Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1918-03-23
CHAPTER XII.
Four Walls and a Roof.


place. She could not deny its beauty
But she was far too trail weary to APP
preci"te the grandeur of the klappan
range. She desired nothing SO much
as rest and comfort. and the solemn
mountains We're neither restfuI nor
soothing, They stood too grim and
aloot in "A lonely land.
There was so much to be done, work
Of the hands; cabin to build. and q
stable; hay to be cut and stacked so
/ that their horses might live through
the long Winter-Which already her
aided his approach with sharp, sting
ing froSts at night, and fiurries of
snow along the higher ridges
Bill Staked the tent beside the
spring, fashioned rude fork ont of
a prouged willow. and fitted a handle
to the scythe he had brought for the
purpose. From dawn 10 dark he swung
the keen blade in the heavy grass
which carpeted the bottom. Behind
him Hazel piled il in little mounds
with fork. She insisted on this,
though 1t bIstered her hands and
brought furious pains to her back. If
her man must strain every nerve she
would tighten the burden with what
strength she had. And with two pair
Of hands to the task, the piles of hay
gathered thick on the meadow When
Bill judged that the supply reached
twenty tons, he built rude sled with
a rack on it, and hauled in the hay
with a saddle horse
"Amen!" said Bill. when he had emp
tied the rack for the last time, and
the hay rose in neat stack. That's
another load off my mind. | can build
cabin and Il stable in six feet of
snow if l have to- but there would
have been u slim chance of haying once
storm hit us. We wouldn't go hun
gry-there's moose enough to feed an
army ranging in that low ground to the
south"
There's everything that one needs,
almost, in the wilderness, isn't there?"
Hazel observed refectvely. But still
the law of life Is awfully harsh. don't
you think, Bill. Isolation is a terrible
thing when il 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 persona" he asked. "Nothinr's
going TO go wrong I've been i'm 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? Ii treats you worse than the
worst the North can do; for, lacking
the price, 1t 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 it's
/ daily bread. It's more open and
aboveboard here; more up to the indi-
vidual. But It's lonely sometimes. /
guess that's what ails you"
"Oh, poufw she denied. I'm not
| lonely, so long as I've got you. But
sometimes l think Of something han
pening to you-sickness and accidents.
/ and all that"
Forget IT." BIZ exhorted. THAT'S
the worst of living ia this big. still
| country-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. Walt
till / 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 stiIl
unspent when the haystacking termi-
mated, and Bin declared a holiday.
When the fire had sunk to duh EN-.
bers, and the stars were peeping shylv
in the open flap Of their tent, she wills
pered In his ear:
you mustn't think I'm complaining
or lonesome or anything. Billy-boy.
when / make remarks Ike aid 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 have funny
feeling; as If l We're afraid. / look up
at these big mountains, and they seem
to be scowIing-as II we were tres
| passers or something"
"I know" Bit drew her dose n
him. Put that's Just mood. I've felt
that same sensation up Eere-a foolish
lndehnable foreboding All the out
of-the-way places of the earth produce
that effect. II one is 1T all imaginative.
It's the bigness OF everything. and the
eternal stiffness Il would be hard on
the nerves 70 live here always. But
we're only after s:ake-then all the
pleasant places Of the earth are omen
to US; with t'tat little old log house
G. a