The Wyandotte herald. (Wyandotte, Mich.) 1879-1943, 1940-08-09

AS soon as she saw it, she
would run to the house, snatch her
travelling case and leave the note
Tor Ken. Then she would get back
In time to signal the boat to stop,
and get on board.
When Villa had first come to Bale
st. Anne she had not expected to
run away from it.
The beauty of the river. the noun
taIns and the forest had gripped her
heart-strings.
To know that she and Ken and a
half dozen other human beings were
on the very edge of civilization did
not trlghten her, it thrilled her. But
Ken had warned her:
You'll like it for q little. Then
the loneliness may get you. When
1t does, don't stick, Villa. Don't
tel me you're going, but some day
When m away at work, leave a note
saying you've gone, and beat it. /
won't blame you"
1t was three years before the soil
tude "got" her.
AT the beginning of the fourth,
she couldn't keep her mind off
home. She wanted to walk down
the city streets-to look into the
shop wlndowS-to dine-to dance. \
Even the radio that Ken installed
made her uneasy. 1t only broadcast
those things she had most longed
to do, and couldn't.
She had not decided to go, though,
until the night Ken came home and
said, gloomily: THE Empress
makes her last trip down river
tomorrow. And I'm no nearer the
end of the job than 1 was last year.
II we could only find that confound-
ed stone bound, we could finish the
survey in jig time. Well, we're in
for this winter, anyway"
All at once the horror of another
winter in the great north woods beat
down upon her.
The river, frozen to a glare; the
snow drifting higher than she had
ever dreamed it could drift; the bit
ter, biting cold and the solitude!
She couldn't stand it. She wouldn't.
She'd 60 down river when the En-
press went tomorrow.
Now she heard a whistle up
stream. A moment later the boat
nosed around the bend.
She ran to the cabin, stepped in
and stopped, abruptly. Somebody
was IN the front room. Could it be
Ken? Had he-suspected?
She tiptoed farther in, and now
she saw the occupant.
In the middle of the floor sat a
big, brown bear. 1t squatted upon
its launches and, holding a bottle
human-wise in its paws, it quaffed
from it long and ardently.
Villa had never before known q
bear to enter the clearing
Yet she knew considerable about
bears, because of Patricia. Ken had
found her, little cub, whimpering
like baby beside her mother, dead
in trap.
He had brought her home, and
Villa had raised" her on con-
densed milk. Until he was half
grown, she was as playful and as
harmless as a puppy.
But one day, when Villa took away
q jar of jam she had stolen from
the pantry, she had made a swipe
at her with an angry paw. This
made Villa angry, too. She picked
up a broom and gave Patricia a
smart whack on the rump with it.
take that, you ungrateful beast"
she said. 1.-The idea of you doing
that after the way I've humored you!
You've got to learn I'm boss!"
Patricia did not take the chastise-
ment in any spirit of contrition. In
stead, she backed towards the door,
growing. Villa, brandishing the
broom, elected her into the open
with haste Instead of going to her
paddock, Patricia disappeared into
the woods and was never seen again.
"Just as WELL" said Ken. IF she
hadn't skedaddled, I'd have made
bear meat out of her She couldn't
stay around here acting so randy,
of course"
Now, as Villa looked at the crea-
ture in the room, she wondered if
it could be Patricia, returned. Then
she saw something that almost made
her laugh out loud. Two pointed
noses appeared in the doorway, and
two pocket editions of the big bear
came staggering into the room.
Cubs The creatures babies, of
course. 1t was Patricia back again,
with her whole family!
A shrill whistle sounded. It was
the boat near the clearing. Villa
heard it with a start So did the
bear. She dropped on all tours and
growled The cubs scooted for cover
under the couch.
Villa knew now that she could
never make the trip down river to
Quebec and Boston.
She must stay and keep the brown
bear and her cubs away from the
store room where Ken had the win
ter supplies for the whole survey
ing party boarded. If ever the crea-
ture should get at them, the whole
crowd might starve to death, for
now there was no chance to get to
the city for more.
E,,ay, h0lf;po fho door IF the St0ro