Charlevoix county herald., 1920-12-10

Dan no longer wore his glasses
Every day his eyes had strengthened.
, he could see more clearly now, with
MS unaided eyes. than he had ever
seen before with the help of the lens.
Ana the moonlight came down through
a f1ft In the trees and showed that his
race had changed, too. 1t was no
longer so white. The eyes were more
intent. The lips were straighter.
IT'S been two months" Silas Len
nox told him, half the four that you
gave yourself after you arrived here.
And you're twice as good now as when
you came"
Dan nodded. "Twice! Ten times
as good l was a wreck when came.
Today l climbed halfway up Badly
within a half mile of SnOwbird's cab
in-without stopping to rest"
LennOx looked thoughtful More
( than once, Of late, Dan had climbed up
toward SnOwbird's cabin. Ii was true
that his guest and his daughter had
become the best Of companions in the
two months; but on second thought,
Lennox was not In the least afraid of
complications. The love of the noun
tain women does not go out to phys
ical interiors. whoever gets her."
he had said, twill have TO tame her."
and his words still held good. The
mountain women rarely mistook q ma
ternal tenderness for an appealing
man for love. 1t wasn't that Dan was
weak except from the ravages of his
disease; but he was still long way
from Snowbird's ideal. Although Dan
had courage and that same rigid self
control that was an old quality in his
breed, he was still a long way from
physically strong man. 1t was still
an even break whether he would ever
wholly recover from his malady.
But Dan was not thinking about
this now. All his perceptions had
sharpened down to the finest focal
point, and he was trying to catch the
spirit of the endless forest that
stretched in front of the house His
pipe had gone out, and for long time
Lennox hadn't spoken. He seemed TO
be straining too, with ineffective
senses, trying to recognize and name
the faint sounds that came so tingling
and tremulous out Of the darkness. As
always, they heard the stir and rustic
Of the gnawing people; the chipmunks
In the shrubbery, the gophers who,
like blind misers, had ventured forth
from their dark burrows; and per-
haps even the scaly glide of those
most-dreaded poison people that had
lairs in the rock piles.
Dan felt that at last the wilderness
itself was speaking to him. He had
waited long time TO hear it's voice.
His thought went back to the wise,
men of the ancient world, waiting to
hear the riddle of the universe from
the lips Of the Sphinx, and how he
himself-more in his unconscious self,
rather than conscious-had sought the
eternal riddle Of the wilderness. He
had asked questions-never in the
form Of words but only ineffable
warnings of his soul-and at last IL
had responded. The strange rising
and falling song was its own voice, the
articulation of the very heart and soul
Of the wilderness.
Its the wolf pack" Lennox told
him softly. 1.-THE wolves have just
Joined together for the fall rutting."
"Then this means the end of the
summer?" Dan asked.
"In a way, but yet we don't count
the summer ended until the rains
break. Heavens, / wish they would
dry, and I'm afraid that either Bert
Cranston or some of his friends will
decide It's time to make a little mon
ey fighting forest fires. Dan. I'm sus-