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Rainbow Pete. By Richard Matthews Hallet · The Best Short Stories of 1917

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Section nineteen of the Best Short Stories of nineteen seventeen. This is a LibriVox
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recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
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to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by rel the Best Short
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Stories of nineteen seventeen by various Rainbow Pete by Richard Matthews Hallett from The Pictorial
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Review. In pursuance of a policy to detain us on the island at Sick
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Dog until the arrival of his daughter, Papa, Heisster thought fit to tell
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us the fate of Rainbow Pete, of whose physical deformity and thirst for gold
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we knew something already. Rainbow Pete had come to Mushrat Portage playing a flute
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at a time when preparations were being made to blast a road bed through the
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wilderness for the railroad. Mushra Portage had been but recently a willow clump and
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a black rock ledge hanging over a precipitous valley. The hand of the Indian
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could be seen one day parting the leaves of the trail, and on the
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next drills came, and tins of black powder and hordes of greedy men blind
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with a burning zeal four quote, monkeying with powder unquote, as our host
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of sick dogs said, they were strange men, horse men, unreasonable men
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who cast sheep's eyes at the dark woman from Regina, whose shack rented of
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Scarecrow Charlie, crowned the high point of the ledge. She was the only
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woman on Mushrat, and at a time just before the blasting began, when
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Rainbow Pete sauntered over the trail with his pick and his flute and his dirty
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bag of rock specimens, she was hungrily watched and waded on by the new
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inhabitants of that ancient portage Mushrat, whose destinies were soon to be so splendid,
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and whose skies were to be rocked and rent by the thunders of men
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struggling with reluctant nature, monkeying with powder. When Pete laid down his tools
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and guns on the table at Scarecrow Charlie's, where the woman was employed,
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had he and his heart some foreshadowing presentiment of the peril he was in,
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of the sharp, destroying fire of a resolute woman's eyes, which he was
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subjecting himself to in including her in his universal caress. Who knows, perhaps
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his flute had whispered tidings to him. He was, said, Papa ibister,
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immensely proud of his plaything, this huge, gaunt sailor, who had
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been bent into the shape of a rainbow, the foot of a rainbow,
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by a chance shot which shattered his hip and gave him an impressive forward cant
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which appeared to women. It seemed, I quote, my old friend,
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in the light of an endearing droop. The romantic visitation of this musical sailorman
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made made the efforts of all mushrat as nothing but rainbow. Pete seemed unaware
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of the fiery jealousies glowing in the night on all sides of him. When
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he fixed his eyes on her for the first time, with that mellow assurance
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of a careless master of the hearts and whims of women. What dish is
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shed to her? Said our old friend. It was skillful. Ere it
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was put like a notable question. If she took it. Show you don't
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want to go out tonight, he said to her, with his guns on
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the table. No I do not, she said to the man there,
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you will be tagging the words out of my mouth to suit your heart.
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He went on saying to her, Mark, thish, I'm making this a
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command to you. You don't want to go out tonight, do not do
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it. This, he told her, was on account of stray bullets,
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because he was meaning to shoot up that place. Hack. It was a
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trick of his to trap her into denying him when he had made no offer.
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Old Isbister laughed heartily at this picture of Pete in the days of his
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triumph. He was a captivating man. It appeared he was tattooed on his
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arms were snakes and the like of that, daggers and the like of that,
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Dragons and the like of that. This was a romantic skin to the
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man, and his blue eyes were like the diamond drills they were bringing to
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mush Rat. Oh my, said the woman leaning at his table. This
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is what will be keeping me from mass I shouldn't wonder. This was a
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prairie woman from Regina. Now Mark. It was whispered to be no credit
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to human nature that she had had to leave that town. No, she
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was a fool woman, very deep, with burning eyes. It was hard
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talking with her because of her lingering speech. Oh, she was a massive
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woman for the small shoes she wore. She was tall as high as Rainbow
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Pete's shoulder. She purchased scent for her hair. This I know, having
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seen it standing in the bottles. She was a prairie woman. This was
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a wild night we spent on Mushrat after Pete's reproving the woman. There in
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Scarecrow Charley's place, Smash McGregor, the little doctor was sitting between us in
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his yellow skull cap. And Willis Countryman was reading and drinking in one corner,
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listening to the laughing men. There. They were laughing, thinking of
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the fortunes there would be here when blasting begun. But Rainbow Pete was not
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one of the rockmen. No, he told them strange tales of gold.
