Butcher's Crossing

by John Williams

His father had encouraged his reading of Mr. Emerson, but had not, to his recollection, insisted that he read the Bible.

He believed—and had believed for a long time—that there was a subtle magnetism in nature, which, if he unconsciously yielded to it, would direct him aright, not indifferent to the way he walked.

he was leaving the city more and more, withdrawing into the wilderness. He felt that that was the central meaning he could find in all his life,

On this side is the city, he thought, and on that the wilderness;

He felt himself to be like the land, without identity or shape;

Miller would not willingly leave the valley so long as a single buffalo remained alive.

the herd of some five thousand animals was now less than three hundred.

He came to accept the silence he lived in, and tried to find a meaning in it.

“I said I’d take care of Schneider. And I’ll give him a share above and beyond his salary.” Miller looked at Andrews slowly. He nodded very slightly, as if he recognized something. “Sure, Will. It’s yours to do with.”

in the following seasons, dried by the heat of the sun and cracked in the bitter cold of snow and ice, it would begin to disintegrate, crumble into patches and shreds; until at last it would be no more,

The bottom’s dropped out of the whole market; the hide business is finished.

“You used to say when the railroad came through, the land would be like gold.” “Ah, yes,” McDonald said. “The railroad. Well, it’s coming through. They’re laying the tracks now. It’ll come through about fifty miles north of here.”

I came out of it with nothing, too. Because I forgot what I learned a long time ago. I let the lies come back.

the weakness of his body was gathered into his lungs and breathed out upon the air.