T 
 
 tieir 
 
 TUariposa 
 Lecrend 
 
 J{ Romance of Cataima 
 
 Bi| CHARLOTTE HERR 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY O" 
 *\*i *- - 
 
h. 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
THEIR 
 MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 A ROMANCE OF 
 CATALINA 
 
 BY 
 CHARLOTTE HERR 
 
 ILLUSTRATION BY ORRIN WHITE 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
Copyright, 1921 
 By Charlotte Bronte Herr * 
 
 First Issue May, 1921 
 
 Post Printing and Binding Co- 
 Pasadena, Cal. 
 
 MAY -8 S v A 
 
 1C1A704770 c 
 
TO LITTLE BRUCE PARKER 
 WHO LOVED STORIES 
 
PART I 
 SIR FRANCIS STARTS IT 
 
 IT BEGAN to happen a long time ago, cen 
 turies ago, when, in a fragrant rush of 
 rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, 
 fairest of the Channel Islands. Beneath the 
 golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. 
 On steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of 
 wild lilac bloomed, the lark shook from his tiny 
 throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed 
 niches of the canyons lilies waited to fill with 
 light their gleaming ivory cups. Spring in 
 very truth was there. 
 
 And looking down upon it from her cavern 
 bower high above the beach, watched the Prin 
 cess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of 
 dawn shining on her long black hair, she was, 
 herself, the sweetest blossom of the spring. 
 Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the 
 Mariposa and of royal blood besides; al 
 though of this the great chief Torquam, who 
 even at that moment lay sleeping in his lodge 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 of deerskin on the crescent beach below, knew 
 more than he had ever told. 
 
 With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring 
 the folds of softest fawnskin drawn across her 
 breast, the princess bent her gaze to where 
 the waves ran silver on the ocean's distant rim. 
 There she knew the sun must rise and, as the 
 first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, 
 she rose slowly until she stood erect, a slender, 
 graceful figure against the dim, gray rocks, 
 and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke 
 in the musical words of her people. 
 
 1 'Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit- father," she 
 pleaded, "have mercy on me. Grant to me, 
 thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I 
 pray thee, that it need not be I wed with Tor- 
 quam's friend, the pale-face stranger. Well 
 knowest thou I would not disobey my father, 
 him the bravest and most powerful of all thy 
 warriors, him whom his people delight to 
 honor, and whom I strive to please. All the 
 more I feel my duty since, many moons ago, 
 they laid my mother underneath the flowers. 
 Yet, even so, I cannot find it in my heart to wed 
 with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does my father 
 wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great 
 
 Two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 power, turn his heart, oh lord of spirits, that 
 he no longer may desire it? Help me in this, 
 my only trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I 
 be indeed his loyal daughter, in all else save 
 alone in this one thing!'* 
 
 Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to 
 her knees, bending her head until her forehead 
 touched the ground. For many minutes she 
 lay thus prostrate while the glory of the rising 
 sun bathed the sea in splendor. Yet, when at 
 last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears. 
 
 But now from the beach below there 
 drifted up to her the sounds of a village astir. 
 Shrill voices of women mingled with the 
 crackling of freshly kindled fires. A canoe, 
 pushed hastily into the water, grated harshly 
 on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. 
 Leaning against the rocky ledge, her chin in 
 her hands, she gazed listlessly out over the 
 shining sea. If any interests lived for her 
 among the dark-skinned people beneath the 
 cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign. 
 
 Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of 
 the Indian village, rose the hoarse shouting of 
 men. Wildenai lifted her eyes, eyes that 
 widened first with wonder, then with fear. For 
 
 Three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 there, far down the shoreline to the south, her 
 sails gleaming white against the walls of rock 
 behind her as she rounded a distant point, a 
 ship came slowly into view. With wildly beat 
 ing heart the young girl watched the vessel 
 tack to clear the long curve of the coast. But 
 once before in all her life had she seen such 
 another monster winged canoe, and that had 
 been when Senor Don Cabrillo first cast an 
 chor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost 
 a year ago. For many a week had the young 
 man lingered, renewing the friendship with 
 the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen 
 years before when his father, hindered by 
 storms in his adventurous journey up the 
 coast, cast anchor off the shore, the first 
 white man to see their island. Nor was the 
 lingering without result. Torquam he taught 
 to speak the Spanish tongue, learning in his 
 turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields 
 of the north, while not the least among the 
 treasures carried with him when at last he 
 sailed away did he hold the promise that the 
 beautiful daughter of the chief should become 
 his bride when next he touched upon that 
 shore. Could this, then, be the Spaniard's 
 
 Four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 fleet returning? Was the Great Spirit power 
 less, after all, to save her? In sore bewilder 
 ment and terror Wildenai watched the distant 
 ship. 
 
 Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its 
 outline grew each moment more distinct, grad 
 ually her fears departed. For this was not the 
 clumsy Spanish galleon she remembered. The 
 prow was not nearly so high, nor was the in 
 coming vessel as large in any respect as had 
 been that other. Yet, though fear died, won 
 der grew. What new variety of strangers, 
 then, was about to visit them? For that the 
 ship intended to anchor she was by this time 
 sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant 
 half mile of the crescent shaped beach where 
 lay the royal village of the tribe. At length, 
 as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the 
 rocky shore, the crew were seen to bring the 
 vessel sharply about. An anchor was cast 
 over, the creaking of the hawsers distinctly 
 audible in the clear morning air, and a few mo 
 ments later a small boat was lowered. Into 
 this boat immediately several sailors swung 
 themselves and after a short delay, amidst the 
 shouting of the Indians, now running in wild 
 
 Five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 excitement up and down the beach, the men 
 picked up their oars and started for the land. 
 
 "Alla-hoa, Wildenai!" 
 
 Up the stony trail leading to her cavern 
 scrambled an Indian runner, a lithe youth who 
 flung himself breathless at her feet. 
 
 "Thy father, oh princess, sends me to 
 summon thee to his lodge. Strangers, pale 
 face strangers, enemies, who can tell, are 
 coming. See, the ship!" With dark fore 
 finger he pointed toward the sea. "Torquam 
 would have thee hide with the rest of the 
 women in the cave at the Great Rock. There 
 Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. 
 Make haste, oh Wildenai!" 
 
 "And am I not as safe up here?" returned 
 the princess, calmly. "Be not so lost in thy 
 terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship 
 and I fear not. Yet will I obey if so my father 
 bids," she added quickly. "Go thou ahead. I 
 follow." And hastily gathering together some 
 reeds and colored grasses lying on the ledge, 
 parts of an unfinished basket upon which, evi 
 dently, she had during some previous visit 
 been at work, she flung them into a corner of 
 
 Six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow 
 path leading to the village. 
 
 Here all by this time was tense excitement, 
 the dramatic, ungoverned excitement of chil 
 dren. While with shrill cries two or three of 
 the women gathered the little ones together, 
 the rest pulled frantically at the poles holding 
 each tepee in place. Still apparently quite un 
 moved, Wildenai sought first her father stand 
 ing surprised but unafraid in the doorway of 
 his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, 
 straight as some lonely pine on the slopes of 
 distant San Jacinto. Yet even in the stress of 
 such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes 
 as they rested upon his motherless daughter. 
 
 Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief 
 moment the two surveyed each other in silence. 
 Then, 
 
 "It is well thou art come, my beloved one," 
 spoke the chief. " Stranger pale- faces will 
 soon be amongst us.'* 
 
 "Wildenai feels no fear, my father," quiet 
 ly answered the girl. 
 
 "If they come in friendship," quickly Tor- 
 quam replied, "then indeed may all be well. 
 But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if 
 
 Seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 so be that we must fight, thou wert better hid 
 den in the cave. We shall see." 
 
 Bending her head in mute acquiescence 
 the girl moved away to join the group of 
 women now almost ready to depart. 
 
 Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven on 
 ward by the stout arms of three strong sailors, 
 steadily approached the bay. 
 
 "What think' st thou then, Rufus Broad- 
 mead, of this fool's errand to the savages?" 
 inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for 
 a moment that he might the better listen to the 
 tumult on the shore. "Wot ye not that if 
 water had been the only boon he craves the 
 captain had fared much better on the main 
 land? Besides, did not I myself overhear the 
 Apache only yesterday tell him of a certainty 
 that the tribes over there were away on the 
 warpath ? But no, by the mass, here must we 
 risk our precious scalps to row into the very 
 teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the 
 whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever 
 
 Eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 sailed aboard Her Majesty's fleets!" and with 
 out awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in 
 disgust. 
 
 The others laughed. 
 
 "Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, 
 for all thy listening with thy big ears, as not to 
 know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught 
 else our captain seeks? Water, pouf!" the 
 speaker made a rough grimace, "water may 
 well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir 
 Francis were the lives of half a dozen seamen 
 when booty for the queen lies in the balance? 
 The Apache told him, too, thou see'st thou 
 hast not played the listening game alone, for, 
 hiding behind the fo'castle door myself, I 
 heard him say it, that here lay that famous 
 island, San how is't they call it? San Cat- 
 lina I know not how 'tis spoken, some 
 Spanish lingo not fit for English tongues ! At 
 any rate 'twas here your Spanish robber, Don 
 Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his prec 
 ious son as well, stopped to seek direction ere 
 they found the land of gold. The savage sware 
 besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to 
 war and murder like the rest. I hearkened 
 well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I would be 
 
 Nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The 
 devil take the Apache an he lied," he added 
 fiercely, "I'll break his head across till even he 
 shrieks out for help when I get back!" 
 
 He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern 
 cliffs now looming close at hand, beneath 
 which the excited natives still ran back and 
 forth, pointing with frantic gestures at the boat. 
 
 The third man spoke. He was smaller 
 than the other two and darker, with a sly look 
 about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast 
 to the bluff frankness of his comrades. So far 
 he had appeared content to listen in amused 
 silence, but now with a short laugh he inter 
 rupted. 
 
 "The Apache did not lie. This is the island 
 Santa Catalina, though that, mark you, is not 
 the Indian name. And right well can the chief 
 who rules here direct our captain also to the 
 goldfields of the north. But hearkee, com 
 rades. Tis not Drake will reap the profits this 
 time!" He lowered his voice mysteriously as 
 though fearful of being overheard, albeit noth 
 ing was nearer than his two companions and 
 the clear, green stretch of water. "Have ye 
 not observed the boy who travels with the cap- 
 
 Ten 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 tain ? the boy I serve, the one they call Sir 
 Harry? To my mind, cub though he be, 'tis he 
 who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how 
 the great Drake himself bends to his slightest 
 wish?" 
 
 "Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, 
 is he, think'st thou?" inquired the man who 
 had spoken first. 
 
 "Some close kin to the queen, that much 
 I know," the other answered quickly, "the heir 
 to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise 
 to see the world and make a fortune. Tis his 
 desire we land, so much he told me, and 'tis to 
 learn more than directions, my hearties, and 
 that I'll warrant ye! But, look ye, the water 
 grows too shallow! We can use the oars no 
 longer." 
 
 And even as he spoke the boat grated upon 
 the pebbles. An incoming breaker would have 
 carried it ashore, but before the sailors could 
 take advantage of this help or even so much 
 as ship their oars, half a dozen swarthy youths 
 had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, 
 whether of welcome or hostility the English 
 men had no means of knowing, pushed it high 
 upon the beach. At once, then, for well they 
 
 Eleven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 realized the danger of delay, and with a stolid 
 courage born of many a like adventure, the 
 seamen leaped fearlessly out upon the sand. 
 In their hands they held aloft bolts of brightly 
 colored cloth snatched on the instant from the 
 bottom of the boat. These they offered for the 
 wondering inspection of the women who, ob 
 serving the small number of invaders, were 
 cautiously returning. To the warriors grouped 
 about the chief they proffered knives of which 
 the steel blades, set in strong handles of bone, 
 glistened in the sun. Eagerly, yet with a cer 
 tain unexpected formality, the men accepted 
 these, passing them for examination from one 
 to another with many a grunt of satisfaction. 
 To be sure, no brave among them but might the 
 next moment decide to try out the merits of his 
 gift upon the bestower, but this danger the ad 
 venturers had to risk. More timidly the 
 women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the 
 gaudy red and yellow cloth, approached the 
 strangers, offering in their turn bits of abalone 
 shell polished to iridescent beauty. 
 
 They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly 
 people, so much so that at length the sailors, 
 deeming it safe to undertake the second part 
 
 Twelve 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 of their errand, began to plead for water and 
 to request, besides, an interview between their 
 captain and the chief. All this by means of 
 signs in which they displayed no little wit and 
 skill, the Englishmen accomplished until, well 
 on toward the middle of the morning, they 
 made ready to return to the ship, the casks 
 they had brought brimming with sweet moun 
 tain water, while with them they bore as well 
 the promise of an interview of state between 
 the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis 
 Drake, to take place upon the beach at sunset. 
 And then at once the little village of Toyo- 
 bet seethed again with excitement. For these 
 good pale-face friends and their god-like com 
 mander a fitting welcome must be prepared. 
 Fleet-footed messengers, bearing flaming 
 torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain 
 trails that all who saw might know without 
 words spoken of the assembling of the tribe. 
 To the distant village at the isthmus they hur 
 ried, and to the cove on the western coast, 
 some twenty miles away, to which a band of 
 warriors had gone several days before to hunt 
 the otter. That no one among his people might 
 remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam 
 
 Thirteen 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 even caused signal fires to be kindled on each 
 of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes, near the 
 center of the island. Smoke rising there was 
 visible from every corner of his land, and woe 
 to any subject who dared to disregard that 
 warning! 
 
