The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-06-06

snow along the higher ridges.
Bill staked the tent beside tn
spring, fashioned a rude fork out o
a pronged willow, and fitted handl
to the scythe he had brought for tn
purpose. From dawn to dark he swunj
the keen blade in the heavy gras
which carpeted the bottom. Behlnt
him Hazel piled 1t in little mounds
with fork. She insisted on this
though 1t bllstered her hands ant
brought furious pains to her back. |
her man must strain every nerve sh,
would tighten the burden with wha
strength she had. And with two pal
of hands to the task, the piles of ha!
gathered thick on the meadow. WheI
Bill judged that the supply reached
twenty tons, he built n rude sled will
rack on it, and hauled in the ha!
with saddle horse.
amen !" said Bill, when he had emp
tied the rack for the last time, ant
the hay rose in a neat stack. "That''
another load off my mind. / can built
a cabin and stable in six feet OF
snow If l have to, but there would
have been slim chance of haylng once
a storm hit us. We wouldn't 90 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 thereT'
Hazel observed rehectively. "But still
the law of life is awfully harsh, don't
you think, Bill Isolation is n terrible
thing when It is so absolutely com
plete. Suppose something went wrong?
There's 10 help, and no mercy-abso-
lutely none. Nature, when you get
close TO her, Is so inexorable."
Bill eyed her second. Then he put
his arms around her, and patted her
hair tenderly.
rs 1t getting on your nerves already,
little person?" he asked. "Nothlng's
going to go wrong. I've been in wild
country too often to 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, 1t denies you access to the
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
the law Of life Is nearly so harsh here
ls II is where the mob struggles for its
daily bread. It's more open and
here; more up to the lndi-
vidual. But it's lonely sometimes.
guess that's what ails YOU"
"Oh, pOuf" she denied. I'm not
Onely, so long as I've got you. But
| think of something hap
Dening to yOu-sickness and accidents,
md all that"
"Forget It'll" Bill exhorted. "Thnts
he worst of living in this big, still
makes one interpretive.
md so confoundedly conscious of what
1uny atoms we human beings are,
lfter all. But there's less chance of
sickness here than any place. Wait
ill l get that cabin built, with n big
fireplace at one end. Wen be more
and things will look a
little roster This thing of everlasting
hurry and hard work gets on every
)ody's nerves."
The best Of the afternoon was still
lnspent when the haystacking termi-
lated, and Bill declared a holiday.
When the fire had sunk to dull EN-.
'ers, and the stars were peeplng shyIy
n the open flap of their tent, she whis-
,ered In his ear:
"You mustn't think I'm complaining
n lonesome or anything, Billy-boy,
When / make remarks like did TODAY.
love you a heap, and I'd be happy
anywhere With you. And I'm really
md truly at home in the wilderness.
sometimes I have a funny
ceiling; as If were afraid. look up
t these big mountains, and they seem
o he scowling-as II we were tres
'assers or something"
81 know" Bill drew her close to
lin. "But that's Just mood. I've felt
hat same sensation up here-a foolish.
ndefinable forebodlng. All the out
f-the-way places of the earth produce
hat effect, If one Is at all imaginative.
is the blgness Of everything, and the
ternal stiffness. II would be hard on
he nerves to live here always. But
we're only after a stake-then all the
'leasant places Of the earth are open
o us; with that little old log house
p by Pine river for n refuge when
yer we get tired of the world at large.
'uddle up and go to sleep. You're
ead-game sport, or you'd have hol-
cred long ago"
And, next day, to Hazel, sitting by
him swing the heavy, double
itted ax on the foundation logs of
heir winter home, it all seemed fool
'h, that heavlness of heart which
assalled her. She was per-
ectly happy. They had plenty of food.
n few brief months Bill would wrest
sack of gol | from the treasure house
I the North, and they would journey
ONE by easy stages. Why should she
rood? 1t was sheer folly--a mere
bb of spirit.
Fortune favored them to the extent
letting the October storms remain
abeyance until Bill finished his
abin, with cavernous fireplace of
)ugh stone at one end.
Followed then the erection Of
table to shelter the horses. Midway
its construction n cloud bank blew