Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-29

! have latel.' escaped, 1t would be
proper for me 70 ask your permission
to drive you safely home. Since we
are not, l shall assume the permis-
sion and do it anyway"
"Oh, is that necessary" she asked,
than comradely depreciation at put
ting him to the trouble of it.
Not absolutely necessary, per-
haps, but decently prudent. You
might drop me opposite the dam. but
you'd have to pass those fellows
somewhere on the way. and they
might try to make it unpleasant for
YOU"
She made no further comment and
he sent the car spinning along over
the hills to the westward. A mile
short of the trestle river crossing
they overlook and passed The wagon.
Because he had the colonePs Gaugh-
ter with him, Smith put on a burst
of speed and so gave the claim jump
ers no chance to provoke another
battle.
In the maze of crossroads opposite
the little city on the south bank of
the river, Smith was out of his reck-
oning, and was obliged to ask his
companion to direct him.
81 thought you weren't ever going
to say anything any more" she sigh
ed in mock despair. Take this road
to the right
81 can't talk and drive a speed
wagon at the same time" he told
her, twisting the gray car into the
road she had indicated, and he made
the assertion good by covering the
four remaining miles in the same
preoccupied fashion.
There was reason, of sort, for
ic ell ftrrn of fn 70
For one, he was troubled by that
haunting sense of familiarity which
was still trying to tell him that this
was not his first meeting with Col
onel Baldwin's daughteri and the
other, much bigger and more de-
pressing, was the realization that in
breaking with his past, he had
broken also with the world of wom-
en-, at least to the extent of ever ask
ing one of them to marry him.
He pushed the thought aside, COM
ing back to the other one-the puzzle
OF familiarity-when Miss Baldwin
pointed to a transplanted Missouri
farm mansion, with columned por-
tico. standing in grove of cotton
woods on the left-hand side of the
road. telling him it was Hillcrest
There was a massive stone portal
! fronting the road, and when he got
down to open the gates the young
woman took the wheel and drove
! through; whereupon he decided that
| it was time for him to break away,
/ and said so.
But how will you get back to the
! camp?" she asked.
"I have my two legs yet, and the
walking isn't bad"
No; but you might meet those
two men again"
THAT is the least of my troubles"
Miss Corona Baldwin, like the Mis-
souri, colonel, her father, came upon
moments now and then when she had
the ultimate courage of her i'm
! pulses.
Il should have said you hadn't a
trouble in the world" she asserted,
meeting his gaze level-eyed.
The polite paraphrases of the cof-
fined period were slipping to the end
of his tongue but he set his teeth
upon them and said, instead: That's
all you know about it. What IL
: should tell you that you've been
driving this morning with an escap-
/ ed convict?"
"I shouldn't believe it." she said
calmly.
well, you haven't-not quite" he
returned adding the qualifying
, phrase in sheer honesty.
She had united her veil and was
asking him Hospitality If he wouldn't
come in and meet her mother. Some
| thing in the way she said it, some lit
tie twist of the lips or look of the
| eyes, touched the spring of complete
recognition, and the familiarity puz-
zle vanished instantly.
ITO Ra ContinuadN