Buffalo Roost: A Story of a Young Men's Christian Association Boys' DepartmentCheley, Frank H. (Frank Howbert)
Religion
Buffalo Roost: A Story of a Young Men's Christian Association Boys' Department
Cheley, Frank H. (Frank Howbert)
Christian fiction; Young men's Christian associations -- Fiction
The trail made a sharp turn to the left, the trees suddenly came to an
end, and in their place were large piles of mossy, ragged boulders. The
canyon ended in a perpendicular, moss-covered wall, hundreds of feet
high, and from the top of this wrinkled old cliff leaped the stream into
the canyon below. On an old tin sign, fastened to the stump of an immense
tree, were the words, "St. Marys." Directly at the base of the falls, and
at their extreme edge, stood a grand old spruce tree, straight and clean
as an arrow, its slender top reaching nearly to the top of the falls.
They seemed to be happy comrades, for the tree was gently vibrating with
the soft, half-wild music of the crystal stream.
After every nook and cranny had been explored, the group began to retrace
their steps down the canyon.
"Isn't it a wonderful little spot?" asked Phil, as they sat down by the
bridge to rest. "Who do you suppose ever built this trail away up here?
See, it has been dug from the very mountain-side in many places, and this
bridge wasn't built as a mere footbridge--it was built to support heavy
loads of something."
"Perhaps somewhere way up in those trees there is an old mine," suggested
Fat.
"I've been wondering if there was," slowly questioned Willis. "I'd like
to go and look, for I'm not a bit tired." His eyes were big with the
wonder of the place.
"It surely is a treat to him, isn't it?" asked Mr. Allen.
"Yes, and to us all," replied Ham. "I just wonder what some city people
would think of it. When I get old, fellows, I'm going to find me some
such a little canyon as this and live out my life in it. I don't believe
a fellow could ever think a mean thought out here, could he? He'd be
almost afraid to."
"It's an ideal place, all right," returned Mr. Allen.
"Why, I believe I'd be an orator if I just had this valley for a class,"
went on Ham.
"It's a good thing such places can't be moved," suggested Phil, "or some
of these wealthy fellows would be buying them all up and putting them in
their art galleries. This view would create quite a sensation in New York
City, don't you think? Fifty thousand dollars is not much for a few feet
of masterpiece, but this can be had for a few dollars an acre. Strange,
isn't it?"
"A man paints a little picture on a canvas and worries over it until his
hair gets long and his face sad. He is then a genius. People go wild over
a man that can copy a little scene. Yet those same people declare there
is no Creator. Account for a valley like this without Him, can you?"
declared Fat.
"The man that can deny Him, standing here in this little bit of His
handiwork," solemnly declared Ham, "is blind, deaf, and dumb, besides
having marked tendencies toward insanity."
"Halloo," came in a clear shout from up on the hillside.
"By gracious, he's found a mine!" cried Ham, jumping up.
"Halloo," he shouted back. "What did you find?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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