Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-05-06

1
Never in all the history Of his family
so far as Dan Knew. had there been
death from the malady that afflicted
him. Yet his sentence was signed and
sealed.
But he harbored no resentment
against his mother. II was all Ia the
game. She had done what she thought
was best. And he began TO wonder
In what way he could get the greatest
pleasure from his last six months of
life.
Good Lord I" he suddenly breathed.
II may not be here to see the SHOWS
Gomez Dan had always been partial
10 the winter season. When the snow
lay all over the farm lands and bowed
down the limbs of the trees, 1t had
| always wnkened a curious flood Of
| feelings In the wasted man. Ii seemed
| TO him that he could remember other
winters, wherein the snow lay for end
less miles over an endless wilderness.
and here and there were strange.
many-toed tracks that could be fol-
lowed In the icy dawns. But of course
| IL was Just fancy. He wasn't In the
least misled about II. He knew that
he had never In his lifetime. seen
the wilderness. OF course bis grand
| father had been frontiersman Of the
first order, and all his ancestors be-
fore him--a rangy. hardy breed whose
wings would crumple In civilization
but he himself had always lived In
cities. Yet the falling SHOWS, soft aud
| gentle but with kind OF remOrseless-
ness he could sense but could not I'M
derstand. had always stirred him.
He'd often imagined that he would
| like to see the forests In winter.
In him you could see reflection OF
the boy that played beside the pond
of snow water. twenty years before.
His dark gray eyes were still rather
large and perhaps the wasted flesh
around them made them seem larger
| than they were. But 1t was a little
| hard to see them, as he wore large
| glasses. His mother had been sure.
| years before, that he needed glasses;
and she had easily found an 0culist
| that agreed with her.
Now that he was alone on the path.
| the utter absence of color In his
| cheeks was startling. That meant the
| absence of red-that warm glow of
| the blood eager and alive In his
| veins. Perhaps an observer would
have noticed lean hands, with big
| knuckled fingers. a rather firm mouth,
and closely cropped dark hair He
| was twenty-nine years of age, but he
| looked somewhat older. He know now
| that he was never going to be any
| older A doctor as sure of himself as
| the one he had just consulted couldn't
| possibly be mistaken.
He sat down on aspdrk bench, just
beneath the spreading limb of great
tree. He would sit here. he thought
until he finally decided what he would
do with his Remaining SLY months. 4
| He hadn't been able to go to war.
| The recruiting officer had been very
| kind but most determined. The boys
had brought him great tales of France.
| Ii might be nice to 20 10 France and
| live I'm some country Inn until he died.
But he didn't have very long to think
upon this vein. For at that Instant
the squirrel came down to see If he had
nut.
1t was the squirrel of Destiny. But
Dan didn't know 1t then.
Bushy-tail was not particularly
afraid of the human beings that
passed up and down the park, because
! he had learned by experience that they
! usually attempted no harm to him.
But, nevertheless, he had his instincts.
/ He didn't entirely trust them. After
several generations, probably the
! squirrels of this park would climb all
| over its visitors and sniff In their ears
! and investigate the back of their
necks. But this wasn't the way of
Bushy-tail. He had come too recent
ly from the wild places. And he won
dered. most intensely, whether this
tall. forked creature had pocket full
! of nuts. He swung down on the
| grass to see.
"why, you little DEVIL" Dan said
In whisper. His eyes suddenly
sparkled with delight. And he forgot
all about the doctors words and his
own prospects In his bitter regrets
that he had not brought pocketful
of nuts.
And then Dan did a curious thing
Even later, he didn't know why he did
II. or what gave him the idea that he
could decoy the squirrel up to him by
doing II. That was his only purpose
Just to see how close the squirrel
would come to him. He thought he
would like to look into the bright eyes
at close range. All he did was sud-
denly to freeze into one posItion-in
an instant rendered as motionless as
the rather MISUNDERSTANDING stone
stork that was perched on the foun-
tain.
Ill Where Dan Failing decides
| III 70 amend his Iaat aix montha III