again and tried to decide which way she
went, but his wits were confused--so he laughed that easy, fearless
laugh of his and put in his hat the eggs Nella-Rose had left. Then,
crawling and edging along, he retraced his steps to that hole in the
Hollow where he knew he was as safe as if he were in his grave.

With distance and reassurance on her side, Nella-Rose paused to take
breath. She had been thoroughly frightened. Her beautiful plans,
unsuspected by all the world, had been threatened by an unlooked-for
danger. She had never contemplated Burke Lawson as a complication. She
was living day by day, hour by hour. Jim White she had accepted as a
menace--but Burke never! She was no longer the girl Lawson had known,
but how could she hope to make him understand that? Her tender,
love-seeking nature had, in the past, accepted the best the mountains
offered--and Burke had been the best. She had played with him--teased
Marg with him--revelled in the excitement, but _now_? Well, the
blindness had been torn from her eyes--the shackles from her feet. No
one, nothing, could hold her from her own! She must not be defrauded and
imprisoned again!

Yes, that was it--imprisoned just when she had learned to use her wings!

Standing in the tangle of undergrowth, Nella-Rose clenched her small
hands and raised wide eyes to the skies.

"I seem," she panted--and at that moment all her untamed mysticism
swayed her--"like I was going along the tracks in the dark and something
is coming--something like that train long ago!"

Then she closed her eyes and her uplifted face softened and quivered.
Behind the drooping lids she saw--Truedale! Quite vividly he
materialized to her excited fancy. It was the first time she had ever
been able to command him in this fashion.

"I'm going to him!" The words were like a passionate prayer rather than
an affirmation. "I'm going to follow like I followed long ago!" She
clutched the basket and fled along.

And while this was happening, Truedale, in his cabin, was working as he
had not worked in years. He had burned all his bridges and outlying
outposts; he was waiting for White, and his plans were completed. He
meant to confide everything to his only friend--for such Jim seemed in
the hazy and desolated present--then he would marry Nella-Rose off-hand;
there must be a minister somewhere! After that? Well, after that
Truedale grasped his manuscript and fell to work like one inspired.

Lynda Kendall woul