 Throughout the long bright day the women 
 toiled, preparing a ceremonial feast. Three an 
 telope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild 
 sheep which roamed the hills were killed and 
 placed for roasting over deep pits dug in the 
 sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget 
 in his own crude fashion to deck himself for 
 the occasion. The warriors adorned their 
 heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks 
 and lips with ochre. The women clothed 
 themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doe 
 skin girt with strings of wampum, and hung 
 about their tawny shoulders the lovely greens 
 and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, 
 also, the great chief Torquam donned his 
 ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feath 
 ers held by the crimsoned quills of the 
 porcupine and extending down his back until 
 almost it touched the ground. About his neck, 
 as token of his priesthood, he threw the bear- 
 
 Fourteen 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 claw necklace, known far and wide among 
 the tribes for its famous powers of healing. 
 Wildenai alone made no change except to bind 
 the satin black of her hair still more smoothly 
 within a fillet of silver. In the center of the 
 band, so that it rested just above her brow, a 
 strange device appeared, a circle enclosing 
 many rays, the royal insignia of the tribe 
 which only the daughter of the chief might 
 wear. 
 
 Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays 
 of light rested golden on the bay and turned to 
 amethyst the distant mountains on the main 
 land, all was ready. Once again, this time to 
 the weird music of tom-toms and the beating 
 of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship 
 while on the shore the Indians watched. 
 
 It was in truth a picture not soon to be for 
 gotten. Behind the mirrored Bay of Moons, 
 its crescent of sand gleaming white against the 
 rocks, the bands of dusky men and women 
 stood motionless as statues in the quiet light of 
 the setting sun, while in the doorway of his 
 
 Fifteen 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 lodge, his daughter close beside him, Torquam 
 waited with simple dignity to receive his 
 guests, the fair-skinned strangers. 
 
 At length along the beach advanced the 
 little group of English, friends and fellow ad 
 venturers with the most renowned of all their 
 great queen's buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis 
 himself marched young Harold of Wessex, 
 little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and 
 feared in his own land even then a possible 
 heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short dis 
 tance in front of these two, standard bearers 
 carried the flags of Merry England, each glori 
 ous with fringes and tassels of gold. Well 
 might such banners dazzle the eyes and wits of 
 simple savages. 
 
 Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been 
 for the lengthy ceremonial of the peace-pipe, 
 Wildenai could not have taken time to observe 
 so closely, in stolen glances from beneath her 
 long black lashes, the splendor of the young 
 noble standing proudly erect beside his cap 
 tain ; nor could he have stared so often, with no 
 attempt to hide his admiration, at the dark 
 beauty of the princess. 
 
 Sixteen 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to 
 place them side by side at the feast which fol 
 lowed, young Harold might never have dis 
 covered that an Indian girl, however beautiful, 
 possessed the wit to learn a foreign language. 
 Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well 
 spoken in which, at length, she softly asked of 
 her father a question intended obviously for 
 himself. 
 
 Under cover of one of the Indian dances 
 with which, from time to time, the feast was en 
 livened, he leaned impulsively toward her. 
 
 "Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?" he 
 hastily inquired. 
 
 The princess dropped her eyes. For a mo 
 ment she remained silent as if debating to what 
 extent such boldness might involve her. Then, 
 with a glance as shy as if some deer gazed at 
 him startled from the thicket, 
 
 "Yes, mon senor," she answered simply. 
 "I learned it when Don Cabrillo came to 
 Punagwandah many moons ago." 
 
 After that it was only that one thing led to 
 another, as was sometimes true of men and 
 maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, 
 as if by common consent, then, they drew a 
 
 Seventeen 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 little apart from the rest, where, throwing him 
 self on the sand beside her while the firelight 
 threw flickering shadows among the rocks, the 
 young man related fragments of his story, of 
 the long journey across the sea, something of 
 his home in England, and of the brilliant court 
 of the great queen wherein he had served as 
 gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet 
 soon, but here her guest had suddenly flushed 
 and paused as though he spoke too hastily or 
 of what he should not. To all of it the princess 
 listened with fast-beating heart and a desire, 
 ever growing, to make herself a place in this 
 splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, 
 also, the daughter of a king? Yet how differ 
 ent and how unimportant beside that wonder 
 ful woman of whom he spoke! For father she 
 boasted the great chief Torquam, feared by 
 every tribe in the north and rich because of the 
 gold hidden in many a canyon among the dis 
 tant mountains ; yet her woman's instinct told 
 her that to this proud Englishman her people 
 were at best little more than a curiosity, almost, 
 indeed, a cause for laughter. 
 
 When at last the feast was finished, Tor 
 quam rose, and removing with slow solemnity 
 
 Eighteen 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon 
 the head of Sir Francis, a seal of everlasting 
 friendship. With difficulty young Harold 
 suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well 
 aware of what the situation demanded as he 
 was keenly alive to its danger, received the at 
 tention with a gravity fully equal to that of 
 his host. Indeed, he went still further. 
 
 4 'Most gracious hast thou been, oh Tor- 
 quam, all wise chief of the Mariposa," he be 
 gan in carefully chosen Spanish, "nor shall 
 thy kingly gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh 
 Torquam ! On yonder vessel I carry steeds like 
 those of which I told you. For a journey over 
 the mountains of the north we have brought 
 them. One there is, swifter of foot than all 
 the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower 
 into the boat and bring to you after our return 
 tonight." 
 
 In silence Torquam inclined his head. 
 Nothing could have pleased him more. He 
 would be the first then, of all his tribe to own 
 one of those strange yet wondrous creatures 
 never before seen in his world until the Span 
 ish landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his 
 eyes betrayed his pleasure. But Harold of 
 
 Nineteen 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Wessex stared at his captain in blank astonish 
 ment, for the gift he had just bestowed with 
 such apparent carelessness was the most valu 
 able bit of cargo in the ship, a costly Arabian 
 horse intended for the young noble's own spe 
 cial comfort and convenience during the search 
 for gold on which they were bound. Was Drake 
 gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw away, 
 and that without permission, his choicest prop 
 erty on a mere savage ? Hot with resentment 
 he was about to interfere; but before he could 
 obey the rash impulse his better judgment pre 
 vailed, and just in time he remembered how, 
 on several other such occasions, his very life 
 had been saved by some swift expedient of 
 Drake's and his tact in handling the natives. 
 
 Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now 
 one watching intently might have sensed from 
 the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the 
 real point in the interview. 
 
 "One question, nevertheless, would I ask 
 of all-wise Torquam before we part." He hesi 
 tated, searching the impassive face of the In 
 dian. "Can'st tell me of a Spaniard, one Ca- 
 brillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain, who, 
 since his father's death, still sails upon these 
 
 Twenty 
 
ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 waters? To him I bear a message," again 
 he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in 
 sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but 
 Torquam's face remained blank as a page un 
 written, "a message from our queen/' added 
 Drake. The last words were uttered with sig 
 nificance. 
 
 The Indian slowly shook his head. 
 
 "The noble white chief asks what is un 
 known to any man," he answered. "The young 
 Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwan- 
 dah. Many moons ago it was. Where he is 
 now, how should Torquam know?" 
 
 In his bitter disappointment the hand of 
 the Englishman sought the hilt of his sword. 
 Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about 
 the chief. 
 
 Drake laughed. 
 
 "Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, 
 thinking thou mightst tell me. It matters not. 
 The gift I promised thee will come, as I said, 
 tonight." 
 
 He turned to go and young Harold rose to 
 follow. Then, perceiving the dark eyes of the 
 princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated 
 
 Twenty-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 and, obeying a sudden impulse, he stepped 
 hastily to her side. 
 
 "When they return with the gift for thy 
 father," he whispered, "I will come with 
 them," he smiled into her soft eyes shining 
 with pleased surprise, "and I will bring a gift 
 to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest of 
 maidens!" 
 
 Drake gave a sharp command. His follow 
 ers sprang to their feet, and without further 
 ceremony the party passed quickly down the 
 beach to their boat. 
 
 But the princess Wildenai did not leave 
 the feasting ground. Hidden by deepening 
 shadows she watched the ship's lights glim 
 mer across the water. Glad indeed was she of 
 the darkness, for a warm flush glowed in her 
 cheeks and her heart throbbed with a strange 
 new pleasure, a pleasure bordering close on 
 fear, yet wholly sweet. 
 
 But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had 
 descended upon the village, once again she 
 sought her father. He, too, within the open 
 doorway of his lodge, watched intently the 
 distant ship. Without surprise he saw his 
 daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the 
 
 Twenty-two 
 
ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 blanket beside him, he stretched a hand and 
 drew her close. 
 
 "It grows cold. The wind is rising. 
 'Twere best to wait inside." He spoke in the 
 musical Indian tongue. For a moment he 
 stroked her hair in silence, then 
 
 "What think'st thou by now of the English, 
 Wildenai, my little wild rose?" he asked. 
 
 But the princess seemed not to have heard 
 his question. 
 
 "My father," she began after another short 
 silence, "I have a favor to ask of thee." 
 
 "And what may that be, my daughter?" 
 he returned gravely. 
 
 But again the young girl made no answer 
 and for many minutes they watched the trem 
 ulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel. 
 
 After a time he felt her hand tighten upon 
 his arm. 
 
 "It is but the old boon over again, my 
 father." Her voice was low as the sighing of 
 the wind among the oak trees. "I would be 
 freed from my promise to wed with Don 
 Cabrillo." 
 
 An Indian is not given to caresses. Much 
 more used was Torquam's hand to wield the 
 
 Twenty-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fin 
 gers gentle as any woman's that he stroked 
 the smooth black head at his knee. 
 
 "Doubtest thou then, my motherless one, 
 the judgment of him who loves thee?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "I doubt it not, my father," answered his 
 daughter. "Yet would I not wed with the 
 Spaniard," she added stubbornly. 
 
 The blue-eyed senor from England" 
 there was a hint of humor in his tone, "he it 
 is who steals thy fancy! Is it not so, my 
 Wildenai?" 
 
 Then, after a moment: "Right well 
 knowest thou my only wish is to make thee 
 happy." Again his voice, though gentle, grew 
 serious almost to sadness. "No mere whim it 
 is that counsels me to wed thee to Cabrillo. 
 "There is something " He paused, continu 
 ing with effort, "a reason I have never told 
 thee why it seems most fitting. Now I will tell 
 thee. That reason is because, because, my 
 Wildenai, thou art Spanish born thyself." 
 
 The princess drew a hasty breath. In the 
 darkness he felt rather than saw her startled 
 eyes upon him. 
 
 Twenty- four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "My father!" The exclamation, filled with 
 pain as well as astonishment, touched him to 
 the quick. Tenderly he drew her to him. Then 
 briefly, as was the Indian way, yet with the pic 
 tured phrasing which caused each scene to 
 spring into vivid life before the young girl's 
 eyes, he told her of the day, already more than 
 eighteen years gone by, when, in the wake of 
 a long midwinter storm, the first sailing vessel 
 ever beheld by his people had fled for refuge to 
 their bay; and of the little girl carefully 
 brought to shore by her old nurse in the first 
 boat to touch the beach. A mere baby she was, 
 too young to know aught of her misfortune, 
 yet a princess royal, rudely dispossessed of her 
 right to the throne of Spain, and smuggled 
 aboard the adventurer Cabrillo's ship to be 
 dropped in some out-of-the-way corner of the 
 western world. Even then, he made it clear, 
 she might have perished, since little recked 
 the Spanish explorer what should happen, well 
 knowing that upon his return no questions 
 would be asked, had it not been for his 
 Indian wife. She, lacking children of her own, 
 had taken an instant fancy to the dark-eyed 
 little girl, a fancy so strong that nothing would 
 
 Twenty-five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 do but they must adopt her as their own 
 daughter into the tribe to belong forever, ac 
 cording to their law, she and her children, to 
 the Mariposa. 
 
 "Nor, because thy mother for ever was 
 she a true mother to thee thought that it 
 might grieve thee, have any of my people ever 
 given thee cause to doubt that thou wert native 
 born," he finished proudly. "Loyal have they 
 been, doing all they could to make thee happy. 
 But now that thy Indian mother is dead, and I 
 myself grow old, I thought to wed thee, know 
 ing his desire, to the son of that same Cabrillo 
 who brought thee to us, for I long to be sure, 
 when at length I go, that thou art safe, at 
 home." 
 
 He waited then and in the silence only the 
 low weeping of the girl was heard. At length 
 the old chief spoke again, and now in his voice 
 love conquered disappointment. 
 
 "Much do I desire it, but that matters not. 
 I would not have thee unhappy. I myself will 
 tell the senor that what he hopes for can 
 not be." 
 
 Slowly Wildenai bent her head until it 
 touched his feet. Then she nestled close 
 against him. 
 
 Twenty-six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "I thank thee, oh my father!" she cried, 
 and all her voice was music because of her joy. 
 "And thou art still my father," she added, 
 earnestly. "What care I to go to Spain? I 
 will stay always with thee." 
 
 "For a time, it may be. Yet have a care, 
 little wild rose," he cautioned, smiling, "Let 
 not the Englishman lure thee away! He, too, 
 may not be all that thou thinkest." 
 
 And even as he spoke, in mocking con 
 firmation of his words, there came to them 
 suddenly from across the water, the distant 
 creaking of ropes, the snapping of sails flung 
 hastily to the wind. Before their unbelieving 
 eyes the vessel swung about and put slowly 
 out to sea. Dumb with amazement they 
 watched until the last faint light flickered into 
 darkness. Not until the remotest chance of a 
 mistake was past did the old chief rise, tremb 
 ling with rage, to his feet. 
 
 "See'st thou now what I meant, my 
 daughter? The English pale- faces know not 
 the meaning of honor, no, nor of gratitude 
 either!" 
 
 He lifted his long spear from the ground 
 and shook it fiercely. 
 
 Twenty- seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 'The words of the Mariposa are few/' he 
 cried, "but their revenge is sure. Let but an 
 Englishman set foot again on Punagwandah 
 and, swifter than the arrow leaves the bow 
 string, he dies!" 
 
