18
U niversity
of
O regon M o n th ly
spirits the antidote for her own inherent seriousness. To “Charley,”
morality was a thing of slight moment, the possession of money had
gratified many desires at the expense of a conscience, which, « but
gossamer at its best shredded away under the repeated attacks
• upon it to the consistency of an almost vanished mist.
The party had landed, and Charley and Mary found themselves
alone under a bower of Oregon grape. To Charley the time was
. opportune and he made an irredeemable blunder. Even after many
months had passed, the manner of his turning down was not a pleas
ant, thing td remember; while to Mary the passage of the same time
softened to a dull ache the keen shock of the ’ericôunter.
Lila Forbes, whose infatuation for Charley thrilled -every fibre
of her passionate nature, passed a miserable afternoon. She had
maneuvered ( unsuccessfully for Charley’s/ society fof some time
past, and defeat had filled her with savage jealousy./ Big-Dave
Brandon, kith whom she found herself paired, was more amused than
hurt by her spiteful cuts. -Dave came from Alaska and knew the
, ways of the she mountain lion, even when disguiséd with à soft
white skin. The party;were thrown together again upon returning,
and something in Mary’s manner appealed to Dave, awaking in him
an interest, which grew later to a worship destined to affect her life
importantly. After that afternoon Lila had Charley ail to herself
at last. They walked, drove, and attended the theatre and dances
together, and Mary, who roomed; with Lila, noted the course of
events with misgiving. One night when Lila had. gone out-some
where with'Charley, Mary,had lain awake, a prey to nameless doubts
and was still awake when Lila returned. It required no very dis
cerning eye to observe that Lila bore upon-her thé signs of an hilar
ious evening. A curtain lecture followed and before long the anger
of Lila flared up in a burst of passion, the fury , and intensity , of
which appalled Mary.
.
'
.
“Preach to me, will you, you white-faced hypocrite,” she
screamed. “I never trusted you, and now I hate you. You’ll know
it, too, before long.”
The rumor which exerted Such an important influence on the
course of events was born the next day ; born of a conference between
Lila and Charley; child of Lila’s vindictive anger and a recollection
of Charley’s that stung.
Tt WaS in. springtime when by a sad irony of fate Mary found
herself riding through the blossoming fragrance of the timber to her
home among the pines,' where, ever, the murmur of the breakers