whither, God only knew. " once only. Buck looked back. There was the red light
gleaming faintly through the moonlit flakes of snow. Once more he thought of the.
C HRI STMAS EVE O N LON E SO M E
H E LL FE R SARTA IN -
-
AN D O T H E R STO RI E S
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C H R I S T MA S E V E
ON L O N E S O M E HE LL FE R S A R TAI N -
A ND O T H E R S T O R I E S
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CHARL E
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S SCRI BNE R S S ONS ’
S E VE Ot h e r
an d
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ON LONE OME
CHRI TMA igh t. 1904
31
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ART AI N R FE HE LL -
Copy righ t. 1809 . by
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as a 330
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C ON T E N T S CHRI ST MAS E VE ON LON E SOME AN D
OT H E R ST ORI E S CH
R ISTMAS RM Y
THE A
E VE ON
LONE SOM E
OF THE CALLAHAN
R
T HE PA D ON OF B E CKY D AY
R
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A C I S I S FOR THE G UA D
R ISTMAS
CH
N IG H T
W IT H
S ATAN
HE LL FER SAR T AIN -
-
ON H E LL FE R SARTAIN CR EE K -
TH
ROUG H R I CK
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THE G AP ’
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COUR TI N ON CUTS H IN ’
THE
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IN THE SAND
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T HE S ENATO
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PAGE
C ON T E N T S PR EACH IN
’
ON KIN GDOM COM E -
THE PASS ING OF AB
R
A PU PLE
S H I VE
R H ODODENDRON
HUN TIN G D OWN THE
RAHAM
I N T HE
KE N TUCKY
T HR OUG H T HE BAD
P OUN D ON A
BE ND
TO THE B RE AKS OF SAN D Y
RS
I LLUST RAT I ON S
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us
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Have T hey
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an d
fo r
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m an ? of
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a c i rc us
78
C H R I ST M AS
AN D
EVE
ON
OTH ER
LO N E S O M E
STO R I E S
T HOM AS N E LSON PAG E
C H R I ST M A S
E V E O N LO N E S O M E
T was Christma s E ve o n L o n esom e But n obod y o n L onesom e knew tha t i t was C hri stma s E v e al thou gh a chil d o f the outer wor l d c ou l d have gu e ssed it e ven out i n thos e wilds wher e L onesom e s l ipp ed from on e lon e l og cab in hi gh u p the steeps down through a str e tch o f j ungled darkne s s to another lone cab i n a t th e mouth o f the stream There was the holy hush i n th e gray twilight that comes on l y on Christmas E v e There wer e the bi g fl akes o f snow that fel l as they n ever fa ll except on Christm a s E v e Ther e was a snowy m an on horseba ck i n a b i g co at a n d w ith sa ddle pocket s tha t m i ght have been bur s ti ng with toys for chi ldre n i n the little cab i n a t the hea d of th e stream B ut n ot e v en he knew that i t was Christma s Eve He w as thi n kin g o f Christmas E v e b ut i t was o f the Christmas E v e o f the ye a r before w hen he sa t i n p riso n w ith a hundre d other m e n i n stripes an d li s tened to the chaplai n talk o f p ea ce an d good wi l l to all m en upo n ea rth whe n .
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O N LONE S O M E
h e ha d forgotten a ll me n upon earth but o ne a nd ha d only hatred in h is he art for him ” Vengea n ce is m ine ! sa ith the L ord That was what the chaplain ha d thu n dered a t him An d th e n as n ow he thought o f th e enemy wh o ha d b etraye d him to the law and ha d sworn away h is liberty a nd had robbed hi m o f everything i n l i fe except a fierce lo n ging for the day when he could stri ke b ack an d strike to kill A nd the n while he l ooked b ack hard i nt o the chaplai n s e yes an d n ow whi le he s plashed throu gh th e yel l ow mu d thi n king o f that Christ m as E v e Buck shook hi s he a d ; an d the n as n ow his sulle n hea rt an sw e red ! M ine ! The bi g fl akes dri fte d to c rotch an d twi g an d limb They gathered on the brim o f Buck s slouch hat filled out the wrinkles in h is bi g coat whitened hi s ha i r a n d his l ong mu s ta che an d si fted i n to the ye ll ow t wi sti n g p a th that gu i ded his horse s feet H i gh abov e he cou l d see through the whi r l ing snow n ow a n d then the gleam o f a red star H e knew it was the li ght from his enemy s win dow ; but somehow th e chaplain s voice kept ri n gi n g i n hi s ears an d every time he saw the l i ght he couldn t help thinking o f the sto ry o f the Sta r that the chapla i n told that Chri s tmas E v e and he d r opped his ey e s by a n d by so a s ,
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C HR I STM A S
EVE
O N LONE S O M E
n ot to see i t a g a i n an d rode o n u n ti l the l i gh t shone i n h is face The n he l ed his hors e u p a l itt l e ravine an d hitched i t among th e snowy holly and rhodo de n dro n s an d slipp e d towa rd the light Th e r e was a dog som ewhere o f course ; and l ike a thi ef h e climbed over the l o w ra il fe n ce an d stole through the tall snow wet grass unti l h e l eaned a gainst a n apple tree with t h e sil l o f t h e W indow two feet abov e the level o f hi s eyes R eaching above him he caught a stout l im b a n d dragged him s elf up to a crotch o f the tre e A m ass o f snow slipped so ftly to the earth T h e branch creaked abov e the li ght w ind ; a roun d the corner o f th e house a dog growled an d h e sat stil l H e h a d waited three l o n g yea rs and he h ad ri dden two hard ni ghts and la in out two col d days in the woods for this A nd presently he rea ched out very ca r ef ul l y an d noi s elessly broke l ea f and branch a n d twi g u n ti l a p assa ge was cleared for his e ye an d for the point o f th e pisto l tha t was gripped i n h is ri ght hand A wom a n was j ust disappea rin g throu gh t he kitchen door , an d he peere d cautiously and s a w n othing but da rting sha dows F rom one cor n er a sha dow loom ed suddenly out i n huma n shap e Bu ck saw the shadow e d g e sture o f an ,
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C HR ISTM A S
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a rm a n d h e cock e d his p isto l That sha do w was his m an a n d in a moment h e would be i n a cha i r i n the chim n ey corner to smoke hi s pip e mayb e—his last pipe Buck sm i l ed—pure hatr e d made him smi le but i t w a s m e a n a mean an d sorry thing to shoot this m a n i n the back dog though h e was ; and n ow that the mome n t ha d com e a wave o f sicken i n g sham e ra n through B uck N o one o f h is n am e h a d e ver do n e that befor e ; but thi s m a n a n d hi s p eop l e had an d with th e i r ow n lips they h a d framed p alli atio n for him What was fai r for one wa s fa ir for the other they a lway s sai d A poor m an cou l d n t fi ght money in the courts ; a n d so they h a d shot from the b rush and that was wh y they were rich now and Buck was po or —wh y his enemy wa s sa fe at home an d h e was out here homeless i n the apple tree B uck thou ght o f all this but it was no u s e The shadow slouche d suddenly and dis ap With a grittin g p e ar e d ; and Buck was gla d oath betwee n his chattering teeth he pulled hi s p istol i n an d thrust one leg dow n to swing from the t r ee—h e woul d meet him face to face next day and ki ll him like a m a n—a n d there he hung a s r i gid as though the cold ha d suddenly turned him blood bones and marrow into i ce The door ha d opened and full in the fir e l igh t stood the gi rl who he ha d heard was dead H e ,
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6
C HR I ST MA S
O N LONE S O M E
E VE
thre e y ea rs ; i t was h is chi ld a n d h er s ; a n d i n t h e apple tre e B uck watched fix e d l y Th e y w ere down on the floor n ow rollin g ov e r a n d over together ; an d he watched them unti l th e child grew ti red an d turned his fa c e to — th e fir e an d l ay still looking into it Buck could se e h is ey e s close p resently a n d the n the puppy crept closer put h is hea d on his play m ate s ch e st an d th e two l ay thus asleep And sti l l B uck l ooked hi s clasp loo s ening o n h is pi sto l a n d his lips looseni n g under hi s s t ifl musta che—and kept l ooking unti l the door ope ne d a ga i n a n d the woman cross e d th e fl oor A fl oo d o f l ight fl a sh e d suddenly on the snow b a re l y touching th e snow hung tips o f the apple tree a n d he saw her i n the doorway—saw her l ook anxiously i n to th e darkn ess—l ook an d li s ten a lo n g whi le Buck droppe d n oi s el ess l y to t he s n ow wh en H e wo n dered what they sh e closed the door would thi n k when they s aw h is tracks i n th e snow next mo rning ; and the n h e reali z e d tha t they would b e cov e red b efore mor n ing A s he started up the ravine where hi s hors e was he hea rd th e clink o f m eta l dow n the roa d a n d th e spl a sh o f a hors e s hoo fs i n the so ft mud a n d h e sa n k dow n behin d a holly bush A ga i n the li ght from the c abi n fl ash e d o ut o n th e snow ,
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C HR IS T MA S
ON LONE S O M E
EV E
That you Jim ? Y ep ! A n d then the chi l d s voi ce ! H as 0 0 dot thum tandy ? H Y ep The cheery answer rang ou t almost a t Buck s ea r and Jim pa s sed death wa iting f o r him b e hin d the bu s h which his left foot bru s hed shak ing the s now from the red berri es down on the crouching fi gure beneath O nce only fa r down the dark j un gled way with the un de r lying streak o f yellow that w as l ea ding him whither God only kn ew— once only Bu ck looked b a ck There was the red li ght gleamin g faintly th r ough the moonli t fl akes o f s now On ce more he thought o f the Star and once mor e the chaplain s voi ce cam e b a ck to him M ine ! sa ith the L ord Just how Buck could not s e e with himself i n the snow an d him b a ck the r e for li fe with her a n d the child but some strange im p u l s e m ad e him b a r e hi s hea d ” Y ou rn sai d Buck grimly — But nobody on L one s ome n ot e ve n Buck knew that it was Chri s tm as E ve ,
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TH E
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TH E
CA L L A H A N
HE dr e a d e d messag e h a d come Th e l ank m esse n ger wh o ha d brought i t from over B lack M ou n ta in dropped i n to a cha i r by the stove and sa n k his teeth i n to a great hunk o f ” yellow chees e F litter B il l R ichmon d wa d dl e d from behi n d h is cou n ter a nd out o n the lit tle p l atform i n fro n t o f h is cross roa ds store O ut there was a group o f ea rth sta ined country men loungin g a ga i n st the rickety fe n ce or swinging on it thei r heels c l ea r o f the ground a ll whitt l ing chewing a n d ta l king th e matter over A l l look e d up a t B il l an d he l ooked down at them run n i n g his eye k e en l y from o ne to another unti l he c a me to one powerful young fellow loosely b en t ov e r a w ago n to n gu e E ve n o n him B ill s e y e s stayed but a moment a nd the n wer e li fted hi gh e r in a n xious though t The m essag e ha d com e a t l ast a n d the m a n who brought it ha d heard i t fa ll from B lack “ Tom s own l ips The wi l d Jay H awk e rs o f Kain tu ck were c omi n g ov e r into Vi rgi n i a to .
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IO
T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLA HAN get F litter B ill s store for they were mountai n U ni onist s an d B ill was a va ll e y reb e l and l awfu l prey I t was past b eli ef So long ha d he p r ospered an d so well that B ill ha d com e to feel tha t he sat sa fe i n the hollow o f Go d s ha n d But he now must have prot e cti o n an d at o n c e f r om the hand o f m an R oa ring F ork sang lusti l y throu gh th e rho d o d e n d ro n s To th e n orth yawned the Gap Call a t hrough the Cumb er l an d M ounta in s ” ha n s N o s e a hug e gray rock showe d p l ain i n the c l ea r a i r hi gh above the y oung foli age a n d under it an d o n up the rocky chasm fl ashed F litter B ill s keen m ind r e a ching out for help N ow from Vi rgini a to A labam a the South er n mounta i n eer was a Y ankee becaus e the n a t io n al sp irit o f 1 7 7 6 getti n g fresh impetus i n 1 8 1 2 a nd n ew l i fe from the M e xi ca n Wa r ha d n ever died out i n th e hills M ost l ik e ly it w ould nev e r have di ed out an yw ay ; for th e world over any seed o f character i n divi du al or n ationa l that is once dropped betwe en lofty summits b rings forth i ts kind w ith deathless tenaci ty y ea r a fter yea r O n l y i n the Ke n tucky mounta i n s there wer e more s l av e holders tha n el sewhere i n the mou n ta ins in the S outh Th e se n atu ra lly fought for thei r s l av e s an d the divi si on thus ma de the war persona l and t e r rible b etwee n th e slaveho l ders wh o dared to stay ’
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN at home an d th e U ni on H ome Gua rds wh o organi zed to drive them away In B i ll s little Vi rgini a va lley o f cours e most o f the sturdy farmer s ha d shouldered Con federate muskets an d gone to the wa r Those who ha d stayed at home were like B ill Con federate in symp athy but they lived i n sa fety dow n the va lley whi le B ill trade d an d fattened j ust opposite the Gap through w hi ch a wi ld roa d ran over into the w i ld Kentucky hills Therein B ill s danger lay ; for j ust a t this tim e the H arlan H ome Gu a rd under B lack Tom having cleared those hills we r e m aking ready like the Pi ct and Scot o f olden days to descen d on the Vi rgin i a valley an d smite the l owland reb els at the mouth o f the G ap O f the sta y at home s a n d the d e s e r t e r s roundabout there were many very m any “ ” stand i n wi th any m an wh o w h o would would keep thei r belli es full but they were well n i gh worthle s s even with a leader and without a lea der o f no good at all F litter B i ll must fin d a leader for them and a n ywhere than in hi s own fat self for a leader o f m en B ill wa s not bo r n to b e n or could he see a lea der among the m en be fore him A nd so sta n ding there o ne ea r ly morni n g in the spring o f 1 8 6 5 wi th up li fted gaz e ir was no surprise to him —the coin indeed became at once one o f the arti c id e n ce cles o f perfect faith in his own star—that he ,
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12
T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN s hou l d see a fa r o fl a b l a ck s l ouch hat and a j og ging gray horse rise above a little knoll tha t was in line with the mouth o f the Gap A t once h e c r ossed hi s hands over hi s chubby stomach with a p ious si gh an d a t once a plan o f a ctio n bega n to whi rl in hi s l ittle round hea d B e fore man and b ea s t were in ful l V i ew the work was do n e the hand s were unclasped and F litter B i ll with a chuckle ha d slowly risen an d was w a dd l ing back to hi s de s k in the store It wa s a pompous old bu ck wh o was b earing down on the old g r ay horse and u n der the s louch hat w ith its fl app ing brim— o n e M ayhal l Wells by n am e There were but few strands o f gray i n his thi ck blue bla ck hai r though his yea rs were rounding hal f a ce n tury and he s at the old na g with erect di gn ity and p e rfect eas e H is b earde d mouth showed vanity im m e asu r ab l e and suggested a stre n gth o f will that h is eyes—the rea l seat o f power—deni ed for whi l e shrewd and keen they were unsteady I n rea l i ty h e was a great coward though stro n g as a n ox an d whipping with ease every man who cou l d force him into a fi ght So that i n the whole m a n a se n sitive observer woul d h a v e fel t a peculi a r p athos as though n ature h a d giv en him a desire to b e and no power to b e come and ha d then se n t him on h is zi gz ag w a y n ever to dream wherei n h is trouble l ay ,
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T H E AR M Y O F T H E C ALLAHAN M o rn in gentle m e n ! M o rn in M ayhall ! A ll nodded and spoke except H e n ce S turgil l on the wago n ton gue wh o stopped whittling an d merely l ook e d a t th e bi g m an with narrow ing eyes Tallow D i ck a ye ll ow slave appeared at the corne r o f the store an d the old buck beckoned him to come a n d hitch h is horse F litter B ill ha d reapp eared o n the stoop with a pi ec e o f whit e paper i n hi s han d Th e l ank messe n ger sagged in the doorway b ehi n d him rea dy to s tart for hom e “ M o rn in C ap tain W ells sai d B il l wi th great resp ect E very man heard the title s topp ed hi s ton gu e and h is kn i fe bla de and ra ised his eye s ; a few smiled—H enc e Stu rgi l l g r inn ed M ayha l l sta red a n d B i ll s l e ft eye closed an d opened with lightning qu i ckness i n a most portentous wi n k M ayhall strai ghte n ed hi s shoulde r s—s eeing th e gam e as di d the crow d a t once ! F litter B ill was i mpressing that mes s enger i n case he ha d som e dangerous card up hi s sleeve C ap ta in Wells B i l l rep eated signifi cantly “ I m so r r y to say yo n ew uni form ha s not ” a rr ived yet I am expecting i t to morrow M ayhall t o ed the li n e with soldierly promptness — I m sorry to hea r that s uh sor ry to We ll ’
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T HE AR MY O F T HE C ALLAHAN fun was over and he beckoned B ill inside the store M i s to R i chmond he sai d with hesitancy and an entire change o f tone and manner I am to be able to pay you that a f e e r d I a in t goin little amount I owe you but i f you can give m e a l ittle mo time Capta in Well s inter r upted B ill slowly an d a gai n M ayhall s ta red hard at him as b e twixt f r i ends a s have been p usso n al fri ends fer ni gh onto t wenty yea r I hope you won t men ti on that little m atte r to m e a g in—unti l I men ” tions it to you But M i s to R i chmond H ence Sturg ill o u t tha r s ay s a s how he h e e r d you say that i f I di dn t p ay interrupted B ill again and Cap ta in Wel l s a gain M ayhall sta red ha r d—it was st r ange that B i ll could have formed the hab it o f calling him e t i d d C apta in in so sho rt a time s y y i s not to day is i t ? A nd to day is not to morrow ? I axe you— hav e I sa i d one word about that little matter to d ay ? Well borrow not from yes ti ddy n or to morrow to make trouble fer to day There is other things fer to day C apta in Wells M ayh a ll turned her e ” M i sto R i chmond he sai d with great ea r n you may not know i t but three times e s tn e ss .
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN ’
si n ce thet long l egge d j ay hawker s been gone you hev pla inly— and i f my e ars do not deceive me an they never hev—you have pla inly called m e Cap ta in Wells I knowe d yo little t r ick whilst he was h ye h fer I knowed whut the feller ha d come to tell ye ; but since he s been gone three tim es h I is to R i chmond “ ” Y es d r awled B i ll with a n uncti on that was s tran gely sweet to M ay h al l s wonderin g ” e ars an I do i t a g in C ap ta in Wells ” An m ay I axe you sa i d M ayha ll ru fll in g “ a little m ay I axe you —why you “ Certa inly sa i d B ill an d he handed over the p aper that he held in his hand M ayha ll took the paper an d looked it up and — own helplessly Flitter B i ll slyly watching d him M ayhall h anded i t b ack I f you please ” — M isto R i chmond I l eft my specs at home Without a smi le B ill b egan It wa s an order from the commandant a t Cumberland Gap six t y m i les farther dow n Powell s Valley au t h o r iz in g M ayhall Wel ls to form a compa n y to gu ard the Gap and to protect the p roperty o f Co n federate citi zens in the valley ; a n d a com m i ssion o f capta incy i n the sa i d comp any for the sa i d M ayhal l Wells M ay h al l s mouth wi d ened to the full stretch o f hi s lean j aws and when B il l was throu gh rea di n g h e si l ent ly -
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T HE AR MY O F T H E C ALLAHAN r e ached for the pap e r a n d l ook e d i t up an d down and over an d ov e r mutteri n g ! — — Well well well ! An d the n he pointed si le n tly to the name that was a t th e bottom o f the pap e r B i ll sp e ll e d out the n ame ” J e ffe r s o n D av is a n d M ayh al l s b i g fin gers tremb le d a s h e pulled them away as thoug h to avoi d further d e s ec ratio n o f that sacred nam e The n h e ros e a n d a m a gical transform ati on b e gan tha t c a n b e l iken e d—I sp eak w ith rever ence—to the tur n i n g o f w ater into wine C ap ta in M ayha ll Wells r a i s e d his hea d s et h is chin w e ll i n a n d kept i t th e re H e strai ghte n ed h is should e rs an d kept th e m stra ight H e p ace d the fl oor with a trea d that was marti a l an d once he stopped befor e the door wi th his ri ght han d th rust un der h is breast pocket a n d with wr in kl ing b row studi ed the hi lls It was a n ew m an with the wa ter in h is blood changed to wi n e wh o tu rned su ddenly on Fl itter B ill R i chmond I can collect a v e hy large force in a v e hy few ” days F litter B il l kn ew that—that he could get togethe r every l oa fer betwee n the coun ty seat o f Wise and the county se a t o f L e e—but he only sai d e n coura gingly Good ! An we a i r to p erteet the proper ty—I am to ,
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T HE AR M Y O F T H E C ALLAHAN p erte e t the proper ty of the Co n federat e citi ze ns o f th e v a lley—that m e a n s y o u M isto R i c h ” mo n d a n d th is s tor e B il l n odd e d M ayh a l l coughed slight l y There is one thing i n the way I opine W h a r—I a xe you a i r we to git so me th in to e at f e r my com m a nd ? B i ll ha d a nti cip ated thi s ” I l l take ke e r 0 that C aptai n We l ls rubbed h is ha n ds O f co se o f co se—you a re a so l di e r a n d a — p atriot you ca n a ff ord to feed em a s a sli ght retur n fer th e p e rte ctio n I sh a l l giv e you a n d yourn Certa in l y a greed B il l dry l y an d w ith a proph e ti c sti r o f uneasiness V e hy—v e h y wel l I shall begi n n o w M isto R i chmond An d to F litter B i ll s wonder the capta i n stalked out to the st0 0 p announced h is pu r po s e with the voi ce o f an auctioneer a nd called for volunte e rs then a n d there There was d ea d silence for a mom ent T he n there was a smil e her e a chuckl e there an incredulous laugh ” and H ence Sturgill bully o f th e Pocket ros e from the wa gon tongue clos e d h is kn i fe came slowly forward an d cackled h is scor n stra i ght up into the teeth o f C aptai n M ayha ll Wells The capta i n l ook e d dow n an d b e g an to sh e d h is coat ,
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T HE AR MY O F T HE C ALLAHAN I take i t H ence Sturgill that you a i r laugh in at me ? “ I am a l augh in at y o u M ayha l l W e lls h e sai d contemptuou s ly bu t he was sur p rise d at the look on the good nature d gi ant s face Cap ta in M ayhall Wells e f you please ” Pla in ole M ayhall Wells sa i d H ence and Capta in Wells de s cended with n o little m aj e s ty an d b ifle d him The deli ghted crowd rose to its feet a n d gath ered a r oun d Tallow D i ck came running from the ba r n I t wa s b ifl—bi ff an d b ifl a ga in but not nip an d tuck for long C apta i n M ayhall clo s ed in H ence Sturgill struck the earth like a H ome r i c pi ne and the capta in s m i ghty arm p layed above him an d fell r esounding In three minute s H ence to the amazement o f the crowd roa red N 0 u gh ! But M ayha ll breathed ha rd and sa i d quietly ” “ C ap ta i n Well s ! “ Hen ce s h o u t ed Plai n ole B ut t h e c a p t a i n s h u ge fis t wa s poi s ed i n th e a i r over h is f a c e ” “ Capta in Wells he g r owled and the cap tain ro s e and calmly put on h is coat whi le the crowd looked respectful and H ence Sturgill sta ggere d to one si de as though beaten in spi rit strength an d wits as well The captai n beck ,
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN Jefferson D avi s a n d the Co n fed e rate Stat es o f A meri ca to M ayhall W e lls of Callaha n a nd we n t back i n to h is stor e H e l ooked a t it a l ong tim e a n d th en h e l a ughed but w ithout much m i rth ,
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II ha d l ittle cha n ce to grow for thr e e weeks therea fter under the cowhi d e boots o f Capta i n M ayha ll Wells Whe n the twe n the mist t ie t h mor n ing came ov e r th e hi lls pa rted over the Stars an d B a rs fl oating fro m the top o f a tall popla r up through the Gap a n d flaun tin g brave defiance to B lack Tom h is Ha r lan H om e Gu ard a nd a ll oth e r j ay hawki n g U nio n ists o f the Ke n tucky hills It p a rted ov e r the A rmy o f the Cal l aha n asleep o n its arms i n the mouth o f the chasm over F litter B ill sitti n g sulle n an d dej ected on the stoop of his store ; and over Tallow D i ck steali n g corn brea d from the kitchen to m ake rea dy for fl ight that n i ght throu gh the Gap the mounta ins an d to th e y el l ow river that was the M e cca o f the ru na w ay slave A t the mouth o f the Gap a ragg e d priv a t e stoo d b e fore a ra gg e d t en t ra i s e d a long dinn e r horn to his lips a n d a mi ghty b la st rang throu gh the hills reveil l e ! An d ou t poure d the A rmy o f the C al l a h an from shack rock cav e a n d co v erts o f sti ck s an d le aves w ith s qu irr el ri fles RA SS
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T H E AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN R evoluti ona ry muskets shotguns clasp knives an d hor s e pistols for the duties o f the day under L i eutenant Skaggs ta ctici an a n d L ieu te n a n t B oggs quondam terror o f R oaring F ork That bla s t rang dow n the valley i n to F litter B ill s ea rs and sta r tled him into a ction It brou ght Tallow D i ck s hea d out of the b arn door an d ma de him grin ” “ D ick ! F litter B i ll s c a l l was sharp an d a n gry “ Y es su h ! Go tell ole M ayhall Wells that I a in t goin to send him nary a n other pound o b acon an n ary another tin c up 0 m e al—no by I ” a in t H alf an hou r l ater the negro stood b efo r e the ra gged tent o f the commander o f the Ar my o f the C allahan M arse B il l say he a in t gw ine to s e n you n o m o rati ons—n o W ha t ! Tallow D ick repeated his messag e a n d the capta in scowled—mutiny ! F etch my ho ss ! he thundered Very n atu rally an d very s wi ftly ha d the t r ou ble com e fo r s trai ght a fter the capta in s fight w ith H ence Stu rgill there ha d been a mi ghty rally to the standa rd o f M ayhall Wells F rom ,
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T HE AR M Y O F T H E C ALLAHAN Pi geo n s Creek the l oa fers came—from R oari n g F ork Cra cker s N eck from the Pocket down the valley and from Tu rkey Cove R ecruits c a m e so fast an d to such proportions gr e w the A rmy o f the C allahan that F litter B ill shrewdly su gge s ted at once that Captain Wells divi de it into three companies and put on e up Pi geon s Creek under L i eutenant Jim Ska gg s an d one on Ca llaha n un der L i euten ant Tom B oggs whil e the captain with a thi rd shou l d gu ard the mouth o f the Gap B i ll s i dea was to share with those districts the honor of hi s commissary genera l ship ; but Capta in W e l ls crush e d the plan l ike a dri ed pu ffb all “ Ye s he sa i d with fi n e sarcasm What w il l them Kan e tu ck ian s do the n ? D on t you know Gin e r al R i chmond ? W hy I l l te l l you what they ll do They ll j e s t s woop down on L i eutenant B oggs and gobble him up Then they ll s woop down on L i eutenant Ska ggs o n Pi geon and gobble him up Then they ll swoop down on m e a n d gobble m e up N o they wo n t gobble m e up but they ll come damn ni gh i t A n what kind o f a report wil l I make to Jeff D avis G in e r al R i chmo n d ? C ap tur e d in d e ta il su h ? N o suh I l l j est k ee p L i eutenant B oggs and L i eutenant Skaggs clo s e by me and we ll pitch our camp ri ght here in the Gap whar we c an p e rte et th e property o f C on fed e rate citi z ens ’
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T HE AR M Y OF T HE C AL LAHAN and be close to ou r b ase 0 suppli es suh That s what I ll do ! G in e r al R i chmon d groaned and when i n the next b reath the m i ghty captain ca s u ally inqui red i f th a t un if o r m o f h is ha d come yet F litter B i ll s fa t body ne a rl y roll e d o fl h is chai r Y ou wi ll p l ease have i t here n ext M onday “ sai d t h e c ap t ain w ith great firmne s s It i s ” necessa ry to the proper discipline o f my troops An d it was there the following M onday—a regi menta l coat gray j eans t r o use rsp an d a fo r age cap that B i ll purchased from a passing Morgan ra i der D a i ly orders would come from Captai n Well s to Gen era l F litter B i l l R i chmon d to sen d up more rations an d B i l l groa n ed a fresh when a m an from C allahan told how the capta in s f amily wa s sprucing up on mea l and fl our a nd bacon from the captain s camp H umi li ation followed It ha d never occurre d to Captai n Wells that being a captain m a de i t incongru ous ” for him to have a genera l under him ; unti l L i euten ant Ska ggs who ha d pi cked up a m anua l o f tacti cs somewhere cautiously communicated hi s discovery Capta in Wells saw the point a t once There was but o n e thing to do—to r e duce Genera l R i chmond to the rank s—and i t was done Techni cally therea fter the genera l was purveyor for the Ar my o f the C allah a n but ’
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN to the capta in hims e l f h e was—galli n g l y to the purveyor—s imple F litter B ill The strange thing was that contra ry to hi s usu a l shrewdness it should have take n F li tter B ill so l ong to see that the di fference between havi ng hi s store robbed by the Kentu cky j ay hawkers an d looted by Captain Wells was the di ff erence betwee n tweedle dum and tweedle dee but when he di d see he forged a pla n o f reli ef at once Whe n the captain sent down Lie u te n ant B oggs for a supply o f rations B i ll sent the saltie s t rankest ba con he could find with a mes sage tha t he w anted to see the great man A s be fore when Capta in Wells rode dow n to the store B i ll handed out a p i ece o f p aper and as “ ” be fore t h e captain had left his specs at home The p aper was an order tha t whereas the dis t in gu ish e d servi ces o f Captai n Well s to the Con federa cy w ere appreci ated b y Je fferson D avis the sai d C apta in Wells was and i s hereby em powered to duly an d i n a ccorda n ce wi th the ta c ti cs o f wa r impress what live stock h e shall see fi t an d determi ne fit for the good o f his com m and The n ews was j oy to the A rmy o f the Callahan B e fore i t ha d gone the rounds o f the camp L ieutenant B oggs ha d spi ed a fa t hei fer browsing on the edge o f the woods and ordered her su r rounded and driven down Without an other W ord when she was close e n ough he .
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C AL LAHAN ra ised his gun an d wou l d have shot her dea d i n her t r a ck s ha d he not b een a r r ested by a yell o f comman d and horror from hi s s uperi or “ A i r you a goin to have m e cashiered and shot L i euten ant B oggs fer v io l at in the ti ck tacks o f war ? roa r ed the capta in i n di gnantly D on t you kn ow that I ve got to i mp r e ss tha t hei fer acco r din to the rules an regulation s ? Git ” rou n that hei fer The m en surrounded her Take her by the horns N ow ! In the name o f Je ff er s on D avi s and the Con federate States o f Am e r iky I hereby and hereon do duly im pre ss thi s hei fer for the pu rposes and use o f the A rmy o f the Callahan so help m e God ! Shoot h er down B i ll B ogg s shoot her down ! N ow natu r ally the soldi e r s preferred f r e s h m eat and they got it—impre s sing cattle sheep and hogs gee s e chi cke n s an d ducks vegetables —nothing e s cap ed the capaci ous m aw o f th e A rmy o f the C allahan It was a beauti ful i dea and the succes s o f i t pleased F litter B i ll mi ghtily but the reli ef di d not last long A n indi gnant mu rm u r ro s e up and down valley and creek bot tom against the outra ges and one ang ry old far m er took a pot s hot at C aptai n Wells with a squi r r e l ri fl e clippin g the V i sor o f hi s forage cap ; and from that day the capta in b ega n to call w ith immutable regulari ty a gai n o n F litter B i l l fo r b acon and meal That morn ing the l ast .
