Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1920-10-26

4
them face to face-the Pearlhunter ;
the Wild Rosa man; a woman.
Strip away from life every nonessen-
tial; bare it of every husk of sham
| and convention; pare 1t right down
to the red, quick core, beyond which
1t is not possible TO reduce 1t 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 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 off his battered hat.
The blue eyes under the sunbon-
net livened. The girl drew a 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 very soft and glossy
mass of yellow curls. She turned
I 1a B,Doh
and was shaking the curls into shape
to replace 1t when the Pearlhunter
made a 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-
lieyed such words were in him.
! The girl stood fumbling the bonnet
| He watched one stray curl lose its
place and come slowly tumbling down,
little by little, till It fell over her
| shoulder and lay upon the softly rls-
| ing and falling bosom. From the curl
he raised his eyes to her face. He
saw a smile steal across 1t. 1t was
only little smile but II grew under
| his gaze till 1t 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 it 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 tt
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 1 ever heard"
The girl laughed again-a laugh like
water tinkling over pebbles.
1.-THE birds are my playmates," she
answered simply. "They fly down all
over me. l had to learn their Lam
guage."
you live in these woods?"
The Pearlhunter was a long time
asking that question.
"Not far from the pool"
"And you're not afraid?"
He glanced up the road toward the
village.
ooh, l live with Daddy" A shade
crossed her face. "Never before" she
added, as If the first statement had
Daddy is not very well and I have
to go to the store. Every time I've
gone in the last few days that man
has tried to talk to me- l 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 overt"
1T was nothing" he said simply.
twisting his hat In his hand. He didn't
tell her 1t wasn't a matter of hap
pening.
She shook the curl off her bosom
and back over her shoulder. He was
sorry for that
He is gambler; at least so the
grocery man told me today-and a.
a-man killer"
quite startlingly to the information
impaired by the grocery man, but he
only said:
He's all that-and more"
She glanced across the fence and
up the road He fancied a slight
SILVER lifted her shoulders.
''Miss-Miss-I 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 Lady Cardinal.
"A little bit ago you called me"
''The Wild Rose" he finished.
Il like-thati'' she stammered.
"ever so much better than any-other
name"
Again that slow smile broke across
the face Of the PearIhunter He knew
he ought to say something-but what2
"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-dignified for the woods
And you are
He shifted the basket TO the other
arm and stood gazing up and down
the ragged fence row.
'"They call me the-the-Pearlhunt-
err" he stammered after time
The girl seemed to ponder the word
She was fast losing her first distrust,
just as any other creature of the
woods loses 1t when convinced 10 dan
ger threatens.
Il knew-that," she answered.
'sThe storekeeper pointed you ont to-
day when you went to the bank.
mean your-other name"