The Maid of the Whispering Hills

rchandise went down, carried on the backs of the braves, guns and blankets and many a foot of Spencer's Twist at one beaver a foot, powd

d the blueberry bushes were tossing soft heads of foam, while many a tree of the big woods gave forth a breath of spice. It came in at the door and the young factor raised his head many times a day to drink its swee

ith each breath of wind, of him and the blundering gift he had carried to her door? What had she done

er swinging down toward the well he felt the blood leap in his veins. The very shine

ingdom had brought

had seen, first a glow in a man's eyes and then a gift in his hand, and she fingered a small, flat blade that hung in her sash with one han

at white garment spread ou

t in her teeth, "know you the charm which that doctress of the Crees gave to

ully, "a man again! Who

now of one who sickens inwardly

r they went," Tessa laughed. "I know not the charm. But it was good, for

h a gesture of dis

, the Assiniboine rippled and whispered along its shores and over the illimita

that clutched at the sunbeams, dogs slept in the cool shadows of t

, cool and sane and tolerant, roving over the settlement lolling so quietly in the sun. "After the trail the rest is good, and yet I will

s from thought of love to that of these wild lands, to the mystery of the Whispering Hills that lie, the good God knows where, i

e heart and her whole-soul

t? Still the stir of conquest within her bosom, hush the call of that glorious cou

t is that undaunted faith, that steadfast purpose, that white fire in her face which holds at her heels the whole of us, that turns to her

the cabins, and there was

ready for the trail the coming

the stockade gate, traversed slowly the length of the Indian camp, stopping here and there to hold out a hand to a frightened pappoose peeking from behi

oy saw her go and the call of the

epped off the long log step

-bounding, while the half-holy mysticism that came from the Sco

body leaped at thought of speech with her, and yet ag

pushing toward victory,

beneath their canopy of young green, and he looked eagerly here and

nd presently it turned deeper into the great woods and he swung forward i

creature of the open ways, and a full hour wen

glory, for with every passing second Anders McElroy was learning that nowhere in all the world

ides her brown arms hung, palms out in an utter abandon of pleasure, while her lifted face, with its closed eyes, communed with the very Spirit of the Wild. Like some priestess she was, and McElroy felt an odd sensation of unworthiness sweep over him as he

f the so common evils of the settlement. Within him there was that which thanked its Maker unashamed that he had kept himself from one

oft grass, so far was she on her well-worn trail of dreams, until he stood

ht head bared to the dancing sun-spots, his blue eyes sober and touc

ttle startled breath, for this woman was

ce, so deep and full of those sliding minors, McElroy

" he said, "

rds of love were on his tongue and the wid

ain were grown hateful to me in these warm days with the scent of flower and leaf and heated mould coming in at the door and bi

r eyes, that little flame that flickered and le

; "you love it too, t

most t

pple of distant streams, the wind in the pines that have n

e great smooth-barked tree

ietly, "what sent me to De Seviere, what hold me

Then you know why I come to the woods, why I grieve that the spring is p

aving tumult, the wide eyes, so calm, so cool, had filled firs

t country which lies far to the west and which th

d knolls that stud the region,-a land of waving trees, of high coolness, or rich valleys thick with rank grasses and abounding with the pelt animals. It is the count

leaping streams,-I have breathed the sweet air of its forests and gazed on its beauties since my early childhood, in dreams, always in dreams, M'sieu, until I could bear the s

tasy shot to the man's heart, so near she seemed in the suddenly created sympathy of

art, Ma'amselle, every longing of your spirit, every pure thought of your mind,-for these ma

a stranger, that he had quaked at his temerity of the gift, forgot all but that she leaned toward him with the mis

em until the eager face lay on his breast, the smooth

man, tightly against his beating heart as though he would defy the world, lost in

his whirling brain, a very embodiment of startled

sie

herself free and lifted

a warri

d with each panting breath that left his lips, for it was from him that it took its life. Her red mouth dropped apart, showing the gleam of the white teeth between. She

he stammere

ck to his heart again, for it held no anger. Instead it wa

at new courage he put both hands on her shoulders and drew her

he meaning of what he was about to do, he drooped

him, unconsciously perhaps, to the path along the river's bank, that had

from this day forth you are mine. Mine only and again

his own, and his soul was big within him. He was still very much a boy,

touched him until she, as deliberately as he had acted,

stic, and turning she walked away down the glen toward the river bank, the little spots of sun dancing on her black head like a leopard's gold as she pa