The Call Of The Canyon - Zane Grey (easy readers TXT) 📗

Up A Colossal Mound Of Cinders Burned

Forever To The Hues Of The Setting Sun. In Every Light And Shade Of Day It

Held True To Its Name. Farther North Rose The Bold Bulk Of The San

Francisco Peaks,  That,  Half Lost In The Clouds,  Still Dominated The Desert

Scene. Then As Carley Gazed The Rifts Began To Close. Another

Transformation Began,  The Reverse Of What She Watched. The Golden Radiance

Of Sunrise Vanished,  And Under A Gray,  Lowering,  Coalescing Pall Of Cloud

The Round Hills Returned To Their Bleak Somberness,  And The Green Desert

Took Again Its Cold Sheen.

 

"Wasn't It Fine,  Carley?" Asked Glenn. "But Nothing To What You Will

Experience. I Hope You Stay Till The Weather Gets Warm. I Want You To See A

Summer Dawn On The Painted Desert,  And A Noon With The Great White Clouds

Rolling Up From The Horizon,  And A Sunset Of Massed Purple And Gold. If

They Do Not Get You Then I'll Give Up."

 

Carley Murmured Something Of Her Appreciation Of What She Had Just Seen.

Part Of His Remark Hung On Her Ear,  Thought-Provoking And Disturbing. He

Hoped She Would Stay Until Summer! That Was Kind Of Him. But Her Visit Must

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Be Short And She Now Intended It To End With His Return East With Her. If

She Did Not Persuade Him To Go He Might Not Want To Go For A While,  As He

Had Written--"Just Yet." Carley Grew Troubled In Mind. Such Mental

Disturbance,  However,  Lasted No Longer Than Her Return With Glenn To Camp,

Where The Mustang Spillbeans Stood Ready For Her To Mount. He Appeared To

Put One Ear Up,  The Other Down,  And To Look At Her With Mild Surprise,  As

If To Say: "What--Hello--Tenderfoot! Are You Going To Ride Me Again?"

 

Carley Recalled That She Had Avowed She Would Ride Him. There Was No

Alternative,  And Her Misgivings Only Made Matters Worse. Nevertheless,  Once

In The Saddle,  She Imagined She Had The Hallucination That To Ride Off So,

With The Long Open Miles Ahead,  Was Really Thrilling. This Remarkable State

Of Mind Lasted Until Spillbeans Began To Trot,  And Then Another Day Of

Misery Beckoned To Carley With Gray Stretches Of Distance.

 

She Was To Learn That Misery,  As Well As Bliss,  Can Swallow Up The Hours.

She Saw The Monotony Of Cedar Trees,  But With Blurred Eyes; She Saw The

Ground Clearly Enough,  For She Was Always Looking Down,  Hoping For Sandy

Places Or Rocky Places Where Her Mustang Could Not Trot.

 

At Noon The Cavalcade Ahead Halted Near A Cabin And Corral,  Which Turned

Out To Be A Sheep Ranch Belonging To Hutter. Here Glenn Was So Busy That He

Had No Time To Devote To Carley. And Flo,  Who Was More At Home On A Horse

Than On The Ground,  Rode Around Everywhere With The Men. Most Assuredly

Carley Could Not Pass By The Chance To Get Off Spillbeans And To Walk A

Little. She Found,  However,  That What She Wanted Most Was To Rest. The

Cabin Was Deserted,  A Dark,  Damp Place With A Rank Odor. She Did Not Stay

Long Inside.

 

Rain And Snow Began To Fall,  Adding To What Carley Felt To Be A

Disagreeable Prospect. The Immediate Present,  However,  Was Cheered By A Cup

Of Hot Soup And Some Bread And Butter Which The Herder Charley Brought Her.

By And By Glenn And Hutter Returned With Flo,  And All Partook Of Some

Lunch.

 

All Too Soon Carley Found Herself Astride The Mustang Again. Glenn Helped

Her Don The Slicker,  An Abominable Sticky Rubber Coat That Bundled Her Up

And Tangled Her Feet Round The Stirrups. She Was Glad To Find,  Though,  That

It Served Well Indeed To Protect Her From Raw Wind And Rain.

Chapter 4 Pg 69

 

"Where Do We Go From Here?" Carley Inquired,  Ironically.

 

Glenn Laughed In A Way Which Proved To Carley That He Knew Perfectly Well

How She Felt. Again His Smile Caused Her Self-Reproach. Plain Indeed Was It

That He Had Really Expected More Of Her In The Way Of Complaint And Less Of

Fortitude. Carley Bit Her Lips.

