THE FULTON COUNTY NEWS, McCONNELLSBURO, PA. i' -- North of Fifty-Three BY BERTRAND W. SINCLAIR (Copyright: Little, Rrown & Co.) Ill HAZEL PASSES WINTER IN THE WILDS WITHOUT SIGHT OF ANY WHITE PERSON OTHER THAN "ROARING BILL" Synopsis. .Miss Hazel Weir Is employed us u sd iiotfrupher In tin? oflice of Iliirrlnlim & Hush lit inmvlllc, Ontario. She Is fti:m'l to Jack Harrow, 11 youti real estate uxont. Mr. I'.ush, Hazel's employer, suddenly notices her nl trm-tlvi'iicss :unl nt unci' makes her his private KtciMiunipliiT. AfiiT three months I'.ush proposes niarriiiKC. Hazel refuses, anil iiI'Iit u stormy scene, In which Hush warns her he will make her sorry for her act ion. Ilar.el 1i-iivi-s the olllee, never to return. Shortly lifter this I'.ush Is thrown from his horse u lid killed, l'ubllcii tloll i if his will discloses that he left lla.el $."i,(M)ft In "reimratlon for liny wroiitf I may have done her." .lark Harrow, in a jealous nik'e, deuiiinds tin explanation, and lla.el, her pride hurt, refuses. Hazel's ciiuiiceinciit Is hrokeii ami, to esciipe from her surrounding's, she He cures it position iis schoolteacher at Caribou Meadows, In a wild part of r.iltlsh Columbia. There, at a bourdlni,' house, she first sees "Konrlnj; I'.IH" WnKstaff, n well-known character of that country. Soon after her arrival Hazel loses hi r way while walking in the woods. She wanders until nl'lit when she reaches "KoarltiK Hill's" camp fire In the woods. He promises to take her home in the morning, hut she Is compelled to spend the nli.'ht l.'i the woods. After wandering' In the woods all the next day, "Koarlir,' I'.lll" finally admits that he Is taking Hazel to his ci;hln hi the mountains. Hazel finds upon their arrival at the cabin that she cannot hope to escape from the wilderness hi fore spring. CHAPTER VI. Continued. Tint within the cabin they wore stiui? mid warm, mil's ax kept the woodpile hUh. The two fireplaces shone red the twenty-four hours through. Of flour, tea, colTec, sugar, beans and such Muff as could only be gotten from the nutsldo he had n plentiful supply. Po tatoes and certain vegetables that he had grown In n cultivated patch behind the cabin were stored In n deep cellar, lie could always sully forth and get rneut. And the Ice was no bur to fish ing, for he would cut n hole, sink a small net, and decure overnight a week's supply of trout and whiteflsh. Thus their material wants were pro Tided for. As time passed Hazel gradually shook off a measure of her depression, thrust her uneasiness and resentment, Bill's Ax Kept the Woodpile High. Into the background. As n matter of fact, she resigned herself to getting through the winter, since that was In evitable. She fell Into the way of do ing little things about the house, find ing speedily that time flew when she busied herself at some task In the In tervals of delving In Uoarlng Kill's Jbrnry. on one of these days Hazel came Into he kitchen and found Hill piling tow rls, napkin, and a great quantity of other soiled articles on an outspread tablecloth. "Well," she Inquired, "what are you going to do with those?" '"Fake 'em to the laundry," he laughed, "Collect your dirty duds, and bring them forth." "Laundry!" Hazel echoed. It seemed rather a'far-fetched Joke. "Sure! You don't suppose we can pet along forever without having things washed, do you?" he replied. "I don't mind housework, but I do draw the line at a laundry Job when I don't have to do It. tio on get your clothes." So she brought out her accumulation of garments, uud laid them on the pile Hi 1 1 tied up the four corners of the tablecloth. ".Now," saiil he, "let's see If we can't fit you out for a more or less extended walk. You slay In the house altogether too much these days. That's bad busi ness. Nothii'g like exercise ii the Iresh air." Thus in a few minute's Hazel fared forth, wrapped In Hill's fur eon I, a llap earcd cap on her head, and on her feet several pairs of stockings Inside tunc vastus that I'.lll had procured from fimii! mysterious source a day or two before. The day was sunny, albeit the air was hazy with multitudes of Hunting frost particles, and the tramp through the forest speedily brought the roses buck to her cheeks. Hill curried the bundle of linen on Ms back, and trudged steadily through the woods. Hut the riddle of his desti nation was soon r 1 to her, for a two mile walk brought them out on the shore of a fiilr-nlzed lake, on the fur ther side of