But the clouds hung heavy and gray at dark, and in the morning they had not drifted on.

It was as though the mountain tops had corralled all the clouds in the country and held them penned like sheep over the valleys.

With the gray sunrise came the wind again, and howled and trumpeted and bullied the harassed forests until dark.

And then, with dark came the stinging slap of rain upon the windows, and pressed Jack's loneliness deep into the soul of him.
"They'll be shutting up this joint for the winter," he told himself many times that night, half hopefully, half regretfully.

"They won't pay a man to watch forests that are soaking wet.