayer
meetin s an the flesh pots of Egypt. You can t
no more help commendin his prayer-meetin moods
than you can help cussin his lickin the flesh pots.
He ain t changed a bit out here. He ll just look
at you with his eyes wide open an you ll feel like
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
a man that s just got religion an you won t sus
pect that he s picked your pocket till you put your
hand in to pay your grocer s bill."
Ralph smiled grimly.
"There s not much profit in talking about this.
But well, you know Lige all right."
"Wait a minute, I ain t through." Uncle Sid s
eyes were fixed on Ralph like a steel needle point
ing to a magnet. "Money s the root of evil, but
there s a power of good in the roots if they re used
right. I ve got quite a bunch of the roots handy.
You re goin to need them, an young man, they re
at your call when you say so, an if I ain t mis
taken, it won t be long either."
"Thank you." Ralph answered briefly. "I ll re
member."
The Captain did not drop his eyes, but they soft
ened.
"You ve known Helen Lonsdale for a long time,
haven t you?"
"Ever since she was a little girl."
"An you re a friend of hers?"
"Yes." Ralph did not say how much more than
a friend she was coming to be to him.
Uncle Sid felt the repellent air of Ralph s
changed mood more than his rather curt reply, but
he held doggedly to his point.
"Smallpox is a mighty mean disease an you
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
don t always know that you re a catchin it till it
breaks out."
Ralph rose to his feet. Uncle Sid was breaking
ground that he had thought about, but which he
had not yet brought himself to touch.
1 Helen has always been able to take care of her
self and I don t think she will allow any one to
suggest that she can t do it now."
Uncle Sid was on his feet too, his hand on
Ralph s shoulder.
"Helen s a woman, Ralph. I don t know much
about women, but I do know that a man like Lige
Berl and a woman like Helen Lonsdale is a mighty
dangerous mixture, an the woman s bound to get
the worst of it. Helen s goin to need friends
who ll stand by her, an I guess when you think it
over, you ll agree with me."
Ralph made no reply, but he did as the Captain
had said he would do. He thought it over and the
seed did not fall on stony or barren ground.
142
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The coming of Mrs. MacGregor was a turning
point in Elijah s life. In the New England com
munity where he had been born and reared, the
family of Eunice MacGregor had stood first, and
now in California, circumstances had already paved
the way for the hold which she was to have upon
him. Much as he had despised the boomers and
their methods, as exemplified in the handling of
Ysleta lots, when he came to dwell among the ma
nipulators, familiarity with the men had modified
and finally all but eliminated this feeling. In
Ysleta, Elijah s scheme, for so it was regarded,
was looked upon as a fairly shrewd move in the
speculative field. When the Las Cruces Company
was formed and work on the great Sangre de
Cristo dam and canal was actually begun, they saw
Elijah only as they saw themselves, a schemer after
unearned money. In the end, Elijah came to be
regarded as a smooth, shrewd man who possessed
qualities worthy of a better cause.
The duties which had compelled Elijah to make
his headquarters in Ysleta, had also compelled a
more intimate association with the men of the town.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
He was consulted as to their plans and indirectly
encouraged in his own. He never for a moment
dreamed that his surroundings were insidiously
dangerous, or that his associates were infected with
a moral dry rot, more to be feared than a running
sore. These men were engaged in buying and sell
ing. They bought with the expectation of selling
for more than they gave. Ysleta was growing.
He who bought today could sell tomorrow at a big
advance, or the day after at a still greater. To be
sure there were chances of failure, but nothing was
certain. Were there not thousands and thousands
of persons who preferred to take chances with the
possibility of sudden and great profit ? To put it
at its worst, if fools had money which they were
bound to get rid of, might not Ysleta furnish the
opportunity as well as the next place? This was
the dry rot which was infecting Elijah.
Day by day, almost hour by hour the possibilities
of his scheme grew upon him. There were thou
sands upon thousands of acres of land, still barren
and worthless, that needed only water to make them
fertile as the gardens of the gods. There were
other streams fed by the melting snows of the San
Bernardinos, that rushed and roared among the
mountains; only to be swallowed up by the dry
sands of the desert in summer, or to tear a desolate
and desolating path in the early spring. The idea
of impounding the floods in the mountain recesses
144
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
was his own; if not strictly his own, then his own
by right of first demonstration. These lands were
valueless as they were. If he could only gain them,
bring water to them, plant them with fruit trees,
what might they not bring him ? Honor above the
highest, wealth beyond the greatest, would be his.
He had made a beginning. The great Sangre de
Cristo dam was almost a fact; only a few more
cubic yards of stone and mortar, then the gates
would be closed and the reservoir begin to fill.
Even now ditches were being cut to lead water to
his fields, thousands of trees were on his ranch
ready to be transplanted.
He had made a beginning, but what a paltry one
in the face of possibilities. There was the Pico
ranch. Even that was not paid for. When paid
for, how was it to be developed? The company
had the water; he had the land. The land was
worthless without the water. They could wait; he
couldn t. He was president of the company; but
he was powerless. lie raged at the idea. A thought
occurred to him and it grew in strength. The com
pany owed its existence to him; in some way it
should make acknowledgment. He needed money.
Hi- thought of the fifty thousand dollars in his
privnti- box in the company s vault. He had in
tended to deposit it in San Francisco, but one thing
after another had prevented. Was it providential T
The Pacific bank had failed. In their statements
145
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
fifty thousand dollars was unaccounted for. The
company s pass-book was again in the office ; but it
did not show a balance within fifty thousand dol
lars. Mellin and himself were the only ones who
knew why. The company owed more to him than
he would ever receive, beside, he himself was a
heavy stockholder, and he had a perfect right to
do what he would with his own. Still, his way was
not clear. Fifty thousand dollars was not enough.
Without more, what he had was useless. He would
wait. If he failed to raise the money, this would be
a sign to him that his course was not approved.
Since his first meeting with Mrs. MacGregor and
Uncle Sid, Elijah had sought out Mrs. MacGregor
and she had artfully made this easy for him. In
these interviews, she had skilfully drawn from him
the story of his life in California, his present con
dition and his future hopes. She was daily con
vinced of her wisdom in seeking out Elijah. There
yet remained the pleasing task of benefiting herself
by her wisdom.
Mrs. MacGregor was an intellectual woman. She
had not been born that way; she had deliberately
achieved it. Nature had denied her personal
charms. Her forehead was high and broad, and no
amount of coaxing was sufficient to induce her
straight, black hair to drape itself in a graceful
suggestion of a Psychic brow. Being denied Psyche,
146
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
she boldly assumed Minerva and bent her energies
toward living the part.
In her youth, women s colleges were not, and
even if they had been, the straitened circum
stances of the rural lawyer whose misfortune it
was to be her father, would have denied her the
privileges they offered. Having exhausted the
fount of wisdom whose waters were curbed by the
local female seminary, she turned on her father
with the filial affection of youthful arachnids, who
upon being hatched into life, suck their parent dry
and then leave the useless skeleton and strike out
into their individual careers. Under his tuition,
she learned to translate Virgil, to construe Homer
and to solve equations in a way that filled his har
rowed soul with pride. She mastered the seductive
syllogisms of Plato and Socrates, descended on
Kant and gaining confidence, began on her own
account to rattle the dry bones of scholastic phi
losophy till their rhythmic clatter suggested the
wisdom that close attention denied.
Eunice mated with another aspiring soul. This
other was a brilliant alumnus from one of the lead
ing New England universities. He was poetic and
soulful ; but at the same time erratic and uncer
tain. These latter attributes were even more pro
nounced after the marriage than before. Eunice
had deliberately cut him out from the bunch, to
use the vaquero s expression, and, to continue the
147
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
figure, had adroitly roped him. The roping in had
resulted very shortly in mutual disenthralment.
The result was frequent and prolonged separa
tions, on which occasion, each went his own way.
Eunice, on her part, enjoyed a satisfaction which
was ever present. She used the "Mrs." as a kind
of letter of marque which enabled her to make
piratical descents upon society in general in a man
ner which would not be tolerated in the more at
tractive but often compromising "Miss."
She sought the acquaintance of professors, judges
and governors in her own country, and gilded titles
in foreign lands.
It was in one of her earlier cruises in foreign
waters that Mrs. MacGregor had captured her most
valuable prize. In a secluded Swiss port, she had
run across a wealthy widow whose husband had
come thither in search of health and had unfor
tunately lost his life in a mountain climbing acci
dent. Mrs. Telford was overawed by the irre
sistible armament of the designing Eunice and
had surrendered unconditionally. Her health was
feeble and on her deathbed she had entrusted her
orphaned daughter as well as her daughter s for
tune to the guardianship of Eunice MacGregor.
This proved a most acceptable trust to Eunice. In
the first place, it made her financially independent
of her husband, and in the second place, it gave
her the opportunity to exercise the talent in the
148
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
proper rearing and training of a child, which the
Lord in his infinite wisdom has denied to mothers
and has bestowed in such unstinted measure upon
those to whom motherhood has been denied.
Her ward developed ideas with the years that
came to her. She saw clearly the more glaring de
fects of Mrs. MacGregor s character, but never
suspecting dishonesty, she left to her guardian the
stewardship of her large fortune. She regarded
it as an easy way of discharging a debt and en
abling Mrs. MacGregor to receive as a stipend what
she might hesitate to accept as a gift.
On her part, Mrs. MacGregor had taken full
measure of her maturing ward. She knew that
sooner or later, marriage was a certainty and that
with marriage her stewardship would cease. She
was, therefore, casting about her to make the most
of her tenure of office. She had heard of Elijah s
success in California and her heart was profoundly
moved. She quickly became convinced that Cali
fornia was the opportunity for which she had so
long and anxiously waited, and to California she
accordingly betook herself accompanied, somewhat
to her surprise, by Uncle Sid. Mrs. MacGregor was
not wholly pleased with the idea of being accom
panied by her nautical brother; but then who of
us is unhampered by undesirable relatives?
Mrs. MacGregor s veiled advances to Elijah were
rapidly having the effect which her designing mind
149
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
had forecast; more and more he was coming to
lean upon her; more and more ho was coming to be
guided by her.
Perhaps he was not conscious that an engage
ment to meet and talk over business matters with
Mrs. MacGregor, was shaping his meditations with
regard to the fifty thousand dollars concealed in his
private box. Perhaps he was not conscious that
he was proposing to do what he knew to be wrong
and then, if things went against him, to say, as
did our common ancestor, "The woman tempted
me."
As he drove up to the Rio Vista on the day of
his engagement with Mrs. MacGregor, Elijah was
placid under his old refuge. In the progress of his
day he would be guided. Unfortunately for Elijah,
in the progress of her day, Mrs. MacGregor would
guide. She was a human pirate, pure and simple.
In her piratical cruises, she flew any pennon which
policy dictated, while Elijah took refuge under let
ters of marque.
Mrs. MacGregor shrugged her shoulders gently
as she took her place beside Elijah and threw a
suggestive backward glance at the Rio Vista.
"I think it is wonderful that you have passed
through such fires with no smell of smoke on your
garments. *
"If you could see what I have seen, it would not
seem so wonderful. "
150
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BKKL
"But I have seen, and it only increases ray won
der. You might have accumulated safely in weeks
what will take you years in the line you have
chosen."
Elijah laughed. It was a gratified laugh.
"It isn t what I am after. These boomers are
trying to give nothing the appearance of some
thing. They began to build on nothing; I am
laying a foundation. I may build the super-struc
ture or I may not, that is for the Lord to say ; but
on my foundation the future of this part of Cali
fornia must be built. "
"And where no blade of grass grew, you have
made a paradise! Your modesty may call it acci
dent, but I call it a design which has been given
into hands willing and able to execute it."
Elijah looked thoughtful. Mrs. MacGregor s
words were grateful to him, but they were wide of
his purpose just now. He made up his mind to a
bold plunge.
"It may be a design, but others now see not
only the design, but its possibilities as well."
Elijah hesitated for a moment, then resumed slow
ly. "It may be that I have blazed the way; it
sei-ms to me that I have. But here is my problem.
Shall I n-st content with having bla/ed tin- way, or
shall I struggle with others for the rewards?"
Mrs. MacGregor did not hesitate.
"I have often thought of the parable of the
151
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
talents. I have thought of another bit of scripture
that is not a parable. To him that hath shall be
given, and from him that hath not shall be taken
even that which he hath. "
"You think then, that I have no right to rest
on what I have done, or rather, that I ought to
finish what I have undertaken?"
"Most assuredly. "
Elijah felt solid ground beneath his feet. There
was more than a touch of pride in his voice.
"Do you know that my every word is snapped
up ; my every action watched by those sharks ? " he
indicated Ysleta with his whip. "If I should point
my whip to those hills to which I am pointing
now, they would snap them up and organize an
orange growing company." Elijah paused and
turned his eyes to Mrs. MacGregor. She knew
what he would say, but she preferred to let him
speak.
"Well?"
"They would do by this as they have done by
Ysleta."
Mrs. MacGregor laughed.
"Why don t you take them then?"
"Is it my duty? That is the question that is
troubling me. I haven t the money to buy them
even at their present rates. If I had, my way
would be open."
152
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BEIIL
"Why not have faith that the way will open in
tin* future as it has in the past?"
Elijah drew himself together.
"I am going to tell you the whole thing, then
you can judge me as you will." He told of the
fifty thousand dollars, his disposition of it, the fact
that the pass-book of the company showed a balance
unpaid of fifty thousand dollars, his provisional
deal with Pico. He hesitated as he closed the re
cital, then after a moment he concluded. "This
deal with Pico must be decided at once. Has the
way opened?"
.M is. MacGregor had grasped every point. When
Elijah ceased speaking her answer was ready.
"There are emergencies in life so fraught with
grave possibilities that every law of man, I might
almost say of God, must be thrust aside. Every
one who does great things, must at times do doubt
ful ones. That is, they are doubtful to eyes un
able to penetrate the future."
Elijah waited to make sure that Mrs. MacGregor
had finish. >d. She had purposely avoided a direct
answer. Thh d d not suit him. His eyes shone
hard as steel through his half-closed lids.
"Am I justified in using that fifty thousand?
Mrs. MacGregor s lips wt
"In my opinion you an-."
Elijah s (jurstinn had not surprised her; hut sh>
inwardly meuted it. II r plan had been to d.-al
153
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
out generalities, leaving her own skirts free. She
realized that he had gained all that he wanted
from her and had given her nothing.
4 There is another matter that has troubled me
for a long time, Mrs. MacGregor. I have tried to
shut my eyes to it, but I cannot. I can see great
things to be done and I can help others to see, but
there are times when I need help ; when I long for
human sympathy, intelligent sympathy that can
see what I see, that can have faith in my work, "
he paused.
Mrs. MacGregor was watching him narrowly,
every sense alert.
The intelligent sympathy which a wife may
give, but which Amy cannot ?" It was a daring
forecast. Mrs. MacGregor held her breath in spite
of herself.
Elijah s face grew drawn and white. This was
the first time that, eilher to himself or to another,
he had stated the case baldly. Hitherto, even to
himself, he had decently veiled his unholy thoughts.
The appealing eyes of his wife were upon him, now
that he was striving to turn his own away from
them. He had not imagined that it would be so
hard. Even the eyes of Helen Lonsdale could not
comfort him. The thought of what he was clearing
from the way, in order to look into them, appalled
him.
Mrs. MacGregor prepared to sell the last remnant
154
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of her soul to the devil. Upon Helen Lonsdale
she had no hold. She had noted the girl s interest
in Elijah, an interest of which the girl herself was
unconscious. If now, she cleared Helen s path of
obstructions, would not she win her gratitude?
Slowly and deliberately, she spoke.
"You never loved Amy Eltharp. The woman
whom you could love, who could return a love as
deep and lasting as your own is separated from
you. You are paying the penalty of your mistake.
Amy is paying for it, even" she paused, then
went on without a quaver, "even as Helen Lons
dale is paying for it."
Elijah was as one stricken. For a long time he
remained silent. Mrs. MacGregor watched him
narrowly. He was striving to do justice to himself
and to his better nature, but the habit of years
Wtt strong upon him. He had strayed into a
tempting path without definite thought as to where
it would lead either himself or others. He had
compared Helen Lonsdale with his wife; his life
that might have been with Helen, with his life that
was with Amy. Mrs. MacGregor s words had de
nned his position clearly and sharply. In inno
cence, he could go no farther. From now on, he
must act decisively and with full knowledge of
what his actions meant. At last he spoke, as one
broken on a wh-< -1.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Don t torture me any longer. Tell me what
you mean."
"I want to save you from yourself. You have
made a mistake. You have had a loveless life.
You married weakness where you needed strength.
You married selfishness, where you needed unsel
fishness, devoted sympathy. You have fled to a
common refuge; you have sought in a mistress all
that you have lacked in a wife."
Elijah burst out furiously.
"Helen Lonsdale is not that! She is as pure as
sunlight."
"You cannot make her your wife; she knows
that as well as you do. You are walking in a path
the end of which is certain."
Elijah made no immediate reply. His reason told
him the end of Mrs. MacGregor s logic, but he
weakly demanded that she should point the way.
"There is then only one thing to do?"
"On the contrary," Mrs. MacGregor spoke
sharply, for she was losing patience, "there are
three courses open to you. You can go on as you
are going and the end is ruin. Ruin to Helen, ruin
to Amy, ruin to your work, ruin to yourself. You
can break off your relations with Helen Lonsdale
and go back to your old life; your life as it was
before Helen entered it. Or- She paused, as one
who could farther, but would not.
Iff
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
What ? Elijah breathed the word rather than
spoke it."
Mrs. MacGregor answered as one wearied with
a hopeless burden.
"The laws of the world recognize the fact that
the purest impulses of man are often mistaken.
They recognize this fact and have provided a way
of separation."
Elijah made no reply. They drove on in silence
toward his ranch where Mrs. MacGregor was to
spend a few days. His thought wandered from
his surroundings back to the clear sunlight, the
bracing air of his old New England home. There
was peace there; the peace of simple lives un
touched by the fierce passions of the throbbing
world. He saw Amy Eltharp, flaxen-haired, blue-
eyed, walking through the cool woods, her hand
in his own, her eyes down-cast, her cheeks delicately
flushed, as her trembling lips breathed "yes" in
answer to his passionate words.
Now it was all gone. He was in a desert land,
burned with conflicting emotions as fierce as the
sun that beat upon the sands around him.
When they reached the ranch, Amy was stand
ing in the rose-trellised drive-way to welcome tin-in.
Fair as the roses that surrounded her, she stood
with anxious eyes raised to Elijah. Her purpose
to niak herself useful to Elijah, was yd stmnir
within hrr. Perhaps this fact ti-niprn-d for hT tho
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
chill of Elijah s absent-minded response to her
greeting. She was feeding her heart on hope. "A
little study, a little practice and the thing is done.
158
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Amy Berl was demonstrating the world-old
truth, that love, however selfish, ennobles and sof
tens the life into which it enters. With feeble brain
but loving heart, she was working out for herself
the truth that love which feeds on sensuous beauty
or sensuous passion alone, dies the death of the
brute ; that the love which is born not to die, must
drink deeper and ever deeper with the passing
years at the fountain of eternal youth; that to a
love thus thirst-quenched, every gray hair that
marks a day forever gone, every wrinkle on flesh
shrivelling at the touch of time, eyes dimmed with
the shedding of many tears, every footstep trem
bling with the passing of the weary milestones of
life, are bonds which the fires of hell cannot melt,
nor the peace of heaven dissolve away. Amy did
not know it, she could not have grasped the fact
had it been told her, that she was laying hold of the
saving element of life, that animated as she had
been by a love that was still seeking itself alone,
she was yet nourishing a power that would raise her
from the ashes of despair.
