The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-06-30
In, th03 North Woods.
'ey Helen M. Palm>r.
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The short summer was Fastening O..
IN the breathless fashion of the north
IL was still early in August and there
had been no rain for weeks in Ange
La-Baie. The sun burned red like 8
ball Of fire; the green woods and fields
had taken on livid, sickly hue un
der the smoke-tinged light, and faint
acrid smell was in the air. From
dawn till dark the people toiled fever
ishly, gathering the premature harvest
and fighting the forest fires that crept
stealthily toward the village and
the north and west.
Old men, women and girls-all
turned into the fields to lend hand.
Grandpere Labelle swung his scythe
bravely at the head of line of NOW.
ers, boasting that he would show cette
Jeunesse how to lay a swath, while
the young men laughed and applauded.
yet each kept jealous eye on the
sweep Of his neighbor's scythe; and
the girls watched Jean or Pierre or
Maxime-as the case might be-from
under their lowered eyelidS.
AS to Roger Crewe, there was but
one mind, not man in the whole
comte could do bigger days work
than the young American who found
time in the midst of his own labors
to help save the threatened crops.
Il tink me-" piped the impish little
Elmire, resting upon her rake and fol-
lowing with her eyes the tall young
man who pitched the hay so easily
upon the towering load. Il t'ink me,
Msieu' Roger is mos bes'-lookin'
young feller the is in Angel a Baie."
"Chut!' whispered the other girls,
reprovingly, you don LAX to have
heem hear you, s'pose."
"Ba oui! He's a man, now-lak' the
res, amt it?" persisted Elmire, mis-
chievously; don't max not'in' if he's
surveyor for the beeg railroad, an If
heem carry hees head so high, he can
not to see always who's pass heem
by. Toinette he can see hevery tam.
Ba oui! But what will you? Toinette
is very tall. How can one help to see
Toinette?"
Quite unmoved apparently by the
laughter that greeted this sally, the
tall girl upon whom all eyes had
turned, went steadily on with her
work. A little in advance of the 9TH
ers she moved rapidly across the mead
Ow, tossing the grass lightly from
her fork and spreading 1t with free
sweep Of her strong young arms. Yet
Nhe color rose in her pale, clear cheeks
-she knew even better than Elmire. If
1t could have been otherwise! But
what would you? The father was
hard to turn, and his talk was all of
foreigners and heretiques. Made no
difference that the mother tried to help
her, telling-not once, but many times
how pAmericain had brought le petit
Jean home safe when he was lost in
the big snow storm and no one else
could find him; how he had saved
Adele and her children when the river
rose and washed their house away.
"Tiens les femmes!" was all that she
could win, Il don say M'sieu' Roger
he ain hall right But good Cana
yen, he's good enough for me. L'Amer-
icain, he can't come here on ma house.
An he can't court ma grill"
The forest fire that was eating its
way through the great north woods
drew daily little nearer to the set
element; it was like wild beast
prowling on the outskirts on which
one must keep vigilant eye. Watch
ing the smoke from his tiny porch as
night began to fall. Roger saw 1t shift
to the southwark and suddenly recall
ed that that way lay the little Lac
Garou where old ManoA the half
crazy ward of the village. lived per
versely alene In a little cabin two or
three miles from geEs1aie. Grasp
ing bis stick, he set ofr& a rapid pace.
reprokching himself that he had not