But she
was haunted by the face of the man Jake, as by a vision of evil, and
on one pretext and another she contrived to secure the presence of
some one of the Indian women in her house whenever Alessandro
was away. Every day she saw the man riding past. Once he had
galloped up to the open door, looked in, spoken in a friendly way
to her, and ridden on. Ramona's instinct was right. Jake was
merely biding his time. He had made up his mind to settle in the
San Jacinto valley, at least for a few years, and he wished to have
an Indian woman come to live with him and keep his house. Over
in Santa Ysabel, his brother had lived in that way with an Indian
mistress for three years; and when he sold out, and left Santa
Ysabel, he had given the woman a hundred dollars and a little
house for herself and her child. And she was not only satisfied, but
held herself, in consequence of this temporary connection with a
white man, much above her Indian relatives and friends. When an
Indian man had wished to marry her, she had replied scornfully
that she would never marry an Indian; she might marry another
white man, but an Indian,-- never.
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