Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-04-19

whoops about the money. There is
still gold in the Klappan Range and
other corners of the North, whenever
l need 1t. But it nauseated me. l
can't stand that c%ut-thrOat game. And
Granville, like most other cities of it's
kind, lives by and for that sort of
thing. The pressure Of modern life
makes 1t inevitable. Anyway, a town
is no place for me. l a stomach 1t
about so long, and no longer. It's too
cramped, too glrded about with petty
larceny conventions. If once you slip
and get down, every one walks on you.
Everything's restricted, priced, tin
kered with. There is nc real freedom
of body or spirit. l wouldn't trade Il
comfy log cabin in the woods with a
big fireplace and u shelf of books for
the finest home on Maple drive-not If
/ had to stay there and stitle in the
dust and smoke and smells. That
would be q sordid and impoverished
existence. / cannot live by the dog
eat-dog code that seems to prevail
wherever folk get jammed together in
an unwieldy social mass. l have said
the like to you before.
by nature and training I'm united
to live in these crowded places. l love
you, little person, 1 don't think you
realize how much, but / can make
you happy by making myself utterly
miserable. That would only produce
the inevitable reaction. But | still
think you are essentially enough like
me to meet me on common ground.
You loved me and you found content
ment and joy, at our little cabin once
Don't you think it might be waiting
there again?
IF you really care, If ] and the old
North still mean anything to you, a
few days or weeks, or even months OF
separation won't matter. An affection
that can't survive six months is too
fragile to go through life on. l don't
ask you to jump the next train and
follow me. / don't ask you to wire me,
Come back, Bill Though l would
come quick enough If you called me. ]
merely want you to think it over so
berly and let your heart decide. You
know where l stand, don't you, Hazel
dear? 1 haven't ehanged-not a bit
I'm the same old Bill. But I'd rather
hit the trail alone than with an un
willing partner. Don't founder about
in any quicksand of duty. There i:
no 4 ought to- between us.
$50 it is up to you once more, little
person. If my way is not your way
will abide by your decision withou'
whining. And whenever you want tt
reach me, a message to Felix COur
voiseur, Fort George, will eventually
find me. I'll fix it that way.
80 long, little person. 1 like you
heap, for all your cantankerous ways
BILL"
She laid aside the letter, with
lump in her throat. For a brief instan
she was minded to telegraph the wor'
that would bring him hurrying back
But-some of the truths he had Sc
down in cold black and white cut he
deep. OF a surety she had drawn he
weapon on the wrong side in the min
ing trouble. Overhasty 2-yes. An
shamefully disloyal. Perhaps there wa
something in it, after all; that is t
say, it might be they had made a mis-
take. She saw plainly enough tina
unless she could get back some of tn
old enthusiasm for that wilderness lif,
unless the fascination Of m~agnificer
distances, of silent, GREATNESS forests
Of contented, quiet days on trail an
stream, could lay fast hold of he
|. again, they would only defer the da
! Of reckoning, as Bill had said.
? No, she would not attempt to ca
him back. She doubted If he woul
come. And she would not go-not ye
She must have time to think.
, Altogether, as the first impression
: Bills letter grew less vivid to her sh
! considered her grievances more. An
she was minded to act as she had 81
! out to do-to live her life as SCENE
: best to her, rather than pocket hi
; pride and rejoin Bill. The feminin
: instinct to compel the man to capit
J late asserted itself more and MOI
! strongly.
!
Z A month passed.
During that thirty-day period she r
! ceived a brief note from Bill. Just
. few lines to say:
"Hit the ranch yesterday, little pc
y son. Looks good to me. Went Hshir
: last night about shutdown. Trout wei
I rising fine. Nailed a ten-pounde
$ Woke up this morning at daylight ar
found a buck deer with two lac
e friends standing in the middle of Il
clearing. / loafed a few days In Fo
George, sort of thinking l might he
from you. Am sending this out |
Jake. Will start for the Knapp,
d about day after tomorrow"
d She had not answered his first ID
lr ter. She had tried to. But someho
when she tried to set pen to paper Il
a right words would not come. s.
y lacked his facility Of expressio
There was so much she wanted to sa
81 so little she seemed able to say.
. the days passed she felt less sure
L her ground, less sure that she had n
IL sacrificed something precious to
rs vagary of self, an obsession of her on
DR. ego.
10 And slowly but surely she began
view all the activities of her cir,
i with a critical eye. Certain of h
friends had become tentative enemi
IL Kitty Brooks and the Bray womenfo
Tx who were a numerous and ~influent
&c tribe, not only turned silent fac
when they met, but they made war
CT her In the peculiar fashion of wom'
A word here, a suggestive phrs
~ there, a shrug of the shoulders. 1t
sc bore fruit. Other friends conveyed
~ avid gossip. Hazel smiled and ignol
IL. But In her own rooms she ras
y unavailingly.
~ Her husband had left her. Tn,
AZ was a man in the case. They had
everything. The first count was S
ficiently maddening because it was
90 half truth. And any of it was irrit
,st lng-even IL few believed-since
ok made a choice morsel to digest in G
RS sipy corners, and brought sundry CT
M stares on Hazel at certain tin