Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-06
CHAPTER XXI

MI w - VI tiit bobbiO
~ swept through the camp. and there
was a crowd In front Of the supply.
house. Philip passed close to Thorpe's
house to avoid discovery, ran hum
dred yards up the trail over which
Jeanne had fed a short time before.
and then cut straight across through
the thin timber for the head Of the
lake. f1e felt no effort in his running.
Low bushes whipped him In the face
and left no sting. He was not con-
scious that he was painting for breath
when he came out In the black shadow
of the mountain. This night in itself
had been a creation for him.. for out
OF grief and pain II had lifted him into
a new life, and into a happiness that
seemed to fill him with the strength
and the endurance of five men. Jeanne
loved him! The wonderful truth cried
itself out in his soul at every step he
took, and he murmured 1t aloud to
himself over and over again, as he
ran.
The glow of the signal.fire lighted
up the sky above him, and climbed up,
higher and higher, scrambling swiftly
from rock to rock, until he saw the
tips OF the flames licking up into the
sky. He had come up the steepest
and shortest side of the ridge, and
when he reached the top he lay upon
his face for a moment, his breath al
most gone.
The fire was built against a huge
dead pine, and the pine was blazing a
hundred feet in the air. He could feel
its heat. The monster torch illumined
the barren cap Of the rock from edge
to edge, and he looked about him for
Jeanne. For moment he did not see
ner, and her name rose to his lips, to
be stilled In the same breath by what
he saw beyond the burning pine.
Through the. blaze of the heat and
fire he beheld Jeanne, standing close
to the edge of the mountain, gazing
into the south and west. He called
her name. Jeanne turned toward him
with a startled cry, and Philip was at
her side. The girls face was white
and strained. Her lips were twisted in
pain at sight of him. She spoke no
word, but a strange sound rose in her
throat, welling.up of the sudden
despair which the freight revealed in
her eyes. For one moment they stood
apart, and Philip tried to speak. And
then, suddenly, he reached out and
drew her quickly into his arms--so
quickly that there was no time for
her to escape, so closely that her
sweet face lay imprisoned upon his
breast, as he had held it once before,
under the picture at Fort O. God. He
felt her straining to free herself; he
saw the fear in her eyes, and he tried
to speak calmly, while his heart
throbbed with the passion of love
which he wished to pour into her ears.
| Listen, jeanne" he said. Pierre
has sent me to you. He has told me
everything-everythi my sweet
heart. There is nothing to keep from
me now. know. l understand. And
I love you-love> YOU love you-my
own sweet Jeanne!"
She trembled at his words. He felt
her shuddering in his arms. and nei'
eyes gaZed at him wonderingly, filled
with a strange and incredulous look,
while her lips quivered and remained
speechless. He drew her nearer. until
his face was against her own, and
the warmth of her lips. her eyes, and
her hair entered into him, and near
stifled his heart with Joy.
He has told me everything, my
little Jeanne" he said again, in a
whisper that rose just above the
cracking of the pine. Everything
He told me because he knew that
loved you, and because"
The words ichoked in his throat. AT
back and, with her hands pressing
against his breast, looked into his face
There were in her eyes the same
struggling emotions, but with them
now there came also a sweet faltering
a piteous appeal to him. a faith tha
rose above her terrors. and the tremblt
of her lips was like that of n crying
child. He drew her face back. AM
kissed the quivering lips, and suddenly
he felt the strain against him give
way, and Jeanne's head sObbed upor
his breast. In that moment, looking
where the roaring pine sent its pin
nacles of fame leaping up into the
night, a word Of thanks, of prayer
rose mutely to his lips. and he helt
Jeanne more closely, and whispered
over and over again in his happl
ness, "Jeanne--Jeannc-m sweet
heart Jeanne"
Jeanne's sobs grew less and less
and Philip strengthened himself to tel
her the terrible news of Pierre. II,
knew that in the selfishness of his OWL
10y he had already wasted precious
minutes. and very gently he rooi
Jeanne's wet face between his tw,
hands and turned it a little toward hi
: own. a
pierre has told me everything
Jeanne" he repeated. Everything
from the day he found you man.
years ago to the day your father re
: turned to torture YOU" He spok
calmly even as he felt her shiver II
pain against him. Tonight there wa
little trouble down in the camp
dear. Pierre is wounded, and wan,
you to come to him. Thorpe-is-
dead"
For an instant Philip was frightene'