KJRIIIET^OOMSI 
 
 iT^
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS
 
 " It was a beautiful thing, that dance, grotesque, 
 pagan and yet divine "
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND 
 THE WINDS 
 
 BY 
 
 HARRIET T. COMSTOCK 
 
 AUTHOR OP 
 JOYCE OF THE NORTH WOODS 
 
 A SON OF THE HILLS 
 JANET OF THE DUNES, ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 HARRY SPAFFORD POTTER 
 
 GRO55ET & DUNLAP 
 
 PUBLISHERS : NEW YORK
 
 Copyright, 1914, by 
 
 DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 
 
 All rights reserved, including that of 
 
 translation into foreign languages, 
 
 including the Scandinavian
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 The In-Place cannot be found; you must happen 
 upon it! Hidden behind its rugged red rocks and 
 hemlock-covered hills, it lies waiting for something 
 to happen. It has its Trading Station, to and from 
 which the Canadian Indians paddle their canoes 
 sometimes a dugout bearing rare, luscious blue 
 berries invitingly packed in small baskets with their 
 own green leaves. And to the Station, also, go the 
 hardy natives good English, Scotch, or "Mixed" 
 with their splendid loads of fish. 
 
 "White fish go: pickerel come" but always 
 there is fish through summer days and winter's ice. 
 
 There is a lovely village Green, around which the 
 modest homes cluster sociably. Poor, plain places 
 they may be, but never dirty nor untidy. And the 
 children and dogs! Such lovely babies; such human 
 animals. They play and work together quite nat- 
 urally and are the truest friends. 
 
 A little church, with a queer pointed spire and a 
 beautiful altar, stands with open doors like a kindly 
 welcome to all. Back of this, and apologetically 
 placed behind its stockade fence, is the jail. 
 
 To have a jail and never need it! What more 
 can be said of a community? But you are told 
 if you insist upon it that the building is preserved 
 as a warning, and if any one should by chance be 
 forced to occupy it, "he will have the best the 
 
 .34737
 
 vi FOREWORD 
 
 place affords" for justice is seasoned with mercy 
 in the In-Place. 
 
 If you would know the aristocracy of the hamlet 
 you must leave the friendly Green and the pleasant 
 water of the Channel, climb the red rocks, tread 
 the grassy road between the hemlocks and the 
 pines, and find the farms. For, be it understood, 
 by one's ability to wrench a living from the soil in- 
 stead of the water is he known and estimated. To 
 fish is to gamble; to plant and reap is conservative 
 business. 
 
 Dreamer's Rock and One Tree Island, Far Hill 
 Place and Lonely Farm, safely sheltered they lie, 
 and from them, in obedience to the " Lure of the 
 States," comes now and again an adventurous soul 
 to make his way, if so he may; and never was there 
 a braver, truer wanderer than Priscilla of Lonely 
 Farm. Equipped with a great faith, a straight 
 method of thinking, and an ideal that never faded 
 from her sight, she, by the help of the Poor Property 
 Man, found her place and her work awaiting her. 
 Love, she found, too love that had to be tested 
 by a man's sense of honour and a woman's deter- 
 mination, but it survived and found its fulfilment 
 before the Shrine in the woods beyond Lonely Farm, 
 where, as a little child, Priscilla had set up her 
 Strange God and given homage to it. 
 
 HARRIET T. COMSTOCK.
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 "It was a beautiful thing, that dance, grotesque, 
 pagan and yet divine " Frontispiece 
 
 PACING PAOI 
 
 "And now,' she cried, Til keep my word to you. 
 Here! here! here!' The bottles went whirling 
 and crashing on the rocks near the roadway " . 88 
 
 '"You mean, by this device you will make me 
 marry you! You'll blacken my name, bar my 
 father's house to me, and then you will be gen- 
 erous and marry me?" 152 
 
 "In one of those marvellous flashes of regained con- 
 sciousness, the man upon the bed opened his 
 eyes and looked, first at Travers, then at Priscilla " 252
 
 The Place Beyond the Winds 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PRISCILLA GLENN stood on the little slope 
 leading down from the farmhouse to the 
 spring at the bottom of the garden, and lifted 
 her head as a young deer does when it senses some- 
 thing new or dangerous. Suddenly, and entirely 
 subconsciously, she felt her kinship with life, her 
 relation to the lovely May day which was more like 
 June than May and a rare thing for Kenmore 
 whose seasons lapsed into each other as calmly and 
 sluggishly as did all the other happenings in that 
 spot known to the Canadian Indians as The Place 
 Beyond the Wind the In-Place. 
 
 Across Priscilla's straight, young shoulders lay a 
 yoke from both ends of which dangled empty tin 
 pails, destined, sooner or later, to be filled with that 
 peculiarly fine water of which Nathaniel Glenn was 
 so proud. Nathaniel Glenn never loved things in a 
 human, tender fashion, but he was proud of many 
 things proud that he, and his before him, had 
 braved the hardships of farming among the red, 
 locky hills of Kenmore instead of wrenching a live- 
 
 3
 
 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 lihood from the water. This capacity for tilling the 
 soil instead of gambling in fish had made of Glenn, 
 and a few other men, the real aristocracy of the place. 
 Nathaniel's grandfather, with his wife and fifteen 
 children, had been the first white settlers of Kenmore. 
 So eager had the Indians been to have this first 
 Glenn among them that it is said they offered him 
 any amount of land he chose to select, and Glenn had 
 taken only so much as would insure him a decent 
 farm and prospects. This act of restraint had 
 further endeared him to the natives, and no regret 
 was ever known to follow the advent of the estimable 
 gentleman. 
 
 The present Glenn never boasted; he had no need 
 to; the plain statement of fact was enough to secure 
 his elevated position from mean attack. 
 
 Nathaniel had taught himself to read and write - 
 a most unusual thing and naturally he was proud 
 of that. Ke was proud of his stern, bleak religion 
 that left no doubt in his own mind of his perfect 
 interpretation of divine will. He was proud of his 
 handsome wife twenty years younger than him- 
 self. Inwardly he was proud of that, within himself, 
 which had been capable of securing Theodora where 
 other men had failed. Theodora had caused him 
 great disappointment, but Nathaniel was a just 
 man and he could not exactly see that his disap- 
 pointment was due to any deliberate or malicious 
 act of Theodora's; it was only when his wife showed
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 5 
 
 weak tendencies toward making light of the matter 
 that he hardened his heart. 
 
 In the face of his great desire and his modest 
 aspirations, Theodora had borne for him (that was 
 the only way he looked at it) five children all 
 girls, when she very well knew a son was the one 
 thing, in the way of offspring, that he had expected 
 or wanted. 
 
 The first child was as dark as a little Indian, "so 
 dark," explained Nathaniel, "that she would have 
 been welcome in any house on a New Year's Day." 
 She lasted but a year, and, while she was a regret, 
 she had been tolerated as an attempt, at least, in the 
 right direction. Then came the second girl, a soft, 
 pale creature with ways that endeared her to the 
 mother-heart so tragically that when she died at the 
 age of two Theodora rebelliously proclaimed that 
 she wanted no other children! This blasphemy 
 shocked Nathaniel beyond measure, and when, a 
 year later, twin girls were born on Lonely Farm, he 
 pointed out to his wife that no woman could fly in 
 the face of the Almighty with impunity and she 
 must now see, in this double disgrace of sex, her 
 punishment. 
 
 Theodora was stricken; but the sad little sisters 
 early escaped the bondage of life, and the Glenns 
 once again, childless and alone, viewed the future 
 superstitiously and with awe. Even Nathaniel, hope 
 gone as to a son, resignedly accepted the fate that
 
 6 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 seemed to pursue him. Then, after five years, Pris- 
 cilla was born, the lustiest and most demanding of 
 all the children. 
 
 "She seems," said Long Jean, the midwife, "to be 
 made of the odds and ends of all the others. She has 
 the clear, dark skin of the first, the blue eyes of the 
 second, and the rusty coloured hair and queer fea- 
 tures of the twins." 
 
 Between Long Jean and Mary Terhune, mid- 
 wives, a social rivalry existed. On account of her 
 Indian taint Long Jean was less sought in aristo- 
 cratic circles, but so great had been the need the 
 night when Priscilla made her appearance, that both 
 women had been summoned, and Long Jean, ar- 
 riving first, and, her superior skill being well known, 
 was accepted. 
 
 When she announced the birth and sex of the small 
 stranger, Nathaniel, smoking before the fire in the 
 big, clean, bare, living-room, permitted himself one 
 reckless defiance: 
 
 "Not wanted!" Long Jean made the most of this. 
 
 "And his pretty wife at the point of death," she 
 gossiped to Mrs. McAdam of the White Fish Lodge; 
 "and there is this to say about the child being a girl: 
 the lure of the States can't touch her, and Nathaniel 
 may have some one to turn to for care and what not 
 when infirmity overtakes him. Besides, the lass 
 may be destined for the doing of big things; those 
 witchy brats often are."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 7 
 
 "The lure don't get all the boys," muttered Mary 
 McAdam, cautiously thinking of her Sandy, aged 
 five, and Tom, a bit older. 
 
 "All as amounts to much," Long Jean returned. 
 
 And in her heart of hearts Mary McAdam knew 
 this to be true. The time would come to her, as it 
 had to all Kenmore mothers, when she would have to 
 acknowledge that by the power of the "lure" were 
 her boys to be tested. 
 
 But Priscilla at Lonely Farm showed a hardened 
 disregard of her state. She persisted and grew sturdy 
 and lovely in defiance of tradition and conditions. 
 She was as keen-witted and original as she was inde- 
 pendent and charming. Still Theodora took long 
 before she capitulated, and Nathaniel never suc- 
 cumbed. Indeed, as years passed he grew to fear 
 and dislike his young daughter. The little creature, 
 in some subtle way, seemed to have " found him out" ; 
 she became, though he would not admit it, a materi- 
 alized conscience to him. She made him doubt 
 himself; she laughed at him, elfishly and without 
 excuse or explanation. 
 
 Once they two, sitting alone before the hearth 
 
 Nathaniel in his great chair, Priscilla in her small one 
 
 - faced each other fearsomely for a time; then the 
 
 child gave the gurgling laugh of inner understanding 
 
 that maddened the father. 
 
 "What you laughing at?" he muttered, taking the 
 pipe from his mouth.
 
 8 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "You!" Priscilla was only seven then, but large 
 and strong. 
 
 "Me? How dare you !" 
 
 "You are so funny. If I screw my eyes tight I 
 see two of you.'* 
 
 Then Nathaniel struck her. Not brutally, not 
 maliciously; he wanted desperately to set himself 
 right by old-time and honoured methods force 
 of authority! 
 
 Priscilla sprang from her chair, all the laughter 
 and joyousness gone from her face. She went close 
 to her father, and leaning toward him as though 
 to confide the warning to him more directly, said 
 slowly: 
 
 "Don't you do that or Cilia will hate you!" 
 
 It was as if she meant to impress upon him that 
 past a certain limit he could not go. 
 
 Nathaniel rose in mighty wrath at this, and, white- 
 faced and outraged, darted toward the rebel, but she 
 escaped him and put the width of the room and the 
 square deal table between them. Then began the 
 chase that suddenly sank into a degrading and un- 
 dignified proceeding. Around and around the two 
 went, and presently the child began to laugh again 
 as the element of sport entered in 
 
 So Theodora came upon them, and her deeper 
 understanding of her husband's face frightened and 
 spurred her to action. In that moment, while she 
 feared, she loved, as she had never loved before, her
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 9 
 
 small daughter. If the child was a conscience to her 
 stern father, she was a materialization of all the sup- 
 pressed defiance of the mother, and, ignoring con- 
 sequences, she ran to Priscilla, gathered her in her 
 arms, and over the little, hot, panting body, con- 
 fronted the blazing eyes of her husband. 
 
 And Nathaniel had done nothing; said nothing! 
 In a moment the fury, outwardly, subsided, but deep 
 in all three hearts new emotions were born never 
 to die. 
 
 After that there was a triangle truce. The years 
 slipped by. Theodora taught her little daughter 
 to read by a novel method which served the double 
 purpose of quickening the keen intellect and arousing 
 a housewifely skill. 
 
 The alphabet was learned from the labels on the 
 cans of vegetables and fruits on Theodora's shelves. 
 There was one line of goods made by a firm, accord- 
 ing to its own telling, high in the favour of "their 
 Majesties So and So," that was rich in vowels and 
 consonants. When Priscilla found that by taking 
 innocent looking little letters and stringing them 
 together like beads she could make words, she was 
 wild with delight, and when she discovered that she 
 could further take the magic words and by set- 
 ting them forth in orderly fashion express her own 
 thoughts or know another's thoughts, she was happy 
 beyond description. 
 
 "Father," she panted at that point, her hands
 
 io THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 clasped before her, her dark, blue-eyed face flushing 
 and paling, "will you let me go to Master Farwell 
 to study with the boys ? " 
 
 Nathaniel eyed her from the top step of the porch; 
 "with the boys" had been fatal to the child's 
 request. 
 
 "No," he said firmly, the old light of antagonism 
 glinting suddenly under his brow, "girls don't need 
 learning past what their mothers can give them." 
 
 "I do! I'm willing to suffer and die, but I do 
 want to know things." She was an intense atom, 
 and from the first thought true and straight. 
 
 A sharp memory was in her mind and it lent fer- 
 vour to her words. It related to the episode of the 
 small, fat mustard jar which always graced the 
 middle of the dining table. They had once told her 
 that the contents of the jar "were not for little 
 girls." 
 
 They had been mistaken. She had investigated, 
 suffered, and learned! Well, she was ready to suffer 
 but learn she must! 
 
 Nathaniel shook his head and set forth his scheme 
 of life for her, briefly and clearly. 
 
 "You'll have nothing but woman ways bad 
 enough you need them they will tame and keep 
 you safe. You'll marry early and find your pleasure 
 and duty in your home." 
 
 Priscilla turned without another word, but there 
 was an ugly line between her eyes.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 11 
 
 That night and the next she took the matter before 
 a higher judge, and fervently, rigidly prayed. On 
 the third night she pronounced her ultimatum. 
 Kneeling by the tiny gable window of her grim little 
 bedchamber, her face strained and intense, her big 
 eyes fixed on a red, pulsing planet above the hem- 
 locks outside, she said: 
 
 "Dear God, I'll give you three days to move his 
 stony heart to let me go to school; if you don't do 
 it by then, I'm going to worship graven images!" 
 
 Priscilla at that time was eight, and three days 
 seemed to her a generous time limit. But Nathaniel's 
 stony heart did not melt, and at the end of the three 
 days Priscilla ceased to pray for many and many a 
 year, and forthwith she proceeded to worship a 
 graven image of her own creation. 
 
 A mile up the grassy road, beyond Lonely Farm 
 and on the way toward the deep woods, was an open 
 space of rich, red rock surrounded by a soft, feathery 
 fringe of undergrowth and a few well-grown trees. 
 From this spot one could see the Channel widened 
 out into the Little Bay: the myriad islands, and, 
 off to the west, the Secret and Fox Portages, beyond 
 which lay the Great Bay, where the storms raged and 
 the wind such wind as Kenmore never knew 
 howled and tore like a raging fiend! 
 
 In this open stretch of trees and rock Priscilla 
 set up her own god. She had found the bleached 
 skull of a cow in one of her father's pastures; this
 
 12 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 gruesome thing mounted upon a forked stick, its 
 empty eye-sockets and ears rilled with twigs and 
 dried grasses, was sufficiently pagan and horrible to 
 demand an entirely unique form of worship, and 
 this Priscilla proceeded to evolve. She invented 
 weird words, meaningless but high-sounding; she 
 propitiated her idol with wild dances and an abandon 
 of restraint. Before it she had moments of strange 
 silence when, with wonder-filled eyes, she waited 
 for suggestion and impression by which to be guided. 
 Very young was she when intuitively she sensed the 
 inner call that was always so deeply to sway her. 
 Through the years from eight to fourteen Priscilla 
 worshipped more or less frequently before her secret 
 shrine. The uncanny ceremony eased many an 
 overstrained hour and did for the girl what should 
 have been done in a more normal way. The place 
 on the red rock became her sanctuary. To it she 
 carried her daily task of sewing and dreamed her 
 long dreams. 
 
 The Glenns rarely went to church the distance 
 was too great but Nathaniel, looming high and 
 stern across the table in the bare kitchen, morning 
 and night, set forth the rigid, unlovely creed of his 
 belief. This fell upon Priscilla's unheeding ears, 
 but the hours before the shrine were deeply, tenderly 
 religious, although they were bright and merry hours. 
 
 Of course, during the years, there were the regular 
 Kenmore happenings that impressed the girl to a
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 13 
 
 greater or lesser degree, but they were like pictures 
 thrown upon a screen they came, they went, while 
 her inner growth was steady and sure. 
 
 Two families, one familiar and commonplace, the 
 other more mystical than anything else, interested 
 Priscilla mightily during her early youth. Jerry and 
 Michael McAlpin, with little Jerry-Jo, the son of old 
 Jerry, were vital factors in Kenmore. They occu- 
 pied the exalted position of rural expressmen, and 
 distributed, when various things did not interfere, 
 the occasional freight and mail that survived the 
 careless methods of the vicinity. 
 
 The McAlpin brothers were hard drinkers, but 
 they were most considerate. When Jerry indulged, 
 Michael remained sober and steady; when Michael 
 fell before temptation, Jerry pulled himself together 
 in a marvellous way, and so, as a firm, they had sur- 
 mounted every inquiry and suspicion of a relentless 
 government and were welcomed far and wide, not 
 only for their legitimate business, but for the amount 
 of gossip and scandal they disbursed along with their 
 load. Jerry- Jo, the son of the older McAlpin, was 
 four years older than Priscilla and was the only really 
 young creature who had ever entered her life in- 
 timately. 
 
 The other family, of whom the girl thought 
 vaguely, as she might have of a story, were the 
 Travers of the Far Hill Place. 
 
 Now it might seem strange to more social minds
 
 i 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 that people from a distant city could come summer 
 after summer to the same spot and yet remain un- 
 known to their nearest neighbours; but Kenmore 
 was not a social community. It had all the reserve 
 of its English heritage combined with the suspicion 
 of its Indian taint, and it took strangers hard. Then, 
 added to this, the Traverses aroused doubt, for no 
 one, especially Nathaniel Glenn, could account for a 
 certain big, heavy-browed man who shared the home 
 life of the Hill Place without any apparent right or 
 position. For Mrs. Travers, Glenn had managed 
 to conjure up a very actual distrust. She was too 
 good-looking and free-acting to be sound; and her 
 misshapen and delicate son was, so the severe man 
 concluded, a curse, in all probability, for past of- 
 fences. The youth of Kenmore was straight and 
 hearty, unless and here Nathaniel recalled his su- 
 perstitions dire vengeance was wreaked on parents 
 through their offspring. 
 
 With no better reason than this, and with the 
 stubbornness he mistook for strength, Glenn would 
 have nothing to do with his neighbours, four miles 
 back in the woods, and had forbidden the sale of 
 milk and garden stuff to them. 
 
 All this Priscilla had heard, as children do, but 
 she had never seen any member of the family from 
 the Far Hill Place, and mentally relegated them to 
 the limbo of the damned under the classification 
 of "them, from the States." Their name, even, was
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 15 
 
 rarely mentioned, and, while curiosity often swayed 
 her, temptation had never overruled obedience. 
 
 The McAlpins, with all their opportunity and 
 qualifications, found little about the strangers from 
 which to make talk. The family were reserved, and 
 Tough Pine, the Indian guide they had impressed 
 into summer service, was either bought or, from nat- 
 ural inclination, kept himself to himself. 
 
 So, until the summer when she was fourteen, 
 Priscilla Glenn knew less about the Far Hill people 
 than she did about the inhabitants of heaven and 
 hell, with whom her father was upon such intimate 
 and familiar terms. 
 
 Once, when Priscilla was ten, something had oc- 
 curred which prepared her for following events. It 
 was a bright morning and the McAlpin boat stopped 
 at the wharf of Lonely Farm. While old Jerry 
 went to the farmhouse with a package, Jerry-Jo 
 remained on guard deeply engrossed in a book he had 
 extracted from a box beneath the seat. He ap- 
 peared not to notice Priscilla, who ran down the 
 path to greet him in friendly fashion. 
 
 The boy was about fifteen then, and all the bloods 
 of his various ancestors were warring in his veins. 
 His mother had been a full-blooded Indian from 
 Wyland Island, had drawn her four dollars every 
 year from the English Government, and ruled her 
 family with an iron hand; his father was Scotch- 
 Irish, hot-blooded and jovial; Jerry-Jo was a com-
 
 16 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 posite result. Handsome, moody, with flashes of 
 fun when not crossed, a good comrade at times, an 
 unforgiving enemy. 
 
 He liked Priscilla, but she was his inferior, by 
 sex, and she sorely needed discipline. He meant to 
 keep her in her place, so he kept on reading. Pris- 
 cilla at length, however, attracted his attention. 
 
 "Hey-ho, Jerry-Jo!" 
 
 "Hullo!" 
 
 "Where did you get the book?" 
 
 "It's for him up yonder." 
 
 And with this Jerry-Jo stood up, turned and 
 twisted his lithe body into such a grotesque dis- 
 tortion that he was quite awful to look upon, and 
 left no doubt in the girl's mind as to whom he re- 
 ferred. He brought the Far Hill people into focus, 
 sharply and suddenly. 
 
 "He has miles of books," Jerry- Jo went on, "and 
 a fiddle and pictures and gewgaws. He plays devil 
 tunes, and he's bewitched!" 
 
 This description made the vague boy of the woods 
 real and vital for the first time in Priscilla's life, and 
 she shuddered. Then Jerry-Jo generously offered 
 to lend her one of the books until his father came 
 back, and Priscilla eagerly stepped from stone to 
 stone until she could reach the volume. Once she 
 had obtained the prize she went back to the gar- 
 den and made herself comfortable, wholly forgetting 
 Jerry- Jo and the world at large.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 17 
 
 It was the oddest book she had ever seen. The 
 words were arranged in charming little rows, and 
 when you read them over and over they sang them- 
 selves into your very heart. They told you, lilting 
 along, of a road that no one but you ever knew a 
 road that led in and out through wonders of beauty 
 and faded at the day's end into your heart's desire. 
 Your Heart's Desire! 
 
 And just then Jerry-Jo cried: 
 
 "Hey, there! you, Priscilla, come down with that 
 book." 
 
 "Your Heart's Desire!" Priscilla's eyes were 
 misty as she repeated the words. Indeed, one large, 
 full tear escaped the blue eyes and lay like a pitiful 
 kiss on the fair page, where there was a broad, gen- 
 erous space for tears on either side of the lines. 
 
 "Hist! Father's coming!" 
 
 Then Priscilla stood up and a demon seemed to 
 possess her. 
 
 "I'm not going to give it back to you ! It's mine ! " 
 she cried shrilly. 
 
 Jerry-Jo made as if he were about to dash up the 
 path and annihilate her, but she stayed him by hold- 
 ing the book aloft and calling: 
 
 "If you do I'll throw it in the Channel!" She 
 looked equal to it, too, and Jerry- Jo swore one angry 
 word and stopped short. Then the girl's mood 
 changed. Quite gently and noiselessly she ran to 
 Jerry- Jo and held the opened book toward him.
 
 1 8 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 His keen eye fell upon the tear-stain, but his coarser 
 nature wrongly interpreted it. 
 
 "You imp!" he cried; "you spat upon it!" 
 But Priscilla shook her head. "No it's a tear," 
 she explained; "and, oh! Jerry-Jo, it is mine 
 listen! you cannot take it away from me." 
 
 And standing there upon the rock she repeated 
 the words of the poem, her rich voice rising and fall- 
 ing musically, and poor Jerry- Jo, hypnotized by that 
 which he could not comprehend, listened open- 
 mouthed. 
 
 And now, again, it was spring and Priscilla was 
 fourteen. Standing in the garden path, her yoke 
 across her shoulders, her ears straining at the 
 sound she heard, the old poem returned to her as 
 it had not for years. She faltered over the words 
 at the first attempt, but with the second they rushed 
 vividly to her mind and seemed set to the music of 
 that "pat-pat-pat" sound on the water. An un- 
 accountable excitement seized her that new but 
 thrilling sense of nearness and kinship to life and the 
 lovely meaning of spring. She was no longer a little 
 girl looking on at life; she was part of it; and some- 
 thing was going to happen after the long shut-in 
 winter! 
 
 And presently the McAlpin boat came hi sight 
 around Lone Tree Island and in it stood Jerry- Jo 
 quite alone, paddling straight for the landing-place!
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 19 
 
 For a moment Priscilla hardly knew him. The win- 
 ter had worked a wonder upon him. He was almost 
 a man! He had the manners, too, of his kind 
 he ignored the girl on the rocks. 
 
 But he had seen her; seen her before she had seen 
 him. He had noted the wonderful change in her, 
 for eighteen is keen about fourteen, particularly 
 when fourteen is full of promise and belongs, in a 
 sense, to one. 
 
 The short, ugly frock Priscilla wore could not hide 
 the beauty and grace of her young body the 
 winter had wiped out forever her awkward length 
 of limb. Her reddish hair was twisted on the top 
 of her head and made her look older and more ma- 
 ture. Her uplifted face had the shining radiancy 
 that was its chief charm, and as Jerry-Jo looked he 
 was moved to admiration, and for that very reason 
 he assumed indifference and gave undivided atten- 
 tion to his boat.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 WITH skill and grace Jerry- Jo steered his 
 boat to the landing-place at the foot of 
 the garden. He leaped out and tied the 
 rope to the ring in the rocks, then he waited for Pris- 
 cilla to pay homage, but Priscilla was so absorbed 
 with her own thoughts that she overlooked the 
 expected tribute of sex to sex. At last Jerry-Jo 
 stood upright, legs wide apart, hands in pockets, 
 and, with bold, handsome face thrown back, 
 cried : 
 
 "Well, there!" 
 
 At this Priscilla started, gave a light laugh, and 
 readjusting her yoke, walked down to the young fel- 
 low below. 
 
 "It's Jerry- Jo," she said slowly, still held by the 
 change in him; "and alone!" 
 
 "Yes." Jerry- Jo gave a gleaming smile that 
 showed all his strong, white teeth long, keen 
 teeth they were, like the fangs of an animal. 
 
 "Where are the others?" asked Priscilla. 
 
 "Uncle's dead," the boy returned promptly and 
 cheerfully; "dead, and a good thing. He was getting 
 cranky." 
 
 20
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 21 
 
 Priscilla started back as if the mention of death 
 on that glorious day cast a cloud and a shadow. 
 
 "And your father, Jerry- Jo, is he, too, dead?" 
 
 "No. Dad, he is in jail!" 
 
 "In jail!" Never in her life before had Pris- 
 cilla known of any One being in Kenmore jail. The 
 red, wooden house behind its high, stockade fence 
 was at once the pride and relic of the place. To have 
 a jail and never use it! What more could be said 
 for the peaceful virtues of a community? 
 
 "Yes. Dad's in jail and in jail he will stay, says 
 he, till them as put him there begs his pardon humble 
 and proper." 
 
 Priscilla now dropped the yoke upon the rocks and 
 gave her entire thought to Jerry-Jo, who, she could 
 see, was bursting with importance and a sense of the 
 dramatic. 
 
 "What did your father do, Jerry- Jo?" 
 
 "It was like this: Uncle Michael died and the 
 wake we had for him was the most splendid you ever 
 saw. Bottles and kegs from the White Fish and 
 money to pay for all, too! Every one welcome and 
 free to say his say and drink his fill. I got drunk 
 myself! Long about midnight Big Hornby he said 
 as how he once licked Uncle Michael, and Dad he 
 cried back that to blacken a man's name when he 
 was too dead to stand up for it was a dirty trick, and 
 so it was! Then it was forth and back for a time, 
 with compliments and what not, and if you please
 
 22 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 just as Dad sent a bit of a stool at Big Hornby, 
 who should come in at the door but Mr. School- 
 master, him as had no invite and was not wanted! 
 The stool took him full on the arm and broke it 
 the arm and folks took sides, and some one, after 
 a bit, got Dad from under the pile and tried to make 
 him beg pardon! Beg pardon at his own wake in 
 his own home, and Schoolmaster taking chances 
 coming when he was not invited! Umph!" 
 
 Jerry- Jo's eyes flashed superbly. 
 
 "Til go to jail first and be damned,'" said Dad, 
 and that put it in the mind of Big Hornby, and he 
 up and says, 'To jail with him!' And so they takes 
 Dad, thinking to scare him, and claps him into jail, 
 not even mending the lock or nailing up the boards. 
 That's three days since, and yesterday Hornby he 
 comes to Dad and says as how a steamer was in 
 with mail and freight and who was to carry it around ? 
 And Dad says as how I was a man now and could 
 hold up the honour of the family, says he, and more- 
 over, says Dad, 'I'll neither eat nor come out till 
 you come to your senses and beg pardon for mis- 
 taking a joke for an insult!" 
 
 Jerry-Jo paused to laugh. Then: 
 
 "So here am I with the boatload there's a box 
 of seeds for your father and then I'm off to the 
 Hill Place, for them as stays there has come, and 
 there are boxes and packages for them as usual." 
 
 Jerry-Jo proceeded to extract Mr. Glenn's box
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 23 
 
 from the boat, and Priscilla, her clear skin flushed 
 with excitement, drew near to examine the cargo. 
 
 "More books! 5 ' she gasped. "Oh, Jerry- Jo, do 
 you remember the first book?" 
 
 "Do I?" Jerry- Jo had shouldered the box of 
 seeds and now bent upon the girl a glad, softened 
 look. 
 
 "Do I? You was a wild thing then, Priscilla. 
 And I told him about the slob of a tear and he 
 laughed in his big, queer way, and he said, I remem- 
 ber well, that by that token the book was more 
 yours than his, and he wanted me to carry it back, 
 but I knew what was good for you, and I would not! 
 See here, Priscilla, would you like to have a peek 
 at this ? " And then Jerry-Jo put his burden down, 
 and, returning to the boat, drew from under the 
 seat a book in a clean separate wrapper and held it 
 out toward her. 
 
 "Oh!" The hands were as eager as of old. 
 
 " What will you give for it ? " A deep red mounted 
 to the young fellow's cheeks. 
 
 "Anything, Jerry-Jo." 
 
 "A kiss?" 
 
 "Yes" doubtfully; "yes." 
 
 The book was in the outstretched hands, the hot 
 kiss lay upon the smooth, girlish neck, and then 
 they looked at each other. 
 
 "It is his book?" 
 
 'No. Yours I sent for it, myself." 
 
 tc
 
 24 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Oh! Jerry-Jo. And how did you know?" 
 
 "I copied it from that one of his." 
 
 Priscilla tore the wrappings asunder and saw that 
 the book was a duplicate of the one over which, long 
 ago, she had loved and wept. 
 
 "Thank you, Jerry-Jo," the voice faltered; "but 
 I wish it had the tear spot." 
 
 "That was his book; this is yours." An angry 
 light flashed in Jerry-Jo's eyes. He had arranged 
 this surprise with great pains and had used all his 
 savings. 
 
 "But it cannot be the same, Jerry-Jo. Thank 
 you but " 
 
 "Give us another kiss?" The young fellow 
 begged. 
 
 Priscilla drew back and held out the book. 
 
 "No." She was ready to relinquish the poems, 
 but she would not buy them. 
 
 "Keep the book it's yours." 
 
 Jerry-Jo scowled. And then he shouldered the 
 box and ran up the path. When he came back 
 Priscilla was gone, and the spring day seemed com- 
 monplace and dull to Jerry-Jo; the adventure was 
 over. Priscilla had filled her pails and had carried 
 them and the book to the house. Something had 
 happened to her, also. She was out of tune with the 
 sunlight and warmth; she wanted to get close to 
 life again and feel, as she had earlier, the kin- 
 ship and joy, but the mood had passed.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 25 
 
 It was after the dishes of the midday meal were 
 washed that she bethought her of the old shrine back 
 near the woods. It was many a day since she had 
 been there not since the autumn before and 
 she felt old and different, but still she had a sudden 
 desire to return to it and try again the mystic rite 
 she had practised when she was a little girl. It was 
 like going back to play, to be sure; all the sacredness 
 was gone, but the interest remained, and her yearn- 
 ing spurred her to her only resource. 
 
 At two o'clock Nathaniel was off to a distant field, 
 and Theodora announced that she must walk to the 
 village for a bit of "erranding." She wanted Pris- 
 cilla to join her, thinking it would please the girl, 
 but Priscilla shook her head and pleaded a weariness 
 that was more mental than physical. At three 
 o'clock, arrayed in a fresh gown, over which hung a 
 red cape, Priscilla stole from the house and made her 
 way to the opening near the woods. As she drew 
 close the power of suggestion overcame the new 
 sense of age and indifference; the witchery of the 
 place held her; the old charm reasserted itself; she 
 was being hypnotized by the Past. Tiptoeing to 
 the niche in the rock she drew away the sheltering 
 boughs and branches she had placed there one 
 golden September day. The leaves had been red 
 and yellow then; they were stiff and brown now. 
 The leering skull confronted her as it had in the 
 past and changed her at once to the devotee.
 
 26 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Before the dead thing the live, lovely creature 
 bowed gravely. After all, had not the image, in- 
 stead of God, answered her first prayer? Nathaniel's 
 heart had not been softened and school had not been 
 permitted, but there had been lessons given by the 
 master when she told him of her new god. How he 
 had laughed, clapping his knees with his long, thin, 
 white hands! But he had taught her on hillside 
 and woodland path. No one knew this but them- 
 selves and the strange idol! 
 
 A rapt look spread over Priscilla's face; the look of 
 the worshipper who could lose self in a passion. But 
 this was no dread god that demanded unlovely sac- 
 rifice. It was a glad creature that desired laughter, 
 song, and dance. Priscilla had seen to that. A 
 repetition of her father's creed would have been un- 
 endurable. 
 
 "Skib, skib, skibble de de dosh!" 
 
 Again the deep and sweeping courtesy and chant- 
 ing of the weird words. The final ''dosh!" held, in 
 its low, fierce tone, all the significance of abject ador- 
 ation. With that "dosh" had the child Priscilla 
 wooed the favour and recognition of the god. It was 
 a triumph of appeal. 
 
 And then the dance began the wild, fantastic 
 steps full of grace and joy and the fury and passion 
 of youth. Round and round spun the slight form, 
 with arms over head or spread wide. The red cape 
 floated, rising and falling; the uplifted face changed
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 27 
 
 with every moment's flitting thought. It was a 
 beautiful thing, that dance, grotesque, pagan, and 
 yet divine, and through it all, panting and pulsing, 
 sounded the strange, incomprehensible words: 
 
 "Skib, skib, skibble de de dosh!" 
 
 While the rite was at high tide a young fellow, 
 lying prone under a clump of trees beyond the open 
 space, looked on, first in amaze mingled with amuse- 
 ment, and then with delight and admiration. He 
 had never seen anything at once so heathenish and 
 so exquisite. To one hampered and restricted as 
 he was in bodily freedom, the absolute grace was 
 marvellous, but the uncanny words and the girl's 
 apparent seriousness gave a touch of unreality to 
 the scene. Presently, from sheer inability to further 
 control himself, the looker-on gave a laugh that rent 
 the stillness of the afternoon like a cruel shock. 
 
 Priscilla, horrified, paused in the midst of a wild 
 whirl and listened, her eyes dilating, her nostrils 
 twitching. She waited for another burst that would 
 make her understand. 
 
 Having given vent to that one peal of mirth, 
 Richard Travers pulled himself to a sitting position, 
 and, by so doing, presented his head and shoulders 
 to the indignant eyes of Priscilla Glenn. 
 
 "Oh!" cried she; "how dare you!" 
 
 And now Travers got rather painfully upon his 
 feet, and, with fiddle under one arm and book under 
 the other, came forward into the open and inclined
 
 28 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 his uncovered head. He was twenty then, fair 
 and handsome, and in his gray eyes shone that kind- 
 liness that was doomed later on to bring him so 
 much that was both evil and good. 
 
 "I beg your pardon. I did not know I was on 
 sacred ground. I just happened here, you see, and 
 I could not help the laugh; it was the only compli- 
 ment I could pay for anything so lovely so utterly 
 lovely." 
 
 Priscilla melted at once and fear fled. Not for 
 an instant did she connect this handsome fellow with 
 the crooked wrongdoer of the Hill Place. Jerry- 
 Jo's long-ago description had been too vivid to be 
 forgotten, and this stranger was one to charm and 
 win confidence. 
 
 "Will you oh! please do let me play for 
 you? You dance like a nymph. Do you know 
 what a nymph is?" 
 
 Priscilla shook her head. 
 
 "Well, it's the only thing that can dance like you; 
 the only thing that should ever be allowed to dance 
 in the woods. Come, now, listen sharp, and as I play, 
 keep step." 
 
 Leaning against a strong young hemlock, Dick 
 Travers placed his fiddle and struck into a giddy, 
 tuneful thing as picturesque as the time and occasion. 
 With head bent to one side and eyes and lips smiling, 
 Priscilla listened until something within her caught 
 and responded to the tripping notes. At first she
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 29 
 
 went cautiously, feeling her way after the enchanted 
 music, then she gained courage, and the very heart 
 of her danced and trembled in accord. 
 
 "Fine! fine! Now slower; see it's the nymph 
 stepping this way and that! Forward, so! Now!" 
 
 And then, exhausted and laughing madly, Pris- 
 cilla sank down upon a rock near the musician, who, 
 seeing her worn and panting, played on, without a 
 word, a sweet, sad strain that brought tears to the 
 listener's eyes tears of absolute enjoyment and 
 content. She had never heard music before in all 
 her bleak, colourless life, and Dick Travers was no 
 mean artist, in his way. 
 
 "And now," he said presently, sitting down a few 
 feet from her, "just tell me who you are and what 
 in the world prompts you to worship, so adorably, 
 that hideous brute over there?" 
 
 Between fourteen and twenty lies a chasm of age 
 and experience that ensures patronage to one and 
 dependence to the other. Travers felt aged and pro- 
 tecting, but Priscilla grew impish and perverse; 
 besides, she always intuitively shielded her real self 
 until she capitulated entirely. This was a new play, 
 a new comrade, but she must be cautious. 
 
 "I I have no name he made me!" She 
 nodded toward the grinning skull. "On bright 
 sunny afternoons in spring, when flowers and green 
 things are beginning to live, he lets me dance, once 
 in a great while, so that I can keep alive!"
 
 3 o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Priscilla, with this, gave such a beaming and mis- 
 chievous smile that Travers was bewitched. 
 
 "You " But he did not put his thought into 
 
 words; he merely gave smile for smile, and asked: 
 
 "Did he teach you to dance?" 
 
 "No. The dance is is me! That's why he 
 likes me. He's so dead that he likes to see some- 
 thing that is alive." 
 
 "The whole world would adore you could it see 
 you as I just have!" 
 
 Then Travers, with the artist's eye, wondered how 
 dark hair could possibly hold such golden tints, and 
 how such a dark face could make lovely the blue, 
 richly lashed eyes. He knew she must be from 
 Lonely Farm Jerry-Jo used to speak of her; 
 lately he had said nothing, to be sure, but this cer- 
 tainly must be the child who had once cried over a 
 book of his. Poor, little, temperamental beggar! 
 
 "Come up and deliver!" Travers gave a laugh. 
 "I'm Robin Hood and I want you to explain your- 
 self. Why do you bow down before that brazen and 
 evil-looking brute?" 
 
 Priscilla hugged her knees in her clasped hands, 
 and said, on the defence: 
 
 "He's the only god that answered my prayer. 
 I tried father's God and it didn't work! Then I 
 fixed up this one, and it did!" 
 
 "What was it you wanted?" 
 
 "I wanted to learn things! I wanted to go to
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 31 
 
 school. I prayed to have father's heart softened, 
 but it stayed rocky. Then I began to worship 
 this" the right hand waved toward the bleached 
 and grinning skull "and my wish came true. I 
 told the schoolmaster. Do you know Mr. Anton 
 Farwell?" 
 
 "I've heard of him." 
 
 "I told him I wanted to learn, and after he got 
 through laughing he said he'd been sent by my god 
 to teach me all I wanted to know; but of course he 
 can't do that!" 
 
 "Do what?" Travers was fascinated by the 
 child's naivety. 
 
 "Teach me all I want to know. Why, I'm going 
 to suffer and know many things!" 
 
 "Good Lord!" ejaculated Travers; "you won't 
 mind if I laugh?" 
 
 "I don't think there's anything to laugh at!" 
 Priscilla held him sternly. "Have you ever suf- 
 fered?" 
 
 The laugh died from Travers's face. 
 
 "Suffered!" he repeated. "Yes! yes!" 
 
 "Well, doesn't it pay when you get what you 
 want and know things?" 
 
 "Why, see here, youngster it does! You've 
 managed to dig out of your life quite a brilliant 
 philosophy, though I suppose you do not know what 
 that is. It's holding to your ideal, the thing that 
 seems most worth while, and forcing everything else
 
 32 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 into line with that. Now, you see I had a bad 
 handicap a clutch on me that made me a weak, 
 sickly fellow, but through it all I kept my ideal." 
 
 Priscilla was listening bravely. She was following 
 this thought as she had the music; something in her 
 was responding. She did not speak, and Traverswent 
 on talking, more to himself than to her. 
 
 "Always before the poor thing I really was, walked 
 the fine thing I would be. I thought myself straight 
 and strong and clean. Lord! how it hurt sometimes; 
 but I grew, after a time, into something approaching 
 the ideal going on before me, thinking high and strong 
 thoughts, forgetting the meannesses and aches do 
 you understand?" 
 
 This was a fairy story to the listener. Rigid and 
 spellbound she replied: 
 
 "Yes. And that's what I've been doing and 
 nobody knew. I've just been working hard for 
 that me of me that I always see. I don't care what 
 I have to suffer, but - " the throbbing words paused 
 "I'm going to know what it is all about!" 
 
 "It?" Again Travers was bewildered and bound. 
 
 "Yes. Life and me and what we mean. I'm not 
 going to stay here; when the lure of the States gets 
 me I'm going!" 
 
 Things were getting too tense, and Travers yielded 
 to a nervous impulse to laugh again. This brought 
 q frown to Priscilla's brow. 
 
 "Forgive me!" he pleaded. "And now see here,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 33 
 
 little pagan, let us make a compact. Let us keep 
 our ideals; don't let anything take them from us. 
 Is it a go?" 
 
 He stretched his hand out, and the small, brown 
 one lay frankly in it. 
 
 "And we'll come here and and worship before 
 that fiend, just you and I? And we won't ever 
 tell?" 
 
 Priscilla nodded. 
 
 "And now will you dance once more, just once?" 
 
 The girl bounded from the rock, and before the 
 bow struck the strings she was poised and ready. 
 Then it was on again, that strange, wild game. The 
 notes rang clear and true, and as true tripped the 
 twinkling feet. With head bent and eyes riveted 
 on the graceful form, Travers urged her on by word 
 and laugh, and he did not heed a shadow which fell 
 across the sunlighted, open space, until Priscilla 
 stopped short, and a deep voice trembling with emo- 
 tion roared one word: 
 
 "You!" 
 
 There stood Nathaniel Glenn, his face twitching 
 with anger and something akin to fear. How much 
 he had heard no one could tell, but he had heard and 
 seen enough to arouse alarm and suspicion. In 
 his hand was a long lash whip, and, as Priscilla did 
 not move, he raised it aloft and sent it snapping 
 around the rigid figure. 
 
 It did not touch her, but the act called forth all the
 
 34 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 resentment and fierce indignation of the young fellow 
 who looked on. 
 
 "Stop!" he shouted. Then, because he sought 
 for words to comfort and could think of no others, 
 he said to Priscilla, "Don't let them kill your ideal; 
 hold to it in spite of everything!" 
 
 "Yes," the words came slowly, defiantly, "I'm go- 
 ing to!" 
 
 "Go!" Nathaniel was losing control. "Go- 
 you!" 
 
 Then, as if waking from sleep, the girl turned, and 
 with no backward look, went her way, Nathaniel 
 following. 
 
 Travers, exhausted from the excitement, stretched 
 himself once more upon the mossy spot from which 
 Priscilla had roused him. He was sensitive to every 
 impression and quivering in every nerve. 
 
 What he had witnessed turned him ill with loath- 
 ing and contempt. Brutality in any form was hor- 
 rible to him, and the thought of the pretty, spiritual 
 child under the control of the coarse, stern man was 
 almost more than he could bear. Then memory 
 added fuel to the present. It was that man who 
 had conjured up some kind of opposition to his 
 mother had made living problems harder for her 
 until she had won the confidence of others. The 
 man must be, Travers concluded, a fanatic and an 
 ignoramus, and to think of him holding power over 
 that sprite of the woods!
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 35 
 
 He could not quite see how he might help the girl, 
 but, lying there, her dancing image flitting before 
 his pitying eyes, he meant to outwit the rough 
 father in some way, and bring into the child's life a 
 bit of brightness. Then he smiled and his easy 
 good nature returned. 
 
 "I'll get her to dance for me, never fear! I'll 
 teach her to love music, and I'll tell her stories. I 
 must get her to explain about the lure of the States. 
 What on earth could the little beggar have meant? 
 It sounded as if she thought America had some sinis- 
 ter clutch on the Dominion. And those infernal- 
 sounding words ! " 
 
 Travers shook with laughter. "That ' dosh y was 
 about the most blasphemous thing I ever listened to. 
 In a short space of time that child managed to cram 
 in more new ideas, words, and acts than any one 
 I've ever met before. I shouldn't wonder if she 
 proves a character."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE day of warmth and song and dance 
 changed to a cool evening. There was a 
 glowing sunset which faded into a clear, 
 starry night. 
 
 Dick Travers, encased in a heavy sweater, lin- 
 gered, after the light failed, on the broad piazza fac- 
 ing the still purpled sky, and looked out toward the 
 Georgian Bay, which was hidden from sight by the 
 ridge of hill through which the Fox and Secret 
 Portages cut. The mood of the afternoon had fallen, 
 as had the day, into calmness and restfulness. The 
 fiddle, which was never far from Travers, lay now 
 beside him on the deep porch swing, and every few 
 moments he took it up and began an air that broke 
 off almost at once, either to run into another, or 
 into silence. 
 
 "Choppy," muttered Doctor Ledyard as he sat 
 across the hearth from his hostess and looked now 
 at her fair, tranquil face and then at the cheerful 
 fire of hemlock boughs. 
 
 "He's always happiest when he's choppy." 
 Helen Travers smiled. "I wonder why I take your 
 words as I take your pills, without question?" 
 
 36
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 37 
 
 "You know what's good for you." 
 
 "And so you really think there is no doubt about 
 Dick? He can enter college this fall?" 
 
 "As sure as any man can be. He'll always be a tri- 
 fle lame probably, though that will be less noticeable 
 when he learns to forget the cane and crutch periods; 
 as for his health it's ripping, for him!" 
 
 "How wonderful you have been; what a miracle 
 you have performed. When I recall " 
 
 "Don't, Helen! It's poor business retracing a 
 hard road unless you go back to pick something 
 up." 
 
 "That's why I must go back. Doctor Led- 
 yard, I must tell you something! Now that Dick's 
 semi-exile and mine are to end in the common high- 
 way, he and you must know why I have done 
 many things will you listen?" 
 
 From under Ledyard's shaggy brows his keen eyes 
 flashed. There had been a time when he had hoped 
 Helen Travers would love him; he had loved her 
 since her husband's death, but he had never spoken, 
 for he knew intuitively that to do so would be to 
 risk the only thing of which he was, then, sure her 
 trusting friendship. He had not dared put that 
 to the test even for the greater hope. That was why 
 he had been able to share her lonely life in the Cana- 
 dian wilds she had never been disturbed by a 
 doubt of him. And this comradeship, safe and as- 
 sured, was the one luxury he permitted himself in a
 
 38 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 world where he was looked upon as a hard, an almost 
 cruel, man. 
 
 "I do not want you to tell anything in order 
 to explain your actions now, or ever. I am con- 
 fident that under all circumstances you would act 
 wisely. You are the most normal woman I ever 
 knew." 
 
 "Thank you. But I still must speak more for 
 Dick than for you. I need your help for him." 
 
 Outside, the fiddle was repeating again and again a 
 nocturne that Helen particularly loved. 
 
 "Dick is not my son!" she said quickly and 
 softly from out the shadows. She was rarely abrupt, 
 and her words startled Ledyard into alertness. He 
 got up and drew his chair close to hers. 
 
 "What did you say?" he whispered, keeping his 
 eyes upon her lowered face. 
 
 "I said Dick is not my son." 
 
 "And whose is he may I ask ? " 
 
 There was a tenseness in the question. Now that 
 he saw the gravity of the confession Ledyard wished 
 beyond all else to cut quick and deep and then bind 
 up the wound. 
 
 "He is the child of my husband, and another 
 woman." 
 
 In the hush that followed, Dick's fiddle, running 
 now through a delicious strain of melody, seemed 
 like a current bearing them on. 
 
 "Perhaps you had better tell me," Ledyard
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 39 
 
 was saying, and his words blended strangely with 
 the tune. "Yes, I am sure you ought to tell me." 
 
 Helen Travers, sitting in her low wicker chair, 
 did not move. Her delicate face was resting on the 
 tips of her clasped hands, and her long, loose, white 
 gown seemed to gather and hold the red glow of the 
 fire. 
 
 "I suppose I have done Dick a bitter wrong, but 
 at first, you know, even you thought he could not live 
 and so it would not have mattered, and then I I 
 learned to love the helpless little chap as women of 
 my sort do who have to make their own lives as best 
 they may. He clung to me so desperately, and, you 
 see, as he grew older I either had to accept his belief 
 in me or or take his father from him. They 
 were such close friends, Dick's father and he! And 
 now I must lay everything low, and I am wonder- 
 ing what will come of it all. He is such a strange 
 fellow; our life apart has left him well, so different! 
 How will he take it?" 
 
 Whatever her own personal sorrow was, Helen 
 Travers made no moan, exacted no sympathy. She 
 had come alone to the parting of the ways, and she 
 had thought only for the boy whom she had moth- 
 ered tenderly and successfully. Ledyard did not 
 interrupt the gentle flow of her thoughts. There 
 was time; he would not startle or hurry her, although 
 her first statement had shocked and surprised him 
 beyond measure.
 
 40 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I've always thought of myself as like one of those 
 poor Asiatic hornbills," she was saying. "It seems 
 to me that all my life long some one has walled me 
 up in a nice, safe nest and fed me through my long- 
 ings and desires. I cannot get to life first hand. 
 I'm not stupid exactly, but I am terribly limited." 
 Helen paused, then went on more rapidly: "First 
 it was my father. He and I travelled after mother's 
 death continually, and alone. He educated me and 
 interpreted life for me; he was a man of the world, I 
 suppose, but he managed to keep me most unworldly 
 wise. Of course I knew, abstractly, the lights and 
 shadows; but I wonder if you will believe me when I 
 tell you that, until after my marriage, I never sus- 
 pected that that certain codes of honour and dis- 
 honour had place in the lives of those closest to me? 
 The evil of the world was classified and pigeon-holed 
 for me. I even had ambition to get out of my walled- 
 up condition and help some mystical people, de- 
 tached and far from my safe, clean corner. Father 
 left me more money than was good for any young 
 woman, and my simple impulse was to use it prop- 
 erly." 
 
 "You were very young?" Ledyard interrupted. 
 
 Helen Travers shook her head. 
 
 "Not very. I was twenty-four when I married. 
 I had never had but one intimate friend in my life, 
 and to her I went at my father's death. It was her 
 brother I married John Travers."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 41 
 
 Ledyard nodded his head; he knew of the Trav- 
 erses the older generation. 
 
 "This thing concerning Dick occurred some three 
 or four years before my marriage. My wedding was 
 a very quiet one; it was not reported, and that ac- 
 counted for Dick's mother Elizabeth Thornton 
 not knowing of it. 
 
 "It seems that there had been an alliance between 
 John Travers and and Dick's mother, and it had 
 been terminated some time before he met me, 
 by mutual consent. There was the child Dick. 
 The mother took him. There was no question of 
 money: there was enough for them, but she had told 
 John that should anything arise, such as illness or 
 disaster, she would call upon him. They had sworn 
 that to each other. 
 
 "Well, my own baby came a year after my mar- 
 riage and died a month later. When I was least able 
 to bear the shock, the call came from Elizabeth Thorn- 
 ton. John had to tell me. I shall never forget his 
 face as he did it. I realized that his chief concern 
 was for me, and even in all the wreck and ruin I 
 could but honour him for his bravery and sincerity. 
 I think he believed I would understand, but I never 
 did; I never shall. The shock was more surprise than 
 moral resentment. I could not believe at first that 
 such a thing could possibly happen to one of my own. 
 I felt as if a plague had fallen upon me, and I shrank 
 from every eye, from every touch with the world.
 
 42 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Doctor Ledyard, you can understand, I hope, 
 but John Travers was not a bad man, and that girl, 
 Dick's mother, was good. Yes; that's the only 
 word to use, strange as it seems to me even after all 
 these years. You see, she was not a hornbill. She 
 came in touch with life at first hand; she took from 
 life what she wanted; she had, what were to me, 
 unheard-of ideas about love and the free gift of 
 self, and yet she never meant to hurt any one; and 
 she had kept herself, amid all the confusion, the 
 gentlest and sweetest of souls. 
 
 "When she sent for John she was dying and she 
 did not know what to do about the boy. She had no 
 family no near friend. 
 
 "I went with my husband to see her. There did 
 not seem to be anything else to do. I had no feeling; 
 it was plain duty. Even with the touch of death 
 upon her, Elizabeth Thornton was the most beauti- 
 ful woman I have ever seen. I cannot describe the 
 sensation she made upon me; but she was like an in- 
 nocent, pure child who had played with harmful 
 and soiled toys but had come wearily to the day's 
 end, herself unsullied. 
 
 "When she knew about me she was broken- 
 hearted. She wept and called to little Dick, who 
 sat in a small chair by her couch: 
 
 "'Oh! little son, we could have managed, couldn't 
 we? We would not have hurt any one for the world, 
 would we, sonny?' And the boy got up and soothed
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 43 
 
 her as a man might have done, and he was only a 
 little creature. I think I loved him from the mo- 
 ment I saw him shielding that poor, dying mother 
 from her own folly. 'Course, mummy, course!' he 
 repeated over and again. Then he looked at me 
 with the eyes of my own dead baby. Both children 
 were startlingly like the father. The look pleaded 
 for mercy from me to them John, the mother, and 
 the little fellow himself. And I, who had vaguely 
 meant to help the world some day, began with 
 them! Just for a little time after Elizabeth Thorn- 
 ton's death I became human, or perhaps inhuman. I 
 resented the wrong that had been done me; I wanted 
 to fling John and the child away from me; but then a 
 sense of power rallied me. I had never tasted it 
 before. I could cast the helpless pair from me, or 
 I could save them from the world and the world's 
 hideous pity for me. I accepted the burden laid upon 
 me. I think John thought I would forget, would for- 
 give. I cannot explain my sort of woman is 
 never understood by well, John's sort of man. 
 I am afraid he grew to have a contempt for me, but I 
 lived on loving them both, but never becoming able 
 to meet John's hope of me. I knew he was often 
 lonely I have pitied him since but I could not 
 help being what I was. 
 
 "I tried, but it was no use. We lived abroad 
 for years, and little Dick forgot I am sure 
 he forgot his mother, and when I felt secure
 
 44 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 I gave him all, all the passion and devotion of 
 my life. 
 
 "John died abroad; I came home with my crippled 
 boy; came home to you. That is all!" 
 
 Ledyard bent and laid a handful of boughs upon 
 the fire. The room was cold and cheerless, and the 
 still, white figure in the chair seemed the quiet, 
 chill heart of it all. And yet how she had loved 
 and laboured for the boy! Was she passionless or 
 had her passion been killed while at white heat? 
 
 "And and I suppose Dick must know?" 
 
 "Yes. Dick must know." 
 
 There was no sternness, but there was determi- 
 nation in the strong, even voice. Then: 
 
 "Helen, let me do this for you!" 
 
 For a moment the uplifted eyes faltered and fell 
 away from the man's face. Very faintly the words 
 came: 
 
 "God bless you! I could not bear to see him 
 fail me. If he must fail, I cannot see him until 
 afterward." 
 
 The blaze rose higher, and the dark room was a 
 background for that deathlike form before the hearth. 
 
 Ledyard left the room silently, and a moment 
 later Helen Travers heard his heavy footfall on the 
 porch outside. Presently the erratic violin playing 
 ceased and there seemed no sound on the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 After what seemed hours, Pine, the guide, en-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 45 
 
 tered the room to replenish the fire, and Helen told 
 him he need not light the lamps. After his going an- 
 other aching silence followed through which, at last, 
 stole the consciousness that she was not alone. 
 Some one had come into the room from a long 
 window opening on the piazza. Helen dared not 
 look, for if it were Ledyard she would know that 
 things were very bad indeed. Then came the slightly 
 dragging step that she had learned to be so grate- 
 ful for after the helplessness of crippled childhood. 
 Still she did not move, nor deeply hope. The boy 
 was kind, oh! so tenderly kind, he might only have 
 come because he must! 
 
 The red glow of the fire made the woman's form 
 by the hearth vividly distinct, and toward that Dick 
 Travers went as if led by a gleam through a new and 
 strange experience. He knelt by her side and, for a 
 moment, buried his face against her clasped hands; 
 then he looked up and she saw only intensified love 
 and trust upon his young face. She waited for him 
 to speak, her heart was choking her. 
 
 "You thought, dear, that I did not know that I 
 had forgotten? I wonder if any lonely, burdened 
 little chap could forget what came before you 
 lifted the load and taught me to be a child ? Oh ! 
 she was so sweet; such a playfellow. I realize it now 
 even though she has faded into something like a 
 shadowy dream. But I recall, too, the loneliness; 
 the fear that she might leave me alone with no one to
 
 46 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 care for me. I can remember her fear, too; always 
 the fear that one of us might leave the other alone. 
 The recollection will always stand out in my mem- 
 ory. I shall never forget her nor her sweetness. 
 Afterward you came and my father. Only lately 
 have I understood all of that part of my life and 
 yours but I knew he was my father, and I won- 
 dered about you, because I could not forget my 
 mother! 
 
 "I learned to love you out of my great need and 
 out of yours, too, I realize now, and slowly, far too 
 early, I saw that the happiest thing I could do for 
 you, who had given me so much, was to seem to for- 
 get and rest only on one thought you were my 
 mother! Can I make you understand, mother, what 
 you are in my life to-night ? " 
 
 He kissed the cold hands clutching his hot ones, 
 and with that touch the barrier broke down forever 
 between them. Travers took her in his arms, but 
 she did not burden his young strength as the earlier 
 mother had done. Even in her abandon, they sup- 
 ported each other bravely. 
 
 The days that followed were busy ones. Dick's 
 tutor came from New York, plans were laid, and 
 there was small opportunity, just then, for the red- 
 rock shrine. 
 
 "You see," Dick said to Ledyard one afternoon, 
 "I've never voiced it before it seemed presump-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 47 
 
 tuous but now that I'm going to have the life of a 
 fellow, I can choose a fellow's career. I want, more 
 than anything else, to be a physician." 
 
 Ledyard's eyes flashed, but he lowered his lids. 
 
 "It's a devil of a life, boy." 
 
 " I think it's the finest of all." 
 
 "No hours you can call your own; never daring 
 to ask for the common things a man cares for. You 
 see, women are mostly too jealous and small to 
 understand a doctor's demands. They usually raise 
 hell sooner or later. I had a friend whose wife used 
 to look through the keyhole of his consulting-room 
 door. A patient tripped over her once and it 
 nearly cost my friend his practice. Doctors are only 
 half human anyway, and women can't go halves 
 with their husbands." 
 
 Dick laughed. 
 