Amy had not forgotten the task she had set her-
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
self. She had obtained "A & B s Elements," and
day after day, she was striving to master the sim
ple problems that would enable her to take Helen
Lonsdale s place in her husband s life. The com
ing of Mrs. MacGregor had not interfered with her
purpose, nor with her hours of study. Through the
day, Mrs. MacGregor and Elijah were absent, in
specting the desolate stretches of red hillsides, or
the struggling green of seeping springs in deep
arroyos.
Mrs. MacGregor s plans with Elijah were shap
ing to a desired end, but, there was an uncertain
element which she could not resolve. There was
no lack of keen, exact penetration in Elijah; but
there was now a reticence about his personal feel
ings which she did not dare openly to break. In
direct openings which she gave, he passed by with
out notice. She was unable to decide whether his
reticence was due to wounded pride, in that he had
been betrayed into an exhibition of the inner cham
bers of his heart, or whether it was due to a grow
ing resentment of her attack upon Helen Lons-
dale. Another surmise and nearer the truth, had
she known it, was that he had been brought face
to face with his position as regarded his wife. If
Mrs. MacGregor had been sure of Elijah s ultimate
decision, her course of action might have been dif
ferent. As it was, she was fairly confident that
she knew every element in Elijah, and that sh
160
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BEKL
could predicate its logical end. She was certain
that she knew Amy. and that sooner or later a sep
aration would come, and that the sooner it came,
the better it would be for her own personal de
signs.
Mrs. MacGregor soon reached another conclusion
which she regarded as final. She had carefully
studied Amy in every contact with Elijah. She
saw in her every attitude before him, in her every
word to him, an eager assurance of confidence and
love which in reality was an evident doubt of it,
or at least a fear for it. She was in effect, doing in
her pitiful way, what she had always done, mir
roring to her husband every phase of himself which
he presented to her. It was inert, impersonal, and,
in Elijah s present state of mind, not only pas
sively, but actively exasperating to him. It wholly
lacked the power to soothe, much less to inspire.
It was several days after Mrs. MacGregor had
reached her conclusion that Amy was impossible,
before she began an aggressive campaign against
her.
Elijah had been called to Ysleta and had gone
alone. Mrs. MacGregor had been invited to accom
pany him, but for personal reasons, had declined.
HIT ostensible n-ason was that he had kept her SO
busy that she had had no time in which to give
if up to tin- lu-autirs <>f his placf.
Poor innocent Amy 1 Sin- and Mrs.
161
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
were seated on the verandah. Through the trem
bling leaves, the tempered sunlight filtered and
waltzed to and fro, in dreamy, peaceful measures
across the floor. The songs of many birds, the
flutter of their wings, the rustle of leaves, these
soothed and lulled the senses to a restful peace.
There is nothing like it in the world; nowhere but
in California, newly awakened. The rank growth
of fruit and flower, a growth roused from its fiery
sleep, now striving in a day to make up for ages
of helpless bondage.
Mrs. MacGregor was sitting with her hands
folded in her lap, but her thoughts were busy. At
last she spoke.
"Are you happy in California?"
Amy looked up in unfeigned surprise.
"Why shouldn t I be?"
A trained diplomat could not have parried the
thrust more deftly. Mrs. MacGregor looked fixedly
but calmly at Amy. Was that answer accidental
or designed?
"Because," she spoke deliberately, "in Cali
fornia there is not a single thing to suggest your
New England home."
"Except Elijah." Amy did not look up this
time. She was taking her guest and her words as a
matter of course.
"Haven t you noticed any change in Elijah?"
; No-o." Amy s voice faltered, for she was
162
1 t
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
truthful. She was wondering if it was wicked to
tell this lie. It did not occur to her to resent the
necessity for it.
"It would not be strange if he had changed.
California has changed, is changing. Those who
come here must change, for better or for worse."
"Elijah could not change for worse/
Amy s meaning was plain, but Mrs. MacGregor
smiled at her words.
"I knew Elijah as a boy and as a young man.
Then our paths diverged for six years. They have
come together again and I am astonished at the
change. He was strong, but his strength had not
found a worthy purpose. It has found it here."
Amy was beginning to take an active interest in
the conversation.
"Yes, when we first came here, the people laughed
at us. Now, Elijah has got more than ten thousand
orange trees growing where no one thought of their
Crowing. People are after him all the time now.
He is r<)inu f to brinir water to thousands of acres of
desert land."
Mrs. MacGregor listened impatiently to a recital
of Elijah s labors, as dreary as Homer s catalogue
of ships.
"Yes, I know. Elijah has told me something of
this and I have seen more. His strength lias found
a purpose. He has done a pivat work; but it is
only a beginning, a preparation for a greater."
163
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Mrs. MacGregor began to launch forth into gen
eralities. "At rare intervals in the progress of the
world, great opportunities arise and only one man
who is equal to the grasping and working out of
the opportunity. Such a man, we call a genius.
A genius transcends the limitations of his fellows
and he also transcends their laws. It is his right ;
he cannot work without it. He must not be hin
dered or obstructed. At whatever cost of pain to
those who are near and dear to him, his work must
go on. It is for the good of unknown and unnum
bered humanity; humanity is everything, indi
viduals do not count. You doubtless have thought
of all this ; possibly have decided upon your course
of action. The question is, are you ready to sacri
fice yourself even, for the sake of Elijah s work?"
Amy caught eagerly at the last sentence of Mrs.
MacGregor s words. The more eagerly, because
they were the only words that had to her the slight
est meaning.
"I have sacrificed myself and I have never com
plained once. Not even when we were traveling
around from place to place in a covered wagon,
and sleeping on the ground, and when we had only
oatmeal to eat day in and day out; not even wlini
our babies were sick and we had no money to pay
a doctor. I was afraid they were going to die, but
Elijah did not know; he was busy with his work.
That was after we came here, and I never told
164
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
him." Am did not look up, but Mrs. MacGregor
was watching her. From under the veiling lids, she
saw the tears gather, roll across the pink cheeks
and fall on the work in her lap. Mrs. MacGregor
did not know, perhaps Amy did not, whether the
tears were for the past she was reciting, or for the
future which she was fearing. Without looking up,
she drew her hand across her eyes. "I don t know
why I am telling you all this. I have never told
any one before ; not even my mother.
Unflinchingly Mrs. MacGregor turned to Amy.
"I have no doubt that you have done your duty
so far as you have seen it; but here is the point.
Are you willing to make further sacrifices, from
your standpoint, the supreme sacrifice?"
Amy s mind had been overstrained in an effort
to follow even the small part of Mrs. MacGregor s
words that was at all intelligible to her; there was
a suggestion of petulance in her reply.
There is no need of any more sacrifice. Just
see." She pointed through the roses to the dark
green orange trees full of golden fruit which cov
ered the hillside below them. "Elijah has no need
to do more. He has enough for us all now. Even
if h<> should leave the Water Company, he would
have enough. When that is done, he will come
home to me and I shall hn\v him all to myself; I
and the children."
"Elijah s work is only begun. What he has
165
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
done, is only a preparation for the work that is to
be done, that he alone can do. Nothing must stand
in his way, not even wife and children."
Amy answered passionately.
"He has done enough!"
Mrs. MacGregor s eyes were cold and merciless
as those of a snake watching its victim. She thought
long before speaking. She was conscious that there
was danger in handling for one s own purposes a
mind so feeble and hesitating as Amy s, but she
must make the attempt. Should she rest content
with having instilled the subtle poison in Amy s
mind, leaving it to work slowly to a doubtful end?
Could she be sure that it would do its work? On
the other hand, to one of Amy s mental caliber,
would the plain, brutal statement, stripped of am
biguity, be more than a suggestion? In this latter
course there lay the danger that Amy would grasp
the full import of her words and that in the mental
agony that would surely follow, she would go to
Elijah at once. Would she go to Elijah? Mrs.
MacGregor felt sure that she would not. Weak as
Amy was, she would intuitively feeL the hopeless
ness of an appeal to him. Already she was vaguely
conscious that her hold upon him was slight, how
slight she would not dare to put to the test. She
would not openly acknowledge this fear to herself,
much less to others, least of all to Elijah. She had
a fixed purpose in her mind, to fit herself to take
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Helen s place and upon its success she had staked
all. To abandon her secret efforts would leave her
again wandering, wavering, to go over the whole
weary ground again. Mrs. MacGregor made her
decision. Her voice was modulated, almost sym
pathetic, but it was firm and decided.
"No, Amy, he has not done enough. You have
not done enough. He must go on. He must give
you up. You must give him up."
Amy sprang from her chair. Her work slipped
from her lap and lay huddled at her feet. Slowly,
painfully, the meaning of Mrs. MacGregor s words
was boring into her brain. Her eyes were wide
open, pitifully pleading, like the eyes of a shrink
ing victim in the clutch of a beast of prey. Then
they changed to a look as hard and resolute as her
eyes were capable of expressing.
"Give up Elijah? I ll never give up Elijah.
Never! Never! Never!" Then she fled through
the open door.
Mrs. MacG regor smiled complacently. * Never,
was a long time. She had steered close to the line,
but she felt that she had won. As it happened,
chance aided her. Had Elijah been at home, in
her first agony, Amy would doubtless have gone to
him and have risked all in a frantic appeal. But
Elijah was away and it was late before he returned.
In her room, Amy sat with the dumb misery of a
suffering animal. It did not occur to her to rise
167
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
up in righteous wrath against the brutal woman
who had inflicted this torture upon her, much less
against her husband. She was thinking of herself,
of her happiness that had been, of the awful fear
that was consuming her. Justice or injustice was
far from her thoughts. In bitter desperation she
clung to the feeble purpose that she had fashioned
for her salvation. Gradually this purpose regained
its hold upon her. She was wasting time and there
was none to lose. Trembling in every nerve she
hastened from her room, from their room, and with
trembling fingers turned the pages of "A & B s
Elements " and bent herself to her all but hope
less task. With quivering lips and hard, dry eyes she
wrote and rewrote the problems of the book and
strove to master them. She was unconscious of
time, only that it was long and bitter. The magni
tude of her task appalled her, the hopelessness of
it overwhelmed her, she tried to hold herself to it ;
but in vain. With a wailing cry she buried her
head in her arms and gave way to the tears that
at last came to her relief.
It was late that night when Elijah returned.
He gave his horses in charge of the sleepy Mexican
and entered the house. He went directly to their
room, but Amy was not there. The bed was un
disturbed. Elijah passed quietly to the m-xt
room. It was Amy s own. A light softly glowing
beneath the door-sill told him that the room was
168
T1IK VISION OF ELIJAH
occupied. He opened the door gently and stood stiff
ened, immovable, at the sight before him. Amy was
s.at.d at her little work-table. A shaded lamp
thivw its full liurht upon her head, resting upon her
outstretched arms. Her face was turned toward
him; the liirht showed lids, red and tear-stained.
Near one outstretched hand was a pencil, fallen
from the sleep -loosened fingers. There was a worn
book lying open, surrounded by loose papers.
Elijah moved softly toward the table. He picked
up the book. It was "A & B s Elements." The
tear-blotched papers were covered with figures.
Elijah replaced the book and papers. Like a flash
the whole explanation of the open book, and the
figure-covered papers came to him. His eyes were
upon the bowed head, upon the baby lips moving
pathetically in their troubled sleep. His guardian
anLfl was pleading hard within him. With wide-
open, motionless eyes he bent forward, his hands
outstretched, his foot lifted to take the step that
would redeem him. Then his hands fell slowly to
his side; he straiulitened and turned away abruptly.
As softly as he had entered the room, so softly he
left it.
169
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Elijah had no difficulty in securing options on
the land which he and Mrs. MacGregor had selected.
They had, however, underestimated the apathy of
the Mexican owners, who, while perfectly willing to
give options with no preliminary payments, were
adamant as to the length of time to which the op
tions should be extended.
Mrs. MacGregor smiled reassuringly upon Elijah
when he had stated his difficulty.
"The time is ample. I have some means at my
command."
Elijah asked no questions and she tendered no ex
planations. When, however, the time passed by and
the deeds came to be actually transferred, his un
asked questions were answered. Not a cent of the
money, not a single negotiable paper which went
into the preliminary payments, was in Eunice Mac
Gregor s name, except that as by power of attorney,
she had acted for her absent ward. Elijah, remem
bering his transactions with the Pacific bank, could
say nothing.
Mrs. MacGregor had only one more obstacle to
overcome. At first, as guardian, later as trusted
170
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
financial agent, with full power of attorney, she
could manage her ward s fortune as she would ; but
at any time this power might be dissolved and she
be called to a full accounting. This done, and it
was a continual menace, Mrs. MacGregor would be
in no position either to take or to demand a share
in her ward s investments. She proposed to remain
in this doubtful position just as short a time as pos
sible. A deed to a property bought with her ward s
money, would leave no scattering crumbs which
she could gather for herself. With the deed made
over to a company, the case would be different.
Her ward s money would in this case, lose its iden
tity. A ten per cent interest in a capitalization of
two millions, could be balanced with two hundred
thousand of its stock at par, and leave Elijah and
Mrs. MacGregor to repay themselves for their ef
forts. This was earnestly talked over between the
two. Elijah was not at all easy in his mind; but
he could say nothing. He had tried ; but he was no
match for Mrs. MacGregor s polished logic.
Mrs. MacGregor not only made no objections to
including Helen Lonsdale in their arrangements,
but had on the contrary, kept her interests a promi
nent figure in their transactions. She had no ques
tion but that in this way she would bind Helen
closely to herself.
"Look at the facts squarely," said Mrs. Mac
Gregor to Elijah. "Your supply of water is almost
171
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BEKL
here. There is only a small hill between the main
canal of the Las Cruces and us. A few thousand
dollars will tunnel the mountain. A few thou
sand more will take the water within reach of every
hundred acres. AVe have given three hundred thou
sand dollars for this land. Even at fifty dollars
an acre, it is worth ten million dollars. My ward s
two hundred thousand dollars will grow to one
million dollars. Isn t that a justification for you
and me as well?"
Elijah shook his head.
"If it should fail?"
"If," Mrs. MacGregor emphasized the conjunc
tion, "is one of the first steps toward failure. You
could go to Ysleta tomorrow, and sell this whole
property, as it stands, for twice the amount we
have paid down for it, even including the mortgage
of one hundred thousand."
Elijah was thinking aloud.
"With your four hundred thousand, you could
repay your ward in full. You and I would then
have one hundred thousand each. I could, he
paused and then the words shot forth, "replace the
fifty thousand I borrowed, and be a free man."
Elijah and Mrs. MacGregor were being enlight
ened as to each other. Mrs. MacGregor had not
thought to have Elijah lean so heavily upon her ; he
had never supposed her to be so cold and heartlessly
unprincipled.
172
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
4
\\ are coming to no conclusion as to our next
move." Mrs. MacGregor spoke with polite impa
tience.
"What do you propose?"
"\Ve must organize a company."
"But we have no charter."
4 We can get one.
"It will take time."
"We can make it as short as possible."
The matter of the charter was dropped for a time,
to be discussed at intervals during the days that
followed; but no conclusion was reached. Mrs.
MacGregor was scheming; Elijah waiting for guid
ance. The guidance came, though not in the way
Elijah would have chosen ; but he was yet to learn
that when we make our conditions, guidance is cer
tain to come in the form of a dilemma with an im
perative choice.
As Mrs. MacGregor and Elijah were again seated
on the verandah and again discussing ways and
means, a wagon stopped at the door, and from it
alighted a brisk, self-sure man. He walked up the
path, with a jaunty air and stopped at the foot
of the verandah strpv
"Hello, Berl," he called out. "Fine place, this."
Klijah felt an involuntary tightening around his
In-art as he recoirni/ed Mellin, the ex-cashier of the
Pacific bank. lit ivtunn-d the invetiiiLr, at the
same time risinir.
178
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Come up and have a chair."
Mellin tipped his hat back on his head, strode up
the steps, and seating himself, spread his legs wide
apart, and leaning forward with hands loosely
clasped, rested his elbows on his knees.
"Mrs. MacGregor, Mr. Mellin," Elijah waved his
hand from one to the other.
"Pleased to know you, Mrs. MacGregor. From
the East, I take it?" Mr. Mellin revolved his head
jerkily toward his newly made acquaintance, end
ing with a decided bob.
Mrs. MacGregor bowed slightly in return, but
vouchsafed no word.
Mellin revolved his head toward Elijah, at the
same time glancing at his watch which he clicked
together and returned to his pocket.
"I came to see you on a little business matter,
Berl; can I have a few minutes?"
Upon this blunt hint that she was not wanted,
Mrs. MacGregor rose calmly and swept through the
open door.
Mr. Mellin drew a huge, black cigar from his
pocket, and between initial puffs, outlined his busi
ness.
"Hear you ve been taking up a little land deal on
your own account ? The cigar was well under way
now and Mr. Mellin braced himself upright with
one hand on the arm of his chair. His face was full
on Elijah with a cunning look.
174
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Yes," Elijah answered briefly.
You ain t going to swing it alone, I take it?"
"I haven t thought so far as that."
Mellin wasted no words.
"It takes time and money to get a charter just
now. The less money, the more time ; the less time,
the more money." He tipped Elijah a knowing
wink.
Elijah made no reply and Mellin resumed briskly.
"I ve got just what you want. An omnibus char
ter that ll allow you to do anything from a straight
deal to skinning suckers. I had a chance to get it
cheap and I ll let you off easy."
"I don t know that I want it." Elijah spoke
with deliberation ; but his mind was working rap
idly.
"Better take it; I can make it worth your while
fit her way," he added with a cunning leer.
Elijah felt a cold sinking of the heart. His
chickens were coming home to roost sooner than he
had expected. He recognized the fact that his note
to the Las Cruces, secured by his interest in the
company, was in the nature of a forced loan, after
all; that it would sooner or later compel him to
answer some ugly questions to some men in an uuly
mood. The iron-gray face of Seymour rose upper-
im^t in his mind.
"What do you want for your charter?" II-
steadied his voice with an effort.
175
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I m not going to squeeze you, just because I ve
got you cinched. That isn t T. J. Mellin, Esq.
Live and let live ; that s my motto; only live well
while you re at it. We re a long time dead.
"What do you want for your charter?" Elijah
repeated.
"Well," Mellin looked meditatively at the burn
ing end of his cigar which he turned toward him
self, I m in need of a little cash just now. A
matter of five thousand. One hundred thousand on
time, in addition, will do."
"You won t get it. I m not obliged to take your
charter." Elijah s jaws snapped together, his eyes
were narrowed to a slit.
"Just as you say, Berl. There are worse places
than San Quentin. You and I would be taken care
of there, at no expense to ourselves."
The state penitentiary had never seemed a reality
to Elijah before. His face paled. Mellin noted the
look with evident satisfaction.
"It s nothing to get white over. There s a heap
more money near the doors of San Quentin than
anywhere else. The closer the doors, the larger
the heap. It takes a little more courage to grab it
and run, that s all. I ve tried it before."
"Will you take the one hundred thousand in
stock?"
That would be easy ; too easy for me. No stock,
thanks. Five thousand cash, one hundred thousand
176
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
in a six months, ten per cent note. First mortgage
not* 1 . I m prepared to deliver the goods." He
drew a large envelope from his pocket, pulled out
the charter and held it open before Elijah. "Omni
bus goods. A license to pick the gilt knobs off n the
doors/
"Suppose I take your offer, what certainty have
I that this will end your demands?"
"My word, Berl. Honor among, etc.* You
know. Besides, the cinch isn t going to last always.
You re going to be able to square yourself with the
Las Cruces. That ll end me. I could make it un
pleasant, but what s the use? Every one goes in
sight of the doors sometimes; but it s only fools
who get inside. I know.
