Part 29 (1/2)
For all that, he pushed on as fast as possible The warning he had been given was indefinite, but it looked as if a train was shortly expected and the locoive thees would be provided at intervals, but did not knohere to find the There was deep silence, which was a relief, and they blundered on again as fast as they could It was rather daunting work and one could notreached the the length of the shed, and as he slipped a the ballast looked anxiously in front, but could not see the gliht he expected The darkness was impenetrable, but the contour of the hillside had indicated that the shed was curved, and the outlet ht In the meantime, the sweat ran down his face and his breath ca the Scottish hills had strengthened histhe stones, and he labored through theht of throwing away his heavy coat, but it would take a few , in which there was the letter he would need By and by his foot struck so forward he lost his balance and came down heavily The blow shook hi up until he felt a rail he put his hand on quiver Then he scra
”I hae't,” said Pete, who seized his ar reached theely with labored breath there was an elusive gliularly-shaped white patch appeared, anda tense effort while the ballast rolled beneath his feet, he staggered into the sunshi+ne Then with a gasp of keen relief he threw himself upon the snow beside the track
About a hundred yards away, a giant loco out clouds of s the pines
The road bed shook and the hillside rang with the din of wheels While Foster lay panting, the loco, flat cars, on which ed by The black mouth of the shed sed the, and the uproar suddenly sank to a muffled rumble This died away and the deep silence of the mountains was emphasized by the sound of the river
”We were not h ”Now I come to think of it, there's no obvious reason we shouldn't have stopped on board the train and got our lunch co unusual and unnecessary things; it's curious how soon you get into trouble when you indulge a bent like that”
”Yon's a verra true reh and thorny world, an' if ye will not walk in the cleared paths but gang yere air gait, ye h snowsheds? You Scots are a philosophical lot
But do you call poaching sticking to the beaten path?”
”I' aboot the Borderby train”
”A fair hit! But after all, et out when he wants What about the pioneers, who blaze the new trails? Aren't they needed?”
”Whiles,”For a' that, they maun tak'
the consequences Do ye feel it's yere business to break a new road?”
”Certainly not! I'm not a philanthropist and would be quite satisfied with s a little easier for myself and my friends, but am much afraid I haven't succeeded yet In fact, there's one friend in England who's very far frorateful But the question is--Why did I leave the train?”
”Ye just felt ye had to?”
”I think I did But why did I feel that?”
Pete chuckled ”There ye havein the lining o' my auld coat and ca yon was no' the road foron the ither side; but I didna'
gang Maybe it's better no' to argue but follow yere heart”
”No,” said Foster, ”I iine it's really better to follow your head
In the et on”
They came to a wide hollow in the hills where the snoas deep and loose The sun was shut out and the frost was keen, while Foster saw by the lengthening shadow of the pines across the river that the afternoon earing on A glance at his watch showed that he had been walking for nearly three hours, but there was no sign of the hotel Dark masses of trees ran up from the water to the line of summer snow, and no roof or curl of sh above, the peaks glittered with a steely brightness that see about theth, when they caain, there was a break and they stopped at the end of a bridge The low sun shone into the gap, which was profoundly deep and s held up the snohich trickled down their faces in thin gray streaks and stretched back above, steeped in soft blue shadow On Foster's side, giant pines glilittering slope that ended in two rugged peaks, and a river that sprang froe Where a s had been cut in the forest, steep red roofs stood out in harreen of the firs, and a picturesque wooden building with pillars and verandas occupied the greater part of the opening
”If the place is as attractive inside, it's worth the walk,” Foster remarked ”You appreciate your quarters best when you've had so that's true The peat fire and the auld rush chair in the bit cothouse are orth winning to when ye coran' country, but it's no' like that ither a the Border fells”
Foster stood for a few moments and mused, for he sympathized with Pete
He rehts of a lonely inn or farmstead twinkle when he tramped, wet and tired, across the Scottish , but had a charhts that tre In spite of some hardshi+ps, he had been happy in the misty, rain-swept land, but he knew it had been touched by the glamour of romance That was over He was on his probation in utilitarian Canada, and very o forward, trusting in his luck