 And at once, without answer, in the silence 
 of suffering which only the wild things of the 
 earth understand, Wildenai crept from the 
 lodge, her heart heavy with its own bitter disap 
 pointment. Noiselessly she passed among the 
 tepees where her father's people slept. Not 
 one of them should ever know how far dwelt 
 slumber from her own eyes that night. Up 
 the steep trail beyond the Bay of Moons she 
 climbed and flung herself weeping on the bed 
 of skins within the cavern. 
 
 "Oh, thou false one," she moaned, "why 
 did'st thou promise then, when never did'st 
 thou mean to keep it?" 
 
 Yet nothing had been farther from the 
 young Englishman's thoughts when he left 
 her than faithlessness to his word. On reach 
 ing the ship again he had gone directly to his 
 
 Twenty- eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 cabin. Here he took from its small but richly 
 embroidered case a slender chain of gold, 
 threaded so closely with garnets that even in 
 the dim light of the one flaring lantern, the only 
 illumination the room could boast, it glowed, a 
 glancing stream of crimson, in his hand. This 
 he carried to the light and as he examined it 
 under the lantern he smiled. 
 
 "Never saw the little maid such jewels be 
 fore, I'll warrant me! Yet, beshrew my heart, 
 but she deserves them. Indian though she be, 
 still is she, nevertheless, the loveliest woman 
 that ever mine eyes have looked upon!" 
 
 Then, stowing the necklace carefully away 
 in his belt, he went at once in search of the 
 commander. 
 
 But at this point an unexpected difficulty 
 had presented itself. He found Sir Francis in 
 close conversation with his pilot. 
 
 "Marry, Sir, an it fit n'er so ill with thy 
 wish," the keen-eyed old mariner was saying. 
 "I still maintain it were a shame to lose this 
 wind. Gift or no gift, I've sailed these lati 
 tudes before, my lord, and by heaven I swear 
 we're not like to have such another breeze, no, 
 not till the change of the moon, and that you 
 know yourself, sir, is a good fortnight hence." 
 
 Twenty-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Sir Francis, striding back and forth within 
 the narrow confines of the quarter deck, ap 
 peared to be weighing the old man's words 
 with unusual care. At length, however, he 
 turned as one who has made his decision. 
 
 "By the mass and it shall be even as you 
 say, Jarvis," he declared. "I think myself 
 'twere well to push on at once. At the most 
 they be but Indians!" The last words were 
 spoken in a lower tone as if to himself. " Twill 
 matter little either way!" 
 
 It was at this point that young Harold 
 stepped hastily forward. For, strangely 
 enough, although on the morning of that same 
 day such a proceeding would scarcely have ap 
 pealed to him as being at all unfitting or out 
 of the ordinary, yet now it seemed unthinkable. 
 
 "But, good sir," he interrupted, "you 
 would not so belie your promise! To do as 
 Jarvis here advises, by heaven, 'twould be 
 neither truthful nor honorable! Tis not like 
 you, Sir Francis!" 
 
 Drake shot at him a surprised glance from 
 under his bushy eyebrows, then shrugged his 
 shoulders. 
 
 Thirty 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "Prate not to me, my lord, of truth or 
 honor amongst these savages," he replied. 
 "Did not their chief himself but even now lie 
 to me ? Well knew the rascally heathen where 
 the Spaniard hides! The truth indeed! They 
 know not the meaning of such words." 
 
 In vain the younger man petitioned to be 
 allowed to deliver the promised gift with the 
 aid of his own retinue. 
 
 "Thou can'st not get under way for two 
 hours at best, sir," he pleaded, "and well with 
 in that time I will be back. Tis but a stone's 
 throw to the shore!" 
 
 But Drake first scoffed at his rashness, 
 then, finally losing patience, as commander of 
 the expedition he sternly forbade him or any 
 of his men to leave the ship. 
 
 "We dare not lose the wind," he finished 
 emphatically, "and are like to start at any 
 minute." Then, turning on his heel, he strode 
 away to his cabin and shut the door behind 
 him. 
 
 Left in this unceremonious fashion, young 
 Harold considered a moment, glancing with 
 anxious eyes at the dim line of the coast just 
 visible in the darkness. For some minutes he 
 leaned upon the rail, lost in thought. 
 
 Thirty-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 'The old man will e'en have to bear his 
 disappointment, "he muttered at length, "but, 
 an' heaven help me, the maid shall not!" 
 
 Then he, too, left the deck to seek out his 
 favorite retainer, the dark, swarthy man who 
 had sat that morning in the prow of the long 
 boat. To him he explained his difficulty, add 
 ing grimly: 
 
 "And so thou see'st, Mortimer, that I have 
 work cut out for thee!" 
 
 He threw an arm about the other's shoul 
 ders and in this familiar fashion the two men 
 paced the deck together, conversing in low 
 tones. 
 
 "And besides," observed the nobleman as 
 they paused a moment before parting, 
 "would'st know the truth about the matter? 
 For all old Jarvis' prating, the Golden Hind is 
 not like to sail before the dawn, no, nor even 
 then! Jarvis is ever the man to make a show 
 of much hurry, but " he snapped his fingers 
 scornfully, "only aid me now, unseen by any 
 one, to launch the Zephir, and by our virgin 
 queen herself I swear, when once again we see 
 the shores of Merry England, thou shalt find 
 'twas well worth thy trouble." 
 
 Thirty- two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CAT A LIN A 
 
 His companion smiled even while, with the 
 trained servility of the retainer, he doffed his 
 cap. 
 
 "Aye, truly, my lord," he answered, "but, 
 since it were an impossible feat to get so much 
 as a colt into the Zephir, methinks thou hast 
 a gift of thine own to bestow on yonder pretty 
 Indian maid!" 
 
 The blood leaped to Sir Harry's cheek. 
 With a quick gesture he placed his hand upon 
 his sword. 
 
 "Presume not upon my favor, Mortimer, or 
 by heaven! " he began angrily, but stopped 
 suddenly as, with a fearless laugh, the man 
 beside him pushed the half-drawn weapon 
 back into its place. 
 
 "Nay then, not so fast, my lord," he 
 chuckled gaily. "Hearkee, my master. I did 
 but use my eyes during their everlasting pow 
 wow. Surely ye would not grudge me that! 
 And the maid is comely, well worth a trinket 
 from thy store. Besides," he laughed slyly, 
 "I saw e'en more to thine interest, for me 
 thinks the princess is as much in love with thy 
 looks as art thou with hers." 
 
 "Silence, fool! Thou hast said more than 
 enough already. Think'st thou the son of a 
 
 Thirty-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 duke royal would look at a brown-skinned sav 
 age, an unbelieving pagan, no matter how 
 comely, as thou call'st it, she might be!" 
 
 But the flush remained, nevertheless, on 
 the dark cheek of the young nobleman as he 
 strode angrily from the deck. 
 
 The moonlight had laid a quivering path 
 of light across the water before Wildenai 
 raised her bowed head from the ground. But, 
 at length, drawing her blanket more closely 
 about her, for into the night air the chill of 
 the ocean had crept, she was about to leave the 
 cave when a sudden sound from the beach be 
 low arrested her. For a moment she listened 
 in silence while the shout was repeated, then 
 stood dumb with amazement. A third time it 
 came to her, borne on the rising wind, the ter 
 rified cry of a man in dire distress. Nor was it 
 one of her own people who thus called out of 
 the darkness for help. Swiftly she ran to an 
 overhanging ledge of rock from which, by ly 
 ing flat and peeping over, she could, without 
 exposing herself, command a wide view of 
 the sea. 
 
 Thirty-four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 At the first glance there appeared to be 
 nothing amiss. Far beneath her the noisy 
 breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. 
 Above their musical booming no other sound 
 could be heard. Then suddenly she saw him. 
 A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close 
 to the great rounded boulder which, together 
 with a still larger one from which it had at some 
 distant time been broken off, formed the outer 
 most boundary of the curving Beach of Moons. 
 The dark figure standing erect in the boat 
 strove with the aid of an oar to keep it from 
 being dashed to pieces against the giant rock. 
 Again there floated up to her the desperate call 
 for help. The voice was that of the English 
 noble ! 
 
 Instantly the girl sprang to her feet, and 
 without the slightest hesitation ran lightly 
 down the perilous incline, leaping fearlessly 
 from rock to rock, until, within a few seconds, 
 she stood poised above the seething surf on the 
 top of the larger boulder. Here, balancing her 
 self as easily and securely as a wild antelope, 
 she raised her arms to dive. But now from the 
 shadows below the white man called once 
 more. 
 
 Thirty- five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 "Attempt it not, oh Wildenai! Tis death 
 to leap from there!" 
 
 But without waiting even to reply, the In 
 dian girl sprang into the waves. An instant 
 later and he saw her arms gleam in the moon 
 light as, with the strong slow strokes of an ex 
 perienced swimmer, she struck out for the boat. 
 In spite of the perilous rocking of the little 
 craft he rested on his oar to watch her for a 
 moment in sheer admiration of her skill. But 
 the maid knew well the danger of every in 
 stant's delay. In the very nick of time she 
 seemed almost to throw herself between him 
 and the rocks while, with a strength he would 
 have believed impossible in one so small, she 
 pulled the boat around. Then, still swimming 
 and without a word to him, she began to push 
 it ahead of her toward the shore. It was but 
 a few minutes before they stood together on 
 the beach. 
 
 And now the young noble, overcome with 
 gratitude, fell on his knees before her and 
 caught her hand between his own. He would 
 have kissed it in sheer joy at his escape, but the 
 Indian girl drew sharply back. 
 
 Thirty- six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 * 'Quick!" she whispered, yet remembering 
 to speak in Spanish, "You must hide yourself 
 at once. My father will kill you if he should 
 find you here!" 
 
 Swiftly she concealed the boat in a tiny 
 cove behind the boulder, a hiding place he 
 would never have seen though it was appar 
 ently perfectly familiar to her. 
 
 " Sometimes my own canoe I keep there 
 too," she whispered. "Now come!" and she 
 hurried him along the beach and up an easier 
 trail beyond the rocks to her cavern bower 
 above. 
 
 Nor did she pause for an instant's rest un 
 til they had passed safely behind the manza- 
 nita branches which concealed the entrance. 
 Here, motioning him to do the same, she 
 dropped upon a pile of skins. But instead, in 
 real concern, the young Englishman knelt 
 again beside her. 
 
 "Thou art so wet and cold," he began anx 
 iously, "Will it not make thee ill? Yet 'twas a 
 wondrous feat," he added admiringly, "well 
 conceived and carried out with skill such as 
 any man might envy!" 
 
 The princess laughed. 
 
 Thirty- seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Twas nothing," she answered briefly. "I 
 do it almost every day." 
 
 "I came to bring to thee the gift I prom 
 ised," explained Lord Harold then, and from 
 his belt he drew the little case. Eagerly he 
 flung the gleaming string of garnets about her 
 slim brown throat. 
 
 "Jewels brought by my father to my moth 
 er on the morning of their marriage," he told 
 her. "When she lay dying she gave them me 
 and told me never to part with them except I 
 gave them to my " He paused suddenly, 
 "But thou hast saved my life!" he added as 
 quickly, "Who else could ever deserve them 
 more? Well know I my mother would wish 
 thee to have them." 
 
 Silently, though her eyes were bright with 
 pleasure, the princess lifted the beautiful neck 
 lace. 
 
 "Wildenai will wear them always, senor 
 lord," she answered softly, "for now she 
 knows that truly you did mean to keep your 
 word!" 
 
 And so, his mission accomplished, her 
 guest rose hastily to his feet. He must return 
 immediately to the ship. 
 
 Thirty- eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "Know you not, then, that it is gone?" ex 
 claimed the girl, amazed. 
 
 "Gone?" echoed young Harold, and stared 
 at her astounded. He seemed not to have 
 grasped her meaning. "Gone, said'st thou?" 
 
 "The ship was out of sight a full hour or 
 more ere ever I heard you call," she explained. 
 
 Still he continued to gaze at her fixedly as 
 if totally unable to comprehend what she would 
 have him know. Then it was plain to be seen 
 that, for the moment at least, blank despair 
 took hold upon him. Up and down the length 
 of the cave he strode like some imprisoned 
 wild thing. At length, standing quite still with 
 folded arms, he seemed to lose himself in 
 thought. 
 
 "Battling with the surf I did not see nor 
 hear," he muttered at last. "But he could 
 not sail without me!" he added. Fiercely he 
 raised his head and his eyes flashed. "He dare 
 not so betray me!" 
 
 Wildenai, too, had been considering. 
 
 "The great white captain knew, then, that 
 you were not on board?" she asked suddenly. 
 
 "No," replied the young man reluctantly, 
 "that did he not. I came without his knowl- 
 
 Thirty-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 edge. He would have prevented me," he con 
 tinued stubbornly, "and I had promised thee a 
 gift. Never did I break my word, nor would 
 not then. But I did not dream it possible they 
 could get away so soon ! By our virgin lady in 
 Heaven I swear I know not what to do." And 
 once more he seemed lost in despair. 
 
 But only for a moment. Then he turned 
 hastily to the entrance. 
 
 "I must follow them at once," he declared 
 impatiently, "I can overtake them even yet." 
 
 Swift as lightning the girl threw herself 
 between him and the opening in the cave. 
 
 "No, no, senor Englishman," she cried. 
 "It is impossible! Listen, only listen to me! 
 What have you, then, to steer by save the 
 stars? And you see that, drowned in moon 
 light, they do not shine tonight. And, more 
 than that, you do not even know what course 
 the vessel takes. Remember, too, that there is 
 neither food nor drink within your boat. You 
 would surely die ere you could ever find the 
 ship." 
 
