The Young Forester | Page 7

into a windy darkness. A lamp glimmered in the station
window. By its light I made out several men, the foremost of whom
had a dark, pointed face and glittering eyes. He wore a strange hat, and
I knew from pictures I had seen that he was a Mexican. Then the bulky
form of Buell loomed up. I called, but evidently he did not hear me.
The men took his grips, and they moved away to disappear in the
darkness. While I paused, hoping to see some one to direct me, the train
puffed out, leaving me alone on the platform.
When I turned the corner I saw two dim lights, one far to the left, the
other to the right, and the black outline of buildings under what
appeared to be the shadow of a mountain. It was the quietest and
darkest town I had ever struck.
I decided to turn toward the right-hand light, for the conductor had said
"down the street." I set forth at a brisk pace, but the loneliness and
strangeness of the place were rather depressing.
Before I had gone many steps, however, the sound of running water
halted me, and just in the nick of time, for I was walking straight into a
ditch. By peering hard into the darkness and feeling my way I found a
bridge. Then it did not take long to reach the light. But it was a saloon,
and not the hotel. One peep into it served to make me face about in
double-quick time, and hurry in the opposite direction.
Hearing a soft footfall, I glanced over my shoulder, to see the Mexican
that I had noticed at the station. He was coming from across the street. I
wondered if he were watching me. He might be. My heart began to beat
violently. Turning once again, I discovered that the fellow could not be
seen in the pitchy blackness. Then I broke into a run.

III. THE TRAIL
A short dash brought me to the end of the block; the side street was not
so dark, and after I had crossed this open space I glanced backward.
Soon I sped into a wan circle of light, and, reaching a door upon which
was a hotel sign, I burst in. Chairs were scattered about a bare office; a
man stirred on a couch, and then sat up, blinking.
"I'm afraid--I believe some one's chasing me," I said.
He sat there eying me, and then drawled, sleepily:
"Thet ain't no call to wake a feller, is it?"
The man settled himself comfortably again, and closed his eyes.
"Say, isn't this a hotel? I want a room!" I cried.
"Up-stairs; first door." And with that the porter went to sleep in good
earnest.
I made for the stairs, and, after a backward look into the street, I ran up.
A smelly lamp shed a yellowish glare along a hall. I pushed open the
first door, and, entering the room, bolted myself in. Then all the
strength went out of my legs. When I sat down on the bed I was in a
cold sweat and shaking like a leaf. Soon the weakness passed, and I
moved about the room, trying to find a lamp or candle. Evidently the
hotel, and, for that matter, the town of Holston, did not concern itself
with such trifles as lights. On the instant I got a bad impression of
Holston. I had to undress in the dark. When I pulled the window open a
little at the top the upper sash slid all the way down. I managed to get it
back, and tried raising the lower sash. It was very loose, but it stayed
up. Then I crawled into bed.
Though I was tired and sleepy, my mind whirled so that I could not get
to sleep. If I had been honest with myself I should have wished myself
back home. Pennsylvania seemed a long way off, and the adventures

that I had dreamed of did not seem so alluring, now that I was in a
lonely room in a lonely, dark town. Buell had seemed friendly and
kind--at least, in the beginning. Why had he not answered my call? The
incident did not look well to me. Then I fell to wondering if the
Mexican had really followed me. The first thing for me in the morning
would be to buy a revolver. Then if any Mexicans--
A step on the tin roof outside frightened me stiff. I had noticed a porch,
or shed, under my window. Some one must have climbed upon it. I
stopped breathing to listen. For what seemed moments there was no
sound. I wanted to think that the noise might have been made by a cat,
but I couldn't.