Show tay r N w ap in ea st wk L gal copyright by penn pub co att lq service GEORGE MARSH SYNOPSIS from his fur ur post sunset house in the canadian north jim stuart trader in charge sights an overturned canoe in the L lire lake ire with his headman omar he rescues the drifter who proves to be aurore leblond daughter of his rival in the fur business made comfortable for table at the post aurore aurora proves to bt be a charming companion CHAPTER I 1 continued 2 stuart scowled with impatience are you never dever serious miss auroro aurore leblond Ie Blond you may bay ignore the facts but he be w wont you french are careful of appearances it if I 1 thought I 1 could get you safely over there tonight wed start now the blood drove into info her olive alive skin its you who ho seem eem careful of 0 appearances pe arances you you are bored with your guest monsieur stuart let us so go then theal I 1 she rose stiffly her face naming flaming with outraged vanity cut but lie he ignored the challenge A boat live out there now then I 1 shall go by shore with hands on hips he smiled indulgently dul dui gently nt at the indignant girl who confronted him do you realize how far it Is through the bush its a good twenty miles nod and be dark in an hour have you ever traveled in the bush at ignoring the question she bontemp plated marthes beaded moccasins its as she he curled and uncurled her toes in their capacious interiors then her black eyes lifted to the man who watched her III at ease as tier her face lit in ao an amused smile have you really been so BO bored mr stuart ile he laughed in relief at her change of mood Is it likely that a man marooned up here in the bush would be bored with miss bliss aurore leblond Le Clond rather halfhearted half hearted it cant you do better belter yes I 1 can do better he teased but I 1 dont think its good for you you thick im vain 1 I know you are she nodded as she moved about the room true I 1 am fathers father li made a fool of me they turned at a knock on oil the outside door of the house come in called stuart omaej broad face thrust through the doorway of the living room you spik wid me lie asked of stuart with a sidelong glance at the girl nodding stuart turned to the girl with excuse met me and left the room what you do wid her demanded the halfbreed half breed ai as the two walked to tile the rear fedir of the building what can we do omar ashes got to stay until the wind drops you dont know louis leelon leblon 11 muttered Bols boisvert vert ominously beef eef she bhe stay here ills dig night it mean for you and me all right let it come then lien angrily answer answered eli the trader A little more wont hurt us we cant get her home tonight to in that seventeen foot peter boro and we cant put her out in the bush can we ashes got to stay here if he wants to make trouble let it come I 1 1 stuart left the halfbreed half halt breed and entered the house miss lomond leblond he said bald theres no trail alongshore and theres a swamp at me fhe outlet where yond be eaten alive by mosquitoes to start with our small canoe means filling in a mile or two she studied him with sober face then thick brows knotted in a mock frown she demanded youre not trying to deceive a defenseless woman vi choin hom fate has thrown into your hands oh air somewhere in your black heart there must linger a trace of pity fifty of honor spare my tender youth 11 1 with a muttered exclamation of irritation he be turned to the window and gazed out where the running seas grayed in the fading twilight well anyway whether youre a villain or not she continued 1 I dont intend to swamp in that lake in the dark and get wet again oli oh h hl bl it was it mikes makes me shiver to think of it IL and besides her eyes flashed bashed with humor suppose my what you call ems my albo dieg wason shrank what should I 1 do they knew you took a casciel can canoe ciel 1 yes but they may think thick I 1 landed on an island and get back by the way do you happen to have such a thing us as a cigarette mine were water soaked yes such ai they are but I 1 find them thein pretty poor lie he went to his bedroom and returned with a package now she said when he had given her a light and filled hla his pipe tell me about yourself theres not cot much to interest a 0 lady from winnipeg try me you came here three years years ago to start a post for the hud sons long bay company I 1 know that much rather was wag here first for his bis northwest trading company and naturally like it ive heard so eo many terrible things about you that ive been rasping to learn just how bow much of a liar paul baul paradis was so paradis has been blackening J W mutation bag baa bep be P blackening la IS mild to what lies hes told roe me about the factor at sunset house you came from gods lake you well it seems you left a wry very dark and mysterious past up there mr stuart according to paul oil very veryl I 1 im really a terrible man miss leblond LeHI ond we better have sarah sarab in here as chaperone she laughed as she shook her head bead froni from what ive seen of sarah id wager sties on guard now waiting to rescue you from the woman with the jasons wa sons no paul Par lidis impress me he made you too black father Is quite different ile he intends to beat you but hes for you sent here by your people on a