“Did you ever hear of a Mormon woman named--Jane Withersteen?”
Shefford drew his breath sharply. He had followed a gleam--he had caught a fleeting glimpse of it.
“Did you ever hear of a child--a girl--a woman--called Fay Larkin?”
“If you're a spy it'll go hard with you--though I'm no Mormon,” he said, grimly.
“I WAS a clergyman. Now I'm nothing--a wanderer--least of all a spy.”
Withers leaned closer to see into the other man's eyes; he looked long and then appeared satisfied.
“I've heard the name Fay Larkin,” he said, slowly. “I reckon that's all I'll say till you tell your story.”
Shefford stood with his back to the fire and he turned the palms of his hands to catch the warmth. He felt cold. Withers had affected him strangely. What was the meaning of the trader's somber gravity? Why was the very mention of Mormons attended by something austere and secret?
“My name is John Shefford. I am twenty-four,” began Shefford. “My family--”
Here a knock on the door interrupted Shefford.
The door opened and like a shadow Nas Ta Bega slipped in. He said something in Navajo to the trader.
“How,” he said to Shefford, and extended his hand. He was stately, but there was no mistaking his friendliness. Then he sat down before the fire, doubled his legs under him after the Indian fashion, and with dark eyes on the blazing logs seemed to lose himself in meditation.
“He likes the fire,” explained Withers. “Whenever he comes to Kayenta he always visits me like this.... Don't mind him. Go on with your story.”
“My family were plain people, well-to-do, and very religious,” went on Shefford. “When I was a boy we moved from the country to a town called Beaumont, Illinois. There was a college in Beaumont and eventually I was sent to it to study for the ministry. I wanted to be---- But never mind that.... By the time I was twenty-two I was ready for my career as a clergyman. I preached for a year around at different places and then got a church in my home town of Beaumont. I became exceedingly good friends with a man named Venters, who had recently come to Beaumont. He was a singular man. His wife was a strange, beautiful woman, very reserved, and she had wonderful dark eyes. They had money and were devoted to each other, and perfectly happy. They owned the finest horses ever seen in Illinois, and their particular enjoyment seemed to be riding. They were always taking long rides. It was something worth going far for to see Mrs. Venters on a horse.