Indians had been drawn from newspapers, and from a book or two
of narratives of massacres, and from an occasional sight of vagabond
bands or families they had encountered in their journey across the
plains. Here she found herself sitting side by side in friendly
intercourse with an Indian man and Indian woman, whose appearance and
behavior were attractive; towards whom she felt herself singularly
drawn.

"I'm free to confess, Jos," she said, "I wouldn't ha' bleeved it. I
hain't seen nobody, black, white, or gray, sence we left hum, I've took
to like these yere folks. An' they're real dark; 's dark's any nigger in
Tennessee; 'n' he's pewer Injun; her father wuz white, she sez, but she
don't call herself nothin' but an Injun, the same's he is. D' yer
notice the way she looks at him, Jos? Don't she jest set a store by thet
feller? 'N' I don't blame her."

Indeed, Jos had noticed. No man was likely to see Ramona with Alessandro
without perceiving the rare quality of her devotion to him. And now
there was added to this devotion an element of indefinable anxiety which
made its vigilance unceasing. Ramona feared for Alessandro's reason.
She had hardly put it into words to herself, but the terrible fear dwelt
with her. She felt that another blow would be more than he could bear.

The storm lasted only a few hours. When it cleared, the valley was a
solid expanse of white, and the stars shone out as if in an Arctic sky.

"It will be all gone by noon to-morrow," said Alessandro to Jos, who was
dreading the next day.

"Not really!" he said.

"You will see," said Alessandro. "I have often known it thus. It is like
death while it lasts; but it is never long."

The Hyers were on their way to some hot springs on the north side of the
valley. Here they proposed to camp for three months, to try the waters
for Jos. They had a tent, and all that was necessary for living in their
primitive fashion. Aunt Ri was looking forward to the rest with great
anticipation; she was heartily tired of being on the move. Her husband's
anticipations were of a more stirring nature. He had heard that there
was good hunting on San Jacinto Mountain. When he found that Alessandro
knew the region thoroughly, and had been thinking of settling there, he
was rejoiced, and proposed to him to become his companion and guide
in hunting expeditions. Ramona grasped eagerly at the suggestion;
companionship, she was sure, would do Alessandro good,--companionship,