The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1934-01-09
Chapter 4S
THE KISS

Chapter SO
THE KISS
GURT knew something was troubi.
ing AK deeply. He had been
noticing II ever since the old officer
arrived six hours ago.
what Ii II. Ak o. he asked.
Marlin turned 10 him with . res1.
lutte afr. = might as well get Il over
with. suppose. She. mean Rosalis.
told me- to break yoU the news
should have. before now, but is &
dismal duty"
In a fash Curt guessed the trouble.
Rosalis had landed . more suitable
candidate than himseifl He won
dersd sardonlcaIIy whether the gen
tleman vas the Edmonton banker or
The Seattle ship owner.
81 believe { know what you're
going to tell me. Ak For Martins
sake he hid his sheer delight over
the unexpected good news. "Rosalis
came 70 the conclusion that she and
just weren't suited for each other.
and 50 she--s
you're being generous" Marlin
interrupted. more sharply than he
had ever spoken Of Resale. THE
conclusion she came to was that she
wanted to marry money: and she
went after It and--well. she got n.
got whole steamship liner he
made a weary gesture and stood ups
Well. you know now. | don't eiIInk
it's altogether a surprise to you.
Nor" he added pointedIy. rvery
much OF a disappointment"
"No. It isn't" Curt admitted hon
estly. Il was intending to have q
frank talk with her when I was IN
the city a month ago. but she wasn't
there. Rosalie and can be a lot BET
ter friends as things stand than n
we'd have Liarried.~
Yes. you're right. She's got one
idea Of what iIfe's all aboaE and
you've got a different idea, and the
two would've been oil and water"
When they went out to old John's
camp. the company had already
gathered. On the packing box sonya
sat talking with Mrs. HodkIns and
Paul and . girk The Indians and
prospectors were there. and the
young trapper had brought his two
wolf cubs. still fuzzy and playful but
now grown too big for his pocket.
One person Of that former eve
ming was missing. though: and Curt
felt the loss keenly. As his glance
occasionally met Sonya's across the
IRE. he knew that she too was think.
Ing OF Ralph Nichols and lonely
lobstlck up the Lilluar.
Like some wild creature brought
In from the mountains. Teun-Og
hung back at the edge Of the gre
glow. trying to understand all those
strange tongues and strange peopIs
Of the outerworld. After an exile Of
one hundred and twenty years. q
Klosohee had returned at last to the
ancestral home o. his tribe.
Curt felt a proprietary interest IN
that proud little band which had
fought him so flercely. They were
his clan. and he wanted to give them
a helping hand and some desperate
ly needed counsel. Even in that iso
lated country they could no longer
hold out against a changing world.
Now that the primitive Siam.Klale
was dead and Tenn-og's half brother
was leading them. he believed he
could wean them from their unso.
eial ways
Curt noticed how tired Sonya was.
too tired to talk or even listan % the
others. The long trip out OF the LII
luars. ended only yesterday. had
been hard on her: he himself stir
felt logy from II.
"A LITTLE before midnight she
4 : looked across at him with an
understanding glance. excused her.
self and went up toward the factors |
house.
After a decent interval be got Cd |
and left, as inconsplcuonsly g. pos.
sIble. IN the moon shadows Of the
trading post he found her. waiting !
Tor him.
"You were so long. DEAR she |
whispered. Il thought ron weren't |
Curt disarmed her with . kiss. Il |
had 10 walt several minutes, and !
hen | swung out around the indian |
Iepees so those folks wouldn't know
I'd followed you
He linked his arm through hers
and they started out the path toward
the old fort.
-Does AK stiil think I'm an ID.
ventures. Curt9-
when told him how ron tralled
he wanted 70 sign yca |
~ for the Mounted
"oh. that'd be funl I think I'll DO |
L"
~You win mott You're going 10 cast