The Huttig news., 1908-03-07
"They also serve, who only stand


Whenever we passed any one on
| the roads we were invariably met
with the salutation of good day."
and always responded with like
| greeting. 1t is as much a rule
of the road" as to drive to the right.
l knew the custom in the old boy
hood days on my uncle's farm in
Iowa, and never failed to observe it.
l imagine the sight Of we three dill
gently tramping about the country in
search of nothing, and with apparent
| ly no object, must have been a mat
ter of some perplexity to those who
came across us.
When the trees had been stripped
Of their leaves, and we went hickory
nutting, or gathering great heaps III
walnuts and pounded the hulls off
with stones and clubs, there was ap-
parently some design to our wan
deringS. But in the clear days of
early spring and the drowsy hours Of
summer, surely it must have appear.
ed, for awhile at least, as curious
and useless custom to those who
dwelt about us, our vague and desul-
tory trips along the roads, through
meadow and pasture, through ravine
and timber and round about the cour-
try-side.
For them there was the question Of
putting in the crops, and for getting
about the country, when they wanted
to do that they hitched up their single
how
Good horses they had, too, with quite
dash of Morgan stock in their road
sters, and a sturdy strain of Morgan
Percheron in their draft stock.
One of our favorite walks was the
road that stretched to the east to-
ward the Illinois river valley. 1t was
a comparatively uneventful road for
nearly mile, but suddenly the high
way dipped with a sheer descent and
for miles to the north and north
east
THE valley lay smiling before u.s."
1t was an exquisite view. The bluffs
along the bottom" marked where
once the Illinois had made it's bed, a
river rivaling the Amazon in it's
width and grandeur. Along these
bluffs prehistoric glaciers had shorn
clear through the buttressed walls,
and carved ravines that led on and
out to the land beyond. Shelving
slopes green with winter wheat lay
along to the extreme north, and this
along rocky pasture lands that rose
above the valley. Beyond was a scarf
of purpling haze, that made a coronet
for the line of timber by the river.
Sometimes We climbed quite to the
top of conical hill that fanked the
valley near this view, and sat down
by the cairn of a Sac chief whose
tomb had been both builded and dug
up at this point. Here we could see
for many miles. The smoke of far
off towns on the river, the fields along
the bottom, the woods, the foraging
hawks and crows, the subtle sense
OF remoteness on that topping height
gave stray feeling of being in some
forbidden sanctuary. On this PIN
nacle the fox-squirrels, emboldened by
years of security, chartered and
scolded from the hard naples and tow
ering oaks, or ran about fearlessly,
and as gracefully as trained athletes,
on the adjacent trees. Rabbits sprang
from bushy clumps, and garter snakes
wound in and out of the stumps and
grass in wisps of green and gold
Sometimes my own individual
walks took me to town, four miles
away. 1t was mere bagatelle to
walk there and back, even in the hot
test days of summer. Eight miles
seemed not so much as half a dozen
city blocks, because of the variety of
the scenery, the freshness of the air,
the blessed absence of crowds, a
clear sky and the life and color OBJ
servable all along the way 1 could
make four miles in SIS minutes if |
cared to walk briskly, but usually
covered the distance in an hour and
ten minutes.
Occasionally I got ride from
farmer, but it was usually my for
tune to meet all teams going back
when l went in, and coming in when
l went back. The road was up and
down hill, the town could be reached
by two separate highways, and
tramp in and out was delight, espe-
cially in the early morning. At that
time the birds were all abroad, and
kept me company from farm to town.
Squirrels also had begun their early
ramblings, and ran stealthily for shell
ter at my approach, or shifted sud
denly to the opposite side of tall
trees when they caught sight of me.
Sometimes l went in to farm and
drew up a bucket of water, drinking
from the edge of the bucket, and
passing the time of day" with the
| farmer,
One of our daily and favorite walks
was to the west, and just as the sun
was going down. We would attend
the disappearance of the god of day
as devoutly as perhaps the Persians
worshiped his dawning. West and
south there was an elevation where
| two gnarled cedars and stubby rose.
bush marked the spot where a farm
| bouco had Onca ctoOd Thoro ~,