a difference. It meant he
had to go alone. And he was thinking seriously of starting when--when
there were developments that made it desirable for me to leave Beaumont.
Venters's story haunted me as he had been haunted. I dreamed of that
wild valley--of little Fay Larkin grown to womanhood--such a woman
as Bess Venters was. And the longing to come was great.... And,
Withers--here I am."

The trader reached out and gave Shefford the grip of a man in whom
emotion was powerful, but deep and difficult to express.

"Listen to this.... I wish I could help you. Life is a queer deal. ...
Shefford, I've got to trust you. Over here in the wild canyon country
there's a village of Mormons' sealed wives. It's in Arizona, perhaps
twenty miles from here, and near the Utah line. When the United States
government began to persecute, or prosecute, the Mormons for polygamy,
the Mormons over here in Stonebridge took their sealed wives and moved
them out of Utah, just across the line. They built houses, established
a village there. I'm the only Gentile who knows about it. And I pack
supplies every few weeks in to these women. There are perhaps fifty
women, mostly young--second or third or fourth wives of Mormons--sealed
wives. And I want you to understand that sealed means SEALED in all that
religion or loyalty can get out of the word. There are also some old
women and old men in the village, but they hardly count. And there's a
flock of the finest children you ever saw in your life.

"The idea of the Mormons must have been to escape prosecution. The
law of the government is one wife for each man--no more. All over Utah
polygamists have been arrested. The Mormons are deeply concerned. I
believe they are a good, law-abiding people. But this law is a direct
blow at their religion. In my opinion they can't obey both. And
therefore they have not altogether given up plural wives. Perhaps they
will some day. I have no proof, but I believe the Mormons of Stonebridge
pay secret night visits to their sealed wives across the line in the
lonely, hidden village.

"Now once over in Stonebridge I overheard some Mormons talking about a
girl who was named Fay Larkin. I never forgot the name. Later I heard
the name in this sealed-wife village. But, as I told you, I never heard
of Lassiter or Jane Withersteen. Still, if Mormons had found them I
would never have heard of it. And Deception Pass--that might be the
Sagi.... I'm not surprised at your rainbow