 

Thus Began The Afternoon Ride. As It Advanced The Sky Grew More

Threatening,  The Wind Rawer,  The Cold Keener,  And The Rain Cut Like Little

Bits Of Sharp Ice. It Blew In Carley's Face. Enough Snow Fell To Whiten The

Open Patches Of Ground. In An Hour Carley Realized That She Had The Hardest

Task Of Her Life To Ride To The End Of The Day's Journey. No One Could Have

Guessed Her Plight. Glenn Complimented Her Upon Her Adaptation To Such

Unpleasant Conditions. Flo Evidently Was On The Lookout For The

Tenderfoot's Troubles. But As Spillbeans,  Had Taken To Lagging At A Walk,

Carley Was Enabled To Conceal All Outward Sign Of Her Woes. It Rained,

Hailed,  Sleeted,  Snowed,  And Grew Colder All The Time. Carley's Feet Became

Lumps Of Ice. Every Step The Mustang Took Sent Acute Pains Ramifying From

Bruised And Raw Places All Over Her Body.

 

Once,  Finding Herself Behind The Others And Out Of Sight In The Cedars,  She

Got Off To Walk Awhile,  Leading The Mustang. This Would Not Do,  However,

Because She Fell Too Far In The Rear. Mounting Again,  She Rode On,

Beginning To Feel That Nothing Mattered,  That This Trip Would Be The End Of

Carley Burch. How She Hated That Dreary,  Cold,  Flat Land The Road Bisected

Without End. It Felt As If She Rode Hours To Cover A Mile. In Open

Stretches She Saw The Whole Party Straggling Along,  Separated From One

Another,  And Each For Himself. They Certainly Could Not Be Enjoying

Themselves. Carley Shut Her Eyes,  Clutched The Pommel Of The Saddle,  Trying

To Support Her Weight. How Could She Endure Another Mile? Alas! There Might

Be Many Miles. Suddenly A Terrible Shock Seemed To Rack Her. But It Was

Only That Spillbeans Had Once Again Taken To A Trot. Frantically She Pulled

On The Bridle. He Was Not To Be Thwarted. Opening Her Eyes,  She Saw A Cabin

Far Ahead Which Probably Was The Destination For The Night. Carley Knew She

Would Never Reach It,  Yet She Clung On Desperately. What She Dreaded Was

The Return Of That Stablike Pain In Her Side. It Came,  And Life Seemed

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Something Abject And Monstrous. She Rode Stiff Legged,  With Her Hands

Propping Her Stiffly Above The Pommel,  But The Stabbing Pain Went Right On,

And In Deeper. When The Mustang Halted His Trot Beside The Other Horses

Carley Was In The Last Extremity. Yet As Glenn Came To Her,  Offering A

Hand,  She Still Hid Her Agony. Then Flo Called Out Gayly: "Carley,  You've

Done Twenty-Five Miles On As Rotten A Day As I Remember. Shore We All Hand

It To You. And I'm Confessing I Didn't Think You'd Ever Stay The Ride Out.

Spillbeans Is The Meanest Nag We've Got And He Has The Hardest Gait."

 

 

 

 

 

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Later Carley Leaned Back In A Comfortable Seat,  Before A Blazing Fire That

Happily Sent Its Acrid Smoke Up The Chimney,  Pondering Ideas In Her Mind.

 

There Could Be A Relation To Familiar Things That Was Astounding In Its

Revelation. To Get Off A Horse That Had Tortured Her,  To Discover An Almost

Insatiable Appetite,  To Rest Weary,  Aching Body Before The Genial Warmth Of

A Beautiful Fire--These Were Experiences Which Carley Found To Have Been

Hitherto Unknown Delights. It Struck Her Suddenly And Strangely That To

Know The Real Truth About Anything In Life Might Require Infinite

Experience And Understanding. How Could One Feel Immense Gratitude And

Relief,  Or The Delight Of Satisfying Acute Hunger,  Or The Sweet Comfort Of

Rest,  Unless There Had Been Circumstances Of Extreme Contrast? She Had Been

Compelled To Suffer Cruelly On Horseback In Order To Make Her Appreciate

How Good It Was To Get Down On The Ground. Otherwise She Never Would Have

Known. She Wondered,  Then,  How True That Principle Might Be In All

Experience. It Gave Strong Food For Thought. There Were Things In The World

Never Before Dreamed Of In Her Philosophy.

 

Carley Was Wondering If She Were Narrow And Dense To Circumstances Of Life

Differing From Her Own When A Remark Of Flo's Gave Pause To Her

Reflections.

Chapter 5 Pg 72

 

"Shore The Worst Is Yet To Come." Flo Had Drawled.

 

Carley Wondered If This Distressing Statement Had To Do In Some Way With

The Rest Of The Trip. She Stifled Her Curiosity. Painful Knowledge Of That

Sort Would Come Quickly Enough.

 

"Flo,  Are You Girls Going To Sleep Here In The Cabin?" Inquired Glenn.

 

"Shore. It's Cold And Wet Outside," Replied Flo.

 

"Well,  Felix,  The Mexican Herder,  Told Me Some Navajos Had Been Bunking

Here."

 

"Navajos? You Mean Indians?" Interposed Carley,  With Interest.

 

"Shore Do," Said Flo. "I Knew That. But Don't Mind Glenn. He's Full Of

Tricks,  Carley. He'd Give Us A Hunch To Lie