Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-01-01

a ~ SM| j
J :!
BROTHER CHEYNE WALKED WITH STEADY
STEP.
Ting in his erring soul all these two
years. He who had preached the Word
and eXhOrted men and women and
children to follow it, he had been the
greatest sinner of all. He had been
driven ont into the mountains to
wrestle with himself in prayer night
after night but the demon in him
would not be conquered; the timidty
of hypocrisy, the worldly fear of the
man wishing to stand before the hand
full of rough. honest creatures who
constituted society for him, unbIem-
ished with proudly lifted head kept
him from the path of righteous retri-
button, of lowly. abaser, repentent
confession. He had sought to stitle
the glamor of the inner vices by going
hither aud yon, by lingering at the
house of jimmy. by careSsing the
thought that. had things been different.
here was Il Young girl who mi ght have
loved him honestly and with whom he
could have lived in peace and plenty
all his DAYS And, under such thoughts.
the moral fibre in him had been more
and more relaxed, and he had grown,
though outwardIy unchanged, an ever
inferior man.
But the powers of good had prevail
ed ut last. He had come to Big Stag
Valley this year when the people from
all the country round. to whom he had
for six years now been unintermitent-
ly preaching, would be assembled at
the house of the Widow Davis, the
richest woman in the settlement, be-
cause they had so prevailed. And
when he had caught Jinny's Innocent
ly provocative chances just now and
read for the first time their full mean
ing, he had realized how great in this
direction also had been his fault since
he had by an unloving and unlawful
dalIiance permitted false hopes to
arise in this young girls heart.
God be merciful to me. sinner"
murmured the passions of the man at
length subdued. He raised his deep
eyes, around whose orbits were the
sIgns of Il moral struggle, such us few
issue victorS from, paused at the door
turned away her eyes an hour before.
Within Il few hickory sticks famed on
the brick hearth. There was but one
wooden chair in the cabin. and this
was drawn close to the hearth. A
young woman. with eyes great a2d
brown and soft as does. sat on the
chair. her long. slender hands clasped
about her knees. At one side of the
cabin small square unglazed aperture
admitted such light to the interior as
might struggle in when the door was
closed. Beyond this window the pre-
cipitious mountain side closed in the
horizon. The evergreen rhodOden-
dron bushes chung to its flank. The
dark pine stood sharply in relief
against patches of snow. At the foot
of the mountain the creeks tortuOus
course lay stagnant and silent. The pink
lights that come with the winter sun
sets of the mountains. mingled with
the blue shadows cast by the hollows
where the snow lay.
Every now and then Cvrilv lifted
the brown eyes that were like those of
a doe that dies of some mortal hurt,
and looked out at the still cold pict-
nre framed by the little square window
of the cabin.
Down by the frozen creek. where the
wild azaIeas bloomed in yellow and
white and purple glory with the days
of June. was Il tiny grave.
At the door there was a step. and a
hand was on the latch.
Joel Chevne came in. and covering
closed the door behind him. For an
instant their averted eyes met, and
Cyrilly's clasped hands closed con-
vulsivelv.
"Cyrilly, 1 have come back-to
atone-as much as possible"
The dancing was at its height The
nddlers. on the raised platform con-
structed from several agIlomerated
wooden tables were warming to their
work. The room was crowded. and
Widow Davis kept Rick busy bringing
in more Oh hrs and benches from the
neighboriug school-house.
Rick good, loutish youth, with not
unhandSome visage of his own and a
pair of stalwart mountaineer's shout
ders would have far liefer kept at jim
ny's side when the latter was not
dancing. which, to be sure. was only
for short interval at Il time. But
jimmy was powerful square Tonight
was the honest Kicks thought. Her
pretty face wore an absent look and
the dancing appeared to inspire her
with but moderate pleasure. She
had seemed ''pert enough when she
| first rode up that afternoon. but the
life had gone out of her eyes. To him.
Rick. she was in turn short and indif-
/ fereut. and if he couldn't please her,
said the young man to himself. with a
not wholly ungrounded consciousness
of eligibility. who could? He wore
store-clothes on Sundays and holidays;
he rarely touched coru-whiskv, and he
was the only child of his mother, who,
as has been said, was the richest wo-
man in the settlement.
''Look-a-here. jimmy" he began, but
q craning Of necks toward the door