The evening world. Newspaper, December 29, 1915, Page 13

ert » her, leading one pack horse and let- "5 in for nothing, never looking back. CHAPTER VI. c (Continued) A Different Sort of Man. 6c R. WAGSTAFF!" she called. M “Yours truly,” his , voice hailed back, away to one alde. u Be there in a minute.” In lees time he appeared beside her. “Will you fall off or be lifted off?” he said cheerfully. “Where are we? she demanded, “Ask mo something easy,” he re- turned. “I've been going it blind for en hour, trying to hit the Soda Creek Trail, or any old trail that would show me where I am. It's no use. ‘Too dark. A man couldn't find his Way over country that he knew to- night if he bad a lantern and a com- pass “What on earth am I going to do?" Hasel cried desperately. “Camp here till daylight,” Roaring Bill answered evenly. “The only thing you can do. Good Lord!” His aceidentaly rested on hérs. fou’re like ice, I didn’t think about getting cold riding. I'm a mighty ughtless escort, I'm afraid. Get down and put on a coat, and I'll have @ fire in a minute.” “I suppose if I must I must; but I @an get off without any help, thank .” Hazel answered ungraciously Roaring Bill made no reply, but stood back, and when her feet touched earth he threw over her shoui- the coat he had worn himself. he turned away, and Hazel saw stooping here and thers, and the crack of dry sticks broken over Knee. In no time he was back to the horses with an armful of etuff, and had a small biaze lick- through dry grass and twigs. grew he piled on large sticks (Wil tho bright Mame waved two feet high, Mghting up the nearby wools and shedding a bright glow on the horses standing patiently at He paid no attention to Hazel whe came tmidly to the fire, Yooked up at her with a it F| emile. 's right,” he sald. “Come on ‘warm. No use worrying—or crogs. I suppose from your conventional point of view ft'e a terrible thing to be cut in the woods all night alone with a strange man. But I'm not a bear—I won't if I seomed rude,” Hazel can't help thinking the disagree- able side of it. People talk so. I sup- at be a nine days’ wonder in hed softly. . Mtat “enn take it out in wondering,’ the advised. ‘Cariboo Meadows is & ‘small and ins!gnificent portion of world, anywa erat ‘ec one of the packs, and ame back with a canvas cover, which om the ground. : “git on that,” he said. "The earth's damp ‘in the woods.” Than he stripped. the horses of their Durdens and tied them out of sight in ‘trees. ‘This task finished, he took ax and rustied a pile of wood, dead poles up to the fire and ping them into short lengths. When finally he laid aside bis ax he himself with gathering grass Teaves and pine needles until he ‘several armfula collected and spread in an even pilo to serve as a mattress. Upon this he laid his bed- ding, two thick quilts, two or three gains of woolen blankets, a pillow, the whole inclosed with a long canvas sheet, the bed tarpaulin of the cattle Miners,” he said; “you can turn in r you feel like it." Pe ninsolt he took the saddle blan- id them close by the fire dete ane aching distan ME the wood taking for cover a pick canvas. ‘stretche himself full length, filled iis pipe, lit it, and fell to staring In to he smoked, bs? ue ee tour later he raised ‘his heed and looked across the fire at ‘hy Gon't you go to bed?" he “Tm wleepy.” she declared, which ns palpable falsehood, for her eyelids were even then drooping. Maybe not, but you need rest.” Fi eaid quietly, “Quit thinking things. be all the same a hundred vears ‘now. Go to bed, You'll be ble.” comteremptority commanded, iy Jo night's CHAPTER VII. In Deep Water. iq cast with slaty clouds What with her wanderings of the night be- 1 found herself granting instant HE dawn thrust as sombre curtains while they fore and the journey through the dark with Roaring Bill, she had absolutely ence. ate, revealing a sky over no idea of either direction or locality. “Do you suppose I can get home in time to open school’!” she inquired anxiously. je Roaring Hill smiled, "I don't Jane he answered: “1! all depends “You know where you are now, don't you?" she asked, . “Not exactly,” he responded. “But I will before long—-I hope. For two hours Roaring Bill tr amped through aisles hor d with pine and epruce and fir, through thickets of and across limited areas berry bus’ wy meadow. Not once did th maw ana or a trail, With t clouds hiding the sun, she could not dell north from south after they left camp. ntually Bill halted at a mall stream to get a drink, Tazel Jooked at her watch, It was half st % “aren't we ever going to get there?” ghe culled, impatiently, iar The Romance of a Cave-Man and a Pretty School Teacher “Pretty soon,” he called