Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1918-04-27

During that thirty-day period she re-
ce3- ed a brief note from Bill. Just a
few lines to say:
Hit the ranch yesterday, little per
son LOOKS good 10 me. Went fishing
last night about shutdown. Trout we're
rising fine. Nailed ten-pounder.
Woke up this morning at daylight and
found a buck deer with two lady
friends standing in the middle of the
clearing. l loafed a few days in Fort
George, sort of thinking l might hear
Jake. VIII start for the Klappan
about day after tomorrow
She had not answered his first let
ter. She had tried to. But somehow
when she tried to set pen to paper the
right words would not come. She
lacked his facility OF expression.
There was so much she wanted to say,
so little she seemed able TO say. AS
the days passed she felt less sure of
her ground. less sure that she had not
sacrificed something precious to
vagary of self. an obseSsion of her own
ego.
And slowly but surely she began to
view all the activities of her circle
with critical eye. Certain of her
friends had become tentative enemies.
Kitty Brooks and the Bray womenfolz,
who were a numerous and influential
tribe, not only turned silent faces
when they met, hut they made war on
n ha ,f
word here, a suggestive phrase
there, a Shrug of the shoulders. 1t all
bore fruit. Other friends conveyed the
avid gossip. Hazel smiled and ignored
it. But in her own rooms she ragged
unavailingly.
Her husband had left her. There
was man in the case. They had lost
everything The first count was suf-
fic!ently ma6dcning because it was
half truth. And any of it was irritat-
ing-even if few believed-since it
made choice morsel to digest in Cos
sipy corners, and brought sundry curl
Gus stares on Hazel at certain times.
Also Mr.. WagStaff had caused the
stockholders of Free Gold a heavy loss
which was only offset by the fact
that the Free Gold properties were
producing richly. None of this was
even openly flung at her She gathered
it piecemeal And it CALLED her. She
could not openly defend either Bill or
herself against The shadowy scandal
mongers
Slowly it dawned upon her, with n
bitterness born of her former expert
ence with Granville, that she had lost
something of the standing that certain
circles had accorded her as the wife
Of a successful mining man. It made
her ponder Was Bin 50 far wrong,
after all, in his estimate of them? 1t
was dist gardening conclusion. She
had come of family that stood well
in Granville; she had grown up there
If lifetime friends blew hot and cold
like that, Was the game worth playing?
In so far as she could she gave the
lie 10 some of the petty gossip. Where
rs at first she had looked obviously or
spending Bll's money to maintain the
standard Of living they had set mp, she
now welcomed that deposit of five
thousand dollars as a means to dem
onStrate that even in his absence he
stood behind her financjally-whic
she began to perceive counted more
than anything else. So long as she
could dress in the best. while she could
ride where others walked, so long as
she betrayed no limitation of re-
sources. the doors stood wide. Not
what you are. but what you've got
she remembered Bill saying that was
their hottest creed.
1t repealed her. And sometimes she
was tempted to sit down and pour it all
out In . letter TO him. But she could
not quite bring herself to the point.
Always behind Bill doomed the vast
and drcary Northland. and she shrank
from ihat.
On top of this, she began to suffer
a queer upset Of her physical condi,
ton. All her life she had been splcn-
didly healthy; her body perfect
working machine, afflicted with no
Weaknesses Now odd spasmodlc pains
required without rhyme or reason ia
her head, her back, her limbs. stIE-
ing her with sudden poignancy, d5sap-
peariug as suddenly.
She was stretched cl the lounge oue
afternoon wrestling neryousiy with
particularly acute attack, when yesia
Lorimer was ushered iD
You're almost a stranger Hazel
remarked, after the FIRST greeting
Your outing must have been pleasant
20 hold you 50 long"
1T would have held ne longer"
Vest returned. III / didn't have to be
IN touch with ny market could live
quite happily on my island eight
months in the year. But one can't get
people to come several hundred miles
to a sitting. And feel inclined to ac-
quire a living income while my vogue
lasts"
you're rather a wilderness lover.
aren't youT Hazel commented 81
don't think you'G love it as dearly II
you were buried alive IN IT,"
THAT would all depend on The cir
cumstances." Vesta replied. zone es-