The evening world. Newspaper, December 17, 1915, Page 23

The Hveniay World Dail y Magazine, Friday, December 17, 1915 A Romance With a Strange 7Hero of the Battling Breed s ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE CHAPTER IX, (Continved,) On Top of the World. RS. HAWARDEN says my hands are disgracefully brown,” sald Desiree, the happiness running back to her eyes at his rough praise. “And my face is as black as @n Arab’s, I suppose,” “It's the prettiest between here an’ Granite, all right,” he declared, stout. ly, “Here, let me pull that sweater ‘thing higher up around your throat, What @ funny litte kid face you've @ot, anyhow, Dey!” He looked at her with frank de- Nght. The girl's head was bare, the mist clinging like frost crystals to her shimmering aura of hair. Out of @ Gushed, bronzed countenance glowed the wide, child-like eyes’ that Caleb had once declared were two sizes too big for her face—and in whose depths Caine had more poetically located “twin springs of hidden Jausliter.” It was good to sce her, And the man’s business cares, his social plans, his matrimonial campaign itself faded into nothingness. He was here, by her aide. That was enough, And doubly he realized how poignant had been the ache of alone-ness at his heart during every day of her absence, There was a new peace, an utter con- tent, that enwrapp him now that he was once more beside her, He did not try to analyze the emotion. But be knew it mastered him as nothing ge had ever done, He Knew it, and, satisfied to look no further ahead, he ‘was glad, launch had churned clear of the dock and was beating to northward through the mist barrier, Shauowy shores slipped t them. To their left, out of the fog, loomed the boat- house of a camp. Beyond its tloat men and girls in shiny bathing suits were splashing about in the water. Caleb trailed his hand over the launch side, At the nip of the icy water he accorded the swimmers such a glance as he might have bestowed on tho martyrs of old. A wind danced down from 4“ the poem, Blaysully tearing the lake va- pore silver tatters. A lance of whi nlight struck through the fly ing mist-reek. Out of the obscur leaped an island; emerald gre sparkling with diamonds of mois Then another, and another. Th matniand’s vague shores took shape and beauty. Broad reaches of water flashed azure and pale gold under tho ewift caress of wind and sun. “Bee!” cried Desiree, “Isn't it perfect?” “Yes” he murmured, “It 1s.” “But look!” she commanded, “You haven't once taken your eyes from my face. How can you say" “What I said goes,” he answered, curtly, “There's nothin’ to take back.” a o8 ee ¢ © 6} Conover’s first day the Antlers were pleasant, for he and Desires were together from morning to night. He was welcomed with effusive cor- diality by Jack Hawarden; with graceful tolerance by the lad’s mother, ‘The big tent wherein he was quar- tered was near enough to the Hawar- den’s cottage to make the trip to and fro seem a3 nothing, More and more strongly as the days wore on did he feel though he had, reachedysome long-sought Mecca, The beauty of the “top of the world” was lost on him; but the beauty of the girl had in @ moment become an integral part of his every thonght. He was dully surprised at himself. Heretofore ho had always taken Desiree os much for granted as he had taken the sunlight itself. To ner ne had turned for whatever was happlest and restful tn his Mfe; had done {t unthinkingly, as part of his established routine, But now, after two months of separation f her, he grasped for the first time all her presence had meant to him, ‘The mighty silences of the moun- tains—the tumbled miles of multt- -ghaded green, strewn with fire-blue Jakes—all these carried no message to the hard-headed Fighter, the man of cities, But ever he caught himself staring at Desiree In awed wonde: as though some veil between them had of a sudden been snatched away ‘Once he had a brief chat with Jack Howarden that did much to set him at bis ease—he dfd not know why It was on the day of his arrival as he was making ready for dinner, Jack me into his tent. cai@he Granite papers keep us posted on your doings,” said Jack, seating himself on the bed. * You've made the old State sit up this summer. “1 have it standin’ on its hind legs an’ beggin’ before I'm ne, chuekled Conover, “I'm only just bi