back, and struck out again. Another hour passed. Ahead of ting the other follow untrammelled, Roaring Bill kept doggedly on, halt- If he did not know where he waa go- ing, he showed no hesitation, And Hazel had no choice but to follow. ‘They crossed a ravine and slanted up a ateep hillside Presently Hazel could look away over an area of woodland undulating like a heavy ground swell at sea. Here and there ridges stood forth hoes! A above tho eral roll, and distantly she could Scecry @ white-capped mountain range. They turned the end of a thick patch of pine scrub, and Bill pulled up in @ small opening, From @ case swinging at his belt he took out @ pair of field and leis- urely surveyed the country, “Well?” Hazel interrogated. Bhe herself had cast an anxious glance over the wide sw: and beyond, seeing nothing but timber and Mils, with the silver thread of a creek winding serpentwise through the green. But of habitation or trail there was never a sign. it was after 10 o'clock. They were over four hours from their camp ground, “Nothing in sight, is there?” Bill eaid, thoughtfully. “If the sun was; out, now. Funny I can't spot and Soda Creek Trail.” “Don't you know Arid country at allt” she asked, gloomily. “I thought I ‘and, he replied. “But I can't seem to get my bearings to work out correctly. I'm awfully sorry to Logg a! in such @ pickle. But it t helped.” Thus he disarmed her for the time being. She could not find fault with a man who was eg his best to help her, If Roaring Bill were una- ble to bear straight for the Meadows, it was unfortunate for her, but no fault of his, At the same time, it troubled her more than she would admit. “Well, we won't get anywhere standing on this hill,” he remarked at length. He took up the lead rope and moved on. They dropped over the ridge crest and once more into the woods. Roar- ing Bill made his next halt beside a spring, and fell to unlashing the packs, “What are you going to do?” Harel ked bite, and let the horses graze,” he told her. “Do you realize that we've been going since daylight? It's near noon. Horses have to eat and rest once in a while, just the sine #8 buman beings.’ The logic of this Hazel could not well den: ince she herself was tired and ravenously hungry. By her watch it was just noon. Bill hobbled out his horses on the grass below the spring, made a firs, and set to work cooking. For the, first time the idea of haste seemed toy have taken hold of him. He worked silently at the meal getting, fried steaks of venison, and boiled a pot of coffee, They ate. He filled his pipe, and smoked while he repacked. Alto- gether, he did not consume more than forty minutes at the noon halt, Hazel, now wofully saddle sore, would fain have rested longer, and, In default of resting, tried to walk and lead Silk. Roaring Bill offered no objection to that. But he hit a faster gait. Sie could not keep up, and he did not slacken pace when she began to fall behind. So she mounted awkwardly, and Silk jolted and shook her with his trotting until he caught up with his mates. Bill grinned over his shoulder. “You're learning fast," he oalled back. ‘You'll be able to run a pack train by and by.” The afternoon wore on without bringing them any nearer Cariboo Meadows so far as Hazel could see, Traveling over a country awathed in timber and diversified In contour, she could not tell whether Roaring Bill swung In a circle or bore straight for some given point. She speculated fu- tlely on the outcome of the strange plight she was in. It was a far cry from pounding a typewriter in a city office to jogming through the wilder- ness, lost beyond peradventure, her only company a stranger of unsavory reputation, Yet she was not fright- ened, for all the element of unreality Under other ciroumstances she could have relished the adventure, taken pleasure in faring gypsy fashion over the gvide reaches where man had left no Mark, As it was-— Sho called a halt at 4 ofclock. “Mr. Wagstaff!” Hill stopped bis horses and came k to her. ren't we ever going to get any- where?" she asked soberly, But we've got to keep going. Got to make the best of a bad job," he returned. “Getting pretty tired?" “Lam,” she admitted. “I'm afratd ‘Cook T can't ride much longer. I could walk if you wouldn't go @#o fast Aren't there any ranches in this country at all?" Ho shook hia head. and far between,” he sald, “Don't worry, though. "It isn't a Nfe-and- death matter, If we were here with- out grub or horses it might be tough You're in no danger from exposure or hunger.” “You don't seem to realize the posi- tion it puts me in," Hazel answered. A wave of despondency swept over her, and ber eyes grew suddenly bright with the teara she strove to keep