There was a bright moonlight,but you needn't be afraid I'm going to talk about THAT;this isn't any tale about moons.I was sitting at my window because I couldn't sleep,not that I expected to see anything unusual.There's a big summer-house at the far end of the lawn,all covered with vines,and there's a walk between dense shrubbery,leading to it from the house.I guess that's why I didn't see anybody go to that summer-house.The first thing I DID see was Red Kimball come out and slip through a little side-gate,and hurry along the country road.As soon as I saw him,I guessed that he and Mr.Gledware had been conspiring in the summer-house.What a chance I had missed to act the good scout!
But it seemed no use to go down,after Red Kimball had left.If Mr.Gledware was still in the summer-house,I knew he was alone;and if he'd returned to the house,all was over for the night.I was wondering what new plot they had formed,and how I was to find out about it,when my eye was caught by a movement in the hedge that runs down to the side-gate.The movement was as slight as possible,but as there wasn't ANY breeze,it made me shiver a little,for I knew somebody was skulking there.I watched,and pretty soon something passed through the gate,light and quick and stealthy,like the shadow of a cloud.Only,there wasn't any cloud;and in the flash of moonlight I saw it was our old friend--Red Feather.
Almost as soon as I recognized him,he had disappeared behind a large lilac-bush;but I had seen what he held in the hand behind his back--it was a long unsheathed knife.The lilac-bush stood close to the summer-house.He fell flat to the ground,and though I couldn't see him,after that I knew he was wriggling his way around the bush.You would have been ashamed of me for a minute or two,for I kept sitting beside the window as if I had been turned to a statue of ice.I felt just that cold,too!
But maybe I didn't stay there as long as it seemed.First thing I knew,I was running downstairs as lightly and swiftly as I could,and out through the door at the end of the side hall that had been left wide open--and I was at the summer-house door like a flash.There was a wide path of moonlight across the concrete floor and right in that glare was a sight never to be forgotten--Red Feather,about to stab Mr.Gledware to the heart!He held Mr.Gledware by the throat with one hand,and his other hand held the knife up for the blow.Mr.Gledware lay on his back,and Red Feather had one knee pressed upon his breast.In the light,Mr.Gledware's face was purple and dreadfully distorted,but the Indian looked about as usual--just serious and unchangeable.
When I reached the doorway,I blotted out most of the moonlight,and I drew back so Red Feather could see who I was.He looked up and let go of Mr.Gledware's throat,but didn't move,otherwise.'RED FEATHER!'I said.'GIVE ME THAT KNIFE.'
Mr.Gledware,recognizing my voice,tried to entreat me to save him,but he was half-strangled,and only made sounds that turned me faint,to know that the man my mother had married was such a coward.
Red Feather told me that if I came any nearer,or if I cried for help,he would murder that man and escape;but that if I would step into the shadow and listen,he'd give his reason for doing it before it was done.So I went across the room from him to save time,hoping I could persuade him to change his mind.I stood in the shadow,and in a low voice,I reminded him of his kindness to me,and of our kindness to him,and I begged for Mr.Gledware's life.
Red Feather asked me if I knew Mr.Gledware was my stepfather,yet hadn't acknowledged it to me.I said yes.He asked me if I didn't know Mr.Gledware had kept still about it because he didn't want the trouble and expense of taking care of me.I said,of course I had thought of that.He asked if I knew he had deserted my mother's dead body in the desert to save his miserable life.I said I knew that,but he had taken me with him,and he had tried to save me,and I was going to save him.
Red Feather shook his head.No,he said,I could not save him,for he would be dead in two or three minutes--and then he bent over Mr.Gledware,who all this time was afraid to move or to make a sound.I hurried to remind him that he hadn't told me his reason for wanting to kill the man.
Then Red Feather said that when that man rode with me among the Indians,Red Feather's daughter had taken a fancy to him,and Mr.Gledware had married her;and I had been kept away from him so he'd forget me and not turn his thoughts toward his own people;and they had taught me that my name was Willock because they were going to take me to you,Brick.Isn't it wonderful?That day you found the deserted wagon,and buried my mother,Red Feather was watching you from the mountain and he wouldn't kill you because you made that grave and knelt down to talk to the Great Spirit.Afterward,when he rode home and found that his daughter and Mr.Gledware were to be married,he made up his mind that if you succeeded in keeping hidden from Red Kimball and his band,you would be the one to take care of me.And when two years had passed and you were still safe,he brought me to you!What a glad day that was!
