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diff --git a/old/50091-h/50091-h.htm b/old/50091-h/50091-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a4a8992..0000000 --- a/old/50091-h/50091-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11263 +0,0 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> - -<!DOCTYPE html - PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> - <head> - <title> - Silas Strong, Emperor of the Woods, by Irving Bacheller - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> - - body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} - P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } - H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } - hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} - .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} - blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} - .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} - .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} - .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} - .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} - .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} - .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} - .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} - .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} - .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} - div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } - div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } - .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} - .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} - .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; - font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; - border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} - .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; - border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; - font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} - p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} - span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } - pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} - -</style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Silas Strong, Emperor of the Woods, by Irving Bacheller - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Silas Strong, Emperor of the Woods - -Author: Irving Bacheller - -Release Date: September 30, 2015 [EBook #50091] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SILAS STRONG, EMPEROR OF THE WOODS *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - -</pre> - - <div style="height: 8em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h1> - SILAS STRONG,<br /> EMPEROR OF THE WOODS - </h1> - <h2> - By Irving Bacheller - </h2> - <h4> - New York and London Harper and Brothers Publishers - </h4> - <h5> - 1906 - </h5> - <p> - <br /> <br /> <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0001" id="linkimage-0001"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0001.jpg" alt="0001m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0001.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0002" id="linkimage-0002"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0004.jpg" alt="0004m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0004.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0003" id="linkimage-0003"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0005.jpg" alt="0005m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0005.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <h3> - TO MY FRIEND THE LATE ARCHER BROWN - </h3> - <p> - in memory of summer days when we wandered far and sat down to rest by - springs and brooks in the doomed empire of Strong and talked of saving it - and of better times and knew not they were impossible. - </p> - <p> - Some of the people of these pages, when the author endeavored to regulate - their conduct according to well-known rules of literary construction, - declared themselves free and independent. When, urged by him, they tried - to speak and act in the fashion of most novels, they laughed, and seemed - to be ashamed of themselves, and with good reason. - </p> - <p> - They are slow, stubborn, modest, shy, and used to the open. Not for them - are the narrow stage, the swift action, the fine-wrought chain of artful - incident that characterize a modern romance. - </p> - <p> - Of late authors have succeeded rather well in turning people into animals - and animals into people. Why not, if one's art can perform miracles? This - book aims not to emulate or amend the work of the Creator. Its people are - just folks of a very old pattern, its animals rather common and of small - attainments. It is in no sense a literary performance. It pretends to be - nothing more than a simple account of one summer's life, pretty much as it - was lived, in a part of the Adirondacks. It goes on about as things happen - there, with a leisurely pace, like that of the woods lover on a trail who - may be halted by nothing more than a flower or a bird-song. One day - follows another in the old fashion of those places where men go for rest - and avarice quits them with bloody spurs and they forget the calendar and - measure time on the dial of the heavens. - </p> - <p> - The book has one high ambition. It has tried to tell the sad story of the - wilderness itself—to show, from the woodsman's view-point, the play - of great forces which have been tearing down his home and turning it into - the flesh and bone of cities. - </p> - <p> - Were it to cause any reader to value what remains of the forest above its - market-price and to do his part in checking the greed of the saws, it - would be worth while—bad as it is. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <p> - <b>CONTENTS</b> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>SILAS STRONG</b> </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> II </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> III. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> IV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> V </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> VI </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VIII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> IX. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> X </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> XI. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XII. </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> XIII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> XIV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> XV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> XVI </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> XVII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> XVIII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> XIX </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> XX </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> XXI </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> XII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> XXIII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> XXIV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> XXV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> XXVI </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> XXVII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> XXVIII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> XXIX </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> XXX </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> XXXI </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> XXXII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> XXXIII </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> XXXIV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> XXXV </a> - </p> - <p class="toc"> - <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> XXXVI </a> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - SILAS STRONG - </h2> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - I - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE song of the - saws began long ago at the mouths of the rivers. Slowly the axes gnawed - their way southward, and the ominous, prophetic chant followed them. Men - seemed to goad the rivers to increase their speed. They caught and held - and harnessed them as if they had been horses and drove them into flumes - and leaped them over dams and pulled and hauled and baffled them until - they broke away with the power of madness in their rush. But, even then, - the current of the rivers would not do; the current of thunderbolts could - not have whirled the wheels with speed enough. - </p> - <p> - Now steam bursts upon the piston-head with the power of a hundred horses. - The hungry steel races through columns of pine as if they were soft as - butter and its' bass note booms night and day to the heavens. Hear it now. - The burden of that old song is m-o-r-e, m-o-r-e, m-o-r-e! - </p> - <p> - It is doleful music, God knows, but, mind you, it voices the need of the - growing land. It sings of the doom of the woods. It may be heard all along - the crumbling edge of the wilderness from Maine to Minnesota. Day by day - hammers beat time while the saws continue their epic chorus. - </p> - <p> - There are towers and spires and domes and high walls where, in our - boyhood, there were only trees far older than the century, and these - rivers that flow north go naked in open fields for half their journey. - Every spring miles of timber come plunging over cataracts and rushing - through rapids and crowding into slow water on its way to the saws. There - a shaft of pine which has been a hundred years getting its girth is ripped - into slices and scattered upon the stack in a minute. A new river, the - rushing, steam-driven river of steel, bears it away to the growing cities. - Silas Strong once wrote in his old memorandum-book these words: "Strong - says to himself seems so the world was goin' to be peeled an' hollered out - an' weighed an' measured an' sold till it's all et up like an apple." - </p> - <p> - On the smooth shore of the river below Raquette Falls, and within twenty - rods of his great mill, lived a man of the name of Gordon with two - motherless children. Pity about him! Married a daughter of "Bill" Strong - up in the woods—an excellent woman—made money and wasted it - and went far to the bad. Good fellow, drink, poker, and so on down the - hill! His wife died leaving two children—blue-eyed little people - with curly, flaxen hair—a boy of four a girl of nearly three years. - The boy's full name was John Socksmith Gordon—reduced in familiar - parlance to Socky. The girl was baptized Susan Bradbury Gordon, but was - called Sue. - </p> - <p> - Their Uncle Silas Strong came to the funeral of their mother. He had - travelled more than eighty miles in twenty-four-hours, his boat now above - and now beneath him. He brought his dog and rifle, and wore a great steel - watch-chain and a pair of moccasins w with fringe on the sides, and a - wolf-skin jacket. He carried the children on his shoulders and tossed them - in the air, while his great size and odd attire seemed to lay hold of - their spirits. - </p> - <p> - As time passed, a halo of romantic splendor gathered about this uncle's - memory. One day Socky heard him referred to as the "Emperor of the Woods." - He was not long finding out that an emperor was a very grand person who - wore gold on his head and shoulders and rode a fine horse and was always - ready for a fight. So their ideal gathered power and richness, one might - say, the longer he lived in their fancy. They loved their father, but as a - hero he had not been a great success. There was a time when both had - entertained some hope for him, but as they saw how frequently he grew - "tired" they gave their devotion more and more to this beloved memory. - Their uncle's home was remote from theirs, and so his power over them had - never been broken by familiarity. - </p> - <p> - Socky and Sue told their young friends all they had been able to learn of - their Uncle Silas, and, being pressed for more knowledge, had recourse to - invention. Stories which their father had told grew into wonder-tales of - the riches, the strength, the splendor, and the general destructive power - of this great man. Sue, the first day she went to Sunday-school, when the - minister inquired who slew a lion by the strength of his hands, - confidently answered, "Uncle Silas." - </p> - <p> - There was one girl in the village who had an Uncle Phil with a fine air of - authority and a wonderful watch and chain; there was yet another with an - Uncle Henry, who enjoyed the distinction of having had the small-pox; - there was a boy, also, who had an Uncle Reuben with a wooden leg and a - remarkable history, and a wen beside his nose with a wart on the same. But - these were familiar figures, and while each had merits of no low degree, - their advocates were soon put to shame by the charms of that mysterious - and remote Uncle Silas. - </p> - <p> - There was a little nook in the lumber-yard where children used to meet - every Saturday for play and free discussion. There, now and then, some - new-comer entered an uncle in the competition. There, always, a primitive - pride of blood asserted itself in the remote descendants, shall we say, of - many an ancient lord and chieftain. One day—Sue was then five and - Socky six years of age—Lizzie Cornell put a cousin on exhibit in - this little theatre of childhood. He was a boy with red hair and superior - invention from out of town. He stood near Lizzie—a deep and - designing miss—and said not a word, until Sue began about her Uncle - Silas. - </p> - <p> - It was a new tale of that remarkable hunter which her father had related - the night before while she lay waiting for the sandman. She told how her - uncle had seen a panther one day when he was travelling without a gun. His - dog chased the panther and soon drove him up a tree. Now, it seemed, the - only thing in the nature of a weapon the hunter had with him was a piece - of new rope for his canoe. After a moment's reflection the great man - climbed the tree and threw a noose over the panther's neck while his - faithful dog was barking below. Then the cute Uncle Silas made his rope - fast to a limb and shook the tree so that when the panther jumped for the - ground he hung himself. - </p> - <p> - To most of those who heard the narrative it seemed to be a rather - creditable exploit, showing, as it did, a shrewdness and ready courage of - no mean order on the part of Uncle Silas. Murmurs of glad approval were - hushed, however, by the voice of the red-headed boy. - </p> - <p> - "Pooh! that's nothing," said he, with contempt. "My Uncle Mose chased a - panther once an' overtook him and ketched him by the tail an' fetched his - head agin a tree, quick as a flash, an' knocked his brains out." - </p> - <p> - His words ran glibly and showed an off-hand mastery of panthers quite - unequalled. Here was an uncle of marked superiority and promise. - </p> - <p> - There was a moment of silence in the crowd. - </p> - <p> - "If ye don't believe it," said the red-headed boy, "I can show ye a vest - my mother made out o' the skin." - </p> - <p> - That was conclusive. Sue blushed for shame and looked into the face of - Socky. Her mouth drooped a little and her under lip trembled with anxiety. - Doubt, thoughtfulness, and confusion were on the face of her brother. He - scraped the sand with his foot. He felt that he had sometimes stretched - the truth a little, but this—this went beyond his capacity for - invention. - </p> - <p> - "Don't believe it," he whispered, with half a sneer as he glanced down at - Sue. - </p> - <p> - Lizzie Cornell began to titter. All eyes were fixed upon the unhappy pair - as if to say, "How about your Uncle Silas now?" The populace, deserting - the standard of the old king, gathered in front of the red-headed boy and - began to inquire into the merits of Uncle Mose. - </p> - <p> - Socky and Sue hesitated. Curiosity struggled with resentment. Slowly and - thoughtfully they walked away. For a moment neither spoke. Soon a cheering - thought came into the mind of Sue. - </p> - <p> - "Maybe Uncle Silas has ketched a panther by the tail, too," said she, - hopefully. Socky, his hands in his pockets, looked down with a dazed - expression. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to ask father," said he, thoughtfully. - </p> - <p> - It was now late in the afternoon. They went home and sat in silence on the - veranda, watching for their father. The old Frenchwoman who kept house for - him tried to coax them in, but they would make no words with her. Long - they sat there looking wistfully down the river-bank. - </p> - <p> - Presently Sue hauled out of her pocket a tiny rag doll which she carried - for casual use. It came handy in moments of loneliness and despair outside - the house. She toyed with its garments, humming in a motherly fashion. It - was nearly dark when they saw their father staggering homeward according - to his habit. They knew not yet the meaning of that wavering walk. - </p> - <p> - "There he comes!" said Socky, as they both ran to meet him. "He can't - carry us to-night. He's awful tired." - </p> - <p> - They thought him "tired." They kissed him and took his hands in theirs, - and led him into the house. Stern and silent he sat down beside them at - the supper-table. The children were also silent and sober-faced from - intuitive sympathy. They could not yet introduce the topic which weighed - upon them. - </p> - <p> - Socky looked at his father. For the first time he noted that his clothes - were shabby; he knew that a few days before his father had lost his watch. - The boy stole away from the table, and went to his little trunk and - brought the sacred thing which his teacher had given him Christmas Day—a - cheap watch that told time with a noisy and inspiring tick. He laid it - down by his father's plate. - </p> - <p> - "There," said he, "I'm going to let you wear my watch." - </p> - <p> - It was one of those deep thrusts which only the hand of innocence can - administer. Richard Gordon took the watch in his hand and sat a moment - looking down. The boy manfully resumed his chair. - </p> - <p> - "It don't look very well for you to be going around without a watch," he - remarked, taking up his piece of bread and butter. - </p> - <p> - His father put the watch in his pocket. - </p> - <p> - "You can let me wear it Sundays," the boy added. "You won't need it - Sundays." - </p> - <p> - A smile overspread the man's face. - </p> - <p> - The children, quick to see their opportunity, approached him on either - side. Sue put her arms around the neck of her father and kissed him. - </p> - <p> - "Tell us a story about Uncle Silas," she pleaded. - </p> - <p> - "Uncle Silas!" he exclaimed. "We're all going to see him in a few days." - </p> - <p> - The children were mute with surprise. Sue's little doll dropped from her - hands to the floor. Her face changed color and she turned quickly, with a - loud cry, and drummed on the table so that the dishes rattled. Socky - leaned over the back of a chair and shook his head, and gave his feet a - fling and then recovered his dignity. - </p> - <p> - "Now don't get excited," remarked their father. - </p> - <p> - They ran out of the room, and stood laughing and whispering together for a - moment. Then they rushed back. - </p> - <p> - "When are we going?" the boy inquired. - </p> - <p> - "In a day or two," said Gordon, who still sat drinking his tea. - </p> - <p> - Sue ran to tell Aunt Marie, the housekeeper, and Socky sat in his little - rocking-chair for a moment of sober thought. - </p> - <p> - "Look here, old chap," said Gordon, who was wont to apply the terms of - mature good-fellowship to his little son. Socky came and stood by the side - of his father. - </p> - <p> - "You an' I have been friends for some time, haven't we?" was the strange - and half-maudlin query which Gordon put to his son. - </p> - <p> - The boy smiled and came nearer. - </p> - <p> - "An' I've always treated ye right—ain't I? Answer me." - </p> - <p> - "Yes, sir." - </p> - <p> - "Well, folks say you're neglected an' that you don't have decent clothes - an' that you might as well have no father at all. Now, old boy, I'm going - to tell you the truth; I'm broke—failed in business, an' have had to - give up. Understand me; I haven't a cent in the world." - </p> - <p> - The man smote his empty pocket suggestively. The boy was now deeply - serious. Not able to comprehend the full purport of his father's words, he - saw something in the face before him which began to hurt. His lower lip - trembled a little. - </p> - <p> - "Don't worry, old friend," said Gordon, clapping him on the shoulder. - </p> - <p> - Just then Sue came running back. - </p> - <p> - "Say," said she, climbing on a round of her father's chair, "did Uncle - Silas ever ketch a panther by the tail?" - </p> - <p> - The children held their breaths waiting for the answer. - </p> - <p> - "Ketch a panther by the tail!" their father exclaimed. "Whatever put that - in your head?" - </p> - <p> - Sue answered with some show of excitement. Her words came fast. - </p> - <p> - "Lizzie Cornell's cousin he said that his Uncle Mose had ketched a panther - by the tail an' knocked his brains out." - </p> - <p> - Their father smiled again. - </p> - <p> - "That kind o' floored ye, didn't it, old girl?" said he, with a kiss. - "Le's see," he continued, drawing the children close on either side of - him. "I don' know as he ever ketched a panther by the tail, but I'll tell - ye what he did do. One day when he hadn't any gun with him he come acrost - a big bear, an' Uncle Sile fetched him a cuff with his fist an' broke the - bear's neck, an' then he brought him home on his back an' et him for - dinner." - </p> - <p> - "Oh!" the girl exclaimed, her mouth and eyes wide open. - </p> - <p> - Socky whistled a shrill note of surprise and thankfulness. Then he clucked - after the manner of one starting his horse. - </p> - <p> - "My stars!" he exclaimed, and so saying he skipped across the floor and - brought his fist down heavily upon the lounge. Uncle Silas had been saved—plucked, - as it were, from the very jaws of obscurity. - </p> - <p> - When they were ready to get into bed the children knelt as usual before - old Aunt Marie, the housekeeper. Sue ventured to add a sentence to her - prayer. "God bless Uncle Silas," said she, "and make him very—very——" - </p> - <p> - The girl hesitated, trying to find the right word. - </p> - <p> - "Powerful," her brother suggested, still in the attitude of devotion. - </p> - <p> - "Powerful," repeated Sue, in a trembling voice, and then added: "for - Christ's sake. Amen." - </p> - <p> - They lay a long time discussing what they should say and do when at last - they were come into the presence of the great man. Suddenly a notion - entered the mind of Socky that, in order to keep the favor of fortune, he - must rise and clap his hand three times upon the round top of the posts at - the foot of the bed. Accordingly he rose and satisfied this truly pagan - impulse. - </p> - <p> - Then he repeated the story of his uncle and the bear over and over again, - pausing thoughtfully at the point of severest action and adding a little - color to heighten the effect. Here and there Sue prompted him, and details - arose which seemed to merit careful consideration. - </p> - <p> - "I wouldn't wonder but what Uncle Silas must 'a' spit on his hand before - he struck the bear," said Socky, remembering how strong men often prepared - themselves for a difficult undertaking. - </p> - <p> - When the story had been amplified, in a generous degree, and well - committed to memory, they began to talk of Lizzie Cornell and her cousin, - the red-headed boy, and planned how they would seek them out next day and - defy them with the last great achievement of their Uncle Silas. - </p> - <p> - "He's a nasty thing," the girl exclaimed, suddenly. - </p> - <p> - "I feel kind o' sorry for him," said Socky, with a sigh. - </p> - <p> - "Why?" - </p> - <p> - "Cos he thinks his uncle beats the world an' he ain't nowhere." - </p> - <p> - "Maybe he'll want to fight," said Sue. - </p> - <p> - "Then I'll fetch him a cuff." - </p> - <p> - "S'pose you was to break his neck?" - </p> - <p> - "I'll hit him in the breast," said Socky, thoughtfully, feeling his - muscle. - </p> - <p> - Sue soon fell asleep, but Socky lay thinking about his father. He had - crossed the edge of the beginning of trouble. He thought of those words—and - of a certain look which accompanied them—"I haven't got a cent in - the world." What did they mean? He could only judge from experience—from - moments when he had stood looking through glass windows and showcases at - things which had tempted him and which he had not been able to enjoy. Oh, - the bitter pain of it! Must his father endure that kind of thing? He lay - for a few moments weeping silently. - </p> - <p> - All at once the thought of his little bank came to him. It was nearly full - of pennies. He rose in bed and listened. The room was dark, but he could - hear Aunt Marie at work in the kitchen. That gave him courage, and he - crept stealthily out of bed and went to his trunk and felt for the little - square house of painted tin with a slot in the chimney. It lay beneath his - Sunday clothes, and he raised and gently shook it. He could hear that - familiar and pleasant sound of the coin. - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile his father had been sitting alone. For weeks he had been rapidly - going downhill. His friends had all turned against him. He had been fairly - stoned with reproaches. He could see only trouble behind, disgrace before, - and despair on either side. He held a revolver in his hand. A child's - voice rang out in the silence, calling "father." - </p> - <p> - Gordon leaned forward upon the table. He began to be conscious of things - beyond himself. He heard the great mill-saw roaring in the still night; he - heard the tick of the clock near him. Suddenly his little son peered - through the halfopen door. - </p> - <p> - "Father," Socky whispered. - </p> - <p> - Gordon started from his chair, and, seeing the boy, sat down again. - </p> - <p> - Socky was near crying but restrained himself. Without a word he deposited - his bank on the table. It was a moment of solemn renunciation. He was like - one before the altar giving up the vanities of the world. He looked - soberly at his father and said, "I'm going to give you all my money." - </p> - <p> - Gordon said not a word and there was a moment of silence. - </p> - <p> - "More than a dollar in it," the boy suggested, proudly. - </p> - <p> - Still his father sat resting his head upon his hand in silence while he - seemed to be trying the point of a pen. - </p> - <p> - "You may give me five cents if you've a mind to when you open it," Socky - added. - </p> - <p> - Gordon turned slowly and kissed the forehead of his little son. The boy - put his arms around the neck of his father and begged him to come and lie - upon the bed and tell a story. - </p> - <p> - So it happened the current of ruin was turned aside—the - heat-oppressed brain diverted from its purpose. For as the man lay beside - his children he began to think of them and less of himself. "I cannot - leave them," he concluded. "When I go I shall take them with me." - </p> - <p> - In the long, still hours he lay thinking. - </p> - <p> - The south wind began to stir the pines, and cool air from out of the wild - country came through an open window. Fathoms of dusty, dead air which had - hung for weeks over the valley, growing hotter and more oppressive in the - burning sunlight, moved away. A cloud passing northward flung a sprinkle - of rain upon the broad, smoky flats and was drained before it reached the - great river. All who were sick and weary felt the ineffable healing of the - woodland breeze. It soothed the aching brain of the mill-owner and - slackened the ruinous toil of his thoughts. - </p> - <p> - Gordon slept soundly for the first time in almost a month. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - II - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>EXT morning Gordon - felt better. He began even to consider what he could do to mend his life. - The children got ready for Sunday-school and were on their way to church - an hour ahead of time. Sue, in her white dress and pretty bonnet, walked - with a self-conscious, don't-touch-me air. Socky, in his little sailor - suit, had the downward eye of meditation. Each carried a Testament and - looked neither to right nor left. They hurried as if eager for spiritual - refreshment. They were, however, like the veriest barbarians setting out - with spears and arrows in quest of revenge. They were thinking of Lizzie - Cornell and that boy of the red head and the doomed uncle. Socky's lips - moved silently as he hurried. One might have inferred that he was - repeating his golden text. Such an inference would have been far from the - truth. He was, in fact, tightening the grasp of memory on those inspiring - words: "an' Uncle Sile fetched him a cuff with his fist an' broke the - bear's neck, an' then he brought him home on his back an' et him for - dinner." They joined a group of children who were sitting on the steps of - the old church. Their hearts beat fast when they saw Lizzie coming with - her cousin, the red-headed boy. - </p> - <p> - A number went forth to meet the two. - </p> - <p> - "Tell us the badger story," said they to the red-headed boy. - </p> - <p> - "Pooh! that ain't much," he answered, modestly. - </p> - <p> - "Please tell us," they insisted. - </p> - <p> - "Wal, one day my Uncle Mose see a side-hill badger—" - </p> - <p> - "What's a side-hill badger?" a voice interrupted. - </p> - <p> - "An animal what lives on a hill, an' has legs longer on one side than on t - 'other, so 't he can run round the side of it," said he, glibly, and with - a look of pity for such ignorance. - </p> - <p> - "Go on with the story," said another voice. - </p> - <p> - "My Uncle Mose sat an' watched one day up in the limb of a tree above the - hole of a badger. By-an'-by an ol' he badger come out, an' my uncle - dropped onto his back, an' rode him round an' round the hill 'til he was - jes' tuckered out. - </p> - <p> - Then Uncle Mose put a rope on his neck an' tied him to a tree, an' the ol' - badger dug an' dug until they was a hole in the ground so big you could - put a house in it. An' my uncle he got an idee, an' so one day he fetched - him out to South Colton an' learnt him how to dig wells an' cellars, an' - bym-by the ol' badger could earn more money than a hired man." - </p> - <p> - "Shucks!" said Socky, turning upon his adversary with sneering, studied - scorn. "That's nothing!" - </p> - <p> - Then proudly stepping forward, he flung the latest exploit of his Uncle - Silas into the freckled face of the red-headed boy. It stunned the able - advocate of old Moses Leonard—a mighty hunter in his time—and - there fell a moment of silence followed by murmurs of applause. - </p> - <p> - The little barbarian—Lizzie Cornell—had begun to scent the - battle and stood sharpening an arrow. - </p> - <p> - "It's a lie," said the red-headed boy, recovering the power of speech. - </p> - <p> - "His father's a thief an' a drunkard, anyway." That was the arrow of - Lizzie Cornell. - </p> - <p> - Socky had raised his fists to vindicate his honor, when, hearing the - remark about his father, he turned quickly upon the girl who made it. - </p> - <p> - What manner of rebuke he would have administered, history is unable to - record. The minister had come. The children began to scatter. Lizzie and - her red-headed cousin ran around the church. Socky and Sue stood with - angry faces. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly Socky leaned upon the church door and burst into tears. He dimly - comprehended the disgrace which Lizzie had sought to put upon him. The - minister could not persuade him to enter the church or to explain the - nature of his trouble. - </p> - <p> - When all had gone into Sunday-school, the boy turned, wiping his eyes. Sue - stood beside him, a portrait of despair. - </p> - <p> - "Le's go home an' tell our father," said she. - </p> - <p> - They started slowly, but as their indignation grew their feet hurried. - Neither spoke in the long journey to their door. They ran through the hall - and rushed in upon their father who sat reading. - </p> - <p> - "Oh, father!" said the girl, in excited tones; "Lizzie Cornell says you're - a thief an' a drunkard." - </p> - <p> - Gordon rose and turned pale. - </p> - <p> - The hands and voices of the children were ever raised against him. - </p> - <p> - "It's a lie!" said he, turning away. - </p> - <p> - He stood a moment looking out of the window. He must take them to some - lonely part of the wilderness and there make an end of his trouble and of - theirs. He turned to the children, saying, "Right after dinner we'll start - for the woods." - </p> - <p> - So it befell that in the afternoon of a Sunday late in June, Socky and - Sue, with all their effects in a pack-basket, and their father beside - them, started in a spring-wagon over the broad, stony terraces that lift - southward into thickening woods, on their way to great peril. - </p> - <p> - And so, too, it befell that in leaving home and the tearful face of dear - Aunt Marie, they were sustained by a thought of that good and mighty man - whom they hoped soon to see—their Uncle Silas. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - III. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE day was hot and - still. Slowly they mounted the foot-hills between meadows aglow with - color. The country seemed to flow ever downward past their sleepy eyes on - its way to the great valley. The daisies were like white foam on the slow - cascade of Bowman's Hill, and there were masses of red and yellow which - appeared to be drifting on the flats. A driver sat on the front seat, and - Gordon behind with Socky and Sue. The little folk chattered together and - wearied their father with queries about birds and beasts. By-and-by the - girl grew silent, her chin sank upon her breast, and her head began to - shake and sway as their wagon clattered over the rough road. In a moment - Socky's head was nodding also, and the feet of both swung limp below the - wagon-seat. - </p> - <p> - They had seemed to sink and rise and struggle and cry out in the silence, - and were now as those drowned beneath it. Gordon drew them towards him and - lifted their legs upon the cushioned wagon-seat. He sat thinking as they - rode. They had been hard on him—those creditors. He had not meant to - steal, but only to borrow that small sum which he had taken out of the - business in order to feed and clothe the children who lay beside him. - True, some dollars of it had gone to buy oblivion—a few hours of - unearned, of unholy relief. How else, thought he, could he have stood the - reproaches of brutal men? - </p> - <p> - They arrived at Tupper's Mill late in the afternoon. There Gordon found a - canoe and made ready. At this point the river turned like a scared horse - and ran east by south, around Tup-per Ridge, in a wide loop, and, as if - doubting its way, slackened pace, and, wavering right and left, moved - slowly into the shade of the forest, and then, as if reassured, went on at - a full gallop, leaping over the cliff at Fiddler's Falls. Below, it turned - to the north, and, seeming to see its way at last, grew calm and crossed - the flats wearily, covered with foam. - </p> - <p> - Socky woke and rubbed his eyes when he and his sister were taken out of - the wagon. Sue continued to sleep, although carried like a sack of meal - under the arm of the driver and Silas Strong laid amidships on a blanket. - Mr. Tupper, the mill man, gave them a piece of meat which, out of courtesy - to the law, he called "mountain lamb." With pack aboard and Socky on a - blanket in the bow, Gordon pushed his canoe into the current. - </p> - <p> - All who journeyed to the Lost River country from the neighborhood of - Hillsborough arrived at Tupper's late in the afternoon. There, generally, - they took canoe and paddled six miles to a log inn at the head of the - still water. But as Gordon started from Tupper's Mill down stream he had - in mind a destination not on any map of this world. Socky sat facing him, - a little hand on either gunwale. - </p> - <p> - Socky had thought often that day of the incident of the night before and - of his father's poverty. Now he looked him over from head to foot. He saw - the little steel chain fastened to his father's waistcoat and leading into - the pocket where he knew that his own watch lay hidden. The look of it - gave him a feeling of great virtue and satisfaction. - </p> - <p> - "Father, will you please tell me what time it is?" he inquired. - </p> - <p> - Gordon removed the watch from his pocket. "Half-past six. We've got to - push on." - </p> - <p> - It was fine to see that watch in his father's hand. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to give it to you," said the boy, soberly. "You can wear it - Sundays an' every day." - </p> - <p> - Gordon looked into the eyes of his son. He saw there the white soul of the - little traveller just entering upon the world. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to buy you some new clothes, too," said Socky, now overflowing - with generosity. - </p> - <p> - "Where'll you get the money?" - </p> - <p> - "From my Uncle Silas." After a few moments Socky added, "If I was Lizzie - Cornell's father I'd give her a good whipping." - </p> - <p> - They rode in silence awhile, and soon the boy lay back on his blanket - looking up at the sky. - </p> - <p> - "Father," said he, presently. - </p> - <p> - "What?" - </p> - <p> - "I'm good to you, ain't I?" - </p> - <p> - "Very." - </p> - <p> - There was a moment of silence, and then the boy added, "I love you." - </p> - <p> - Those words gave the man a new sense of comfort. If he could have done so - he would have embraced his son and covered his face with kisses. - </p> - <p> - The sun had sunk low and they were entering the edge of the night and the - woodland. Soon the boy fell asleep. The silence of the illimitable sky - seemed to be flooding down and delightful sounds were drifting on its - current. They had passed the inn, long ago and walls of fir and pine were - on either side of them. Gordon put into a deep cove, stopping under the - pine-trees with his bow on a sand-bar. Then he let himself down, - stretching his legs on the canoe bottom and lying back on his blanket. - </p> - <p> - For a long time he lay there thinking. He had been a man of some - refinement, and nature had punished him, after an old fashion, for the - abuse of it with extreme sensitiveness. He had come to the Adirondacks - from a New England city and married and gone into business. At first he - had prospered, and then he had begun to go down. - </p> - <p> - He had been a lover of music and a reader of the poets. As he lay thinking - in the early dusk he heard the notes of the wood-thrush. That bird was - like a welcoming trumpeter before the gate of a palace; it bade him be at - home. Above all he could hear the water song of Fiddler's Falls—the - tremulous, organ bass of rock caverns upon which the river drummed as it - fell, the chorus of the on-rushing stream and great overtones in the - timber. - </p> - <p> - Sound and rhythm seemed to be full of that familiar strain—so like a - solemn warning: - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0004" id="linkimage-0004"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0038.jpg" alt="0038m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0038.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - A long time he sat hearing it. He began to feel ashamed of his folly and - awakened to the inspiration of a new purpose. He rose and looked about - him. - </p> - <p> - When you enter a house you begin to feel the heart of its owner. Something - in the walls and furnishings, something in the air—is it a vibration - which dead things have gathered from the living?—bids you welcome or - warns you to depart. It is the true voice of the master. As Gordon came - into the wilderness he felt like one returning to his father's house. In - this great castle the heart of its Master seemed to speak to him with a - tenderness fatherly and unmistakable. - </p> - <p> - A subtle force like that we find in houses built with hands now bade him - welcome. "Lie down and rest, my son," it seemed to say. "Let not your - heart be troubled. Here in your Father's house are forgiveness and - plenty." - </p> - <p> - He put away the thought of death. He covered the sleeping boy and girl, - pushed his canoe forward upon the sand, and lying back comfortably soon - fell asleep. - </p> - <p> - He awoke refreshed at sunrise. The great, green fountain of life, in the - midst of which he had rested, now seemed to fill his heart with its - uplifting joy and energy and persistence. - </p> - <p> - He built a fire under the trees and broiled the meat and made toast and - coffee. He lifted the children in his arms and kissed them with unusual - tenderness. - </p> - <p> - "To-day we'll see Uncle Silas," Gordon assured them. - </p> - <p> - "My Uncle Silas!" said the boy, fondly. - </p> - <p> - "He's mine, too," Sue declared. - </p> - <p> - "He's both of our'n," Socky allowed, as they began to eat their breakfast. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - IV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>ILAS STRONG, or - "Panther Sile," as the hunters called him, spent every winter in the - little forest hamlet of Pitkin and every summer in the woods. - </p> - <p> - Lawrence County was the world, and game, wood, and huckleberries the - fulness thereof; all beyond was like the reaches of space unexplored and - mysterious. God was only a word—one may almost say—and mostly - part of a compound adjective; hell was Ogdensburg, to which he had once - journeyed; and the devil was Colonel Jedson. This latter opinion, it - should be said, grew out of an hour in which the Colonel had bullied him - in the witness-chair, and not to any lasting resemblance. - </p> - <p> - As to Ogdensburg itself, the hunter had based his judgment upon evidence - which, to say the least, was inconclusive. When Sile and the city first - met, they regarded each other with extreme curiosity. A famous hunter, as - he moved along the street with rifle, pack, and panther-skin, Sile was - trying to see everything, and everything seemed to be trying to see Sile. - The city was amused while the watchful eye of Silas grew weary and his - bosom filled with distrust. One tipsy man offered him a jack-knife as a - compliment to the length of his nose, and before he could escape a new - acquaintance had wrongfully borrowed his watch. His conclusions regarding - the city were now fully formed. He broke with it suddenly, and struck out - across country and tramped sixty miles without a rest. Ever after the - thought of Ogdensburg revived memories of confusion, headache, and - irreparable loss. So, it is said, when he heard the minister describing - hell one Sunday at the little school-house in Pitkin, he had no doubt - either of its existence or its location. - </p> - <p> - All this, however, relates to antecedent years of our history—years - which may not be wholly neglected if one is to understand what follows - them. - </p> - <p> - After the death of his sister—the late Mrs. Gordon—Strong - began to read his Bible and to cut his trails of thought further and - further towards his final destination. A deeper reverence and a more - correct notion of the devil rewarded his labor. - </p> - <p> - It must be added that his meditations led him to one remarkable conclusion—namely, - that all women were angels. His parents had left him nothing save a maiden - sister named Cynthia, and characterized by some as "a reg'lar human - panther." - </p> - <p> - "Wherever Sile is they's panthers," said a guide once, in the little store - at Pitkin. - </p> - <p> - "Don't make no dif'er'nce whuther he's t' home er in the woods," said - another, solemnly. - </p> - <p> - That was when God owned the wilderness and kept there a goodly number of - his big cats, four of which had fallen before the rifle of Strong. - </p> - <p> - Cynthia, in his view, had a special sanctity, but there was another woman - whom he regarded with great tenderness—a cheery-faced maiden lady of - his own age and of the name of Annette. - </p> - <p> - To Silas she was always Lady Ann. He gave her this title without any - thought or knowledge of foreign customs. "Miss Roice" would have been too - formal, and "Ann" or "Annette" would have been too familiar. "Lady Ann" - seemed to have the proper ring of respect, familiarity, and distinction. - In his view a "lady" was a creature as near perfection as anything could - be in this world. - </p> - <p> - When a girl of eighteen she had taught in the log school-house. Since the - death of her mother the care of the little home had fallen upon her. She - was a well-fed, cheerful, and comely creature with a genius for - housekeeping. - </p> - <p> - June had come, and Silas was getting ready to go into camp. There was no - longer any peace for him in the clearing. The odor of the forest and the - sight of the new leaves gave him no rest. Had he not heard in his dreams - the splash of leaping trout, and deer playing in the lily-pads? In the - midst of his preparations, although a silent man, the tumult of joy in his - breast came pouring out in the whistled refrain of "Yankee Doodle." It was - a general and not a special sense of satisfaction which caused him to - shake with laughter now and then as he made his way along the rough road. - Sometimes he rubbed his long nose thoughtfully. - </p> - <p> - A nature-loving publisher, who often visited his camp, had printed some - cards for him. They bore these modest words: - </p> - <h3> - S. STRONG - </h3> - <h3> - GUIDE AND CONTRIVER - </h3> - <p> - He was able in either capacity, but his great gift lay in tongue control—in - his management of silence. He was what they called in that country "a - one-word man." The phrase indicated that he was wont to express himself - with all possible brevity. He never used more than one word if that could - be made to satisfy the demands of politeness and perspicacity. Even though - provocation might lift his feeling to high degrees of intensity, and well - beyond the pale of Christian sentiment, he was never profuse. - </p> - <p> - His oaths would often hiss and hang fire a little, but they were in the - end as brief and emphatic as the crack of a rifle. This trait of brevity - was due, in some degree, to the fact that he stammered slightly, - especially in moments of excitement, but more to his life in the silence - of the deep woods. - </p> - <p> - Silas Strong had filled his great pack at the store and was nearing his - winter home—a rude log-house in the little forest hamlet. He let the - basket down from his broad back to the doorstep. His sister Cynthia, - small, slim, sternfaced, black-eyed, heart and fancy free, stood looking - down at him. - </p> - <p> - "Wal, what now?" she demanded, in a voice not unlike that of a pea-hen. - </p> - <p> - "T'-t'-morrer," he stammered, in a loud and cheerful tone. - </p> - <p> - "What time to-morrer?" - </p> - <p> - "D-daylight." - </p> - <p> - "I knew it," she snapped, sinking into a chair, the broom in her hands, - and a woful look upon her. "You've got t' hankerin'." - </p> - <p> - Silas said nothing, but entered the house and took a drink of water. - Cynthia snapped: - </p> - <p> - "If I wanted t' marry Net Roice I'd marry 'er an' not be dilly-dallyin' - all my life." - </p> - <p> - Cynthia was now fifty years of age, and regarded with a stern eye every - act of man which bore any suggestion of dilly-dallying. - </p> - <p> - "Ain't g-good'nough," he stammered, calmly. - </p> - <p> - "You're fool 'nough," she declared, with a twang of ill-nature. - </p> - <p> - "S-supper, Mis' Strong," said he, stirring the fire. - </p> - <p> - Whenever his sister indulged in language of unusual loudness and severity - he was wont to address her in a gentle tone as "Mis' Strong"—the - only kind of retaliation to which he resorted. He shortened the "Miss" a - little, so that his words might almost be recorded as "Mi' Strong." In - those rare and cheerful moments when her mood was more in harmony with his - own he called her "Sinth" for short. In his letters, which were few, he - had addressed her as "deer sinth." She was, therefore, a compound person, - consisting of a severe and dissenting character called "Mis' Strong," and - a woman of few words and a look of sickliness and resignation who answered - to the pseudonyme of "Sinth." - </p> - <p> - Born and brought up in the forest, there was much in Silas and Cynthia - that suggested the wild growth of the woodland. Their sister—the - late Mrs. Gordon—had beauty and a head for books. She had gone to - town and worked for her board and spent a year in the academy. Silas and - Cynthia, on the other hand, were without beauty or learning or refinement, - nor had they much understanding of the laws of earth or heaven, save what - nature had taught them; but the devotion of this man to that querulous - little wild-cat of a sister was remarkable. She was to him a sacred - heritage. For love of her he had carried with him these ten years a - burden, as it were, of suppressed and yearning affection. Silas Strong - alone might even have been "good enough," in his own estimation, but he - accepted "Mis' Strong" as a kind of flaw in his own character. - </p> - <p> - Every June he went to his camp at Lost River, taking Sinth to cook for - him, and returning in the early winter. Next day, at sunrise, they were to - start for the woods. - </p> - <p> - To-day he helped to get supper, and, having wiped the dishes, put on his - best suit, his fine boots, his new felt hat, and walked a mile to the - little farm of Uncle Ben Roice. He carried with him a gray squirrel in a - cage, and, as he walked, sang in a low voice: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "All for the love of a charmin' creature, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - All for the love of a lady fair." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - It was like any one of a thousand visits he had made there. Annette met - him at the door. - </p> - <p> - "Why, of all things!" said she. "What have you here?" - </p> - <p> - "C'ris'mus p-present, Lady Ann," said he. - </p> - <p> - It should be said that with Silas a gift was a "Christmas present" every - day in the year—the cheerful spirit of that time being always with - him. - </p> - <p> - He proudly put the cage in her hands. - </p> - <p> - "Much obliged to you, Sile," said she, laughing. - </p> - <p> - "S-Strong's ahead!" he stammered, cheerfully. - </p> - <p> - This indicated that in his fight with the powers of evil Strong felt as if - he had at least temporary advantage. When, perhaps, after a moment of - anger it seemed that the Evil One had got the upper hold on him, he was - wont to exclaim, "Satan's ahead!" But the historian is glad to say that - those occasions were, in the main, rare and painful. - </p> - <p> - "Strong will never give in," said Annette, with laughter. - </p> - <p> - Strong's affection was expressed only in signs and tokens. Of the former - there were his careful preparation for each visit, and many sighs and - blushes, and now and then a tender glance of the eye. Of tokens there had - been many—a tame fox, ten mink-skins, a fawn, a young thrush, a - pancake-turner carved out of wood, and other important trifles. For twenty - years he had been coming, but never a word of love had passed between - them. - </p> - <p> - Silas sat in a strong wooden chair. Under the sky he never thought of his - six feet and two inches of bone and muscle; now it seemed to fill his - consciousness and the little room in which he sat. To-day and generally he - leaned against the wall, a knee in his hands as if to keep himself in - proper restraint. - </p> - <p> - "Did you just come to bring me that squirrel?" Annette inquired. - </p> - <p> - "No," he answered. - </p> - <p> - "What then?" - </p> - <p> - "Squirrel come t' b-bring me." - </p> - <p> - "Silas Strong!" she exclaimed, playfully, amazed by his frankness. - </p> - <p> - He put his big hand over his face and enjoyed half a minute of silent - laughter. - </p> - <p> - "Silas Strong!" she repeated. - </p> - <p> - "Present,"'said he, as if answering the call of the roll, and sobering as - he uncovered his face. - </p> - <p> - In conversation Silas had a way of partly closing one eye while the other - opened wide beneath a lifted brow. The one word of the Emperor was - inadequate. He was, indeed, present, but he was extremely happy also, a - condition which should have been freely acknowledged. It must be said, - however, that his features made up in some degree for the idleness of his - tongue. He brushed them with a downward movement, of his hand, as if to - remove all traces of levity and prepare them for their part in serious - conversation. - </p> - <p> - "All w-well?" he inquired, soberly. - </p> - <p> - "Eat our allowance," said she, sitting near him. "How's Miss Strong?" - </p> - <p> - "S-supple!" he answered. Then he ran his fingers through his blond hair - and soberly exclaimed, "Weasels!" - </p> - <p> - This remark indicated that weasels had been killing the poultry and - applying stimulation to the tongue of Miss Strong. Silas had sent her - fowls away to market the day before. - </p> - <p> - "Too bad!" was the remark of Lady Ann. - </p> - <p> - "Fisht?" By this word Silas meant to inquire if she had been fishing. - </p> - <p> - "Yesterday. Over at the falls—caught ten," said she, getting busy - with her knitting. "B-big?" - </p> - <p> - "Three that long," she answered, measuring with her thread. - </p> - <p> - He gave a loud whistle of surprise, thought a moment, and exclaimed, - "M-mountaneyous!" He used this word when contemplating in imagination news - of a large and important character. - </p> - <p> - "How have you been?" - </p> - <p> - "Stout," he answered, drawing in his breath. - </p> - <p> - Annette rose and seemed to go in search of something. The kindly gray eyes - of Silas Strong followed her. A smile lighted up his face. It was a very - plain face, but there was yet something fine about it, something which - invited confidence and respect. The Lady Ann entered her own room, and - soon returned. - </p> - <p> - "Shut yer eyes," said she. - </p> - <p> - "What f-for?" - </p> - <p> - "Chris'mas present." - </p> - <p> - Silas obeyed, and she thrust three pairs of socks into his coat-pocket. - With a smile he drew them out. Then a partly smothered laugh burst from - his lips, and he held his hand before his face and shook with good - feeling. - </p> - <p> - "S-socks!" he exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - "There are two parts of a man which always ought to be kep' warm—his - heart an' his feet," said she. - </p> - <p> - Silas whacked his knee with his palm and laughed heartily, his wide eye - aglow with merriment. His expression quickly turned serious. - </p> - <p> - "B-bears plenty!" he exclaimed, as he felt of the socks and looked them - over. This remark indicated that a season of unusual happiness and - prosperity had arrived. - </p> - <p> - Worked in white yarn at the top of each leg were the words, "Remember me." - </p> - <p> - "T-till d-death," he whispered. - </p> - <p> - "With me on your mind an' them on your feet you ought to be happy," said - Annette. - </p> - <p> - "An' w-warm," he answered, soberly. - </p> - <p> - Presently she read aloud to him from the <i>St. Lawrence Republican</i>. - </p> - <p> - "S-some day," said Silas, when at last he had risen to go. - </p> - <p> - "Some day," she repeated, with a smile. - </p> - <p> - The only sort of engagement between them lay in the two words "some day." - They served as an avowal of love and intention. Amplified, as it were, by - look and tone as well as by the pressure of the hand-clasp, they were - understood of both. - </p> - <p> - To-day as Annette returned the assurance she playfully patted his cheek, a - rare token of her approval. - </p> - <p> - Silas left her at the door and made his way down the dark road. He began - to give himself some highly pleasing assurances. - </p> - <p> - "S-some day—tall t-talkin'," he stammered, in a whisper, and then he - began to laugh silently. - </p> - <p> - "Patted my cheek!" he whispered. Then he laughed again. - </p> - <p> - At the store he had filled his pack with flour, ham, butter, and like - provisions for Lost River camp. At Annette's he had filled his heart with - renewed hope and happiness and was now prepared for the summer. While he - walked along he fell to speculating as to whether Annette could live under - the same roof with Cynthia. A hundred times he had considered whether he - could ask her, and as usual he concluded, "Ca-can't." - </p> - <p> - The hunter had an old memorandum-book which was a kind of storehouse for - thought, hope, and reflection. Therein he seemed always to regard himself - objectively and spoke of Strong as if he were quite another person. Before - going to bed that evening he made these entries: - </p> - <p> - <i>"June the 23. Strong is all mellered up. </i> - </p> - <p> - "Snags." - </p> - <p> - With him the word "meller" meant to soften, and sometimes, even, to - conquer with the club. - </p> - <p> - The word "snags" undoubtedly bore reference to the difficulties that beset - his way. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - V - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>ILAS and his - sister ate their breakfast by candle-light and were off on the trail - before sunrise, a small, yellow dog of the name of Zeb following. Zeb was - a bear-dog with a cross-eye and a serious countenance. He was, in the - main, a brave but a prudent animal. One day he attacked a bear, which had - been stunned by a bullet, and before he could dodge the bear struck him - knocking an eye out. Strong had put it back, and since that day his dog - had borne a cross-eye. - </p> - <p> - Zeb had a sense of dignity highly becoming in a creature of his - attainments. This morning, however, he scampered up and down the trail, - whining with great joy and leaping to lick the hand of his master. "Sinth" - walked spryly, a little curt in her manner, but passive and resigned. - Silas carried a heavy pack, a coon in a big cage, and led a fox. When he - came to soft places he set the cage down and tethered the fox, and, taking - Sinth in his arms, carried her as one would carry a baby. Having gained - better footing, he would let Sinth down upon a log or a mossy rock to rest - and return for his treasures. After two or three hours of travel the - complaining "Mis' Strong" would appear. - </p> - <p> - "Seems so ye take pleasure wearin' me out on these here trails," she would - say. "Why don't ye walk a little faster?" - </p> - <p> - "W-whoa!" he would answer, cheerfully. "Roughlocks!" - </p> - <p> - The roughlock, it should be explained, was a form of brake used by - log-haulers to check their bobs on a steep hill. In the conversation of - Silas it was a cautionary signal meaning hold up and proceed carefully. - </p> - <p> - "You don't care if you do kill me—gallopin' through the woods here - jes' like a houn' after a fox. I won't walk another step—not another - step." - </p> - <p> - "Rur-roughlocks!" he commanded himself, as he tied the fox and set the - coon down. - </p> - <p> - "Won't ride either," she would declare, with emphasis. - </p> - <p> - "W-wings on, Mis' Strong?" Silas had been known to ask, in a tone of great - gentleness. - </p> - <p> - She would be apt to answer, "If I had wings, I'd see the last o' you." - </p> - <p> - Then a little time of rest and silence, after which the big, gentle hunter - would shoulder his pack and lift in his arms the slender and complaining - Miss Strong and carry her up the long grade of Bear Mountain. Then he - would make her comfortable and return for his pets. - </p> - <p> - That day, having gone back for the fox and the coon, he concluded to try - the experiment of putting them together. Before then he had given the - matter a good deal of thought, for if the two were in a single package, as - it were, the problem of transportation would be greatly simplified. He - could fasten the coon cage on the top of his pack, and so avoid doubling - the trail. He led the fox and carried the coon to the point where Sinth - awaited him. Then he removed the chain from the fox's collar, carefully - opened the cage, and thrust him in. The swift effort of both animals to - find quarter nearly overturned the cage. Spits and growls of warning - followed one another in quick succession. Then each animal braced himself - against an end of the cage, indulging, as it would seem, in continuous - complaint and recrimination. - </p> - <p> - "Y-you behave!" said Silas, wamingly, as he put the cage on top of his - basket and fastened a stout cord from bars to buckles. - </p> - <p> - "They 'll fight!" Sinth exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - "Let 'em f-fight," said Silas, who had sat down before his pack and - adjusted the shoulder-straps. - </p> - <p> - The growling increased as he rose carefully to his feet, and with a swift - movement coon and fox exchanged positions. Sinth descended the long hill - afoot, and Silas went on cautiously, a low, continuous murmur of hostile - sound rising in the air behind him. Each animal seemed to think it - necessary to remind the other with every breath he took that he was - prepared to defend himself. Their enmity was, it would appear, deep and - racial. - </p> - <p> - At Cedar Swamp, in the flat below, the big hunter took Sinth in his arms. - Then the sound of menace and complaint rose before and behind him. Slowly - he proceeded, his feet sinking deep in the wet moss. Stepping on hummocks - in a dead creek, he slipped and fell. The little animals were flung about - like shot in a bottle. Each seemed to hold the other responsible for his - discomfiture. They came together in deadly conflict. The sounds in the - cage resembled an explosion of fire-crackers under a pan. Sinth lifted her - voice in a loud outcry of distress and accusation. Without a word the - hunter scrambled to his feet, renewed his hold upon the complaining Sinth, - and set out for dry land. Luckily the mud was not above his boot-tops. The - cage creaked and hurtled. The animals rolled from side to side in their - noisy encounter. The indignant Sinth struggled to get free with loud, - hysteric cries. Strong ran beneath his burden. He gained the dry trail, - and set his sister upon the ground. He flung off the shoulder-straps, and - with a stick separated the animals. He opened the cage and seized the fox - by the nape of the neck, and, before he could haul him forth, got a nip on - the back of his hand. He lifted the spitting fox and fastened the chain - upon his collar. Then Silas put his hands on his hips and blew like a - frightened deer. - </p> - <p> - "Hell's b-bein' raised," he muttered, as if taking counsel with himself - against Satan. "C-careful!" He was in a mood between amusement and anger, - but was dangerously near the latter. - </p> - <p> - A little profanity, felt but not expressed, warmed his spirit, so that he - kicked the coon's cage and tumbled it bottom side up. In a moment he - recovered self-control, righted the cage, and whispered, "S-Satan's - ahead!" - </p> - <p> - The wound upon his hand was bleeding, but he seemed not to mind it. - </p> - <p> - Having done his best for the comfort of his sister, he brushed the mud - from his boots and trousers, filled his pipe, and sat meditating in a - cloud of tobacco-smoke. Presently he rose and shouldered his pack and - untied the fox and lifted the coon cage. - </p> - <p> - "I'll walk if it kills me!" Sinth exclaimed, rising with a sigh of utter - recklessness. - </p> - <p> - "'T-'tain't fur," said Strong, as they renewed their journey. - </p> - <p> - It was past mid-day when they got to camp, and Sinth lay down to rest - while he fried some ham and boiled the potatoes and made tea and flapjacks - by an open fire. - </p> - <p> - When he sat on his heels and held his pan over the fire, the long woodsman - used to shut up, as one might say, somewhat in the fashion of a - jack-knife. He was wont to call it "settin' on his hunches." His great - left hand served for a movable screen to protect his face from the heat. - As the odor and sound of the frying rose about him, his features took on a - look of-great benevolence. It was a good part of the meal to hear him - announce, "Di-dinner," in a tender and cheerful tone. As he spoke it the - word was one of great capacity for suggestion. When the sound of it rose - and lingered on its final r, that day they arrived at Lost River camp, - Sinth awoke and came out-of-doors. - </p> - <p> - "Strong's g-gainin'!" he exclaimed, cheerfully, meaning thereby to - indicate that he hoped soon to overtake his enemy. - </p> - <p> - The table of bark, fastened to spruce poles, each end lying in a crotch, - had been covered with a mat of ferns and with clean, white dishes. Silas - began to convey the food from fire to table. To his delight he observed - that "Mis' Strong" had gone into retirement. The face of his sister now - wore its better look of sickliness and resignation. - </p> - <p> - "Opeydildock?" he inquired, tenderly, pouring from a flask into a cup. - </p> - <p> - "No, sir," she answered, curtly, her tone adding a rebuke to her negative - answer. - </p> - <p> - "Le's s-set," said he, soberly. - </p> - <p> - They sat and ate their dinner, after which Silas went back on the trail to - cut and bring wood for the camp-fire. When his job was finished, the rooms - were put to rights, the stove was hot and clean, and an excellent supper - waiting. - </p> - <p> - Strong's camp consisted of three little log cabins and a large cook-tent. - The end of each cabin was a rude fireplace built of flat rocks enclosed by - upright logs which, lined with sheet-iron, towered above the roof for a - chimney. Each floor an odd mosaic of wooden blocks, each wall sheathed - with redolent strips of cedar, each rude divan bottomed with deer-skin and - covered with balsam pillows, each bedstead of peeled spruce neatly cut and - joined—the whole represented years of labor. Every winter Silas had - come through the woods on a big sled with "new improvements" for camp. Now - there were spring-beds and ticks filled with husks in the cabins, a stove - and all needed accessories in the cook-tent. - </p> - <p> - Ever since he could carry a gun Silas had set his traps and hunted along - the valley of Lost River, ranging over the wild country miles from either - shore. Twenty thousand acres of the wilderness, round about, had belonged - to Smith & Gordon, who gave him permission to build his camp. When he - built, timber and land had little value. Under the great, green roof from - Bear Mountain to Four Ponds, from the Raquette to the Oswegatchie, one - might have enjoyed the free hospitality of God. - </p> - <p> - From a time he could not remember, this great domain had been the home of - Silas Strong. He loved it, and a sense of proprietorship had grown within - him. Therein he had need only of matches, a blanket, and a rifle. One - might have led him blindfolded, in the darkest night, to any part of it - and soon he would have got his bearings. In many places the very soles of - his feet would have told him where he stood. - </p> - <p> - Long ago its owners had given him charge of this great tract. He had - forbidden the hounding of deer and all kinds of greedy slaughter, and had - made campers careful with fire. Soon he came to be called "The Emperor of - the Woods," and every hunter respected his laws. - </p> - <p> - Slowly steam-power broke through the hills and approached the ramparts of - the Emperor. This power was like one of the many hands of the republic - gathering for its need. It started wheels and shafts and bore day and - night upon them. Now the song of doom sounded in far corridors of the - great sylvan home of Silas Strong. - </p> - <p> - It was only a short walk to where the dead hills lay sprinkled over with - ashes, their rock bones bleaching in the sun beneath columns of charred - timber. The spruce and pine had gone with the ever-flowing stream, and - their dead tops had been left to dry and burn with unquenchable fury at - the touch of fire, and to destroy everything, root and branch, and the - earth out of which it grew. - </p> - <p> - It concerned him much to note, everywhere, signs of a change in - proprietorship. In Strong's youth one felt, from end to end of the forest, - this invitation of its ancient owner, "Come all ye that are weary and - heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Now one saw much of this legend in - the forest ways, "All persons are forbidden trespassing on this property - under penalty of the law." Proprietorship had, seemingly, passed from God - to man. The land was worth now thirty dollars an acre. Silas had - established his camp when the boundaries were indefinite and the old - banners of welcome on every trail, and he felt the change. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VI - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T was near sunset - of the second day after the arrival of Sinth and Silas. They sat together - in front of the cook-tent. Silas leaned forward smoking a pipe. His great, - brawny arms, bare to the elbow, rested on his knees. His faded felt hat - was tilted back. He was looking down at the long stretch of still water, - fringed with lily-pads, and reflecting the colors of either shore. - </p> - <p> - "You'ain't got a cent to yer name," said Sinth, who was knitting. She gave - the yam a pull, and, as she did so, glanced up at her brother. - </p> - <p> - "B-better times!" said he, rubbing his hands. - </p> - <p> - "Better times!" she sneered. "I'd like to know how you can make money an' - charge a dollar a day for board." - </p> - <p> - Sportsmen visiting there paid for their board, and they with whom Silas - went gave him three dollars a day for his labor. - </p> - <p> - The truth was that prosperity and Miss Strong were things irreconcilable. - The representatives of prosperity who came to Lost River camp were often - routed by the eye of resentment and the unruly tongue. Strong knew all - this, but she was not the less sacred on that account. This year he had - planned to bring a cow to camp and raise the price of board. - </p> - <p> - "You s-see," Strong insisted. - </p> - <p> - "Huh!" Sinth went on; "we'll mos' kill ourselves, an' nex' spring we won't - have nothin' but a lot o' mink-skins." - </p> - <p> - Miss Strong, as if this reflection had quite overcome her, gathered up her - knitting and hastened into the cook-tent, where for a moment she seemed to - be venting her spite on the flat-irons and the tea-kettle. Strong sat - alone, smoking thoughtfully. Soon he heard footsteps on the trail. A - stranger, approaching, bade him good-evening. - </p> - <p> - "From the Migley Lumber Company," the stranger began, as he gave a card to - Strong. "We have bought the Smith & Gordon tract. I have come to bring - this letter and have a talk with you." - </p> - <p> - Strong read the letter carefully. Then he rose and put his hands in his - pockets, and, with a sly wink at the stranger, walked slowly down the - trail. He wished to go where Sinth would not be able to hear them. Some - twenty rods away both sat down upon a log. The letter was, in effect, an - order of eviction. - </p> - <p> - "I got t' g-go?" the Emperor inquired. - </p> - <p> - "That's about the size of it," said the stranger. - </p> - <p> - "Can't," Strong answered. - </p> - <p> - "Well, there's no hurry," said the other. "We shall be cutting here in the - fall. I won't disturb you this year." - </p> - <p> - Silas rose and stood erect before the lumberman. - </p> - <p> - "Cut everyth-thing?" he inquired, his hand sweeping outward in a gesture - of peculiar eloquence. - </p> - <p> - "Everything from Round Ridge to Carter's Plain," said the other. - </p> - <p> - Strong deliberately took off his jacket and laid it on a stump. He flung - his hat upon the ground. Evidently something unusual was about to happen. - Then, forthwith, he broke the silence of more than forty years and opened - his heart to the stranger. He could not control himself; his tongue almost - forgot its infirmity; his words came faster and easier as he went on. - </p> - <p> - "N-no, no," he said, "it can't be. Ye 'ain't no r-right t' do it, fer ye - can't never put the w-woods back agin. My God, sir, I've w-wan-dered over - these hills an' flats ever since I was a little b-boy. There ain't a - critter on 'em that d-don't know me. Seems so they was all my b-brothers. - I've seen men come in here nigh dead an' go back w-well. They's m-med'cine - here t' cure all the sickness in a hunderd cities; they's f-fur 'nough - here t' c-cover their naked—they's f-food'nough t' feed their hungry—an' - they's w-wood 'nough t' keep 'em w-warm. God planted these w-woods an' - stocked 'em, an' nobody's ever d-done a day's work here 'cept me. Now you - come along an' say you've bought 'em an' are g-goin 't' shove us out. I - c-can't understand it. God m-made the sky an' l-lifted up the trees t' - sweep the dust out of it an' pump water into the clouds an' g-give out the - breath o' the g-ground. Y-you 'ain't no right t' git together down there - in Albany an' make laws ag'in' the will o' God. Ye r-rob the world when ye - take the tree-tops out o' the sky. Ye might as well take the clouds out of - it. God has gi'n us g-good air an' the woods an' the w-wild cattle, an' - it's free—an' you—you're g-goin 't' turn ev'rybody out o' here - an' seize the g-gift an' trade it fer d-dollars—you d—-little - bullcook!" - </p> - <p> - A "bullcook," it should be explained, was the chore-boy in a lumber-camp. - </p> - <p> - Strong sat down and took out an old red handkerchief and wiped his eyes. - </p> - <p> - He was thinking of the springs and brooks and rivers, of the cool shade, - of the odors of the woodland, of the life-giving air, of the desolation - that was to come. - </p> - <p> - "It's business," said the stranger, as if that word must put an end to all - argument. - </p> - <p> - A sound broke the silence like that of distant thunder. - </p> - <p> - "Hear th-that," Strong went on. "It's the logs g-goin' over Rainbow Falls. - They've been stole off the state l-lands. Th-that's business, too. - Business is king o' this c-country. He t-takes everything he can l-lay his - hands on. He'd t-try t' 'grab heaven if he could g-git over the f-fence - an' b-back agin." - </p> - <p> - "I am not here to discuss that," said the stranger, rising to go. - </p> - <p> - "Had s-supper?" Silas asked. - </p> - <p> - "I've a lunch in the canoe, thank you. The moon is up, an' I'm going to - push on to Copper Falls. Migley will be waiting for me. We shall camp - there for a day or two at Cedar Spring. Good-night." - </p> - <p> - "Good-night." - </p> - <p> - It was growing dark. Strong's outbreak had wearied him. He groaned and - shook his head and stood a moment thinking. In the distance he could hear - the hoot of an owl and the bull bass of frogs booming over the still - water. - </p> - <p> - "G-gone!" he exclaimed, presently. Soon he added, in a mournful tone, - "W-wouldn't d-dast tell Mis' Strong." - </p> - <p> - He started slowly towards the camp. - </p> - <p> - "I'll l-lie to her," he whispered, as he went along. - </p> - <p> - Before going to bed he made this note in his memorandum-book: - </p> - <p> - <i>"June the 26 More snags Strong says trubel is like small-pox thing to - do is kepe it from spreadin."</i> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>INCE early May - there had been no rain save a sprinkle now and then. From Lake Ontario to - Lake Champlain, from the St. Lawrence to Sandy Hook, the earth had been - scorching under a hot sun. The heat and dust of midsummer had dimmed the - glory of June. - </p> - <p> - People those days were thinking less of the timber of the woods and more - of their abundant, cool, and living green. The inns along the edge of the - forest were filling up. - </p> - <p> - About eleven o'clock of a morning late in June, a young man arrived at - Lost River camp—one Robert Master, whose father owned a camp and - some forty thousand acres not quite a day's tramp to the north. He was a - big, handsome youth of twenty-two, just out of college. Sinth regarded - every new-comer as a natural enemy. She suspected most men of laziness and - a capacity for the oppression of females. She stood in severe silence at - the door of the cook-tent and looked him over as he came. Soon she went to - the stove and began to move the griddles. Silas entered with an armful of - wood. - </p> - <p> - "If he thinks I'm goin' to wait on him hand an' foot, he's very much - mistaken," said Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "R-roughlocks!" Silas answered, calmly, as he put a stick on the fire. - </p> - <p> - Sinth made no reply, but began sullenly rushing to and fro with pots and - pans. Soon her quick knife had taken the jackets off a score of potatoes. - While her hands flew, water leaped on the potatoes, and the potatoes - tumbled into the pot, and the pot jumped into the stove-hole as the - griddle took a slide across the top of the stove. And so with a rush of - feet and a rattle of pots and pans and a sliding of griddles and a banging - of iron doors "Mis' Strong" wore off her temper at hard work. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor used to smile at this variety of noise and call it "f-f-female - profanity," a phrase not wholly inapt. When the "sport" had finished his - dinner, and she and her brother sat side by side at the table, she was - plain Sinth again, with a look of sickliness and resignation. She ate - freely—but would never confess her appetite—and so leisurely - that Strong often had most of the dishes washed before she had finished - eating. - </p> - <p> - The young man was eager to begin fishing, and soon after dinner the - Emperor took him over to Catamount Pond. On their way the young man spoke - of the object of his visit. - </p> - <p> - "Mr. Strong, you know my father?" he half inquired. - </p> - <p> - "Ay-ah," the Emperor answered. - </p> - <p> - "He's been a property-holder in this county for five years, every summer - of which I have spent on his land. I feel at home in the woods, and I cast - my first vote at Tifton." - </p> - <p> - Strong listened thoughtfully. - </p> - <p> - "I want to do what I can to save the wilderness," young Master went on. - </p> - <p> - "R-right!" said the Emperor. - </p> - <p> - "If I were in the Legislature, I believe I could accomplish something. - Anyhow, I am going to make a fight for the vacant seat in the Assembly." - </p> - <p> - Strong surveyed him from head to foot. - </p> - <p> - "I wish you would do what you can for me in Pitkin." - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh!" Strong answered, in a gentle tone, without opening his lips. It - was a way he had of expressing uncertainty leaning towards affirmation. He - liked the young man; there was, indeed, something grateful to him in the - look and voice of a gentleman. - </p> - <p> - "You'll never be ashamed of me—I'll see to that," said Master. - </p> - <p> - Having reached the little pond, Strong gave him his boat, and promised to - return and bring him into camp at six. Here and there trout were breaking - through the smooth plane of water. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor took a bee-line over the wooded ridge to Robin Lake. There he - spent an hour repairing his bark shanty and gathering balsam boughs for a - bed. Stepping on a layer of spruce poles over which the boughs were to be - spread, in a dark corner of the shanty, his foot went through and came - down upon the nest of one of the most disagreeable creatures in the - wilderness. He sprang away with an oath and fled into the open air. For a - moment he expressed himself in a series of sharp reports, Then, picking up - a long pole, he met the offenders leaving their retreat, and "mellered" - them, as he explained to Sinth that evening. - </p> - <p> - "T-take that, Amos," he muttered, as he gave one of them another blow. - </p> - <p> - It should be borne in mind that he called every member of this malodorous - tribe "Amos," because the meanest man he ever knew had borne that name. - </p> - <p> - He put his heel in the crotch of a fallen limb and drew his boot. Then he - cautiously cut off the leg of his trousers at the knee, and, poking cloth - and leather into a little hollow, buried them under black earth. - </p> - <p> - Slowly the "Emperor of the Woods" climbed a ridge on his way to Lost River - camp, one leg bare to the knee. Walking, he thought of Annette. Lately - misfortune had come between them, and now he seemed to be getting farther - from the trail of happiness. - </p> - <p> - At a point on Balsam Hill he came into the main thoroughfare of the - woodsmen which leads from Bear Mountain to Lost River camp. Where he could - see far down the big trail, under arches of evergreen, he sat on a stump - to rest. His bootless foot, now getting sore, rested on a giant toadstool. - </p> - <p> - Thus enthroned, the Emperor looked down at his foot and reconsidered the - relative positions of himself and the Evil One. His faded crown of felt - tilting over one ear, his rough, bearded face wet with perspiration, his - patched trousers truncated over the right knee, below which foot and leg - were uncovered, he was an emperor more distinguished for his appearance - than his lineage. - </p> - <p> - He took out his old memorandum-book and made this note in it with a stub - of a pencil: - </p> - <p> - <i>"June the 27 Strong says one Amos in the bush is worth two in yer - company an a pair of britches."</i> - </p> - <p> - The Emperor, although in the main a serious character, enjoyed some - private fun with this worn little book, which he always carried with him. - Therein he did most of his talking, with secret self-applause now and - then, one may fancy. It has thrown some light on the inner life of the - man, and, in a sense, it is one of the figures of our history. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - VIII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>ILAS put the book - in his pocket and looked down the trail. Some ten rods away two children - were running towards him, their hands full of wild flowers. They were - Socky and Sue, on their way to Lost River camp, and were the first - children—save one—who had ever set their feet on the old - trail. Gordon walked slowly, under a heavy pack, well behind them. They - knew they were near their destination. Their father could scarcely keep - them in hailing distance. - </p> - <p> - Sue had observed that Socky's generosity in the matter of the tin bank had - pleased her father, and so, after much thought, she had determined to make - a venture in benevolence. - </p> - <p> - "When I see Uncle Silas," said she, "I'm going to give him the twenty-five - cents my Aunt Marie gave me." - </p> - <p> - "Pooh! he's got loads of money," Socky answered. - </p> - <p> - They stopped suddenly. Sue dropped her flowers and turned to run. Socky - gave a little jump and recovered his courage. Both retreated a few steps. - There, before them, was the dejected "Emperor of the Woods." - </p> - <p> - "Says I!" he exclaimed, looking down calmly from his throne. - </p> - <p> - Socky glanced up at him fearfully. - </p> - <p> - "Who b-be you?" - </p> - <p> - "John Socksmith Gordon." - </p> - <p> - "T-y-ty!" exclaimed the Emperor, an expression, as the historian - believes', of great surprise, standing, perhaps, for the old oath "By - 'Mighty." It consisted of the pronunciation of the two letters separately - and then together. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor turned to the girl. "And y-yourn?" he inquired. - </p> - <p> - "Susan Bradbury Gordon," she answered, in a half-whisper. - </p> - <p> - "I tnum!" exclaimed the Emperor, shaking his bootless foot, whereupon the - new-comers retreated a little farther. The singular word "tnum" expressed - an unusual degree of interest on the part of the Emperor. "G-goin' fur?" - he inquired. - </p> - <p> - "To Lost River, to see my Uncle Silas." - </p> - <p> - The Emperor gave a loud whistle of surprise, and repeated the exclamation—"I - tnum!" - </p> - <p> - "My father's coming," said Socky, as he pointed down the trail. - </p> - <p> - "Whee-o!" whistled the "Emperor of the Woods," who now perceived his - brother-in-law ascending the trail. - </p> - <p> - "Old man, what are you doing there?" Gordon asked. - </p> - <p> - "Thinkin' out some th-thoughts," said the Emperor, soberly, as he came - into the trail, limping on his bare foot, and shook hands. There were - greetings, and the hunter briefly apologized for his bare leg and - explained it. - </p> - <p> - "Well, how are you?" Gordon asked. - </p> - <p> - "S-supple!" Strong answered, cheerfully. - </p> - <p> - The children got behind their father, peering from either side of him as - they saw this uncouth figure coming near. Sue pressed the hand of her - brother so tightly as to cause the boy to break her hold upon him. - </p> - <p> - "R-ride?" said the Emperor, putting his great hand on the head of the boy - and shaking it a little. Socky looked up at him with large, wondering, - timid eyes. Sue hid her face under the coat-tails of her father. - </p> - <p> - "They'd rather walk; come on," said Gordon. - </p> - <p> - The men proceeded slowly over the hill and down into the valley of Lost - River. The children followed, some twenty paces behind, whispering - together. They were still in happy ignorance of the identity of the - strange man. - </p> - <p> - "S-sold out—eh?" said the hunter. - </p> - <p> - "Sold out! Sorry! They're going to shove a railroad in here and begin - cutting." - </p> - <p> - A smothered oath broke from the lips of the Emperor. Gordon came near to - him and whispered: - </p> - <p> - "Sile," said he, "don't swear before the kids. I'm bad enough, but I've - always been careful about that. Going to leave 'em here if you'll let me." - </p> - <p> - "G-good—" The Emperor stopped short and his voice fell into - thoughtful silence. - </p> - <p> - As they came in sight of the little clearing and the tent and cabins of - Lost River camp, Sue and Socky ran ahead of the men. - </p> - <p> - "I'm in trouble," Gordon went on. "My account at the mill is overdrawn. - They've pushed me to the verge of madness. I must have a little help." - </p> - <p> - The woodsman stopped and put his hand on the shoulder of Gordon. - </p> - <p> - "Been f-foolish, Dick?" said he, kindly. - </p> - <p> - "I'm done with that. I want to begin new. I need a little money to throw - to the wolves." - </p> - <p> - "How m-much?" - </p> - <p> - "Four hundred dollars would do me." - </p> - <p> - Strong beckoned to him. - </p> - <p> - "C-come to my goosepen," said the hunter, as he led the way to an old - basswood some fifty paces from the camp. He removed a piece of bark which - fitted nicely over a hole in the tree-trunk. He put his hand in the hole - which he called a goosepen and took out a roll of bills. - </p> - <p> - "You save like a squirrel," said Gordon. - </p> - <p> - "Dunno no other w-way," Strong answered as he began to count the money. - "Three hundred an' s-seventy dollars," he said, presently, and gave it to - his brother-in-law. He felt in the hole again. "B-bank's failed!" he - added. - </p> - <p> - The kindness of the woodland was in the face of the hunter. He was like an - old hickory drawing its nourishment from the very bosom of the earth and - freely giving its crop. Where he fed there was plenty, and he had no more - thought of his own needs than a tree. - </p> - <p> - "Thank you' It's enough," said Gordon. "Better keep some of it." - </p> - <p> - "N-no good here," Strong answered, with his old reliance on the bounty of - nature. - </p> - <p> - "I'll go out to Pitkin in the morning. I'm going to get a new start in the - world. If you'll take care of the children I'll send you some money every - month. You've been a brother to me, and I'll not forget." - </p> - <p> - The Emperor sat upon a log and took a pencil and an old memorandum-book - from his pocket and wrote on a leaf this letter to Annette: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Deer frend—I am wel compny com today I dunno when I'll see you. - woods is hot and dry fish plenty Socks on feel splendid hopin for better - times "yours trewly </i> - </p> - <p> - "S. Strong. - </p> - <p> - "P. S.—Strong's ahed." - </p> - <p> - In truth, the whole purpose of the letter lay in that laconic postscript, - expressing, as it did, a sense of moral triumph under great difficulties. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor stripped a piece of bark off a birch-tree, trimmed it with his - knife, and, enfolding it around the letter, bound it in the middle with a - long thorn which he drew out of the lapel of his "jacket." He handed the - missive to Gordon, saying, "F-for Ann Roice." - </p> - <p> - The children stood peering into an open door when the men came and flung - down their packs. - </p> - <p> - Sinth had gone to work in the garden, which was near the river-bank. Silas - Strong entered his cabin. The children came to their father, who had - seated himself on a chopping-block. Having forgotten the real Uncle Silas, - they had been looking for that splendid creature of whom they had dreamed. - </p> - <p> - "Father," Socky whispered, "where is Uncle Silas?" - </p> - <p> - "That was Uncle Silas," said Gordon. - </p> - <p> - The eyes of the children were fixed upon his, while their faces began to - change color. The long, dark lashes of little Sue quivered for a second as - if she had received a blow. Socky's glance fell; his trembling hands, - which lay on the knee of Gordon, seemed to clutch at each other; then his - right thumb stood up straight and stiff; his lips parted. One might have - observed a little upward twitch of the muscles under either cheek. It - signalized the first touch of bitter disappointment. - </p> - <p> - "That man?" he whispered, looking up doubtfully as he pointed in the - direction of the door into which Strong had disappeared. - </p> - <p> - "That's Uncle Silas," said Gordon, with smiling amusement. - </p> - <p> - Socky turned and spat upon the ground. - </p> - <p> - Slowly he walked away, scuffing his feet. Sue followed with a look of - dejection. They went behind the camp and found the big potato-hole and - crawled into it. The bottom was covered with dry leaves. They sat down, - but neither spoke. Socky leaned forward, his chin upon his hands. - </p> - <p> - "Do you like Uncle Silas?" Sue whispered. - </p> - <p> - For a moment Socky did not change his attitude or make any reply. - </p> - <p> - "I wouldn't give him no twenty-five cents," Sue added. - </p> - <p> - "Don't speak to me," Socky answered, with a quick movement of his knee. - </p> - <p> - It was a time of sad discovery—that pathetic day when the first - castle of childhood falls upon its builder. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going home," said Sue. - </p> - <p> - "You won't be let," Socky answered, his under lip trembling as he thought - of the old lumberyard. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly he lay over on the leaves, his forehead on his elbow, and wept in - silence. Sue lay beside him, her cheek partly covered by golden curls. She - felt badly, but did not give way. They were both utterly weary and cast - down. Sue lay on her back and drew out her tiny doll much as a man would - light a cigarette in his moment of abstraction. She flirted it in the air - and brought it down upon her breast. The doll had come out of her pocket - just in time to save her. She lay yawning a few moments, then fell asleep, - and soon Socky joined her. - </p> - <p> - Gordon lay down upon a bed in one of the cabins. He, too, was weary and - soon forgot his troubles. The Emperor, having shifted his garments, went - behind the camp and stood looking down at his sorrowing people. A smile - spread over his countenance. It came and passed like a billow of sunlight - flooding over the hills. He shook his head with amusement. - </p> - <p> - Soon he turned away and sauntered slowly towards the river-bank. These, - children had been flung, as it were, upon the ruin of his hopes. What - should he do with them and with "Mis' Strong"? Suddenly a reflection of - unusual magnitude broke from his lips. - </p> - <p> - "They's g-got t' be tall contrivin'," he whispered, with a sigh. - </p> - <p> - Sinth, who had been sowing onions, heard him coming and rose to her feet. - </p> - <p> - "G-Gordon!" said he, pointing towards camp. "Anybody with him?" she - asked.. - </p> - <p> - "The childem," said he. "G-goin't' leave 'em." - </p> - <p> - Sinth turned with a look of alarm. - </p> - <p> - "C-can't swear, nuther," Strong added. - </p> - <p> - "He can take 'em back," said Miss Strong, with flashing eyes and a flirt - of her apron. - </p> - <p> - "R-roughlocks!" the Emperor demanded, in a low tone. - </p> - <p> - "Who'll tek care of 'em?" - </p> - <p> - "M-me." - </p> - <p> - "Heavens!" she exclaimed, her voice full of despair. - </p> - <p> - "C-come, Mis' Strong." So saying, Silas took the arm of his complaining - sister and led her up the hill. - </p> - <p> - When he had come to the potato-hole he pointed down at the children. They - had dressed with scrupulous care for the eye of him who, not an hour - since, had been the greatest of all men. The boy lay in his only wide, - white collar and necktie, in his best coat and knee-breeches. The girl had - on her beloved brown dress and pink sun-bonnet. It was a picture to fill - one's eyes, and all the more if one could have seen the hearts of those - little people. A new look came into the face of Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "Land sakes!" she exclaimed, raising one of her hands and letting it fall - again; "she looks like Sister Thankful—don't she, don't she, Silas?" - </p> - <p> - Sinth wiped her eyes with her apron. The heart of Silas Strong had also - been deeply touched. - </p> - <p> - "R-reg'lar angel!" he exclaimed, thoughtfully. After a moment of silence - he added, "K-kind o' like leetle f-fawns." - </p> - <p> - They turned away, proceeding to the cook-tent. Sinth looked as if she were - making up her mind; Silas as if his were already made up. Sinth began to - rattle the pots and pans. - </p> - <p> - "Sh-h!" Silas hissed, as he fixed the fire. - </p> - <p> - "What's the matter?" she demanded. - </p> - <p> - "W-wake 'em up." - </p> - <p> - "Hope I will," she retorted, loudly. - </p> - <p> - Strong strode off in the trail to Catamount Pond, where he was to get - Master. - </p> - <p> - Zeb, the bear-dog, had been digging at a foxhole over in Birch Hollow. - Growing weary and athirst, by-and-by he relinquished his enterprise, - crossed to the trail, and, discovering the scent of strangers, hurried - home. Soon he found those curious little folks down in the potato-hole. He - had never seen a child before. He smelled them over cautiously. His - opinion was extremely favorable. His tail began to wag, and, unable to - restrain his enthusiasm, he expressed himself in a loud bark. - </p> - <p> - The children awoke, and Zeb retreated. Socky and Sue rose, the latter - crying, while that little, yellow snip of a bear-dog, with cross-eye and - curving tail, surveyed them anxiously. He backed away as if to coax them - out of the hole. When they had come near he seemed to be wiping one foot - after another upon the ground vigorously. As he did so he growled in a - manner calculated to inspire respect. Then he ran around them in a wide - circle at high speed, growling a playful challenge. Socky, who had some - understanding of dogs, dashed upon Zeb, and soon they were all at play - together. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - IX. