The Girl from Keller's

dious on the high Western plains, where the frost is often Arctic and little work can be done, and after sitting by the red-hot stove through the dar

ter a week or two, during which the prairie trails are impassable, the ble

land. Sandhills mark the summits, but the slopes are checkered with birches and poplars, and creeks of clear water flow through the hollows in the shadow of thick bluffs. There are many ponds, and here and there

dly fronted the prairie. A few had shallow verandas that relieved their bareness, but the rest were frankly ugly, and in some the front was carried up level with the roof-ri

. He enjoyed a game of pool, and to sit on the hotel veranda, bantering the loungers, was a pleasant change from driving the plow or plodding through the dust that rolled about the harrows. For all that, he knitted his brows as his light wagon lurched past the Chinese laundry and the po

of tin wash-basins stood on a shelf. Dirty towels were scattered about, and the boarded floor was splashed. The veranda, on to which the hall opened, was strewn with cigar-ends and

fine white shirt rolled up came out. He as rather an old man and his m

n! The others have pulled ou

f meaning. "Didn't want to join the procession and th

he understood, and then asked:

th an effort; and Keller, going

were black, the latter marked by a rather hard sparkle; her nose was prominent and her mouth firm. Her face was colorless, but her skin had the c

gotten to come, Bob,"

t to have known me better," Charnock

things," she resumed

ides, if you really thought I had

know I'm no

you're angry everybody i

s subject to fits of rage. Reserve was not among her virtues, and Charnock's languid carelessness sometimes attracted and somet

e horses trotted across the grass beside the torn-up trail: "You ke

l, you see, I li

be paid for,"

ow. Then I've given up trying to make the farm pay. When

r of the young farmers who dealt at the store and frequented the hotel did so for her sake, and she was willing to extend her father's trade. In fact, she helped to manage both businesses as cleverly as she managed the customers. Her charm was largely physical, but she used it with caution. One m

North in a straggling wedge. Sandhills gleamed on the ridges, tall cranes stalked about the hollows, and when the team, laboring through the loose soil, crossed an elevation one could see the plain roll back into the far distance. It was

ad begun to spread across the withered grass and small flowers like crocuses were pushing through. The freshness and hint of returning life reacted on Charnock, and stirred his blood when he glan

at was best in life; for tender romances, and sweetness, and high purpose. Helen had gracious qualities he had once half-reverently admired. She loved pictures and books and music, and was marked by a calm serenity that was very differen

arked at length. "Guess you must

s and very rude. However, I won't thin

of yours. You

harnock admitted. "Anyhow, to-day

eam among the woods ahead. Charnock skirted the trees and pulled up where a number of picketed teams and rigs stood near the water's edge. Fart

ow melts in spring and the reflections of the birches quiver on the smooth belt along its windward edge. Farther out, the shadows of flying clouds chase each other across t

d away. The fire, round which the others sat, was out of sight, and the rustle of the tossing birches emphasized the qu

g to do about your

on't see why I should bo

want to put the thing of

resignation. "Very well! I expect I

don't think you could. There are

t you're not flattering," Ch

s you laugh when you ought to set your lips a

ught me low. If I hadn't spent my money trying to br

more time to loaf ab

n't come to the settlement, I wouldn't have seen y

Sadie's face, but her thou

he mortgage held over; but it wouldn't have been much use. You'd have started again and then got tire

rnock admitted. "But I hope

supposed she meant she could have persuaded her father to come to his help, and it

e settlement as soon as the railroad's opened, and I and the old man can hardly manage the store and hote

ld. He could not carry on his rapidly extending business much longer, and Ch

'm fit for the

do it if

in the plan. You keep the books, I think. It's very nice in the little back office

d her, he had but to ask, and it was not on this account he hesitated. He thought of a creeper-covered house in England; a house that had an air of quiet dignity. He remembered the old silver, the flowers in the shady rooms, and the pictures. The girl who moved about the rooms

not see her face; she was slipping into his arms, and then, in the moment of surrender, he felt her body stiffen. She put her hands on his shoulder and pushed him back; the canoe lurched and

that again

of attraction, but it was obvious that she was angry. It looked as if he had chosen th

sly as he could. "You nearly

t I meant to do," s

out. Suppose I ought to say I'm sorry; but I'm

on't understand at all

ething new and he thought she could not keep it up. If she did not break out in passionate ange

hrow it in the lake! Do you thin

a matter of fact, I haven't kissed yo

ted and then fixed him wi

u want things for nothing; they must be given, where other men would

ended her, she could have rebuked him with a l

course, I was wrong, but I'll try not to v

the others as qu

r now and then, but she gave no sign of relenting; her face was whiter than usual and her look was strained. Getting angry, he drove the canoe down the lake wi

th your hands until you pick

t she was silent and calmly watched his clumsy efforts. He was glad when they reached the beach where the others were and he helped her out. An hour or two

s up and be friend

glance. "Not now. It looks a

about what she meant and had been rather surprised by the pride she had shown. S