Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/27

 Hugh was not certain whether his trunk had arrived with him or not, so the clerk volunteered  to telephone and find out. While he was doing so, Hugh stood waiting in the doorway, looking  idly down the street and at the hills beyond. He noticed again the line of white highway that fascinated him curiously as it slanted upward  through the dense woods. He turned to his companion who stood so silent beside him and ventured a question.

“What is that road, please?” he asked; “where does it go?”

Linda Ingmarsson looked up quickly toward the hill, while her face took on a new expression,  wistful, sad, but somehow proud as well.

“That is my young brother Oscar's road,” she said; “now it goes nowhere but some day—some  day it will go far."

Hugh could not make very much out of this answer, but did not have time to ponder it long. Jethro announced that all was well with the baggage, so Hugh and Linda went out together. It