{"product_id":"2940013243538","title":"To The Last Man","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the end of a dry, uphill ride over barren country Jean Isbel\u003cbr\u003eunpacked to camp at the edge of the cedars where a little rocky canyon\u003cbr\u003egreen with willow and cottonwood, promised water and grass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis animals were tired, especially the pack mule that had carried a\u003cbr\u003eheavy load; and with slow heave of relief they knelt and rolled in the\u003cbr\u003edust.  Jean experienced something of relief himself as he threw off his\u003cbr\u003echaps.  He had not been used to hot, dusty, glaring days on the barren\u003cbr\u003elands.  Stretching his long length beside a tiny rill of clear water\u003cbr\u003ethat tinkled over the red stones, he drank thirstily. The water was\u003cbr\u003ecool, but it had an acrid taste--an alkali bite that he did not like.\u003cbr\u003eNot since he had left Oregon had he tasted clear, sweet, cold water;\u003cbr\u003eand he missed it just as he longed for the stately shady forests he had\u003cbr\u003eloved.  This wild, endless Arizona land bade fair to earn his hatred.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy the time he had leisurely completed his tasks twilight had fallen\u003cbr\u003eand coyotes had begun their barking.  Jean listened to the yelps and to\u003cbr\u003ethe moan of the cool wind in the cedars with a sense of satisfaction\u003cbr\u003ethat these lonely sounds were familiar.  This cedar wood burned into a\u003cbr\u003epretty fire and the smell of its smoke was newly pleasant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Reckon maybe I'll learn to like Arizona,\" he mused, half aloud. \"But\u003cbr\u003eI've a hankerin' for waterfalls an' dark-green forests. Must be the\u003cbr\u003eIndian in me.... Anyway, dad needs me bad, an' I reckon I'm here for\u003cbr\u003ekeeps.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJean threw some cedar branches on the fire, in the light of which he\u003cbr\u003eopened his father's letter, hoping by repeated reading to grasp more of\u003cbr\u003eits strange portent.  It had been two months in reaching him, coming by\u003cbr\u003etraveler, by stage and train, and then by boat, and finally by stage\u003cbr\u003eagain.  Written in lead pencil on a leaf torn from an old ledger, it\u003cbr\u003ewould have been hard to read even if the writing had been more legible.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Dad's writin' was always bad, but I never saw it so shaky,\" said Jean,\u003cbr\u003ethinking aloud.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   GRASS VALLY, ARIZONA.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47171909091568,"sku":"2940013243538","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013243538_p0.jpg?v=1763578841","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013243538","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}