Ronin’. How you gettin’ ob w ra “How do you mean?” asked Jack, tly, UMGot her to take your view of the marryin’ problem?” “No,” sald the boy. “I haven’ “Too bad! Been here all summer with her, an’ had moonlight an’ all that sort of thing to your favor, 1 eh'd think if you was ever goin’ to 11"in love with you" “1 know,” interrupted Jack, ly, “[ counted on all that, but “@an't get her to see it your way?” “Not yet. Sometimes I'm afraid I never shall, But I shan't give up. ‘All my life I shall care for her and try to make myself worthy of her, Whether sho ever gots to caring oF not.” “Good book-talk,” commented the Fighter, “but it has a Kind of square sound to It, too, Well, luck to you! You can't say I ha given you all the chances there was “1 appreciate it, sir,” answered the boy, “And soon or late I mean to win. I—I—asked her once more since we came up here. It was about a month ago. But It seemed to make her un- happy. And I don't want to epoll her summe: TH wait for ye may learn to care, “These fellerg around here—these youngsters that's spendin’ the sum- mer at the hotel,” queried Caleb, “Isn't Int'rested in any of them, is she?” I think not, er, She's nice to all of them, just as she is to me, And there isn't another girl half so pop- ular, But I don’t think she cares, T'm eure she doesn’t.” Conover wondered why Hawarden’s report gave him an indefinadle sense of relief. . sve So far as Conover’s companionship with Desiree was concerned, the hours all sped with bewildering haste. But, otherwise, time was limping on leaden feet. The message of the hills was not for him. Gre mountain biue sky and bluer water, And the smell of balsam that had grown to be duily irritating to tim. His senses instinctively strained for the roar of traffic, the stark hurry of men, the smell of cities, Throughout the day the universal stiliness of the wilds was broken only by tho occasional “tck-tck-tck” of launches, By night even this waa ab- sent, and, as Desiree said, “God very near.” But the hush, the eternal calm of it all wore upon the Fighter's nerves, As well have expected the south wind to draw whispering melo- dies from a barrel-organ as for the spell of the forest to lay its blessed nd blessing hafd on the brain of this Man of Cities. At times he caurht himself counting the days that remained, and there was an impatient eagerness in the count. ‘Then, ever, would come the thought that each passing day brought him twenty-four hours nearer to bis part- ine from Dee And eagerness would give way to a sharp, if unde- fined pain, On the next to the last day of his stay a picnic was arranged, Meekly Conover assented, though he hated picnics, The oceaston was Desiree’s birth- day. She and Caleb, with Mrs, How- arden and Jack anda guide, were to journey to Brown's Tract Pond, there to epend the day and camp for the night. And there Fate was complas. cently waiting. CHAPTER X. Forest Madness. T was late the day's forenoon when the quartette tn two guide boats, set out from the Antlers dock for their twenty-four-hour picnic to Brown's Tract Pond, A guide had started an hour earlier with the camping equipment and pack, Jack and Mrs, Hawarden led the way, Desiree and Caleb being de- layed in starting by the vast pres- sure and vaster quantities of candy t must be brought to bear on Rex before the collie would consent to trust his cautious young life in their boat When at last the reluctant dog's fears were overcome and he lay led tn a contented, furry heap at siree’s feet in the stern, Caleb bent to his oars with a swing that sent tho frail guide boat over the mile of in- tervening lake in time to enter the inlet a bare length behind the Ha- wardens, Under the low wooden passed, Then began an rress, ish stream wriggles through part of the old Governmen tract once ceded to “Ossawotamie, Jonn Brown of anti-slavery memory, Formerly green tamaracks lined the lowlands to either side of the inlet's banks. The raising of the dams which, years ago, signed the murder- warrant for so many thousand splen- did trees, have left the tamaracks here—as elsewhere along the water- courses—a Waste of feathery, gray skeletons, / A bite of autumn was in the air, From bush and from waterside grasses the dying summer flashed its scarlet-and-gold warning of winter's dread approach. And s0, in course of time, they came to the camp, Where