Show 4 H north 1 of abee atme e bertrani ari sinclair ayn fo A lr ca CHAPTER XIII continued 12 she wiped an errant tear away and made her way to a store the stock of ready made clothing drove her to despair it seemed that what women resided in hazelton na zelton must invariably dress in mother hubbard gowns of cheap cotton print with other garments to match but eventually they found for tier her undergarments of a sort a waist and skirt anda comfortable pair of shoes as a milliner would understand the term there were none and in default ot of such she stuck to the gray felt sombrero she had worn into the klapman and out again which in truth became her very well when tilted at the proper augle angle above her heavy black hair then she went back to the hotel and sought a bathroom returning from this she found bill a bill all shaved and shorn unloading himself of sundry packages of new attire alia aha everything Is lovely he be greeted old alack jumped at the pelts and paid a tat fat price for the lot also the ranch deal has gone through lies iles n prince old hack sent up a man and had it surveyed and classified and the deed waiting tor for me and oh ob say heres a letter for for me oh yes as she looked nt at tile the handwriting and postmark 1 I wrote to loraine marsh when we were going north good heavens look nt at the date its been here since last september Eack aberry knew where we were bill explained sometimes in camps like this they hold mall mail two or three years for men that have gone into the interior she put aside the letter and dressed while bill had liis his bath then with the smoke and grime ot of a hard bard trail obliterated and with decent clothes upon them they sought the dining room there while they waited to be served blazel read loraine marshs marahs letter and passed it to bill with a self conscious little laugh theres an invitation there we might accept she said casually he returned the letter as the waitress brought their food it be nice to take a trip home hazel suggested thoughtfully id love wa to wo are going home bill reminded gently oh of course she smiled but I 1 mean to granville id like to go back there with you for a while just to just to to show em cm he supplied laconically oh bill she pouted nevertheless she could not deny that there was a measure of truth in his bis brief remark she did want to show lem em she looked across the table at her husband and thought to herself with proud satisfaction that site she had done well viewed from any angle whatsoever bill wagstaff stood head and shoulders above all the men she had ever known big physically and mentally clean minded and capable indubitably she had captured a lion and though she might have denied stoutly the imputation she wanted granville Gra oville to see her lion and hear him roar still thinking granville bill queried when they had finished an uncommonly silent meal hazel flushed slightly she was and momentarily she sha felt that she should have been thinking of their little nest up by pine river pass instead she knew that bill was homing to the cabin she herself regarded it with affection but ot of a different degree I 1 from rom his her mind was more occupied with another more palpitating tating circle of life than was possible at the cabin much as she appreciated its green and peaceful beauty tile the sack of gold lying in the bank had somehow opened up far flung possibilities she skipped the interval of affairs which she knew must be attended to and betook retook herself and bill to granville thence to the bigger older cities where money shouted in the voice of command where all things were possible to those who had the price but sho she was beginning to know this husband hubband of hers too well to propose any anything tIlIng of the sort abruptly behind his tenderness and patience she had bad sometimes glimpsed something inflexible unyielding as the wilderness he loved so she merely answered in a way yes levs lets go outside where villere I 1 can smoke a decent cigar on top of this fairly decent meal he suggested then well figure on the next nest move I 1 think about twenty four hours in hazelton will do me theres a steamer goes down river tomorrow four days later they stood on the deel deck of a grimy little steamer breasting tile the outgoing tide that surged through the first narrows presently they swung around brockton point and vancouver spread its peninsular clutter before them tugs and 1 launches puffed by about their harbor traffic A ferry clustered black with people hurried across the inlet but even brove the harbor noises across th tho distance they could hear the vibrant hum of the industrial hive she had no regrets when bill confined their stay to the time necessary to turn his gold into a bank account and allow her to buy a more or less of pretty clothes then they bore on eastward and halted at ashcroft t bill had bad refused to commit himself positively to a date tor for the eastern pilgrimage ne ile wanted to see the cabin again for that matter she did too so that their sojourn there did not carry them over another winter from ashcroft an auto stage whirled them swiftly into the heart of the caribou country to where bill purchased four head of horses in in gia afternoon packed saddled and hit the trail at daylight in the