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He he was a thirst for gold. Strange tales he told of gold once,
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how in Australia he had hold of a lump of it as big as
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poor McGregor's skull. But isn't it a perishing pity? Oh? Why this
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was just a desert where he was, there was no water. He grew
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faint carrying the nugget. Our mouths were open when the man told us he
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had dropped it in the desert with his name carved on it. There it
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is to this day, sinking in the sands, he said, Oh,
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the proud woman from Regina. There she turned her dark eyes over our heads,
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never looking at the plausible man at all, but she had heard him
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gold, said Smash McGregor. Why there's gold enough in the world. I
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there's comfort too, if you'd nowhere to take it, said Rainbow Pete,
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twirling here at his mustache and looking at the woman. There's gold, said
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McGregor, for any man. Yes, my hearty, said Pete. It's
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twinkling in the river beds. It shines in the sands under your feet.
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But still it's hard to get in your two fisties. Why, said Smash
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McGregor. I never hear there's a part of gold at the foot of every
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rainbow. Oh, my friend. As he went mentioning the rainbow, there
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was a thundercap on the brow of that great sailor. So they call me
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Rainbow Pete, he said, Look, Dan, said McGregor, take your
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pick and strike the ground at your feet. Rainbow Pete was not hearing them.
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This is a man I have been following on many trails, he muttered,
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This man who made a rainbow of me mark this he shall thirst.
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If I meet him, I he shall burn with these fingers at his throat
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he shall have gold poured into him like liquid. However, it was plain
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he had no love for this man who had fashioned him in the form of
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a rainbow. Why is this man called, said the little doctor. It's
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a dark man. Where a red cap called paul Vashi said, rainbow pete,
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he spends his time escaping me. Look where he shut me in the
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hip. Now we shielded him, and he drew out his shirt, showing
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the wound in the thigh, which made a rainbow of him. But stop,
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didn't McGregor discover the strange business on his spine? Watch dish, however,
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he said, this is a palm tree, said the man. Stand
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close about me. Oh my, We stood close watching the man twisting up
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his shirt, and here we saw the palm tree going up his spine.
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And every joint of his spine was used for a joint of the tree like
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and the long blue leaves were waving on his shoulder blade when he would be
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rippling the skin. This was a fine broad back like satin to be putting
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a palm tree on. Look, as I'm lifting my head. Here,
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I see the dark woman silent at the bar, burning up with curious what
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we are hiding here. Listen, it's the man's voice under his shirt.
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This was done in the South Seas when I was young, he said to
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us, And the bigger I grow, the bigger the tree is. And
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now what next? Then he put a shirt back and stood up to be
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fixing an eye on the woman from Regina. He was first to be waited
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on at Scarecrow Charlie's. Yes, he was first. This was a mystery
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of a man to that dark woman from Regina. Now, in these days
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before blasting began, they were fond of talking marriage on Mushrat, thinking of
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this woman from Regina who was at the disposal of no man there. They
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were full of doubts and wonderments when they would be idling together in Scarecrow Charlie's.
