The Washington herald., 1914-05-10

0n the preceding chapters Of this
story an old survivor of the Scarlet
had practically depopulated the globe.
leaving only a handful of humans 70
preserve the species, relates the taIe
. of the great event to his skeptieai
grandsons. Those YOUNGSTERS the
product of a generation which had re-
lapsed into semi-barbarism. are dis-
posed to regard the old mans nara
ond childhood, but they cannot help
being entertained by the story, even
though they do not believe 1t to De
the TRUTH
Copyright. 1sll)
UnUT / must go on with my story. I
Id Travelled through a deserted land.
As the time went by began to
yearn more and more for human beings.
But / never found one. and / grew lone
lier and lonelier. I crossed Livermore
Valley and the mountains between it and
the great valley of the San Joaquin. You
have never seen that valley, but it is
very large and it is the home of the wild
horse. There are great droves there
thousands and tens of thousands. I re-
visited it thirty years after, Sc l know.
You think there are lots of wild horses
down here in the coast valleys. but they
are as nothing compared with those Of
the San Joaquin. Strange to say, the
COWS, when they went wild. went back
into the lower mountains. Evidently they
were better able to protect themselves
there.
l,%- 49, L. sv,H
providers had been less In evidence. for
I found many villages and towns un-
touched by fire. But they were filled by
the pestilential dead. and I passed by
without exploring them. It was near
Lathrop that, out Of my loneliness, I
picked UP a pair Of collie dogs that were
SO newly free that they were urgently
willing to return to their allegiance to
man. These coll.es accompanied me for
many years, and the strains Of them are
IN those very dogs there that you boys
have today. But in sixty years the collie
strain has worked out. Those brutes are
more like domesticated wolves than any
thing else"
Hare-Lip rose to his feet, glanced to
see that the goats were safe, and looked
at the suns position in the afternoon sky.
advertising impotence at the prolixity of
the old mans tale Urged to hurry by
Edwin. Granser went on:
There is little more to tell. With
my two dogs and my pony, and riding
a horse 1 had managed to capture, 1
crossed the San Joaquin and went on
to a wonderful valley in the Sierras
called Yosemite. In the great hotel
there 1 found a prodigious supply OF
timed provisions. The pasture was
abundant, as was the game, and the
river that ran through the valley was
full of trout. I remained there three
years in utter loneliness that none but
a man who has once been highly civil
lied can understand. Then 1 could
stand it no more. / felt that ! was
going crazy. Like the dog, I was a
social animal and I needed my kind.
the plague, there was a possibility that
others had survived. Also. 1 reasoned
that after three years the plague germs
must all be gone and the land be clean
again.
with my horse and dogs and pony
1 set out. Again 1 crossed the San !
Joaquin Valley, the mountains beyond. !
and came down into Livermore VAL
ley. The change in those three years
was amazing. All the land had been
splendidly titled, and now / could
scarcely recognize it, such was the sea
of rank vegetation that had overrun
the agricultural handiwork of man.
You see, the wheat, the vegetables, |
and orchard trees had always been
cared for and nursed by man, so that |,
they were soft and tender. The weeds |
and wild bushes and things, on the
contrary. had always been fought by
man. so that they were tough and re-
sistant. AS a result. when the hand of
man was removed the wild vegetation
smothered and destroyed practically
all the domesticated vegetation. The
coyotes were greatly increased, and it
was at this time that I first encoun-
tered wolves, straying in twos and
threes, and small packs. down from the
wild regions where they had always
persisted.
1T was at Lake Temescal, not far
from the one-time city of Oakland, that
| came upon the first live human being.
Oh, my grandsons, now can I describe
to you my emotion. when, astride my
horse and dropping down the hillside to
the lake. 1 saw the smoke of a camp
fire rising through the trees. Almost
lid my heart stop beating 1 felt that
[ was going crazy. Then 1 heard the
Try of a babe-a human babe And dogs
parked and my dogs answered 1 did not
know but that I was the one human
alive in the whole world. 1t could not
De true that there were others-smoke.
and the cry of a babe.
Emerging on the lake, there, before
ny eyes, not a hundred yards away, I
saw a man. a large man. He was stand
ng on an outjutting rock and fishing. l
vas overcome. / stopped my horse.
ried to call out. but could not. 1 waved /
ny hand 1t seemed to me that the man
oOked at me, but he did not appear to
wave. Then 1 laid my head on nay arms
here in the saddle. / was afraid to look
gain, for 1 knew II was an hallucina-
ion, and 1 knew that IL looked the
nan would be gone. And SO precious