The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1921-01-27

1t 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 it of every husk of sham
and convention pare 1t right down
| to the red, quick core, beyond which
it is not possible to reduce it further,
and you come at last to a 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 di-
| verse and curious forms Of life, before
! trusting his hand on his final master
| piece--a man; woman.
| They stood staring, as at that other
meeting at the pool And that was
! the thought uppermost in the mind of
| the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 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 Iivened. 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 1t.
off, displaying 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 a quick step toward her with
hand appraised.
"Don't!" ne 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 its
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 q smile steal across it. 1t was
only little smile, but it 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
I,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 it.
| their introduction. She tied the bon
net strings, while he watched her fin
gers as they formed the knot.
sThat song" he said, cit was the
most wonderful thing ever heard"
The girl laughed again-a laugh like
water tinllling over pebbles.
ssThe birds are my playmatcS, she
answered simply. "They fly down all
over me. / had to learn their Ian
guages
"You live in these woods?"
The Pearlhunter was long time
asking that question,
ssNot far from the pool" s
"And you're not afraidY
He glanced up the road toward the
| village.
"Oh, I 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 a 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 Pearlhunter could have added
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 slight
shiver 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-"
''Hhe 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
I ~ ventured, with no idea of what else