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN shou l d di s band the A rmy o f the Ca ll a ha n or do you not ? ,
T he captai n was si l ent a full minute and h is face grew ster n F litt e r B ill R ichmond I ha d no i dee o d isb an d in the A rmy o f the C alla ” han but do you know what I di d a im to do ? A gai n B ill was silent “ Well suh I ll te l l you whut I a im to do I f you do n t se n d them rati ons I ll have you cashiere d for mutiny an i f B lack Tom don t hang you to that a i r popla r I ll hang you thar mysel f suh ; yes by I wil l D ick ! he called sharply to the slave H itch up that a i r wa gon fill hit full 0 b acon and meal and drive it up tha r to my tent A n b e mi ghty dam n ” qui ck about i t or I l l hang you too The negro gave a s wi ft glance to h is m aster and F litter B i ll feebly waved a cqui escence ” Purveyor I w ish you good day B il l ga ze d a fter the great capta in i n da zed wonder ( was thi s th e man wh o ha d come cring ing to him only a f e w short w e eks ago ? ) and groaned a l oud ,
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But for lucky or unlucky coincide n ce how could the p r ophet ever have gained name and fame on earth ? Captai n Wells rode back to camp chuckling ,
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHA N chuckli n g wi th s a tisfa cti on and prid e ; but th e chuckle p assed when h e caught sight o f h is tent I n front o f it were his li eute n a n ts and some hal f a doz e n privates all pla inly in great agitation an d i n the m i dst o f them stood the lank messen ger who ha d brought the firs t m essag e from B lack Tom delivering another from the same source B l ack Tom was coming coming sure “ ” an d un l ess tha t fl ag that R ebel ra g were h au l ed down under twenty four hours B lack Tom would come over and pul l it down an d to that sam e p oplar ha n g C apta i n M ayhall an his W hole damn a rmy B l a ck Tom might do i t anyhow—j ust for fu n While th e privates listened the capta in strutte d an d swore ; then he rested hi s ha n d o n his hip and smiled with si lent sa rcasm a nd the n swore a ga i n—whi le the respectful li eute n ants a n d the awed soldiery o f the C allahan looke d on F inally he spoke ” A h—when di d B l a c k T om s a y that ? h i n qu ir e d casu ally H e sa i d he was goi n to Y e st iddy m o rn in start over h ye h early this T he cap ta in whirled What ? The n why di d n t you git over h ye h .
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Could n t git across the rive r la st n i ght The n he s a comin to day ? ’
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T HE AR MY O F T HE C ALLAHAN I reckon B lack T o m l l be h ye h in about two ” — hour s mebbe he a in t fer away now The captain wa s s tartled L i euten ant Skagg s he called s harp l y gi t yo m en out thar an draw em up in two rows ! The fa ce o f the student o f m ilitary tacti cs l ooked ho rr ified The capta in in his excitement ha d relaxed into l angua ge that was distinctly agri cultu r a l and catching the look on his subor din ate s face and a t the same time the reaso n for i t he r oared indignant l y “ A i r you a f e e r d si r ? Git yo me n out I sai d a n m arch em up thar i n front o f the Gap L i eutenant B oggs take ten men an ma rch a t double qu ick throu gh the Gap a n de fend that poplar with yo li fe s blood I f you a i r over whelmed by superior numbe rs fall ba ck suh step by step unti l you a i r r e en forced by Lie ute n a n t Ska ggs I f you two a i r not ab l e to hold the enemy i n check you m ay count on me an the A rmy o f the C allahan to g r ind h im ( H ow the capta in now thoroughly arou s ed to all the fin e term s o f wa r di d roll that techni ca l him under his tongu e ) to grind him to pi eces a g in them to we r in rocks and p l u n ge him in the b ilin wate r s o f R oa r i n Fawk F orwa rd suh — double qui ck L i euten ant Skaggs touched hi s cap L i eu tena n t B oggs looked emb arrassed a n d strode nearer ’
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN C apta in wha r am I goin to git ten men to face them Kan e tu ck ian s ? Wha r a ir they goi n to git a o ff ce r to l e a d ” em you d b etter say sa i d the capta in severely fearing that some o f the soldiers ha d hea rd th e questio n I f you a i r a f e e r d su h — a n d the n he saw that no one had heard and he winked winked with most unmilitary fami li arity “ A i r you a good climb er L i e ut en a n t B oggs ? L i eutenant B oggs l ook e d mystified but he s a i d he wa s “ L i eut en a n t B oggs I n ow giv e you the o p o r t u n i t to show yo profou n d know l edge o f p y the ti cktacks o f war Y ou may n ow be guilty o f disob edie n ce o f o r d ah s and I wi l l not have you cou rt marti alled for the same In other wor ds i f a fter a survey o f the situ atio n you ” — thi n k best why the capta in s voi c e dropped to a hoarse whisper pull that fl ag dow n L ieu ” tena n t B oggs pul l h e r down ’
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T was a n hou r by sun n ow L ieute n a n t B oggs and his devoted band o f ten wer e m aking thei r way slowly and watchful l y up th e — m ighty cha s m the lieute n a n t with h is ha n d o n h is sword and his hea d bare a n d bowed in thought The Kentucki ans were o n th e i r way —at that mome n t they mi ght be r i ding full speed toward the mouth o f Pi geon where floated the fl a g They m i ght gobble hi m a n d his com m an d up when they emerged from the Gap Suppose th e y caught him up th a t tree H is command m ight escape but h e would b e u p th e r e saving them th e troub l e o f stri n gi n g him Al l they would have to do wou l d be to send up u p a fter him a m an w ith a rope and let h im drop That was enou gh L i eutenant B oggs call e d a halt a n d e xp l ained the rea l pu rp os e o f the expediti on “ We wil l w a i t here ti ll da rk he sa i d so them Kan e tuck ian s ca n t ketch us whilst we a re ” climbing that tree A nd so they wa ited Opposi te B ee R ock whi ch was m a king ready to blos s om w ith purple rho .
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T HE AR M Y O F T H E C ALLAHAN A nd the reserve b ack in the Gap under L i eutenant Ska ggs wa ited Wa ited too the A rmy o f the C allahan at the mouth o f the Gap a n d wa ited restlessly C aptai n Wells at the door o f his tent and F litter B i ll on the st 0 0 p o f h is store—wa ited every body but Ta llow D ick wh o i n the genera l con fusion was slipping throu gh the rhododendrons along the b a n k o f R oarin g F ork u n ti l he could climb the mou n tain si de and slip through the Gap high over the a rmy s hea d Wha t could have happened ? Whe n dusk was falling Captain Wells d is p atched a messenger to L ieutenant Ska ggs and h is reserve an d got a n answer ; L i eutena n t Skaggs feare d that B oggs ha d b een captured W i thout the firing o f a single shot—but the fl a g was fl o a ting still An hou r l ater L ieutenan t Skaggs se n t a n other me s sage—h e could n ot se e the fl a g C apta in Wells answ e red stoutly H old yo ow n A n d so as darkn ess fel l the A rmy o f th e C a l l aha n wa ited i n the stra in o f morta l expecta n cy a s one m an ; and F litter B ill wa ited with h is horse sta n di n g sa dd l ed i n the b ar n rea dy for swi ft fl i ght A nd as darkn ess f e ll Ta llow D i ck was cautiously p icking his way a lo n gsi de the steep wall o f the Gap towa rd freedom an d p icki n g i t with st e althy cautio n foot by foot ; d o d e n d ro n s
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T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN for up there to this day bi g l oose rock s mount halfway to the j agged points o f the black cli ff s an d a careless step would have detached one and s ent an avalanche o f rumbling stones dow n to betray him A s ingle shot rang suddenly out far up th r ou gh the Gap an d the sta r tled neg r o sprang fo rward slipped and with a low f r i ght ened oath l ay still A nother shot followed a n d another Then a hoarse murmu r rose lou de n ed into thunde r and ended i n a f r i ghtful —boom ! O ne yell ra n g from the army s throat The Kentu cki ans ! The Kentuckians ! The w i ld long haired te rr ible Kentucki ans ! Capta in Well s sprang into the a i r M y God they ve got a cannon ! Then there was a marti al choru s—the cra ck o f ri fl e the hoarse cough o f horse p i s tol th e roa r o f old muskets B ing ! B ang ! B oom ! B ing—b ing ! B ang — b ang ! B oo m—boom ! B ing—b ang—boom L i eutenant Skaggs a n d his rese rves hea rd the b eat o f running feet down the Gap ” “ They ve gobbled Boggs he sa i d a n d the reserve rushed a fte r him as he fl ed The a rmy heard the b eat o f thei r coming feet They ve gobbled Skaggs the a rmy sa id Then was there bedlam a s the a rmy fl ed—a c r ashing throu gh bushes —a splashing i nto the river the rumble o f mule wagons y e lls o f ter ,
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36
T HE AR MY O F T H E C ALLAHA N Kentu cki a n—it could b e n o n e other—s wung the two clea r o f the grou n d but the doughty l ie u t e n ants hung to him B oggs trying to get his kni fe and Skaggs his pistol a n d a ll went dow n i n a heap I surrender—I surrender ! It was the gi a n t wh o spoke and a t the sound o f hi s voi ce both m en ceased to st r uggle a n d strange to say n o one o f the three lau gh e d L i eutenant B oggs sa i d C a pta i n Wells thickly take yo thumb out 0 my m o uth L i eu ” t en ant Ska ggs leggo my leg a n stop b iti n m e Sh—s h—s h sa i d all three The fa int s wi s h o f bushes as L ieutenant B ogg s s ten men scuttled into the brush behind — them the distant beat o f the army s feet get ting fa inter a hea d o f th e m and the n si lence dea d dea d sile n ce Sh—s h —s h l ,
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With the red streaks o f dawn C aptain M ay h all Well s was pacing u p an d down in front o f F litter B ill s s to r e a gaping c r owd about him and the shattered remnants of the a rmy draw n u p along R oa ring F o r k in the rea r An hour later F litte r B i ll rode calmly in “ I stayed a ll ni ght down the valley sa i d “ F litter B ill U ncle Jim R i chmon d was sick ’
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38
T HE AR M Y O F T HE C ALLAHAN I hea r you ha d some trouble last night C apta i n Wells The capta in expanded his chest “ Trouble ! he rep eated sarca s ti cally An d then he told how a charging horde o f dare devils ha d driven him from camp w ith over whelmin g numbers a n d o n e pi ece o f artillery ; how he ha d rallied the a rmy an d fought them back foot by foot and put them to fearful rout ; how the a rmy ha d fallen b ack aga in j ust whe n the Kentucki ans were running like sheep a nd how he himself ha d stayed in the rea r w ith L i eu tena n t B ogg s and L i eutenant Ska ggs to cov e r thei r retreat s uh and how the purveyor i f he would j u st go up through the Gap would doubtle s s fin d the canno n tha t the enemy ha d left behi n d in thei r fl ight I t was j ust whi l e he was thus telli n g the tale for the twenti eth time that two fi gures appeared over the b row o f the hill an d d r ew nea r— H ence Sturgil l o n hor s e ba ck and Tallow D i ck on foot “ I k e tch e d thi s n igger in my corn fiel this sa i d H ence simply a n d F litter B ill glared a n d w ithou t a word went for the bla cksn ak e o x whip that hung by the ba rn door F or the tw e nty first time C apta i n W el l s sta rted his ta le aga in and with every paus e that he m ade for breath H ence cackled scor n An H ence Sturgill e f you wi ll j us go up ,
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39
T H E AR MY O F T HE C AL LAHAN i n the Gap you ll fin d a cannon c aptu red suh by m e a n the A rmy o f the C allahan an ” “ “ Can n o n ! H ence broke i n Speak up ” ni gger ! An d T a llow D i ck spok e up —grin n ing I do n e it ! What ! shouted F litter B i l l I ki cked a rock loo se cl im b in ov e r C al l a han s N o se B ill dropped h is whip with a chuck l e o f pu re ecstasy M ayhall p aled an d sta red The crow d roared the Ar my o f the C all a han grinned an d H ence climbed b ack on his horse ” “ M ayhall Wells he sa i d plain o l e M ay hall Wells I ll see you on Co u h t D ay I a i n t got time now An d he rode a w ay ’
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IV
HA T day C apta in M ayhal l W e ll s a n d the A rmy o f the C allahan were in disrepute N ext day the aw ful news of L ee s su rre n der came Capta i n Wells re fused to beli eve it and sti l l m a de heroi c e ff ort to keep hi s shattered com m a n d to ge thie r L ookin g for recru its on Cou r t D ay he was twitted about the rout o f the a rmy by H ence Sturgill whose long coveted chance to redeem him s e l f ha d come A ga in as severa l times b e fore the capta in declined to figh t—h is hea lth wa s e s senti a l to the general well bei n g but H ence lau ghed i n his face an d the captai n ha d to face the musi c though the heart o f him was go n e H e fought we ll for he wa s fighting f or h is all a n d he kn ew it H e cou ld have whipped with ease an d he di d whip but the spi ri t o f th e thoroughbred was not in Capta in M ayha ll Wel l s H e ha d Sturgi l l down but He nce sa n k his teeth i nto M ayh al l s thi gh while M ayh al l s hands grasped his oppone n t s throat The cap tain ha d only to squeez e a s ev e r y rou gh and tumble fighter kn ew and e n dure his pa i n unti l .
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41
T HE AR M Y O F T H E C ALLAHAN H e n ce wou l d hav e to gi ve i n B ut M ayhal l was n ot bui l t to e ndure He roared like a bu ll as soo n as th e teeth met in h is fl esh his fi n gers relaxed a n d to th e di sgusted surpri s e o f every body he b egan to ro a r with gre a t disti n ct n ess a n d a gony ! N ough ! N ough ! Th e e n d was come an d nobody kn ew it b etter tha n M ayhall We l ls He rode home that n i ght w ith hand s folded on the p omme l o f h is sa ddle a n d his beard crushed by hi s chin aga i n st his breast F or the l ast tim e n ext mor n in g he rode down to F litter B i ll s store O n the way he m et Pa r s on Kilburn an d for th e l ast time M ayhall Wells strai ghtened h is shoulders and for one m ome n t more resumed his part ! perhaps the pa r so n ha d n ot h e ard o f his fall ” Good m o rn in pa rsing he sai d plea s a n tly A h—wh e re have you b een ? The p ar s on was returni n g from Cumberland Gap whither he ha d gon e to take the oath o f a llegi ance B y the w ay I have something here for you whi ch F litter B ill asked m e to give you H e sai d i t was from the commandant at Cumberland ” Gap F er me ? asked the captain—hope spring ing anew i n his heart The p arso n hande d him a letter M ayhall looked at it upsi de down .
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42
T HE AR M Y O F T HE C AL LA HAN da z ed help l essness o f the bi g b eate n m an the heart thump e d “ I am sorry about tha t l itt l e a mou n t I ow e you ; I thi n k I l l be able shortly But B i ll cut him short M ayhall Wells b e aten di s gra ced driven from home on charge o f petty crimes o f whi ch he was undoubtedly guilty but for whi c h B i ll kn ew he himsel f wa s r e spon s ibl e —M ayhall on his w ay into exi l e a n d still p e r s u a din g himse l f a n d at that moment almo s t p ersu a din g him that he meant to p ay that little debt o f long ago —was too mu ch for F litter B i ll an d he proceede d to lie —lyi n g with delibe r ation a nd pleasure C apta in Wells he sa i d—and the emphasi s on the title Was b alm to M ay h al l s soul you have p r otecte d m e i n time o f war a n you a i r w elcome to yo uni form a n you a i r welcome to ” that l itt l e debt Y e s he we n t on rea ching dow n i n to hi s pocket a n d pulli n g out a ro l l o f “ b i l ls I tender you in payment for that same protecti on the regu l ar p ay o f a o fli ce r in the Co n federate servi ce —a n d he handed out the a rmy p ay for thre e months in Con federate greenba ck s an five dolla rs in money o f the U nited States o f which I an doubtles s you suh a i r tru e an d loya l citi zens Capta in Wells — I bi d you good b y a n I wish y e well I wish ye ” well ,
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44
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T HE AR M Y O F T H E C ALLAHAN F rom the stoop o f his store B ill watched the captai n ri de away droop ing at the s houlders and with hi s hands folded on the pommel o f h is saddle—his dim blu e eyes m isty the j aunty for a ge cap a mockery o f hi s i ron gray ha ir a n d th e fl aps o f his coat fanning either si de like mour n ful wings A nd F litter B ill muttered to himse l f A tter h e s gone long enough fer these thin gs to blow over I m going to bring him ba ck an d give him another cha n ce—y es damm e i f I don t git him back A nd B ill dropped his remorsefu l e y e to the order i n his hand L ike the handwriting o f the order that li fted M ayhall like m agi c into po wer the h andwri tin g o f thi s order that dropp e d him l ike a sto n e—was F litter B il l s o wn ,
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45
TH E
OF
PA R D O N
B E C KY
DAY
E m issiona ry was young and s he w as from the N orth H er brow s we r e s t r a i ght her no s e wa s rather high an d her eyes were clea r and gray The uppe r lip of her little mouth w as so s hort that the teeth j u s t unde r i t we r e never qu ite concealed It was the mouth o f a child an d i t gave the face with all its stren gth and hi gh pu r po s e a peculi ar pathos that no sou l i n that li ttle mountai n town had the power to see or feel A yellow mule was hitched to the r i cke ty fence i n front o f her and she stoo d on the stoop o f a l ittle white f r ame hou s e with an elm switch between her teeth and gloves o n her hands w hi ch we r e white an d l ooked strong The mu le wore a man s sa dd le but no matter the streets wer e full o f y el l ow pools the mu d was ankle deep a n d she was o n her way to the si ck bed o f B ecky D ay There was a fl ood that morn ing A ll the pre ceding day the ra i n s ha d drenched the hi gh slope s unceasingly That ni ght the ra in clea r forks o f the K en tu cky got yellow an d ros e high .
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46
T HE P ARDO N O F
B E CK Y
DA Y
a n d now they crashed together aroun d the tow n and a fter a h e aving co n fl ict started the river on one quivering maj esti c sweep to the sea N obody gave heed that the girl rode a mule or tha t the sa ddle w as not her own and both facts s he herself qui ckly fo r got Thi s ha l f log hal f fram e house on a corner ha d stood a si ege o n ce She could yet see bullet holes about the door Through thi s window a revenue o ffi cer from the B lue Grass ha d got a bu l let i n the s h o ulder from a garde n i n the r e ar Standi n g i n the post o ffi ce door only j ust o n e month b e fore she hersel f ha d seen children scurrying l ike rabbits through the b ack ya rd fences me n ru n n ing si l e ntly here an d there men dodging into doorwa ys fi r e fl ashing i n the street and from ev ery house—and not a soun d but th e crack o f i sto l and Winch e ster for the mou n tai n m e n ; p dea l d e ath i n all the terrible si lence o f d e ath A nd n ow a prea cher with a long scar a cross his foreh e a d ha d come to the one little church i n th e pla ce an d the fervor o f reli gion was struggl i n g w ith feudal hate for possession o f the tow n To the girl wh o saw a symbol in eve ry mood o f the earth the passions o f these prim itiv e people were like th e tr e a cherous streams o f th e up l ands —now quiet as sunny ski es an d n ow cl ashi n g to gether w ith but little l ess fury and with much more n oise An d the ro a r o f th e fl ood a bove ,
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47
T H E P ARD O N O F B E CK Y DA Y the win d that l at e a ft e rn oo n was th e wrath o f the F ather that w ith the p eace o f the So n so long o n earth such thi n gs stil l could be O nce more troub le was threatening an d that day eve n she kn ew that troub l e mi ght come but s he rode wi thout fea r for she went when and where s he pleased as any woma n can throughout the Cum be r land without insu l t or harm A t t h e en d o f the street were two houses that seem ed to front ea ch other with unmi s takable enmi ty In them were two men who ha d wounded each oth e r o n ly the day before and wh o that day would l ea d the factions i f the o l d feu d b r oke loose a ga i n O ne hous e was close to the frothing hem o f the flo o d—a l og hut with a shed o f rough boards for a kit c hen—the hom e o f B ecky D ay The other was a cross the way a n d was framed an d smartly p ainted On th e steps s at a woman w ith her hea d b a re an d her ha n ds under her apro n—wi dow o f the M a rcum whose de a th from a bullet one month be fore ha d broken the long tru ce o f the feu d A groani n g cu rse was growled from the window as the gi rl drew n ea r and she knew i t cam e from a wounded M a rcum wh o ha d l ately co me ba ck from the West to avenge hi s b rother s death “ Why don t you go over to see your ne i gh bor ? The gi rl s clea r eyes gav e n o hi n t th a t ,
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48
T H E P ARDO N O F B E CK Y DA Y she kn ew—a s she wel l di d—the troub l e betwee n the hou s es and the wi dow stared in s heer ama ze m ent for mounta ineers do not talk with strang e rs o f the quarrels between them I have nothin to do with su ch as he r she sa id s ullenly ; s he a i n t the kind D on t ! sai d th e gir l with a flush she s ” dying ,
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B y in ? ”
Y es With th e word the gi r l spra n g from the mule an d threw the reins ove r the p ale o f the fence in front o f the log hut a cro s s the way In the doo rway she turned as though s he would speak to the woman on the steps again but a tal l man with a b l ack bea rd app ea red in the low doo r o f the kitchen shed ” H ow is you r—how i s M rs D ay ? M i ghty puny thi s m o rn in — B e cky is The girl slipped into the dark room On a disordered pillowless b ed lay a white fa ce with eye s closed and mouth slightly Op en N ear th e bed wa s a low wood fi re O n the h e arth wer e severa l thi ck cups filled with herbs and heavy flui d s and covered with tarpaulin for B ecky s m a n was a teamster With a few touches o f the gi rl s qui ck hands the covers o f the b e d were smooth an d the wom a n s eyes rested o n the girl s own c l oak With her own handkerchi e f sh e b rush e d th e d e ath damp from th e foreh e a d .
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T H E P ARDO N O F B E CK Y DA Y that alr ea dy seemed growi n g co l d A t her fi rst touch the woma n s e yeli ds op e n e d an d droppe d together a ga i n He r lips moved but n o soun d came from them In a moment the a shes di s app eared the hearth E ver y was clea n an d the fire was bla zing time the gi rl p assed the w i n dow she saw th e wi dow a cross the w ay staring hard at the hut Whe n s h e took the a sh e s into the street t h e wom a n spoke to her I ca n t go to se e B ecky—sh e hates me ” With good reason The answer cam e with a clea r sharpne s s that ma de the wi d o w start an d redden ang r i ly ; but the gi rl walked s t r a i ght to the gate he r eyes ablaz e w ith all the coura ge that the m o untai n woman kn ew an d yet with another courage to ‘ which the p r im it iv e cre atur e was a stranger—a courage that m a de the wi dow l ower her own eyes and twi s t her hands under her apron I w ant you to com e an d ask B ecky to for ” give you The wom a n sta red and l aughed F orgive m e ? B ecky forgive me ? She would n t—an I don t want her She could not look up into the gi rl s eyes ; but s he pulled a p ipe from unde r the apron la i d i t down with a trembling hand and began to rock sli ghtly The girl leaned a cross the gate .
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0 5
T HE P ARD O N O F B E CK Y DA Y th e d oor wh e r e sh e stopped a gain lean i n g a ga inst the linte l A cross the way the wou n ded M arcum with a scow l o f wonder crawled out o f hi s b ed and started pa in fully to the door Th e girl saw him and her heart b e at fast I n si de B ecky lay w ith closed eyes She stirred uneasi ly as though she felt some hated presence but her eyes stayed fast for the presence o f D e ath in t h e room w as stronger sti ll “ B ecky ! A t the broken cry B ecky s eyes fl ashed wi de a n d fire broke through the ha z e that ha d gathered in them I want ye ter f e r giv e m e B ecky The eyes burned s tea dily for a long time F or two days she h a d not spoken but her voice came n ow as though from the grave “ Y ou ! she sa i d and a ga in with torturing “ ” scorn Y ou ! A n d then she s miled fo r she knew why her enemy was there and her hour o f triumph was come Th e girl moved s wi ftly to the W i n dow —she could see the woun ded M a r cum slowly crossing the street p isto l in ha n d What d I ever do to you ? N othin B ecky nothi n B ecky laughed harshly Y ou ca n t ell th e truth—can t y e —to a d yin woman ? Fe r giv e m e B ecky A s cowling face tortured with pa i n was th rust into the window ,
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5
2
T HE P ARDO N O F B E CK Y DA Y whispered th e gi rl imperiously and the man li fted his heavy eye s dropped one elbow on the window sill a nd wa ited Y ou tuk Jim from me ! The wi dow covered her face with her ha n ds a nd the M arcum at the window—brother to Jim who was dea d—lowered a t h e r liste n i n g keenl y A n you got him by lyin bout me Y ou tuk him by l yin bout m e—did n t ye ? D id n t ye ? she re peated fiercely and her voi ce would have wrung the truth from a stone Y es — B ecky—yes ! ” Y ou hea r ? cri e d B ecky tur n ing her eyes to the gi rl Y ou ma de him be l ieve an m ade e v e r b o dy ” — you cou l d believe that I wa s was b ad H er b reath got short but the terrible a rrai gnment went on Y ou started this wa r My b rother would s hot Jim M arcum i f i t ha dn t been fer a n t you Y ou ki lled Jim —your own husband—ah you ki lled me An now you want m e to fer give you—you ! She ra is e d her ri ght hand as though with i t she would hurl the curse behind her lips and the wi dow wi th a cry sprang for the bo n y fi n gers catching them in her own ha n d and falli n g over on her kn ees a t the bedsi d e D o n t B ecky do n t—do n t—d o n t ! Sh h ! -
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53
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T HE P ARDO N O F
B E CK Y
DA Y
There was a s l ight rustle at the b ack window A t the other a pi s tol fl ashed into sight a nd dropped a ga i n below the s ill Turn ing the gi rl saw D ave s bu s hy bla ck hea d—h e too with one elbow o n th e sil l an d the other ha n d out o f si ght Sham e ! s h e sa i d looking from one to the other o f the two m en who ha d l earned at last the bot tom truth of the feud ; and then she caught th e si ck woman s other hand and spoke qui ckly H ush B ecky sh e sai d ; and a t the touch o f her han d an d the soun d o f her voi ce B ecky looked con fusedly at her an d let her upra ised han d sink b a ck to the bed The wi dow s ta r ed swi ftly from Jim s brother at one wi ndow to D ave D ay a t th e other an d hi d her face on her a rms — R emember B ecky how can you expect for giv e n e s s i n a noth e r world unless you forgive in thi s ? The woman s brow k n itted an d she lay quiet L ike the w i dow who held her hand the dyin g woman b eli eved with never the shadow o f a doubt that s omewhere above the stars a living God rei gned i n a heave n o f never e n ding happi ness ; that somewhe r e b eneath the ea r th a per s ona l devi l gloated over soul s in ete r na l tortu r e ; that whether s he went above or below hun g .
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T HE P ARDON O F B E CK Y DA Y so l ely on her la s t hou r o f co ntriti on ; a n d that i n heave n or hell she would kn ow those whom sh e m ight meet a s surely as she ha d kn own them on earth B y and by her face so fte n e d a n d she drew a l ong breath Jim was a good m an sh e sai d An d then a fter a moment ! An I was a good woman —she tur n ed her eyes towards the girl unti l Jim m arri ed h e r I didn t kee r a fter that Then she got calm and whi l e she spoke to the w i dow she looked at the gi r l “ Will you gi t up i n church a n say b e fore o o d when you ever bo d that you knew I wa s y g sa i d I was ba d—that you lie d about me ? ” — Y e s yes Still B ecky looked at the gi r l wh o stooped a ga in She will B ecky I kn ow she wi ll Won t you forgive her an d leave pea ce behind you ? D ave an d Jim s b rother are he r e—m ake them — shake hands Won t you won t you ? sh e asked turnin g f r om o n e to the other B oth men were silent Won t you ? she repeat e d l ooking a t Ji m s brother I ve got n othin a gi n D ave I a lways thought tha t she —h e di d not call his b r ot h er s wi fe by n ame—cau s ed a ll thi s trouble I ve ” nothi n a gin D ave .
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55
T HE P ARDO N O F B E CK Y DA Y T he gi rl tu rned Won t you D ave ? I m wait in to hear whut B ecky says B ecky was l i s tenin g though her eyes were c l osed H er brows kn itted p a i n fully It w as a hard comp r omi s e that she wa s asked to make b etwee n morta l hate an d a love that was more than mortal but the P l ea that h as stood b etween them for n ea rly twenty centu ri es preva i led and the girl knew that the en d o f th e f e ud was n igh B ecky nodded Y es I f e r giv e her a n I want em to shake ” hands But not once di d she tur n her eye s to the woman whom she forgave an d the han d that the wi dow held gave b a ck no answering p r es s u r e The fa ces at the windows di s appea red and s he moti oned for the girl to take her weep ing enemy away She di d n ot open her eyes whe n the gi rl came ba ck but he r lip s moved an d the gi r l bent above her I kn ow wha r Jim i s Fr om somewhere out s i d e came D ave s cough an d the dying wom an tu rned her hea d a s though she we r e reminde d o f something s he ha d qu ite fo r gotten Then stra ightw ay she fo r got a gai n The voi ce o f the fl o od had deepened A smile came to B ecky s lips—a fa int terrible ’
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6 5
T HE P ARDO N O F B E CK Y DA Y smi le o f triumph The girl bent l ow and w ith a s ta rtled face shrank ba ck An I l l git—th ar—fir s t With tha t whisper we n t B ecky s l ast b r e ath but th e smile was th e r e e ve n when her lips w er e cold ,
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57
A
F OR
CRI SIS
T H E GU A R D
HE tutor was from N ew E ng l and and he was preci sely what p asses with South e r n e r s a s typical H e was thin he wor e S p ec taeles he talked dreamy abstractions and he looked cleri cal Indeed his a n cestors ha d been cler gymen for ge n eration s and by n atur e an d principle he was an apostle o f peace and a n o n combatant H e ha d j u s t come to the Gap —a cleft in the Cumbe r lan d M ountain s—to prep a re two young B lu e Gra ss Kentucki ans for H a r va rd Th e ra ilroa d was s till thi rty mi les away and he ha d travelled mule b ack through mu dholes o n w hi ch as the j oke ran a traveller was supposed to leave hi s ca rd before h e entere d and disap — e ar e d that hi s successor m i ght n ot unk n ow p in gl y press him too ha r d I do know that i n thos e mu dholes mules were sometimes drowned The tu tor s gray mule fell over a bank wi th him and he wou l d have gone back ha d he n ot feared what w as b ehin d more than anything that was p os s ible ahea d H e was mud b espattered sore ti red a n d dispi rited when he reached the Gap but still plucky an d full o f business He w an ted ,
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A C R IS IS FO R T HE G UARD h a l l w a y I expla ined to the tutor that there was much la wles s ness in the regio n ; that we for ei gners wer e trying to bu ild a town and that to ensur e l aw an d order we ha d all become vol u n t e e r p o l icemen H e s e em e d to think i t was most i n teresting A bout three o c l ock i n the morning a shril l w histle blew and from habi t I sprang out o f bed I ha d hardly struck the floor when four p a i rs of heavy boots thu n dered down the sta i r s j ust outsi de the door an d I heard a gasp from the startled tutor H e was bolt upright in bed a n d h is fa ce i n the moonlight was white with fear Wha—wh a—what s that ? I told him it was a poli ce whistle an d that the boys were a n swering i t E verybody j umped whe n h e hea r d a whistle I e xpla ined ; for nobody in tow n was p ermitted to blow one except a p o I gu essed there would be enough men l ice m an a nsweri n g that whistle without me however an d I slipp ed back into bed ” “ Well he sa i d ; and when the boys l um b ered upstai rs a ga in a n d one shouted through the door A l l ri ght ! the tutor sai d a gain with emphasis We ll ! N ext day there w as to b e a politi cal gathering at th e G ap A Senator was trying to li ft him se l f by hi s own boot straps i n to the Gov e rnor s .