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">O</span>N Catamount Pond - young Master had enjoyed a memorable day. He was an expert fisherman, but - the lonely quiet of the scene had been more than fish to him: of it was a - barren ridge, from the top of which a broken column of dead pine, like a - shaft of wrought marble, towered straight and high above the woods. The - curving shore had a fringe of lily-pads, starred here and there with white - tufts. Around thickets of birch, on a point of land, a little cove was the - end of all the deer-trails that came out of Jiminy Swamp. It was the - gateway of the pond for all who journeyed thither to eat and drink. There - were white columns on either side, and opposite the cove's end was a - thicket of tamarack, clear of brush. A deep mat of vivid green moss came - to the water's edge. When one had rounded the point in his canoe, he could - see into those cool, dark alleys of the deer, leading off through slender - tamaracks. A little beyond were the rock bastions of Painter Mountain, - five hundred' feet above the water. - </p> - <p> - The young man, having grown weary of fishing, leaned back, lighted his - pipe, and drifted. He could hear the chattering of a hedgehog up in the - dry timber, and the scream of a hawk, like the whistle of some craft, - leagues away on the sunlit deep of silence. A wild goose steered straight - across the heavens, far bound, his wings making a noise like the cleaving - of water and the creak of full sails. He saw the man below him and flung a - cry overboard. A great bee, driven out of a lily, threw his warning loop - around the head of the intruder and boomed out of hearing. Those threads - of sound seemed to bind the tongue of the youth, and to connect his soul - with the great silence into which they ran. - </p> - <p> - Robert Master had crossed that desert of uncertainty which lies between - college and the beginning of a career. At last he had made his plan. He - would try in his own simple way to serve his country. He was a man of "the - new spirit," of pure ideals, of high patriotism. He had set out to try to - make his way in politics. - </p> - <p> - He had been one of the "big men," dauntless and powerful, who had saved - the day for his <i>alma mater</i> more than once on the track and the - gridiron. Handsome was a word which had been much applied to him. Hard - work in the open air had given him a sturdy figure and added the glow of - health and power to a face of unusual refinement. It was the face of a man - with whom the capacity, for stern trials had come by acquisition and not - by inheritance. He had cheerful brown eyes and a smile of good-nature that - made him beloved. His father was at the big camp, some twenty miles away, - his mother and sister having gone abroad. He and his father were fond of - their forest home; the ladies found it a bore. They loved better the grand - life and the great highways of travel. - </p> - <p> - Master sat in the centre of his canoe; an elbow rested on his paddle which - lay athwart the gunwales. He drifted awhile. He had chosen his life work - but not his life partner. He pictured to himself the girl he would love, - had he ever the luck to find her. He had thrown off his hat, and his dark - hair shone in the sunlight. Soon he pushed slowly down the pond. In a - moment he stilled his paddle and sat looking into Birch Cove. Two fawns - were playing in the edge of the water, while their dam, with the dignity - of a matron, stood on the shore looking down at them. The fawns gambolled - in the shallows like a colt at play, now and then dashing their muzzles in - the cool water. Their red coats were starred white as if with snow-flakes. - The deer stood a moment looking at Master, stamped her feet, and retired - into one of the dark alleys. In a moment her fawns followed. - </p> - <p> - Turning, the fisherman beheld what gave him even greater surprise. In the - shadow of the birches, on a side of the cove and scarcely thirty feet from - his canoe, a girl sat looking at him. She wore a blue knit jacket and gray - skirt. There was nothing on her head save its mass of light hair that fell - curling on her shoulders. Her skin was brown as a berry, her features of a - noble and delicate mould. Her eyes, blue and large, made their potent - appeal to the heart of Master. They were like those of his dreams—he - could never forget them. So far it's the old story of love at sight—but - listen. For half a moment they looked into each other's eyes. Then the - girl, as if she were afraid of him, rose and disappeared among the columns - of white birch. - </p> - <p> - Long he sat there wondering about this strange vision of girlhood, until - he heard the halloo of Silas Strong. Turning his canoe, he pushed for the - landing. - </p> - <p> - "L-lucky?" Strong asked. - </p> - <p> - "Twenty fish, and I saw the most beautiful woman in the world." - </p> - <p> - "Where?" - </p> - <p> - "Sitting on the shore of Birch Cove. Any camp near?" - </p> - <p> - The Emperor shook his head thoughtfully as he lighted his pipe. The two - made their way up the trail. - </p> - <p> - "W-wonder if it's her?" Strong whispered to himself as he walked along. - </p> - <p> - After supper that evening Silas Strong gathered a heap of wood for a - bonfire—a way he had of celebrating arrivals at Lost River camp. - Soon he was running upon hands and knees in the firelight, with Socky and - Sue on his back. - </p> - <p> - "Silas Strong!" was the seornful exclamation of Sinth, as she took a seat - by the fire, "P-present!" he answered, as he werit on, the children - laughing merrily. "Be you a man 'or a fool?" - </p> - <p> - "Both;" he answered, ceasing his harlequinade. Sinth began her knitting, - wearing, a look of injury. "Plumb crazy 'bout them air childern!" she - exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - The "Emperor of the Woods" sat on a log, breathing heavily, with Sue and - Socky upon his knees. - </p> - <p> - "B-bears plenty, Mis' Strong," was the gentle reply of Silas. - </p> - <p> - "Mis' Strong!" said she, as if insulted. "What ye Mis' Strongin' me for?" - </p> - <p> - When others were present she was wont to fling back upon him this burning - query. Now it seemed to stimulate him to a rather unusual effort. - </p> - <p> - "S-some folks b-better when ye miss 'em," he suggested, with a smile of - good-nature. - </p> - <p> - Miss Strong gathered up her knitting and promptly retired, from the scene. - Sue and Socky lay back on the lap of their Uncle Silas looking into the - fire. They now saw in him great possibilities. Socky, in particular, had - begun to regard him as likely to be useful if not highly magnificent. - </p> - <p> - Sue lay back and began to make a drowsy display of her learning: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - "Intry, mintry, cutry com, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Apple-seed an' apple-thorn, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Wire, brier, limber lock, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Twelve geese all in a white flock; - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Some fly east an' some fly west - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - An' some fly over the cuckoo's nest." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - Miss Strong returned shortly and found the children asleep on the knees of - their uncle. In a moment Silas turned his ear and listened. - </p> - <p> - "Hark!" he whispered. - </p> - <p> - They could hear some one approaching on the dark trail. A man oddly - picturesque, with a rifle on his shoulder, strode into the firelight. He - wore knee-breeches and a coat of buckskin. He had a rugged face, a sturdy - figure, and was, one would have guessed, some sixty years of age. - </p> - <p> - A fringe of thin, white hair showed below his cap. He had a white - mustache, through which a forgotten cigar protruded. His black eyes glowed - in the firelight beneath silvered brows. He nodded as they greeted him. - His ruddy face wrinkled thoughtfully as he turned to Gordon. - </p> - <p> - "It's a long time," said he, offering his hand. - </p> - <p> - "Some years," Gordon answered, as he took the hand of Dunmore. - </p> - <p> - "W-welcome!" said Silas Strong. - </p> - <p> - "Boneka!" Dunmore exclaimed, gruffly, but with a faint smile. For years it - had been his customary word of greeting. - </p> - <p> - "The Emperor and his court!" he went on, as he looked about him. "Who are - these?" He surveyed the sleeping children. - </p> - <p> - "The Duke and Duchess of Hillsborough—nephew and niece of the - Emperor," Master answered, giving them titles which clung to Socky and Sue - for a twelvemonth. - </p> - <p> - "The first children I've ever seen in the woods except my own," said the - white-haired man. - </p> - <p> - Zeb ran around the chair of the Emperor, growling and leaping playfully at - Socky and Sue. - </p> - <p> - "The court jester!" said Dunmore, looking down at the dog. - </p> - <p> - He stood a moment with his back to the blazing logs. - </p> - <p> - Then he went to the chair of the Emperor, and put his hand under the chin - of little Sue and looked into her face. In half a moment he took her in - his arms and sat down by the fireside. The child was yawning wearily. - </p> - <p> - "Heigh-ho!" he exclaimed; "let's away to the Isles of Rest." - </p> - <p> - He rocked back and forth as he held her against his breast and sang this - lullaby: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "Jack Tot was as big as a baby's thumb, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And his belly could hold but a drop and a crumb, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - And a wee little sailor was he—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - A very fine sailor was he. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'He made his boat of a cocoa-nut shell, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - He sails her at night and he steers her well - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - With the wing of a bumble-bee—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - With the wing of a bumble-bee. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'She is rigged with the hair of a lady's curl, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And her lantern is made of a gleaming pearl, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - And it never goes out in a gale—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - It never goes out in a gale. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'Her mast is made of a very long thorn, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - She calls her crew with a cricket's horn, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - And a spider spun her sail—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - A spider he spun her sail. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'She carries a cargo of baby souls, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And she crosses the terrible nightmare shoals - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - On her way to the Isles of Rest—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - We're off for the Isles of Rest. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'And often they smile as the good ship sails— - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Then the skipper is telling incredible tales - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - With many a merry jest—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - He's fond of a merry jest. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'When the little folks yawn they are ready to go, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And Jack Tot is lifting his sail—Hee-hoo! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - In the swell how the little folks nod—He-hoo! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Just see how the little folks nod. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - 'And some have sailed off when the sky was black, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And the poor little sailors have never come back, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - But have steered for the City of God—Heigh-ho! - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - The beautiful City of God!" - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - The white-haired man closed his eyes and his voice sank low, and the last - words fell softly in a solemn silence that lasted for a long moment after - the lullaby was finished. Presently Sinth came to take the sleeping child. - </p> - <p> - "These little folks will take our peace away from us," said he, in a - warning tone. - </p> - <p> - "Why?" - </p> - <p> - "The call of the sown land is in their voices," said he. "They give me sad - thoughts." - </p> - <p> - Sinth smiled and introduced the young man to Dunmore. - </p> - <p> - "Boneka!" said the latter as they shook hands. - </p> - <p> - The curiosity of Master was aroused by the strange greeting. He smiled, - and answered, modestly, "I don't understand you." - </p> - <p> - The stranger sat silent, gazing into the fire, until Silas, who was - evidently in the secret, said to his guest, "Tell 'em." - </p> - <p> - "There was once a very wise and honored chief," began Dunmore, after a - pause, and looking into the eyes of the young man. "Long before the lumber - hunter had begun to shear the hills, he dwelt among them, with his good - people. He was a great law-giver, and his law was all in two words—'<i>Be - kind.</i>' Kindness begat kindness, and peace reigned, to be broken only - by some far-come invader. But as time went on quarrels arose and the law - was forgotten. Thereupon the chief invited a great council and organized - the Society of the Magic Word. Every member promised that whenever the - greeting 'Boneka' were given him, he would smile and bow and answer, - 'Ranokoli.' The greeting meant 'Peace,' and the answer, 'I forgive.' - </p> - <p> - "Then, one by one, the law-giver called his councillors before him, and to - each he said: 'The Great Spirit is in this greeting. I defy you to hear it - and keep a sober face.' - </p> - <p> - "Then he said 'Boneka,' and the man would try to resist the influence of - the spirit, but soon smiled in spite of himself, amid the laughter of the - tribe, and said 'Ranokoli.' Thereafter, when a quarrel arose between two - people, an outsider, approaching, would greet them with the magic word, - and immediately they would bow and smile, and answer, 'I forgive.' But, - nevertheless, if one had wronged another he was justly punished by the - chief. So it was that a great ruler made an end of quarrels among his - people." - </p> - <p> - "A grand idea!" said young Master. "Let's all join that society." - </p> - <p> - "Those in favor of the suggestion will please say ay." It was Dunmore who - put the question, and, after a vote in its favor, dictated the pledge, as - follows: - </p> - <p> - <i>"For value received from my Loving Father, I promise to give to any of - His children, on demand, a smile and full forgiveness."</i> - </p> - <p> - All signed it, and so half in play the old Society of the Magic Word was - revived at Lost River camp. - </p> - <p> - The white-haired man rose and walked to the trail and turned suddenly. - </p> - <p> - "Strong," said he, "I'm leaving the woods for a week. If they need your - help at home they'll send word to you." - </p> - <p> - With that he disappeared in the dark trail. - </p> - <p> - The three other men still sat by the camp-fire. - </p> - <p> - "Who is Dunmore?" Master inquired, turning to Gordon. - </p> - <p> - The latter lighted his pipe and began the story. - </p> - <p> - "An odd man who's spent the most of his life in the woods," said Gordon. - "Came in here for his health long ago from I don't know where; grew - strong, and has always stuck to the woods. Had to work, like the rest of - us, when I knew him. Thirty years ago he began work in this part of the - country as a boom rat—so they tell me. It was on a big drive way - down the Oswegatchie. - </p> - <p> - "Before we bought the Bear Mountain and Lost River tracts we were looking - for a good cruiser—some one to go through here and estimate the - timber for us. Well, Dunmore was recommended for the job, and we hired - him. He and I travelled over some thirty thousand acres, camping wherever - night overtook us. It did not take me long to discover that he was a - gifted man. Many an evening, as we sat by our lonely fire in the woods, I - have wept and laughed over his poems." - </p> - <p> - "Poems!" Master exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - "That's the only word for it," Gordon went on. "The man is a woods lover - and a poet. One night he told me part of his life story. Sile, you - remember when the old iron company shut down their works at Tifton. Well, - everybody left the place except Tom Muir, the postmaster. He was a - widower, and lived with one child—a girl about nineteen years old - when the forest village died. Dunmore married that girl. He told me how - beautiful she was and how he loved her. Well, they didn't get along - together. He was fond of the woods and she was not. - </p> - <p> - "For five years they lived together in the edge of the wilderness. Then - she left him. Well—poor woman!—it was a lonely life, and some - tourist fell in love with her, they tell me. I don't know about that. - Anyhow, Dunmore was terribly embittered. A little daughter had been born - to them. She was then three years of age." - </p> - <p> - "She's the angel y-you met to-day over by the p-pond," Strong put in, - looking at Master. - </p> - <p> - Gordon lighted his pipe and went on with his story. - </p> - <p> - "Dunmore said that a relative had left him a little money. I remember we - were camping that night on the shore of Buckhorn. Its beauty appealed to - him. He said he'd like to buy that section and build him a camp on the - pond and spend the rest of his life there. - </p> - <p> - "'But,' said I, 'you couldn't bring up your daughter in the woods.' - Buckhorn was then thirty miles from anywhere. - </p> - <p> - "'That's just what I wish to do,' he answered. 'The world is so full of d———d - spaniels'—I remember that was the phrase he used—and there's - so much infamy among men, I'd rather keep her out of it. I want her to be - as pure at twenty as she is now. I can teach her all I wish her to know.' - </p> - <p> - "Well, I sold him the Buckhorn tract. He built his camp, and moved there - with the little girl and his mother—a woman of poor health and well - past middle age. He brought an old colored man and his wife to be their - servants, and there they are to-day—Dunmore and his mother and the - girl and the two servants, now grown rather aged, they tell me." - </p> - <p> - "They have never left the woods?" said Master, as if it were too - incredible. - </p> - <p> - "Dunmore goes to New York, but not oftener than once a year," Gordon went - on. "He has property—a good deal of property, I suppose, and has to - give it some attention. The others have never left the woods." - </p> - <p> - "Sends home b-big boxes, an' I t-tote 'em in," Silas explained. - </p> - <p> - "Do you mean to tell me that Dunmore's daughter has never seen the - clearing since she was a baby?" - </p> - <p> - Strong's interest was thoroughly aroused. He took off his coat and laid it - down carefully, as if he were about to go in swimming. He was wont to do - this when his thoughts demanded free and full expression. - </p> - <p> - "B-been t' Tillbury post-office w-with the ol' man—n-no further," - Strong explained. "Dunmore says she 'ain't never s-seen a child 'cept one. - That was a b-baby. Some man an' his w-wife come through here w-with it - from the n-north th-three year ago." - </p> - <p> - "Fact is, I think he feared for a long time that his wife would try to get - possession of the child," said Gordon. "Late years, I understand, the girl - has had to take care of the old lady. In a letter to me once Dunmore - referred to his daughter as the 'little nun of the green veil,' and spoke - of her devotion to her grandmother." - </p> - <p> - Gordon rose and went to his bed in one of the cabins. Strong and the young - man kept their seats at the camp-fire, talking of Dunmore and his daughter - and their life in the woods. The Emperor, who felt for this lonely child - of the forest, talked from a sense of duty. - </p> - <p> - "S-sail in," he presently said. "S-sail in an' t-tame her." - </p> - <p> - "I don't know how to begin." - </p> - <p> - "She'll be there t-to-morrer sure," Strong declared. - </p> - <p> - "So shall I," said the young man. - </p> - <p> - "C-cal'late she's w-wownded, too," Strong suggested. "B-be careful. She's - like a w-wild deer." - </p> - <p> - They were leaving the fire on their way to bed. The young man stopped and - repeated the words incredulously—"Like a wild deer!" - </p> - <p> - "T-take the ch-childem with ye," Strong advised. "She'll w-want t' look - 'em over." - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - X - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>OCKY woke early - next morning, and lay looking up at the antlers, guns, and rifles which - adorned the wall. On a table near him were some of the treasures of that - sylvan household—a little book entitled <i>Melinda</i>, a dingy - Testament, a plush-covered photograph-album, and a stuffed bird on a wire - bough. - </p> - <p> - Sinth and the album were inseparable. She sometimes left the dingy - Testament or the little book entitled <i>Melinda</i> at her Pitkin home, - but not the plush-covered album. That was the one link which connected - her, not only with the past, but with a degree of respectability, and even - with a vague hope of paradise. What a pantheon of family deities! What a - museum of hair and whiskers! What a study of the effect of terror, - headache, rheumatism, weariness, Sunday apparel, tight boots, and reckless - photography upon the human countenance! - </p> - <p> - Therein was the face of Sinth, indescribably gnarled by the lens; a - daguerreotype of her grandmother adorned with lace and tokens of a more - cheerful time in the family history; faces and forms which for Sinth - recalled her play-days, and were gone as hopelessly. - </p> - <p> - Just after supper the night before, Socky had seen his uncle apply grease - to a number of boots and guns. The boy had been permitted to put his hands - in the thick oil of the bear, and, while its odor irked him a little, it - had, as it were, reduced the friction on his bearings. Since then the gear - of his imagination had seemed to work easier, and had carried him far - towards the goal of manhood. - </p> - <p> - Immediately after waking he found the bottle of bear's-oil and poured some - on his own boots and rubbed it in. He was now delighted with the look of - them. It was wonderful stuff, that bear's-oil. It made everything look - shiny and cheerful, and gave one a grateful sense of high accomplishment. - </p> - <p> - Soon he had greased the bird and the bush, and the oil had dripped on the - album and the dingy Testament and the little book entitled <i>Melinda</i>. - Then he greased the feet and legs of Zeb, who lay asleep in a corner, and - who promptly awoke and ran across the floor and leaped through an open - window, and hid himself under a boat, as if for proper consideration of - ways and means. In a few moments Socky had greased the shoes of his - sister, and a ramrod which lay on the window-sill, and taken the latter - into bed with him. - </p> - <p> - Soon he began to miss the good Aunt Marie, for, generally, when he first - awoke he had gone and got into bed with her. He held to the ramrod and - sustained himself with manly reflections, whispering as they came to mind: - "I'm going to be a man. I ain't no cry-baby. I'm going to kill bears and - send the money to my father, an' my Uncle Silas will give me a - rocking-horse an' a silver dofunny—he said he would." - </p> - <p> - He ceased to whisper. An imaginary bear had approached the foot of the bed - just in time to save him, for the last of his reflections had been - interrupted by little sobs. He struck bravely with the ramrod and felled - the bear, and got out of bed and skinned him and hung his hide over the - back of a chair. He found some potatoes in a sack beside the fireplace, - and put down a row for the bear's body and some more for the feet and - legs. Then he greased the bear's feet and got into bed again, for Sue had - awoke and begun to cry. - </p> - <p> - "What's the matter?" he inquired. - </p> - <p> - "I want my Aunt Marie," the girl sobbed. - </p> - <p> - "Stop, Uncle Silas 'll hear you," said Socky. - </p> - <p> - "I don't care." - </p> - <p> - "I'd be 'shamed," the boy answered, his own voice trembling with - suppressed emotion. - </p> - <p> - Since a talk he had had with his father the day before, he felt a large - and expanding sense of responsibility for his sister. Just now an-idea - occurred to him—why shouldn't he, in his own person, supply the - deficiencies of the great man they had come to see? - </p> - <p> - "I'll be your Uncle Silas," he remarked. "I'm a man now, an' I've killed a - bear." - </p> - <p> - "Where is he?" - </p> - <p> - "Dead on the floor there." - </p> - <p> - She covered her face with the blankets. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to have a pair o' moccasins an' a rifle, an' I'll carry you on - my b-back." He had stammered on the last word after the manner of his - uncle. - </p> - <p> - Just then they heard a singular creaking outside the door, and before - either had time to speak it was flung open. They were both sitting up in - bed as their Uncle Silas entered. - </p> - <p> - "I tnum!" said he, cheerfully. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly he saw the bird and the books and the table-top and the potatoes - and the ramrod and the hands of Socky. He whistled ruefully; his smile - faded. - </p> - <p> - "W-well greased!" he said, looking down at the books and the bird. - </p> - <p> - He found a gun-rag and wiped up the oil as best he could. - </p> - <p> - "She'll r-raise—" The remark ended in a cough as he wiped the books. - Then he covered them with an empty meal-bag. - </p> - <p> - The children began to dress while Strong went half-way up the ladder and - called to Gordon, still asleep in the loft above. Then he sat on the bed - and helped the boy and girl get their clothes buttoned.. - </p> - <p> - "My little f-fawns!" he muttered, with a laugh. - </p> - <p> - He had sat up until one o'clock at work in his little shop by the light of - a lantern. He had sawed some disks from a round beech log and bored holes - in them. He had also made axles and a reach and tongue, and put them - together. Then he had placed a cross-bar and a pivot on the front axle and - fastened a starch-box over all. The result was a wagon, which he had - arisen early to finish, and with which he had come to wake "the little - fawns." Now, when they were dressed, he sat them side by side in the - wagon-box and clattered off down the trail. - </p> - <p> - At first the children sat silent, oppressed as they were by the odor of - bear's-oil, not yet entirely removed from their hands and faces. As the - wagon proceeded they began to laugh and call the dog. Zeb peered from - under the friendly cover of the boat, and gave a yearning bark which - seemed to express regret, not wholly unmingled with accusation, that on - account of other engagements he would be unable to accept their kind - invitation. At the boat-house were soap and towel and glad deliverance - from the flavor of the bear. On their return "Mis' Strong" met them at the - door of the cook-tent. She raised both hands above her head. - </p> - <p> - "My album!" she gasped. - </p> - <p> - "T-y-ty!" the Emperor whispered. - </p> - <p> - "An' the book my mother gave me!" she exclaimed, her tone rising from - despair to anger. "They're ruined—Silas Strong!" - </p> - <p> - "N-nonsense," said her brother, calmly. - </p> - <p> - "Nonsense!" she exclaimed, tauntingly. "Silas Strong, do you know what has - been done to 'em?" - </p> - <p> - "G-greased," he answered, mildly. "D-do 'em good." - </p> - <p> - She ran into the cook-tent and returned with the sacred album. There was - an odd menace in her figure as she displayed the book. She spread it open. - </p> - <p> - "Look at my grandfather!" she demanded. - </p> - <p> - The bear's-oil had added emphasis to a subtle, inherent suggestion of - smothered profanity in the image of her ancestor. It had, as it were, - given clearness to an expression of great physical discomfort. - </p> - <p> - "L-limber him up," said the Emperor, quite soberly. - </p> - <p> - Master and Gordon were now approaching. The former took off his hat and - bowed to the indignant Sinth and blandly remarked, "Boneka, madam." - </p> - <p> - The men had begun to laugh. Sinth changed color. She looked down. A smile - began to light her thin face. She turned away, repeated the magic word in - a low voice, and added, "I forgive." She walked hurriedly through the - cook-tent to her own quarters, and sat down and wept as if, in truth, the - oil had entered her soul. It was, in a way, pathetic—her devotion to - the tawdry plush and this poor shadow of her ancestor—and the - historian has a respect for it more profound, possibly, than his words may - indicate. She would have given her album for her friend, and it may be - questioned if any man hath greater love than this. - </p> - <p> - When she entered the dinner-tent and sat down to stir batter for the - excellent "flapjacks" of Lost River camp, the children came and kissed her - and stood looking up into her face. Socky had begun to comprehend his - relation to the trouble. Shame, guilt, and uncertainty were in his - countenance. Urgent queries touching the use and taste and constitution of - batter and its feeling on the index-finger of one's hand were pressing - upon him, but he saw that, in common decency, they must be deferred. - </p> - <p> - "Aunt Sinthy," said the little Duke of Hillsborough. - </p> - <p> - "What?" she answered. - </p> - <p> - "I won't never grease your album again." - </p> - <p> - The woman laughed, placed the pan on the table, and put her arms around - the child. Then she answered, in a tone of good-nature, "If it had been - anything else in this world, I wouldn't have minded." - </p> - <p> - Just then Zeb slowly entered the cook-tent. He had got rid of some of the - oil, but had acquired a cough. The hair on every leg was damp and matted. - He seemed to doubt his fitness for social enjoyment. In a tentative manner - he surveyed the breakfast-party, as if to study his effect upon the human - species. The Emperor patted him and felt of his legs. - </p> - <p> - "What's the matter o' him?" Sinth inquired. - </p> - <p> - "G-greased!" said the Emperor, with a loud laugh, in which the campers - joined, whereat the dog fled from the cook-tent. - </p> - <p> - "S-slippery mornin'!" Strong exclaimed, while he stood looking through the - doorway. - </p> - <p> - "Hard t' keep yer feet," said Sinth, who had caught the contagion of good - feeling which had begun to prevail. It was, indeed, a remark not without - some spiritual significance. - </p> - <p> - So it befell: the spirit of that old chief whose body had long been given - to the wooded hills came into Lost River camp. - </p> - <p> - Gordon hurried away after breakfast. While the children stood looking down - the trail and waving their hands and weeping, Silas Strong ran past them - two or three times with the noisy little wagon. Its consoling clatter - silenced them. There had been a deep purpose in the heart of the Emperor - while he spent half the night in his workshop. Gordon had laughingly - explained the cause of their disappointment on arriving at Lost River - camp. Strong was trying to recover their esteem. - </p> - <p> - "C-come on!" he shouted. - </p> - <p> - Soon Socky and Sue sat in the little wagon on their way to Catamount Pond - with their Uncle Silas and the young fisherman. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XI. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE sky was clear, - and the rays of the sun fell hot upon the dry woods that morning when - Master and the children and their Uncle Silas reached the landing at - Catamount. Its eastern shore lay deep under cool shadows. The water plane - was like taut canvas on which a glowing picture of wooded shore and sky - and mountain had been painted. Golden robins darted across a cove and sang - in the tree-tops. - </p> - <p> - Master righted his canoe and put the children aboard and took his place in - the stern-seat. - </p> - <p> - "I'll slip over to R-Robin," said the Emperor as he shoved the canoe into - deep water. With him to "slip" meant to go, and in his speech he always - "slipped" from one point to another. - </p> - <p> - Master pushed through the pads and slowly cut the still shadow. The - inverted towers of Painter Mountain began to quake beneath his canoe. Sue - sat in the bow and Socky behind her. The curly hair of the girl, which - had, indeed, the silken yellow of a corn-tassel, showed beneath her little - pink bonnet. Something about her suggested the rose half open. Socky wore - his rabato and necktie and best suit of clothes. They were both in purple - and fine linen, so to speak—-no one had thought to tell them better. - </p> - <p> - As they came near the point of Birch Cove, Master began to turn the bow - and check his headway. There, on a moss-covered rock, stood the maiden - whom he had seen the day before. A crow with a small scarlet ribbon about - his neck clung upon her shoulder. The girl was looking at the two - children. The bird rose on his wings and, after a moment of hesitation, - flew towards them, the ends of the scarlet ribbon fluttering in the air. - Socky drew back as the crow lighted on a gunwale near his side. Sue clung - to the painter and sat looking backward with curiosity and fear in her - face. The crow turned his head, surveying them as if he were, indeed, - quite overcome with amazement. - </p> - <p> - "Sit still," said Master, quietly. "He won't hurt you." - </p> - <p> - The bird rose in the air again, and, darting downward, seized a shiny - buckle above the visor of the boy's cap, which lay on the canoe bottom, - and bore cap and all to his young mistress. Socky began to cry with alarm. - </p> - <p> - Master reassured him and paddled slowly towards the moss-covered rock. - Silently his bow touched the shore. He stuck his paddle in the sand. He - stepped into the shallow water and helped the children ashore. In the edge - of the tamaracks and now partly hidden by their foliage, Miss Dunmore - stood looking at the children. Her figure was tall, erect, and oddly - picturesque. Somehow she reminded Master of a deer halted in its flight by - curiosity. Her face, charming in form and expression, betrayed a childish - timidity and innocence. Her large, blue eyes were full of wonder. Pretty - symbols of girlish vanity adorned her figure. There were fresh violets on - her bodice, and a delicate, lacy length of the moss-vine woven among her - curls. The girl's hair, wonderfully full and rich in color, had streaks of - gold in it. A beaded belt and holster of Indian make held a small pistol. - </p> - <p> - "Miss Dunmore, I believe?" he ventured. - </p> - <p> - The girl retired a step or two and stood looking timidly, first at him and - then at the children. Her manner betrayed excitement. She addressed him - with hesitation. "My—my name is Edith Dunmore," she said, in a tone - just above a whisper. With trembling hands she picked a spray of tamarack - that for a moment obscured her face. - </p> - <p> - "You are the nun of the green veil. I have heard of you," said Master. - </p> - <p> - "I—I must not speak to you, sir," she said, as she retreated a - little farther. - </p> - <p> - "My name is Master—Robert Master," said he. "I shall stay only a - minute, but these children would like to know you." While speaking he had - returned to his canoe. Socky and Sue stood still, looking up at the - maiden. - </p> - <p> - "Children!" she exclaimed, in a low, sweet, tremulous, tone, as she took a - step towards them. "The wonderful little children?" - </p> - <p> - "Sometimes I think they are brownies," he answered, with a smile of - amusement. "But their uncle calls them little fawns." - </p> - <p> - Her right hand, which held the spray of tamarack, fell to her side; her - left hand clung to a branch on which the crow sat a little above her - shoulder, and her cheek lay upon her arm as she looked down wistfully, - fondly, at the children. Her blue eyes were full of curiosity. - </p> - <p> - Socky and Sue regarded the beautiful maiden with a longing akin to that in - her. In all there was a deep, mysterious desire which had grown out of - nature's need—in them for a mother, in her for the endearing touch - of those newly come into the world and for their high companionship. - Moreover, these two little ones, who had now a dim and imperfect - recollection of their mother, had shaped an ideal—partly through the - help of Gordon—to take its place. Therein they saw a lady, young and - beautiful and more like this one who stood before them than like any they - had yet beheld. Sue grasped the hand of her brother, and both stood gazing - at the maiden, but neither spoke nor moved for a moment. Edith Dun-more - leaned forward a little, looking into their faces. - </p> - <p> - "Can you not speak to me?" she asked. - </p> - <p> - Socky began to be embarrassed; his eyes fell; he shook his head - doubtfully. - </p> - <p> - Edith Dunmore looked up at the stalwart figure of the young man. Their - eyes met. She quickly turned away. The tame crow, on the bough above, - began to laugh and chatter as if he thought it all an excellent joke. - </p> - <p> - "May—I—take them in my arms?" she asked, with hesitation. - </p> - <p> - "Yes; but I warn you—they have a way of stealing one's heart." - </p> - <p> - "Ah-h-h-h-h!" croaked the little crow, in a warning cry, as if he had seen - at once the peril of it. - </p> - <p> - She had begun to move slowly, almost timidly, towards the children. She - knelt before them and took the little hand of Sue in hers and looked upon - it with wonder. She touched it with her lips; she pressed it against her - cheek; she trembled beneath its power. The touch of the child's hand was, - for her, it would almost seem, like that of One on the eyes of Bartimeus. - Suddenly, as by a miracle, Edith Dunmore rose out of childhood. The veil - of the nun was rent away. She was a woman fast coming into riches of - unsuspected inheritance. She put her arms about the two and gently drew - them towards her and held them close. Her embrace and the touch of her - breast upon theirs were grateful to them, and they kissed her. Her eyes - were wet, her sweet voice full of familiar but uncomprehended longing when - she said, "Dear little children!" - </p> - <p> - "Tut, <i>tut!</i>" said the tame crow, who had crept to the end of his - branch, where he stood looking down at them. In a moment he began to break - the green twigs and let them fall on the head of his mistress. - </p> - <p> - Sue felt the hair and looked into the face and eyes of the maiden with - wondering curiosity. Socky ran his fingers over the beaded belt. Both had - a suspicion which they dared not express that here was an angel in some - way related to their mother. - </p> - <p> - "You are a beautiful lady," said the boy, with childish frankness. - </p> - <p> - Master has often tried to describe the scene. He confesses that words, - even though vivid and well spoken, cannot make one to understand the - something which lay beneath all said and done, and which went to his heart - so that for a time he turned and walked away from them. - </p> - <p> - "Do you remember when you were fairies?" the girl asked of the children. - </p> - <p> - The latter shook their heads. - </p> - <p> - "Tell us about the fairies," Sue proposed, timidly. - </p> - <p> - "They are old, old people—so my father has told me," said the - beautiful lady. "They came into this world thousands of years ago riding - in a great cloud that was drawn by wild geese. The fairies came down, each - on a big flake of snow, and got off in the tree-tops and never went away. - At first they were the teentiest folks—so little that a hundred of - them could stand on a maple leaf—and very, very old. My father says - they were never young in their lives, and I guess they have always lived. - They rode around on the backs of the birds and saw everything in the world - and had such a good time they all began to grow young. Now, as they grew - young they grew bigger and bigger, and every spring a lot more of the - little old people came out of the sky and began to grow young like the - others. And by-and-by some of them were as big as your thumb and bigger." - </p> - <p> - "How big do they grow?" the boy asked. - </p> - <p> - "As they grow young they keep growing bigger. By-and-by the birds cannot - carry them. Then they have to walk, and for the first time in their lives - they begin to get hungry and learn to cry and nobody knows what is the - matter with them. The fairies complain about the noise they make, and one - night a little old woman takes them down into the woods to get them out of - the way. And violets grow wherever their feet touch the ground, and they - sit in a huckleberry bush and make a noise like the cry of a spotted fawn. - The fawns hear them and know very well what they are crying for. The fawns - have always loved them. When the fairies come down out of the tree-tops - they always ride on the fawns, and where they have sat you can see a - little white spot about as big as a flake of snow. That's why the fawns - are spotted, and you know how shy they are—they mustn't let anybody - see the fairies. Well, the young ones sit there in a huckleberry bush - crying. The little animals come and lick their faces and tell them of a - wonderful spring where milk flows out of a little hill and has a magic - power in it, for even if one were crying and tasted the milk he always - became happy. The young fairies climb on the backs of the fawns and ride - away. By-and-by the fawns come to their mothers and their mothers tell - them that no one who has teeth in his head can drink at the spring. So - they wonder what to do. By-and-by they go to the woodpecker, for he has a - pair of forceps and can pull anything, and the woodpecker pulls their - teeth. Then the young fairies do nothing but ride around—each on a - spotted fawn—and drink at the wonderful spring and grow fat and - lazy, and the birds pull every hair out of their heads to build nests - with. They live down in the woods, for they cannot climb the trees any - more, and one day they fall asleep for the first time and tumble off the - fawns and lie on the ground dreaming. - </p> - <p> - "They dream of the fairy-heaven where they shall grow old again and each - shall have a mother and his own wonderful spring of milk. Now that day - trees begin to grow in the ground beneath them. The trees grow fast, and - all in a night they lift the sleeping fairies far above the ground. The - wind rocks them and they lie dreaming in the tree-tops until a crane, as - he is crossing over the sky, looks down and sees them and goes and takes - them away. You know the cranes have to go through the sky every day and - pick up the young fairies." - </p> - <p> - She paused and sat holding the hands of little Sue and looking at them as - if their beauty were a great wonder. - </p> - <p> - "Where do they take them?" - </p> - <p> - Master was returning, and the girl rose like one afraid and whispered to - the children, "I will tell you if—if you will come again." - </p> - <p> - "I shall ask your father if I may come and see you," said Master as he - came near. - </p> - <p> - "Ha! ha! ha!" the bird croaked, fluttering in the air and lighting on the - shoulder of his mistress. - </p> - <p> - The children stepped aside quickly, as if in fear of it. - </p> - <p> - She took the crow on her finger and held him at arm's-length. He turned - and tried to catch an end of the scarlet ribbon. She was a picture then to - remind one of the days of falconry. She ran a few paces up a green aisle - in the thicket. She stopped where the young man was unable to see her. - </p> - <p> - "Could—could you bring the children again, sir?" she asked. - </p> - <p> - "On Thursday, at the same hour," he answered. - </p> - <p> - He heard again the warning of the little crow and her footsteps growing - fainter in the dark trail of the deer. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XII. - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">M</span>ASTER paddled - slowly to the landing where he had left Strong, and gathered lilies while - they waited. He pushed up to the shore as soon as the Emperor had arrived. - "Sp'ilt," said the latter, pointing in the direction of Robin Lake. - </p> - <p> - "You mean that we cannot use the camp over there?" - </p> - <p> - "Ay-ah," Strong almost whispered, with a face in which perspiration was - mingled with regret and geniality. - </p> - <p> - "S-see 'er?" - </p> - <p> - "Yes," Master answered. "The children were a great help. She fell in love - with them. We are to meet her again Thursday." - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh!" Strong exclaimed, in a tone which seemed to say, "I told you - so." - </p> - <p> - "S-sociable?" he inquired, after a little pause. - </p> - <p> - "No, but interested." - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh, says I!" the Emperor exclaimed again, with playful conceit. When - he was in the mood of self-congratulation he had an odd way of bringing - out those two words—"says I." - </p> - <p> - "She was afraid of me. I backed away and said very little," Master - explained. - </p> - <p> - "Th-they'll t-tame her," the Emperor assured him. - </p> - <p> - "She has a wonderful crow with her," said the young man. - </p> - <p> - "Her g-guide," Strong explained. "Alwus knows the n-nighest way home." - </p> - <p> - "If you'll help me, I'll make my camp here," said Master. - </p> - <p> - "Ay-ah," the Emperor answered. - </p> - <p> - His manner and his odd remark were full of approval and almost - affectionate admiration. In half a moment his tongue lazily added, "L-lean - her 'gin th-that air rock." In his conversation he conferred the feminine - gender upon all inanimate things—a kind of compliment to the sex he - revered so highly. - </p> - <p> - "How long will it take?" - </p> - <p> - "Day," said Strong, surveying the ground. - </p> - <p> - "I have to speak in Hillsborough on the Fourth. Suppose we tackle it on my - return?" - </p> - <p> - Strong agreed, and while he and the children set out for camp Master - remained to fish. - </p> - <p> - Two "sports" had arrived in the absence of the Emperor and were shooting - at a mark—a pastime so utterly foolish in the view of Silas Strong - that he would rarely permit any one at Lost River camp to indulge in it. - He who discharged his rifle without sufficient provocation was roughly - classed with that breed of hounds which had learned no better than to bark - at a squirrel. - </p> - <p> - "Paunchers!" he muttered, as he came up the trail. - </p> - <p> - It should be explained here that he divided all "would-be sportsmen" into - three classes—namely, swishers, pouters, and paunchers. A swisher - was one who filled the air within reach of his cast, catching trees and - bushes, but no fish; a pouter, one who baited and hauled his fish as if it - were no better than a bull-pout; a pauncher was wont to hit his deer "in - the middle" and never saw him again. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor stopped suddenly. He had seen a twig fall near him and heard - the whiz of a bullet. - </p> - <p> - "Whoa!" he called, his voice ringing in the timber. "H-hold on!" - </p> - <p> - The Migleys—father and son—of Migleyville, hastened to greet - the "Emperor of the Woods." - </p> - <p> - They were the heralds of the great king of which Strong had complained - that night he laid his heart bare and whose name was Business—a king - who ruled not with the sword, but with flattery and temptation and artful - devices. The Emperor knew that they were the men who had bought his - stronghold; that they were come to shove the frontier of their king far - beyond the Lost River country; that axes and saws and dams and flooded - flats and whirling wheels and naked hill-sides would soon follow them. - </p> - <p> - "How are you, Mr. Strong?" said the elder Migley, who, by his son, was - familiarly called "Pop." He overflowed with geniality. "Glad to see you. - Hot an' dry out in the clearing. Little track-worn. Thought we'd come in - here for a breath o' fresh air an' a week or two o' sport. Have a drink?" - </p> - <p> - He winked one eye in a significant manner, which seemed to say that he had - plenty and was out for a good time. - </p> - <p> - "N-no th-thanks," said Strong, as he surveyed the stout figure of the - elder Migley. - </p> - <p> - Here was one of the royal family of Business, in dress neatly symbolic, - for Mr. Migley wore a light suit of clothes divided into checks of - considerable magnitude by stripes that ran, as it were, north, south, - east, and west. The broad convexity of his front resembled, in some - degree, an atlas globe. One might have located any part of his system by - degrees of latitude and longitude. His equator was represented by a large - golden chain which curved in a great arc from one pocket of his waistcoat - to the other. As he walked one might have imagined that he was moving in - his orbit. His large, full face was adorned with a chin-whisker and a - selfish and prosperous-looking nose. It had got possession of nearly all - the color in his countenance, and occupied more than its share of space. - The son, "Tom," had older manners and a more severe face. He carried with - him a look of world-weariness and a sense of all-embracing knowledge so - frequently derived from youthful experience. He was the-only-son type of - domestic tyrant—overfed, selfish, brutal, wearied by adulation, - crowned with curly hair. - </p> - <p> - "Look at that boy," the elder Migley whispered, pointing at the fat young - man of twenty-three who sat on a door-sill cleaning his rifle. "Ain't he a - picture? Got a fast mark in Hash-ford Seminary." Mr. Migley owned a number - of trotting-horses, and his conversation was always flavored with the cant - of the stable. - </p> - <p> - Strong looked sadly at the fat young man, who was, indeed, the very - personification of pulp, and thought of the doom of the woods. - </p> - <p> - The elder Migley, as if able to read the mind of Strong, offered him the - consolation of a cigar. Then he reached to the pegs above him and lowered - a quaking whip of greenheart which he had put together soon after his - arrival. - </p> - <p> - "Heft it," he whispered, pressing his rod upon the Emperor. "Ain't that a - dandy?" - </p> - <p> - He looked into the eyes of the woodsman. He winked a kind of challenge, - and added, "Seems to me that ought to fetch 'em." - </p> - <p> - "Mebbe," Strong answered, gently swaying the rod. He was never too free in - committing himself. - </p> - <p> - "Got it for Tommy," said the new sportsman. "Ketched a four-pounder with - it—ask him if I didn't." Mr. Migley had the habit of - self-corroboration, and Strong used to say that he never believed that - kind of a liar. - </p> - <p> - "Le's go an' try 'em," Migley suggested. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor smoked thoughtfully a moment. - </p> - <p> - "D-down river, bym-by," he said, pointing at the cook-tent as if he had - now to prepare the dinner. - </p> - <p> - Strong had seen the Migleys before, although he had never entertained - them. They had paunched and pouted in territory not far remote from Lost - River, and won a reputation which had travelled among the guides. They - worked hard, and hurried out of the woods with all the fish and meat they - could carry, and no respect for any law save one—the law of - gravitation. They sat down or lay upon their backs every half-hour. Now, - it seemed, they were to abandon the vulgar art of the pouter for one more - gentle and becoming. - </p> - <p> - Strong hastened to the cook-tent, where he found Sinth treating the - children to sugared cakes and words of motherly fondness. - </p> - <p> - "Teenty little dears!" she was saying when Silas entered the door. - </p> - <p> - She rose quickly, and hurried to the stove with a kind of shame on her - countenance. Silas kept a sober face while he went for the water-pail, as - if he had not "took notice." His joy broke free and expressed itself in - loud laughter on his way to the spring. - </p> - <p> - "Snook!" Sinth exclaimed, her face red with embarrassment as she heard - him. She poked the fire with great energy, and added: "Let the fool laugh. - I don't care if he did hear me." - </p> - <p> - A new impulse from the heart of nature entered the Migley breast. Father - and son were seeking an opportunity to use their muscles. The son seized a - girder above his head and began to chin it; the father went to work with - an axe, and his enthusiasm fell in heavy blows upon a beech log. - </p> - <p> - Strong peered through the window at him and muttered the one contemptuous - word, "W-woodpecker!" - </p> - <p> - A poor chopper in that part of the country was always classed with the - woodpeckers. - </p> - <p> - Dinner over, the elder Migley opened his tin fishing-box and displayed an - assortment of cheap flies and leaders. - </p> - <p> - "Well, captain," said the young man, as he turned to Strong, "if you'll - show us where the trout live, we'll show you who they belong to." He - passed judgment and bestowed rank upon a great many people, and most of - his brevets, if he had been frank with them, would have put his life in - peril. - </p> - <p> - "Pop" Migley touched a rib of the Emperor with his big, coercive thumb, - shut one eye, and produced a kind of snore in his larynx. - </p> - <p> - The wit of his son had increased the cheerfulness of Mr. Migley. He began - telling coarse tales, and continued until, as the Emperor would say, he - had "emptied his reel." The man who talked too much always had a "big - reel," in the thought of the Emperor, and "slack line" was the phrase he - applied to empty words. - </p> - <p> - With everything ready for sport, they proceeded to the landing on Lost - River and were soon seated in a long canoe. - </p> - <p> - "We'll t-try Dunmore's trout," said Strong as they left the shore. - </p> - <p> - "Dunmore's trout?" said the elder Migley. - </p> - <p> - "Ay-uh," the Emperor answered. "He hitched onto an' l-lost him." - </p> - <p> - "Oh, it's that fish I've heard about that grabbed off one of Dunmore's - flies," said the elder Migley. - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh," the Emperor assented. - </p> - <p> - As a matter of fact, the old gentleman who lived on the shore of Buckhorn - had done a good deal of talking about this remarkable fish. - </p> - <p> - Father and son sat with rods in hand while Strong worked through the still - water and down a long rush of rapids and halted below them near a deep - pool flecked with foam. - </p> - <p> - "C-cast," said he. - </p> - <p> - With a wild swish and a spasmodic movement of arm and shoulder, "Pop" - Migley, who sat amidships, tipped the canoe until it took water. - </p> - <p> - Strong dashed his paddle and recovered balance. The young man swore. - </p> - <p> - "C-cast yer <i>f-flies</i>," Strong suggested, and his emphasis clearly - indicated that the fisherman should cease casting his body. - </p> - <p> - Again the <i>nouveau</i> worked his rod, whipping its point to the water - fore and aft. Flies and leader clawed over the back of Silas Strong, - fetching his hat off. Before he could recover, the young man went into - action. Strong ducked in time to save an ear, splashing his paddle again - to keep the canoe on its bottom. The tail-fly had caught above his elbow. - When Strong tried to loosen its hold the young man was tugging at the - line. Strong endeavored to speak, but somehow the words wouldn't come. - Suddenly the other rod came back with a powerful swing and smote him on - the top of his head. - </p> - <p> - He had been trying to say "See here," but his tongue had halted on the s. - Then he took a new tack, as it were, and tried a phrase which began with - the letter g, and had fair success with it. - </p> - <p> - Both Migleys gave a start of surprise. The Emperor waited to recover - self-control and felt a touch of remorse. - </p> - <p> - "Le' me c-climb a t-tree," he suggested, presently. - </p> - <p> - The elder Migley burst into loud laughter. - </p> - <p> - "Stop fooling!" said the young man. "I'd like to get some fish." - </p> - <p> - He swung his rod, and was again tugging at the shirt-sleeve of the - Emperor. - </p> - <p> - Strong blew as he clung to the leader. - </p> - <p> - "C-cast c-crossways," he commanded, with a gesture. - </p> - <p> - The fishermen rested a moment. A hundred feet or so below them Strong saw - a squirrel crossing the still water. Suddenly there was a movement behind - him, and he sank out of sight. In half a moment he rose again, swimming - with frantic haste to reach a clump of alder branches. Strong knew the - mysterious villain of this little drama of the river, but said not a word - of what he had seen. - </p> - <p> - The "sports" resumed fishing with less confidence and more care. Soon they - were able to reach off twenty feet or so, but they raked the air with - deadly violence, and every moment one leader was laying hold of the other - or catching in a tree-top. Strong pulled down bough after bough to free - the flies. Presently they were caught high in a balsam. - </p> - <p> - "Take us where there's trout. What do you think we're fishing for, - anyway?" said young Migley. - </p> - <p> - "B-birds," Strong answered, as he continued hauling at the tree-top with - hand and paddle. He used language always for the simple purpose of - expressing his thoughts. Soon the elder Migley began to feel the need of - information. He passed his rod to the Emperor. - </p> - <p> - "Show me how ye do it," said he. - </p> - <p> - Strong paddled to a large, flat rock which rose, mid-stream, a little - above water. He climbed upon it and sat down lazily. - </p> - <p> - Nature had taught him, as she teaches all who bear heavy burdens, to - conserve his strength. He had none to waste in the support of dignity. - When he sat down his weight was braced with hand, foot, and elbow so as to - rest his heart and muscles. Now he seemed to anchor himself by throwing - his right knee over his left foot. His garment of cord and muscle lay - loosely on his bones. There was that in the pose of this man to remind one - of an ox lying peacefully in the field. He drew a loop of line off the - reel, and with no motion of arm or body, his wrist bent, the point of the - rod sprang forward, his flies leaped the length of his line and fell - lightly on the river surface. They wavered across the current. He drew - another loop of line. The rod rose and gave its double spring, and his - flies leaped away and fell farther down the current. So his line flickered - back and forth, running out and reaching with every cast until it spanned - near a hundred feet. - </p> - <p> - Still the Emperor smoked lazily, and, saving that little movement of the - wrist, reposed as motionless and serene as the rock upon which he sat. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly Strong's figure underwent a remarkable change. He bent forward, - alert as a panther in sight of his prey. His mouth was open, his eyes full - of animation. The supple wrist bent swiftly. The flies sprang up and - flashed backward; the line sang in its flight. Where the squirrel rose a - big trout had sprung above water and come down with a splash. But he had - missed his aim. Again the flies lighted precisely where the trout sprang - and wavered slowly through the bubbles. A breath of silence followed. The - finned arrow burst above water in a veil of mist; down he plunged with a - fierce grab at the tail-fly. The wrist of the fisherman sprang upward. The - barb caught; the line slanted straight as a lance and seemed to strike at - the river-bottom. The rod was bending. The fish had given a quick haul, - and now the line's end came rushing in. The shrewd old trout knew how to - gather slack on a fisherman. Strong rose like a jack-in-the-box. His hand - flashed to the reel. It began to play like the end of a piston. He swung - half around and his rod came up. The fish turned for a mad rush. With - hands upon rod and silk the fisherman held to check him. Strong's line - ripped through the water plane from mid-river to the shadow of the bank. - The strain upon the fish's jaw halted him. He settled and began to jerk on - the line. Strong raised his foot and tapped the butt of his rod. The - report seemed to go down the line as if it had been a telephone message. - It startled the trout, and again he took a long reach of silk off the - reel. Then slowly he went back and forth through an arc of some twenty - feet, and the long line swung like a pendulum. Weakened by his efforts, he - began to lead in. Slowly he came near the rock, and soon the splendid - trout lay gasping from utter weariness an arm's-length from his captor. - </p> - <p> - As the net approached him he dove again, hauling with fierce energy. The - man was leaning over the edge of the rock, his rod in one hand, his net in - the other. He came near losing his balance in the sudden attack. He - scrambled into position. Again the trout gave up and followed the strain - of the leader. Strong let himself down upon the river-bottom beside the - rock, and stood to his belt in water. The fish retreated again and came - back helpless and was taken. - </p> - <p> - He filled the net. A great tail-fin waved above its rim. The Emperor - hefted his catch and blew like a buck deer, after his custom in moments of - great stress. Then came a declaration of unusual length. - </p> - <p> - "Ye could r-reel me in with a c-c-cotton th-thread an' p-pick me up in yer - f-fingers." - </p> - <p> - It was growing dusk. Strong clambered to the top of the rock. "Pop" Migley - brought the canoe alongside. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor gave a loud whistle of surprise. - </p> - <p> - "Dunmore's t-trout!" he said, soberly. He had found a "black gnat" - embedded in the fish's mouth, its snell broken near the loop. He put the - struggling fish back in the net and tied his handkerchief across the top - of it. - </p> - <p> - The Migleys both agreed that they were ready for supper. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor got aboard and requested the elder Migley to keep the fish - under water, while he took his paddle and pushed for camp. They put their - trout in a spring at the boat-house. - </p> - <p> - The sports hurried to camp. Master came down the path and met Strong. - </p> - <p> - "I've got D-Dunmore's t-trout," said the latter. - </p> - <p> - "Good!" Master answered; "that will give us an excuse to go and call on - him." - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HAT evening, while - the others went out to sit by the camp-fire, Silas Strong put the children - to bed and lay down beside them. They begged him for a story, he had - neither skill nor practice in narration, he had, as the rustic merchant is - wont to say, a desire to please. He knew that he had disappointed the - children and was doing his best to recover their esteem. Possibly he ought - to try and be more like other folks. He rubbed his thin, sandy beard, he - groped among the treasures of his memory. - </p> - <p> - Infrequently he had gone over them with Sinth or the Lady Ann, but briefly - and with halting words and slow reflection. He had that respect for the - past which is a characteristic of the true historian, but, in his view, it - gave him little to say of his own exploits. He was wont to observe, - ironically, that others knew more of them than he knew himself. Owing, it - may be, to his little infirmity of speech, he had never been misled into - the broad way of prevarication. Brevity had been his refuge and his - strength. He regarded with contempt the boastful narratives of woodsmen. - </p> - <p> - Now the siren voices of the little folks had made him thoughtful. Had he - nothing to give them but disappointment? He hesitated. Then he fell, as it - were, but, happily, for the sake of those two he had begun to love, and - not through pride. It was a kind of modesty which caused him to reach for - the candle and blow it out. Then, boldly, as it were, he began to sing a - brief account of one of his own adventures. He could sing without - stammering, and therefore he sang an odd and almost tuneless chant. He - accepted such rhyme and rhythm as chanced to drift in upon the monotonous - current of his epic; but he turned not aside for them. He sang glibly, - jumping in and out of that old, melodious trail of "The Son of a - Gamboleer." Strong called this unique creation of his - </p> - <h3> - "THE STORY OF THE MELLERED BEAR. - </h3> - <p class="indent15"> - "One day yer Uncle Silas went for to kill a bear, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' a dog he took an' follered which his name was - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - little Zeb; - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Bym-by we come acrost a track which looked as big - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - as sin, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' Zeb he hollered 'twas a bear, which I didn't quite - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - believe in - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Until I got down on my knee, an' then I kind o' - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - laughed, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - For su'thin' cur'us showed me where he'd wrote his - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - autygraft, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' which way he was travellin' all in the frosty snow; - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' I follered Zeb, the bear-dog, as fast as I could go, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' purty soon I see - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Where the bear had tore his overcoat upon a hem - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - lock-tree, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' left some threads behind him which fell upon his - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - track, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Which I wouldn't wonder if he done a-scratchin' of - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - his back, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Which caused me for to grin an' laugh all on ac - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - count o' my feelin's." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - Here came a pause, in which the singer sought a moment of relaxation, as - it would seem, in a thoughtful and timely cough. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "Bym-by I come up kind o' dost an' where that I - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - could see - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - Zeb was jumpin' like a rabbit an' a-hollerin' t' me; - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' I could see the ol' bear's home all underneath a - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - ledge, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' the track of his big moggasins up to the very edge. - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - I took an' fetched some pine-knots an' a lot of ol' - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - dead limbs, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' built a fire upon his door-step an' let the smoke - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - blow in; - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' then I took a piece o' rope an' tethered Zeb away - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - So's that he'd keep his breeches fer to use another - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - day. - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' purty soon I listened an' I heard the bear - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - a-coughin', - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' he sneezed an' bellered out as if he guessed he'd - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - be excused. - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - All t' once he bust out an' the rifle give a yell, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' I wouldn't wonder if he thought—" - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - The narrator was halted for half a moment by another frog in his throat—as - he explained. Then he went on: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "An' Zeb he tore away an' took an' fastened on the - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - bear, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' they rolled down-hill together, an' the critter - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - ripped the air, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' I didn't dast t' shoot him for fear o' killin' Zeb, - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - So I clubbed my rifle on the bear an' mellered up his - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - head." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - Moist with perspiration, Silas Strong rose and stood by the bedside and - blew. Fifty miles with a boat on his back could not have taxed him more - severely. He answered a few queries touching the size, fierceness, and - fate of the bear. Then he retreated, whispering as he left the door, - "Strong's ahead." - </p> - <p> - Zeb lay on the foot of the bed, and Socky, being a little timid in the - dark, coaxed him to lie between them, his paws on the pillow. With their - hands on the back of Zeb, they felt sure no harm could come to them. - </p> - <p> - "Do you love Uncle Silas?" It was the question of little Sue. - </p> - <p> - Socky answered, promptly, "Yes; do you?" - </p> - <p> - "Yes." - </p> - <p> - "Hunters don't never wear good clothes." So Socky went on, presently, as - if apologizing to his own spirit for the personal appearance of his uncle. - "They git 'em all tore up by the bears an' panthers." - </p> - <p> - "That's how he got his pants tore," Sue suggested, thinking of his - condition that day they met him on the trail. - </p> - <p> - "Had a fight with a 'kunk," Socky answered, quickly. He had overheard - something of that adventure at Robin Lake. - </p> - <p> - They lay thinking a moment. Then up spoke the boy. "I wisht he had a gold - watch." - </p> - <p> - With Socky the ladder by which a man rose to greatness had many rounds. - The first was great physical strength, the next physical appearance; the - possession of a rifle and the sacred privilege of bathing the same in - bear's-oil was distinctly another; symbols of splendor, such as watches, - finger-rings, and the like, had their places in the ladder, and qualities - of imagination were not wholly disregarded. - </p> - <p> - Sue tried to think of something good to say—something, possibly, - which would explain her love. It was her first trial at analysis. - </p> - <p> - "He wouldn't hurt nobody," she suggested. - </p> - <p> - "He can carry a tree on his back"—so it seemed to Socky. - </p> - <p> - "He wouldn't let nothin' touch us," said Sue, still working the vein of - kindness which she had discovered. - </p> - <p> - "He's the most terrible powerful man in the world," Socky averred, and - unconsciously twisted the soft ear of Zeb until the latter gave a little - yelp of complaint. - </p> - <p> - "He can kill bears an' panthers an' deers an'—an' ketch fish," said - Sue. - </p> - <p> - "He could swaller a whale," Socky declared, as he thought of the story of - Jonah. - </p> - <p> - "Aunt Sinthy has got a hole in her shoe." The girl imparted this in a - whisper. - </p> - <p> - Both felt the back of Zeb and were silent for a little. - </p> - <p> - "She blubbers!" Socky exclaimed, with a slight touch of contempt in the - way he said it. - </p> - <p> - "Maybe she got her feet wet and Uncle Silas Spanked her." - </p> - <p> - "Big folks don't get spanked," the boy assured Sue. - </p> - <p> - "Do you like her?" - </p> - <p> - He answered quickly, as if the topic were a bore to him, "Purty well." - </p> - <p> - Sue had hoped for greater frankness. Her own opinion of her Aunt Cynthia, - while favorable, was unsettled. She thought of a thing in connection with - her aunt which had given her some concern. She had been full of wonder as - to its hidden potentialities. - </p> - <p> - In a moment Sue broached the subject by saying, "She's got a big mold on - her neck." - </p> - <p> - "With a long hair on it," Socky added. "Bet you wouldn't dast pull that - hair." - </p> - <p> - Sue squirmed a little. That single hair had, somehow, reminded her of the - string on a jumping-jack. She reflected a moment, "I put my finger on it," - said she, boastfully. - </p> - <p> - "That's nothing," Socky answered. "Uncle Silas let me feel the shot what - he got in his arm. Gee, it was kind o' funny." He squirmed a little and - thoughtfully felt his foot. - </p> - <p> - Sue recognized the superior attraction of the buried shot and held her - peace a moment. Both had begun to yawn. - </p> - <p> - "Wisht it was t'-morrow," said Sue. - </p> - <p> - "Why?" - </p> - <p> - "'Cause I'm going to see the beautiful lady." - </p> - <p> - "An' the crow, too," Socky whispered. - </p> - <p> - They were, indeed, to see her sooner than they knew—in dreamland. - </p> - <p> - Zeb now retired discreetly to the foot of the bed. - </p> - <p> - After a little silence Sue put her arms about her brother's neck and - pressed him close. - </p> - <p> - "Wisht I was in heaven," she said, drowsily, with a little cry of - complaint. - </p> - <p> - "Why?" - </p> - <p> - "So I could see my mother." - </p> - <p> - "She's way up a Trillion miles beyond where the hawks fly," said the boy, - as he gaped wearily. - </p> - <p> - Thereafter the room was silent, save for the muffled barking of Zeb in his - slumber. He, too, was dreaming, no doubt, of things far away. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HEY were a timely - arrival—those new friends who had found Edith Dunmore. She was no - longer satisfied with the narrow world in which her father had imprisoned - her, and had begun to wander alone as if in quest of a better one. That - hour of revelation on the shore of Birch Cove led quickly to others quite - as wonderful. - </p> - <p> - She had no sooner reached home than she told her grandmother of the young - man and the children who had come with him to the shore of Catamount and - of a strange happiness in her heart. It was then that a sense of duty in - the old Scotchwoman broke away from promises to her son which had long - suppressed it. - </p> - <p> - As they sat alone, together, the old lady talked to her granddaughter of - the mysteries of life and love and death. Much in this talk the girl had - gathered for herself, by inference, out of books—mostly fairy tales - that her father had brought to her—and out of the evasions which had - greeted her questioning and out of her own heart. - </p> - <p> - Her queries followed one another fast and were answered freely. She - learned, among other things, a part of the reason for their lonely life—that - her father was not like other men, not even like himself; that their - isolation had been a wicked and foolish error; that men were not, mostly, - children of the devil seeking whom they might destroy, but kindly, giving - and desiring love; that she, Edith Dunmore, had a right to live like the - rest of God's children, and to love and be loved and given in marriage and - to have her part in the world's history. - </p> - <p> - All this and much good counsel besides the old lady gave to the girl who - sat a long time pondering after her grandmother had left her. - </p> - <p> - In the miracle of birth and the storied change that follows dissolution - she saw the magic of fairyland. To her Paristan had been much more real - than the republic in which she lived. - </p> - <p> - She longed for the hour to come when she should again see those wonderful - children and the still more wonderful being who had brought them in his - canoe. - </p> - <p> - Next morning she set out early in the trail to Catamount with her little - guide and companion. She had named him Roc, after the famous bird of - Oriental tradition. She arrived there long before the hour appointed. - Slowly she wandered to the trail over which Master and the children would - be sure to come. She approached the camp at Lost River and stood peering - through thickets of young fir, She saw the boy and girl at play, and - watched them. Soon Master came out of one of the cabins. Now, somehow, she - felt a greater fear of him than before, yet she longed to look into his - face—to feel the touch of his hand. - </p> - <p> - The crow had taken his perch in a small tree beside his mistress. He - seemed to be looking thoughtfully at the children, with now and then a - little croak of criticism or of amusement, ending frequently in a sound - like half-suppressed laughter. He raised a foot and slowly scratched his - head, a gaze of meditation deepening in his eyes. Suddenly his interest - seemed to grow keener. He moved a step aside, rose in the air, and - approached the children. Darting to the ground, he picked up a little - silver compass which, one of them had dropped, and quickly returned with - it. The children called to Master, and all three followed the crow. His - mistress, scarcely knowing why, had run up the trail, and Roc pursued her - with foot and wing, croaking urgently, as if his life and spoil depended - on their haste. Reaching a thicket beside the trail, she hid under its - sheltering cover and sat down to rest. The crow, following, scrambled upon - her shoulder and dropped the bit of silver into her lap. She held his beak - to keep him quiet when Master and the children came near, but as the - latter were passing they could hear the smothered laughter of Roc. - </p> - <p> - In a moment Socky and Sue ran to their new friend, while Master waited - near them. The crow spread his wings and seemed to threaten with a - scolding chatter. The girl threw the bird in the air and took the hands of - the children and drew them to her breast. She held them close and looked - into their faces. - </p> - <p> - "Dear fairies!" said she, impulsively kissing them. - </p> - <p> - "Tell us where the cranes go with—with the young fairies," Sue - managed to say, her hands and voice trembling. - </p> - <p> - Miss Dunmore sat looking down sadly for a little before she answered. Sue, - curiously, felt "the lady's" cheeks that were now rose-red and beautiful. - </p> - <p> - "I will tell you what my father says," the latter began. "The cranes take - them to Slum-bercity on a great marsh and put them in their nests. The - heads of the young fairies are bald and smooth and the cranes sit on them - as if they were eggs. By-and-by wonderful thoughts and dreams come into - them so that the fairies wake up and begin crying for they are very - hungry. They remember the spring of milk, but they are so young and - helpless they can only reach out their hands and cry for it. Some of the - cranes stand on one leg in the marsh and listen. The moment they hear the - young fairies crying they fly away to find mothers for them. The unhappy - little things are really not fairies any more—they are babies. Some - of the cranes come and dance around the nest to keep them quiet, and the - babies sit up and open their eyes and begin to laugh, it is so very funny. - And that night a big crane sits by the side of each baby and the baby - creeps on his back and rides away to his mother. And he is so weary after - his ride that he sleeps and is scarcely able to move, and when he wakes - and smiles and laughs, he remembers how the cranes danced in the marsh." - </p> - <p> - Curiously, silently, the children looked into her face, while she, with - wonder equal to their own, put her arms around them. - </p> - <p> - "My father says that there are no people—that we are really nothing - but young fairies asleep and dreaming up in the tops of the trees, and - that the fairy heaven is not here." - </p> - <p> - She gazed into the eyes of the boy a moment, all unconscious of his mental - limitations. Then she added, "You're nothing but a big fairy—you're - so very young." - </p> - <p> - Socky drew away with a look of injury and threw out his chest. - </p> - <p> - "I'm six years old," he answered, with dignity. "In a little while I'll be - a man." - </p> - <p> - Miss Dunmore drew them close to her and said, "I wish I could take you - home with me." - </p> - <p> - "Have you any maple sugar there?" the little girl inquired. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, and a tame fox and a little fawn." - </p> - <p> - "But you'ain't got no Uncle Silas," said the boy, boastfully. - </p> - <p> - "Ner no Aunt Sinth," Sue ventured. Then, with her tiny fingers, she felt - the neck of "the beautiful lady" to see if there were a "mold" on it. She - was thinking of one of the chief attractions of her aunt. In a moment she - added, "Ner no Uncle Robert." They had begun to call him Uncle Robert. - </p> - <p> - "Is he the man I saw?" the maiden asked. - </p> - <p> - Both children nodded affirmatively. - </p> - <p> - "Do you love him?" - </p> - <p> - "Yes; would you like to take him home with you, too?" Socky asked, with a - look of deep interest. If they were to go he would wish to have his new - uncle with them, and Sue saw the point. - </p> - <p> - "He can carry you on his back and growl jes' like a bear," she urged. "He - can put his mouth on your cheek and make such a funny noise." - </p> - <p> - Miss Dunmore looked away, blushing red. It was a curious kind of - love-making. She whispered in the ear of the little girl, "Would you let - me have him?" - </p> - <p> - Sue looked up into her eyes doubtfully. - </p> - <p> - "She wants our Uncle Robert," Socky guessed aloud. - </p> - <p> - "But not to keep?" Sue questioned, as if it were not to be thought of. - </p> - <p> - The eyes of the children were looking into those of "the beautiful lady." - </p> - <p> - "I couldn't have him?" the latter asked. - </p> - <p> - "We'll give you our coon," Sue suggested, by way of compromise. - </p> - <p> - "I am sure he—your uncle—would not go with me," Miss Dunmore - suggested. - </p> - <p> - Socky seemed now to think that the time had come for authoritative - information. He broke away and called to his new uncle. - </p> - <p> - The maiden rose quickly, blushing with surprise. She turned away as Robert - Master came in sight, and stood for half a moment looking down. Then, - stooping, she picked a wild flower and timidly offered it. The act was - full of childish simplicity. It spoke for her as her tongue could not. - Knowledge acquired since she saw him last had possibly increased her - shyness. - </p> - <p> - "She wants you," said the boy, with vast innocence, while he looked up at - the young man. - </p> - <p> - "I wish I could believe it were true," said Master, as he came nearer by a - step to the daughter of the woodland. - </p> - <p> - She turned with a look of fear and said, "I must go," as she ran to the - trail, followed by Roc. - </p> - <p> - A little distance away she turned, looking back at the young man. - Something in her eyes told of a soul beneath them lovelier than its nobly - fashioned house. Moreover, they proclaimed the secret which she would fain - have kept. - </p> - <p> - "Shall we shake hands?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - She took a step towards him and stopped. - </p> - <p> - "No," she answered. - </p> - <p> - "I must see you again," said Master, with passionate eagerness, fearing - that she was about to leave. - </p> - <p> - She looked down but made no answer. The children put their arms about her - knees as if to detain her. - </p> - <p> - "You will not forget to come Thursday?" he added. - </p> - <p> - "The beautiful lady" stood looking at him, her left hand upon her chin, - her arms bare to the elbows. A smile, an almost imperceptible nod, and the - eloquence of her eyes were the only answer she gave him, but they were - enough. - </p> - <p> - "Will you not speak to me?" the young man urged, as he came nearer. - </p> - <p> - She stood looking, curiously, until he could almost have touched her. - Then, gently, she pushed the children away and fled up the trail, her pet - following. In a moment she had gone out of sight. - </p> - <p> - She was like the spirit of the woodland—wild, beautiful, silent. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HERE was a great - marsh around a set-back leading off the still water near Lost River camp. - There the children had seen many cranes, and they did not forget that - certain of them had stood upon one leg. After supper that evening they sat - together whispering awhile and presently stole away. There was a trail for - frog-hunters that led to their destination. They ran, eagerly, and, just - as the sun was going down, stopped on a high bank overlooking the marshes. - It was a broad flat covered with pools and tall grasses and bogs, crowned - with leaves of the sweet-flag and with cattails and pussy-willows. Now it - was still and hazy. The pools were like mirrors with the golden glow of - the sky and soft, dark shadows in them. - </p> - <p> - Far out on the marsh they discovered a crane strolling leisurely among the - bogs, and began to chatter about him. - </p> - <p> - They looked and listened until the sun had gone below the tops of the - trees. Then cranes came flying homeward out of the four skies, and, one by - one, lighted on the edge of a bog some two or three hundred feet from the - children. Sue uttered a little cry of joy. The cranes stood motionless - with heads up. - </p> - <p> - "They're listening," Socky assured his sister. - </p> - <p> - Bull-frogs had begun croaking and a mud-hen was making a sound like that - of a rusty pump. The children now sat on the side of the bank and leaned - forward straining their eyes and ears. - </p> - <p> - Soon the far, shrill cry of some little animal rang above the chorus of - the marsh. The children took it to be a baby, and seemed almost to writhe - with suppressed laughter mingled with hopeful and whispered comment. In - his excitement Socky slipped off his perch and came near rolling down the - side of the bank. One of the cranes began to shuffle about, his wings half - open, like an awkward dancer. Soon the whole group of birds seemed to be - imitating him, and each shuffled on his long legs as if trying to be most - ridiculous. The dusk was thickening, and the children could only just - discern them. They sat close together and held each other's hands tightly, - and looked out upon the marsh and were silent with awe and expectation. - Suddenly the cranes scattered into the bushes and the sedge. Socky and Sue - were now watching to see them fly. It was almost dark and a big moon - seemed to be peering through the tops of the trees. Soon the great birds - strode slowly in single file past the wonder-stricken two. - </p> - <p> - "See the babies! See the babies!" Sue cried out. - </p> - <p> - They squirmed and shivered with awe, their lips and eyes wide with - amazement. In the dim light they imagined that a baby sat on the back of - each crane. Sue had no sooner cried out than there came a flapping of - wings that seemed to fill the sky. The feathered caravan had taken to the - air and were swinging in a wide circle around the edge of the marsh. They - quickly disappeared in the gloom. - </p> - <p> - "Gone to find mothers for 'em," said Socky, in a trembling whisper. - </p> - <p> - The children had suddenly become aware that it was quite dark, but neither - dared speak of it. They still sat looking out upon the marsh and clinging - hand to hand. Soon a procession of grotesque and evil creatures began to - pass them: the great bear of the woods who had swallowed alive all the - little runaways, and who, having made them prisoners, only let them come - out now and then to ride upon his back; the big panther-bird who lured - children from their homes with berries and flowers and nuts and, maybe, - raisins, and who, when they were in some lonely place, dropped stones upon - their heads and slew them; odd, indescribable shapes, some having long, - hairy necks and heads like cocoa-nuts; and, lastly, came that awful horned - creature, with cloven hoofs and the body of a man, who carried a pitchfork - and who, soon or late, flung all the bad children into a lake of fire. - Socky and Sue covered their faces with their hands. Suddenly a prudent - thought entered the mind of the boy. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to be good," said he, in a loud but timid voice. "I love God - best of every one." His sister gave a little start. - </p> - <p> - In half a moment she suggested, her eyes covered with her hands, "You - don't love God better than Uncle Silas?" - </p> - <p> - Socky hesitated. Prudence and affection struggled for the mastery. - </p> - <p> - "Yes," he managed to say, although with some difficulty. "Don't you?" - </p> - <p> - Sue hesitated. - </p> - <p> - He nudged her and whispered, "Say yes—say it out loud." - </p> - <p> - The word came from Sue in a low, pathetic wail of fear. - </p> - <p> - "I ain't never goin' to tell any more lies," the boy asserted, in a firm, - clear voice, "er swear er run away." - </p> - <p> - They both gave a cry of alarm, for Zeb had sprung upon them and begun to - lick their faces. Their aunt and uncle had missed them and Zeb had led his - master to where they sat. - </p> - <p> - Strong had heard the children choosing between him and their Creator and - understood. Socky and Sue, after the shock of Zeb's sudden arrival, were - encouraged by his presence and began to take counsel together. - </p> - <p> - "We better go home," said Socky. - </p> - <p> - "What if we meet something?" - </p> - <p> - "Pooh! I'll crook my finger to him an' say, 'Sile Strong is my uncle,'" - Socky answered, confidently. "You'll see him run fast enough." - </p> - <p> - It was a formula which his uncle had taught him, and he had tried it upon - a deer and a hedgehog with eminent success. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor had planned to give them a scare by way of punishment, but now - he had no heart for severity. He walked through the bushes whistling. He - said not a word as he knelt before them—indeed, the man dared not - trust himself to speak. With cries of joy they climbed upon his shoulders - and embraced him. Strong rose and slowly carried them through the dark - trail. He could not even answer their questions. He. was thinking of their - faith in him—of their love, the like of which he had-never known or - dreamed of and was not able to understand. Sinth was out with a lantern - when they returned. The children were asleep in his arms. - </p> - <p> - "Sh-h-h! Don't scold, sister," said he, in a voice so gentle it surprised - himself. They put the children to bed and walked to the cook-tent. Strong - told of all he had heard them say. - </p> - <p> - "I dunno but you'll have to whip 'em," said Sinth. - </p> - <p> - Strong was drying the little boots of the boy. He touched them tenderly - with his great hand. He smiled and shook his head and slowly stammered, - "If we're g-goin't' be g-good'nough t' 's-sociate with them we got t' - wh-whip ourselves." - </p> - <p> - He rose and put a stick of wood on the fire. - </p> - <p> - "Th-they think I'm m-most as good as God," he added, huskily, and then he - went out-ofdoors. - </p> - <p> - Before going to bed that night he made this entry in his memorandum-book: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Strong won't do he'll have to be tore down an' built over."</i> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XVI - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE Migleys had - engaged Strong to take them out of the woods next day. They were going to - the Fourth-of-July celebration at Hillsborough. Master was going also, be - orator of the day. Strong, hearing the talk of the others, had "got to - wishin'," as Sinth put it, and had finally concluded to go on to - Hillsborough and witness the celebration. So Master had sent for his guide - to come and stay at Lost River camp until the return of Silas. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor was getting ready to go. Some one had told him that a man at - Hillsborough was buying coons and foxes for the zoological gardens in New - York. He considered whether he had better take his young pet coon with - him. In that hour of expanding generosity when he had broken his bank, as - the saying goes, he had forgotten his new responsibilities. There were the - children, and that necessity which often awoke him at night and whispered - of impending evil—he must leave his old home and find a new one - somewhere in the forest. The little people would need boots and dresses, - and why shouldn't they have a rocking-horse or some cheering toy of that - character? Such reflections began to change—to amend, as it were—his - view of money. - </p> - <p> - Furthermore, Sinth had no respect for coons. Ever since the Emperor had - captured him, much of her ill-nature had been focussed upon the coon. - </p> - <p> - "W-woods g-goin'," he mused, as he fed the little creature. "W-we got t' - git t-tame." - </p> - <p> - "You better take him along," said Sinth, as she came out of the cook-tent. - "Jim Warner got ten dollars for a coon down to Canton las' summer." - </p> - <p> - "C-come on, Dick," said the hunter, with some regret in his tone as he - fastened the coon's cage upon his basket. - </p> - <p> - Strong looped a cord through the wire and the buckles of both - shoulder-braces. Master had taken the river route, and would drive to - Hillsborough from Tupper's. Strong and the Migleys were going out through - Pitkin. The "sports" had been on their way for more than half an hour. - Strong put his arms in the straps and followed them. He turned in the - trail and called back: - </p> - <p> - "B-better times!" he shouted. It was a cheerful sentiment which he often - expressed in moments of parting with Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "Don't believe it," Sinth answered. - </p> - <p> - "You s-see," he insisted, and then he disappeared in the timber. - </p> - <p> - As the travellers went on, the Migleys exhibited increasing respect for - the law of gravitation. They gave their coats to the Emperor, who - studiously kept as far ahead or behind them as possible to avoid - conversation. He was "tongue weary," and told them so. - </p> - <p> - Late in the afternoon they came to a new lumber-camp. "The Warren job" had - pushed its front across the old trail. What desolation had fallen where - Strong passed, two weeks before, in the shadow of the primeval wood! Its - green roof lay in scraggled, withering heaps; the under thickets had been - cut away; the ferns lay flat, blackening on the sunburned soil. An old - skeleton of pine lifted its broken arms high above the scene of - desolation, and one could hear its bones creak and rattle in the breezy - heavens. - </p> - <p> - Great shafts of spruce and pine were being sawed into even lengths and - hauled to a skidway. Busy men looked small as ants in the edge of the high - forest. Some swayed in pairs, "pulling the briar," as woodsmen say of - those who work with a saw. - </p> - <p> - Strong and the Migleys halted to watch the downfall of a great pine. Soon - the sawyers put their wedge in the slit and smote upon it. The sheet of - steel hissed back and forth. Then a few blows of the axe. The men gave a - shout of warning and drew aside. The great tree began to creak and - tremble. Slowly it bent and groaned; its long arms seemed to clutch at the - air. Then it pitched headlong, its top whistling, its heavy stem shaking - the ground upon which it fell. A voice of thunder seemed to proclaim its - fate. The axemen lopped off its branches, and soon the long column lay - stark, and the growth of two centuries had come to its end. Strong and his - companions stood a moment longer watching the scene. - </p> - <p> - "Huh!" the Emperor grunted, with a sorry look as they passed on. - </p> - <p> - Near sundown they came into the cleared land—the sandy, God-forsaken - barrens of Tifton, robbed of root and branch and soil, of their glory, and - the one crop nature had designed for them. The travellers passed a - deserted cabin on a hot, stony hill. In its door-yard they could see a - plough and an old wagon partly overgrown with weeds. Some one had tried to - live on the spoiled earth and had come to discouragement. Where ten - thousand men could have found healing and refreshment there was not enough - growing to feed a dozen sheep. Here a part of the great inheritance of man - had been forever ruined. Strong spoke of the pity of it. - </p> - <p> - "Can't be helped," said the elder Migley. "A man has a right to cut and - sell his timber." - </p> - <p> - Strong made no question of that, claiming only that the cutting should be - "reg'lated," an expression which he rarely took the trouble to explain. It - stood for a meaning well considered—that the forest belonged to the - people, the timber to the owner of the land; that the right of the owner - should be subject to restraint. He should be permitted to cut trees of a - certain size only. So the forest would be made permanent, and the owner - and the generations to follow him would get a crop of timber every eight - or ten years. - </p> - <p> - The sun was setting when they came into the little forest hamlet. The - Migleys put up at the Pitkin general store, where one might have rude - hospitality as well as merchandise. There Strong left pack and coon behind - the counter and hastened to the home of Annette. The comely young woman - rose from the supper-table and took both his hands in hers. - </p> - <p> - "Strong's ahead!" he answered, cheerfully, as she greeted him. - </p> - <p> - In response to her invitation he sat down to eat. Her father lighted his - pipe and left them. Silas told of the swishers and the big trout and the - children. - </p> - <p> - "M-me an' Sinth is b-bein' cut over," here-marked, with a smile, as he - thought of the children. - </p> - <p> - "What do you mean?" - </p> - <p> - "B-bein' cleared an' p-ploughed an' sowed." - </p> - <p> - She laughed a little as the Emperor unfolded his pleasantry. He thought of - his improved account in the matter of swearing and of the better temper of - Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "G-gittin' p-proper," he added. - </p> - <p> - Annette was amused. - </p> - <p> - "G-got t' leave Lost R-river," he said, presently. - </p> - <p> - "Got to leave Lost River!" Annette exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - "Ay-ah," Strong answered. He looked down for a second, then he added, - sorrowfully, "G-goin' to tear down the w-woods." - </p> - <p> - "It's an outrage. Couldn't you go to the plains?" - </p> - <p> - "S-sold an' f-fenced." - </p> - <p> - "How about the Rag Lake country?" - </p> - <p> - "B-bein' cut." - </p> - <p> - Annette shook her head ruefully. - </p> - <p> - "W-woods got t' g-go," said Strong, leaning forward and resting his elbows - on his knees. . - </p> - <p> - "What'll you do?" - </p> - <p> - "G-git tame," Strong answered, as he rose and went to the squirrel cage - and began to play with his old pet. The little animal came to his wire - gateway and stood upon the palm of the Emperor's hand. - </p> - <p> - "T-trespasser!" he remarked, stroking the squirrel. "Th-they'll have me in - a c-cage, too, purty s-soon." - </p> - <p> - He put the squirrel away and offered his hand to Annette. - </p> - <p> - "S-some day," he whispered. - </p> - <p> - "Some day," she answered, with a sigh. - </p> - <p> - "Y-you're g-goin' to hear me d-do some t-talkin'," he assured her. The - Lady Ann had often mildly complained of his reticence. - </p> - <p> - They now stood in front of the little veranda. She was looking up at him. - </p> - <p> - "It'll 'mount to s-suthin', t-too," he went on. It seemed as if he were - making an honest effort to correct the idleness of his tongue. He was - looking down at her and groping in his mind for some other cheerful - sentiment. He seemed to make this happy discovery, and added, - "W-won-derful good t-times comin'." - </p> - <p> - With a full heart she pressed his great hand in both of hers. - </p> - <p> - "K-keep ahead," said he, cheerfully, and bade her good-night. - </p> - <p> - With this he left her and was happy, for the taming of Sinth had seemed to - bring that "some day" of his promise into the near future. - </p> - <p> - At the Pitkin general store his two companions had retired for the night, - and he joined a group of woodsmen who occupied everything in the place - which had a fairly smooth and accessible top on it. They were all in debt - to the storekeeper and seemed to entertain a regard for him not unmingled - with pity. This latter sentiment was, the historian believes, rather well - founded. They called him "Billy," with the inflection of fondness. Two sat - slouching, apologetically, on the counter. One rested his weight, as - tenderly and considerately as might be, on a cracker-barrel. Another - reposed with a look of greater confidence on the end of a nail-keg. They - were guides, two of whom had come out for provisions; the others, like - Strong, were on their way to Hillsborough. - </p> - <p> - "Here's the old Emp'ror," said one, as Strong entered and returned their - greetings and sat down astride the beam of a plough. - </p> - <p> - "I'd like to know what he thinks of it," said a guide from the Jordan Lake - country. - </p> - <p> - Strong looked up at him without a word. - </p> - <p> - "A millionaire has bought thirty thousand acres alongside o' my camp," the - guide explained. "He won't let me cross on the old trail. I had to go six - mile out o' my way to git here." - </p> - <p> - He smote the counter with his fist and coupled the name of the rich man - with vile epithets. - </p> - <p> - "My father and my grandfather travelled that trail before he was born," - the angry woodsman declared. - </p> - <p> - Strong leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and looked at his hands - without speaking. One laughed loudly, another gave out a sympathetic - curse. - </p> - <p> - "I'll git even with him—you hear me." So the aggrieved party - expressed himself. - </p> - <p> - "How?" Strong inquired, looking up suddenly. - </p> - <p> - "I'll git even. I'll send a traveller into that preserve who'll put him - off it." He spoke with a sinister suggestion. - </p> - <p> - "Huh!" the Emperor grunted. He understood the threat of the other, who - clearly meant to set the woods afire. - </p> - <p> - "Ain't I right? What d' ye come to, anyway, when ye think it all over?" - The words came hot and fast off the tongue of the com-plainer. - </p> - <p> - "F-fool," Strong stammered, calmly. There was something in his way of - saying it that made the others laugh. - </p> - <p> - A faint smile of embarrassment showed in the face of the angry woodsman. - </p> - <p> - "Me or the millionaire?" he inquired. - </p> - <p> - "B-both," Strong answered, soberly, as the storm ended in a little gust of - laughter. - </p> - <p> - Strong had stripped the guide of his anger as deftly as a squirrel could - take the shell off a nut. In the brief silence that followed he thought of - another maxim for his memorandum-book, and soon it was recorded therein as - follows: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Man that makes trouble sure to have most of it."