morning the vanguard of the land hungry had already penetrated to fort george up and down the iaco valley and bordering upon the fraser were the cabins of the pre the roads were dotted with the teams of the tee incoming A sizable town had bad sprung up around the old trading post they come like bees when the rush starts bill remarked leaving fort george behind they bore across country toward pine river here and there certain landmarks graven deep in hazels recollection to claim her attention and one evening at sunset they ro rode de up to the little cabin all forlorn in its clearing inside a gray film of dust had accumulated on everything and the rooms rooms were oppressive with the musty 0 odors dors that gather in a closed untenanted house but apart from that it stood as they had left it thirteen months before no foot had crossed the threshold the pile of wood and kindling lay beside the fireplace as bill had bad placed it the mornings morning they left be it ever so humble bill left the line of the old song unfinished but his tone was full of jubilation be 0 four days later they stood on the deck of a grimy little steamer tween them they threw wide every door and window the cool evening wind filled the place with sweet pine scented air then bill started a blaze roaring in the black mouthed fireplace to make it look natural he said and went out to hobble his hors horses e s for the night in the morning they began to unpack their household goods rugs kuga and bearskins bear skins found each its accustomed place upon the floor ills his books went back on the shelves with magical swiftness the cabin resumed its old home atmosphere and that night bill stretched himself on tile the grizzly hide before the fireplace and kept his nose in a book until hazel who was in no humor to read fretted herself into something approaching a temper youre about as sociable as a clam she broke into his absorption at last he looked up in surprise then chucked the volume carelessly aside aud and twisted himself around till Ws Ms head rested in her lap vot iss he asked cheerfully lonesome bored with yourself aint I 1 here surely you dont feel yourself neglected because I 1 happen to have my nose stuck in a book of course not she denied vigorously the childish absurdity of her attitude struck her with sudden force still id like you to talk to me once in a while bills eyes narrowed a trifle but he still smiled and suddenly he be stepped around behind her chair put both hands under her chin and tilted her head backward ali ah youre plumb sick and tired to death of everything arent you he said s soberly oberly youve been up here too long you sure need a change ill have to take you out and give you the freedom of at the cities let you dissipate and pink tea and rub elbows with the mob for a while then be glad to drift back to this woodsy hiding place of ours when do you want to start why bill 1 she protested but she realized in n flash that bill could read her better than she could read herself few of her emotions could remain long bidden from that keenly observing ana mercilessly logical mind she knew that he be guessed where she stood and by what paths she had gotten there trust him to know and it ninde made her very tender toward him that he was so quick to understand most men would have resented 1 I want to stack a few tons of hay dewent on disregarding her exclamation ill need it in the spring if not this winter soon as done well hit the high spots well take three or four thousand dollars and while it lasts well be ba a couple of of high class tramps huh does docs it sound good she nodded vigorously perk up then he wheedled bill boy she murmured you take me too seriously 1 I took you for better or for worse he answered with a kiss 1 I dont want it to turn out worse I 1 want you yon t to 0 b be contented and happy here where ive planned to make our home I 1 know you love me quite a lot little person nature fitted us in a good many ways to be mates but youve gone through a pretty drastic siege 0 o isolation in this rather grim country and I 1 guess it seem such an alluring place as it did at first I 1 dont want you yon to nurse that feeling until it becomes chronic then we would be out of tune and it would be goodby good by happiness but I 1 think I 1 know the cure for your malady in the morning he be began his hay bay cutting about eleven he threw down his scythe and stalked to the house put on your hat bat and lets go investigate a mystery said he 1 I heard beard a cow bawl in the woods a minute ago A regular barnyard bellow A cow bawling she echoed sure what would cattle be doing away up here what I 1 want to know bill laughed ive never seen a cow north of fraser not this side of the anyway they saddled their horses and rode out in the direction from whence had arisen the bovine complaint the sound was not repented repeated and hazel had begun to chaff bill about a too vivid imagination when within a halt half mile of the clearing he pulled his horse up tip short in the middle of a little meadow look looka I 1 the track of a broad tired wagon had freshly crushed the thick grass bill squinted at the trail then his gaze swept the timber beyond somebody has been cutting timber over there he enlightened 1 I can see the fresh ax work looks like thed been hauling