the others were awaiting them. e Dinner und a long, lazy afternoon, A row of exploration about the pond’s edge, a visit to the fsland; @ ramble throug the woods, and nightfall found the campers eating a firelight supper with the crass hunger of the unaccustomed outdoor — sojourner, Then a short, yawn-punctuated chat around the campfire and the signal for bec one thing for a man of cities chtfully sleepy after his first y in the woods. It ts quite ent matter for him to be able to fall asicep on a many-prosected bed of balsam, while a guide snores rau- cously on one side of him and a sec- ond man tosses In uneasy, muttering slumber on the other. After counting up to one hundred, and keeping tabs on a flock of visionary sheep as they leaped an equally mythical wall (and hoping in morbid disgust that some of them would fall and break their cks), Conover rose quiet- garments as he e roped about till he for erproof coat and stumbled out into the open. He kicked the fire's smouldering logs Into a blaze and looked at his watch, It was barely nine-thirty. He took out a cigar and prepared to sit down be- side the logs and smoke himself sleepy in. Then she came. He was not surprised, Even before he turned his head or noticed the fall of her lilt feet on the mold, he some- how knew she wax drawing near. He looked around to find her close behind him, Her hair was caught up loosely and shimmered like @ rust-shot aure- ole in the waning firelight. Sho wore the sweater and walking skirt of ‘the afternoon, But her high boots had been changed for moccasins. 1 couldn't sleep,” she whispered, clasping the hands he held out to her, “All the forest and the silence seemed calling to me, Besides, Mrs, Hawar- den sleeps so—so audibly. Al! at once I felt you were out here, So I came, Is it very late?” “No.” Don't get me any wrap,” she for- bade, stretching out her hands (o the blaze he was again stirring into Life, eae, GIVE HIM A POP GUN P ; 1 DIDN'T RaAist HY BOY To BE 4 SOvpier Tus as weue ACHEAP TNE -HE WONT, WEAR IT ANYHOW No.HIS FATHER IS AGAINST PREPAREDNESS ENT Resse TM NICE EVERY BODY Ques ME TRASH MY HUSBAND ENTOYS Toys 1 Am ALWAYS MORE THAN FEEL Foolish WHEN | WoHEN'S STOCKINGS LL BET SHE GIES ME SOME MANNERS By Maurice Ketten (NEVER Ger A WOMAN WILL ALWAYS MP ATA THIN, N US! PLAST Las! Year TWENTY PIN CUSHIONS SWouLoWT GIVE HER A PRESENT BuT (NEED HER. SoctAc Pure GETHIN A SHOPPING MUSIC BOK Kins ME AT ANY PRuce ATHOME = (~ Xm warm enough. And.you'd fall over something and swear and that would wake somebody, Then I'd have even resorted to unsportsmanlike rocketings that carried it far up through the treetops, the pursuit wa assented Conover, “You're right, But where's the camp?" Down the somewhere,” she re- to go back to the stuffy tent, quickly over, Rex, his ruff a-bristle, ) Vague Rex, curled up asleep on the far strutted back to the girl, walking on ‘But now can we find it?" he urged. side of the fire, lifted his head, wak- the tips of his toes and casting bale- “We don't know which side of this ened by the sibilant whispering. See- ful glances of warning to left and bill {t's on. It may be five miles Ing Desiree, he began to smite the right at any other lurking partridge away. If we go down, the chances are earth resoundingly with his wagging that might be tempted to brave his a million to one we won't strike it, tail. An’ then we'll have to wander ‘round all night In that slimy whilte cloud, ire, “What a gorgeous night!" mur- “What was it? What was It?” de- Nt mured Desiree, looking up at the manded Desiree, startled far out of like we've been doin’ for the past black, star-strewn sky, “And we her fit of eerie gayety. een had Aa RTD Seatns! it, girl.” were going to Waste it in sleep! Tho “Maybe ‘twa Lghighpine err “[ wouldn't spend another hour in woods aro calling. Tho dryads and gatires you was hopin’ Would drop jn tat mist for m fortune,” she shud fauns want us to come to their en- on us,” suggested C: cruelly. yt dered. “It stifled me; and hideous, all Ww) was to meet hit,” ; i Darranau: 4 naa always game tor anything 7oR You're horrid!” declared the girl. Ushi wolrtrine ee Guan: Ve nt ame to," he mado answer. “Ags if any self-respecting fairy ‘Caleb filled bis lungs and shouted m kind of heavy for dancin’, But would jump up with a noise like ten across the aca of mist, Again and if i'll