Four Corners

“ It was a period of peace and the people seem to have lived without fear of an enemy. The caves were deserted and villages were built on the open mesa tops or in broad valleys near the fields of corn, beans and squash which provided them with food in abundance. The population grew rapidly and spread over a vast area in the Four Corners region where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico now meet at a common point. It was a far-flung culture and there is every evidence that for a long time there was peace and prosperity among the people. ”

“ We all were snoozing away in Virginia and you never dreamed of there being four Corners in the world. Then because Jack stuck in the elevator we stayed over in New Orleans, and because we stayed over we went to the candy shop and there we got acquainted with you, Mr. St. Nick. Then, because Aunt Helen dropped her handkerchief she found the señorita—I beg your pardon, I mustn't say that any more; she's always to be Miss Dolores to us. So things just happen all the time without our planning and who knows what lovely things are ahead of us. ”

“ The night was hot, and Endicott, unable to concentrate his attention upon his chosen theme, had the despairing sensation that he had lost grip of it altogether: his eyes wandered from his papers so continually to the hillside asleep in the bright moonlight. Here a great boulder threw a long motionless shadow down the slope, like a house; there a sharp rock-ridge cropping out of the hill, raised against the sky a line of black pinnacles like a file of soldiers. ”

“ She hurried herself into a proper frock and rebraided her hair with hasty fingers. "Button my middle button, please, Mary Lee," she said. "Oh, but it is good to have you back. I don't like half of four Corners; it makes us seem on the bias. There, I am ready. Come along."
They started forth, taking the back way, which was nearer, passing the tall geranium which grew to the kitchen roof, the orange trees and the grape-vine trellis, and were soon out on the street. "I shall miss it all," remarked Nan. "We shall be going pretty soon, Mary Lee. Aren't you sorry?" ”

“ Lots of girls couldn’t, you know, not girls as young as you.”
“I’m thirteen,” returned Jack with dignity.
“Are you really? Well, that isn’t antique exactly, yet you’re tall for your age, too.”
“Jean, my twin sister, isn’t near so tall.”
“Is Jean at camp, too? How many of you are there?”
“We are four Corners,” laughing to see the puzzled look. “My name is Jacqueline Corner, then there are my sister Jean, Mary Lee and Nan. You ought to see Nan. She talks just that nice, funny way you do, and she is a darling. ”

“ Some would take to the canoes, others to the woods. Those more indolently or quietly disposed would either remain where they were or, with a book, would seek a hammock under one of the great trees. In the afternoon there was usually a gathering at Place o’ Pines where a cup of tea could always be looked for, the girls taking [268] their turns in serving. Miss Helen and Mrs. Corner enjoyed this outing, as indeed they did many of the others. Dr. Paul and Mr. Wells always returned to camp with the party, staying to supper and returning when the time came for lights to be out. ”

“ Gibraltar! A tedious, little, unlovely town of yellow houses and coal sheds, with an undesirable climate. Yes. But above it was the rock, the heart of a thousand memories and traditions which made it beautiful. He looked at it now with its steep wooded slopes, scarred by roads and catchments and the emplacements of guns. How much of England was recorded there! To how many British sailing on great ships from far dominions this huge buttress towering to its needle-ridge was the first outpost of the homeland! ”

“ Olivia ran lightly up the stairs. I heard the swift rustle of her gown as she moved from room to room; and suddenly she was upon the stairs again looking down at me, with her hand like a flake of snow upon the bannister. She gleamed against the background of dark wood, a thing of silver.
"There is no one in the house," she said simply, in a strange and quiet voice. She moved down the stairs and held out her hand to me. ”

“ Through a doorway one looked into a garden behind the house which even at that season was bright with flowers. She lived with the roar of the waves upon the shingle in her ears and the gorse-strewn downs before her eyes. Challoner had found a warm and cheerful welcome at that house, and came back again to it. Stella Frobisher neither played the hermit nor made a luxury out of her calamitous loss. She rebuilt her little world as well as she could, bearing herself with pride and courage. Challoner could not but admire her ”