 "Between a wife and a profession," he said, "give 
 me the profession." 
 
 "Besides," Ledyard went on; "you get toughened 
 and brutal; most of us drink, when we don't do 
 something worse." 
 
 "You don't." 
 
 "How do you know?" 
 
 "I do know, and I'm sure you wouldn't let any 
 one else say that about your associates; they're the 
 noblest ever and you know it!" 
 
 "Well, we're bound and gagged, and that's a fact. 
 We're not given much leeway. We are led up to a
 
 48 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 case and forced to carry out the rules. While we're 
 doctors we can't be men." 
 
 Dick recalled that years later with a bitter sense 
 of its truth! 
 
 "All the same, if the profession will have me, I'll 
 have it and thank God. When I think of well, 
 of the little cuss I was, and of you why, I tell you, 
 I cannot get too soon into harness. I'd like to spec- 
 ialize, too. I've even gone so far as that." 
 
 "Good Lord! In what?" 
 
 "Oh, women and children, principally putting 
 them straight and strong, you know." 
 
 "Umph," grunted Ledyard. "Well, at the first 
 you'll probably be thankful to get any old case that 
 needs tinkering." 
 
 Dick Travers did not see Priscilla again that sum- 
 mer. After a while he went to the rocks, and once 
 he laid sacrilegious hands on the strange god with a 
 longing to smash the hideous skull, but in the end 
 he left it and, after a time, forgot the girl he had 
 played for, even forgot the fantastic dance, for his 
 thoughts were of sterner stuff. 
 
 There were guests at the Hill Place, too, for the 
 first time that year, and some entertainment. There 
 were fishing, and in due season, hunting, at which 
 Ledyard excelled, and the family returned to the 
 States earlier than usual, owing to Dick's affairs.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 NATHANIEL GLENN had said some terrible 
 things in Priscilla's presence the evening of 
 the day when he drove her before him while 
 Richard Travers implored her to hold to her ideal. 
 Fortunately, youth spared Priscilla from a full under- 
 standing of her father's words, but she caught the 
 drift of his thought. She was convinced that he 
 feared greatly for her here on earth, and had grave 
 doubts as to her soul's ultimate salvation. There 
 was that within her, so he explained, which, unless 
 curbed and corrected, would cast her into eternal 
 damnation! Those were Nathaniel's words. 
 
 "She looked a very devil as she danced and smirked 
 at that strange fellow," so had Glenn described 
 the scene; "a man she says she had never laid eyes 
 on before! A daughter of Satan she seemed, with 
 all the witchcraft of her sort." To Nathaniel, that 
 which he could not understand, was wrong. 
 
 Theodora spoke not a word. Certain facts from 
 all the evidence stood forth and alarmed her as 
 deeply though not as bitterly as they did her 
 husband. There certainly was a daring and braz- 
 enness in a young girl carrying on so before a total 
 
 49
 
 50 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 stranger. In all the conversation the name of the 
 stranger was not mentioned, and oddly enough Pris- 
 cilla did not even then connect her friend of the 
 music and laughter with the boy of the Hill Place. 
 How could she, when Jerry-Jo's description still 
 stood unchallenged in her mind? Indeed, the 
 stranger did not seem wholly of the earth, earthy. 
 She had accepted him as another phase evolved by 
 the mysterious rite a new revelation of the strange 
 god. 
 
 From all the torrent of misinterpretation Nathaniel 
 gave vent to, one startling impression remained 
 in Priscilla's mind. Sitting in the bare, unlovely 
 kitchen of the farmhouse, with her troubled parents 
 confronting her, a great wave of realization over- 
 powered the girl. She could never make them 
 understand! There was no need to try. She did 
 not really belong to them, or they to her, and she 
 must get away! 
 
 That was it, of course. The lure had caught her. 
 They all felt as she was now feeling the Hornbys, 
 all the boys and men who left Kenmore. Something 
 always drove them to see they must go, and that 
 was what the lure meant. 
 
 Priscilla laughed. 
 
 As usual, this angered Nathaniel beyond control. 
 
 "You laugh you! Why do you laugh ?" 
 
 Priscilla leaned back in her hard wooden chair. 
 
 "The lure's got me!" she panted.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 51 
 
 "The -lure?" 
 
 "Yes. It means getting away. You have to fol- 
 low the lure and find your true place. Some people 
 are put in the wrong place then the lure gets 
 them!" 
 
 At this Theodora gave a moan of understanding. 
 They had driven the child too far, been too hard upon 
 her, and the impulse to fly from the love that was 
 seeking to hold her was the one thing to be avoided. 
 
 "I'm tired of things. Once I wanted to go to 
 school, but you wouldn't let me." The blazing 
 eyes were fixed upon Nathaniel. "You're always 
 trying to to hold me back from from my 
 life! I want to go away somewhere! I want" 
 a half-sob shook the fierce, young voice - "I want 
 to be part of things, and you you won't let me! 
 I hate this this place; I'm choking to death!" 
 
 And with this Priscilla got up and flung her arms 
 over her head, while she ejaculated fiercely: "I want 
 to be doshed!" 
 
 The effect of this outburst upon the two listeners 
 was tremendous. Theodora recognized with blind- 
 ing terror that her daughter was no longer a child! 
 The knowledge was like a stroke that left her para- 
 lyzed. What could she hope to do with, and for, this 
 new, strange creature in whose young face rising 
 passion and rebellion were suddenly born ? Nathan- 
 iel was awed, too, but he managed to utter the com- 
 mand: "Leave the room, hussy!"
 
 52 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 When the parents were alone they took stock of 
 the responsibility that was laid upon them. Help- 
 lessly Theodora began to cry. She could no more 
 cope with this situation than a baby. She had never 
 risen above or beyond the dead level of Kenmore 
 life, and surely no Kenmore woman had ever borne 
 so unnatural a child. She feared hopelessly and trem- 
 blingly. 
 
 With Nathaniel it was different. He was a hard 
 man who had forced himself, as he had others, along 
 the one grim path, but he had the male's inheritance 
 of understanding of certain traits and emotions. 
 Had any one suggested to him that his girl had de- 
 rived from him not her colourless mother the 
 desire for excitement through the senses, he would 
 have flung the thought madly from him. Men were 
 men; women were women! Even if temptation 
 came to a girl, only a bad, an evil-natured girl would 
 recognize it and succumb. His daughter, Nathaniel 
 firmly believed, was marked for destruction, and he 
 was frightened and aroused not only for Priscilla 
 herself but for his reputation and position. He had 
 known similar temptation; had overcome it. He 
 understood, or thought he did! 
 
 He gave the girl no benefit of doubt; his mind 
 conceived things that never had occurred. He be- 
 lieved she had often met the young fellow from the 
 Hill Place. God alone knew what had gone before! 
 
 "What shall we do?" sobbed Theodora. "We
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 53 
 
 Cannot make a prisoner of her; we cannot watch 
 her every move and she's only a bit over four- 
 teen!" 
 
 Had the girl died that night Nathaniel would not 
 have mourned her, he would have known only relief 
 and gratitude. 
 
 "She was unwelcomed," he muttered to his weep- 
 ing wife; "and she has become a curse to us. It lies 
 with us to turn the punishment into our souls' good; 
 but what can we do for her?" 
 
 Priscilla did not die that night. She slept peace- 
 fully and happily with the red, pulsing planet over 
 the hemlock shining faithfully upon her. The next 
 day she reappeared before her parents with a cloud- 
 less face and a willingness to make such amends as 
 could be brought about without too much self- 
 abnegation. In the broad light of day the mother 
 could not hold to the horrors of the evening before. 
 She had been nervous and overwrought; it wasn't 
 so bad as they had thought! 
 
 "I want you to go erranding," she said to Pris- 
 cilla soon after the midday meal and by way of 
 propitiation. "It's one by the clock now. Given 
 an hour to go, another to return, and a half hour for 
 the buying, you should be back by four at the latest." 
 
 Priscilla looked laughingly up at her mother, 
 "Funny, little mother," she said; "he's made you 
 afraid of me. Hadn't you better tie a string to my 
 foot?" But all the time the girl was thinking.
 
 54 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "An hour for both going and coming will be enough, 
 and that will leave an hour for the schoolmaster." 
 
 Aloud she said: "I was fiercely angry last night, 
 mother, for he read me wrong and would not believe 
 me, but it made me feel the lure; it really did." 
 
 "You must never speak so again, child," Theodora 
 replied, thinking she was impressing the girl; "and, 
 Priscilla, what did you mean by saying you wanted 
 to be be doshed? That was the most unsancti- 
 fied word I ever heard. What does it mean ? Where 
 did you learn it?" 
 
 At this Priscilla doubled over with laughter but 
 managed to say: 
 
 "Why, it means just doshed! Haven't you 
 ever wanted to be doshed, mother, when you were 
 young, and before father took the dosh out of 
 you?" 
 
 Theodora was again overcome by former fears, 
 and to confirm her terror Priscilla sprang toward 
 her with outstretched, gripping fingers and wide, 
 eager eyes. 
 
 "It means," she breathed, advancing upon her 
 mother's retreating form, "it means skib, skib, skib- 
 ble de de dosh!" 
 
 At this she had her mother by the shoulders and 
 was seeking to kiss the affrighted and appalled face. 
 
 Theodora escaped her, and realized that a change- 
 ling had indeed entered her home. An unknown 
 element was here. It was as if, having been dis-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 55 
 
 covered, Priscilla felt she no longer needed to hide 
 her inner self, but was giving it full sway. 
 
 If they could only have known that the spring of 
 imagination and joy had been touched in the girl 
 and merely the madness of youth and the legitimate 
 yearning for expression moved her! But Theodora 
 did not understand and she tried to be stern. 
 
 "You are to be back in this house at four!'* she 
 cried; "at quarter after at the latest." 
 
 So Priscilla started forth. The mother watched 
 her from the doorway. Suspicion was in her heart; 
 she feared the girl would turn toward the woods; she 
 was prepared for that, but instead, the flying figure 
 made for the grassy road leading to Kenmore and 
 was soon lost to sight. 
 
 Three miles of level road, much of it smooth, moss- 
 covered rock, was easy travelling for nimble feet 
 and a glad heart. And Priscilla was the gladdest 
 creature afield that day. Impishly she was enjoying 
 the sensation she had created. It appealed to her 
 dramatic sense and animal enjoyment. In some 
 subtle fashion she realized she had balked and de- 
 feated her father she was rather sorry about her 
 mother but that could be remedied later on. 
 There was no doubt that she had the whip hand of 
 Nathaniel at last, and the subconscious attitude of 
 defiance she always held toward her father was 
 strengthened by the knowledge that he was unjustly 
 judging her.
 
 56 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 There were many things of interest in Kenmore 
 that only limited time prevented Priscilla from 
 investigating. She longed to go to the jail and 
 see if the people had prevailed upon old Jerry 
 McAlpin to discharge himself. She admired Jerry's 
 spirit! 
 
 She wanted to call upon Mrs. Hornby and question 
 her about Jamsie, her last boy, who had succumbed 
 to the lure of the States. She longed to know the 
 symptoms of one attacked by the lure. Then there 
 was the White Fish Lodge she did so want to 
 visit Mrs. McAdam. The annual menace of taking 
 Mrs. McAdams' license from her was man's talk 
 just then, and Mrs. McAdam was so splendid when 
 her rights were threatened. On the village Green 
 she annually defended her position like a born orator. 
 Priscilla had heard her once and had never got over 
 her admiration for the little, thin woman who rallied 
 the men to her support with frantic threats as to her 
 handling of their rights unless they helped her fight 
 her battle against a government bent upon taking 
 the living from a "God-be-praised widow-woman 
 with two sons to support." 
 
 It had all been so exactly to Priscilla's dramatic 
 taste that she with difficulty restrained herself from 
 calling at the White Fish. 
 
 There was a good hour to her credit when the 
 erranding was finished and the time needed for the 
 home run set aside, so to the little cabin, built beside
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 57 
 
 the schoolhouse, she went with heavily loaded arms 
 and an astonishingly light heart. 
 
 Since the day when Anton Farwell had undertaken 
 Priscilla's enlightenment, asserting that he had been 
 ordained to do so by her god, he had had an almost 
 supernatural influence upon her thought. For her, 
 he was endowed with mystery, and, with the subtle 
 poetry of the lonely young, she deafened her ears 
 to any normal explanation of the man. 
 
 Reaching the cabin, she pushed gently against the 
 door, knowing that if it opened, Kenmore was free 
 to enter. Farwell was in and, when Priscilla stood 
 near him, seemed to travel back from a far place be- 
 fore he saw her. Farwell was an old-young man; he 
 cultivated the appearance of age, but only the very 
 youthful were deceived. His long, dark hair fell about 
 his thin face lankly, and it was an easy matter, by 
 dropping his head, to hide his features completely. 
 
 He was tall and, from much stooping over books 
 or the work of his garden, was round-shouldered. 
 When he looked you fully in the face, which he rarely 
 did, it was noticed that his eyes were at once child- 
 ishly friendly and deathly sad. 
 
 The older people of Kenmore had ceased to wonder 
 about him. Having accepted him, they let matters 
 drop. To the children, to all helpless animals, he 
 was an enduring solace and power. When all else 
 failed they looked to him for solution. For this had 
 Priscilla come.
 
 58 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "To be sure!" cried Farwell at length. "It's 
 Priscilla Glenn. Bad child! It's many a day since 
 we had a lesson. There! there! no excuses. Sit 
 down and own up!" 
 
 While he was speaking Farwell replenished the 
 wood on the fire and brushed the ashes from the 
 hearth. Priscilla, in a chair, sat upright and rather 
 breathlessly wondered how she could manage all she 
 wanted to say and hear in the small space of time 
 that was hers. 
 
 Anton's back was toward her when she uttered 
 her first question and the words brought him to an 
 upright position, facing her at once. 
 
 "Mr. Farwell, where did you come from I mean 
 before the wreck ? " 
 
 For a moment the master looked as if about to 
 spring forward to lock the door and bar the windows. 
 Real alarm was in his eyes. 
 
 "Who told you to ask that?" he whispered. 
 
 "No one. No one has to tell me questions; I have 
 more of my own than I can ask. I never thought be- 
 fore about you, Mr. Farwell, we're so used to you, 
 but now it's because of me. I want to know. Some- 
 body has got to help me I feel it coming again." 
 
 "Feel what coming?" Farwell sat limply down in 
 the chair he had lately occupied. 
 
 "Why, the lure. It comes to the boys, Mr. Far- 
 well. They just get it and go off to the States, and 
 it's come to me I I've always known it would. You
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 59 
 
 see, I've got to go away; not just now, but some 
 time. I'm going out through the Secret Portage. 
 I'm going away, away to find my real place. I'm 
 going to do something out where the States are. I 
 hoped you came from there; could tell me how to 
 go about it. Do you know, I feel as if I had been 
 dropped in Kenmore just to rest before I went 
 on!" 
 
 Farwell looked at the girl and something new and 
 changed about her startled him as it had her parents, 
 but, being wiser, he felt no antagonism. It was an 
 amazing, an interesting thing. The girl had suddenly 
 developed: that was all. She was eager to try her 
 wings at a longer flight than any of her sex in Ken- 
 more had ever before dreamed. It was amusing even 
 if it were serious. 
 
 Years before, Farwell had discovered the girl's 
 keen mind and her quaint originality. As much for 
 his own pleasure as her advantage he had taught 
 her as he had some of the other village children, 
 erratically, inconsequently, and here she was now 
 demanding that he fit her out with a chart for deep- 
 sea sailing. 
 
 How could he permit her to harbour, even for an 
 idle moment, the idea of leaving her shelter and going 
 away? At this the thin, dark face grew rigid and 
 stern. But too well the man knew the folly of set- 
 ting up active opposition to any young thing strain* 
 ing against the door of a cage. Better open the
 
 6o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 door even if a string on the leg or a clipped wing had 
 to be resorted to! 
 
 "Did you ever see the States?" The tense voice 
 was imploring. 
 
 "Oh, yes. Why do you wish to go there?" 
 
 "Why do the boys?" 
 
 This was baffling. 
 
 "Well, there was Mrs. Hornby's oldest boy, he 
 went to the States, got the worst of it, and came home 
 to die. He did not find them happy places." 
 
 "Yes, but all the other Hornbys went just the 
 same, even Jamsie. It's the chance, you know, the 
 chance to try what's in you, even if you do come 
 home and die! You never have a chance in Ken- 
 more; and I don't mean to be like my mother 
 like the other women. You see, Mr. Farwell, I'm 
 willing to suffer, but I am going to know all I want 
 to, and I am going to find a place where I fit in, if 
 I can." 
 
 So small and ignorant did the girl look, yet so 
 determined and keen, that Farwell grew anxious. 
 Evidently Nathaniel had borne too hard upon her, 
 borne to the snapping point, and she had, in her 
 wild fashion, caught the infection of the last going 
 away Jamsie Hornby's. It was laughable, but 
 pathetic. 
 
 "What could you do?" Farwell leaned forward 
 and gazed into the strange blue eyes fixed upon 
 him.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 61 
 
 "Dance. Have you ever seen me dance? Do you 
 want to?" She was prepared to prove herself. 
 
 "Good Lord! no, no!" 
 
 "Oh! I can dance. If some one would play for 
 me play on on a fiddle, I could dance all day 
 and night. Wouldn't people pay for that?" 
 
 This was serious business. By some subtle sug- 
 gestion Priscilla Glenn had introduced into the bare, 
 cleanly room an atmosphere of danger, a curious 
 sense of unreality and excitement. 
 
 "Yes they do pay," Farwell said slowly; "but 
 where in heaven's name did you get such ideas?" 
 
 The girl looked impishly saucy. She was making a 
 sensation again and, while Anton Farwell was not 
 affected as her parents had been, he was undoubt- 
 edly impressed. 
 
 "It's this way: You have to sell what you've got 
 until you get something better. There isn't an 
 earthly thing I can do but dance now; of course I 
 can learn. Don't you remember the nice story 
 about the old woman who went to market her eggs 
 for to sell? Master Farwell, I'm like her, and my 
 dancing is my egg!" 
 
 She was laughing now, this unreasoning, unrea- 
 sonable girl, and she was laughing more at Farwell's 
 perplexity than at her own glibness. She must soon 
 go, her time was growing short, but she was enjoying 
 herself immensely. 
 
 Looking at her, Farwell was suddenly convinced
 
 62 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 of one overpowering fact: Priscilla Glenn was des- 
 tined for living! Hers was one of those natures 
 that flash now and then upon a commonplace ex- 
 istence, a strange soul from an unknown port, never 
 resting until it finds its way back. 
 
 "Poor little girl!" whispered Farwell, and then he 
 talked to her. 
 
 Would she let him go to her father and mother? 
 
 " What's the use?" questioned Priscilla, and she 
 told him of the experience in the woods. "Father 
 saw only evil when it was the most beautiful thing 
 that ever happened." 
 
 Farwell saw a wider stretch and more danger. 
 
 "But I will try, and anyway, Priscilla, if I promise 
 to help you get ready, will you promise me to do 
 noting without consulting me?" 
 
 This the girl was ready enough to do. She was 
 restless and defiant under her new emotion, but in- 
 tuitively she had sought Farwell because he had 
 before aided her and sympathized with her. Yes, 
 she would confide in him. 
 
 That night Farwell called at Lonely Farm. Fol- 
 lowed by his two lean, ugly sledge dogs he made his 
 way to the barn where Nathaniel was doing the 
 evening's work. While the men talked, the dogs, 
 behind the building, fought silently and ferociously. 
 Farwell had fed one before he left home and a bitter 
 jealousy lay between the animals. It was almost 
 more than one might hope that the master could
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 63 
 
 influence Glenn or change his mind, but Farwell 
 did bring to bear an argument that, because nothing 
 else presented itself, swayed the father. 
 
 "You cannot get the same results from all child- 
 ren," Farwell said, looking afar and smiling grimly; 
 "there's no use trying to make an abnormal child 
 into a normal one. Priscilla is like a wild thing of 
 the woods. You may tame her, if you go about it 
 right; you'll never be able to force her. She's kind 
 and affectionate, but she cannot be fettered or caged, 
 without mischief being done. Better let her think 
 she is having her own way, or she may take 
 it!" 
 
 "I'll break her will!" muttered Glenn. 
 
 "And if you do what then?" 
 
 "She'll fall into line women do! Their life 
 takes it out of them. Once I get her on the right 
 track, she'll go straight enough. There's no other 
 way for her sex, thank God!" 
 
 "She'd be a poor, despicable thing if she was 
 cowed." Contempt rang in Farwell's voice. 
 
 "She'd serve her purpose." Glenn was so angry 
 that he became brutal. "Spirit ain't needed for 
 her job." 
 
 "Purpose? Job?" Farwell repeated. 
 
 "Yes. Child-bearing; husband-serving. If they 
 take to it naturally they're all the better off; if they 
 have to be brought to terms well, then 
 
 Gradually the truth dawned upon Farwell, and
 
 6 4 
 
 his thin face flushed, while in his heart he pitied 
 Theodora Glenn and Priscilla. 
 
 "I wish I'd kept to my first ideas!" Glenn was 
 saying surlily, "and never let the limb learn of you 
 or another. I gave her her head and here we are!" 
 
 "Had she been taught regularly by some one 
 better fitted than I she would have done great credit 
 to you. She has a bright mind and a vivid imagi- 
 nation." 
 
 To this Glenn made no response, but the energy 
 with which he applied the brush to his horse caused 
 the animal to rear dangerously. 
 
 "Come, come," Farwell continued; "better loosen 
 the rein and let her run herself out she may settle 
 happily after a bit. If you don't, she may run far- 
 ther than you know." 
 
 "Run? Run where?" Nathaniel, safe from the 
 horse's heels, glared at Farwell. 
 
 "To the States. There is no sex line on the bor- 
 der." 
 
 "But there's good, plain law. I'd have her back 
 and well cowed, if she attempted that!" 
 
 And then Farwell played his card. 
 
 "See here, Mr. Glenn, you do not want to drive 
 this girl of yours to to hell! Of course there is 
 law and of course you have the whip hand while 
 Priscilla is in your clutch, but with a wit like hers, 
 if she slipped across the border she could lose her- 
 self so completely that neither your hate nor legal
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 65 
 
 power could ever find her. Do you want to drive 
 her to such lengths?" 
 
 Some of the truth of what Farwell was saying 
 dashed Glenn's temper with fear. Hard and cruel 
 as he was, he was not devoid of affection of a clammy 
 sort, and for an instant Priscilla as a helpless girl 
 wandering among strangers replaced Priscilla, the 
 rebellious daughter, and pity moved him. 
 
 "Well, what do you suggest?" he asked grudgingly. 
 
 "Simply this: You can trust me. Good Lord 
 you surely can trust me with her! Let me teach 
 her and bring a little diversion into her life. What 
 she wants is what all young things want freedom 
 and fun pure, simple fun. Don't let her think 
 you are expecting evil of her; let her alone!" 
 
 The extent of Glenn's confusion may be estimated 
 by the fact that he permitted Priscilla thereafter 
 to go, when she chose, to Kenmore and learn of 
 Farwell what Farwell chose to give her, and, for the 
 first time in the girl's life, she felt a glow of appre- 
 ciation toward her father. 
 
 With this new freedom she became happier, less 
 restless, and her admiration for Farwell knew no 
 bounds. 
 
 The schoolmaster managed to procure a violin and 
 laboriously practised upon it until an almost for- 
 gotten gift was somewhat restored. He did not 
 play as Travers did he had only his ear to depend 
 upon; he had never been well taught but his music
 
 66 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 sufficed to accompany Priscilla's nimble feet, and 
 it gave Farwell himself an added interest in his dull 
 life. 
 
 "She'll marry Jerry-Jo McAlpin some day," the 
 schoolmaster thought at times; "and have a brood 
 of half-breeds no quarter-breeds and all this 
 joy and gladness will become a blurred, or blotted- 
 out, background. Good God!"
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MRS. McADAM of the White Fish Lodge 
 came out upon the village Green one eve- 
 ning in late August and, in a loud voice, 
 hailed Jerry McAlpin: 
 
 "I've heard it said," called she, "that you, you 
 Jerry McAlpin, are not against the taking away of 
 my license; not against the making of Kenmore a 
 teetotal town!" 
 
 There was menace in the high-pitched voice; warn- 
 ing in the accusation. But Jerry had not taken a 
 drop to drink since his self-releasement from jail 
 (after an apology from Hornby), and he was un- 
 cannily clear headed. 
 
 "I've said that same!" he replied, and stopped 
 short in his walk. 
 
 Two or three other men, followed by dogs, paused 
 to listen. Then a boat, coming in loaded with fish, 
 tied up to the wharf, and the crew, leaning over the 
 sides, waited for developments. 
 
 "And for why?" called Mary, hands on hips and 
 her sharp eyes blazing. 
 
 "For this: The drink turns us mad! I'm late 
 finding it out, but I've found it! It sent me to jail 
 
 67
 
 68 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 with my wits all afire. My boy drank that night, 
 drank like a young beast, and lay on the floor of the 
 cabin, they tell me, after I went away; and he only 
 sixteen, and his dead uncle stark there beside him 
 for company!" 
 
 By this time a goodly gathering was on the Green, 
 and Mary was in her element. 
 
 "And so," she said calmly, waxing eloquent as 
 her power grew, "you and the like of you would 
 take an honest woman's living from her, and she a 
 God-be-praised widow at that, because you can't 
 control the beast in yourselves and can't train the 
 cubs of your kennels!" 
 
 This was going to great lengths, and many a 
 listener who sided with Mary was chilled by her 
 offensive words. 
 
 "Come! come!" warned Hornby, the father of the 
 recently lured Jamsie, "them ain't exactly womanly 
 terms, are they?" 
 
 But Mary was on her high horse. Availing her- 
 self of the safety her sex secured for her, she struck 
 left and right without grace or favour, and her 
 audience gaped while they listened. 
 
 "Oh, I know! 'Tis this year a dry town with 
 me ruined, and it's next year a wet town with Mc- 
 Alpin, Hornby, or another creature in trousers 
 taking my place; and after that there will be no 
 more dry town for ever and ever! It's not morals 
 you are after, but a man-controlled tavern. Blast
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 69 
 
 ye!'* A sneer marked Mary's thin, dark face. 
 "You want your drinks and your freedom, but you 
 say you fear for your lads. Shame on you! Have 
 I no lads?" 
 
 Silence. 
 
 "Have I not trained them in the way they should 
 go? Do I fear for them?" A grave silence, and 
 McAlpin glared at Hornby, while an irreverent 
 youth, with a fish dangling from his hands, laughed 
 and muttered: 
 
 "Like gorrems!" 
 
 "Play a man's part, Jerry McAlpin. 'Tis not for 
 Jerry-Jo you fear; it's my business you'd get from 
 me, and you know it! Teach that lad of yours to be 
 decent, as I've trained mine. I have no fear for my 
 boys! I know what I'm talking about, and I tell 
 you now, if my lads were like yours I'd fling the 
 business over, but I don't see why a decent woman, 
 and her a God-be-praised widow, should lose her 
 living because you can't train your brats in the way 
 they should go. But this is mine! If you don't 
 stand by me and swear to do it here and now, it's 
 not another drink one of you shall get in my place 
 till after things are settled." 
 
 This was going farther than Mary McAdam had 
 ever gone before. She had threatened dire restric- 
 tions against them who failed to support her cause 
 should her cause be won in spite of them; she had 
 even hinted at cash payments to insure her against
 
 70 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 want if, possibly, her license was revoked, but this 
 shutting down upon human rights before election 
 came off was upsetting to the last degree. Hornby 
 looked at McAlpin and McAlpin dropped his eyes; 
 there was a muttering and a grumbling, and a general 
 feeling prevailed that every man should be his own 
 keeper and the guardian of his own sons, and it would 
 be a bitter wrong against a God-be-praised widow 
 to let family affairs ruin her business. 
 
 In the end Mary McAdam, with a manly fol- 
 lowing of stern upholders of individual rights and 
 the opportunity for mutual good fellowship, retired 
 to the bar of the White Fish and, waited upon by 
 Mary herself and her two exemplary sons, made 
 merry far into the evening. 
 
 Tom and Sandy McAdam, handsome, carefree 
 boys of sixteen and eighteen, passed the drinks with 
 many a jest and often a wink, but never a drop drank 
 they, not until the Lodge had closed its doors on all 
 visitors, and then Tom, the elder, w r ith a final leer 
 at Sandy the younger, drained off a glass of bad 
 whjsky with a grace that betokened long practice. 
 
 "Hold, there!" cautioned Sandy, filling a glass of 
 beer for himself; "you'll not be able to hide it from 
 the mother, you galoot." 
 
 "Oh, the night's long before the day breaks, and 
 it's yourself as must take the turn at house chores 
 the morning." 
 
 The following day was cloudy and threatening,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 71 
 
 and why Mary McAdam should take that time for 
 suggesting that her boys go over to Wyland Island 
 and buy their winter suits, she herself could not have 
 told. Perhaps, from the assurance of last night, she 
 felt freer with money; perhaps she thought the boys 
 could not be spared so well later; be that as it might, 
 she insisted, even against Sandy's remark that "a 
 lad couldn't put his mind to a winter outfit with the 
 sweat rolling down his back," that they should set 
 forth by eleven o'clock. 
 
 "Make a lark of it," said she generously; "take 
 that scapegoat Jerry- Jo McAlpin with you and have 
 it out with him about being a young beast and worry- 
 ing the heart out of old Jerry, who means well but 
 ain't got no kind of a headpiece. Take your lunch 
 along and " 
 
 Here she pointed her remarks with a lean, com- 
 manding finger: "You take that sail off the launch! 
 It's quiet enough now, but it ain't going to last for- 
 ever, and I couldn't rest with three flighty lads in a 
 boat with a sail and an engine." 
 
 Mrs. McAdam always expected to be obeyed. 
 Her personality was such that she generally was; but 
 always, when disobedience followed, it was hidden 
 from her immediate attention, and she was never 
 one to show the weakness of watching to see her 
 orders carried out. That was why she, of all the 
 people in the little village, did not realize that her 
 boys often drank more than was good for them
 
 72 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 always managed, by clever devices, to escape her 
 eye. 
 
 "A glass of harmless stuff now and again," she 
 would say with a toss of her head; "what's that but 
 a proof of the lads' self-control? That's what I'm 
 a-telling you: make your lads strong and self-re- 
 specting." 
 
 Tom did not take the sail from the boat that day? 
 neither did he expect to use it. He furled it close 
 and shipped it carefully, but it was late, and, in the 
 last hurry, he kept his mother's caution in mind, but 
 did not carry out her command. Then Sandy, when 
 they were about to start, did a bold thing. Stealing 
 into the bar, he took a bottle of whisky and a bottle 
 of brandy; these he hid under his reefer, and, with a 
 laugh at his own cunning, put into the empty places 
 on the shelves two partly filled bottles, and ran to 
 the wharf. 
 
 Mary McAdam waved them a farewell from the 
 steps. She had packed the hamper and stowed it 
 under the very sail she had ordered off. In the 
 excitement of preparation she overlooked it entirely. 
 
 "You, Sandy, see to it that you buy a suit that 
 you won't repent when the winter nips you!" she 
 called. 
 
 "And you, Tom, get a quiet colour and no 
 checks! When yer last year's suit shrank and the 
 squares got crooked ye looked like a damaged 
 checker-board!"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 73 
 
 Jerry- Jo McAlpin from his seat in the stern roared 
 with laughter at this, and just then the sturdy little 
 engine puffed, thudded, and "caught on," and off 
 went the three with loud words of good-bye. 
 
 The Channel was as smooth as a summer brook, 
 and the launch shot ahead. 
 
 "It's a bit chilly," Sandy said as they neared the 
 mouth opening at Flying Point into the Little Bay. 
 
 "Put on your storm coat," cautioned Tom, "and 
 you, too, Jerry- Jo; we'll get the wind when we pass 
 Dreamer's Rock and strike the Big Bay." 
 
 The boys got out their coats and put them on, and 
 then Sandy said: 
 
 "See what I've got! Snitched it from under the 
 mother's eye, too!" He held up the bottles. Tom 
 laughed, but Jerry- Jo reached out for one. 
 
 "A nip will ward off the cold better than a coat," 
 he said. 
 
 They all three indulged in this preventive. 
 
 Beyond Dreamer's Rock the wind fulfilled Tom's 
 prophecy; it was not a great wind, but it was a steady 
 one, and, perhaps, because the whisky had warmed 
 Tom's blood too hastily and hotly, he grew reckless. 
 
 "What do you say, fellows, to eating our lunch 
 and then trying sail and engine together? We could 
 beat the record and surprise folks by our time in 
 coming and going. The wind's safe; not a pufF! 
 What do you say?" 
 
 Jerry- Jo was something of a coward, but by the
 
 74 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 time he had eaten his lunch and washed it down with 
 more whisky than he had meant to take, he was 
 ready to handle the sail himself and proceeded to 
 do so. 
 
 Little Bear Island was the last one before the 
 entrance to Big Bay, and when the launch passed 
 that, either the wind had changed, or Tom, at the 
 engine and Jerry-Jo at the sail, had lost nerve and 
 head, for the boat became unmanageable. Sandy, 
 keeping to the exact middle of the boat, called to 
 Jerry-Jo to lower the sail, but Jerry-Jo did not hear, 
 or failed to clearly comprehend. The little craft 
 shot ahead like an arrow, but Tom knew that when 
 they went about there would be trouble. They 
 were fully a mile from either rock-bound shore. 
 Wyland Island was a good two miles before them, 
 and home seven miles to the rear. 
 
 A biggish sea was rolling and the sky was clouding 
 threateningly. The liquor had done its worst for 
 the boys: it had unnerved them, while at the same 
 time it had given them a mad courage. 
 
 "Keep straight ahead," shouted Tom, "until we 
 get near shore, and then pull in that infernal sail!" 
 
 What happened just then Jerry- Jo could never tell, 
 and he alone remained at the day's end for the telling! 
 
 They were in the water, all three of them! For a 
 moment Jerry-Jo, thoroughly sobered and keener 
 witted than he had ever been before in his life, be- 
 lieved he was the only one of the party ever again
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 75 
 
 to appear in that angry sea. Then he saw the over- 
 turned boat, heard the last sobbing pants of the en- 
 gine as it filled with water; then Tom's black head 
 and agonized face appeared; then Sandy's red head. 
 They all made for the boat and the wide sail lying 
 flat in the water! 
 
 They reached the launch, chilled and desperate, 
 climbed upon it, and gazed helplessly at each other. 
 Through chattering teeth they tried to speak, but 
 only a moan escaped Tom's blue lips. The wind 
 was colder; the sun had gone behind a bank of dull 
 storm clouds. After a long while Sandy, looking over 
 the expanse of ugly choppy waves, shuddered and 
 panted: 
 
 "It's going to be dark soon; it can't be more than a 
 half mile to yonder rock I'm for swimming to it! 
 Once on land we can move about, get our blood go- 
 ing, and perhaps find a sheltered spot till ' 
 morning!" 
 
 Tom looked at his brother vaguely; he was suffer- 
 ing keenly: 
 
 "Don't be a fool!" he shuddered. Jerry- Jo, 
 huddled in a wet heap, was sobbing like a baby 
 gone utterly to pieces. 
 
 Another hideous space of silence followed, then 
 Sandy spoke again: 
 
 "I'm going to make the try. I'm dying of cold. 
 It's the only chance for any of us. Here goes ! " 
 
 And before any one could interfere he made his
 
 ;6 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 leap and was in the water, a bobbing speck among 
 the ugly white caps! 
 
 "Good God!" 
 
 That was all Tom said, but his crazed eyes were 
 upon that strained, uplifted face. Jerry-Jo ceased 
 his moaning and laughed ! It was a foolish cackle, 
 such as a maniac might give, mistaking a death- 
 struggle for a bit of play. 
 
 "He's a good swimmer!" he gasped, and 
 laughed again. Tom turned, for an instant, won- 
 dering eyes upon him. He may have, in that mo- 
 ment, estimated his own chance, his duty to Jerry- Jo, 
 and his determination to be with his brother. The 
 perplexed gaze lasted but the briefest space of time 
 and then with: 
 
 "All right! here goes!" he was making for Sandy 
 with a strength born of despair and madness. 
 
 "Come back!" shrieked Jerry- Jo with the frenzy 
 of one deserted and too cowardly or helpless to fol- 
 low: "Come back!" 
 
 But neither swimmer heard nor heeded. For a 
 moment more the black and the red heads bobbed 
 about, the faces turned toward each other grimly. 
 Even in that waste and at the bitter last the sense 
 of companionship held their thought. Jerry-Jo, 
 rigid and every sense at last alert in an effort for 
 self-preservation, saw Sandy smile. It was a won- 
 derful smile: it was like a flash of sunlight on that 
 black sea; then Sandy's lips moved, but no one
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 77 
 
 was ever to know what he said, and then Jerry- 
 Jo was alone in the coming night and the rolling 
 waves ! 
 
 "They should," said Mary McAdam, "be home 
 by seven at the latest. The wind's with them 
 coming back; it was with them part of the way 
 going!" 
 
 Anton Farwell sat on the steps of the Lodge, his 
 dogs peacefully lying at his feet. All day, since 
 hearing of the boys' trip, he had been restless and 
 anxious. Farwell had his bad hours often, but he 
 rarely permitted himself companionship at such 
 times, but to-day, after his noon meal, he had been 
 unable to keep away from the Lodge. 
 
 "Fall's setting in early," Mrs. McAdam went on; 
 "pickerel come; whitefish go. Beasts and fish and 
 birds ken a lot, Mr. Farwell." 
 
 "They certainly do. The more you live with 
 dumb creatures, the more you are impressed with 
 that. Is that Sandy's dog, Mrs. McAdam?'* 
 
 A yellow, lank dog came sniffing around the side of 
 the house and lay down, friendly wise, by Farwell. 1 
 
 "Yes, and he's a cute one. Do you believe me, 
 Mr. Farwell, that there Bounder knows the engine 
 of our boatl Any other boat can come into the 
 Channel and he don't take any notice, but let my 
 boys be out late and Bounder, lying asleep on the 
 floor, will start up at the chugging of the launch and 
 make for the dock. He never makes a mistake."
 
 78 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Farwell laughed and bent over to smooth Boun- 
 der's back. 
 
 "What time is it?" he asked. 
 
 "Six-thirty," Mary replied with alarming readi- 
 ness. "Six-thirty, and the clock's a bit slow at 
 that." 
 
 Farwell felt sure it was a good ten minutes slow; 
 but because of that he turned the conversation. 
 
 "Jerry McAlpin was telling me to-day," he said 
 in his low, pleasant voice, "of how he and others 
 used to smuggle liquor over the border. Jerry seems 
 repenting of his past." 
 
 Mary laughed and shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "My man and Jerry, with old Michael McAlpin, 
 were the freest of smugglers. In them days the 
 McAlpins wasn't pestered with feelings; they was 
 good sports. Jerry marrying that full-breed had it 
 taken out of him somewhat she was a hifty one. 
 Them Indians never can get off their high heels 
 not the full-breeds. But I tell you, Mr. Farwell, 
 and you take it for truth, when Jerry begins to 
 maudle about repentance, it's just before a de- 
 bauch. I know the signs." 
 
 Just then Bounder raised his head and howled. 
 
 "None of that! Off with yer!" shouted Mary, 
 making for the dog with nervous energy. "Once," 
 she went on, her lips twitching, "my man and Mi- 
 chael McAlpin had a good one on the officers. They 
 had a big load of the stuff on the cart and were com-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 79 
 
 ing down the road back of the Far Hill Place when 
 they sensed the custom men in the bushes. What 
 do they do but cut the traces and lick the horses into 
 a run; then they turned the barrels loose, jumped 
 off, letting them roll down the hill, and they, them- 
 selves, made for safety. It was only a bit more 
 trouble to go back in a week's time and gather up 
 the barrels; but those government devils followed 
 the horses like idiots and felt mighty set up when 
 they overtook them! But when they saw they had 
 only the horses, oh! good Lord!" 
 
 Farwell laughed absently; his eyes were fixed on 
 the water. Even in the Channel it had an angry 
 look. The current was set from the Bay, and the 
 stream rose and fell as if it had an ugly secret in its 
 keeping. 
 
 "Mrs. McAdam," he said suddenly, "I'm going 
 out to to meet the boys!" 
 
 "God save ye, Mr. Farwell for which?" 
 
 When Mary fell into that form of speech she was 
 either troubled or infuriated. 
 
 "I'm restless; I feel like a fling. Come on, you 
 scamps!" to his dogs, "get home and keep house 
 till I come back." 
 
 His dogs leaped to him and then made for the 
 Green. Without another word Farwell walked to 
 his launch at the foot of the wharf steps and pre- 
 pared for his trip. 
 
 A black wave of fear enveloped Mary McAdam.
 
 8o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 She was overcome by a certainty of evil, and, when 
 Farwell's boat had disappeared, she strode to the 
 Green and gave vent to her anxiety. There were 
 those who comforted, those who jeered, but the 
 men were largely away on fishing business, and the 
 women and boys were more interested in her excite- 
 ment than they were in her cause for fear. 
 
 It was eight o'clock and very dark when Doctor 
 Ledyard, driving down from Far Hill Place for the 
 mail, paused to listen to Mrs. McAdam's expressions 
 of anxiety. Young Dick Travers was beside him, 
 and Mary's words held him. 
 
 "Was Jerry- Jo with your boys, Mrs. McAdam?" 
 he asked. 
 
 "He was that! And Jerry-Jo always brings ill- 
 luck on a trip. I should have known better than 
 to let the half-breed scamp go. 'Twas pity as 
 moved me. Jerry- Jo is one as thinks rocking a boat 
 is spirit, and yelling for help, when no help is needed, 
 a rare joke. The young devil!" 
 
 Doctor Ledyard and Dick stayed on after getting 
 the mail. A strange, tense feeling was growing in 
 the place. Mary's terror was contagious. 
 
 "If the men would only come back," moaned the 
 distracted mother; "I'd send the lot of them out 
 after the young limbs!" 
 
 At eight-thirty the storm broke. A dull, thick 
 storm which had used most of its fury out beyond 
 Flying Point, and in the breast of the sullen wind
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 81 
 
 came the sound of an engine panting, panting in 
 the darkness that was shot by flashes of lightning 
 and rent by thunder-claps. Mary McAdam gazed 
 petrified at Bounder, who had followed her to the 
 Green. 
 
 "Why don't yer yelp?" she muttered, giving the 
 dog a kick. But Bounder blinked indifferently as 
 the coming boat drew near and nearer. 
 
 Every boy, woman, and child, with the old men 
 and lazy young ones, were at the wharf when the 
 launch emerged from the darkness. Some one was 
 standing up guiding the boat, ready to protect it 
 from violent contact; some one was huddled on the 
 floor of the boat some one who made no cry, did 
 not look up. They two were all! Just then a lurid 
 flash of lightning seemed to photograph the scene 
 forever on the minds of the onlookers. 
 
 Ledyard, with Dick, was close to the boat when it 
 touched the dock. By the lurid light of electricity 
 the face of the man in the launch rose sharply against 
 the darkness and for one instant shone as if to at- 
 tract attention. 
 
 Farwell was known by reputation to the doctor; 
 he had probably been seen by him many times, but 
 certainly his face had never made an impression 
 upon him before. But now, in the hour of anguish 
 and excitement, it held Ledyard's thought to the 
 exclusion of everything else. 
 
 "Who? where?" The questions ran through his
 
 82 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 mind and then, because every sense was alert, he 
 knew! 
 
 "Jerry-Jo!" Dick was calling, "where are the 
 others?" 
 
 It was a mad question, but the boy, huddling in 
 the launch, replied quiveringly: 
 
 "Gone! gone to the bottom off Dreamer's Rock." 
 
 Then he began to whimper piteously. 
 
 A shuddering cry rang out. It was Mary Mc- 
 Adam, who, followed by her dog, ran wildly, apron 
 over head, toward the White Fish Lodge. 
 
 Farwell, casting all reserve aside, worked with 
 Ledyard over the prostrate Jerry-Jo. The recog- 
 nition was no shock to him; he had always known 
 Ledyard; had cleverly kept from his notice hereto- 
 fore, but now the one thing he had hoped to escape 
 was upon him, and he grew strangely indifferent 
 to what lay before. 
 
 He obeyed every command of the doctor as they 
 sought to restore Jerry-Jo. More than once their 
 eyes met and their hands touched, but the contact 
 did not cause a tremor in either man. 
 
 When the inevitable arrives a strength accom- 
 panies it. Nature rarely deserts either friend or foe 
 at the critical moment.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE bay was dragged, various methods being 
 used, but the bodies of Sandy and Tom 
 McAdam were not recovered. Mary Mc- 
 Adam with strained eyes and rigid lips waited at 
 the wharf as each party returned, and when at last 
 hope died in her poor heart, she set about the doing 
 of two things that she felt must be done. 
 
 The behaviour of the boys in the boat on the day 
 of the accident had at last reached her ears, for, 
 with such excitement prevailing and Jerry-Jo re- 
 duced to periods of nervous babbling as he repeated 
 again and again the story, Mary was certain of 
 overhearing the details. As far as possible she 
 verified every word. That her sons had disobeyed 
 her about the sail there could be no doubt, and when 
 she went to the shelf of the bar and discovered the 
 half-filled bottles which Sandy had put in the places 
 of the brandy and whisky, her heart gave up doubt. 
 She relinquished all that she had prided herself 
 upon in the past. They had defied and deceived 
 her! They had permitted her to be mocked while 
 she prated of her superiority! It was bitter hard, 
 but Mary McAdam made no feeble cry she pre- 
 83
 
 84 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 pared for the final act in the little drama. Beyond 
 that she could not, would not look. 
 
 "Dig me two graves," she commanded Big 
 Hornby; "dig them one on either side of my 
 husband's." 
 
 "You'll be thinking the bodies will yet be found, 
 poor soul?" Hornby had a tender nature kept hu- 
 man by his hunger for his absent boys. 
 
 "I'm not thinking. I'm doing my part; let others 
 do the same." 
 
 And then Mary went to Anton Farwell. Far- 
 well, since the night of the tragedy, was waiting, 
 always waiting for the inevitable. Every knock at 
 his door brought him panting to his feet. He knew 
 Doctor Ledyard would come; he fervently hoped 
 he would, and soon, but the days dragged on. There 
 were moments when the man had a wild desire to 
 shoulder his bag and set forth under shadow of the 
 night and the excitement, for one of his long absences, 
 this one, however, to terminate as far from Kenmore 
 as possible. Once he had even started, but at the edge 
 of the water where his boat lay he halted, deterred by 
 the knowledge that his safer course lay in facing what 
 he must face sooner or later. Now that he was known 
 to be alive it were easier to deal with one man than 
 with the pack of bloodhounds which that one man 
 might set upon him. Always the personal element 
 entered in it was weak hope, but the only one. He 
 might win Ledyard; he could not win the pack!
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 85 
 
 When Mary McAdam knocked on Farwell's door 
 he thought the time had come, but the sight of -the 
 distracted mother steadied him. Here was some- 
 thing for him to do, something to carry him away 
 from his lonely forebodings. 
 
 "Come in, Mrs. McAdam. Rest yourself. You 
 look sorely in need of rest." 
 
 It was the early evening of a hot day. It was 
 lighter out of doors than in the cottage, for the 
 shades were drawn at Farweirs windows; he dis- 
 liked the idea of being watched from without. 
 
 "I can't rest, Master Farwell, till I've done my 
 task," said the poor soul, sinking into the nearest 
 chair. "And it's to get your help I've come." 
 
 "I'll do what I can," murmured Farwell. "What 
 I'll be permitted to do," he felt would be more true. 
 
 "I've said more than once, Mr. Farwell, that were 
 my boys like other boys I'd give up the business of 
 the White Fish. Well, my lads were like others, 
 only they were keener about deceiving me. I thought 
 I'd made them strong and sure, but I did the same 
 hurt to my flesh and blood that I did to others. I 
 put evil too close and easy to them. I prided my- 
 self on what I had never done! They'll come back 
 to me no more. Could I have a talk with them, 
 things might be straightened out; but I must do 
 what is to be done alone." 
 
 Not a quiver shook the low, severe voice. The 
 very hardness moved Farwell to deep pity.
 
 86 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "It's now, Mr. Farwell, that I'd have you come 
 to the Lodge and help me with my task, and when 
 it's over I want you to stand with me beside those 
 two empty graves and say what you can for them 
 who never had the right mother to teach them. 
 I'm no church woman; the job of priest and minister 
 sickens me, but I know a good man when I see one. 
 You helped the lads while they lived; you risked 
 your life to help them home at the last; and it's you 
 who shall consecrate the empty beds where I'd have 
 my lads lie if the power were mine!" 
 
 Farwell got up and paced the room restlessly. 
 Suddenly, with Ledyard's recognition, the poor shell 
 of respectability and self-respect which, during his 
 lonely years, had grown about him, was torn asunder, 
 and he was what he knew the doctor believed him. 
 To such, Mary McAdam's request seemed a cruel 
 jest, a taunt to drive him into the open. And yet 
 he knew that up to the last ditch he must hold to 
 what he had secured for himself the trust and 
 friendship of these simple people. Hard and dis- 
 tasteful as the effort was he dared not turn himself 
 from it. Full well he knew that Ledyard's mag- 
 nifying glass was, unseen, being used against him 
 even now. The delay was probably caused by the 
 doctor's silent investigation of his recent life, his 
 daily deeds. He could well imagine the amusement, 
 contempt, and disbelief that would meet the story 
 of his poor, blameless years during which he had
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 87 
 
 played with children, worked in his garden, been 
 friends with the common folk, not from any high 
 motive, but to keep himself from insanity! He had 
 had to use any material at hand, and it had brought 
 about certain results that Ledyard would dissect 
 and toss aside, he would never believe! Still the 
 attempt to live on, as he had lived, must be under- 
 taken. A kind of desperation overcame him. 
 
 What did it matter? He might just as well go 
 on until he was stopped. He was no safer, no more 
 comfortable, sitting apart waiting for his summons. 
 He would, as far as in him lay, ignore the menacing 
 thing that hovered near, and play the part of a man 
 while he might. 
 
 "I'm ready to go with you, Mrs. McAdam," he 
 said, turning for his hat, "and as we go tell me what 
 you are about to do." 
 
 It was no easy telling. The mere statement of 
 fact was so crude that Farwell could not, by any 
 possibility, comprehend the dramatic scene he was 
 soon to witness and partake of. 
 
 "I'm going to keep my word," Mary McAdam 
 explained. "I'll not be waiting for the license to 
 be given, or taken away, I'll keep my word." 
 
 It was a still, breathless night, with a moon nearly 
 full, and as Mrs. McAdam, accompanied by Far- 
 well, passed over the Green toward the Lodge, the 
 idlers and loiterers followed after at a respectful dis- 
 tance. Mary was the centre of attraction just then,
 
 88 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 and Farwell always commanded attention, used as 
 the people were to him. 
 
 "Come on! come on!" called Mary without turn- 
 ing her head. "Bring others and behold the sight 
 of your lives. Behold a woman keeping her word 
 when the need for the keeping is over!" 
 
 A growing excitement was rising in Mary's voice; 
 she was nearing the end of her endurance and was 
 becoming reckless. 
 
 By the time the Lodge was reached a goodly 
 crowd was at the steps leading up to the bar. Jerry 
 McAlpin was there with Jerry-Jo beside him. 
 Hornby, just come from the digging of the two 
 graves, stood nearby with the scent of fresh earth 
 clinging to him. 
 
 Suddenly Mary McAdam came out of the house, 
 her arms filled with bottles, while behind her fol- 
 lowed Farwell rolling a cask. 
 
 What occurred then was so surprising and be- 
 wildering that those who looked on were never able 
 to clearly describe the scene. Standing with her 
 load, Mary McAdam spoke fierce, hot words. She 
 showed herself no mercy, asked for no pity. She had 
 dealt in a business that threatened the souls of men 
 and boys, made harder the lives of women. She had 
 blinded herself and made herself believe that she and 
 hers were better, stronger than others, and now - 
 
 Mary was magnificent in her abandon and de- 
 spair. Her words flowed freely, her eyes flashed.
 
 'And now,' she cried, 'I'll keep my word to you. Here! 
 here! here!' The bottles went whirling and crashing 
 on the rocks near the roadway "
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 89 
 
 "And now," she cried, "I'll keep my word to you. 
 Here! here! here!" 
 
 The bottles went whirling and crashing on the 
 rocks near the roadway. 
 
 "And you, Master Farwell, break open the keg 
 and set the evil thing free." 
 
 This Farwell proceeded to do with energy born 
 of the hour. "And fetch out all that remains!" 
 shrieked Mary. "Here, you! McAlpin, I'll have 
 none of your help! Stay in your place; I'd not 
 trust you inside when all's as free as it is to-night. 
 You have your lad heaven help you! Keep him 
 and give him a clean chance. Nor you, Hornby! 
 Out with you! It's a wicked waste, is it? Better 
 so than what I suffer. Your lads are above ground, 
 though out of your sight, Hornby, while mine - 
 Here, Master, more! more! let us water the earth." 
 
 The mad scene went on until the last drop of 
 liquor was soaking into the earth or dripping from 
 the rocks. 
 
 White-faced and stern, Farwell carried out the 
 mother's commands and heeded not the muttered 
 discontent or the approach of the horse and buggy 
 bearing Doctor Ledyard and Dick Travers. He was 
 one in the drama now and he played his part. 
 
 At the close a dull silence rested on the group, 
 then Mary McAdam made her appeal. Her voice 
 broke; her hands trembled. She looked aged and 
 forlorn.
 
 9 o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "And now," she said; "who'll come to the grave- 
 yard with me?" 
 
 She need not have asked. To the last child they 
 followed mutely. They were overcome by curi- 
 osity and fear, and the faces in the dull light of the 
 late day and early night looked ghostly. 
 
 As Farwell stood near Mary McAdam by the 
 newly made graves, he raised his eyes and found 
 Ledyard's stern, yet amused, ones on his face. For a 
 moment he quivered, but with the courage of one 
 facing an operation, the outcome of which he could 
 not know, he returned the look steadily. He heard 
 his own voice speaking words of helpfulness, words 
 of memory-haunted scenes. He told of Tom's cour- 
 age and Sandy's sunshiny nature. 'Twas youth, 
 he pleaded for them, youth with its blindness and 
 lack of foresight. He recalled the last dread act as 
 Jerry- Jo had depicted it. The older brother risking 
 all for the younger. The smile Sandy's last be- 
 quest the moving lips that doubtless spoke words 
 of affection to the only one who could hear them. 
 Together they had played their pranks, had trod 
 the common path; together they went Farwell 
 paused, then returned Ledyard's sneering gaze de- 
 fiantly, "To God who alone can understand and 
 judge!" This was flung out boldly, recklessly. 
 
 With ceremony and the sound of sobbing, the 
 empty graves were refilled, and the strange company 
 turned away.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 91 
 
 Then, alone and spent, Farwell returned to his 
 cottage with a sure sense that before he slept he 
 would know his fate, for he acknowledged that his 
 fate lay largely, now, in the hands of the man who 
 no longer had any doubt of his identity. 
 
 It was half-past eight when the buggy passed 
 Farwell's window bound for the Hill Place. Young 
 Travers was driving and the seat beside him was 
 empty! Nine o'clock struck; the lights went out 
 in the village, but Farwell rose and trimmed his 
 lamp carefully. Ten o'clock all Kenmore, except- 
 ing Mary McAdam, slept. Still Farwell waited 
 while his clock ticked out the palpitating seconds. 
 The moonlight flooded the Green. Where was he, 
 that waiting man who was to come and give the 
 blow ? 
 
 It was nearly eleven when Farwell saw him ad- 
 vancing across the Green. He had been down by the 
 water, probably hiding in some anchored boat until 
 he was sure that he would not be seen. As he 
 reached the door of Farwell's house a clear voice 
 called to him: 
 
 "Will you come in, or would you prefer to have 
 me come out?" 
 
 This took Ledyard rather at a disadvantage. He 
 could hardly have told what he expected, but he 
 certainly did not look for this calm acceptance of 
 him and his errand. 
 
 "I'll come in. I see you have a light. Thank
 
 92 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 you" for Farwell had offered a chair near the 
 table "I hope I'm not disturbing you." 
 
 The irony of this was apparently lost upon Far- 
 well. He sat opposite Ledyard, his arms folded on 
 the table, waiting. 
 
 "So you're alive!" 
 
 "So it seems at least partly so." Farwell 
 parried the blows as one does even when he sees 
 failure at hand. 
 
 "Perhaps you know your death was reported some 
 years ago? There was a full account. You were 
 escaping into Canada. The La Belle was the name 
 of the boat. It went down near here?" 
 
 "Off Bleak Head," Farwell broke in. 
 
 "Thanks. There was even a picture of you in the 
 papers," Ledyard said. 
 
 "A very poor one, I recall." Now that he 
 was on the dissecting table, Farwell found himself 
 strangely calm and collected. He saw that his 
 manner irritated Ledyard; felt that it might ruin his 
 chances, but he held to it grimly. 
 
 "So you saw the papers?" The eyes under 
 the shaggy brows looked ugly. 
 
 "Oh, yes. I had them all sent to me. It was 
 very interesting reading after I got over the shock 
 of the wreck and had accepted my isolated position." 
 
 "I suppose Boswell keeps in touch with you 
 damn him!" 
 
 "Do you begrudge me this one friend?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 93 
 
 "Yes. You have put yourself outside the pale 
 of human companionship and friendships." 
 
 To this Farwell made no rejoinder. Again he 
 waited. 
 
 "What do you think I'm going to do about it, 
 now that I've run you down so unexpectedly?" 
 
 "I have supposed you would tell me, once we got 
 together." 
 
 "Well, I've come to tell you!" 
 
 Ledyard leaned back in his chair and stretched 
 his long legs out before him. 
 
 "But first I'm going to ask you a few questions. 
 Your answers won't signify much one way or the 
 other, but I'm curious. Why did you make such a 
 fight just to live? It must have been a devil of 
 a game." 
 
 Farwell leaned against the table and so came 
 nearer to his inquisitor. 
 
 "It was," he said quietly, "and I wonder if you 
 can understand why it is that I'm glad to tell 
 even you about it? I don't expect sympathy, pity, 
 or even justice, but when a man's been on a desert 
 isle for years it's a relief to speak his own tongue 
 again to any one who can comprehend and who will 
 listen." 
 
 "I'm prepared to listen," Ledyard muttered, and 
 shrugged his heavy shoulders; "it will pass the time." 
 
 "After the thing was done," Farwell plunged in, 
 "the thing I had to do I was dazed; I couldn't
 
 94 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 think clear. I'd been driven by drink and and 
 other things into a state bordering on delirium. 
 Afterward, when they had me and I was forced to 
 live normally, simply, I began to think clearly and 
 suffer. God! how I suffered! I faced death with 
 the horror that only an intelligent person can know. 
 I saw no escape. The trial, the verdict, brought 
 me closer and closer to the hideous reality. At first 
 I thought it could not happen to me to me! But 
 it could! I sat day in and day out, looking at the 
 electric chair! That was all I could see: it stood 
 like a symbol of all the torture. I wondered how 
 I would approach it. Would I falter, or go as most 
 poor devils do steadily? I saw myself after- 
 ward all that was left of me to give back to the 
 world. Oh! I suffered, I suffered!" 
 
 The white, haggard face held Ledyard's fascinated 
 gaze, but drew no word from him. 
 
 Farwell loosened the neck of his shirt he was 
 stifling, yet feeling relief as the past dreams of his 
 lonely life formed themselves into words. 
 
 "At night I was haunted by visions," the low, 
 vibrant voice rushed on. "It was worse at night 
 when semi-unconsciousness made me helpless. I'd 
 wake up yelling, not with fright, but pain, actual 
 pain the hot, knifing pain of an electric current 
 trying to find my heart and brain. 
 
