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THE FORBIDDEN TRAIL

CHAPTER I

THE DREAMER

Roger was only seven. He was tall for his age and very thin. He had a
thick crop of black hair and his eyes were large and precisely the color
of the summer sky that lifted above the Moores' back yard. These were
the little boy's only claims to beauty, for even at this time Roger's
face was too much of the intellectual type to be handsome. Beauty is
seldom intelligent. Roger's long, thin jaw, his thin, thoughtful mouth,
his high forehead, were distinctly of the thinking, dreaming type.

It was midsummer and Roger's tanned legs and feet were bare and
scratched and mosquito bitten. He wore a little blue gingham sailor
suit, which was much rumpled and soiled.

Charlotte was five. She was tall for her age too. In fact at five she
was nearly as tall as Roger. But she was not as thin as he. She had
large brown eyes of astounding depth and softness and bronze brown hair
that was short and curly. There were lovely curves in her scarlet,
drooping lips and a fine arch to her head above the ears. There was a
dimple in her round chin. She sat in front of Roger who was astride one
end of a great plank that was up-ended on a barrel.

"You go over and get Ernie and Elschen, Charley," commanded Roger in a
deep, boyish voice.

"I won't!" returned Charley, succinctly, crowding closer to Roger, as
she spoke.

"Well now, do you think I'm going to play alone all the afternoon with a
baby?" roared Roger. "You're too little to work this teeter-tauter with
me. I'm not going to stand it, I'm not. You get off!"

"I won't," repeated Charley, none the less firmly that the red lips
trembled. "I runned away from our house to play with you and I'm going
to play, I am."

"You ain't going to play alone and Mamma says I gotta take you home in
half an hour if nobody doesn't come for you."

"I won't go home." Charley ended this time with a sob.

"Now don't bawl!" exclaimed Roger, in alarm, twisting the little girl's
head around so that he could peer into her face. He kissed her in a
paternal manner. "Don't bawl! I'll take care of you."

Charley wiped the kiss off on the sleeve of her checked gingham dress
and smiled. Roger left the see-saw and climbed to the top of the board
fence.

"Ernie!" he shouted in a tone that sounded through the quiet village
like a siren horn. "Ernie! You and Elschen come on