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But now one morning, when they were idling there, shoe pack Sam
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must be yawning and saying to them, oh my, this is the time
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now before the sun is up. I'm glad I am not married. It's
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a pleasure to be a single man at this hour. He he a's a
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usual thing. We're not gratified at all for this favor of heaven. A
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single man, Shoepack Sam was saying, would not have to be looking at
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the wreck of his wife in the morning. And this is when women were
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caught unawares, and the gilnet's time is lowering for them. They are pale
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about the gills. Then he said, they are just drowned fish. They
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have stayed in the nets too long. No, it's not certain, said
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Rainbow Pete. She might be pleasant looking on the pillow with her hair adrift.
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Then Shoepack told him that the salt water had leaked into his brains,
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what with his voyages. Still, this is a beautiful cheek, said Pete,
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speaking low, because she was moving about beyond the boards. These things
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are purchased, said Shoepack, scraping his feet together in yellow moose hides.
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Listen to may. I have seen them in a long line on her shelf,
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with many odors. So they were talking together, and Rainbow Pete was
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putting his fingers to the flute and staring down the valley where Throat river was
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twisting like a rag. I could have had a wife for speaking at kicking
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horse, he said, there is one for speaking now, said shoe pack.
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In a few days I go north. Rainbow Pete went muttering, there
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is gold at Dungeon Creek. I have seen samples of this vein. She
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will be the less trouble to you. Then, if you're not satisfied on
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this question, said shoepack Sam. Then Rainbow Pete said he was not so
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certain of her. On questioning himself, he was a modest man. This
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pontree and the other designs you have not been speaking about will be enticing her,
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said shoepack Sam. But do not speak to her of going away at
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the time of asking her. This is wisdom, said Rainbow Pete, and
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he put his lips to the flute to be giving us a touch of music.
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This was a light reason marriage, doesn't it seem. This was what
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Willis countryman called a marriage of convenience in the fashion of Frogs II. It
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was convenient to them to be married. He was a great reader, Willis.
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So they were married. I'm telling you, but it's impossible to know
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what he said to her, and speaking about it. They were married by
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the man called Justice of the Peace on Mushrat. This was before the blasting,
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and it was the first marriage on Mushrat. Then they lived together in
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the little house she had chosen, sitting on the black ledge above scarecrow Charlie's
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eating place. Now it was a wonderment to Mushrat to hear the sound of
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Rainbow Pete's old flute dropping from the dark ledge by night, when they were
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taking their opinion of matrimony up there together with a candle at the window.
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But now look here, when shoe pac Sam came plucking him at the elbow,
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saying was I right or was I wrong? Then Rainbow Pete stared at
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him with his eyes like drills, and he said to him, you were
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curious and nothing more. Oh my, isn't this the perversity of married men?
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They bore him a grudge on Mushrat for his silence, because doesn't it
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seem this was like a general marriage, satisfying all men's souls. It was
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treasonable. Oh my, it was Sailor's mischief to be living on that ledge
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and dropping nothing but notes from his greasy flute. These are sweet, but
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they are hard to be turning into language. Now. One morning, when
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I saw him coming from the ledge with his bag of specimens over his shoulder.
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I saw, without speaking to him, that he was parching with his
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thirst for gold. He was going away into the bush, thinking no more
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of his new wife. Oh he was a casual man. How is this,
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I said? Can she be left alone on the ledge? Can she
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not? Said Rainbow Pete, old fellow, This is a substantial woman.
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She was alone before I came. This is not the same thing, I
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said. Is the same woman, said rainbow Pete. She will be missing
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nothing but the flute. Oh my, wasn't the flute a little thing to
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reckon with. He went north dreaming of gold, and here the matter they
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were thinking about was locked in his heart. They were angry with the man
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of Mushrat. This was not what they were looking for. Between friends.
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They were hoping to learn the result of the experiment, But this was vain.
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When he was gone, I saw her looking down into the valley where
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the first shots were being fired in the rock. I the sun was dazzling
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her eyes, but she did not move, sitting as if her arms had
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been chopped from the shoulders. Now it was not many days after this that
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the blasting was begun on Mushrat. Men came with instruments stamped by the government.