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6o
A C R ISIS FO R T HE
GUARD
cha i r H e was goi n g to make a speech there would b e a bi g and unruly crowd a n d it would be a cruci a l day for the Gua rd So n ext morn ing I suggested to the tutor that i t would be un wise for him to begin work with h is pupi ls that day for the reaso n that he was l ikely to b e greatly interrupted a n d o fte n He thought however he would like to begi n H e di d begin an d withi n ha l f an hou r Gordon the tow n ser geant th rust h is hea d i n si de th e door a n d ca lled the colo n el by n ame ” “ Come on he sa i d ; they r e going to t ry ” that d—n butch e r A n d seeing from the tu tor s face that he ha d do n e something dreadfu l he slammed the door i n apologetic con fusi o n The tutor was l aw abi ding a n d i t was the l aw that ca lled the colonel a n d so the tutor l e t him — nay went with him and heard th e c a s e o g The butcher ha d go ne o ff o n anoth e r ma n s hors e —the m a n owed him mo n ey he s a i d a n d th e only way he could get his mo n ey was to t ake th e horse as security But the sergeant di d not kn ow this a n d he and the colo n e l rode a fter him a n d the colo n e l havi n g the swi fter horse but n ot having had tim e to get h is ow n p i s to l took th e sergeant s and we n t ahea d H e fired quite clos e to the ru n ni n g butcher tw i ce and the butcher thought i t wise to halt Whe n he saw the chi l d who had captu r e d him h e was sp ee chl e ss a n d h e .
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A C R IS I S FO R T HE G UARD got o ff his hor s e and cut a b i g switch to give the colone l a whipping but the dou ghty I n fant drew dow n o n him a ga in and m a d e him ri de foaming w ith rage b ack to tow n The butcher was good n a tured at th e tri a l however a n d th e tutor heard h im s ay with a gr e at gu ffa w ! A n I d o b el i ev e th e d—n l itt le f oo l wou l d ” a shot m e O nce mor e the tutor l ook e d at the pup i l whom h e was to l e a d into t h e c la ssi c ha ll s o f Ha rva rd and once mor e he sa i d We ll ! People we re streami n g i n to tow n n ow a n d I p ersu aded the tutor th a t there was n o us e for hi m to b e gi n h is stu dies a g a i n He sai d he would go fishing d ow n the river an d tak e a swim H e wou ld get b ack i n tim e to h e ar the sp e aki n g i n the a fter n oo n So I got him a horse and he came out with a l ong can e fish in g pole a n d a pai r I to l d him that he must w atch o f sa ddle b ags the o l d n a g or sh e wou l d ru n aw a y with him p arti cu l ar l y whe n h e start e d hom e wa rd The tutor was n ot much o f a c en taur Th e hors e started as he was throwi n g the wrong l eg over h is saddle and th e tutor clamped h is rod under one a rm c l utching for the reins with both hands The an d ki cking for his sti rrups with both feet tip o f the limber pole b eat th e horse s fl ank ge n tl y as sh e struck a trot an d smartly as sh e stru ck ,
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62
A C R IS IS FO R T HE G UARD into a l ope and so with a rms fe et saddle pock ets a n d fish in g rod fl apping towards di ffere n t poi nts o f the compas s the tutor passed out o f sight over Poplar H il l on a dea d run A s soon as he could get over a fit o f laughter an d catch his breath the colo n e l asked D o y ou kn ow what he ha d i n those sa dd le pockets ? -
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A b athi n g su it h e shouted ; an d h e we n t o ff a ga in N ot even i n a primeval forest i t seemed wou l d the m odest Puritan b are h is body to th e m i r ror o f l imp i d w ater a n d th e caress o f mou n ta i n a ir ,
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The troub le ha d b egun ear l y tha t morning whe n Gordo n the town sergeant stepped from hi s door a n d sta rted down the street w ith n o l it tle se l f sati sfactio n H e ha d be en a rrayi n g him se l f for a ful l hou r an d a fter a tub b ath and a shave he stepp e d spick and sp a n into th e street w ith h is hea d stea dily held hi gh except wh en he b ent i t to l ook a t the shine o f h is boots which w as the work o f his own hands a n d o f which he was proud A s a m atter o f fact the ser geant felt that he looked j ust as he p arti cu l ar l y w a n ted to l ook on that day—his best Gordo n ,
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63
A C R I S IS FO R T HE G UARD was
a na tive o f Wis e but th a t day a girl was comi n g from L ee a n d h e was r e a dy for her O pposite the Intermo n t a p istol shot cracked from Cherokee A venu e a n d from habi t he start e d that way L ogan the captai n o f the Gu ard—the l e a ding lawyer i n that pa rt o f the Stat e—was a hea d o f him however a n d h e called to Gordo n to follow Gordo n ran in the grass a lo n g th e roa d to k e ep those boots out o f the dust Som ebody ha d fired o ff his pisto l for fun an d was m aki n g tra cks for the river A s they push e d th e m iscrea n t c l os e he dashed into the river to w a de a cross It was a ve r y cold morn ing an d Gordo n pr a y e d th a t the capta in was not going to be such a foo l as to fo ll ow the fellow a cross the river H e shou l d hav e kn ow n better ” I n with you sa i d th e capta in qu i etly a n d th e m i rror o f the shi n ing boots was dimmed an d th e i cy water chi lled th e sergea n t to th e kn ees an d m a de him so m a d that he fl ash e d h is p isto l a n d told the runaway to ha l t whi c h h e di d i n th e m i dd l e o f th e str e am It was R i chards th e tough from the Pocket a n d as h e p ai d h is fine prompt l y th e y h a d to le t him go Gor do n we n t ba ck put o n his e v e ryd a y c l oth e s and got his bi ll y a n d hi s whist le and prepared to se e the m a i d from L ee wh e n h is du ty should l et him A s a m att er o f fa ct he saw her but o nc e a n d then he was n ot m a d e happy ,
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64
A C R I SI S FO R T H E G UARD The people ha d come in rapidly—gi ants from the Crab O rchard mountaineers from throu gh the Gap an d from Cracker s N eck an d T hu n d e rs tr u ck K n ob ; Valley people from L ittle Stone Gap from the furnace site and Bu rn H oll o w a n d Wi ldcat a n d people from L ee from Turkey Cove a n d from the Pocket—the mu ch dr ea ded Pocket—fa r down in the river hi lls T hey cam e on foot and on horseba ck a n d l eft thei r horses in the bushes and c r owded the streets an d filled the saloon o f one Jack Woods—wh o ha d the cackling l augh o f Satan and di d n ot like the Gu ard for good reasons and whos e parti e u la r pleasure was to persu a de some customer to sti r up a hornet s n est o f trouble F rom the saloon the crowd moved up towards th e bi g spring a t the foot o f Imbode n H i ll where under beauti fu l trunk mottled b ee ch e s was bui l t th e speakers platform Precise l y at thr e e o c l ock the l oca l or a tor mu ch flur r ie d rose ra n h is han d throu gh h is long ha ir a n d l ooked in si l ence over the crowd F e llow citi ze n s ! There s beauty i n the stars o f n i ght a nd i n the gl o win orb o f day Th e re s beauty i n the rollin m ea dow a n d i n the qui et stream T here s beauty i n the sm il in valley and i n the ev e rl astin hi ll s T here for e fe ll ow Ci ti zens T H ERE FOR E fellow citi z e n s allow m e to in trodu ce to y ou the future Gov e rn or o f th e se ,
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65
A C R IS I S FO R T HE G UARD
U nited S tates Senator W i lli am Bayh o n e A nd h e sat down with such a b e atific smil e o f self satis fa c ti o n that a fien d would not hav e ha d the heart to say he ha d n ot wo n N ow there are w andering mi n stre l s y e t in the Cumberland H i l ls They p l ay fid dl e s a n d go about m aki n g up ba l l ets that involve l oca l history Sometimes they m ake a pretty good verse—this for instance about a feu d ! .
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d th f th t w m C d g t t bl i l d dm t l th i f m ili C A d t k t h p ti g h d R t li t i t ill t w M y c I w l d th t I c l d ly s O l d c m t p c Th e
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There was a m instrel out i n th e crowd an d pretty soo n he struck up his fi ddle an d his l ay an d he di d not exactly sing the virtues o f B illy Bay h o n e E vi de n tly some p a rti sa n thought he ought for h e smote him o n th e thi gh w ith the t o e o f his boot and ra ised such a sti r as a rude stranger mi ght ha d he smitte n a trouba dour i n A rthur s Court The crowd thi ckened and surged and fou r o f the Gu ard emerged with the fi ddler and his assai lant under arrest It was a s though the Valley were a sheet o f wa t e r stra ight ,
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66
A C R IS I S FO R T HE G UARD sa l oo n wi th h is p isto l l evel l ed o n R ichards the tough from th e Pock e t th e In fa n t sta n ding there w ith b l a zi n g e yes al o ne a n d i n th e h ea rt o f a gathering storm N ow th e ch ai n o f la w l ess ne ss th a t h a d tight en e d was curi ous an d si g n ifica n t T her e was th e tough an d hi s ki n d—law le ss i rrespo n sible and possib le i n any commu n it y Ther e was the fa rm ha n d wh o ha d com e to tow n with the wild son of h is emp l oy e r —an honest law abi di n g far mer C a m e too a fri e n d o f the fa rmer wh o ha d n ot y e t r e aped the crop o f wi ld oats sown i n his y outh Whiskey ran all into o n e mould The farm h an d drank with th e tough the wi ld s o n wi th the f a rm hand a n d the three drank to g e ther a n d got the fa rm e r s unregenerat e fri e n d to drink w ith them ; an d he a n d the l aw abi ding fa rmer himse l f by a n d by took a drink for old time s sak e N ow the cardina l comma n d o f r u ra l a n d muni cip a l distri cts a l l through the S outh F orsake n ot you r fri e n d and it does not is take whiskey l o n g to m ake fri e n ds J a ck Woods ha d given the tough from the Pock e t a whistle Y ou dasse n t blow i t sai d h e R i chards a sked why and Jack to l d him Strai ghtw ay the tough blew the whistle and when the litt le colone l ran dow n to a rrest him he l a u gh e d a n d resisted a n d the wi l d so n a n d the fa rm h a n d an d Ja ck W oods show e d a n ,
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68
A C R ISI S FO R T H E G UARD i nclination to take his part So ho l di n g his drop on the tou gh with on e ha n d the In fant blew vi gorously for h e lp with the oth e r L ogan the captai n arrived first—h e usu ally — r a rrived fi st a n d Gordo n th e serg e a n t was by his si de—Gordo n was a l ways b y his sid e H e would have sto rmed a b attery i f th e captai n ha d l ed him an d the capta in wou l d h a ve l ed him a lone—if he thought it was his duty L ogan was as ca l m as a sta ge hero a t the cri sis o f a p l ay The crowd ha d pressed close ” “ Take that m an he s ai d sharply poi n ting to the tough whom the colonel held covered and two me n sei z ed him from behi n d The fa rm han d drew his gun N o you don t ! he shout e d Take h im sai d the capta i n qu iet l y ; a nd he was sei zed by two more and disarmed I t was the n that Sturgeon the wi ld son ra n up Y ou can t take that m an to j ai l he shouted w ith an oath pointing at the farm ha n d “ ” The capta in waved hi s hand An d h im ! A s two o f the Gu ard approached Sturgeo n started for his gun N ow Stu rgeon was Gor don s blood cousin but Gordon l evelled h is own pi stol S turgeon s weapon caught in hi s pocket and he tri ed to pull it loose The moment he succeeded Gordon stood ready to fir e Twice .
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69
A C R IS I S FO R T HE G UARD ’
the h a mm e r o f th e s e rgea n t s p isto l we n t bac k a lmost to the tur n i n g p oi n t a n d then as h e pulled the tri gger a ga in M ac f a rlan first l ie ut e n ant wh o once played lacrosse a t Y ale rushed p artin g the crow d ri ght an d l e ft a n d dropped his b illy li ghtly three tim e s—ri ght left and ri ght — o n Sturgeon s head The blood spurted th e h e a d f e ll back b etwee n the bully s s houlders h is grasp o n his p istol loosened a n d he sank to h is kn ees F or a moment the crowd was stunned by the light n in g quicknes s o f it all It was the first blow ever struck i n that country with a pi ece o f wood in the n ame o f the l aw ” Take em on boy s called the captai n whose fa ce ha d p aled a l ittle though h e seemed a s cool as ever An d the boys started dragging th e thre e struggli n g p risoners and the crowd growin g an gri er and angrie r pres s ed close behind a hun d red o f them led by the farmer him s e l f a gi ant i n si z e a n d besi de him s e l f w ith ra ge a n d h u O nce he broke through the guard m il iat io n l ine an d was pushed back Knives an d pi stol s b egan to fl a s h now everywh e re an d lou d threats a nd cu r s es rose on a ll si des—the m en should n o t be taken to j ai l T he sergeant dra gging Stu r geon looked up into the bla zi n g eyes o f a gi r l on the s i dewalk Stu rgeon s sister—th e m a i d from L ee The sergeant gro an ed L og an g ave -
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0 7
A C R I SI S FO R T HE G UARD som e order j ust then to the I n fant wh o ra n a head an d by the time the Gu ard with the pris on e r s ha d b acked to a corne r there wer e two lines o f Guards d r awn a cross the street The first l in e let the prisoners and thei r captors through closed up behind and b acked slowly towards the corn er wher e it m e ant to stand It was v e ry e xciting th e re Winchesters an d shotguns p rotruded from the line threaten i n gly but th e m ob came o n as though i t were going to press throu gh an d determined faces b le n ched w ith excitement but not with fea r A moment l ater the little colone l an d the Gu ards on either si de o f him wer e j abbing at men w ith cocke d Winchesters A t that moment it would hav e n eede d but on e shot to ring out to have starte d an aw ful carna ge ; but not yet w as there a m an in the mob —and that i s the trouble with mobs wh o seemed w illing to m ake a sac r ifice o f him self tha t the others m i ght ga in their e n d F or one mome n t they halted c ursi n g an d w aving thei r pistols preparing for a charge ; and in that cruci al moment th e tuto r from N ew En glan d cam e l ike a thunderbolt to the rescu e Shri eks o f terror from chi ldren sh r i eks o f outra ged m odesty from wome n re n t the a ir down the stre et where the huddled crowd was ru shing ri ght a n d le ft i n W ild con fusion and through th e p a rti n g crowd the tutor fl ew into sight o n ,
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A C R IS IS FO R T HE G UARD horseb ack b arehea ded b a re footed c l a d i n a gaudily striped b athi n g su it with h is saddle p ockets fl apping behind him like w ings Some m ischi evous mountaineers seeing him in h is b athing s u i t on the point o f a rock up the river ha d j oyou s ly take n a pot s hot or two at him an d the tuto r ha d mounte d hi s horse and fl ed But he came as we l come an d a s e ffective as a n emis sary s t r a ight from the God o f B attles though he came a ga inst his wi ll for h is old n a g was frantic and was running away M e n women and chi l dren p a rted b efore him and gaping mouths wi den ed as he p as s ed The impulse o f the crowd ra n fa s ter tha n h is horse an d eve n the e n raged mounta ineers i n ama z ed wo n der sprang out o f h is way an d fa r i n the rea r a few p rivi lege d o n es s a w th e fra n tic hors e p l unge to wa r ds his stab le stop su dde nl y an d pitch h is m ottled ri der through the door a n d merci fu ll y out o f si ght H uman purpose must give way when a pur e mi racle comes to earth to b a ffl e it It gav e way n ow l ong enough to l et the oak en doors o f the ca l aboose c l ose behi n d tou gh fa rm ha n d a n d the f a rmer s wi l d son The l i n e o f Winche s ters at the corner qu i et l y gave way The p ower o f t he Gu ard was established th e b ackbone o f the oppositi o n broke n ; henc e forth the work for l aw a n d order was to b e ea sy com p ar e d wi th wh a t i t h ad be en Up a t th e big ,
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7
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A C R I S I S FO R T HE G UARD sprin g u n der the beeche s sat the disgust e d ora tor o f th e day and the di s gusted Sen ator wh o seriously was quite sure tha t the Gu ard being c ompose d o f D emocrats h ad take n this way to shatt e r h is campa i gn ,
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N ext morning in court th e m emb e rs o f the Gu ard a cted a s witnesses a ga i n st the culprits M a cfarlan stated that he ha d stru ck Sturgeo n ov e r the hea d to save his li fe an d Sturgeon a fter h e ha d pa i d hi s fine sa i d he would prefer being shot to being clubbe d to death and he bore dangerous m ali ce for a long time unti l he l ea rned what eve rybody else kn ew that M ac f ar la n a l w ays di d what he thought he ou ght and spoke anythin g b ut the liter a l tru th n ever whether i t hurt fri end foe or himse l f A fter cou rt R i chard s the tou gh m e t Gordon ” the sergeant i n th e road G ordon he sa id you s wore to a lie about me a whi le ago H ow do you wa n t to fight ? a sked Gordon Fa i r ! Com e on and Gordon sta rte d for the town l imits a cross the river R i cha rds following o n horseba ck A t a sto r e Gordon unbuckled h is belt and tossed hi s p i s tol and his poli ce b adge i n si de Jack Woods seei n g this followed and the In fant seeing Woods followed too T h e l aw was l aw but thi s a ffa i r was p erso n al ,
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73
A C R IS I S FO R T HE G UARD
an d wou l d be s e ttl e d without the limi ts o f l aw an d loca l ob l i gatio n R ichards tri ed to talk to Gordon but the sergea n t walked wi th h is hea d down as though he cou l d n ot h ea r—h e was too enra ged to talk Whi le R i cha rds was hitchi n g h is hors e in the bushes th e serg e a n t stood o n the b a n k o f th e river w ith h is a rms fo l ded an d his chi n swinging from si de to side W h en h e s aw R i chards in the open he rushe d for him l ik e a you n g bull tha t feels the first swe l ling o f his horns It was not a fa i r sta n d up kn ock dow n E ng l ish fight but a Scotch tussle i n whi ch either could strike ki ck b ite or gouge A fter a few blows they cli n ched a n d whi r l e d an d fel l Gordo n o n top W ith whi ch a dvanta ge he began to pou n d the tough from the Pocket s avagely Woods m ade a s i f to pull him o ff but the I n fant dr e w h is pisto l Keep o ff ! H e s ki l ling him ! shouted Wood s ha l ti n g ” ‘ L et him holler E nough then sa i d the I n fant H e s killing him ! shouted Woods L et Gordon s fri ends take him o ff then sa i d the In fant D on t y o u touch him An d i t was done R i chard s was sen se less an d speechless—he rea l l y couldn t shout E nough But he wa s content a n d th e day left a v e ry sa t is f ac to ry impressio n on him a nd on h is fri en ds .
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74
C H R I ST M A S
W ITH
N I GH T
S ATA N
O ni ght was this in H ades with solemn eye d D a n te for Sata n was only a woolly little black dog and surely no dog was ever more absurdly m isnamed Whe n U ncle Ca r e y first h e ard th a t n ame he asked gravely “ Why D inni e where i n h Un c l e C a rey gu lped sli ghtly di d you get him ? An d D i n n i e lau ghed merri ly for she s aw the fu n o f the questio n and shook her bla ck cur l s H e di dn t com e f um th at p l ace D istinctly Sata n ha d n ot come from that pla ce On the contrary he might by a mi ra cle have droppe d stra ight from some H appy H u n t ing ground for all the si gns he gave o f h avi ng touched p itch in this or another sphere N oth ing human was ever born that was gent l er mer ri er more trustin g or more lovab l e than Satan That wa s why U ncle C arey sai d a ga i n grave l y that he coul d hardly tel l Satan a nd his l itt le mi s tress apart H e rarely saw them ap a rt a n d as both ha d black ta n g l ed hai r an d b ri ght b la ck eyes ; as one awoke e ve ry morning with a happy smi le an d the other with a j ol l y b a rk ; as they ,
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C HR I STM A S N IG H T WIT H S AT AN played al l day like wind shaken sha dows an d each won every heart at fir s t s i ght—the like ne ss I have a lways b e w as really rather curi ous l ie v e d that Satan ma de the s p i rit o f D i nn i e s hous e orthodox a n d severe thou gh i t w a s al most ki n dly toward his gr e a t n amesake I kn ow I have n ever bee n able si n ce I kn ew little Satan to think o l d Satan as b a d as I once p a inted him though I am sure the little dog ha d many pret ty “ tri cks that the old boy doubtless h as never used i n order to amuse his fri ends Shut the door Saty please D in n ie wou l d s ay p recisely as she would say it to U ncle B illy the but l er a n d strai ghtw ay Sata n wou ld lau n ch himself at it—ba n g ! H e n ever wou l d learn to close it so ftly for Sata n liked th a t—ba n g ! I f you kept tossing a coin or m arbl e i n the a i r Sata n wou l d keep catching it a n d putti n g it b ack i n you r han d for another throw ti ll you got ti red The n he would drop i t on a pi ec e o f rag ca rp e t s n at c h the ca rp et with his te e th throw the coin a cross the room an d rush for i t lik e mad u n ti l he got ti red I f you put a p e nn y o n h is n ose h e wou l d w a i t u n ti l you cou n ted o n e —two —thr e e ! The n he wou l d toss i t up himse l f a nd c a tch i t Thus p erhaps Sata n gr e w to l ove M ammo n ri ght we l l but for a n other a n d b e tt e r reaso n tha n that h e l iked simp l y to thro w i t a rou n d—as sh al l n ow be ma d e p la i n -
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77
C HR I ST MA S N IG H T WI T H S A T AN A rubb er bal l with a ho l e in it was his favor i te playthi n g a n d he would take it i n his mouth and ru sh arou n d the house like a child squeezing i t to make i t whi s tle Whe n he got a new b all he would hi de hi s o l d o n e away u n ti l th e new o n e was the worse worn o f th e t wo an d then he would b ring out the old one a ga in I f D inni e gave him a ni cke l o r a dim e whe n they went down tow n Sata n wou l d ru sh i n to a stor e rea r up o n the counter wher e th e r ubbe r b alls were kept drop the coin an d get a bal l for himself Thu s Sata n l earned fina n ce He b egan to hoard hi s penni es and one day U ncl e C arey found a p ile o f seventee n under a corn er o f the carpet Us ually he carri ed to D inni e a ll coins that he foun d i n th e st r eet but he s howe d o n e day that he was going into the ball business for himself U ncl e Ca rey ha d give n D inni e a ni ckel for som e c a n dy a n d as usual S atan trotte d down the street b ehind her A s usu a l Satan stopped b e fore the kn i ck kn ack shop ” Tu rn on Saty sa i d D inni e Sata n reared a gainst the door as he always did and D i n ni e sa i d aga i n ! Tum on S aty As usu al Sata n dropped to h is haunches but W ha t was unu s ual he f ailed to b ark N ow D inni e ha d got a new b a ll for Satan on ly th a t mor n i n g so D i nn i e stamp e d h e r foot ,
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78 ,
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C HR I STM A S N I G H T WIT H S A T AN I tell you to tu rn on Saty Satan n ever mov e d H e looked a t D i n ni e as much a s to ,
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I hav e never disob e y e d you b efore l ittle mi s tress but this time I have an excellent reason fo r what must seem to y ou very b a d m anners an d bei n g a g e ntlema n witha l Sat an ros e o n h is h aunches a n d b e gged “ Y ou r e d es a pi g S a ty sai d D i nn i e b ut with a si gh for the c an dy that was n ot to b e D inni e op ened the door a n d Sata n to her wo n der rushed to the counter put his forepaws o n i t an d dropped from hi s mouth a dim e Sata n h a d found that coin on th e street He di d n t b ark for chang e n or b eg for two b a l ls but he ha d got i t in his woolly l ittle hea d som ehow that i n th a t store a coi n meant a ball though n ever b e fore nor a fterw a rd di d he try to get a b all for a p enny Satan slept i n U nc le C ar e y s room f o r o f a ll people a fter D i n ni e Satan l oved U ncle C arey b est E ve r y day a t n oo n he would go to a n up sta i rs win dow an d watch the ca rs come aroun d the corne r unti l a v e ry tall squ a r e s hou l d e red young m a n swung to the ground an d down Sata n wou l d scamper—yelping—to m eet him at the gat e I f U nc l e Ca rey a fter supper an d when D i n ni e was in b e d start e d out o f the hou s e sti l l i n h is busi ne ss cl othes Sat an would l eap out ,
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79
C HR IST MA S N I G H T WIT H S A T AN be fore him knowing that he too mi ght b e al lowe d to go ; but i f U ncle C arey ha d put on black clothes that s howed a bi g da zzlin g s hi rt front a n d p icked up h is hi gh hat Sata n would sit p er f e ct l y sti l l an d l ook disco n solate ; for as ther e wer e n o p arti es or theatres for D innie so there were n one for him But no m atter how late i t was when Un cle Ca rey came home he always saw Satan s little black nose a ga in s t the wi n dow p ane an d hea rd h is b a rk o f welcome A fter intelligence Satan s chi e f tra i t was l ov ableness—nobody ever knew him to fight to snap at a n ything or to get angry ; a fter lovable n ess i t was politene s s I f he wante d something to ea t i f he wanted D in n i e to go to bed i f he wante d to ge t out o f the door he would beg beg pretti ly on h is haunches hi s little red tongu e out and hi s funny little p aws hangin g loo s ely Indeed i t was j u s t because Sata n was so little le ss than human I suppose that old Sata n began to be a fra i d he mi ght have a sou l S o the wicked old n amesake w ith the H oo fs an d H orns la i d a trap for littl e S ata n a n d as he is apt to do he b egan l aying it e a r ly—l o n g i n deed b e fore C hri s tmas When D i n ni e start e d to ki ndergarte n that au Satan found tha t the r e was one p l ace t um n where he cou ld n ever go L ike the lamb he could not go to school ; so whi l e D i nn i e was ,
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80
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C HR I ST MA S N I G H T WIT H S A T AN chuckli n g dow n th e st a irs an d le ft Un cle C arey chuckling in h is room Satan ha d j i n ed de club — the bi g c l ub an d no dog was too lowly i n Satan s eyes for a dm issi o n ; for n o pri e st ever pr e ache d the brotherhood o f m an better tha n Sata n lived it both w ith m a n an d do g A n d thus he l iv e d it that Chri stm a s night—to h is sorrow Chri stma s E ve ha d b e e n gloomy—the gloom i est o f Sata n s l i fe Un c l e C arey ha d gone to a n ei ghboring tow n at n oon Sat an ha d followed him dow n to the station a nd when the trai n st a rted Un c l e C arey ha d ordered him to go h o me S ata n took h is tim e a bout goin g hom e n ot kn owing i t was C hristma s E ve H e fou n d stra n ge things happe n i n g to dogs that day Th e truth was that poli ceme n were shooti n g a l l dogs foun d tha t we r e w ithout a coll a r an d a l icense an d every now an d the n a b a n g a n d a how l somewher e wou l d stop Satan i n his tr a cks A t a l itt le yellow house o n the e dge o f tow n h e saw ha l f a doze n stra n ge dogs i n a kennel a n d e very n ow an d then a neg r o would lea d a n ew one up to th e house a n d deliver him to a bi g m an at the door wh o in return wou l d drop somethi n g i n to th e n egro s hand Whi le Sata n w a ited the old drunkard came a long with hi s l ittle dog a t hi s heel s p aused b e for e th e door l ooked a mom e n t a t hi s faithfu l ,
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82
C HR I STM A S N I G H T WIT H S A T AN follower and went s l ow l y on Satan l i tt le kne w the old d runka rd s temptation for i n that yellow hous e kind hearted people ha d o ff ered fi fteen cents for each dog brought to them without a l i cens e that they mi ght m erci ful l y put it to death an d fi ftee n cents was th e p recise p ri ce for a drink o f good whiskey Just then there was another b ang and another how l somewhere a n d Sata n trotted hom e to meet a calam ity D inni e H er mother ha d taken her out i n was gone the country to Grandmother D ean s to spe n d Chri stmas as was the fam ily custom an d M rs D ean woul d not wa i t any l onger for Satan ; so she to l d U ncle B i lly to bring him out a fter sup p er — o se l f A i n t you shamed o y suh sa i d the old butler keepin me from k e tch in Chri st m as gi fts di s day ? U ncle B i lly was indi gnant for the n egroes b e gin at fou r o clock i n the a fternoon o f C hri stm a s E ve to s lip aroun d corners an d j ump from h i d ing places to shout Chri s tm as Gi f — Chri s tmas Gi f and the on e wh o shout s fi rst gets a gi ft N o wonder i t was gloomy fo r Sata n—U ncle C arey D i nn i e a nd al l gone and n ot a soul but U ncle B illy in the b i g house E ve r y few m in utes he would trot on his little black leg s up sta irs and down s ta i r s looking for hi s m istress A s dusk came on he would every n ow an d then ,
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83
C HR ISTM A S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN how l p la intively A fter beggi n g h is supper an d whi le Un cle B illy was hitching up a hor s e i n the s table S ata n we n t out in the yard a n d l ay with his no s e betwee n the close p anels o f the fence qu ite heart broke n When he saw his old fri end H ugo the m a s ti ff trotting i n to the gaslight he b ega n to b a r k h is deli ght franti cally Th e b i g m asti ff stopped an d n osed his symp athy through the fe n ce for a mom ent an d w alked slowly on Satan fri s king a n d barking along i n si de A t the gate H u go stopped an d ra i s ing one huge p aw p layfully struck i t The gate fl ew open and with a happy yelp Sata n l eape d into the street The n ob le m asti ff h esitated as though this were not qui te regu l a r H e di d n ot belo n g to th e club an d h e d id n t kn ow that Sata n ha d ever been away from home a fter da rk in h is l i fe F or a moment he seeme d to wa it for D in n i e to cal l him b ack a s she a l ways di d but this tim e ther e was n o sound and H ugo walk e d m aj e sti ca ll y o n with absurd l itt l e Satan ru nning i n a ci rc le about ” him On th e way they m e t the fu n era l dog wh o g l anced i nqui ringly at S at an shi ed from th e m asti ff a n d trotte d on On th e ne xt b lock th e o l d d r unkard s yellow cu r ra n a cross the street a n d a fter i n terchanging th e compliments o f the sea s on ran ba ck a fter h is sta ggering m as ter As they approached the ra i lroa d tra ck a s trange dog j oi n ed them to whom H ugo pa i d .
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84
C HR ISTM A S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN when th e y were wolves an d w e re looking for a lea der The cur w a s L obo for that little p ack a n d a fter a short p arley he li fted h is n o s e high a n d st a rted away without looking ba ck whi le the other dogs silently trotted a fter him With a mystified yelp Satan ra n a fter them T he cu r di d not take the turnp ike but j umped the f e nce i nto a fie l d m ak in g h is way by the rear o f houses from whi ch n ow and th e n another dog would slink out and si lent l y j oi n the b and E very one o f them S ata n nosed most fri endlily a n d to hi s grea t j oy th e funera l dog on the edge o f the town l eap e d into thei r m i dst Ten m inutes later the cu r stopp ed in the m i dst o f some woods a s though he would inspect his followers Pla i n l y he disapprove d o f Satan and Satan kept out o f his way Then he s pran g i n to the tu rn pike and the b and t r otte d down it under flying b la ck clou ds an d shi fting b ands o f bri lliant moonlight O nce a bu ggy swept past them A famili a r odor struck Satan s n ose a n d he stopped for a m oment to smell the horse s tracks ; an d ri ght he w as too for out at her gra n dmother s D inni e r e fused to b e com forted an d i n that buggy was U ncle B i lly going b ack to tow n a fter him S now was fa lli n g I t was a g r eat lark for Satan O nc e or t wi ce as he trotted a l o n g he h a d to b ark his j oy a lou d an d each time the b i g c u r gave him such a fi erce grow l that h e fear e d ,
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86
C HR IST MA S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN therea fter to op e n his j aws But he was happy for a ll that to be running out into the night with such a lot o f funny friends a n d not to kn ow or car e where he wa s goi n g H e got pretty tired pr es ently for over hill and down hill they went at that unceasing trot trot trot ! Satan s to n gu e bega n to hang out O nce he stopped to rest but th e l oneliness fri ghtened him and he ra n on a fter them w ith h is heart a lmost bursti n g H e was about to li e ri ght dow n a n d di e whe n the cu r stopped sni ff ed the ai r o n ce or twice and with those same low growls l ed the m a rau ders through a ra i l fence into the woods a n d lay qui etly down H ow Satan loved that so ft thi ck grass a l l snowy that it was ! It was almost as goo d as h is ow n be d at home A nd there they l ay—how long Satan never knew for h e we n t to sleep and dream ed that he was a fter a rat i n the b arn a t hom e ; a n d he ye l p ed in h is sleep which m a de the cu r li ft his bi g ye l low hea d a n d show h is fangs The moving o f the half br e ed shepherd an d the funera l dog waked him at l ast an d Sata n got up H alf crouchi n g the cur was l ea ding the way tow a rd the dark stil l woods o n top o f the hil l over which the Sta r o f Be th l e hem was l owly si n king an d under whi ch l ay a fl ock o f the ge n tle creatures that seemed to hav e been almost sa cr e d to th e L ord o f that Sta r They w e r e i n sor e nee d o f a watchfu l sh e pher d .
