The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1922-01-05


where tho foot Of white man had
never trod. She felt somewhat swcd.
scarcely knowing why.
Rivers cleaned. marshes lay yellow
and sc,nber In the sun, tho dark for.
csts stretched until tho eyoa tired.
but nowhere were there any homes.
any villages o. pastures. no, "a blsxe
~ipon tree. not tho smoka OF =
camp fire. nrdieyburg Was already
ohliteratcd and lost in the depths Of
the Woodland. Tho silence was In
credioir--as vast and infinite a. the
wilderness itself. IL startled her =
little. when they paused In their
climb. 10 hear the pronounced tick
OF her wrist watch. even the whisper
OF her own breath. II was an " sho
had gone 10 an enchanted land. n
place that lay In q great sleep that
began In the worlds young days. and
from which 20 tho last reaches Of
time u could never waken.
Bill standing Just above h-r. point
ed to dash of golden across tho
canyon. That's quivering asp" he
told hrr. turned BY the frost II
seems rood 10 zee a bit OF color In
this world Of dark woods. It's just
like flash 81 sunshine In a storm. :"
She listened with som. surprise.
The same detail had held her Eaxc.
the same thought---almo-t the same
simlie-had come into her mind. but
she had hardly expected 20 find a
hove Of the b-autful in this bronxed
forester. In fact. she found that a
number OF her preconoeivod ideas
were being turned topsy .turvy.
Heretofore. n seemed 20 her. her
thought had always c~eit on tho
ruperficinliti~n rather than the rcs1li-
/ tlrs Of life. Her Ancons~ was pits.
fully small according To her stand
ards. yet she had never had 10 con-
slider the question Of food and shci.
ter. She had known social success.
love Of beauty and OF art. gayety
and luxury. she had had petty dis
couragcments and triunpha. worries
and fcars. but Of tho simple and
primitive basis OF things shs took no
cognlxance- She had never dealt
with essentials. They bad always
seemed outside her life.
Virginia had never lived In tho
shad$~ OF Fcar---that greatest and
mos, potent OF realities. In truth
she didn't know the meaning Of the
word she had been afraid In her
b~d at night. she had been aprr~-
h-n-ive Of q blocks walk IN the twi-
Hight. but Fear--gn its true sense
was an alien and strupger. shc
had never met him in the waste
places. seen hirn skuiking or her
trnil thru the winter SHOWS. listened
90 his voice In ths winds wall. She
didnt know the fear OF which the
coyotes sang from the hin. the blind
and cropping dread % an irnmutabls
destiny. the CHASTITY realization Of i'm
potenc> against . cruel and orrrir
ossnt fata- sn- hadn't ever learned
about ~ Living . protected life.
she DIDN'T know that n existed. FOOD
ana shelter and warmth and safety
had always seemed her, by birth
right: about her hou,e marched the
officers Of the Law protecting her
from evfldo~rs: she lived In sight Of
great hospitals that would op~n their
DOORS b the sick and injured and
Of charitable institutions that would
eloshe and feed the needy: thus the
world had kept It's bitter truths from
them now. She was having her first
glimpse Of iife. life stripped OF all
delusion. stark and naked. tho re-
/ lentiess reality that II was
Fear was no stranger TO these for.
.~ts TIA presence in every turn OF
the trad. filled her with awe. A
single rnlnstsp. little instant of
hesitation In a crisis. might prccipi-
tate her q thousand feet down the
canyon 10 her death. Dead trees
swayed. threatening to fall: snow
slides reared and rumbied on the far
stceps: the quagnire sucked with
greedy lips. the trail wandered dimiy
las II II wsrc trying 70. dccoy her
away into the Businesses where the
wilderness might claim her. No ons
had 20 tell her how easy II would
b 20 lose tho TRAN. never to find Il
again. The forests were endless
there were none 20 hear a wanderrrs
cry for help. Wet matches. An acct
dent 10 the food supplies. n fsv
nights without shelter in the dismal
forest Of these might spell corn
Iplete and irrevocable disaster.
What had she known OF D~sthf II
was n thing to claim old people
sometimes to take even her younF
friends from their games among tbs
flowers. but never had u been ar
acquaintance Of hers. n was rs
wholly apart from her as tho being
OF another planet. Bu, here she had
some 70 the home of Death--cold and
fearful obliteration dwelling In every
thicket. She found herself wonder
ing about n. now.s and dreading II
with a new dread that she had never
dreamed Of before. The only reai
emotions she had ever known vers
her love for Harold Jounsbury and
her grief at his absence. In these
autumn woods she might easily learn
all the others. She had never known
true loneliness: here, except for her
fIance's uncle with whom she had
never felt on common ground. and
two paid employes--the latter. shs
told herself. did not count--she was
as much alone as II she had beer
cast upon an uninhablied sphere. Al
ready she knew something of the
great malevoience that Is The eternal
tone OF the wildernesA the lurking
peril that In the North.
This new view influenced her at
fitude toward BILL Al first she had
fel, no interest in him whatever. Oh
a class that docs not enter into a
basis OF equality with personal en-,
ployes. to her he had seemed In this
same category with a new house
servant or chauffeur. He had beer
hired 10 do her service; he was either
bad servant or a good one. and
from her he would receive kindness
and patronage. but never real feel
ing or friendship, never more thar