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These they pointed down the trail, drove stakes into the ground. These
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were great days in Mushrat. Oh. Yes, numbers of Swedes and Italians
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were in a desperate way monkeying with powder. It's a fetching business in a
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week. Look here, scarecrow Charlie left his eating place to go monking with
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powder like the others. And disn't he get a bolt of iron through his
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brain one morning? Oh, it's very much as if some one had pushed
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a broom handle through his skull. That dark woman from Regina was not dismayed.
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She ran the eating place herself. This was a famous place. They
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heard of this as far west as Regina, and they came here to work
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and eat. Attracted by her. She was valuable to the contractors bringing labor
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here. Doesn't it seem an achievement for a married woman. Still, Rainbow
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Pete was not remembered after a time, and she was a dark beauty with
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a reputation for not saying much, my my. These were golden days for
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Smash mc gregor. I ponder over them, thinking what a business he had.
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He was paid by the contractors to be sorting out arms and legs putting
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the short ones together one box and the long ones in another, marked with
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charcoal to be shipped. Oh, they were just gathering up parts of mortals
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in packing cases, dispatching them to throat river landing. And blood was leaking
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on the decks every way, little lines. They were unlikely consignments. Then,
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my friend, there came one night a dark man wearing a red cap.
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And here under his arm he had the instrument with strings. This was
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the chief contractor under the government in this region. He was rich at Winnipeg,
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he had stabled many blood horses. Then they were clustering about him at
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Scarecrow Charley's, asking him his name. This he said was pull Washie.
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Oh my, now we knew him. This was the man who had given
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Pete his shape of a rainbow. Doesn't it seem an unfortunate thing for him
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to be coming here? Still, he did not know at first that this
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dark woman standing there was the wife of Rainbow Pete. He went flashing at
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her with his teeth. The dark musician, ay, he was better with
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the music than Rainbow Pete's old flute. He sang, plucking this instrument with
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a jolly face. Ha ha. She leaned over the bar, looking at
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him and dreaming of the prairies. Then they told him that this woman was
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the wife of Rainbow Pete. Ahh, he said, but, my friends,
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a rainbow is not for very long. It is beautiful, but look
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it vanishesn't air Was he afraid without saying so that I cannot tell you?
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Still he stayed on mushrat. He was the destroyer of his countrymen. They
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blew themselves to pieces in his service, coming in great numbers. When he
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crooked his finger. Then, my friend, he made himself noticeable to that
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dark woman. He took his instrument to the ledge and sang to her.
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This I know from Willis Countryman, who lived near that place. He told
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me that the man sang in the night a soft song, and that the
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woman listened. Ay, she listened in the window, looking down into the
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valley where Throat River went roaring, and the great falls were like rags waving
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in the dark. I she sat watching the river come out of the north,
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where Rainbow Pete was cruising after gold. This Willis Countryman I'm telling you
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about was a fine man in his old age for reading. Oh, it
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was not easy talking to the man with his muttering and muttering, and his
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chin down firm until the book. When he had his shack on Mouse Island,
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the fire jumped over from the wind rows. They were burning in a
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right of way. What next? Didn't he put his furs in a canoe
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to sink in the lee of the island. And there he went on reading
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in the night, with his chin out of water, and the life from
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his house blazing and lighting up the book in his fist. Oh my,
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he was great for reading Willis Well. One night he came telling me about
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some queer women on a beach singing are It was impossible to keep away from
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them while they were acted. What is their name? Again? He made
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a prolonged effort to remember, sighed painfully, fixed his gaze. I brought
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him back, as if from a fit of epilepsy by the interjection of the
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word quote siren, unquote I, he said, slowly and sadly. The
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men put wax in their ears. Now mark this. The day after I
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was hearing this of willis the woman put her hand on my arm as I
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was passing a ledge. You are a friend of my husband's, She whispered
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to me. What now, I said, Will he come back to me.
