The Dolores star., 1918-12-06
CHAPTER XII.
Four Walls and 4 Roof.

/ Hazel would have found that nook In
the Klappan range pleasant enough
place. She could not deny its beauty.
But she was far too trail weary to ap-
/ preci"'s the grandeur OF the klappan
range. She desired nothing so much
as rest and comfort. and the solemn
I mountains were neither restful nor
soothing. They stood too grim and
nloof in lonely land.
There was so much to be done. work
OF the hands: cabin to build, and a
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 fiurrtes of
snow along the higher ridges.
( Bill staked the tent beside the
spring, fashioned rude fork out of
pronged willow, and fitted a handle
I TO the scythe he had brought for the
purpose. From dawn to dark he swung
the keen blade In the heavy grass
which carpeted the bottom. Behind
him Hazel piled 1t In little mounds
/ with a fork. She Insisted on this,
| though II blIstered her hands and
brought furious pains to her back. II
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
Bin judged that the supply reached
/ twenty tons. he built rude sled with
a rack on 1t, and hauled In the hay
with = 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 of my mind. can build
/ a cabin and a stable In six feet of
snow II l have to, but there would
have been a slim chance of hs ying once
storm hit US. We wouldn't go hun
] gry-theres 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 there7"
Hazel observed reflectively. But still
the law OF life is awfully harsh. don't
You think, Bill. Isolation is a terrible
thing when 1t 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"
I BIZ eyed her u second Then he put
his arms around her. and patted her
hair tenderly.
is II getting on your nerves already.
little person. he asked. "NothIng's
going to SO wrong. I've been In wild
country too often 10 make mistakes or
get careless. Life Isn't 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, II 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. don't think
I the law of life Is nearly SO harsh here
as fl is where the mob struggles for Its
daily bread. It's more open and
ahoveboard here: more up TO the indi-
I vidual. But it's lonely sometimes.
guess that's what ais you"
"Oh, 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
country-it makes one interpretive.
a a
puny atoms we human beings are,
after all. But there's less chance of
sickness here than any place. Walt
| till I get that cabin built, with a big
fireplace at one end. Wen be more
comfortable, and things will look
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 haystacking termi-
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
or lonesome or anything. Billy-boy
when / make remarks like did today.
love you heap. and I'd be happy
anywhere with you. And I'm really
and truly at home in the wilderness
Only-only sometimes I have funny
feeling; as II were afraid. I look up
at these big mountains, and they seem
to be scowling-as II we were tres
passers or something"
~ know" Bill drew her close to
him. "But that's Just mood. I've felt
that same sensation up here-a foolish
indefinable forebod!ng. 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. II would be hard on
the nerves TO live here always. But
: .ros.a oniu alter \ afako-fhnn ali n