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

And Reward Athletes Had In Their Desultory Training. But When A

Man Learned This Secret The Need Of Work Must Become Permanent. Did This

Explain The Law Of The Persians That Every Man Was Required To Sweat Every

Day?

 

Carley Tried To Picture To Herself Glenn's Attitude Of Mind When He Had

First Gone To Work Here In The West. Resolutely She Now Denied Her

Shrinking,  Cowardly Sensitiveness. She Would Go To The Root Of This Matter,

If She Had Intelligence Enough. Crippled,  Ruined In Health,  Wrecked And

Broken By An Inexplicable War,  Soul-Blighted By The Heartless,  Callous

Neglect Of Government And Public,  On The Verge Of Madness At The

Insupportable Facts,  He Had Yet Been Wonderful Enough,  True Enough To Himself

And God,  To Fight For Life With The Instinct Of A Man,  To Fight For His

Mind With A Noble And Unquenchable Faith. Alone Indeed He Had Been Alone!

And By Some Miracle Beyond The Power Of Understanding He Had Found Day By

Day In His Painful Efforts Some Hope And Strength To Go On. He Could Not

Have Had Any Illusions. For Glenn Kilbourne The Health And Happiness And

Success Most Men Held So Dear Must Have Seemed Impossible. His Slow,  Daily,

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Tragic,  And Terrible Task Must Have Been Something He Owed Himself. Not For

Carley Burch! She Like All The Others Had Failed Him. How Carley Shuddered

In Confession Of That! Not For The Country Which Had Used Him And Cast Him

Off! Carley Divined Now,  As If By A Flash Of Lightning,  The Meaning Of

Glenn's Strange,  Cold,  Scornful,  And Aloof Manner When He Had Encountered

Young Men Of His Station,  As Capable And As Strong As He,  Who Had Escaped

The Service Of The Army. For Him These Men Did Not Exist. They Were Less

Than Nothing. They Had Waxed Fat On Lucrative Jobs; They Had Basked In The

Presence Of Girls Whose Brothers And Lovers Were In The Trenches Or On The

Turbulent Sea,  Exposed To The Ceaseless Dread And Almost Ceaseless Toil Of

War. If Glenn's Spirit Had Lifted Him To Endurance Of War For The Sake Of

Others,  How Then Could It Fail Him In A Precious Duty Of Fidelity To

Himself? Carley Could See Him Day By Day Toiling In His Lonely Canyon--

Plodding To His Lonely Cabin. He Had Been Playing The Game--Fighting It Out

Alone As Surely He Knew His Brothers Of Like Misfortune Were Fighting.

 

So Glenn Kilbourne Loomed Heroically In Carley's Transfigured Sight. He Was

One Of Carley's Battle-Scarred Warriors. Out Of His Travail He Had Climbed

On Stepping-Stones Of His Dead Self. Resurgam! That Had Been His

Unquenchable Cry. Who Had Heard It? Only The Solitude Of His Lonely Canyon,

Only The Waiting,  Dreaming,  Watching Walls,  Only The Silent Midnight

Shadows,  Only The White,  Blinking,  Passionless Stars,  Only The Wild

Creatures Of His Haunts,  Only The Moaning Wind In The Pines--Only These Had

Been With Him In His Agony. How Near Were These Things To God?

 

Carley's Heart Seemed Full To Bursting. Not Another Single Moment Could Her

Mounting Love Abide In A Heart That Held A Double Purpose. How Bitter The

Assurance That She Had Not Come West To Help Him! It Was Self,  Self,  All

Self That Had Actuated Her. Unworthy Indeed Was She Of The Love Of This

Man. Only A Lifetime Of Devotion To Him Could Acquit Her In The Eyes Of Her

Better Self. Sweetly And Madly Raced The Thrill And Tumult Of Her Blood.

There Must Be Only One Outcome To Her Romance. Yet The Next Instant There

Came A Dull Throbbing--An Oppression Which Was Pain--An Impondering Vague

Thought Of Catastrophe. Only The Fearfulness Of Love Perhaps!

 

She Saw Him Complete His Task And Wipe His Brown Moist Face And Stride

Toward Her,  Coming Nearer,  Tall And Erect With Something Added To His

Soldierly Bearing,  With A Light In His Eyes She Could No Longer Bear.

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The Moment For Which She Had Waited More Than Two Months Had Come At Last.

 

"Glenn--When Will You Go Back East?" She Asked,  Tensely And Low.

 

The Instant The Words Were Spent Upon Her Lips She Realized That He Had

Always Been Waiting And Prepared For This Question That Had Been So

Terrible For Her To Ask.

 

"Carley," He Replied Gently,  Though His Voice Rang,  "I Am Never Going Back

East."

 

An Inward Quivering Hindered Her Articulation.

 

"Never?" She Whispered.

 

"Never To Live,  Or Stay Any While," He Went On. "I Might Go Some Time For A

Little Visit. . . . But Never To Live."