back. “If we wander around in the woods much longer I'l simply he a senaation when IT do get back to riboo Meadows, I won't have a shred of reputation left, It will prob ably result in my losing the school. You're a man, and it's different with you, You can't know what a girl has to,contend with where no one knows her “They're few I'm a stranger tn this country, } tid Can You RRA 18 SLIPPERS” To MATCH MY PURPLE STOCKINGS PURPLE GOWN OF HIS SHADE Daily Magazine; Wednesda Beat It? om THAT'S A DIFFICULT SHADE TS MATCH . WE'LL HAVE To! MAKE EH “To ORDER MAM HAVE You A PURP SORE, THE COLOR OF MY STOCKINGS, To WEAR. WITH A PURPLE GOWN THAT MATCHES A OF PURPLE I HAVE ORDERED TO WEAR WITH ITSA RARE SHADE HARD To MATCH would take a lot more thag a flash drummer’ ford to convince me that you're a naughty little girl. Pshaw- forget it!” Hazel colored hotly at his mention of Perkins, but for the latter part of his speech she could have hugged him Rill Wagstaff went a long way, in love bist sentences, toward demol- ishing her conviction that no man ever overlooked an opportunity of taking advantage of a woman, But Bill said nothing further. He stood &@ moment longer by her horse, resting ove hand on Silk’s mane, and scrap- ing absently in the soft earth with the ton of his boot “Well, let's get somewhere,” he said abruptly. “If you're too sadde sore to ride, walk a while. I'll go slower.” She walked, and the exercise re- Neved the cramping ache in her limbs. Roaring Bill's slower pace was fast enough at that. She followed till her strength began to fail. And when in spite of her determination she lagged behind, he stopped at the first water, “We'll camp bere,” he said. “You're about all in, and we can't get any- where to-night, I see plainly.” Hazol accepted this dictum as best she could. She sat down on a mossy Tock while he stripped the horses of their gear and etaked them out. Then Bill started a fire and fixed the roll of bedding by it for her to sit on. Dusk crept over the forest while he cooked supper, making a bannock in the fry- ing pan to take the place of bread; and when they had finished eating and washed the few dishes night shut down black as the pit, They talked little, Hazel was tn the grip of utter forlorniess, moody, wish- fulness to cry. Roaring Bill humped on his side of the fire, staring thoughtfully into the blaze. After a long period of abstraction he glanced @t his watch, then arose and silently arranged her bed. After that he spread his saddle blankets and lay down, Hazel crept into the covers and Quietly sobbed herself sleep. The huge and silent land appalled her, She had been chucked neck and crop into the Primitive, and she had not yet been able to react to her environment. she Was neither faint-hearted nor hystert | The grind of fending for herself in a city had taught her the necessity of self-control, But she was worn out, unstrung, and there ts a Umit to @ woman's endurance, As on the previous night, she wak- ened often and glanced over to the fire, Koaving Bill kept his accustomed position, flat in the glow had no fear of him now. But he J thing of enigma illusions al had encountered a wo in one way and anot) the age when she coiled hair on top of her head. And she could recall one—1 ven Jack Barr with whom s nuld have felt at ease similar situation, She knew that : ae was @ something about her that aad what ite they Go Know Of Oey mad It tue prencnes a had Sho stoned short, on the point of MAY such effect on ill Wagstaff, ho saying that what Cartboo Meadows PANSAlinaly sone ed 4 aul fs = knew of her through the medium of AM! she Was duly grateful for tha Mr. Howard Perkina was not at all tn of hin tyne tie eg cnaracteria: to her credit " ‘| Tonrits Hill looked up at her im- masculine t¥n finan, ut whe had passive “T know," he said, as if he expression in his eves had read her thought, “Your friend that. she had sech otce over fom Pork Iked a lot, But what's the pricgs's dining table difference? Cariboo Meadows {s onl¥ — Night pissed, and dawn ushered in a fle It ght, and you a clearing ky. Razed wisps. of know you're right, you can look the ” chased each other across the world in the eye ‘and tell it collec- blue when they set out asain. Mazel tively to go to the devil. Besides, walked the stiff ut er muscles you've got a perverted idea, People before she mounted, When she did aren't so ready to give you the bad get on + touring Bill Increased his €ye on somebody else's say-so. It pace. He was long-lexged and light of foot, apparently tireless. She asked ho questions. What was the use? He would eventually come out some- where. She was resigned to wait. After @ time she began to puzzle, and the old uneasiness came