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 Contents

Preface
Guide to Pronunciation
The Alphabet
Greetings and Salutations

I Elements of a Sentence
1 Nouns, Articles, and Adjectives
The Gender of Nouns and the Definite Article
Singular Nouns
Plural Nouns
The Indefinite Article
Singular Indefinite Articles
Plural Indefinite Articles
Adjectives
Singular Form of Adjectives
Plural Form of Adjectives

2 Estar, Ser, and Subject Pronouns

Subject Pronouns
Estar (to be)
 Ser (to be)
Reading Comprehension La casa

3 Hay, Interrogative Words, Days, and

Months
Hay
Interrogative Words
Prepositions
Days of the Week, Months, and Seasons
Reading Comprehension Un pueblo colonial
Reading Comprehension El cine

4 Numbers, Dates, and Time

Cardinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers
The Date
Telling Time
Reading Comprehension El restaurante
Reading Comprehension El oficio de la casa

5 Regular Verbs
Uses of the Present Tense
-Ar Verbs
-Er Verbs
-Ir Verbs
-Ar and -er Verbs with More than One Meaning
Reading Comprehension Una escuela en México

6 Irregular Verbs
 -Ar Verbs
-Er Verbs
Sentence Formation
-Ir Verbs
Reading Comprehension El tren

7 Ir and the Future

Ir (to go)
The Future with the Verb ir
Idioms
Idioms with the Verb tener
Other Idioms
Useful Words: que and para
The Relative Pronoun que
The Conjunction que
The Preposition para
Key Vocabulary
Las partes del cuerpo (Parts of the Body)
La familia
Time Expressions with hacer
Reading Comprehension La cita

8 Adjectives and Adverbs

Possessive Adjectives
Demonstrative Adjectives
Neuter Demonstrative Pronouns
Adjectives of Nationality
Adjectives That Precede a Noun
Comparative Adjectives
Superlative Adjectives
Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives
 Comparing Nouns
Comparing Verbs
Adverbs
Adverbs That Do Not Take the Suffix -mente
Reading Comprehension La fiesta

9 Negatives and Prepositions

Negatives
Prepositions
Prepositions Followed by Verbs or Nouns
Prepositions Followed by Nouns or Pronouns
Pronouns That Follow Prepositions
The Preposition por
Por and para Compared
Reading Comprehension El circo
Key Vocabulary
Nature
Weather
Reading Comprehension El trabajo

II Objects, Reflexive Verbs, and

the Present Subjunctive
10 The Indirect Object
Gustar and the Indirect Object
Me gusta and me gustan
Te gusta and te gustan
Le gusta and le gustan
Nos gusta and nos gustan
 Les gusta and les gustan
Verbs Like gustar
The Indirect Object Pronoun
Position of the Indirect Object Pronoun
Reading Comprehension Ir de compras
Reading Comprehension El viaje

11 The Direct Object

The Personal a and the Direct Object
Transitive Verbs
The Direct Object Pronoun
Position of the Direct Object Pronoun
The Direct Object Pronoun as a Person
The Direct Object Pronoun as a Thing
Reading Comprehension La bienvenida

12 Reflexive Verbs
The Reflexive Pronouns
Some Frequently Used Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive Verbs Whose English Translations Do Not Necessarily
Include Oneself
Position of the Reflexive Pronoun
Reflexive Verbs with Parts of the Body and Clothing
Reflexive Verbs That Express Emotion
Reflexive Verbs That Express Movement
Reflexive Verbs That Express “To Become”
Most Frequently Used Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive Verbs with Reciprocal Meanings
Se and Impersonal Expressions
Reading Comprehension El encuentro
13 The Present Subjunctive
Formation of the Present Subjunctive
-Ar Verbs
-Er and -ir Verbs
Irregular Verbs
Verbs with Orthographic Changes
Uses of the Present Subjunctive
After Certain Impersonal Expressions
After Certain Verbs
After Certain Conjunctions
After cuando
In Certain Dependent Adjective Clauses
After the Expressions por más que and por mucho que
After ojalá
After acaso, quizás, and tal vez
After aunque
After Compounds of -quiera
After como
Reading Comprehension La despedida

III Preterit Tense, Imperfect

Tense, and Double Object
Pronouns
14 The Preterit Tense
Formation of the Preterit
Regular -ar Verbs
Regular -er and -ir Verbs
 Uses of the Preterit
To Express an Action Completed in the Past
To Express a Series of Completed Actions in the Past
To Express a Condition That Is No Longer in Effect
Irregular Verbs
-Ir Verbs with Stem Changes in the Third Person
Verbs with Orthographic Changes
-Ar Verbs
-Er and -ir Verbs
Verbs with Special Meanings in the Preterit
Reading Comprehension En la corte (primera escena)

15 The Imperfect Tense

Formation of the Imperfect
Regular -ar Verbs
Regular -er and -ir Verbs
Irregular Verbs
Uses of the Imperfect
To “Set the Stage” in the Past; to Express a Narration,
Situation, or Background
To Express Habitual, Customary, or Repeated Actions in the
Past
To Express Continuous Actions in the Past
To Express a Description in the Past
To Express Point of Origin in the Past
To Express Time in the Past
To Express One’s Age in the Past
Preterit and Imperfect Compared
Querer, poder, saber
Double Object Pronouns
Indirect Object Pronoun with Direct Object Pronoun
Reflexive Pronoun with Direct Object Pronoun
 Se Plus the Indirect Object Pronoun and Unplanned
Occurrences
Reading Comprehension El juicio (segunda escena)

IV Ser and Estar; Present,

Preterit, and Imperfect Tenses;
Progressive Tenses; Present
Subjunctive; Commands
16 Ser and Estar and the Present Tense
Estar (to be)
Ser (to be)
Reading Comprehension Machu Picchu

17 Ser and Estar in the Preterit and

Imperfect Tenses
Preterit Tense
Imperfect Tense
Regular Verbs in the Preterit
Irregular Verbs in the Preterit
Regular Verbs in the Imperfect
Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect
Comparison of Preterit and Imperfect
Reading Comprehension Marianela

18 The Present Progressive Tense

Gerund Formation
 Formation of the Present Progressive Tense
Use of the Present Progressive Tense
Placement of Object Pronouns
Uses of the Gerund with Verbs Other Than estar
Reading Comprehension La parada del bus

19 The Past Progressive Tenses

The Imperfect Progressive Tense
The Preterit Progressive Tense
Reading Comprehension El hospital

20 The Present Subjunctive

Formation of the Present Subjunctive
Uses of the Present Subjunctive
Other Tenses That Cause the Present Subjunctive
Reading Comprehension El juicio

