The Rainbow Trail

me for a short visit, and upon his return the party expected to start. But Nas Ta Bega did not come back. Then the ar

neglect work. Joe Lake threw a saddle on a mustang he would have scorned to notice in an ordinary m

are particularly what was in the wind. However, when Withers came out and s

ll you," repl

ded Sheffor

sending a Supreme Court judge out t

eplied

ah for six months. Lately this judge and his men have worked down into southern

he coming to

idden village over in the canyon. All the women have been a

lankly. "Those poor, lonely, g

ely. "This judge is after the polygamis

ygamists. Their husband

d wives-to find the law-breaking husbands. That'll be a job, or I don'

irl he had loved. But he had remembered only at poignant intervals, and the lapse of time had made thought of her a d

l be put on trial.... That girl-that child!... Shefford, you know she hasn't

eplied Sheff

oward the Sagi showed how he wanted to make for the upland country, with its clear springs and valleys of grass. Withers mounted his bay and with a hurried farewe

emed to Shefford that the hard half-year of suffering since he had been there had disappeared. Withers, to Shefford's regret, did not enter the Sagi. He turned off to the north and to

rength. If he had loved the glare, the endless level, the deceiving distance, the shifting sand, it had certainly not been as he loved this softer, wilder, more intimate upland. With the red peaks shining up into

a spirit gained from victory over himself in the harsher and sterner desert below. And, strange to him, he found his old se

e greater part of his mind was given over to the thought

e. Then an Indian always found easier steps in a trail and shorter cuts. Withers put his mount to some bad slopes, and Shefford had no choice but to follow. But they crossed th

by a small natural stone bridge. A line of poplar-trees shaded each foot-path. The little log cabins and stone houses and cottages were half hidden in foliage now tinted with autumn colors. Toward the center of the town the houses and stores and shops fronted upon the street and along one side of a green square, or plaza. H

ywhere and the big canvas-covered wagons, many of the people were visitors. A crowd surrounded the hall-a dusty, booted, spurred, shirt-sleeved and sombreroed assemblage that did not wear the hall-mark Shef

the side where, under a tre

he Mormons are wild. There's a tough outfit from Durango. If they can get anything to drink

, with apparent unconcern, turned to lay a hand upon Shefford. The trader's face h

short Indian with the chaps. He's got a face big as a ham, dark, fierce. That's Shadd!... You ought

y in charge of an Indian. Shefford had to take a second and closer glance to distinguish the half-breed. At once he recognized in Shadd the broad-faced squat Indian who had paid him a threatening visit that night long ago in the mouth of the Sagi. A fire ran along Shefford's veins and seemed to conc

ere on other and more important business. All the same, before I forget, let me remind you that Shadd has had you spotted ever since you came out h

back in Tuba, when I first

that.... Come on now, le

e trader, who appeared

shy beard blocked th

" said Withers

mitted Withers and Shefford

appeared to be affected with the same kind of blindness, for he stood bewildered a moment. But he recovered sooner than Shefford. Gradually the darkness shrouding m

ead to look with bated bre

e prisoners. They made a somber group. Some were hooded, some veiled, all clad in dark garments except one on the front bench, and she was dressed in white. She wore a long hood that concealed her face. Shefford recognized the hood and then th

mons of Joe Lake's type, and these men appeared troubled, even distressed and at a loss. There was little about them resembling the stern, quiet, somber austerity of the more matured men, and nothing at all of the strange, aloof, serene impassiveness of the gray-bearded old patriarchs. These venerable men were the Mormons of the old scho

ed Withers, nudging Shefford.

and then beside him a m

?" asked Sheffo

t I don't know his relation to the Church. They don't call him elder or bishop. But I'll bet he's some pumpkins. He never

so close that it showed the lean, wolfish line of his jaw. All his features were of striking sharpness. His eyes, of a singularly brilliant blue, were yet cold and pale. The brow had a serious, thoughtful cast; long furrows sloped down the cheeks. It was a strange, secreti

went into effect," whispered Withers. "Nobody knows and nobody w

ol of men. Shefford, long schooled now in his fair-mindedness, fought down the feelings of other years, and waited with patience. Who was he to judge Waggoner or any other Mormon? But wh

