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Page 54
But Wonota could not understand this logic.
And yet, Wonota in other ways was not at all reckless or ferocious. She
possessed a fund of sympathy, and was kindly disposed toward everybody
When one of the cook's helpers cut his foot with an ax, she aided in the
rough surgery furnished by the camp boss, and afterwards nursed the
invalid while he was confined to his bunk and could not even hop about.
All the men liked her, and after a time they did not speak carelessly of
her as "that Injun gal." She seemed to be of a different caliber from
the other Indians engaged in making the picture. At least, she was more
intelligent.
The girls from the East did not lose their personal interest in Wonota
in the least degree. But of course while the various scenes were being
made even Ruth did not give all her attention to either the Indian
maiden or to the shooting of the picture.
The great freshet scene, when developed and tried out in the projection
room at Clearwater, proved to be a very striking film indeed. If
"Brighteyes" was to rise to the level of that one scene, every reel of
the picture must be photographed with great care.
While the director and Mr. Hammond and the company in general worked
over some of the lumber-camp scenes, retaking or arranging for the shots
over and over again, Ruth rode with her two chums on many a picturesque
trail around Benbow Camp, Hubbell Ranch and the Clearwater station of
the railroad.
They were quite sure that Dakota Joe Fenbrook had left this part of the
country--and left in a hurry. If he learned that his attempt on Ruth
Fielding's life was not successful, he must have learned it some time
after the occurrence. Just where the "bad man" had gone after leaving
Benbow on the run, nobody seemed to know.
Ruth and Helen and Jennie were in the saddle almost every day. They
found much to interest them on the various trails they followed. They
even discovered and visited several pioneer families--"nesters" in the
language of the cowpunchers and stockmen--who welcomed the Eastern girls
with vast curiosity.
"And how some of these folks can live in such Wild places, and in such
perfectly barren cabins, I do not see," groaned Helen Cameron after a
visit to one settler's family near a wild canyon to the west of Benbow
Camp. "That woman and those girls! Not a decent garment to their backs,
and the men so rough and uncouth. I would not stay there on a bet--not
for the best man who ever breathed."
"That woman's husband isn't the best man who ever breathed," said
Jennie, grimly. "But perhaps he is the best man she ever knew. And,
anyway, having as the boys say 'got stuck on him,' now she is plainly
'stuck with him.' In other words she has made her own bed and must lie
in it."
"Why should people be punished for their ignorance?" complained Helen.
"Nature's way," said Ruth confidently. "Civilization is slowly changing
that--or trying to. But nature's law is, after all, rather harsh to us."
"If I was one of those girls we saw back there," Helen continued, "I
would run away."
"Run where?" asked Ruth slyly. "With a movie company? Or a Wild West
Show?"
"Either. Anything would be better than that hut and the savagery of
their present lives."
"They don't mind it so much," admitted Jennie. "I asked one of them. She
was looking forward to a dance next week. She said they had three of
four through the year--and they seemed to be reckoned as great treats,
but all a girl could expect."
"And think how much we demand," said Ruth thoughtfully. "Welladay! Maybe
we have too much--too much of the good things of the earth."
"Bah!" exclaimed Helen, with disgust. "One can't get too much of the
good things. No, ma'am! Take all you can----"
"And give nothing?" suggested Ruth, shaking her head.
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