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87
C HR I STM A S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN n ow S atan was sti ff and chi lled but he was rested an d ha d ha d h is sleep a nd he was j ust as rea dy for fun a s he always was H e di dn t un d e rs t an d that sneaking Why they di dn t all j ump and ra ce a n d b ark as he wa n ted to he couldn t see ; but he was too po l ite to do other wi se than as they di d an d so he s n eaked a fter them ; an d one would have thought he kn ew as well a s the rest the hellish mi ssio n o n which they were be n t O ut o f the woods th e y we n t a cross a l itt l e branch and there the bi g cu r lay fl at aga in in the grass A fa int bleat came from the hill si de b e yond where Satan could see another woo ds and then a n other bleat a n d another A nd the cu r began to creep a gain like a s n ake i n the grass ; a n d the others crept too and little Sata n crept though it was all a sa d mystery to him A gain the cu r lay sti ll but only long enough for Satan to see curi ous fat white shapes above hi m —a nd then with a blood curdling grow ! the bi g brute dashed forward O h there w as fu n i n them a ft e r al l ! Sata n b a rk e d j oyfu ll y Those were some n ew playm ates—those fat white ha i ry thin gs up the r e ; and Satan was am a zed when w ith fri ghtened snorts they fl ed i n eve ry di rection But this w as a n ew game perhaps o f whi ch he knew n othi n g a n d as di d the rest so di d Satan He pi cked out o n e o f the whit e .
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88
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C HR ISTM A S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN L ik e li ghtni n g S a ta n spr an g at the cu r who tossed him ten f ee t awa y and we n t back to hi s aw fu l work A ga in S a ta n le a p e d but j ust the n a shout rose behin d him and the cur leap ed too as thou gh a bo l t o f li ghtning h a d crash e d over him and n o l o n ger n oti cing Sata n or sheep began to qu iver with fri ght an d s l ink away A nother shou t ros e from a n other di r e ctio n a n other from a nother “ D rive em i n to the b ar n y a rd ! was th e cr y N ow an d the n ther e was a fea rful b ang and a how l o f death a gony as som e dog tri ed to break th r ough the encircling men wh o yelled and cursed a s they clos e d in on the tremb l ing brutes that s l unk together and crept on ; for it is sa i d e very sheep ki lling dog k n ows hi s fate i f cau ght With them a n d will m ake little effort to escape w ent Satan through the bar n ya r d gate where t hey hu ddled i n a corner—a shamed an d terri A tal l overseer stood at the gate fie d group Te n o f em ! he sa i d grim l y H e ha d bee n on the l ookout for j ust such a tra gedy for there ha d recently been a sheep kill ing ra i d on seve r a l farms in that nei ghborhood and for several ni ghts he ha d ha d a lantern hung out on the edge o f the woods to s care the dogs away ; but a drunken farm ha n d ha d n eglecte d his duty that Christmas E v e ,
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C HR IST MA S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN a n dey s j us se b e n te e n d ea d sheep ” out dar sa i d a n egro L ook at th e littl e o ne sai d a ta l l boy wh o looked l ike the overseer ; and Sata n kn ew that he spok e o f him Go ba ck to the house son sa i d the over seer and tell your mother to give you a Christ ” m as present I got for you yesterday With a gla d whoop the boy dashed away an d in a mo m ent da s hed b a ck with a brand n ew 32 Win chester in hi s hand The dark hour b efor e dawn was j ust bre a k ing on Christmas D ay It was the hour whe n Satan u s u a lly ru s hed upsta i rs to see i f his l ittle m istress was asleep I f he we re only at home now an d i f he only ha d kn ow n how h is little m ist r ess was weeping for him am i d her play things and his—two n ew b alls and a brass studded collar w ith a si lver plate on whi ch was h is n ame Satan D ean ; and i f D inni e could have s een him now her heart would have b r oke n ; for the tall boy ra i s ed his gun The r e was a j et o f s moke a sha rp clean c r ack and the funera l dog sta r ted on the ri ght way at last toward his d e a d m a s ter An other crack an d the yellow cur leaped from the ground an d fell kicking Ah other crack and anothe r an d with ea ch cra ck a dog tumbled unti l little Satan sat o n hi s haunches ami d the writhin g p ack alo ne H is Y assu h ,
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C HR I STM A S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN time was now come As the ri fl e was ra ised he hea r d up at the bi g hou s e the cri e s o f chil dren ; the popp ing o f fir e cracke r s ; tooting o f hor n s a n d whi s tle s and lou d shout s o f Chri st m as Gi f Chri stma s Gi f ! H is little heart b eat furi ous l y Perhaps he kn ew j u s t what he was doing ; perhaps it was the acci dent o f habit ; m ost l ikely Satan simply w anted to go home but wh en that gun rose Satan ro s e too on his haunches his tongu e out h is b lack eye s stea dy an d his funny little p aws hanging l oose l y—and b egged ! The boy lowere d the gun ” D own si r ! Sata n dropped obedi ently bu t when the gun w as li fted a ga in Satan ro s e a ga in and a ga in he b egged D own I tell you ! Thi s time Satan woul d n ot down but sat begging for h is l i fe The boy tu rned Pap a I can t shoot that dog Perhaps Satan ha d rea ched the ster n old overseer s heart Pe r haps he remembere d su ddenly that i t was Christm as A t any rate he sa i d gru ffl y ” “ Well let him go ” Come here si r ! Sata n bounded towa rd the tall b oy fri ski n g an d tru stfu l a n d begged a gain Go home si r ! Satan needed no secon d command Without a sound he fl ed out the bar n ya rd an d as he
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C HR ISTM A S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN putting S at an into D i n ni e s a rms h e s a i d sharply Who brought that y ell ow dog h e re ? Th e m a n pointed to the old drunkard s figu r e tur n i n g a corner at th e foot o f the hi ll I thought so ; I thought so He s o l d him to you for—for a drink o f whiskey Th e m an whistle d B ring him out I ll p ay h is l i c e nse So b ack went Sata n a n d the little cu r to Gran dmother D ean s—an d D inni e cri ed whe n U ncle C arey to l d her wh y he was taki n g the l it tle cu r a long With her own hands she put Sata n s old co ll a r o n the l ittl e b rute took him to the kitchen and fed him fi rst o f a ll The n she went i n to the breakfast room “ ” U ncle B i lly , she sai d s everely di d n t I tel l you n ot to l et Sa ty out ? ” Y es M iss D inni e sai d the ol d butler D i dn t I tell you I was goin to whoop you ” i f you l et S aty out ? Y es M i ss D i n ni e M iss D inni e pulled forth from her Christ mas treasures a toy riding whip and the old darky s eyes bega n to roll i n mock terror “ I m sorry U nc l e B i l ly but I d e s got to ” whoop you a litt l e “ L et U ncle B i l l y o ff D i n n ie sai d U ncle Ca rey this is Chri stm as ’
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94
C HR IST MA S N IG H T WIT H S A T AN ”
A ll wite sai d D in n i e an d she turned to Sa ta n I n h is shi n i n g n ew colla r a n d innocent as a c h e rub Sat an sa t o n th e h ea rth b e ggi n g for h is b r ea k fa st ,
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95
TO
B ROTHER ES A M J
O N H E LL— F E R— S A R TA I N
CREE K
HAR was a danci n p a rty C hris tm as n ight ’
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o n H e ll fer S a rtai n e s tu n up the J fust cri ck b e y on d th e be n d tha r a n c l imb o n to a stump a n holl e r about o nce a n you ll see how th e n am e com e S tra n ger hit s h e l l f e r sarta i n ! W el l R i ch H a rp was thar from the headwaters an H a rv e H a ll toted N a n c e O sb or n clean a cro s s the Cumb e rl an Fust on e u d swing N ance a n the n t oth e r T he n they d tak e a pu ll out u the sam e b ott l e 0 moo n shine an —fust o ne a n the n t oth e r—they d swing h e r a gin An A b e Shiv e rs a settin tha r by the fi re a biti n his thumbs ! Wel l things was sorter wh o o p in whe n some bo dy ups an te l ls H a rve tha t R i ch ha d sa i d s o m e p n a gi n N a nce an him an som e body up s an tells R i ch that H a rve ha d s a i d so m ep n a gin N ance a n him I n a m i n ute stra n ger hit was lik e two wi l d cats i n thar F o l ks got em pa rted though but tha r was n o m or e a swingi n o f N ance that n ight H arve toted her back over the Cumb e r l an a n R i ch s kinsfolks tuk him up He l l fer Sa rta i n but R ich got l oos e an lit out l i ck e ty split f e r N a nce O sbor n s H e ’
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99
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O N H ELL— FE R S AR T A I N C REE K kn ow e d Ha rv e l iv e d too f e r over B l ack M oun ta i n to go hom e th a t n i ght a n he ri d right across the river a n up to Nan c e s house a n ho l lered for H arv e H arv e poked h is h e a d o ut n the l o ft—h e k n owed whu t was wa n ted—an H arv e says U h come in hy e h an go to b e d ” H it s too late ! An R i ch seed him a gapi n l ike a chicke n a n i n he w alked stumbli n m ight n igh a gi n th e bed wha r N a n ce was a l ayi n l is t e ni n a n n ot sa y i n a word Stra n g e r them two fellers s l ept tog e ther p l um fri en l y an they e t together plum fri en l y ne xt m o rn in a n they s a n te re d dow n to the groc e ry ” plum fri e n l y A n R ich says H arve says ” “ he l et s hav e a dri n k A l l ri ght R i ch says H a rve An R ich says H arv e says he you go o ut n that door a n I ll go o ut n ” ” this door A ll ri ght R i ch says H a rve a n out th e y w a lk ed stea dy a n thar was two shoots shot a n R i ch a n H a rv e b oth drapped an i n ten m inutes they was stretch e d out o n N a n ce s b ed a n N a n ce was a l opi n a w ay fe r th e ya rb doctor The ga l n usse d em both p l um f a ithfu l R ich di dn t h e v much to say a n H arv e didn t hev much to say N a n ce was sorter qu i e t a n N ane c s m ammy o l e Na nce j e s grinned Folks com e i n to ax atter em ri ght peart A be Shiv ers come c l a r cross the river—powerfu l fri en l y ’
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100
T H R O U GH
T H E GAP
HEN thistles go a dri ft the sun sets down t h e valley b etw e en the hi lls ; when snow comes i t goes down behi n d the Cumberland and streams through a great fissu re that people call the Gap The n th e l ast l i ght dre n ches the pa r son s cotta ge under Imboden H ill and leaves a n a fter glow o f glory on a m aj esti c heap that lies a ga inst the east Sometimes it spa n s the Gap w ith a ra inbow Strange people an d s trange tale s come through thi s Gap from the Kentu cky hi ll s Throu gh it cam e these two late one day—a m an and a woman—a foot I m et th e m at the footbri dg e over R oa r ing F ork Is thar a prea cher anyw h ar arou n hy e h ? h e a s ked I poi n ted to the cotta ge under Imb o den H ill The gir l flu sh e d sli ghtly and tu rned her hea d aw ay with a rather unhappy smi le Without a word the mounta inee r led the w ay towards town A moment more and a hal f breed M al un gian p assed m e on the bri dge an d followed them At dusk the next day I saw the mounta i neer ,
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102
T HROU G H T HE
GAP
choppi n g wood at a sha n ty under a c l ump o f rhododendro n o n the riv e r b ank The gi rl was c ooking supper insi de The day following he was at work o n the railroad an d on Sunday a fter church I saw the pa rson The two ha d n ot bee n to him O n l y tha t a ftern oon the moun t ain e e r w as on the bri dge with a nother woma n hi deously rouged a n d with scar l et ribbons flu tte r ing from her bonnet Passing o n by the shanty I saw th e M al un gian talking to th e gir l She app arently p a i d no heed to him until j ust as h e w as moving away he sa i d somethin g mockingly an d with a no d o f his hea d b ack towa rds the bridge She di d not l ook up even the n but her face got hard an d white and looking b ack from the road I saw her s lipping throu gh the bu s hes into the dry b ed o f the creek to mak e sure tha t what the hal f breed told her was tru e The two m en we r e wo r king si de by si de on the ra i lroa d when I saw them again but on the first pay day the doctor wa s called to atten d the M al un gian whose hea d wa s split open with a shovel I w as one o f two wh o went out to a r r e s t his as s ailant and I had n o need to a s k wh o he was The m o unta ineer was a devil the fore man sai d and I ha d to club him with a pi s tol butt before he would give in H e sa i d h e would get even with me ; but they all say that a nd I pa i d n o atte n tio n to the threat F or a -
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10
3
T HROU G H T HE
GAP
w e e k he was kept i n the ca l a boose an d whe n I p assed the shanty j ust a fter h e was se n t to the coun ty seat for tri al I found it empty The M al un gian too was go n e Within a for tnight the mounta ineer was in the door o f the sha n ty a ga in H aving n o a ccu se r he ha d bee n dis cha r ged H e went b ack to his work and i f he opened hi s lip s I never knew E very day I saw him at work an d he never fa iled to give me a su r ly look E very dusk I saw him in hi s door It w ay w a iting an d I coul d gue s s for what was easy to beli eve that the stern purpose i n his face would m ake its way throu gh sp a ce and draw her to him a ga in An d she di d come b ack I ha d j u s t limp ed down the mounta i n o n e day w ith a sp ra ined a nkle A crowd o f women was gathe r e d at the edge o f the woods looking with a ll thei r eyes to the shanty o n the river b a n k The girl stood in the door way The mounta i n eer was coming b ack from work w ith hi s fa c e down H e hai n t seed her yit sa i d one He s goin to ki l l her shore I tol her he would She ” s a i d she reckoned he would but she di dn t keer F or a moment I was paralyzed by the tra gedy a t hand She wa s i n the door looking at him when he ra ised his hea d F or one moment h e stoo d sti ll starin g and then he sta rted towards her with a qu i cken e d step I started too th en ,
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1 04
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A T RI C K
O
T RA D E
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m a sep a ra te man an I into n o m an s business ; but you ax me s trai ght a n I tell ye stra ight ! Y ou w atch o l e Tom ! N ow I ll take ole Tom Perkin s word a gi n anybody s ce p t in when hit com es t o a hoss t r a de u r a pi ece 0 l and F er in the tri cks 0 sech ole Tom lows—well hit s d iff en t ; an I reckon s tranger a s how hit s orter i s H e was a s t ay in a t Tom s house the furriner was a dick e r in fer a p i ece 0 l a n the same pi ece mebb e that you re atter n ow—an Tom keeps him thar fer a week to b eat him out u a dolla r an the n won t l et him p ay n a ry a cent fer hi s b oa d N ow str anger that s To rn Well A be Shiver s was a wo rkin fer Tom you ve h e e r d te ll o A be —an the furri ner wa s n t more n hal f gone a fo r e Tom s eed that A be was up to some o f his d e v il m in t A be kin hatch up more d e v il m in t in a minit than Satan hi ss el f kin i n a week ; so Tom j es got A be o ut n the stable un der a hoe handle an tol him to tell the whole thin g strai ght u r he d have to go to glory ri ght th a r An A be to l ! TRAN G E R , I ’ don t in q uiz it e
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106
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A T R ICK
0
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T RADE
Pea r s lik e A b e ha d foun a streak 0 i ron ore on the lan an h a d racked his j inny ri ght down to H az l an a n tol the furri n er wh o wa s thar a buyin wi ld lan ds ri ght an left Co se A be was goi n to m ake the fu r ri n er whack up fer gittin the l an so cheap Well brother the fur riner come up to Tom s an got Tom i nto one o them new fangled tra des whut the fu rriners calls a opti o n—t other feller k in gi t out u hit but you can t The furriner lowed he d send h is o d n e r up thar n ext day to put the thi n g i n p wr it in a n c l o s e up the tra de H it loo ked like ole Tom was k e t ch e d fer shore a n e f Tom di d n t ra r I d tel l a m an H e j e s le t that hoe handle drap o n A b e fer bout haffe n hour j es to give him time to stu dy a n next day thar was o l e ” Tom a settin on his orchard fence a looki n m ighty un kn o win when the furriner s p o dn e r come a p r an cin up a n axe d e f old Tom Per kins l ived thar O le Tom j es whispers N ow I clean f e r go t to tel l ye stranger that A b e Shivers n uv e r cou ld ta lk out lou d He to l — m any li e s that the L awd j es to make things so even—so r ter fixed A be I reckon so he cou ldn t li e o n more n one si de 0 the river at a time O le Tom j e s kn owed t other furriner ha d tol thi s sho r e nou gh the feller says u n bout A be an sorte r soft s a ys he ’
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107
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A T R ICK
0
T RADE
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A w y ou a ir the fel le r whut fou n th e or e ? O l e Tom—makin l ike h e was A b e mi n d ye ” e s whisp e rs ! Th a r hain t n o ne thar j Stranger the fel le r m o s fe l l o ff n h is hoss Whut ? says he O l e Tom kep a whisper i n ! Thar ha in t n o ore — n o n othing ; ole T o m ” Perkins m a de m e te ll t other furriner them lies Well s ir the f e ller was m a d J e s whut I ” to l that fool p o dn e r o f m ine he says a n h e pull out a dolla r a n gives hit to Tom Tom j e s sti cks out h is ha n with h is thum tu rn ed in j e s s o a n the furriner says W e ll e f you can t talk you ki n m ake purty damn goo d si gn s but he fo r ks over fou r m o dol l ars ( he l ow e d ole Tom ha d saved him a pi le 0 money ) an turns h is hoss a n pulls up a gin H e was a gitti n the l and so dur n e d cheap th a t I reckon he j e s hate d to l et hit go a n h e sa y s says he ! Well ha i n t the grou n ri ch ? Wo n t hi t raise n o to b a ccy n u r corn nur nothi n ? O le Tom j es whispers ! To tell you the p int blank truth stranger that la n d s so dur ne d pore that I h a i n t n uv e r been ab l e to ra ise my v oi c e N ow brother I m a separ a te m an a n I don t in q u iz it e into no m an s busi n ess—but you ax m e st r a ight an I tel l ye stra ight O le Tom Per kins kin tra de with furriners fer he hav e l a rn ed thei r w ays Yo u w a tch o l e Tom ! ’
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108
G RAY S ON S B A B Y ’
to the di sorder o f the room and the atmosphere m ade Grayson ga s p H e came out looking w hite The first m a n to a rrive therea fter took away the elde s t boy a woma n p ick e d the b aby gi r l f r om the b ed and a childless young couple took up the pa lli d little fellow on the floor These we r e step children The b aby boy that w as left wa s the woman s own N obody came fo r tha t an d G r ayson went i n a gain and looked at it a long whi le So little s o old a human face he ha d n ever seen The brow w as w r inkled a s with cen t uri es o f p a in and the little drawn mouth looked a s though the spi rit within ha d fought its inheri tance w ithout a murmu r an d would fight on that way to the end It was the pluck o f the fa ce that drew Grayson I ll take ” i t he sai d The doctor was not without his sen s e o f humor even then but h e n odded Cra ” dle an d all h e sa i d gravely An d Grayson put both on one shoulder a n d wa l ked away H e ha d lost the power o f giving fu rther surpri se in th a t town and ha d he met eve ry m an he kn ew n ot one o f them would have fe l t at liber ty to ask him what he was doing A n h o u r later the doct or foun d the chi ld in Grayso n s room a n d Grayso n s ti ll looki n g at it I s it goin g to live doctor ? The doctor shook his hea d D oubtful L ook at the color I t s sta rved Th e r e s n oth ,
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1 10
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G RAY S O N S B A B Y ’
i ng to do but to watch i t a n d feed it Y ou c a n ” do that So Gra ys on watched i t with a fascination o f which he wa s hardly conscious N ever for one i nstant di d its look change—the qu i et unyielding endurance that no fa ith a n d no philosophy could ever bring to him It was idea l coura ge that look to a ccept the inevi tab l e but to fight i t j u s t that way H al f the l itt l e mounta i n town was talking n ext day—that suc h a tragedy was pos s ible by the publi c roa d sid e with reli ef within sound o f the baby s cry The oldest b oy w as lea st sta rve d M i ght ma de ri ght in an extremity like hi s and the boy h a d taken ca re o f him s elf The young coup l e wh o ha d the secon d la d i n charg e sa i d they ha d been wakened at daylight the next morning by som e n oi s e i n the room L ookin g up they saw th e l itt le fellow at th e fi rep l a ce breaking a n e gg H e ha d bu ilt a fire ha d got eggs from the kitche n and was c ooking h is bre akfast The l ittle gi rl was m ischievous and cheery i n sp ite o f her b a d pli ght an d nobody kn ew o f the b aby except Grayson and the doc tor Gray s on would l et nobody else in A s soo n a s it was well enough to b e p eevish and to cry he took it back to its mother wh o was still abed A l ong dark mounta ineer was ther e o f whom the woman seemed ha l f a fra i d He follow e d Gra y son outsi de .
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1 1 1
G RAY S ON S B A B Y ’
S a y , p o dn e r,
h e sa i d with an u n p l easant smi l e ye don t go up to Cr a cker s N eck fer ” nothin do ye ? Th e woma n ha d l i v ed at Cracker s N eck b e fore she appeared a t th e Gap a n d i t di d n ot com e to Gr a yso n wh a t th e m an mea n t u n ti l he was hal f way to h is room T he n he flushed hot a n d whe ele d b a ck to the cabi n but th e mou n t a in e e r was go ne “ Te l l that fe l low h e ha d b etter keep out o f my way he sa i d to the woman wh o u n derstood and wa n t e d to s a y something but n ot kn owing how n odde d simp l y In a few days the other chi ldren went b ack to the cabi n and day a n d nigh t Grayso n w ent to s e e the child u n ti l it was out o f danger a n d a fterwards It was not l o n g b e fore the wome n i n tow n comp l ained that the mother was ungr a tefu l Whe n they se n t things to eat to her the serva n t brought b ack word that sh e ha d ca lled out Set them over thar w ith out so much as a t h an ky O ne m essage was that she di dn want n o second ha n d vi ctu als from nobody s tab l e Somebody suggested sending the fami ly to th e poor house The mother sa i d she d go out o n her crutches and hoe corn fust an d th a t the people who talked bout sendin he r to the p o h o u se ha d b ette r ” save thei r breath to make p rayers with O ne day she was hired to do som e wa shing Th e ,
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1 12
G RAY S ON S B A B Y ’
wou l d w alk the fl oor with the troub l ed little b aby over h is shoulder I thought several times i t woul d di e wh en o n one trip Grayson was away for two weeks O ne m idn i ght indeed I found the mother mo aning and three female harpi es about the cra dle The b aby was dying this time an d I ran ba ck for a fl ask o f whiskey Ten minute s late with the whi s key that night would hav e been too late The b aby got to know m e an d my voi ce during that fortni ght but i t was still i n danger when Grayson got b ack and It was very weak we went to s e e i t together and we both leaned over the cra dle from either si de and I saw the p ity a nd a ff ectio n—yes hun — r hal f shamed a ection Grayson s fa ce f f i n g y The child op ened its eyes l ooked from one to the other and held out its arms to me Grayson should have known that the child forgot—that i t would forget its ow n mother H e turned sharply a n d his fa ce was a l ittl e pa l e H e gave something to the woma n and n ot til l the n di d I noti ce that her so ft b l ack ey es n ever l e ft him while he was i n the cabi n The chi ld got well ; but G r ayson n ever went to the shack a gain and he s ai d nothi n g when I came in one n i ght a n d told him that som e mountaineer—a l o n g dark fellow— ha d taken the woman the childre n and the household gods o f the shack b ack into the mou n ta ins .
