God's Country-And the Woman

rapturous moment he had felt the pressure of her arms about his shoulders; in the blue depths of her eyes he had caught the flash of wonderment and disbelief, and then th

t his breast he kissed her lips agai

p," she panted, straining against h

ite. Her eyes were still on the verge of fear, and as the steps came nearer he brushed back the warm masses of her hair and whispered for the twe

and in whose eyes as they met Philip's there was a wild and half-savage inquiry. Such a man Philip had not expected to see; awesome in his bulk, a Thorlike god of the fores

ce of Jean Jacques Croisset. In a flash it had come and gone. In that flash the half-breed's eyes had met Philip's, and in them was a look that made the latter take a quick step forward. His impulse was to pass John Adare and confront Jean in the hall. He held himself back, and looked at Josephine and he

g her away from me the way you did. I have contemplated disliking you, quite seriously, too. But you're not the sort of looking chap I thought you'd be with t

situation so completely. She had feared that there would be some betrayal in voice or action. But he was completely master of himself, and the colour in her face deepened beautifully. Before this moment she had not wholly perceiv

clasping hand, and in that space, brief as it was, she saw that they measured each other as completely as man ever measured man; and that it was not satisfaction alone, but something deeper and more wonderful to her, that began to show in their faces. It was as if they ha

h other," she cried softly. "I kn

houlder. Her eyes turned directly to him, and he alone saw the swift ebbing of the joyous light from

ne." He looked at Philip again. "Paul,

ected Josephine. "I like

s eyes. "I am almost afraid to keep my promise to Jo

re must have been one other promise, that you would never take my

utside of my Josephine's world there is nothing

day when there'd be half a dozen babies under my feet. I-" His huge frame suddenly stiffened.

urtained bed. As her father moved toward it she went to the door, but no

after him." With a swift glance in her father's direction she whispered still lower: "He knows nothing about you, so

ip heard a deep breath. When he came to the other's si

dn't wake 'im," he was whisperin

his eyes on the baby, and sat down, his huge, bent shoulders doubled over the edge of the bed, his hands h

sed littl

woman's. There was something awesome in its animal strength and its tenderness. He seized o

's a boy?" he a

lied Philip. "We'

e touched the end of a big forefinger to one of the baby's tiny fists. The little fingers opened, and then they closed tightly abou

is Jose

mother," re

or I'll yell. I've got to hear the little beggar talk." As Philip turned toward the

lip quickly, and before Adare could argue

ng-room was partly ajar, and he looked in. The room was empty. For a few moments he stood silent. From the size and shape of the building whose out

ruck him as singular that she had not accompanied her husband to Josephine's room, and his curiosity was still further aroused by the girl's apparent indifference to this fact. Jean Croisset and the mistress of Adare

y for him to locate the sound. He moved across to the other door, and hesitated. He had already disobeyed Josephine's injunction to remain with her father. Should he take a further advantage by obeying John Adare's command to bring his wife and daughter? A strange and subdued excitement was stirring him. Sin

For several moments he waited, holding his breath. Then he heard

low voice. "Your father sent me for you and your mo

t a hand to him. He was

he said. "I want you

glowing coils of hair crowning her head-but darker. She turned toward him, and he was still more amazed by this resemblance. And yet it was a resemblance which he could not at first define. Her eyes were very dark instead of blue. Her heavy hair, drawn smooth

e canoe. Home-coming had not brought her happiness. Her face was colourless, her cheeks slightly hollowed, in her eyes he saw now the lustreless glow which

this is

l and cold. Her voice, too, wa

said. "I am almost ill. But I am glad now that you jo

He says that you must come and wake him. I doubt i

ine!" He went directly to his wife, and his voice was filled with an infinite tenderness as he slipped an arm about her and caressed her smooth hair with one of his big hands. "You'r

Miriam's lips trembled in a smile as she gazed up at her husband. In her eyes shone a responsive gentleness; and then Philip turned to find Josephine looking at him from the door, her lips drawn in a straight, tense line, her face as white as the bit of lace at her

s I think it is too beautiful to be true. And now that you have met them I am going to ask yo

f as Adare and his wif

ow?" he

irectly to her father: "You will excuse Philip, won't you, Mon Pere? I will go wit

k hands wi

breakfast with me? I'm afraid that if you wait for Miriam and Mignonne

declared Philip. "Will you knock

caught himself suddenly as he l

"Your rooms at the two ends of the house already! That was never t

the light to hide the wild rush of blood to her fa

rves," rejoined her father.

ght!" sa

or had he seen her start-almost as if for an instant she had been threatened by a blow? Was it imagination, or had he in that same instant caught a sudden look of alarm, of terror, in

an's love and happiness, his worship of the woman who was his wife, his ecstasy over the baby, his affection for Josephine, and it seemed to him that he KNEW this man now. The few moments he had stood in the room with moth

id not dare to tell himself that it was possible that she was NOT the mother of the child which she had told him was her own. And yet he could not kill the whispering doubt deep back in his

been painted by a blind man. In her he had embodied all that he had ever dreamed of as pure and beautiful in a woman, and the thought came now. Had Josep

e of the whispering doubt. He felt that he could not sleep until he had seen Josephine alone. In her room John Adare had interrupted them a minute too soon. In spite

ad unlocked the chains of her bondage. If she had told him the truth-if this were what separated them-she belonged to him;

s, he opened the