The Lamar register., 1918-03-20
Ia.
2&YNorfh Of F1hu.I Three
IN Bertrana W Sinclair
ozysa g LITTLE. aeou1dca
CHAPTER VII.
The Fires q Spring.

was new feel In the air. The deep
winter snow had suddenly lost Its
harshness.
Toward evening a mild breeze fresh
ened from the southwest. At ten o'clock
a gale whooped riotously through the
trees. And at midnight Hazel wakened
TO sound that she had not heard in
months. She rose and groped her way
to the window. The encrusting frost
had vanished from the panes. They
were wet to the touch of her fingers.
She unlocked the fastening, and swung
the window out. A great gust of damp.
warm wind blew strands OF hair across
her face. She leaned through the case
ment, and drops of cold water struck
her bare neck. That which she had
heard was the dripping caves. The
chinook wind droned Its spring song,
and the bare boughs of the tree beside
the cabin waved and creaked the time.
At dawn the caves had ceased their
drip. and the dirt roof lay bare to the
cloud-banked sky. From the southwest
the wind still blew strong and warm.
The thick winter garment of the earth
softened to slush, and vanished with
amazing swiftness. Streams of water
poured down every depression. Pools
stood between the house and stable.
Spring had leaped strong-armed upon
f1rst onslaught
All that day the chinook blew. work.
ing Its magic upon the land. When day
broke again with a clearing sky, and
the sun peered between the cloud riffs,
his beams fell upon vast areas of
brown and green. where but forty-eight
hours gone there was the cold revelry
Of frost sprites upon far-fiung fields
Of snow. Patches of earth steamed
wherever q hillside lay bare to the sun.
From some mysterious distance a lone
crow winged his way. and. perching on
. nearby treetop. cawed raucous greet
ing.
Hazel cleared away the breakfast
things. and stood looking out the kitch-
On window. Roaring Bill sat on a log,
shirt-sleeved. smoking his pipe. Pres
emily he went over to the stable. led
out his horses. and gave them their lib
erty. For twenty minutes or so he
stood watching their mad capers as
they ran and leaped and pranced back
and forth over the clearing. Then he
walked on into the timber, his rife
over his shoulder.
Hazel washed her dishes and went
outside. She did not know why, but
all at once a terrible feeling of utter
forlornness seized her. II was spring
and also It was spring In other lands.
The wilderness suddenly took on the
characteristics Of u prison, In which
she was sentenced to solitary confine-
ment. She rebelled against 1t. rebelled
against her surroundings. agninst the
manner Of her being there. against
everything. She hated the North, she
wished to be gone from It. and most
,f all she hated Bill wagstafY for con-
Jtraining her presence there.
All the henviness of heart. all the re-
,entment she had felt In the first few
days when she followed him perforce
away from Cariboo Meadows, came
back to her with redoubled force that
afternoon. She went back into the
house, now gloomy without fre,
siumped forlornly into .chair, and
cried herself into condition approach
Ing hysterIa. And she was sitting there,
ueT utdu DOWtu Oh hcA
Bill returned from his hunting. The
sun sent a shaft through the south
window. a shaft which rested on her
drooplng head. Roaring Bill walked
slowly up behind her and put his hand
on her shoulder.
"what is 1t. little personf' he asked
gently.
She refused to answer.
SAY" he bent little lower. you
know what the Tentmaker said:
"come nli the cup. and In the fire OF
spring
Your winter garment of repentance Ming;
The Bird of Time has but little way
To futter-and the Bird Is on the wing.
.Iife's too short to waste any of It
In being uselessly miserable. Come on
ont and go for a ride on Silk. I'll take
you up q mountainside, and show you
a waterfall that leaps three hundred
feet In the clear. The woods are wax
ing up and putting on their Easter bon
nets. There's beauty everywhere. Come
alongI"
But she wrenched herself away
from him.
~ want to go 4" she walled. II
hate you and the North, and every
thing in It. If you've got a spark or
manhood left in you, you'll take me out
Of here"