 "Then they said I was mad. Well, so I was; and 
 the fight was on! At first there was a gleam the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 95 
 
 chair faded from sight. If I lived there was 
 hope; but I was mistaken. You know the rest. 
 The legal struggle, the escapes and captures. One 
 friend and much money did what they could; it 
 wasn't much. 
 
 "You've seen a cat play with a mouse? The 
 mouse always runs, doesn't it? Well, so did I, 
 though I didn't know where in God's world I was 
 running, nor to what." 
 
 For some minutes Farwell had been speaking like 
 a man distraught by fever. He had forgotten the 
 listener across the table; he was remembering aloud 
 at last, with no fear of consequences. He did not 
 look at Ledyard, and when he spoke again it was in 
 a calmer tone. 
 
 "It was on the last run that I was supposed to 
 have drowned. Well, I did die; at least something 
 in me died. I lost breath, consciousness, and when 
 I came to I was a poor, broken thing not worth 
 turning the hounds on. I'm done for as far as the 
 past's concerned. I'm a different man not a 
 reformed one! God knows I never played that 
 role. I'm another man. I took what I could to 
 keep me from insanity. I had to do something to 
 occupy my time. That's why I've taught these 
 poor little devils; it wasn't for them, it was for me; 
 and when they grew to like me and trust me I 
 was grateful. Grateful for even that!" 
 
 Ledyard was holding the white, drawn face by
 
 96 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 his merciless eyes. So he looked when a particularly 
 interesting subject lay under his knife and he was 
 all surgeon no man. 
 
 "But you're not equal to going back to the States 
 without being hauled there and taking you medi- 
 cine?" he asked calmly. 
 
 "No. I suppose in the final analysis all that jus- 
 tice demands is that I should be put out of the way 
 out of the way of harming others? Well, that's 
 accomplished. I don't suppose your infernal ideas 
 of justice claim that a man should be hounded 
 beyond death, and every chance for right living be 
 barred from him ? If a poor devil ever can expatiate 
 his sin and try to live a decent life, why shouldn't 
 he be given the opportunity here and now instead of 
 in some mythical place among creatures of one's 
 fancy?" 
 
 "You didn't argue that way when you shot 
 Charles Martin down, did you? He was my friend; 
 he had to take his medicine!" Ledyard almost 
 snarled out these words. "He may have deserved 
 his punishment for the lapses of his life but you 
 were not the one to deal it. His family demand 
 and should have justice for him I mean to see 
 that they shall. Martin, for all his folly was a 
 genius, and gave to the world his toll of service. 
 Why should you, who gave nothing, escape at his 
 expense? " 
 
 "Martin was no better, no worse, than I. He and
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 97 
 
 I lived on the same plane then; had the same in- 
 terests. Had I not killed him, he would have killed 
 me. He swore that." 
 
 "But you took him at a disadvantage, like the 
 
 damned " Ledyard paused; he was losing his 
 
 self-control. The calm, living face across the table 
 enraged him. 
 
 "I met him in the open; I did not know he was 
 unarmed. I drew my pistol in full view. A week 
 before he had done the same; I escaped. No one 
 believed that when I told it at the trial. I had no 
 witnesses; he had many when I took my revenge." 
 
 "Who could believe you ? What was your life com- 
 pared with his?" 
 
 "Exactly. Perhaps that is why I I kept run- 
 ning. Martin only dipped into such lives as mine 
 was then; he always scurried back to respectability 
 and honour; I grovelled in the mire and got stuck! 
 When you get stuck you get what the world calls 
 justice." 
 
 "I recall" Ledyard's face was hardening "I 
 recall you always squealed. You were always the 
 wronged one; society was against you. Bah!" 
 
 Farwell sat unmoved under this attack. 
 
 "I'm not squealing now," he said quietly; "I am 
 merely defending myself as I can. That's the pre- 
 rogative of any human being, isn't it? Why, see 
 here, Ledyard, there's one thing men like you never 
 comprehend. On the different stratas of life ex-
 
 98 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 actly the same passions, impulses, and emotions exist; 
 it's the way they'redealt with,how they affect people, 
 that makes the difference. Up where you live and 
 breathe they love and hate and take revenge, don't 
 they? That's what happened down where I wal- 
 lowed and where Martin sometimes came to enjoy 
 himself!" 
 
 And now Farwell clutched his thin hands on the 
 table to stay their trembling as he went on: 
 
 "I loved the woman in the case. That sounds 
 strange to you, but it's the only thing I warn you 
 not to laugh at! I loved her because she was beau- 
 tiful, fascinating, and as as bad as I. I knew the 
 poor creature had never had half a show. She was 
 born in evil and exploited from the cradle up. Mar- 
 tin knew it, too, and took advantage. She was 
 fair game for him and his money. When he came 
 down to hell to play, he played with her and defied 
 me. But on my plane it was man against man, you 
 see, and when he flung his plaything aside, she came 
 to me; that's all! She told me how he had brought 
 her where she was yes, damn him! when she was 
 innocent! She paid her toll then, not for his money 
 though who would believe that? but for the 
 chance to be decent and clean. He told her, when 
 she was only sixteen, that the one way she could 
 prove her vows to him was to give herself to him. 
 If she trusted him so far, he could trust her. She 
 trusted, poor child! Two years later he married
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 99 
 
 up on his higher plane your plane and laugh- 
 ingly offered a second best place to her. It was the 
 only bargain she could make then! The rest was 
 an easy downhill grade. 
 
 "Well, I took her. I was all you say, but I meant 
 to do the right thing by her, and she knew it! Yes, 
 she knew it, and later he came back and tried to get 
 her away. After I shot him and went to her with 
 the story she told me she'd pull herself together 
 and wait for me until until I came for her. She 
 understood!" 
 
 Ledyard moistened his lips and set his jaws 
 harshly. The story had not moved him to pity. 
 
 "And where is she now?" he asked. 
 
 "In New York, I suppose. She thinks me dead." 
 
 "Boswell tells you that?" 
 
 "Yes. And he will never let her know. Unless 
 I- 
 
 "You expect to go back some day?'* 
 
 Farwell gave a dry, mirthless laugh at this, and 
 then replied: 
 
 "After I've been dead long enough, when I've 
 been good long enough, perhaps. You know even 
 in a disembodied spirit hope dies hard. Yes I 
 had hoped to go back." 
 
 "I I thought so." Ledyard leaned forward 
 and across the table; his face was not three feet 
 from Farwell's. 
 
 "I like to trace diseases down to the last germ,"
 
 ioo THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 he said. "You're a disease, Farwell Maxwell, a 
 mighty, ugly, dangerous one. You oughtn't to be 
 alive; you're a menace while you have breath in your 
 body; you should have died years ago in payment of 
 your debt, just as Martin did, but you escaped, and 
 now some one has got to keep an eye on you; see 
 that you don't skip quarantine. You understand?" 
 
 Farwell felt the turning of the screw. 
 
 "I'm going to be the eye, Maxwell. You're going 
 to stay right where you are until you pass off this 
 sphere. Remembering what you once were, your 
 pastimes and love of luxury, this seems as hellish a 
 place and existence as even you deserve. When I saw 
 you last night" and here Ledyard laughed 
 "it was all I could do to control myself. You play 
 your part well; but you always had a knack for 
 theatricals. I know I'm a hard, unforgiving man, 
 but there is just one phase of human nature that I 
 will not stand for, and that is the refusal to take the 
 medicine prescribed for the disease. What incentive 
 have people for better living and upright thinking 
 if every devil of a fellow who gets through his beast- 
 iality is permitted to come up into the ranks and 
 march shoulder to shoulder with the best? If it's 
 living you want and will lie for, steal for, and beg 
 for have it; but have it here where the chances 
 are all against your old self. You'll probably never 
 murder any one here or ruin the women; so grovel 
 on!"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 101 
 
 As he listened Farwell seemed to shrink and age. 
 In that hour he recognized the fact that through all 
 the years of self-imposed exile he had held to the 
 hope of release in the future: the going back to that 
 which he had once known. But looking at the hard, 
 set face opposite he knew that this hope was futile: 
 he must live forever where he was, or, by departing, 
 bring about him the bloodhounds of justice and 
 vengeance. Ledyard had but to whistle, he knew, 
 and again the pursuit would be keen, and in the end 
 a long blank lay beyond that! 
 
 "You will stay where you are!" Ledyard was 
 saying. 
 
 "Surely. I intend to stay right here." 
 
 Then Farwell laughed and leaned back in his 
 chair.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 LIFE settled into calm after the storm and 
 subsequent happenings. Mary McAdam, 
 having done what she felt she must do, 
 grimly set her house in order and prepared for a new 
 career. The bar, cleansed and altered, became her 
 private apartment. With the courage and endur- 
 ance of a martyr she determined to fight her battle 
 out where there would be the least encouragement 
 or comfort. 
 
 "I'll drink to the dregs," she said to Mary Ter-. 
 hune, who gave up her profession to share the soli- 
 tude and fortunes of the White Fish; "but while 
 I'm drinking there's no crime in serving my kind. 
 Come summer I'll open my doors to tourists and 
 keep the kind of house a woman and a God-be- 
 praised widow one at that should keep. Time 
 was when the best would not come to me, the bar 
 being against their liking. Well, the best may come 
 now and find peace." 
 
 "'Tis a changed woman you are, Mrs. McAdam." 
 
 "No, just a stricken one, Mary. When I sit by 
 
 those empty graves back of the pasture lot I seem 
 
 to know that I must do the work of my boys as 
 
 1 02
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 103 
 
 well as my own and the time's short! I'm ever 
 sixty." 
 
 "And looking forty, Mrs. McAdam." The man- 
 ners of her trade clung to Mrs. Terhune. 
 
 "The shell doesn't count, Mary, if the heart of 
 you is old and worn." 
 
 The people from the Far Hill Place returned 
 early to town that year, and Anton Farwell breathed 
 easier and sunk back into his old life when he knew 
 they were gone. 
 
 In resurrecting the man Farwell once was, Ledyard 
 had all but slain the man he had, perforce, become. 
 
 Whether former characteristics were dead or not, 
 who could tell? But certainly with temptation 
 removed, with the routine of a bleak, uninteresting 
 existence his only choice, Farwell was a harmless 
 creature. Gradually he had found solace in the 
 commonplaces that surrounded him. Like a person 
 relieved of mortal agony he was grateful for semi- 
 invalidism. Previous to Ledyard's recognition of 
 him he had sunk to a monotonous indifference, 
 waiting, he realized now, for the time when he might 
 safely shake off his disguise and slip away to what 
 was once his own. Now, with his exit from Ken- 
 more barred, he found that he no longer could return 
 to his stupor; he was alert, keen, and restless. In the 
 past he had often forced himself to exercise in order 
 that he might be ready to journey on when the time 
 of release came. His walks to the distant town, his
 
 io 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 long hours on the water, had all been preparations 
 for the final leave-taking from his living tomb. 
 
 But now that he had no need of lashing himself 
 into action, he found himself always on the move. 
 He worked early and late at trifling tasks that oc- 
 cupied his hands while sharpening his wits. With 
 shades drawn at night, he drew, with pencil and 
 paper, plans of escape. He must choose a calm 
 spell after a storm; he would take his launch, with a 
 rowboat behind, to the Fox Portage. He'd set his 
 launch free and shoulder his boat. Once he reached 
 the Little Bay, he'd take his chances for an outgoing 
 steamer. He'd have plenty of money and a glib 
 story of a bad connection. It would go. He must 
 defeat Ledyard. 
 
 Then he would tear the sheets of paper in bits, 
 toss them on the coals, and laugh bitterly as he 
 realized that he was imprisoned forever. 
 
 Foolish as all this was, it had its effect upon the 
 man. He played with the thought as a child might 
 play with a forbidden toy. Then he decided to test 
 the matter. He would have to buy clothes and pro- 
 visions for the winter he always made a pilgrim- 
 age about this time. There would be a letter from 
 Boswell, too. There always was one in September. 
 So on a certain morning Farwell turned the key in 
 his lock and quite naturally set forth with a sense of 
 exaltation and freedom he had imagined he would 
 never feel again.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 105 
 
 Followed by his dogs, he went to his boat, which 
 happened just then to be tied at the ricketty dock 
 of the White Fish. 
 
 "It's off for a tramp you are, maybe?" asked Mrs. 
 McAdam from her doorway. "God keep you, Mr. 
 Farwell, and bring you back safe and sound." 
 
 At this Farwell paused. 
 
 "I think I'll leave the dogs behind," he said. "I 
 may wish to hurry back, and a brace of dogs, keen on 
 scents and full of spirits, is a handicap on a journey." 
 
 "Sure I'll feed and care for the two, and welcome, 
 and if their staying behind brings you quicker home, 
 'tis a good piece of work I'm doing for Kenmore." 
 
 With this Mary McAdam came down to the boat 
 and looked keenly at Farwell. 
 
 "Are you well?" she asked with a gentleness new 
 and touching. 'Tis pale you look, and thin, I'm 
 thinking. I'm getting to depend upon you, and the 
 thought of anything happening to you grieves the 
 heart of me. In all Kenmore there's no one as I 
 lean on like you. There be nights when I look out 
 toward your house and see your light a-shining when 
 all else is dark, and say to myself, 'The master and 
 me' over and over, and I'm less lonely." 
 
 For a moment Farwell could not speak. Once an 
 inward desire to laugh, to scoff, would have driven 
 him to supernatural gravity; now he merely smiled 
 with grave pleasure, and said: 
 
 "A tramp will do me good, Mrs. McAdam.
 
 io6 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Thank you. I'll take your words with me for com- 
 fort and cheer." 
 
 The first night Farwell slept beside his fire, not 
 ten miles from Kenmore. He had revelled in his 
 freedom all day, had played like a boy, often re- 
 tracing his steps, carefully using the same foot- 
 prints, and laughing as he imagined the confusion 
 of any one trying to follow him; the vague some- 
 body being always Ledyard. 
 
 After a frugal meal, Farwell smoked his pipe, even 
 attempted a snatch of rollicking song, then, rolling 
 himself in a blanket, fell into natural and happy 
 slumber. 
 
 At four he awoke with the creeping sensation of 
 unexplainable fear. He first thought some animal 
 was prowling near, and, raising himself on his elbow, 
 looked keenly about. The- appearance of the fire 
 puzzled him. It looked as if fresh wood had been 
 laid upon it, but, as no one was in sight he concluded 
 that his own wood had been damp, and, therefore, 
 had burned slower. 
 
 He did not sleep again, however, and his excited 
 thoughts trailed back to his past and the one woman 
 who had magically caught and held all the best 
 that was in him. To what point of vantage had she, 
 poor, disabled little soul, drifted? The world was a 
 hard enough place for a woman, God knew, and for 
 her, with her sudden-born determination to rise 
 above the squalor of ' ?r early youth, it would be a
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 107 
 
 serious problem. Boswell told him so little. He 
 could count on his ringers the few sharp facts his 
 friend had given him with the promise that if con- 
 ditions changed he should know, but if all remained 
 well, he might be secure in his faith and hope for 
 the future. The future! Was there any future for 
 him except Kenmore? And if she heard now that 
 he was alive, had only seemed dead for her safety 
 and his own, would she come to him and share the 
 dun-coloured life of the In-Place? 
 
 She was alive; she was faithful. Boswell was 
 making her comfortable with Farwell's money. She 
 was accepting less and less because she was win- 
 ning her way to independence in an honourable 
 line. Since no man had entered her life after Far- 
 well's death was reported, Farwell could readily see 
 why. 
 
 Over and over, that first night in the woods, Far- 
 well rehearsed these facts for comfort's sake. Sup- 
 pose he made an escape. Suppose he lost himself in 
 the city's labyrinth what then? 
 
 And then, just at daybreak, a vivid and sharp 
 memory of the woman's face came to him as he had 
 last seen it pressed against the bars of his cell. Be- 
 hind the squares of metal it shone like an angel's. 
 Fair, pitiful, wonder-filled eyes, and quivering mouth. 
 All day the picture haunted him and seemed to draw 
 him toward it. He walked twenty miles that day 
 and came at sunset to a dense jungle Where he made
 
 io8 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 his camp and stretched himself exhaustedly before 
 the fire. 
 
 Sleep did not come easily to him; he was too 
 excited and nerve worn. The white face checked 
 by iron bars would not fade, and in the red glow of 
 the flames it began to look wan and haggard, as if 
 the day had tired it and it could find no rest or com- 
 fort. 
 
 The feeling of suffocation Ledyard had managed 
 to create, returned to him. He grew nervous, ill at 
 ease, and fearful. 
 
 Then he fell to moralizing. He was not often 
 given to that, or introspection. Longing and alter- 
 nate hope and despair had been his comrades and 
 bedfellows, but he rarely indulged in calm consider- 
 ation. Smoking his pipe, stretched wearily on the 
 moss, he wondered if men knew how much they pun- 
 ished while fulfilling their ideals of justice? 
 
 "If only the sense of vindictiveness could be left 
 out," he thought; "the Lord knows they have it all in 
 their power once the key is turned on us. I de- 
 served all they meant to inflict, but no human being 
 deserves all that was given unconsciously." 
 
 Then Farwell relived his life, while the wood 
 crumbled to ashes and the moon came up over the 
 hills. A misguided, misspent boyhood; too much 
 money; too little common sense; then the fling in the 
 open with every emotion and desire uncurbed. Well, 
 he had to learn his lesson and God knew he had; but
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 109 
 
 why, in the working of things, shouldn't one be given 
 a chance to prove the well-learned task; an oppor- 
 tunity, while among the living, to settle the question ? 
 
 However, such fancies were idle, and Farwell shook 
 the ashes from his pipe and gave a humorous shrug. 
 
 It would be a fine piece of work to slip from the 
 clutches of the past and make good! This idea 
 caused him to tremble. Surely no one would look 
 for him in the camp of the upright. Walking the 
 paths of the clean and sane he would be more surely 
 secure from detection than anywhere else on earth. 
 That was what his past had done for him. The 
 truth of this sank into the lonely man's soul with 
 sickening finality. And as he realized it, and com- 
 pared it with the fact of his youth, he groaned. What 
 an infernal fool he had been! What fools all such 
 fellows were who, like him, wasted everything in their 
 determination to make the unreal, real. He did not 
 now desire to be a drivelling repentant; he wanted, 
 God knew he really wanted, a chance to be decent 
 and live; but in order to live he must go on acting a 
 part and cringing and hiding. 
 
 These thoughts led nowhere and unfitted him for 
 his journey, so he made the fire safe, lay down be- 
 side it, and slept as many a better man would have 
 given much to sleep. 
 
 At four he awoke as on the previous night. So 
 quietly, however, did he open his eyes that he took 
 by surprise a man crouching by the fire as if stealing
 
 i io THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 a bit of warmth. Farwell turned over, and the two 
 eyed each other with wide, penetrating gaze. 
 
 Tough Pine, the guide, finding himself discovered, 
 grinned sheepishly; he was loathing himself for being 
 taken off guard, and muttered: 
 
 "Me share fire? me helped keep it." 
 
 Farwell raised himself on his elbow, all the light 
 and courage gone from his face. It was the old 
 story, the dream of freedom and the prison bars! 
 
 "Where are you going?" he asked, though he knew 
 full well. 
 
 "Where you go? There, Pine go! Pine 
 good friend and good guide." 
 
 They questioned each other no more. Farwell 
 finished his errand in dull fashion, bought his goods, 
 found a letter, long waiting him, read all the papers 
 he could lay hands on, and then set his face toward 
 Kenmore. And that winter he devoted himself as 
 he never had before to the simple people who were 
 the means of keeping him sane. 
 
 Upon this newly restricted and devastated hori- 
 zon Priscilla Glenn loomed large and vital. With 
 Nathaniel's loosened rein and Theodora's restored 
 faith, the girl developed wonderfully. Farwell made 
 no more objection to her dancing or her flights of 
 fancy. He fiddled for her and fed the flame of her 
 imagination. She was the sunniest creature he had 
 ever known; the bleak life of Lonely Farm had 
 spurred her to greater lengths of self-defence;
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS in 
 
 nothing could daunt her. She had an absorbing 
 curiosity about life, out and beyond the Kenmore 
 confines; and more to keep his own memory clear 
 than to satisfy Priscilla, Farwell set himself to the 
 task of educating the girl in ways that would have 
 appalled Nathaniel and reduced Theodora again to 
 tears and apprehension. 
 
 The bare room of the master's house was the stage 
 upon which were set, in turn, the scenes of distant 
 city life. Vicariously Priscilla learned the manners of 
 a "real lady" under the most trying circumstances. 
 Farwell told her of plays, operas, and, over his deal 
 table, they chatted in brilliant restaurants. They 
 walked gay streets and stood bewildered before 
 flashing shop windows. It was all dangerous, but 
 fascinating, and in the playing of the game Farwell 
 grew old and drawn, while Priscilla gradually came 
 into her Heart's Desire of delight. 
 
 " My Road ! " she proudly thought. " My Road ! " 
 
 The old poem was recalled and was often repeated 
 like a litany, while life became more and more 
 vital and thrilling with dull Kenmore as a back- 
 ground and setting. 
 
 Just about this time Jerry- Jo took to wearing his 
 Sunday suit on week days, thus proclaiming his 
 aspirations and awaking the ribald jests of his par- 
 ticular set. 
 
 Mary Terhune, now partner of Mrs. McAdam, 
 took note of Jerry-Jo's appearance, and, on a certain
 
 ii2 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 afternoon in midwinter, when she, Long Jean, and 
 Mary McAdam sat by the range in the White Fish 
 kitchen, fanned a lively bit of gossip into flame. 
 
 "Trade's a bit poor these days, eh, Jean?" 
 
 Jean grunted over her cup of green tea. 
 
 "Not so many children born as once was, eh? 
 What you make of it, Jean the woman getting 
 heady or which ? " 
 
 Mary McAdam broke in. 
 
 "What with poverty and the terrors of losing 
 them, there's enough born to my thinking. Time 
 was when the young 'uns happened; they're thought 
 more on, these days. Women should have a say. 
 If there's one thing a man should keep his tongue 
 off it's this matter of families!" 
 
 To this outrageous sentiment the listeners replied 
 merely by two audible gulps of tea, and then Mary 
 Terhune found grace to remark: 
 
 "You certainly do talk most wonderful things, 
 Mary McAdam. You be an ornament to your sex, 
 but only such women as you can grip them audacious 
 ideas. Let them be sowed broadcast and 
 
 "Where would me, and such as me, be?" Long 
 Jean muttered, defending her profession. 
 
 Mrs. Terhune tactfully turned the conversation: 
 
 "Have you noticed the change in Jerry-Jo Mc- 
 Alpin?" she asked with a mysterious shake of her 
 head. 
 
 "Any change for the better would be welcome,"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 113 
 
 Mrs. McAdam retorted. "Have another cup, Jean? 
 Stronger weak?" 
 
 "Strong. I says often, says I, that unless tea 
 curls your tongue you might just as well take water. 
 When I'm on duty I keep a pot on the back of 
 the stove week in and week out; it do brace me 
 powerful." 
 
 Mrs. McAdam poured the tea into the out- 
 stretched cup and proceeded to discuss Jerry-Jo. 
 
 "Why doesn't the scamp go to the States and find 
 himself instead of worrying old Jerry's very life out 
 of him the vampire!" 
 
 "He may have it in his mind," soothed Mary 
 Terhune, "but the lad's deep and far seeing like his 
 Injun mother beg pardon, Jean, the term's a com- 
 pliment, God save me!" 
 
 "You've saved your face, Mrs. Terhune. Go 
 on!" 
 
 Jean had begun to resent, but the explanation 
 mollified her. 
 
 "More tea," she said quietly, "and you might stir 
 the dregs a mite, Mrs. McAdam; it's plain sinful to 
 let the strength go to waste." 
 
 "If I was Theodora Glenn," Mary Terhune went 
 on, monotonously stirring the cold liquid in her cup, 
 "I'd have my eye on that girl of hers." 
 
 And now the ingredients were prepared for the 
 mixing! 
 
 "What's Priscilla Glenn got to do with Jerry- Jo
 
 ii 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 McAlpin?" Mrs. McAdam asked sharply, fixing 
 her little ferret eyes on the speaker. 
 
 Long Jean bridled again and interjected: 
 
 "And for why not? Young folks is young folks, 
 and there ain't too many boys for the gels. What 
 with the States and the toll to death, the gels can't 
 be too particular, not casting my flings at Jerry- Jo, 
 either. He's a handsome lad and will get a footing 
 some day. Glenn's girl ain't none too good for him; 
 he'd bring her to her senses. All that dancing and 
 fiddle-scraping at Master Farwell's is not to my 
 liking. The goings-on are evil-looking to my mind. 
 The girl always was a parcel of whimwhams 
 made up of odds and ends, as it was, of her fore- 
 runners. What all the children of the Glenns 
 might have been Priscilla is!" 
 
 "So Jerry- Jo's fixed his bold eyes on the girl?'* 
 asked Mary McAdam. "It bodes no good for her. 
 She's a sunny creature and mighty taking in her 
 ways. I wish her no ill, and I hate to think of 
 Jerry- Jo shadowing her life till she forgets to dance 
 and sing. For my part, I wish the master were 
 twenty-five years younger and could play for the 
 lass to dance to the end of their days." 
 
 "And a poor outlook for me!" grumbled Jean 
 humorously. "Another cup of the tea, Mary Ter- 
 hune, and make it stronger. I begin to feel the 
 bitter in my toes." 
 
 And while this talk and more like it was permeat-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 115 
 
 ing Kenmore, Jerry- Jo, adorned and uncomfortable, 
 did his own thinking and planned his own plans 
 after the manner of his mixed inheritance. He 
 could not settle to any task or give heed to any 
 temptation from the States until he had made Pris- 
 cilla secure. The girl's age in no wise daunted 
 McAlpin. His eighteen years were all that were 
 to be considered; he knew what he wanted, what 
 he meant to have. He could wait, he could bide 
 the fulfillment of his hopes, but one big, compelling 
 subject at a time was all he could master. 
 
 He secretly and furiously objected to the dancing 
 and visits in Farwell's cottage. He was ashamed 
 to voice this feeling, for Farwell was his friend and 
 had taught him all he knew, but Farwell's age did 
 not in the least blind Jerry- Jo to the fact that he was 
 a man, and he did not enjoy seeing Priscilla so free 
 and easy with any other of the male sex, be he an- 
 cient enough to topple into the grave. 
 
 "She'll dance for me for me!" the young fellow 
 ground his teeth. "I'll make her forget to prance 
 and grin unless she does it for me. The master's 
 just training her away from me and putting notions 
 in her head. I'll take her to the States maybe 
 her dancing will help us both there. I don't mean 
 to drudge as Jamsie Hornby does! Better things 
 forme!" 
 
 Sex attraction swayed Jerry-Jo madly in those 
 days and he thought it love, as many a better man
 
 ii6 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 had done before him. The blood of his mother 
 controlled him largely and he wished that he might 
 carry the girl off to his wigwam, and, at his leis- 
 ure, with beads and blankets, or other less tangible 
 methods, win her and conquer her. But present 
 conditions held the boy in check and compelled him 
 to adopt more modern tactics. He stole, when he 
 couldn't beg, from his poor father all the money 
 Jerry wrenched from an occasional day's work. 
 With this he bought books for Priscilla, vaguely real- 
 izing that these would most interest her, but his 
 selection often made her laugh. Piqued by her 
 indifference, Jerry- Jo plotted a thing that led, later, 
 to tragic results. Remembering the favour Pris- 
 cilla had long ago shown for the book from Far Hill 
 Place, he decided to utilize the taste of the absent 
 owner, and the owner himself, for his own ends, not 
 realizing that Priscilla had never connected the 
 cripple Jerry-Jo had described, with the musician of 
 the magic summer afternoon that had set her life in 
 new currents. 
 
 It was an easy matter to enter the Far Hill Place, 
 and, where one was not troubled with conscience, 
 a simple thing to select at random, but with econ- 
 omy, books from the well-filled shelves. These gifts 
 presently found their way to Priscilla, cunningly 
 disguised as mail packages. Inadvertently the very 
 book Priscilla had once cried over came to her and 
 touched her strangely.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 117 
 
 "Why should he send me these send me this?" 
 she asked Jerry-Jo, who had brought the package 
 to her. 
 
 "He always wanted you to have it. I told you 
 that; he remembers, I suppose, and wants you to 
 have it. He said it was more yours than his." To 
 test her Jerry-Jo was hiding behind Travers. 
 
 "I'd walk a hundred miles over the rock on bare 
 feet to thank him," the girl replied, her big eyes 
 shining. And with the words there entered into 
 Jerry-Jo's distorted imagination a concrete and last- 
 ing jealousy of poor Dick Travers, who was innocent 
 of any actual memory of Priscilla Glenn. Travers 
 at that time was studying as few college men do, 
 always with the spur of lost years and a big ambition 
 lashing him on. 
 
 During that winter the stolen books from the 
 Far Hill Place caused Priscilla much wonderment 
 and some little embarrassment. She had to keep 
 them secret owing to her father's sentiment, and, 
 for some reason, she did not confide in Farwell. 
 This new and unexpected interest in her life was so 
 foreign to anything with which the master had to do 
 that she felt no inclination to share it. 
 
 "But I cannot understand," she often said to 
 Jerry-Jo. "I'd like to write to him. Do you think 
 you could find out for me where he is? That he 
 should even remember me! I would not have him 
 think me so ungrateful as I must seem."
 
 ii8 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 She and Jerry-Jo were in the path leading to Lonely 
 Farm from Kenmore as she spoke, and suddenly 
 something the young fellow said brought her to a 
 sharp standstill. 
 
 "Oh! I suppose, after your cutting up in the 
 woods that day he wants to make you remember 
 him." 
 
 This was an outburst that Jerry-Jo permitted 
 himself without forethought. He was using Travers 
 as an old tribeman might have used torture, to test 
 his own bravery and endurance, but the effect upon 
 Priscilla was so startling and unexpected that he 
 fell back bewildered. 
 
 "In the the woods?" she gasped. 
 
 "Sure. That time your father drove you home." 
 
 For a full moment Priscilla stared helplessly, then 
 she began to see light. 
 
 "Do you mean," she gasped, "that he who made 
 me dance was the boy of the Hill Place?" 
 
 "As if you did not know it!" Jerry-Jo grunted. 
 
 " But Jerry- Jo you said he that boy was a poor, 
 twisted thing, ugly past all belief, while he who 
 played and laughed that day was like an angel of 
 light just showing me the way to heaven!" 
 
 And now Jerry-Jo's dark face was not pleasant to 
 look upon. 
 
 "Can't a twisted thing become straight?" he 
 muttered; "can't a devil trap himself out like an 
 an angel?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 119 
 
 "Oh! Jerry- Jo, he who played for me in the 
 woods could never have been evil. Why, all his 
 life he had been making himself into something big 
 and fine. He put into words the things I had always 
 thought and dreamed about an ideal was what 
 he called it! And to think I never knew! And he 
 remembered and wanted to be kind! I shall wor- 
 ship him now while I live. And when he comes 
 back to the Hill Place I will go and thank him, even 
 if my father should kill me. I shall never be happy 
 until I can explain. What a stupid he must think 
 me!" 
 
 After that the secret became the sacredest thing 
 in Priscilla's life and the most tormenting in Jerry- 
 Jo's. They were both at ages when such an occur- 
 rence would appeal to a girl's sentimentality and a 
 young man's hatred. 
 
 The family did not return to the Hill Place 
 for many summers, and only once during the 
 following years did Priscilla's name pass Travers's 
 lips. 
 
 Apropos of something they were talking about he 
 said to Helen Travers: "I wonder what has be- 
 come of that little dancing dervish up in Canada? 
 She wasn't plain, ordinary stuff, but I suppose she'll 
 be knocked into shape. Maybe that half-breed, 
 Jerry-Jo, will get her when she's been reduced to 
 his level. There are not girls enough to go around 
 up there, I fancy. That little thing, though, was
 
 izo THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 too spiritual to be crushed and remodelled. As she 
 danced that day, her scarlet cape flying out in the 
 breeze, she looked like a living flame darting up from 
 the red rock. And those awful words she uttered 
 poor little pagan! Jerry- Jo told me afterward what 
 the lure of the States meant: it's a provincial ex- 
 pression. Mother, if the lure should ever control 
 that girl of Lonely Farm I wish we might greet her, 
 for safety's sake." 
 
 But it was not likely that either of the Traverses 
 for a moment conceived of the reality of Priscilla 
 leaving the In-Place, and in time even the memory 
 of her became blurred to Dick by the eternal verities 
 of his strenuous young life. 
 
 Gradually his lameness disappeared until a slight 
 hesitation at times was all that remained. Five 
 years of college, two abroad one with Helen, one 
 with Doctor Ledyard and then Richard Thorn- 
 ton Travers (Helen had, when he went to college, 
 insisted for the first time upon the middle name) 
 hung out his modest sign it looked brazenly glar- 
 ing to him under that of Thomas R. Ledyard, 
 and nervously awaited the first call upon him. He 
 was twenty-five when he started life, and Priscilla 
 Glenn, back in forgotten Kenmore, was nearing 
 nineteen, with Jerry- Jo in hot pursuit behind her. 
 As to Anton Farwell, there was no doubt about his 
 age now. Not even the very old called him young, 
 and there was a pathos about him that attracted
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 121 
 
 the attention of those with whom he had lived so 
 long. 
 
 "He looks haunted," Mary Terhune ventured; 
 "he starts at times when one speaks sudden, real 
 pitiful like. The look of his eyes, too, has the 
 queer flash of them as sees forward as well as 
 back. Do you mind, Mrs. McAdam, how 'tis said 
 that them as comes nigh to drowning have a 
 glimpse on before as well as the picture of all that 
 has past?" 
 
 "I've heard the same," nodded Mary McAdam. 
 
 "Belike the master remembers and often looks 
 to the end of his journey. Well, he's been a good 
 harmless sort, as men go. He's kept the children 
 out of trouble far more than one could expect, and 
 he's been a merciful creature to humans and beasts. 
 I wonder what he had in his life before he washed 
 up from the La Belle?" 
 
 All this seemed to end the discussion. 
 
 Mary McAdam was an important personage about 
 that time. The White Fish Lodge had become fam- 
 ous. Without bar or special privilege of any sort, 
 the house was patronized by the best class of tourist. 
 Mary was a born proprietress, and, while she ex- 
 tracted the last penny due her, always gave full 
 value in return. She and Mary Terhune did the 
 cooking; a bevy of clean, young Indian girls from 
 Wyland Island served as waitresses and maids,' 
 their quaint, keen reserve was charming, and no
 
 122 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 better public house could have been found on the 
 Little or Big Bay. 
 
 Priscilla drifted to the Lodge as naturally as a 
 flower turns to the sun. The easy-going people, the 
 laughter and merriment appealed strongly to her, 
 and again did she cause Jerry-Jo serious displeasure 
 and arouse her father's lurking suspicions. 
 
 "Watch her! watch her!" was his warning, and 
 Theodora returned to her fears and tears.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A [TON FARWELL had, little by little, ac- 
 cepted the fate of those who, deprived of 
 many blessings, learn to depend on a few. 
 As the remaining senses are sharpened by the loss of 
 one, so in this man's life the cramping process, be- 
 gun by his own wrongdoing, and prolonged and 
 completed by other conditions, had the effect of 
 focussing all his power on the atoms that went to 
 the making up of the daily record of his days. Had 
 he kept a diary it would have been interesting from 
 its very lack of large interest. And yet, with all 
 this narrowing down, a certain fineness and purpose 
 evolved that were both touching and inspiring. He 
 never complained, not even to himself. After recog- 
 nizing the power which Ledyard held in his life, he 
 relinquished the one hope that had held him to the 
 past. Then, for a year or two, the light of the doc- 
 tor's contempt, which had been turned on him, took 
 the zest from the small efforts he had made for 
 better living and caused him to distrust himself. 
 He saw himself what he knew Ledyard thought him 
 a mean, cowardly creature, and yet, in his better 
 moments, he knew this was not so. 
 
 123
 
 i2 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Men have made friends of mice and insects in 
 prison," he argued; "they have kept their reason 
 by so doing; why, in heaven's name, shouldn't 
 I play with these people here and make life 
 possible?" 
 
 But try as he might he found his courage failing, 
 and more and more he dwelt apart and clung to the 
 few Priscilla Glenn, Mary McAdam, and old 
 Jerry McAlpin who regarded him in the light of 
 a priest to whom they might confess freely. 
 
 Then one of Farwell's dogs died and he was gen- 
 uinely anxious at the effect this had upon him. 
 
 "So this is what I've come to!" he muttered as he 
 buried the poor brute, while the tears fell from his 
 eyes and the other dog whined dolorously beside 
 him "broken hearted over a mongrel!" But 
 he got another dog! 
 
 For a time Farwell vigorously set himself against 
 depending upon Priscilla Glenn as a support in his 
 narrowing sphere. Many things threatened such a 
 friendship Nathaniel, Jerry-Jo, and the girl her- 
 self for Priscilla, during the first years of Nathan- 
 iel's relaxed severity, was like a bee sipping every 
 flower, and Farwell was not at all confident that 
 anything he had to give would hold even her pass- 
 ing interest for long. Then, too, like a many- 
 wounded creature, he dreaded a new danger, even 
 though for a moment it gave promise of comfort. 
 But finally Priscilla got her bearings and more and
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 125 
 
 more brought all her powers to bear upon one am- 
 bition. 
 
 The childish madness that prompted her to run 
 away from anything that hurt or angered her, grad- 
 ually disappeared, and in its place came a staid 
 determination to seek her fortunes, soon, in some 
 place distant from Kenmore. 
 
 The tourists opened a new vista to her, but many 
 of them, with stupid ignorance, mistook her posi- 
 tion and traditions. She was offered occupations as 
 cook, maid, or laundress. She had sense of hu- 
 mour enough to laugh at these, and often wished 
 she dared repeat them for her father's edification. 
 
 "The daughter of the King of Lonely Farm," she 
 said to Farwell one day with her mocking smile and 
 comical courtesy "is bidden to the service of Mrs. 
 Flighty High as skivvy. If this comes to the king's 
 ears, 'twill mean the head of Mrs. Flighty High!" 
 
 Farwell joined her in her amusement and felt the 
 charm of her coming womanhood. 
 
 "But there is one up at the Lodge," Priscilla went 
 on more gravely, "who is not such a wild fool. She 
 has a sick baby, and for two nights she and I have 
 watched and tended together. She says I have the 
 touch and nature of the true nurse and she has told 
 me how in the States, and England, too, they train 
 young girls in this work. She says we Canadians 
 are in great demand, and the calling is a wonderful 
 one, Master Farwell."
 
 126 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 This interested Anton Farwell a good deal and 
 he and Priscilla discussed it often after the woman 
 who had just broached it had departed. It seemed 
 such a normal, natural opening for Priscilla if the 
 time really came for her to go away. The doubt 
 that she would eventually go was slight in Farwell's 
 heart. He, keener than others, saw the closing-in 
 of conditions. He was not blind to Jerry-Jo's primi- 
 tive attempts to attract the girl's attention, but he 
 was not deceived. When the moment came that 
 Priscilla recognized the half-breed's real thought, 
 Farwell knew her quick impulse would, as of old, 
 be to fly away. She was like a wild bird, he often 
 pondered; she would give to great lengths, flutter 
 close, and love tenderly, but no restraining or harsh 
 touch could do aught but set her to flight. 
 
 At twenty-three Jerry-Jo surlily and passionately 
 came to the conclusion that he must in some way 
 capture his prize. Other youths were wearing 
 gaudy ties and imperilling their Sunday bests; he 
 was letting precious time slip. Then, too, by Far- 
 well's advice, old Jerry was growing rigid along 
 financial lines, and at last the States took definite 
 shape in Jerry-Jo's mind, but he meant to have 
 Priscilla before he heeded the lure. With all his 
 brazen conceit and daring he intuitively knew that 
 the girl had never thought of him as he thought of 
 her, and he dared not awaken her by legitimate 
 means. Quite in keeping with his unrestrained
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 127 
 
 nature, he plotted, indirectly, to secure what other- 
 wise might escape him. Fully realizing Nathaniel's 
 attitude toward his daughter, counting his distorted 
 conceptions and foolish pride, Jerry-Jo began to con- 
 struct an obstacle that would shut Priscilla from her 
 father's protection and cause her to accept what 
 others had to offer others, being always and ever, 
 himself! 
 
 Once Lonely Farm was closed to the girl, other 
 houses in the serenely moral In-Place would in- 
 evitably slam their doors. The cunning of the half- 
 breed was diabolic in its sureness. Anton Farwell 
 could not assume responsibility for Priscilla if all 
 Kenmore turned its back on her, and in that hour 
 the girl would, of course, come running or crawling 
 never dancing to him, Jerry-Jo! 
 
 It was all for her own good, the evil fellow 
 thought. 
 
 "I'll be kind to her when I get her. I'm only 
 playing her with the hook in her mouth." 
 
 But Jerry- Jo was scheming without considering 
 the Lure, which never was long absent from Pris- 
 cilla's mind at that time. 
 
 One early September afternoon Priscilla presented 
 herself at Farwell's cabin in so startling a manner 
 that she roused the man as nothing previously in 
 his association with her had ever done. 
 
 He was sitting at the west window of his living- 
 room, his back toward the door leading to the Green.
 
 128 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 For a wonder, what he was reading had absorbed 
 him, and he was far and away from the In-Place. 
 He had taken to fine, old literature lately and had 
 found, to his delight, that his mind was capable of 
 appreciating it. 
 
 "Wisdom, slow product of laborious years, 
 The only fruit that life's cold winter bears, 
 
 Thy sacred seeds in vain in youth we lay, 
 By the fierce storm of passion torn away; 
 Should some remain in rich, gen'rous soil, 
 They long lie hid, and must be raised with toil; ' 
 Faintly they struggle with inclement skies, 
 No sooner born than the poor planter dies." 
 
 With such word-comfort did Farwell dig, from 
 other's experiences, crude guidings for himself! And 
 at that moment a stir outside the open door caused 
 him to turn and confront what, in the excited mo- 
 ment, seemed an apparition from the past, which, 
 for him, was sealed and barred. 
 
 "Good Lord!" he ejaculated under his breath 
 and started to his feet. A visitor from the Lodge 
 apparently had descended upon him. 
 
 "I beg pardon," he said aloud, and then a laugh, 
 familiar and ringing, brought the colour to his pale, 
 thin face. 
 
 The girl came in, threw back the veil from her 
 merry face, and confronted Farwell. 
 
 "Miss Priscilla Glenn, sir! Behold her in the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 129 
 
 battered finery of the place she is going to to 
 grace some day!" 
 
 Then Priscilla wheeled about lightly and displayed 
 her gown to Farwell's astonished eyes. 
 
 "Cast-offs," she explained; "the Honourable Mrs. 
 Jones from the States left them with Mrs. McAlpin 
 for the poor. Just imagine the 'poor' glinting 
 around in this gay silk gown all frayed at the 
 hem and in holes under the arms! The hat and 
 veil, too, go with the smart frock; likewise the 
 scarf of rainbow colours. But, oh! Mr. Farwell, 
 how do I look as a real lady in my damaged out- 
 fit?" 
 
 Farwell stared without speaking. He had grown 
 so used to the change in the girl since the time when 
 he had prevailed upon Glenn to loosen the rein upon 
 her, that the even stream of their intercourse had 
 been unruffled. He had passed from teacher to 
 friendly guide, from guide to good comrade; but 
 here he was suddenly confronting her man to 
 woman! 
 
 All his misfortune and limitations had but erected 
 a shield of age about him beneath which smouldered 
 dangerously, but unconsciously, all the forbidden and 
 denied passions and sentiments of a male creature 
 of early middle life. 
 
 In thinking afterward of the shock Priscilla gave 
 him, Farwell was always glad to remember that his 
 first thought was for her, her danger, her need.
 
 130 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I declare!" he exclaimed. "I did not know you, 
 Priscilla Glenn." 
 
 His tone had a new ring in it, a vibration of de- 
 fence the astonished male on guard against the at- 
 tack of a subtle force whose power he could not 
 estimate. 
 
 "And no wonder. I did not know myself when I 
 first saw myself. Do you know, Mr. Farwell, I 
 never thought about my my face, much, but it is 
 really a very nice face, isn't it ? As faces go, I 
 mean?" 
 
 "Yes," Farwell returned, looking at her critically 
 and speaking slowly. "Yes, you are very beau- 
 tiful. I had not thought of it before, either." 
 
 "Drop me down, now, in the States, Mr. Farwell, 
 and I fancy that with my looks and my dancing I 
 might well, go ! What do you think ? " 
 
 She was preening herself before a small mirror and 
 did not notice the elderly man, who, under her fas- 
 cination, was being transformed. 
 
 "You're a regular Frankenstein," he muttered, 
 while the consciousness of the blue eyes in the dusky 
 skin, the long slenderness of her body, and the hue of 
 her strange hair grew upon him. "Do you know 
 what a Frankenstein is?" 
 
 "No." And now Priscilla, weary of her play and 
 self-contemplation, turned about and took a chair 
 opposite Farwell. "Tell me." 
 
 So he told her, but she shook her head.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 131 
 
 "You've only helped me to find myself; you did 
 not make me," she said with a little sigh. "Oh, Mr. 
 Farwell, I do much thinking up at Lonely Farm. 
 The winters are long, and the nights, too. You 
 know there is a queer little plant beside the spring 
 at the foot of our garden; it has roots long enough 
 and thick enough for a thing twice its size. It grew 
 strong and sure underground before it ventured up. 
 It blossomed last summer; an odd flower it had. I 
 think I am like that. You've taught me to well, 
 know myself. I shall not shame you, Master Far- 
 well. You know we of the lonesome In-Place make 
 friends with strange objects; everything in nature 
 talks to us, if we will but listen. You have taught 
 me to listen, too. Back a piece in the woods are a 
 strong young hemlock and a little white birch. For 
 years I have watched and tended them. When I 
 was a small girl I likened the hemlock to you, sir, 
 and there was I, leaning and huddling close to you, 
 like the ghostly stripling of the woods. Well, I 
 noticed to-day, Mr. Farwell, the birch stands quite 
 securely; it doesn't bend for support on the hemlock, 
 but it is standing friendly all the same. I think" 
 and here Priscilla clasped her hands close and out- 
 stretched them "I think I am soon going away! " 
 
 Her eyes were tear-dimmed, her face very earnest. 
 
 "I wish you would give up the childish folly, 
 Priscilla." A fear rose in Farwell's eyes. "What 
 could you, such an one as you have become, do out '
 
 132 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 in the States? It is madness sheer, brutal mad- 
 
 ness." 
 
 Priscilla shook her head. 
 
 "You think it childish folly? Why, I have never 
 lost sight of it for a day. You have not understood 
 me if you have imagined that. I have always known 
 I must go. Lately I have felt the nearness of the 
 going, and it is the how to break away and begin that 
 puzzle me. I am ready." 
 
 "Priscilla, you are a wild child still, playing 
 with dangerous tools. You cannot comprehend the 
 trouble into which you are willing, in your blindness, 
 to plunge. Why, you are a a woman; a beautiful 
 one! Do you know what the world does with such, 
 unless they are guarded and protected?" 
 
 "What does it do?" The true eyes held Farwell 
 commandingly, and with a sense of dismay he looked 
 back at the only world he really knew: the world of 
 his own ungoverned passions and selfishness. A 
 kind of shame came over him, and he felt he was no 
 safe guide. There were worlds and worlds! He had 
 sold his birthright; this woman, bent upon finding 
 hers, might inherit a fairer kingdom. 
 
 "What does it do, Master Farwell?" 
 
 "I do not know. It depends upon you. It is 
 like a great quarry I have read somewhere some- 
 thing like this we must all mould and chisel our 
 characters; some of us crush them and chip them. 
 It isn't always the world's fault. God help us!"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 133 
 
 Priscilla looked at him with large, shining eyes and 
 the maternal in her rose to the call of his sad recog- 
 nition of failure where she was to go with such brave 
 courage. 
 
 "Do not fear for me," she said gently; "'twould 
 be a poor return if I failed, after all you have done 
 for me." 
 
 "I what have I done ? " 
 
 "Everything. Have you ever thought what 
 sort I would have been had Lonely Farm been my 
 only training?" she smiled faintly, and her girlish 
 face, in the setting of the faded hat and soiled veil, 
 struck Farwell again by its change, which now 
 seemed to have settled into permanency. Of course 
 it was only the ridiculous fashion of the world he 
 once knew, but he could not free himself of the fancy 
 that Priscilla was more her real self in the shabby 
 trappings than she had ever been in the absurd cos- 
 tumes of the In-Place. 
 
 With the acceptance of the fact that the girl 
 really meant to get away and at once, a wave of 
 dreariness swept over him. He thought of the time 
 on ahead when his last vital interest would be taken 
 from him. Then he aroused from his stupor and 
 brought his mind to bear upon the inevitable; the 
 here and now. 
 
 "It's a big drop in your ambition, Priscilla," he 
 said; "you used to think you could dance your way 
 to your throne."
 
 I 3 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "There is no throne now, Master Farwell. I'm 
 just thinking all the time of My Road." 
 
 "But there's the Heart's Desire at the end, you 
 know." 
 
 "Yes; but I do not think I would want it to be a 
 throne." 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 "Oh ! love my own life the giving and giving 
 just where I long to give. It's splendid to tramp 
 along your road, if it is your road, and be jolly and 
 friendly with those you care for. It will all be so 
 different from Kenmore, where one has to take what 
 one must." 
 
 "I wonder how Jerry- Jo will feel about all this?" 
 
 "Jerry-Jo! And what right has he to think at 
 all about me ? " 
 
 The girl's eyes flashed with mischief and daring. 
 
 "Jerry-Jo!" she laughed with amusement. "Just 
 big, Indian-boy Jerry- Jo! We've played together 
 and quarrelled together, but you're all wrong, Master 
 Farwell, if you think he cares about me! He knows 
 better than that far, far, better." 
 
 But even as she spoke the light and fun left her 
 eyes. She looked older, more thoughtful. 
 
 "Isn't it queer?" she said after a pause. 
 
 "What, Priscilla?" 
 
 "Oh, life and people and the things that go to 
 their making? You're quite wrong about Jerry- Jo. 
 I'\n sure you're wrong."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 135 
 
 Then suddenly she sprang up. 
 
 "I must go," she said abruptly; "go and exchange 
 these rags for my own plain things. I only wanted 
 to surprise you, sir; and how deadly serious we have 
 grown." 
 
 She passed out of the cottage without a word 
 more. Farwell watched her across the Green and 
 up to the Lodge. He was disturbed and restless. 
 The old fever of escape overcame him. With the 
 thought of Priscilla's flight into the open, he strained 
 against the trap that Ledyard had caught him in. 
 The guide who, he knew, never permitted him to es- 
 cape his vigilance, became a new and alarming ob- 
 stacle, and Farwell set his teeth grimly. Then he 
 muttered: 
 
 "Curse him! curse him!" and an emotion which he 
 had believed was long since dead rose hotly in his 
 consciousness. Before the dread spectre, suddenly 
 imbued with vitality, Farwell reeled and covered his 
 face. Murder was in his heart the old madness of 
 desire to wipe out, by any means, that which barred 
 his way to what he wanted. 
 
 "My God!" he moaned; "my God! I I thought 
 I was master. I thought it was dead in me." 
 
 Farwell ate no evening meal that night. Early 
 he closed and locked his outer door, drew the dark 
 green shades, and lighted his lamp. His hands were 
 clammy and cold, and he could not blot out with 
 book or violin the horror of Charles Martin's face
 
 136 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 as it looked up at him that night so long ago. Way 
 on toward morning Farwell paced his room trying 
 to forget, but he could not. 
 
 But Priscilla, after leaving Farwell, dressed again 
 in her plain serviceable gown and hat, had made her 
 way toward the farm. Her happy, light-hearted 
 mood was past; she felt unaccountably gloomy, and 
 as she walked on she sought to explain herself to 
 herself, and presently Jerry- Jo came into focus and 
 would not stir from her contemplation. Yes, it 
 was Jerry-Jo's personality that disturbed her, and 
 3t was Farwell's words that had torn the shield she 
 herself had erected, and set the truth free. Yes, 
 she had played with Jerry- Jo; she had tested her 
 coquetry and charm upon him for lack of better 
 material. In her outbreaks of youthful spirits she 
 had claimed him as prey because the others of his 
 sex were less desirable. Jerry-Jo had that subtle, 
 physical attraction that responded to her youthful 
 allurements, but the young fellow himself, taken 
 seriously, repelled her, and Farwell had taken Jerry- 
 Jo seriously! 
 
 That was it! She was no longer a child. She 
 was a woman and must remember it. Undoubtedly 
 Jerry- Jo himself had never given the matter a mo- 
 ment's deep thought. Well, she must take care 
 that he never did. Jerry-Jo in earnest would be 
 unbearable. 
 
 And then, just as she reached the pasture bars
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 137 
 
 separating her father's farm from the red rock 
 highway, Jerry-Jo McAlpin strode in sight from 
 the wood path into which the highway ran. She 
 waited for him and gave him a nervous smile as 
 he came near. His first words startled her out of 
 her dull mood. 
 
 "I've been up to the Hill Place. Him and her's 
 there for a few days." 
 
 "Him and her!" Priscilla repeated, her face flush- 
 ing. "Oh, him and her!" 
 
 "Sure!" McAlpin was holding her with a hard, 
 fixed gaze. 
 
 In the mesh that was closing about Priscilla, 
 strangely enough names were always largely elimi- 
 nated. They might have altered her course later 
 on, might have held her to the past, but Kenmore 
 dealt briefly with personalities and visualized what- 
 ever it could. The name Travers had rarely, if eve^ 
 been spoken in Priscilla's presence. "The Hill Place 
 folks" was the title found sufficient for general use. 
 
 "And I was remembering," Jerry-Jo went on, 
 "how once you said you wanted to thank him for 
 for the books. We might take the canoe, come to- 
 morrow, and the day is fine, and pay a visit." 
 
 Still Priscilla did not notice the gleam in McAlpin's 
 keen eyes. 
 
 "Oh! if I only dared, Jerry-Jo! What an adven- 
 ture it would be, to be sure. And how good of you 
 to think of it."
 
 138 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "What hinders?" 
 
 "Father would never forgive me!" 
 
 "And are you always to be at the beck and whistle 
 of your father even in your pleasures?" 
 
 Priscilla was in just the attitude of mind to re- 
 ceive this suggestion with appreciation. 
 
 "There's no reason why I shouldn't go if I want 
 to," she said with an uplift of her head. 
 
 "And don't you want to?" Jerry- Jo's eyes were 
 taking in the loveliness of the raised face as the set- 
 ting sun fell upon it. 
 
 "Yes, I do want to! I'll go, Jerry- Jo." 
 
 Then McAlpin came close to her and said in a 
 low voice: 
 
 "Priscilla, give us a kiss for pay." 
 
 So taken out of herself was the girl, so overpowered 
 by the excitement of adventure, that before she 
 realized her part in the small drama of passionate 
 youth, she gave a mocking laugh and twisted her 
 lips saucily. 
 
 Jerry- Jo had her in his arms on the instant, and the 
 hot kiss he pressed on her mouth roused her to fury. 
 
 "If you ever touch me again," she whispered, 
 struggling into freedom, "I'll hate you to the last 
 day of my life! " 
 
 So had she spoken to her father years ago; so 
 would she always speak when her reservations were 
 threatened. "I declare I am afraid to go with you 
 to-morrow."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 139 
 
 McAlpin fell back in shamed contrition. 
 
 "You need not be afraid," he muttered. "I 
 reckon I was bidding you good-bye. Him and 
 me is different. Once you see him and he sees you, 
 it's good-bye to Jerry- Jo McAlpin." 
 
 Something in the words and tone of humility 
 brought Priscilla, with a bound, back to a kindlier 
 mood. After all, it was a tribute that McAlpin was 
 payingher. She must hold him in check, that was all. 
 
 They parted with no great change. There had 
 been a flurry, but it had served to clear the atmos- 
 phere for her at least. 
 
 But Nathaniel, that evening in the kitchen, man- 
 aged to arouse in the girl the one state of mind 
 needed to drive her on her course. 
 
 "What was the meaning of that scuffling by the 
 bars a time back?" he asked, eyeing Priscilla with 
 the old look of suspicious antagonism. Every nerve 
 in the girl's body twitched with resentment and her 
 spirit flared forth. She shielded herself behind the 
 one flimsy subterfuge that Glenn could never under- 
 stand or tolerate. 
 
 "A kiss you mean. What's a kiss? You call 
 that a scuffle?" 
 
 Theodora, who was washing the tea dishes while 
 Priscilla wiped them, took her usual course and 
 began to cry dispiritedly and forlornly. 
 
 "What's between you and McAlpin?" Na- 
 thaniel asked, scowling darkly.
 
 i 4 o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Between us? What need for anything between 
 us?" 
 
 Priscilla ceased smiling and looked defiant. 
 
 "Maybe you better marry that half-breed and 
 have done with it." 
 
 "It's more like would he marry me?" 
 
 This was unfortunate. 
 
 "And why not?" Nathaniel shook the ashes 
 from his pipe angrily. "A little more such perform- 
 ance as I saw to-day and no decent man will marry 
 you! As for Jerry-Jo, he'll marry you if I say so! 
 You foul my nest, miss, and out you go!" 
 
 "Husband! husband!" And with this Theodora 
 dropped a cup, one of Glenn's mother's cups, and 
 somehow this added fire to his fury. 
 
 "And when the time comes, wife, you make your 
 choice: Go with her, who you have trained into 
 what she is, or stay with me who has been defied in 
 his own home, by them nearest and closest to him." 
 
 Priscilla breathed fast and hard. The tangible 
 wall of misunderstanding between her and her father 
 stifled her to-night as it never had before. Again 
 she realized the finality of something the break- 
 ing of the old ties, the helpless sense of groping for 
 what lay hidden, but none the less real, just on 
 before.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE next day was gloriously clear and threat- 
 eningly warm. Such days do not come to 
 Kenmore in September except to lure the 
 unheeding to acts of folly. And at two o'clock in 
 the afternoon Priscilla, from the kitchen door, saw 
 Jerry-Jo paddling his canoe in still, Indian fashion 
 around Lone Tree Island. Theodora was off er- 
 randing, and Nathaniel, as far as human knowledge 
 went, was in some distant field; he had started off 
 directly after dinner. Priscilla was ready for her 
 adventure. With the natural desire of youth, she 
 had decked herself out in her modest finery a 
 stiffly starched white gown of a cheap but pretty 
 design, a fluff of soft lace at throat and wrist, and, 
 over it, the old red cape that years before had added 
 to her appearance as she danced on the rocks. 
 Perhaps remembering that, she had utilized the 
 garment and was thankful that cloth lasted so long 
 in Kenmore! 
 
 The coquetry of girlhood rose happily in Priscilla's 
 heart. Jerry-Jo had become again simply a link 
 in her chain of events; he had lost the importance 
 the flash of the evening before had given him; he
 
 142 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 was not forgiven, but for the time he was, as a human 
 being, forgotten. He was Jerry-Jo who was to 
 paddle her to her Heart's Desire! That was it, 
 and the old words, set to music of her own, were the 
 signals used to attract McAlpin's attention. But 
 the merry call brought Glenn from out the barn just 
 as the canoe touched the rocks lightly, and Priscilla 
 prepared to step in. 
 
 "Where you two going?" he shouted in the tone 
 that always roused the worst in Priscilla's nature. 
 Jerry-Jo paused, paddle in air, but his companion 
 whispered: 
 
 "Goon!" To Nathaniel she flung back: "WVre 
 going to have a bit of fun, and why not, father? 
 I'm tired of staying at home." 
 
 This was unfortunate: on the home question 
 Glenn was very clear and decided. 
 
 "Come back!" he ordered, but the little canoe 
 had shot out into the Channel. " Hi, there McAlpin, 
 do you hear?" 
 
