Charlevoix county herald., 1920-11-26

wholly unable TO understand the
strange feeling of familiarity that he
had with them. a 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 mt first. For
the first instant he was entirely en-
crossed by surging sense Of disap-
pointment-a feeling that he had been
tricked and had only come to another
city after all. He got down onto the
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
would be wholly unknown on the
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 distant for
est fire half obscured them. Yet he
saw fold on fold of ridges Of rather
peculiar blue in color. and even his
untraine, 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 a paint
ed mountain; Wagner with queer
white gashes where the snow still lay
In it's 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.
II 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. II was true
that he wore flannel shirt. riding
trousers and rather heavy. ieathern
boots. But sportsmen all over the
face of the earth wear this costume at
sundry times. Mountain men have q
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 a 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
rather hard gray iris They didn't
look past him. or al either side of him.
or AZ 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 ii was
neither savage nor cruel. 1t was SIM
ply determined.
Lennox came up with a.light. silent
tread and extended his hand. You're
Dan Failing's grandson. aren't your"
he asked. "Tm Sias Lennox, 4 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 II
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
he shook hands. he tried his best ia
read the mountaineer's expression. IL
was all too plain: an undeniable 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
Failing 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.