zen wilderness
theirs was not an unhappy life by any means. The men and boys, though
now sparing their powder and ball, still set traps for game and were not
without reward. Often they found elk and deer, and once or twice a
buffalo floundering in the deep snowdrifts, and these they added to the
winter larder. They broke holes in the ice on the river and caught fish
in abundance. They worked, too, about the houses, making more tables and
benches and chairs and shelves and adding to their bodily comforts.

The great snow lasted about a month and then began to break up with a
heavy rain which melted all the ice, but which could not carry away all
the snow. The river rose rapidly and overflowed its banks but Wareville
was safe, built high on the hill where floods could not reach. Warm
winds followed the rain and the melting snow turned great portions of
the forest into lakes. The trees stood in water a yard deep, and the
aspect of the wilderness was gloomy and desolate. Even the most resolute
of the hunters let the game alone at such a time. Often the warm winds
would cease to blow when night came and then the great lagoons would be
covered with a thin skim of ice which melted again the next day under
the winds and the sun. All this brought chills and fever to Wareville
and bitter herbs were sought for their cure. But the strong frame of
Henry was impervious to the attacks and he still made daily journeys to
his traps in the wet and steaming wilderness.

Henry was now reconciled to the schoolroom. It was to be his last term
there and he realized with a sudden regret that it was almost at its
end. He was beginning to feel the sense of responsibility, that he was
in fact one of the units that must make up the state.

Despite these new ideas a sudden great longing lay hold of him. The
winds from the south were growing warmer and warmer, all the snow and
ice was gone long ago, faint touches of green and pink were appearing on
grass and foliage and the young buds were swelling. Henry heard the
whisper of these winds and every one of them called to him. He knew that
he was wanted out there in the woods. He began to hate the sight of
human faces, he wished to go alone into the wilderness, to see the deer
steal among the trees and to hear the beaver dive into the deep waters.
He felt himself a part of nature and he would breathe and live as nature
did.

He grew lax in his tasks; he dragged his feet and there were even times
wh