Pueblo chieftain., 1921-06-12
''DAD''
A Story Of The San 1aabel Forest.
By s. E. Doerinx.


+ II was just like your dream camp-a
still place among tall. green trees that
swayed and whispered fondly to one
another the night thru. Nearby. a wat
erfall dispensed music while vie ate,
or dreamed. or slept. And air? Yes.
Real. honest to goodness air-cool. un-
contaminated. spicy. A fellow could
pull his lungs full of 1t and just feel
MS blood riot thru its veins. Greatest
OF all was the peace. the quiet, the
to live those kind Of days! And think
OF 1t. they arc not sood old days gone
from us forever; we can go out there
any time and be a part of it. We can
take II. all we want OF 1t. free.
Finding some "Bill'-and there are
many of them-we can go to the quiet
woods. where we can be a part of the
big. round moon, play at counting
stars. listen to silent sermons of age
old sturdy hills. Well get dirty. per-
will grow. but that's alright. every
thing else is growing there. Too, out
| in camp at night. we'll imbibe some
| OF that great theme for which so
many, many churches have been built
and so many wars fought-God's
Love.
After supper. when the dishes were
| washed and neatly piled against an
old log which served as cupboard. set
tie. wind-break, and added charm by
load his pipe and with his broad back
braced against kindly old pine tree
| that guarded us from rain in storm and
| sun in calm, would open up with his
stories. He had a wonderful fund OF
them. all reasonable. clean and big.
tho same story twice and 1 never
tired Of listening to him. Bill pos
ssessed that strange power of having
love for intimate things, looking deeper
tv,s~ a.
comprehend more-nature was an open
book to him. In tho starlight he
would note the twinkle OF someone's
eye, or hear a voice in a waterfall,
or imagine tho hills As speaking. thus
interpreting many things for mo in
wholesome. interesting manner.
All about camp were flowers. many
kinds of them, and we took to naming
| them and betting on which would close
it's petals earliest at night and open
| ways won the bet but he never let me
| in on his aecret
Ono evening a. We sat watching them
in the long shadows cast by our fire.
close. one by one. Bill said: They
will all be there In the morning. Jim.
the love Of dream woman that We
all have engraved in our hearts," 1
have never forgotten that Dream vo-
man. didn't know until then there
|
found one
Dear old Bill. He vas prince
around camp: just dandy fellow to
be out with. Our minds ran much
along the same subjects and VIC got on
famously. Bill didn't snore. have
often thought that this was his great
est ascot. He didn't crouch. He al
ways did more than his half of the
camp work He could cat with dis
eustinE relish a half baked or overly
Drowned cake. or go all day without
eating. Tho sun. be II clouded or not
mover ceased to shine on Bill. He
vas stuck 'chock full OF loyalty. and
WAS big enough. mentally and physi-
c7lly. to lovc tho whole big world and
ALL tho big and littlc things within It.
Even tho Bill was TAT and whcezy for
| a time, I found him woodman of
tho truest typo: many times he tried
my endurance to its positive limit
Strange too. II we carried pick and
shovel and heavy lunch. As we often
did whiio prospecting. It seemed al
ways to be Bills turn to carry the
load I mArvelied much at tho manner
in which he would substantiatc his
claim to having to carry thcm.
From our camp Westward wc could
climb steadily up Service trail. tonc
built by tho Forest Service for taking
| tools and men into forest frcs) a dis
tancs of four miles to tho top OF tho
| SanCrc dc Cristo range. From the
crest OF the range we could enjoy a
marvellous. unohstructed view dist
ance OF fifty to ono hundred miles cast
or west wcs, of us laid the San I.uis
Valley. famous for its fertility. stock
raising. and past early history. On our
east was the Wet Mountain Valley.
and beyond that the Grccnhorn range
and Pikor Peak.
We frequently made this trip TO the
top Of tho range. always BY \ differ
emit route. and generally up somo
stream where Ril could ply his No
farious trade Of fishing without a hook
seldom, indeed. was he without this
wholly useless equipment On top the
ranSc wo would spread our lunch on
tho grass and. as we alto. feast upon
and glory in our surroundings. Thou
sands Of feet under we could sec
n tiny, ehimmerns lake where trout
wcre leapinG in play. In the clear
ltinberlino air We could easily distin--
uish such rtpples mile away. Then.
we wo.,d Fpy a sheep herder m some
distant peak or in some ragged canyon
faithfully tending his flock. their hleat
family reaching US thrugh the unob-
structed air.
After dinner ws would sprsw, on the
grass and sleep or go prospecting.
Just as the notion took us. Bill WAS
an inyeterate prospector. but I found
more pleasure in resting and sleeping
from tho hard climb OF tho morning.
Ono day. on Commanche Pass, after
we had talked ourselves out and pros
pccted our fiil Bill sat for long time
on a bowlder. lost deep in thought. He
seemed looking FAR into the future a
long long way judging by tho wrink-
los on his fat. dusty brow. I did not
inirude in his rcvertc thinking that ha
might tell mo which. after a TING, nc
did.
Jim. don't you think " would ho
great IN he n mountain
The question was no, unusual com
ing as " did, from Bill Had 'Nou
known him rs 7 you would not n,Ns
4, wondered n. II. Sensing that his
thoughts were vet far away. I did not
anewcr him. knowing his remark more
2 Of n statement than query.
Waiting for him to continue. | loohrd