The Argosy, Vol. 75, No. 4 — page 208: what you’re looking at

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

910 in whom responsibility of any sort did not exist. From that moment she fought to awaken such pride as he had; she fought, also, for a response from. his will. She fought hard, stubbornly— appealing, supplicating, striving to snatch him from the destruction that must drag her with him. In return he made promises and took pledges, and they were trash. Failing in this direction, she took up more compelling weapons, and cast love in the background. Times without number they clashed, she rating, abu- sing, denouncing him; but, after every clash, Pete would wabble home with the same blear eyes and the same noisy hiccups. And when she looked around for the love that she had neglected, she found it dead in the quagmire of discord and discouragement. Such had been her life with Pete Gil- bert. She had glanced back over the course again and again, and wondered why she held so faithfully to her vows. li there had been one little gleam of hope, one fleeting rift in the black, in- terminable to-morrow to have en- couraged her. But there was neither. The curse was there to stay, and, besides blasting her happiness, was gathering away from her that next dearest possession— the charms of her femininity, molding her into what she believed a_ hard, coarse, hateful vixen. Therefore, in the light of all these things, it should be a matter of no great consequence that from considering Dr, Lencia she fell to regretting that Pete had not been of his caliber. Little though she had seen of him, she admired this man. His was-a strong, uplifting nature as distinctively refined as she had believed it to be, fol- lowing her inspection of her quarters that morning. . Far from joining in her husband’s revels, he would have discouraged them, even as Machado said he had, with the artful counsels of a friendly physician, pee pe ae et ee oe THE ARGOSY. If Pete had only been like him how different would have been their lives! Now, that he was gone, the sole memory that she would have .of him was ‘better forgotten. The law would settle with Jim Mules, and as for Machado—yes, s/ie would settle with him, She opened her eyes as her com- panion announced the meal. He was standing a pace away, surveying her with a look so full of admiration and pity that she colored in confusion and turned her head. His words, however, smoothed over her embarrassment. ““Pve used up every ounce of in- genuity to give you something worth — eating,’ he smiled, going back to the stove and the frying grouse. “ It’s diffi- cult, though, for any cook to improve upon wild game, since its relish is its most enjoyable feature. I have found that the use of spices more often ruin than improve it.” They lingered for a long time over their food—she propped in bed, with the carving-board for a tray, he seated beside her, his plate in his lap. While they ate he talked. To Peggy he seemed the very foun- tainhead of information. In all her experience she did not remember having ever known such genuine pleasure in abstract narration. Nor was the in- terest attaching to it lessened in the least by the range of subjects over which it traversed. Following an adventure among the pearl fisheries of the west Mexican coast, she would be favored with some traditional episode of California’s mis- sionary days. Quaint Indian legends and _ tragic arctic tales would give place to some humorous incident of every - day city life. He took her through the untraveled wilds, painting word-pictures for her of the great timber-ranges and mighty rivers so vividly as to convey the full power of their alluring charms. But carried away though she was by these glimpses into another world of CORNICLOOOKS (C@)