poles lets follow this track a ways the tiny meadow was fringed on the north by a grove of poplars beyond that lay another clear space of level land perhaps forty acres in extent they broke through the belt of poplars and pulled up again on one side of the meadow stood a cabin the fresh peeled log walls glaring yellow in the sun and lifting an earth covered roof to the autumn sky bill whistled softly aly along the west side of the meadow ran a brown streak of sod and down one side of this a man guided the handles of a plow drawn by the strangest yoke mates hazels eyes had seen tor for many a day for goodness sake she exclaimed the true pioneer spirit tor for you bill spoke absent absently ay he has bucked his way into the heart of a virgin country and hes breaking sod with a mule and a cow adaptation to environment with a 4 vengeance and grit theres t woman too bill and see ashes carrying a baby hazel pointed excitedly oh bill the man halted his strangely assorted team to watch them come bome the woman stood a step outside the door a baby in her arms another toddler holding bolding fast to her skirt A thick bodied short square shouldered man was this newcomer with a round plea pleasant sint face Il hello lello neighbor 1 dill bill greeted the plowman lifted his old felt hat courteously his face lit up ach said he neighbor dot iss a goot word in alss country vere dere iss no neighbor but I 1 am glat to meet you vill you come do der house und rest a vile sure bill responded but were neighbors all right did you notice a cabin about hall half a mile west of here our place when were e at home so the word escaped with the peculiar rising inflection of the 1 I half saw dot cabin ven van ve come here but I 1 dohk it vass abandon vell veil let us to der house go id hlll rest der mule und gretchen der cow II 11 hah all I 1 ile he rolled a blue eye on his incongruous team and grinned widely come he invited mine eife alfe be glat gla t they found her a matron of thirty odd fresh cheeked checked round faced like her husband typically german without his accent of the fatherland hazel at once appropriated the baby it lay peacefully in her arms starin staring wide eyed making soft sounds the little dear hazel murmured lauer our name iss the man said casually when they wore were seated wagstaff mine Is bill completed the informal introduction 1 I am from bavaria lauer told him vill you smoke I 1 light mine bibe mit your cifes Per permission tes ayes he continued stuffing the bowl of his pipe with a stubby aubby bom forefinger 1 I am from bavaria dere I 1 vass upon a farm brought cop I 1 serf ta in der army my dime den amerigo dere I 1 marry my alfe who Is born in I 1 vork in der big arrew cries abder dot I 1 learn to be a car pe ceriter riter now I 1 am a kink mit a castle all mine own I 1 am no more a vage slate youre on the right I 1 track mck bill nod led clod its a pity more people C jont dont jon t take the same notion what do you think of this country anyway it iss goot lauer answered briefly ard with unhesitating certainty it iss goot vor der boor man it iss it iss salfa tion mit fife tol lars und hiss two hauts he be can himself a home make und a lefing be sure off beside hazel bauers wife al absently ase a t caressed the blond head of her four year old laughter daughter no I 1 dont think ill ever get lonesome she said rm im too glad to be here and ive got lots ot of work and my babies of course its natural id miss a woman friend running in now r hazel at once appropriated the baby and then to chat but a person cant have it all and id do anything to have a roof of our own and to have it some place where our uvan dont depend on a pay envelope many a time ive sat and cried just from th chinkin Inkin how bow bad I 1 wanted a little place of our own where there was grass and trees and a piece of ground for a garden and I 1 knew wed never be able to buy it we could ift get ahead enough und so her husband took up the tale 1 I hear off diss country vere lant can be for got und so we scrape und pinch und safe nickels und dimes for fife year und here ve are all der way from wisconsin sin in der yes mit two mules in ashcroft I 1 buy der cow so dot ve haf der fresh milk und dot iss lucky for von ton mule he die on der road so I 1 am cop der lant und haul my m alt it von mule und gretchen der cow hazel had a momentary vision of unrelated hardships by the way and she wondered how tile the man could laugh and his wife smile over it two thousand miles in a wagon I 1 and at the journeys end only a rude cabin of logs and years of steady toll isolation in a huge and lonely land yet these folk were happy she wondered briefly it if her own viewpoint were possibly s askew she knew that she could not face such a prospect except in utter rebellion not now the bleak peaks of the flappan rose up before her minds eye the picture of five horses dead in the snow the wolves that snapped and snarled over their bones she shuddered she was still pondering this when she and bill dismounted at home CHAPTER XIV the dollar chasers granville took them to its bosom with a haste and earnestness that made hazel catch her breath tactfully none so much as mentioned andrew bush nor the five thousand dollar legacy the disposition of which sum still perplexed that defunct gentle mans |