Arizona -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Religious fiction; Teachers -- Fiction
When Rosa was but a little child she used to boast that she could write
her father's name in perfect imitation of his signature; and often
signed some trifling receipt for him just for amusement. A dangerous
gift in the hands of a conscienceless girl! Yet this was the first time
that Rosa had really planned to use her art in any serious way. Perhaps
it never occurred to her that she was doing wrong. At present her heart
was too full of hate and fear and jealous love to care for right or
wrong or anything else. It is doubtful if she would have hesitated a
second even if the thing she was planning had suddenly appeared to her
in the light of a great crime. She seemed sometimes almost like a
creature without moral sense, so swayed was she by her own desires and
feelings. She was blind now to everything but her great desire to get
Margaret out of the way and have Forsythe to herself.
Long after her father and the servants were asleep Rosa's light burned
while she bent over her desk, writing. Page after page she covered with
careful copies of Mrs. Brownleigh's letter written to herself almost
three years before. Finally she wrote out the alphabet, bit by bit as
she picked it from the words, learning just how each letter was
habitually formed, the small letters and the capitals, with the
peculiarities of connection and ending. At last, when she lay down to
rest, she felt herself capable of writing a pretty fair letter in Mrs.
Brownleigh's handwriting. The next thing was to make her plan and
compose her letter. She lay staring into the darkness and trying to
think just what she could do.
In the first place, she settled it that Margaret must be gotten to Walpi
at least. It would not do to send her to Ganado, where the mission
station was, for that was a comparatively short journey, and she could
easily go in a day. When the fraud was discovered, as of course it would
be when Mrs. Brownleigh heard of it, Margaret would perhaps return to
find out who had done it. No, she must be sent all the way to Walpi if
possible. That would take at least two nights and the most of two days
to get there. Forsythe had said his stay was to be short. By the time
Margaret got back from Walpi Forsythe would be gone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account