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diff --git a/48644.txt b/48644.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9937042..0000000 --- a/48644.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10427 +0,0 @@ - THE HEART OF THE RED FIRS - - - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Heart of the Red Firs -Author: Ada Woodruff Anderson -Release Date: April 05, 2015 [EBook #48644] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEART OF THE RED FIRS *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - -[Illustration: "He looked down into her lifted face, believing yet not -believing." Frontispiece. _See page_ 312.] - - - - - *THE* - - *HEART OF THE RED FIRS* - - A STORY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST - - - BY - - *ADA WOODRUFF ANDERSON* - - - - ILLUSTRATED BY - CHARLES GRUNWALD - - - - BOSTON - LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY - 1909 - - - - - _Copyright, 1908,_ - BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - - _All rights reserved_ - - - Published April, 1908 - - - - Printers - B. J. Parkhill & Co., Printers, Boston, U.S.A. - - - - - TO THOSE FEW REMAINING PIONEERS, - WHO KNEW THE NISQUALLY TRAIL INTO THE GREAT SOLITUDES, - IN TIMES BEFORE THE LOGGING RAILROAD DEVASTATED - THE PUGET SOUND HILLS, AND THE WILDER- - NESS BEGAN TO RECEDE AT THE - COMING OF THE BUILDER - OF TOWNSITES. - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -CHAPTER - - I. The Teacher and the Freak of the Strange Thoroughbred - II. The Leaning Tower - III. The Camp at the Headwaters - IV. "Ther Biggest Coward in ther Woods" - V. Stratton's Way - VI. Mose - VII. The Instrument of Tyee Sahgalee - VIII. "I'm Going to Make Him White" - IX. Uncle Silas - X. Lem and the *Phantom* - XI. The House-Raising - XII. A Face in the Night - XIII. The Pressure of the Thumb-Screw - XIV. The Salmon-trollers - XV. The Man in the Tide-rip - XVI. The Fiery Lane - XVII. The Man Who Bungled - XVIII. Water-logged - XIX. "Andromeda Has Found a Perseus" - XX. The Grand Coup - XXI. Hide and Seek - XXII. For Little Silas - XXIII. "As Long as We Two Live" - XXIV. "A Man Of Straw" - XXV. The Rockslide - XXVI. The Judge - XXVII. Lem Creates Fiction - XXVIII. The Pressure of the Wilderness - XXIX. The Crack of Doom - XXX. The Lost Prospect - - - - - *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS* - - -"He looked down into her lifted face, believing yet not believing" . . . -Frontispiece - -"She paused, swaying in the hot gale" - -"'I like you as well as I could like any American with un-American -ways'" - -"He turned and looked into the fire" - - - - - *THE HEART OF THE RED FIRS* - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *THE TEACHER AND THE FREAK OF THE - STRANGE THOROUGHBRED* - - -The children were putting away their books. The afternoon sun, -streaming through the uncurtained windows, made patches of heat on the -hewn cedar flooring, and the new, unpainted desks sent forth pitch and -the fragrance of fir. Suddenly a shadow crossed one of these squares of -light, and Lem Myers, who was seated nearest the raised sash, whispered -an audible warning: "Mose, your dad's comin'." - -The boy sprang to his feet and stood facing the open door. The intruder -entered without ceremony. He had the lank black hair and mustache, eyes -flashing under shaggy brows, of the Canadian-French, and the powerful -shoulders and sinewy frame of a voyageur of the Hudson Bay Company. Two -hounds which followed him, stopped with their forepaws on the threshold -and reconnoitered the room suspiciously. - -He strode directly up the aisle to the waiting boy, and laying a hand -roughly on his neck, said, with growing heat, "Din' I tell you doan' tek -dat gun? Oui, two, t'ree tam I ees say let eet 'lone." - -Mose rocked under the grasp but he bore it with the silent fortitude -inherited from an Indian mother; the white in him only found expression -in the dull glow of his cheek, the tense arms and the hands clenched at -his sides. - -"Din' I say A'm goin' t'rash you? Nawitka, for sure. T'ief! Cultus -Siwash!" And with a climax of invective, hurled forth in a mixture of -French, English and Indian, the man raised his hand and struck a hard -blow. - -Before he could repeat it the teacher stepped between them. She had a -bright, speaking face, eyes that laughed or stormed on occasion, a mouth -mobile, alluring, with charm of lurking merriment, and a chin delicately -square, that lifted when she spoke, with an indescribable air of -decision. - -"How do you do, Mr. Laramie," she said, and offered her hand, while, at -the same time, with the other palm she impelled Mose back into his seat. -"You are just in time to hear us sing." - -He had ignored the hand, but she quickly placed her chair for him, -smiling, and commenced in a clear, full mezzo: - - "We now are youthful sailors, we are not far from shore, - But soon we mean to journey the ocean o'er and o'er." - - -She lifted her music book from her desk and found the place for him, but -he refused it with a shake of his head, and taking the seat with -manifest reluctance, pulled his old squirrel-skin cap over his brows, -scowling first at her, then more darkly at Mose, and finally in general -at the school. - -The children swelled the chorus lustily. And the Canadian liked music. -It was his vulnerable point. He began to beat time to this brisk -measure with his clumsy boot; cautiously at first, then with great -vigor, while his voice broke into a hoarse hum. - -The song was hardly finished when she tapped the bell for dismissal. - -"It ees gre't museek," said Laramie, rising. "Oui, a gre't song." His -glance moved, challenging possible contradiction, and rested on Mose's -seat. It was vacant. "Dem it," he cried with returning wrath. - -But the teacher went swiftly down the aisle before him. "Here is your -gun," she said, and dragged it from behind the door. Her voice trembled -a little; entreaty rose through the courage in her eyes. - -He took the rifle, turning it in his brawny hands to give it a close -scrutiny. When, with a final click of the hammer, he raised his glance, -the entreaty was gone; she stood with her arms folded, chin high, -watching him. It was as though she measured him. - -His mouth worked in an unaccustomed smile. "Say, Mees," he said, "what -ees dis you tole dose chillun 'bout de eart' ees roun? You mek fun for -dem, yaas?" - -There was a silent moment while the amazement came and went in her face; -a touch of merriment dimpled her mouth. Then, "It is quite true," she -answered, gravely, "the earth is round." - -"Roun'? Sacre, Mees, but we mus' fall off." - -She shook her head. "Come, I will show you." And she led the way back -to her desk, and taking a small globe in her hands, went through the -usual explanation slowly, simply, with infinite patience, as she would -have told a little child. But Laramie had convictions of his own. He -had seen the great Pacific, oh, yes, often, when he had journeyed for -the fur company to Nootka; and he had watched ships approach from the -far horizon, but to see the masts first proved nothing; a vessel was -most all sail. And it was true that once he had met a sailor who said -he had taken a ship at Quebec and sailed straight on and on, and without -turning back had found himself again at home. But plainly the man had -lied, for how could one make la bon voyage up the Fraser, through the -big lakes and down the St. Lawrence in a great vessel? Bah, every one -knew it could only be done in a canoe. "De eart' roun'?" he concluded. -"No, no, Mees, you doan' mek me beli've dat. But it ees gre't joke; -oui, a gre't joke, ha, ha. Well, good-by, Mees. Tek care yourse'f." - -He shouldered the gun and strode away through the door. At the same -time there was the snapping of a twig and a glimpse of retreating bare -heels at the corner of the house, and while the Canadian moved down the -river trail a pair of keen eyes, set in a ferret-shaped face, peered at -him from behind the angle. They were the eyes of Lem Myers. When he -had satisfied himself that Laramie was truly on his way he came -cautiously to the threshold. The teacher was seated at her desk using -her pencil with rapid, decisive strokes. He crossed the floor to the -platform before she was conscious of his presence. - -"Well, Lem," and she smiled down at him, "are you waiting for me?" - -"Wal, yes; thort I'd wait an' see it out." He slipped up behind her -chair to look over her shoulder, bending his head as she moved her hand, -the better to follow her work. "Oh, gee," he exclaimed suddenly, -slapping his knees, "gee. You're a-settin' here a-makin' er picture of -him, an' I 'lowed all ther time you was scared." - -"Scared?" She suspended her pencil to look at him. - -"Yes, Mose was gone an' ther wan't nobody else ter hit." - -"Hit? Do you mean he might have struck me?" She rose to her feet, -facing the boy. "Do you-- Do men in this settlement ever strike the -women?" - -He gave her a sidelong glance and thrust his hands deep into his -trousers pockets. "You bet," he answered. - -There was a brief silence, then she said, and the vibration had not gone -from her voice, "No, Lem, I was not afraid, but I might have been if I -had known. Where I have lived men never strike women; they have other -ways. I was just thinking of Mose. I wanted to ask Mr. Laramie not to -be hard with him." - -"Oh, don't you bother 'bout Mose. He kin take care hisself. He's got -more muscle now'n any other boy in ther hull deestrict, an' it won't be -long 'fore he kin turn in an' thrash ther ole man." - -There was another silence; the merriment again dimpled her mouth and she -looked off through the open door. Lem stooped and picked up a loose -sheet that had fluttered from the sketchbook to the floor. "Gee," he -said, "gee, but you kin draw." - -"Yes?" Her glance returned and rested on the sheet interestedly. "What -is it, Lem?" - -"Why, it's er picture of ther timber-cruiser an' that ther black horse -o' his. Here's ther same nice little star atween ther eyes, an' I've -seen him fling up his head an' point one ear jes that erway." - -"So you know Colonel," she said, flushing, yet pleased at the -recognition. "Mr. Forrest bought him when he was a colt. He broke him, -and I am the only woman who ever mounted him." - -"I 'low then you kin ride some. Ther ain't never be'n no sech stepper -in this hull deestrict. Mill Thornton calc'lated he hed er prize when -he raised ther sorrel filly, but gee, I've seen ther black leave her -clear out o' sight in less'n er minute." - -The teacher laughed softly. "I know, I know, the beauty. And his -master, Lem. Did you ever see such a man in the saddle? So straight, -so easy, so ready at just the right instant with a quiet word, or else -that soft whistle." - -"He kin ride," admitted Lem. "I've never seen him fizzle, an' he's be'n -out here off an' on considerable; timber-cruisin' first an' then -prospectin'. He 'lowed last year he'd struck er gold mine or -somethin'." - -"I know," she repeated, "I know. It was only a few miles from here he -found those splendid indications." - -"Yes," said the boy with his impish smile, "an' lost 'em." - -"The mineral is there," she said with an upward tilt of her chin. "The -ore he brought down assayed remarkably rich. But he had broken his -compass that day and a heavy mist settled over every peak and spur. -There was absolutely nothing to mark a course from. Still, it's there, -Lem, locked in the heart of the hills. He will find it again, -sometime." - -She went over and took her hat from its peg on the wall, and Lem -followed, waiting on the steps while she locked the door. - -"There will be no more timber-cruising when he takes his position at the -new mills," she said as they started up the trail; "no more chances to -prospect. But he is coming out to the settlement before he goes to -Seattle, for a last trip into the hills, and, if your mother can go with -us, he intends to take me, to see the Cascades at close range, and the -canyon and the leaning tower, and spend a night or two in his favorite -camp at the headwaters." - -A few rods from the schoolhouse the trail to the Myers clearing, which -was her boarding-place, began an abrupt ascent across the face of a -burned over ridge. They made the first part in silence, then she paused -to look back on the desolate waste. "Oh," she said, "it's like the end -of the world. It's always so wretchedly hot on this dead side-hill; the -gravel shifts so underfoot. It's very different on the Tumwater road." - -"Whar's that?" asked Lem. - -"Why, it's the way from Olympia to the Tumwater mills where Mr. Forrest -has lived since he was a small boy. And it's through the woods and down -a great ridge, with glimpses of blue sea between the firs, and always, -even in warmest weather, a cool, salt breeze. The lower falls of the -Des Chutes plunge into the Sound there, at Tumwater, and their thunder -fills the gorge. We used to go down often, walking or riding, and -sometimes when the wind and tide were right, we sailed. I suppose, Lem, -you never have seen a yacht?" - -"Wal, no, I dunno's I hev." - -"Then you have missed a great deal. But the first time I go down to the -Sound I'll take you; and Mr. Kingsley, my brother-in-law, will have us -aboard the _Phantom_. Then, out past the old monastery on Priest Point, -we'll catch a swinging breeze, and all the running waves will toss their -whitecaps,--you'll like that, even if the scud whips your face,--and -someone, my sister perhaps, will start 'The White Squall.' It's the -best sea song, made for the accompaniment of water on a cleaving keel." - -For a moment she forgot the boy. She stood looking off across the -charred stumps and skeletons of trees, as though she saw far away that -blue sea she loved, and expected to hear that rush and gurgle along a -moving keel. And he, this urchin who had lived his life among the -weasels and squirrels in the heart of the great forest, who knew nothing -of whitecaps, to whom scud was a new and vague torment, waited with his -ferret eyes upon her, sharp chin lifted, lips apart. Her glance fell. -Their eyes met and she laughed. "Would you like to make that trip down -to Puget Sound, Lem?" - -He dropped his head, and slipping back to his place at her heels as she -resumed the climb, answered with brief emphasis, "You bet." - -At the top of the ridge the trail entered the forest. The boughs of the -friendly firs clasped overhead; a carpet of needles was underfoot. Moss -rioted everywhere, on logs, rocks, the trunks of the living trees. -Still, it was less insistent than the salal, which pushed its stiff -glossy leaves through dense growths of alder and hazel, and the fern, -which sent up slender stems, forming a lattice for honeysuckle and pea, -and high above her head spread umbrella fronds. It was cooler and she -quickened her pace. Lem began to whistle, then to answer the birds, and -presently she, too, was calling, cautiously at first, taking lessons -from the boy, and all the wood was full of voices. - -At length there was the noise of running water and they came down to a -brook. It was their half-way place. Mid-channel, Lem had built a water -wheel. He had set a squirrel trap on the bank, and a larger one for -mink, and had made a bench for the teacher, by rolling a short log -against a trunk, securing it with stakes. She seated herself and he -waded out into the stream. He plucked a leaf from an overhanging bough, -and shaping a drinking-cup, brought her a draught. She laid her hat in -her lap and resting her head on the trunk, idly watched him while he -examined the traps, and drew from a hollow cedar his alder pole, -equipped with primitive line, and baited the hook with a grasshopper. -But while he tried pool and shallow ineffectually, her glance moved -absently up-stream, and presently she sang in a soft undertone: - - She shone in the light of de - clin - - ing day, And each sail was - set, And each heart .. was ... gay: - -[Illustration: Music fragment] - -The noise of running water became the music of the sea; the bole on -which she leaned was a heaving mast, and the stir of hemlock boughs -above changed to the bellying of voluminous canvas. Once more the moon -hung low over the Tumwater hills, silvering the cove, and on the port -bow the Des Chutes plunged out of blackness and swayed, sparkling, like -a curtain of roped pearls between beetling cliffs. Her sister's -contralto, swelled by Kingsley's tenor, took up the chorus, but clearer, -close beside her, subduing his fine baritone to her own voice, sang Paul -Forrest. - -At last she drew a full breath and returned to the present. She brushed -her hand across her eyes and looked at Lem. The next instant she was on -her feet. She ran down the bank and out upon the stepping-stones, -watching the boy. "Play him, Lem," she cried softly, "play him, tire -him. Don't be in a hurry." - -"Gee, gee!" Lem set his teeth between the exclamations, and gripped the -pole in both hands. "Oh, gee!" - -He began to move down-stream, splashing ankle-deep, plunging over his -knees in hollows. His steps quickened. He tripped on a sunken snag, -recovered, fell sprawling across a dipping log, and was up instantly, -steadying, playing the jerking line. - -"That's right, Lem, slowly, tire him. Now--" She clasped her hands -over an imaginary rod, lifted in unison, and as though she felt that -great weight on the boy's line--"Now. Oh, you haven't, you haven't lost -him?" - -The chagrined sportsman stood regarding his remaining bit of string. -Then he threw the pole down disgustedly and returned to the crossing, He -gave the teacher one sidelong look and dropped his eyes. - -"Never mind, Lem," she said. "It was fine. The gamiest I ever saw." - -He lifted his head. "You kin bet on that," he answered. "Ther's jes one -of him in this here creek. He's ther great Tyee. But gee, gee, I don't -see how he hed water 'nough ter keep him erfloat." - -The teacher laughed softly. She started on over the stream, but, -lifting her glance from the dripping boy, she met suddenly the amused -gaze of an auditor who had stopped on the bank. His mount, a dappled -chestnut with a silver mane, the alert head, depth of chest, long, sleek -body and nimble limbs of a thoroughbred, was, in that forest settlement, -remarkable, but the man himself possessed a striking personality. He -carried his large frame with almost military erectness and yet with the -freedom of young muscles bred to the saddle. He wore cavalry boots and -English-made riding-clothes, and his coat opened on an immaculate silk -shirt bosom. His face, stamped with inherited fineness of living, was -undeniably handsome, but his lip took a mocking curve when he smiled, -his chin had length rather than breadth, and in his eyes, which were -singularly light under black lashes and brows, smouldered a magnetic -heat; they drew or repelled. - -The rise from the brook was abrupt, the path narrow, and the teacher -waited on a larger stone while the stranger rode down into the ford. He -removed his hat with the usual salutation of the trail, and crushing it -carelessly under his arm, would have passed directly on, but the horse, -suspicious of some movement of Lem's, made a sudden detour that brought -him almost upon her. She started to spring to another rock, her foot -slipped, and to steady herself she threw up her hand. It came in -contact with the chestnut's bridle below the bit. Instantly he reared, -wheeled, and coming down, gripped the bank with his forefeet, and was -off like a bird. - -Lem crawled out of the pool into which he had plunged to avoid those -striking hoofs, and the teacher hurried on over the crossing. But, -unexpectedly, at the top of the bank she met the rider returning, and -she and the boy crowded quickly into the salal to give him room. He -still carried his hat under his bridle arm; a rifle in a leather case -swung, undamaged, from the saddle; a small canvas-covered pack rested, -unbroken, above the crupper, and the thoroughbred paced gently down into -the stream and moving on slowly, trotted up the opposite side and -disappeared among the firs. - -"He kin ride," said Lem at last. "An' I 'low that ther chestnut kin -travel. But he'd be mighty oncertain in er race. Ef it kem to it,"--he -paused to follow the teacher back into the trail,--"ef it kem to it, I -dunno but what I'd resk my pile on ther timber-cruiser an' ther black." - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *THE LEANING TOWER* - - -Suddenly Forrest, who had taken the lead, turned and laid his hand on -his horse's rein. "Back, Colonel," he said, "back. Steady, now, -steady." - -The trail, which ran between the edge of a windfall and the brink of a -cliff, was cut off by a slide. - -Presently, when there was room, the teacher slipped down from the -saddle, and Forrest turned the black and led him into a small open on -the level shoulder to which they had climbed. Below them they heard the -voices of the settlers urging Ginger, the other horse, up the sharp -incline; then, with a final clatter of tin and scraping of hoofs, he -appeared over the spur. He dropped his muzzle abjectly to the heather, -showing covertly the whites of his eyes; his legs seemed to shorten like -set posts, while Mrs. Myers, who followed closely, stopped to look at -the pack. She tucked in a loose end of canvas and made a new hitch in a -length of rope. She had a deft yet masculine touch, and it was her -husband's standing tribute that she knew more about packing than he did; -when Marthy fixed a load, it stayed. - -There was nothing weak and little effeminate about Martha. Her scant -cotton gown, without decoration, was shortened above a streak of coarse -gray hose; her shoes were of calf, heavy, unshapely, and her hat, Eben's -winter one, had seen protracted service. It shaded a face darkened by -exposure to wind and sun, and seamed not by age but habitual anxiety. - -The settler mounted a log and cast a slow glance along the windfall. -There were mighty firs, centuries old, with their trunks hurled in air; -boles of ancient cedars snapped mid-length; giant hemlocks held uptilted -and forming a breastwork for living trees; gnarled roots locking with -green branches; all dropped together like jackstraws, the playthings of -Titan winds. Presently Martha joined him and they began to work along -the labyrinth, picking a course for the horses. - -Forrest had tied the black, and, taking advantage of the delay, led the -teacher to a better view-point of the canyon, which swept below them, -rounding the opposite ridge in the shape of a crescent. A granite -tower, crowning a higher cliff, held the curve. It was a curious pile, -of boulders fitted nicely, block on block, with loophole and parapet, -and the whole structure tilted slightly, leaning towards the precipice. - -The girl seated herself on a stone in the shade of a stunted fir, and -Forrest, a little worn from the long tramp, threw himself on the ground, -putting aside his hat and resting his head on his hand, his elbow on the -earth, while he looked off down the gorge. "Somewhere in there," he -said, "beyond that curve, I ought to find my lost prospect. The mother -lode should crop out in one of those lower bluffs towards the Des -Chutes. The thunder of the river reached me not long before,--I -remember that clearly,--but I wish the place I staked that day had only -been in range of that fine old landmark, the tower." - -She looked down thoughtfully into the wooded gorge. "In such a tangle -you might pass the place a dozen times. Your stakes must have been -overgrown in a few weeks with fern and salal, or shoots of alder. It's -really beginning again." - -"Almost." He set his square jaw and a vertical line deepened between -his eyes. "Still, it's there and sooner or later I'll find it. But I -must make the most of this trip; I can't hope for many days off at the -Freeport mills. That's the worst of it,"--he smiled, shaking his -head,--"no more timber-cruising; nothing to take me out-of-doors." - -"Do you know, I can't think of Tumwater, the mills, the falls, the ridge -road, without remembering you? You've been a part of it, Paul; the -spirit of it all." - -"That's nice of you." He gave her a swift look of appreciation. His -eyes, a deep, clear hazel, were his most expressive feature; they put -weight and character into his slightest remark. "But a man must step -out of his cradle, sometime, and Judge Kingsley has made me a fine -offer. He is sure to gain the election,--no man is better known, or as -popular in the whole territory; no one has the interests of the country -more at heart. And when he goes to Congress he means to leave the -Freeport mills under my management altogether; that is with the -co-operation of Philip." - -"The co-operation of Philip? Do you think because Phil Kingsley has put -his money into that property it will make any difference?" - -"The Judge thinks it will be the making of him." - -"Phil Kingsley's gain," she said slowly, "is always someone else's loss. -You ought to know it." - -Forrest laughed, his short, pleasant laugh. "I think," he said, "you -can trust me to take care of myself. Of course you know," he went on -presently, "Phil means to live at the mills. His uncle opposes it. If -he goes to Washington the house at Olympia will have to be leased to -strangers or closed, and it will be a miserable place, at the mills, for -your sister and little Si. She had better take a house over the harbor -at Seattle. But she is going to live at Freeport. Like you she is -determined." - -"Freeport is different. It's just a bleak, wind-swept beach, shut off -from the green earth by a towering bluff. Indeed, I wouldn't live there. -Here, I have the woods and mountains all around. And I love the -Nisqually. It's freedom." - -"Your sister will be disappointed. She still hopes that when the -novelty of all this has worn off, you will be ready to come back and -make your home with her." - -She shook her head. "I never can do that again. I can't help -disapproving of Philip. The habit grows. I object to him more and -more. We often quarrel--now." - -Forrest laughed softly. "Of course you do; of course. But the Judge," -he went on gravely, "is miserable. He says if you won't let him help -you it isn't necessary to bury yourself out here in the wilderness, in a -nest of outlaws. If you are determined to be independent, you could -teach or paint, or put your music to advantage in town." - -"Oh," she answered, "he doesn't see. I was meant for a pioneer, Paul; -it's in the blood. You ought to understand. I love the great spaces, -just as you do, and your life in the big out-of-doors." - -A soft enthusiasm shone in her face; she looked off absently at the -tower. Her hands were clasped loosely on her knee, and the sunlight, -sifting between the boughs of the fir, brought out the gold in her hair; -the wind roughened it under her close velvet cap, and twisted it into -minute spirals about her neck and ears. The young man watching her set -his lips over a quick breath and turned his eyes away. She loved these -things, yes, but as a bird loves light and air; not as he loved them, to -work for them, to build, reclaim, spend himself for them, fight if the -time came. No, not for one foolish moment could he expect it of her. - -"Was ever anything as nicely balanced as that tower?" he said. "To look -like a touch would send it toppling and yet to withstand the gales that -sweep these hills. But the eternal forces are busy around it; some day -it will go." - -"It's wonderful," she answered. "It looks like it had been built there -to protect the gorge. What a stronghold it would make." - -"Stronghold? For whom?" - -"Why, for Pete Smith, Dick Slocum, any of them." - -"Who is Slocum?" - -She shook her head slowly. "I don't really know. But he came in while -we were at dinner the night before last. His clothes were torn and his -hat gone, and there were twigs and needles clinging to his hair. He was -very hungry. The sheriff and a posse were hunting him. They had passed -up the trail half an hour before, and he hurried, scowling at every one, -and before any one spoke was gone, taking part of the meal in his -hands." - -"Freeport couldn't be as bad as this. Own you were afraid." - -"Afraid? No, why should I have been? It was Dick Slocum who was -frightened. He was running away. Mr. Myers said he had shot a man. -But," she admitted grudgingly, "I was afraid of Pete Smith, and of the -bear." - -"Smith?" He changed his position a little, dropping his arm and resting -his shoulder against a rock. "What of Smith? I thought he was safe in -the penitentiary." - -"He escaped. It was very stormy the night he came back. Trees were -falling on the ridge, and after school Lem and I went home with Mose. -Mr. Laramie was away with his traps, and his wife, you know, is a -Yakima, the daughter of Yelm Jim. It would have been all right if the -boys hadn't entertained me with stories of the rising, but they were -dreadful to hear with the wind whistling, boughs soughing, rain driving -on the shingles, and just the light of the backlog in the fireplace. -When Lem followed Mose off to bed in the barn loft I was a little -unnerved. - -"There were two beds in the room; mine was curtained. But I couldn't -sleep. I kept listening and waiting for something to happen. There was -a rifle on the wall near the door; I began to wish I had it. Mose's -mother was surely asleep, I heard her regular breathing from the other -bed, and finally I crept over softly and took the gun down. It was -heavy and I let the stock strike the floor. Still she didn't move, and -I hurried back and stood it inside the curtains where I could reach it -instantly, felt safer then and at last went to sleep." - -She paused, looking off again absently to the tower. It was as though -she saw that room, the sleeping squaw, she herself in the curtained bed -with the rifle at hand. "It must have been nearly morning when I -wakened. There was still light from the smouldering backlog, and between -the curtains I saw Mose's mother standing near the door and talking to a -man. His clothes were wet and torn as if he had pushed through -underbrush; an old, soft hat shaded his face, and perhaps it was the -shadows or the flicker of the firelight, but it seemed the most hideous -face in the world. She pointed to my corner and he started towards me. -My heart leaped, But she stopped him. He spoke to her in Yakima, -throwing off her hand and stamping his foot. Then she came over -cautiously and looked in at me. I pretended I was asleep, but the -perspiration started; I could have screamed. I quite forgot the gun -until I felt she had taken it and was going quickly back to the man." - -She paused again to give her listener a swift look with the mounting fun -in her eyes. "He took the rifle," she added, "and went out." - -Her laugh was irresistible. - -"And it was Smith?" he asked directly, - -"Yes, it was all explained the next morning when Lem noticed the vacant -place on the wall and said, 'I see Pete's out again; he's be'n fur his -gun.'" - -Forrest laughed again at her perfect mimicry of the boy, then he turned -his face again to the gorge. He thought of a good many things, but he -felt the futility of saying any of them. He only asked finally, "And -what of the bear?" - -"Oh, he was berrying, I suppose, and I happened to overtake him on the -trail, I had been down the river making a sketch of Yelm Jim, fishing, -and Lem had gone home without me. I noticed the bear moving ahead of me -towards the creek, but I thought he was just a great pig until he -lumbered around to look at me. And the moment I caught his profile, you -may be sure I turned and went flying back to the river, on over the log -where I had left the old chief--he gave me right of way--and into the -midst of the Laramie barn-raising. 'Come, quick,' I said, 'I have seen -a bear.' And they all came; two had guns. But he was gone; he hadn't -left a track, and I found myself, suddenly, standing there under the -scrutiny of the whole settlement. It was only my second week, then, and -teachers, up the Nisqually, are more unusual than bears." - -But the amusement went out of Forrest's face. "You should have at least -the security of a good horse. You must take Colonel. I can't use him -at the new mills," he explained quickly, "and I don't want to sell him. -He never knew another master. Will you keep him while I stay at -Freeport?" - -"I keep Colonel? Oh, there's nothing I should like better; nothing. -You are the best, the most generous man I ever knew." She leaned a -little towards him, all delight, eagerness, charm. "I can't ever hope -to repay you, Paul, but I'd be glad of the opportunity to do -anything--anything in the world--for you." - -"I wish I could be sure of that. See here,"--his voice deepened and -shook,--"I don't ask you to come to Freeport, or anywhere, until I can -offer you something worth while, only--if you care enough for me to wait -for me, Alice--tell me so." - -She drew back; the delight went out of her face; she rose in -consternation to her feet. "You," she faltered. "You-- Oh, what made -you, Paul? What made you?" - -"How could I help it?" He, too, rose and stood looking down into her -flushed face. "I always have loved you, Alice,--don't you know -it?--even when you were a small girl and I carried your books to school. -Once I was late and you came up the road to meet me.--Don't you -remember?--It was my last year at the Academy, when you were twelve. -You were reading your first Waverley novel, and you told me that -morning, some day your knight would come riding down the ridge. I never -forgot. I was the better horseman for it. Long afterwards, when I -bought Colonel, I thought of it. I always meant to be that knight." - -He smiled, half ashamed of that boyish dream, but she drew herself -straight and turned her eyes again to the tower. "You," she said, "whom -I have known my whole life through." - -"Yes, does that count so much against me?" - -"I'm so sorry. You've been the best friend I ever had; the one I could -always depend on. Oh, I wish--I wish it hadn't happened." - -He laid his hand, bracing himself a little, on the bole of the fir, and -turned his own face away, looking off once more down the canyon. Myers, -coming back to the edge of the windfall, called, but neither of them -answered. Presently she reached and broke a sprig from a lower bough and -began slowly to strip it of its needles. "But I see--I see--how much -I've been to blame," she said. "I can't forgive myself, ever. I never -thought of you--in--that way, Paul. You never seemed--like other men. -And I see--I see--I shouldn't have spoken, as I did just now, about -Colonel." - -"Why, it's all right." He swung around and looked at her. "It's all -right. Don't let it trouble you; don't give it another thought. And, -of course, you will keep Colonel." - -She shook her head. "How can I?" - -"Don't make me feel you hold him in the light of a bribe. Understand, -it's just a favor to me. I think a good deal of my horse; it means a -lot to me to be able to leave him with some one I can trust." - -Her lip trembled; she brushed her hand across her eyes. "You are the -best--the noblest man in the world," she said. - -Eben called again and Forrest answered with a clear "Hello." He began -to walk back towards the windfall. Presently he stopped to pick up a -small, morocco-bound book which she had lost from her pocket in crossing -a boulder on the way out to the cliff. He slipped the volume into his -own pocket and turned to help her over the rock. "See here," he said, "I -want you to know that I'm glad to be that best friend, the one you -depend on. You needn't be afraid of me; you've given me a character -that I've got to live up to." - -"You mean--" the light came back to her face--"you do mean you are not -going to let it make any difference between us." - -"Of course. Why should it? Only--tell me this--" the rock was smooth -and difficult; he watched her footing--"is there some one else?" - -"No, there is no one else--yet." - -She paused on the word, for suddenly, lifting her glance beyond -Forrest's shoulder, she saw the stranger she had met at the creek on the -school trail. He stopped a few yards from the boulder, and, -dismounting, took the chestnut's halter, and, making it fast to a -sapling, stood waiting. - -Forrest gave him a straight look and slight nod, and would have passed -directly on, but the man smiled and held out his hand. "I hope you have -not forgotten me," he said. "I am Stratton, lately of Victoria. I met -you with the Kingsleys, when you came over to see the new mills at -Seattle." - -Forrest gave him another look from under slightly knotted brows. "I -remember. You were going on a cruise with the Captain in the _Phantom_. -I've heard, too, of you through my friend Bates, of the Customs -Service." - -Stratton dropped his disregarded hand. A wave of color swept his face, -and the latent heat flared and died in his eyes. Then he said, evenly, -"I am out here on a little hunting trip, and, incidentally, to see what -can be picked up in the way of furs. I am interested in the trade, as -you probably know, and I find Laramie has been taking some prime -beaver." His glance had moved to Alice; apparently the explanation was -meant for her, and she looked at Forrest, waiting for the obvious -introduction. - -It was withheld. - -"But," Stratton went on after a moment, and he moved a few steps in the -direction of the gorge, "I was stopped just now at this windfall. Myers -told me the trail was impassable, and he spoke of a curious old tower -worth turning aside here to see." - -"Yes," answered Forrest, "it's the most prominent landmark in these -hills." And he walked on towards his horse. - -Alice went with him, and directly Stratton halted to send a look after -them. "So," he said softly, "so it is what you have heard, through -Bates, against the friend of a Kingsley. But you were rash to show your -hand, young fellow, you were rash." Then his glance rested on the girl -and he smiled. "I never yet wanted to know a pretty woman," he added, -"that I could not find a way." - -He turned and walked out to the cliff. He stood for an interval under -the stunted fir, and scanned the gorge, bluff after bluff, down to the -tower; afterwards he went along the precipice a short distance and -climbed a bald knob of rock. He waited again, posed, with his head and -shoulders etched on the sky, while he searched the opposite heights, the -walls of the canyon; then, with a sweeping glance behind him, he looked -once more in the direction of the leaning bastion. Presently he drew a -handkerchief from his pocket and held it by one corner at arm's length -to the breeze. In a little while a thread of smoke rose from the rear -of the tower. He took out another handkerchief, a black one, and -repeated the signal, twice. Almost directly the smoke ceased. He left -the place then, and went back to his horse. Picking up the trail, he -rode along the front of the windfall, on over the shoulder of the hill -which he had lately climbed, and returned towards the settlement. - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *THE CAMP AT THE HEADWATERS* - - -At last Forrest and Alice stopped before a huge fallen cedar; its -boughs, still green and fragrant, were under their feet. Some distance -beyond the settlers had paused to choose a way, and the horses, heated -and thirsty, stood in a small open between. - -"I knew the trip would be rough," he said, "but I didn't expect this; we -should have turned back at the slide." - -"Back? No, no." Her face was pink and moist and she spoke between -short, quick breaths. "You should know, Paul, when once I undertake a -thing, it's in me to carry it through." - -"Come, then." He found footing on a higher bough, and leaping on the -log, turned to reach his hands down to her. "Come." And when she had -gained the place he was on the ground again, calling her attention to -the surest step. But she took it incautiously, missed, and fell. - -He could only throw out his arms to break the fall, and for that instant -her head was on his breast. Their young eyes met; a mist was in hers -and the pink deepened in her face. "You do love me," he said. "Some -day you are going to tell me so." - -Then he put her on the boughs at his feet, and turned and looked off -over the windfall. His lips were set and his brows contracted in a -deep, vertical line. But when Martha moved on with Ginger he went to -his horse and brought him back to the cedar. "I think we are through -the worst," he said quietly, "and if you are rested, you can ride now." - -He stooped, offering his hand for her foot, and when she was up, he led -the horse, stopping to hold aside a trailing bough, breaking another -short off, making Colonel step the logs, or if that were impossible, -skirting and doubling to avoid the leap. But he had nothing more to -say, and he kept his eyes turned resolutely from her, with still -frowning brows. - -The ascent became steeper. They emerged from the windfall and took -breath on a rocky shoulder. Over them rose the round crown of the great -hilltop, bald or tufted with heather. The settlers, picking up the -trail, pushed on. From time to time a stone gave under the reluctant -Ginger's hoofs and rattled down the incline. In places he stopped -morosely, setting his legs like posts. Then Martha tugged vehemently at -the halter, as though she hoped to uproot him bodily, while Eben, with -the judicious use of a hazel, admonished and urged from behind. When -these resources failed, Colonel charged the little cayuse, nipping him -smartly in the flank, and started him in a panic. But at last the final -stretch was finished and they were on the summit. - -Alice dismounted and they walked a few yards to the eastern side, which -broke away in great, treeless steps. Far below, the forest stretched -like a smooth plain, through which the Nisqually trailed and doubled -like a changeable ribbon in the sun. But the girl's eager eyes turned -first northwestward, where, sixty miles distant, the Olympic Mountains -shone dimly through summer haze, a pastel of blue and white, and -enclosed in their hollow a turquoise sea. Was that bright moving speck -a bit of cloud or was it the _Phantom_ with the light on her sails? Her -glance came back and before her clear-cut, near, rose the bastioned -heights of the Cascade Range, and, over-topping icy minarets and domes, -vast, mighty, in Alpine splendor, loomed the triple crest of Mt. -Rainier. - -"Well," said Forrest finally, "is it worth the effort?" - -"Effort?" she repeated. "I could fight a hundred windfalls for this." -She paused, swaying in the hot gale that swept the hilltop. "But this -isn't enough, Paul; I must go there." - -[Illustration: "She paused, swaying in the hot gale."] - -"To Rainier?" - -"Yes, if I were only a man I shouldn't wait a day; I'd push right on -to-morrow." - -Forrest smiled, shaking his head. "The only two men who ever made that -summit," and he looked off again to the brilliant slopes, "nearly -perished. But Philip is talking of a trip to the mountain. He has -promised your sister that he will bring her out to the Nisqually to see -you before they go to Freeport, and he thinks he can go on, then, to -Rainier." - -"Then he must take me." She lost her hold against the wind, and for a -moment it beat her back, struggling, laughing, from the bluff. "There -are Indian trails," she went on. "Though they are afraid of the -mountain, they go as far as the warm springs and hunt on the lower -slopes." She battled another interval and ended by staying herself with -her hand on Forrest's arm. The touch, her nearness, shook him more than -the gale. "But," she finished, "Phil Kingsley will find a way. He loves -an adventure; it's the one point where we ever agree; and if he goes to -Rainier, I know he will take me." - -Forrest laughed, again shaking his head. He turned and looked back -along the face of the ridge. There was that landmark, the leaning -tower, holding the curve in the sister height, but the canyon had lost -those familiar lines he expected to see. From this view-point the -second sweep of the gorge, doubling the hill, seemed to terminate -abruptly. It was baffling, mysterious, altogether strange; yet, -somewhere, in that rough corner of the landscape, unrolled like a map at -his feet, he should be able to locate his lost prospect. - -But it was impossible to linger on the hilltop. The heat was growing -intolerable, and not a fissure or depression in the rocky surface held -water; the flask, filled at the last stream, had long been empty. They -returned to the horses, and trailed down the southern slope, into a cool -glade which was carpeted with short, thick grass. It became a natural -park; trees of mighty girth, almost free of undergrowth, rose in -straight columns, one hundred and fifty feet to the lowest limbs. They -were ringed by centuries, yet were sound to the core. - -Finally a moist breeze drew between the boles and brought the noise of -running water. Colonel pricked his ears sensitively. He swung, looking -towards a line of thicket that marked the watercourse, then he broke -into a trot. The sound became the thunder of a cataract. Alice leaned -low in her saddle; her wide eyes tried to penetrate the jungle ahead. -The black pushed on between boughs, snorting gently, tossing his mane. -There was a flash of foam through the foliage, then, clear, cold, fresh -from near snowfields, plunged the upper falls of the Des Chutes. Her -foot was out of the stirrup; she slipped to the ground, and reaching the -brink, threw herself full length, and stretching her palms down to the -torrent, and bringing them up, cuplike, drank. She laved her face, and -putting her hands together, dipped and drank from their hollow, again -and again. - -There were two falls, and the ledge upon which she had thrown herself -projected over the second plunge. It was narrow and thin, and trembled -with the shock of the torrent and with her weight. When she lifted her -eyes the spray of the upper cataract was in her face; looking down, she -saw a great square room cut from solid basalt, which received the second -fall and poured it, seething, through a fissure, set doorlike in the -lower wall. - -She shrank back to her knees, overcome with sudden dizziness. The next -instant she was drawn to her feet, then lifted off of them by a pair of -unsteady arms, and put down on firm earth. She looked up and laughed. - -But Forrest's face was white and stern. "Why will you risk yourself -like this?" he said. "Why will you?" - -Camp was made in a small open on the base of the slope. Dry branches -were gathered for the fire, a tent pitched for the women, and bedded -with boughs made springy by sharpening and planting the butts in the -earth. Then Martha set out her fine butter and light loaf, and lifted -the coffee-pot from the improvised tripod, and brought venison steaks, -broiled to perfection over the red coals. - -"I dunno," said Eben, putting down his cup and smoothing his long black -whiskers, "I dunno's I ever hed your 'pinion 'bout that ther leanin' -tower. How do you 'count fur it?" - -"Why," answered Forrest, "the blocks are of granite. There was probably -a formation of granite and limestone, and the softer rock crumbled -away." - -There was a brief silence, during which the settler meditated -profoundly, then Martha spoke. "I 'low he's 'bout right, Eben. Ther -ain't never be'n no man 'round here could a hefted them stones, let -erlone piled 'em that erway, cantin' right over ther gorge. An' ef ther -was, an' he'd hed ther help an' tackle, what in all creation 'd he do it -fur?" - -Another profound silence, then Myers said, "I 'lowed it might a be'n -done by my petrified man." - -"Your petrified man?" repeated Forrest. - -"Yes." The settler cast a sweeping glance behind him, as though he -feared the young man's incautious tone might have reached some -eavesdropper lurking in the thicket, and screening his mouth with his -hand, echoed softly, "My petrified man." - -"It's true," said the teacher gravely; "he is excavating a petrified -man. I've seen it, or rather parts of it. He keeps it in a blue chest -with a padlock under my bed." - -Martha rose with suppressed energy, and lifting a bough, laid it on the -fire. "He's be'n nigh onter all winter an' spring gettin' out ther legs -an' arms," she said, resuming her place, "but he calc'lates ef he kin -only find ther hull thing ther's folks 'ud pay consider'ble fur it." - -"I 'lowed mebbe, fur instance," explained Myers, "that ther museum ter -Washington, what that Gov'ment man was talkin' 'bout last year when he -was stoppin' here, would give me er pretty good price. He says they buy -up old bones o' anything curious or over-sized." - -"No doubt," said Forrest slowly, "no doubt. But I believe, Eben, the -time spent on your ranch would count for more. That's a fine meadow you -have, and a few additional acres cleared and seeded with alfalfa would -mean almost riches to you." - -Myers struck a match and, screening it with his hand, lighted his pipe. -Martha watched him. Her lips twitched a little and an unspoken appeal -rose in her anxious eyes. She only said, presently, "Mebbe he's right, -Eben. That ther meadow's be'n a mighty good pasture. Before we hed it -you used to spend er sight o' time drivin' ther cattle over here to ther -south slope in ther cold spells. Onct," she paused, looking off through -the great natural park, "when Lem was a baby I kem over ther hills an' -toted him in my lap. It commenced ter snow an' I lost ther trail." - -"An' it was yonder," said Eben, pointing riverward, "close onter that -ther black snag, I found her. She'd hitched ther cayuse an' took off -his pack, an' Lem, ther little bugger, was did up in er extry blanket, -peart as er chipmunk in er hole. She was settin' down by er good fire a -eatin' her supper." - -Martha smiled, her shadowy, brief smile. "I counted on his lookin' fur -me," she said, "an' 'lowed he'd scent the bacon. His rations was erbout -give out." - -The long Northern twilight deepened; the nearer trees stood out tall and -spectral against vague shadow; a bat with low swoops approached and was -lost in the gloom; a white owl settled, dazed, on a fir bough, and from -time to time mingled his hoot with the note of the cataract. Once the -sound of sliding rock came from some high shoulder and was followed by a -rush of earth lower on the slope. - -Alice leaned back comfortably on an old cedar trunk with chairlike arms, -and lifted her face, listening. "How the hills answer each other," she -said; "every sound multiplies." - -Forrest settled himself in one of his easy attitudes in front of the -fire. "It reminds me of a trip I made last year over the new railroad -in Oregon." He paused and his listeners waited, expectantly. He had a -deep, pleasing voice and the gift of the story teller. "They had taken -me aboard a construction train. There are points on the Columbia where -the slopes rise abruptly eight hundred feet, and the soil is loose with -a perilous mixture of boulders. They had scores of Chinamen at work to -bulkhead these places, and the big timbers up there looked like -scaffoldings of toothpicks. But a whole crew of track-walkers couldn't -keep the danger off, and we were speeding along when suddenly there was -a terrific sound. It was like musketry multiplied by echoes on echoes. -Then looking up we saw ahead an immense rock moving down the mountain. -The engineer reversed his lever and jumped. The next instant the -boulder struck the engine and hurled it into the river." - -She caught her breath. "And you, Paul?" - -"I?" He turned to her with his smile of the eyes. "Why, I was in the -caboose. The coupling broke and separated the rest of the train from -the engine. It was the closest shave I ever had." - -"And you never told me." - -"The greatest devastator is the frost," he said after a moment. "It -drives the wedge ready for the heavy rains. But I remember a place on -the Snoqualmie that has been crossed by an avalanche of snow. It has -left a clean-swept track through the timber, and the trees, hurled with -incredible force, block the river from bank to bank. It's the most -terrible jam ever heard of. You know the place, Eben?" - -But the settler answered only with a gentle nod. He sat with his chin -on his breast, holding his empty pipe on his knee. Martha nudged him, -but he slept placidly on. - -Alice lifted her glance once more to the shadowy slope. Presently she -began to sing in a sweet undertone, "The Day Is Done." And after the -first measure Forrest took up the song, and the two voices, rising, -swelling, started a refrain from cliff and spur. The last echo drifted -and died in a far canyon. A great hush rested on the wilderness. There -was a soft illumination on a high peak, then every crest and shoulder -was silvered by the rising moon. - -The song was followed by many; the parts of old operas which they had -been accustomed to sing with her sister and Philip, on winter evenings -in Judge Kingsley's parlor, or in summer time becalmed aboard the -_Phantom_. And at last it was Schubert's "Serenade." - -Forrest rose to his feet and stood with his arms resting on the top of -the trunk behind her. This song had always been a favorite; they sang -it well together. But a new personality crept into the familiar tones; -an awakened sadness. And the romance of the place, the mystery of night -and the near heavens, gave setting to his part and spoke for him. - -She took up the song, but it became suddenly, for the first time, too -difficult to sing. Her notes faltered and broke. He finished the part -alone. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *"THER BIGGEST COWARD IN THER WOODS"* - - -Forrest was lying on his blanket, his feet to the camp-fire, hands -clasped under his head, his wakeful face raised to the near stars. An -arm's-length from him Myers slumbered, audibly. Stillness rested on the -small white tent. But presently his horse tramped uneasily, pulling on -his picket rope, and the young man rose and went over to him. "So, -Colonel," he said softly, "restless, too, are you? Steady, now, steady, -we'll work it off, old fellow, so." - -He found the bridle and, mounting without a saddle turned up the lofty -slope. The horse flung his head, and with some airy stepping by the -white tent, set himself willingly to the ascent. The firelight, as he -passed, brought out the silver star between his intelligent eyes, the -one marking, from the tips of his sensitive ears to his nimble hind -feet, in a handsome, jet-black coat. - -The settler stirred and rose on his elbow with an inquiring "Hello!" -And Forrest called back, "I'm just going up to the summit for another -look around, and to try to shape a course for the day's tramp." - -Myers laughed and settled back comfortably to his blanket. "I 'low," he -told himself, yawning, "he ain't likely ter see much more'n fog." - -Half way up the hill Forrest halted, breathing his horse on a level -spur, and looked down over the tops of the firs. "It's a natural town -site," he said aloud; "and when the country opens it's bound to be a -mining center. There's a fortune in that water power, but I should set -up my own stamp mills there at the falls, and build cottages for the men -to the right on that knoll. And meantime--meantime--what an Eden it -would make." He turned with a quick upward lift of his head. "Come, -Colonel, come," he said, "we must keep a tighter rein. It's summer now, -and she isn't over the novelty; but it won't last through the first -September rains. Even if she loved me--I could never ask her to bury -herself up here in the wilderness; her--with her ideals and dreams, and -all those nice, luxurious ways." - -He rode on in silence. The moon paled; there were no longer stars, and, -as he reached the summit and looked eastward, he saw the first streak of -light broadening and toning to green on the horizon. The peaks and -shoulders of the Cascades loomed against it purplish black, but all -their base, the valleys, foothills, sank in a white fog that lifted -slowly to meet the dawn. The sky warmed to yellow; a far spur flushed. -He felt the rising moisture in the air, drew a damp breath. A belt of -high cloud crimsoned, and he saw nothing more. - -The fog closed in, billow on billow, flooding the canyon, lapping the -ledge where he stopped. Then for a moment the white sea parted, and the -granite tower hung tilting over the abyss. It stood solitary, like a -lighthouse on a stormy coast, and in another instant was blotted out. - -He dismounted, and with his hand on his horse's neck, his hat pushed -back, stood watching these waves, flowing, separating, rolling together, -rushing out. "And it's something you can't grapple with, or put down," -he said at last. "You've got to push into it, blind, or wait for it to -break. It's like the future. That's it; I could give a year or two to -the grind at Freeport, easily enough, if I was only reasonably sure. -But it's all a chance. A chance that no other man will stumble on my -find, or want this section, or the water power, a chance,--" he began to -smooth the black's mane gently,--"a chance, old boy, that she will care -enough for me, some day, to wait for me." - -The defiance faded from his face. He took his lariat coil, and seating -himself on a rock, allowed the horse to go the length of the rope, -seeking a scant forage. Presently he breathed a whistle; it settled -into a definite tune: - -[Illustration: Music fragment] - -He went over it again and again, with variations that were not the notes -of a flute, nor yet of a thrush but something of each and more; an -expression so sweet, so tender, so full of subtlety, that you must have -guessed the meaning even though you had never heard the words of the -song. - -He broke off finally and sat for a long interval looking absently into -the fog. When he started to his feet a brisk wind was blowing and -overhead the mist was like pulverized gold. "Come, Colonel," he said, -"we must get out of this; I can't afford to wait any longer and you must -put me back in camp inside an hour." - -But suddenly, as he turned his horse, picking up the thread of trail -which on rock and heather was repeatedly lost, a broad shaft of sunshine -struck the hilltop, and directly the crest of Mt. Rainier rose like a -phantom from the rushing sea. Then everywhere, through the fog that -parted and closed, and parted again like a rent curtain in the wind, -dome and pinnacle gleamed opal or rose in the full glory of the morning. -And the sun went with him down the slope, touching the higher spurs, the -tops of the firs, and finally the small white tent in the open, and the -edge of the dense undergrowth that followed the watercourse. - -Myers welcomed him with a long "Hello," and the teacher waved her hand -and stood for a moment watching him as he wound down between the great -boles, then she turned her attention to the broiling trout which she -herself had caught below the falls. The soft flush of the early morning -was on her cheek; its sparkle was in her eyes. - -But during breakfast he had little to say to her; he seemed more -interested in the settler and his views of homestead and pre-emption -rights, timber laws and government surveys. - -"I 'low," said Eben, "you ain't countin' on takin' up ord'nary land, -yourself? You're jest huntin' fur a gold mine." - -"There's nothing I would like better than to find and open up my lost -prospect," answered Forrest, "but, if I could spare the time now, -to-day, I should file on this section, right here in the heart of the -red firs. It's the best vacant piece I know of." - -"Do you mean," asked Alice, with awakened interest, "that you would -homestead it, like any settler?" - -"Yes; and put a timber filing on the quarter adjoining to take in those -fine old trees up the slope. It's one of the best stretches of red fir -in the whole Washington forest." - -"But," she said thoughtfully, "there is plenty of fine standing timber -close to the Sound, where transportation to the lumber mills is easy; -here it would be a tremendous problem." - -"True, and I shouldn't think of spoiling this park for years. It's just -a good section to hold for the future. And, well, I'm fond of the place; -I shall be sorry to know any other man has taken possession." - -"I see," she said after a moment, "I see. And of course you would -secure the water power at the same time. And while you lived here you -would be close at hand to carry on your prospecting, perhaps -development." - -"Yes, that's what I've wanted to do, but"--he shook his head and looked -at her with his smile of the eyes,--"that position at the Freeport mills -was too good to refuse; and if I do find my mine, it's going to call for -capital at the start. I can't expect to interest other money until I am -able to make some sort of a showing." - -He rose to his feet and stood looking off to a high shoulder of the -hills. Then, presently, he and Eben were starting on their tramp, the -day of search for the lost prospect. The sun fell in long shafts -between the boughs and her glance followed him from light to shade. -Martha also, standing a few steps away, looked in the same direction, -her head bent a little forward, her knotted fingers shading her anxious -eyes. - -"Ther ain't many like him," she said at length, dropping her hand. - -"No," answered the teacher, absently, "no; walking or riding, it's a -pleasure to watch him. He is so strong, so self-reliant and yet -so--kind; in every way he is the finest man I know. He stands alone." - -"I meant Eben," said Martha with her shadowy smile. She paused, watching -the teacher's face, for she flushed hotly to the ears. "He's -good-looking, an' he's got consider'ble grit when he gets started. He's -always a plannin' an' a studyin', but he ain't ever hed er show. Ef he -hed, I don't s'pose I'd ever a got him." - -"I'm sure," said Alice warmly, "Mr. Myers himself won a great prize. -Why, you plow, sow, reap; you milk and drive the herds. You carry on -the whole farm. He never could do without you." - -"He always 'lowed I was a good worker," and Martha turned to gather up -the breakfast things. - -Presently the teacher asked, "With a clear trail, about how long would -it take to ride from here to the schoolhouse?" - -"Why, I jedge you could do it in erbout five hours. It's roundabout, -you see, an' you'd hev ter go clear to our place an' ercross." - -"But with a new branch cut directly through?" - -"Land, you could do it in half ther time, an' take er stepper like -Colonel, he could make it in two hours, or likely one an' er half." - -The teacher began to walk back and forth through the open. Her hands -were clasped loosely behind her, she looked off absently through the -trees, and her swift thoughts alternately clouded and brightened her -speaking face. After a while she approached Forrest's picketed horse. -He lifted his head from the luscious grass and she stood for a moment -smoothing his ruffled mane. "If we only could do it," she said softly, -"if we only could, Colonel; it would pay your hire." - -Later, while they were walking to the river, she, herself, displayed a -sudden interest in homestead laws, gathering from Mrs. Myers both small -and valuable detail as to the methods of clearing land and building a -cabin. - -Martha found a seat below the falls and took out her knitting, a sock -for Eben, while the teacher chose a place a little down-stream and -opened her sketchbook. She began to outline the cataract, but she -studied the perspective less and less and finally not at all. Then for -an idle interval she leaned on the boulder at her elbow and looked -dreamily up through the great park. When she bent again to her work, -behold, the torrent was but a background for a figure, young, well-knit, -in short sack coat and trousers bound in leggins. And so engrossed was -she in producing those strong lines of brow and chin, the quiet, -searching, humor-haunting eyes, the mouth severe yet tender, that she -did not know that Martha had risen quickly, and stood listening with her -alert gaze searching the jungle directly behind her. She was only -roused by the close snapping of a branch and a sudden sense of peril. - -She started to her feet, dropping the book, and faced the thicket. The -color went from her lips. There, in a tangle of hazel, tawny, handsome, -with swaying tail and brilliant eyes fixed on her, stood a well grown -cougar. - -The next instant Martha reached her side. She had caught up from the -ground a stout bough, and she swung it, thrust it at the brute, -shouting. Alice, quick to grasp the expedient, armed herself with -another fallen branch. The beast gave back a step, another, and the two -women pressed him slowly, cautiously. At length he turned and slunk -reluctantly away into the