He learned to tan hides and to carry a deer upon
his shoulders. Nightly he plunged from the sweat-lodge into the lake
and later slept the sleep of utter weariness under a deerskin cover.
So Mic-co disciplined the splendid body and brain of his guest to the
strength and endurance of an Indian; but the quiet hours by the pool
brought with them the subtler healing.
Carl grew browner and sturdier day by day. His eyes were quieter.
There was less of arrogance too in the sensitive mouth and less of
careless assertiveness in his manner.
So matters stood when Philip rode in by the southern trail with Sho-caw.
Now Philip had wisely waited for the inevitable readjustment, trusting
entirely to Mic-co, but with the memory of Carl's haggard face and
haunted eyes, he was unprepared for the lean, tanned, wholly vigorous
young man who sprang to meet him.
"Well!" said Philip. "Well!"
He was shaken a little and cleared his throat, at a loss for words.
"You--you infernal dub!" said Carl. It was all he could trust himself
to say.
It was a singular greeting, Mic-co thought, and very eloquent.
CHAPTER XLII
THE RAIN UPON THE WIGWAM
To the heart of the gypsy there is a kindred voice in the cheerful
crackle of a camp fire--in the wind that rustles tree and grass--in the
song of a bird or the hum of bees--in the lap of a lake or the
brilliant trail of a shooting star.
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