be any sort of pleasure for gatling guns! 1—ob, the silver 1# again he bellowed forth his long- you, I might have a try at it turning gra It's for! The fog drawn halloo. any one on the “Hush!” she warned, “If you speak Steve Martin said we'd have to-night. nearer hill- ds his call might as loudly as that you'll be sure td And {t's coming down around us like rr But human wake them, Isn't this fun!" she went —like a Niagara of—of"-—— vol adily have penetrated on, with happy little laugh. “I feel “O¢ pea soup,” supplemented Con. 4 mountain of coiun-batting as carry as If we'd run away from school and over, “it's thick enough to cut, An’ sound through that waste of cloud~ ware Boing to te peoided terribly ten minutes ago the sky was per- reek, ard when we get back. I dare youm= fec'ly clear, Best wet back to the At length the two fugitives real- oh, dare you! I double-dare yo camp before the measly stuff makes ized this. A last shout, by ey ede “To what?’ by the sudden rm face and voice. he demanded, infected us lose our way. Then we would be of mischief to her in a sweet fix.” “T'll do anything you Backward they turned upon their ing of ears for some answering cry then Conover turned again to the girl, “They wouldn't hear us a hundred say. Want me to, haul out Steve tracks, Already the guiding tree yards away,” said he, “even if they Martin an’ Jack an’ lick ‘em for you, vigiag were wiped out, ‘The two was awake, We'll ‘have to—why, or pe: 2 J to ™ oie inev'e ie nt is mai walked rapidly, pushing along with no you're shiverin'! "Neither!" she reed, sternly, better guide than their sense of gen- ‘To Desiree the glow of th adding with perverse wistfulness, eral direction. For a full half hour elimb was giving Aiste to ine iat Though it would be interesting to they walked, Caleb helping Desiree gir of the Adirondack autumn night. see how Mrs, Hawarden’s airy dignity over a series of fallen trees, gullies would sustain her in a blazing tent. LJ Her teeth were chattering, but she and boulders that neither had noted ‘ ee Agoors bravely scouted the idea af discom- No. no, What I was going {0 dare during their outward Journey. an you to do Is much less spectacular. ‘Then, out of breath, Desiree halted, = eae “A walk?" echoed Conover. “Why, she exclaimed, "We're going UD- tosh ‘and wrapped her in ite hure It's near ten orclock, an’ cold ay char- hill, I know wo are. 1 can tell by folts, “the sable: protested. thar Ke ity. Besides, it'll be all dark an’ the feeling, And the camp Iles down must not rob hiteselt; but the cory damp in the thick part of the woods.” by the pond.” comfort of the big ‘carmen ie eal “But I'm sure we'll run across & They started once more, going pur- So'hic Mer retanet te let her cemove ring of fairies—or a satyr, at the very posely upward this time, groping least, Oh, the night Is throbbing with it, soon silenced her objections, C their way through the blinding mist 5 over had taken charge of the sit a- magic! And the foreste are calling. without speaking. tion. the worl ninute Shan't we answer the oali?” Of a sudden the fox was gone from to acratch tomether, aD artful. of “Sounds to me more like katydids,” before them, A step or (wo further twigs, chips and small °ughs—relics he demurred, and they stood on a hilltop, under the of the hewn tree—to thrust under the Laughing excitedly under their gtars, heap a crumpled letter from his breath, after the manner of school- Desiree sank wearted on the stump pocket, and to set a match to the im- boys making safe escape to truancy, of a twin tree, her back against the promptu fire. the two stole away on tiptoe from the trunk of the unfelled half, Caleb Then, as the twigs crackled and radius of fire shine, Rex, waking glanced about to locate the camp. bla he scoured the hilltop for in at their departure, sighed 48 His exclamation of wonder brought larger’ woo Half-rotted logs that tion dragged him from sleep and the tired girl to her fee would smoulder |i) © tree warmth, and trotted along solemnly — {t wag no hilltop they stood on. It branches that must be in- in the wake of the two truants, was a tiny island juttin »ward out stead of carried to the fire; a bulky Before n lay a natural vista of an immeasureable sea, In 118 length of lumber overlooked when winding between ranks of black trees, tance to either hand rose ilar the tree