Connecticut western news., 1918-01-24

nance Wnen Roaring Bill walked In
and coolly took q seat. But not until
Hazel glanced at the newcomer did she
recognize him as the man who had
fought in the street. He was looking
straight at her when she did glance
up, and the mingled establishment and
frank admiration in his clear gray
eyes made Hazel drop hers quickly to
her plate. Since Mr.. Andrew Bush,
she was beginning to hate men who
looked ut her that way. And she could
not help seeing that many did so look.
| The next Saturday Hazel went for
tramp in the afternoon. The few
walks she had taken had dulled all
sense of uneasiness in venturing into
the Unfolding forest. She felt that those
shadOwy woods were less sinister than
man. And since she had always kept
her sense of direction and come
straight to the Meadows whenever she
went abroad, .a'she had no fear or
thought of losing her way. 49,
To reach her objective point, she
crossed a long stretch of rolling land,
we'll timbered, dense in parts with
thickets of berry bushes. Midway In
! this she came upon little brook, purr-
! ing monotone as 1t crnwled over
/ pebbled reaches and bathed the tangled
roots of trees along its brink. BY this
she sat a while. Then she idled along,
coming after considerable difficulty to
abruptly rising ground. She could not
see the town, but she could mark the
low hills behind 1t. At any rate, she
knew where it lay, and the way back
So she thought. But the short after
noon fled, and, warned by the low dip
! of the sun, she left her nook on the
hillside to make her way home.
Though it was near shutdown, she felt
| no particular concern. The long
northern twilight gave her ample time
to cover the distance.
! But once down on the rolling land,
! among the close-ranzed trees, she be-
gan to experience a difficulty that had
not hitherto troubled her. With the
sun hanging low, she lost her absolute
certainty of east and west, north and
south.
She blundered on, not admitting to
herself the possibility of being unable
to find Cariboo Meadows. AS best she
could, and to the best of her belief,
she held in straight line for the town.
But she walked far enough to have
! overrun it, and was yet upon unfamil-
lar ground.
! The shadows deepened until she
tripped over roots and stones, and
| snagged her hair and clothing on
branches she could not see in time to
fend off. AS last resort, she turned
straight for the light patch still show
ing in the northwest, hoping thus to
cross the wagon road that ran from
Soda Creek to the Meadows-it lay
west, and she had gone northeast from
town. And as she hurried, a fear be-
gan to tug at her that she had passed
the Meadows unknowingly.
Presently it was dark, and darkness
in the woods is the darkness of the
pit itself. She found. a fallen tree, and
climbed on it to rest and think. After
what seemed an age she fancied she
saw a CLEAN far distant in the timber.
She watched the spot fixedly, and
thought she saw the faint reflection of
light. That heartened her. She adj
vanced toward 1t, hoping that it might
be the CLEAN Of ranch window. Her
progress was slow. She Numbered
over the litter of a forest floor, trip
ping over unseen obstacles. But ten
minutes established beyond peradven-
ture the fact that 1t was indeed light.
She kept on. The wavering CLEAN
came from behind a thicket-an open
fire, she saw at length. Beyond the
fire she heard horse sneeze. Within
few yards Of the thicket through
which wavered the yellow CLEAN. she
halted, smitten with a sudden panic.
This endured but a few seconds. All
that she knew or had been told of
frontier men treasured her. She had
found them to a man courteous, awk-
wardly considerable. And she could not
wander about all night.
She moved cautiously, however, to
the edge of the rhicket, to a point
where she could see the fire. A man
sat bumped over the glowing embers,
whereon sizzled piece of meat. His
head was bent forward, as if he were
listening. Suddenly he looked up, and
she gasped-for the freight showed
the features of Roaring Bill Wagstaff.
She was afraid of him. Why, she did
not know nor stop to reason. She
turned to retreat. In the same instant
Roaring Bill reached to his rifle and
stood up.
"Hold on therel" he said coolly.
you're had a look at mel want a
look at you, old Teller, whoever you
are. Come on-show yourself"
He stepped sidewise out of the light
as he spoke. Hazel started to run.
The crack of a branch underfoot be-
L. e.l,1