Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-02-08

going still farther north?"
you're more of a woodsman than !
imagined" Bill remarked gently. He
smiled up at her, and drew out ms
pipe and tobacco pouch.
She looked at him for minute.
"Do you know where we are nOw?"
she asked quietly.
He met her keen gaze calmly. 81
do" he made laconic answer.
(Which way is CariboO Meadows,
then, and how far is it?" she demand
/ ed.
General direction, SOUTH he re-
piled slowly. Fifty miles more or
less. Rather more than less"
"And you've been leading me
/ straight north - she cried. ooh, what
am 1 going to do?'
Keep right on going" Wagstafr an
swered.
81 won't-I won't!" she flashed. III
find my own way back. What devilish
impulse prompted you to do such
/ thing?"
you'll have beautiful time of it,
| he said dryly, completely ignoring her
! last question. "Take you three days
to walk there-if you knew every foot
of the way. And you don't know the
way. Travelling in timber is cOnfus-
| ing as you've discovered. You'll never
see Cariboo Meadows, or any other
place, if you tackle it single-handed,
without grub or matches or bedding.
! This is Il whopping big country. A
good many men have got lost in it
and other men have found their
bones"
He let this sink in while she sat
there on his horse choking back Il wild
desire to curse him by bell, book and
candle for what he had done, and hold
ing in check the fear of what he might
yet do. She could not escape the con-
clusion that Roaring Bill Wagstaff was
something of law unto himself, ca
pable of hewing to the line of his own
desires at any cost. She realized her
utter helplessness, and the realization
left her without words. He had drawn
vivid picture, and the instinct of self
preservation asserted itself.
"You misled me-" She found her
voice at last "Why?'
did 1 mislead your he parried.
Weren't you already lost when you
came to my camp? And have 1 mis-
1 treated you in any manner? Have
refused you food, shelter or help?"
MY home is in Cariboo Meadows" :"
she persisted. 81 asked you to take me
there. You led me away from there
deliberately, 1 believe now"
"OIy trail doesn't happen to lead to
Cariboo Meadows, that's ALL" Roaring
Bill coolly told her. "If you must go
back there. I shan't restrain you in
any way whatever. But I'm for home
myself. And that came close
and smiled frankly up at her-''is a
better place than Cariboo Meadows.
I've got a little house back in the
: woods. There's grub there and meat
in the forest, and fish in the streams.
Us home for me. Why should l GO
back to CariboO Meadows? Or yOuT
"Why should 1 go with you?" she
demanded scornfully.
Because 1 want you to-" he mur-
INJURED.
They matched glances for a second
Wagstaff smiling, she half Mortified.
"Are you clean mad?" she asked an
grily. II was beginning to think you
; a gentleman"
Bill threw back his head anC
laughed. Then on the instant he so
bered. "Not a gentleman" he said
"Pm plain man. And lonesome some
times for q mate, as nature has or
dained to be the way of flesh"
: sect squaw, then" she sneered
: 1--WE heard that such people as yol
: do that"
"Not me-" he returned, unruffled. &c
want q woman of my own kind
"Heaven save me from that cIassifi
; cation - she observed, with emphasi
= = on the pronoun.
u "Yes?" he drawled. "Well, there
{ no profit in arguing the point Let
I be getting on
= He reached for the lead rope of tn
l nearest pack horse.
5 Hazel urged Silk up a step. "Ml
u Wagstaff," she cried, 81 must go back.
Ie "You can't go back without me-" h
said. "And I'm not travelling that way
e. thank you"
le "Please-oh please !" she begged fol
d' Iornly.
y Roaring Bill's face hardened.
% will not" he said fatty. I'm going t
te play the game my way. And I'll pla
s. fair. That's the only promise I wi
II make"
II She took q look at the encompassin
or woods, and her heart sank at facir
". those shadowy stretches alone and III
in guided. The truth of his statemel
ad that she would never reach Garlic
Meadows forced itself home. Thel
= vas but the one way out. and her wOI
- ans wit would have to save her.
: 'Go on, then" she gritted, in swi
Y surge of anger. 81 am afraid TO ia,
this country alone. I admit my hel
X lcssness. But, so help me heaven, l
Z make you pay for this dirty tricI
You're not q man! You're cur
4 miserable, contemplate scoundrel ~
"Whew!" Roaring Bill laughe
Those are pretty names. Just i
same, l admire your grit. Well, he
; we go''
y He took up the lead rope, and we
| on without even looking to see if s
(, followed. If he had made the slighte
> attempt to force her to come, if he HI
betrayed the least uncertainty as
Y whether she would come, Hazel Won
: have swung down from the saddle Il
set her face stubbornly southwark
sheer defiance of him. But such is t
peculiar cOmplexity Of woman II
she took one longing glance backwa
and then fell in behind the packs. S
was weighted down with dread of /
unknown, boiling over with rage
the man who swung light-foOted in [
y lead; but nevertheless she follow
oSt him.
boo All the rest of the day they bt
ing steadily northward. Hazel had no iC
be Of Bill Wagstaff's destination. S
on. was too bitter against him to ask, af
the admitting that she could not face