21 Commands
Affirmative tú Commands
Negative tú Commands
Ud. and Uds. Commands
Other Ways of Asking People to Do Things
Reading Comprehension Perdida en Nicaragua
The nosotros Command: “Let us …”
Affirmative vosotros Commands
Negative vosotros Commands
Reading Comprehension La Noche de Brujas
V Nouns, Articles, Adjectives,
Pronouns; Present and Past
Perfect Tenses
22 Nouns, Articles, Adjectives, and Pronouns
Nouns and Articles
Possessive Adjectives
Possessive Pronouns
Relative Pronouns
Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns
Reading Comprehension Mi viaje
The Neuter lo + Adjective Used as a Noun
Adjectives Used as Nouns
Pronouns Used as Nouns
Pronunciation Practice Los maderos de San Juan
Reading Comprehension Lo fatal

23 The Present Perfect Tense

Formation of the Past Participle
Formation of the Present Perfect Tense
Uses of the Present Perfect Tense
Placement of Object Pronouns with the Present Perfect Tense
Use of the Infinitive haber and the Past Participle
Reading Comprehension El apartamento

24 The Past Perfect Tense

Formation of the Past Perfect Tense
Uses of the Past Perfect Tense
 Reading Comprehension El sueño
Reading Comprehension Recordando Nicaragua
The Past Participle as an Adjective
The Past Participle with ser and the Passive Voice
Reading Comprehension El conde Lucanor

VI Future and Conditional Tenses;

Past Subjunctive; Idioms
25 The Future Tense
Formation of the Future Tense
Uses of the Future Tense
The Future Progressive Tense
The Future Perfect Tense
Reading Comprehension El porvenir

26 The Conditional Tense

Formation of the Conditional Tense
Uses of the Conditional Tense
The Conditional Progressive Tense
The Conditional Perfect Tense
Reading Comprehension ¿Qué haría Ud. en las siguientes
situaciones?

27 The Present Perfect Subjunctive

Formation of the Present Perfect Subjunctive
Uses of the Present Perfect Subjunctive
Reading Comprehension La isla en el Caribe
28 The Imperfect Subjunctive
Formation of the Imperfect Subjunctive
Uses of the Imperfect Subjunctive
Reading Comprehension El barco económico
Reading Comprehension Xochicalco

29 The Past Perfect Subjunctive

Formation of the Past Perfect Subjunctive
Uses of the Past Perfect Subjunctive
Reading Comprehension Su punto de vista

30 Idioms
Idioms with Prepositions
Idioms with Verbs
Time Expressions
Reading Comprehension La defensa de Sócrates

Appendix: List of Verbs

Answer Key
Index
 Preface

Complete Spanish Step-by-Step is a progressive program that will

help you learn Spanish—talking, reading, and writing—as quickly and
as thoroughly as possible, and then lead you to mastery and fluency
in the language. Written for beginner and advanced-beginner
learners, it teaches grammar and conversation in the most logical
order to enable you to develop your language skills naturally to the
level of intermediate and advanced learners.
To take full advantage of the unique grammatical progression of
the book, you should study each chapter, or step, one after another.
Do not skip around. Each step you take will lead you to the next.
Each chapter contains clear grammar explanations; be sure to
understand every concept before moving on to the next. Notice that
there are few exceptions to rules, so once you have learned a
concept, it is yours.
Try to learn the vocabulary and verbs provided; they have been
carefully selected on the basis of usefulness and frequency. The
vocabulary lists will help enhance your communication, while
complete verb conjugations are given so that you can practice
pronunciation as you learn verbs. Over 300 of the most common
verbs in Spanish are presented.
Varied written and oral exercises are included to check your
understanding and progress. (The book has a complete answer key
in the back.) It is also a good idea to write your own questions and
sentences and practice them aloud. Sometimes, your own creations
are more interesting and aid in learning.
Original readings are included in every chapter; they become
progressively more challenging in form and content throughout the
book, leading to poems and stories by acclaimed authors. Use these
Reading Comprehension sections to learn new vocabulary and to
practice reading aloud.
Complete Spanish Step-by-Step is divided into six parts. The first
gives you all the fundamentals of the language in the present tense.
You will notice that the word order of English and Spanish in this
part is essentially the same. This makes learning in the early stages
very quick. The second part explains indirect objects, direct objects,
direct object pronouns, reflexive verbs, and the present subjunctive.
The third part presents the two most used tenses in the past, the
preterit and the imperfect. The fourth part reviews the present tense
and uses of ser and estar, the preterit and imperfect tenses, the
progressive tenses, the present subjunctive, and commands. The
fifth part is an in-depth explanation of nouns, articles, adjectives,
pronouns, and the present and past perfect tenses. The sixth part
covers the future and conditional tenses, the past subjunctive, and
idioms.
A student once asked me if Spanish is truly easy. It is, in
comparison to any of the other languages of the world. To start with,
the pronunciation is easy. Spanish is a phonetically perfect language,
which means that once you learn to pronounce each vowel and
consonant, you will be able to pronounce all words correctly. Before
you begin, practice all the sounds outlined in the Guide to
Pronunciation in the following pages. If possible, try to practice with
a native speaker. Then, remember to read and answer questions
aloud as much as you can to develop your pronunciation.
This book is written with a logical approach that makes it
accessible, even when some concepts are difficult, whether you are
a self-study learner or a student in an organized teaching program.
With Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, you will see that everything
falls quickly into place. In a few weeks, you will be able to read and
write Spanish quite easily, and as you progress, you will learn to
speak fluently, using all elements of Spanish. And once you learn the
Spanish in this book, you will be able to get along in any Spanish-
speaking country. The grammar is standard in all parts of the
Spanish-speaking world, and although accents change from place to
place, you will get accustomed to the sounds very quickly. Have fun
and enjoy using Spanish everywhere you need it. See you in
Xochicalco!

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Nestor Rodriguez, teacher of English and
Spanish at City College of New York, for his invaluable language
insights, expertise and editing of both Easy Spanish Step-by-Step
and Advanced Spanish Step-by-Step, upon which this book is based.
I would also like to thank John Piazza for his insights, contributions,
and editing of Advanced Spanish Step-by-Step. I gratefully
acknowledge their assistance throughout the development of this
book.
I would also like to thank Silvia Ballinas, teacher and director of
Escuela Experiencia in Tepoztlán, Mexico, Antonio Zea, linguist and
professor at Escuela Acacias in Málaga, Spain, Alonia King, Janet
Odums, and Lois Shearer. I would also like to thank William Bonner
for his invaluable guidance and all my students from District Council
37 in New York City.

Guide to Pronunciation
Spanish spelling is an exact reflection of the pronunciation of the
language. The pronunciation of each letter is subject to precise and
consistent rules, and words are pronounced by adding together the
sounds of each individual letter.

Vowels
The sounds of the vowels are clear and short. Pronounce the
examples.
Consonants

In Spanish, the b and v have the same sound. The sound of English
v does not exist in Spanish.
Stress, Written Accentuation, and
Spelling
Natural Stress
Words that end in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or the consonants n or s
have their natural stress on the next to last syllable.

Words that end in any consonant other than n or s have their

natural stress on the final syllable.
Written Accents
When a word does not follow one of these two rules, it will have a
written accent on the syllable that is stressed.