“ Not only had Ahmed Ali been to the farm-house, but he had crossed the stream to get there.
Mr. Endicott went back to his table in the window and seated himself in front of his lighted candles, more from habit than with any thought of work. He felt suddenly rather tired. He had not been conscious of any fear while Ahmed Ali was in the room, or indeed of any strain. But strain, and perhaps fear, there had been. Certainly a vague fear began to get hold of him now. He had a picture before his eyes of the Asiatic leaping into the air upon the road, and then doubling for the hills. ”

“ To Feversham her words were gracious as rain upon dry land. To hear her speak them uplifted him so that those six years of trial, of slinking into corners out of the sight of his fellows, of lonely endurance, of many heart-sinkings and much bodily pain, dwindled away into insignificance. They had indeed borne their fruit to him. For Ethne had spoken in a gentle voice just what his ears had so often longed to hear as he lay awake at night in the bazaar at Suakin, in the Nile villages, in the dim wide spaces of the desert, and what he had hardly dared to hope she ever would speak. ”

“ Shrines and images, pagodas and gray stone lanterns were scattered throughout the wood, and wonderful some of these were, showing such richness of color, wonders in bronze and lacquer, marvels in gilt and white and black, miracles of design and splendor of ornament. It was all too bewildering to be taken in at one time, and they all agreed that one could get only a general impression upon a first view.
"We shall want to come many, many times," Miss Helen declared. "With such an embarrassment of riches one is left in a state of helpless amaze." ”

“ Frobisher's widow was dancing. She was dancing with all the supple grace of her nineteen years, her face flushed and smiling, whilst up there, fourteen thousand feet high on the storm-swept ridge of the Weisshorn, throughout that bitter night her dead husband bestrode the snow, and nodded and swayed to the gale. As she whirled past the door she saw him. She smiled with the pleasant friendliness of a girl who is perfectly happy, and with just a hint of condescension for the weaker vessel who found it necessary to climb with guides. Challoner hurried out into the garden. ”

“ He had, perhaps, by ever so little, penetrated the dark veil which hides from men all days but their own--just enough, say, to catch a glimpse of a hand. He himself was becoming more and more harmonious with his house; the cries of the outer world hardly reached his ears in that little parlour which opened on to the hidden garden. It seemed to him that other times, through some thinning out of the thick curtain of his senses, were becoming actual and real just to him. ”

“ So those sitting in the studio over their tea were suddenly surprised by the clatter of hoofs along the road and saw a cavalcade go dashing by, a big bay in the lead and a gaunt black, lurching along in a plough-horse gallop, bringing up the rear.
“Did you ever!” exclaimed Miss Romaine. “Who in the world are those?”
Mr. Wells looked after them with a little half wistful smile. “Some of my friends from Camp Happiness, I judge.” ”

“ He lay in a strange exaltation of spirit, which deepened slowly and gradually into fear. Yes, he was afraid now. He had a sense of danger, all the more alarming because it was reasonless. There were low breathings about his bed; now some one bent over him, now a hand lightly touched the coverlet. He, the most unimpressionable of men, rejoiced when a grey beam of light shot through a chink of the curtain and spread like a fan into the room. He turned over on his side and slept until the sun was high.
In the clear light of a July morning Royle's thoughts took on a more sober colour. ”

“ We sat talking on a well-worn theme, I in a chair on one side of the fireplace, Archie Cranfield in another opposite to me, and Linfield sitting on the edge of the billiard-table between us. How the subject cropped up I cannot remember, but I found myself arguing that most men hid their real selves all their lives even from their most intimate friends, that there were secret chambers in a man's consciousness wherein he lived a different life from that which the world saw and knew, and that it was only by some rare mistake the portals of that chamber were ever passed by any other man. ”

