Shadows played along the canyon's rim, meeting the dancing rays of sunlight
through the trees. Sunlight and darkness mingled together in a great canyon of
the earth. One lone woman stood upon its rim gazing into its mystic depth. Her
mind was empty of thought. She was only watching, fascinated by the swaying
trees, the shadows and the sunlight, and the deep and mysterious.
A thought came into her mind. The shadows there were as the tears that gather
within the heart of man! Dark tears of sadness and sorrow flickering for a time
on the green leaves growing on the trees on life.
The road was long where the shadows drifted. The rays of sunlight were few, but
life, too, was like that, and when the road reached the canyon's rim where the
sky was a limitless space, man paused for a time to rest. He would turn and
look back into the canyons of the earth. He could see the shadows there behind
him, but his mind was free. He had gained the rim where there was only sunlight
and space. He smiled, realizing that the tears and laughter in life led up and
on to the limitless space of a blue and sunlit sky.
A strange smile spread over the woman's face. She sighed softly, then turned
and walked swiftly back along the road and into the dark forest beyond, where in
the quiet mid-morning, two hawks circled silently above in the blue sky. A soft
murmur rippled among the pine trees as though the ghost of a thousand feet
stepped softly along with hers. There was no other sound. Rosanne was anxious
to reach the crest of the mountain. There she could view the vast mountainous
region which stretched on and on around her in a wilderness of unreality. It
was wild and steep and the far distant ranges were blanketed with tall swaying
pines.
It was the last remaining bit of wilderness in the now overcrowded cities and
farms that stretched far below her in the distant valley. Her family had
migrated here over a hundred and fifty years ago. They had come with oxen and
wagons when it was all a wilderness into a state now with millions of people
crowding its highways and byways, restless and eager for life, adventure, and
for the creative science of new things. She stood alone on the mountain crest
watching the great panorama in the valley below, while the vast and silent
mountains whispered softly behind her.
She realized that with her was the end of an episode. In future years, this
lovely wilderness would be no more. She sat down at the foot of a pine tree and
watched cattle graze along the openings of the timber. Cattle? Soon there
would be no place for cattle except in small scientifically operated farms which
now composed the West. The days of vast ranges were buried along with those
ghostly feet that had walked with hers to the mountain crest. She sat very
still absorbing the silence around her. It was like a great cathedral. Slowly
the peace of the hills crept into her heart, and cleared her mind of the fears
and doubts which had surged within her. She saw a vision of a future world.
This wilderness would serve forever as a living monument of the dead. Their
footsteps echoed with hers over the dim pine covered trails. Distant
rock-covered caverns still echoed voices from the long ago, and phantom hoof
beats thundered through the timber shadowing the sunlight beneath the trees.
The modern world would have no ears for such echoes of the past. They would
have no conception of the living dead around them. It was only hers that could
hear them. Only her eyes that could see, because once she had been as one of
them, and to her eyes they were still living, sheltered within the heart of the
great pines.
The world of today would never know nor would it ever guess, and in its
thoughtless, relentless march toward progress, it would never take the time to
learn of those whose hearts were buried here. Her decision grew firm! From out
of the silence came her answer! This vast wilderness should be a living
memorial to those great and sturdy pioneers. She would make it a gift to the
people to live forever as park in memory of her people. It would be free for
those eager pressing throngs to come and enjoy its vast primeval wilderness, and
where those ghostly shadows could drift in peace forever. From out of the quiet
hills would come the peace of one's soul and food for the power of thought.
The sun was sinking slowly and the afternoon shadows began to steal across the
ridges. Rosanne smiled while her eyes glistened with sudden moisture in the
fading sunlight. It was nearly dusk by the time she reached the snug little
house nestled under a grove of pines. Hungry horses nickered softly as she
approached the corral and eager cattle trotted toward her, anxious for a bit of
hay. Quickly she tended to their needs, then entered the house and lit the old
fashioned lamps. Tonight she would have her dinner out under the stars in the
little garden she had made a number of years ago.
It would be her last dinner. She would leave on the morrow. That was one
reason why her decision had been such a stupendous one. It meant giving up her
happy home for the progress of public activity. Her dwelling place was the only
natural location for the entrance to her domain, and her home would be needed
for lodge purposes. Rosanne decided to travel where she could forget her
beloved country and the sadness of leaving it. She would be a gypsy for a year
or so, or until she could return again as one of the people to enjoy the
splendor of The Park once more.
Slowly, the round full moon peeked across the ridge, harboring a tall lonesome
pine in its very heart. The stars grew dim under its bright light and the night
wind softly rustled down the long canyon into the darkness of the night. The
heart of Rosanne was heavy, but there was peace in the knowledge of a great and
lasting gift to the world, and a monument worthy of a passing episode in the
history of its country.
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