, 1911-09-28

NO no. no." she painted. her hands
%clutching mt his arm. "You must 60
pack now-now"- She pushed him
toward the door. and as he backed n
step. looking down into her face. he
saw the choking tremble of her white
throat. heard again the 1uttering ter.
ror in her breath. '"They will kill You
II they find you here she urged.
They think You are dead-that YOU
fell through the ice and were drowned
lf you don't believe me. If you don't
believe that | can never go with Won.
tell jean
Her words seemed to choke her ms
h struggled to finish.
Tell Jean what?" he questioned
softly.
will You go then?" she cried with
sobbing eagerness. as If he already un-
derstood her. will you go back IL
Jean tells you everything-everything
about m~e-about"-
NO he interrupted.
"lf you only knew, then you would
go back and never see me again. You
would understand'-
h'NtI uIhtISluHu, lie inter-
rupted again. Il say that it is you
who do not understand. Meleese! I
don't care what Jean would tell me.
Nothing that has ever happened can
make me not want you"
"lf n should come and find you
here
There would be a fight" he said
grimly. 81 have come prepared to
fight" He waited a moment. and in
the silence the brown head in front
of him dropped slowly. and he saw a
tremor pass through the slender form.
as if it had been torn by an ~instant's
pain. The pallor had gone from How
lands face. The mute surrender in the
bowed head. the soft sobbing notes
that lie heard now in the girls breath.
the confession that he read in her
voiceless grief, set his heart leaping.
and again he drew her close into his
arms and turned her face up to his
own.
"You-you told me something that
wasn't tru~e-once-back there" he
whispered. and you promised that you
wouldn't do II again. Why don't you
tell me everything? You believe that
If / knew certain things l would never
want to see you again: that l would
go back into the south. You have told
me that. Then. If you want me to go.
why don't o reveal these things to
me? If you can't do that go with me
tonight. We will go anywhere-to the
ends Of the earth
He stopped at the look that had come
into her face. Her eyes were turned
to the window. He saw them filed
with a strange terror, inc invOluntari-
Y his own followed them to where the
storm was beating softly against the
~windowpane. Close to the lighted glass
was pressed a mans face. he caught
a fiashing glimpse of a pair Of eyes
staring in at them, of a thick, wild
beard whitened by the snow. He knew
the face. When life seemed slipping
out of his throat he had looked up
into it that night of the ambush on the
Great North trail.
With a quick movement Rowland
sprang away from the girl and leveled
his revolver to where the face had
been. over the shining barrel he IA
only the haunting emptiness Of h
storm. Scarcely had the face disap-
peared when there came the loud shout
of a man. the hoarse calling of a name
and then of another and after that h
quick, furious opening of the outer
door.
-rI, ,l ,rhtrlaI hfa u.nnnnn Ennfnf-
ing to the only entrance. The girl was
ahead of him. and with a warning cry
he swung the muzzle of his gun up
ward. In a moment she had pushed
the bolt that locked the room from the
inside and had leaped back to him.
her face white. her breath breaking in
fear. She spoke no word, but with a
moan of terror caught him by the
arm and pulled him past the light
and beyond the thick curtain that had
hidden her when he had entered the
room u few minutes before. They
were in u second room, pately lighted
by n mass of Goals cleaning through
the open door of a box o and with
a second window looking out into the
thick night. Fiercely she dragged him
to this window, her fingers biting deep
into the flesh of his arm.
you must go through this!" she
cried chokingly. Quick! oh. my God,
won't you hurry? Won't you go"
Rowland had stopped. From the
blackness of the corridor there came
the beat of heavy fists on the door and
the rage of a laundering voice demand
ing admittance. From out in the night
1t was answered by the sharp barking
of n dog and the shout Of a second
voice.
why should l goF' he asked. Il
told you a few moments ago that 1 had
come prepared to fight, Meleese. l
shall stay and fight"