Won't this please Mescal?"
"Hey, Mother Mary," called Naab toward the cabin. "Send Mescal out.
Here's a wedding-present."
With laughing wonder the women-folk flocked out into the yard. Mescal
hung back shy-eyed, roses dyeing the brown of her cheeks.
"Mescal's wedding-present from Thunder River. Just arrived!" called Naab
cheerily, yet deep-voiced with the happiness he knew the tidings would
give. "A dusty, dirty, shaggy, starved, lop-eared, lazy burro--Noddle!"
Mescal flew out into the lane, and with a strange broken cry of joy that
was half a sob she fell upon her knees and clasped the little burro's
neck. Noddle wearily flapped his long brown ears, wearily nodded his
white nose; then evidently considering the incident closed, he went
lazily to sleep.
"Noddle! dear old Noddle!" murmured Mescal, with far-seeing,
thought-mirroring eyes. "For you to come back to-day from our canyon!
. . . Oh! The long dark nights with the thunder of the river and the lonely
voices! . . . they come back to me. . . . Wolf, Wolf, here's Noddle, the same
faithful old Noddle!"
August Naab married Mescal and Hare at noon under the shade of the
cottonwoods.
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