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I wonder, she said, looking in the valley. This is a
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long business searching for gold. I went muttering, No man can say I
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have been unfaithful to him, She said to me, the fierce woman,
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breathing through her teeth. I have been speaking to no man. This is
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certain, I said to her. If he does not come according to my
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dream, I am a lost woman by this way of going on, She
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said to me, how is this. There were tears flowing on the face
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while she was telling me she was betwitched by the singing of pel Vashi.
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Oh, at first she would just lie listening there. But now the man
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with his sweet voice was drawing her from her bed to come, putting aside
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the scented bottles and leaning in the window. Now, I said, my
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good woman, I am an old man with knowledge of the world. This
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man is a what's this again, siren? He has a fatal voice.
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You must simply put wax in your ears not to hear it when he comes.
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What next? Doesn't she confess to me that she has listen to him
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too many times to be deaf to him. No, she must watch the
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valley when he comes, singing his rich song. Her cheeks were wet then,
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and the wind went shaking her. No, this was not a moment
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for Wax I was an old man. She prevailed upon me to sit outside
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her window in a chair, watching for him. Oh I am afraid,
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she whispered to me. Being alone, so high out of the valley,
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there I sat by night, hearing sounds of thunder. Below this craig pebbles
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came rattling on the window. The rabbit was choked with flying rock. They
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were growing rich, these mad men, monkeying with powder. The government sent
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them gold and sacks to pay those who were left for the lives that had
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been lost. They were mad. They tumbled champagne out of bottles into tubs,
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frisking about in it. They had heard that this was done with money.
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But paul Vashi was more foolish. He came singing, Oh my,
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this was a powerful song, ringing against the ledges. This was a fantastic
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Italian, singing like an angel. To the deserted woman. Her eyes were
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dark. The breast heaved. Oh, these sweet notes were never lost on
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her. Now. At this time, too, paal Bashi offered a great
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prize for the first child to be born on mushrat. He came grinning under
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his red cap, saying to us, there are so many dying, should
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dare not be a prize offered for new life? He had learned what manner
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the woman had of surprising Rainbow Pete. It was a great prize he offered.
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When the child was born. He stopped the monking with powder in the
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valley for that day. Though this too was a great loss in money,
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the woman pleased him. Then, my friend, on the night of the
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day when this child was born, Rainbow Pete came back into the valley.
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Oh my, it's plain to us looking at the man under the stars,
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he had been toughing it. I his beard was tangled, the great bones
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were rising on his bare chest. His fingers twitched as he was drooping over
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us. Now, I'm telling you, his eyes were dim, and the
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sun had bleached his mustache the color of a lemon. There he stood before
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us, holding the bag over his shoulder, while he went scratching his bold
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nose like the picture of a pirate. Still he was gentle in the eye.
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He was mild in misfortune. Oh, this sailorman was just used to
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toughing it. Look here there he stopped in the shadow of this great rock
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I'm speaking of, And these men of mushrats came, asking him if he
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had made the grade. They were fresh from dipping their carcasses and champagne.
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They were sparkling men, not accountable to themselves. Have you made the grade?
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They went bawling to him. This is to say, had he struck
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gold? Oh, there's gold enough, Pete went rumbling at them. But
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it's too far to the north. Mate, there's no tackle made for getting
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purchase on it. So I'm thinking, said the little medicine man McGregor.
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It lies still at the foot of the rainbow. Aye, said Rainbow Pete.
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But with this word we went thinking of Paul Vashi. Still we did
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not speak the name of that Italian. No, this would be stronger in
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the ear of that sailorman than gunpowder in the valley. Look you here,
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said Rainbow Pete. I am starving. I have not eaten in two days.
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This is the curse falling on me for hunting gold. Then they laughed,
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these mad rockmen, mocking him with their eyes. Their eyes were twitching.