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I 14
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G RAY S ON S ’
BAB Y
They do n t gri eve long I sa i d th e s e ” p e ople But l ong a fterwards I saw the woma n agai n a lo n g the dusty roa d that lea ds into the Gap She ha d hea rd ove r i n the mounta ins that Gray son was dea d an d ha d walked for two day s to le arn i f i t was tru e I pointed b ack towards B ee R ock and to l d her that he ha d falle n from a c l i ff back th e r e She di d not move nor di d her l ook chang e M oreover she sa i d n othi ng and bein g i n a hurry I ha d to ri de on A t the foot bri dge over R oari n g F ork I l ook e d back The woman was s till there under the hot mi d day su n a n d in the dust o f the roa d motio nle ss ’
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1 1
5
C O U RT I N
ON C U T S H I N
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IT was thi s way stra n g e r Wh en hit comes to ha n dli n a right p ee rt gal Jeb So mers a ir about the p o re st m an on F ryi n Pa n I recko n ; a n Polly A n n S turgi ll hav e got the v in e g r e st tongue on Cutshi n or an y other cri ck S o the boys over o n Fry in Pan m ad e it up to gi t em together A b e Shiver s — you ve h e e r d tell o Abe—tol Jeb that Pol l y Ann had seed him i n H az l an ( whi ch she hadn t o f co s e ) an ha d sa i d p int blank that he was the likeli est fel ler she d seed in them mountai n s An he tol Polly Ann that Jeb was ravi n cra zy bout her The pure mi sery o f it j es m a de him plumb de l i r io n s A b e sa i d ; a n f Polly An n w anted to find her m atch fer l an gu ige a n t a lki n out p eert —well she j es ou ght to strike Jeb Somers F a ct i s stranger Jeb Somers a i r might n i gh a id git ; but Jeb lowed he d r a ck ri ght over o n Cutsh i n an set up with Polly Ann Sturgil l ; an A be tell s Polly A n n the ki n g bee a i r comi n A n Polly A nn s cousin N ance O sbor n comes over from H ell fer Sartai n ( whut ru n s into Ki n gdom Come ) to stay al l n ight a n see th e fu n ,
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1 1
6
C O UR TI N O N C U T S H I N ’
neck an wh isper a l o n g whi le—j es so M ebb e you ve noti ced whut fellers us mountai n folks ai r fer wh isp e r in Y ou ve seed fellers a whisp e r in all over H az l an on court day ha i n t ye ? Ole Tom Perkins l l put h is a rm aroun yo neck a n whi sper in yo yea r e f he s ten miles o ut n the woods I reckon thar s j es so much d e v il m in t on i n th ese mounta ins folks is n atu re l y a goi n a f e e r d to talk out loud Well Jim lets go a n Sa l li e puts her arm a roun Jim s ne ck a n wh ispers a long while—j e s so ; an f you happe n to wake up an ywh ar t o two o clock i n th e m o rn in you ll see j es th a t B rother that s setti n up a goin on Well Jeb Somers a s I was a sayi n i n th e premises lowed he d ra ck right over on Cutshi n an set up with Polly An n comin Christmas night A n A be tells Pol l y An n Jeb says he a ims to hav e her fer a Christma s gi ft a fore m o rn in Polly A nn j es s ni ff e d sort e r but you know women folks a i r always mighty ambiti ous j es to s e e a feller anyway s f he s a pini n fer em So Jeb come an Jeb wa s fixed up now fitt in to ki ll Jeb ha d hi s hai r oi led down n ice an slick and hi s mus tach e was j es black a s powder could make hi t N atu re l y hi t was red ; but a feller can t do noth in i n these mounta in s with a red mustache ; a n Jeb had a b i g black ribbo n ti ed in the butt 0 th e bi gges p istol A be Shivers could b o r r e r fer him ’
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1 1
8
C OUR T I N O N C U TS H I N ’
hi t wa s a badge 0 de ath a n d e e st ru ct io n to h is enemi es A be sa i d a n I tel l ye Jeb di d look like a man H e never opened his mouth atter he “ ” says howdy Jeb n ever does say n othin ; Jeb s on e o them fellers whut hi des th at lack o bra in s by a looki n solem n an a keepi n still bu t tha r don t n obody say much tell the ole folks a i r gone to bed a n Polly A nn j es lowed Jeb was a wait in F a ct i s stranger A be Shivers ha d got Jeb a l eet l e disgu ised by l i qu e r an he di d look fa t an sa s sy e f he couldn t talk a settin over in the corner a p l unk in the b anj er a n a knocki n o ff Sou r wood M ountai n an Jinny Gi t ” A roun an Soapsu ds over the F e n ce ’
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go u n n , um d e e -e e d y d ah d y d ee ! an
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when Jeb comes to “
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h e j es t ur n s one eye roun d on Polly A n n a n the n swi n gs hi s ch in arou n as though h e did n t give a cuss fer nothin ’
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1 19
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t f ll o
e r,
d ah d - d e e ! y y -
C OUR T I N O N
CUT S H I N
’
W ell sir N a n c e s ee d th a t Po ll y Ann was Jeb sort 0 fluste r e d l ike a n s h e come a e yi n mi ght n i gh sp l ittin ri ght th ar a n a sp il in th e fu n fer sh e k n owed wh a t a skeery f ool J e b was An when the o l e fo l ks goes to b e d N a n c e lays t h at under a qu i l t a wat ch in an a l iste n in We ll Jeb kn owe d the premises e f he cou l d n t ta lk an pu r t y soo n N a n c e h e e r d Jeb s ch ee r cr e ak a le etle a n she says Jeb s a comi n an d Jeb was ; a n Pol l y A n n lowed Jeb was j e s a leetle to o reso l ute a n qu i ck l ik e a n sh e got h e r han d rea dy to giv e him o ne l i ck a n yways f e r b ein so b r igaty I do n t kn ow a s sh e d a hi t him more n o nce J e b h a d a farm a n Po ll y A n n—well Polly Ann was a gitti n al ong But Pol l y An n sot tha r j e s as though sh e di dn t kn ow J e b was a comi n an Jeb stopp e d once a n says Y ou ha i n t got n othi n agi n me h as y e ? An Polly Ann says sorter qu i ck ” N aw ; e f I had I d push i t Well Jeb mos fell o ff h is cheer w h en e f h e h adn t bee n sech a skeery id git h e d a knowed that Polly Ann was plai n op en an shet a b i ddi n fer him But h e sot tha r l ike a k n ot o n a l og fer ha ffen hou r a n th en h e rick o l l e ct e d I reckon that A b e ha d to l him Po ll y Ann was peppery a n h e must n t mi n d fer J e b be gu n a movi n a g i n ti ll he was slam ba n g a g i n Pol l y An n s cheer An tha r h e sot l ik e a pu nk i n n ot s a yi n ,
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1 20
TH E
M E S SA G E
I N TH E
S AN D
you furri n ers do n t n uv e r seem to consi der th a t a woman has always got the devi l to fight i n two p eop l e at once ! H it s two a gi n o n e I tel l ye a n hit ha in t fa r That s what I sai d more n two yea r ago whe n R osi e B ranham was a l ayi n up thar at D av e H all s white an m o s d e ad A n Go d boy s I says th at l eetle thi n g i n th a r by h e r sh o r e l y c an t b e to blam e T ha r ha in t be e n a word agin R o s i e s en ce ; an stranger I reckon thar n u v e r will be F er whi l e th e ga l ha i n t got hi de o kith or ki n tha r a i r two fe ll ers up h ye h sorter lookin atter R osi e ; an one o f em i s the sh o o t in e s ma n o n thi s crick I r e ck o n cept one ; a n stra n ger that s t other R osi e kep her mouth shet fer a lo n g whi le ; an I recko n as how th e feller l owed she wasn t goi n to tell Co se the woman folks got hit o ut n her —th e y a l ays gits whut they want a s you know—an tha r the sorry cuss was—a livi n up tha r i n the B end j e s aroun that blu ff o l orre l ya n der a lookin pious a n a si n gin an a sayi n A men lou der n anybody whe n tha r was m e e t in ’
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1 22
T HE M E S S A G E
T HE S AND
IN
W e ll m y boy Jim a n a l ot 0 fellers j e s went up fer him ri gh t away I do n t know as th e boys would a killed him e xactl y e f they had kotched him thou gh they mought ; but they got A b e Shiv ers as tol th e feller they was a comi n —you ve hea rd tell o Ab e—an th e y mos beat A braham Shivers to death Stranger th e sorry cuss was D ave R osi e ha d n t n o da ddy a n no m ammy ; a n sh e was j es a worki n at D ave s fer her vi ctu als an c l o e s Pears l ike the pore ga l L ook e d like sh e was was j e s tri cked into e vi l sorter witched a n an yw ays , stranger she was a figh t in Satan i n h e r s e l f as well as in D ave H i t was two a gi n one I te l l y e a n hit wasn t fa r C ose they tu rned R osi e right out i n th e roa d I ha in t got a word to say agi n D ave s wi fe fer that ; an atter a whi l e the boys lets D ave come back to take keer 0 h is ole mammy o f co s e but I tell ye D ave s a p l ay in a purty l o n se so m e tune H e keeps purty shy y it H e don t n uv e r sa nter down thi s way Pears like h e don t seem to think hit s health y fer h im dow n h y e h a n I reckon D ave s ri ght R osi e ? O h well I sorter tuk R osi e i n my se l f Y e s she s been livin tha r i n the shack with m e an my boy Jim an the Why tha r he i s now stranger Tha t s him a wal l e r in out tha r in the roa d D o y ou r e ckon th ar d b e a ’
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1 23
T HE M E S S A G E I N T HE S AND si n g le thi n g agi n th at lee t le cuss e f h e h a d to s t an up o n J e d gm e n t D a y j e s as h e is no w ? L ook hye h stra n g e r whut you r e cko n th e La wd k e p a writin tha r o n th e grou n th a t day whe n th e m fe lle rs was a p e ste r in him a bout that por e woma n ? D o n t you j e s k n ow h e was a wr it in b o u t s e ch as h im—an R osi e ? I te ll y e brother h e wri t th a r j e s wh a t I m a l a ys ’
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H it h a i n t th e wom an s fa u l t I sa i d it mor e n two y ea rs a go wh en R osi e was up tha r a t o le D ave s an I s a i d it ye stid dy wh en my b o y Jim com e to m e an l ow e d as how b e a imed to t a k e R osi e d o w n to tow n to day a n git mar ri e d Y ou r ico l l ect d ad s ays Jim her m a m ’
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Jim I say s ; all th e be tt e r r ea so n n ot to b e too h a rd o n R osi e I m a l ooki n f e r e m both b ack ri ght n ow stra n g e r ; an e f you wi l l I ll b e mi ghty g l a d to have ye stay ri ght h yeh to th e i n fai r this v e ry n ight T ha r nuv e r was a word a gi n R osi e a fore thar ha i n t been s e nce an you ki n ri de u p an dow n thi s riv e r til l the crack 0 doom a n you ll n uv e r hear a word agi n her ag i n F er as I to l you my boy Jim i s the sh o o t in e s fe l l er o n thi s cri ck I r e cko n cept o ne a n stran ger that s me ! ,
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1 24
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T HE S ENA T OR S LA ST T RADE ’
ha n ds H e l ooked lik e a bri gand that day but he called ev e ry m a n a s he l ooked n ow his brother an d h is eye while bla ck and lus t r e l e ss a s n i ght was as b roodi n g an d j u st as kind Whe n th e boom w en t down with it a nd with everybo dy else went th e Senator Slow l y he got du s ty ra gged l ong o f hai r H e l ooked tor Y ou n ever s aw him tu r e d and ever restless still ; a l ways h e swept by y ou fl app ing h is legs o n hi s l ea n horse or his a r ms in his ri ck e ty bu g tu rni n g twisti ng gy here ther e everywher e fighting his way b a ck to freedom— an d not a mu r mu r Still wa s every man his brother and i f some forgot hi s once op e n h and he forgot i t no more completely tha n di d the Senator H e went very fa r to pay his debts H e fe l t honor bound indeed to a s k hi s s i s ter to give b ack the fa r m that he ha d given her whi ch very prop erly people sa i d sh e declined to do N othing could ki ll hope i n the Senator s breast ; he would hand ba ck the fa rm i n another year he sai d ; but the s ister wa s firm a n d without a word still the Senator went other ways a nd schemed throu gh the n i ghts and worked and rode an d w alked and tra ded th r ough the days until now when the li ght was beginni n g to g l immer hi s end wa s come Thi s wa s the Senator s l ast tra de a nd i n ,
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1 26
T HE S ENAT OR S LA ST T RADE ’
sight dow n i n a Kentu cky valley wa s hom e Strangely enough the Senator di d not ca r e at all and he ha d j u s t en o ugh sanity le ft to wonder “ It was the wa l k wh y an d to be worri e d ing typhoi d that ha d caught up with him and he was listless an d he ma d e strange gestu res and di d fooli s h things as h e stumble d down the mounta in H e wa s going over a litt l e knol l now and he cou l d s e e the cr e ek that r a n around h i s house but he was not touched He wou l d j ust a s s oo n h ave la in dow n ri ght where h e was or have turned a round and gone ba ck e xcept that i t was hot and he wanted to get to the wa ter H e remembered that i t was ni gh Christ mas ; he saw the snow about h im and the cake s o f i ce i n the creek H e knew that he ought not to be hot an d yet he was—so hot that h e r e fused to reason with himsel f even a minute an d hu rri ed on I t was odd that it should b e so but j ust about that time over in Vi rgini a a cattle dealer nea ring home stopped to tel l a neighbor how he ha d tricked some black whisker ed foo l up i n the mounta ins It m ay have been j ust when h e was laughing alou d over there that th e Senator over here tore h is woollen shirt from hi s great ha i ry chest and rushed into the icy stream clapping h is a rms to hi s bur n ing si des and shouting in hi s frenzy If he h a d l ived a little l onger sa i d a co n ,
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1 27
T H E S ENA T OR S LA ST T RAD E ’
h e wou l d h a v e l ost th e ne xt elec tio n ” He h ad n t th e mo n ey y ou kn o w “ I f he ha d l ived a l itt le l o n g e r sai d the mou n tai n pr e acher h i gh up o n Y el l ow C reek “ I d have got tha t trad e I h a d o n ha n d with h im through N ot that I w an t e d him to di e — but i f he ha d to why “ I f h e ha d l i v e d a l itt le l o n g e r sai d the “ S ena tor s l awy e r h e wou l d h a ve clean ed o ff ” th e scor e a g a i n st him “ I f h e h a d l iv e d a l itt l e l o n g e r sai d the S en ator s sist e r no t m e a n i n g to b e u n ki n d he ” wou l d h ave got all I h av e Th a t was wh a t l i fe h el d f o r th e S ena tor D e at h was mor e ki n d
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1 28
PRE ACH I N
O N KI N G DO M C O M E
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this wor l d L ots o f em n uv e r s eed th e em nu v e r seed a wagon A n cy ar s ; some o f a tter j o we r in an n o rat in fer bout two hours wh at you reckon they sa i d they a imed to do ? They beli eved they d take that a r man B eecher They d h e er d 0 e f they could git him to com e H enry en du rin the wa r a n they knowed h e was a gin th e rebs an they w a nted H e n ry i f they could j es git him to com e Well I snorted a n the feu d b roke out o n H el l fer Sa rta in betwixt the D ays an the D i l lons M ace D ay shot D aws D illo n s brother a s I r ick o l l e ct —so m e p n s al ays a sta rti n up that plaguey wa r a n a makin things froli csome over tha r — an e f it hadn t a bee n fer a tal l y oung feller with b lack ha i r a n a sca r across h is forehea d who was a goin through the mou n ta ins a se ttl in these wars blame me e f I b eli eve tha r ever would a been any mo preach This feller comes over in o n Kingdom Com e from H az l an a n says h e a ims to hold a m e e tin “ ” B rother I says th a t s o n Kingdom Come what no prea cher h ave ever di d whilst this wa r is a goin o n A n he says sort 0 quiet Well then I reckon I ll h av e to do what n o preacher have ever di d An I ups an says ! B rothe r an ole j e d ge come up here once from e e the se tt l e m in ts to hold co u h t d J g I says that s what no j e d ge have e ve r di d without mu ch
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PRE ACHI N
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soldi ers since thi s wa r s bee n a goi n on An b rother the j e d ge s words was yours p int ‘ blank A ll ri ght he says then I ll have to do wh at no other j e d ge have ever di d An b rother says I t o the p r eacher the j e d ge done it shore H e j es la i d under the co uh t hou s e fer two day s whil s t the boys fit over him An when I sees the j e dge a maki n tracks fe r ‘ ‘ the s e ttl e m in ts I s ays J e d ge I says you spoke a p arable sho r e Well si r the long p reacher l ooked j es as “ though he was a sayin to hi s s el f Y es I hea r ” ye but I don t heed ye an when he says Jes the same I m a goi n to ho l d a m e e t in on King ” dom Come why I j e s takes m y foot i n my h and an a g i n I step s fer home That night stranger I s eed another feller f r om H az l an wh o was a tellin how thi s he r e preacher ha d stoppe d the war over thar an h a d got the M ar cu m s an B r ayton s to shakin hand s ; a n next day ole Tom Pe rkin s stop s i n an says th at wh ar as the r e mought a been p re achin s o m e wh ar an sometime tha r n u v e r h a d bee n e a c h in r a fore on Kingdom Come So I goes p over to the m e e t in hou s e an they was all tha r —D aws D illon an Ma ce D ay the l eaders in the war an A b e Shive r s ( you ve h e e r d tell o A be ) who wa s a c ar r yin tale s f r om one s i de to t other an a s t ir r in up hel l gin e r al l y as Abe ’
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1 31
PRE ACH I N
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most a l a ys is ; an th a r was D aws o n o ne side 0 th e m e e t in hous e a n M a c e o n t oth e r a n both j e s a watchin fer t o ther to mak e a mov e an been billy hell to pay ri ght th a r ! t h ar d a Strang e r tha t lo n g pre a ch e r talked j e s as e as y as I m a talki n n o w an h i t was p int bla n k as the fel le r from H az l an sa i d Y ou j e s ought a h e e r d h im t e l l i n about the L aw d a bei n as pore a s a n y fel l er tha r a n a makin b ar n s an fe n c e s a n o x yokes a n sech lik e ; a n n ot a bei n able to write h is ow n name—b avi n to make hi s mark mebbe—whe n h e sta rt e d out to save the world An how they tuk him a n n ai led him o n to a cross whe n h e d com e dow n f e r n othi n but to save em ; a n stuck a spea r bi g as a co r n kni fe i n to his si de an give him vi negar ; a n hi s o wn mammy a standi n dow n tha r o n the ground a c r y in a n a wat ch in him ; an he a f e r giv in al l o f e m then a n thar ! Tha r nuv e r ha d bee n n othin l ike that a fore o n Kingdom Com e a n a ll a l o ng I h e e r d fellers a layi n tha r gu n s down ; a n whe n the pr e ach e r called out f e r si n ners bl a me m e c f the fust fe l l er that ri z wa sn t M a c e D ay A n M ac e says St r a n ger f wh a t you say is tru e I recko n th e L awd l l f e r giv e m e too but I don t believ e ” D aws D i l lo n ever wi ll a n M ac e stood tha r l ookin arou n d f e r D aws An all o f a sudden the pr ea cher got up strai ght an c alle d out Is ’
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1 32
TH E
OF
PA SS I N G
A B RA H A M
S H IV ERS
T E LL
ye b oys hi t ha in t o ften a felle r ha s the chance 0 do in so much good j e s by dy in F er f A b e Shivers a i r gone s h o r e l y gone the re s t o f u s—eve r y du r n one o f u s—a i r to be saved F er A be Shivers—you a goi n ha in t h e e r d tell o A b e ? Well you must b e a stranger in these mounta ins o Kain tuck shore “ I don t kn ow stranger as A be eve r was b o rn e d ; nobody i n these m ounta in s knows it f h e was Th e fust time I ever h e e r d tell o A be h e was a h o l l e r in fer h is ri ghts one m awn in a t dayli ght e n dur in th e wa r j es outside 0 ol e Tom Perkins door on Fryin Pa n A be was l e ft th a r by some home gya r d I reckon Well nobody a i r ever tu rne d o ut n doors i n thes e mounta i n s a s you kn ow an A b e got hi s ri ghts that m awn in an he s been a gittin em ever s ence Tom alrea dy ha d a houseful but f any feller got the b i gges hunk o corn brea d that feller was A b e ; an e f any feller got a whalin h it wa s n t A b e “ A be tuk to lyi n ri ght n atur e l y—looked ’
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1 34
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T HE P A S S I N G O F A B RAHA M S H I V ER S like—a fore he could talk F act i s A be n u v e r could do nothin but j es whi s per Still A be could manage to send a li e fur d e r with that r at t l in whi s per than ole Tom could with that bi g horn 0 h i s n what tells the boys the r e v e n o o s a i r comin up Fry in Pan D i dn t take Ab e long to git to b r aggin an d r in k in a n naggi n an h e c t o r in — eve r ything mos cept figh t in N obody ever d r awe d A be Shivers into a fight I don t know a s he was a f e e r d ; looked like A b e was a h av in s ech a tarnati on good time with his d e v il m in t he j es di d n t want t o r un no r i s k 0 b avin hit s t o pped A n s ech d e v il m in t ! H i t u d take a coon s a ge I reckon to tell ye Th e b o y s wa s a goin up the river one ni ght to git ole D ave H all fer t r ick in R osi e B r anham i nto evi l Some feller goes ahea d an tells ole D ave they s a comin H it was A be Some feller finds a st r eak o o r e on ole Tom Perkin s land an ra cks hi s j inny down to town an tells a fu r riner thar an Tom comes mi ght nigh sellin the land fer nothin N ow Tom ra i s ed A b e bu t j es th e same the feller was A be O ne ni ght somebody gu i de s the r e v e n o o s i n o n H ell fer Sarta in an they cuts up fo ur still s H i t wa s A be The same night min d ye a feller slips i n among the r ev e n o o s whi le they s a sleep and cuts o ff thei r hosse s manes an ta ils—mule d ,
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3S
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T HE P A S S I N G O F A B RAHA M S H I V ER S very durned critter uv em Stra n g e r hit was — A be A n a s fer wome n fo l ks w e ll Ab e was the ill f av o r e d e st feller I ever see an he coul d n t talk ; sti ll A be was sa s sy a n you kn ow how sass counts with th e gals ; a n A be s whisp e rin come i n j e s as ha n d y as any feller s settin up ; so f ever you see d a ma n with a Wi n chester fer the fell e r who h a d cut h im out a looki n stranger h e was a l ooki n fer A b e “ Somebody tells H arve H all up thar at a da n ce on H ell fer Sa rta in one Christmas n i ght that R i ch H arp ha d sa i d s o m e p n a gin him an N ance O sborn An somebody tells R ich that H arv e h a d sa i d so m e p n a gi n Na nc e an h im H it was one a n the sam e feller stranger a n the feller was A be W ell while R i ch an H arv e was a gittin well somebody runs o ff with N a n ce H i t was A b e Then R ich an H arve j e s draws st r aws fer a fe l ler Stra n ger they d r awe d fer A b e H it s pu rty hard to beli eve that Ab e a i r gone cept that R ich H arp a n H arve H a ll don t ne ver draw n o str a ws fer n othi n ; but f by th e grac e o G o d d l e m ighty A b e a i r gone wh y as I was a sayi n th e rest o f u s — every du rn ed one o f u s — a i r a goi n to b e sav e d shor e F e r A be s gon e fust a n e f thar s o nl y o ne J e d g ” m en t Da y th e La wd l l n uv e r git to u s ’
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1 36
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A P URP LE RHODODENDRO N my best f r iend—best l ove d then an d si n c e I b eli eve he was th e strangest ma n I have eve r known and I say this w ith thou ght ; for his c c centriciti e s were sincere I n all he di d I can n ot remember ha ving e ve n suspect e d an ythi n g th e at r ic al but onc e We we r e al l Vi rgi n i an s or K e ntucki a n s a t th e Gap and Grayso n was a Virgini an Y ou mi ght h ave gues s e d that he was a Southerner from his v oi ce and from th e way h e spoke o f wom en bu t no more O therwi se he mi ght hav e bee n a M oor except for his co l or which was ab out the only ra ci a l d i ar act e r ist ic he h a d He ha d b ee n educated abro a d and a fter the E nglish h ab it ha d travelled ever ywh e r e An d yet I ca n ima gine n o more l onely way betwee n the e ter n i ti es than th e p ath Grayso n trod a l o n e H e came to the Gap i n th e e ar l y days a nd j ust H e ha d stu died th e wh y he cam e I never kn ew i ron question a l ong time he to l d me a n d what I thou ght reckless speculatio n was i t s e ems d e “ l iberat e j udgme n t to him H is money i n th e ” d i rt a s the phrase was Grayson got him a horse a n d rode th e hills a n d wa ited He was i ntimate with nobody O ccasional l y h e wou l d p lay poker with us and sometim es he dra n k a good d eal but liquor n ever loosed his to n gu e A t poker h is fa ce told as little as th e back o f h is cards and he wo n more tha n a dmi r a tio n—e v en .
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1 38
A P UR P LE RHO DODENDRO N from th e K en tucki an s wh o are artists a t th e game ; but th e money went from a free h and a n d a ft e r a diversion like this h e wa s apt to be moody a n d to keep more to himsel f than ever E very fortni ght or two he would di sapp ea r al w a ys ov e r Sund a y In three or fou r d a ys h e wou l d tur n up aga i n b l ack with b roodi n g a n d th e n he was the l ast ma n to l e a v e th e ca rd tab le or h e kept away from i t al together W h e r e h e w en t n obody kn e w ; an d h e was n ot th e m an any body wou l d qu e stio n One n i ght t wo o f us Ke n tu cki a n s were sitting i n the club an d f rom a home paper I rea d al ou d th e rumored enga gement o f a girl we both kn e w —who w a s famou s for beau ty i n the B luegrass as was h er moth e r b e fore her a n d th e mother b e for e her t o a n u nn am e d Vi rgini a n Grayso n s at n ea r smoki n g a pip e ; a n d whe n I rea d th e gir l s n am e I saw him take th e m e erschaum fro m h is l ips and I f el t h is eyes o n me It was a my st e ry how but I k n ew a t o n c e tha t Gr a yso n was the ma n H e sought m e out a fter that an d s e emed to wa n t to make fri ends I was wi lling or r a ther h e ma d e m e more tha n willing ; for h e was i rresi stible to m e as I imagine he wou l d have been to anybody W e got to walki n g to gether and ri ding togeth e r a t n i ght an d we wer e soo n rather intimate ; but for a long time he n ever so much as spok e th e girl s n ame I n d e ed h e ,
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39
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A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRON kept a w a y from th e B lu e grass for n ear l y tw o mo n ths ; bu t whe n h e di d go h e st a y e d a fort n i ght Thi s time h e c a me for m e as soo n as h e got b ack to th e Gap I t was j ust b e fore mi d n i ght an d we we n t as u su a l b ack o f Imbod en H i l l through moon dapp l e d b e eches a n d Gr a yso n tur n ed o ff i n to th e woods where ther e was n o p ath both o f u s si len t We rode through trem u l o u s shi n ing l eaves—Grayso n s horse choosi n g a way for h imsel f—and threshing through a p atch o f hi gh strong weeds w e circled p ast an a mphith ea tre o f dea de ne d tr e es whose crooke d a rms w e re tossed out i nto the moonli ght a nd h a l ted o n the spu r The moon was poi sed over M orri s s farm ; South F ork was shinin g u n der us l ik e a loop o f go l d th e mounta ins lay about i n tranqu i l heaps a n d th e moon mi st rose l uminous b etwee n them T h ere Grayson turned to me with an ea g e r l i ght i n h is e y e s th a t I h ad nev er see n b e for e “ Thi s h as a ne w b e auty to n i ght ! h e s a i d ; “ a n d the n I told h e r about you a n d sh e sa i d th at ” she used to know y ou —we ll I was glad my face was i n sha dow—I could hardly keep back a bruta l l au gh—an d Grayson unseeing we n t o n to sp e ak o f her as I ha d n ever heard any ma n speak o f any woma n I n the e nd h e sai d that sh e ha d j ust promi s e d to be hi s wi fe I a n sw e r e d .
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A P UR P LE RH ODODE N DRO N
a ctu a ll y reached and Grayson l et hal f go T h e b oom fell an d Grayson took the tumble with a j est It would come a ga i n i n the autumn he sai d an d h e went o ff to meet the gi r l a t W hite Su l phu r I work e d ri ght hard that summer but I miss e d h im and I surely was g l a d when he cam e b ack Somethin g was wro n g ; I saw i t at once He di d n o t menti on her name a n d for a while he avoi ded eve n m e I sou ght him th e n and gra du a lly I got him i nto ou r old hab it o f walking up i n to th e G ap and o f sitting out a ft e r supper o n a b i g rock i n th e valley listening to the ru n o f the river a nd watching the a fterglow over th e Cumber l a n d the moo n ri se over Wal l en s R i d ge and the star s come out Wa itin g for him to sp e ak I l earned for the fi r s t time then another secret o f hi s wretche d me l ancholy It was the h opeless that disclosed i t n ess o f that time p erhaps G r ayson ha d l o s t the faith o f hi s chi ldhood M o s t men do that a t som e time or other but Gray s on ha d n o bu s iness n o p ro fes s ion n o a rt i n which to find reli e f Indeed there was but one substitute possible an d that came l ike a gi ft strai ght from th e Go d whom he deni ed L ove cam e an d Grayson s i deals o f love a s o f every thing else were morb i d an d qu ixoti c H e b e l ie v e d that he owed i t to the woma n h e shou ld m arry n ev e r to h a v e l oved a n other H e ha d ,
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A P UR P LE RH OD ODENDRO N
l oved but on e woman he sa id and he shoul d l ove but one I believed him then li terally whe n he sa i d that hi s l ov e for the Kentu cky gi rl was hi s reli gion n ow— the only anchor le ft him in his sea o f troubles the only star that gave him gui din g li ght Without thi s love what then ? I ha d a strong impulse to ask him but Grayso n shivered as though he divined my thought and i n some rele n tless way ou r talk dri fted to t h e question o f sui ci de I was n ot s urpri sed that h e rather de fended i t N either o f u s sai d anyth ing n ew only I di d not like the way he t alked H e was too delib erate too se r iou s a s though h e wer e really facin g a p ossible fact H e ha d no reli g i ous scruples he sa i d no fami ly ti es ; he ha d nothing to do with b r inging h imsel f into li fe ; W hy— if it wa s not wo r th living not b earable wh y should h e not end it ? H e gave the u su a l autho r i ty and I gave the u s u al an s wer R eli gi o n asi de i f we di d not know that we were here for some purpose we di d not know that we were n ot ; and h ere we were anyway and ou r duty w as p lain D e s erti on was the a ct o f a coward an d that Gray s on could not deny That au tumn the cra s h o f 9 1 came across th e water from E ngland and Grayso n gave up H e went to R ichmond a n d came ba ck with mone y enough to p ay o ff hi s not e s and I think i t too k ne arly a ll he had Still h e played poker stea dil y ,
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1 43
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A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRO N
n ow—for poker ha d bee n resum e d wh en i t was no longer possible to gamble i n lots—h e dra n k a good deal and he bega n j ust a t thi s tim e to take a si n gula r interest i n our vo l u n t ee r police gu ard H e ha d a lways bee n on ha n d whe n ther e was trouble an d I s han t soon forget him the day Senator M a hone spok e whe n we w ere punchi n g a crowd o f mounta ineers b ack with cocked Winch e sters H e ha d l ost his hat i n a strugg l e with one gi ant ; h e l ook e d half cra z y with anger a n d yet he was white a n d per fect l y cool and I noti ced that he n ever ha d to te ll a ma n but once to stan d b ack N o whe was the fi rst man to answe r a polic e whi stl e Wh en we we r e guardi n g Ta lt H all h e always vo l unteered when there was a n y u n usu a l risk to ru n Whe n we ra i ded the Pound to captur e a gang o f d e s p e r a d o e s he i nsisted o ri goin g ahea d a s spy ; and whe n we got restless lying out i n the woods wa it ing for daybreak an d the captai n su ggested a cha rge o n the cab in Grayson was by h is si de when i t was ma de Gray s on sprang through the doo r fir s t an d he was the man wh o thrust h is reckless hea d up into the l o ft and l ighted a match to see i f the mu rdere r s w e re there M ost o f u s di d foolish things i n those days under stress o f excitement but Grayson I saw was weak enough to b e reckless H i s trouble with the girl what ever it was was s eriou s enough to mak e him ap ,
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144
A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRO N a n d troub le was upo n everybody N otes fe ll thi cker than snowfl akes and through the fooli s h poli cy o f the comp any foreclosures had to b e ma de Grayson we n t to the wall l ik e th e rest o f us I a sked him wh at he ha d do ne with the money he h a d ma d e H e ha d give n away a grea t dea l to p oorer ki n dred ; he ha d pa i d h is dea d father s debts ; h e ha d play e d away a good deal an d he ha d l ost the rest H is f a ith H e ha d a doze n rect w as stil l imp erturb ab l e “ ” a n gles o f dirt an d f rom these h e sa i d i t would all come b a c k som e day Sti l l he fe l t th e su dde n poverty ke enl y but h e faced it as he di d any other physica l fa ct in l i fe—dau n t l ess He u sed to b e fo n d o f sayi n g that n o on e thing cou l d m a ke him mi ser a b le But he would talk with mocking e a r ne stness about som e much dreaded comb inati on ; a n d a favorite phras e o f his whi ch got to have p eculi a r s ign ificance—was the cohorts o f h ell who closed i n o n him whe n h e was si ck an d weak an d wh o fell b ack wh e n h e got wel l H e ha d one stra n ge habi t too from whi ch I got com fort H e wou l d deliber ately walk into a n d de fy a n y temptation tha t beset him T ha t wa s th e way he stre n gthe n ed h imself he sa i d I knew what his temptatio n was now a n d I thou ght o f this habi t when I f ou n d him a sleep with his revolver and I got hop e from i t n ow when th e drea d e d comb i na tion .
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146
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A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRO N
( what e ver that was ) seemed actu ally to hav e com e I cou l d see now that h e got worse da ily H e s topped h is mockeri es hi s occasiona l fits o f reck less gayety H e stopped poker— resolutely h e couldn t a fford to l ose n ow ; and what pu z z l e d me h e stopp ed drinking The ma n simp l y looked ti red a l ways hope l essly tired ; and I could b eli eve him sincere i n al l h is foolish talk about h is blesse d N i rvan a ! whi ch was the p e ace h e craved whi ch was end e n ough for him Winter b roke M ay drew n ea r ; an d o n e a f t e rn o o n when Grayso n an d I took our w alk u p through the G ap he carri ed along a hu ge spy glass o f mine whi ch ha d belonged to a famou s old despera do who watched hi s enemi es with i t from the mountain tops We both helped cap tu re him and I de fended him H e was sentenced to hang—the glass wa s my fee We sat dow n opposite B ee R ock a n d for the first time Grayson told me o f that l ast scene with her H e s poke without b itterness and h e told me wha t she sa i d word for word without a b reath o f blame for her I do not be l i ev e that h e j udged her a t all ; — she di d not know h e a l ways sai d ; she di d not k n o w; an d then when I opened my lips G ray s o n rea ched silently for my wrist a n d I can feel a gai n the warning crush o f h is fi ngers and I say noth ing a ga i nst her now .
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147
A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRO N I ask e d Gray s on what his answer was ” I asked her he sa i d solemnly i f sh e h ad ” e ve n seen a pu rpl e rhododendro n I almost laughed p ictu ri n g th e sce ne—th e girl bewi ldere d by his absu rd que s tion—Grayso n calm superbly courteous I t was a menta l p e cu l iar ity o f his — this i rrelevancy— and it was like hi m to end a matter o f l i fe an d d e ath i n j ust tha t way I told her I should send her o n e I a m ” wa iting for them to come out h e added ; an d h e l ay b ack with h is hea d against a s tone and si ghted th e telescope on a di z z y poi n t about whi ch bu z zards were ci r cling “ There i s j ust on e bush o f rhodode n dro n up ” “ there h e we n t o n I s aw i t looking dow n from the Point l ast spring I ima gine i t must b lo ss om earli er tha n that a cross there on B e e R ock bein g a l ways i n the sun N o it s not bu d ” ding yet he a dded with hi s eye to the glass Y ou see tha t l edge j ust to the left ? I dropped a b i g rock from the Point squa re on a ra tt ler wh o w as sunning himself there l ast spring I can s ee a foothold all the way up the cli ff I t ” can b e done he conclu ded i n a ton e that m a d e m e turn s ha rply upon him ” D o you really mea n to c l imb up there ? I a sked har s hly I f i t blo s som s fi rst up there —I ll get i t wher e .
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148
A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRO N reached So ha d I been half way up W ith nerve a nd agility the fl ower could be got and b oth these G ray s o n ha d I f he h a d wanted to climb up there and drop h e cou l d have don e i t alone and h e would have k n ow n that I should h ave found him Grayson was testing himse l f a ga in and angry wi th him for the ab surdity o f the thing and with myself for humoring it but still n ot sure o f him I p i cke d up my hat a n d went I swore to myse l f silently that it was th e last tim e I shou ld p ay any heed to his whims I beli eved this wou l d b e the l ast Th e a ff ai r with th e gi rl was over The fl ower sent I kn ew Grayson wou l d never me n tio n her n ame aga in N a ture was ra di ant that a fternoon T h e mounta ins ha d the lea fy l u xuri ance o f Ju n e an d a ri ch sunlit ha z e drowsed o n them between th e shadows starting out over the valley and the c l ou ds so white th at the blu e o f the sky looked da rk Two e a gles shot a cross the mouth o f th e Gap as we n eared it a n d hi gh b eyo n d bu zz ard s wer e sa i li n g ove r Grayso n s r hododendro n I went up the ra v i ne with him a n d I climbed up b eh ind h im—Grayso n goi n g v e ry de libe rately and wh i s tling so f tly H e called dow n to me when he rea che d the she l f tha t looked ha l f way ” Y ou mu s tn t come a ny farther tha n thi s he sai d Get out o n th a t rock a nd I ll drop them ” d o w n to you -
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A P UR P LE RH ODO DENDRO N T h e n he j umped from the l edge a n d caught t h e body o f a smal l tree close to the roots and m y heart sank a t such reckl essness an d al l m y fea rs rose a gai n I scrambled hastily to th e le dge but I cou l d get n o fa rther I mi ght pos s ib l y make the j ump he ha d ma de —but how should I ever get back ? H ow wou l d he ? I c alled angri ly a fter him n ow an d he wou l dn t a nswer me I called him a foo l a coward ; I but Gray so n s tamp ed th e l edg e l ik e a child— k ept o n foot a fter hand with stea l thy caution an d the purp l e cluster n odding dow n at him m ade my hea d whir l I ha d to l i e down to keep from tumb l ing from the le dg e ; an d there o n m y s i de gripp ing a pi ne bush I l a y l ooki n g up a t h im He w a s c l ose to th e fl owers n ow a nd ju st b e for e h e took the la st u pwa rd step h e tu rned a n d l ook e d dow n th at aw fu l hei ght with as c a l m a f ac e a s though h e could h a ve drapped an d fl o a ted unhurt to the r a vine b e n eath T he n with hi s l eft ha n d he caught th e l edg e stra in e d up an d ho l di n g thus t o the l e ft rea ch e d out with h is ri ght T h e hand close d a bout th e c l uster a n d th e twi g was b roken Grayson gave a great shout the n H e tu rne d h is h e a d as though to drop th e m a n d that fa r a way I heard th e sibi l ant whir o f ratt l es I saw a s n ake s crest within a yard o f hi s fa ce and my Go d ! I s a w Grayso n l oose his le ft ha n d to ,
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A P UR P LE RH ODODENDRO N gu ard it ! T he snake st ruck at h is arm an d Grayso n re ele d a n d caught back o n ce at the ledge with his l e ft ha n d H e caught once I say to do h im fu ll j ustice ; th en wi thout a word h e dropped—and I sw e a r ther e was a smile o n his fa c e wh en h e shot d ow n p a st me i n to the tre e s ,
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I f ou n d h im dow n ther e i n th e ravi ne with n e a rly every b o ne i n hi s body c rushed His l e ft a rm was under him and outstr e tch ed i n h is ri ght h and was th e shatt e red c l u ster with ev e ry b los s o m go n e but o n e O n e white ha l f o f his fa c e was unmarked a n d on i t was sti ll the shadow o f a smi l e I thi nk i t mea n t mor e tha n that Gr a y so n b eli eved th at h e wa s n ear p eace at l ast It meant th at Fa te h a d done the de e d for him a n d that h e was g la d W heth e r h e would have done it himsel f I do n ot know ; and th a t is why I s ay th a t th ou gh Grayso n b rought th e fl ower dow n smi ling f rom pe a k to ravine—I do n ot k n ow that h e was n ot a fter a ll a c ow a rd T hat n i ght I wrot e to th e woma n i n Ke n tu cky I to l d her that G rayso n ha d f a ll e n from a cl i ff whi l e climb ing for fl owers ; a n d that h e was dea d " A long wi th thes e words I se nt a purp l e rho do d en dr o n .
