s she had loved him on the ragged rocks. How
beautiful she was--yet how frail and worn! It seemed as if the ice that
had warped and frozen his heart to a hard, unresponsive mass, during the
months with Madelene, was melting in the presence of the girl he loved.
His soul had thirsted for the sight of her, his arms yearned to hold and
press her close. He stood a moment undecided, then suddenly bent forward
and drew her forcibly to him. Groaning deeply, he dropped his hot lips
upon her neck, and Tessibel started back as if he'd stung her.

"If you look at me so cold and white, Tess," he moaned, "I
shall--I'll--"

Then he sought for her lips and found them, kissing her stormily until
she felt a keen sense of terror and physical pain. His passionate
insistence carried her completely out of herself for the instant.

"Tess, Tess!" he murmured, "nothing matters now! Don't send me away from
you again, sweet."

Tess lay in his arms, mute and unresponsive.

"Say one little kind word to me, Tess," he implored again, brokenly.

But Tess couldn't speak. She felt her tongue burn as if infinitesimal
sparks had touched each groove upon it. She could not stay in his arms!
Before the world he belonged to another woman. She pushed him away, drew
herself from his embrace, and sat down again. Her action brought a
fierce ejaculation from the boy's lips.

When Frederick ordered his horse that morning, Madelene had slipped her
hand into his.

"May I go with you, dear?" she begged. "Do order my horse, too, won't
you?"

He colored to the roots of his hair and shrugged his shoulders
impatiently.

"I'd rather go by myself," he returned so curtly that Madelene bit her
lips to keep back the tears.

Stung with jealousy, the young wife watched her husband ride out under
the bare trees to the road beyond. Then she ordered her own horse, and
dressed herself quickly.

Affairs between the young couple had reached a crucial point. Madelene's
suspicions of Frederick were unusually active. She had it clearly in
mind that he had gone to the Skinner hut. All the distance to the lake
her face burned. She knew well enough she was doing something
unpardonable, but how could she stay calmly at home when stinging
jealousy goaded her to action?

She cantered past Kennedy's farm and on down the hill, her thoughts in a
turmoil. If Frederick were not with the squatter girl, how happy she'd
be! She hadn't formulated an excuse for Tessibel if she found he