her grace. He was no backward suitor. On
the second day he told her that he loved her, and from then onward he
repeated the same story with an absolute disregard of what she might
say to discourage him.

"Someone else?" he would cry. "Well, the worse luck for someone else!
Let him look out for himself! Am I to lose my life's chance and all my
heart's desire for someone else? You can keep on saying no, Ettie: the
day will come when you will say yes, and I'm young enough to wait."

He was a dangerous suitor, with his glib Irish tongue, and his pretty,
coaxing ways. There was about him also that glamour of experience and
of mystery which attracts a woman's interest, and finally her love. He
could talk of the sweet valleys of County Monaghan from which he came,
of the lovely, distant island, the low hills and green meadows of which
seemed the more beautiful when imagination viewed them from this place
of grime and snow.

Then he was versed in the life of the cities of the North, of Detroit,
and the lumber camps of Michigan, and finally of Chicago, where he had
worked in a planing mill. And afterwards came the hint of romance, the
feeling that strange things had happened to him in that great city, so
strange and so intimate that they might not be spoken of. He spoke
wistfully of a sudden leaving, a breaking of old ties, a flight into a
strange world, ending in this dreary valley, and Ettie listened, her
dark eyes gleaming with pity and with sympathy--those two qualities
which may turn so rapidly and so naturally to love.

McMurdo had obtained a temporary job as bookkeeper; for he was a
well-educated man. This kept him out most of the day, and he had not
found occasion yet to report himself to the head of the lodge of the
Eminent Order of Freemen. He was reminded of his omission, however, by
a visit one evening from Mike Scanlan, the fellow member whom he had
met in the train. Scanlan, the small, sharp-faced, nervous, black-eyed
man, seemed glad to see him once more. After a glass or two of whisky
he broached the object of his visit.

"Say, McMurdo," said he, "I remembered your address, so I made bold to
call. I'm surprised that you've not reported to the Bodymaster. Why
haven't you seen Boss McGinty yet?"

"Well, I had to find a job. I have been busy."

"You must find time for him if you have none for anything else. Good
Lord, man! you're a fool not to have been down to the Union House and
registered your name the fi