A MATING IN THE WILDS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19849, 19 January 1920, Page 8

A MATING IN THE WILDS

(By OTTVTELL BINNS.)

CHAr’TKK NIX. (Continued.) "Oui! Bn• with zee storm, what can you do, in’sieu:'”

”1 can tind that girl,”'be sai-l ‘'Think man, if she is bound to the sled —in this —”

‘Ouil Oui! in’sicu, I understand,

but " ” i slinll work my way in the cover of the frees till J reach tin* bln If. Ii the storm abates you wilt follow but do not pass ilie lilinT. Thorn will be .-.belter in the lee of it, and 1 will wait your coming there.” y

" Go, and God go with you. m’sicu ; but do not forget zee rifles which were lirod don'.”

" 1 will keep them in mind.” answered Stamp and then retting Ins face t.V the storm, ho began to work his wav along the edge of the wood.

CH APTKII XX'

When flnb'crl Stanc left the burning cabin, Helen did not- obey his injuned lions to the letter. A full minute, sh-p was to wait, in the shadow of the dooia emerging, but she disregarded the eommand altogether in her anxiety. to know what fate was to befall himi She guessed that on bis emergence be expected a v-ol!ey. and bad bidden her remain under cover until the- danger Irom it .should have passed; and being morally certain that be was going to hi-, death, she had a mad impulse to die’ 1 with him in what was the supreme honr t of her life. As the yell greeted his. emergence, sb? caught the sound of tbev rifle-shot, and not knowing that it had): been nrccl by fttano himself. in an agonJjT; of fear for him. stopped recklessly the door. She saw him running wards the trees, saw him grappledrlj.v ll the Indian who barred the way, and j beheld the second figure rise like u.j shadow by the side of the struggling men. The raised knife gleamed in the firelight, and with a sharp cry of warning that never reached Gtaue. she started to run towards him. The next moment something thick and heavy enveloped her bead ami .shoulders, slit* was tripped no and fell heavily in the snow, and two seconds later was conscious of two pairs of bauds binding her with thongs. The covering over he. bead, a blanket by the tee! ot it. was bound about her, so that she could see nothing, and whilst she could still bear, the sounds that reached her were muffled. Her feet wore tioci, and for a brief space of time she was left lying in the snow, wondering in an agonised way. not what was going to happen lo herself, but what had already happened to her lover.

Then there came a: sound that made hep heart leap with hope—n sound that was the unmistakable crack of a rifle. Again the rifle spoke, three times Jn rapid .succession, and from the sounds she eon.jcelurod that the light, was nut yet, over, and .toll a surge, of gladness in her heart. Then she was lifted from the ground, suddenly hurried forward, and t|uile roughly dropped on what .she guess'd was a sledge. Again hands were busy aTiont her. and she knew ilia;, she wn.s being lashed to the chariot of the Xortli. There was a clamour of excited voices, again the crack of the rifle, then she felt a. quick jerlc. and found the sled was in motion She had no thought; of outside intervention and as the sled wont forward at a great pace, notwithstanding her own parlous condition, she rejoiced in. spirit. AVhiihor she was being carried, and what the late reserved tor her she bad.not- the slightest- notion; but from tiie rifle shots, and the manifest haste e.f her captors, she argued that her lover bad escaped, and believing that he would follow, she was in good heart.

That she was in,any unmediato danger. slip did no I believe. Her captor?, on lashing her to the sledge, had thrown sonic soft warm covering over her. and that they should show such cave to preserve her from the flitter cold, told her. that whatever might ultimately befall, she was in no imminent peri!. "With her head covered, she was as warm as it she were in a sleeping hag, the sled ran smoothly without a single jar. and the. only discomfort that she suffered came from her bound limbs.

Knowing how vain any attempt at struggle would be, she lay quietly; reflecting on all the events of the night. Strong in the faith that Stane had escaped, she rejoiced that these events had forced from his lips the declaration that in the past few weeks she had seen him repress again and again. He could never recall it; and those kisses, taken in the- very face of death, those wore hers until the end of time. Her heart quickened .as she thought ol them, and her lips burned, ft was. she fell, a great thing to have snatched the deepest gladness of life in such an hour, and to have received an avowal from a man who believed that lie was about to die for her. And what a in a n!

The thought of Miskodeed occurred to her; hot now it did not trouble her very greatly- The visit of the Indian girl to the cabin had at lirst been incomprehensible except on one hateful supposition; but Stone's words had made it clear that the girl had come, to warn them, and if there were any., tiding behind that warning, if, as she suspected, the girl loved Stane with a wild, wayward love, that was not the man's fault. She remembered his declaration that he had never seen .Miskodeed except on the two occasions at Fort .Maksim, and though Ainlcy’s evil suggestions recurred to her mind, she dismissed them instantly. Her lover was her own-'-

The sledge came to a sudden standstill; and lying there she caught a clamour ol excited voices. She listened carefully, lint such words as reached her were in a tongue unknown lo.herA few minutes passed, something wan thrown on the sled, close bv ber feet, thou a whip cracked, a dog yelped, and again the sledge moved forward. film was quite warm, and except tor the thongs about her, comfortable, and presently ber eyes closed, at first against the rather oppressive darkness resulting from the covering blanket, then remained (Ici.-ed without any conscious volition, and she slept, heavily, and drcatnlesslv.

Hite was awakened by the sled coming to a standstill; and then billowed I lie sounds of men pitching camp; the (Tackle of a lire, the growling and yolptng of dogs quarrelling over their food, She did not know how long site had slop: : but after awakening, it seemed a very long time before any one came near ber. Then she caught the sound of steps crunching the frozen snow. The steps halted by the sledge and hands busied themselves with the lasienings. A minute later she felt that her limbs were, free; and as the blanket was jerked from her head, she looked round.

It was still night, lint by the light of a fire by which two men wen? silting smoking, site eatight the sight of overhanging trees, and of a man who was standing by the sledge, looking clown upon her. His face was in shadow and could not: he seen, but the. voice in which, lie addressed her was harsh and guttural, his manner almost apologetic. “ Yon stan’ up now. mces.” fTo be continued. )

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