{"product_id":"the-branding-iron-gb-25835","title":"The Branding Iron","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Branding Iron\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is no silence so fearful, so breathless,\r\nso searching as the night silence of a wild\r\ncountry buried five feet deep in snow. For thirty\r\nmiles or so, north, south, east, and west of the\r\nsmall, half-smothered speck of gold in Pierre\r\nLandiss cabin window, there lay, on a certain\r\nDecember night, this silence, bathed in moonlight.\r\nThe cold was intense: below the bench\r\nwhere Pierres homestead lay, there rose from\r\nthe twisted, rapid river, a cloud of steam, above\r\nwhich the hoar-frosted tops of cottonwood trees\r\nwere perfectly distinct, trunk, branch, and twig,\r\nagainst a sky the color of iris petals. The stars\r\nflared brilliantly, hardly dimmed by the full\r\nmoon, and over the vast surface of the snow minute\r\ncrystals kept up a steady shining of their\r\nown. The range of sharp, wind-scraped mountains,\r\nuplifted fourteen thousand feet, rode across\r\n4\r\nthe country, northeast, southwest, dazzling in\r\nwhite armor, spears up to the sky, a sight, seen\r\nsuddenly, to take the breath, like the crashing\r\nmarch of archangels militant.\r\n\nIn the center of this ring of silent crystal,\r\nPierre Landiss logs shut in a little square of\r\nwarm and ruddy human darkness. Joan, his wife,\r\nmade the heart of this defiant spaceJoan, the\r\none mind living in this ghostly area of night. She\r\nhad put out the lamp, for Pierre, starting townward\r\ntwo days before, had warned her with a\r\ncertain threatening sharpness not to waste oil,\r\nand she lay on the hearth, her rough head almost\r\nin the ashes, reading a book by the unsteady\r\nlight of the flames. She followed the printed lines\r\nwith a strong, dark forefinger and her lips framed\r\nthe words with slow, whispering motions. It was\r\na long, strong womans body stretched there\r\nacross the floor, heavily if not sluggishly built,\r\ndressed rudely in warm stuffs and clumsy boots,\r\nand it was a heavy face, too, unlit from within,\r\nbut built on lines of perfect animal beauty. The\r\nhead and throat had the massive look of a marble\r\nfragment stained to one even tone and dug up\r\nfrom Attic earth. And she was reading thus\r\nheavily and slowly, by firelight in the midst of\r\nthis tremendous Northern night, Keatss version\r\n5\r\nof Boccaccios Tale of Isabella and the Pot of\r\nBasil.\r\n\n\u003cb\u003e ......Buy Now (To Read More)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct details\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEbook Number\u003c\/b\u003e: 25835 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor\u003c\/b\u003e: Burt, Katharine Newlin \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date\u003c\/b\u003e: Jun 19, 2008 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat\u003c\/b\u003e: eBook \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage\u003c\/b\u003e: English \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Burt, Katharine Newlin,1882-1977 \/ eBook \/ English","offer_id":43218748375197,"sku":"gb-25835-ebook","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/products\/25835.jpg?v=1671503722","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-branding-iron-gb-25835","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}