had been cut up and ear Starlight filtered through, giving an {s Above was the cloudless sky, ried away. These and lesser fuel uncanny glimmer to the still dark- Below lay the vast wavele deep, served In an amazingly short time to ness, “It's the f cried the girl, finds turn the sputtering flamelets into a “It 1s lke breaking into fairy ing her voice as the marvel explained roaring camp fi gasped the girl, tense an itself, “Don't you sce? It lies low, Piece after piece of his gathered with the hushed wonder of R over the water and the valley. And wood Caleb fed to the blaze, Desiree are mortals, We have no right in we're above it, It has settled down leaning back, deliciously warm and Oberon's domain, But he sees what over everything like a white cloud, happy, to encourage the labor, A very, very nice, harmless mortals We But gomo of the hilltops pierce the gecond journey into the dark and are. So he doesn't change us to bats top of it. We're ‘above the clouds!’ Conover was back with more fuel, or fitefiies. He just lets us trespass she quoted, laughing, her spirits which he plled in reserve beyond the all we want to. And perhaps he'll ing back with her returning str reach of the flame-tongues. even let us see a real fairy, An elf, "We'ro abo The heat was fierce. Caleb drew that one, anyhow,” | The True Yuletide Spirit anyway.” Caleb laughed in sheer happin Of her Oberon rigmarole he graspe Uttle, But he saw she was tn ehild- ishly wild spirits, and the knowled of her Joy thrilled him. The cold b was never brought out so beautifully in any other story as in deeper ‘as they struck rising ground and followed the glimmering forest- Cc Ss S via upward Wf A CHRISTMAS CAROL With a little ery of alarm she clutched ‘Cate, From. almoste under | By Charles Dickens her fect @ partridge whirred upward, This classic should be read or reread by every one at the present Dis beating wings rattling through season, So The Evening World is going to reprint it complete during the stillness like double castanets.|] Christmas week. Rex, with one staccato grow! dee 2 Read It for your own sake and for the sake of those whose Chriat- ow s throat, # ase. Bu mas you may be led to make happler by reading tt ae the bird utterly refused to Oy, and a back from the fire, mopping his red face. Then he took off his tweed Jacket, Crossing to Desiree, he lifted his mackintosh from her shoulders and made her put on the jacket, The latter’s hem fell to her knees, Con- over rolled back its sleeves until her engulfed hands were once more visl- Then he spread the mackintosh the ground near the fire, incl- ntly dislodging Kex from a care fully chosen bed. Phere!" proclaimed the Fighter, hat's done, Now you've a camp bed, Lay down on that mackintooh an’ I'll wrap you up in it, You won't catch cold, even if the fire dies out Which same it won't, for I to net up keep it burnin’ “In other words,” she said, with the stern air of rebuke that he loved, “I am going to curl up in all the wraps there are and go fast to sleep, while you sit up all night long and keep the fire goin? I think [see myself doing tty" “Lasten, you Jittle girl,” put In Ci leb, with rough tenderness, “I like nothin’ so well, as a rule, as to let you boas me, But here's the one time that I'm goin’ to do the bossin’. You're tired out, an’ you're li'ble to take cold an’ get unless you keep wrapped up a good, comf'tible sle¢ An’ you're goin’ to get it Don’ you worry ‘bout me, neither, By the time I've been restin’ ‘gainst that tree trunk five minutes I'll be in the arms of old Morpheus. It seems kind of measly trick to put up on Morpheu whoever be. But it's what I'm goin’ The quiet mastery of the man per- mitted no argument, Indeed, Desires, for nome strange reason, felt herself unaccountably stirred by tt. ow," he went on, “one more arm- ful of this stuff on the pile an’ then I'll warm the mackintosh for you by the fi n’ let you go to sleep, Tf wish I'd wore a vest to-day,’ “Why? Oh, you're cold! You need this"— bp . I'd Uke It to roll up Into a pillow for you. I'm w all right An’ this fire'll stay goin’ all nig I feed It up once or twice b mornin’, the He picked up one of boughs and swung It onto the The sweep of his arm s¢ e end of the bra against Desiree, She was rising from her tree-stump seat at ind the Impact of the bushy end of the bough the moment