The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1922-12-26
CONTINUED From Yesterday
VIZ

XII
At the very headquarters OF Poor
Mans Creek. where the stream had
dwindled 10 silver thread between
messy banks. Beatrice ana Ken made
their noon camp. They were fun In
the heart OF tho Wild. by now. and
had mounted 20 those high levels and
park lands beloved by the caribou
They built 9 small fire beside tho
stream and drew water from tho
deep. clear pools that lay between
cascade and cascade.
Ben Darby slowly became aware
that this was one of the happiost
hours OF his life. lie watched. with
D<hsorbsd delight. tho def. sure mo-
tiona OF the giri as she fried the
grouse and sliced bread. while Zen
himself tended TO tho coffee Already
the tive were on the frsendliest terms.
and since they were 90 he some
where In the same region. the future
offered the most pleasing yistas 20
rested and Ben's pipe was out. they
vcnturcd on Following caribou
trail. they assembled n majestic range
s.of mountains-a trail too steep TO
ride and which the pack horses ac-
complishcd only with great difficulty
--omergfng onto a high plateau Of
open parks and small ciunps Of the
darkest spruce. II was. OF course.
the most scenic part OF the Journey:
and the inclination TO talk died
speedily from the nps
They rode In silence. watching. Both
Of them were sure that words. no
matter how beautiful and eloquent.
could 10 only sscrilege. The very
tone Of the high ranges Is that Of
sslenec vast and eternal beyond scope
Of thought. and the only sounds that
can fittingiy shatter that mighty
breathlessness are tho great. caiami-
tcus phenomena OF nature--the thun-
der crashing In the sky and the
avalanche on the slope. The forests
they had Just left was deeply silent.
hut the far hush had been alleviAfed
By the soft noise Of Wild creatures
1Atirring about their occupations: per-
haps also by the feeling that the
thicketa were full of sound pitched
just too high or Just too low for hu-
man ears TO hear: but oven this re-
lief was absent hers- The high peaks
stretched before them. one after an
other. until they faded into the hori-
zon---mate~sfc. sioof. utterly and
grandly silent.
The snow stfif lay deep over the
plateau. packed 70 the consistency Of
ice. ard the marmots had not yet
emerged 70 welcome the spring with
their shriil. Joyous whistling. From
their high place they could see the
hslls spread out below them--fold
after fold a. Of great cloak. deeply
green. seemingly infinite in sxpansc.
broken only by the blue Clint OF the
Agnes lakes. ma two great twin
snpphirss hidden In the forest But
they couldn't mako out . single roof
tup OF Snowy oulch- The forrest had
6ATeady claimed r uttsriy.
This 49, shs caribou rangs:
vAsrsver thsy looked they nv tbs
orucks Of shs noble animals In the
m0w. Later shsy caught glimpse
q The creatures Themselves. small
herd Of perhaps half dorm swing
inx AIcnx the snow tn their indcscrtb-
sble pacing gait. They WIRE In ut
ting surroundings. their color inex-
psesssbsy vivid against the snow. and
Ben's heart warmed and thumped In
his breast at the sight
<But the trail descended a. last into
ffhe grsas valley OF the YugA Mile
AFTER mile. n seemed TO them. they
went down. leaving the snow. ieav-
lne the open giades. into the DARK.
sim siens OF spruce. AZ last they
paused on the river hank
Fen was somewhat amazed at the
nlxs Of the stream when n emerged
below the rapids N was. at It's pres
ent high stage. fully $50 yards across.
such a stream AZ would hear the
traffic OF commerce IN any inhabited
region. They turned down the moose
truil that followed IT, bank
Hut II was not 10 be that this jour
ney should hold only delight for Ben.
A haif-rniIs down the river he sud-
denly made a most momcntous and
Disturbing discovery.
He had stopped his horse 20 reresd
the copy Of Hiram Melvillc's letter.
Intending 20 verify his course. In
the shadow Of the tall dark spruce
--darkening ever as the light grew
iess-his eyes sped swiftly over X.
His gaze came to rest upon familiar
name.