timber. - -"Ef Eben hed left ther gun," said Martha, wiping the perspiration from -her face, "it 'ud saved us consider'ble bother. But I jedge we best get -back ter the open an' hev er look at ther horses." - -Alice stood with her eyes fixed on the point where the cougar had -disappeared. Her breast heaved with deep, quick breaths and she still -grasped her heavy hemlock bough with both hands. At last she dragged -her gaze away and met Martha's serious glance. She could not speak but -her spirit rose and recognized in silent tribute, the great soul of the -pioneer. - -Martha put her shoulder to an encroaching bough and led the way back to -the stream. Presently she stooped and picked up the sketchbook, and, -having smoothed the leaves, gave it to the artist. Then Alice said -slowly, "I shall always remember--as long as I live--what you did." - -"Oh, land," and Martha smiled, "it wa'n't much ter do. An' a cougar's -ther biggest coward in ther woods. He wouldn't dast ter tech er man, -lest he was cornered or hungry; but I 'low he hed er pretty good chanct -when he kem ercross you." - -A little farther on she possessed herself of her dropped knitting, and, -having gained the path, she moved towards camp, setting her needles and -picking up lost stitches. But her knotty fingers worked mechanically; -they trembled slightly, and her anxious eyes repeatedly swept the -jungle. She knew that a cougar, hunting, does not so easily abandon his -quarry. Though cautious, hesitating, he trails his game for hours, -constantly preparing for, while he is diverted from an attack. She also -knew that, like the human coward, once assailed and cornered, he becomes -a fury. - -In the open they found Ginger standing with hoofs planted like a figure -in stone; but the black, in his terror, had circled and recircled the -alder to which he was tied, winding his lariat, and, reduced to an -arm's-length of rope, he made short and frenzied plunges to break free. -Suddenly he stopped, dragged back the limit of the line, and stood -trembling. - -Instantly Martha understood. She ran forward, dropping her knitting, -and picked up another bough. The cougar had reached a vine maple a few -rods from the black. She saw his tawny body outstretched on the great -curving branch of the parted bole. "Pile them pieces o' spruce on ther -fire," she said coolly. "Make er smoke. Then slack up Colonel's rope -an' get him back behind it." - -She stepped between the horse and the cougar, again lifting the heavy -limb, swinging it, thrusting it, but avoiding direct contact with the -beast, and renewing her shouts. Before she had finished her directions -Alice had caught up a resinous branch and thrown it on the embers. It -crackled noisily and sent out a great cloud of smoke, which the wind, -setting from the river, carried directly into the eyes and nostrils of -the panther. He began to retreat, snarling, along the maple. Presently -he dropped to the ground, and while Martha pressed him, step by step, -the girl, who had succeeded in loosening the lariat, urged the horse -around the fire. - -Again the cougar turned and disappeared. Colonel was finally picketed -near the old cedar trunk, and they piled fresh boughs on the fire, still -pursuing the panther with thick, pungent smoke. Then they rested, -gathering themselves, in the brief reprieve, for his certain return. - -The black, less panic-ridden, continued to listen or tug at his rope. -The other horse began to browse. The suspense pressed. Then, suddenly, -a rifle shot startled the solitudes. And while the two women stood -marking the puff of smoke, which rose a few yards off, there came a -clamor of snarls. Two hounds slunk through the underbrush into the open -and waited, shaking. A second report rang through the hills, then, the -cries having ceased, one of the dogs plucked up courage and sounded a -clarion. After a moment his mate returned into the thicket, alert, -cautious, feeling ground. The first hound crept in his wake, and -directly their baying, multiplied as by a score of throats, filled the -wood. - -The dogs were Laramie's, and the women followed them, seeking their -master, but the hunter was Mose. The cougar was stretched in his death -throes before him, on a bed of trampled fern and broken boughs. - -"Saprie," he exclaimed as the teacher approached, "if I ees have dat gun -of Laramie's I doan' have some trouble to keel heem de firs' shot. But -dis gun dat Yelm Jim ees lend to me, he ees buy long tam 'go to de -Hudson Bay Companee; an' for sure dey ees sell heem one no 'count Injun -gun." - -"Oh," said Alice, her voice shaking, "it was a grand shot--Mose. And -you--you came--just--in time." - -"Monjee, Mees, ees it dis cougar ees give you some trouble, a'ready?" - -She could not speak again directly; she could only nod her head, -affirmatively. But Martha smiled grimly. "Wal, yes," she said; "he's -be'n er trailin' us, off 'n on, fur a good spell; an' Eben, he's -prospectin' down ther canyon with ther rifle." - -"So," said Mose, "so, but it ees good t'ing I come 'long den. You see -dose dogs ees track me las' night to Yelm Jim's cabane, an' I ees keep -dem to hunt some mowitch to-day. Dey ees fine dogs for trail de deer, -ya-as, but A'm mooch shame how dey ees scare' of dis cougar. Cultus -Pichou." He paused to cuff aside one of the snuffing hounds. "So you -ees come back now, hey? You ees have de brave heart now dat you ees see -dis cougar ees be keel. Nawitka, Mees, you doan' have to be some more -'fraid. Dis sacre cougar," and he thrust his foot against the lax body, -"he ees sure 'nough dead." - -They went back to the open, but in a little while, when Mose had been -shown the maple where the cougar had crept in ambush, and the clump of -hazels where he had first appeared, the boy returned to secure the pelt. -Martha joined him, but Alice stopped at the old cedar trunk and sank -down into its chairlike arms. On a log near her Mrs. Myers had left the -provision bag, and not far from it, against a fir, Mose had stood the -musket. She felt a security in the gun and in having him within call, -and she closed her eyes, relaxing her strained muscles and nerves. - -She was roused by some moving body in the underbrush, and she started up -instantly, at tight tension once more. A man was retreating from the -open into the jungle, riverward. He looked back, scowling over his -shoulder at her, and she recognized the shaggy, unkempt head and gaunt -face of Slocum. The next moment he was gone, and with him had -disappeared the food supply and Yelm Jim's musket. - -She ran, calling Mose, and met him returning with the pelt. But there -was nothing he could do. It was useless, unarmed, to trail the -trespasser. He stood staring in the direction the man had taken; the -color glowed in his cheeks. He dropped the skin in a heap on the ground -and clenched his hands, slowly, twice, as he had the day at school when -Laramie struck him. But his volubility died. The Indian in him wakened -and effaced the White. His lips set in a thin line; his face became a -mask through which his eyes only flamed heat. Presently he turned and -stalked swiftly away, towards the settlement. He stopped once to -whistle the dogs, but when Alice followed him, calling him back, it was -as though he had not heard. - -"Oh," she said, returning to Martha, "Yelm Jim will blame him. He may -punish him, cruelly." - -"Land, no," answered Martha. "Ef it hed be'n Laramie's gun, I 'low Mose -'ud get licked in an inch o' his life, but Yelm Jim ain't goin' ter -blame him. He's more likely ter watch fur a good chanct to take it -out'n some white man. Don't matter who, long's he's white." - -She went over and picked up the cougar skin and spread it on the earth, -showing it from tip to tip. "Mose took him here in the shoulder," she -said, "an' his second shot fixed him right atween ther eyes. Measures -'bout nine feet." - -But the teacher had turned away. She went back to the cedar stump and -stood leaning weakly on it, looking off in the direction of the canyon. -It seemed very far off. - -Presently Martha joined her. She had prepared a pointed stick by -holding it in the fire, and the end of it still smouldered. "I'm goin' -down-stream ter dig wapato," she said. "Them two prospectors is goin' -ter be terrible hungry when they get back, an' it'll taste pretty good." - -Alice had seen this edible root, which is a favorite food among the -Indians; it grew in profusion along the watercourse. "I will go with -you and help," she said, "unless I had better stay to watch the horses." - -Martha stood a thoughtful moment looking at the black. "I dunno," she -said, "how Dick Slocum kem to leave Colonel. He hed er mighty good -chanct to take er horse that 'ud carry him out er ther country, easy. -But he was mighty scared o' makin' er noise, an' got erway in er -terrible hurry. I jedge he didn't 'low ther was only one gun in ther -crowd; he hedn't located Eben an' ther rifle." - -But evidently the outlaw had located the rifle, for, lifting her keen -eyes Martha discovered Forrest, the gun in the curve of his arm, coming -swiftly down the glade. His glance swept the open anxiously, as he -approached, but at sight of the girl, unharmed, the tense lines softened -in his face. "I thought I heard a shot," he said, and his look again -searched the place for the hunter; "I fixed it at about here. But I see -I was mistaken. The truth is," he shook his head, smiling at his folly, -"I got it into my head that you needed me. I couldn't think of anything -else. You see you were so incautious yesterday, at the river; then, -too, I blamed myself for leaving you without the protection of Eben's -rifle. And I had forgotten to give you your book. You dropped it -yesterday at the canyon, and I was afraid the time would drag without -anything to read." - -He drew the little volume from his pocket, and flushing, conscious of -the shallowness of his excuse, looked off, riverward. - -"I jedge," said Martha briefly, "ef you head right off fur ther river, -up-stream, you kin hit Dick Slocum's trail. He's jest gone off 'ith ther -rations, bag an' all. Keep ther rifle handy; he's took Mose Laramie's -gun." - -Then for the first time Forrest looked straight at the girl. The line -drew black between his brows. He saw that her face was grimy with smoke -and moisture; that the hand which had taken the book was scratched, -bruised, stained. "Slocum? Then I did hear a shot." His voice was -quiet, but it took a new quality, the streak of iron outcropping in the -man. "He did not offer to touch you?" - -"No, oh, no." She swayed a little on her feet; it was difficult to find -words. "The shot you heard was Mose's. He--" - -But that was enough. Forrest was off, pushing swiftly towards the -river, picking up the fugitive's trail. Martha followed him a short -distance, then turned down-stream. It was not her way to wait in -idleness for the chance rescue of the provision bag, and she began -industriously to dig the wapato. Presently she selected a more stubborn -plant and dropped to her knees. "He kem back jest ter bring that ther -book," she said slowly, thrusting the sharpened stick deep into the -earth, "an' mebbe ther rifle. Lost 'bout half er day's prospectin'. -An' he 'lowed he only hed one ter spare. Ef it don't beat all." - -But the complete day was lost. The rich ledge, of which he had once -found strong indications, remained locked in that secret passage of the -hills for any chance comer to stumble upon. The search for Slocum also -proved fruitless. Even Myers, who sauntered into camp an hour after -Forrest, to learn what kept the young prospector, failed to trail the -outlaw beyond a rocky point half a mile up-stream, where he presumably -had taken advantage of low water to push up the gravelly bars of the -river bed. - -The two searchers returning met near camp. "I jedge," said Eben dryly, -"ther next time we count on doin' any prospectin', we'll leave ther -women folks ter home." - -Forrest made no answer and the settler put his shoulder to a clump of -alders and pushed through. The late sun, slanting between the branches, -was in his eyes, but across the open he saw his wife at the camp-fire, -preparing her dish of wapato. "I dunno," he added, "but what Marthy's -er pretty good hand ter have erlong sometimes. An' I 'low ef she hed hed -ther rifle she'd er fetched that ther cougar. Marthy's er mighty fine -shot." - -"Cougar?" repeated Forrest, "what cougar?" - -Eben stopped and looked back. "Didn't they tell you 'bout that cougar? -Mose kem erlong an' killed him; they was keepin' him off with bresh. -An' Mose was takin' ther pelt when Slocum sneaked in an' lit out with -his gun." - -Forrest asked no more. He pushed by Myers into the open, and stumbled -over something damp and soft that clung to his shoes. It was the skin; -the hairy side, turned back at the end where he had tripped, was of the -tawny, unmistakable color familiar in those days to every woodsman on -Puget Sound. - -Alice was coming across the grass to meet him. He moved back a step, -steadying himself with one hand on an alder. His whole young, well-knit -body shook. "Alice," he said, and his voice rang, deepened, and broke. -"Alice--what happened?" - -"Nothing--" she looked at the skin,--"Mose killed him. Nothing -happened. But Paul,--it was the closest--" she laughed a little, -bravely--"'_the closest--shave--I ever had._'" - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *STRATTON'S WAY* - - -"Yes, sir, he's ther great tyee, an' I've hed him spotted sence spring." -Lem waded a few steps to a flat rock under the bank and seated himself -disgustedly. "An' I hed him hooked, an' er clawin' fur all he was worth -in er riffle, 'ithout 'nough water ter carry him over, when you kem -poundin' up ther trail an' scared him clear outn his skin. Picked -hisself up like er reg'lar grasshopper an' got erway 'ith er bran' new -line." - -"Too bad." Stratton checked his restless horse and sat looking down at -the boy with his mocking smile. "But here is the price of the best -tackle to be had at Yelm Station. Better luck next time." - -Lem caught the piece of silver and studied it closely. - -"Oh, gee!" he began but clapped his hand over his mouth, and put the -coin swiftly away into his pocket. He sprawled out on the rock and -trailed the toes of one bare foot sensuously in the stream, regarding -the rider with a sidelong look that said plainly, "I bet you want -somethin' o' me." - -"I suppose," said Stratton, "that Miss Hunter, the teacher, has gone -home?" - -"Naw." Lem cast up his eyes with a grim smile. "She stopped ter write -er letter to her sister after school; takes her a good spell, an' I kem -on erhead to wait round here at ther creek. She ain't needin' me so -much on ther trail sence ther timber-cruiser left his horse fur her." - -"The timber-cruiser?" repeated Stratton. "I see, you mean Forrest. And -he left the black for her use?" - -"You bet; ther ain't nothin' half-way 'bout him; an' I 'low he thinks -when it kems to ther schoolmarm ther ain't nothin' too good fur her." - -"Yes?" Stratton checked his horse again, watching the boy quizzically. -"What grounds have you for believing that, Jonathan?" - -"My name's Lemuel; you kin call me Lem fur short." He paused long -enough to give the correction weight, then said, "I dunno. He ain't -ther kind ter make much show, but I bet ther roots strikes deep. An' -ma, she calc'lates he thinks ther sun 'bout rises an' sets in ther -school-marm." - -"Yes?" repeated Stratton dryly. "Well, I should not wonder. Your -mother is a shrewd and practical judge." - -"Dad," the boy continued, warming to his subject, "he 'lowed ther -schoolmarm must have give him ther cold shoulder that time up in ther -hills. He didn't seem to care er durn 'bout losin' his hull day o' -prospectin'; never said er word, an' he'd be'n countin' on findin' that -ther lost mine o' his fur more'n er year. But ma, she jedged he was -jest all broke up on 'count o' that cougar." - -Stratton had heard the story. It was one to carry far, to gather weight -with repetition, and Eben, as the settlement historian, had been -particularly glad to add it to his repertoire. There was a brief -silence, during which the rider waited, smiling a little, and Lem -thoughtfully trailed his other foot in the current, then, "Mebbe she has -took the bit in her teeth fur er spell," he went on, "but ef he jest -keeps er stiff upper lip she'll kem 'round. Er girl's bound ter show -some spirit ef she's any 'count. Er man's got ter handle her 'bout like -that ther sorrel filly of Mill Thornton's. He kin chase her all over -ther pasture fur half er day, an' she'll keep gettin' more skittish an' -shy, but ther minute he lets on he don't give er durn, an' goes an' sets -down by ther bars fur er rest, she'll kem nosin' over his shoulder, -huntin' his pockets fur sugar. Mill hisself 'lows girls is 'bout that -erway, an' he'd orter know." - -"Yes? And why should he, particularly, know?" - -"On 'count o' Cousin Samanthy. Ther hull settlement's be'n calc'lating -what she'll do 'bout Mill, fur ther last year." - -"And who is Cousin Samantha?" - -"Land, don't you know? Her dad owns that ther ranch down ter the -prairie, close ter Yelm Station. Likely she was tendin' Post Office, ef -it was train time, when you kem past." - -"Yes, yes, she was." Stratton laughed softly, and allowed his horse to -pace down into the stream. "So that pretty coquette I saw at the -Station is your cousin. Well, well." - -"You bet. I 'low she's pretty 'nough, an' sassy, too, as ther Lord -makes 'em. An' she always lets on she thinks er sight more o' that -there sorrel filly than she does o' Mill." - -Stratton laughed again, and the chestnut splashed on through the ford -and trotted up the opposite bank. A little later he stopped at the -schoolhouse, and the young man dismounted and went up to the open door. - -The teacher was there, writing at her desk. She looked up, and, seeing -him on the steps, continued her paragraph. She had thought over that -chance meeting at the canyon a good many times, wondering at Forrest's -behavior, yet assuring herself that his reason was just; it gathered -weight since he had not been able to give her an explanation. Paul was -not a man of moods; it was his way to see any man's best until he had -strong proof of his other side. Still, this stranger was so -interesting, so polished, so well accoutered, so altogether different -from any she had met on the Nisqually trail, or for that matter, -anywhere, it was a pity there should be something objectionable in the -way of knowing him. She told herself this while she wrote her signature, -and folding the sheet, fitted it in an envelope, which she sealed and -addressed before she again raised her eyes. - -He waited, watching her, smiling a little, interested, but embarrassed -not at all. "Now may I come in?" he asked. - -She did not answer, but she rose from her chair, and surprised, holding -her head high, stood with the lovely color coming and going in her face, -while he walked up the aisle. - -"I am sure, Miss Hunter," he said, "that you must have heard all about -me by now. I know your sister so well; but I have somewhere,"--he felt -in one pocket, then another,--"the necessary introduction from the -Captain, your brother-in-law. Ah, here it is." - -So he had a letter from Philip. Of course that changed the situation. -She could not be rude to him, but--she _would be careful_. And his -manner in presenting the note was after all irreproachable. He had at -once the grace of a Southerner, and the unhurried pose of an English -gentleman; there was, too, the touch of an accent in his deliberate -speech, at times almost a drawl, that made her wonder if it had been -inherited, with his long black lashes, from a French or perhaps Spanish -mother. - -"Of course," she said, "I am always glad to meet my sister's or the -Captain's friends. You must have come directly from him; perhaps you -have seen her lately." - -"Yes, I saw them both in Olympia the day before yesterday. In fact your -sister made me the bearer of a good many messages to you. I wish I -could remember them all. But, most important, she is coming out, -herself, to see you within a week. The Captain is getting an outfit -together for a trip to Mt. Rainier, and he hopes, if you can arrange for -a short vacation, to take you and Mrs. Kingsley as far, at least, as the -warm springs." - -"Oh," she said, and the coolness dropped from her face like a broken -mask, "it will be lovely. Lovely. I knew he would let me go. And I -can arrange a week of vacation; the directors have been considering it, -for the older boys are needed through harvest." - -"Then," he said, and his own face seemed to catch and reflect the light -in hers, "I am doubly glad that the Captain has asked me to complete the -party." - -Her position on the edge of the platform brought her eyes almost on a -level with his, and she met his look for a steady, searching, -questioning instant. "Lem is waiting for me at the creek," she said, -and went down and took her hat from its peg on the wall. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *MOSE* - - -Yelm Jim sat brooding in his lodge. He was wrapped in his blanket and -an old campaign hat shaded his eyes from the fire, which was kindled on -the packed earth floor, and found partial vent through an opening in the -roof, around which hung haunches of drying venison and bear. The squaw -Clak-la-sum-kah was cooking bread, an unleavened mixture of flour and -water, in a frying-pan over the coals. At the same time she watched -some fine trout, which were suspended from a rod set in forked stakes -above the embers. Mose, who had caught these fish, lounged on a couch -that, built of shakes, extended along three sides of the room, and was -furnished with woven mats of ribbon grass or the bast of cedar. The wall -behind him also was covered with this fabric, which was of the color of -ripened maize. - -It was one of those intervals when the boy, having incensed his father, -sought refuge with his mother's people while Laramie's wrath cooled. At -such times the Indian in Mose effaced the white. He bound his head in a -crimson handkerchief, and wrapped himself in a blanket, which -Clak-la-sum-kah had adorned with many buttons for her grandson's use. -He looked a true Klickitat, straight as a young hemlock, lithe as a -nearly grown cougar in the woods. His face was a bronze oval, sharply -chiseled, and he had the eyes of a hawk. He recalled to the old chief -his own youth, when, having a different and much hyphened name, he had -been a leader among the young braves of the powerful Yakima nation -beyond the Cascades; when, hunting the buffalo, he had crossed the -Rockies and skirmished with the Blackfeet, or, exacting tribute from -weaker neighbors, had driven home numberless horses to pasture on the -vast Palouse plains. He found in the boy an appreciative and tireless -listener when he recounted these past glories, and he painted them -brilliantly, in sharp contrast to the colorless present. Mose had no -brave companions, no followers in the hunt, no tribe. - -And the whites were responsible for this; they only were to blame. Not -the Hudson Bay men, who, trading for furs, brought guns and many useful -things to the Indians, but the "Bostons," who came at the first to rob -them of their country. From the beginning the Yakimas had understood -and opposed them, and, when at last a thousand warriors had crossed the -Cascades to fall on the white settlements of the salt water, Yelm Jim -had been among them. They had met defeat, and he, himself, had spent -breaking years in the strong house of the "Bostons," and at the end of -his captivity he had found himself poor and forgotten and another tyee -raised in his place. For this reason the old chief had not returned to -his people, but had buried himself in the forest. - -But already the white settlers pressed hard on his retreat; axes, the -rasp of saws, their shrill voices scattered the deer. He must go -farther and farther in search of grouse that once had nested almost at -his door; and now, since Slocum had robbed Mose of the musket, the old -chief must set laboriously to work and shape the miserable arrow points -of agate. - -When Yelm Jim thought of this final outrage he drew yet more fiercely at -his pipe, and in the shadow of his ragged hatbrim his brows beetled and -gloomed. It was not the right moment for young Kingsley to darken the -doorway. - -One of Laramie's hounds, which had again tracked Mose, sprang up -growling, but at a word from the boy settled back whimpering, with his -nose between his paws. His mate, snuffing suspiciously, moved to the -intruder's feet. - -His familiar "Clahowya," said in a big, frank voice, startled the lodge -and the first dog belled a note. - -"Clahowya," he repeated. "Hello." - -Still no answer except a longer note from the hound. - -The young man stopped in the entrance and took off his hat, using it -slowly as a fan. His close-cropped hair clung in damp, blond waves to -his shapely head. The tan of a brief outing had not spoiled his unusual -fairness; his face in the shadows was white, but his black eyes gathered -depth and brilliancy. - -"I think you are the young fellow I'm looking for," he said, addressing -the indifferent boy on the couch. "It's dark to one coming in from the -sunlight, and that blanket and handkerchief hardly tally with the -description I had of you, but you must be Mose." - -The boy regarded the trout which the squaw was turning. "Nawitka," he -said. - -"You are? Well then, Mose, I want you to guide us to Mt. Rainier." He -paused, but the boy was silent and the old chief continued to draw -deeply at his pipe. "You understand," he went on, "we are going to the -mountain and want you to show us the way. If the weather stays fine I -mean to try for the summit. Nika cumtux?" And he repeated in Chinook -with an elaborate gesture, "Copa si-yah top." - -Mose expressed his appreciation of the man's attempt at the language in -a fleeting smile, but he made no reply. Yelm Jim also was silent, but he -drew yet more furiously at his pipe. - -"Let him go with us," continued Kingsley, addressing the chief, "and you -shall have that pair of brown blankets you were so interested in -yesterday, at the camp." - -Still another pause. "If he goes with me up the mountain you can have -all my blankets, the tents, the whole outfit, when we come back," added -Kingsley. - -Then Clak-la-sum-kah rose from her squatting posture by the fire and -said in her vehement guttural, "Wake, wake. Mose wake clatawa. Wake -clatawa copa si-yah illahee. Tyee Sahgalee hyas solleks. Hy-as -solleks. Mose wake clatawa." - -Kingsley looked from her to the boy, puzzled. "What is it she says?" - -Mose rose from his lounging position and drew his blanket close. -"Clak-la-sum-kah ees say 'no.' You mus' un'stan' Tyee Sahgalee ees same -you all tam call God. Dat top of Rainier ees His plas. He doan' lak it -for sure, we go dare. Sacre, dat mountain ees goin' shake an' smoke an' -mek mooch fire we go dare, you can beli've it. But ya-as, Yelm Jim ees -see it do dat long tam 'go. He ees say Tyee Sahgalee, ees be mad, -because de firs' white man ees come." - -Kingsley threw back his head and laughed. "I see," he said, "I see. -And your Indian God wanted to reserve this country for his favorite -people. But it's all foolishness, Mose; you ought to know it. That -priest of your father's, who has been coming out here every month from -Olympia, must have taught you different. You don't believe any such -heathen nonsense. And you will show us over the trail. You aren't -afraid to try the summit with me, though I doubt there's another boy in -the settlement would dare." - -"I ees hunt on dat mountain, si-yah, to de red snow," answered the boy -slowly; "no Indian ees go pas' de red snow." - -There was another silence. Kingsley ran his hand lightly down a tawny -pelt that hung in the doorway. "Miss Hunter showed me that other cougar -skin," he said. "She thinks you saved her life." He paused a grave -moment, still stroking the fur. "And I know the story of this one. -It's the pelt of the one you faced on that log crossing over the Des -Chutes. You stopped to take careful aim, with the brute snarling, and -the log dipping and heaving to the freshet underneath. And when he -dropped no one else would have plunged into the flood as you did; not -even to save this skin." - -Mose's lips parted in his fleeting smile. "Dat ees not good plas to -swim by Laramie's claim; monjee, no." - -Yelm Jim shook his head slowly, and for the first time broke his silence -with a profound, "Ugh." - -"It was all the woods afloat that day," said Kingsley, "Myers told -me,--and the drift tearing down a current gone mad." He paused again -and his glance moved to a great shaggy trophy against the matting on the -farther wall. "And that," he added, "must be the pelt of the cinnamon -bear you met up in the hills, single-handed, with just your knife." - -"Nawitka." A sudden fire leaped in the old chief's eyes. "Hy-as close -peltry. Mose hy-as shookum tumtum. Hy-as skookum." - -"Mose has the strong heart," interpreted Kingsley. "Strong heart, yes. -I tell you I'd have paid a stiff price to see that encounter." - -"It ees good skin," said Mose, simply. "Oh, ya-as, for sure." - -"See here, Mose,--" the young man drew nearer,--"in the face of all this -you can't make me believe you're afraid of Rainier." - -"A'm not 'fraid anyt'ing dese woods; bear, cougar, hi-yu water, snow, -doan' mek me 'fraid. But Tyee Sahgalee, ugh." Mose drew his shoulders -high in eloquent conclusion, and resuming his place on the couch, turned -his face. - -Kingsley laughed once more. "Oh, well, think it over. We shall start -for the mountain anyway, whether we have a guide or not. We shall break -camp the day after to-morrow. Let me know if you make up your mind to -go, Mose; and you had better look at those blankets. They are pretty -fine." - -He turned away then, taking the river trail, and, as he went, his lips -shaped a gay whistle. Once, as he approached his camp, he turned from -the path and stepped out on a fallen fir that served as a footbridge to -a green island, and looking up-stream saw the splendor of a northern -sunset on the mighty dome. "I don't wonder they believe it," he said. -"I don't wonder." - -Almost an hour later Mose also stopped at this crossing and lifted his -eyes to the mountain. It loomed, vast, white, symmetrical against the -darkening east, its consecrated summit touched with a holy fire. He -waited while the glory paled to opal and to a cold silver. When he -turned from the log his lips set in a thin line; his eyes narrowed; his -face hinted of cruelty. - -Laramie's hounds had followed him; they crept through the underbrush at -heel. But suddenly, on the edge of the mam trail, he stopped and laid -his hand on one of them. "Back, Pichou," he said. "Monjee, down, down, -so." - -He remained almost hidden by a tangle of alder, while two riders passed. -Neither noticed him; the teacher was talking, and Stratton, though he -might have lifted his arm and touched the boy, turned his head to watch -her face. They moved slowly, at a walk, until the thoroughbred, -sighting the waiting figure, started, and, dancing, crowding the black, -circled suspiciously by. Then, directly, both horses broke into a light -canter, taking advantage of the bit of wider track. - -Mose stepped out into the trail and stood looking after them, but his -gaze rested on Stratton's mount. He loved the thoroughbred, coveted -him, every inch of the long sleek body, the slender limbs, the swelling -chest, the dappled shading, that, like a reflection of leaves on a -forest pool, ran through the shining, chestnut coat. Surely there was -never another like him. Even among those fine herds of which Yelm Jim -boasted this horse must stand the chief, the glory of the whole Palouse -plains, the envy of the proudest Yakima. - -He walked on towards the bend around which the horses had disappeared. -The noise of the river was in his ears. After a while the air grew -resinous with burning firboughs, and finally, through the trees, he -caught the glow of Kingsley's camp-fire. He and his wife had chosen to -pitch their tents here on the bank of the Nisqually, rather than to -share the cramped quarters of the settler. - -She was seated with the teacher on a log in the full light of the -blazing boughs, when Mose stopped on the edge of the open to -reconnoiter, and he saw instantly their resemblance to each other. The -two men, resting a little apart, listened amusedly to their eager -conversation, while nearer, but to the right, Mill Thornton stood with -his hand at the bit of the young sorrel, waiting for a last word with -Samantha Myers. - -She had joined the camp to "help an' hev er little fun." And she was a -slim, graceful girl,--"all tech an' go," Eben would have told you,--with -the beautiful color that is as delicate as the tints of a seashell, and -yet impervious to life out-of-doors. Her hair, as fine as corn silk, -was pale red, and when she bent over the tin reflector, in which she was -cooking some very light rolls, her head seemed to catch the vital charm -of the flames. - -"But," Thornton was saying, "kem to think of it, I never see er Myers -yet that wasn't er good cook. Ther's your Uncle Eben, when he's driv to -it, he kin stir up a flapjack, an' turn her at eggsactly ther minute. -Beats all. Yes," he resumed in afterthought, "take 'em as er fambly, -ther Myerses is er pretty smart crowd; but you, well, I don't keer how -many's on ther tree, Samanthy, you're ther peach." - -She stood erect and flashed him a look that startled the boldness from -his young eyes. "Mebbe I am, Mill," she said, gently, "but I bet, even -ef you do think so, you wouldn't spare the sorrel long 'nough fur me to -ride ter Rainier." - -"No," he answered, flushing, "no, I wouldn't. She ain't well 'nough -broke. You oughter not ask me." - -"I'd resk her," she urged still, sweetly, and smiled into his troubled -face; "I'd love ter ride her, Mill. But," she went on after a pause, -and shrugging her shoulders, drew herself aloof, "you're jest like Jake. -He's turrible 'fraid I'd get Ketchem killed." - -"And yourself, too," he said warmly. - -"But Uncle Eben," she added, "he 'lows I kin ride. He ain't so powerful -scared 'bout--_Ginger_." - -With this she laughed, her hands on her hips, her elbows shaking, and -Thornton, himself laughing deeply, in keen appreciation, turned to set -his foot in the stirrup. "You're all right, Samanthy," he said. "You're -all right, but I 'low it wa'n't a peach I meant; it was jest er sassy -sweetbrier rose. It's so blame' innercent lookin' an' soft, but er -feller can't tech it 'ithout feelin' ther thorns." - -The horse started, but she tripped after him a step to say softly, "Say, -Mill, why don't you call it eglantine?" - -He wheeled. "Who calls it eglantine?" - -She laid a warning finger on her lip. "Mr. Stratton. But I never sensed -what he was talkin' 'bout tell he showed me that ther sweetbrier growin' -ther by the table." - -"Was he meanin' you?" - -She started back to the reflector, but paused to nod her head over her -shoulder; a hundred imps danced in her eyes. "I'd love ter hear you -call me that, Mill. My stars--eglantine!" - -Her lips bubbled laughter; it followed him, teasing, taunting, as he -rode on through the wood. - -Mose, passing him, stalked into the open and towards the farther group. -Kingsley waved his hand in careless recognition, and rising, threw back -his tent-fly and drew out the blankets. "Well, Mose," he said, "what do -you think of these?" - -The boy bent to feel their texture gravely. "Dey ess plent' good 'nough -blankets, monjee, ya-as, an Yelm Jim ees tell me--_go_. But Tyee -Sahgalee ees goin' be hy-as mad. Sacre, it ees pos'ble he ees keel you. -Den, merci, some more white man doan' lak go Rainier." - -He turned with this and stalked swiftly back into the gloom. Alice rose -in astonishment. Kingsley laughed. "If I should lose myself over a -precipice," he said, "or drop into a crevasse, I suppose he would -believe it was all the vengeance of his Indian God." - -"But," she answered, "his father is a devout Catholic. The priest is -making an acolyte of Mose." She sank back, helplessly, into her place. -"I--I suppose it's impossible for him to grasp everything"--she was -thinking of Laramie and the globe--"at once." - -Her sister leaned towards Kingsley. A sudden apprehension rose in her -great, dark eyes, and her voice, in emotion, dropped to contralto notes. -"I wish you would give up that idea of trying for the summit," she said. - -He laughed again, tossing his fine head. "Oh, don't bother, Louise; I -shall be safe enough with Stratton along. He never takes a risk." - -Stratton smiled and adjusted the rolled blankets to his back, leaning on -them comfortably. "The Captain's right," he said. "He knows me. I -always ask myself first, 'Is it safe?' And then, 'Is it worth while?'" - -The teacher looked at him a searching moment and arched her brows. Then -she reached and lifted her sister's guitar from the end of the log. Her -fingers trailed briefly over the strings and settled in a thread of -tune. She repeated the accompaniment, singing softly, inviting -Kingsley's tenor. - - "She shone in the light of declining day, - Each sail was set, and each heart was gay." - -And presently the other man hummed an undernote, but Louise was silent. -She had changed her position a little, clasping her hands loosely around -her knee, with her face slightly lifted and turned to the darkening -wood. It was the face of a dreamer, rapt, sensitive, who peopled the -shadows, and to whom the many voices of the night tuned in unbroken -symphony. - -In the interlude Kingsley turned to her. "Where is your voice, Louise? -We need the contralto." - -She started and looked at him, smiling. It was then she resembled -Alice. The expression was there and the charm; but softened, finer, as -the painting of a master may be reproduced in pastel. - -Her voice was beautiful. She took up the song, subduing her notes to -her sister's lighter compass, but the music, that had been simply -pleasing, assumed, suddenly, the touch and finish of grand opera. - - For the white squall rides on the surg-ing wave, And the - bark is gulph'd in an o-cean's grave, For the - white squall rides on the surg-ing wave, And the - bark is gulph'd in an o-cean's grave, in an - o-cean's grave, in an o - - ocan's grave. - -[Illustration: Music fragment] - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *THE INSTRUMENT OF TYEE SAHGALEE* - - -The summer day breaks early in the Puget Sound country. It was not yet -four by Stratton's watch when he stepped from his tent and stood -analyzing the weather, but all the sky overhead was changing to yellow, -and directly, while he looked, to streaks of flame. The heights, -towering a thousand feet on the opposite side of the gorge, were -burnished copper, and Rainier, walling the top of the canyon, warmed to -amethyst and rose. Its crest, at an altitude of nearly fifteen thousand -feet, was hardly seven miles distant. - -But the great forest that hemmed in the small open where the camp was -pitched, still gloomed in shadow, and the air was sharp with the breath -of near glacier and snowfield. Stratton saw that Mose had left his -blanket, gone already to bring up the horses, and the close report of a -gun told that Kingsley was off in search of the early bird. Then -Samantha came from the other tent and stirred the smouldering fire. She -added a dry hemlock bough, watching the roused flames fasten on the -resinous wood. - -"Good morning, Psyche," he said. - -She lifted her glance, nodding. She had a mouth like a Cupid's bow and -the short upper lip twitched with enforced gravity before the shaft -sped. "Ef you hed er wife, I 'low she'd get er new name 'bout every -day, an' mebbe twicet. Land, it 'ud keep her busy rememberin' who she -was." - -She tucked her sleeves up from her tapering arms, and kneeling, dipped -them deep in a bubbling pool. Stratton laughed softly, enjoying her, -and lifting his bag, crossed the open seeking a warm spring, which, -screened in a network of young cedars, afforded a morning plunge. All -along the valley iron and soda deposits discolored the earth, and -mineral water, hot or sharply cold, sparkled in crystal basins. - -An hour later the little cavalcade formed in line, with Kingsley leading -on his big white horse, followed by Samantha, whose clear piping voice -rose in alternate upbraiding or admonition, for she rode the indifferent -Ginger. Mose, mounting Yelm Jim's piebald pony, crowded the cayuse with -the two pack animals; then came Louise and the teacher, while Stratton -closed the rear. - -The trail became more and more precipitous, switch-backing across the -face of a spur, taking the edge of a cliff, breaking into sharp pitches -to a rushing ford. Trunks, logs, netlike boughs, shelving rock crowded -close. The head of the Nisqually and its glacier were not far off. -Then finally they turned up its beautiful tributary, the Paradise. Over -the stream Eagle Peak, the first of the Tatoosh Mountains, lifted a -tremendous front, and boulders, hurled from it, blocked the limpid -current, creating innumerable cascades. The air was flooded with -drifting spray, and the wet, luxuriant earth, reflecting the sun, filled -the gorge with playing color. - -At last Alice drew rein near the brink fronting a great cataract. -Stratton dismounted and went to tighten her horse's girth. "Are you a -little afraid?" he asked. - -"Afraid? Of the trail? Oh, no. I love it; it's my element. And -Colonel can go anywhere. He picks his way through bogs, pits, better -than I could, and he runs straight up these rocky stairs. I have only -to cling on," and she laughed. - -"Well, you can trust him." Stratton's glance moved from her horse to -his own mount and back to the black. "Sir Donald has found his match. -But, how was it that Forrest gave up his horse?" - -"He hasn't. I am only keeping Colonel for him, while he is at -Freeport." - -"I see," said Stratton slowly, "I see. I hope if the time comes when I -must part with Sir Donald, I can leave him in the same hands." - -At this she swept him with a swift, critical look, ruffling her brows. -"I have known Paul Forrest all my life," she said, and turned her eyes -again to the cataract. - -"I understand." He smiled a little, both nettled and amused. "Before I -can venture to ask a favor of you, you must know and like me better than -you do now." - -She flashed him another look, tilting her chin. "I like you as well as -I could like any American with _un_-American ways." - -[Illustration: "'I like you as well as I could like any American with -_un_-American ways.'"] - -For an instant he betrayed his surprise, then, "Well, thank you," he -said; "I appreciate your frankness; and perhaps you are right. My -mother was more a French woman than an American; she was a Creole of the -Mississippi. And my grandfather, on the other side, was a factor of the -Hudson Bay Company. My father, I suppose, passed over with New Georgia -into the hands of the United States. After all, it is hard for most any -American to tell in just what generation he began. But I admit I have -lived close to the border, Miss Hunter, often on the other side. In -fact I haven't always been able to determine the line." - -"And I," she answered, with a gathering storm in her eyes, "I have lived -all of my life close to the boundary, but in a different way. The best -patriot is he who fights for his home while he defends his country, and -the sun for my family rose and set in 'Fifty-four, forty or fight.' We -know the line; we never crossed to the other side. My grandfather died -with Marcus Whitman." - -She spoke then to her horse, starting him briskly. Stratton vaulted into -his saddle. "You touch-me-not!" he said under his breath. "You -touch-me-not!" - -Far ahead Samantha approached a second cataract. It was a perilous -place, for the trail, skirting a precipice, rose from a bog in rocky and -winding stairs worn smooth and slippery by continuous spray. - -Kingsley's horse cleared the morass; his iron shoes struck fire from the -shelving granite and he set himself to the steps. His master looked -back. "Make him leap," he shouted to Samantha, and while he spoke was -carried beyond a turn. - -But Ginger delayed. He snuffed the ooze with disfavor. The girl jerked -his muzzle high. "Heft yourself, Ginger," she shrilled, and cut him -sharply on the flank. "Now, now, Ginger, get up." - -And against belief, Ginger gathered himself, but the effort fell short. -His forefeet grappled the rock and he sank back floundering in the ooze. -The trained pack horses halted, and Mose threw himself from his pony and -pushed swiftly around the bog, through underbrush, to Ginger's head. -But Samantha had already slipped from her saddle, and worked herself -free of the struggling horse. She moved back coolly from the abyss and -emerged from the mudhole, dripping, but unhurt. - -She drew a full breath and looked about her. Stratton, who had arrival, -grasped the situation and drew in his horse, humorously regarding her. -"Ain't I a sight?" she asked. - -"Yes, Aphrodite, you are. You are a vision to haunt a man's dreams." - -"I jedge you're 'bout right." She paused and the imps danced in her -eyes. "But I 'low it 'ud be er turrible nightmare." - -She reached and broke a low branch of hemlock, with which she began -hastily to brush the mud from her skirt. Beyond the bog, Mose, who had -extricated the unfortunate pony, urged him up the granite stair. His -flanks were slippery with ooze. "My stars," she said, "I'm glad Mill -didn't kem this trip. I'd never hear ther last of it. He'd run er joke -ter death." - -The ax was brought, and the bog was hurriedly bridged with corduroy for -the remaining horses. Then finally they trailed out of the heavy timber -into the parks of Paradise. A succession of emerald slopes opened -before them, broken by clumps of amabilis fir and mountain hemlock; -where a higher top rose out of a shapely mass it became a cathedral -spire. Sometimes the way wound through an area of blooming heliotrope -or asters; banks of gorgeous snapdragon or flaming Indian paintbrush -gave color, like landscape gardening, to whole hillsides. Then behind -them, pinnacle on pinnacle, closed the Tatoosh Range; a last sharp -ascent and they were on that small and lofty Plateau, at an altitude of -five thousand feet, since called The Camp of Clouds, with the splendor -of the great summit almost overhead. - -The tents were pitched; horses picketed. It was hardly mid-afternoon. -"By this time tomorrow," said Kingsley, "if this weather stays with us, -we shall have made and I hope passed Gibraltar." - -Stratton, lounging on a blanket, looked up to the black cliff, which, -rising sheer fifteen hundred feet, stood like a mighty fortress against -the whiteness of the dome. "I hope so," he answered, "but, Captain, I -never saw anything look so tremendously like work." - -Louise rested on a grassy knob, her hands clasped loosely on her knee, -inspiration in her lifted face. She hardly heard her husband's remark, -or the other man's reply, but Alice started from her place beside her. -"Phil," she said, "take me with you. You can't understand what it means -to me, to be so near, to see the summit shining there, and go no -farther. I'm very strong, Phil, and clear-headed. I'm not afraid of -things. I--oh, you don't understand, but the mountain seems to beckon." - -Kingsley walked a restless turn. "I do understand," he said. "I feel -it myself. But we don't know what we are going through, and we can't be -sure of the weather an hour ahead; clouds are manufactured right here at -a moment's notice. But wait, don't tease, and we'll compromise. I'm -going off now to reconnoiter. I believe the most feasible start is from -that ridge across this valley of the Paradise, but I want to be sure. -There'll be no time to waste in doubling back for fresh starts -to-morrow. And Mose has been up that way; he says, with care, we can use -the horses as far as the old snow. A glacier cuts in there, probably -the source of the Cowlitz, and he thinks we should be able to reach it -in a couple of hours. I'll take you that far--to the glacier." - -At this Mose started from his recumbent position on the earth. He threw -out his arms in protest. "No, no, Mees," he said. "It ees bes' you -doan' go dare. Sacre, no." - -"I'm not afraid," she answered smiling, "and if I'm a trouble I'll turn -back. I promise." - -"You doan' be some tro'ble, Mees," he said quickly. "No, no, it ees dat -Tyee Sahgalee ees goin' be mad. Mebbe he ees mek dis mountain burn an' -break an' fall down. Monjee, monjee, Mees, you can' ride quick 'nough -away." - -She laughed, shaking her head. "I don't believe that, Mose," she said, -"and you won't, after we have been there. Tyee Sahgalee don't care how -many of us go creeping up there, any more than we care about the ants -and spiders that crawl to the cabin door." - -"You mean it is you who don't care," said Stratton. "You are ready to -take the risks, whatever they are. And if you are determined to go on -braving Providence, or Tyee Sahgalee, or whoever it is, the rest of the -day, I'm going to join the expedition; that is, unless Mrs. Kingsley is -afraid to stay here alone with Samantha." - -"Oh," answered Louise, at last awake to the situation, "I want you to -go." - -"I thought so," and he smiled. "I've proved something of a mascot on -occasion, and I'll look after the Captain." - -The horses were brought and presently they were trailing away up the -pathless slopes in the wake of the piebald pony; fording countless -streams, leaping them, sinking in pitfalls through treacherous banks of -bloom. When, switchbacking up a lofty rise, Alice ventured to look -down, all the colored breadth of Paradise park unfolded like a map, and -the dome gathered majesty at every turn. They gained a shoulder, rounded -a curve, and before them stretched the levels of a plateau carpeted with -snow. Then, as they moved across this field, mountain on mountain -opened, shading to blue distance. Through a gap, out of a woolly cloud, -shone the opal crown of Adams, and presently, far off St. Helens rose -like a floating berg on an uptossed sea. - -They dismounted at the foot of a knob flanked by loose rock. The red -stain of old snow was under their feet and beyond the spur shone the -clean, blue-green edge of the glacier. "We are higher than the -treeline, now," said Philip, "and above the clouds." - -She drew a breath of delight, lifting her glance to the near dome. "And -it looks as though we could reach the summit in fifteen or twenty -minutes. Oh, Phil, come, let's go." - -Kingsley laughed. "We haven't climbed nine thousand feet; the hardest -third of the ascent is above us. Don't you remember, the only two men -who ever made that summit were half a day in just passing Gibraltar. We -may find it no longer passable." - -While his look rested on the grim fortress a thin cloud rose like smoke -from its base. It covered the cliff swiftly and trailed across the -dome. "Out of nothing, without notice," and he shook his head; "that's -what I've heard." - -He turned. Stratton was busy searching for a safe hitching-place for -his horse; he never stood well. But Mose had stepped nearer Kingsley. -The boy's shoulders were inclined forward, and his eyes, in that -instant, were those of a crouching animal about to spring. - -"Well, Mose," he said carelessly, "your Tyee Sahgalee is hiding his -face. I suppose you think we've come far enough. But we'll show him." - -He moved on with Alice up the knob, and Stratton joined them. But -presently Mose stalked by leading the way to the glacier. His face had -the gray look of fear, but his lips were set in the thin line that gave -him an older, sinister touch, the shadow of cruelty. - -He moved swiftly and surely. He did not once look back. He gave no -direction or warning. They followed, slipping and stumbling through the -moraine, and gaining the ragged brow of the knob, found themselves -suddenly on the brink of a mighty precipice. Far, far down, the infant -Cowlitz sprang into life and struggled out between stupendous columns -and needles. Locked in the opposite pinnacled cliffs shone the sheer, -blue-seamed front of the glacier, and the throes that gave the river -birth resounded through the gorge. - -Stratton uncoiled the spare lariat he carried, and taking an end, with -Philip closing, and the girl between, drew slowly along the rim. Mose, -curving far ahead, came out on the slippery incline of the glacier. -Finally he stopped under a great upheaval of ice, and resting against a -block, waited, with his back turned to them and his face lifted to the -clouding dome. - -Behind them another cloud formed over the Tatoosh Mountains, driving -fast to meet the advancing column from Gibraltar; and, in a little -while, when they had come out on the ice, and made slow headway up the -tilting surface from the abyss, mist lifted swiftly, flooding, giving -immensity to the darkening gorge. Kingsley walked a trifle in advance -of Alice, with Stratton abreast of him. Suddenly Mose's tracks, on a -recent light snowfall which had offered foothold, swerved, and both men -stopped. They were on the brink of a narrow, deep, incredibly deep, -crevasse. - -Alice moved back, shivering. She looked, a mute question trembling on -her lips, at Mose. But he continued to stand, oblivious, with his eyes -fixed, expectantly, on the clouding dome. - -"See here," called Philip, "see here; next time you let us know." Then -his glance returned to the crevasse. "Reminds me of a tremendous white -watermelon," he said, "with just one thin, clean slice gone." - -"Yes?" questioned Stratton, smiling, "it strikes me differently. I -thought right away of some curious metal, with just enough taken, by -some nice process, to shape a gigantic blade." - -"A blade, yes," said Alice, "for the hand of Tyee Sahgalee." - -Stratton's eyes met hers amusedly. He wondered if she was capable of -superstition. "Even then," he said, "it is only a surface impression, -lost the moment you look down. It's an ice-crevasse; nothing else." He -turned to Kingsley, who was already studying the glacier ahead. "Of -course this will not delay us to-morrow, Captain, but it is time, now, -to turn back." - -"In a moment. There's a streak on there that bothers me. Looks like a -more serious break. I want to see it at closer range. Wait here; I -won't be fifteen minutes." - -He moved back impetuously, and, giving himself short headway, took the -crevasse in a leap. Showers of loosened ice clinked down from the rim. -Most of the particles struck the sides that closed in twenty feet below, -and rebounding, dropped again and sent back faint echoes from the last -level of the abyss. - -Stratton stood watching Philip up the glacier, but presently, Alice drew -away from the crevasse and turned to look back down the gorge. The sun -no longer shone. All that brilliant vista of opal peak and amethyst -spur, shading to blue distance, was curtained in closing sheets of mist. -There a great crag loomed an instant and was gone. Here an uptossed -pile of ice-blocks flashed a sudden prismatic light and grew dim. Then -they themselves were wrapped in a noiseless, drenching cloud. - -At the same moment she was startled by Stratton's brief note of surprise -and felt behind her a sudden jar. She turned. Mose was hurled sprawling -at her feet, and, clutching her skirt, was up instantly, panting, with -quivering nostril, eyes ablaze. Then, in the recoil, Stratton reeled on -the brink of the crevasse, recovered, stumbled on breaking crust, and -went down. - -She stood for an interminable moment, waiting, listening, numbed, body -and mind. Then she was conscious that Mose was going, and she went -after him a few steps, calling his name. But his receding shape drifted -faster and faster, a fading shadow in the mist. She turned back, -lifting her voice in a great cry to Philip. And she was answered from -the abyss. - -She dropped to her knees and crept close to look down. Stratton was -there, where the pale, green walls narrowed. He rested wedgelike, caught -at the armpits. He looked up and saw her. "Be careful," he said, "I am -all right." - -Instantly the executive in her rose. "I have the lariat," she said. - -"Fasten it to the ice where Mose stood," he called. "I can work along -that far." - -He remembered that the rope was new and strong, one he himself had -selected as a reserve in picketing his own spirited horse. The question -was whether the ice would take his weight. He worked carefully, -laboriously along by shoulder and elbow, his body swinging from the -waist, starting a rain of ice at every move. At last, where the wall -crumbled, leaving a ledge, he was able to draw himself to his knees. He -cut foothold with his knife, and other niches higher up for his hands, -and pulled himself erect on the slippery shelf. - -Beyond him the chasm widened between sheer walls, and it was in this -shaft that the lowered rope hung. It swung for a moment, like a failing -pendulum, and each oscillation, though he stood alert, missed his reach -a little more. The girl, peering into the abyss, understood, and again -disappeared. The line was drawn up, and presently it dropped almost at -his shoulder. He caught the end and, looking up, met her eyes over the -rim. "That's better," he said. - -"Wait--one moment," she called and was gone once more. She did not -return this time, but her voice came to him, "Now, now, all ready." - -The lariat tightened. It creaked, ground on the edge of the chasm; ice -chips fell ceaselessly. He swung out. He was a big fellow, heavy. -Would the support hold? Would Mose, his fury cooled, be neutral? Why, -yes, surely the boy was even setting himself to ease the strain. He -could feel an unmistakable give and pull above on the rope, as he -climbed, hand over hand. - -He gained the top. He reached a palm around a slight pinnacle, for a -final grasp on the line, and pulled himself slowly out on the surface of -the glacier. He was a strong man, physically, a man of steady nerve, -one accustomed to take risks with Nature, as in those times a man of the -Northwest must, but what he saw, in that brief pause, sent a shiver -through him. He closed his eyes like one brought suddenly into intense -light. - -The rope was fastened, as he had directed, to a thick column in the -upheaval, but it stretched diagonally to the projection on the brink of -the crevasse. And it was Alice, not Mose, who steadied it, throwing her -weight on it, twisting it on her hands, digging her heels in a shallow -cleft, straining back to ease the pressure on the knob. Suppose the -support had given way; suppose he had dragged her--this brave girl, all -life, charm, loveliness--down to destruction. It was horrible to think -of. Horrible. - -Seeing him safe, she relaxed her hold and drew back, making way for him. -She breathed deeply, her chest heaving, and a moisture not of the cloud -clung to her lip, her brow in drops. - -He pulled himself together and got to his feet. He did not speak to -her, then; he could not. But he put his hand to his mouth and lifted -his voice in a great hail. Kingsley responded, but his "Hello," came -faintly, through billows of mist. The calls were repeated. "We cannot -wait," Stratton said. "We must follow that rascal's tracks down, while -they last, to the horses." - -"What made Mose do it?" she asked. "Oh, what made him?" - -"Why, just Indian, I suppose; or say he was an instrument, -self-appointed, of his Tyee Sahgalee. But he shall be punished." He -closed his lips over the word, and a heat, like the flash of a blade, -leaped in his eyes. But when he took her hands to help her to her feet -the look changed. The light returned, yet softened, steady, and -currents of tenderness, long pent in the man, surged to his face. Her -palms were bruised, cut, cruelly. He lifted them, one, and then the -other, swiftly, very gently, to his lips. "You did this--for me," he -said. "You could do it--for me." - -"Of course," she answered quickly, and drew the hands away, "I must have -done my best for anyone--for Mose, if things had been reversed. But, if -I hadn't been able, Phil would have come back in time; no doubt he could -have seen a better way." - -She met his look briefly, but long enough for him to fathom the clear -depths of her eyes; and suddenly, before her dauntless white spirit, his -own soul, for the first time, shrank. It was as though another -unsounded abyss yawned between them, that the exigency of this hour -could not bridge. - -They hurried on then, groping and slipping down the glacier, taking -Mose's trail. Sometimes they stopped while Stratton renewed his shout, -waiting always for Kingsley's answer, and they knew when he had crossed -the crevasse in safety, and that he followed on to the gorge. - -They made the rocky knob and finally, out of obscurity, she caught -Colonel's familiar neigh. The call shrilled again, inquiring, -peremptory. But when they came to the end of the moraine where they had -left the horses, they found them gone. - -The neigh was repeated once more, coming back faintly, from far across -the snowfield. "Mr. Stratton," she cried, "what has happened? Where is -Mose going?" - -"Over the mountains to the Palouse plains, I haven't a doubt," and the -blade flashed again in his eyes. "It's the first thing a halfbreed -does, and they always drive stolen horses over there; it is impossible -to find them among those big, feeding bands of the Yakimas. He will -stampede the rest in the valley, and Yelm Jim will probably meet him -somewhere below the springs and help him take them through the Pass." - -She stood for a moment with her head high, lips set, looking with -storming eyes into the mist. Then, "There isn't any time to waste," she -said. "We must take him this side of the springs." And she began to -trail the horses on across the snow. - -"I wish there was a chance of it," said Stratton, "but you will only -spend yourself uselessly. You are miserably tired now. The horses will -make the down grade to the springs very fast, and you must see that the -trail through the timber, afoot, is simply impossible at night. We -should bury ourselves in one of those mudholes or plunge over some -cliff. We could never make the fords." - -But she hurried on. There fell a long silence. It grew rapidly colder; -the winds freshened, tearing the cloud-wrack, driving it this way and -that, bringing the ragged ends together in bursts of hail or flurries of -snow. The girl's drenched skirts hampered her, still she pressed -resolutely on. Once she said, "An accident somewhere might delay the -band." And Stratton caught at the hope. He told her Mose would probably -try to mount Sir Donald, the fleetest horse, and that he had some -unexpected tricks. He was as full of coquetry as--well--a pretty woman, -though as easily managed, if a man knew him. - -It was twilight and they were descending the final pitch into the park -when Kingsley at last overtook them. The camp-fire, which Samantha had -kindled with infinite difficulty on the plateau, burned like a beacon in -the gloom. "You should have seen that second crevasse," he said. "It -was tremendous. No way over, no way around; I tramped both directions -to see. We've simply got to choose another route, to-morrow. But what -became of the horses?" - -"Mose took them." It was Alice who answered. "He took Colonel. But I -shall find him. I've got to find him if I have to walk every step of -the way over the mountains and through the Palouse. You know how much -Paul thinks of his horse, Philip. Oh, I can never face him; I can never -tell him--the truth." - -She started on uncertainly, stumbled, and fell. Stratton lifted her, -and carried her a few steps over a rough place. "You mustn't trouble so -much," he said gently, "We are going to find that black if it takes a -year. Yes, we are and punish that Klickitat." - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *"I'M GOING TO MAKE HIM WHITE"* - - -The night was terrible. The wind became a gale. It assailed the tents; -in the near hemlock grove it wrenched off great boughs; it lifted -lighter brands from the fire and scattered them broadcast. There was a -constant watch, which Samantha shared, to drag aside and beat out -dangerous embers. The fire was enclosed in a circular windbreak of -rocks, and other stones were brought to pin down the bellying canvas and -ballast the working stakes. Up the mountain clouds clashed in thunder; -the plateau was pelted by swift and furious storms of hail. - -The final watch fell to Stratton. The wind was piercing and for warmth -he tramped the earth. Once he stopped to lift a fresh log on the fire, -and, drawing himself erect, his eyes rested on the women's tent. "She -must be sleeping," he told himself. "I hope so; she was so unhappy -about that black. That is her way--to take things hard--pleasure or -sorrow. Jove, how she could love a man. But--she would hold him to his -best, always, in every common move of every day." He shrugged his -shoulders and swung on his heel to look out into the darkness of the -valley. It was so dense that the flame-illumined plateau seemed to rim -an abyss. "That was it--the reason I went so nearly to pieces for that -minute, there on the glacier. I felt the Puritan in her all at once -demanding the best in me. And there was no best; there never can be." -He tramped another interval. "But," he said at last, and the steel -flashed again in his eyes, "there is not a man living I am afraid to -face; and if I ever loved a woman--or thought I did--sooner or later she -was glad to have me tell her so. I never have failed to get what I -wanted, all my life, and I am going to want--_her_." - -At daybreak it was snowing on the plateau. He roused Kingsley. -"Captain," he cried, shaking the sleeper, "Captain, wake up; we must -hurry." - -Philip rose, stretching himself, stiffly, and drew aside the tent-fly. -"It doesn't look much like the summit to-day," he said. - -"Summit?" repeated Stratton with disgust, "summit? What we have to think -of, is the quickest way to get these women out of this." - -A gust of wind rushed through the aperture, past Kingsley, and filled -the tent. It lifted the canvas, balloon-wise, scattering the ballast, -up-pulling the stakes, and carried it far afield. It led the men a -chase, but they secured it and struggled with it back to the plateau. -Truly it was not a day for mountain-tops. - -Camp was broken hurriedly, each of the men taking the necessary shoulder -pack, and leaving the bulk of the outfit to be sent for when they should -find horses. They pushed quickly down from the snow, which became rain -in the woods. And Alice led the way. She studied the trail -continually, separating the tracks of the ponies, where they struck the -path down the valley, from the deeper, water-filled impressions of the -American horses. She set Stratton a pace, and kept it almost to the ford -of the Paradise. Then suddenly she stopped an instant, listening, and -ran on along the bank to an old log foot-crossing. There on the end of -the bridge, sheltered by a trailing cedar, were her bridle and saddle; -and picketed on a grassy knoll under some alders she saw the black. - -"Oh," she said, and took his head in her arms, "you beauty! You heart's -desire! But I knew--I knew Mose couldn't take you; I knew it." - -Stratton stood for a moment watching her. "So," he said, "so the rascal -was white enough to leave your horse. He brought him this far with the -others to avoid pursuit last night." - -Alice looked off a thoughtful moment, through the dripping trees. "I -knew his white conscience would get to upbraiding him," she said. "But -I can't help feeling glad he chose Colonel for the compromise." - -Stratton laughed. "I hope it will upbraid him some more," he said, "and -induce him to leave my horse." - -She would not mount, but waited for Louise to take the black. She -herself was not tired, and she moved lightly up the log, pausing -fearlessly, mid-channel, to watch Colonel feel his steps through the -ford and leading him up the bank and on some distance, until she was -assured he would carry her sister quietly. The rain fell with renewed -downpour, but she walked unmindful of boughs that drenched her -shoulders, and dripping skirts that weighted her limbs. Delight shone -in her eyes; whole face seemed to reflect some far illumination. She -had recovered Forrest's horse; the day was faultless. - -But at last she was in the saddle and descending to the ford of the -Nisqually. The cloud-wrack was breaking then, and shafts of sunlight -struck the wet, green earth. Stratton walked a trifle in advance, -looking for a safe crossing over the rising channels. Suddenly he -stopped, and the black also halted, tossing his mane and shrilling his -ready, challenging neigh. There, moving out of the stream, up the -opposite bank, was a riderless horse. It was Sir Donald. - -Stratton whistled, a soft, imperative note. The chestnut wheeled. The -man repeated the call, and the horse trotted gently back into the -channel. He halted once more on a gravel bar, his head high, ears -alert, then came on across to his master. - -"So," said Stratton, slowly, "So, Donald, you showed the rascal your -little trick. You see, Miss Hunter, it was as I thought. Mose chose -the best horse. But he never mounted him. In his hurry he laid his -hand on the bit, and Sir Donald never allows that; he was trained that -way." - -With this he vaulted into the saddle and led the way over from bar to -bar. He returned bringing the black, and while the others made the -crossing Alice waited, seating herself on a rock in the sun, and lifting -her face to the upper canyon. Presently the clouds parted like a rent -veil on the mountain. Once more Gibraltar menaced and the summit shone -in splendor. - -"After all," she said, when Stratton rejoined her, "I can't blame Mose -for that belief. I felt it myself, for a moment, there on the glacier. -It was the steps of the Great White Throne. You can't understand." - -"No," he replied, "No, you are right, I cannot. I am outside the -circle." - -He bent and offered his hand to mount her on his horse, her sister -having kept the black, and she sprang lightly up. "Then," she said, -while he adjusted a stirrup, "you see no excuse for Mose?" - -"No," and his face hardened, "No, I only see the half-breed threw me -into that crevasse. He took me off guard. And he left us miles from -anywhere, on that unknown mountain, in a storm, without horses. His -motives do not count." - -Sir Donald started, trailing after the black. The little company filed -slowly down to the mineral springs. And there, in the open, unpicketed, -ready for the long trail, they found the other horses quietly feeding in -company with Ginger and the pack animals. - -While Samantha made a fire and prepared the coffee the two men caught -and picketed the herd, reserving the few horses necessary for a hurried -trip back to the plateau for the outfit. And it was Alice, who, going -for a drink from her favorite well, discovered Mose. He was lying -semi-conscious on the wet earth, and over his black brows, branded with -the tip of an iron shoe, Sir Donald had set his mark. - -The teacher dipped her handkerchief in the basin and bathed the hurt. -She went to ask Stratton's flask of him, and mixed the boy a draught, -and, a little later, when the young man followed her to the spring, he -found Mose able to recognize him. He stood a silent moment watching him -with hard eyes, and the boy met the look steadily; his muscles stiffened -as they had that day at school, when he braced himself to Laramie's -blow. Stratton's lip curled in disgust. After all, he could not punish -the fellow, down, helpless like that. He swung on his heel. - -"Wait," said Alice, "it was just as you thought. The scheme to steal the -horses was Yelm Jim's; he was to meet him at the branch to the Pass and -help drive them over the mountains to the Palouse plains. But he meant -to leave Colonel; he only brought him as far as the Paradise to avoid -being overtaken. And that trouble at the crevasse was unpremeditated. -He was terribly frightened by the gathering storm. He believed it was a -judgment coming on us all, and he took the opportunity to--use you--for -a propitiation. Afterwards, in the night, he crept back up the valley -far enough to see the camp-fire, and you, safe--and keeping watch on the -plateau." - -There was another brief silence. Stratton stood, still hard, -uncompromising, frowning down at the boy. "Be merciful," she said. -"Think; you were not hurt; you have Sir Donald, unharmed. Be generous. -Sometime,--who knows?