back. ‘The last trailing banner of cloud van- ished, and the sun rode clear in an opal sky, smiling benignly down on the forested land, She was thus en- abled to locate the cardinal points of the compass, Wherefore she took to gauging their course by the shadows, And the result was what get her thinking. Over level and ridge and swampy hollow Roaring Bul drove straight north in an undeviating line, She recollected that the point from which she had lost her way had lain northeast of Cariboo Meadows, Even if they had swung in a circle they could scarcely be pointing for the town in that direction. For gnother hour Bill held to the northern line as a aeedle holds to the pole. A swift rush of misgiving seized her, “Mr, Wagstaff!" she called Roaring Bill stopped, and a) Silk up past the pack horses. “Where are you taking me?" she de. manded, “Why, I'm taking you home—or try- ing to,” he answered mildly. “But you're going north,” she de- clared, “You've been going north all morning. I was north of boo Meadows when I got lost. How can we get back to Caribo: leadows by going still further north “You're more of a woodsman than I imagin Bill remarked gently, He smiled up at her, and drew out his pipe and tobacco ‘pouch. She looked at him for a minute, "Do you know where we are now?” she ed quietly, je met her keen gaze calmly, “I he made laconic answer. “Which way is Cariboo Meadows, then, und how far ts !t?” she de- manded, “General direction south,” he replied slowly, “Fifty miles more or less. Rather more than less,” you've been rth!" she am I going to do?” right on do, leading me cried, “Oh, what going.” Wagstaff won't!" she flashed, 11 find my own way back. What devilish Impulse prompted you ¢ do puch a thing?” “You'll have @ beautiful the of tt," he said dryly, completely ignoring her “Take you three days to walk t -If you knew every foot of the way. And you don't know tho way. ‘Travelling in timber is_oon- fusing, as you've discovered, You'll never see Cariboo Meadows, or any ’ other place, if you tackle tt «ingle offered to the readers of a newspa; he Evening World, They are In The Evening World’ equal celebrity. ONE OF THE MANY THOUSAND P ‘THE EVENING WORLD’S Complete Novel Each Week? [00000000000 author, These novela are issued compl And the tremendous success of the plan hae long boon demonstrated. “CON PLETE NOVEL serice is the foremost work of euch “best-seller” authors Chambers, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Rupert Hughes, Jam wood, Morgan Robertson, Margaret Widdemer, George Randolph Ches- n Its ter, Louis Joseph Vanes, Edgar Rice Burroughs and many others of ald i ce yi Deséa By Maurice Ketten WHAT CAN 1 00 , FoR You 18S TouN 2 ( mp | OF Mese SIONS —— TO WEAR WITH PURPLE { SuiPpERs MATCHES 'URPLE GOWN OF THIS SHADE SOHN. HERE AREA Few More Bus. | | HAD To Buy 4 FEW HINGS To MATCH THE EAUTIFUL PURPLE STOCKINGS ‘YOU GAVE NE handed, without grub or match on the pronoun, beddi, It's fall, remembe Yes?" he drawied., “Well, there’ snowstorm |s due any time. This is no profit in arguing that point, Let's @ whopping big country, Men have be getting on.” got lost in it--and other men have H for the lead rope of the found their bones,” Kk He let this sink in while she sat there on his horse choking back @ wild desire to curse him by bell, book and candle for what he had done, and cried, “1 mu back without me, sald, “And travelling that way, holding in check the fear of what he thunk you. might yet do. She knew him to bea — “i'luise—oh, please!” she begged different type of man from any she forloruly. had ever encountered, She could not — touring Bill's face hardened. “I will escape the conclusion that Roaring not,” he said flatly, "t'm going to play Bill Wagstaff was something of a the game my way. And I'll play fair, law unto himself, capable of hewing That's the only promise L will make," to the Ino of his own desires at any — Sho took u look ut the encompassing cost, She realized her utter help- woods, and her heart sank at facing leasness, and the realization left her those shadowy etretches alone and un without words. He had drawn a@ guldud. The truth of his statement vivid picture, and the instinct of self- that she would never reach Cariboo preservation asserted ttself, Meadows forced itself home, There You misled me.” She found her wae but the out, and her voice at lust. “Why?” woman's » save her, “Did I mislead you?" he parried, io J, in a awit “Weren't you already lost when you SUrs@ of nn Ad a came to my camp? And have I mia- {his countey slong, t my help- treated you in any manner? Ha lossness. But so help mo Heaven, ri refused you food, shelter or help me een Day for ee dirty Siok) P » You're not a