THE SUNDAY BEE: OMAHA. SEPTEMBER 21. 1922.
t terribly hard to fathom." Cot
grave, with the advance ol spring,
Emud himself imexprcttdlt busy
man. lie wat not te prroctupivd,
bottevcr, flat lir failed to not
tvlirn ilir over-elaborate "camp" of
the V1 ((' opened for the
on. Nor was he, wuh hi trained
iharpnrt td vision, altogether tin-ron-xioti
ol thr trtival of an alett
liojin! young fady, who in rather
rr.lmiirnt twratert and peg top
breeches went paddling and tramp
lug ainl am'liMK about U t beloved
di :n nir. She halloed to him once,
lami l lie hay, and he quit o
rnmly halloed bark to her. So
win ii hr tame face to fare with
firr, while I "in gin hunting in a hit
l( woods on the mainland, the
termed r troviiiKly reserved in hrr
wanner and he wrnt on hi way
lyjni, oppressed with a vague tense
bi disappointment.
Hut he found himself uncon
sciously on the lookout tor the re
Splendent twratert Slid the hrt
young body which wore thrm. J he
thought ( her wandering ahout hit
lonely lulla added an unfamiliar
toiirli to that familiar landscape,
lending him about hit devious task
with a fctlmg ol being immersed til
in a wide but undefined adventure.
He tried to cooper together a claim
that he disliked thit intrusive young
erton with the prrpleaing mocking
rye. Hut he was never quite able
ti make out a case. And when
young men arrived at the Woleoiu'
(or the week-end Cotgrave was in
iletrrmmably jealous of those gay
jy apparelled youths who disturbed
bin urstnig watc,r fowl and went
fishing on hit private reserve.
It wat whn returnhig from an
Investigation o( certain ol these
01 pred.it lout that he unexpectedly
encountered Caroms ReeiUr. He
(und her betide hit hilltop trail,
huddled against a rock. He Mopped
abort, disturbed by tnc quiescence
f that customarily active figure.
"Are you hurl? he asked.
"I'm ofraid I've sprained my
ankle," the replied with her fingers
clasped about one of her high
faced tan brogans. -
He knelt down beside her and
examined the injured foot. She
winced as he pressed on the leath
er covered ankle.
"I'm afraid we'll have to get this
shoe olf," he announced, and pro
ceeded to unlace it. And he noticed
that the winced again at she care
fully worked her foot out of the
hoe.
"Now the stocking," he pro
Claimed. It ut she demurred at that.
"It hurt too much," the ob
jected, coloring a trille.
So he re examined the ankle
through its ribbed woolen stocking,
lie could detect twilling alarming
in its condition. There was no
swelling that he could tee, and
there were obviously no broken
bones, though she ventured a little
cry or two of pain as his strong
fingers explored the injured area.
"Can you walk?" asked Cot
grave, looking for the first time
directly into her face. It impressed
him as a singularly appealing face,
with ita misty gray eyes and its
turkey-spotted small nose and its
Mobile red mouth with just a trace
of willfulness about the curving
line of the lips.
The girl shook he hear in nega
tion. "1 tried," she acknowledged. "But
1 couldn't quite manage it."
"Shall we try again? he asked,
quite impersonally.
"All right,' she agreed, with no
great parade of hopefulness.
They had considerable trouble
Li getting tlichoe on again.
It was Cosgrave who laced it up,
Repeatedly asking if he was makmg
it too fight. And it was Cosgrave
w ho helped her to her feet and sup
ported her with one stalwart arm
while she essayed a none-too-prom-isiug
effort to hobble along at his
aide.
"It's no use," she said, sitting
rlown on a rock and nursing the in
jured ankle between her rlaspcd
fingers. "I think you'd better
lave me here."
"And then what?" he asked.
"You might stud somebody tip
from the Wo Icon j to come and get
nie," she suggested, adding with
unlooked-for meekness: "li you
will be to kind "
Cosgrave laughed.
"I imagine 1 can manage you as
well as anybody from th Wulcott
house," he announced.
"How do you mean manage me?"
she asked, massaging her foot with
meditative hand.
"I'll have to carry you," he told
tier, speaking at impassively as
ible.
''Hut von couldn't do that," she
sil. without lHking up at him.
And ! II again he laughed.
' It's a Ittilr otr a nole and a
q win." he admitted, Tiu we'll
manage without sny trouble, t
ranted a deer hunter with a broken
I ov.r fvur mlet of broke Nmt
t v one and wat tfirtt
henswr than you."