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M AN
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H UNTI N G I N T H E
PO U N D
HE p ale l a d from the Pound was t ell i n g news to an ea ger circle o f me n j ust out side the ope n window o f the little mountain hotel and insi de I dropp e d kni fe and fork to li sten Th e wily old D addy o f the F leming boys ha d bee n captured ; the so ns were b eing hemmed in that very day and a fight between sheri ff s poss e and outlaw s wa s likely any hour Ten minutes later I was astride a gr a y mu le and with an ab s u r d little 32 Smith 85 W e sson popgun on my hip —the only weapon I could fi nd i n town—was on my way to the Pou n d O u r volunteer poli ce gu ard dow n a t Th e ” Gap twenty mi le s away was very anxi ou s t o captu re those F leming boys Talton H all feu d l ea der and desperado ha d a lready b een ha n ged and so h a d his b itter enemy the R ed F ox o f the M ounta ins With the F leming outlaws brought to justi ce th e fight o f the gu ard for law and order was about won A nd so a s I was a mem b e r o f that guard it b ehooved m e to hu rry whi ch I di d -
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55
MAN
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HUN T I N G I N T HE P OUND
The Gap is i n th e southwester n cor n er o f ol d Vi rginia a n d is a ra gged gash dow n through the Cumber l and Mou n ta ins to the wat e r level o f a swi ft str e am tha t there runs through a mou n tai n o f l imestone a nd betw ee n beds o f iron ore and b eds o f coki n g coa l That is why som e three score young fellows gathered there from B lue grass Ke n tucky a n d Ti de water Virgini a n ot m a n y years ago to di g thei r fortunes out o f the earth N e arly all were college gra duat es and all were hi gh spiri ted a dventurou s a n d well born They proposed to bu ild a town and inci dentally to m ake cheaper a n d better i ron there tha n was m a de a n ywh ere e l se on the di scovered earth A boom came The l abor an d capita l qu e s tio n was so l v e d insta n t l y fo r e very ma n i n tow n Y ou couldn t get was strai ghtway a capita l i st a door hun g— every carpenter was a meteori c N apoleon o f finance E very young blood i n tow n rode B lue gra ss sa ddle horses a n d ate ei ght o clock dinners—makin g ma n y dollars e ach day an d havi n g high j inks 0 n ights at the club whi ch i f you p l ease e n terta i n ed b esi des others o f d is tincti on a duke an d du chess wh o ha d wari ly e l u de d th e hosp i tality o f N ew Y ork The woods — were full o f a ri stocrats an d plu tocrats A meri ca n a n d E ngli sh The world itsel f seemed to be moving tha t w a y an d the Gap stretched i ts j aws wi de with a gri n o f w el com e L ater you ,
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56
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M AN HUN T I N G
IN
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— o r k hewing a l ways stri ctly to the line o f th e w l aw
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Th e result was rather extraordinary Th e G ap soon b ecame the only pla ce s outh o f M aso n and D ixon s l ine pe r haps where a street fight o f five m inutes duration or a lynching was im possibl e A yell a p i sto l shot o r the si ght o f a L ocal d ru nk e n ma n became a rare occurrence lawles s ness thus sub du ed the gu ard extended it s beni gn in flu en ce—c r eating in time a public senti ment fea rless enough to convi ct a despera do n amed Talt H all ; and gu a rding him f r om re s cue by h i s Kentu cky clansmen for one month at the county s eat t hus made pos s ible the first h anging that mounta in region ha d ever kn own A fter tha t the natives the easy going tolerant goo d people cau ght the fever for law and order fo r like lawlessness law too i s conta gious I t was th e y wh o gu arded the R ed F ox H all s to the sca ff old and it was they who e nemy ha d now taken up ou r hunt for the R ed F ox s a ccompli ces—the F leming outlaws o f the Pound We were a nxiou s to get those boys—they ha d e va ded a nd mocked u s so long U sually they l ived i n a cave but lately they had g r own quite “ tame F r o m wo r king in the fields d r e ss ed i n women s clothes they got to staying openly a t h ome and lounging a round a cross roa ds store at .
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58
M AN HUN T I N G I N T HE P OUND -
the Pound They ev en ha d the impu de n c e t o vote for a sheri ff and a county j udge Th ey levi ed on thei r n eighbors for food an d clothes and so bulli ed an d terrori zed the Pound th a t nobody dared to den y them wh atever they ask e d or dared to attempt an arrest A t last they got th r ee or four recru its and tying red strips o f fl annel to thei r shou l de r s a n d Winchesters dri lled i n the county road mocking ou r dri l l at the county seat whe n w e w e re gu ardi n g Talto n H all Th i s taunt was a l itt le too much and so we climb ed on horseb ack l ate o ne a ftern oo n wrapped ou r guns i n overcoats a n d started out for a n all ni ght ri de only to b e t urned back a ga i n at the foot o f B lack Mou n ta in by ou r captain and first l i eutenant wh o ha d gone over ahea d o f u s a s spies The outlaws were fighti n g amo n g themselves ; on e m a n was kil l ed a n d w e must wa it u n til they got tam e a gai n A few weeks later the gu ard rode over a gai n dashed into the Fl eming cab i n a t daybreak a n d cap t ured a h ousefu l o f scream i n g women a n d chi ldre n—to th e grea t disgust o f the gu ard and to the great humor o f the mou n tai n eers wh o ha d heard o f ou r comin g a n d go n e o ff da n cing dow n the roa d only an hou r be fore It was then th a t th e n ativ e s emulating our example too k up th e s ea rch T hey w e r e doi n g th e work n ow an d i t .
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M AN HUN TI N G I N T H E P OUND -
was
my grea t l uck to be th e o n ly member o f th e gu ard wh o k n ew what was goin g on .
Th e da y was hot th e roa d dusty an d the gra y mu le was slow Within two hours I was at th e h e a d o f th e Pou n d—a wi ld b e auti ful law l ess regio n that h arb or e d th e despera does o f Virgini a a n d Kentucky wh o coul d do mi schie f i n e ither Sta te and step to r e fuge a cross the l i n e F ar a head I could see a green dip i n the mounta ins wh ere the R ed F ox and the F leming boys ha d shot t h e Mullins family o f moo n shiners to death from ambu s h one sunny morning i n M ay B elow sparkled Pound R iver roaring over a m illdam and by the ro a dsi de as I went down I found the old miller alone The posse o f natives ha d ru n upon the F lemi n gs that morning he sai d a n d th e outlaws a fter a sh arp fi ght ha d escaped wounded Th e sheri ff was in charge o f the sea rching party and he beli eved that th e F lem i n gs would b e cau ght n ow for su re “ ” Which way ? I a s ked T h e old fellow pointed down a twi sti n g sun l i t ravine den s e with woods and I rode down th e dim creek that twi s ted through i t H a l f an hou r later I s t ru ck a double log cabi n with qu i lt s h anging i n it s win dow s —which was unu su al A n old wom an appeared i n the do o rway—a tall m aj esti c old ti gress with h ea d th r own b ack a n d ,
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M AN HUN T I N G
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T he old woman s bi g th roat shook with qui et l aughter The gir l laughed an d the woma n through the door laughed in her ap r on but the boy s face moved not a musc l e It was plain that we ha d no monopoly o f th e humor o f that day break dash i nto a house full o f wome n a n d chi l d r en “ O ne foo l fe l ler stuck his hea d up into the lo ft and lit a m atch to see i f my boy s was up tha r L it a m a tch ! H e wouldn t a had no hea d e f they had been S he laughed a g a in and drew on her pipe I give em co ffee s he went on whi le they wa ited for my boy s to come b ack a n all I axed em wa s not to hurt em i f they could help it Then she broached the point at i s s ue h ersel f “ I s pose you ve h e e r d about the fight thi s .
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Y es — i I reckon you kn ow my boys s hurt mebb e ” they re dea d i n the woods so m e wh ar now She spoke with l itt l e sa dness an d with no animus whatever Ther e was n o use tryi n g to concea l my pu rpose down there —I saw that at once an d I got up to leave She would n ot l et me p ay for the butterm ilk E f you git hold o f em —I wi sh you wou l d n t ” harm em she s ai d a s I climbed on the g r ay mu le a n d I promi sed her that i f they were caught .
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62
M AN HUN T I N G I N T HE P OUND -
unharmed no furthe r harm shou l d come to them ; a nd I rode a way the group sitti n g motio n less a n d watch ing m e F or two hours I ambled a l ong th e top o f a spu r on a p r etty shaded roa d with precip itou s woods on each si de an d n ow and then a n occa s io n al cab in but not a human b eing was i n si ght — not for long Sometimes I Woul d see a fi gur e fl itting a round a corner o f a cab i n ; sometimes a door would open a few inche s a n d close qu i ckly ; a n d I kn ew the whole regi o n was terrori z ed F or two hours I rode on through the sunli ght an d beauty o f those lonely hi lls and then I came o n a crowd o f mounta ineers a l l armed with Wi n chesters an d j ust eme r ging from a cab in by the roadsi de It was one divi sion o f the sea rching party an d I j oi n ed them They wer e much amused when they saw th e Christmas toy wit h which I was a rmed S pose o n e o the Fle mi n gs ha d st e pped o ut n the bushes an axed y e what ye was doin down h y e h —what would ye a sa i d ? That mi ght have been embarrassi n g a n d I h a d to laugh I r eally ha d not thought o f that O ne man showed me the Winchester they ha d captured—H eenan s gun Ti ed to the meat hou s e an d leaping a gainst a rop e tether was a dog—whi ch too they h a d captured— H eenan s dog A s we started out th e yard Goose n eck ,
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h Bra n am wi th a l ook o f disgust a t m y J p i s tol whipped out one o f h is ow n—some t wo feet long— for me to swi n g o n my other hi p A nother f e llow criti ca ll y took in my bro a d brim straw hat H ell ! h e sai d That wo n t do They ca n see that a mi le through the woods I l l get ye a hat An d he we n t b ack into the cabi n and brought out a fa ded slouch hat That s H eenan s ! h e sai d Th at too the y h a d cap tu red A nd so I wore H ee n a n s hat—looki n g for H ee n a n I o
hn
T HE P OUND
IN
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H al f a mi le down the roa d we stepped a si d e twenty yards i n to the bushes The r e was th e cave in whi ch the outlaws h a d lived There were i n i t severa l blankets a little b ag o f meal an d som e b its o f ham R ight by the si de o f the road wa s a hug e pile o f shavi n gs where the two out laws ha d whittled away m a n y a su n ny hou r H al f a n hou r o n dow n a deep ravine and up a long slop e an d w e were o n a woody knoll wh ere the fight h a d taken place that mor n ing Th e little trees looked as though a Gatli n g gu n ha d b een tu rne d loose on them Th e posse ha d foun d out where the Fl emi n gs were the n i ght b efore by capturin g the ol d F leming mother while she was carryi n g them a .
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64
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F or twe n ty minutes those two Fl eming boy s fought twenty two m en fiercely “ Ju s t looked like one stea dy fl ame was a comin out 0 each man s Winchester al l th e ” time sai d B ranham pointing to two bullet p ecked t r ee s b eh ind which the outlaws ha d stood I was behin d th i s birch laying his han d on a t r ee as bi g as hi s thigh an d pointing out where the Fl emings ha d dri lled three bullet ho l es i n i t b etween h is neck and his wa istband I see d Jim H ale p oki n his gun a roun d thi s h y e h tree a n d pumpin it o ff inter the ” ground sa i d H all a n I cou l dn t shoot for -
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Well sa i d Swindall I was t ry in to git i n a shot from the oak there a n d something st r uck m e and kn ocked me out i n the bushes I looked around and damn me i f there wa sn t seve n ful l ” grown men behind my t r ee I t ha d evi dently been quite warm for a while unti l B ranham cau ght H ee n a n i n the shoulder with a loa d o f buckshot H eenan s hat went o ff h is gun dropped to hi s feet ; he cri ed simply Oh you ! Then he ran Cal Fl eming too ran then and th e po ss e fir e d a fter them The dog cu riously e n ough lay where he ha d la in during the fi ght at the base o f H eenan s tree— a n d s o hat dog an d gun we r e captured I ha d wonde r ed wh y th e pos s e ha d ’
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n ot pu rsu ed the Fl emings a fter woundin g th e m and I began to u n dersta n d They were so e l ated at h aving been i n a fight and come out sa fe that they stopped to cook breakfast gather memen tos and talk i t all over Ten mi nutes l ater we wer e at the cabi n wh er e the fugitives h a d stopped to get some co ffee “ They was pretty b adly hurt I reckon sai d th e woma n wh o ha d give n them something to eat “ H eenan s shoulder was al l shot up a n I reckon I coul d git my hand into a hole in C al s b ack Ca l was gr o an in a good deal an had to ” lay dow n e very ten yards We went on hurri edly and i n a n hou r we struck th e ma in body o f th e searching party an d a s soon as the s heri ff saw me he came running forward N ow the gua rd at the Gap h a d s uch a reputatio n that a n y memb er o f it wa s sup pose d to b e past m aster i n the conduct o f such m atters as were now pending H e immedi ately ” called m e Capta in and asked me to take ch a rg e o f the p arty I looked round at them a nd I politely veered from the honor Such a tou gh l ooking gang i t has ra rely been my good l uck to see and I h a d little doubt that many o f them we re worse than the F leming boys O ne tall fellow p arti cular l y attracted my attenti on ; he wa s fu l ly six and one hal f fe e t high ; he was ,
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67
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tw en ty n in ut es th ose two Fl em ing b o ys f ou gh t W e n t-two men fie r cely Ju st l o oed l i k e o ne st e a d y flam e was a ea c h m an s \Vin ch es te r all t h e com i n ou t ” ti m e s a i d l ranh am po i n t i n g to two b ul le t p e ck e d tr ee s ch i n d wh i c h t h e o ut la ws h ad st o od I was be h i d th i s b i rc h la y i n g h is h an d o n a tr ee a s b i g a h is t h i gh and po in ti n g out wh e r e th e F le m i n g h ad d ri lle d t h ree b u ll e t h o l es in i t b e twe en h is rck and h is wa i st ban d I s e e d im Hale po k i n his gu n a rou n d t h i s h ye h ti e an d p um pi n i t o ff i n t e r th e ” grou n d 5 a! Hall a n I coul dn t sh oo t f o r Fo r
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id S wi n d all , I was t ryin to g i t i n a s h ot from t e o ak th e re , and so m e th i n g stru ck m e an d kn o oed m e o ut i n th e b us h e s ' a rou n d an dl amn m e i f th e r e w a sn t se ’
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grow n m en bh i n d m y tr ee I t h a d c v fhn t l y b e e n q u i t e wa rm u n ti l Br an h aa ca u gh t Hee nan wi th a l oa d 6 b u ck sh o t h is gu n d r o ptbd to his f O T Cal F a f t e r th e wh e r e h e o f H e e nan ca p tu r e d .
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ve ry s len der a n d his l egs and arms w e re th e l ongest I have ever see n swun g to a huma n fram e H e ha d sandy h ai r red eyes hi gh cheek bones a nd on e ach ch ee k was a dimi n utiv e boi l About h is wa i st was str a pp e d a huge revo l v e r a n d to th e butt o f thi s pi sto l was ti e d a bi g bl a ck bow r ibbon—ti ed th e r e n o doubt by h is swe e the a rt as a ba dg e o f death or destru c tio n to h is ene mies H e l ook e d m e over ca l mly H ev you e v e r se a r c h e d for a dea d m a n ? h e a sk e d deep l y It was humi l i ati n g to hav e to c o n fess i t i n th a t crowd but I ha d n ot—n ot the n “ ” We l l I h ev h e s ai d si g n i fican t l y I h a d litt l e doubt a n d f or o ne p e rhaps o f his ow n ki lling I n the hollow j ust b e l ow u s was th e c a b in o f P a rson Swinda ll—a fri en d o f th e Fl emings Th e p arson though t th e outlaws dyin g or dea d and h e kne w th e cave to which they must hav e d ragge d themselv e s to di e I f I got permi ss io n f rom the old Fl eming mother he wou l d gui d e m e h e sa i d to th e spot I se n t b ack a messe n ger p romising th at th e bodi e s o f her so n s should n ot b e tou ched i f they were dead n o r shou l d they b e further harm e d i f th e y were stil l a l iv e Th e fie r c e old woman s a nswe r cam e b ack in a n h ou r S he d ruther they rotted out i n th e woods ,
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68
He v yo u
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M AN HUN TI N G I N T HE P OUN D -
B y a l ucky chanc e I d e ci d e d to take the other p ath O therwise I should hardly b e writin g th e se l i n es to day F or thr e e days we search e d on l y to lea r n o r rath e r to be told wh ich was n ot the truth that i n wom en s dress the F lemi n gs ha d escaped over i n to Ke n tu cky A s a matter o f fa ct they l ay two we e ks in a cav e Ca l fl a t o n h is b ack an d letting th e wat e r from the roo f o f th e c a ve drip hou r by hou r o n a fri ghtfu l wou n d i n h is br e ast .
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s e v e ra l mo n ths th e y w en t u n c a ptu red u nti l fin al l y three o f the men who were with me Goose ne ck John B ra nham E d H al l and D oc Swi n da l l l ocat e d them over the bord e r in West Vi rgini a O f course a bi g rew a rd was o ffe red ” for each or th e y w e r e r e wa rd e d a s the mou n Th e three m en clos e d i n o n them t ain ee r s say C a l F l emi n g was in a l itt le stor e one mor n i n g r ea di n g a l etter wh e n the thr e e su rged i n a t the d oor an d H al l c a tchi n g C a l by th e l ap el o f his c o a t s a i d qu iet ly ! Y ou a re my priso ne r C al spra n g b ack to br e ak th e ho l d an d H a ll shot h im throu gh the br e ast killi n g him outri ght H een an who was n ot thought to b e da n gerous sp ra n g at th e sam e i nsta n t t en feet a way a n d h is fi rst shot cau ght H a ll i n th e back o f the h e ad droppi n g th e o ffi ce r to h is knee s T h i n ki n g h e F or
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M AN HUN TI N G I N T H E P OUND -
done for H all H ee n an tu rned on B ranha m and Swi ndall and shot B ra nh am through both lungs and Swindall th r ou gh the neck— droppi n g both to th e floor Thi s le ft th e duel b etwee n H all on hi s knees a n d H eenan A t l ast a l uck y shot from H all s p i s to l struck H eenan s p isto l ha nd la cerating the fingers and maki n g h im drop his weapon H eena n ra n into the b ack room then and finding no egre s s reapp ea red i n the doo rway wi th hi s b loody hands a bo ve h is hea d “ Well E d h e sa i d simp l y I ca n t do n o ” mo re
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Six months l ater H ee n a n F leming was b rou gh t b ack to the county seat to be tried for hi s li fe and I felt su re that h e would meet hi s end o n th e scaffold wh e r e T al to n H al l a n d Re d F ox ha d su ff ered death A s he s at there i n the pri son e r s b ox his fac e p a l e an d fle ck e d with powder I cou l d see a sunken spot in hi s j aw throu gh whi ch o n e o f H all s bullets h a d gone a n d hi s b right black e yes gleamed fi re I steppe d up to him I thou ght there was no chance o f h is e s caping th e gallows ; bu t i f he di d e s cape I wanted to be as fri endly with him a s pos s ible ” H ee nan I sa i d di d you ever g e t your h a t b ac k ? -
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7
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M AN HUN TI N G
IN
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T HE P OUND
N o h e sa i d Well i f you com e c l ea r go up to t h e stor e a n d get the be s t h at in th e house a n d have i t ” charged to me H eenan sm iled N ow by a curi ou s cha nce th e wom an o n whose te s timony th e R ed F ox ha d bee n hanged h a d di ed mea nwhile Some people sa i d sh e ha d b ee n purposely put out o f the way to a voi d fur ther testimony A t an y rate throu gh h e r death H eena n did come c l ea r a nd th e l ast tim e I saw h im he was ri din g out o f the tow n o n a mule wi th h is baby i n front o f him an d o n h is hea d a br an d n ew d e rby h a t—mi ne .
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17 2
D OW N
TH E A
K E N T U C KY
ON
RA F T
HE heart o f the B lue gr a ss i n th e mi dd le o f a sunny a ft e r n oon An hou r th en c e throu gh a rolling sweep o f gree n ing ea rt h an d woodland through the low poor hi lls o f the bru sh cou n try an d i nto th e oasi s o f Indi a n Ol d F i elds ri ch i n leve l mea d o w l a n ds a n d whea t fie l ds I n the good old da ys o f th e war whoop a n d the sca l ping kn i fe the sava g e ha d there on e o f the only two vi llages tha t he ever pla n te d “ ” D a rk an d B loody Ground Ther e in th e D ani e l B oone camp ed o n e night a n d a p ion e er “ ” r ea d him Gulliver s Travels and the grea t D ani el ca ll ed the l itt l e stream a t thei r feet Lulli b igrub —whi ch n ame i t bears to da y A nother hou r betw een cli ff s an d poi n ted peaks a n d c a s t l e d rocky summits an d through lau re l and rho d o d en d ro n to the Three F orks o f the Kentu cky U p the M i ddle F ork the n a n d a t dusk the end o f the ra i lroa d i n the hea rt o f the mountains a n d “ — J ackson the county seat o f B loody B reath — i tt once the seat o f a lively feu d a n d still the possible s e a t o f a n other i n sp it e o f th e fa c t that -
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7S
D O W N T HE K EN T U CK Y O N A RA F T with a m anu a l tra ini n g schoo l a n d a b ranch o f a B lu e gra s s college i t is a lso the seat o f learnin g an d culture for the regio n dra i n ed by Cutshin H ell fer Sarta i n Kingdom Come a n d other li t t le streams o f a n omenc l ature not le s s p ictur esque E ve n H ell fer Sarta i n is l ooki n g up A piou s l ad y h as establishe d a Su n day schoo l o n H e l l fer Sa rta in A humorou s books e l le r has o f f e r e d t o give i t a l ibrar y o n the condition that he b e allowe d to desi gn a book plat e for the vol umes An d the Sunday school is o ffi ci ally know n as the H ell fer Sartain Su n day schoo l F rom all these sm al l tributa ri es o f the Ke n tu cky the m ountaineer fl oa ts logs dow n the river to th e cap i ta l in the B lue grass N ot m a n y years ago that was hi s chi e f r e ason an d h is only on e for goin g to the B lu e gras s an d down the Kentucky on a ra ft was the b est way for him to get there H e got b ack on foot B ut coming or going by steam water horseb a ck o r a foot th e trip is wel l worth whi le A t Ja ckson a ma n with a l a n ter n pu t m e i n a ” h ack d r ove me aboard a fl at boat ferri ed m e over with a rop e cable crack e d his whip and w e went u p a steep mu ddy b a n k into the town A ll th r ough th e Cumb erlan d valleys n owa days “ little b oom towns with electri c lights water wo r k s and a street ra i lway m ake one think o f the man who sai d give him the luxuri es o f li fe an d -
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76
D O W N T HE K EN T U CK Y ON A RA F T be fore the sap rises so that the logs ca n dry b e t ter all wi n ter and floa t better in the spring Be fore frost comes o n river bank hi l l si de an d mountain top th e coo l mor n ing a i r is r e so nan t with th e ring o f axes th e si n ging whistle o f bi g the crash o f gi ant pop l a r and oak an d s aws chest n ut dow n throu gh th e lesser growth u n d e r them and the l ow boom that echoes through th e woods whe n the bi g trees strike the ea rth All winte r this goes o n With th e hammer o f th e woodpecker in th e early spri n g you hear th e c ri e s ” o f ox drivers snaking th e logs dow n th e m ountain si de to the edge o f som e steep c l i ff where they a r e tumb l e d p ell mell strai ght dow n to th e ba n k o f th e river or the b an k o f som e l itt le cre e k that ru n s i n to i t It t a kes e i ght yok e o f oxe n somet i me s to dra g the h e a rt o f a mo n arc h to the chut e a n d there the l ogs are ra fted a s th e mou n ta ineer cal l s the work ; that is th ey a re ro l led with h and spikes into the water an d — lashed si de by si de with split sapli n gs l e n gth wise i n th e broa d B i g Sa n dy broa dsi d e i n th e E v e ry third or fourth l og is a n a r row Kentu cky pop l ar because that wood is buoya n t a n d wi ll help fl oat th e chestnut a n d th e o a k A t b o w a n d st e rn a hu ge l ong limber oa r is ri gged o n a tu rning stile th e ra ft i s anchore d to a tr ee with a cable o f rope or grapevine a n d ther e is a p ati ent wa it for a ti de S om e d a y in M a rc h ,
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17
8
D O W N T H E K EN T U CK Y O N A RA F T o r A pri l—sometimes n ot u n ti l M ay—mist and clouds l oose th e ra in in torre n ts th e n ei ghbors g a ther the c a b l e i s slipped a n d th e ra ft swi n gs out th e mouth o f the creek on its l ong way to th e l and o f whi ch to thi s day the avera g e mou n t ain e e r kn ows hard l y l ess th an that lan d kn o ws o f him S tea di l y th at mo rn ing w e k e pt the c l ums y row bo a t sw e epi n g a round gree n buttressed poi n ts a nd l ong bends o f th e river b e twee n hi gh verti c al c l i ff s overspread with vi n es a n d str ea ked whit e wi th waterfalls through boili n g e ddi e s a n d l o n g swi ft w a ving r iffle s i n a n e xh il a r a tio n th a t se e ms to com e to run n i n g b l oo d an d str a i n i n g musc l e s on l y i n l one l y wilds On ce a boy shi e d a sto ne dow n at u s from the poi n t of a c l i ff hu n dr eds o f feet sheer overh e ad I wish I h a d my 4 4 sa i d th e mou n t a i nee r l ooki n g wi stfully upwa rd Y ou would n t shoot a t him ? “ I d skeer him a l eet le I recko n h e s a i d dry l y a n d then h e told m e stories o f o l der and fie rce r days wh en ea ch ma n ca rri e d a gu n a n d o fte n ha d to u se i t t o secure a l a n ding o n dark n i ghts whe n the l oggers ha d to ti e up to th e b a n k When the moo n shi ne s th e r a fts k ee p goi n g n i ght a n d day When the river s pu rty swi ft you kn ow it s h a rd to stop a ra ft I ve see n a r a ft s l ash dow n ,
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D O W N T HE K EN T U CK Y ON A RA F T through the bu s he s for two miles before a fellow could git a rop e a r ound a tree So sometimes we ha d to ketch hol d o f another feller s ra ft that was alrea dy ti ed up and a s there was danger o pullin hi s l oose the f e l l e r d try to keep u s o ff That s wha r the 4 4 s come i n A nd they do i t ” y i t he sa i d a s l ater I l ea rn ed for my s elf H ere and there were l ogs and splintered sap l ings thrown out on the bank o f th e river—signs “ o f wrecka g e where a ra ft ha d bowed that i s the b o w ha d struck the b ank at the ben d o f the river the s ter n ha d swung around to the oth er shore and th e ra ft h a d hunched up i n the m i ddle like a buckin g horse Standing upri ght the mounta ineer can ri de a s in g l e log down a swi ft stream even when hi s weight sinks it a foot or two under the surface but he finds it hard and dangerous to stay abo a rd a ra ft whe n it ” bows “ I was bringin a ra ft out o L eatherwoo d Creek below h e ah —o nly th at was not the nam e he gave the creek an d we bowed j ust be for e w e got to the river Tha r was a kind o f a id git on board wh o was j ust a ri din down the creek fer fun and whe n I was throwed out i n th e woods I see d him go up i n the a i r and come dow n k e r flo p i n th e water H e went under the ra ft a nd craw l ed ou t about two hund r ed ya rd s dow n the riv e r W e a xed him to git o n agin but th a t .
