Hilliard, though you say you're anxious to get to the bottom of this
little mystery as soon as possible."
"I am anxious. And if I don't help you, it's because I can't. I don't want
you to lose yourself in the woods, and have to find your way back, to
begin all over again."
"No. I don't want that, either," said Wisler, smiling his slow smile.
"It's a long time since I got lost in the woods, and I'll do my best not
to lose my reckoning this time. I must worry along without you, I see. But
I'm not discouraged. When you've finished up this trip that you seem to
think so important, I may have news for you, of one kind or another."
Nick looked at his watch. It was time to go back to the Fairmount if he
meant to take Angela away that night.
XXIII
THE HAPPY VALLEY
In thinking of the Yosemite, Angela had, half-unconsciously, pictured
herself and Nick Hilliard alone in the valley together, separated from
"mere tourists" by a kind of magic wall. But down it tumbled with her
first moment at El Portal; and behold, on the other side of the wall were
hundreds of eager young men and women who no doubt resented her existence
as much as she resented theirs.
The huge veranda of the log-built hotel, on the hill above the railway,
swarmed with brides and bridegrooms.
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