</i> - </p> - <p> - Presently he who sat on the cracker-barrel remarked, "If them air woods - git afire now, they'll burn the stars out o' heaven." - </p> - <p> - All eyes turned upon the once violent man. - </p> - <p> - "Of course, I wouldn't fire the woods," he muttered. He was now cool, and - could see the folly and also the peril which lay in his threat. "I never - said I'd set the woods afire, but the ol' trail has been a thoroughfare - for nigh a hunderd year.-I believe I've got as good a right to use it as - he has." - </p> - <p> - "Th-think so?" the Emperor inquired. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, sir." - </p> - <p> - "Then d-do it," Strong answered, dryly. There was much in those three - words and in the look of the speaker. It said, plainly, that the other was - to do what he thought to be right and never what he knew to be wrong. - </p> - <p> - "Lumbermen are more to blame," said another. "Where they've been nobody - wants to go. They cut everything down t' the size o' yer wrist an' leave - the soil covered with tinder-stacks. They think o' nothin' but the profit. - Case o' fire, woods 'round 'em wouldn't hev a ghost of a show." - </p> - <p> - "Look at the Weaver tract," said he who sat on the nail-keg. "Four - thousand acres o' dead tops—miles on 'em—an' all as dry as - gunpowder. If you was t' touch a match there ye'd have to run fer yer - life." - </p> - <p> - "Go like a scairt deer," said he of the cracker-barrel. "'Fore it stopped - I guess ye'd think the world was afire." - </p> - <p> - "W-woods g-goin'," said the Emperor, sadly. - </p> - <p> - He thought of the cold springs at which he had refreshed himself in the - heat of the summer day and which were to perish utterly; he thought of the - brooks and rivers, slowing their pace like one stricken with infirmity, - and, by-and-by, lying dead in the sunlight—lying in a chain of slimy - pools across the great valley of the St. Lawrence; he thought of green - meadows which, soon or late, would probably wither into a desert. - </p> - <p> - "What 'll become of us?" said he on the nail-keg. - </p> - <p> - "Have t' be sawed an' trimmed an' planed an' matched an' go into town." It - was the voice above the cracker-barrel. - </p> - <p> - "Not me," said the occupant of the nail-keg. "Too many houses an' folks - an' too much noise. Couldn't never stan' it." - </p> - <p> - "Village is a cur'ous place," said another, who had never been sober when - he saw it. "Steeples an' buildin's an' folks reel 'round in pairs. Seems - so the sidewalk flowed like a river, an' nothin' stan's still long 'nough - so ye can see how 't looks." - </p> - <p> - The speaker was interrupted by the proprietor of the Pitkin general store, - who came downstairs and flung himself on the top of the counter. - </p> - <p> - "Goin't' the Fourth?" said he of the cracker-barrel. - </p> - <p> - "Might as well—got t' hev a tooth drawed." - </p> - <p> - "I've got one that's been growlin' purty spiteful," said the nail-kegger. - "Dunno but I might as well go an' hev it tore out." - </p> - <p> - "I got t' be snaked, too," said the cracker-barrel man. - </p> - <p> - "Reg'lar tooth-drawin' down thar to-morrer," said a voice from the - counter. - </p> - <p> - "Beats all how the teeth git t' rairin' up ev'ry circus an' Fourth o' - July," said the nail-kegger. The laughter which now ensued seemed, as it - were, to shake everybody off his perch. The counter and the cracker-barrel - expressed themselves in a creak of relief, and all went abovestairs save - the Emperor. He cut a few boughs for a pillow, spread his blanket under - the pine-trees, flung an end of it over his great body, and "let go," as - he was wont to say. At any time of day or night he had only to lie down - and "let go," and enjoy absolute forgetfulness. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XVII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>T the break of day - next morning, Strong rose and called his fellow-travellers. Beside the - turnpike he built a fire, over which he began to cook fish and potatoes - and coffee. When the Migleys had come, all sat on a blanket within reach - of their food and helped themselves in a fashion almost as ancient as the - hills. Then Strong gave the coon his share, and washed the dishes and got - his pack ready. It was a tramp of four miles to the station below Pitkin. - They arrived there, however, before the sun was an hour high. - </p> - <p> - When they were seated in the end of the smoking-car, with coon and pack - beside them, Mr. Migley began to reveal the plans of the great king, - Business. Having increased his territory, he now felt the need of adding - to his power. He must have more legislation, for there were to be ruthless - changes of the map. Those few really free and independent people who dwelt - in and near the Lost River country were to be his subjects and they must - learn to obey. At least they must not oppose him and make trouble. Gently - his envoy began. - </p> - <p> - "You know," said he, "there's to be a new member of Assembly in our - district." - </p> - <p> - Strong nodded. - </p> - <p> - "I want my son to go," the elder Migley went on, as he winked - suggestively. "He's going to make his home in Pitkin, and it's very - necessary to his plans that you people should be with him. He's got the - talent of a statesman. Ask anybody who knows the boy." - </p> - <p> - He paused a moment. The Emperor made no reply. - </p> - <p> - "Level-headed and reliable in every spot an' place, an' a good-looker," - Migley continued, as if he were selling a road-horse, while he nudged the - Emperor. "Look at him. I'd swap faces with that boy any day and give him - ten thousand dollars to boot. Wouldn't you?" - </p> - <p> - Mr. Migley spoke in dead earnest. He pinched the knee of Strong and waited - for his reply. - </p> - <p> - "W-wouldn't fit me," the Emperor replied. - </p> - <p> - "Pop" Migley took the answer as a compliment and gurgled with good - feeling. - </p> - <p> - "Strong, you're a kind of a boss up here in the hills," said he. "There - isn't a jay in the pine lands that wouldn't walk twenty miles to caucus if - you asked him to." - </p> - <p> - "Dunno," Strong answered, doubtfully. - </p> - <p> - "I know what I'm talking about," said the lumberman, with a smile. "I want - the vote o' the town o' Pitkin. If we get that we can give 'em all the - flag." - </p> - <p> - Strong was not unaccustomed to this kind of appeal. There were not many - voters in his town, but they always followed the Emperor. - </p> - <p> - "You can get it for us," Mr. Migley insisted. - </p> - <p> - "N-no." - </p> - <p> - "Why not?" - </p> - <p> - "I've promised to help M-Master." - </p> - <p> - "Oh, well, now, look here—you and I ought to be friends," said - Migley. "We ought to stand by each other. You look out for me and I'll - look out for you." - </p> - <p> - As he offered his alliance, Migley tenderly pressed the shoulder of Silas - Strong. Then he put his index-finger on that square of latitude and - longitude which indicated the region of his heart, and added, - impressively, "I have the reputation of being true to my friends—ask - anybody." - </p> - <p> - The hunter sat filling his pipe in silence. - </p> - <p> - "With what's pledged to us, if we get this town we can win easy." - </p> - <p> - Strong began to puff at his pipe thoughtfully. Here sat a man who could - make or break him. His face reddened a little. He shook his head. - </p> - <p> - Mr. Migley had caught the eye of a man he knew—Joe Socket—postmaster - and politician of Moon Lake. He rose, tapped the shoulder of Strong, and - said, "Think it over." Then he hurried down the aisle of the car. - </p> - <p> - He leaned over and whispered into the ear of Socket, "What kind of a man - is Strong?" - </p> - <p> - "Square," said the other, promptly. "A little cranky in some ways, but you - can depend upon him. He'll do What he says—the devil couldn't turn - him." - </p> - <p> - "He says he's pledged to Master—that chap who's come up here with a - bag o' money. Do you think Master has bought him?" - </p> - <p> - "I don't think so. I suppose he could be bought, but—but I never - knew of his taking money. The boys of the back country swear by the - Emperor; they look up to him. Fact is, Sile Strong is a ——— - —— good fellow." - </p> - <p> - His oath seemed to contradict his affirmation. - </p> - <p> - "He's like a rock," said Migley. "The glad hand don't make any impression. - What ye going to do with a man who won't drink or talk or swap lies with - ye? I could put the poor devil out of house and home, but he don't seem to - care." - </p> - <p> - "We'll turn him over to the Congressman," Socket answered. "He'll bring - him into camp. If not we can get along without him." - </p> - <p> - The fact was the "Emperor of the Woods" was not like any other man they - had to deal with—in history, character, and caliber. - </p> - <p> - He used his brain for a definite purpose—"to think out thoughts - with," as he was wont to say, and if his heart approved of them they were - right, and he could no more change them than a tree could change its bark - or its foliage. - </p> - <p> - As yet the arts and allies of the flatterer had no power over him. He was - content and without any false notion of his own importance. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XVIII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">W</span>HAT a fair of - American citizenship was on its way to Hillsborough this morning of the - Fourth of July! They that now crowded the train were like others - travelling on all the main thoroughfares of the county—farmers and - their wives, rustic youths and their sweethearts, mill-hands and - mill-owners, teamsters, sawyers, axemen, guides, and storekeepers. They - were celebrating a day's release from the tyranny of Business, and were - not deeply moved by the tyranny which their grandfathers had suffered. - History, save that of the present hour, did not much concern them. - </p> - <p> - They were mostly sound-hearted men. There were some who, in answer to the - charge that a local statesman had got riches in the Legislature, were wont - to say, "He'd be a fool if he hadn't." He was "a good fellow," anyhow, and - they loved a good fellow. All the men of wealth and place and power were - in his favor, and had practised upon them the subtle arts of the - friend-maker. They would not have accepted "a bribe"—these good - people now on their way to Hillsborough—but they could get all kinds - of favors from Joe Socket and Pop Migley and Horace Dumay and other - henchmen of the wealthy boss and legislator. They had yielded to the - insidious briberies of friendship—warm greetings and handshakes, - loans, small sinecures, compliments, pledges of undying esteem over - clinking glasses, and similar condescension. They loved the forest and - were sorry to see it go, but many of them got their bread-and-butter by - its downfall—directly or indirectly—and then Socket, Dumay, - and Migley were nothing more or less than lumber, pulp, and water-power - personified. They were like the lords and barons of the olden time—less - arrogant but more powerful. Indeed, Strong was right—the tyrant of - the modern world is that ruthless giant that he called "Business," and his - nobles are coal, iron, cotton, wool, food, power, paper, and lumber. These - people on the edge of the woodland were slaves of power, paper, and - lumber. With able and designing chiefs this great triumvirate gently drove - the good people this way and that, and there was a little touch of irony - in this journey of the latter to celebrate their freedom and independence. - </p> - <p> - One who knew them could not help feeling that the old martial spirit of - the day was wholly out of harmony with their own. They were a peace-loving - people, purged of their fathers' hatred, and roars of defiance found no - echo in any breast—save those overheated by alcohol. - </p> - <p> - Some wore flannel shirts and the livery of a woodsman's toil; some, unduly - urged, no doubt, by a wife or sister, had ventured forth in more - conventional attire. They sat, as if posing for a photograph, galled, hot, - gloomy, suspicious, self-suppressed, silent, their necks hooped in linen, - their bodies resisting the tight embrace of new attire. In the crowd were - a number to whom the reaping of the ruined hills, on either side of the - train, had brought wealth and an air of proprietorship. Most of the crowd - were in high spirits. The sounds of loud talk and laughter and the - rankling smoke of cheap cigars filled the air above them. A lank youth - under a dark, broad-brimmed hat, tilted backward, so as neither to conceal - nor disarrange a rare embellishment of curls upon his brow, entered the - car with another like him. His hair had the ginger-brown, ringletudinous - look of spaniel fur. He began to whistle loudly and, as it would seem, - prelusively. In a moment he was in full song on a ballad of the cheap - theatres, with sentiment like his hair—frank, bold, oily, and - outreaching. - </p> - <p> - As the train stopped at Hillsborough, Strong rose and put on his pack and - left with the crowd, coon in hand. The sidewalks were crowded, and Strong - took the centre of the street. There, at least, was comparative seclusion. - </p> - <p> - Silas had not travelled a block when, all unexpectedly, he became a centre - of attraction. A group of whining dogs gathered about him, peering - wistfully at the coon. They were shortly reinforced by a number of small - boys, which grew with astonishing rapidity. Cries of curiosity and - derision rose around him. Sportsmen who had visited his camp and who - recognized him shouted their greeting to the "Emperor of the Woods." A - "swisher" of some prominence in the little school of sportsmanship at Lost - River came and dispersed the boys. The Emperor kicked at a dog and ran a - little way in pursuit of him. He came back and set down the coon-cage and - shook hands with his pupil. Immediately a dog, approaching from behind, - sprang at the cage and tipped it over, and leaped upon it and began to - claw. Strong seized and flung the dog away, and as he righted the cage its - door came open and the coon escaped. Dodging his enemy, the little animal - sought refuge in a thicket of people. Being pursued by dogs, and - accustomed also to avoid peril by climbing, he straightway climbed, not a - tree, but a tall sapling of a youth, from which the others broke away in a - panic. They were opposite a little park, and the youth, not daring to lay - hold of the animal, fled among the trees, pursued by Strong and two dogs - and a throng of brave spirits who shouted information as to what he had - best do. - </p> - <p> - For half a moment the frightened coon clung on a shoulder, his tail in the - air, growling at the dogs. The latter leaped up at him, and he began to - feel for more altitude. The youth, who had some knowledge of the nature of - coons, ran to the nearest tree. Quickly the coon sprang upon it and - scrambled far out of reach. He ran up the smooth shaft of elm and settled - on a swaying bough some forty feet above ground. A crowd of people were - now looking up at him. - </p> - <p> - "Coon in a cage is worth two in a tree," a man shouted. - </p> - <p> - Strong sat down beneath the tree and lighted his pipe and "thought out" - another bit of wisdom for his memorandum-book. It was: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Coon on yer shoulder worth less'n what he is anywhere."</i>He sat in - meditation—as if, indeed, he were resting in the wilderness. A - cannon, not a hundred feet away, shook the windows of Hillsborough with a - loud explosion for every star on the flag. A perpetual fusillade of - fire-crackers seemed to suggest the stripes. Accustomed to woodland - silences, the Emperor's feeling was, in a measure, like that of his coon. - The "morning salute" ended presently, and then he uttered an exclamation - which indicated clearly that he had been losing ground in his late - struggle with Satan. - </p> - <p> - One of the guides with whom he had sat in the store at Pitkin came near. - "Had yer tooth drawed?" was the question he put to the Emperor. - </p> - <p> - Strong was now looking at the empty cage. "Had my coon d-drawed," he - answered. - </p> - <p> - "Where is he?" - </p> - <p> - "Up-s-stairs." Strong pointed in the direction of the coon's refuge. - </p> - <p> - Silas was now the centre of an admiring company. His former pupil had - brought the president of the corporation of Hillsborough to meet him. The - official invited Strong to participate in the games. The Emperor was - willing to do anything to oblige, and walked with his new acquaintance to - the public square. - </p> - <p> - A trial at lifting and carrying was the first number on the programme. The - contestants leaned, with hands behind them, while others on a raised - platform began to heap bags of oats upon their backs and shoulders. Loaded - to the limit of their strength, they carried the burden as far as they - were able and flung it down. One after another tried, and the last carried - nine bags a distance of seven feet and was rewarded with many cheers. - </p> - <p> - It was Strong's turn now. He bent his broad back, and the loaders began to - burden him. At ten they stopped, but Strong called for more. Three others - were heaped upon him, and slowly he began to move away. One could see only - his legs beneath his burden, which towered far above him. Ten feet beyond - the farthest mark he bore the bags and let them down. The people began - cheering, and many came to shake his hand and feel the sinews in his arms - and shoulders. Of the trial at scale-lifting a woodsman who stood near - gave this illuminating description, "When they all got through, Strong put - on two hundred more an' raised his neck an' lifted, an' the bar come up - like a trout after a fly." Silas Strong stood, his coat off, his trousers - tucked in his boots, looking soberly at the people who cheered him. One - eye was wide open, the other partly closed. There were wrinkles above his - wide eye, and his faded felt hat, tilted backward and to one side, left - his face uncovered. He had a new and grateful sense of being "ahead," but - seemed to wonder if so much brute strength were altogether creditable. - </p> - <p> - Master was to address the people, and Strong was invited to sit behind the - speaker's table with the select of the county. He accompanied the - president of the corporation to the platform in the park, his pack-basket - on his arm. More than a thousand men and women had gathered in front of - them when the chairman introduced the young orator. - </p> - <p> - The speech delighted Silas Strong, and he summed it up in his old - memorandum-book as follows: - </p> - <p> - <i>"folks cant be no better than the air they brethe "roots of a plant are - in the ground but the roots of a man are in his lungs</i> - </p> - <p> - <i>"whair the woods ar plenty the air is strong an folks are stout an - supple like our forefathers when they licked the British them days they - got a powrful crop of folks sometimes fifteen in a famly the powr of the - woods was in em. now folks live under a sky eight feet above their heads - an take their air secont handed an drink at the bar instead of the spring - an eat more than what they earn an travel on wheels an think so much of - their own helth they aint got no time to think of their countrys when a - man's mind is on his stummick it cant be any where else brains warnt made - to digest vittles with old fashioned ways is best which Strong says is so - also that a man had not oughto eat any more than what he's earnt by hard - labor."</i> - </p> - <p> - After the address Strong went home to dinner with Congressman Wilbert, the - leading citizen of Hillsborough. That little town still retained the - democratic spirit of old times. There one had only to be clean and honest - to be respectable, and the mighty often sat at meat with the lowly. Strong - declined the invitation at first, on the plea that he had fried cakes in - his pack-basket, and yielded only after some urging. - </p> - <p> - The statesman's wife received the hunter cordially and presented him to - her daughter. The girl led Strong aside and began to entertain him. He had - lost his easy, catlike stride, his unconscious control of bone and muscle. - He looked and felt as if he were carrying himself on his own back. He - seemed to be balancing his head carefully, for fear it would fall off, and - had treated his hands like detached sundries in a camp-outfit by stuffing - them into the side pockets of his coat. Gradually he limbered in his chair - and settled down. His confidence grew, and soon he "horsed" one knee upon - the other and flung his hands around it as if to bind an invisible burden - resting on his lap. He carried this objective treatment of his own, person - to such an extreme that he seemed even to be measuring his breath and to - find little opportunity for cerebration. When the young lady addressed him - he often answered with the old formulas of "I tnum!" or "T-y-ty!" They - eased the responsibility of his tongue, and, without seriously committing - him, expressed a fair degree of interest and surprise. - </p> - <p> - At the table Strong behaved himself with the utmost conservatism. They - treated him very tenderly, and he found relief in the fact that his - embarrassment seemed not to be observed. He thought it the part of - politeness to refuse nearly everything that was offered and to eat in a - gingerly fashion. - </p> - <p> - The Congressman had often heard of Silas and gave him many compliments, - and finally asked what, in his opinion, should be done to protect the - forest. Briefly Strong gave his views, and the other seemed to agree with - him. - </p> - <p> - "I'll do what I can for the woods and for you, too," said the statesman. - "You ought to be a warden with a good salary." - </p> - <p> - These kindly assurances flattered the "Emperor of the Woods." Insidiously - the great world power was making its most potent appeal to him. - </p> - <p> - "I may ask you for a favor now and then," said Wilbert. "I'd be glad if - you'd do what you could to help Migley. He needs the vote of your town." - </p> - <p> - Strong knew not what to say. "M-mind's m-made up," he stammered, after a - little pause. When his mind was "made up" he had nothing further to do but - obey its will. The other did not quite comprehend his meaning. - </p> - <p> - Strong in his embarrassment had put too much tabasco sauce on his meat. He - blew, according to his custom in moments of distress, and took a drink of - water. He looked thoughtfully at the small cylinder of glass. He tried to - read its label. - </p> - <p> - "Small b-bore," he remarked, presently. - </p> - <p> - "Sh-shoots w-well," he added, after a moment of reflection. - </p> - <p> - Strong had begun to think of his coon, now clinging in a tree-top. - Suddenly he had become too proud to try to sell him, but he could not bear - to abandon his old pet. So while the others talked together he began to - contrive against the dogs of Hillsborough. As he was about to leave, he - asked Mrs. Wilbert where he could buy "one o' them l-little r-red guns," - by which he meant a bottle of tabasco sauce. She immediately sent a - servant to bring one, which the Emperor accepted with her compliments. His - host went with him to a store where Strong invested some of his - prize-money in "C'ris'mus presents"—so he called them—for - Sinth and the "little fawns," filling his pack well above the brim. - </p> - <p> - Then, forthwith, Strong proceeded to the coon's refuge, in the public - park, where, with the aid of a Roman-candle, as he explained to Sinth in - the privacy of their cook-tent, he made the coon "l-let go all holts." The - animal had been clinging high in the old elm, and, being stunned by his - fall, Strong caught and held him firmly by the nape of the neck while he - covered him with an armor of liquid fire from the tabasco bottle. The fur - of back and neck and shoulders had now the power to inflict misery sharper - than a serpent's tooth. - </p> - <p> - "D-Dick," he whispered, "Strong is 'shamed o' y-you. He c-can't 'sociate - n-no more with c-coons in this v-village. But he won't let ye git t-tore - up." - </p> - <p> - Strong carried his coon out of the park and let him down. In Hillsborough - popular enthusiasm had turned from revelry to refreshment. The crowd, - having retired to home and hostelry, had left the streets nearly deserted. - </p> - <p> - Strong's coon set out in the direction of the river, and soon a bull-dog - laid hold of him. The dog gave the coon a shake, and began, as it were, to - lose confidence. He dropped the hot-furred animal, shook his head, and - tarried the tenth part of a second, as if to make a note of the coon's - odor for future reference, and then ran with all speed to the river. He - heeded not the call of his master or the jeering of a number of small - boys. They were no more to him than the idle wind. - </p> - <p> - The coon proceeded on his way to the woods. Farther on three other dogs - bounded into trouble, and rushed for water. The coon passed two bridges - and made his way across an open field in the direction of Turner's wood. - </p> - <p> - Strong, whose hunger had not been satisfied, bought some cake and pie, and - made for open country where he sat down by the road-side. Tree-tops above - him were full of chattering birds, driven out of town probably by its - hideous uproar. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor, having appeased his hunger, took half an hour for reflection. - Before the end of it came he began for the first time in his life to - suffer the penalty of idleness and high living. Indigestion, the bane of - towns and cities, had taken hold of him. Before leaving he made these - entries in his little book: - </p> - <p> - <i>"July the 4 </i> - </p> - <p> - "This aint no place for Strong - </p> - <p> - "Man might as well be in Ogdensburg * as have Ogdensburg in him. - </p> - <p> - "Strong's coon snaked out of his cage contrived to git even also coon made - free and independent." - </p> - <p> - His revenge was of such lasting effect that, some say, for a long time - thereafter dogs in Hillsborough fled terror-stricken at the sight of a - coon-skin overcoat. - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - * <i>It should be remembered that with the woods-loving and - wholly mistaken Emperor, Ogdensburg meant nothing less than - hell.</i> -</pre> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XIX - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">M</span>EANWHILE Socky and - Sue, in Sunday costume, had gone out with their aunt for a holiday picnic - in the forest. Sinth had been busy until ten o'clock preparing a sumptuous - dinner of roasted wild fowl and jelly, of frosted cake and sugared berries - and crab-apple tarts. They went to the moss-covered banks of a little - brook over in Peppermint Valley, half a mile or so from the camp. Master's - man carried their dinner and blankets, upon which they could repose - without impairing the splendor of their dress. Sinth had put on her very - best attire—a sacred silk gown and Paisley shawl which had come on a - cheerful Christmas Day from her sister. - </p> - <p> - "Might as well show 'em to the birds an' squirrels," said she. "There - ain't nobody else t' dress up for 'cept the little fawns." - </p> - <p> - The man left them, to return later for their camp accessories. Sinth - played "I spy" and "Hide the penny" and other games of her childhood with - Socky and Sue. She had brought some old story-papers with her, and when - the little folks grew weary they sat down beside her on the blankets while - she read a tale. To her all things were "so" which bore the sacred - authority of print, and she read aloud in a slow, precise, and responsible - manner. - </p> - <p> - It was a thunderous tale she was now reading—a tale of bloody swords - and high-sounding oaths and epithets. Socky began to feel his weapon. - Master had shaped a handle on a piece of lath and presented it for a sword - to the little "Duke of Hillsborough." Since then it had trailed behind the - boy, fastened by a string to his belt. He sat listening with a serious, - thoughtful look upon his face. At the climax of the tale he raised his - weapon. Presently, unable to restrain his heroic impulse, he sprang at - Zeb, sword in hand, and smote him across the ribs, shouting, "Defend - yourself!" Zeb retreated promptly and took refuge in a fallen tree-top, - out of which he peered, his hair rising. Soon he satisfied himself that - the violence of the Duke was not a serious matter. Socky ran upon him, - waving his sword and crying, in a loud voice, "You're a coward, sir!" Zeb - rushed through the ferns, back and forth around the boy, growling and - grimacing as if to show that he could be a swashbuckler himself. - </p> - <p> - On his merry frolic he ran wide in thickets of young fir. Suddenly he - began barking and failed to return. They called to him, but he only barked - the louder, well out of sight beyond the little trees. Socky went to seek - him, and in a moment the barking ceased, but neither dog nor boy came in - sight of the others. Sinth followed with growing alarm. - </p> - <p> - Back in a mossy glade, not a hundred feet from where they had been - sitting, she stopped suddenly and grew pale with surprise. There sat a - beautiful maiden looking down at the boy, who lay in her arms. Sue, who - had followed her aunt, now sprang forward with a cry of delight. The - maiden rose, her cheeks crimson with embarrassment. - </p> - <p> - "Oh, aunt," said the boy, as he clung fondly to the hand of Edith Dunmore, - "this is the beautiful lady." - </p> - <p> - "What's your name?" Sinth demanded. - </p> - <p> - "Edith Dunmore." The girl's voice had a note of sadness. - </p> - <p> - "My land! Do you go wanderin' all over the woods like a bear?" Sinth - inquired. - </p> - <p> - The maiden turned away and made no answer. - </p> - <p> - "Land sakes alive! you 'ain't got no business goin' around these woods an' - meetin' strange men." - </p> - <p> - "Oh, silly bird!" croaked the little crow from a bough near them. - </p> - <p> - "Mercy!" exclaimed Sinth, as she looked up at the ribboned crow. "It's - enough to make the birds talk." - </p> - <p> - There were tears in the maiden's eyes, and the children glanced from her - to their aunt, sadly and reprovingly. - </p> - <p> - Sinth, now full of tender feeling, put her arms around the neck of the - girl in a motherly fashion. "Poor, poor child!" said she, her voice - trembling. "I've laid awake nights thinkin' of you." - </p> - <p> - Something in the tone and touch of the woman brought the girl closer. - Another great need of her nature was for a moment satisfied. She leaned - her head upon the shoulder of Sinth, and her heart confessed its - loneliness in tears and broken phrases. - </p> - <p> - "I—I followed you. I couldn't—couldn't help it," said she. - </p> - <p> - "Poor girl!" Sinth went on, as she patted the head of the maiden. "I've - scolded Mr. Master. He oughter let you alone, 'less he's in love, which I - wouldn't wonder if he was." - </p> - <p> - "Ah-h-h!" croaked the bird, as if to attract his mistress. - </p> - <p> - "Sakes alive!" exclaimed Sinth, looking up at the crow with moist eyes. - "That bird is like a human bein'. Hush, child, you mus' come an' help us - celebrate. Come on now; we'll all set down an' have our dinner." - </p> - <p> - Socky and Sue stood by the knees of the maiden looking up at her. - </p> - <p> - Gently the woman led her new acquaintance to their little camp, and bade - her sit with the children. Sinth had a happy look in her face while she - hurried about getting dinner ready. - </p> - <p> - "Jes' straighten the end, please—that's right," said she as Edith - Dunmore put a helping hand on the snowy table-cloth. - </p> - <p> - Sinth began to spread the dishes, and the maiden furtively embraced Socky - and Sue. "My land! you do like childem—don't ye? So do I. They's - jes' nothin' like 'em in this world." - </p> - <p> - "Dinner's ready," said Sinth, when all the dainties had been set forth. - "Heavens an' earth! I'm so glad t' see a woman I could lay right down an' - bawl." - </p> - <p> - "You have made me as happy as a young fawn," said Miss Dunmore. "I am not - afraid of you or the children." - </p> - <p> - "Are you afraid of <i>him?</i>" - </p> - <p> - The maiden looked down, blushing, and almost whispered her answer. "Yes; I - am afraid." - </p> - <p> - "He wouldn't hurt ye—he's jest as gentle as a lamb," said Sinth. She - paused to cut the cake, and added, with a far-away look in her eyes, - "Still an' all, I dunno what I'd do if he was to make love to me." - </p> - <p> - Sinth ate in silence for a moment and remarked, dreamily, "Men are awful - cur'is critters when they git love in 'em." - </p> - <p> - For a little, one might have heard only the chatter of the children and - the barking of Zeb. By-and-by the maiden said, "I am sure that Mr. Master - is—is a good man." - </p> - <p> - "No nicer in the world," Sinth answered. "Pleasant spoke, an' he don't set - around as if he wanted ye t' breathe fer him. He'll be a good provider, - too." - </p> - <p> - After a few moments the children took their cake and went away to share it - with Zeb and the tame crow. - </p> - <p> - "Do you—do you think he would care to see me again?" Edith Dunmore - asked, blushing and looking down as she touched a wild rose on her breast. - </p> - <p> - "'Course he would," Sinth answered, promptly. "Can't sleep nights, an' - looks kind o' sick an' dreamy, like a man with a felon." Sinth looked into - the eyes of the girl and added, soberly, "I guess <i>you're</i> in love - with him fast enough." - </p> - <p> - "I do not know," said Miss Dunmore, with a sigh. "I—I know that all - the light of the day is in his eyes—that I am lonely when I cannot - find him." - </p> - <p> - Sinth nodded. "It's love," said she, decisively—"the real, genuwine, - pure quill. Don't ye let him know it." - </p> - <p> - She sat looking down for a moment with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I know - what 'tis," she went on, sadly. "Had a beau myself once. Went off t' the - war." After a little pause she added, "He never come back—shot dead - in battle." She began to pick up the dishes. Having stowed them in a pail, - she turned and said, in a solemn manner: "He was goin' t' bring me a gold - ring with a shiny purple stone in it. Not that I'd 'a' cared for that if I - could have had him." - </p> - <p> - That old look of sickliness and resignation returned to the face of Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "Folks has to give fer their country," she added soon. "My father an' my - gran'father an' my oldest brother an' my true love all died in the wars. I - hope you'll never have to give so much." - </p> - <p> - A great, earth-quaking roar from far down the valley of Lost River sped - over the hills, and shook the towers of the wilderness and broke the peace - of that remote chamber in which they stood. It was Business breaking - through the side of a mountain to make a trail for the iron horse. - </p> - <p> - "Blastin'!" Sinth exclaimed. - </p> - <p> - "It's the king of the world coming through the woods—so my father - tells me," said Miss Dunmore. - </p> - <p> - Then, as if fearful that he might arrive that day, she rose quickly and - said: - </p> - <p> - "I—must go home. I must go home." - </p> - <p> - Sinth kissed her, and the children came and bade her good-bye and stood - calling and waving their hands as Edith Dunmore, with the ribboned crow, - slowly went up the trail to Catamount. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XX - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">O</span>N his way home at - night Strong was really nearing the City of Destruction, like that pilgrim - of old renown. Shall we say that Satan had filled the man with his own - greatness the better to work upon him? However that may be, a new peril - had beset the Emperor. - </p> - <p> - For long he had been conscious only of his faults. Now the thought of his - merits had caused him to forget them. Turning homeward, the world in his - view consisted of two parts—Silas Strong and other people. One - regrets to say it was largely Silas Strong—the great lifter, the - guide and hunter whose fame he had not until then suspected. - </p> - <p> - Master took the train with him that evening. - </p> - <p> - This old-fashioned man—Silas Strong—whose mind was, in the - main, like that of his grandfather—like that, indeed, of the end of - the eighteenth century—sat beside one who represented the very - latest ideals of the Anglo-Saxon. - </p> - <p> - They were both descended from good pioneer ancestry, but the grandfather - of one had moved to Boston, while the grandfather of the other had - remained in the woods. The boulevard and the trail had led to things very - different. - </p> - <p> - They had sat together only a few moments when the two Migleys entered the - car. These ministers of the great king got to work at once. - </p> - <p> - "Hello!" said the elder of them, addressing Master. "I congratulate you. I - told my son it was a great speech. Ask him if I didn't." - </p> - <p> - "I enjoyed your speech," said young Migley. "But there's no use talking to - us about saving the wilderness. If we did as you wish, we'd have nothing - to do but twirl our thumbs." - </p> - <p> - "On the contrary, you'd have a permanent business, whereas your present - course will soon lead you to the end of it. I would have you cut nothing - below twelve inches at the butt, and get your harvest as often as you can - find it." - </p> - <p> - "'Twouldn't pay," said "Pop" Migley, with a shake of his head. - </p> - <p> - "You condemn the plan without trial," Master continued. "Anyhow, if an - owner wants his value at once, let us have a law under which he can - transfer his timber-land to the State on a fair appraisal." - </p> - <p> - "The State wouldn't pay us half we can make by cutting it." - </p> - <p> - "Probably not, but you'd have your time and capital for other uses. Then, - too, you should think of the public good. You're rich enough." - </p> - <p> - "But not fool enough," said young Mr. Migley, in a loud voice. - </p> - <p> - The train stopped to take water, and those near were now turned to listen. - </p> - <p> - "I thought you were ambitious to be a public servant," said Master, - calmly. - </p> - <p> - "But not as a professor of moral philosophy." This declaration of the - young candidate was greeted with laughter. - </p> - <p> - "And, of course, not as a professor of moral turpitude," said the woods - lover. "The public is not to be wholly forgotten." - </p> - <p> - "I'm for my part of the public, first, last, and always," young Migley - answered. - </p> - <p> - It is notable that lawless feeling—especially after it has passed - from sire to son—some day loses the shame which has covered and kept - it from insufferable offence. Two or three citizens who sat near began to - whisper and shake their heads. One of them spoke out loudly and - indignantly; "His part of the public is mostly himself. He is trying to - buy his way into the Assembly, and I hope he'll fail." - </p> - <p> - There were hot words between the Migleys and their accuser, until the - lumbermen left the car. - </p> - <p> - Soon Master fell asleep. Strong took out his old memorandum-book and went - over sundry events and reflections. - </p> - <p> - When Master awoke the Emperor still sat with the worn book in his hands. - </p> - <p> - "I've been asleep," said the young man. "What have you been doing?" - </p> - <p> - "Th-thinkin' out a few th-thoughts," Strong answered, as he put the book - in his pocket. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor began to speak of the Congressman's courtesies in a tone of - self-congratulation. - </p> - <p> - Master laughed heartily. "It was a pretty little plot," said he. "Those - common fellows couldn't manage you, and they passed you on. I'll bet he - asked you to help Migley." - </p> - <p> - Strong smiled and nodded. - </p> - <p> - "You haven't made me any promise, and I want you to feel free to do what - you think best," said the young man. - </p> - <p> - The train pulled into Bees' Hill in the edge of the wilderness, and they - left it and took quarters at the Rustic Inn. - </p> - <p> - Bees' Hill was a new lumber settlement where there were two mills, three - inns, a number of stores, and a post-office. The bar-room was crowded with - brawny mill-hands from across the border, in varying stages of - intoxication. The inn itself was full of the reek of cheap tobacco and the - sound of cheaper oaths. The most offensive in the crowd were of the new - generation of back-country Americans. Their boastfulness and profanity - were in full flood. They used the sacred names with a cheerful, glib - familiarity, as if they were only saying "Bill" or "Joe." - </p> - <p> - The town had begun to ruin the woodsman as well as the woods. - </p> - <p> - Here were some of the sons of the pioneers—mostly "guides" and - choremen of abundant leisure. Every day they were "dressed up," and sat - about the inn like one who patiently tries his luck at a fishing-hole. - They had discovered themselves and were like a child with its first doll. - They had, as it were, torn themselves apart and put themselves together - again. They had experimented with cologne, hair-oil, poker, colored - neckties, hotel fare, and execrable whiskey. They were in love with - pleasure and had sublime faith in luck. They spent their time looking and - listening and talking and primping and dreaming of sudden wealth and - kitchen-maids. - </p> - <p> - Strong and Master stood a moment looking at a noisy company of youths at - the bar. - </p> - <p> - "They speak of the President by his first name, and are rather free with - the Creator," said Master. - </p> - <p> - "J-jus' little mehoppers," Strong remarked, with a look of pity. In his - speech a conceited fellow, who spoke too frequently of himself, was always - a "mehopper." - </p> - <p> - "Large heads!" Master exclaimed, as he turned away. - </p> - <p> - "Like a b-balsam," Strong stammered. "B-big top an' little r-roots." - </p> - <p> - "And they can't stand against the wind," said Master. - </p> - <p> - Before he went to bed the Emperor made these entries in his - memorandum-book: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Strong says he had just as soon be seen with a coon as a congressman - also that a fool gits so big in his own eyes he dont never dast quarrell - with himself. Strong got to mehoppin. he has fit and conkered</i> - </p> - <p> - <i>"God never intended fer a man to see himself er else hed have set his - eyes difernt."</i> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXI - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>N the morning, a - little after sunrise, Strong and Master set out across the State land - stretching from the railroad to Lost River, a distance of some fourteen - miles. Not an hour's walk from the station, at Bees' Hill, they passed - another lumber job, where, on the land of the State, nearly a score of men - were engaged felling the tall pines and hauling them to skid ways. The - Emperor flung off his pack and hurried to the workers. - </p> - <p> - "Who's j-job?" he inquired. - </p> - <p> - "Migley's. We're working on a contract for the dead timber." - </p> - <p> - "Ca-call that dead?" Strong waved his hand in the direction of a number of - trees, newly felled, which had been as healthy as any in the forest. - "Q-quit, er I'll go to-day an' c-com-plain o' ye," he added. - </p> - <p> - "You can go to ——— if you like," said the foreman, - angrily. - </p> - <p> - Quicker than the jaws of a trap Strong's hand caught the boss by the back - of his neck and flung him headlong. - </p> - <p> - The dealer in hasty speech rose and took a step towards the Emperor and - halted. - </p> - <p> - "B-better think it over," said Strong, coolly. - </p> - <p> - The boss turned to his men. He shouted at some eight or ten of them who - had come near, "Are you going to stand there and see me treated that way." - </p> - <p> - "You fight your own battles," said one of them. "For my part, I think the - Emp'ror is right." - </p> - <p> - "So do I," said another. "I've pulled the brier for you as long as I want - to." - </p> - <p> - The rest of the "gang" stood still and said nothing. - </p> - <p> - "I'll go and see Migley about this," declared the foreman, who was walking - hurriedly in the direction of his camp. He turned and shouted to the - toilers, "You fellers can go 'histe the turkey.'" - </p> - <p> - One who had to pick up his effects and get out was told to "histe the - turkey" there in the woods. - </p> - <p> - Strong and Master had a few words with the men and resumed their journey - to Lost River. - </p> - <p> - As they walked on a brush whip hit the Emperor in the face. He stopped and - broke it and flung it down with a word of reproof. He often did that kind - of thing—as if the trees and brushes were alive and on speaking - terms with him. Sometimes he would stop and compliment them for their - beauty. - </p> - <p> - Soon the young man spoke. - </p> - <p> - "After all, the law is no better than they who make it," said he. