Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-12-24
&C o n t i n u e d.
cHAPTER ~

Dan Failing was really not bauly
hurt. The quick, flashing blows had
not done more than severely bruise
the flesh Of his face; and the mists Of
Inconsistencies that had been falling
over him were more nearly the result
of his own tremendous physical ex.
ertion. Now these mists were rising
"Go-go away" the girl was COM
manding. 81 think you've killed him."
Dan opened his eyes to find her
kneeling close beside him, but still
covering Cranston with her pistol. Her
hand was resting on his bruised cheek
he couldn't have believed that 4 hui
man face could be as white, while life
still remained. as hers was then. All
the lovely tints that had been such o,
delight to him. the play Of soft reds
and browns, had faded AZ an after
glow fades on the snow.
Dams glance moved with hers to
Cranston. He was standing easily at
distance of q dozen feet; and except
for the faintest tremble all over his
body, a muscular reaction from the
violence of his passion, he had entire
~ regained his self-composure. This
was quite Characteristic Of the noun
tain men. They share with the beasts
aApassion Of living that is wholly I'M
known on the plains but yet they have
q certain quality Of imperturbability
known nowhere else. Nor Is II limited
TO the native-born mountaineers. No
man who intimately knows q member
Of that curious, keen-eyed little army
of naturalists and big-game hunters
who 90 to the north woods every fall.
as regularly and seemingly as mex
orably as the waterfowl 60 In spring,
can doubt this fact. They seem to
have acquired from the silence and
the SHOWS an impregnation of that
eternal calm and imperturbability that
is the wilderness itself. Cranston
wasn't In the least afraid. Fear is
usually q matter Of uncertainty, and
he knew exactly where he stood.
II is extremely doubtful IL a plains
man would have possessed this knowl-
edge. But a plainsman has not the
knowledge Of life itself that the noun
taineer has, simply because he does
not see It in the raw. And he has not
half the Intimate knowledge Of death,
an absolute requisite of self-com-
posture. The mountaineer knows life
In Its simple phases with little tradi-
ton or convention to blur the vision.
Death is a very intimate acquaintance
that may be met in any snowdrift, on
any rocky trail; and these conditions
are very deadly to any decisions that
he has In regard to himself. He &C
Quires an ability to see just where he
stands, and Of course that means self
possession. This quality had something
to do with the remarkable record that
the mountain men, such as that mag
niflcent warrior from Tennessee. made
In the late war.
Cranston knew exactly what Snow
bird would do. Although Of higher
order. she was q mountain creature,
even as himself She meant exactly
what she said. If he hadn't climbed
from Dams prone body, she would
have shot quickly and very straight. If
he tried to attack either of them now,
her finger would press back before he
could blink an eye. and she wouldn't
weep any hysterlcal tears over his
dead body. II he kept his distance
she wouldn't shoot at all. He meant
70 keep his distance. But he did know
that he could insult her without dan
ger to himself. And by now his lips
had acquired their old curl of scorn.
"Pl 60, Snowbird." he said. "I1l
leave you with your sissy. But ] guess