The pioneer express., 1912-11-29

]. ransiit
Corson smiled to himself a. the
camp came In sight when he rounded
the point IN his frail canoe. It was
the drst time that Corson had smiled
In some weeks. for he had passed .
dolorous summer In town. At the
camp. he was sure to flnd rest from
tho doubts that assailed him. for in
the woods Charley Corson forgot even
Lillian Blakslee.
It was not an easy matter to forget
Lillian, for Lillian had been the cause
OF his wretched summer. He had let
the Blakslees have tho camp for the
hot months. His business kept him In
town through what Corson called the
"scorching season." but he had taken
pleasure in the thought that Lillian
was in camp and learning to love It
- much a. he. did.
Next year he hoped that there would
be June wedding, and July honey
moon In the camp. There was moth.
ing more than an understanding b.
tween them, but Lillian had made Il
plain what her answer would be when
Corson spoke. and az the weeks sped
BY. and her letters grew more and
more irregular. Corson first grew
puszled, then worried.
Even when they broke camp Corson
did not learn the fact until after
they had left the woods. Mrs. Blaks.
lees note Of thanks hinted at an ear.
lier letter, but there was none from
Lillian, and Mrs. Blakslee did not
speak Of her. In spite Of the thanks.
there was q tinge Of coldness and re.
serve In her note that made Corson
more doleful than ever. Ha and Mrs.
Blakslee were great chums. Now she
seemed to share Lillian's dislike.
He had welcomed the news that the
camp was again at his disposal, for
In the woods he could forget his
troubles for a time, and find the rest
that he sought. The camp might 70.
mind him Of Lillian, but with rod or
gun he could conjure the vision away.
He padded to shore. and was de-
lighted to find that the camp had been
left In perfect order. The Blakslees
had brought their servant with them.
and 1t was only necessary to remove
the board shutters from doors and
windows. give things a dusting and
set up housekeeping. Before long q
pot Of coffee was perfuming the air,
and bacon was sizzling in the pan.
The supper things out of the way.
Corson fired his pipe. and made the
round Of the camp. He had reached
the rough road that ran at the rear Of
the camp, when he encountered the
dead stump that two years before had
been used as the mail box for q pri.
vate mail delivery. Teddy Griscom
had been in camp with him that year.
and 1t was Teddy who induced one Of
the farmers to make tri-weekly trips
with the mail. Ted had fixed up the
stump as their private box.
There was q cunningly contrived
door In the opposite side Of the trunk,
and Corson glanced in to see how
much the stump had decayed since
the year before.
To his surprise he found that the
cavity was half filed with letters and
In a flash he realized that the Blaks.
lees servant, recently landed emf.
grant, had mailed the letters here.
It was all clear enough now. He
carefully did them up in bundle and
then he sat down to write letter Of
explanation.
Il never supposed that the letters
had been delayed in transit" he con.
cluded, "and I blame myself for not
understanding what the matter was. I
should have removed the slot from
the tree. but didn't suppose that
sven a newly-arrived 'greeny' would
suppose that Uncle Sam had mail
boxes scattered through the woods. It
was . delight to get so many letters
from you all at once. but I will swap
the lot for one little letter containing
the single word 'Yes.'"
He made special trip to the village
to mail the package and then made
daily trips for the answer. He had
not long to wait. Before the end Of
the week he found bulky letter in
the box and he could not wait until
he got to camp to read 1t. With the
canoe floating on the surface Of the
lake he let It drift while he read over
the letter.
1T was not Norah," wrote Lillian.
but the rest Of us-and Teddy Girls.
com. When we left town Ted begged
10 to use his private post Office If We
wanted to. I suppose that he thought
We should sec the joke. but We didn't
md unless We were going to town we
mailed the letters in the box and It
never occurred to 10 to wonder
whether they had been collected or
not You SEQ We are not woodsmen
Ike yourself. Next year you can
'how us. for accept your offer Of ex.
change and win send the Yes az
loon % receive tho package. don't
A.