“ The place was dimly lighted and full of the smoke of incense which, rising continually, made all objects indistinct,—glimmering Buddhas, strange pictures, streamers, banners, statues. The sound of chanting, and of startlingly queer musical instruments mingled with the clapping of the hands of worshipers kneeling before the various altars, while not in the least restrained, little children ran softly over the pavement laughing as they threw their handfuls of rice to the fluttering pigeons. ”

“ To add to the success of their visit, Miss Helen took a photograph of each one, promising them prints to send to their mother.
The party was all that their fancy had painted. Not any one was better dressed than the Corners. No one had a better time. Betty made a charming hostess; the great old house was a bower of beauty; the music was inspiring, the refreshments delicious and prettily served.
"It was the very grandest party I ever dreamed of," said Nan at breakfast, and all agreed with her, even Ran who had been to more parties than the rest and was supposed to know. ”

“ Glynn was startled too, and because he was startled he turned angrily to Thresk.
"Of what should Mrs. Thresk take care?"
Thresk took his eyes for a moment, and only for a moment, from the empty chair.
"Do you see nothing?" he asked, in a whisper, and his glance went back again. "Not a shadow which leans across the table there towards Linda, darkening the candle-light?"
"No; for there's nothing to cast a shadow."
"Is there not?" said Thresk, with a queer smile. "That's where you make your mistake. Aren't you conscious of something very strange, very insidious, close by us in this room?" ”

“ Caston raised his head in a quick protest.
"No, there is no one." He tried to laugh easily. "That's my trouble. There is no one, I am afraid."
They had driven his visitor away, without a doubt; and though he sat very still in his arm-chair that night, careful as a hunter by no abrupt movement to scare away his quarry, he sat undisturbed. He waited until the light was grey and the birds singing upon the lawn. He went to bed disappointed as a lover whose mistress had failed to keep her tryst. ”

“ A caballero mounted on a high-stepping black horse whose decorations were yellow, made a fine showing, while the glossy white steed which followed contrasted well with the brilliant red geraniums which adorned his master, and the horse himself seemed proud of his scarlet ribbons as he tossed his flowing mane and arched his neck. ”

“ Caston saw the glare of the flames behind the paper light up here and there a word or a phrase, and then the edges curled over and the sparks ran across the sheets, and the letters changed to white ashes and black flakes. When all was done, she sighed and turned to Caston with a wistful smile of thanks. She moved back to the table, and with a queer orderliness which seemed somehow in keeping with her looks and manner, she replaced the beads, the little boxes, and the paraphernalia of her work carefully in the wells, and shut the table up. She turned again to Caston at the end. ”

“ Certainly, whether excitement was keeping her up or no, Joan Carew had never sung better in her life. Her voice was clear and fresh as a bird's--a bird with a soul inspiring its song. Even Calladine drew his chair forward again and sat with his eyes fixed upon the stage and quite carried out of himself. He drew a deep breath at the end.
"She is wonderful," he said, like a man waking up.
"She is very good," replied Mr. Ricardo, correcting Calladine's transports.
"We will go round to the back of the stage," said Hanaud. ”

“ I went to the window and looked out over the garden. The marquee was erected, the fairy lights strung upon the trees, a set piece with the portrait of Juan Ballester and a Latin motto--semper fidelis--raised its monstrous joinery against the moon. Twenty-four hours more and, if all went well, Olivia would be out upon the high seas, on her way to Trinidad. Surely all must go well. I went over in my mind every detail of our preparations. I recognised only one chance of failure--the chance that Mr. Crowninshield in his exuberance might over-act his part. ”

“ I went in, and at the back of the house, in a second queer little grass garden, screened by big trees upon three sides and a low red-brick wall upon the fourth, over which you could see the upper reach of the estuary and the woods on the further hill, I found a garrulous old gardener."
Mrs. Wordingham leaned forward.
"And what story had he to tell?"
"Oh, none!" answered Caston with a laugh. "There's no tragic or romantic history connected with the house. Of course, it's haunted--that goes without saying. There's hardly a bedroom window where the ivy does not tap upon the panes. ”