widch loomed the. conical lodges of an Indian camp. "You Hiibe now?" said he as they crossed the Ice. "This bunch generally comes in here about this time, and stays till spring. I get the squaws to wash for me. Kver see Mr. Indian on hlti native heath?" Hazel never had, and she was duly Interested, even if a trifle shy of the . red brother who stared so fixedly. She entered a lodge with Hill, and listened to him make laundry arrangements In brokea English with n withered old beldame whose features resembled a hvr bat had Lung overlong In the smokehouse. Two or three blanketed bucks squatted by the fire that sent Its blue smoke streaming out the apes of the lodge. "Heap fine squaw!" one suddenly ad dressed Hill. "Where you ketchum?" Illll laughed nt Hazel's confusion. "Away off." He gestured southward, ntnl the Indian grunted some unintel ligible remark In his own tongue at which Itoarlng Hill laughed again. Hefore they started home Hill suc ceeded in purchasing, after much talk, a pair of moccasins that Hazel con ceded to be a work of nrt, what with the dainty pattern of beads and the ornamentation of colored porcupine quills.- Her feminine soul could not cavil when Hill thrust them in the pocket of her coat, even If her mind was set against accepting uny peace tokens at ills hands. In the Hearing sunset they went home through the frost-bitten woods, where the snow crunched and squeaked under their feet, and the branches broke off with pistol-like snap when they were bent aside. A hundred yards from the cabin Hill challenged her for a race. She refused to run, and he picked her up bodily, anil ran with her to the very door. He held her a second hefore he set her down, and Hazel's face whitened. She could feel Ids breath on her cheek, and she could feel his arms quiver, and the rapid bent of his heart. For an instant she thought Itoarlng Hill WngstafT was about to make the colossal .mistake of trying to kiss her. Hut he set her gently on her feet and opened the door. And by the time he had his outer clothes off and the fires started up he was talking whimsically about their Indian neighbors, and Ha zel breathed more freely. The clear est Impression that she hail, nslde from her brief 'panic, was of his strength. He hud run with her as easily as if she had been a child. After that they went out tunny times together. P.lll took her huntlirg. Initi ated her Into the mysteries of rifle shooting, and the manipulation of a six-shooter. He tnught her to walk on snowshoes, lightly over the surface of the crusted snow, through which other wise she floundered. A sort of truce arose between them, and the days drift ed by without untoward Incident. Hill tended to his horses, chopped wood, carried water. She took upon herself the care of the house. And through the long evenings, in default of conver sation, they would sit with a book on either Side of the fireplace that roared defiance to the storm gods without. And sometimes Hazel would find her self wondering why Untiring I'.lll Wag staff could not have come Into her life In n different manner. As It was she never, never would forgive him. CHAPTER VII. The Firet of Spring. There came a day when the metallic brilliancy went out of the sky, and It became softly, mistily blue. All that forenoon Hazel prowled restlessly out of doors without cap or coat. There was a new feel In the air. The deep winter snow had suddenly lost Its harshness. Toward evening a mild breeze fresh ened from the southwest. At ten o'clock a gale whooped riotously through the trees. And at midnight Hazel wakened to u sound that she had not heard In months. She rose and groped her way to the window. The encrusting frost had vanished from the panes. They were wet to the touch of her fingers. She unhooked (lie fastening, and swung the window out. A great gust of damp, warm wind blew strands of hair across her face. She leaned through the case ment, and drops of cold water struck her bare neck. That which she had heard was the dripping caves. The chlnook wind droned Its spring song, and the bare boughs of the tree beside the cabin waved and creaked the time. At dawn the caves had ceased their drip, and the dirt roof lay bare to the cloud-banked Rky. From the southwest the wind still blew strong and warm. The thick winter garment of the earth softened to slush, and vanished with amazing swiftness. Streums of wnter poured down every depression. Pools stood between the house and