--you yourself may ask it." - -"No," he flashed, "No. I live my life; I do as I please. I ask nothing -of anyone. And in the end--I take what I deserve. That is my creed. -The boy must be punished." - -He turned away, but she followed. In her earnestness she laid her hand -on his sleeve. "He has been punished," she said. "Look. He will carry -Sir Donald's brand all his life. He's just a boy, Mr. Stratton. He -left home angry, outraged, and Yelm Jim took the opportunity to make him -his tool. But he has good in him, I know. Remember, too, he saved my -life. And I need him; I'll be responsible for him." - -Her eyes were raised to Stratton eloquent with appeal; the hand on his -arm trembled. "You need him; he saved your life." He paused and the -hardness went out of his face. "And you saved mine--you saved mine; I -do not forget that. And perhaps you were right just now; sometime I may -ask that mercy. I may ask it of--you." - -Her hand fell from his sleeve; she drew back a step. "I will be ready," -she said slowly, "if you are good to Mose." She looked back at the boy. -He was watching her. His lip quivered and his eyes filled with -unaccustomed tears. "I'll be responsible for him," she repeated, "I'm -going to make him white." - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *UNCLE SILAS* - - -It was the morning following his election and Judge Kingsley was taking -a late breakfast in his dining room. He had laid aside the -newspaper,--an interesting number, devoted chiefly to his final speech, -a personal and flattering editorial, and the returns,--to conclude some -business details with Forrest, who, seated near the open French window, -overlooking the terraced orchard, made brief memoranda in his note-book. - -The Judge, then, was a man in his first prime, with that commanding -presence that does not challenge attention or respect, because he has -long been sure of both. He carried with ease a suggestion of coming -weight, and his voice, deliberate, sonorous, was that of a born orator. -"There, Forrest, I believe that is all." He pushed back his chair and -crossed his hands on his ample front. "Your father knew how to manage -men, and, there at Tumwater, he gave you a thorough apprenticeship. He -left you his executive ability and his knowledge of timber. But, if the -Freeport mills pay expenses these first two years, and Philip learns -something of business and the value of money, I shall have accomplished -my purpose." - -Forrest smiled, his smile of the eyes, shaking his head. "I'm not much -of a diplomat; what I say is always just what I think. But I'll do my -best." He put the notebook into his pocket, and looking at his watch, -rose and took his hat. "I shall be able to catch the down steamer," he -said. - -"Better wait over a day or two; the young people would miss you tonight -at the ball. And I want to speak to you about another matter." The -Judge paused, stroking his blond beard. "I want to speak to you -about--Alice." - -Forrest returned to his chair. His eyes sought the window, avoiding the -Judge's scrutiny. Louise was there, swinging her child in a hammock -under the cherry trees. Her supple body swayed to the effort in -unconscious grace; the loose sleeves of her house gown fell away from -her uplifted, lovely arms, and the pose of her head brought out the -beautiful lines of throat and oval chin, but he saw her absently. - -After a moment the Judge added, "You never knew her mother." - -"No." The young man turned in quick relief. "No, I never knew her. I -was still a small boy when my father came to take charge of the Tumwater -mills, and that tragedy of the Cowlitz had happened several months -before. It has always seemed unaccountable to me; those old voyageurs -understood a canoe; they must have made that trip down to the Columbia a -good many times." - -"True," answered the Judge, "but there was a strong spring chinook -blowing, and the sudden melting of snows at the headwaters. The river -was flooding; the current changed and the accident occurred at a -shifting log jam." - -There was a brief silence, then he went on, "She was on her way with -Philip's mother to visit their early home in Oregon. There was -something fine in that friendship of those two young women. Their lives -had begun together in that small frontier settlement; they married at -the same time men who were, themselves, warm friends, comrades in -adventure and endurance; and they came that double wedding journey by -canoe and trail, to start a social foundation here at the new capital of -the young territory. And later, they faced their tragedy of the Indian -war, when both husbands fell, fighting in the same skirmish. It softens -the terror of that last journey to know they met the end together. - -"But I shall always blame myself for letting them go down the Cowlitz -without me;" and his voice vibrated a soft undernote. "I loved Alice -Hunter. We were to have been married when she returned." - -Forrest met the Judge's look; a sudden intelligence, sympathy, shone in -his young eyes. "I understand," he said slowly, "I understand." - -"I loved her always, from the first time I saw her, riding her little -pony along the bluffs of the upper Columbia. It was the day I reached -the river after my long journey overland, from New York. She was the -first--the one woman. And--she had promised to be my wife--before John -Hunter came." - -"I understand," repeated Forrest, and his glance moved in delicacy to -the window. "I understand." - -He saw clearly, in that moment, this great man's devotion, through -years, to that memory; the fineness of his solicitude for her children. -They had shared the home he had established for his brother's boy. He -had lavished benefits upon them; borne the expenses of their liberal -education; made himself their natural protector, guardian, friend. - -"And the new Alice is her reincarnation." - -The Judge paused and Forrest gave him another look, swift, searching, -and rose from his chair. He stood like a soldier at attention; or, like -a man who sees certain danger, yet prepares himself for that inevitable -of which he is afraid. - -"She has the same bright face, the same quick intelligence, the -dauntless spirit speaking in her eyes; the same decided uptilt of the -chin; the same ruddy, shining hair." The Judge rose and moved a step -towards him. "I was still a young man when I brought her home, Paul, -and I have watched her grow. You cannot understand that. What it meant -to see the child unfold; what it cost me later, to be her every-day -companion, friend, to shape her pliant mind, and yet to--make no sign." - -Forrest moved to the window, squaring his back to the room. He stood -looking down across the orchard and the maple-lined streets of the town, -to the shining sea; but his hand groped for the casing and held it with -a steadying grip. The Judge drew nearer. He dropped his hand on the -young man's shoulder, and the tender, insistent pleading that was the -chief charm of the orator dominated his voice. "I know I am facing very -possible defeat. It is natural that you two should think a good deal of -each other, Paul, and there isn't another man on earth to whom I could -better trust her. I am fond of you; I believe in you; I have called you -the man of the future Northwest. Still she has chosen that hard life up -in the wilderness, and you are leaving her there. If there is nothing -between you, if you do not love her, I shall ask her to go to Washington -with me--to be my wife." - -Forrest turned. His face was gray; suddenly older. "I don't stand in -your way," he said. "I am just her friend, the one she depends on. -That's all. She refused me." - -"She refused you?" The Judge laid both hands on the young man's -shoulders, compelling his look. "She refused you? And you love -her--_like this_." - -Forrest drew away from his detaining grasp. "I must catch that -steamer," he said. He went back to his chair and picked up his hat. -"Good-by." He lifted his head, smiling a little, and offered his hand; -but his glance moved beyond the Judge to the window once more, and he -started. "She is here," he added unsteadily. "She is there with her -sister on the terrace. Good-by and _good luck_." - -He was gone and the Judge stood regarding the closed door. Then a light -step on the threshold of the open window roused him and he turned. - -"Good morning, Uncle Silas," she said, "I had to come right in and -congratulate you on the election, though Louise told me you were talking -business with Paul." - -Her glance searched the room. Disappointment clouded her face. - -"He was here," answered the Judge. "He hurried away to catch the -steamer back to Freeport." - -"Why," she said in surprise, "Louise told me he came over with them in -the _Phantom_ to hear the returns, and I thought--of course it was -expected he would wait to go back with them after the ball. But," and -she turned with recovered brightness to the small boy who stood waiting -on the threshold, "this is Lem Myers, Uncle Silas. He came to see town -and the salt water." - -"Good morning," said the Judge, weighing this future voter with -speculative eyes. "Good morning. You are just in time for a cruise. -To-morrow my nephew will show you what the _Phantom_ can do. I suppose -you never have boarded a yacht?" - -"Wal, no," Lem moved towards the chair the politician offered, stepping -high in new and unaccustomed shoes. "No, I dunno's I hev." - -"But of course the first thing, you want to try Olympia oysters. Hop -Sing manages a good pan roast." He rang and gave the order to the -Chinese cook, and Lem proceeded to adapt himself to the elegant -appointments of the table. - -The teacher had taken the opposite chair. "Oh," she said presently, "I -know I have missed things; torchlight processions and rallies, and -orations,--I shall read that last speech directly,--and I'm sure you -have been serenaded by all the bands. I do love a band, Uncle Silas." - -"They will play again," said the Judge, laughing, "and I hope one at a -time, and tonight you can enjoy the ball. But no doubt that is what -brought you all the way from Nisqually. You expect to lead that ball." - -She shook her head. "Your first dance belongs to Mrs. Governor, Uncle -Si; we can't choose. That's the penalty of greatness." - -The Judge laughed again, a soft rumble. "My dear," he said, after a -moment, "isn't it about time you left off calling me Uncle?" - -She looked at him, flushing, with quick surprise. "I understand," she -said softly, "I understand. I should have thought of it long ago. Of -course I always speak of you differently to strangers, but among -ourselves--why-- It was you who taught me, at the first, when I was a -little girl." - -"Oh, but you don't understand," he replied hurriedly. "I mean--you see, -my dear, when you were a child a young man seemed so much your senior; -the years between us do not count so much since you are a woman. In -short, it should be more natural to call me just Silas--or even Si." - -"Call you--Si? Oh, how could I?" and she threw her head back and -laughed and laughed. "Good morning--Si. I congratulate you on the -election--Si--" the words came with difficulty, between trills of -merriment. "I am very proud of you--Si. But it was what we expected; -you are the one man big enough for the place--Si--and all the territory -knew it. Oh, indeed, indeed, I cannot. It's so ridiculously familiar. -But, yes, I will do it, I'll try if you--" she paused and looked away -through the open window. "The truth is--of course I want to go to the -ball, immensely, but I came from Nisqually really--because--to ask--" - -The Judge laughed, his pleasant undernote. "I see," he said, "I see, -you are ready to come home. I've expected it; I've waited for it, and -I've missed you more than you can ever know. But things are changed. I -am going East in a few months and the house here will be closed. You do -not want to make your home with Louise at Freeport." He broke off and -walked over to the window. Directly he turned, and, with his back to -the light, his hands clasped loosely behind him, stood regarding her. -"The home here was broken up when you went away," he added, "and I shall -find it lonelier still at Washington--unless--" - -"Oh," she interrupted brightly, "I'm sure you will be very gay there. -Think what it means; to be the representative from the big new -Northwest. A man distinguished, almost rich, and a bachelor. Why, you -will never have a dull moment--Si." - -He caught the swift look from under her lashes and smiled. "You are -still laughing at me, yet that life at the capital would suit you well. -You were meant for pleasant places, to hold your own among bright women -and distinguished men. And I am eager to show what manner of woman the -crude West can produce. My dear, you would outshine them all." - -"Oh," she said, and clapped her hands an instant to her ears, "you need -not practise those fine speeches on me, your success is assured; you -will live in a whirl. And don't trouble about me, Uncle Silas; I'm not -asking to come home. I--I only want you to go to the Land Office with -me. I--I am going to--file a claim." - -"You are what?" - -"I am going to locate a homestead." And her voice tripped on the word. - -"You are going to locate a homestead? You?" - -"Oh, Uncle Silas,"--she rose and walked a few steps, then turned facing -him with tilting chin and ruffled brows. "Why do you stand and frown -like that at me? I'm not the first woman to take up Government land. -Do you know of any reason why I shouldn't? I'm native born, and I'm -twenty-one." - -Lem cast an appreciative wink at the Judge, and, having reached familiar -terms with the dish which Hop Sing had placed before him, he devoted -himself to a second generous installment of Olympia oysters. - -"But," said the Judge, "you are not going to improve that homestead like -any settler? You do not intend to live there?" - -"Yes," she answered, her voice again wavering, "I do. I am having the -trail cut through to the schoolhouse now; Mose Laramie is doing it, and -I have made a contract with him to cut the logs for my cabin. In -payment he is to have the best gun I can find in Olympia. I want you to -help me select it. But this is the piece,"--she paused to draw a -township plat from her pocket. "It is all that's required; the soil is -a good loam; a fairly level bottom-land at the foot of a great -side-hill. And at the same time, I want to make a timber filing on the -adjoining quarter up the slope. It is almost free of undergrowth except -along the stream. There are some fine old trees. You see, too, the -section is at the headwaters of the Des Chutes and I want to secure the -water rights to these falls." - -She was unmistakably in earnest and the incredulity in the Judge's face -changed to dismay. He took the map and studied it. "I see," he said -slowly, "I see." There was a brief silence, then his voice, that voice -of the orator, took its pleading undernote. "Why will you do this -thing? If you must create your own opportunities, there are other ways. -Why, it is unbelievable. If ever there was a woman made for -civilization, you are that one, yet you choose to bury yourself in the -wilderness; to take up a claim in the heart of a jungle; to share the -hardships of rough and ignorant pioneers." - -"But I am a pioneer," and he saw the rising storm in her eyes, "the -daughter of pioneers. You taught me to be proud of it, Uncle Silas; you -loved to remind me my mother was born on the Columbia, and that her -father, a New England missionary, followed Marcus Whitman to Oregon. -You never let me forget that my other grandfather was among the first to -enter the Straits of Fuca, and sailed his own ship a hundred miles, -straight up Puget Sound, without chart or pilot. You called it a great -record. And my father was the pioneer surveyor. You talked about those -seasons you spent in camp with him, while he blazed the great military -road through the forest, running his section lines over rocky spurs and -through cedar swamps, until I should count it a triumph to have carried -chain for him. You see it was born in me, Uncle Silas. I can't help -it--and I've got to turn it to the best account. It was my only -inheritance." - -Her voice broke at the last, and the assurance dropped from her like a -shell. She stood before him, lovely, irresistible, extenuating a -weakness. - -"Oh," he said in evident distress, "you have misunderstood me. I -wouldn't have you any different. Surely you know it? To me you are the -embodiment of all that is fine and sweet and best in this great -Northwest that I love. You are the spirit of it all. And your people -were above criticism, Alice. Only, the memory of their fortitude makes -me tremble for you. Your father, that splendid young fellow with almost -a lifetime before him, was cut off in ambush; and your mother--was -drowned in the Cowlitz. I want to have you--safe." - -He began to walk the floor, slowly, with his hands still clasped behind -him, his head bent, a cloud on his face. And she waited in respectful -silence, watching him with a sweet and regretful tenderness in her eyes. -She believed she understood those memories from which had sprung all his -great kindness to her. Finally he stopped at the table and again spread -out the plat. "This must be near the section Forrest told me about," he -said. "Why, it looks like the very one. He was debating on taking it -up, himself, at the time I offered him the management at Freeport." - -Her glance fell before his inquiring look, and the ready color flamed. -"Paul doesn't know," she said. "Please say nothing about it to any one. -You see, Uncle Silas,--you see--the country is being settled very fast, -and if I don't make this entry, some one else will." - -There was another brief silence, then the Judge said, "Poor Forrest! you -are even bent on taking his chosen section of land." - -The color leaped again in her face. She moved a few steps to the window -and stood with her back to him, looking down through the orchard to the -shimmering Sound. "He told you?" she said. - -"Yes, he told me. I asked him. It had always seemed so natural you -should care something for him; he is well worth caring for. It seems -incredible that you should refuse a fine, interesting young fellow like -him." He paused, and his voice took its soft undernote. "I asked him, -Alice, because I want to take you to Washington. There is only one way I -can ask you to go. My dear, you understand--I love you." - -She moved, startled, and laid her hand on the casing, where Forrest's -had been, waiting. It was the gesture of a woman who feels suddenly, -without premonition, the foundations of her world shake. He saw her -shoulders lift; her whole body trembled. His glance passed from her, -through the window, and on down the slope to the shining sea, and slowly -returned. "It is, then, impossible," he said. "I am impossible. Well, -forget all about it, little girl; it's all right. It's all right. Your -happiness first; nothing else counts." - -"Dear Uncle Silas." She turned, smiling, though her lip quivered and -she brushed her hand across her eyes. "_You_ count. I owe all I am to -you. And you--are not impossible. I--I'm very fond of you. Its -true--Silas." She nodded her head brightly, and dashed her hand again -across her eyes. "And I will go to Washington--I'll be--glad--proud--to -be--your wife--as soon as the homestead is safe." - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *LEM AND THE PHANTOM* - - -Lem never forgot that ball. The teacher found him a nook from which he -overlooked the entire floor; and he never tired of recounting to the -always newly impressed settlement, the glories of the pageant. How -"ther Jedge led ther parade an' was ther biggest toad in ther hull -puddle." How "two fiddles an' er pianer an' er horn kep er goin' all -ter oncet. An' clothes--ther Nisqually hedn't never seed sech clothes. -Why, ther schoolmarm herself was fixed ter beat ther band, in er dress -as soft an' thin as tons o' tissue paper, an' er gold chain, fine as er -thread, clamped 'ith shiny little stones; an' she hed er mighty fine an' -sassy feather--he couldn't fur ther life of him tell off'n what -bird--stuck in her hair. An' pretty, land, ther wa'n't a girl there -could hold er candle to her. An' ther boys all knew it; some of 'em, -Mr. Stratton fur one, 'lowed they wouldn't dance 'ith nobody ef it -couldn't be her; an' ther minute ther fiddles struck up somebody was on -hand ter streak her off. Gee, they'd orter seen her. She jest picked -up er handful o' white goods, an' her little feet went chasin' in an' -out like er couple o' chipmunks foolin' in er holler cedar stump." - -But if the ball was unforgettable, the cruise on the _Phantom_, the -following day, marked an epoch in Lem's life. - -"I think," said the teacher, as they approached the water front, "we -shall come back at flood-tide with a fine, choppy sea." Her eyes caught -the sparkle of the waves, and she inhaled the salt air in deep, full -breaths. There was the noise of running water about the piers, and the -flat kerthug of the _Phantom_ as she rose and dipped uneasily; but no -whitecaps as yet, though the Sound, whipped by passing gusts, darkened -and ruffled fitfully. - -"Oh," said Stratton, who had joined the little party, "you will come -back in the teeth of a gale, I promise you." - -Philip stood regarding Lem with quizzical gravity. "I never knew it to -fail with a new hand aboard, and this time I believe we're shipping a -Jonah." - -Stratton laughed softly, and handed the ladies aboard. Lem watched the -feat with growing concern. - -"There was once a man from Missouri," said Kingsley seriously, "who had -to be lassoed the first time, and brought aboard." - -"I'll resk it," and Lem pushed hastily forward, setting his feet on the -gangplank and reaching for the Captain's hand. - -"That's right, my boy; and it may encourage you to know that Missourian -lived to be our mayor in time." - -The _Phantom_ swung out with a lurch, and, slipping into the seat next -the teacher, Lem grasped firm hold. Stratton took the helm and Philip -went to the shrouds. The sails swelled to a scurrying gust, then flapped -loosely. They filled again from another quarter and the yacht careened -to the swinging boom. Lem's clutch tightened. Alice covered his hand -with her palm. "Isn't it fine?" she asked. - -"I'd ruther be erstride o' Ginger." He met her smile with a sidelong -glance and looked again with apprehension at the flapping canvas. "But -Jake 'lowed I'd git used to it." - -"Who is Jake?" inquired Stratton. - -"Jake?" Lem relaxed his grip on the rail, for the _Phantom_ settled -steadily. "Jake? He's my cousin; Samanthy's brother. An' he's be'n -clear ter British Columby. He went over oncet fur ther Queen o' -Victory's birthday." - -"And he had a great time, I'll wager," said Kingsley, coming back to the -helm. - -"Yes, but he counted on seeing ther Queen. He 'lowed she'd be to ther -head o' ther parade, 'ith her gold crown on, an' ther rest o' her fine -truck." - -"And wasn't she?" - -"Naw, she wa'n't ther. Aunt Lucindy 'lowed ther hull thing was er -fizzle; but then she counted on bringin' back er lot o' goods; cloth an' -hats an' shoes; I dunnot what all. You kin get 'em twice as cheap over -to Victory ef you don't hev ter pay no duty. An' she made errangements -'ith ther neighbors ter do buyin' fur em." - -"And," said Kingsley, "I suppose she made other arrangements to elude -the Customs officers?" - -"Ef you mean she laid out ter fool ther Gov'ment men, you're right. She -made er mattress ter fit over ther one on the steamboat, an' she filled -it 'ith ther goods. But they was too sharp fur her. Fust thing she -knew ther boss was haulin' off ther covers, an' er rippin' open that -ther tick. An' he poured ther stuff all out onter ther cabin floor, 'ith -ther hull crowd lookin' on; an' Jake says they laughed like all purzest. -An' he took the goods,--Jake 'lowed he kept ther pile,--'ith Aunt -Lucindy er cryin' an' er takin' on." - -"But it was smuggling, Lem," said the teacher in dismay. "I hadn't -believed a Myers could do a dishonorable thing." - -Lem threw back his head and narrowed his ferret eyes. "You kin jes' bet -er Myers ain't er goin' ter let er good chancet slip; not ef he knows -it; no, ma'am." - -He thrust his hands into his pockets and leaned back comfortably in his -seat. But if the temporary ease of the yacht had lulled his -apprehensions they were speedily revived by a lurch that carried away -his hat and enveloped his head in spume. He sprang to his feet, -spluttering, clutching at the helm, losing his foothold on the slanting -deck, while the _Phantom_ raced down before the sudden flaw. - -"Why, Lem, it's all right, there isn't a bit of danger. And you shall -have a new hat." The teacher placed a dry cushion and drew him down -into his seat. She wrapped him in a shawl, pulling it snugly over his -head, and he cuddled in it like a frightened squirrel, making a peephole -for his small, bright eyes. - -Her own hat was gone and she bent to search a locker trying at the same -time with one hand to secure a loosened mass of wet, curling, -wind-roughened hair. Presently she brought to light an oilskin hat, -which she drew over her head, tilting the brim so that the rollicking -wind had still a chance at the shorter hair, tumbling it, twisting it -into burnished spirals about her ears. She stood for a moment, catching -easily the swing of the yacht, and looked far out across the stirring -reach of blue. And surely the spirit of that dauntless explorer, her -grandfather, dominated her; there was an exaltation in her face; delight -in every breath she drew. - -Stratton watched her in undisguised pleasure. "There is no other -country as favorable to the traffic," he was saying. "It is utterly -impossible to guard the whole border. A regiment of soldiers might be -able to patrol the woods on the mainland, but it is easier to trail an -Indian than to follow a fleet craft through the Archipelago de Haro." - -"No doubt that's the way most smuggling is carried on," replied -Kingsley. "And it's an open secret that there are men on Puget Sound, -living right in Seattle, fine, well-established men, who wouldn't -defraud each other or any business man out of a dollar, yet conduct a -systematic and successful opium ring." - -Louise turned to him in protest. "Oh, Philip, you don't know such men, -personally. You ought not to repeat such an idle rumor. Of course, if -you had grounds for the suspicion, knew certain circumstances, you would -do all in your power to aid the Government to apprehend these men. To -stand neutral is to connive in--_crime_." - -"Oh, Mrs. Kingsley, that is a harsh word." The quick flush that leaped -in Stratton's face as quickly died, leaving it pale. His glance moved -seaward. "There are enormous duties on some things, for -instance--opium." He paused and his look returned; he smiled. "You -forget you, yourself, are descended from people who objected, -strenuously, to the payment of exorbitant duty. But we should hardly -say that those exemplary Bostonians, who appropriated a whole cargo of -tea, committed a crime." - -"Oh," she said, with growing indignation, "how can you draw such a -comparison? How can you? We are a young territory, Mr. Stratton, with -a wide, unsettled border. What will become of us if the few educated -and able men among us fail? If they wilfully break established laws; -sink to the level of common smugglers, thieves?" - -She rose in fine scorn from the place beside him and took a distant -seat. Stratton's look followed her and the flush again left his face -pale. "But I forgive her," he said at last, softly, "I forgive her, she -is so charming when she is angry. Where most any other woman's voice -would shrill, hers always drops to that nice contralto note." - -"And you know she is right," said Alice, taking the vacant place. "It's -just what I should have said, if she hadn't." - -"Yes?" And he smiled again. "That surprises me--after that experience -on the mountain." - -"That was different. Mose believed he was justified. He was true to his -traditions. That summit was his holy of holies and we were vandals come -to desecrate." Her eyes turned to the great crest of Mt. Rainier, -looming out of the southeast, its crater hollowed gently, like a throne -between its triple alabaster domes. "Whenever I try to shake that -belief I feel guilty, Mr. Stratton. It's so much more beautiful than any -I can offer in exchange. After all, the most I can do is to educate -Mose in other ways, and give him an occupation. The rest may come." - -"I am hopelessly dense," said Stratton. "I fail to see why you draw the -line so sharply. You forgive that young rascal of a horse thief and -help him. But you are uncompromising, exacting, if a man has the -misfortune to be--well--a gentleman." - -She gave him a level look. "I consider the motive; whether he knows -better." - -"Oh," said Philip, laughing, "you don't know her, Stratton. In her -secret heart she'd love to be a smuggler and a pirate, and defying the -Government, go sailing down among those purple islands of De Haro. And -principle or no principle, it would be great fun, I confess, to match my -little boat against a revenue cutter. Only give me the wind and a fair -start, and I could set a pace for the best of them. There isn't a -channel I haven't taken her through; and I'll wager I know every -tide-rip and shoal the Sound over." - -Kingsley said what he pleased; his life was an open sea. If sometimes -he ran too close into the wind, he knew, or he thought that he knew, how -to recover, but his glance moved to his wife and rested a moment. - -But clearly Louise no longer listened. Her face, the face of a dreamer, -rapt, sensitive, was turned to the Olympic Mountains, shining across the -ruffled sea. It was as though she saw farther than other women, and -beyond those amethyst peaks and shoulders, breaking through cloud, up at -the source of those shafts of mellow light, that struck the gorges -between the blue foothills, she found a higher country all her own. - -He drew his frame erect and began to whistle, lifting his eyes to the -swelling sails. Then Alice took the guitar from a sheltered place and -caught the accompaniment. And presently they began to sing. - - "'Twas a gallant bark, with a crew as brave - As ever launched on the seething wave." - - -The _Phantom_ swung out from the old monastery on Priest Point, and -coming around, raced back before the still freshening wind. They -skirted the Olympia peninsula, and moved on up the narrowing arm. Here -were the white walls of the capitol, rising from a grove of young firs, -and across the channel opened the wooded capes off Cleale Place. Then -came the promontory, breaking from Tumwater ridge; the Indian burial -ground, where the blankets, which screened the canoes of the dead in the -treetops, hung against the dark face of the bluff like gaily painted -squares. And at last the yacht began to feel a back current and stalked -gently up towards the white mills. - -This was that "cradle" out of which Forrest had stepped, and there off -the bow rose the glooming cliffs, where the lower Des Chutes hung a -curtain of roped pearls, and the long pale lips of the rapids curled and -menaced below. - -Stratton took the guitar and repeated the tune, droning a pleasing -undernote. And presently Louise awakened, and the receding promontory, -catching the contralto, held the song a tragic moment and returned it -transformed to a requiem. - - "For the white squall rides on the surging wave, - And the bark is gulfed in an ocean's grave, - In an ocean's grave; in an ocean's grave." - -But the soprano was silent. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *THE HOUSE-RAISING* - - - "I've travelled all over ther country, prospectin' - an' diggin' fur gold; - I've tunnelled, hydraulicked an' cradled, an' I hev - be'n frequently sold. - An' I hev be'n frequently s-o-old, an' I hev be'n - frequently sold, - I've tunnelled, hydraulicked an' cradled, an' I hev - be'n frequently sold." - - -Mose rested on his ax and listened. It was a boy's voice, loud and -clear, though it slurred over difficult notes, and filled in uncertain -words with a whistle. And it startled the woods, rising above the -thunder of the cataract, and rang a hundred echoes from cliff and spur. - - "So rollin' my grub in my blanket, an' leavin' my - tools on ther ground, - I started one mornin' to shank it, fur a country - they call Puget Sound. - Fur a country they call Puget So-ou-ound--" - - -"Saprie, dat ees Lem Myers." Mose lifted his ax and lopped off a branch -which trailed over the rustic table he had completed. All the space -around him was filled with building material; straight logs cut into -even lengths, rows of cedar shakes, piles of hewn flooring, posts and -rafters, newly made by hand from the felled timber of the small -clearing, and surrounded by a resinous litter of boughs and chips. - - "'Arrivin' dead broke in mid-winter, I found it - enveloped in fog, - An' covered all over 'ith timber, thick as hair on - ther back of er dog. - Thick as hair on ther back of er do-o-g, thick as hair - on ther back of er dog,--' - -Aw, git up ther, Ginger, git up, I tell you." - -Lem rounded a fallen hemlock, tugging at the halter of the reluctant -pony, who, heavily laden with hampers, tinware and sundries, sidled this -way and that at the obstructions which culminated at the end of the new -trail. He lunged back from the long table, and rolling his eyes, came to -an immovable standstill. - -Mose laid down his ax and walked over to the pony, "Saprie, it ees -not'ing to tek dese t'ings 'cross." And he waved his hand with -pardonable pride towards a small pavilion roofed in fir boughs. - -"Guess we'll hev ter," answered Lem, surveying the scene with evident -satisfaction. "This here no 'count cayuse knows he ain't erlowed in -nobody's front room. No, sir, ther ain't no use tryin' ter make him -budge." And he lifted his bare foot and gave the horse a resentful -thrust, which was received with a slight flinching of the flanks, and -increased exhibition of the whites of his eyes. - -"Hams?" enquired Mose, inhaling a deep breath while he unbuckled the -straps of a hamper. - -"You bet," answered Lem. "Hams and chickuns. Ole Mother Girard cooked -'em." - -"De ole madame ees be one good cook, for sure. It ees fine t'ing her -Baptiste ees die, an' dat she ees able sell de ranch, for it ees pos'ble -she can stay all tam to de cabane to work for de te'cher." - -"This here," said Lem, lowering a second hamper to the ground, "is -prince-pally cake. An' you kin jes' bet ther ain't never be'n no sech -cake in ther hull deestrict. Ther schoolmarm made it herself, an' it's -full o' ceetron, an' raisins; I dunno what all. She gimme this here -knife fur takin' ther seeds out. I'd er done it fur nothin' but I -wa'n't goin' ter refuse no sech whittler's that." He took the knife -from his pocket and exhibited the blades. "I 'low it's ther same one I -hed my eye on down ter Yelm Station." - -"Nawitka," answered Mose, returning the knife after deliberate -inspection, "it ees bran' new. But to me she ees give a'ready one piece -gold monies, for dat I ees work on de trail. For dese logs an' shakes, -an' dese posts dat I ees help Mill T'ornton mek, she ees lak give me one -gran' new gun." - -"Les see ther gold piece," said Lem. - -"But no, it ees not here. It ees bury in ver' good plas to my fader's -gardeen." - -"I'll bet you was erfraid Mill er John Phiander'd git it erway from -you." - -Mose flushed under the taunt and began to turn up his denim sleeve. "It -ees bes' you doan' say dat to me," he said slowly. "I am but 'fraid I -lose dat gold monies for it ees be so small. Sacre, I t'ink I doan' -have some trouble to trash dose boys." He doubled his arm, clinching -his hand. "Feel dare, Lem Myers, and dare. Since I ees work to dose -logs, Laramie, heemself doan' have so beeg muscle." - -Lem laid his fingers on the tense cords with a gradually increasing -pressure, while his glance moved from the splendid forearm to the boy's -frowning face. "Oh, gee," he said reverently, "gee, but you've growed -some, Mose. I'd like ter see you tackle 'em both. I 'low you could lick -either one of 'em 'lone, 'ith jes' one hand, or mebbe 'ith your little -finger." - -Mose smiled his fleeting smile and relaxed his arm. "Saprie," he said, -and turned again to the hamper, "I beli've A'm able, ya-as." - -"She baked this here cake in ther cookstove down ter Yelm Station," said -Lem, "an' it filled ther hull oven." He unfastened the lid of the -basket and Mose came around and looked over his shoulder. The cake was -wrapped in a piece of muslin. Lem brushed his hand across the seat of -his jeans and lifted the end of the cloth with the tips of his thumb and -finger. "It ain't white clear through," he added softly; "she made er -kind o' whitewash out'n eggs an' reg'lar first class sugar." - -"It ees ver' gre't, for sure," said Mose, and he raised a side of the -hamper as though it was something holy, and helped Lem carry it across -to the pavilion. - -When the remainder of Ginger's pack had been stored they lingered in the -arbor, making conjectures, and certifying them, as to the contents of -various bags and bundles, until further investigation was stopped by the -voice of the teacher in the clearing. - -It was a bright day at the end of February, the Puget Sound spring, and -she had found and fastened on her breast a first cluster of Oregon -currant. The heart of the blossoms was reflected on her cheeks; the -light of the early morning was in her eyes. "Oh," she said, "what a -splendid table, Mose." And turning to the town carpenter, who -accompanied her, "Isn't it fine? And this is the boy of whom I told -you. He has split all of the shakes, hewn flooring, cut logs. He has -done everything except what the young ranchers could do for me in a few -odd days." - -The carpenter admitted that Mose had done "uncommon well." Then while -the boy, pleased and embarrassed, led away and picketed the horses, she -showed the man the building site and talked over the material and plans. -But, presently, there were voices on the trail, and here were the -Laramies, the Phianders, with Eben Myers and Martha and Mother Girard, -followed by the people from the prairie and many more. The men walking, -bearing axes, saws, sometimes a rifle; the young folk afoot also, while -the older women and children rode double and by threes on mules, draught -horses, steers and Indian ponies. Then, were not those the hoof-beats -of John Phiander's Baldy, timed by the rapid pace of Mill Thornton's -sorrel? And the plodders in the trail must press quickly forward or -crowd into the thicket, to give the young blood room. - -But these gay fellows were capable of sobering down. They were ready to -"match muscle," urging each other with dares and taunts to set their -swelling chests and heaving shoulders to the heavy timbers. And surely -the Nisqually had never seen another such raising; never so great a -company. People from Yelm and Tenalquet were there, and from Tacoma, in -Pierce County beyond the Puyallup. The walls went up apace; the huge -fir rafters were swung into position, and then appeared a wondrous -gable, its sloping eaves arching a roomy balcony. Surely the settlement -had yet to see as fine a cabin. Wild things crept to cover. And the -soughing of the chinook in the branches, the distant thunder of the -falls, the falling of rock up the mountain, were not to be heard in this -tumult of construction, the babel of voices, multiplied by the answering -clamor of the speaking hills. - -But while these experienced settlers, men who had themselves conducted -raisings and superintended the building of a score of cabins, moved -about, taking meekly the orders of the town carpenter, their wives -followed the novel directions of the young teacher. Never before had -the Nisqually looked on such a table. All the long board was fringed -with cedar and twigs of flowering dogwood; turkeys and chickens placed -on huge wooden platters were garnished with the glossy leaves of the -Washington holly; hams in big trenchers, bearing yet the fragrance of -pine, were decorated with crisp sprigs of salal; and there were haunches -of venison and rounds of bear meat, or at intervals a wild goose, a -brace of ducks, all decked with bright shoots of spruce or fir. But the -center of the board was given to the great white cake, throned on a bank -of moss and embellished, to Lem's delight, with small flags. Others, of -a larger size, intermingled with Japanese lanterns, were fastened in -groups and singly among the trees which bordered the clearing. The -boughs over the table flamed with them. - -"I give it up, but I 'low ther's 'bout five hundred." Lem cast a final -calculating glance over the table and the surrounding decorations. He -was seated on a lofty stump, his arms folded, his bare heels beating a -slow tattoo on the bark. "Ther small ones down to Yelm sells fur ten -cents er half dozen." He paused, then added speculatively, "I wonder -what she's goin' ter do with 'em when she gits through?" - -His reverie was broken by a summons to table, and in the general rush, -he slipped from his perch and ferreted into a place at the foot of the -board. Only the men were seated, while the women served; the children -played or loitered about, watchful of the chance attention that -sometimes fell to them. At last in her rounds the boy's mother detected -him. "Wal, ef you don't beat all," she said, stopping short with a huge -tray of carved venison in her hands. "You git right up an' make -yourself scarce tell ther men's through." - -Lem sat with his head bent, hands folded meekly; Ginger himself had -never shown greater dejection, and, like Ginger, he did not move. - -"Oh, let him erlone," said Mill Thornton, lifting his tankard and -including the company with a bland smile. "He's goin' ter sing ther Ole -Settler fur us." - -"I ain't nuther; I dunno it. Ask Cousin Samanthy." Lem cast a sidelong -glance at the young man, who blushed hotly and put down his -embarrassment with a draught from the tankard. "She'd be mighty -diserpointed ef you didn't ask her; she's be'n gittin' ready fur a -week." - -With this Lem helped himself liberally from the platter in his mother's -hands, and cast another look at Samantha, who, also flushing pinkly, -stood in amazement, while the coffee-pot which she carried poured a -brown stream on the earth. - -"Pshaw, 'tain't so," she said, drawing her breath quickly. "Lem 'lowed -all along he'd sing it ef I'd learn him ther words. Fur ther land -sakes," she added, addressing the coffee-pot, which she speedily -righted; and at the same time she caught the skirt of her pink cotton -frock out of range. - -"I dunno 'em all," said Lem, and boldly held out his empty cup. - -"Guess you'll hev ter, Samanthy," said Eben, laughing. "Come, now, tune -up." - -At this, a cry repeated warmly by a score of throats, the girl put down -the coffee-pot and darted away. It then became Mill Thornton's office -to pursue and bring her back. He was encouraged by shouts and laughter -as the pink dress appeared and disappeared among the trees. - -She stopped at length all flushed and panting, and turned her face shyly -to her pursuer. "I guess I'll hev ter, Mill. I'm ready ter drop." - -"You're mighty pretty that erway," he said softly, putting his hand on -her arm,--he felt its plump roundness through the thin sleeve,--"I'd -like ter kiss you, ef I 'lowed you could stand it to hev that ther -tiresome crowd laffin'." - -"My stars, Mill," she said and all the imps in her eyes mocked him, -"ain't you good? You're most er an-gel. I'll bet under your shirt you -kin jest feel ther wings er sproutin'." - -But even then his courage failed him. "Oh, kem on," he said, "ther -ain't er girl in this hull deestrict kin beat you singin'. I'm ready -ter lick ther fellow says so." - -He led her back towards the waiting company, his grasp tightening on her -arm. She hung her head and came reluctantly, catching at a branch, -dragging her feet. - -"Well," said Eben, putting down his mug and drawing his hand across his -whiskers, "ef you're done er bein' bashful, now, Samanthy, we're ready -ter listen." - -She straightened herself with a little cough and looked at her audience. -Then her glance fell and she shrank behind her captor with a faint, "I -don't like ter." - -But the young man did not relax his hold, and though his face crimsoned, -he impelled her forward, closing his lips firmly over locked teeth, and -watching her warily, as an athlete measures an uncertain antagonist. -And he confessed to her privately, afterwards, that it "took more nerve" -to make her sing than was required later "to put a head on Pete Smith." - -She met his look helplessly, but straightened herself once more, with -that little cough, and commenced in a clear quavering soprano. - - "I've travelled all over ther country, prospectin' - an' diggin' fur gold, - I've tunnelled, hydraulicked an' cradled, an' I - hev be'n frequently sold." - -The men grew silent, those to whom the song was new giving attention -only to the singer, the others dividing interest between her and the -table. But the words appealed to most, and convinced that, well -started, she would brave out the ordeal, Thornton resumed his place. He -masked his face in a set expression of indifference, but when his glance -moved to Samantha, his bold young heart leaped and proclaimed itself -through the batteries of his eyes. - -She finished the song and took up her interrupted work of pouring -coffee. Eben cleared his throat, and parted his beard, stroking it -gently. "That ther chase you jest hed, Mill, 'minds me of er time I hed -over to Montaner. I dunno's I ever let on 'bout that ther hunt o' mine." - -He paused, still stroking his whiskers, while the audience grew -attentive. "It was er full grown grizzly," he went on, "an' I'd give -her a mighty mean shot, so't she was fightin' ugly. I hedn't another -catridge an' I dunno's I'd hed time ter load up ef I hed. I natu'ally -hed ter light out, an' ther wa'n't er tree in sight; nothin' but er few -scrub hazels. But I got ter circlin' round them, ther bear after me, -tell ther first thing I see we was wearin' er reg'lar ditch in ther -ground. When it got 'bout's high's my head he let up er minute ter get -his wind, an' I see my chanct ter climb out. I was jest dead beat an' -all I could do was ter lay down close ter that bank an' watch that ther -grizzly chase hisself--didn't seem ter miss me--tell he dropped." - -There was a pregnant silence, then young Thornton said gravely, "It was -er mighty close call, Eben, sure; 'bout ther closest you ever hed. But -I 'low you never showed us that ther grizzly's skin." - -There was another brief silence, during which Eben thoughtfully regarded -his empty plate. "You're right," he said at last, "you're right, Mill, -but that ther pelt wa'n't worth keepin'. You see when I clumb down -after it I see it was spoiled. That ther ditch was mighty narrer, an' -scrapin' round so long he jest natu'ally rubbed ther hair clean offn -both sides." - -The men, laughing, rose by twos and threes to return to their work. It -was then, while the women and children closed in around the table, that -Stratton rode into the clearing. Though he had travelled far that day -his person was not the worse for it; and Sir Donald's shining coat, his -long, lithe body, slender limbs and swelling chest, must have delighted -more critical eye than Alice Hunter's. - -"This is very nice of you," she said, going to meet him. "I was just -feeling a little homesick for a face from the Sound. But Judge Kingsley -is in Washington, and no one else knew of the house-raising. What -happened to bring you?" - -"Why, this quarter section caught my fancy the first time I saw it, last -summer, and I made up my mind to take it. But I heard, yesterday, an -entry had already been made, by a woman; probably one of these Canadian -daughters of the settlement, and the easiest course was to hurry -straight on to the headwaters, and ward off her improvements, and buy -her off." - -"She is not to be bought." - -"You think not? Then,"--he gave her a side glance and finished tying -the knot in Sir Donald's halter,--"I may decide to contest." - -"Contest--this claim? you wouldn't do that?" - -"Oh, yes I would." He paused to break a sword fern, with which he -flecked off nicely a remaining bit of dust from his riding-boot. "I -think I could make out a very good case. I should cover it with a -timber filing." - -"A timber filing," she replied quietly, "doesn't hold over a homestead -right. At least, the exception is rare." - -"But I should prove the exception. I should prove that the land is -worthless for agriculture, and the timber entry of the adjoining quarter -would strengthen the point. I might, however, find it advisable to make -the location under mineral rights." - -"But there is no mineral, to my knowledge, on this tract; though beyond, -somewhere, in these hills, I have heard--there are indications." - -"Then," and he waived that possibility, "it is enough that it is one of -the best timbered sections in the Puget Sound Basin. These are fine old -trees. And"-- He paused to fleck an ant from his sleeve--"I have -friends at court." - -"Doubtless." Her patience was exhausted. "Such as those irreproachable -men of whom Phil Kingsley once told us." She flashed him a look with -that swift uplifting of her chin, and turned her face to the high -shoulder of the hill. Her lips closed firmly; her breath came a little -hard and quick; the ready color burned in her cheek. - -Her retort brought the steel to his own eyes, but he had no answer. Her -glance returned. "How could you find a timber claim desirable in this -mountainous place? Twenty miles from a railroad, and on the Des Chutes, -where to raft logs, or even dream of it, is sheer madness?" - -"But suppose I should wish to put up a sawmill, and cut the timber right -here on the ground? It would be a great thing for the settlement." His -smile, which always hinted of mockery, lingered, and he watched her with -the quiet enjoyment of the true angler, who is sure, but plays -cautiously, to lose nothing of the sport. - -"It might benefit the settlement," she said, and flashed him another -look of fine scorn, though he saw her lip tremble, "but it would be -years before you could hope for returns on the investment." - -At this he laughed outright. "I withdraw," he said, "I withdraw. You -are in fighting trim to your fingertips. You know too much about land -law, Miss Hunter; the Judge has been a thorough instructor, and what you -do not know about logging and milling, I am inclined to think is not -worth knowing. But the homestead is yours. Now please establish a -record for hospitality. I've had a long ride since breakfast." - -"Do you mean--" She paused, flushing, then lifted her face to him all -sudden brightness and charm. "Oh, you do mean it; I see--I see. You -were only teasing me. It's hard, sometimes, to tell just where your jest -breaks off--or begins. But did you really want this section? - -"Yes, I looked it up at the Land Office, as I came through Olympia, -intending to make a timber entry, and found the homestead filing under -your name." He had followed her to the table, taking the seat beside -her. And he stopped a moment, while he divided a roasted pheasant which -he shared with her, then he said, "I do not pretend to fathom your -reasons for burying yourself here in the wilderness; it is enough for me -to know that you want this land. And the next quarter, on the other -side of the cataract, is vacant. It is unsurveyed, but the squatter's -right will serve me as well. I only want the place now for a sort of -shooting-box; somewhere to stay in the hunting and fishing seasons, and, -incidentally, to carry on a little traffic with Laramie and one or two -other trappers, who have shown me already some very good furs." - -She looked him over interestedly from this new point of view. "So," she -said, "So, you are to be my nearest neighbor, with just the river -between. Last autumn I thought I should have all the big heart of the -hills to myself, but since Christmas Mill Thornton has taken up the next -section but one on the school trail, and now you follow. The country is -being settled very fast." She turned her eyes again to that high spur. -After a moment she asked, "Have you been in Seattle lately, or at the -mills?" - -"Yes, I was there two days ago and saw your sister. She was well, but I -think that the isolation wears on her, though she will not say so. She -admits, however, that she misses you, and she and the Captain are -planning a cruise among the islands. They are timing it for your spring -vacation, confident you will join them." - -"Oh," she said, and delight shone in her eyes, "you don't know how that -tempts me; it's my favorite cruise." - -"And you will arrange to go?" - -She shook her head. "How can I? That short vacation means so much to -me; I've planned it all away. Mose is going to clear a strip towards the -river, for Colonel's pasture, and it must be big enough for the two -Jerseys which Judge Kingsley is sending me. And I must furnish the -cabin and take actual possession. But I don't know what to say to -Louise. She doesn't know about this homestead, Mr. Stratton; I don't -want her to know. You see it's all a venture; I might have to -relinquish; I might--fail." - -"I understand," he answered, again laughing, "and I promise to keep the -secret from the Captain,--he can ridicule,--I promise, provided you go -that cruise." - -"I'm afraid I must." She shook her head again, ruffling her brows. -"After all I ought to be able to spare this one week to my sister; she's -going to think I'm forgetting her, often enough, before I'm through." - -While they were talking a man had entered the clearing from the river -side. He moved with a noiseless, sliding motion, and, seating himself -at the lower end of the table, aloof from the children, who still -loitered there, began unceremoniously to appease a prodigious appetite. -Alice watched him in half recognition. His face in the strong light of -midday was more than forbidding; it repelled while it also possessed the -fascination of extreme ugliness. His old ragged hatbrim, turned back -from a slanting forehead, left unshaded a pair of small, beadlike, -shifting eyes. Suddenly she remembered where she had seen him before. -It was at Laramie's cabin the time she had taken refuge from the storm. -He was that midnight visitor, Smith. - -None of the settlers gave him special attention, though Samantha filled -his cup and Martha supplied him with an abundance of meat and bread. -That was the unwritten code of the wilderness; no man was ever turned -away hungry. And this man, though an escaped criminal, convicted of -some crime against a remote Government, belonged to the community; as -long as he respected its primitive laws he might come and go unmolested. -But to pillage his neighbor--that was the unpardonable sin. And -presently, at the moment of his departure, Smith crossed this line. - -A short cruiser's ax, which young Thornton always carried in his belt -over a new trail, was lying on a fallen tree directly in the outlaw's -way. He was hampered by his gun, as he vaulted the log, but, by some -sleight of hand, he slipped the ax under his blouse. Instantly there -was a loud outcry, and before he could reach the cover of the jungle a -cordon of settlers cut him off. - -He swung about to break for the thicket at another point, but there the -crowd closed. He stood motionless, weighing the odds, then he put his -gun aside, setting the stock against a stump, and the ax reappeared, -resting in the hollow of his arm. He caressed the edge of the blade -lightly, with his long nervous fingers, and at the same time raised his -shifting eyes to the owner, who confronted him. "A'm have some look at -your ax, Mill," he said at last in a thick, choppy voice; "mebbe I lak -to buy heem, ya-as, you want to sell heem, hey?" - -Thornton drew a step nearer. "I 'low," he answered with slow emphasis, -"you've examined that ther little ax of mine mighty close, Pete." - -Smith understood. There was little use of subterfuge or denial. This -cordon of men had become a tribunal, that, having already condemned, -awaited the transgressor's punishment. His only escape hung on action, -swift, sure. He swung the ax lightly, in a flash, but the instant it -left his hand, the young rancher dipped his great shoulder, and rushing -under the hurled blade, grappled with him. The confusion he had -expected to create failed; his chances of reaching the friendly jungle -shrank again. He writhed, twisted out of Thornton's grasp, and, -snakelike, struck. Harder pressed, he fought, without system, -ferociously, like a cornered rat, squeaking horribly and using his -teeth. - -There could be no doubt of the outcome. Nature, in creating Thornton, -had made an athlete, and the great primal passions, latent in every man, -sprang unleashed to meet the beast with whom he had to deal. His quick -blows gathered impetus. His victim gave back slowly, snapping, -snarling, steps he made no effort to regain. And the human ring moved -with them, riverwards. It was miserable, but very swift, and the finish -came when the retreating man tripped backward over a root and went down. - -Laramie sprang to raise him, but at the same instant the teacher, -throwing off Stratton's detaining arm, pushed into the circle and stood -before the fallen man. She did not speak at once; the words, struggling -in her throat, choked. But Thornton's great doubled forearm relaxed and -dropped at his side. He met the command, the reproach in her brave eyes -and the fury in his own died. - -"I will not have it," she said at last, and her voice rang. -"Remember,"--her look swept the cordon,--"from this day I will not have -fighting on _my land_." - -There was a brief silence. Laramie moved back to his place. Behind her -the outlaw rolled on his side, then to his stomach, and began to worm -himself towards a cedar that had broken the ring. No one stopped him. -He covered the ground with incredible swiftness, with a writhing motion, -learned of necessity and long contact with the jungle, and like some -hideous goblin crawled under the dragging boughs of the tree. - -Myers cleared his throat. "Pete orter kep' erway," he said mildly. "I -'low he didn't get mor'n was due him. Tell you, I've seen er man over in -Montaner catch it er sight worse fur doin' less. That ther's a mighty -good little ax o' Mill's." - -Stratton, who had followed Alice closely, lifted Smith's rifle and -walked coolly over to the cedar and passed it between the boughs. The -outlaw was on his feet, and he clutched the gun and ran across the -remaining bit of open, and dropped out of sight in the dense -undergrowth. - -"Of course," she said, replying to Eben, "I understand that. The man -must be punished; but there are better ways." - -"Ther nighest sheriff," said Eben, still mildly, "lives to Olympia, -sixty miles straight. That's ther closest jedge, too, an' court." - -"Still, here are men enough to hold him," and her voice deepened to a -dominant note; "lock him in his cabin, guard him until the right -officers can arrive. He should have been turned over to the Government -long ago, you all know it, for greater crimes. It must be done now." - -She set her lips and turned, and for the first time realized Smith was -gone. Stratton stood waiting near the cedar. He saw the sudden relief -flash through the consternation in her face. "You let him go," she said -slowly. "You could have stopped him. It was your duty." - -"Yes," he came towards her, "I let him go. I even helped him off. -Pardon me or--punish me." - -She stood for a moment looking up into his face, but he bore the -scrutiny easily enough, smiling, with a tinge of mockery. "Oh," she -said, "how could you? How could you? But I know the reason; it was an -impulse--of the heart--to take the losing side. It was wrong--but -I--like you for it." - -"You like me?" he laughed softly, "You like me?" He paused, enjoying -the confusion in her face. She turned it away. "So," he went on, "So -you think I sided with the under dog? No, no, Miss Hunter, I am not -that kind of a man. It just seemed the quickest way to terminate that -miserable row. You should never have witnessed it; you should not have -been here. This wilderness is no place for you." - -Instantly her confusion was gone. "Oh," she said, "surely this has been -proof enough. It is the one place, the right place; the settlement -needs me. But--it's going to be the hardest work," she shook her head -gravely, "and I want you to help me." She stood another moment -searching his face, then, "You are a strange man," she added. "Why is -it you cover your best and delight in showing your worst side?" - -"There is no best," he answered quickly. "I am past appeal." And he -turned and walked swiftly away towards the river and that section of -land he had come to see. - -Smith was gone; the episode was closed, and the men had resumed their -interrupted work. Then, presently, the teacher called Mose and the -older children to her assistance, and an arch was formed of stout -saplings twined with hemlock and cedar. And when Stratton had returned -and it had been set up on the finished floor, he helped to decorate it -with flags and yards on yards of gay ribbon, in loops and bows and -streamers. There were also, nodding under the smartest twigs, -mysterious little packages wrapped in bright papers with fringed ends, -so that Lem with increasing difficulty held his wonder. Garlands strung -from the rafters, were studded with other flags and supported every -variety of Japanese lantern. - -The day drew to a close. On the ashes of last year's camp-fire, Mose -kindled a new blaze, and the people gathered around it for a brief -interval of rest. They discussed the gabled roof, the roomy balcony, -and then the conditions of the soil. And afterwards Myers spun a -grizzly yarn, rivaled by Laramie's recital of the elk hunt from which he -had lately returned. And the women, brought together from remote -solitudes, exchanged small personalities, sure of a sympathetic ear. -They took up the misfortunes of Slocum's family, left without a head, -and the fatal accident that had befallen young Girard, soothing his -mother with a reminder of the good bargain she had made in selling the -ranch, and the comfortable home she was to find with the teacher. - -But when the round moon looked over the high shoulder of the slope, and -the lighted lanterns began to show blue or red or orange spheres along -the edge of the clearing, and filled the cabin with a soft illumination, -Eben brought his violin, and with various trials of the bow upon the -strings, led the way into the building. Then, when Mill Thornton had -danced a hornpipe, and all the young folk had warmed their blood to the -tune of Money Musk, followed by a stirring jig, the teacher led them a -new step, fitting to the music of the settlement the qualities of the -cotillion. She came under the arch, and reaching, took one of the small -flags. But it was not to Stratton that she gave it, but to Laramie, who -stood frowning in the doorway. Laramie, who had not danced these many -years. And to the astonishment of everybody the Canadian answered the -salutation of her pretty head, and sticking the flag in his buttonhole, -commenced with much shuffling of the cowskin boots, a series of -gyrations and curvetings that filled the newer generation with amazement -and delight. - -It was an easy matter for Samantha to learn that little novelty as to -the flags, and the more difficult methods with the ribbons. Lem, there -in the corner, with folded arms and watchful eyes imitating Laramie's -wild motions, saw the teacher open that first package with the fringed -ends, and still with that swaying movement, unfold and place on her head -a yellow tissue hat. Then here were all of these large girls following -her example, and Laramie himself pulling off his old squirrel-skin cap, -and flinging it aside for a red bonnet. Mill Thornton too, and all the -boys from Yelm and Tenalquet, were rigging themselves out in every kind -of head-gear, and with flags and ribbons; making their best steps, and -cheered on by the shouts and laughter of the older people ranged along -the walls. - -The bow ran faster and faster, as though it laughed in its sleeve at the -wild figures they cut. Then, at length, the teacher slipped aside to -relieve Eben. It was a different music, sweeter, softer, that she drew -from the old cracked instrument, and she kept time with one foot, thrust -a little forward; a smile played on her lips, there was a shining light -in her eyes, and the yellow hat was pale against her ruddy hair. - -But finally the measure changed. The revellers quieted under the -unfamiliar strain. It was no longer dance music but Schubert's -Serenade. A far-away look came over her face; a sweet tenderness. Her -soul was in her touch; she called a speaking sadness from the strings. A -great hush fell over the room. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *A FACE IN THE NIGHT* - - -Mason, the watchman at the Freeport mills, stood as was his habit when -off duty, quite at the end of the dock, his red hair blowing in the -wind, his hands thrust in the pockets of his oily brown jeans, and his -feet planted firmly apart, notwithstanding one was an insecure wooden -peg around which the leg of his trousers fluttered loosely. It was -after the hour of closing, and about the doorways of the cabins, which -nestled well under the bluff. groups of workmen loitered, or like Mason, -enjoyed the breezier, salter atmosphere of the wharf. The sound of -bagpipes came from a distant quarter up the beach, and the rival notes -of an accordion floated over from a passing fishing-smack. But above -all rose the deep wash of the sea. A lumber ship, with the light lines -of her deckload showing above her low black hull, swung out from the -upper dock and took on a boatful of tuneful sailors who had crossed the -harbor from the town. Her tug, lying to the northward, awaited her -cable. And out beyond the headland and its black reflection, the late -sun reddened the _Phantom's_ sails. - -Mason's nautical gaze rested on the yacht, and he said, addressing Hop -Sing, the cook, who had been transferred from the Judge's house to the -mills, "A fine craft, ay, sir; a bit too narrer at ther beam, but a fine -craft, sir." - -Sing smiled blandly and tucked his long yellow finders into his wide -sleeves. "_Phlantom_, she all lit-e," he admitted. "Mlisser Phil, he -all lit-e." - -The yacht swung into the shadow of the Head; the lightening cable -between the ship and tug crossed her bows. The steamer with increased -belching of smoke and pounding of machinery forged away and the vessel -slowly answered the straining line. Mason leaned forward with a low -exclamation; then, no longer able to hold himself, he lifted his voice -in a hoarse shout. "Luff, luff 'er." - -Even as he spoke the _Phantom_ veered suddenly, and came around -close-hauled, all but grazing the stern of the ship. And Mason saw the -master at the helm, his cap pushed back, his eyes on the flapping -canvas, while his lips coolly shaped the end of a chorus. A woman, -young and pretty, with a cloud of blond hair, was seated near him, -strumming time on a banjo, and, as Mason moved to take the line, she -looked up at him with a gay laugh. - -Stratton relieved Kingsley of the tiller while he went into the bows -with the coiled line. The old sailor caught it and made a twist around -a pile, hauling taut. "It wore neatly done," he said with the pride -glowing in his homely face; "ay, sir, but it wore a close call, sir." - -Philip laughed. "Not much of a trick if you know the _Phantom_, Mason. -No, I'm not coming ashore. Here, give these packages to Mr. Forrest. -Tell him I'm taking a run over to Tacoma. Will look in at the camp -about those logs. That's all. Cast off." - -Mason watched the _Phantom_ swing out, then went up the wharf to the -store. It was a long, low building with few windows and a massive door. -The interior was gloomy, musty; sacks of flour piled in great lines -partitioned the room; hams and bacon hung from the ceiling. At one side -of the entrance the office was separated from the main floor by a -latticed railing, and gave the manager an opportunity to work at his -desk, and at the same time see those who entered. The window at his -elbow overlooked the dock and informed him if an arriving vessel -demanded his attention there. - -Several men sauntered after Mason and joined the group gathered at the -door. One entered, and Forrest turned from his desk to take the day's -tally from him. Presently Hop Sing slipped through the idle and jeering -crowd to collect an allowance of groceries. Mason laid his packages -down and waited, leaning on the railing. His glance moved from the cook -to the sawyer, a heavy, burly fellow, who stood in the entrance. As the -Chinaman passed out this man turned with a sudden thrust of his powerful -shoulder and Hop Sing plunged headlong on to the dock. There was a -round of applause while he floundered in a broken crock of molasses and -a burst bag of buckwheat, and the sawyer moved back with a gruff laugh. -At the same instant something was thrown behind him, and he, too, fell, -sprawling on the floor. The cry of derision was transferred to him, and -Mason, having recovered his equilibrium, stooped and gravely felt of his -wooden leg. "When a man's er peg like this," he said aggressively, -forestalling the sawyer's anger, "he aren't to be walked over. I've -known 'um to crack." - -And the crowd cheered, for there was a story current at the mills that -Mason had once, in an emergency, unstrapped this leg and used it for a -weapon; not only to the discomfiture of his antagonist, but to the -serious damage of the instrument, both having been laid up, afterwards, -for extensive repairs. - -The amusement shone for a moment in Forrest's eyes, but his face was -tired and worn; the line between his brows had grown habitual. It -deepened when the old sailor repeated Kingsley's message. He took a -small packet of mail which the watchman had brought with the bundles, -and hastily cut the string. "Here, Mason," he said, "take these letters -over to Mrs. Kingsley. - -"Ay sir." The answer was hearty, but Forrest caught the consternation -in the tone. He knew that it took less courage for this crippled sailor -to brave the sawyer than face a woman; and he understood, when Mason -stopped at the corner outside to light his pipe, it was a subterfuge to -gain time. - -The Captain's house, like the cabins, stood in an enclosure filled with -slabs and sawdust and covered with rough planking. The board walk, -which led from the store to the cookhouse and mills, branched to this -building, and, raised on higher piling, extended on around the headland -to an old abandoned hotel. It was there, going slowly with her toddling -baby in the direction of the ruin, that Mason discovered Mrs. Kingsley -as he crossed up from the store. - -The waves broke in a continuous swash under the planking, casting at -intervals a piece of wreckage or rope of seaweed on the shore. The -collection of drift there was wet from the ebbing tide. Far out, beyond -the shadow of the Head, a pink flush still rested on he water, and the -_Phantom_, moving into this glow with all her white sails set, heeled -gently, a golden craft on a painted sea. And it was in that direction, -towards the receding yacht, Louise's face was turned. She had stopped -and the child, steadying himself with his hand on her skirt, stood -dropping pebbles slowly between the rails. - -Mason slackened his pace, setting his wooden peg lightly. It was -difficult to approach any woman, but this one, young, pretty and with -her back turned-- He halted, waiting, with a forlorn hope that she -would look around. But she did not. He coughed softly and pulled off -his cap. Still she stood with her eyes towards the _Phantom_. He put -on his cap and removed his pipe from his mouth, regarding her in mild -helplessness. The small, proud head, the high, soft knot of dark hair, -the graceful, slender figure in its trim gown, the shapely hand that -rested on the railing; he noted all with growing awe. Then his clutch -tightened on the letters and he cleared his throat with a gentle thump -of the wooden peg. - -She turned, startled, and looked at him. Her eyes were full of tears. - -He thrust the letters into her hand in speechless haste and fled. - -"Mason," she said, "oh, Mason." But he failed to hear. She did not -repeat the call; she waited, listening to the thump, thump, of the -receding peg, then her glance fell to the articles he had given her. -One of the letters was pencilled and unstamped. She read it first. - - -"DEAR LOUISE:-- - -"I am sorry, but business kept me in town again last night, and I am on -my way now to Tacoma. I have to hunt up a boom near there, and am -taking a little crowd along for company. We will look in on the Yacht -Club's dance and I wish you were coming. You really ought to find some -sort of a nursemaid. I would stop off half an hour to see you, but must -make the most of this wind. Will be back tomorrow evening. - -"Yours, - "PHIL." - - -The hand holding the note trembled a little, and she lifted her clouding -eyes again to the _Phantom_. "It is of no use," she said slowly, "I -might as well be any piece of drift thrown here out of the tide. But--I -had to try it. It was the only way." - -She stood for a long time watching the yacht. It moved a lessening -shape on the fading sea, and swung at last behind a point into the long -southward sweep of the Sound. Then she was conscious that the child had -left her. He was toddling to the ruin. She ran to overtake him. -"Silas," she called. "No, Silas, no." But her voice and her rapid -steps only hurried him laughing and crowing through the open bar-room -door. - -The broad floor of fine planking was still firm and smooth except about -the place where the pool table had stood, and in front of the bar. The -baby ran to hide there, peeping out at his mother with little exultant -bursts of delight. - -But this old bar, the last remaining bit of furniture in the place, -guarded the sagging door of a small ell evidently once used as a -tap-room. It stopped at the first story, and the flooring, made of -rougher, wider lumber than that in the main building, was laid in short -patched strips. It was rotting about the rusty nailheads; sometimes -there were breaks. All this was lighted dimly by one small window, high -up in the unfinished wall and curtained by the bluff, and she saw a -dozen pitfalls in the ruin, yawning for her baby's feet. She drew the -door shut, but it was without a lock and dragged back a foot or more. - -The great rear door of the bar-room also stood open; it was loose on its -hinges and grounded on the floor. The threshold dipped to a balcony, -dismembered of railing and stairs. She caught the child up in her arms -and hurried out through the front entrance back along the walk. - -It was twilight when she entered her gate. A first star glimmered over -the mills, and on the water front across the harbor Seattle's lamps -shone whitely. Close at hand the burning slabpile at the end of the -waste-chute took on a redder glow, sending long searching tongues of -flame into the gloom of the bluff. She went in and lighted a swinging -lamp. Its crimson shade sent a pleasing warmth through the room, which -possessed the attractive element that follows the touch of a refined and -orderly woman. There were no housemaids in that milling camp; no other -women. The few men who had wives made their homes over in the town, -where they spent the week-end. Once during the day Mason came in to -make things "ship-shape," but he took the hour when she was at the -cook-house, where the meals for the Captain's family, which included -Forrest, were served in a small private dining-room off the main hall. - -The night was cool and she lighted the fire in the grate and seated -herself in a low wicker chair to read her remaining letter. It was from -her sister, briefer than usual, for she expected to follow it within the -week to go that promised cruise among the islands. - -"... The country is being settled very fast," she wrote. "Mill Thornton -is clearing on his new homestead for a cabin, and Mr. Stratton has built -a charming little lodge of cedar shakes thatched with bark, on his -timber claim up the headwaters. It is tucked away in a clump of fine -old trees, and the first time I saw him there, leaning in the doorway, -with one of Laramie's dogs fawning over him, and bargaining with the -trapper over a beaver pelt at his feet, I couldn't help calling, 'Good -morning, Robin Hood.' It was so pleasant to find the place unspoiled, -for most of the settlers set up their homes in a great burn, with not -even an alder saved; not a flower or blade of grass left to ease the -eyes." - -But, though she had so much to tell about these matters, of her own -homestead there was not a word. Louise folded the letter, puzzled, and -laid it aside. She sat for an interval looking absently into the fire. -"I don't understand," she said at last. "I don't understand why she is -staying up there in the wilderness. She has promised to marry Uncle -Silas, and yet she has let him go to Washington without her. She is -willing to have the whole continent between them; and when a woman -loves, as she should love the man she is going to marry, she is ready to -shape her plans and interests to his. She wants to give him her -companionship, to be at hand to help him the first moment he may need -her. But Alice seems happy. I wonder what her reason is." - -She had learned in this solitude to think aloud, gathering comradery -from the sounds of her voice, and young Silas, growing tired of his -playthings, came over to her knee. He looked up into her face gravely, -trying to fathom her meaning. She laughed softly and lifted him to her -lap. He was a lovely child; a little copy of Philip Kingsley in form -and gesture; he had the same close-curling blond hair. He returned his -mother's caress warmly, putting his stout arm about her neck and kissing -her mouth, her cheek, again and again. Presently she undressed him, but -she deferred the bed-going, enticing him, with surprise and frolic, to -stay awake. She dreaded the silence that was to follow; the -interminable loneliness of the slow night. But at last he went to sleep -in her arms. - -When she had tucked him away in his bed in an inner room and returned, -she moved about restlessly, giving housewifely touches to things already -arranged. "After all, it is the business," she said. "It must -be--nearly always--the business. I am too exacting. I expect too -much." - -She reached the window and lifted her hand to draw the blind. But she -started and dropped her arm, letting the shade spring back to the -roller. Someone stood on the walk without. His long figure rose in the -square of light which, blocked on the piazza, included the breadth of -fence where he leaned. His dark, repulsive face was raised to her, and -he seemed to fix her with his small, snakelike eyes. The next instant -he dropped his goblin shape and shrank writhing away into the gloom. - -She shivered and her fingers trembled when she reached again for the -cord and drew the blind. She went into the hall and pushed the heavy -bolt above the lock on the front door. When she had gone through the -house and secured every door and window, she came back, still shivering, -to the fire. "It is nothing," she told herself, and put her hand on the -mantel, reassuring herself as a woman must when denied human support, -"it was nothing. The man stopped a moment in passing, attracted by the -light. I must have some--courage. But his face--was terrible." - -Presently she went over to the piano and began to sound the keys; she -struck loud, clarion chords, martialling forces to put down her fears. -Her shaking fingers grew surer; she commenced to shape a bit of Wagner, -and then a fragment of Schubert. That was the music she loved. She -opened a folio of sonatas. She played with ease and skill and her frame -swayed with a slight, rhythmic motion. Her soul was in her touch and in -her eyes, grown large and misty. It was then her face was beautiful. - -At last she turned a page and a loose sheet fluttered out. It was that -sea song of Barry Cornwall's, that had been a favorite quartette in the -old days aboard the _Phantom_. She began to play it, and presently her -voice flooded the night. - - "For the white squall rides on the surging wave, - And the bark is 'gulfed in an ocean's grave, - In an ocean's grave; in an ocean's grave." - - -Forrest, coming that way from his customary rounds of the mills, heard -it, and the passion, the despair of it, held him at the gate. But he -dropped his hand from the latch at the end and turned away. "There is -nothing I can do for her." he told himself. "She is past feeling the -solitude now. She is past being afraid." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *THE PRESSURE OF THE THUMB-SCREW* - - -The following night Forrest was seated near the open fire in his room -off the store. His journal and ledger were on the table before him, and -opposite Kingsley tilted his chair comfortably, and clasping his hands -at the back of his head, lifted his glance to the lamp-lighted ceiling. -He was smoking and looked a trifle bored. - -"It amounts to this," said Forrest; "lumber has dropped to eight dollars -a thousand and we've simply got to cut down expenses." He paused with -his hands on the arms of his chair, his body slightly inclined forward, -and looked at Philip with clear, stern eyes. "I am running the lightest -possible force; I have dispensed with a bookkeeper and am doing his work -nights. But here are still unpaid bills for machinery, saw-logs and -towing; some weeks it even comes to a question of the wages of the men. -I could, though, have met these demands better if I hadn't been so -handicapped. For instance, in the matter of the _Corona_. I made out -the bills of lading; I relied on the funds at a certain time and gave -promises of payment. And then found out you had received the checks and -had them cashed, and put most of the money to personal use. It not only -places me in a difficult position but weakens the credit, the standing -of the mills." - -"I suppose so," said Kingsley, knocking the ashes carefully from his -cigar. "I suppose so; I hadn't looked at it in that way. But the -_Enterprise_ will be here in a few days and her shipment ought to make -things straight." - -"Temporarily, yes. But see here, why can't you limit yourself to a -salary? Say two hundred a month? If you could do this, and devote a -definite time to work, I should know what to depend on, and we could -pull through the year without calling on the Judge." - -"Two hundred a month?" repeated Philip, and laughed. - -"Yes. You know the Judge advised a regular salary." - -"You seem to forget I have practically a half interest in this -property." - -"On the other hand, it is that I remember," answered Forrest dryly. "If -the mills should go under it would bar me, of course, from another -position of trust; but for you it would mean financial ruin." - -Kingsley smoked for a brief interval in silence. Then he said, "I don't -see the necessity of all this. There's Stratton, now, talks -differently. He thinks I have a sure thing; that another year or two -will see the opening of a great lumber traffic with the Orient. He -calls Puget Sound the Gateway of the Pacific. I wish you could hear -him." - -"I have heard him," answered Forrest, again dryly. "But with me, his -opinion doesn't count for much. To hold my faith a man has got to do -the things he talks about. And Stratton isn't a man who works. In -short, it's a problem where he gets his money. My friend Bates, of the -Customs Service, has been in Victoria a good deal; he knows something -about Stratton's family. His father, before he died, made a fortune in -the fur trade, but his mother, who lived a rather smart life over there, -spent it faster. Stratton is like her." - -"He has taken up his father's business," said Kingsley warmly. "He is -building a fine coasting schooner, now, to carry on an extensive trade, -northward, with the Indians." - -Forrest shook his head. "That's just it. A man dabbling spasmodically -in furs, and living extravagantly most of the time about town, is hardly -expected to have capital to invest in a fine steam-schooner." - -Philip watched a puff of smoke rise and expand in blue haze above him. -"I know what you're driving at," he said. "You're referring to his -possible connection with a smuggling ring. Stratton told me all about -it. There's nothing in it. Bates happens to have a grudge against -him." - -"Bates is hardly the man to satisfy a personal grudge in that way. He -merely answered a question or two I asked him." Forrest paused and went -on in a slightly deepened tone. "It seems to me incredible that you -should let a fellow like Stratton manage you." - -"Manage?" The Captain's chair came down abruptly on its front legs. -"See here, even you can't say that, Paul. Stratton is my friend; I'm -fond of him, but I do as I damn please." - -Forrest was silent. - -Kingsley rose to his feet and threw his cigar in the fire. "It's time I -went up to the house," he said. "The crowd will be ready to go on to -town, soon, and I've hardly seen Louise." - -Forrest pushed back his chair and rose. "You agree, then, to the two -hundred," he said quietly. - -"Oh, come, you are worse than thumb-screws." He laughed a short, -constrained laugh and looked at his watch. - -"The Judge, you remember, takes it for granted." - -"Oh, well,"--he ran his fingers swiftly through his close-cropped hair, -and repeated the movement,--"I don't see how I can do it--but--I suppose -so for awhile--yes." - -He picked up his cap and started out through the store. Forrest followed -him to the outer door. But there Philip stopped. "Come up to the house -with me," he said, "and bring your violin. I've been telling them about -you." - -He stood jingling his keys in his pockets, and whistling in snatches, -much like a schoolboy who tries to forget, yet remembers the unpleasant -ending of a scrape, while Forrest went back to his room for the -instrument. - -It was a moonless night, but in the direction of the mills the burning -slabpile brought out the lines of the bluff. It lighted the upper wharf -and the great piles of finished or rough lumber. The whitewashed walls -of the cabins reflected the glare. Everywhere, in the open doorways, -seated on timbers or blocks in the vicinity of the fire, wherever there -was protection from the north wind, or the flames threw heat, groups of -workmen loitered. Suddenly Kingsley said, "I would like to see the whole -thing dumped into that slabfire." - -Forrest put his hand on Philip's shoulder. Both stopped and the light -shone on the manager's face. The laugh lurked in his eyes, and the -lines about his mouth softened. "And you'd like to see me at the bottom -of the heap." - -"I'm sick of these mills," said Philip petulantly. "I hate the place." - -"And me. Come, say so." - -"Well, then, yes, and you, since you are determined to put me through." -He threw off Forrest's hand, and seeing the old watchman approaching on -the branch walk, went a step to meet him. "I want you to go over to the -cookhouse, Mason," he said, "and tell Sing to bring a little supper up. -Take him down to the _Phantom_ and get a dozen of champagne from the -port cabin locker. Here's the key." - -He rejoined Forrest and they finished the distance in silence. But when -they entered the parlor, where Kingsley's friends awaited him, his -manner changed. "You must blame Paul for keeping me," he said lightly; -"he was determined to talk. When he has a point to gain he has the grip -of a vise; never lets go. You've simply got to yield through sheer -weariness." - -Every one laughed, and he crossed the room to seat himself beside the -girl with a small blond head, who had accompanied him the previous day -with a banjo. But his glance moved again and again to his wife. For -the first time it nettled him to see another man interested in her. And -Stratton was interested; Stratton, who was undeniably hard to please. -It is the way of some men to appraise their wives according to the value -placed on them by other men, and Kingsley began to make an inventory of -her points; that was a nice flush in her cheeks, and he had nearly -forgotten about that lighting of her dark eyes. And, too, that was a -pretty way she wore her hair. Then he remembered how splendid it was -unbound, for it rippled to her knees, and was soft as a black velvet -cloak. And when she sang, presently, to the accompaniment of Forrest's -violin, the Captain told himself she had never been in better voice. He -resolved to be at the mills oftener; on the whole, if he had not just -been forced into that miserable limit of two hundred dollars, he would -like to set up an establishment over in town. - -When she went from the room to consult Sing about that little supper, -Philip followed her. She believed he had come to look in at little -Silas, and she quietly threw open the inner door. The light streamed -into the dark interior, showing the small white bed, the charming face -of the sleeping child. There was a rosy glow on the round cheek, and -one stout, dimpled arm, bared to the elbow, encircled his curly head. - -Kingsley stood watching him a silent moment, then he put his arm around -his wife and said softly, "He's all right; yes, he's fine. But he's -been growing since I saw him; I hadn't thought it was so long. I must -get home oftener. Do you know you were in great voice to-night; I never -heard you sing so well." - -"Yes?" she answered, smiling, "I am glad you think so. I sang for you." - -"And this color in your cheeks; is it for me, too?" - -"You know that I am glad to have you home." - -He bent and kissed her. Her head rested an instant on his breast; he -brushed his cheek against her hair. "You miss me, then, when I'm away?" - -"Yes." She lifted her face. An intensity of expression that he had -seen rarely, and always disliked, came over it; the force in her low -voice jarred. Why couldn't she stay pleasant, as she had been there in -the crowd. "I would do anything to keep you at home, Philip. Anything, -if you would spend your evenings with me; your nights, as you used to." - -His arm fell. "I thought you understood the outside business would keep -me away," he said coolly. "I explained it at the first when you wanted -to live here at the mills." - -She moved a step away. Her heart cried, "It is not the business," but -she said aloud, turning to him again with a smile, "A woman doesn't -often reason; she only feels." - -"That's the trouble; you feel too much; more than most women. When you -are not serious, though, you are a very attractive woman." - -She stood quite still, with her slender fingers locked, and that -intensity growing in her eyes. "Do you know, Philip, sometimes I wonder -how you ever could have cared for me; for the best that is in me is what -you have overlooked. I should think,"--she paused and forced again that -brave little smile,--"I should think that you might be--happier, if you -had married a different kind--of woman." - -At this he laughed. So she was a little jealous, that explained things, -and of that flyaway, there in the other room. "There's the woman one -marries," he answered lightly, "and the woman with whom one has a good -time; they are seldom alike." - -She was silent. There is nothing so cuts a proud and refined woman as -the enforced knowledge of her husband's coarser grain; but her -disappointment finds no expression; she covers her shame. - -"But I don't blame you," he went on, still lightly, "I don't blame you; -I don't deny you've had cause. I'm coming home oftener, after this, -though; or, perhaps, before long, I can arrange to take a house in town. -You would like that?" - -"Yes. The loneliness is harder than I believed it could be; it wears on -me. And I can't grow accustomed to the mill people. Last evening I saw -a strange face at the window. It haunts me. I woke up in the night -time, seeing it. It was--terrible. I have never been a brave woman, -Philip. I am--afraid." - -Her whole body trembled, overcome by the recollection of that face. But -Kingsley laughed again. "Well, I don't wonder. For sheer physical -ugliness, this crew Forrest has picked up might, almost to a man, -dispute the palm. But Alice is coming; she'll show you pluck; she has -it to spare. And we'll have that cruise through the islands. We'll -make it a small family affair and take along little Si. Meantime Paul -must see that the night watchman gives the house special attention, and -I'll ask him to come in oftener with his violin." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - *THE SALMON-TROLLERS* - - -"O-h, o-h, Mason, I hate to, but I've got to let you land him. He's a -_wh-a-le_." She spoke softly; her eyes shone. She put the line in the -old sailor's hands. "Now, now, Mason; oh, I don't mind a little water; -that's all--right." - -But it was a deluge, for the great salmon floundered first against her, -almost in her lap, and then into the bottom of the skiff, at her feet. -Mason bent to remove the hook, and Louise, in the bow, held little Silas -over to see the big fish. "Mighty purty play; weighs all o' twenty -pund; bet you a bottle." - -"I believe it's a Chinook," said Alice. - -The sailor's homely face glowed. He looked back to be sure the child's -view was unobstructed. "Aye, sir, it's a Chinook, an' big's they make -'em. Bet you a bottle." - -But the wager passed again unchallenged, and having met Louise's amused -glance, Mason took up his oars abashed. Nothing but the excitement of -landing that fish could have so loosened his tongue. He pulled a good -stroke that brought them quickly to the shore. The wind came in long -puffs from the north and the sea broke on the beach in a deliberate -swell. The water was a cold blue, shading to brown in the shallows, for -it was ebb-tide. They drew up to the float between the wharves and Mason -steadied the boat while Alice lifted the baby out and, giving him to his -mother, stopped to take a great bunch of flowering rhododendrons from -high in the bow. Then he raised the salmon by the gills and stumped -proudly ahead up the walk. - -Alice looked at her sister and smiled. "There's a watch-dog you can -trust," she said. "Yes, I mean it. He has a big, warm heart underneath, -and little Si knows it, already." - -"I think you are right," admitted Louise, "but it is strange it should -have taken you hardly twenty-four hours to find it, while I have been -months getting within speaking distance." - -"I suppose," said Alice thoughtfully, "it's a way I have of wanting to -utilize the material at hand. There's something, too, in meeting a man -on his own ground. When you want to reach a sailor," and she laughed -softly, "take a boat. Oh, Mason," she called, for he had made the turn -up the branch walk to the house, "wait. Come around and weigh the -salmon at the store." - -She led the way, and the gloomy building seemed to gather a sudden -radiance when she entered the door. Her face reflected a soft -illumination from the showy pink flowers heaped in her arm. Forrest -stepped down from his stool at the desk, and came outside the railing to -meet her. Then, "What's that, Mason?" he asked. "You don't mean to tell -me she really did catch a fish." - -"Aye, sir,"--Mason stopped to put the salmon on the scales,--"twenty-two -pund." - -"That's so," said Forrest incredulously, "twenty-two and a quarter; -well, for a Chinook that's a prize." - -But the smile in her face died. Looking across the rhododendrons at -him, it came over her again, as it had when she met him on her arrival -the previous day, that he was losing his boyish color; that he was -harassed and worn. "Don't you ever go fishing, Paul? Or cruising, or -anywhere?" - -He shook his head, smiling a little. "Hardly, this year. It's -impossible to get away." - -Little Silas, tugging at his mother's hand, drew her to the door. But -Alice lingered. "Can't Phil Kingsley manage these mills yet, for even -one day?" - -He glanced in warning at Louise. "It takes us both," he answered -quietly. "This milling business is pretty big; it reaches out; and he -tends to the other end. But I'm all right. I like to work; I'm used to -it. And I need it, lots of it, to keep me level-headed." - -"You are that, but shall I tell you what I think, Paul Forrest? I think -it's making you old, fast; or else, you are not well." - -"Oh, yes, I am. But, I was up late last night; I was bothered some -about a trial balance; that's all. I'm going to take this evening off. -I want to try that accompaniment, if you will sing that new serenade for -me." - -He stood watching them from the entrance, Mason following with the -salmon, while they crossed up the dock, then he went back to his desk. -She had reached over the railing, in passing, to lay on his ledger a -branch of rhododendron. He picked it up, smiling a little, and looked -at it. No one else was in the store at the moment, and he touched the -petals gently; his hand moved over the stiff, spiky leaves. "So," he -told himself, "So, she has left me a bit of the woods. And she is like -this plant; straight and self-reliant and independent like the stem; and -with this same nice color of the blossom in her cheek." He laid the -cool pink cluster against his own face; he pressed it with his lips. -Then, suddenly, his whole frame began to tremble; his shoulders heaved. -"I love her; I love--her," and he crushed the flower between his palms -and threw it down. "My God, how can I help loving her?" - -Two hours later, when Forrest had finished his rounds of the mills, he -found her with Mrs. Kingsley at the burning slabpile. Mason, with his -wooden peg planted firmly in the sawdust as a brace, steadied the baby -on an inverted keg, and whirled chips into the fire for his amusement. -The strong light brought out the indigo anchor tattooed on the sailor's -big, rough hand. The young mother watched his maneuvers. She leaned -with her elbow on a projecting shelf of lumber, and her head and throat -were wrapped, Madonna-wise, in a black lace scarf. Alice was seated -near her on a great fir block. The flames illumined her uncovered ruddy -hair. She was interested in the efforts of a workman who, a little -apart, but availing himself of the firelight, was mending a pair of -jeans. Another patched a shoe, and farther still, a trio drew up an -empty box, and converting it into a table, started a spirited game of -poker. She commenced to hum a bit of the gypsy chorus from the Bohemian -Girl; and as Forrest approached she looked up smiling, and took up the -words. He seated himself by her. Louise's contralto caught the -measure, and presently the harmony was rounded by his fine baritone. -They sang on through all the familiar parts; the arias, duets, choruses; -and once more the romance and mystery of the place and night gave -setting to this man and spoke for him. The girl looked up absently to -the trees on the bluff. High up a fallen hemlock, caught on a stony -spur, reared its gnarled roots from the gloom. Had they not rested -today on the brink of the canyon? Had they not threaded the windfall? -And this sound of running water, was it not the near thunder of the Des -Chutes? - -At last the child grew tired and his mother took him away to bed. -Forrest went down to the store for his violin, and Alice walked that way -with him. "I want to speak to you about Louise," she said. "She tells -me nothing, she is so proud, but something troubles her. You have -noticed it?" - -"Yes," he answered, "yes, I have noticed it; but I know she is a very -sensitive woman. She would face any hardship from a sense of duty; it -amounts to martyrdom. She exacts, also, considerable from others." - -"Oh, I understand all that. Of course she came here to the mills -because she thought she owed it to Philip. But he is seldom here. Is it -really the business keeps him away?" - -"Yes, it's business, sometimes, and--sometimes--well, if you must know, -it's a gay crowd and a pleasant evening over in town." - -"I was confident of it." She paused, ruffling her brows, then she added -earnestly, "But you don't know what a security it is to me, Paul, to -feel that you are here, and will take care of her." - -He shook his head. "I will do what I can always, of course, but it's -less than you think." - -"It's more than you think. It's meeting the small emergencies of every -day; sometimes through Mason or Sing; sometimes personally, in your -quiet way. And it's tiding her through the slow evenings when you can; -she loves your violin, and the practice will be a help to you both." - -"All right," he answered, smiling, "I promise that much." - -They had reached the store and she waited on the edge of the dock while -he went in for his instrument. When he came back they lingered, -listening to the swash and gurgle of the tide among the piers. "You -always liked this," he said presently; "you must often miss the sea." - -"Yes," she answered, "you don't know how I've missed it. Sometimes, -I've wanted it beyond anything." She looked at him. In the -semi-darkness of the not yet risen moon, his face seemed to gather -paleness. It touched her as its strength never had. The maternal down -in the depths of her stirred. "And of course," she added gently, "you -know, Paul, I couldn't think of the Sound, or indeed of any of the old -life here, and leave out you." - -It was not the words alone, nor the kind, sweet tone, nor yet her dear -physical nearness, but rather that the silence which followed was -eloquent with unspoken thought. It was as though he heard her spirit -cry suddenly, "I can never leave out you." - -"You do know it," he said. "You do know it." And then it broke from -him. "What made you promise to marry Judge Kingsley? What made you, -when you knew how much I thought of you?" - -She did not answer, but she turned and walked up the dock towards the -house. After a moment he overtook her. "Don't hurry so," he said. -"Are you afraid of me? I won't hurt you." - -"Hurt me? You? Oh, I wish you would." But she continued to hurry and -he suited his steps to hers. They reached the gate. "Wait, just a -moment," he said. "You are going away tomorrow. I know I shouldn't have -said--what I did; it was worse than unfair to the Judge; but I want to -know this--why did you put off that marriage? Why didn't you go to -Washington with him, as he hoped? As I hoped, for there, at least you -would have been--safe!" - -"Please don't worry about me, Paul," she answered, and looked past him, -steadily, holding her chin high, "I can take care of myself. You ought -to know that. I'm very strong-minded; it grows on me. I like to do -things; be the head. And I love the settlement; I want to finish my -work. Sometimes--sometimes, when I think of it, I'm afraid of -Washington. I shall find it too crowded; I'm so used to lots of room." -She paused, but silence was harder than speech and she went on quickly, -"Not one man in a thousand would understand me, but Uncle Silas--dear -Silas--" she dashed her hand across her eyes and turning, ran up the -steps to the door--"knows how to manage me. He--" she groped for the -knob--"He is ready to--wait." - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *THE MAN IN THE TIDE-RIP* - - -On Orcas, one of the larger islands of the Archipelago de Haro, there is -an eminence of several thousand feet. The eastern side rises in abrupt -benches from the sea, but westward it breaks less precipitously to a -narrow, bluff-locked harbor. Stratton objected to this anchorage; it -was a place of strong currents and shallows. But Kingsley laughed. He -knew Orcas like a book. He had been up to that summit and the view was -worth stopping over a day for. There was a ranch on the shore of a lake -high up in the timber where the night could be passed comfortably, and a -couple of horses, the only ones on the island, could be secured there -for the trail. The party could divide, Alice going up with Stratton -that afternoon,--it was a matter of a few hours,--while he and Louise -would ride up early the following morning. - -In the end Philip had his way, and Stratton, who had exerted himself, -hitherto, to make the cruise one of unalloyed pleasure, lapsed into -moody silence. He found himself, late in the afternoon, riding with -Alice, up a sharp pitch of the mountain. Below them dipped a cross-cut -of trail, and overhead another section of the switchback hung like a -tilting shelf under a knobby shoulder that concealed the true dome. -They gained the spur and halted, breathing the horses on a breadth of -level. The girl turned a little in her saddle to look down. There was -the inlet where the _Phantom_, like a toy ship, rode at anchor; and -there was the lake, a big, opal-filled bowl, with the farmhouse, where -they had left Philip with Louise and the child, balanced like a tiny box -on its rim. Northward islands on islands rose purple or amethyst out of -the sea; southward and westward the Olympic Mountains stretched a -gleaming barricade, and the Straits of Juan de Fuca divided like the -fingers of a great reaching hand. - -"I love it; oh, you don't know how I love it." Her glance returned to -Stratton and she started; the glow in her face died. "But you--I see it -doesn't compensate you for the rough trail and this excuse of a mount. -When you ride you want Sir Donald." - -"No, it is not that." He smiled briefly, with effort, and pulled his -shoulders straight. "I happened to remember a man--I once knew. He was -wrecked off this island; there on the north shore. It was another such -day as this, clear and shining, but his sloop was caught in a tide-rip. -You can see it down there; that creeping, white-lipped streak. The -rocks under it grip like teeth." He paused and the hand directing her -attention fell. He lifted his hat and wiped a sudden moisture from his -face. "It all happened in a moment," he added, "and the boat was broken -into kindling." - -"But he, your friend,"--she leaned towards him all suspense, sympathy, -charm,--"he was saved?" - -"Yes, he was saved. But it is a long story. Wait until we reach the -summit; I can tell you better up there." - -He turned his horse, falling behind her as they resumed the climb. -Presently they entered a cool belt of timber. The air was freighted with -the balsam of fir and pine, and she looked about her, drawing full -breaths; a soft delight rose in her eyes. "Isn't it the best perfume on -earth?" she asked. "At Nisqually it just lacks the tang of the sea. -And there are the Alaska cedars they spoke of at the farm. The stream -should run through them." - -The horses quickened their pace and stopped where the rill widened into -a pool. They dropped eager muzzles and began to take long, still -draughts. She freed her foot from the stirrup and slipped lightly down. -"We must fill the flask," she said, "where the spring bubbles through -the rock." - -Stratton tied the horses and followed her up the bank. She reached the -place and stooped to fill her saddle-cup. "Oh," she said, pausing -between draughts. "It's the kind of water to dream of hot summer -nights; the kind you think of on dusty roads and want desperately." - -She waited while he drank, watching him expectantly. "Yes," he admitted, -"it is a spring to remember in a desert." - -He stooped to fill the flask, but he did it clumsily, without his usual -care, and drenched his sleeve. The pleasure in her face faded; she -continued to watch him, but with ruffled brows. "Oh," she said at last, -"I wouldn't have believed you could be so unrelenting; but you are -determined to remind me, every step of the way, that you didn't want to -stop at Orcas Island. You're the most unsatisfactory man, on a trip, I -ever knew. Still, you were different last year, on the Paradise trail." - -"Was I? Well, you see, I keep thinking of that man--in the tide-rip; he -stopped here at this stream, to rest." - -"The man who was wrecked? Did he come up here?" - -"Yes, he thought that he was on the mainland. He tried to reach the -settlement this way. But there isn't time to tell the story here." - -He turned and led the way quickly back to the horses, and they mounted -and rode on through the wood. At the foot of the final pitch they left -the horses and pushed up over shelving rock to the bald summit. The sun -was low in the west and the light touched the houses of a little -seaport, eastward on the mainland; and above the craggy heights that -overtopped the town a snow mountain caught the glory. Far southward the -crown of Rainier seemed to rise like an opal island straight out of the -shining sea. - -Suddenly Stratton laid his hand on her arm. "Wait," he said, "this is -the end. The summit breaks there, a sheer drop of a thousand feet, with -a lake below. - -"You know," she said. "You've been here before?" - -"It is plain enough. Look down." - -She looked; but she was obliged to creep another step and drop to her -knees before she saw the lake, far, far below, tucked like a great -sapphire in a high pocket of the mountain. "Oh," she said, "it seems -fathoms deep; and there isn't a lasting snowfield on this mountain. What -feeds it?" - -He helped her back from the precipice and to her feet. "It is probably -one of the Cascades' reservoirs," he answered; "supplied by some -subterranean stream under the bed of the Straits." - -She walked back a few rods and seated herself on a bench of rock. Her -glance moved from the great white dome, on along the craggy peaks of the -Cascades, northward. "Of course," she said presently, "that dim line of -shore off there is the Vancouver coast. Think, Mr. Stratton, how near -we came to losing all these lovely islands. While Congress was calling -them 'a number of barren rocks, not worth the hour of discussion,' Sir -Douglas was grazing great flocks of sheep on the fertile slopes of San -Juan,--that must be it, that long, even shore between us and the end of -Vancouver,--and investing its best harbor with British soldiers. -Doesn't it rouse your blood, even now? Can't you almost hear that old -pioneer slogan, 'Fifty-four, forty or fight?'" - -Stratton laughed. "I am afraid not. You see I have lived in Victoria, -and I have heard a good deal more about that old explorer Vancouver. -You know he claimed all of this territory in the king's name. He called -it New Georgia by right of discovery. And I have known some pretty fine -people across the border, Miss Hunter. In fact they have treated me -better than some I have known on this side. But there is hope; with you -to teach me I may turn out a fairly good American patriot--yet." - -She shook her head, looking him over gravely, and he laughed again, and -seated himself near her on the ledge. "Now, I am ready for that story," -she said. - -He looked off to that far line of the British coast. "I am almost sorry -I promised to tell it," he answered; "still, you may hear it sometime, -through others, and understand it less. I, well, I think a good deal of -him; I want you to see it from his side. He was just a boy, Miss -Hunter; a dare-devil sort of boy, fond of adventure and proud of his -little boat. He never had been taught to regard the Government -patriotically, as you do, and the men who tempted him were upright, -irreproachable men,"--his lip curled,--"the ones of whom the Captain -told you. One of them had been a close friend of this boy's father, and -held a Government position of trust; the other, in whose office the boy -was reading law, was a prominent attorney known all over the Northwest. -They both knew how to appeal. His mother lived in Victoria at the time; -he had made several trips across to see her in his new sloop; and they -told him, laughing, he could go unsuspected anywhere, he looked so -honest." - -Stratton paused and his listener turned her face to him, waiting. "I -understand," she said at last, and set her lips, "it was a case of -smuggling. There was--a ring. And of course it was opium. Uncle Silas -says it usually is opium; the duty is so great, and there is such an -immense profit on a smuggled lot." - -"Yes, it was opium." He turned his face a little more from her, -watching still that far amethyst coast. "And there was a ring. He was -to have a third interest in the profit to start a business he liked -better than the law. But the revenue officers saw the chest carried to -his sloop. They followed. There was a splendid breeze at first, and he -led them a chase, dodging between these islands, cross-cutting from -channel to channel. But the wind fell at sunset, or rather shifted, and -he found himself in unfamiliar water. Still he slipped the cutter off -this island and made a landing. He concealed the stuff, intending to -return for it when the pursuit was over. But he was slow in finding a -safe hiding-place and the tide changed; and when the sloop swung out on -her first tack she was caught in that tide-rip." - -Stratton paused. He passed his hand across his eyes, but Alice was -silent. She looked off at the white mountain, and waited, holding her -chin high and creasing her brows. Clearly the man in the tide-rip had -lost her sympathy. Her attitude said, "It was what he deserved." - -"He was thrown ashore," Stratton continued, "with wreckage, and he spent -the night miserably, crawling under cover with his cache. At daybreak -he found this trail; he believed he was on the mainland and that this -was the way to that town over there, where he had arranged to meet his -accomplices. He decided to carry the chest with him to the edge of the -settlement. But the sun beat down mercilessly on that switchback, and -he had eaten nothing since the wreck of his sloop. The chest gathered -weight with every step. He travelled slower and slower, at one moment -determined to abandon it, and the next reminding himself that it must -pay for the loss of his boat. At last, from that high shoulder where we -stopped to-day, he saw the revenue cutter creeping up the cove. That -spurred him on to the stream. There, tired out, indifferent, he threw -himself down to ease his aching muscles and take breath. He fell -asleep. When he wakened it was late; the sun was almost gone. He rose -and took the chest and hurried on to this final pitch. But looking -back, he saw the Customs men below, finishing the wood. He found -nowhere to hide the stuff; he dared not leave it, and, with increasing -panic, he reached this summit, and ran on down, to find himself cut off -by that cliff." - -Stratton's even voice caught and broke. His forehead was wet with big, -clinging drops, as though he himself had just made that great physical -effort. His glance moved from the precipice, and, meeting the girl's -clear, direct look, a sudden quiver swept his face. "And?" she said. - -"He saw no way around," Stratton resumed quietly, "and in his extremity, -he sent the chest over the brink. Then he came back to this bench and -waited for the officers. They recognized him; one, the captain of the -cutter, had known his father well, for years. 'There was a man above us -on the trail,' he said; 'we hardly could have passed him, but he may -have passed you. He carried a small chest or box.' - -"And the boy looked him straight in the face and smiled. 'I guess -you've missed your trail, captain,' he answered. 'You see this path -ends here; be careful, it's a frightful drop. It looks like an old -Indian trail; there at your feet are the ashes of signal fires. But the -road you want branches below the switchback. Your man probably doubled -back through the timber and struck across to the south shore.' And then -he added frankly enough, 'I, myself, came up here for a sight of my -sloop. She was stolen, and an Indian I met on the mainland had seen -such a boat near this island. He put me over in his canoe.'" - -"Oh," said Alice, "you call him a boy, yet he could stand and say all -that like any hardened criminal." - -"No," Stratton flushed hotly, and for an instant the steel flashed in -his eyes, "even you should not call him that. He had been told, and -shown, that some of the best men on the border took advantage of the -Government; that the United States was able to stand it. You should -remember, too, it was his first--offence." - -She gave him a straight, uncompromising look. "Was the chest found?" -she asked. - -"No. There was no trace of it below the cliff; he looked, afterwards, -and the lake is very deep, as you thought. There was no proof against -him; those inspectors never for a moment doubted him. The man, whom -they had seen boarding the sloop with the chest at Victoria, was a -desperate character, under suspicion before; they believed he had stolen -the boat, and that he had come upon the Indian waiting for his -passenger, and had bribed him to take him off the island instead. And -the boy went with them down the switchback, and identified the wreckage -on the north shore. And they took him aboard the cutter and landed him -at home, in Seattle, the next day." - -"I understand," she said slowly, "it all rested with him. It would have -been a triumph, his salvation, if he had confessed." - -"I knew it." Stratton's face hardened. "I knew it. You sit here like -young Justice, inexorable; you who never were tempted; never made a -mistake; and nothing but the fundamental right will do. But think how -that confession would have hampered him. A story like that clings. His -whole future hinged on that day. And he had the confidence of those -prominent men; the truth must have involved them. After all," he added, -"the opium was lost. He gained nothing, and he had his punishment in -the wreck of his sloop." - -"Yes," she admitted, "he was punished in a way, but--" - -"Listen," he pleaded. "He was reared very differently from you. His -father was a man of honor, true, but he had business interests that kept -him long intervals from home. And his mother, I think, hardly gave him -much thought when he was a child. She was a very beautiful woman with -luxurious tastes. There was most always a gay company around her, and -it could never have greatly concerned her how her husband's money was -made, so that she had it to spend. I will not say much about her,--she -is gone, now, out of his life,--but the boy was taught early not to -trouble her, and to look out for himself. I believe the only lessons -she ever gave him were in quick, flippant retort, and to cover his -hurts. He learned early, too, that the surest way to please her was to -amuse her friends. Once, when he came into a room, unexpectedly, and -conversation dropped, she looked at him, smiling, and said, 'Boy, what -is disgrace?' And he answered directly, 'Disgrace, mother, is being -caught.'" - -"And she?" said Alice, after a moment. - -"She? Why, she laughed, I think, with the others, and tapped him on the -shoulder with her fan; or perhaps that time she clapped her adorable -hands." He rose to his feet and stood looking off to that dim British -coast. A great weariness settled over his face. "You see, in the end, -it amounted to this; he thought, when he thought at all, that wrong -rested only in detection. One must make and leave a good impression, -but right motive, sincerity, in his world did not count. Then things -changed. He saw life differently, through the eyes of the woman he -loves." - -Stratton's voice vibrated a little on the word. He turned and looked -down at her, and that quiver again swept his face. But she did not see -it. Her glance rested thoughtfully on the white peak, eastward, across -the channel. That reference to the boy's mother, his training, home, -struck the maternal chord, so strong in her, and she saw suddenly, -clearly, the other side. The mountain began to flush with a sunset -glow; a gentleness, almost tenderness, rose in her face. - -"She is not like the women he has always known," Stratton went on. "She -walks a higher level. Sometimes, she is so much a saint, he is afraid -of her. He dreads her judgment, and yet he dreads more to have a -suspicion of the truth reach her, some day, through others. Lately there -are rumors afloat touching those men, who made a tool of him, and any -time, a chance word from one of them may involve him. What do you -think, Miss Hunter? You see she is like you in some ways; she takes -your Puritan view of life and has your habit of sifting things. In her -place would you think better of him if he told you? Could you, -yourself, forgive him if--you loved him?" - -She did not answer directly; she was weighing the question. At last her -look came back from the mountain; she rose to her feet. "Yes," she said -slowly, "Yes, I think that I could forgive him; it was a first offence. -Of course it must have been the only time. I should forgive him for the -same reason, or much the same reason, I did Mose. But, I could never -love such a man, Mr. Stratton. Even if I never knew the truth, I should -feel the stain. And I am the kind of woman who builds love on respect. -The man I am going to care for, in the way you mean, has lived a clean -life. He stands a man among men, sound to the core." - -With this she turned and began to go down to her horse. Stratton waited -a silent moment, watching her move lightly over the steep and jagged -path. "The man she is going to care for," he repeated softly; "she -means, of course, the Judge. But she will never make that marriage, -never." He started to follow her, then he stopped and looked off once -more, to that far Vancouver coast. "Strange, after these years, the -sight of this place should make me go all to pieces. And strange how I -bungled into that story. I had to tell her. That insistent something -in her had me promising, down there at the switchback. Still, I could -have told another woman easily enough, and won her to my side. Why am I -always losing my hold when I talk to her? But I shouldn't have come -ashore; I should have stayed aboard the yacht. God, how I hate this -island." - -He hurried on then, for she was already waiting in the saddle. She -watched him with a grave kindness as he drew near. "You are still -thinking of your friend," she said, "but please don't rely on my -opinion. There are sweet and gentle women in the world who live just to -forgive. Perhaps she, the one you mentioned, is one of them." She -turned her horse into the trail, but glanced back over her shoulder to -add, smiling a little, "You've been a good champion; tell him, when the -time comes, to let you say a word for him." - -"Trust me for that," he answered, and started his own horse; "if--the -time comes I will speak for him." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *THE FIERY LANE* - - -Once, during Alice's brief stay at the mills, she had overheard Forrest -censure a workman for finishing his pipe inside the restricted limits. -This gave her an opportunity, that evening, to lead adroitly to the -subject of forest fire. It was a perpetual menace in the settlement, -she said; it sprang sometimes from almost nothing; a match dropped in a -dry place, or a burning fragment shaken from a pipe; embers left alive -by a passing camper; and oftener yet, it began with the ignition of -slashed underbrush, when, to clear a bit of open for his cabin or -pasture, a settler devastated whole areas of fine trees that could not -be reproduced in a century. She wondered if Forrest, who so well -understood the dangers as well as the values of timber, had ever devised -a scheme, some practical, inexpensive method within the reach of -ranchers, for its protection. And he had answered that of course the -settlers should make it a local law never to start a "burn" in the dry -season. But any man who knew the Washington woods, had learned that one -of the surest ways to handle a first blaze was to smother it with -shovelled earth. Even in midsummer the ground under the forest litter -was damp; it was made porous by a network of roots and held moisture -like a sponge; the trees drew from innumerable small reservoirs. But if -he himself owned a section he would take the precaution to cut a broad -swathe around the unprotected sides; and, if it was near a considerable -water power, for instance those upper falls of the Des Chutes, he would -keep in readiness a length of canvas hose, the big kind used for -carrying a stream some distance in hydraulic mining, and be able to tap -the river at a moment's warning. - -She was particularly interested in this scheme, and gathered small -details as to the size and make of the hose, and how he would connect it -with the stream. He drew a rough plan on a card, showing a point where -the river could be tapped with little trouble, by taking advantage of a -certain jutting rock, to brace the necessary bit of flume and -sluice-gate. "But," he had added, throwing aside the sketch to take his -violin, "the chances are some other man will file on that section; he -may even hit upon this little mechanism and have it all constructed -before I see the headwaters again." - -Afterwards Alice found that card, on Louise's table where he had left -it, and saved it for future reference. The hose could not be secured in -the Puget Sound towns; she could not obtain it in Portland; but finally -it was purchased through a house carrying mining supplies in San -Francisco. - -Mill Thornton, who managed its final transportation, over twenty miles -of trail from Yelm Station, was greatly interested in the innovation. -She showed him Forrest's drawing, explaining it, and read to him a -circular, which was enclosed with the hose and described its use. Then -they went down to the falls and located the stone ledge. And in the end -she contracted with the young rancher to do the mechanical work, in -exchange for enough of the water power to supply a small flume to his -claim. This was really another stroke of policy to insure her own -trees, and Eben, who came out to "hev er look at ther water works," -laughed. "Fur long-headedness," he told Thornton, "yes, an' grit, I -'low I'll stake my next pile on ther schoolmarm; yes, sir, ther -schoolmarm, an' ergainst any durn man in this here hull deestrict." - -It was Alice's intention to keep the canvas stretched in position during -the dry season. Later, if the cleared land should cease to husband -moisture, she might utilize it for irrigation. It had been laid for -trial across the new meadow, which, cutting a wide swathe through the -jungle, reached from the small open that surrounded the cottage to the -river; but Myers having brought two Jerseys, which he had pastured -several weeks, and turned them into the field, it was necessary, until a -track outside could be leveled, to store the hose in the stable. - -The meadow fence was built of heavy cedar rails, fixed horizontally and -without nails. They needed no fastening but the uprights that held the -crossed ends of each section. Parallel with it and forming a lane, ran a -pile of dry brush, accumulated in clearing and ready to burn after the -first rainfall. Backward from it and the untouched jungle that bordered -the stream, sheltering that nest of a cottage pushing up and up the -grassy slope, rose the ranks of the trees, free of undergrowth as a -park, and including what Forrest had called "the heart of the red firs." - -Time was precious on school mornings, and the teacher, early astir, was -leading the black to water. She saw the sun touch the tops of the -higher trees as she crossed the open from the stable. She noticed that -the light wind drew from the river and was fragrant with balsams, and -that it brought, already, a promise of heat. Then suddenly she stopped -and inhaled a deeper breath, that was a different pungence. It was, -unmistakably the burning resin of boughs. In the moment she waited, -trying to locate the fire, Mother Girard with her empty pail, hurried -from the meadow. She came to say that one of the Jerseys had been -milked, and that the trail of the trespasser was still fresh on the dew. -It left the lower end of the field, and, skirting the brush pile, turned -up-stream. And it was there, at the farther end of the slashing, that, -while she listened, the teacher saw a thin line of smoke. - -Mose, working on that track for the hose near the upper end of the -meadow fence, dropped his spade and ran. He tried to beat out the -breaking flames, but others were eating under and through the dry -criss-cross of branches; every instant they seized on a new layer, -snapped, crackled, sent out another jet of smoke. It was not a case for -shovelled earth. The pile was too high, too porous; it exposed a dozen -open draughts on all sides, and the breeze, sucking in, found as many -flues. Clearly the brush pile must burn, and only a miracle could save -that portion of the fence bordering the narrow lane. He hurried to the -corner to disconnect the rails. At the same time a standing tree, the -first in a clump of young firs at the end of the slashing, ignited. The -resinous needles sizzed, popped like a string of firecrackers. With the -wind pulling as it did from the river, this meant the fire would sweep -directly into the big timber, and in that event the cabin also was -doomed. He left the fence, running to bring an ax to cut away some -hazels adjoining the dangerous clump. Then, as he went, he suddenly -remembered the canvas hose. In a moment he was at the stable and met -the teacher and Mother Girard dragging the roll through the door. - -The three together got it to the meadow and over the lowered bars. But -while they ran, unrolling the canvas towards the river, two other trees -in that clump began to send out those ominous little reports. The field -was long, it seemed to increase in length, but before they reached the -end of it Thornton came. He was able alone to finish stretching the -hose and connect it with the flume, and sent Mose back to the nozzle -end. The old mother hurried to drive the Jerseys to a safer distance, -and Alice started to return to the maple near the stable where she had -tied the horse. But, as she followed the fence, she noticed that some -of the dead branches which littered the lane outside were burning. -Every moment flames crept from another undermined section of the brush -pile, but every moment counted. Any instant the big canvas would begin -to fill; it was yet possible to save the fence. She climbed up and -swung herself over into the lane. She ran along, pulling away the more -dangerous limbs. And it grew hotter with each step. She covered her -cheek with her hand; that too seemed to blister. She stumbled around, -baffled, and looked towards the river. The whole clump of young firs -was a blazing mass, and the hazels adjoining shrivelled and crackled. -She started to go back into the field. Then she saw that smoke was -rising in little puffs all among the rails. A curling red wave rippled -along the top one, reaching for her hand; tiny blue tongues, orange -ones, lapped and licked the scorching cedar everywhere. Then, while she -wavered, trying to choose the less dangerous bars, she was enveloped in -a great outpour of smoke. She staggered a few steps stifled, blinded; -her feet tripped over a tangled mesh of twigs and she went down. - -Beyond the fence the canvas began to distend. It rounded full; like a -waking leviathan it stretched, squirmed. Thornton, running with the -flow to help Mose at the nozzle, passed without seeing her. Then -Stratton came. He had hurried from his lodge at the first hint of -smoke; he had learned, in a word from Mose, where to look for her, and -he discovered her. He put his shoulder to an upright and wrenched it -away. He grasped the rails,--his hands blistered,--and flung them down. -He bent to lift her, shielding her with his body, but at the same time a -burning sapling, looped in the slashing, sprang, released like an -unstrung bow, and struck the back of his head. He pitched, groaning, -face downward. The smoke thinned but the brush pile became a roaring -furnace. He got to his knees, groped for her, and half dragged, half -carried her out of that fiery lane. - -Her dress was burning; he smothered the flames, turning her on the -meadow grass; he strangled more persistent vipers with his arms. But -the pain from the blow was very great. He saw things all red, all -black; they mixed in a blur. He stretched himself on the earth a -breathing space and closed his eyes. "Great God," he muttered, "Great -God, she must not have inhaled fire." And the words begun in -imprecation ended like a prayer. - -When he recovered enough to see, he found her sitting up, dazed a -little, trembling, but watching Thornton and Mose, who at last had -turned the flood on the blazing brush pile. The spray of it drifted -over them, and presently a cloud of steam. With Stratton's help she was -able to rise, and they went up through the field towards the cabin. -Sometimes he put his arm under her shoulders, holding her on her feet; -and sometimes he stumbled apart and stood for an instant with his eyes -closed, while his teeth gripped the nether lip. Neither spoke until -they reached the balcony steps. Then they stopped and she looked back -at the men with the hose. "They will save the trees," she said. "See, -the fire is under control; they have saved the trees." - -But Stratton was looking at her. The coolness and mockery had dropped -from him in that hour, like a broken mask. The emotions and passions -kept in leash through months fought in his face. He saw her rock -unsteadily again on her feet, and new strength surged to his arms. "Damn -the trees," he answered, and lifted her and carried her up to the door. -"Damn Slocum and his pipe; damn--myself." - -She did not hear him. Her body had yielded to complete collapse. He -watched her still face, cradled in the curve of his arm, and once while -he crossed the room he bent his lips to her cheek. But something, that -indefinable something that had baffled him on the glacier, seemed to -push him back. It was as though her white spirit cried "no," and again -his own soul shrank. - -He laid her on a couch. He brought water and bathed her face. One -cheek, the right one, was blistered; her lips were scorched; and one -hand, also the right one, was burned horribly. He found olive oil in a -small cupboard and, with little further search, some cotton stuff which -he tore into bandages. He wrapped the hand,--both of his own were -smarting, miserably,--and fixed an oiled pad for her cheek; and he -moistened her lips, pouring oil between them, generously. - -At this she opened her eyes and smiled. "Don't trouble," she said, "I -didn't inhale any fire. I remembered to cover my mouth." Her lids -drooped again, but she added softly, "They are fine--old--trees." - -"The finest in the world," he answered, "but the price--was too high." - -He lifted her other hand to bandage a slighter burn, and his own fingers -trembled. When he finished he did not release it directly, but sat -looking down at the uncovered, gently hollowed palm. She had very nice -hands; he had always noticed that; not too small but beautifully made. -Then it came over him where, once before, he had seen their loveliness -spoiled. It was that day on Mt. Rainier when she had rescued him from -the crevasse. And now, at last, he had been able to square that debt. -He bent suddenly and kissed the palm. "Keep your trees," he said; "stay -here in the wilderness as long as you want to, but give me the right to -be near you, always, and protect you." - -Her eyelids fluttered open. She looked at him startled. He leaned -nearer. His voice quickened; it became a sensitive, soft-toned -instrument, vibrant with tenderness. "Marry me, Alice," he said, "and I -will shape my whole life to yours. You shall never see a city or a -crowd if you say so. I will create an Eden out of this homestead; and -when the settlement grows too civilized, when there is nothing left to -reclaim or build, I will take you to new solitudes; I will carry you -away in that schooner of mine, up and up into the Alaska wilderness, and -on some unknown fiord set up another Paradise." - -"Oh," she said at last, "please, please don't say any more." She tried -to rise but her lips went white and she sank back on her pillows. In -her haste she had pressed on the maimed hand. "I shouldn't have allowed -you to say this," she hurried on with great effort, "but--I am -very--tired. I--I don't think clearly. Wait. Listen. We have just -come through a desperate time together. You saved--me. How can I be -angry with you--so soon? But you have no right to speak like this to -me. I have no right to hear you. You know I am going to marry Judge -Kingsley." - -"You are not. Unless," his voice held a threat, "you believe that you -love him." - -She closed her eyes again; the lids quivered, her lips, her whole face. -"If I had not," she answered, and the words were almost a whisper, -"could I have promised to marry him?" - -He was silent then. He leaned back in his chair. Presently he reached, -groping, and found a strip of the cotton stuff, which he dipped in the -basin of water, and laid on his eyes. - -Finally she looked at him. "Oh," she said, "you were hurt. You should -have told me. I should have seen. What can I do for you?" - -"Nothing," he answered, "nothing, thank you. It is a pain in my head -that takes me from time to time. Something struck me, I think, out -there in that fiery lane." - -"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry--in both ways. Please -don't think I'm ungrateful. I have always liked you, and believed in -you, even when you seemed to lose faith in yourself. I knew, -underneath, you were all right. And if it was friendliness you asked--" - -"Friendliness?" He threw the bandage aside and started to his feet. -"Friendliness? No. It's you I want--all of you--heart and body and -soul--to have--to keep." He moved, stumbling a little to the door. He -put his hand to his eyes and waited a moment, then he turned and came -back half way. "I was wrong," he said, and his voice struck a lower -key, "I was wrong, pardon me. And I accept that friendliness, yes, as -long as you say so." - -He swung on his heel then, and went out of the room. That night, in his -lodge, he laid ink and stationery on his table and commenced a letter. -He wrote the date, and under it, in a large firm hand: - -"JUDGE SILAS KINGSLEY, - "WASHINGTON, D.C. - "MY DEAR SIR:-- - -Then he paused. He laid the pen down and leaned back in his chair for a -long interval in thought. But when he resumed the task it was with -quickness and decision and no further halt. - - -"I am addressing you, as Miss Hunter's guardian, to let you know that -today I have asked her to be my wife. Though I had contemplated this for -some time the matter was precipitated by a serious fire on her -homestead, during which I was privileged to be of service. She was -rescued from a dangerous position, painfully, though not deeply burned, -and I trust will send you the particulars soon. - -"It is natural you should wish to learn something further in regard to -my financial circumstances and social standing, and I am enclosing the -cards of several Seattle friends whom it is very possible you know; also -the address of Sir McDonald of Victoria, who was my father's close -friend and can tell you all about me. You will remember I have taken up -my father's business of fur dealer, which he carried on so long and -successfully, and, as soon as the construction of my new steam-schooner -is completed, I expect to equip her for extensive operations northward -in Alaska, making a specialty of sealskins and sable, with what can be -secured of otter and silver fox. I believe I may be considered in a -position to support a wife comfortably. - -"As to the rest, I have every reason to think Miss Hunter is not -indifferent to me, though she feels, in honor, bound by her promise to -you. I trust you will understand it is most difficult for me to make -this statement, but I am confident you will not care to longer hold her -to an engagement, which she made in gratitude and through a -conscientious sense of duty, and which I believe was urged on your part, -simply through a desire to see her future secure. - -"Most sincerely and respectfully yours, - "MARK DOUGLAS STRATTON." - - -He folded this letter slowly and put it in the envelope, which he -addressed carefully. The pain had returned to his head. The Judge's -name seemed suddenly to be written in blood. It trailed from his pen. -Still he finished, and groping in his pocketbook found a stamp. - -Then he rose to his feet. He closed his eyes and clasped his hands at -the back of his head. "My God," he groaned, "Oh, my--God!" He went -over and threw himself face downward on his bed. But in a moment he was -up again, stumbling across the floor, in agony. Finally he stopped and -knelt near the inner wall and felt for the third board. It was of hewn -cedar and heavy enough to go unnailed. He raised it, not without -difficulty, and found a long narrow box set in the earth, underneath. -He lifted the lid and took out one of several packages that filled it. -He unrolled the wrapping of coarse flannel far enough to reach a small -tin; then he laid the bundle aside and stood turning this in his hands. -It was a five-tael opium can such as is used in transporting the crude -drug. "Well," he told himself, "why not? The stuff is sold, daily, -over every druggist's counter, for pain not half--as horrible--as this." - -He took his knife and sprung the end of the tin enough to pour a little -of the thick, sticky substance into a glass. "It is--strong--of course," -he said; "a drop or two, diluted, ought to be sufficient." He added the -water, stirred it, and drank it off. - -In a very short time the relief came. He sat down on the edge of his -bed and drew off one of his riding-boots; then he tried to pull the -other and failed. He stretched himself, dressed, on the couch, and -groping weakly, found a blanket and succeeded in covering his knees. - -When he wakened it was daybreak and some one, a man, was working in the -room. He was kneeling by that uncovered box and removing the packages -to a canvas sack, open beside him on the hewn floor. Stratton watched -him a silent moment, then, "Where is Slocum, Smith?" he asked. - -The man turned on his knees. It was a writhing movement and he threw -his head like a startled snake. "Slocum hyas scare," he answered. "He -doan' come here today." - -"Afraid of me, is he? Well, he has reason to be. I told him to keep -away from that homestead. I told him, when I gave him that tobacco, to -be careful where he smoked." - -"Slocum hyas cultus," said the man. "Slocum no count." He resumed his -work, but after a silent moment, he reared his head again to say, "Mose -find some plas where Slocum ees sleep. He ees see Slocum's blanket by -one beeg cedar log, an' some brush on top, nawitka, to mek roof. An' -Mose ees know it ees Slocum's bed, for he ees fin under dat blanket, -Yelm Jim's gun." - -Stratton understood. He seemed to see Alice, now, with that bandaged -hand, following Mose through the underbrush to see for herself that -human lair. His glance moved from Smith and that stuff on the floor. A -great revulsion suddenly came over him. The pain in his head was dull; -it no longer troubled him, but he turned his face to the wall and set -his teeth over a groan. - -At last he heard Smith put the plank back in its place and start with -the filled sack across the floor. He stopped him at the door. "It will -be safer for Slocum, after this," he said, "to stay on the other side of -the Pass. Let him help you through the mountains, this trip, Smith, but -see that you leave him there." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *THE MAN WHO BUNGLED* - - -Early in the autumn Samantha and young Thornton were married. The -teacher, in a letter to her sister, said it was a charming wedding. She -told how the schoolhouse was converted into a bower for the occasion; -how all the settlement was there, displaying heirlooms of finery, but -nothing equalled Laramie's vest of blue and crimson satin brocade, which -he wore over a new woolen shirt, and with an extra polish of the cowskin -shoes. And she told how, when the old minister, imported from Olympia -for the ceremony, stood waiting on the platform under a canopy of fern, -and she, herself, commenced a bit of Mendelssohn's march on Eben's -violin, the bridal couple in the doorway made a picture to remember; how -Samantha was delightful in a crisp white muslin, and when she hung back -shyly, Mill grasped her arm and dragged her up the aisle. How his face -was red--possibly his stiff collar was a size too small--and his eyes -flashed defiance, like a pirate convoying a risky prize. She told also -how, when the ordeal was safely through, and Samantha rode the sorrel to -her new home, Thornton walking at her side, all the district followed -for the housewarming. But though she described minutely this cabin, and -the improvements and values of the claim, of that other section almost -adjoining, where lived their nearest neighbor, she still had nothing to -say. - -And it was an early autumn morning, a few days after the wedding, that -the bars of the lower meadow fence were found down, and Mother Girard -again discovered that one of the Jerseys, straying or driven out under -cover of the timber, had been milked. The impressions were still fresh -on the dew and the teacher joined Mose in search of the trespasser. -This time the track skirted the jungle, and, rounding the slope, entered -the canyon, where they met a beaten path leading from the upper end of -Stratton's quarter-section. The river was bridged there by a fallen -tree, below which it widened into a ford, and this new trail wound up -the precipitous side of the gorge, some distance beyond the cliff that -was capped by the leaning tower. The footprints took that direction. - -Suddenly they both stopped and stood looking up at the stronghold. Then -they turned to each other. A line of smoke, rising behind the tower, -marked a camp-fire. - -"But," she said at last, "if he wants milk he must ask me for it." And -she started bravely up the side of the canyon. - -Mose pressed after her closely. Finally he said, "It ees bes' you let -me go firs', Mees. He ees have one good gun, for sure." - -She swung around. "Isn't it Slocum?" - -Mose shook his head. "No, Slocum doan' come roun' dis ranch some more. -Monjee, he's too mooch 'fraid to stop roun' here. But Pete Smith, he -doan' care, so long he ain' see Mill." - -"Pete Smith." She paused, shivering a little, then she laughed. "It's -funny, Mose, how creepy just his name makes me feel. I--I guess I will -let you go first--if you aren't afraid. But wait, what makes you think -it is Pete Smith?" - -"For dat las' night, when A'm come back wid dose trout I catch down -stream, I see heem by Mo'sieur's plas. Sacre, but he ees going fin' he -ees lose some blankets, an' flour an' sugar, 'bout ev'ryt'ing, when he -comes home." - -"You mean Pete had broken into the lodge. Oh, you should have gone -directly for Mill Thornton. But you tried to stop him, Mose? You at -least warned him that you surely would get word to Mr. Stratton?" - -Again Mose shook his head. "You mus' on'stan' it ees bes' I let Pete -'lone. He doan' want me talk to heem dare. Monjee, no. It ees lak I -doan' see heem. Nawitka, I come straight 'way home." - -He moved his rifle into the curve of his arm, and pushed by Alice, -leading on up the bluff, through labyrinths of hazel and alder, up short -sections of gullies. Just under the summit he stopped. "I doan' lak -lose dis fine new gun," he said softly, and began to fondle the stock. -"She's mooch more fine dan dat good gun of Pete Smith's. Nawitka, Mees, -mebbe he ees watch us come 'cross de gorge. Mebbe he ees goin' have one -drop on us. Den it ees bes' I leave dis gran' gun here; you think so, -ya-as? - -"Perhaps, Mose. I hadn't thought of--that. It seemed safe to have it -along. He's the most hideous man. But he can't help that. And if he is -on--guard--well, leave the gun, Mose. Of course he wouldn't harm us. He -wouldn't dare." - -Mose stood the rifle carefully in a hollow trunk, and moved on -cautiously. She kept very close to him up to the top of the bluff, and -there she laid her hand on his arm. "I'm frightened, Mose," she -whispered. "I'm frightened." - -He looked at her gravely. "Mebbe you doan' care so mooch 'bout dat milk -now," he said. - -She pulled herself straight. "It isn't the loss of the milk, Mose; you -should understand that. It's the principle. He can't take anything of -mine. It's wrong. Besides, if I let this go, unnoticed, we might wake -up any morning to find greater things missing. We might even find -Colonel gone." - -She lifted her head higher and moved forward with new resolve. Mose -kept pace with her, and presently they halted, screened by a mesh of -young hemlock boughs, and looked out into the boulder-strewn open behind -the tower. - -Smith was there. He was removing from the fire a trout which he had -cooked on a long sharpened stick. He worked with a noiseless, gliding -motion, and even when he seated himself on the flat rock, which became -at once both chair and table, and fell hurriedly to eating his -breakfast, he kept up a ceaseless pantomime; beating the earth softly -with his foot, starting up, subsiding, shivering, looking behind him, -listening, and like an animal long hunted, again starting. - -Two horses stood near him accoutered for the trail. One, his own, -brought from Laramie's meadow, where at intervals it was pastured, -carried saddle-bags and a snug blanket roll at the crupper; the other -was an indifferent pack-animal laden with camp supplies. - -"He ees tek de long trail, for sure," whispered Mose. "Monjee, how ees -it he ees leave Colonel?" - -"If those are Mr. Stratton's things he's got to take them back," she -said. "Come, we must make him." - -Mose shook his head. "We doan' be able." - -"We must." Then she squared her shoulders and walked forward with a -clear "Good-morning." - -Instantly the man was on his feet, and grasping the rifle which stood at -hand, against the tower wall, he dropped to his knee behind the -improvised table. The gun rested across the rock and he took sight -carefully. - -The girl came on into the open. "Don't be afraid of me," she said and -steadied her voice, "I only want to talk to you." - -He lifted his head and looked at her in astonishment. She came a few -steps further, and Mose, silent, alert, stalked after her and stood -waiting. "I came to speak to you about milking my cow," she said, and -ruffled her brows. "You should have asked me." - -At this Smith laughed and rising from his knee, seated himself again on -the rock. But he held his gun in readiness. - -"I suppose," she went on, "it seems--to you--a very small matter, -compared with breaking into Mr. Stratton's house." - -He laughed again, loudly, insolently. - -She watched him with the rising storm in her eyes. She was no longer -afraid. Clearly the man was unashamed; the spark of good that she had -been taught to believe was latent in the breast of the lowest man, was -lacking here. He must be the exception that proved the rule. "You've -got to take these things back," she said at last, decisively, yet -holding her voice in check; "now, at once." - -Smith lifted his gun higher, scowling. "You go home," he said gruffly. -"Mose, you go. Be quick 'bout it." - -She remembered suddenly the day at school when Lem had admitted that men -in the settlement sometimes struck women, but she did not move. Then -she was conscious that Mose was walking back towards the wood. "Mose," -she said, and turning, stamped her foot, "stay here." - -He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "It ees bes' dat you come -right 'way," he said. "Mebbe Mill T'ornton ees able to do somet'ing, -you spik to heem." - -The man laughed still more insolently. "You go," he repeated. - -The next instant he sprang to his feet and faced the wood on the other -side of the open. There was a brief interval filled with the sounds of -bodies moving through low boughs, the snapping of twigs, the striking of -hoofs on loose rock, then Stratton's smooth, deliberate voice said, -"Well, Smith, I think I have a horse now that won't refuse his pack, and -I have tested him at a ford." - -Smith put down his gun and hurried to take the led animal, and Stratton -rode on past the clump of scrub firs, where the waiting horses were -hitched, and saw suddenly the girl by the tower. A great wave of color -surged over his face and left it white. His big frame rocked slowly as -though he gathered himself from a heavy and unexpected blow; then he sat -motionless. - -"Oh," she said, and hurried to meet him, "I'm so glad you came this way, -instead of going straight through to the bridge. This man has looted -your lodge. I was just trying to make him take back your things." - -Stratton drew a great breath. He shook himself like a man throwing off -a weight, and swung himself down from the saddle. "You were? Well, -thank you, Miss Hunter, but he should have told you that I gave him the -key." He paused and his eyes moved to Smith, who had gone to an -aperture in the tower, and was lifting from it other supplies for the -fresh pack-horse. "In fact," he added, "I have engaged Pete to go over -the Pass with me, to cook and look after my outfit." - -Her glance moved to Sir Donald's full leather saddlebags and snug -blanket roll, and returned to his master. "You have engaged this man," -she said slowly, "to go over the mountains with you?" - -"Yes, I am starting on a long hunting and trading trip, through the -Palouse and Big Bend country, and Smith knows the plains and the -Indians. He will be invaluable to me in that uncertain wilderness. But -I shall probably go down the Columbia, when I strike the railroad, and -come back to the Sound from Portland, by way of the Northern Pacific." - -"You are going a long hunting trip," she repeated, and met his look -steadily. "You have engaged this man, this outlaw, for your camp cook -and guide. You know you are helping him to elude the Government. Oh, -how can you, an intelligent, educated American, be so indifferent to the -laws? I don't understand you. I don't understand you." - -She turned away. - -"Wait, just a moment," he said. "Is the case so different from your -own? You took this other half-breed Indian into your house; you gave -him a new start; yet the rascal had stolen our horses; he had left us -high up, nine thousand feet, on Mt. Rainier in the face of a storm. He -did even worse." - -"Hush," she said. Mose stood, waiting, a few yards off. His face was -turned to the lower gorge and she looked at him with apprehension. -"There is no comparison," she went on softly. "You know it. He was -just a boy, untaught, his character unformed, and he believed he was -right. There was plenty of good in him, ready to be brought out by any -one who cared to take the trouble. I have proved that; he has repaid me -a hundred times. But this fellow--this desperado--think of his record. -Look in his face." - -She moved on with this, to join Mose, but her foot struck something that -clinked against a stone, and she stopped to look down. Then she stooped -and picked up the object, turning it curiously in her hands. It was a -small tin receptacle, unlike anything she had ever seen before. There -were some strange characters marked on it, presumably Chinese, and while -she studied them she noticed that the can had sprung a little at the -upper edge, and a sticky substance began to ooze into her palm. It -emitted a sickish odor and she held the thing out to Stratton in sudden -disgust. "What is it?" she asked. "Do you know? Did you drop it?" - -Again he pulled himself together. He took the tin and hurled it over -the cliff. Some distance down it struck a projecting ledge, and sent -back, faintly, a clink. "I know what it is, yes," he said grimly. "The -man who dropped it--bungled." - -His glance moved again to Smith and the steel flashed in his eyes. But -the outlaw had not heard. He was engrossed in a full canvas bag which -he was adjusting to the pack saddle. - -"Come, there is water here," Stratton went to the rock where Smith had -breakfasted, and lifted a flask. "Hold out your hands." - -She held them out, turning them under the stream he poured. "Rub them," -he said; "it stains. Again, the odor clings. The stuff should never -have touched your hands." - -"What is it?" she repeated. - -He was silent. - -"What is it?" she persisted. "Can't you tell me?" - -"Yes, yes, I can--if I must." He threw his head with a sudden reckless -decision. "It stands for shame, ostracism, degradation, according to -your code. The man who touches it takes his fate in his hands. It -sticks, its slime covers him, sucks him down. Look in my face." - -But at the look she gave him, that straight, searching look, which -forever expected a best in him, the boldness went out of his face. A -quiver swept it, as though he felt deep down the twist of a probe. -"Once, up there below the Paradise," he said, "you promised your mercy. -The time has come; I ask it--now." - -"You mean it is"--but her voice failed. Her eyes widened with fear, and -yet there rose in them an appeal. "You mean," she repeated, "you were -going to--" But the word would not out; it died in her throat. Then, -"Promise me you will not," she entreated. "Promise--no matter how -desperate you may feel--you will always put the feeling down. I should -blame myself; I should feel someway responsible. I couldn't help it. It -would spoil my life." - -He drew his hand slowly across his eyes and moved back, leaning on the -tower wall. So she thought that. She believed that he had contemplated -self-destruction, and in that crude, spectacular way. And of course she -attributed his reason to her rejection of him. He could have laughed -aloud at his escape. "I promise," he answered. "I promise. I will -leave it to Nature. When the time comes she can provide a way." - -"Thank you, I trust you." She gave him her hand. "Good-by." - -She hesitated, glancing once more at the outlaw, but of him she had -nothing further to say. Stratton stood watching her down the trail; -when she disappeared he moved to the edge of the cliff and waited for a -final glimpse of her, far below in the canyon. - -At last he noticed that his guide was ready. "Ride on with the -pack-horses," he said. "I will overtake you in time to make Nisqually -ford. And the next time you find a leaking can, Smith, be careful where -you throw it." - -When the man was gone he sank down on a rock and dropped his face in his -hands. Finally he lifted his head and sat for an interval looking down -the gorge in the direction she had taken. "She is so bright and quick," -he told himself, "and yet she could not see the truth. With all of her -knowledge of smuggling, and opium and rings, she has never seen or had a -description of the stuff. It is strange, strange--for I went all to -pieces, there, for a minute. It must be, after all, because she is so -ready to take a man on trust. She is so tremendously honest herself, -she won't accept a man's own doubt of himself. But I--I--had a narrow -escape. Strange, too, what a hold she has had on me from the start. I -would have braved it out, lied to a man; I would have laughed it off -with any other woman; but she lifted her eyes, probing for that -everlasting best in me, and I babbled like a fool." - -Presently he drew a letter from his pocket. It was an answer to the one -he had written the Judge. It had miscarried at first, and he had -travelled so much the last weeks, it had been forwarded and missed him -repeatedly. He had received it that morning at the Station on the -prairie below the Myers claim. He opened the sheet and re-read it -slowly. - - -"WASHINGTON, D.C., July 20th, 18--. - -"MY DEAR STRATTON:--In response to your letter I want to remind you that -I knew your father, John Stratton, well. He was a strong and capable -man and always a gentleman. I am certainly interested in the career of -his son. I also satisfied myself somewhat as to your standing, before I -came East, because it is my custom to know about my nephew Philip's -friends. I learned nothing of a disparaging nature. - -"But in regard to the initial point of your letter, I can only say that -a release from a marriage engagement should depend altogether on the -direct request of the lady. - -"Very truly yours, - "SILAS KINGSLEY." - - -Stratton held the letter a thoughtful interval, then he rose and went -over and laid it on Smith's smouldering fire. He stood watching it -break into flame and curl up like a brown, dead leaf. "But it will -influence him," he said. "He can't help it; it will raise a question." - -He turned to untie his fretting horse. "So, Donald, old fellow, there -is light ahead; we are almost out of the woods. A little more -dishonor," he set his foot in the stirrup and swung himself up, "and we -can afford to make a fresh start." - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *WATER-LOGGED* - - -At Freeport the following winter was severe. Snow lay for weeks, -thawing, freezing, accumulating with every squall that came over from -the mountains, and falling in small avalanches which started landslides -all along the bluff. On some mornings the upper part of the harbor -below Duwamish flats was covered with ice, which the rising tide lifted -and broke into sheets. The logs taken from the water were glazed, and -in still places inside the boom, ice packed solid. And with the unusual -cold a lull in construction settled over the Northwest; there came a -second drop in the prices of exported lumber. Many of the smaller mills -closed under a subsidy. But the Judge, in answer to Forrest's -statements of the situation, advised the cutting down of expenses to a -minimum, and keeping things going, if only to give employment to the -men. He had heard the Puget Sound country was flooded with idle -mechanics, laborers, hundreds of construction hands discharged since the -completion of the Northern Pacific. And of course the prevailing -Eastern panic had in many instances caused the recall of invested -capital. But he was confident that another half-year would see a -pronounced revival; at any rate he would be able to make a trip home by -that time, and he wanted to be on the ground and see conditions for -himself before he came to a final decision. - -At the close of January the men still received "reg'lar pay," to quote -Mason, but the books showed that the manager's salary was accumulating -to his credit. Other accounts indicated that the junior partner was -overdrawing. He had his impulses of industry and economy when he tried -to balance a considerable delinquency by spending an interval at the -mills; but he always annulled the results by a yet deeper plunge, and -his only systematic restriction was in deferring to take a house in -town. - -Forrest was thinking of Kingsley while he finished his rounds of the -mills. It was at the close of a bleak day; there was an increasing -wind; ragged cloud scurried overhead, the forerunner of the black masses -driving up in the southwest. Philip was presumably in Victoria. He had -not heard from him for a week. "But," he told himself, as he came down -the steps from the landing to the walk, "it's useless to bother the -Judge with this side of it, now. It's as he says, he can't understand -things fully until he is on the ground." - -He stopped at the branch to Kingsley's house to speak to the old -watchman, who was stumping up from the lower dock. "Well, Mason," he -said, "it's another blow." - -"Ay, sir." The old sailor swung around to look at the running sea. He -knew the ships over the harbor were taking precautions against the -growing storm; stretching an extra hawser, dropping a second and third -anchor, clearing decks. But there was no vessel at the Freeport -wharves; the bark that had sailed that morning left no other receiving. - -"Keep the slab-fire low, Mason, and have an eye to the boom." - -"Ay, ay, sir." - -"And, Mason, go back and put the signal out for the _Success_. Let me -know when she's in sight." - -"Ay, sir?" The old sailor's voice took a rising inflection; his -unlovely features worked. - -"Yes," said Forrest, "I'm going over to Seattle for the doctor. Little -Si is worse." - -He turned then, and went up to the gate. Louise heard him on the steps -and met him at the door. He followed her silently in to that inner room -where little Silas lay. His head was propped high with pillows and the -place sounded with his labored breathing. Forrest stood for a moment -watching him: the heaving of the breast under the loose white gown; the -flutter of the half-closed eyelids; the milky whiteness of the forehead -between the crayon-like brows and rings of tumbled hair. The child was -very lovable; he had always shown his fondness for him in demonstrative, -winning ways; and in the earlier stages of his illness he had called for -him, begging to be carried or rocked, and Forrest had devoted late hours -to him, sharing the mother's vigil; ready with the comfort and security -of his strong arms. Now, while he looked at the unconscious face, this -large-hearted, homeless, home-loving man seemed to feel a small hand on -his heart-strings; the touch tightened when the baby coughed. - -He turned to Louise. "I'm going over on the _Success_," he said. "The -doctor will come back with me. Is there anything else I can do?" - -"No, unless--you can find Philip." - -"I am afraid he is still in Victoria. He would hardly have started to -cross the Straits in this storm." - -"No," she assented, "not in this storm." She lifted her hand to her -head in a bewildered way, and turned to her baby with the mechanical -effort of one long worn out with anxiety and watching. But when the -child coughed again, a harder paroxysm, the motherhood leaped to her -eyes. "Paul," she cried, "oh, Paul." - -He did not try to answer that appeal; he could not look at her. But he -took the child's medicine from the table and stood for a moment, -thoughtful, irresolute. A man who has the charge of workmen in an -isolated place, out of range of a physician, picks up the rudiments of -medicine and surgery, and presently he went to a stand holding a few -general remedies. He poured a little of the liquid from the bottle he -carried, into an empty vial, and added several drops of ammonia. He -gave the baby a potion from the mixture, lifting the blond head higher, -rearranging the pillows gently, with a woman's touch. He waited a brief -interval, watching the result. "It's a very strong stimulant," he said. -"Only use it every alternate time, or--if the attack is bad. I won't be -longer than I can help." - -While he walked down to the store he saw Mason's signal-light on the -wharf, but the little mail steamer, plying between Seattle and a near -port, was not yet in sight, though nearly an hour late. Forrest -unlocked the door and lighted his desk lamp. "There isn't a rowboat on -this beach," he thought. "Nothing but Sing's dugout; and what could she -do in this sea?" - -He began to post his books, but the child's face drifted between him and -the open page, and that appeal of the mother's rang an undernote to the -rush and scream of the wind. He laid his pen down and sat staring, -absent, harassed, up at the rafters. A timber creaked; the great -building shook in a heavier gust, and the sea swept with a long hiss and -swash on the beach under the piling. Then presently above all these -noises there came the shrill toot of a whistle. - -It was a sound that brought him to his feet. He threw his books into -the safe, lifted his overcoat from the counter, and was about to -extinguish the light, when the door opened and Mason entered with a rush -of sharp air. "She's gone by, sir," he said. "Headlight stove in, sir; -sea smashing on the wheel-house." - -The manager's hand dropped from the burner. - -"But she answered the signal, Mason; she whistled the landing." - -"Ay, sir, an' wore away, sir, er rollin' like er porpoise." - -"Well, Mason, it means the dugout. She's on the beach above the float." - -Mason's watery eyes blinked. "Ay, sir, an' more'n half full, sir." - -"Then we'll bail her." - -He laid his top coat back on the counter and turned out the light, and -while he led the way down to the float, he blamed himself and excused -and blamed himself anew, for depending on that little steamer. - -Sheltered though it was by the wharves and the headland, the small -landing rose and dipped; breaking crests swept sheer over it. Mason set -his lantern on a pile and the manager helped him turn and empty the -beached canoe. Roughly hewn from a cedar log, with bow and stern cut -square and hollowed slightly like a scow, it had a clumsy appearance -even as dugouts go, and in mild weather two men together could hardly -have risked passage in her. Launched, she swashed in the tide like a -thing water-logged. - -No one knew how the craft first drifted to Freeport, though Hop Sing had -appropriated her, to use on still evenings during the salmon run, when -he visited his friends employed at the cannery a mile up the coast. The -paddle was not in its usual hiding-place, a niche under the flooring of -the nearest dock, and Forrest hurried up to the cook-house. - -"Give me the paddle to the dugout, Sing," he said, stopping on the -threshold; "I'm going over to Seattle." - -The Chinaman whirled on his cork soles and looked at him. Then he swung -his towel over his shoulder and his face expanded in a smile. "What for -you jokee me, Boss? Hully sit down. I bling supper belly click. Steak -muchee cold." - -"Never mind supper, Sing; or just give me some coffee right here, while -you find that paddle." - -He poured the steaming coffee, black and bitter from long waiting, and -gave the cup to Forrest. "What for you takee dugout? He no good. Too -muchee blow, blow." His voice shrilled incredulously, but something in -the manager's face made him turn abruptly and trip across the kitchen to -his own private closet, where, after a brief search under his bunk, he -brought forth the missing paddle. - -He had a catlike aversion to moisture and cold, but Forrest had eased -him through many a buffeting from the mill crew, and presently he -lighted his lantern and followed him down to the float. He found Mason -steadying the lurching dugout while the young man took his place forward -of the stern. And he waited silently, but with growing concern, until -the old sailor cast off the painter and gave the great even push which -propelled the craft out between docks, then he, too, held his light -aloft, vying with the watchman to illuminate the way. The wind filled -his wide, white sleeves, baring his arms above the jade bracelets; it -played havoc with his unwound cue and set all his loose garments -fluttering; but he stood there long, shivering, with teeth chattering, -holding the lantern yet higher and straining his eyes to follow that -small, receding shape. - -As he swung clear of the wharves Forrest felt the strong ebb, and low as -the dugout was, she careened to the wind when she drifted out of the -protection of the headland. A wave broke, drenching him through. Far to -the northward he saw the revolving light on West Point; then a smaller -flame appeared on the opposite shore, and he knew by the position of -these lamps when he had reached the open, where the gale had its fullest -sweep of the Sound. Another crest broke over him; another; still he made -headway and held his course quartering to the trough. The deep whistle -of an ocean collier came to him, and off the point he saw her lamps; a -tug passed close at hand. He heard plainly the noise of her screw, but -she went by without heeding his hail, and he caught the counter motion -of her wake. Presently he noticed water about his knees, and groping, -found the can; and while he bailed he tried with one hand to keep the -dugout under control, but she swung broadside, taking a sea. He dropped -the can and grasped the paddle with a great dip that brought her slowly -around. His muscles ached; his fingers cramped; how that year of -confinement at the mills had unfitted him. - -When the beacons disappeared he knew that he had made a little more than -half the distance. But the dugout never headed for the city lamps; she -drove before the wind, and the most he could do was to swing her out of -the trough, and ease her northeast by north, hoping to strike the point -which marked the harbor entrance above the town. - -A passenger steamer rounded the Head behind him, her brilliant windows -now thrown high, now showing a narrow rim as she rolled in the trough. -She came rapidly and passed far to leeward. While he watched her, -shouting repeatedly, against reason, the dugout shipped a sea that all -but swamped her. He threw off his coat; loosened and kicked off his -shoes. He bailed for a time, then, ceaselessly. The water was very -cold; it swashed over his limbs, numbing him to the core. A cloud broke -overhead, pelting him with a storm of hail. The stones cut the waves -with a sharper swish, hiss; they stung his face, his hands. When he -stopped a breathing space the thought of little Silas spurred him, and -again and again Louise's voice seemed to reach him, audibly, in -desperate appeal. - -The hail passed. The city lights grew clearer, off the starboard but -falling astern. Then at last he noticed that a deeper stroke of the -paddle swung the dugout eastward and kept her headed so. The tide was -running in. A black hulk loomed out of the darkness, showing a red -lantern at her bow. Was it not the old collier that was burned at the -coal bunkers, years ago, and towed here to beach north of town? This -light, standing out in advance of all others, became an inspiration. -The lines of a trestle detached from the gloom. His paddle struck -something, presumably a sunken pile, and snapped at the handle, the -blade whirling away in the darkness. He heard the sea breaking on a -gravelly shore; felt the undertow. A crest swept over him, and another -heavier comber lifted the dugout and hurled it full against the trestle. -When the water receded he found himself clinging to a pile; the solid -beach was under him, though the surge washed to his armpits. The next -wave cast him on the gravel. - -He dragged himself higher and rested briefly, pulling himself together, -then he rose and made his way, in the teeth of the wind, down to the -water-front of the town. He found a small tug, that sometimes did towing -for the mills, under steam. He hailed her from the dock, sheltering his -numb body behind a pile of cord-wood, while he waited for the master to -answer him. Then, "I'm Forrest," he said, "of Freeport, and I want you -to put me over at the mills as soon as you can. I came for a doctor and -I'll have him down here in fifteen or twenty minutes." - -"All right," the man replied, "I'm just starting for a run down to the -Straits, but glad to accommodate you. Hell of a night." - -Forrest was already out of hearing. He left a summons as brief at the -doctor's door. "Tug's waiting," he called back. "Arlington Dock." - -Then he hurried on to the hotel which Kingsley frequented. He glanced -at the office clock as he entered the lighted room. It was a quarter -past eleven. He had been over three hours making that trip across the -harbor; a distance of two miles. - -There was a stove near him and he put his numb hands out to the heat -while he asked for Philip. It was as he had feared; the Captain had not -come back from his last little run to Victoria. The sudden warmth made -him faint, but he leaned on the desk, trying to shape a telegram. - -His effort was manifest and the men around the stove watched him -curiously. He was hatless, coatless, without shoes; and the steam rose -from his remaining clothes; the water, dripping from them, formed in -pools on the floor. The clerk went over to the bar and brought him a -glass of brandy. "See here, Forrest," he said, "drink this; then tell -us what happened to you. How did you come over from the mills?" - -He drank a part of the liquor and set the glass down. "In a small boat," -he answered briefly, "and I made a bad landing." - -"Looks like it," the clerk said, dryly. "Come in here and get into some -clothes of mine." - -"No, thank you," replied Forrest, "I'm going right back; have a tug -waiting. But lend me a coat, Charley, if you can, and some sort of a -fit in shoes." - -He wrote his telegram while the man brought the things, and he threw on -the coat on his way to the door. - -"Never saw such a man," said the clerk, addressing the group near the -stove. "Ready to tell a story when it's another fellow, just spreads it -on, but when it's himself won't say a blamed word. But he's got the -nerve; yes, sir, he's all nerve and--backbone." - -When Forrest reached the wharf he found the doctor waiting with the -tug-master in the little pilot-house. They made a place for him, but he -turned aside into the engine-room, and sinking down on a bench near the -boiler, stretched his hands out again to the heat. The steam and odor -of oil, the lurching of the boat, following that draught of brandy, -affected him strangely. In the uncertain light the engineer seemed to -expand into a figure foreign and grotesque. Once when he stooped to -open the furnace door he paused, looking up at Forrest with a laugh. -With the red glow on his grimy face it became an impish, insulting -laugh, and the manager drew himself up to resent it; but he did not; he -was too weak. - -The next time he was roused was when the tug bumped the Freeport dock. -The piles all seemed to be swaying and lifting when he stepped ashore, -but the fresh air steadied him, and the sight of Mason's rugged face -helped to clear his vision. Here also was Hop Sing out again with his -lantern, and his smile rivalled the welcome of the old watchman. The -sailor made fast the line with an extra flourish and thump of the wooden -leg, and the cook demonstrated his satisfaction in a pigeonwing or two, -as he lighted the way to the house. - -Forrest was not the man to let these attentions go. "Well, Sing," he -said, "I'm afraid you won't see that boat of yours again." - -"Oh, I no clare, Boss, I no clare." He wheeled on his cork soles, -showing his yellow teeth. "Mason, he makee belly good fire your loom. -Byme by, plitty click, I bling supper; oyster soup, flied chicken, belly -hot, nicee." - -But Forrest was looking up across the gate and his steps quickened. The -door had opened and Louise stood against the flood of light. She came -forward to the edge of the piazza. "There has been a change," she said -softly. "He seems to be in a quiet sleep." - -Forrest waited in the parlor while the doctor followed her to that inner -room. It seemed a long time before they returned, but he was rubbing -his plump hands. "Mrs. Kingsley was right," he said, and smiled. -"There has been a change, undoubtedly. And you should have a diploma, -sir; that ammonia buoyed the child over a crisis. But it must be used -sparingly; sparingly." He opened his medicine case and laid out a box -of tablets and a vial with a few brief directions. Then he took up his -hat and top coat,--the tug was waiting for him,--and went to the door. -"Of course, he is still a very sick child, but, with careful nursing, -and I see he has that, he will pull through. Good night; yes, your baby -will pull through." - -Forrest closed the door softly and came back to the fire. "Phil wasn't -in town," he said, "but I left a telegram to be forwarded. He will be -able to catch the mail steamer in the morning, if he isn't already on -the way." - -He lifted a piece of bark from the wood-basket and laid it on the fire. -She watched him. Little clouds of steam began to curl up from his -clothes. Suddenly she put her hand on his arm. "Paul," she said, "what -happened? How did you cross the harbor?" - -"Why, the _Success_ went by without stopping, and I took a small boat. -I'm going now to change my clothes. When I come back you must lie down; -you need some sleep." - -"But there wasn't a small boat; the _Phantom_ is away with the tender; -there isn't a ship's boat; not any kind of a rowboat on this beach. -Unless--Paul, you didn't go in that dugout?" - -"Yes," he said lightly, "that's what made me so long. She isn't fleet." - -"Fleet." She knew what it meant. He had shared her anxiety and care; -it had been one more responsibility thrust upon him; and now, in her -extremity, he had risked himself for her child. She could not tell what -peril the dugout had lumbered through, but it had been peril in the -darkness and that sea. And Philip, her husband, who should have been -the one to face it, was doubtless passing the night gaily, in some warm -and brilliant room. Oh, the shame of it, the bitterness, the sting of -it! A sob broke from her lips. She sank down on a sofa and dropped her -face on her arm. "I cannot--bear it," she said. "I--cannot--bear--it." - -She did not cry as another woman might; there was no easy rush of tears, -but the long pent grief of months, borne silently through weary days and -slower nights, welled and found vent to the search of a probe. - -A glory from the crimson lamp-shade touched her hair, which was unbound -for comfort, and held half its length in two loose braids, as she had -worn it when they were children. The strained position of her arm, -thrown up over the head of the sofa, pulled back her sleeve, showing its -smooth whiteness from below the elbow; it tapered perfectly to the -wrist. The slender, shaking figure, her whole attitude, was an -unconscious appeal to him, and roused a tumult of feeling; not only -resentment against Philip, but immeasurable pity, tenderness for her, -out of which rose a sudden and overwhelming desire to take her in his -arms and comfort her. - -He turned and looked into the fire; the frowning line deepened between -his level brows. "Don't make so much of it," he said. "I'm none the -worse for a little wetting." - -[Illustration: "He turned and looked into the fire."] - -"None the worse?" He started at the vibration in her voice. She rose -to her feet. "Do you think I do not know you have done a desperate -thing? Do you think I have no gratitude?" - -"Oh, no," he answered smiling, "I couldn't think that." - -She came a little nearer. "You have a bruise on your forehead; your -hand--I noticed it when you lifted the wood--is cut--terribly." She -took the hand in her own palm and examined the hurt, touching it gently -with her handkerchief. "How was it, Paul? Tell me." - -"Why, I hadn't noticed it, but it probably happened when I made a -landing." He winced slightly under her soft dabs. "I ran the dugout in -at that old trestle above town, and struck a pile. Now you know the -worst; there's nothing left to imagine." He laughed and drew his hand -away. "I'm going down to my room now, but I shall be back in a little -while. Sing is bringing me a supper." - -He opened the door and went out, closing it softly. "To have a wife -like that," he thought, "and yet neglect her." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - *"ANDROMEDA HAS FOUND A PERSEUS"* - - -The great boom which cleared Duwamish Head of its big timber and cut the -cable car-track across the face of the promontory, created also frequent -and heavy landslides that changed the gravelly beach at Freeport into -the broad and sandy expanse which became Seattle's favorite bathing -resort. In the earlier times, beyond the old hotel, the high tide -washed sheer to the foot of the bluff, and the incomparable view of blue -sea and wooded island, framed by the shining Olympic Mountains, was -limited to the outlook from the balcony at the rear of the ruin. - -Louise stood upon this balcony, facing the northwest. The bluff was on -her left, so near she might have lifted her hand and touched the damp -soil. It was midsummer and a resinous fragrance mingled with the salt -air. The distant coast was veiled in smoke, and the sun, low in the -west, barred the Sound blood red. - -The swell broke with a long swash and gurgle under the floor; a passing -gust set the door behind her creaking; the heavier one at the opposite -end of the bar-room was also swinging, and between its widening crack -Stratton appeared on the walk. At sight of her he started and paused, -then he came on into the ruin. His glance swept the interior, from the -threshold, and rested on the door behind the bar. It was closed and -fitted with a new, strong lock. - -At the sound of his tread she turned, and he came forward quickly, -smiling and offering his hand. "Good afternoon," he said, in his -conventional way, "it is rather nice here, isn't it? I hope I do not -intrude?" - -"No," she said, and answered his smile, "I am glad to share it. Did the -_Phantom_ bring you?" - -"No, the _Success_ left me." His gesture called her attention to the -small mail steamer moving westward. "I ran over about a little matter of -business. I saw young Silas on the dock with that old character Mason. -The boy is growing." - -"Yes, he lives out of doors so much. They are great playfellows, and I -can trust Mason. He takes him rowing every afternoon, often twice, out -of the shadow of the Head into the sunshine." - -"But you,"--he paused with a light emphasis, looking down into her -sweet, inscrutable face,--"you stay in the shadow. Do you know what I -thought of just now, coming up the walk? It was Andromeda--chained." - -"You had the sea," she looked about her thoughtfully, "and this bluff; -Andromeda--perhaps--but without a Perseus." - -"Are you sure of that?" - -"Yes." She met the unmistakable admiration in his eyes with a clear -look and a slight uplifting of her oval chin. "It is too bad, but the -comparison is misapplied." - -She moved towards the doorway. He waited a moment, watching her in -mingled amusement and pique. "Another touch-me-not," he told himself; -"I had not thought she could be so like her sister. Don't let me take -you back," he said aloud, following a step; "it is pleasanter here, away -from the interminable buzz of those saws." - -But she moved on into the building. He joined her. "We are sailing over -to Tacoma tonight," he said. "The yacht club is arranging a little hop. -Come with us. Go over the harbor with me, when the _Success_ picks me -up on the return trip. I will give you a merry time, I promise you." - -"It is always that on board the _Phantom_," she answered brightly. "And -of course Philip would run in for me, if I could leave little Si. You -see I have only Mason to depend on, and at night he is on duty." - -"But bring the boy. We will tuck him away in a berth down below. He -will like it. Why, he took that cruise among the islands last year like -an old salt, and then he had just begun to toddle." - -She shook her head. "He is better off at home. He couldn't sleep; not -in that gay company." - -Stratton wondered how far she meant to disregard that matter of his -escort. He was not accustomed to indifference from a woman. And any -other, in a like position, would grasp at the opportunity he offered. -"My dear Mrs. Kingsley," he said, and his voice was no longer -conventional, "throw aside those Puritan scruples, for once, and let me -show you how easy it is to accomplish--what you desire. I know the -Captain. Come, go with me on this moonlight excursion, tonight." - -She met his gaze bravely, smiling a little, but there was in her eyes -the look of one who has felt in a wound the quick turn of a probe. -"Thank you, no," she said. - -The child was coming up the walk and she hurried to meet him. "Muvver," -he called excitedly, "Mason can take us to row, now." Then he stopped, -looking at Stratton, and added doubtfully, "The boat is big 'nough for -you, too." - -Stratton laughed and took out his watch. "Thank you. I have over an -hour to spare, but you must put me aboard the _Success_, sure, when she -comes back." - -Mason, who had waited at the branch walk, turned and stumped ahead to -the landing. He held the boat steady and the young man stepped into the -stern and lifted the boy in. But when he offered his hand to Louise she -drew back and said, "Oh, I am not going; did you think so? Good-by, -Silas. Take care of him, Mason." - -"Ay, mum?" The old sailor's voice held a note of inquiry. He had lost -his shyness, in a measure, at the time of the child's illness. And -since then Forrest had seen that there was always a rowboat at the -mills. He had made it Mason's duty, during the boy's convalescence, to -take him and his mother out in search of the sunshine. She had rarely -missed these little trips. - -But whatever chagrin Stratton may have felt was not apparent. He -settled into his place, lifted his hat to her, and taking a cigar from -his case, occupied himself, while the boat was under shelter of the -wharves, with getting a light. - -She watched them out, waving her hand and smiling an answer to her -baby's repeated "Good-by." Then she turned and went up from the -landing. "If it was a way," she said under her breath, "then I have let -it go." - -She walked in the direction of the mills, on past the last cabins, to -the beginning of a path that zigzagged up the side of the promontory. -She pushed up quickly, finding in the tangible difficulty of the ascent -relief for her hot thoughts. Sometimes the earth gave under her and she -sprang to a spur of rock; she grasped the tough, springy boughs of young -firs to ease her weight. She invited the touch of the prickly needles -on her hands and face, and she drew full breaths of the fragrance -exhaled from her palms. - -She gained the summit moist and panting, and paused to look down on the -rowboat, and on across the harbor to the infant city on her hills. -There was no dwelling near; the trail took the contour of the bluff, -which in places became a precipice, and everywhere around her stretched -the forest or the sea. She crossed to the westward side and stopped -where a fallen hemlock had cut a swathe through the timber, creating an -unobstructed view. Out of the smoke film that shrouded the distant -shore, rising columns parted in dun rolling clouds, showing where the -forest fires burned; but the Olympics reared their giant heads from the -pall, sometimes thrusting a shoulder through. And to this woman it was -not solitude; she had come into the presence of old friends. She turned -her eyes to that grand company of peaks and forgot the narrow limits of -the life below the bluff; she stood above the drift and shadow and, for -a moment, Philip. - -Her hands were clasped loosely behind her; her lifted head exposed the -beautiful lines of throat and chin; her breath came a little hard and -quick and there was a soft color in her cheeks. The likeness to her -sister had never seemed as marked to Forrest as it was then, when he -came upon her unexpectedly, by the fallen hemlock, on his way to the -mills. Was not this the trail to the headwaters? Had they not paused -to choose a way through the windfall? - -She did not see him, and he waited, mastered by that brief illusion. -And while he watched her face she saw the heights of the Olympics change -from rose to burnished brass; every peak and spur flamed a signal to the -departing sun. - - "'But breathe the air of mountains - And their unapproachable summits will lift thee - to the level of themselves.'" - -She repeated the words softly with a clear modulation, deepening to a -contralto note, and after a moment added a preceding line. - - "'Assert thyself; rise up to thy full height.'" - -But there she stopped, and lifting her arms with a little outward -gesture, expressive of futile effort, let them drop, and turning her -face, saw Forrest. - -He came forward quickly to say, "I've only been here a moment, and I -couldn't help listening; I'm fond of those lines. But, when did you -ever assert yourself?" He looked down at her with his smile of the -eyes. "It's there the resemblance stops." - -"You mean to Alice?" - -"Yes, sometimes you are very like her," and he turned his glance to the -mountain-tops. - -"You mean physically. I think, in other ways, I must often seem -purposeless, even weak--to you." - -"Ob, no," he said quickly, "I couldn't ever believe that. You are -stronger than most women; strong to endure. But you lack her executive -ability." Then he stopped, for he saw that she had given his words a -personality he had not meant. - -"What would you have me do?" The vibration in her voice hurt him; he -could not meet the intensity of appeal in her eyes. "It had commenced -before we came to Freeport. I felt that he was growing tired of me, but -I believed, if I could be alone with him, in a dull place like this, I -might win him back. It seemed the only chance; but--it has failed." -The tears were streaming down her face; she reached out her hands to -him. "What would you have me do?" she repeated. "Tell me." - -Forrest had never known her to lose her self-control but once before; -the night he had crossed the harbor in the dugout. Even then it was -quickly over; she had not spoken of Kingsley's neglect; he had never -heard her so much as breathe a reproach. His great heart ached for her, -while he felt the futility of any sympathy he could offer her. He broke -away some young growth in front of the fallen tree, and she allowed him, -passively, to seat her in the crotch of a great branch. "You are pretty -tired," he said gently. "It's a hard pull up the bluff. And this -solitary life is telling on you; I feel the strain of it, myself, -sometimes. We will both be glad to get away from Freeport." - -She threw her arm up over the bole, and dropped her face on it, sobbing. -He stood looking seaward. Far out the water was still barred blood-red. -Presently he said, "You know the mills are about to shut down? We have -been waiting for the Judge, but he will be here in another month, -perhaps sooner. There isn't a doubt he will close. You know we are -falling behind. Lumber has dropped to seven dollars a thousand; the San -Francisco market is glutted; the bone-yard there has stopped receiving." - -She knew that he had said all this to give her time, and she struggled -with those crowding emotions, trying and failing, and trying again to -beat them down. He waited, with his back towards her, his face to the -painted sea. He was a resourceful man, quick to grasp a difficulty and -its solution, for others as well as himself, but now he halted, baffled, -like a man come to a blind wall. His mind ran through that first slow -year at Freeport, and it flashed over him what an interminable blank it -would have been without her. Confined as they were to the narrow limits -of the mills, it had been as close as life on shipboard. They had taken -their meals together; they had met, passed and repassed countless times -daily on the short walks. He had been glad to show a helpful interest -in little Silas. He had fallen easily into the way of spending his -evenings, when he could, with her; she loved his violin. He saw now how -those hours had dulled the poignancy of putting Alice out of his life. -He remembered how he had commenced to watch in Louise for a repetition -of those many little airs he liked; the lifting of the chin, the high -pose of the head, the ready change of color; all modified, it was true, -softened and blended with much that was not her sister's, but there, -palpable, near, breathing, flesh and blood. And most of all he -understood what she had done for him when that business depression laid -a fatal hand on the mills. He had meant to do great things and he was -one to take defeat hard; but she, this sweet, proud woman, with the -courage in her voice and the heart-break in her eyes, had taught him by -example how to fight a losing battle to the end, and--like a man. - -The silence was broken by the neigh of a horse. It was unusual on that -promontory; saddle-animals never took the foot-path over the bluff to -the mills, and afterwards Forrest remembered the sound. Then, though he -turned and looked in the direction of the neigh, he gave it small -attention. His glance fell to her; and that attitude, the hidden face, -the slender shaking figure, brought back an onrush of the tumult he had -felt the night she so nearly lost her child; bitter resentment against -Philip, immeasurable pity, tenderness for her, and a desire to take, and -protect and comfort her. - -"See here," he said, and his deep voice vibrated a a little, holding -each word like a caress, "See here, don't make so much of it; he isn't -worth it. No man on earth is." - -She became suddenly still. Her hand clenched on a fold of her skirt, -but she did not lift her face. Her head was uncovered and he stood -regarding the blue and purple lights of that high, dark coil of her -hair. "See here," he went on finally, "I can't let you be discouraged. -You've done too much for me. Don't you know it? Of course you made a -mistake; you should never have come to the mills. But it was my -mistake, too, and I don't like to think what this life here would have -meant without you. Why, you and little Si have stood for what I like -best; you've made a home for me. Without you I should have lived like a -miserable castaway." - -She lifted her face with a supreme effort. Her eyes said, "Thank you," -and her lips shaped an explanation he was not slow to grasp. "You were -right, it's the solitude. I exaggerate--lately--I am annoyed by -the--smallest things. Just now it was Mr. Stratton. He happened--to -ask me to go--with him--on an excursion aboard the _Phantom_. As -if--Philip--would not run in for me--any time--that I wished. But, -Paul, if the mills close, what will you do?" - -"I?" he answered and smiled, "why, there's a piece of land out on the -upper Des Chutes that I've been anxious to secure for a long time. I'm -going to homestead it and, incidentally, prospect the hills. You see -this business depression is giving me an opportunity I've been waiting -for." - -"The upper Des Chutes," she repeated. "I see, you are going to take up -a systematic search for the lost prospect, and make your headquarters on -the ground." - -"Yes," he said, "or pretty close to it. I can't tell you how I want to -find myself in the thick of the timber again. You don't know how I -hesitated between that homestead and this position at the mills. My -inclinations, every fiber in me reached out to that section at the -headwaters, but, of course, I needed a little more capital to start -with; that is, to carry on the developments I had in view. I am afraid, -though, it was Alice who turned the scales." He paused, smiling a -little and shaking his head. "You see I hadn't learned, then, to take -defeat, and I never could believe her refusal was final. I couldn't ask -her to bury herself up there in the wilderness." - -"You mean you asked Alice to be your wife, and she--refused. Oh, Paul, -how could she?" She rose to her feet. Her voice was low and thrilling, -and she looked at him again through springing tears. "How could she? -To--to think we have always taken so much--your best--and in return have -given you--worse than nothing." - -She held out her hands once more, and this time he took them in his -friendly grasp. "You forget," he said, with his smile of the eyes, "You -forget all I've been saying. The debt is on my side. I never can do as -much for you." - -While he said this a workman came down the path. He was the sawyer at -the mills. Her hands dropped and she stepped back to the seat she had -left. The man looked at her and then at Forrest as he passed, turning -his head slowly to prolong the stare. - -"I didn't know the mill men ever came up here," she faltered. - -"They don't, often." Forrest stood watching the curve where the man had -disappeared. "A lighter grounded on Alki Point; he has been helping to -float her. That's what took me up the trail." He began to walk in the -direction the man had gone. Presently he looked back. "I must hurry -on," he said. "Come with me, if you are ready; I would be glad to help -you down." - -She followed him in silence along the promontory. When they passed -beyond the curve another man pushed out of the thicket into the trail. -He ran with a gliding, half writhing motion to a point where a branch -track, faint, little used, dipped over the Head. He took this course, -twisting, swinging himself by low boughs, doubling where the path was -lost in a precipitous gully, and so gained the beach. He crept under -the bluff, rounding it and splashing ankle-deep in water, for the tide -was running in, until he reached the rear balcony of the old hotel. He -paused a moment, listening, with his beady eyes fixed on the walk -stretching from the main entrance; then he laid the saddle-bags which he -carried on the platform while he swung himself up. He waited another -instant,--the sea broke with a gurgle among the piles; a passing gust -set one of the doors creaking,--and picking up the empty bags he ran -through the tap-room behind the bar. He found a key, strung on a cord -around his neck, and fitted it in the new lock and opened the door. -When he came out the saddle-bags were filled, and heavy, for he made his -way up the promontory with difficulty. As he reached the summit the -stillness was again broken by the neigh of a horse. - -Forrest heard the sound faintly, while he helped Louise down the last -pitch of the trail. But again he gave it little attention, for he -noticed that the sawyer was the center of a small crowd at the corner of -the cookhouse. The whole group turned to look at these two as they -approached; curiously, as though they were strangers but just arrived. - -She raised her face to Forrest with a mute question. He felt it, though -his own gaze was directed straight ahead to the quiet harbor. The right -hand at his side clenched, twice, and the line deepened to a great cleft -between his brows. But he knew this crew and the futility of trying to -put their rough conjectures down. To call the sawyer to account was to -invite a wider notoriety, such as this woman could not endure. "I have -been a fool," he told himself; "a blind fool. My God, the shame, the -folly of it. And the most I can do is to keep it from her." - -Aloud he said, and met that question in her face with his quiet smile, -"I'm afraid that was a pretty steep grade for you; I hope the outlook up -there paid you for the climb." His glance moved then over the stacked -lumber of the mill yard, and he paused to say to a man in the crowd, -"Dickman, that pile of scantling is listing; see to it in the morning, -the first thing. And say, Johnson," he added, stopping again, "that new -chain came today; I'll give it to you, now, at the store. You'll need -it in the morning when you hoist that big red fir from the boom." - -The rowboat was waiting for the _Success_ outside the docks. The little -steamer, veering from her course, slowed down to take Stratton aboard. -He sprang lightly over the side and stood watching Mason pull away. -Then he looked shoreward. He lifted his hat and smiled at the man and -woman on the walk, and his lingering glance said, "Andromeda has found a -Perseus." - - - - - *CHAPTER XX* - - *THE GRAND COUP* - - -The _Phantom_ was becalmed. The heated atmosphere was freighted with -smoke that hung tissuelike along the shores of the Sound, showing only -the ghostly lines of the forest. The deck and the white sails -reflected, intensified the glare of the sky and the shimmering sea. The -top of the cabin and the seats were sprinkled with fine white ashes, and -flakes sifted slowly through the still air. - -"Some rancher starts his brush pile burning, or a prospector fails to -put out his camp-fire, and to pay for it, here is the whole country -ablaze; it ought to be a state's prison crime." Kingsley pulled his cap -over his cloudy brows and leaned back in his seat, tired and bored. - -Stratton, to whom the remark was addressed, made no response. He was -stretched full length on a blanket spread on a shady strip of the deck. -Like the sea, he was motionless, and a silk handkerchief, laid over his -face, outlined his features gruesomely. - -Presently Philip started erect and took off his cap. He threw it on the -seat beside him, and ran his fingers, defining wavy ridges, through his -hair. "It's no use, Stratton," he said, "I'm in a hole. Come, wake up, -I want to talk things over." - -Stratton swept aside the handkerchief and rose on his elbow. "I am -listening," he answered, "but I am afraid of this glare; it brings on -this infernal pain in my head. I must get to New York or somewhere, and -see an oculist. Anyway, what is the use of going all over the ground -again, Captain? We discussed it thoroughly yesterday and the day -before. It amounts to this,--you have plunged a little beyond your -depth. You are afraid that the mills will be attached for your own -personal debts, and when Judge Kingsley comes home, in a few weeks, he -is going to find, well, not what he expects, unless--" - -"He's going to find that I've made a tremendous mess of things," Philip -broke in. "I've got to ask him, first of all, to put up for me, and he -can't afford to. Why, he won't be able; he can't sell anything; real -estate is dead, completely; he's land-poor, like everybody else these -times. Besides, he's gone security for people; he's been ready to stake -any one who voted for him--or says he did. They've got him all tied up -in new town sites, fisheries, every sort of a scheme." - -"If my schooner had made good," said Stratton, "I would be glad to tide -you through. But that was pretty hard luck, Captain. I put my faith in -her; I could have sworn by that master and crew. And she had picked up -a fine lot of peltries, fifteen hundred prime sealskins, when she struck -that rock off Unimak Pass and went down. She cost me a good deal of -money; I was hard pressed to outfit her, and now--nothing to show for -it." - -"Too bad," answered Kingsley thoughtfully, "too bad. I guess, Mark, -we're in the same hole, together." - -There was a brief silence, then Stratton said, "There is just one way -out, Captain." - -"You mean--well, just what do you mean?" - -"I mean with your standing, your family relations, above all to Judge -Silas Kingsley, it would be perfectly safe; the _Phantom_ could go -unsuspected anywhere; carry anything. And you know every island, -current, tide-rip, shoal from Seattle to British Columbia. Then--there -is that lonely old ruin around the bluff at Freeport. Why, at high tide -you could run almost under the walls." - -Philip laughed unpleasantly. "You are reckoning without my wife. She's -the sort of woman to make it a matter of conscience and give the whole -thing away." - -"She would, I have no doubt of it, if she knew." Stratton paused a -moment, then said, "It is very unfortunate you never took that house you -talked so much about taking, in town. But how is it you never bring her -with us on a cruise, now? She used to like the water." - -A wave of color crossed Philip's open face. "See here," he said, "leave -my wife out." - -"As you like." Stratton shrugged his shoulders. "But if you had set up -that establishment in town it would have been the best thing for her, -and--for Forrest." - -"For Forrest?" - -"Yes. When two are young, you know, and have practically no other -companionship--" - -"Oh, you don't know her," Kingsley interrupted lightly; "you don't know -Forrest." - -"I know that she is a very bright and pretty woman; one of the most -interesting I ever met. The kind any man would look at twice. And -Forrest is a well set up fellow; the sort all women like. Then, too, -music is her passion, and you know what he can do with his violin; he -makes it a voice; it speaks for him." - -"Paul is a good fellow," answered Philip, growing annoyed; "one in a -hundred; a man you can trust. I've known him all my life." - -"Possibly," said Stratton, "possibly, but when you have a man to deal -with, it is safer to appraise him as such and not as a saint. But, -Captain, leaving Mrs. Kingsley out, there is some one I could put in -charge of it--there at the ruin. He is familiar with the network of -by-ways south and east to the Cascades; under pressure he can travel on -his own trail. He could carry the stuff from the top of Duwamish Head -by horse, directly to that lodge of mine up the Nisqually. The country -there is so rough, so full of natural hiding-places, above all it is so -far from the border, it could be cached indefinitely, until I was able -to dispose of it in lots at Portland. Or, I had rather convey it in -large amounts over the Pass to the Palouse wilderness, and board an -east-bound train on the Columbia, somewhere, with a view to making a -hunting trip to the Yellowstone. It could be easily forwarded in the -camp outfit, and so on to Chicago--perhaps New York." - -"You seem to have it pretty well planned," said Kingsley dryly. - -Stratton met his look steadily. "I have," he answered. - -"Great Scott. Great Scott, it's true, then. Forrest was right; Bates -was right; you are connected with that ring." - -Stratton smiled. "I admit I once served an apprenticeship." - -"You once served an apprenticeship?" repeated Philip quickly. "You mean -you are now able to conduct one of your own. And--you know a man who -can take charge of the dope at that old hotel. See here, tell me this, -have you tried the experiment there, already?" - -Stratton nodded his head. "Several times. I had to, Captain. It was -my only way to make the final payments on my schooner; she cost me more -than I expected; and I had to outfit her." - -"What I want to know is, did you smuggle any of the stuff over on my -yacht?" - -Again Stratton nodded. "You see how well the scheme worked. You never -suspected it." - -"I could inform on you," said Kingsley hotly. "I will do it, by George, -the first time I see Bates." - -"No,"--Stratton watched his victim's face,--"you will not, Captain, when -you stop to think." - -"Why not?" - -"Because you yourself would be implicated." - -Instantly Kingsley was on his feet. His brilliant eyes flashed. But -while he expressed his indignation Stratton remained in his lounging -position, smiling, mocking, almost indifferent. "I would like to know, -though," said Philip at last, with tempered heat, "just how you would -settle the question of the purchase price at Victoria." - -Then Stratton rose and came over to the helm. "Leave that with me, -Captain," he said. "Understand, all you've got to do is to run the -_Phantom_; nothing else concerns you. And I promise to hurry the -business through, and see you out of the hole, with firm ground to stand -on, in one grand coup." - -Kingsley was silent. Presently he went forward into the bows, and stood -looking off to where the silver smoke film met the shining sea. Finally -his lips breathed a whistle. Stratton had taken his place at the -tiller. He lighted a cigar and settled himself comfortably, but his -eyes were fixed watchfully on the man forward. It was the look of a -gambler who has staked high, and is sure, yet not sure of his -antagonist. - -At last a shadow cut the Sound far out, northward; the streak broadened, -the mainsail flapped loosely, and the _Phantom_ heeled to the sudden -flaw. Kingsley sprang to the sheets. The gust passed but was followed -by another, veering westerly, and another still, that steadied to a -freshening breeze. - -Philip came back to the helm. "Well," he said, "it looks like Seattle -to-night, after all; dinner, perhaps, at the Arlington." - -But Stratton, looking in his companion's face, started a little, and -with his hand still on the tiller, swung the _Phantom_ slowly around, -shaping a course for Victoria. - -They did not dine in Seattle that night, but the next evening found them -at _table d'hote_ in the English city. Later, in the long northern -twilight, the little yacht crept out of the winding harbor and coasted -the island northward to an obscure, forest-girt cove, where she came to -anchor. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXI* - - *HIDE AND SEEK* - - -An hour after the _Phantom_ left her moorings in Victoria harbor, Bates, -of the United States Customs, reported to his superior officer on board -the cutter at anchor in the stream. When he had finished with the -matter on which he had been detailed, he stopped to state that on his -way through Chinatown he had noticed Stratton entering the house of a -certain merchant and highbinder. "And," he continued, "returning, -probably two hours later, my attention was attracted to a coolie who -came out of the same place. He carried the baskets of a vegetable -vender, suspended from the usual shoulder pole, but it was singular -that, at the close of the day, and so far from the Chinese garden tracts -in the suburbs, from which he must have been supplied,--those baskets -should be full. I was walking in the same direction, and, at the end of -the second block, a second fellow came up the cross street and fell in -behind. His baskets also were heaped, apparently with produce, to the -brim. They moved away in their swinging trot, more and more rapidly, -and so bent on a direct course, that I felt justified in taking a hansom -and following. On the edge of the town they turned out of the main -thoroughfare, which would have led them to the gardens, and entered a -little used trail; what seemed to be a short cut through the forest to -some obscure harbor on the coast. I could go no farther in the cab, -but, coming back by the park road, I saw from a height of Beacon Hill, -which overlooks the channel, a small yacht with the lines and rigging of -the _Phantom_, stealing up the shore." - -This self-imposed task had delayed Bates an extra hour, during which he -had held the cutter, which was under steam and ready to make the run -across the Straits to the American port of entry. But his commanding -officer accepted the information without comment. However, when the -revenue boat had steamed out of the Arm, headed for her home port, he -remained on the bridge, searching with his binoculars, first the -Vancouver coast astern, and then, slowly, the great reach of running -sea, that stretched away to the distant and tawny pall which hung over -the American side and showed the vast sweep of the forest fires. - -There was a strong wind, drawing in from the Pacific, and the little -steamer labored in an ugly trough. When she staggered, quartering, up a -mother wave, she plunged down, and half seas over, in the next crest. -She made her harbor, decks streaming, port light stove in, at midnight, -and, after a brief stop and slight repairs, she was under way again, -moving southward into the smoke. Finally, at the end of several hours, -she was brought to, and, under slow bells, began to patrol a certain -course. - -The smoke gathered density. It was permeated with a lurid glare, and, -driven by cross winds, it moved around a center, enfolding the cutter -with the effect of a vast, brassy, electrical cloud. It was also a -place of conflicting seas. The long, white, wicked fingers of a -tide-rip reached out ceaselessly, and withdrew to the center of the -whirlpool. The moon hung like a crimson lantern directly above and cast -a red trail through the vortex. Then suddenly, while the little steamer -skirted, listing to the maelstrom, a great gust tore the smoke asunder -and Foulweather Bluff loomed through the rift. At the same moment a -small yacht, under full sail bore down upon the headland. - -The next instant she veered and coming around in the narrow space -between the cutter and the cliff, raced out, all but grazing the side of -the steamer, and heeled to the whirlpool. Her great mainsail dipped -lower and lower; the white fingers of the tide-rip clutched at it, -caught it, held it, dragged it slowly in. The decks were awash. Then -the grip of the maelstrom relaxed; the little craft righted, shivering; -her canvas filled with a big gust from the Straits and she swung away -into the night. - -It all happened very swiftly, and the smoke closed in, curtaining -Foulweather, with a greater density. Bates, who was on the bridge, had -seen that the yacht carried no headlight, and he had recognized clearly, -one of the two men who sailed her. The face of the first was hidden, -for he leaned, straining every muscle, on the stumbling helm; but the -second stood on the slanting deck, bracing his back on the canting -cabin, alert, watchful, like a man on guard. His glance was raised to -the steamer's bridge, and fixing his eyes on the inspector, his right -hand crept to his hip pocket. There was no doubt; he was Stratton. And -even while the little vessel hovered on the edge of the maelstrom, the -officer gave the command to back, turn, go ahead. The cutter was in hot -pursuit. Directly the gun on her port bow boomed through the thick -atmosphere. No response. Again the report rang peremptory, -threatening. And still no answer. - -At daybreak the steamer doubled back on her course and headed for the -lower end of Whidby Island, which divides the Sound into two long broad -channels. She patrolled this point for a long interval, and finally the -lookout saw the bowsprit and rigging of a small yacht detach from the -gray pall that shrouded the west passage. But instantly she swung away -from the cutter and vanished like a phantom in the smoke. Once more the -gun thundered a halt; and once more the silence was broken only by the -noise of the ship's machinery, and the breaking of the sea on the -cutwater. The revenue vessel steamed on under slow bells toward -Seattle. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII* - - *FOR LITTLE SILAS* - - -The lamps across the harbor began to show red spots through the smoke; -the nearer lights on the landings of the mills, and at the ends of the -wharves, shone with pale rings around their disks. With twilight a fog -was creeping in. The burning slab-pile sent up its great tongues of -flame against the blackness of the bluff, and became a beacon for such -craft as groped along the Head, feeling a way to the city. It -illuminated the usual groups of workmen, and singled out the old -watchman's square figure. He was seated on a block, shaping a miniature -boat for little Silas, and the child, standing by his knee, with his -hands clasped loosely behind him, awaited the results with grave -interest. - -The boy's mother had just left him, with permission to stay until the -toy was finished. She felt the increasing dampness in the air, but she -stopped at her gate, shrinking from the silence of the house, and looked -back to the group at the fire. Presently she turned and walked slowly -in the direction of the old hotel. The swell broke with a long tramp -and swash at the foot of the bluff, for it was flood-tide. In dark -places, where the water ruffled about the piers, there were flashes of -phosphorous light. Louise watched it, leaning from the railing. It was -a light she loved. She liked, too, those night voices of the sea. They -intruded on her loneliness with a mild insistence; in sympathy, yet -expostulation. - -But it was at such times she most excused Philip. "Men seldom are as -constant as women," she told herself. "Marriage to them can never mean -as much. Our work, our whole living must hinge on it; every hour is -shaped to it; but with them it is only a halt at the end of the day." - -She lifted her glance and started erect. She brushed her clouding eyes -and stood staring out into the thick atmosphere. Something loomed there -from the sea. It was the bowsprit and forward rigging of a small -vessel, close in beyond the walls of the ruin. There was a familiar dip -in the lines of the loosely furled jib. "The _Phantom_," she exclaimed. -"She has missed the landing in the smoke." And she hurried up the -approach to the front entrance and on through the empty bar-room to the -rear balcony. - -But the hail that sprang to her lips failed, and she shrank back into -the shadow of the interior. This craft carried no lights. There was no -stir of landing; none of the excitement of going unintentionally -aground. Instead there was a great hush, strange, sinister. Then, -while Louise wavered, afraid of she knew not what, a tender pushed out -from the side, and was pulled with muffled oars to the ruin. She heard -the bow touch the piling, and the two men in her stood up, head and -shoulders above the platform. But the light was too uncertain for her -to determine whether or not one was Philip, and she withdrew farther -into the room. - -They lifted some bulky object, apparently a trunk, up to the balcony, -She lacked the courage to stay and meet them, and she ran softly through -to the walk, but there she wavered again. It flashed over her that if -this were not Philip it might mean some peril to the mills; something -that Forrest should know about. She went back and concealed herself -behind the bar. It was very dark there, and she dropped to her knees, -creeping under and drawing her skirts close. - -The men brought their burden in, walking with the crunching sound made -by rubber boots. They came behind the bar to the tap-room door and set -the chest down, while one felt in his pocket for a key, and groping, -found the lock. It seemed, in that strained silence, they must hear the -thumping of her heart. They went in and left the chest and came out -directly, closing and relocking the door. But as the key was withdrawn -it fell with a muffled clink to the floor. She knew that it rested -partly on the edge of her skirt but she dared not stir. She remained -crouching, on her knees, another breathless interminable moment, then -one said impatiently, "I've left my match-safe on board." - -She knew that quick, incautious voice, and yet she could not master her -unreasoning terror. It was Philip, but Philip shrouded in mystery; and -the Philip she had known, with all his faults, had been open, above -concealment, clear as day. - -"Hush, you don't want any matches here," the other answered softly, and -he dropped to his knees, feeling the floor. "Never mind," he said, -rising, "Smith has the duplicate. Come, we must get away." - -Louise waited, listening, until the tender pushed off, then she took the -key and rose from her cramped position. She walked unsteadily around the -bar and stopped, supporting herself on it for a moment. She was facing -the dim square of light that marked the rear entrance, and she saw the -mast of the little vessel rising tall and spectral through the gloom. -Then presently her jib unfolded, her mainsail ran up, and she stood away -and like a phantom dissolved in the smoke. - -Louise turned and walked to the front door and on down towards her gate. -Her fingers locked and unlocked over the key. "It was Philip," she told -herself. "He comes here to the mills, secretly, at night, where he is -master, and puts something in hiding. And I--I dared not speak to him. -I crept like a coward--out of sight. I had done nothing--wrong--and yet -I was--afraid." - -Little Silas was waiting with Mason at the gate. She stopped in the -light of the slab-fire to admire the fine lines of the finished boat. -The old sailor stumped away radiant, and she went in with the child and -lighted the swinging lamp and set the crimson shade. She drew the -blinds and seated herself in the low wicker chair by the open fire to -give the boy his hour. But afterwards, when he had been tucked snugly -in his bed and she came back to the room, she took the key from her -pocket and studied it, turning it slowly in her hands, as though she -expected to find in it some difference from other keys; some clue to -that mystery in the tap-room. There was a lurking dread in her eyes; -lines settled at the corners of her sweet mouth. "The other man was Mr. -Stratton," she said at last. "And some one else has the duplicate. Oh, -I don't understand. I don't understand." - -She returned the key to her pocket and went over to the piano. But she -played mechanically, in fragments. Why had the tap-room been fitted with -a strong lock? What was this terrible thing Philip had brought ashore? -Awful crimes she had read of in newspapers flashed through her mind. -What did this chest contain? She rose and began to walk the floor. - -Suddenly the great silence that hung over the mills at night was broken -by a hoarse whistle. The color went from her lips. Her body rocked -slowly; she stood locking and unlocking her slender hands. The echo -died along the bluff. She drew a great breath. "Why," she said, and -laughed mirthlessly, "it is only one of the tugs; the _Tyee_ probably, -coming in for wood or water." - -But her hand stole to her pocket and closed over the key. She went to -the front door and stood alert, listening, on the piazza, straining her -eyes to define the lines of the steamer which was making her landing in -the mingled smoke and fog. "Of course it's one of the tugs," she -repeated, and walked the length of the porch, hurriedly, and halted, -again listening. - -The few men who had lingered near the slab-fire commenced to go down to -the dock. She watched their figures grow dimmer, until they were only -moving shadows in the thick atmosphere. The moon, rising above the -lower, heavier strata, began to show a crimson run. Then, after a -while, she heard Forrest's step on the walk. She went to the steps to -meet him. She saw that two men waited a few yards behind him at the -branch walk. - -He followed her into the hall, and pushing the door to, stood with his -hand on the knob. "The revenue cutter is here," he said. "The -inspectors think they have located dope. They are coming in here, now, -to go through the house." He paused, looking down into her white face. -"I tried my best to prevent it," he added, "but they will do it very -quietly. One of them is my friend Bates. You have nothing to fear." - -But the terror grew in her eyes. She made an effort to speak, but the -words failed her. She shaped her lips again. It was hardly more than a -whisper. "What did you say they were looking for?" - -"Opium. It generally is opium, and of course it's just a matter of form -to come in here. A man is detailed to go through the mills and he makes -a clean sweep of every building." - -She caught the sound of the clicking gate. "Paul," she said, "make some -excuse for me. Do it. Stay yourself, and light them through the rooms. -Delay them if you can." - -She turned and ran through the hall, and pausing to snatch up Mason's -candle and matches at the back door, ran out around the house to the -walk, in the moment Forrest admitted the officers. - -It did not seem strange to Forrest that she had wished to avoid these -men; he, himself, had felt the humiliation of their visit, for, though -it was not remarkable that suspicion should have fallen on any of that -rough Freeport crew, it was carrying the matter pretty far to include -Mrs. Kingsley's home. He had asked the inspectors to exempt it, but -Bates had replied, "I'm sorry, but the fact is, Forrest, that's the -place I'm detailed specially to search." And what had she meant by -"Delay them if you can?" - -He took a lamp and lighted the officers through the rooms. Little Silas -wakened and sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. He saw these men open -his mother's bureau, drawer after drawer, and thrust their hands through -her things, and he turned to Forrest for explanation. But the young man -stood back, waiting in silence, with frowning brows. - -There was no one on the walk when Louise hurried to the ruin. The fog -and smoke had become very dense along the front of the bluff, but the -moonlight filtered through enough to show objects, with the -indistinctness of wet nights. The walls of the hotel loomed out of the -pall, lonesomely. The floor complained at her tread. She went quickly -behind the bar, and drawing the key from her pocket, found the lock. -Inside the tap-room she lighted the candle. The floor was strewn with -sand, dust, pebbles and bits of broken board. The tide still swashed -under the worm-eaten planks; they shook at her step. - -She put the candle down and tried to move the chest. It yielded slowly -to her straining effort. Her first impulse had been to drag it through -to the rear balcony and push it over into the sea, but she had not -considered its weight. She locked the door and stood briefly scanning -the floor. The short, uneven strips were rotting about the old -nail-heads, which in places had worked up from the boards. There were -widening cracks where ends joined. She knelt down and tried to start -some of these rusty nails, but they were firmer than they looked. She -moved from one to another in growing haste, still on her knees, and -tugged at the stubborn iron with her tender hands. The jagged roughness -tore her fingers, imbedding splinters at every wrench. She reached a -looser nail. Her renewed effort forced the wood around it, and she -began to use it as a claw, prying and digging faster and faster, working -out the next. Presently she was able to lift this plank, and she used it -as a lever under the second, bearing gradually with increasing weight. -It gave without breaking and she laid it aside while she raised a third -strip. There was an increased rush of air. The flickering candle-flame -was snuffed out. Still the light from the high window showed the chest, -and she dragged it to the aperture. It fell slanting, and caught in the -flooring. At the same instant some one outside tried the tap-room door. - -She grasped the chest with the strength of desperation. It slowly -righted and went through. The tide closed over it with a deeper swash. - -Again she heard that cautious noise. Some one was trying to force a key -in the lock. It was obstructed by the one she had left there, and the -attempt was followed by a muttered curse. She laid the planks back in -their order, and brushing the sand and pebbles hastily over them, rose, -panting, and faced the door. There was no further disturbance, but the -room suddenly darkened. She turned, lifting her eyes to the high window, -and saw against the light the head of a man. It appeared briefly and -moved down, but she caught the brutish profile. It was the face that -had once alarmed her, peering into her room out of the night. - -She threw the door open, and relocking it from the outside, ran swiftly -through the bar-room and down the walk. Presently she glanced back -fearfully, but the man had not followed, and she paused to hurl the key -and the candle far out in the tide. - -As she approached her gate she saw that Forrest was waiting at the foot -of the piazza steps, while the inspectors came along the side of the -house from the rear. They moved slowly, prodding the sawdust and -planking that built up the yard, and she hoped to gain the porch before -they came that far. But they met her while she was still on the walk. -Bates swept her with his keen glance, but the lantern, which the other -man was adjusting, flashed that moment full in his face, and, blinded, -he passed without stopping her, going in the direction of the ruin. - -Forrest saw her and stood holding the gate. The slab-fire suddenly -burst into brighter flame. It showed him clearly the stains of earth -and brine upon her gown; the grime of dust and moisture on her worn -face. She raised her hand to ward off his look, and her sleeve, rent to -the elbow, fell back from her beautiful forearm, baring a long deep, -bleeding hurt, ploughed there by the brass-bound end of the falling -chest. "Louise, Louise," he said. "What is it? Tell me." - -She pushed him aside and went up the steps. - -"Trust me," he said. "Let me help you." - -"No," she answered, "No. Don't ask me." Then she turned and looked -down at him, and through the anguish in her eyes he saw the old -heart-breaking appeal. "I--I did it--for--little Silas." Her voice -broke in a great tearless sob. She went in and closed the door. - -After a moment Forrest turned and followed the officers around to the -ruin. As he approached he heard the sound of blows. What wall had they -found to require such battering? He was there in time to see the hinges -of the old tap-room door wrenched out of the soft wood. It fell inward, -starting a cloud of dust from the rotting floor. Bates stepped on it, -and flashed his lantern over the interior. His keen eyes swept the -empty place and came back to meet the glance of the other inspector. He -laughed. "Well, Bates," he said, "I guess we're fooled." - -Bates's eyes moved to the fallen door. "This lock was put on this room -for a purpose," he said. "And the _Phantom_ could land almost under -these walls at high tide. She may be stumbling around out there now, -feeling her way in through the smoke." - -"The _Phantom_?" Forrest started. He leaned an instant on the bar -behind him, then he pulled himself erect and stood staring into the -empty tap-room. The lantern shining in his face showed it hard and gray -with the deepening furrow cleaving his brows. "The _Phantom_ was here," -he told himself. "The stuff was left in there--and _she_--knew it. She -concealed it, moved it, somehow, while those men were at the house." - -Bates turned and looked at him. "I suppose, Forrest," he said, "you -can't account for this lock? You could hardly think of using this old -ruin for storage purposes." - -"No, no." His voice rang. He met the inspector's look clearly, with -his quick, upward fling of the head. "I ought to know all about it, but -I never saw it before. My work kept me in the other direction, at the -mills." - -"Of course," said Bates slowly, "of course, as I thought. I've simply -got to patrol this beach, to-night, and wait for daylight to pick up a -clue." - -Forrest walked with the officers back towards the cutter. "I should have -known about that lock," he told himself. "I should have found out why -that horse was up there on the bluff that day. I should have learned -what brought Stratton here alone. A little investigation would have -shown how things were going. I might have kept Philip out of the -scheme; brought things to a climax in time." - -When the trio made the turn in the bluff that shut them off from a view -of the ruin, Smith swung himself down from the rear balcony to the rim -of beach which the ebbing tide had bared. He groped under the stringers -and found a dark lantern, which he lighted and held beneath the -building. It showed the top of the chest above the water, and he pushed -along between the wall and the bluff to the side of the tap-room, and -dipped under the floor. Presently he emerged, dragging the chest. He -stooped and lifted, worked it on to his shoulder, and went splashing -knee-deep and waist-deep in hollows, around to the western exposure of -the headland. When it seemed accessible he used his lantern again and -found the path. A short distance up he wormed himself, crouching, -through a tangle of hazel and salal and reached a little spur flanked by -an old cedar snag. - -He put his burden down, and by the light of his lantern took two pairs -of saddle-bags from the hollow heart of the trunk, and filled them with -the contents of the chest. What remained he put into a coarse sack. -Then he picked up the empty chest and ran back a pace or two and hurled -it out into the tide. He waited, listening, but he heard only the rush -and ebb of the sea, and he returned to the cedar, and taking the -weighted bags on his shoulders, pushed on up to the summit. - -He stopped there, gathering breath. The ledge where he stood seemed to -run shelf wise along an abyss. The mingled fog and smoke gave immensity -to the distance below. He bent his head, listening again, and caught -faintly the voice of the sea, nothing more. Then suddenly out of the -night behind him there came a gentle nicker. His big lips broke in a -leer. He ran, groping along the ridge trail to his horse. - -He threw the bags across his saddle and stopped to fold the sack inside -his blanket, which he carried rolled at the crupper. Then he moved away -up the ridge, running afoot with the horse. Once he swung himself up -behind the load for a brief interval, while he gathered wind, but he was -down again directly and slipping over the ground with the same ease. - -Finally he halted. Out of the stillness he heard the sound of hoofs -crossing a bridge. He fell to his knees an instant with his ear to the -ground, and when he rose his lips again broke in their horrible leer. -He moved on to a point where the trail cut a thoroughfare, and, -presently, Stratton joined him. He took one pair of the saddlebags with -him on the chestnut, and Smith mounted and they rode on together in the -direction of the Nisqually. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIII* - - *"AS LONG AS WE TWO LIVE"* - - -Forrest stood on the upper landing of the mills. It was hardly midday -and the air was charged with the singing and buzzing of saws and the -rumble of the tramway. The town across the harbor was hidden in the -thick pall, and the sun hung overhead a blood-red ball. Ashes and -cinders fell everywhere; one breathed, tasted smoke. - -The cutter, which had steamed over to the town during the night, had -returned and was lying at the lower wharf, and Forrest was watching -Bates. He had stayed to patrol the mills but had gone aboard when the -steamer arrived, and had now come over the gangway and was walking up -from the dock. Presently he mounted the stairs to the landing, but the -manager did not turn, and he came over and stood by him, looking off -into the smoke. "Of course, Forrest," he said at last, "you think a lot -of the Judge. You are under obligations to him." - -"I think a great deal of him, yes." Forrest gave the inspector a level -look. "He is one of the best friends I ever had; but 'obligations' is -hardly the word." He paused, looking off again into the smoke, then -said, "Judge Kingsley is able to meet and brave through--what he must. -It's Kingsley's wife I've got to think of. You don't know her, Bates." -He paused, steadying his voice. "She has the old, rigorous New England -sense of duty; the blood and principles of generations of Puritans are -condensed in her. And yet she is so gentle, so sweet--but you can't -understand without seeing her." - -"I see," said Bates slowly, "I see. But, Forrest, suppose Kingsley is -left out of this, could you put us on Stratton's track?" - -Forrest swung around. "You ought to know, Bates, I'm not that sort of a -man. And she--isn't that kind of a woman. She would wring the misery -out of a thing like this, as no other woman would, and suffer the shame -of it all her life,--but the expiation would mean something to her. She -could stand the disgrace better, when it came to it, than covered -guilt." - -"I understand all that, Forrest,"--Bates lifted his hand with a sweeping -gesture that dismissed that side of the question,--"but it's this way: -the _Phantom_ was at her moorings over there at Seattle, when the cutter -ran across last night. The captain boarded her immediately, and found -Kingsley sleeping like a kid in his cabin below. Stratton had come up -from Victoria with him, yes, but he had gone ashore. He couldn't tell -just where he was at that time, but he usually put up at the Arlington. -And, yes, they had run pretty close to Foulweather Bluff, just as we -saw, and he was sorry about the matter of the headlight,--the glass had -smashed in and he hadn't the chance to rig another,--but he was ready if -they had come to collect the fine. And of course he had heard the -cutter's salute, but it was too great a risk to bring the _Phantom_ -around in the smoke; we had just come mighty near a collision. Then, -when the captain told him he would have to make a thorough search of the -yacht, he sat coolly advising him where to look. Hadn't he better cut -up the cushions? He never had been certain what was inside. And there -was a place on the port side that had always sounded a little hollow. -They would find a hatchet in that locker if they wanted to rip off a few -boards. In short, Forrest, there was absolutely nothing to show, beyond -the fact that the _Phantom_ brought over our man. But, whatever -Kingsley knows, or doesn't know, I must get on Stratton's track right -away. That thoroughbred which he usually keeps in the Arlington stables -when he is in town is gone; and that's about the only clue I have to -work on." - -"Then," said Forrest, with another level look, "if I were you I would go -up to the top of this bluff and look around." - -Bates started. A sudden understanding leaped in his face. - -"And," continued Forrest, "if I happened to miss my trail anywhere up -the ridge, I think I would shape a course straight through to a -shooting-box he owns, up the Nisqually." - -"Thank you for that, Forrest," Bates grasped his hand warmly, "thank -you. When you went into the milling business the Government lost the -chance of a mighty good man." - -He turned with this and ran lightly down the stairs. A moment later the -noon whistle sounded and the workmen began to come out on the landing. -Forrest stood waiting while Bates hurried back to the cutter. A small -vessel moved out from the shrouded city front, her set jib showing -lighter in the dense grayness, and like a spectre drifted towards the -mills. But Forrest saw her absently. He was thinking that he must go -over to the little dining-room. Louise had not met him there at the -usual breakfast hour, but she would hardly miss the midday meal. Young -Silas would make it necessary for her to come. And he must sit there, -passively, as though nothing had occurred, while she was in such -desperate straits. How could he look into her face? How could he crush -down any longer what he thought of Philip? What he hoped for Stratton? -The recollection of him, his handsome, mocking face, his fascination, -incredible power over Kingsley, most of all his responsibility for the -wrecked life of this sweet woman, made his muscles tingle, and sent the -blood with a rush through his veins. It was the passion of a strong and -much-enduring man brought to his limit. His arms ached for physical -contact. Some day, soon, he would like to set his hands on Stratton in -one tremendous, unforgettable grip. - -But Louise was not coming to the dining-room. Little Silas, mounting -the stairs with Mason, was saying so. His "muvver" was not hungry; she -was going to have some tea at home. But he was ready, and he had told -Sing to watch, and when he saw him coming with Uncle Paul, to bring in -the soup. - -Forrest went over to the dining-room with the boy, and a little later -the _Phantom_ swung in to her wharf. Kingsley came ashore and went -directly up the walk to his house. His wife did not meet him at the -door. He did not find her in the parlor. Of course she was at lunch, -or was it dinner here at the mills? He sat down to the piano and ran -his fingers over the keys. Presently the noise brought her into the -room, and he looked up with a nod and smile, drumming on to the end of -his tune. Then he wheeled around on the stool and rose to his feet. -"Well, Louise," he said, "I have good news for you." She received his -kiss on her cheek, at which he laughed, and putting his hand under her -chin, compelled her sweet lips. "We are going home to Olympia." - -He waited for her to speak, but she did not. She only stood locking and -unlocking her slim hands, and looking at him with tragic, circle-rimmed -eyes. "You'll be glad to get away from Freeport," he added. - -"Yes," she answered slowly, "I shall be very--glad--to leave Freeport; I -am going--but not to Olympia; not with you." - -"You are not going to Olympia, Louise? Not with me?" - -"That is what I said." Her breast heaved and she went on with apparent -effort. "We made a--terrible mistake; I have known it for a long time. -Still, I believed we could live out our lives together--for the sake of -little Silas." - -"Do you mean--our marriage, Louise? Do you think that was a mistake?" - -"Yes." Her face grew very white, and she put one hand on a table, -leaning a little on the support. - -His own face clouded. It was the way of this man to value things -according to the difficulty of possession; and he found himself suddenly -shaken by a new and strange tenderness for his wife, while at the same -time he felt a swift and bitter suspicion. He turned and walked the -floor, retracing his steps, and going the length of the room again. "It -is true, then," he said. "It is true." - -"What is true?" - -"What Stratton told me. This thing the mill-hands are bruiting about." -She started and stood quivering from head to foot, and he added slowly, -watching her, "This story about you and Paul." - -She did not speak directly. She was like one brutally struck. Then -infinite contempt rose in her face; her deep eyes flamed, and her voice, -when she found speech, took its contralto notes. "You say that. You. -When you know the situation was thrust upon him. When you, yourself, -left me alone with our baby, in this rough milling camp, for weeks -together, with no possible protection but his. Think of it. When I -told you I was afraid, you asked him to see that the house had special -watch at night; when I said that I missed you, you asked him to bring -his violin and spend his evenings with me; even when Si's hard illness -came, it was not you who shared my anxiety; it was not you who quieted -him, carried him in your strong arms. No, it was not you, but Paul -Forrest. And he saved--little Silas; you know he risked his own life for -him." Her voice broke. "Oh, you must see that he was forced into it; -you must. He had enough else to do--but--you left him no alternative." - -"I left him no alternative? Well, I own it. But you, Louise, come, out -with it. It's true. You do love him." - -"No," and her voice thrilled him, "No. When a woman is married and has -her little child--to think of, she doesn't turn so easily to--other -loves." - -At this he began to walk the floor again. She watched him with lifted -head and flaming eyes. - -"I wonder," he said, stopping suddenly and regarding her with a touch of -humor in his face, "I wonder if you think I don't care anything for -you." - -"Yes, you have led me to think so." - -He laughed aloud. "Why, I couldn't care that," he snapped his fingers, -"for any other woman. I couldn't love any woman but you. Don't you -know it, Sweetheart?" He put his arm around her, drawing her head -against his shoulder. "Come, say you forgive me." - -But she drew away, freeing herself desperately with her two arms. His -own fell. She moved back and the step was immeasurable space between -them. "No," she said. "No. Do not ask it." - -He took another turn across the floor, uncertainly, his hands seeking -his pockets. "Tell me this," he said quietly, stopping before her. "Is -there something else? Something more than--well--my neglect. Something -I don't know about." - -"How can I tell you?" She pressed her hands to her head and let them -fall, meeting his look. "Your way of loving has never been my way. I -could never make you understand how much I cared for you. You were -everything to me, Philip; everything. I worshipped you. To have you -indifferent, away, to lose you as I did, was to have nothing. But I -still could teach Silas to respect you, to believe in you. No slight, -no neglect of me could make me doubt you in--other ways. You were a man -of honor among men; you had your place--until--last night." - -His glance wavered while she spoke. He felt an unaccountable weakness, -a sudden tightness at the throat, and he reached back to a chair behind -him and sank down. - -"Philip," she said, "how could you do it? How--could--you?" Tears -rushed to her eyes; she brushed them impatiently away. "Think of it. -To lend the _Phantom_, that clean, white yacht, to an opium smuggler; to -make him your companion, friend; to be his willing tool. Oh, the shame -of it! The shame of it! How could you?" - -He dropped his face in his hands. He felt suddenly that a court of -justice might be more merciful than this proud, sweet, unrelenting -woman. Then he made an effort to pull himself together. "I see," he -said, "you saw the revenue boat and you accepted Forrest's version. The -captain of the cutter would have told you different. There is some -suspicion hanging over Stratton, I admit, and those inspectors were -looking for the _Phantom_, in fact they boarded her, merely because he -happened to make the cruise with me over from Victoria. They of course -found nothing." - -"No," she said slowly, "they found--nothing." There was a brief -silence, then she went on. "I was there, in the old hotel, when you -landed. I often walked that way when the house seemed -too--unbearably--lonely. I liked the sounds of the tide. I believed, at -first, the _Phantom_ had missed the dock in the smoke; then I thought it -might be another boat, and some secret plot going on about the mills; -something Paul should know. I am not a very brave woman, as you have -often said, and I crept under the bar to wait. I was even afraid when I -knew it was you. The key you dropped fell on my skirt. Afterwards, when -the cutter came, I understood. And while the inspectors searched -through these rooms, I went back to the ruin and lifted enough of the -floor to get--the chest--through." - -"You did that? Oh, Louise, Louise!" He dropped his face again in his -hands. He saw in a flash the magnitude of what she had done; the -terrible moral as well as the physical effort it had cost her. But he -felt more, in that bitter moment, that it was to her, the one in all the -world from whom he had most cared to hide his dishonor, he owed his -salvation. "Oh, Louise," he repeated, "and you did it for me." - -"No." Her voice rang. "No. I did it for little Silas; to save him the -disgrace. I am going to take him away, where the smallest hint or -suspicion can never reach him. But I will not have a divorce--unless you -wish." And the break in her voice, the white stillness of her face more -than her words convinced him. - -He rose to his feet. "The scheme was all Mark Stratton's," he said. -"He took advantage of my being in a tight place. He promised to assume -the whole risk; let him shoulder the disgrace." - -She was silent. - -"Louise," he said desperately, "you can't be so hard. I know what I did. -I know there isn't the shadow of excuse for me, but you can't be so -hard. You don't mean a separation. You are only trying me. Fix a -limit; give me a certain time to prove myself. Give me some sort of -hope, Louise." - -He was very handsome at that moment. He possessed great personal -magnetism; his emotion softened his voice and the brilliancy of his -black eyes. He came a step towards her, opening his arms impetuously. -"I will do anything you say, Sweetheart; only don't leave me." - -She stood shrinking against the table. "I could never respect -myself--again," she said slowly, with manifest effort, "unless--you -accepted your share of the atonement; and--my own confession--would -follow; but--little Silas--would begin life--handicapped." - -"Silas. Well, it's all right, put him first; I deserve it. But count in -old Si, too; it would cut him pretty bad. After all, we are in the same -boat. Let us forget it and make a new start." Her face was very white; -her body rocked. He thought that she was falling. He took her in his -arms. "Sweetheart," he