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor turned as if not sure of his meaning. - </p> - <p> - "Bribery!" said Master. "Migley got a law passed which provides a fine so - low for cutting State timber that he can pay it and make money." - </p> - <p> - "B-Business is k-king," said Strong, thoughtfully. He perceived how even - the State itself had become a subject of the great ruler. - </p> - <p> - "And Satan is behind the throne," Master went on. "Down goes the forest - and the will of the people. I tell you, Strong, the rich thief is a great - peril; so many souls and bodies are mortgaged by his pay-roll and his - favor. Look out for him. He can make you no better than beef or mutton." - </p> - <p> - They proceeded on their journey in silence, and, when the sun had turned - westward and they sat down to drink and rest on the shore of Lost River, - Strong began to write, slowly and carefully, in his old memorandum-book, - some thoughts intended for his future guidance. And he wrote as follows - </p> - <p> - <i>"July the 5 </i> - </p> - <p> - "Strong says 'Man that advises other folks to go to hell is apt to git - thair first.' - </p> - <p> - "also that 'a man who loses his temper aint got nothin left but a fool.' - Strong is shamed. - </p> - <p> - "'Taint nuff to look a gift hoss in the mouth better turn him rong side - out and see how hes lined." - </p> - <p> - Having "thought out" these thoughts and set them down, the Emperor rose - and put the book in his pocket and hurried up the familiar trail, followed - by his companion. A little farther on they met Socky, Sue, and Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "Merry C'ris'mus!" the Emperor shouted as he caught sight of them. He put - his great hands upon their backs and drew the boy and girl close against - his knees. "My leetle f-fawns!" he said, with a chuckle of delight, as he - clumsily patted them. His eyes were damp with joy; his hands trembled in - their eagerness to open the pack. He untied the strings and uncovered the - rocking-horse and other trinkets. - </p> - <p> - "Whoa!" he shouted, as he put the little, dapple-gray, wooden horse on the - smooth trail and set him rocking. - </p> - <p> - Cries of delight echoed in that green aisle of the woods. Strong put the - children on the back of the wooden horse and gave a brass trumpet to Socky - and buckled a girdle of silver bells around the waist of Sue. Then he put - on his pack, lifted horse and children, and bore them into Lost River - camp. The laughter of the young man joined that of the children. - </p> - <p> - "Silas Strong!" Sinth exclaimed, as the Emperor unloaded in front of the - cook-tent. - </p> - <p> - "P-present!" he answered, promptly. - </p> - <p> - "Can't hear myself think," said she, with a suggestion of the old twang in - her voice. - </p> - <p> - "N-now, t-try," said Silas Strong, as he gave her a little package. - </p> - <p> - The expression of her face changed quickly. With slow but eager hands she - undid the package. Her mouth opened with surprise when she discovered a - ring with a shiny, purple stone in it. - </p> - <p> - "G-gold an' amethys'!" the Emperor exclaimed, calmly and tenderly, his - voice mellowed by affection. - </p> - <p> - "Gold an' amethyst," she repeated, solemnly. - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh!" It was a low, affectionate sound of affirmation from the - Emperor, made with his mouth closed. - </p> - <p> - Her lips trembled, her face changed color, her eyes filled. It was oddly - pathetic that so vain a trifle should have so delighted her—homely - and simple as she was. Since her girlhood' she had dreamed of a proud but - impossible day that should put upon her finger a gold ring with a shiny, - purple stone in it. Strong knew of her old longing. He knew that she had - never had half a chance in this world of unequal burdens, and he felt for - her. - </p> - <p> - "I tol' ye," said he, in a voice that trembled a little. "B-better times." - </p> - <p> - She looked down at the ring, but did not answer. - </p> - <p> - "That celebrates your engagement to the Magic Word," said Master. - </p> - <p> - She put it on her finger and gave it a glance of pride. Then she said, - "Thank you, Silas," and repaired to her quarters and sat down and wept. - </p> - <p> - Her brother shouldered the axe and went to cut some wood for the stove. - She could hear him singing as he walked away slowly: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "The green groves are gone from the hills, Maggie, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Where oft we have wandered an' sung, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' gone are the cool, shady rills, Maggie, - </p> - <p class="indent20"> - Where you an' I were young." - </p> - <p> - <br /> <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE next was one of - the slow-coming days that seem to be delayed by the great burden of their - importance. With eager, impatient curiosity, Master had looked 'orward. - Had he witnessed the first scenes of his own life comedy? If so, what - would the next be? - </p> - <p> - He rose early and dressed with unusual care, and was delighted to see a - sky full of warm sunlight. The children were awake, and he helped them to - put on their best attire while Sinth was getting breakfast in the - cook-tent. Soon, with Socky and Sue in the little wagon, he was on the - trail to Catamount Pond. Strong was to come later and bring their luncheon - and begin the construction of a camp. - </p> - <p> - On the way Master gathered wild flowers and adorned the children with gay - colors of the forest floor. They found their canoe at the landing, and got - aboard and pushed across the still water. The sky had never seemed to him - so beautiful and silent. From far up the mountain he could hear the - twittering of a bird—no other sound. The margin of the pond was - white with lilies in full bloom. Their perfume drifted in slow currents of - air. His canoe moved in harmony with the silence. He could hear the - bursting of tiny bubbles beneath his bow and around his paddle. - </p> - <p> - Soon they came in sight of Birch Cove. There stood the moss-covered rock - at the edge of the pond, but no maiden. Master felt a pang of - disappointment. A fear grew in his heart. Would she not come again? Was it - all a pleasant dream, and was there no such wonderful creature among the - children of men? - </p> - <p> - He shoved his bow on the little sand beach and helped the children ashore. - </p> - <p> - In a moment they heard the voice of the crow laughing as if unable longer - to control himself. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to find her," said Socky, as he ran up the deer-trail followed - by Sue. - </p> - <p> - In a moment they gave a cry of delight. Edith Dunmore had stepped from - behind a thicket, and, stooping, had put her arms around the children and - was kissing them. The cunning crow walked hither and thither and picked at - the dead leaves and chattered like a child at play. - </p> - <p> - "Oh, it has been such a long time!" said "the beautiful lady," looking - fondly into the faces of. the little folk. "Where is he?" - </p> - <p> - "Over there," said Socky, pointing in the direction of the canoe. "I'll go - and tell him." - </p> - <p> - "No," the maiden whispered, holding the boy closer. - </p> - <p> - "He wants to see you," said the boy, - </p> - <p> - "Me?—he would like to see me?" she asked. - </p> - <p> - "He wants you to go home with us," the boy went on, as if he were a kind - of Cupid—an ambassador of love between the two. He felt her hair - curiously and with a sober face. - </p> - <p> - "He has a beautiful watch an' chain," said Socky. - </p> - <p> - "An' a gol' pencil," said Sue. - </p> - <p> - "He's rich," the little Cupid urged, in a quaint tone of confidence. - </p> - <p> - "What makes you think he wants me?" the girl asked. - </p> - <p> - "He told Uncle Silas—didn't he, Sue?" - </p> - <p> - The face of Edith Dunmore was now glowing with color. She drew the - children close together in front of her. - </p> - <p> - "Don't tell him—don't tell him I am here," said she, under her - breath, as she trembled with excitement. - </p> - <p> - "He wouldn't hurt anybody," Sue volunteered. - </p> - <p> - The pet crow had wandered in the direction of the canoe. Catching sight of - Master, he ran away cawing. - </p> - <p> - The young man started slowly up the trail. For a moment the girl hid her - face behind the children. As he came near she rose and timidly gave him - her hand. Quickly she turned away. His hand had been like those of the - children—its touch had stirred new and slumbering depths in her. - </p> - <p> - "If—if you wish to be alone with the children," he said, "I—I - will go fishing." - </p> - <p> - For a little she dared not look in his face. But since her talk with Miss - Strong she was determined not to run away again for fear of him. She stood - without speaking, her eyes downcast. - </p> - <p> - "You do want her—don't you, Uncle Robert?" said the youthful - ambassador. - </p> - <p> - "You—you mustn't ask me to tell secrets," said the young man, as he - turned away with a little laugh of embarrassment. - </p> - <p> - "Is your father at home?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "He will return Saturday." - </p> - <p> - "If he were willing, would—would you let me come to see you?" - </p> - <p> - She hesitated, looking down at the green moss. "I—I think not," said - she. - </p> - <p> - "You are right—you do not know me. But, somehow, I—I feel as - if I knew you very well." - </p> - <p> - "Where do you live?" - </p> - <p> - "At Clear Lake in the summer—in New York City the rest of the year." - </p> - <p> - "I have never seen a city," said she, turning and looking up at him. "My - father has told me they are full of evil men." - </p> - <p> - "There are both good and evil." - </p> - <p> - "Do you live in a palace?" - </p> - <p> - "It is a very large house, although we do not call it a palace." - </p> - <p> - "Tell me—please tell me about it." - </p> - <p> - Then he told her of his home and life and people. She listened - thoughtfully. When he had finished she said, "It must be like that - wonderful land where people go when they die." From far away they could - hear the sound of a steam-whistle. Its echoes were dying in the near - forest. - </p> - <p> - "It is the whistle," said she, looking away, her eyes wide open. "Every - time I hear it I long to go. Sometimes I think it is calling me." - </p> - <p> - Neither spoke for a moment. - </p> - <p> - "It comes from a distant village where there are many people," she added. - "Yesterday I climbed the mountain. Far away I could see the smoke and - great white buildings." - </p> - <p> - "I go to that village to-morrow," said Master. - </p> - <p> - She dropped her violets and looked down at them. - </p> - <p> - "Would you care if you never saw me again?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - She turned away and made no answer. - </p> - <p> - In the silence that followed the young man was thinking what he should say - next. She was first to speak, and her voice trembled a little. - </p> - <p> - "Could I not see the children?" - </p> - <p> - "If you would go to Lost River camp." - </p> - <p> - "I cannot," said she, with a touch of despair in her voice. "My father has - told me never to go there." - </p> - <p> - The young man thought a moment. She turned suddenly and looked up at him. - </p> - <p> - "I know you are one of the good men," she declared. - </p> - <p> - "I am at least harmless," he answered, with a smile, "and—and you - will make me happy if you will let me be your friend." - </p> - <p> - "Tut, <i>tut!</i>" said the little crow as he flew into the tree above her - head. - </p> - <p> - "I would try to make you happier," the young man urged. - </p> - <p> - "How?" she asked. - </p> - <p> - "I could tell you about many wonderful things. You ought not to stay here - in the woods," he went on. "Do you never think of the future?" - </p> - <p> - She turned with a serious look in her eyes. - </p> - <p> - He continued: "You <i>cannot</i> always live at Buckhorn. Your father is - growing old." - </p> - <p> - "And he is well," said she. "My father has always taught me that Death - comes only to those who think of him." - </p> - <p> - In the distance they could hear the thunder of a falling tree. - </p> - <p> - "Even the great trees have to bow before him," said the young man. - </p> - <p> - A moment of silence followed. - </p> - <p> - "Let me be your friend," he pleaded. - </p> - <p> - She thought of what her grandmother had lately said to her and looked up - at him sadly and thoughtfully. - </p> - <p> - "But you—you would make me love you," said she, "and when you were - like the heart in my breast—so I could not live without you—then—then - you would leave me." - </p> - <p> - "Ah, but you do not know," he answered. "I love you, and, even now, you - are like the heart in my breast—I cannot live without you." - </p> - <p> - He approached her as he spoke and his voice trembled with emotion. She - rose and ran a short distance up the trail and stopped. - </p> - <p> - "Will you not stay a little longer?" he pleaded. - </p> - <p> - She looked back at him with a curious interest and the least touch of fear - in her eyes. She moved her head slowly, negatively, as if to tell him that - she would love to stay but dared not. - </p> - <p> - "May I see you here to-morrow?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - She smiled and nodded and waved her hand to him and ran away. - </p> - <p> - The crow laughed as if her haste were amusing. - </p> - <p> - Master sat awhile after she had gone. He could not now endure the thought - of leaving. He had planned to go with Strong and visit a number of - woodsmen at their camps, and talk to the mill-hands in a few villages on - the lower river. It was a formality not to be neglected if one would - receive the votes of Pitkin, Till-bury, and Tifton. But suddenly he had - become a candidate for greater happiness, he felt sure, than was to be - found in politics. His election thereto depended largely on the vote of - one charming citizen of a remote corner of Till-bury township. Her favor - had now become more important, in his view, than that of all the voters in - the county. He would delay his canvass over the week's end. - </p> - <p> - So thinking, Master put off in his canoe with the children, gathering - lilies until he came at last to the landing. There Sinth and the Emperor - had just arrived. - </p> - <p> - "W-weasels," said Strong, with a little nod in the direction of his - sister, who stood on the shore. - </p> - <p> - With him, as Master knew, the weasel had come to be a symbol of needless - worry. - </p> - <p> - "About what?" Master inquired. - </p> - <p> - "L-little f-fawns." - </p> - <p> - "Keep thinkin' they're goin' to git lost or drownded," said she, giving - each of the children a sugared cooky. - </p> - <p> - "Don't worry. I shall always take good care of the children," said Master. - </p> - <p> - "I know that, but I keep a-thinkin'. Sometimes I wisht there wasn't any - woods. I'm kind o' sick of 'em, anyway." - </p> - <p> - Those little people with the dress, talk, and manners of the town—with - a subtle power in their companionship, in their very dependence upon her, - which the woman felt but was not able to understand—were surely - leading her out of the woods. They had increased her work; they had - annoyed her with ingenious mischief; they had harassed her with questions, - but they had awakened something in her which had almost perished in years - of disappointment and utter loneliness. At first they had reminded her of - her dead sister, and that, in a measure, had reconciled her to their - coming. Later, the touch of their hands, the call of their voices, had - made their strong appeal to her. Slowly she had begun to feel a mother's - fondness and responsibility and a new interest in the world. - </p> - <p> - Again sound-waves of the great whistle at Benson Falls swept wearily - through the silence above them. - </p> - <p> - "Makes me kind o' homesick," said Sinth, as she listened thoughtfully. The - Emperor had begun, just faintly, to entertain a feeling akin to hers. - </p> - <p> - Master helped her up the hill on her way to camp with the children. He - returned shortly and gave a hand to the building of his little home on the - shore of Catamount. It was to be an open shanty, leaning on the ledge, its - pole roof covered with tar-paper, its floor carpeted with balsam boughs. - </p> - <p> - "Migleys have gone into c-camp at Nick Pond," said the Emperor. "Tol 'em I - had t' go w-with you t'-morrer." - </p> - <p> - "I'm sorry that we have to delay our trip a little," said the young man. - </p> - <p> - Strong laughed. - </p> - <p> - "Mellered!" said he, merrily. He shook his head as he added, "You ain't - g-givin' her no slack line." - </p> - <p> - After a little silence the hunter added: - </p> - <p> - "Don't t-twitch too quick." - </p> - <p> - It was a phrase gathered from his experience as a fisherman. - </p> - <p> - The young man blushed but made no answer. - </p> - <p> - "K-keep cool an' use a l-long line," Strong added. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXIII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>EXT morning, an - hour after sunrise, Master set out with the children. He promised Sinth - that he would keep them near him and bring them back before noon, They - shut Zeb in a cabin, and he stood on his hind feet peering out of the - window and barking loudly as they went away. Master brought his blankets, - rifle, books, and cooking outfit, for that day he was to take possession - of the new camp. Strong had gone with the Migleys and their outfit in the - trail to Nick. - </p> - <p> - It was another hot, still morning, but the eastern shore of Catamount lay - deep under cool shadows when Master dropped his pack at the shanty. A deer - stood knee-deep in the white border of lilies. It looked across the cove - at them, walked slowly along the margin of the shaded water, and - disappeared in the tamaracks. Master and the children crossed to Birch - Cove, hallooed, but received no answer, and sat down upon the high, mossy - bank. - </p> - <p> - "Maybe she won't come?" Socky suggested. - </p> - <p> - "She will come soon," said Master. - </p> - <p> - Sue propped her little doll against a fern leaf and said: "Oh, dear! I - wish she'd never go 'way." - </p> - <p> - "She's awful good"—that was the opinion of Socky. - </p> - <p> - "She wouldn't tell no falsehoods," Sue suggested. - </p> - <p> - "I wish she'd come an' live with us; don't you?" Socky queried, turning to - Master. The little Cupid was searching for another arrow. - </p> - <p> - "Wouldn't dare say—you little busybody!" the young man replied. - "You'd go and tell on me." - </p> - <p> - Both looked up at him soberly. Socky was first to speak. "Where'bouts does - 'the beautiful lady' live?" - </p> - <p> - "Way off in the woods." - </p> - <p> - "At the home of the fairies?" - </p> - <p> - "No, but on the road to it." - </p> - <p> - "If she'd come an' live with us, she wouldn't have to fill no wood-box, - would she?" Sue inquired. - </p> - <p> - "Or pick up chips," Socky put in, brushing one palm across the other with - a look of dread. The children had discussed that problem in bed the night - before. Their aunt had made them fill the wood-box and bring in a little - basket of chips every night and morning. It went well enough for a day or - two, but the task had begun to interrupt other plans. - </p> - <p> - "Oh no," said Master. "We'll be good to her." - </p> - <p> - Socky was noting every look and word—nothing escaped him. He felt - grateful to his young lieutenant, and sat for a little time looking - dreamily into the air. Then, with thoughtful eyes, he felt the watch-chain - of the young man. - </p> - <p> - "You'd let her wear your watch—wouldn't you?" - </p> - <p> - "Gladly." - </p> - <p> - "She could look at my aunt's album," Sue suggested, as she thought of the - pleasures of the camp. - </p> - <p> - Socky looked a bit doubtful. - </p> - <p> - "She mustn't git no grease on it or she'll git spoke to," Sue went on as - she thought of the perils of the camp. - </p> - <p> - "Uncle Silas has put the bear's-oil away," said Socky, in a tone of - regret. He thought a moment, and then added, "Ladies don't never git spoke - to." - </p> - <p> - "You'd carry her on your back—wouldn't you, Uncle Robert?" inquired - little Sue. Both children fixed him with their eyes. - </p> - <p> - "Oh no—that wouldn't do," said Master. - </p> - <p> - "Men don't never carry ladies on their backs," Socky wisely assured her. - </p> - <p> - "Uncle Silas carries 'em," Sue insisted. - </p> - <p> - "That's only Aunt Sinthy," said the boy, now a little in doubt of his - position. - </p> - <p> - Just then they heard the crow chattering away up the dusky trail. The - children rose and ran to meet "the beautiful lady," and their voices rang - in the still woods, calling, "Hoo-hoo! hoo-hoo!" Master slowly followed so - as to keep in sight of them. When he saw Edith Dunmore come out of a - thicket suddenly and embrace them, he turned back and stood where he could - just hear the sound of their voices. - </p> - <p> - She drew them close to her breast a moment, and a low strain of song - sounded within her closed lips—that unconscious, irrepressible song - of the mother at the cradle. - </p> - <p> - "Dear little brownies! I love you—I love you," she said, presently. - Then she whispered, "Where is he?" - </p> - <p> - "Over there," the boy answered, pointing with his finger. - </p> - <p> - "Come, I'll show you," said Sue. - </p> - <p> - "Fairy queen—I dare not follow you," the girl answered. "I am - afraid." - </p> - <p> - "He wants you to come and live with us—he does," the boy declared. - "He'll be awful good to you—he said he would." - </p> - <p> - "Did he say that he liked me very much?" she asked. - </p> - <p> - "I wouldn't tell," said the boy, with a winsome look as he thought of - Master's reproof. - </p> - <p> - "You wouldn't tell me?" - </p> - <p> - "'Cause it's a secret." - </p> - <p> - "You are like the little god I have read of!" Miss Dunmore exclaimed, - drawing him closer. "Will you never stop wounding me?" - </p> - <p> - "Please come," said Sue. "You can sleep in our bed an' hear Uncle Silas - sing." - </p> - <p> - "Where is your mother?" - </p> - <p> - "Dead," Sue answered, cheerfully. - </p> - <p> - "'Way up in heaven," said Socky, as he pointed aloft with his finger. - </p> - <p> - "And your father?" - </p> - <p> - "Gone away," said the boy. "I give him all my money—more'n a - dollar." - </p> - <p> - "And you live at Lost River camp?" - </p> - <p> - Socky nodded. - </p> - <p> - "Are they good to you?" - </p> - <p> - "Yes, ma'am." - </p> - <p> - "I wonder why he doesn't come?" said Miss Dunmore, impatiently. - </p> - <p> - "'Fraid—maybe," Sue suggested. - </p> - <p> - "Pooh! he ain't'fraid," Socky declared, as he broke away and ran down the - trail. Miss Dun-more tried to call him back, but he did not hear her. - </p> - <p> - "'The beautiful lady'! She wants to see you," he said to Master, his eyes - glowing with excitement. - </p> - <p> - The young man took the boy's hand. They proceeded up the trail in the - direction whence Socky had come. - </p> - <p> - "You ain't'fraid, are you, Uncle Robert?" the boy asked, eager to clear - his friend of all unjust suspicion. - </p> - <p> - "Oh no," Master answered, with a nervous laugh. - </p> - <p> - "He ain't 'fraid," the boy proclaimed as they came into the presence of - Edith Dunmore. "He can kill a bear." - </p> - <p> - "Afraid only of interrupting your pleasure," said the young man as he - approached her. She retreated a step or two and turned half away. The - children began to gather flowers. - </p> - <p> - "I tremble when I hear you coming," said she, timidly. "You are so—" - She thought a moment. "Strange," she added, with a smile. She looked up at - him curiously. "So very strange to me, sir." - </p> - <p> - "You are strange to me also," he answered. "I have seen no one like you, - and I confess to one great fear." - </p> - <p> - "What fear?" - </p> - <p> - "That I may not see you again," the young man answered, with a smile. - </p> - <p> - She stooped to pick a flower. Every movement of her lithe, tall figure, - every glance of her eye seemed to tighten her hold upon him. He stood dumb - in the spell of her beauty, until she added, sorrowfully, "I am afraid of - you, sir—I cannot help it." - </p> - <p> - "I wish I were less terrible," he answered, with a sigh. - </p> - <p> - "I will not see you again." - </p> - <p> - "But—but I love you," he said, simply. - </p> - <p> - "When I am here I am afraid—when I go away I am sorry." Her voice - trembled as she spoke. "I have no peace any more. I cannot enjoy books or - music. I cannot stay at home. I wander—all day I wander, and the - night is long—and I hear the voices of children—like those I - have heard here—calling me." - </p> - <p> - There was a note of sympathy in his voice when he answered, "It is the - same with me, only it is your voice that I hear." - </p> - <p> - She looked up at him, her face full of wonder. - </p> - <p> - "I think no more of the many things I have to do, but only of one," he - said, with feeling. - </p> - <p> - Miss Dunmore seemed not to hear him. - </p> - <p> - "I think only of coming here," he added. - </p> - <p> - She stepped away timidly, and turned and stood straight as the young - spruce, looking into his eyes. - </p> - <p> - "I, too, have no more peace," he said, restraining his impulse to go - further. - </p> - <p> - "I must leave you—I must not speak to you any more," she answered. - </p> - <p> - "Stay," he pleaded. "I will be silent—I will say not a word unless - you bid me speak—but let me look at you." - </p> - <p> - She stood a moment as if thinking. - </p> - <p> - "Do you hear that bird song?" she asked, looking upward. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, it has a merry sound." - </p> - <p> - "It is my answer to you," said she. - </p> - <p> - "Then I am sure you love me." - </p> - <p> - As he came nearer she retreated a little. - </p> - <p> - "I give you everything—everything but myself," said she. - </p> - <p> - "And why not yourself?" - </p> - <p> - Her voice had a plaintive note in it when she said to him, "There are - those who need me more." - </p> - <p> - "I offer myself to you and to them also." - </p> - <p> - She stood with averted eyes. In a moment she said, "Tell me what are we to - do when those we love die?" - </p> - <p> - "I, too, and all the children of men have that same worry," said he. - "There's an old Eastern maxim, 'Love as many as you can, so that death may - not make you friendless.'" - </p> - <p> - She walked away slowly. She stopped where the children sat playing and - embraced them. - </p> - <p> - "Will you not say that you love me?" the young man urged. - </p> - <p> - The girl went up the gloomy trail with lagging feet as if it were steep - and difficult. That clear-voiced love-call of the children halted her, and - she looked back. Again the bird flung his song upon the silence. The sweet - voice of the maiden rang like a bell in the still forest, as if answering - the bird's message. "I love you—I love you," it said. Then she - turned quickly and ran away. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXIV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">E</span>DITH DUNMORE - wandered slowly through deep thickets, and where she could just see the - lighted chasm of Catamount between far tree-tops she lay down to weep and - think and be alone. She was like some wounded creature of the forest who - would hide, even from its own eyes, on the soft, kindly bosom of the great - mother. - </p> - <p> - She had learned enough to have some understanding of that strange power - which of late had broken every day into seconds. These little fragments of - time had all shades of color, from joy to despair. She lay recalling those - which had been full of revelation. In a strange loneliness she thought of - all Robert Master had said, of far more in that wordless, wonderful - assurance which had passed from his soul to hers. She knew that to be - given in marriage was to leave all for a new love. - </p> - <p> - She knew better than they suspected—those few dwellers at Buckhorn—how - dear, how indispensable she was to them. She knew how soon that - loneliness, which had often seemed to fill the heavens above her, would - bear them down. Yet she would not hesitate; she would go with him, and for - this she felt a sense of shame. - </p> - <p> - She lay longer than she knew, looking up at the sky through needled crowns - of pine. That passion which has all the fabled power of Fate was busy with - her. - </p> - <p> - A band of crows had alighted in a tree above her head and begun cawing. - Roc, who had gone to roost in a small fir, answered them. One dove into - the great, dusky hall of the near woods and made it echo with his cawing. - Roc rose and followed through its green roof into the open sky. The maiden - called to him, but he heeded only the call of his own people, and made his - choice between flying and creeping, between loneliness and joy, between - the paths of men and that appointed for him in the heavens. His had been - like her own decision—so she thought—he had heard the one cry - which he could not resist. Lately she had neglected him. He had missed her - caresses and begun to think of better company, Again and again she called, - but he had gone quickly far out of hearing. She listened, waiting and - looking into the sky, but he came not. - </p> - <p> - Master had taken the children home and returned to his little' camp on the - pond. She could hear the stroke of his axe; she could hear him singing. - She fancied, also, that she could hear the children call—that little - trumpet tone which had thrilled her when it rang in the woods. She rose - and walked slowly towards the lighted basin below her. She could not bear - to turn away from it. She would go down and look across from the edge of - the thickets. She feared that she had too freely uncovered her feeling for - him. - </p> - <p> - Soon she turned back, but then she seemed to be treading on her own heart. - She ran towards the place where she had met him. She thought not of the - children now, but only of the young man. She had heard her father say: "A - man throws off his mask when he is alone. If we could see him then we - should know what is in his soul." Could she look into his face while he - knew not of her being near she would know if he loved her. She tried to - enlarge this fancy into a motive. It failed, however, to end her - self-reproaches. Soon, almost in tears, she began to whisper: "I do not - care. I must see him again. I cannot go until I have seen him." - </p> - <p> - Moose-birds flew in the tops above her, scolding loudly, as if to turn her - back. They annoyed her, and she stopped until they had flown away. She - trembled as she drew near the familiar cove. Stealthily she made her way, - halting where they had talked together. A solemn silence brooded there. - She felt the moss where his feet had stood. He had held this fragrant, - broken lily in his hand. She picked it up and pressed it to her lips. She - slowly crossed the deep, soft mat sloping to the water's edge, and peered - between sprays of tamarack. The shadows had shifted to the farther shore. - A sprinkle of hot light fell upon her shoulders. The disk of the sun was - cut by dead pines on the bald ridge opposite. She heeded not the warning - it gave her, but only looked and listened. She could hear Master over at - the landing, hidden by the point of Birch Cove. He was cutting wood for - the night. Under cover of thickets, she made her way along the edge of the - pond. It was a walk of more than half a mile around the coves. - </p> - <p> - By-and-by she could hear the tread of Master's feet and the crackle of his - fire. She moved with the stealth of a deer. Soon she could smell the odor - of frying meat and was reminded of her hunger. She passed a spring, above - which a cup hung, and saw the trail leading to his camp. Possibly very - soon he would be going after water. She knelt in a thicket where she could - see him pass, and waited. For a long time she waited. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly she rose and peered about her. She paled with alarm. It was - growing dusk; she had forgotten that the day would have an end. It was a - journey to Buckhom, and her little guide—where was he? Cautiously - she retraced her steps along the shore. In a moment she' began to weep - silently. When she tried to hurry the rustling of the brush halted her. - Had he heard it? What was that sound far up the ridge before her? She - knelt and listened. It was a man coming in the distance. She could hear - him whistling as he walked. Slowly he approached, passing within a few - feet of her. She had often hidden that way from unexpected travellers in - the forest. She waited a little and hurried on. - </p> - <p> - The thickets seemed now to hold her back as if to defeat her purpose. She - got clear of them by-and-by and ran up the side of the ridge. - </p> - <p> - She peered about her, seeking the familiar trail. The dusk had thickened—her - alarm had grown. She stopped a moment to make sure of her way. Again she - hurried on. Soon she entered the little six-mile thoroughfare from - Catamount to Buckhorn. She ran a few rods down the trail and stopped. It - was growing dark; she could scarcely see the ground beneath her; she might - soon lose her way in the forest. She leaned against a tree-trunk and shook - with sobs, thinking of her folly and of her friends at home. Presently she - ran back in the direction of Master's camp. She left the trail and went - slowly down the side of the ridge. She must go and tell him that she had - lost her way and ask for a lantern. She could see the flicker of his fire. - She groped through the bushes to a little cove opposite, where, across - water some twenty rods away, she could see his camp. - </p> - <p> - In the edge of the dark forest the girl sat gazing off at the firelight. - She was weary and athirst; she was tortured with anxiety, but she could - not summon courage to go. She could see the light flooding between tree - columns, leaping into high tops, gilding the water-ripples. She could see - shadows moving; she could hear voices. Light and shadow seemed to beckon - and the voices to invite her, but she dared not go. She would boldly rise - and feel her way a few paces, only to sit down again. Tales which her - father had told her concerning the wickedness of men flashed out of her - memory. - </p> - <p> - That light was on the edge of the unknown world—full of mystery and - peril. She could not goad herself nearer. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">I</span>T was Strong who - had passed Edith Dunmore as night was falling over the hollow of - Catamount. He was returning from his day of toil at Nick Pond. - </p> - <p> - "Just in time," said the young man, who was eating supper at a rude table, - from a pole above which two lighted lanterns hung. - </p> - <p> - The great body of the Emperor fell heavily on a camp-stool. He blew as he - flung his hat off. - </p> - <p> - "Hot!" said he, and then with three or four great gulps he poured a dipper - of water down his throat. - </p> - <p> - Master put a small flask on the table at which they sat. - </p> - <p> - "Opey-d-dildock?" Strong inquired, softly. - </p> - <p> - "The same," said Master. "Help yourself." - </p> - <p> - The Emperor obeyed him without a word. - </p> - <p> - "How's that?" inquired the young man. - </p> - <p> - "S-sassy," Strong answered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. - </p> - <p> - "Fall to," said Master, putting the platter of trout in front of him. - </p> - <p> - "Here's f-fishin'," said Strong, as he lifted a large trout by the tail. - </p> - <p> - "Good place to anchor. Anything new?" - </p> - <p> - "B-bear," Strong stammered, with a little shake of his head. - </p> - <p> - "Where?" - </p> - <p> - The Emperor crushed a potato' and filled' his mouth. He chewed - thoughtfully before he answered, "Up t-trail." - </p> - <p> - "How far?" - </p> - <p> - Strong pointed with his fork. He stopped chewing and turned and listened - for a breath. "B-bout mile." He sighed and shook his head sorrowfully. - </p> - <p> - "What's the matter?" - </p> - <p> - "F-feelin's!" Strong answered, pointing the fork towards his bosom. - </p> - <p> - "No gun?" - </p> - <p> - Strong nodded. It was a moment of moral danger. He knew that Satan would - lay hold of his tongue unless it were guarded with great caution. He sat - back and whistled for half a moment. - </p> - <p> - "S-safe!" he exclaimed, presently, with a sigh, as he went on eating. - </p> - <p> - "Which way was he travelling?" - </p> - <p> - "Th-this way—limpin'," said Strong. - </p> - <p> - "Limping?" - </p> - <p> - "W-wownded," Strong, added, softly, gently, as if he were still on - dangerous ground. - </p> - <p> - They finished their meal in silence and drew up to the fire and filled - their pipes. - </p> - <p> - He rose and lighted his pipe and returned to the table as soon as he had - begun smoking. He took out his worn memorandum-book and thoughtfully wrote - these words: - </p> - <p> - <i>"July the 6 </i> - </p> - <p> - "See a bear—best way to kepe the ten commandments is to kepe yer - mouth shet." - </p> - <p> - Strong resumed his chair at the camp-fire. Suddenly he raised his hand. - They could hear the cracking of dead brush across the cove. - </p> - <p> - "S-suthin'," Strong whispered. - </p> - <p> - Again the sound came to their ears out of the silent forest. - </p> - <p> - "Hearn it d-dozen times," said the Emperor. - </p> - <p> - They listened a moment longer. Then Strong rose. - </p> - <p> - "B-bear!" he whispered. "Light an' rifle." - </p> - <p> - Master tiptoed to the shanty. He lighted the dark lantern—a relic of - deer-stalking days—with which he had found his way to Catamount the - night before. He adjusted the leathern helmet so its lantern rested 'above - his forehead. He raised his rifle and opened the small box of light. A - beam burst out of it and shot across the darkness and fell on a thicket. - The spire of a little fir, some forty feet away, seemed to be bathed in - sunlight. The beam glowed along the top of his rifle-barrel, and he stood - a moment aiming to see if he could catch the sights. - </p> - <p> - Strong beckoned to him. The young man came close to the side of the hunter - and suggested, "Maybe it's a deer." - </p> - <p> - "'T-'tain' no deer," Strong whispered. "S-suthin' dif'er'nt." He listened - again. "It's over on th-that air cove." - </p> - <p> - He explained briefly that in his opinion the bear, being wounded, had come - down for rest and water. He presented his plan. They would cross the cove - in their canoe. When they were near the sound he would give the canoe a - little shake, whereupon Master should carefully open the slide and throw - its light along the edge of the pond. If he saw the glow of a pair of eyes - he was to aim between, them and fire. - </p> - <p> - They tiptoed to the landing, lifted their canoe into water, and, without a - sound louder than the rustle of their garments or the fall of a - water-drop, took their places, Master in the bow and Strong in the - paddle-seat behind him. The hunter leaned forward and felt for bottom and - gave her a careful shove. Then, with a little movement of his back, he - tossed his weight against the cedar shell and it moved slowly into the - black hollow of Catamount. The hunter sank his paddle-blade. It pulled in - little, silent, whirling slashes. The canoe sheared off into thick gloom, - cleaving its way with a movement soundless and indistinguishable. - </p> - <p> - For a few seconds Master felt a weird touch of the soul in him—as - if, indeed, it were being stripped of its body and were parting with the - senses. Then he could scarcely resist the impression that he had risen - above the earth and begun a journey through the black, silent air. So, for - a breath, his consciousness had seemed to stray from its centre; then, - quickly, it came back. He began to know of that which, mercifully, in the - common business of life, is just beyond the reach of sense. He could hear - the muffled rivers of blood in his own body; he felt his heart-beat in the - fibres of the slender craft beneath him, sensitive as a bell; he became - strangely conscious of the great, oxlike body behind him—of moving - muscles in arm and shoulder, of the filling and emptying of its lungs, of - its stealthy, eager attitude. - </p> - <p> - The night life of the woods was beginning—that of beasts and birds - that see and wander and devour in the darkness.. From far away the faint, - wild cry of one of them wavered through the woods. It was like the yell of - a reveller in the midnight silence of a city. - </p> - <p> - The sky was overcast. Dimly Master could see the dying flicker of his - firelight on the mist before him. A little current of air, nearly spent, - crept over the pine-tops and they began to whisper. The young man thought - of the big, blue, tender eyes which had looked up at him that day, so full - of childish innocence and yet full of the charm and power of womanhood. - </p> - <p> - Master turned his head quickly. Near him he had heard the sound of a - deep-drawn, shuddering breath, and then a low moan. He thought with pity - of the poor creature now possibly breathing its last. He was eager to end - its agony. He trembled, waiting for the signal to open his light. The bow - brushed a lily-pad. He could feel the paddle backing with its muffled - stroke. The canoe had stopped. - </p> - <p> - Again he heard a movement in the brush. It was very near; he could feel - the canoe backing for more distance. Then he felt the signal. That little - shake in the shell of cedar had seemed to go to his very heart. He raised - his hand carefully and opened the lantern-slide. The beam fell upon tall - grass and flashed between little columns of tamarack. At the end of its - misty pathway he could just dimly make out the foliage. He could see - nothing clearly. - </p> - <p> - Again he felt the signal. He knew that the hunter had seen the game. Now - the light-beam illumined the top of his rifle-barrel. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly the trained eye of Strong had caught the gleam of eyes—then - the faint outline of lips dumb with terror. He struck with his paddle and - swung his bow. - </p> - <p> - The hammer fell. A little flame burst out of the rifle-muzzle, and a great - roar shook the silences. A shrill cry rang in its first echo. The canoe - bounded over lily-pads and flung her bow on the bank a foot above water. - Master sprang ashore followed by Strong. They clambered up the bank. - </p> - <p> - "Strong, I've killed somebody," said the young man, his voice full of the - distress he felt. He swept the shore with his light. It fell on the body - of a young woman lying prone among the brakes. Quickly he knelt beside her - and threw the light upon her face. - </p> - <p> - "My God! Come here, Strong!" he shouted, hoarsely. - </p> - <p> - His friend, alarmed by his cry, hurried to him. Master had raised the head - of Miss Dun-more upon his arm and was moaning pitifully. He covered the - beautiful white face with kisses. - </p> - <p> - Strong, who stood near with the lantern, had begun to stammer in an effort - to express his thoughts. - </p> - <p> - "K-keep c-cool," he soon succeeded in saying. - </p> - <p> - "I switched the canoe an' ye n-never t-touched her. She's scairt—th-that's - all." - </p> - <p> - Edith Dunmore had partly risen and opened her eyes. Master lifted her from - the earth and held her close and kissed her. His joy overcame him so that - the words he tried to utter fell half spoken from his lips. She clung to - him, and their silence and their tears and the touch of their hands were - full of that assurance for which both had longed. - </p> - <p> - "T-y-ty!" Strong whispered as he held the light upon them. - </p> - <p> - For a long moment the lovers stood in each other's embrace. . . - </p> - <p> - "I don't know why I came here," said she, presently, in a troubled voice. - </p> - <p> - He took her hands in his and raised them to his lips. - </p> - <p> - "I must go; I must go," she said. - </p> - <p> - "Come, we will go with you," said the young man. - </p> - <p> - He put his arm around the waist of the girl. They walked slowly up the - side of the ridge, with Strong beside them, throwing light upon their - path. Master heard from her how it befell that darkness had overtaken her - in the basin of Catamount, and she learned from him why they had come out - in their canoe. - </p> - <p> - "You will not be afraid of me any more," he said. - </p> - <p> - She stopped and raised one of his hands and held it against her cheek with - a little moan of fondness. Curiously she felt his face. - </p> - <p> - "It is so dark—I cannot see you," she whispered. - </p> - <p> - "I loathe the darkness that hides your beauty from me," said the young - man. - </p> - <p> - Strong turned his light upon her face. Tears glittered in the lashes of - her eyes and a new peace and trustfulness were upon her countenance. - </p> - <p> - "We shall see better to-morrow," the young man said. - </p> - <p> - "My father is coming—he will be angry—he will not let me see - you again—" Her voice trembled with its burden of trouble. - </p> - <p> - "Leave that to me—no one shall keep us apart," he assured her. "I - will see him tomorrow and tell him all." - </p> - <p> - They walked awhile in silence. The whistle blew for the night-shift at - Benson Falls. Its epic note bellowed over the plains and up and down the - timbered hills of the Emperor. It seemed to warn the trees of their doom. - </p> - <p> - She thought then of the great world, and said, "I will go with you." - </p> - <p> - "And be my wife?" - </p> - <p> - "Yes. I am no longer afraid." - </p> - <p> - "We shall go soon," he answered. - </p> - <p> - A mile or so from the shore of Buckhom they could hear the voice of a - woman calling in the still woods, and they answered. Soon they saw the - light of a lantern approaching in the trail. For a moment Master and the - maiden whispered together. - </p> - <p> - Soon the old nurse and servant of Edith Dun-more came out of the darkness - trembling with fear and anxiety. Gently the girl patted the bare head of - the woman as she whispered to her. In a moment all resumed their journey. - </p> - <p> - When they had come to Buckhom and could see the camp-lights, Master - launched a canoe and took the girl and her servant across the pond. He - left them without a word and returned to the other shore. Strong and he - stood for a moment listening. Then they set out for their homes far down - the trail. The Emperor was busy "thinking out thoughts." - </p> - <p> - "Mountaneyous!" he muttered, "g-great an' p-powerful." - </p> - <p> - For the second time in his life he felt strongly moved to expression and - seemed to be feeling for adequate words. Master put his arm around the big - hunter and asked him what he meant. - </p> - <p> - "Oh-h-h! Oh-h-h!" Strong murmured, in a tone of singular tenderness. - "P-purty! purty! w-wonderful purty! She's too g-good fer this w-world. I - jes' f-felt like t-takin' her on my b-back an' makin' r-right across the - s-swamps an' hills fer heaven." - </p> - <p> - The Emperor wiped his eyes and added: - </p> - <p> - "You're as handy with a g-gal as I am with a f-fish-rod." - </p> - <p> - Next day he noted this conclusion in his memorandum-book: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Strong cant wait much longer. He's got to have a guide for the long - trail."</i> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXVI - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">N</span>EXT day Master - went to Tillbury for his mail, a-walk of some twenty miles. He lingered - for awhile near the shore of Buckhom on his way, but saw nothing of her he - loved. - </p> - <p> - Two fishermen had arrived at Strong's, and the Emperor had taken them to - spring holes in the lower river. - </p> - <p> - After supper that evening he built a big fire in front of the main camp, - and sat down beside the fishermen with Socky and Sue in his lap. - </p> - <p> - Darkness had fallen when Dunmore strode into the firelight. - </p> - <p> - "Dwellers in the long house," he said, removing his cap, "I am glad to sit - by your council fire." - </p> - <p> - "Had supper?" Strong inquired. - </p> - <p> - "No—give me a doughnut and a piece of bread and butter. I'll eat - here by the fire." - </p> - <p> - He took the children in his arms while Strong went to prepare his - luncheon. - </p> - <p> - "I love and fear you," said he. "You make me think of things forgotten." - </p> - <p> - Of late Socky had thought much of the general subject of grandfathers. He - knew that they were highly useful members of society. He had seen them - carry children on their backs and draw them in little wagons. This fact - had caused him to put all able-bodied grandfathers in the high rank of - ponies and billy-goats. His uncles Silas and Robert had been out of camp - so much lately they had been of slight service to him. The thought that a - grandfather would be more reliable, had presented itself, and he had - broached the subject to little Sue. How they were acquired—whether - they were bought or "ketched" or just given away to any who stood in need - of them—neither had a definite notion. On this point the boy went to - his aunt for counsel. She told him, laughingly, that they were "spoke for" - in a sort of proposal like that of marriage. He had begun to think very - favorably of Mr. Dunmore, and timidly put the question: - </p> - <p> - "Are—are you anybody's gran'pa?" - </p> - <p> - "No." - </p> - <p> - "Mebbe you'd be my gran'pa," the boy suggested, soberly. . - </p> - <p> - "Maybe," said Dunmore, with a smile. - </p> - <p> - "We could play horse together when Uncle Silas is away," was the further - suggestion of Socky. - </p> - <p> - "Why not play horse with your sister?" - </p> - <p> - "She's too little—she can't draw me." - </p> - <p> - "Gran'pas don't make the best horses," Dunmore objected. - </p> - <p> - "Yes they do," Socky stoutly affirmed. "May Butler's gran'pa draws her - 'round everywhere in a little cart." - </p> - <p> - "Well, that shows that old men can be good for something," said Dunmore. - "Where's your wagon?" - </p> - <p> - Socky ran for the creaking treasure. - </p> - <p> - "Now get in—both of you," said the whitehaired man. - </p> - <p> - Socky and Sue mounted the wagon. Dunmore took the tongue-peg in both hands - and began to draw them around the fire. Their cries of pleasure seemed to - warm his heart. He quickened his pace, and was soon trotting in a wide - circle while Zeb ran at his side and seemed to urge him on. - </p> - <p> - When, wearied by his exertion, he sat down to rest, the children stood - close beside him and felt his face with their hands, and gave him the - silent blessing of full confidence. - </p> - <p> - For Dunmore there was a kind of magic in it all. Somehow it faced him - about and set him thinking of new things. That elemental appeal of the - little folk had been as the sunlight breaking through clouds and falling - on the darkened earth. In his lonely heart spring-time had returned. - </p> - <p> - The children climbed upon his knees, and he began a curious chant with - closed eyes and trembling voice. The firelight fell upon his face while he - chanted as follows: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "I hear the voices of little children ringing like silver - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - bells, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And the great bells answer them—they that hang - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - in the high towers— - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - The dusky, mouldering towers of the old time, of - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - hope and love and friendship. - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - They call me in the silence and have put a new - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - song in my mouth." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - So he went on singing this rough, unmeasured song of the old time as if - his heart were full and could not hold its peace. He sang of childhood and - youth and of joys half forgotten. - </p> - <p> - Sinth stood waiting, with the food in her hands, before he finished. - </p> - <p> - He let the children go and began eating. - </p> - <p> - "This is good," said he, "and I feel like blessing every one of you. - Sometimes I think God looks out of the eyes of the hungry." - </p> - <p> - After a moment he added: "Strong, do you remember that song I wrote for - you? It gives the signs of the seasons. I believe we called it 'The Song - of the Venison-Tree.'" - </p> - <p> - The Emperor looked thoughtfully at the fire and in a moment began to sing. - It is a curious fact that many who stammer can follow the rut of familiar - music without betraying their infirmity. His tongue moved at an easy pace - in the song of - </p> - <h3> - THE VENISON-TREE - </h3> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0005" id="linkimage-0005"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0261.jpg" alt="0261m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0261.