If a one-syllable word has a written accent, it means that there is

another word in the language that has the same spelling, but
another meaning.

If a two-syllable word has a written accent that does not affect the
pronunciation, it means that there is another word that has the
same spelling, but a different meaning.

Interrogative words have an accent mark that does not affect

pronunciation.
Spelling Changes
• z to c
Nouns and adjectives that end in z change to c to form the plural.

Z followed by a or o changes to c before an e or i. The sound of

z and c are the same.

• Other spelling changes

All other spelling changes occur in order to maintain a required
sound.
Tocar, for example, has a hard c sound that must be
preserved in other forms of the verb. If you see toque, with qu
replacing the c, it is to maintain the k sound.
Llegar, for example, has a hard g sound, which must be
preserved. If you see llegue, with gu replacing the g, it is to
maintain the hard g sound.

Castilian Spanish
There are only a few differences in pronunciation between the
Spanish spoken in Latin America and that spoken in Spain.
• Both the c that precedes e or i and the z have the th sound
heard in English thought and thing.
• When j or g precedes e or i, it has a slightly more guttural
sound.

Tips for Pronunciation

• While practicing, remember to keep the vowel sounds

short and clear.
• Always use the Spanish r sound. Resist the use of the
English r.
• Implode the sounds of p and t. Make sure there is no puff
of air.
• Always pronounce z like the letter s.
• Give the syllables an almost equal emphasis, a sort of
staccato sound. Pronounce every syllable clearly and
precisely in order to develop an even speech pattern.

The Alphabet
El alfabeto o abecedario
Greetings and Salutations
 I
Elements of a Sentence
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
As the young lady arose to greet the guests, the graceful animal
bounded away to the shrubbery, where, after peeping a moment
with shy wonder at the new-comers, it skurried off to the top of the
cliff behind the dwelling, snorting and stamping its foot angrily at the
intrusion.
After greeting her friends cordially, Miss Estill led the way through a
tessellated hall, where the walls were frescoed and hung with
elegant paintings, past the winding stairs of dark, rich wood, and to
a cool, long room to the east, the floor of which was covered with
India matting, swept by the lace curtains that shaded the lofty
windows from the fierce sunlight. An air of quiet refinement and
simple luxury pervaded this apartment, which spoke volumes, in a
mute way—all very favorable to the Estill family.
When Mrs. Estill came into the room, Mora presented her new
friends, who were charmed by the elder lady's welcome; but when
Clifford was introduced she gave him a swift, searching glance from
her keen, blue eyes, that brought a flush to his face at her look of
scrutiny and valuation. She must have read him aright, however, for
she gave her hand to young Warlow in a very friendly way, and he
thought he detected a sub-tone of graciousness in her welcome to
himself a shade deeper than when she had addressed the others.
Mrs. Estill was a fair, dignified matron, whose flaxen hair was now
slightly tinged with gray; but as Clifford contrasted the creole
daughter with her, he failed to detect any resemblance between the
two.
The elder lady must have divined his thoughts, or observed his look
of wonder at the strange dissimilarity existing between herself and
her only daughter, for she appeared to be embarrassed and
constrained in her attempts at entertaining the guests; but Mora was
so animated and vivacious that her mother's disquiet was unnoticed
by all save Clifford, who vaguely wondered at this show of
uneasiness over such a trifle; yet he had occasion before many
weeks had elapsed to recall it all with a strange significance.
When Mr. Estill came in, and Mora had presented her new friends,
the ruddy, genial old ranchman said with a smile:—
"Now this is something like civilized life once more! Why, it does my
very soul good to see young company about the old ranch—a sight
that is as rare as it is pleasant. I almost fancy myself back in the old
home again."
The visitors were soon chatting gaily with the courtly and
entertaining host, who proved to be a typical ranchman of the
plains,—shrewd through long dealings with a business class noted
for sagacity and wealth; urbane and refined in manner by having
been thrown among bankers and the leading men of the city for
many years; and lastly, hospitable, possibly owing to the fact that his
hospitality had never been overtaxed nor abused in that thinly
settled country.
"Where could this creole daughter have sprung from? She looks as if
she might have stepped out of the Alhambra into this family of
blonde Saxons," said Clifford mentally, again contrasting Mora and
her parents; and while he noted the auburn hair, just tinged with
gray, of Mr. Estill, and the blue eyes of that courtly old gentleman,
the contrast with the creole daughter became so apparent that
Clifford must have betrayed his surprise, for he was soon aware that
Mrs. Estill was regarding him with an uneasy expression which only
served to increase his perplexity. "There is a skeleton in the domestic
closet at Estill's ranch," thought our young friend; "but what can the
mystery be?"
His speculations were cut short, however, by Mr. Estill saying that all
the cow-boys were away with Hugh, shipping a "bunch of steers,"—
omitting the fact that the modest "bunch" consisted of two long
train-loads of sleek, fat beeves; and that the duties of hostler
devolved upon himself in their absence.
The young men thereupon arose and left the room with their host,
who, after the manner of Western people, believed in the maxim,
"Love me, love my dog," which finds expression in the care lavished
upon the horses of a welcome guest. This spirit often leads to a
foundered nag, however; but it would be a very ungrateful man,
indeed, who would grumble at such an evidence of esteem.
As they left the room to care for Clifford's team, Mora invited Maud
and Grace up to her boudoir, which, she said, was so seldom visited
that the spiders were more at home there than herself.
