The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1904-04-02

kluuu SuIIOuuulHESs an dcUNt, SutH-
uous life among great responsibilities;
a starved hungry life OF the affections
whence even the sister had withdrawn
her love--all these had worked un-
obtrusively toward the formation of a
single psychological condition. Such a
moment comes TO every man. Then are
happiness and misery beside which the
mere struggle 10 dominate men be-
comes trivial. the petty striving with
the forces OF nature n little thing. and
the woman he at that time meets is
more than a woman; she is the best of
that man made visible.
Thorpe found himself for the first
time filled with the spirit of restless
ness. His customary iron evenness OF
temper was gone, so that he wandered
quickly from one detail of his work to
another without seeming to penetrate
below the surface need of any one task.
But n week before he had felt himself
absorbed in the component parts of his
enterprise Now he was outside Of II.
Thorpe took this state of mind much TO
heart and combated il. Invariably he
held himself 10 his task. BY an effort,
tremendous effort. he succeeded in
doing So The effort left him limp. He
found himself often standing or NOV
ing gently, his eyes staring slglltless
his Will chained so softly and yet so
firmly that he felt no strength and
hardly the. desire to break from the
dream that lulled him. Then he was
conscious Of the physical warmth Of
the sun. the faint sweet wood smells,
the soothing cares Of the breeze, the
sleepy cicada-lke note OF the pine
crecpcr He wanted nothing so much
as 70 sic on the pine needles there i'm
the golden food Of radiance and dream
dream on vaguely, comfortably,
swoetly
Lord, Lordr' he cried lmpatiently.
"Whats coming 10 me? ! must be lit
tie off my fcedW
And he hurried rapidly 20 his duties
After an hour OF the hardest conccntra-
ton he had ever been required to be-
stow on a trivial subject he again un-
consciously sank by degrees into the
old apathy.
"Glad it isn't the busy season. he
commented to himself. Here, / must
quit this! Guess it's the warm weather.
I'll get down to the mill for a day or
two"
There he found himself incapable of
even the most petty routine work He
sat at his desk ut o'clock and began
the perusal of a sheaf OF letters. The
first three he read carefully, the follow
Ing two rather hurriedly, of the next
one he seized only the salient and es-
sential points, the seventh and eighth
he skinned, the remainder of the bun
die he thrust aside in uncomfortable
impotence. Next day he returned to
the woods.
The incident OF the letters had
aroused TO the full his old fighting spir-
It, before which no mere instincts
could stand
Once more his mental process became
clear and incisive, his commands direct
and to the point. To all outward APP
pearance Thorpe was as before.
He opened Camp One, and the Fight
ing Forty came back from distant
drinking joints. This was In early Sep
TENDER. That ablebodied and devoted
band of men was on hand when need
ed. Shearer in some subtle manner Of
his own had let them feel that this year
meant 100000 or bust" They
frightened their leather belts and stood
ready for command. After much dis
cussion with Shearer the young man
decided to take out the logs from
eleven" by driving them down French
creek
TO this end n gang was put TO clear
ing the creek bed. II was a tremen-
dous job. Centuries of forest life had
choked the little stream nearly 60 the
level OF its banks. Old snags and
stumps lay imbedded In the ooze; de-
cayed trunks, moss grown, blocked the
current; leaning tamaracks, fallen tim
ber tangled vines, dense thickets, gave
TO It's course more the appearance of a
tropical jungle than OF n north country
brook bed. All these things had to be
removed one by one and either piled to
ever. 1t would pay French creek was
not large stream, but Il could be
driven during the time of the spring
froshcts.
Each night the men returned In the
beautiful drcamlike twilight to the
camp. There they sat after eating.
smoking their pipes IN the open air.
Much or the time they sang, while Phil.
crouching woIf-lke over his violin.
rasped ont IN accompaniment OF disso-
nanccs. The mems voices lent them
selves well to the weird minor strains
Of The chnntcys. These times. when the
men sang and the night wind rose and
died IN the hemlock tops, were Thorpe's
worst moments His soul tired with
the days iron struggle, fell TO broodlng.
lie wanted something. he knew not
what
The men were singing I'm n mighty
chorus, swaying their heads in unison
and bringing out with n roar the en-