Pueblo chieftain., 1921-06-12
DAD
tcont,nued from Preceding rase)
4 sssxy Of ~ Gan Isabl Ferssa
h g. & DoGi1G.

about, msthodioally counting nine rug
ged. mow-capped peaks shtmmerins
like silver in the summer sun. holdinS
1 their summits proudly aloDt all OF
1900 feet above the sea. At their var
ious bases counted five TRANQUIL lakes
that had much the appearance Of mir
rors set in fringe of wonderful, rest
ul green. Dwarfing my mind 1 could
imagine it all doll horse or fairy
land, fragile, tender. almost ethereal
where naught save spirit might walk
Shifting the mind, could imagine It
the mightiest work Of art ever woven;
necessarily the work Of q master hand
of unmeasursd strength. guided by a
mind which Was in turn governed by
all impelling force Of love and gentle
ness. There was no veneer; 1t WAS
sound, solid beauty all tho way
through. There was no beautiful front
lawn with its back yard Of cans and
garbage. There was no polished mar
BILE front with . rear of dirty. crumo-
ling brick. No matter whether ono dug
down or climbed up. It was just the
same-beAuty, order, cleanliness and
marvellous simplicity. AZ I looked away
across the great expanse Of rugged.
torn peaks and green forest it occurred
to me that il cleanliness is Godlinees,
then there are 4 lot Of people q long.
long way from God, and thought
what fine thing it would be II they
could all come sometime and get near
er to Him than ever before.
It was Bill that startled me from my
own thoughts.
"Yeah!'' he drawled. II believe
would like to be a mountAin-sturdy.
big. calm. and quiet: hearing all, see
ing all; speaking not. yet implying q
direction stronger, surer. than any
spoken word. Ono day bather in gold
en-. still sunshine: another day stand
ing an unconquerable power before
tremendous storms that the whole an
gry heavens may hurl at them. They
arc tho same today, tomorrow-stead-
fast, unflinching through 1t all All,
that could be a man like that" l
had never heard him speak Is elo-
quently before but 1 thought OF him
then as a man like that-truly, a
It seemed - me that vs had tramped
fifteen miles before Bill bothought him
of resting . bit. We had done nothing
but moon around, enjoy the hills and
the sweet, flower laden air that droned
agreed upon the Wish. futile As It might
have been. that we could both live al
ways and just hermit" about with
nothing on our minds more than
thatch of hair.
This day. as . diversion. ve had NOT
Spuc 70 Inc IOp ok Iuo I1uB8 ouay Ooih
wanting a change in scenery. had de-
cided to see the hitherto unexplored
country below camp. We had struck
on in early morning. Bill carrying
small pick for breaking rock and my
self 20 calibre rifle
Bill contented himself along the way
by frequently paustng to break open
bits Of rock and gather flowers. The
flowers he would stick around his
" waist-hne between his leathern belt
and trousers: the bits Of stone, after
cursory examination. he would toss
aside in a disGusted manner, much ~
II his august judgment had been i'm
posed upon.
A short way from camp had killed
a Eaudy colored blue-jay that had
pcrked saucily and with much chatter
on a dead snas nifty yards ahead of ue.
had hit the bird sQuAreiy in the head
and had been carrying him hcad down.
ward. his wings Tapping pitifully in
the blood from his head that dripped
with each stop ! took.
We had been working down stream
all day and had come out OF tho can
yon abruptly and unexpectedly upon a
ell-beaten country road running at
right angles with our course of travel
At the roadside. and paralling II. was
An enormous fallen tree, half-rooted
away. over which a master yellow
pine. tall and viriIe, stood guard and
thrust an inviting canopy of shade
Bill had wisely chosen a resting pace.
He looked things over long ana care
fully before speaking.
Likely. IT'S a chip off the old block.
Jim" he said. tipping his head far
standing tree its fun height. Doubt
less. tho one lying down Was IN. parent
of the now living: probably. the cycle
before us represents a period of one
thousand Year,. Think of II. Jim, ono
man can wantonly destroy In five min
uteS a life that has struggled thru
hundreds OF years to maturity: II ought
to be considered crimo to cut tree
like that
Bill had assumed a half sitting. half
EprawlinE position against the old
dead log with his knees drawn up be-
fore him. in order that he might
lazily look between his fat legs at tho
panorama spread before us. A few
days previous to this he had taught me
the art of framing mountain scenery.
which il. in fact. n different but inter-
estine and beautiful art-that OF look
ing At \ lake or mountain thru a break.
or hole in tho trees. thus framing the
. subject OF the scene-and as hc thus
framed his dusty. beaming face. I
could not resist the comparison. altho
I did not mention It to him.
i had not noucSd PARTICULARLY. Dc
fore. the enormous amount Of flowers
that Pill had gathered and struck
about his pudHy ~aIst-iinc.
We was bcdeckcd beyond all rcason.
Poor flowers. all very beautiful At the
time he plucked thcm. but wilted and
dispirited now. They looked very hot
and uncomfortable snd-yos. sorry. and
broken hearted. Bill. though. was oh
livious Of any wrong that he had done
the flowers and throwing his hat aside
wiped great beads of Precipitation from
his dusty. wrinkled brow.
Darn It's thunderin hot' he etacu-
lated. Must be goin' to rain'"
aoQuiesccd and laid down in the
fr2h green grass beside HINT was
very cool and pleasant there For
eome reason had chung desperately
to my dead Siue-jay. perhaps because
OF its many colors and jaunty comb.
I looked IL over sdmiringly for a time
and aft1t hOtdfnR II nv lts alqpdcy lcgs