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

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perceived that this was an illusion
created by the proportion and thick
ness OF his body. He was. in fact, half
head taller than she. and Stella stood
hvo feet five. His gray eyes met hers
squarely, with n cool, impersonal quail
! 1ty of gaze There was neither smirk
nor embarrassment in his straightfor-
ward glance. He was, In effect, "slzing
her up just rs he would have looked
! casually over logger asking him for
a Job. Stella scnscd that and, resent
Ing 1t momcntarily, failed to match his
manner. She flushed. Fyfe smiled,
broad, friendly grin, in which wide
! mouth opened to show strong, even
| teeth.
Say" he asked easily, chow do you |
like life In logging camp by this time ?
This is sure one hot job you've got"
! "Litcrally or slangily?" she asked in |
n hippant tone. Fyfcs reputation. |
! rather vivi lily colorcd. had reached her |
from various sources. She was not |
quite sure whether she cared to coun. |
tenancc him or not. There was u dis. |
turDing quality In his glance, subtle |
suggestion of force about him that she /
felt without being able to define In un- |
derstandable terms. In any case she
folt more than equal to the task of
! 'squelching any effort ut familiarity, ;
even If Jack Fyfc were, in sense, the
| convenient god IN her brothers ma
chine. Fyfe chucklcd ut her answer.
"Both,' he replied shortly, and went
out
Lying in her bed that night, In the
short interval that came between un-
dressing ana wcaricd sleep, she found
herself wondering with good deal
more interest about Jack Fyfc than she
had ever bestowed upon--well, 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 crew among which she
must, pcrforcc, 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
directncss of speech and action. Part
Of this conclusion came from hearsay,
her opportunities had been for tho lat
tor. Miss Stella Benton, for all her
poisc, was not above jumping at con-
| illusions. There was something about
Jack Fyfc that she resented. She IT.
ritably dismissed 1t rs n foolish impress
sion, but the fact remained that the |
nero physical ncarncss Of him seemed |
to put her OH the defensive rs IL he |
were In reality hunter and she the |
hunted.
Eyre Joined Charlie Benton about the |
time she finished work. The three of |
them sat on the grass before Bentons |
quarters, and every time Jack Fyfc's !
eyes rested OH her she stcclcd herself |
to resist-whnt, she did not know. |
Something intangible, something that !
disturbed her. She had never expert
! enced anything like that before; 1t tnn-
taliZed her, reused her curiosity. There
| was nothing occult about the man. He
was nowise fascinating, either in face
or monncr,+--He made no bid fog her
attention. Yet during the half hour he
sat there Stclla's mind revolved con-
stantly about him. She recalled all |
TINT She Ind heard of him, much of 1t,
from her point Of view, highly discrcd- |
liable. Inevitably she fell to compar-
Ing him with other men she knew.
She had, In way, unconsclously been
prepared for just such measure Of !,
concentration upon Jack Fyfc. For he
was power on Roaring Lake and pow
er-physical, intellectual or financial
eXacts its own tribute of consideration.
He was fighter, n dominant, hard
bitten woodsmnn, 30 the tale ran. lie
had gathered about him the toughest
crew on the lake, himself, upon occa-
sion, the most turbulent OF NIL. lie
controlled many square miles OF big
timber, and he had got it all by his
own effort in the eight years since he
came to Roaring lake as 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 sketched
for Stella with much verbal embellish-
ment
There was no ignoring such n man.
Brought into close contact with tho
man himself, Stella felt the radiating
force of his personality. There 1t was,
thing to he reckoncd with. She felt
TINT whenever Jack Fyfc's gray eyes
rested impcrsonally on her. His pleas
ant, frccklcd face lowered before her
until she fell asleep. and In her sleep
she dreamed of him.
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