Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-12-14
COMPASSES AND
CONFUSION
BY LOUIS PIERCE
Copyright, 1906. BY E. S. Mcclure

Wnlcn tne bacon was Slzzllng. 1ne
| start he gave tumbled the bacon into
| the fire, and the wild efforts to right
/ the pan before the evening meal was
spilled upset the coffee pot and rst out
the blaze
Instead OF expressing an opinion
upon the happenings of the moment
GLADDEN. sprang to his feet and hurried
to the beach just as the light canoe
grounded on the shore.
| One look into the bright face under
the red Tam o. Shanter and GLADDEN.
was glad that the bacon had been spill
ed. He had been in camp for six weeks,
and even an ugly woman would have
been welcomed at the camp. To have
this graceful guest at his supper was
something he would not have imagined
| possible ten minutes before.
''Welcome to camp" he said hospita
bly,, extending his hand to assist her to
step over the side. To his surprise she
refused his aid and sprang to the shore
as lightly as a bird. With q naughty
glance she swept past him and into the
hut. Another moment and she stood
before him again, her eyes ablaze.
"Where are the others?" she demand
ed. "And where are all our things?
There are no Others" he laughed. II
am afraid that the limited population
| Of this camp does not permit the ap-
| pointment of a reception committee;
unless, indeed, you are willing to rec
! ognize me as SUCH"
What have you done with the 9TH
ersi" she repeated. Have you killed
them or have you merely driven them
awayT
GLADDEN. laughed. There has been
no one here for six weeks" he declared.
| There was this morning" she cor
rected. When I left to 60 over to
| town there were six here besides the
! guides. Now not even the things are
left, and you have the audacity to camp
| right here. / suppose you thought that,
since you had made away with them
all, there was no danger of detection,
for a few days at least. suppose
you will have to kill me now to keep
/ from Delng exposed.
| Don't you thinkY' asked GLADDEN.,
"that you may have made mistake?
| Camps look very much alike to per
sons unaccustomed to the woods. Per-
haps you are ON the other arm Of the
lake.
There is no mistake" she insisted.
81 steered by compass"
/ ttTo@ nam lr1xry how 70 r,ca tho oor,-
passY' he persisted. She looked at him
In disdain.
"Is 1t necessary to insult me?" she
demanded "Why don't you kill me
and finish off the work you have COM
mencedw
'rThat's q good idea," assented Glad
den, recalled by the last half of the
sentence "The work had commenced
was the getting Of supper. If you are
as hungry as ! am you will regard me
as q life preserver rather than muir
derer."
without another word he went
about the work of kindling fresh fire.
AS he knelt over the twigs the girl
made rush for the boat. He reached
the canoe first.
"See here" he said firmly. "You are
lost already / cannot have you still
further confused just because you i'm
agine that this Is your camp and that
| have slaughtered the whole family, to
say nothing of the guides, for the sake
Of your canned goods. Sit down and
rest, and after you have had supper l
will try to find you"
The girl followed him back to the
fire, cowed, but unbelieving. Skillfully
GLADDEN. famed the fire into bright
glow and set the pot on. Then he
sliced fresh bacon and set out the
plates.
Presently the smell of the browning
bacon began to fill the camp, and the
girls face softened. She did not re
alize how hungry she was until the
bacon began to fry. For the first time
she took notice that this young man,
In spite of his evidences of city breed
ing, was not only decidedly good look
ing, but skilled in woodcraft, and fear
gave way to admiration of his deft-
ness.
II guess you can eat that" he said
at last, as he placed some OF the bacon
on a plate and poured cup of coffee
for her Silently she accepted the food
and GLADDEN. smiled softly to himself
as he saw the way she ate. 1t had
been his experience that girls were al
ways more reasonable after they had
been fed, and already she was unbend-
Ing visibly.
"Are you convinced that l am more
human than you were willing to be-
lieye at firstT' he asked as the plates
were at last cleared.
Perhaps there has been some mis-
take" she grudgingly assented, but l
was so careful to steer by the compass
that l cannot see how any mistake
could be made"
Perhaps you turned east instead or
west" he suggested. 'The camps are
on the west lake because there Is a
mail delivery over there. That is why
/ chose the east lake"
"But this is the west lake." she in
sisted. 1.-The village is to the south. 1
turned west"
"You turned east" insisted GLADDEN.,
"since you are on the west lake at this
/ LuOluGul.
"Lookv' she cried. "The other lake
is over there" She pointed across the
point to where the river formed a strait
between the lakes.
"That is the west lake over there, /"
he assured her. For answer she drew
from her belt tiny compass, gorgeous
in its gold case.
''Seer' she cried triumphantly. Here
is the north This must be the west"
II am afraid" chuckled GLADDEN.,
"that you are under the impression
that the south is the north. That nee
die is pointing directly away from
what you call the north"
Certainly" was the prompt re-
sponse 'I am afraid you are not very
familiar with compasses. They are
like weather vanes, you know. They
point with the arrow head from the
direction"
The next instant he was sorry, but
for a moment GLADDEN. rolled upon the
turf in an ecstasy of joy. This was the
explanation. She had steered her
course by the compasses in exactly the
wrong direction. There was but one
camp on the west lake that resembled
his. That was the Driscoll camp, and
this must be Benny Driscolls sister.
| IIn ,ora 40 vary indfNnQnf