Elijah rose slowly and went into the house. A
little later, he returned and handed some papers to
Mellin. They were a note for one hundred thousand
dollars and a draft on a San Francisco bank for
five thousand. In the note was this condition. It
would be payable three months after the water
should be turned into the main canal of the Las
Cruces company.
Mellin read the note.
"I object to the conditional payment. The \\at-r
may never be turned on."
"Then you are welcome to the land."
M.-lliii thought a moim-nt.
"There s something in that."
177
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Everything," returned Elijah abruptly. "The
company has nothing to do with this business. They
will get the water as soon as possible."
Mellin again looked the papers over.
"Keno. Here s your license. It s worth more;
but I told you I would be easy. So long." He
shoved the papers into his pocket and started for
the waiting wagon.
Elijah listened in a dazed dream to the crunch
of the retreating wheels. He was not thinking of
his crime nor of his temporary escape from its pen
alty. He was thinking of Helen Lonsdale, and of
the effect of the knowledge upon her, should this
ever come to her.
Mrs. MacGregor reappeared upon the verandah.
Elijah handed the charter to her.
"We have six months in which to redeem our
selves." He offered no explanation; she asked
none. There was no need. The walls of the house
were thin, and moreover the windows were open.
178
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
In the transaction with Mellin, there was one
thing that cut Elijah more deeply than all others.
Mellin had insisted that the mortgage be registered.
I If was too shrewd to let this pass by. He had a
hold upon Elijah and he had no intention of loosen
ing it without a consideration. The registration
was a public recognition of the fact that Elijah
had dealings with Mellin and on a large scale.
There was no use in requesting that the transaction
be kept in obscurity. The object of registration was
publicity, and publicity was not confined to those
concerned in knowing; the books were open to
inspection by the busiest gossip as well as by the
most earnest business man.
For the first time in his life, Elijah was learning
the bitter lesson, that even divine guidance does
not release the guided from responsibility for his
actions. There was bitterness in his heart, the feel
ing that he had been betrayed.
Vsleta lived on sensations, and it was a dainty
morsel, when the news of Elijah s connection with
Mellin lireaine known. Yet it had no malice toward
Elijah, it simply welcomed him as one of them-
179
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
selves and this was what cut. He could no longer
conceal from himself that he had fallen.
The news of course reached Uncle Sid and Win
ston. Winston was shocked, yet after the first ef
fects had passed away, he recognized the fact, that
after all, he was not surprised. Absorbed in his
field duties, he had put from him for the time his
feeling that Elijah was not wholly to be trusted,
that for all his vaunted beliefs, he yet lacked the
subtle sense of honor that would keep him true to
himself and to his fellows. Winston did not know,
nor did Uncle Sid, of the darker stain that was on
Elijah s soul.
"Perhaps it ain t as bad as it looks," the old
seaman remarked when he had broken the news
to Winston.
"Perhaps not," Winston replied, "but I have
been in pretty close touch with Elijah since he has
been in California, and I know he s sailed close to
the wind, mighty close, he added decisively.
Uncle Sid looked thoughtful.
" Where d he get money to start with?"
Winston waited a long time before replying. He
was turning over in his mind the best thing to be
done. He felt that he could trust the old man.
"You remember the Pacific failure?"
"I reckon I do, young man. I have cause to. I
lost fifteen dollars and sixty-five cents in that fail-
ISO
T1IK VISION OF KL1.IAH BEKL
Winston smiled at Uncle Sid s earnestness.
"The Las Cruces lost more than that. An even
fifty thousand. At least our books show that."
Uncle Sid started. Ho looked at Winston with
wide-open eyes, every line of his wrinkled face
drawn tense.
"I declare, Ralph, if I ever thought the Lord
would lead Lige quite so far as that!"
* I guess, Uncle Sid, that you and I think alike
about the Almighty s share in this transaction. If
this isn t the devil s work, I don t know the gentle
man."
Uncle Sid made no immediate reply. A little
later they entered the Las Cruces office. Helen
looked up as the door opened. A frank cordial smile
illumined her face as she recognized her callers.
"Hello, Ralph! It s about time you came in. If
you d waited much longer, I d have asked for a
l tt-r of introduction." She turned to Uncil Sid
with the same cordial smile. "Well Captain, I see
ymi aren t dry-docked yet."
"No. My scams ain t started yet. What watrr
tin-re is in these parts is just as wet as any."
"Oh we ve got plenty of water here and we re
L <iinr to have more."
"Yes, I guess you have, such as tis. Good
enough for old-fashioned suiliii craft. But when
folks ain t satisfied with oin as fast as God s wind
blows em, an th.-v put in engines an boilers, the
181
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
dum water s liable to eat holes in their boilers an
blow em up." He looked around the room curi
ously. "There s a power o steam escapin around
here. Where s Lige? Look s as if Lige had got
a hole eat in his boilers, an me an Ralph s come
in to see if we can help patch em up."
Helen noted the keen, old eyes and the humorous
wrinkles that for all their humor were yet hard.
"He hasn t been in this morning; I expect him
every moment."
Uncle Sid turned to Winston.
"It s your watch, Ralph. You take the wheel."
Winston felt reassured to a certain extent, by
Helen s perfectly natural manner. There were the
same frank eyes, the same friendly smile that he
knew so well. Did she know all that they wished to
know or was she as ignorant as they of all but
public gossip? He was going to find out.
"I suppose you know, Helen," he began soberly,
"that there are some pretty ugly rumors about
Elijah flying around Ysleta?"
"Yes, I do know." Helen s face grew hard.
"How much truth is there in them?"
Helen met Winston s piercing look squarely.
I don t know any more than you know. There
was no apparent hesitation in her manner, but her
thoughts were busy anticipating what was to come.
Ralph made an impatient gesture.
"We can talk till doomsday, Helen, and you can
182
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
answer and tell us nothing, if you choose. You
know we are not gossips, and you know that we are
Elijah s friends. "
"Why didn t you say that to start with?" Helen
flashed back. You began asking me questions and
I answered your questions truthfully."
Uncle Sid noted the strained situation.
"She s laid you broadside on there, Ralph; that
gun is out o action. You ll have to limber up an
other battery."
Winston and Helen both turned to Uncle Sid;
then, smiling, their eyes met and the threatened
storm passed by.
"Just what is it, Ralph?"
"We want to know the whole business, Helen, so
far as you know."
Uncle Sid again broke in.
"When a bell rattles, we want to know whether
its cracked, or whether there s just something on it
that can be got off."
"I don t think Elijah s cracked, Uncle Sid."
She grew very sober as she turned once more to
Winston.
"The rumor that Mellin holds Elijah s note for
one hundred thousand dollars, that the note is se
cured by a mortgage on the Palm Wells tract, is
true. These facts are recorded. I have seen the
records. Further than that, I know nothing."
"Ur-r-rh!" grunted Uncle Sid, whose thoughts
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
suddenly reverted to Eunice MacGregor. "I guess
I know the tree to smoke that coon out of.
Helen shot an intelligent glance at Uncle Sid,
her lips parted, then she thought better of her im
pulse and remained silent.
Winston again turned to Helen.
"I shall have to ask you another direct question,
Helen. Did the company get their deposit from the
Pacific?"
Helen looked squarely at Winston.
1 l l don t know."
" Perhaps you don t know, Helen, but you are in
a better position to guess than we are. There s no
use playing with words. That Palm Wells business
called for ready money. I know as well as you do
that Elijah had no such amount. The question is,
where did he get it?"
"If I knew absolutely, I would tell you. I will
tell you what I do know, but I shall have to ask
you to keep it to yourselves for a little. Then
she told of Elijah s discovery of the frostless belt;
how, half in jest, half in earnast, she had told him
that she might avail herself of her knowledge; of
Elijah s alarm; of their agreement to acquire the
tract together.
"We have," she concluded, "got the Pico ranch
in our hands. My five thousand is in it. There
was fifty-five thousand paid down. Elijah did not
tell me where he got the money, but I supposed at
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
the time that he had pledged a part of his holdings
in the Las Cruces to raise it."
Uncle Sid looked up. There was sternness but
yet kindness in the keen eyes that held Helen s.
"Don t you think you ought to know, Helen?"
Helen s face grew suddenly drawn and white.
"I have told you all that I ought to tell you,
perhaps more than was right. I went into this
business of my own free will and there have come
complications that I did not foresee, but I am not
justified in trying to free myself at the expense
of another. I am telling you the truth so far as I
know it. It isn t for me to make inferences."
The interview, so far as its object was concerned,
was ended. Uncle Sid rose stiffly and took the
girl s hand in his own.
1 I m afraid that you ve made mistakes, lassie,
but so have the rest of us. You ve got stuff in you
worth savin , an we re goin to stand by you."
Winston also rose. As Helen placed her hand in
his, he said :
"Uncle Sid has spoken for me too, Helen." He
held her hand for a moment only, but there was,
in the clasp of it, that which went straight to her
heart. She did not dare to look in his eyes. She
had told him the truth as she knew it, but not as
she suspected it. How much more could she have
known if she would ; how much more ought she to
have known? She had not until now, seen clearly
185
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
where her course was bound to lead if followed to
the end. Had she wilfully declined to see? She
was going over her past, analyzing it clearly, logic
ally, unsparing of herself. Even yet she could
not understand the subtle influence with which
Elijah had surrounded her, but at last her eyes
were open to its danger. She had given admiration,
sympathy, her best to help him, her warm but dis
quieting friendship. Here she stopped abruptly,
her eyes wide open, her face scarlet, her heart
throbbing in an agony of pain and shame. The
parting pressure of Ralph s hand came to her, the
eager look of sympathy which she had felt but not
seen. She longed to hear his voice again, to feel
the touch of his hand in her own. Slowly she
raised her head. Her face was pale and set. Her
sins were upon her; the sins of innocence, but the
burden was none the lighter for that ; yet she would
bear it alone and in silence.
186
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It was late in the afternoon of the same day when
Elijah came to the office. There was the old rush
and swing in his motions, but there was also a tense,
restless light in his eyes that told of a mind not at
peace with itself; of a mind still determined, but
lacking the old time confidence. He returned
Helen s greeting effusively, but his manner was
forced, not spontaneous. He went to his desk and
began nervously rummaging the accumulated
papers. Frequently he called Helen to him to help
straighten some simple matter.
She bore his nervous petulance with patience,
for she felt that she knew the cause of his agitation.
In sheer desperation, Elijah was bent upon mak
ing trouble, knowing that in every detail he was
wrong, knowing that even the cause of his agitation
was of his own creation. The gossips of Ysleta
told him this; told him in words that he could not
twist into a defense of himself, and this increased
his nervous petulance. He was wrong, terribly
wrong, and he knew it, knew that he was trying to
make wrong, right. Point after point he brought
up with Helen, only to have each explained in a
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
way that he was compelled to admit was without
fault.
Helen was patient. She thought that she knew.
Her own bitter suffering made her understand.
Her heart went out in great throbs of sympathy
toward the sorely tried man, who had done wrong
and was repenting, even as she had done wrong
and was now bent upon righting it,
At last, however, after an unusually severe and
wholly unwarranted outburst, she threw down the
paper which she held. Patience had ceased to be
a virtue. It was a menace, not only to herself, but
to the man toward whom it was exercised.
1 There s no use going on in this way any longer,
Elijah! There s no trouble where you are bent
on finding it. It s in the beginning. Let s go back
and straighten that out, then we can get some
where. *
1 Well, what is it?" There was an exasperating
twist in Elijah s words.
Helen passed it by.
1 I ve done wrong and I know it. I wanted to
get ahead, and getting ahead meant money. I
couldn t get into the Las Cruces "
"I gave you the chance," interrupted Elijah.
Helen paid no heed to the interruption.
"So I began to look around for myself. You
know the rest."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
4 There s no use going back to that." Elijah
spoke impatiently.
"Yes there is use," Helen persisted. "You have
done wrong and you know it. You re trying to
square yourself by finding fault with me. It s no
use. The farther you go, the worse off you are.
The long and short of it is, you can t throw dust
in your own eyes.
"I m not trying to throw dust in my own eyes."
The very vehemence of his denial gave the lie to his
words.
"You are trying to, and you can t. Nothing can
blind your eyes to the fact that you are a criminal.
Elijah s eyes were blazing through their nar
rowed lids.
"I won t allow even you to say such things to
me."
"If you would only say them to yourself, it
wouldn t be necessary. I hate to say it, Elijah,
but, you took fifty thousand dollars of the com
pany s money. That s embezzlement. It s a
crime." Helen voiced her long suppressed sus
picion. "You smoothed it over by putting in its
place your note for the amount, secured by your
stock in the company."
"Have you been through my private papers?"
Elijah burst out.
"That s not to the point; but no, I haven t."
"Then how do you know this?"
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
In spite of herself, in spite of her growing hor
ror at the weakness of this man who had seemed
so strong, Helen could not repress a touch of wom
anly sympathy in her reply.
11 Because, Elijah, I know you."
Elijah was not to be turned easily from a real
wrong. It was good to feel a just cause of resent
ment.
"You have no right to pry into my private af
fairs. I have given you no warrant for it."
"Yes, you have given me a right. I am as
sociated with you in this business and I have a
right to know. I wish you would tell me if I am
right in my guess."
The impulse was strong in Elijah to attempt to
deceive Helen even as he had long deceived him
self, but there was a look in her eyes that weakened
the impulse.
"Why?"
"Because that would square you with yourself.
You could hunt a way out then, and I m ready to
help you. But you haven t answered my question
yet. Am I right?"
* Why do you want to know ?
"Ralph and Uncle Sid were in to see you this
morning."
"What about?"
"Seymour will be here soon"
Elijah interrupted.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Who s told Seymour?"
"When he comes," Helen went on, "he ll ask
questions. He won t be particular about the ques
tions; but he ll be mighty particular about the an
swers. You know what he ll ask, and you know
what you ll be obliged to answer. Do you want to
get ready, or do you want him to fall on you in a
heap?"
Elijah could not conceal his agitation. He mois
tened his dry lips with his tongue. As he had ar
gued with himself, so he began to argue now; not
to Helen, but to the vision she had forced his eyes
to see.
"I saved the company from loss. If Mellin
had not been a friend of mine, he never would have
warned me that the Pacific was going to fail. I
saved the money for the company. I wanted the
money, I needed it to carry on my work. I didn t
embezzle it, I gave the company my note. It is
secured at twice its value, by my entire holdings
in the Las Cruces company." Elijah s face was
drawn; his eyes had an eager, hunted look.
Was this pitiful creature the man who had so
moved her? Helen would have given the world to
have taken that look from his eyes ; to have put in
its place the clear, inspired light that had at first
so drawn her to him ; but she hardened her heart.
"Elijah, you re a hypocrite! You ve got the in
stincts of a thief without his courage. This stuff
191
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
doesn t go with me. You took the company s
money. Make good or take the consequences."
Elijah sprang to his feet.
* My God, Helen ! I won t listen to such things.
You ve no right to say them."
Helen calmed herself with an effort.
* * I was quoting Mr. Seymour. Would you rather
wait and hear him directly?"
Elijah made a pathetic gesture as he sank back
in his chair.
"I didn t think you would turn on me like this,
Helen."
Helen rose and placed her hand on Elijah s
shoulder, He could not see her face, and she no
longer tried to keep her eyes from showing the
conflicting emotions that almost overpowered her.
"I haven t turned on you, Elijah. I m not going
to turn on you. I believe in you yet. We ve made
a mistake. We must find a way out."
"You made a mistake?"
"Yes. When you paid Pico the fifty thousand,
I felt quite sure that a part of it must have come
from the Las Cruces. I am as guilty as you are."
Before she could prevent, Elijah had snatched
her hand from his shoulder and was pressing it to
his lips. Helen wrenched her hand from his lips.
As if drawn by her resisting hand he rose to his
feet, his burning eyes resting on hers. In vain she
tried to withdraw her hand from his fierce clasp.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Don t leave me, Helen, don t leave me!" With
wide open arms he sprang toward her.
"With hardly a perceptible motion, she was be
yond the reach of his outstretched hands. She had
no palliating knowledge of his inner thoughts, no
knowledge of the malevolent suggestions of Mrs.
MacGregor, no knowledge of the scene in Elijah s
house, where the lamplight fell on a tear-stained,
baby face, on blistered sheets with hopeless figures,
upon renunciation, as Elijah closed the door and
deliberately put his wife from him.
Helen stood erect, composed, her eyes filled with
loathing, contempt, but not for Elijah alone. This
was the hardest to bear. What had she said, what
had she done to bring this horrible thing upon her
self?
Elijah slowly grasped the meaning of Helen s
eyes. She had not spoken. There was no need that
she should speak.
"No ! no ! no ! Helen, not that, not that ; you don t
understand."
* Stop ! I won t listen. Not to a word.
"You will! You must!" There was no passion
now either in words or looks, only a set determina
tion to be heard.
Try as she would, Helen could not stop the ex-
plantation he offered, the palliation of his sins past
and to come. Even as he had said, she was com-
193
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
pelled to listen, but there was no softening of her
eyes, no change in the set, hard face.
"You and I cannot stay any longer in this office.
You will go or I." Elijah made as if to speak.
Stop ! Her voice was imperative. I would be
justified in leaving everything, but I began this
wretched business and at whatever cost to myself,
I will see it through."
Elijah felt the hopelessness of further words.
Like one in a horrible dream, he turned to his desk
and began to straighten his papers.
"I will attend to that. Go!"
Without a word or look, Elijah closed the office
door behind him.
It required all Helen s fortitude to control her
self. She attempted no self-palliation, she put this
aside. She had been innocent of intentional wrong
doing, but this made no difference. The fact was
beyond recall. Only the future was hers in which
to make atonement at whatever cost to herself.
194
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Uncle Sid and Winston, after leaving the office,
went toward the Rio Vista. Winston was the first
to break the silence. He spoke musingly.
"Helen doesn t absolutely know whether Elijah
got that money or not. If she had known certainly,
she would have told us. But she suspects that he
got it and used it, or at least a part of it. There
are only two who do know surely, Mellin and Eli
jah. Mellin has a strong hold on Elijah, or he
couldn t have got that note from him. Elijah drew
the money, converted it to his own use, and Mellin
knows it and is making Elijah pay him to keep
quiet."
"Well!" Uncle Sid stopped abruptly and
thrust his walking stick into the sand. "Welll"
he repeated, "what are you going to do about it?"
"I m going to hunt Mellin down and make him
give up." Winston s jaws set.
Uncle Sid smiled grimly.
"Well, young man, I m all-fired rejoiced that
you ain t a-huntin me. I m goin a-huntin too."
At the Rio Vista they parted. Uncle Sid stumped
up to the hotel office.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Say, senner," he was addressing the clerk,
"Mrs. MacGregor ain t been sighted yet, has she?"
The clerk smiled affably.
"Not yet, Captain. Expect her to make port
today. Any messages?"
"Yes, plenty, but I ll deliver em myself."
Mrs. MacGregor made port promptly and as
promptly Uncle Sid began to deliver his message.
"Well, Eunice, it seems you ve finally settled to
the conviction that there s more money in a servant
o the Lord than in folks that s got handles to their
names."
"What do you mean, Sidney?"
"What do you mean, Eunice, takin your ward s
money an puttin it into this wild-cat business?"
"I m not aware that I have told you or any one
else what I have done with Alice s money."
"I m perfectly aware o you, Eunice, an I have
been for a good many years. You ain t got a cent
o your own an you ve been spungin off from
Alice. She didn t seem to mind, so I didn t inter
fere ; but this is different. You just back right out
now or I ll make you." Uncle Sid s face was not
pleasant to contemplate.
Mrs. MacGregor smiled complacently.
It seems to me that you are very suddenly and
deeply interested in my doings."
