Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1920-12-24

The woods had hid them; the woods
had nursed them; the woods had set
them face to face-the Pear1hunter !;
Strip away from life every nOnessen-
tfal; bare it Of every husk of sham
and convention; pare it right down
to the red, quick core. beyond which
it is not possible to reduce it further,
and you come at last to man and a
woman. Six million years the Al
mighty Artist practiced on such sec
ondary studies as stars and suns, and
peopling them with inconceivably di-
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-tha 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 Off his battered hat.
The blue eyes under the sunbon-
net livened. 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
off, displaying a very soft and glossy
| mass Of yellow curls. She turned,
disengaged the bonnet from the limb,
and was shaking the curls into shape
| to replace it when the Pearlhunter
made quick step toward her with
hand appraised.
''Don't!' he cried. Don't"
A man Of slow speech, with eyes
hard to wake, he wouldn't have be
lieved such words were in him.
The girl stood fumbling the bonnet.
He watched one stray curl lose it's
place and come slowly tumbling down,
little by little, till it fell over her
shoulder and lay upon the softly ris-
ing and falling bosom. From the curl,
he raised his eyes to her face. He
saw a smile steal across it. It was
only little SMILE but 1t grew under
his gaze till it reached up to her eyes.
and pinched the lids together, and
squeezed out a tiny ripple of merri-
ment that ran out over her face and
settled in two round dimples that
teasingly uptilted the corners of her
mouth-a good winsome mouth,
fringed with full red lips and set
with wholesome teeth. The smile
grew until 1t quite passed beyond her
control. She threw up her head; the
smile became laugh.
1t was the only thing that could
have broken the restraint. The laugh !;
the slow smile that answered it
their Introduction. She tied the bon
net strings, while he watched her fin
gers as they formed the knot.
'"That song" he said, sit was the
most wonderful thing I ever heard"
The girl laughed again-a laugh like
water tinlzling over pebbles.
1.-THE birds are my playmatec," she
answered simply. "They fly down all
over me. / had to learn their lam
guage."
"YOu live in these wOodSY
The Pearlhunter was a long time
asking that question.
mot far from the pool"
"And you're not afraid?"
He glanced up the road toward the
village
"Oh, live with Daddy" A shade
crossed her face. "Never before" she
added, as If the first statement had
not quite satisfied his question.
Daddy is not very well and / have
to go to the store. Every time I've
gone in the last few days that man
has tried to talk to me. was fright
ened to death today when he followed
me. He never did that before. I'm
so glad you happened along; and |
thank you over and Over!'
"It was nothing" he said simply,
twisting his hat in his hand. He didn't
tell her it wasn't matter of hap
pening.
She shook the curl off her bosom
and back over her shoulder. He was
sorry for that.
"He is a gambler; at least so the
grocery man told me today-and a.
a-man killer"
The PearIhunter could have added
quite startlingly to the information
impaired by the grocery man, but he
only said:
Hes all that-and more"
She glanced across the fence and
up the road. He fancied a slight
shiver lifted her shoulders.
Miss Miss don't know your
name!"
Two roguish little points pinched
up the girls eyes. The two dimples
played hide-and-seek with the corners
Of her mouth-artless as the Ticking
wings of a Lady Cardinal.
"A little bit ago you called me"
"The Wild Rose" he finished.
II like-that!" she stammered,
sever so much better than any-other
name"
Again that slow smile broke across
the face Of the Pearlhunter. He knew
he ought to say something-but what?
"Well, Miss-Wild Rose" he final
ly ventured, with no idea Of what else
he was going to say. &
Leave off the Miss, please" 1t
was a timely rescue. "Miss seems,
well-so-dignif1ed for the woods.
And you are-T