rawing her little white hand toward the lean
and sinewy fingers that clasped his right, whereat her bonny head
drooped lower, her bosom heaved; she seemed at once to read his
purpose, and, with the instinct of the maiden, to gently resist. But
the almost instant reproach and pleading in the fading eyes melted and
unnerved her. Harris, too, had seen, and noted, and understood, and his
own heart, through all its sorrowing, was beating vehemently; his own
right hand, without releasing 'Tonio's, crept forth in search of hers,
and presently, trembling, but resisting no longer, the lily-white,
slender fingers lay softly within the young soldier's clasp, and a big,
hot tear fell upon the back of the brown and withered hand that, almost
pulseless, drooped upon them both as though in benediction.

Overcome with emotion, Mrs. Archer, watching, breathless, dropped her
head upon her husband's shoulder and sobbed convulsively. The last
brilliant, dazzling beams of the dying day had lifted from the crest of
the huge dome that shut the valley, and left it dark and sombre; and
'Tonio's eyes, turning upon it for the last time, seemed to note the
change; and the flitting spirit, wandering back to the old, old boyish
days, and the legends of his people, spoke once more. The gathering
darkness, the plash upon his hand, the resemblance to the mountain that
guarded his babyhood and youth, all probably had worked their spell,
for the pallid lips began to move, and in the silence of the lowering
night a few words in his native tongue were faintly heard, and hot
tears gushed from the eyes of his young chief, friend and brother, as,
in answer to the doctor's quick, questioning glance, Harris brokenly
murmured the translation:

"When the Picacho hides his head in the clouds, then will there be
rain."

And the clouds had lowered, and the day was done, and there was rain of
tears from even soldier eyes for 'Tonio--Son of the Sierras.

THE END.

End of Project Gutenberg's Tonio, Son of the Sierras, by Charles King

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