stable. Spring had leaped strong-armed upon old Winter and vanquished him at the first onslaught. All that day the chlnook blew, work ing Its magic upon the land. When day broke again with a clearing sky, and the sun peered between the cloud rifts, his beams fell upon vaRt areas of brown uud green, where but forty-eight hours gone there was the cold revelry of frost sprites upon fur-flung fields of snow. Patches of earth steamed wherever n hillside lay bare to the sun. From some mysterious distance a lone crow winged his way, and, perching on a nearby trectop, cawed raucous greet ing. Hazel cleared away the breakfast things, and stood looking out the kitch en window. Hearing Hill sat on n log, shirt-sleeved, smoking his pipe. Pres ently ho went over to the stable, led out his horses, and gave them their lib erty. For twenty minutes or so he stood watching their mad capers as they ran and leaped nnd pranced back and forth over the clearing. Then he walked off Into the timber, his rille over his shoulder. Hazel washed her dishes and went outside. She did not know why, but all at once n terrible feeling of utter forlornness seized her. It was spring and also It was spring In other lands. The wilderness suddenly took on the characteristics of a prison, In which she was sentenced to solitary confine ment. She rebelled against it, rebelled against hi r surroundings, against the manner of her being there, against everything. She hated the North, she wished to bo one from It, and most of all she hated Hill Wagstaff for con straining her presence there. All the heaviness of heart, all the re sentment she had felt In the first few days when she followed him perforce away from Cariboo Meadows, came back to her with redoubled force that afternoon. She went back Into the house, now gloomy without n fire, slumped forlornly Into a chair, and cr! -d herself Into n-condltlon approach In'.' hysteria. And she was sitting there, her head bowed on her hands, when Hill returned from his hunting. The sun sent a shaft through the south window, a shaft which rested on her Ttrmrlnir Hill walked slowly up behind her and put his hand" on her shoulder. "What is It, little person?" he asked gently. She refused to answer. "Say," he bent a little lower, "you know what the Tentmuker said : "Come nil the cup, and in tho Are of mirlni? Tour winter Rnrment of repentance fllns; Ti, tiirii nf Time hug hut a little wny To flutter-and the Bird Is on the wins." "Life's too short to waste any of It In being uselessly miserable! Come on out and go for a ride on Silk. I'll take you up a mountainside, and show you a waterfall that leaps three hundred feet In the clear. The woods are wak ing up und putting on their F.aster bon nets. There's beauty everywhere. Come along!" Hut she wrenched herself away from him. "I want to go homer she walled. "I hate you and the North, and every thing in It. If you've got a spark of manhood left in you, you'll take me out of her-." Koai.ng Hill backed away from her. "Do you mean that? Honest Injun?" lie usked Incredulously. "I do I do!" she cried vehemently. "Haven't I told you often enough? I didn't come here willingly, nnd I won't stay. I will not! I have a right to live my life in my own way, and it's not this way." "So," Itoarlng Hill began evenly, "springtime with you only means get ting back to work. You want to get back into the muddled rush of peopled places, do you? You want to be where you can associate with fluffy-ruflle, pompadoured girls, and be properly in' trodueed to equally proper young men Lord, but I seem to have made a mis take! And, by the same token, I'll probably pay for It In a way you wouldn't understand If you lived a thousand years. Well, set your mind at rest. I'll tuku you out. Ye gods and little fishes, but I have sure been a fool !" i He sat down on the edge of the talde, ami Hazel blinked at him, half scared, and full of wonder. She had grown so used to seeing him calm, imperturb able, smiling cheerfully no mutter what she said or did, that his passionate out break amazed her. She could only sit and look at him. He got out his cigarette materials. Hut Ids fingers trembled, spilling the tobacco. And when he tore the paper In Ids efforts to roll it, he dashed pa- Mi fit' "I Hate You and the North and Every thing In It." per and all Into the fireplace with something that sounded like an oath, and walked out of the house. Nor 'did he return till the sun was well