Mw itti hitn wiiU an p-
fMttltttf f Jr
"I Vewt VtU matt N tteemf
N .i"i.lu,i "Hut it uV'sal
ts.in't tm whtt'" he in.
U.lt4 S-Hv.t kiujml, at tks
iwk if
"Doesn't term fair," she Said,
evad ng hit eye.
"We can decide about that later,"
he told her. ''I lie important point
is to tell pie when you're tired.
Then wc can try a new poirou"
He scTi-cd very Iiumih -l ke
about it all. , She had thought at
first that he won! I carry hi r in lot
arms, Instead of that, however,
lie tarried hrr in the approved man
ner of thr witodwnan when faced
by such contingencies. He famed
her "puk-a baik," with the we:ght
of In r body, rrst iig along hit
.spine and her lauds clasped about
hit nerk and his own hands linked
under her kiiert. It was, she sup
posed, a sensible and comfortable
way of carrying people, liut it
began to imprest In-r as deplorably
lacking in d gmly. She might have
been a bag of meal a miller's
hack or a bale of jutr repos ng on
a ttevedore'a shoulder Hades, And
her gallant knight, at the journey
proccc led, betrayed no undue ten
dear f toward conversation.
"Would you mind letting me
down a moment?" the said in a
somewhat stilled tone of voice at
they emerged from the wooded
higher land and came within sight
of the Wulcott land.
He did as she asked. He h t her
down at casually at thoi'-h Sc
were a child grown tired of a
gambol, llut hit eyet were sol
emn as he studied her topic hit
flushed face,
"I think I can manage by myself
for the rest of the way," she found
tlie courage to suggest, liut Cos
grave would not hear of it.
"You're, tired, of course, he
admitted. "S, this time we'll try
another position."
"Hut it's you who must be tired,"
the protested.
"Not a bit of it," he stoutly as
serted. "So take hold, and 1 11 have
you home in 10 minutes."
The "taking hold" the found,
consisted in being compelled to
wrap one arm closely about his
neck, for this time he was carrying
her ju his arms. And in this way
he carried hrr right to the wide
veranda of the Wolcott louge,
which he mounted with his silent
and slightly-Hushed burden amid
a small chorus of ejaculations from
the assembled company,
Cosgrave made it a point to ig
nore those jub l.int and slightly
derisive cries. The one person he
found it hard to forgive, however,
was the knickerbockered youth
wit I a languid smile who clicked
a camera as Caroma Reeder came
up the ateps in his arms. That,
t'osgravc felt, was going a bit too.
lar. ,
"So, it's nothing serious." he sol.
euinly assured Mrs. Walcott. "UV
merely that Miss Kceder. ha
sprained her ankle, As you sec
she's not able to walk. So I'll
send Dr. Angus over as soon as I
can get in touch with him. I've
found him a very dependable physi
cian" Then Cosgrave turned to.' th$
young man with lUti camera'. . - r
"I'd prefer," he .announced with
unexpected spirit, "not perpetuat
ing the ridiculous."" AVhereunop
he violently took possession of the
camera, flung k to the floor,' and
crushed it with his heel.
There was a moment of silenco
as Cosgrave wheeled about atu'
went down the steps.
"Isn't it amazingly like some
thing out of the bronze -wgc?.", mur
mured a young woman m & rose
silk sweater.
"And .a most amazing disregard
for other people' property," added
Kennie Fillmore, the rueful owner
of the camera, as be stooped with a
shrug to gather up tlx ruins. . . .
It was a week later, when Cos
grave and Dr. Angus -were fishing
for rainbow trout in the back hills,
that the man of med;c:ne was
prompted to comment on the case.
"Say, Thil, I'm afraid they've
got the laugh on you down at the
Wolcott cottage," he observed as
he bent over a book of flies.
Cosgrave, without looking up,
inquired as to the reason for this.
"You remember that city girl
with the sprained ankle 1 went
dowu to see?"
"Yes, I rather remember her,"
acknowledged Cosgrave.
"Will, thee was nothing more
wrong with her foot than there is
with mine."
"You mean she could have
walked if she wanted to?" akrd
Cosgrave, with derpeniiig color.
The doctor nodded at ht thread
ed a Coachman.
"I may be wrong, but I've got a
lurking suspicion sfie laid a bet
she'd make you carry her in.'
