Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1913-1920, 1918-01-09
CHAPTER vii.

as Bill Wagstaff piloted Hazel from the.
grimy Bella Coola hotel to the wharf.
'There amt many passengers he
told her. They're mostly catnefy1
mens But yonsll have the captain's
wife to chapcron you. She happens
to be making the trip"
When they were aboard and the
cabin boy had shown them to what
was dignified by the name Of state
room, Bill drew long envelope fromI
his pocket. ]
'Here," he said, 'is little money.
hope you won't let any foolish pride
stand in the way Of using it freely. II
came easy to me. dug it out Of Mother
Earth, and there's plenty more where
1t came from. Seeing that depriveH
You of access to your own money end
all your personal belongings, you are
entitled to this any way you look at 1t.
And want to throw In bit Of gfa-
tuitous advice--in case you should con-
clude to go back to the Meadows, They
probably looked high and low for you.
But there is no chance for them to
learn where you actually did get to
unless you yourself tell them. The
most plausible explanatlon--and IL you
go there you must make some explana-
tion--would be fer you to say that you
got lost--which is true enough-and
that you. eventually fell In vita a
party of Indians, and later on con-
nected up with party of white
people who were travelling coastward.
That you wintered with them. and they
put you on steamer and sent you to-
Vancouver when spring opened.
"That, guess, is all,,' he concluded
slowly. "only wish''-he caught her
by the shoulders and shook her gently
ST sure do wish 1t could have been
different, little person. Maybe some
time when get restless for human
companionship and come out to cavoft
in the bright lights for a WHILE I may
pass you on q street somewhere. This
world is very small. Oh, yeswhen
you go to Vancouver go to the Lady
smith. It's nice, quiet hotel In the
West end. Any hack driver knows the
place." .sa
He dropped his hands, and looked
steadily at her for "a few seconds,
STEADILY and longingly.
"Good-by!" he said abruptly and,
walked out, and down the gangplank
that. was already being cast loose and
away up the wharf without 1 back.
ward glance. ssf
The Stanley DIS siren woke the
echoes along the wooded shore. A
throbblng. that shook her from stem
to stern betokened the first tnrnings
Of the screw. And slowly she hacked
into deep water and swung wide Tor
the outer passage. $3.50
Hazel went out to the rail. BIZ
Wagstaff had disappeared, but present.
ly she caught sight Of him standing on
the shore end Of the wharf. his hands
thrust deep in his coat pockets staring
after the steamer. Hazel waved the
envelope that she still held in her hand.
Now that she was independentlof him,
she felt magnanimous, forgiving land
suddenly very much alone, as II she
had dropped back into the old. depress-
ing Granville atmosphere. But he gave
no answering sign save that he turned
on the instant and went up the hill to
where his horses stood tied among the
.huddled buildings. And within twenty
minutes the Stanley d turned d jutting
point, and Bella Coda was lost to view.
Hazel went back into her stateroom
and sat down on the berth. Presently
she opened the envelope. There was a
thick fold Of bills, her Ticket. and both
We're wrapped in a sheet Of paper pen
ciled with dots and crooked lines. She
laid it aside. and counted the money.
Heavens r she whispered. n wish
he hadn't given me SO much. Ididn't
need all that "A ~
For Roaring Bin had tucked a dozen
northumberland notes in the enve-
lcpe. And, curiously enough, she was
not offended, only wishful that he had
been less generous. Then she took up
the map, recognizing It as the sheet
of paper Bill had worked over so long
their last night at the cabin.
It made the North more clear--a
great deal more clear--to her, for he
had marked Cariboo Meadows. the To-
cation Of his cabin. and Bella Coola,
and drawn dotted lines to indicate the
way he had taken her in and brought
her out.
She put away the money and the
map, and bestowed q brief scrutiny
upon herself In the cabin mirror. six
months in the wild had given her q
ruddy color, the glow of perfect phys
ical condition. But her garments were
tattered and sadly out Of date. The
wardrobe OF the steamer-trunk lady
had suffered in the winters wear. She
was barely presentable in the outing
suit of corduroy.
The Stanley D., upon the evening Of
The third day, turned into Barnard Inlet
and swept across a harbor speckled
with shipping from all the Seven Seas
to her berth at the dock.
So Hazel cnme again to city--a
city that feared and beloved all It's
manifold noises in her ears. long
grown accustomed to a vast and BROOD