Wilderness, A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska

ne, a fair one, had passed and Olson again had not come. We were downcast. Every possible cause for his continued absence had been reviewed in my mind. To wait longer was not to be endured.

the little boy?" We see them loading a dory from the vessel's deck,-and now they row it to the shore. It's good to see a fine young fisherman and shake his hand. Again and once again the loads are ferried in and carried up the long and slippery low-tide beach. Rockwell has lighted Olson's lamp, he sweeps his cabin, and starts the fire in the stove. At the last load I slip aboard the vess

half-drunk, soul-starved men saying their passionate farewells,-on the dull plain of their life a flash of lightning revealing an abyss;-this night on the still, dark cove of Resurrection Bay, rimmed with

d from the wide spaces then swept my soul, and how close about my head the dome of heaven and the stars! Thi

pper makes a great fuss, says he's a famous oarsman and could beat his daddy, a fine, big, strong boy. Warm hearted s

trength to move the heavy loads from the beach. No matter, I struggle alone and finally stow them in his cabin, a great pile. Then a cup of coff

the morning and deep into the afternoon I read the mail. Unwashed dishes stood about, for meals we but ate what was at hand. (Here follows in the journal a list two pages long of presents, of books-what a shelf of them!-woolen clothes and sheepskin slippers, music for the flute, plum-p

ebruary f

oist, spring air enters to dispel the fumes of turpentine. I primed eight canvases to-day, six of which I had also stretched. This

IC RE

s. Now we may live on fish which Olson has in such quantities that we're to help ourselves. Olson has insisted on my accepting a fifty-pound sack of flour for my services during his

ebruary s

g before breakfast until now, eleven at night. I have decided to go to Seward in a few days. It has become necessary to go back to New York very soon. I told Rockwell of this to-day and his eyes have scarcely been dry since. He has reasoned with me and inquired int

is face glows always with expression. So we don't care a rap for the rest-only Rockwell does! One day after he had regarded for a long time a certain unfortunate photograph of himself in which he looked like an idiot, he said, "Father, I'd like to dress up some day and put on my best clothes and brush my hair,-because I want to see if I really look like I do in this picture." Rockwell loves to look well and it's a real treat for him to dress up. So, that being the case

his before?-it lies so deep that one can't see across the street. The snow is the deepest, and that last cold snap the coldest, of any

February

ell. To-day I redeemed two straying pictures and they're among the elect now. To-night a steamer entered from the westward, the Cura?ao, long expected. She must have b

SON

of wood on the fire after I had intended it to go out. I removed them, blazin

e must be put in order. We must find a hole in the gasoline tank and solder it and

here we approached the water. He had planned to live this summer the day long on the shores of the lake, naked, playing in and out of the water or paddling some craft about. I th

February

r, meet Rockwell in his forward march from nothing-to this. If that be so we have met only for a moment for such perfect sympathy. His love will pass on from this and mine will grow dissatisfied and wander still. But I think it's otherwise. It seems that we have both together by chance turned out of the beaten, crowded way and come to stand face to face with that infinite and unfathomable thing which is the wilderness; and here we have found OURSELVES-for the wilderness is n

asionally to hunt the white man for his skin as the white man has hunted their dear animals; rain-bears and wild-cat-eaters-appalling animals that inhabit the dark woods but are good friends to Rockwell. Every log and rotten stump, the gnarled trees, with or without "butter," every mound and path, the rocks, the streams, each is a being in itself; and with those most living goats, and the brilliant magpies, the pretty, little, dingy sparrows, the glorious and virtuous porcupines, the black, black crows, the great and noble eagle, the rare spider and the rarer fly, and the wonderful, strong

ING

February

uch fun. However we went well around and I set up my canvas and painted while Rockwell crawled about in caves and crevasses playing some sort of wild beast. The wind rose as I finished and made it difficult to convey my wet canvas without damaging it. And in the afternoo

bruary twe

uld observe, what we later confirmed at Seward, that the sun shines at the head of the bay while the island, our island, is shrouded in clouds. Quite different conditions prevail in the two localities. With us it is warmer and much wetter. The recorded rainfall for Seward, that some time ago seemed incredibly smal

e is friendly. The first night Rockwell dined out at one house and slept at another with a lot of children. What must they have thought of his underclothes! I went supperles

February tw

e out of water, racing at a furious pace. Then the boat would naturally lose steerage way and we'd swing far out of our course. But it was great sport. Into it we could have made no headway; before it nothing could stop us. And the engine kept right on going!-only as usual it was continually falling apart. On Friday the flywheel came loose six times, the muffler

ANE

son or we had just been to Seward. I brought Olson a battery box and batteries as a present. He was much pleased. But particularly his mail pleased him. I saw

boat,-but Olson whispered to me later, dramatically, that they were doubtless out dragging somewhere for a cache of whiskey. Lots of whiskey has been sunk in the bay. Marks were taken at the time to determine its loca

ys. He went this morning to the ridge's top east of us, and this afternoon high up on the mountain side. He now wants to stay h