forlorn hope stuarts features hardened forlorn hope was wa it herlond was a bit previous this Par garadis aills did he tell you anything of his own past oh trust paul for that most blast romantic and mysterious if one were to believe him why what do you know about him I 1 an enigmatic smile was stua stuarta arts reply you do know something eh well im sure sore father does too but the in mail alj t A t they turned at a knock on thai the outside door of the house Is a wonder with the indians that excuses a lot when did you leave winnipeg stuart changed the subject in june it took me three weeks to get here but it was wonderful that trip you like it the wilderness 1 I love it IL of course id tire of it after a while you go hack back to in the autumn lifting her chin she slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke her half shut eyes on the spruce poles of the ceiling tilted head baring the round throat in its loose flannel collar cau caught bt by its scarf of crimson silk yes she answered after a space my father seems bound toni to marry arry me olt oft in winnipeg you know and paradas worries him with his bis aloon in ing around ever r since ince I 1 came iran imagine she laughed a that monkey paul paradis I 1 iles hes quite beautiful objected stuart 1 I met him at medicine stone lake last november without turning tier her tilted head she flashed at him a 81 sidelong lelong look from under her long lashes ile he seems to hate sou what have you dune done to him I 1 nothing absolutely nothing no lhing protested stuart except to knock him film down when he tried to ling the trall trail the girl straightened in her chair her vivid face alight with alth interest Inter what you dared do eliat to the IT great eat paul paradis Par artis she deninn demanded fled there was no trouble dra draw wilid loil stuart it was nothing he stayed down what did Is he tell you ills hiss aurore lie ile told me you had bad had bad trouble on a trail that he had been compelled to choke you if you ask black jules renault your fathers head he might tell you that paradis has a poor anem ors ori 1 oh when I 1 saw you today I 1 know it paradela choke you tier her dark eyes lingered significantly on the wide shoulders the corded column of his neck the evident power pomer in the brown hand which held his pipe rut but why waste time on other people when we are so interesting Interest lne ourselves her frankness was exhilarating imagine mary christie he thought so far forgetting her sense of the ties I 1 mary christie with whom stuart through the evening had been contrasting tr this raven hatred haired laughter daughter of his bis rival lie ile could see marys blond eyebrows lift in scorn of the shea sheared red hair and the whipcord jenns jeang of aurore LeH LeTi londs unembarrassed acceptance cep tance of the situation which made her his guest of her complete candor lead on miss aurore 11 so she led on while he be listened amused startled now dow charmed now puzzled by the direct thinking and amazing sophistication of tills this graduate of a convent school in winnipeg her education completed slip flip was liv lux lag afo to the full tasting its thrills exploring its byways by ways testing whatever of interest it had find to give little as this country can ano offer to a young woman curious of life he ob served it managed to provide you with one first class thrill this afternoon two I 1 she bho corrected her eyet eyes sud denly grave with sincerity 1 I was both drowned today and saved you menn mean you were saved from drowning she leaned toward him wo na I 1 learned what it Is to despair and I 1 learned what it means to have life given back to me the eyes of 0 the girl misted in the intensity of 0 her feeling tier her lower lip trembled you did that gave me hack back my eifel I 1 did not thank you made light of it but I 1 do thank you rou now ills his face flushed his gray eyes shifted uneasily under the poignancy of her dark gaze it was easy enough nothing he avoided we were lucky to see you all she shook her head 1 I saw how you had to fight to roach reach me then with a shrug she shed her gravity as one sheds a coat now tell me about yourself mr heern stuart hut but stuart did not dwell long on his early life in flu nud elsons sona ray bay posts with the father who had died at gods lake avoiding the girls live interest in his three years with the canadian expeditionary forces he be talked of the comi coming ng of the hudsons Hud sons ray day company to the lake of the sand beaches and the building of sunset house it sounds rather like a forlorn hope it I 1 heard beard that your father thought it a great joke said I 1 knew what I 1 was doing when I 1 named it it last any longer than the setting sun 1 I dont think father knows you you verv well she said with conviction conviction their talk was checked by a knock knock on the outside door what Is it omar demanded the trader with some irritation for his evening with the laughter daughter of ills his rival was proving most agreeable come outside I 1 show you some ving leaving his guest stuart went out into the wind with the halfbreed half breed look and omar pointed through the murk up the lake shore on a point far up the shore like fireflies in the dusk a light flashed then men another dey hunt bunt for her added the