 " Go on! " again whispered Priscilla, and Jerry- Jo 
 heard only her soft command, for his senses were 
 filled with the loveliness of her charming, defiant 
 face set under the broad brim of a hat around which 
 was twined a wreath of natural flowers as blue as 
 the girl's laughing eyes. 
 
 Nathaniel, defied and helpless, stood by the barn 
 door and impotently fumed as the canoe rounded Lone 
 Tree Island and was lost to his infuriated sight.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 143 
 
 "You'll catch it," Jerry-Jo comforted when pur- 
 suit was impossible, and he had the responsibility of 
 the rebel on his hands. "I wouldn't be in your 
 place, and you need not drag me in, for I'd have 
 turned back had you said the word." 
 
 A fleeting contempt stirred the beauty of the girl's 
 face for a moment, and then she told him of that 
 which was seething in her heart. 
 
 "What does it matter, Jerry- Jo? All my life, 
 ever since I can remember, I have been growing 
 surely to what is now near at hand. I cannot abide 
 my father; nor can he find comfort in me. Why 
 should I darken the lives of my parents and have 
 no life of my own ? The lure of the States has always 
 been in my thought and now it calls near and loud." 
 
 McAlpin stared helplessly at her, and her beauty, 
 enhanced by her unusual garments, moved him 
 unwholesomely. 
 
 "What you mean?" he muttered. 
 
 "Only this: It would be no strange thing did a 
 boy start for the States. A little money, a ticket 
 on a steamer, and pouf ! Off the boys and men 
 go to make their lives. Well, then, some day you 
 will find me gone, Jerry-Jo. Gone to make my 
 life. Will you miss me?" 
 
 This question caused McAlpin to stop paddling. 
 
 "You won't be let!" he murmured; "you a 
 girl!" 
 
 "I, a girl!" Priscilla laughed scornfully. "You
 
 i 4 4 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 will see. This day, after I have thanked him up 
 yonder, I am going to ask his mother to help me get 
 away. Surely a lady such as she could help me. I 
 will not ask much of her, only the guiding hand to a 
 safe place where I can live! Oh! can you under- 
 stand how all my life I have been smothered and 
 stifled? I often wonder what sort I will be out 
 there! I'm willing to suffer while I learn, but Jerry 
 Jo" and here the excited voice paused - "I 
 have a strange feeling of myself! I sometimes 
 feel as if there were two of me, the one holding, 
 demanding, and protecting the other. I will not 
 have men always making my life and shielding me; 
 the woman of me will have its way. Men and boys 
 never know this feeling." 
 
 And Jerry-Jo could, of course, understand nothing 
 of this, but the thing he had set out to do, more in 
 rude, brutish fun than anything else, assumed graver 
 purpose. A new and ugly look grew in his bold 
 eyes, a sinister smile on his red mouth, which showed 
 the points of his white, fang-like teeth. But Pris- 
 cilla, too absorbed with her own thoughts, did not 
 notice. 
 
 It was four o'clock when the canoe touched the 
 landing spot of Far Hill Place, and Priscilla sprang 
 out. 
 
 "I'll bide here; don't be long," said McAlpin. 
 
 But Priscilla paused and glanced up at the sky. 
 
 "It's darkening," she faltered, a shyness over-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 145 
 
 coming her. " I smell thunder. Don't you think 
 you better come up with me Jerry-Jo ? Suppose they 
 are not at home?" 
 
 ''They'll be back soon in that case, and as for a 
 shower, that would hasten them and you would be 
 under shelter. I can turn the canoe over me and 
 be dry as a mouse in a hayrick. I'll not go with 
 you, not I. Do your own part, with them looking 
 on as will enjoy it." 
 
 "I believe you are jealous, Jerry-Jo." This 
 was said idly and more to fill in an awkward pause 
 than for anything else. 
 
 "And much good that would do me, after what 
 you've just said. If you're bound for the devil, 
 Priscilla, 'tis little power I have to stay you." 
 
 "I'm not for the devil!" Priscilla flung back, 
 and started sturdily up the hill path toward the 
 house hidden among the trees. 
 
 Out of McAlpin's sight, the girl went more slowly, 
 while she sought to arrange her mode of attack. If 
 her host were what he once was, he would make every- 
 thing easy after she recalled herself to him. As for 
 the mother, Priscilla had only a dim memory of her, 
 but something told her that the call would be a 
 happy and memorable one after the first moment. 
 
 A bit of tune cheered the girl; a repeating of the 
 Road Song helped even more, for it resurrected most 
 vividly the young fellow who had introduced music 
 and happiness into her life.
 
 146 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I'll be doshed!" she cried. The word had not 
 passed her lips for years; it brought a laugh and a 
 complete restoration of poise. So she reached the 
 house. Smoke was issuing from the chimney. A 
 fire had been made even on this hot day, but like 
 enough it was to dry the place after the years of 
 closed doors and windows. Evidently it was a 
 many-houred fire, for the plume of smoke was faint 
 and steady. The broad door was set wide but the 
 windows were still boarded up at the front of the 
 house, though the side ones had escaped that pro- 
 tection. 
 
 Priscilla knocked and waited. No reply or sound 
 came in response, and presently a low muttering of 
 distant thunder broke. 
 
 "That will bring them in short order," she said, 
 "and surely they will not object if I make myself 
 comfortable until they come." 
 
 She went inside. The room had the appearance 
 of one from which the owner had long been absent, 
 that unaccountable, vacant look, although a work- 
 bag hung on the back of a chair by the roaring fire, 
 and a blot of oil lay on the table near the lamp which 
 had evidently been recently filled. Back of these 
 tokens lay a wide sense of desolation. 
 
 For a moment Priscilla hesitated before sitting 
 down; her courage failed, but a second thought re- 
 conciled conditions with a brief stay after long ab- 
 sence, and she decided to wait.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 147 
 
 And while she waited, suddenly and alarmingly, 
 the storm burst! The darkness of the room and the 
 wooded space outside had deceived her: there was no 
 escape now! 
 
 She was concerned for the people she had come 
 to see. Jerry-Jo, she knew, would crawl under his 
 boat and be as dry as a tortoise in its shell. But 
 those others! 
 
 With this thought she set about, mechanically, 
 making the room comfortable. She piled on fresh 
 wood and noticed that it was so wet that it sputtered 
 dangerously. Presently the wind changed sharply, 
 and a blast of almost icy coldness carried the driving 
 rain halfway across the floor. 
 
 It was something of a struggle to close the heavy 
 door, for it opened outward, and Priscilla was 
 drenched by the time it was made secure. Breathing 
 hard, she made her way to the fire and knelt before 
 it. The glow drew her attention from the darkness 
 of the space back and around her. 
 
 It was unfortunate and depressing, and she had no 
 choice but to make herself as comfortable as she 
 might, though a sense of painful uneasiness grew 
 momentarily. At first she imagined it was fear of 
 what she must encounter upon her return home; 
 then she felt sure it was her dread of meeting the 
 people for whom she had risked so much. Finally 
 Jerry-Jo loomed in the foreground of her thought and 
 an entirely new terror was born in her soul.
 
 148 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Jerry-Jo!" she laughed aloud as his name passed 
 her lips. "Jerry-Jo, to be sure. My! how thankful 
 I'd be to see him this instant!" 
 
 And with the assertion she turned shudderingly 
 toward the door. The gloom behind her only em- 
 phasized her nervousness. 
 
 "I'll I'll have to go!" she whispered suddenly, 
 while the wind and the slashing of sleety rain de- 
 fied her. "It will be better out of doors, bad as 
 it is!" 
 
 The grim loneliness of four walls, compared with 
 the dangers of the open, was worse. But when 
 Priscilla, trembling and panting, reached the door 
 and pushed, she found that the storm was pitting 
 its strength against hers and she could not budge it. 
 
 "Oh, well," she half sobbed; "if I must, I must." 
 And she stealthily tiptoed back to the warmth and 
 light as if fearing to arouse something, she knew not 
 what, in the dim place. 
 
 There was no way of estimating time. The 
 minutes were like hours and the hours were like 
 minutes while Priscilla sat alone. As a matter of 
 fact, it was after seven when steps, unmistakable 
 steps, sounded on the porch and carried both appre- 
 hension and relief to the storm-bound prisoner 
 inside. 
 
 "Thank heaven!" breathed she, and sprang to her 
 feet. She was midway in the room when the door 
 opened, and, as if flayed forward by the lashing storm,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 149 
 
 Jerry-Jo broke into the shadow and drew the heavy 
 oak door after him. In a black panic of fear Pris- 
 cilla saw him turn the key in the lock before he spoke 
 a word to her; then he came forward, flung his wet 
 cap toward the hearth, and laughed. 
 
 "What's the matter?" he asked quickly as 
 Priscilla's white face confronted him. "Disap- 
 pointed, I suppose. Do you begrudge me a bit of 
 warmth and shelter? God knows I'm drenched to 
 the bone. The rain came up from the earth as well 
 as down from the clouds. It's a devil's storm and 
 no mistake. What you staring at, Priscilla? Had 
 you forgotten me? Thought me dead, and now 
 you're looking at my ghost? Didn't I wait long 
 enough for you? Where are the others?" 
 
 This seemed to clarify and steady the situation 
 and Priscilla gave a slight laugh: 
 
 "To be sure. You did not know. They they 
 were away. The storm came up suddenly. I had to 
 wait. You are wet through and through, Jerry- Jo. 
 It's good we have such a fire. You'll be comfortable 
 in a moment. I'm glad you came; I was getting 
 afraid." 
 
 "Let's see if there is any oil in the lamp!" Jerry-Jo 
 exclaimed. He was in no mood for darkness himself. 
 
 "They must have filled it before they went," 
 Priscilla answered. "See, there is some oil on the 
 table." 
 
 McAlpin struck a match and soon the room was
 
 ISO THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 flooded with a new brightness that reached even to 
 the far corners and seemed to set free the real lone- 
 liness that held these two together. 
 
 "I I managed to keep this dry," McAlpin spoke 
 huskily. "I always have a bite with me when I take 
 to the woods. Who can ever tell what may happen ! " 
 
 He pushed a coarse sandwich toward Priscilla and 
 began eating one himself. 
 
 "Go on! "he said. 
 
 "I'm not hungry, Jerry-Jo, and I want to start 
 back home at once." 
 
 Jerry-Jo leered at her over his bread and meat. 
 
 "What's your hurry? I want to get warm and 
 dry before I set out again. This is an all-nighter of 
 a storm, if I know anything about it." 
 
 "Get dry, of course, Jerry-Jo. It won't take long 
 with this heat; then we must start, storm or no 
 storm." 
 
 The old discomfort and unrest returned, and she 
 fixed her eyes on Jerry-Jo. 
 
 "There's no great hurry," said he, munching 
 away. "It's warm here and cozy. What's got 
 you, Priscilla ? You was mighty keen to come, and 
 you ain't finished your errand yet. What's ailing 
 you? No one could help the storm, and we'd be 
 swamped in the bay if we was there now." 
 
 Priscilla got up and walked slowly toward the 
 door, but without any apparent reason Jerry-Jo 
 arose also, and, still chewing his bread and meat,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 151 
 
 backed away from the table, keeping himself be- 
 tween the girl and whatever her object was. No- 
 ticing this, a real terror seized upon Priscilla and she 
 darted in the opposite direction, reached the hearth, 
 and was bending toward a heavy poker which lay 
 there, before she herself could have explained her 
 motive. Jerry- Jo was alert. Tossing his food upon 
 the table as he strode forward, he gripped her wrist. 
 
 "None of that!" he muttered. "What ails you, 
 Priscilla?" They faced each other at close range. 
 
 "I I am afraid of you!" 
 
 At this McAlpin threw back his head and roared 
 with laughter, releasing her at the same time. With 
 freedom Priscilla gained a bit of courage and a keen 
 sense of the necessity of calmness. She did not 
 move away from Jerry- Jo, but fixing him with her 
 wide eyes she asked: 
 
 "Are are the family here here in Ken- 
 more?" Suspicion and anger shook the voice. The 
 slow, tense words brought things down to fact. 
 
 "No! God knows where they are! I don't know 
 
 or care." 
 
 Brought face to face with great danger, mental or 
 physical, the majority of people rise to the call. 
 Priscilla knew now that she was in grave peril 
 peril of a deeper kind than even her tormentor could 
 realize. Every nerve and emotion came to her 
 defence. She would hold this creature at bay as 
 hunters hold the wild things of the woods when gun
 
 1 5 2 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 or club fail. Then, after that, she would have to 
 deal with what must inevitably confront her at 
 home. She seemed to be standing alone amid cruel 
 and unfamiliar foes, but she was calm! 
 
 "You lied, then? What for?" 
 
 "What do you think?" 
 
 "You believe, by shutting me away from every- 
 thing, every one, you can win what otherwise you 
 could not get?" It all seemed cruelly plain, now. 
 She felt she had always known it. 
 
 "Something like that, yes. You'll come to me 
 fast enough, after to-night. Once you come I'll - 
 I'll do the fair and square thing by you, Priscilla." 
 
 The half-pleading caught the girl's thought. 
 
 "You mean, by this device you will make me 
 marry you? You'll blacken my name, bar my 
 father's house to me, and then you will be generous 
 and marry me?" 
 
 Jerry-Jo dropped his bold, dark eyes. 
 
 " I never cared for you, Jerry- Jo. I hate you, now! " 
 
 At this McAlpin raised his head and a fierce red 
 coloured his face. 
 
 "You'll get over that!" he muttered. "Any port 
 in a storm, you know. You better not drive me 
 now! I ain't safe, and I've got you tight for - 
 to-night!" 
 
 Suddenly the pure flame of spirituality flashed into 
 the soul of Priscilla Glenn. Alone, undefended, 
 facing a hideous possibility, beyond which lay a
 
 You mean, by this device you will make me marry you? 
 You'll blacken my name, bar my father's house to me, 
 and then you will be generous and marry me?' "
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 153 
 
 black certainty of desolation, she rose supreme to 
 protect something that her rudely aroused woman- 
 hood must defend, even by death ! 
 
 "You beast!" she cried, and all her shrinking 
 fear fell from her. "Go back! Sit down! I have 
 
 something to say to you before " She did 
 
 not finish, but the pause made Jerry- Jo understand 
 that she recognized her position. 
 
 "I'll stand here, by God!" he almost shouted, and 
 came close. 
 
 The proximity of the rough, coarse body was the 
 one thing the girl felt she could not bear. She 
 smelled the odour of his wet clothing, felt his breath, 
 and she shrank back a step. 
 
 "This this body, Jerry- Jo McAlpin," she whis- 
 pered, "is all you can touch. That, I will kill to- 
 morrow the next day it does not matter. But 
 the soul of me shall haunt you while you live. Night 
 and day it shall torment and clutch you until it 
 brings your sinful spirit to to God!" 
 
 "You you devil!" cried McAlpin, all the su- 
 perstitious fear of his mixed blood chilling him. 
 
 "You " And then as if daring the fate she 
 
 had it in her power to evoke, he rushed toward her 
 and clasped her close in his strong arms. His face 
 was bent over hers, his lips parted from his cruel 
 teeth, but he did not force them upon her. 
 
 So here she was she, Priscilla Glenn, in the 
 jaws of death, she who would have laughed, danced,
 
 and sang her way straight into happiness! Here 
 she was, with what on ahead if she lived? 
 
 She waited, she struggled, then she relaxed in the 
 iron hold, and for a moment, only a moment, lost 
 the sense of reality. Presently words that McAlpin 
 was saying came to her in the black stillness of her 
 consciousness. 
 
 "I had to have you! Now that I've shown 
 you my power, I can wait until you come whining 
 to me. I ain't going to hurt you! I want you as 
 you are when. you come a-begging of me. I only 
 wanted to prove to you that I've got you!" 
 
 Again Priscilla was aware of the red warmth of 
 the fire, the sickening smell of drying wool, the 
 loosening of the bands of McAlpin's arms. 
 
 "You you who boast that when you hunt, out 
 of season, you shoot one shot in the air in order to 
 give a poor wild thing a chance of escape you 
 bring me here with a lie; close every hope to me, 
 and call that victory! You you fiend! 
 What do you mean?" 
 
 She was standing free at last! She was so weak 
 that she staggered to a chair, fearing that McAlpin, 
 seeing her need, might again lay hands upon her. 
 
 "I mean that I've fired my shot!" Her words 
 had caught his fancy. "You have your chance to 
 to get away! But where? Where?" 
 
 The dark face leered. 
 
 "See! I'm going to leave you. Go out into the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 155 
 
 night. You can try for your your life, but in 
 the end you'll come to me. I don't care what they 
 of Kenmore will say, I'll know you are what you 
 are, and sympathy will be with me, gal, when I 
 take you. And you'll know, once you come to me, 
 proper and asking, I'll do I'll do the best any 
 man could do for I love you!" 
 
 This was flung out desperately, defiantly. 
 
 "Yes, I love you as --Jerry- Jo McAlpin knows 
 how to love. It's his way. Remember that!" 
 
 Not a word rose to Priscilla's lips. She saw 
 McAlpin turn and stride to the door; she heard 
 him turn the key and she was alone! But a 
 strange thing happened just at that moment, a 
 thing that did more to unnerve the girl than any- 
 thing that had gone before. As the heavy oak 
 door slammed after the retreating figure, the jar 
 caused the tall clock, back among the shadows of 
 the far side of the room, to strike! One, two, three! 
 Then followed a whirring that faded into deathly 
 silence. It was like the voice of one, believed to be 
 dead, speaking! 
 
 Frightened, but thoroughly roused to her only 
 hope, Priscilla staggered to the door, clutched the 
 key in cold, trembling fingers, and turned it in the 
 lock. Then, sinking upon her knees, she crept 
 back to the fire, keeping close to the wall. If an 
 eye were pressed to a knothole in the shutter it 
 could not follow her.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 PRISCILLA kept the fire alive. She laid the 
 sticks and logs on cautiously; she turned 
 wide eyes now and again on the tall clock 
 whose white face gleamed pallidly among the shad- 
 ows like a dead thing that had used its last breath 
 to speak a message. If the clock struck again 
 Priscilla felt that she might go mad. 
 
 It was after midnight when Nature laid a com- 
 manding and relentless touch upon the girl, and, 
 crouching by the hearth, her head in her arms folded 
 upon a chair, she slept. 
 
 Outside the storm sobbed itself into silence; the 
 rain dripped complainingly from the roof of the 
 porch and then ceased. At five o'clock the new 
 day, rosy and full of cheer, made itself felt in the 
 dim room where Priscilla, breathing evenly and 
 softly, still slept. No gleam of brightness made 
 its way through the heavy shutters or curtains, but 
 a consciousness of day at last roused the sleeper. 
 At first the experience through which she had passed 
 made no demand upon her. She got painfully upon 
 her feet and looked about. The fire was but em- 
 bers, the air was hot and stifling, and then, with 
 
 156
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 157 
 
 the thought of opening a door or window, the grim 
 spectre of the black hours lay warning touch upon 
 her. She shrank back and began again to wait! 
 Of course McAlpin would return and what lay 
 before her when he did? Her strength was spent, 
 
 lack of food And here her eyes fell on the 
 
 broken fragments of stale bread and meat that 
 Jerry-Jo had tossed aside. 
 
 She took the morsels and devoured them eagerly; 
 the nerves of the stomach were calling for nutrition, 
 and even the coarse crumbs gave relief. 
 
 The moments passed slowly, but presently, with 
 the knowledge that day lay beyond her prison, she 
 gained a new, a more desperate courage. If she 
 must die, she would die in the open, where she at 
 least might test her pitiful strength against Jerry- 
 Jo's did he pursue her. The determination to act 
 gave relief. The dark, damp room she could no 
 longer bear; the lamp had hours before ceased to 
 burn; the smell of stale oil smoke was sickening. 
 No matter what happened she felt she must make a 
 break for freedom. She knew full well that should 
 Jerry- Jo enter now she could not combat him. 
 
 Then, for the first time, she wondered why no 
 one had come to seek her through the long, black 
 hours of the night. The men of Kenmore never 
 permitted a wanderer to remain unsought; there was 
 danger. Why, even her father could not be so 
 so hard as to sleep undisturbed while she was un-
 
 158 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 housed! And her mother? Oh! surely her mother 
 would have roused the people! And Anton Far- 
 well? Why, he would have started at once, as he 
 had for the McAdam boys. And with that con- 
 clusion came a new hope: 
 
 "If they are searching it will be on the water!" 
 
 Of course. Cheered by this thought, Priscilla 
 made her way silently toward the door. With 
 trembling fingers she turned the key and pushed 
 gently outward. Through the crack the sun poured, 
 and oh, the fresh sweetness of the morning air! 
 Again she pushed, once again, and then with a rush 
 she dashed through and was a hundred feet down the 
 path when a loud laugh stayed her like a shot from 
 a gun. 
 
 She turned and braced herself against a tree for 
 support. Jerry- Jo, pressed close to the house and 
 not a foot from the door through which she had 
 come, again shrieked with laughter. Presently he 
 conquered himself, and, without moving, said: 
 
 "You're free! The canoe's ready for you, too. 
 Go home if you want go home and get what's 
 coming to you! I've been busy. There's a boat 
 stopping at the wharf to-night. I'm leaving for 
 the States. I've told them, as will pass it on, that 
 you and me are going together. I'll stand by it, too, 
 God hears me!" 
 
 "My my father will kill you when he knows of 
 this night!"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 159 
 
 Priscilla flung the words back savagely. She 
 knew now that she was free free for what? Again 
 Jerry- Jo's laugh taunted her, and as she turned to 
 the path her father faded from her hope. Only 
 Anton Farwell seemed to loom high. Just and 
 resourceful, he would help her! 
 
 The soggy, mossy path made heavy travelling 
 for weary, nervous feet, but at the foot of the hill 
 Priscilla saw the little canoe bobbing at the side of 
 the dock. Once out upon the sunlit water the soul- 
 horror disappeared and the task before her ap- 
 peared easy. Now that the real danger was past, her 
 physical demands seemed simple and well within 
 her control. If her father turned her away and 
 as she drew near to Lonely Farm she felt that he 
 probably would she would go to Farwell, and 
 from him, with his assistance, go to the States. The 
 time had come that was all the time had come. 1 
 She was as ready as she ever would be. She had 
 herself well in hand before she stepped from the 
 canoe at the foot of her father's garden. 
 
 The only signs of anxiety in evidence about the 
 house were Nathaniel's presence in the kitchen at 
 eleven in the morning, and Theodora's red and 
 swollen eyes as she bent over the dishwashing of a 
 belated breakfast. 
 
 "Mother! Father!" 
 
 They turned and gazed at the pale, dishevelled girl 
 in the doorway. Neither spoke and Priscilla asked.
 
 160 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "May I come in?" 
 
 Had she wept, or flung herself upon their mercy, 
 Nathaniel could have understood, but her very 
 calmness and indifference angered him, coming as 
 it did upon his real anxiety. He had not heard the 
 village gossip that Long Jean had already started. 
 He had been out alone most of the night on the 
 water, and the relief of seeing his girl alive and un- 
 harmed turned his earlier emotions to bitterness. 
 
 "Yes, come in," he said sternly. "Where have 
 you been ? " 
 
 Had Priscilla been given more time, had she been 
 less physically spent, she would have protected her- 
 self from her father's thought; as it was she could 
 only summon enough strength to parry his questions 
 with truthful answers, and until it was too late she 
 did not realize how they damned her. 
 
 "Up at at Far Hill Place." 
 
 "All night?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "With " 
 
 "With with Jerry- Jo McAlpin." 
 
 "Oh!" This came like a snake's warning. 
 
 "The the storm was oh ! Father " 
 
 "The storm!" roared Nathaniel; "the storm) 
 Are you sugar or salt? Have you so little morality 
 that you choose to stay overnight with a man in a 
 lonely house instead of coming wet but clean- 
 charactered to your safe home?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 161 
 
 And then Priscilla understood! She had come 
 into the room and was sitting near the door she had 
 closed behind her. She, on the sudden, seemed to 
 grow old and strong; the ancient distrust and dislike 
 of her father overcame her; she looked at her mother, 
 bent and sobbing over the sink, and only for her 
 sake did she continue the useless conversation. 
 
 "You you judge me unheard!" she went on, 
 addressing Nathaniel with an anger, glowing in her 
 eyes, that equalled his own. 
 
 "Have you not just incriminated yourself 
 you!" 
 
 "Stop! Do you think that is all? Do you think 
 
 I would have stayed there if if " Here 
 
 the memory of what she had endured choked her. 
 
 "A woman who puts herself in a man's power 
 as you have can expect no mercy." Nathaniel 
 stormed. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because it is God's law. All decent women know 
 it. That is what I've feared for you always, but 
 I'll still stand by you if you show reason. I'll do 
 it for your mother's sake and my good name. He 
 shall marry you, by God! Say the word and I'll 
 bring him here." 
 
 Priscilla's upper lip twitched. This was a trick 
 her nerves had of warning her, but she heeded not. 
 
 "You you would force me to marry Jerry- Jo 
 even against his will? You would make that little
 
 hell for me without even knowing what has happened ? 
 You'd fling me in it to to save your name?" 
 
 "You've made your own hell! No matter what 
 has happened, there is only one way out for you. 
 If you refuse that And here Nathaniel 
 
 flung his big arms wide, as if pushing his child out 
 out! 
 
 With white face but blazing eyes Priscilla got up 
 and went over to her mother. She drew the bowed 
 and quivering form toward her and looked straight 
 into the tear-flooded eyes. 
 
 "Mother, tell me, do you believe me dis- 
 honoured ? " 
 
 The contact of the dear, strong young body gave 
 Theodora power to say: 
 
 "Oh! my dear, my dear, I cannot, I will not believe 
 evil of you. But you must do what your father 
 thinks best; it is the only way. You have been so 
 heedless, my child, my poor child." 
 
 "You side with her?" thundered Nathaniel, 
 feeling himself defied. "Then heed me! If she 
 refuses, out you go with her! No longer will I live 
 with my family divided against me. The world 
 with her, or the home with me!" 
 
 Then suddenly and quite clearly Priscilla saw the 
 only way open to her, the only way that led to even 
 the poor peace she yearned to leave to the sad, 
 little, clinging, broken creature looking piteously 
 up at her.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 163 
 
 "My child, my child, your father knows best." 
 
 "There ! there mother. Now listen ! " 
 
 Still holding Theodora, she looked over the gray 
 head at her father's cruel face. 
 
 "I have only to tell you," she said slowly and with 
 deadly hardness, "you will not have to force 
 Jerry-Jo McAlpin to marry me; he's eager enough to 
 do it. He leaves to-night for the States; he has 
 arranged for me to go with him." She paused, 
 then went on, speaking now to her mother: 
 
 "As God hears me, I am not dishonoured, little 
 mother. I will never bring dishonour upon you. 
 I could have explained to you you would have 
 understood, but father never! I am going to the 
 States. Good-bye." 
 
 "My child! oh! my girl!" 
 
 "Good-bye, dear mother." 
 
 "Oh, Priscilla! Do not leave us so! " 
 
 "This is the only way." 
 
 "But, you you are not yet wedded." 
 
 Priscilla smiled. 
 
 "You must leave that to Jerry- Jo and me. And 
 now a kiss and the dear cheek against mine. 
 So!" 
 
 "But you will come back " Theodora sank 
 
 gently to the floor. She had fainted quite away! 
 
 Priscilla bent with her, she lifted the white head 
 to her knee, and again addressed her father. 
 
 "You are satisfied?" she asked. The shield was
 
 164 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 down between them. Man and woman, they stared, 
 understandingly, in each other's eyes. 
 
 "Leave her to me!" commanded Nathaniel, and 
 strode toward the prostrate form. 
 
 "You've lied first and last. Neither McAlpin nor 
 any other honest man will have you! Go!" 
 
 "I will go and my hate I leave with you!" 
 
 And when Theodora opened her eyes she was 
 lying on the rough couch in the sunny kitchen, 
 and Nathaniel was bathing her face with cool 
 water. 
 
 "The child?" faltered the mother, looking plead- 
 ingly around. And then Nathaniel showed mercy, 
 the only mercy in his power. 
 
 "She's gone to McAlpin. They leave for the 
 States to-night. It's you and I alone now to the 
 end of the way." 
 
 "Husband, husband! We've been hard on her; 
 we've driven her to " 
 
 "Hush, you! foolish one. Would you defy God? 
 Each one of us walks the path our feet are set upon. 
 Twas fore-ordained and her being ours makes no 
 difference. Every light woman was some one's, 
 God knows and with Him there be no respecter 
 of persons." 
 
 "Oh! but if you had only been kinder. It seems as 
 if we haven't gone beside her on her path. Couldn't 
 we have drawn her from it if we had expected 
 different of her? Oh! I shall miss her sore. The
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 165 
 
 loneliness, the loneliness with her out of the days 
 and the long nights." 
 
 Theodora was weeping again desolately. 
 
 "Be grateful, woman, that worse has not come 
 to us." 
 
 Now that the deathlike faint was over, Nathaniel's 
 softening was passing. 
 
 "And she went from our door hungry, the poor 
 dear! We wouldn't have treated a beggar so." 
 
 "Had she come as a suppliant, all would have 
 been different." 
 
 Then Theodora sat up, and a kind of frenzy drove 
 her to speak. 
 
 "She had something to tell! You did not let her 
 say her say. What kept her away all night ? Jerry- 
 Jo McAlpin has the devil blood in him when he's 
 
 up to to pranks. Suppose A sort of 
 
 horror shook the thin, livid face. Nathaniel, in 
 spite of himself, had a bad moment; then his hard 
 common sense steadied him. 
 
 "Would she go to him, if what you fear was 
 true?" 
 
 "Has she gone to him?" 
 
 "Where else then and all Kenmore not know? 
 Wait till to-morrow before you leap to the doing of 
 that which you may regret. Calm yourself and 
 wait until to-morrow." 
 
 And Theodora waited many, many morrows.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 AD you see, Master Farwell, I cannot go back 
 to my father's house." 
 It was after nine of the evening of the 
 day Priscilla Glenn had left home. She had reached 
 Farwell's shack without being seen. By keeping 
 to the woods and watching her opportunity, she had 
 gained the rear of the schoolhouse, entered while 
 Farwell was absent, and breathed freely only after 
 securing the door. 
 
 The master had returned an hour later and, the 
 gossip of the Green ringing in his ears, confronted the 
 white, silent girl with no questions, but merely a 
 glad smile of relief. He had insisted upon her taking 
 food, drink, and rest before explaining anything, and 
 Priscilla had gratefully obeyed. 
 
 "I'll gather all the news that is floating about," 
 Farwell had comforted her. "Sleep, Priscilla. You 
 are quite safe." Then he went out again. 
 
 So she had eaten ravenously and slept far into the 
 early evening while Anton Farwell went about lis- 
 tening to all who talked. It was a great day for 
 Kenmore! 
 
 "She and him were together all the night," panted 
 
 166
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 167 
 
 Long Jean, about noon, in the kitchen of the White 
 Fish. 
 
 "What's that?" called Mary McAdam from the 
 closet. Jean repeated her choice morsel, and Mary 
 Terhune, preparing the midday meal, thrilled. 
 
 "I was at her horning," Jean remarked, "and I 
 minded then and spoke it open, that she was made 
 of the odds and ends of them who went before her. 
 I've a notion that the good and evil that might have 
 thinned out over all the Glenn girls must work out 
 thick in Priscilla." 
 
 "I'm thinking," Mary Terhune broke in, "that 
 the mingling with such as visits at the Lodge has 
 upset the young miss. Her airs and graces! Lord 
 of heaven! how she has flouted the rest of the young 
 uns! Aye, but they are mouthing about her this 
 day! 'Me and her,' said Jerry-Jo to me this early 
 morning, 'me and her got caught up in the woods, 
 and, understanding one another, we chose the dry 
 to the wet, and brought things to a point. Her and 
 me will make tracks for the States. It's all evened 
 up.' And I do say," Mary went on, "that all con- 
 sidering, Jerry-Jo is doing the handsome thing. I 
 ain't picking flaws in her maybe she's as clean as 
 the cleanest, but there's them who wouldn't believe 
 it, as you both very well know." 
 
 This last was to include Mrs. McAdam, who had 
 issued from the closet with an ugly look on her thin, 
 dark face.
 
 i68 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "You old harpies!" she cried, striding to the mid- 
 dle of the big room and getting into position for an 
 oratorical outburst. "You two blighted old mid- 
 wives as ought, heaven knows, to have mercy on 
 women; you who see the tortures of women! You 
 would take a girl's name from her on the word of 
 that half-breed, who would sooner lie than steal 
 and both are easy to the whelp. That girl is the 
 straightest girl that ever walked, and no evil has 
 come to her from my house. A word more like that, 
 Mary Terhune, and you'll never share my home 
 again, and as for you, Jean, you who helped the 
 lass into life, what kind of a snake-heart have 
 you?" 
 
 Mary McAdam had both women trembling before 
 her. 
 
 "I'll go up to Lonely Farm myself/' screamed she, 
 "and if Glenn and his poor little slave-wife are doing 
 the low trick by their girl, as God hears me, I'll take 
 her for my own, and turn you both back to the trade 
 you dishonour!" 
 
 Anton Farwell, passing near the window, heard 
 this and went his way. 
 
 Later old Jerry McAlpin came to him on the wharf 
 where the men were gathered to meet the incoming 
 steamer. 
 
 "Lordy! Master Farwell," quavered Jerry; 
 "while I was out on the bay this early morning, my 
 lad, what all the town is humming about, goes tc
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 169 
 
 my home and takes everything everything of any 
 
 vally and leaves this " 
 
 McAlpin passed a dirty piece of paper to Farwell. 
 
 "I'm going to get out on the steamer. Going to the 
 States, and had to have the stuff to get away with. / 
 ain't alone! I'm going down the Channel to board the 
 steamer where it stops for gasoline. Dont follow me for 
 God's sake. I'll pay you back and more." 
 
 Farwell read the words twice, then said: 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Shall I stop him, Master Farwell?" 
 
 "Can you spare what he has taken?" 
 
 "Tain't that, sir." 
 
 "Then let him go! Let him have his fling.'* 
 
 "They do say Long Jean, she do say it's 
 Glenn's girl. My lad's been crazy for her. I'm 
 afraid of Glenn." 
 
 "Let things alone, McAlpin. This is your time to 
 lie low and hold your tongue." 
 
 Farwell tore the paper in shreds and cast them to 
 the wind. 
 
 The steamer came in at eight. At nine-thirty it 
 left the wharf, and, a mile down the Channel, stopped 
 at the little safety station to take on oil and gasoline. 
 Tom Bluff, a half-breed, had the place in charge, and 
 later that evening he put the finishing touch to the 
 day's gossip. 
 
 1 'Twas Jerry- Jo, as you live, who jumped aboard,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 taking the last can I was hauling up with him. So 
 in a hurry was he that he nigh pushed some one 
 down who was in front of him. 
 
 "' Where going?' calls I. 'To the States,' he says 
 back, and picks up the young person he nigh knocked 
 down." 
 
 Long Jean, to whom Tom was confiding this, drew 
 near. 
 
 "Who was the young person?" whispered she, 
 with the fear of Mary McAdam still upon her. 
 
 "Her face? I did not see her face." 
 'Twas Glenn's girl," panted Long Jean; "Pris- 
 cilla!" 
 
 "Ugh!" grunted Tom as his ancestors had often 
 grunted in the past. "Ugh!" 
 
 That was all for the day, and behind closed doors 
 and windows Kenmore slept. The storm of the pre- 
 vious night had been followed by a cold wave, and 
 upon Farwell's hearth a fire crackled cheerily. 
 
 "And so, you see, I cannot go back to my father's 
 house." 
 
 Farwell bent his head over his folded arms. 
 
 "But Mrs. McAdam will take you in, Priscilla. 
 After things calm down and the truth is accepted, your 
 people will forgive and forget. You poor child!" 
 
 Priscilla closed her lips sharply. Her eyes were 
 very luminous, very tender, as they rested upon Far- 
 well, but her heart knew no pity for her father.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 171 
 
 "How old one grows, Master Farwell, in a 
 night," she said with a quiver in her voice. "I went 
 happily away with Jerry-Jo, quite, quite a girl, only 
 yesterday. I had the feeling of a child trying to 
 make believe I was a woman. I wanted to show my 
 father he could no longer control me as he always 
 had before. I I wanted to have my way, and 
 then my way brought me to those black hours 
 of horror when something in me died forever and 
 something new was born. And how strange, Master 
 Farwell, that when I could think at all clear you 
 stood out as my only friend. I seemed to know 
 how it would be with my father and my poor 
 mother. My father has always expected evil of me, 
 and something in me seemed ever to work against 
 the good of me, to give him cause for believing me 
 wrong. But you saw the good, my friend, and to you 
 I come a woman, now. I do not know the lan- 
 guage of what I feel here " she pressed her hands to 
 her heart "but I feel sure you will understand. I 
 cannot stay in Kenmore! I do not want to. Al- 
 ways I have wanted to have a bigger place, a larger 
 opportunity, and even if Kenmore would take me, I 
 will not have Kenmore! Somehow I feel as if I 
 had never belonged here, really. You do not belong 
 here. Oh, Master Farwell, can you not come, too?" 
 
 As she spoke, the old, weary look passed for an 
 instant from her eyes; she was a child, daring, yet 
 fearful! Ready to go forward into the dark, but
 
 172 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS^ 
 
 pleading for a trusted hand to hold. And Farwell, 
 who, could she have known, was clinging more to her 
 than she to him, almost groaned the one word: 
 
 "No!" 
 
 "Why, oh, why, Mr. Farwell? Like father and 
 daughter we could make our way. I think I have 
 never known what a father might be, but you would 
 show me now in my great need." 
 
 "Hush!" Farwell's eyes held hers commandingly, 
 entreatingly. "You must hear what I have to say. 
 Why do you think I have stayed in Kenmore? Why 
 I must stay? Have you thought?" 
 
 "No." And for the first time in her life Priscilla 
 wondered. Before, the man had been but part of her 
 life; now she wondered about him, with the woman- 
 mind that had come so suddenly and tragically to 
 her. 
 
 "No, Master Farwell, why?" 
 
 " Because well, because Kenmore is my grave 
 must always be my grave. I'm dead. Good people, 
 just people said I was dead. I am dead. Alive, 
 I would be a menace, a curse. Dead, I am safe. 
 I've paid my debt, and you, you, the people of my 
 grave, since you do not know, have given me a 
 chance, and I've been a friend among friends! Why, 
 I've even come to a consciousness that perhaps it 
 is best for me to be dead, for back there, back among 
 the living, the thing I once was might assert itself 
 again."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 173 
 
 The bitterness, the pitiful truthfulness, of Far- 
 well's voice and words sank deep into Priscilla's 
 heart. Out of them she instantly accepted one 
 great, vital fact: he was in Kenmore as a refugee; he 
 had been had done wrong! With the accept- 
 ance of this, a strange thing happened. Curiosity, 
 even interest, departed. For no reason that she 
 could have classified, Priscilla Glenn fiercely desired 
 to keep Farwell! If she knew what he seemed 
 bent upon telling, he might take away her faith 
 her only support. She would keep and hold to what 
 she believed him, what he had been since he came 
 to the In-Place. It was childish, blind perhaps, but 
 her words were those of a determined woman. 
 
 "Master Farwell, I will not listen to you. If you 
 are dead, and are safe, dead, I will not look into the 
 grave. All my life you have been good to me, been 
 my only friend; you shall not take yourself from me! 
 And I please let me do this one little thing for 
 you let me prove that I can love and honour you 
 without explanation!" 
 
 Farwell's face twitched. He struggled to speak, 
 and finally said unsteadily: 
 
 "I have been good, as you say, because I had to 
 be. At any moment I might have been what I once 
 was. Why, girl, without knowing it, Kenmore 
 all of you had it in your power to fling me to the 
 dogs had you known, so you see " 
 
 But Priscilla shook her head.
 
 174 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "You did not have to risk your life as you did for 
 the McAdam boys. Perhaps you do not know 
 how you have grown in your grave, Master Far- 
 well. Trust and liking come hard to us in Kenmore, 
 yet not one of us doubts you. No, no, lie quiet. I 
 do not want to see you as you remember your- 
 self; you are better as you are. I will not hear; I 
 will not have it in my thought when I am far 
 away." 
 
 The hardness passed from Farwell's face. Some- 
 thing like relief replaced it, and he said slowly: 
 
 "My God! what a woman you will make if they 
 do not harry you to death.' 
 
 "They will not!" The white, tired face seemed 
 illumined from within. " Last night made me so sure 
 of myself. It showed me how weak I was-, and 
 how strong. Do you know" and here a flush, not 
 of ignorance, but of strange understanding, struck 
 across Priscilla's face like a flame "women like 
 my mother, all the women here in Kenmore, do not 
 understand? They just let people take from them 
 what no one has a right to take, what only they 
 should give! It's when this something is taken that 
 they become like my poor mother afraid and 
 crushed. If I live and die alone and lonely, I shall 
 keep what is my own until I I give it gladly and 
 because I trust. I am not afraid ! But if I had mar- 
 ried Jerry-Jo because of of what he and my 
 father thought, then I would have been lost, like
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 175 
 
 my mother, don't you see? I I can live alone, 
 but I will not be lost." 
 
 "But, great heavens! you are a woman!" 
 
 "Is it so sad a thing to be a woman? Why?" 
 
 To this Farwell made no reply. Shading his 
 gloomy eyes with his thin hand, he turned from the 
 courageous, uplifted face and sighed. Finally he 
 spoke as if the fight had all gone from him. 
 
 "Stay here. The thing you want isn't worth the 
 struggle. There is no use arguing, but I urge you to 
 stay. The In-Place is safer for you. What is it 
 that you must have ? " 
 
 Priscilla laughed a wild, dreary little sound it 
 was, but it dashed hope from Farwell's mind. 
 
 "I want my chance, a woman's chance, and I 
 cannot have it here. I'm not going to hide under 
 Mrs. McAdam's wing, or even yours, Master 
 Farwell. I've left all the comfort with my poor 
 mother that I can. Never let her know the truth, 
 now I am going going to start on My Road ! I 
 do not care where it leads, it is mine, and I am not 
 afraid." 
 
 In her ignorance and defiance she was splendid and 
 stirred the dead embers of Farwell's imagination to 
 something like life. If she were bent upon her 
 course, if his hand could not rest upon the tiller of 
 her untested craft when she put out to sea, what 
 could he do for her? To whom turn? 
 
 "Is there not one, Master Farwell, just one, out
 
 176 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 beyond the In-Place, who, for your sake, would help 
 me at first until I learned the way?" 
 
 The question chimed in with Farwell's thought. 
 
 He leaned across the table separating him from 
 Priscilla Glenn and asked suddenly: 
 
 "Can you keep a secret?" 
 
 Promptly, emphatically, the answer came. " Yes, 
 I can." 
 
 : "Then listen! You must stay here, hide yourself, 
 keep yourself as best you may, while I go to make 
 arrangements. I will be no longer than I can help, 
 but it will take time. The house is well stocked; 
 make yourself comfortable. There are days when 
 no one knows whether I am here or elsewhere. Pro- 
 tect yourself until I return. And when" Farwell 
 paused and moistened his lips "when you are 
 over the border, in the whirlpool, the past, this life, 
 must be forgotten. Raise up a high wall, Priscilla, 
 that no one can scale. Begin your new life from the 
 hour you reach the States. The one who will be- 
 friend you need know no more than I tell him; others 
 must take you on faith. At any moment your 
 father, or some one like Jerry- Jo, might hound you 
 unless you live behind a shield. You understand?" 
 
 He did not plead for his own safety, and he was, at 
 that moment, humanly thinking of hers alone. 
 
 "If you get the worst of it, come back; but leave 
 the gate open only for yourself." 
 
 "Yes, yes." And now Priscilla's eyes were
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 177 
 
 shining like stars. " I will do all that you say; I feel 
 so brave and strong and sure. I want the test, and 
 I will leave the door to Kenmore ajar until the day 
 vvhen I can push it wide and enter as I will, taking 
 or bringing my dear friends with me. I see" she 
 paused and her eyes grew misty "I see My Road, 
 stretching on and on, and it ends oh, Master 
 Farwell, it ends in my Heart's Desire!" She was 
 childishly elated and excited. 
 
 Farwell was fascinated. 
 
 "Your Heart's Desire?" he muttered; "and what 
 is that?" 
 
 "Who knows until she sees it? Hurry! hurry! 
 Master Farwell, I long to set forth." 
 
 Forgotten was her recent experience of horror; 
 fading already was Kenmore from her sight. Dan- 
 ger by the way did not daunt her; the man bowed 
 before her was but a blurred speck upon her vanish- 
 ing horizon; then suddenly a sound caught her ear. 
 
 "You you are" she arose and stood be- 
 side Farwell, her hand upon his bent shoulder 
 "you are crying; and for why?" 
 
 "Loneliness, remorse, and fear for you, poor child." 
 
 And then Priscilla came back to the grim room 
 and the cowering form. 
 
 "I will bring happiness to you," she whispered; 
 "this I swear. In some way you shall be happy." 
 
 But Farwell shook his head. 
 
 "To bed," he said suddenly; "to bed, girl, and to
 
 178 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 sleep. I'll take a nap out here on the couch. Be- 
 fore you awake I'll be on my way. Keep the shades 
 drawn; it's my way of saying I do not wish to be 
 disturbed. Good night, and God bless you, Pris- 
 cilla."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 A3UT two in the morning Farwell set out 
 upon his business for Priscilla. He left a 
 safe and roaring fire upon the hearth; the 
 window shades he did not raise, and well he knew 
 that with that signal of desire for privacy his house 
 would be passed by without apparent notice. The 
 smoke might curl from the chimney, the dogs might, 
 or might not, materialize, but with those close- 
 drawn shades the simple courtesy of Kenmore would 
 protect the master. 
 
 Priscilla was sleeping when Farwell silently closed 
 the door after him, and, followed by his dogs, pro- 
 vided with food and blankets, he noiselessly took 
 to the shadowy woods< It was a starry, still hour, 
 lying between night and morning, and it partook of 
 both. Dark it was, but with that silvery lumi- 
 nosity which a couple of hours later would be changed 
 to pink glow. The stars shone, and the one great, 
 pulsing planet that hung over the sleeping village 
 seemed more gloriously near than Farwell had ever 
 before noticed it. All nature was waiting for the 
 magic touch of day; soon action and colour and 
 sound would stir; just then the hush and breath- 
 
 179
 
 1 8o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 lessness were a strange setting for the lonely man 
 moving forward into the deeper shadows followed 
 close by his faithful dogs. This man who, in the 
 mad passion of his blighted youth, had taken life 
 as if it were but one of the many things over which 
 he claimed supremacy, with bowed head and slow 
 steps, was going on an errand of mercy; he was going 
 to claim, for a helpless human creature, assistance 
 from the only man in all God's world upon whom he 
 could call with hope of success. 
 
 The program, the next few days, was as clear in 
 FarweH's mind as if he had already followed it from 
 start to finish. By eight Pine would be on his tracks; 
 by noon they would be together, the dogs grumbling 
 and fighting at their heels. Two nights by the fire, 
 smoking in a dull silence, broken now and then, in 
 sheer desperation, by Farwell himself. 
 
 In Ledyard's plan there had evidently been but one 
 stipulation: the constant guardianship with explicit 
 reports. Beyond that there seemed to be no ex- 
 actions. Farwell had tried to make Pine drink more 
 than was good for him on various occasions in order 
 to test the metal of the restraint, but the Indian dis- 
 played a wonderful self-control. He knew when and 
 where to begin and stop in any self-indulgence, but 
 having fulfilled his part he showed no interest or 
 curiosity in his companion. Once the trading station 
 was reached, Farwell might buy or seek pleasure as 
 he chose; he might write or receive letters; might
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 181 
 
 sleep or wake. So long as the tangible Farwell was 
 where the guide could locate him at a moment's 
 notice, he was free to think and act to his own sat- 
 isfaction. 
 
 As he plodded on Farwell contemplated, as he 
 never had before, his relations with the Indian; in 
 fact, the Indian himself. A superficial friendliness 
 had sprung up between the two. How deep was it? 
 how much to be depended upon? If Ledyard could 
 buy the fellow, might not a higher price secure his 
 allegiance? This, strange to say, was a new thought 
 to Farwell. Perhaps he had accepted the situation 
 too doggedly; it was his way to cease struggling when 
 the tide turned against him. It was weakness, it 
 was folly, and, after Priscilla went, after the girl 
 opened the doors again into that old life, how could 
 he endure the loneliness, the tugging of her hold upon 
 him from the place he once had called his? 
 
 The day came late to the deep woods beyond Ken- 
 more, and Farwell seemed going toward the night 
 instead of facing the morning. At five he paused to 
 feed his dogs and take a bite himself, and, as he sat 
 upon a fallen tree, the mystic stirrings of life thrilled 
 him as they often had before. It was more a sense of 
 rustle and awakening than actual sound. Hidden 
 under the silence of the forest lay the quivering 
 promises, as the rosy light lay just on the border of 
 the woodland. Both were pressing warm and com- 
 fortingly close to the lonely man with his patient
 
 i82 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 dogs at his feet. Farwell was a better man, a finer 
 man, than he knew, but only subconsciously did 
 this support him. 
 
 It was three of the afternoon before he heard the 
 quick, measured steps on the trail behind him. He 
 did not turn his head, but he called back a genial 
 "Hello!" which was answered by a grunt not devoid 
 of friendliness. 
 
 The evening meal was eaten together, and the two 
 arranged their blankets near the fire for the night's 
 rest. Farwell's two dogs and Pine's one faithful 
 henchman lay down in peace a short distance away. 
 It was as it had been for a time back, except that the 
 Indian had become, suddenly, either an obstacle 
 to be overcome or a friend to assist. Not realizing 
 his new importance, the guide grunted a good night 
 and fell into that sleep of his that never seemed to 
 capture his senses entirely. 
 
 At the small town, which was reached late the 
 following day, Farwell engaged two rooms at the 
 ramshackle tavern and informed Pine that he was to 
 share the luxuries. 
 
 This was unusual. In the past a day at the sta- 
 tion sufficed for business transactions, and night 
 found them in the woods again. Pine was confused 
 but alert. However, things progressed comfortably 
 enough. The expected mail was awaiting Farwell, 
 and he greedily bought all the newspapers he could 
 get. His purchases at the store did not interest the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 183 
 
 Indian and he was not even aware that several 
 garments for a woman were included in Farwell's list. 
 A telegram sent, and another received, did perturb 
 the fellow a good deal, but when Farwell tore the 
 one he got into shreds, the simple mind of the guide 
 concluded that the matter was unimportant, and he 
 forgot it before they reached Kenmore. He could not 
 burden his poor intellect with unnecessary rubbish, 
 and the whole business was getting on to what stood 
 for nerves in the Indian's anatomy. 
 
 What really had occurred was this: Farwell had 
 reached across the desolate stretches that divided 
 him from his one friend and got a response. He had 
 impressed upon John Boswell that he could not come 
 in person to Kenmore, but he could meet a certain 
 needy young person and convey her to safety in 
 the States. And he had asked a question that for 
 months had never risen to the surface he had been 
 too crushed to give it place. 
 
 " Is Joan Moss still alive ? " 
 
 Boswell was ready to aid him in any way, would 
 even deny himself the longing of seeing his old friend 
 face to face, since that seemed desirable. He would 
 meet the young woman at a place called Little Cor- 
 ners and would do what he could for her. 
 
 "Joan Moss is still alive." 
 
 A strong light and a new hope came into Farwell's 
 sad eyes. He had a hold on the future! With 
 the possibility of supplanting Ledyard in Pine's
 
 1 84 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 ideas of loyalty and economics what might not 
 happen? 
 
 And so they started back. 
 
 It was midnight, four days after Farwell had left 
 home, that he entered his own door again. The re- 
 turn trip had been rushed, much to Pine's approba- 
 tion. Priscilla was quietly sewing at the table when 
 Farwell, having loudly bidden the Indian good night, 
 came into the living-room. 
 
 The girl's alarmed glance turned to one of relieved 
 welcome when she saw Farwell. She had some 
 food ready for him every night she had been pre- 
 pared and he ate it ravenously. She noted how 
 white and weary he looked, but the triumphant ex- 
 pression in his sad eyes did not escape her, either. 
 
 "You have good news?" she asked as soon as 
 Farwell had rested a bit by his fireside. 
 
 "Yes. And you?" 
 
 "Oh! I have done famously. Only two knocks 
 at the door, and I was well hidden. Once it was Mrs. 
 McAdam and once old Jerry. They did not try to 
 enter." 
 
 "They would not. And there was food and fuel 
 enough ? " 
 
 " Food yes; I went out three times for wood, and 
 I took one wild, mad walk. I ran, while all the world 
 slept, to Lonely Farm. I looked in at my father's 
 window; he was dozing by the fire, and my 
 mother "
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 185 
 
 "Well, Priscilla?" 
 
 "My mother was crying! I shall always re- 
 member her crying. I did not know there were 
 so many tears in the world!" 
 
 "You you still insist upon going away?" 
 
 "Yes. There is no other way for me. Already 
 I seem a stranger, a passerby. Not even for my 
 mother can I stay; it could work no good for her or 
 
 me. Perhaps, by and by " Priscilla paused. 
 
 Now that she was about to turn her back on all 
 that was familiar to her, she became serious and 
 intense, but she knew no shadow of wavering. 
 
 Then Farwell told her the arrangements he had 
 made. 
 
 "I have a hundred dollars for you, Priscilla. I 
 wish it were more. My friend Boswell will meet you 
 at Little Corners. This is Friday; he will be there 
 on Sunday and will wait for you at the inn; there is 
 only one. Ask for it and go straight to it. From 
 here to Little Corners is the hardest part. I will 
 go as far as I dare with you; the rest you must make 
 alone. Halfway, there is a deserted shanty near the 
 old factory; there you can make yourself comfortable 
 for the night. Are you afraid ? " 
 
 Priscilla was white and intent, but she answered : 
 
 "No, I shall not be afraid." 
 
 "You ought to cover the distance in a couple of 
 days and a night; the walking is not hard, and the 
 woods are fairly well cleared. Once you reach Boswell
 
 1 86 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 you are safe. He will not question you, but you can 
 trust him. He's a strange man younger than I; 
 he stands, has always stood, for all that is noble and 
 good in my life. I have told him that you are some 
 one in whom I am interested." 
 
 The feeling of adventure closed in and clutched 
 the girl. Now that the hour had actually come, the 
 hour up to which all her preparations tended, she 
 quivered with excitement tinged with sadness. 
 
 "This way of leaving Kenmore is safer," Farwell 
 was saying. "If any one were to see you and know 
 you, your father would find you out and bring you 
 back. No one will know you at Little Corners. 
 That's a place which most honest people let alone. 
 You'll like Boswell everyone does after the first. 
 He'll put you in the way of helping yourself, and 
 your people may still hold their belief about you and 
 Jerry- Jo, since it makes things easier for them." 
 
 "Yes;' they must believe that until ' : But 
 
 Priscilla did not finish the sentence. 
 
 The two sat silent for a few minutes while the 
 tired dogs upon the hearth breathed loud and evenly. 
 Then at last Priscilla asked: 
 
 "When do we start, Master Farwell?" 
 
 "Start? Oh, to be sure. I had forgotten." Far- 
 well roused himself from his lethargy. "We start 
 at once; in an hour or two at the latest. I will nap 
 here on the couch; you must rest as best you can. 
 There's a long coat and a hat in yonder bundle.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 187 
 
 They must serve you until you meet Boswell. 
 He'll rig you out in some town before you reach 
 civilization. Here's the money; take wallet and all. 
 Hide it somewhere, Priscilla." Farwell was on his 
 feet and active once more. 
 
 "Go in an hour or two?" gasped Priscilla absent- 
 mindedly, following Farwell's words and accepting 
 the money with a long, tender look of gratitude. " In 
 an hour or two? Why, you've only just come in, 
 Master Farwell!" 
 
 "What matters? After to-morrow I shall have 
 time to rest and sleep to my fill." 
 
 "You will miss me, Master Farwell?" Pris- 
 cilla's eyes were dim. "I would like to have some 
 one miss me!" 
 
 "I shall, indeed, miss you! You can never under- 
 stand what you have meant to me, Priscilla. I can- 
 not make you understand; I shall not try; but in 
 helping you I have perhaps helped myself. I can- 
 not walk out of the In-Place beside you, as I would 
 like to do not now. Maybe a long time hence, 
 some day, I may follow!" 
 
 Farwell's excitement showed in his eyes and voice 
 and wiped out the weariness of his face. 
 
 "You mean that, Master Farwell? You are not 
 trying to comfort me?" 
 
 "No; I am comforting myself!" 
 
 Then, forgetful of the need for sleep, he went on 
 rapidly:
 
 1 88 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Out where you are going, Priscilla, there is a a 
 woman I love; she once loved me. This must seem 
 queer to you who have only known me as as I 
 now seem. I will seem different to you when you 
 have wakened up seen other kinds of men and 
 women." 
 
 " Is she young pretty ? " 
 
 The senseless words escaped Priscilla's lips because 
 quivering interest and a strange embarrassment held 
 her thought. 
 
 "I I do not know how she is now. She was 
 pretty. Good God ! how pretty she was, and young, 
 and kind, too. It was the kindness that mattered 
 most. You see, she thinks me dead; it was best so. 
 I I had to be dead for a while and then I meant to 
 go to her myself. But something happened. I 
 was obliged to stay on here, and she might not have 
 
 understood. I'd like " Farwell paused and 
 
 looked pleadingly at the white girl-face across the 
 rude table, where the fragments of food still lay: 
 "I'd like you to go and see her. Boswell could take 
 you. He's done everything for her, God bless him! 
 I'd I'd like to have you tell her gently, kindly, 
 that I am alive. You might say it so as to spare her 
 shock; you might, better than any one else!" 
 
 The longing in the man's eyes was almost more 
 than Priscilla could endure. Crude as she was, 
 wrong and sinful as the man near her may at one 
 time have been, she knew intuitively that the love
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 189 
 
 for that woman in the States had been his consuming 
 and uplifting passion. If he had sinned for her, he 
 had also died for her, and now he pleaded for resur- 
 rection in her life. 
 
 " I will do anything in all the world for you, Master 
 Farwell; anything!" 
 
 And Priscilla stretched her hands out impulsively. 
 Farwell took them in his cold, thin ones and clung 
 to her grimly. 
 
 "I'd like to know she'd welcome me!" he whis- 
 pered. "Unless she could, I'd rather stay dead!" 
 
 Another silence fell between the man and girl 
 while he relived the past and she sought to enter 
 the future. 
 
 The clock struck the half-hour of one and Far- 
 well sprang up. 
 
 "Get ready!" he said. "No time for napping now. 
 It is it is Saturday morning! We must be off! 
 
 I'll go with you as far as I can. For the rest " 
 
 He stopped suddenly and looked blankly at Pris- 
 cilla. 
 
 A little after two they started away from the small, 
 darkened house. It was a cloudy morning; day 
 would be long in coming, and the two made the most 
 of the darkness. They were well in the deep woods 
 by six o'clock; at seven they ate some food Farwell 
 had hurriedly prepared, and were on their way 
 again by eight. They did not talk much. Priscilla 
 found that she needed all her strength, now that she
 
 190 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 must soon depend upon herself, and Farwell had 
 nothing more to say but good-bye! 
 
 Anton Farwell had got ahead of his spy for once! 
 Not even so indefatigable an Indian as Pine could be 
 expected to watch a man who had just returned 
 from a long tramp. But Farwell knew full well that 
 by high noon his guard would have sensed danger 
 and be uncommonly active, so he pushed the march 
 to Priscilla's utmost limit. 
 
 At four o'clock they reached the deserted hut neai 
 the old factory. A fire was made upon the hearth 
 and a broken-down settle drawn close. 
 