down toward the tree-rlmmed horizon. When ho camo back he brought In an arm ful of wood und kindling, and began to build a fire. Hazel came out of her room. Hill greeted her serenely. "Well, little person." he said, "I hope you'll perk up now." "I'll try," she returned. "Are you really going to take me out?" Hill paused with a match blazing In his fingers. "I'm not In the baolt of saying things I don't mean," he answered dryly. "We'll slart In the morning." The dark closed In un them, ond they cooked and nte supper in silence. Hill remained thoughtful and abstract ed. Then from some place among his books he unearthed a map, and, spread ing It on the tuble, studied It a while. After that ho dragged In his kyaks from outside, und busied himself pack ing them with supplies for a Journey ten nnd coffee and flour and such things done up In small canvas sacks. And when these preparations were complete he got n sheet of paper nnd a pencil, nnd fell to copying something from tho map. Ho was still at that, sketching nnd marking, when' Hazel went to bed. By nil the signs and tokens, Roaring Hill Wagstaff slept none that night. Hazel herself tossed wakefully, nnd during her wakeful moments she could hear him stir in the outer room. And a full hour beforo duyllght he called her to breakfast. "This time last spring," Hill said to her, "I was piking away north of those mountains, bound for the head of the Nans to prospect for gold." They were camped In a notch on tho tiptop of n long divide, n thousand feet above the general level. A wide valley rolled below, and from the height they overlooked two great, sinuous lakes and a multitude of smaller ones. "I've been wondering," Hazel said. "This country somehow seems differ ent. You're not going back to Curiboo Meadows, are you?" Hill bestowed a look of surprise on her. "I should say not !" he drawled. "Not that It would make nny difference to me. Hut I'm very sure you don't want to turn up there In my company." "That's true," she observed. "Hut all the clothes and nil the money I have In the world are there." "Don't let money worry you," he said briefly. "I have got plenty to see you through. And you can easily buy clothes." They were now ten days on tho rond. Steadily they climbed, reaching up through gloomy canyons where fonm Ing cataracts spilled themselves over sheer walls of granite, where the dim and narrow pack trull was crossed and recrossed with the footprints of benr and deer nnd the snowy-couted moun tain goat. Itoarlng Hill lighted his evcalng Are at last ot the apes of the pass. He had traveled long after sundown, seeking n enmp ground where his horses could grnze. The fire lit up huge firs, and high above the fir tops the sky was studded with stars, brilliant In the thin atmosphere. They ate, and, being weary, lay down to sleep. At sunrise Hazel sat up and looked about her In silent, wondering appreciation. All the world spread east and west below. She adjusted the binoculars nnd peered westward from the great height where the camp sat. Distantly, and far below, the green of the forest broke down to a hazy line of steel-blue that j ran In turn to n huge fog bank, snow white In the rising sun. "There's n lake," she said. "No. Salt water a long arm of the Pacific," he replied. "That's where you and I part company to your very great relief, I dare say. Hut look off In the other direction. Lord, you can see two hundred miles! If It weren't for the Hablne range sticking up you could look clear to where my cabin stands. What an outlook! "I told you, I think, about prospect ing on the head of the Nans last spring. I fell In with another fellow up there, and we worked together, and early In the season made n nice little cleanup on a gravel bar. I have another place spotted, by the way, that would work out n fortune If a fellow wanted to spend a couple of thousand putting In some machinery. However, when the June rise drove us off our bar, I pulled clear out of the country. Just took a notion to see the bright lights again. And I didn't stop short of New York. Do you know, I lusted there Just one week by the calendar. It seems funny, when you think of It, that a man with three thousand dollars to spend should get lonesome In a place like New York. Hut I did. And at the end of a week I flew. I hud all that money burning my pockets and, all told, I didn't spend five hundred. Fancy n man jumping over four thousand miles to have a good time, and