Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-03-11
The Wedding
at Lumley'S Pass.
A LOVE STORY By Jsannst's Ii. waluor.h.


The settlers who constituted what
was locally called the "Lumley Pass
folks" were few. hard working and un-
Gmagina-iye. They were much given 10
staying al home and minding their own
business. in the sense which conveys
toal lack OF interest in anybody else.
To1u reaches O.. rough mountain
roads. frequelt torrents, which ruShe0
udelv wherever resistance was most
readily overcome. combined with SOM
b-e stretches Of dense forest TO dlscour-
-ge s0ciabihty.
Nevertheless. when il became known,
in O general WV. thai the old Jlp-ulJed
log house. house hoary with ag5-
about which the halo OF romance had
never clung. was 10 be the seat OF
wedding. interest In IL became vivid,
and VISITORS multiplied miraculously.
The house stood az the head OF the
Pass. and gave IL IT'S name. IL was Pc
Ter LumIey's daughter VINO was 10 De
married.
That piece Of information percolated
through Peter himself, one evening
when he had fingered az the store in
Hce3n's Gulch long enough 10 forget
his usual taciIUrnity and wax connden-
tial With other late S-ayerS.
On chat OCCASION Mr.. Peter LUmlsy re-
marked. i'm a general way. that
Women folks was a cussed lot of
trouble when they got m3rryin IN their
heads. an he was c0usicuble thankful
that ne diinr have but one gal 10 turn
th world ups de down just because a
fellow had asked her 10 change her
name"
This amiable allusion 10 his only
daughter, coupled with the fact that.
earlier i'm the evening, Mr.. Lumley had
openly invested i'm ten yards of white
"cross-bar' muslin and a "scallOped'
handkerchief. fastened the impending
change Of name on sue Lumley.
Until that CrosS-bar muslin AID en-
broidered handkerchief We're actually
transferred from HCsGn's counter TO
the gunnv sack which already held
Peters supply of tobacco, whisky. seed
potatoes and rope for plOw lines the
general public had laid no particular
stress upon Peters OuJburS-.
Never before had Sue Lumley been
on object Of even passing local inter
est. No one had ever associated her
name with @ possible lover. She was
accounted rather spiri-lesS creature.
jo,ally lacking in grit. Grit is moral
quality in high reput5 with your noun
ta,neer.
Being mO-berless and sisterless. Sue
had grown UD with even fewer feminine
accomplishment than fell 90 the lot Of
other Lumley Pass girls.
A wedding presupposes a man. It
was a long time before local gossip fas-
tened upon the right man for Sue
Iumley's beau" When IL did. curios-
fly was merged into amaZement border
ing on Indignation
"Was Brad Martin bent on THROWN
hlsself clean away2 Had Brad Martin
turned plum idio-2" were the questions
which everybody was asking but no
body answered
Bradley Nar,in was what might be
called q newcomer. having only lived in
the neighbOrhCOi of I.umley Pass four
or five years. None of his ,Orbears had
uued the rocky acres he called his own.
He was handsome fellow. with
broad shoulders. and strong. swift legs.
which carried him over the steep noun
tain paths with che suref0otedness Of
the goat.
There wasn't a girl within twelve
miles Of Peter Lumley's old gray house
thar would not have lent a willing ear
40 Bradley Narin If he had come
occurring. But Sue Lumley Of all the
Pass girls,
Martin and sue alone knew the be-
ginning Of the love affair whose immi-
nent elimination was agita-ing the
scattered settlers Of Lumley's Pass.
They had first seen each other when
the Pass lay I'm the shadows of even
long i'm the mountain walled clearing.
Sue was sitting alone on the rough
pine slab that did duty for a door step.
Her lap was fun OF corn and corn cObs.
a pile Of unshelled corn was stacked
on the slab within easy reach. With
a fine disregard for her own cuticle, she
rubbed the grains free from the cob
with the Redeemed ball OF her right
thumb
When all the corn should be shelled
she would lift up her voice shrillv. and
countless feathered pensioners would
make glad response. BOOSTERS. forget
ting TO be stately. Guinea fowls grown
suddenly gregariOus, pigeons swoOping
from alCit TO share in the liberal lar
CESS. would all come duttering flying,
scrambing. hurrying each filled with
genuine human greed. striving TO eat
ahead OF its fellows.
she rather liked feed time 20 come
IL broke mp the dreadful mOnOtony Of
her dav. and introduced cheerful clam
or into profound silence.
She was left very much alone during
che day. Her father and her four UNI
couth brothers were always OF as soon
es tie breakfast Of black coffee and
greasy bacon she got up at dawn to
prepare was disposed of.
What their business was. beyond the
making and garnering Of the meagre
crops which seemed never TO result in
any retirement of her own condition
She did not know. Nor did she care
much. She was not OF a speculative
turn. She went the dull round of her
s0rdid duties unQUestiOning. unrepin-
Ing. She had condensed the ethics of
the case with unconscious philosophy
into q single aphOrism
"Frettin' don't do no gOOd. so whar's
the use of frettin o.
Under softer conditions she might
have developed into an uncOmmOnly
pretty girL The first time bradley
Martin saw her her face was as the
face of o guardian angel 20 MIN. Their
introduction was q strange one.
She leveled her clear, brown eyes on
him. her head 20 consult the shadows
The familiar landscape must attain q
precise stage of obScurity before she
called the wanderers home for the
niglt.