The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-01-20
WILL O THE MILL.
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.


hill after hill scared upwards until they |
SCARED out Of the depth of the hardest tim
ber, and stood naked against the sky. Some
way up, long gray village lay like a seam
or q rag Of vapor on a wooded hillside, and |
when the wind was favorable, the sound Of |
the church bells would drop down, thin and |
silvery, TO VIII. Below, the valley grew |
ever sleeper and sleeper, and at tho same |
time widened cut on either hand, and from |
an eminence beside the mill it was possible |
TO see its whole length and away beyond it |
over wide plain, where the river turned |
and shone, and moved on from city to city |
on its voyage toward the sea. It chanced |
that over this valley there lay pass into |
neighboring kingdom, so that, quiet and
rural as it was, the road that ran along !
beside the river was high thorough |
fare between two splendid and powerful
societies. All through the summer,
travelling carriages came crawling up, or
went plunging briskly downward past the
mill; and as it happened that the other side
was very much easier of ascent, the path was
not much frequented except by people going
in one direction; and of all the carriages that
Will saw go by, fve-sixths were plunging
briskly downward and only one-sixth crawl
ing up Much more was this the case with
foot passengers. All the lightfooted tour
lists, all the peddlers laden with strange
wares, were tending downward like the river
that accompanied their path. Nor was this
all; for when Will was yet child disas-
trous war arose over great part Of the
world. The newspapers were full of defeats
and victories, the earth rang with cavalry
hoofs, and often for days together and for
miles around the coil of battle terrified good
people from their labors in the field. OF all
this, nothing was heard for a long time in
the valley; but at last one of the command
ers pushed an army over the pass by forced
marches, and for th-ee DAYS horse and foot,
cannon and tumbrf., drum and standard.
kent pouring downward past the mill. All
day the child stood and watched them ON
their passage-the rhythmical stride the
pale. unsbaven faces tanned about the ewes. the
discolored regimentals and the tattered flags,
filed him with sense of WEAKNESS, pity and
wonder: and nll night long. after he was in
bed, he could hear the cannon pounding and
the feet trampling, and the great armament
sweeping onward and downward past the
mill No one in the valley ever heard the
fate of the expedition. for they Law out of the
way of gossip in those troublous times: but
Will saw one thing plainly, that not q man
returned Whittier had they all eonel
Whittier went all the tourists and
peddlers with strange wares, whittier all the
brisk barouches with servants in the djcky2
whittier the water of the stream, ever cours-
ing downward and ever renewed from aboyel
Even the wind blew oftener down the valley
and carried the dead leaves along with 1t In
the fall 1t seemed like a great conspiracy
of things animate and inanimate: they all
VEN, mens~ '', o.,,. 80 :, soi a sa sayy uown W.
,',s AN. ~ y -. 49,, a. ,,.s,,.,1a T.
...- - L., Ia -, T., ,,o.;-.s1 -,
.hA .,ss .e - ~ A., 80 -. IT.
W VIC -, sa;.Lf,I,, ~ -, It'll ~,
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80, 10y f0S'e w '
l.. ,,,o, .,o ,,,;,,ou ,,.,,o,., A..
80.
.I. ~ s .ho ,-.,,o,, " .,,,,u,.ol, H..
u.s - ,,o,,,o, - ,,;i,s s;x go In,
.,.. va. 81. 49, 60 T,.or,a,,. ~ !,
.ney Coy i 80 go W, a. t,,n,, =. a 49, ~
iioAe NV az ia,,,oSs and ,,,ata,s ti,a e..
oor,, on,,ntrv and rms through a sigbt ~
fine cities leo tbev saw where Kings live oil
aIono in ,,reat naiaceS with n sentrv yalling
nm and down before the door And II Goes
,,nder hridges with stone men unon them
looLine down and smiling so curious at the
water and living folks leaning their elbows
on tha wall and looking over too And then
N COOS on and on and down through marshes
and sands until at last it falls into the sea-
where tho shins are that bring parrots and
tohacco from the Indies Av Il has n Ions
trot before il as il r-oes singing over our weir
h,oss its besrtrp
~And what ;s tba saa ~ osl,ed WIN
,oTha sea ~ cried tbe miller ~ ord helm
us all, it is the greatest thing God madeI
That is where all the water in the world runs
down into great salt lake. There it lies, as
fiat as my hand and as innocent like as
child; but they do say when the wind blows it
gets up into water mountains bigger than
any of ours and swallows down great ships
bigger than our mill, and makes such roar
ing that you can hear it miles away upon the
land. There are great fish in it five times
bigger than a bull, and one old serpent as
long as our river and as old as all the world,
with whiskers like man and crown OF sill
yer on her head"
Will thought he had never heard anything
like this, and he kept on asking question after
question about the world that lay away down
the river, with all its perils and marvels, un-
til the old miller became quite interested
himself, and at last took him by the hand
and led him to the hilltop that over
looks the valley and the plain. The sun
was near setting and hung low down
In cloudless sky. Everything was defined
and glorified in golden light. VIII had never
seen SO great an expanse OF country in his life;
he stood and gazed with all his eyes lie could
see the cities, anu the woods ana fields, and
the bright curves OF the river, and far away
TO where the rim or the plain trenched along
the shining heavens. An overmastering
emotion seized upon the boy, soul and body 7;
ms heart beat SO thickly that ne could not
breathe; the scene swan before his eyes; the
sun seemed 10 "heel round ana round, ana
throw OH as IL turheo' strange shapes "hich
disappeared "i.h tne rapiul'y ,. 0i IhoushV ana
were sueceeuea oy oenefS Wiii coVeieu ms
tace WIN MS h,ih,'s anu puiso ihoo Vioion'
nv ~ Ieais anu 'i,e poor iillliei, sauly aisap-
Poi'i.eu "i'u Pei eiPieAeu' sd" ho.nins oeooei ,
iol ~ tnaii W t''Ae ni,i up III hiS aiiiis anu
'"I, MN no'ie II, Si'ehoe'
from that day forward WIN was tuii OF
new hopes ana lohsihgs' something kept
tugglhg at MS heart strings; the running
wafer carried MS desires along WIN IL as he
dreaihed over its neeoiiis surface the wind,
as IL ran over ihhuiheraoie tree tops, nailed
nun with encouraging words branches Deck
ohed dowh"ardi the open ROAD, as u
shouidered round the angles ana Went turn-
ing ana vanishing iast ana raster down the
yaiiey, tortured nm with its solicitations
ne sPeh. iohg wniles on the emihence, looA-
lhe uowh tne riVershed ana ABROAD on the
nat low,ahus, ana watched the CLOUDS that
hareieu ioi'n upon lhe siuss'sn "nu anu
ualled .neir purple shadows oh tne piain; OF
~ % "ouId ,nser ~ Ino way yS,a', anu lo.iow