Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-02-28
Lavender
.CreightOn's
Lovers
By OLIVIA 3. sTRoHr1
t~copyrlgh,, 1925. By olivia 3. s,rohml.
CHAPTER XIV CoNr1Nunp.

CHAPTER XIV. CONTINUED.
At last, with the wind swaying the
trees, the water kissing the pebbles as
accompaniment to her words, she
spoke: To-day, tonight, the doubt is
gone; l trust you utterly. But-and /
give you fair warning-I may change
again"
She nodded her head merrily! her
mood was, on a sudden, strangely light
almost hysterical. Then, more Sc
riously: II don't trust my moods late
ly, they vary SO. I may have been
right then-or I may be right now,
but 1 want to be honest to-night-hon-
est with my heart-and you. And TO-
night, for the present, all's we'll"
"And, sweet one, for so much.
thanks. You know the wisest man has
said: There is a time to love and a
time to hate Let us be happy now in
che time to trust, the time to love-
owatoga returned, and at his sug'
gestion Boone rose. "You are right,
we must press on" he said. and the
Indian advanced to Lavender. iowa
toga will carry the white maid over the
water; the ford Is Deep"
Lifting her as though she were no
greater burden than the culver that
swung over one shoulder, he raised her
to the other and plunged into the river.
The others followed, but, the oppo-
site side regained, the old pioneer stag
gered and fell, half fainting, in Wins
lows arms.
"You are i'll, SIR? Quick, Owatoga!
The brandy" And they worked hard
to revive the old man who lay In q
stupor on the sand.
I'll have felt only tolerable well
for a few days, and-and the walk
the walk has-has tired me. The wa
ter was cold-cold." And he shiv'
cred.
So all night they camped there, Owa
toga guarding against surprise while
Winslow and Lavender, too anxious
TOR sleep, watched the pioneer, who lay
helpless with fatigue and sudden cold
With early dawn he rallied a bit, and
they pushed on until, at noon, they
paused in a beautiful, sheltered grove
Boone smiled like a pleased, tired
child. II shall rest here" he said. IS
think we are secure; they have prob
ably abandoned the trail. At any rate
I need go no further. st. Charles II
but a few miles due east. You car
easily reach it tonight. Good-by."
In vain they insisted upon remain
ing with him until he was stronger.
mo; for the sake of the girls anx
aous f~ather-for her sick mother, sh'
must be brought home at once. Los
no time. I can soon have a cabin her
as good as the one we left"
They set to work, and in a small ra
vine, with a palisade Of poplars pre-
tecting it, and a hedge of pawpay
bushes all about, they put up a tin,
shelter which the rugged woodsmal
declared was fit for a kings chamber
When the time for farewells wa
come, Owatoga surprised Winslow b
extending a ruddy hand. "Good-by,
he said.
Daniel Boone, too, looked u
amazed. why, how is this?"
But the Indian sturdily retorted
''Owatoga stays; he will not leave th
old man of the woods"
In vain Boone protested.
HE is right" Winslow declared
'the main road lies just beyond tina
ridge. We can easily find it, and til
tourney is short. Our n regret, 81
is leaving you"
And there were tears in Lavender
eyes when she bent over and reve
emily kissed the high forehead an
smoothed the long, white hair.
"God bless you, girl" he said, veal
ny. IF you eve see Daniel Boon
again, think of him sometimes. An
think of him as the old man of th
woods"
He added this proudly, as though /
wished no nobler title. Owatoga wei
with them until in sight of the road
a narrow hall in the green pavilion
nature, a weed-grown gap in the wilde
ness. With a few terse directions. az
"a gruff farewell, the guide left them
complete the journey together.