The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1916-04-21
CHAPTER XII.
The Fires of SDriup.

metallic prlllldncy went out of the
SKY, and 1t became softly, mistily
blue. All that forenoon Hazel
prowled restlessly out of doors
without cap or coat.
Toward evening a mild breeze
freshened from the southwest.
Long wraiths of cloud floated up
with the rising wind. At 10
O'Clock gale whooped riotously
through the trees. And at mid
night Hazel Weakened to a sound
that she had not heard in months
the dripping caves.
When day broke again the sun
Tell upon vast areas of brown and
green, where but 48 hours gone
there was the cold revelry of
trost sprites upon far-flung fields
of snow.
Hazel cleared away the break
iast Things, and stood looking
! OUT the Kitchen window. Roaring
Dill sat ON a log, shirt-sleeved.
smoking his pipe. Presently he
| went over to the stable. led ont
MS horses. and gave them their
hperty. For 20 minutes or 40 he
STOOD watching their mad capers
as they ran and leaped and pranc-
ed back and forth over the clear
ing. Then he walked off into tho
timber, his rifle over one shouJ.
der. '''
Hazel washed her dishes and
went outside. 1t was a beautifu,
land-and lonely. She did NOT
Know why, but all at once a fer
riDle FEELING of utter forlornness
seized her.
All the heaviness of heart. all
tue resentment she had fell in
,ne first few days when she fol-
lowed Bill Wagstaff perforce
away from Cariboo Meadows
came back to her with redoubled
force that forenoon. ''eu
she went back into the bouse
now gloomy without a fire
siumped forlornly into a chair
and cried herself into a condi,
lon approaching hysteria.
h.. was sittlng there, her
mead bowed on her hands. when
Bill returned from his hunting
Inc sun sent shaft throuob
the south window, a shaft which
rested on her dropping head
Roaring Bill walked softly nm he
mnd her and put his hand on her
shoulder. oA nei
|
What is 1t, little person? ?" he
asked gently. nc
She refused to answer
Say" he bent a Iittja ,ow
you Know what the Tentmaker
Come fill the cup in the fire q,
i Spring Vi
your Winter garment of Renent.
l. ance fling;
The Bird of Time has b,t . ,,..,
| way
10 flutter-and the Bird ia nm
the Wing.
Lies too short to waste onv
OF 1t In being uselesslv misara
PIE. come on out and go for a
ride on Silk. I'll take you nm on
mountain side, and show Won q
waterfall that leaps 300 feet IN
the clear. The woods are wak.
ing up and putting on that
Easter bonnets. There's haam.,,
everywhere. Come along!"
Il don't want to 20 with Won 7
only want to get away from
here" she sobbed.
I. Roaring Bill backed awav from
her. DO you mean that" be
81 do dol" she cried va.
hemently. Haven't I told Won
often enough? l didn't come bsra
Willingly, and I won't stay. I will
not! l have right to live NV
lie in my own way, and It's not
this way" nut
3d. Roaring Bill began even
y, springtime with you only
means getting back to work Yon
want to get back into the mud
died rush of peopled places. do
you! For what? To teach n
class In school, or to be some busi-
ness sharks slave q the tyne-
writer at $40 a week? You want
to be where you can associate
with fluffy-ruffle, pompadoured
girls, and be properly introduced
to equally proper young men.
Lord, but seem to have made a
mistake! And, by the same
token, I'll probably pay for it,
in way you wouldn't understand
II you lived q thousand years.
Well, set your mind at rest m
take you out. I'll take you back
to your stamping ground. If that's