"I am!" Uncle Sid snapped out. "An for two
reasons. In the first place you are swindling Alice
196
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
out o her money, an in the second, the good name
o the Harwoods is in danger. Either one is enough
to rile my fightin blood, an take em both together,
I m fifty years younger n my birthday calls for."
Mrs. MacGregor spoke coldly.
4 You are very much mistaken, Sidney, if you
think you are frightening me."
"I am mistaken. I never thought you a fool, I
declare if I did! Not this kind. Accordin to my
notion, you ve tried on a powerful lot o different
kinds o fool, but I never thought you d settle
down to this."
Mrs. MacGregor vouchsafed no reply. She went
to her closet, and began sorting various articles of
clothing and laying them out on the bed.
"What are you up to now?"
"I m going East on business."
Uncle Sid rose to his feet and walked to Mrs.
MacGregor. Laying his hands on her shoulders, he
turned her sharply till her eyes met his. The eyes
that looked coldly into his had a well-bred, unruffled
stare, exasperatingly insolent, exasperating, be
cause they gave no open ground for resentment.
"Eunice, I m going to make a fool of myself.
I ve got two hundred thousand laid up in the best
kind o securities. They bring me in ten thousand
a y.-ar. You just get back that girl s money, an*
I ll give you this so long as I live. If I go first,
197
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
an it s likely I will, I ll fix it so you ll get it so
long s you live."
Mrs. MacGregor spoke calmly.
"Why didn t you say this to me before?"
"Because there s been no especial reason for my
making a fool o myself before."
Mrs. MacGregor, still looking into her brother s
eyes, thought rapidly. Her regret that Uncle Sid
had not spoken before was sincere. She would ac
cept now if she could. She thought of accepting
Uncle Sid s offer and then trying to free herself;
but if she should fail, she knew that Uncle Sid
would not hesitate to cut her off instantly, and
without mercy. She was convinced that there was
no way out of it. Elijah would fight against it,
Mellin would oppose everything before he would
let go his hold. More sincerely than she had ever
regretted anything in her life, she regretted her
inability to accept her brother s offer. There was
only one way open to go on. Her calm, cynical
smile was more exasperating than her stare.
"Alice will be down from San Francisco in about
two weeks. I want you to take care of her while I
am East."
Uncle Sid was answered. He thrust his sister
from him so violently, that she staggered to regain
her balance, but the calm, insolent smile never left
her face.
198
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I ll take care o her. I ll take care o her, an
you too, an that servant o the Lord."
Uncle Sid stamped from the room. Mrs. Mac-
Gregor summoned a messenger from the office. He
was instructed to secure a ticket that evening for
the overland express. Then she resumed her prep
arations for departure. She had arranged all de
tails with Elijah. The Palm Wells company had
been fully organized, its officers chosen. To Mrs.
MacGregor was entrusted the task of raising the
necessary funds for what? Both Mrs. MacGregor.
and Elijah had avoided these details.
Mrs. MacGregor was promptly on hand for the
overland express, and it was with a great and grow
ing sense of satisfaction and importance that she
settled herself in her sleeper. Her journey to the
East was not so pleasant as she had anticipated;
but her hand was turned to her voluntary task,
and she could not now go back if she would. She
put aside disagreeable impossibilities and gave her
thoughts to her future, the raising of money to
further her schemes and Elijah s.
Uncle Sid had at once divined that his sister s
first field of operations would be their native town
and Elijah s. He accordingly took prompt meas
ures to block her plans. He at once wrote to his
banker, an old and trusted friend, giving him an
outline of the situation and advising him against
co-operation with Mrs. MacGregor. The keen busi-
199
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
ness acumen which had enabled him to accumulate
two hundred thousand in first-class securities,
pointed his written utterances in keen-edged words
which never missed their mark, and invariably car
ried conviction with them.
Many a mickle makes a muckle, and the sea
faring mickles of Mrs. MacGregor s native town
which had been so painfully accumulated through
many years of toil, and towards which that astute
lady had turned expectant and longing eyes, were
now plunging her into the depths of despair.
The denizens of Fall Brook turned greedy eyes
to the golden promises she offered them, their ears
were always open, but the end was ever the same.
The knots in the stockings were only tied the
tighter because of their canny greed and because of
her words which threatened to despoil them.
Finally the promises of Mrs. MacGregor, made to
a scant but influential few, of stock in the Palm
Wells tract, as a bonus for persuading their fellows
to invest, added zealous recruits to her cause.
These, however, not only failed in positive results,
but defeated her every hope of success. In a land
where the equality of individuals was the breath of
life, the arbitrary choice of the few to be the leaders
of the many was an insult which no self-respecting
New Englander could fail to resent.
The gray-haired banker was Mrs. MacGregor s
last resort. Urged by messages from Elijah, at first
200
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
urgent, then importunate, Mrs. MacGregor turned
to the banker. He was tarred with the same stick
as wore his fellow citizens ; moreover, he was in re-
ooipt of an extra stick from Uncle Sid. The letter
that had traveled eastward with Mrs. MacGregor
had received due consideration, and its contents
had been judiciously distributed. With the same
measure, with which for years she had measured
her fellow townsmen, Mrs. MacGregor was being
measured. Wounded pride, bitter, burning resent
ment, accompanied her on her return trip to Cali
fornia.
201
CHAPTER TWENTY
In any great and growing business, there is often
a readjusting and shifting of duties from shoulder
to shoulder, as one official after another discovers
aptitude for a special line of work.
Thus it happened that, contrary to Helen s fears,
no comment was excited either in the office itself or
in Ysleta over Elijah s prolonged absence. In both
places it was tacitly assumed that his new venture
was consuming the greater part of his time. For
some weeks most of the routine business transacted
in Elijah s name had in reality been performed by
Helen, so that it was easy for her to take upon her
self the entire direction of the office work. In their
intimate official relations, Helen had discovered
Elijah s weak points, but this discovery had drawn
her closer to him. In the multitudinous business
details of the office, often petty and annoying, Eli
jah had shown a restless impatience, and an ina
bility to straighten them out satisfactorily. He had
discovered a lack of the subtle distinctions of honor
and honesty, characteristic of a man of strong,
rugged integrity. With the development of the
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Las Cruces to a point of assured success, there had
grown up in Elijah an increasing sense of the mag
nitude of his work and of himself.
Helen had taken the details of the office upon
herself and with infinite patience she had worked
them into harmony. She had been Elijah s con
science in a thousand different ways that were
buried from sight in the work as a whole. Some
times patiently, more often impatiently, Elijah had
rebelled against her insistent suggestions, but in
the end he had yielded. To a certain extent Helen
had been blinded as to the real Elijah by her pre
conceived notions of him. She had regarded him
as a great man with great ideas. With this central
thought she had looked leniently upon his faults,
as weaknesses inseparable from greatness. With a
loyal devotion, especially characteristic of women,
she had largely submerged herself in Elijah. She
had gradually come to believe in him almost as he
believed in himself. The disintegrating effects of
this belief upon her character were gradual and in
sinuating. She was deteriorating from the strong,
sturdy sense of honor that had been her chief char
acteristic. Upon Elijah, the effects of her loyalty
were bound to be equally disastrous. She was his
ideal of womanhood. She was his devoted ally.
The result was a growing belief that what he de
sired was right and that this right should not be
questioned.
203
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Beyond a vague, ill-defined consciousness that she
was getting on dangerous ground, Helen had given
little thought to what might be the end of her inti
mate relations with Elijah. He was a married man.
She had met his wife. The meeting had had the
sinister effect of developing her sympathy for Eli
jah in a new line.
In the affairs of the Las Cruces, Helen had been
Elijah s conscience. He had repeatedly yielded to
her judgment. She had experienced a glow of sat
isfaction in this that had strengthened the bonds
between them. Of late, she had been conscious
that her influence was becoming less potent, but
she had not connected this fact with the advent of
Mrs. MacGregor. The first indication that Elijah s
actions were not as wholly in her keeping as she
had assumed was her suspicion of his transaction
with the Pacific Bank. This had startled her, but
to a certain extent she had glossed it over.
When she learned, not through Elijah, but
through the published fact, of Elijah s mortgage to
Mellin, the veil of his influence was thinned. It
had startled her, shocked her, but it had strength
ened her determination to make the venture a suc
cess, even at the price of an open rupture when her
strength would be pitted against Elijah s. She
had no fear for results ; Elijah had placed too many
weapons in her hands which she could use against
him. She would compel him, if her influence failed.
204
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
If Elijah should force her to go to Seymour or
Ralph, she was ready to take any consequences they
might thrust upon her.
When she had learned, not by Elijah s voluntary
confession, but by the confession which she had
forced from him, that he had converted the com
pany s money to his own use, and had in reality
made her a party to it, the shock impelled her to
open rupture and at once. Then came the reaction
to pity for the strained, agonized face that pleaded
more strongly for mercy than his words. Her
thoughts were not deliberately logical, but vibrat
ing from point to point.
Another swing of her mental pendulum and the
confession of his guilty love came back to her with
crushing, humiliating force. She could not forget
the shame of it. Even to this day the pain was not
lulled. But in the first withering humiliation, when
the last remnant of the veil of her illusion had been
torn away, the sense of self-preservation had been
strong within her. The open rupture had come.
From now on she must fight Elijah and alone, fight
for her honor and his redemption if possible. In
the days that followed she had forgiven Elijah, but
she could not forgive herself without atonement.
The forgiveness had not drawn her to Elijah, it
h;i<l put him farther away. She forgavo him in
justice, for she frit that in some way. she did not
see why, she could not reason why, but in some
205
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
way, she had opened the road that had led to his
declaration. Personalities were at an end between
them ; she had a right to this much ; but in the Pico
ranch transaction, the end was not yet. She re
volted against it in her heart, but in this matter
were involved more than herself and Elijah. She
would see it through; she must.
206
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Neither the guests of the Rio Vista nor the in
habitants of Ysleta were as much disturbed over
Uncle Sid s illiterate speech as was his sister. None
of these knew what Mrs. MacGregor knew, that a
lifetime spent before the mast and on the quarter
deck is apt to counteract, in forms of speech at
least, even a careful early education. Not all Mrs.
MacGregor s polished manners and studied words
could move a human heart to a single throb, nor
could Uncle Sid s uncouth motions and clipped
speech chill the loyalty of his many friends. His
quaint humor that touched lightly, though unerr
ingly, upon the foibles of humanity, blinded no one
to the shrewd eyes that looked with no uncertain
light upon the line that divided right from wrong.
In short, Uncle Sid was sought after and welcomed
where his polished sister was shunned, avoided,
and heartily disliked.
Thus it happened that when Helen had named a
date for the long talked of trip to the dam a goodly
number of Uncle Sid s admirers were ready to go
\\ith them. Winston had been duly notified and
was ready for their entertainment.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Helen was nearly if not quite as popular as
Uncle Sid, though on different grounds. Her air
of reserve was wholly apart from the spirit of
camaraderie that welcomed Uncle Sid, but there
was yet a kindly and humane atmosphere surround
ing her that was good to breathe. Her reserve, in
stead of repelling, attracted and inspired a confi
dence and loyalty that needed but an occasion to
arouse it to open manifestation. Contrary to her
fears, had every secret which she was trying to bury
in the chambers of her heart been published, this
loyalty would have stood forth in fierce array be
tween her and condemnation.
Early on the morning of the appointed day a
jolly party formed in line at the doors of the Rio
Vista, and, reinforced by carriages from the town,
streamed out into the desert, along the banks of
the Sangre de Cristo t and paused where the last
aqueduct of the great canal was nearly completed.
Here all was bustle and hurry, but confusion was
absent. Unshaped timbers came to men with
squares and saws, ready hands took them, and when
squares and saws had done their work, passed them
to other hands that raised them on squeaking der
ricks ; the groaning ropes delivered their burdens to
trestles where they were swung and fastened
in position. There were no misfits. This had been
provided against by keen-eyed, eager-faced youths
with blue prints and transits, who directed the
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
squares and saws and plumbed the groaning trestles.
There were exclamations of surprise, of admira
tion, of approval from the visitors. Helen was pro
foundly moved. Winston s name was on every
tongue, while Elijah was hardly mentioned. Back
of the blue prints where the cut of every timber
had been clearly drawn, where the position of every
spike and bolt had been accurately defined, back of
every spider-line in transits that unerringly fixed
every placed timber, back of every motion of busy
hands that moved out and in with no collision,
Helen saw the engineer who had traced the draw
ings and had organized the work. Back of the
engineer, she saw the man who had made this
possible.
Helen was standing apart from the visitors. She
was dumbly conscious that among these, like was
gathering to like, even as she, though alone, was
gathered to herself and apart from them all. One
cluster, linked together by the common hope that
this great work would even yet redeem their fallen
fortunes; a second group, building other castles of
cards from their former ruin; still another, un
thinking, uncaring, unseeing, dancing, chattering,
alive to tin- sunlight, alive to the bustle, alive to the
enveloping spirit like particles of iron in the pres
ence of a magnet, and as little conscious of the
influences that were playing upon them. Every
clink of hammer, every rasp of saw, every voice,
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
exuberant or subdued, was speaking of the triumph
of one man, the possible disgrace of another.
The clusters broke and, led by Uncle Sid, re-
gathered about Helen.
Look here, Miss Lonsdale," said one, "if you
will allow a suggestion, just fold your arms and
hump your shoulders and the picture will be com
pleteNapoleon before the pyramids of Egypt."
* I didn t suppose that basking in reflected glory
made one a subject for cartooning; if it does, we ll
all pose together."
"Don t be too modest, young woman," Uncle Sid
broke in reprovingly, "a fog bank may hide the
sun but it gets its back blistered doin it."
"Shall we start on?" suggested Helen; "it s a
long way yet to the dam.
The road followed along the line of the canal,
affording a complete inspection of the work. Only;
the canal was level, cutting through rolls, bridging
arroyos, and boring through rocky hills too deeep
for cuts. The country grew too rough for wagons
as it neared the foot hills of the San Bernardinos,
and here the road turned into the bed of the canal.
There were occasional stretches where the bed was
sandy ; these were cemented to prevent loss of water
by seepage. On the sides of deep gulches, the canal
was cut in the steep banks, walled above and below
to hold the stream in place. The work was inspir
iting, exhilarating. It was the conquest of Nature,
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
or was it the higher Nature asserting itself, select
ing and assimilating that which had hitherto been
uncalled into active existence? Perhaps no one of
the party asked himself the question, yet each felt
that it was a great work, a great idea, a daring one.
At the mouth of the canon, the canal ended.
Across the canon was built a deflecting dam of solid
masonry. Where the canal led into the dam,
massive gates were placed by means of which the
water from the great reservoir in the mountains
could be turned into the canal or cut off from it at
will. Apparently there was not a contingency but
had been foreseen and provided for.
On a level spot of ground near the gates, a mes
senger from Winston awaited the party to say that
he was unavoidably detained, but that he would
expect them the following day. Tents and food
were waiting, and the night was pleasantly spent.
Only the master of it all was absent.
Early in the morning the camp was astir and
breakfast disposed of, horses were saddled and the
party under way. Winston was better than his
word, for he met them part way down the trail.
His welcome was an ovation. Men and women
crowded around, each eager to take his hand and
pour congratulations into his reluctant ears.
"I accept, by proxy, for the real man." was his
reply.
Uncle Sid awaited his turn. His loyal old heart
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THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
was bursting with pride over all he had seen. There
was a suspicious brightness in the old man s eyes
as, with Winston s hand clasped in both his own,
he looked into his eyes.
" Ralph, my boy," he said, "I have no child of
my own, but if I had, an he d done what you have,
I d want my heart steel-hooped to keep it from
burstin ."
Winston s grip tightened on the knotty fingers.
11 Thank you, Uncle Sid." Then withdrawing
his hand, he slipped it through the old man s arm.
Uncle Sid stopped abruptly and thrust the hand
aside, giving Winston an initial push.
"Now you go along where you re wanted. These
folks are just burstin full o worship. It will do
em good to let it out at a tin god, if they don t
know any better. It s good for folks to worship
somethin besides themselves."
Through the long day that followed it seemed
long to Winston Helen skilfully avoided him.
Without seeming effort, she managed to be sur
rounded with others, giving Winston no word alone.
Outwardly, she was her old buoyant self. Only to
the keen eyes of Winston was her manner forced.
Towards night, Winston saw Helen and Uncle
Sid standing together on one of the abutments of
the dam. Without undue haste he joined them.
"Well, Helen, are you satisfied with the handi
work of your servant ?
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"If you are my servant, why do you come into
my presence without being bidden?"
"I asked my question first, and you haven t an
swered it."
"It strikes me that, you are either presumptuous
or hypocritical. Don t you think so, Uncle Sid?"
She flashed her eyes toward Uncle Sid. There was
a shade of annoyance in the look that she turned to
Winston. "I believe you and Uncle Sid are fellow
conspirators."
Then I am not mistaken. You have avoided me
today?"
"Suppose I have," she replied evasively.
"It s too late for that, Helen. You have given
me rights and I claim them." Winston s voice was
decided.
"You are harking back to barefoot rights. You
perhaps remember that Uncle Sid said that these
were only letters of introduction to shoes and
stockings."
"Yes. And I humbly present them." Winston
replied in the forced humor of Helen s words.
"But," protested Helen, "I have put away
childish things, bare feet and all. See!" She
thrust out a booted foot from beneath her skirt.
"That s only a boot, and I m not in it."
"You re getting childish, Ralph, so you will have
to go with the rest."
"I am willing, so long as I go with the foot."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Helen was walking slowly up the steep bank and
through a thicket of scrubby pine. Uncle Sid had
disappeared from sight. Winston laid a detaining
hand on her arm.
"Wait, Helen, I have a great many things to say
to you.*
"This is a pleasure trip, Ralph. You can say
things at the office." She turned and took a step
forward, but only a step. Winston s hand was
gentle but firm. Helen seated herself on a mat of
pine needles. Her face was flushed with resent
ment. Was it resentment?
Winston noticed the heightened color. Its cause
was a question with a doubtful answer, but he did
not hesitate on that account.
"It s no use trying to deceive me, Helen. There
is something troubling you, and seriously, too
"Suppose there is, may I not keep my troubles
to myself if I choose?" She tried to speak firmly
and finally.
Winston continued with no resentment and with
no vacillation.
"If you are troubled about any affairs of the
company, I ought to know; you should not keep it
from me. If it is personal, I have no intention of
forcing your confidence. I only want to ask you
one thing. Don t you believe that I am your sin
cere friend?"
Helen strove to conceal her agitation. She
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
longed with all her heart to meet half way the open
loyalty that was offered her. She longed to show
him that she appreciated it, but how could she be
frank with him without disloyalty to Elijah? Eli
jah had forfeited her respect, but was he wholly to
blame? He had absolved her from the obligations
of friendship, but there were other obligations that
she could not put aside. Together they had as
sumed business responsibilities, together they must
meet them. She longed for Winston s advice, as
sistance, but how could she accept either without
baring the secret shame that was festering in her
heart? Strive as she would, she could not wholly
control her voice.
"You have always been my friend, Ralph. Please
try to believe that I appreciate it. You can t know
what it means to me and I can t tell you. Won t
you trust me a little longer?" She tried to steady
the deep black eyes that she raised to him.
Winston caught the hand that trembled on the
matted needles.
"Always, Helen, always."
She gently withdrew her hand, rising to go.
"Thank you. You may not know what you are
promising." There was a pathetic smile hovering
over the trembling lips. "Let s stop where we
are."
"No." Winston was standing beside her. "I
know more than you think I do, Helen. Elijah
215
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Berl is a thief. You know it and I know it. He
has involved you, in appearance at least. You are
too honest, too loyal to leave him as he deserves to
be left"
Helen rose to Elijah s defense.
