The Adair County news., 1922-11-21
BOOK THREE
COMING OF THE STRENGTH
CHAPTER XIV

Fdl was AT ndn0 al iran Euu-
The spirit Of autumn had come with
golden wings.
A buck deer-a noble creature with
six points on his spreading hOrns-got
the first inkling of it when he stopped
at a spring to drink. The air had
been chill in his nOstrils, but thanks
to a heavy growth Of hair that-with
mysterious fOresight-had begun to
come upon his body, it gave him no
discomfort. But 1t was a puzzling and
significant thing that the water he bent
to drink had been transformed to
something hard and white and burn
ing cold TO the tip Of his nose.
1t was the first real freeze. True,
for the past fen nights there had been
a measure of tinkling, cObweb frost
on the ground in wet places, but even
the tender-skinned birds-always most
watchful Of signs Of this kind-had
disregarded it. But there was no dis
regarding this half-inch Of blue ice
that had covered the spring. The buck
deer struck it angriIy with his front
hOOfs, broke through and drank; then
went snorting up the hill.
His anger was in itself significant
thing. In the long, easy-gOing summer
days, BlacktaiI had almost forgotten
what anger was like. He had been
content to roam over the ridges, crop
ping the leaves and grass, avoiding
danger and growing fat But all at
once this kind of existence had palled
on him. He felt that he wanted only
one thing-nOt food or drink, or safe
ty-but a good, slashing, hooking, hOOf-
carving battle with another buck Of
his own species. An unwOnted cross
ness had come upon him, and his soft
eyes burned with a blue fire. He re-
membered the does, too-with a sud-
deA leap of his blOOd-and wondered
where they were keeping themselves.
Being only a beast he did not know
that this new belligerent spirit was
just as much a sign Of fall as the soft
blush that was coming on the leaves
The simple fact was that fall means
the beginning of the rUt-the wild mat
ing days when the bucks battle among
themselves and choose their haremS Of
does.
He had rather liked his appearance as
he saw himself in the water ~ the
spring. The last Of the velvet had
been rubbed from his horns. and the
twelve tines (siX on each hOrn) were
as hard and almost as sharp as so
many bHyUnet points.
As the morning dawned, the change
in the face of nature became ever more
manifest The leaves of the shrubbery
began to change in color. The wind
out of the north had a keener, more
biting quality, and the birds were hav-
ing some sort of exciting debate in
the tree tops.
The birds are always scurried,
nervous rather rattle-brained outfit,
and seem wholly incapable of making
a decision about anything without
hours of argument and discussion
Their days are simply filed with one
excitement after another, and they tell
more scandal in an hour than the old
tire summer. This slow 'transfOrma-
ton in the color Of the leaves, not to
mention the chill of the frost through
their Scanty feathers. had created
sensation from one end of birdland
to another And there was only one
thing about it. That was to wait IN
til the darkness closed down again,
then start away toward the path Of
the sun in search of their winter re-
sorts in the south.
The Little People in the forest Of
ferns beneath were not such gay birds,
and they did not have such high-hOwn
ideas as these feathered folk in the
branches. They didn't talk such fool
ishness and small talk from dawn to
dark. They didn't wear CAV clothes
that weren't a particle of good to them
in cold weather. You can imagine
them as being good. substantial. mid
dle-cIass people, much more sober
minded. tending strictly to business
and working hard. and among other
things they saw no need of fitting down
to southern resorts for the cold sea-
son. These peOple-bo;ng mostly
ground squirrels and gOphers and chip
munks and rabbits-had not been fit
ted by nature for wide travel and
had made all arrangements for pleas
ant winter at home. You could al
most see a smile on the fat fAee Of a
plump old gopher when he ca1me out
and found the frost upon the ground;
for he knew that for months past he
had been putting away stores for just
this season. In the SHOWS that would
follow he would simply retire into the
farthest recesses of his burrow and
let the winds whistle vainly above
him.
The larger creatures, however. were
. less cOmplacent The wolyes-if ami
mails have any powers Of fore,Ight
Wfltever-isnCw tiat only hard days