 "I'd rest until early morning," advised Farwell in 
 a hard, constrained voice. "Good Lord, Priscilla, 
 it's a cruel place to leave you alone ! " 
 
 "I shall not mind, Master Farwell." All that was 
 brave and unselfish in the girl rose now to the fore. 
 She recognized that Farwell, even more than she, 
 needed comfort. 
 
 "I shall never forget you," she said, holding her 
 hands out to him; "never forget you or cease to 
 love you!" 
 
 The last words made him wince. 
 
 "Good-bye, Priscilla." 
 
 "Good-bye, Master Farwell." 
 
 When the door closed upon the man, for a moment 
 Priscilla stood with horrified glance following him. 
 The sense of high adventure perished at his going. 
 Alone in the woods, in the ghostly hut, the night to
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 191 
 
 face, and the blank future stretching beyond ! It was 
 more than she could bear, and a cry escaped her 
 parted lips. But Farwell did not hear, and the par- 
 oxysm passed. 
 
 Priscilla slept that night, slept well and safely, 
 and the early light of Sunday morning found her 
 refreshed and full of courage. She never knew that 
 two hours after leaving her Farwell met Pine and 
 found in him a friend ! 
 
 They had come face to face on a side trail. 
 
 "Here I am!" said Farwell cheerfully; then he 
 took his place in front of the guide. That had al- 
 ways been the unspoken understanding. 
 
 "See here, Pine, we've never said much to each 
 other about what all this means, but I want to 
 say something now. I won't give you much trouble 
 in the future. I shall not go often for my mail, or 
 necessaries. In return, forget this journey. I went 
 to let a a poor little devil of a creature out of a 
 trap. That is all. I just couldn't leave it to 
 suffer and I hadn't time to call you up after our 
 long tramp of yesterday." 
 
 "Ugh!" came from behind. 
 
 "Pine, can you trust me?" 
 
 "Ugh!" But the grunt was affirmative. 
 
 "Smoke on it, Tough?" 
 
 And they smoked while they plodded wearily back 
 into bondage.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ETLE CORNERS, lying on the borderland 
 of Canada and the States, stretched like a 
 hand, the thumb and small finger of which 
 belonged to the Dominion, the three digits, in be- 
 tween, to the sister country. Of course it was com- 
 paratively easy to bring merchandise, and what not, 
 by way of the thumb and little finger and send the 
 same forth by the three exits, known to Timothy 
 Goodale as "furrin parts." Timothy was exces- 
 sively British, as so many Canadians are, but he was 
 a broad-minded man in his sympathies, and a friend 
 to all when it paid. He was a man of keen per- 
 ceptions, of conveniently short memory, and had 
 the capacity for giving a lie all the virtuous appear- 
 ance of truth and frankness. Goodale had no 
 family, and, as far as possible, served his guests him- 
 self. A half-breed cooked for him; a half-witted 
 French-Canadian girl did unimportant tasks about 
 the bedchambers, but the host himself took his 
 patrons into his own safekeeping and their secrets 
 along with them. 
 
 Little Corners was not a town of savoury repu- 
 tation. Law-abiding folks gave it a wide berth; 
 
 192
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 193 
 
 tourists found nothing interesting there, and new- 
 comers, of a permanent type, were discouraged. For 
 these reasons it was the place of all places for Mr. 
 John Boswell to enter, by way of the long, middle 
 finger, and meet Priscilla Glenn, who advanced via 
 the thumb. No one would know them ; no one would 
 remember them an hour after they departed. 
 
 Timothy was bustling about on a certain Sunday 
 morning, ruminating on the thanklessness of the 
 task of getting ready for people who might never 
 appear, when, to his delight, he saw a team of weary 
 horses advancing. He had time only to put his 
 features in order for business when a man entered 
 the room. 
 
 No one but Goodale could have taken the shock 
 of the traveller's personality in just the way he did. 
 The smile froze on his face, his eyes beamed, and his 
 stiff, red hair seemed bristling with welcome. "Ad- 
 vance agent of a circus," he thought; "sort of ad- 
 vertising guy." 
 
 The man who had entered was about three feet 
 tall, horribly twisted as to legs, and humped as to 
 back and chest. The long, thin arms reached below 
 the bent knees, and large, white hands dangled 
 from them as if attached by wires. The big head, 
 set low on the shoulders, seemed to have no con- 
 necting link of neck. It was a great, shaggy head 
 with deep-set, wonderful eyes, sensitive mouth and 
 chin, and a handsome nose.
 
 194 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Ah, sir, delighted," said Goodale. "Shall I tell 
 your driver to go to the stables?" 
 
 "I'm my own driver, but I'd like your man to see 
 to the horses. I'm John Boswell from New York, 
 though you'll probably forget that an hour after I 
 leave." 
 
 Goodale nodded. This was quite in his line, and 
 he suddenly became aware of the exquisite texture 
 and quality of the stranger's clothing; the fineness 
 of the piping voice. All sorts came to the inn, 
 but this last comer was a gentleman, for all his 
 defects. 
 
 "I'm expecting a young woman, a distant rela- 
 tive, from farther back in Canada. I shall await 
 her here. My stay is uncertain. Make me as com- 
 fortable as you can; I like to be comfortable." 
 
 "You you are alone, sir?" 
 
 "Until the young lady comes, yes. She is to 
 return to the States with me. It depends upon her 
 how soon we travel back." 
 
 This did away with the show business, but it added 
 romance to the adventure. 
 
 Goodale made Boswell extremely comfortable, 
 surprisingly so. Two bedrooms were got in order 
 as if by magic; a little sitting-room emerged from 
 behind closed doors; an apartment quite detached 
 and cozy, with a generous fireplace and accommoda- 
 tions for private meals. 
 
 After a good dinner Boswell went for a stroll,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 195 
 
 telling his host to make the young lady welcome 
 upon her arrival. 
 
 At half-past four Priscilla Glenn walked into the 
 office of the inn. She was tired and worn, rather 
 unkempt as to appearance, but she stepped erect 
 nnd with some dignity. 
 
 "Is is Mr. Boswell here?" she asked. 
 
 "He is, and then again he ain't," smiled Timothy, 
 who was always playful with women when he wasn't 
 brutal. None knew better than he the use and 
 abuse of chivalry. 
 
 "You are to make yourself at home, Miss; then 
 I'll serve tea in the sitting parlour; all quite your own 
 and no fear of intrusion. I'm host and servant to 
 my guests. I never trust them to to menials." 
 
 "Where's my room?" Priscilla broke in abruptly. 
 She was near the breaking-point and she longed for 
 privacy and shelter before she collapsed. Her tone 
 and manner antagonized Good ale. He understood 
 and recognized only two classes of women, and this 
 girl's attitude did not fit either class. In silence he 
 showed her to her bedchamber, and once the door 
 separated him from her his smile departed and he re- 
 lieved his feelings by muttering a name not compli- 
 mentary to Mr. Boswell's relative. 
 
 The sense of safety, warmth, and creature com- 
 forts speedily brought about courage and hope to 
 Priscilla; a childish curiosity consumed her; she was 
 disappointed that Boswell did not present himself,
 
 196 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 but his absence gave her time for rallying her forces. 
 She found her way to the little sitting-room by six 
 o'clock, and, to her delight, saw that tea things were 
 on a table by the hearth and a kettle was boiling 
 over the fire. 
 
 "And so this is Miss Priscilla Glenn?" 
 
 So noiselessly had the man entered the room 
 through the open door, so kind and gentle his 
 voice, that, though the girl started, she felt no fear 
 until her eyes fell upon the speaker. Boswell 
 waited. He knew what must follow. Readjustment 
 always took time. In this case the time might be 
 longer because of the crudity of the girl. 
 
 "Ah!" The shuddering word escaped the trem- 
 bling lips and the tightly clasped hands that had 
 instinctively gone to the face. "Ah!" 
 
 The man by the door sent forth a pitiful appeal 
 for mercy and acceptance in so sweet and rare a 
 smile that for very shame Priscilla stood up and 
 smiled back wanly and apologetically. 
 
 Boswell liked the attempt and ready willingness; 
 they showed character. 
 
 "Now that that is over," he said in his strange, 
 fine voice, "we may sit down and be friends. May 
 we not?" 
 
 "I will make fresh tea for you please let me!' J 
 for Boswell was waving aside the suggestion. 
 
 " Very well ! Weak just flavoured water. Now, 
 then!"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 197 
 
 The sidling form edged to the deep chair beside 
 the hearth and scrambled up, using both hands as a 
 child does. Priscilla kept her eyes upon her task 
 and struggled for composure. 
 
 "I I suppose Max I mean Farwell did not 
 describe me?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "It was mistaken kindness. My friends have a 
 habit of doing that. They think to spare me; it 
 only makes it harder. Try to forget, as soon as 
 you can, my ugly shell; I am commonplace be- 
 neath." 
 
 The pathos of this almost brought tears to Pris- 
 cilla Glenn's eyes. Her warm, sympathetic nature 
 responded generously. 
 
 "I I am very sorry I gave you pain, sir. For- 
 give me!" 
 
 "We will not mention it again. If you can think 
 of me as a man, a friend who wishes to help you 
 for another friend's sake, you will honour me and 
 make easier your own position. You see, you are no 
 stranger to me; I have the advantage of you. Far- 
 well has kept me in touch with you from your child- 
 hood up. You have amused him, helped him to 
 bear many things that would have been harder for 
 him without you. I thank you for this. I am Far- 
 well's friend. Why, do you know" and now the 
 deep eyes glowed kindly "he has even told me of 
 that original religion you evolved from your needs;
 
 198 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 he pictured the strange god you worshipped. I've 
 laughed over that many times." 
 
 "Your tea is getting cold, sir." 
 
 Priscilla was gaining control of her emotions, and 
 John Boswell's evident determination to place her in 
 a comfortable position won her gratitude and admi- 
 ration. 
 
 "I like cold tea; the colder and weaker the better. 
 Thank you. Let the cup stand on the table; I will 
 help myself presently. I sincerely hope we, you and 
 I, are going to be friends. It would hurt Farwell so 
 if we were not." 
 
 "How good you are!" 
 
 "Yes. Goodness is my profession." The drol- 
 lery in the voice was more touching than amus- 
 ing. "I call myself the Property Man. I help 
 people artistically, when I can. It is my one 
 pleasure, and I find it most exciting. You will 
 learn, now that you have taken your place on 
 the stage of life, that the Property Man is very 
 important." 
 
 In this light talk, half serious, half playful, he 
 reassured Priscilla and claimed for himself what his 
 deformity often retarded. 
 
 "Already you seem my friend. Mr. Farwell said 
 you would be." 
 
 Priscilla's eyes did not shrink now. The soul of 
 the man had, in some subtle fashion, transformed 
 him. She began to succumb to that power of Bos-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 199 
 
 well's that had held many men and women even 
 against their wills. 
 
 "Farwell was always a dramatic fellow," the weak 
 voice continued. "When he sent me word, I 
 wanted to go direct to Kenmore; I wanted to see him 
 after all these years. But he had made his own 
 plans in his own way. There were reasons." 
 
 Priscilla looked bravely in the thin, kindly face. 
 She remembered that Farwell had said that she 
 need tell nothing more than she cared to, but an 
 overpowering desire was growing upon her to confide 
 everything to this friend of an hour. His deep, 
 true eyes, fixed upon her, were challenging every 
 doubt, every reserve. 
 
 "Farwell says you dance like a sprite." 
 
 At this Priscilla started as if from sleep. 
 
 "Ah! a childish bit of play," she said. "I I 
 have almost forgotten how to dance." 
 
 "I hope you will never forget. To dance and sing 
 and laugh should be the heritage of all young things. 
 You must forget to be serious, past the safety point! 
 That's where danger lies. It does not pay to take 
 our parts ponderously. I learned that long ago." 
 
 "I shall be happy after a while." And now, 
 quite simply and frankly, Priscilla cast away her 
 anchors of caution and timidity and spoke openly: 
 
 "I I have been so troubled. Things have 
 happened to me that should not have happened if 
 if my mother and father could have trusted in me.
 
 200 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 They believed wrong of me when really they 
 should have pitied me. You trust me?'* 
 
 "Absolutely/' 
 
 "Master Farwell trusted me. As things were, the 
 only comfort I could give my poor parents was to 
 let them think I left Kenmore with with a young 
 man. Something had occurred that looked wrong. 
 It was only a terrible experience. No one helped me 
 but Master Farwell. My my people turned from 
 me." 
 
 "It was Farwell's way: to help where he had 
 faith," murmured Boswell. 
 
 The deep eyes were so perilously kind that Pris- 
 cilla had to struggle to keep back her tears. A 
 sense of security and peace flooded her heart, but 
 the past strain had left its mark. 
 
 "My father would have been glad to have me 
 marry the the man. I would rather have died 
 after what happened! They my father and 
 mother must believe I have gone with him. It 
 will at least make them feel I have not disgraced 
 them. Now you can understand ! " 
 
 "Perfectly." ' 
 
 "I want to go into training. I want to be a nurse. 
 I am sure I can succeed." 
 
 So very humble and modest was the ambition 
 that it quite took Boswell by surprise. Priscilla 
 did not notice the uplifting of the shaggy brows. 
 She went on eagerly, thoughtfully:
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 201 
 
 "You see, I have only such education as Master 
 Farwell has given me, but I have a ready mind, he 
 says. I am sure I could watch and tend the sick. 
 A lady staying in Kenmore at one time told me I had 
 the the touch of a skilled hand. I want to help 
 the world, somehow, and this seems the only way 
 open to a girl like me. I am strong; I never tire. 
 Yes; I want to be a nurse, the best one I can be." 
 
 Boswell understood the deeper truth. This girl, 
 original, artistic, was foregoing much in accepting 
 this safe, humble course. She expected no charity, 
 nothing but a helpful interest. It was unusual and 
 delightful. 
 
 "I have a hundred dollars that Master Fanvell 
 gave me. It will help, and I can repay it by and by. 
 I know it will be years before I can do so, but he 
 understands. While I am studying there will be 
 little expense, the lady told me. And oh!" here 
 Priscilla interrupted herself suddenly "I have 
 an errand to do for Master Farwell as soon as I 
 get to New York. He told me you would help 
 
 me." 
 
 "An errand?" 
 
 "Yes. There is a woman he once loved; 
 loves still. She thinks he is dead. It was best 
 so in the past. There was a reason for letting her 
 believe so; but now he wants her to know! " 
 
 Boswell sprang up in his chair as if he were on a 
 strong spring.
 
 202 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Wants you to go and tell her that he still 
 lives?" 
 
 "Yes. It will be hard, but I will do it for him." 
 
 Boswell settled back in his seat. 
 
 "I thought he only meant her to know when 
 he could go himself," he said quietly. 
 
 "He made me promise." 
 
 Boswell leaned forward and drew the cup from the 
 table, and in one long draught drank the cold, weak 
 tea. When he spoke again the conversation was set 
 in a different channel. 
 
 "I hardly know what I expected to find you, Miss 
 Glenn," he said with his rare, sweet smile. "You 
 evidently seemed more a child to Farwell than you 
 do to me. That was natural. Now that we have 
 become acquainted I hope you will accept my help 
 and hospitality until your own plans are formed. I 
 can make you very comfortable in my town home. 
 I am sure I can place you in the best training school 
 in the city; I have some influence there. But before 
 you settle to your hard work you will let me play 
 host, as Farwell would in my place ? This would be a 
 great pleasure to me." 
 
 What there was in the words and tone Priscilla could 
 never tell, but at once the future seemed secure, 
 and the present placed on a sound foundation. Every 
 disturbing element was eliminated and the whole 
 situation put upon a perfectly commonplace basis. 
 By a quick transition the unreality was swept aside.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 203 
 
 "Indeed, I will be glad to accept." 
 
 They smiled quite frankly and happily at each 
 other. 
 
 "An odd story occurs to me." Boswell pressed 
 back in his chair and his face was in shadow. "You 
 must get used to my stories and plays. The Prop- 
 erty Man must have his sport. There was once a 
 garden, very beautiful, very desirable, but full of 
 traps to the unwary. Quite unexpectedly, one day, 
 a particularly fine butterfly found herself poised on 
 the branch of a tree with a soaring ambition in her 
 heart, but a blind sense of danger, also. It was a 
 wise butterfly, by way of change. While it hesi- 
 tated, a beetle crawled along and offered its services 
 as guide. The pretty, bright thing was sane enough 
 to accept. Do you follow?" 
 
 Priscilla started. She had been caught in the mesh 
 of the story, and now with a sudden realization 
 of its underlying thought she flushed and laughed. 
 
 "I still have my childish delight in stories, you 
 see," she said. Then, "I I do see what you mean. 
 Again I repeat, I am so glad to accept your your 
 kindness." 
 
 "Middle life has its disadvantages." The voice 
 from out the shadows sounded weary. "It has 
 none of the blindness of youth and none of the assur- 
 ance of old age. If I were twenty, you and I could 
 play together in the Garden; if I were ninety I could 
 tuck you safely away in my nest and feed you on
 
 204 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 dainties, and no one could say a word. As it is 
 well, we'll do the best we can, and, after you are in 
 your training, you'll be glad enough to have my nest 
 to fly to for a change of air and an opportunity to 
 chat with me. The Property Man will come in 
 handy. Hark! the wind is rising. How it blows!" 
 
 The ashes were flying about on the hearth and 
 the trees outside beat their branches against the 
 windows. 
 
 "It never roars like that in the In-Place," whis- 
 pered Priscilla, awed by the sound and fury that 
 were rapidly gaining power. 
 
 "The In-Place?" Boswell sighed. "What a blessed 
 name! To think of any one fluttering about in the 
 dangerous Garden when he or she might remain in 
 the In-Place!" 
 
 There was a tap on the door, and in reply to 
 Boswell's "Come!" Goodale entered. 
 
 "Shall I serve supper now, sir?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Inhere?" 
 
 "No; in the dining-room." Then, "How far is it 
 to the railway station?" 
 
 "Twenty-six miles, sir." 
 
 "It seemed like a hundred. Can the team make 
 it to-morrow if the storm ceases ? " 
 
 "They look capable, sir." 
 
 "Then we will start to-morrow for the States."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 PRISCILLA GLENN always looked back on 
 the next four weeks of her life as a transi- 
 tion stage between one incarnation and an- 
 other. Kenmore, and that which had gone to the 
 making of her life previous to her meeting with John 
 Boswell, seemed to have accomplished their purpose 
 and left her detached and finished, up to a certain 
 point, for the next period of her existence. In the 
 severing of all the ties of the past, even affection, 
 gratitude, and memory, for the time being, were held 
 in abeyance. This was a merciful state, for, had 
 ordinary emotions and sentiments held her, she 
 would have been unfitted for the difficult task of 
 readjustment which she gradually achieved, simply 
 because of her dulled mental and spiritual sensations. 
 The noise and flash of the big city bewildered and 
 dazzled the girl from the In-Place and encrusted 
 her with an unreality that spared her many a pang of 
 loss, and also fear for the future. Boswell's apart- 
 ment, high above the street and overlooking the 
 Hudson River and Palisades, became a veritable 
 sanctuary from which she dreaded to emerge and to 
 which she clung in a passion of self-preservation. 
 
 205
 
 206 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 The gray wall of stone across the sparkling stream 
 grew to be, in her vivid fancy, the barrier between 
 the past and future. Against it, unseen, faint, but 
 persistent, beat what once had been her grim 
 father, her weak, tearful mother, lonely, kindly 
 Master Farwell, and all the lesser folk of Kenmore. 
 Pressing close and straining to hold her, these dim, 
 shadowy memories clustered, but she no longer ap- 
 peared a part of them, like them, or in any way con- 
 nected with them. On the other hand, below the 
 eyrie dwelling in which she was temporarily sheltered, 
 lay the whirlpool of sound and motion into which, 
 sooner or later, she must plunge. 
 
 With keen appreciation and understanding of 
 this phase of her development, John Boswell kept 
 conversation and life upon the surface, and rarely 
 permitted a letting-down of thought. Cautiously, 
 and not too often, he took his guest on tours of in- 
 spection and watched her while she underwent new 
 ordeals or experienced pain from unknown thrills. 
 He had never been more interested or amused in his 
 life, and, in his enthusiasm, exaggerated Priscilla's 
 capabilities. He revelled in her frankness and her 
 confidence; he learned from her more of Farwell than 
 he could have learned in any other way, and his 
 faithful heart throbbed in pity, pride, and affection 
 for the lonely master of the In-Place, who, little 
 heeding his own progress, had triumphed over his 
 old and lesser self at last.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 207 
 
 The home of Boswell was a large and sunny apart- 
 ment high up in the huge building. Only one ser- 
 vant, a marvellously silent and efficient Japanese, 
 ran the economic machinery, awesomely defended 
 Boswell's library when the master retired to perform 
 his mystic rites, and in all relations was exemplary. 
 Poor Boswell's rites comprised a devouring appetite 
 for reading and a rather happy talent for turning off 
 a short story as unique and human as he was himself. 
 
 After Priscilla Glenn arrived, Toky, as the servant 
 was called, was tested to the uttermost. Never 
 before had Boswell introduced a woman into the 
 sphere sacred to Man. Toky disapproved, was ut- 
 terly disgusted; he lost his implicit faith in his 
 master's wisdom, but he adopted a manner at once 
 so magnanimous and charming that Boswell set to 
 work and planned future gifts of appreciation for his 
 servant. 
 
 No other woman came to the apartment; Boswell 
 shrank from them, not bitterly or resentfully, but 
 sensitively. Men took him more or less for granted 
 when he touched their lives; women overdid the 
 determination, on their parts, to set him at ease. 
 Long since he had turned his poor, misshapen back 
 upon the very natural and legitimate desire for the 
 happy mingling of both sexes, but after Priscilla 
 Glenn became his guest he recognized the need of 
 women friends in a sharp and painful manner. They 
 could have helped him so much; could have solved so
 
 208 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 many problems for him and the girl; but as it was he 
 had to do the best he could alone. 
 
 The hundred dollars, still to be repaid to Farwell, 
 worked wonders in the week following the arrival 
 of the Beetle and the Butterfly, as Boswell insisted 
 upon calling himself and Priscilla. Having no power 
 at court, Boswell cast himself on the mercy of lesser 
 folks and managed, by way of secret nods and 
 whispers, to gain the cooperation of sympathetic- 
 looking shop girls in order to array Priscilla in gar- 
 ments that would secure her and him from impudent 
 stares and offensive leers. The evenings following 
 these shopping expeditions were devoted to "casting 
 up accounts." Priscilla was absolutely lacking in 
 worldly wisdom, but she had a sense of accuracy 
 that drove Boswell to the outer edge of veracity. 
 Never having bought an article of clothing for herself, 
 Priscilla attacked this new problem with perfectly 
 blank faith. Prices often surprised and startled her 
 by their smallness, but the results obtained were 
 gloriously gratifying. 
 
 "I can better understand the lure of the States 
 now, Mr. Boswell," she said one evening as the two 
 sat in the library with the wind howling down Bos- 
 well's exaggerations and the fire illuminating the girl's 
 face. "Kenmore prices were impossible, but one can 
 go wild here for so little. Just fancy! That whole 
 beautiful suit for two dollars and eighty-seven " 
 
 "Eighty-nine!" Boswell severely broke in, shaking
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 209 
 
 his pencil at her as he sat perched, like a benign 
 gargoyle, by his study table. "I'll not have Farwell 
 defrauded while he cannot protect his own interests." 
 
 "Two eighty-nine," Priscilla agreed, with a laugh 
 so merry and carefree that the listener dropped his 
 tired eyes. "And how much does that leave of the 
 hundred, Mr. Boswell? I tremble when I think of 
 the silk gown so soft and pretty, the slippers and 
 stockings to match, and the storm coat, umbrella, 
 heavy shoes, and and other things." 
 
 Boswell referred to his notes and long lines of fig- 
 ures. 
 
 "All told, and in round numbers, there are forty- 
 seven dollars and three cents left." 
 
 "It's marvellous! wonderful!" Priscilla exclaimed. 
 "You are sure, Mr. Boswell?" 
 
 "Do you doubt me?" 
 
 "Sometimes I do, you are so kind, so generous, and 
 under ordinary circumstances it would seem im- 
 possible to buy things so cheap. You must select 
 your shops carefully." 
 
 "One has to on a moderate allowance." 
 
 Then quite suddenly Priscilla Glenn spoke quickly 
 and breathlessly: 
 
 "Mr. Boswell, I I must begin my training. 
 Have you made any arrangements? And, when I 
 go, will they pay me from the start ? " 
 
 Boswell grew grave as he thought of the knowledge 
 that would come concerning dollars and cents later on.
 
 210 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I have started operations," he replied; "in a 
 short time you will be able to begin your studies, 
 and I hear they will pay you the princely sum of ten 
 dollars a month from the day you are accepted. 
 Canadians are greatly in demand." 
 
 "Ten dollars!" gasped Priscilla, "Ten dollars a 
 month! when I think what this hundred has done, 
 and the twelve months in each year, it it dazzles 
 me!" 
 
 Boswell gave an uncomfortable laugh. In the 
 light of nearby disillusionment his practical joke 
 looked mean and ghastly. 
 
 Then, with another abrupt change of thought, 
 Priscilla brought Boswell again at bay. 
 
 "Before I go into training," she said, "I must go 
 and see Master Farweirs friend his old friend, you 
 know. I feel very guilty and ungrateful, but it has 
 all been so strange and bewildering, I have seemed 
 dead and done for and then born again, I could not 
 help myself; but I can now. Please tell me all about 
 her, Mr. Boswell, and how I can find her." 
 
 Boswell dropped the pencil upon the mahogany 
 desk and looked blankly at Priscilla. 
 
 "Let us sit by the fire," he said presently, "I 
 am cold and tired. Turn down the lights." 
 
 They took their positions near the hearth: the 
 dwarf in his low, deep leather chair with its wide 
 "wings " that hid him so mercifully; Priscilla in the 
 small rocker that from the first had seemed to meet
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 211 
 
 every curve and line of her long, young body with 
 restful welcome. 
 
 "And now," Priscilla urged, "please tell me. I 
 feel, to-night, like myself once more. I am adjusted 
 to the new life, I hope, ready to do my part." 
 
 When John Boswell cast aside his whimsical 
 phase he was a very simple and direct man. He, 
 too, was becoming adjusted to Priscilla's presence 
 in his home and her rightful demands upon him. 
 
 "Yes, I will tell you," he said slowly, wearily. 
 
 "Perhaps you are too tired to-night, Mr. Boswell? 
 To-morrow will do." 
 
 "No. I never sleep when the wind howls; it gets 
 into my imagination. I'd rather talk. The thing 
 I have to tell you is what I shall tell Farwell if I 
 ever see him again. It's rather a bungling thing I've 
 done. I'll receive my reward, doubtlessly, but I 
 would do the same, were I placed in the same posi- 
 tion, over and over again. 
 
 "Farwell Maxwell, known to you as Anton Far- 
 well, has been part, the biggest part, of my life since 
 we were young boys. We were about as pitiful a 
 contrast as can be imagined, and for that reason met 
 each other's needs more completely. We had only 
 one thing in common money. He was a straight, 
 handsome fellow, while I was what you see before 
 you a crooked, distorted creature, but one in 
 whose heart and soul dwelt all the cravings and as- 
 pirations of youth and intelligence. I was alone in
 
 212 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 the world. My father died before my birth, and 
 I cost my mother her life. Farwell had, until 
 he was twenty, an adoring though foolish mother, 
 who laid undue emphasis upon his rights and privi- 
 leges. She, and an older brother, died when he was 
 twenty-one died before the trouble came, but 
 not before they had done all they could to train him 
 for it. At twenty-one he was a selfish, hot-headed 
 fellow with a fortune at his command, a confused 
 sense of right and wrong, an ungoverned, artistic 
 nature swayed by impulse, and, yes, honest affec- 
 tion and generous flashes. And I? Well, I found 
 I could buy with my money what otherwise I must 
 have gone without, but the shadow never counted 
 for the substance with me. The fawning favour, 
 which held its sneer in check, filled me with disgust, 
 and I would have been a bitter, lonely fellow but - 
 for Farwell. 
 
 "I never could quite understand him; I do not 
 to-day, but he, from the beginning, did not seem to 
 recognize or admit my limitations. Through pre- 
 paratory school and college we went side by side. 
 He called me by the frank and brutal names that 
 boys and men only use to equals. I wonder if you 
 can understand when I say that to hear him address 
 me as an infernal coward, when I shrank from certain 
 things, was about the highest compliment I knew?" 
 
 "Yes," murmured Priscilla, "I can understand 
 that." She could not see Boswell; the low, im-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 213 
 
 passioned words came from out the shadows like 
 thoughts. "Yes, I can quite understand how you 
 felt." 
 
 "I am glad that you can, for then you will see 
 why I have done what I could for Farwell 
 when he needed me. Back in those old days he was 
 not content to shame me into playing my part; by 
 that power of his, that worked both good and evil, 
 he compelled others, in accepting him, to accept me 
 on equal terms. There was a seat for me at the 
 tables to which he was invited; he discovered my poor 
 talent for telling a story, and somehow hypnotized 
 others into considering me a wit ! A wit ! " 
 
 A silence fell between the two by the fire. Pris- 
 cilla's throat was hard and dry, her heart aching with 
 pity. 
 
 "And then," Boswell continued drearily, "the 
 crash came when he was only twenty-five! I sup- 
 pose he was savagely primitive. That was why 
 externals did not count so much with him. He 
 could not brook opposition, especially if injustice 
 marked it; he was never able to estimate or eliminate. 
 He was like a child when an obstacle presented itself. 
 If he could not get around it, he attacked it with 
 blind passion. 
 
 "It was part of his nature to espouse the cause of 
 the weak and needy; that was what held him, un- 
 consciously, to me; it was what attracted him to Joan 
 Moss."
 
 214 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 The name fell upon Priscilla's mind like a shock. 
 The story was nearing the crisis. 
 
 "She was outwardly beautiful; inwardly she was 
 as deformed as I! But in neither case was he 
 ever able to get the right slant. He loved us both 
 in his splendid, uncritical way. His love brought me 
 to his feet in abject devotion: it lured the woman to 
 accomplish his destruction. Something, some one, 
 menaced her! He tried to sweep the evil aside, 
 but " 
 
 "Yes, yes, please go on!" Priscilla was breathless. 
 
 "Well, he couldn't sweep it aside; so he committed 
 murder." 
 
 "Oh! Mr. Boswell!" 
 
 The shuddering cry drew Boswell to the present. 
 He remembered that his listener knew Farwell only 
 as a friend and gentle comrade. Her shock was nat- 
 ural. 
 
 "You you never guessed? Why do you think 
 he, that brilliant fellow, stayed hidden like a dead 
 thing all these years?" there was a quiver in 
 Boswell's voice - "hidden so deep that not even 
 I dared to go to him for fear I would be followed and 
 he again trapped! Oh! 'twas an ugly thing he did; 
 but he was driven to insanity even his judges be- 
 lieved that at the last; but his victim was too 
 big a man to go unavenged, so they hunted Farwell 
 down, caught him in a trap, and tried to finish him, 
 but he got away and they thought him dead."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 215 
 
 " Yes, yes," moaned Priscilla, "yes, I know. And 
 the woman did her heart break ? " 
 
 At this Boswell leaned forward, and, in the fire's 
 glow, Priscilla saw his face grow cruel and hard. 
 
 "Her heart break? No, she went promptly to 
 the devil, once she was sure she had lost Farwell and 
 his money. Down to the last hope she made him 
 believe in her. How she acted! But when he was 
 reported dead, well!" and Boswell gave a harsh 
 laugh "her heart did not break!" 
 
 A sound brought Boswell back to the dim room. 
 
 "You are crying?" he said slowly; "crying for 
 him?" 
 
 " For him, yes, and for you ! " 
 
 "For me?" -a wonderful tenderness stole into 
 the man's voice "for me? I do not think any 
 one before ever cried for me. Thank you. You 
 understand what all this meant to me? What a 
 woman you will be if 
 
 Priscilla raised her tear-stained face and her lips 
 quivered as she recalled that Farwell had said almost 
 exactly the same words to her back there in the In- 
 Place. She understood because she had been lonely 
 and known the suffering of the lonely. She must 
 never forget, never fail those who needed her! But 
 Boswell was talking on again with a new note of 
 feeling in his voice. 
 
 "While I thought him dead I sank back into my 
 shell, sank lower than I had ever been before. I
 
 216 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 wanted to die; wanted it so truly that I planned it; 
 grew interested in arranging my affairs. Preparing 
 to die became my excitement, and when everything 
 was ready, Farwell spoke to me from his grave! 
 That letter from your In-Place worked a miracle 
 upon me. While he lived there would always be 
 something for me to do. He had made a place in the 
 world for me; I could keep his place ready for him. 
 It was a small return, but it meant life for me. 
 
 "There were years when Farwell felt he was com- 
 ing back. I heard from him spring and autumn, and 
 there were hope and promise each time. When peo- 
 ple forgot, he would return, and he wanted to go to 
 to Joan Moss himself with his story. So long 
 as he knew that she was alive and faithful it was 
 enough, and, besides, he realized that had she or I 
 gone to him just then it might have been fatal. 
 He believed that if she knew where he was she would 
 hasten to him! 
 
 "Well, just at first I thought that he might come 
 at any time and might rescue Joan Moss. I was 
 even willing for him to have her if it could add any 
 happiness to him. Then there was the money his 
 money. I kept his belief in that, too. Everything 
 of his went at the time of the trial, but mine was his, 
 so that was a small matter. I suppose all the senti- 
 ment and passion that most men spread over their 
 entire lives were, in me, concentrated on Farwell. 
 When I thought of him caged and alone, in the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 217 
 
 wilds, I found lying to him about the only thing I 
 could do. So I kept his belief in Joan Moss and his 
 fortune. Then something happened to him. I 
 never knew what it was, but it seemed to take all 
 the hope and courage from him. He wanted me to 
 see that Joan Moss was well taken care of, and in 
 case of his death she must have all that he died 
 possessed of. Just at that time Joan Moss came to 
 me, a wreck! She lived only six months, but for his 
 sake I saw that she had all that he would have had 
 for her. She thought that he gave it to her, too, or 
 at least she thought his money gave it, since it was in 
 his will that she should have it. His name was on 
 her lips when the end came. I will tell him that 
 some day. It will help him to forgive me. After 
 that I wrote and wrote to him, making frantic efforts 
 to secure to him, until he were free, what existed 
 no longer on earth! That is all." 
 
 The fire had died down and become ashy; the 
 wind no longer howled; the night had fallen into 
 peace at last. 
 
 Priscilla got up stiffly, for she was cold and nerve- 
 worn. She walked unsteadily to Boswell, her tear- 
 stained face twitching with emotion, her hands out- 
 stretched. In her eyes was the look that only once 
 or twice in his life had Boswell ever seen directed 
 toward him by any human being the look that 
 claimed the hidden and best in him, forgetting the 
 deformities that limited him.
 
 2i 8 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I think you are the best man on earth, the noblest 
 friend. Oh! what can we do for Master Farwell?" 
 
 Quite simply Boswell took the hands in his. Her 
 eyes made him brave and strong, and her "we" 
 throbbed in his thoughts like a warm and tender 
 caress. 
 
 "You must leave that to me," he said gently, giv- 
 ing his kindly smile. "I cannot share this burden 
 with you. So long have I borne it that it has be- 
 come sacred to me. It means only making the story 
 a little longer, a little stronger. Some day he will 
 have to know some day; but not now! not now!" 
 
 Just then a distant church bell struck the midnight 
 hour. Solemnly, insistently, the twelve strokes rose 
 and fell. 
 
 "The wind has passed," whispered Boswell. 
 
 "Yes, and the fire is dead. You are very, very 
 tired, I am sure," Priscilla murmured. 
 
 Something new and maternal had entered into 
 her thought and voice. While life lasted she was 
 always to see in the crippled man a brave and patient 
 soul who played with sternest problems because he 
 had no other toys with which to while away his 
 dreary years; no other offerings for them he loved. 
 
 "Yes. The play is over for to-night. The 
 Property Man can take his rest until to-morrow. 
 Turn on the lights, Priscilla Glenn. You and I 
 must find our way out of the darkness." 
 
 "Let me help you, Mr. Boswell."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 219 
 
 "Help me? That sounds very kind. I will make 
 believe that I am ninety! Yes, you may help me. 
 Thank you! And now good night. You need not 
 write of Joan Moss to Farwell. I am grateful 
 because you understand and appreciate my my 
 attempt. I can bring the tale to a close in great 
 style. I was a bit discouraged, but it seems clear 
 and convincing now. That is often the way in my 
 trade of story-maker. We come against a blank 
 wall, only to find there a gateway that opens to our 
 touch."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 ATER Boswell's confidence concerning Anton 
 Farwell, Priscilla's relation to the man who 
 had befriended her, to life itself, became 
 more vital and normal. The superficial conditions 
 were dissipated by the knowledge that Boswell, in 
 speaking so frankly to her, considered her a woman, 
 not a child, and expected a woman's acceptance of 
 duties and responsibilities. Besides this, Boswell 
 himself took on new proportions. His whimsical 
 oddities had been, for an hour, set aside. For a time 
 he had permitted her to see and know him the 
 simple, good man he really was. In short, Priscilla 
 could no longer play, could no longer make a defence 
 of her shyness and ignorance; she realized that she 
 must plunge into the whirlpool for which she had left 
 the In-Place and she must do so at once. 
 
 Boswell might fantastically play at being ninety 
 and permit her to lend her strength and youth to his 
 use, but she never again could be deceived. He was 
 assisting her for Farwell's sake. He liked her, found 
 her entertaining, but intuitively she knew that in 
 order to retain his respect and confidence she must 
 fulfil her part. 
 
 230
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 221 
 
 For a week or so longer he and she went to operas 
 and theatres together while final arrangements were 
 being completed for her immediate admittance, on 
 trial, to the finest private hospital in the city, to 
 which was attached a training school of high repute. 
 
 Priscilla was both right and wrong about Boswell. 
 He did appreciate and admire her insistence to begin 
 her career. It was the only course for her to take; 
 but he looked forward to the lonely, empty days 
 without her with real concern. 
 
 He had, to a certain extent, grown used to the 
 detachment and colourlessness of his life since Far- 
 well had left it; but here, quite unexpectedly, a young 
 and vital personality had entered in and had given 
 him, in a crude, friendly way, to be sure, what his 
 absent friend had given the assurance that his 
 deformity could not exclude him from the sweet 
 humanity that was keen enough to recognize the soul 
 of him. Sensitive, shrinking from suffering and pub- 
 licity, the man found in Priscilla's companionship 
 and confiding friendliness the deepest joy he had 
 known since his great loss. He wished that he was 
 ninety, indeed, and that his infirmity and wealth 
 might secure for him this new interest that had 
 taken him out of himself and caused his sluggish 
 senses to revive. But he was not yet fifty. For all 
 his handicaps he was still in fair health, and the 
 best that he could hope for was that Priscilla, among 
 her new duties, would remember him, come back to
 
 222 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS? 
 
 him, make his lonely home a retreat and comfort 
 when her arduous duties permitted. 
 
 Those last few days of freedom and companionship 
 were beautiful to them both. With pride and a cer- 
 tain complacency, Boswell saw that he had somewhat 
 formed and developed Priscilla's tastes and judgment. 
 She was no longer the ignorant girl she once had 
 been. Music did not now move her to tears and a 
 kind of dumb suffering. She began to understand, 
 to control her emotions, and gain, through them, 
 pleasure without pain. 
 
 "She laughs," Boswell thought, "more intelli- 
 gently and discriminately when she sees a good 
 farce." 
 
 All this was satisfying to them, but on a certain 
 late-winter day it came to an end, and Priscilla, 
 thrilling with a sense of achievement, entered St. 
 Albans on probation. 
 
 What the weeks of doubt and preparation meant, 
 no one, not even Boswell, ever knew. The old child- 
 ish determination to suffer, in order to know, held 
 true and unfaltering. The tortured nerves, after the 
 first shocks, regained their poise and strength; the 
 heavy work and strict discipline left the sturdy body 
 like fine steel, although weariness often tested it 
 sorely. 
 
 " 'Tis not to dance, Priscilla Glenn," she often 
 warned herself; "it is to suffer and know!" 
 
 Then she grimly set her strong, white teeth. With
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 223 
 
 all the getting and relinquishing, however, she never 
 forgot to laugh, and her courageous cheerfulness won 
 for her more than she realized while she was learning 
 the curves of her Road. 
 
 And then she was accepted. No one but herself 
 had ever doubted her triumph, but when she first 
 learned the verdict she was wild with delight and 
 could hardly wait for her "hours off" to tell Boswell 
 all about it. 
 
 She was "capped" at last. No hard-won crown 
 was ever appreciated more than that white trifle 
 which rested like a bit of snow upon the "rusty hair" 
 of Priscilla Glenn. 
 
 Before the little mirror in her own bedchamber, 
 on that first victorious day, she posed and confided 
 to her appreciative reflection. 
 
 "So this is Priscilla Glenn of the In-Place?" she 
 whispered. "I simply can't believe it! No one 
 else would believe it either; and you are not the same. 
 You never will be again what you once were." 
 
 The flush of excitement showed plainer now than 
 of yore, for the clear, dark skin had taken on the 
 delicacy of the city's tint. The eyes were deep and 
 grave, for already they had witnessed the mystery 
 of life and death. They had smiled down at pain- 
 racked motherhood; had held, in calm courage, many 
 an outgoing soul. Priscilla had a closer vision than 
 she once had had when she dreamed her dreams of 
 what lay beyond the Secret Portage and the Big Bay.
 
 224 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 ^ The reflection nodded acknowledgment to all that 
 the excited brain affirmed. Then suddenly: 
 
 "Why, Priscilla Glenn, you are crying! And for 
 which?" 
 
 The quaint expression brought a smile. 
 
 "You are homesick, Priscilla Glenn, homesick 
 for what you have never had! That's the matter 
 with you. You want some one to go to and tell 
 about this, but in all the world there isn't any 
 one who could understand. You poor, poor dear! 
 What would your father and mother think of you? 
 There, now, never mind. You are only a blue 
 and white nurse. Even Master Farwell and Mr. 
 Boswell could not understand; but a woman could. 
 Some woman! She would know what it means to be 
 free at last and have something, quite your own, with 
 which to hew and cut your own road; yes, your own 
 road, right along to to the end, just as old Pine 
 used to cut the new trails. It's the standing up 
 straight at last on your own roots like the dear little 
 white birch in the Place Beyond the Winds. A 
 woman could understand, but no one else." 
 
 By some subtle power Priscilla had thought and 
 talked her fancy far and away from the plain room 
 of St. Albans. Her longing, her quaint " for which ? " 
 the memory of the Indian guide and the little white 
 birch had performed a miracle. Through the excite- 
 ment and elation stole the fantastic power of child- 
 hood. She was on her Road, bound for her Heart's
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 225 
 
 Desire! No doubt, no misgiving, assailed the mo- 
 ment of joy. Forward, just a little beyond, success 
 awaited her. The possibility of defeat was over 
 forever. From now on, through weariness, toil, and 
 perhaps suffering, she was going to her own. She 
 had never realized the tense mental and physical 
 strain through which she had passed; she did not 
 realize it now, but with the relaxation came an al- 
 most dangerous exhilaration. The present, only 
 so far as it verified the past, had no hold upon her; 
 she let herself go. 
 
 Back again was she in Kenmore. It was spring- 
 time, and the red rocks and hemlocks shone and the 
 water sparkled; she heard it lapping against the tiny 
 islands, so glad was it to be free of the winter's 
 grasp. Some one was dancing to the Spring's Call 
 a small, graceful thing with a bright red cape flying 
 on the wind, the soft wind of the In-Place. There 
 was music, too! Oh! how clearly it came rising and 
 falling; and then, in the bare hospital room, the blue- 
 clad nurse tripped this way and that, while memory 
 held true to note and step! 
 
 Oh ! It was on again, on again, that dear old dance. 
 It dried the tears in the tender eyes and held the 
 smile on the joyous lips. Then, as suddenly as it had 
 begun, the dance ceased, a flushed face confronted the 
 reflection in the glass, and a low curtsey followed, 
 while a reverent voice repeated as if in prayer: 
 
 "Skib, skib, skibble de de dosh!"
 
 226 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 The words came of their own volition; they were 
 part and kin to the mood that held and swayed her. 
 They were a pagan plea for guidance and protection 
 in the opening life where wind and fury would beset 
 her. 
 
 Suddenly words of everyday life found their way 
 to her detached consciousness and recalled her to the 
 present with almost cruel force. 
 
 "It's the little Canuck he wants! Just fancy! I 
 heard him say so to to Mrs. Thomas. Such in- 
 justice! But there the old Grenadier comes now. 
 Hustle!" 
 
 Priscilla heard the scampering feet, then, after a 
 moment's pause, the dignified advance of the super- 
 intendent. There was a tap on the door. The doors 
 of some rooms, owing to discipline, were never 
 tapped by Mrs. Thomas, but the reason that com- 
 pelled her to show this courtesy to Priscilla also 
 caused her to wish this young Canadian was a less 
 serious person; one more prone to frivol in her "hours 
 off," and not have, for her most intimate companion, 
 the strange dwarf. She could have forgiven Priscilla 
 Glenn if, having overdone her "late leave," she had 
 crawled into a back window to escape punishment. 
 It would have made her more understandable. As 
 it was, Mrs. Thomas tapped! 
 
 "Come in, please," said Priscilla, and the large, 
 handsome superintendent entered and sat down. 
 
 "I thought I would come and tell you," she said,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 227 
 
 trying to keep her professional expression while her 
 maternal heart warmed to the girl, "that you have 
 been highly honoured. There is to be a very im- 
 portant operation to-morrow at three o'clock. Doc- 
 tor Ledyard is to perform it, assisted by his young 
 partner. He has asked for several nurses, and he 
 named you singled you out. He has observed you; 
 wishes to use you. It's a great compliment, Miss 
 Glynn." So often had Priscilla corrected, to no 
 avail, the wrong pronouncing of her name, that she 
 now accepted it without further demur. Flushing 
 and trembling, she went close to Mrs. Thomas and 
 held her hands out impulsively. 
 
 "All my glory is coming at once!" she faltered. 
 
 "Glory? Well, you are a queer girl. To stand 
 for hours under that man's eye! You call it glory? 
 Why, it is an honour because it is that man, that eye; 
 but as to glory! My dear Miss Glynn, I must insist 
 that you go off this afternoon and play some- 
 where. Then come back and get a good night's rest. 
 The life of the richest man in New York will hang 
 in the balance to-morrow, and not even the glorified 
 nurse can afford to have a trembling hand when she 
 passes up an instrument or wipes the perspiration 
 from the surgeon's brow." 
 
 "Thank you, oh! thank you, Mrs. Thomas! Of 
 course, if I were not so stupid I could make you under- 
 stand how I feel. I seem to have found the right 
 way, and everything is conspiring to tell me so. You
 
 see, I might not have qualified; some girls do not. 
 No one might have noticed me; you might not have 
 been so kind. Often I am rather lonely and ungrate- 
 ful; but you must try to believe that I am very 
 happy now." 
 
 "I suppose" Mrs. Thomas was holding the 
 radiant young face with her clear, calm eyes "I 
 suppose you are one of those natures that craves 
 success; cannot brook defeat. Life will deal harshly 
 with you." 
 
 "I am willing to suffer. It is the learning I must 
 have. It is the chance to learn that makes me so 
 glad," Priscilla burst in, "and it's this sure feeling 
 that I am on the right trail." 
 
 "There is a difference. But somehow the career 
 of a nurse is so well difficult, and hard," 
 Mrs. Thomas went on. "I wonder how you can 
 approach it with your enthusiasm undaunted after 
 months of service." 
 
 "I do not know, but it seems my road to what is 
 mine. It gets me so near people when they most 
 need me are so glad to have me! There seems to 
 be nothing between me and them. I love it, oh ! I 
 love it, Mrs. Thomas!" 
 
 "See here, Miss Glynn, where are you going 
 this afternoon?" 
 
 "I do not know; just going." 
 
 "I wish dear me! I do wish you could go 
 somewhere; do something shockingly frivolous."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 229 
 
 "No, I couldn't to-day. I feel like praying or 
 dancing. There's the most wonderful, singing feel- 
 ing inside of me. That's why I do not need 
 fun as much as most of the girls do. You are 
 very kind; I think I will go to your big, fine park and 
 walk and walk. I'd like to see the sun set and the 
 stars ' ! 
 
 "Now, Miss Glynn, unless you promise me to get 
 under shelter before the stars come out I'll call the 
 police. Some day you will learn that New York is 
 not your Canadian hamlet." 
 
 Priscilla laughed gayly. 
 
 "Very well. I will take my walk and then go to 
 my dear old friend. He'll be looking for me from his 
 high window. He always stands there late after- 
 noons, on the chance of my coming. He says it's a 
 pleasure to feel you have something that may come r 
 even if you know it isn't coming just then." 
 
 Priscilla changed her clothing and set forth a half 
 hour later for her walk and to meet with an adven- 
 ture that changed the current of her thought mate- 
 rially. From that afternoon she was pressed and 
 forced up her Road by a power that had taken her 
 into control with definite purpose. 
 
 She went into the park at the lower entrance and 
 walked rapidly to a high place that was a favourite 
 with her. So peaceful and detached it was that she 
 could generally think her thoughts, sing aloud a 
 little song, and feel safe from intrusion. Being high
 
 230 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 and open, the sunlight rested longer there than it 
 did below and misled one as to time. 
 
 There was a glorious sunset that evening, a golden, 
 deep one, against which the bare trees, towers, and 
 house roofs stood outlined black and sharp. It was 
 like a burnished shield. It was a still day, with a 
 gentle crispness in the air that stimulated while it 
 did not chill. 
 
 "Everything is waiting. What for? what for?" 
 Priscilla whispered sociably to herself. She was 
 young, full of health and success. Of course she was 
 waiting as the young do. And then something 
 torched her cheek softly, and, looking down, she 
 saw that her dark suit was covered with feathery 
 snowflakes. So silently had they escaped a passing 
 cloud that she was startled. She arose at once and 
 was surprised to find, in the hollow below, thatrthe 
 paths were crusted and the electric lights gleamed 
 yellow through a fluttering mist of flying snow. It 
 was very beautiful, but it warned one to hasten, 
 and besides it had grown quite dark. 
 
 There was a path, Priscilla knew it well, that led 
 straight across the park to an entrance near Boswell's 
 home, and she took it now at a rapid pace. 
 
 The beauty of the walk did not escape her, the 
 exhilaration of the air acted like a cordial upon her, 
 she seemed hardly to touch the ground as she ran on; 
 and once she paused before setting her foot upon the 
 lovely whiteness. As she hesitated some one stepped
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 231 
 
 from the shadow of a clump of bushes and confronted 
 her under the electric light. 
 
 "Can you tell me how to find the nearest way out? 
 I'm lost." 
 
 Priscilla's heart gave one hard throb and stood 
 still, it seemed for an hour, while an almost forgotten 
 terror seized and held her. She was looking full upon 
 Jerry- Jo McAlpin! A soiled and haggard shadow he 
 was of what he once had been, but it was Jerry- Jo 
 and no other. 
 
 "I I did not mean to frighten you. Forgive me. 
 I ain't going to hurt you, Miss. I ' 
 
 But Priscilla was gone before the sentence was 
 finished. Gone before she knew whether the speaker 
 had recognized her or not. Gone before and 
 then she stood still. She could not leave him to 
 wander alone at night in that big, strange place. No 
 matter what happened, she must treat him humanly, 
 she, who knew the danger. She went back, her blood 
 running like ice through her body; but Jerry-Jo 
 McAlpin was not there. Priscilla waited, and once 
 she spoke vague directions to the empty space, but 
 no answering voice replied. Presently she con- 
 trolled herself, and took to the path again, and 
 reached John Boswell's house before he had left his 
 window. 
 
 She did not tell of the encounter; she felt she must 
 wait, but in her heart she knew that Jerry-Jo Mc- 
 Alpin was as surely on her trail as she was herself.
 
 232 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Such things as that meeting did not happen to them 
 of the In-Place unless for a purpose. 
 
 She had a wonderful evening with Boswell. They 
 did not go out, and after dinner he read her some 
 manuscript stories. Boswell had never before so 
 intimately permitted her to come close to his work. 
 She had seen stories of his in print, had heard plans 
 for others, but before the fire in his study that night 
 he read, among other things, "The Butterfly and the 
 Beetle." So beautifully, so touchingly, had he pic- 
 tured the little romance, of which Priscilla herself 
 was part, that the tears fell from the girl's eyes while 
 her lips were smiling at the tender humour. The 
 undercurrent of meaning threw new light on the 
 lonely life of the rich, but wretched man. The joy 
 depicted in simple, friendly intercourse, the aspi- 
 ration of the Beetle, the grateful appreciation for the 
 plain, common happenings that in most lives were 
 taken for granted, but which in his rose to monu- 
 mental importance, endeared him to her anew. It 
 brought back to her what Boswell had told her 
 of his relations with Farwell Maxwell, her Anton 
 Farwell. She could now, with her broader, more 
 mature reason, understand the devotion the cripple 
 had given the one man who, in the empty years, 
 had taken him without reservation, had ignored 
 his limitations, and had been his friend and com- 
 rade. 
 
 Suddenly she asked:
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 233 
 
 "Have you heard from from Master Farwell 
 lately?" The question startled Boswell. 
 
 "Yes. I had a letter yesterday. He has been 
 ill. That squaw woman, Long Jean, took care of 
 him. The letter sounded restless. There'll be 
 trouble with Farwell before we get through. My 
 letters are evidently lacking power, and your silence 
 baffles him." 
 
 "Poor Master Farwell!" 
 
 "I fancy he thought Joan Moss would go to him. 
 It has been hard work to build a barrier between him 
 and her that could satisfy, now that he believes you 
 have told her of his being among the living." 
 
 "What have you said to him all this time?" 
 
 Boswell shifted his position, and Priscilla saw the 
 haggard, careworn look spread over his face. By 
 sudden insight she realized that he looked old, pitiful, 
 and far from well, and her heart filled with sympathy. 
 The half-mystical life was telling upon him, becoming 
 a burden. 
 
 "Oh, at first I said the surprise of knowing he 
 lived had made her, made Joan Moss, ill. It took 
 nearly six months to cover that, and I did some good 
 writing during that period. Then I told him there 
 were things to settle; then, fear for his safety over- 
 powered her: dread of being tracked. And since 
 then well, since then there has been silence. Can 
 you not understand? His pride has asserted itself 
 at last. If she will not communicate with him her-
 
 234 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 self, he will have none of me; none of you. Has he 
 ever said a word about her to you?" 
 
 "Never," Priscilla answered. 
 
 "But," Boswell went on, "I notice a change in him; 
 an almost feverish impatience. I fear he doubts 
 me after all these years!" 
 
 "And when he knows?" 
 
 The man by the fire shrank deeper in his chair. 
 
 "When he knows?" he repeated. "Why, then 
 he will have an opportunity to understand my life- 
 long devotion, my gratitude, my love! That is all."
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 FOR real emergencies," Doctor Ledyard once 
 remarked to Helen Travers, "give me the 
 nervous, high-strung women. They come 
 through shock and danger better, they hold to a 
 climax more steadily. Your phlegmatic woman goes 
 to pieces because she hasn't imagination and vision 
 enough to carry her over the present." 
 
 This reasoning caused him to select Priscilla 
 Glenn for one of the most critical operations he had 
 ever performed. Among the blue and white nurses 
 of his knowledge this girl with the strange, uplifted 
 expression efface; this girl who was actually on the 
 lookout for experience and practice, and who seri- 
 ously loved her profession, stood in a class by her- 
 self. He had long had his eye upon her, had 
 meant to single her out. And now the opportunity 
 had come. 
 
 Perhaps the most important man in business cir- 
 cles, certainly one of the richest men in the city, had 
 come to that period of his life's career when he must 
 pay toll for the things he had done and left undone 
 in his past. The broad, common gateway gaped wide 
 for him, and only one chance presented itself as a 
 
 235
 
 236 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 possible means of holding him back from the long 
 journey he so shudderingly contemplated. 
 
 "One chance in ten?" he questioned. 
 
 "One in " Ledyard had hesitated. 
 
 "A hundred?" 
 
 "A thousand." 
 
 A breathless pause followed. Then: 
 
 "And if I do not take it, how long?" 
 
 "A week, a month; not longer." 
 
 "I'll take it." 
 
 "I'll have my partner Would you care for 
 
 any one else?" Ledyard asked. 
 
 "No. Since it must be, I put myself in your 
 hands. I trust you above any one I know. Do 
 your best for me, and in case I slip through your 
 fingers I thank you now, and good-bye." 
 
 Before any great event, or operation, Ledyard 
 was supersensitive, highly wrought, and nervous. 
 When he heard the announcement that day of the 
 operation: "All is ready, sir!" he stepped, gowned 
 and masked, into the operating-room, and was aware 
 of a senseless inclination to ask some one he did 
 not know whom to make less noise and to lower 
 the shades. Then his eye fell, not on the dignified 
 and serene head nurse, not on the other ghostly 
 young forms in their places near the table, not on 
 the anesthetist, nor young Travers, his partner, but 
 on the nurse who 'stood a little apart, the girl he 
 had selected in order to test her on a really great
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 237 
 
 case. So radiant and inspired was Priscilla Glenn's 
 face that it fairly shone in that grim place and posi- 
 tively had the effect of bringing Ledyard to the 
 calmness that characterized his action once the 
 necessity demanded. 
 
 "How is your patient, Doctor Sloan?" he asked 
 the anesthetist. 
 
 "Fine, Doctor Ledyard. I'm ready when you 
 are." 
 
 Then tense silence followed, broken only by the 
 click of instruments and the curt, crisp commands. 
 The minutes, weighted with concentration, ran into 
 the hour. Not a body in that room was aware of 
 fatigue or anxiety. A life was at stake, and every 
 one knew it. It did not matter that the man upon 
 the table was important and useful: had he been the 
 meanest of the mean and in the same critical state, 
 that steady hand, which guided the knife so scien- 
 tifically and powerfully, would have worked the same. 
 
 The sun beat down upon the glass roof of that high 
 room; the perspiration started to Ledyard's forehead 
 and a nurse wiped it away. 
 
 From her place Priscilla Glenn watched breath- 
 lessly the scene before her. It seemed to her that 
 she had never seen an operation before; had never 
 comprehended what one could be. She realized 
 the odds against which those two great men were 
 battling, and her gaze rested finally, not on the head 
 surgeon, but on his partner. Once, as if by some
 
 238 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 subtle attraction, he raised his eyes and met hers. 
 Above the mask his glance showed kindly and en- 
 couragingly. He knew that some nurses lost their 
 nerve when a thing stretched on as this did; he 
 never could quite overlook the fact that nurses were 
 women, as well, and he hated to see one go under. 
 But this young nurse was showing no weakness. 
 Travers saw that, after a moment, and dropped his 
 eyes. But that glance had fixed Priscilla's face in 
 his memory, and when, after the great man had been 
 carried to his room with hope following him, when 
 he could be left with safety to his private nurse, 
 Travers came upon the girl standing by a deep win- 
 dow in the upper hall. He remembered her at once 
 and stopped to say a pleasant word. 
 
 This was not the strictly proper thing to do, and 
 Travers knew it. Ledyard was always challenging 
 his undignified tendencies. 
 
 "Unless doctors and nurses can leave their sex 
 outside their profession, " was a pet epigram of Led- 
 yard's, "they had better choose another." 
 
 But Travers had never been able to fulfil his part- 
 ner's ideal. 
 
 "It was a wonderful operation," he said. "I 
 hope it did not overtire you. You will get hardened 
 after a while." 
 
 "I am not at all tired. Yes, it was wonderful! 
 I did not know any operation could be like that I 
 mean in the way that it was done. I have always
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 239 
 
 been afraid of Doctor Ledyard before; all of us are; 
 I shall never be again." 
 
