American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1911-02-25

ness.
The man shook his head.
IF O have business 1t must be a.
| the house; the road Is in the other di
| rection,' and lima pointed to the
wood, but the stranger remained
stubbornly on the edge of the pier.
now stepped out of the wood ant
walked down to the pier.
What do you want here?" de
manded, sharply.
The man touched his hat, smiled
and shook his head. The broad hand
| he lifted in salute was that of a la
borer, and its brown back was tat
tooed. He belonged, | judged, to one
of the dark Mediterranean races, anc
l tried him in Italian.
These are private grounds; you
will do we'll to leave here very quick
ly," said.
saw his eyes light as | spoke the
words slowly and distinctly, but he
waited until | had finished, then shook
his head.
was sure he had understood, but as
/ addressed him again, ordering him
from the premises, he continued to
shake his head and grin fooiishly.
Then l pointed toward the road.
GO; and it will be best for you not
to come here again!" / said, and, after
saluting, he walked slowly away into
the wood, with a sort of logged inso.
lence in his slightly swaying gait. All
a nod from me lima stole after him
while | waited. and in a few minutes
the boy came back and reported that
the man had passed the house and
left the grounds by the carriage en-
trance, turning toward Annandale.
With my mind On Gillespie l put of
in the launch, determined to study the
lake geography. l have, l hope, a soul
for landscape, and the soft bubble OF
water, the lush reeds in the shadows,
the rapidly moving panorama of field
and forest, the glimpses of wild flow
ers, and the arched blue above, were
restful to mind and heart. 1t seemed
shameful that the whole world was
not af,oat; then, as l reflected that an.
other boat in these tranquil waters
would be an impertinence that ]
should resent, | was aware that ! had
been thinking of Helen Holbrook all
the while; and the thought of this If.
ritated me so that | criticised lima
most u~njustly for running the launch
close to a bowlder that rose like a
miniature Gibraltar neal the shadowy
shore we were skirting.
We gained the ultimate line of the
lower lake, and followed the shore in
search of it's outlet, p%leasingly set
down on the map as Tippecanoe creek,
which a off and joined somewhere
a river of like name. The lakes wa
tiers ran away. like a truant child,
through a woody cleft, and in a mo.
ment we were as clean quit Of the
lake as though 1t did not exist. After
a few rods the creek began to twist
and turn as though with the intention
of making the voyager earn his way.
In the narrow channel the beat of our
engine rang from the shores rebuking.
ly. and soon, as a punishment for dis.
turbing he peace of the little stream
we grounded on a sand bar.
This seems to be the head of nayi.
cation, lima. believe this creek
was made for canoes, moi battle
ships"
Between us We got the launch off
ana landed on a convenient log and
w up the bank to observe the
country. | followed a stake-and.r ride,
fence, half hidden in vines of yarious
sorts, andtramped along the bank. with
the creek still singing its tortuous way
below at my right hand. Soon the
rail fence gave way to barbed wire.
pain ~broadened and the under.
brush was neatly cut away. Within
lay a small vegetable garden. cara
fully TILED; and farther on | saw a
dark green cottage almost shut in nv
beeches. The path dipped sharnlv
down n away from the cottars ana
a moment later | had lost sight of it:
out below. at the edge Of the creel,
stood a long houseboat with an ev.
platform or deck on the wafer,
side.
| can still feel, as | recall the dov
hour, the utter peace of the sco,a
when first | came upon that secluded
spot The melodious flow of tho
beneath; the futter of homine
wings; even the hum of insects in the
sweet, thymy air. Then a step farther
ma came to IA gate which opened on
1 Hight OF steps that led TO the honsa
beneath; and through the interyanino
angle | saw n man sprawled at oo.s
u a steamer chair on the deck. his
arms under his head, As | watched
lim he sighed and turned restlessIv
| caught a glimpse of closa
trimmed beard and short. thin, slieht.
y gray hair,
GRO BE CONTTNrrpn