Gilpin observer., 1917-05-10
SECOND EPISODE.

had himself seen them disappear be-
fore that resistlesS torrent of logs
and water, the man knew neither sOr-
row nor regret.
1t was, indeed, with light heart
that barely week after the tragedy
he started for Seattle in response to
the telegram from Henry Marston. His
Interview with the president of the
Northern Land & Lumber company
was brief. In fact 1t lasted less than
half an hour.
Holmes entered the office an i'm
pecunious adventurer, who richly de-
served his widely known soubriquet
"the lumber pirate" and left 1t di-
rector of the great corporation with
million dollars potentially held in the
hollow of his hand.
When Marston reached his home
that evening he sent for his daughter.
i've asked Rupert Holmes to dine
with us tonight" he said. We've just
elected him director of the company
Florrie, and / think it would be wise
to show him a little attention.
Try to be polite to him. You'll find
him as rough as one of his own fir
trees, but he's going far unless I'm
much mistaken"
Florence Marston was of type with
which Holmes was unfamiliar, and be-
fore long he became frequent
and apparently a welcome visitor at
the Marston home. Twelve months af-
ter he had seen his wife and child
dashed away in the angry waters of
the Calapooia, Holmes, already be-
come recognized figure in the COM
mercial life of the town, asked Flor
ence Marston to marry him.
The wedding, six weeks. later, was
the most brilliant affair of the season.
When Rupert Holmes married Miss
Marston he believed he had done with
his old rough life.
But Holmes wife and child had not
met their deaths in the raging Gala
pooia, as he had supposed.
The baby held upon a log and the
mother clinging to it, were hurtled
down stream at express train speed.
Hours later, it seemed to the dazed
woman. she thought she heard a voice
hailing her. She tried to answer but
was too weak. A moment later flat
bottomed skiff shot out from the shore,
vigorously propelled by single oars
man. A bronzed and bearded face bent
over her and she and the child were
lifted tenderly into the boat. Then
the exhausted mother lost track of
time.
'Where am II" she whispered faint
ly.
you're at Dave Dawson's" answered
woman's voice, soothingly. "rm
Dawes wife. Dave was gauging tim
ber on the Calapoola when he saw you
floating down river and he managed
to save you. l reckon Dave wasn't
none too soon, neither" added the good
samaritan. "That was week ago
yesterday and you amt spoke a word
since, not till now"
After her frightful experience, Mrs.
Holmes was nothing loath to rest in
friendly surroundings. The days grew
into weeks and then into months, fin
ally into years, and still Virginia and
her BABY stayed on with the Dawsons,
Dawson and his wife, who had come
OK substantial farmer stock, emigrated
~ thS hoi thWtbl Solue yeuTS DeIOTe
and were, as the kind-hearted fellow
expressed it, growing up with the
country" Now, with the rapid rise Of
land values and the high prices OBJ
tninable for vegetables and fruits, he
was on the road to modest inde-
pendence.
And so, Virginia Holmes and her
daughter Helen, came by degrees to re-
gard the log house on the forest edge
as their home. Little Helen, indeed,
had known no other. She told visitors
who inquired her name, that 1t was
Helen Dawson, which delighted the
Dawson's beyond words.
The young girls playmate from
childhood had been Tom Dawson, a
handsome. strapping young giant,
Few years older than herself, who after
finishing school had become engineer
OF the long log train that ran daily
from the log camps above Dawson to
Port Jefferson.
BY the time she was twenty, Helen
Dawson was admittedly the prettiest
girl In all that region. It was on a
morning In late June that she came
dancing into her mothers presence
with letter in her hand.
"Mumsy, dear" she cried excitedly.
i've had letter from Anne Car.
rington-I met her when / was mt
school in Port Jefferson. She wants
me to make two weeks visit. Her
father has large farm ten miles from
town."
And Mrs. Holmes, glad to have her
daughter get an occasional glimpse of
the world beyond, gave her consent,
Tom Dawson proposed that Helen, In.
stead Of taking the passenger train,
Jog down to Port Jefferson with him
on the logging engine.