Evening star., 1927-12-19

Slowly now he lowered his arms and,
walking down the path that his own
feet had made, came to the brook and
the deep pool he had scooped out for
bathing purposes. AS he plunged into
the water he enjoyed its coldness as
he never had before. Then, as he
looked upstream, he saw something
which filled him with astonishment
and wonder.
A chip, A large, yellow chip! 1t
came to him like a messenger, as. in
deed, it was-the messenger from an
other living soul.
More than once the previous Fall
Clint had followed the stream to it's
source in an icy spring. and he knew
that his was the only habitation, he
the only person on the whole noun
tain. Yet here came this unmistak-
able evidence that ne was no longer
alone on Pocomoonshine. The chip
had been cut that morning.
lie puzzled over 1t, studying 1t as
it lay upon the table while he ate the
bacon he had brought from the In
dian village a fortnight earlier. His
inclination was to follow at once the
clue it provided, but he had last night
left his invention at a crucial point.
No sooner was he at work than he for
got about the chip.
hunger and WEAKNESS and failure.
Il can't get the hang OF it, no.
how" he said.
Brushing the mess of whitfield wood,
wires and steel springs into the COR
ner he covered them with a piece of
gunny sack. For the first time he
believed that the thing would never
become the entity of his vision.
He saw the chip again as he ate.
and without waiting to finish, with
food in his hands, he hastened down
to the brook and began to follow its
windings. He had walked three miles
when he heard the stroke of an ak.
A few moments later he stood face to
face with a big, grizzled man all
sweat and determination as he swung
his AK. At the flap of a small tent
sat a young girl who watched her
father with sad, blue eyes.
Doc Bussey told me to get my girl
into the pine woods" George Wilmer
said. II remembered this place, for
was here once hunting. SO 1
! packed up and brought her. I'm 60
ing to build a cabin for her. A tent
| seems kind of flimsy."
| Bussey! 1t was he who had sent
| Clint TO the wilderness, but they were
not to know that.
What are you doing here?" Will
mer demanded.
Working on an invention" Clint
answered.
| He helped Wilmer the rest of the
| day and the next and the next un-
| til the cabin was sound and whole.
! Then lie brought from his own dwell
| ing the rude box of orchids, which
was it's only ornament, and gave 1t to
| Esta Wilmer. The best of his books
too. ne brought her, and he talked
! about them with her evening after
evening as she sat on the doorstep
and her father smoked-gloomily.
Clint knew the whole story now
how poor Wilmer was, how fond of
| his one beloved, how determined that
she should have chance to live.
! 1t was the thought of Esta Wilmer
which sent him back to his invven-
! ton. He wrestled with his problem
as he never had before. If it sue
| ceeded he would have money with
which to help her father get for her
| the many things she needed.
: There came a night spent by the
| light of the pitch pine in his rude
| fireplace, eyes strained, hands busy,
| thoughts concentrated on one object.
| A bird sang out and the window
whitened. 1t was dawn. Clint arose
to his feet, dead with WEAKNESS. but
glad with a strange new gladness.
! The springs. the whitfield wood, the
wires were at last combined in that
perfect thing called a successful in
| Vention.
A moment he stood gripping his
| temples, dazed by his own dreams.
! Then with a shout of triumph he ran
to the brook and flung himself in.
The cold stimulating water re-
| stored him and he suddenly realized
| his own strength,
An hour later he was tramping to-
ward Indian Village as fast as he
! could go. He was going out to civili-
"a ton for the first time in Is months.
| Two weeks later he came tramping
back in new clothes, with joy in his
! heart, assured health on his brow
and the biggest pack he had ever car
ried.
He stopped briefly at his own cabin
and then hurried on to Winners.
Esta sat in the doorway dreaming,
with her face lifted to the pine top.
When she heard the cracking OF his
step she turned her head and saw
him, and he knew by her look that
she had been thinking of him.
He held out his arms and she ran
into them with a sob of joy.
He had brought her the first fruits
of his success, books and pretty
things such as girls love, thinking
that was all he had for her and all
that she wanted of him. But now as
he held her close he realized that he
loved her and that all he had achieved
was for her.
Chips upon the current of life! Who
knows their destination when they
are set aflOat?
THE END.
tCopyright 1927