Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-02-14
Lavender
Lovers
By OLIVIA B.



pense in his brain, even as his feet
pressed with eager haste the brush
and bracken of the riverside. Owa-
toga had given no hint of his direc-
tlon-was it up or down the stream?
Down, he would have had to row
against the current, and past the viii
lage, with more show of detention.
Nevertheless, Winslow thought it more
likely that he had taken that course.
Westward, was ever the Indians
watch-cry, and against the wave, Owa-
toga's giant strength would have less
chance of being overtaken. The pos
sibility of observation was small; it
had been a Sabbath day, and in the
heat of noon, when all would avoid the
river.
All this Owatoga had doubtless con-
sidered, thought Winslow, as he
tramped the waters edge up and down,
peering into every clump and shade.
His steps had led him we'll to the east,
when, suddenly, halfway between the
water and a ferny coppice, he spied
something small and dark lying on the
sand. Mechanically he went to exam
inc it, and his heart beat like a forge
as he recognized the black bag-the
silk trifle she had worn at church the
previous day. He stood still for a
moment, overcome by the feelings OF
relief and tenderness reused in him by
this inanimate thing-this bit of silk
that had dangled from her waist.
He raised it from the damp, sandy
bed as though it were sacred, fondling
1t with reverent care. Then, with the
touch of it, rushed over him, too, a
sense of its practical value! Here
was proof of her presence on this spot;
then Owatoga had brought her here
he was on the right track at last!
Folding the bag, he was about to
stow it in his pocket, when from it
dropped a yellow envelope; he stopped
to regain tit was his own. In her
possession; this note, which causing
his presence in the forest on that fatal
night, had caused all the tangle of dis
trust and suffering and apprehension
all the wretched coil. The sight of
the yellow paper filed him with dis
gust, and to find the reminder of that
night in something of hers-to see it
Ia this dainty pocket which should hold
only delicate, clean and beautiful
things-he shivered, hurt in all his
liner feelings.
Replacing the letter, he put the bag
In his knapsack, with a little sigh,
then, as if throwing aside sentiment
for practical things, he looked are
fully about. She had been hereof
that there was proof; but Owatoga had
mentioned two boats-where could the
other be?
His gaze fell upon a something which
looked like two ends of boards Joined
together in a way that proved mans
handiwork. The boat! He made a
dash into the coppice, and from il
pulled a light canoe. For one moment
he stood surveying it, in thankful, silent
ecstasy; then he pushed it from shore
and was out on the broad breast of the
Missouri.
For an idle moment the boat swung
with the current; the man at the oars
let it %drift-up or down? While he
hesitated, the sun rose from a grove
of trees beyond the bend of the river.
1t pointed long fingers of light straight
up the stream, and notes dancing in
Its rays, beckoned him to follow.
can omen!" he exclaimed, in sud
den burst of boyish enthusiasm, and
straight against the current he head
ed the boat.
Westward we 60" he said, playfully
giving rein to the new buoyancy
Follow at your leisure" and he waved
his hand to the sun, which now burnt
q huge copper globe on the horizon.
1t was yet early Gay when he rowed
past the village-drowsy still with the
sloth of the previous Sabbath. The
few who were stirring, took no care tc
blink through the fog at the solitary
figure in the boat toiling up stream.
And hard work it was! Even the
Indians strength had felt the strain
and to this man, weakened by illness
whose powers of endurance were rath
er of nerve than Drawn, it was effort
indeed. Yet, buoyed by the hope thai
had sprung in his heart at sight Of
the gracious souvenir of her presence
he toiled on, scanning each change il
the outline of shore, anxious for the
first sight of swamp and grove of tam,
cracks. He felt almost sure it would
be on the northern bank; Owatoga haC
given no hint to cross the river. Be
sides, many OF the Usage tribe wert
scattered to the north, and it was like
ly he would choose the hunting
grounds of his own people.
An hour or two at noon, he put ashor,
at the foot Of a poplar-crowned bluff
then on-until, with the ~fiercest blazt
of the afternoon sun scorching his tiret
back, the grove of tamaracks came il
sight. Its dense, swampy shade luret
him with promises of delicious cool
ness-here, too, vas another link IL
the chain which was leading him t
her. At the thought his Tagging
strength revived; his aching arms fel
new vigor, and with a Gozen stou
sweeps of the oar, he landed at
little point where n withered tam
arack stood apart; the dead brown
needles at its crest a crown of thorni
uplifted to the sky.
On the edge of the forest stood
scrub-oak tree, one branch of which
had been bent over and rooted again
giving a curious hump-backed effect
Winslow noted this with a start o
pleasure. Another landmark! 1t Il