Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1900-07-19
>>><~>>>>>>,~>< >>>>>>>>1
HUNTING GAPS TREE.


;, who endures but for breath He wa
a very old; his thoughts were the SLOW
thoughts of old age, creeping labori
ously back over the days and years o
glorious life when he was man ant
. not a bundle of pains and WEAKNESS
. Every bone of him ached for the be,
over yonder among the heather anc
furze of the Brown hill, on the hill
top whence you could see four coun
l Ties. There he had appoiny d to be
buried; and there Campinges, The horse
that had carried him many Il glorious
| day, lay awaiting him. Campignes had
died, worn out at 43, and his grave
had been dug at the foot of his II $.
ter's. Within reach of where the mas.
ter's stiff right hand should lie was
the little grave Of MousqMtaire, the
Spite that had belonged to the gentle
lady who was to have been old Hunt.
Ing Caps wife. But Mousquetaire had
died so long ago that the slender bones
OF him must have crumbled away to
dust; and why was old Hunting Cap
yet lingering on the land where no
one wanted him, and where he dwelt
among ghosts and shadows?
1t seemed to the lonely old man that
Providence was treating him badly in
the matter of life. He had been long
since tired Of his existence, and would
willingly have quit the cares
OF this earth some years before he had
been permitted to do 80. He could find
no reason why he should be allowed
to Live on; he was of no value to the
world; the friends who had appreci.
ated him had long since crossed the
dark river and he was anxious to fol-
low them.
He was Sir Jccc..yn to his face; al.
ways behind his back old Hunting
Cap, because he wore dark brown
and frayed hunting cap of fir on his
few silver hairs. The world he dwelt
m was world of strangers. 1t was
not only that he had outlved all the
men and women Of his day but their
children had grown up to look at him
with altered face. The people Of old
had been fond Of him, had b en- ready
to defend him with their lives against
process servers and bailiffs. They had
shared his plenty, and amid the rack
citing and iaunting and jolity and good
will they had lived like large family,
OF which he was the irresponsible king
and chief. Now wherever he went he
met cold faces and eyes of enemies. II
made him feel strangely old and cold
and deserted. They had all gone away
together, the dead, the loving, tho
friendly of old; and he was like sheen
last In the mountains in the drifts Of
winter.
, He was so old that he had let the
reins slip from his fingers, and things
had been all of muddle when young
Jasper, the heir, had come and brush.
ed him aside. Under Jasper's eyes he
had felt more naked and cold than
even under the averted glances OF
INC men and women whose baby heads
ne mad patfed. 1t came to him dmly,
IKE some brute in far away storm,
OF a fLr-away storm, that Jasper was
hnghtlng his cause with the people,
lragglhg arrears for rent from them,
evlctlng, serving notices on them 10
luN; Tor jasper believed in fighting
policy But 1t made the old man moro
'omfortless in a world where every
'ody used to be pleasant.
Inc mlsls gathered in the valleys
mi began TO creep up the hillside.
ia hunting Cap wondered vaguely
whether Laity Farrell would remem- Ct
er TO come 10 him TO help him home &c
Farrell had always been his body 81
ervant; but Lanty was not Ike those u
mo mad gone before him. Sir ,loeelyn ."
'as so very Old that he would not no
ce omissions, lie was well sitting ~
nder the foot of tree as anywher W, W.
Sc WINE Lanty never felt the hours
iss sitting in the bar parlor at tho 10
lddy DooIlhs with the Widdy's In In
lughter MaryGttingon his knee. Off, IN
old Hunting Cap had trembled with an a.,
'lpless disgust of anger against Lam 10
hui today he was not in a mood XII
resentment, Vt the mists come up arr
a mae nm in frlendlier world ou
M ne knew below at the castle. He Wy
Inferred TO himself y
Inc little dogs. AL
ay' Bhnche and Sweetheart, how IN,
:, they bark at mel WI
ne tree that was known as Old ir't
ming Uap's tree had been planted y d
Gay ne was born. His lady'moth. tb
mao carried him in her arms when TAU
was little child TO see how II tral