halfbreed significantly yes we must let them know ashes here agreed stuart take a lantern and see if you can signal them returning to his quarters stuart announced crossed the lake to search the north shore for you we ve can see their lights poor dad lie he must be frantic she said soberly go berly then tier her lip curled in a faint smile its early yet too bad to spoil our nice talk I 1 it IT it la Is lie he agreed but think of your poor father oh I 1 do I 1 love hita him you know lies hes all ae got well be some time before omar attracts their attention all my men are up the take lake with tile the freight canoes and my small peter bolo boio would fill tonight your father must have crossed in a big alg boat theres nothing to do but wait waft for far him then I 1 can have another cigarette and we can talk unell they came was she bhe strangely callous he wondered or without avres that she bhe could calmly curl herself in a chair and smoke while her desperate father slid and his men hunted a rocky shore white with surf for her canoe find and drowned bodye vast most women would have bave paced the be clearing outside in a frenay of excitement to in all likelihood tills vivid creature who villa for a few anun had shared the hospitality of sunset enuse would never again cross crosa lits ills path in the autumn she would return to the world outside and in the meantime ln in spite of le blonds Plon ds gratitude the rivalry between the trading posts and the open hos thice between the company servant anth would prevent stuarts seeing her let me see she was saying laying im to be here six seven weeks more how am I 1 to endure that Par paradas aills all that time you might get your father fathe r to send him to fort hope he be suggested a good ideal idea I 1 ill do it then her black brows drew together as she added suggestively but you know mr bir heern 9 Z stuart im going to be lonely for some one to talk to so am 1 I miss bliss aurore leblond well the answer Is obvious well talk to each other lie ile shook his head 1 I cant come to your fat fathers tiers place be war have to swamp again in the little lake he sug suggested geAred with a grin what wait that long the wind might maht not blow for days Oni omars tirs dark face following a call outside appeared at the door dey build fire wen dey see roy my lantern I 1 vink a boat follow de shore now low lets go and see bee the girl suggested with the wash of the surf on the tha boulders bouli lers of tile the shore bhore and the drive of tile the wind through tile the neighboring forest in their ears they stood on the bench beach peering into the mack black night shortly a light blinked through the murk its a lantern in a canoe explained stuart coming for you lie ile felt tier her hand on his arm felt her windblown wind wand blown hair on his face as he bent to hear what she said his blood stirred at her touch when will they get here she called through tier her cupped hands soon now lets go back and talk until they come VI so the two returned to the house while the sullen omar waited on the beach you know that little island I 1 think its the one farthest to the east with all the rocks and boulders on the shore she asked yes you remember that split rock which partly to in the water well it if you were to look behind that rock some day you might find a note from a very much bored person that 1 la s if y you oil cared to go there find and look stuart thrilled at the thought of what her words implied she wanted to see him again wanted to talk to him then the hopelessness of the situation the sheer recklessness of attempting to meet the daughter of leblond secretly forced itself upon him you mean you would paddle there some day alone stuart asked wondering what manner of girl this was who villa so lightly put her trust in a stranger perhaps I 1 should so far forget myself she replied archly if I 1 found an answer to my note try me he urged reckless of the outcome in his desire to see a again ain this girl so vividly alive so baffling to his curiosity her dark ees flashed the challenge you will be bored too illow how can I 1 help being bored after today youre improving A red up curled in satisfaction A little more training and be the yelping of dogs and the sound of voices outside above the beat of wind stopped her here they are I 1 ties hes coming dear old did dad 1 stuart stepped to the door to meet the man who had the winter before down on the railroad at goon on boasted openly that two years wo would uld see the end of sunset house aurore my girl she la Is here the agitated leblond delirious w with ith ja joy y at the news given him at the s shore h ore by omar pushed past the man who 0 opened p ened the door aurore my child ma ila cheriel dad mon alan gauvre pere perel I 1 good old dad As the trader took his daughter in his arms in a swift glance jim stuarts curious eyes eye 4 measured the rival he ha had never seen leblond was little taller than the girl but the set of the iron gray liend head on the square shoulders the tha hold bold nose and chin of the dark profile suggested the force and daring which ills his reputation had given him closing the door behind him stuart remained outside with the two men who had followed leblond to the hou house houe e in the blackness the hudsons Hud sons P hay ay man could |