 "May I ask why?" 
 
 Travers, being young and vital, was forgetting, for 
 the moment, his professional air to a dangerous 
 extent. He was noticing the strange coloured hair 
 under the snowy cap, the poise of the head, the deep 
 violet eyes in the richly tinted face. 
 
 "It was that well, the look on his face after he 
 had done all that he could done it so wonderfully. 
 That look was a prayer! I shall never forget." 
 
 Travers gave a light laugh. 
 
 "It would be like Doctor Ledyard," he said with a 
 peculiarly boyish ring in his voice, "to do his part 
 first and pray afterward." 
 
 " But no one could ever be afraid of him again hav- 
 ing once seen that look!" 
 
 "Miss Glynn," Travers replied; "they could! and 
 yet the look holds the fear in check." 
 
 Priscilla went early to bed that night. She had 
 planned a visit to Boswell when her enthusiasm was 
 at its height, but at the day's end she found herself 
 so exhausted that she sought her room in a state 
 bordering on collapse. 
 
 Sounds outside caught and held her attention; 
 every sense was quiveringly alert and receptive; she 
 was at the mercy of her subconscious self. 
 
 "Extry! extry!" bellowed a boy just below her 
 window; "turribul accident on de extry! ex-
 
 2 4 o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 try! Latest bulletin Gordan Moffatt big fin 
 cier extry ! extry!" 
 
 Priscilla sat up in bed and listened. So intimate 
 had the insistent boy in the street become that 
 she was drawn to him by a common bond of sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 Slowly a luxurious sense of weariness overcame her 
 and again she leaned back on her pillow and sank 
 into a semiconscious sleep. Balanced between life and 
 the oblivion, into which reason enters blindfolded, 
 she made no resistance, but was swayed by every 
 passing wave of thought, memory, and vision. 
 
 The voice outside merged presently into Jerry-Jo 
 McAlpin's. So naturally did it do so that the girl 
 upon the bed, rigid and pale, accepted the change 
 with no surprise. 
 
 Jerry-Jo was asking her the way out! He was 
 lost lost. He wanted to get out of the darkness 
 and the noise; he wanted to find his way back to the 
 In-Place. 
 
 Yes, she would show him! There was no fear of 
 him; no repulsion. She was very safe and strong, 
 and she knew that it was wiser for Jerry- Jo to go 
 back home. 
 
 Then suddenly she and he were transported from 
 the bewildering city, talking in its sleep, to the 
 sweet, fresh dimness of the Kenmore Green, where the 
 steamer had left them. It was early, very early 
 morning, not more than four o'clock, and the stars
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 241 
 
 were bright and the hemlocks black, and the red 
 rocks looked soft in the shadows, like pillows. And 
 over the Green, loping and inquisitive, came Sandy 
 McAdam's dog, Bounder. How natural and restful 
 the scene was! Then it was Jerry-Jo, not Priscilla, 
 who was leading. The half-breed with a gesture of 
 friendliness was beckoning her on toward the mossy 
 wood path leading to Lonely Farm. There was a 
 definiteness about the slouching figure that forbade 
 any pause at the White Fish Lodge or the master's 
 dark and silent house. Priscilla longed to stop, but 
 she hastened on, feeling a need for hurry. 
 
 Presently she saw the little house, her father's 
 house, and there was a light shining from the kitchen 
 window. Jerry-Jo, still preceding her, tapped on the 
 outer door, but when the door fell open Jerry-Jo 
 was gone! Alone, Priscilla confronted her father, 
 and saw with surprise that he evidently expected 
 her. While the look of hatred and doubt still rested 
 in his eyes, there was also a look of dumb pity. No 
 word was spoken. Nathaniel merely stepped aside 
 and closed the door behind her. Then she began a 
 strange, breathless hunt for something which, at 
 first, she could not call by name; it evaded and eluded 
 her. Something was missing; something she wanted 
 desperately; but the rooms were horribly dark and 
 lonely, and the stillness hurt her more and more. 
 
 At last she came back to her father and the warm, 
 lighted kitchen.
 
 242 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I cannot find my mother," she said, and the 
 reality set her trembling. 
 
 "Your mother? I I cannot find her, either. 
 I thought she followed you!" 
 
 Cold and shivering, Priscilla sat up in bed. Her 
 teeth chattered and there were tears on her cheeks. 
 They did not seem like her own tears. It was as if 
 some one, bending over her, had let them fall from 
 eyes seeking to find her in the dark. 
 
 "Mother!" moaned Priscilla, and with the word 
 a yearning and craving for her mother filled every 
 sense. By a magic that the divine only controls, 
 poor Theodora Glenn in that moment was trans- 
 formed and radiantly crowned with the motherhood 
 she had so impotently striven to achieve in her nar- 
 rowed, blighted life. The suffering of maternity, its 
 denials and relinquishings she had experienced, but 
 never its joy of realization, unless, as her spirit 
 passed from the Place Beyond the Winds to its 
 Home, it paused beside the little, narrow, white 
 bed upon which Priscilla lay, and caught that name 
 "Mother!" spoken with a sudden inspiration of 
 understanding. 
 
 And that night, with only her grim husband and 
 Long Jean beside her, Theodora escaped the bondage 
 of life. 
 
 After the strange dream, Priscilla, awed and trem- 
 bling, walked to the wide open window of her room. 
 For some moments she stood there breathing fast
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 243 
 
 and hard while the cruel clutch of superstition hurt 
 and held her. 
 
 "Something has happened," she faltered, leaning 
 upon the casement and looking down into the silent 
 street, for the restless city had at last fallen to sleep. 
 "Something in Kenmore!" 
 
 A red, pulsing planet, shining high over a nearby 
 church tower, caught her eye and brought a throb 
 of comfort to her a tender thought of home. 
 
 "To-morrow, perhaps, a letter will come from 
 Master Farwell; if not, I will write to him. I must 
 know."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 FOR two or three days things fell into such 
 commonplace routine that the excitement of 
 the big operation and the disturbing dream 
 of the night lost their sharp, clear lines; became 
 blurred and part of the web and woof of the hospital 
 regime. There was little time for introspection or 
 romancing and even the chance meeting with Jerry- 
 Jo was relegated to the non-essentials. Of course 
 he was in the city, but so were the Hornby boys and 
 others from the In-Place. The whirlpool was a 
 big and rushing thing, and if they who had once been 
 neighbours caught a glimpse of each other from dizzy 
 eddies, what did it matter? The possibility of sec- 
 ond meetings was rare. 
 
 John Boswell had been sympathetic, to a certain 
 degree, with Priscilla concerning the operation and 
 her very evident pride in the part she had been per- 
 mitted to take in it. With the instinctive horror 
 that many have concerning sickness and suffering, 
 he always made an effort to appear sympathetic 
 when Priscilla grew graphic. Often this caused her 
 to laugh, but she never doubted Boswell's sincere in- 
 terest in her, personally. That she had overcome 
 
 244
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 245 
 
 and achieved was a thing of real gratification to the 
 lonely man; that she came to him naturally and 
 eagerly, during her hours of freedom, was the only 
 unalloyed joy of his present existence. Even Toky 
 hailed her appearances now with frank pleasure, for 
 she, and she alone, brought the rare, sweet smile to 
 the master's face and gave a meaning to the artistic 
 meals that were planned. 
 
 "I think, my Butterfly," Boswell often said to 
 her, "that you have soared to glory through suffering 
 and gore! But it is the soaring and the glory that 
 matter, after all. Do not lay it up against your 
 poor Beetle if he makes a wry face now and then. 
 You are desperately dramatic, you know, but even 
 in my shudders I do not lose sight of the fact that 
 you are a very triumphant Butterfly." 
 
 Priscilla beamed upon him; the new light of well- 
 poised serenity did not escape him. 
 
 "If I could only explain!" she once said to him as 
 they sat facing each other across the table that Toky 
 had laid so artistically. "When I feel the deepest 
 my words seem shut in a cage; only a few get through 
 the bars. I really believe people all feel the same 
 about their little victories. It isn't the kind of 
 victory; it is the sure realization that you are doing 
 your work the work you can do best. Why, 
 sometimes I feel as if I were the big All Mother, and 
 the sad, helpless, suffering folk were my dear children 
 just looking to me to me! And then I try to
 
 246 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 take the pain and fear from their faces by all the 
 arts my profession has taught me and all the the 
 something that is in me, and I tell you " 
 
 Priscilla paused, while the shining light in her big 
 eyes was brightened, rather than lessened, by the 
 tears that gathered, then retreated. 
 
 "And for all this," Boswell broke in, "you are to 
 get twenty-five per, or for a particular case, thirty- 
 five per?" 
 
 They smiled broadly at each other, for their one 
 huge, compelling joke loomed close. 
 
 "Well, sir, when one considers what two intelligent 
 people, like you and me, did with Master Farwell's 
 one hundred dollars, the future looks wonderfully rich! 
 I shall soon be able to repay the loan with interest." 
 
 And then they talked a bit of Master Farwell and 
 the In-Place, always skirting the depths gracefully, 
 for Boswell never permitted certain subjects to es- 
 cape his control. It was the half-playful, but 
 wholly kind dignity that had won for him Priscilla's 
 faith and dependence. 
 
 For a week or two after Gordon Moffatt's opera- 
 tion things went calmly and prosaically at the 
 hospital. The rich man recovered so rapidly and 
 satisfactorily that even the outside world took things 
 for granted, and any items of news concerning him 
 were to be found on the inside pages of the news- 
 papers. During his convalescence Priscilla met Doc- 
 tor Ledyard and Doctor Travers many times. Once,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 247 
 
 by some mysterious arrangement, she was assigned 
 charge, in the rich man's room, while his own 
 nurse was absent. For three days and nights she 
 obeyed his impatient commands and reasoned with 
 him when he confused his dependent condition with 
 his usual domineering position. 
 
 "Damn me!" he once complained to Travers 
 when he thought Priscilla was out of hearing; "that 
 young woman you've given charge over me ought to 
 have a bigger field for her accomplishments. She's 
 a natural-born tyrant. I tried to escape her this 
 morning; had got as far as one foot out of bed when 
 she bore down upon me, calmly, devilishly calmly, 
 pointed to my offending foot, and said: "Back, 
 sir!" Then we argued a bit I'm afraid I was a 
 trifle testy and finally she laid hands upon my 
 ankle in the most scientific manner and had me on 
 my back before I could think of the proper adjectives 
 to apply to her impudence." 
 
 Travers laughed and looked beyond the sick man's 
 bed to the bowed head of Priscilla as she bent over 
 some preparation she was compounding in an ante- 
 room. From a high window the sunlight was stream- 
 ing down on the wonderful rusty-coloured hair. The 
 cirl's attitude of detachment and concentration held 
 the physician's approving glance, but the wave of 
 hair under the white cap and against the smooth, 
 clear skin lingered in the memory of the man long 
 after he forgot MofFatt's amusing anecdote.
 
 248 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 And then, because things were closing in upon 
 Priscilla Glenn's little stage, something happened so 
 commonplace in its character that its effect upon the 
 girl was out of all proportion. 
 
 After a rather strenuous day she was sleeping heav- 
 ily in her little white room when a sharp knock on her 
 door brought her well-trained senses into action at 
 once. 
 
 "There's been an accident, Miss Glynn." It was 
 the superintendent who spoke. "Please report on 
 Ward Five as soon as possible." 
 
 It was an insignificant accident; such a one as 
 occurs shockingly often in our big cities. A large 
 touring car, with seven passengers, rushing up a 
 broad avenue with a conscientious man at the wheel, 
 had overhauled a poor derelict with apparently no 
 fixed purpose in his befuddled brain. In order to 
 spare the fellow, the chauffeur had wheeled his car 
 madly to one side, and, by so doing, had hit an 
 electric-light pole, with the result that every one 
 was more or less injured, the forlorn creature who 
 had caused the excitement, most of all, for the over- 
 turned machine had included him in its crushing 
 destruction. 
 
 Four men and three women were carried to St. 
 Albans and now occupied private rooms, while the 
 torn and broken body of the unknown stranger lay 
 in Ward Five, quite unconscious. He was breathing 
 faintly, and, since they had made him clean and de-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 249 
 
 cent, he looked very young and wan as he rested upon 
 the narrow, white bed. 
 
 Priscilla stood at the foot of the cot and read the 
 chart which a former nurse had hurriedly made out; 
 then she came around to the side and looked down 
 upon Jerry-Jo McAlpin! 
 
 She knew him at once. The deathlike repose had 
 wiped away much that recent years had engraven 
 on his face. He looked as Priscilla remembered him, 
 standing in his father's boat, proudly playing the 
 man. 
 
 For a moment the quiet girl grew rigid with super- 
 stitious fear. That deathlike creature before her 
 filled her with unreasoning alarm. She almost ex- 
 pected him to open his black eyes and laughingly 
 announce that he had found her at last! She longed 
 to flee from the room before he had a chance to gain 
 control of her. She breathed fast and hard, as she 
 had that morning when his ringing jeer had stayed 
 her feet as she ran from the Far Hill Place after the 
 night of terror. Then sanity came to her relief 
 and she knew, with a pitying certainty born of her 
 training, that Jerry-Jo McAlpin could never harm 
 her again. That he was a link between the past and 
 the future she realized with strange sureness. He 
 had always been that. He had made things happen; 
 been the factor in bringing experiences to her. She, 
 in self-preservation, would not claim any knowledge 
 of him now; she would care for him and wait wait
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 until she understood just what part he was to play 
 in her present experience. He might threaten all that 
 she had gained for herself her peace and security. 
 Her only safeguard now was to ignore the personality 
 before her and respond to the appeal of the "case." 
 
 Jerry- Jo was destined to become interesting before 
 he slipped away. Known only as a number, since he 
 had not been identified or claimed, he rapidly rose to 
 importance. After three days of unconsciousness 
 he still persisted, and while his soul wandered on the 
 horizon, his body responded to the care given it and 
 grew in strength. One doctor after another watched 
 and commented on his chances, and in due time 
 Doctor Travers, hearing of the case, stopped to ex- 
 amine it, and, in the interest of science, suggested an 
 operation that might possibly return the poor fellow 
 to a world that had evidently no place for him. 
 
 "It's worth trying," Travers said as he and Pris- 
 cilla stood beside the bed. "We haven't found out 
 anything concerning him, have we?" 
 
 Priscilla shook her head. 
 
 "Suppose he well, suppose he had any claim 
 upon you, would you take the chance of the opera- 
 tion for him?" 
 
 The deep, friendly eyes were fixed upon the girl. 
 She coloured sharply, then went quite pale. There 
 was a most unaccountable struggle, and Travers 
 smiled as he thought how conscientious she was to 
 feel any deep responsibility in a question he had
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 251 
 
 asked, more in idle desire to make talk than for any 
 other reason. 
 
 "Yes," she replied suddenly, as her head was 
 lifted; "yes, I'd give him every chance." 
 
 Just then, in one of those marvellous flashes of 
 regained consciousness, the man upon the bed opened 
 his eyes and looked, first at Travers, then at Pris- 
 cilla. Again his gaze shifted, gaining strength and 
 meaning. From the far place where he had fared 
 for days his mind, lighted by reason, was abnormally 
 clear and almost painfully reinforced by memory. 
 Then he laughed laughed a long, shuddering laugh 
 that drew the thin lips back from the white, fang- 
 like teeth. Before the sound was finished the light 
 faded from the black eyes and the grim silence shut 
 in close upon the last quivering note. 
 
 "We'll take the chance," said Travers. And late 
 that very afternoon they took it. 
 
 A week later Priscilla sat beside the man's bed, 
 her right hand upon his pulse, her watch in her left. 
 So intent was she upon the weak movement under 
 her slim fingers that she had forgotten all else until 
 a voice from a far, far distance seemingly, whispered 
 hoarsely: 
 
 "So so this is you? I'm not dreaming? I 
 wasn't dreaming before when when he and you 
 came?" 
 
 They had all been expecting this. The operation 
 had been very successful, though it was not to
 
 252 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 give the patient back to life. They all knew that, 
 too. 
 
 "Yes, Jerry-Jo, it's I." 
 
 There was no tremor in the low voice, only a 
 determination to keep the world from knowing. 
 Jerry-Jo was past hurting any one. 
 
 "The lure got you, too?" 
 
 "Yes, the lure got me." 
 
 "I knew you that night in the dark that night 
 in the park you ran from me. I was lost and 
 and starving!" 
 
 "I came back, Jerry-Jo. I did indeed." 
 
 "Have I been here long?" 
 
 "Not very. Do not talk any more. You must 
 rest. There is to-morrow, you know." 
 
 The poor fellow was too weak to laugh, but the 
 long teeth showed for a moment. 
 
 "I must talk. Listen! Do they know here 
 about me ? know my name ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Don't tell them. Don't tell any one. I have 
 done something for you! They think, back there 
 in Kenmore, that you are with me. I've written 
 that and schoolmaster hasn't let on. I haven't 
 gone to the Hornbys here, because I stood by you. 
 No one must know. See ? " 
 
 "Yes, Jerry- Jo, I see. Please lie still now. It 
 shall be as you wish. You have been very good 
 for my sake!"
 
 " In one of those marvellous flashes of regained consciousness, 
 
 the man upon the bed opened his eyes and looked, 
 
 first at Travers, then at Priscilla "
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 253 
 
 "I've starved and slept in dark holes for you, 
 and now you and him have got to take care of me 
 or I'll tell! I'll tell, as sure as God hears me! " 
 
 "We will take care of you, Jerry- Jo. There! 
 there! I promise; and you know we of the In-Place 
 stand by each other." 
 
 He was comforted at last, and fell into the deep 
 sleep of exhaustion. Occasionally, in the days fol- 
 lowing, he opened his tired eyes and gave evidence of 
 consciousness. He was drifting out calmly and pain- 
 lessly, and all the coarseness and degeneracy of the 
 half-breed seemed dropping by the way. Some- 
 times his glance rested on Doctor Travers's face, for 
 the young physician was deeply interested in the 
 case and was touched by the lonely, unclaimed fel- 
 low who had served science, but could derive no 
 benefit in return. Often Jerry-Jo's dark eyes fell 
 upon the pitying face of Priscilla Glenn with ever- 
 growing understanding and kindliness. Sometimes 
 in the long nights he clung to her like a child, for 
 she was very good to him; very, very devoted. 
 
 One night, when all the world seemed sleeping, he 
 whispered to her: 
 
 "You you don't know, really?" 
 
 Priscilla thought he was wandering, and said 
 gently: 
 
 "No, Jerry-Jo, really I do not know." 
 
 "What will you give me if I tell you the biggest 
 secret in the world?"
 
 254 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 She had his head in the hollow of her arm; he was 
 resting more calmly so. He had been feverish all 
 day. 
 
 "What can I give you, Jerry- Jo?" 
 
 The old, pleading look was in the dark eyes, but 
 low passion had vanished forever. 
 
 "Could you would you give me a kiss for the 
 secret ? " 
 
 "Yes, Jerry- Jo, " and the kiss fell upon the white 
 brow. 
 
 Could John Boswell have been there then he would 
 have understood. 
 
 "You you are crying! I feel a tear with the 
 kiss!" 
 
 The quivering, broken smile smote Priscilla to the 
 heart. The ward was deathly quiet; only the deep 
 breathing of men closer to life than Jerry-Jo Mc- 
 Alpin broke the stillness. 
 
 "Why do you cry?" 
 
 "You know, it's a bad habit of mine, Jerry- Jo." 
 
 "Yes. You you cried on his book, you re- 
 member?" 
 
 "I remember." 
 
 "Do you know where he is now?" 
 
 "No. Do you?" 
 
 The head upon the strong, young arm moved rest- 
 lessly. 
 
 "Yes I know and I'm going to tell you! 
 It's the biggest joke I ever knew. Just to think
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 255 
 
 that you don't know, and he doesn't know, and 
 and I do!" 
 
 A rattling, husky laugh shook the thin form dan- 
 gerously. Every instinct of the nurse rose in alarm 
 and defence. 
 
 "You must not talk any more, Jerry- Jo. Lie 
 still. Come, let us think of the In-Place." 
 
 Priscilla slipped her arm from under the dark head, 
 and took the wandering hands in hers. Her random 
 words had power to hold and chain the weak mind. 
 
 "I'm 'going to tell you where he is but we'll 
 go back to the In-Place. I want to tell you there, 
 and he'll come and find you. I'd like to do you 
 both a good turn for what you've done for me." 
 
 Then, after a pause and a gasping breath: 
 
 "It's growing dark, but there's Dreamer's Rock 
 and Bleak Head!" 
 
 "And, Jerry-Jo," whispered Priscilla, "there's 
 Lone Tree Island, don't you see? Your boat is 
 coming around into the Channel. Please tell me 
 where he is, Jerry- Jo " 
 
 Priscilla realized he was going fast, and the secret 
 suddenly gripped her with strange power. She must 
 have it; she must know! 
 
 "Please, Jerry- Jo, tell me where he is. I have 
 wanted so to know! Listen! Can you not hear 
 the dear old sounds, the pattering of the soft little 
 waves that the ice has let go free? There's the 
 farm, the woods " But Jerry- Jo was strug-
 
 256 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 gling to rise; his black eyes wide and straining, his 
 thin arms outstretched. 
 
 "No!" he moaned hoarsely, and already he seemed 
 far away. "I can't make the Channel. I'm headed 
 for the Secret Portage and the Big Bay." 
 
 "Jerry- Jo! oh! tell me, where is he? Where is 
 he?" 
 
 But Priscilla knew it was too late. She bent and 
 listened at the still breast that was holding the secret 
 close from her. Then, with a sense of having been 
 baffled, defeated, and cruelly cheated, she dropped 
 her wet face in her hands for a moment before shf 
 went to do her last duty for Jerry-Jo.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE following June Priscilla Glenn graduated. 
 She and John Boswell grew quite merry over 
 the event. 
 
 "I really can't let you spend anything on me," 
 she said laughingly; "nothing more than the cost 
 of a few flowers. I have the awful weight of debt 
 upon me at the beginning of my career. One hun- 
 dred dollars to Master Farwell, and ' 
 
 "The funeral expenses of that poor waif you were 
 so interested in! My dear child, you are as nig- 
 gardly with your philanthropies as you are with your 
 favours. Why not be generous with me? And, by 
 the way, can you tell me just why that young fellow 
 appealed to you so? I daresay other 'unknowns' 
 drift into St. Albans." 
 
 "He looked you will think me foolish, Mr. 
 Boswell but he looked like some one I once knew 
 in Kenmore." 
 
 The warm June day drifted sunnily into Boswell's 
 study window. There was a fragrance of flowers and 
 the note of birds. Priscilla, in her plain white linen 
 dress, was sitting on the broad window seat, and 
 Boswell, from his winged chair, looked at her with a 
 
 257
 
 258 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 tightening of the throat. There were times when 
 she made him feel as he felt when Farwell Maxwell 
 used to look at him before the shadow fell between 
 them the shadow that darkened both their lives. 
 
 "And that was why you had a a Kenmore name 
 graven on the stone?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Boswell, Jerry- Jo McAlpin. Jerry-Jo 
 is dead, too, you know. They name living people 
 after dead ones. Why not dead people?" 
 
 "Why, indeed? It's quite an idea. Quite an 
 original idea. But as to my spending money on your 
 graduation, a little more added to what you already 
 owe me will not count, and, besides, there is that 
 trifle left from Farwell's loan still to your credit." 
 
 "Now, Mr. Boswell, don't press me too close! I 
 was a sad innocent when I came from the In-Place, 
 and a joke is a joke, but you mustn't bank on it." 
 
 The bright head nodded cheerfully at the small, 
 crumpled figure in the deep chair. 
 
 "After you live in New York three years, Mr. 
 Boswell, you never mistake a shilling for a dollar, sir. 
 But just because it is such a heavenly day and 
 between you and me, how much of that magic fund 
 is left?" 
 
 "IVe mislaid rriy account," Boswell replied, the 
 look that Toky watched for stealing over his thin 
 face; "but, roughly speaking, I should say that, 
 with the interest added, about fifty dollars, perhaps 
 a trifle more."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 259 
 
 Priscilla threw back her head and laughed merrily. 
 
 "I can understand why people say your style is 
 so absorbing," she said presently; "you make even 
 the absurd seem probable." 
 
 "Who have you heard comment on my style?" 
 Boswell leaned forward. He was as sensitive as a 
 child about his work. 
 
 "Oh, one of the doctors at St. Albans told me that, 
 to him, you were the Hans Christian Andersen 
 of grown-ups. He always reads you after a long 
 strain." 
 
 A flush touched the sallow cheeks, and the long, 
 white fingers tapped the chair arms nervously. 
 
 "Well!" with a satisfied laugh, "I can prove the 
 amount to your credit in this case without resorting 
 to my style. Would you mind going inte your old 
 room and looking at the box that you will find on 
 the couch?" 
 
 Priscilla ran lightly from the study, her eyes and 
 cheeks telling the story of her delight. 
 
 The box was uncovered. Some sympathetic hand, 
 as fine as a woman's, had bared the secret for her. 
 No mother could possibly have thought out detail 
 and perfection more minutely. There it lay, the 
 gift of a generous man to a lonely girl, everything 
 for her graduating night! The filmy gown with its 
 touch of colour in embroidered thistle flowers; the 
 slippers and gloves; even the lace scarf, cloud-like 
 and alluring; the long gloves and silken hose.
 
 2 6o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Down beside the couch Priscilla knelt and pressed 
 her head against the sacred gift. She did not cry 
 nor laugh, but the rapt look that used to mark her 
 hours before the shrine in Kenmore grew and grew 
 upon her face. 
 
 "You will accept? You think I did well in my 
 shopping?" 
 
 Boswell stood in the doorway, just where a long 
 path of late June sunlight struck across the room. 
 For the girl, looking mutely at him with shining eyes, 
 he was transfigured, translated. Only the great, 
 tender soul was visible to her; the unasking, the kind 
 spirit. Moved by a sudden impulse, Priscilla rose 
 to her feet and walked to him with outstretched 
 hands; when she reached him he took her hands in 
 his and smiled up at her. 
 
 "I I accept," she whispered with a break in 
 her voice. "You have made me happier than I 
 have ever been in my life!" 
 
 Boswell drew her hands to his lips and kissed them. 
 
 "And you will come and see me in them" - Pris- 
 cilla turned her eyes to the box "when I dance ? " 
 
 "You are to dance?" 
 
 "We are all to dance." 
 
 "I have not seen you dance for many a day. If 
 you dance as you once did there will be only you 
 dancing. Yes, I will come." 
 
 And Boswell went. The exercises were held in the 
 little chapel. From his far corner he watched the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 261 
 
 young women, in uniforms of spotless white, file to 
 the platform for their diplomas. They all merged, 
 for him, into one a tall, lithe creature with bur- 
 nished hair, coppery and fine, and an exalted face. 
 Later, from behind the mass of palms and ferns in 
 the dancing hall, he saw only one girl a girl in 
 white with the tints of the thistle flower matching the 
 deep eyes. 
 
 And Priscilla danced. Some one, a young doctor, 
 asked her, and fortunately for him he was a master 
 hand at following. After a moment of surprise, 
 tinged with excited determination, he found himself, 
 with his brilliant partner, the centre of attraction. 
 
 "Look! oh, do look at the little Canuck!" cried a 
 classmate. 
 
 "I never saw any one dance as she does" - it was 
 Doctor Travers who spoke from the doorway beside 
 Mrs. Thomas- "but once before. It's quite pri- 
 meval, an instinct. No one can teach or acquire such 
 grace as that." 
 
 Then, suddenly, and apropos of nothing, appar- 
 ently: 
 
 "By the way, Mrs. Thomas, Miss Moffatt has 
 been ordered abroad by Doctor Ledyard. He spoke 
 to-day about securing a companion-nurse for her. 
 She's not really ill, but in rather a curious nervous 
 condition. I was wondering if " His eyes fol- 
 lowed Priscilla, who was nearing the cluster of palms 
 behind which Boswell sat.
 
 262 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Of course!" Mrs. Thomas smiled broadly; "Miss 
 Glynn, of course! She's made to order. The girl 
 has her way to make. She's been rather overdoing 
 lately. I don't like the look in her eyes at times. 
 She never asks for sympathy or consideration, you 
 understand, but she makes every woman, and man, 
 too, judging by that rich cripple, Mr. Boswell, yearn 
 over her. She'd be the merriest soul on earth, with 
 half a chance, and she's the most capable girl I have: 
 ready for an emergency; never weary. Why, of 
 course, Miss Glynn!" 
 
 "I'll speak to Doctor Ledyard to-night," said 
 Travers. 
 
 Then, strangely enough, Travers realized that he 
 was very tired. He excused himself, and, walking 
 back through the dim city streets to the Ledyard 
 home, he thought of Kenmore and the old lodge as 
 he had not for years. 
 
 "I believe I'll run up there this summer," he mut- 
 tered half aloud. "I'll take mother and urge Doctor 
 Ledyard to join us. I would like to see how far 
 I've travelled from the In-Place in why it's years 
 and years! All the way from boyhood to manhood." 
 
 But Ledyard changed the current of his desire. 
 The older man was sitting in his library when Travers 
 entered, and Helen Travers was in the deep window 
 opening to the little garden space behind the house. 
 
 Time had dealt so gently with Helen that now, in 
 her thin white gown, she looked even younger than
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 263 
 
 in the Kenmore days, when her dress had been more 
 severe. 
 
 "You're late," said Ledyard, looking keenly at 
 him. 
 
 "Very late," echoed Helen, smiling. "I had din- 
 ner here and am waiting to be escorted home." 
 
 "She's refused my company. Where have you 
 been, Dick?" 
 
 "I had to give out the diplomas, you know, at St. 
 Albans." 
 
 "It's after eleven now, Dickie." Helen's gaze was 
 full of gentle pride. 
 
 "I stopped for an hour to see those little girls 
 play.' 
 
 "The nurses?" Ledyard frowned. "Girls and 
 nurses are not one and the same thing, to a doctor.'* 
 
 "Oh, come, come, dear friend!" Helen Travers 
 went close to the two who were dearest to her in the 
 world. "Do not be unmerciful. Being a woman, 
 I must stand up for my sex. Did they play prettily, 
 Dick? I'm sure they did not look as dear as they 
 do in their uniforms." 
 
 "One did. She was well, to put it concisely, 
 she was a dance!" 
 
 "Umph! That ruddy-headed one, I bet!" Led- 
 yard turned on another electric light. "See here, 
 Dick, do you think that girl could go abroad with 
 Gordon Moffatt's daughter? Moffatt spoke about 
 her. She rather impressed him while he was in St.
 
 264 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Albans. She stood up against him. He never for- 
 gets that sort; he swears at it, but he trusts it. The 
 old housekeeper is going along to keep the party in 
 order, but a trained hand ought to go, too. The 
 Moffatt girl has the new microbe Unrest. It's 
 playing the devil with her nerves. She's got to be 
 jogged into shape." 
 
 "I think we could prevail upon Miss Glynn to go. 
 She has her way to make. She's been rather - 
 Travers stopped short; he was quoting Mrs. Thomas 
 too minutely. 
 
 "Rather what, Dick?" Helen had her head 
 against her boy's shoulder. 
 
 "Hunting a job," he lied manfully. "Most of 
 those girls are up against it once the training is 
 over." 
 
 "And Dick," Helen raised her eyes, "Doctor 
 Ledyard and I were talking of a trip abroad this 
 summer for ourselves. Will you come ? We want 
 the off-the-track places. Little by-products, you 
 know. I'm hungry for well, for detachment; but 
 with those I love." 
 
 "Just the thing, little mother, just the thing!" 
 The In-Place faded from sight. In its stead rose a 
 lonely mountain peak that caught the first touch 
 of day and held it longest. A little lake lay at its 
 foot, and there was the old house where he and Helen 
 had spent so much of the summer while he and she 
 were abroad!
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 265 
 
 "Where does Miss Moffatt intend to go?" asked 
 Travers. 
 
 "That's it. Her ideas at present are typical of 
 her condition. 'Snip the cord that holds me,' she 
 said to me to-day; 'beg father to give me a handful 
 of blank checks and old Mousey' - that's what she 
 calls the housekeeper ' buy a nice nurse for me in 
 case I need one a nice un-nurse-like nurse,' she 
 stipulated - - 'and let me play around the world for 
 a few months to see if I can find my real self hiding 
 in some cranny; then I'll come back and be good!' 
 The girl's a fool, but most girls are when they've 
 been brought up as she has been. Moffatt is at his 
 wits' end. Young Clyde Huntter is on the carpet 
 just now. Think of that match! think of what it 
 would mean to Moffatt! There are times when I 
 regret the club and cliff-dwelling age where women 
 are concerned." 
 
 "Now, now, my dear friend, please remember my 
 sex." 
 
 Helen ran from Richard to Ledyard. "We're 
 all fagged, and the June night is sultry. After all, 
 girls, even women, should be allowed a mind of their 
 own! Take me home, Dick, I'm deeply offended." 
 She smiled and held out her hands. 
 
 "If they were all as sane as you, Helen," Ledyard's 
 glance softened. "You are exceptional." 
 
 "Every woman is an exceptional something, good 
 -friend, if only an exceptional fool. I'm rather proud
 
 2 66 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 of Margaret Moffatt's determination to have her 
 way, and that idea of finding herself in some cranny 
 of the old world is simply beautiful. I wonder " 
 
 "What, Helen?" 
 
 "I wonder if an old lady like me, a lady with hair 
 turning frosty, might, by any possibility, find her 
 real self left back there oh! ages, ages before 
 well, before things happened which she never under- 
 stood?" 
 
 Ledyard's eyes grew moist, but he made no reply. 
 
 It was three days later that Priscilla Glenn re- 
 ceived a note from Margaret Moffatt, but she had 
 already been prepared for it by Doctor Ledyard and 
 Mrs. Thomas. 
 
 "Since they think I need a nurse," the note ran, 
 "will you call at eleven to-morrow and see if you 
 consider me sufficiently damaged to require your 
 care? From what father says, I am prepared to 
 succumb to you at once. Both father and I like 
 strong oppositions ! " 
 
 The June weather had turned chilly after the brief 
 spell of heat, and when Priscilla was ushered into 
 Margaret Moffatt's private library she found a bright 
 cannel coal fire in the little grate, beside which sat a 
 tall, handsome girl in house gown of creamy white. 
 
 "And so you are Miss Glynn?" 
 
 As a professional accepts a non de plume, Pris- 
 cilla had accepted her name. 
 
 "Yes. And you are Miss Moffatt?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 267 
 
 "Please sit down no, not way off there! Won't 
 you take this chair beside me? I'm rather an un- 
 canny person, I warn you. If I do not like to have 
 you close to me now, we could never get on across 
 the water! What belongs to me, and what I ought 
 to have, is mine from the first. Besides, I want you 
 to know the worst of me for your own sake. 
 Would you mind taking off your hat? You have 
 the most cheerful hair I ever saw." 
 
 Priscilla laid her broad-brimmed hat aside and 
 laughed lightly. She was as uncanny as Margaret 
 Moffatt, but she could not have described the charm 
 that drew her to the girl across the hearth. 
 
 "I'm rather a hopelessly cheerful person," she 
 said, settling herself comfortably; "it's probably my 
 chief virtue or shortcoming." 
 
 " You know I am not a bit sick bodily, Miss 
 Glynn. It's positively ridiculous to have a nurse 
 for me, but if I am to get my way with my father I 
 must humour him. A dear old family servant is 
 going with me. Father did want a private cook 
 and guide, but we've compromised on you! I do 
 hope you'll undertake the contract. I'm not half 
 bad when I have my way. Do you think, now that 
 you have seen me for fifteen minutes, that you could 
 tolerate me; take the chance?" 
 
 "I should be very glad to be with you." Priscilla 
 beamed. 
 
 "Your eyes are blue, I declare! Miss Glynn,
 
 268 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 by all the laws of nature you should have eyes as 
 dark as mine.'* 
 
 "Yes; an old nurse back in my Canadian home 
 used to say I was made of the odds and ends of all 
 the children my mother had and lost." 
 
 "What a quaint idea! I believe she was right, 
 too. That will make you adaptable. Miss Glynn, 
 let me tell you something, just enough to begin on, 
 about myself as a case. I'm tired to death of every- 
 thing that has gone before; I do not fit in anywhere. 
 I believe I'm quite a different person from what 
 every one else believes; I've never had a chance to 
 know myself; I've been interpreted by by genera- 
 tions, traditions, and those who love me. I want 
 to get far enough away to get acquainted with 
 myself, and then if I am what I hope I am, I will 
 return like a happy queen and triumphantly enter 
 my kingdom. If I am not worthy well, we will 
 not talk about that! Something, I may tell you 
 some day, has suddenly awakened me. I'm rather 
 blinded and deafened. I must have time. Can you 
 bear with me?" 
 
 Margaret Moffatt leaned forward in her chair. 
 Priscilla saw that her large brown eyes were tear- 
 filled; the strong, white, outstretched hands trem- 
 bling. A wave of sympathy, understanding, and 
 great liking overwhelmed Priscilla, and she rose sud- 
 denly and stood beside the girl. 
 
 "I think I was meant to help you," she
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 269 
 
 said so simply that she could not be misunderstood. 
 "When do we go?" 
 
 "Go? Oh! you mean on the hunt for myself?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Father has the refusal of staterooms on two 
 steamers. Could you start in a week? Or shall 
 we say three weeks ? " 
 
 "It will not take me a day to get ready. My 
 uniforms " 
 
 "Please, Miss Glynn, leave them behind. I'm 
 sure you're just a nice girl besides being a splendid 
 nurse. I want the nice girl with me." 
 
 "Very well. That may take two days longer." 
 
 "We'll sail, then, in a week. And will you will 
 you will you accept something in advance, since 
 time is so short?" 
 
 "Something- - ?" 
 
 "Yes. Your your salary, you know." 
 
 "Oh, you mean money? I had forgot. I shall be 
 glad to have some. I am very poor." 
 
 Again the simple, frank dignity touched Margaret 
 Moffatt with pleasurable liking. 
 
 "It's to be a hundred and fifty dollars a month 
 and all expenses paid, Miss Glynn." 
 
 "A hundred and fifty? Oh! I cannot " 
 
 "Doctor Ledyard arranged it with my father. 
 You see, they know what you are to undergo. I 
 rather incline to the belief that they consider they 
 are making quite a bargain. I hate to see you cover
 
 270 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 your hair. Somehow you seem to be dimming the 
 sunshine. Good-bye until ' 
 
 "Day after to-morrow." 
 
 "I will send a check to St. Albans to-night, Miss 
 Glynn." 
 
 And she did. A check for two hundred dollars 
 with a box of yellow roses Sunrise roses they were 
 called.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THERE are times in life, especially when one 
 is young, that high peaks are the only land- 
 marks in sight. Priscilla Glenn felt that 
 henceforth her Road was to be a highway con- 
 structed in such a fashion that airy bridges would 
 connect the lofty altitudes, and all below would 
 exist merely as views. 
 
 Her first thought, on the day following her inter- 
 view with Margaret Moffatt, was to get to John 
 Boswell, and, as she laughingly put it, pay off her 
 debts! 
 
 "Two hundred dollars and a full month's money 
 from St. Albans! Gordon Moffatt certainly could 
 not feel richer than she. And then the months 
 ahead! Well one could get dizzy on one's own 
 heights. So Priscilla calmed herself by a day of 
 strenuous shopping and looked forward to the even- 
 ing with Boswell. 
 
 A dim drizzle set in late in the afternoon, and there 
 was a chill in the air that penetrated sharply. The 
 mist transformed everything, and, to tired, over- 
 excited nerves, the real had a touch of the unreal. 
 The park glistened: the tender new green on tree, 
 
 271
 
 272 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 bush, and grass looked as if it had just been polished, 
 and the early flowers stood crisply on their young 
 stalks. 
 
 At the point where once she had met poor Jerry- 
 Jo McAlpin, Priscilla paused and was taken into 
 control by memory and the long-ago Past. Quite 
 unaccountably, she longed to have her mother, even 
 her father, know of her wellbeing. Surely they 
 would forgive everything if they knew just how 
 things had turned out for her! She almost wished 
 she had decided to go back to the In-Place before 
 she started on her trip abroad. She could have 
 made them understand about her and poor Jerry-Jo. 
 Was old Jerry waiting and waiting? Something 
 clutched Priscilla sharply. The loneliness and si- 
 lence of the Place Beyond the Winds enfolded her 
 like a compelling dream. How they could patiently 
 wait, those home folks of hers! And how dear they 
 suddenly became, now that she was going into the 
 new life that promised her her Heart's Desire! 
 
 Then she decided: since she could not go to 
 them she must write to Master Farwell, he had never 
 answered her last letter, and beg him to tell them all 
 about it. He would go, she felt sure, and, by some 
 subtle magic, she seemed to see him passing along 
 the red-rock road, his long-caped coat flapping in 
 the soft wind, his hair blowing across his face, the 
 dogs following sociably. He'd go first to old Jerry's, 
 and then afterward, an hour, maybe, for it would
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 273 
 
 be hard for Jerry McAlpin he would go to Lonely 
 Farm by way of the wood path that led by the 
 shrine in the open place was the skull still there 
 with the long-dead grasses in its ears? It would be 
 night, perhaps, when the master reached the farm; 
 maybe the star would be shining over the hem- 
 lock 
 
 At this point Priscilla paused and caught her 
 breath sharply. She had come out of the park by 
 the gateway opposite Boswell's apartment, and just 
 ahead of her, across the street, was a thin, stooping 
 figure with caped coat flapping in the rising wind, 
 and hair blowing across a bent face. 
 
 "I I am dreaming!" The words came bro- 
 kenly. "I am bewitched!'* 
 
 But with characteristic quickness of thought and 
 action she put her doubt to the test. Running across 
 the space between her and that slow-stepping figure 
 she panted huskily: 
 
 "Master Farwell! Master Farwell!" 
 
 He turned and fixed his deep, haunting eyes upon 
 her. 
 
 "It's Priscilla Glenn!" he whispered, as if to reas- 
 sure himself; "little Priscilla of the In-Place." 
 
 By some trick of over-stimulated imagination Pris- 
 cilla tried to adjust the gentle, kindly man she 
 knew and loved to the strange creature into which 
 he had evolved since last she met him, but she could 
 not! To her he would always be the friend and
 
 274 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 helper, the understanding guide of her stormy girl- 
 hood. The rest was but shadows that came and 
 went, cast by happenings with which she had nothing 
 to do. 
 
 They were holding each other's hands under the 
 window from which Boswell was, perhaps, at that 
 very moment watching and waiting. 
 
 "Oh! my Master Farwell!" The tears rolled 
 from the glad eyes. "I did not know how far and 
 how sadly I had gone until this minute!" 
 
 "But you have not forgotten to be little Priscilla 
 Glenn. My dear! my dear! how glad and thankful 
 I am to see you. You have grown yes; you have 
 grown into the woman I knew you would. Your 
 eyes are faithful; your lips still smile. Oh! Pris- 
 cilla, the world has not" he paused and his old, 
 quivering laugh rang out cautiously "the world 
 has not doshed you!" 
 
 And then Priscilla caught him by the arm. 
 
 "You have not seen him?" she looked upward. 
 
 "No. I was getting up my courage. The bird 
 just freed from its cage is timid." 
 
 "Come! A minute will not matter. I must know 
 about my home people." 
 
 They walked on together. Then, because her 
 heart was beating fast and the tears lying near, she 
 drew close to her deepest interest by a circuitous way. 
 
 "Tell me of of Mrs. McAdam and Jerry Me- 
 Alpin?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 275 
 
 "Mrs. McAdam is famous and rich. The White 
 Fish Lodge has a waiting list every summer. The 
 the body of Sandy drifted into the Channel a month 
 after you left. Bounder found it. You remember 
 how he used to know the sound of Sandy's engine? 
 The day the body was washed up he seemed to 
 know. One grave is filled, and Mary McAdam has 
 put a monument between the two graves with the 
 names of both boys. Jerry McAlpin has grown old 
 and and respectable. He has a fancy that Jerry- 
 Jo will come back a fine gentleman. All these years 
 he has been preparing for the prodigal. The young 
 devil has never sent a line to his father. A bad lot 
 was Jerry-Jo." 
 
 And then Priscilla told her story with many a 
 catch in her voice. 
 
 "You see he did it for me, Master Farwell. 
 He was not all bad. Who is, I wonder? He lies in 
 a quiet spot Mr. Boswell and I found far out in the 
 country. There's a hemlock nearby and a glimpse 
 of water. I I think I will not let old Jerry know. 
 While he waits, he is happy. While he is getting 
 ready, life will mean something to him. And oh! 
 Master Farwell, when when Jerry- Jo went, he 
 thought he was going through the Secret Portage 
 to the Big Bay. I believe he will welcome his 
 father in the open some day. I will not send word 
 back to the In-Place." 
 
 Farwell frowned.
 
 276 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Boswell has touched you with his fanciful meth- 
 ods," he muttered; "is it for the best?" 
 
 "I am sure it is. And my my people, Mas- 
 ter Farwell, my mother?" 
 
 At this Farwell started and stepped back. The 
 light from an electric lamp fell full on the girl's 
 quivering, brilliant face. He had told Boswell of the 
 mother's death. 
 
 "You you did not know?" he asked. "She 
 died- 
 
 "Died? Master Farwell, my mother dead!" 
 
 "You see how it hurts when Boswell plays with 
 you?" 
 
 A note of bitterness crept into the voice. 
 
 "When the day of reckoning comes it hurts, 
 it hurts like hell!" 
 
 He had forgotten the girl, the white, frantic 
 face. 
 
 "Tell me, tell me when she, my poor mother, 
 died?" 
 
 The words brought him back sharply, and with 
 wonderful tenderness he told her. 
 
 "Long Jean was with her. She would have her 
 and no other, because she said Jean had helped you 
 into the world and only she should help her out. 
 It is a beautiful story they tell in Kenmore of your 
 mother's passing. She thought she was going to 
 you. She seemed quite happy once she found the 
 way!
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 277 
 
 "'I have found her!' she cried just at the last, 
 "'and she understands!" 1 
 
 "And I did, I did!" sobbed Priscilla. 
 
 A passerby noticed the sound and paused to look 
 at the two sharply. 
 
 "Come, come," Farwell implored her; "we will 
 arouse suspicion. Let us get back to to Boswell. 
 I haven't much time, you see. I have promised 
 Pine to be back in ten days. Ten days!" 
 
 "You promised Pine?" 
 
 "And you never knew?" Farwell gave an ugly 
 laugh. "Well, I carried the ball and chain without 
 a whimper, I can say that for myself. Pine is my 
 ball and chain. Because he isn't all devil, because 
 he knows I am not, he went off to play on Wyland 
 Island. You know they kill the devil there the 
 second week in June. Have you forgotten? Well, 
 Pine has gone to take a stab at satan, and I'm free 
 for ten days. Free!" 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 "And then I'm going back voluntarily, and 
 assume the ball and chain!" 
 
 "Master Farwell!" 
 
 "Do not pity me! It doesn't matter now. I only 
 wanted to settle with Boswell. I've been in town 
 three days." 
 
 They were nearing the big apartment house; lights 
 from the windows were showing cheerily through 
 the misty fog. A chill fear shook Priscilla as she
 
 278 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 began to comprehend the meaning of Far-well's words. 
 In her life Boswell, and this man beside her, stood 
 for friendship in its truest, highest sense, and she 
 felt that she must hold them together in spite of 
 everything. She stood still and gripped Farwell's 
 arm. 
 
 "You you shall not go to him," she whispered, 
 "until you tell me how you are to pay him for 
 what he has done!" 
 
 Farwell's white, grim face confronted her. 
 
 "How does one pay another for lying to him, cheat- 
 ing him, and and playing with him as though he 
 were an idiot or a child?" 
 
 "Why did he do it, Master Farwell, why did he do 
 it?" 
 
 " Because " But for very shame Farwell hesi- 
 tated. " It makes no difference," he muttered. " I'm 
 no fool and Boswell shall find it out." 
 
 "He has told me the story." Priscilla still 
 stayed the straining figure. "All his life he has 
 given and given to you all that was in his power to 
 give. He is the noblest man I ever knew, the gen- 
 tlest and kindest, and I never knew a man could love 
 another as he has loved you. What have you given 
 to him really? The smiles and jokes of the days 
 long ago that were heavenly to him what did 
 they cost you? He gave, and gave his heart's best; 
 he lied and cheated you, that you might have 
 some sort of peace in in Kenmore. Oh! if you
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 279 
 
 only knew how he has hated it all, how he has strug- 
 gled to keep up the play even when he was so weary 
 that the soul of him almost gave out! And now 
 you come to to pay him with hate and revenge 
 when you have the only thing he wants in all the 
 world at your command to give him!'* 
 
 The impassioned words fell into silence; the up- 
 lifted face with its shining eyes, mist-wet and in- 
 dignant, aroused Farwell at last. 
 
 "And that is?" he asked. 
 
 "Yourself! your faith! See, that is his light. He 
 is waiting for me, because, since you sent me to 
 him, he has been kind, heavenly kind to me, for 
 your sake! Everything is, has always been, for 
 your sake. Go to him, Master Farwell go alone. 
 I will come by and by; not now. Pay him for all 
 he has done for you all these lonely years!" 
 
 Farwell no longer struggled. He took Priscilla's 
 hands in a long, close clasp. 
 
 "What a woman you have become, Priscilla Glenn! 
 Thank you." 
 
 Without a word more they parted: Farwell to 
 go to the reckoning; Priscilla to walk in the mist for 
 a bit longer. 
 
 All that occurred in Boswell's library Priscilla was 
 never to know. 
 
 There had been a moment of shock when Boswell, 
 raising his eyes to greet Priscilla, saw Farwell Max- 
 well standing in the doorway.
 
 280 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "You have come!" Boswell gasped, with every 
 sacred thing at stake. 
 
 "I have come." 
 
 "For what Max?" 
 
 "To to thank you, if I can. To to tell you 
 my story." 
 
 In the outer room Toky artistically held the dinner 
 back. The honourable master and his strange but 
 equally honourable friend must not be disturbed. 
 Something was happening; but after a time Bos- 
 well laughed as Toky had never heard him laugh; 
 so it was well, and the dinner could bide its time. 
 
 Then Priscilla came, wet and white-faced, but with 
 the "shine-look" in her eyes that Toky, despite his 
 prejudices and profession, had noted and respected. 
 
 "We will have the dinner now, Mees?" as if 
 Toky ever considered her to that extent! 
 
 "I will see Mr. Boswell." 
 
 "He has honourable friend." 
 
 "My friend, Toky. The honourable friend is 
 mine, also! And, oh! the flowers, Toky! There are 
 no roses like the June roses. How wonderfully you 
 have arranged them! A rose should never be 
 crowded." 
 
 Toky grinned helplessly. 
 
 "Tree hours I take to make look beautifully. 
 One hour for each rosy. That why it look beau- 
 tifully."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 281 
 
 "Yes, that is why it looks beautifully. Three 
 hours and you, Toky!" 
 
 Boswell and Farwell were sitting in front of the 
 grate, upon which the wood lay ready to light. 
 Their faces were pale and haggard, but their eyes 
 turned to Priscilla without shame or doubt. 
 
 "There is much to talk about," said Boswell 
 with his ready friendliness; "Max your Farwell 
 and mine has told me " 
 
 "After dinner, dear friends. I am hungry, bitterly 
 hungry and cold!" 
 
 "Cold?" 
 
 "Yes; see, I am going to set the wood to burning. 
 By the time we come back the room will be ready 
 for us." 
 
 "To be sure!" Boswell sidled from his deep chair, 
 the pinched look on his face relaxing. 
 
 "A fire, to be sure. Now, Max, no one but a woman 
 would have thought of a fire in June." 
 
 "No one but Priscilla!" Farwell added. 
 
 They talked before the fire until late that even- 
 ing. Priscilla's plans were discussed and con- 
 sidered. So full was she of excitement and joy 
 that she did not notice the shock of surprise 
 that Farwell showed when the names of Ledyard 
 and Travers passed her lips. Seeing that she 
 either did not connect the men with her past, 
 or had reasons for not referring to it, Farwell held 
 his peace. It was long afterward that he confided
 
 282 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 his knowledge to Boswell, and that wise friend bade 
 him keep his secret. 
 
 "It's her life, and she's treading her Road," he said; 
 "she has an odd fancy that her Heart's Desire lies 
 just ahead. I cannot see that either you or I have 
 the right to awaken her to realities while she lives 
 so magically in her dreams." 
 
 After Priscilla's own plans were gone over and 
 over again, Boswell said quietly: 
 
 "I'm going back to that blessed In-Place of yours, 
 Butterfly. You remember how I told you, the first 
 day I met you, that I could not understand any one 
 choosing the dangerous Garden when he might have 
 the Place Beyond the Winds?" 
 
 Priscilla leaned forward, her breath coming sharply. 
 
 "You mean you are going to to live in Ken- 
 more?" 
 
 "Yes! Live! That is a bright way of putting it. 
 Live! live! The Beetle is going to live!" 
 
 Priscilla looked about at the rich comfort of the 
 room, thought of what it meant to the delicate cripple 
 crouching toward the blaze, his deep eyes flame- 
 touched and wonderful. Then she looked at Master 
 Farwell, whose lips were trembling. 
 
 "He he calls that living!" he said slowly. 
 "Tell him, Priscilla, of the bareness and hardness of 
 the life. I have tried to, but he will not listen." 
 
 The tears, the ready, easy tears filled Priscilla's 
 eyes, and her heart throbbed until it hurt.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 283 
 
 " He will love the hemlocks and the deep red rocks," 
 she said, as if speaking to herself; "he will love the 
 Channel and the little islands, he will love the woods 
 and the wind does not blow hard there he 
 will be glad of that." 
 
 "But the ugly, wretched bareness of my hut, Pris- 
 cilla! For heaven's sake, make him see that!" 
 
 "But the fireplace, Master Farwell!" 
 
 "And the friend beside it!" Boswell broke in; 
 "and no more loneliness. A beetle that has crawled 
 in the Garden so long will thank God for a real 
 place of its own. 'Tis but a change of scene for 
 the Property Man." 
 
 "I love the Garden!" murmured Priscilla, sitting 
 between the two men, her clasped hands outstretched 
 toward the fire, which was smouldering ruddily. 
 
 "That is because you have wings, Butterfly," 
 Boswell whispered. 
 
 "And no fetter on your soul," Farwell said so 
 softly that only Boswell heard. 
 
 "I see," Priscilla childishly wandered on, "such a 
 lovely trail leading, leading where?" 
 
 "Where, indeed?" Boswell was watching her curi- 
 ously. 
 
 "That is the beauty of it! I cannot see beyond 
 the next step. All my life I have tried to keep my 
 yearnings within bounds; now I just follow. It's 
 very, very wonderful. Some day I am going back 
 to the In-Place. I shall find you both sitting by
 
 284 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Master Farwell's beautiful fire, I am sure. It will 
 be the still morning time, I think, and you will be so 
 glad to see me, and I shall tell you all about it!" 
 
 "Heaven keep you!" 
 
 Boswell's voice was solemn and deep. 
 
 "Life will keep her safe," Farwell said with a 
 laugh. "Life will take no liberties with her. She 
 got her bearings, Jack, before the winds knocked 
 her. Let us both walk home with her. What sort 
 of a night is it?" 
 
 Priscilla went to the window. 
 
 "It's rather black," she returned; "as black as the 
 big city ever is. The mist is clearing; it's a beautiful 
 night."
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 OF COURSE," Priscilla leaned back in her 
 deep-cushioned chair and laughed from sheer 
 delight, "I was a better girl in my former life 
 than I ever had any idea of, or I wouldn't have been 
 given this " 
 
 She and Margaret Moffatt were sitting on the 
 piazza, of a little Swiss inn. Below them lay a tiny 
 lake as blue and as clear as a rare gem; round about 
 them towered snowy peaks, protectingly. AH that 
 was past was past! There did not seem to be 
 any future; the present was sufficient. 
 
 "I think you must have been rather a good child, 
 back there," Margaret Moffatt said, looking stead- 
 fastly at the girl near her; "and, anyway, you ought 
 to have a rich reward for your hair if for no other 
 reason." 
 
 "A recompense, you mean?" 
 
 "Heavens! no! I was thinking, as I often do 
 when I see the lights in your hair, that for making 
 people so cheerful and contented nothing is too good 
 for you. I'm extremely fond of you, Priscilla Giynn! 
 It's only when you put on your cap and apron man- 
 ner that I recall unpleasant things. Just tuck 
 
 285
 
 286 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 them out of sight and let us forget everything but 
 this! Isn't it divine?" 
 
 "It's yes, it is divine, Miss Moffatt." 
 "Now then! Along with the cap and apron, please 
 pack away Miss Moffatt and Miss Glynn. Let us 
 be Priscilla and Margaret. This is a whim of mine, 
 but I have a fancy for knowing what kind of girls we 
 are. No one can tamper with us here. Dear old 
 Mousey never gets above a dead level, or below it. 
 Practically we are alone and detached. Let us 
 play girls! Nice, chummy girls. Do you know, 
 I never had a friend in my life who wasn't labelled 
 and scheduled ? I was sent to school where just such 
 and such girls were sent girls proper for me to 
 know. Often they were not, but that was not con- 
 sidered so long as they wore their labels. It wasn't 
 deemed necessary for me, or my kind, to go to col- 
 lege: our lines of action were chosen for us. Certain 
 labelled men were presented; always labels, labels! 
 Even when I was running about with my label on 
 I used to have mad moments of longing to snatch 
 all the hideous things off my own as well as 
 others and find out the truth ! And here we are, 
 you and I! I do not want to know anything about 
 you; I want to find out for myself, in my own way. 
 I want you to forget that I ever wore a tag. Did 
 you ever have a girl chum?" 
 
 "I think I know, now," Priscilla said quietly, 
 "why this particular little heaven was given to me.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 287 
 
 I never, in all my life, had a girl friend. Think of 
 that! I did not realize what I was missing until I 
 
 came into your life. Actually, I never had a girl 
 or woman friend in the sense you mean. I was a 
 lonely, weird little child; and then I I came to the 
 training school; and the girls there did not like me 
 
 I was still weird " 
 
 "Now, Priscilla, I do not want to know anything 
 more about you! I intend to find you out for my- 
 self. Come, there's a boat down there, big enough 
 for you and me. Do you row?" 
 
 "Yes, and paddle." 
 
 "You lived near the water! Ha! ha!" 
 
 "And you do not row, Margaret?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Then you have never lived at all. You must 
 learn to use oars and a paddle. It's when you have 
 your own hand on the power that makes you go 
 that you live." 
 
 Margaret MofFatt turned and looked at Priscilla. 
 
 "You say, haphazard, the most Orphic things. 
 There are times when I can imagine you before some 
 shrine making an offering and chanting all sorts of 
 uncanny rites. Of course it is when one has her 
 hand on her own tiller, and is heading for what she 
 wants, that she begins to live. I declare, I haven't 
 felt so young in twenty years! I'm twenty-five, 
 Priscilla. My father considers me on the danger-line. 
 Poor daddy!"
 
 288 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 T 
 
 m 
 
 "I do not want to know your age, Priscilla. 
 Mythological characters are ageless." 
 
 Those were the days when Priscilla Glenn and 
 Margaret Moffatt found their youth. Safeguarded 
 by the faithful old housekeeper, who, happily, could 
 understand and sympathize, they played the hours 
 away like children. 
 
 "We'll travel by and by," promised Margaret. 
 "It's rather selfish for me to hold you here when all 
 the world would be fresh to you." 
 
 "I take root easily," Priscilla returned, "and I'm 
 like a plant we have in my old home. My roots 
 spread, and time is needed to strengthen them; 
 suddenly I shoot up and flower. The little Cana- 
 dian blossom doesn't seem to justify the strong, 
 spreading roots. I hope you will not find me dis- 
 appointing, Margaret." 
 
