Adventure Magazine, March 1916 — page 74: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

pai selaleeali es ot ee yt Maas, 24s Pal bid roy 72 Adventure She shuddered as the memory of it came to her. Then she drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I am ready,” she said in a firm voice. “You need not be afraid of such a scene again.” : They skirted the knoll and came once more upon the cove shore. “Tf you are tired,” Ward said, “you can rest here and I will bring the machine down to you.” But she shook her head determinedly. “No,” she said. ‘I am not going to shirk my share of the work. I will walk.” They retraced their path along the shore in silence. Ward looked up at her once and her eyes met his. She flushed in embarrass- ment as if he had surprised her thoughts. He felt the blood creeping into his own cheeks as he realized what it meant. She had been thinking for the first time, of their position there by the embers of the camp- fire, his arm about her, her head resting con- fidingly upon his shoulder. But the memory had not displeased her. Her smile, as her glance dropped, showed this. His fists clenched tightly as they swung by his side for the sudden rush of his long pent-up feelings threatened to sweep away all of his carefully maintained poise, and a flood of untimely words of passion clamored at his lips for utterance. He dared not look up at her again. He could not trust himself to speak to her in even the most trivial way. He stumbled along at her side in silence and in silence they reached the machine where they had left it, its bow drawn well up on the sloping sand. us He was glad that the work of launching it and preparing it for flight kept him too busy for conversation. He even purposely found occupation on the opposite side of the hull as he saw her preparing to take her seat, for he was afraid to trust himself to take her hand to help her in. She seemed not to notice the slight for she, too, appeared pre- occupied. ; The Gnome roared out once more with the turn of the starter and they lifted from the water and wheeled northward. Ward kept his eyes steadily fixed ahead during the flight, his vibrant nerves warning him that he must not again subject them to strain without giving them the relief of the words that still crowded to his lips. Over and over, his brain seemed to cry out trium- phantly, “You love her—you love het!” as if it had forced the admission from him after a bitter struggle. And a bitter struggle it had been. In every way this girl seemed to be culpably involved in this tangle of crime and decep- tion, and for this reason alone, he should have hated her. Phil had warned him against this very folly with his laconic reference to the other suitors—all much better fitted financially and socially to be this woman’s mate—who had failed to find favor in her eyes, and crafty Mrs. Herriot, skilled in the devious ways of life, had served notice upon him with her brusk frankness, that he was riding to a fall. His common sense told him that Phil and Mrs. Herriot were right, and he had definitely determined to profit by their advice and the results of his own observation. Yet he loved her. He clenched his jaws hard as he guided the machine. Of one thing he was deter- mined, Under no circumstances would he allow a word of his folly to escape him. Under no consideration would he ruin their pleasant relations by a declaration which could only be regarded as presumptuous by her, and which would, of necessity, make any further friendship impossible. Friendship! He sneered as the word occurred to him. She had asked him for it; he was planning to preserve it. Yet what did he want of this wonder-woman’s mere friendship now? It sounded like mockery to him. It seemed to point the finger of scorn at him and tell him that that far he could go and no farther. Friendship! | HE BROUGHT the machine down Ry -j clumsily to the waters of the cove SSE below Caprice. It splashed badly as it struck and he cursed himself inwardly for this wreckage of his nerves. But the girl seemed not to notice it. He could not avoid helping her to shore. - The touch of her hand thrilled him more than it had ever done before, and he was conscious of a feeling of nervousness in her fingers. She withdrew her hand almost be- fore she was safely on the land, and he glanced up quickly to see if she were angry at something, but her face was averted, and he saw only the flush in the contour of her cheek. . COKE KOOKS (E@)