 Gradually she compelled him to listen to 
 reason until, seating himself again upon the 
 skins, he challenged her still further. 
 
 Forty 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "But what, then, shall I do?" he demand 
 ed. "Can'st also tell me that?" 
 
 And with equal readiness the princess re 
 plied : 
 
 "If you will but let me I can hide you here. 
 The cavern is my own. Here for many a moon 
 have I worked and waited. No one would 
 dare to enter. You will be safe. Besides, my 
 father's anger will grow cold in time, and then 
 I know that, if I ask him, he will help you." 
 
 His chin propped upon his hands, the 
 young nobleman moodily considered. 
 
 "Well, do then as thou deemest best," he 
 told her finally. 
 
 And from that moment there began for the 
 little princess a time so wonderful that for all 
 the rest of her life she remembered each sep 
 arate hour as though it had been some beauti 
 ful word in a poem learned by heart. 
 
 With deft fingers she piled her softest doe 
 skins for his bed. 
 
 "But what wilt thou do, tell me, if I rob 
 thee of thy nest?" he asked, watching her with 
 amused eyes as she worked. 
 
 "I go always to the village to sleep," she 
 answered simply, and so left him. 
 
 Forty-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 But in the morning while yet the red of 
 sunrise burned above the great peak Orazaba, 
 she returned, bearing upon her head an olla of 
 carved stone filled with water from a mountain 
 spring. This in smiling silence she set before 
 him and disappeared. Within the hour, how 
 ever, she was back again and this time, kneel 
 ing on the ground, she laid at his feet the ripe 
 fruit of the manzanita tree, lying like small red 
 apples, dewy fresh, upon a wild-grape leaf. 
 
 "Ala ate, see! Are they not good?" she 
 asked triumphantly. 
 
 And so from day to day she ministered to 
 him. Many a time as he sat, listless and 
 moody, within his hiding-place, a handful of 
 wild strawberries, steeped in the warm sweet 
 ness of the hills, would be pushed beneath the 
 leafy branches that concealed the door. Some 
 times she brought him bread baked from a 
 curious kind of meal made of pounded seeds. 
 
 Once, too, when a sudden storm had 
 chilled the air, she kindled a fire for him with 
 in a smaller cave, receding like a fire-place into 
 the rocky wall opposite the opening. It was a 
 long and tedious process which the man 
 watched curiously. First, kneeling on the 
 
 Forty- two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 ground, she rubbed together two dry willow 
 sticks until a little pile of dust had gathered. 
 Then, still stooping, she struck two flints to 
 gether until at last a spark fell into the dust. 
 Some dry leaves were dropped upon the tiny 
 blaze, then twigs, and lo, a fire! 
 
 In spite of himself the Englishman smiled, 
 though a softer feeling shown in his eyes. How 
 beautiful and yet how childish she looked 
 kneeling there with the anxious pucker be 
 tween her brows. Poor little princess, how very 
 hard she worked to serve him ! 
 
 "It takes a long time, Wildenai," he ob 
 served, "dost thou try it often?" 
 
 "Never for myself," she answered gravely. 
 "I have no need. But I do it gladly for you." 
 She smiled brightly back at him, then rose and 
 moved swiftly to the doorway. "Another 
 thing I do for you today. Wait!" 
 
 And when she returned a few minutes later 
 she brought with her, carefully wrapped in 
 cool green leaves, a fish freshly caught that 
 morning. 
 
 "A brook trout, on my word, such as I have 
 often taken in the streams at home!" ex 
 claimed Lord Harold, amazed. 
 
 Forty- three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 "I got it far up the canyon before the sun 
 was risen," she answered, delighted at his 
 surprise. 
 
 This, having quickly dressed it, she 
 wrapped again in leaves and placed under the 
 hot ashes to bake, and it being, evidently, a 
 feast out of the ordinary, a merry-making to 
 which a third guest might be bidden, sud 
 denly Wildenai left the cavern again to return 
 this time with a tiny gray fox perched fa 
 miliarly upon her shoulder. 
 
 Tis Onatoa, senor Englishman," she an 
 nounced, gently stroking the bushy tail of the 
 little creature as it lay about her neck. 
 
 But from his vantage point above his rival, 
 Onatoa merely sniffed disdainfully with his 
 sharp black nose. He looked far from friendly. 
 
 The princess laughed softly. 
 
 He does not know you yet," she defended 
 her pet. "He will soon learn to love you, too." 
 
 "I will catch fish with thee next time thou 
 goest," declared young Harold later as they ate 
 together. "There's no reason I can see why I 
 should stay mewed up forever in this cave. I 
 fear not Indians! No, not even Torquam, 
 thy father, himself." 
 
 Forty-four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. 
 Then she laughed. 
 
 "You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!" 
 she exclaimed with pride. u Nor would there 
 be much danger. We will go to the other side 
 of the island where the waves run high and 
 the cliffs are tall and black. There will I show 
 you the nests of the great eagles, and the an 
 telope leaping among the rocks. And, who 
 can tell?" she laughed again with child-like 
 pleasure, "perhaps we shall find a white otter!" 
 
 And, true to her word, he heard at dawn 
 next day outside the cavern the whistle of a 
 blackbird, a signal early contrived between 
 them. She deemed it best, she explained, to 
 start thus early that the darkness might con 
 ceal them until they had passed well beyond 
 the outskirts of the village. But this danger 
 overcome, they spent the whole day rambling 
 fearlessly among the hills, a long, idle, happy 
 day. Up many a dim trail winding back into 
 the canyons the princess led him. Through 
 golden thickets of wild mustard they passed, 
 coming, when he least -expected it, upon 
 glimpses of the summer sea framed between 
 the branches of knarled old oak trees. 
 
 Forty-five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 "They are low and crooked, and they 
 spread themselves over the ground as do our 
 English oaks/' the young nobleman informed 
 her. 
 
 As Wildenai had promised they discovered, 
 poised high among the crags of the wild south 
 ern shore, the great eagles of which she had 
 told him, measuring easily, from wing-tip to 
 wing-tip, fully a dozen feet. The white otter, 
 rarest and most valuable of all the game hunt 
 ed by her people, eluded them, but many a 
 small gray fox slipped away among the bushes, 
 leaving the Englishman tingling for the chase. 
 
 At twilight, as they made their way back 
 to the cavern, they came upon a tiny lake lying 
 asleep within the crater of a dead volcano. 
 From the sides little clouds of ashes rose, float 
 ing softly away on the breezes of evening. The 
 princess gathered a handful and murmuring 
 some musical words in her own tongue she 
 threw them into the air. 
 
 "And would it be amiss for me to ask what 
 'tis you do?" questioned her companion, ob 
 serving her closely. 
 
 "I was sending a prayer to Wakan-ate, the 
 Great Spirit," she replied quietly. 
 
 Forty -six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "A prayer, and borne to heaven on the 
 wings of ashes!" He seemed amused. "But 
 what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?" 
 
 Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she 
 replied: "It were not fitting that any maiden 
 tell for what she prays!" 
 
 The words were spoken with such gravity 
 that the young man flushed under the rebuke. 
 
 When she left him at the doorway of the 
 cavern that evening she said as she made a gay 
 little gesture of farewell : "Today the land, but 
 tomorrow we shall find still more beautiful 
 things that lie hidden under the deep waters. 
 You shall see!" 
 
 And once again with dawn she came. This 
 time it was the splash of a paddle that brought 
 him to the opening in the rock. 
 
 "Aloho-ate, lazy one!" she called gaily 
 from below. "Make haste! The world is al 
 ways loveliest while it lies waiting for the 
 sun!" 
 
 That day, perhaps, from among them all, 
 lived longest within the memory of young Har 
 old, the porpoises playing fearlessly around 
 her canoe as the princess, with graceful, effort 
 less strokes, paddled around one after another 
 
 Forty-seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, 
 skimming the surface of the ocean until, by 
 virtue of their speed alone, they rose like 
 gleaming bows of silver from the foam. Intent 
 to show him all her treasures, Wildenai guided 
 him to a quiet stretch of water lying close to 
 shore within the shadow of tall cliffs which 
 rose at that point with precipitous abruptness 
 from the sea itself. 
 
 "Here are my gardens that grow under the 
 water," she explained, as they glided above 
 the spot. "Look well at them. They are most 
 beautiful." 
 
 And gazing down at her command through 
 the clear green into the luminous depths be 
 low, he caught glimpses of these gardens of the 
 sea where goldfish darted like tropical birds 
 among the branches of tall tree-like stalks of 
 swaying seaweed, and strange shapes of jade 
 and blue floated in the shadows. 
 
 "Is it not wonderful?" she asked. 
 
 "It is indeed, my Wildenai," he answered 
 earnestly. "Never in all my travels, methinks, 
 have I seen aught before like this your island 
 here! It seems to me indeed a charmed land, 
 a kind of magic isle!" 
 
 Forty- eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 One day it rained, the last belated rain of 
 winter. But even the storm brought pleasures 
 of its own, for, seated on the pile of skins be 
 side him, the little gray fox curled contentedly 
 at her feet, Wildenai worked at her loom. 
 Within its dull-colored warp a blanket, woven 
 in a strange design of mingled red, and black, 
 and white, grew slowly beneath her busy 
 fingers. 
 
 For hours the maiden drew the short wool 
 en threads in and out while the young man, 
 stretched lazily upon the ground, told her 
 many a tale of the England he had left. Then, 
 quite without warning, she ceased her work 
 and sat pensively watching through the open 
 ing in the rocks the long gray swell of the sea. 
 
 "And what is it now, my princess?" 
 laughed young Harold. 'The pattern is not yet 
 finished, nor is the rain abated." 
 
 "Ah, senor Harold lord," wistfully replied 
 the girl, "I was but wishing I had been born 
 one of those same fair English maids with the 
 eyes of blue and golden hair you tell about. 
 Then would you love me even as you do them !" 
 she added artlessly, and leaned her chin upon 
 
 Forty-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 her hand, considering. A secret trembled on 
 her lips. 
 
 "And how if I were Spanish born?" she 
 questioned, and lifted hesitating, frightened 
 eyes to his, "dark to look at, that I know well, 
 but even so, the white man's kind of princess, 
 who also has a throne?" 
 
 And all unwitting Lord Harold answered 
 scornfully, "Spanish! Say no such word to 
 me! The English hate the Spanish!" Fiercely 
 he caught up a pebble and sent it whirling out 
 across the water. "Even now their robber king 
 plans his huge armada to take our queen and 
 rule our land, but that, by the holy virgin her 
 self, shall never be! Sooner will every drop of 
 blood in bonny England be spilt. Never could 
 I make thee understand how much I hope to 
 be at home before he comes! Spanish indeed! 
 Nay, never let me hear the hateful word 
 again!" 
 
 Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, 
 with the impulsive changeableness which had 
 so endeared him to her, he caught one little 
 brown hand and raised it to his lips. 
 
 "But I do love thee even as thou art, my 
 Wildenai," he told her with the careless assur- 
 
 Fifty 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 ance of one much older speaking to a child. 
 "Is not a wild rose sweet as any garden bloom ? 
 Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!" 
 
 Again he laughed and the little princess 
 laughed with him now, for into her heart at his 
 words had come a happiness so unlocked for 
 and so wildly sweet as wholly to bewilder her. 
 Quickly she rose, struck by a sudden thought, 
 and running to the farthermost corner of the 
 cavern she brushed aside a pile of leaves and 
 lifted some stones, disclosing at length a box 
 fashioned from the choicest cedar. Out of it, 
 while the Englishman watched with wondering 
 eyes, she drew a garment made of creamy doe 
 skin, deeply fringed and trimmed besides with 
 strings of wampum, the polished fragments 
 of abalone shells and many-colored beads. Si 
 lently she brought it to him and when he 
 touched it admiringly, for the dress was beauti 
 ful. "It is my marriage robe," she told him 
 gravely. 
 
 That night, while the rain tapped softly at 
 her tepee, the princess dreamed of a wondrous 
 land beyond the sea where proudly she walked 
 by her white chiefs side and fair women with 
 
 Fifty-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 braided, golden hair spoke kind words of wel 
 come, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes. 
 
 Then, without warning, came the end of 
 all her dreams. Hurrying along the beach at 
 sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught 
 the first glimpse of the returning vessel as it 
 stole around a distant point. For the space of 
 a second her heart stood still, then throbbed 
 wildly, but whether with joy or pain she could 
 not herself have told. One question only de 
 manded all her thought. Should she let Lord 
 Harold know? Perhaps the great white cap 
 tain would not remember their bay. Perhaps, 
 her breath came fast, perhaps the ship, un 
 seen by anyone, would pass and Lord Harold 
 remain behind content. With hands tight- 
 clenched she watched the distant sail, fear 
 growing in her eyes. Yet she knew that she 
 would tell him. Nothing else was honorable. 
 This, surely, he must decide for himself. 
 
 But tidings of such moment outran even 
 her swift feet. She found him buckling on his 
 sword-belt, in his eyes the glad light of some 
 
 Fifty-two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 trapped bird which sees the door of its cage 
 suddenly open. 
 
 "The ship " she began with sinking 
 heart. 
 
 "Yes, yes, I know! I saw it!" he an 
 swered, a fever of impatience in his voice. 
 " Tis Drake. I knew he dared not leave me! 
 Twill soon be too close in. Needs not he risk 
 his safety. I must go before he gains the 
 shore." 
 
 The princess hesitated. What meant that 
 strange heaviness at her heart? Was he not 
 still her brave, true warrior, her great white 
 chief? Had he not told her that he loved her? 
 Crossing to where he stood she bowed herself 
 before him until her silver fillet touched his 
 feet. 
 
 "I, too!" she whispered, "I shall go to 
 England with thee!" 
 
