The Irish standard., 1897-03-20
CHAPTER III,

They had not far to go, but it was g.
rough climb, and the young mans first
words were OF apology when, spring.
ing 10 the ground, he came back to seize
her horse by the bit and guide him up
the last few feet over ON almost per-
pendicular mass of loose gray rock.
II would have gone round by the trail
If I had known it was quite so rough;
but we're all right now" he said, turn
ing to try the door of the rude hut to
which they had come. The horses
we're huddled together on small,
rhomboidal bit of ground formed at tho
top of an old dump pile, which went
crumbling away in a sheer descent far
down among the trees, some of which
had been half buried in the lava-ike
flow. At the left yawned the mouth OF
a tunnel about which appeared no sign
of recent work, while the rough slab
door of the shanty was fastened by q
chain and paddock so rusted that they
seemed to have been exposed to the
storms Of years. BY no means daunted
by this obstacle, however, the young
man coolly caught up jagged piece OF
rock and in moment the staple was
broken and the door thrown open.
IF you will just step inside while I
run the horses into the tunnel" he
hastily advised, when he had lifted her
to the ground. Dorothy needed no
second bidding, but once within the
door she paused, peering about doubt
fully. 1t was nothing more than q rude
smithy, obviously designed merely for
the sharpening Of drills used in tho
tunnel, it's floor the bare, brown earth,
It's only equipment great stone forge
in one corner with an anvil at one side,
9 few empty candle-boxes, small pile
Of wood, and some picks and drills
thrown down with other undistin-
guishable rubbish in one corner.
ut is not quite the lap Of luxury, but
we might do worse" the stranger smil-
ingly observed, as be came back, car
rying his hat filled with pine cones,
while he was further laden with an
armful Of broken sticks. "And q fire
will help the looks of things amazingly"
ITO say nothing Of the comfort ofit,"
Miss Meredith rcjoined, her teeth chat
tering as she smiled. "How cold it has
grownl"
'"That is the worst Of this much
Wanted climate; it has a capacity for
infinite variety. When the barometer
gets started on the down, grade there Is
never any telling where it will stop:
The weather is always exceptional, II
one is to believe the statements OF the
Oldest Inhabitants. But there-that
looks encouraging, doesn't it?" he said,
standing back and p]easedly surveying
his work, as tiny spiral Of fame leaped
with sputtering eagerness through the
damp pitchiness of the pilcd-up cones
on the forge.
scr have seen the fre--I am warmed"
the girl smilingly quoted, holding out
her hands to the blaze. ut is lovely"
"And now won't you sit down and
make yourself comfortable? Hc
turned candle-box Oh end for her az
he spoke.
"But the box is 20 low and the fire Is
so high" she smiliogly objected. Il
should only be warming the tip OF my
nose, and I am half frozen"
"Are your He looked as dismayed
90 though he accepted the statement
literally. 'eBut OF course you are. What
caa do7'' he answered the question
for himself by reckiessly heaping upon
ths fosxs aeHraa4er part ct al the dry
wood that had been in tho hut; from