; several sat down at a table upon which were books and papers, and others remained standing. These last were all roughly garbed, i

n suited to the prosecution of these secret Mormons. He had a ponderous brow, a deep, cavernous eye that e

y he silenced that hallful of people. Then he perfunctorily and briefly stated that certain women had been arrested upon suspicion of being sealed wives of Mormon polygamists, and were to be herewith tried by a judge of the United States Co

it down, and showed no sign that she had heard. Then the judge courteously asked her to take the chair. She refused. And Stone nodded his head as if he h

ur veil," request

d. Her dark eyes, scornful and blazing, passed over the judge and his assistants, and on to the crowd behind the railing. Shefford, keen as a blade, with all his faculties absorbed, fancied he saw Ruth stiffen and change slightly as her glance encountered some one in that crowd. Then the p

ge Stone, leaning back and fix

," was the

ld are

ent

the judge. He allowed time for

itch,

r parents

es

ou a M

es

a marri

N

Almost Shefford believed she spoke truth. The judge stroked h

u-any ch

azing eyes met t

e enough, Shefford thought, and

hidden village

es

e name of t

has

Fre-donia, another vil

es

re are few men there. Is it the same kind

es

ia mean? The name-

ns free

urned to whisper to his assistants, and pres

will

triking only in that strange, stony aloofness noted in the older men. Here, Shefford thought, was the real Mormon, different in a way he could not define from Ruth. This woman seated herself in the chair and calmly faced her prosec

ed Judge Stone, glancing

y Da

or marri

d's name w

Is he

N

ive when you wer

and later here

e both M

es

ve any chil

es

w m

wo

hey li

them is

paper and then slowly ra

u marri

N

tes, and held a whispered colloq

d there were five children found in

M

u their

es

only one, the eldest, according to y

es

r-or who are the fathers

not

words had. A strong, mystic wall of cold flint insulated her. Strangely it came to Shefford ho

all of these children?" he queried, w

do

remind you that y

n did no

are nameless, th

ey

not the sealed wi

swe

live-maintai

wor

at

bake, and wor

comfortable cabin, even luxurious, c

left me co

a warning finger

perjury? For a year? Far from your home an

can't speak what I don't

angry impatience, Judge

her. Fetch the n

fferent in tone and temper, at precisely the same point as had been made in the case of Mrs. Dan

once spoken in cold blood under oath, how tragic, how appallingly significant of the shadow, the mystery, the yoke that bound them! He was amazed, saddened. He felt bewildered. He needed to think out the meaning of the falsehoods of women he knew to be good and noble. Surely religion, instead of fear and loyalty, was the foundation and the strength of this disgr

ty led that dark-hooded, white-clad, slender woman to the defendant's chair? She did not walk with the po

ur hood," request

was communicated to him in a sympathy which made his pulses beat. He held his breath while she removed the hood.

as clearly as if the fact had been blazoned on the walls, that Mary's face had been unknown to the

y a young girl, and a court, confronted suddenly with her youth and the suspicion attached to her, could not but have been shocked. Then her beauty made her seem, in that somber company, indeed the white flower for which she had been named. But, more likely, it was her agony that bound t

d not look at or seem to see any one behind the railing. Shefford was absolutely sure there was

the oath her lips were seen to

r name?" ask

e was low, with

your oth

n't t

before the judge, marked her with strange simplicity. I

your pare

l," she repl

anted to make the examination as easy as possible

rents Mormons

nt respect, contrasting markedly with th

ere not bor

, s

ld are

r eighteen.

know your

N

were yo

n't t

it in

s,

e you lived i

except l

n the hidden village wh

es

sited here-this t

s here-till

t as a man was running counter to his duty

on NOW?" he que

d, and here her voice

efford, he was astounded. When his wits flashed back and he weighed her words and saw in her face truth as clear a

impressed him at a moment when all that older generation of Mormons looked as hard and immutable as iron. Either Shefford was over-excited and mistaken or the hour had become fraught with greater suspense. The secret, the mystery, the power, the hate, the religion of a strange people were thick and

mostly in the country-away f

," replie

about the government

, s

hing his queries, leading up to t

this particular defen

a of the conseque

, s

rstand what

s to

u tell

, s

ver told a

replied, almo

ers. Perhaps his task was not easy; certainly it was not pleasant. Then he

tand what a se

ever be

here are sealed

I've been

deep breaths drawn guardedly. The vital question hung like a sword over the white-faced girl. Perhaps she

aled wife?" h

effort, but the words would not come.

she

which he had ever seen the girl. He heard, he felt, he sensed the fatal thing. The beautiful voice had lacked some quality before present. And the thing wanting was s

arried?" went

she answere

ever bee

, s

ect ever to

No,

th her strong hands clasping the black hood, a

he judge asked, haltingly. It

N

nd that his face was purple showed Sheff

, too, were visited-over there by me

no,

e he wiped his moist face that same foreboding

elf. He did not know this spirit that flamed up

e a sealed wife," ca

silence, but

seemed to

ate child

yet still she did not speak. It was the stren

usband?" he th

ifting a shaking hand, but of some one or of some thing far more terrible than any punishment she could have received in the sentence o

o visits you?" he thu

r-knew-

every Mormon in this country and bring

N'T TELL!... I-NEVER-SAW

f an agony and terror that unfathomably seemed not to be for herself-these transfixed the court and th