Heart's Desire

aradise; also showing the E

esire at least, the railroad to the camp remained a thing as far distant as ever in the future. Life went on, spent in the open for the most part, and in silent thoughtfulness by choice. Blackman, J. P., now languished

rsen one day, without preface or provocation, "and

n, on which we could see the faint loom of the Bonitos, toothed upon the blue sky, fifty miles away. His mind might also have been fifty miles away, as he gazed vaguely. There was nothing to do. There was only the sun, and as against it the shade. That made up life at Heart's Desire. It was a million miles

rs, and angles, that I had ever been anything but a barrister; now, would you? Attorney and Counsellor-at-law, all hours of the day and night: that bi

Heart's Desire. Dan Anderson sat down in the shade, his long legs stretched out in front of him. "My boy," said he, "you can gaze at me if you ain't too tired. As a matter of fac

ortent, although I did not at that time suspect that he really had anyth

and wrongdoin'. I was the sole and remainin' hope. Like all great men, I naturally wanted to begin the savin' as early as possible; and like everybody else who

g certain lines of research in Princeton. I knew the pedigree and fightin' weight of every white, black, or brindle pup in four States. Now, a whole l

f the People's Choice. First thing, of course, the People's Choice had to take a run over the country-which was a good thing, too, because he did

an Anderson's eye that one might have been morally certain that something

gatherin'. I didn't ask for the place. I just went and told the managin' editor I was ready if he would give me an order for expense money. It wouldn't h

ur for ten towns a day. I watched what the other fellows did, and in about two hours it was easy. Everythi

et, and says he: 'Prexie, this is Basswood Junction. Three railroads come in here-and get away as soon as they can. Four overall factories and a reaper plant. Population six t

m proud to see before me this large and distinguished gatherin' of our noble North American fauna. My visit to your pleasant valley is wholly without political significance. These noble et cetera; these smilin' et cetera; these beautiful et cetera, fill me with the proudest emotions of et cetera. This, our great and glorious et cetera; Basswood Junction has four magnificent factories, and is the centre of three great trunk lines of railroad which radiate et cetera; it is destined t

would take about five minutes to a station. We would put number Two, or number Three, or whichever it was, on the wire, while the People's Choice was talkin', provided we could catch

at any given point. The Honorable Secretary had to attend to that. So all the time we were bored for something to do. What we was hopin' and longin'

t to wanting news! Yo

when I was mighty tired of the four-factory, railroad-centre, leadin'-citizen business, I mixed up the speeches on the Honorable

ld that they had voted the straight Republican ticket ever since Alexander Hamilton, and that they had given to the public that distinguished citizen, James K. Blinkensop, when the man they had really

do?" asked I, getting inte

aily, the kind the real-estate men and the local congressman have to support or go out of the business. Their editor had been raised on a weekly, and had been used to goin' to sleep at eight o'clock in the evening. The rumor s

shuddered when I struck that, because when a man on a paper gets put on Literary and Dramatic, it usually isn't far to his finish. He don't have to send out after trouble-it comes to him spontaneous. Next, I had to do Society. Didn't know anybody there, so that was a little hard. Had to conten

hen I turned my hot young blood loose on the editorial page. 'This,' said I, 'is my opportunity to save the country, and I'm goin' to save it, right here.' It was then eleven hours, forty-

out to see the evidence of their progress. I never did see so many Democrats in my life. Or was it Republicans? I forget. I had given 'em a good, hot, mixed Princeton paper,-dog, international law, society, industrial progress, footlight favorites, and the whole business; had Sermons from Many Lands, and a Conundrum Department, as

been an hour before Dan Anderson leaned over, picked up a splinter to whittle, and went on with his story, back of which I

a strong crimp at the bottom and cut pear-shaped at the hips. That pair was. The n

k, whereas the facts were I had been fired twice. But that did me good. I sort of woke up about then, and realized there were such things in the world as folks. I wasn't the People's Choice,-not yet,-but I was learnin' a heap more about the Basswood J

at I was lookin' for was a science. At last I concluded to take up law, because I thought it was more of a science than any of these other things. I wanted some place where I could sort of reason things out, and have them fit and hang together. Well, the law-well, you know the law isn't just exactly that way

s the most possible line of activity for a man of my attainments. I began to read a little on the side. Then I didn't know whether to have contempt for us fools who live and endure the eter

ed me up as one more young man ruined by college life. The old man had a heap

u came

e West. S

ld me about the gir

e perspiration was so little known. "And you!" he said. "But then, it didn't take much brains to guess that. It wa

There was not a leaf in all that land to give a rustle, nor any water which might afford a ripple. It was a world silent, finished, past and beyond life and its frettings, with nothing to trouble, and with nothing which bade one thi

ut an arm at the great blue heaven. "Girl!" he cried. "Girl!" Then he sank down, burying his face in his hands. One might have heard falling, faint and far off, the shattered crystals of t

more. Of course, the old ways had to end. Her people wouldn't have it. She told me she could not be happy with a dreamer; that it

I worked so hard-but maybe it was all the better for me. I not only learned my law, but I remember to this minute every misplaced comma and every broken type on every page I read; and I know how type looks, irregularly set around a roll of brown hair and a pair of gray eyes tha

ng. That was the worst of all the books. Contracts, notes and bills, torts, replevin, and ejectment-all those things were easy. But when I got to Chitty, the girl's face would always get on the page and stick there. So one night, seeing that I was gone, I took Chitty on Pleading, girl's face and all, a

aid I; "God

y, or burglary, or outlawry, if it hadn'

said I. "Some one u

s out. They're out. I tell you,

use there wasn't a woman. Not a society-not a home-and I thank God for it. I knew what it was back there-every man suspicious, every man scared, every man afraid of his own shadow-not a clean, true note in all the world; and incidentally a woman behind every tree, in every corner, whi

e press g

oys had to kill him? That was a woman, too. What made Bill Hilliard kill Pete Anderson? Woman moved in within fifty miles of them on the Nogales. Here's Curly; good man in his profession. Night-wrangler, day-herder, bog-rider, buster, top-waddy-why, he'd be the old man on the range for his company if that

him. "Sit down," said I. "Why all this foolishness ab

s wasn't ordinary. No plain woman; no common or crimping variety. Just a specimen of the great

n the valley of Heart's Desire. Dan Andersen was prov

d!" said he. "If he hadn't found that gold prospect up on the Homestake, we might have live

pital. I could have guessed

round. And, of course, it couldn't have been anybody else but the particular daddy of this partic

u don't mean to say that

d he, at last. "You can't get away f

ight wagon down the street and outspanned at the corral of Whiteman the Jew, just across the street. Tom tore open a bale of hay, and threw down a handful

ved a fond

wift shot through the top of Tom Osby's wagon. Tom came up,

" said Da

chin. "It's a new wagon-bow for you fellers; and next ti

n in Heart's Desire over smaller things than thi

noticed it

"You come here, and tell me what t

said Tom Osby, "and I

co, Tom,

about what time the Stage'll come in, he's ge

comfort is that no Eastern Capital has ever been able to stay here more than one day. She'll go back, shirtwais

ed without curiosity and without argument-there was, in that far-away region, a mysterious fashion by which news got about over great distances. Perhaps it was a rider in by the short trail over Lone Mountain who brought the wor

e at the end, there's a big pine tree. Well, now, if you or any of the citizens of this commercial emporium should requi

proached him as having been deliberately a party to this invasion. "You've been writing back home to the girl," I said.

write-at least only a few times. I tried not to-but I