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There was powder in the corners of them. Are you not master of
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the eating place? They howled at him. Look there it stands. Is
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not your wife alone in it? Oh my, oh my. He stood
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looking at them with a ghastly face. Doesn't he see the casual man.
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It's as if he had forgotten that woman. He had no memories at all.
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My wife, said the rainbow man. Look, said shoe pack Sam.
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Oh he remembered trees it well, he is forgetful that he has a
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wife on Mushrat. This was so apparently. There he stood in the blue
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starshine, fingering his flute to bring her back to mind. Now, I
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thought he'll be asking what description of wife is this? Answering to my name
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on Mushrat. Oh, man is careless and appointing himself among various women.
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Now, my friend, Rainbow Pete blew a note on his flute to settle
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the thing clear in his mind. Oh, he was not too brisk in
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looking up at the black ledge with the candle in the window. Now he
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was taken by the knees. This is not the convenient part of a marriage
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of convenience. No, but shoe pack Sam was waving a hand to us
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to be telling the man nothing of destiny at that moment. Come, he
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said, the flute does nothing. Now there must be more song than this.
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By what is going on here? He took Rainbow by the elbow,
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telling him to come and eat at scarecrow Charlie's, for he will need his
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strength. I am a charge here for the day, said shoe Pack.
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How is this, said Rainbow, whispering. They went laughing on all sides
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of him. Oh, the demons, they were cackling while he sat devouring
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a great moose joint, until he was close to braining them with the yellow
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ball of the joint. He went, eating like a timber wolf from grape
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bear. This is the palm try man, they sang in his ear.
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Oh why as he grew no cocoanut stumbling on that lost trail. Isn't it
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convenient for the man he's married this night? Oh they were full of mischief
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with him, remembering the secret face he had for them in the days of
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his experiment. Drink this, said Shoepac. Sam. There he put champagne
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in a glass before him. Oh, they were careful of the man.
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Here, take my hand and let me see if strength is coming back,
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said Shoepack. What is rainbow without colors? Then the little medicine man took
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his pulse, kneeling on the floor beside him. Oh, the great sailor
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was puzzled. Still, he drank what was in the glass before him,
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and after this he put his mustache into his mouth, sipping it. By
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chance, what is this you are preparing, he said, pointing his bold
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nose to them. Oh, the eyes were like a dreamer's. He was
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a child to appearances. Then they went, speaking to him of the strained
27:40
instrument they had heard humming on the ledge, speaking another language than his own.
27:44
This is a wife to be defended, said Shoepack Sam, patting there
27:48
with his yellow shoepacks, bringing another drink. But still there was no word
27:52
of Paul Bashi. That black Italian was not popular at the throat river.
27:56
Now I see you're speaking of another man, said Rainbow Pete. Then shoe
28:03
Pak Sam went roaring. It was time for honest men to speak when an
28:07
honest woman was being taken by a voice. Wait, said Rainbow Pete,
28:12
with his thumb in the foam. This is unlikely. She will want me
28:15
cruising in with another man singing in her ear. Oh my, he was
28:22
a considerate man. He was a natural husband, thinking of his wife's feelings?
28:26
Are you a man? Said Smash McGregor. Here she has Frederick,
28:32
when you are starving. This is her food you have been eating. Will
28:34
you pass this lange? Leaving her to fortune? Rainbow Pete went, putting
28:41
the edge of the cruiser's axe to his twisted thumb. I come to her
28:48
my shoes only, he said, This is not what she will be wanting.