"You know about how much 'elegant leisure' falls to the lot of
farmers and ranch people," she added.
"Yes, indeed," replied Maud, ruefully; "what with baking, scouring,
and dairy-work, we have not much time for frivolous dissipation."
"Oh, what a lovely room!" screamed Grace in delight. "If I had such
a sweet boudoir I'd steal an hour at least every day to play the
heroine, even if the bread burned and the dishes went unwashed in
consequence," she added, rapturously.
"When up here I often dream that I am a grand lady," said Mora,
gaily; "but when I catch a glimpse in the mirror of a frumpy, frouzy
creature with a towel over her head, then I awake to the sad reality
that I am only the slave of circumstances."
Grace would have been perfectly justified, however, in indulging in
day-dreams in such a place; for a more elegant apartment, or one
where greater taste was evinced in every detail of adornment, was
rarely to be seen in the West.
It was situated at the south end of the upper hall, and opened out
upon the balcony by a door of plate glass, thick and beveled,
through which could be seen the flashing fountain on the terrace
below and a landscape of surpassing beauty. The wooded stream
wound away down the prairie valley, which was dotted with
innumerable ricks of wild-hay; the white stone walls which fenced
the ranch ran far out onto the highlands, dimly defining the
boundaries of the great estate.
The walls of the elegant apartment were draped with and paneled
by carmine and cream colored silk, relieved by lines of white. A
carpet of creamy velvet was strewn with moss-roses of the same
shade of carmine, with all the furniture upholstered to correspond.
The walls were graced—not crowded—by a tall beveled mirror of
French plate and some delicious paintings, framed in gilt. The low
mantel was of Italian marble, white, dappled and veined with red
shading to faintest rose. Vases of Sevres china, statuettes of bronze,
and elegantly bound volumes were seen on every hand. There was a
table of mosaic, on which was a basket of fancy-work, that, Miss
Estill said, was destined never to be finished. Through the draped
doorway, on the east, could be seen the snowy, lace-canopied bed of
the mistress of all this splendor. The sunlight, sifting through the
tops of the elms which grew below the terrace, shone in fitful bars of
amber on a picture which was riveting the attention of Maud, who
sprang up from her velvet chair and cried with enthusiasm:—
"Oh Grace! it is 'Sunset on the Smoky Hill,' don't you see the Iron
Mound looming up with vague mystery? The serpentine river, fringed
by trees, is the Saline; and there, winding down from the north, is
the stately Solomon; while here at our feet flows the Smoky Hill
between its timbered banks. See that white blot, far out to the east,
rising in the evening mirage,—it must be Fort Riley! There is Abilene;
and all along the wide prairie valley, flanked by bold grassy
headlands, are white villages and golden fields of wheat. Here,
nestling down in the broad valley among the groves at the base of
the Iron Mound, is Salina—which reminds me of Damascus, with its
rivers of Abana and Pharpar. Out to the south-west see that long line
of purple, jagged buttes, over which eternally hovers a smoky haze,
—those are the Smoky Hills! Look at the twilight stealing down
through their gorges. Oh, it is like a glimpse of heaven! Mora—Mora!
who could have painted this?" she said, with tears of genuine
emotion. Then seeing Miss Estill blushing hotly, she and Grace
impulsively kissed the young artist—Maud saying with a little quaver
of emotion:—
"Mora Estill, you dear, gifted creature—do you know that you are a
genius?"
"I am not so certain of that, for I am often led to believe in Hugh's
criticisms. He says that my best pictures are very similar in
appearance to a newly flayed beef's-hide." Then, as the others gave
vent to shrieks of feminine amazement, Miss Estill continued merrily:
"I had a letter from him yesterday. He is at Kansas City, you know.
Would you believe it?—he sent an order for me to paint the sign for
a butcher's shop. The aggravating fellow charged me, carefully, to
put a sufficient number of limbs on the figure of a cow that was to
adorn the sign. Then he proceeded with a whole page of caution, in
which he charged me to avoid the fatal error of painting claws upon
the animal's hoofs. There followed a long homily, showing the dire
results of such a slight mistake—the innuendo and sarcasm, the cold
suspicion and cruel neglect, that would alight upon the head of a
butcher who was suspected of making beef of an animal that wore
claws.
"This picture of Lake Inman," said Miss Estill, as the laughing group
moved forward to where a beautiful painting hung, "Hugh persists in
calling 'The Knot Hole;' and in his letter he said that as to the horns
of the animal which was to adorn the sign, they were a matter of
indifference to the public, and I could keep them for the trunks of
the 'stately elms' in my next landscape, and I might transplant them
with great success to the shores of Lake Inman, which you see is
badly in need of shade."
"I'd just like to teach him," said Grace, inadvertently; but seeing the
amused look which Maud shot at Miss Estill she hesitated with a
blush, while Mora quickly exclaimed:—
"Oh, I believe he is beginning to learn of late; but I hope you will
give him a lesson in poetry, for I found an effusion among his
papers, where he had evidently forgotten it, that will bear a great
deal of revision;" and she took from a bronze cabinet a paper
whereon was written, in lame and halting couplets, an apostrophe
"To My Love."
But the author had failed so signally to secure either rhyme or
measure, that the girls shrieked aloud as Mora read long verses of
the most trivial nonsense and doggerel, where "golden tresses,"
"had went," and "blue eyes" were mingled with loving ardor, but
very bad grammar.
As the verses progressed, the sentiment became more tender, but
the diction and measure were perfectly appalling in their untutored
originality. At each new limp or poetical hobble, the girls would laugh
gaily; but when Mora looked at Grace with a significant smile, the
application of the following lines was readily seen:—