 And at her words, within the little cavern 
 there came a silence to be felt. In undisguised 
 dismay the Englishman gazed at her where she 
 knelt. Then: 
 
 "By the holyrood!" he muttered aghast, 
 "She must have thought, God only knows 
 what she must have thought!" 
 
 Fifty-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 He glanced hurriedly toward the doorway 
 and back again, ashamed. Then even such 
 impatience as was his gave way, for the mo 
 ment at least, to something more chivalric. He 
 stooped and patted awkwardly the smooth 
 black head. 
 
 "Come, Wildenai, little wild rose, look up 
 and speak to me. I must be going!" 
 
 But still the maid lay prostrate, clasping 
 close his rough buskins in her little brown 
 hands. Never in all his life had Lord Harold 
 been so sorely uncomfortable. How was it 
 possible she had ever imagined that he could 
 take her with him, that he had meant so 
 much? Resentment grew within him at the 
 thought, yet strangely mingled always with 
 something far more tender. Hastily he con 
 sidered, his heart torn between the desire not 
 to wound her and dread of what he knew she 
 wanted. To be sure the maid was beautiful, 
 with the softened beauty of a moonlit night 
 in summer, her eyes beneath her dusky hair 
 like stars between the branches of dark trees, 
 her voice that of the forest stream when it 
 sings itself to sleep. Yet past all doubt he 
 knew that not one among the gorgeous throng 
 
 Fifty- four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 that crowded about Elizabeth would ever see 
 that beauty, no English ear take heed to hear 
 the music of her voice. Nay, he could even, as 
 he thought of it, picture the amazement of the 
 great queen, could hear her scornful laughter, 
 should he present, to help adorn her court, a 
 savage Indian girl! No, a thousand times no! 
 Such disgrace he could not suffer. Nor was 
 the maid herself, so he defended himself, fitted 
 for such a life. Soon would she be as unhappy 
 in England as he would be to have her there. 
 Besides, she was but a child. Else had she 
 never so far forgot all womanly dignity as to 
 force herself upon him, and being but a child 
 she would soon forget. Gently he made to 
 raise her to her feet. 
 
 "Wildenai, little wild rose," he began 
 again, "what thou hast asked of me thou dost 
 well know thyself is an unheard of thing. 
 Much as I owe to thee, and well know I that 
 'tis so much I never can repay it; still for thine 
 own sweet sake 'tis not in this way thy reward 
 must come. The long journey and the strange 
 new life would kill thee, Wildenai." Having 
 once begun he stumbled on, but half aware 
 of how each word he uttered hurt her, eager 
 
 Fifty-ftve 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 only to have done with the whole sorry scene. 
 "Thou art but a little wild flower. Thou 
 couldst not live away from this, thy sunny 
 island. Can'st thou not understand, my 
 Wildenai?" 
 
 He paused, waiting for a reply; but the 
 maiden answered nothing. Silent she lay as 
 though in very truth she were a wild flower 
 tossed to earth and trampled upon by some un 
 caring foot. 
 
 At last the man could bear it no longer. 
 Forcibly he loosed her hands and stepped 
 back. For a moment longer he lingered, look 
 ing down upon her in mingled impatience and 
 regret; then, turning abruptly, he passed hast 
 ily out of the cavern and down the trail to the 
 beach. 
 
 Still the girl lay motionless. It was as if 
 every sense were stunned, all power of thought 
 suspended except to grasp the one fact that 
 made her whole world empty, he was gone! 
 As in a dream she heard the grating of the peb 
 bles when he pushed his boat into the water, 
 heard the clank of the oars as they dropped 
 into the oar-locks. Even yet she did not move. 
 Then, after many minutes, she crept to the 
 
 Fifty-six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 opening and searched the sea with eyes almost 
 too dim with tears to find that for which she 
 sought. But yes, there it was, a black speck 
 against the golden sunset. She watched until 
 she had seen the distant vessel put about, mak 
 ing for the open sea. Ah, now she knew that 
 he was safe aboard, no need had they to come 
 farther into shore. Yet still she waited, strain 
 ing her eyes to see the ship sink slowly beneath 
 the horizon. One last glint of sunlight against 
 a white sail, and it was gone. 
 
 Then at once she rose, and moving quietly 
 about the little cavern, she put all in perfect or 
 der with touch as tender as that of a mother 
 preparing for its last sleep some little child. 
 Here was the basket he had helped to weave, 
 here the mat on which he had lain. Her fingers 
 lingered caressingly on each thing that he had 
 touched. There in the corner still stood the 
 olla in which she had brought him water. How 
 amused he had been that she could carry it on 
 her head all the way up the hill from the spring 
 without so much as spilling one drop! But 
 that was all past now. 
 
 When at last everything was finished she 
 gave the little rock-walled room one long, lin- 
 
 Fifty- seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 gering look, the look of one who would carry 
 in his heart the image of what he beholds all 
 the rest of his life. Then she, too, made her 
 way through the doorway into the deepening 
 dusk. 
 
 On the beach below, squatted within the 
 opened flap of his tepee, Torquam, mighty 
 chief of the Mariposa, smoked his evening 
 pipe. A wonderful pipe it was, long and deli 
 cately fashioned, inlaid with iridescent frag 
 ments of shell. Yet instantly he laid it aside as 
 the slender form of his daughter darkened the 
 doorway. 
 
 "Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art 
 thou as sunshine after rain!" His eyes lighted 
 with the tenderness never seen there by any 
 other than this motherless girl. He stretched 
 his hand to her and the princess came silently 
 and knelt before him. 
 
 "My father," she said firmly, though in so 
 low a tone that Torquam bent to hear. "Oh, 
 father, thou art always wise! Thou only 
 knowest best. I come to thee to tell that I will 
 
 Fifty -eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him whenever 
 thou dost choose!" 
 
 Taking her face between his hands, Tor- 
 quam gazed long and searchingly into the sor 
 rowful eyes of his daughter. 
 
 "And thou art wise to do so, my beloved 
 one/' he said at last. "He will make to thee 
 a good husband." In his voice was the keen 
 understanding of a father. "He will be kind 
 to thee and heal thy wounded heart, my 
 daughter. Don Cabrillo is a good man," he 
 repeated solemnly. 
 
 Fifty-nine 
 
Miss Hastings Brings It 
 to an End 
 
PART II 
 Miss HASTINGS BRINGS IT TO AN END 
 
 Centuries passed, and again, with the 
 same sweet suddenness as in the days gone by, 
 spring came to Catalina. Guests of the St. 
 Catherine, lounging on its wide verandahs, 
 gazed across a sunlit sea to where the faint 
 cloud that was San Jacinto hovered, the merest 
 ghost of a mountain, above the misty main 
 land. Along the broad board-walk leading 
 down to Avalon benches, shaded by bright- 
 striped awnings, flaunted an invitation to 
 every passing tourist. Strings of Japanese lan 
 terns bobbed merrily above the narrow village 
 streets. Everywhere were laughter and move 
 ment and color from the bathing beaches, dot 
 ted with gay umbrellas even to the last yacht 
 anchored round the point. 
 
 To the man making slow progress down the 
 crowded wharf from the afternoon boat this 
 holiday world into which he thus suddenly 
 stepped, presented an appearance so different 
 
 Sixty-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 from that he had pictured as almost to bewilder 
 him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus 
 waiting to haul him up the winding grade to 
 the hotel, he actually hesitated. Yet seldom 
 before, to his knowledge, had he found it dif 
 ficult to adapt himself to an unexpected situa 
 tion. 
 
 "Hotel St. Catherine! Bus to the hotel, 
 sir?" 
 
 Other guests, more certain of their inten 
 tions, pushed impatiently against him, and 
 presently he found himself, wedged well to 
 ward the middle of the long seat, chugging 
 comfortably up the hill. Still half-daunted, he 
 gazed about him. It was all of it charming to 
 be sure, fascinating even ; yet, could this festive 
 summering place be the Avalon of his dreams? 
 Was this the quaint village of Spanish times, 
 reaching back still further through dimly re 
 membered Indian lore to a world lost now ex 
 cept to legend? Yet it was for the sake of a 
 mere legend, a fanciful tale handed down in 
 his family through many a generation, that he 
 had made the long journey from New York to 
 California, nor and here he set his lips with 
 
 Sixty-two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 dogged determination, did he intend to return 
 until he had found that for which he searched. 
 
 It was now something over two years since 
 Harrison Blair, then fresh from Yale, had as 
 tonished both those who wished him well and 
 those who, for various envious reasons, did 
 not, with the wholly unreasonable success of 
 his first book. For, to those who did not un 
 derstand, his sudden fame had seemed all the 
 more surprising in that it rested upon nothing 
 more substantial than a slender volume of In 
 dian verse. So unusual, however, had been his 
 treatment of this well-worn subject as to call 
 forth more than a little comment from even the 
 most conservative of critics. The Brush and 
 Pen had hastened to confer upon him an hon 
 orary membership. Cadmon, magic weaver 
 of Indian music, had written a warm letter of 
 appreciation. And, most precious tribute of 
 all, the Atlantic Monthly had become interested 
 in his career. 
 
 To be sure, it was nothing more than might 
 have been expected of a man whose under 
 graduate work in English had aroused the re 
 luctant wonder of more than one instructor. 
 Nevertheless, the fact that he pulled stroke on 
 
 Sixty-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 the 'varsity crew had somewhat blinded other 
 contemporaries to his more scholarly attain 
 ments. Nor had anyone thought it probable, 
 because of his father's wealth, that Blair, in 
 any event, would feel called upon to do much 
 more than make a frolic of life. No one, in 
 deed, had been more taken aback than had his 
 father to find him, a year after graduation, 
 drudging over the assistant editor's desk of a 
 struggling magazine the payroll of which, to 
 put it mildly, offered no financial inducements. 
 
 "It's good practice for me, though, 
 quickest way to learn," was all he vouchsafed 
 when the older man remonstrated. 
 
 Yet, had that same father, shrewd capital 
 ist that he was, but taken the trouble to reason 
 back from premises evident enough, he might 
 have been the first to realize that this tall son 
 of his, with the keen gray eyes and a face the 
 strength of which was but increased by the 
 high cheek bones and squarely molded chin, 
 was scarcely the type of man to sit idly by en 
 joying the fruits of another's labor. 
 
 And now, after two years more of grinding 
 apprenticeship, he had in mind something 
 much bigger than the slender volume of verse, 
 
 Sixty-four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 an adventure into authorship more suited 
 to his metal, a story for which an intense 
 personal sympathy would furnish fitting at 
 mosphere, with the final spur to his ambition a 
 letter from the Atlantic even at the moment 
 stowed safely away in his pocket. 
 
 Some two hours later, after an unexpect 
 edly excellent dinner in the luxurious dining 
 room, he sauntered over to the hotel desk. 
 There was no more than the faintest probabil 
 ity that a clerk of the St. Catherine would be 
 able to tell him how to reach a secret cavern 
 bower above the Bay of Moons; still, he had 
 to enter an opening wedge somewhere. The 
 one man on duty was for the moment occupied 
 with another guest, and Blair, lighting his 
 after-dinner cigar, prepared with leisurely pa 
 tience to await his turn. 
 
 The guest happened to be a young woman, 
 rather pretty, he casually decided, although her 
 greatest claim to beauty lay more, perhaps, in 
 the swift changes in expression of which her 
 face was capable, than in any actual regularity 
 of line. For lack of anything better to do, 
 Blair watched idly her encounter with the 
 
 Sixty-five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 clerk. There appeared to be some kind of mis 
 understanding. 
 
 "Awfully sorry it's happened that way, 
 Miss Hastings/' the man behind the desk was 
 saying. He lifted with genuine reluctance the 
 key she had just laid down. "We'd be mighty 
 sorry to interfere with your work, but those 
 small rooms always do go first. You know 
 that yourself." 
 
 "I hadn't heard about it, though. I didn't 
 know they were all gone." Her voice quivered 
 with disappointment. 
 
 Blair, whose vocation taught him a cer 
 tain technical sympathy, shot a swift glance 
 at her. She couldn't be more than twenty-two 
 or thereabouts, he decided less casually, and 
 went on to observe her still further. She wore 
 a shabby, broad-brimmed hat much faded as if 
 from constant exposure to the sun, but the 
 shadows in the coil of hair beneath were warm 
 ly golden. 
 
 "Couldn't you find a room down in the 
 village somewhere, at Mrs. Merrill's per 
 haps?" suggested the clerk. 
 
 "But Mrs. Merrill isn't here this spring." 
 In spite of its quiver the voice was very sweet. 
 
 Sixty- six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "No," she started to turn away, "I'll have to 
 put it off again, I suppose. I've looked every 
 where." 
 
 She took a step or two, hesitated, then re 
 turned to the desk. 
 
 "You're positive there isn't a single one of 
 the small rooms left?" she pleaded. "I 
 wouldn't care how far back it was, anything 
 would do. You can't think how I hate to give 
 up. I had so hoped to finish it this time!" 
 
 The man shook his head. 
 
 "No, we're absolutely full just now. 
 Later on there might be something, after the 
 season is over." 
 
 "But that will be after school begins," an 
 swered the girl bitterly. "I can't work at all 
 then!" and catching up a bag fully as shabby 
 as the hat, she hurried away. 
 
 "Who is she?" asked Blair abruptly, over 
 looking for the moment his original purpose in 
 seeking the man. 
 
 "School-teacher from Pasadena," replied 
 the clerk briefly. "Teaches art in some private 
 school over there, I believe." He eyed Blair 
 amusedly. "Think you've met her before 
 somewhere?" 
 
 Sixty-seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Blair allowed his annoyance to show. 
 "No, never laid eyes on her till just now. But 
 I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for her/' he 
 persisted. "She seemed so sort of cut up. 
 What's the trouble?" 
 
