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A cloud floated slowly above the mountain peak Vast, fleecy and white as the crested foah the sky with a divine air ofalrandeur Over a spacious tract of Southern California it extended its snowy canopy, hts of the Sierra Madre, now and then catching fire at its extre sun, which burned like a red brand flung on the roof of a roughly built hut situated on the side of a sloping hollow in one of the smaller hills The door of the hut stood open; there were a couple of benches on the burnt grass outside, one serving as a table, the other as a chair Papers and books were neatly piled on the table,--and on the chair, if chair it
His appearance was not prepossessing at a first glance, though his actual features could hardly be seen, so concealed were they by a heavy growth of beard In the way of clothing he had little to trouble him Loose woollen trousers, a white shirt, and a leathern belt to keep the two garments in place, formed his complete outfit, finished off by wide canvas shoes A thatch of dark hair, thick and ill co, and he seelare of the su shadow of the floating cloud At so Close within his reach was a small note-book in which from time to time he jotted down certain nu i was too slow for the speed of his thought There was a wonderful silence everywhere,--a silence such as can hardly be co country, over-canopied by large stretches of open sky, and barricaded froe walls built by a race of Titans
The dwellers in such regions are few--there is no traffic save the co of occasional pack-n ofsuch deep and solee and incongruous, yet the man seated outside his hut had an air of ease and satisfied proprietorship not always found ealthy owners of rossed in his books and papers that he hardly saw, and certainly did not hear, the approach of a wo hill against which his cabin presented itself to the view as a sort of fit a tin pail full of milk This she set doithin a yard or so of hi her back, she rested her hands on her hips and drew a long breath For a minute or two he took no notice of her She waited She was a big handso dark eyes lit by a spark that was not originally caught fro conscious of her presence, he threw his book aside and looked up