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Show A CHAPTER OF BETWEENS. 193 er's hand, and Bob fled from the spot, unable to look upon his work. But it was not an act, however justified by mountain ethics, which the doer could blot from his memory. The light- hearted mountaineer returned to his former haunts a morose and gloomy man. His asso-ciates, one and all, excused the deed ; it was what they would have done in like circumstances. " But woe, woe, unutterable woe, to those who spill life's sacred stream." That instinct is too deeply implanted in the human breast. Bob grew solitary in his habits, and finally disappeared. Ten years afterwards a party of hunters penetrated one of the many obscure and difficult cafions that open westward from the Saguache Range, and to their astonishment came upon the rude cabin of a hermit. Within they found an occupant who neither moved nor spoke at their ap-proach. Long, snow- white hair and beard nearly concealed an aged face, on which the rugged lines and leathery skin seemed the marks of a century of suffering. His sunken, unwinking eyes gazed into va-cancy, his form so still that the astonished hunters could not be certain that he lived till one laid hand upon his arm. Then starting sud-denly from his seat, the hermit cried : " He is dead, he is dead, and I soon shall follow him ! " and with all the strength of his rheumatic limbs the unhappy parricide sought to push them from the living tomb. But contact with men brought health to his mind, and the only remaining week of his life was one of peace and resignation. Cheered by the kind ministrations of the hunters, Bob McAfee sank to rest, and the unfortunate brothers were reunited, let us hope, in a land where motives are judged as well as conduct. 13 |
