University of Missouri College of Engineering - Shamrock Yearbook (Columbia, MO)

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9E - nun. tall rob- him 'he Vere vere and she ming :pe- 3112 vild his e in her and had ship un- l he e a the her his the gto to Phe her .nf- on- ' n der at more than once. It was if he had done something to frighten her. We-my father and I-are interested in himf' she said., Her words cost her a visible effort. He noticed a quick throbbing in her throat, just above the filmy lace. Mr, Lewis, won't you par- don this-this betrayal of excitement in myself? It must be unaccountable to you. Perhaps a little later you will understand. We are imposing on you by not conflding in you what this inter- est is, and I beg of you to forgive me. But there is a reason. - Her hands rested lightly on his shoul- ders. Her eyes implored him. I will not ask for confidences which you are not free to give, he said very gently. He was rewarded by a soft glow of thankfulness. 1 About then her father entered the roomg then for a period of nearly three hours he vividly told them how and where he had met Given. What friends they had grown to be, of the lonely life there in the wilderness with' only the yapping and the howling of the foxes and the wolves. Of the awful silence that you could almost hear. Of the bit- ter cold. After-.he had left he still felt the thrill of the warm, parting pressure of her hand, he saw the gratitude in her eyes, he heard her voice, low and tremu- lous, asking him to come again tomor- row evening. His brain was in a strange whirl of excitement, and he laughed- laughed with a gladness which he had not felt before in all of the days of his life. He had told a' great many things that night, but he'wondered why that haunt- ing fear had come into her eyes when Nineteen he happened to mention the Mounted Police. But he had asked them no ques- tions, he had not tried to pry into the secret which they so evidentlydesired to keep from him. Now, alone in the cool night, he asked himself a hundred questions, and yet with 'a feeling that he understood a great deal of what they had kept from'him. Something had whispered to him then-and whispered to him now-that Justice Given was not the man's right name, and that to her and her father he was a brother and son. This thought, as long as he could think it without a doubt, filled his cup of hope to the overflowing. . But the doubt per- sisted. It wasllike a spark that refused to go out. Who was justice Given? What was he, the' engineer, now' the half'-wild trapper, to Mary Courtley? Yes-he could be but that one thing-a brother-a black sheep-a wanderer. A son who had disappeared-and now was found. But ifhe was that, only that, why would they not tell him? The doubt sputtered up again. Hle did not go to bed, he was anxious for theday and the evening that was to follow. A woman had unsettled hisworld. His gold mine now became an unimportant reality. Everything faded into the back- ground and only the woman remained. He was like a boy living in the anticipa- tion of a great promise-restless and even feverishly anxious all day. He made all sorts of 'inquiries about Cap- tain Courtley. None seemed to know anything of him or where he had come from. That night, when he saw Mary Court- ley again, he wanted-to reach out his arms to her. He wanted to make her understand how completely his wonder-

