The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-07-30
Chapter XIl-Continued
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again, stupidity, thickly, as though his
brain could grasp nothing beyond it.
She was dead. And Pierrot was dead.
And he, in a few minutes, had accom-
plished 1t all.
He turned back toward the cabin
not by the trail over which he had
pursued Nepeese, but straight through
the thick bush. Great fakes Of snow
had begun to fall. He looked at the
sky, where banks Of dark clouds were
rolling up from the south and east.
The sun went out Soon there would
be a storm-a heavy snowstorn. The
big flakes falling on his naked hands
and face set his mind to work. 1t was
lucky for him, this storm. 1t would
cover everything-the fresh trails,
even the grave he would dig for Pier
rot.
It does not take such man Us the
Factor long to recover from a moral
conclusion. BY the time he came in
sight of the cabin his mind was again
at work on physical things-on the
necessities of the situation. The ap-
palling thing, after all, was not that
both Pierrot and Nepeese were dead,
but that his dream was shattered. 1t
was not that Nepeese was dead, but
that he had lost her. This was his
vital disappointment. The other thing
his crime-it was easy to cover.
1t was not sentiment that made him
dig Pierrot's grave close to the prin-
cess mothers under, the tall spruce.
1t was not sentiment that made him
dig the grave at all, but caution. He
buried Pierrot decently. Then he
poured Pierrot's stock of kerosene
where 1t would be most effective and
touched a match to it. He stood in
the edge of the forest until the cabin
was a mass of flames. The snow was
falling thickly. The freshly made
grave was a white mound, and the
trails were filling. For the physical
things he had done there was no fear
in Bush McTaggart's heart as he
turned back toward Lac Balm. No
one would ever look into the grave of
Pierrot du Quesne. And there was no
one to betray him IL such a miracle
happened. But Of one thing his black
soul would never be able to free It.
self. Always he would see the pale,
triumphant face Of the Willow as she
stood facing him in that moment of
her glory when, even as she was
choosing death rather than him, he
had cried to himself: "Ah! Is she
not wonderful !"
AS Bush McTaggart had forgotten
Baree, so Baree had forgotten the
Factor from Lac Balm. When McTag-
CART had run along the edge of the
chasm, Baree had squatted himself in
the foot-beaten plot of snow where
Nepeese had last stood, his body stiff
fened and his forefeet braced as he
looked down. He had seen her take
the leap. Many times that summer
he had followed her in her daring
dives into the deep, quiet water Of the
pool. But this was tremendous dis
lance She had never dived into
place like that.
He could see the black heads of the
rocks, appearing and disappearing in
the whirling foam like the heads Of
monsters at play; the roar of the wa
ter filed him with dread; his eyes
, caught the swift rush of crumbled ice
between the rock walls. And she had
gone down there!
He had a great desire to follow her,
to jump in, as he had always jumped
IN after her. She was surely down
there, even though he could not see
her. Probably she was playing among
the rocks and hiding herself in the
white froth and wondering why he
didn't come But he hesitated-hesi-
tated with his head and neck over the
abyss, and his forefeet giving way u
little in the snow. With an effort he
dragged himself back and whfned. He
barked-the short, sharp signal with
which he always called her. There
was no answer. Again and again he
barked, and always there was nothing
but the roar Of the water that came
back to him.
The snow was falling now. and Nc
Taggart had returned to the cabin.
AFTER q HLtIe 0dfeS 1UiiOWcu III TIE
trail he had made along the edge Of
the chasm, and wherever McTaggart
had stopped to peer over, Baree
paused also. For u space his hatred
of the man was burned up In his de-
sire to Join the Willow. and he con-
tinued along the gorge until, quar-
ter of mile beyond where the Fac
tor had last looked into 1t. he came
to the narrow trail down which he and
Nepeese had many times adventured
In quest of rock-violets. The twisting
path that led down the face of the
cliff was filed with snow now, but
Baree cleared his way through 1t un-
I'll at last he stood at the edge of the
unfrozen torrent Nepeese was not
here. He whined. and barked again.
but this time there was in his signal
to her an uneasy repression, whim-
pering note which told that he did not
nvDan& q roDlv For fivo yuinufoa after