The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-14


that week, or sat in their shirt sleeves
with the collars of said garment wide
open. But they never equalled the
frankness of a Partisan soiree in talk
ing of or joking at some natural but
usually unmentioned functions of life;
nor were they ever without that solid
bedrock of good nature which is the
Americans saving grace. Molly La
fond led a safe life among them be-
cause she trusted them. In the face
of that trust no one of them conceived
the possibility of harming her. This
feeling was personal, however. Mo-
body would have felt called upon to
protect her against any one who did
conceive the possibility. In other words,
she took just the independent position
in the community which would have
been accorded to a man coming n
from outside. She was a good COM
rAde.
In her elation at finally escaping the
restrictions and petty chickering's of her
life at the Indian agency, Molly had
turned eagerly first of all to the con-
quest of the masculine heart. This
was theory, built up from long course
of romantic reading. The heroine al
ways ruled her little court" Molly
would like to rule her little court also.
She felt the genuineness of her fasci-
nation, the possession of7which she re-
allied to the full degree-that sort of
fascination which succeeds where beau
ty, eintellect, spirituality fail. II was
a power, great untried, unmeasured.
Naturally her first impulse was to test
it, to use it. She luxuriated in it.
Nothing could be more delightful than
to command and be obeyed; to smile
into answering, smiling faces; to frown
and see swiftly, as in a mirrored re-
Election, the countenances about her
become dark. That was natural.
But after little she found herself
firing of II. The game was too easy.
Even from the first evening, when she
had astounded and subdued the whole
community at one fell blow, she had
never experienced the slightest diff
Guilty in getting these men to like her
Why should she? She was young and
pretty and dainty, and delicately COM
handing and winsome, and she knew
fnstinctively each mans weak point.
One and all gave her unqualified APP
probation. There is no fun in assert
ing yourself, if every one agrees with
you; and to be queen you must MAIN
tain your dignity and aloofness. II
was a pose. You cannot be hail-fellow
with your subjects. a
So little by little, as the joy of out
door life got into her veins, as IL does
into the veins of every healthy young
creature in the open air of the Hills,
she dropped the coquette. Then she
first began to appreciate the real charm
of things and she was perfectly hap
by. Not a tiny cloud of regret yelled
the tiniest corner of her skies.
The cabin had been finished within
the week, but under the advice of the
builders she did not move into 1t until
nearly month later.
A new shack never dries thoroughly
in less than three weeks; and, besides,
the sawdust from the new insect bor-
ings always pours down from the walls
and ceilings in aggrAvating abundance.
A dozen other houses were placed at
her disposal. The men were only too
glad to double up temporarily. But
the summer air was warm, and Molly
was by now as used to the narrow con-
fines of her canvas-top as a yachtsman
to the cabin of his boat. She declined
their offers and continued to live in
the wagon. She was quite content to
wait thus. In the meantime she took
much delight in fixing up various cur
tains, chair covers and table cloths
from light fabrics unearthed at the
New York Emporium, and in cultivat-
ing carefully boxes of geraniu.ns, al
most the only garden flower in the
hills. Curiously enough she enjoyed
this. Perhaps it was a hereditary be-
quest from her unsupported New Eng
land ancestry.
Jack Graham lent her many books,
which she perused greedily. She had
never seen a large city or boat or
a trolley car, or a tailor-made gown;
but that counted little. Such things
are not so much matters of actual ex-
perience as of natural aptitude. Some
people can go to Europe and get less
out of it than do those who read steam
er advertisements at home. Molly La
fond was keen Of intellect and vivid
OF imagination. by the aid of which two
qualities she constructed for herself
culture-real, in spite of the fact that
II was somewhat Unbalanced.
She spent much OF her time out of
doors. but the road and the gulch saw
little of her. Her delight was to strike
directly back across the brook. and up
the overgrown hill. to the vast pine .
clad Nights above. There the castelat-
ed dikes frowned like medieval RAM
parts; the pine needles were soft and
slippery and fragrant underfoot; the
breeze swept by on swift wings. hum
ming songs of the distant prairie. the
little squirrels chartered and the big
squirrels barked; the sun shone silver
clear; and below, far dewn, the sum-
mits OF other hills dropped away and
away like the tiers OF some enormous
amphitheater, until the brown prairie
suddenly flowed out from underneath
and rose 20 the level Of the eye. IL
was very FAR from everything up there.
And then one could 20 through the
diker down into Juniper Guieh, where
one would md q whole group 81 claims
and ones friends a. work on them.
Molly grew 10 be On expert IN the dip
81 quartz. She 'YaH accustomed ~
perch On DeighDoring dikeiet near