Middletown transcript., 1912-05-04
CHAPTER XIV.
The Woman,s Heart.

lived was covered with a thick blank
ct Of snow. The lakes and pools were
frozen from shore to shore. The
mountain brooks, if they flowed at all,
ran under thick arches Of ice. The
deepest canons were well nigh impas-
sible from huge drifts that sometimes
almost rose level with the tops Of the
walls. In every sheltered spot great
banks Of white were massed. The
spreading branches Of the tall pine
trees in the valleys dropped under
heavy burdens Of snow. Only here
and there sharp gaunt peaks were
swept clean by the fierce winter
winds and thrust themselves upward
in icy air, naked and bare. The cold
was polar IL its bitter intensity.
The little shelf or plateau jutting
out from the mountain side upon
which the lonely cabin stood was shell
tered from the prevailing winds, but
the house itself was almost covered
with the drifts. The constant fire
roaring up the huge stone chimney
had melted some Of the snow at the
top and it had run down the slanting
roof and formed huge icicles on what
had been the caves of the house. The
man had cut away the drifts from
doors and windows for light and lib
erty. At first every stormy night
would fill his laborious elearings with
drifting snow, but as it became pack
ed down and frozen solid he was able
to keep his various ways open without
a great deal of difficulty A little
work every morning and evening suf-
feed.
Every day he had to go down the
mountain stairway to the bottom Of
the pocket to feed and water the bur-
ros. What was a quick and simple
task In milder, warmer seasons some
times took him half a day under the
present rigorous conditions. And the
woman never saw him start out in
the storm without a sinking heart and
grave apprehension. On his return to
the cabin half frozen, almost spent
and exhausted, she ever welcomed him
with eager gratitude and satisfaction
which would shine in her eyes, tbrob.
in her heart and tremble upon her
lips, control it as she might. And he
thought it was well worth all the 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 If Nature were in a con-
,spiracy to seal up the mountains and
all they contained, to make ingress
and egress alike impossible.
A month had elapsed and Enid's
foot was now quite well. The man
had managed to sew up her boot
where the knife had cut it and al
though the job was a clumsy one the
result was usable shoe. 1t is as
tonishing the comfort she took when
she first put it on and discarded for
good the shapeless wooden stocking
which had covered the clumsy band
lage happily no longer necessary. Al
though the torn and bruised member
had healed and she could use it 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 been
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 conversa-
ton Her wishes were consulted
about everything; to be sure no great
range Of choice was allowed them, Of
liberty Of action OF freedom in the
CONSTANTS with which nature bound
them, but whenever there was any
selection she made it.
The man yielded everything for her
and yet he did 1t without in any way
derogating from his self-respeet or
without surrendering his natural in-
dependence. The woman instructive
'ly realized that in any great crisis in
any large matter, the determination
Iof which would naturally effect their
ipresent or their future, their happin-
ess, welfare life, he would assert him
self, and his assertion would be IN
questioned and unquestionable by her.
There was delightful satisfaction.
to the woman in the whole situation.
She had woman's desire to lead in
the smaller things in life, and yet
craVed 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 satisi
faction in these thoughts.
The strength of the man she mas
tered was estimate of her own power
and charm. There was a great, sweet,
voiceless, unconscious fattery in his
Difference Of which she could not be.
unaware.
Having little else to do, she studied
the man, and she studied him with a
warm desire and an enthusiastic pre-
disposition to find the best in him.
She would not have been a human,
girl if she had not been thrilled toI
the very heart Of her by what the
man had done for her. She recognized.
that whether he asserted It or not, he
had established an everlasting and
hndisputable claim upon her.
The circumstances of their first,