Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-10-03
CHAPTER xv-(continued)

+ I NEINT b@Hh i
He did not know that. Women
have learned through centuries OF
weakness that fine art Of concealment
which man has never mastered. She
never let him see what she thought OF
MIN. Yet he was not without sus-
picion; II that suspicion grew to GER
Sainty, would he control himself thenI
At first he had sought to keep out
OF her way, but she had compelled
min to come in. The that was
Kitchen and bed room and store room
for him was cheerless and somewhat
cold. Save at night OF when he was
busy with other tasks outside they
lived togethed in the great room. 1t
was always warm, 1t was always
j.. bright, 1t was always cheerful, there.
The little piles of manuscript she
had noted were books that ne hao
written. He made no effort to con-
ceal such things from her. He talked
frankly enough about his life In the
hills, indeed there was no possibll-
ATTY Of avoiding the discussion Of such
topics. On but two subjects was he
ap~exorably silent. One was the pres
ent state of his affections and he
other wal the why and wherefore OF
his lonely life. She knew beyond per-
adventure that he loved her. but she
mad no faint suspicion even as to the
reason why he had become a recluse!
He had never given her the slightest
clew to his past ave that admission
that he had known Kirkhy which was
IN itself nothing definitive and which
abe never connected with that pack
age Of letters which she still kept
with her.
The mans mind was too active and
fertile to be satisfied with manual
aabor alone, the books that he had
written were scientific treatises in the
main. One was a learned discussion
of the fauna and fora Of the noun
tains. Another was an exhaustive ac-
count Of the mineral resources and
geological formations Of the range.
He had only to allow a whisper. a
suspicion of his discovery of gold and
silver in the mountains to escape him,
and the canons and crests alike would
he filled with eager ~prospectors. Still
IA third work was a scientific analysis
sof the water powers in the canons.
He had willingly allowed her to
read them all. Much of them she
found technical and, aside from the
fact that he had written them, unin-
aeresting. But there was n book
remaining in which he simply dis
cussed the mountains in the various
seasons Of the year; when the SHOWS
covered them, when the grass and the
moss came again, when the flowers
tbloomed, when autumn touched the
trees. There was the soul OF the
man, poetry expressed in prose, man
like but none the less poetry for that
This book pored over, she questioned
MIN about It; they discussed 1t as they
discussed Keats and the other poets
Those were happy evenings. She
on one side Of the fire sewing, hei
finger wound with cloth to hold hii
giant thimble, fashioning for hersel
some winter garments out Of a gay
colored, red, white and black ancien,
and exquisitely wove Navajo blank
let, soft and pliable almost as an old
fashioned piece Of satin-priceless /
she had but known it-which he pu
at her disposal. While on the othe
side Of the same homely blaze b,
made Cor her out Of the skins Of som,
OF the animals that he had killed,
ishapeless foot covering, half mecca
,uin and wholly leggin, which sh
could wear over her shoes in he
short excursions around the platea
and which would keep her feet war;
and comfortable.
BY her permission he smoked as b
worked. enjoying the hour. putin
aside the past and the future and 70
. few mopaAs4a hlissfully contain