atrong-swur threw her off her balance, Not in tne least hurt, she nevertheless lost her footing and fell, with an exclamation of dismay, to the At her ery © rned, Realizing that he had kr her down und fearful lest she be badly bruised by the blow, he sprang forward and, with @ volley of loud self-reproach, lifted her to her feet. The grip of his powerful arms gave Desiree 4 sense of utter peace and pteetion. ‘That and something more, Something she © d not—would not analyze, Unresiating, she let her body rest Inert in his mighty grasp the fraction of an instant longer than Was perhaps really needful, ‘And in that atom of time the mis- chief was made. Conover was staring down at her in eager solicitude, still begging her to tell him if #fe Were hurt, She looked up, and their eyes mot, Hers were sick with a love that transfigured her, And before their gaze Conover's heavy face went blank; then filled with a light of wonder and utter m ture th fairly frig 1 the « His arma t ned about her in a Qlasp that robbed her of breath—and of al will to breath Sbe felt her- ih COMPLETE NOVEL IN THE EVENING WORLD for CHRISTMAS WEEK|E A CHRISTMAS CAROL PREFS ISISS SIFISIOSP TIP IOTSS OOO self crushed against the man's chest, and her upturned face was buried in nee. ecstatic kisses. Kisses wildly |—to Ma rough jas thouwh she ‘tinued, after a divine silence, awkward and vehement; those of a |man unused to giving or receiving jcareases. Kisses that kindled in the irl a swift bliss that biinded—on- thralled her, For a moment Desires stood move- less, leaning back limply in the {ron rms that bound her to her lover's |breast. Lis kisses rained down on |her rapt, white face; upon her wide, starry eyes, her loosened hair, Ther with @ gasping murmur of | Joy could not put into words, she jeuddeuly threw her arms about Con- ov thick neck and gave him kiss for kiss, The rank scent of tobacco upon his lips—the bristle of a day-old beard—the ugly face itself, with its under-shot jaw, its square, crude massiveness—all these things were |nothing. Behind them she read and gloried in the love that blazed in the Fighter's pale eye. That was all she saw--had ever seen—would ever see, Whether for a minute or for a century the two stood clasped heart to heart, soul to soul, neither could ever remember, At last the great arms re- leased her. The triumphant love that shone in Conover’s face was again tinged with a wonder that was al- most reverence, “Why in blazes didn’t we know this before?” he demanded, hoarse and shaking. | "Speak for yourself!” sobbed the “I've known it alway: always, ! Ever since | was a child. y mir since then, There's just been you, Nothing else counted, | Ar and y! Siemens “Never ca “art, I've cared so much it was the lite of me, An’ because it was the lite I lived an’ the br ith | breathed I didn’t even guess it, Never once. Oh, it's like I'd been trav'lin’ through Why didn’t you Why wasn't It like this two Dey, if 'd known—if I'd stood I felt that way ‘bout you, no, 1 wouldn't, either, I'd a away for fear of breakin’ my For It wouldn't ‘a’ seemed pos- Say you heaven blin'folded. tell me? years ago? undi ‘aible you could love me. love me, girl!” he ordered, flercely, | ay it over an’ over—a lot of times!" you?” murmured Desiree, her ‘dying away. “Love you?— n passion of adoration, she flung her arms about his heck, straining hire close to her. She ould not speak, She could only press ‘her soft, hot face close—ever #0 close heek, and cling to hit ared he might van- | ish, dream-like, from her clasp. “When you went away,” h With a aude the fourt of me had been torn out, Ladldn't know what alled me. thought it was a craze to work. An’ L worked till I set all Granite totterin’, ‘An’ all the. time {t was you—you! n'when I saw you again, there at the station In the mist, tt seemed like I'd come home, I wanted to catch hold of your dress an’ beg you never to get out of my sight again, An’ I wan ashamed of feelin’ that way, an’ Twas afraid you'd find out an’ laugh at me. I was wild In love with you, girl-an’ T never knew It, Did—did you know T was? “always know tt," she whispered, That I knew loved me. you cared almost as much as I cared. But you never even suspected, And —oh, how could T tell you?” Again they were silent for a space, Then she sald, a Httle timidly: “God meant ‘us for each other, dear 1 I believe