Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1921-03-12
Prologue.

II one can Just lie close enough to the
breast OF the wilderness. he cant help
but be imbued with some of the life that
pulses therein.-From a Frontiersman's
Diary.
Long ago. when the great city Of
Gitcheapols was a rather small, I'M
tidy hamlet in the middle of a plain,
It used to be that a pool of water,
possibly two hundred feet square.
gathered every spring Immediately
back of the courthouse. The snow
Falls thick and heavy in Gitcheapolis
IN winter; and the pond was nothing
more than snow water that the ineffi-
Client drainage system of the city did
not quite absorb. Besides being the
despair of the plumbers and the city
engineer, II was a severe strain on
the beauty-loying instincts of every
iRhabitant in the town who had any
such instincts. It was muddy and
murky and generally distasteful.
A little boy played at the edge of
the water, this spring day of long ago.
Except for his interest in the pond, it
would have been scarcely worth while
TO go to the trouble of explaining that
1t contained no fish. He, however,
bitterly regretted the fact. In truth,
he sometimes liked to believe that it
did contain fish, very sleepy fish that
never made a ripple, and as he had an
uncommon Imagination he was some
Shines able to convince himself that
this was so. But he never took hook
and line and played at fishing. He
was too much afraid of the laughter
Of his boy friends. His mother prob
ably wouldn't object if he fished here,
he thought particularly If he were
careful not to get his shoes covered
with mud. But she wouldn't let him
go down to Gitcheapolis creek to fish
with the other boys for mud cat. He
was not very strong. she thought. and
II was rough sport anyway, and be-
SideS-she didn't think he wanted to
20 very badly. AS mothers are usual
~ particularly understanding, this
was a curious thing.
The truth was that little Dan Fail
Ing wanted to fish almost as much as
he wanted to live He would dream
about 1t of nights. His blood would
glow with the thought of it in the
springtime. Women the world over
will have hard time believing what
an intense, heart-devouring passion
the love of the chase can be. whether
II IS for fishing or hunting or merely
knocking golf balls into a little hole
upon a green. Sometimes they don't
remember that this instinct is just as
much a part of most men. and thus
most boys. as their hands or their
lips. 1t was acquired by just as la
horious prOcess-the lives of I'M
counted thousands of ancestors who
iished and hunted for living.
It was true that little Dan didn't
look the part. Even then he showed
signs Of physical frailty. His eyes
looked rather large, and his cheeks
We're not the color of fresh sirloin, as
hey should have been. In fact. one
would have had to look very hard to
see any color in them at all. These
Facts are interesting from the light
'HeY throw upon the next glimpse Of
Dan. fully twenty years later.
Except for the fact that it was the
background for the earliest picture Of
llttle Dan, the pool back of the court
mousse has very little importance in
nus story. 1t did. however. afford an
I3hstration 10 him of one of the real
" astonishing truths of life. He saw
shadow in the water that he pre-
ended he thought might be fish. He
Threw a stone at 1t.
The only thing that happened was
splash, and then a slowly widening
ppIe The circumference of the rip
PIE grew ever larger. extended and
".9ened, and finally died at the edge
the shore. II set little Dan 70
."'iiNlhg' He wondered If, had the
'ooi been larger. the ripple still would
nave spread; and IL the pool had been
4NFhity, whether the ripnIe wouId
ave gcne on forever. At the time he
'la not know the laws Of cause and
t. Later, when Gitcheapols was
aC and prosperous and no longer
'"l'uF' he was going to find ont that
0use Is nothing but a rock thrown
.l.o a pond Of infnity. and the ripple
-al Is ITS effect keeps growing and
growing forever.
me little incident that is the real
-.Aning of this story was Of no
Ire Importance than a pebble thrown
me snow-water pond bur its eff
was TO remove the life of Dan
4.'.hs since grown up. far out of
- realms Of the ordinary.
a "a that brings all matters down
-. ,'ls. In the last days Of a particu-
81! sleepy summer. You would hard.