said, "don't send me away; I love you so." - -But she laid her palms against his breast, holding herself aloof. His -arms fell. "Then make it a probation," he pleaded. "I will be good. -Promise me you will come back--in a year." - -She shook her head. She was almost past speaking. She braced herself -with her hand on the table again, her whole body trembling. "No," she -said at last, "no. Please go; don't say any more. It must be -separation--nothing less--as long as we two live!" - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIV* - - *"A MAN OF STRAW"* - - -Smith, having slower horses and the bulk of the outfit, started for the -Pass at daybreak, with the understanding that Stratton would overtake -him at the crossing of the Nisqually; and it was hardly two hours later -that the thoroughbred forded the Des Chutes above the lodge, and, -followed by a pack-animal, made a sharp ascent to the rock tower, where -his master halted to load the remainder of the cache. - -The forest fires that had been the salvation of the _Phantom_, had -proved a disadvantage on the road from Seattle. The two horsemen had -been forced to make wide detours around blazing timber; sometimes the -trail was lost in the charred ruins of burned out tracts, and arriving -at the ranch where Stratton had expected to pick up pack-animals, they -found the buildings completely wiped away, and all signs of humanity and -life gone. But Smith annulled these delays by starting a red trail -backward from the Nisqually plains through the untouched woods they had -travelled; cutting off any chance of pursuit for several days. - -Stratton had been further handicapped by the pain in his head, which the -heat and glare brought on with increasing violence. There were moments -when riding became impossible, and he threw himself from the saddle, -prone on the earth, to wait for harder paroxysms to pass. But as they -approached the headwaters, they came into the shade of clean, unbroken -timber; the smoke decreased to scarcely more than a haze, and, while -Smith pressed Laramie to forage for the necessary pack-horses, Stratton -was able to allow himself twenty-four hours of absolute rest, induced by -a few drops of the mixture he had learned to use in the solitude of his -lodge, and this put him on his feet again. - -Still he made slow progress down the rough path from the tower that -morning, and even when he struck the main trail he halted repeatedly, -like a man of two minds. Finally he wheeled and, encumbered by the -pack-horse, which led indifferently, paced back, and turned into a -by-way that brought him into the school branch. He held Sir Donald at a -walk and studied the ground, until, though he noticed Mose's footprints -in a moist place, he was satisfied the black had not yet passed. -Presently he stopped, listening. The track, there, doubled a trunk of -great girth; a hollow cedar stump, roofed like an arbor by the branches -of young alders, which also screened a break in the inner wall, like a -curtain before a door. - -The sound became a brisk and steady lope. To this man, who had waited -for it often, who was accustomed to read the individuality of horses as -a psychologist studies men, it was unmistakable. He backed the -pack-animal into the salal, and held the thoroughbred in, while Colonel, -falling to a gentle pace, rounded the curve and came to a playful -standstill. - -"Good morning." Alice's glance moved from Stratton to the laden -pack-horse. "But it looks like good-by," she said. - -"Yes, I turned back to say it. I missed seeing you at the homestead, -yesterday, and I am starting on another trading and hunting trip. I -should find elk now, in the mountains, and I hope to bring you the horns -of a goat." - -"I'll have a place for all you bring," she answered, her lips dimpling. -"Mose told me you were going. But," she added seriously, "I'm glad you -are going alone. Mose saw Pete Smith, late last evening, creeping along -from the foot-bridge, and this morning, of course you know, Mill -Thornton's horse was gone." - -"Not the sorrel?" Sir Donald, accustomed to every fluctuation of his -master's voice, trembled and wheeled. But the hand on the bridle -steadied and brought him around. "No," Stratton added, "No, I had not -heard. I came the other way, by the ford and the canyon trail, and so -missed seeing Mrs. Mill. And Thornton believes it was Smith?" - -"Yes, he is sure of it. There was a clear track on the wet grass across -my claim to strike the canyon trail. He followed it far enough to be -certain, then started for the prairie to get Jake's horse. Ketchem is -very swift and he expected to bring the Government detectives back with -him. They have tracked Pete to the settlement, and spent last night at -the Myers homestead." - -Stratton put his hand on the black's glossy neck, giving it a quick, -firm stroke. "And they are looking for--Smith?" he asked. - -"Yes. He has committed some new crime; Samantha didn't understand what. -I doubt if the man who told Mill knew. But," she halted an instant, -compelling his eyes with her clear, steadfast look that seemed to expect -a best in him, "you will help the Government now. You will stop him if -the opportunity comes. And you know how Mill needs his horse. Think if -it was Sir Donald; think how it must go all against the grain of a fine, -mettlesome creature to be touched, even, by those unclean, wicked -hands." - -"I will do what I can about the sorrel," he answered. "But I am going a -long and hazardous journey; I may never see you again." He gave the -black another quick, firm stroke, then, meeting her eyes, once more lost -himself. "Smith is with me," he said. "Those men are looking for me. -Think. Go back to that day at the tower when you stumbled on that -strange, leaking tin. Go back farther to that time on Orcas Island; the -story I told you there on the summit. I was that boy." - -"You were that boy?" - -"Yes. The time has come; I want you to know it from me. I was that -boy. And you,"--he paused, and the quiver that was the surface stir of -unsounded depths swept his face. "You were that woman. I can't give -you up. You don't know how I love you. Wait. Listen. Never mind that -friendliness; I break the truce. Never mind your impossible duty to the -Judge. When a woman loves a man, as you are capable of loving, she -doesn't hold him off the breadth of the whole continent; she goes when -he calls. Wait. Listen. Forget that Puritan conscience of yours, this -one half-hour, and I pledge myself to live up to it the rest of my life. -Trust me. Promise you will join me in Chicago, New York, Montreal, -whenever, wherever I write." - -The color flamed in her face. "I shall be late to school," she said. -"Turn Sir Donald, please." - -She spoke to her horse, but the thicket crowded close and the chestnut -continued to hold the way. "Wait, just one moment more," Stratton went -on, "you do not understand. I will take you away, to the ends of the -earth, if I must, and make a new start. I can do it; I can become the -most rigid patriot, I swear, with you to back me. It rests completely -with you, to make of me your kind of man, or to send me--I don't care -where." - -"I could never be any man's prop," she answered. "I thought you knew -that!" Then suddenly her manner changed. Her face softened; her eyes -filled with a great appeal. "Face it out, pay the price," she said. "I -will help you; only be the man of character, of force, I have believed -you to be, and not--a man of straw." - -"Force," he caught at the word. "Force. Would you like me better if I -should carry you away? I could do it, now, to-day; over the mountains, -into the big Palouse wilderness. Sir Donald is very fleet,"--he watched -her narrowly,--"and so is the black." - -"Carry me away? Carry me?" Again her manner changed. She tipped back -her head, laughing in soft derision. - -"I know every byway northward to the British boundary and far beyond," -he went on hurriedly. "Only give me the start over the divide, and the -whole roused Northwest could never find you." - -"But you forget my part; I should find a way back." And she laughed -again, less merrily, still in derision. - -He backed his horse a little among the alders, close to the cedar trunk, -and swung himself from the saddle, moving to the chestnut's head and -thrusting his arm through the bridle. The position brought him again to -the neck of the black, and he slipped the same hand on through the coil -of Colonel's lariat. "At least you are not afraid of me," he said. "I -am glad of that." - -"Afraid? Afraid of you? Oh, no. Why should I be? But the children -will be waiting." Though the words were brave her voice trembled. It -was not the first time she had tried to laugh this man off dangerous -ground, but now, suddenly looking into his face, for the first time, she -felt he had passed beyond her influence. - -She was afraid. This was not the Stratton she had known; whose -companionship hitherto had seemed a security on the trail; whose -frequent visits to the headwaters had kept her in touch with the outside -world; the friend who had once saved her from fire; whom, earlier, she -had rescued from an ice-crevasse. That Stratton had been mocking, -debonair; a few times she had seen him shaken with passion, but he had -shown her strong under-currents of fine feeling; and, always, in any -mood, he had remembered to be courteous, chivalrous; that was bred in -the bone. But this man--it was as though she had not seen him before. -His face was determined, hard. It might have been chiseled of rock. His -silence was a threat. And, clearly, he did not mean to let her pass. - -She turned in her saddle to look at the space behind her and gathered -her rein. And instantly Stratton laid his palm on her hand and drew the -bridle from her surprised hold. "You will hate me at first," he said, -"perhaps hard and long; but--I can be patient--you will love me in the -end and marry me." - -He made a hitch in the rein and dropping it on the black's neck, lifted -his hand to the silk handkerchief knotted at his throat. - -"I will not," she said, and caught a great breath, "I will not." She -reached for the bridle, but again his hand closed over hers. She -flashed him a look; unspeakable contempt, aversion, rose in her face. -"You ruffian," she added. "You common ruffian, outlaw." - -And he let the hand go. He released, too, his hold on the coiled -lariat, and stood back like a man unexpectedly struck. He had ceased to -bar the way; she was free to ride on, but she failed to notice that. -She saw only this "ruffian" and her eyes stormed. "Listen," she said, -and her voice, like her sister's, deepened to contralto notes. "I warn -you. I can die just once and it will come to that before I ever bring -myself to marry you. As long as I live I shall never love any man -but--_Paul Forrest_." - -So, at last, in this moment of great anger, the truth which she had not -even admitted to herself, was surprised from her. Then she was silent. -A wave of color surged and ebbed in her face. She began to tremble, a -little at first, then harder; her whole body rocked. - -And Stratton watched her. The light like a blade flashed in his eyes, -but he gathered himself, slowly, in check, the Stratton she knew once -more. "So," he said, finally, "so, after all, it is the black's master, -as I thought, as I feared at the beginning. You might have told me; it -was hardly fair to me to fabricate that yarn about the Judge, and stay -by it so long." - -"It was not a fabrication. I am going to marry Judge Kingsley," her -voice broke and she finished almost in a whisper, "as I told you." - -"I see," he answered slowly, "I see." He paused and went on yet more -slowly. "To think of it, the irony of it, that Forrest should love your -sister." - -Colonel had started, but she drew him in and turned, again facing this -man. "Hush," she said, and he saw that she shook once more, from head -to foot. "Hush. Deny it. Own that you know, it isn't true." - -He folded his arms, one drawn still through his bridle, and met her look -steadily. "But I believe it," he answered. "I am sorry, but I believe -it. How do you know it isn't true?" - -"You know them both, yet you can ask. You--you must have seen that she -could never care for any man but Philip Kingsley." - -"I grant that," he answered and smiled. "I spoke merely of Forrest. It -is he who is generally blamed." - -"Blamed?" She lifted her chin high; her eyes storming. - -"Yes, it is common talk among the mill men; I have overheard it -discussed in a hotel lobby at Seattle, and at Olympia, where they are -generally and intimately known." - -"But you--you have denied it?" - -He shook his head. "I am sorry, but how could I deny it?" - -"Because Paul Forrest isn't that kind of man; you know it. You know he -is as true, as steadfast as these hills." - -"True to her," Stratton persisted softly, "true to her, yes." - -"No--to me." - -Then suddenly on the silence there rang an ominous sound. Colonel -wheeled and looked, head up, sensitive ears playing, towards the -Nisqually trail; he wheeled again and she allowed him to set the pace in -the direction of the school. - -Plainly there were many hoof-beats and they struck into the branch -leaving the river trail. Stratton spoke to the indifferent pack-horse, -touched him smartly on the flank and sent him careering after the black. -Then he urged the thoroughbred quickly along the trunk to the break that -was like a door. There was barely room to press through, and the -chestnut's head rose among the alder branches that roofed the stump. -But a word, a firm touch on the forelegs, and the trained animal dropped -to his knees. Another word and he rolled to his side with his head -flattened to receive his master's weight. It was the method used in -breaking a cavalry mount for field drill; and Sir Donald remained -motionless, while Bates and his deputies thundered by with Thornton, in -hot pursuit of the black and the laden pack-horse. - -Stratton rested lightly, easing his weight by bracing one knee on the -earth. A bough rustled outside of the trunk; a twig snapped faintly, -and he was conscious that a pair of ferret eyes peered cautiously, -briefly, around through the aperture. But he made no sign until the -posse had passed; then he threw out his arm, feeling, and drew Lem, -struggling, towards him. "You spy," he whispered, and the anger flashed -in his eyes; "you spy. Tell what you know and I will skin you--by -inches--alive." - -Then he tossed the shaking boy aside, in a heap, and in another instant -had his horse up and out of his hiding-place, and mounting, galloped -lightly back in the direction of Nisqually crossing and the Pass. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXV* - - *THE ROCKSLIDE* - - -Stratton made a steep rise and stopped, breathing the chestnut on a -level shoulder of the Pass. Behind him a clump of mountain hemlock and -some scrub pines marked the tree line, and, looking ahead, he saw, -rounding a bald and higher spur, a rider with two pack-horses. For a -brief interval these figures moved, well-defined, gathering nearness in -the slanting rays of the low sun, then a black buttress closed, shutting -them out like a mighty door. The man was Smith. He had not waited at -Nisqually ford and he rode Thornton's sorrel. - -Stratton whistled, a soft, peremptory note, and the thoroughbred sprang, -moving swiftly down a short incline, and up towards the buttress. The -passage grew difficult. The trail, which took the edge of a precipitous -slope, was obstructed by fallen rock. Presently these loose -accumulations increased to a slide. Sir Donald dropped to a walk, -picking his way lightly. Finally, under the cliff, he halted, balanced -nicely on a huge rocking slab, and inspected with suspicion the pitfalls -before him. His master waited, motionless; the bridle hung loosely, but -in a firm, alert hand. "It's all right, old fellow," he said, "It's all -right, but take your own time." - -The chestnut shook his mane in remonstrance and put one forefoot out -cautiously, trying for hold. Then he withdrew, backing carefully, -swiftly, off the slab, and with hoofs set, head high, whole body -quivering, waited. The next instant the solid earth shook, and like a -sprung mine, clang, clash, roar, a terrific cannonading filled the -gorge. - -Stratton understood. Smith had seen him at the lower curve, and, bent -on deferring a meeting until the return of the sorrel was impossible, -had pressed hurriedly on. The autumn frosts, thawing by day, continually -split and loosened rock on the face of the cliff, and this incautious -passing of the horses, a false step, a stumble, had been the slight jar -necessary to start a fresh avalanche. - -The final echo died far off; the profound silence which had followed him -all day settled again like an intangible presence over the gorge. It -was a stillness to challenge the very breathing of a man, if he lived, -and Stratton waited, listening, for any slight disturbance beyond the -buttress. None reached him. But the sorrel was fleet. She would have -sprung like the wind at the first crack of the catastrophe; and if there -had been space to pass the pack-animals, it was possible she had carried -Smith out of the track of the slide. - -But clearly this portion of the trail was now impassable. He backed Sir -Donald slowly away from the bastion, and when he was able to turn him, -rode down to a point where a rivulet, cascading from a hidden snow field -high up, formed a gully in the slope. He took this rocky stairway, -dismounting where he must, swinging into the saddle again, making -detours through crumbling earth, on over slippery stone, doubling back, -pressing up once more, and so gained the summit of the cliff. He left -his horse and crept to the eastern edge and looked down on the slide. It -was terrible. For half a mile, obliterating the trail to the next -curve, stretched ruin. Midway a crag, like a broken mainmast, -dismantled, toppled out of the wreckage, and at the same time a warning -and a menace, held the Pass. It was also a monument. There was no -longer room for doubt; somewhere down there in the bottom of the gorge, -under tons of rock, the unfortunate sorrel was buried with Smith. - -Aside from the light provision Stratton carried in his saddle-bag, and -his blanket rolled at the crupper, the camp outfit and the remainder of -the opium had gone down with the pack-horses. But he could not return -to the Nisqually. Even if Bates had given up the pursuit, the roused -settlement, by this time holding him responsible for Thornton's horse, -would keep a tireless watch for him. He must go on. - -He drew back from the precipice and stood erect. The buttress was only -the advanced paw of the monster height that loomed above him. He looked -up, measuring its sharp pitches, trying to shape a course around the -slide. The sun dipped behind a spur, and the wind, pulling up the -defile, sharpened. Then suddenly the great peaks that encircled him -seemed to draw closer. They gathered personality; they became a -tribunal, austere, uncompromising, sitting in supreme judgment; ready to -follow quick sentence with swifter execution. Each mighty, hoary head -turned to him, waiting, watchful, and a voice, intangible yet dominant -like the silence, said, "Next." - -"No," he answered aloud, and set his lips, "No, not yet. There is a way -through, or else I can make one." - -But close on this challenge there rang a rifle-shot. He swung around -and dropped to his knee. Looking over the opposite edge of the -buttress, he saw three horsemen at the curve which he had lately passed. -Bates he knew instantly, from the powerful, white-faced bay he rode; and -the big fellow, holding the rifle in readiness, while he checked in the -long-limbed, nervous brown mount, was of course Thornton; the third was -probably a deputy, and presently, while they waited reconnoitering the -cliff, Myers joined them, urging Ginger. Then they all came slowly -forward, and disappeared under the rim of the bastion. - -Instantly Stratton was up. He threw himself into the saddle and put Sir -Donald to the slope. The men would stop at the slide; they would turn -back and doubtless pick up his trail at the rivulet. They would follow -to the surface of the cliff and from there he would be an easy target -along the bald face of the mountain. He pushed on tirelessly, winding, -doubling, looking back often, listening, but keeping a course, always, -for a small spur capped by two tilting tables of granite. He made the -last steep stretch on foot, and Sir Donald, protesting, yet invariably -obedient, pricking this ear, the other, to his master's brief, low -command, followed to the level. The slabs, in falling from a higher -ridge, had pitched shedwise against a wall, and Stratton crowded the -chestnut into the hiding-place they roofed. Again, as in the hollow -cedar trunk, there was not standing room for the horse; but a soft, -peremptory word, a light blow on the forelegs, and he dropped to his -knees, to his side, and became motionless. From his position, while he -held down Sir Donald's head, Stratton looked out through the crack where -the tables joined. It gave him a view of the buttress and a breadth of -the trail approaching the lower curve. - -Presently he saw Bates ride back to this bend with his deputy, and, -after a brief halt, again to reconnoiter the top of the bastion, they -rounded the curve and were gone. A moment later Thornton appeared on the -top of the buttress, followed closely by Myers. They had left their -horses, but the young rancher still carried his rifle, and when they had -inspected the slide from the cliff, they took up the trail of the -chestnut. But the light was failing, and the tracks were often lost on -rocky stretches. They were forced to turn back repeatedly for the clue. -Finally, not far from the granite tables, they stopped. "I 'low you -might's well give it up, Mill," said Myers. "Ther sorrel was stumbling -consider'ble on that ther last grade; she was losin' her nigh shoe. An' -this here horse is pickin' up his feet like he was ready ter walk on -air. It's ther chestnut, sure; he's er mighty good stepper in er mean -place." - -"An' it's Stratton I'm lookin' fur," answered Thornton grimly. "I don't -keer what anybody says, he's responsible fur my horse. It was his -business ter watch Smith; an' ef my little filly was cut down in that -ther slide, Stratton's got to reckon 'ith me. He was here, standin' on -that ther rock, when we kem 'round that curve; I saw him, an' so'd you, -plain's day. He must hev gone up 'round ther slide, I dunno how, but he -must hev, while we was foolin' erlong fur his blamed trail." - -"Ther's somethin' mighty curious 'bout that ther chestnut," said Eben, -dropping his voice and casting an apprehensive glance along the -impossible way; "don't act like er nat'ral born horse. I dunno's I'd -like ter ketch up 'ith him after night. You know that ther deputy -'lowed he got over ther woods, from ther schoolhouse trail, 'ithout -leavin' er sign; an' Lem's ready ter swear, up and down, he see 'em, -horse an' man, fade out o' sight close by that ther cedar snag. Mebbe -it ain't so, but where in tarnation did he go? An' that boy kem home -skeered out'n a hull year's growth." - -"I dunno's I've figgered out these here inviserble folks correct, -myself," said Thornton with deep irony, "but, fur a spirit horse, ther -chestnut is able to take his fodder mighty reg'lar." - -Eben stroked his beard and laughed softly. "Oh, I 'low he kin stand it -ter hev his wings clipped, when he strikes ther bunch grass country. -An' ef Bates catches ther Northern Pacific fur Portland, say to-morrow -night, like he counted on, he'll hev time ter make ther upper Columbia -an' lay fur his man, all right." - -"I count on takin' him this side ther Pass, myself," answered Mill. -"Bates 'lowed ther Government 'ud set up a mighty good reward; mebbe -five hundred. An' ef that smart little filly o' mine went down in ther -slide, I 'low an extry pack-horse went with her. Stratton can't go far -'ithout his outfit; he's got to sneak back sometime fur rations." - -Eben already had started back down the gully, and Thornton followed. In -a little while Stratton saw the two men riding towards the curve below. -When they rounded it, he brought the chestnut from his hiding-place and -in the deepening twilight resumed the perilous detour around the slide. -The lack of "rations" need not trouble him. He knew the art of woodcraft -too well; he could snare a bird, take a beaver like an Indian, and the -Palouse wilderness before him was an open book. But had he not his -rifle, with ammunition in the saddle-bags; besides his full -cartridge-belt and good pistols? There was no further use of taking -that overland train, and, once through the Cascades, he would shape his -course northward for the Fraser. Bates--he laughed aloud--Bates might -lie in wait until he rusted, there on the upper Columbia. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVI* - - *THE JUDGE* - - -Already Nature stretched busy hands out of the shadows of the great -park, and with manifold browns and greens softened the newness and -crudeness of the little homestead enshrined at its heart. The clearing -teemed with fresh life. The charred rails of the meadow fence were -overgrown with tangles of wild blackberry and raspberry, with which the -stiff foliage of the Washington holly disputed room. Ferns, springing -from the ashes of the fire, reached a height of eight and ten feet and -opened umbrella fronds. At the cottage sweetbrier and wild honeysuckle -interlaced with the tendrils of a Virginia creeper and climbed to the -eaves; maidenhair unfolded pale canopies over the shallow boxes on the -edge of the balcony, where were planted sweet peas, and a syringa, -supported by a pillar, offered its branches to trellis the insistent -hopvine, which dropped from the gable a misty curtain of green. -Backward, towards the small stable, and the huge hayrick thatched with -lichened bark, a wild cherry held its own among thrifty young orchard -trees, and vigorous shoots of alder and maple pushed up hedge-wise along -the corral. Everywhere Nature had been encouraged to retouch, and -eradicate and bring to a finish the general plan. - -Still, had you approached the clearing that September -afternoon,--however wayworn, however surprised, charmed,--you must have -allowed your glance to rest longest on the bit of life in the landscape. -The teacher had laid aside her pruning shears, and taking a rake from -the wall, proceeded to draw weeds and clippings into a neat hummock. -Her simple gown of brown barred gingham, catching a breath of wind, -stirred gauzily. Upon her head the broad sun-hat with muslin bow and -strings became a picture hat, quaint, pleasing. Still, had you once -known her, you must have noticed that her figure had lost a little of -its roundness; the skin its old transparency and velvet smoothness; -shadows lurked under her brave eyes, and, sometimes, her sweet and -mirth-provoking mouth stiffened into a patient self-suppression. - -She stopped at length to rest, leaning on the gate, and looked up the -trail, which began a level stretch through pale alders, dipped to a -hollow and rose over a knob where, set like a flaring torch, a first -changing maple illumined the way, and was lost to reappear briefly on -higher ground. It was there on the hillside she presently discovered -Mose. He came with his swift swinging stride his gun on his shoulder, a -brace of birds in his hand, and was hidden directly in foliage. She -waited, and when he came over the lower knoll, under the flaming maple, -she drew the wooden pin and threw the gate open. "Grouse, Mose?" she -asked with evident interest. "What beauties." - -"But, ya-as, Mees," he answered, and smiled broadly, "I ees keel dem by -Myers' plas. You know where de creek ees come roun' dat ole fir log; -well, it ees dare I shoot dem. Dis one she ees come tek drink; she doan -be so hard shot, for sure. But dis one, saprie, he ees fool me gre't; -running an' flying, w-r-r-r, w-r-r-r, an' hiding heemself unner dat beeg -cedar stump." - -His enthusiasm was reflected in her face; her eyes caught from his a -sudden fire. "Oh," she said with a soft intake of breath, "I know just -how it happened. And he was out again in a flash, almost at your feet; -you hadn't room to aim, but you waited and held yourself in, till he -rose; then you took him, nice and clean, in the wing." - -"Monjee, Mees," he said, and laughed aloud, "but you ees on'stan' lak -you ees dare." He shifted the birds to the gun hand, and closing the -gate, set the pin. "But it ees good t'ing I ees fin' dose grouse, -nawitka; for I ees see mo'sieur, de Judge, down to Myers' plas. He mus' -be long here 'bout dinner tam, for sure." - -"So soon?" she answered in surprise. "I thought from his last letter -that he would be delayed longer at the mills. But it is fortunate that -we have the grouse," and the corners of her mouth lifted and dimpled; -"we'll show him the right way to serve a bird." - -"Nawitka, Mees." Mose was feeling in the depths of his blouse. "But -Eben Myers, he ees go pas' de Station today, an' he ees tell me to bring -you dis mail." He paused to scrutinize the address and weigh the letter -speculatively in his palm. "Saprie, it ees good t'ing Mose Laramie -doan' have to write so mooch spelling, an' mebbe read it all. Monjee, -he doan' be able, den, to shoot some birds, an' fish by de Nisqually. -Den, Mees, it ees pos'ble you ees be, sometams, hongry." - -She laughed, shaking her head. "But you are learning, Mose. The -trouble was in having three languages forced on you at the start. They -were bound to tangle, and I guess the English was caught in the first -knot at the bottom of the snarl. But it's all right; we only need a -little more patience and time." - -She walked on with the boy towards the cottage, opening the letter as -she went, but when she glanced down the page the humor faded from her -face. She reached the branch path to the river, and turned that way. - -The letter was from her sister; the first she had received since -Louise's rupture with Philip. She dwelt on the Judge's return and the -closing of the mills. He had told her that Forrest had saved the -property; that he had met emergency after emergency with a -level-headedness not one young man in five hundred could have shown. -Why, there were times when he had done the work of three responsible -men, and most creditably. But at last, when she had finished the -Judge's eulogy, to which was added one gently eloquent of her own, she -took up briefly the matter of the separation. - -Alice turned back and slowly re-read this portion. - -"... I am leaving my husband. I can never explain it to you--please let -the question rest--but Uncle Si will tell you I am right. It was -necessary to tell him the truth and he admits my only course is a -separation. There can never be any sort of a compromise, as long as I -live, and I hope I shall never be obliged to see Philip Kingsley again. - -"I am starting home to Olympia with Uncle Si today, but if you know of -anyone in the settlement who can take me in, with little Si, I would -rather go out there and stay, until I can shape my plans. Possibly, -when you give up the school, I may be able to fill your place as well as -any. Uncle Silas, however, is urging me to go, at least for a time, to -Washington. I own it will be hard to have you both so far away, and I -am tempted by the security of a strange city, with the whole continent -between me and--what is past." - -"Oh, Louise, my poor, sweet Louise, I'd love to see Phil Kingsley taught -his lesson, but I know you, dear." Alice walked on the remaining -distance to the falls. "You shall come and stay with me, as long as you -want to, but you're going to forgive him, yes, you are, the first time -he asks it." - -Still, Louise had explained to the Judge; why should she find it more -difficult to tell her? And just what was this reason, anyway? Then -suddenly, in one great shock, the wedge which Stratton had tried to fix, -drove home. She stood, white, tense, on the trembling ledge, and stared -with unseeing eyes into the upper cataract. Its thunder and passion -were lost in the greater forces that engulfed her. All that Stratton -had said in their last interview, his whole monstrous story, rejected -hitherto, surged back, statement on statement, and compelled her belief. -She saw now what that friendly intimacy of nearly two years, in that -isolated place, must have meant to both Louise and Forrest. How she had -created for him his only social and home life; how, day after day, -countless times each day, she must have felt his quiet sympathy, -helpfulness, in sharp contrast to the neglect and irresponsibility of -Philip. And they had played, sung, innumerable evenings together; no -man on earth could so appreciate her beautiful voice, her personal -sweetness; and she had always loved his violin. How could she--how -could any woman--have remained indifferent? And he--how could he help -forgetting there were other women in the world? All men, good, strong -men, had their fancies when they were boys in school; it was afterwards -that they found the right, the one woman. - -For a long time the thought of Forrest had seemed to bring him near. -She felt his presence; it was as though he stood there, behind her on -the ledge, watching her with clear, reproachful, almost frowning gaze. -The color surged and went in her face; her shoulders shook, and the -letter, which she had crushed in her hand, dropped from her relaxed -hold. The torrent swirled it away. "I don't blame you," she said, and -to her halting phrases the cataract stormed accompaniment, "Oh, I don't -blame you. I know how you have fought it--stamped it down. But you -can't kill it--it springs and springs again; it can't die. I know--I -know. I've been through it--all." - -At last she walked back through the meadow. The sun was dropping behind -the purpling hills; birds piped night calls in the thicket; one of the -Jerseys was lowing at the bars. - -"Patience, Blossom, patience," she said, "Now, then, slowly, slowly." -She laid her hand lightly on the tawny neck, and the cow picked her way -over the lowered rails and turned towards the corral. - -It was there, milking Blossom, that the Judge discovered her, when he -came from the stable where Mose had helped him put up his horse. He did -not speak directly, but stopped, leaning a little on the fence, his arms -resting on the top bar, and watched her. There was in his eyes the look -of a man who has found at last what he has long desired. - -She did not yet know that he was there. Her shoulder was turned to him -and she was looking up absently to a high spur of the slope. "My dear," -he said, "My dear--it is a long time since I climbed a fence, but no -doubt I could do it unless there is a gate." - -She started and gave him a quick, backward glance, while her hand sent a -swifter stream into the pail. Then she sprang up from her stool and -hurried smiling to the rails. - -But, presently, when she had shown him the little wicket, screened by -two infant alders, the Judge found himself squeezing through, to wait -for the almost filled pail. "It isn't nearly as difficult as it looks," -she said, and her eyes challenged him over her shoulder. - -"No, thank you," he answered laughing, "I like, better, just looking -on." - -But he lifted the brimming pail and carried it, not without difficulty, -to the house. He set it down in the living-room and stepped back into -the cool doorway, where he stood, fanning himself slowly, with his hat, -and surveying the interior with growing approval. - -Mose was already seated in the chimney corner, turning the roasting -grouse on their spit. At the same time he tended a savory haunch of -venison, while the old madame divided her attention between a boiling -pot on the crane, and a tin reflector set in front of the fire. - -"You see it's all very primitive," said Alice. - -The Judge's eyes rested on the spit with manifest satisfaction. "It is -the only right way to cook a bird," he answered. - -"Nawitka," said Mose gravely. "But de mowitch, too, dis tam de year, -ees gre't." - -"And this was the finest stag brought in this season," said the teacher. -"Mose trailed him to Nisqually ford. Those are the antlers." And if -she, herself, had been the hunter, she could not have shown greater -pride in the trophy over the doorway. "And this is the pelt of the -cinnamon bear I wrote you about. The one Mose tracked with her two -cubs. She was very savage and it was his last cartridge. Isn't the fur -splendid?" - -"Bien," said the pleased and embarrassed boy, "dat ees nothing. Dat ees -one ver' fine gun de Mees ees give to me. It ees mooch too fine for no -'count half-breed lak me. Laramie, my fader, ees say so." - -The Judge went up the little stairway built across the living-room, to -the low gabled chamber under the eaves; and when he came down, -presently, brushed and freshened, he found Alice laying the cloth in the -balcony. She had changed the brown cotton frock for one of soft pink, -and where the surplice crossed below the full throat, she had fastened a -bunch of sweet peas. Others were tucked in her belt, and she gathered -more from the long box on the edge of the veranda, and with a handful of -mignonette, arranged them in a crystal bowl for the center of the board. - -The light paled in the west; the high spur darkened; a few thin clouds -parted over a far crest, and showed a young, ring-defined moon. A gust -of wind fluttered the cloth and roughened her hair. The Judge lighted -the lamp on the wall, and set the pink shade as she would have it, so -that a soft glamour fell on the modest array of glass and china. He -filled the water pitcher and placed the rustic chairs; and finally they -were seated and he found himself carving the savory grouse. - -"What an Arcadia you have made of it," he said at last. "But it is -simply sorcery; nothing else. Any other woman must have failed; or, -succeeding, would have made a wreck of herself and spoiled her life. -Even a man could only have accomplished it through hardship and long -toil. But you--you have a charmed life. You have looked--you have cast -your spell--and presto it was done." - -"It took more than that," she answered and shook her head gravely; "you -should know it." - -"Yes, yes," he said quickly, "you are right. And I do know it." - -"It was work, the hardest kind. Mose can prove it. He helped Mill -Thornton clear the building site; he helped the settlers the day they -came to slash and, again, to burn the brush piles. He cut logs for the -cabin, shakes for the stable, rails for fencing. He opened the new -trail." - -"And wasn't that sorcery? To make a steady laborer of Mose? To coerce -all of these young ranchers into service?" The Judge laughed softly, -deeply. - -"You know it was the pioneer spirit," she answered. "Nothing else -influenced Mill Thornton to drive oxen for his neighbor, grubbing out -stumps, when his own clearing was hardly under way, and Samantha wavered -in the balance. Nothing else led Mr. Myers to lend his cattle for the -work, in plowing time. And this same spirit, that calls the whole -district out in a body to fight a forest fire, or hunt a trespasser, -brought these men together to give their best effort to my -house-raising. It meant a step further for the settlement, and each man -takes a personal pride and interest in the new homestead he helped to -make. Can't you understand that? And, dear Uncle Silas, can't you see -what it means to me?"--Her voice was low and vibrant; her eyes gathered -a soft brightness.--"I worked for it--endured--it's mine. Every foot of -this ground is dear to me; every log in these walls. You mustn't expect -me to love any other home--as well." - -"I understand," said the Judge slowly, "I think that I understand. -But--Forrest will be here in a few days; he intends to take up a -systematic search for that lost prospect. And his heart is still set on -this section. What will you do?" - -"Meet my promise," she said, "of course. What else can I do? I will -commute it, if you advise that, or relinquish, or sell him my right. -I'm ready any time. But,--" she rose from her chair and looked off to -the meadow, "I must go down and bring Colonel in. Wait here, won't -you?--and have your cigar." - -"I would rather walk with you," and he rose and went with her down the -steps. "I noticed that meadow from the spur up the trail; it is a fine -field." - -"And you noticed my hayrick," she said quickly. "That was the best yield -of timothy, to the acre, in the settlement this year. Jake Myers came -from the prairie with his father's team to help me with the harvesting. -I undertook to drive in a load,"--she paused, and he felt rather than -saw, in the uncertain light, that her face rippled a smile,--"and Mr. -Stratton rode down the trail just in time to see me spilled, hay and -all, into the field. He was over the fence, in an instant, to rescue me -from the bottom of the heap. And he stayed to help me reload, though he -must have found it hard learning to use a pitchfork that warm -afternoon." - -The Judge laughed. He knew how she had looked at that moment, standing -all flushed, irresistible, with a sweet quiver of her mobile lips, and -the unconscious appeal growing in her eyes. And clearly Stratton had -made the most of his opportunities, as any man must; as he had feared. -"So, even Stratton came under the spell," he said; "you made him spoil -those immaculate hands. And there was that other time, in the dry season -when this meadow slashing accidentally burned. You did not tell me -fully, but I understood he arrived, then, at the right moment, and -helped to prevent a bad blaze.' - -"It was a bad blaze; it looked for awhile as if the whole fence, the -buildings, the timber would go. And he found me fallen, my dress afire, -and he risked himself to save me. He stayed hours, afterwards, -bandaging my burns, bathing my face, doing all he could, when he, -himself, must have been suffering agony. Dear Uncle Silas," her voice -broke, "I believed in him; he disappointed me, but I'm not ungrateful; I -shall never forget." - -"I understand," the Judge answered slowly, "I think that I understand. -And I appreciate, I am more than grateful, for what he did, but I did -not know he was hurt. How was it?" - -"I had fallen close to the burning slash pile, and, when he bent to move -me, a blazing sapling sprang out and struck the back of his head. I -didn't realize it at the time, and he always avoided speaking of it if -he could, but it seemed to have left some permanent hurt that affected -his eyes; any over exertion or exposure to strong light brought on -paroxysms of pain, and once, when he had been taken by an attack on the -trail, he was forced to stop here. It was then he told me and that he -meant to go to New York and consult an oculist. He was only waiting for -his schooner to come back from the North with her cargo of furs. You -know she was wrecked--a total loss; and the trip East, the services of a -specialist, demanded a great deal of ready money. -Sometimes--sometimes--I believe that tempted him to--do what he did. It -makes me feel responsible." - -"I understand," said the Judge; "it is natural you should feel so, in a -measure. But, my dear, he is not what you think; he lived a dual life." - -"Oh," she said, "of course you think so; every one must. He persisted, -always, in showing his worst side. But I knew him very well. He told me -things about his early life; he was handicapped from the start, but he -was a man of fine and deep feeling--at heart. In spite of everything I -shall always believe that." - -"Perhaps, I do not dispute you." And he added after a moment, "Stratton -himself wrote me something about that fire; I doubted you knew it, but -he asked me to release you." - -She stopped, surprised, and tried to read more than he said in his face. -"To release me?" - -"Yes. I refused. I answered that the request should come from you. -Sometimes, off there in Washington, I have expected it, Alice. You -seemed so happy here; so--almost--eager to put off our marriage. And -Stratton has a handsome face; personal charm; he was right here on the -ground. My dear, tell me this; if that schooner had returned, if he had -not been tempted, would you have wished my answer to him any different?" - -She turned her face away, looking up to the black shadows of the park. -"Dear Uncle Silas," she said, and steadied her voice between the words, -"if you--don't want me--I shall never marry." - -"Want you?" The wind, drawing from the river, brought a closer booming -of the falls. It toned with his pleading undernote like a great minor -chord. "Want you? I want you so much that I am not willing to share -even your gratitude with any other man. I want you--your best--your -love--nothing less will do." - -They had stopped near a clump of alders, where, in making the clearing, -she had preserved an old cedar stump with chairlike arms, overrun now -with vines. A little farther on Colonel waited at the meadow bars. She -walked a few steps and halted in uncertainty. The Judge moved enough to -rest his arms on the flat surface of the trunk, and stood leaning a -little, watching her. The noise of the cataract filled the interlude. -A branch rustled and a shower of dead leaves fell, slanting from the -alders to his feet. Then she turned and came back. - -"Dear Uncle Silas," she began, and meeting his look, repeated, her voice -shaking, "Dear Uncle Silas, I've got to tell you. It's--Paul. It -always was--Paul--before I knew it--when I was a small girl and he -carried my books to school. But he--he--" Her breast heaved; she -turned her face away once more, to the gloom of the park. "You -know--what happened. Louise told you--the truth! It changes things, -and, if you still want me, I'll try my best to--get over it, and make -you the best wife--that I can." - -Colonel moved restlessly and she walked the remaining steps to the bars. -The Judge followed and dropped the rails and she led the horse through. -Then, "It is all right, little girl," he said, slowly; "it is all right; -as it should be. But, whatever you heard through Louise, you have made -a mistake. My dear--my dear, you should have written me all about it at -the start. It could hardly have made me happier, in the end, to know I -had spoiled two young lives, that were meant for each other." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVII* - - *LEM CREATES FICTION* - - -Lem's treble piped above the low of the cows and the answering bawl of -the calves outside the corral. He was seated on the top rail of the -fence with a short piece of maple in his hand, out of which he was -trying to shape a flute. - - "--An' I hev be'n frequently so-o-old, an' I hev - be'n frequently sold; - I've tunneled, hydraulicked, and cradled--an'-- - -Oh, shet up, Shorts, now do." - -He closed his knife with a snap and, slipping down from his perch, -opened the wicket and let the white-faced calf through. Martha poured -the foaming milk from her measure into a pail and changed her seat. At -the same time she lifted her glance to the county road, winding up -northward from the meadow. "I should jedge," she said, shading her -eyes, "I should jedge that ther's Jake's horse, but it don't look -nothin' like Jake." - -"Naw, it ain't," answered Lem, raising his ferret eyes to the horseman. -"I'll jes' bet it's Mr. Forrest; yes, sir, it's him. He's borryed -Ketchem down by ther station, seein's he couldn't git word out fur his -own horse." And he put the flute to his lips. - - "I've travelled all over ther country, prospectin' - an' diggin' fur gold." - -It was a discordant peal and the lad knew it. He also felt that this -rider, descending now into the lane, regarded him with laughing eyes. -Forrest drew his rein outside the bars and Martha came over to the -fence. "How do you do?" he said. "You're looking well." - -"Wal, yes," she answered with her serious smile, and wiping her hand on -her apron, she grasped the palm he offered across the rail, "I'm fair -ter middlin'. I calc'late you've kem prospectin', but Eben's off in -ther hills; he 'lowed he was gittin' powerful clost ter ther head o' -that ther petrified man, an' you're likelier ter find er needle in er -haystack 'n him. But ef you'll stop over night 'ith us, mebbe he'll kem -in." - -"Thank you," said Forrest, "but I'm going right on to the headwaters. -It's a long time since I had a night under the stars. I promised to -leave Jake's horse with Thornton. I suppose Colonel is here; I'd like -to see him, and Miss Hunter too, for a few minutes, before I ride on." - -She shook her head. "You'll find her an' ther horse out to ther new -ranch." - -"Then," said Forrest, "I'll water Ketchem and go on; but I would like a -drink of that milk, first, if you have it to spare." - -"Land, yes." She dipped the great tin measure into the pail, and having -wiped it also on her apron, handed it to him over the rails. - -"It always seems to me," he said, pausing between draughts, "that this -milk is a little better than any other." - -"That's what ther schoolmarm always 'lowed. She said she tasted ther -buttercups in it. But that was before ther Jedge sent her them -Jerseys." - -"So," said Forrest, amused and puzzled at the strangeness of the gift, -"So Judge Kingsley sent her some cattle?" - -"You bet," Lem answered for his mother; "an' ther ain't never be'n -nothin' ter kem up ter them two cows in ther hull deestrict. 'Bout ther -color o' young squirrel, an' slick's er peeled fir. Ther Jedge he kem -out here las' week in his dogcart. He'd heard 'bout ther new trail an' -'lowed he'd drive straight through." The boy paused to swing himself -over the fence and down into the lane. "But Mose, he didn't count on no -dogcarts when he done ther slashin'. I went er piece ter show him ther -branch. You'd orter o' seen him;--thort I'd bu'st;--a-holdin' onter ther -reins 'ith one hand an' ther seat 'ith the other; a bumpin' over logs -an' snags; a gittin' ther wheels all tied up; a grabbin' fur his hat an' -yellin', 'Whoa, whoa, Carlyle.' Oh, Lord, I thort I'd die." - -He seemed in imminent peril now; writhing, twisting, bending his small -shape convulsively, and finding vent at last in explosive shrieks of -laughter. Forrest laughed, too, from sheer sympathy, and turning his -horse, rode over to the trough. So the Judge had presented Alice with -some cattle,--he smiled again at the quaintness of the gift,--and she -was boarding out at Thornton's new ranch. Strange she had not mentioned -that, in some of those letters her sister had given him to read; but she -had had a great deal to say about the clearing and Samantha. - -Martha fixed her stool and resumed her milking, while Lem, having -recovered poise, followed the young man slowly. He raised the flute to -his lips and piped softly, then held the instrument off and eyed it with -growing dissatisfaction. Forrest watched the eager horse plunge his -muzzle in the cool basin, and after preliminary splashing and stamping, -settle to a still, long draught. Then his glance moved to the boy. -"What's that you have, Lem? A whistle?" - -"Yes, but I can't make her work." - -"Let me try it." Forrest took the flute and the knife and made several -careful cuts in the green wood. "This is a fine knife," he said. - -"You kin jes' bet your life on that; ther schoolmarm give it to me." - -"Yes?" said Forrest. "How is she, Lem? She must feel the long trail -sometimes; in hot weather or when it rains." - -"Oh, I dunno. She 'lows it don't 'mount ter much, long as she has -Colonel, an' all summer, off an' on, she's be'n havin' pleasant comp'ny. -I mean Mr. Stratton. He wa'n't huntin' any ter speak of." - -A quick flush flamed in Forrest's face. He gathered the bridle and -raised the flute to his lips. The strain was soft, no longer -discordant, and Ketchem stood moving a sensitive ear. "So, Stratton -rode with her. He has a fine horse." - -Lem took the instrument and examined the improvements. "You kin jes' bet -on that. Ther ain't never be'n no sech stepper in this here deestrict, -leavin' out Colonel. But ther ches'nut's mighty oncertain. I'd hate ter -resk my money on him; ef it kem to it, I'd hate ter resk myself." He -paused to try a measure. "She blows pretty good," he said, wiping his -mouth on his sleeve. "Yes, we 'lowed Mill Thornton was powerful sweet -on Cousin Samanthy, but land, he couldn't hold er candle ter Mr. -Stratton. He was over to school 'bout every day, when he was here. Ef -it rained he kem in, but mos' gen'ly he waited outside, er walkin' his -horse up an' down tell school let out. You'd orter o' seen him." And -with a sidelong glance at Forrest, he raised the flute again and piped a -surer strain. - -Forrest was silent. Lem repeated the blast with his eyes on the -startled young horse. He moved forward, suddenly, with a last shrill -note, bringing the whistle close to Ketchem's ear. And he stood -grinning his satisfaction, while the animal lunged, reared, and was -brought down, trembling, by his rider's firm hand. - -"You kin ride. You kin keep your seat 'bout as good as Mr. Stratton. -Dunno but what I'd resk you on that ther spirit horse o' his. I 'low -you heard 'bout ther way he give them Gov'ment men ther slip?" - -"Yes," answered Forrest, "yes. I learned through Mr. Bates. I happened -to meet him the day I left Seattle. It seems Stratton used this -shooting box out here to cache his dope in. He was bringing it through, -with Smith's help, in small lots from Victoria. And the officers cut -him off going east towards the Pass. They took his pack-horse, and he, -himself, barely escaped on that chestnut." - -Lem laughed, a noiseless contortion. "Them dep'ties was mighty puzzled -'bout jes' ther way he give 'em ther slip. Not one in ther hull bunch -ever s'picioned that ther chestnut jes' natu'lly lifted his four feet -off n ther face of ther earth; yes, sir, and flew clean over ther heads -'mongst ther trees, an' struck back to ther Nisqually, while they was a -chasin' on after ther rest o' ther outfit." Lem caught a quick breath; -his ferret eyes fell before his listener's level look, and he hastened -to add, "But that ther pack-horse was John Phiander's Baldy,--he got er -good price for him,--an' when the Gov'ment men found him he was up to -his old tricks, a rollin' in er wide piece o' ther trail, tryin' ter get -rid o' his load. Oh, gee, I thort I'd bust; you'd orter o' seen him. -Them little cans, what you call dope, worked loose an' scattered all -over creation. But Baldy'd never o' hed that chanct, an' they'd never -o' sighted their man, ef he hedn't stopped ter kidnap ther schoolmarm." - -"What?" - -Lem started and his sidelong glance moved from the young man's -challenging eyes to his strong whip hand. "You ain't heard 'bout that, -hev you? I was chasin' round after Shorts an' that ther red heifer, an' -I kem ercross 'em up ther branch. Baldy was standin' quiet, an' ther -chestnut was stampin' an' rubbin' hisself like all pursest on er alder. -Colonel he was snatchin' er mouthful o' grass, an' ther schoolmarm was -sittin' in ther saddle 'ith her back to me. I thort she was jes' -listenin', an' never sensed things tell I sneaked up close behind an ole -cedar snag an' see her hands was tied 'ith er big silk hankerchief, what -he wears roun' his neck. He was passin' er hitchin' strap 'cross her lap -an' makin' it fast to ther cinch, an' he says mighty softlike, 'You will -hate me at first fur this--mebbe a good spell--but in the end you air -goin' ter love me, an' marry me.'" - -Forrest frowned darkly at the water trough. He reached and swept the -brimming surface with a sharp cut of his whip. Lem's lips twitched with -keen appreciation. "But," he went on slowly, "she jes' looked at him -'ith her chin up in ther air, an' says, 'You ruffi'n--you outlaw. I kin -die jes' once an' it's goin' ter kem ter that before I ever marry you.'" - -Forrest struck the flooding trough again, still more sharply, so that -the fretting young horse lunged and wheeled, and Lem sidled out of -possible range. He saw Ketchem brought firmly back, then went on -cautiously, "He stood watchin' her a minute an' I see his face was -whiter'n ashes, an' er kind o' white fire was blazin' out'n his eyes. -Then he says powerful slow, 'Is it ther black's master?' - -"An' she looks off down ther trail 'ith her cheeks gittin' pink as -rhododendron flowers in ther springtime, an' says, 'As long as I live I -shall never love any man but--'" Lem paused, smiling his impish -smile,--"'Jedge Kingsley,'" he added. - -Forrest's whip hand fell limp at his side. He drew a sharp breath and -looked at the boy. The sternness went out of his face; there came over -it a great weariness; his eyes brimmed misery. - -"Gee, gee," said Lem, "I wisht you'd a be'n there. 'You are goin' ter -marry me,' says he. An' he unslung Colonel's lariat an' jumps on ther -chestnut. But he wa'n't countin' ernough on that ther pack-horse. I -shied er stone at him an' it took him smart on ther flank an he broke -away like mad fur Salal prairie. Colonel he flung up his head, an' -'fore he could make up his mind bout Baldy, he heard them ther Gov'ment -men poundin' up ther trail. The same minute he felt his rope, an he -jes' give ernother fling an' jerked clear, an' swung 'round an' fit out -fur ther schoolhouse. A bird couldn't o' ketched him. An' when he got -ther he gentled down, nice as er kitten, an' waited fur Mose,--I 'low it -must o' be'n Mose,--ter kem an' untie ther schoolmarm." - -There was a brief silence, during which the young man again regarded the -brimming trough and Lem watched him. Then the boy said, arbitrating -with some remaining atom of conscience, "I 'low I hedn't no call ter say -what I did 'bout ther Jedge." - -"No," answered Forrest quickly, "No, Lem, you're right. But I'm hardly -the man to repeat it, and I happened to know it already. I've known it -for a long time." A pull at the bridle; a word to the horse. "Good-by, -Lem," he said. Then, as Ketchem broke into a canter, he turned in his -saddle to throw a piece of silver to the rogue. - -The lane was muddy, after a heavy rain, and the coin dropped into a -little pool. But Lem secured it, and having wiped it on the seat of his -trousers, examined it narrowly. "It's a dollar," he exclaimed. "A hull -dollar. Beats me what it's fur. Mus' be fur talkin'. I wisht,--" -slowly, as one who sees lost possibilities,--"gee, gee, I wisht I'd a -said more." He slipped the money into his pocket with a swift look at -his mother, milking still in the corral, "Ef dad knew he'd 'low it's -bout time fur me ter be payin' board." - -Forrest found himself not in the old rough track of the herds, but -following a well beaten though narrow trail, from which branched many -paths. Then at length he rode along the frowning front of a great hill, -and looking up his eyes traced sections of an abandoned switchback which -he and Alice had pushed up that day, to find it lost in the slide on the -edge of the windfall. And here, on the bank of the creek that skirted -the hill, was a deserted shepherd's hut, where Eben had cached a deer, -that he had shot on the trail that morning. But the roof had fallen in, -and between the fragments fern and salal crowded, waist-high from the -earth floor. - -Forrest had believed that all he needed was to be out-of-doors; to get -in touch with the growing timber again; to ride or tramp all day through -the great stillness; to have the opportunity to think over and outline, -undisturbed, his contemplated work, and he would be himself once more. -But now, a bit of ruined cabin, the sound of running water, the pungent -wind idling through a glade, a hundred small associations, brought the -old futile desire sweeping back with the force of a sudden mountain -flood. It was as though he saw her up there, easing her weight as -Colonel set himself to the pitch; how graceful she was, dipping this way -and that to his steps; avoiding encroaching boughs; sending him a swift -glance across her shoulder, with the delight shining in her eyes. And -how fond she was of a horse, of the forest, of all out-of-doors. She was -so bright, so warm, so full of life, sparkle, charm. How could he ever -forget her? How could he ever ride or tramp the woods without -remembering her? - -But he must forget. He couldn't go on feeling like this about another -man's wife. And he was glad she loved the Judge. Yes, since she was -going to marry, he was glad she loved the Judge. Sometimes--he had been -a little in doubt. Still--what did all this Lem had told him really -amount to? Of course the young imp had exaggerated, for instance there -was that yarn about Stratton's horse, still--just what shreds of truth -had he possessed, out of which to fabricate the story? Another time he -could have laughed at the boy's rendition of Stratton's careful -language, but had this man approached her, disgraced, outlawed as he -was, in that way? Yes, he was bold enough; he had stopped her, spoken -to her, pressed his case; that much was true. The thought of this -quickened Forrest's blood; it ran hot in his veins. Once more his hands -tingled, burned, for close physical contact with this man. - -When he was again conscious of his surroundings it was twilight in the -forest. The trees no longer stood out singly but in confused masses. -Light fog began to lift from the hollows, wet still from the recent -rains; the air grew chilly. Then presently, through an opening ahead, -appeared the knob-like crest of the south hill, girdled with a ribbon of -mist; and as he rode towards the clearing, there unfolded a company of -peaks, shading from copper and amethyst to a purplish black. He passed -a branch trail, rising and winding up in the direction of the canyon, -and making a final curve, came upon Thornton's cabin, and Samantha -churning and singing in the little porch. - -"How do you do?" he said, swinging down from the saddle and taking her -offered hand; "I sent my congratulations to Mill, through Miss Hunter, -some time ago, but I must congratulate you both on this homestead. It -makes a great showing. I'm coming back in a day or two to look over the -section, but tonight I'm going right on to the falls." - -"You'll kem ercross Mill down ther," she answered, smiling. "He 'lowed -he'd hev er look at ther river. It's out on a reg'lar tear. You kin -hear it, can't you? It's ripped out ther teacher's sluice-gate, an' -carried away a mighty nice little bridge Mr. Stratton put in below ther -falls." - -So Alice had built a sluice-gate. He smiled, puzzled, and then with a -flash of understanding. Of course it was she who had taught Thornton -the problem of bringing the stream to his land. It was she who had -suggested the line of sluice-box he had noticed ahead, along the trail. -Well, he could spare the water. He was glad to. - -"I promised to leave Ketchem with Mill," he said, and loosened his snug -blanket roll from behind the saddle. "Jake expects him down at the -Station tomorrow. I would like to have a look at my own horse, and see -Miss Hunter for a moment before I go on." - -"Why," said Samantha in surprise, "she ain't here. I 'low she's too -powerful busy tendin' to her own ranch." - -"Her own ranch?" he repeated. - -"Yes. Fur ther land sakes, don't you know she homesteaded that ther -piece to ther falls?" - -Forrest stood a silent moment. His look moved from Samantha's face to a -high spur of the hill. His breath came a little heavily, with a slight -uplift of the shoulders, and he raised his hand to the handkerchief, -knotted loosely at his throat, and eased it, as though it choked. Then -he took up the strapped blanket from the step and swung it to his back -and started on down the trail. He had forgotten to say good-night, and -Samantha waited, watching him curiously, and holding in the fretting -horse. Presently he stopped in uncertainty, like a man lost, and turned -and came back. - -"I didn't expect to find a house at the falls," he said and forced a -smile; "and, you see it seems pretty good to me to get out-of-doors -again. I've been looking forward to spending tonight in the open air. -I think, if that branch I passed back there around the curve, goes to -the canyon, I'll try it." - -"Yes, it does," answered Samantha. "It goes up past ther granite tower -an' down to ther ford above Mr. Stratton's place. I 'low Pete Smith -blazed that ther branch ter skip our ranch. He wa'n't goin' ter resk no -chances o' kemin' ercross Mill." - -"Then," said Forrest, "that's the trail I want. I intend to prospect -south from the canyon. And I ought to find it dry up there for a camp -tonight; it's pretty wet in the timber, and the tower should make a good -windbreak from this Chinook. But I must hurry to make it before dark." - -"You better stop 'ith us," said Samantha, her warm heart creeping into -her tone. "It's lonesome up ther, an' I could cook you some mighty nice -trout." - -But he would not, and Samantha tied Ketchem and walked with the young -man as far as the curve. "Say," she said impulsively, breaking the -silence, "don't you feel so cut up 'bout that ther homestead. Uncle -Eben always 'lowed you wanted that piece, an' 'at she knew it; an' I -dunno what she done it fur, but you jes' wait tell you find out ther -reason. She ain't ther kind ter do a mean thing." - -"Oh, I know that; I know that," he answered quickly. "Don't think I -blame her. It was her right, if she wanted the land. I don't need -another reason. Good-night." - -But Samantha followed a step further. "Say," she called, "ef she hedn't -filed on that piece Mill would. He counted on homesteadin' that one, -'stead o' this. She got in ahead o' him, but he jes' hates to own he -got cut out by er girl." - -Her little, uncertain laugh, meant to cheer him, followed him up the -trail. Then presently he reached the branch and pushed up swiftly -towards the tower. "If I had stopped at Olympia to make the entry at -the Land Office, I should have discovered the truth," he thought. "And -of course--of course Mill, or some other man, must have taken it long -ago, if she had let the opportunity go. Tomorrow, tomorrow--I'll go down -and see what she has made of it. I couldn't now. Not tonight." - -He stumbled through a darker tangle of undergrowth and came out in the -open at the tower. But the forces at work earlier in the Pass had -lately been busy here. Suddenly a great crack yawned at his feet. It -seemed to mark off, accurately, as though a master hand had drawn the -line, the whole jutting front of the cliff, and like the beginnings of a -moat enclosed the leaning column. He moved back a few yards to the -trees, and found a dry place for his blanket, under the spreading boughs -of a fir. Presently the light of his camp-fire cut the gloom, and the -air was redolent with the savor of toasting bacon. - -Twilight deepened. The voice of the cataract came up the wind. -Somewhere a dead bough creaked. He lounged, his elbow on the blanket, -his head propped on his hand, and looked off absently across the -darkening gorge. Did he not see once more, at the foot of a near and -familiar slope, a small tent white and silent under the dew and -starshine? - -His lips began to breathe a whistle. Presently it rose, still soft, -sweet, tender, in Schubert's Serenade. - -[Illustration: Music fragment] - - - - - *CHAPTER XXVIII* - - *THE PRESSURE OF THE WILDERNESS* - - -The wilderness has great adaptability. She fits herself to the man; she -plays on his moods. To Stratton she became an inquisitor, tireless, -implacable. She wracked him with his defeat; she taunted him with -memories. At last the hour came, when, far on his retreat to the -border, his worst perils past, he turned his horse and started back. - -There were nearer approaches to the Sound through the mountains; a day's -ride southeastward would have taken him to the railroad on the Columbia, -but he chose to recross those miles of hostile country, where, to the -horsemen of the plains, Sir Donald had long been a coveted and marked -prize. He had not known the full value of Smith's service on those -previous trips; his Indian blood had been a passport where a solitary -white man could not go; and, while he had something to gain, the outlaw -on the night watch had been vigilant, safe. During this last journey it -was only through strategy and an incessant fighting off of sleep, that -Stratton had been able to save the chestnut, probably his life. And -now, returning, he was forced to make wide detours, avoiding his former -course. He spent whole days, watchful, under cover of shallow coulees, -and pushed on warily at night, riding knee-deep through arid tracts of -sage brush, hiding his trail when he could, in the meager channel of a -stream, or the rocks of a wash, keeping away, always, from beaten -tracks. - -In that great silence, where the report of a gun carried like a -thunder-clap, he could not risk a shot at passing game. Once he snared -a bird; again a squirrel; and several times he caught fish, which he -ventured a small fire to prepare. But his food supply, divided into -rations, and after a few days reparcelled, fell to almost nothing. - -Finally the chestnut's hoofs struck the familiar upward trail to the -Pass. His alertness quickened but his master's dropped away. He rode -indifferently, mechanically; his eyes gloomed retrospective under his -black contracted brows. His face had lost its faultless contour; lines -seamed it. He was like a man who had lived hard and fast, tragic epochs -in brief days. - -It was midday when he lifted his head and looked about him. The horse -had stopped on a grassy bench. A slender rill cascading from a lofty -spur formed a limpid pool, and overflowing, rippled between sunny banks -and was lost in a clump of pines. Sir Donald had dropped his eager -muzzle to the basin. - -Backward the autumn wind drew sharp across the great plains, and upward, -far up, a first snowfall held the Pass. Stratton swung himself out of -the saddle and loosened the thoroughbred's girth. He picketed him near -the trees, and with the limp saddle-bags flung over his arm, stood for a -moment watching the horse. His handsome coat, ungroomed for weeks, was -dappled with foam; dry froth discolored his heaving rib-defined sides; -burs tangled his silver mane; and the wet square where his blanket had -been was divided by a lurid galled spot. Yet he stood all spirit, head -high, looking at his master with steady expectant, almost human eyes, -turning a sensitive ear for the anticipated word. "Now make the most of -your hour, Donald, old fellow," Stratton said. "It's a long pull still -to Nisqually ford." - -The chestnut, satisfied, fell to cropping the long grass by the stream. -Stratton felt in his saddle-bag and drew out a biscuit tin and another -of sardines. The first had been previously opened, but he stood turning -the second in uncertainty, in his hands; then, looking up to that cloud -over the Pass, he put the can back. He took three biscuit from the -remaining box, recovered it and dropped it into the bag. - -While he ate the biscuit a flock of geese passed, honking, far below him -over the sun-baked plain. He stood watching the wavering line until it -disappeared, then he unstrapped his blanket and spread it on the bank -and threw himself down. He closed his eyes, but he did not sleep. His -features worked, and from time to time he moved his head uneasily. -"Yes," he said aloud, at last, "that was the weak link in the chain; I -failed to ingratiate myself with Forrest. I could have done it--I -could--if I had foreseen the end. It all hinged on him. Granted -Kingsley's wife saw us that night; granted she moved the stuff, -concealed it, as Smith said, under that rotten floor; she went to -Forrest right off, I swear, and eased her conscience. And he put two -and two together, in his calculating way; he guessed at the clue and -sent Bates to look for it--at the top of the bluff. Always, everywhere -it has been Paul Forrest. He built on a first word or two of suspicion -from Bates, and tried to set the Captain against me; he spied on me, -thwarted me--made himself my foil. I could have won out; I could have -covered the disgrace; made a fresh start; lived it down; proved myself -her kind of man--if he had not stood in the way. And I would like just -once--before the finish--to meet him, hand to hand--and have it out. -Damn him!