in such things, And #0 must you. And we have found each other at last. Here, alone, on the top of the world. Just as Hoe meant us to, Oh, I must be good—so good—if Tam to deserve all this.” “Deserve it? he echoed, In choked . you make me feel like hidin’ my head somewheres, What is there In all this for you? I'm a rough, uneddicated chap that moat, folks jook down on, ag’ the rest don't look at, at all, I got nothin’ but my money an’—oh, Dey, I got you! An’ I'm the amaze. lost happlest man that ever got this measly, heavenly wilderness! It hint true, An’ presently I'll wake up. But while lasta"-—— “It will lagt forever, daring,” she Interposed. ‘orever and a day, We couldn't be brought together like this just to be parted again, Even Fate couldn't be as cruel as that, Tell me why you didn't know you loved me, Sometimes, when you used to talk about marrying—some one else—T had to bite my lips to keep from cailing to you: ‘You can't! It's [you love!” “Why didn’t you, then? You saw me stumblin’ along in the dark, Why did you let me do It when, tf you'd aid the first word"—— we) should have said tt some day. I know [ should, Some day before it Yh, beloved, did you was going to let you Why even she knew was too late. Peally think marry—her? notte veeetover threw back his head and laughed long and loud. A laugh of absolute boyish happiness that rang Gut over the miles of fog lke a challenge ‘ate. "Oh, ord!” he murgled. “Generlly {t gets me wild to be made a fool of Rut this is the dandiest joke ever! The whole crowd Was on, you say? sv'rybody but me!” ’ He erew «rave and drew her to him on more, Not impetuously jut with a gentle reverence, “Sweetheart,” he said, “Ft aln't ft to kiss one of those soaked little moc- T never worried much, but now—T m before such things; kind of wish ['d done diffrent’ in lots of things, so's I could tell you 1 waa reely worth your marryin’, Bur if you'll help Dey, I'm goin’ to be everything you'd want, An’ one of daya I'll make you proud of “rm prouder of you now, dear— and I've always been prouder—tha IT could be of any other man altve she insisted ‘Oh, the miracie of it fore he could stay her, or so much as guess her Intent, she had Hpped to her knees, Stooping to raise her, he saw her hands were clasped and her lips moving, Awed, he drew back a pace, and looked tim- idly upward into the Star Country, ‘Then, shutting his eyes very tleht, he opened communteation with Heaven for the first and last time in his life. “Thanks!” he muttered, under his breath. A pause of mental hiatus—a help- less groping for words in a wild unl- verse of incoherent gratitude—then once more a mumbled, shy "Thanks!" and the prayer—two words in all— was ended It is possible that longer, moro elo- quent origons than his have trated less far beyond the front the stars anc less close to the ear of =~ the Hearer and Answerer, Pag By risen. Simply, half- yly, Wo little ohil 4 Kiased each other. pare tess “Now you must go to #leep,” he ors dered, picking up the mackintosh and wrapping \t closely about her, “To sleep!” she echoed, “After this? I don’t think I shall ever throw away happy hours again by sleeping through them. I couldn't sleep now to eave my Life, even if | wanted to, And I don’t want to. Please let me do the ~ J reli f Just a@ little longer, dear heart.” He had flung another armful of- wood upon the fire. Now, picking De« siree up as he might have lifted @ baby, he returned to the stump Holding her in his arms, close to breast, he sat there, and gazed into the flames, is Tired, deliriously content, she nestled to him with a sigh of absolute rapture. There they remained, still, ineffably beatific, at rest, while ti fire snapped merrily andthe dow at their feet growlingly pursued nume~ berless coveys of low-flying partridges aves the aisles of dreamland, 4 “I don't s’pose I'll ever reely under.” stand it” mused Caleb, “Here I've always been thinkin’ [ looked on you like you were my daughter an’ that I was a million years older’n you'd ever get to be. An’ now in Just one sec- = ond the whole world turns insid an’ I land in heaven; I'm talkin’ heaven’ to-night like any sky-seout, ain't [? But it sort of seems the onlp word.” ee “It in very near us,” she made re« » ply, softly. “See,” raising herself in his arms and looking out over the star-gleaming mists below them, “See, the world 1s new, The seas have” swept over all its old sins and fol and sordid, workaday life, This fnand stands alone in the universe. All the rest is engulfed. And you and I are the only people on God's new earth, © We have risen above the old life of mistakes and blindness, Here—alone —in our new marvel world—foreveried and ever.” Her head sank on his breast. He buried his face in the fragrant wone der of her hair, And once more they fell silent. “Your arms are 90 big—so strong!