"Make it soft dull red, Lyn--but not _too_ dull."
Truedale no longer meant to lay his secret bare before departing for the
South. While he would not acknowledge it to his anxious heart, he
realized that he must base the future on the outcome of his journey.
Once he laid hands upon Nella-Rose, he would act promptly and hopefully,
but--he must be sure, now, before he made a misstep. There had been
mistakes enough, heaven knew; he must no longer play the fool.
And then when the little gilded cage was ready, Truedale conceived his
big and desperate idea. Two weeks had passed since Jim White's letter
and no telegram or note had come from Nella-Rose. Neither love nor
caution could wait longer. Truedale decided to go to Pine Cone. Not as a
returned traveller, certainly not--at first--to White, but to Lone Dome,
and there, passing himself off as a chance wayfarer, he would gather as
much truth as he could, estimate the value of it, and upon it take his
future course. In all probability, he thought--and he was almost gay now
that he was about to take matters into his own hands--he would ferret
out the real facts and be back with his quarry before another week. It
was merely a matter of getting the truth and being on the spot.
Nella-Rose's family might, for reasons of their own, have deceived Jim
White. Certainly if they did not know at the time of Nella-Rose's
whereabouts they would, like others, voice the suspicion of the hills;
but by now they would either have her with them or know positively where
she was.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156