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0006" id="linkimage-0006"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0262.jpg" alt="0262m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0262.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0007" id="linkimage-0007"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0263.jpg" alt="0263m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0263.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0008" id="linkimage-0008"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0264.jpg" alt="0264m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0264.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0009" id="linkimage-0009"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0265.jpg" alt="0265m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0265.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - As the Emperor ceased, Dunmore turned quickly, his black eyes glowing in - the firelight. Raising his right hand above his head, he chanted these - lines: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "The wilderness shall pass away like Babylon of old, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And every tree shall go to build a thing of greater mould; - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - The chopper he shall fall to earth as fell the mighty tree, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - And his timber shall be used to build a nobler man than he." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - "Wh-what do ye mean by his t-timber?" Strong asked. - </p> - <p> - "His character," Dunmore answered. "Men are like trees. Some are hickory, - some are oak, some are cedar, some are only basswood. Some are strong, - beautiful, generous; some are small and sickly for want of air and - sunlight; some are as selfish and quarrelsome as a thorn-tree. Every year - we must draw energy out of the great breast of nature and put on a fresh - ring of wood. We must grow or die. You know what comes to the - rotten-hearted?" - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh," said the hunter. - </p> - <p> - "There's good timber enough in you and in that little book of yours," - Dunmore went on. "If it's only milled with judgment—some of it would - stand planing and polishing—there's enough, my friend, to make a - mansion. Believe me, it will not be lost." - </p> - <p> - Strong looked very thoughtful. He shook his head. "Ain't nothin' b-but a - woodpecker's drum," he answered. After a moment of silence he asked, - "What'll become o' the country?" - </p> - <p> - "Without forests it will go the way of Egypt and Asia Minor," said the - white-haired man. "They were thickly wooded in the day of their power. Now - what are they? Desert wastes!" Dunmore rose and filled his lungs, and - added: "As you said to me one day, 'People are no better than the air they - breathe.' There's going to be nothing but cities, and slowly they will - devour our substance. Indigestion, weakness, impotency, degeneration will - follow. - </p> - <p> - "Strong, I'm already on the downward path. Half a day's walk has undone - me. I'll get to bed and go home in the morning." - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXVII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">D</span>UNMORE was up at - daybreak. He set out in the dusk and, as the sun rose, entered the hollow - of Catamount. Master met him on the trail. - </p> - <p> - They greeted each other. Then said the young man, "I have something to say - regarding one very dear to me and to you." - </p> - <p> - Promptly and almost aggressively the query came, "Regarding whom?" - </p> - <p> - "Your daughter." - </p> - <p> - Dunmore took a staggering step and stopped and looked sternly at Master. - </p> - <p> - "I met her by chance—" the other began to say. Dunmore interrupted - him. - </p> - <p> - "I will not speak with you of my daughter," he said. He turned away, - frowning, and resumed his journey. - </p> - <p> - "You are unjust to her and to me," said Master. "You have no right to - imprison the girl." - </p> - <p> - The white-haired man hurried on his way and made no answer. - </p> - <p> - Master had seen a strange look come into the eyes of Dunmore. That - trouble, of which he had once heard, might have gone deeper than any one - knew. It might have left him a little out of balance. - </p> - <p> - Full of alarm, the young lover hastened to Lost River camp. He found his - friend at the spring and told of his ill luck. Without a word Strong - killed the big trout which he had taken that day he fished with the - pouters. - </p> - <p> - "D-didn't tell him 'bout that t-trout," he said to Master as he wrapped - the fish in ferns and flung him into his pack. "Th-thought I b-better wait - an' s-see." - </p> - <p> - He asked the young man to "keep cool," and made off in the trail to - Buckhorn. - </p> - <p> - Always when starting on a journey he reckoned his task and set his pace - accordingly and kept it up hill and down. He was wont to take an easy, - swinging stride even though he was loaded heavily. Woodsmen who followed - him used to say that he could bear "weight an' misery like a bob-sled." - That day he lengthened his usual stride a little and calculated to "fetch - up" with Dunmore about a mile from Buckhorn. The older man had hurried, - however, and was nearing the pond when Strong overtook him. - </p> - <p> - "What now?" Dunmore inquired. - </p> - <p> - "B-business," was the cheerful answer of Strong. - </p> - <p> - "It'll be part of it to paddle me across the pond. I'm tired," said the - other. - </p> - <p> - They walked in silence to the shore. Strong launched a canoe and held it - for the white-haired man. Without a word he pulled to the camp veranda - where Dunmore's mother and daughter stood waiting. The old gentleman - climbed the steps and greeted the two with great tenderness. - </p> - <p> - "Snares!" he muttered, as he touched the brow of his daughter. "The devil - is setting snares for my little nun." - </p> - <p> - Edith and her grandmother went into the house. Dunmore sat down with a - stem, troubled look. - </p> - <p> - "Got s-suthin' fer you," said Strong as he held up the big fish. - "C'ris'mus p-present!" - </p> - <p> - Dunmore turned to the hunter, and instantly a smile seemed to brush the - shadows from his wrinkled face. - </p> - <p> - "It's your t-trout," the Emperor added. "S-see there!" - </p> - <p> - He opened the jaws of the fish and showed the encysted remnant of a black - gnat. - </p> - <p> - "Bring him here," Dunmore entreated, with a look of delight. - </p> - <p> - Strong mounted the steps and put the trout in his hands. - </p> - <p> - "Sit down and tell me how and where you got him," said Dunmore. - </p> - <p> - Strong told the story of his capture, and the old gentleman was - transported to that familiar place in the midst of the quick-water. The - Emperor had not finished his account when the other interrupted him. - Dunmore told of days, forever memorable, when he had leaned over the bank - and seen his flies come hurtling up the current; of moments when he had - heard the splash of the big trout and felt his line hauling; of repeated - struggles which had ended in defeat. The white-haired man was in his best - humor. Strong saw his opportunity. - </p> - <p> - "I w-want a favor," said he. - </p> - <p> - Dunmore turned with a look of inquiry. The Emperor urged his lazy tongue. - </p> - <p> - "Master w-wants t' go t' Albany an' f-fight them air cussed ballhooters. - W-wisht you'd g-go out to caucus." - </p> - <p> - A "ballhooter" was a man who rolled logs, and Strong used the word in a - metaphorical sense. - </p> - <p> - "I don't vote," said Dunmore, and in half a moment he added just what the - Emperor had hoped for: - </p> - <p> - "What do you know about him?" - </p> - <p> - "He's a g-gentleman—an' his f-father's a gentleman." - </p> - <p> - A moment of silence followed. - </p> - <p> - "He's the b-best chap that ever c-come to my camp," Strong added. - </p> - <p> - Dunmore came close to the Emperor and spoke in a low tone. - </p> - <p> - "Tell him," said he, "that I send apologies for my rudeness—he will - understand you. Tell him to let us alone awhile. I have been foolish, but - I am changing. Tell him if marriage is in his mind I cannot now bear to - think of it. But I will try—" - </p> - <p> - Dunmore paused, looking down thoughtfully, his hand over his mouth. - </p> - <p> - "I will try," he repeated, in a whisper, "and, if he will let us alone, - some day I may ask you to bring him here. You tell him to be wise and keep - away." - </p> - <p> - Strong nodded, with full understanding of all that lay behind the message. - </p> - <p> - The old lady came out of the door and that ended their interview. She - spoke to Strong with a kindly query as to his sister, and then came a - great surprise for him. - </p> - <p> - "I wish she would come and visit me," said the old lady. "And I would love - also to see those little children." - </p> - <p> - Dunmore took the hand of his mother and no word was spoken for half a - moment. - </p> - <p> - "It's a good idea," he said, thoughtfully. Then, turning to Strong, he - added: "We shall ask them to come soon. I shall want to see those children - again." - </p> - <p> - In the moment of silence that followed he thought of those little people—of - how they had begun to soften his heart and prepare him for what had come. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor paddled back to the landing and returned to Lost River camp. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXVIII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">M</span>ASTER accepted the - counsel of his friend and kept away from Buckhom. He was, at least, - relieved of the dark fears which Dunmore's angry face had imparted to him. - He left camp to look after his canvass and was gone a fortnight. Strong - had promised to let him know if any word came down the trail from their - neighbors. The young man returned to his little shanty at Catamount and - suffered there a sublime sort of loneliness. The silence of Dunmore seemed - to fill the woods. Every day Master went to Birch Cove and wandered - through the deer trails. Every graceful thing in the still woods reminded - him of her beauty and every bird-song had the music of her voice in it. He - began to think of her as the embodied spirit of the woodland. She was like - Strong himself, but Strong was the great pine-tree while she was like the - young, white birches. - </p> - <p> - One bright morning—it was nearly a month after Strong had returned - from Buckhom—-Sinth put on her best clothes and started for the camp - of Dunmore alone. The Emperor had gone away with some fishermen and Master - with the children. - </p> - <p> - Sinth had said nothing of her purpose. Her heart was in the cause of the - young people, and she had waited long enough for developments. The - injustice and the folly of Dunmore filled her with indignation. She had - her own private notion of what she was going to say, if necessary, and was - of no mind to "mince matters." - </p> - <p> - She stood for a few moments at the landing on Buckhom and waved her - handkerchief. The old lady saw her and sent the colored manservant to - fetch her across. Dunmore and his mother welcomed her at the veranda - steps. - </p> - <p> - "My land! So you're Mis' Dunmore!" said Sinth, coolly, as she took a chair - and glanced about her. - </p> - <p> - "Yes, and very glad to see you.". - </p> - <p> - "An' you've stayed fifteen years in this camp?" - </p> - <p> - The old lady nodded. "It's a long time," said she. - </p> - <p> - "It's a wonder ye ain't all dead—livin' here on the bank of a pond - like a lot o' mushrats!" Sinth went on. "Cyrus Dunmore, you ought t' be - 'shamed o' yerself. Heavens an' earth! I never heard o' nothin' so - unhuman." - </p> - <p> - A moment of silence followed. Dunmore smiled. He had never been talked to - in that way. The droll frankness of the woman amused him. - </p> - <p> - "I mean jest what I say an' more too," Sinth went on. "You 'ain't done - right, an' if you can't see it you 'ain't got common-sense. My stars! I - don't care how much trouble you've had. A man that can't take his pack - full o' trouble an' keep agoin' is a purty poor stick. I know what 'tis to - be disapp'inted. Good gracious me! you needn't think you're the only one - that ever got hurt. The Lord has took away ev'rything I loved 'cept one. - He 'ain't left me nothin' but a brother an' a weak back an' lots o' work - t' do, an' a pair o' hands an' feet an' a head like a turnup. He's blessed - you in a thousan' ways. He's gi'n ye health an' strength an' talents an' - a? gal that's more like an angel than a human bein', an' you don't do - nothin' but set aroun' here an' sulk an' write portry!" - </p> - <p> - Sinth gave her dress a flirt and flung a look of unspeakable contempt at - him. The face of Dunmore grew serious. Her honesty had, somehow, disarmed - the man—it was like the honesty of his own conscience. There had - been a note of strange authority in her voice—like that which had - come to him now and then out of the depths of his own spirit. - </p> - <p> - "Suppose every one that got a taste o' trouble was t' fly mad like a - little boy an' say he wouldn't play no more," Sinth went on. "My land! we - wouldn't be no better than a lot o' cats an' dogs that's all fit out an' - hid under a barn! Cyrus Dunmore, you act like a little boy. You won't play - yerself an' ye won't let these women play nuther. You're as selfish as a - bear. You 'ain't got no right t' keep 'em here, an' if you don't know it - you better go t' school somewhere. Now there's my mind right out plain an' - square." - </p> - <p> - She rearranged her Paisley shawl with a little squirm of indignation. - </p> - <p> - Dunmore paced up and down for half a moment, a troubled look on his face. - He stopped in front of Sinth. - </p> - <p> - "Boneka, madam," said he, extending his hand. - </p> - <p> - "I forgive," said Sinth, quickly, "providin' you'll try to do better. It's - nonsense to forgive any one 'less he'll quit makin' it nec'sary." - </p> - <p> - "I acknowledge here in the presence of my mother," said Dunmore, "that all - you say is quite right. I have been a fool." - </p> - <p> - Sinth rose and adjusted her shawl as if to warn them that she must go. - </p> - <p> - "Wal, I'm glad you've come t' yer senses," said she, with a glance at the - man. "'Tain't none o' my business, but I couldn't hold in no longer. I've - fell in love with that girl o' your'n. She's as purty as a yearling doe." - </p> - <p> - "I don't know what I would have done without her," said the old lady. - "Since she was a little girl she's been eyes and hands and feet for me. I - fear that I'm most to blame for her imprisonment." As she talked the - indignation of Sinth wore away. Soon Dunmore helped her into his canoe and - set her across the pond. - </p> - <p> - "I'll find out about the young man," said he, as they parted. "He'll hear - from me." - </p> - <p> - One day soon after that Dunmore began to think of the children. In spite - of himself he longed to see them again. He started for the camp at Lost - River, and planned while there to have a talk with Strong and Master. At - Nick Pond, on his way down, he met the two Migleys. - </p> - <p> - After his interview with them he decided that he must have more - information regarding the young man before going farther. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXIX - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">M</span>ORE than a month - had passed since the journey of Sinth to Buck-horn; but nothing had come - of it. Silas, tramping with a party of fishermen, had met Dunmore one day, - but the latter had stopped only for a word of greeting. - </p> - <p> - Master had left his little camp and Strong was to send for him on the - arrival of important news. The candidate had canvassed every mill village - among the foot-hills of the county but had found it up-hill work. Many - voters had lately become bosom friends of Joe Socket, the able postmaster - at Moon Lake. Once Master had wandered into the Emperor's camp with a plan - to invade the stronghold of Dunmore and release the girl if, perchance, - she might desire to be free. Strong had wisely turned the young man's - thought from all violence. He had taken out his old memorandum-book and - pointed to this entry: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Strong says the best thing fer a man to do in hell is kepe cool. - Excitement will increase the heat."</i> - </p> - <p> - So a foolish purpose had ended in a laugh. - </p> - <p> - Since midsummer some rain had fallen, but not enough to slake the thirst - of the dry earth. Now in the third week of September the tops were ragged - and the forest floor strewn with new leaves and with great rugs of - sunlight. Big, hurtling flakes of red and gold fell slowly and shook out - the odors of that upper, fairy world of which Edith Dunmore had told the - children. - </p> - <p> - One still, sunlit day of that week the old struggle between Satan and - Silas Strong reached a critical stage. Sinth had gone for a walk with Sue - and Socky, and young Migley, coming down from his camp at Nick, had found - the Emperor alone. He was overhauling a boat in his little workshop. . - </p> - <p> - "Well, Colonel," said the young lumberman, "we want to know why you're - fighting us." - </p> - <p> - Strong had lately gone over to the scene of his quarrel on the State land - and plugged some of the pines with dynamite and posted warnings. He had - rightly reckoned that thereafter the thieves would not find it easy to - hire men for that job. - </p> - <p> - "You're f-fightin' me," said Strong, as he continued his work. - </p> - <p> - "How's that?" - </p> - <p> - "C-cause ye ain't honest." - </p> - <p> - "Look here, Colonel, you'd better fight for us." The young man spoke with - a show of feeling. "We'd like to be friendly with you." - </p> - <p> - Strong went on with his work, but made no answer. - </p> - <p> - "We're only taking old trees that are dead or dying over there on the - State land. Some of 'em are stag-headed—full of 'widow-makers,'" - said Thomas Migley. - </p> - <p> - It should be explained that a big, dead branch was called a "widow-maker" - by the woods folk. - </p> - <p> - "We shall obey the law and pay a fine for every stump," the young man - continued. "That's square." - </p> - <p> - "N-no," said the Emperor, firmly. "That l-law was intended to p-protect - the forest." - </p> - <p> - "You want us to be too ———— honest to live," said - young Migley, with an oath. - </p> - <p> - "N-no. I'll t-tell ye what's the matter with y-you," said Strong. "Y-you - 'ain't got no r-res-pec' fer God, country, man, er f-fish." - </p> - <p> - "You must agree to stand for us against all comers or get out of here - to-morrow," the young man added. - </p> - <p> - "Th-that's quick," said Strong, as he laid down his draw-shave and looked - at Thomas Migley. - </p> - <p> - "You can do as you like," said the latter. "We're willing to let you stay - here as long as you want to." - </p> - <p> - Strong saw clearly that the words were a bid for his manhood. He weighed - it carefully—this thing they were seeking to purchase—he - thought of his sister and the children, of his talk with Master on the - journey from Bees' Hill. The skin upon his forehead was now gathered into - long, deep furrows. His body trembled a little as he rose and slowly - crossed the floor. There was a kind of gentleness in his hand as he - touched the shoulder of the young man. He spoke almost tenderly one would - have thought who heard him stammer out the one word, "Run." Suddenly his - big hand shut like the jaws of a bear on Migley's arm and then let go. - </p> - <p> - The young man hesitated and was rudely flung through the open door. He - scrambled to his feet and made for the trail in frantic haste. - </p> - <p> - "R-run!" the Emperor shouted, in hot pursuit of young Thomas Migley, whose - feet flew with ridiculous animation. - </p> - <p> - Strong stopped at the edge of the clearing. He leaned against a tree-trunk - and shook his head and stammered half an oath. Soon he hurried into one of - the cabins and sat down. He looked about him—at the fireplace and - the mantel, at the straight, smooth timbers of young spruce, at the floor - of wooden blocks, patiently fitted together, at the rustic chairs and - tables, at the sheathing of riven cedar. He thought of all that these - things had cost him and for a moment his eyes filled. - </p> - <p> - He went to the cook-tent and found a map and spread it on the table. He - could go over on the State land, pitch a couple of tents and build a - shanty with a paper roof and siding, and make out for the rest of the - summer. There would be two rivers and some rather wet land to cross. For a - few moments he looked thoughtfully at the map. Soon he took out his worn - memorandum-book and wrote as follows: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Sep the 25. Strong has a poor set of feel in's in him Satans ahed but - Strong will flore him."</i> - </p> - <p> - He took his axe and saw and went to a big birch-tree which he had felled - in the edge of the clearing a few days before. He cut a twelve-foot log - out of the trunk and began to hollow it. He stuck his axe when he heard - Sinth and the children coming. He lifted Socky and Sue in his arms and - carried them into camp. - </p> - <p> - "G-goin' t' m-move," he said to Sinth as he put them down. - </p> - <p> - "Move!" his sister exclaimed. "They're going to put us out?" - </p> - <p> - Gently, fearfully, he whispered, "Ay-uh—" - </p> - <p> - Sinth turned and hurried into the cook-tent. It was curious that she, who - had raised her voice against the camp whenever a new plan had been - proposed, who had seen nothing but folly, one would think, in its erection - or their life in it, should now lean her head upon the table and sob as if - her dearest possession had been taken away. The Emperor followed and sat - down at the table, his faded crown of felt hanging over one ear—a - dejected and sorrowful creature. - </p> - <p> - "D-don't," he said, tenderly. - </p> - <p> - The children stood with open mouths peering in at the door. Sinth's - emotion slowly subsided. - </p> - <p> - "You've worked so, Silas," Sinth moaned, as she sat wiping her eyes. - "You've had to carry ev'rything in here on your back." - </p> - <p> - After all, it had been a tender thought of him which had inspired all her - scolding and her weeping. He had always known the truth, but he alone of - all the many who had falsely judged her had known it. Strong sat looking - down soberly in the silence that followed. His voice trembled a little - when he spoke. - </p> - <p> - "G-got 'nother house," said he, calmly. His voice sank to a whisper as he - added, "Couldn't b-bear t' see it t-tore down." - </p> - <p> - Failing to understand, she looked up at him. - </p> - <p> - "Myself," he added, as he rose and smote his chest with his heavy right - hand. He explained in a moment—"M-Migley wanted t' b-buy me." - </p> - <p> - He put his hand on his sister's head and said, "B-better times." After a - little silence he added, "You s-see." - </p> - <p> - He left her sitting with her head leaning on her hand in deep and - sorrowful meditation. He had built a fire in the stove and got their - supper well under way before she joined him. - </p> - <p> - While Sinth was making her tearful protest, the children sat on a log - outside the door and were much depressed. - </p> - <p> - "Somebody's gone and done something to her album," Sue whispered. The - album was, in her view, the storm-centre of the camp. - </p> - <p> - After Strong had gone to work getting supper ready the two came stealthily - to the knees of their aunt. - </p> - <p> - "Aunt Sinthy," Socky whispered. - </p> - <p> - "What?" she asked, turning and beginning to smooth his hair with her hand. - </p> - <p> - "I'm going to buy you a new album." He spoke in a low, tentative, troubled - tone. The boy's resources would seem to be equal to every need. - </p> - <p> - Sinth shook with silent laughter. In a moment she kissed the boy and girl - and drew them to her breast with a little moan of fondness. Then she rose - and went to help her brother. - </p> - <p> - A little before sundown they heard the report of a rifle which had been - fired within a mile of camp. Strong stood listening and could hear distant - voices. He walked down the trail and returned in half an hour. - </p> - <p> - "It's B-Business," he said to Sinth. "His army is c-comin'." - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXX - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>TRONG was chopping - and hewing on his birch log until late bedtime. He was like Noah getting - ready for the destruction of the world. Having finished, he took his - lantern off a branch beside him and surveyed a singular device. He called - it a boat-jumper, and, inspired by a thought of the children, whispered to - himself, "Uncle S-Silas is improvin'." It was a mere shell about two - inches thick, flat on the bottom and sheared on one end, canoe-fashion. It - would serve as a jumper—a rough, sledlike conveyance—on the - ground and as a boat on the rivers; it would carry Sinth and the children, - with tents, blankets, provisions, and bedding enough to last until he - could return for more. - </p> - <p> - He hurried to camp and helped his sister with the packing. When a dozen - great bundles lay on the floor, ready for removal, Sinth went to bed. But - the tireless Emperor had more work to do. He made two seats, with - back-rests upon each, for the boat-jumper and fastened a whiffle-tree to - the bow end of the same. On its stern he put two handles—like those - of a plough—so that he might lay hold of them and steady the jumper - in rough places. - </p> - <p> - Next morning a little before sunrise he made off on the trail to Pitkin. - </p> - <p> - At the general store and post-office in that hamlet he received a letter. - It was from the forest, fish, and game commissioner, who thus addressed - him: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Dear Mr. Strong,—I hear that timber thieves and deer-slayers are - operating on State land near Rainbow Lake. I learn also that you are about - to leave your camp at Lost River. If that is true I wish you would accept - an appointment as deputy for that district and go at once and do what you - can to protect the valley of Rainbow. The salary would be five hundred - dollars. A letter just received informs me that 'Red' Macdonald is there - with dogs. If you could deliver him into custody you would be a public - benefactor, but I warn you that he is a desperate man. Please let me hear - from you immediately."</i> - </p> - <p> - This gave Strong a new and grateful sense of being "ahead." Before leaving - the post-office he penned his acceptance of the offer. Then he proceeded - to the home of Annette and found her gone for the day. He sat down at the - dinner-table and wrote these lines with all the deliberation their - significance merited: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Deer lady,—In Ogdensburg an' anxious to move. Patrick can snake - me out. Meet me at Benson Falls Friday if possibul an' youll heare some - talkin' done by yours hopin fer better times, </i> - </p> - <p> - "S. Strong. - </p> - <p> - "P.S. Strong's ahed." - </p> - <p> - Meanwhile Sinth was in trouble. Young Mr. Migley had come, with a gang of - sawyers and axemen, to dethrone the Emperor and take possession. He had - his customary get-off-the-earth air about him—an air that often - accompanies the title to vast acreage. He found only Sinth and the - children and summarily ordered them to leave. Then she gave him what she - called "a piece of her mind." It was a good-sized piece, all truth and - just measure. - </p> - <p> - While the furniture was being thrown out-ofdoors she got ready to go. In - the heart of Sinth indignation had supplanted sorrow. It was in her - countenance and the vigor of her foot-fall and in the way that she filled - and closed and handled her satchel. Some of the brawny woodsmen stood - looking as she and the children came out-of-doors—a solemn-faced - little company. Something from the hearts of the men made Sinth touch her - eyes with her handkerchief. Then a curious thing happened. Some of the - lumber-jacks dropped their saws and axes. - </p> - <p> - Those people could forgive much in "a good fellow"—they could - forgive almost any infamy, it would seem, but the stony heart. Let one do - a mean thing and rouse their quick sympathies a little and their oaths - were as a deadly, fateful curse upon him. They never forgot the tear of - sympathy or the wrath of resentment. - </p> - <p> - The sorrow of the weak now seemed to touch the hearts of the strong. The - children, seeing the tears of their aunt as she turned for a last look at - her home, followed slowly with an air of great dejection. Then a strange - pathos rose out of their littleness, and an ancient law seemed to be writ - upon the faces of the men: "Whoso shall offend one of these little ones - which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged - about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." - </p> - <p> - A murmur of disapproval arose, and suddenly one voice blared a sacred name - coupled and qualified with curious adjectives—jumped up, livin', - sufferin', eternal—as if it would be most explicit. - </p> - <p> - "Boys," the voice added, "I can't see no woman ner no childern treated - that way." - </p> - <p> - A man took the satchel out of Sinth's hand. - </p> - <p> - "You stay here," said he. "We won't stan' fer this." - </p> - <p> - Another burly woodsman had lifted little Sue in his arms. - </p> - <p> - "I'm goin' down the trail to wait fer Silas," said Sinth, brokenly. - </p> - <p> - She put out her hand to take the satchel. - </p> - <p> - "We'll carry it an' the childern too," said the woodsman, whose voice, - which had been harsh and profane, now had a touch of gentleness. They made - their way down the trail in silence. - </p> - <p> - "He better try t' be a statesman," said one of the escort. "He ain't fit - t' be a bullcook." - </p> - <p> - They passed a second gang with horses and a big jumper bearing supplies - for the camp. The Emperor had surrendered; the green hills were taken. - Half a mile or so from the camp Sinth halted. - </p> - <p> - "I'll wait here, thank ye," said she. - </p> - <p> - With offers of assistance the men left them and returned. - </p> - <p> - All through the night Sinth had been thinking of their new trouble and was - in a way prepared for the worst. But now, as she was leaving forever the - old, familiar trees and the still water she sat down for awhile and - covered her face. Already the saws had begun their work. She could hear - them gnawing and hissing and the shouts and axes of the woodsmen. Socky - and Sue came near their aunt and stood looking at her, their cheeks - tear-stained, their sympathy now and then shaking them with - half-suppressed sobs. The reason for their departure and for the coming of - the woodsmen they were not able to understand. Zeb lay lolling on his - stomach, bored, but, like his master, hoping for better times. - </p> - <p> - "Aunt Sinthy—you 'fraid?" Sue ventured to ask, and her doll hung - limp from her right hand. - </p> - <p> - Socky felt his sword and looked up into the face of his aunt. - </p> - <p> - "Where we goin'?" he asked, with another silent sob. - </p> - <p> - "Pon my soul, I dunno," Sinth answered, wearily. - </p> - <p> - "Don't you be 'fraid," he said, waving his sword manfully. - </p> - <p> - Sinth took her knitting out of the satchel and sat down comfortably on a - bed of leaves. Zeb began to growl and run around them in a circle, like - the cheerful jester that he was. It seemed as if he were trying to remind - them that, after all, the situation was not hopeless. He continued his - gyrations until Socky and Sue joined him. Soon the big trees began falling - and their thunder and the hoots of the "briermen" echoed far. The children - came to their aunt. - </p> - <p> - "What's that?" they asked, with awe in their faces. - </p> - <p> - "The trees," Sinth answered, solemnly. "They're a-mowin' of 'em down." - </p> - <p> - In a moment, thinking of the young man who had heartlessly put her out, - she added: - </p> - <p> - "I guess he'll find he's hurt himself more'n he has us." - </p> - <p> - "Who?" Socky asked. - </p> - <p> - "That mehopper." - </p> - <p> - The children turned with a look of interest. - </p> - <p> - "What's a mehopper?" Socky asked. - </p> - <p> - Sinth sat looking thoughtfully at her knitting. - </p> - <p> - "He steals folks' albums," said Sue, confidently, "an' he can run like a - deer." - </p> - <p> - "Ain't a bit like a deer," Sinth responded. "He can't go nowhere but - down-hill—that's why ye always find him in low places—an' he's - so 'fraid folks won't see him that he swears an' talks about himself." - </p> - <p> - Sue looked at her aunt as if she thought her a woman of wonderful parts. - </p> - <p> - "He better look out for the Sundayman," Sinth continued. - </p> - <p> - "Who's the Sundayman?" they both asked. - </p> - <p> - "He's a wonderful hunter an' he ketches all the wicked folks," Sinth - answered. "An' them that swears he makes 'em into mehoppers, an' them that - does cruel things he turns their hearts into stones, an' them that steals - he takes away everything they have, an' if anybody lies he makes a fool of - 'em so they b'lieve their own stories, an' he takes an' marks the face of - every one he ketches so if ye look sharp ye can always tell 'em." - </p> - <p> - In a moment they heard some one coming down the trail. It was young Mr. - Migley who suddenly had found himself in the midst of a small rebellion. - Half his men had threatened to "histe the turkey" unless he brought back - the "woman and the kids." It was not their threat of quitting that worried - him, however—it was a consequence more remote and decisive. - </p> - <p> - "Miss Strong, I was hot under the collar," he began. "I didn't mean to put - you out. I want you to come back and stay as long as you like. We can - spare you one of the cabins." - </p> - <p> - "No, sir," Sinth answered, curtly. - </p> - <p> - "All right," said he, "you're the doctor." - </p> - <p> - In a moment she asked, "What you goin' t' do with them sick folks that's - camped over at Robin?" - </p> - <p> - "I won't hurry 'em," said he; "but they'll have t' git out before long." - </p> - <p> - "It's a shame," Sinth answered. "You oughto hev consumption an' see how - you'd like it." - </p> - <p> - "There are plenty of hotels east of here." - </p> - <p> - "But they're poor folks an' can't afford to pay board, even if they'd let - 'em in, which they wouldn't." - </p> - <p> - "I can't help it—we've got to get these logs down to the river - before snow flies—it's business." - </p> - <p> - With him that brief assertion was the end of many disputes. They were few - that even dared question the authority of the old tyrant whom Silas had - called Business. - </p> - <p> - The young man began to walk away. Sinth sent a parting shot after him. - </p> - <p> - "It's business," said she, "to think o' nobody but yerself." - </p> - <p> - It was long past mid-day when Silas came with the ox. He stood listening, - his hands upon his hips, while Sinth related the story of their leaving - camp and of Migley's effort to bring them back. - </p> - <p> - "S-Sawed himself off," said Strong, with a smile. "You s-see." The - dethroned Emperor turned, suddenly, and drew a line across the trail with - the butt of his ox-whip. - </p> - <p> - "All t-toe the s-scratch," he demanded, soberly. - </p> - <p> - He led Sinth and Sue forward and stopped them with their toes on the line. - He motioned to Socky, who took his place by the others. Zeb sat in front - of them. The boy seemed to wonder what was coming. His fingers were closed - but his thumbs stood up straight according to their habit when the boy's - heart was troubled. - </p> - <p> - "Th-thumbs down," Strong commanded. - </p> - <p> - He surveyed his forces with an odd look of solemnity and playfulness. - </p> - <p> - "S. Strong has been app'inted W-warden o' Rainbow V-valley," said the - exiled Emperor. "F-forward march." His command was followed by a brief - appeal to the ox. - </p> - <p> - "Purty good luck!" Sinth exclaimed, with a look of satisfaction. "But - they's a lot o' pirates over there—got t' look out fer 'em." - </p> - <p> - "They'll m-move," said Strong, as if he had no worry about that. - </p> - <p> - Slowly they went up the trail and soon reentered Lost River camp. The - young lumberman saw them coming and went off into the woods. - </p> - <p> - Some men, who had been at work near, gathered about the Emperor and - offered to stand by him as long as he wished to remain. Strong shook his - head. "W-we got t' g-go," he stammered. He looked sadly at the fallen - tree-trunks—at the door-yard, now full of brush. "D-don't never - w-want t' s-see this place ag'in," he muttered. - </p> - <p> - He brought the boat-jumper into camp and loaded it. Then with Sinth on the - bow seat and Socky and Sue behind her they set out, the men cheering as - they moved away. - </p> - <p> - A clear space at the stern afforded room for the Emperor if he should wish - to get aboard in crossing water and an axe and paddle were stored on - either side of it. - </p> - <p> - Strong had tacked a notice on one of the trees, and it read as follows: - </p> - <h3> - S STRONG - </h3> - <h3> - HAS MOVED TO RAINBOW LAKE - </h3> - <p> - The camp was now in the shadow of Long Ridge. Sinth and the Emperor were - silent. Bird-songs that rang in the deep, shaded hall of the woods had a - note of farewell in them. The children were laughing and chattering as ox - and boat-jumper entered the unbroken forest. Zeb stood in front of the - children, his forefeet on the gunwale, and seemed to complain of their - progress. - </p> - <p> - It was, in a way, historic, that journey of the boat-jumper, that parting - of the ancient wood and the last of its children. Their expedition carried - about all that was left of the spirit of the pioneer—his ingenuity, - his dauntless courage, his undying hope of "better times." The hollow log, - with its heart hewn out of it, groaning on its way to the sown land, - suggested the fate of the forest. Now, soon, the Lost River country would - have roads instead of trails, and its emperor would be a common - millionaire. The jumper and the woodsman had had their day. - </p> - <p> - Slowly they pursued their way, skirting thickets and going around fallen - trees, and stopping often to clear a passage. Strong followed, gripping - the handles that rose well above the stern of his odd craft, and so he - served as a rudder and support. An ox is able to go in soft footing, and - they struck boldly across a broad swamp nearly three miles down the river - shore. - </p> - <p> - It was near sundown when they camped for the night far down the outlet of - Catamount Pond. Strong put up a small tent and bottomed it with boughs - while Sinth was getting supper ready. Their work done, they sat before the - camp-fire and Sinth told tales of the wilderness. Sile sang again "The - Story of the Mellered Bear," and also an odd bit of nonsense which was, in - part, a relic of old times. The first line of each stanza came out slowly - and solemnly while the second ran as fast as he could move his tongue. In - his old memorandum-book he referred to it as "The Snaik Song," and it ran - as follows: - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0010" id="linkimage-0010"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0298.jpg" alt="0298m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0298.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - <br /><br /><a name="linkimage-0011" id="linkimage-0011"> </a> - </p> - <div class="fig" style="width:50%;"> - <img src="images/0299.jpg" alt="0299m " width="100%" /><br /> - </div> - <h5> - <a href="images/0299.jpg"><img src="images/enlarge.jpg" alt="" /> </a> - </h5> - <p> - Strong whittled as he sang, and soon presented the girl with a straight - rod of yellow osier upon which he had carved the brief legend, "Su—her - snaik stick." If she held to that, he explained, no snake would be able to - swallow her. - </p> - <p> - "I want one, too," said Socky. - </p> - <p> - "You m-mean a bear stick," Strong answered. "Girls have t' l-look out fer - s-snakes an' boys for b-bears." - </p> - <p> - They were all asleep on their bough beds before eight o'clock. - </p> - <p> - At that hour which Strong was wont to designate as "jes' daylight" he was - on his feet again. Whether early or late to bed he was always awake before - dawn. Some invisible watcher seemed to warn him of the coming of the - light. He held to one ol the ancient habits of the race, for he began - every day by kneeling to start a fire. He bent his head low and brought - his lips near it as if the flame were a sacred thing and he its - worshipper. - </p> - <p> - For a time that morning he was careful not to disturb the others. But - having attended to Patrick, he hurried to call the children. He hurried - for fear that Sinth would forestall him. He loved to wake and wait upon - them and hear their chatter. Their confidence in his power over all perils - had become a sweet and sacred sort of flattery in the view of Silas. He - had, too, a curious delight in seeing and feeling their little bodies - while he helped them to dress. Somehow it had all made him think less of - the pleasures of the wild country and more of Lady Ann. That "someday" of - his laconic pledge was drawing nearer and its light was in every hour of - his life. The children were leading him out of the brotherhood of the - forest into that of men. - </p> - <p> - He lifted the sleeping boy in his arms and gently woke him. Zeb had - followed and put his cold nose on the ear of Sue. Soon the children were - up and the Emperor kneeling before them, while his great hands awkwardly - held a "teenty" pair of stockings. - </p> - <p> - Sinth awoke and jealousy remarked, "Huh! I should think you was plumb - crazy 'bout them air childern." - </p> - <p> - Strong smiled and left them to her and began to prepare breakfast. - </p> - <p> - Soon all were on their way again, heading for the lower valley of Lost - River. They crossed two ridges and entered a wide swamp. There were many - delays, for they encountered fallen trees which had to be cleared away - with axe and lever, while here and there Strong gave the ox a footing of - corduroy. It was a warm day and the children fell asleep after an hour or - so. Sinth, who had been tossed about until speech wearied her tongue and - put it in some peril, sank into sighful resignation. - </p> - <p> - The jumper had stopped; Strong had gone ahead to look out his way. - Reaching higher ground he saw man tracks and followed them to an old - trail. Soon a piece of white paper pinned to a tree-trunk caught his eye. - He stopped and read this warning: - </p> - <p> - <i>"To Sile Strong</i> - </p> - <p> - <i>"You haint goin t' find the Rainbow country helthy place. If you go - thare youll git hung up by the heels. I mean business."</i> - </p> - <p> - The Emperor took off his faded crown. He scratched his head thoughtfully. - That message was probably inspired by some lawless man who had felt the - authority of the woods lover and who wanted no more of it. He had heard - that Migley had four camps on the Middle Branch, between there and - Rainbow, and that they were full of "cutthroats." That was a word that - stood for deer-slayers and all dare-devil men. - </p> - <p> - Whoever had put this threat in the way of the Emperor had probably heard - of his appointment and was trying to scare him away. The offender might - have been sent by Migley himself. - </p> - <p> - "W-We'll s-see," Strong muttered, with a stern look, as he returned to the - boat-jumper. Many had threatened him, one time or another, but he never - worried over that kind of thing. To-day, as on many occasions, he kept his - tongue sinless by keeping his mouth shut, and, touching his discovery on - the trail, said only the two words, "W-we'll see," and said them to - himself. He didn't believe in spreading trouble. - </p> - <p> - Slowly they made their way to a bend in Lost River far from the old camp. - As they halted to seek entrance to the water channel Strong came forward - and poked the children playfully until they opened their eyes. Then he put - a hand on either shoulder of Sinth and gave her a little shake. - </p> - <p> - "How ye f-feelin'?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "Redic'lous," she answered, "settin' here 'n a holler tree jest as if we - was a fam'ly o' raccoons." It was the most impatient remark she had made - in many days. - </p> - <p> - "B-Better times!" said the Emperor. He smiled and sat down to rest on the - side of the boat-jumper. He turned to the boy and asked, hopefully, "How - 'bout yer Uncle S-Silas?" - </p> - <p> - It had been rough, adventurous riding, but full of delight for the - children. That morning their uncle had loomed into heroic and satisfactory - proportions. Socky had long been thinking of the little silver compass - Master had given him one day and which hung on a ribbon tied about his - neck. He hoped they might be going where there would be other boys and - girls. He had been considering how to give to his uncle's person a touch - of grandeur and impressiveness fitting the story of the "mellered bear" - and his power and skill as a hunter. Soberly he removed the ribbon from - his neck and presented the shiny trinket to his uncle. - </p> - <p> - "Put that on yer neck," said he, proudly. - </p> - <p> - "Wh-what?" his uncle stammered. - </p> - <p> - "C'ris'mus present," said the boy, with a serious look. