'You have been more mother to Willie than his own,' he said.

With the quick motion always noticeable in the black races, she rose to her feet. She went to the door.

He watched her with wondering eyes.

She came back, caught him by the arm and peered into his face.

'You have a bad friend,' she said.

'Only one,' said Jim, with a smile, as he patted her on the head much as he would a dog.

She glanced to the right and then to the left.

'Do you know his name?' she said.

'Yes, Abe Dalton.'

She laughed, and he started.

'Abe Dalton!' she exclaimed. 'No! what has he to do with you? My people can guard you from him. It is not Dalton; it is--' she hesitated.

'Name him,' said Jim.

'Rodney Shaw!' she said.

He caught her by the wrist. He had met with treachery in black blood before, and he half mistrusted her.

'What do you mean?'

She looked frightened.

His grip tightened.

'What do you mean?' he asked again.

'I am afraid of him, afraid for you, for myself, for Willie,' she said in a low voice.

'Some of your legends,' he answered roughly. 'You blacks are all alike, half-brutal, half-beast.'

She shrank from him. They were the hardest words he had ever said to her.

'I'm sorry, Sal. I forgot myself. Tell me what you mean.'

'You know the legend of our tribe,' she said. 'No white man's blood shall mingle with our own unless calamity--I was taught that word--befall us.'

'Tell me the story, I forget it,' said Jim, as he sat down.

'This is as it was told to me by King Charlie, the chief of our tribe.

He rose from his meal and stood up alone, solemn, in the moonlight.'

Sal had posed for this effect, and Jim took it all in--but it was a genuine pose, which is not the case with _poseurs_ of the present day.

'He had eaten kangaroo and wallaby, and had supped well. You have seen King Charlie. True, he is only a black, but he has not the white man's curse upon him.'

Jim Dennis knew Sal in these moods, when the savage was uppermost.

'He looked upon me--I can see him now--a gaunt figure with the chain around his neck and the half-moon badge of his tribe on his chest. His hand was slowly raised, and he pointed at me. I will not give you the words of our tribe, it would be shame unto me, but I will tell you what he said.'

She raised herself to her full height.

'"You are cursed!" I can hear the words now. They hissed through my ears like a sound of running water at flood. "You are cursed!" Again he said it, and I shrank from him. What had I done, what fearful deed had I committed that I should be cursed?

'It was my mother's sin, not mine, and yet not hers. She was taken as a slave might be taken--and I was begot.

'"You are cursed!" It rang in my ears, it rings now. I can see the old king of our tribe rise up and cast me out.'

Jim Dennis watched her; he had never seen Sal in quite this mood before.

She looked like a prophetess.

'And when he cast me out what did I reply? I defied him. I said the sin of my mother ought not to be visited upon me. I said that the white man's hand was strong in the land, and that _he_ ought to suffer for his sins, not the poor "gin" that succ.u.mbed to him.

'I know King Charlie. He is a just man and good. He has dreamed the dream of our race, and he has wonderful visionary powers. But because he cursed me I left the camp and wandered forth. I was weary and I fell--you know where I fell--on the steps there, and you took me in as you would a little child, and saved me.

'Rodney Shaw is your enemy--he is mine,' she went on. 'He has tempted me and I have urged him on.'

'You have?' said Jim.

'Yes, and why? I have tried him and tested him. He desires me. He says I am to him more than all his stations and cattle. But why does he say that? He is your friend. And they say--Abe Dalton says--I am the mother of your child. They lie--and we know it.'

He tried to calm her.

'But where is the danger to me, Sal? You must be mistaken,' he said.

'Shaw hates you. There is something in him I do not understand,' said Sal.

'Never mind, my girl, we can get level with Rodney Shaw any day. I'm just commencing to find things out,' said Jim.

CHAPTER XV

A COWARDLY a.s.sAULT

At first Jim could hardly credit Sal's statement, but several things that had happened of late caused him to place credence in her words.

Moreover, he knew she was truthful and would not deceive him.