The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1933-11-24


my brother said he met you this
afternoon when you landed" she
broke their silence. my name Is
Sonya Nichols"
Curt was surprised. Ralph Mich
OILS sister! He hadn't connected
those two at all. Sonya-wasnt that
foreign? It might be French or Rus
sian or German or anything. but
hardly Canadian. Her voice. name
and whole air were distinctly alien.
He recollected himself. mines
RaIston, Curt Ralston. A prospec-
tor"
She eyed him narrowly. AS he felt
her gaze upon him Curt knew she
was forming her private opinion OF
him as a man. To be studied. labeled
ad put into a pigeon-hole by her was
BIT irritating. That was how Mich
OILS the entomologist would study
new insect.
II wouldn't have taken you for a
prospector. Mr.. Ralston."
Curtis paddle missed a stroke.
What makes you say that?"
"Well. just because"
81 suppose I'm not the sourdough
type. with trousers stuffed into my
boots and a laurel thicket on my
face" he explained with a casual
laugh. "Im a book-learned geologist
OF sorts. My partner and try to put
some method into our prospecting.
Does a fellow have to fry pancakes
in his shovel and chew tobacco in
his sleep before you consider him
an eighteen-carat bush-loper?"
Sonya smiled. ooh. not at ALL"
She slapped mosquito on her ankle.
What | meant was that-well,
just wouldn't have put you down as
a prospector."
Curt detected an overtone Of dis
paragement in the way she spoke
the word. She seemed to imply that
she had considered him above that
carefree bush-loping type and that
he had dropped in her estimation
when she found he was mere vii.
derness roamer.
| a s he drove the canoe along he
wondered just who and what
she was. Ralph Nichols sister. yes:
no doubt accompanying her brother
on q field trip: but those were mere
surface facts. not explaining the girl
herself.
She was so full of contradictions
that he could not classify her at all.
She wore no jewels. her clothes
were decidedly inexpensive. her rod
was a cheap dollar thing that he
would not have carried home: yet
she had the gracious easy refine
ment Of good birth and culture.
Back yonder on the island she
had stood up to an ugly danger like
man, yet she was exquisitely femi-
nine-by comparison Rosalie Marlin
seemed almost unladylike.
He wished he could stop thinking
so unfavorabiy OF Rosalie.
"Are you intending to be here at
Russian Lake very long. Miss
Nichols?T
"We're leaving tomorrow morn
Ing"
Curt felt disappointed to hear she
was going away so soon. Aside
from her being q girl. she was a
person worth getting better &C
Quainted with. The strangeness
about her bafiied and fascinated him.
She was like the breath Of some
rare perfume. delicate. unforgetable.
Her old-world manner. the Spartan
courage she had shown. and her
splendor OF brownish.golden hair.
made him think of a girl out Of some
old Scandinavian saga.
They drew near the shore. Some
where among the Russian ruins q
horned owl hooted Its weird eight.
noted call. Curt pointed at the dim
outlines OF the post and tried to
make talk. 81
81 suppose you've heard the Wild
yarns about that place. Miss Mich
ois?"
"Those yarns aren't half as Wild
as the real facts. Father Lesperance
was telling me yesterday about the
actual history OF this old fort. You
see. he discovered the records. They
were hidden In q niche above the
main door. and a stone tumbled dur.
ing q thunderstorm. and that's how
he happened 70 find them"
While they drifted on In she
sketched him few high lights from
the story. A hundred and forty years
ago q tribe OF Indians. the Kioso-
bees. had lived around the shores
OF Russian Lake. The Cossacks came
inland. eubjugated them by trick.
cry. forced them TO bring stone and
make the buildings: aud then began
robbing. extorting. torturing.
In Q single generation the Kloso
hees dropped from tribe OF four
hundred people 70 mere remnant
OF eighty. But then an avalanche fell
upon the fort one night. al ava
lanche OF vengeance. which had
been damning up for twenty years.
fcopyvicAs. 1883. WiilinH n korsrvl
TeworroNs. Curt ana sonya de a