Desire's eyes, as she raised them from her
name-building, lingered upon it proudly. It was such a wonderful
camp!--her first experience of what money, unconsidered save as a
purchasing agent, can do. Even her personal outfit was something of
a revelation. How deliciously keen and new was this consciousness of
clothes--the smart high-laced boots, the soft, sand-colored coat and
skirt, the knickers which felt so easy and so trim, the cool, silk
shirt with its wide collar, the dainty, intimate things beneath! She
would have been less than woman, had the possession of these things
failed to meet some need,--some instinct, deep within, which her
old, bare life had daily mortified.
And it had all been so easy, so natural! How could she ever have
hesitated to make the change? Even her pride was left to her,
intact. He, her friend, had given and she had taken, but in this
there had been no spoiling sense of obligation, for, presently, she
too was to give and to give unstintedly: new strength and skill
seemed already tingling in her firm, quick hands; new vigor and
inspiration stirred in her eager brain--and both hands and brain
were to be her share of giving--her partnership offering in this
pact of theirs. She was eager, eager to begin.
But already they had been four days in camp without a beginning. So
far they had not even looked for the trail which was to lead them to
the cabin of Hawk-Eye Charlie whose store of Indian lore had been
the reason for their upcoast journey.
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