"Not intentionally a thief, Ralph."
Winston s eyes flamed with indignation.
"He isn t an open, manly thief who steals and
stands up to his act. He is a sneak who steals and
unloads his punishment on others."
Winston s words smote hard. In no essential did
they differ from those she had spoken to Elijah.
Winston waited for a moment, watching Helen s
face.
"I know what you mean. He took the money
from Mellin and appropriated it to his own use.
He got you involved in the Pico deal. That isn t
an open crime. It is a sneaking, cowardly crime,
in that he is forcing you to bear a part of the
odium."
Helen s voice faltered, but her eyes did not leave
Winston s.
"That Pico business was begun before the Pa
cific failed. You are wrong there."
"I am not wrong," Winston burst in hotly. His
indignation waxed against Elijah. "He is crooked
from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.
So long as it was between himself and me I could
stand it, but when it comes to you, I will endure it
216
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
no longer. He will quit or I will break him. I can
and I will."
"You don t know all, Ralph, or you wouldn t
say that." Helen s voice was firmer.
* I do know all. Don t I know that he has given
the company his note, or pretended to, and secured
it by his stock?"
Helen s eyes were on Winston.
"Do you know this?" She was honestly in
doubt. Perhaps Elijah had confided in Winston
after all.
"I have not seen the papers, but I know Elijah
Berl. He has stilled his conscience without sur
rendering, one iota, his purpose. This note and
security are in his own hands. When it comes to
the point, he will find a new way to quiet what he
calls his conscience."
"You do not know all, Ralph. You are unjust.
This has gone far enough too far." Helen spoke
coldly. She felt compelled to, against the pleadings
of her heart. She turned and began to move away.
XVinston s hand was again on her arm, restrain
ing her. She tried to free herself, but try as she
would, she could not make the action final.
Winston s hand slipped down her arm till her
hand rested in his.
"Helen, I would say all of this for the sake of
friendship alone"
She strove tc draw her hand from his.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Stop, Ralph, stop right there."
"I will not." Winston s grasp tightened, he
was drawing her towards him in spite of herself.
"There is more than friendship, Helen. There is
love. I cannot tell you how much; you will have
to let me teach you."
His arm was around her now, his eyes striving to
look into her own. The pulse of his words, the
light of his eyes, the touch of his hand, there was
in all these the clear, strong definition between
mine and thine. Mine to desire, mine to ask, mine
to plead for my desires; thine to give or to with
hold that which is all and more than all to me.
My heart, my life, my love; thy acceptance of my
offering. No selfish pleading, no imperative de
mand, only a right to ask in undoubting confidence
that which it was hers to give or to withhold. She
felt his breath on her cheek, the warm glow of his
lips nearer and nearer. She could not put them
away; her heart cried out against it. Her will to
resist, to act as her conscience dictated, was weak
ening. Only to be at rest, as she was resting now,
at peace, no doubts, no fears ; she longed for what
in strength of mind and purity of heart he was
offering her.
His clasp grew closer. Why should she not ac
cept? Her senses were reeling in an ecstasy of
surrender that gives all and gains all in the giving.
As in a delicious yet terrifying dream, she shrank
218
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
closer to the protecting arms that would shield her
forever.
"Tell me, Helen, that you love me, not as I love
you, that is too much to ask, but tell me that you
love me."
Her lips trembled in voiceless reply. How she
longed to speak the words he desired her to utter.
Why could she not? Then her eyes opened wide.
Here was a clean heart and a pure life at her feet,
strong, throbbing words pleading with her to accept
the offering. What had she to give in return?
What was she about to give ? A stained heart ; how
deeply stained she did not, could not know, but
stained, in exchange for a pure white soul.
She tore herself from his arms and stood before
him, her hands outstretched against him. Her
great black eyes were wide, and deep, and unfath
omable. Only from their depths, a glow of longing
love shone forth; of longing, sorrowing love, of
sorrow for herself and of love for the man before
her; yet love controlled by a will as strong as the
strength of right could make it.
There was an answering light in the eyes that
met her own. In them was pain and pleading, but
no doubt. His hands reached out to hers that had
put him away, but they dropped before they
touched.
"Helen, your eyes have answered me." There
219
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
was a deep throb of exultation in his voice. But
let me hear you speak. "
She stood with pale face and laboring breath.
Her voice shook with the intensity of her emotion.
"I love you, Ralph. More than I can tell you
in a lifetime, I love you." She spoke in obedience
to a power beyond her will to control.
Winston sprang toward her, but her hand rested
on his breast. She could feel the strong, even throb
of his heart and this strengthened her will to resist.
"Listen, Ralph!" Her voice was intense but
low ; every word pierced like pencils of light in deep
waters. "I have been cruel, mercilessly, selfishly
cruel. I longed to hear you say what you have
said. All my life I shall remember it as a penance
for the wrong I have done you.
"I will not listen to such words." He clasped
the hand that rested on his breast, but she tore it
away.
"Don t tempt me further, Ralph."
He was again close beside her.
"Tell me all, Helen. You have given me the
right to know.
"I have not, I cannot. If I should tell you, you
would despise me. If I granted your wish, all my
life I should loathe myself."
Ralph stood with eyes undoubting, unconvinced,
but he could go no farther."
"Is it forever, Helen, hopelessly forever?"
220
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Don t ask me, Ralph, but forgive me." Her
eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I am afraid
it is. Will you, can you forgive me?"
Winston s lips set. There was a determination
in his eyes that was yet softened by a great love.
"I have nothing to forgive. I love you and I
shall always love you. Nothing you have said or
can say will change it or weaken it. You do not
see clearly now. Some time you will. Then I shall
claim you and you will come to me."
Helen could trust herself no further, nor could
she still the throb of hope his words had kindled.
Was she mistaken after all? Was her sin as she
saw it, but a gigantic empty shadow resting on a
vanishing cloud which the clear light of reason
would melt away? There had been conviction in
his words, "Sometime you will see clearly, then
you will come to me."
She was to outward appearances her old self as
she mingled once more with the visitors on the way
back to Ysleta. The enthusiastic crowd declared
that they would see to it that the completion of the
great dam was duly celebrated, and with one accord
they voted that Helen was to swing the last stone
into place. Helen objected, but to no purpose. She
was told that it had all been arranged between them
and Winston.
221
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Seymour did not arrive in Ysleta as soon as Win
ston and Uncle Sid had expected, yet there was no
doubt that he had heard of the Pacific failure
and the consequent loss of a considerable amount
of the company s funds. There was also no doubt
that the news of Elijah s transactions with
Mellin had been transmitted to him. His non-
appearance puzzled them somewhat, but the fact
that he had communicated with no one, officially at
least, partly explained the situation to them. It
must be that he felt perfectly secure and was tak
ing his own time in which to act. Uncle Sid had
not been ruffled and he went so far as to advise
Winston against worry.
"Seymour s fixin things to do when he gets out
here. What s time for him is time for us. Let s
you an me fix up things while he s thinkin about
it." And that is what they proceeded to do and
very effectively.
As a matter of fact, a prosaic wash-out on the
line had prevented Seymour s bodily presence in
Ysleta, but it had hampered in no way the presence
of his spirit, nor did it hamper his thoughts. The
222
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BEKL
rumor of Elijah s defalcation had not disturbed
Seymour seriously. He imagined he knew for what
purpose the money had been diverted. He shrewd
ly guessed that it had been spent in the acquisition
of new land. This was not displeasing, for the
land could not get away and he could frighten
Elijah into disgorging.
Seymour had been especially attracted by Win
ston. In the bottom of his heart, he had resolved
at a fitting time to gather that young man to him
self. His intentions were not born of purely phil
anthropic motives, for experience had taught him
that greater heights can be scaled by the aid of
others than by unassisted efforts. He felt sure that
no one in California knew better what land was
worth while and what was not, than Winston and
Elijah; therefore, he again concluded that his
money was really well invested. And so it hap
pened that, after the wash-out had been repaired,
he placidly resumed his journey.
Meanwhile Winston and Uncle Sid were at the
Rio Vista.
"I think," Winston was saying, "that that wash
out has saved the day."
"I bet Mr. Seymour s been studyin how to do
things, an* while he s been studyin , we ve been
an done em, that is, pretty near." Uncle Sid
wheeled around in his chair and faced Winston.
"Have you seen Lige lately?"
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"No. I m pretty sure that he s keeping out of
sight purposely. I can t make anything out of
him these days. He s taking an unusual amount
of interest in my work lately. He s been from one
end of the canal line to the other and I don t be
lieve that there s a single stone or a shovelful of
dirt in the whole dam that he doesn t know the
size of; and yet I never run across him. I hear
that he s giving the dam his especial attention just
now.
1 More than Helen?" Uncle Sid looked bluntly
at Winston.
Oh, that reminds me. Winston was trying to
speak indifferently. "The dam will be finished
next week. Helen is to swing the last stone into
position. She said that she thought you would
make up a party to go up with her."
"You ll start the first of the week? Yes, I guess
I ll go." Uncle Sid was certain of it.
1 Then I 11 go up in a day or two and get things
ready for you. The gates are closed, you know,
and the reservoir is nearly full. The rains in the
mountains have been unusually heavy this season.
"How are you makin out with Mellin?"
Winston s smile was not pleasant to contemplate.
"I ve got him all done but the finishing. He
talked fight when I left him, but I think this will
take it out of him. Winston held out a bundle of
224
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
papers to Uncle Sid. "Do you want to look them
over?"
Uncle Sid shook his head as he pushed the papers
aside.
"I ve got a parcel o papers too. Betwixt the
two of us, I guess we have got things pretty well
straightened out."
"How does Helen feel about it now?"
"She s stickin to Lige like a barnacle. She
says that Lige meant all right an* would have done
all right, if Eunice an Mellin had let him alone.
She didn t say so, but I guess she meant she d a
made him, herself."
Winston s expression was skeptical, but it sof
tened as he answered.
"She would have tried, all right."
"She would have succeeded too, if Eunice had
kept out." Uncle Sid spoke with unusual em
phasis. "If there s anything worth savin in a man,
a good woman s bound to save it. Things have looked
pretty black for Lige an for Helen too, but they ll
come out all right. I don t like Lige s cat-a-
waulin any more than you do, an you ain t seen
the worst o him yet, unless I miss my guess, an
you ain t seen the best o him, neither. I can t un-
derstan everything an so I take some things on
trust, an I want to tell you this, Helen Lonsdale
ain t the kind o fish to bite on a bare hook, an she
bit hard on Lige."
225
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
" So did I. That is, I bit." Winston was think
ing of the days when the Las Cruces was hair-
hung. He was straight in word and deed. Right
and wrong were too sharply defined in his mind
to allow room for sympathy towards those differ
ently constituted.
"I wish the whole thing was over," he burst out
impatiently. "It makes me boil to have these
Ysleta sharks looking cross-eyed at me."
Uncle Sid held up a warning hand.
"Don t think o that, young man, don t think o
that. Just think how much worse you d boil if
you had anything to boil over. You go along now,
an do a little trustin that counts. You needn t
talk about who you are trustin in, but twon t be
any less appreciated for that."
226
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After leaving the Rio Vista, Winston went di
rectly to the office of the Las Cruces company. In
spite of the fact that he knew his hope was beyond
reason, he could not repress a thrill of excitement
as he opened the door and entered the inner office.
His first glance was toward Helen. Elijah s desk
was closed and his chair vacant as he felt sure it
would be. It was his first meeting with Helen
since she had left him on the mountain. He shrank
from the formal attitude which their official re
lations compelled him to assume and to which he
knew Helen would strictly hold him. Yet there
were no abstacles to the exchange of assurances
which might flash between their meeting eyes. This
was all he asked for, all he could hope for at
present.
"Has Elijah been in this morning? * He looked
at Helen as he spoke.
"No, Ralph. I hardly think that you expected
he would be." Helen s eyes softened for a mo
ment as they met Winston s, then they grew for
mal, but it was enough.
"No, I didn t I only hoped that he might be.
227
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Have you any idea what he is up to?" Winston s
tone was cynical.
Helen s face flushed painfully.
"You" she began; then she paused. After
all, Elijah was to blame. Winston s course had
been as straight as the course of an arrow.
"I am a whited sepulcher. That is what you
wanted to say, isn t it, Helen?"
"What makes you think so?"
"Because it s just what I am. I have been too
hard on Elijah."
"I wish you had said something like this before
before it was too late."
* Too late ? " he repeated. What do you mean ?
Have you heard anything?" His face was anx
ious.
"No, I haven t. I only know that Elijah is
thoroughly convinced that you have turned against
him. That, and other troubles Ralph, no man can
stand the strain that he is under for long."
"You know Elijah as well as I do, perhaps bet
ter." Winston was profoundly agitated. "I
would hunt him out and drag him home at once,
if it were not for one thing."
"And that is?" Helen waited for Winston to
continue. She knew that his words were a spoken
thought, rather than addressed directly to her.
"So long as Seymour remains away, no one can
speak with assurance. Elijah knows that. He
228
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
needs to feel firm ground under his feet. No one
can put it there now." He paused a moment, then
continued. "I ll do my best to straighten it out
for him. *
A messenger entered the office and handed a yel
low envelope to Winston. He read the message
and dismissed the boy.
"Seymour will be here tomorrow. We will soon
be in a position to set Elijah on his feet I hope."
Winston hesitated a moment, then went on de
liberately. "I thought of having Elijah hunted
up at once ; but now I think it will be best to wait.
He looked questioningly at Helen.
"I think you are right, " she replied briefly.
Winston returned to the Rio Vista and went di
rectly to Uncle Sid s room.
"Things are coming to a climax. " He handed
the message to Uncle Sid.
The old man s face had lost its humorous look.
His sha.LTLry eyebrows were lowered, only two bright
sparks flashed from beneath them, steely hard.
"This mess is in a fair way o bein settled now,
an it ain t a minute too soon, either. Lige ain t
goin to stand this always."
"What had we better do first?"
"You know Seymour. Meet him at the train
and get him over to the office at once. I ll be there.
I think we can settle the whole business in an
229
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
hour/ Uncle Sid s face relaxed into a grim smile.
"He ll have to come to our terms."
"The main thing, after all, is to get there, and
it begins to look as if we had done it."
There was a surprise to both in their immediate
vicinity. The door opened without ceremony to
admit Mrs. MacGregor. She was still in traveling
costume. She nodded slightly to Winston, who
rose as if to leave the room. Uncle Sid checked
him.
"You stay right here, Ralph."
Mrs. MacGregor addressed Uncle Sid.
"I want a few minutes alone with you, Sidney,
on business."
"Me an Ralph are about as near one as they
make em, I guess. You just go right on an un
burden your mind."
* The business to which I refer concerns you and
me alone."
"Your ward and Helen Lonsdale are included,
I guess. If they ain t, you ll have to wait. If they
are, you go right on. You didn t raise enough
money in Fall Brook to push you out of the Palm
Wells mess. You take up the business right there."
Mrs. MacGregor looked at Winston with as much
of an appeal in her glance as she could compel her
self to make.
Winston settled himself even more firmly in his
chair in compliance with Uncle Sid s request. Mrs.
230
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
MacGregor did not attempt to conceal her annoy
ance, but she followed her brother s suggestion and
came to the point.
"Yes, I did fail to raise the money in Fall Brook
that I had expected to raise without difficulty, and
I fancy I know why."
Uncle Sid chuckled with evident satisfaction.
"Consequently," Mrs. MacGregor continued, ig
noring her brother s interruption," the Palm Wells
company is in precisely the same position now
that it was when I left for the East."
"7 should say that it was considerably steadier
on its legs than it was. What s your opinion, Mr.
Winston?"
"I should say so." Winston did not answer
aggressively, his reply was perfunctory.
Mrs. MacGregor ignored Winston.
"I don t know what you mean, Sidney."
"Me n Ralph knows. It ain t necessary you
should know."
Mrs. MacGregor s patience was sorely tried, as
Uncle Sid fully intended it should be, but she gave
no visible signs of annoyance for two excellent rea
sons. In the first place, a display of emotion
smacked of vulgarity; in the second place, she felt
that all of her deep-laid schemes depended upon
her perfect self-control.
We are getting nowhere, Sidney. Let us come
to the point at once. Our company is temporarily
231
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
embarrassed and I feel that you are partially re
sponsible for my not raising the money that I had
expected, so I am coming to ask you to help us out.
Not only is the success of the company at stake
but the honor of our family name as well."
She would have gone farther, but Uncle Sid
blazed in. He was quite unhampered by the fear
of the vulgarity of displayed emotions.
* The honor of our name ! " he exploded. * * What
Harwood in three hundred years was ever false to
a trust? What Harwood but stood still in his
tracks rather than even look at a crooked path?
What Harwood ever used the weakness of his neigh
bor for his own good?"
" Sidney!" Mrs. MacGregor s voice trembled.
"Keep still! I m on deck now!" Uncle Sid
bent before his sister and shook his knotted fingers
in her face. His eyes were blazing, his face rugose
with deep, hard lines.
"Do you know what you ve done, Eunice? You
saw Lige Berl stumblin betwixt right and wrong,
an for the sake of a few dirty dollars you pushed
him over! That s what you did. You knew what
our old New England name was worth to a man like
Lige, and instead o usin it to pull him out o
the mud, you used it to push him in deeper. You
congered a dyin woman into trustin her daugh
ter s fortune to your hands, an you ve betrayed
the woman an stole her daughter deaf, dumb an
232
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
blind. Now you re in trouble, you re a comin to
me to keep the honor o the Harwood name. I
wanted to keep the honor o the Harwood name, so
I called on this young man to help me an* he s done
it, because the same good, red blood is soakin his
bones an muscles as has soaked the bones an mus
cles o the Harwoods. Betwixt us, we ve got the
company out o trouble, an betwixt us, we will
keep it out. We ll get you out o trouble too, and
we ll keep you out o this! Now we re goin to
hunt up Lige an get him out o trouble too. We
hope he may be worth it."
Uncle Sid straightened and dashed a handker
chief over his swollen face. Mrs. MacGregor sat
pale and silent. When Winston began to speak,
she turned to him with lips that trembled on the
verge of speech.
44 1 deeply regret the necessity of all this, Mrs.
MacGregor, but there is no other way except before
an open court." Winston briefly but clearly set
forth the status of the Palm Wells company. He
assured Mrs. MacGregor that Mellin had been ef
fectually and forever silenced, and in confirmation
of his words, showed Mellin s note, from which
her name and Elijah s had been torn. "Now I
am going to ask you to sign these papers ; this done,
the last obstacle will be removed from your
brother s path."
"Suppose I refuse?"
233
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Winston s face set.
* I advise you not to.
Mrs. MacGregor held out her hand for the pa
pers. She affixed her name where Winston in
dicated.
< What next?
Uncle Sid answered.
There s nothin more to keep you in California.
Just go, an when you want money within reason,
let me know."
Mrs. MacGregor rose and turned to the door
that led to her room. Winston was before her and
held the door ajar, closing it behind her; then he
faced Uncle Sid. The old man approached him
and laid a clumsy but affectionate hand on his
shoulder.
"I ain t worth a cuss at quotin scripture, but it
strikes me that it ain t every one who s yappin
Lord, Lord, as gets into heaven. Now you go
below an tomorrow we ll lay alongside o Sey
mour.
234
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Winston was at his post when the great "Over
land Express" rolled into the station at Ysleta,
with clanging bell and coughing air-pump and daz
zled sunbeams dancing from its varnish.
Winston was an engineer and he was not imper
vious to a stimulating thrill at the exhibition of
power and progress of which the train was a type,
from the ponderous, six-wheeled locomotive, to the
last car of the shining train that it dragged. This
thrill did not interfere with business and he had
imperative, pressing business on hand. His quick
eye singled out the man for whom he was waiting
and almost as quickly he was by his side.