 Margaret Moffatt smiled happily. 
 
 "Just to think," she said, "that my real self and 
 your real self were waiting for us here behind the 
 white hills! All along, through generations and gen- 
 erations, they have been acquainted and have 
 loved and trusted each other, and then we, the un- 
 real selves, came! Sometimes I wonder" -Mar- 
 garet looked dreamy "what they think of us, just 
 between themselves ? I am sure your true self must 
 be prouder of you than mine can be of me, for, with 
 everything at my command, what am I? While
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 289 
 
 you oh, Priscilla, how you have made everything 
 tell!" 
 
 But Priscilla shook her head. 
 
 "Still," Margaret went on, "things were not at my 
 command. They were all there, but pigeon-holed 
 and controlled. Such and such things were for nice 
 little girls like me! After a time I got to believe 
 that, and it was only when, one day, I touched some- 
 thing not intended for me that my soul woke up. 
 Priscilla, did you ever feel your soul?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Isn't it wonderful? It makes you see clearly 
 your your " 
 
 "Ideal?" suggested Priscilla. 
 
 "Yes; the thing you want to be; the thing that 
 seems best to you without the interpretation of 
 others. It stands unclouded and holy; and nothing 
 else matters." 
 
 "And you never forget never!" 
 
 "No. Your eyes may be blinded for a moment, 
 but you do not forget ever!" 
 
 They were out on the gemlike lake now, and Pris- 
 cilla was sternly instructing Margaret how to handle 
 an oar. 
 
 "It will never go the way you want it to," Mar- 
 garet protested, making an ineffectual dab at the 
 water. 
 
 "When it does you will know the bliss I Get a 
 little below the surface, and have faith in yourself."
 
 290 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 And that was the day that Priscilla caught a new 
 light on Margaret's character. They landed at a 
 tiny village across the lake and wandered about, 
 Margaret talking easily to the people in their own 
 tongue, Priscilla straining to follow by watching 
 faces and gestures. While they stood so, discussing 
 the price of some corals, a little child came close to 
 them and slipped a deliciously dimpled, but very 
 dirty little hand in Margaret's. At the touch the 
 girl started, turned first crimson and then pale, 
 and looked down. Suddenly her eyes deepened and 
 glowed. 
 
 "The darling!" she whispered, and bent to catch 
 what the child was saying. Presently she looked up, 
 tears dimming her eyes, and said to Priscilla, "She 
 says a new baby came to their house last night. 
 She wanted to tell me!" 
 
 "And ten already have been there," broke in a 
 brown-faced native woman. 
 
 "But she is glad, and she wanted me to know! 
 Come, my sweet, tell me more about the baby, and 
 then we will 'go and see it." 
 
 They sat down under a clump of trees, and the 
 dirty little maid nestled close to Margaret, while 
 with uplifted head and unabashed confidence she 
 told of the mystery. 
 
 Priscilla watched Margaret Moffatt's face. She 
 was almost awed by the change that had come over 
 it. The aloofness and pride which often marked
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 291 
 
 it had disappeared as if by magic; the tenderness, 
 passionate in its intentness, cast upon the little 
 child, moved her to wonder and admiration. Later 
 they went to the poor hovel and bent beside the 
 humble bed on which the mother and child lay. 
 Then it was that Priscilla played her part and made 
 comfortable and grateful the overburdened creature, 
 worn and weak from suffering. 
 
 " 'Twas the good God who sent you," murmured 
 she. 
 
 " 'Twas your little maid," smiled Margaret, tuck- 
 ing a roll of bills under the hard, lumpy pillow. 
 "Take time to love the babies leave other things 
 but love them and enjoy them." 
 
 "Yes, my lady." 
 
 On the way back in the boat Margaret was very 
 silent for a time as she watched Priscilla row; finally 
 she said: 
 
 "Did it surprise you my show of feeling for the 
 -the child?" 
 
 "It was very beautiful. I did not know you cared 
 so much for children, and this one was so dirty." 
 
 "But so real! You see I have never had real 
 children in my life. The kinds passed out to nice 
 girls like me were sad travesties. Since I saw the 
 darling of to-day I've been wondering do not 
 laugh, Priscilla but I've been wondering what 
 poor, cheated little morsel of humanity, in the unreal 
 world, would find herself in that eleventh miracle of
 
 292 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 the wretched hovel? And what an art yours is, dear 
 Priscilla! How you soothed away the suffering by 
 your touch. I loved you better as I realized how 
 that training of yours knows neither high nor low 
 when it seeks to heal." 
 
 Priscilla thought of the operation on Margaret 
 Moffatt's father, and her quick colour rose. 
 
 "And I loved you better when I saw how your 
 humanity knows neither high nor low just love!" 
 
 "Only toward little children. I cannot explain 
 it, but when I touch the babies, their littleness and 
 helplessness make me weak and trembling before 
 well, before the strength comes in a mighty wave. 
 There is a physical sensation, a thrill, that comes 
 with the first contact, and when they trust me, as 
 that darling did this morning, I feel as if God had 
 singled me out! Only lately have I begun to under- 
 stand what this means in me. It is one reason why 
 I came away. I had to think it out. I suppose" 
 she paused and looked steadily at Priscilla "1 
 suppose the maternal has always been a master 
 passion in me, and I've rebelled at being an only 
 child; at having no children but the specialized 
 kind. I have been hungry for so many things I am 
 realizing now." 
 
 "In my training I have seen what you mean. 
 All sorts drift in to pay the price of love or the 
 penalty of passion, as Doctor Ledyard used to 
 express it; but" and Priscilla's eyes grew darker
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 293 
 
 "I used to find a nurse gets so much closer, 
 you know, than a doctor can I found that some- 
 times it was the penalty of love and the price of 
 passion. Those sad young creatures, with only 
 blind instinct to uphold them, were so divinely 
 human, and paid so superbly. When it comes to 
 the hour of a life for a life, one thing alone 
 matters, I am afraid, and it is the thing you mean, 
 Margaret." 
 
 "Yes. And what a horrible puzzle it all is. The 
 thing I mean should be always there always. 
 The world's wrong when it is not." 
 
 Suddenly Priscilla, sending the light boat forward 
 by the impulse of her last stroke, said, as if it were 
 quite in line with all that had gone before: 
 
 "There's Doctor Travers on the wharf!" 
 
 He heard her, and called back: 
 
 "Quite unintentionally, I assure you. I was wait- 
 ing for the boat to take me across. I've been wan- 
 dering about, sleeping where I could. I simply find 
 myself here!" 
 
 At this both girls laughed merrily. 
 
 "This is the place of Found Personalities," Mar- 
 garet Moffatt said, jumping lightly to the wharf. 
 "Perhaps you'll come to the inn and have luncheon 
 with us that is, if you are sure Doctor Ledyard 
 did not send you here to spy on me." 
 
 "I haven't seen him since I left America. My 
 mother is with me; she's in a crack of the hills in
 
 294 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Italy. She wanted to be alone. Doctor Ledyard 
 will join us later." 
 
 "Then come to the house. They serve meals on 
 a dangerously poised balcony over the lake; we curb 
 our appetites for fear our weight may be the one 
 thing the structure cannot stand. Our old house- 
 keeper waits upon us, but is in no wise responsible for 
 the food which is often very bad and lacking in 
 nourishment." 
 
 "You seem to thrive on it." Travers looked at 
 the two before him. "I wonder just what it is this 
 air and place have done to you?" 
 
 "Tell him, Priscilla." 
 
 "Oh, like you, Doctor Travers, we simply found 
 ourselves here! That's all." 
 
 Travers did not leave the inn that night, nor for 
 many days thereafter. 
 
 "Doctor Ledyard will join my mother and me 
 early in August," he explained; "until then I'm a 
 floating proposition. I wish you'd let me stay on a 
 while, Miss Moffatt, right here. I want to analyze 
 the food, it puzzles me. Why just this kind of con- 
 glomeration should achieve such results is interest- 
 ing. I've gained five pounds in six days." 
 
 "And lost ten years," Margaret broke in. "I 
 never thought of you as young, Doctor Travers; 
 professional men never do seem youthful; but here 
 you're rather a good sort." 
 
 And Travers remained, much to the delight of the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 295 
 
 old housekeeper, who, with a nurse and a doctor in 
 command, cast all responsibility aside. 
 
 "Young Miss looks well," she confided to the 
 proprietor's wife, who, fortunately, could understand 
 a word or so of English; "but folks is like weather: 
 the fairer they seem, the nearer a storm. When a 
 day or a person looks uncommonly fair a weather 
 breeder, says I, and generally, nine times out of ten, 
 I'm right. My young lady is too changed to be com- 
 fortable. It's either a breaking up, or " But 
 
 here a shout for "Mousey," silenced further prophecy. 
 
 The days ran along without cloud or shadow. 
 Quite naturally, perhaps, Priscilla began to think 
 that a drama of life was being enacted in the quiet, 
 detached village. They three were always together, 
 always enjoying the same things, but certainly no 
 man, so she thought, could be with Margaret Moffatt 
 long without falling at her feet. Gradually to Pris- 
 cilla Glenn this girl stood for all that was fine and 
 perfect. In her she saw all women as women should 
 be. With the adoration she was so ready to give 
 to that which appealed to her, Priscilla lavished the 
 wealth of her affection upon Margaret MofFatt. 
 Surely it was because of Margaret that Doctor 
 Travers stayed on, and became the life of the party. 
 To be sure he was tact itself in making Priscilla 
 feel at ease; but that only confirmed her in her belief 
 that he wanted to please Margaret to the utter- 
 most. Often Priscilla recalled, with keener appre-
 
 296 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 elation, John BoswelPs description of Anton Far- 
 well's conception of friendship. In like manner 
 Margaret Moffatt claimed for her companion all 
 that justly belonged to herself. Dispassionately, 
 vicariously, Priscilla learned to know and admire the 
 man who undoubtedly in time would win her one 
 friend. It was all beautiful and natural, and in the 
 lovely detachment it grew and grew. The long walks 
 and drives, the rows upon the lake by sunlight and 
 moonlight, all conspired to perfect the comradeship. 
 They read together, sang together very poorly 
 to be sure and once, just to vary the charm, they 
 travelled to a nearby town and danced at a village 
 fete. An odd thing happened there. Owing to 
 high spirits and a sense of unconventionality, they 
 entered into the sports with abandon. Travers 
 even begged a reel with a pretty Swiss maiden, and 
 led her proudly away, much to Margaret's and Pris- 
 cilia's delight. Later, the men and women of the 
 place came forward, and, entering a little ring formed 
 by admiring friends, performed, separately, the na- 
 tive dances. 
 
 Travers watched Priscilla with a puzzled look in 
 his eyes. She trembled with excitement; seemed 
 hypnotized by the exhibition, much of which was 
 delightfully graceful and picturesque. Then, sud- 
 denly, to the surprise of every one, she took advan- 
 tage of a moment's pause and ran into the ring. 
 
 "Whatever possesses her?" whispered Margaret
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 297 
 
 to Travers; "she looks bewitched. See! she is 
 dancing!" 
 
 Travers watched the tall, slim figure in the thin 
 white gown over which a light scarf, of transparent 
 crimson, floated as the evening breeze and the girl's 
 motions freed it. At first Priscilla took her steps 
 falteringly, her head bent as if trying to recall the 
 measure and rhythm; then with more confidence she 
 swung into the lovely pose and action. With up- 
 lifted eyes and smiling lips, seeming to see something 
 hidden from others, she bent and glided, curtesied 
 and tripped, this way and that. 
 
 The lookers-on were wild with delight. The beauty 
 of the thing itself, the willingness of the foreigners 
 to join in the sport, aroused the temperamental 
 enthusiasm, and the clapping and cheering filled 
 the hall with noise. Suddenly the musicians dropped 
 their instruments. They were but human, and, since 
 they could not keep in time with this new and amaz- 
 ing dance, they drew near to admire. 
 
 "Play!" pleaded Priscilla, past heeding the sen- 
 sation she was creating. "The best is yet to 
 come!" 
 
 Carried out of himself, entering now wholly into 
 the adventure, Travers caught up a violin near him 
 and sent the bow over the strings with a master 
 touch. He hardly knew what he played ; he was him- 
 self, carried away on a wave of enchantment. 
 
 "Ah!"
 
 298 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 The word escaped Priscilla like a cry of glad re~ 
 sponse. 
 
 "Now!" 
 
 They two, the musician and the dancer, seemed 
 alone in the open space. The flashing eyes, the 
 cheering voices, the clapping hands, even Margaret 
 Moffatt, pale, puzzled, yet charmed, were obliter- 
 ated. It was spring time in the Place Beyond the 
 Winds, and the dance of adoration was in full swing, 
 while the old tune, never out of time with the grace- 
 ful, whirling form, played on and on. And then - 
 the ring melted away, the lights grew dim, and Pris- 
 cilla stood still. 
 
 "I'm I'm tired," faltered she. A hand was 
 laid upon her arm, some one guided her out of the 
 heated, breathless room; they were alone, she and 
 he, under wide-spreading trees, and a particularly 
 lovely star was pulsing overhead. 
 
 "You are crying!" Travers's voice was low and 
 tense. "Why?" 
 
 "It it was the music! It was like something 
 I had heard, and and I was so tired. I was very 
 foolish. Can you, can Margaret, forgive me?" 
 
 "Forgive you? Why, you were I dare not tell 
 you what you were ! Here, sit down. Do not tremble 
 so! Tell me, where did you learn to dance as you 
 do?" 
 
 Priscilla had dropped upon the rough rustic seat; 
 she did not seem to notice the hand that rested upon
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 299 
 
 her clasped ones under the thin scarf. She no longer 
 cried, but the tears shone on her long lashes. 
 
 "I I never learned. It it is I, myself. I 
 thought I had grown into something else, but I 
 shall always be the same when I let myself go. " 
 
 "Let yourself go? Good heavens! Why not let 
 yourself go forever ? " Travers's voice shook. " You 
 have brought joy and youth to us all to me, who 
 never had youth. What who are you?" he 
 laughed boyishly. She sat rigidly erect and turned 
 her sad eyes upon him. 
 
 "I'm Priscilla Glynn a nurse! And you? Oh! 
 you are Doctor Travers! Can you not see my beau- 
 tiful, happy, happy life is ended must end? Mar- 
 garet, you, everything this joyous summer has made 
 me forget. Soon I am going back where there 
 is no dancing!" 
 
 "And cease to be yourself?" 
 
 "Yes. But I shall always remember. Not many 
 have had the wonderful glimpse I have had not 
 many." 
 
 "I I will not let you go back! You belong in 
 the light; in love and the giving of love. You have 
 given me a glimpse of myself as I should be. I 
 have stayed in this magic place without a past and 
 a future for your sake ! I see it now. I love " 
 
 "Oh! please, please stop. We are both mad, and 
 when to-morrow comes and the day after, and the 
 day after that, we will both be sorry, and, oh! I
 
 300 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 want all my life to to be glad because of this 
 night." 
 
 "You shall remember it all your life as 
 your happiest night, if I can make it so!" 
 
 His face was bent close to hers. For the first 
 time Travers was overpowered by the charm of 
 woman, and all the pent passion and love of his life 
 broke bonds like a wild, primeval thing that educa- 
 tion and conventions had never touched. 
 
 "I I want you! I want you without knowing 
 any more than if you and I had been born anew in 
 this wonderful life. Look at me! You believe I 
 can offer you the one perfect gift a man should 
 offer a woman?" 
 
 She looked long and tenderly in his eyes. She 
 was going to leave him; she could afford the truth. 
 She was brave now. 
 
 "Yes," she whispered. 
 
 "And I know you to be what I want. Isn't 
 that enough? Can we not trust each for the 
 rest?" 
 
 "Yes, if the white hills could shut us forever from 
 the other things." 
 
 "Other things?" 
 
 "Yes, the things of to-morrow. Duty, the de- 
 mands that lie over the Alps." 
 
 "I renounce them all!" 
 
 "But they will not renounce us!" 
 
 Travers felt her slipping from him. A man whose
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 301 
 
 youth has been denied, as his had, is a puppet in 
 Fate's hands when youth makes its claims. 
 
 "I mean to have you! Do you hear me? I 
 mean to have you." 
 
 And just then Margaret Moffatt drew near. 
 Calmly, smilingly, she came like one playing her part 
 in a perfectly arranged drama. 
 
 "You are here? Ready for home? Wasn't it 
 sublime and exactly as it should be? We are so nice 
 and friendly with our real selves." 
 
 There was no surprise; no suggestion of disapproval. 
 The world in which they were all playing could have 
 only direct and simple processes. But, having lived 
 in a past world where her perceptions had been 
 made keen and vital, Margaret Moffatt understood 
 what she saw. She had noticed every letting down 
 and abandonment of Travers since he had joined 
 them. She was too wise not to know the effect of 
 such a woman as Priscilla upon such a man; such 
 a denied and almost puritanical man as Travers. 
 She knew his story from her father. An artistic 
 triumph was hers that night. The splendid elements 
 of primitive justice had been set in motion, and al- 
 most gleefully she wondered what they would do with 
 Richard Travers and Priscilla Glynn. 
 
 For herself? Well, she had put herself to the 
 test and had come out clear-visioned and glad to a 
 point of dangerous excitement. Only two or three 
 mighty things mattered, if one were to gain in the
 
 302 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 marvellous game. She meant to hold to them and 
 let the rest go! 
 
 But Travers had not passed through Ledyard's 
 school and come out untouched. After leaving 
 Priscilla, silent and white, he had gone to his room 
 and flung himself down upon a low couch by the 
 window. Then his old self took him in hand while 
 he stubbornly resisted every attack that reason, as 
 trained by Ledyard, made upon him. 
 
 "Think of your mother! What has she not 
 done and suffered that you might stand before the 
 world a free man? And your profession; your 
 future! They are all your mother holds to for her 
 peace and joy. And I? Well, I do not claim any- 
 thing for myself; but you know the game as well as 
 I. If you toss to the winds all that has been gained 
 for you, professionally and socially, you are done 
 for! Your renunciation and restraint, what have 
 they amounted to, unless you accept them as step- 
 ping-stones and go on?" 
 
 And then Travers clenched his hands and had his 
 say. 
 
 In that moment his own mother rose clear and 
 radiant beside him and made her appeal. She 
 pleaded for justice, but she showed mercy. He must 
 not forget or forego anything that had been gained 
 for him; but he was her child, the child of her love 
 unasking, unfettered love and the passion that 
 was throbbing in him was pure and instinctive; he
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 303 
 
 must not deny it or the rest would be shucks! Non- 
 essentials must not hamper him. Alone, unsought, 
 a strange and compelling force had made him cap- 
 tive. All that others, and himself, had achieved for 
 him must make holy this simple but all-powerful 
 desire. 
 
 Then she faded, that poor, little, half-forgotten 
 mother! But she left, like the fragrance of rare 
 flowers that had been taken from the dim, moon- 
 lighted room, a memory of happiness and sweetness 
 and content.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 BY ALL the deductions of experience the 
 three people in the little inn should have, in 
 the light of the morning after, been reduced 
 to common sense; but the day laughed common 
 sense to scorn and fanned the fires of the previous 
 evening to bright flame. 
 
 "I must write a letter," announced Margaret after 
 breakfast, "a letter so momentous that it will take 
 me an hour and a half! But my plans and yours 
 are all laid. Now, Priscilla, none of your cap and 
 apron look. You'll do exactly what I tell you to do; 
 and you, too, Doctor Travers." 
 
 "I haven't the slightest intention of disobeying. 
 And as for my cap and apron, I've burned them!" 
 Priscilla tossed her head. 
 
 Travers looked at her, and her loveliness seemed 
 enhanced in her trim white linen gown with its broad 
 collar of Irish lace. How magnificent her throat 
 was! What a perfect woman she was! And what 
 hair! 
 
 "There is a train that leaves here at nine-thirty, 
 a mad little ramshackle train that goes to The 
 Ghost and back in an hour and a half. We've all 
 
 304
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 305 
 
 yearned to climb The Ghost, or as much of it as 
 we dared. Now you two, with Mousey and a ser- 
 vant, are to go on the nine-thirty. I'll finish my 
 destruction of the social system and catch the eleven 
 o'clock train. We'll have picnic lunch. They say 
 there's a dreadful cavern at the base of The Ghost 
 that is corking for picnics, and then we'll explore 
 until we have to return. Any objections?" 
 
 There were none. 
 
 "Very well! It's nine now! Priscilla, wear the 
 roughest, heaviest things you've got. You always 
 have your hours of remorse too late. The Ghost will 
 chill your blood." 
 
 When the little party reached the small station 
 at the mountain foot the servants started at once 
 to the cavern to build a fire and prepare for the 
 luncheon. 
 
 "Let us walk a bit up the trail," suggested Travers. 
 "I always feel like the Englishman who said the 
 views halfway up a mountain are more enjoyable 
 than those on top. At least, you have life enough 
 left to enjoy them. This particular trail is a mighty 
 wicked one. There ought to be guides, for safety. 
 I know the way perfectly; my mother and I once 
 stayed here some years ago. She meant to come 
 here this summer early, but has decided to wait 
 until Doctor Ledyard joins us. I feel as if I were 
 taking the cream off the thing. Will you trust me 
 Priscilla?"
 
 3 o6 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 There was challenge and command in the use of 
 her name. 
 
 "Absolutely." 
 
 "Come, then! I want you to go first. The rise 
 is easy for a half-mile or so. I can better watch 
 out for you and catch you if you make a misstep. 
 The stones are loose and mischievous; the path is 
 ridiculously near the edge of things. If one should 
 now do not get nervous, but if you should go 
 over, just clutch the bushes, the sturdy little clumps, 
 and nothing can really happen." 
 
 "I never get nervous in high places. Being used 
 to dead levels, I have the courage of the ignorant. 
 Doesn't the air make one " 
 
 "Heady?" 
 
 "Yes. I suppose that is it. Heady and light- 
 hearted." 
 
 Travers had his eyes fixed on the form ahead in 
 its dark blue mountain skirt and corduroy waist. 
 
 "I wish you would take off your hat," he said. 
 
 Priscilla obeyed. 
 
 "Thank you! Will you let me love you?" 
 
 He noticed a tremor run the length of her body. 
 
 "Is that in my giving?" Priscilla meant to 
 play just a little longer, only a little, and then she 
 must make him see that because this sudden and 
 great thing had come to them both, they must prove 
 themselves worthy of it by unselfish recognition of 
 deep truths.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 307 
 
 "No. But I would like to have you say yes! 
 I meant all I said last evening; you said nothing. I 
 mean to have you, because I love you; because I 
 know you love me, and because nothing else matters. 
 It's only fair to warn you. You do love me?" 
 
 "Is it love when everything else is swept aside?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "All but the longing for the best?" 
 
 "Yes. That is love." 
 
 "Then, I love you." 
 
 "On ahead there is a tiny bluff, do not speak again 
 until we reach it. A strange and wonderful thing 
 came to me there once years ago. I want to 
 tell you about it, my beloved!" 
 
 Travers watched her as he spoke. Again that 
 tremor ran through Priscilla. 
 
 It was nearly noon when they stopped, at Travers's 
 word. They had come, silently, up the trail, only 
 their footsteps and their quicker breathing break- 
 ing the awesome stillness. Their separate thoughts 
 were bringing them dangerously nearer together, 
 trampling caution, warning, and purpose beneath 
 their young yearning for the vital meaning of life. 
 When they faced each other at last it was as if they 
 had indeed been transfigured. 
 
 "Mine!" whispered Travers, stretching out his 
 hands. "You are mine! Do not struggle.'* 
 
 Priscilla put her hands in his, but did not 
 speak.
 
 308 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS" 
 
 "And now let us sit here. I want you to under- 
 stand. You will try to understand?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 All her life Priscilla was to look back on that mo- 
 ment as the first perfect one of her life. She felt no 
 shame in taking it. It belonged to her, and she 
 meant to prove herself to him. 
 
 "I feel as if there were a new heaven and a new 
 earth, Priscilla, and that you and I had just been 
 created the first man, the first woman. Dear 
 heart, rest your head, so, against my knee." He 
 was sitting above her. "Your hair holds all the 
 glory of the sunlight, and how white and warm your 
 throat is!" His fingers touched it reverently. 
 "Let us cling to this one hour that has given us 
 to each other. Are you happy?" 
 
 "It means something more than that this 
 
 moment " Priscilla spoke as if held by a 
 
 dream. 
 
 "You are content?" 
 
 "Yes. That is it. I am content. I shall 
 never ask for anything more, anything better. I 
 have everything the world and and God, has 
 to give." 
 
 "My darling! Now let me tell you. Years ago 
 I came here after a hard struggle for health. I had 
 never had childhood or boyhood, in the real sense; 
 but I was well at last! I saw that I was going to 
 have a man's life, with all that that means, and for
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 309 
 
 months the emotions and cravings, that generally 
 go to the years of making a child and boy, had been 
 crowding and pushing me to a sense of having been 
 defrauded, and I meant to have my turn at last: my 
 joy and pleasure. It seemed just and right to me 
 that I should taste and revel in all that I had been 
 deprived of. I had even been deprived of the long- 
 ing, had not even had the glory of conquest. I had 
 been such a meaningless creature, I thought I could 
 afford even to be selfish. I shrank from being 
 different I had been forced to in the past but 
 I meant to make up for lost time and take my place 
 among my fellows. 
 
 "One morning, just such a morning as this, I 
 found myself alone here! Then I had it out 
 with myself. More distinctly than anything had 
 ever come to me before I realized that life meant 
 one thing, and one thing only: the biggest fight or 
 the meanest defeat! I knew that every passion 
 that burned and flayed me was a warhorse that, 
 if controlled, would carry me safely through the 
 battle; if succumbed to, would trample me under 
 its relentless feet. This I knew with my brain, while 
 tradition, inclination, and longing called me fool! 
 Well, I was given strength to follow my head; but 
 every year has been a struggle. I found that to be 
 different meant contempt often, misunderstanding 
 always. Sometimes it has not seemed worth while; 
 the victories were so lonely and useless; but I thanked
 
 3 io THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 God last night, when I saw your face as you danced, 
 that I could offer you a love that need not make the 
 pitiful plea for mercy from your love. Through 
 temptation and the long fight it has always seemed 
 to me that no man should ask for pure love without 
 the equivalent to offer in return. 
 
 "Can you understand when I say that this battle 
 of mine has brought me closer to men and women, 
 with no bitterness in my heart; has left me free, not 
 to despise them, but to help them?" 
 
 "Yes, oh, yes; all my life I could understand those 
 who fight. I, too, have fought and fought." 
 
 Travers's hand was pressing upward the head 
 against his knee so that he could look in the up- 
 lifted eyes. 
 
 "My love! as free man and woman, let us give 
 ourselves to each other!" 
 
 Then he bent and kissed the smiling mouth. 
 
 "Speak to me, my wife." 
 
 "Yes! But let me think, dear heart. I must 
 speak; the half has only been told." She moved a 
 bit away from him. Travers let her go with no fear. 
 
 "Now, strange little thing, since you cannot speak 
 in my arms, have your will!" he whispered. 
 
 "There is a to-morrow." The even voice had no 
 strain of pain or sorrow in it. "And we must not 
 forget that. We have played and played until 
 we have made ourselves believe such wonderful 
 things; but to-morrow we will wake up and be
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 311 
 
 what we have been made! I have heard, oh! so 
 many people, tell of your future, your honours. I 
 have seen Doctor Ledyard's eyes upon you; I know 
 you have a mother who adores you. I do not know 
 your world; I could not touch your place but to mar 
 it, and, because I love you so oh! so absolutely, 
 and because I would want, and must have, glory in 
 my own love we must stop playing! We have 
 not" and now the eyes dimmed "we have not 
 played for keeps!" 
 
 "You poor, little girl! How you use the old, 
 foolish arguments, thinking yourself wise. Do you 
 imagine I could let you dim the sacred thing that 
 has come to us by such idle prating? There are 
 only you and I and the future. You darling child, 
 come here!" 
 
 In reaching toward her, Travers's foot pressed too 
 heavily against the stone upon which she sat; it 
 moved, slipped, and Priscilla escaped his clutch. 
 Not realizing her danger, she smiled up at him radi- 
 antly. She meant what she had said, but youth 
 could not relinquish its rights without a struggle, and 
 his eyes were so heavenly kind. 
 
 "My God! Clutch the bushes, Priscilla!" 
 
 "What is the matter?" But with the question 
 came the knowledge. She was going down, down, and 
 every effort he made to save her sent her farther 
 along the awful slope! She held to a nearby bush 
 but uprooted it by the force with which she gripped
 
 3 i2 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 it. Faster, faster, with that terrified face above 
 her! 
 
 "My precious one! Try again! Do not be afraid!" 
 
 "No." 
 
 And then they both heard the hoarse whistle of 
 the little shuttle train nearing The Ghost, with Mar- 
 garet Moffatt on board ! 
 
 Travers realized the new danger. Very steep was 
 the grade of the mountain, and it ended on the 
 tracks! 
 
 He shut his eyes; he could do no more. Every 
 move he made imperilled the woman he would give 
 his life to save. The only comfort he knew was that 
 he, too, was losing, losing. They would be together 
 at the last. 
 
 Priscilla understood also. She looked up and saw 
 him close his eyes; then fear fled, as it does when the 
 last hope takes it. It would soon be over for them, 
 and nothing in all the world could separate them. 
 There was nothing but him and her! He had seen 
 that; but now she saw it, too. Him and her! him 
 and her! 
 
 "I love you so!" she whispered. "I am not 
 afraid. I'm sorry. I would have given myself to 
 you! I would indeed!" 
 
 She wanted him to know. He opened his eyes 
 and smiled a twisted, hideous smile. 
 
 "I meant to have you." The words came to 
 her faintly. A nearer shriek of the whistle, and a
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 313 
 
 deafening clang of the bell ! Some one at the throttle 
 of the engine had an inspiration and sent the crazy 
 thing shooting ahead. 
 
 Then it was past, and upon the tracks over which 
 the car had but just gone lay Priscilla Glenn quite 
 unconscious! 
 
 Travers came to himself at once, and took her 
 head on his knee where but a short time ago it had 
 lain so happily. 
 
 "You, Priscilla!" It was Margaret Moffatt who 
 spoke. The train had stopped; the few passengers 
 had come back to see what had happened. 
 
 " Yes ; my God ! Yes ! Miss Moffatt, will you see 
 if she is dead? I dare not trust myself." 
 
 It was late that night, in Priscilla's room at the 
 inn, that she and Margaret had their talk. 
 
 Priscilla lay upon her bed weak and bruised, but 
 otherwise safe. Margaret sat beside her, her hand 
 in Priscilla's. 
 
 "Doctor Travers has pulled himself together at 
 last," she said. "I never saw a strong man so shat- 
 tered. And you, dear, you are sure you have told me 
 the truth you are not suffering?" 
 
 "No, only a little dazed. That's natural after 
 looking death in the face for hours and hours while 
 everything slipped away from you things you 
 had always thought meant something." 
 
 "Yes, poor girl!"
 
 3H THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "And they meant nothing. They never do.'* 
 
 "No. You found that at death's door; I found it 
 at life's. I want to tell you something, dear, that 
 will make you forget yourself and think of me. 
 You are sure you cannot sleep?" 
 
 "I do not want to sleep." 
 
 "Priscilla, I have given myself to love! You 
 can understand. Travers has just told me about 
 him and you!" 
 
 A faint colour touched the face on the pillow. 
 
 " It was the telling that brought him around. He's 
 superb, and you're a daffy little goose, Cilia. Imag- 
 ine a man like Travers letting a girl like you slip 
 through his fingers." 
 
 "He did!" weakly interrupted Priscilla. 
 
 "But he followed you right down, and into 
 hell!" 
 
 "Into life and joy, you mean, Margaret life!" 
 
 "Well, at any rate, he was with you. It is mag- 
 nificent to see a man, or a woman, big enough, 
 brave enough, and sensible enough to sweep the 
 senseless rubbish of life aside, and get each other! 
 Oh! it's life as God meant it. Priscilla, the letter I 
 wrote to-day was to my man. He's as splendid as 
 yours. I told you once how I I loved children. 
 I had taken that love for granted until something 
 happened. A friend of mine married one of the 
 girls my people thought was the kind for me to 
 know. She didn't understand life any more than I
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 315 
 
 aid', she just took one of the men who wore the same 
 label she did. Her child came a year after; a 
 horrible little creature diseased; dreadful can 
 you understand?" 
 
 "Yes" Priscilla had turned toward the girl by 
 her side- "yes, I know what you mean. I have been 
 
 a nurse.'* 
 
 "That was the first time things we should have 
 known were known by my friend and me!" 
 Margaret's voice was low and hard. 
 
 "She -she cursed him, her husband and left 
 him! It was terrible ! I was frightened, more fright- 
 ened than I had ever been. Everything seemed tot- 
 tering around me. I thought I must die; I dared 
 trust nothing. Just then some one told me he 
 loved me; and I I had loved him. But I was more 
 afraid of him than of any one in God's world. I 
 thought I was going mad, and then I went to 
 Doctor Ledyard and told him all about it. I just 
 threw my whole burden of doubt and ignorance upon 
 him he is such a good man! Sometimes I weep 
 when I think of him. He was father, friend, and 
 physician, all in one. He understood. He told me 
 to go away; he got you for me. He told me to play 
 like a little girl, with only the real and beautiful 
 things of life; to forget the worries, and he would 
 make sure! 
 
 "Priscilla, he has made sure! My love is safe. 
 I can give myself to my love and let it have its way
 
 3 i6 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 with me, and in the beautiful future, our future, his 
 and mine, little children cannot curse us by their 
 suffering and deformity. 
 
 "This must be the heritage a woman should be able 
 to give her children, or she has no right to her own 
 love. God has been so good to me he has not 
 asked for sacrifice; but" - here she spoke fiercely - 
 "I was ready to sacrifice my love for I had seen 
 my friend's baby! 
 
 "I had never known God before as I know him 
 now. He came to me with love and faith and my 
 glorious life. Before, my God was a prayer-book 
 God; a dead thing that only rustled when we touched 
 him; and now, oh! Cilia, he is alive and breathing 
 in good men and women, in little children, in all the 
 beautiful, real things. They did not bury my God, 
 or yours, long ago; they only set him free for us to 
 find and love and follow." 
 
 They clung to each other in a passion of reverence 
 and happiness, and then kissed each other good 
 night.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 MY GIRL," said Travers a week later, 
 " how shall it be? May I tell every one how 
 madly happy I am? May I take you to 
 that little shrine a mile up the mountain yonder and 
 make you mine and then show them all why I 
 am so happy? Or 
 
 "Yes. Or " Priscilla lay quite contentedly 
 
 in his arms, her eyes on the shining outlines of The 
 Ghost. 
 
 "And that means, my sweet?" 
 
 "That we should keep this blessed secret jus*t a 
 little longer to ourselves. I feel as if I could not 
 bear to have it explained, defended, or justified, and 
 all that must follow, my very dear man, when the 
 play is over and we return to to school. I shall be 
 glad and ready to do all this a little later on; proud 
 to have you do it for me, and we'll face the music. 
 It is going to be music, dear, I am sure of that. But 
 some very stern questions will be asked by that sweet 
 mother of yours, and she shall have her answer. 
 Then Doctor Ledyard, with all the prayer gone from 
 his eyes, will call me up for judgment and demand to 
 know what right a nurse, even a white nurse, had to 
 
 317
 
 318 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 lay hands upon a young physician who was on the 
 road to glory! It will be hard to answer him; but 
 never mind!" 
 
 "And then, dear lady of mystery, what then?" 
 
 "Why, then I'm going to beckon to you and we'll 
 dance ' 
 
 "Dance, my darling?" 
 
 "Yes, dance away and away to a holy place I 
 know, and then I'm going to tell you the whole 
 story of Priscilla 
 
 But - at that moment Margaret Moffatt came upon 
 the scene. The miracle of love had transfigured the 
 girl. She looked, as Travers had said to Priscilla, 
 like the All Woman: large, fine, and noble, with un- 
 ashamed surrender in her splendid eyes. 
 
 "And that is what she is!" Priscilla had replied, 
 "the All Woman. I could die for her, live for her, 
 do anything for her. For me, she is the first, the 
 one woman, in all the world." 
 
 "Young devotee, could you, would you, give your 
 love up for her?" Travers had asked, and then 
 Priscilla spoke words that Travers remembered long 
 afterward. 
 
 "I could not give my love up for that is I, 
 myself; just as the dance is just as my soul is 
 but I could; yes, I know I could give up my happi- 
 ness for her, if by so doing I could spare her one 
 shadow. Her glorious nature could reach where mine 
 never could."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 319 
 
 "Yours reaches to me, little girl." 
 
 " But hers oh! my dear man, hers reaches to 
 the world. If you knew her as I know her!" 
 
 But Margaret was whimsical and witchy as she 
 came upon the two in the small arbour by the lake. 
 
 "Folks," she said, "let us keep our nice little sur- 
 prises to ourselves for a while, like miserly creatures. 
 My dear old daddy-boy is fretting and fussing 
 about me, 'dreading the issue,' as he told Doctor 
 Ledyard, and behold I'm going to do exactly what 
 my daddykins desires! And you, Doctor Richard 
 Travers, you are wanted by your lady mother. 
 Here's a telegram. The girl in the office always tells 
 what is in a telegram, to spare shock. And Cilia, 
 my shining-headed chum, you and I are going to 
 scamper about a bit before we go home. I'd be a 
 miserable defaulter, indeed, if I did not give you 
 your share of this experience. Oh! I know you've 
 snatched bits that in no wise were included in the 
 program, but we're all grafters. I want to play 
 fair. Will you flit over the continent with me and 
 Mousey, dear little pal?" 
 
 And three days later they began their trip, while 
 Travers returned to Helen. It was a charming trip 
 the girls made, but their hearts were elsewhere. 
 
 In October they were in New York again, and the 
 inevitable happened. Margaret was returned to 
 her world, and, for the moment, was absorbed. 
 Priscilla lost sight of her, though she heard con-
 
 320 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 stantly from her by telephone or delicately worded 
 notes. 
 
 A sad occurrence kept Richard Travers abroad. 
 Helen contracted fever and for weeks lay between 
 life and death. Doctor Ledyard waited until the 
 danger was past, and then left the two together in 
 Paris, while Helen recovered, with Travers to watch 
 and care for her. 
 
 The letters that came to Priscilla were all that 
 kept her eyes shining and her heart singing. 
 
 "I shall go on as usual," she wrote to Richard. 
 "When you come, then we'll make the wonderful 
 announcement. I see now that we have no right to 
 our secret alone; but with the ocean between us, it 
 is best." 
 
 During those months Priscilla learned to know 
 Helen Travers through Travers's letters. Woman- 
 like, she read between the lines and caught a glimpse 
 of Helen's nobility and simple sweetness. Her loved 
 ones were so sacred to her that no personal demands 
 could ever cause her to raise objections. Once she 
 was sure that they she worshipped wanted anything 
 for their true happiness, her energies were bent to 
 that end. 
 
 "And she will love you, my girl; will learn to de- 
 pend upon you as I do. As for Doctor Ledyard, 
 when he is cornered, he is the best soul that ever 
 drew breath, and mother can bully him into any- 
 thing."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 321 
 
 It was in February that Priscilla was called up by 
 Doctor Hapgood, a man of high repute. 
 
 "Are you on duty?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "Any immediate engagement?" 
 
 "None until March." 
 
 "I would like to have you take a case of mine that 
 requires tact as well as efficiency. Can you take 
 it?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Report then at 60 West Eighty-first Street this 
 afternoon, at four." 
 
 Priscilla found herself promptly at four o'clock 
 in the waiting-room of a palatial bachelor apartment, 
 and there Doctor Hapgood joined her. 
 
 "Before we go upstairs," he said, drawing his 
 chair close to Priscilla's and lowering his voice, "I 
 wish to say to you what, doubtless, there is no real 
 need of saying. I simply emphasize the necessity. 
 The young man who requires your services is Clyde 
 Huntter. This means nothing to you, but it does 
 to many others. He is supposed to be in Ber- 
 muda. You understand?" 
 
 "Yes, Doctor Hapgood." 
 
 "The case is a particularly tragic one, such an one 
 as you may encounter later on in your career. It 
 demands all your sympathy, encouragement, and 
 patience. Mr. Huntter is as fine a man, as upright 
 a one, as I know, his ideals and and present life
 
 are above reproach. He is paying a bitter debt for 
 youthful and ignorant folly. I believed this im- 
 possible, but so it is. I am thankful to say, how- 
 ever, that he has every reason to hope that the 
 future, after this, is secure. I have chosen you to 
 care for him, because I know your ability; have 
 heard of your powers of reticence and cheerfulness. 
 I depend upon you absolutely." 
 
 "Thank you, Doctor Hapgood." 
 
 Priscilla's face had gone deadly white, but never 
 having heard Huntter's name before, she was im- 
 personal in her feeling. 
 
 "I will do my best." 
 
 The days following were days of strain and torture 
 to Priscilla. Her patient was a man who appealed 
 to her strongly, pathetically. There were hours 
 when his gloom and depression would almost drag 
 her along to the depths into which he sank; then 
 again he would beg her to pardon him for his brutal 
 thoughtlessness. 
 
 "Sit there, Miss Glynn," he said one day. "The 
 sunshine is rather niggardly, but when it rests on 
 your hair it lasts longer." 
 
 "Oh, my poor hair!" 
 
 "Poor? It looks like a gold mine." Then: "I 
 wish you would read to me. No; nothing recent 
 or superficial. Something from the old, cast-iron 
 writers who knew how to use thumb screws and rack. 
 There's something wholesome in them; something
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 323 
 
 you buck up against. They make you writhe and 
 groan, but they leave you with the thought that 
 you've lived through something." 
 
 Again, another day, after a bad night: 
 
 "I think you'd better go into the next room, Miss 
 Glynn, and take a nap. I'd feel less brutally selfish 
 if I could see your eyes calmer. Besides, being shut 
 away here from all I'm dying to have makes an 
 idiot of me. If you stay any longer, looking at me 
 with those queer eyes of yours, I may break down 
 and tell you all about it, just for the dangerous joy 
 of easing my own soul by dumping a load on yours. 
 Good God! Miss Glynn, such women as you should 
 not be nurses; it isn't fair. I'd give let me see 
 well, I'd give six months of my life since Hapgood 
 says I stand a fair chance for ninety years to talk 
 to you, man to woman, and get your point of view 
 about something. There are moments, after a bad 
 night, when I think you women haven't had all they 
 say you should have had. We men have been too 
 blindly sure we could play your game as well as our 
 own. Run now! If you stay another minute I'll 
 regret it, and so will you.'* 
 
 "Shall I shake your pillow before I go, Mr. Hunt- 
 ter?" 
 
 "Yes. Thank you. You manage to shake more 
 whim-whams out of the creases than you know." 
 
 He stayed her by a wistful, longing, and half-boy- 
 ish smile.
 
 324 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Say," he said, "you see you didn't run quick 
 enough, and now I'm going to ask you something. 
 You must have seen a good deal of women as well 
 as men in your calling." 
 
 "Yes, I have." 
 
 "Seen them with their masks off?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What does love count for in the big hours of life? 
 Does it stand everything, anything?" 
 
 Priscilla felt her throat contract. She longed to 
 say something that would reach Huntter without 
 arousing his suspicions. 
 
 "No; love at least, woman's love, doesn't stand 
 everything always." 
 
 "What doesn't it stand? The essence, I mean." 
 
 "It doesn't stand unfair play! Women under- 
 stand fair play and for it would die. They may 
 not say much, but they never forgive being 
 tricked." 
 
 "Oh! of course. How graphic you are, Miss 
 Glynn. You sound as if we were discussing a game 
 of of tennis or bridge. Gentlemen do not trick 
 ladies." He frowned a bit. 
 
 "Don't they, Mr. Huntter?" 
 
 "Certainly not! What I meant was this: You 
 
 seem, for a trained woman, very human and and 
 
 -well, what shall I say? observing and rather a 
 
 thoroughbred. If you loved, now, loved really, 
 
 is there anything you would not forgive a man?
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 325 
 
 That is, if his love for you was the biggest thing in 
 his life?" 
 
 Priscilla stood quite still and looked at the pale, 
 handsome face on the pillow. 
 
 "My love yes; my love could and would for- 
 give anything, if it related only to to the man 
 I loved and me!" 
 
 The frown deepened on Huntter's face; he turned 
 uneasily. 
 
 "After all," he muttered, "a man and woman see 
 things so differently. There is no use!" 
 
 "I wonder if things would not seem plainer if 
 they saw them together?" 
 
 But Priscilla saw she had gone too far. The whim- 
 sical mood in Huntter had passed. He was himself 
 again, and she was his nurse his nurse who knew 
 too much! More fretfully than he had ever spoken 
 to her, he said: 
 
 "I wish to be alone, Miss Glynn." 
 
 Priscilla passed out, leaving the door between the 
 rooms ajar, and lay down upon the couch. 
 
 To Doctor Hapgood she was a machine merely; 
 an easy-running one, a dependable one, but none 
 the less a machine. To Huntter, shut away from 
 society, gregarious, friendly, and kindly, she had 
 meant much more. Her recent experience abroad, 
 with all the exquisite touches of human interest and 
 uplift, had left her peculiarly sensitive to her present 
 environment.
 
 326 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 She liked the man in the room next her. There 
 was much that was noble and fine about him, but 
 he was a type that had never entered her life before, 
 and often, by his kindliest word and gesture, drew 
 her attention to a yawning space between them. 
 She was at her ease, perfectly so, when near him, but 
 she knew it was because of the distance that sepa- 
 rated them. Still, she was confronted by a certain 
 grim fact, and that ugly knowledge held him and 
 her together. By some strange process of reason 
 she wanted him to live up to the best in him. There 
 were two markedly different sides of his nature; 
 she trembled before one; before the other she gave 
 homage as she did to Travers, to John Boswell, and 
 Master Farwell. 
 
 The day before, Huntter had had a long talk with 
 Doctor Hapgood while she was off duty. That con- 
 versation had doubtlessly caused the bad night; she 
 wondered about it now. It had evidently upset 
 Huntter a good deal. 
 
 Then Priscilla, losing consciousness gradually, 
 thought of Travers, of Margaret Moffatt, who be- 
 lieved her to be out of the city. She smiled happily 
 as she relived her blessed memories of good men and 
 women. They justified and sanctified life, love, 
 and happiness, and they made it possible for her, 
 poor, struggling, little white nurse as she was, with 
 all her professional knowledge, to trust and sympa- 
 thize, and faithfully serve.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 327 
 
 She must have slept deeply, for it took her a full 
 moment to realize that some one in the next room 
 was talking and saying things! 
 
 "No, she's asleep, Huntter. She looks worn out. 
 We must get a night nurse. Well, I have only this 
 to say: God knows I pity you, but my duty compels 
 me to say that you should not marry ! The chances 
 are about even; but you shouldn't take the risk." 
 
 A groan brought Priscilla to her feet, alert and 
 quivering. Like a sudden and blinding shock she 
 understood, what seemed to her, a whole life history. 
 She stumbled to the door and faced Dr. Hapgood, 
 hat in hand, keen-eyed, but detached. 
 
 "You slept heavily?" 
 
 "Yes, Doctor Hapgood." 
 
 "I am going to send a night nurse to relieve you. 
 When did you say your next engagement began ? " 
 
 "March fifth." 
 
 "Well, you will need a week to recuperate. Make 
 your plans accordingly. Do you understand?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Did he suspect? Did he warn her? But his 
 next words were kindness alone. 
 
 "There should have been two nurses all along. 
 One forgets your youth in your efficiency. Good 
 morning." 
 
 When Priscilla stood beside Huntter again his 
 wan face, close-shut eyes, and grim mouth almost 
 frightened her.
 
 328 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "I want to sleep," he said briefly. "Draw down 
 the shades." 
 
 The night nurse became a staple joke between her 
 and Huntter. 
 
 "Lord!" he exclaimed one day as Priscilla entered; 
 "you're like the morning: clear, fresh, and hopeful. 
 Do you know, that to escape the nightmare that 
 haunts my chamber after you go, I have to play sleep 
 even if I'm dying with thirst or blue devils? She's 
 religious! Think of a nurse with religion that she 
 feels compelled to share with a sick man! I'm going 
 to get up to-day, Miss Glynn. I've bullied Hap- 
 good into giving permission, and I've done him 
 one better. I'm going to have a visitor! I'm back 
 from Bermuda, you know. After you've fixed me 
 up isn't it a glorious day? open the windows, 
 and I've ordered a lot of flowers. Put them in 
 those brass bowls. My visitor is a lady. She likes 
 yellow roses. By the way, Miss Glynn, Doctor 
 Hapgood tells me that you've been in Bermuda, 
 too? Thorough old disciplinarian he! You must 
 have been lonely. And you leave me next week? 
 I want to thank you. I shall thank you ceremoni- 
 ously every time you enter after this. You've been 
 a good nurse and a good friend. I couldn't say 
 more, now could I ? " 
 
 "No, Mr. Huntter. And you've been a very 
 brave man! I know you will always be that, and 
 make light of it. I rather like the half-joking way
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 329 
 
 you do your kindest things. Here are the flowers! 
 Oh, what beauties!" 
 
 Priscilla turned from helping Huntter and began 
 arranging the glorious mass of roses in the brass 
 bowls. 
 
 "What time is it, Miss Glynn?" 
 
 "Eleven o'clock." 
 
 g "And my friend is due at eleven-thirty. She will 
 be here on the minute. I feel like a boy, Miss 
 Glynn. One gets the doldrums being alone and 
 convalescing. How the grim devils catch and hold 
 you while they try to distort life! I must have been 
 a sad trial to you, but I'm myself again. Tell me, 
 honest true, Miss Glynn, just how have I come out 
 in your estimation? A man is no hero to his valet. 
 What is he to his trained nurse?" 
 
 "You have been very patient and considerate." 
 Priscilla's back was turned to Huntter; her face was 
 quivering. 
 
 "Negative virtues! Had I been a brute you would 
 have gone. I might have had the night nurse for 
 twenty-four hours. I dared not run the risk of let- 
 ting you go." 
 
 "I've come out pretty well in your estimation? 
 That's a feather in my nice, white cap," she said. 
 
 "I wonder why I care what you think of me?" 
 
 "I do not know, Mr. Huntter, except that we all 
 care for the good opinion of those who wish us well." 
 
 "You wish me -veil?"
 
 330 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "With all my heart." 
 
 "I'd like" - Huntter turned his face toward the 
 window and the glorious winter day "I'd like to 
 be worthy of every well-wisher. I feel quite the good 
 boy this morning. I've been well, I've been 
 rather up against it, I fear, and a trial to you, for all 
 that you say to the contrary; but I am going to make 
 amends to you and the world ! Now, when my 
 friend comes, you won't mind if I ask you to leave us 
 alone for a few moments? I can call you when I 
 need you." 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Huntter." 
 
 "The lady is you may have guessed my 
 fiancee. I have important things to say to her, 
 and- -" 
 
 Priscilla's heart beat madly. She felt she was 
 near a deeper tragedy than any that had ever entered 
 her life. And just then, as the clock struck the half 
 hour, came a tap on the door: 
 
 "Come!" cried Huntter, in a tone of joy; "Come!" 
 And in burst Margaret Moffatt! 
 
 She did not notice the rigid figure by the bowl of 
 flowers; her radiant face was fixed upon Huntter, and 
 she ran toward him with outstretched arms. 
 
 "My beloved!" she whispered. "Oh! my dear, 
 my dear! How ill you have been! They did not 
 tell me. I shall never forgive them. When did you 
 get back from Bermuda?" 
 
 Priscilla slipped from the room and closed the door
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 331 
 
 noiselessly behind her, but not before she had seen 
 Margaret Moffatt sink into Huntter's arms; not be- 
 fore she heard the sigh of perfect content that es- 
 caped her. 
 
 Alone in the anteroom, the hideous truth flayed 
 Priscilla into suffering and clear vision. 
 
 "What shall I do?" she moaned, clasping her 
 hands and swaying back and forth. All the burden 
 and responsibility of the world seemed cast upon her. 
 Then reason asserted itself. 
 
 "He will tell her! He is telling her now! Killing 
 her love killing her! Oh, my God!" 
 
 Then she shrank from the thought that she would, 
 in a few moments, have to face her friend! How 
 could she, when she remembered that holy night of 
 confession in the little Swiss village? Again she 
 moaned, "Oh! my God!" But she was spared that 
 scene. Moments, though they seemed ages, passed, 
 and then Huntter called: 
 
 "MissGlynn!" 
 
 She hardly recognized his voice. It was tri- 
 umphant, thrilling. It rang boldly, commandingly. 
 When she entered, Huntter was alone. Gone was 
 the guest; gone the mass of golden roses. Huntter 
 turned a face glowing and confident to her. 
 
 "Just because you are you, Miss Glynn, and be- 
 cause I'm the happiest man in New York, I want you 
 to congratulate me. That was Miss MofFatt. She 
 and I are to marry '- in the spring."
 
 332 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Did you mention my name to her?" 
 Priscilla's haggard face at last attracted the man. 
 "No. I was inhumanly selfish. You must for- 
 give me. I meant to tell her of your faithful care; I 
 meant to have you meet her. I forgot." 
 
 "Never mention me to her! She is my one 
 friend in all the world; my one woman friend." 
 They faced each other blankly, fiercely. Then: 
 "Good Lord, Miss Glynn!" and Huntter 
 laughed!
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE week of recuperation Doctor Hapgood 
 recommended was one of prolonged torture 
 to Priscilla Glenn. Thinking of it after- 
 ward, she realized that it was the Gethsemane of her 
 life the hour when, forsaken by all, she fought her 
 bitter fight. 
 
 The drift of the ages confronted her. Her own 
 insignificance, her humbleness, accentuated and 
 betrayed her. Who would listen? How dared she 
 speak! Who would heed her? 
 
 One, and one only. Margaret MofFatt! 
 
 From her Priscilla shrank and hid until she could 
 gain courage to go and by saving her, kill her! 
 Yes, it meant that. The killing of the beautiful 
 All Woman, as Travers had called her. After the 
 telling there would be only the shadow of the splen- 
 did creature that God had meant to be so happy, if 
 only the wrong of the world had not come between! 
 
 There were moments when, worn by struggle 
 and wakeful nights, Priscilla felt incapable of sane 
 thought. 
 
 Why should she interfere, she asked herself. 
 Professional silence was her only course. And 
 
 333
 
 334 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 there was the chance the chance! Against it 
 stood, pleading, Margaret's radiant love and Hunt- 
 ter's strength and devotion. 
 
 Who could blame her if she forgot? But oh! 
 how they would curse her if she spoke! They might 
 not believe; they might ruin her! 
 
 Then faith laid its commanding touch upon her 
 spirit. It had been given her to know a woman who, 
 for high principles and all the sacred future, was pre- 
 pared to sacrifice her love if needs must be! 
 
 They two, Margaret of the high-soul, and she, 
 Priscilla Glenn of the understanding devotion, 
 seemed to stand apart and alone, each, in her way, 
 called upon to testify and act. 
 
 "It must be done!" moaned Priscilla; "she must 
 know and decide! But how? how?" 
 
 John Boswell and Master Farwell were gone to the 
 In-Place. The sanctuary overlooking the river was 
 closed. There was no one, no place, to which Pris- 
 cilla could go for comfort and advice, and her secret 
 and her duty left her no peace or rest. 
 
 She had taken a tiny suite in a family hotel. The 
 rooms had the comfort needed for her physical wants, 
 but she tossed on the bed nights and slept brokenly. 
 She ate poorly and grew very thin, very pale. She 
 walked, days, until her body cried out for mercy. 
 She cancelled her engagement, for she was unfitted 
 for service, and intuitively she knew that, for her, 
 a great change was near.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 335 
 
 When she was weak from weariness and lonely 
 to the verge of exhaustion, she thought of Kenmore 
 not Travers with positive yearning. The wo- 
 man of her, madly defending, or about to defend, 
 woman, excluded even her own love and her own 
 man. It was sex against sex; the world's injustice 
 against all that woman held sacred! If Margaret 
 were to be sacrificed, so was she, for she blindly felt 
 that Travers would not uphold her! How could he 
 when tradition held him captive? How could he 
 when his oath bound him like a slave? Doctor Hap- 
 good had done his part, had spoken his word to 
 man! But that was not enough. Man had flaunted 
 it, was willing to take the chance without giving 
 the woman intelligent choice. Oh! it was cruel, it 
 was unjust, and it must be defied. She and Mar- 
 garet must stand side by side, or life never again 
 would taste sweet and pure! 
 
 Priscilla had not heard from Travers in ten days, 
 and this added to her sense of desolation. Then, 
 one evening, coming in from a long tramp in the 
 park, snow covered and bedraggled, she faced him in 
 her own little parlour! 
 
 "My blessed child!" cried he, rushing toward her. 
 "What have you been doing to yourself? " 
 
 She was in his arms; his hands were taking off her 
 snow-wet coat and hat. He was whispering to her 
 his love and gladness while he placed her in a chair 
 and lighted the tiny gas log in the grate.
 
 336 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS ; 
 
 "It's a wicked shame!" he said laughingly; "but 
 it will have to do. Now then, confess!" 
 
 "Oh! I have longed so for you! I have been 
 mad!" 
 
 Priscilla tried to smile, but collapsed miserably. 
 
 "I don't believe you have eaten a" morsel 
 since " Travers glared at her ferociously. 
 
 "Since I I was in Switzerland." The sob 
 aroused Travers to the girl's condition. 
 
 "You poor little tyke!" he said. "Now lean 
 back and do as you're told. I'm going to ring for 
 food. Just plain, homely food. I'm as hungry as a 
 bear myself. I came to you from the vessel. I 
 sent mother home in a cab. I had to see you. We'll 
 eat play; and then, my precious one, we'll talk 
 business." 
 
 "How I have wanted you! needed you!" Again 
 the pitiful wail. 
 
 "Now behave, child! When the waiter comes we 
 must be as staid as Darby and Joan. You poor 
 little girl! Heavens! how big your eyes are, and 
 how frightened ! Come in ! Yes. This is the order; 
 serve it here. " 
 
 The waiter took the order wrapped in a good-sized 
 bill, and departed on willing feet. 
 
 "Your hair is about all that's familiar; longing 
 for me couldn't take the shine from that!" Travers 
 kissed it. 
 
 "I see my next case," he laughed. "To get you
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 337 
 
 in shape will be quite an achievement. We both 
 need play. We thrive on that." 
 
 "Yes, my dear, my dear; but I have forgotten 
 how!" 
 
 "Nonsense! Here's the food. Put the table near 
 the grate" this to the man- "things smoking 
 hot; that's good. The wine, please. Thanks! Miss 
 Glynn, to your health!" 
 
 How Travers managed it no one could tell, but 
 his own unfettered joy drove doubt and care from 
 the little room. Priscilla, warmed and comforted, 
 laughed and responded, and the meal was a merry 
 one. But it was over at last, and the grim spectre 
 stalked once more. Travers noticed the haunted 
 look in the eyes following his every movement, and 
 took warning. Something was seriously wrong, that 
 was evident; but he had boundless faith in his love 
 and power to drive the cloud away. After the room 
 was cleared of dishes and the grateful waiter, Trav- 
 ers attacked the shadow at once. 
 
 He drew a stool to Priscilla's chair and flung his 
 long body beside her. 
 
 "Now," he said, with wonderful tenderness, "let 
 me begin my life work at once, my darling. You are 
 troubled; I am here to bear it all for you!" 
 
 "Oh! Will you bear half, dear heart?" 
 
 "Yes, and that is better. We need not waste 
 words, my tired little girl. Out with the worst and 
 then you and I are going to my mother!"
 
 338 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Your mother?" 
 
 "My mother! God bless her! You know she 
 came near slipping away. She will need and love 
 you more than ever." 
 
