"No," he began, after a long silence,
"this country doesn't get on one's
nérvea not if one is a normal human
being. You'll find that When I first
came np here I thought so, too; it
seemed so big and empty and forbid
ding. But the more I see of it the bet
ter it compares with the outer world,
where the extremes of luxury and want
are always in evidence. It began to
seem Uke home to me when I first
looked down Into this Uttle basin. I
had a partner then. I said to blm:
'Here's a dandy, fine place to winter.'
So we wintered in a log shack sixteen
foot square that Silk and Satin and
Nigger bave for a stable now. When
summer came my partner wanted to
move on, so I stayed stayed and be
gan to build for the next winter. And
I've been working at it ever since,
making little things like chairs and
tables and shelves, and fixing np game
heads whenever I got an extra good
one. And maybe two or three times a
year I'd go out Got restless, yon
know. I'm not really a hermit by na
ture. Lord, the things I've packed In
here from the outside I Books I hired
a whole pack train at Ashcroft once to
bring In just books; they thought I
was crazy, I guess. I've quit this place
once or twice, but I always come back,
It's got that home feeling that I can't
find anywhere else. Only it has always
lacked one Important home qualifica
tion." he finished softly. "Do you ever
build air castles?"
"No," Hazel answered untruthfully,
uneasy at the trend of his talk. She
was learning that BIU Wagstaff, for
all his gentleness and patience with
ber, was a persistent mortal.
