The daily Alaskan., 1920-10-19
A Man Wlthout a Name.
CHAPTER III.

A Man Without a Name.
 The Pearlhunter sat on the door step of the cabin, his face bowed In his hands. It was June upon the slope under the trees; June in Wolf Run chuckllng and Chirking along on its way from spring and waterfall to the river; June in the heart of car dlnal rocking upon the.tOp twig of a tall hickory; December in the heart of the PCarlhuntcr.
 Halfway down the slope, beyond the tangled underbrush and in the edge of the grass-covered open strip that bordered the river shore, the green was broken by a mound of fresh earth. He had trimmed It round with shells brought up from the river; upon the head had planted q cluster of orchids, the lady's-slipper of the FlatwoodS. They were like her, the orchidS-a lonely flower; one to wide stretch of solitude. Nobody but he could have found so many, because nobody knew the woods so well.
 As he looked back over the years, he found himself pOnderlng the con- tradlctious of his mothers life in the light Of the story he had heard that memorable aftcrnOOn-the refinement in the midst of mean surroundings, the stern pride that had held her so long in exile because of a word that had. mayhap. been long repented. The muck and grime Of the river had never smudged her. Through 1t all she had kept as pure, as white, as flake of snOw-and as cold.
 What air y'u caIcladn' t do with them wild roses here In tn tumbler in the windCr-keep 'em r chuck 'em out? I cayn't find but one more tumbler."
 The voice of the old Boss half startled the man on the doorstep. The grufr old fellow had never left him, night or day.
 The Pcarlhunter had forgotten him, the rumpled house the dishes, every thing. He lifted his face from his hands. rose, and entered the cabin. The Boss was pointing to three wild roses-a red a pink, a white-!n tumbler of water in the window.
 The vision the Pearlhunter had seen on the rock at the pool came agnin. A vision-it had been just that, only that; an exquisite picture flashed be- fore his face and instantly snatchcd awny-a picture he would never see again. It seemed unreal as he looked hack upon ir in the light of another day. But no, there were the roses. He bent his face down and caught the aroma of their breath.
 Let them be-" he said. "They will last another day"
 The Boss made no reply. To him thcy wcre-mcrcly faded roses. He was sitting on the doorstep about to light his pine when the younger man called him. Wll the freshly filled pipe in one hand. tho unlightcd match in the other. he rose and stepped back into the cabin. The Pearlhunter was standing before small h0ir-cOvercd trunk, scarcely bigger than an ordi- nary suitcase of the present day. It stood open. with the lid thrown back, exactly as It had stood two nights be- fore when he came up from the river and found his mother dying. It's con- tents seemed to indicate that they had been rummaged through by some one whose haste had been Creat-dOuht- less by his mother. It hurt him 70 re- caII the cause of that haste. The bloodstalned glove she had held in her hand lay uppermost, probably tossed there by one of the river men.
 "Its time to know what's in this trunk"
 A certain tenseneSs in his voice es- capped the Boss.
 Don't y'u?"
 I've never seen inside of 1t before"
 The Boss was in the act of scraping his match. He stopped; looked around out of the tall of his eye, but whatever his thoughts, he made no comment.
 First of all. here's this glove" the young man went on, lifting the glove from the trunk. You know where we-Saw it frst,'
 The Boss threw away the stub of his match and 0fclt the time-stained and mlldewed article.
 "West Point" he muttered. Hits rh' kind them sprigs wears-ohicer's, Ed say, ofrhand."
 The other stood considering 1t; laid if aside: and lifted the next article from the trunk. It proved to be a woman's dress of rich brocade. Little as the two men knew of such matters, if impressed even them as being of the very finest material and of fin ishei workmanship. Under It lay other articles Of woman's wear, all enually rich. though now yellow with rhe stain of time. Down beneath everything else lay a small box which the Eoss. from an experience which befelI him as a soldier in the far q, f-.., Az bo eo tfpyrNn1