leaned forward. She held up her face innocently and I kissed her
lightly on the lips.

And to me, the kiss was as sweet and fresh as a mountain dew-drop.

She sighed as if satisfied that our friendship had held good, then she
ran out of the water, up the beach and into the house.

CHAPTER XIV

The Coming of Mary Grant

When first I arrived at Golden Crescent, I was not a little worried as
to whether or not there would be sufficient work in the store and on
the property to keep two men busy. It did not take me long to discover
that there really was not; but then, few people in and around that
easy-going little settlement cared about being very busy. Still, when
Jake and I wished for work, there was always enough of it at hand; just
as, when we felt inclined to be idle, there was no very special reason
why we should not, for there seldom was anything calling for immediate
accomplishment unless it were the transporting of goods from the
up-going steamers to the store and the putting up of camp orders. I
did not have to concern myself much over the fixing of leaky boats, the
building and repairing of fences, the erection of any small sheds or
buildings required, the felling of trees, the sawing and splitting up
of our winter supply of fuel, the raising and feeding of our very small
poultry family and the tending of the garden. These had been Jake's
departments before my coming, and, as he looked after them as no other
man I knew could have done, they remained his especial cares.

Jake was never tremendously occupied, yet he always was doing something
during the day time,--something worth while, something that showed.

However, when there was a particularly big wash-up on the beach of
stray timber logs from some of the booms travelling along the coast,
both Jake and I had to knuckle down with a will and an energy in order
to push them off with the next out-going tide so as to prevent them
jamming and piling on our tidy, clear and well-kept foreshore.

Outside of an almost unnecessary supervision, the store was my only
care; consequently, once things were running properly, I had lots of
time on my hands to fish over by Rita's Isle if I so desired, to shoot
in the woods behind when the inclination seized me, to swim, to smoke,
or read and daydream as fancy dictated.

I thrived on the life. Maybe, I grew lazy. Anyway, I enjoyed every
minute of it, working or idling, waking or sleeping.

I soon got to kn