Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1918-12-26
Swung the Keen Blade in the Heav
Grass,

Swung the Keen Blade in the Heavy
Grass.
"1s it getting on your nerves already,
little persOn?" he asked. "Nothing's
going to go wrong. I've been in wild
country too often to make mistakes or
get careless. Life isn't q bit harsher
here II 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 a 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 talk
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 O. end
aboveboald heres Esaaa Gg l. ~..s saasss-
vidual. But it's Lonely aau:.es. I
guess that's what ails sstss
oh. pouf!' she desSsasa, "s,n not
lonely, so long as I've SGT .au, But
sometimes I think Of se.ect; /, hap
pening to you-sickness end accidents,
and all that"
Forget it!' Bill exhorted. "That,s
the worst of living in this big, still
country-it makes one retrospective,
n 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 n end. Well be more
comfortable, and things will look a
little roster. This thing of everlasting
hurry and hard work gets on every
body's nerves."
Fhe best of the afternoon was still
lnspent when the haystacking termi-
aated, and Bill declared a holiday.
When the fire had sunk to dull en-
oers, and the stars were peeping shyly
n the open flap of their tent, she whis-
oered in his ear:
"You mustn't think I'm complaining
,r lonesome or anything, Billy-boy,
when l make remarks like I did today.
[ love you a heap, and I'd be happy
anywhere with you. And Tn really
and truly at home in the wilderness.
Only-only sometimes l have a funny
feeling; as if I were afraid. I look up
at these big mountains, and they seem
10 be scowling-as if we We're tres
9assers or something"
II know" Bill drew her close to
him. "But that's just mood. I've felt
hat same sensation up here-a foolish.
ndefinable forehoding. All the out
,f-the-Way places Of the earth produce
hat effect, ii one is at all imaginative,
It's the bigness of everything, and the
eternal stiffness. 1t would be hard on
he nerves 10 live here always. But
we're only after Il stake-thcn all the
pleasant places of the earth are omen
o us; With that little old log house
10 by Pine river for a refuge when
ever we get tired Of the world at large.
Cuddle up and go to sleep. You're a
dead-game sport, or you'd have hol-
Tered long ago"
And, next day. 20 Hazel, sitting by
watching him swing tho heavy, double
bitted AK on the foundation logs of
their winter home, it all seemed fool
ISM, nat heaNineSS of heart which
sometimes assaulted her. She was per-
fectly happy. They had plenty of food.
IN a few brief months Bill would wrest
a sack of gold from the treasure house
OF the North, and they would journey
home by easy stages. Why should she
brood? 1t was sheer folly-a mere
ebb of spirit.
Fortune favored them t. sytent
OF letting the October S.: 3Eaain
in allegiance until BlM. aas
cabin, with a caverssG,Ss = &sS
rough stone at u emu.
Followed her the e4ssGsssa 81 q
stable to shelter the horses. Midway
OF its construction a cloud bank blew
out of the northeast, and a foot of
SNOW fell. Then it cleared to brilliant
days of frost. Bill finished his stable.
AT night he tied the horses therein. BY
day they We're turned loose to rustic
their fodder from under the crisp
snow. 1t was necessary to husband
the stock of hay, for spring might be
late.
After that they went hunting. The
third day Bill shot two moose In an
open glade ten miles a@sld. It took
them two more days Do EsaS1 On The
frozen meat on a sled.
He also laid in a Goaak az frozen
trout by the simple expedieue oe locass