* _. murmured Desiree, © fortress where no Ill can ever get to me, I'm home!” He wrapped the coat more closely about her and held her tenderly as a mother, reverently as a priest might bear the Host. And after a time, as she lay against his broad breast, the long, curling fringe of her eyelashes heman to wayer. Sleepily she lifted her fac “Kiss me good night,” she sald, her voice slow with Arowsiness. The fire died down and the ring of heat-ramparts it had reared against the autumn cold crumbled away, sleeping girl rested cozily warm Conover's arms, The man, his back against the tree, sat motionless, fear- ing by the slightest move to disturb her sleep. He dared not rise to replenish the embuldering fire, He was coatless, d the growing cold gnawed with creasing keenness through the thim negiigee shirt, into his arms and shoulders, It was the coldest night he had known since his arrival at the Adirondacks, An the last flame died down upon the bed of red-gray coals, Rex woke with a quiver of chilliness, crept close to the embers and lay down again, Caleb, first making sure the move. \~ ment had not disturbed Destree, fell to envying the dom The cold had sunk into his very bones. ‘The tm- possibility of shifting his stilted post- tion galled him, as the endless hours crept. by. Cramped, half-frozen, racked with the agony of stiffening muscles and of blood that could no. longer circulate, he clenched his teeth over his under lip from sheer pain. The girl, who at frst had lain feather- like in his arms, now seemed heavy enough to tear loose his throbbing bi- ceps. Nor would he, for all the physl- cal anguish of his plight, move ber body one hair's breadth, And 50, like a sleepless Galahad be. fore some old world forest shrine— like Stylites on his pillar—worship~ ping yet in infinite suffering—he sat the long night through, . At length his body grew numb, his blood congested. Aching discomfort and cold had wrought their worst om his frame of tron and had left it hard~ ily impervious to further ill. He nod- ded drowsily presently he dosed, ee . . 4 ee . With a sensation of being stared at, Caleb Conover opened his eyes, The pale shimmer in the east had gtven Place to gray dawn, The dawn-wind, too, had waxed stronger, sweeping the fog before it, No longer were the man and woman on an island, but on a hill-top whence on every side stretched away leagues of dull green landscape. Only over the pond did the mist still hov Directly below, not a quarter of @ mile away lay the camp, r were they alone on their won- der-hill, On the far side of the dead fire Jack Hawarden stood, eyeti them, And his face was as gray an iif 8 as the strewn ashes at his ee Conover and the lad looked at each other without speaking, Long and expressioniessly Jack gazed at the waking and the sleeping, Conover noted that the boy's eyes were hag- gard and that the youth and jollity had been stricken from his face as by a blow, It was Hawarden who spoke first “No one down there ts awake yet,” he sald, whispering so low that the © girl's slumber was not broken, “& woke up and missed you. I came out of the tent and saw you up here, & didn't know when you would wake and I was afraid the others might see, So Lcame, Don't let her know,” There was @ catch in his breath atte the last word. He turned abruptly on hia heel and sped down the hill-side, is stockinged feet making no sound n the damp mold, Caleb looked dly after his receding figure, “Ho's white!" muttered Conover, “White clear through!” : Desiree moved at sound of higess voice, and opened her eyes, For as moment she gazed up into Caleb's face with blank amaze, Then knew, Up went her arms, like ©. waking baby’s, and about his His arm out her, her clasped over one of his yulders, they made thelr way down the hillside to the silent camp in the waterside dusk below, (To Be Continued.) ad seem to be in //