But if Paula did not come back? If, look as he might, days came and went, the summer passed, and Paula did not come back and he could not find her?
Then a curious fact presented itself to John Sheldon. It was this: If he were confronted with a choice in the matter, if he had to lose the wealth untold lying at his finger-tips or lose forever the golden-brown maiden—why, he could snap his fingers at the gold!
“Something has come over me!” he grunted at the thought.
He had never been more right in his life. In his own words, something had come over him.
CHAPTER XIII. CONSUMMATION.
A month passed, and John Sheldon, who might have taken the gold and left the girl, let the gold lie and sought Paula.
They were lonely days, and more than once he went to his horse for companionship. The provisions which he had brought in with him had dwindled away to nothing. His coffee was gone; he drank water for breakfast. His bacon was but a haunting memory. Beans and onions and potatoes were with the snows of yesteryear.
He missed them, but could manage upon venison and trout. But, especially after meals and before he turned in at night, when he looked into the black and empty bowl of his pipe, he shook his head and sighed.
Verily, a mighty thing is a man’s love for a woman! For, even when his tobacco was a thing of the past, John Sheldon, a man who loved his smoke, stayed on and contented himself with sunflower leaves!
He had once said, “I’ll stay if I have to wait until snow flies!” Now he said, “I’ll find her if I have to stick on the job all winter.”