"My love she's golden hair and eyes

Of deepest, finest blue.
I love her better than ['Gooseberry pies!' cried Maud]
any thing,
My heart will always be true to you."

Although the author had promoted his lady love from the obscure
position of third person to the station of second person in the space
of a second, yet even this was not enough to induce Grace to remain
longer; for she fled away with burning blushes, while Mora still
continued to read lines, the syntax of which disclosed the revolting
fact that their author had throttled his own mother tongue, had slain
persons without regard to sex or condition, and, like a vandal, had
cut off the feet of his best subject at some critical moment.
At the close Miss Estill folded the paper, and as she placed it in a
cabinet she said, it would yet serve to pay off some old scores with
Hugh. She must have kept her word, for on his return he was
immeasurably shocked on opening his county paper to see, staring
at him from the first page: "A Poem To My Love. By H. E."
After Mr. Estill had praised the dappled Normans and cared for them
in a very hospitable manner, he led the young men out to a near-by
pasture to show them his Jersey cows. While they were admiring the
graceful animals, their host said:—
"For twenty-five years we had either depended on Texan cows for
milk, or had used the concentrated article without even once
thinking of the folly of such a course. We had so long been
accustomed to seeing the herders lasso the wild, infuriated creatures
before milking them, that we had actually forgotten there was any
other way. It may have been owing to our trusting the operation
wholly to the cow-boys that no progress was made in subduing the
animals or reducing them to a domestic state; but we never had
thought it safe to allow a woman inside of the corral since that
morning, a score of years ago, when my wife had been kicked
insensible by a beast that she had attempted to milk. One evening,
after Mora had returned from Cincinnati, she witnessed the usual
proceedings in the milk-yard,—two broad-hatted and bespurred
herders lassoing a cow. Then, after tying her head to one post and
hind-foot to another, one of the valiant milk-men stripped a few
streams of the precious fluid into a cup, while his partner stood by,
whip in hand, ready to punish any movement on the part of the
bellowing brute. Only then did she realize how infamously undairy-
like the affair really was. When I met her a few moments later, she
said with a shade of contempt in her tone:—
"'Oh, why do you allow such barbarous work on the ranch?'
"'But, my dear,' I replied, 'there is no other way. Why, I would rather
tackle a mountain lion than one of those fiery creatures while she is
loose.'
"'Then, why not buy some Jerseys?' Mora said.
"Yes, indeed, why not? I thought, and so I lost no time over
deliberations, but wrote at once to Major Kingsbury, who sent me
these gentle creatures, which now we value above anything else on
the ranch."
Nothing was said about the vast herds, the thousands of fat cattle
grazing out over the great pastures around; but the visitors were
impressed with the evidence of great wealth visible on every hand.
The capacious corral and innumerable ricks of prairie-hay bore mute
testimony to the thrift and opulence which reigned at the Estill
ranch.
As Mr. Estill led the way back to the dwelling he said:—
"Hugh will be greatly disappointed when he learns that he has
missed your visit. I have been away with him for the last fortnight,
and only returned last evening, when I learned from my wife that—
that—my children had a very pleasant day up at your place." Then in
a constrained voice he added: "I would like to meet your father, Mr.
Warlow; for there is a subject which I would like very much to
discuss with him."
"My father expressed a wish to make your acquaintance also; for it
appears that he is anxious to discuss the early history of this country
with you," Clifford replied.
Mr. Estill seemed greatly agitated on hearing this; but when about to
reply, dinner was announced, and he arose and led the way into the
long, walnut-paneled dining-room. All this time Clifford was mutely
wondering why the wealthy old ranchman should be so anxious to
meet his father.
"Can it be that the cattle-king is opposed to the intimacy growing up
between myself and his daughter?" young Warlow asked himself.
Then he thought of the friendly manner of his host, and rejected the
idea at once.
They were soon gaily chatting over the soup; but as Clifford's eye
glanced along the wall his attention was attracted by a painting,
which hung where the light fell upon it in such a way as to bring out
every detail with perfect clearness. In its foreground was a
mammoth tree, shading the gables of a stone cottage; a ruined wall,
half smothered by vines. Across the stream, which had half encircled
the knoll where the building stood, were fields of ripening grain, that
rippled in the billowy waves, stirred and tossed by the summer
breeze, wheat of coppery red or palest gold, the silvery sheen of rye
and oats contrasting with the tawny prairie and dark, green groves,
through which shimmered the brook and pools that he recognized as
old friends.
As his eye sought the author of this delicate compliment, which was
a truthful picture of his place—the Old Corral—he caught Miss Estill's
amused look; for she had been watching the pleased surprise which
had grown upon his face as he realized what the picture really was.
His glance must have been very expressive in reply; for a blush
swept over her face, usually serene in its quiet dignity, or vivacious
with blithesome wit, and her blue eyes retreated behind their long
lashes—a guilty admission that she was the artist who had painted
the scene.
This silent by-play was not unnoticed, quiet as it all seemed; for as
Clifford turned to take the plate of rare good things which the host
passed to him, he encountered the eyes of Mrs. Estill fixed upon
him; but the lady smiled with a look of such evident enjoyment of
the situation that he half forgot that Mr. Estill still held the plate,
which young Warlow seized with an air which was neither as
graceful nor self-possessed as a hero should have worn.
With ready tact Mrs. Estill came to the rescue by saying:—
"It all looks strange, no doubt, that I treat you to a ranch fare of
canned beef from St. Louis, and vegetables from Baltimore and
Rochester, but if it were not for our Jerseys we should have been
compelled to call on Chicago for condensed milk also. I never
realized the absurdity of this course until Mora told me of the
luxuriant gardens and fields of grain which you are raising in the
upper valley. Why, Hugh says it is a marvel how prosperous
everything appears up there."
"We never before have regarded this as a farming country; it has
remained for your brave colony to explode that fallacy; and I hope
your prosperity may be as lasting as it is merited," said Mr. Estill.
An hour was spent in the parlor after dinner; then a long stroll
followed out among the cedars to the north of the dwelling. Here
Mora and Clifford soon found themselves deserted by their
companions, and were left to their own resources for entertainment.
They had been longing, no doubt, for this moment to arrive; so we
will not intrude—a proceeding that would be alike odious to the
couple and cruel to the reader; but when they emerged an hour
later from the jungle of evergreens, Mora was heard to say:—
"I can not imagine why mamma was so agitated when I told her.
She never was affected by anything before. But she positively
forbade my mentioning the subject again in her presence. When I
begged her to tell why she talked so strangely, she replied that the
story of the old tragedy had completely unnerved her; and then she
again questioned me as to every detail of that terrible affair."
"No doubt the remembrance of those early days, their danger and
trials, all recurred with painful minuteness as you related the story,
Miss Estill, for your parents were residing here at the time of that
sorrowful event," Clifford replied.
"No; I fear that there is some deeper reason yet; for when papa
returned from Abilene—whither he had been with Hugh shipping
cattle—mother sought an interview alone with him, and when I
came into the room he said that I must be very careful to avoid the
subject in the future. My parents never could be taxed with being
sentimental—of that I am certain. But what the mystery can be—for
a mystery it certainly is—I am at a loss to conjecture."
"The air seems full of mystery since you and my father met," replied
Clifford; "but I hope it will soon be all explained, Miss Estill."
"I was very glad to see you come to-day; for although papa only
arrived last night, he had concluded to go up to see Colonel Warlow
at once.
"I can't guess why he seems so anxious about meeting him. I tried
bribery with a kiss; but he would not tell me why he was going—
would always evade my question by replying that it was business,
