Licking Valley courier. [volume] (West Liberty, Ky.) 19??-current, 1912-03-21


ond time within the hour.
Baltimore" he answered before he
thought, and then bit his lip. He had
determined to vouchsafe her no infor-
nation regarding himself, and here she
had surprised him into an admission
in the first blush of their acquaint-
ance, and she knew that she had tri-
umphed for she smiled in recognition
OF it.
She tried another tack
"Mr. Newbold," she began at ven
ture, and as it was five years since he
had heard that name, his surprise at
her knowledge, which after all was
very simple, betrayed him third
time. we are like stories I have
read, people who have been cast away
On desert islands and"
"Yes," said the man, "but no. cast
aways that have ever read Of have
been so beautifully provided with ev-
erything necessary to the comfort of
life as We are. told you lacked
nothing for your material welfare, and
even your mind need not stagnate."
Il have looked at your books al
ready" said the woman, answering
his glance.
This was where she had found his
name, he realized.
you viii have this room for your
own use and will take the other for
NINE" he continued.
Il am loath to dispossess you"
u shall be quite comfortable there,
and this shall be your room exclusive
ly except when you bid me enter, as
when bring you your meals. l shall
hold it inviolate."
But" said the woman, "'thore must
be an equal division Of labor. l must
do my share"
"There isn't much to do in the win
ter except to take care of the burros,
keep up the fire and prepare what we
have 10 eat"
q am afraid should be unequal to
outdoor work, but in the rest must
do my part"
He recognized at once that idleness
would be irkaome.
80 you SHALL" he assented heartily,
when your foot is well enough to
make you an efficient member Of our
little society"
"Thank YOU. and now"
as there anything else before get
suppor?"
you think there is no hope Of their
searching for me here?'
The man shook his head.
'If James Armstrong had been in
the party" she said rehectively, 81 am
sure he would never have given up"
"And who is James Armstrong, may
I esk?" burst forth the other bluntly
"why he-I-he is friend of my
uncle and an--acquaintance OF my
own"
"oh," said the man shortly and
gloomily, as he turned away.
Enid Maitland had been very brave
in his presence, but when he went out
she put her head down on her arms
on the table and cried softly to her
self. Was ever a-woman in such a
predicamsnt, thrown into the arms Of
man who had established every con.
ceivable claim upon her gratitude,
forced to live with him shut up in a
two-room log cabin upon a lonely
mountain range, surrounded by lofty
and Inaccessible peaks, pierced by ter
rife gorges soon to be impossible
from the SHOWS? She had read many
stories Of pathways, from Charles
Reade's faInors "Foul Play down to
more modern instances, but In chose
cases there had always beeh an iHland
comparatively large over which to
reign witG privacy, seclusion, opportu-
nifty for withdrawal; bright heavens,
balny breezes, idyllic conditions.
Here were two upliited from the earth
upon sly-p!ercing mountainS srhey
would hare had more range Of action
and more liberty Of motion il they
had been upon q {srelict in the ocean.
and she realized at the same time
that in all those stories the two cast
aways always loved each O her. Would
it be SO with them? Was IL 80? And
again the hot fame within outyied the
fire Of the hearth as the blood rushed
to the smooth surface OF her check
again.
What would her father say If he
could know her position, what would
the world say, and above all what
would Armstrong say. 1t cannot be
denied that her thoughts were terri
bly, and Overwhelmingly dlsmayed,
and yet that despair was not without
a certain relief. No man had ever so
interested her as this one. What was
the mystery of his life, why was he
there, what had he meant when he
had blessed the idle impulse that had
sent her into his arms?
Her heart throbbed again. She lift
ed her face from her hands and dried
her tears, warI9 glow stole over her
and once again not altogether from
the fire. Who and what was this
man? Who was that woman whose
picture he had taken from her? Wen,
she would have time to find out. and
meantime the world outside could
think and do what it pleased. She
sat staring into the fire light, seeing
pictures there, dreaming dreams, She
was as lovely as an angel to the man
when he camo back into the room.
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