“What a strange, struggling family you are!” Hal said, watching the girl’s sad, piquant face. “Memories and the past are all right as long as they don’t interfere with the happiness of the present, huh? I bet you think that way, don’t you, Miss Felice?”
“I do, Mr. Hal,” she admitted, “but you’re the first one to whom I’ve confessed it.”
“Then it’s safe with me,” Hal said whimsically, “and what’s more it’s better on my chest than on yours. I’m glad I came along to relieve you of the burden, honest I am.”
“And I’m glad you came along too. Rene stays away so long sometimes. It gets rather dull.”
“Not when I’m around,” Hal chuckled, and looked down at the girl intently. “There’s something about me, my uncle always says, that seems to whoop things up wherever I go. He says I’m not in a place very long before things just naturally begin to happen. So if that holds good here too, Miss Felice, just sit tight and hope for the worst.”
She laughed heartily and, shaking her finger playfully at Hal, stepped outside.
“The worst can’t be too bad for me,” she called back over her slim shoulder. “The worst would be better than just this!”
And by that same token did Felice Pemberton invite the long arm of destiny into that little settlement on the River of Pale Death.
CHAPTER XXV
AFTER DINNER
Hal reveled in the luxury of a hammock that long afternoon and slept the sleep of the righteous. He awakened, feeling fresh and stronger than any time since the plane wreck. And to add to his delight, Mr. Pemberton’s favorite Indian, Joaquim, was standing patiently at the door proffering shaving materials and a change of clothes including a worn but clean pair of khaki knickers.