Tensas gazette., 1912-09-06

be forced, like little Joe, to move on.
Once a man who loved the strife.
noble or ignoble. of the madding
crowd. he had grown accustomed TO
silence, habituated to solitude. Winter
| and summer alike he roamed the
mountains. delving into every forest.
exploring every hidden canyon. sur
mounting every inaccessible peak; no
storm. no snow. no condition OF wind
or weather daunted him or stopped
him. He had no human companion
ship by which to try his mettle. but
nevertheless over the world Of the
material which lay about him he was
a master as he was man.
He found some occupation, too. in
the following Of old Adams inherit
ance; during the pleasant months OF
summer he made such garden as he
could. His profession of mining en-
gineer gave him other employment
Round about him lay treasures ines
timable. precious metals abounded in
the hills. He had located them. tested.
analyzed. estimated the wealth that
was his for the taking-it was as val
ueless to him as the doubloons and
golden guineas were to Selkirk on his
island. Yet the knowledge that it was
there gave him an energizing sense of
potential power, unconsciously enorm-
ously fattering to his self-esteem.
Sometimes he wandered to the ex-
treme verge of the range and on clear
days saw far beneath him the smoke
of great cities of the plains. He
could be master among men as he was
master among mountains, II ne
chose On such occasions he laughed
cynically. scornfully. yet rarely did
he ever give way to such emotions
A great and terrible sorrow was
upon him; cherishing a great passion
he had withdrawn himself from the
common lot to dwell upon ii. From
perverted sense OF expiation, in
madness Of grief, horror and despair.
4. he had made himself prisoner to his
ideas in the desert of the mountains.
I Back to his cabin he would hasten.
and there surrounded by his living
memories-deathless. yet of the dead!
he would recreate the past until de-
, lection drove him abroad on the hills
} to meet God If not manor woman.
Night-day, sunshine-shadow. heat-cold.
= storm-calm; these were his life.
) Having disburdened his faithful AMI
D mails of their packs and having seen
i them safely bestowed for the winter
: in .he corral he had built near the
! base of the cliff upon which his rude
. home was situated. he took his rifle
3 one morning for one OF those lonely
' walks across the mountains from
. (which he drew such comfort because
|. he 'ancied the absence OF man con-
duced to the nearness Of God. 1t was
; a delusion as old nearly as the Chris
4 tian religion. Many had made them
n selves hermits in the past In remorse
q for sin and for love toward God; this
Q man had buried himself in the wilder
n ness in part for the first OF these
7 causes. in other part for the love oi
4 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
: wears. The world for him had stopped
D. its progress in one brief moment five
wears back-the rest was silence
What had happened since then out
yonder where people were mated be
did not know and he did not greatly
care.
q In his visits to the settlements be
, asked no questions, he bought no pa
4 pers. he manifested no interest In
I. the world; some things In him had
d died in one fell moment, and there
s had been, as yet. no resurrection. Yet
e life. hope, and ambition do not die
s they are indeed eternal Resurgaml
! Life with its tremendous activities
l. It's awful anxieties. its wearing strains
3 its rare triumphs. its opportunities
t for achievement. for service; hope
, with its illuminations. its encourage
1 ments. its expectations. ambition
d with It's stimulus. its force. its power;
e and greatest Of all. love. itself alone
all three were latent In him. In touch
8 with a woman these had gone. Some
/ thing as powerful and as human mus
q bring them back.
Q II was against nature that mar
y lowered as be should so live to him
n self alone. Some voice should cry il
IL his soul in it's cerements of futile re
g morse, vain expiations and benumbini
n recollection; some day he should
II burst these grave clothes self-wounC
D. about him and be once more mai
n and a master among men, rather thai
70 the hermit and the recluse Of the soil
e tudes.
He did not allow these thoughts 4
n come into his life; indeed. it is que
n likely that he scarcely realized then
e at all yet: such possibilities did 80
Il present themselves to him. Perhaps
y the man was a little mad that morn
q ing. maybe he trembled on the verg'
of a break-upward. downward.
d know not so II be .away-unconscious
q ly as he strode along the range tina
8 morning.
d He had been Walking for som'
D. hours. and as he grew thirsty 1t oc
d CURED to him to descend to the leve
q of the brook which he heard below bin
E. and Of which be sometimes caugh
Q a flashing glimpse through the trees
d He scrambled down the rocks ant
L found himself in a thick grove o
pine. Making his way slowly and will
b great difficulty through the tangle o
Al