The Hidden Places

pledged himself to do burst upon him. When it did, he pulled up short in his stride, as if he had come physically against some forthrig

awbridge watching a tug pass through, seeing the dusky shape of the small vessel, hearing the ripple of the flood tide against the stone piers, and scarcely conscious of the bridge or the ship or the gray dimness of the sea, so profound was the concentration of his mind on thi

He had succeeded. His back pay had been granted. A gratuity was still forthcoming. But Hollister knew that the record of his case was entangled with miles of red tape. He was dead-killed in action. It would never occur to the British War Office to seek publicity for the fact that he was not dead. There was no machinery for that purpose. Even if there were such machinery, there was no one to pull the levers. Nothing was ever set in motion in the War Office without pulling a diversity of levers. So much for that. Hollister, recalli

ffice would neither k

Myra had married again. Would she-reckoning the chance that she learned he was alive-rise up to denounce him? Hardly. His own people? They were few and far away. His friends? The

himself and Doris Clevelan

ized so readily in the furnace of the war. Convention had lost any power to dismay him. His world had used him in its hour of need, had flung him into the Pit, and when he crawled out maimed, discouraged, stripped of everything that had made life precious, this world of his fellows shunned him because of what he had suffered in their behalf. So he held himself under no obligation to be guided by their moral dictu

une. Within him there was the instinct to clutch firmly this chance which lay at hand. For Hollister the question was not, "Is this thing right or wrong in the eyes of the world?" but "Is it ri

veyard of the past retain its unseemly corpse without legal exhumation and examinati

o go to London, to secure documentary evidence. Then he must return to Canada, enter suit against Myra, secure service upon he

means. That was final. He did not have money for such an undertaking, even if he beggared himself. That was a material factor as inexo

was, he had said with a bitter wistfulness, a stray dog. And Doris Cleveland was in very much the same position. Two unfortunates cleaving to each other, moved

egative to that rose instantly to his lips. The past was a dead past. Let it remai

ad turned over the pages of his life history, scanned them with a gloomy and critical eye, and cast them with decisive finality into the waste basket. He was about to begin a new book, the book of the future. It was

n that

an to take stock of the means whereby they two should live. It was not an immediately pressing matter, since he had a few hundred dollars in hand, but he was not short-sighted and he knew it woul

had any recourse. He rather thought there should be some way of getting money back from people who obtained it under false pretenses. The limit, he was quite sure,

d make the best of it. When he reflected upon what a difference the possession or lack of money might mean to himself and Doris, before long, all his acquired and cultivated knowledge of business affairs began

new how easy it was to make money with money-and how difficult, how very nearly impossible it was for the penniless man to secure more than a living by his utmost exertion. If this timber holding should turn out to be worthless, if it should prove unsalable at any price, it would be a question of a job for him, before so very long. With the handicap of his face! With that uni

. The man seemed uneasy, distracted. His eyes had a furtive look in them. Holliste

that timber limit of mine," he began abruptly. "I'd like

n his mission to the files Lewis put a few questions which Hollister answered without disclosing what

elected the agreement of sale, a letter or two, the original cruiser's est

eded in finding a

replied, "there is very

ort of stir in this timber b

ssion deepened on

lor. You represented it to contain so many million feet. It doesn't. Nowhere near. I appear to have been r

e a gesture o

some mistake,

agreed dryly. "The point is, w

stricken with an attitude of remoteness. It occurred to Hol

questione

alist in timber turne

" he e

so in his pocket. He was angry because he was baffled. This was a matter of vital importanc

d. Even his protest was half-hea

ster

much interest in the fact that you have laid yourself open to a charge

roke out pettishly. "I

became fixed there. He sat half turned in his chair. He seemed to grow intent on something, to become wrappe

over his shoulder. The man sat mute,

is. Something had jolted the specialist in British Columbia timber and paralyzed his business nerve centers. Some cat

oat in mid-ocean. It angered him to feel a matter of such deep concern brushed aside. He walked on down the street, thinking what he

Mr. Lee," he sai

that involuntary disapproval which Hollister was accustomed to catch in people's

r. MacF

ister came straight to the point. "Can you recommend an able lawye

to timber, he's your man. Not because he happens to be my brother," MacFarlan smiled b

he Lewis quarters he introduced himself to Malcolm MacFarlan, a bulkier, less elderly duplicate of his brother the timb

asked questions, n

he false estimate and the vendor could be proven. In any case the vendor could be held accountable for his misrepresentation of value. Your remedy lies in a civil suit-provided an authentic cruise e

old me this timber. Here are the papers.

d his thumb tow

ewis ab

es

arlan. He ran through them, laid them do

slowly, "you are makin

ister deman

as happened to Lewis? I take it yo

ister admitted. "

has been appointed. Lewis himself is in deep. He is at present at large on bail, charged with unlawful conversion of moneys e

ttered. "I appear to

be half a dozen other judgments recorded against them, a dozen other claims put in, before you could get action. Of course, I could proceed on your behalf and

Hollister said. "I am obl

nshine. So much for that, he reflected, not without a touch of contemptuous anger against Lewis.

oris Cleveland began to loom bigger in his mind than this timber limit. He suffered a vast impatience until he should see her again. He had touches, this morning, of incredulous astonishment befor

hence past the Jericho Club grounds and out a driveway that left the houses of the town far behind, a road that went

out faltering or effort, holding Hollister's hand, not becaus

der a high w

s bursting, or the new, pale-green leaves, but I know what it is like. Sometimes I think that beauty is a feeling, instead of a fact. Perhaps if I co

rned to Hollister. He bent to kiss that sweet mouth, and he was again thankful that she had no sight to be offended by his

e city. Beyond the purple smoke-haze driven inland by the west wind rose the white crests of the Capilanos, an Alpine background to the seaboard town. Hollister could hear the whine of sawmills, the rumble of trolley cars, the clang of steel in a great shipyard,-and the tide whispering on w

girl. She nestled close to him.

is it,

inking, thinking until my brain seemed like some sort of machine t

bout?"

imply. "About what is ahead of us.

f

; of myself in relation to you. I couldn't help seeing myself as a handicap. I could see you beginning to chafe finally under the burden of a blind wife, grow

ng Hol

you the way a drowning man clutches at anything. That I should get tired of you, feel you as a burden-it's unthinkable. I'm

the oddest way. I know that you are a big man and strong. Of course I don't know whether your eyes are blue or brown, whether your hair is fair or dark-and I don't care. As

muttered. "I'm

ys gave him the impression that she did see. Her eyes, the soft gray of a summer rain cloud-no

he devastation wrought by the exploding shell. They touched caressingly the scarred and vivid fles

And we won't always be living this way, sitting idle on the beach, going to a show, having tea in the Granada. I used to run and swim and climb hills. I could have gone anywhere with you-done anything-been as good a mate as any primitive woman. But my wings are clipped. I can o

serious obstacles now-when I have my

ook he

of chance on the future-if you're in it," she said thoughtfully. "Tha

sides wanting you, I need you. I can be your eyes. And for me, you will be like a compass to a sailor in a fog-something to steer a

across the girl's face, a mix

with mock solemnity. "Your b

oth la