"Good morning, Mr. Seymour."
Without any haste, Seymour s grip was in his
hand, and with no conscious volition on his part,
Seymour was threading his way at Winston s side
through the throng of disembarking passengers,
those waiting for incoming friends, curious loaf
ers, and rattling express trucks.
"Have you had breakfast?" Winston hardly
paused, as they left the station and came out upon
the gravelly, palm-fringed walk.
235
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Yes, and a good one too. The dining service
has improved. Couldn t do much better in New
York."
"That s a good deal for a New Yorker to say.
It s worth money to the road ; at least, it would be
if they got hold of it."
"What s the program for today?" Mr. Seymour
dropped pleasantries.
* If you re not tired, we 11 go to the office at once.
They are expecting us."
"Will Mr. Berl be there?"
"No. Not today."
"Hasn t he been notified."
"No."
"Why?" Seymour asked sternly.
"This, and much more, will come out at the
meeting."
As Seymour swung along beside Winston, there
was a meditative smile on his face. He was not
accustomed to receiving curt answers to his in
quiries. He had been watching Winston narrowly,
and his first favorable impressions were being;
strengthened. Besides, he had lost no confidence in
his own ability to take care of himself. They
reached the office and entered.
Winston handed Seymour s grip to a waiting
boy, and, without further ceremony, entered the
private room. Uncle Sid and Helen were already
there.
236
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"Mr. Seymour, I think you have met Miss Lons-
daleT"
Seymour greeted Helen with conventional affa
bility; she was conscious of a piercing, though mo
mentary, glance that seemed to read every nook
of her soul.
" Captain Harwood, shake hands with Mr. Sey
mour." Winston made use of the hearty Western
formula.
"Pleased to do so, Senner."
"Senner" was Uncle Sid s version of the stately
Spanish sefior, which had greatly taken his fancy.
Neither the cordial "senner," nor the beaming
smile, hid from Seymour the rectangular lines of
the wrinkled face.
The party seated themselves, and before there
was a suggestion of an embarrassing pause, Uncle
Sid broke in. His glance shot from face to face
then rested on Winston.
"We re cleared for action. Mr. Winston, it s
your watch."
Seymour glanced appreciatively at Uncle Sid.
"You re naval, I see."
"Aye, aye, sir; from main truck to orange
groves."
Winston began to speak. There was neither
haste nor deliberation.
"There is no use in preliminaries. I take it, Mr.
Seymour, that what brought you out here, was the
237
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
theft of the fifty thousand dollars of the company s
money ?
Seymour nodded curtly to Winston s question.
Winston resumed.
* There s no use calling it by a softer name ; but
I submit that there were modifying circumstances
which may appeal to you. Miss Lonsdale will sub
mit them; Mr. Berl will not be here. No one
knows exactly where he is. I am sure that he took
the money without, at the time, realizing fully what
his act would be called. I think I am right in say
ing that he is driven to desperation, now that he
is brought face to face with his own interpretation
of what he has done. If you insist, I am confident
that he can be found within twenty-four hours,
and that he will come here of his own accord, but
I hope that you will not insist upon this step.
When I find him, I want to be able to tell him ex
actly what he is to expect.
Without comment, Seymour turned to Helen.
"What are the modifying circumstances?"
Without a quaver, Helen met Seymour s pierc
ing glance. She was alive to the fact that a single
false step might mean ruin to Elijah, but she did
not fear.
"For years, Mr. Berl has studied the conditions
of orange growing, not only in this country, but in
others. Previous to the organization of the Las
Cruces company, he began a series of investigations
238
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
as to the ranges of temperature. These investiga
tions were not completed at the time this company
was formed, farther than this. He had found that
the greater part of the lands now held by the Las
Cruces were in a belt where the temperature never
went to freezing. He did not then know how much
more extensive the belt was. At that time he trans
ferred every foot of land which he controlled. "
Helen paused, looking at Seymour. He appeared
politely patient, questioning the bearing of her
words. She resumed.
"From this time he did not act alone, nor was he
alone responsible for what was done. In my ca
pacity of secretary, I discovered, what he did not
tell you of, that is, the frostless belt. From maps,
I found that the belt reached into territory not
owned by the company, and I brought these facts
to his notice. Whether rightly or not, this does
not matter, he feared that I or others would make
use of this knowledge. This fear led him to act at
once without consulting the wishes of the company.
There were movements on foot to secure this tract
without knowledge of its special value, simply for
its speculative value. Mr. Berl acted at once. At
this time the Pacific Bank failed, and the fifty
thousand dollars saved to the company through his
influence, I don t pretend to defend this, was
used by him for the purchase of the Pico ranch.
239
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"One moment/ Seymour interrupted. "Did
Mr. Berl intend to restore this money?"
"I can only give you facts, Mr. Seymour, not
opinions."
"Very well. But from your own showing, if
other parties had secured this property, we would
have had the revenue from the sale of the water and
our money beside."
"I don t think that follows. But the actual fact
is, that other parties did not get this tract and that
Mr. Berl did."
"Has Mr. Berl got it now?"
"He has not."
Uncle Sid interrupted.
"I expect I can contribute some facts, Senner.
The truth is, your company would have been fifty
thousand dollars out, if it hadn t been for Lige
Berl, I don t defend him, either. As it is, you ve
got a bank account fatter than it was, an I m
owner o the Pico ranch."
"And our money having been risked without
our consent, you are getting the sole benefit of it?"
Seymour s voice was biting.
"That s just as you say, Senner. I m goin to
let in a few others, Helen an Ralph, an we ve no
objections to you if you want to come in."
Seymour s face flushed angrily. He mistook the
kindly old man s offer for a bribe.
240
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I ve made money, but I ve made it honestly,
not by taking bribes."
Uncle Sid s face grew purple. His eyes shone
from a maze of deep, hard lines.
"Look here, Mr. Seymour, I ve got a name
reachin back three hundred years. You just shin
up your jenny-logical tree an shake out your an
cestors, an I ll match em as they fall, hides, an
horns, an taller, an what s more, if they line up
better n mine, I ll go along where you re more
than half minded to send Lige."
Seymour was quick in thought and quick in ac
tion. He saw that he had been mistaken. A kindly,
if somewhat cynical, smile softened his face.
"I beg your pardon, Captain. I won t put you
to that trouble."
"No trouble at all, Senner, if twill ease you up
any." Uncle Sid s face relaxed.
"I think you have all of the essential facts, Mr.
Seymour," AVinston began. "Mr. Berl took fifty
thousand dollars of the company s money. It has
been returned. According to the strict interpreta
tion of the law, this restitution does not free Mr.
Berl from its penalties. If you fail to prosecute,
it will have the appearance of compounding a
felony ; that is, if Mr. Berl took the money with no
intention of restoring it. Whether hr had such in
tentions, no one, not even Elijah himself, can prove
before the law. The question is, whether we will
241
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
prosecute Mr. Berl, or whether we will forgive the
past, and try to restore him to himself."
Winston looked fixedly at Seymour. There was
an anxious hush as he ceased speaking. Seymour
rested motionless with his eyes on the floor. At
last he looked up.
"When I started out here, it was with the full
expectation of finding you all more or less in
volved in this business. From what I have seen
and heard since I have been in this office, I am pre
pared to say, without reservation, that my suspi
cions were groundless. So far as I am concerned,
Mr. Berl is a free man with no shadow of fear. This
affair can be kept strictly to ourselves with no in
justice to any one. We will consider this episode
in our history closed once and for all."
Uncle Sid s face was wreathed in smiles.
"I want to beg your pardon, Senner. You make
me think of these prickly pears out here. They re
mighty fine eatin when you get the spines off em."
242
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The fact that the way of the transgressor is
hard, was being ground into the shrinking soul of
Elijah. As yet, the grinding was of no avail be
cause he refused to recognize that he was a trans
gressor. For years he had dreamed, and worked,
and planned, and in it all he had been alone. Men
would have called it alone, but not so Elijah. The
Lord was with him. At least this was his fanatical
belief. Alone, or with the still, small voice, not
always interpreted aright, he had with infinite
patience dreamed his dreams, wrought out his
tasks as they came to him, and still alone, he had
seen them shaping to a definite end. He had, like
a solitary player, shuffled his cards, had dealt them
and played in strict accordance with the game or
modified them at will, and there was no one to say
him nay. Even Amy had strengthened this grow
ing habit of looking upon himself, his will and his
desires as infallible.
Unconsciously he had carried this inflexible atti
tude of mind into the game, when necessity had
comprlii d him to admit partners. II- i-.-mtcd tho
insistence of others, that they should be considered
243
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
as having rights equal to his own. He demanded
unconditional surrender, implicit obedience to his
will. He reasoned with a sophistical show of right
that the great idea was his, that what he gave was
given in the fullness of his heart, and that it was
only base ingratitude that prompted the recipients
to oppose and thwart him.
Winston had opposed and thwarted him in a
thousand details, and though Elijah had outwardly
yielded, he had not essentially changed, though he
was learning many lessons. He had learned to dis
tinguish between what Winston would accept
and what he would reject, but involuntarily and
unconsciously there was growing up within him a
burning hatred of Ralph Winston. There was a
seeming lack of sympathy in the rugged integrity
of Winston that clove through the heart of things.
Winston knew only north and south. If a needle
swung to these points, it was right ; if it did not, it
was wrong, and he had no use for it.
Elijah was growing jealous of Winston. He
said nothing, but he noticed that, in the field
especially, and to a certain extent in the office, de
tails were more and more referred to Winston, even
by Helen. Winston s name was on every tongue.
It seemed to Elijah as if profit, and honor, and
prestige were slipping from him and falling upon
Winston. He was being defrauded. It never oc
curred to him that Winston s complete surrender
244
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of heart, and soul and mind to the successful ful
filment of his dreams, all testified far more strongly
than honeyed words of praise to the worthiness
of the idea which he had conceived.
He had turned to Helen Lonsdale. With no less
ru.irged ideas of right and wrong, they had been
clouded in Helen with the dangerous sympathy of
a woman s heart. With sympathy, Helen had sof
tened the blows she had dealt him. To a certain ex
tent she had kept him right, but because the blows
had not pained, they lacked a compelling power.
Her intuition, stimulated by her belief in him, in
his essential greatness, had been quick to detect
every changing mood; in her womanly sympathy,
her efforts to soothe and comfort had been un
stinted.
In spite of all condemning appearances, these in
fluences were having an unconscious effect for
good upon Elijah, until the advent of Mrs. Mac-
Gregor. She nursed his sense of wrong, stimulated
his belief in himself, fed his morbidly craving soul
with honeyed food that fattened it for the hand
of the slayer.
Yet Mrs. MacGregor had missed her mark. She
had counted upon a possible sometime awakening
of Elijah, but before the awakening she had in
tended to have him fully in her power. She had
not reckoned at its full value the impatient greed
of Elijah ; she had not reckoned on the womanhood
245
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of Helen Lonsdale which, though struggling in a
fog of sinister influences, never lost consciousness
of its own identity.
When, on the morning of his declaration to
Helen, Elijah left the office, it was as one stricken
with a numbing wound. He was not conscious of
its meaning, only of the sickening absence of pain
which, coupled with the knowledge of the wound,
filled him with an unknown terror. As the mean
ing of it all slowly dawned upon him, the sting
ing, biting pain played full upon every tingling
nerve. He became filled with blind, ungovernable,
impotent rage. He raged against himself, against
Helen, against Mrs. MacGregor. He would have
returned to the office at once; what darker crime
he might have committed, only imagination can sug
gest, but return was impossible. When the thought
came to him, he was far beyond Ysleta, surrounded
by desert sands that dragged at his feet till physical
exertion was no longer possible. Burning with
thirst, weakened by hunger, he threw himself upon
the hot sands and watched with unconscious eyes
the fierce sun sink into the Pacific.
It was here that a wandering vaquero chanced
upon him. The simple Mexican knew naught of
the delirium born of a frenzied mind, but he knew
the delirium of blood thirst that lack of water
brings upon the desert wanderer. With this knowl
edge and belief, he carried Elijah to his hut and
246
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
nursed him back to life. If the strange senor
chose to call upon the names of men and women
whom he knew not, that was the senor s privilege,
and it was his duty as a host to patter softly with
bare feet on the dirt floor, and to bind the hot
forehead with herbs which the desert gave.
It was his duty as a host to bind with thongs the
raving senor to his raw-hide couch, lest he should
once more go out into the desert before his strength
had returned.
As consciousness began to return to Elijah, his
sense of injury took another form. He had been
for several days in the Mexican s hut and no one
had called for him or inquired. After all he had
done for others, they had left him, turned from
him in heartless ingratitude, in this his hour of
need. He raged against Helen especially, but his
rage changed first to an intense longing, then to a
determination to see her again.
Toward the evening of the fifth day, he prevailed
upon the Mexican to drive him to Ysleta. At the
Rio Vista, having gone to his room, he called a
servant and sent him with a message to Helen.
She was not to be found. At the office he learned
that Helen had gone out to the works and would
be absent for several days. He would have fol
lowed, but he dared not. Her last words, the last
look that he remembered so clearly, these told him
only too plainly that she would not be forced, that
247
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
he dared think no further. He must work on
her sympathy through an appeal. He returned to
his room at the hotel and found what he had over
looked before, a package of papers on his table.
They had been sent over from the office. A slip of
paper in Helen s writing, Elijah Berl, Rio Vista."
He tore the string from the bundle in feverish
haste. His fingers trembled as he shuffled the letters
one by one. Not one was in Helen s hand. Again
and again he went over them, then he gave up in
despair.
With infinite patience, the Almightly has taught
us by precept and example, that our destinies are
in our own hands ; that the punishment for failure
that comes to us, is self-inflicted, and not from him,
when in blind despair, we thrust aside a redemp
tion that is waiting to make us whole. The smitten
rock that quenched the thirst of Israel, the parted
sea that gave them a way to safety, the column of
smoke that reached into the day, the pillar of fire
that made the darkness light, these may be fables;
but they speak with a voice that cannot be stilled,
telling us that in ages past, as in the present, an
eye that sleeps not, watches over us; that hope
is for us if we will.
Among the discarded letters, was one from Win
ston. It told of the plucked fangs of Mellin, of
Uncle Sid s restoration of the stolen money, of the
248
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
nuvting with Seymour. It ended, "Come back,
old man, we want you."
Late as was the hour when Elijah at last turned
from his unopened letters, he rang for a servant
and ordered a carriage to take him to his ranch.
He could not go to the dam; the thought of idly
waiting at the hotel was unendurable. He wanted
to see some one, he must see some one. He had de
liberately put Amy from him ; but she did not know
this. The black heartlessness of his proposed action
did not once occur to him. Before leaving the hotel
lu 1 wrote an appeal to Helen. He told her where
he was going and that he would wait her answer.
At the ranch, he found Amy as of old. Eager,
questioning hope leaped to her eyes as they rested
on his face; then the hope died out to the dumb,
patient waiting; the dumb, patient suffering of an
animal that endures without question, without re
sentment. Through the long days that followed,
she did her best to draw him from himself, from the
fires that were consuming him. It was in vain.
In vain, when she found him seated with his eyes
fastened on the dusty trail from Ysleta, she slipped
her hand in his and nestled close to him, inviting
confidences that were never given, tendering sym
pathy that was not accepted, assuring him of un
swerving confidence that nothing and no one could
destroy.
He let no opportunity pass to send other appeals
249
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
to Helen, but these too were unanswered. One day
a messenger came. Elijah did not wait, but rushed
to meet him. The message was not from Helen.
Instead, a telegram. Mechanically he signed the
receipt which the messenger held out; then he
opened the envelope. The message was in cipher,
but he knew each symbol. The messenger looked at
him inquiringly. Elijah shook his head, "No
answer," and the messenger rode away.
It did not matter to Elijah that the message was
over a week old; the message itself was sufficient.
"Have failed to raise the money. I start for Cali
fornia to-morrow."
Elijah felt that his return to Ysleta was hope
lessly barred. Mrs. MacGregor was there now,
Seymour was there, Helen was there. Like sneak
ing jackals, they were ready to fall upon him,
wounded to the death. They would not leave him
in peace. They would not leave him in peace even
with what was his own. Nothing was left him but
vengeance; how could he compass it?
Like the white flash of a thunderbolt, the trans
action with Mellin came to him. Its sinister condi
tion "within three months after the water shall
have been turned into the main canal of the Las
Cruces" danced before his eyes. The words were
clear and minatory, but there was a hidden mean
ing that he could not catch, that was pointing the
way of deliverance. He strained forward as if to
250
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
listen more clearly. The swollen veins on his fore
head throbbed and beat; then he sprang to his
feet
"As God lives, that water shall not be turned
on!"
The sun had set and darkness was falling, but
day and night were alike to Elijah now. He was
at the gates of the canal at the mouth of the canon.
The roar of the Sangre de Cristo was gone, only
a trickle of water slipped by blackened boulders
and gurgled as it fell into tiny pools, then wimpled
and slid out toward the desert. Up through the
trail that led to the dam, darkened by dense ever
greens to a deeper shadow, he rode wildly. In the
shadow of a great rock, he looked down upon the
still rising water, black with depth. He saw the
great tubes let in at the base, the wheels by which
the gates were controlled, the wide, rock-paved
waste weir that, leading from the reservoir, gave
into the canon below. He noted the broken earth,
the clinging trees that hung over the weir. 1 1 is
eyes, calculating, merciless, rested on the trees. A
gleam of triumph came to them. If the wheels
were broken, the gates could not be opened, and
the water was even now trickling over the weir. In
a day or two, the whole volume of the Sangre de
Cristo would pour through it. Just a little powder
behind the retaining wall, and the whole bank
would fall and choke the weir. Just a few hours
251
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
and, the weir choked, the gates unopened, the whole
volume of the river would creep over the coping of
the dam, pick out grain by grain the unprotected
earth, till the dam weakened, the mighty mass of.
stored water would rush in devastating waves down
through the canon, and the canal would be as if
it had never been. The dream of a life, the labor of
years, these lay in the hollow of his hand.
Why should he pity others who were pitiless to
him? What mattered it, if, like Samson of old, he
should drag down the very pillars of the structure
he had raised ? What mattered it, if he too should
perish in the ruins?
252
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The party that had gathered to see the last
stone of the great Sangre de Cristo dam swung into
position was far larger than Winston had expected.
Elijah was not among them. Winston had spared
no effort to find Elijah and to deliver to him an
other message to the effect that he was once more
a free man. Messengers had been sent to his ranch ;
but he had left home and Amy had not seen him
for several days ; she supposed him to be in Ysleta.
Parties had scoured the mountain in the vicinity of
the dam, but in vain. It was clear that Elijah was
purposely in hiding and that the exercises at the
dam must be carried on without him.
Ysleta was largely represented. Winston was at
first surprised, then deeply grateful for the genuine
interest which even the wildest boomers displayed in
his work. As, one by one, in pairs or in groups,
they took him cordially by the hand, congratulated
him on the successful completion of a great piece
of work, compared the lasting utility of his work
with their own ephemeral and selfish efforts, a wave
of self-reproach swept over him. These were the
people whom, in season and out, he had condemned
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
as greedy, selfish, unprincipled sharks. For the
first time in his life, he began to realize the fact
that, even in the worst of humanity, there is a soul
of goodness, a soul that is only obscured, never ex
tinguished. In deep contrition, he reviewed his
attitude of mind toward Elijah. He saw him in a
new light, the light of kindliness that was radiating
from those whose hearts he had condemned as black
with unscrupulous greed. He pictured Elijah,
shunning his fellow men like a hunted animal, the
warmth of his good intentions changed to the bit
ing flame of bitter resentment against those who
were to profit by his success, and who had turned
from him at sight of the first shadow that had
fallen upon him. He reproached himself for not
having gone directly to Elijah on the first suspicion
of defalcation, for not having pointed out to him
his error, for not having pleaded with him to face
the consequences of his wrong doing, to endeavor
to set himself right. He contrasted his self-right
eous conduct with that of Helen Lonsdale, her
readiness to stand by Elijah, to assume her own
share of blame for Elijah s mistaken actions. He
had assumed that, because certain of Elijah s ac
tions had been criminal, Elijah was a criminal by
instinct, and he, a friend, an intimate business
associate, had treated him as one, but made no ef
fort at reclamation.