man! You're a ¢ ay boris le in Cariboo } Fas miserable pntemptible scound: bad she persisted. “I asked you to take . You led me away from ,,.Whew!" ~ Konring Bill lnughed, Etre deliberatciy, I believe now, hose Ste peatty Samies: wy the “My trail doesn't happen to lead to Sune [admire your geri ell, here Cariboo Meadows, that's all,” Roaring of oot up the lead rope, and went Bill coolly told her, “If you must Ko on without even lnciine hack toy ant back there I shan’t restrain you 0 i¢ whe followed. If he had made the any way whato' But I'm for home gisitoat attempt to force hor te come miyaelf. And that,” he came close, and fe nT bereaved. th smniled frankly up at her, “isa better jf he Nal Delravid thy place than Cariboo Meadows, I've got yy.) A Save eats Mh eee a little house back there in the woods. Thore's a big fireplace whera the wind {he saddle and wot he , bhorn y jays tag with the wnowSekes in wine Pouthward ‘ of, tam jer time, There's rub thers, and 1") Ran Che pauls nplexity of ment in the forest and fish in the ® Woman | gre ith ng longinae streams, It'a home for me. Why sine, Mt urd, and then fell in be should I go back to Carihoo Meadows? Dnt was weighted Or you?” q inknown, boll “Why should I qo with you?” she wi the man wha demanded seurnfully. ne tend; bu neverthelens Because [ want mured, They matched glances fe Wagstaff om you to," he mur- CHAPTER VIII, “Are you clean f The House That Jack Built. angrily, “I wos beginning to t it the neat of the ¢ you & gentleman.” | ne a ho day they Bill threw pack his head and hore steadily northward laughed. Then on the tnstant he so. Hozel had no idea of Bin bered. “Not a gentleman.” he said. Wak fa doatinntion, jie “Tin just plain man, And lonesome i { sometimes for a mat as nature has w gainst bim ained to be tho way of flesh.” to awk, af vimitting that st Jet a equaw, then,” she sneered could not fara the wilderness alone “I've heard that such people as yo Ma IMUAIGNE MAAC Ranson dothae™ " and acco Not me,” he returned, unruffied panying hin remed to bo a case “I want a woman of my own kind of eawor evil. Curtously “Heaven save me from that classt- AN ; vaiitcee fication!” #he observed. with empha- fof BIN Waaataet In mn, ant lid have a dread of what might happen to her sli went wandering alone In the YOU wt Ranta ane pe E WHO ARE READING 5 ie other fron | If not, you are robbing yourself of the richest fiction treat ever ny mot vo of er, zation as to defeat Roaring Hill's fe in aix large daily instalments, Tle tia aurea nan arsed cted with a view to auiting the tastes of all readers, - ; with by “ EACH WEEK" mined mite Y a Robert W. J nonin of rth, bn thoushe Oliver Cur- Pt ors t nmu peopl Mow Lili, ttoar Of cuures, gultiue back to t iber 293 191 Author of TAREAN i dows meant a new start in the world, for she had no hope, nor any desire, to teach school there after this opisode. She found herself tre» ing that prospect unmoved, however, The important thing was getting out of het present predicament Roaring Bill made his camp ¢ night as if no change in their ken place, To all his e! conversation she turned deat ear and @ stony countenance. Nhe pro- bowed to eat his food and use his bed- ding, because that was necessary, But soctally she would have none of him. Bil eventually gave over trying to talk. But he lost none of his cheer- fulness, He lay on his own side of the fire, regarding her with the amused tolerance that one bestows upon the capricious temper of a spotled child. ‘Thereafter, day by day, the miles unrolled behind them. Always Roar- ing Bill faced straight north. For @ week he kept on tirelessly, and a con- suming desire to know how far ho in- tended to go began to take hold of her. But @he would not ask, even when daily association dulled the edge of her resentment, and #he found it hard to keep up hor hostile attitude, to nurse bitterness against a man who remained serenely unperturbed, and who, for all his apparent lawlessness, treated her as a man might treat bis alster. ‘To her unpractited eye the ohar- actor of the country remained un- changed except for minor vartations. Everywhere the timber stood in ser- ried ranks, spotted with lakes and small meadows, and threaded here and there with little streams, But at Inst they Gropped into » valley where the woods thinned out, and down the tre of which flowed a sizable river, This they followed north a matter of three days. On the west the valley wall ran to @ timbered ridge, Bast- ward the jagged peaks of snow- capped mountain chain pierced the wo hours from thelr noon camp on the fourth day in the valley Hazel sighted some moving objects in the distance, angling up. on the timber- patched hillside. She watched