only, that prompted the visit."
"He must be very obdurate, indeed, not to yield on such terms,"
Clifford replied, with a look which betrayed how willingly he would
surrender at such a proposition.
You have discovered, no doubt, that although our friend Warlow
often spoke with his eyes, yet he allowed the lady to do three-
fourths of the talking. This is a very dangerous experiment for an
unfettered youth to indulge in; for I have always observed that when
a fluent, silvery-tongued woman finds a ready listener, provided the
victim be young, handsome, and manly, she first becomes more
fluent, then, when answered in monosyllables, she shows her
admiration of his "great conversational powers," and proceeds to
make herself irresistible and captivating at once—all of which ends in
chains and slavery for the brilliant listener.
After a moment's silence, Miss Estill said:—
"I notice a strange change has come over you since we last met, Mr.
Warlow. Is it possible that you, also, have been seized by that
strange infection of mystery which seems to possess all my friends in
the last few weeks?"
"Why, Miss Estill, do you really think me changed?" Clifford replied,
with due regard to the three-fourths rule.
At that moment the other members of the party came up and
proposed returning, thus precluding Miss Estill's answer.
As the guests were taking their leave, Mr. Estill said, in reply to their
cordial invitations to visit them, that he would drive up the next day
in company with his wife, that he had business with Colonel Warlow,
and that himself and wife would call upon the Moreland family, if it
would be agreeable to that family to receive them.
On hearing nothing but great pleasure expressed at this
announcement, the matter was settled definitely in that way; then
the guests took their leave, and drove home through the cool
twilight, vaguely wondering what business Mr. Estill could have to
transact with Colonel Warlow.
 Chapter XIV.
Early next morning Clifford rode away, on the pretext that he was
going to buy cattle of a ranchman in the next county; but his
absence was mainly owing to the fact that he suspected the Estill
visit was in some way connected with his intimacy with Mora; so he
had decided that he would take himself off, and thereby avoid a
disagreeable scene.
The cattle-king and his wife arrived at an early hour, although they
had called a moment at the Moreland homestead and given a
promise that they would stop for an early tea on their return
homeward from the Warlows. When they had been introduced by
Maud, the colonel and Mr. Estill went to the stable to care for the
team, and when that important rite of hospitality had been duly
observed the gentlemen rejoined their wives in the Warlow parlor.
Robbie was away in the fields with the farm men; Maud was busy
with household cares, on the plea of which she had absented herself
from the parlor. The kitchen, which was the scene of her culinary
operations, was situated in an ell of the building, and as she stood
by a window that looked directly through into one in the parlor, she
could see and hear a great deal that was transpiring therein.
An hour after the arrival of the guests she was standing by this open
window, putting the last touches of frosting on a cocoa-nut cake,
and so deeply, indeed, was she engrossed with her labors that she
had failed to observe what the situation really was in the parlor, until
she heard a hoarse cry:—
"Oh God! it is Bruce and Ivarene!" and as she glanced hastily into
the room she beheld a sight that perplexed and mystified her for
long days thereafter. Her father stood by the window holding a
jeweled locket in his hand; but at that moment he lowered the
window-curtain, thus shutting off all view of the parlor.
When, an hour later, Mrs. Warlow came into the kitchen, traces of
tears were visible on her usually placid face; and when Maud, unable
any longer to restrain her curiosity, eagerly asked the meaning of the
mysterious conclave in the parlor, her mother evaded answering; so
Maud wisely concluded to await her parents' confidence, which she
felt certain of sharing at the proper time.
At dinner Colonel Warlow ate but little of the tempting food; and the
guests, although they praised the roast-chicken with its savory
dressing, the delicate float and frosted cake, left their plates almost
untouched.
When the constrained and quiet meal was finished, and all had
returned to the parlor but Maud, Rob came back again to the table,
and as that youth, with an unappeasable appetite, helped himself to
a plateful of "stuffing" and gravy, he turned to his sister and said:—
"What's the matter now, Maud? The colonel seems to be all broke
up; and that old Lady Estill—by grab!—she looked like death on a—a
—white pony! Mother, too, appeared as if she might have been
sniffling; but that's nothing but a common pastime with her. You
know that all women, more or less—yourself included, madam—are
very much given to the chicken-hearted habit of dribbling at the
nose."
"Chicken-hearted, indeed! It is a great wonder, then, that you did
not devour us long ago, sir!" said Maud, with a great show of
asperity, but very glad to lead the subject into other channels and
elude further questioning; for she saw by her mother's manner that
there was something about the Estill visit which they wished, for
unknown reasons, to keep secret, and it was a matter of honor with
the noble-hearted girl to help them conceal what she herself was
longing to know.
"Well, big guns of the Estill calibre don't go off on slight occasions,"
persisted Rob, with his mouth half-full of the adored "stuffing," and
as he reached for a tall glass of ruby-colored plum-jelly, Maud
quickly said:—
"Won't you have a bit of the cake, Rob?"
"Thanks—yes," said he, as he helped himself to the last solitary
quarter of that frosted dainty; "and I would be pleased to taste a
morsel of that chicken also," he mumbled.
"What choice, sir?" she asked sarcastically.
"The running-gears, if you please," he replied with polite gravity.
With a gesture of scorn and disgust, Maud passed him the carcass of
the fowl; then, after filling a large platter with crusts, bones, and
egg-shells, she placed them before him with the injunction to help
himself. Retiring to the window, she watched him devour cake,
chicken, jam, and potatoes with an appetite that knew no
discrimination.
"I am afraid you have not done justice to my dishes," she said, as
Rob at length arose from the table.
"Oh, now don't give us any more sarcasm," said he, while picking his
teeth with a broom-split. "It is so long from breakfast to noon,
Maud, that I just get faint waiting on that slow old dinner-bell."
"No doubt; but you remember how ravenously hungry you were last
week, when the pup got the bell-rope in his mouth and summoned
you in from the field at nine in the morning," she retorted,
laughingly.
"Well, that was a cloudy day," he said, good-naturedly; then, taking
his straw hat from its hook on the porch, he hurried away to the
field.
After finishing her domestic duties, Maud joined the guests in the
parlor, with a faint hope of learning something further of the mystery
which seemed to enshroud their visit, of which she had got such a
tantalizing glimpse an hour before; but her expectations were,
however, sadly doomed to disappointment, for nothing was said that
would throw any light on the subject; and, after spending a while at
the piano, she invited the guests out to look at her flowers.
The party thereupon adjourned to the garden; and when they had
admired the flowers and shrubs, they sauntered on to the barn-yard,
to look at the peacocks and other fowls, of which Mrs. Warlow was
justly proud.
"I should like to take a nearer view of your crops, Colonel. It has
been so long since I saw a well-conducted farm, that it appears
quite a novelty to me," said Mr. Estill, with evident interest.
In a few moments they all embarked in the boat, and were rowed up
to Clifford's dwelling; for if there was one thing of which the colonel
was vain it was his son's farming.
As they stood in the level valley south of the river, a scene of perfect
rural beauty was visible. On the north was Clifford's gothic cottage,
half hidden by the drooping elm; to the east, the chimneys and
gables of the Warlow homestead peeped above the trees; while out
to the south, on a green knoll, stood the stone school-house, with its
tower and rose-window.
The yellow wheat-stubble shone like gold beside the silvery oats,
fast ripening for the harvest; the rank corn stood in clean, dark rows
—great squares of waving green; scores of ricks were standing along
the valley; while the clank of the header and shouts of the workmen
were borne on the breeze from the neighboring field.
"Ah! this is a very home-like scene, indeed—a great contrast to the
one presented here just two years ago when last I visited this spot,"
said Mr. Estill. "My ranch, ten miles below here, was then the last
settlement on the frontier. There was not a human habitation in
