The Springfield herald., 1912-06-28

The clouds had emptied themselves
during the night, and the wind had
at last died away toward morning. and
now there was great calm abroad in
the land. The sunlight was dazzling
Outside, where the untempered rays
beat full upon the crests of the noun.
tains. 1t was doubtless warm, but with
In the cabin 1t was chilly. The fire
had long since burned completely
away, and he had not entered the room
to replenish 1t. Yet Enid Maitland had
lain snug and warm under her blan-
kets. She presently tested her wound
ed foot. by moving 1t gently, and dis
covered agreeably that 1t was much
less painful than she had anticipated.
The treatment the night before had
been very successful.
She did not get up Immediately. but
the coldness Of the room struck her SO
soon as she got out OF bed. Upon her
first awakening she was hardly con-
scious of her situation; her sleep had
been too long and too heavy, and her
awakening too gradual for any sud
den appreciation Of the new condition.
the walls of the rude cabin for some
time, that she realized where she was
and what had happened. When she
did SO she arose at once.
Her first impulse was to call. Never
in her life had she felt such death
like stiffness. Even In the camp al
most always there had been whis-
per Of breeze through the pine trees,
or the chatter of water over the rocks.
But here there were no pine trees and
no sound of rushing brook came to
her. 1t was almost painful. She was
keen to dress and go out of the house.
She stood upon the rude puncheon
floor on one foot. scarcely able yet to
bear even the lightest pressure upon
the other. There were her clothes on
chairs and tables before the fireplace.
Such had been the heat thrown out by
that huge blaze that a brief inspec.
ton convinced her that everything
was thoroughly dry. Dry or wet, she
must needs put them on, since they
were all she had. She noticed that
there were no locks on the doors, and
she realized that the only protection
she had was the sense OF decency and
the honor of the man. That she had
been allowed her sleep unmolested
made her the more confident on that
account "@
She dressed hastily. although 1t was
the work Of some difficulty In view of
her wounded foot. and OF the stifr con-
dition of her rough. dried apparel.
Presently she was completely clothed,
save for that disrobed foot. With the
big clumsy bandages upon 1t, she could
not draw her stocking over 1t, and even
II she succeeded in that, she could in
no way make shift to put on her boot
The situation was awkward, the pre-
dicament annoying. She was wearing
bloomers and short skirt for her
mountain climbing, and she did not
know quite what to do. She thought of
tearing up one of the rough. unbleach-
ed sheets and wrapping 1t around her
leg. but she hesitated as to that. It
was very trying. Otherwise. she would
have opened the door and stepped out
into the open air. Now she felt her
self virtually prisoner.
She had been thankful that no one
had disturbed her. but now she wished
for the man. In her helplessness she
thought Of his reBourcefulness with
eagerness. The man, however, did not
appear. and there was nothing for her
to do but to wait for him. Taking one
of the blankets from the bed. she sat
down and drew 1t across her knees and
took stock of the room.
The cabin was built of logs. the
room was large. perhaps ~ by 20 feet.
with one side completely taken up by
the stone fireplace; there were two
windows. one on either side Of the
outer door. which opened toward the
southwest. The walls were unplaster-
ed save in the chinks between the
rough hewn logs of which It was made.
Over the fireplace and around on one
side ran rude shelf covered with
books. She had no opportunity to ex-
anime them, although later she would
become familiar with every one OF
them.
Into the walls on the other side
were driven wooden pegs; from some
of them hung pair of snow shoes, a
heavy Winchester rifle. fishing tackle
and other necessary wilderness para
phernalia. On the puncheon floor wolf
and bear skins were spread. In one
corner against the wall again were
piled several splendid pairs of horns
from the mountain sheep.
The furniture consisted of the single
bed or berth in which she had slept.
built against the wall in one of the
corners, rude table on which were
writing materials and some books.
A row of curtained shelves, evidently
made of small boxes and surmounted
by mirror. occupied another space.
There were two or three chairs. the
handiwork OF the owner, comfortable
enough In spite of their rude construc-
tion. On some other pegs hung a
slicker and sou'wester, a fur over
coat, a fur cap and other rough clothes;
pair of heavy boots stood by the
fireplace. On another shelf there were
a number of scientific instruments. the
nature of which she could not deter
mine, although she could see that they
were all in a beautiful stale of pres
ervation.
There was plenty of rude comfort in
the room, which was excessively man
nish. In fact, there was nothing any
where which in any way spoke of the