The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1922-12-01
CHAPTER XIX

AS Bruce hurried up the hill toward
the Ross estates, he made a swift cal
culatiOn Of the rifle shells in his peck
ct. The gun held six. He had perhaps
fifteen others In his pockets, and he
hadn't stopped to replenish them from
the supply Elmira had brought. He
hadn't brought Dawes rifle with him,
but had left 1T with the remainder of
his pack. He knew that the lighter he
travelled the greater would be his
chance OF success.
Obviously the girl had written when
the clan was closing about the house,
and finding her in the front room,
there had been no occasion to search
the other rooms and thus discover 1t.
The girl had kept her head even in
that moment of crisis. A wave of adj
miratiOn for her passed over him.
And the little action had set an ex-
ample for him. He knew that only
rigid self-control and cool-headed
strategy could achieve the thing he had
get out to do. His impulse was to
storm the door, to pour his lead
through the lighted windows but such
things could never take Linda out of
SimOn's hands. Only stealth and eau
ton, not blind courage and frenzy,
could serve her now. Such blind
killing as his heart prompted ad to
wait for another time. H "A
He knew only the general zion
of the Ross house where Simo, ~ lived.
L. 4oI, - IL
crest Of small hill, beyond a ridge
of timber. The moonlight showed him
well-beaten trail, and he strobe
swiftly along it.
He had a vague sense of familiarity
with this winding trail. Perhaps he
had toddled down it as a baby, per-
haps his mother had carried him along
it on a neighborly visit TO the Rosses
He went over the hill and pushed his
way to the edge of the timber All
at once the moon showed him the
house.
He couldn't mistake 1t, even at this
distance. And to Bruce 1t had singu-
lar effect of unreality. The mountain
men did not ordinarily build homes of
such dimensions. They were usually
merely log cabins of two or three low
er rooms and a 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
ding WINGS And If Snnnn6
like house of enchantment, a struc-
ture raised by the rubbing of a magic
lamp, than the work of carpenters and
maSOnS.
Probably it's wild surroundings had
great deal to do with this effect.
There were no roads leading to Trails
End. Material could not be carried
over it's winding trails except on pack
animals. He had a realization of ire
mendOUS difficulties that had been con-
quered by tireleSs effort, of long
months of amending 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. 1t seemed the
acme of luxury to them. And more
clearly than ever he understood why
the RoSses had died, sooner than re-
linquish it, and why its usurpation by
the Turner's had left such a 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 it will
de h strength TO repel the heathen
fl.'nl our walls, and the land will MOI
8 wortl living in, anyway. But it