Contents
| Chapter | Page | |
| I. | Would it smile to Her | [ 13] |
| II. | Hilda Comes | [ 32] |
| III. | Growing Regrets | [ 51] |
| IV. | The Storm | [ 70] |
| V. | Down by the River | [ 88] |
| VI. | Attraction and Repulsion | [ 119] |
| VII. | The Great Miracle | [ 138] |
| VIII. | Robert takes Heart | [ 145] |
| IX. | Schumann’s Nachtstück | [ 162] |
| X. | A Stricken Man | [ 176] |
| XI. | Passion and Loyalty | [ 196] |
| XII. | Farewell to California | [ 217] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| Portrait | [ Frontispiece] |
| “Ben lit the lantern, and stationed himself outside with it” | page[ 41] |
| “And he heard Robert asking questions” | [ 47] |
| “She sat on the little verandah” | [ 61] |
| “He lifted a piece of iron piping” | [ 81] |
| “There was no talk between them” | [ 93] |
| “Hilda could not leave the spot” | [ 105] |
| “Hilda at the window” | [ 157] |
| “Hilda’s self-control broke down completely” | [ 167] |
| “Robert passed noiselessly out of the house” | [ 173] |
| “‘Ben,’ he murmured, ‘we must—’ He fainted away” | [ 181] |
| “She bent over her husband and looked at his pale face” | [ 193] |
HILDA STRAFFORD
Hilda Strafford
CHAPTER I
WOULD IT SMILE TO HER?
THE day had come at last.
Robert Strafford glanced around at the isolated spot which he had chosen for his ranch, and was seized with more terrible misgivings than had ever before overwhelmed him in moments of doubt.
Scores of times he had tried to put himself in her place, and to look at the country with her eyes. Would it, could it, smile to her? He had put off her coming until the early spring, so that she might see this new strange land at its best, when the rains had begun to fall, and the grass was springing up, and plain and slope were donning a faint green garment toning each day to a richer hue, when tiny ferns were thrusting out their heads from the dry ground, and here and there a wild-flower arose, welcome herald of the bounty which Nature would soon be dispensing with generous hand, but after a long delay. Such a long delay, indeed, that a new-comer to Southern California might well think that Nature, so liberal in her gifts to other lands, had shown only scant favor to this child of hers, clothing her in dusty and unattractive attire, and refusing her many of the most usual graces. But when the long months of summer heat are over, she begins to work her miracle, and those who have eyes to see and hearts to understand, will learn how dearly she loves this land of sunshine, and how, in her own good time, she showers her jewels upon it.