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--1f aN ,Y J--iss ,- .Xf,,,- seen events for him, George sat in a softly lighted and richly furnished room and waited. The Captain had been gone a full half hour. He had left a box half filled with cigars on a table at George's elbow, urging that he should smoke. They were a fine quality of cigars and on the box was the name of the dealer from which they had been purchased. I My daughter will come presently, Captain Courtley had said. A curious thrill shot through George as he heard her footsteps and the soft swish of her skirts. Involuntarily he arose to his feet as she entered the room. For fully ten seconds they stood facing each other without speaking. She was dressed in a iilmy gray stuff. There was lace at her throat. She had shifted the thick, bright coils of her hair to the crown of her head, a splendid glory of hair, he thought. Her cheeks were flushed, and with her handsragainst her breast, she seemed crushing back the strange excitement that glowed in her eyes. Once he had seen a fawn's eyes that looked like hers. In them was sus- pense, fear-a yearning that was almost pain. Suddenly she same to him, her hands outstretched. Involuntarily, too, he took them. They were warm and Soft. They thrilled him-and they clung to him. - I am Mary Courtley,', she said. My father has explained to you? You know -a man-who calls ,himself-Justice Given? Her fingers clung more tightly to his, and 'the sweetness of her hair, her breath, her eyes were very close as she waited. Yes, I know a man that calls him- self by that name. W Tell me what he is like? Is he tall like you ? No, he is of medium height. Is he young? No, he is older than I. And his eyes-are they dark? He felt rather than heard the throb- bing of her heart as she waited for him to reply. There was a reason why he should never forget Givenis eyes. Sometimes I thought that they were blue, and sometimes that they were gray, he said, and at that she dropped his hands with a strange little cry, and stepped back from him, a joy which she madedno effort to' keep frornhim flaming in her face. It was a look that sent a sudden hope- lessness through him-a stinging pang of jealousy. This night had set wild and tumultous emotions aflarne in his breast. He had come to her like one in a dream. In an hour he had placed her above all other women in the World, and in that hour the little gods of fate had brought him to his knees in the worship of a woman. The fact did not seem un- real to him. Here was a wom,an, and he loved her. And his heart sank like a heavily weighted thing when he saw the transformation of joy that Came into her face when he mentioned the name of his lonely, mad friend away up there in the North. And this man? he said, straining to make his voice even. VVhat is he to you? 'His question cut her like a knife. The wild color ebbed swiftly out of hgr cheeks. Into her eyes swept the haunt- mg fear which he was to see and won- Eighteen

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. tg-lofxs - X .Tp -it .XY j ful love possessed him, and how utterly lost he was without her. 'She was dressed in simple white-again with that Hlmy lace at her throat. Her hair WaS don in those lustrous coils, so bright and soft that he would have given a tenth of his gold mine to touch them with his hands. And she was glad to see him. Her eagerness shone in her eyes, in the warm Hush of her cheeks, in 'the joyous tremble of her voice. That night, too, passed like a dream in paradise for him. For a long time they sat alone, she had brought him the cigars and urged him to smoke. They talked about the North, of its frozen wastes, its wild life, and 'the tragedies of the gold-mad men. He told her of his own adventures, how long he had sought for gold himself. I expect to go back some time in August, he said. , ' I She leaned toward him, last night's strange excitement glowing for the first time in her eyes. I You are going back? You Will see him? In her eagerness she laid a hand on his arm. I am going back. It would be possi- ble to see Given. The touch of her hand did not lighten the Weight that was tugging again at his heart. It is a long journey, and-in he was looking at her closely as he spoke, jus- -tice Given may not be there when I re- turn. It is possible that he may have gone into another part of the Wilder- ness. I-Ife saw her quiver as she drew back, He has been there all these years, she said, as if she were speaking to her- self. He wouldnot move now. His own voice was low, scarcely above a whisper, and she looked at him quick- ly and strangely, a Hush in her cheeks. It was late when he bade her good- night. Again he felt the warm thrill of her hand as it lay in his. The next aft- ernoon he was to take her out driving. The days and weeks that followed these first meetings with her were weighted with many things for George. Neither she nor her father enlightened him concerning their interest in the man that they were so interested in. Several times he believed that she 'Was on the point of confiding in him, but each time there came that strange fear in her eyes, and she caught herself. Lewis did not urge. He asked no questions that might be embarrasing. He knew, after the third Week had passed, that she could no longer be un- conscious of his love, even though the mystery of the man in the North re- strained him from making a declaration of it. There was not a day in the week that they did not see each other. As their acquaintance became closer, and as she saw in him more and more of that something which he had not spoken, a change developed in her. At first it puzzled and then alarmed him. At times she almost seemed frightened. One evening, when his love was trem- bling on his lips, she turned suddenly white. It was the middle of July before the words came from him at last. In two or three weeks he was starting for the North. It was evening, and they were alone in the big room, with the cool breeze from the lake drifting in on them. He made no effort to touch her as he told her of his love, butwhen he was done, she know that a strong man Twenty