The midland journal., 1902-09-12


my cousin, the president of the COM
pany, and, though arithmetic was a
painful thing to him, he would enter
into computations as to the operations
and by sheer force of reasoning would
push his calculations beyond the point
of his schoolroom requirements.
The chestnuts were brown in their
caskets when one day, one memorable
day, l went nutting with Rudolph and
Jim. We had two or three hours of the
simplest, purest delight, all turned into
three harmless young animals, with
but one idea in the world-chestnuts.
There is nothing like some such prim-
tive pursuit to bring the heart close to
nature, for getting past the rhapsodical
and wordy state and becoming one
with her. A hundred deep, starved,
hereditary instincts are once more graf
flied. But nature is an appalling moth
er.
The place we chiefly haunted was
chestnut grove near the edge of the
cliffs, and just here the formation was
unusual. The mountain sloped rapidly
AOn IL LOh dl u IHC lOl Il llIllc ulSs
tance instead of descending from it's
full height by the usual perpendicular
cliff, but this steep slope broke off
abruptly above straight wall of gran
lite, far below which again waved the
delicate crestS of the great trees. The
turf and small woodland growths ex-
tended down the slope nearly to the
11T.iY, hr14
scanty soil failed, and at last was the
living rock of the mountain side, dark,
unworn by frost or time, now damp
and smooth
In that simplicity Of absorption, the
pleasure of which l have been vaunt-
ing, followed a rolling nut (such big
oneD down close to the danger line-too
close. The slight hold of the mosses
and grasses on which l stood gave
way, my hand uprooted the bush l
held my feet slipped from under me,
and l lay face down on that smooth
sloping surface without thing within
reach to support child. kept myself
from slipping only by certain strain
of muscular pressure. Below was the
gulf, whose faroff depths were filled
with the beautiful, visible music of
waving branches; above me the late
yellow sunlight shone brilliantly be-
tween the dark trunks of other trees,
and beneath them stood two white
faced little boys. Rudolph was nearest
me, half way down the slope. l saw
whole heartful of history take place
within him as l gazed. The first stroke
of terror was followed by a heavier,
for between the two, in a long seconds
time, the child found out he loved me.
He had never thought of loving me
before. Rather, as love goes not by
thinking, he had been DETECTED by no
pulsation of conscious love toward me.
l was pleasant factor in a diversi-
fed universe. 1 was not the father
or the mother or the little sister. But
suddenly, here and now, as l lay
there beneath the fair sky helpless
and in mortal danger, Rudolph's heart
went out to me. He loved me,
and he loved me greatly, with fash
Ing, backward, heart bursting re-
alization that had been good to him.
uheSe are many words, but three
changing expressions, melting swiftly
into each other on the child's ashen
face, told it all.
Jim did the best he could. 1t was USE
less, but it was all his lights and his
gifts were equal to. He could run, and
he ran, far and fast, starting at once,
with only half choked word and a
nod to Rudolph, and taking himself off
in good shape, though he was so white.
Rudolph and 1 were alone, and al
ready my power to cling to the rock
WAS weakening.
tried to wriggle myself upward. I
slipped very little farther down. Ru-
dolph now nodded reassuringly at me,
saying in queer, low voice, "In one
minute" as he ran short distance to
where lot of poles lay cut for some
purpose. He came back dragging one.