young and consequently far from numerous.

Doubtless upon that long search mine was the first human foot to
touch the soil in many places--mine the first human eye to rest
upon the gorgeous wonders of the landscape.

It was a staggering thought. I could not but dwell upon it often
as I made my lonely way through this virgin world. Then, quite
suddenly, one day I stepped out of the peace of manless primality
into the presence of man--and peace was gone.

It happened thus:

I had been following a ravine downward out of a chain of lofty hills
and had paused at its mouth to view the lovely little valley that
lay before me. At one side was tangled wood, while straight ahead
a river wound peacefully along parallel to the cliffs in which the
hills terminated at the valley's edge.

Presently, as I stood enjoying the lovely scene, as insatiate for
Nature's wonders as if I had not looked upon similar landscapes
countless times, a sound of shouting broke from the direction of
the woods. That the harsh, discordant notes rose from the throats
of men I could not doubt.

I slipped behind a large boulder near the mouth of the ravine and
waited. I could hear the crashing of underbrush in the forest,
and I guessed that whoever came came quickly--pursued and pursuers,
doubtless.