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80
D O W N T HE K EN T U CK Y ON A RA F T hi ghe r s till the flu t in g o f a wood th rush and sti ll hi gher an o x driver s sha rp cry The vivi d hues o f dress and shawl on the b an k s eemed to st r ike out s ha rply every colo r note i n the g r een wall behind them s tra i ght up to the mountain top It was as primitive and simpl e a s A rca dy D ow n the ba nk cam e old B e n Sa n ders as I lea rned late r s houting hi s goo d bys withou t l ooki n g behind him as he s l ipped down the b ank Close a fter him hi s son young B en with a huge pone o f c orn brea d three feet squ a re The boy was so trembling with excitement over hi s fi rst trip that he came nea r dropping it Then a mounta ineer w ith l ank long h ai r the schola r o f th e p arty and Tim gui lty o f humor but once o n the t r ip — s olem n Tim Two others j umped aboard with b a con a nd co ffee—pa ss enge r s like m ysel f Tom stoo d on shore wi th one han d o n th e cable whi le he sai d someth ing now and the n t o a gi r l i n crim s on homespun who stood near l o o king downwa rd N ow and the n one o f th e other women would look at the two and laugh ” A ll ri ght now Tom shouted old B e n l et h e r loose ! T o rn thrust ou t hi s hand which th e girl t ook s hyly D on t f e r git T o m she sai d Tom lau ghe d — the r e wa s little danger that T o m w o uld forget -
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82
D O W N T H E K EN T U CK Y O N A RA F T
—a nd
with one twi st o f h i s sinewy hand s h e threw the l oop o f the grapevine clea r o f the tree and for all his great bulk sp rang like a cat aboa rd the ra ft which shot forwa rd with such lightn e ss that I was n early th r own fro m my feet Good b y B e n ! Good b y Molly ! So long boys ! D on t you f e rgit that cal ik er n ow B e n ” I won t ” Tom called a mounta ineer e f you git d runk an s pend yo mo n ey N a n ce h e ah s ays she won t m arry ye when you come back N ance slapp ed a t the fellow an d the gi ant sm i l ed Then one p iping voice D on t f e r git my t e rb acky B en ” Al l ri ght G ranny— I wo n t a n swere d old B en and as we n eared the be n d o f the river he cri ed back “ T ake that s a dd l e hom e I borrowed 0 Jo e T homa s an don t f e r git to sen d that s i de o f b a con to M andy Lo ngnecker an —an an d th e n I got a last glimpse o f the wome n s ha din g th e i r p ati e n t eyes to watch the l essening fi gures o n the ra ft and the creaking oars fl ashing white i n the su n li ght ; and I thought o f them goin g b a ck to th e i r l onely littl e cabins o n this creek to a wa it the hom e comi n g o f th e m en I f the ,
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1
83
D O W N T HE KE N T U CK Y O N A RA FT mounta in women hav e a n y curio s i ty about tha t ” di s tant l an d the B lu e gra s s se tt l e m in t s they n ever sho w i t I have n ever known a mountai n w o m an to go dow n the river o n a ra ft Perhap s they don t ca re to go ; perhaps it is n ot prop e r for thei r i deas o f propri ety are very strict ; p e r haps the long trip b a ck on foot deterred them s o long that the hab i t o f n ot going i s too stro n g to overcome A n d the n i f they di d go who woul d tend the ever present b aby in a rms the ever n u m e ro u s children ; m ake the garden and we e d a n d hoe the young corn for the absent lord an d m as ter I suppose i t was generati o n s o f j ust suc h lonely women wa itin g a t thei r cabins in pio ne er day s for the m e n to come hom e that gives t h e mounta in woman the broodin g look o f p atho s that so touches th e stranger s hea rt to day ; a n d i t i s th e wa tching to day that will keep u n changed that l ook o f v a cant sa d n ess for ge n erati ons to co m e E ase her up n ow ! called old B e n—we were m aki n g our first tu r n— and bi g Tom at the bow and young B e n an d the schola r a t th e stern o a r swept the whi te sapli n g s through the water with a terri fic swi sh Fo o th o l e s ha d been cut a long the logs and in these the men stuck thei r toe s a s they pushed w ith both ha n ds on the oa r and the o ar a cross thei r b reasts A t the en d o f the stroke they thr e w th e o ar dow n an d u p with -
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84
DO W N T HE K EN T U CK Y O N A RA F T under any and a ll ci rcum s tances ev e ry mou n no m att e r i f the t ain e e r ask s the stranger strange r ha s a sked him a que s ti on first “ Well stranger wha t mought yo n am e be ? A nswerin g that you a re expected to tel l i n the same breath as wel l what your busi n ess is I knew i t was usele s s to tell m i n e—it would n ot have b een understood an d would hav e e n gendered susp i cio n I was at J ackso n ; I ha d long wanted to go dow n the river o n a ra ft a n d I let them think that I wa s going for curiosity a nd fun ; but I am qu ite sure they were not wholly sati s fie d unti l I ha d given them grou n d to believe that I cou l d a ff ord the trip for fun by taking them up to the hote l that ni ght for supp er a n d givin g them some ve r y ba d ci gars F or though the moon was full the sky was b l a ck with cloud s and old B e n sa i d we mu s t ti e up for the ni ght That tyin g up was exciting work The ra ft was worked cauti ously toward the shore an d a man stood at b ow an d ste m with a rope wa iting his chance to j ump ashore a nd coi l i t abou t a tree Tom j umped first an d I n ever reali zed what the momentum of the ra ft was unti l I saw him as he threw the rope about a tree j e rked like a straw i n to the bushes the rope torn f r om hi s hand s an d hea rd the ra ft crashin g down through the undergrowth Tom gave ,
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86
DO W N T HE K EN T U CK Y O N A RA FT cha s e a long the bank an d everybody ye l led a n d ran to an d fro I t w as crash—swish—bump grind an d crash a ga in ; a n d it wa s o n ly by the hardest work at the clumsy oars that w e kep t the ra ft o ff the shor e F rom a rock Tom m a de a flying leap aboard a ga in a n d l ucki ly the river b roa dened there a n d j ust p ast the point o f a thi cket we came upon another ra ft a l re a dy anchore d The boy B en p icked u p h is rope and p rep a red to l eap aboard the stranger from the other en d o f whi ch a mou n ta ineer r an towa r d us Keep o ff he shouted keep o ff I te ll ye but the boy p a i d no attenti on an d the other m a n pulled his pistol B en droppe d h is rop e then looke d a round l aughed pi cked up his rop e a ga i n and j ump ed aboard The fellow lowere d his pisto l an d swore I l ooke d around too the n E very m an on boa r d with u s ha d his p is tol i n his hand We tugged the stranger s cabl e s orely but it he l d him fast a nd he held us fast an d the tying up was done H e d a do n e us the same way s ai d o l d B e n i n p a l li ation N ext day it was easy sa i l ing most o f the tim e and we ha d long rests from the oars and we smoked and the bottles were slowly empti ed o n e by one whi le the mounta ineers j ollied ea c h other an d to l d drawling stori es On c e we struck ,
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87
DO W N T HE K EN T U CK Y O N A RA FT a l ong eddy and were caught by it and swept b a ck up stream ; t wi ce thi s happened be fore w e could get in the current a ga in Then they a l l lau ghed and j olli ed old B e n I t seemed tha t th e old fellow ha d take n too much on e dark n i ght an d ha d re fused to ti e up There wa s a house at the hea d o f thi s eddy an d when he stru ck i t th e re was a gray horse hitched to the fence outsi de ; a n d insi de w as the soun d o f fidd l e s an d fu r ious dancing N ext morn in g old Ben told a nother ra ft s man that he ha d seen more gray ho r se s and heard more fi ddli n g that night than he h a d see n a nd hea r d since h e was born They was a fidd l in a n a danci n at every “ ” house I passe d last ni ght he sa i d an I m damned i f I di dn t see a gray hoss hitch e d out si de every time I h e e r d the fidd l in I re ckon they was ha nts The old fellow laughed good na tu redly whi le the schola r was telling h is story H e h a d b een caught i n the eddy and ha d bee n swung a round an d a round p assing th e same house and the sam e horse each time I b eliev e I have rem arked that those bottles w e r e emptyi n g fast B y noon they were qu ite emp t y an d two hour s later as w e rou n ded a cu r ve the schola r went to the bow put hi s h ands to his m outh an d shouted W h is ke e ! ,
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88
D O W N T HE K EN T U CK Y O N A RA F T dog on Som e times you n g B e n and th e schola r an d even sol e mn Tim sang some wei rd old b a lla d that on e ca n h e a r n ow onl y i n th e South ern hills ; a n d t wice to my delight and surprise ” the schola r yodelled I wo n dered where he ha d l ea rn e d how H e di d not know—h e ha d a lways known how I t was p erhaps only an other o f th e cu ri ou s O ld Worl d surviva l s that a r e o f c e a seless interest to a speculativ e fur ri n er an d was no stranger than the songs he san g I w e nt to sleep by a n d by a n d wok e up shiveri n g It was yet dark but si gns o f day w ere evi dent ; and i n th e dim li ght I coul d se e young B e n a t the stern oa r on watch an d the hu ge shape o f bi g Tom standing like a statu e a t the bow an d p eerin g ahea d We ha d ma de good tim e during the night—the mou n ta i n eers say a ra ft makes better tim e during th e n i ght wh y I could not se e n or could they expla i n an d a t daybreak w e w ere sweep ing a roun d th e hi lls o f the brush country an d the schola r wh o ha d pointed out things o f interest ( he was a school teacher a t hom e ) b egan to show his p arts w ith som e pri d e E ve r y rock a n d cli ff and tur n an d eddy down that lon g river has some p ictur esqu e n am e tha t the river m en h ave given it n ames know n only to them Two rocks that shoved thei r black shou l ders up o n either si de o f the stream have been called Buck a n d B illy .
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0 9
D O W N T HE K EN T U CK Y O N A RA F T ’
a fter som e ol d fe ll ow s favorite oxen for mor e H ere was an eagle s ne st t han hal f a century A b ea r h a d b ee n se en not long a go l ooki n g from a b l a ck ho le i n the fa ce of a cli ff Ho w Th e h e got ther e n o o n e could und e rstand scholar told some strong stori es—now th a t we w ere i n a regi o n o f histori ca l interest—where B oo n e planted h is first fort an d where B oones borough o n ce stood but he always pr e fac e d h is t a le with th e overwhelming authori t y that H is t ry says ! H e declared tha t history sai d that a bu ll se e ing some cows a cross the river ha d j ump ed from th e p oint o f a high cli ff stra i ght down into the river ; ha d swum a cross a n d fallen dea d as h e was climbi n g the b ank “ ” He bus ted h is hea rt sai d the schola r O ddly enou gh solem n Tim wh o ha d n ev e r c ra cked a smile was the first to reb el Y ou see that cli ff yander ? sa i d th e “ schola r Well h ist ry says tha t D a n l B oone d ruv three I n j uns onc e stra i ght ov e r that cli ff ” dow n into the river I could s e e that Ti m was l oath to cast dis credi t o n the fa cts o f history I f the scho l a r ha d sa i d o ne o r even two I n di ans I don t think Tim would have called a halt ; but for D a n i e l with only o n e l oa d in h is gun—a n d i t n ot a W i nc hester—to driv e th r e e—it was t oo mu c h ,
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19 1
D O W N T H E K E NT U CK Y O N A RA F T
A nd yet Tim n ever smi led and it was t h e fi r st time I he a rd him volunta ri ly ope n h is l ips We ll h ist ry mought a sai d that he sai d bu t I recko n D a n l wa s in th e l e a d ! The yell that went up route d the scho l ar and stille d him H i s tory sa i d no fa rther down th a t stream even whe n w e were p assing betwee n the maj esti c cli ff s that in one place a re spanne d by the thi rd highest bri dge in the world Th e r e a ferry was crossing the riv e r an d o l d Be n grew reminiscenti al H e ha d b een a ferrym an b ack in the mou n ta i ns “ Tha r was a s losh o f i ce run n in i n th e ” river he sa i d an a fel l er com e a lopi n dow n the roa d on e day a n holler e d an axed m e to take him a cross I kn owed from h is voic e tha t he was a d rin kin and I ho l le re d b a c k a n axed him i f he w as drunk Y es I m drunk ! H ow drunk ? I says ‘ D runk as hell ! h e says but I ca n ri d e that boat “ Well there wa s a aw fu l s l osh 0 i ce a ru n n in but I let him on an we ha dn t got more n ten feet from the b ank when that feller fell o ff in that slosh 0 i ce Well I k e tch e d him by one foot an I dru g him an I d ru g him an I d rug his face about twenty fe e t in th e mud a n ,
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192
D O W N T H E K EN T U CK Y O N A RA FT to wa lk b ack I wo n d e r e d a n d whi le I asked n o q uesti ons I should like t o wager that I guessed the truth Tom ha d sp e nt e v e ry ce n t o f h is mon e y for the gi r l i n c rimso n homespu n wh o was w a iti n g for him a w a y b ack i n the hi l l s an d i f I rea d h e r fac e a ri ght I cou l d hav e told h im that s h e would h av e give n e v e ry trink e t h e h ad sent her rather than w a i t a da y l onger for th e si ght o f h is f a ce W e shook ha n ds a nd I wa tched him p ass ou t o f si ght wi th h is face blue s et hom e wa rd a cross a n d beyo n d the gr a ss throu gh the b ru sh country an d the I n di a n Ol d F i el ds b a ck to h is hil l s o f l au r el a n d rhodod en dro n .
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1 94
T H R O U GH T H E B A D
BEND
T HROU G H T HE
B AD
B END
oo n b ega n On e d runken young gi ant pu lle d h i s revolver swung i t b ack over his s houlder the mu zzle almost gra zi n g a woma n s face b e h i n d him — an d sw ung i t up aga in to se n d a bullet crashing throu gh the top o f the ca r The hammer was a t th e turn ing poi n t when a com i anion caught wrist A t the same time the h s p fellow s sister spran g a cross the a isle and wrenching th e weapo n from h is gra s p hi d i t i n her dress Simultaneou s ly his p art n er a t the o ther e n d o f the ca r was drawing a 4 5 Co l t s hal f as long a s h is arm A qui ck p a n ic ra n through the ca r an d in a mom ent there w as n o on e i n i t wi th u s bu t the mountaineers the con ductor one b rakema n an d one other man wh o s at sti ll i n h is seat w ith one ha n d under h is c oat The prosp e ct was n either pleasant nor p eaceful an d w e rose t o ou r feet an d wa ited The di s armed gi ant was ra gin g throu gh the a i s le s ea r ching an d ca llin g with mi ghty o aths fo r his pi s tol Th e other ha d b acked into a co r ner o f the c a r w aving hi s revolver tu rning hi s hea d from si de to si de to avoi d a surpris e i n the rea r w hi te w ith ra ge a n d j ust drunk enough to s hoot The little conductor was un moved an d smiling and by some qui et mesmer i sm he kep t the two i n subj ection unti l the sta t i on w as reached The tra in move d ou t an d l e ft u s a mo n g the s
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198
T HROU G H T HE d runke n
B END
B AD
m a n i ac s n o house in si ght the darkness s ettlin g on us a n d the unclimbe d mounta i n l ooming up i n to i t The belli gere n ts p a i d no attenti o n t o us however but di s appeared quick l y with an occasiona l p istol shot an d a yel l fro m the bushes ea ch tim e sounding farther a w ay The Kentu ck y mountaineers were going to clim b the mounta i n A sto rm was com ing but ther e S o we shouldered ou r w as nothing e l se to do traps an d followed them There were ei ght o f us —an o l d ma n an d h is two daughters th e husb an d o f o n e of these th e sweetheart of the other and a thi rd ma n w h o showed susp i cion o f us from the beginning Thi s m an w ith a fl aring torch led th e w ay ; the old m an followed him an d there wer e two m ounta ineers deep betw een th e gir l s a n d us who went l ast I t was not l ong be fore a ra gged l i ne o f fire an d the c u t throu gh the bla ckness overhead thunder b ega n to crash an d the ra i n t o fall Th e torch was b eaten out an d for a mome n t there w as a halt B reck an d I could h ea r a m u fll e d a rgume n t going on in the a i r above us a nd climbin g towa rd the voi ces w e felt the lin te l o f a mounta i n cabi n a n d hea rd a l o n g draw ! o f we l come The cab in w as one da rk room withou t ev e n They a l o ft th e hom e o f a n ewly ma rri e d p a i r ,
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99
T HROU G H T HE
B END
B AD
themselves ha d evi dently j u s t gotten home for the ho s te ss wa s on her knees at the bi g fi r eplace blowing a few coa l s into a bla ze The rest o f us s at o n the two b ed s in the ro o m w ai tin g for the fir e light an d somebody b egan talkin g a bout the trouble on the train D i d you see that feller s etti n tha r with h is hand under hi s coat while Jim wa s t ry in to “ s hoot the b rakeman ? sai d one Well Jim ki lle d hi s brother a yea r ago an the feller was j us wait in fer a chance to git Jim ri ght then ” I knowed that “ Who wa s the b i g fellow wh o sta rted t h e row by fl ou ri s hi n g hi s p i s tol a round ? I a sked A ma n on the n ext b ed leaned forwa rd and “ l au ghed sli ghtly Well stranger I reckon that was m e This sounds l ike th e op ening chapter o f a p i ece of fi ction but we ha d really stumble d upon thi s m an s cab in i n the dark an d he was o u r ho s t A little spina l chi ll m a de m e shiver H e ha d not s een u s yet and I b egan to wonder whether he woul d recogni z e u s when the li gh t b la z e d up and whether he would kn ow that we were rea dy to take p art a ga inst him in the ca r and wha t would h app en i f he di d When t h e bla ze di d ki n dle he wa s rea ching for h is hip but he drew out a bottle o f apple j a ck an d h anded i t over th e foot o f t h e bed ,
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20 0
T HROU G H T HE
B AD
B END
With a p a rt ing pull a t the app le j ack we b e gan on a n empty stoma ch that wea ry climb N ot fa r up the mountai n B reck stopped pant i ng while the mounta ineers wer e swinging o n up the p ath without a n e ffort e ve n the gir l s ; but B reck swore tha t he ha d h e art disease a n d must rest Whe n I took pa rt o f h is pa ck th e pretty on e l ooked b ack ov e r her shoulder and smiled a t him without scorn B oth were shy an d h a d n ot spoken a doz en words with e ither o f us H a 1f way up we ov e rtook a ma n an d on e ca rrying a treme n dous demij o h n a boy They h a d a n d the other a sm al l han d b a rre l b een over o n the Vi rgini a si d e se l li n g moo n s hine an d I s aw the light o f gladness in B r ee k s e y e for h is ow n fl a sk w as wellni gh e mpty fro m r etur n ing ou r l ate host s court e sy But bot h m an and boy disapp ea red with a m agica l su d d e n n e ss that b ecame si gnificant l ater A lrea dy we were suspected as b ein g r ev enu e spi es thoug h n either o f u s dream ed w h a t th e m atter w as W e rea ched th e top a fter daybreak a n d th e b eau ty o f th e sunrise over sti ll seas o f whit e m ist and wave a fter w av e o f blu e Vi rgini a hill s w as unspeakab le as was the b eauty of the de dow n through p ri s cent o n the Kentucky si de m e v al woods o f m aj e s ti c oak a n d popla r un de r a t r embling world o f dew dre n ched leaves an d a l o n g a tumbli n g seri es o f waterfa l ls that fl ash e d -
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20 2
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T HROU G H T HE
B AD B END
through ta ll ferns b l ossoming l aure l and shi n ing leave s o f rhododendron The sun was a n hour high whe n we reache d the foot o f the m ounta i n There the old m a n a nd the you n g gir l stopped a t a littl e cab i n wher e l ived th e son in law W e too were pressed to stop but we went o n with the susp i c io u s on e to his hous e where we got b r e akfast There the peop le took p ay for thei r house was w eather boarded and they were more civili zed ; or perhaps for the reason that the m an thought us S pi es I di d n ot l ik e h is m anner and I got th e first u n m istakable hint o f h is su s p icions a fter b reakfa st I was dow n behi n d the b a rn and he a n d a n oth e r mou n tai ne er came down on th e oth e r si de D i d n t one o th em fe ll ers c om e dow n thi s I heard him a sk way ? I start e d to mak e my presence kn ow n but h e spok e too qu ick l y a n d I c onc l u d e d i t was best to keep sti ll N o t ell i n whut th e m dam n f ell ers I S up to I don t l ike thei r occup ation That i s we were the first fishermen to cast a minnow w ith a reel into those waters a n d i t was beyon d the mou n ta ineer s comp rehensi o n to un d e r st an d how two m en cou ld a ff ord to com e so fa r an d spen d time a n d a l ittle mo n ey j us t for th e fu n o f fishing They suppos e d we were ,
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203
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fi shing for p rofit and l ater they ask e d us how we kept ou r fi s h f r e s h and h o w w e got them over the mountain an d where w e sold them Wi th this i dea n aturally i t w as a puz zle t o them how we could afford to giv e a b oy a qua r ter for a dozen m innows and then p erhaps catch n ot a single fi sh wi th them Whe n I got b ack to the house B reck was ri g gin g hi s rod with a crowd o f spectators a round him Su ch a rod and such a fisherm an ha d n ever b een see n i n that country b efore B reck w a s dre s sed in a white tennis shi rt b lu e gym b lu e stockings an d whi te ten n as iu m b reeche s n i s s hoes With a cap on h is shock o f black h a i r an d a 38 revolver in his b elt he wa s a thing for those wom e n to look at and to a dmi re a n d fo r the men to scorn—sec r etly o f cou rs e for there was a look in his black eyes that forced gu a rded re s p ect i n any crowd The won der o f thos e mounta ineer s when he put his rod together fastened the ree l an d tosse d his hook fi f t y feet i n the ai r was wo rth the mo rn i n g s climb to see A t the sam e time they ma de f un o f ou r rods a n d laughed at the i dea o f get ting out a bi g green p ye r ch —as the moun ” — call b ass with them swi tche s t a in e e r s Thei r method i s to ti e a strong lin e to a long hickory sapling and when they s trike a b a s s to put the s tout po le over one should e r a n d wa lk ,
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204
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B AD
s a i d to B reck n ot w a n ti n g to risk arrest for ca r t y ing concealed weapons and the confi s cati on o f the pistol whi ch was valu able B reck h e sit at ed an d th e old m i l ler stu die d us kee n ly ” W ell he sai d i f you two a i r from Kane tu cky hi t strikes m e y ou ou ght to kn ow the l aws o f yo ow n S tat e Y ou ca n c a rry i t i n tha r ” as b agga ge h e a dded qu i et l y an d I k n ew that my questio n h a d a dded a n other fa got to th e fl am e o f suspi cio n ki n dli n g a ga inst u s I n h al f an hou r we were i n the coo l sha de o f a sp r ea ding a pple tre e i n th e miller s ya rd wi th our b a re feet in thi ck c oo l grass whi le the mi ll e r s wi f e an d h is buxom red cheeke d daughter got u s di n n e r An d a good di n ner i t was ; an d we l aughed an d cracked j okes at e ach other ti l l the sombre susp i ci ous old l a dy relaxed a n d l au ghed too a n d the gir l lost som e o f her tim id ity and l ooked upon B reck wi th wi de eyed a d m irat io n while B reck ogled b a ck outrageously A fter di nn er a scowling mountaineer led a mul e throu gh the ya rd and gave us a su r l y nod Two horseme n rode up to the gate and wa ited to escort u s dow n the riv e r On e o f them ca r ri ed o ur b agga ge for n o m att e r w hat he sus p e e ts the mountaine e r w il l do a n ything i n th e world for a stra n ger unti l the moment o f a ctu a l confl i ct com es I n our gree n innocence w e thought i t rather a good j ok e that w e should b e ,
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20 6
T HROU G H T HE
B END
B AD
taken for revenu e me n so that B r e ek s fl a sk being empty he bega n by telling one o f the m en that we ha d bee n w adi n g th e riv e r al l the morn ing that th e water was cold an d th a t anyway a little swallow now an d the n o fte n saved a fel l ow fr o m a co l d an d fever H e ha d n ot bee n able to get any from a nybody—a n d cou l dn t the ma n d o something ? The mounta ineer was touched a nd he took th e half dolla r that B reck gave him an d tu rn ed i t over w ith a whispered consultation to on e o f two more hors e m en that Still fa rther o n we we met later o n the roa d foun d a beauti ful hole o f water edged wi th a smooth b ank o f sand—a famou s p lace th e m e n ” to l d u s for green e r h M ou n tain e er c s py rolled out o f the bushes to w atch us while w e were ri gging up som e with gu n s and some with out We l eft our pistols on the shor e and s e v era l e xamined them curiously e speci a l ly m ine which was hammerless L ater I show e d the m how i t worked and explained that one adv an ta ge o f i t was that i n close qu arters th e othe r m an could not sei ze your pisto l get h is fin ger o r thumb u n der your hammer a n d p rev en t y o u from shooti n g a t a ll Th is o fte n happe n s i n a fi ght o f cou rse an d th e poi n t appe al ed to the m strongly but I cou l d s e e that they wer e wo n d e r i ng why I should be ca rrying a gu n tha t was good for c l os e qu arters sinc e c l os e qu arters ar e ’
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20 7
T HROU G H T HE
B END
B AD
ra re l y nece ss a ry except i n cas e o f m a ki n g a r re s ts P r etty soon the tw o me n wh o ha d gon e for B reek s moo n shin e returned and a gleam rose i n B reek s eye and went qu ickly down I n stea d o f a bott l e the boy handed b ack the hal f dolla r I could n t gi t any h e sa i d H e l i e d o f course as w e both kn ew an d the disappoint m ent i n B reek s face w as so sincere that his compa n ion with a gest u re th a t was hal f sym p athy half defia n ce whisk e d a bo ttle fro m his hip We ll by I ll giv e him a dri n k ! It was fi ery whi te as water a n d so fresh th a t we cou l d taste the smok e i n i t but i t was good an d w e w e re grate ful A l l the a fternoo n fro m t wo to a dozen p eop l e watched u s fi s h but w e ha d poo r l uck whi ch is n ever a surprise fi s hin g for bass Perhaps th e fi s h ha d gone to n esting or th e trouble may hav e been th e li ght o f th e moon during which they feed a l l n i ght an d a r e not so hungry throu gh th e day ; or i t m a y hav e bee n any o f the myri a d rea so ns tha t make th e myste ry and fascination o f catchi n g b ass A t another time a n d from the same stre a m I hav e seen two rods take ou t one hundred b ass rang in g f r om o n e to fi v e pounds in wei ght in a si n gle day An hou r by sun w e st ruck for th e house o f th e old m a n w ith whom we ha d crosse d .
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20
8
T HROU G H T HE
B END
B AD
this i n ci dent will s how A n old woma n cooked dinn e r esp eci ally for u s and I gave her two quarters Sh e took them put them away and while sh e sa t smoking her pipe I saw something She got up presently went was troubling her i n to a room cam e b ack an d withou t a word dropped on e o f the qu a rters int o my hand H alf a do l la r was too much T h e y gav e us m oonshi ne to o a n d B reck r e marked casu all y that we were expecting t o m eet ou r fri ends a t U ncle J o b T u rn e r s som e wher e dow n the river T hey wou l d hav e re d whiskey from the B lu e grass a n d we wou l d b e al l ri ght T he n he ask e d h o w f a r do wn Un c l e Job l i ve d T h e r e mark a n d t h e qu estio n occ a si o ne d v e ry b a d l y con c e al e d e xcitem en t a n d I wo n dered wha t ha d happe ne d but I di d n ot a sk I was getting wary and I ha d b e com e qu i te su r e tha t th e fish ing must b e better dow n v e ry fa r dow n that stream W he n we starte d a ga in the mou n t ain e e r s evi dent l y he l d a qu i ck cou n ci l o f wa r O n e ca n hea r a long distance over wat e r at the qui et o f dusk an d they w ere havi n g a l iv el y dis c a ssio n about u s an d ou r busin e ss ov e r there Somebody was defending us an d I recogni zed the voice as belonging to a red whiskered fel l ow wh o sai d h e ha d live d awhile in the B lu e gra ss an d ha d seen young fellows sta rtin g to the Kentucky R iver to fi s h for fun O h them .
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2 10
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T HROU G H T HE
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B END
dam n fe ll ers a i n t up to n othin we cou l d he a r him say wi th the disgu s t o f the cosmopolitan I tell y e they l ives in town a n they likes to gi t out thi s way ! I have a l ways beli eved that thi s m an saved us trouble ri ght then for next n i ght the mountai n e e r s cam e down i n a b ody to the hou s e where we ha d last stopped B ut w e ha d gone o n rather h asti l y and whe n we r e a ched Un cl e Job Tur n er s the trip b ehi n d u s b ecam e more interest in g than eve r i n retrospect A ll al o rig w e a s ked where U ncl e Job l ived an d once w e shouted the question across the river where som e women an d boy s were at work weeding corn As usu al the answer was another questi o n and always the same—what were ou r names ? B reck yelled i n a n swer that w e were from Vi rgi ni a and that they would b e n o wi ser i f we should tell—an answer that wi l l a l way s b e unwise i n the moun ta ins o f Ke n tucky as long as moonshin e i s m ade an d f eu ds su rvive We a s ked a gain an d an other yell to l d u s that the next house w as U ncl e Job s Th e n ext house was rather p retenti ous I t ha d two o r three rooms app arently a n d a l o ft an d was weather boa rded ; but i t was as si lent a s a tomb We shouted H ello ! from outsi de the fence which i s eti qu e tte in the moun tai n s N ot a s ound We shou ted a ga in—once I t w as most stra n ge Then t wi ce ma n y times ’
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21 1
T HROU G H T HE
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B END
wai ted an d shouted a ga in and at last a bi g gray ha ired old fellow slouched out a n d asked rather surlily what we wa n te d D i nne r H e seem e d p le ased that that was a ll an d h is m anner changed immedi ately H is wi fe ap e ar e s d then i f by m agi c two or three chi l a ; p dren o ne a s l im w i l d dark ey e d gi r l o f fi ft een dressed i n crimso n hom espu n As w e s at o n the p orch I s aw her passi n g through the dark room s but a lways whi l e we were there i f I en tered o n e door she slippe d out o f the oth e r B reck was more fortunate H e came up behi n d her the n ext day a t sundown while she was dancing b ar e footed i n th e dust o f the roa d driving h e r cow s hom e L ater I saw him i n the cow pen helping her m ilk H e sa i d she was very n i c e but ve ry shy We got dinner a n d the old m an sent a fter a b ott l e o f moonshine an d in an hou r he was thawe d out wonderfully We told him where w e ha d bee n and as he slowly began to beli ev e us h e a l ter n ately grew sobe r ed and l au ghed a lou d Went through tha r fis hin di d ye ? Wor e yo pi s tols ? A xed whar tha r was bra n ches wha r you could ketch m in n ers ? O h L aw d ! D i dn t ye know that the sti l l s a i r a l ays up the b ra n ch e s ? Tol em you was goi n to m e e t a p ar ty a t my we
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l o ft w ith his Winchester on us whi le we wer e s houtin g at his gate H e told u s thi s ver y frankly N or would eve n he beli eve that w e were fishing H e too thought that we wer e o ffi ce r s looki n g throu gh the B a d B en d for som e crimina l an d the lea s t innoce n t missi o n tha t struck him as p l au s ib l e was that p erhaps we m ight be l ooking over the grou n d to locat e a ra i lroa d or p rospectin g for coal ve ins Whe n U ncl e Job went down the roa d with u s the n ex t m o rn in g h e took his w i fe along so tha t n o H oward would try to ambu s h him through fe a r o f hitti n g a wom a n A n d l ate that a fternoo n w he n we were fishing with U ncle Job s so n i n som e thick bu shes behi n d the hou se some wom en p assed along i n the p ath above u s and seei n g u s bu t n ot seeing him scu rri ed out o f sight as though fri ghtene d L ittle Job grinne d ‘ Them wome n thinks the H owa rds h ave hi red you fellers to l ayw ay da d The next mo rn ing I lost B reck an d ab out noon I got a note from him wri tten wi th a trem bling lea d penci l to the e ff ect that he b eli eved he would fi s h up a certa i n cre ek that a ftern oo n As the creek was not more tha n three feet wi d e and a few inches deep I kn ew what ha d hap pened and I climbed on e o f Job s mules a n d we n t to search for him B reck ha d stumbled upo n a moo n shi ne still an d getti n g hila rious .
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2 14
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T HROU G H T HE
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ha d climb ed a ba rre l an d wa s m aking to a crow d o f mounta ineers a fiery politi cal speech B reck ” ha d captured that creek wild ca t sti ll an d all an d to this day I never meet a mounta inee r from tha t region who does not ask with a wi d e grin about B reck When we rea ched the cou n ty sea t the n ex t day w e m et the revenu e deputy H e sai d th e town wa s talking about two spi es wh o wer e up the F ork We told him that we must b e th e The old m iller was the b ra i n s o f the s pi es B end he sa i d b oth i n outw itting the reve n u e m e n a n d i n planning th e campai gn o f the H ow a rd le a der a ga i n st th e Tu rn ers and he told u s o f sev e ra l fi ghts he h a d ha d i n the B a d B e n d H e sa i d that we were lucky to come through a l ive ; that wha t saved u s w as sti cki n g to th e river hirin g our minnows caught l e avi n g o ur p istols on th e b a n k to be p i cke d up by an ybody the de fe n ce o f the red whiskered ma n from th e B lu e grass an d B reek s populari ty a t th e sti l l I thou ght he was exa gg e rati n g—that the mou n t ain e e rs eve n i f co n vi nce d tha t w e w ere spi e s would hav e give n us a cha n c e to get out o f th e — country but whe n he took m e ov e r to a roo m a cross the street and showe d m e wher e his p r e d e c e ss o r a m an whom I ha d kn ow n quite we l l w as shot through a wi n do w a t n i ght an d ki l led I was n ot qu ite so sur e .
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21
5
T HROU G H T HE
B AD B END
B ut still a n other straw o f su s p ici on w as awai t ing us When w e reache d the ra ilroa d again — b y another route you m ay b e s u r e —B r eck being a l awye r got permi s s ion for us to ri de on a frei ght tra in an d thus save a ni ght an d a day The p a ss for us was techni cally charged to t h e m a il servi ce The capta in an d crew o f the t r ain we r e overwhelm ingly an d my s teriou s ly p olite t o u s— an inexpli cable contra s t to th e surline ss with whi ch p a ss engers a re u s u ally treated on a frei ght tra in Whe n we got off at the G ap an d s everal peopl e greeted u s by n ame the capta in l au ghed D o you know what these boys thought you two were ? he a sked referrin g to hi s c r ew They thought you were frei ght S potte rs The crew laughed I looked a t B r eck an d I di dn t wonder H e was a ragged un s haven tramp a n d I w as another M onths later I got a m essage from the B a d B end B reck an d I mustn t come throu gh there a ny more We have neve r gone th r ough the r e a n y more though anybo dy on busines s that the m ounta ineers under s tand c a n go more s a fely tha n he ca n cross B roa dway at Twen ty thi r d Street at n oon A s a m atter o f fa ct however there a re two other forks to the Cumberland i n which the fishing i s very good indeed an d j ust n ow I would rather risk B roa dway .
