University of Oregon monthly., February 01, 1908, Image 25

28
U niversity
of
O regon M onthly
There was a softpess in his voice, a suggestion ,pf '«tenderness,
that made me halt l e ^ I might be intruding upon romantic ground
and .as the girl rose quickly. to hen feet, gazing with soft brown eyes
at the figure beside her, th e dream4<af that summer aftfernoomseemed
„about to be realised in the picture before me.
.All the poetry of the Canadian woods, seemed to*je,x,press itself
in her sun tanned .face., The, depths of its forests lurked in her eyes
and through them shone unmeasurable promise;of youth' and hope-^-
the.soul of a,maid that lctv^V But only -for a moment did she^reniain
thus, for.as Jacques, began to fill the pail, the;:l0ok>bf -admiration died,
changing suddenly dp resolute firmness.
| / ‘“I t is not for a gambler,, a drunkard, to help m e// and with a
toss pf- her head she snatched the empty pail and started up the .path.
I watched her lithe figure/ .disappear among’ the I traps, then
turned to. Jacques.,s^Woking half angry, half a§liamed,.he ,‘tppjfc my
outstretched hand and stammered, “X hrn glad to „see tm’’ sieu.,” and
then;a'sjf to excuse the incident I had witnessed, “He ! Women is. a
fool. W ill we fish tomorrow mJ slept?” and we were soon planning
our trip.
W hen the trout and bacon w’tere .eaten and. we were smoking
our .pipes in- thp *cool of the evening before the log cabin, I noticed
that Jacques was troubled. The mysVCftops fading day had always
affected Jacques, differently. S o g the, spell of thp twilight hours
Seemed to have lost their influence lo r him., and I waited in vain for
.the contented | smile, and the woodland . stories that flowed so
smoothly through the fragrant tobacco -'.smoke. And knowing the,
uselessnes%;of trying to force a mood of fellowship, I silently watched
the .shadows deepen and the night,'Come on
- The light grew dim. The outlines pf theiitejes became hazy in
the gathering, glpom ,. when suddenly shouts, of coarse merriment
'readied my ear./®acqti^> seemed to read my thought, for looking
toward the village he.- quietly ¿explained, “It is,, pay day:,, m’ sieu’,
.the; boys.havegopd time.”
“D r u n k f m ;
(
* I H U ii/P 1 ■ 11 ■ I f S f
“W hy
i I K I
The, question must have,/been unexpected, for Japqu'es' looked
surprised, .and it/seemed to me thphe -Was a woundedj-expres^fpn on
his face,'as if I were taking an unfair advantage. * He drew, several,
long puffsjLrom his pipe, thoughtfully, watched the §ppoke disappear,
and then replied, “I guess it jp /the nature. It is fun. Tit?f{s/pur life,