Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-12-03

letz road. Here the Yellow Pines
owner often rode to meet Miss Ord.
way who had lessened her efforts in
his direction since he had given her
all the material she needed for his
W undoing. He was more wild
about her than ever, and added to
his enmity for SAndry the mighty
spur of suspicious jealousy.
So July dragged out in blue heat
and August blazed down upon the
hills.
The eastern lawyer at Salem was
ready to give up in despair. Not one
tiniest point showed itself wherein
he could hang a thread of evidence;
and one day Sandry, sitting on the
east porch. shocked the heart into
Miss Ordway's throat.
ST believe l will write to New York
for the great Farnsworth," he said;
"it's a mighty risk. for he'll bankrupt
me if he comes, though it's hardly
likely he'll bother. They don't know
the chances for big work out here"
And the woman shut her teeth
hard, while the blood left her face
in pale anger. Siletz, on the step,
played with Coosnah's ears and she,
too, lost a bit of color.
The next day Miss Ordway made a
flying trip to Salem, stopped over a
train, and went on to Portland. There
she sought out the most we'll
thought-of legal firm in the city and
was closeted for three hours in It's
private offices.
She was much too shrewd to trust
the great scheme in the hands of a
Salem firm. But here she had bun
gled after all, for her newly allied
lawyer, a ~fine-looking, o~pen-faced in
dividual, followed her to Salem on
the next train, bearing copies of her
mysterionsly obtained proofs of
Hampden's guilt, which were as good
as warrants for his arraignment and
that of the amorous young commits.
sioner.
The ring" was wider than she
had any conception of and reached
afar throughout the state.
She was not half over the Coast
Range on the one-horse railroad when
her lawyer laid the copied papers on
the commissioners private desk.
Its come at last" he said tensely;
somebody's leaked"
And in a lightning flash the com.
missioner knew what had become of
his account book and the missing let.
ters from Hampden.
IL .1,,-1ad u, bio obair drJ1DouaipO
with senseless fingers on it's arm.
He saw black bars across the win
dow with the waving trees beyond,
and knew himself for that weakest
among men, a woman's tool,
So, filed with excited determine
ton to beat Sandry with the Hamp-
den case and forestall his sending for
Farnsworth, which was the last thing
she wanted, Poppy Ordway again
rode up the valley. The mighty hills
were silent in the deadlock of an
Oregon summer. No breath of wind
found its way into the sheltered val
leys and the pines were still.
The tidewater slough was gray
with the inland brine.
"GIoriousi" she said to herself, lift
ing her gaze to the hazy mountains.
"And I'll save it for him-even
against his wilt"
She was sure she had succeeded
in her mission, and, happy in the
knowledge, was eager to be out of
the hired rig.
And Sandry, as he assisted her out,
thought simply that she was the
most beautiful woman in the world,
for all the joy of triumph lent sparkle
to her lovely features, deepened the
slumbrous blue of her eyes.
No word had ever been spoken
about that night at the rollway and
Sandry bore a sense of guilt that he
had taken her avowal without open
re~ciprocation. But the face of Siletz
held him back. He scorned himself
and yet he knew he was blameless.
save for that ~unguarded kiss in the
glade.
But did he wish to reciprocate? He
did not know.
Daily's camp droned on-getting
out its logs, flooding them down the
slough, binding them slowly into the
now familiar ocean-going raft.
The foreman himself was I'M
changed, though the world had
changed for him since that miser.
able yes of Siletz in the darkened
o when he laid a gentle hand on
her shoulder. To Sandry he was the
same, for he had come, through the
slow processes of the simple nature.
to be his friend. The elusive fine
ness that had shown plain to Sandry
from the first in John Daily's heart
was solid as a rock, a foundation, an
abutment.
They watched Hampden's trail
grow toward the East Belt with an
exaggerated slowness, a Haunting of
security.
- Al