Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-26
ON A WELSH MOUNTAIN
FOLLY AND ITS PENALTY
LOVE AND ITS CURE.
By LILLIAs wAssBRMANH.
CHAPTER /.

Jim morning in August a few years back,
A':Siss. ,'......,, tn. .,.a. wrapped
himself in his mantle of mist and frowned
upon the world. At such times his gray crags
-magnified by the density of the atmosphere
doomed out portentous and grand.
But upon that August day all the sternness
was softened and glorified into beauty. The
mountain stood out well against soft gray
pky, sky with great rents in its clouds, be-
hind which showed vivid and intense blue.
A streak of silver among the dark heather
marked the place where q mountain torrent
danced and leaped in the sunshine from crag to
crag.
And down by the side Of this stream came
Bronwen Llanaber herself as much a child OF
the mountain as it, and also leaping gaiy from
crag to crag joyous and happy in the rare sun
shine Following more clumsIly in her wake
appeared young Englishman, who had been
botanizing on the heights above. This gentle
man. Mr.. George Beldon, was staying at the
old gray stone house at the foot of the noun
tain, the house that nestled SO snugly in a shell
tered hollow and which belonged to old Gwy-
lin Llanaber, the man who farmed the land
adjacent to Noel Carrig, and whose only child,
Bronwen, was now in company with Mr.. Bel
DON
Bronwen was a spoiled child the darling of
her father, who fancied that the pretty girl
could do no wrong and who foolish y let her
see that he held this opinion.
From her earliest childhood the girl had
been conversGnt with every portion OF the big
mountain. With no mother to restrain her
rowing propensities within reasonable limits
she had been accustomed to spend whole days
alone there, exploring every nook and Granny
in its steep sides.
She knew the shape of every boulder that
stood out fantastic and curious from the craggy
summit. knew where the precipices lay and how
TO avoid and skirt each bog. Also she knew
every particular plant that grew there, and
though utterly IMMERSED in their long Latin
designations, could tell pretty correctly the
habits and properties of each.
This naturally made her society valuable to
Mr.. Beldon, an ardent botanist and lover of
plants, who had come out of the beaten track
in pursuit Of his favorite hobby, and who, In
this mountain district, found many rare speci-
mems hitherto unprocurable by him.
1t was certainly profitable hunting ground.
Between the stones and in the crannies Of the
crags nestled many varieties of ferns-as-
pleniums and parsley, the mountain bladder
and the scented ferns. The Doggy ground be-
low studded with choice orchses and STICKY
sundews, while cistuses and yellow peoples
grew upon lodges of the rocks above. But for
such treasures 1t was necessary to know the
No wonder, therefore, that Bronwen was
an acceptable companion to the young bot
anist.
But ii is we'll to confess the whole truth Be-
sides all this George Beldon admired pretty
girls almost II not quite, as ardently as he did
rare specimens of the herbaceous genus, and
Bronwen Llanaber was rustic beauty Of a
somewhat uncommon type. In stature rather
under than over the middle height, but with
perfectly proportlone6 and graceful figure q
Inquire suggesting stranQth and a healfhv Dhv.
slque, as of one born to endure fatigue and to
glory in all the perils of mountaineering, and
along with this face of oval contour, with
rich dark bloom upon it, lighted up by q pair
OF dark gray eyes set off by long. curling lashes.
Beautiful as she was in every particular ii
was these eyes-dreamy, unfathomable, full of
the poetry of her beloved mountains-that
riveted attention to her face.
When this pair of mountaineers had de-
scended to a somewhat lower level Mr. Beldon
who was growing a trife fatigued, proposed a
halt by the side of the stream. He wished to
sort the treasures he had collected that morn
ing, and suggested that while he did 20 Bron-
wen should recount to him some Of the wild
legends Of the country, in which she was well
versed.
In fairy as well az In natural lore she was
proficient and had frequently beguilei the
long days OF rain that summer with some fan
tastic tale or other common to the locality
Mr.. Beldon delighted in listening to these
stories the girl SO evidently believed every
word she said
She told him Of the gwragedd annwn or elfin
ladies, who frequent the shores of the llyns
high up IN the mountains and who upon moon
light nights may be seen bathing and sporting
there In the clear waters; told how a yenturous
knight once lay in ambush behind a heap Of
stones, and, fired by the charms of one of these
beautiful bathers, caught her as she passed the
spot where he lay, and, enwrapping her in his
coat. held her prisoner until she promised to
become his wife, This she did. upon one con-
dltlOn, and that condition seemed TO her would
be spouse q very easy one, being only that he
should never touch her flesh with cold iron To
this he consented gladly, never dreaming that
the condition would prove difficult of fulfill
ment- Years rolled on and the fay became as
an ordinary mortal, proved an excellent wife
for her captor and bore him sons and daugh-
tiers. But there came an inauspicious day when
the husband lost his temper with his horse
which proved FESTIVE under the hands of the
blacksmith, and In his rage the Infatuated man
caught up the first missile he could find and
threw it at the FESTIVE steed Now this missile
glanciug aside, struck the fairy wife, who stood
nursing ner infant and watching the shoeing
process, and as 1t happened to be a small piece
OF iron the mischief was done at once With a
vail OF anguish for the beloved husband and
children she was forced 20 leave. The melan-
choly fairy vanished and was lost forever.
Bronwen always cried over the sad ending
OF this story, though she had recounted it hum
dreds OF times But over the more prosaic
one OF the farmer who captured one of the
larry Kline she Ielt more amused than sorry.
The good people set great store by their cat
tie and seek out for them the juiciest pasture
on the mountain sides This particular COW
was a choice specimen and proved a treasure
to the farmer. Never had he such Quantities
of butter. milk and cheese to sell-neyer such
hne, healthy calves. But fairy treasure is ever
OF a transient aud feeting description. Ono
day the foolish farmer took it into his head
that the COW was growing old and must needs
be killed. Scarce had he announced this res
olution, however, than a distant voice re-
sounded from the oyerhanging crags in the
cry used to bring cows home. and lifting his
eyes the astOnished man saw Just for one mo-
ment the original owner of the COW standing
there. Helter-skelter from field and byre
cane the numerous progeny Of the milky
mother, and, following close at her feet
sscended the lower slopes of the mountain
where, marvellous to behold, the rock a. the
bottom OF the crags opened and the train
passed within The chagrin Of the farmer NAV
be better imagined than described us he rushed
trsntically after his herd. to find nothing there
but solid rock. for the place where they had
entered closed up behind them Immediately
and appeared exactly as before
Then with low and timorous voice she would
peak Of those who had spent the night upon
ME dread summit of Cader Idris and spoken
With the great enc banter who is forced to haunt
that spot until the day of Judgment and how
pome had lost their reason, and some had died
aud few had won the Gift ~ poo.v o.