The state herald., 1915-01-08

| sayf"
There was silvery gleam Of star on
her upturned face, and could see her
eyes. startled, puzzled. half frightened,
gazing up into mine. Then the long
lashes dropped over them.
''Yes. monsieur" she said, her lips
trembling. IL will go with you"
The dawn found me with the paddle,
but Rene still wide awake. There was
a thin. gray fog over the river. which
turned to purple as the light strength
ened, and We were at the apex of
great bend, the course Of the stream
was not our direction. and besides
felt If there was pursuit 1t would be
safer far ashore. Just as the sun
broke through the mist we came unex-
pectedly to the mouth of small
stream leading into the main river
from the south. So thoroughly was 1t
concealed by thick growth of bushes.
that we would have slipped by. had
not been skirting the shore closely,
seeking some such opening. | headed
the canoe straight in. pressing aside
the branches to gain passage, and
found beyond narrow creek, up which
| we managed to paddle for several hun
dred yards. Then l stepped over
board. and dragged the light craft still
higher. until ! discovered place Of
concealment behind huge rotting
log.
Here we left 1t, Rene and bearing
with us the guns and our small store
| Of provisions. ! had cut q cane for
Brady. and, with It's help, he managed
to get along slowly. although sight Of
his face made my heart ache. Thus In
single file We waded up the tiny
stream, until we attained ledge Of
rocks where our feet would leave no
trail. Over these we toiled, helping
each other. until we came to the up
land, into an open forest, carpeted
with autumn leaves. BY this time
Brady was too exhausted to go further.
sinking helplessly on the ground. Rene
also looked worn and heavy-eyed. and
! had no heart to urge them on. We
ate sparsely OF what food we had. but
Brady barely touched his portion. |
wrapped him In our only blanket, and
the three OF us slept.
1t was the gray dawn when mademoi-
selle awoke me, shaking me soundly
ere could be aroused. That some
thing was wrong perceived instantly
from the expression of her face, and
sat up. glancing hastily about. expect
ing the approach Of savages.
What is lit"
He is gone. monsieurl Monsieur
Brady is gone"
Gone! You mean left camp. Why
that is impossible; he could barely
walk"
But ho is not here. monsieur" she
insisted. See: It was there he lay. |
win tell you all know. | woke up In
the night and thought OF him. OF how
hard II was for 80 strong man TO be
SO weak and ILL., Then ] got up and
went over quietly to be sure he was
all right. But he was awake. mon.
sieur. staring up at the sky with eyes
wide open. He saw me. and said he
was nervous and could not sleep. No,
he told me he was not in pain. but
complained OF being cold. spread
more leaves over him. and he said that
was better. Then-then he took my
hand and kissed II. and begged me to
go back and--and lie down. He was
very nice and gentle. and smiled at
me. So l went back. and crept into
my leaves. and tried to sleep. lie did
not move. yet lay there long while
thinking. think | cried n little. mon.
sieur. for ! felt 70 sorry. Al last I
slept again. II was Just n little light
when awoke once more. and my first
memory was OF him. went over there
and-and he was gone. could see
where he had rested In the leaves, and
the blanket on the ground. bu,-but he
was not there. sought for him. but
there was no trace-nothing. SO I
came and woke you"
was on my feet. . feeling OF dread
tukging at my heart. felt that A.
ready knew what had happened, yet |
could not tell hcr-not now. not until
was sure,
"iie could not have gone far. Rene"
. hniu uas'nNs T"ruhpr W tHe UNsr
for . drink. Come. We will see"
The ground about the camp had
been 20 tramplcd by our feet that. at
first. ! could not pick up the trail.
Finally. taking = wider circle. ! came
upon softer soil and tho imprint OF his
moccasins, knew they were his be-
cause OF one foot dragging. and tho
impression OF his cane. They led down
toward tho river. and ! followed swift.
iy. the Girl close behind. until We stood
at the edge OF tho stream. Tho mans
trail ended there. explored the bank
for some distance up and down, but
without result There were tears
rlimmeripE In Rene's eyes. an came
baek-sha also was beginning to un.
derstand. without a word ~aded
out into tho water. and rwam across To
the other nhore. There was nothing
there-no sign. no mark Of any do
| srripfion-and | came back TO whrrr