East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-07-28

to see the desolation and ruin which
seemed to be falling about the home.
But still the gentle wind blew
against his face, the trees whispered
ominously and the light clouds sail
ed dow nthe sky. There was no storm
outside.
Startled by the strange phenome-
non, the mountalneer hurriedly clos
ed the door and gazed IN consterna-
ton at his frightened wife. But Their
amazement was soon interrupted by
louder crashing and groaning which
filled the house, and finally the cll-
max of the awful agony came when
with a roar and shrek II seemed
that the greatest tree in the forest
fell laundering to ground, the entire
mountain side trembling with its
fall, echoed its agonized cries.
/ Then the noises were hushed. A
subdued silence, like that following a
storm, ensued. Again the door was
opened and the frightened family
peered into the darkness. Still there
was no commotion outside. The fresh
wind swayed the branches OF the
pines and sighed softly about the cot
tage. But aside from its signing not
sound stirred in the brooding silence
Of the night.
| The door was closed and the family
returned TO its fitful rest. The noises
! ceased, the night settled down and
peace came at last. The quiet that
is characteristic of a great, sleeping
forest reigned.
Next day the oldest and most re-
nowned woodsman of the mountain
passed and stopped to chat with the
family. He knew everything about
! the mountain-its voices, legends
Ilogends. love-all were his.
The strange experience of the pre-
tcedlng night was related to the noun
taineer.
Pointing his finger at the father
of the frightened little family which
had passed the fearful night in the
| cottage, he said:
you have disobeyed the law Of
the mountain. You have dlspised the
legend OF your fathers. You have de-
fled a custom older than l, and you
will pay the penalty You have built
your house from a 'wind-falr tree"
And then the story of the building
of the house was told to the old pat
riarch of the mountains. The noun
taineer told of coming to the beau
tiful glade in the mountain, OF find
ing the great giant uprooted. Of haul
ing 1t away to the sawmill and OF
the building of the cottage from its
| lumber
'Tt was the spirit Of the wind
fall tree crying out in its agony"
said the old man. "As long as this
house stands that fearful scene will
be re-enacted before every storm on
the mountains. The boards made from
the 'wind-falr tree have found voices
and will repeat the tragedy OF the fall
Of the great tree before the tornado,
whenever the skies are overcast and
orm,threatens."
Then the old man told of the leg
end which had been despised by the
mountaineer.
The trees OF the forest are proud
of their strength. They boast of their
great overhanging branches and of
their roots clngng firmly to the clay
of the mountain. They fear the tor
nado, and when assailed flercely by
1t they cry for mercy and groan in
futile rage.
AS the tornado wakes fiercer and
fiercer the trees cry more loudly and
shrek out their curses and pleading.
As they are bent and cracked by the
angry wind they become furious in
their appeals and the mountain re-
sounds with their awful agony.
And finally the death struggle and
fall OF the giant tree is terrible to
hear and behold. With a roar that
echoes for miles it crashes to the
ground, and its fall is like a peal
of thunder Every limb and branch
creaks and groans in agony and then
silence follows; the struggle is over;