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21
6
TO TH E
OF
B REAKS
SA N DY
O W N in the southwe s tern corner o f Vi r gini a an d j ust over the Kentucky l ine a re th e Gap an d The Gap — the one m a de by na ture and the other by m an O ne i s a ragged gash down through the Cumb erland M ountains from peak to water l evel ; and the other i s a n e w little queer little town o n a p retty plateau whi c h i s gi rdled by two running streams that l oop an d com e together like the framework o f an a n ci ent l ute N orthea s t the range runs unb roke n by n a tu re an d undisturbe d by m an unti l it crumbles a t the B re aks o f San dy seventy m i le s away There th e b ass leaps from rushi n g w ater s an d there as n owhere el s e thi s s i de o f the R ockies i s the face o f n atu re w i ld and shy It was mi d s umme r the hou r was noon and we were boun d for the B reak s o f Sandy seventy m iles away N o simil ar a ggregate o f m a n trap an d b east ha d ever be fo r e penet r ated those mountain wi lds The wa gon wa s high s eated and the team was spiked w ith R ock and R i dglin g as wheel hor s es D i avolo as l ea der a nd D olly a hal f thorough ,
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219
T O T H E B REA KS O F S ANDY b r e d ga ll oping b ehi n d und e r S am th e b la ck cook a n d a wi ld Western sa ddle w ith high pomme l s he a vi ly hoode d stirrups ha n d worke d l eather an d multitu di n ous straps a n d shaking rawhi de stri n gs ; and ru nn in g alo n g s i d e Ti ger bull terri er An y m a n wh o was at An dove r Cornell or H a rv a rd du ring certa i n yea rs w il l i f h e sees the s e li n es remember Ti ger As for th e m en—there was Josh e x capta i n o f a Kentu cky H orse Guard e x captai n o f the ” vo l unteer p oli ce force b a ck a t The Gap and like H en ry Clay a l ways capta i n whenever an d wherever ther e was anything to be done a n d more th an o n e m a n was n eeded to do i t ; now on e o f the later day pi o n eers wh o w en t b a ck ove r the Cumberland not m any years a go to recla i m a certa in wi ld l ittle corner o f old Virgini a an d then as now the fi rst m a n an d the l e a di n g l aw yer o f the same Ther e was another Kentuck i an fresh from the B lu e g r ass—L itt l e Wi lli e as he was s tyled o n thi s trip —being six feet thre e i n his b a re feet ca rrying 1 9 0 pou n ds o f bo n e a nd muscle ; champion heavy wei ght w ith h is fists in college ( he cou l d n ever get anybody t o fight w ith him ) centre rush i n foot b all wit h thi s grew so m e record o f broken bones ! colla r b one one leg o n e kn ee thre e times and thre e teeth sma shed—sm ashed by biting through h is n ose gu ard a ga inst e ach other when he set his ,
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2 20
T O T H E B REA KS O F S ANDY stati o n s o h e sits dow n o n the tr a ck a n d w a it s for th e tra i n I have kn own the engineer o f a heavi ly l a de n frei ght tra i n to sla cke n up when he saw Ti ger tro tti n g ahea d betw e en th e rai l s and stop to t a ke him a b o a rd di d Ti ger but no d a t him I have neve r see n m a n woman or chi ld o f respectab l e a n te cedents whom that dog di dn t love an d n obo dy rega rd l ess o f an t e ce d ents wh o di dn t l ove that dog Such we ra ttle d out o f The Gap that mi d s umme r n oon N o rthwa rd through the Gap a clou d of du n smoke hung ov e r the H a des of coke o vens that D a n h a d planted i n the hi lls On the r i gh t was the R i dge heavy with beds o f or e S tra i ght ah e a d was a fu rn a ce from whi ch th e coke ros e a s p a l e b l u e smoke a nd the ore gave o u t a stream o f molte n iro n F a rthe r o n mou n tains to th e ri ght a n d m ou n tains to the l e ft cam e t ogether a t a little gap a n d toward that poi n t w e ra ttled up Powell s Val l ey—smi ling b ack a t the su n ; fu rn ace ore mi n e coke c l ou d a n d othe r u gly signs o f civi l i zati o n dropp i n g behi n d u s fast and ou r eyes s e t tow a rd o n e gre en l ove ly spot that was a shri n e o f things prim e va l In the wagon we ha d a tent a n d thi n gs to ea t a n d a wooden box that l ooked like a typ ewri ter c ase under l ock a n d ke y an d eloquent ly in s cribed G l a ss 2 ga l I t is a grea t way to ca rry th e ,
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222
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T O T HE B REA KS O F S ANDY
in dispe n sabl e —in a wa go n—an d I recomm en d it to fishermen A t the foot o f the fi rst mou n t a in was a spri n g a n d we stopp ed to water the horses and u nl o ck tha t case Tw en ty y a rds above a n d to o n e si de o f the roa d a mountain e er was hangi n g o v er th e f ence l ooking down a t u s H ave a drink ? sa i d Josh ” Y es he draw l ed i f ye ll f etch i t up Come a n get i t sai d Josh short l y ” A re you si ck ? I a sk e d ” S ort o puny We drank “ ” H ave a drink ? sa i d Jos h o nce more ” I f ye ll fetch i t up Josh drov e the c ork hom e with th e muscula r b ase o f hi s thumb I m dam ne d i f I do D a n whist l e d to D i a vo l o a n d we specu l ate d I t was qu eer co n duct i n th e mou n ta ineer—why di dn t h e come dow n ? ” I don t kn ow s a i d D an H e really cam e dow n for a drink I sa i d k n owing the mou n tai neer s independence an d h e wa n te d to prov e to hims el f an d to us that h e ” di dn t A sma rt Al ec sa i d L itt le Wi ll i e A pla in damn fool sa i d Josh Hal f a n hou r l ater we we re o n to p o f th e .
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2 23
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T O T H E B REA KS OF S ANDY mou n t a i n i n th e l itt le g a p wh e r e th e mou n t a i n s cam e togeth e r B e low us th e va l le y st a rted o n its long rich sw e ep southwa rd an d beyo n d w e r e the grim shoulders o f B la ck M ou n t a ins whic h we w e re to b rush n o w an d th en o n our way to ” the B r e ak s Th e re D an put T i g e r out o f th e wa go n a n d m a de him walk A fter thr e e p l ai n ti ve whin e s to h is master to show cause for such a n outr a g e Ti ger dropped n ose an d e yes to the groun d an d j ogged along w ith such hum a n sulle n nes s tha t Wi lli e wa s led to spe ak to him Ti ger p ai d n o attentio n I called him an d D a n called him Ti ge r n ev e r s o much as l i fte d e y e o r e a r an d W i lli e watch e d him wonderi n g W hy th a t dog s got a grouch h e s a i d a t ” l ast d el i ghtedl y I tel l you h e s got a grouch It was W illi e s fi rst observa ti o n o f Ti ger O f c ours e he ha d a grouch as distinct l y as a c hi ld wh o is old e n ough to show petulance with di g mi t y An d havi n g m a de us feel sufficie n t l y mea n Ti ge r dropped qu ite b ehi n d as thou gh to say “ ‘ I m getti n kind 0 ti red 0 this N o w It s come here Ti ger an d Sti ck i n th e mu d Ti ger and s tra i ghtw ay a ga in Ti ge r come here I do n t like i t I d go home i f i t were n t for D olly an d thi s ni gger here whom I recko n I ve ” got to w a tch B ut I ll sti ck i n th e mu d An d he di d ,
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2 24
O THB BREAKS OF SANDY mo un tn , in th e l ittl e gap where the mountains cam e t each er Be low us the vall ey start e d o n its le n g t h sweep so uthward, an d beyon d wer e t he gr it sh oul de rs o f Bl ack Mountains, which we we r t o b ms h no w and then on our wa to y " t he Ru b l h e r Dan put T i ge r out o f the wagon and m ade in fl ak Afte r thre e plain tive whines to his m aw to sh ow cause ( ar mch an outr age , T i ge r d mpe d ooee an d eyee to the groun d and o h a tl o n w h s u s s c i llenne t a t t h w e b u m n d gg j g “ul l ie as le d to sp e ak to him Ti ger p a i d n o a n em i a I ca ll ed him an d Dan cal le d him Ti ge r m r eo much as li fte d eye o r ear, and W il lie 1 tch ed him wondering \Vy, th at do g s go t a grooch , he said at ” d y I tell you he s got a gr ou ch l ast de .
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T O T H E B REAK S O F
ANDY
A t d usk w e p a ss e d t h rou gh i o rto n w her e T al t H al l desp e ra do ki ll e d h is h ir te en th an d la s t m an an d o n a l o n g a ro ck y ru dd y S tygi a n b l a ck roa d to W i se C ou rt h o w w her e ou r “ p o l i c e gu a rd from T h e G ap with Josh as cap ta i n gu a rd e d T al t for o n e i o n th to keep h is Ke n tu ck y c l a n f rom r e scuig him An d th e r e we to l d D an a n d th e b i g En tuck ian h o w b a n ker b rok e r l awyer a n d o c to r le ft his bu si ne ss an d hi s hom e cut p ot ho l es i n th e court hou s e pu t th e tow n un d c m a rti a l law a n d with tw e n t y m en w ith W ich e ste rs i n th e ru de b ox that en c l ose d th e scaffl d an d a cor do n o f a h u n dre d m or e i n a c i! le outsi de to keep b a ck a thousa n d m o un t aim r s thu s m ade poss ib l e th e fi rst h a n gi n g tha t he cou n ty ha d e ver kn ow n An d how l ate x i n th e s a m e s e nemy w a y we hu n g o l d D o c T a S w e de n borgi an p r ea r e ven ue ,
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T he two l ist ene rs we in tru th tha t p o l i h e w e d stri ct ly t t s tro lle d th e w hi st le ar c
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T O T HE BREAKS OF SANDY courts was as unique an d su ccessful an e xp eri m ent in civi li z ati on as any borderland h as ever kn own N ext day we ra n the crests o f long ri dg e s and struck goo d roa ds and i t was then that we spike d R ock an d R idg l i n g w ith D i avo l o as l ea der Too l e m l shouted Wil l ie an d we toole d j oyous l y A co ach horn was all that we l acked a n d we di d not lack that l o n g W i lli e evolve d one from his una i d e d throat i n some mysterious way that he cou l d not expla i n but he di d the tootin g about as wel l as i t is ever It was hot an d the n atives d on e w ith a horn sta red T hey took u s for th e a dv an c e gu a rd o f a circus Wher e a r e you goi n to show ? they shou t e d We crossed ri dges too tooli ng recklessly abou t the e dges o f precip i c es a n d along roa ds sca rcely w i de enou gh for on e w a go n Dan swi n ging to the b rake with one han d an d holdin g Josh in the dri ver s sea t wi th the othe r—Wi l l i e an d I specu l ati n g m ea n while how much hi gher the hi n d whee l cou l d go from the groun d b e fore the wa go n wou l d ov e rtur n I t was gr e at fu n a nd da n gerous H a n k Mo n ks is n ot i n i t sai d Wi llie The brake requi r e d both o f D an s hand s j ust th e n a n d Josh fl ew out into sp a ce an d l anded o n ,
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226
T O T HE BREAKS O F SA ND Y h is
shou l der som e te n f ee t dow n th e mou n ta i n u n hu rt R ock though i t was h is fi rst work under ha r ne ss was ste a dy as a p l ough horse R i dgli n g n o w and then wou l d s n ort and p l u n ge an d p aw g e tting o n e foot over th e wago n tongu e D i avolo l ike h is m aster was a born lea d e r or we should have h a d trouble indee d That ni ght we struck a n other c ou n ty s e a t wh e re the court hous e ha d b ee n a b rick bone o f co n tentio n for ma n y m an y years—t wo l ocaliti es cla iming the e l sewhere undisputed honor for the r e ason tha t th e y a l o ne ha d the o nl y two l eve l a cres i n the cou n ty o n which a cou rt hous e cou l d s ta n d A b itter fi ght i t was a n d th ey do s ay that not m a ny ye a rs a go i n a simi l ar confl ict the opposing fa ctions met to d e ci de the qu e stio n w ith fi st and sku ll—I 5 0 p i ck e d m en o n each si d e —a direct a n d curi ous su rviva l o f the an ci e n t w a ger o f b att l e Th e wome n preve n ted th e fi ght O ver i n K en tu cky ther e would hav e b e e n a b l oody feu d A t that tow n w e ha d but fitfu l sleep Certa in l itt l e demons o f th e dark which shal l be n ameless m a rke d u s as th e y a lway s m ark fresh vi ctims for thei r ow n “ I l l bet they l ook over the r e gister e v e ry n i ght sa i d Wi llie b a ri n g a r e d sp l o tched b rawny a rm n ext morn i n g “ Wi n g l ess vi ctory ! he s a i d furth e r
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T O T HE BREAKS OF SANDY An d the n on Wi l der a n d ever wi l der ne xt day grew the hi lls a n d woods and the s litting chasms be t ween them F i rst one hind whee l dished—we b ra ced i t with hi ckory saplings Then the other—we b raced that The harne s s — b roke D a n mende d that A horse cast a sho e —Josh shod him the n an d there These two wer e a l ways tinkering an d we re happy Iu c fli c ienc ma d e Willie and m e mi serable i t as w y p la in that w e were to b e hewers o f wood and drawers o f w a te r o n tha t trip an d we were A n d sti ll w ilder an d ever wilder was the fa ce o f N ature whi ch tur n ed primeval—tur n ed Greek Willi e swor e he could s ee th e fl eeti n g shapes o f n ymphs i n th e dancin g sunli ght an d sha dows unde r the be e ches Where the cane ru shes shivere d an d shook a long the ba n k o f a creek i t was a satyr chasing a d rya d through them ; and onc e—it m ay have been the tinkle o f w ater—but I was sure I hea rd her laugh fl oat from a dark litt l e ravine hi gh above where she ha d fl ed to hi de N o wo n der ! We were ap ach in the most i so l ate d spot p erhaps thi s ro p g si de o f the R ocki es I f thi s be hard to believe l iste n On ce we stopped at a cabi n and Sam the b l a ck coo k went in for a drink o f wa ter A l ittle gi rl saw him a n d w as throw n a l most i nto convulsions o f terror She ha d n ever see n a ne gro b e fore H er mother ha d to l d h er .
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228
T O T HE BREAK S O F SAN DY a nd down in a li ttle hollow we saw su dd enl y a — startling sign a frame hous e w ith a n upper b alcony and moving alo n g that b a lcony a tal l fi gu re i n a pink un girde d Mother H ubba rd An d mothe r o f a ll th at is mod e rn we saw a ga inst the doorway below he r—a bicycle W e took dinn e r ther e a n d the gi rl gave me h e r ca rd I t rea d ,
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A M AN DA E
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E C UT RI !
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T OLL IVE R J OSI A H
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TOLL I V E R
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O n l y t ha t was n ot her n am e Sh e owne d co al l ands was a woman o f j u dgme n t and bu s in es s an d r e a li zin g that she could not develop them alone ha d a dvertised for a p artner in coal and I was told i n l o v e as wel l A nyhow there were n umerous p i c tures o f young men a round a n d I h ave a fa int suspi ci on that as we swu n g over th e b row o f the hi ll we mi ght hav e b een taken for su itors fou r She ha d bee n to school at the cou n t y se at where we Spe n t the fi rst n i ght an d ha d thus swung i nto the strea m o f P r ogre s s She h a d l ive gold fish i n a glass tank and j u gs with plants growing out o f the m outh and out o f holes i n the si des A n d she ha d a ca rp et in the parlor an d fir e scr e ens o f re d cali co and red plush albums a bi rthday book an d o f course a cotta ge organ I t was a ll p r opheti c I sup .
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2 30
T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY pos e an d the i n evit abl e A m e ri c an way towa rd hi gher thi n gs ; an d i t was a t o n c e s ad an d hop e fu l Just over th e hi ll hum an i ty disapp eare d a gai n a n d N ature tu rn e d primeva l tur n e d Greek a ga i n A n d a gain n ymphs and river gods b e gan thei r play Pret ty soo n a dry a d took huma n shape i n som e bla ckb e rry bushes an d L itt le W i lli e p roceeded to take mythologi ca l shap e as a faun W e mode m s j o ll ied him on the m eta morphosi s The B r ea ks w e re j ust a hea d Somewher e through the green thickn ess o f popl a r oak a n d m ap l e th e river l ashed a n d bo iled be t ween gray bow l d e rs e ddi e d a n d da n ced an d laughe d through d e ep p oo l s or l eaped i n w aves over l ong r ifll e s an d w e tu rne d toward the l ow fa r sou n d o f its waters A slip o f a b are footed gir l steppe d from the bushes an d ran down the wood path a n d Willi e checke d her to e n ga ge i n unnecessa ry sm al l talk an d to ask qu e s ti ons wher e o f he knew the an s wers as wel l as she a ll l ea din g to the final one ” What s you r n ame ? Un like he r hil l sis t e rs the girl w a s n ot shy M e l issa S ha d e s o f H ymettus but it was fitting There w e r e b l a ckbe rry stains about her re d lips H er eyes ha d the g l oom o f deep woo ds and Sh O C ,
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2 31
P
T O T H E BREAKS O F SANDY
— rom the darkn e ss o f her tumb le d hai r t um f b led it w as l ike a n o atfie l d I ha d see n that mor n ing a fter a wi n d an d r a i n storm th a t swept it al l n i ght l ong M e l iss a l W il l i e sa i d so f t l y o n ce t wice thre e times ; a n d h is throat gurgled w ith poeti c deli ght in th e m a i d an d the n am e I think he would hav e sa i d Prith ee and a ddressed he r som e more but j ust the n a hom e spun moth e r veered about th e corn er o f a log cab in a n d M e l iss a fle d W i l li e thought he ha d sca r e d her ” On the w ay to the B reaks he sai d my fi rst We hurri e d the stri ck en youth o n an d p itch e d camp b e l ow th e cab in and o n a mi nn o w b ranch that slipp ed p ast low wi llows a n d under rhododendrons an d droppe d i n happy water fal l s into th e B reaks wher e b ega n a vertica l tu rreted ledg e hundreds o f f eet hi gh that ran m aj esti ca l ly o u—m i l es o n Th e re Willi e a t o n ce dev el ope d unwo n ted vim We n eeded mi lk an d bu tter a n d eggs so he le ft m e to hew wood and draw water while he strode ba ck to the cabi n an d M e l issa a fte r them ; an d he m a de contra ct s for the same dai ly —h e would go for them himsel f—and hi red a ll M elissa s little brothers a nd sisters to pi ck black b e rr i es f o r u s Then came the fir s t s upp er in the wo o ds an d drau ghts f r om the typ ew rit e r case the label of ,
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T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY
B y the by Wi lli e knocked the ashes from h is — p ipe and p i cked up a p a i l the mother s p ai l i n whi ch he ha d brought the m i lk dow n to camp ” I recko n th e y ll ne e d thi s he s a i d thou ght D o n t y ou think they l l need thi s ? I f ul l y was sur e they wou l d an d as Wi lli e s colossa l s houlders disapp ea red through th e bu s hes we chuckle d a n d at th e fi r e Sam the black cook sni ckered resp e ctfully Willi e di d n ot k n ow th e l a rk hab i ts o f the mou n ta i n eer We cou l d hav e t o l d him that M elissa was i n b e d but we w i ck e dl di d n t He as s oo n b ack a n d l ookin g w y g l um W e chuck l ed some mor e That n ight a snak e ra n a cross my br e ast—I suppos e i t was a s n ak e—a toa d b e at a tattoo o n W i lli e s broa d chest a hors e got ta n gled i n the guy rop es Josh a n d D a n swor e sle e pi ly a n d l o n g be fore t h e su n fl ash e d down i n to ou r e yes a mounta in e er M e liss a s b l ack hea de d sire b rought u s minnows which h e ha d i n sisted on ca tchi n g without help Wi l li e won dered a t h is an xi ou s sp irit o f l o n e l y a ccommo dati o n b ut i t Th e chances was n o secret to the re st o f us w er e that he was a moo n shi n er a n d that he ha d “ ” a stil l w ithi n a m i l e o f ou r camp —perhaps wi thin a hundred ya rds ; for moonshi n e sti lls a re a lways l ocate d o n l ittle runni n g streams like the on e i n to whi ch we dipp e d our h ea ds th a t m orn ing ,
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23 4
T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY A fter breakfast we w ent dow n that sha d e d l ittle stream into the B reaks where ae ons a go the m aj e s ti c Cumbe r land met its volcani c con q u e ro r and a fter a heaving confl ict was tu m ble d h ea d and should er s to the lower earth t o l et the p ent up wa ters rush through its shattere d ribs an d where th e B i g Sa n dy grinds through them to da y with a roa r o f fr e edom tha t o n ce must have shaken the s t ars It was i dea l—sun w ind rock an d stream Th e wate r was a bit m i lky ; there w ere eddi e s an d p ools i n sunli ght a n d i n sha dow a n d our b a it fo r a wonder w as p erfect—chub s a ctive co l d water chubs an d m il it ary m innows sucker shape d l ittle fe l lows wi th one brilli an t c rimso n streak from gil l to b a s e o f ta i l A n d we di d stea dy fa ithfu l work all o f u s—inclu din g Ti ger wh o as Wi llie s a i d was a fi sher dog to beat the b and B ut is there a n y o l der and sa dd er t a le for the s ports m a n tha n to l earn when h e h as r e ache d one happy hunting g r ound that t h e game i s on an other mi les away ? Thu s th e In di an s i de a o f h eave n sp rang ! F or yea rs and years Josh a n d I ha d be en p l annin g to get to the B reaks F or y ears we ha d fished the thr e e forks o f th e Cum berland over i n Kentucky with b ri lli ant su cces s a nd the m an wh o ha d been to the B reaks always smi led i n dulgently when we told ou r ta l es an d to l d i n a n swer th e m a rve l lous thi n gs possible ,
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2 35
T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY in the wonderfu l B reaks N ow we B reaks , and no sooner there than we
were a t th e we r e rea dy i n g r eat dis gust to get away We investi gated There ha d bee n a drou ght tw o y ea rs b e fore a n d the mounta inee r s ha d sledge d the b ass u n der the rocks an d ha d slaughtered them Ther e h a d bee n saw mi lls up the river an d up its tribu t a ri es an d ther e ha d bee n dynamiting We foun d c atfish a p l enty but we were not a fter catfish We wante d tha t king o f mounta i n wa te r s t h e black b a s s an d we w anted him to run from one poun d to fi ve p ound s in wei ght an d to fight like the devi l that h e is i n the clea r cold w aters o f the Cumb erland N obody showe d disappointm ent more b itte r tha n Ti ge r To say that Ti ger w as ea ger an d expectant i s to u n der rate tha t game l ittl e sport s intelli genc e and his A t first p ower to ca t ch moods from his m ast e r he sat o n the rocks with e ve ry shinin g tooth i n hi s hea d a fini s hed cameo o f expectant deli ght a n d he watched the l ines shaking i n th e eddies a s h e woul d watch a ho l e for a ra t or a n other dog for a fi ght Whe n the li n e sta r te d cutting through the wate r an d the mu s i ca l hum o f the re e l r ose Ti ger kn e w as w e ll as his m aster j ust what w as happe n i n g “ Le t him run D an he wou l d gurgl e de l igh t e d l y We all kn ew pla inly tha t that w as Give him plen ty o f line D on t w hat he s ai d .
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2 36
T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY C l i n ch ( sometimes we ha d to go ahea d and bu i ld c anal s throu gh the ripp le s ) s hootin g h ap blood sti rring rap i ds but catching n o fi sh py and how down that river we ha d fooli shly don e i t a ga i n Thi s was the third tim e we ha d bee n entice d a w ay from the Cumberla n d and then an d there w e r e so l ved to ru n a fter the gods o f s tra n ge stre ams n o more F i s h stori es fol l owed D an recalled how C eci l R hodes got hi s start i n South A fri ca i llustrating thereby th e S pee d o f the shark R hodes was poor but he b rought to a spe culator ne ws o f th e F ranco Prussi a n Wa r in a L o n don newspaper o f a date five days later tha n the speculator s m a i l The two got a cor n er o n som e commodity an d m ade l a rge money R hodes ha d got h is p ap er from the b e ll y o f a shore cast shark that ha d b eate n the m a i l steam e r by five roun d days That was good an d Willi e thereupo n told a ta l e that he knew to b e ,
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Y ou know how rap i d l y a ba ss grows ? We di d not know Y ou kn ow how a ba ss wi ll us e th e same ” ho l e yea r a fter yea r ? That we di d kn ow Well I caught a yearli n g o n c e a n d I bet a man that he wou l d grow s ix inches i n a ye a r To t e st i t I ti ed a little ti n whistle to his ta i l A yea r later we we n t and fishe d for .
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2 38
TO
T HE BREAK S O F SANDY
him T he se co n d day I c a u ght him Wi ll i e knocked the top ashes from h is pipe an d puff ed s ilently “ ” We ll ? we s a i d Wi lli e edge d away out o f r e a ch speakin g so ft l y That tin whi st l e h a d grow n to a fog horn We spa r ed him and he qu ickly tu r n ed to a p o eti co scie n t ific dissertation on bi rds and fl owers i n the B lu e grass a n d i n the mounta i n s su rpris ing us H e knew positively what eve n th e great M r B urroughs di d n ot seem to k n ow a few yea rs ago tha t the S hrike—the b utch e r b i rd imp ales m i ce a s wel l a s h is feathere d fe l lows on thorns having found a n e st in a thorn tre e up i n the B lue grass which was a gh ast ly a eri al Indi an like bu ryin g pla c e for two m i ce a n d twenty s ong s p a rrows So n ext day Wi lli e an d I t urned unava ilingly to Melissa whom we s aw but once speedin g through the weed s a long the creek bank for home and w ith succes s to N a ture ; whi le th e inde fati gable Josh and D an an d Tige r whipped the a l l but responseless w ate rs once more We reached camp a t sunset—di sp i ri ted a ll Ti ger re fused to b e com forte d unti l we tu rned loose two bi g catfish i n a p ool o f the minnow b ra n ch a n d gave him pe rmis s io n to bring t h em ou t Wi th a happy wo w Ti ger spr an g f o r th e .
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2 39
T O THE
BREAKS OF SANDY
o u tst ick in g
point o f a horn and wi th a m a d ye l p sp rang clea r o f th e water With one rub o f h is p ri cke d nose a ga inst the b a n k h e j umped a ga in Wherev e r th e su rface o f th e wat e r rippl e d he m ade a dash n osing under the grassy c l umps wher e the fish tri ed to hi de Twi ce he got on e clear o f th e wat e r but i t was hard to hold to the slippery l e athe ry skins I n te n mi n ut e s he l a i d both gasping o n the b a n k N ext morn ing we stru ck camp Wi l li e sai d h e would go on ahea d an d let down the fence which was n ea r M elis s a s cabi n H e was s it tin g o n the fence wi th a discon s o l ate p ipe b e tween hi s teeth whe n we ra ttled and s hook over the stony way up the creek—si tting alo n e Y et he con fessed H e ha d ha d a b ri e f fa rewel l wi th M eli ss a What di d s h e s ay ? She sa i d she was so rr y we were going sa i d m odest Willi e but he di d n o t s ay w hat he sa i d ; an d he l i fted the li d o f the typ ewriter case the l abe l o f which was s l ow l y emp tyi n g to a sa d an d empty l i e Thu s p ass the fl owers h e s ai d with a la s t b ackwa rd l ook to the log cab i n and the black ha i r ed blackberry sta ined figu re watchin g at the “ co rn er Su ch is li fe— a li ck and a p rom i s e and the n no more The w a gon p assed unde r the hi ll a n d M eliss a the m ai d o f the B reak s ha d com e an d M elissa ha d gone forever .
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24 0
T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY
ha d dea l t me a ful l hou se —t h ree ac e s and a p a i r I m a de up my m i n d that he ha d de a lt h is conf e derate fou r o f a kind an d do you kn ow w hat I di d ? I di sca rded the p ai r an d actu a l l y cau ght the rem a ining a ce Whe n i t came to a show dow n h e ha d fou r deuces I scoope d in a l l the gold pushe d over to my a cqu a inta n ce W ha t he ha d l ost—in thei r prese n ce—and le ft the tab l e Perhaps i t was j ust as we ll that w e deni ed W i lli e his own gam e a n d thu s k e pt him shorn o f h is stre n gth N ext day was ha rd fa ithfu l fru itless—Jo s h and I fi shing u p st r eam a n d Dan an d Wi lli e w a ding dow n the Pou n d — a n d we cam e i n a t da rk e a ch p ai r with a f e w th r ee qu arte r poun d b ass only W illi e havi n g ha d a b i gge r catch They ha d stru ck a mi ll D an sai d whi ch Willi e entere d —reappe a ri n g at once and si l e n tly s et ting h is rod a nd goin g b ack a ga in t o reappe a r n o m or e D a n foun d h im in th e r e with h is catch — a mou n ta in ma i d fa irer eve n tha n lVl e l issa a n d s h e was r un n ing .
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D a n ha d ha rd work to get h im a way but Wi lli e came with a sile n t purpos e that he u n veiled at the camp fire —whe n he put hi s rod to gether H e was don e fi shi n g for fish ; the p r oper stu dy o f m ankin d being m an h is p roper s tu dy n ext day would be th e ma i d o f the m il l ,
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24 2
T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY a n d h e ha d forge d his p l a n He wou l d h i r e a mule pu t on j ea n trousers a s l ouch ha t a n d a homespu n ski rt buy a bag o f corn an d go to the mi ll Whe n that b a g was ground he woul d go out a n d buy another Al l his l i fe he h a d wa n te d to l ea r n the milli n g bu siness and while we fished he wou l d lea r n But w e ha d ha d enough and were ster n We would mov e o n from thos e hard fish e d fish l e ss w ater s n ext d ay I n silent a cqu iescence Wi llie m a de for the wood e n box and i ts flu i d co n so l atio n an d whe n he was through w ith l abe l a n d j u g th e t a l e o f the a ltered ti tle was doubly true ” N 0 ga l I t takes v ery l itt l e to m ak e humor i n the woods We di d move o n but s o stron g is hop e a n d so p owerfu l the ancient hunting instin ct i n u s a ll that we stopped a ga in a n d fished a ga i n with the same resu lt i n th e Poun d Som e thing was w rong H uma n e ffort could do n o more So a fter s l eep on a hi gh hil l through a wi nd sto rm i t was hom e wi th u s an d w ith u n alter ab le deci sion this time w e start e d climbing hills sli ding down them tooling a roun d the edge o f steep cli ffs —sun b aked bew hi skered a n d happy in sp ite o f the days o f ha rd ha rd l uck Ti ger rode o n the camp che s t j ust i n fro n t .
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T O T HE BREAKS O F SANDY o f me Going up a hi ll the wa go n j olted and the dog slipped and fell between the wheels The hin d whee l I s aw would pass over the dog s body an d i f Ti ger ha d b een a chi ld I cou l dn t have b ee n mor e n umb with horro r The wh e e l ra n squ are l y over him c rushing him i nto the san d The little fel l ow gave one s ho rt b rave surp ris e d y el p T he n he sprang up and tr o tted a fter us —unhurt It was a m iracle e asi er to beli eve for th e reaso n that that p ar t icu la r hi n d whee l was a wheel o f kin d ly m agi c O nly an hou r be fore i t ha d ru n squa rely over a l ittle haver s ack in which w e re a bottle a p ip e and other fragile things an d n ot a thing was b roke n I do not b eli eve i t w o uld have bee n p oss ible so to a rrange the contents an d let the whee l run over i t as harmle ss ly a ga in An other ni ght another hot day an d anoth e r an d we were tooling dow n into the be auti ful l i tt l e va lley toward the sunset a n d The Gap toward ra zor bathtub dinner Wi l lie s gui ta r and da rky songs and a s ound sweet sleep in e ach m an s own be d—through dream s o f green hills gray wa l l s s ha rp pe aks and clea r swi ft waters from which no fish fl ashed to se But d u ct iv e fly o r crimson streaked minnow wi th all the memori es n o more o f the B reak s for Jo s h or D an or fo r me ; and n o more doubt l ess for Willi e though M eli ssa b e there wa i t .
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24 4
