Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-05-17

wanteu TO lie near her. and | knew it.
And she knew it too. That was why
she would not let me come near her.
forgot that she was truly the Swift
One and that in the art of climbing she
had been my teacher. | pursued her
from tree to tree, and ever she eluded
ME, peeping back at me with kindly
eyes, making soft sounds and dancing
and leaping and lettering before me
just out of reach. The more she elud-
ed me the more / wanted to catch her,
and the lengthening shadows of the
afternoon bore witness to the futility
of my effort.
As l pursued her or sometimes rest
ed in an adjoining tree and watched
her l noticed the change in her. She
was larger, heavier, more grOwnup. Her
lines were rOunder. her muscles fuller.
Three years she had been gone-three
years at the very least-and the change
in her was marked. | say three years.
1t is as near as / can measure the
time. A fouith year may have elapsed
which l have confused with the hap
penings of the other three years. The
more think of it the more confident
| am that it must be four years that
she was away.
Where she went. why she went and
what happened to her during that time
| do not know. There was no way Tor
her to tell ME. any more than there
was way for LOp Ear and me to tell
the folk what we had seen when we
were away. Like us, the chance is
she had gone off on an adventure jour-
ney and by herself. On the other
hand, it is possible that Red Eye may
have been the cause of her going. 1t
is quite certain that he must have
come upon her from time to time wan
dering in the woods, and If he had pur-
sued her there is no question but thar
it would have been sufficient to drive
her away. From subsequent events
am led to believe that she must have
travelled far to the south, across
range of mountains and down to the
banks of a strange river, away from
any of her kind. Many Tree People
lived down there, and l think it must
have been they who finally drove her
back to the horde and to me. My rea-
sons for this / shall explain later.
The shadows grew longer, and l pur-
sued more ardently than ever, and still
/ could not catch her. She made be-
lieve that she was trying desperately
to escape me, and all the time she man
aged to keep just beyond reach. l for
got everything-time, the Oncoming of
night and my meat eating enemies.
was insane with love for her and with
anger, too, because she would not let
me come up with her. It was strange
how this anger against her seemed to
be part Of my desire for her.
AS 1 have said, forgot everything.
In racing across an open space ran
full tilt upon a colony of snakes. They
did not deter me. l was mad. They
struck at me, but l ducked and lodged
and ran on. Then there was python
that ordinarily would have sent me
screeching to a treetop. He did run
me into a tree, but the Swift One was
going out of sight, and / sprang back
to the ground and went on. 1t was
close shave. Then there was my old
enemy, the hyena. From my conduct
he was sure something was going to
happen, and he followed me for an
hour. Once we exasperated band of
wild pigs, and they took after us. The
Swift One dared a wide leap between
trees that was too much for me.
had to take to the ground. There were
the pigs. / didn't care. l struck the
earth within yard Of the nearest one.
They Hanked me as I ran and chased
me into two different trees out of the
line of my pursuit of the Swift One.
/ ventured the ground again, doubled
back and eros. a wide open space,
with the whole band granting, bristling
and tusk crashing at my heels.
If mad tripped or stumbled in that
open space there would have been no
chance for me, but l didn't. And /
didn't care whether did or not. was
in such mood that would have faced
old Saber Tooth himself or a score Of
arrow shooting Fire People. Such was
the madness of love-with me. With
the Swift One it was different. She
was very wise. She did not take any
real risks. and l remember on looking