The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1915-08-04

Like many other rich men, Barclay
owned a hunting preserve in tho
Adirondacks, and seldom went near
1t. But the five granite mountains
surrounded by dense forests thickly
sprinkled with lakes was one Of
Tommy's favorite stamping grounds.
1t wasn't so much that he enjoyed kill
ing animals or seeing how many fish
he could catch as that once in a
while he liked to be alone, and to
keep alive and comfortable by his
own exertions.
The preserve was real wilderness.
One dirt road led from the railroad
station at Four Corners to the main
camp at the head of the biggest lake,
but otherwise the region boosted only
few narrow trails. And you had to
make your way from one landmark to
another as best you could. And
either you had to take plenty Of con-
densed food in tins or trust to your
skill with rod and rife to keep you
from going hungry.
Tommy would leave the train at
Four Corners, hire a team, and get
himself put down somewhere along
the road leading to the main camp
His kit on these trips consisted OF
a blanket, frying pan. kettle, a
change of underclothes, a very light
| .22-caliber rifle, four-ounce fly rod, a
compass, pipe, tobacco, and few
other odds and ends, such as matches
and salt and pair Of field glasses
and an Oxford book of verse.
One night few days after Mary
Blackstone had treated him so cav
alierly, Tommy camped on high
ground by the headwaters of brook
Just back of his shelter of balsan
boughs knob of granite stood up clee'
| above the surrounding forest. Tommy
| always called it the hub, because II
| was almost the exact center of the
great ring, traced roughly by the five
mountains, and afforded gloriou:
views of them and of the low coun
| try, lakes, forest and swamp that in
| tervened. 1t was Tommy's favoritt
camping ground. He would sit fol
hours on the top of the hub. his legs
| hanging over into space, gazing an6
dreaming
On the particular night in question
he climbed the hub after a fine sup
per OF trout and ruffed grouse. filled
a pipe and watched the day fade ant
the stars come out. What he enjoyed
most was the sense of solitude; civ
ilization, OF course, was within reason
able reach in any direction, bu
! Tommy did not feel as II 1t was. HI
| felt as if there wasn't another hu
man being within hundreds of miles
There were men at the main camp
only fifteen miles away, but he pre-
tended that there weren't, and that hi
was in the heart Of vast UNEMPLOYED
country which no other white man hat
ever visited.
Presently the moon began to rise
and that always made Tommy mourn
full and sentimental. II he had beef
dog he would have thrown back hi
head and howled. Being a young maj
he sighed and began to imagine tina
he and she "a romantic edition o
Mary Blackstone with better mannerI
and less worldliness) had come t
this wilderness to escape from tn,
outside world and to make their home
What fun 1t would be-! How he woul'
work to make her happy and com
fortablel How easy 1t would be 70
them to get along forever without any
body else to bother them.
Just then his head fell forward Of
his breast, and he dreamed that h
smelled boiling caulifower. II was
smell to which he was particular,
sensitive, and which he particular,
hated. He walked with an angry start
and the smell persisted.
His offended nostrils quivered a
the nostrils of wild animal CULVER a
the smell of man. He was angry an
disguised. And his feelings for tn
people who had not only invaded hi
solitude, but had brought a caull
flower, more than one possibly, int
the northern woods, were not n
to print. His only satisfaction wa
that In the morning he would hun
them down and tell them what b.
thought of them.
But he had bad night, and whel
at last he did get to sleep he slep
so heavily that daybreak didn't wax
him. BY the time he had washed AM
breakfasted. II was half-past seven
which is shocking hour In the woods
He climbed to the top OF the huh
Field glasses In hand. he began 4