Winston s was not an emotional nature, but the
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
circumstances in which he was placed, played upon
his calmly balanced mind, until he saw his own self-
righteous errors and condemned himself as sharply
as he had condemned Elijah. He was recalled to
himself by the proffered hand of one of the most
successful and as he deemed him, one of the most
heartless of Ysleta s boomers.
"Say, Ralph, old man, I want to do myself the
honor of shaking hands with the real thing. This
work," he swept his hand with a comprehensive
gesture which included the dam, the canal, and the
waiting hillsides, "makes us feel like thirty cents
Mexican. It don t come with the real plunk from
us, you know, but it s real just the same. Ysleta
wasn t worth whooping for, but we whooped. We
whooped for cash. Some of us got it; but what
we got, others lost, and we knew it. But you fel
lows have helped us to make good. With this thing
in working order," he again pointed to the dam,
"Ysleta will make good in time."
"I know it," Winston s voice was regretful,
"but the beginning, end and middle of this whole
business, is a hunted man who dares not show his
face, even to those whom he had every reason to
believe w r ere his friends."
The man looked sharply at Winston.
"You mean Lige Berl?"
"Yes, the best man of us all."
"You re right there. And say, Ralph, you just
255
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
listen. We all know about this Pacific business.
It was a mistake on Lige s part, that s all. He ll
make good, if he gets a chance, and by God, we re
going to stand by and see that he gets it."
Winston s grasp tightened on the hand he held.
"It s all straightened out now, if we only knew
where he was.
The work at the dam called for Winston s atten
tion. As he passed through a bowing, smiling
group, he came face to face with Helen. She
was laughing and chatting with some Ysleta ac
quaintances. She darted an eager, inquiring look
at Winston as he came towards her. In obedience
to an unvoiced bidding, she joined Winston as he
passed by. Beyond the hearing of the group, her
look changed to one of anxiety.
"Have you seen anything of Elijah?" she asked.
"Not a thing. Helen, I m worried about Elijah.
He has been home, but has gone again and I can t
find him in the mountains. I have sent men every
where.
There were tears in Helen s eyes. They did not
fall; they only softened and intensified their
depths.
"I hoped to see him here. If we could only get
word to him about Seymour." After a moment s
hesitation, she added: "I have had several strange
letters from him, but no clue as to where they were
sent from."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Winston s glance wandered to the group of
Ysleta men.
"It just crushes me, Helen, to think that these
men are actually truer to Elijah than I have been."
"No, don t blame yourself too much. I know
more now than I did when you and Uncle Sid held
me up that day in the office, and Oh, I cannot
talk about it, Ralph ! It is all unspeakably awful."
Helen turned abruptly away and joined Uncle
Sid at the foot of the great derrick which was to
swing the last stone into place.
Winston glanced quickly at her, but she was talk
ing eagerly with Uncle Sid, her somber mood ap
parently quite gone. He turned inquiringly to the
foreman, who nodded his head in reply.
1 Come, Helen ; they are ready for us. He took
Helen by the arm to steady her, and together they
started out over the foot- way on the crest of the
dam, Helen a little in advance of Winston.
"Don t look down," he continued, "it may make
you dizzy."
"Dizzy!" she repeated derisively, "why I could
walk a slack rope. It s great ! I don t wonder that
you are an engineer."
"This is easy, doing things, when some one tells
you what to do and what for."
"Thanks! You are original and independent.
So am I." With reckless daring she freed her arm
from Winston s detaining hand, and before he
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
could prevent, she was skipping over the dizzy walk
far ahead.
"Stop, Helen, stop! It s dangerous! His
voice was commanding.
"I know it is. That s where the fun comes in."
Over her shoulder she flung him a mocking glance
from reckless eyes.
Winston dared make no quick move that would
increase her danger. He could not understand the
spirit of bravado that had come over her. A sigh
of intense relief escaped him as she grasped one
of the staying ropes and swung inside the enclosure,
which, hanging far out over the abyss, railed in
the space where the last stone was to be laid.
"It s no credit to you," he said sternly, "that
your childish prank hasn t ended in tragedy."
Helen was conscious of a creeping thrill as she
looked into Winston s eyes. They were like poles
of a dynamo, with thousands of volts of energy
waiting to leap out, if the safety line was crossed.
She felt as if she were dangerously near the line.
"Be thankful for your mercies," she said lightly.
"No tragedy has happened."
Winston wanted to say more, but an expectant
crowd was waiting.
"Well, go ahead," he said. "You re in com
mand now."
"I don t know where to begin, but I m not old
enough yet not to take a dare."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Out on one of the abutments, a great derrick
rose ; near its foot an engineer stood with his hand
on the throttle of an engine. Helen waved her
hand, looking defiantly at Winston.
There came the short, sharp bark of the engine,
the groaning of rope and timber as the locking
stone swung in the air, turned, poised high above
them; them slowly began to sink to its position.
Under Winston s directions, her small, firm hands
guided the great block, as it settled, then came to a
rest. The fall ropes slackened, and Helen un
clasped the tackle. Amidst the cheers of the watch
ers on the abutments, the boom of the derrick
swung free. The last stone had been laid in the
Sangre de Cristo dam.
Helen turned to Winston. Her great, black eyes
were solemn.
"It is finished now, isn t it Ralph?"
"It is."
Helen sighed deeply. It suggested relief from a
long, anxious strain.
"Thunder and Mars, Helen! Isn t there any
thing more in life for you? I can imagine Alex
ander heaving that sigh when he realized that he d
done the whole world."
"That s where Alexander and I separate. I m
relieved, not regretful."
Winston spoke with feeling.
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"It must be a relief, Helen. No one has done
more for this work than you."
Helen s reply was unguarded.
"I wasn t thinking of myself."
Winston looked up in unfeigned surprise.
"You weren t?"
1 Let s not talk of this now. It s finished.
"Tell me what you meant."
Helen looked at Winston. There was a sug
gestion of yielding in her eyes. Her lips trembled
on the verge of speech; then they set, voiceless.
Why should she tell Winston of her fears of
Elijah? That, driven to desperation, as she knew
he was, she feared that in some way he would
thwart the work that was now completed.
"Sometime, perhaps; not now." She was not
quite herself. "This will stay here forever?" She
evidently wished to be reassured.
"Unless something happens."
"But what can happen?" She questioned
anxiously.
"A very simple thing might destroy the whole
thing in an hour.
Helen s face grew white.
Winston noted the look, but failed to assign the
correct reason for it. Helen had given more to the
work than he had thought.
"There s no danger, really." Winston spoke
with conviction. "It s just this. We ve built a
260
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
rip-rap dam with a stone facing. No amount of
water behind it can ever move it. Yet if by chance
the water should flow over the crest, it would go
in an hour.
4 What s to prevent it?" Helen s voice was
sharp.
"The waste weir." Winston pointed to the stone
paved canal on the far side of the dam. "We know
the rainfall here. That spillway will handle twice
the amount."
"But if it should become choked?"
" We have the flood gates." Winston pointed to
the two great shafts that reached up from the base
of the dam, crowned with grooved wheels.
"But suppose they should get wedged so they
could not be opened?"
"Then I would advise you to get out of the way!
What s the matter, Helen?" W T inston grew sud
denly conscious that there was more in Helen s per
sistent questions that appeared on the surface.
Helen did not reply.
"Couldn t all this have been provided against?"
"Yes; but it would have cost more money than
we had to put in. It s safe enough, if we watch
out."
Helen laid her hand on Winston s arm. Her
, \, s \\vn- dt cp and anxious.
"Watch out day and night, Ralph. There is
danger, grave danger."
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
Winston was thoroughly aroused.
"You know something that you are concealing
from me. Tell me!"
"I have told you enough to put you on your
guard. I can t tell you any more. I don t know
any more."
Helen turned resolutely toward the footway.
Winston walked silently beside her. He wanted to
know more, but he felt the uselessness of words.
As soon as he could free himself from the friends
who thronged around him and Helen, he sought
out Uncle Sid and told him of Helen s warning.
"What do you make out of it?" he asked.
"No more than you do, I guess."
"You think Elijah is at the bottom of it all,
don t you?"
"Yes, I do. I m sure of it."
"Why didn t she tell me then?" Winston burst
out.
"Well, women are queer creatures." Uncle Sid
spoke meditatively. * They see more sides to a man
than we do, an when he s down, they stay by him
closer. I sometimes think that Helen knows more
about Lige than we do; anyway, she s mighty
suspicious of him, but she s goin to give him every
chance to get up, an at the same time she s lookin
out that no one gets hurt when he s flappin his
heels around, tryin to make his feet. What are
you doin to shut off any deviltry?"
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
"I ve put on extra watchmen, day and night,
and I ve got men out hunting Elijah."
"I guess that s all that you can do."
Winston meditated long over Helen s warning
and Uncle Sid s explanation of her conduct. The
idea of Elijah s trying to injure the dam finally
seemed too monstrous to be entertained. It oc
curred to him to remain at the dam and not trust
to watchmen; but this was impossible. He had
other pressing duties demanding him. Nothing
could happen this night; the next would be spent
at the mouth of the canon. The day following he
would send some of his young assistants in place
of the Mexicans.
263
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The sun had long since sunk beneath the sheen
of the ocean and one by one the distant stars
pricked sharp and clear through the azure veil that
made the world a unit in the depths of space. From
their spanless heights, moonlight and starlight
plunged like hissing shafts of water and, like shafts
of water falling on the softly resisting air, broke in
diffused mantles that half concealed and half re
vealed the softened contours of the slumbering
world. The gently falling radiance disclosed no
detail of the swelling plains below, yet each tumid
roll, crowned with its aureole of lustrous light
voiced with tongueless words an everlasting peace.
Winston was busy until far into the night. There
was a strange sense of oppression as he passed from
point to point of the now completed dam. The
machinery that had for so long a time been pulsing
with life, was now stilled. There were no banked
fires under the boilers, to speak of rest for the labor
of the morrow, for the labor was completed. In
the laborer s camp, the men were packing their
few belongings for an early start in the morning.
Some were busy touching up the machines for their
264
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
long rest. These were not to be dismantled at once,
but were to wait a more convenient time. The lan
terns of the men twinkled through clumps of moun
tain pine where the shadows lay thick and deep;
then faded to a dim point in the white moonlight.
The occasional clink of a hammer, and the voices
of the men drifted across the water, softened by
distance. It was funereal, after all! And he had
looked forward to these very sounds with an im
patient thrill. Now it was all completed. The last
stone of the dam had been laid, from the dam to
the terminal canal every gate had been put in,
every trestle had been built, every tunnel had been
driven. Tomorrow, with the men, he would go
over every foot of the canal for a final inspection.
If this was satisfactory, and he knew it would be,
in two days the gates would be opened and the
water turned into the canal.
Winston was standing on the apron of the dam
looking out over the great reservoir that in the
moonlight lay like a plate of burnished steel be
tween the pine-clad granite hills that dipped steeply
into the water. The dam was already filled to the
brim, and the full volume of the Sangre de Cristo
was sweeping through the weir and plunging into
the canon below. The sights and sounds only deep
ened Winston s oppression. His work was done;
tin 1 work he loved so well. The future held nothing
so bright as the past had held. Only, in the future,
265
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
was there to be the dull routine of office work, the
laying off of orange groves, the running out of
ditches that would lead the water to them; simple
work this that any tyro who could set a level and
read an angle, could perform. No intricate prob
lems that absorbed every energy of an active mind,
that blotted out consciousness of time and self in
delicious oblivion of existence; no obstacles of na
ture that lifted a forbidding hand "thus far and
no farther;" no thrill of determined battle that
rushed against these obstacles and bore them down.
His field had been sown; the harvest was waiting
for him to thrust in and reap, what ? Money ; that
was all. Money that would only intensify his con
sciousness of an existence that like rank vegetation
throve aimlessly only to rot and thrive again. What
would love, even Helen s love, mean to him ? Would
that, assured, satisfy him, or would it, possessed, be
to him like his work that was done? What had
drawn them together but an intense, absorbing,
common interest?
This mood was strange to Winston. He could,
and did, reason himself out of it ; but its influencr
remained. In his cabin, which was his office as
well, he wrapped his blankets around him and lay
down to sleep.
Helen s night was sleepless. She had retired
early, not to sleep, as she knew, but that in solitude
she might try to think out more clearly her course
266
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
of action. Her admiration for "Winston had in
creased a thousand-fold, if that were possible; and
he had offered her his love to crown it all, and she
had seemed to weigh it in her hands, as a Jew might
bite a piece of gold to try its worth. She had done
this when every fiber of her heart cried out against
it, demanding that she should render to Ralph his
own. Why had she turned even seemingly against
Ralph, against herself?
Only that she might do penance for her sin. Was
not that it after all? But she was innocent of any
intentional wrong. Was it not selfishness, this
penance which she was imposing upon herself?
Was she not compelling Ralph to bear a part of her
punishment, demanding that he wait in doubt till
she could declare herself purified? Was it not
pride and selfish pride which demanded that
through Elijah s redemption she should be de
clared free?
Then a thought came to her which quickened
every nerve to painful throbs. Was it not worse
than selfishness, was it not a crime? Was not this
shielding of Elijah a crime iiiraiii^t others, inno
cent? What if she should fail? Her heart was
beating with great, painful throbs. She thought
of what Ralph had told her as he had showed her
the weak points of the dam. "If the waste weir
should be choked, in a few hours the dam would be
gone." He had pointed out to her just how simple
267
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
a thing it was to wedge the gates and to choke the
weir. And she had listened, and to protect her
selfthat was the pitiful part of it, to protect
herself, she had warned him to be on his guard.
She began dressing herself with trembling fingers.
She would go to him and tell him all. Let him
think what he might, she would tell him all, un
sparing of herself. She parted the flaps of the tent
and stepped out into the night. Outside, she
paused for a moment. The soft gray of the moon
light, lying white on the silent tents, the sighing of
the pines, the distant, bell-like notes of calling
wood-birds, spoke to her of peace that stilled her
acute fears. Then she became conscious of another
sound; a throbbing, muffled roar that made the
night air tremulous.
She changed the direction of her steps. On the
bridge that spanned the waste weir, she looked down
on the swirling waters that rushed over the floor of
the weir. For a moment she paused, then went out
over the foot-board of the dam. The gate house
rose black from the waters that lapped against the
dam. Inside the gate house, every wheel and gear
was in place. Once more in the open air, her tense
feelings relaxed. She laughed at her fears. Her
resolution hardened. In the morning she would
tell Ralph everything. The relaxation from the
strain of the night induced a sleep that kept her
late in bed. When she joined the others, Ralph
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
had gone. The party were to camp that night at
the mouth of the canon, where he would meet them
the following day for lunch. Helen was disap
pointed. At first she thought of riding ahead and
hunting out Ralph, but she knew him, and the idea
of overtaking him was absurd. She restrained her
self with as much patience as she could command,
but her senses were on the alert.
The ponies were saddled and bridled, waiting
for them when breakfast was over. Helen was sur
prised at this. She well knew the spirit of maiiana,
which, with the lesser virtues had come down to the
descendants of the Spanish cavaliers. She was
therefore surprised at the alert, beady eyes of the
swarthy Mexicans, in place of the dreamy lassitude
to which she was accustomed. The surprise was
ephemeral and soon passed away; but she was to
recall it later.
The following morning when the party was again
under way, Helen rode up to Uncle Sid.
* Uncle Sid, you ride down to the camp with the
crowd, and I ll meet you there at noon. I m going
this way." She pointed to a trail which branched
off from the main line.
"What for?" Uncle Sid asked bluntly.
Helen could hardly answer satisfactorily to her
self much less to Uncle Sid.
"Oh, she replied, "because I want to. Won t
that do?"
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THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
11 You d better come along with us," Uncle Sid
protested. "You might meet some more dried
beef."
"I m not afraid; besides I m mounted now."
Then they parted.
The trail which Helen had chosen, followed the
canal. For a distance it was squeezed tight between
the walls of the steep-sloped, cedar-tufted barranca.
The bed was dry now; but when the water should
be turned on, this trail would be impassable.
A little further, and the gorge opened into a deep
arroyo which the canal bridged, then turned and
followed the opposite bank.
Helen had followed this trail for two reasons. In
the first place, she wanted to be alone. Then, this
was the trail over which she had ridden with Ralph
when he had first shown her his work. The head
of the arroyo was clad with a thicket of cedars, so
dense as to be almost impenetrable. As the last
foot-fall sounded on the bridge, Helen s pony halted
abruptly, and with swelling nostrils and forward
pointing ears, whinnied a short, sharp challenge.
There was an answering whinny, and Helen s eyes
followed the direction of the sound. Almost hidden
by the dull leaves of the cedars, was a draggled
looking pony, saddled, with the reins trailing on
the ground. At first, Helen hardly noticed the fig
ure squatting limply beside the pony. His dis
hevelled clothing was stuck full of gray needles,
270
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
like those spattered on the ground, whence the figure
had evidently just risen to a sitting posture. The
man raised his eyes and Helen s heart stood still.
In the gray, drawn face, the dull, lusterless eyes,
she recognized Elijah Berl. As she looked wonder-
in <:ly at him, in spite of the knowledge of his mis
deeds, a great wave of womanly pity swept over her
heart. A single glance at the pitiful figure, with
the knowledge that had come to her from her asso
ciations with him, told her the struggle he had
lived through, a struggle that had unbalanced his
reason and left him lower than the beasts of the
field.
"Oh, Elijah! Why weren t you at the dam?"
Her voice was tremulous, in spite of her efforts to
control it.
The answer to her words was a vacant, uncom
prehending stare.
"Every one missed you," she continued. "Every
one was asking for you." Again she paused,
ea<jvrly searching her soul for words that would
brinir the liuht of reason to the listless eyes.
There was no response, save a dropping of the
dull eyes, an aimless picking of the fingers at the
needles that clung to his garments.
H -len reined her pony close to the abutment of
the bridge, and dismounting, trailed the bridle on
the stones. She trembled at what she was about to
do, but the spirit of atonement forced her on. An-
271
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
other moment, and she was beside the limp figure,
one hand resting on the bowed shoulders.
11 Elijah, listen! I have something to tell you.
Listen, for you must not miss a single word. Go
back to Ysleta, go back to Amy. You are free. Mr.
Seymour
At the name, Elijah sprang to his feet, his hands
clenched and knotted, his eyes shining with mani
acal rage.
"Curse him!" he shouted, "Curse him, curse
him ! Curse them all for a pack of ravening wolves !
He has done it ; they have done it ! The Philistines
be upon them ! They be of them who would gather
where I have strewn, who would reap of the harvest
I have sown. The day of wrath is upon them, the
consuming anger of a terrible God. Listen ! " He
seized Helen s hand, crushing it in his fierce grasp,
as he bent forward toward the canon of the Sangre
de Cristo. His eyes were strained, his lips parted.
Helen was half conscious of a sudden silence.
The roaring waters were stilled. She was beginning
to comprehend the reason and the import of the
hushed waters. Elijah dropped the clasped hand;
he stood triumphant, his head thrown back, his
eyes raised to the cloudless sky.
