E-text prepared by Al Haines
by
Author of "The Frontiersman," "The Lost Patrol,"
"The Chief of the Ranges," "The Touch of Abner," etc.
McClelland and Stewart
Publishers : : : Toronto
George H. Doran Company
1920
To
Of the Outer Trails of the Yukon,
Where for Years the Author Lived and Travelled,
This Book is Affectionately Dedicated.
"Something lost beyond the Ranges,
Lost; and calling to you. Go."
"She had grown, in her unstained seclusion, bright and pure as a first opening lilac, when it spreads its clear leaves to the sweetest dawn of May."
It all happened in less than two minutes, and yet in that brief spaceof time his entire outlook upon life was changed. He saw her acrossthe street standing upon the edge of the sidewalk facing the throng ofteams and motors that were surging by. She had evidently attempted tocross, but had hurriedly retreated owing to the tremendous crush oftraffic. The gleam of the large electric light nearby brought intoclear relief a face of more than ordinary charm and beauty. But thatwhich appealed so strongly to the young man was the mingled expressionof surprise, fear and defiance depicted upon her countenance. Itstrangely affected him, and he was on the point of springing forward tooffer his assistance when she suddenly disappeared, swallowed up in thegreat tide of humanity.
For a few minutes the young man stood perfectly still, gazing intentlyupon the spot where the girl had been standing, hoping to see herreappear. He could not account for the feeling that had swept upon himat the sight of that face. It was but one of the thousands he dailybeheld, yet it alone stirred him to his inmost depths. A few minutesbefore he had been walking along the street without any definite aim inlife, listless and almost cynical. But now a desire possessed him tobe up and doing, to follow after the fair vision which had sounexpectedly appeared. Who could she be, and where was she going?Should he ever see her again, and if he did would he have the slightestchance of meeting and talking with her?
These thoughts occupied his mind as