The White Desert

is manner tense, excited. Through sheer determination, Barry forced

er. But if you don't-Ba'tiste, how much of it d

ese no lie. You look like my Pierre-you help

that hurts in telling. And at least, I can give you m

e tragic story of Pierre and Julienne had furthered the merest chance acquaintance into what seemed the beginning, at least, of closest friendship. Houston had known Ba'tiste for only a matter of a few hours,-yet it seemed months since he first had looked upon the funny little blue cap and screaming red shirt of the Canadian; and it was evident that Renaud had felt the same reaction. Barry Houston, to this great, lonely man of the hills, looked like a son who was gone, a son who had grown tall and straight and good to look upon a son upon whom the ol

ell. I like you-I not ask. You look like my Pierre-who could do no wrong

ars," came quietly. "I think I've got plenty

no g

hy

teese no like. He have habit nev' talkin' about himself-he ask you question an' tell you nothing.

y la

s a sore spot wi

ve to her. She would have marry him. And to have M'sieu Thayer take his

's pretty,

you mak

on the bed s

e for love. There's a girl back East who says she cares for me, and who simply has taken it for granted that I think the same way about her. She stood by me-in some trouble. Out of every one, she didn't believe what they said about me. That means a lot. Some way, she isn't my kind;

ste s

aucoup. But don' marry 'em unless 'you love 'em. Ba'teese, he k

ou except this: I got in some trouble. I'd rather not tell you what it was. It

was it yo

e had been embittered then. He left a will-with stipulations. I was to have the land he owned out here at Empire Lake; and the flume site leadi

daine Ro

ly? Is

twenty-one.

s of dislike and distrust and suspicion to get business-why I can't get it! Something or some one is blocking me, and I'm going to find out what and who it is! I think I know one man-Thayer. But there may be more. That's why I'm playing this game of lost identity. I thought I could get out here and nose around without him knowing it. When he found out at once who I was, and seemed to have had a previous tip that I was coming out here, I had to think fast and take the first scheme that popped into my head. Maybe if I can play the game long enough, it will take him off his guard and cause him to work more in the open. They may give me a chance to know where I stand. And I've got to know that, Ba'tiste. Because-" and his voice was vibrant with determination, "I do

oot of the bed. "My Pierre-he would talk l

away from the big wheel, can allow one to strike at just the wrong moment and let the saw pick it up and drive it through the boiler, laying up the whole plant for three weeks. I want to know why it is that only about one out of three contracts I land ar

tend to fin

ive me a good deal of information; I came out here, at least, in the hope that it

w petite! Eet is about the size

time when the ope

nd he leave open the door. If ee

"I think I'll be able to get up to-morrow. Maybe I ca

erent things, and now he was quite content to rest there in the May sunshine, to watch the chattering magpies as they went about the work of spring house-building, to study the col

alone with the beauties of spring in the hills, with the soft call of the meadow lark in the bit of greenery which fringed the

given the information that he was going West on a bit of a vacation. He had deliberately chosen to come in his car, so that there might be every indication, should there be such a thing as a spy in his rather diminut

f nothing more. But-and he drew a sheet of yellow paper from his pocket and stared hard at it-there was something else, something which had aroused his curiosity to an extent of suspicion, so

down the steep side of an embankment, then slowed as she came to a walk again. A bow-legged creature he was, with ill-fitting clothing and a broad "two-gallon" hat which evidently had been bequeathed to him by some cow-puncher, long hair which straggled over his shoulders, and a beaded vest which shone out beneath the scraggly outer coat like a candle on a dar

h strewed the small stretch of flat before the rise began, leading to where he rested. More like some graceful, agile boy was she than a girl. Her clothing was of that type which has all too soon taken the place of the buckskin in the West,-a riding habit, with stout little shoes and leather puttees; her ha

he's bringin

slightly from the exertion of the climb, the natural fl

en with a glance toward the great cluster of wild roses in

great as hers. "If-if it'll do any g

ought you were reall

me for you to go out and pick all those and the

e. "I didn't pick them. Lost Wing"-she pointed to the skulking, outlandishly dressed Indian in the background-"attended t

t I keep them just the same-to

disappointed that he wasn't at the point of death,

king them up I think, for the sum

know." Then the blue eyes lost their diffidence t

time!" spoke Barry truthfully. "I'm out of

across-army nursing-I saw a lot of just such cases as yours.

d hand had waved the flowers for emphasis and absently gripped the stems. The wild roses fluttered to th

and laid them gingerly aside. "You

rm's b

She debated a moment, at last to shake her head. "No-he'd want to dig them out with

countered and she sat be

like a fort

in my palm b

Ba'tiste evidently is

s pretty grimy. I-I didn't know," and Barry gri

w strands of hair which strayed from beneath the boyish cap, the healthy glow of her complexion, the smallness of the clear-skinned hands, the daintiness of the trim little figure. Much rather would he be silent with the picture than striving for answers to questions that in their very na?veness were an accusation. Quite suddenly Barry felt cheap and mean and dishonest

live o

s just over the hill-you can just see one

y st

couldn't be sure. I thought I understood Ba'tis

ing to school. Now I stay

it lo

ollow of your arm in the winter? Besides, there's old Lost Wing and his squaw, you know. I get a lot of enjoyment out of them when we're snowed

s all ab

r he could stand pain, then pressed a recalcitrant thorn into a position where it could be extracted. "I think the best

isn't h

d grunts and nods and wails at the right time, and it's really entertaining. They're about a million years old, both of them. My father got them when he first came do

that practically all of the f

xt year," came si

ped and

told me. T

d keep anythin

ut that? I'm twen

You don't

to rub the two-days' growth on his face. "I tried to shave this morning. Couldn't make it. Ba'ti

nd once more pursued

ow there'll be

so you'll have to pull 'em out." Then serious

a sort of a guardian. He knew my father. But let's talk about yourself. You seem remarkably

like a momentary thing. Every once in a while I get a flash as though it were

an your

crazy, or anything

don't know you, so I have nothing to go by. But

ppeared. Barry Houston sat for a long time, visualizing her there on the brow of the hill, her head with its long-visored cap tilted, her hand upraised, her trimness and her beauty silhouetted against the opalesque sky, dreaming,-and with a bit of heartache in it. For th

s. If a home should ever come to him, it must be in company with some one to whom he owed the gratitude of friendship in time of need; not lov

abs of the cabin. He closed h

, "there's no harm i