"Beast!" she said, and spat
towards him; then turned and fled to the nearest house, where she
sank on the floor and burst into tears, saying that the man below
there in the road had been rude to her. Yes, the women said, he
was a bad man; they all knew it. Of this Ramona said no word to
Alessandro. She dared not; she believed he would kill Jake.
When the furious Jake confided to his friend Merrill his repulse,
and the indignity accompanying it, Merrill only laughed at him,
and said: "I could have told you better than to try that woman.
She's married, fast enough. There's plenty you can get, though, if
you want 'em. They're first-rate about a house, and jest's faithful's
dogs. You can trust 'em with every dollar you've got."
From this day, Ramona never knew an instant's peace or rest till
she stood on the rim of the refuge valley, high on San Jacinto.
Then, gazing around, looking up at the lofty pinnacles above,
which seemed to pierce the sky, looking down upon the world,-- it
seemed the whole world, so limitless it stretched away at her
feet,-- feeling that infinite unspeakable sense of nearness to
Heaven, remoteness from earth which comes only on mountain
heights, she drew in a long breath of delight, and cried: "At last! at
last, Alessandro! Here we are safe! This is freedom! This is joy!"
"Can Majella be content?" he asked.
Pages:
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647