Cottfrate kit th nk uk this ovrr,
Well. I tarried her." he finally
takl.
"l-'or a'wttt a mile and three,
quartets, as I tine it out," com
mtnliil the olbrr, with Jut the
ghost of a smile,
"I don't reK'Ft it," announced.
Ceograve o"l uf .vt.uul lo i.
b live.
"I shouldn't think Jfewi wuM,"
i.hwitfd Aikm with a lutf at hit
w'Ur urif. ht inpiJ ax
at MHSHthug pifliy fy In hx-a
I
" (mi Jet tmi mean tt thsl v d.
pn,!i-.t h ..!, ufvl t,.i,'(ii,
'I l" 1 iihiii thai h t su
extraordinarily attractive young
w nan," f' I the man of medicine,
who was left wondering why his
Companion of the reel should re
main so nioiouly silent for the
rest of the afternoon
I'hit'p Ccs.trnvc wakened up to
the fait that toiueih ng wat wrong
with him. lit was 'Moody and ab
stiartd and found ltt'te interest in
his work. He also found himself
thinking tihout Caro ra Ke d- r a
great deal more thnn he cared t
ackuowlr !'c. He tried to tell 111 it
self that be disl l ed the girl, still
ilo!ng hit ut'iiost to carpenter to
getl.er a case atahist her. Then
ha found himself just at eagerly
fabr'rating rx.'tise for " I
wondering when he would have the
good luck to see lit r ana n. He
thought of a hundred th'ngt to t.nv
to fur when tlr.t meeting should
co-lie about. And be ended up by
asserting that he bad no w'sli t s -i
s person vvho had done her best
to make him ridiculous.
Yet his cus'.mariV Mendy jn.'-e
quiibenrd a little when he caught
tight of hrr, ore warm and li p d
.even.'ng, on the sloping, tandy
shore of Lake Trovor. She wat kit
ting on a many-antlcrcd p'nc root,
at motionless as a beach bird,
watching the sunset. And she
nteruly smiled Her Mona Lisa
smile as he came and stood before
hrr.
"I've s confession to make," the
said, after a moment 6f silence.
"I dor"' want to bear it," he told
.s
i
r 4 ' ,
' 4 '
i-1 ' 4
r
a. "s ; t - x .&
i
K ..s-.--u
f ' fw'' V
."3 ; r. .
if ., - '
sJir
She was a violator
of the law.
her. almost roughly.
"But I think you ought to know
it," she asserted, w'tii her eyes on
the black fringe of the p:nes that
brought the sunset closer.
"Ought to know what?" he
asked, with an involuntary glance
down at her saddle-black shoes.
"That I've eontribted $50 to the
new bird sanctuary fund," she
cjulctly ar.ounced.
"What prompted you to do
that?" he mquiredi
"You did,' the acknowledged,
turning- her face to him. It im
pressed him as a tingularty lovely
face. And it also repressed him
as an honest r ne at the moment.
Hut he studied it long and earnest
ly, apparcn'ly in sorch for some,
trace of guile.
"1 see )ou siill don't appiove of
me." she finally asserted.
"It's your illlrr.-nt efforts to
makr- me apptar as rid'euloiis as
possible lbt 1 don't approve of,"
he am i 'rd.
"I'm sorry," she said with htr
barnrailcil smile.
" by?" he il,-mandrd.
''I'rcaine I really wan'e I to know
more ahout those things you'f so
interested in. I had toi (t s'e I e
fore .f understin lig." Then she
added w ith just a touch rf color in
hrr cheeks: 1 he saints, you
know, are only the sirrurs iho
kept en trvifii;
lie sat t!tn on the n. in
fi;m of hr,
'I wonder if )u'd actually ht
n tesch you a i- i i, , t ;
I'V kl'iuj nit u!tt ?' h
Hi e'fl Tht Iwi'.ichl wat
ti. rp 114 k l about them l
lmi Ut mil i.4;t rivr l.l.md
hitlrtn r?id
' We i). h S-fcd, WOh
rn, -'.. n rt4y ,f( s. h tw
H I ai hf f s lU Ht'i mt
U n. a,
"On one condition," he laid, with
qu tc unlooked-for grimnest, as he
roe to hit feet.
"What is that?" the liked, fol
lowing bis movement.
