Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-03-15

army ranging in that low ground to the
SOUTH"
There's everything that n needs,
almost, in the wilderness, isn't there?"
Hazel observed refectively. But still
the law of life is awfully harsh, don't
you think, Bill. Isolation is a terrible
thing when it is so absolutely COM
plete. Suppose something went wrong?
There's no help, and no mercy-abso-
lutely none. Nature, when you get
close to her, is so memorable"
Bill eyed her a second. Then he put
his arms around her, and patted her
hair tenderly.
as it getting on your nerves already,
little p~ersOn?" he asked. "Notbing's
going to go wrong. I've been in wild
country too often to make mistakes or
get careless. Life isn't a bit harSher
here than in the human ant heaps.
What does the old, settled country do
TO you when you have neither money
nor Job? 1t treats you worse than the
worst the North can do; for, lacking
the price, it denies you access to the
abundance that mOcks you in every
shop window. and bars you out of the
houses that line the streets. Here,
everything needful is yours for the TAX
ing. No, little person, I don't think
the law of life is nearly so harsh here
as it is where the mob struggles for its
daily bread. It's more open and
aboveboard here; more up to the indi-
vldual. But it's lonely sometimes. l
guess that's what ais you"
ooh, pouf!' she denied. I'm not
lonely, so long as I've got you. But
sometimes l think of something hap
pening to you-sickness and accidents,
and all that"
Forget it" Bill exhorted. That's
the worst of living in this big, still
c~ountry-it makes one retrospective,
and so cOnfoundedly conscious of what
puny atoms we human beings are,
after all. But there's less chance of
sickness here than any place. Wait
till l get that cabin built, with a big
fireplace at one end. Wen be more
comfortable, and things will look a
little roster. This thing of everlasting
hurry and hard work gets on every
body's nerves."
The best of the afternoon was still
unspent when the h~aystacking ter1ni-
mated. and Bill declared a holiday.
When the fire had sunk to dull en-
bers, and the stars were peeping shyly
in the open flap of their tent, she whis-
pered in his ear:
"You mustn't think I'm complaining
- 10aocapon ar o~r4hi.r Dill, lo-
when l make remarks like I did today.
l love you a heap, and I'd be happy
anywhere with you. And I'm really
and truly at home in the wilderness.
Only-only sometimes l have a funny
feeling; as if l were afraid. / look up
at these big mountains, and they seem
to be scowling-as If we were tres.
passers or something"
81 know" Bill drew her close tC
him. But that's just mood. I've felt
that same sensation up here-a foolish
%indefinable foreboding. All the out
of-the-way places of the earth produce
that effect, II one is at all imaginative
It's the bigness of everything, and the
eternal stiffness. It would be hard or
the nerves to live here always. Blu
we're only after a stake-then all the
pleasant places of the earth are oper
to us; with that little old log house
up by Pine river for a refuge when
ever we get tired of the world at large
Cuddle up and, go to sleep. You're {
dead-game sport. or you'd have hol
Tered long ago."
And. next day, to Hazel, sitting b.
watching him swing the heavy, double
bitted AK on the foundation logs O
their winter home, it all seemed fool
!, ish, that heaviness of heart whicl
sometimes assai1ed her. She was per
fectly happy. They had plenty of food
In a few brief months Bill would wres
a sack of gol from the treasure hOus
I of the North, and they would ~journe
I home by easy stages. Why should sh
: brood? 1t was sheer folly-a mer
ebb of spirit.
: Fortune favored them to the exten
i of letting the October storms renal
in allegiance until Bill finished hi
cabin, with a c%avernous fireplace g
. rough stone at one end.
ICh I1O VI
stable to shelter the horses. Midwa
of its construction a cloud bank ble1
out of the northeast, and a foot {
snow fell. Then it cleared to brilliar
days Of frost. Bill finished his stablj
At night he tied the horses therein. B
n day they were turned loose to rust
n their fodder from under the cris
snow. 1t was necessary to husban
J. the stock of hay, for spring might
n late.
n After that they went hunting. tt
n third day Bill shot two moose in 6
'r open glade ten miles afeld. 1t toe
q them two more days to haul in Il
frozen meat on a sled.
k He also laid in a stock of frozt
a trout by the simple expedient of loca
20 ing a large pool, and netting Il
h speckled denizens thereof through
r hole in the ice.
G. So their larder was amply supple
Of And, as the cold rigidly frightened
grip, and succeeding SHOWS deepen'
Of came imperative, Bill began to stril
lie out a line of traps.
December winged by, the days 81
az ceeding each other like glittering pa
IS els on a black ground of long, DIRE
nd nights. Christmas came. They mi
tered up something of the hold
is, spirit, dining gayly off a roast of ca
bou. For the occasion Hazel had say
the last half dozen potatoes. With t
. material at her command she evolv
a Christmas pudding, serving it wi
brandy sauce. And after satisfy
appetites bred of a morning tilt wi
Jack Frost along Bits trap line, tn
s. spent a pleasant hour picturing tn
n next Christmas. There would be no
and bright lights and music-the fe:
val spirit freed of all restraint.
A day or two after the first of
year Roaring Bill set out to go O.
VA M of the uttermost trap lines. f
M minutes after closing the door he v
back.
Easy with that fire, little perso