The Winslow mail., 1920-12-24
knew sick day in her life. And you
know Bill, of course"


Yes, Steele knew Bill. Bill weighed
two hundred pounds, and he would
choose the biggest of the steers he
drove down to the lower levels In the
winter and, twisting its horns, would
make 1t lay over on it's side. Besides,
both of the men assumed that Dan
must be only in the first stages of his
malady.
And even as the men talked, the
train that bore Dan Failing to the
home of his ancestors was entering
for the first time the dark forests of
pine and fir that make the eternal
background of the Northwest He was
wholly unable to understand the
strange feeling of familiarity that he
had with them, sensation that in
his dreams he had known them al
ways, and that he must never go out
of the range Of them again.
Dan didn't see his host at first For
the first instant he was entirely en-
crossed by a surging sense of disap-
pointment-a feeling that he had been
tricked and had only come to another
gravel of the station yard, and out on
the gray street pavement he heard
the clang of trolley car. Many au-
tomobiles were parked just beside the
station, some of them foreign cars of
expensive makes, such as he supposed
vrn1I1H h0 0uhn11u tho
frontier. A man in, golf clothes
brushed his shoulder.
Dan looked up to the hills, and he
felt better. He couldn't see them plain
ly. The faint smoke of a distant for
est fire half obscured them. Yet he
saw fold on fold of ridges of a rather
peculiar blue in color, and even his
unframed eyes could see that they
were clothed in forests of evergreen.
Over the heads Of the green hills Dan
could see few great peaks; Nc
Laughlin, even and regular as paint
ed mountain; Wagner, with queer
white gashes where the snow still lay
In its ravines, and to the southeast
the misty range of snow-covered hills
that were the Sickeyous. He felt de-
cidedly better. And when he saw old
Sllas Lennox waiting patiently beside
the station, he felt he had come to
the right place.
1t would be Interesting to explain
why Dan at once recognized the older
man for the breed he was. Silas Len
nOx was not dressed in a way that
would distinguish him. It was true
that he wore a flannel shirt, riding
trousers and rather heavy, leathern
boots. But sportsmen all over the
face of the earth wear this costume at
sundry times. Mountain men have
peculiar stride by which experienced
persons can occasionally recognize
them; but Silas Lennox was standing
still when Dan got his first glimpse of
him. The case resolves itself into a
simple matter of the things that could
be read in Lennox's face
Dan disbelieved wholly in q book
that told how to read characters at
sight. Yet at the first glance of the
lean, bronzed face his heart gave
curious little bound. pair of gray
eyes met his-two fine black points in
a rather hard gray iris. They didn't
look past him, or at either side of him.
or at his chin or his forehead. They
looked right at his own eyes. The skin
around the eyes was burned brown by
the sun, and the flesh was so lean that
the cheekbones showed plainly. The
mouth was straight; but yet 1t was
neither savage nor cruel. 1t was SIM
ply determined.
Lennox came up with light, silent
read and extended his hand you're
Dan Failing's grandson, aren't your"
he asked. "I'm Silas Lennox, who
used to know him when he lived on
the Divide. You are coming to spend
the summer and fall on my ranch"
The immediate result of these
words. besides relief, was to set Dan
wondering how the old mountaineer
had recognized him. He wondered if
he had any physical resemblance to
his grandfather. But this hope was
shot to earth at once. His telegram
had explained about his malady, and
Of course the mountaineer had picked
him out simply because he had the
mark of the disease on his face. AS
be shook hands, he tried his best to
rea0 the mouRIalneers expression. 1t
was all too pain: an undeniao1e look
of disappointment.
The truth was that even in spite Of
all the Chamber of Commerce head had
told him, Lennox had still hoped to
find some image of the elder Dan
Falling in the face and body of his
grandson. Because of the thick
glasses. Lennox could not see the
young mans eyes; but he didn't think
1t likely they were at all like the eyes
with which the elder Failing saw his
way through the wilderness at night
OF course he was tall, just as the ia
nous frontierSman had been. but
while the elder weighed one hundred