He looked at her with an eye
which might at first glance have
been acepted as s host ,.r.r ' ,
it betrayed more of the xmotional
upheavals which were making a
small Vesuvius of hit heart than
lie imagined.
"What it that?" she repeated,
with the last of the laughter gone
from her lips. And they were
adorable tips, he felt, with their
half-poised pout of solemn ty.
"lliat you marry met" was his
abrupt declarat:on. And that ulti
matum teemed to surprise him al
most at much at it must have sur
prised the young woman confront
ing him. It bee-mie, in fart, her
turn to remain rlent for a disturb
ingly prolonged space of time.
"I'm sorry you sa:d that," the
'finally observed.
'Why?" he inquired.
"Because that's something which
Kenneth Fillmore hat just asked me
to dol"
He felt that the bottom had
dropped out of his world, ttut be
did his best to bear up.
"Who's Kenneth I"illmorc?" he
demanded.
"That's the man whose camera
you smashed up the other day,"
she casually explained.
"Then 1 wish I'd smashed more
than the camera," he retorted,
though he laughed a little as he
said it. - "And arc you going to
marry him?"
"That was what I was tlrnking
about as I sat here. Kenneth, you
see, doesn't take life very seri
ously." "While I rather imagine you d
accuse me of taking it too seri
ously," he prompted.
"On the contrary," she quietly
amended, "I'd accuse you of tak
ing yourself too seriously!"
That seemed to give him a great
deal to think over.
"Life with me has been rather a
solemn business," he finally ac
knowledged. The unexpected note
of humility in his voice seemed
to disturb her.
"While with me, obviously, it
hasn't been solemn enough."
"Then we each ought to have
something for the other," he sturdi
ly maintained.
She laughed, but her gray eyes
were as sober as the l:ght above the
black-fringed pinelands.
"I'm afraid we've made a very
. bad beginning," she ventured.
"Then we ought to work hard
for a better ending," he valorous
ly informed her.
Her sigh was an audible one.
"I'm afraid," she observed, "we
still don't understand each other."
"But I want to understand you,"
he found the courage to say.
"I imagine law breakers would
never greatly appeal to you."
He winced at that. But the
mere Jact that he could smile
seemed to imply that she had al
ready shaken a little of the solemn
nity out of hini,.
"I break a few myself," he coun
tered. And she rewarded him with
a smile. It was plain to see that
he was getting on a b:t
"But if I told you I was already
engaged to' Kenneth Fillmore what
would you do?"
"I'd be sorry," he replied.
"Is that all?"
"What else could I do?" he de
manded. "I'm afraid," she said, and her
sigh this time was an inau.lible
one, "that you're much better at
huntmg birds than hunan beings. '
He couldn't quite catch the drift
of her thought But her allusion
to bird hunting brought his none
too happy m'nd bnck to naiure with
him. And he asked her, meekly
enough, if he couldn't hope for at
least one day with her in the open.
She found it necessary to give
this considerable thought.
"Yes." she finally agreed. "You
can take nie canoeing tomorrow
afternoon if you care to."
A load went from h:m at that.
And in his confus'on of impression
he vaguely w'shed that he had
given less time to the study of ear
nivorae and more to that ot wo an.
"That, at least, will be my day!"
he proclaimed.
"Perhaps," she reminded him,
side m 11 eyed, "the fast one!"
And that small speech magnified
the cloud hovering along the hor
izon of his happiii-s.
"How ahout young Fillmore?"
he inquired, extiactmg a wavward
relish from what impressed h'tn
at an adjective of intrrrogtt on.
"D vou want to take him with
you?" she akrd with her ra'gma'ie
smile.
"Ni t much!" retorted the dour
eyed Coiiive.
"then we'll have to take the law
in our own hands, won t w?" she
! with ht un. ru'a'de snit'l
fai.Kh as shr ti.ire.i himewjid
al.'Bii the luu p..tf J in J(M ,
whwh. Id Ukt wttl on lisping
t wi n't.