sight—only antelope and buffalo to vary the monotony of perfect
solitude. In fact, there had never been an owner for the land nor a
furrow turned here since the dawn of creation. Marvelous change!"
he added.
After crossing the stream on a foot-log, which here formed a rustic
bridge, they all walked up to Clifford's dwelling, and while standing
by the vine-mantled wall of the Old Corral, the colonel said in a
musing tone:—
"If this inanimate ruin could but speak, we might learn the sequel to
that tragedy which has risen again, as it were, from the grave of the
past. The robbers were led by white men, who no doubt divided the
treasure among themselves while the savages were stupefied with
liquor."
He was interrupted by a cry of wonder from Maud, who could not
repress her astonishment at his assertion that white men had led the
Indians—a fact which Hugh Estill seemed to have been aware of
also, and which, taken in connection with the incident of the
miniature, led her to believe that the Estills were in some way
connected with the massacre.
"Maud, dear, will you go and see how Clifford's young catalpa-trees,
down the drive, are growing? and if they need cultivating again, we
will send one of the boys over with a plow soon," said Mrs. Warlow,
with a warning glance; and Miss Maud moved quickly away,
somewhat chagrined at her summary dismissal.
As she passed along, she was pondering over the strange fact that
her father had at last obtained a clue to the perpetrators of the
outrage at the corral; and she became so deeply engrossed with the
thought that she was quite unmindful which way her steps led, until
her eye was attracted to a place where the earth appeared to have
been recently disturbed, and she paused a moment, vaguely
wondering what could have been buried there.
The tall blue stem-grass was tangled and dead, while the square
outlines of a cavity showed through the mass of dead vines and
leaves, which had been suspiciously strewn over the place, with a
view, it seemed, of concealing all trace of the disturbance. She
became also aware of a most disgusting odor near the old
cottonwood-tree; but, unmindful of this, she raked away the grass
and litter to examine more closely the cavity in which the soil had
been firmly trampled, but her curiosity was in no wise abated when
she discovered that it was Clifford's boot-tracks that were visible in
the soft, yielding earth.
"What has he buried here, that he seems so anxious to conceal?"
she was asking herself, when a puff of wind brought the odor with
such added strength that she nearly fainted, and was hastily
retreating from the proximity of that mysterious place, where she
feared some strange, dead thing was buried, when she saw the
bloated and mottled form of that hideous reptile which the reader
may remember as having greeted a "Young Fortune Hunter" one
weird and murky night the week before.
With a stifled shriek, Maud fled by the vile-smelling and repulsive
object, which she saw at a glance was mangled and dead; then, as
she slowly returned and walked south of the reptile, she surveyed it
carefully, and saw, with a shudder, that it was a hideous rattlesnake,
with its head severed from the body. Appalled at the thought that it
was her brother who had slain this formidable monster, the bite of
which, while living, she knew meant certain death, she was
retreating again from the place, pale and trembling, but paused at
the excavation, to wonder, even then, what it meant, when her eye,
which was scanning the ground carefully, caught sight of a curious,
small object lying at her feet.
Stooping and picking it up, she was disgusted and surprised to see
that it was a human tooth. She was about to dash it down again,
when a thought seemed to occur that caused her to look carefully
about for some minutes; then, as nothing else was found, she
stripped some leaves from a grape-vine near, and, after wrapping
them about the tooth, she put it carefully away in her purse, and
then returned to where her parents and guests were embarking for
home. As they rowed down the willow-fringed stream, nothing was
said concerning the strange discoveries that had been made that
day, and on arriving at the house, the visitors prepared to take an
early departure. As Mrs. Estill stepped into the carriage, Mrs. Warlow
gave a promise that she would drive down to the Estill ranch one
day that week.
Clifford returned late that evening with some animals which he had
bought; and, as all was hurry and bustle, and several laborers
remained over night, there was no chance for confidential
conversation among the younger members of the Warlow family. But
the next morning broke with a lowering sky, and the misty rain
which followed precluded any effort at farm-work; so the laborers
went to their respective homes, leaving the house to its customary
quiet.
As Rob was plodding about in the rain and whistling shrill as a
locust, he was signaled by Maud, who stood out by the gate, and
when the youth joined her they held a low, hurried conversation for
a few minutes; then Bob darted down to the boat, and rowed rapidly
up the stream.
He was gone but a few minutes, however, when he returned flushed
and excited, and placed something, which was wrapped in leaves,
into Maud's outstretched hand.
"How did you manage it?" she said in a low tone, as they paused
under an ash-tree near the river.
"Why, that was easy enough—I just put my boot on his snakeship's
tail, then taking hold of the rattles with a handful of leaves—and—
here they are. But—oh fury!—how it did smell, though!" he added in
disgust. "Fourteen rattles and a button! Don't that beat the snake-
tale of the oldest inhabitant, Maud?"
Then, without awaiting a reply, he added, out of breath with
excitement:—
"Cliff had a shocking time of it up there last Friday night, for this is
only a small part of his experience."
"Rob—what—oh, what can you mean?" cried Maud, in wildest
excitement.
"Well, I don't know much; but this much I did learn by guessing at it
first, then making him own up; for Cliff is as close-mouthed as an
oyster. From what I could learn, it appears that, while prowling
about that night like a vagrant tom-cat, our good-looking brother ran
into that old spectre which shrieked so like a demon that night by
the camp-fire. This time, of course, it gave him the slip, as it always
does," he answered.
"You do not mean to say that horrible sight has been seen again,
Rob?"
After cautioning her not to raise such a racket, Rob proceeded to tell
of his encounter, and also what he had learned of Clifford's
experience likewise.
"Oh, Rob—what a horribly unreal thing it all seems! But everywhere
there is so much of mystery that I am almost wild," she cried, with a
good deal of incoherence.
"Why was Clifford digging about the old cottonwood that night,
Rob?" she added, after a moment's pause; but, as her brother only
expressed both surprise and ignorance, she continued: "But this is
not all, Robbie; for I made a most startling discovery to-day—one
which throws a gloomy light on the old tragedy of Bruce and his
wife."
"Why, thicker and thicker!" cried Rob. "But what kind of a mare's-
nest did you run into this time, Maud?" he added.
In reply, Maud told of seeing the locket, and of hearing her father
exclaim that it contained the pictures of Bruce and his wife, and the
strange assertion which he had made while the Estills were standing
by the ruined wall.
"But how did the locket ever get into the Estills' hands?" Rob said,
with a perplexed look; then, after a moment, he added, excitedly:—
"Oh, now I know what father and Mr. Estill were talking about in the
barn. I had just stepped into the upper hall-way to lay a fork on the
rack—you know how strict father always was about our putting
everything in its proper place—so, to save myself a blowing up, I
went out of my way and had left the fork there, and was about to
hurry on to the well for a jug of water, when I heard Mr. Estill say:—
"'This must be a matter of sacred confidence between us, Colonel;
for if it were known that any one of my people had participated in
that affair, or had been engaged in the murder, there are people who
are malicious enough, no doubt, to connect myself and wife with the
crime; and for that reason alone I have always kept the matter a
profound secret, even from Hugh and Mora. The locket was set with
rubies and engraved with the name which, you see, we have used,
and have only shortened; but she has never learned its origin, nor
anything of the tragedy.'
"Then, after a moment, he continued, after father had said
something which I could not quite catch:—
"'If Olin Estill had only lived, the mystery might have been explained;
but I found him dead and mangled beyond all resemblance to a
human—nothing to identify his remains but the tattered clothing,
which I recognized; for the wolves had torn his limbs away, and left
his skeleton bleaching out on the prairie. Yet the strangest part of it
all is the mysterious resemblance of the faces in that miniature to
