Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1922-11-02
Copyright by L;ttls. Brown. ard c,

er rooms and garnet to be reached
with ladder. The ancestral home Of
the ROSES, however, had fully dozen
rooms, and 1t doomed to an incredible
size in the mystery Of the moonlight.
He saw quaint gabled roofs and far
spreading WINGS. And 1t seemed more
like house Of enchantment, a struc-
ture raised by the rubbing Of magic
lamp, thar. the work Of carpenters and
masons. -
Probably its wild surroundings had
great deal to do with this effect.
There were no roads leading to Trails
End. Material could not be carried
over its winding trails except on pack
animals. He had realization Of ire
mendous difficulties that had been con-
quered by tireless effort, Of long
months Of unending toll, Of exhaust
less patience, and at the end-a dream
come true. All Of its lumber had to
be hewed from the forests about. Its
stone had been quarried from the rock
cliffs and hauled with infinite labor
over. the steep trails.
He understood now why the Turn.
ers had coveted It. It seemed the
acme Of luxury to them. And more
clearly than ever he understood why
the Rosses had died, sooner than re-
linquish 1t, and why its usurpation by
the Turner'S had left such debt Of
hatred to Linda. All men know that
the love of home Is one Of the few
great impulses that has made toward
civilization, but by the same token it
has been the cause Of many wars. Per-
haps the day Is coming when this love
will die in the land, but with 1t will
die the strength to repel the heather
from our walls, and the land will not
be worth living in, anyway. But it
was not dead to the mountain people.
No really primitive emotion ever is.
The Roses had known this instinct
very WELL As all men who are strong.
thewed and Of real natural virtue, they
had known pride Of race and name,
and it had been task worth while to
build this stately house on their far.
lying acres. They had given their
the structure could doubt that fact.
They had simply consecrated their
lives to it; their one Work by which
they could show to all who came after
that by their own hands they had
earned their right to live. s
Bruce saw the broad lands lying un.
der. the moon. There were hundreds
Of acres of alfalfa and clover to fur
nish hay for the winter feeding. There
were wide, green pastures, ensilvered
by the moon, and fields Of corn laid
out in even rows. The old appeal of
the soil, an instinct that no person Of
Anglo-Saxon descent Gun ever COM
pletely escape, swept through him.
They were worth fighting for, those
fertile acres.
Not for nothing have hundred gen.
erations of Anglo-Saxon people been
tilrers Of the soil. They had left a
love Of it to Bruce. He knew what
it would be like to feel the earth's
pulse through the handles Of a pillow, to
behold the first, start Of green things
in the spring and the golden rfpenine
in fall; to watch the flocks through the
hreathless nights and the herds feed
ing on the distant hills.
Bruce looked over the ground. He
knew enough not to continue the trail
farther. The space in front was batfled
in moonlight. and he would make the
best kind of target to any riflemar
/ koh %hn ,fv,N "a ~ =
house. He turned through the coverts
seeking the shadow Of the forests al
one side.
BY going in quarterng direction
he was able to approach within two
hundred yards of the house without
emerging into the moonlight. At thai
point the real difficulty Of the stall
began. He lowered In the shadows
then slipped one hundred feet furthe,
to the trunk Of great oak tree.
He could see the house much NOR
plainly now. True, it had suffered nea
lect In the past twenty years 1t need
! ed painting and many of its Window
were broken. Bruce rejoiced to Sc,
that there were no lights in the cas-
/ wing Of the house; the window tina
Linda had indicated In the note wal
just black square on the moonli
wall.
There was q neglected garden clos,
to this wing Of the house. II he couls
reach this spot In safety he could up
i, pfoach within few feet Of the hous
and still remain IN cover. He wen
nat. then slowly crawled toward 1t.
Once light sprang up In a windoy
near the front, and he pressed clos
70 the earth. But in q moment It wen
away. He crept On. He didn't kno,
when 4 Waterman IN one Of the darl
windows would discern his ereepin
figure. But he did know perfectly jua
what manner Of greeting he might e,
peet In this event. There would be
2 single little squirt Of IRE In the darl
ness, 20 small that probably his eye
would quite fail to catch 1t. II the
did discern It, there, would be no tim
fez 9 message te be recorded IN b!