| Show s i 4 lily of the A R V valley vall e y ra A 1 1 by RHODA CAREY t H haw copyright 1916 by W G chapman A woodland girl with flying hair and shy eyes like a nymphs was the au ap saw when he h came back to consciousness she was kneeling at his bla side bending over him and supporting his head bead and trying to stanch the blood that flowed from the deep cuts in the scalp oh you are alive she cried and then she blushed to see the injured mans eyes fixed died upon hers halsey had been lost while on his vacation hunting trip lie ile had bad fallen down the mountain side into the tavine ravine where the girl found him her father a rough ignorant man apparently an immigrant had bad corn come and now he helped halsey back to the ui shack which he had built in the valley there he lived with his child lily his wife laid burled buried on the mountain side the days that followed during which halsey slowly struggled back to recover from the loss of blood were halcyon ones lily attended him lily utterly ignorant of life in cities lily ot of the valley a wood nymph a dainty fleeting timid confiding creature who might have stepped out ot of the pages ot of some wonderful novel it was a miracle to halsey ile he told her of 0 life in san francisco of 0 the huge building in which he worked with a hundred other clerks of clubs and hotels ot of street cars things of which lily had only heard as cas ca 4 lily attended him ual words upon the lips ot of strangers stranger at the distant depot ile he was twenty tour four and she nineteen thrown into each others company during a week how could they help but love their love was of an elemental kind such as halsey fresh from the city had never dreamed of there was a sweetness and an aa awe which made it fantasy and so the days passed 2 e it was night tomorrow I 1 walk to the stage lily said halsey but how I 1 wish I 1 could spend all my life here with you cef lips trembled you do not have to go philip she said softly ile he told her of 0 his mother whom he worked to support he was her only help for that reason he had bad abandoned his early dreams of ranching and gone into the insurance com banys employment for this reason he must go back some day when I 1 am rich I 1 am coming back for you dear he whispered not now not while marriage marr lag is impossible he took her in his arms for the th first time and their lips met she lung to him passionately it was a alry tale come true tor for her for him until san francisco broke on his vision again he told the story wonderingly to a friend a few weeks later upon my word he said 1 I felt at the time as it if id like nothing better than to marry the little girl and take up land there and settle down must have been crazy I 1 guess imagine me phil halsey tied to an immigrants daughter who can just about read and write and no more why all she knew about the world she had taken out of books cheer up and have another drink phil answered his friend the months rolled by two years year later halseys Hal mother died suddenly he was alone la in the world he wix walls earning 35 a week and promotion was in sight he was making a good many acquaintances in san francisco lie he got in with a fast set often in the midst of some gay party he would look about him aud and suddenly the walls would disappear and he be would see the lofty redwoods and the pure pur tace face of the little mountain girl 1 I shall love you forever and wait tor for you the bhe had told him he won wondered jered whether she had grown into life of which she sha had never seen a part he wondered whether hether x she had married probably she sha had bad some rancher uncouth and ignorant 13 s her father no doubt he had bad oft aa wished to see eee her but somehow SKIM SK h IM u afraid he was afraid that the ditth mountain girl had bad taken him at his word he was afraid that she was wag waiting but when he was thirty he be had bad altogether forgotten her once in fact he looked out of the carriage window while traveling along the ne new w spur line and had been surprised to recognize the mountain down which he be had fallen then he be had reflected that during the hirs h irs wait he could walk over ever into the valley and see the girl but he only went back to the game of cards which had bad been begun the valley thrived for months after halsey had returned thil the girl waited to hear from him for nearly two years she waited once she had a vivid dream that a strange woman with gentle eyes came to her bedside and looked at her and put her hand caressingly upon her forehead the woman reminded her oddly of philip that was the night his mother died the valley thrived new settlers rushed in her father died and she was offered big sums for the land but she clung to it working it single hand ed some day this is to be philips she said to herself for his sake she studied the uncouth little girl had become a woman fairly well educated and versed in the ways ot of life all this was to be philips sherold she told herself that on her twenty eighth birthday when she stood before her mirror and saw that youth was gone and then for the first time she yielded to fear and that growing sense of desolation that was always with her now if he be does not arrive when I 1 am thirty I 1 shall go to him she said to her reflection then very softly 1 I shall go to see what sort of woman he has ban married two years later a woman well dressed yet with an air of strangeness stood in the office ot of the insurance company and asked for or mr halsey the manager looked at her strangely ile he has gone he left us last year yar he told her where can I 1 find him as asked ked the woman the manager parried her question are re you a friend ot of his he asked an old friend said lily ot of the valley the manager looked at her in surprise halseys Hal friends had not been ot of this kind tor for the most part lily looked at him with an intensity that disconcerted him it he be is dead she whispered tell me so dont keep me in uncertainty out ot of kindness it if he Is dead it to Is better that I 1 should know he Is not dead said the manager you know where he Is asked lily he could not ile he to eyes like those yes I 1 know where he Is he answered tell me then never mind what the truth is tell me Is he he Is in the penitentiary for or forging a check said the manager he was sentenced to serve five years it will be at least three before he be is ie set et free but perhaps you will be able ble to get a permit to see fee him he added kindly lily of the valley went back to her farm there she worked three thre years eYears longer at thirty three she had streaks of 0 gray in her hair her beauty lingered but it was no longer the wild and elusive beauty of 0 her youth lite life had come home to her at last on the day ot of the expiration of halsey s sentence the warden informed him that a woman was waiting to see him halsey a man ot of thirty eight shifty eyed eyd gray haired bearing not only the prison stamp but also the indelible stamp ot of the life that he had previously led looked at the warden in horror no tell her I 1 wont see her he cried none of 0 them stood by me when I 1 was in the tolls toils none of 0 those on whom I 1 had lavished money came forward with a cent to aid me this woman looks different said the warden compassionately 1 I wont see her said halsey he strode out into the free air in his cheap suit ot of blue prison made like himself in his pocket was 30 he had long ago made up his mind what he was going to do when he came out ile he was going to pull off a job with slim joe a prison pal who had been released a week before it was a daring forgers game joe was to meet him at a little stopping place I 1 20 0 miles out along the line halsey was utterly unconscious ot of the woman who having followed him not daring to speak but watching over him like his good angel she stepped aboard the car that carried him to the place she got out when he did the little settlement had become a village there were plenty of 0 passengers gors there was so much change that it was a shock as halsey looked up and saw the mountain down which he had bad fallen now dotted with vineyards and fertile fields then his friend came forward and took his bis arm phil old boy he said a softly halsey stretched out hit his hand to clasp his frie friends at that moment the woman was quite near him she looked into slim joes eyes and saw reflected in those shifty mirrors all that life had taught her to tear fear jt it was her hand band that tell fell between theirs halsey spun round and stared at t her he staggered back incredulously you he gasped you lily 1 I have come to take you home dear said uly lily ot of the valley |