 "I'm sorry for her myself," declared the 
 man on the other side as he hung the returned 
 key on its board. "This is the third time that 
 poor little woman's had to leave before she 
 could finish what she came for on account of 
 the expense. But what can we do?" He 
 shrugged his shoulders. "The St. Catherine 
 isn't exactly a Y. W. C. A." 
 
 "What is it she's trying to do?" 
 
 Amusement deepened in the man's eyes. 
 
 "She's supposed to be painting Indians." 
 
 "Indians !" To the amazement of the other 
 man Blair suddenly leaned forward, his eyes 
 agleam with interest. 
 
 "But I didn't know there were any around 
 here." 
 
 "There aren't." 
 
 "Then how?" 
 
 "Makes 'em up out of her head, I guess. I 
 never heard that she had even a model." 
 
 Sixty- eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "But but what I want to know is why 
 she comes here at all?" The situation seemed 
 to Blair to offer possibilities, yet he was thor 
 oughly puzzled. "I met a fellow on the train 
 who does that sort of thing, but he always goes 
 to the desert to paint, at least he said he did." 
 
 "Yes, they do mostly. Probably he meant 
 Taos, whole nest of artists at Taos." 
 
 "Well, but why in thunder then?" 
 
 The clerk smiled skeptically. 
 
 "Why, you see, it's something like this. 
 Miss Hastings' bent on being an illustrator, 
 pays better than teaching, I suppose, or 
 well, at any rate, that's what she's aiming for, 
 and she has an idea that if she can only get 
 a series of pictures, several of them on the 
 same subject, you understand, accepted by 
 one of those Eastern magazines, she can soon 
 work in with some big publisher and get an 
 order. She told us all about it one night last 
 winter when she was over." 
 
 "But in heaven's name, why Indians?" 
 persisted Blair. 
 
 "Because she thinks she's found some 
 good material here. She told me about that, 
 too. Seems there's an old legend connected 
 
 Sixty-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 with Catalina, about an Indian princess and a 
 cavern. The princess died of a broken heart 
 or something of the sort, I believe she said. I 
 never heard the particulars myself. Nobody 
 else, either, seems to know anything about it. 
 But Miss Hastings says there's quite a story, 
 and she's got it all down pat from A to Z. She's 
 using it for her series." 
 
 A porter brought up some newcomers and 
 Blair stepped aside. But the moment his 
 man was at leisure again he cornered him at 
 once. An idea had come to him, an idea al 
 most dazzling in its possibilities. 
 
 "You say she hasn't finished her series 
 yet?" 
 
 "Beg pardon? Oh, the teacher?" The 
 man shook his head. "Evidently not from 
 what she said just now. She never stays long 
 enough really to put it over. Every few 
 months she bobs up over a week-end, but that 
 doesn't give her time even to visit some of the 
 places she's after. She never seems to get 
 much more than started before she has to go 
 home again." 
 
 For a moment Blair smoked in silence. 
 Then: 
 
 Seventy 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "Look here/' he cut in abruptly, "You 
 split my suite and give her one of my rooms." 
 
 The man's eyebrows rose in surprise. 
 
 "Her? What do you mean?" 
 
 Blair made an impatient gesture. 
 
 "Why, this Miss the teacher, you know. 
 Didn't you just say you hadn't any room for 
 her? Well, I've got three, you know." 
 
 "Yes, but that's altogether a different prop 
 osition. You made your reservation weeks 
 ago." 
 
 "But you could still give her one of them, 
 couldn't you?" 
 
 Clerks in large hotels listen with patience 
 to a vast number of strange proposals, but at 
 this from Blair, the man opposite eyed him in 
 unflattering amazement. 
 
 "But you said, when you wired, you 
 wanted the extra room to work in," he ob 
 jected, "and you'll remember, Mr. Blair, that 
 you were pretty emphatic about it, too, at the 
 time. We went to all kinds of trouble to fix 
 that up for you." 
 
 "I can get along all right without it, 
 though," coolly observed his changeable guest, 
 "and I'd rather she'd have it. It's possible to 
 
 Seventy-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 split suites here, isn't it?" he persisted. 'They 
 do at most hotels." 
 
 "It's possible, of course." Across the desk 
 the eyes of the two men met squarely. 'That 
 part of it's easy enough. But why? and who's 
 going to pay for it?" 
 
 "I'm going to pay for it! What did you 
 suppose?" exploded Blair. "It's worth that 
 and a lot more to me just now to keep her from 
 getting away. Oh, I'm in earnest all right. I 
 mean it! Look here! Can't you see how that 
 woman can be a perfect gold mine to me? You 
 know enough about my work to understand 
 that I'm really out here after Indians myself, 
 and she well, I'll wager a cool thousand 
 there isn't .a spot on this whole island that ever 
 dreamed of seeing an Indian that she doesn't 
 know all about!" 
 
 The clerk nodded. "But" 
 
 "But nothing!" Impatiently Blair brushed 
 aside all objections. "Why, I hadn't the re 
 motest idea how I was going to get started. It's 
 a rattling piece of good luck, and we'll fix it up 
 right now!" 
 
 "Yes, but " Still the other man hesi 
 tated. "It sounds all right enough, from your 
 
 Seventy-two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 end of it especially, but you'd better see her 
 first. She's a proud little piece, doesn't like 
 obligations of any kind, and a stranger, a 
 man I'm sorry to discourage you, but I don't 
 believe she'll have a thing to do with it." 
 
 In Blair's eyes impatience threatened to be 
 come something more emphatic. 
 
 "It's a business proposition pure and sim 
 ple," he argued. "She gives me all the infor 
 mation she's been able to get together, and I 
 pay her expenses while she does it. That gives 
 her a chance to finish her own work, don't you 
 see? A mighty good proposition for her, too, 
 I should say, and if she doesn't see it that way 
 herself, why, well, she isn't as intelligent 
 as she looks, that's all!" 
 
 "Providing you can persuade her it is just 
 business. I'd advise you to talk with her first, 
 just the same. And you'll have to be quick 
 about it, too. She's planning to wait in the 
 village tonight for the morning boat, and she'll 
 be starting down about now." 
 
 Outside was one of those radiant nights in 
 tended for dreams and the makers of dreams, 
 
 Seventy-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Over an ocean white with light long breakers 
 rolled crests gleaming with silver that fell in 
 soft thunder on the beach. Miss Hastings, 
 hurrying along the board-walk to the village, 
 glanced at them and looked quickly away. 
 
 "Oh, I say!" came a voice out of the dark 
 ness behind her, "if you don't mind, hold on 
 there a minute, will you? Wait for me, please!" 
 The voice was that of a man, pleasant, but ex 
 ceedingly determined. Without so much as 
 turning her head Miss Hastings quickened her 
 steps. 
 
 But it was of no use. Whoever her pur 
 suer might be, he was even then at her side. 
 
 "I beg your pardon," breathlessly he be 
 gan again, "but I've been chasing you all the 
 way down from the hotel. I want you to come 
 right back there with me. I have a proposal 
 to make to you." 
 
 Even in the darkness he could see how 
 the girl's eyes blazed. 
 
 "I never listen " she began hotly, "to pro 
 posals from people I don't know," she had 
 meant to add, but he gave her no time. 
 
 "It will mean the biggest chance for your 
 pictures you've ever had," he broke in. "Now, 
 listen!" 
 
 Seventy-four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 And, to her complete surprise, Miss Hast 
 ings suddenly found herself doing that very 
 thing. 
 
 "There are a lot of things I've got to find 
 out right away," continued the astonishing 
 stranger, "and the clerk up there tells me 
 you're painting a series of Indian portraits." 
 
 The little art teacher gazed at him fascin 
 ated. What manner of man could this be, she 
 wondered. 
 
 'I don't see the connection " Coldness 
 struggled with curiosity in her voice. 
 
 "Listen!" With uplifted, peremptory hand 
 again he stopped her. Nor is it safe to say 
 that any book agent, watching the door slowly 
 closing upon him, ever talked faster, or more 
 rigidly to the point, than did Blair within the 
 next few minutes. 
 
 "Perhaps you won't understand it all right 
 off. I wouldn't expect that. But it's this way. 
 I'm representing Harper's, and Houghton and 
 Mifflin, and Dodd and Mead, and several 
 other firms" (to satisfy his conscience Blair 
 contended with himself that he might as well 
 as not have been their representative a mere 
 oversight on their part ought not to be allowed 
 
 Seventy-five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 to stand in his way) , "and I'm out here to find 
 the best illustrator I can lay hands on to do the 
 pictures for some Indian stuff I'm getting into 
 shape for one of 'em. I want to see your work. 
 And, if I like it, I'll pay you well. And any 
 way, I'll pay every bit of the expense while you 
 finish your series here if you'll tell me what 
 you know about Wildenai!" 
 
 But, at the name, the girl beside him had 
 given a low cry of utter amazement. She 
 stopped short. 
 
 "Do you know it too, then?" she gasped. 
 "How did you hear about it?" 
 
 "Oh, I've known it for years," replied 
 Blair carelessly. "Some of it I've known all 
 my life. But look here now. Is it a bargain? 
 about your helping me, I mean?" 
 
 Before he left her, an hour or so later, 
 every detail had been arranged. Miss Hast 
 ings had meekly agreed to return to the hotel 
 in the morning. Blair would pay her expenses 
 and something he called a retaining fee be 
 sides. That would make an extra fifty dollars, 
 she smiled to herself in the dark, a new 
 winter suit at least, and perhaps one or two 
 matinees if she managed ! All this for the in- 
 
 Seventy-six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 formation she could give him about the island 
 and its history. The various points in their 
 contract spun dizzily in her dazed brain. No 
 spot known to legend to which it was possible 
 to conduct him should remain unvisited. Four 
 hours out of every day were pledged without 
 fail to his interests. The rest of the time she 
 might have for her own work. It had all come 
 about so unexpectedly, and was altogether so 
 extraordinary that, after he had gone, his new 
 employe, stretched uncomfortably upon a nar 
 row cot in the tent of a fellow teacher, spent the 
 remainder of the night in imaginary interviews 
 with Eastern publishers regarding impossible 
 royalties. She was far too excited to sleep. 
 
 And, for a week, the arrangement worked 
 very well, almost too well. Every day 
 brought with it some new adventure, and every 
 adventure became a pleasure. 
 
 Mounted at Blair's expense on more or less 
 energetic ponies, for from the first he had in 
 sisted that horses were a necessary part of 
 their business equipment, they cantered gaily 
 along the shady canyon trails, or over the sun 
 lit slopes sheeted in pale lavender wherever 
 the wild lilacs were in bloom. Often, emerging 
 
 Seventy-seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 from some thicket of dwarf oak they caught 
 glimpses of a sapphire sea held between red, 
 twisted branches of manzanita as in a frame. 
 About them rang the music of the meadow 
 larks. Merry shouts of bathers floated up from 
 the beaches far below, mingled with the dis 
 tant click of golf balls on the greens. 
 
 For the whole of a golden day they char 
 tered a sailboat from one, Sailor Ben, and 
 rounding the yellow headlands under his lazy 
 guidance, they went to drink tea aboard the 
 ancient Chinese barge stranded, no one knew 
 how many hundreds of years before, among 
 the rocks off the southern shore. 
 
 "Fascinating old place," observed Blair 
 gazing, his eyes aglow with interest, around 
 the mediaeval cabin. 
 
 "Indeed it is," eagerly echoed his assistant, 
 "It's absolutely unique!" 
 
 Her gaze, as bright with interest as his 
 own, rested upon Blair himself. She was con 
 sidering, absent-mindedly, how becoming 
 white trousers can be to most men, especially 
 when they are reasonably dark themselves. 
 But, her glance travelled upward, how un 
 usually dark he was, and his hair, yes, with- 
 
 Seventy- eight 
 
ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 out question, the straightest and blackest she 
 had ever seen. Yet it seemed in some inde 
 finable way to become him, to belong, as it 
 were, to his type. Leaning her elbows medi 
 tatively upon the table, her chin in her hands, 
 she silently appraised him. He really was a 
 handsome man, she decided, and clever, too, 
 of the sort who does things in the world! A 
 dreamy light grew within her eyes. 
 
 It was only two or three evenings later 
 when, on their way back from the site of an 
 historic Indian village on the other side of the 
 island, they walked their horses slowly around 
 the Wishbone Loop, the ostensible reason be 
 ing that, as Blair had already discovered, it 
 commanded the widest view of the ocean at 
 sunset. 
 
 He was the first to speak when they struck 
 again into the main trail. 
 
 "I wished for something about a rose, a 
 wild rose, want to guess?" He eyed her 
 mischievously. 
 
 "Hush, mustn't tell!" she laughed. 
 "Your wish won't come true if you tell." 
 Then, for no reason at all, she blushed. 
 
 Seventy-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Never, in truth, during her twenty-three 
 years of working, and scrimping, and going 
 without, had life shown to the little art teacher 
 so fair and generous a side, seemed so extrav 
 agantly joyous an affair as during that magic 
 week. The spending of money, it was easy to 
 see, meant little or nothing to Blair. But that 
 was the least of his attractions, for, to the girl 
 herself, mere wealth for its own sake had never 
 appealed. The charm lay rather in the genial 
 broadness of his view of things, the strength 
 of reasoning behind the few opinions he put 
 forward, his reticence, and quiet modesty. In 
 these dwelt the spell that swept her into an al 
 most delirious enjoyment of his society. For, 
 all unknown to herself, like many another 
 woman in like condition, she had needed a 
 change of people. In the cramped life of a 
 private school men played but little part, and 
 the men who were most worth while, almost 
 no part at all. Instinctively, in time, she had 
 wearied of little girls and their lessons. Sorely 
 had she craved the stimulus which only the 
 companionship of congenial men can give. Of 
 this fact, however, she had been even less 
 aware. 
 
 Eighty 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 One crisp morning, seated in a diminutive 
 wicker cart behind a discontented burro, they 
 searched out Chicken John's cabin on the mesa 
 behind the golf links. 
 