then running away from It. It was very foolish of me, I think now. Well, the longer we live the more we learn. Day ufter tomor row you'll be In Hella Coola. The can nery steamships carry passengers on n fairly regular schedule to Vancou ver. How does that suit you?" "Very well," she answered shortly. "And you haven't the least twinge of regret at leaving all this?' "I don't happen to have your peculiar point of view," she returned. "Tho circumstances connected with my com ing Into this country and with my stay ing here are such as to iiiale me anx ious to get away." "Same old story," Hill muttered un der his breath. "What Is It?" she asked sharply. "(Hi, nothing," he said carelessly, anil went on with his breakfast prepa rations. The evening of the third day from there Hill traveled till dusk. When camp was made and the fire started, lie called Hazel to one side, up on n lit tle rocky knoll, and pointed out a half dozen pin points of yellow glimmering distantly in the dark. "That's Hella Coola," he told her. "And unless they've made n radical change In their sailing schedules there should be a bout clear tomorrow at noon." CHAPTER VIII. The Drone of the Hive. A black cloud of smoke was rolling up from the funnel of the Stanley D. as Hill Wagstaff piloted Hazel from the grimy Hella Cooln hotel to the wharf. "There ain't many passengers," ho told her. "They're mostly cannery men. Hut you'll have the captain's wife to chaperon you. She happens to ho making the trip." When they were nboard and the enhln boy hud shown them to whnt was dignified by the num5 of state room, Hill drew a long envelope from his pocket. "Here," he said, Vlt a little money. I hope you won't let any foolish pride stand in the way of nslng It freely. It came easy to me. I dug It out of Mother Earth, and there's plenty more where It came from. Seeing thnt I deprived you of access to your own money ond all your personal belongings, you uro entitled to this any way you look nt It; And I want to throw In n bit of gra tuitous ndvlcL In case you should con elude to go buck to the Meadows. They probably looked high nnd low for you. Hut there Is no chance for them to iearn whero you actually did get to unless you yourself tell them. Tho most plausible explunatlon und If you go there you must make some explana tion would be for you to sny that you got lost which Is true enough and that you eventually fell In with a party of Indians, and later on con nected up with n party of white people who were traveling coastward. That you wintered with them, and they put you on a steamer and sent you to Vancouver when spring opened. "That, I guess, is all," he concluded slowly, "(inly I wish" ho caught her by the shoulders and shook her gently "I sure do wish It could hnvo been different, little person. Maybe some "That's Bella Coola Over There," He Said. time when I get restless for human companionship anil come nut to cavort In the bright lights for a while, I may puss you on a street somewhere. This world Is very small. Oh, yes when you go to Vancouver go to the Lady smith. It's n nice, quiet hotel In the West end. Any buck driver knows the place." He dropped Ids hands, and looked steadily at her for a few seconds, steadily and longingly. "Oood-hy!" he said abruptly and walked out, nnd down the gangplank that was already being cast loose, and away up the wharf without u back nurd glance. The Stanley D.'s siren woke tho echoes tilling the wooded shore. A throbbing that shook her from stem to stern betokened the first turnings of the screw. And slowly she backed Into deep water and swung wide for the outer passage. In the spring Hazel gets her freedom and then when she has it she exercises the prerogative that has been woman's since the world began. What she did is disclosed in the next installment. (TO UK I'ONTIXL'KIJ.) HEALTH THAT MAKES WEALTH Nervous Energy Which Enables One to Think New Thoughts and Initi ate New Plans Important. Probably the majority of men do not know what real health means. It means more than the capacity to sit up nnd eat, to walk, to board a car and to hem! over a desk. Heal health means more than the real ability to do the same thing day after day. Heal health means a degree of stirring, nerv ous energy that enables one to think new thoughts, conceive new plans and 1 ttl tin to new enterprises. Supera bundant nervous energy Is back of ex ceptional mental activity. It Is the basis of all those qualities