 

"Oh--Glenn!" She Gasped,  And Her Hands Fluttered Out To Him. The Shock Was

Driving Home. No Amaze,  No Incredulity Succeeded Her Reception Of The Fact.

It Was A Slow Stab. Carley Felt The Cold Blanch Of Her Skin. "Then--This Is

It--The Something I Felt Strange Between Us?"

 

"Yes,  I Knew--And You Never Asked Me," He Replied.

 

"That Was It? All The Time You Knew," She Whispered,  Huskily. "You Knew.

. . . I'd Never--Marry You--Never Live Out Here?"

 

"Yes,  Carley,  I Knew You'd Never Be Woman Enough--American Enough--To Help

Me Reconstruct My Broken Life Out Here In The West," He Replied,  With A Sad

And Bitter Smile.

 

That Flayed Her. An Insupportable Shame And Wounded Vanity And Clamoring

Love Contended For Dominance Of Her Emotions. Love Beat Down All Else.

 

"Dearest--I Beg Of You--Don't Break My Heart," She Implored.

 

"I Love You,  Carley," He Answered,  Steadily,  With Piercing Eyes On Hers.

 

"Then Come Back--Home--Home With Me."

 

"No. If You Love Me You Will Be My Wife."

 

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"Love You! Glenn,  I Worship You," She Broke Out,  Passionately. "But I Could

Not Live Here--I Could Not."

 

"Carley,  Did You Ever Read Of The Woman Who Said,  'Whither Thou Goest,

There Will I Go' . . ."

 

"Oh,  Don't Be Ruthless! Don't Judge Me. . . . I Never Dreamed Of This. I

Came West To Take You Back."

 

"My Dear,  It Was A Mistake," He Said,  Gently,  Softening To Her Distress.

"I'm Sorry I Did Not Write You More Plainly. But,  Carley,  I Could Not Ask

You To Share This--This Wilderness Home With Me. I Don't Ask It Now. I

Always Knew You Couldn't Do It. Yet You've Changed So--That I Hoped Against

Hope. Love Makes Us Blind Even To What We See."

 

"Don't Try To Spare Me. I'm Slight And Miserable. I Stand Abased In My Own

Eyes. I Thought I Loved You. But I Must Love Best The Crowd--People

--Luxury--Fashion--The Damned Round Of Things I Was Born To."

 

"Carley,  You Will Realize Their Insufficiency Too Late," He Replied,

Earnestly. "The Things You Were Born To Are Love,  Work,  Children,

Happiness."

 

"Don't! Don't! . . . They Are Hollow Mockery For Me," She Cried,

Passionately. "Glenn,  It Is The End. It Must Come--Quickly. . . . You Are

Free."

 

"I Do Not Ask To Be Free. Wait. Go Home And Look At It Again With Different

Eyes. Think Things Over. Remember What Came To Me Out Of The West. I Will

Always Love You--And I Will Be Here--Hoping--"

 

"I--I Cannot Listen," She Returned,  Brokenly,  And She Clenched Her Hands

Tightly To Keep From Wringing Them. "I--I Cannot Face You. . . . Here

Is--Your Ring. . . . You--Are--Free. . . . Don't Stop Me--Don't Come. . . .

Oh,  Glenn,  Good-By!"

 

With Breaking Heart She Whirled Away From Him And Hurried Down The Slope

Toward The Trail. The Shade Of The Forest Enveloped Her. Peering Back

Through The Trees,  She Saw Glenn Standing Where She Had Left Him,  As If

Already Stricken By The Loneliness That Must Be His Lot. A Sob Broke From

Carley's Throat. She Hated Herself. She Was In A Terrible State Of

Conflict. Decision Had Been Wrenched From Her,  But She Sensed Unending

Strife. She Dared Not Look Back Again. Stumbling And Breathless,  She

Hurried On. How Changed The Atmosphere And Sunlight And Shadow Of The

Canyon! The Looming Walls Had Pitiless Eyes For Her Flight. When She

Chapter 7 Pg 126

Crossed The Mouth Of West Fork An Almost Irresistible Force Breathed To Her

From Under The Stately Pines.

 

An Hour Later She Had Bidden Farewell To The Weeping Mrs. Hutter,  And To

The White-Faced Flo,  And Lolomi Lodge,  And The Murmuring Waterfall,  And The

Haunting Loneliness Of Oak Creek Canyon.

 

 

 

Chapter 8 Pg 127

 

At Flagstaff,  Where Carley Arrived A Few Minutes Before Train Time,  She Was

Too Busily Engaged With Tickets And Baggage To Think Of Herself Or Of The

Significance Of Leaving Arizona. But As She Walked Into The Pullman She

Overheard A Passenger Remark,  "Regular Old Arizona Sunset," And That Shook

Her Heart. Suddenly She Realized She Had Come To Love The Colorful Sunsets,

To Watch And Wait For Them. And Bitterly She Thought How That Was Her Way

To Learn The Value Of Something When It Was Gone.

 

The Jerk And Start Of The Train Affected Her With Singular Depressing

Shock. She Had