 "Not that it has anything to do with In 
 dians," she apologized, "only I want you to see 
 him. He's such a character, so nice and un 
 tidy and queer!" 
 
 As a result of this expedition they brought 
 away with them what old John designated a 
 "plump little fry" to be served at the cosy 
 table for two in the sunniest window of the 
 dining room, a luxury which Blair had like 
 wise confiscated in the interests of business. 
 
 And so for seven glorious days they 
 tramped the fragrant hills, or sailed a sea as 
 softly blue as though fallen fresh that morning 
 from the cloudless heaven above. In the 
 warmth and glow of his friendship the starved 
 heart of the little art teacher opened like some 
 hot-house flower carried suddenly into the wide 
 outdoors. And when at last the week drew to 
 an end, their work, both his and hers, was still 
 unfinished, so that there was nothing else to do 
 but to live on through another fully as wonder 
 ful. 
 
 Eighty-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Blair himself took things much more for 
 granted, and even when their talk strayed 
 farthest afield it was plain to the girl that his 
 mind never fully lost sight of the purpose for 
 which he had come. His work stood always 
 first, while, she blushed to own it even to her 
 self, she had sometimes entirely forgotten her 
 own. 
 
 At the end of the third week they had seen 
 almost everything he considered essential and 
 at times she sensed in his manner, even when 
 he was least aware of it, a kind of repressed 
 impatience. She knew what it meant and shiv 
 ered. Presently he would leave her, and life 
 would become again the same dull round of 
 work. Only one spot of real importance re 
 mained unvisited, the cavern bower above the 
 Bay of Moons. Of this he had spoken fre 
 quently, and well she knew he held it the cli 
 max of his search. 
 
 But for reasons best known to herself Miss 
 Hastings put off from day to day this final ex 
 pedition until Blair began to chaff at the delay. 
 
 "That's really the one place I came to see!" 
 he told her more than once. "After I've been 
 there I think I can go." 
 
 Eighty- two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "But we've planned Middle Ranch for to 
 day," she would answer evasively, or, 'This is 
 the best time to see Orazaba; it's so clear this 
 morning. That's the mountain, you know, 
 where the Indians carved out their ollas. Some 
 of them are still there, only half cut away. It 
 would be too bad for you to miss that." 
 
 At length, however, there came a day when 
 excuses would do no longer. 
 
 "We've waited long enough," he declared 
 that morning over their coffee, "Besides, I may 
 have to go now in a few days." 
 
 And although at his words the sunshine 
 of her new world faded suddenly away, yet the 
 little teacher kept a brave front. She even 
 laughed carelessly. 
 
 "Men are so impatient," she teased, "But 
 we'll go today." 
 
 Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of 
 sunset rested among the hills that at last they 
 found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff 
 which commanded so wide a stretch of the 
 ocean and the shimmering valleys below. 
 
 "It reminds one of the Bay of Naples," ob 
 served Blair, pausing to scan the rocky coast 
 line against which, far beneath them, the foam- 
 
 Eighty-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 ing breakers threw themselves. He shaded his 
 eyes with his hand and looked far out to sea. 
 "What a wonderful place for a watch tower it 
 would have made!" 
 
 "It had one once," softly replied the girl, 
 "Wildenai's watch tower!" 
 
 Blair turned, their eyes met, and he 
 smiled. 
 
 "It's been splendid to have you with me all 
 these days," he said, "I've been wanting to tell 
 you. You've been more of a help than you'll 
 ever know." And then, after a pause, "It's 
 because you care so much about the story 
 yourself, I suppose, that you've been such an 
 inspiration to me." 
 
 Something in the girl's heart seemed sud 
 denly to snap. 
 
 "It's because I care more about your work, 
 and and you. You are so wonderful!" she 
 broke forth impulsively, and stood before him 
 crimson with confusion. For a second, which 
 seemed to her an age, there was silence. Then 
 he spoke and, in her bitter humiliation, his 
 voice sounded strained and cold. 
 
 "Shall we go in?" he asked. 
 
 Eighty-four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 Silently he parted the tangle of manzanita 
 that for centuries had veiled the secrets of the 
 princess, and stood aside for her to enter. 
 Wildly the little art teacher glanced about her. 
 This moment to which she had so looked for 
 ward, and yet had dreaded as much because it 
 meant the end, this moment which might, 
 nevertheless, have meant much to them both 
 even though it were the end, she herself had 
 spoiled! All its delicate beauty changed to a 
 sordid suspicion, it lay in ruins now because of 
 her thoughtless words. She dared not guess at 
 what he must be thinking! For a desperate 
 second she considered flight. Then proudly 
 she raised her head. One more thing, at least, 
 about her now he should learn ! 
 
 "Did you know ?" she began, then broke 
 off irresolute. 
 
 Blair glanced at her and again their eyes 
 met. This time he did not smile. 
 
 "Know what?" he asked. 
 
 She laughed with embarrassment. 
 
 "It really isn't of any interest to you, 
 but " and again she paused. 
 
 "Suppose you let me be the judge of that," 
 he suggested stiffly. "You're making me hor- 
 
 Eighty-five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 ribly curious, you know. You can't very well 
 drop the subject now." He was evidently 
 making an effort at pleasantry. 
 
 She flushed brightly. 
 
 "Of course it couldn't be of the slightest im 
 portance to anyone except myself," she ex 
 plained. Then, as if doubting her courage to 
 continue long, she hurried on, "but one reason 
 I take such an interest in your work is be 
 cause I'm a direct descendant of Lord Harold 
 myself. He became the Duke of Norfolk 
 afterward, you know, but Hastings was 
 always the family name." She flashed him a 
 haughty glance, a pride that changed to wide- 
 eyed surprise as she noted his amazement. 
 
 "Not really" He had turned abruptly and 
 in his eyes there was a curious expression, al 
 most of alarm. "How extraordinary, how 
 perfectly extraordinary!" 
 
 "Why extraordinary?" That her cup of 
 humiliation might brim to the full, resentment 
 was added to confusion. "You consider me un 
 worthy, then, of having had nobility among 
 my ancestry? But, just the same, there was 
 nothing strange about it. The colonies were 
 chiefly English, you remember!" He smiled 
 
 Eighty-six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 at her sarcasm. "The duke married one of 
 Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting after he went 
 home and there was a younger son, and he had 
 a younger son, and after a long time one of 
 them came over to Virginia just like anybody 
 else. They have always been good, loyal, 
 highly respected American citizens," she told 
 him fiercely, "and I'm proud of them! Be 
 sides " with reckless emphasis, "I've always 
 felt so sorry for Wildenai." 
 
 But at this point, quite incomprehensibly, 
 Blair broke into peals of laughter. 
 
 "And by and by, after a long, long time, 
 one of these good, loyal, American citizens that 
 we're both so proud of had a hot-tempered, 
 most disloyal little daughter who intends to 
 show her employer his proper place before she 
 dismisses him! But why are you sorry for 
 Wildenai?" 
 
 With mischievous eyes he searched her 
 face. 
 
 She flushed, then, looking squarely at him, 
 "Because she was impulsive like me, and just 
 for that reason Lord Harold ran away and left 
 her," she said. "He's the only one of them I 
 never had any use for." 
 
 Eighty- seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 Blair wandered the length of the cavern 
 and back before he replied. 
 
 "You think him a coward, I suppose." He 
 still looked as though he wanted to laugh, yet 
 something in his tone seared her outraged 
 pride. He might as well have touched an iron 
 to quivering flesh. "You ought to remember, 
 however, I mean every woman ought to re 
 member, that when a girl lets a man know 
 that she cares for him she generally forfeits, 
 then and there, whatever interest she may have 
 had for him. Wildenai risked too much. Of 
 course, in her case there was some excuse. She 
 was only an untrained barbarian. But, under 
 ordinary circumstances, I tell you there's noth 
 ing a man despises so much!" 
 
 What was done or said after that Miss Hast 
 ings never could have told. She was possessed 
 of but one desire, to get away, to go back to 
 the hotel, home, anywhere beyond the reach 
 of his voice and his eyes. For the moment she 
 hated him, and although Blair, conscience 
 smitten' at he knew not what, waited in the 
 lobby a full hour before going in to dinner, she 
 did not come down. 
 
 Eighty- eight 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 Up in her room, mechanically brushing her 
 hair for the night, Miss Hastings stormily ad 
 dressed the girl in the glass who stared so 
 scornfully back at her. 
 
 "I tell you I don't care a thing about it! He 
 probably thought he was justified in every 
 word he said. He's probably smiling this very 
 minute because he thinks he managed it so 
 well ! But he's a coward just the same, and I 
 despise him, I do despise him!" Her eyes 
 brimming with tears, she fiercely repeated the 
 word. "Well, he'll soon find out how much I 
 really meant!" 
 
 Over and over she re-lived the short scene, 
 all of its humiliation, all of its hurt, seeking 
 at every turn solace for her woman's pride. 
 
 "Naturally I wanted to help him all I could, 
 to appear, at least, to be interested, especially 
 when he was paying so much for it! It was 
 only a business arrangement anyway," she 
 continued bitterly, "nothing but business from 
 start to finish, and if he doesn't know that yet, 
 he'll find it out the very first thing tomorrow 
 morning!" 
 
 And having tumbled into bed she lay star 
 ing into the dark, planning the details of a 
 
 Eighty-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 campaign warranted either to cure or kill the 
 enemy. Outside, a mocking bird, perched pro- 
 vokingly near her window, kept the night ring 
 ing with music. Resolutely she closed her 
 ears to his song. But presently, through the 
 faint fragrance of oleanders, other sounds be 
 gan to penetrate, the strains of the waltz to 
 which they had danced only the night before. 
 The little art teacher turned wearily over and 
 cried herself to sleep. 
 
 On the morning which followed she rose 
 very early, however, much too early to break 
 fast with Blair at the little table in the sunny 
 corner. Instead, she ordered some coffee and 
 toast at the Waffle Shop in the village and was 
 hard at work sketching on the wharf before 
 eight o'clock. She had suddenly remembered 
 a promise to paint Skipper Ben in his fishing 
 dory. Indeed, so long ago had the arrange 
 ment been made and so entirely had it been 
 neglected, that no one was more surprised than 
 old Ben himself at her unexpected appearance. 
 
 "But I was jest about calculatin' to go arter 
 tuna this mornin'," he demurred. 
 
 "I'm sorry to have had to put it off so 
 long," replied Miss Hastings crisply, "but I'm 
 
 Ninety 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 planning to go home in a few days now, this 
 afternoon probably. It's the only chance I 
 shall have." And she prepared to make good 
 the belated promise with such determination 
 that, after a wistful glance or two across the 
 slapping white caps, Skipper Ben meekly suc 
 cumbed. 
 
 It was here Blair found her an hour or so 
 later. Unceremoniously he placed himself in 
 front of her, his hands in his pockets, and gave 
 vent to a low whistle. 
 
 "Well, of all the !" 
 
 "Oh, is it you, Mr. Blair?" she inquired in 
 cool, sweet tones. "I thought most probably 
 you'd gone ! Didn't you say yesterday you in 
 tended to as soon as you'd seen the cavern?" 
 Then, after a pause during which Blair said 
 nothing, "I've been getting dreadfully behind 
 with my own work, so I thought, if you didn't 
 mind, I'd try to catch up a little this morning." 
 
 "Certainly not. Take all the time you want! 
 We've about finished anyway, I guess." His 
 coolness matched her own. 
 
 Another silence during which she painted 
 furiously. 
 
 Ninety-one 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 "I'm making a sketch of old Ben in his 
 boat," she ventured at length when the strain 
 had become too uncomfortable. 
 
 "So I see." 
 
 This second tentative effort at conversation 
 having flickered and gone out she bent again to 
 her work, while Blair remained, looking down 
 at her, in his eyes mingled amusement and 
 resentment. What had he done, he wondered, 
 to account for such a change ? Or, perhaps, it 
 was something he had not done. He tried 
 again. 
 
 "Aren't we going for our ride this morn 
 ing? It's a glorious day, and I have the re 
 fusal of the two best horses." 
 
 "No, I think not, not this morning, thank 
 you," she answered. In her voice was the same 
 crisp sweetness. "I haven't time!" 
 
 With a shrug of pure bewilderment he 
 backed away, then lingered a moment longer 
 to watch the sketch take shape beneath her 
 hurrying brush. That was the particular mo 
 ment Miss Hastings chose for the final reck 
 less stab. 
 
 "You're standing in my light," she said. 
 "If you'd just as soon, please do go away, Mr. 
 
 Ninety-two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 Blair. It makes me nervous to have people 
 looking over my shoulder when I'm trying to 
 paint." 
 
 This was just a trifle more than Blair at the 
 moment was prepared to stand. His eyes grew 
 dark. 
 
 "Certainly," he replied icily. "So sorry to 
 have bothered you at all. I only came down 
 to tell you that I've decided to leave today. 
 There's nothing more to keep me now, I think, 
 and I'm rather anxious to get home. You'll 
 find your check at the desk." And he saun 
 tered away. 
 
 She did not go back to the hotel for 
 luncheon. She had finished her sketch, yet, 
 somehow, when the time came, she discovered 
 that it would be quite impossible to enter the 
 dining room. She found it equally impossible 
 to take the afternoon boat herself. Instead, 
 having clambered half way up the steep slope 
 to the cavern, she watched from behind a flam 
 ing riot of wild nasturtians while, preceded by 
 a hotel porter bearing bags and suit-cases, 
 Blair boarded the Avalon for Los Angeles. He 
 was going away, then, without even a word of 
 farewell. 
 
 Ninety-three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 The heart of the little art teacher turned 
 cold within her, so cold that she sank numbly 
 into the red and gold tangle; nor did she look 
 up again until the steamer, dipping below the 
 horizon, had left only a trail of smoke to show 
 where it disappeared. She had not believed 
 that he would do quite that! 
 