Mora and your son. Why, my wife was terribly agitated when she
first met that boy of yours; for he is the perfect counterpart of the
picture of your friend, who must have died years before either of
those children were born. Mora's resemblance to Ivarene—'
"About that time I grew weary of such rot, and did not pay any
further attention to what they said. How much more I might have
heard I can't guess; for I hurried away to the well, as I was mortal
thirsty and tired. I am sorry now that I didn't stay and hear it out,
for there certainly is something up."
While talking thus they had sauntered on into the house; and while
they stood by the parlor door Rob had made the concluding remark,
which Clifford chanced to overhear, as he came upon them silently
through the carpeted hall.
"Here, you young conspirators—out with it, and confess at once
'what's up,' as this bold robber says with such an air of deep
mystery," Clifford said, with a smile of curiosity.
Maud looked up with a flash of resentment in her honest Warlow
eyes; for she did not half like the idea of this Adonis-like brother
keeping anything from her. Thrusting her hand into her pocket, she
drew out her porte-monnaie, as he continued:—
"Well, Maud, did you learn anything yesterday?" while an anxious
look crept into his face.
"Yes, I learned this!" she replied, while holding out her hand, in
which, resting on a piece of muslin, was a human tooth, and that
long, reticulated tissue, which he saw at a glance was the rattles of
the enormous reptile he had encountered while digging for the
treasure.
He looked at them in a startled, wondering way for a moment; then,
as if comprehending it all, he said:—
"Ah, yes—the rattles! But the tooth—that is the hardest part of all."
Maud and Rob could not restrain a smile at the ghastly pun; but the
former replied:—
"I found them where you had been digging, near the old
cottonwood-tree. We know about the rattlesnake and that gray-
robed figure, which was the same one that startled us by the camp-
fire, I really believe. But that human tooth?—I shall certainly go
raving mad if you keep anything further from me."
Clifford glanced from her pale face to that of Rob, which wore a look
of startled perplexity.
"I find it impossible to keep anything from your sharp eyes. So it is
myself, after all, who has to confess!" he said, seating himself on the
divan.
Then, while the rain lashed the windows and the chill wind wailed
through the tree-tops without, he told that story of midnight horror.
When he finished, Maud was pale and tearful, and Rob's hazel eyes
were round with mute astonishment.
"But Maud, did you learn the reason of Mr. Ess—that is Mora's folks
—well—why they came up yesterday?" Clifford managed at length to
say in a confused manner, that revealed a great deal of uneasiness
on his part, which was not at all lost on the sharp-eyed couple
beside him.
Then, drying her tears, Maud told of the strange revelations which
the visit of the Estills had disclosed; and when she repeated the
singular conversation which Robbie had overheard in the barn,
Clifford cried out excitedly:—
"Ah! that was the mysterious kinsman who Mora said was buried on
the hill-top at Estill Ranch. He was one of the robbers who
perpetrated the outrage at the corral years ago. A bandit and
murderer! 'Tis no wonder that nothing but nettles ever grow on that
grave. It was through him, Maud, that they obtained the locket, with
its picture of Bruce and Ivarene. But it can not be that Mr. Estill
derived his great wealth from the same source! If so, he never
would have betrayed himself by showing the pictures of the people
that were murdered by his own kinsman. What, then, became of the
great treasure?" he sadly asked. But no one seemed able to answer
his question; for the whole affair had now assumed a tone of
mystery such as it had never worn before.
 Chapter XV.
"Why should they have given 'her' the name which was on the
locket? and who was the mysterious female that never had learned
of the tragical circumstance?" said Maud, with a puzzled face.
"I am unable to answer your question, Maud," Clifford replied; but
there was something in his manner that led the sharp-eyed couple
before him to suspect he had detected some clue which had eluded
them in their investigations of the mystery.
"Cliff, what the deuce was that old skull doing in the cask?" said Rob,
innocently; but, seeing the look of amusement on his brother's face,
he added: "Or I mean to ask, how came it there?"
"To answer your first question I shall have to remind you that a dead
man's skull has a very limited field of action, confined principally to
the pastime of rolling over and rattling its teeth when touched; but
how or why it was there, seems only known to the ill-natured
ophidian which kept it such close company," Clifford replied, with his
usual strain of jocular sarcasm.
"Oh dear!" said Maud, drearily, while drumming on the misty
window-pane. "It is very exasperating to be shut up in a house on
such a day, where every closet is full of skeletons, and not dare to
peep into one of them," she added.
"But Cliff has been peeping, and with wonderful luck, too," Rob
observed, dryly.
"Oh, I am not the first fortune hunter who has found a skull or
serpent where he had hoped to find gold!" Clifford replied, with
perfect good nature.
"Oh, Clifford, I shudder to think of the danger you passed through
on that terrible night—all alone in that dismal place, fighting that
venomous monster, with death in its fangs, while the gray-robed
demon hovered near with its fiery eyes and blood-chilling scream,"
said Maud, tearfully, while winding her arm about her brother's neck.
"Now, dear, soft-hearted Maud, you must remember that the path of
those who strive for pelf is thickly beset by demons and serpents,
although they may wear the human guise and lurk in the shadow of
friendship. Many, many are the skeletons of dead hopes and buried
dreams that start up as the graves of the past are disturbed,"
Clifford replied.
"But you shall never spend another night alone up at that ill-omened
dwelling, Clifford; for Rob shall go with you hereafter," she said,
while drying her tears.
"Well, but suppose I might choose some fair lady to grace my
spectre-haunted home—that would answer as well?" he replied,
gaily.
"Oh! that would be a capital plan indeed; but I shall insist on the
right to choose her," his sister cried, with returning animation.
"Oh! you are growing very liberal, to say the least, Miss Maud. I
guess you will have to be satisfied with second choice," said Cliff.
After talking awhile over the mystery which had woven such a
tangled web about their home in the last few days, Maud exclaimed:
—
"Robbie, dear, won't you go and ask father what name was engraved
on the locket? Also learn all that is possible, for I am just dying of
anxiety;" but as he began to smile with derision, she added,
coaxingly: "Now do go, Rob, please; that's a man; father never
refuses you anything."
"Catch me at it!" cried Rob, with a shrug. "I don't hanker much after
the dry job of pumping the colonel," he added, winking at Clifford
significantly.
"No, no, Maud, that would never do. Let us await the confidence of
our parents, and try, in the meantime, to pick up what facts we can.
Who knows," he added, "but we may stumble on to some great
discovery?"
Little, indeed, did he suspect the great revelations which the day
held in store for them, and that events were about to transpire
which would change the tenor of their whole lives.
At Mrs. Warlow's entrance the conversation took on a less sombre
hue, and when she told of the news confirming the great land-sale
which was soon to be held at the land office—a fact which she had
learned from the Estills—it was proposed to take a drive out over the
country north-east, and find a section for Maud and Rob, which the
colonel would buy for their benefit at the sale.
Accordingly, after dinner, as the weather had cleared, the Warlow
family drove out and viewed a well-watered, rolling tract, equal in
extent to the farms of the colonel and Clifford. After an hour spent
thus, it was thought advisable to drive on westward and examine a
country which, in their busy farm-life, had never been viewed, save
at a distance.
On arriving at a point about three miles west of their home, they
drove down into a narrow valley or glen, clothed with tall blue-stem
and rank sunflowers, now beginning to unfold their golden blossoms.
This jungle of vegetation was woven together by the slender, leafless
tendrils of the love-vine, which threw a veil of coppery red over the
brilliant green of the other vegetation.
While driving slowly through this almost impervious mass of
vegetation, they discovered a winding but well-beaten trail or
pathway, leading on down the valley, and which, out of pure
curiosity, they followed until it disappeared in a thicket of plum-trees
at the base of a low cliff of magnesian limestone.
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