The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-09-23
IN TnE WILDERNESS

VAtGNG I'M WYNN WH nHK MEEE
IVlVEA HI i HI W lA1W 1Ae1s eAaSeS
IFrom the Chicago Record HERALD
Thev had made a bad day OF 1.-THE
drzf venI,ine1v had one In the three
months ~ their residence on Capis-
trano- Capfstrano is a mountain in Ar
izona. Crarner and his friend Thorn
I'VE had chosen Capistrano for their
Rome because they had set out from the
east .1for the mountains" Arizona Is
not all mountains. Some of 1t ID dead
level deserts of sand or al1kaa Wastes
ana the ground blazes like white light
Most Of the small towns in Arizona are
desperately rude, temporary, lonesome
places. Besides. Cramer and Thorn
dyke had come from q town. from
CITY. and they meant to rough it.
So they had cut and hauled some
pinon logs from uD the canyon and
built shack upon the south brow of
Capistrano by the bed of the Pinon
river, and where they could see the vii
. 1y,,ost silent upon the unclouded plains
below Won can buy bacon IN ElBacque,
and the eastbound trains stop there
for water becauee there is an upgrade
70 ,,,;ie~ long toward the east. but the
wesfhaund trains never stop. because
there is a telegraph station 20 miles
vest whore water is easier to get.
Crar,ar was consumptiye and
xrfaff rxf NIT
w l1s' Eve that means but thew were
clrsa friands- schcoInoates neirhhors.
I.oss M +s,s~stt,.,. he.r aas+ Thav
poys anu men len. III t1.a..tte, &c xr,zons
e nvs ohtuoo.s' - su asas, rbav had
s une ass'e., - Nv e.. - n,ture
Desn o.9a ppolnteu "a .ne .as =. a n@ ~,
l lnes w Mas ~ ~ ,;fasass rhev
uly, too ues 81 w a.tias ~. w.,
nad known the iite OF dtIes. tue VEL
dure or Valleys, tne genie, musicdi
voices OF women-s1sters, motners ana
others BUT neitner nad aoHitteo us
appointment to the otnef Eacn ianeaeo
that his friend was worse amlcteo tnah
himself; that what the other chiefly
needed was courage. and so they kept
their disappointment secret ana laugneo
with feigDed delight
For a while the building OF their
camp occupied them, and it was zest
to their minds and weak bodies to hew
and carry and build. Sometimes there
was enough water in the Pinon for a
bath. Sometimes they walked four
or the mail. They tackled Photographic
of their folks" on the rude walls OF
log In their shack and made believe
that they were content. Having one
hunting in the sage brush for grouse
or quail, and banged very few, because
they were nervous. weak fellows. and
it isn't easy to bring down such birds
d
checkers. whist. casino and even chess
together but they wearied of such pas
times at last. They became too ia
miliar with their own voices. 1t Is
mountains At night there is never a
sound but the whisper of the wind slip
ping across the shale or among the
scrub timber, except when a coyote
bowls, and that is more ominous, more
lonely, more horrible than utter silence.
Each morning was like yesterday. The
sun always doomed at the same place.
uniformly brazen, swung across the
binding zenith at the same lazy pace,
cast the same short shadows all day
long, dropped behind the same butte
in the evening and left the desolatiOn
Of the brown earth to span the blue
emptiness of the sky Even the horned
toads, the noiseless, fitting lizards, the
thirsty chipmunks lost interest fol
Cramer and his friend.
They yearned for thunder, lightning
rain, snow-a anything to relieve tbs
nonstrous monotony Of their lives. but
each other. In two months they had
| told every story they ever knew; every
! joke was stale, every song was tiresome
every moment was challenge to theil
nerves. And now. after three months
OF almost heroic stoicism. they hat
quarreled Tor the first time. About
what? Cramer had killed q prairie dog
/ q WoAtA1ACSS, AiOtIlcly IOQcut u Lie Pi<1luS
But be insisted that it was a wood
chuck. Thorndyke said it was not 9
woodchuck: that a woodchuck was g
wholly different creature. The lie had
been passed, harsh, biting words had
been banded. and 80 they had come
home weak, exhausted. venomous, uE.
forgiving.
| Across the dry bed of the Pinor
against q bare, rust-covered rock they
had built lean-to for hnal shelter
against the storms which never came
Thfther now went Cramer, sullen, silent
glowerins, his rifle in the hollow Of nj.
arm. And Thorndyke, cursing him, sal
alone at the door OF the shack while the
sun was quenched beyond the change
less hills; nd the stars. each in its ole
place, like studded nails in the roof OF
jail, ogled him. AS the darkness deep
ened not even q breeze nor the wall Of
wolf onered sympathy with his iso-
lation, and Cramer made no light in the
lean-to. but went stoiidiy into the
blackness.
Til go home" said Thorndyke to him
self, I'D rather die In the states thar
live here" And then memories
OF old days and OF green fields came
back to him, and the perfume OF old
fashioned garden flowers was IN hi.
nOStrflS. and in his ear the tinIxliQR OF