 When evening came she went stoically into 
 dinner. There was no reason any longer for 
 staying away. Sternly she kept her eyes from 
 the vacant place opposite. Yet somehow she 
 could not persuade herself that he was really 
 gone. More than once she caught herself 
 watching the door, half expecting to see him 
 stroll in with apologies for tardiness and take 
 his empty chair. When again the orchestra 
 drifted suddenly into the waltz to which they 
 had danced, she rose abruptly and left the 
 room. 
 
 Well, she would go herself in the morning. 
 She would settle everything and pack her 
 things at once. She went to the desk to ask 
 for the check. But there was nothing for her. 
 No, the clerk assured her after much fumbling, 
 Mr. Blair hadn't left anything, either in her 
 box or his own. But, the man stole a covert 
 
 Ninety-four 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 glance at her downcast face, he was still 
 holding his rooms. Probably he meant to at 
 tend to it when he returned. 
 
 That he might not see the wild joy that 
 leaped to her eyes, Miss Hastings turned with 
 startling suddenness and fled upstairs. Safe 
 in her own room she flung herself with tears 
 and laughter on the bed. So that was the hand 
 he was playing, was it? the dear, wicked, un 
 manageable ! Of course he would have to 
 be punished, well punished! but she 
 laughed aloud for pure joy the world was a 
 radiant place once more, and nothing of any 
 sort really mattered, because he was coming 
 back. 
 
 But the next day went by, and the next, 
 and he had not come. Day after day passed 
 in an empty procession, yet no one of them 
 brought that for which she waited. And there 
 was nothing else to do. Work was out of the 
 question. She could not sit still long enough. 
 It became, instead, her sole occupation to linger 
 each morning and afternoon on the verandah 
 until the steamer from Los Angeles had round 
 ed the point and crossed the bay in front of the 
 hotel. Then, hidden behind the palms she 
 
 Ninety- five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 would watch until the last straggling tourist 
 had left the pier. But still he did not come. 
 
 Doubt in every tormenting guise assailed 
 her. Perhaps he had changed his mind and 
 decided later not to return. Yet the clerk had 
 said he meant to come back! Perhaps her 
 check, sent by mail, was even now in her box. 
 But she had not the courage to go again to the 
 desk. Driven by alternate hope and fear she 
 lost color, and she could not sleep. During 
 seven miserable nights she planned to go back 
 to Pasadena by the morning boat, and as many 
 times she put it off. Yet, if he did return to 
 find her waiting, what, then, would she have 
 given him the right to think? But, on the 
 other hand, if she went she might never see 
 him again ! 
 
 On the eighth day she took herself grimly 
 in hand. No longer would she humiliate her 
 self by any further delay. Wildenai had not 
 waited, and even a school teacher can be as 
 proud as an Indian princess! That very after 
 noon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. 
 Then tomorrow she would go back to Pasa 
 dena and the long gray round of work. Deso 
 lately she wandered up the secret trail to Wil- 
 
 Ninety-six 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 denai's bower. Never had her sympathy for 
 the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, 
 she mournfully considered, if the spirit of the 
 Indian maiden still lingered there it might feel 
 sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, 
 would find comfort in the spot where that other 
 woman had paid an equal price for her impul 
 siveness. 
 
 The shadows in the little cavern were dark 
 and cool and, laying aside her box of colors, 
 for a long time she sat quite motionless, staring 
 out to where the gulls drifted and glinted 
 against the blue. She heard after a while the 
 whistle of the approaching steamer but gave 
 no heed. Lying back against the moss she had 
 almost dropped asleep when something in the 
 corner opposite attracted her attention. She 
 sat up nervously and stared into the shadows. 
 Was it only that the darkness was deeper over 
 there, or was that really something propped 
 against the wall ? And had it moved ? 
 
 In the years that followed she never knew 
 how long she sat there after the stones had been 
 lifted away, holding in her lap those shreds of 
 torn white doeskin. Still caught together, 
 though in tatters, by long strings of shells and 
 
 Ninety-seven 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 beads, they shone, a ghostly film of white from 
 out the dimness. A breath, and the whole 
 would have crumbled into dust. Yet the beads, 
 she noticed, were still perfect as when strung 
 by slim brown fingers centuries before. Only 
 half believing it was not all of it a dream, she 
 lifted them strand after strand. Then, sud 
 denly, she gave a little cry. Somewhere from 
 out the torn folds a slender chain had slipped. 
 Trembling with a curiosity that bordered close 
 on terror, she carried it to the light, and there 
 it glowed, a glancing stream of crimson, in her 
 hand. 
 
 "Wildenai's necklace!" she breathed, and 
 hid her face. 
 
 There came the sound of a step outside. 
 The manzanita branches were pushed impa 
 tiently aside and he stood before her. 
 
 The journey across the channel from Los 
 Angeles had seemed twice as long as when he 
 made it a few weeks before, and he had hur 
 ried all the way from the hotel straight to the 
 little cavern. But now that he had found her 
 again, there seemed to be plenty of time for 
 everything, and he stood quite silent looking 
 down at her. He was glad he had found her 
 
 Ninety-eight 
 
ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 there, glad, in a curious, unreasoning way, for 
 the quiet of the late afternoon, for the faint 
 fragrance of the Mariposa lilies blooming just 
 beyond the ledge. Yet he let her know noth 
 ing of this in what he said. 
 
 "So here you are, after all! I thought I 
 should find you here." 
 
 She had not heard him come and was 
 startled into a cry. 
 
 "You!" she gasped, and lifted eyes in 
 which the telltale signs of tears were still quite 
 evident, so evident that, with a woman's in 
 stinct to hide them, she caught up the necklace 
 and held it toward him. 
 
 "See what I've found!" she exclaimed. 
 
 But he paid no heed. Instead, manlike, he 
 proceeded, quite unconsciously, to say the one 
 thing that could hurt her most. 
 
 "I looked for you at the hotel first, then I 
 came on up here. I knew you wouldn't go till 
 I came!" 
 
 The color that had flooded her face at the 
 sound of his voice faded again. She was quite 
 white as she asked quietly : 
 
 "How could you know I would stay?" 
 
 Ninety-nine 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 He laughed easily, settling himself confi 
 dently on the moss at her side. 
 
 "Because I hadn't paid you yet," he an 
 swered gaily. "Don't you think that was 
 clever of me, Wildenai?" 
 
 "I would rather you did not call me that," 
 she told him coldly, "It sounds irreverent." And 
 she dropped her eyes, which had filled again 
 miserably, to the film of white in her lap. Then, 
 with a pitiful attempt to hurt him in return: 
 "Of course you realize that I really don't know 
 much about you. I don't want you to think 
 that I distrusted you exactly " she marvelled 
 at herself that she could say such things to 
 him, but went recklessly on. "The check 
 wasn't there, and so, well, it seemed wisest 
 to wait. They said you were coming back, and 
 I couldn't afford to lose it; so I stayed. Just a 
 matter of business, you see!" She finished in 
 a tone which, except for a suspicious tremble, 
 was satisfactorily disagreeable. 
 
 But Blair's armor, since his return, seemed 
 proof against such thrusts as she could give. 
 
 "Won't play Indian at all, then?" he re 
 torted teasingly. "But of course not! How 
 could you when you happen to come from the 
 
 Hundred 
 
ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 other side of the house? However/' he con 
 tinued whimsically, "there are such things as 
 English roses, you know. I've always loved 
 them, too, even when they were thorny!" 
 
 He pulled absently at a fern growing near, 
 while, suddenly, for no particular reason, the 
 color glowed again in the cheeks of the little 
 art teacher. She smiled, half unwillingly. 
 
 "But don't pull up the wild flowers here," 
 she warned him, "You'll have the forester after 
 you! When did you get back?" she added. 
 "Where have you been so long?" burned on 
 her lips, but she scorned to ask it. 
 
 "About an hour ago," he replied amiably. 
 "The boat was late." 
 
 "I was beginning to think you'd given up 
 coming at all." She could not keep it back. 
 "The duke never bothered to, you know." 
 
 But this blow, like the first, failed to reach 
 any vulnerable spot. Blair did not flinch. 
 
 "No, naturally he didn't! He was English, 
 and you can't depend upon the English, I've 
 discovered. But there's not the slightest rea 
 son for linking me up with him. The princess 
 never ran away now, did she? And I " He 
 
 Hundred One 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 paused, then without looking at her he began 
 again. 
 
 "Seriously, I'm sorry if I seemed to be de 
 serting. I well, honestly, I didn't know 
 what else to do. You suggested it yourself, 
 you remember! And I'd promised my father 
 to look after some business for him in Los An 
 geles while I was out here. You see, he our 
 family, have lived in the East for a long time 
 now, but we used to own pretty much all of 
 Los Angeles county some three centuries ago, 
 when the Spanish were here, and " Again 
 he broke off abruptly. "Do you want to know 
 about me?" he demanded. 
 
 Miss Hastings leaned breathlessly toward 
 him. Her heart was beating wildly. 
 
 "Oh, please! "she begged. 
 
 "Perhaps I should have told you at the 
 first," he began, "or at least after you told me 
 who you were, but anyway, I didn't. I'd 
 never told anyone before and I didn't much 
 suppose I ever would. There's a reason, 
 though, why I'm particularly interested in this 
 legend, too, a reason just as good as you've 
 got. I'm well, I'm one of Wildenai's great, 
 great grandsons!" 
 
 Hundred Two 
 
A ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 And then, because she sat quite silent there 
 in the shadows, and motionless except for fin 
 gering something white that lay in her lap, he 
 waited uneasily. Was she angry again, he 
 wondered, or perhaps she was only laughing! 
 
 She was the first to break the silence. 
 
 "Are you trying to be funny?" Her voice 
 was very cold. 
 
 "Not at all," he answered hotly. "It 
 must be all of ten generations back or even 
 more, and of course it wasn't all Span 
 ish afterward, but, just the same, I'm as much 
 a descendant of the princess as you are of the 
 duke, always have been! I'm just as proud 
 of it, too. Possibly you will remember that the 
 Spanish beat the English to it, at least in Cali 
 fornia. Anyway," he finished bitterly, "what 
 difference does it make? So far as I can see, 
 it only gives us one more good subject to 
 quarrel about!" 
 
 Then out of the dimness came a queer little 
 sound, whether of tears or of laughter it was 
 impossible to know. For the least part of a 
 second a hand brushed his own. 
 
 "Oh, no!" she whispered, "Let's not do 
 that. It wouldn't be right! And see," she 
 
 Hundred Three 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 laughed tremulously, "Isn't it strange I should 
 have found it today, but," she lifted the white 
 thing in her lap, "here is Wildenai's wedding 
 dress and the chain of garnets!" 
 
 The cavern was quite dark before they had 
 finished talking about it, but at length they laid 
 the poor little ghost of a garment reverently 
 back among the stones and rose to go. 
 
 "But the necklace?" Blair asked, hesitat 
 ing, "do you think we ought to leave that 
 here?" 
 
 The girl considered a moment. 
 
 "It's really yours," she decided. "Nobody 
 else could have the least claim to it." 
 
 "Except " Suddenly his eyes shone 
 with a strange expression before which the lit 
 tle art teacher instinctively shrank. He took a 
 step toward her. 
 
 "I believe I'll give the garnets back," he an 
 nounced. "I fancy that's what the princess 
 would have liked to do if she'd had the 
 chance. Besides," his eyes grew still darker, 
 "they were meant in the first place for a wed 
 ding gift, and so if you " 
 
 He would have clasped them about her 
 neck, but Miss Hastings backed frantically 
 away. 
 
 Hundred Four 
 
ROMANCE OF CATALINA 
 
 "No! not for worlds/' she cried. "You 
 know you're only saying it because you think 
 you can't get out of it!" And before he could 
 realize just what was happening, she was gone. 
 
 The boat for Los Angeles was unusually 
 crowded that night. For either this reason, or 
 some other she would not acknowledge, Miss 
 Hastings found herself pushed aside by more 
 impatient passengers every time she attempted 
 to enter the gangway. 
 
 "All aboard!" called a peremptory voice 
 from somewhere on deck. She took a step for 
 ward, hesitated, drew back. The plank was 
 hauled irrevocably away, and she turned to 
 face Blair standing just behind her on the 
 wharf. 
 
 "I was sure you wouldn't run away," he 
 declared, "but if you had!" 
 
 She let him lead her back along the broad 
 boardwalk toward the hotel until they stood 
 within the shadow of the huge boulder which 
 for centuries has marked the outer boundary 
 
 Hundred Five 
 
THEIR MARIPOSA LEGEND 
 
 of the Bay of Moons. Beyond them the lights 
 of the St. Catherine glimmered down the hill 
 and on over the water, rimming with golden 
 bubbles the outlines of the pier. 
 
 "Wildenai!" Out of the darkness his voice 
 came to her, mocking, tender, wholly insistent. 
 "Foolish, obstinate little lady! Can't you see 
 how it's up to you, up to the English to 
 make amends ? Honestly now, when he began 
 it I don't imagine even that rascal Drake him 
 self would have believed a family scrap could 
 last the better part of four centuries. Don't 
 you really think it's about time for you to 
 call it off?" 
 
 And flinging her scruples to the winds, 
 Miss Hastings suddenly decided that it was. 
 
 Hundred Six 
 
STRATFORD &GRFJFN 
 
 BOOKSELLERS 
 
 644 SO. 
 WEST SE< 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK 
 ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 
 50 CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE 
 SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. 
 
 J* 
 
 Book Slip-20m-9,'60(B3010s4)458 
 

 222665 
 
 Herr, C.B. 
 
 Their Mariposa 
 legend. 
 
 E7586? 
 Th 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 DAVIS