The next minute her arms slipped round his neck.
"Papa," she said, "papa been away from Margie a long time."
Young Wingate was sobbing. He had not noticed that the big, rough
foreman had gone out of the shack with tear-dimmed eyes, and had
quietly closed the door behind him.
* * * * *
It was evening before Wingate got all the story from Catharine, for
she was slow of speech, and found it hard to explain her feelings.
But Brown, who had returned alone to the camp in the morning, now
came back, packing an immense bundle of all the tinned delicacies
he could find, which, truth to tell, were few. He knew some words
in Kootenay, and led Catharine on to reveal the strange history
that sounded like some tale from fairyland. It appeared that the
reason Catharine did not attempt to go to the camp that morning was
that Margie was not well, so she would not leave her, but in her
heart of hearts she knew young Wingate would come searching to her
lodge. She loved the child as only an Indian woman can love an
adopted child. She longed for him to come when she found Margie
was ill, yet dreaded that coming from the depths of her soul. She
dreaded the hour he would see the child and take it away.
Pages:
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115