The Call Of The Canyon, Zane Grey [good non fiction books to read txt] 📗

Come Back In The Fall For A Few Weeks. Glenn Will Let Me."

 

"Let You? Ye Gods! So You've Come To That? Imperious Carley Burch! . . .

Thank Heaven,  You'll Now Be Satisfied To Be Let Do Things."

 

"I'd--I'd Crawl For Him," Breathed Carley.

 

"Well,  Child,  As You Can't Be Practical,  I'll Have To Be," Replied Aunt

Mary,  Seriously. "Fortunately For You I Am A Woman Of Quick Decision.

Listen. I'll Go West With You. I Want To See The Grand Canyon. Then I'll Go

On To California,  Where I Have Old Friends I've Not Seen For Years. When

You Get Your New Home All Fixed Up I'll Spend Awhile With You. And If I

Want To Come Back To New York Now And Then I'll Go To A Hotel. It Is

Settled. I Think The Change Will Benefit Me."

 

"Auntie,  You Make Me Very Happy. I Could Ask No More," Said Carley.

 

 

 

 

 

Swiftly As Endless Tasks Could Make Them The Days Passed. But Those On The

Train Dragged Interminably.

 

Carley Sent Her Aunt Through To The Canyon While She Stopped Off At

Flagstaff To Store Innumerable Trunks And Bags. The First News She Heard Of

Glenn And The Hutters Was That They Had Gone To The Tonto Basin To Buy Hogs

And Would Be Absent At Least A Month. This Gave Birth To A New Plan In

Carley's Mind. She Would Doubly Surprise Glenn. Wherefore She Took Council

With Some Flagstaff Business Men And Engaged Them To Set A Force Of Men At

Work On The Deep Lake Property,  Making The Improvements She Desired,  And

Hauling Lumber,  Cement,  Bricks,  Machinery,  Supplies--All The Necessaries For

Building Construction. Also She Instructed Them To Throw Up A Tent House

For Her To Live In During The Work,  And To Engage A Reliable Mexican Man

With His Wife For Servants. When She Left For The Canyon She Was Happier

Than Ever Before In Her Life.

 

Chapter 11 Pg 177

It Was Near The Coming Of Sunset When Carley First Looked Down Into The

Grand Canyon. She Had Forgotten Glenn's Tribute To This Place. In Her

Rapturous Excitement Of Preparation And Travel The Canyon Had Been Merely A

Name. But Now She Saw It And She Was Stunned.

 

What A Stupendous Chasm,  Gorgeous In Sunset Color On The Heights,  Purpling

Into Mystic Shadows In The Depths! There Was A Wonderful Brightness Of All

The Millions Of Red And Yellow And Gray Surfaces Still Exposed To The Sun.

Carley Did Not Feel A Thrill,  Because Feeling Seemed Inhibited. She Looked

And Looked,  Yet Was Reluctant To Keep On Looking. She Possessed No Image In

Mind With Which To Compare This Grand And Mystic Spectacle. A

Transformation Of Color And Shade Appeared To Be Going On Swiftly,  As If

Gods Were Changing The Scenes Of A Titanic Stage. As She Gazed The Dark

Fringed Line Of The North Rim Turned To Burnished Gold,  And She Watched

That With Fascinated Eyes. It Turned Rose,  It Lost Its Fire,  It Faded To

Quiet Cold Gray. The Sun Had Set.

 

Then The Wind Blew Cool Through The Pinyons On The Rim. There Was A Sweet

Tang Of Cedar And Sage On The Air And That Indefinable Fragrance Peculiar

To The Canyon Country Of Arizona. How It Brought Back To Carley Remembrance

Of Oak Creek! In The West,  Across The Purple Notches Of The Abyss,  A Dull

Gold Flare Showed Where The Sun Had Gone Down.

 

In The Morning At Eight O'clock There Were Great Irregular Black Shadows

Under The Domes And Peaks And Escarpments. Bright Angel Canyon Was All

Dark,  Showing Dimly Its Ragged Lines. At Noon There Were No Shadows And All

The Colossal Gorge Lay Glaring Under The Sun. In The Evening Carley Watched

The Canyon As Again The Sun Was Setting.

 

Deep Dark-Blue Shadows,  Like Purple Sails Of Immense Ships,  In Wonderful

Contrast With The Bright Sunlit Slopes,  Grew And Rose Toward The East,  Down

The Canyons And Up The Walls That Faced The West. For A Long While There

Was No Red Color,  And The First Indication Of It Was A Dull Bronze. Carley

Looked Down Into The Void,  At The Sailing Birds,  At The Precipitous Slopes,

And The Dwarf Spruces And The Weathered Old Yellow Cliffs. When She Looked

Up Again The Shadows Out There Were No Longer Dark. They Were Clear. The

Slopes And Depths And Ribs Of Rock Could Be Seen Through Them. Then The

Chapter 11 Pg 178

Chapter 11 Pg 177Soothe,  To Clarify,  To Stabilize The Tried And Weary And Upward-Gazing

Soul. Stronger Than The Recorded Deeds Of Saints,  Stronger Than The

Eloquence Of The Gifted Uplifters Of Men,  Stronger Than Any Words Ever

Written,  Was The Grand,  Brooding,  Sculptured Aspect Of Nature. And It Must

Have Been So Because Thousands Of Years Before The Age Of Saints Or

Preachers--Before The Fret And Symbol And Figure Were Cut In Stone--Man Must

Have Watched With Thought-Developing Sight The Wonders Of The Earth,  The

Monuments Of Time,  The Glooming Of The Dark-Blue Sea,  The Handiwork Of God.

