Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-07-29

Like many other rich men. Barclay
owned "a hunting preserve in the
Adirondacks. and seldom went near
it. But the five granite mountains
surrounded by dense forests thickly
s%prinkled with lakes a one OF
Tommy's favorite stamping grounds.
II wasn't so much hat he enjoyed kill
ing animals or seeing how many fish
he could catch as hat once in .
while he liked to be alone. and TO
keep alive and comfortable by his
own exertions.
The preserve vas real wilderness.
One dirt road led from the railroad
station at Four Corners 10 the main
camp at the head of the biggest lake,
but otherwise the region boosted only
a few narrow trails. And you had TO
make your way from one landmark 10
another as best you could. And
either you had 10 take plenty ar con
densed food in tinSo trust 10 your
skill with rod and rifle To keep YOU
from going hungry.
Tommy would leave the train al
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. a frying pan. a kettle. a
change OF underclothes. a very light
-22-caliber rife. a four-ounce fly rod. a
compass. a pipe. tobacco. and a few
other odds and ends. such as matches
and salt and 4 pair OF field glasses,
and an Oxford book Of verse.
One night a few days after Mary
Blackstone had treated him 50 cav
alierly, Tommy camped on high
ground by the headwaters az a brook.
Just back of his shelter OF balsam
boughs a knob Of granite stood M clear
above the surrounding forest. Tommy
always called il the hub. because IL
was almost the exact center Of the
great ring. traced roughly By the five
mountains. and afforded glorious
views or them and OF the low coun-
try. lakes, forest and swamp that in
tervened. II was Tommy's favorite
camping ground. He would sit for
hours on the top OF the hub. his legs
hanging over INTO space, gazing and
dreaming.
On the particular night in question
he climbed the hub after a fine sup.
per OF trout and rufled grouse. filed
a pipe and watched tile day fade and
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. but
Tommy did not feel as ii il was. lie
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 he
was in the heart OF a vast u~nexplored
country which no other white man had
ever visited.
Presently the 10 began to rise,
and hat always made Tommy mourn.
full and sentimental. II he had been
a dog he would have thrown back his
head and howled- Being a young man
he sighed and began To imagine that
he and she "a romantic edition of
Mary Blackstone with better manners
and less worldliness) had come 10
this wilderness TO escape from the
outside world and to make their home.
What fun it would be- How he would
work to make her happy and com.
Portable. How easy il would be for
them TO get along forever without any.
body else to bother them.
Just then his head fell forward on
his breast. and he dreamed that he
smelled boiling caulifower. II was q
smell to which he was particularly
sensitive. and which he particularly
hated. He walked with an angry start,
and the smell persisted.
His offended nostrils uuivered as
the nostrils OF a wild animal culver al
the smell Of a He was angry and
disguised. And his feelings for the
people who had not only invaded his
solitude. but had brought a cauli.
flower. more than one possibly. into
the northern woods, were not fiji
to print. His only satisfaction was
that in the morning he would hunt
them down and tell them what he
thought of them.
But he had a bad night. and when
at last he did get to sleep he slept
so heavily that daybreak didn't wake
him. BY the time he had washed and
breakfasted. it was half-past seven.
which is a shocking hour in the woods.
He climbed to the top OF the hub.
Field glasses in hand. he began to