The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-11-20

in his eyes, slowly changed to
naughty contempt Infinitely ranking.
He turned, and, without a backward
glance, stalked down the road to-
ward the village.
The Pearlhunter stood gazing after
him. The Red Mask-and he hadn't
struck Three times affronted, and he
hadn't struck. Each time there had
been death in his eyes. What was
holding his hand? Was he hiding his
time? 1t was not pleasant thing to
contemplate, for any man can Kill
| another II he waits his opportunity,
and takes him at disadvantage.
Why hadn't he struck Always the
question came back to that. And
what was holding him to the Flat
woods? The Pearlhunter whirled with
the thought, and looked back over the
fence.
The girl was gone.
The basket and bundles were still
scattered about the path. He climbed
the fence and began gathering them
up. He had them all back In the
basket, and was leaning against the
fence, wondering how to get them to
their proper owner, when slight
rustic among the bushes reached his
ear. He glanced up; the girl stood
before him.,
It was the girl Of ~the pool-the
Wild Rose.
The woods had hid them; the woods
had nursed them; the woods had set
them face to face-the Pearlhunter;
the Wild Rosa man; woman.
Strip away from life every nonessen-
tial; bare 1t of every husk of sham
and convention; pare it right down
to the red, quick core, beyond which
| 1t is not possible to reduce it further,
and you come at last to man and
woman. Six million years the AL
mighty Artist practiced on such Sec
ondary studies as stars and suns, and
peopling them with inconceivably d.
verse and curious forms of life, before
trusting his hand on his final master
piece-a man: a woman.
They stood staring, as at that other
meeting at the pool. And that was
| the thought uppermost in the mind of
| the Pearlhunter-that other meeting.
And he had looked! Somehow he
wished he hadn't; and yet he wasn't
sorry that he had The thought drew
| his eyes to her feet. Shifting the
basket, his hand slowly stole up and
dragged of his battered hat.
The blue eyes under the sunbon-
net livered. The girl drew step
| nearer. The bushes she had been
bending aside sprang back into place.
She drew another step nearer. As
| she moved, an overhanging limb
caught the sunbonnet and dragged It
OF, displaying a very soft and glossy
mass of yellow curls. She turned{
| disengaged the bonnet from the limbf
and was shaking the curls into shapf
| to replace it when the Pearlhuntef
made a quick step toward her Wits
hand appraised.
"Don'tr' he cried. Don't r..
A man Of slow speech, with en- =
hard to wake, he wouldn't have =
| lieved such words were in him.
The girl stood fumbling the bon3
He watched one stray curl lose q
place and come sl6wly tumbling do 81
little by little, an It fell over G
shoulder and lay upon the SOFTLY q
ing and falling bosom. From the j
he raised his eyes to her face. h
saw a smile steal across 1t. ItS
| only little smile, but it grew hi
his gaze till 1t reached mp to heI NJ
and pinched the lids togdthe4d CT
squeezed out tiny ripple Of Fl h,
ment that ran out over her fafd CT
settled In two round dimplefat OF
teasingly uptilted the corners per
| m0uth-a good, wirsome TN, al
fringed with fun red Fps 4set
with wholesome teeth. Th8nile ia
grew until it quite passed beY ner m
| control. She threw up her hi the
smile became laugh. he
II was the only thing tf}ould he
have broken the restraint. Tlugn; di
| the slow smile that answf It
| their introduction. She tied DON -
net strings, while he watchfr nm
gers as they formed the k4 M
saThat song he said, 'As the &c
most wonderful. thing evtard." re
The girl laughed again-fn IKE ho
water tinkling over pebble a.,
"The birds are my plays she
answered simply. 'sThey pWn all
over me. had to learfir IAN no
guage."