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor took off his faded crown. He put the ribbon over his head so - that the compass dangled on his breast. - </p> - <p> - "There," said Socky, "that looks a little better." - </p> - <p> - In a moment, with that prudence which always kept the last bridge between - himself and happiness, he added, "You can let me have it nights." - </p> - <p> - Every night since it fell to his possession he had gone forth into the - land of dreams with that compass held firmly in his right hand. - </p> - <p> - "Here's twenty-five cents," said Sue, holding out the sacred coin which - her nurse had given her, and which, on her way into the forest, had been - set aside for a sacrifice to the great man of her dreams. At last the two - had accepted him, without reserve, as worthy of all honor. They could - still wish for more in the way of personal grandeur, supplied in part by - the glittering compass, but something in him had satisfied their hearts if - not their eyes. He was again their sublime, their wonderful Emperor. - </p> - <p> - "You better keep it; you're going to buy an album for Aunt Sinthy," the - boy warned her. - </p> - <p> - Her little hand closed half-way on the silver; it wavered and fell in her - lap. She seemed to weigh the coin between her thumb and finger. She looked - from the man to the woman. Socky saw her dilemma and felt for her. - </p> - <p> - "I'll get her an album myself," he proposed. In that world of magic where - he lived nothing could discourage his faith and generosity. Their uncle - lifted them in his arms and held them against his breast without speaking. - </p> - <p> - "You've squeezed them childern till they're black in the face," said - Sinth, who now stood near him with a look of impatience. - </p> - <p> - She took them out of his arms and held them closer, if possible, than he - had done. - </p> - <p> - At the edge of the stream he shouted, "All 'board!" The others took their - seats, and the Emperor sat in the stern with his paddle. Socky faced him - so that he could see the compass. He often asked, proudly, "Which way we - goin'?" and Strong would look at the compass and promptly return the - information, "Sou' by east." The river ran shallow for more than a mile in - the direction of their travel. Patrick hauled them slowly down the edge of - the current. Strong steadied and steered with his paddle as they crept - along, bumping over stones and grinding over gravel until, at a sloping, - sandy beach on the farther shore, they mounted the bank and headed across - Huckleberry Plain. - </p> - <p> - Noon-time had passed when they left the hot plain. They threaded a narrow - fringe of tamaracks and entered thick woods again. At a noisy little - stream near by they stopped for dinner. Strong caught some trout and built - a fire and fried them, and made coffee. Sinth spread the dishes and - brought sandwiches and cheese and a big, frosted cake and a can of - preserved berries from the boat-jumper. They sat down to the reward of - honest hunger where the pure, cool air and the sylvan scene and the sound - of flowing water were more than meat to them, if that were possible. - </p> - <p> - Having eaten, they rose and pressed on with a happy sense of refreshment. - A thought of it was to brighten many a less cheerful hour. Half a mile - from their camping-place they found a smooth trail which led across level - country to the Middle Branch. Socky and Sue were again fast asleep on the - bottom of the boat-jumper long before they reached the river. When they - halted near its bank a broad stream of deep, slow water lay before them. - Strong unhitched the ox and led him along shore until he came to rapids - where, half a mile below, the river took its long, rocky slope to lower - country. There he tethered his ox and returned to fetch the others. He - launched his boat-jumper and got aboard and paddled carefully down-stream. - </p> - <p> - Having doubled a point, they came in sight of a slim boy who stood by the - water's edge aiming an ancient, long-barrelled gun. His head, which rested - against the breech, seemed, as the Emperor reported, "'bout the size of a - pippin." - </p> - <p> - "E-look out!" Strong shouted, as the boy lowered his gun to regard the - travellers with an expression of deep concern. - </p> - <p> - "See any mushrats?" the boy asked, eagerly. - </p> - <p> - "N-no; who're you?" - </p> - <p> - "Jo Henyon." - </p> - <p> - Strong had heard of old Henyon, who was known familiarly as "Mushrat - Bill." For years Bill had haunted the Middle Branch. - </p> - <p> - "Wh-where d' ye live?" - </p> - <p> - "Yender," said the boy, pointing downstream as he ran ahead of them. - </p> - <p> - Presently they came to an old cabin near the water's edge with a small - clearing around it. A woman wearing a short skirt and Shaker bonnet stood - on one leg looking down at them. Children were rushing out of the cabin - door. - </p> - <p> - "My land! where's her other leg?" Sinth mused. - </p> - <p> - The Emperor looked thoughtfully at the strange woman. - </p> - <p> - "F-folks are like cranes over in this c-country," Strong answered. "Always - rest on one leg." - </p> - <p> - He drove his bow on a sloping, sandy beach. The woman hopped into the - cabin door. Her many children hurried to the landing. A man with head and - feet bare followed them. An old undershirt, one suspender, and a tattered - pair of overalls partly covered his body. He walked slowly towards the - shore. He was the famous trapper of the Middle Branch. - </p> - <p> - "F-fur to Rainbow T-Trail?" Strong inquired of him. - </p> - <p> - The latter put his hand to his ear and said, "What?" Strong repeated his - query in a much louder voice. - </p> - <p> - "Fur ain't very thick," the stranger answered. - </p> - <p> - Strong perceived that the man was very deaf and also that he was devoted - to one idea. - </p> - <p> - "B-big fam'ly," he shouted, as he began to push off. - </p> - <p> - The trapper, with his hand to his ear and still looking a bit doubtful, - answered, "Ain't runnin' very big this year." - </p> - <p> - Thereafter the word "mushrats," in the vocabulary of Strong, stood for - unworthy devotion to a single purpose. - </p> - <p> - Down-stream a little the ox took his place again at the bow of the - boat-jumper. They struck off into thick woods reaching far and wide on the - acres of Uncle Sam. A mile or so inland they came to Rainbow Trail, and - thereafter followed it. Timber thieves had been cutting big pines and - spruces and had left a slash on either side of the trail. - </p> - <p> - The travellers dipped down across the edge of a wide valley, and after - climbing again were in the midst of burned ground on the top of a high - ridge. Below them they could see Rainbow Lake and the undulating canopy of - a great, two-storied forest reaching to hazy distances. Mighty towers of - spruce and pine and hemlock rose into the sunlit, upper heavens. - </p> - <p> - It was growing dusk when, below them and well off the trail, they saw a - column of smoke rising. They halted, and Strong stood gazing. The smoke - grew in volume and he made off down the side of the ridge. He came in - sight of the fire and stopped. Some one had fled through thickets of young - spruce and Zeb was pursuing him. - </p> - <p> - Strong looked off in the gloomy forest and shouted a fierce oath at its - invisible enemy. - </p> - <p> - Near him flames were leaping above a fallen top and running in tiny jets - over dry duff like the waste of a fountain. Swiftly Strong cut branches of - green birch and began to lay about him. He stopped the flames and then dug - with his hatchet until he struck sand. He scooped it into his hat and soon - smothered the cinders. - </p> - <p> - His face had a troubled expression as he returned to the boat-jumper. - </p> - <p> - "Who you been yellin' at?" Sinth asked. - </p> - <p> - "C-careless cuss," he answered, evasively. - </p> - <p> - Socky wore a look of indignation. He glibly repeated the oath which he had - heard his uncle use. - </p> - <p> - "Hush! The Sundayman'll ketch you," Sinth answered, severely. - </p> - <p> - Strong gave a whistle of surprise. - </p> - <p> - "Uncle Silas ain't 'fraid o' no Sundayman," Socky guessed. - </p> - <p> - "Y-yes I be—could kill me with a s-snap of his finger," Strong - declared. - </p> - <p> - Socky trembled as he thought of that one inhabitant of the earth who was - greater than his Uncle Silas and said no more. - </p> - <p> - "S-see here, boy," said Strong, as he put his fingers under Socky's chin - and raised his head' a little, "I w-won't never swear ag'in if y-you - won't." - </p> - <p> - He held out his great hand and Socky took it. - </p> - <p> - "Y-you agree?" - </p> - <p> - Socky nodded with a serious look, and so it happened that Silas became the - master of his own tongue. He had "boiled over" for the last time—so - he thought. The old habit which had grown out of a thousand trials and - difficulties must give way, and henceforth he would be emperor of his own - spirit. - </p> - <p> - As to the fire and the man who had fled before him, Strong was perplexed, - but kept his own counsel. He knew that the law permitted lumbermen to - enter burned lands on the State preserve and take all timber which fire - had damaged. A fire which might only have scorched the trunks while it - devoured the crowns above them gave a rich harvest to some lucky - lumberman. Having gained access, he stripped the earth, helping himself to - the living as well as the dead trees. <i>Fire, therefore, had become a - source of profit wherein lay the temptation to kindle it.</i> - </p> - <p> - Silas Strong knew that his land of refuge was doomed—that the - forerunner of its desolation was even then hiding somewhere in the near, - dusky woods. He thought of the peril after a dry summer. The mould of the - forest would burn like tinder. - </p> - <p> - The dethroned Emperor reached the shore of Rainbow, put up a tent, and - helped to get supper ready. After supper he lay down to rest in the - firelight, and told the children about the great bear and the - panther-bird. Sinth, weary after that long day of travel, had gone to - sleep. After an hour or so Strong rose and looked down at her. - </p> - <p> - "Sh-sh!—don't w-wake her," he warned them. "I'll put ye t' b-bed." - </p> - <p> - He helped them undress. - </p> - <p> - "You'll have to hear our prayers," Socky whispered. - </p> - <p> - Strong nodded. He sat on a box and they knelt between his knees and he put - his hands on their heads and bowed his own. - </p> - <p> - When they had finished he bent lower and dictated this brief kind of - postscript, "An' keep us from all d-danger this n-night." - </p> - <p> - They repeated the words with no suspicion of what lay behind them. - </p> - <p> - Then Socky whispered, "Say something 'bout the Sundayman." - </p> - <p> - "An' keep the Sundayman away," Strong added. - </p> - <p> - They repeated the words, and then, as if his heart were still unsatisfied, - Socky added these, "An' please take care o' my Uncle Silas." - </p> - <p> - The Emperor lay thinking long after his weary companions had gone to - sleep. He thought of that angry outcry and his heart smote him; he thought - of the danger. Perhaps, after all, they would not dare to burn the woods - now. But Strong resolved to keep awake and be ready for trouble if it - came. By-and-by he lighted a lantern and wrote in his old memorandum-book - as follows: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Strong use to say prufanity does more harm when ye keep it in than - when ye let it natcherly drene off but among childem it's as ketchin' as - the measles. Sounds like thunder when it comes out of a boy's mouth an - hits like chain lightnin."</i> - </p> - <p> - Long before midnight rain began to fall. Strong rose and went out under - the trees and lifted his face and hands, in a picturesque and priestlike - attitude, to feel the grateful drops and whispered, "Thank God!" It was a - gentle shower but an hour of it would be enough. He went back to his bed - and lay listening. The faded leaves that still clung in the maple-tops - above them rattled like a thousand tambourines. After an hour of the - grateful downpour Strong's fear abated and he "let go" and sank into deep - slumber. - </p> - <p> - Almost the last furrow in the old sod of his character had been turned. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXXI - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>HE sun rose clear - next morning. Although a long shower of rain had come one could see no - sign of it save in the drifted leaves. The earth had drunk it down quickly - and seemed to be drying with its own heat. Strong felt the soil and the - leaves. He blew and shook his head with surprise. - </p> - <p> - While the others lay sleeping in their tent, he made a fire and set out in - quest of a spring. Half a mile or so up the lake shore a bear broke out of - a thicket of young firs just ahead of him. Strong was caught again without - his rifle. Satan came as swiftly as the bear had fled, but could not - prevail against him. Strong was delighted with this chance of showing the - strength of his new purpose. In among the fir-trees he found the carcass - of a buck upon which the bear had been feeding. - </p> - <p> - "P-paunchers!" Strong muttered. - </p> - <p> - He climbed the side of the ridge and presently struck the trail leading - into camp. Soon he could hear some one coming, and sat on a log and - waited. It was Master, who had gone to Lost River camp and then followed - the trail of the boat-jumper. - </p> - <p> - "Slept last night in a lean-to over on the Middle Branch," said he. "Been - travelling since an hour before daylight and I'm hungry." - </p> - <p> - "N-news from the gal?" - </p> - <p> - "No. Have you?" - </p> - <p> - Strong shook his head solemnly. "They've t-took the hills, an' I've come - over here t' work fer Uncle S-sam," said he. - </p> - <p> - "Warden?" - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh—been app'inted," Strong answered, with a look of sadness and - satisfaction. - </p> - <p> - "They're very cunning—Wilbert and the rest of them," Master said. - "They've put a little salve on you and sent you out of the way. You're too - serious-minded for them. That dynamite trick of yours set 'em all - thinking. They won't keep you here long—you're too dead in earnest. - But there's room enough for you over in the Clear Lake country, and when - they get ready to shove you out come and be at home with us." - </p> - <p> - A moment of silence followed. The simple mind of the woodsman was looking - deep into the darkness that surrounded the throne of the great king. - </p> - <p> - "You're camp looks as if it had been struck by lightning," Master added. - </p> - <p> - Strong showed the letter containing his appointment, and told of the - threat to hang him up by the heels. - </p> - <p> - "The commissioner is on the square—he means well," said Master, "but - they're using him. These lumbermen intend to drive you out of the woods, - and they've got you headed for the clearing. You won't stay here long. In - my opinion they'll burn this valley." - </p> - <p> - Strong looked into the face of the young man. - </p> - <p> - "What makes ye think so?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "Because they want the timber, and because they've got you here," said - Master. "I heard of your appointment. I heard, too, that Joe Socket and - Pop Migley and Dennis Mulligan thought you were the right man for the - place. I knew there'd be something doing, and I came in here to warn you. - Don't ever trust the benevolence of Satan." - </p> - <p> - "By—" Strong paused and gave his thigh a slap. "I know w-what - they're up to," he muttered, thoughtfully. "They'll make it too hot f-fer - m-me here." - </p> - <p> - He told of the fire and the man who fled in the bushes. - </p> - <p> - "They're going to fire the valley, and don't intend to give you time to - sit down," said Master. "It's a dangerous country just now." - </p> - <p> - "Have t' take Sinth an' the ch-childem out o' here r-right off," the - hunter answered. "If you'll stay with 'em t'-day, I'll go an' g-git some - duffle an' we'll p-put over the r-ridge with 'em t'-night." - </p> - <p> - Back at the old camp there were things he needed sorely, and he reckoned - that he could make the round trip with a pack-basket by five in the - afternoon. - </p> - <p> - "It's still and the leaves are d-damp," Strong mused. "Fire wouldn't run - much t'-day." - </p> - <p> - "To-morrow I'll get a force of men and we'll surround this valley," said - Master. - </p> - <p> - They hurried into camp and were greeted with merry cries. Soon they were - sitting on a blanket beside the others, eating in the ancient fashion of - the pioneer. - </p> - <p> - The young man had brought a letter from Gordon which contained a sum of - money and welcome news. Sinth read the letter aloud. - </p> - <p> - "'My dear friends,'" she read, "'I had hoped to write you long ago, but I - have been waiting for better news to tell. My struggle is over and I am - now master of myself. I paid to my creditors all the money you gave me.'" - </p> - <p> - "Did you give him money?" Sinth looked up to inquire. - </p> - <p> - "Uh-huh," Strong answered. - </p> - <p> - "How much?" - </p> - <p> - "All I had." - </p> - <p> - "You're a fool!" Sinth exclaimed, and went on reading as follows:' - </p> - <p> - "'Socky had given me his little tin bank. It contained just a dollar and - thirty-two cents. The sacred sum paid my fare to Benson Falls and bought - my dinner. I got a job there in the mill and soon I expect to be its - manager. I'm a new man. If you want a job I can place you here at good - pay. In a week or two I shall—'" - </p> - <p> - Sinth stopped reading and covered her face with her apron. - </p> - <p> - "What does it s-say?" Silas inquired, soberly. - </p> - <p> - She handed the letter to him, and he read the last words: "'I shall come - after the children and will then pay you in full with interest. No, I can - never pay you in full, for there's something better than money that I owe - you.'" Strong's face changed color. He dropped the letter and rose. - </p> - <p> - "W-well," he stammered. - </p> - <p> - "He sha'n't have 'em," said Sinth, decisively. "Tut, tut!" Silas answered. - </p> - <p> - He raised the boy in his arms and kissed him. "W-we're both f-fools," he - said, huskily. - </p> - <p> - "You ain't exac'ly fools, but yer both childern," said Sinth, wiping her - eyes. - </p> - <p> - "Well, you know the Bible says we must become as a little child," said - Master. "After all, money is only a measure of value, and one thing it - does with absolute precision—a man's money measures the depth of his - heart." - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXXII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>TRONG left camp - with his pack and rifle and two bear-traps. He was nearing the dead buck - when a shot stopped him, and a bullet cut through his left fore-arm. The - deadly missile came no swifter than his understanding of it. - </p> - <p> - He dropped as if a death-blow had struck him, and, clinging to his rifle, - crept in among the firs. He flung off the straps of his basket. He lay - still a moment and then cautiously got to his knees. Blood was trickling - down his hand, but he gave no heed to it. The ball had come from higher - ground, towards which he had been walking. The man who had tried to kill - him could not have stood more than two hundred feet away. Strong sat, - rifle in hand, peering through the fir branches—alert as a panther - waiting for its prey. Soon he caught a glimpse of his enemy fleeing - between distant tree columns. The sight seemed to fill him with deadly - anger. - </p> - <p> - He leaped to his feet, seized his pack-basket, and started swiftly in - pursuit of him. He gained the summit of the high ground and saw a broad - slash covered with berry bushes and sloping to the flats around Bushrod - Creek. A trail cut through it from the edge of the woods near him. - </p> - <p> - He stopped and listened. He could hear the sound of retreating footsteps - and could see briers moving some thirty rods down the slash. His heart had - shaken off its rage. He was now the cunning, stealthy, determined hunter. - He saw a dry, stag-headed pine in the edge of the briers near him and - hurried up its shaft like a bear pressed by the dogs. On a dead limb, some - thirty feet above ground, he halted and looked away. He could see nothing - of his unknown foe. - </p> - <p> - Slowly Strong descended from the dead tree. He had just begun to feel the - pain of his wound. Blood was dripping fast from it; he looked like a - butcher in the midst of his task. He muttered as he began to roll his - sleeve, "G-guess they do inten't' shove me out o' this c-country." - </p> - <p> - He blew as he looked at the wound. - </p> - <p> - "B-Business is p-prosperin'," he went on, as he held one end of a big red - handkerchief between his teeth and wound it above the torn muscles and - firmly knotted the ends. - </p> - <p> - "W-war!" he muttered, as he went to the near bushes and began to gather - spiders' webs. - </p> - <p> - It is to be regretted that for a moment he forgot his promise to Socky and - "boiled over" from the heat of his passion. - </p> - <p> - He sat on the ground and with his knife scraped away the blood clots. - </p> - <p> - "D-damn soft-nose bullet!" he muttered, with a serious look, smoothing, - down the fibres of torn flesh. - </p> - <p> - He spread the webs upon his wound, and held them close awhile under his - great palm. Soon he moistened a lot of tobacco and put it on the webs and - held it there. After an hour or so the blood stopped. Then, gradually, he - relieved the tension of his handkerchief, and by-and-by used it for a - bandage on his wound. - </p> - <p> - He rose and shouldered his pack and began to search for the tracks of his - enemy. He soon discovered those of the bear which had fled before him that - morning. - </p> - <p> - "S-see here, Strong," he muttered, "th-this won't scurcely do. I arrest - you, S. Strong, Esquire. Y-you're my prisoner. T-tryin' t' kill a man—you - b-bloodthirsty devil! C-come with me. We'll hunt fer b-bears." - </p> - <p> - The Emperor had often addressed himself with severe and even copious - condemnation, but this was the first time that he had ever taken S. Strong - by the coat-collar and violently faced him about. - </p> - <p> - He could see clearly where the bear had broken through the wet briers on - his way down to the flat country. It was a moment of peril, and he gave - himself no time for argument. He hurried away in the trail of the bear. It - lay before him, unmistakable as the wake of a boat, and would show where - the animal was wont to cross the water below. He came soon to a great log - lying from shore to shore of that inlet of Rainbow which was called - Bushrod Creek. He could see tracks near the end of the log, and there, - with a spruce pole for a lever, he set his traps in the sand so that, if - the first were not sprung, the second would be sure to take hold. He - covered the great, yawning, seven-toothed jaws of steel and fastened heavy - clogs upon both trap chains. Then he took the piece of bacon from his pack - and hung it on a branch above the traps. - </p> - <p> - Shrewdly the hunter had made his plan. - </p> - <p> - That bear would probably return to the dead buck, and the scent of the - bacon would attract him to that particular crossing. - </p> - <p> - He tore two pages from his memorandum-book, and wrote this warning on - each: - </p> - <h3> - STOP TRAPS AHED - </h3> - <h3> - S. STRONG. - </h3> - <p> - He fastened them to stakes and posted them on two sides of the point of - danger. - </p> - <p> - It was then past eleven and too late for the long journey to Lost River - camp. He decided to go to Henyon's on the Middle Branch and get the - trapper to come and keep watch while he took Sinth and the children to - Benson Falls. - </p> - <p> - On his way out of the slash he killed a deer, and dressed and hung him on - a tree. Then he set out for the trail to Henyon's. - </p> - <p> - He had walked for an hour or so when his pace began to slacken. - </p> - <p> - "T-y-ty!" he whispered, stopping suddenly. "S. Strong, what's the - m-matter? Yer all of a-tremble." - </p> - <p> - Strong felt sick and weary, and took off his pack and sat down to rest on - a bed of leaves. Then he discovered that the handkerchief upon his arm was - dripping wet. Again he stopped the blood by cording. - </p> - <p> - He lay back on the ground suffering with faintness and acute pain. Soon - obeying the instinct of man and beast, which prompts one to hide his - weakness and even his death-throes, he crept behind the top of a fallen - tree. - </p> - <p> - His heart had been overstrained of late by worry and heavy toil. Now for - the first time he could feel it laboring a little as if it missed the - blood which had been dripping slowly but steadily from his arm. At last a - day was come that had no pleasure in it—a day when the keepers of - the house had begun to tremble. - </p> - <p> - Soon the warm sunlight fell through forest branches on the great body of - Strong, who had lost command of himself and become the prisoner of sleep. - </p> - <p> - In the memorandum-book there is an entry without date in a script of - unusual size. Those large letters were made slowly and with a trembling - hand. It was probably written while he sat there in the lonely, autumn - woods before giving up to his weakness. This is the entry: - </p> - <p> - <i>"Theys days when I dont blieve God is over per-ticklar with a man bout - swearin."</i> - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXXIII - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">S</span>OON after - breakfast that morning Master had hitched the ox to the boat-jumper. - </p> - <p> - "My land! Where ye goin'?" Sinth inquired. - </p> - <p> - "To-morrow we're going out to Benson Falls with you and the children," - said Master. "I thought we'd better take the ox and what things you need - to-day as far as Link Harris's. That's about four miles down the Leonard - trail. The ox will have all he can do to-morrow if he starts from - Harris's." - </p> - <p> - The young man said nothing of another purpose which he had in mind—that - of learning, as soon as possible, the nearest way out of the Rainbow - country. - </p> - <p> - "What does that mean?" Sinth asked. - </p> - <p> - "Only this—we may have trouble with these pirates, and we want to - get you out of the way. We'll have to travel, and we can't leave you in - the camp alone. You and the children can ride over, and we'll come back - afoot." - </p> - <p> - So Sinth packed her satchels and a big camp-bag, and all made the journey - to Harris's where they left the ox and the jumper. - </p> - <p> - It was near six o'clock when they returned to the little camp at Rainbow. - Strong was not there, and after supper, while the dusk fell, they sat on a - blanket by the fire, and Sinth raked the old scrap-heap of family history - to which a score of ancestors had contributed, each in his time. It was - all a kind of folk-lore—mouldy, rusty, distorted, dreamlike. It told - of bears in the pig-pen, of moose in the door-yard, of panthers glaring - through the windows at night, of Indians surrounding the cabin, and of the - torture by fire and steel. - </p> - <p> - At bedtime Silas had not arrived. Sinth, however, showed no sign of worry. - He knew the woods so well, and there were bear and fish and sundry - temptations, each greater than his bed. - </p> - <p> - "Mebbe he's took after a bear," Sinth suggested, while she began to - undress the children. - </p> - <p> - "You remember we heard him shoot soon after he left here," said Master. - "It may be he wounded a bear and followed him." - </p> - <p> - "Like as not," she answered. - </p> - <p> - In a moment she put her hand on Master's arm and whispered to him. - </p> - <p> - "Say!" said she, "I don't want to make trouble, but if I was you I - wouldn't wait no longer for that old fool." - </p> - <p> - She stalled the needles into her ball of yarn and rolled up her knitting. - She continued, with a sigh of impatience: - </p> - <p> - "I'd go over to Buckhom an' git that girl, if I had to bring 'er on my - back." - </p> - <p> - "That's about what I propose to do," said the young man, with a laugh. - </p> - <p> - "I'm sick o' this dilly-dally in'," said Sinth, "an' I guess she is, too." - </p> - <p> - With that she led Socky and Sue into the tent. When the others had gone to - bed Master began to think of the shot which had broken the silence of the - autumn woods that morning. He lighted a lantern and followed as nearly as - he could the direction his friend had taken. By-and-by he stopped and - whistled on his thumb and stood listening. The woods were silent. Soon he - could see where Strong had crossed a little run and roughed the leaves - beyond it. Master followed his tracks and came to the dead deer. He saw - that a bear had found it, and near by there were signs of a struggle and - of fresh blood. Now satisfied that Strong had shot and followed the bear, - he hurried back to camp. - </p> - <p> - He spread a blanket before the fire and laydown to think and rest in the - silence. Buck-horn was only four miles from the upper end of Rainbow. One - could put his canoe in the Middle Branch and go without a carry to the - outlet of Slender Lake—little more than a great marsh—then up - the still water to a landing within half an hour of Dunmore's. He would - make the journey in a day or two, and, if possible, take the girl out of - the woods. - </p> - <p> - The night was dark and still. He could hear now and then the fall of a - dead leaf that gave a ghostly whisper as it brushed through high branches - on its way down. - </p> - <p> - Suddenly another sound caught his ear. He rose and listened. It was a - distant, rhythmic beat of oars on the lake. Who could be crossing at that - hour? He walked to the shore and stood looking off into inky darkness. He - could still hear the sound of oars. Some one was rowing with a swift, - nervous, jumping stroke, and the sound was growing fainter. Somehow it - quickened the pulse of the young, man a little—he wondered why. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXXIV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">M</span>ASTER returned to - the fire and lay back on his blanket. Little puffs of air had begun to - rattle the dead leaves above him. Soon he could hear a wind coming over - the woodland. It was like the roar of distant sea-billows. Waves of wind - began to whistle in the naked branches overhead. In a moment the main - flood of the gale was roaring through them, and every tree column had - begun to creak and groan. Master rose and looked up at the sky. He could - see a wavering glow through the tree-tops. The odor of smoke was in the - air. He ran to call Miss Strong, and met her coming out of her tent. She - had smelled the smoke and quickly dressed. - </p> - <p> - "My land, the woods are afire!" she cried. - </p> - <p> - The sky had brightened as if a great, golden moon were rising. - </p> - <p> - Sinth ran back into her tent and woke the children. With swift and eager - hands the young man helped her while she put on their clothes. She said - not a word until they were dressed. Then, half blinded by thickening smoke - and groping on her way to the other tent, she said, despairingly, "I - wonder where Silas is?" - </p> - <p> - A great, feathery cinder fell through the tree-tops. - </p> - <p> - "Come quick, we must get out of here," Master called, as he lifted the - crying children. "We've no time to lose." - </p> - <p> - She flung some things in a satchel and tried to follow. In the smoke it - was difficult to breathe and almost impossible to find their way. Master - put down the children and tore some rope from a tent-side and tied it to - the dog's collar. Then he shouted, "Go home, Zeb!" They clung to one - another while the dog led them into the trail. Master had Socky and Sue in - his arms. He hurried up the long slope of Rainbow Ridge, the woman - following. - </p> - <p> - They could now hear the charge and raven of the flames that were tearing - into a resinous swamp-roof not far away. - </p> - <p> - "Comin' fast!" Sinth exclaimed. "Can't see or breathe hardly." - </p> - <p> - "Drop your satchel and cling to my coat-tails," Master answered, stopping - to give her a hold. - </p> - <p> - A burning rag of rotten timber, flying with the wind, caught in a green - top above them. It broke and fell in flakes of fire. Master flung one off - his coat-sleeve, and, seizing a stalk of witch-hopple, whipped the glow - out of them. On they pressed, mounting slowly into better air. Just ahead - of them they could see the wavering firelight on their trail. On a bare - ledge near the summit they stopped to rest their lungs a moment. - </p> - <p> - They were now above the swift army of flame and a little off the west - flank of it. They could see into a red, smoky, luminous gulf, leagues long - and wide, beneath the night-shadow. Ten thousand torches of balsam and - spruce and pine and hemlock sent aloft their reeling towers of flame and - flung their light through the long valley. It illumined a black, - wind-driven cloud of smoke waving over the woodland like a dismal flag of - destruction. A great wedge of flame was rending its way northward. Sparks - leaped along the sides of it like fiery dust beneath the feet of the - conqueror. They rose high and drifted over the lake chasm and fell in a - sleet of fire on the lighted waves. The loose and tattered jacket of many - an old stub was tom into glowing rags and scattered by the wind. Some - hurtled off a mile or more from their source, and isolated fountains of - flame were spreading here and there on balsam flats near the lake margin. - Some of the tall firs, when first touched by the cinder-shower, were like - great Christmas-trees hung with tinsel and lighted by many candles. - New-caught flames, bending in the wind, had the look of horses at full - gallop. Ropes and arrows and spears and lances of fire were flying and - curveting over the doomed woods. - </p> - <p> - The travellers halted only for a moment. They could feel the heat on their - faces. Black smoke had begun to roll over the heights around them. - </p> - <p> - "It'll go up the valley in an hour an' cut Silas off," Sinth whimpered as - they went on. - </p> - <p> - "He must have crossed the valley before now," the young man assured her. - </p> - <p> - The woman ran ahead and called, loudly, "Silas! Silas!" She continued - calling as they hurried on through thickening smoke. They halted for a - word at Leonard's Trail, which left the main thoroughfare to Rainbow, and, - going down the east side of the ridge, fared away some ten miles over hill - and dale to the open country. - </p> - <p> - It was at right angles with the way of the wind and would soon lead them - out of danger. - </p> - <p> - "Make for Benson Falls with the childem!" cried Sinth. "I'm goin' after - Silas." She knew that her brother would surely be coming—that, - seeing the fire, he would take any hazard to reach them. - </p> - <p> - Master knew not what to do. He had begun to worry about the people at - Buckhom, but his work was nearer to his hand. It was there at the fork in - the trail. He sent a loud, far-reaching cry down the wind, but heard no - answer. - </p> - <p> - "He'll take care of himself—you'd better get away from this valley," - he called. - </p> - <p> - An oily top had taken fire below and within a hundred yards of them. - </p> - <p> - "Go, go quick, an' save them childern!" she urged. Then she ran away from - him. - </p> - <p> - She hurried along the top of the ridge, calling as she went. A dim, misty - glow filled the cavern of the woods around her. Just ahead drops of fire - seemed to be dripping through the forest roof. It failed to catch. It - would let her go a little farther, and she pressed on. A fold of the great - streamer of smoke was rent away and rolled up the side of the ridge and - covered her. She sank upon her knees, nearly smothered, and put her skirt - over her face. The cloud passed in a moment. Her sleeve caught fire and - she put it out with her hand. She felt her peril more keenly and tried to - run. She heard Zeb sniffing and coughing near. Master had let him go, - thinking that he might help her in some way. She stooped and called to him - and took hold of the dragging rope. The dog pressed on so eagerly that he - carried part of her weight. A broken bough in a tree-top just ahead of her - had caught fire and swung like a big lantern. She had no sooner passed - than she heard the tree burst into flame with a sound like the frying of - fat. She felt her hand stinging her and saw that a little flame was - running up the side of her skirt. She cried, "Mercy!" and knelt and - smothered it with her hands. Gasping for breath, she fell forward, her - face upon the ground. - </p> - <p> - "Silas Strong," she moaned, "you got to come quick or I won't never see - you again." The dog heard her and licked her face. - </p> - <p> - Down among the ferns and mosses she found a stratum of clear air, and in a - moment rose and reeled a few steps farther. The flank of the invader had - overrun the heights. Her seeking was near its end. Showers of fire were - falling beyond and beside her. She lay down and covered her face to - protect it from heat and smoke. She rose and staggered on, calling loudly. - Then she heard a bark from Zeb and the familiar halloo of Silas Strong. - </p> - <p> - Through some subtle but sure intuition the two had known what to expect of - each other and had clung to the trail. She saw him running out of the - smoke-cloud and whipping his arms with his old felt hat. One side of his - beard was burned away. He picked her up as if she had been a child and ran - down the east side of the ridge with her, leaping over logs and crashing - through fallen tops. Beyond the showering sparks he stopped and smothered - a circle of creeping fire on her skirt. Sinth lay in his arms moaning and - sobbing. He shook her and shouted, almost fiercely, "The leetle f-fawns—wh-where - be they?" - </p> - <p> - "Gone with him on Leonard's Trail," Sinth answered, brokenly. - </p> - <p> - He entered a swamp in the dim-lighted forest, now running, now striding - slowly through fallen timber and up to his knees in the damp earth. Every - moment the air was growing clearer. He ran over a hard-wood hill and - slackened pace while he made his way half across a wide flat. - </p> - <p> - When he struck the trail to Benson Falls the fire-glow was fainter. Now - and then a great, rushing billow of light swept over them and vanished. He - stopped and blew and put Sinth on her feet. - </p> - <p> - "Hard n-night, sis," said he, tenderly. - </p> - <p> - She stood and made no answer. In a flare of firelight he saw that she was - holding out one of her hands. He struck a match and looked at it and made - a rueful cluck. The fire of the match seemed to frighten her; she - staggered backward and fell with a cry. He caught her up and strode slowly - on. Soon she seemed to recover self-control and lay silent. He was in - great pain; he was reeling under his burden, but he kept on. She put up a - hand and felt his face. - </p> - <p> - "Why, Silas," she said, in a frightened voice, "you're crying." - </p> - <p> - It was then that he fell to the ground helpless. - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXXV - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">T</span>ERROR had begun to - spread in the wilderness north of Rainbow. The smoky wind, the growing - firelight had roused all the children of the forest. Chattering birds rose - high and took the way of the wind to safety. One could see flying lines of - wild-fowl in the lighted heavens; faintly, as they passed, one could hear - their startled cries. Deer ran aimlessly through the woods like frightened - sheep. From scores of camps on lake and pond and river—from - Buckhorn, from Barsook, from Five Ponds, from Sabattis, from Big and - Little Sandy, from Lost River—people, who had seen the fire coming, - were on their way out of the woods. - </p> - <p> - Master ran at first down Leonard's Trail with the boy and girl in his - arms. Soon his thoughts halted him. He had withstood the severest trial - that may be set before a man. To be compelled to seek safety with the - children, while a woman took the way of peril before his eyes, had made - him falter a moment. - </p> - <p> - He hoped that Sinth had left the ridge, now overrun with flames, and fled - down the slope. If so she would be looking for Leonard's Trail. He stopped - every few paces and sent a loud halloo into the woods. Fire was crackling - down the side of the ridge. As he looked back it seemed to him that the - great lake of hell must be flooding into the world. - </p> - <p> - Soon the trail led him to Sinth, who was on her knees and sobbing beside - her brother. - </p> - <p> - That wiry little woman had struggled there alone with energy past all - belief. She thought only of the danger and forgot her pain. She had toiled - with the heavy body of her brother, as the ant toils with a burden larger - than itself, dragging it slowly, inch by inch, in the direction of - Harris's. She had moved it a distance of some fifty feet before she heard - the call of Master. Then she fell moaning and clinging to the hands of him - she loved better, far better even, than she had ever permitted herself to - know. It may well be doubted—O you who have probably lost patience - with her long ago!—if anything in human history is more wonderful - than the lonely struggle of hers in that dim, flaring, threatening - hell-glow. - </p> - <p> - Master quickly knelt by the fallen Emperor. "What's the matter?" he asked. - </p> - <p> - "He's gi'n out—done fer me until he can't do no more," she wailed. - </p> - <p> - She put her arms around the great breast of the man and laid her cheek - upon it tenderly. Then her heart, which had always hidden its fondness, - spoke out in a broken cry: - </p> - <p> - "Silas Strong—speak t' me. I can't—I can't spare ye nohow—I - can't spare ye." - </p> - <p> - The children knelt by her and called with frightened voices: "Uncle Silas! - Uncle Silas!" Strong began to move. Those beloved voices had seemed to - call him back. He put his hand on the head of Sinth and drew it close to - him. - </p> - <p> - "B-better times!" he whispered. "B-better times, I tell ye, s-sis!" - </p> - <p> - He struggled to his knees. - </p> - <p> - "S-say," he said to Master, "I've been shot. T-tie yer han'kerchief - r-round my arm quick." The young man tied his handkerchief as directed. - Then Strong tried to rise, but his weight bore him down. - </p> - <p> - "Lie still," said Master. "I can carry you." He took the rope from Zeb's - collar and looped it over the breast of the helpless man and drew its ends - under his arms and knotted them. Then, while Sinth supported her brother, - the young man reached backward over his shoulders and, grasping the rope, - lifted his friend so their backs were against each other, and, leaning - under his burden, struggled on with it, the others following. - </p> - <p> - It was a toilsome, painful journey to Harris's. But what is impossible - when the strong heart of youth, warmed with dauntless courage, turns to - its task? We that wonder as we look backward may venture to put the query, - but dare not answer it. - </p> - <p> - Often Master fell to his knees and there steadied himself a moment with - heaving breast, then tightened his thews again and rose and measured the - way with slow, staggering feet. - </p> - <p> - An hour or so later a clear-voiced call rang through the noisy wind. They - stopped and listened. - </p> - <p> - "Somebody coming," said Master. - </p> - <p> - He answered with, a loud halloo as they went on wearily. Soon they saw - some one approaching in the dusky trail. - </p> - <p> - "Who's there?" the young man asked. - </p> - <p> - "Edith Dunmore," was the answer that trembled with gladness. "Oh, sir! I - would have gone through the fire." - </p> - <p> - "I know," said he, "you would have gone through the fire." - </p> - <p> - "For—for you," she added, brokenly. - </p> - <p> - Master dared not lay down his burden. He toiled on, his heart so full that - he could not answer. The girl walked beside him for a moment of solemn, - suggestive silence. She could dimly see the prostrate body of Strong on - the back of her lover, and understood. What a singular and noble restraint - was in that meeting! - </p> - <p> - "I love you—I love you, and I want to help you," she said, as she - walked beside him. - </p> - <p> - "Help Miss Strong," he answered. "She is badly burned." - </p> - <p> - Little Sue was overcome with weariness and fear, and could not be - comforted. - </p> - <p> - The maiden carried her with one arm and with the other supported Sinth. - So, slowly, they made their way over the rough trail. - </p> - <p> - "How came you here?" Master inquired, presently. - </p> - <p> - "We saw the fire coming and hurried to Slender Lake, and fled in boats and - came down the river." - </p> - <p> - When, late in the night, the little band of lovers reeled across the - dimlit clearing, it was in sore distress. Their feet dragged, their hearts - and bodies stooped with heaviness. A company of woods-folk, who stood in - front of Harris's looking off at the fire, ran to meet them. They lifted - the dragging Emperor and helped the young man carry him in-doors. Master - was no sooner relieved of his burden than he fell exhausted on the floor. - </p> - <p> - Edith Dunmore knelt by him and raised his hands to her lips. She helped - him rise, and then for a moment they stood and trembled in each other's - arms, and were like unto the oak and the vine that clings to it. - </p> - <p> - Dunmore and his mother stood looking at them. The white-haired man had - taken the children in his arms. - </p> - <p> - "I thought she went to bed and to sleep long ago," he muttered. - </p> - <p> - "Without her we should have perished," said the old lady. . - </p> - <p> - "Yes, and she shall have her way," he answered. "One might as well try to - keep the deer out of the lily-pads." He kissed the boy and girl, and - added, with a sigh, "This world is for the young." - </p> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> - <hr /> - <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> </a> - </p> - <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - <h2> - XXXVI - </h2> - <p class="pfirst"> - <span class="dropcap" style="font-size: 4.00em">A</span>LL stood aghast - for a moment in the light of the lamps around the bed of Strong. His - clothes were burned, bloody, and torn—they lay in rags upon him. His - face and hands were swollen; part of his hair and beard had been shorn off - in the storm of fire through which he had fought his way. He spoke not, - but there was the grim record of his fight with the flames—of the - terrible punishment they had put upon him while the sturdy old lover - sought his friends. All hands made haste to do what they could for him and - for the woman he had carried out of the fire of the pit. - </p> - <p> - He had told Master that Annette was waiting for him at the Falls. The - young man sent Harris to bring her with horse and buckboard. - </p> - <p> - Strong lay like one dead while they gave him spirits and bathed his face - and hands in oil. Soon he revived a little. - </p> - <p> - "It's Business," he muttered. - </p> - <p> - In a moment his thoughts began to wander in a curious delirium filled with - suggestions of the old cheerfulness. He sang, feebly: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "The briers are above my head, the brakes above - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - my knee, - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - An' the bark is gettin' kind o' blue upon the ven'son- - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - tree." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - Rain had begun falling and daylight was on the window-panes. - </p> - <p> - The dethroned Emperor continued to sing fragments of old songs so familiar - to all who knew him. - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "It was in the summer-time when I sailed, when I - </p> - <p class="indent30"> - sailed," - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - he sang. Socky stood by the bed of his uncle with a sad face. - </p> - <p> - "Th-thumbs down," Strong demanded, faintly. Master went out on the little - veranda and looked down the road. He could hear the voice of his friend - singing: - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p class="indent15"> - "The green groves are gone from the hills, Maggie." - </p> - <p> - <br /> - </p> - <p> - "It is true," thought the young man as he looked off at the smouldering - woods. "They are gone and so are the green hearts." - </p> - <p> - Annette came presently and Strong rose on his elbow and looked at her. - </p> - <p> - "Ann," he called, as she knelt by his bedside. "To-day—to-day! It's - n-no' some day any m-more. It's to-day." - </p> - <p> - He sank back on his pillow when he saw her tears, and whispered, almost - doubtfully, "Better t-times!" - </p> - <p> - He leaned forward and put up his hands as if to relieve the pressure of - his pack-straps, and in a moment he had gone out of hearing on a trail - that leads to the "better times" he had hoped for, let us try to believe. - </p> - <p> - So ends the history of Silas Strong, guide, contriver, lover of the woods - and streams, of honor and good-fellowship. He was never to bow his head - before the dreaded tyrant of this world. We may be glad of that, and - remember gratefully and with renewed thought of our own standing that - Strong was ahead. - </p> - <p> - A curious procession made its way out of the woods that morning. Socky and - Sue walked ahead. Master and Edith and her father followed. Then came the - boat-jumper with Sinth and all that remained of Silas Strong in it; then - the buckboard that carried Harris and old Mrs. Dunmore and the servants. - Slowly they made their way towards the sown land. - </p> - <p> - "What ye cryin' fer?" a stranger asked the children as he passed them. - </p> - <p> - "Our Uncle Silas died," was the all-sufficient reply of Socky. - </p> - <p> - Soon they could hear the roar of the saws. - </p> - <p> - "Look!" said Dunmore to his daughter, as they came in sight of the mill - chimney. "There's the edge of the great world." - </p> - <p> - He looked thoughtfully at the children a moment and added: - </p> - <p> - "It all reminds me of the words of a mighty teacher, 'A little child shall - lead them.'" - </p> - <p> - And what of Migley and the rest? Word of his harshness in driving Sinth - and the children out of their home had travelled over the land, and not - all the king's money could have saved him. Master went to the Legislature—where - God prosper him!—and the young lumberman was condemned to obscurity. - </p> - <p> - Master and Edith live at Clear Lake most of the year, and the cranes have - brought them a young fairy regarded by Socky and Sue, who often visit - there, with deep interest and affection. Sinth will spend the rest of her - days, probably, in the home of Gordon at Benson Falls. - </p> - <p> - As to Annette, like many daughters of the Puritan, she lives with a - memory, and her hope is still and all in that "some day," gone now into - the land of faith and mystery. - </p> - <p> - The once beautiful valley of Rainbow was turned into black ruins that - night of the fire. Soon a "game pirate," who had "blabbed" in a spree, was - arrested for the crime of causing it. The authorities promised to let him - go if he would tell the truth. He told how he had been with "Red" - Macdonald that night and saw him fire the woods. They fled to the shore of - Rainbow and crossed in a boat. Near the middle of the lake they broke an - oar, and a mile of green tops had begun to "fry" before they landed. They - ran eastward in a panic. They crossed Bushrod Creek on a big log that - spanned the water. At the farther end of it Macdonald, who was in the - lead, put his foot in one bear-trap and fell into another. His friend - tried to release him, but soon had to give up and run for his life. - </p> - <p> - He went with an officer and found the heap of bones that lay between two - rusty traps in the desolate valley. - </p> - <p> - "After all, he got exac'ly what was comin' to him," said he, looking down - at the ghastly thing. "It was him shot the 'Emp'ror o' the Woods.'" Who - was to pay Macdonald for his work? That probably will never be known. - </p> - <div style="height: 6em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> - </div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Silas Strong, Emperor of the Woods, by -Irving Bacheller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SILAS STRONG, EMPEROR OF THE WOODS *** - -***** This file should be named 50091-h.htm or 50091-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/0/9/50091/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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