t"o4f I (Ivtjj Wl
that ngM He f 1 . 1 ,
lVi ' ,. Wi il
mi I y t . n 1
h .til i,f Ht Jt s.i t
close. And be seemed uuaOle, at
he lay holding post mortem on hit
lost and wasted lie, to cope with an
emergency which called for chr
scterist'rs which he did not pos
sess. For it appeared to be only
Ion true w hat 1 aro na Herder had
said. Hr had spent more time in
studying the ground squirrel and
the ihoiebird than he had in unity,
ing men and wo men. I'.specially
wsnncn. And the bewildering light
that could come and go in a wo
fi'an't eyet. And especially when
they were gry ryet, the un
fathomable gray of woodland val
leyt and wind-stirred waters. Wo
men, in fait, bad always remaned
an eni! na to hirt. He had alwayi
taken th-" ' --'n'y. And now
he longed shove everything
e'se to win 1. 1 11 i.ience of one
particular wo nan, to understand
her moods a d the mot'ves behind
her over-paradoxical move-nents,
he mrrely n'.imi lated her with hit
tincotithness and antapotiicd her
with Irs ft-' t)
That he d'd long to win Caroma
Reder's confidence became only
too self-evident as he made fcr
eo't' for' able in the bow of hit tlen-rler-boH
ed I ake Nice canoe and
pushed off from the shore. Rut
it wat more than her confidence
he wanted, he rea'ized as he headed
for Thnr island, ly'ng low on the
watcr-riflled filer, a good seven
miles away. He knew then that
e j' 'ed the woman himself. He
wanted her so badly that he could
th'nk of nothing more desirable
than to merely keep on pad lling,
to ke'-p on with her into never
ending waterways until all the rest
of the world was left 'jch'nd them.
"I think I like you . best this
way," she said as she watched his
sinewed brown rim scud the
tilled canoe alon the hooker-green
surface of the lake.
"Why," he asked as he noted
the odd mixture of gold and 111a
hotrany in her hair.
"I!e--a'" vou '-r,k masterful,"
she tol l him. "And women like
niasten,.! i.xn."
That, like so many of her little
speeches, gave him a great deal to
think about It also revived in
him the impulse to keep on pad
dling into the ever-receding dis
tances. Hut instead of diong so they
lan Jed on the desolation of Thor
island, where he beached the canoe
and lifted out the caref'-'lv-packed
supper things, after wh he took
her scrambling over rocks and
briars and reedpy swales and
showed her one of his precious
wood duck nests.
She knelt beside him as he lifted
away the screening litter of sticks
and twigs and showed her the pro
tective down plucked from the
mother bird's breast and the wsrm
eggs beneath it, explaining how
that covering of down could keep
the eggs from ch'lllng for a whole
day, if need be, should the mother
duck be driven away from her
nest Then he adjusted his binocu
lars and let her stu 1y the grebes
and divers and sandpipers at long
ra"pe, and led her to a rcdiflng
blackbird's nest filled with its
clamorous young, over which the
wondering girl emitted little cries
of delight And they wandered
about the desolate little island un
til the sun began to slope down
toward the west and Cosgrave
awakened to the much more deso
late d;scovery that his day was
slipping away.
So he found a sheltered spot and
gathered what wood he could and
left her to fed the fire while he
went h.cV to the canoe for the sup
per things.
He went with a heavy heart,
glaticinsr morosely back at the vital
young firrurc "bent over the sniok
inr campfire. He walked dourly
and deliberately to the li'tle cove
where the canoe hid been reached,
stooping still again to look back
snd maVieg note of the fact that
the cirl's stooping body was no
longer in sinht. Then, after a mo
ment f grim silence, he did nn
unaccountable and inexcusable
thing. He slid the canoe slowlv
('own into the watr, let it float
there for a second or two, and
pc'':ed it out on the lake.
It drilled away in a languid half
circV, veered about again, and felt
the i rpul e of the gentle offshore
breere. Then it moved less 1 tn
gui.My. fly the t ue he had g'h
errd tin , ramo blanket and si I
let and hcij hatchet and hamper t
provisions it wit a good 50 yards
awav. hearing for the oren lake.
Hall wav bnck to hit et'i ' r
he stopped and looked again. Hv
this time it had doubled its d .
tsiic from the rove, standing I
in the water and getting the , ('
elfi-el ff the breeie. Anil he k
Mr-,.
thil it wat gone (or good.
''hrr w:it a print wat t
't rf his , a be n cr 1 1
rii t title the br H
in l td, u- her ti Wk up i. '
swt-rn him with a qsiick g'.t .
iiii'iii ( i,n,
'Wt re.;" St ,Jll
t-tf" h temoortjf.l a, V
i.i.iw.t is put mew i. on 1
jr.
"Yon .k , tv.Vmri," tht I,!
het'trd' uif t
T 'u, il. .tree t how hu.
Iw4mm4 m t4 tuMI