Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-03-17

MOoDILY LOOKING AHEAD.
of the forest, The light jest, the burst
of laughter. the careless ease of atti-
tude showed the hght-hearted voya-
geurs content with this, their last
abode, nor for the time did any word
issue which threatened to end their
tarrying.
Law one morning strolled out from
the lodge and seated himself on bit
of driftWood at the edge of the for
est's fringe of cedars, where, seem
ingly half forgetting himself in the
witchery of the scene, he gazed out
idly over the wide prospect which lay
before him. He was the same young
man as ever. Surely, this increased
gauntness was but the result of long
hours at the paddle, the hollow cheeks
but betokened hard fare and the de-
fning winds of the outdoor air. If
the eye were trace more dim, that
could be due but to the Effectiveness
induced by the quiet scene and hour.
Yet why should John Law, young and
refreshed, drop chin in hand and sit
there modify looking ahead of him,
praAeE.saeisEEseg Eafs al ali ssszt which
hs 5eheld7
Indeed there appeared now 10 the
eye OF this young man not the white
shores and black crowned bluffs and
distant islands, not the sweep of broad
winged birds circling near the waters,
nor the shadow of the high-poised
eagle drifting far above He felt not
the soft wind upon his cheek, nor noted
the warmth of the on-coming sun In
truth, even here, on the very threshold
of new world and new life, he was
going back, pausing uncertainty at the
door of that life and of that world
which he had left behind. There ap-
peared to him not the rolling undules-
tons Of the black stopped forest. not
the tossing surface of the inland sea,
nor the white-pebbled beach laved by
its pulsing waters. He saw instead
white and dusty road, lined by green
English hedge-rows. Back, over there.
beyond these rolling blue waves, back
of the long water trail over which he
had come, there were chapel and bell
and robed priest, and the word which
made all fast forever But back Of
the wilderness mission, back of the
struggling settlements of Montreal and
Quebec, back of the blue waters of the
ocean, there, too, were church and
minister; and there dwelt a woman
whose figure stood now before his
eyes part of this mental picture nf the
white road lined with the hedges OF
green
A hand was laid on his shoulder. and
he half started up in sudden surprise.
Before him, the sun Shining through
her hair, her eyes dark in the shadow,
stood Mary Connynge A fair woman
indeed, comedy, round of form, soft
eyed, and light of touch, she might
none the less have been a very savage
as she stood there, clad no longer in.
the dress of civilization, hui in the
soft native garb of skins ornamented
with the stained quilts OF the porcu-
pine and the bizarre adornments of
the native bead work; in her hair dull
metal bands. like any Indian woman,
Rpon her feet little beaded moccasins
1.-The very moccasin, it might have
been, which Law had first seen in an
eient London town and which had
played so strange part in his life
since then.
you startled me, said Law, simply.
Il was thinking.
A sudden jealous wave of woman's
divining intuition came upon the wom-
an at his side. II doubt not" said
she, bitterly, chat / could name The
subject of your thought! Why? Why
sit here and dream of her, when here
am |, who deserve everything that you
can give?"
She stood erect. her eyes flashing.
her arms outstretched, her bosom
painting under the fringed garments.
her voice ringing as it might have
been with the very essence Of truth
and passion. Law looked at her stead
| lily. But the shadow did not lift from
his brow, though he looked long and
| pondered
Come. said fe. at length. gently.
| None the less Re are ais we are. In
s.o,-4v tx<,.x,< vsy< 80, <ss. ~ s,S.o oStd