Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1917-09-08

Stunning WITHIN Tour feet or hor, che
perceived that this was an Illusion
created by tho proportion and thick
hess OF his body. lie wae, in fact, half
heod taller than she. and Stella stood
five feet five. His gray eyes met hers
squarcly, with cool, impersonal quail
ity of gaze There was neither smirk
nor embarrassment in his straightfor-
ward glance. lie was, in effect, "sizing
her up" just as he would have looked
, casually over logger asking him for
| Job. Stella Ecnscd that and, resent
Ing 1t momcntarily. failed to match his
| manner. She flushed. Fyfe smiled, n
| broad, friendly grin. in which wide
| mouth opened to show strong, even
teeth.
"Sny," he asked easily. chow do you
like life IN n logging camp Ivy this time?
This is sure one hot Job you've got"
Literally or slangily?" she asked in
n nippant tone" Fyfcs reputation.
rather vivi lily colorcd had reached her
| from various sources. She was no,
quite sure whether she cared to coun.
tenancc him OF not. There was n dis.
| turbing quality in his glance. n subtle
suggestion of force about him that she
| felt without being able to define In un.
! dcrstandnblc terms. In any cnsc she
| folt more than equal to the task of
| Isquelching any effort at familiarity,
| even II Jack Fyfc were, In sense, the
convenient god in her brothers. ma
chine. Fyfc chucklch ut her answer
! Both" he replied shortly, and went
out.
1 l.Ei n hnl hnf nj, To-,
short interval that came between un-
| dressing and wcaricd sleep, she found
| herself wondering with n good deal
moro interest about Jack Fyfc than she
| had ever bestowed upon-wcll, Paul
Abbey, for instance.
| She was quite positive that she was
| going To dislike Jack Fyfe if he were
| thrown much in her way. There was
! something about him that sho resented.
| The difference between him and the
| rest of the rude crow among which she
| must, pcrforcr. live was Il question of
degree, not of kind. There was GER
| tainly some compelling magnetism
| about the man. But along with 1t went
| what she considered an almost brutal
| dircctncSS Of speech and action. Part
| OF this conclusion came from hcnrsay,
| part from observation, limited though
her opportunities had been for the lat
| ter. Miss Stella Benton, for all her
| polsc. WAS not above jumping Mt con-
| cluSlons. There was something about
! jack Fyfc that she resented. She IT.
! ritnbly dismissed II ms n foolish impress
sion, but the fact remained that the
nero physical ncarncss of him seemed
i hn l,f., ct, H.,
| were in reality Il hunter and she the
| hunted.
| Fyfc joined Charlie Benton about the
| time she finished work. The three OF
| them sat on the grass before Bcnton's
! quarters, and every time Jack Fyfcs
eyes rested ON her she stcclcd herself
to rcsist-what, she did not know
Something intangible something that
disturbed her. She had never expert
enccd anything like that before; 1t tan
| tallzcd her, reused her curiosity. There
| was nothing occult about the man. lie
was nowisc fascinating, either In face
! or ma"ncrr He made 10 bid faS4 HOY
attention. Yet during the half hour he
| sat there Stclla's mind rcvolved con-
| stantly about him. She recalled all
| TINT she had heard OF him, much OF 1t,
| from her point of view, highly discrcd-
| liable. Inevitably she fell to compnr-
| ing him with other men she knew.
She had, In way, unconSciously been
: prepared for just such n measure OF
concentration upoA Jack Fyfc. For he
was power on Roaring Lake and pow
er-phySicai, intellectual or financial
cXactS its own tribute OF consideration
He was Il fighter, dominant, hard
bitten woodSman, 80 the tale ran. lie
had gathered about him the toughest
! crew on the lake, himself, upon occn-
/ sion, the most turbulent of all. He
controlled many square miles of big
! timber, and he had got II all by his
! own effort in the eight years since he
! came to Rearing lake as n hand log
! ger. He WAS slow OF speech, chain
| lightning in action, respected generally,
| feared lot. All these things her
| brother and Katy John had Skctchcd
| for Stella with much verbal cmbcllish-
| ment.
There was no ignoring such man.
| Brought into close contact with tho
man himself, Stella felt the radiating
force of his personality. There ii was,
( thing To he rcckoncd with. She felt
| that whenever Jack Fyfcs gray eyes
| rested impcrSonally on her. His pleas
ant, trcrklcd face lowered before her
| until sh" fell asleep. and In her sleep
| she dreamed of him.
| ON NNNurrNrrIrr>