eet.

His life had always been full in his wilderness of Nature's splendor.
In his moments of leisure he had been more than happily content in the
pleasant friendship of the man who had sheltered him from childhood.
But now--now as he looked back over all those years, the associations
seemed dull and empty--empty of all that made life worth living. Not
only had he come to realize the woman's place in a man's life. It was
the old story of the fruit of knowledge. Woman had always been a
sealed book to him. Now, at last, the cover had been turned and the
pages lay before him for the reading. He yearned for Joan with all
the strength and passionate ardor of his strong young heart. Nor, even
in his yearning, had he full understanding of the real depths of his
feelings.

How could he study or analyze them? His love had no thought of the
world in it. It had no thought of anything that could bring it down to
the level of concrete sensation. He could not have told one feeling
that was his. With Joan at his side he moved in a mental paradise
which no language could depict. With Joan at his side he lived with
every nerve pulsating, attuned to a perfect consciousness of joy. With
Joan at his side there was nothing but light and radiance which filled
every sense with a happiness than which he could conceive no greater.
Alone, this great wide world about him was verily a wilderness.

The man's feelings quickly mastered his momentary uneasiness as his
horse bore him on toward his goal. The forest path over which he was
traveling had lost its hue of gloom which the shadowed pine woods ever
convey. There was light everywhere, that light which comes straight
from the heart and is capable of lending radiance even to the
grave-side itself.

The trail lay straight ahead of him for some distance. Then it swerved
in a big sweep away to the left. He knew this bend. The farm lay
something less than half a mile beyond it. As they neared it Caesar
pricked his ears and whinnied. Buck leant forward and patted his neck
out of the very joy of anticipation. It almost seemed to him as if the
creature knew who was waiting at the end of the journey and was
rejoicing with him. For once he had misunderstood the mood of his
horse.

He realized this in a moment. The eager creature began to move with a
less swinging stride, and his gait quickly became something in the
nature of a "prop." They were round the bend, and the horse whinnied
again. This time