The state herald., 1921-01-25

after the Pearlhunter secured his
spear, he turned the nose Of the skiff
down stream and shipped his oars long
enough to light his pipe.
"Mother hung back little right at
the last" the young man said, his
mind doubtless dwelling on the un-
usual experience. the first experience
In his life. of actually living upon
land. "She was afraid somebody
might not like us to move Into the
cabin. But told her they couldn't do
more than make us move out"
"Afear'd Of tn Wild Man, wus she?'
The younger man looked up.
"Say, tell me about that Wild Man.
She did mention him this afternoon"
The Boss took the pipe from his lips
and blew away the smoke In slow
cloud, as II wishing to proong the feel
of 1t upon his tongue.
''The Wild Man," he pondered, "a
harmless OIL cuss. an pitiful to see.
Seven year he's been In these Flat
woods. Hit amt often body gifts
glimpse Nv I'm. I did once-a tall OIL
ghost OF a man-tall us you almost
but face on I'm the pitifulest you
ever see. An like ghost he comes;
and like ghost he goes-nobOdy
knows where TO. They say he's got a
daughter somewhere's up In the hills
thar, but l never seed her."
The Boss went back to his pipe. The
other sat pondering what he had just
heard.
mo, It wasn't on account Of the
Wild Man." ne resumed. as II In an
swer to tn Soss' first question. "She
was afrai somebody might make us
leave"
"An' I N be long while a-doln',"
the Bo answered. "They amt no.
body In LI's quarter O. tn world has
got tn right Z do that. That Ian b..
longs T. Colonel warbritton. Ever hear
tell Of himf'
II never did"
ale owns hundreds and hundreds Of
ncres-iive or six sections, I guess
layIn' In n square right along the river
here. tn very heart and flower Nv tn
Flatwoods. That's his east line back
thar where the River road bends
north. It'll be many long day b'fore
he orders anybody OF. He's got 40
much b'sides don't s'pose he hardly
knows he's got this. doubt II he ever
seen H."
The Boss let the oars drift while he
turned his head and sat a moment
sweeping his eyes up and down the
dim. forest-bouhd shore line.
Them warbrittons is remarkable
race" he resumed. "Fire enters every
one. Soldiers an fighters sence tn
Lord knows when. In times long ago
they wus a clan. They hnd iag with
n grny wolf on II. an they called their
selves the Gray Wolf clan. They say
every man In the clan wus brave. an
every woman virtuous. An that's
what they prided theirseives on spe-
cIal particlar. They wus all hig
men. They wus FIVE Of 'em In the
Revolution: two with Clark; an four
In the war of 10"
The Pearlhunter bent forward and
hung upon the words. Somehow they
strangely stirred him.
II 1T tn lnJuns under this Colonel
warbri,ion. Tn soldiers use T. talk
about I'm lot around tn campfire.
That's how come Z know s much
nbout I'm. Hit wus me that saved hLs
scalp mt Horseshoe Bend" A tang OF
pride crept Into the hard tones OF the
grizzled old river man. His hoss got
shot through tn brains nm fell =
| quick he caught tn colonel's foot. an
| stood over I'm with tn bnyonet
whilst he got loose. We sent seven
scrcechln' heathcns Z hell that day
b'fore hep come. That's how I got 4
be n sergeant. Hit wus tn best he
could do fer man that hadn't no
lcnrnin'. No. No. You needn't he
nfcar'd OF Hittin' drlv' out o. tn cabin.
II the colonel wus here. he wouldn't"
He clutched the oars In earnest. A
| few lusty strokes drove the bont down
TO where the glare from the campfire
Of the Boss crew Of "clnmmers" hnred
out across the water. There he turned
In to get the jnck light.
| A dirticr bunch Of men than the Ave
iounging about that campfire couldn't
be found anywhere else Ia the world
except In another "clnmmer's" camp.
The practice Of the early pcnrl fishers
was to put the clans In va,s and nj.
low them to die there and rot. This
muck was afterwnrd carefully "han.
died" for whatever pearls Il might con.
tain.
Tho ordinary jack light 10 simply an
oil burncr-in sarly days . candle. or
f,re Of pine knots-arrnnge with re-
fcctor-on the bow Of the boat In such
why ms to throw the full brillinncy
OF the light down upon the winter,
leaving tho fisherman himself In dark.
ness. such n light. II the night bs
dark and the winter quiet md clear,
renders objects beneath the surface
perfectly plain 20 . considerable depth
While the Boss was fastening ths
Jack light to the bow Of the boat the