The Adair County news., 1922-10-10
CHAPTER Nv

The train came to a sliding halt
at Deer Greek, pauNed an inf1nitesimal
fraction Of a second, and rOared on In
its ceaseleSs journey. That infiniteSi-
NAL fraction was long enough for
Bruce, poised on the bottom step of
sleeping car, to swing down on to the
gravel right-of-way. His bag, hurled
by a sleepy porter, followed him.
Duncan's next impression was one
of infinite solitude. He hadn't read
any guidebooks about Deer Creek, and
he had expected some sort of town.
But here was one little wooden struc-
ture with only three sides,-the open
ing facing the track. It was evidently
the waiting room used by the noun
ftaIn men as they waited for their
local trains. T~eh-~tETE1Eh hsSEAE
There were no porters to carry his
bag. There were no shouting officials
His only companions were the stars
and the moon and, farther up the
slope, certain tall trees that tapered
to Incredible points almost in the re-
gion where the stars began.
The whole scene, for Causes deeper
than any words may ever seek and re-
veal, moved him past any experience
in his life. II was wholly new.
He turned about until the wind was
in his face 1t was full of fragrances,-
strange, indescribable smells that
seemed to call up a forgotten world
They carried a message to him, but as
yet he hadn't made out its meaning
He only knew it was something mys-
terious and profound: great truths
that f1ickered, like dim lights, in his
Consciousness, but whose outline he
could not quite discern.
Perhaps there were sounds, but they
p only seemed part of the silence The
faintest rustic in the world reached
him from the forests above of many
little winds playing a running game
between the trunks, and the stir Of
the Little People, moving in their mid
night occupations. Each of these
sounds had its message for Bruce
They all seemed to he trying to tell
him something, to make clear some
great truth that was dawning in his
consciousness.
He was not in the least afraid. He
felt at peace as never before He
picked up his bag, and with stealing
steps approached the long slope be-
hind. The moon showed him a fallen
log, and he found a comfortable seat
on the ground beside it, his back
against its bark. Then he waited for
the dawn to come out.
The night hours passed. The sense
of peace seemed to deepen on the man.
He sat relaxed, his brown face grave,
his eyes lifted. The stars began to
dim and draw back farther into the
recesses of the sky. The round out
line Of the moon seemed less pro
nOunced. And a faint ribbon of light
began to grow in the east
1t widened The light grew. The
night wind played one more little
game between the tree trunks and
slipped away to the Home of Winds
that lies somewhere above the noun
tains. The little night sounds were
slowly stiIled
Bruce closed his eyes, not knowing
why. His blood was Ieaping In his
veins. An unfamiliar excitement, al
most an exultation, had come upon
him. He lowered his head nearly to
his hands that rested in his lap, teen
waited full five minutes more.
Then he opened his eyes. The
light had grown around him. His
hands were quite plain. Slowly, as
man raises his eyes to a miracle,
he lifted his face.
The forest was no longer obscured
in darkness. The great trees had
emerged, and only the dusk as of
twilight was left between. He saw
them plainly,-their symmetrical
forms, their declining limbs, their tall
tops piercing the sky. He saw them
as they were,-those ancient, eternal
symbols and watchmen of the wilder
ness. And he knew them at last, ac-
quaintances long forgotten but re-
membered now.
''The pinesp' he cried. He leaped
to his feet with flashing eyes. 81
have come back to the pines!"