which are most essential In the struggle for suc cess. It is not sufficient to have health that will enable you to do n common place day's work, Hugo Masters writes In Physical Culture. The right kind of health should give you the energy with which to perform far more than a day's work, If necessary, even from a quantitative standpoint. Tt is com monly the man with an unlimited ca pacity for work who gets on. Ho Is able to work long hours without tiring. Successful men Invariably enjoy the possession of tills degree of nervous endurance or working endurance. Hut it Is not this that Ih most Im portant. The possession of energy Is essential, not so much for thesake ot the capacity for long hours of work, but on account of the qunlUy of work which it enables one to perform. Quality of effort Is more important than quantity of work and the greatest value of 'ifnllmltcd energy lies in giv ing one the capacity for concentration, the capacity for an Intensity of effori that Is beyond the average man. About Cork. A good, sound cork is something worth taking care of and using prop erly. Never ''waggle" a cork out of a bottle. That Is the best way to break or at bast spring a crack In the cork. Heniovo the cork with n turning or twisting movement, always In one direction only, I. e not n twist one way and then In tho opposite way. Iteplnco the cork with the same twlsl ns when removing It. Never lay a cork down on a dirty, splashed talde. If It must bo laid down, stand It on Its crown or top. For bottles containing liquids In use, e. jr., developers, etc., attach the cork to the bottle thus: Puss a crochet needle through tho top of the cork, and with Its aid draw the end of n piece of fine twlno right through the cork, and tie this end of tho string round tho neck of the bottle, so adjusting matters that the cork Just fulls to reach the table (I. e bottom of the bottle) when tho cork and string are free. This saves the cork getting lost In the darkroom. 'An unwelcome guest la one of the best things going. m"mWmmfi -VPS " " 'Jfkr fill rf "After every ,tnzzV9 Spring Is In the air the fields and woods and waters call And to add to the zest of outdoor pleasures nothing affords the long lasting refreshment of WRIGLEY'S- So carry it always with you. The Flavor Lasts The Solicitous Senator. "Have the war appropriations 'gone IhroiighV" "Not yet, senator. I'm glad to see you so interested." "Yes. I want to tack on n little (alary Increase for a constituent of nine." An Easy One. "I want a good inolto for my hook On sea travels." "Why not try 'Sic transit?' " His Hope. August." "What?" meiit regulation." A new device which has re. I ...... ..I ...Ml t.l .-I. ...I. lieeu illii Mit 'l n mi i-u.oie.- jiii.i i, scale a fish quickly. l here s a ot ot morn mil: i;ii!:il In one little Innocent llv. linn i Both Ends ( Producer and Consumer ) Against The Middle ( The Packer The consumer wants to pay a low price for meat. The farmer wants to get a high price for cattle. The packer stands between these conflicting demands, and finds it im possible to completely satisfy both. The packer has no control over the prices of live stock or meat, and the most that can be expected of him is that he keep the difference between the two as low as possible. He does this successfully by converting animals into meat and distributing the meat at a minimum of expense, and at a profit too small to be noticeable in the farmer's returns for live stock or in the meat bill of the consumer. Swift & Company's 1917 transac tions in Cattle were as follows: "i Sold Meat to Retailer for Sold By-products for ... Total Receipts ' Paid to Cattle Raiser . . . Balance (not paid to Cattle Raiser) Paid for labor and expenses at Packing House, Freight on Meat, and Cost of operating Branch distributing houses . . . . Remaining in Packer'9 hands as Returns on investment . . . Average Per Heal . $68.97 . 24.09 93.06 84.45 8.61 7.32 $ 1.29 The net profit was $1.29 per head, or about one-fourth of a cent per pound of beef. By what other method can the dif ference between cattle prices and beef prices be made smaller, and how can the conflicting demands of producer and consumer be better satisfied? 1918 Year Book of interesting and instructive facts sent on request Address Swift & Company, Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Illinois Swift 8c Company, U. S. A. FtTi p "-" t"" T'T7a5
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