The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1922-01-13

been outside her bourne Of thought
In her sheltered life she had never
felt the need OF a literal God. The
spirit OF All Being WAS not close TO
her. as IL was 20 him.
Bin had found his religion In the
Wilderness. and II was real. He had
listened to the voices OF the wind
and the stir Of tho waters in the fret.
full lake: he had caught dim mes
sages. yet profound enough to flood
his heart with passion. In the rust.
ling of leaves. the utter silence OF
tho night. the unearthly beauty OF
the far ranges. stretching one upon
another. Hts was an austere God.
infinitely just and wise. but liz
great aims were far beyond the pow.
er OF mems finite minds TO grasp.
Most Of all. his was God Of
strength. Of mighty passions and
moods. but aloof. wsfchful. secluded.
In this night. and the nights that
followed. she ahsorhed-a little at a
and nature. He did not speak freely.
but she drew him out with sym
pathetic interest But for all he
knew life m the raw and the gloom
l~uf the spruce forest. his outlook had
not been darkened. For all hts long
acquaintance with . stark and re
morsclcss Nature. he remained an
optimist-
None OF his views surprised her as
much as this. lie knew the SHOWS
and the cold. this man: the persecu-
ton Of the elements and tn. endless
struggle and pain OF life. yet he held
no 1ncor. Its all part Of the
game he explained -lt's Some sort
OF a test. preparation--And there's
some sort Of a scheme. too big for
human beings To see. behind H."
lie believed In a hereafter. He
thought that the very hardship Of
life made " necessary. Earthly ex-
istenes could not be En end In itself.
he thought. rather the tumrlt and
stress ehAped and strengthened the
soul for some stress 10 coma And
some Of US conquer and so on" he
told her earnestly. And some OF
US falkland stop"
But life Isn't hard she answered
I've never known hardship or trial
! know many men ard girls thai
don't know what Il means"
$50 much to their lost Virginia.
those people will 70 out OF M. as
soft. as unprepared. as when they
came In. They viii be as helpless
as when they left thcir mothers
wombs. They haven't been discIp-
lined They haven't known pain and
work and battie-and the strength
Venlng they entail They don't live
. natural life Nature meant for all
creatures to struggle. Because Of
mans civilization they are having an
artificial existence. and they pay for
II in-the end. Natures way Ii the
way Of hardship
This man did not know a gentle.
kindly Nature She was no friend
OF his lie knew her as a siren.
murderess and a torturer. yet with
great secret aims that no man could
name or discern. Even the kindly
summer moon lighted the way for
hunting creatures 20 find and rend
their prey. The snow trapped the
deer In the valleys where the wolf
pack might find easy killing; the
cold killed the young grouse in the
shrubbery: the wind sang n song Of
death He pointed out that all the
wilderness voices expressed the pain
OF isvlng-the sobbing utterance Of
the coyotes. the song OF the wolves
in the winter snow, the wall Of the
geese In their southern nigrations
In these talks she was surprised
20 learn how fun had been his read
ing. All thru her girihood she had
gone 10 private schools and had been
tutored BY high-paid Intellectual aris-
tocrafs. yet she found this man much
better educated than herself. He
" ad read philosophy and had
U1rowsed. at least. among all the beat
literature Of the past: he knew his
tory and a certain measure OF
science. and most OF all. the asso-
cation areas OF his brain were highly
developed so that he could see into
the motives and hearts Of things
much more clearly than she.
In the nights he told her Nature
lore. the ways Of the living creatures
that he observed. and in the daytime
he illustrated his points from life.
They would take little trsnfps to-
gether thru the storm and snow. go
ing slowly because Of the depth Of
the drifts. and under his tutelare.
the wild life began to reveal To her
its most hidden secrets. Sometimes
she shot grouse with her pistol: once
a great. long pinioned goose. resting
on the shore of frozen Gray Lake.
fell 20 her aim. She saw the animals
going about their secret business: the
moose feeding In the marshes. the
herds Of caribou that are. above all
other creatures. natives and hab-
itants OF .he snow-swept mountains.
the little. lesser hunters such as
narfen and mink and otter. One
night they heard The wolf pack
chanting as they ran along the ridge.
Life was real up here. The super.
Fatalities with which she had dealt
Is1pefore were revealed in their true
light. OF all the past material requi-
sitcs. only three remained--food and
warmth and shelter. Others that she
did not think she neutrality-suspicious.
and strength and discipllne-were
shown as vitality necessary. Com
radeship was needed. too, the touch
OF helping hand in a moment Of
fear or danger; and love-the one
thing she lacked now--wss most
necessary of all. IL was not enough
just 10 give love- For years she
had poured her alteration upon Har.
old. lost and silent In the North. She
knew she must receive II too, recipro-
caIly: and thus she might find
strength for the war Of life. even a
tremulous JOY in meeting and sur.
mounting difficulties.
The snow fell almost incessantly
until the tree limbs could hold no
more. The drifts deepened In the
still aisies between trunk and trunk
When the clouds broke thru and the
stars were like great precious dia