--" he stretched his arms; the cords knotted; his fingers -seemed to grasp something tangible; they clenched, relaxed, clenched -again,--"Damn his righteous, irreproachable soul." - -After an interval he spoke again. "But it is too bad about the Captain. -I will do my best for him; I will shoulder it all; and with the Judge's -influence he should pull clear. Why,--" he started to his elbow with -the shadow of his old, mocking smile,--"his wife can't witness against -him, even if she wants to. A wife's testimony isn't allowable in a -Washington court." He passed his hand across his eyes and sank back on -his blanket. "I am sorry for that little woman though. She is so -proud--so fine; it's going to cut--deep. She never liked me. Once, -that last time I met her there at the ruin, she lifted her skirt and -walked around the place where I had stood. How she must hate me now. -But sometime, since it has made a reason for her to break with Kingsley, -she ought to thank me." - -Then finally, after another interval, he struck the keynote of his -return. "My God, I had to come back. It was impossible, unbearable to -ride on; day after day, alone--through the awful silence. To see her -face--that last look she gave me, the contempt, the aversion of -it--following me, crowding me, haunting every sage bush. I have got to -change it. She used to like me--she would have loved me--and she will -forgive me. She promised me, that time up at the Paradise, she promised -me her mercy. She will forgive me--she must. I have got to see -her--speak to her once more. And I am ready to--pay the price." - -He rose to his feet and looked about him. He started, shivered a -little, and drawing his hand across his eyes, fixed them on the feeding -horse. But it was the narrowed, strained effort of a dulled vision. -Sir Donald seemed a long distance off; or was it later than he thought? -He looked at his watch, and finding a match, held the flame close to the -face. - -"It is nothing," he muttered, and dropping the match, put the watch back -into his pocket. "It is nothing--it has happened before. I have been -staring too long at the glare of the sun on those yellow plains. It -will pass. In a moment or two--it will pass." - -He began to walk slowly, unsteadily towards the horse. He put out his -hand like one who feels his way in the night. "Donald, old fellow," he -said. "Donald, we are getting to the end of the--rope." - -Then he touched the chestnut's mane, and, at the contact, his iron nerve -gave completely away. His whole frame trembled. His arm sank over the -arching neck. He dropped his face on it, sobbing, not as he had when he -was a child, but as such a man, not all men, can sob--just once in a -lifetime. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXIX* - - *THE CRACK OF DOOM* - - -Once more, up in the Pass, the glare of the sun on the fresh snow -brought on that dullness of vision, and Stratton was forced to halt, -creeping, groping out of the bitter wind to the shelter of a crag, where -he spent the night, miserably. It was after that, though his sight -returned, he discovered it had lost accuracy. Twice, when the prize -seemed sure, he missed his aim. The first time it was a young elk, -lagging behind the herd in a green pocket of a gorge; and again it was a -stag that crossed the trail in front of him. Later, in making the -dangerously high water at Nisqually ford, his ammunition became wet and -useless. But on the final morning, at his old way camp hidden among -some alders near the river, he succeeded in snaring a squirrel. This, -with some late blueberries, which he had gathered on a higher slope the -previous day, served to temper the keen edge of his hunger. - -The snowfall in the Pass at a lower altitude had been a heavy rain, and -when he mounted and turned into the trail, taking up the last stage of -his journey, clouds still brooded over the hills; the gorges steamed fog -that lifted and fell, directly, in sheets of mist, through which again -filtered the mellow autumn sun. Water dripped from boughs, formed in -every depression, and behind him the flooding Nisqually thundered a -deepening chord. He avoided the main trail past Thornton's homestead -and the teacher's claim to the bridge, taking instead the canyon branch -to his lodge, where he expected to find a change of clothing. The suit -he wore was frayed at knees and elbows, and, still damp from yesterday's -ford, it absorbed moisture speedily. He must shave too, at the lodge, -and breakfast,--there was coffee there and an excellent ham,--and put -himself in condition for the interview with Alice. Afterwards he would -ride on and give himself up to Thornton. The reward, if there was one, -might compensate the young rancher for the loss of his sorrel. - -Everywhere the changing dogwood and maple flamed through the October -woods, and the brilliant leaves fell in showers, through which Sir -Donald paced lightly, with suspicion. The wind, which drew with him up -the ascent, billowed the tops of the firs below; the sound of them was -like the rush and wash of a great sea, but the drifting mist closed in, -obscuring the sun and the farther bluffs of the gorge. Then presently, -looking up through the trees, he saw the tower, pushing out of denser -cloud like a lighthouse on a gray and unfamiliar coast. A moment later -he was conscious of a foreign and pleasing aroma in the air. It was -coffee, the kind he had anticipated,--he had always been particular -about the brand he used and how it was prepared,--and it flashed over -him, with disproportionate heat, that some passing woodsman had filched -it from the lodge. The next instant, riding up to the open, he came -upon Forrest. - -He was seated on a rock, with a plump and primely broiled pheasant on -the boulder before him, while he filled his tin cup from a small -coffee-pot which he had lifted from the coals. And Stratton's alertness -failed him. He forgot the peril of capture, now, before he was ready; -the significance of surrender to this man. He thought of nothing but -the fragrant cup and that savory bird. - -Paul looked up. He put down the coffee-pot and sprang to his feet. But -his hand had hardly touched Sir Donald's bridle--close under the -bit,--when he dipped as quickly back to escape the striking hoofs of the -rearing animal. - -Another moment, and, wheeling lightly on his hind feet, the chestnut -brought his master's shoulders in contact with a stout bough, and he was -unhorsed. Then, as he had been taught, the thoroughbred was off; -skimming the trail like a bird back to the main track and on to the -lodge. - -His backward movement to avoid the horse took Forrest, stumbling, across -the crack in the cliff which moatwise shut off the tower. The seam had -widened during the night, and was full of water, which, where the rock -formation failed, was undermining the soil, carrying the wash down -through a small subcut into the trail towards the ford. - -Stratton threw out his hand, grasping the fir to break his fall, and -staggered erect. Blood streamed from his lips, which had struck the -rough bole; but he set his teeth under them, hard. The steel flashed in -his eyes. He turned on Forrest and all the latent passion in him broke -into flame. The fineness in him, the high resolve shrank small. He -confronted suddenly, in this man, the instrument of his disgrace and -many-sided defeat. The three words he spoke were repeated slowly, in a -low tone, and yet they seemed hurled by some force from the depths of -his chest. - -Forrest did not answer. He glanced behind him measuring the ground, -which lifted a little to the left of the tower and dropped again -abruptly to the precipice. It was this sink at the foundation which -lowered the outer column, tilting the whole structure. He threw off his -coat and moved back a pace, taking advantage of the rise, which brought -him nearer Stratton's height, and waited, watchful, eyes steady, head -up, feet firm, hands loose at his sides. His whole altitude said -plainly, "I'm ready; come." - -It all happened swiftly. In the moment Stratton crossed the break there -came a tremendous jar. Instantly he recoiled. Behind Forrest the whole -tower toppled, block on block, over the abyss. The cliff under him -heaved; its face split, detaching at the seam. He ran, clearing it in a -leap, and, like the crack of doom, the sounds of that downfall filled -the gorge. He felt the next layer, a strata of soft earth, give beneath -his feet. He struggled for firm ground; he would have gained it, but -Stratton blocked the way. He thrust a hand against the shoulder of the -reeling man, gave him backward impetus, and sprang away. Another -instant, and with the last onrush Forrest went down. - -Stratton retreated a little further. He turned, feeling his steps, with -one hand outstretched, the other pressed to his eyes. Then he stopped, -listening, fixing his fogged gaze on that awful brink, while the -grinding, the striking of rock on rock, the crash of falling trees, -started anew by that slide of soft earth, reverberated, multiplied echo -on echo, from bluff and spur. He called once, but there was no human -response. Then came--_Silence_. - -He made his way to the rock which had been Forrest's seat, and sinking -down, set his elbows on the larger boulder and dropped his face in his -palms. It rained for a time heavily, but he paid little attention to -the pelting drops which the wind brought slanting upon his head. After -awhile the aroma of the cup which the lost man had filled, seeped over -his senses. He drank it off at a draught, and groping for the -coffee-pot, carefully, with difficulty, his hands shaking, poured a -second cup; another. But the savor of the pheasant no longer attracted -him. - -"Oh, my God," he said at last, "what brought him to this place? What -insane weakness brought me back? But I must see her. My God,"--his -voice rose half in threat, half prayer--"I must see her, before--he--is -found." - -He got to his feet and commenced to grope his way down to the main -trail. He was able to see the path, but a yard ahead it ended in a -blur. It occurred to him that, at the time of the slide, the teacher -must have started to school, and when he reached the better track he -turned back towards the Nisqually as far as the cut. He made frequent -stops, resting on logs or stones and closing his eyes to husband that -glimmer of sight. Sometimes he stretched his spent body in complete -relaxation on the wet leaves. The drip, drip of the foliage was -continuous around him, but he knew when the rain ceased, for, though it -was not possible to distinguish objects more clearly, he saw the -filtered brightness of the sun among the trees. Then again the mist -closed in, cloaking the timber. His wet clothes gathered weight; they -chilled, numbed him. He quickened his steps and other footfalls seemed -to follow. It was the tread of that unseen presence, which he had felt -and defied, the day Smith was overtaken, and he stood on the buttress -above the rockslide in the Pass. Always it stalked with him, behind -him, beside him; when he halted it crowded him close. - -He had hoped to meet Alice returning through the cut, but he reached the -schoolhouse finally, only to find the door locked; the children and -their teacher gone. He turned on the steps and looked up that steep -trail through the burn. "She must have taken that way, around by the -Myers claim, on some errand," he told himself. Then it flashed over him -that somewhere, during those wretched halts in the wilderness, he had -lost a day; this was not Friday, as he had conjectured, but Saturday, -the week-end holiday. - -He sank down on the steps and looked back over the level stretch of -track he had just travelled. It was impossible to take up the return -tramp to the headwaters so soon, but Laramie would give him some sort of -bed and supper, and in the morning it might not be too late. He pulled -himself together and rose. Then he stopped, listening. He had caught -the sound of galloping hoofs. In a moment he whistled, his old, -imperative note, that Sir Donald so well understood. The hoof-beats -fell to a trot and the chestnut appeared. Stratton repeated the -summons, but with a new, uncertain key, for his lip, stiff and swollen -from the accident at the tower, had lost flexibility. The horse halted, -head up, ears erect, sensitive, eyes dilating. But when his master -started towards him he wheeled a little, and the stirrup, swinging high -from the shifted saddle, struck him smartly. He crashed off through the -jungle. His dragging bridle looped a snag, but he jerked free, and, -making a detour around the clearing, struck the trail, breaking again -into a mad gallop, back in the direction of the Nisqually. - -"So, Donald, so--you too. Well, I don't blame you, old fellow; I don't -blame you." But this disappointment, following so closely on the other, -told on Stratton. He sank down again on the steps. - -After awhile he took out his pocketbook, and, finding a piece of paper -and a pencil, wrote without superscription or signature, - -"I came back to see you--I had to. Not to excuse myself, but to ask of -you that mercy you once promised me--there below the Paradise--and then -to take--what I deserve. I have fallen pretty far since that day on Mt. -Rainier, and you are going to wish, all your life, you had left me in -that crevasse. Great God, you don't know how I have wished it, too, out -there in the terrible stillness of the Palouse; how miserably I wish it -now. I would pay any price to see the old friendliness in your face -again. But, this morning, up at the tower, I lost the chance. That is -all. It cannot help you now, to know I would give anything to have -Forrest safe--and be in his place--buried deep in that slide." - -All the sheet was a wavering scrawl, but the last lines ran together -word over word. He folded the paper, but after a thoughtful moment -opened it and added at the bottom of the page, "I want Thornton to have -my horse." Then he refolded it and slipped it under the door. - -He stood for an interval looking towards the Des Chutes. "She will not -find it until Monday," he said, "and by that time if I have not seen -her, it will be too late." And he went down the steps and took the -trail to Laramie's. - -He heard the increasing roar of the freshet as he walked, and presently, -when he reached the curve where the trail turned down-stream, he found -the flood over banks; currents eddied through the underbrush, -undermining the trunks of hemlocks and firs; carrying out detached -boughs and logs. At the crossing to the Phiander claim the rustic -footbridge was gone. - -But Stratton remembered the banks were higher at Laramie's homestead; -the old fallen fir, which bridged the channel there, had withstood the -shock of many floods. He moved on, quickening his steps where he could, -but, now that he had left the gravelly soil of the ridges for the loam -of the bottom-land, walking became more difficult. The mud clung to his -boots; in places footing oozed under him, and repeatedly, in lower -levels, he was forced to make wide detours, leaving the path to push -through tangles of alder and hazel or cottonwood. Often water washed -above his ankles; at intervals it splashed to his knees. - -At last he struggled up a little rise and came out on a low bluff. The -great uprooted trunk of the fir footbridge was at his elbow, and he -stopped, taking breath, and sank into a half sitting position on the -knuckle of one gnarled root. His rain-soaked clothes shaded into the -color of the dead, earth-stained tree, so that he might have been a part -of it. - -The fir had fallen with a downward slant to the farther bank, its top -driving wedgelike between two cedars. These trees were standing with -their trunks submerged, and, mid-channel, the log swung to the current -and formed a dam, holding back an increasing collection of drift, -through which the water rushed with the roar of rapids. The whole jam -rose and fell with a concerted upheaval. - -The roots of the fir, ballasted by forest litter, formed a short -stairway up to the crossing, and presently Stratton mounted, slowly, -with difficulty and began to feel his steps over the bridge. At the -same time a great fallen hemlock swung down-stream, its upreared trunk -coming foremost, a tremendous battering ram. - -It was over in a moment. He stopped, mid-channel, listening, and turned -his clouding eyes up-stream. The hemlock drove through the crunching -drift and ploughed on through the bridge. He plunged forward, face -down, with a sharp cry, and, impaled by a broken, submerged root, was -swept out with the wreckage. - -Mose, coming from his father's cabin, heard that cry, and quickened his -pace to a run. He reached the place where the footbridge had been, and -stood crossing himself as he had been taught by the priest. -"Jesus--Mary," he whispered, and then, "Oh, Sahgalee, Tyee Sahgalee." - -But the hemlock had grounded at a bend below. Its palisade of green -boughs fringed the rampart of a fixed jam. He turned and ran, wading, -down between the alders and cottonwoods, and Laramie's dogs came -splashing after him, taking advantage of logs or any slight rise, but -swimming where they must. He came out on a low bluff above the drift, -and when he saw what silent shape it carried, he crossed himself once -more. Then he grasped two stout trailing boughs and swung himself down -on the jam. - -Two sections of the footbridge held the body wedgelike, but the face and -breast were awash. Mose fell to his knees and tried to turn and lift -the face from the water. "Mo'sieur," he said, in an agony of entreaty -and fear, "Mo'sieur, you can' be hurt mooch." - -But there was no answer. - -"Mo'sieur," he repeated, and shifted his arm lower to raise the -submerged breast; "Monjee, mo'sieur, you mus' help yourself, some." - -Still no response; and the boy made no further attempt to rouse him, for -he had felt, suddenly, the grip of the hemlock. He withdrew his arm, -and, cuffing aside one of the snuffing hounds, laid his hand on the neck -of the other and rose. Then he took breath and lifted his voice in a -great shout. The dogs swelled it, belling a prolonged note. He -listened and repeated the call with his palm to his mouth. This time it -brought a faint reply from Laramie, and the hounds sounded a louder -clarion. - -And the storming Des Chutes swept away the deep, full-throated cry, and -the speaking hills caught it and sent it back like a lament from far -promontories. - - - - - *CHAPTER XXX* - - *THE LOST PROSPECT* - - -Below the falls the overflow had formed a backwater through the meadow, -and that Saturday morning Alice took the Jerseys from the higher ground -of the home enclosure, and put them to graze on the slope. She intended -to ride directly on to the Station for the mail, and made a short cut -through the park to strike the trail beyond the first knoll. It was -then, while the black paced slowly among the wet trees, that the sound -of the landslide clashed through the hills. Colonel stopped, trembling; -hoofs planted, head up, nostrils wide and quivering, then, panic driven, -broke. A little later, when she had drawn him down, and still quieting -him, turned again towards the trail, Stratton's horse, arrested by the -washed out bridge on his way to the lodge, thundered back in the -direction of the Nisqually. - -There was a flash of the chestnut coat between the branches; a glimpse -of the empty saddle and he was gone. But instantly Alice saw that -Stratton had returned. He had, of course, taken the branch through the -canyon and the thoroughbred had refused the swollen ford; he had bolted, -skirting the submerged jungle to the main trail, and left his master -unhorsed, perhaps hurt, at the crossing. - -She turned and rode back towards the gorge, expecting to pick up the -trail at the foot of the bluff, where it wound down from the tower. -"It's all right, Colonel," she said, "it's all right. You ought to know -a slide by this time. But I don't blame you; it was a monster; it -sounded like the whole canyon wall coming down." - -Dropping from the open park to the underbrush of the gorge, she turned -the horse into a thinned way, evidently once blazed by some passing -woodsman. Then, presently, looking up between boughs, she saw a low -cloud, trailing over and blotting out the summit where the tower had -stood, and below it the demolished front of the cliff. At the same -moment, Colonel, pushing through a tangle of salal, stumbled to his -knees. She glanced back to see what had caused the fall and her eyes -rested on a weather-beaten stake, such as a surveyor or prospector uses -in marking off land, driven close to alow, outcropping ledge. A few -steps farther on she noticed a blaze in the bark of a hemlock, in which -had been cut a small arrow, pointing downward at this rock. - -The horse moved on and she lifted her eyes again to the cliff. Midway -the slide had shaved off a jutting spur, and, suddenly, a shaft of -sunlight filtering through the clouds, struck from this new surface a -blaze of colors. Instantly she thought of the samples of ore Paul -Forrest had once shown her. Here were the same blues and purples, the -shine of silver, the glint of dull yellow. It was, she knew it was, the -lost prospect. It was Paul who had driven that stake. It was here in -this canyon, while he groped a way out of the hills, he had stumbled on -his find. The mist, hanging over as it did today, had obscured the -tower and given the gorge a different aspect than later, in clear -weather, it had shown. But this was the place and the slide had -uncovered the mother lode. - -She sat for a moment, holding in her horse and looking up at that -dazzling ledge. She drew full breaths with parted lips; the bloom of a -wild rose was in her cheeks; a soft brightness shone in her eyes. Then -she was reminded of her present duty by a voice; a man's voice calling -faintly, "Help, oh--help." - -A little below the broken spur the cliff began to dip outward, forming -an incline to the bottom of the gorge. Trees had found hold on this -pitch, and where the top created a narrow bench, the uprooted trunk of a -giant fir, flanked by the stub of an old cedar, timbered a barricade of -splintered rock and earth. The last soft downrush had nearly filled -this rampart, and streamed out through the dip between the felled boles, -covering slabs and boulders, evening the slide to the appearance of a -newly graded roadway. It was there, directly under the mineral ledge, -that Alice located the voice. She concluded it was Stratton's; that he -had not been thrown at the ford, but on the cliff; and he had been -caught in the avalanche. - -She answered the call, but it was not repeated, and she quickly chose a -way to reach the shelf. She saw that the trail from the ford up the -bluff was lost in shifting granite; and, for a long distance, passage up -the fir was obstructed by a network of boughs; but the fallen cedar, -slowly dying, had lost many of its branches; those remaining were still -pliable. She left her horse, and, pushing through a litter of snapped -saplings and broken limbs, reached this tree. - -Its top was splintered and set like a brace against the trunk of a -standing hemlock. Ragged boughs at first retarded her; she was forced -to work on her knees, through their meshes. Sometimes she swung herself -down to trudge ankle-deep, knee-deep through the soft fill around a -barrier. She crawled over suspended boulders, under tilting slabs that -had found lodgment on the great bole. In one of these places, where a -mighty fragment of rock had struck, the bark was stripped loose in -lengths. Later she remembered this. - -At last she gained the end of the tree, and sinking in an accumulation -of earth, found the support of a root and drew herself up, slowly, -bringing her eyes to the top of the barricade. The color went from her -face; her shoulders shook; her limbs; but she pulled herself higher and -leaned on the rim. This man was not Stratton. His body was buried; only -his head and one shoulder were uncovered; the face was turned from her. -But this man was not Stratton. - -She drew herself over the rampart and ran, stumbling in loose mold, to -reach him. But when she saw his face a hand of iron seemed to tighten -on her throat; her limbs gave under her. "Paul," she said. "Oh, Paul, -Paul!" - -The next moment she started up, her weakness gone. Her cheek had touched -his; it was warm. A light breath had come from his lips. And he had -called, he had been able to call, not long ago. She began to throw the -loose earth from his chest, his breast; digging, working like a beaver -with her two hands. Presently she laid her palm on his heart and caught -a faint action. She felt in the pocket of his shirt for the emergency -flask a timber-cruiser keeps about him in the wilderness, but it was not -there. Still, the pocket was shallow, it might have dropped near, and -she resumed her task, prodding at intervals for the flask. She freed -his arm; his side. She had found no rocks around the upper part of his -body; nothing but soft soil. To be quite sure she reached, feeling, -under his back. And this brought from him a groan. A quiver swept his -face, but when she had withdrawn her arm, he rested white and still as -before. - -The dirt had filled deeper over his abdomen, but she hurried to the rim -of the rampart and selected a splinter of rock which she used as a -scoop. At last his whole trunk was released, but his limbs were planted -deeper yet. He seemed to have fallen feet first, and settled, -afterwards, a little to one side. If only those feet had not struck -rock. She was afraid--afraid--of--what she might unearth. Still she -worked. And the faith of her missionary grandfather rose strong in her, -and battled with her fear. "Dear God," her heart cried, "do not let him -have touched rock. Show me--show me the best thing to do." - -It commenced to rain heavily, and she stopped to turn his face directly -to the shower, throwing off her jacket and using it to prop his head. -She spread her handkerchief on a clean slab to catch the moisture, and, -when it was wet, pressed the drops from it, between his lips. But they -were so few. If only the slide had opened a spring in the cliff; if -only she could find the flask. - -She went back, fighting down her despair, to her work. A moment later -she heard him sigh. Relieved of the pressure of earth, his empty lungs -had slowly filled and at last expelled their first good breath. She -looked at him over her shoulder, holding her own breath, kneeling still -with her hands in the mold. He opened his eyes--she dared not move--and -saw her, blankly at first, and then with swift intelligence. "Alice," -he said, "why--Alice. See here--I'm all right. I can wait. Please -don't. That's work for a--man." - -Instantly she was up and at his shoulder. "Don't try to talk," she -said. "Don't move; but can you remember if you had your flask?" - -He knit his brows. "It was in my pocket--the coat. But," he added with -second recollection, "the slide must have brought it down with me." - -"All right, I'll find it. Don't say any more; don't try to think, or -move, or do anything. Rest." - -He smiled a little and closed his eyes, and she hurried back with fresh -effort to her task. Presently she was able to run her hand down, -through the loose soil, to the end of the right limb. It was straight, -and not the crumpled mass she had feared. But, working her arm through -a wider range, she felt, a few inches from the leg, the edge of a slab. -Then, directly, while she followed its contour to satisfy herself it did -not touch him anywhere, her fingers came in contact with woolen cloth. -She dug faster and faster, and finally unearthed the end of a sleeve; -his coat sleeve which trailed from beneath the rock. She pulled at it, -tried to shift the stone, alternately strained and dragged at the -garment. But it was of no use. Her glance wavered despairingly to that -second, still buried, limb, then she began to uncover the slab. And -while she labored tirelessly, her heart cried, "Dear God, let me be able -to lift it; do not let it be very--big." - -At last she uncovered the outer edge. A little more digging along the -thin side and again under the sleeve, then she set her hands, the -strength of her young arms to the rock. It eased up slightly. She put -her knee to it, bracing it while she tugged at the coat. It slipped a -trifle. Again a lift, a wrench, a slip, and here was a pocket exposed, -and in it she found the small metal flask; jammed, flattened, leaking a -little, but holding, still, brandy. - -She poured it hot between his lips, and presently he again opened his -eyes. "I'm all right," he repeated, "yes--I am. Don't trouble; don't -stay here--in the rain. I can wait for Thornton or--Myers. I'm -all--right." - -To prove the point he tried to get to his elbow, but settled back, going -white again to the lips. - -She turned her face away. Her eyes were dry, but the dread in them was -beyond tears. After a moment she compelled her glance to meet his. Her -lips moved, but the iron hand again seemed to strangle the words in her -throat. "Is it"--they were out at last--"is it--your--back?" - -"No, oh, no." He smiled his old smile of the eyes. "It's only a -dislocated shoulder. With Thornton to help me it won't take long to -straighten it out." - -She returned to that second limb. "Dear God," she still prayed, "I am -so afraid. But--if it is hurt--don't let it be past help." Aloud she -said, and steadied her voice, "Mill was to have gone to the Station this -morning." - -"Of course--of course--I had forgotten. I left Ketchem for him last -night. But Myers is somewhere here in the hills." - -"Then the noise of the slide should bring him this way." She thrust the -scoop carefully along the side of the uncovered knee. "Mose," she -added, "went home with his father, yesterday, to help drive the sheep to -high ground. Sheep"--her voice broke--"sheep--are so foolish--in a -flood." - -She laid the scoop down. There was no further need of digging; the leg -was doubled back from the knee, in a heap. She got to her feet and -turned, meeting his look again bravely. "You see," she said and smiled, -"there isn't a man; you'll have to use me. What would you have asked -Mill to do?" - -"Why, set this arm. You could do it--it's simple--but I don't like to -ask it of you. You take it--like this"--he reached and she knelt beside -him to allow him to demonstrate with hers,--"and pull it out as far as -you can--so--only harder--much harder. It's going to hurt some, I'll -probably make a fuss, but never mind--pull. Then let it settle back into -the shoulder socket--so. You've seen the round bone that fits in a -shoulder of veal. Well, just think of that." - -"I understand the--movement," she said, and steadied her voice again, -"and I'm--str-o-ong. I'll do my best." - -It was quickly and successfully done, and he did not make a fuss. He -only closed his eyes at the last and set his teeth on that pale under -lip until it bled. And afterwards he rested so motionless that she gave -him another draught from the flask. Then finally he was able to sit up -and examine that injured leg. It was broken in two places, he said; at -the ankle and midway to the knee. There was too, he noticed now, -something wrong with that left side; probably a fractured rib. It was -work for a good surgeon, yes, but nothing to worry over. And he would -have a look at that slide, right away, and see what the possibilities -were of getting down. - -He worked his way to the rim of the ledge and she moved with him, -watching his face; every shadow of pain that crossed it brought the -anguish springing to her eyes. He raised his head, propping it on his -hand, his elbow on the rocks, and his clear glance swept the fallen -trees, and then more slowly the pitch stretching like smooth roadway -between. - -Her eyes moved from him to the incline and back to his face. "Colonel -is down there in those standing alders," she said. "Could we risk him -anywhere on the slide?" - -"No." He shook his head. "No, my only chance is to coast." - -"To coast? You mean"--and quick understanding leaped in her face--"you -want a sled. There's a strip of bark down there, you can see it, where -that piece of granite struck the cedar; it ought to make a good -toboggan." - -"The best kind," he answered, "if you can find some one to bring it up." - -His glance came back from the slide while he spoke, but it moved no -higher than the rim of the barricade. It had stopped raining and a shaft -of sunlight, piercing the mist, flashed on a fragment of rock. He -reached and took it, turning it in his hands slowly, to catch the play -of colors. Then his eyes swept the splintered ore that spilled over the -rampart, and he swung himself a little, starting up, though he was -forced to sink back directly, in an endeavor to see the ledge overhead. -Finally his gaze met hers. - -"It looks like my lost prospect." His voice vibrated a little; his face -had grown suddenly young, boyish, and the hope in it brought an -answering light to her own. "Here are the same traces of free gold, the -rarest find in the world, with this deposit of copper; and just a nice -showing of silver. But I could have sworn that outcropping was at least -a mile from here." - -"Your stake is just down there, on a line with those alders. Colonel -stumbled on it when we came through a little while ago. And, you can't -see it from here, but the slide "--she paused, her lips trembling yet -dimpling--"the slide has opened a great mineral vein, right above us." - -He started up again, forgetting his injuries, and again sank back. -"What luck," he said softly, "what luck. Strange," he added after a -moment, "how I made that miscalculation." - -"I think it was easy. You had broken your compass that day; you hadn't -a glimpse of the sun; the whole top of this cliff must have been in -cloud as it is today; the tower shut off completely. But, I'm going -now." She bent to leave the flask beside him, propping it carefully to -avoid loss of that remaining potion of liquor through the leak. "I may -be gone a long time, but I'll hurry. I'm glad you have the prospect--to -think of." - -She stepped up on the edge of the rampart. "Promise you won't try to do -anything," she said. - -He shook his head, watching her with his smile of the eyes. "It's a -safe promise. I wish it was harder to make." - -She paused another moment, sitting on the edge and feeling for foothold -on the root she had used in coming up; then she swung lightly off. Her -eyes met his an instant across the rim. "Good-by," she said, and dipped -from sight. - -He raised himself a little higher, bracing his shoulder on a tilted -slab, and waited for her to reappear on the bole below. She made her -way quickly and surely down. - -He believed she had gone for help, how uncertain and remote she had let -him know, but, while he still watched that clump of alders, in which she -had disappeared, she came back; and she carried a rope, presumably -Colonel's lariat, coiled on her arm. Presently she put it down and -began to cull out dangerous, snagged boughs from the debris at the -bottom of the pitch. Where immovable rocks and stumps menaced, she -heaped springy branches. And Forrest understood. She was guarding -against his possible impact with the wreckage. - -But at last she picked up the lariat and started back up the cedar. He -saw her purpose and, also, the futility of any effort of his to stop -her. "I might have guessed it," he said, and set his lips; "it was like -her." - -She reached the place where the slab of granite had stripped the bark, -and selecting a piece, made the lariat fast, and began slowly, -laboriously, to drag it up. Sometimes the soft soil banked in front of -the tow, so deep she was forced to tie it to the log, while she slipped -down to clear the track; and in one of these places she looked up and -saw Forrest's face, showing white above the ledge, and she called an -encouraging "Hello." - -He answered in a soft whistle, and because she seemed to work less -desperately, he repeated the note at intervals. It settled into snatches -of a tune; a tune so sweet, so tender, sometimes, she could hardly -endure it, and yet again so full of appeal it drew her on; the loveliest -parts of Schubert's Serenade, over and over, with the variations of a -flute, and the soft, full-throated cadence of a bird. - -At last it came no more. She had reached the barricade. She paid out -the tow-line, and with its noosed end over her arm, mounted the trunk. -She halted on the root, her breath coming hard and quick, and met his -look again across the rim. "What made you?" he asked, his voice -shaking. "What made you? You might have slipped. You might have -started the whole slide." - -She did not answer; she could not; she was tired beyond speech. She -climbed slowly, with great difficulty, up over the edge, struggled to -her feet, stumbled, and sank down. - -He could not break her fall, as he had once, long ago, in the windfall, -but he moved enough to draw her head to his shoulder. "What made you?" -he repeated. "I'm not worth it. What made you?" And he kissed her -lips. - -He relieved her arm of the dragging rope, and tried to draw the tow up -between the two trunks; but she stopped him. "You mustn't," she said. -"You need all your strength. You must save yourself for that ride. -I--I'm very str-o-ng, Paul. Only wait--just a moment." - -"Of course we'll wait." He anchored the tow by slipping the lariat -noose over the jagged top of the slab on which he leaned. "It's all -right. There's no hurry." - -The chinook caught her loosened hair and it fell like a shaken web, over -her drenched shoulders, her waist. The sunlight struck from it the best -colors of his prospect; glints of copper shading through the gold. He -never had seen anything as beautiful except her face. - -She gathered the shining mass in her hands and tried hurriedly to divide -it in a braid, but he put his arm around her again and drew her head -against his breast ihe contact of her hair thrilled him; spirals of it -caught and clung to his hand. His immeshed fingers lost their power. -Then he felt her whole warm body tremble. "It was too hard for you," he -said. "You shouldn't have tried it. But I love you for it; I love you." - -"I don't know how I ever could have doubted it." She lifted her head -and looked at him. A flush rose in her face; she saw him through sudden -mist. "I did doubt; I heard a monstrous story and I--believed it. - -"Was it about Louise?" - -"Yes," her voice was almost a whisper,--"Louise and--you." - -His arm fell from her shoulder. He turned his face to the gorge, -knitting his brows. "I want to explain that story," he said. "I want -to explain it now before we start down. I was to blame, I should have -looked ahead, and yet I don't see how it could have been avoided; not -while she stayed alone there, and I kept my position at the mills. -But--I never saw her in the same light as other women; she was so far -above reproach, so spotless, so nearly--well--a saint. And it was so -evident, always, she couldn't give a thought to any man but Philip. -Then, too, I had known her all my life, and she was your sister; like -you in so many ways. And she was so solitary, so unhappy, troubled. I -was so sorry for her, and that life there under the Head was so -miserably dull for us both. We came to depend on each other to tide -over those slow evenings." He paused, resting a moment, then went on. -"You must see what it meant to me, a homeless fellow who is pretty fond -of a home. I liked those hundred comfortable little turns she gave to a -room. And I thought a lot of young Silas; he had a way of claiming me. -Then, there was the music; it was her inspiration and mine. After all I -can't hope to make it clear to you. I don't excuse myself, I don't want -to, but--well--I had just given up you. She was a kind, sweet friend, -in trouble, and sometimes, at the most, a very nice reproduction, call -it a picture, of you. If I stumbled, anywhere, it was the weakness of a -man who has been desperately hurt, crippled, and is trying his best to -get on his feet again." - -"I understand," she said, "oh, I understand; but tell me this, in the -end, if there had been no Philip, would it have made a difference?" - -"No." His look returned to her face; his voice deepened and shook. -"You ought to know that. You ought to know there never can be a living -woman so dear to me as just the memory of you. It came to that, a -memory, the day Judge Kingsley told me--how much he thought of you. I -saw you were meant for that future he had to offer; and I promised--I -promised not to stand in his way." - -The furrow deepened between his brows, and he moved a little and laid -his hand on the rope. She rose, gathering her hair swiftly into that -braid, and hurried to relieve him of the strain. And, presently, when -the improvised sled was drawn close up between the trees, and he had -dragged himself aboard, and stored the useless leg, he gave the word and -she cast off the line. - -She propelled him with a careful shove out between the trunks, and -gathering momentum, he moved more and more swiftly, ploughing a trail -through the soft mold, drawing small avalanches behind him that might at -any instant result in the fresh start of the whole slide. She followed -down the cedar. It was impossible to overtake him on the higher and -sharper portion of the pitch, but midway the sled entered a deeper fill. -The incline lessened there, and the bark clogged with accumulations, -which taxed Forrest's strength to clear. At last he could do no more. -The toboggan stopped, crept on, and stopped again, fixed. - -Instantly she was down from the log and making her way out to him. She -gave him the remaining draught from the flask, and, clearing the track, -started the sled with a long push, that carried it into the sharper -pitch below. The next moment, while she turned to regain the cedar, she -knew that the danger, which had been so imminent above, had overtaken -them. The slide was in motion. - -She ran with it, yet contrived to shift her course diagonally, back to -the log. Crowding rock underneath began to lift points and edges -through the soft fill. They tripped her, cut through her shoes. Still -she kept her footing. A bough heaved up and, for a moment, its meshes -entrapped her; but she held herself erect, and, like a river man, going -with a swift and riffled current, swung alertly on. Presently she -noticed that the avalanche did not gain impetus; then that it lost a -little, and finally, almost as suddenly as it had started, it came to a -halt. Looking down, while she finished the remaining steps to the -cedar, she saw that Forrest had been carried before this upheaval. The -sled was slowing at the end of the slope. A good yard short of the -wreckage it came to a stop. - -At the same time Eben Myers, coming up the canyon, skirted the standing -alders, and stopped to look at the demolished cliff. The cloud was -lifting from the summit; it parted in trailing ends, showing where the -granite bastion had stood. "Kingdom Come!" he said slowly; "it was ther -tower. Thundered like--" - -He paused in astonishment, for, his glance moving down the pitch, rested -on the teacher, making her way through the boughs of the fallen cedar. -"Well, I be durned," he added, and, seeing the figure stretched on the -improvised toboggan, he repeated profoundly, "I be durned." - -He was the first to reach the sled. Forrest stirred and looked up at -him with a faint smile. "Hello Eben," he said weakly. "How's the -petrified man?" - -Myers laughed, half in relief, half in embarrassment, and lifted his -hand to part his black whiskers. "I dunno," he said. "I'd orter o' got -ter his dum head by now, but I ain't lit on it this trip, an' my rations -is plumb give out. I dug, you kin bet on that, I dug ter satisfy that -ther blame Gov'ment dep'ty, Bates. You see he's b'en ter Washington, -an' let on he knew er sight 'bout museums, an' mummies, an' stuffed -animals, an' bones, so's I showed him them ther legs an' arms. An' he -'lowed they wa'n't nothin' but petrified trees." - -"No? Well, that's too bad, Eben. I always wanted to have a look at -your find; I know a little about the subject, and I might have saved you -trouble and time. I don't like to believe you've thrown away these two -years." - -Eben lifted his eyes again to the cliff. "Kingdom Come!" he said once -more. "But where was you?" - -"Up there, at the top. You see, Eben,--don't you?--what that landslide -did for me. That's it; that streak of mineral, shining up there, is my -lost prospect. A dynamite blast couldn't have been surer. It opened my -mine." - -"'Pears that erway," Eben answered slowly, "an' I 'low that ther vein -shows up all o' twelve feet. But," and his look returned to Forrest, -"'pears, too, like ther Almighty teched off that ther blast er little -too quick." - -"Oh, I'm all right. It's only a broken bone or two; nothing a surgeon -can't fix. I came down in that last layer of soft earth, and Miss -Hunter," he steadied his voice, "found me and helped me out." - -But if Forrest's light mention of his injuries had deceived Eben, the -teacher's manner quickly convinced him there was little time to waste. -She brought the horse from the alders, and despatched the settler with -her saddle cup to fill at the stream which flowed through the gorge. And -when Paul had taken a long draught, and she had covered his chilled -shoulders with her raincoat, which she had carried strapped behind the -saddle, she found in one of the pockets a pencil, with which, on the -blank page of a letter, she wrote a telegram to the Judge. - -Eben, who was converting his blanket into a sling for Forrest's injured -limb, promised to take the message straight to Yelm Station, and she -could trust Judge Kingsley to send a surgeon, the best in Olympia, -without delay. But her heart sank at the long and unavoidable interval -he must spend on the road. "Dear God," she cried, under her breath, -"hurry them; hurry them; let him come in time." - -At last the saddle sling was ready, and Myers tucked the folded paper -carefully into his pocket, weighing it down with his small prospector's -mallet and a ragged plug of tobacco. Forrest's eyes moved from the -mineral ledge and rested an instant on the place where the tower had -stood. "You may meet a runaway horse somewhere on the trail, Eben," he -said. "If you do, don't try to take the bridle close under the bit. He -has been taught a mean trick." - -"Oh," said Alice, "you mean Sir Donald. I had forgotten. Mr. Myers, -you came down-stream. Did you see Mr. Stratton near the ford?" - -"Did I see him?" Eben smiled his wide smile. "Well, no. Ef I had, I -jedge I'd er took him." - -"I saw him." Forrest's brows contracted; the line between them grew -black. "He was up there at the tower, but the slide left him safe." - -"And you," she exclaimed, "you tried to stop Sir Donald." - -"Yes. Stratton was unhorsed; that's all. Now, Eben," he added, turning -a little and reaching for the settler's hand, "now, your shoulder, -please; here, at the armpit. So." - -Alice ran to the black's head. It was miserable. Miserable. He closed -his teeth hard over that white nether lip, but the groan would out. -And, up in the saddle, his shoulders sagged forward. He could have -buried his face on those old familiar withers, and cried. But he pulled -himself together; for the sake of this brave girl, who had worked so -tirelessly for him, who moved, now, ahead of him, pushing down the -encroaching salal, smoothing the way through tangles of hazel and fern, -he must hold himself in check. And presently the agony eased a little. -He could look about him; he was able to identify that stake, to which -Alice called his attention, while she led the horse carefully by. Then, -after another moment, he assured Eben that he could ride well enough, -and urged him to go on to the Station and hurry that telegram through. -Afterwards he could come back with Thornton and beat the timber for -Stratton. Mill would be the one to take that chestnut; he was a good -man with a horse. - -But all this did not deceive Alice. Her eyes were too accustomed to -every light and shade of Forrest's face; she knew each fluctuation of -his voice. Still, though she understood, she made no sign. She talked -sometimes, to carry her part, but oftener she moved in silence her hand -on Colonel's bridle, watching his steps. And so they passed out of the -park and into the trail above the knoll. - -Then, suddenly, his strength reached low ebb. He dipped forward to the -black's neck. She sprang to support him. "Paul, Paul," she encouraged, -and raised herself a-tiptoe on a bit of higher ground, to bring her -shoulder against him in a bracing lift; "you mustn't let yourself go! -It's only a little farther; don't you hear the falls? Paul, Paul, we're -almost--home." - -He roused himself a little, and looked at her. "Paul Forrest," she said -sharply, "_be a--man_." - -He flushed, catching the taunt, and with a mighty effort, both hands on -the saddle horn, forced himself erect. Her eyes, dark with entreaty, -across her shoulder met his. "You see, Paul--dear," her lip trembled, -"if you should fall--I--could never put you up--alone." - -"I won't fall." He gripped the bridle. "Don't be afraid--I won't. But -I hear a stream somewhere--close--and I'm--thirsty." - -"It's here, the tiniest rill, at the bend. Hold Colonel, if you can, -just a moment." - -She caught the water in the flask, rinsing it quickly to get the last of -the brandy, and poured it into the cup. The slight stimulant and the -brief halt helped him to gather himself once more. They moved on around -the bend. - -Somewhere, down the wet, sunlit trail, a meadow lark started a soft, -deep-throated prelude; and was it not - - "All things--all things--come round to him--to him--who - will but wait." - -Alice laid her hand on the rein; the horse stopped. And there below -them, at the foot of the knoll, its shadowy eaves and roomy balcony -clear against that background of old trees, rose the cabin of his -dreams. - -The trail narrowed and dipped from the curve, skirting a spur of rock, -and she stepped on this ledge to give the horse room. It brought her -nearer Forrest's level, and she waited, her hand still on the bridle, -watching his face. She saw his surprised glance linger on the cottage, -and move slowly to the clump of cedars she had saved from the slashing -to shade the western wall, and on towards the meadow, seeking between -the group of alders and the other of maples, now turned scarlet, the old -gnarled trunk with chairlike arms. - -That was her crowning hour, the thought of which had buoyed her through -days of weariness and made toil possible. "Paul," she said at last, and -her voice vibrated its contralto note, "you understand. I did it--I -filed on the homestead--to hold it--_for you_." - -He looked down into her lifted face, believing yet not believing. -"You--did it, to hold it--for me?" - -"At first," she went on hurriedly, "I planned it in payment for the use -of Colonel. I meant to commute it, when you were ready to take it, or -else relinquish my right. But I knew you would oppose me, Paul; I dared -not tell you. And, afterwards, I learned to love it. You don't know -how I love it. It would be hard to give it up." - -"I understand," he answered slowly. "But don't let it trouble you. I -have the mining claim; that's enough. Hold your homestead, Alice. It's -yours; you worked--how you must have worked--for it. The Judge--will -find it a great country place." - -"Dear Uncle Silas. It shall always be his resting place. You have seen -him, haven't you, Paul? He has told you that--he knows?" - -Forrest did not answer. His face was very white. She believed his -strength, once more, was going, and she moved closer, raising herself -a-tiptoe on the rock, to brace her shoulder again to his weight. "Oh," -she said, "we shouldn't have stopped here; we should have hurried -straight down." - -"Why, I'm all right." He leaned a little in spite of himself, and the -arm on her shoulder shook. "Yes, I'm all right. But see here--see -here--what does the Judge--know?" - -She waited a moment, and the lark, nearer now, repeated his prelude, - - "All things--all things---come round to him--to him--who - will but wait." - -Then she answered, almost in a whisper, with her lashes fallen and a -soft brightness in her face, "That I--love you--Paul." - -Colonel started, for the old madame, seeing them on the knoll, had -crossed the yard to open the gate. Then, suddenly, as they went down, -breaking the cello interlude of the falls, the voice of the lark, full, -tender, impassioned, rose in full song. - - - - THE END. - - - - - * * * * * * * * - - - - - "_Oppenheim's Latest Success_" - - *THE MISSIONER* - - By E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM - - Fully Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50 - - -Action, excitement, and mystery are three ingredients always found in -Mr. Oppenheim's novels. His new story, "The Missioner," is the compound -of love and adventure which this author so deftly produces, and his -characters have more than their usual individuality. - -"The Missioner's" heroine is a beautiful English woman, of the -aristocratic class, rich, frivolous, and worldly. The hero is a young -man of great personal magnetism, high ideals, and unused to the -insincerities of society. Her fashionable amusements and his work in -the slums are the antipodes from which they both move to meet on the -common ground made possible by their mutual interest and appreciation. -But the lady has a mystery, and the suitor has an arduous task in -clearing away the complications. - -The book has more the air of verisimilitude than have some of Mr. -Oppenheim's previous works, and it gains in strength from the very -likelihood of its happenings. It moves at a breathless rate from the -country to London, to Paris and back again, and the reader's interest -keeps pace. - -Those who read "The Missioner" in serial form pronounced it the best -story that this master of romance has yet written. - - - * * * * * - - - _An exceedingly clever volume_.--BOSTON GLOBE - - *AN ORIGINAL GENTLEMAN* - - _By_ ANNE WARNER - - Author of "The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary," the "Susan - Clegg" books, etc. - - Frontispiece by Alice Barber Stephens. Cloth. $1.50 - - -Merry reading indeed.--_New York Tribune_. - -All are humorous.... In none is dialect used.--_New York Sun_. - -The book brings out new possibilities in the author's work and will add -much to her popularity.--_Springfield Republican_. - -Humor and novelty of plot characterize most of the stories, and they are -entirely worthy of the creator of "Susan Clegg" and "Aunt -Mary."--_Syracuse Herald_. - -Crisply told, quaintly humorous.... Only a woman with discernment and -tenderness, and only an artist could make characters live and breathe as -hers do.--_Boston Transcript_. - -Exhibits her cleverness and her sense of humor.... Show much of that -humor in the conception and that skill in droll delineation of character -which first brought Anne Warner into notice with her "Susan Clegg" -stories.--_New York Times_. - - - * * * * * - - - "_Unique among novels_" - - *THE MAN WHO ENDED WAR* - - By HOLLIS GODFREY - - Illustrated by Ch. Grunwald. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50 - - -Only anticipates events a few years.--_Chicago Tribune_. - -Holds the reader's interest relentlessly.--_Chicago Record-Herald_. - -Vigor and imagination lend vitality to the plot.--_New York Times_. - -A reincarnation of an improved Jules Verne.--_Portland Oregonian_. - -A pretty love story adds zest to the narrative.--_St. Louis -Globe-Democrat_. - -Hollis Godfrey has taken a stupendous theme and written a most amazing -story.--_Boston Globe_. - -The handling of the various scenes is most excellent and even -masterly.--_Boston Transcript_. - -Those who like their fiction full of mystery will revel in this -galloping narrative.--_New York Evening Sun_. - -Shows uncommon skill in utilization of the gigantic possibilities of -modern discovery.--_Boston Advertiser_. - - - * * * * * - - - *THE REJUVENATION OF AUNT MARY* - - By ANNE WARNER - - _Author of "Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop," - "A Woman's Will" etc._ - - Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth. $1.30 - - -Always amusing and ends in a burst of sunshine.--_Philadelphia Ledger_. - -Impossible to read without laughing. A sparkling, hilarious -tale.--_Chicago Record-Herald_. - -The love story is as wholesome and satisfactory as the fun. In its -class this book must be accorded the first place.--_Baltimore Sun_. - -The humor is simply delicious.--_Albany Times-Union_. - -Every one that remembers Susan Clegg will wish also to make the -acquaintance of Aunt Mary. Her "imperious will and impervious eardrums" -furnish matter for uproarious merriment.... A book to drive away the -blues and make one well content with the worst weather.--_Pittsburg -Gazette_. - -Cheerful, crisp, and bright. 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