Morris tribune., 1895-11-13

MN co 90 as ne nau done. she nau WlJn
drawn from him that chance which
might have led to his promotion Hac
this been all it were bad enough, blu
she instinctively recognized that thi
man valued something more highl.
than worldly gain--his wn.honor How
could she, she asked herself, who WA
only poor, obscure girl, have asked
him, who had been on terms of intima
/ cy with women belonging to that othel
great outside world, to do this thing
For, though feeling she had much il
common with this man, she had looked
upon him as superior to herself and
apart from her life, even though he be-
longed only to the rank and file of the
Northwest mounted police. If pity, as
they say is akin to love, then Marie St.
Donis was in dangerous way. But the
thought Of that father, whom she loved
with an intensity that paled all other
considerations governed her actions
then. With aabeating heart and mind
that was swayed by conflicting emo
tions, but in which there was, still a
| dominant one, she set out on her errand.
And now she hurried on her danger
GUS way. For mile or so she kept as
best shecould to the long, narrow, rib
like patches of exposed ground which
the wind had kept clear of the snow
near the banks of the creek. Occasion
ally she would spring from one rib to
another. Her idea was to cause the po-
lice some difficulty in finding her tracks
when they missed her in the morning,
when she knew the first thing they
would think of doing would be to fol-
| low her.
Considering how long the blizzard
had lasted, there was no very great
depth of snow, save in the drifts, for it
is not the actual quantity of snow
which falls that constitutes blizzard,
but the rate at which the snow that
does fall is hurried along and kept con-
tinually in a state of motion by the
fierce gale. Perhaps blizzard resembles
nothing so much as sandstone in the
desert. She had the satisfaction of re-
Numbering that man like her father,
who knew the prairie so we'll, would
have no great difficulty in finding
ground comparatively free from snow
ON which he could travel with the wag
ons. Then she left the prairie and made
over to the creek and there slipped her
feet into the buckskin laces Of the snow
shoes. 1t was species of locomotion at
which she was an adept, for often had
she INDUCED in long, solitary walks
thus in the winter time. This perhaps
helped to account for the purity of that
wonderful complexion of hers A keen
frost had set in, and there was still
ness as of death over that CHASTITY and
shimmering moonlit land She followed
the course of the creek For the first two
miles she knew every foot of the way,
and therefore could avoid the crevasses
that intersected the cut banks. She knew
exactly the route her father would adopt
coming back from Montana, and her
idea had been to turn him back into
United States territory before the police
could catch up to him. But she had no
premonition that the fates had decreed
otherwise. In order to cause the police
delay when they eventually found her
tracks she crossed and recrossed the
creek at certain places where she knew
the snow lay many feet deep underneath.
Loudly did the overeager officer Of
mounted police curse those treacherous
pitfalls on the morrow. She wound in
and out anon he thick clumps of will
low and elder. They would have their
work cut out for them who followed in
her tracks. She was only human, after
all, and she could not help laughing 81
lently to herself at times when, with
vivid imagination, she pictured the in
spector laundering about on his horse
in one Of these deep snowdrifts-per- |
haps nothing but his moonlike face Wis |
thought Of the use he would put that
unique vocabulary of his to, and the
number of new and choice words and
expressions which lie would coin for
such occasions, she had actually to stop |
to repress the fit of laughter that would
fain have shaken her.
But at times she would experience /
twinges of conscience when she asked |
herself if it were right to create delays |
which might imperil the lives of those
who had sacrificed so much to help her |
When she contemplated such disastrous
contingencies there was an almost pitt
full look Of terror on her face that would |
doubtless have surprised her prospective
victims could they have seen it. At such
times she thought herself very wicked
creature indeed. Perhaps there was a
spark of old Mother Eve in
her after all But the thought Of her
father would gradually overcome her
scruples, and she would push on again.
She began to realize she had travelled
some considerable distance, and was
feeling tired. She sat down on rising
piece of ground and looked around.
What weird, unearthly landscape
showed up all around her She could
follow the dark, uncertain line Of the
creek as it wandered, in an cratic sort
Of fashion, away into that mystic and
shadowy landscape, until it was lost in
dim obscurity. But towering, as it
were, into that starlit other world, she
could see the three conical peaks of the