The Jasper news., 1921-05-05
CHAPTER IIl-contlnued,
-12.-


The rains fell increasingly for seven
days: not downpour but a constant
drlzzle that made the distant ridges
smoke. The parched earth seemed to
smack Its lips, and little rivulets be-
gun to fall and tumble over the beds
Of the dry streams. All danger OF for
est fire was at once removed, ana
SnOwbird was no longer needed as
lookout on old Bald mountain. She
went to her own home, her companion
back to the valley; and now that mis-
sister had taken his place as house
keeper, Bill had gone down to. the
lower foothills with a great part of
the live stock. Dan spent these rainy
days in toll on the hIllsides, building
himself physically so that he might
pay his debts. q,
1t was no great pleasure, these
rainy days. He would have greatly
liked to have fingered In the square
mountain house, listening to the quiet
murmur Of the rain on the roof ana
watching Snowbird at her household
tasks. She could, as her father had
said, make a biscuit. She could also
roll up sleeves over trim, brown arms
and with entire good humor do
weeks laundry for three hard-wOrk-
ing men. lie would have liked to sit
with her; through the long afternoons,
MS she knitted beside the fireplace
to watch the play of her graceful nm
gers and perhaps, now and then, TO
touch her hands when he held the
skeins. But none Of these things tran
splred. He drove himself from day
light till dark, developing his body for
the tests that we're sure to come.
The first few days nearly killed him.
He Over-exercised In the chill rain,
and one anxious night he developed
all the symptoms of pneumonia. Such
q sickness would have been the one
thing needed TO make the Doctors
prophecy come true. But with Snow
birds aid, and numerous hot drinks,
he fought It Off,
She had made him so TO bed, and
no human memory could be so dull as
to forget the little, whispered message
that she gave him with his last spoon
full Of medicine. She said she'd pray
for him, and she meant It toO-literal
entreating prayer that could not go un'
heard. She was a mountain girl. and
her beliefs were those of her ances
tOrs-slmple and true and wholly
without affectatlon. But he hadn't
relaxed thereafter. He knew the time
had come TO make the test. Night
after night he would so to bed half
sick from fatigue, but the mornings
would find him fresh. And after two
weeks, he knew he had passed thC
crisis and was on the direct road tC
complete recovery.
Sometimes he cut wood In the for
est first the Telling Of some tall pine
then the trimming AMI hewing int
two-foot lengths. The blisters cam,
on his hands, broke and bled. bu
finally hardened into callosities. a.
learned the most effective stroke Il
hurl a shower of chips from beneatl
the blade. His back and limbs hard
-rned from the handling of heavy wooC
and the cough was practically gone
His frame filled out. His face becam
Swnrthy from constant exposure. H.
gained In weight
One cloudy afternoon In early No
vember found Sllas Lennox cuttinI
wood on the ridge behind his house. /
was still an open question with hin
whether he and his daughter woul,
attempt 10 winter on the Divide. Cal
of course wanted to remain. yet ther
were certain reasons, some very def
mite and others extremely vague, VIII
the prospect Of the winter In the snOV
fields did not appeal to the moHn
taineer. In the first place. all sign
pointed TO a hard season. Althoug
the full had come late, the SHOWS wer
exceptionally early. The duck fiigh
was completed two weeks before 1t
usual time, and the rodents had du
their burrows unusually deep. Be
sides, too many months Of snow welg
heavily upon the spirit. The vol
packs sing endlessly on the ridgei
and many unpleasant things may haI
pen. Un previous years, some OF IN
cabins on the ridges below had huma
occupants; this winter the whole n
gion. for nearly seventy miles acrOs
the mountains to the foothills woul
be wholly deserted by human being
Even the ranger station, twelve mile
across a steep ridge, would soon
empty. OF course few ranchers ha
homes O few miles beyond the rive