"Smoking Meditatively, Saying No Word"

The present work originally illustrated Steward Edward White’s story "The Fire," published in the June 20, 1908 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. The story follows two men, Herbert Elliot and Jack Pollack, as they embark upon a series of examinations to become rangers for the Bureau of Forestry. The present work depicts a moment of rest for the men amidst these physically trying tests: "While the other candidates were having their try at the surveying the first crew returned to their camp under the sugar pines near the supervisor’s headquarters. There each occupied himself after his own ideas." (S.E. White, "The Fire," The Saturday Evening Post, June 20, 1908, p. 8) Indeed, Dunn paints a scene of quiet reflection, cast in shadow, with each figure consumed by fatigue and reflecting on the day.