Year: 1878

There was beauty enough to be found
in Mataska valley, what with the river
and the lake and the forest-crowned
hills, at least in summer time and even
the dry, cold rigor of Minnesota win
ter could not take it all away. Never
theless, there was nothing else there
half so beautiful as Norma Ericsson.


Her withered, old Norwegian father
had settled himself on q good enough
piece of land, away up above the head OF
the lake, miles away from Mataska vii
lage, and no one could say he had so
much as one friend more, at the end OF
a tive-years' residence, than the day the
first timber was cut for his house.


A thoroughgoing miser was old Jan,
and his crusty selfshness included not
only his earthly goods, and the gift or
use thereof, and his own not very desir
aeda daas6m9aSHa. S96m9SalrV, but also his one Jewel OF


Rarely was Norma seen in the village
almost never at all at any merry making
of the neighborly country folk and old
Jan seemed to take an ogreish sort of
pleasure in preventing her from enter
tanning visltors-young men especially
at his own house.


And 80, the more Norna's beauty
grew and became known among them.
the more unpopular was old Jan Ericsson
among the free. e.hearted settlers of the
Mataska valley.


And yet there were those who had
succeeded in breaking through or climb
:. ing over the odd old miser's wall of re-
serve. $3.50 .e#a.


John Pinner had done it, by his
fathers advice; for Judge Pinner was
Jan Ericson's lawyer, and he had more
than once limited to his son and heir
that Norma had other and more solid at
fractions than her beauty.


IF, therefore, any fair occasion offered
to send a message to the Ericsson farm,
John Pinner had been generally quite
ready to oblige his father by carrying it,
and more than once he had even ventur-
ed on brief call without any special
errand.


AS for Paul Wood, on the other hand,
either he had not sufficient cunning to
invent errands, or his pride forbade any
snbterfuge, for he had positively and
openly braved, more than once, even the
harsh discourtesy of old Jan, in his un-
y invited, unabashed intrusions.


Ii Paul did not pretend to vie with
John Pinner in dress, wealth or apparent
prospects, he was certainlya fine, manly
specimen of a young Western farmer,
and his dark curls and almost swarthy
features wore pleasant contrast to even
the ripe blonde Morse loveliness of Norma
herself.


One|bito of strategy it seemed that Paul
had stopped to, for more than once
Norma had been surprised that he had
been " out a-hunting in that neighbor-
hood " on the very days which old Jan
had chosen for bit of tealning on the
furthest edge of his possessions, or a
trip to the store at the village.


Nobody ever knows how such things
come to be common property; but, some.
how or other, Judge Pinner and his son
were made aware that they had reasons
for distrusting Paul Wood, and he had
been made to teel the fact very sensibly
more than once.


There had been an added bitterness
the past autumn, in the fact that Johr
Pinner's nomination to the State legis
lature had only resulted in showing the
folly of the Mataska valley people, fol
the stupid fellows had known no more
than to choose Paul Wood instead ant
even Norma Ericsson had said she wal
glad of it.


There came day, however, in th,
early winter, when Paul would hav,
given his political honors and his bes
horse, perhaps even his farm to boot, t,
have known why it was that Norma sud
denly became as distant and repelling O.
old Jan himself.


Not word would she vouchsafe him
though he met her full half-mile fron
the house, and walked to the very doc
by her side.


He did not give the matter mp, eve
then, half so much for the volly of bit
ter abuse with which the old mise
greeted him, as for the icy look of indii
ference with which Norma marche
straight on into the house, and close
the door.


There was really very little "give up
in Paul's composition; but he met job
Pinner, before he had left the farm


mile hehind him, and there was loo
on Johns face that suggested goo


many ugly thoughts to the sore heart {


the discounted youth,