Her heart seemed to collapse. All within her was riot.
"Neale!" she whispered, in anguish.
"All right an' workin' hard. He sent me," replied Slingerland, swift
to get his message out.
Allie quivered and closed her eyes and leaned against him. A
beautiful something pervaded her soul. Slowly the tumult within her
breast subsided. She recovered.
"Uncle Al!" she called him, tenderly.
"Wal, I should smile! An' glad to see you--why Lord! I'd never tell
you! ... You're white an' shaky, lass.... Set down hyar--on the
bench--beside me. Thar! ... Allie, I've a powerful lot to tell you."
"Wait! To see you--and to hear--of him--almost killed me with joy,"
she panted. Her little hands, once so strong and brown, but now thin
and white, fastened tight in the fringe of his buckskin hunting-
coat.
"Lass, sight of you sort of makes me young agin--but--Allie, those
are not the happy eyes I remember."
"I--am very unhappy," she whispered.
"Wal, if thet ain't too bad! Shore it's natural you'd be
downhearted, losin' Neale thet way."
"It's not all--that," she murmured, and then she told him.
"Wal, wal!" ejaculated the trapper, stroking his beard in thoughtful
sorrow. "But I reckon thet's natural, too. You're strange hyar, an'
thet story will hang over you.
Pages:
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527