Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-01-26

Lu0I1Orfce- Q6dLuISSs, gSJ Ol Tic OSdQ1
he would recreate the past until de-
lection drove him abroad on the hills
to meet God II not manor woman.
Night-day, sunshine-shadow, heat-cold,
storm-ealm; these were his life.
Having disburdened his faithful ami
mails OF their packs and having seen
them safely bestowed for the winter
in the corral he had built near the
base Of the cliff upon.which his rude
home was situated, he took his rife
one morning for one Of those lonely
walks across the mountains from
which he drew such comfort because
he fancied the absence Of man con-
duced to the nearness of God. 1t was
q delusion as old nearly as the Chris
tan religion. Many had made them
selves hermits in the past in remorse
/ for sin and for love toward God; this
man had buried himself in the wilder
ness In part for the first Of these
causes, in other part for the love Of
woman. In the days Of swift and sud
den change he had been constant to
remembrance, and abiding in his de-
termination for FIVE swift moving
years. The world for him had stopped
its progress in one brief moment I'VE
/ years back-the rest was silence.
What had happened since then out
yonder where people were mated he
did not know and be did not greatly
care.
In his visits to the settlements he
asked no questions. he bought no pa
pers, he manifested no interest in
( the world; some things in him had
died in one fell moment, and there
had been, as yet. no resurrection. Yet
+ life. hope. and ambition do not die.
they are indeed eternal Resurgam!
Life with its tremendous activities,
its awful anxieties, its wearing strains,
its rare triumphs, its opportunities
for achievement, for service; hope
with its Examinations, its encourage
meuts. its expectations, ambition
with its stimulus. its force, its power;
and greatest OF ali, love, itself alone
all three were latent in him. In touch
with a woman these had gone. Some
thing as powerful and a. human must
bring them back.
II was against nature that. man
lowered as he should so live to him
self alone. Some voice should cry in
his soul in its cerelents Of futile re
morse. vain expiations and benumbirg
recollection; some day he should
burst these grave clothes seif-wound
about him and be once more a man
and a master among men, rather than
=. Il Of /
tudes.
He did not allow these thoughts to
come into his life; indeed, it is quite
likely that he scarcely realized them
at all yet; such possibilities did not
present themselves to him. Perhaps
the man was a little mad that morn
ing, maybe he trembled on the verge
of a break-upward, downward, 1
know not so it be away-unconscious-
ly as he strobe along the range that
morning.
He had been walking for some
hours, and as he grew thirsty it oc-
Cured to him to descend to the level
OF the brook which he heard below him
and of which he sometimes caught
a flashing glimpse through the trees.
He scrambled down the rocks and
found himself IN a thick grove of
pine. Making his way slowly and with
great difficulty through the tangle of
fallen timber which lay in every d.
recuon, the sound of a human voice,
the last thing on earth TO be expected
in that wilderness, smote upon the
fearful hollow of his ear.
Any voice or any word then and
there would have surprised him, but
there was a note of awful terror in
this voice, q sound Of frightened ap
peal The desperation in the cry left
him no moment for thought, the de
. mand was for action. The cry was
o not addressed to him, apparently, but
| 10 God. yet It was he who answered
| sent doubtless by that Overlooking
/. Power who works in such mysteriou:
I ways His wonder to perform!
> He lespsd over the intervening
3 trees to the edge OF the forest where
the rapid waters ran. To the riSht
a OF him rose q huge rock, or cliff, In
!. front OF him the canon bent sharply
4 to the north. and beneath him a few
3 rods away a speck Of white CLEANED
b. above the water OF a deep and stl
! pool that he knew.
= There was q woman therel
a He had time for but the swiftes
|. glance: he had surmised that the voic
I was not that OF a mans voice instant
|. ~ he heard It, and now he was sure
/ She stood white breast deep in the wa
5 ter staring ahead of her. The mex
5 second he saw what had alarmed he
{ a Grizzly Bear. the largest, fercest
: most forbidding speciman he had eve
seen There were a few Of those moi
:. sters still left in the range; he hin
r self had killed several
3 The woman had not seen him. H
e was 6 silent man by long habit, az
q customed to saying nothing, he sal
Q nothing now. But instantly amin
4 from the hip with q wondrous ski
d and q perfect mastery Of the weapon
!. and indeed 1t was a short range 70
g so huge a target, he pumped bulle
= after bullet from his Winchester int
. the evil monarch Of the mountains
\ The frsf shot did for him, but NAL
= ing assurance double and treble SUR
!. he fired again and again Satisfied a