them, At first uncertain whether they were moose, which they had frequently en- customed by now to gauging direction at @ glance toward the su that these object south. Presently as the lines of their re- spective travel brought them nearer, em out to be men, mount- mpanied by packs. she counted the ridere—five, and as many pack horses. One, she felt certain, was & woman—whether white or red she could not tell. But—there was safety in numbers. And they were go- ing south. Upon her first impulse she swung off Silk and started for the hillside at Jan angle calculated to intercept the pack train, There was a chance, and she was rapidly becoming inured to taking chances, At a distance of a bundred yards she looked back, half fearful that Roaring Bill was at Ser heels. But he stood with his ha in his pockets watching her, She did ot look again until she was half a ile up 4 id Then he and bis pack 1 the travellers that she was hurrying to meet, Off the valley no longer commanded the weping outlook. The patches of timber intervened. As she kept on he ‘AMO mo! certain. But she bore up the slo ntil satisfied that she was para with where they should come out; then she stopped to st, After a few minutes she climbed her, endeavoring to reach @ point could see more of the In #0 far had she absorbed wooderaft that she now begun watch- ing for tracks. ‘There was onough of th » but they were the slender, tri- angle prints of the shy deer, Nothing resembling the hoofmark of a he rewarded her searching. And before long, what with turning this way and that, she found herself on a plateau from which she could seo neither val- ley below nor hillside above, Sho was growing tired. Her feet ached from climbing and she was wet with perspiration, She rested again and tried calling, But her voice sound- ed muffled in the timber and she soon gave over that, ‘The afternoon was on the wane and she began to think of and dread the coming of night, Al- ready the sun had dipped out of sight behind the western ridges; his last ma were gilding the blue-white pinnacles a hundred miles to the east The shadows where she sat were thicken She had given up hop finding the pack train and she had cut loose from Roaring Bill. It would © just like him to shrug his shoul ders and keep on going resent fully An twilight fell @ brief panic selaed her, followed by frightened despair. by wilderness, in itt evening bush, monaced her with bug iptiness, ut loneliness, She worked ber way to he though ode of th ed plateau. , a lingeri um of yellow and rom © distant mountains, itself lay in « blur of which pose the faint ; ty t down on ly to ber- elf. “Woll? he started with an involuntary p of foar, it was 90 unexpected. curing Lill Wagetaf stood within five fect of her, resting one hand on the musele of his grounded rifle, smil- ing plactdly, Well,’ he repeated, “this chasing up a puck train isn't mo easy as tt {id not answer. Hor pride would wiow ber to admit that abe was klad to seo him, relieved to be ove taken like @ truant from sehool. And not Hill did not seem to expect a reply. ile slung his riffle Into the crook of his arm. ne on, Little woman," he said “L knew you'd be tired and fe camp down below, It isn't By EDGAR RICE 5 you played hide and seck with me WL & storm wiped out your traak? You'd be in a deuce of a fix.” The lesson of was not lost on her, roing to tell him ed. She made no rep experience the a short time they reached camp. ring Fill hod tarrled long enough to unpack. The horses grazed on picket. It was borne in upon her that short of actually meeting other peopl: her only recourse lay in sticking tw Bill Wagstaff, whether she liked it or not, To strike out alone was court- ing self-destruction. And she began to understand why Roaring Bl no effort to watch or restrain her. He knew the grim power of the wil- derness. It was his best ally in whet he had set out td do. Within forty-eight hours the stream they followed morged itself in an- other, both wide and deep, whieh flowed west through a level bottomed valley three miles or more in width. Westward the land spread out im « continuous roll, marked here and there with jutting ridges and isolated peaks; but on the east a chain of rugged mountains marked the horizon as far as she could see, Roasing Bill halted on the river brink agd stripped his horses clean, though it was but two in the after- noon and their midday fire less than an hour extinguished. She watohed him curiously, When his packs were off he beckoned her. “Hold them a minute,” he sald, and put the lead ropes in her hand, Then he went up the bank into » thicket of saskatoons, Out of this he presently emerged, bearing on his shoulders a canoe, old and weather but stanch, for it rode Nght ather on the stream. Bill himself in the canoe, holding rope, The other two be “Now,” ho directed, “when IT start across, you drive Nigger and Satin ta if they show signs of hanging back. founee @ rock or two off them If they ing." Her task waa an and Nigger follo Silk unhes!