The Columbus journal., 1893-01-18
BY THE

BY THE FIRELIGHT,
1t was evening. From where the
sun had set r+st a red glow. melting
softly iato the cold. blue gray sky.
The sky tint but colder. bluer. harder
in tone Was repeated ia the line ei
mountains stretching away, TO th6
south. Among the shifting heaps oil
fallen leaves sbcne CLEANS OF color.
bct the nacss had turned to brown,
aad ia the cold. windy evening the
lately denuded trees seemed to SILVER.
\ m came out of a pasture
with "a pail OF milk in her hand. A
light wisp OF a creature her cotton
gown hung Imply about her thin
form. She covered as the Wild
struck her. and co-gned eainfully,
yet she fingered. she was too much
a child OF nature to explain how the
autumn IaEs made her feel both for
!oro and ezpectant and yet she was.
perhaps. the more affected by the
moods Of the Great Mother not at.
tempting to translate them into hui
man needs. The clatter OF hOofs
made her turn slowly. One glance
and her heart gave a leap. sending
The warm color 10 her cheek. by the
time the horseman had reached her
The color was gone.
= Good evening. Does Uncle Billy
Grimes live here:?'
Yes Sir"
do you suppose he would be will.
ing to put me up to night?'
Il reckon. Light and I'll take
your nag"
TIE gentleman hesltated as if his
gallantry would not permit him to al
low a woman to put up his horse. but.
seeming to think better of it thanked
her and. taking his saddle bags
turned toward the house.
At the door he was met by an old
woman who. learning his wish. CDR
daily made him welcome. Offering
him Il seat by the side of the hearth
on which L great fire vas burning.
He tilted back on the short-legged
chair with the feeling of warmth anG
well being which follow a long. cold
ride. and soon found himself gently
slipping into the mood he had been
trying all day TO cultivate. This had
once beer his home. and after half a
life time spent away he had returned
TO the land of his childhood only to
find the Carolina mountains less grand
than others he had SEEN. and the sim
pie life of the people. which in mo-
nents of sentiment he had remem-
bered as idyll!c. rough, uncouth and
cherries. lie was too far removed
from their life for sympathy. too close
10 feel the picturesque interest and
pleasure OF a real stranger. These
people We're moro or less nearly re-
lated TO him yet they seemed another
ace of beings. IFS
He had let his mountain home a
mere boy and had gone West where
a rev lie opened for him. Some
thing in his nature always made him
reject what was coarse and vulgar.
and when he became suddenly rich.
his native gentlenesS and simplicity
OF manner stood him instead of breed
ing and education. disarming cri;i-
cism III. with the quick perception.
initiative faculty which were his
birihilght he had largely repaired
the deficiencies of his early training
acquiring much Of the manner and
tone Of people OF culture. Now he
had come back and was a
in his own land.
But the bright freight dancing on
the wall illuminated the rough IN
terror OF the farmhouse kitchen; and
he began 10 feel less offended by the
meanneSs of his surro Irdiugs. Mem
Dries OF his childhood rose up before
him As he watched the younger wo-
man in her preparations for supper.
She had mixed up the ~cornbread. and
now knelt on the floor beside the
hearth. moulding it into loaves and
putting them into a large iron skillet.
The freight flashed on the tin pan.
gave a ruddy glow TO her thin face.
and turned her dull. yellowish hair
to red gold. As the stranger watched
her spmcth .ng rose in his throat.
Nancy"
She turned suddenly.
Christ
Il did not know you at first"
Il reckon Eve changed" she said.
sadly.
Not so much. IL was rather dark.
1t takes the freight to make you
look natural. But how came you
here?'
Uncle Billy married my aunt an'
she wanted somebody to help her. an
I hadn't no home"
No" She picked up her pan and
LEFT the room.
1t cannot be she has waited all
these years for me-" he thought
OF course not; such constancy is not
TO be found among wome of her sort.
How faded she is! These mountain
folks. particularly the women. grow
Old early. Poor thing! / suppose
she has had to work hard. and she
never was very strong. Why. she
can't be much older than Lois Eli
SON" He shuddered at the contrast.