 " Oh ! how good it sounds ! Mother ! Oh, my love, 
 my love ! I've had so little and I've wanted so much ! 
 Your mother!" 
 
 "She'll be yours, too, Priscilla. But hurry, child! 
 Just the bare structure; my love will fill in the rest." 
 
 "Do not look up at me, dear man! So, let me rest 
 my face on your head. Can you hear me if I 
 whisper?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "It's about Margaret Margaret Moffatt." 
 
 "The All Woman, the happiest creature, next to 
 what you're going to be, in all God's world?" 
 
 "No!" 
 
 "No? Priscilla, what do you mean?" 
 
 "Do not move. Please do not look up. She is 
 engaged to to Clyde Huntter!" 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "I did not know; she never mentioned his name. 
 While we played, names did not matter his, mine, 
 no one's." An hysterical gasp caused Travers to 
 start. 
 
 "No, please keep your face turned. I must tell 
 you in my way. I have just taken care of Mr. 
 Huntter. He is not. fit to marry any woman 
 he cannot marry Margaret! Doctor Hapgood
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 339 
 
 told him, but he means to marry! She came 
 to see him; she did not see me; she does not know; 
 but she must know!" fiercely; "she must know! 
 That is the one thing above all else that would 
 matter to her; she told me so! She does not live 
 for the the now; she was made for for bigger 
 things!" 
 
 "My God!" Travers was on his feet, and he 
 dragged Priscilla with him. He held her close by 
 her wrists and searched her white, agonized face. 
 Truth and stern purpose were blazoned on it. She 
 had never looked so beautiful, so noble, or so 
 menacing. 
 
 "You heard Doctor Hapgood say that?" 
 
 "I did." 
 
 "In your presence?" 
 
 "No." Then she described the little scene graphi- 
 cally. 
 
 "But Ledyard " Then he paused. Led- 
 
 yard's confidence must be sacred to him. 
 
 "And Huntter Huntter knows that you know; 
 does he know that you are Margaret's friend?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And he trusts you?" 
 
 "He thinks I do not count, but I do with Mar- 
 garet." 
 
 "Priscilla, this is no work for you, poor child!" 
 
 "It is hers and mine, and God's!" deter- 
 minedly.
 
 340 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Darling, you are overwrought. You must trust 
 me. You know what I think of such things; you can 
 safely leave this to me. Ledyard is Huntter's phy- 
 sician. Why he called Hapgood in, I do not know. 
 I will go to Ledyard. Can you not see that they 
 would not believe you ? " 
 
 "Margaret will!" * 
 
 "But her father! You do not understand, my 
 precious. You dear, little, unworldly soul! Mar- 
 garet Moffatt's marriage means a ninth wonder. 
 Any meddling with that would have to be sifted to 
 the dregs. And when they reached you, my own 
 girl, they would grind you to atoms!" 
 
 "Not Margaret!" 
 
 Priscilla drew herself away from the straining 
 hands. She was quite calm now and terribly earnest. 
 
 "When all's told, it is Margaret and I and 
 God!" 
 
 "No. There are others, and other things. All 
 the world's forces are against you." 
 
 "No, they are not! They are turning with me. 
 I feel them; I feel them. I am not afraid." Then 
 she took command, while Travers stood amazed. 
 She put her hands on his shoulders and held him so 
 before the bar of her crude, woman-judgment. 
 
 "Answer me, my beloved! You believe what 
 I have told you?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 "You know Doctor Hapgood will do no more?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 341 
 
 "He cannot." 
 
 "If you go to Doctor Ledyard and he knows 
 and believes what will he do?" 
 
 "He has been Huntter's physician for years. If 
 he has been mistaken, he will go to Huntter." 
 
 "Go to Huntter! And what then? Suppose 
 Mr. Huntter still takes the chance?" 
 
 " Ledyard will he will forbid it! " 
 
 "And what good will that do?" A pitiful bitter- 
 ness crept into Priscilla's voice; her lips quivered. 
 
 "It is all Huntter! Huntter! All men! men! and 
 there stands my dear alone! No one goes to 
 her to let her choose; no one but me! Don't you 
 see what I mean? Oh! my love, my love! My 
 good, good man, can you leave her there in ignorance, 
 all of you? Through the ages she has not had her 
 say about the chance, and that is why - 
 
 Priscilla paused, choked by rising passion. 
 
 "Little girl, listen! What do you mean?" Trav- 
 ers was genuinely alarmed and ajixious. 
 
 "I mean" the white, set face looked like an 
 avenger's, not a passionately loving woman's 
 "I mean that because women have never had an 
 opportunity to know and to choose, you and I, and 
 all people like us, stand helpless with our own great 
 heaven-sent love at peril!" 
 
 "At peril! Oh, my dear girl!" 
 
 "Yes, at peril. We do not know what to do, 
 where to turn. You see the great injustice clearly
 
 342 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 as I do; but you all men have tried to right it by 
 themselves, in their way, while all women, through 
 all the ages, have stood aside and tried to think 
 they were doing God's will when they accepted 
 your best; your half best! Now, oh! now something 
 
 I think it is God calling loud to them is waking 
 them up. They know you cannot do this thing 
 alone; it is their duty, too they must help you, 
 for, oh!" Priscilla leaned toward him with tear- 
 blinded eyes and pleading hands "For the sake of 
 the the little children of the world. Oh! men 
 are fathers, good fathers, but they have forgotten 
 the part mothers must take! We women cannot 
 leave it all to you. It is wicked, wicked for women 
 to try! There is something mightier than our love 
 
 we are learning that!" 
 
 Travers took her in his arms. She was weeping 
 miserably. His heart yearned over her, for he 
 feared she was feeling, as women sometimes did, the 
 awful weight of injustice men had unconsciously, 
 often in deepest love, laid upon them. 
 
 "Priscilla, you trust me; trust my love?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You believe me when I say that I see this as 
 you do but that we only differ as to methods?" 
 
 "I I hope I see that and believe it." 
 
 "Then" -and here Travers did his poor, blind 
 part to lay another straw upon the drift of burden - 
 "leave this to me. I know better than you do
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 343 
 
 the end of any such mad course as you, in your 
 affection and sense of wrong, might take. Little 
 girl, let me try to show you. Suppose you went to 
 Margaret Moffatt. You know her proud, sensitive 
 nature; her loyalty and absolute frankness. After 
 the shock and torture she would go to her father 
 with the truth for she would believe you and 
 announce her unwillingness I am sure, even 
 though her heart broke, she would do this to marry 
 Huntter. Then the matter would lie among men; 
 men with the traditional viewpoint; men with much, 
 much at stake. If Huntter has, as you say, taken 
 the chance, in his love for Margaret and he does 
 love her, poor devil! he will defend himself and 
 his position." 
 
 "How?" Priscilla was regaining her calm; she 
 raised her head and faced Travers from the circle 
 of his arms. 
 
 "He will send Moffatt to to Hapgood." 
 
 "And he what will he do?" 
 
 "What does the priest do when the secrets of the 
 confessional are attacked?" 
 
 "Yes, yes but then?" 
 
 "Then oh! my precious girl! Can you not 
 see? You will come into focus. You, my love, my 
 wife, but, nevertheless, a woman! a trained nurse! 
 Hapgood would flay you alive, not because he has 
 anything against you, but professional honour and 
 discipline would be at stake. Between such a man
 
 344 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 as Hapgood and Priscilla Glynn oh! can you 
 not see my dear, dear girl?" 
 
 "Yes, I begin to see. And I see I dare not 
 trust even you!" The hard note in Priscilla's 
 voice hurt Travers cruelly. "And you, you and 
 Doctor Ledyard how would you stand ? " she asked 
 faintly. 
 
 Travers held her at arm's length, and his face 
 turned ashen gray. 
 
 "Besides being men, we, too, are physicians!" he 
 said. "Brutal as this sounds, it is truth!" 
 
 The light burned dangerously in Priscilla's eyes. 
 
 "When you are physicians you are not men!" 
 she panted, and suddenly, by a sharp stab of memory, 
 Ledyard's words, back in the boyhood days at Ken- 
 more, stung Travers. They were like an echo in his 
 brain. 
 
 "You you of all women, cannot say that and 
 mean it, my darling!" he cried, and tried to draw 
 her to him. She resisted. 
 
 "Our love, the one sacred thing of our very own," 
 he pleaded, "is in peril." He saw it now. "Can 
 you not see? Even if it is woman against woman, 
 what right have you, Priscilla, to cloud and hurt our 
 love?" 
 
 "It is not woman against woman any more." 
 The words came sweetly, almost joyously; something 
 like renunciation tinged them. "It is woman for 
 woman until men will take us by the hands, trust-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 345 
 
 ingly, faithfully, and work with us for what belongs 
 equally to us both!" 
 
 The radiance of the uplifted eyes frightened Trav- 
 ers. So might she look, he thought, had she passed 
 through death and come out victorious. 
 
 "Now, just for a time," the tense, thrilling voice 
 went on, "she and I women must stand alone, 
 and do our best as we see it. It is no good leaving 
 it to to any man. I see that! And our love, 
 yours and mine! Oh! dear man of my heart, that 
 can never die or be hurt. It is yours, mine! God 
 gave it. God will not take it away. God will not take 
 Margaret's either. She will understand, and, even 
 alone, far, far from her love, she will be true, as I 
 will be. That is what it means to us!" Then she 
 paused and smiled at Travers as across a widening 
 chasm. 
 
 "I am going now!" 
 
 " Going ? My beloved going where ? '' 
 
 "To Margaret." 
 
 "You dare not! You shall not! You are 
 mad!" 
 
 "No. I am going, because, as things are, I 
 cannot trust you, even you! That is our penalty 
 for the world's wrong. Long, long ago some one 
 oh! it was back in the days when I did not know 
 what life meant some one told me never to 
 let any one kill my ideal! No one ever has! It 
 goes on before, leading and beckoning. I must fol-
 
 346 
 
 low. I do not know where he is, he who told me, 
 but I know, as sure as I know that I shall always 
 love you, that he is following his ideal, and living 
 true and sure. Good night." 
 
 Unable to think or act, Travers saw Priscilla take 
 up her still damp coat and hat. Like a man in a 
 nightmare he saw her turn a deadly white face upon 
 him, and then the door closed and he was alone 
 in her little room! 
 
 He looked about, dazed and emotionless. He felt 
 her in every touch of the lonely place; her books, her 
 little pictures, herself! Some women are like that: 
 they leave themselves in the presence of them they 
 love forever! 
 
 "Kill her ideal!" The words rang in the empty 
 corners of his heart and mind. "Somewhere he is 
 following his ideal, and living true and sure!" 
 
 Unconsciously, as men do in an hour of stress, 
 Travers turned to action. Presently he found him- 
 self setting the tiny room in order as one does after 
 a dear one has departed, or a spirit taken its flight. 
 And while he moved about his reason was slowly 
 readjusting itself, and he felt poignantly his im- 
 potency, his inability to use even his love for domi- 
 nance. Being a just and honest man, he could not 
 deny what Priscilla had said; truth rang in every 
 sentence, chimed in with the minor notes of his life. 
 No thought of following or staying her entered his 
 mind; she had set about her business, woman's busi-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 347 
 
 ness, and, to the man's excited fancy, he seemed to 
 see her pressing forward to the doing of that to 
 which her soul called her. Then it was her beautiful 
 shining hair he remembered, and his passion cried 
 out for its own. 
 
 "This comes," he fiercely cried, setting his teeth 
 hard, "of our leaving them behind our women! 
 Through the ages their place has been beside us as 
 we fought every foe of the race. We set them aside 
 in our folly, and now" he bowed his head upon 
 his folded arms "and now they are waking up 
 and demanding only what is theirs!" 
 
 A specimen of the new man was Travers, but in- 
 heritance, and Ledyard's teaching, had left their 
 seal upon him. Bowed in Priscilla's little room 
 he tried to see his way, but for a time he reasoned 
 with Ledyard's words ringing in his ears. Had he 
 not gone over this with his friend, and partner many 
 a time? 
 
 "Yes, I know the cursed evil, know its power and 
 danger! Yes, it threatens the race, but it has 
 its roots in the ages; it must be tackled cautiously. 
 If we take the stand you suggest" -for Travers 
 had put forth his violent, new opposition- "what 
 will happen ? The quacks and money-making sharks 
 will get the upper hand. Do you think men would 
 come to us if exposure faced them? It's the devil, 
 my boy; but of the two evils this, God knows, is 
 the least. We must do what we can; work for a
 
 348 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 scientific and moral redemption, but never play the 
 game like fools.'* " But the women," Travers had 
 put in feverishly, "the women! " " Spare me, boy! 
 The women have clutched the heart of me always. 
 The women and the the babies. I've used them 
 to flay many men into remorse and better living. I 
 am thinking of them, as God hears me, when I take 
 the course I do!" 
 
 And so Travers suffered and groaned in the small, 
 deserted room. 
 
 Above and beyond Ledyard's reasoning stood 
 two desolate figures. They seemed to represent all 
 women: his Priscilla and Margaret MofFatt! One, 
 the crude child of nature with her gleam undimmed, 
 leading her forth unhampered, though love and 
 suffering blocked her way; the other, the daughter 
 of ages of refinement and culture, who had heard 
 the call of the future in her big woman-heart and 
 could leave all else for the sake of the crown she 
 might never wear, but which, with God's help, she 
 would never defile. 
 
 On, on, they two went befo re Travers's aching eyes. 
 The way before them was shining, or was it the light 
 of Priscilla's hair? They were leaving him, all men, 
 
 in the dark! It was to seek the light, or And 
 
 then Travers got up and left the room with bowed 
 head, like one turning his back upon the dead. 
 
 He went to Ledyard at once, and found that cheer- 
 ful gentleman awaiting him.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 349 
 
 "At last!" he cried. "Helen telephoned at seven. 
 She thought you were on your way here. Did you 
 get lost?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What's the matter, Dick? You look as if you 
 had seen a ghost." 
 
 " I have. An army of them." 
 
 "Are you ill?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Sit down, boy. Here, take a swallow of wine. 
 You're used up. Now then!" 
 
 " Doctor Ledyard, you were wrong about Hunt- 
 ter! You remember what you told me, before Mar- 
 garet Moffatt announced her engagement?" 
 
 "Yes." Ledyard poured himself a glass of wine 
 and walked to his chair across the room. 
 
 "You were wrong; he is not what you think." 
 
 "What do you mean? I haven't seen Huntter for 
 - for a year or more. I took care, sacred care, 
 though, to to trace him from the time he first 
 came to me, more than ten years ago. No straighter, 
 more honourable man breathes than he. He was 
 one of the victims of ignorance and crooked reason- 
 ing, but, thank God ! he was spared the worst." 
 
 "He was not." 
 
 "Dick, in God's name, what do you mean?" 
 
 "Haf good was called in. Huntter has not been 
 in Bermuda; he has been right here in New York, 
 under Hapgood's care."
 
 350 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "And Hapgoocl told you?" 
 
 A purplish flush dyed Ledyard's face. 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Who, then? No sidetracking, Dick. Who?" 
 
 "The the nurse." 
 
 "She-devil! Fell in love with her patient? I've 
 struck that kind " 
 
 "Stop!" 
 
 Both men were on their feet and glaring at each 
 other. 
 
 "You are speaking of my future wife!" 
 
 Ledyard loosened his collar and laughed! 
 
 "You're mad!" he said faintly, "or a damned 
 fool!" 
 
 "I'm neither. I am engaged to marry Priscilla 
 Glynn; have been since the summer. I meant to 
 tell you and mother to-night. I went to her from 
 the vessel. Priscilla Glynn took care of Huntter 
 without knowing of his connection in the MofFatt 
 affair. Above all else in the world" Traverses 
 voice shook "she adores Margaret MofFatt, knows 
 her intimately, and wishes, blindly, to serve her as 
 she understands her. There are such women, you 
 know, and they are becoming more numerous. She 
 has gone to tell Margaret MofFatt." 
 
 "Gone?" Ledyard reeled back a step. "And you 
 permitted that?" 
 
 " I had no choice. You do not know my my 
 well, Miss Glynn."
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 351 
 
 "Not know her? The young fiend! Not know 
 her? I remember her well. I might have known 
 that no good could come from her. But we can 
 crush her, the young idiot! I do not envy you your 
 fiancee, Dick." 
 
 The telephone rang sharply and Ledyard took up 
 the receiver with trembling hand. 
 
 "It's your mother," he said; "you had better 
 speak for yourself." 
 
 "So you are there, Dick?" 
 
 "Yes, mother." 
 
 "There was a message just now. Such a peculiar 
 one. I thought you had better have it at once. It 
 was only this: 'She knows* and a 'good-bye/ ' 
 
 "Thanks, mother. I understand." 
 
 Ledyard watched the unflinching face and noted 
 the even voice. He was so near he had caught 
 Helen's words. 
 
 "And that is all, mother?" 
 
 "All, dear." 
 
 "I'll be home soon. Goodnight." 
 
 Then he looked up at Ledyard, and the older man's 
 face softened. 
 
 "You'll find this sort of thing is a devil of a jigsaw. 
 It cuts in all directions," he said, laying his hand on 
 Travers's shoulder. 
 
 "Yes, doesn't it? But, Doctor Ledyard, I want 
 to tell you something. She's right that girl of 
 mine, and Margaret MofFatt, too and you know it
 
 352 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 as well as I do! If I can, I'm going to have my 
 love and my woman; but even if I go empty hearted 
 to my grave I shall know they are right! Be- 
 sides being women, and our loves, they are human 
 beings, and they are beginning to find it out. The 
 way may lead through hell, but it ends in - 
 
 "What?" Ledyard breathed; his eyes fixed on the 
 stern young face. 
 
 " In understanding. It leads to the responsibility 
 all women must take. Good night, old friend.'*
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 PRISCILLA had gone straight from Margaret 
 Moffatt's to her own little apartment. She 
 had no sense of suffering; no sensation at all. 
 She must pack and get away! And like a dead 
 thing she set to work, although it was midnight and 
 she had been so weary before; and then she smiled 
 quiveringly: 
 
 "Before!" 
 
 She stood and stretched out her arms to the empty 
 space where Travers had been. 
 
 "Oh! my dear, dear man!" she moaned. "My 
 beloved!" 
 
 She had set the spark to the powder; by to-morrow 
 the devastation would be complete. That, she knew 
 full well. And he the man she loved above all 
 else in life in order to escape must seek safety with 
 those others! All those others men! men! men! 
 Only she and Margaret, suffering and alone, would 
 stand in the ruins. But from those ruins! Her eyes 
 shone as with a vision of what must be. 
 
 "I wish I could tell you all about it!" the weak, 
 human need called to the absent love. The whis- 
 pered words brought comfort; even his memory was 
 
 353
 
 354 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 a stronghold. It always would be, even when she 
 was far away in her In-Place, never to see him again. 
 
 How thankful she was that he did not know, 
 really. He could not follow; she would not be able 
 to hurt him after to-morrow. Her changed name 
 had saved her! 
 
 "Priscilla Glynn," she faltered, "hide her, hide 
 her forever, hide poor Priscilla Glenn." 
 
 Then her thoughts flew back to the recent past. 
 She had found Margaret alone in her own library. 
 
 "Now how did you know I wanted you more 
 than any one else in the world?" Margaret had 
 said. "When did you get back? You baddest of 
 the bad ! Why did you hide from me ? Where were 
 you?" 
 
 "In Bermuda." How ghastly it sounded, but 
 it caught Margaret's quick thought. 
 
 "Sit down, you little ghost of bygone days of bliss. 
 You'll have to play again. Work is killing you. In 
 Bermuda? What doing?" 
 
 "Wearing my cap and apron, dear, dear " 
 
 "Your cap and apron? I thought you burned 
 them! I shall tell Travers, you deceitful, money- 
 getting little fraud! Well, who has taken it out of 
 you so ? You are as white as ivory. Do you know 
 the Traverses came in on the St. Cloud to-day?" 
 
 "Yes. Doctor Travers came to see me." 
 
 "Ha! ha! He doesn't seem to have cheered you 
 much. I wager he's told you what he thinks of you,
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 355 
 
 tossing to the winds all the beautiful health and spir- 
 its of the summer! When are you to be married? 
 I must tell him to bully you as as my dear love 
 is bullying me! Has Doctor Ledyard growled at you? 
 I can twist him easily! He is a darling, and just 
 wears that face and voice for fun in order to scare 
 little redheaded nurses. Cilia, dear heart, I'm going 
 to be married in June! Dear, old-fashioned June, 
 with roses and good luck and oh ! the heaven seems 
 opening and the glory is pouring down! There, 
 girlie! cuddle here! I'm going to tell you every- 
 thing; even to the mentioning of names ! I've always 
 hated to label my joy before. But, first, take some 
 chocolate; it's hot and piping. Nowf Whom did 
 you nurse in Bermuda? I'm going to tell him, or 
 her, what I think of him!" 
 
 "I nursed Mr. Clyde Huntter. We were in 
 New York all the time. That is why I had to keep 
 - still - 
 
 "Mr. Clyde Huntter?" Margaret set the cup 
 she held, down sharply. The quick brain was alert 
 and in action. 
 
 " Mr. Clyde Huntter ? " And then Margaret Mof- 
 fatt came close to Priscilla,and looked down deep into 
 the unfaltering eyes raised to hers. 
 
 " Mr. Clyde Huntter is the man I am to marry ! " 
 she said in a voice from which the girlish banter had 
 gone forever. It was the voice of a woman in arms 
 to defend all she worshipped.
 
 356 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Yes, I know. I was in his room the day you 
 called. I thought I should die. I hoped he would 
 tell you. I was ready to stand beside you; but he 
 did not tell!" 
 
 "Tell what? As God hears you, Priscilla, as 
 you love me, and and as I trust you, tell me 
 what?" 
 
 And then Priscilla had told her. At first Mar- 
 garet stood, taking the deadly blow like a Spartan 
 woman, her grave eyes fixed upon Priscilla. Slowly 
 the cruel truth, and all it implied, found its way 
 through the armour of her nobility and faith. She 
 began to droop; then, like one whose strength has 
 departed, she dropped beside Priscilla's chair and 
 clung to her. It had not taken long to tell, but it 
 had lain low every beautiful thing but courage! 
 
 "Back there," Margaret had said at last, "back 
 there where we played, I told you I was ready for 
 sacrifice. I thought my God was not going to 
 exact that, but since he has, I am ready. Priscilla, 
 I still have God! I wonder" and, oh! how the 
 weak, pain-filled voice had wrung Priscilla's heart 
 
 "I wonder if you can understand when I tell you 
 that I love my love better now than ever? Shall 
 always love him, my poor boy! Can you not see 
 that he did not mean to be evil? It was the 
 curse handed down to him, and when he found out 
 
 his love, our love, had taken possession of him, 
 and he could not let me go! I feel as if as if I
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 357 
 
 were his mother! He cannot have the thing he 
 would die for, but I shall love him to the end of life. 
 I shall try to make it up to him in some way; 
 help him to be willing and brave, to do the right; 
 teach him that my way is the only honourable 
 way. I am sure both he and I will be glad not 
 not to let others, oh! such sad, little others, pay 
 the debt for us. Our day is is short at best, but 
 the the eternity! And you, dear, faithful Cilia! 
 You, with your blessed love, how will it be when I 
 have done what I must do? I must go to to 
 father and tell the truth, and then 
 
 "I know," Priscilla had said. "Doctor Travers 
 told me what would follow. I shall not be here for 
 him to suffer for; I am going " 
 
 "Where, my precious friend?" 
 
 "To the Place Beyond the Winds! You do 
 not understand. You cannot; no one can follow 
 me; but I cannot bear the hurting blasts any more. 
 I want the In-Place." 
 
 Then it was over, and now she was back in her 
 lonely rooms. She packed her few, dear possessions, 
 and toward morning lay down upon her bed. At 
 daylight she departed, after settling her affairs with 
 the night clerk and leaving no directions that any 
 one could follow. 
 
 "It is business," she had cautioned, and the sleepy 
 fellow nodded his head. 
 
 The rest did not matter. She would travel to the
 
 358 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 port from which the boats sailed to Kenmore. Any 
 boat would do; any time. Some morning, perhaps, 
 at four o'clock, if the passage had not been too rough, 
 she would find herself on the shabby little wharf with 
 the pink morning light about her, and the red-rock 
 road stretching on before. 
 
 Then Priscilla, like a miser, gripped her purse. 
 Never before had money held any power over her, 
 but the hundreds she had saved were precious to 
 her now. Her father's doors were still, undoubtedly, 
 closed to her. She could not be a burden to the 
 two men living in Master Farwell's small home. 
 There was, to be sure, Mary McAdam! By and by, 
 perhaps, when the hurt was less and she could trust 
 herself more, she would go to the White Fish Lodge 
 and beg for employment; but until then 
 
 The morning Priscilla departed, Ledyard, unequal 
 to any further strain, was called upon to bear several. 
 By his plate, at the breakfast table, lay a scrawled 
 envelope that he recognized at once as a report from 
 Tough Pine. 
 
 "What's up now?" muttered he. "This thing 
 isn't due for three weeks yet." 
 
 Then he read, laboriously, the crooked lines: 
 
 I give up job. Dirty work. Money bad money. I 
 take no more or I be damned! He better man than 
 you was; you bad and evil, for fun he grow big and 
 white. No work for bad man friend now to good mens. 
 
 PINE.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 359 
 
 "The devil!" muttered Ledyard; but oddly 
 enough the letter raised, rather than lowered, his 
 mental temperature. Those ill-looking epistles of 
 Pine's had nauseated him lately. He had begun to 
 experience the sensation of over-indulgence. Some 
 one had told him, a time back, of Boswell's leaving 
 the city, and he had been glad of the suspicion that 
 arose in him when he heard it. 
 
 Later in the day the forces Priscilla had set in 
 motion touched and drew him into the maelstrom. 
 
 "Ledyard" -this over the telephone "my 
 daughter has just informed me that she is about to 
 break her engagement. May I see you at three ? " 
 
 "Yes. Here, or at your office?" 
 
 "I will come to you." 
 
 They had it out, man to man, and with all the 
 time-honoured and hoary arguments. 
 
 "My girl's a fool!" Moffatt panted, red-faced and 
 eloquent. "Not to mention what this really means 
 to all of us, there is the girl's own happiness at stake. 
 What are we to tell the world? You cannot go 
 about and explain! Good Lord! Ledyard, Hunt- 
 ter stands so high in public esteem that to start such 
 a story as this about him would be to ruin my own 
 reputation." 
 
 "No. The thing's got to die," Ledyard mused. 
 "Die at its birth." 
 
 " Die in my girl's heart ! Good God ! Ledyard, you 
 ought to see her after the one night! It wrings
 
 360 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 my heart. It isn't as if the slander had killed hei 
 love for him. It hasn't; it has strengthened it. 'I 
 must bear this for him and for me,' she said, looking 
 at me with her mother's eyes. She never looked 
 like her mother before. It's broken me up. What's 
 the world coming to, when women get the bit in 
 their teeth?" 
 
 "There are times when all women look alike," 
 Ledyard spoke half to himself; "I've noticed that." 
 The rest of Moffatt's sentence he ignored. 
 
 "Why, in the name of all that is good," Moffatt 
 blazed away, "did you send that redheaded girl 
 into our lives? I might have known from the hour 
 she set her will against mine that she was no good 
 omen. Things I haven't crushed, Ledyard, have 
 always ended by giving me a blow, sooner or later. 
 Think of her coming into my home last night and 
 
 daring " The words ended in a gulp. "Let me 
 
 send Margaret to you," pleaded the father at his 
 wits' end. "Huntter is away. Will not be back 
 until to-morrow. Perhaps you can move her. You 
 brought her into the world; you ought to try and 
 keep her here." 
 
 At four Margaret entered Ledyard's office. She 
 was very white, very self-possessed, but gently smil- 
 ing. 
 
 "Dear old friend," she said, drawing near him and 
 taking the role of comforter at once. "Do not think 
 I blame you. I know you did your best with your
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 361 
 
 blessed, nigh-to glasses on, but we younger folks 
 have long vision, you know. Do you remember how 
 you once told me to swallow your pills without biting 
 them? I obeyed you for a long, long time; but I've 
 bitten this one! It's bitter, but it is for the best. 
 The medicine is in the pills; we might as well know." 
 
 "See here, Margaret, I'm not going to use your 
 father's weapons. I only ask you to wait! Do 
 not break your engagement; let me see Huntter. Do 
 not speak to him of this. I can explain, and " 
 he paused "if the worse comes to the worst, the 
 wedding can be postponed; then things can happen 
 gradually." 
 
 "No," Margaret shook her head. "This is his 
 affair and mine, and our love lies between us. I 
 want oh! I want to make him feel as I do, if I 
 can; but above all else he must know that whatever 
 I do is done in love. You see, I cannot hate him 
 now; by and by it would be different if we were not 
 just to each other." 
 
 "My poor girl! Do you women think you are 
 going to be happier, the world better, because of 
 things like this? Men have thought it out!" 
 
 "Alone, yes. And women have let you bear the 
 burden alone. Happiness is not all. And who 
 can tell what the world will be when we all do the 
 work God sent us to do? I know this: we cannot 
 push our responsibilities off on any one else with- 
 out stumbling across them sooner or later, for the
 
 362 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 overburdened ones cannot carry too much, or for- 
 ever!" 
 
 Ledyard expected Travers for dinner, but, as the 
 time drew near, he felt that his young partner would 
 not come. At six a note was handed to him: 
 
 KINDEST OF FRIENDS: 
 
 To-morrow, or soon, I will come to you; not to-night. 
 I have to be alone. I am all in confusion. I can see only 
 step by step, and must follow as I may. Two or three 
 things stand out clear. We haven't, we men, played the 
 game fair, though God knows we meant to. They 
 she and such women as my girl are right! Blindly, 
 fumblingly right. They are seeking to square themselves, 
 and we have no business to curse them for their efforts. 
 
 Lastly, I love Priscilla Glynn, and mean to have her, 
 even at the expense of my profession! You have set my 
 feet on a broad path and promised an honourable position. 
 I have always felt that to try and follow in your steps was 
 the noblest ambition I had. I know now that I could 
 not accomplish this. You have truth and conviction to 
 guide and uphold you. I have doubt. I must work 
 among my fellows with no hint of distrust as to my own 
 position. Forgive me! Go, if you will, to my mother 
 to Helen. She will need you after she knows. You 
 will, perhaps, understand when I tell you that, for a time 
 at least, I must be by myself, and I am going to the little 
 town where my own mother and I, long ago, lived our 
 strange life together. She seems to be there, waiting for me. 
 
 Ledyard ate no dinner that night; he seemed 
 broken and ill; he pushed dish after dish aside, and 
 Anally left the table and the house.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 363 
 
 Everything had failed him. All his life's work 
 and hopes rustled past him like dead things as he 
 walked the empty streets. 
 
 "Truth and conviction," he muttered. "Who has 
 them? The young ass! What is truth? How can one 
 be convinced ? It's all bluff and a doing of one's best ! " 
 
 And then he reached Helen Travers's house and 
 found her waiting for him. 
 
 "I have a a note from Dick," she said. Led- 
 yard saw that she had been crying. 
 
 "Poor boy! He has gone to his mother; his 
 real mother. We" she caught her breath "we 
 have, somehow, failed him. He is in trouble." 
 
 "I wonder why?"Ledyard murmured. Never 
 had his voice held that tone before. It startled even 
 the sad woman. 
 
 "We have tried to do right have loved him so," 
 she faltered. 
 
 "Perhaps we have been too sure of ourselves, our 
 traditions. Each generation has its own ideals. 
 We're only stepping-stones, but we like to believe 
 we're the end-all!" 
 
 "That may be." 
 
 Then they sat with bowed heads in silence, until 
 Ledyard spoke again. 
 
 "I'm going to retire, Helen. Without him, work 
 would be impossible. His empty place would be 
 a silent condemnation, a constant reminder, of mis- 
 takes."
 
 364 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "If he leaves me, I shall close this house. I could 
 not live without him here. I never envied his 
 mother before. I have pitied, condoned her, but 
 to-night I envy her from my soul!" 
 
 "Helen" and here Ledyard got up and walked 
 the length of the room restlessly; he was about to 
 put his last hope to the test "Helen, this world 
 is too new for us; for you and me. We belong 
 back where the light is not so strong and things go 
 slower! We get blinded and breathless and con- 
 fused. I have nothing left, nor have you. Will you 
 come with me to that crack in the Alps, as Dick used 
 to call it, and let me love you ? " 
 
 "Oh! John Ledyard! What a man you are!" 
 
 "Exactly! What a man I am! A poor, rough 
 fool, always loving what was best; never daring to 
 risk anything for it. I'm tired to death " 
 
 She was beside him, kneeling, with her snow- 
 touched head upon his knee. 
 
 "So am I. Tired, tired! I could not do without 
 you. I have leaned on you far too long; we all have. 
 Now, dear, lean on me for the rest of the way." 
 
 He bent his grizzled head upon hers and his 
 eyes had the look of prayer that Priscilla once dis- 
 covered. 
 
 "Dick has not told me his real trouble," Helen 
 faintly said. "I know it is somehow connected with 
 a nurse." 
 
 "The redheaded one," Ledyard put in; "a regular
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 365 
 
 little marplot!" Then he gave that gruff laugh of 
 his that Helen knew to be a signal of surrender. 
 
 "It's odd," he went on, "how one can admire and 
 respect when often he disapproves. I disapprove of 
 this redheaded girl, but, if it will comfort you any, 
 my child, I will tell you this: Dick's future, in her 
 hands, would be founded on on everlasting rock!" 
 
 "Perhaps she won't have him!" 
 
 "Helen" and Ledyard caught her to him 
 "you never would have said that if you had been 
 Dick's mother!" 
 
 "Perhaps not!" 
 
 "No. You and I have only played second fiddles, 
 first and last; but second fiddles come in handy!" 
 
 The room grew dim and shadowy, and the two 
 in the western window clung together. 
 
 "Have you heard John, that Margaret MoflFatt 
 has broken her engagement to Clyde Huntter?" 
 
 "Yes. Where did you hear it ? " 
 
 "She came to see me; wanted to know how I 
 was. She was very beautiful and dear. She talked 
 a good deal about that that " 
 
 "Redheaded nurse?" asked Ledyard. 
 
 "Yes. I couldn't quite see any connecting link 
 then, but you know Dick did go to that Swiss village 
 last summer. I fear the party wasn't properly chap- 
 eroned, for 'twas there he met the nurse!" 
 
 "It was!" grunted Ledyard. 
 
 "There is something sadly wrong with this broken
 
 366 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 engagement of Margaret's, but I imagine no one will 
 ever know. Girls are so so different from what 
 they used to be." 
 
 "Yes," but a tone of doubt was in Ledyard's 
 voice. Presently he said: "Since Dick has left, or 
 may leave, the profession, I suppose he'll take to 
 writing. He's always told me that when he could 
 afford to, he'd like to cut the traces and wollop the 
 race with his pen. Many doctors would like to do 
 that. A gag and a chain and ball are not what they're 
 cracked up to be. The pen is mightier than the pill, 
 sometimes, but it often eliminates the butter from 
 the bread." 
 
 Helen caught at the only part of this speech that 
 she understood. 
 
 "There's the little income I'm living on," she said; 
 "it's Dick's father's. I wish you'd let me give it 
 to him now. I am old-fashioned enough to want 
 to live on my husband's money." 
 
 "Exactly!" Ledyard drew her closer; "quite the 
 proper feeling. It can be easily arranged." 
 
 And while they sat in the gathering gloom, Trav- 
 ers was wending his way up a village street, and won- 
 dering that he found things so little changed. 
 
 While his heart grew heavier, his steps hastened, 
 and he felt like a small boy again a boy afraid of 
 the dark, afraid of the mystery of night alone! 
 The boy of the past had always known a heavy heart, 
 too, and that added reality to the touch.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 367 
 
 There stood the old cottage with a sign "To Let" 
 swinging from the porch. Had no one lived there 
 since they, he and the pretty creature he called 
 mother, had gone away? 
 
 There had been workmen in the house, evidently. 
 They had carelessly left the outer door open and a 
 box of tools in the living-room. Travers went in 
 and sat down upon the chest, closed his eyes, and 
 gave himself up to his sad mood. Clearly he seemed 
 to hear the low, sweet voice : 
 
 "Little son, is that you?" Yes, it was surely he! 
 "Come home to to mother? Tired, dear?" In- 
 deed he was tired tired to the verge of exhaustion. 
 "Suppose suppose we have a story? Come, little 
 son! It shall be a story of a fine, golden-haired prin- 
 cess who loves and loves, but is very, very wise. 
 And you are to be the prince who is wise, too. If 
 you are not both very wise there will be trouble; 
 and of course princesses and princes do not have 
 trouble." The old, foolish memory ran on with its 
 deeper truth breaking in upon the heart and soul of 
 the man in the haunted room. 
 
 Then Travers spoke aloud : 
 
 "Mother, I w r ill make no mistake if I can help it, 
 and as God hears me, I will not cheat love. As far 
 as lies in me, I will play fair for her sake and 
 yours!" 
 
 When he uncovered his eyes he almost expected to 
 see a creaky little rocker and a sleepy boy resting
 
 3 68 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 on the breast of a woman so beautiful that it was no 
 wonder many had loved her. 
 
 "Poor, little, long-ago mother!" 
 
 Then he thought of Helen and her strong purpose 
 in life, her devotion and sacrifice. 
 
 "I must go to her!" he cried resolutely. "I owe 
 her much, much ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE pines and the hemlocks stood out sharply 
 against a pink, throbbing sky in which the 
 stars still shone faintly but brilliantly. It 
 was five o'clock of a dim morning, and no one was 
 astir in the In-Place as the little steamer indolently 
 turned from the Big Bayinto the Channel and headed 
 for the wharf. 
 
 Not a breath of air seemed stirring, and the still- 
 ness was unbroken except by the panting of the 
 engines. 
 
 Priscilla Glenn stood near the gangway of the boat. 
 Now that she had left all her beautiful love and life, 
 she was eager to hide, like a hurt and bruised thing, 
 in the old, familiar home. Leaning her poor, tired 
 head against the post near her, she thought of the 
 desolate wreck behind, and the tears came to the 
 deep, true eyes. 
 
 "I could have done nothing else!" she mur- 
 mured, as if to comfort the sad thing she was. "It 
 had to be! Margaret knew that; she understood. 
 By now she is as bereft as I; poor, dear love! Oh! 
 it seems, just sometimes it seems, like an army of 
 men on one side and all of us women on the other. 
 
 369
 
 370 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 Between us lies the great battlefield, and they, the 
 men, are trying to fight alone fight our battle as 
 well as theirs. And they cannot! they cannot!" 
 
 Just then the boat touched the wharf, and a sleepy 
 man, a stranger to Priscilla, materialized and looked 
 at her queerly. 
 
 "For the Lodge?" he grunted. 
 
 "Yes I suppose so. Yes, the Lodge." 
 
 "Up yonder." Then he turned to the freight. 
 Once she was on the Green, Priscilla paused and 
 looked about. 
 
 "For which?" Then she smiled a ghost of her 
 bright, sunny smile. 
 
 "My father's doors are shut to me," she sighed; 
 "I cannot go to the Lodge, yet! I must go 
 
 to Something touched her hand, and she 
 
 looked down. It was Farwell's dog, the old one, the 
 one who used to play with Priscilla when she was a 
 little girl. 
 
 "You dear!" she cried, dropping beside him; 
 "You've come to show me the way. Beg, Tony, beg 
 like a good fellow. I have a bit of cake for you!" 
 
 Clumsily, heavily, the old collie tried to respond, 
 but of late he had been excused from acting; and he 
 was old, old. 
 
 "Then take it, Tony, take it without pay. That 
 comes of being a doggie. You ought to be grateful 
 that you are a dog, and need not pay!" 
 
 It was clear to her now that Farwell's home must
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 371 
 
 be her first shelter, and taking up her suit-case she 
 passed over the Green and took the path leading to 
 the master's house. 
 
 Some one had been before her. Some one who had 
 swept the hearth, lighted a fire, and set the breakfast 
 table. Pine had taken Toky's place and was vying 
 with that deposed oriental in whole-souled service. 
 
 Priscilla pushed the ever-unlatched door open and 
 went inside. The bare living-room had been trans- 
 formed. John Boswell had transferred the comfort, 
 without the needless luxury, from the town home to 
 the In-Place books, pictures, rugs, the winged 
 chair and an equally easy one across the hearth. 
 And, yes, there was her own small rocker close by, 
 as if, in their detachment, they still remembered her 
 and missed her and were ready for her coming! 
 Priscilla noiselessly took off her wraps and sat down, 
 glad to rest again in the welcoming chair. 
 
 She swayed back and forth, her closely folded 
 arms across her fast-beating heart. She kept her 
 face turned toward the door through which she knew 
 the men would enter. She struggled for control, 
 for a manner which would disarm their shock at 
 seeing her; but never in her life had she felt more 
 defeated, more helplessly at bay. 
 
 The early morning light, streaming through the 
 broad eastern window, struck full across her where 
 she sat in the low rocker; and so Boswell and Far- 
 well came upon her. They stopped short on the
 
 372 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 threshold and each, in his way, sought to account 
 for the apparition. The brave smile upon Priscilla's 
 face broke and fled miserably. 
 
 "I I've been doshed!" she cried in a last effort 
 at bravado, and then, covering her face with her 
 hands, she wept hysterically, repeating again and 
 again, "I've come home, come home to no 
 home!" 
 
 They were beside her at once. BoswelPs hand 
 rested on the bowed head; Farwell's on the back of 
 her chair. 
 
 "Dear, bright Butterfly!" whispered Boswell com- 
 fortingly; "it has come to grief in the Garden." 
 
 "Oh! I wanted to learn, and oh! Master Farwell, 
 I said I was willing to suffer, and I have, I have!" 
 
 Then she looked up and her unflinching courage 
 returned. 
 
 "I was tired!" she moaned; "tired and hungry." 
 
 "After breakfast you will explain only as 
 much as you choose, child." This from Farwell. 
 "Make the toast for us, Priscilla. I remember how 
 you used to brown it without blackening it. Boswell 
 always gets dreaming on the second side of the slice." 
 
 After the strange meal Priscilla told very little, 
 but both men read volumes in her pale, thin face 
 and understanding eyes. 
 
 "Damn them!" thought Farwell; "they have 
 taken it out of her. I knew they would; but they 
 have not conquered her!"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 373 
 
 Boswell thoughtfully considered her when her eyes 
 were turned from him. 
 
 "She learned," he thought; "suffered and learned; 
 but when she gets her breath she will go back. The 
 In-Place cannot hold her." 
 
 Then they told her of the Kenmore folk. 
 
 "Your father has had a stroke, Priscilla," Farwell 
 said in reply to her question; "it has made him blind. 
 Long Jean cares for him. He will have no other 
 near him." 
 
 "And he never wants me?" Priscilla whispered. 
 
 "No; but he needs you!" Boswell muttered. 
 "You must let your velvety wings brush his dark 
 life; the touch will comfort him." 
 
 "And old Jerry?" 
 
 Farwell leaned forward to poke the fire. 
 
 "Old Jerry," said he, "has gone mildly mad. 
 All day he sits dressed in his best, ready to start for 
 Jerry-Jo's. He fancies that scapegoat of his has a 
 mansion and fortune, and is expecting his arrival. 
 He amuses himself by packing and unpacking a 
 mangy old carpet-bag. Mary McAdam looks after 
 him and the village youngsters play with him. It's 
 rather a happy ending, after all." 
 
 Many a time after that Priscilla packed and un- 
 packed the old carpet-bag, while Jerry rambled on 
 of his great and splendid lad to the "Miss from the 
 States." 
 
 "It's weak I am to-day, ma'am," he would say,
 
 374 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "but to-morrow, to-morrow! 'Tis the Secret Por- 
 tage I'll make for; the Fox is a bit too tricky for my 
 boat a fine boat, ma'am. I'm thinking the Big 
 Bay may be a trifle rough, but the boat's a staunch 
 one. Jerry-Jo's expecting me; but he'll understand." 
 
 "I am sure he will be glad to see you, sir.'* Pris- 
 cilla learned to play the sad game. The children 
 taught her and loved her, and all the quiet village 
 kept her secret. Mary McAdam claimed her, but 
 Priscilla clung to the two men who meant the only 
 comfort she could know. They never questioned 
 her; never intruded upon her sad, and often pitiful, 
 reserve; but they yearned over her and cheered her 
 as best they could. 
 
 Priscilla's visits to her father's house were often 
 dramatic. At first the sound of her voice disturbed 
 and excited the blind man pathetically. 
 
 "Eh? eh?" he stormed, holding to Long Jean's 
 hand; "who comes in my door?" 
 
 "Oh! a lass from the States," Jean replied with 
 a reassuring pat on the bony shoulder. 
 
 "From the States?" suspiciously. 
 
 "Aye. She's taken training in one of them big 
 hospitables, and is a friend to the crooked gentleman 
 who bides with Master Farwell. The lass comes 
 to give me lessons in my trade." Jean had a touch 
 of humour. 
 
 "I'll have no fandangoing with me!" asserted 
 Glenn, settling back in his chair. "Old ways are
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 375 
 
 good enough for me, Jean, and remember that, if 
 you value your place. I want no woman about me 
 who has notions different from what God Almighty 
 meant her to have. Laming is woman's curse. 
 Give 'em laming, I've always held, and you've headed 
 'em for perdition." 
 
 But Priscilla won him gradually, after he had be- 
 come accustomed to her disturbing voice. He would 
 not have her touch him physically. She seemed 
 to rouse in him a strange unrest when she came near 
 him, but eventually he accepted her as a diversion 
 and utilized her for his own hidden need. 
 
 One day, with a hint of spring in the air, he reached 
 out a lean hand toward the window near which Jean 
 had placed him, and said: 
 
 "Woman, are you here?" 
 
 "Jean's gone erranding." The old mother-word 
 attracted Glenn's attention. 
 
 "Eh?" he questioned. 
 
 "To the village. I'm waiting until she comes 
 back. Can I do anything for you, sir?" 
 
 "No. Is is it a sunny day?" 
 
 "Glorious. The ice is melting now in the 
 shady places." 
 
 "I thought I felt the warmth. 'Tis cold and drear 
 sitting forever in darkness." 
 
 "I am sure it must be terrible." 
 
 But Glenn resented pity. 
 
 *God'swill is never terrible! "he flungback. Then:
 
 376 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Are you one who got laming?" 
 
 "I learned to read, sir." 
 
 "And much good it's done you the laming! 
 I warrant ye'd be better off without it. Women 
 are. Good women are content with God's way. My 
 wife was. Always willing, was she, to follow. God 
 was enough for her God and me!" 
 
 "I wonder!" 
 
 "Eh? What was that?" 
 
 "Nothing, sir. May I read to you?" 
 
 "Is the Book there?" 
 
 "Right here on the stand. What shall I read?" 
 
 "There's one verse as haunts me at times; find 
 it in Acts -- the seventeenth, I think and along 
 about the twenty-third verse. I used to conjure 
 what it might mean more than was good for me. 
 It haunts me now, though I ain't doubting but what 
 the meaning will come to me, some day. Them as 
 sits in darkness often gets spiritual leadings." 
 
 And Priscilla read: 
 
 "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, 
 I found an altar with this inscription, To the Un- 
 known God. Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly wor- 
 ship, him I declare unto you?' 
 
 A silence fell between the old, blind father and the 
 stranger-girl looking yearningly into his face. 
 
 "I've conned it this way and that," Glenn said, 
 with his oratorical manner claiming him. "It might 
 be that some worship an Unknown God and the
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 377 
 
 true God might pass by and set things straight. 
 There be altars and altars, and sometimes even my 
 God seems " 
 
 "An Unknown God?" Priscilla asked tenderly. 
 "That must be such a lonely feeling." 
 
 "No!" almost shrieked Nathaniel, as if the sug- 
 gestion insulted him; "no! The true God declared 
 himself to me long since. But what do you make 
 of it, young Miss?" 
 
 Priscilla turned her eyes to the open, free outer 
 world, where the sunshine was and the stirring of 
 spring. 
 
 "Sometimes," she whispered, "I love to think of 
 God coming down from all the shrines and altars 
 of the world, and walking with his children in the 
 Garden! They need him so. I do not like altars 
 or shrines; the Garden is the holiest place for God 
 to be!" 
 
 "Thou blasphemer!" Glenn struggled to an up- 
 right position and his sightless eyes were fixed upon 
 his child. "Wouldst thou desecrate the holy of 
 holies, the altars of the living God?" 
 
 "If he is a living God he will not stay upon an 
 altar; he will come and walk with his children!" 
 
 The tone of the absorbed voice reached where here- 
 tofore it had never touched. 
 
 "I'll have none of thee!" commanded Nathaniel, 
 his face dangerously purple. "Your words are of 
 the the devil! Leave me! leave me!" And for
 
 378 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 the second time Priscilla was ordered from her 
 father's house. 
 
 It did not matter. It was all so useless, and the 
 future was so blank. Still, to go back to Master 
 Farwell's just then was impossible, and Priscilla 
 turned toward the wood road leading to the Far 
 Hill Place. She had no plan, no purpose. She 
 was drifting, drifting, and could not see her way, 
 The bright sun touched her comfortingly. In the 
 shadow it was chilly; but the red rock was warm 
 and luring. And so she came to the open space 
 and the almost forgotten shrine where once she had 
 raised her Strange God. 
 
 She sat down upon a fallen tree and looked over 
 the little, many-islanded bay to the Secret Portage. 
 Through that she seemed to pass yearningly, and 
 her eyes grew large and strained. Then she stretched 
 out her arms, her young, empty arms. 
 
 "My Garden!" she called; "my Garden, my dear, 
 dear love and Margaret's God! Margaret's and 
 mine!" 
 
 And so she sat for a while longer. Then, because 
 the chill air crept closer and closer, she arose and 
 faced the old, bleached skull. The winters had 
 killed the sheltering vines that once hid it from* all 
 eyes but hers. It stood bare and hideous, as if 
 demanding that she again worship it. A frenzy 
 overpowered Priscilla. That whitened, dead thing 
 brought back memories that hurt and stung by their
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 379 
 
 very sweetness. She rushed to the spot and seized 
 the forked stick upon which the skull rested. 
 
 "This for all Unknown Gods!" she cried in 
 breathless passion, and dashed the skull to the 
 ground. "And this! and this!" She trampled it. 
 "They shall not keep you upon shrines! They shall 
 not keep you hidden from all in the Garden!" With 
 that she took a handful of the shattered god and 
 flung it far and wide, with her blazing eyes fixed on 
 the Secret Portage. 
 
 Standing so, she looked like a priestess of old de- 
 fying all falseness and traditional wrong. 
 
 Among the trees Richard Travers gazed upon the 
 scene with a kind of horror gripping him. 
 
 He was not a superstitious man, but he was a worn 
 and weary one, and he had come to the Far Hill 
 Place, two days before, because, after much search- 
 ing, he had failed to find Priscilla Glynn, and his love 
 was hurt and desperate. He had wanted to hide 
 and suffer where no eyes could penetrate. But he 
 had discovered that for a man to return to his boy- 
 hood was but to undergo the torture of those who 
 are haunted by lost spirits. It had been damnable 
 -that dreary, dismantled house back on the hill! 
 The nights had maddened him and left him unable 
 to cope intelligently with the days. Nothing com- 
 forting had been there. The pale boy he once had 
 been taunted him with memories of lowered ideals, 
 unfilled promise and purpose. He had travelled a
 
 3 8o THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 long distance from the Far Hill Place, and he was go- 
 ing back to fight it out somehow, somewhere. He 
 would stop at Master Farwell's and then take the 
 night steamer for the old battle-ground. And just 
 at that moment, in the open space, he saw the 
 strange sight that stopped his breath and heart for 
 an instant. 
 
 Of course his wornout senses were being tricked. 
 He had known of such cases, and was now thor- 
 oughly alarmed. Like a man in delirium, he walked 
 into the open and confronted the fascinated gaze of 
 the girl for whom he had been searching for weeks. 
 
 "How came you here ? " he asked in a voice from 
 which normal emotions were eliminated. 
 
 "And you ? " she echoed. 
 
 They came a step nearer, their hands outstretched 
 in a poor, blind groping for solution and reality. 
 
 "Why I am I meant to tell you some day. 
 I am Priscilla Glenn not Glynn Priscilla Glenn 
 of Lonely Farm." 
 
 "My God!" Travers came a step nearer, his 
 face set and grim. "Of course! I see it now the 
 dance! Don't you remember? The dance at the 
 Swiss village?" 
 
 "And the the tune that made me cry. Who 
 
 are How did you know that tune? How did 
 
 you know the In-Place?" 
 
 Their hands touched and clung now, desperately. 
 Together they must find their way out.
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 381 
 
 "I am I was the boy of the Far Hill Place. 
 I played for you once to dance right here!'* 
 
 Something seemed snapping in Priscilla's brain. 
 
 "Yes," she whispered, breathing hard and quick. 
 "I remember now: you taught me music, and and 
 you taught me love, but you told me not to let 
 them kill my ideal; and, oh! I haven't! I haven't!" 
 
 She shut her eyes and reeled forward. She did 
 not faint, but for a moment her senses refused to ac- 
 cept impressions. 
 
 Travers knelt and caught her to him as she fell. 
 Her dear head was upon his knee once more, and he 
 pressed his lips to the wonderful hair from which 
 the little hat had fallen. Then her eyes opened, but 
 her lips trembled. 
 
 "You came all the way from the Place Beyond 
 the Winds, little girl, to show me my ideal again; to 
 strike your blow for women." Travers was whis- 
 pering. 
 
 "Your ideal? But no, dear love. Your ideal is 
 back there in the Garden." 
 
 '"And yours? I I do not understand, Pris- 
 cilla. I am still dazed. What Garden?" 
 
 "The big world, my dear man; your world." 
 
 "My blessed child! Do not look like that. Do 
 you think I'm going back without you? I've been 
 looking for Priscilla Glynn fool that I was! 
 And you were great heavens! You were the 
 little nurse in St. Albans!"
 
 382 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "Yes and you and I stood by Jerry- Jo Mo 
 Alpin's bed you and I! That was his secret." 
 
 "Priscilla, what do you mean?" 
 
 Then she told him, clinging to him, fearing that he 
 might fall from her hold as she had once fallen from 
 his, on the mountain across the sea. 
 
 "And you danced before my eyes as only one 
 woman on earth can dance and I did not know! 
 Tricked by a name and and the change in me! 
 You were always the same the flame-spirit that 
 I first saw here!" 
 
 "And you played that tune, and you were di- 
 vinely good; and I I did not know." 
 
 "But we drifted straight to each other, my girl!" 
 
 "Only to part." 
 
 "To part? Never! It's past the Dreamer's Rock 
 for us, my sweet, and out to the open sea. We'll 
 slip our moorings to-night, and send word after! I 
 must have you, and at once. I know what it means to 
 see you escaping my hold. Flame-spirits are elusive." 
 
 "And and Margaret?" 
 
 "She needs you. A fortnight ago I saw her, 
 and this is what she said, smiling her old, brave 
 smile: 'I think I could bear it better if her dear, 
 shining head was in sight. Greater love hath no 
 woman! Find her and bring her back!* That's 
 your place, my sweet. Out there where the fight is 
 on. Such as you can show us that 'tis no fight 
 between men and women, but one against igno-
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 383 
 
 ranee and tradition. You'll trust yourself to me, 
 dear girl?" 
 
 "I did long ago!" 
 
 "To think" Travers was gaining control of 
 himself; the shock, the readjustment, had been so 
 sudden that sensation returned slowly "to think, 
 dear blunderer, of your coming among us all, striking 
 your blow, and then rushing to your In-Place! But 
 love is mightier than thou; mightier than all else!" 
 
 "Not mightier than honour such honour as 
 Margaret knows!" Then fiercely: "What right have 
 I to my joy, when she " 
 
 "She told me that only by your happiness being 
 consummated could she hope for peace." 
 
 Travers's voice was low and reverent. 
 
 "What a girl she is!" Priscilla faltered. 
 
 "The All Woman." 
 
 "Yes, the All Woman." 
 
 The sun began to drop behind the tall hemlocks. 
 Priscilla shivered in the arms that held her. 
 
 "Little girl, I wish I could wrap you in the old 
 red cape you wore once, before the shrine." 
 
 "It is gone now, like the shrine. Oh! my love, my 
 love, to think of the Garden makes me live again." 
 The fancy caught Travers's imagination. 
 
 "The Garden!" 
 
 'Twas a day for dreamy wandering, now that they 
 bad come to a cleared space from which they could 
 see light.
 
 384 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 "The Garden, with its flowers and weeds/* 
 
 "And its men and women!" added Priscilla, her 
 eyes full of gladness. "Oh! long ago, I told Master 
 Farwell that I felt Kenmore was only my stopping- 
 place; I feel it now so surely/* 
 
 "Yes, my sweet, but you and I will return here to 
 polish our ideals and catch our breaths/* 
 
 "In the Place Beyond the Winds, dear man?'* 
 
 "Exactly! Those old Indians had a genius for 
 names." 
 
 "And in the Garden what are we to do?'* 
 Priscilla asked, her eyes growing more practical. 
 "They will have none of Priscilla Glynn, you 
 know. And you, dear heart, what will they do to 
 you, now that you have defied their code?" 
 
 "Priscilla Glynn has done her best and is gone! 
 There will be a Priscilla Travers with many a stern 
 duty before her." 
 
 "Yes, but you?" 
 
 "I shall try to keep your golden head in sight, 
 little girl! For the rest I have a small income 
 my father's. I must tell you about him and my 
 mother, some day; and I shall write write; and 
 men and women may read what they might not be 
 willing to listen to." 
 
 "I see! And oh! how rich and bright the way on 
 ahead looks! Just when I thought the clouds were 
 crushing me, they opened and I saw " 
 
 "What, Priscilla?"
 
 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 385 
 
 "You!" 
 
 "And now," Travers got^ upon his feet and drew 
 1 er up; "do you know what is going to happen?" 
 
 "Can anything more happen to-day?" 
 
 "We are going to Master Farwell's, you and 
 I. We are going to take him with us to the little 
 chapel down the Channel; there we'll leave Pris- 
 cilla Glenn, and, in her place, bring Priscilla Travers 
 forth." 
 
 The colour rose to the thin, radiant face. 
 
 "And may we take John Boswell, too?" 
 
 "Boswell? Is he here?" 
 
 "Yes, with my Master Farwell." 
 
 Travers rapidly put loose ends of the past to- 
 gether, then exclaimed: 
 
 "God bless him; God bless Master Farwell!" 
 
 "I only know" Priscilla's eyes were dim "I 
 only know they are good men both ! " 
 
 "Yes, both! And to-night," Travers came back 
 to the present, "I will take my wife away with me 
 on the steamer." 
 
 "A poor, vagabond wife. Nothing but a heart 
 full of love as baggage." 
 
 "The Garden is a rich place, my love." 
 
 "And one can get so much for so little there." 
 Priscilla meant to hold to her dear old joke. 
 
 "And so little for so much!" 
 
 "That's not the language of the Garden, good 
 man!"
 
 3 86 THE PLACE BEYOND THE WINDS 
 
 It was so easy to play, now that Travers was lead- 
 ing the way from the wrecked shrine. 
 
 "You are right, my girl!" Then Travers stopped 
 and faced her, his eyes glowing with love and cour- 
 age. "And to-morrow is not yet touched !" he 
 said. 
 
 THE END
 
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 aimed to show that the original formers of the Ku Klux Klan were 
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 THE TRAITOR. A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire. 
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 The third and last book in this remarkable trilogy of novels relat- 
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 the decline and fall of the Ku Klux Klan. 
 
 COMRADES. Illustrations by C. D. Williams. 
 
 A novel dealing with the establishment of a Socialistic Colony 
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 cialism a deadly force, in the hour of the eclipse of Faith, destroying 
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 THE SILENT CALL. By Edwin Milton Royle. Illustrated 
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