Evening star., 1928-05-01
Continued from Yesterdays star.)
INSTALLMENT MIX.

TOR several moments Starcourt
- stood where Gerane left him, hi.
brow dark with thought AS hI
= moved of toward the door III
shook his head deSpairingly, He
vas sick with the thought of the fate
that probably lay ahead of her If Tn,
lcierS came and conquered. The
9'owevl Could he save her from tbs
Sawer2 They undoubtedly would cast
lccV into prison with the rest. Unless
- Shud0ered at the mere thought oi
ft--alnleSS she died before they could
my hands on her. Gerane deao-that
warm, lovely. adorable body cold and
sif in death, those beautiful eyes dull
End staring, the soft, velvety cheeks a
Ss2kly. pallid hue
He gToaned as he went out into the
chill. unfeeling dusk of the dying day,
a4d for the first time. he found himself
= ulaliy hoping that the soldiers would
yeyer come--and he had been praying
- them night and day, ever since he
entered the valley. AS he was leaving
loSa came into the room TO light the
two huge lanterns on the wall and the
IMP on the table: the impression he
carried with him as he plodded home
tard had TO do with the warmth, the
lS9spitabie glow. the friendly radiance
That filled the now enchanted home OF
jcnifer DavoS.
From their hiding place beneath a
aoor board in his cabin he cautiously
withdrew some sheets Of paper. On
t'lenl he had made outline drawings OF
:he peaks, their relative heights and
order Of position His purpose was
Obvious. The 6ay might come when he
a free man, would find them OF the
greatest value in determining the prob
able location of the valley. Now he
Looked at them with frownlng eyes.
Should he destroy these maps that
might lead him and horde of troopers
10 the hiding place OF poor, innocent,
unfortunate Gerane Dawes? He de-
,tberated for q long time before re-
storing them 10 their hiding place.
After all. he was q soldier. His hand.
If not his heart, owed allegiance to
the crown.
AS the weeks wore away and nothing
happened. the inhabitants Of the valley
settled down to their normal condition
Of security and contempt for the au-
tforities. The little bowl was. as usual,
carpeted with snow. Gerane made ex-
ceIlent progress with her English. AT
the same time. love, as yet unspoken,
made such progress that even her some
times inexplicable whims failed to stem
she sure tide that sooner or later was
D sweep both Of them up from the sea
G. doubt and leave them in each others
arms Constant association. the gentle
spur Of propinquit~, the irresistible
forces that overcome reason-al these
were working toward the natural, in
evitable end.
On her side there was pride and that
everlastingly feminine reluctance to sur
render: On his doughty resolution 70
hold back until he was absolutely sure.
not only Of her. but Of himself as well.
There we're many things for him 10
take into consideration. and chief
among them was the determination to
be honorable II he declared his love
20 her. and she confessed her Own. there
could be but one solution 10 the prob
lem that confronted him-marriage. He
was not a snob. at the same time, high
minded and loYely as she was. there Stil
remained the fact that she was q rob-
ber's daughter. More than that. there
was Q price upon her head. She was
one Of those whom the law. which was
even greater than he. had sworn 70 ex-
terminated His own hand was against
her. If the time ever came, could he
approach the crown. Of which he was a
servant, and say: Here is one Of them,
but she is my wife and love her. But
she is the daughter Of Jonifer Davos
and. II al fairness, ought TO go 70
prison with the other men and women
we have taken
he knew nov that he loved her: he
worshiped and adored this tantalizing
daughter Of Jonifer, but he was very
far from certain that she cared snap
of her fingers for him. At times he
thought she did-and then he was sure
she didn't.
One day she would be sweet and
tractable was the only word he could
think Of that 1itted-the next would
find her sncomprehensibIy cold and dis
tant and captious. One day smiling,
generous, fun Of fun; the next. as IL
repenting her docility, she would with
draw into her shell, so TO speak, de-
libe-ately ignore him, absent herself on
prutracted visits TO the homes Of neigh
bOrs. or shut herself up In her own
room, and always at such times. IL
seemed to him. she had smiles only for
Mattlde, or Ellie. or Rosa-oT even the
dogS-whiIe for him she had nothing
but polite indifference.
He was beginning 70 come 70 Jonifer's
way OF thinking were not made
TO be understood. TWO or three times,
moved by an almost ungovernable i'm
pulse, ne had been on the verge Of
claspiTsg her In his arms and-but, just
when he felt reasonably. but perhaps
not sanely, sure Of her. she would do or
say something TO cause him 10 think
rhyme and dolefully applied it to her:
When she was nice she was very, very
nice. and when she was bad she was
hoTrid." Only. he lamented, no matter
how hard she tried she couldn't possibly
be horrld-
Christmas came A great bonfire was
built On the knoll below JonifeF'g house
and On Christmas eve these amazing
rogueE, with their wives and children,
gathering 70 the snow. chanted hymns
and carols until long past midnight.
Gerane stood beside her father in the
front line Of the circle, while Starcourt,
being an outksder and q captive, took
MS position as directed on the outskirts
os the throng, some distance away. He
could see her quite plainly. however.
Indeed, ne seldom took his eyes from
her Tapt. eager face. framed by the
heavy fur cap that covered her head
fran crown 10 chin. The great blaze