The Mena weekly star., 1917-12-06
SYNOPSIS

z-a4si1a Benton, left 6 penniie5s orpna1.
 ss to join her brother Charlie, who is ,"Sgjng lumber in British Columbia.
 charlie tells Stella of his prospects and .'.ar,hes his primitive manner of living w. introduces neighbor. Paul Abbey.
 cs.ri,e and stella proceed to his logging
 ., S.,a' on Roaring lake. Stella is aghast at ssa sa.' bareness of 1t and Is repelled by the s.-couthness of the lumberjacks.
 rhs cook has been discharged and Stella .oss inc cooking. In need of more men. Charlie borrows a crew from Jack Fyfe.
 x,,. nays a visit. Stella is repelled by ,,.. although she feels the force of his .. .ssrsonallty. Stella wants to quit. but her ssa,h,r dissuades her. He takes the gang hsck to Fyfe's camp.
 Stella visits Fyfe's camp while her oroth- :, is there It is an Improvement over charlie's. Fyfe visits the Bentons and cnells a drunken riot among the logsera
 cs.rus gets intoxicated and stells be
 .~s alI inc more disgusted with her sur oVnrd,ngs. Fyfe proposes marriage as a ssv nut. but is rejected.
 Winter sets in. bringing more drunken ,.s. and trouble. Stella is sorely tried, and when tyAo piOPorcS ~e"Ah DIV AA"- rss him immediately.
 i, .prlng the Fyfes return from a honey. roon and Stella is pleased with her new home.
 mere was no denying the mans per sonsl charm in the ordinary sense of the word. He was virile, handsome, cultured. just such man as she could easily have centered her heart upon in times past-just such man as can set woman's heart thrilling when he lays siege to her If he had made an ouen bid for Stella's affection she, en- trenched behind all the accepted can os of her upbringing. would have re- coiIed from him. viewed him with wholly distrustful eyes.
 But he did nothing of the sort. He vas friend. or at least he became so.
 Inevitably they were thrown mu, to- rether. There was a continual inform al running back and forth between Fyfes place ands Abbey's. Monohan vas lily of the field. although it was common knowledge on Roaring lake tbat he was a heavy stockholder in the Abbey Monohan combination. At any nte, be was holidaying- on the lake Aat summer. There had grown up
 genuine intimacy between Linda and
 Stella. There were always people at the Abbeys', sometimes a few guests st the Fyfe bungalow. Stella's mar
 elous voice served to heighten her popularity. The net result of it was
 that in the following three months ssce three days went by that she did sot converse with Monohan.
 She could not help making compari- sons between the two men. They stood out in marked contrast. fin man usr, physique. in everything. Where Fyfe was reserved almost to taciturn- fly, impassive featured, save for that whimsical gleam that was never who'll ' absent from his keen blue eyes. Aonohan talked with facile ease. with wonderful expressiveness of face. He vas a finished product of courteous senerations Moreover. he had been 
 serywhere. done little of everything. scquired in his manner something Of the versatility of his experience. Phys eally he was it as any logger in the amps, a big. active bodied. clear eyed. nddy man.
 What 1t was about him that stirred Der so Stella could never determine. Me knew beyond peradventure that ae had that power. He had the gift q quick, sympathetic perception. but 50 too had Jack Fyfe. she reminded aerself. Yet no tone of Jack Fyfe's voice could raise fiutter in her breast. make flush glow in her cheeks. while Aonohan could do that. He did not pet need to be actively attentive. It was only necessary for him to be near.