Lassiter, and little Fay Larkin were shut up, walled up in Surprise
Valley. For years Venters considered it would not have been safe for
him to venture to rescue them. He had no fears for their lives. They
could live in Surprise Valley. But Venters always intended to come
back with Bess and find the valley and his friends. No wonder he and
Bess were haunted. However, when his wife had the baby that made
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