m a solid recognized part of her existence; if not exactly a father, an uncle at the very least. Calvin realized that she would be profoundly shocked by any abrupt revelation of his feeling. Ye

ough. Before he was aware, the summer had gone, the mountains were sheeted

f new sections; sawmills and camps were in course of erection; and what had been a still green cleft in the mountains was filled with human activity. He had secured an advant

toms and institutions. He sang in a resounding barytone with the Methodist Church choir; his dignified bearing gave weight to the school board; and he acc

e was too solemn-an opinion with which Calvin privately agreed-and made an irreverent play on his name and the place he should occupy in the church. It seemed that she fo

ptly: "Lucy and I are p

an intimation of his peculiar qualifications for matrimony, the incontrovertible fact that he could and would

mmeasurable rage, almost shouted

h that. But you look as if I had offered to disgrace her. Why, Mr. Stammark, you can't keep her forever. I reckon it'll be hard on you to have her go, but you must make up your mind t

remembered his delight and pride as it had approached completion; he remembered the evening, nearly twenty years ago, when he had sat on the bank ac

is. The cattle moved vaguely in the gloom, with softly blowing nostrils, and the streams were like smooth d

t twenty more years had been added to him since supper. He wondered whether there had ever been another man who had lost

Ettie, and there was a general dis

reason. Of course, he silently argued, the girl could not be expected to show her love for Wilmer publicly

n was coming from Washington to see him in the interest of a new practically permanent fencing,

ashing ring-a broad gold band set with a mystic symbol in rubies and diamonds. After his supper at the hotel he walked, following

stache cut above his lip, and closely shaved ruddy cheeks with a tinge of purple about his ears. Drawing out his monologue entertainingly he gazed repeatedly at Lucy. Calvin lost the sense of most that the oth