The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-02-20
CHAPTER vi.

him. only hope he'll take it."
CHAPTER vi.
FAc1L1s DfcENsUs AvERN1.
Macpherson left me to my own de-
vices after the snack-luncheon and
went his way hillward to look for
strays in the northern gulches.
If you feel like riding few lines
after awhile, have Andy saddle
'Clubfoot' for you. He's forgotten
how to buck and if you can keep
him from breaking his leg in dog
hole he'll bring you back all right"
he said, at parting; adding, as
stirrup-word: ''But I shouldn't ride
too far, if I were you. You're gain
ing by kangaroo-jumps now, and
you mustn't get setback
So much for a well mans advice to
an ill one who, having ridden more
than was meet the previous day, was
minded to stay at home and let the
saddle-bruises heal. But in mid
afternoon one of the microscopic in
cidents which change the courses of
rivers, decide the fate of nations,
and reverse the plans of mice and
mon, came between, and the horse
with the epithetical name had his
amble afield.
The incident was the inability of
Andrew the Desperate to maintain
his fair share of any conversation.
BY two o'clock he was answering in
monosyllables; by three a direct
question elected no more than a nod
or head-shake; at half-past he was
quite dumb-a mute and inglorious
camp-cook, fit company for neither
gods nor men. At four loquacity
surrendered at discretion, the animal
with the opprobr1ous name was put
in requisition, and rode away to be
with a silence of Natures making.
Behold, now, how great matter
little fire kindleth! If the well-in-
tentioned desperate had possessed
few more phrases to be rehearsed at
need, there would have been for his
would-be gossip no meditative amble
up the valley in the cool of the day;
no attack of unreasoning and alto
gether uncalled-for curiosity; no
meteoric descent into the Torolitan
Avernus; and no-but let US not an
ticipate.
Barring the saddle bruise remind
ers, and the prickings of the thorn
in the flesh of illness-which use and
time will finally dull for the least
heroic sufferer-the ride up the VAL
ley was a pure delight. The after
noon was perfect. The atmosphere
was like a draught of fine old wine;
the tumbling thunder of the river
was sweet music to any traffic.
bruised ear of the cities; and tho
color-scherne of the mighty noun
tains on either hand was full of soft
grays. and soothing browns. The
completeness of it was soul-satisfv-
ing, and it was easy to understand
how, upon such day and with such
encompassments, well man might
rejoice in the mere fact of life. Also,
it was less difficult TO comprehend
the reluctance of one Angus the
First to abdicate and go into exile at
the decree of any syndicate of them
all. 1t was hopeless lapse into
medievalism, one would say, but at
the moment I could cheerfully have
seen the plans of the land company,
with all the prospective benefits to
the many which they contemplated,
come to naught to the end that this
sequestered corner of great natures
domain should not be married by dis.
figuring plowshares.
This thought and its entail rang
the reflective changes what time the
bronco was topping the swell from
which the settlement at Valley Head
came into view. Curiously enough,
the clustered farmsteads and titled
fields of the small colony wore far
from suggesting that they were tho
precursors of the tidal wave of az.
riculture and banality which would
presently sweep down the pleasant
valley in the wake of the great irri.
cation canal. The line between wild
flowers and weeds is not sharply
drawn. The bullthistle is thing of
beauty as a single plant, and it is
only when it becomes q ruthless in
yader that we wage war upon it and
strive to stamp it out. Macpherson's
cattle on the rolling swells, and this
small seasoning of humanity at the
meeting point of the mountains, were
the artistic accent in great natures
picture. But they sufficed.
At the summit Of the swell com.
L y = !