Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-05-17
to the sir-mitc distant postof;ce, hs
FOUND Miss Root sitting ct the domestic

ure9lQe.
oil" said Mrs. Bligh, uneasily
heres the school ma'am.come I
board out hor week. It was Widoy
Dunn's week by rights, but they've 90
tho dumb-ager over there, and 'loWet
they'd ruther she'd come here first
School-ma'am, this is my eldest son-o
least ways my husbands son. ncvo
had none o. my own, but I SGT deal O
store by Gilbert and john"
Gilbert Bligh bowed rather awkward
ly. - -
Miss Root roso up and dropped {
dainty little courtesy, like slim young
no el.bush swayed by the wind.
u hope you don't bear malice, said
she, half-smiling, while soft pink flush
rose to her cheek "You see, it was alb.
soiutely necessary for me to enforce dis.
ciplinc, and really you were sailing un.
DER piratical colors-now, were you
81 was altogether wrong" said Gil.
pert, ,reddcning also. 81 beg your par.
(Which John has already DONE" said
bliss Root, resnming her seat and her
knitting work. "john's not bad fell
low, after all, when once you appeal to
his reason and common sense. We shall
get along capitally after this"
"He hadn't no business to sass tho
schoolma'am, said Mrs. Bligh, who was
6ustling around to get out the best china
ior ten. "She sarvcd him right when
she shet him up in the pantry where tho
states an tho big dictionary was KEEP.
ANA he won't do it again; il he docs
nell get good latherin' to hum, that /
can tell himl"
John, who was roasting red apples in
the not ashes, ehuckled. He know we'll,
from long experience, that his step
than her bite.
me and the schoolma'am arc good
friends now" said he. ~ axed pardon
afore all the boys, and she promised to
lend mo .Mastcrman Ready to read
arter I'm done my sums at night. And,
IN, she knows geometry and them
things like a book. And she says she'll
show you without your goin' to school
ana scttin' among the boys that is littler
than you be-"
Once more Gilbert colored, but Miss
Root knitted quietly on.
~ shall be glad to Lc Of use," said she.
II wonder where You learned all .thisl"
remarked the young man awk wardly.
u am a graduate of Tassel College, in
lthodc Island" said Miss Root. "Thcy
lay special stress on mathematics there"
Gilbert sat down, staring moodily at
the fire. Here was he, strong, muscu-
lar giant, six feet high. and broad
shouldcred to correspond-thcrcs she sat,
round, rosy and dimplcd, Il mere dot of
woman. yet how much more she knew
than he did
"Shc must dcspise me-" he thought,
uneasily tugging at his rich brown mus.
tache. "Shc can't help it, Such
dumb head rs must seem to her. Yet
how pretty and soft spoken she is"
Poor Gilbert. He was very wrctchcd
that night, because Miss Root knew
geometry and he did not
Yet what vague happiness it was to
be under the same roof with her!
If Gilbert had only known it, he was
falling in love with Emma Root.
The school-ma'am stayed two weeks
at the Bligh farm, because the Widow
Dunn's lager stubbornly held on; and
toward the end OF her so ,ourn, there
came out one Of those terrific transforms
that sometimes sweep the Western
slopes
"l'm going to hitch up old Sorrel and
20 after Miss Root" said Gilbert, at
noon THE Red Bridge foundations
are pretty nigh washed away, aud I'll
have 70 bring her around by Piney
Point"
~ low it's good dear" said Mrs.
BiiGh, scrat ching her head with knit
ling needle. ppm glad you thought
on't it,.
But either he had miscalculatcd old
SorrePs rate of speed over the muddy
roads, or else the family clock was
wrong; for when he reached the red
ichool-housc. it was closed aud locked
and Miss Root was gone.
He drove at railroad rate to ovcrtake
her, but just on the edge of the river he
saw that he was too late.
The flimsy timbcrs OF the bride had
given way beneath her weight, and she
was struggling in the black waters!
tiilbcrt--nh, Gilbert-savc mc!p
Through the rush of the swollen
stream, the roaring of the wind, her
frenzicd cry reached his ears.
lie flung off his heavy boots. his
clinging coat. and jumped into the
river. And as he did so, an odd fancy
eddied across his brain.
, Geometry was of no use here, Mathc
mates could be of no avail 1t was
mans strength, an experts skill, hcro's
heart that counted now Yes, he was
her equal-more than her cqual-at last
"Is she dead Emma? For heavens
sake, speak,"
"Dead!" rumbled old Abraham Cav
lor. mo more'n you be- Look at the
color comm back into her lips. But I
say, though, it was narrow squeeze of
it, one time. That currents powerful
strong, and the bridge timbers was
sweeping down on ye like n thousand O.
brick. It's good thing you knowed
how to swim like an otter, Gil Bligh.
Yes, you're safe at home! / brung We
both back wrapped in all the blankets
my ole woman had. That's your own
freight you're starin' at"
CATER all, it was only drenching, n
fright and n chill" said Gilbert that
dusk, as they ga. by the fire, when Mrs.
Bligh had gone out to feed the late
brood of chickens, and Johnny was in
the shed trying to build shin that
should be like the one described in
"Masterman Ready's" fascinating pages