The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-21

are not nearly poet enough for the life
you are living. Why you are wonder
full, you men of the north. and you let
US ordinary mortals who have not the
gift Of divination imagine you entirely
occupied with how many pounds OF
iron chain you are going to need dur
ing the winter" She said these things
for serious belief.
1T is something that way" he agreed
with a laugh.
do you know, sir" she persisted,
that I really don't know anything at
all about the life you lead here? From
what 1 have seen, you might be perpet-
ually occupied in eating things in a
log cabin, and in disappearing to per
form some mysterious rites in the for
est" She looked at him with a smil-
/ ing mouth but tender eyes, her head
tilted back slightly.
It's a good deal that way, too" ne
agreed again. I'VE use a barrel of
hour in Camp One every two and a
half days.
She shook her head in faint mega
ton that only half understood what
he was saying, her whole heart in her
tender gaze.
sit there" she breathed very softly,
pointing to the dried needles on which
her feet rested, but without altering
the position of her head or the stead
fastness of her look.
He obeyed.
Now tell me, = she breathed. still in
the fascinated monotone.
'What?" he Inquired.
Your life; what you do; all about
IT, You must tell me story"
Thorpe settled himself more lazily,
and laughed with quiet enjoyment
Never had he felt the expan-
sion of similar mood. The
barrier between himself and self
expression had faded, leaving not the
smallest debris of the old stubborn feel
ing.
THE story of the woods" he began,
1.-The story of the saw log. 1t would
take a bigger man than to tell il. 1
doubt if any one man ever would be
big enough. 1t is a drama, a struggle,
battle. Those men you hear there
are only skirmishers extending the fir
ing line. We are fighting always with
Time. I'll have to hurry now to get
those roads done and a certain creek
cleared before the snow. Then Wen
have to keep on the keen move to finish
our cutting before the deep snow, TO
haul our logs before the spring thaws;
to float them down the river while the
freshet water lasts. When we gain a
day we have scored a victory; when
the wilderness puts us back an hour,
we have suffered a defeat. Our am
munition is Time; our small shot the
minutes, our heavy ordnance the
hours!"
The girl placed her hand on his shoul-
der. He covered it with his own.
But we win!" he cried. 1--WE win!''
THAT is what like she said softly,
= the strong spirit that winsl" She
heS1tated, then went on gently, but
the battlefields, Harry; to me t,1ey are
dreadful. l went walking yesterday
morning, before you came over. and
after while I found myself in the
most awful place. The stumps of trees.
the dead branches. the trunks lying all
about, and the glaring hot sun over
everything. Harry, there was not a
single bird in all that waste. a single
green thing You don't know how il
anected me SO early in the morning.
L saw just one lonesome pine tree that
had been left for some reason or an
other, standing there like a sentinel.
1 could shut my eyes and see all the
others standing, and almost hear the
plrds singing and the wind in tbs
branches, just as it is here"~ She
seized his fingers in her other hand
Harry" she said earnestly, Il don't
believe / can ever forget that expert,
ence, any more than could have for
gotten a battlefield, were to see one
l can shut my eyes now and can see
this place, our dear little wooded knoll
wasted and blackened as that was"
The man twisted his shoulder uneas-
lily and withdrew his hand
Harry" she said again, after a
pause, you must promise to leave this
woods until the very last. I suppose
1T must all be cut down some day. but
l do notfwanr to be here to see after it
is all over
Thorpe remained silent.
Men do not care much for keep
sakes. do they. Harry they don't save
letters and flowers as we girls debut
even man can feel the value of a
great beautiful keepsake such as this.
can't he, dear? Our meeting place
do you remember how 1 found you
down there by the old pole trail. staring
as though you had seen a ghost land
that beautiful, beautiful music It must
always be our most sacred memory.
promise me you will save it until the
very. very last
Ihorpe said nothing because he could
not rally his faculties. The sentimental
association connected with the grove
mad actually never occurred to him.
His keepsakes were impressions which
he carefully guarded in his memory.
10 the natural masculine indifference
toward material bits of sentiment ne
had added the instinct of the strictly
portable early developed in the rover. /
he mad never even possessed a photo
graph of his sister. Now this sudden
discovery that such things might be
part OF the wool of another persons /
spiritual garment came to him ready
grown to the proportions of a problem.
In selecting the districts for the sea /
sons cut he had included in his esti- |
mates this very grove Since !
then he had seen no reason for I
changing his decision. The on
arations would not Commences mill /
winter. By that time the lovers would !
40 longer care to use it as at present. /
Now rapidly he passed in review a 4
iozen expedients by which his plan I
night be modified to permit of the /
groves exclusion. His practical mind /
discovered flaws in every one Other
bodies of timber promising a return of /
1O,OOO were not to be found near the /
'lVer, and time now lacked for the cut
ing Of roads to more distant forties.
Hllda," he broke in abruptly at last.
the men you hear are clearing a road
o this very timber"
What do you mean?" she asked
This timber is marked for cutting
his very winter
She had net a suspicion of the true
tate of affairs. Isn't 1t lucky 1 spoke
4 IT." she exclaimed. Elbow could You
ave forgotten to countermand the or
Ieri You must see to it today: now.'
She sprang up impulsively and stood
Waiting for him. He arose more slow
y. Even before he spoke her eyes
llated with the shock from her quick
ntuitiOns.
Hllda. cannot, he said.
CT /