28:52
I have no gold. They were shouting to him to have no thought
28:56
of that, those mad rockmen, there would be gold in plenty, There
29:00
would be gold. Only go up on the ledge hurd. You nothing of
29:04
the prize, they bawled to him, the mischief makers. Oh there will
29:10
be no lack of money. How is this, said Rainbow Pete. But
29:14
they would not be answering him. No, no, They went, tumbling
29:18
him out of Scarecrow Charlie's place. And for making the ledge with him,
29:22
Oh my, the mystified man. This was a great shameface he had behind
29:26
his mustache. I am much altered for the worse, he went, muttering
29:32
to us, she will think nothing of me. Now there is still time
29:37
for constancy, said schwe pack Sam. Do not lose hope. Then he
29:41
told them to be quiet, looking up at the dark ledge where the woman
29:45
lay old gray back, said Rainbow Pete, whispering to me. I am
29:51
mistrustful of this moment, hashed, said McGregor. That was the sound of
29:56
a string. He will be beginning now, I the voice began. We
30:03
were wooden men in rows listening to this Italian singing here a golden dream between
30:08
his teeth. Who is this man, said rainbow Pete. He he had
30:15
he not heard this voice before? We were dumb. Oh this was wild,
30:21
This was sweet, the long cry of the man over the deep valley.
30:25
He sang in his throat, sang to the woman. There would be
30:29
no returning. The night was blue. I'm telling you he was a cunning
30:33
beggar, paul Vashi for making the stars burn in their sockets. Now I
30:40
saw him lift his arm to his head, the wicked sailor, listening to
30:44
the tune of his enemy. I this was the man who had fashioned him
30:48
in the form of a rainbow. Still he did not know it. Dreaming
30:52
on his feet, he went swaying like a poplar. Look, I am
30:57
an old man, but I stood thinking of my eily days. Yes,
31:02
yes, my brain was heavy. Oh it was a sweet dagger here twisting
31:07
in the soul of man. I went, picturing the deep snow to me,
31:10
and the dark spruces of the north. Oh, the roses are speaking
31:14
to me again from this cheek that has been gone for me so long.
31:18
Ha ha, I should not be speaking of this. It was a sorrowful
31:22
harp, the voice of that fiend. It was like the wind following the
31:26
eddy into Lookout cavern. Now it went choking that great sailor at the throat.
31:30
Look he was mild. He was a simple man for crying. The
31:33
tears rolled in his cheek. They sparkled there like the champagne. Oh my,
31:41
the song was done. He was dumb, the great sailor twisting his
31:45
mustache. Come now, said McGregor. Quick, he will be going into
31:52
the howl. There were gulls for diving at the ledge, but Rainbow Pete
31:56
held out his arm, stopping them. Stand away. He said, I
32:02
will be going into my house with old Gray back here, and no other.
32:07
This arm was not yet withered, he had no They stayed in their
32:10
tracks as we were going up the ledge. The door was open of that
32:15
house. The strained instrument was laid against it. I the strings were humming.
32:21
Still the song was spinning round like a leaf in the cavern of it.
32:24
But the black Italian was inside. Yes, he had gone before into
32:30
the chamber where she was lying with his beautiful smile. The door here was
32:35
open. Look by candlelight. I saw her lying in a red blanket,
32:39
staring at the notable singer. Yes, I saw the bottles containing odors standing
32:45
in a row. There was scent in the room. Now she closed her
32:49
eyes, this prairie woman lying under him like death, My friend, there
32:54
is no doubt she was beautiful upon the pillow without the aid of scented bottles.
33:00
Ha I felt him quiver, this great sailor when he saw pol Barshi
33:06
standing there. But I put my arms about him, whispering to him to
33:09
wait. It was dark where we were. There was a light from the
33:15
stove. Only, oh my, there the dark Italian was glittering and heaving.
