Page 34 (1/1)

She stood up, surveying for the first ti Then she turned to theand looked out She rerown at the edge of a strea He could have picked her up in his arms as easily as a child, yet he sensed in the lithe beauty of her body forces that could endure nificently The careless poise of her head fascinated him For that head and the hair that crowned it he knew that half the women of the earth would have traded precious years of their lives

And then, without turning toward hiht have as pleasant a room as this"

"I hope you never die," he replied devoutly

She came back and stood for a moment beside hih he had given her a special sort of entertain to die I'ood friends Aren't you?"

"Yes, very sure If you had only arrived sooner--"

"And I shall always think of you as a different kind of man-beast," she interrupted him "It is really true that I shouldn't like to see you die I want to get away before it happens Would you care to have me kiss you?"

For an instant Kent felt that his aorta was about to give away "I--I would," he gasped huskily

"Then--close your eyes, please"

He obeyed She bent over hiht for an instant the perfume of her face and hair, and then the thrill of her lips pressed warm and soft upon his

She was not flushed or eain It was as if she had kissed a baby and ondering at its red face "I've only kissed three ht I should do it again And now, good-by!" She moved quickly to the door

"Wait," he cried plaintively "Please wait I want to know your name It is Marette--"

"Radisson," she finished for him "Marette Radisson, and I come from away off there, fro into the north

"The North!" he exclaimed