From the day of Fred’s arrival, he and Thea were unceasingly active. They took long rides into the Navajo pine forests, bought turquoises1 and silver bracelets2 from the wandering Indian herdsmen, and rode twenty miles to Flagstaff upon the slightest pretext3. Thea had never felt this pleasant excitement about any man before, and she found herself trying very hard to please young Ottenburg. She was never tired, never dull. There was a zest4 about waking up in the morning and dressing5, about walking, riding, even about sleep.
One morning when Thea came out from her room at seven o’clock, she found Henry and Fred on the porch, looking up at the sky. The day was already hot and there was no breeze. The sun was shining, but heavy brown clouds were hanging in the west, like the smoke of a forest fire. She and Fred had meant to ride to Flagstaff that morning, but Biltmer advised against it, foretelling6 a storm. After breakfast they lingered about the house, waiting for the weather to make up its mind. Fred had brought his guitar, and as they had the dining-room to themselves, he made Thea go over some songs with him. They got interested and kept it up until Mrs. Biltmer came to set the table for dinner. Ottenburg knew some of the Mexican things Spanish Johnny used to sing. Thea had never before happened to tell him about Spanish Johnny, and he seemed more interested in Johnny than in Dr. Archie or Wunsch.
After dinner they were too restless to endure the ranch7 house any longer, and ran away to the canyon8 to practice with single-sticks. Fred carried a slicker and a sweater, and he made Thea wear one of the rubber hats that hung in Biltmer’s gun-room. As they crossed the pasture land the clumsy slicker kept catching9 in the lacings of his leggings.
“Why don’t you drop that thing?” Thea asked. “I won’t mind a shower. I’ve been wet before.”
“No use taking chances.”
From the canyon they were unable to watch the sky, since only a strip of the zenith was visible. The flat ledge10 about the watch-tower was the only level spot large enough for single-stick exercise, and they were still practicing there when, at about four o’clock, a tremendous roll of thunder echoed between the cliffs and the atmosphere suddenly became thick.
Fred thrust the sticks in a cleft11 in the rock. “We’re in for it, Thea. Better make for your cave where there are blankets.” He caught her elbow and hurried her along the path before the cliff-houses. They made the half-mile at a quick trot12, and as they ran the rocks and the sky and the air between the cliffs turned a turbid13 green, like the color in a moss14 agate15. When they reached the blanketed rock room, they looked at each other and laughed. Their faces had taken on a greenish pallor. Thea’s hair, even, was green.
“Dark as pitch in here,” Fred exclaimed as they hurried over the old rock doorstep. “But it’s warm. The rocks hold the heat. It’s going to be terribly cold outside, all right.” He was interrupted by a deafening16 peal17 of thunder. “Lord, what an echo! Lucky you don’t mind. It’s worth watching out there. We needn’t come in yet.”
The green light grew murkier18 and murkier. The smaller vegetation was blotted19 out. The yuccas, the cedars21, and piñons stood dark and rigid22, like bronze. The swallows flew up with sharp, terrified twitterings. Even the quaking asps were still. While Fred and Thea watched from the doorway23, the light changed to purple. Clouds of dark vapor24, like chlorine gas, began to float down from the head of the canyon and hung between them and the cliff-houses in the opposite wall. Before they knew it, the wall itself had disappeared. The air was positively25 venomous-looking, and grew colder every minute. The thunder seemed to crash against one cliff, then against the other, and to go shrieking26 off into the inner canyon.
The moment the rain broke, it beat the vapors27 down. In the gulf28 before them the water fell in spouts29, and dashed from the high cliffs overhead. It tore aspens and chokecherry bushes out of the ground and left the yuccas hanging by their tough roots. Only the little cedars stood black and unmoved in the torrents30 that fell from so far above. The rock chamber31 was full of fine spray from the streams of water that shot over the doorway. Thea crept to the back wall and rolled herself in a blanket, and Fred threw the heavier blankets over her. The wool of the Navajo sheep was soon kindled32 by the warmth of her body, and was impenetrable to dampness. Her hair, where it hung below the rubber hat, gathered the moisture like a sponge. Fred put on the slicker, tied the sweater about his neck, and settled himself cross-legged beside her. The chamber was so dark that, although he could see the outline of her head and shoulders, he could not see her face. He struck a wax match to light his pipe. As he sheltered it between his hands, it sizzled and sputtered33, throwing a yellow flicker34 over Thea and her blankets.
“You look like a gypsy,” he said as he dropped the match. “Any one you’d rather be shut up with than me? No? Sure about that?”
“I think I am. Aren’t you cold?”
“Not especially.” Fred smoked in silence, listening to the roar of the water outside. “We may not get away from here right away,” he remarked.
“I shan’t mind. Shall you?”
He laughed grimly and pulled on his pipe. “Do you know where you’re at, Miss Thea Kronborg?” he said at last. “You’ve got me going pretty hard, I suppose you know. I’ve had a lot of s............