The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1906-01-27

Dlue country. ana Nltty, urea WIFI tue
| long. hard ride. and missing that some
thing In Peter that had always been
hers. turned on him pair OF blue
| eyes In which the tears were brim-
ming suspiciously. They were well
out OF sight Of the others and had
come to the heavy fringcs OF pire
wood, Was II the psychological mo
ment Mt last2 Then suddenly their
horses. that had been shifting the air
suspiclously, stopped. Kitty's horse
which was in advance Of Peters,
rushed toward the thicker growth OF
pines as II all bedlam were i'm pur.
suit. Peters horse, swervlng from
the cause OF alarm. bolted back across
the trail over which they had just made
their way. A large brown bear, feed
| Ing with her cub and hidden by the
| trees till they were directly I'm front
| OF her, had caused the alarm.
And presently the hush of the shad.
owy green world In which Judith lay
was broken by light. sobblng sound.
1t had been 80 still that, lying OH her
| bed OF pine needles. she had likened
| Ii TO great waves Of silence, rolling up
from the valley. breaking over her and
sweeping back again. nolseless, green
from the blllowing ocean OF pine
branches. and sunlit. Judith bent over
the rocky ledge AMI saw a girl max
ing her way down the game trail, iii.
sheyelcd and fearful. Her hat was gone:
her pale yellow hair, that In shadow
had the greening tinge of corn silk,
blew about her shoulders: her trim
skirt was torn and dusty, and she
looked about. bewildered, hardly real
lzing that through the unexpected
course OF things she had been stranded
in this great world OF sunlt splendor
and loneliness. She closed her eyes.
The awful vastness and solitude OPP
pressed her with deepening sense Of
calamity. Suppose they never found
her? How could she find her way In
this endless wilderness afooti She sank
to the turf and began to cry hysteric-
ally.
Judith knew In fash of instant
| cognitiOn that this was Miss Cole
brooke. Amusement seemed to have
dulled her powers Of acton-amaze.
ment that she, who had stolen to this
she might see the triumph OF this pre-
ferred woman and, having seen and
paid her grievous dole, steal away and
take up the thread of endless little
things that spun for her the web Of
| life. was forced instead to be an I'M
| willing witness of the Others distress.
Judith had risen with her first i'm
pulse, which hard been to 20 to Kitty,
but halfway through the thicket she
hesitated and reconsidered. UndOubt
| edly Peter would soon come, and Pc.
| ter's consolation would he more potent
| than any she could offer. She shrank
| In shuddering self consciousness mt the
thought Of her presence at their meet
ing, the unlimited guest the outgrown
friend and contidante, laundering In ut
such n time. pltifully full of good in
| tcntions. She recoiled from the picture
| as from a precipice that all unwlttingly
she had escaped. What madness had
induced her to come on this expedi-
| ton? A sudden panic at the POSSIBLE
| ity of her discovery possessed her. Sup
| pose Peter should find her skulking like
| a beggar, waiting for broken meats.
| She looked at the image OF herself
that she carried In her heart. 1t was
that OF II proud woman. who made no
moan at the scourge OF the inevitable.
\ Nnnu ht,rlnpS hnH che nu rriaH In har
| proud, lonely heart, but of them her
lips gave no sign.
In her contemplutive stoicism she felt
with pride that she was no unworthy
daughter OF her mothers people. and,
catching a glimpse through the trees
of the abjectly waiting woman who.
though safe and sound, could but wait.
wretched and displrited, for some one
to come and adjust her to the sltua-
ton, Judith felt for her II wondering
| pity at her helplessness. She waited,
expectant for the sound Of Peters
| horse. Surely he must come at any
moment, overcome with apologies. and
she-Judlth hid her face In her hands
! ut the thought-she would steal away
through the thicket at the first sound
OF hoofs. But as the minutes slipped
by and still no sign of Peter slcken-
ing anxiety began to gnaw at her
heart. Had something happened to
him.
She did not wait TO ask herself the
question twice. She crawled the length
of the thicket with incredible rapidly
gained the pine forest and made her
way beneath the low hanging boughs
Without stopping TO protect herself
from them she gained the open space
and ran quickly to Kitty,
Are you hurtt What has hap