The Springfield herald., 1912-07-12

and exhausted. she ever welcomed him
with eager gratitude and satisfaction
which would shine in her eyes. throb
In her heart and tremble upon her
lips. control it as she might. And he
thought 1t was well worth allithe trou-
BILE and hardships of his task to be SO
greeted when he came back to her.
Winter had set in unusually early
and with unprecedented severity. Any
kind OF winter in the mountains
would have amazed the girl, but even
the man with his larger experience
declared he had never before known
such sharp and sudden cold. or such
deep and lasting SHOWS. His daily
records had never shown such low
temperatures nor had his observation
ever noted such wild and furious
storms as ragged then and there. It
seemed as II Nature were In con-
spiracy to seal up the mountains and
all they contained. to make ingress
and egress alike impossible.
A month had elapsed and Ends
foot was now quite well. The man
had managed to sew up her boot
where the knife had cut 1t and al
though the Job was clumsy one the
result was a usable shoe. 1t Is as
| tonishing the comfort she took when
she first put 1t on and discarded for
| good the shapeless woolen stocking
which had covered the clumsy band
| age happily no longer necessary. AL
though the torn and bruised member
had healed and she could use 1t with
care. her foot was still very tender
and capable of sustaining no violent
or long continued strain. OF neces-
sity she had been largely confined to
the house. but whenever It had Deen
possible he had wrapped her In his
great bear skin coat and had helped
her out to the edge of the cliff for
a breath of fresh air.
Sometimes he would leave her
there alone. would perhaps have left
her alone there always had she not
imperiously required his company.
Insensibly she had acquired the hab-
it-not difficult one for a woman to
fall into-of taking the lead In the
small affairs of their circumscribed
existence. and he had acquiesced In
her dominance without hesitation or
remonstrance. 1t was she who or
dered their daily walk and converse
ton. Her wishes were consulted
about everything; to be sure no grea,
range of choice was allowed them. o
liberty of action or freedom in the
constraints with which nature bount
them, but whenever there was AMI
selection she made 1t.
The man yielded everything for hel
and yet he did 1t without in any way
derogating from his self-respect OF
without surrendering his natural in
dependence. The woman instructive
ly realized that in any great crisis in
any large matter, the determination
of which would naturally effect their
present or their future. their bappin
ess, welfare life. he would assert him.
self, and his assertion would be un.
questioned and unquestionable by her.
There was delightful satisfaction
to the woman in the whole situation.
She had n woman's desire to lead in
the smaller things in life. and yet
| crayed the woman's consciousness
that In the great emergencies she
would be led, In the great battles she
would be fought for. in the great dan
gers she would be protected. in the
great perils she would be saved.
There was rest. comfort. Joy and salts
faction in these thoughts.
The strength of the man she mas
tered was estimate of her own power
and charm. There was great, sweet.
voiceless. unconscious fattery in his
Difference of which she could not be
| unaware.
(To BE CoNTINUED)