The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1921-12-22

gent,e, tender ana renne,., like, tor in
stance, Patricia McLaurin. Soon the
ray Of hope died within her. and Sac
bent her head and sobbed again.
One Of her bare hands began to
groDe idly In the snow at her side, and
she did not feel the cold. Suddenly
she realized that her hand was full
Of shavings, whlttings. Some man
had been sitting there whiting with
pocket knife--it must have been 6
man. for who ever beard Of a woman
whittllng7 She felt IN the snow with
both hands. and found more whittlinxs
there were bushels Of whlttlings Il
seemed to her. lying there under The
snow.
Then she wondered--wondered whs
Il could have been.
II was quite dark now. but the moon
was not yet up. A great, bright star
blazed above David MoreIand's tomb
like a beacon fire. She heard the muf-
fed sounds Of slow masculine foot-
steps In the snow behind her. She
did not turn her head. In her soul
she knew II could be but one man.
Bill Dales head was down. and he
moved as though he neither knew nor
cared whittier he went. Then lie saw
the dark heap on the rivers bank be-
fore him. and he halted. He knew In
his soul that 1t could be but one wom-
an.
hnl anh m q
stone the size OF small barrel that
lay at the rivers rim.
"Babe?" he said II was the mating
call OF his heart In the springtlme OF
his life.
"Who d-done all o. this whlttlin'.
Bill2" asked Elizabeth.
81 did," softly.
"But l thought you were So busy
here! It's nobody but idlers. Of
course. that whittles-that is. mUst o
the time It's nobody but ldlers that
whlttles."
"But I'm nor busy on Sundays. y
know" replied Dale.
''Tell ME. this" Elizabeth asked
poiniedly: "What made you come TO
tliis one spot to do your whittlln
Couldn't you whiitle up there In my
daddy's cabin yard? ~
He answered her unhesitatingly !:
.Because i like to be here. This
place is a shrine to me. II was here
that ! first loved you Babe Now you
tell me this: Why dfls'you come to
this particular spot to 'sit down in
The snow? There's snow In your dad
dy's cabin ynrdi"
Said Elizabeth. In a voice thai sound
ed smothered: Because I like to he
here-this place Is Shrine to me,
too-ft was here that I first loved you,
Bin Dale!"
Then why" he demanded. won't
you marry me?"
Because II was me that shot-Ad-
am Ball."
She went on. and though emotion
had set every fibre Of her to qu.vering,
she did not fall into the old hill talk,
which was proof Of the magnificencs
Of her:
| II thought you wouldn't want me
couldn't marry you without telling you.
But you know now And do what
ever you feel like doing or saying. you
can't hurt me; can never be hurt
any-any m-n-m-more--"
| BIZ Dale shot erect. Truly, this
was a day of surprises for him. He
stopped and caught her up.
"A real womanl" he said happily.
strengthening with her In his arms. "A
real. all gold. pure gold womanl You
loved me well enough to kill a man
10 save me. and wouldn't let me know
1t! Woman is a mystery. sure enough.
llut. perhaps IT'S because women ure
so fine and so far above menfoik that
menfolk cannot understand them.
Well. Babe, kitten, must drag you
TO the altar, or will you so with me
OF your own accord2"
She put her arms around his neck
and drew them tight.
I'D go with you. Bill Dale---or David
MOrelund. whichever II is--to the very
last inch of the end Of the world" she
said.
.
Early the next morning. there came
strolllng lazily up the rivers bank a
tall and lanky mounfalneer who wore,
among other things, Niagara Falls
musiache and cowhide boots that
seemed ridiculously short because of
the great length OF his slender legs.
lie carried rifle In the hollow of one
arm; he was looking for rabbit-trncks
in the snow. Near the pool above the
blown-down sycamore. he came upon
trucks that had not been made by any
four-footed animals. There were the
footprints of man coming from one
direction. and the footprints Of WON.
an coming from another direction
only the footprints OF the man went
away toward Ben Littleford's cabin.
by Heck was puzzled "Here comes
Bill.' he frowned. 'and over here
comes Babe. And thar. as plain as