The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-06-28
A SILENT TRAGEDY.
HEROISM OF A MOTHER m THE
CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS.

HEROISM OF A MOTHER m the
CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS.
A Longing For the Outside world CsusAsA
Back In Her Heart Because shs Ma Nee
Want Her Daughter to Learn a AsiGk1.
or Things Beyond Their ReaaA.
There are tragedies in nearly "a .pse-
pies lives, though some may nsswinow
them by that name. We md thm, 10,
in most unexpected places, which ~
minds me that one day ] stoppsd. 6os
dinner at q house In tho Cambss1ood
mountains 30 deep in the fastnassss 1hst
I had to employ guide to show ms4As
way to the first road that would AslDms
out to the county road. The family cep-
sisted Of man and wife, with On danGk-
ters, and more ignorant lot Of pocp1o
I think I never saw. After the dinner
Of bacon, beans and corn bred, homan
and girls went back to the AslA, aod I
talked awhile to the woman bskoss -.
Stunning my journey. She was Q typisa1
mountaineeress, tall, angular and sa2ioW,
but there was CLEAN Of intelligence 81
her face, quite unlike the lack lusseenss
of the usual woman Of the nountafno.a
Don't you get very lonely, away a
here to yourselfT asked hef, - ~
busted about the table. ,ss.ss l.e;:. -. /.
II reckon I mought, ef had tina.
she replied, "but don't dive mypsH
no time to think about things HE thaAl"
"And what about your gix1sa Os9t
they want to get ont among peoplsT -.
"Not ez ever heerd en- say. s1Ce
"Do they go to school In wintszf !,
"No."
"Have they never beenT
"Not yit," this half apologsticaily. !.
"Do they have anything to resdr :.
"They can't read" 80
"Can't readr' repeated In suxpsiss.
for even though the older moumtainsers
cannot read and write, a. Q ruls,. ~
younger ones, under more modern DIV
ilization, can. -s.----.
"No, they can't" she said a. II mi
tated by my tone.
care you 80 far from the schoothouso
that you can't send them" was my nexs
venture.
cts two miles, and they could go, but,
I won't let EN-"
This was new phase, and the MASTER
became more interesting.
"Why not?' I asked, with . perdst-
Fence that was risky.
She stopped her work and turned hee
face to me.
ifThosaa tsals, . sho- said, ssdnn,k knoR
nothin but these here mountains and
that thar river down thar; they donss
know what is goin on In the world out
side; they never seen no steam oars ner
boats ner telegrafts ner telephones ner
fine houses ner beautiful clos ner esn-
tie1nen ner ladies; they don't hardy
know thar's such, but GO, sW Fvv..w
people ez hez seen 'em, and they've told
me. Many's the night I've gone to bed
and cried myself to sleep In the loft that
wuz my bedroom, thinkin about Whist
thar wuz In the world that couldn't
even hope to git look ct. I got 20
could read, and then I read sbort EN-
all, and that made it wuss. Thar WINS
nothin but mountains and lonslineD and
silence fer me, and I couldn't help my.
self nohow.
"Then I married Jim, and We come
here. Jim can't read ner write, and tho
pore Teller is satisfied, fer be douft know
no more than the gals does and they're
company fer each other. The gals
might git like wuz IF they larnt rsaain
and writin, and how could they ever gle
away frum this place and 60 among Och
different things? They couldn't, jiSt ths
same ez couldn't and ef I hin kesp 'em
frum KNOWN whut's away or whsr the
mountains amt, ner the loneoomeneos,
ner the silence I'm goin ter do Il and lst
''em live and die right hare whax theY.
air heap better satisfied than fheF
mother has ever been, though they never
heered her say nothin about Il, one way
ner t'other, and they never Will,
The hard lines Of determination had
come into her face when she began
speaking, and / could Bee they werO
pressing back the tears Of dissppolnt-
ment as she talked to me, and when 10,
turned to her work again she hgushsd'
her eyes hastily, while I sat there think-
ing of the silent heroism and uncomplsin-
ing sacrifice of this woman, longing IN
the solitude Of the mountains for To
breadth and the beauty Of the world BE-
yond them, yet never voacing hsr wish;
walking straight through the daxlnsss
of ignorance, knowing Of tho Light shose
it, standing fast with her family AAsut
her, as the millions rushed on toward
the higher attachments Of life, cruihine
her soul down into its narrow combines
and keeping it there, because she realized
that for her and for hers this was Ne
earth and the fullness hereof.-Ds11etA
Free Press. .,s5ttsx.sy...,;,