 

 

 

 

 

In May,  Carley Returned To Flagstaff To Take Up With Earnest Inspiration

The Labors Of Homebuilding In A Primitive Land.

 

It Required Two Trucks To Transport Her Baggage And Purchases Out To Deep

Lake. The Road Was Good For Eighteen Miles Of The Distance,  Until It

Branched Off To Reach Her Land,  And From There It Was Desert Rock And Sand.

But Eventually They Made It; And Carley Found Herself And Belongings Dumped

Out Into The Windy And Sunny Open. The Moment Was Singularly Thrilling And

Full Of Transport. She Was Free. She Had Shaken Off The Shackles. She Faced

Lonely,  Wild,  Barren Desert That Must Be Made Habitable By The Genius Of

Her Direction And The Labor Of Her Hands. Always A Thought Of Glenn Hovered

Tenderly,  Dreamily In The Back Of Her Consciousness,  But She Welcomed The

Opportunity To Have A Few Weeks Of Work And Activity And Solitude Before

Taking Up Her Life With Him. She Wanted To Adapt Herself To The

Metamorphosis That Had Been Wrought In Her.

 

To Her Amazement And Delight,  A Very Considerable Progress Had Been Made

With Her Plans. Under A Sheltered Red Cliff Among The Cedars Had Been

Erected The Tents Where She Expected To Live Until The House Was Completed.

These Tents Were Large,  With Broad Floors High Off The Ground,  And There

Were Four Of Them. Her Living Tent Had A Porch Under A Wide Canvas Awning.

The Bed Was A Boxlike Affair,  Raised Off The Floor Two Feet,  And It

Contained A Great,  Fragrant Mass Of Cedar Boughs Upon Which The Blankets

Were To Be Spread. At One End Was A Dresser With Large Mirror,  And A

Chiffonier. There Were Table And Lamp,  A Low Rocking Chair,  A Shelf For

Books,  A Row Of Hooks Upon Which To Hang Things,  A Washstand With Its

Chapter 11 Pg 179

Necessary Accessories,  A Little Stove And A Neat Stack Of Cedar Chips And

Sticks. Navajo Rugs On The Floor Lent Brightness And Comfort.

 

Carley Heard The Rustling Of Cedar Branches Over Her Head,  And Saw Where

They Brushed Against The Tent Roof. It Appeared Warm And Fragrant Inside,

And Protected From The Wind,  And A Subdued White Light Filtered Through The

Canvas. Almost She Felt Like Reproving Herself For The Comfort Surrounding

Her. For She Had Come West To Welcome The Hard Knocks Of Primitive Life.

 

It Took Less Than An Hour To Have Her Trunks Stored In One Of The Spare

Tents,  And To Unpack Clothes And Necessaries For Immediate Use. Carley

Donned The Comfortable And Somewhat Shabby Outdoor Garb She Had Worn At Oak

Creek The Year Before; And It Seemed To Be The Last Thing Needed To Make

Her Fully Realize The Glorious Truth Of The Present.

 

"I'm Here," She Said To Her Pale,  Yet Happy Face In The Mirror. "The

Impossible Has Happened. I Have Accepted Glenn's Life. I Have Answered That

Strange Call Out Of The West."

 

She Wanted To Throw Herself On The Sunlit Woolly Blankets Of Her Bed And

Hug Them,  To Think And Think Of The Bewildering Present Happiness,  To Dream

Of The Future,  But She Could Not Lie Or Sit Still,  Nor Keep Her Mind From

Grasping At Actualities And Possibilities Of This Place,  Nor Her Hands From

Itching To Do Things.

 

It Developed,  Presently,  That She Could Not Have Idled Away The Time Even

If She Had Wanted To,  For The Mexican Woman Came For Her,  With Smiling

Gesticulation And Jabber That Manifestly Meant Dinner. Carley Could Not

Understand Many Mexican Words,  And Herein She Saw Another Task. This

Swarthy Woman And Her Sloe-Eyed Husband Favorably Impressed Carley.

 

Next To Claim Her Was Hoyle,  The Superintendent. "Miss Burch," He Said,  "In

The Early Days We Could Run Up A Log Cabin In A Jiffy. Axes,  Horses,  Strong

Arms,  And A Few Pegs--That Was All We Needed. But This House You've Planned

Is Different. It's Good You've Come To Take The Responsibility."

 

Carley Had Chosen The Site For Her Home On Top Of The Knoll Where Glenn Had

Taken Her To Show Her The Magnificent View Of Mountains And Desert. Carley

Climbed It Now With Beating Heart And Mingled Emotions. A Thousand Times

Already That Day,  It Seemed,  She Had Turned To Gaze Up At The Noble

Chapter 11 Pg 180

White-Clad Peaks. They Were Closer Now,  Apparently Looming Over Her,  And

She Felt A Great Sense Of Peace And Protection In The Thought That They

Would Always Be There. But She Had Not Yet Seen The Desert That Had Haunted

Her For A Year. When She Reached The Summit Of The Knoll And Gazed Out

Across The Open Space It Seemed That She Must Stand Spellbound.