Gunnison news-champion., 1915-12-31
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h began sowev' hsre - oAe uitldSe
~ the world. ~ . sorlosn laadiEG On
tpe west baak Of the muddy. tsrbsr
lsnt lrrs~ sddy. remembered by man
only 80 ofsea as IA was necessary fos
the aotilia boat 10 call for paddy.
visiting commlssiaaar anxious 10 get
away or a family nome ward bound
On the east side os the river. over
here. Was a seaiblsnee OF civilization
That Is 10 say men Nore white linen.
avoided murasr. snd freGuesatly psid
their gambling debts tut on this
west side stood wilderness. not the
kind ese reads about as besng evenss-
ally conquered b. white men. no. the
real. grim desoistlon. where the az
cuts but leaves no blaze. where the
pioneer disappears and few or none
follow II vas not the wilderness of
the desert, of the Jungle. rather the
tragic. hopeless state oi a settiement
thai neither progressed. retarded nor
stood still
between the landing and the settle
nent itself there stretched q winding
road. arid and treeless. perhaps two
miles In length. u announced def
nitely that it's end was futility. The
dust hung like q fog above It. not only
for this day. but for all days betweea
the big rains When the go6s. or the
elements. or Providence, arranged the
world as . Mt habitstioa for man. In
dia and Burma were made the dust
bins And as water finds its levels.
90 will dust. earthly and human, the
quick and the dead.
Along the road walked two men.
phsntomlike. Oae saw their heads
aimly and stili more dimly their bodies
TO the knees; OF legs there wss moth
ing visible. Occasionally they stepped
aside TO permit some bullock cart TO
pasA. 00e Of them swore. n0t with
any sviAence Of temper. not vicisssly,
but n . kind sf mechanical psstest.
which, from long usage, had become .
habit. He directed these eptthsts
nsvsr st snythiaG ~ eesD1 ~ nestsl
o. physical csatsst Overcoos. Ne
wind. 1t the sun.
TIE other wayfarsr, with the inner
ent patience Of his blood, said nothing
and waited. setting down the heavy
kit bag and the canvas valise this
own). When the way wss free again
he would sling the kit bag anl the
valise over his shoulder and step bach
into the road. His turban once white,
was brown with dust and sweat His
khaki uniform was rent and the rag
eed canvas shoes spurted little spirals
of dust as he walked James Hooghly
was Eurasian; half European. half In
dian, having his place twixt heaven
and hell, which is to say, nowhere He
was faithful. willing and strong; and
as a carrier of burdens took unmur.
muringly his place beside the tireless
bullock and the elephant. He was q
Methodist; why, no one could find iu-
cid answer. BY dint of inquiry his
master had learned that James looked
upon his baptism and conversioa In
Methodism as q corporal would have
looked upon the acquisition of Q v. G.
Twice. during fever and plague, ~
had saved his masters life. With the
guilelessness of the Oriental he con
sidered himself responsible for his
master in all future times. Instead a
paying OF q debt he had acquired one
Treated as he was kindly but always
firmly, he would have surrendered his
life cheerfully at the beck of the white
man.
Warrington was an American. He
was also one of those men who never
held misfortune in contempt. whose
outlook wherever it roamed was tol-
Grant He had patience for the weak,
resolution for the strong and q fear
less amiability toward all. He was
like the St Bernard dog. very diff
cult to arouse. 1t is rather the way
with all men who are strong mentally
and physically. He was tall and broad
and deep. Under the battered pith
helmet his face was as dark as the
Eurasian's; but the eyes we're blue,
bright and small pupiled, as they are
with men who live out of doors. who
are compelled of necessity TO note
things moving at distances. The nose
was large and well defined All
framed in a tangle of blond beard and
mustache which, if anything, added
to the general manliness of his ap-
pearance- He, too, wore khaki, but
with the addition of tan riding leg
gings. which had seen anything but
rockinghorse service. The man was
yellow from the top of his helmet to
the soles of his shoes-outside For
the rest, he vas a mystery. TO James,
to all who thought they knew him. ana
most Of all to himself A pariah. an
outcast. a fugitive from the bloodless
hand Of the law: a gentleman born,
once upon a time a clubman, college
bred. . contradiction. . puzzle for
which there was not any solution, not
even in the hidden corners of the