"It is done! I will tell you what I have done
for my vineyard ; I will take away the hedge there
of, and it shall be eaten up ; and I will break down
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.
272
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BEKL
And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor
digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns.
Hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth
without measure; and their glory and their multi
tude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall
descend into it!
The words were chanted, rather than spoken;
chanted with the resonant triumph of him who has
fought and won. He yet stood, with clenched, out
spread hands; but the color was dying from the
drawn cheeks, the fierce light fading from the
gleaming eyes. Then he stood as before, dull, list
less, apathetic. The momentary fire had burned
itself to ashes.
Helen stood with every sense strained to catch
the full import of Elijah s changing moods. What
was he about to do? What had he done? She
must prevent his purpose if possible, nullify it if-
this was not to be thought of now. She must read,
and read quickly, the flickering light of reason that
burned fitfully through the chaos of his soul. She
was certain that reason had departed; was it be
yond recall? She must try. Precious as she felt
the moments to be, she must yet try. She took one
of Elijah s hands in her own firm grasp.
"You don t understand, Elijah. He is not your
enemy." She dared not use Seymour s name
r.L ain. "He is your friend. He and Ralph have
sent out men to find you; they are searching for
273
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
you now. They are looking for you to tell you that
the money has been restored. They say that"
Helen hesitated, but the pause was imperceptible,
4 you did the best thing, the best thing for the com
pany, in buying the Pico ranch; that you saw
farther than they did."
Helen was hesitating mentally, but her words
went on without pause. She was watching in
tently for a sign of comprehension in the stolid,
passionless face. With her last words, the light
came again to the eyes she was searching. Not the
fierce passion-blaze of unchained fury, only the
peaceful glow of returning reason. He spoke
slowly, stumblingly, as one waking from a dream.
"They know now, that I was right, that I did
right?" The eyes again wavered between intelli
gence and stupor.
"Yes, Elijah, they know now."
His voice was querulous.
"Why didn t they trust me? After all I had
done; why didn t they trust me?"
"They do trust you now. Come back, Elijah.
All is forgiven."
Elijah s reply was again querulous, almost pee
vish.
"Why didn t they trust me? Why didn t they
trust me before it was too late?" The bitterness
dropped from voice and manner. His voice was
loud and terrible. "Don t you hear me? It is too
274
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
late! Listen! It is too late! Don t you know what
this moans? Listen! The roar of the water has
stopped! Don t you know what this means? The
flood gates are closed. In a few minutes, in a few
hours, the reservoir will fill, and the water will go
over the dam. Don t you know what that means?
It is too late!" He paused! there was a strained
look in his eyes. Then he sprang into action.
1 Is it too late ? My God ! Is it too late ?
He was in the saddle, the pony s head pointing
up the canon, his flanks shrinking from the pound
ing stirrups, and from the lashings of the bridle
thongs.
Helen watched the flying horseman. For a
moment she was struck motionless with uncompre
hending terror. What did it all mean? What
could she do? Oh, if Ralph were only here! For a
moment she stood; then she was on her pony and
riding hard toward the camping place and Ralph.
Through scrubby sage and cedar, stumbling in bur
rows, shying at stininni: cactus, her horse was driv
ing madly on. Her thoughts were all on finding
Ralph; but mingling with these, were the b.-a.ly
eyes of the alert Mexicans, and the silenced waters
of the Sangre de Cristo. These had a meaning for
her now.
From tlif summit of a low ridLV. she saw below
her the camp of the party for which she \\
eagerly watching. One tall figure she singled out
275
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
and kept her eyes upon him. He turned. She
could almost see his questioning eyes as he strode
out from his companins. He was near enough to
hear her cry
* Oh, Ralph ! The dam ! The dam ! Elijah is at
the dam!"
276
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
"Winston asked no questions. Whatever else there
ini<:ht be to learn, could be learned at the dam with
no waste of precious time. As to what time meant,
AVinston was fully alive. As to what effect the
constant, lonely ferment over real or fancied wrongs
would have upon a morbidly sensitive mind, he
took no moment to forecast. He knew the ruin that
could be wrought; for he knew the strength and
the weakness of the dam; and he knew Elijah.
The thought that Elijah could be driven to wreck
the crowning work of years of struggle, seemed to
him monstrous, but he knew that it was possible;
and he knew Elijah. He knew also, the sinister
conditions in the note to Mellin. He knew that
they were harmless now; but Elijah did not know.
Winston could count upon his men and they fol
lowed his lead. He was eager, anxious ; but neither
eagerness nor anxiety prevented the calm judg
ment which spared his horse while pushing it to the
limit; and his men followed his lead.
As he flew past the intake gates of the canal he
noted that they were closed. This fact pointed to
the worst. As he rode through the canon he noted
the silence, the oily threads of water sliding be-
277
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
tween the boulders ; these facts made suspicion cer
tainty. The worst had happened or was on the
way.
As he came near the dam, he did not need the
sight of the thin, wrinkling veil that was sliding
over the crest, and, in ever increasing volume, was
plunging into the depths below, to tell him what
had happened. As he sprang from his horse, he
did not need to see the tangled mass of earth and
timber that choked the waste weir to the brim, nor
did he need to see the closed gates and the broken
wheels that forbade the hope of opening them.
Long ago, so it seemed, he had forecast the design
and the method of its execution.
He saw another sight which he had not forecast.
He saw repentance repentance, he saw surely;
atonement, if within the reach of time, and life, and
sacrifice of life. He saw Repentance with bared
brow, with gray, drawn face, with glowing eyes
that directed crashing strokes of a shining axe,
eating deep into a locking tree-trunk which held
back with its mass of crushed timbers and close-
packed earth, the seething waters of the weir. He
saw it all, and his heart swelled and pulsed and
throbbed with the glory of it. He saw and felt the
glory of it, that lifts man above the beasts that
raven, the angels who adore, and places him at the
side of God, the crowning labor of his mighty
hands.
278
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
But through the swelling, flaming glory that
bat lied the world with the light of heaven, the
earthborn instinct thrust; to save a human life
though repentance and atonement were laid low,
and the light that they radiated was quenched.
Through the oily, sliding, deepening veil Ralph
dashed, shouting as he went
"Come back! Come back! Elijah! Come
back"!
But Repentance heeded not the call. Once again
the shining blade bit deep in the straining timber,
and Atonement had gained its perfect work.
A crash like riving thunder drowned the swirl
of falling water, and the huddled mass of rock and
earth and timber groaned and swelled and thrust,
and then, with a crash and roar, swept through the
stone-paved weir and plunged into the yawning
canon.
The blade had fallen from the bared hands ; the
gray, drawn face was lifted to the heavens; but
the grayness was gone. In its place was the light
that comes from but one source. Repentance was
crowned with atonement ; but life had departed.
Not quite. From a boiling eddy, struggling, im
patient to join the swirling rush of turbid waters,
pitying hands div\v a torn, bruised body. A rough,
kind hand brushed earth-stained locks from the
still face.
"My God! That sight would make a man of the
279
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
devil!" This was the tribute of a dormant soul
cased in a toil-calloused body.
Ralph was bending low. The eyelids fluttered,
then sprang open; but the vision was not of this
world. The lips trembled
* Amy ! Amy ! Then they closed forever.
280
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Had a ball of fire, shot from the cloudless sky,
smitten one of their number to eternal silence, no
greater, no more awesome hus> could have fallen
upon the merry party below the lam. Men looked
at each other with stricken eyes, then turned to
watch the speeding horsemen led by Winston. As
Helen rode nearer to them, questioning eyes were
turned to her, but she gave no heed. Only in the
white, set face they read the outlines of some awful
tragedy. Uncle Sid was first at her side.
"Come with me," she commanded. Then she
turned and rode slowly toward the canon. Uncle
Sid rode close beside her.
"What is it, little girl?" There was a pitying,
restful caress in the softened voice.
Helen longed to throw herself in his arms, to
bury her head on his breast, to pour out her soul
in confession before him. She controlled herself,
li -r voice.
"I have found Elijah." Then she told him all.
It was good to unburden li-rself. She told of the
pitiful wreck from which reason had all but fled;
the burst of insane rage when Seymour s name was
281
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
mentioned; the dumb struggle to grasp the assur
ance that he was forgiven, was free; the hopeless
plaint, "Why didn t they trust me before it was
too late, " the silence of the river; the wild
cry, "Is it too late, my God, is it too late?" the
mad ride, fury driven, up the canon trail. She
told him of her fears for the dam, how easily it
could be wrecked, and her voice, steady until now,
broke pitifully. "I should have told Ralph all.
Only my wicked pride kept me from it."
Uncle Sid reined his pony closer and laid a
soothing hand on her arm.
"It isn t too late, little girl. Listen! You have
saved Elijah. You have saved the dam!"
They were near the canon now, and a heavy
murmur, growing in intensity, pulsed in the quiet
air. A great, hopeful light glowed in Helen s eyes ;
then it suddenly gave place to anxious fear. Was
it too late after all? Had the dam given way?
A moment and her questions would be answered.
She sat with parted lips, and straining eyes, wait
ing for the rending, crashing thunder that would
come if then a sigh of relief escaped her. At the
canon s mouth, the turbid, soil-stained waters of
the Sangre de Cristo were leaping and falling, but
the volume was decreasing. She turned to Uncle
Sid.
"Wait here. I am going up the canon."
She felt that she was losing control of herself;
282
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BBRL
she was striving against it, but in vain. Try as
she would, she could lay hold of nothing in the
past that could aid her. What had been her past ?
A sense of right and a determination to live in ac
cord with it, and with what results? In self-con
fident pride she had looked down with contempt
upon Ysleta boomers and their methods. At the
first beck of Elijah, yielding to the subtle, in
tangible influence which he had thrown around her,
she had abandoned her principles and had become
as one of them. Not openly, not strongly, not de
fiantly, here was the shame and the pain of it; she
had not been herself, but another. She had pro
tested, to herself, to Elijah, she had stood up
against him and had gone down before him. Day
after day, the meshes of this sinister influence had
held her more closely in its silken web; day after
day, her past stood out more clearly with all its
pitiful failures, and day after day the future, even
with the light of the past beating white upon it,
saw her yet more strongly bound. What deeper
(li-pths would have yawned to engulf her, had not
Elijah s declaration jarred her to a loathsome
re-cognition of what she was, of what she might be
come, she shuddered to forecast. A smile of bitter
self-contempt played over her lips for a moment ;
then was gone.
In her darknr.ss. there was yet a ray of light.
She had failed, failed miserably. She bore this in
283
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
upon her soul with no softening words. This was
her darkness.
Brave, strong, patient hands had laid hold upon
Elijah. If they had not saved him, they had saved
his work. They had laid hold upon her. If they
had not saved her, they had made her failures
harmless. This was her light. She could forget
herself, her pain, her shame, in the glory of Ralph s
triumph. From the dust of her humiliation, she
could yet raise a heart filled with unselfish love.
Yet was there not hope? Ralph had known all
that had lain on the surface and he had offered her
his love and had asked for hers in return. She
would be brave. She would tell him all. Even
though he cast her aside, she would yet have her
love for him which could not harm him, but save
her. She would tell him all. Then if the light of
love still shone in his eyes, the light of the love he
offered, the light of the love he asked, she would
know it; she could trust it without fear. She was
learning a lesson that might not avail her ; but she
was learning a lesson. On the somber background
of repentance the brightest pictures of life are
painted.
Through the pine boughs that hung low over the
trail, she caught a glimpse of hatless men who were
carrying a burden between them. For a moment
her heart stood still. It was death. Then her
heart once more beat high. She saw Ralph s face,
284
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
a face clouded with grief but yet lightened by a
supernal glow. She slipped from her pony and
with bowed h-ad waitrd for the covered burden
to pass by. Then her eyes worn raised to Ralph s;
her hand was in his.
"It is all over, Helen; but his death was glorious.
It was worth a thousand lives."
Her hand in Ralph s, sh.> heard the story of
Elijah s life redeemed in death. Tears welled from
her eyes and fell silently down her cheeks.
Ralph was drawing her nearer; his arm was
around her.
"I know all now, Helen." He would have said
more but she checked him gently.
"No; you do not know all. I must tell you. I
must." She was trying to free herself.
1 1 1 want you to tell me just one thing.
"I must. Then" her eyes met his bravely.
He laid his fingers gently on her lips.
"I know what you would tell me, but I do not
care to hear. I will not listen, Helen. Don t you
believe that I know myself, that I know you?"
She hid her face in her hands.
"Ralph."
"Stop!" Ralph s voice was strong and com
manding. "Every word you speak condemns me."
Slowly the hands dropped from the face that
was now raised to his. The great, dark eyes were
285
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
deep with questioning hope. The lips trembled
with a smile that a breath would fan into life.
"I must obey my master."
Ralph s face was close to hers. His voice was
low and strong.
"Then tell me that you love me."
"I love you. With all my heart and soul and
strength, I love you."
Gently she put him aside.
"Let me go now, Ralph. I must be with Amy."
286
CHAPTER THIRTY
A woman was standing beside an iron gate all
but hidden in a riotous growth of blossoming vines
that opened upon a grass-grown mound.
"To the memory of Elijah Berl."
"He shall make the desert blossom as the rose"
was graven on the bronze plate.
Far below her, and on either side, instead of the
bare, brown hillsides of a few, short years ago,
grew rank on rank, leaves of glossy green, flecked
with tawny gold. Here and there, red-tiled houses,
their walls all but covered with climbing roses,
stood at the head of marshalled groves. Shining
lines moved out and in, where the waters of the
Sangre de Cristo sank into the red earth and sprang
upwards in fruit and flower. The air was resonant
with happy bird notes that trilled from tree to
tn<- as the tiny musicians with swelling throats
poured out the happiness that their little bodies
could not contain.
There was no longer the old-time harshness of
th- desert air, the sky was bluer, the sunlight softer.
There was nothing that whispered of death, save
the bronze tablet; even this spoke not so much of
death as of triumph over it.
287
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
By the side of the grave stood a woman clad
in somber black. Her robes were out of harmony
with the inscription, the blossoming landscape ; out
of harmony with the soft, patient eyes, the rounded,
tinted cheeks, the fluffy masses of tawny hair. Not
a line, not a wrinkle, not a gray thread told that
the heart of Amy Berl was lying with her husband
beneath the guarding bronze.
A tall, earnest faced boy was coming down the
path, trying to preserve a dignified walk that was
yet pulled into abrupt steps by a dancing, laugh
ing girl who tugged at his outstretched arm.
"Mama," she cried, "Uncle Sid is waiting for
you."
Amy slowly turned her eyes to the child, as if
with an effort, then moved up the path. The boy
was by his mother s side, walking evenly with her.
The girl was dancing and skipping, now before
them, now behind, dragging her mother to admire
a new-blown rose, then starting off in vain chase of a
rainbow-tinted lizard that skittered up a tree trunk,
and, having reached a safe height, turned calmly
and curiously towards its pursuer, and with pal
pitating throat and lazily blinking eyes, composed
itself to rest.
Where the path opened out to the palm-bordered
driveway, the child abandoned her companions and,
with a merry shout, clambered into the carriage
with Uncle Sid. Before he was aware of her pur-
288
THE VISION OP ELIJAH BERL
she had clutched the lines from his fingers
mid had snapped the drowsy horses into action.
Uncle Sid regained his balance with difficulty.
4 You pesky little jack-rabbit, you!" he growled.
" Anybody d know who your father was, with his
I shut!"
Uncle Sid brought the horses to a halt and turned
to Amy.
"You don t know of no orphan asylum nor no
reform school, do you, where a respectable, steady-
minded old sea captain could end his days in peace f
Because if you do, I m goin to apply at once, if it
takes me out of California. I m gettin used up.
If Ralph jr. ain t got the colic an s a howlin over
it, he s cheerful, which is worse, an when he does
get to sleep, then Ralph an Helen tackles the job
right where he left off."
"You know you re always welcome here, Uncle
Sid." Amy smiled at the old face that seemed to
get no older in spite of his complaints.
"Yes," growled Uncle Sid, "to get yanked
around by this bundle of electricity. The only
thing that s restsome here, is that boy. Ain t you
crot no dance in your shanks?" Uncle Sid flicked
his whip threateningly at the boy, who skipped
a>iilc Miiilinjr. "That s right. You keep it up till
you ve skipped th- whole kit an kerboodle into this
wagon, an I ll take the lot o you to Palm Wells.
That s what I m here for."
180
THE VISION OF ELIJAH BERL
They drove over a winding, palm-bordered road,
through spicy orange groves, through ragged-
barked, spindling groups of eucalyptus, and drew
up before the doors of the Palm Wells cottage.
Ralph and Helen came out to meet their guests.
Perhaps Ralph would have chosen to be more digni
fied in the welcoming of his friends, but a wrig
gling, crowing mass of pink and white prevented
him.
1 There he is!" groaned Uncle Sid. "There he
is! The most wonderful thing in the whole world,
exceptin sixty hundred millions more just like
him. He can t talk Latin nor Greek, nor any thin
but "googoo," when he s happy, an "yow" when
his f eelin s are troublin him, an he don t know any
better n to play horse with his daddy s transit when
he finds it lyin round loose, just like any other
good-f or-nuthin baby.
290
A Spell-binding Creation
Mysterious Mr. Sabin
By E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM
Author of " Anna the Adventuress," etc.
Illustrated. 397 pages. \2rno. $1.50
Deals with an intrigue of international moment the fomenting
of a war between Great Britain and Germany and the restoration
of the Bourbon monarchy in France as a consequence. Intensely
readable for the dramatic force with which the story is told, the
absolute originality of the underlying creative thought, and the
strength of all the men and women who fill the pages. Pittsburg
Times.
Not for long has so good a story of the kind been published,
and the book is the more commendable because the literary
quality of its construction has not been slighted. Chicago
Record-Herald.
By the Author of The Shadow of the Czar"
THE WEIRD PICTURE
By JOHN R. CARLING
Author of "The Viking s Skull," "The Shadow of the Czar," etc.
With Pictures by Cyrus Cuneo. \2rno. $1.50
When a man is summoned home to attend the marriage to
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The wedding does not take place, for the bridegroom is
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All this is disclosed in the opening chapter, and paves the way
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LITTLE, BROWN, 6f CO., Publishers
BOSTON, MASS.
A Gallant Romance of Love and Daring
MY LADY CLANCARTY
By MARY IMLAY TAYLOR
Author of "On the Red Staircase," etc.
Illustrated by Alice Barber Stephens. \irno. $1.50
In this gallant romance of love and daring, in which the
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Lady Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Lord Sunderland, and
through his sordid and ambitious motives married at the age of
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A Story of Adventure^ Intrigue -, and Love
A PRINCE OF LOVERS
By SIR WILLIAM MAGNAY
Author of "The Red Chancellor," etc.
Illustrated by Cyrus Cuneo. \^mo. $1.50
In this new novel by Sir William Magnay, the heroine,
" Princess Ruperta," a princess of the blood royal, sick of the
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as in that of her unknown rescuer. Then follows a series of
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LITTLE, BROWN, fc? CO., Publishers
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A Story of Colorado Life
Justin Wingate, Ranchman
By JOHN H. WHITSON
Author of " Barbara, a Woman of the West," " The Rainbow
Chasers," etc.
Illustrated. 1 2mo. $1.50
Another strong Western story with spirited and graphic
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CURLY
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Illustrated by Stanley L. Wood. izmo. $1.50
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A Romance of South Africa
ON THE FIRING LINE
By ANNA CHAPIN RAY and
HAMILTON BROCK FULLER
With Frontispiece by H. W. Moore, \2rno. $1.50
In this fine romance of love and war Miss Ray has a wider
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A KNOT OF BLUE
By WILLIAM R. A. WILSON
Illustrated by Cb. Grunwald. \2rno. $1.50
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