33:21
He went, holding in his fist a canvas sack stamped by the government,
33:25
containing the proper weight of gold. This is his await in gold,
33:32
he said, and there he laid it at her knees. Still her eyes
33:37
were closed against that demon of a singer. As he went, saying But
33:42
now, my dear one, there must be no more docophusbunds. Ah ah,
33:49
they are like a smoke got these husbunds wehn di tetrifte. There must
33:54
be neufai, so they say in my gun try She lay, not speaking
34:00
to him, with the sack of gold heavy against her knees. Is this
34:06
a plane? Said that Italian? Look now, rainbow Pete is in his
34:10
very shadow. I in the shadow of this man who had fashioned him like
34:15
a rainbow. This is a great sum, said paul Vashi, never looking
34:21
behind him. Do what this must be? Added the silence of one day
34:24
in the belly, the silence she went, whispering, the silence, ha
34:31
ha, this was not so dangerous a song. She was leaning on her
34:36
elbow, clutching the red blanket to her throat, with the long fingers twisting
34:40
at the bag. Now, my heart stumbled, Oh, now, I
34:45
thought, the gold is heavy against her. This is a misfortunate time to
34:50
be forsaking her husband, isn't it. Look the shadow was deeper in the
34:54
cheek of the sailor. He saw nothing I fancied, but the gold lying
35:00
on the blanket. What next I knew? Here was McGregor in his yellow
35:05
skull, whispering, is dish the golding at the foot of a rainbow.
35:10
There's just fools gold where the hot is concerned. Then, my friend,
35:17
she threw it clear of the bed. I I heard it falling on the
35:22
ledge there. But at this time she did not know that Rainbow Pete was
35:28
in the room when she had thrown it. Then she saw him standing behind
35:32
that demon of a singer. Her eyes were strange. Then by the expression
35:37
of her eyes, Paul Vashi saw that he was doomed. He was like
35:42
a frozen man. Wait, now, said Rainbow Pete, Am I in
35:46
my house? Here? Am I not your wife? Cried the dark woman
35:52
from Regina. Oh, the pleasant sailor the song had touched him. Look
35:58
now, he said to Vashi, you make a rainbow of me in the
36:01
beginning. Do you bring gold here now to plant up my feet? Generous
36:07
man, my, my, This fantastic Italian knew that words were wasted.
36:13
Now he was like a snake with his sting. But Rainbow Pete was not
36:16
an easy man. He broke the arm with one twist. Look, the
36:21
knife went spinning on the ledge, and at this moment the blasting in the
36:25
rock began again. Below the ledge. They were at it again, monkeying
36:30
with powder. Oh, it was dead. They were speaking to down there.
36:35
It was like a battle between giants going on. There were thunders and
36:38
red gleams in the black valley, and the candle flame went shivering with great
36:43
noises. Here said rainbow Pete, I will scatter you like the rocks of
36:49
the valley. Oh, the righteous man, isn't it a strange consideration,
36:53
the voice of Paul Vashi, moving this crooked sailor to good deeds. I
36:59
he was a noble man, hurling the Italian from the house by his ears.
37:02
Oh, it's a circumstance to be puzzling over. He threw the gold
37:06
after him. I the gold after like dirt. And here the clothes hung
37:12
loose on his own body, where he had been starving in the search for
37:15
bags like that. Now, as he went kneeling by his wife, he
37:21
discovered his son by the crowing under the blanket. Look here at the little
37:27
nipper, old gray back, he said, come a little way into the
37:30
room. Look now at the fat back for putting a little palm treon while
37:36
he is young. This is truth, old fellow, Here is true gold
37:42
lying at the foot of the rainbow. According to the prophecy, our old
37:47
friend stopped to breathe and blink. He had staked dishclaim, but he had
37:54
never worked it, he said solemnly. But isn't it true the same man
38:00
who had been fashioning him like a rainbow should be pointing out the goal to
38:05
him. Oh, there's no doubt. Paul Vashi was defeated in the end
38:09
by his own voice. He went away that night, leaving all to the
38:14
subcontractors. He he was not seen a mushrate again. Still he had a
38:17
remarkable voice. Many times afterward I have heard Rainbow Pete playing on his flute.
38:23
This is in the evening, when the ledge is quiet. But this
38:27
is not the same thing. No, no, he could never bewitch her
38:30
with his music. She must love him for his intention only to be charming
38:35
her. Aye, this is safer. End of section nineteen