The Greenville times., 1907-12-01
The End Of
The Trail.
By JEANETTE WILSON.
Copyrighted. 1907. BY Jessie Morgan.

OF the family after seeing her or
opened their comfortable cottage at
the shore and awaited Developments
They expected the worst 10 happen,
for Helen. their tcuderly and puBctil-
iously reared daughter, had broken
away from domestic restraint ana put
into action an ncompreheusible i'm
pulse to spend her vacation in the
bacEwoods Of Maine.
- reckless and decidedly unlady-
like procedure Dir. Wright charac-
teTized it.
Mrs. Wright expressed her disap-
proval more tentatively.
won't there be very rough men
there. HcIenE"
Nonsense, motherr' was Helen's
emphatic reply only really nice men
go off to the woods men who love fish
ing and hunting and beautiful scenery
and-and things like that But we
girls shan't have anything to do with
the men anyway. We're going to have
a camp by ourselves, you know. and
90 off on long trips with the guides"
with the guidcsr' gasped Mrs.
Wrigat. ''TIave you lost all sense Of
propriely. Helcnt'
Guides. mother dear" explained
Helen good naturedly, are nothing but
trees AS men walking They haven't
the least idea who's trailing on be-
hind them. Men. women or children
it's all the same to them'
"a theory more ingenious than con-
vincng," remarked her father sotto
vCce
A weeI, elapsed before any word
came from Helen. It took the form of
a postal and ran as follows:
'"This is heavenly place Been off
on several day trips. Have a guaran-
teed Indigenous, danger proof guide
Very handsome though, and fairly in
telligent for a woodsman. Start today
on a four or five days jaunt over the
mountains. Don't worry about me.
Never was happier in my life"
In spite Of the buoyant cheerfulness
of Helen's message Mr.. Wright looked
worried. and his little wife shook her
head dubiously.
I'D give anything to see her this
minute" she sighed, but a merciful
Providence spared her the shock of it,
for at the actual moment of her moth
er's sOlicitude Helen, her immaculate
khaki skirt bedragged and mud stain
ed, her stylish buckslsins discoIored
and caIled with bog soil, her suuburned
face smeared with fly lotion. was sitting
beside spring in the woods hungrily
devouring n luncheon of pork sand
wiches and doughnuts. Incidentally
too, she was admiring the picturesque
a+{ttsTTa of F1fa .pt4iJa c4frr,a1 fI.n
coffee bubbling merrily in tin pail
suspended on an improvised crane over
a fire of brushwood. As he filed tin
cup with the hot. fragrant beverage
and passed it to her the sleeve of his
flannel shirt slipped back slightly and
Helen was amazed a the Whiteness Of
his arm in contrast with the copper
colored wrists and hands. She almost
voiced her surprise. but checked her
self IN tiIae to spare him embarrass-
ment
As the days went on Helen utilized
every opportunity to learn what
thoughts lay behind this mans as
sumed mask of self effacement, for
even u woodsman. she argued, must
have ambitions and some powers of
imagination. That he was tender
hearted she discovered inadvertently.
She would never forget the thrill she
had felt when one morning as they
We're padding silently and rhythmicai-
ly down Clear river. she at the bow
and the guide at the stern. he had
whispered suddenly: There's a deer.
Sit perfectly STILL
Nearer and nearer the unconscious
little creature they stole until sudden
ly he raised his head, his whole body
tent with alertness, and stood looking
at them curiously. Then. with snort
OF fear. he Ieaped into the bushes and
disappeared through the cracking un-
derbrush into the forest. For a mo-
ment no one spoke. Then Helen turn
ed suddenly around, almost oyerturn-
ing the canoe in her eagerness.
do men shoot those exquisite crea-
lures :" she asked. looking at the guide
with wide. incredulous eyes.
Some do he answered laconically.
I'D rather put my arms around then
myself
Helen breathed deep sigh of relief
and took up the paddle again. She was
unaware that after this the danger
proof guide" the while his keen eyes
scanned the river on either side for Il
teIltale sway of the bushes. watched
with no less intentneSs the graceful
swing of her rounded white arms. Nor
did she guess that the contrary wind
against which they were struggling
seemed to him special favor, as it
blew back her wavy hair. in color sug-
gestiye of the bright tawny coat of a
deer. but far more lustrous.
On the dav set to turn back on the
trail the rain fell in steady down
pour. and they were obliged TO wait
over till the sun should shine again.
Late Ia the afternoon. there being
some feeble signs of clearing. Helen
proposed fishing trip on the lake The
rest of the party vetoed the suggestion
Immediately. bur Helen donned her
sweater. tied on her cap with . lonG
brown veil-an unconsciously becoming
effect-and announced that she was go
ing anyway
After rowing out some distance the
guide noticed that her rod still lay in
the bottom of the boat
'sYour hook is baited, Miss Wright, .
he said courteously.
s.Oh. bother the baiti" returned Hell
en- unexpectedly. Isn't 1t etiquette
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