- tatingly, The river lapped over the sleck skles of them for fifty yards Then they dropped suddenty into awimming water, and the current swept them ¢ wnstream slantwise tor the opposite shore, only their head« showing above the surface, Hazel ry one, for Satin b> wondered what river it might be. It Was a good quarter of a mile wide, and swift. Roaring Bill did not trouble to en- lighten her as to the locality, When he got back he stowed the aaddie and pack equipment in the canoe. “All aboant for tha north ale,” he sald boyishly. And Hazel climbed obe- diently amidships. On the farther side, Bill emptied the canoe and stowed it out of sight tn ®& onvenient thicket, repacked his horses, and struck out again, ‘They left the valley behind, and camped that evening on a great height of land that rolled up to the brink of the valley, Thereafter tho country underwent @ gradual change an they progressed north, slanting a bit eastward. The heavy timber gave way to a sparser growth, and that in turn dwindled to scrubby thickets, covering great arras of comparative level. Long reaches of grassland opened before them, waving yellow in the autumn eun. crossed other rivers of various de- grees of depth and swiftness, swim- ming some and fording others. Hazel drew upon her knowledge of British Columbia geography, and decided that the big river where Bill hid is canoe must be the Fraser, where it debouched from the mountains, And {n that case she was far north, and in a wilderness indeed Her muscles gradually hardened to the waddle and to walking. Her appe tite grew in proportion, ‘Tho small supply of eatable dainties that R ing Hill had brought from the Me dows dwindled and disappeared, unt | they were living on bannocks baked @ la frontier in bis ing pan, on beans and coffee, and venison kille| by the way. she coarse fare even while sh against the etre taking. Oce na meat diet with trout o streams beside w'yi vartous can ered to teal her the se ngling, but sli shrugged her shoulders by way of showing her contompt for Roaring Bill and all his wo: “Do you realize evening over th simply abduetion?” “Not at all,” Bill answered prompt ly. “Abduction means to take awa . u they made tht “she broke out one fire, “that this is wurrey “ty by force, to away wrongfully and by violenc human being, to kidnap. Now, y by ny stretch of imaginat) r kh You y camp, and me to turn you to acoomp: Of course ll admit that, according to custom and usage, you would expect me ta do the polite thing and restore you to wh stumping ground. But no law making it mandatory low to pilot home @ lady tia pss. Isn't that right? Anyhow.” he went on, when she nained silent, “E didn't, And you'l have to lay the blame on nature for making you a wonderfully attractive woman, [did honestly try to find the way to Cariboo Meadows that first night. It was only when Lt found my self thinking how fine it would be pike through those old woods and mounts with a partner ke you that 1 ded-~as L did, I'm human —the woman, she tempted me. And aren't you could hagard &@ gucas that you were running away from yourself—or something—when you struck Cariboo Meadows, And what's Cariboo Meadows but a itttle blot on the face of this fair earth where you were tied to a deadly rou tine in order to carn your daily bread You dun't care two whoops about any body there, Here you are ftree—free in every sense of the word, You have Ovediently she followed him, and as no responsibility except what you im sho tramped at his heels she saw pose on yourself; no board bill to why he hid been able to come up on pay; nobe ly to please but your own her #0 nolselessly, He had put on # litile self. You've got the clean, wide pal of moccasins and his (read gave 20m, and the sky for its yeth no soun : itty 1 “How dit you monage to find mem chow thas oat she usked suddenly—the first volun. for these tary speech from her in days, y ¢ Bill answered over his shoulder: en—the wi normal 1 you? Blows your soul, your Ketting little, } heeled shoow left a trail a Ks, and you've | ye n contd follow been ried, archangel look. Honest nh yards of you for two @ physician, I'd huve only ar, scripiion: Get out into the wild Hist the same," he continued, after country, and lye off the country as 1 minute's Interval, “it's bad business your primitive forefathers did.” for you to run off like that, Suppose (Zo Be Continued. =. dines Ss a een v 4 ;